6.6.17 Summer Days

It's always good to have the big kids home. Aliza is so patient with the little girls and they get a lot done. She managed this cleaning out the fridge process while I took Addie to town to stock the pantry. All those days of years supply are now being gobbled up and I'm left with lots of empty buckets and shelves. It's almost alarming how much we consume. 

In an effort to be more frugal I decided to take up culturing. I have been doing yogurt for a month or two and heard buttermilk was super easy too. When I had just a bit left it made sense to try it out. Simply add 1 C starter (store buttermilk) to 3 C milk and let sit on counter for 12-24 hours with a cloth covering. EASY! Worked like a charm.

The best thing I did this summer, and might be a new tradition, was ordering about 150 books from ebay for my family to donate to a parade. The best part is the kids are in heaven reading so many diverse books at their leisure and no overdue fines!!! YES! It has been a relatively cheap fun part of summer so far. 

And Bruce is on many an adventure this summer. So many activities and possibilities. He loves watching the chickens we have 1 baby chick and he loves being outdoors with the other monkey(kids) here. They put on plenty of water fight shows, lawn mowing exhibitions and various singing and dancing renditions. He's a lucky guy to have so much stimulus.

There was an article on the lds.org website about mothering and how we needed to distinguish between house managers and mothers. They are different. Yes! At the beginning of our time together I was in a panic about how to manage the little kids and the active big kids. The scripture that spoke to me was Mosiah chapter 4: 14 

And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness.15 But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.

So I am focused and tired. I work all day doing dishes and cooking or buying more groceries and for good measure do some laundry. I'm working on organization and helping them learn.  Then today while searching that scripture I found this one just a little later

 Mos 4:27  And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.

All thing must be done in order. Ahh the wisdom. So I will be diligent and pace myself and focus on the most important things. Which for me are reading, feeding, loving, and teaching my children. hopefully we will have some fun along the way. So far we've had a lot of water fights, which are good! And a great memorial day. Now swimming this week, father's and son's and who knows what else. Best to you this summer.