Pursuing A Family Economy

The Lewis Family learning to butcher chickens last summer

Farmer John and I went on a lunch date earlier this week and I told him I was serious about earning money from our land this year.  Nothing grand- just keeping on top of the garden so I have excess to sell, adding another dozen laying chickens and trying our hand at some broilers for ourselves and a few to sell to friends.

Then, to my surprise, my husband said he really desires to leave his corporate job and come home to make a living on the land. This is the first time he said it as a definite goal not just a pipe dream.  We both shared our desire for a lifestyle of "needing" less and in the process freeing ourselves from modern consumerism and economics.

I laugh because we are both admittedly middle aged (44) and for our mid-life crisis we don't want to go buy hot rods or take early retirement to a tropical island.  We want to need less and provide healthy food and knowledge to our community.  It is a dream different from most.

Now, I don't think it will be easy.  We will probably have to work harder then we ever have. But I do think (if it is within God's will) that it is obtainable.  If we build our customer base slow without incurring debt and let God open doors then I do believe John could come home in three years or less and we'd be working for ourselves not somebody else.

Herrick Kimball over at The Deliberate Agrarian has been doing a series on Family Economies and his last post really captures our desires.  You can read it here.

We will be writing a proper business plan soon but our plans include: selling eggs, broilers, veges, herbs, flowers, bread, jams, and crafts this year.  Michigan has a great cottage food law that allows us to sell up to $25,000 worth of product from a home kitchen without needing any sort of license and because we don't want to be the next "Tyson" and want to keep things on a micro level we also weed out a lot of other government regulation. 

In the future we want to add animal fiber and goods, goat milk caramels and soaps, bramble fruits, and an orchard.  We aren't sure if we want to CSA or Herbal CSA but we will want to add educational classes and a green house for annual flowers and potted veges/herbs.  (The latter will require at least a $40 yearly micro grower state license.)  We want this to be a venture that our kids can add to with their own ideas and talents and I've always wanted to do a magazine and write agrarian non-fiction. (As well as the fiction I have in the works.)  But we aren't doing any of this with a get rich mentality or desire.  Our desire is to be closer as a family, closer to God, closer to the land and the rich, healthy heritage of agrarianism and be blessed with an opportunity to share it with others.

I'd love to hear the stories of others doing the same!

Homesteading Means Staying At Home

Just a couple of nights ago I was sighing and feeling extremely stressed out and unhappy because all I seem to be doing lately is running around.  An errand here, the library there, this child here, that child there... Frustrating! I just want to be at home doing the things that need to be done.

Well, today the Lord gave me a nudge to remind me that He is in control.  The brakes on my car are failing and Farmer John deemed the car unsafe to drive.  BOOM!  Just like that I don't have to run around anymore.  I get to stay home.  Now, it actually is kinda inconvenient (Had to put my son's guitar lessons on hold and when do I grocery shop?) but really it is a blessing in disguise.

My husband's work schedule is such that he will be home so that I can have the car for Wed. evening church services, and city girl's theater lessons  (for 10 weeks) and he will be off most Sunday's as well. Those are the important things. Everything else will work itself out.

We currently don't have the funds to get the car fixed so we are going to be living life as a one car family for a while but I really don't mind. The Lord never works in ways that I expect but he knows what is best for me.  The Homestead is where my heart is!  Thank you, Lord Jesus!

God's Plan For Us!

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.

 

Proverbs 31:10

 

Wife:  A woman married to a man

 

Noble: Exalted moral excellence

 

Character: Moral quality or integrity

 

Moral: Ethics or standards

Ruby: One of the rarest, most precious of gemstones

Are women these days striving to be a wife of noble character or are we merely rubble?

Homeschool Season Is Fast Approaching!

 

 

It's almost that time of year again.  Back to home-school!  I've got schedules made. (Notice mine- up above- starts at 3:00am in the morning. Yuck! But that is what time Farmer John has to get up for his new shift so, why not.  I hope to accomplish much in the wee hours while children slumber.) I also have subjects and curriculums picked out.  Now I need to individualize assignments and purchase the remaining things we need.

This is my first year schooling all five.  Last year I did start pre-school with my littlest but it was quite lax.  This year I'm starting her in Kindergarten so we'll see how she does. If she was in public school she wouldn't start until next year since she turns 5 after labor day.  I figure if she needs a couple of years of Kindergarten we're okay.

