Linda's Lunacy

Faith, Home, & Family

The End of a Family Tradition

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When our oldest, who is now 25, learned how to read I bought him a Bible with his name engraved on the front. I continued that will the rest of our 6 children. With the last one just recently.

 

 

Zachary, 11, had been asking for his Bible. So I gave him one as a present for the 1st night of Hanukah. He was so happy to get it!

I have been so blessed to be able to help all my 6 children learn to read. I have been so blessed that they all looked forward to receiving their personalized Bibles.

This is a family tradition I highly recommend.

I could feel sad that this family tradition has come to an end. Instead, I think I’ll look forward to continuing this tradition with my grandchildren.   🙂

 

Making a Home – Happy Birthday!

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We had a birthday this week! My beautiful Hannah America turned 16. Yes, her middle name is America. My grandmother’s name was America.

Hannah had a slumber party for her birthday, then had to go to volleyball practice that afternoon.  The girls didn’t go to sleep until AFTER 4:30 a.m. So you know they were dragging at 3 o’clock practice. Somehow, they managed to get through it. lol

I made cupcakes for her birthday this year. I talked to her volleyball coach ahead of time, and got permission to bring cupcakes for after practice. Hannah didn’t know this. The kids and I managed to get the cupcakes in the van without Hannah knowing it. So she was really surprised at practice. Score one for mom! lol Hey, when you homeschool, and your kids are around all the time, it’s really hard to surprise them, as they see everything. lol

 

I found a volleyball graphic online, edited in the free editing software I use to add her name to it. I then glued two volleyballs together with a toothpick in the center. They made cute little cupcakes, perfect for having after volleyball practice.  🙂

And later that night, the birthday girl with one of the cupcakes at the family celebration. Which to due to circumstances, was at about 10 at night. Which explains why she looks like she’s about to fall over. lol Remember the 4:30 a.m. sleep time? lol

Happy  16th Birthday, Hannah!

 

What did you do last week to make your house a home?

 

MakingaHome

Where we share all aspects of Making a Home. Share your posts about homemaking ideas, recipes, crafts, decorating, cleaning tips, basically anything that has to do with caring for a home and family.
Making a home for my family is very important to me and I’m always looking for tips and ideas.
So, link up your posts, and let’s all support each other in making our homes better for our families.

Please provide a link back to me. A text link is fine. Of course, family friendly posts only.

 



Hope Chests

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When I was a teenager, my mother gave me her hopechest. It was given to her by her parents the night of her and my fathers engagement party.

When my oldest daughter was a teenager, I passed it down to her.

Except now, I have two more daughters and no more hopechests. Have you looked at the price of hopechests lately? Well, I have. The are very expensive. So, what’s a mother to do?

We know a local man that builds furniture. We have 4 other pieces that he has made. So I asked him to make me two chests.

I had them made smaller than a traditional hope chest, as we just don’t have the room for 2 full size ones. I just love how they turned out!

Here’s the inside of one:

He even has a stamp that he uses on the items he makes. I made sure he stamped both of them on the inside lid.

I found these Cedar Drawer Liners and I plan one ordering them to line at least the bottoms of the chests. I also plan on sanding and finishing them.

The almost 16yo daughter thought I was going to give the chests to them now. I plan on using them, though. That way they can say the chests were their mothers. Maybe I’ll give them the chests on their 16th birthdays? hmmmmm……I like them, too. Maybe their 17th birthdays. lol

You Know You’re From a Big Family If:

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You know you’re from a big family if:

-There are pictures of your family in matching outfits

-You write your name on the bottom of your socks

-You go to the bathroom just to get some “alone time”

-You never say “I’m bored”

-You have valuble negotiating skills and have honed them from a very young age

-You know that just because someone says your sibling’s name, it doesn’t mean they’re not talking to you

-You find creative ways to hide things you want to keep for yourself

-You’ve seen your mother walking laps around your property so she can get a few minutes of peace & quiet

-You shake your head in disbelief when you hear someone say they’ve never changed a diaper

-One sibling is getting on your nerves it’s okay because you can just go hang out with a different one

-Strangers think that big sister is actually mom

-If you want some ice cream, you don’t wait around to get some, because tomorrow it will be gone

-You wouldn’t trade the fact that you have the opportunity to make a bunch of best friends that are stuck with you for life!

-You can make a pb & j sandwich in 10 seconds flat

-You go somewhere with another family, and people think it’s a youth group – Note: or if you go anywhere period!

-Whenever your family goes out to eat the waiters always have to put tables together for you and when they do it is always in the back corner of the restaurant so as to keep your stereotypically rude family away from their other customers

-People continually comment that you could have a whole basketball team, or even better a baseball team

-Your mom is trying to say someone’s name and she’s already gone through 6 sibs’ names, she probably is trying tor remember yours

-You don’t have a picture of your whole family because every time you get one taken another kid shows up

-You run out of the room when your parents look at you and say someone elses name becuase you know it means you will have to do a job when they remember your name

-You are proficient in cleaning up broken glass and ceramic and you can tell from the sound it made when it crashed whether the item dropped is fine, cracked, or broken

-You can hear a cry and tell whether the child is hurt, angry, sad or throwing a temper tantrum within 3 seconds

-You’re walking around a store with little siblings and people assume they’re your kids

-People compliment your parents on “how well behaved their children are…just didn’t expect that with such a large group”

-You know what the “thirty second rule” is and it’s importance

-You can’t eat at McDonalds without breaking a fifty dollar bill

-Your family can’t fit in a mini-van

-Instead of learning from your own mistakes, you learn from your siblings’

-You are the shyist person in the world, but the loudest in your family

-Other people “don’t understand how your mom does it”

-Your family has paid enough overdue fines to fund the building of a new library

-Picky eaters are not tolerated because mom simply does not have the time to prepare different foods for one child

-You go looking to purchase a new appliance and the capacity is the only feature that really matters Note: for us it is the automatic ice maker!

