Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

The Coppinger Castle

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Welcome to Part 2 of The Coppingers are Moving! series. Be sure to read this first so that you will understand what is prompting this transition to Lincoln.

Our search for a house to fit our 11

There are 11 of us in our current household including Matt and me, Elias (pursuing a career in Lincoln), Malachi (growing his Sideline Media Production Company), Brayden (9), Kiya (7), Keith (4), Anna (3), Acacia (2), Josie (1), and Baby #11 (4 months).

We need an updated family picture to feature our new baby. We’ll get to that in our spare time, oy. Here’s our latest from last summer at Justus and Kelsey’s wedding before Baby#11 was born and joined us:

When God made it clear that he was moving us to Lincoln, we looked and looked at properties that would meet our family’s needs and our hospitality desires. Nothing worked. Some had lots of bedrooms, but a tiny kitchen. Others had a sort-of decent kitchen but not enough overall square footage. Still others had a good price but not enough bedrooms. House after house after house  – we just kept looking and praying. If God was moving us, surely He would provide. We trusted this. Plus, He had told me that He had something even BETTER for us than the house we planned to build.

After looking at so many houses that just didn’t work for us, I couldn’t see what in the world God was doing. How could any house be better than one we had designed to meet our unique needs?

I prayed very specifically, yet I felt bad for asking for some of the things I was asking for. I kept trying to stop myself from praying for a house with two dishwashers. What house has two dishwashers?? Couldn’t I just be content with a house – any house that would humbly take care of us?

I kept saying, “God, I want to be content with what you have planned for us. I just want to want what you want me to want.”

He replied, “I have big plans for you and for how I will use your home. Stop feeling guilty for wanting what I want you to want.” So it seemed that He had put a vision on my heart and that I wasn’t being greedy or selfish in my requests. But still. Did such a house exist that would accommodate everything on my list?

Then I stumbled onto this.

We found this unique home for sale, and it meets our needs and more (for less than the cost of everything we had found that was much smaller).

It is a historic building/home that has been run as a Bed and Breakfast. It was so different that I almost didn’t even click over to look at it. But we love brick exterior, plus Matt had always joked about wanting a castle. This house looked like a castle. Sure, I’ll click. Why not?

As I looked at all the pictures of the rooms, I was incredulous. It was everything. It was more than everything. And the opportunities this place could allow for ministry and outreach? Well, we don’t even know yet, but we know God is up to something.

I jokingly told Matt, “Hey, I found your castle!”

Our laughter soon turned serious as we prayed about whether or not this could be the house for us. It’s huge – over 7,000 square feet with 9 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. Amazing! But how would we keep it clean? Would we lose the children on the third floor? The basement? This house was awesome, but was it too much for us?

Or was it just right?

We prayed. I cried (of course). My biggest prayer was that I wasn’t being selfish or greedy. I truly want a functional home for our family – one that I can set up well to meet our needs, especially in the kitchen. And even more for whatever it is God wants us to do for people beyond our family.

Matt and I made an appointment to walk through it. We walked in and I knew it was what God had for us. Be very proud of me – I didn’t cry. Not even once. Not even when I walked into the kitchen.

It was all I could do to keep my jaw off the floor. Our daughter-in-law, Eva, was with us and we just stood in that kitchen in amazement. It is huge. Big enough for multiple adults and children to work together at the same time. This is what we need.

Dear ones, this kitchen has two dishwashers.

It also has the very same range/oven I wanted to put into the house we were planning to build. The very same one.

It truly is better than what we had planned. I stand in awe and also bow in thanks. We are so grateful.

God is faithful

I wish I could put into words what the last few months have been like for us. We have been in a very deep time of questioning. God made it so clear that He was creating big changes for our family, and we still don’t know all the reasons why. Maybe we never will.

But we know He is faithful. We know He is good. We know God’s plans require us to be visionary, to think outside the box, and to be open to whatever He wants to do with and through our family.

We know that this will be good.

But wait, there’s more.

As we toured the house, we found that there is actually a third dishwasher in a pantry room just off the kitchen (as well as another stove/oven, another sink, two more refrigerators, and lots of shelves). I’ll show you the pantry another day, after we’ve moved and settled in. Today, I can’t stop crying in thanks. :)

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20

P.S. The photos I’m featuring today show what the house looks like currently, as a Bed and Breakfast. Some of the furniture is staying but not all of it. We’ll furnish it to best meet the needs of our family.

