They Learn Through Example

One day I was sitting in the kitchen, and Briton came into the room pushing a laundry basket. He had a proud look on his face, as he stood up straight and strode with head held high back down to the laundry room.

He had seen the girls doing laundry and had been watching them. That little guy had learned each and every step of running a load of laundry! He moved the washing to the dryer, emptied the lint guard, turned the machine to go on for 60 minutes, and shut the door!

Climbing Up To Empty the Washer

Most Efficient Way of Getting the Clothes Out

Loading the Dryer

I had someone video tape, while I took some pictures and it was amazing. Hopefully sometime I will be able to post the video. It really shows just how capable our little children are and how much they want to be considered big enough to help! Briton was as pleased as punch when he completed the job with no errors!

Now I just wish my older boys could learn to do as well!
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How Does My Garden Grow?

One day I came home and found some flowers in a box on my front porch. I thought to myself, “How kind. Ray brought me some flowers.” I then found out he didn’t even know they were there. *grin* It turned out that a subcontractor that works for him sometimes had dropped them off. I haven't since seen the man, but I aim to thank him. He must have taken pity on my completely bloomless yard!

The next day, I saw him walking around the corner of the house with a garbage can that was cut off about 10” from the bottom. I thought to myself, “How kind. Ray is going to make me a planter.” Never mind the fact that it was a garbage can. It was somewhere to put flowers! I later saw him mixing concrete in it for the base of the house where he is applying rocks. *smile*

The flowers continued to sit there. I have not got a green thumb. I kill what I plant. I plant marigolds and potatoes. Why? Because I have no clue what else to plant. Oh, I have a great eye for flowers. I know what *looks* beautiful! I just have no clue how to create it. Nor do I have desire to create time for that. It is not my love. But I would *love* to have a garden like that

I have seen my sister’s and been envious. But she had enjoyed creating it and that is the key. You usually enjoy putzing and putting these things together. Not I! I would enjoy sitting and looking at one of these beautiful gardens, but I have no inclination to spend my summer creating it.

So, one day my dear, sweet, multi-talented son, Cassidy, offered to plant the pretty flowers for me. He was working on a vegetable garden at the time. A garden that would not be done in time for summer. It was already summer! Oh well. He could have it ready for next spring, when he could simply freshen the dirt and plant it.

Cassidy Let Briton Choose the Order of the Flowers

So now, I have flowers.

And don’t say, “How sad. How pathetic is her garden.” Because I know. It truly is. But at least there are blooming things in my yard. My sister came to see me and she said, “Are those ---- .” And I said, “I have no clue. They are colourful. They are pretty. That’s all I know.” And I do not even know what flowers she suggested they might be! *grin*

I have always wanted hanging baskets, and big container gardens, so when I went to my friend’s house the other day and saw her amazing garden I hired her on the spot. I asked her if she could take on my garden. She will tell my husband and sons where I want the containers built – and she will tell them how big, what design etc. Then she will pick the plastic containers when she is at Costco. She will be the one that tells me to order bark mulch or rock and she will pick and choose the flowers and plants that she thinks will look good. I, of course, will give her my opinion, but based on what she has done at her house, I will trust her judgement.

Dear friend that she is, she was willing to do it for free. What a blessing she is to me. But I so want a garden that I want to give to her, so that she can buy herself something just for herself, as a thank you for her kindness. So stay tuned for next years garden.

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Need Wood?

Recently, our boys had the job of splitting a huge stack of logs that were cut down last winter. Ray kept waiting for time to do it himself and I asked him why? Why didn’t he just get the boys to do it?

I am so used to delegating that I can’t believe he wouldn’t think that way himself. To me, delegating is a very important job. If you do not delegate jobs then you are not training your children, and you are setting yourself and them up for them to enter the world with less abilities!

Everytime one of my children learns a new skill I am pleased. It is like a checkmark in an invisible book of life. One more thing that they are capable of.

The boys all vied to run the machine and so they all took turns.

And you should see how strong my boys are.

Cooper Helps Out

Even the tiny ones like Austin! He may be the size of many seven year olds, but he is one strong little man! I was trying to wrestle him to the ground the other day *smile* and I could feel the strength in his arms! Having your boys haul and stack logs all winter long is a simple weight lifting real life activity. And it’s free!

I had a little laugh when I saw Austin’s attire when he was told he needed to have goggles if he wanted to run the machine. Swim goggles!

The boys won’t be very pleased when they find out that Ray is going to chop down a few more trees in the back yard this year!

The Finished Product

I like the free firewood and the labour it produces for testosterone filled boys! When my boys are full of energy, testosterone, or negative attitudes they run laps, do pushups, or haul logs.

And it pays off.

Our boys don’t think anything of running 4-6 km a day. It is routine for them. And the pushups have been happening since they were about five years old. It suddenly occurred to me the other day that Colt, who made it to Para, based on physical fitness that is mainly made up from pushups and running, was training since he was five years old! While other boys might have been jumping on furniture my boys were running laps. Ever since we moved to the country we have had a ‘lap track’.

