Day 2

I have to document some of the funny things I have heard from the kids so that I have it written down. I made it to the store and bought some pineapples, bananas, mandarin oranges, and papayas (fruit found in the area of the world we are "visiting"). You don't know how good a banana tasted and it has only been two days!! Anyway, the kids are given hot cereal (wheat farina) for breakfast with some milk, sugar and butter. For morning snack, they have some fruit. Lunch is beans and rice with a glass of milk. Afternoon snack is fruit as well. Dinner is rice and beans with some chicken and vegetables and a glass of milk. Anyway, N came up to me and asked me, "Mama, since we can have milk and fruit, can't you just make us a smoothie?" Today, day 3, S told me that she is praying that she gets the stomach flu so that at the end of throwing up, she can have Gatorade and saltine crackers. She said that would taste better then rice and beans. Finally, N has said for years that she wants to be a missionary. I told her last night (Monday), that God may be using this to prepare her to be a missionary one day. She can't just eat what she wants in another country, she has to eat what she is offered. She told me, "Well, maybe God is telling me He doesn't want me to be a missionary." I told her, "Or, maybe God is trying to stretch you and prepare you for His service as a missionary." G piped in, "God has called all of us to be missionaries!" Interesting point G - we are all called to be missionaries, so maybe God is preparing you, N or all of us.

None of us are starving by any means, but it has been difficult. Today is Day 3. I made the kids some plain white rice for lunch. S opened up a can of refried beans and ate those with her rice. Everyone was happy with lunch and I didn't hear any complaining. They keep talking about the very last day, the 28th of February. They have requested hot cereal for every meal that day. They told me, "Some countries kids just eat hot cereal all the time as their main meal, so can we do that on the 28th?" Little connivers! I just might have to since they are trying to find ways to work around our meals. :)

We are all adjusting to this way of eating. It takes a few days for the body to adjust. W had a headache all day yesterday and asked for a plain baked potato last night. Since we will be eating plain potatoes on Wednesday nights (I bought too many potatoes and they will go bad. Additionally, that is what some countries ate for their main source of food - Europe), I told him I would. I took a tiny bite of his potato before eating my rice and beans. Without butter or salt, the potato tasted amazing. What astounds me is that it had only been 2 full days of eating rice and beans. Already my taste buds have adjusted and the taste of a plain potato tasted heavenly. Once again I'm reminded just how spoiled we are in America. This has been such a good lesson for all of us. Every time my tummy rumbles a little or I see something in my cabinets I'd love to eat, I try to remember to pray for those around the world with so much less then us. Although this isn't something everyone would want to try, I would suggest people try it just for a day or two at least. In a short time, you'll learn a lot about yourself and how blessed we are.

I love God's timing in life too. I had signed up a few months ago to do a simulcast for missions. I received an email this morning reminding me of the event coming up. It lands on 2/27. What a way to celebrate one of our last days - hearing about missions around the world! God is so good!!!

No new recipe today. We are just eating leftovers from the other two recipes I posted (plus the plain white rice). Those recipes made a lot of rice!! We are all looking forward to lentil soup and Chapati bread (recipe I found from West Africa).

Day 1

Day 1 is done. The day started off easy. We eat hot cereal many times for breakfast, so that wasn't a hard meal. We came home from church and my Puerto Rico beans were ready for us to eat, thanks to my crockpot keeping them warm while we were gone. About an hour after lunch, I realized I was still hungry. Maybe it was the energy we burned shoveling snow or maybe it was the fact that you burn through carbs faster then protein. I drank some more water and hoped that would hold me over until dinner. We took a nap, which helped eat away some time before dinner-less time to think about eating and how I was hungry. For dinner I decided to try a Haitian recipe I found from an orphanage. (I will post the recipe at the bottom) This meal tasted really good. Maybe it was because I was more hungry, maybe it was the coconut milk, or maybe it was the little chicken and veggies I added to the meal. All I know is that tasted really good. Wayne and I shared an apple after dinner, along with more water! When the weather clears, I need to go to the store and buy some bananas and fruit that can be found in places like Haiti. The girls ate our frozen bananas for snack because I didn't have fresh bananas.

