7 Quick Takes - Name that Saint!

Last night, all the children got dressed up as a favorite saint, loaded up into the van, attended holy Mass, and partied!  Our church has a well-attended, crazy, chaotic, super fun All Saints' Day party that the children look forward to all year long.  Honestly, they start discussing who they should be for the next year on the way home!  I thought it would be fun to play a little "Name that Saint" with some photos of the children in their finery!

(1)

I was born in present day New York in 1656.

I survived smallpox as a child and was an orphan.

I was baptized as a Roman Catholic and went to live at a Jesuit mission in present day Canada.

I was shunned by my Native American tribe because of my faith in Jesus Christ.
I am known as the Lily of the Mohawks.

I died at the age of 24.

          Who am I?

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

(2)

I lived in the 2nd century in Rome.

My purity and love for God converted my husband to the faith.

My husband and his brother were both martyred.  I died for Christ shortly after they did.

I am the patron saint of musicians and church music.

          Who am I?

Saint Cecilia

(3)

I was a carpenter and descendent of King David.

Angels spoke to me and told me how to best take care of my wife and son.

I am the foster father of Jesus and husband of Mary.

I am usually pictured with carpenter’s tools, the infant Jesus, or a staff with lily blossoms.
I am the patron of the Universal Church.

          Who am I?

Saint Joseph

(4)

I lived in Hungary in 11th century.

I was raised as a Christian.

I gave everything I could to the poor; many people did not like me for this.

While I was delivering bread to a poor family, my husband asked me what I was carrying. I told him roses but he did not believe me, when he looked into my basket, he miraculously saw roses instead of bread!

When my husband died, I used all of our money to build a hospital and care for the sick.

          Who am I?

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

(5)

I was born in 291 and died in 304.

My family was wealthy.

I was raised as a Christian.

I loved God more than anything else and God helped protect my purity.

I gave my life for God when I was only 13 years old.

My name means “chaste and pure”.

I am usually shown holding a lamb.

I am the patron saint of young girls.

          Who am I?

Saint Agnes

(6)

My story is found in the Old Testament in the bible before the time of Christ.

My husband is a king who chose me for his wife.  He did not know that I was a Jew.

An evil man named Haman wanted to get rid of all of the Jews. He was an aid to the king.

My cousin Mordecai told me of Haman’s plan and I bravely went to the king to save my people.

The king punished Haman and prevented him from killing all of the Jews because we trusted in God.

          Who am I?

Queen Esther

(7)

I was born in Mexico on 1474.

The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to me and told me to ask the Bishop to build her a church.

When I went to the Bishop, he did not believe me and asked for a sign.

I went back to the hill where I saw our Blessed Mother and picked roses that were growing in the winter.

I put the roses in my tilma and went back to the Bishop.

When I opened my tilma to show him the roses that were miraculously growing in the winter, a beautiful image of Mary was on my tilma.

The Bishop ordered the church to be built!

          Who am I?

Here's a picture of the beautiful image of Our Lady that the big girls worked on this weekend.  Peter wanted nothing to do with wearing this.  As soon as we put it on him, he began to scream!

Ahhhh...I'm so much happier without my costume on!

Juan Diego

(BONUS!)

Didn't the kids do a great job pulling their costumes together?  I also decided to dress up a little bit this year.  Take a good look at the picture to meet our new "saint in the making"....hee, hee, hee!

Hmmmm....I don't think that I look that big already.  Must just be the camera adding 10 pounds, huh?

We are so excited about this it's been hard to keep it a secret!  We're 10 weeks and all seems to be going well.  I've been going to an all NFP Catholic clinic and am really happy with the care we are receiving.  Baby is penciled in to arrive at the end of May, but as we all know, baby will come when he/she is good and ready!

I hope that you all had a wonderful All Saints' Day celebration and that you continue on with prayers for All Souls' Day tomorrow.

Head on over to Conversion Diary to see more quick takes.

God Bless!

Heather :-)

7 Quick Takes - Back to School Photos

The other day I was having one of those mornings.  What kind of mother am I?  We're two weeks into the school year and  I haven't even taken any back to school photos of the children?!?  So, we dropped everything and headed outside to snap some pictures.

