I suppose the more children you have, the faster the speed of life becomes.
I have no choice; I must move and much of the time I must move quickly, to keep up with my seven children and the schoolwork and the housework.
I sometimes think back on the early years of marriage and in my mind it was a peaceful time. I could sit on the couch and nurse the baby without thinking about anything else.
For example, when I nurse the baby now, I think, “For Heaven’s sake. Seth is getting in the fridge. Is there anyone near enough to hear me yell for help? I wonder if I should carry her with one arm and let her nurse while getting Seth down with my other arm? If I put her down she’ll be mad.” By the end of the day, my eyes hurt, my head hurts, my throat hurts. I am a quiet gal, living a loud life.
In the future, when the children are grown up, I think I will remember the years I am in now as being very busy but also very fun. I get lonely for adult company at times but I don’t get bored. I get tired of cleaning the house and never getting it clean, but I don’t get bored. The children keep me laughing because with 8 of us together it is always a party. I have bad moments, days, weeks, but God keeps my heart content and joyful.
I read this quote this morning:
“Joy is not gush. Joy is not mere jolliness. Joy is perfect acquiescence–acceptance, rest–in God’s will, whatever comes. . . leave yourself OPEN to the circumstances of His choice, for that is perfect acceptance, and rest in the will of God. If you do so, you are not a fool–you are in the company of the brave!” ~ Amy Carmichal
If I leave my heart and soul OPEN to the will of God, I have joy in the journey of motherhood, because that is His WILL for me right now. Life with lots of small children is a fast, messy life. Nothing goes as planned, sometimes things are better, sometimes worse. Life with seven children, with the joy of the Lord in my heart, is a happy life. Yes, caring for seven children is my own personal #1 challenge right now, and it takes every resource I have within me to get through each day. For others, the challenge might be something else; a health issue, a hectic job, relationship struggles.
The joy of the Lord is our strength. We need to be OPEN to His will and His good plan for our lives. Rest. Rest. Rest. Do you know? We can still be resting on the inside while working hard on the outside?
I had Seth hold Sarah out on the porch this morning so I could take a few pictures. Seth is busy, small and wirey, beautiful, and bright. Sarah is a heavy armful of rolly-polly baby girl. She wants to sit up on our laps and look around. She wants to touch things but can’t do it, quite yet.
First, Seth showed Sarah just where to look for the picture.
Sarah was very active; kicking and flapping…a picture doesn’t do justice. She’s cuter in real life. They both are.
They make me smile.
Favorite moments of the week:
~Making a big breakfast with Jacob. We made french toast, scrambled eggs with cheese, and hash browns. We listened to music while we worked. The other children were in and out of the kitchen, being busy.
~Taking the children out to J’s orthodontist appointment. Rich was the last one to drive and he left me with hardly any gas. I started singing a special, “I am about to run out of gas” song on the way. When we saw a gas station, David was worried and told me to stop and get gas. When I stood outside to pump it, the man next to me on the other side was whistling an upbeat tune. It made me happy to hear him whistle. When I was done, I drove away and sang my special, “I now have gas” song. Part of it went like this: “Please don’t take this the wrong way but I just got gas.” Jacob noticed the sign for cigarettes in the window of the gas station and we spent the next 10 minutes talking about smoking. Grace thought it should be illegal. I said that not every harmful thing should be illegal because then we would ALL be in jail or paying fines because we all do harmful things now and then. For instance, we sometimes eat too much sugar and candy. Jacob said it wasn’t bad to eat sugar if you brush your teeth right after. I said, “WHO? WHO DOES THAT? Name me one person who does that?” And Grace right away said the dentist and we could not argue with that. We arrived at the orthodontist and sat in the car to wait for Jake to be done. It was raining and Grace took my picture with my cell phone. Then we all went to the mall to run errands. Through the pouring rain. I was drenched. We got Wendy’s drive through for lunch.
