The Winter of Learning

Esther has gotten so used to her breathing treatments
(she's on her third upper respiratory infection for the winter)
that she'll hold it to her face most of the time!

It has been a while since I have been able to blog, and there is good reason!  This winter we have suffered more illness than in any other year I can remember.  I am just not getting over another sinus infection (I had one in Oct/Nov/Dec for 7 weeks) but this time it also included bronchitis.  This round has already lasted nearly 7 weeks and I'm still not completely over it.  Much of this  time my head was just too foggy to think clearly enough to blog, and the rest of the time was taken up with caring for my sick kids, as I was not the only one sick, in fact, everyone in the family has gotten at least 1 of the 3 colds that has ran through the family since the beginning of December!







This has been a huge test for all of us - to get the essentials of daily life in a large family accomplished even with a diminished task force, and to do it all with little or no help from me (I am also on activity limitations due to my pregnancy/hypertension).  Overall it has gone very well and the kids are a learning new chores and Dayton and Elizabeth have graduated to doing chores that they never had before.  While the work is not always what I would call "properly completed" it is manageable and has worked sufficiently during our illnesses - so well that I can truly say that our home has been running smoother that at any other time that I have been under the weather, and maybe even better than when I'm not!

Severely limited electronics leads to creative play!

My biggest struggle has been with being so limited in what I can do, and being too sick to do it even if I wasn't limited!  But I know that nothing that happens in my life is without purpose, and this trial is directly from the loving hand of my heavenly Father and it's for my good and His glory.  So I have been pondering what He is trying to teach me that I have not been learning (second long lasting sinus infection in one winter...).  I can not read God's mind, but I did have the thought that maybe God brought this trial into my life right now to make it easier for me to rest under the restrictions that my doctor has placed on me - if I'm too sick to do anything, it doesn't bother me nearly as much that I can't do them!  I can also see that this time has been very good for my children - they are learning to serve!  They are so helpful when I need something done for me and I rarely get a negative response - some of them will even do what I ask when they've heard me ask other for help!  This is also helping my older girls to learn to take more responsibility on a daily basis and the chores that I have for them are definitely teaching them and preparing them to be able to manage their own homes someday!

I can knit even when I'm sick - here's 1 of the matching
hat/booties sets that I have finished!

I have had several friends ask how we are doing chores now - we did a huge change in how we are doing chores starting at the first of the year.  So here's a rundown of how we have delegated chores:

This is the first ever sock that I knitted -
This fits Esther and I'm making matching ones
for Carese now!

The three oldest girls rotate through having complete responsibility for the following three chores - dishes, cooking and laundry.

The three boys (12, 10 and 8) are responsible for keeping portions of the house tidy/clean and we divided it up as follows - living room, school room, kitchen + bathrooms.

Elizabeth is responsible for the stairs and hallway.  And Esther is the little helper that is shared as she is willing to help, and the kids love to have her help them!

I have set up daily chores, which are done every morning before school, 4 o'clock chores which is basically tidying up before their daddy comes home.  They also have weekly chores, mostly done on Saturday, which are a more in depth tidying/cleaning of the rooms they have or work in.  And we also have monthly chores which are done on the first Saturday of the month.

Here's the complete list for each "jurisdiction"