P.P.S. I plan to take time to tell you all about how it goes as we move, settle in, and furnish this home. Most importantly, I’ll share what God is doing with this space He is providing for us. It is very clear that He is doing big things and together, we will praise Him and give Him full glory!

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How Our Youngest Became Oldest of 9

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Once upon a time, Malachi was the youngest of four boys. We thought he’d hold that status forever, but God had different plans.

18 years ago when Malachi was born, one of my sisters-in-law made the boys adorable shirts that said:

  • Biggest Brother
  • Bigger Brother
  • Big Brother
  • Baby Brother

Having our four boys was so special, and their friendship grew and became beautiful through the years.

 

Then one day, 13 years after Malachi became our baby, God shocked us by adding a four-year-old boy to our family. A few months later, his baby cousin joined us. Within a year, we had adopted them both and Malachi had two younger brothers.

This transition was full of challenges, but Malachi, like all of our older boys, opened his heart and let God grow him into his new role.

God continued to bring more children into our family, and within five years, we had grown from a family of six to a family of 15 (including two parents, four biological children, six adopted children, one foster son, and two daughters-in-law). In addition, one of our former foster sons still spends time with us and we consider him one of our own.

The day we adopted our four girls, the judge asked Malachi to come to the front and sit with Matt and me and the girls. We thought this was strange, seeing as we had lots of other siblings who were a part of this too. But the judge recognized something special about Malachi as he had been the only one of our older sons living at home during the entire process of fostering the sisters we were getting ready to adopt. So with a grin, Malachi stepped down and had a seat with us as Matt and I testified and as the judge finalized our girls’ adoption.

The very next day, Malachi graduated from high school. At first, I was overwhelmed by having two huge events back-to-back. But as the weekend progressed, I was profoundly impacted by how perfectly timed these events were. You see, we had thought that the day Malachi graduated, we would have launched our last child and become empty nesters. But in fact, just the day before, God officially added four more children. The beauty of God’s timing in this astounded me and I couldn’t get over how good God is in overruling our plans and giving us so much more.

Our graduation tradition is to gather in our living room and speak a blessing over our graduate. Here we are, gathered around, listening in as Malachi FaceTimed Justus who couldn’t join us that day.

My blessing was this. I’m sharing it with you so that you know a little bit more about who this wonderful young man is:

Malachi,

We all got a chuckle yesterday when the Judge asked you to sit up front, but the truth is that she was very right when she said, “You need to be up here; you’ve played a very big role in this.” So true.

Today, your graduation day, looks very different than what we all expected five years ago. Literally overnight, you went from being the youngest brother to being an older brother. Within the past five years, you’ve become oldest of nine. THIS WAS SO UNEXPECTED! It hasn’t always been easy for you, but you’ve turned out to be such a beloved big brother to your little sisters and brothers. What a gift you are to them (and to your older brothers, and to Dad and me).

I think God has used this huge life change to teach us all something so important. First, we can make plans for our life, but God is the One who knows what we actually need. Our job is to be open, to listen to Him, and to trust that what He has for us is best – even if it’s hard.

Second, being uncomfortable is often right where God wants us. You’ve been learning this and I pray that you never stop seeking to be uncomfortable in all the ways God wants you to be. I pray that being uncomfortable becomes comfortable as you continue to walk in obedience to Christ.

Third, remember that your identity is in Christ. Not in where you fall in line in our family birth order or in your Sideline Media career (which is awesome, by the way, and we’re so proud of you) or in anything else – but who you are in Christ is all that matters. You are a child of God – adopted, chosen, cherished, and so very loved. Live your life in that love, and choose to let the Holy Spirit love others through you. What amazing things God will continue to do with and through you when you walk in His love.

Thank you for being my boy, and for loving me through my weaknesses. Thank you for crying with me as we’ve navigated these years together. Thank you for always making me laugh. I love you.

Mom

As Malachi launches into adulthood, he will be working full-time at the thriving production company he created two years ago, Sideline Media. He is so admired by his three older brothers Asa, Justus, and Elias. And by his younger siblings Brayden, Kiya, Keith, Anna, Acacia, Josie, Baby#11, and Bonus Brother K.