Let me set the scene for you.  It was an absolutely, perfectly beautiful morning. I thought that the apple trees would make a nice backdrop for the photos.  However....there were hornets swarming in our little orchard.  And I don't mean like one or two friendly little pollen seeking fellows.  Nope!  There were dozens of angry hornets.  But, that was my chosen location.  I had my mind set on it, so I told the kids to suck it up.  After all, there aren't any bee allergies in our family, so there's nothing to worry about, right? This, I found, was not exactly reassuring or consoling to the children.  I should also add that in order to get a nice, bright, colorful picture, they each had to look directly into the sun....ooops!  Perhaps I should have waited until the sun was at a little different angle.  But, being a mom of seven kiddos, I knew that if we didn't do this now it may never get done.

So, with that back-story in mind....here are the 2013 Back to School Kraft Family Photos! (there should really be a drum roll or something, don't you think?!)

(1) Peter ~ Pre-pre-school

This little turkey keeps us laughing all day long.  He doesn't really do any "official" school work, but is underfoot every step of the way.  I'm sure he's gleaning some valuable lessons throughout the day.

(2) Esther ~ Pre-school

She's our accessory gal.  Notice the wristlets, bracelet, headband and all the other stuff in her hair that you can't see.  She carries at least one backpack with her everywhere she goes and really likes her "stuff".  Primarily, we're working on self control issues with this little angel and learning to play nice with her baby brother.

Look, Ma!  I totally photo-bombed Esther's picture!

(3) Eleanor ~ Kindergarten

This cutie-patootie started reading over the summer!  Not really from anything that I've done, just that she wants to keep up with her big siblings.  She is a very motivated learner and truly enjoys having her own official school work to complete!

(4) Lillian ~ 3rd Grade

She is our nonfiction girl.  The amount of knowledge in this young mind astounds me on a daily basis! She is a bookworm who enjoys re-reading her favorite biographies and various nonfiction pieces to make sure that she didn't miss anything the first time.

(5) Joseph ~ 4th Grade

Origami....Legos.....Origami.....Legos....I'm pretty sure these two topics occupy most of his waking hours.  He has a great mind for math and solves most of his problems mentally before I do.  He enjoys playing chess and even beat his dad once...don't tell anyone about that though, okay? (heee, heee)

(6) Haley ~ 7th Grade

Haley is my go-to gal.  She has a huge heart and loves to help anyone in need.  She says that she wants to be a teacher when she grows up and I think that she'd do a wonderful job.  She's working on learning guitar and is beginning to play some beautiful music.  If I can't find her anywhere else, she's usually hiding in her bed with a book.

(7) Madeline ~ 8th Grade

Madeline is also an avid reader. She began crocheting a few years back with some books that she checked out from the library.  She has become quite accomplished and will be selling items in my etsy shop soon (more to come on that later!). She's still enjoying ballet and is just about ready to dance with the advanced classes.  The whole dancing on one's toes looks so painful, yet beautiful at the same time.

That's the Kraft clan....from pre-pre-school through grade 8.  We tried a couple different group photos and none of them really turned out great.  So, I'll just leave you with this very real one!

I hope that your school year is off to a great start.  Ours is off to a start at least...the great is still in the works!

Join Jen over at Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes.

God Bless!

Heather :-)

7 (or 8 or 9) Quick Takes - Thrush

I am a breast feeding advocate. I believe all moms should try their best to nurse their babies. I have become a bit arrogant and smug about the superiority of breast milk.  I have patted myself on the back for nursing all 7 of my babies and never once having to crack open a can of formula.  Then, God decided to teach me a lesson in humility.  It's called thrush.

The past 2 months, I have been having difficulty nursing Peter. Through an ear infection and teething, he was less than cooperative about nursing and completely emptying each breast at feedings.  I had a plugged duct and worked that out with heat compress, massage and pumping.  No big deal, I've done this before.  I was on the lookout for mastitis. The discomfort continued.  My nipple burned and hurt most of the time.  Then there was the shooting pain through my breast that would take my breath away. I consider myself to be fairly tough with a high pain tolerance.  I don't whine (excessively anyhow!) and pretty much roll with the punches of motherhood.  But this was too much for me to handle on my own.  I consulted friends, the internet, lactation nurses, and eventually my ObGyn for the diagnosis of thrush.

Here are the 8 things I've tried to remedy thrush and what I think of each.

(1) Heat Compress

This does absolutely nothing for me.  But I continue to do it, because at least I feel like I'm trying to do something to make the situation better.

(2) Ibuprofen

This has had zero effect on my pain level.  I will, however, take a mega dose to try and get some sleep at night.