Jurisdiction - Dishes

Load Dishwasher

Wash Big Dishes

Wipe dishes Counter

Clean Sinks

Put away ALL clean dishes

Wipe/Set/Clear Table

chairs cleaned as needed

keep stock of dishwashing detergents

Saturdays

switch drying towel

scrub sink/back splash

clean window & sill

1st Saturday

wipe out dish cupboards

clean cupboard under sink Jurisdiction - Laundry Sort all Dirty Clothes (girls/boys/towels/kitchen) Sort all Clean clothes give to person who owns them sweep floor garbage clean sink keep stock of laundry detergents Saturdays Clear counter organize hooks tidy cleaning closet 1st Saturday wash window/wipe off top of washer/dryer clear out behind w/d cobwebs Jurisdiction -Meals Prepare all meals plan menu with Mom clear/wipe all counters after every meal put away leftovers (use them for meals) clean 1 appliance/day keep list of items needed to purchase Saturdays clean stovetop wipe out bread cupboard 1st Saturday clean inside fridge clean inside microwaves Jurisdiction - Kitchen/Bathrooms sweep all floors mop kitchen everyday counters/sinks cleared daily toilet paper stocked/available hand towels on racks everyday Keep stock of toilet paper/cleaning supplies Saturdays clean 1 bathroom (tub/shower/toilet/window/mirrors) 1st Saturday clean under sinks/behind mirrors wash cabinet doors (bathrooms too) cobwebs wash doors/light switches Jurisdiction – Livingroom floors swept tables cleared couches/chairs cleared pillows/blankets in place Saturdays damp mop as needed sweep off couches wipe livingroom tables 1st Saturday cobwebs wash windows/doors/light switches

Jurisdiction - Schoolroom

sweep floor

tables tidy/clear

bookshelves tidy

coat closet neat

chairs at desks

Saturdays

vacuum

wipe play table

1st Saturday

wash windows/doors/light switches

cobwebs Jurisdiction - Stairs/Hallway clear everything banister cleared Saturdays clean banister vacuum all carpet 1st Saturday cobwebs doors/light switches cleaned

In our daily routine the children are also responsible for making their beds, tidying their bedrooms and having a quite time before they come down to breakfast.  We also have a buddy system, where the older girls are assigned a little one to help with chores and other things like getting ready for church and helping them get their food at meals.

We also have incentives!  If they accomplish all that was required of them in a given week, they can get "Saturday Candy".  We purchase the packages of small candy bars (8/$1) and we get enough that each child gets three of these miniature candy bars.  Also, if they do their chores the best for their group they get to choose which chore they get next (we switch once a month) with the option of keeping their current chores.  And, if they have done a very poor job on the chores, they get to keep their chores until they learn to do them right!

So there you have it.  I hope that this information is helpful to someone.

And lastly,  I must say that during our illnesses, we have not accomplished everything on these lists, but stuck to the essentials.  Now that I'm recovering and none of the children are sick, I am hopeful that over the next week we can go through the lists and recover lost ground!

New Year, New Pace

The holidays are over and we had a great time.  We had to simplify how we celebrated due to my pregnancy (more on this later), but we were able to do all the things that our family really enjoys.  The kids went caroling with our church, went hunting for our Christmas tree (we think we had the best tree ever this year!)...

 ...baked and decorated sugar cookies with friends...

oh, the anticipation!

this is serious business!

 ...Rebekah came up with the idea of making popcorn ball snowmen - complete with candy cane arms, Reece's Peanut Butter Cup Hats, mini M&M eyes and smile!  They tasted as good as they looked...

and a few of the kids also made gingerbread houses and graham cracker houses.

This year we also did a few things we haven't done in the past!  Jeremy, Jessica and I joined the Lynden Choral Society to sing The Messiah!  I loved the rehearsals, and after getting past being overwhelmed with the complexity and sheer volume of the music, they really enjoyed the entire experience!  I was only able to make it to about half the rehearsals due to my sinus infection (more on that later too), and was unable to perform, but it was still a highlight for my year.  It has been many, many years since I had the opportunity to sing in a choir, especially to sing challenging music while praising my Lord and Savior!  I was even able to increase my singing range by 3 notes!  I am so looking forward to next year!  I was able to attend one of the performances and it was beautiful.  The Messiah music can bring me to tears at anytime, but due to the disappointment of not being able to be up there with my friends and family caused me to cry through most of it.  I was singing in my heart though!

 Elizabeth turned 6 years old on my 48th birthday - 12/12/11.  Next year we will have an extra special birthday as it will be 12/12/12!

This year I was able (barely) to direct our church's choir!  We have not had a choir for over 3 years, and we were unsure if there was enough interest - there sure was!  We had nearly 60 members!  About half had never sung in a choir, and over half were junior high/high school age.  What they lacked in experience they made up for in paying attention, practicing at home and regular/punctual attendance!  I could not have asked for a better choir!  We were able to perform three times - twice for church services, and once at the Light House Mission!  I have to give all the credit to God - as I was so sick through most of the practice season (we only had 5 practices that were less than an hour long), but He blessed our work, and enabled me to be there for every scheduled practice (I did have to direct sitting down for one!).  I am also looking forward to doing this again next year!