~Library night with Rich and the children. How happy Seth was that he got to put a few books in the return slot all by himself. Later, Rich caught him taking a book off the shelf and running it back to the return slot to throw it in. We thought that was smart. (he also knows how to make toast and coffee and get his own cheesestick from the fridge. And turn on the TV. He turns it on and then sits right in front of it no matter what’s on.)
~Having school in our new school room. It’s loud in there. We need carpeting to absorb some of the echoing. The neighbor’s dog got loose and came right upstairs to our schoolroom, silently. She wanted to say Hello. She came to each of us and got a lot of attention before Jacob walked her back over to tie her up again. (her owners are gone all day).
~Changing so many stinky diapers from Seth yesterday that I remarked, “WHAT did you EAT?” Jacob piped up from the other room, “Did you give him too many berries?” That boy is already an expert at child care and development. He’s my right hand man.
~Realizing how fast Sarah is growing. She’s a solid big baby girl now.
~Ethan spiked all his hair straight up and looked (literally) quite shocking.
~Watching an episode of the Walton’s (“The Typewriter”, on youtube) for the first time in probably 10 years. Realizing with shock that I have the same amount of children as that large family. I watched it with the kids in the evening and it was a cozy time. (Rich worked until 9pm two nights this week.) I wish someone would make a wholesome tv show for this day and age!
~My current favorite verse that I hold on to like a lifeline: “FOR GOD IS NOT THE AUTHOR OF CONFUSION, BUT OF PEACE.” I Cor. 14:33 I have this verse written on a big scrap of cardboard and propped up on my kitchen windowsill.
It is raining cats and dogs outside. I am SOOOOOO thankful I don’t have to go out today!!!!
Jacob and Ethan are making homemade soup w/out a recipe, for lunch. So far they have a pot of stock, lots of dried herbs, and some carrots. This should get interesting.
Happy Friday!
Good to be Home 
great post Shanda. Your kiddos are so adorable. Yes, motherhood, being a stay at home mom is what God has called us to do. He picked us! 🙂 He chose you to have seven kids because He knew that when you lean on Him, you could handle it. God is awesome. Glenn suggested some scheduling to me and I think I will put it into practice. He has to leave tomorrow. 😦 The past three weeks have been wonderful with him here. Each day is a gift. Let’s talk again on the phone soon! hugs
I love reading about your life. I had 7 children too, but they were further apart, so I never had more than 5 home at one time. Much joy to you.
This was abosultely JOY for me to read. Bless their young innocent hearts. And yours for being able to keep up with everything. Those pictures of them both together are just…. heart-warming! Lol @Ethan’s spiked hair and aw @Jacob.. I love the way he asked you that. Have a Happy Friday to you, too! =DP.S: LOVE their names. ^^
We had rain yesterday and lots of it!I love your Amy Carmichal quote!I posted it on my FB.We need joy for this journey we call life!Your kiddos are so cute,and Sarah is definitely growing.She looks like she soon will catch up to Seth.Have a Blessed week-end!
The end of this post just made me chuckle…especially when you commented about having the same # of children as the Waltons. I often say that I wish that they would come out with a traditional family show…have you watched 19 kids and counting? – that is as close as I can find. Love you a bunch and wish I could add my 4 to your chaotic house for a day or two…we will have to see.Colleen
Sarah is getting cuter every day ~
And I have MORE kids than the waltons? YIKES!!! I watch 19 and counting and it’s pretty good…I can relate to so much of what you write…about resting in Gods will…..how much more simple and beautiful life is when I can truly do that…on the inside…when I truly surrender to HIS will and not just pretend that all is well. Oh boy…it takes a lot to do that but the result is sweet rest.God bless you and keep you this day, right there in your home with your many little ones and all the challenges and JOY that this task entails!
I love this post. My life feels like this with only three (for now!). All morning is taken up with breakfast, cleaning up, getting dressed, school, and a tad bit of computer time for me. Somedays I can’t imagine life with 5, but I know it will come.And the dentist…Sam has already had one cavity. I bet having candy every day is not a good idea, but it is fun to have something like that to pull out and say, “A surprise!!!” 🙂 I hope the soup is good…otherwise, you may have to sneak some extra food during rest time!