So here is the break down:

Seven (Junior in Highschool)

Algebra - Alpha Omega Life Pac
History/Geography- Great Courses Daily life in the Ancient World
Spanish - Instant Immersion
Biology-  Apologia
Personal Bible Study- her choice
Personal Reading- her choice
PE/Nutrition- Work out videos/Nutrition 101 Choose Life
Theater- Homeschool Performing Arts group
ACT Preparation/Study Manual
plus she has her general chores and homemaking/entrepreneurial skills to work on
(I'll assign writing/language arts based on her history course study)

Andi (Sophmore in Highschool)

Algebra- Alpha Omega Life Pac
History/Geography- Far Above Rubies
Spanish- Instant Immersion
Science- Far Above Rubies
Bible- Far Above Rubies
Personal Reading- her choice
Reading- Far Above Rubies
PE/Nutrition- Work out videos/Nutrition 101 Choose Life
Practical Arts- Far Above Rubies
Decorative/Perfoming Arts- Far Above Rubies
Health- Far Above Rubies
Writing- Far Above Rubies
plus she has her general chores and homemaking/entrepreneurial skills to work on and she will be teaching cursive penmanship to her little sister to refresh hers

Remington (Jr. High)

Math- Spectrum
Guitar- Private Lessons
Typing- Typing Instructor Platinum
Bible- Blessed Is The Man
History/Geography- Blessed Is The Man
Reading- Blessed Is The Man
Writing- Blessed Is The Man
Science- Blessed Is The Man
Health- Blessed Is The Man
Personal Reading- his choice
PE/Nutrition- Work out videos/Nutrition 101 Choose Life
plus he has his general chores and entrepreneurial skills to work on

Reagan (4th Grade)

Math- Spectrum
Reading- Mom's choice, her choice, sister's choice
Cursive- Handwriting Without Tears
Grammar- Up With Language
Spelling- All about Spelling
Science- Apologia
History- Various sources following topics listed in what your 4th Grader Needs To Know
Bible- Character Building For Families
Art- What your 4th Grader Needs To Know
PE/Nutrition- Work out video/Nutrition 101 Choose Life
plus she has general chores and homemaking skills

Taylor (Kindergarten)

Math- Alpha Omega Horizons
Reading- Alpha Omega Horizons
Writing- Alpha Omega Horizons
Bible- Character Building For Families
Art- What Your Kindergartener Needs To Know
PE/Nutrition- Work out video/Nutrition 101
plus she has general chores and homemaking skills

Whew!  There done!  It's not as heavy as it looks really except for my oldest who has decided to go to college at this point.  I really only work with the younger two as the olders teach themselves! I very much love homeschooling and am glad God led us in that direction.

What do you all use/do?  How do you fit it all in? Do you schedule or fly free?

God's Plan For Us!

Leviticus 19: 30

 

Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

 

 

I am so thankful God designed the Sabbath.  I look forward to a day of rest!  My body and soul need it!

God's plan for us

Leviticus 19:9-10

When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick the grapes that have fallen.  Leave them for the poor and alien.  I am the Lord your God.

What if all of us who grow food did this?  What would the impact be?

Virtuous Scrapbooking frustrations and Homestead learning tools

Here are my beautiful maidens. If you have been reading my blog recently you know that I've been leading a Bible Study on Raising Maidens of Virtue using Stacy McDonald's book by the same name. Using a suggestion at the back of the book we also have been scrapbooking the lessons.

I am not a scrapper booker. While it is fun, I just don't find it as relaxing as other crafts because the lay out and creativeness just doesn't come naturally to me. I worry too much about if my pictures are in the right place and if I've done the best layout I could. I've checked out books on scrapbooking from the library and the time and creativity people put into their pages is just amazing. I can come up with great quilt designs with no problem but for some reason scrap booking is just not my creative forte'. Any whoo how... I am trying to put together pages that go with the theme of each lesson. The pictures are easy enough to take and print out but finding the right embellishments is a bit frustrating.