So, after day 1, here are some things that I learned. Although I like rice and beans, it really gets old after just two meals. I discovered that I am so blessed and I didn't even realize just how blessed we are in this country. Sure, I could say that I "know" it, but to eat only twice what many people eat their whole lives and feel like I'm "missing" out shows that I really don't get it...not really. It is my prayer that during this month, God is able to teach me more about how spoiled and blessed I am and how I should never take that for granted. I also pray that I have more compassion for those around the world who are truly experiencing hardships and persecution. My first world issues are really rooted in my selfishness and self-indulgence. We are so blessed to have fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, protein at almost every meal.

I also reflected about how I used water as a way to keep my belly full. Although I am able to turn on my tap and have fresh, clean water, many people in other countries have to walk miles to get dirty water and then clean it. Maybe that is another challenge for the future. Limiting the amount of water we can use in a day. 

As we enter day 2, may God continue to stretch me and teach me things about myself that I have been too blind to see. May I turn to Him as my only source of help and strength. Ironically, I am reading George Muller's autobiography this week. Something that he said struck a chord with me. He said that "it was his greatest hope that his record of God's faithfulness to him would encourage believers to develop faith like his own-the faith without which it is impossible to please God; the faith that works by love and purifies the heart; the faith that removes mountains of obstacles out of our path; the faith that takes hold of God's strength and is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." (Autobiography of George Muller) May God grant me this kind of faith and dependence on Him that the world will see Him through me and in me. John 14:13-14 "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." May my life, may my prayers, may my everything be used to bring glory to God!!

Rice and Beans with Coconut Milk

This is the way most Haitians like it!

Ingredients 

§  2 cups of rice

§  1 cup of dried black beans (I doubled the beans)

§  1 can of coconut milk

§  5 cups of water

§  A pinch of garlic powder

§  Salt (if desired)1

§  Maggi (or Seasoning) - I didn't have this, so I used some adobo & Sazon goya

§  Diced green peepper-I didn't use these because I didn't have them.

§  2 tablespoons of oil

Directions for the Beans

Wash and drain dried beans and place in a medium pot. Add water and let them boil on high. Check beans from time to time for tenderness. Usually, it takes about 35 to 45 minutes, depending on the kind of beans that is used.  You can do like I do and just use canned pinto/red beans and then it's super easy!

Once cooked, drain the beans and keep 1 1/2 cup of the boiled water aside for the rice cooking.

Directions for the Rice

Heat the oil in a pan; then add the green onions and cooked beans. Cover for 2 minutes; Then add the salt and coconut milk. Reduce heat to medium and keep on stirring.

Add boiled-bean water (that you kept aside!) Add chicken bouillon, garlic powder and green peeper. Add a bit of salt, if needed. Increase the heat slightly and let content boil covered.

Uncover and add the rice. Stir everything as the water reduces, also reduce the heat

When water is absorbed/cooked then cover and simmer for 35 minutes.

One More Day...

We started the countdown today (7 hours and counting). Tomorrow our adventure begins. If you have no clue what I am talking about, check this out. I bought the last of the ingredients that I need this week for our recipes. My first batch of rice and beans is cooking on the stove as I speak. Since tomorrow is church and we usually eat something fast, like a sandwich after church, I had to plan ahead of time. This batch of food will be kept warm in the crockpot so that we have a nice warm meal when we get home. I started with a recipe for beans and rice from Puerto Rico. It actually wasn't too hard to make and it smells delicious. I'm looking forward to trying different variations of rice and beans for the month. I have a feeling that we'll find a few that we really like. I know why people around the world eat this meal a lot - it is frugal and filling. I'll post pictures tomorrow of our first meal. Meanwhile, here is the first recipe.

Rice and Beans (Puerto Rico):

Ingredients: (approximate)

3/4 cup of sofrito (I was given some for my first batch, next time I have to make my own)
15 oz can of gandules verdes drained (pigeon peas) - I bought Goya brand as was recommended
8 oz can of tomato sauce
Fill 3/4 of the tomato sauce can with water
1 bouillon with chicken flavor
1 packet of sazon Goya brand
Sprinkle of adobo (the pepper version)
3 TB of olive oil

Directions:

In a large pot simmer all the ingredients for approx. 15 min.

