44 Books

Just a couple months ago, my cousin and his wife were at our house, and as we were showing them what we've done in the basement, our attention was turned to our bookshelf.  He asked me about some of the books on the shelf and whether or not I've read them.  I had to say no.  There are in fact 44 books on our bookshelf that I have never read.

So, I got to wondering, "What if there are some books of those 44 that aren't worth the read?"  How will I know if we should keep the book unless I've read it?  So, here embarks a bold endeavor.  My goal (however long it may take) is to read all 44 of those books and decide if they earn a spot on our shelf.  The ones that do will be put back in their spot.  The ones that don't will be given away.

The rules:
*Before reading one of the 44 books, I must: spend time in God's Word, spend at least a half hour playing with Evelyn and Elsie, and wash the dishes.

I don't want my reading to take priority over the things that are truly more important.

Book #1 is "Be Your Own 'Doctor'" by Rachel Weaver.  After I've finished it, I'll let you know what I think and whether it stays or goes. (Although I'm guaranteeing that this one will stay).

John Ploughman

Every year for Christmas, our pastor gives every family in the church a book.  Two years ago he gave us "The Complete John Ploughman".  It took me two years to finally pick it up and read it, and I actually just finished it this morning.  

In case you don't know anything about it, it's a book by C. H. Spurgeon written from the perspective of a simple farmer giving practical advice for every day things. I found so many things he said helpful, and many gave me a new perspective on the particular subject.  I have copied down some of my favorite quotes from the book, and hopefully it gives you the itch to read the book and find the context for what he says.  You can even borrow my copy if you like!

It is never worthwhile to do unnecessary things.

All women are good - either for something or for nothing, and their dress will generally tell you which. 

God sends every bird its food, but He does not throw it into the nest; He gives us our daily bread, but it is through our own labor.

If after all our being sober and thrifty, we cannot get along without pinching, let us still be patient and contented. 

A man never listens to reason when he has made up his mind to act unreasonably. 

Begin early to teach, for children begin early to sin.  Children are what they are made: the pity is that so many are spoiled in the bringing up. 

Men are neither suddenly rich nor suddenly good. 

A good husband will generally have a good wife, or make a bad wife better. 

Be not concerned with that which concerns not thee. 

Many are sorry they spoke, but few ever mourn that they held their tongue. 

To work hard for success makes us fit to bear it: we enjoy the bacon all the more because we have got an appetite by earning it. 

If you cannot get along honestly, be satisfied not to get on. 

When a man thinks that he is to make himself good before he comes to Jesus to be saved, he is planting the fruit instead of the root, and putting the chimney pots where the foundation should be.  We do not save ourselves and then trust the Saviour; but when the Saviour has worked salvation in us, then we work it out with fear and trembling.  Be sure, good reader, that you put faith first, and works afterwards; for, if not, you will put the cart before the horse.

Hanging Out to Dry

When we first moved into our house, there was a clothes line across the better part of the backyard.  It was right in the way of the main open area, and it was ugly.  We took it down, and the first summer we lived here I kept trying to figure out a place to hang up a line.  I never could figure out something that Kevin would agree to.

The second summer, I got enough guts to ask our elderly next door neighbor lady if I could use her clothes line that ends right by our garage.  I had observed that she never used it the summer before, and she's a nice lady (the kind that randomly brings over some cookies or brownies just because), so I thought my odds of her saying yes were pretty good.  Sure enough she said to go ahead because she never uses it.  Well, that was great, but I didn't have any clothes pins.  So, I only hung Evelyn's cloth diapers out there because I could fasten the snaps around the line so they wouldn't fall off.

This third summer I found some clothes pins at a thrift sale for fifty cents.  I guess it's just quicker and easier to throw the clothes into the dryer, because last week, I hung a load of clothes out on the line to dry for the first time.  It was so FUN!  It was extra fun because it was the girls' clothes and seeing all of their cute pink clothes waving in the breeze just made me grin.

Gardening

There's just something about sitting down to a meal of produce that you grew in your garden.  It gives me (at least) a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment that my hard work is literally putting food on our table.  Not only that, but the healthiest and freshest vegetables around.  This year with a new baby, a small yard with no room to plant, and barely enough time to wash dishes and get laundry done, gardening was put to the wayside.

Back this winter as I thought forward about not being able to garden, I got disappointed about it.  I know that Kevin loves fresh vegetables, and I could really help our grocery bill by growing it myself.  After sharing my disappointment with Kevin, he encouraged me by reminding me that it'll only be a couple more years that we live in this house, and a couple more years until Evelyn can help me more, and a couple more years that we run our lawn care business, and until then the farmer's market is close by.  As he put it, "It's not worth killing yourself for some carrots and lettuce when they're only a couple bucks at the farmer's market."  This really helped me because I truly want to please my husband in all that I do, and it was reassuring to know that by not attempting to garden I was not disappointing or letting him down.