In our old home there were four trees that created a square. Our boys ran however many times around the track. They’d hear, “Go! Five laps!” And they would come back much more ready to sit and do their lessons. Boys can’t be still. They have so much energy and as they get older it becomes aggressiveness. And not always negative. More often that not they are simply wrestling or rough housing. But not in a house! So now, in our present house the bigger boys hear, “Take a run! Two blocks!” We are fortunate enough to live on a street that borders two ‘circle loops’, so my boys can run in one direction in a circle, check in, and then run the other way. From the air it would look like a figure eight, with us in the middle. Each block run is about 2 km.

And when they learn to cut through the woods to shorten it, you learn to give another block run when you catch them or if you suspect it! *smile* They don’t often try that trick anymore! And when they are inclined to walk instead of run, you put time limits on it to make sure they are back in a reasonable time, or they end up getting given two runs. As it stands, it makes a fabulous PE program, because just our big boys do it. The older boys report their runs to a PE teacher, along with their pushups, and get credits for it. They also get the chance to get in shape by working in construction for their dad when they hit about age eleven. When our oldest son went into school for a year he went up against kids in arm wrestling. He beat them all. Though he is thin, he is wiry and strong.

The younger ones are in training, so when they hit grade 7 and up they will be quite fit. Right now, the middle-sized ones run laps around the perimeter of our property. One of the first things I noticed when we bought our property was how perfect a track it had on the fence line. Of course, the boys weren't impressed that I noticed. *smile* And the littlest two aren't far behind. Their training includes running driveway laps.

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My Little Worker Bees

When the big boys are away the work falls more to the little ones. Training them up early is something I have long believed in. Way back to when Colt was tiny. And it is certainly paying off! I no longer cook seven days a week. I now cook twice a week! Love it!

Making a Blueberry Crumble

Cooper (6) and Austin (9) made the complete dinner on Saturday. Austin made the stroganoff and then proceeded to teach Cooper how to peel potatoes. So now, Cooper is the potato peeler on Saturday to go along with Austin's stroganoff. He is very proud to be able to be Austin's helper!

It is very important to teach children skills because they so want to help! If you harness this desire when they are young and willing, they will learn so many skills! And before you know it, by the time they are thirteen and wanting to do other things, they have learned all the basics to run a home: run a washing machine and dryer; cook a number of decent meals; bake cookies, muffins, breads; mop, vacuum, and thoroughly clean bathrooms and so much more.

My children enter their kitchen 'real' cooking training by the time they are nine and by the time they are fifteen they could feed a family and run their own home. And by this time, they have begun working for their dad learning all about construction. They begin in this trade slowly with a few hours here or there from the age of 11 on.

By eighteen, our son will be able to build a house on his own. My husband recently said that he works better than most men he knows. And this word of appreciation is not just spoken by my husband, but by every man who has worked with Colt. So, by the time the boys are leaving home they have a trade to fall back on from all the years on the construction sites.

On our Saturday clean, the children work hard and most of the house is cleaned by them. They all have their areas and know how to do them well. Because they have worked on their designated rooms for so many months, I no longer have to guide them through the work. I simply tell them what needs to be done and then check on them.

Cleaning the Painting Easel

Raine is my main laundry lady. She is the Laundry Boss. She already knows how to load the machine with her clothes, add the correct amount of soap and run the washer and dryer. She takes her job seriously and her little sister is a great assistant. When it comes to laundry folding, Cooper, Savannah, and sometimes Briton, work with her.


She wears the title Laundry Boss with great pride. She even has her baseball cap with the words "The Boss" on it. There is such a difference between boys and girls!! I go and answer the phone and come back to find two little girls folding laundry, so nicely. And then I see the boys. Oh, but I heard them, while I was on the phone! They were romping and wrestling and carrying on!

And of course, a pair of ripped underwear makes a great object to dress up in, doesn't it!

Makes a Great Mask!

Notice the Two Diligent Workers Behind the Cadet?

Cooper is such a little gentleman! He saw his sister beginning to carry the vacuum up to her bedroom and he immediately jumped in and offered to carry it for her.
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Rest Margin

I spoke once before about margins and how they helped us financially. Right after watching that video series I was convicted of how I needed a margin. I was squeezed so tight, and I still am, that I didn't have any margin: emotionally or time-wise. I realized then that something had to change.

Ray has always been a good provider, but that has meant that he has worked 6 days a week most of the time. That in turn has meant that he has done yard work on Sundays, which has meant NO TIME OFF. Our kids looked at Sundays as a work day. They did not look forward to Sundays at all. Church in the morning and then yard work in the afternoon.

As I know, that is not Biblical. Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest. But how do you rest when you have a yard to keep up, a house that seems to never get finished being built, and business banking and school reporting obligations to fulfill on Saturday and Sunday?

I decided to formulate a plan. I was not going to write about this until I had seen it in action long enough to report that it was actually working. Time has gone by, and I can safely say: I love it!