Add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil, then add 6 cups of rice.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, carefully stir the rice, do not disrupt the bottom of the pot layer, this will be slightly burned to the bottom, simmer for an additional 30 min or until rice is fully cooked.

A New Year, A New Perspective

Although it is now 20 days into 2015, I decided to write down some changes we are trying to make as a family. 2014 was an amazing year of spiritual growth for our family. God used many things to help W and I grow in our walk with the Lord. One of the main things that helped us was watching the series "Behold Your God". We watched the series the first time in adult Sunday School at church. The series stretched us and our low view of God. Sure, we knew who God was and we studied His word, but I didn't realize how many times in my life I was depending upon myself and my ways instead of God and His ways. He is worthy of so much more then casual worship! Church is about Him, quiet time is about Him, my life is all about Him. We were made to bring Him glory!!

We started doing the "Behold Your God" workbook and DVDs as a family. It has been amazing to see God continue to work in our lives and draw us, and our kids, closer to Him. It has also helped us develop a deeper love and understanding of who He is. The more we learn, the more we realize how little we know about Him! The best part about learning more about God is realizing that we will spend an eternity with Him getting to know Him, and we will never know all about Him!!

This leads me to 2015. We have decided to make 2015 a year of intentional life lessons, for both us and the kids. Each month we are taking on a different challenge to help us in our walk with the Lord, and to garner a deeper understanding of what God may want to teach us. January is our month of intentionally finishing our Bible study workbook with the kids and continuing to declutter/de-materialize our lives (something we started in 2014). February will be a month of "eating like an orphan". In our crazy, material happy/seeking, super blessed country, we want to be intentional in our understanding of what kids around the world are experiencing. We want to be able to pray for them and understand what their lives are like. How can we do that unless we have a better understanding of what their lives are like?

So many kids go to bed hungry, including kids in our own country, many don't eat for many days, and fortunate ones may have one meal (maybe two) a day. Although we aren't going to extremes like that to teach ourselves compassion, we are making our menu for the month of February a month of hot cereal, rice and beans. We have looked up recipes from around the world that many kids eat (African red beans, Sudanese soup, Haitian beans, Puerto Rico beans and rice, etc). We may have one or two meals with Asian noodles since in my research I have found that kids in countries like Vietnam eat noodles in their orphanages. Most days will consist of hot cereal for breakfast (they will have some sugar and milk in it-we know this is going to be a huge adjustment for them). Lunch and dinner will be some form of rice and beans. It should be an eye opening and challenging month for all of us. I am giving up my protein bars, my salads, my veggie/fruit smoothies, etc. I know that God has some incredible lessons to teach us.

I plan on blogging about how our month progresses, along with the recipes that we are eating for the week. I'll keep you posted about future months. We have some ideas such as no heat, no air conditioning, no snacks, no sugar, no technology, no driving (we are working on the logistics of this one), etc. If you have any ideas that may work, let me know.

May God use 2015 to be another year of spiritual growth in not only knowing more of who God is, but also experiencing suffering with our brothers and sisters around the world. May each of us continue to daily pray for not only our suffering brothers and sisters around the world, but also for the millions of orphans without earthly parents. May they find comfort in knowing the best Father of all!

A New School Year, a New Perspective

We have officially entered another year of school. There are days that I question why I am attempting to teach 4 different grade levels while raising two little ones. I feel like the woman above. My house is always a mess and I feel pulled in a million directions. I discovered that there is a local Christian School that offers Classical education. On difficult days I wonder why I didn't think about that option and think that maybe, just maybe, I should have looked into that option. Then I have one of those days that reminds me why we have made this choice. There is nothing better then being able to spend all day with your children as they learn new concepts and when they just want to give you hugs all day. We get to enjoy discovering new ideas together and reading stories that take us to places near and far.

Some days things go well, like today. We had a wonderful morning together learning about the Middle East, Egyptians and mummification. Tomorrow we are going to make our own mummy and mummify apples. Today we also did a basic science experiment. We took a cup of cold water and a cup of hot water and put a drop of food coloring in each cup. It was fun to see how the food coloring responded differently in each cup. Now we are enjoying an afternoon celebration of Grace's 8th birthday. We made cookies and we are watching the Lorax. Although there are definitely hard days, I would never trade the privilege of getting to see my children grow and learn first hand. I'll take a messy house and lack of "me" time to have all of these experiences with my children. Before I know it they will be leaving the house. I'll have plenty of time then to have my "perfect" house and "me" time. I know when that happens that I'll wish for my "perfect" house to be the way it was now, messy with lots of kids and love.