(3) Grapefruit Seed Extract

Basically, this is a natural antibiotic. Perhaps I didn't stick this out long enough, but it didn't do anything for me either.  But, it is natural and has very minimal side effects.

(4) Consultation with Lactation Nurse

This was perhaps the most helpful.  She knew what I was talking about and could describe my symptoms for me.  How does that saying go, "Misery loves company."  It was nice to know that other moms had went through this and made it through alright.

(5) Breast exam and ultrasound

My ObGyn didn't like the way that my breast tissue felt upon exam and wanted to rule out any type of abscess.  It was comforting to know that all the breast tissue is normal, although I don't know if this was necessary.

(6) Diflucan

My ObGyn started me on a 10 day course of Diflucan.  I am only on day 2.  I am hopeful this will take care of the yeast problem so that I can make it through a day without wincing in pain and grabbing my breast...it just isn't socially acceptable, you know!

(7) Gentian Violet

We called all over town to find this stuff.  We're heading out of town on Sunday and I didn't have time to order it and have it delivered to the house.  Finally, we found a WalMart that had it in stock about 40 minutes away.  My lovely husband (man, I love that guy!) hopped in the car and picked it up for me.  The purpose of this is to kill any yeast that is on my breast.  Also, when Peter nurses it gets in his mouth to kill any yeast that might be hiding out in his mouth. It is a purple die.  I have purple nipples and a baby with a purple mouth.  I don't care.  I just want to feel better.

(8) Probiotics/Yogurt/Reduce Sugar in Diet

I think it is hard to measure this one.  The idea here is to get the good bacteria growing and reduce intake of anything that the yeast can eat/grow in (sugar).  I'm taking a probiotic and eating at least one yogurt a day.

(9) Frequent Nursing

Even the thought of nursing makes me wince.  However, I have been advised to continue nursing at the same level or even more frequently.  The most difficult thing is to appear relaxed during nursing so that Peter will relax and nurse comfortably.

I understand now that sometimes breastfeeding can be so painful and difficult that moms just don't/can't/won't do it.  I have the perspective of 12 years and 7 babies to know that I'll get through this, but a new mom wouldn't have that. Now, through the grace of God, I have the humility to understand that I'm not in this mothering thing alone.  I have spent a number of sleepless nights asking God for the ability to suffer well and offering it up for those on my prayer list.  Most importantly, I get it.  Just because something works for me doesn't mean that it works or is best for everyone else.

I am still a breast feeding advocate.  I still think all moms should try their best to nurse their babies.  But, I understand that it just doesn't work for everyone...and it's not up to me to judge that.

Take a peek at other Quick Takes here.

UPDATE - I ended up doing a ten day course of Diflucan followed by a ten day course of antibiotics, neither of which seemed to have any effect.  I continued to tough it out for another 6 weeks, and then decided to ween him off of that "bad" side.  He is now almost 16 months old and I am only nursing him on one side before he goes to bed for the night. I have absolutely no residual issues with any sort of pain or discomfort.  The lactation nurse said that once the milk dried up and there was no more sugar for the yeast to eat, the pain would subside.  She was right!  Let's hope that she was also correct in saying that it won't "linger" for any future milk that may come with any other babies/nursing experiences.

God Bless!

Heather :-)

7 Quick Takes - Birthday Bash!

On Wednesday our family celebrated our 5th annual birthday bash with 130 of our friends and family.  Instead of having 7 separate parties for the children, we combine them into one mega-party and go all out.  Using the 7 Quick Takes format, here is a peek at this year's celebration.

(1) T-shirts

We buy shirts on sale ($2.50 each) and Todd makes an iron on for the front (5th Annual Kraft Birthday Bash) and the back (child's name and birthday) so that the birthday kids are easy to pick out in a crowd.

Here's the front of this year's shirt...

and the back!

(2) Carnival Games

We have a carnival set up in our backyard and the neighbors graciously let us spill over into their yard as well.  Throughout the year we pick up prizes as they go on clearance (Target dollar aisle when it's 70% off if a favorite place to look!) to keep the budget down in that area.  Each child gets a bag with 30 tickets inside that they can use at any of the carnival games. The fishing game is always a huge hit!

Here's Haley and Eleanor getting the sucker pull ready - another crowd pleaser!

(3) Food

This is kept really simple and requires no cutlery.  I have sloppy joes or hot dogs along with carrot sticks, watermelon, and chips.  I also have two big drink containers - one filled with water and the other filled with lemonade.