Monday to Friday we school. We fluctuate how much we do and when we do it but those are school days. When I have to do the banking the younger ones do what they can and then have a 'Pro-D' day. The older ones can proceed without me. That banking day only happens about once every two-three weeks, so it works perfectly fine. No more Saturday banking. The school observations (that I have to send to the school where we are registered) are done in an afternoon. No more Saturday observations.

The boys are now cooking dinner most days, so I can also find more time to do the banking and observations within my weekdays. Then the big change is Saturday. This is a new day for us. Right now there is nothing Ray can do outside due to the snow, so he continues to work on Saturday. But once the weather breaks he will work at home on Saturdays. But for the rest of us Saturday is a big day and I love it.

I have never had a scheduled cleaning day. I am not into it. Who knows when I am going to feel like going to the beach, shopping, to the library, caught up in a project, or who knows what. Well, then my cleaning day falls away and I feel lousy. I used to clean here and there through the week, but not one complete scrub-down in one day.

BUT, now I have this plan. Saturday we clean the whole house. The girls are (well, Mesai) helpful. They clean their room. The boys clean their room. One big boy cleans the bathrooms thoroughly. Another big boy washes the floors, and I vacuum the floors and carpets.

As well as this, I have been using each Saturday over the last month to purge and clean out. Last Saturday, I was reorganizing bookshelves: putting things back where they go, cleaning out doubles of books, etc. By the time I was done the shelves were tidy, and I had a pile of books for the second hand shop.

As well as cleaning the whole house top to bottom, I am putting together two very simple recipes. One of the recipes is for Saturday night and the other is for Sunday. Saturday is a chicken and rice recipe and Sunday is a stroganoff (or one other alternate). They go in the fridge, until I need to put them in the oven.

And finally, the laundry is running constantly. I am finalizing all laundry that needs to be run through before the end of the week: church clothes, emptying everyone's basket (each child has their own basket to make laundry easier to do). As the loads come through during the course of the day, my laundry committee comes together: Gadisae, Cooper and Mesai. They fold and deliver.

The kids all have their Saturday night baths/showers and make sure they have their clothes ready for Church for Sunday.

We have a quick dinner on paper plates and then we have our Saturday night family movie. The kids love it and it is a reward for work well done by everyone.

On Sunday, the way we go through the day is to do only what is necessary. No laundry. No real cleaning. Vacuuming as necessary. (Sorry, I can't stand a mess, and if I was to ignore the crumbs that eight kids make I would fill a dustpan on Monday morning!)

Get up, I bead the girls hair at the crack of dawn before everyone wakes up, eat breakfast, go to Church, come home and eat lunch, naps for littles, big ones sit around and read books, play games, watch a hockey game, kids wake up, play, eat dinner on paper plates, throw out the dishes *grin*, get kids ready for bed, then Ray and I go to our Couple's Group with three other couples, while the big boys babysit and put the kids to bed.

We have done this for four Sundays now, and it has been liberating!! Absolutely marvellous! There is time to just simply 'be a family' and not 'be doing'.

As time goes by, we will be challenged by the busy building season and Ray feeling the need to work on Saturdays, but hopefully we will be able to remember how rewarding our six day week has been and we will stick to it. My plans include beach days, ski times, zoo trips, day trips.

And God did intend for us to recharge our batteries. Everything has a season. Remember even God took a break on the 7th day. He knew we would need time off to enjoy what He had created and to do what we love to do!
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To Be Part of a Family Is To Help

I have been rather slow in getting the girl to do chores. Each day has been a new day, with new accomplishments and new routine. The first few days were simply survival. I had a cold for the first ten days - praise God that noone else got it!!!!

During that time I was also unpacking and cleaning up the house. Following this I had to dive head first into getting my older boys into their online highschool courses. That took up so much of my time. And actually, getting them rolling and doing their schoolwork in that first week was what truly exhausted me. I was completely worn out. I am sure there was jetlag, and the transition of having two new children, but truly, it was having two highschool students to get *moving* and *motivated* - we are not quite there yet, but at least *I* know what they are doing and now they are responsible for it. Not me any longer!

So once things started to feel 'normal' around here - as in, this week *smile* - I began to give out jobs.

Mesai was pleased to be offered the job of sweeping the deck. I am sure, now that I think about it, before she entered the orphanage she didn't have a lot of time for playing. Life was about helping. In this last month - can it already be a month that we have had them!! - they have played, played, played!

Gadisae's First Job - Empty the Dryer

Cleaning Out the Holes

Ray is putting in the fence around the sports court and the children were helping him dig the holes, or clean out the dirt, depending on how old they are. Gadisae was Ray's "Water Girl". When I went outside she passed me carrying the bucket and said, "Oohaa" (water). When she returned with her 2 cups of water in the bottom she proudly smiled at me. Each time she emptied the bucket for Ray she would proudly skip off to get more.

Water Girl

Notice her cute little gloves? They are a pair of socks she found that Briton had removed and left in the yard. *smile*