I went to look for some tonight at a local scrap store. (A little local one, not a national chain craft store.) I wanted stickers that show modest fashion. Yes, I was naive enough to think that this little store in the Bible belt of Michigan, that is closed Sundays and plays Christian music over their sound system, might just have something in that category. At least something historical or even with a Parisian twist. Nope. I also wanted something that celebrated Godly feminity. Ahhh... nope. I mean I did find a few things that passed but they were more of a make do kind of thing and not what I really wanted. Most of the stuff in the store spoke worldly messages showing women as party going, shop happy, girlfriend celebrating, self-centered vixens. The girl selections were either cutesy ponies and lollipops or hot pink zebra designs shouting the virtues of rock star glam. I know this is what most people want and that the store is in the business to sell things but surely there are other people like me out there that desire something else. Can someone point me in the direction of a scrapbooking supplier/designer that caters to home-centered, Proverbs 31 women?


It was a relief to come home to the mailbox after scrapbook shopping to find some good rural reading and homestead how-to learning.

We have a free subscription to Living the Country Life and that came today. (John snatched it up to read first.)

Also our little local power company sends out a free country type magazine every month. That came today.

And at the Grocery store I noticed the new edition of Mary Jane's Farm was out, so I came home with it. Like I don't have enough reading. Mary Jane's Farm is a fun magazine to read with beautiful pictures but it does have a feminist bent to it. I get it to spur my homestead creativity (I like pretty and functional) and I filter out the "woman power" mumbo-jumbo. Contrary to public opinion these days life's not "all about me."

Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels this way!

A little glimpse of Lewis "training" (homeschool)

Learning can look like this...

this...

this...

or even this.

Here's a look at our "scheduled" training or school-

These things happen daily (Monday- Friday):

1. PE 1hour (We bike, walk, exercise or play an active game)

2. Workbook (Language arts and math) 1 1/2 hour (We only need this much time if the kids are having a bad day or it's a new math concept they are learning.)

3. Family reading time 1/2 hour (I read to all the children.)

4. History/geography or science 1/2 hour (we alternate days between the two subjects)

5. Personal Bible Reading and prayer time (at least 15 min.)

These things happen once or more during the week:

1. Bible study with Mom- 3hours on Mondays (Time split between study and scrapbooking the study.)

2. Practical skills- around 6 "scheduled" hours throughout the week. This is where we learn quilting, sewing, woodworking etc.

3. Character Quality studies 1 1/2 hour during the week

4. Church Bible study- 2 hours on Wednesdays

5. Church 3 hours- Sundays

We are also working on adding a family Bible time for around 1/2 hour a day.

Here's a look at real life schooling:

While not officially "school" , we keep our children busy with chores, family projects and also limit their free time. (They do get free time but we are watchful to make sure the activity isn't wayward.) We plan hospitality and fellowship opportunities and also allow for some spontanious fellowship. We also frequently throw the schedule out to work on special things or enjoy a "field trip" or play day.

During spring we are gardening alot and working on the yard and other spring projects. In the winter we do a lot of hand made presents. The kids read a lot. We are very seldom apart and this makes each moment of everyday a teachable moment. It's hard to explain but learning/training in our house is never turned off. It just doesn't look like a government classroom. Camping in the woods turns into a time of learning to build fires, fish, identify nature and cook over an open flame. A rainy day at home turns into a baking day where the kids learn how yeast makes bread rise or the differences in different types of flours. Or maybe we spend a day running errands where the kids learn budgeting, time management and impulse control. (Mom is learning all the time too.)

We put an emphasis on practical skills over academics and we make our days fun but full of productive work and learning. Again I'm sure that I didn't do the subject justice or explain properly so feel free to comment and question.

A bit on homeschooling...

This is Taylor's homeschooling station. She loves outside and will play nicely in her teepee, with some toys, out on the deck while we are "doing" school.

Here are the kids "doing" school at the kitchen table (the deck is in the background). This accounts for a very small portion of our day and often isn't how we school at all.

Kim C., over at Life in a Shoe, posted yesterday (along with three other moms) about homeschooling. Hearing how others approach schooling is informative and in my case (hearing Kim and the others) a relief. You see my children do not spend copious amounts of time in front of workbooks and text books and we don't currently use any set curricullum. We, like the Coughlans, use a "real life" approach to schooling.

When we first started schooling, I used Alpha/Omega's Horizons. I used the Kindergarten for my first three children but not my fourth. I used the first and second grades for my first two daughters but not for my son. For my oldest's third grade we tried Alpha/Omega's Switched on School House computer schooling. I know this is what the Duggar family uses and it works well for them but it did not work well for us. Thus ended our "official" curricullum usage and we moved to picking and choosing pieces of what works best for us. We also have moved away from from a formal school format to "real life". School is 24/7 all year round. Just because we aren't in front of a text book or sitting around "doing" school doesn't mean my children aren't learning.