We have the food set up in the garage.  There are a few tables and chairs, but folks take their food and sit on the lawn or in chairs they bring along to watch the magic show.

(4) Cake

I order two full sheet cakes from Sam's Club for $37 a piece.  This is a super tasty cake and is the best price I can find anywhere.

Esther really wanted to stick her finger into that big frosting balloon!

(5) Strolling Magic

This is the second year we had Magician Matt Dunn attend the party.  He did some strolling magic during the carnival which was a hit again.  More than one mom came up to me and said, "Your magician stole my watch!"  The kids loved being able to be up close and personal with a "real, live magician".  It was pretty spendy, but a favorite and memorable addition to the party.

(6) Magic Show

Magician Matt Dunn did a magic show after supper.  He has a very dry sense of humor and had us all laughing out loud.  He did an excellent job utilizing volunteers from the audience and including our children into his show.

Here's the guests all finding a spot to watch the magic show.

They loved being part of the show!

(7) Food Shelf Donations

Each year we ask that our guests bring a donation for the food shelf instead of a gift for our family.  This year we collected  606 pounds of food!  Over the past 5 years of birthday bashes our friends and family have blessed the local food shelf with 2,400 pounds of food!  Isn't that amazing?!?  It is such a wonderful thing to have the children bring the donations to the food shelf and know that their celebration is helping other families in need.

That's what 606 pounds of food looks like in the back of Big Blue!

Waiting for the staff to add up the total pounds of our donation.

And of course I need to mention all the generous souls who volunteer to help us with this wonderful event.  We couldn't do it without all of them.  We thoroughly enjoy this celebration and look forward to it all year long.  Eleanor asked me today, "Mommy, how many more days until the next Birthday Bash?"  I'm sure that isn't the only time I'll have to answer that question!

God Bless!

Heather :-)

My Krafty Kids - 7 Quick Takes

We've been on "Baby Break" for 2 weeks now.  We are doing a bit of Math so that the children don't regress too much and at least an hour of reading time.  But that still leaves a lot of day time hours to fill.  All of the children are working on various projects.  We've got extra tables set up to accommodate three latch hook kits in the sun room.  The littles are cutting, pasting, and coloring up a storm...not to mention the hours of play-dough at the kitchen table. 

And then there's my Madeline.  She has really gotten into crocheting this past year.  Each trip to the library is spent browsing crochet books and magazines.  Her favorite Christmas gift this year was the Crochet-A-Day calendar that is full of projects for her to tackle.  I thought I'd share with you some of her most recent creations.

(1) Peter's Slippers

She made these in anticipation of his birth and we wondered whether or not his feet would really be that tiny.  They fit like a glove.

(2) Peter's Hammer

This is stuffed with fluff and crinkle material so that it is soft and makes a crinkle noise when squeezed.  She also put some jingle bells in the head of the hammer to make it a kind of rattle.  He's not all that interested in it yet, but I'm sure it will be a favorite toy in the near future!

(3) Peter's Hat and Cocoon

 

This was also made before he was born.  The hat is getting plenty of use, but the cocoon is more of a photo prop.  Adorable!

(4) Play Mice

I don't know if Peter will ever get to play with these, as his older sisters have claimed them.

(5) Hat...uh, make that a Basket

This pattern for a hat didn't work out as planned, so she made a handle and turned it into a basket.  She has plans of crocheting little animals for the little kids to give them for Easter.

(6) Roller Coaster Scarf

This scarf was made all in one day!  It's two shades of green, so it will be the perfect accessory to wear on St. Patrick's Day.

(7) Head Band with Bow

Madeline found this pattern on Wednesday and already has six crocheted in various colors.  I'll bring them along with me to the Hearts at Home Conference and see if they sell.  They are super cute, don't you think?!

I know I need to post about Peter's birth and post some newer photos.  It's coming.  Life has gotten busier with Peter's arrival and he loves to be held....and I love to hold him.  Babies just don't stay babies for long.  I am enjoying holding him and watching his siblings gush all over him.  Life is good!

I'm linking over to 7 Quick Takes - head on over to read more quick takes.

God Bless!

Heather :-)

7 Quick Takes - A Few of My Favorite Christmas Things

I had such grand ambitions of posting about our Advent and Christmas traditions only to fall short on time and energy.  So, I've chosen the 7 Quick Takes route and will give you the much abridged version which will do just fine!