On our way home from a family gathering in Lynnwood, Rebekah counted almost 400 homes decorated with lights!  We also started singing Christmas Carols in the van as we were nearing Lynden to practice the songs the children were going to sing at the Sunday School Christmas Program.  As we drove through Lynden, we tried to carol to people on the street by opening our windows - it was a nice idea, but we only saw two people out and about!  We'll have to try it again next year earlier in the evening in a busier part of town!

Jeremy and Jason helped us "pick" our candy
machine locks so we could get out money out!

Jeremy and Jason came home "Christmas Adam" - a term I heard for the first time this year, meaning that Adam was created before Eve, so the night before Christmas Eve is Christmas Adam!  They had dinner with us and we enjoyed playing games throughout the evening!  

I enjoyed playing scrabble with my oldest kids!

We were given a pool table recently and had finally got it all set up just days before, and it saw a lot of use by all!  God is so good to bless us with something we have wanted for so long, but could not afford! 

 They spent the night and we celebrated all our family traditions on Saturday since I would be directing the choir Sunday morning.

Saturday started off with the children all joining us in our bedroom for opening the goody bags - small gifts and special candies:

 This year we were a little more practical than usual and we got all the children insulated straw cups (they look like the kind you get when you have a smoothy/frappacino, but are sturdy and reusable!).

They were a hit and are getting constant us as water glasses, saving on dirty dishes too!  We then all moved downstairs and tried something new for breakfast - quiche (one with bacon, one with sausage), biscuits and orange juice - everyone helping with something.  We all like it so much we might make that a new tradition!

After breakfast, the big boys helped with clean up and then we spent a few hours enjoying their new toys and playing pool, ping pong and cards.  I got the turkey started, and then took a much needed nap.  Once I got up, each of the children helped with one of the meal dishes, and then we sat down to a sumptuous Turkey dinner with all the trimmings!  Everyone helped clean up and we spent the rest of the day playing together.

Dayton turned 8 years old on 12/20 - he was a very happy boy!

Now to tell you about the things I hinted at earlier in this post.  Starting in late October I came down with a bad cold, that turned into a sinus infection, then bronchitis.  I endured two rounds of antibiotics, which knocked the bronchitis, but did not kick the sinus infection.  The day before Thanksgiving I passed out while reading on the computer!  I was rushed to the ER, and they found that the sinus infection had spread to my ears, and that I had passed out due to dizziness (I had not felt dizzy) from the inflammation in my ears.  Sounds simple, but it was very scary for us all.  the ER doctor told me to REST, drink lots of fluids and put me on two new medications.  I was also directed to have a followup appointment with an ENT, which I did, and he changed my medications and I finally kicked the sinus infection about a week later.  That is why I had to direct sitting down, not looking at my music - I got dizzy very easily for about a week!  I don't think I have ever appreciated being healthy like I did then!

During my illness, the OB noticed that my blood pressure and  pulse were elevated, so on my next appointment, they check it, hoping that it would have returned to normal and that it was caused by the medications I was on, but that was not the case.  They were still elevated and this was cause for concern. So she put me on a baby dose of beta blocker (lowers BP, pulse and cardiac output) and scheduled for me to go to the University of Washington to see a specialist at the mother/infant prenatal clinic - a hypertension specialist.  This happened the day before Christmas Adam.  Daryl was able to take the day off and go with me - and this was good as we learned so much about what was going on with my condition.  They used a very unique (old - 1970 era) ultrasound machine to measure the blood flowing in and out of my heart.  They found that my cardiac output was double what it should be - and that after a week on medications to lower it!  Needless to say this was disconcerting!

The Dr met with us and told us that this is possible indication that I might develop preeclampsia - a potentially devastating pregnancy related illness.  He also said that if they give me too much medication and make my numbers looks great, it could cause Carece to not grow at ideal rates (intrauterine growth retardation), but if the doses are too low  I could develop preecplamsia.  So, since my blood pressure looks very nice if I am lying down/resting, they kept me on the same dose, but I need to take it easy, and rest with my feet up at least an hour in the late morning, and at least two hours in bed in the afternoon.  I also have to not do anything that causes my pulse to be elevated (no exercise beyond walking).