I suppose I should state our purpose and goals for homeschooling. We want children that are 100% sold out for God. Children that think totally different from the world. We want our children to seek the Kingdom first and foremost: To be Godly men and women. We are not raising children to be rocket scientists or to contribute to the country's GNP. Our children are not being trained to be cogs in world's wheels but to be instruments of God. We are training our children that a simple family life is a noble goal. I guess it comes down to training over schooling. We are home training.

We are not expecting or even wanting our children to go to college. Going to college is something the world tells us we must do. If the Lord leads any of our children in that direction then we will follow but at this time regular college is not a concern. I do expect our children will choose further training in areas that interest them: Trade schools, internships, online classes or further practical home study etc. Our current direction for our girls (open to change from the Lord) is that they will first and formost be keepers of the home, help meets to their husbands, and mother's of Godly children.. Secondly that they will have the skills of a Proverbs 31 woman with an entreprenuerial mind and strong work ethic.

For our son we want him to be able to support his future family but not be a slave to the work world or corporate environment. We want him to think like an entreprenuer. We desire him to lead his family in a Godly manner with a strong work ethic. Wow, there is so much more. It really is impossible to get it all down. I'm not sure I'm doing it justice.

Currently we use a comprehensive curricullum work book (by school specialty publishing group) or Scholastic's success with grades series for language arts and math. (We pick these up at Costco around August. They are inexpensive and give us a general overview of basic skills) These provide our children with the basic knowledge they need but doesn't bog them down with useless busywork. I also use the "what your grader needs to know" series of books to help guide me through history/geography and science. These are guides not text books. We do use t.v. as a schooling tool. Something like the "Little Chocolatiers" inspired my children to learn to make candy and contemplate running a candy biz. We studied health codes, biz plans, took field trips to see how local candy shops are operated and made a lot of candy using cooking, math and science skills. Mostly we are teaching our children life skills and training them in the skills needed for adulthood not just school knowledge. I'm going to stop here for this post and follow up tomorrow with our "schedule" so you can see how school is a lifestyle.

I had so many thoughts in my head as I wrote this that I don't even know if it makes sense to any of you. Please leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts or concerns. It may be that I didn't touch on something or wasn't clear enough etc. and do follow the links in this post. Others have written more clearly on this matter.

Wear A Dress Day

June 1st is Wear A Dress Day! Pass this along to every woman/girl you know. For men it is Wear A Suit Day. I've been intentionally wearing dresses/skirts more often with the eventual goal of all dresses/skirts (with a few practical exceptions: working out, fly fishing, swimming).

I'm moving all my girls in this direction. The older two are a little harder. They are eleven and thirteen and I want to have their hearts in this, so I'm moving them slowly. We have been going through the book Raising Maidens of Virtue (By Stacy McDonald) so they can understand why I want them to make this change. If I just make them wear dresses/skirts then the point is missed.

My five year old doesn't mind the change for the most part and since I still pick her outfits daily, it's pretty easy with her. My 1 1/2 year old will be easy. By the time she has an opinion she will just know dresses as a way of life for us.

I like the change and I know people have noticed it. It is a good opening to share the Gospel as I explain that I'm choosing to dress more like the woman God created me to be.

Have any of you made this type of change? I'd love to hear about your transitions.

God's plan for us

Exodus 20:8-11
Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all they work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is with in thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and and hallowed it.

Genesis 2:2-3
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

`

God's Plan For Us

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Proverbs 31:27

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Proverbs 31:27
I love that my "career" is serving my God, husband, family and home! What a blessed life- doing what God created me to do.

God's Plan For Us

Genesis 2:15

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Isn't it interesting that what the Lord made for Adam was a garden- not a city or office cubicle. Notice too that God didn't put man in the garden to lounge about but to "work it and take care of it."

We are the people of God!

The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!

We will love the LORD our God with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our might.

The commands of God shall be on our hearts. We shall teach them diligently to our children and shall talk of them when we sit in our house and when we walk by the way and when we lie down and when we rise up.

We shall learn them so they will continually affect our actions and words- and we shall know them so they will affect our attitudes and decisions.

We will speak of them so often that our home will be known as a place where God's Truth lives!

We are the People of God!