We truly don’t know what God has in store for us, but we know that He is faithful and He is good. He is provider and we can trust Him fully.

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The Coppingers Have Decided to Move

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What? The Coppingers have decided to move? Well, it could be stated that God decided for them…

We’ve been in York, Nebraska for 21 years. I know this because Elias was 4-months old when we moved to York from Colorado Springs. Now he’s 21.

And, of course, our family has grown just a tiny bit during these years.

We don’t even have a current family photo because just a month after that one was taken, it became outdated when this guy was born and moved in with us:

Short Family History

Matt and I went to York College (now York University) starting in 1991. We married in 1994, had Asa in 1997, then moved to Colorado Springs in 1998. Justus and Elias were born in Colorado, then God moved us back to York in 2002. For us, it felt like going home.

We moved into this house, and it felt enormous. Because it was/is.

Malachi was born here in 2004. I started my blog in 2007. We homeschooled here, hosted here, grew here, and loved here. Our boys grew up and started to move on. God filled our home with more children. Two of our boys got married. God kept adding children to our family.

As our family grew, we found that as big as our house was, it no longer met our needs. Could we make it work? Absolutely. God always provides. But I longed for a functional dining room. A more practical kitchen. A space in our home that was large enough for all of our family plus all the people we loved hosting.

We just kept squishing people in. It worked and it was beautiful. No one complained about sitting on the floor and up the stairs.

We started talking about building a house – one that was functional, practical, big, and would give us more opportunities for hospitality in the ways we felt called. We spent hours praying over this, planning this, and just when we were getting ready to execute our plans, God put us on pause.

We didn’t know why. We just knew He was doing something big because He made it clear that He was getting ready to expand us. 

I was intrigued and excited by this!! And at the same time, I grieved this. We were going to build my dream home – one with a large functional kitchen and lots of room to host gatherings. One with a laundry room, a mud room, and a garage that fit our super-tall Ford Transit. So I kicked and screamed a little bit during my talks with God. I thought He had told us to go ahead with building a house. Did I misunderstand? Did I even know how to listen to Him at all?

He assured me that He loved me, that He was faithful, and that He had something even better for us.

Even better? How was it possible? How could any other house be as good as the one we designed for our needs, much less better than?

As we pressed in to learn more about what God had planned for us and why He halted the groundbreaking for our new house, He started to make a brand new plan very clear: Our family was to move 45 miles east to Lincoln. The biggest reason? That’s where our older kids are. Asa and Eva live there. Justus and Kelsey live there. Elias just graduated from college and had plans to go in that direction. Malachi just graduated from high school and was heading to Lincoln.

We want to do life together. We want our 25-year-old to know our 1-year-old. We have a total of 11 kids now – and they are in two separate generations. If we want our kids to be siblings, we need to live close by. And someday, when we have grandchildren, we want to be available to be a part of their lives. With this many littles at home, getting away from York to Lincoln is extremely difficult. Living in the same city provides so many opportunities for us to be together compared to living even an hour away.

So, friends. The Coppingers are moving to Lincoln.

If you didn’t see that coming, rest assured that we didn’t either. But God sure did. He’s had plans for quite some time now, and He’s paved the way so beautifully. Don’t think I won’t cry my way out of this place. This has been my home and where I’ve raised several of our children. This is the town that brought our new set of children to us. Our York people are so dear to us that I can’t bear the thought of driving away.

But remember? God said He was expanding us. We aren’t losing our York people. We’re expanding to become a part of a new community with our current relationships still intact and solid.

We don’t know all of His purposes in this move. We just know that this is what we are to do. So here we go. We’re packing and selling properties and giving things away. And where exactly are we going? What house could possibly fit us all that doesn’t cost a literal million dollars?

Oh, my friends. You won’t believe what God gave us.

To Be Continued…

 

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The Day We Adopted Four Girls

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Today. Today we adopted four girls.

Obviously, I’m crying. Friends, this has been a long time coming. Typically these cases should be opened and closed within a year and a half but for some of our sweethearts, it has taken almost three years.

So yes, I’m crying now, but oh these are tears of joy. Relief. Gratitude. Overwhelm at God’s goodness.

