Yesterday Delahne and I got a babysitter for the day for the little ones and took the older kids to the George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, MO. I found myself wishing that I could have known this wonderful man in person. His life demonstrated such wisdom, kindness, humility, and godliness and he had an incredibly intimate relationship with his Creator. Did you know he was born to a slave woman, and adopted by her masters when he was orphaned as a baby? I was touched to realize the impact that his adoptive family had on who he became and what he did with his life. It is such a beautiful and inspiring story. If you don't know about him, you should definitely read about his life and his amazing accomplishments.


In the university, he saw his students as his own children, and was just as concerned with their character development as he was their intellectual advancement. He compiled a list of eight cardinal virtues for his students to strive towards. I loved these. I hope they mean something to you too:
1. Be clean both inside and out.
2. Neither look up to the rich or down on the poor.
3. Lose, if need be, without squealing.
4. Win without bragging.
5. Always be considerate of women, children, and older people.
6. Be too brave to lie.
7. Be too generous to cheat.
8. Take your share of the world and let others take theirs.

NOTE TO SELF:

NEVER, EVER tell four kids, "Why don't you bring down the Christmas decorations from the attic while I lay down for a little rest", while casually asking a football-watching husband to supervise....

Here are the 'after' photos, although I think the 'after nap' photos would have made a more interesting blog entry. Too bad I wasn't in a mood to take pictures. :)


Oh yeah....we have 5 kids. Looks like we need another stocking on that fireplace.
And this last picture has nothing to do with Christmas decorations, but I think Jude looks so cute with his shorts and cowboy boots.
Reminds me of somebody else I know.

Here is a glimpse of a normal day in our house, with everybody doing what they do best. Jude, standing on his bed playing electric guitar for the game Rock Band.....
Liesel, reading her favorite book series, The Sisters Grimm.......

Hope, picking random items from around the house and finding other uses for them: In this case, she is taking the starfish from my bathroom decor for a little swim. Have you ever picked up a dead, wet starfish? I don't recommend it.
Simeon: "Mom, I accidentally fell in the pond when I fell off my bike." Hmmmm.....

Ava, after enjoying her favorite blue marker, being held, rocked and sung to by her younger sister Hope. Now that Ava has gained 12 pounds, grown 4 inches, and the girls are almost wearing the same size, it is starting to look a little funny. Notice the scratches on Hope's arm, from Ava's fingernails. Hope gets bit, her hair pulled, scratched or pinched almost daily, but that hasn't changed her feelings about her sister one tiny bit.

All I Really Want For Christmas Music Video

As the Christmas celebrations begin, don't forget about those special kids who won't have anybody to celebrate with this year! I love the Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree Project. For $35 you can sponsor an orphan with Down Syndrome and get his or her picture ornament to hang on your tree. The donations go towards adoption grants for these kids. We gave orphan ornaments for teacher gifts last year. Each of my kids picked an orphan to sponsor, and I know at least one of those orphans has a family committed this year! It's fun to imagine that our tiny gift of $35 might have played a part in helping a child find a family. :)

I believe our little Ava's  picture hung on someone's tree the Christmas before.......

Please check out Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree Project. (And I hope you're feeling generous when you do). Every penny goes to the child's adoption fund.

Two pals hanging out in their favorite spot........

Pilgrim Party

We wrapped up our Pilgrim study today by having a Thanksgiving feast with the Wright family, authentic Pilgrim style.
Delahne made succotash stew and scones. I made Indian corn pudding and bannock cakes, or pilgrim pancakes, as my kids now call them, complete with homemade cranberry jelly. Mmmmmm. Since the Pilgrims hated water we drank hot tea instead. We thought about pretending to drink beer like the Pilgrim children did, but then I remembered how Hope loves to tell her business to every stranger she meets, and decided I would just be setting myself up for another awkward moment.

Delahne found a game of Thanksgiving Bingo, or "Jingo", actually. I was impressed at how much the kids had learned.
My crafty friend Delahne led us all in making Thanksgiving crafts. Even 1 yr. old Caleb and Ava made foot prints and hand prints. It made me realize those cute little footprint crafts are definitely for the mother's enjoyment, and not for the baby's.
Here are some of the handprint turkeys the kids made. Hope is thankful for pianos, paper, Mom and Dad, Ava, and hands.
Jude is thankful for Jesus, Ava, friends, famle, and down singrom
Simeon is thankful for food, friends, house, family, and "My little Ava"
Liesel is thankful for Mom and Dad, dogs, brothers and sisters, her teacher, and of course......Ava.
And everyone contributed to Ava's thankful list. She is thankful for family, food, candy, and brothers and sisters.

Ava and licorice

Nobody in our family cares for the taste of black licorice (and if you are one of the few who likes it please leave a comment and tell me WHY).

After the girls decorated gingerbread houses with our babysitter over the weekend, we ended up with bags of peppermints, gum drops and red licorice. We discovered by accident that the purple gumdrops are black licorice in disguise, and they were about to go in the trash when we had the idea to give one to Ava to see what she would do. Let me just say this was not the response I was expecting......