Organizing for Another Year of School...

This year we will have a 4th grader, a 3rd grader, a 2nd grader, and a Kindergarten student. On top of that, I will have a 22 month old and a 2 month old. I started organizing for our next school year in May.

The main "curriculum" that we will be using for our history and science is Classical Conversations. Our family is doing Classical Conversations again this year based on our experience with the program last year. I love how the kids learn a history timeline, history, science, geography, math, English, art, do weekly speeches, etc. It is a wonderful program!! One of the best parts of the program is that it enables me to do history and science with everyone that is on the same subject matter. I will have all four students in the Foundations class and this year A(9) will start Essentials. I have to be honest that Essentials is scaring me. As I was organizing everything, I was looking through her curriculum for the year. Let's just say that the teacher will be learning along side the student. :) The different parts of speech and diagramming sentences is just one facet of the class, one that was not my favorite subject in school (I hated diagramming sentences). She'll also be doing weekly essays along with many other things. Her classes will keep us both busy.

This year due to our situation (i.e. a 22 month old and a 2 month old), we decided to do Bob Jones Distance learning for G(7) and N(6). The girls will watch a DVD daily that has a teacher instructing them on that day's lesson. The length of the class is anywhere from 15-30 minutes. They will be doing English, math, Bible, and Spelling using the curriculum. They then do the book work on their own after watching the instructor. This will enable me to help them while also having the flexibility to deal with the little ones if I have to. A(9) is doing math using the distance learning program. S(4) will be doing Classical Conversations, Chinese, and learning the basic kindergarten subjects (letters, sounds, numbers, etc). Technically she wouldn't be starting in traditional school since her birthday falls after the cutoff by 13 days. We have opted to allow her to start since she has requested it. The nice thing about starting her "early" is that we have flexibility in the next year to adjust her level if we need to.

So how did I organize? Well, the Bob Jones material came in about 10 boxes...which was a little intimidating! I organized their material into binders and the dvds in to dvd containers. I may have to adjust some things as we begin to see if everything is working right. Each one has their own school bin in their given color...A(9) is orange, G(7) is yellow, N(6) is red, and S(4) is blue. We assigned each kid a color so that we can color coordinate things. For example, as they get older if they each have the same hair brush, we can color tag them so that they know which one belongs to them. Each day they will take their bin out and begin their work. I try to have a daily "to do" list for each of them. This allows them to know what they need to do each day.

The next thing that I organized (which I just finished this week) is their supply bins. The lady at the Bob Jones booth has 5 kids. She gave this great idea to mark each supply piece so that if you find something around the house, you know who it belongs to. I thought this was a great idea and I'm even taking it one step further. I will charge the girls $.05 per thing that I find. I want them to learn to clean up after themselves and keep things organized. Since we are involved in numerous classes both at home and outside the home, I created different bins. We have a Classical Conversations supply bin (in a metal lunch box), a Chinese supply bin (small plastic pencil box), and a homeschool supply bin. Each pencil, eraser, sharpener, crayon, etc is marked with their color tape. Below are some pictures of just how I have organized them. I don't know how long these will last or look nice, but at least we start the year out on a good foot. :) If you have any additional ideas that you think will help us out, just let me know.

#6 Has Arrived...

J (2 weeks old) arrived into our lives!! Here is her birth story...this is more for me so that I do not forget her story. Once you have had so many children, each story starts to blend over the years.

I was past my due date and I was getting desperate. I had been induced for my first four pregnancies. M(20 months) came on her own and that labor was so much better then being induced. I went to the doctor on my due date and they did a NST. Everything looked good so I was given the A-OK to not be induced until 41 weeks. My doctor doesn't feel comfortable letting me go longer then that given that #3 (N6) was a big baby and got stuck. So, I had a deadline in my head. Monday I was going to be induced. I started formulating a plan of things to try to get me to go into labor. My dear husband kept reminding me that I couldn't go into labor on Friday because he had a very important meeting at work that he needed to go to. So, I didn't take any drastic measures to try to help nature along until Friday night. My friend from church was due two weeks after me and we had been going to the mall every day that week and walking. It was wonderful to get some exercise and fellowship in at the same time, especially given that it was a nice air conditioned environment.