The past 2.5 years have been rather grueling so the tears I shed then were often as I was screaming out to God for help, wisdom, patience, understanding, and rescue. He is faithful and while I haven’t enjoyed every part of this journey, I gratefully accept all that God has taught me about Himself during it.

We can trust Him. We can. We can cry out to Him and we can listen to what He tells us. We can believe Him. We can sit in the quiet with Him and not say anything because we can’t find any more words. We can grieve alongside Him and know that He will care for all that is lost. Because while there is much to be gained when we adopt, it also means that much has been lost. This is deeply felt.

But today, I rejoice. I set aside all that has hurt and all that is hard and I go all in with my feelings of JOY. Today, four little girls became Coppingers.

Would you like to meet our daughters?

This is Zakiya. We call her Kiya (key-ah). She is seven and she is a bio sibling of one of several others in our home. She is smart, helpful, and loves to chit-chat while she works with me in the kitchen. She loves animals, twirly dresses, and playing school. She is a delight to us and her beauty is overwhelming.

This is AnnaSophia. We call her Anna. She is three and is a bio sibling of several in our home. She is a little mommy, full of sweetness and independence. Hearing her sing Jesus Loves Me in her precious little voice reminds me why we’re doing what we’re doing. She brings a smile to everyone who sees her.

This is Acacia Joy. (pronounced uh-kay-shuh) She is two and a bio sibling of several in our home. She has been with us from the time she was a newborn. Matt and I chose her name because Acacia wood was used in the building of the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle – which was filled with the glory of the Lord. (As a fun bonus, Matt grew up on Acacia Avenue in Fresno, so this makes her name extra special.) She is everything JOY, from her incredible belly laugh to her naturally sweet spirit and slightly ornery personality.

This is Josie Lynn. She is one and a bio sibling of several in our home. She has been with us from the time she was a newborn. Matt and I named her after both of our middle names: Joseph and Lynn. We love the story of Joseph in Genesis – how God took him from his traumatic beginning and made him something great for His purposes. This is our prayer for our Josie. She is quiet, observant, sweet, calm, and gives us her best giggles when we kiss her cheeks and neck.

We were all-boy-parents for our first 23 years. We never once regretted not having daughters, but we did wonder what they would have looked like. As it turns out, they look like this. They are beautiful, precious, and so very loved.

Thank you for celebrating with us today.

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How We Find Energy to Raise a Second Set of Kids

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Long time reader asked these questions, and I assumed the rest of you might be wondering too! Here’s what Lissa said:

I’m always pretty astonished that your 4 sons are pretty much up and gone (and that a huge accomplishment) and now you’ve undertaken SIX more kiddos. Plus a new baby boy. I know God is giving you the wisdom and strength….but STILL….how do you find the energy? How old were you when you had Asa? We are close with 2 couples (now empty nesters) who each had 8 kids apiece and it was crazy for a long, long time. But they pale when I tell them about a couple who were so close to the finish line and then started all over. hahaha. A more serious question though, how do you and Matt find time to spend alone, to nourish your marriage etc? Have you ever slept in? :). If I lived nearby I would definitely wash the dishes and pick a few chickens for you

First of all, if you did live nearby, I would 100% allow you to wash dishes and pick chickens for me. :) And perhaps that is how I can begin to answer these questions – to share that God has provided so much glorious help for us!

The truth is: Matt and I are tired. Is it because we’re not-so-young anymore? I don’t think so. I feel healthier and stronger now compared to when I was in my 20’s. (Oh, and we were 23 when Asa was born. We are 49 now, and holding strong because we have a newborn and I refuse to admit that I’m almost 50, haha.)

We are tired because this job – this beautiful, amazing thing God asked us to do during this season in life – is hard. Our seven littlest children all have some level of special need, though none of them (so far) is severe. The trauma some of them faced before coming to live with us has created difficult behaviors and overwhelming emotions that we are not equipped to handle. Matt and I seek God’s wisdom and professional guidance quite constantly.

So let’s see. What did you ask, again, Lissa? :)

Do I ever sleep in?