(1) Heirloom Tree Skirt

I found this idea many years back in a Family Fun magazine.  When I was pregnant with Haley during Advent of 2001, I made a simple tree skirt out of velvet.  It was kind of spendy, but I figured we'd have it for a long time and used a coupon to soften the blow.  I got started with a hand print of Madeline (17 months) and Haley (a couple days old) for the first year's "entry".  I've continued all the way around in the subsequent years and this year had to begin tier two.  We all enjoy this heirloom tree skirt.  It is so much fun to see how our family has grown through the years.

The skirt around the tree.

I trace each child's hand, cut it out, and trace around it with gold metallic fabric paint.  The cookie cutter is traced onto white felt and then I write the year on it and stuck it on with tacky glue.

Esther and Eleanor seeing how their current hand size compares to last year.

(2) Children's Ornament Collection

Each year we make a special trip to the store for the children to choose an ornament that tells something about them that happened in the past year.  The younger kids almost always choose a character that they enjoy reading about or watching on television.  However, the older children really put some thought into it.

Joseph chose a golf cart because this was the first year he drove (and crashed...oops!) a golf cart.  Lillian has developed a knack for photography and even talked Grandma into letting her have one of her old cameras to snap photos.

When the children leave home and have their first official Christmas with their own tree, we'll pass along all of their ornaments that they've collected over the years.  I think back to my and Todd's first Christmas tree covered in tinsel and colored balls purchased at Target...wouldn't it have been nice to have a tree filled with memories instead?!

(3) Advent Family Reading

Last year, we thoroughly enjoyed reading Jotham's Journey.  This year, we picked up Tabitha's Travels and it was fabulous.  The daily reading time is short and very do-able.  We even brought the book along on our family vacation as the children can hardly wait to read the daily installment of the story.

(4) Home Made Gifts

Teacher gifts can be a tricky order to fill.  You want to make it something nice that will be used and appreciated, but nothing that is too spendy or over the top.  Luckily, our family enjoys making gifts. This year, we made St. Nicholas Hot Chocolate mix (from Catholic Cuisine) and have gotten nothing but rave reviews from all who received a canister from one of the children.  We even mixed up an extra batch for our family.  It is yummy!

I found canisters at the Dollar Store and attached simple tags with mixing directions.

(5) Christmas Eve Pizza and Malts

Our first few Christmases I felt obligated to make something traditional...turkey, ham...something that took a long time to bake, children typically don't enjoy,  and created an exorbitant amount of leftovers.  Then, one year, it dawned on me.  Why not have something easy that makes everyone happy?  Our tradition has been for the past few years to have pizza and malts on Christmas Eve.  We don't have any family who joins us for Christmas, so it's only the 8 of us who need to be happy.  It is super easy (makes me happy!) and who doesn't like pizza and malts (makes the kids happy!)?  And when mom and the kids are happy, it's only logical that papa bear is happy too!

(6) Christmas Day Chinese Take-out

This year we extended this to Christmas Day as well.  The local Chinese buffet advertised that they would be open on Christmas Day and it got me thinking.  I asked the family what they would think about take-out for Christmas Day and they all jumped on the bandwagon. I made the rice in our rice cooker at home to save money.  This went over well and I think we'll be doing it again next year!

(7) Christmas Eve Mass

Madeline was assigned as an altar server at the 10:30 pm Mass on Christmas Eve.  I have to admit that I was a little frightened about how it would go with the littles so far past their bedtime.  Getting out of present mode and into church mode was a bit challenging, but it all worked out.  The Mass was absolutely beautiful and incredibly prayerful.  I think this may be another new tradition for us!

When we got home, each of the children had a new pair of pj's on their beds.  They slipped into them and then were allowed to keep them on all Christmas Day, which if you know me at all, this is so NOT what I am all about.  But, I must admit, the children really enjoyed it and it will probably catch on as something we do on Christmas Day.

There you have it...our Advent and Christmas celebrations in a nutshell.  I have enjoyed reading about all of your celebrations and now feel that I have added just a bit to the discussion!

God Bless!