Friday night I decided to try a few different "natural" methods that are supposed to help induce labor. Although I had tried almost everything before with previous pregnancies, with #5 I did a few different things in one night. I was willing to try that again to hopefully get labor going. I scheduled a reflexology massage (a glorified 1/2 hour foot massage). I also got Mexican food for us to eat that night (covers the spicy category). I tried a few other methods listed on-line and then I tried Castor Oil. I had never done this method before and to be honest, I would tell any one never to try it. Castor oil is just a thick oil that is hard to swallow, even in a drink. It floated to the surface so once my drink was "done" all I had was this huge glob of "oil". I couldn't drink it and I'm sure I didn't take the whole dose. Whatever I took "worked". I was sick that night not feeling good from the Castor Oil. Even eating spicy salsa didn't cover the nasty aftertaste that Castor Oil left in my mouth.

On Saturday morning at 1:00am, I woke up thinking that the Castor Oil was still making me feel miserable. I got up and I was still out of it. I realized that the "pain" stopped and then started again a few minutes later. I went back to bed wondering if I was in labor. Another "pain" hit and I started thinking this is it!! That contraction woke up my husband. With #5, we stayed at home from 4-7am. We were only at the hospital a half hour when M(20months) made her appearance. So, once my husband realized that this was it, he packed up everything and told me to call the neighbor. A lady at church had offered to watch the kids, but my husband figured that we needed to leave NOW. He didn't want to deliver the baby at home or in the car. My wonderful neighbor, who is also a great friend, came over and we left for the hospital.

We got to the hospital around 1:30. We had to go in through the ER due to the time of day. I had to wait in line to tell "check in". At this time I was panicking a little because the contractions were close together and were pretty intense. I finally was called to the counter and I told them that I was in labor with #6. They stuck me in a wheelchair and told me to wait in the hall for the L&D nurse to get me. After about 5 minutes, my water broke. I have never had my water break on its own. It was crazy. If you ever want to get the attention of the whole ER (besides getting shot or something more serious like that), have your water break with #6. All of a sudden I was rushed and they wanted to check me to see if the baby was coming right there in the ER. Luckily I was only 5cm. The L&D nurse started wheeling me upstairs. Between the ER and my room, I went from 5 to 6cm. It was crazy and very intense, not to mention that I was still kind of out of it. It felt like I was in a movie.

It was now around 2am and I had my IV in with medicine since I was GBS+. My doctor showed up and told me that he'd come back and check me around 3:30. For an hour I had intense crazy labor pains. I had decided after #2 to never have an epidural again, so I was doing this without any pain medication. Now, God does something really "nice" for us ladies. He lets us remember that it was painful, but you don't remember just how horrible it is until you are in the midst of it. I do have to say that I was in transition with #6 a LOT longer then I had with my previous pregnancies. Around 3:15, I told my husband that he needed to get the nurse now because it was getting really bad and the baby would be coming. My doctor showed up and by 3:28, J was born. My total labor was just under 2 1/2 hours. It was an amazing and crazy experience. When the doctor was delivering the placenta, he showed the intern something in the umbilical cord. J had a true knot. My doctor looked at me and said that someone was watching over her. I had never heard of a true knot, but I heard him tell the intern that these are very rare. Later in my room I googled it and found out that most babies that have true knots do not make it. A lot of them die in the womb when the cord is pulled tight and some have died during delivery when the cord is pulled tight. I am so thankful for all the people at church who prayed for all of us and that God was watching over our little J.

We stayed in the hospital all of Saturday and then Sunday morning, I was told that I could go home. J tested negative for GBS, so that again was an answer to prayer. The nurses loved it when all of J's sisters showed up to visit. They came three times to visit us in the hospital...my husband was a brave man!!

We are now at home adjusting to our new life as a family of 8!! It is wild and crazy to think that we have six girls. We feel so blessed though with each daughter we have!