Playing Church

PHEW! I love having six children but is it hard work!
I just want to share something funny/encouraging that my children did yesterday. They played church. And as I watched them sing the songs and my girls give "sermons" on creation holding the Bible open in front of them I noticed something. They all had baby dolls and stuffed animals with them. There were two babies in strollers, one in a baby back pack, and a few sitting on the pews. All of thier babies were in church with them. Thats all my little ones know. They dont stay in the nursery while we worship they come alongside us. As we continue to add to our family praying for a baby someday we will add to our pew. We have a hard time staffing our nursery during the service. I have long advocated for a room to the side where the sermon can be piped through that parents can bring young children to when they get fussy or rowdy. Maybe even section off a part for nursing mothers. If parents were responsible for thier children during church we would not have to scramble to find workers during the worship service. And maybe children would be better behaved. But I dont think that will happen as we have a mainstream church reaching out to today's culture. Our little ones 8,5,4,3,2,and 2 are the only small children in church. Up through kindergarten they have extended care in the back. We practice at home sitting still and listening during family worship. The two year olds get a little antsy but they stay quiet. I let them wiggle a bit but if it gets distracting I sit them up with a reprimand to sit still. Sometimes if the two year old is exceptionally fussy I will get the toddlers picture Bible from the SS class and let him look at that quietly. We have had praise for the way our children behave in church but we have also heard some ridicule. Actually the funny part is the ridicule has never come to our face its been behind our back and just made its way to us. It is from people who have decided that we are missing out on the sermon because of the children, or children should not be made to sit still for so long, or they are bored and need to be doing something constructive. I just smile. We worship together as a family all week long. If I miss part of the sermon because I have to train a child I can fall back on the time I had with God the week before. We worship God through obedience and I am obeying by training my littles to sit in church and have self control. Children are a ton more perceptive then we believe them to be. I am always amazed at what my children pick up from the sermons. I love looking down the row and seeing a line of little people staring at the preacher storing up his words in thier hearts and thier minds so that one day they can pull it out of reserve. I love the fact that they can sit there and not have to have a video game or a book to look at. And I love the fact that during the week I will look out and see all the children lined up with thier baby dolls and teddy bears and little Bibles and they will be playing church!

Around the House:
Same old same old.
I have my Binder ready hoping to get it posted soon.
I organized the girls' closet so that we can actually find stuff. YIPEE!
We went to Sam's Saturday and bought two buggy loads of stuff. Before we left hubby and I sat down and decided that most of our grocery shopping would now take place at Sam's. It is not always cheaper but at this moment in our lives it is more convienient. (I can NEVER spell that word!) So we made a path to an old chest freezer we have and cleaned it out and got it all ready to go. When we got home we went through our freezer in the house and moved some stuff to the chest freezer and some stayed. We did the same with our purchases from Sam's. At the same time we inventoried our freezers. Now we have a nice list and we can keep stock of what we have. Im so excited.
Now I have to finish putting away all the pantry items. We bought a bunch of number 10 can stuff. If you dont know what that is you obviously have one child... Just kidding! Its the big cans of stuff. We bought them in baked beans, corn, and tomatoe sauce. These are things we thought we would go through in one sitting. Now I have to decide where to put everything. Im thinking that the new decor in my kitchen might be canned goods. :) I also want to inventory my pantry as well.
The playroom is not working out as efficiently as I hoped so I might have to revamp. Hubby and I are already talking about a bigger home. Not necessarily for "junk" but so we can have more room to be together as a family. And we are starting to see the need for a little more space for homeschooling and entertaining. It wont happen any time soon but he should have his degree by the end of next year and we are hoping with that he can advance farther in his company and we will be able to finish paying off our debts and then start saving for our new home. Like I said we are talking distant distant future! :)
Anyway back to the playroom there is just not enough room behind the couch like I was hoping to store thier toys. Although I found a great webiste MOMY's and they had some neat ideas for toy storage that I definatly want to explore. It would mean culling even more toys but to tell the truth at this point Im ready to throw everything out and start all over. I remember a year ago I did not have any toys and I had to rush to Big Lots for a few toys for A when they brought him. LOL!
Our bedroom looks a lot better and I even sat down yesterday and worked on a apron I have been trying to sew for like a year now. I messed it up pretty badly but hey it was better then what I had before and my sweet girl thinks its the most beautiful apron in the world!
Well hubby is working late tonight so its Mac N Cheese for the troops tonight! Applesauce for dessert! YUM!