No. Shucks, right now I’m just looking forward to sleeping through the night. :) EVENTUALLY, we will sleep through the night and maybe even sleep in. I do crave a full night’s sleep but even without it, I am constantly amazed at God’s provision of rest for us. I do feel tired, but not like one would expect. So many mornings, based on the hours of sleep I got (or didn’t get), I feel like I’m not sure how I can possibly make it through the day – and then I do – as if I’d gotten a full night’s sleep. THIS IS GOD. There’s no other reason we would feel this way.

How do I find the energy?

Seriously, it’s God. Well, and green smoothies, hahaha. I truly don’t want to sound cliche’ as I smile sweetly and say, “Oh, our dear Lord and Savior gives me strength to do this…” But seriously, people. We have baby on top of baby at our house, plus trauma behaviors and tantrums and so very much laundry, plus a ridiculous level of messiness all over our house. I could go on and on. Every time I hoist not one but TWO double strollers into the back of our van (while kids hang on my leg and scream in my ear), I recognize what is true: God is doing this. It feels supernatural.

People say to us when they see us trying to herd all of our precious little turtles: “I just don’t know how you do it.” But the truth is that we aren’t doing it. God is doing it. It makes me cry as I think about His goodness, His provision for us, and truly the incredible energy He gives us to do this hard job every day.

So we have the energy to do this – somehow. I fall into bed every night completely exhausted, but knowing that God will give me the strength to do it again tomorrow. Matt and I live by Psalm 23:3: “He renews my strength” knowing that He does and He will. On our weariest days, we quote this to each other, to remind each other that God is giving us everything we need.

But back to the help…

Oh, how much help God has provided for us.

We have a young couple who has been coming to our home EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT for almost two years. We feed them dinner (it’s the least we can do) and they do everything from diapers to playing outside with kids to sweeping to dishes to helping us get our kids to bed. They are amazing and they are a part of our family now.

We have a friend who comes two to three mornings every week to watch the kids so Matt and I can have some breathing space. The babies love her, we love her, and she is a delight to our home.

We have teenage girls who come every Wednesday afternoon to care for all seven littles so Matt and I can work without interruption. I’m writing this post on a Wednesday afternoon, and if it wasn’t for these girls, you’d never read another post from me again, ha.

We have a friend who brings us chicken. Hahaha, this one is both fun and sweet and while she thinks it’s no big deal, it is a very big deal. Most time when she goes to Costco, she picks up a couple of their rotisserie chickens, takes the meat off the bones, and brings it for us to enjoy. I get several meals out of this chicken and I haven’t had to do any work. This is such a gift to us!

Friends drop off diapers, wipes, and any variety of needed items that God has put on their heart to give to us. With this many little ones, I can’t tell you how many diapers we have gone through in the past four years. At one point, we had five kids in diapers. We have surely gone through tens of thousands of diapers in four years. But we’ve hardly had to buy any. Our people are generous, loving, and not only has this been a financial burden lifted, I love that I haven’t had to think about shopping for diapers. I just go to my room and get another box.

Our older boys – and their wives or girlfriends – are very much a part of this journey. Our daughters-in-law come as often as they can and my goodness am I thankful for how well our boys chose when they chose wives!! Elias and Malachi are living at home and grab babies or toddlers or preschoolers whenever they are able. Elias (21) and Keith (4) are pretty much best friends and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

God provides help in so many ways, I can’t recall them all and I probably don’t even recognize them all. He is so good.

How do you and Matt find time to spend alone, to nourish your marriage, etc?

Now, there’s a question. :)

One huge blessing about our situation in life right now is that both Matt and I are both self-employed and work-from-home parents. God knew what we would need 28-years into our marriage! So He did His work through these years to secure us with income streams that would allow us to both be full-time parents. We teamwork throughout our days and spend many hours together. This isn’t alone time, but it IS together time. We love this.

During the afternoons while the four littlest are napping, Matt does work to maintain our rental properties in town and other various odd jobs, and I fit in a little blogging work if I can.

Then at roughly 8:08 pm, all the littles are in bed!!!!!!!! Well, the baby hangs with us at that time, but he doesn’t talk yet so Matt and I count this as alone time. This is glorious, needed, and precious time. It’s also quiet, glory hallelujah!

Did this answer your questions, or did it just leave you with more? Leave a comment to ask, and I’ll try to write another post to answer!

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Family Game Night: Favorite Games!

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I love sharing our favorite games!