-Everything under the sun is discussed for an hour straight around the dinner table because everyone has to put their two bits in

-You go off to college prepared to savor your independence and get so lonely for your siblings that you have to come home Note: This happens at the grocery store too!

-Your brother leans over your shoulder and corrects your grammar and spelling while you type on this site. (grrr!)

-You smile when people ask how many kids you have because you know when you answer they will repeat the number even more loudly to help themselves hear it

-You can proudly declare you are doing your part to curb human depopulation

-You go to get your picture made and the first thing the photographer says is “no, seriously”

-The invention of the wide-angled lense made your family portrait possible.

-Your mom at one point purchased different colored hangers so she could easily sort the hang-up laundy but eventually had to stop because Wal-Mart only had seven different colors to choose from

-Getting from one side of your living room to the other requires skillfully making it through an obstacle course of toys, coloring books (plus the spilled crayons), school books, extra chairs dragged in from other rooms, and small children

-You’ve been asked over and over if you’re Mormon, Catholic or homeschooled

-You take your driver’s license test in a 15 passenger van

-You move away from home, and every time you cook a meal it takes you a week to finish the leftovers

-People are constantly asking you if you are a daycare provider

-You think it is normal to grocery shop at Sam’s Club

-It takes a full day to change everyones wardrobe from one season to the next and process all of the hand-me-downs

-You have your own “reserved” pew at church every Sunday

-You shared a room with no less than three people for most of your childhood

-Massive lego wars were an unforgettable part of growing up

-You don’t have to go online to get a good six-man table of poker going

-You have to squeeze four people in a row of seats in your van that was only designed to hold three

-You have brothers on four different sports teams at the same time

-Your dad won’t buy a snowblower because he knows he has an unlimited supply of expendable labor to shovel the driveway instead

-You’re 28 and you still have a few siblings under 6th grade

-You’re closer in age to your mother than you are to your youngest brother

 

I found this on Facebook.   So true and so funny!

Stung

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That’s what my mother was. Stung by a hornet/wasp/whatever.  Bad for anybody, ouch!, but if your allergic to the stings, it can be life threatening.

 

My mother had an epi pen at home, so she grabbed it after she got stung, and carried it across the street to my  house for me to administer it. Don’t worry, she got a lecture on not doing that. Just call me, I will come!

 

Her finger really swelled up. And was RED! Thankfully, once the epi started working, the redness started to go away and the swelling started to go down.

 

We’re making her sleep here tonight. She lives alone and even though we’re right across the street, we want to keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn’t start having a reaction again. She wasn’t too happy about it at first,  but she finally agreed to go along with our plans.  🙂

 

So, if you or a loved one are allergic to stings, please make sure your epi pens are up to date. And remember to carry it with you, not leave it at home while you go for a picnic in the park!

 

 

 

Grandmothers Hope Chest

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Unlike some women, I am looking forward to being a Grandmother. But what should me grandkids call me? Nana? no…..Grandma? maybe….Granny? no, because that’s what everyone calls my mother. I’m leaning towards Savta, which is grandmother in Hebrew. I don’t know, I kind of like it.

 

I will just be glad that I am a grandmother, no matter the name.

 

You might be thinking I’m not old enough to be a grandma, but I am. In fact, I have a 25 yo son and a 23 year old daughter. My daughter has been married for 3 years. See, I  could be a grandma. 🙂

 

Recently I went through all the books in the schoolroom and getting rid of ones we didn’t use anymore. I found a few books that I just couldn’t part with. Like the Bedtime Bible Story Book that my husband read to all 6 children over the years. It’s like a family heirloom. That’s when I decided to start a Grandmothers Hope Chest.

 

No, I don’t have a chest. Or even a box yet. lol But I have contents. lol Since I had decided to save the books, it was only natural to proceed to making stuff for my future grandchildren.

 

A friend posted this baby sweater pattern on Facebook and I thought it was really cute. So I made one! I used baby yarn I had on hand and a smaller hook so I would have a smaller sweater.

 

 

Since I didn’t have a baby to try it on, Samantha (the American Girl) said she’d try it on for me.

 

 

How cute is that? I used this baby hat pattern. Both the sweater and the hat were very easy to make. I even made the crocheted buttons! The instructions are with the sweater pattern.

 

Now I need to make a set for a girl. Pink? Purple? Maybe both!

Pool Watching

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I’m out here sitting by the pool watching the kids. Thankfully, it’s a very nice evening.  We had to get a new pool this year. When we tried to set up the old one, we found a hole in the bottom. My husband tried to patch it, but the patch came right off. The kids didn’t mind, though. As we got a bigger one.  18 x 48. If the 6 of use all get in together we really need that size. That’s not counting other kids, either.

Only 3 of mine are in the water. There are also two nieces in there. The rule is supposed to be that all other kids have to bring an adult with them. But no one could watch them tonight. And my kids wanted to swim with their cousins. So here I sit. It makes me kind of nervous as the water is over the head of the youngest, who will start kindergarten in the fall. So, she’s old enough to let me know if she’s in trouble. But I still don’t like it. I just don’t want anything to happen on my watch.

 

Kids are having fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HS1Q9V9COE

I think it’s hysterically funny that as soon as Abby saw the camera she asked if this was going on my blog. roflol

 

Then there’s the ever popular getting flipped by your sibling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrQJNItp9wY

 

So the kids are having a blast and I’m blogging. A pretty good life. Except I don’t have any chocolate. lol

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