Heather :-)

7 Quick Takes

I've been so absorbed in schooling that I've fallen way behind in everything else, including this blog.  Honestly, I feel so back-logged that I don't even know where to pick up.  But, I was reading Melody's blog today and thought...that's how I should do it.   I decided to play catch up with 7 Quick Takes Friday

(1)

First Day of School - Take 1

We started school a few weeks back and it went horribly.  I mean, really bad.  The children resisted me at every turn and had horrible attitudes.  But I persevered and kept at it all week...that was one long week!  Thankfully, Todd had some vacation days he needed to use or lose so we took the next week off and had family time.  We thought about going somewhere, but decided there were plenty of things within an hour drive that we should take advantage of.  So, we began our stay-cation (vacation when one stays at home.)

(2)

Kraft Family Stay-cation Day 1 - Off to the Races!

It was a beautiful late summer day in Minnesota.  We loaded up the kids and took them to the horse races at Canterbury Park.  Madeline adores horses and was super excited.  She even borrowed out horse-themed apparel to her sisters...now that's sisterly love!  We watched four races and placed small bets on them.  We ended up breaking even for the day as the "winnings" paid for our admission and covered the losses.

Placing our bets.

(3)

Kraft Family Stay-cation Day 2 - Day of Park

This was another picture perfect day.  We made a list of some favorite parks across the metro area and took off for the day.  This didn't cost anything other than gas (which for Big Blue is no small thing!) and our meals out.  I was going to pack lunch, but hey, we were on stay-cation.  So I figured Mom should get a break too!  The kids had a blast and played their hearts out.

We made an impromptu stop at Minnehaha Falls.  The children had never seen it and couldn't take their eyes off the beauty and wonder of God's creation.

(4) 

Kraft Family Stay-cation Day 3 - Apple Orchard

Amazingly, the weather was fabulous for a third day in a row.  We went to a local apple orchard.  It wasn't just an orchard, however.  They are a working farm and do a great job educating children and adults about farm life.  There were a bunch of farmyard animals that the children were encouraged to pet, feed, and play with.  We packed a lunch and ate at a picnic table under a shady tree.  Ahhhh....life really doesn't get much better than that!

There were a few huge bins like this filled with corn, much like a sand box.  The kids could have spent the entire day in there!

(5)

Kraft Family Stay-cation Day 4 &5 - Back Yard Camp Out

We had some friends bring over a tent and we pitched our tents in the back yard.  We grilled out and had a bonfire with s'mores.  We had breakfast together and lots of fun and laughs!  This is one of our favorite things that we do each fall.  Since the tent was up, we kept it up a second night.  Why is it so much fun to sleep anywhere but your own bed when you're a kid?

All the men-folk working on one of the tents.

(6)

First Day of School - Take 2

All great things must come to an end.  So I took a day to rethink our school schedule and routine.  Here is what I came up with...I blew it!  I got the kids up on day one of week one and just jumped right into our school day.  There was no "hoop-la" or anything special to set the day apart from any other day.  This struck me as I watched all the parents walking their children to the bus and taking photos of them getting onto the bus on the first day of school.  

I bought a "Welcome" banner and decorated our school room a bit.  I wrote a note to each of the children about how excited I was for the new school year and how proud I was of them.   I also made these pencils for each of the four big kids from Catholic Cuisine.

I have to say, that making the day different and having a few special treats made a big difference.  Lillian said, "Mom when will I start 2nd grade?  I really like that yummy candy pencil and I'd like another one!"  I guess the little things do make a difference!

Welcome sign with each of their names and grade hanging from it.  They want it to stay up all year...we'll see!

I used the template for the Rollo pencil - didn't it turn out cute?  And it was so easy!

(7)

Webinar Writing Class for the Big Girls

This is a completely new experience for the Kraft family.  Up to this point, I have taught the children all core curriculum subjects.  They do take dance and art with other teachers, but I am not artistic or able to dance well so that made sense.  I, however, was a certified reading/writing teacher in my previous life.  I completely understand the how of teaching writing. My struggle....TIME!

I actually purchased the IEW program and was very happy with it, but was not consistent in doing a lesson/assignment each week.  It was killing me to have this outstanding program sitting on my shelf that was getting only occasional use.

I knew of a fabulous writing teacher who offered classes to home schoolers, but she taught about an hour away.  This was just not a feasible option.  This fall she began offering her classes via a webinar format.  I bit the bullet and signed the girls up for the class...two weeks late! (ugh!)  We're still playing catch-up and will be relieved when we're on schedule.  The girls are really enjoying it and the guilt about paying for a class I am capable of teaching is lessening a little bit each day (sigh).

Now you're caught up on most of what's been going on in our family life.  There are more details to fill in, but that's for another day.

God Bless!

Heather :-)