-Reading from Westside Baptist Church of Jenison, MI

Frugal Friday- Dave Ramsey

The DH and I went to see Dave Ramsey live last night. Even though there was a hoard of people at the sold out venue, we still managed to have a good time and walked away, not with new knowledge (well some facts were new to us) but with a vision. He used a clip of a gazelle trying to avoid getting eaten by a cheetah as a visual on how we should be trying to avoid debt. Worked for me.

This morning my son counted his money and had me price a video game he wanted. He tried to convince me that he had most of the price and I could just pay for the rest. Uhmmm... not! Seemed like a good time to start in on the "save till you can pay for it fully" lesson and start moving him away from instant gratification. It is, however, much easier to be good when it is not your money and desire that is in the way.

Now we have to come up with a budget and stay on track. We are on Baby Step One. Not sure how we are coming up with $1,000 but it will be time to look at our "stuff" really carefully. We really are in for a total money makeover and lots of delayed gratification. We are definately not purchasing a house without 20% down and are even considering 100% down.

I recommend Dave Ramsey to any one. You don't have to buy his books or pay to see him live. Listen to him on the radio or tv. He's not saying anything new but he is really good in the motivation department.

Mom, would you be angry if I sold my china?

For more Frugal Friday posts, check out www.biblicalwomanhood.com

It's in the Bible!

Yesterday, I told my 3 year old that I needed to comb her hair. She immediately threw a fit and ran away. She returned a couple of seconds later with an open Bible. "The Bible says not to comb my hair!"

Sigh. That's a new one. No other child has ever tried that one before. So I explained to her that she could look all day but she wouldn't find that in the Bible. (Besides the fact that she can't read.) But the Bible does say, that children are to obey their parents.

We got the hair combed, we discussed that we do not add things or change things in the Bible to suit our purposes because the Bible is God's Holy Word. In the end, I have decided to be pleased with the entire situation because at three years of age she realizes that the Bible/God is to be obeyed.

The grounding

Well, daughters one and two were given a chance to put obedience into action yesterday. They are not allowed to bounce on trampolines. (The DH has made a final ruling in this.) Their friends are.
The girls came to me and asked if they could "sit" on the tramp with their friends. They were just going to be talking. I was dubious but decided that this would be a good time to see if they would be obedient. I said yes, they could sit on it.
Of course they gave into peer pressure. They jumped. I found out. They are grounded. No outdoors, no friends, no tv, no computer for a week.
I actually prefer it this way. This points them back to God, family and home.
It is scary to let them go and make their own decisions, bad or not. We had a good long talk. They thought I was wrong to let them go on the tramp at all. If I hadn't let them then they wouldn't have bounced, was their thinking. But at nearly 10 and 12, they have to start making right decisions on their own, all be it small ones. Hopefully next time they will make a wiser choice.
I plan to fill their time this week with cooking and quilting lessons.

A dying breed? (Oh, the luxury!)

Yesterday morning's hospital ER visit was interesting to say the least. I sadly surmise that we, the stay-at-home moms of America, are in fact, dying off quicker then I thought. The doctor that tended to my little one asked her if she went to day care. Of course my DD had no idea what day care was. She just stared at him blankly. I had to answer for her. "I stay at home with her." I couldn't gage the doctor's reaction.

Later as she was coming back from getting x-rays, the technition asked if I was going to be late to work. I answered I was a stay-at-home mother. Her reaction... "Oh, that's so nice. I don't meet many people who are able to do that anymore. It's quite a luxury!"

That comment, was like nails on a chalk board to me. I was able to hold my tongue but I was thinking of the oh so many things I could say. After all, I knew she was trying to be nice.

Let's look at the definition of luxury: something enjoyed as an addition to the ordinary necessities and comforts of life.

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I'm not complaining here, but how many of us SAHMs have given up what most of the world feels are necessities and comforts of life in order to be where we are? Staying at home for most of us isn't a luxury. It is a choice and usually a sacrifice of material goods for the greater good of raising our children as God called us to.

I really feel more families could obtain the "luxury" of a one income family if they were willing to cut out the real luxuries in their life. Forget the new, stylish car. Go with an old, reliable one. Forget the mall clothes, you can dress fine for much less. Movies, vacations, gadgets, junk food, hobbies, video games, cable tv, lessons of all sorts... when did these things cease to be luxuries and become things people think they have to have?

We should start making commercials like v-8 does- hitting people on the forhead when they choose luxury over children.

Are we losing liberty?

"When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissove the politcal bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which compel them to the separation. "

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness- that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that when any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."