It’s much trickier now to find time to play games as a family – mostly because we have a lot of little ones who like to put game pieces into their mouths. But whenever we can, we like to pull out a game to play with our 6 and 7-year-olds. And once all six little ones are put down for the night, we can get out some of the more detailed games for the grown-ups!

In case you’re looking at games to enjoy during the holidays with your family, we wanted to share these lists again. We’ve added new ones too!

Favorite Games List

Family Games Little Ones Enjoy

  • Hoot Owl Hoot (my favorite to play with the kids!)
  • Pop the Pig
  • Spot It!
  • Candyland
  • Memory
  • Hungry Hippos
  • Trouble
  • Don’t Break the Ice
  • HiHo Cherry-O
  • Uno Attack
  • Farkle
  • Pass the Pigs
  • Huskerdu (great for younger kids – still fun for adults)

Family Games for Bigger Kids and Adults

  • 5-Second Rule
  • Connect Four
  • The Game of Things (Great fun for a group!)
  • Rummikub
  • Settlers of Catan (With extentions, which you’ll need if you have more than 4 players.)
  • Settlers of Catan Cities and Knights (This is an expansion of Settlers of Catan. This is our favorite add-on to regular Setters.)
  • Seafarers of Catan (Also an expansion of Settlers.)
  • Ticket to Ride
  • Carcossonne
  • Bohnanza (This one is unique. Great for older kids and adults. We love this one!)
  • Life
  • Risk
  • Manhattan
  • Guestures
  • Taboo
  • Blink (A great stocking stuffer!)
  • Headbandz
  • Acquire
  • Sequence
  • Clue
  • Apples to Apple Junior (This is probably our favorite group game. We don’t recommend the regular version of this game because the cards are less familiar to the kids.)
  • Scattergories
  • Pictionary
  • Cranium
  • Boggle (This game totally counts as school work, but no one knows they’re learning.)
  • Monopoly
  • Sorry
  • Quelf (I’ve actually decided that I very much dislike this one. The kids like it though.)
  • Racko
  • Balderdash
  • Yahtzee
  • Mastermind
  • Skipbo (We’ve played hours of this game through the years!)
  • Wits and Wagers
  • Anomia (One of my new favorites!)
  • Pandemic
  • Castle Panic
  • Mars Attack
  • Codenames
  • Tsuro
  • Avalon

Your turn to weigh in! What are your favorite family games?

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What I Teach My Kids about Geometry, Food, and Budgets

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I’ve always been a very practical person. I’ll even admit this to you: When my kids ask me during an advanced math lesson, “Mom, when will I actually use this Geometry or Algebra 2 stuff in real life??” I’m like, “So sorry Dude, YOU WON’T.”

But then I make them do it anyway.

Will some kids grow up and use the Geometry and beyond-basic Algebra lessons they learned in high school? Absolutely. But all of my kids (so far) are more creative types. In fact, beyond some very basic pre-algebra skills, not ever in all my 47 years of life have I used the high school level math I learned as a teen.

Oh, except for what I’ve had to relearn so I could teach it to my kids, who will also not likely ever use it. But I’m not bitter.

So like good little soldiers, we complete the courses anyway, and here’s how I explain it to my kids:

It’s a state requirement for high school, therefore we will complete these classes. And we will  keep a good attitude while doing it (except for when we don’t, because there are some lessons that only Jesus-as-Tutor could help us understand). But what you are really learning about while doing these difficult lessons? Hard work. Discipline. Perseverance.

Amen. Preach it, Mom.

So now you know how I really feel about upper-level math classes that all of our kids are required to take. I think you already know how I feel about identifying gerunds and diagraming sentences.

I just so much prefer to teach my kids about things that matter to our family. Jesus. Caring for others. Life skills.

So we plow our way through the harder, less-practical-for-our-lives-stuff. Then we focus our time more on what we know we’re going to need and on where our gifts and interests lie.

Food, Budgeting, Leadership…

This year’s Homeschooling Bundle piqued my interest because it includes really practical courses and books about things like:

  • Leadership for your teen
  • How to run a business
  • Personal finance (banking, budgeting, and buying)
  • Photoshop for kids
  • Creative writing
  • Prepping your high schooler for college
  • Scavenger through the grocery store
  • Building strong readers
  • So much more

 

THIS is how we love to learn at our house. And we’re sort of not actually homeschooling anymore. Except that we are. This explains it all.