What a fun post!You bring back memories of my kids-underfoot-days.How quickly it passes…but when in the midst of it all…it really can be crazy.But crazy is good, yes?I stopped into my littles’ place this morning. Delivered the dress to Miss Eliora. Crazy place there, too! They make me smile.Fun to watch Anavah get so excited to see her Op-Op. His face lights up at the sight of her.I love this season of our lives. God is good.Happy weekend, Shan.xo
I could relate to so much! “I am a quiet gal, living a loud life.” !! 🙂 Josh and I were having a discussion the other day about how nothing stays as nice as we would like it to. Things disappear, the house gets dirty, stuff gets ruined. We said that when our kids are grown we will have nice, new things and miss all this, in the mean time, it’s hard! Love your pictures and favorite moments!
I love those pictures of Sarah and Seth! so adorable together. And I love how healthy and squeezable!
I am a quiet gal, living a loud life. — I love that.I also love the Amy quote – I’d read that before and fell in love with it. It hits home for me.Our days are hard to explain right now – I’m sure for us both. It’s a whirlwind, chaos – lovely chaos, filled with all sorts of emotions that vary from one second to the next. And with that, believe it, we will miss it one day and wonder then where it all went to – – I hope we grandmother with equal abandonment for His glory 🙂 My mom has been such an example of this to me.Blessings on your weekend!Alyssa
I loved this post! Lets me know I am not alone in the whirlwind of busy-ness that some days just makes me want to throw cement on everyone’s shoes! LOL My dh says one day I will miss it! I say ‘I am totally *not* going to miss putting down my scissors, and coming back to find them just where I put them!’ Love those pictures! Seths little toes just a wiggling away! So cute!
I think of you often, and can only imagine how busy you really are! I appreciated your words about joy. I find myself frequently looking forward to when things will be different or “better”, and then I miss out on what God has for me here and now. Seth and Sarah are so cute and sweet- hard to imagine them any cuter! I’m interested to know how the soup turns out. Oh, and I used to call the Waltons the Walnuts when I was a kid and the show would come on. That just came to mind. Love to you, dear friend! Have a wonderful weekend!
hi shanda…….great post. fun and thought-provoking all at the same time! don’t you just love toes on babies and toddlers? i love how seth has his moving all different ways on all of the photos. we are fans of the waltons here, too. as a matter of fact, our 2 boys and our dog are all named after the real or character names from the show!!
“i am a quiet gal living a loud life.” 🙂 i love that. and while no one has accused me recently of being quiet,i would like less noise. a less loud life. until i think about how that will come to pass…and all too soon.pictures never do justice…but they ARE waaay cute! their eyes are JOYful and their piggy toes look HaPpY too!
I wonder if you could rent the Waltons from Netflix to watch as a family? I used to love that show but haven’t seen it in years also. I enjoy watching 19 kids and Counting also. You are such an encouragement to me! I am 8 weeks pregnant with my 4th. That will make 4 kids in 5 years! I truly don’t know how I will do it! Only by the grace of God, lol! I am also a quiet gal, living a loud life so I can relate. I enjoy reading about your adventures in homeschooling because I just started kindergarten with my 5 year old. My 3 year old loves to “do school” too, but my 18 month old is difficult to keep occupied and I am dealing with all day morning sickness and fatigue, ugh. I love my kiddos so much though and am very excited to meet this new little person!
I love that you are writing down these special moments…something I didn’t do enough of without blogs those days. The things that kids say and do are just wonderful. Seth and Sarah are so cute. Really? they are even cuter than that! Seth always has such a happy little face, he seems like a spunky, joyful guy. Sarah is a real life big doll baby now. I have an old old doll that was Nana’s or her moms and it is big and round like Sarah. David loves the old shows…we don’t have cable, but when we go to my moms he watches “The Andy Griffeth show” , we also took out all the Dick Van Dike show DVD’s from the Library. Not so much for the littles, but funny for the older ones. I think I like them because some of it reminds me of my parents in the 1960’s era. We also watched quite a few “Little House” episodes.