Since then I have been a very good girl, and my blood pressure has gone down - if I do not leave home.  So we are limiting my trips away from home to OB/pregnancy appointments and Sunday morning service.   I am experiencing an early nesting instinct, but I figure that's good as I'll probably have my activities further restricted as we get closer (I was on bed rest for the last month or so for the last two pregnancies).

Starting this weekend, we started an entire new chore system, set up so that, if needed, I will not have to do any housework at all and the housework will still get done.  This has freed me up to rest, and tackle small projects here and there.

So with the New Year, I am living life at a new pace - slow and steady, resting as much as possible.  So far everything is going very well, and the house is looking better than usual!  Business (Snap-EZ) was slow, as usual, during December, so that helped as well.  We'll see how things go as business has already picked up since Christmas, but my girls are more than capable of doing all the labor, I just need to manage what needs to be done and when.

In order to make this work, I have also set up a little area for myself in the living room - from my recliner I can reach two tables, use a laptop (mine died last year, but my son, Jeremy, has loaned me his), care for Esther (meds, diaper changes, therapy/preschool,), access my crochet and knitting projects, answer the phone and play scrabble or cards!  Daryl set up our WiFi so I have access to the business computer and it's laptop, so I can do almost all business related things from here as well!  I also keep trail mix and a large water bottle handy at all times! Also, I can hear almost everything that goes on in the house from here, so I don't miss as much as when I am working from the computer upstairs...I'm seriously thinking about making this a permanent place for me to work - I'll just need to get myself a laptop once the business pays off the last little bit of debt to celebrate!

I hope you have a blessed New Year!

Carese Faith Einfeld

A couple of weeks ago we went in for our routine 20 weeks ultrasound!  We found out that everything looks great, and that we are expecting a girl!  She even waved at us during the ultrasound.  She was very active (still is) and changed her leg/arm positions quite often during the ultrasound...we might have a very active/busy baby this time around!


After the ultrasound, we went immediately over to the fabric store and purchased some girly yarn!  Here's what I've made so far:

Daryl found the name (we had been in heavy council on the name for a few weeks and could not agree on anything) after spending several long sessions in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.  He found the Greek word "Charis" which is usually translate as "Grace" and is pronounced "khar-ece" and it is defined as "the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude" and I just learned that is a feminine noun!  The definitions for "charis" also includes the idea of a blessing, a gift and thankfulness.
Her middle name says it all - God has graciously given us the faith to trust Him for all things, especially in the area of family.   Easton's Bible Dictionary states "Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true. Its primary idea is trust. A thing is true, and therefore worthy of trust."


We are having another ultrasound tomorrow - they were not able to get a good view of her heart due to her position. I have since found out that this is quite common and that ultrasounds for viewing the heart are better done a little farther along anyway.  After all the we have gone through with our precious Esther, and all we have seen during our stays at Children's Hospital, we want a thorough evaluation of this little one's heart so we can be prepared if she has a substantial heart defect and she can get the care she need right from the start.  Right now we are trusting the Lord for her health and thanking Him for his precious mercies so far - statistically, a healthy pregnancy without fertility/hormone treatments at my age is rare indeed!  


Pray that our precious Carese Faith will continue to grow strong and healthy and that she will grow to love and serve our loving Saviour, Christ the Lord!


And here's my Christmas Card to you all!

Baby #12 is on the way!

If you have been following this blog, you may have noticed that I basically vanished!  In a way I did.  We found out the last week of July that God has blessed us with another baby on the way!  We were surprised that the Lord would see fit to bless us with a pregnancy again.  I am 46 years old, and according to statistics it is rare indeed for women over the age of 45 to conceive without fertility treatments.  It is also very common for women my age who do become pregnant to have a miscarriage (two of my dear friends who are my age have been struggling with this very thing in the past year).

So I took it easy.  I felt very fragile and had some problem with spotting, so I quick all exercise (even mowing the lawn on a riding mower could cause me to bleed) and laid low.  I saw the OB and we had two early ultrasounds to make sure everything was alright.  The blood test revealed that I was low on progesterone, so I started taking a supplement for that and I started feeling so much stronger, but I still had to limit my activities.