I don't usually get too vocal about issues. I generally keep my life and blog pretty light and fluffy but this, folks, is the beginning of the Declaration of Independence. These are the ideas our great nation is founded on. It is these ideas that are currently being trampled. There are judges in California who have ruled that it is not legal to homeschool in that state because 99% of homeschooling families/teachers are not accredited to California standards. Its public school or become a criminal for most homeschool families. Imagine, "What is that guy/gal in for?" "Oh, you don't want to step in his/her path. He/she is a hardened homeschooler."

What starts in California seeps into the rest of the states. It sets precident. If California has its way, all children will be wards of the state school system. All children will be indoctinated into whatever thought system the state deems best and its not Godly values, folks. Its evolution, homosexuality, feminist and humanist thought.

President Clinton signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which essentially gives the UN rights over our parental rights. (Congress has yet to approve this.) How long until we are no longer allowed to teach our children about God at all?

We are losing our liberties one little piece at a time! At what point do the remnant of God fearing people in the USA say enough! Is the time coming when we will need to cite the Declaration of Independence to our own country?

Think about it. Go to http://hslda.org/ to sign a petition about the Californian homeschool situation. From time to time the tree of liberty must be refreshed by the blood of patriots and tyrants. No... don't go killing anybody, just don't volunteer to lay down in your own grave. We must be prepared to stand firm on the statutes of God. A family should have a right to choose how their own child is educated and what they learn.

Stepping off soap box now (and hoping this post doesn't get me a file in the CIA or FBI).

The Lewis Household is expecting another kid...

I haven't confirmed it with my doctor yet but I have taken two tests.

The first test I took last week when I was pretty sure I was late. The result was inconclusive. My oldest daughter and I agreed I was pregnant. There was a very faint line in the section that was supposed to show the result. My husband (maybe it was denial) said that didn't count because it was barely showing and he felt the line should be bright blue like the control line.

Well, I waited a week. (Good thing the double test kit was cheaper then the single.) Today, it didn't even take a minute. Two very bright lines showed up on the test.

Here's a poll of the family: Dad thinks we need another boy and son thinks we need another boy. The three year old says she wants to be a big sister. The older girls think a girl is in order and I think a boy would be good for the men in the family but I think it will be a girl.

Before I was even dating my husband, we were hanging out in a group of friends, talking about the future and one girl said, "John's going to end up with five girls." John promptly replied, "And I'll love every one of them." Now, he doesn't recall saying that, but let me tell you, I remember. It was one of the first things that inclined my attention toward him- how many 21 year old guys say things like that? Well, we have three girls and we lost another little girl at 8 months into a pregnancy, so if this baby was a girl, that would be girl #5. Yes, I think crazy like that.

I also have to confess to thinking girls are a lot easier, for me, then boys to raise. I can deal with all the emotional hoopla. It's the physical antics of my boy that tire me out. My mom (who had four boys and myself) once sent me a cartoon. A mom was asking her daughter what she planned to do that day. The girl answered that she was going to finish reading a book and then draw some pictures. Next the mom asked her son his plans. The little boy had two plungers and some rope in his hand and said, "I'm going to see if I can walk on the ceiling." That just sums up the difference in boys and girls to me.

We have a boy name- have had it for a long time. Winchester Alan Lewis.

We need to have a girl name. I like Eliza Jane but the husband wasn't too thrilled with it. I'll have to research more family names. We generally go with a more unique first name and a traditional middle name: Seven Louise, Andi Rose, Remington Carlyle, Reagan Catherine. (Louise, Carlyle, Catherine and also Alan are all names-first or middle- of grandparents.)

If you have suggestions let us know! It would appear that the baby will arrive sometime in November, God willing. If you are inclined, please pray for the health of the baby and myself as I am the dreaded "38" years old which put both of us in the "risky" pregnancy category.

I also will share that the DH and I don't plan pregnancies or use birth control. I was ready to have kids about a year before the DH but when he finally was ready (about three years into the marriage) he said that we should give our planning to the Lord. So ever since, God has been in control. This is to reassure people who are contemplating family planning that giving God control of your family doesn't have to mean 16 children- though it may. God knows exactly what everyone can handle and won't give you more than that.

I also want to give a shout out to my sister-in-law (DH's little sister). Angela and Grant Dilger are expecting their 7th baby. They got married about six years after us, so that just shows that God does different things in each family.