Loved that quote. Gonna copy it down in my stash. When you have joy like that, you’re living a true honest happiness and not just for show.Years down the road you’ll probably wonder how you did it during these busy days. People tell me all the time, when they hear I was homeschooled…I could never do that, but it’s wasn’t just my mom, she had God working with her too 🙂
I made soup today, too…seemed like a good soup day. 🙂
Another great blog hun! I love the Waltons. I almost have the entire series. Hey you should do a reality show with all your kiddo’s and be the modern day Waltons family! 🙂
Every stage of life has its joys and challenges I guess. I only have two children so I was never as busy as you are… but… they are both grown and out of the house now, and I miss them so! I remember once I was in the grocery store with two cranky toddlers in the double stroller, I was in the checkout line, and some old lady behind me told me to enjoy my children because they’d grow up fast. I remember thinking at the time (while struggling to get through the checkout line) that it had “been a long time since this old lady had toddlers to handle”. And now I realize all too well how right she was.
Nice, refreshing, keeping it real, motherly, honest, post. I loved it Shan!
I loved this post – can identify with my mind constantly rolling about 20 paces ahead of me…and trying to slow down and yet how? but truly counting these days a blessing – i’d just hold them a little longer…each passes so quickly and suddenly 11 yrs have passed! Great song and lovely profile pic!!
sarah’s little face in that second picture just makes me smile right back at her~! she and seth look like two peas in a pod.. i can imagine all the fun they’re going to have growing up together.love all your thoughts here, shan! good advice. good encouragement.
READING YOUR POSTS IS BETTER THAN WATCHING THE WALTONS!
How different my life is…moments ago I was cleaning up the kitchen thinking how quiet and empty our house is now that Brianna is 22 and has her own life. She spends most of her free time at her beloved’s home where there is lots of activity and many young people doing fun things plus ministry. It’s good. But I can’t help feel a little jealous/envious that she prefers his family to ours. My husband is not a social man, he prefers the quiet and peace, with planned social times. Thank goodness for my photography, it breaks down barriers and has opened my life to so many people, activities and unexpected opportunities for ministry. Empty Nest is a strange time in a mother’s life
How did the soup turn out? I agree with your thoughts on being the mother of many. I “only” have four, but constantly stretches and challenges me and drives me to my knees.
Seriously (with NO prejudice) Sarah is a beautiful little girl. SO PRETTY! Jesse and I enjoyed Seth’s library “book depositing” story!We have several seasons of “The Walton’s” on DVDs. I bought them on ebay and you might consider that. We’ve bought a series of “Shirley Temple” movies and several seasons of “The Waltons”, “Little House on the Prairie”, and “I Love Lucy.” The girls watch them over and over and I must say, I enjoy them too.
I love it that you love your children so dearly. My baby (David) and I went through Community Emergency Response team (CERT) training right near our home here in Dana Point, CA. We both enjoyed it very much. It causes you to think about how you would respond in any number of situations where emergency services are not available. David did extremely well (better than most adults) responding to the unrehearsed situations both accurately and with great communication given gory, bloody “victims”. Yes, time flies right on by when you’ve got kids. And keeping them near through home schooling is superior, both academically and socially. All of our boys know each others’ friends well, regardless the 10-year age spread.One of several funny things at the CERT training happened when an overhead slide referred to “the simple pneumonic RPM for remembering victims that needed immediate attention. The first letter R stood for Respiration.” I remarked that it was both a simple spelling error and a good pun to call it a pneumonic. Several in the room vehemently argued my spelling assertion, but I stuck to my assertion that the correct word was mnemonic. The instructor said that this presentation had actually come from the federal government and that they must certainly know what they were spelling. I just said, “That’s why we home educate.” After the break, people came back and acknowledged the correction. From then on, we had several other spelling jokes on the federal government slides. When a slide spoke of “Six points in disaster psychology” and then listed seven point, one of the leaders said, “at least they spelled six correctly”.
Don’t know how they could get much cuter???? Love the post!