Here's baby #12 - 8 weeks in the top photo and 10 weeks in the bottom photo

I was very tired through the first three months, so I was unable to get out of bed before the children most days, and that meant that my blogging time was just not there anymore.  Starting about three weeks ago I began to feel so much better and as of 12 weeks gestation I no longer had to take the progesterone as by then the placenta takes care of that.  I had gone through nearly every test known to womankind and they could find nothing wrong with me - in fact some of my test results defied logic they were so good!

One very big change for us with this pregnancy is that I am seeing an OB and we are planning a hospital birth.  Due to the serious nature of the complications I experience with Esther's birth (hemorrhaging before and after she was born) and my age (which is considered a pregnancy/birth high risk factor).  As I said, we had two early ultrasounds, which I have never had before, and they were fascinating!  The second showed a very active tiny baby in there!  Even the OB was impressed with his/her activity level!  This next week we will be having the "BIG" ultrasound.  I do not want to know if this baby has Down Syndrome, but I will ask them to take a very good look at the heart.  The only thing I really want to know is if this baby needs to be born in Seattle due to life threatening problems, other that than, I only want to know if it's a boy or girl!

I would have come back sooner, but over 2 weeks ago I developed a bad cold that developed into a sinus infection.  I finally went in Monday and they put me on antibiotics.  Today is the first day that I do not feel sick - health is such a wonderful things that we take for granted when we have it!

But that is not all that has happened around here - here are some highlights of our late summer/fall:

Our family on the last day of our week long camping  (the church campout was the last few days)

Reuben got braces in August, but didn't lose his ability to make funny poses for the camera!

Reuben then ended up with a spiral fracture to his tibia - case on until thanksgiving, then boot cast until Christmas!

Esther celebrated her 3rd birthday by eating an entire icecream cone by herself
Also, Daryl rebuilt the engine for our 12 passenger bus so we can now go places all together as a family again!

And the biggest, most challenging change has been that Esther got glasses a couple of weeks ago - it is not easy getting her to wear them, and she's already broken the first pair (but I duct taped it together until the replacement frames come in)!

So, for now, I am back.  I can't guarantee that I'll be blogging a lot, but I'll try to be better about it in the months to come!

Kitties and Weeds...

We have kittens in the house once again...we love kittens, and so far we've let each of the girls, once they are 16, get their own cat, let them have 1 - 2 batches of kittens, and then get her fixed (all on their own budget).  So this year it's Rebekah.  She picked out her kitten from a friends house just over a years ago.  Her name is "Sweet Tea"...but it sounds like "Sweetie".

We named her that in honor of our first kitten, who was really Jeremy's cat, as this cat looks so much like she did!

Here are some recent kitty photos:

As you can see, these are going to be very mellow kittens, used to lots of handling!  

This year we had oodles of rain this spring, and very few days of sun, so I was not able to do any weeding in my flower gardens so far this year, as I used the sunny days to work on putting in more back yard that is mow-able!  So, this week I'm tackling the weeding and I had one weed I've been watching....and I think we had some kind of uranium leak in the back yard or something...this is some kind of freak of nature:

I have no idea what this is, but it looks to be from the thistle family...it was over 10 feet tall!  It had a small root base so it came out easily.  Anyone have any ideas???

I'll try to share some "after" photos of the gardens...I'm hoping to get some new plants from the friend who is re-doing her flower gardens and has invited me to come and take anything I want...free plants!!!  God's providence is amazing!

Photos Galore!

I was editing my new blogs and realized that I haven't done any family blogging in a while!  So here is a photo extravaganza to catch you all up on the happenings around here over the past 3 months or so!

We have a batch of 4 new kittens!

I think this little guys is a little freaked out!

Today was their first bath - I think she's just plain worn out...

I've been making soap - learned so much, but taking a break for the summer

Some of my early creations!

We've been playing lots of backyard ball...got a bat given to us that makes it possible!

lawnmower driving lessons (there's a tow rope there)

set up the pool in mid May

everybody enjoyed getting the pool up!

Esther has figured out how to get into the peanut better jar!

Even Mandy helped Daryl practice his pitching!

My mother came to stay for 2 1/2 weeks!

We hosted a family reunion!

the wiener roast at the reunion

my mom and I as we said farewell

trampoline + water balloons = way too much fun!

And Lastly, here's a little treat - Esther unloading the dryer - I had to first find her, discover her doing this, find the camera and get these shots before she saw me...a miracle to say the least!