So practical skills that we all need for life – that is where it’s at.

And also: FOOD.

Because of my love of food, and because of the fact that every one of us needs to know how to shop, plan, and cook food, I made all of these for us to give to our kids:

This is a 2-in-1 package that includes:

  • Fun With Food activity book for kids ages 2-10. It’s full of fun menu planning, grocery shopping, and budgeting activities that are practical but almost game-like. Never before has learning the skills of menu planning and grocery shopping been this much fun!
  • Feed Your Friends is a book for preteens and teens. It shares inspiration and tools needed to learn basic meal planning and cooking, and it’s all centered around teens cooking with and for their friends. I would have loved having this during my teen years!
  • PLUS, both of these come with a set of recipe cards that can be printed and turned into a recipe flipbook to use in the kitchen. The recipes included are kid/teen favorites!

 

Let’s teach our kids real life skills.

Let me say this again though: Even if you don’t homeschool, you homeschool. Because we are our kids’ first and best teachers, no matter where they attend school. So look at this with an open mind, grabbing the resources to help your kids of all ages learn so many valuable life skills!

Our Bonus For Teens:

Here are a few more details about our Feed Your Friends package.

I know how this works. Most teens love to hang out with their friends. All teens need to learn basic cooking skills before launching into the real world. So I put together this package just for teens, full of recipes, party planners, and more so that they can practice their cooking skills with and for their friends!!

It’s a book full of printables plus a file full of recipe cards that they can print and turn into a recipe flipbook to have in the kitchen!

 

Bonus for kids ages 4-10:

Here are a few more details about our Fun With Food package:

It includes a 30+page printable book full of fun activities to help them learn to grocery shop, budget, and plan simple meals. This is hands-on, fun learning – activities I’ve never seen before but created to be fun and almost game-like. But ah yes. They’ll be learning too!

Plus the book full of blank recipe cards, menu planning activities, grocery shopping/budget practice, and more.

All of this has been so much fun to put together! Here are a couple of sample pages to see some of the included activities:

They also get a file of recipe cards to print and make into a Recipe Flipbook.

I love it when practicality and fun go hand in hand. These packages are a win in every way!

I’ll give them all to you for free as a thank you for purchasing this week’s Homeschool Bundle from our links.

But wait. I don’t homeschool!

It’s doesn’t matter. WE ALL HOMESCHOOL. Read my thoughts about this here.

Just don’t let the word “homeschool” in the bundle title scare you. These resources are for everyone. I’m using them even though we mostly don’t homeschool currently. Because we learn from home all the time!

Get your bundle here. (offer expired)

Then email me and I’ll send you all the freebies!!

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Family Update – More Kids, Extra Pink?!

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I couldn’t type one word of this post without tears. It’s what I do now apparently: snuggle and chase a bunch of little ones all day and cry a lot.

The tears are mostly the result of joy and awe spilling out all over my face. But there are also a few bucketfuls that are from heartache, frustration, fear, and longing. Never before these last 2.5 years of starting our foster care and adoption journey have I realized my absolute need for God’s strength and provision. I am so thankful for what I am learning. I am beyond thankful that God is perfectly in charge.

Wait. I’m not in charge? No, and it stinks. Except that it doesn’t, because so many times I pray for something that I think is best, and then God shows me that guess what? His ways are still best. Better than mine. Always.

So here’s a family life update, which is constantly changing, full, and often smells like a dirty diaper.

Family Update!

Well, let’s see, where to start? Our summer was full of long walks with the babies-turned-toddlers riding in the double stroller, and Brayden, our 6 year old walking beside me. We walked for miles, using the time to practice Brayden’s struggling speech skills. We did a lot of “unschooling” during this time noticing bits of nature, talking through math problems, finding things that started with different letters – so much learning. I will look back on this summer as one that was incredibly busy and wonderfully wonderful.

Elias graduated from high school and we were finally able to celebrate with a simple party in June. We had a cake pop and iced coffee bar (I highly recommend the iced coffee! Cake pops? They were a hit, but I’m not sure I want to take the time to make them again, ha!)