Someday I will have a garden that produces enough to put away food for the whole year.  It will be a family affair with all the children helping.  I'm sure they will all whine about having to weed the garden, but years down the road they will look back and count it a blessing that they know what carrot plants look like, and what weeds look like.  Kind of like how it was for us growing up.

Until then I will have to settle for a few tomato and pepper plants in pots alongside the garage and whatever others give me out of the abundance of their own gardens.  But oh how my tomato and pepper plants are flourishing in their little pots of dirt and compost.

Here's a tiny peek into my "garden".

The first little green tomato.

 

The first little hot pepper.

 The first of the blossoms on my regular pepper plants.

I didn't do anything special to them, but all of my plants are doing very well.  On one pepper plant I counted 16 little blossoms.  And that's just one plant!  It looks like we will have a bountiful harvest even if it is only peppers and tomatoes.

Look Alike Contest

The second question everybody always asks is, "So, who do you think she looks like?"  Like they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words" so I'll save myself the thousand words and let you decide who you think she looks like.

All of the pictures of Elsie are on the left.

Elsie vs. Evelyn

 

Elsie vs. Anna

Elsie vs. Kevin

 

We think she looks a lot like Evelyn's baby pictures (as you probably saw).  The two have the same hairline, eyes, nose and mouth.  She has more of my head shape and definitely my toes, where Evelyn has Kevin's.

So, who do you think she looks like? 

Baby Button

Today I am thankful that Elsie's belly button has completely healed up.  The cord part fell off when she was about 1 1/2 weeks old, but there was a little part that wasn't healed up yet that kept oozing. Today it is no longer oozing and that last little part is all healed up.

And what a cute little button it is!

Now this sight of oozy onesies to be sprayed can disappear from our bathroom. Yay!

Hospital vs. Home

An acquaintance asked me the other day, "So, did you like the hospital birth or the home birth better?"  When I told her the home birth, her response was, "Everyone I've talked to that has done both likes the home birth better!"  After my experiences, I don't doubt that.

It's not to say that you can't have an awesome birth experience in a hospital, but after having two non-medicated, no complication births, I would pick a home birth over the hospital any day.  Here are some of the differences (from my two experiences):

Labor starts.
     *Hospital: Make sure all of your things are packed, get someone to come over to watch your other child, wait for contractions to get strong enough to go in.
     *Home: Eat dinner, put other child to bed, call midwife to let her know what's happening, relax.

Contractions get stronger.
     *Hospital: Get in the car, travel to the hospital while still having strong contractions (very uncomfortable by the way), check in, get hooked up to a monitor to see how the baby is responding to the contractions.  See which midwife is on call, and meet 4 different nurses.
     *Home: Midwife arrives, explain how things have been going, go back downstairs and continue relaxing and breathing through contractions.  After a while, get in the tub.

Baby is ready to be born.
     *Hospital: Turn on bright lights, pull out all the instruments, and push, push, push.  Everyone just standing there watching it all happen.
     *Home: Turn off all the lights, light candles, and relax letting my body work the baby out by itself.  Midwife and assistant coaching me through contractions and instructing me on better ways to breath and relax.

Baby is born.
     *Hospital: Put her up on my stomach, after a while cut cord, put goop in her eyes, give her a bath, weigh and measure her, then dress her in a hospital onesie.  Meanwhile, I get stitches, take a shower and eat a hospital sandwich.  Then get moved to another room to sleep on an uncomfortable bed.
     *Home: Put her on my stomach, let me hold her as long as I want.  Then cut cord and give her to Kevin.  We don't give her a bath because vernix is great lotion.  Weigh her and dress her in our own clothes.  I take a bath, no stitches necessary, and go lay on my own bed. Then snack on fresh fruit, cheese and crackers.

The next two days.
     *Hospital: Nurses in every hour to check baby's temperature and my blood pressure.  Baby gets her foot pricked to run blood tests, has hearing screening and vision testing.  Nurse shifts change every 8 hours, so we have a total of 6-7 different nurses taking care of us.  Continue to eat hospital food, regulated visiting hours limit who can come and when they can come. On-call pediatrician comes in a few times to squeeze the baby's belly and pester us about not giving her vaccinations.
     *Home: Family watches other child, family and friends bring home cooked meals, sleeping in my own bed with 1-2 caretakers (husband and sister-in-law).  Friends and family can visit whenever it is convenient for us, and there are no tests and no pediatricians.

Going home.
     *Hospital: Make sure the baby has passed all of her tests before we can leave.  Get the nurse to check us out and take off the security bracelet.
     *Home:  What?  We're already at home!

Overall, birthing at home was so much more laid back, less invasive, and just more comfortable.  If and when the Lord chooses to bless us with more children, if everything is going well, I will definitely do another home birth.