Justus was blessed to spend the summer in Texas as a youth ministry intern. As a result of his great experience, he came back in August ready to add another major to his original college plan. So now he is both a vocal performance major AND a ministry major. What a beautiful combination for whatever career God has for his future.

Just before school started we were amazed to get all seven boys together for our traditional back-to-school lunch. We didn’t go school shopping together like we usually do, and we didn’t go to the restaurant like we usually do. Instead, we grabbed take-out and ate together at the park.

From this:

To this:

Mid August, we got Elias and Justus moved into their college dorms/apartments. Even Keith helped. :)

Suddenly, Malachi went from the youngest of four boys to the oldest of four boys at home. He rocked this role from the start. We settled into our school year homeschooling a sophomore and a first grader while chasing two busy toddlers.

Just when we thought we couldn’t get any busier, God surprised us and changed our lives completely by putting a newborn bundle of pink in our lives. She’s a bio family member of our other bonus kids, so God’s yes was an immediate yes for us too. We were all smitten from the moment we laid eyes on her.



Our college boys come home with they can, and oh look, sometimes they have a special girl with them!! :) :) :)

Our littles love to pile on our big boys whenever they show up.

Asa doesn’t make it home often now that he is living and working in Lincoln. But he and his special girl come when they can and we treasure every minute.

Phew. So here we were. Trying to juggle this very full life with four awesome big kids, a fabulous six-year-old, two one-year-old toddlers, and a newborn. Homeschool much? Well, isn’t that the question of the year.

Malachi is a sophomore so he’s able to do a lot of his work on his own and with a tutor that God led us to hire for him. Homeschooling Brayden became a much bigger challenge, though the truth is, the challenge had started even before we got a newborn.

The past several months had revealed more of the struggles our little guy faces with academics and behavior. The time his needs were taking me every day took away from other important needs, and I found that even when I poured a huge amount of energy into his learning and behavior needs, I still wasn’t able to give him what he required. I regrouped, tried different ideas and methods, prayed, prayed, prayed.

God answered. I ignored Him though because He told us to send Brayden to school. Send our boy to school? No, that couldn’t be the answer. We’ve always homeschooled. I could do this. I would do this.

God said it again in a different way. Then again. Then again. Finally, I listened and we obeyed. Funny how I’ve always supported every person’s educational decisions for their family no matter what they chose, but goodness I had a hard time letting go of this for myself. I’ve grieved and cried because wow this change is a big one. I’ve always been a homeschool mom, I cried!! Then Justus said, pointing to Baby Sis, “Well up until two weeks ago you’ve always been a boy mom.” Well isn’t that the truth? Change might be hard, but it doesn’t have to be bad. Change can be very, very good.

God is faithful and good. He paved this out and eased Brayden’s transition, and here we are. Brayden has been going to public school for two months now, getting the extra help and resources that he so badly needed. Truly, we are so grateful.

So back to being more than just a boy mom. What a huge change, and well, it’s alright I guess. ;)

We try to sleep when we can. My kitchen floor is almost always gross. Our toddlers are almost two. One of them is likely to go back to bio family soon. Keith (our adopted toddler) is Mommy and Daddy’s sidekick whenever possible. And look at this! Asa and his film crew came from Lincoln to feature Keith in a special video. I’ll let you know when it comes out!

Malachi holds Baby Sis (diapers are a no-go though!) so I can chase toddlers and make dinner. Just when we started to feel settled in again with our newest little one, God answered a prayer we’ve prayed for a very long time…

Another bio family member of our littles gets to move in with us too! So now there’s not just one girl, but two!

Friends? We have a GIRL ROOM in our house now!

Our newest one is sweet as can be and constantly amazes us with the level of girlness she has brought to our home. Princesses, dress-up clothes, hair styling, dollies, crafts, sparkles – once again, we are smitten. I walked into the boys’ room one day this week to witness this:

So this is our life now. Seven boys. Two girls. For today. And we’re truly learning that we must live just one day at a time.

God’s mercies are new every morning. We ask for your prayers and we thank you for your constant encouragement and support. Whatever you do, don’t underestimate what God may have for your life. If He surprises you by bringing you something unexpected, lean in, and be open to all He wants to teach you through it. The challenges that come with the changes will be met with God’s strength in the most beautiful way you can imagine.

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