Salads, School and Scary Stuff...

Oh, me!  I've been so busy lately!  I am rarely on the computer anymore.  I have come to the conclusion that this is one of those times in life when I just have to hold my breath, go under water, and swim patiently until the next opportunity arises for me to come up and take another deep breath.  And, in saying that I don't want it to come across negative.  I wouldn't trade a second of all the craziness that is going on around me for a full day of peace and quiet.  I want the craziness, but it is just that, well, it is kind of CRAZY!  There is a crazy level of activity running around me like little blurs of color whizzing by at the speed of light, and all the blurs are talking at the same time which creates a lot of background noise that is hard to differentiate and distinctly hear.  There is a crazy lot of stress in the form of questions from our contractor, hammering that I hear, and decisions I must make, you know, like tomorrow or yesterday or asap.  And, there is craziness in the form of school will begin in a month, and I have lots of fun planning to do!!!  And, there is the craziness that comes with having two babies less than a year apart, both needing me most of the day!  CRAZY!  But, like I said, I would not trade any of these things.  So it is all good, just a little crazy, but still good!

Jack is experiencing lots of things for the first time this summer, and that is so fun!  He loves the pool, and this weekend I introduced him to the sprinkler, the slip and slide and the baby pool.  All of which he was very fond!  So fun to see his sweet smile as he tries all these new things for the very first time!

This has nothing to do with anything, but I made this simple yummy fruit salad for the Fourth.  I should have added bananas for white, but I didn't think of that yesterday!

I have begun school planning for the upcoming year!  I have made some decisions that I think will make next year a little easier.  I am bumping James up into the 3rd & 4th grade classes at our co-op. This is a grade ahead of where he should be, but I think he will do fine.  I am doing this so that he and Joshua will have all the same classes ~ with the exception of grammar and math.  They will have all the same recitations and assignments, so it will be easier for me to keep up with everything.  And, I am hoping that they will be able to work together on some things ~ like quizzing each other on Latin vocabulary or history fact sheets, etc.

I am, also, planning to give Joshua and James a lot of personal responsibility for their work.  Our co-op (really homeschooling in general) is a safe place to test and train them to take responsibility for their own schoolwork.  They will be responsible to read, complete, and keep up with their history, science, Latin, and literature assignments themselves.  They will be tested weekly or biweekly in these classes, so I will be able to monitor how well they are able to handle this responsibility.  The tests are given for the sole purpose of letting the parent know if the child is learning and retaining information as he/she should.  Our co-op does not keep record of grades ~ at least not at the elementary level.  So, they can make a mistake, learn from it, and not have to worry about the grade coming back to haunt them. It is a safe place to learn and grow!

This summer the boys have really enjoyed listening to me read them this book...

It is a funny light-hearted little book!  I have enjoyed reading it, too!

And, in other news, I have a new fear.  This should come as no surprise to those who know me ~ for I have many fears.  But, this one is warranted, I assure you!  My new fear is....

BIRDS!!!

Well, one particular bird, anyway!!

Oh, my goodness!  We have always had birds to nest in the corners of our front and back porches, but this year a different bird (Erik says they are Martins) has built a very tall nest in the southwest corner of our front porch. Yikes!  The mama bird is sooooo aggressive!  She dive bombs me every time I take Rain out!  I'm totally afraid to go outside.  I refuse to use my front door, and I always take the long way around the house in order to stay as far from her silly nest as possible.

I get being an overprotective mom.  I'm with her.  I understand that, but, lay off, silly bird!  I would never hurt your babies! NEVER!  I totally know her call.  When you walk out of my house at any given time of day, you can hear any number of birds chirping, but I know her call.  It stands out among the rest. It goes "tweet tweet" just like that, two tweets, and it sends chills down my spine every. single. time. I. hear. it.  She has gotten so close to my head that I have felt the wind of her wings across my face. SCARY!  She is relentless, and I cannot wait until her babies take flight, and she goes AWAY!  I read on the internet (google comes in such handy at times like these) that they are afraid of light reflecting off tin foil.  So, if you see me wearing a tin foil hat while walking my dog, you will now understand why!

And, I think that is all I have to say presently, but I will be back soon!  I have three posts that must be written before I forget them ~ including one about my oldest son's recent trip to basketball camp at DUKE University.  Yes, you read that correctly. My tarheel loving husband sent his beloved to the enemy camp! :-)

Slowly Moving Forward...

We really tried to make it easy on ourselves this summer.  We didn't sign the boys up for baseball.  We decided to take the summer off.  It was going to be a peaceful slow-moving season where we focused on adjusting to our sweet new addition, Emery, and we hung out as a family.  Well, we are adjusting to having 6 children, and we are spending a good deal of quality time together swimming, grilling out, and playing in the gym.  BUT, this season has not been peaceful or slow!  The renovation has taken much longer than expected.  Which, I realize, is to be expected, but still.....

Some days the hammering drives me insane!  And, some days the silence, which means nothing is being done over there, is even more deafening...  We are living out of bins and boxes with a baby sleeping beside our bed and a baby sleeping in our closet.  All the upstairs rooms are overflowing, and we are just plain READY!!!


My phone is full of pictures like these...

Thankfully amidst the chaos we are having fun. Jack loves the water...

The older they get, the closer they become...

 And, Em is just a joy...

I love to watch the boys PLAY!  They are so good at it!!  Sometimes I sneak in their room just to watch the wildness.  I love watching them make toys zoom around the room and talk and fight....  They have such vivid imaginations!

And, believe it or not, they can clean that mess up quite quickly!

We renovated once before, so I remember this overwhelmed feeling.  And, I know that this too will pass, and one day we will not have men around the house hammering and drilling.  But, for now life is a bit full and cluttered, and I envy the day when I can wake up to a home not under construction! :-)

He Said He Built the Gym for the Boys...

but I am not so sure....



Untitled from Erin Dukes on Vimeo.

Field Day

When I began homeschooling, I knew two or three families in my small town who already home schooled their children. So, I invited them to a Saturday morning brunch at my house.  I asked them to invite any other mothers from our community who also homeschooled.  So, five of us met together that morning to plan a year of playdates!  We decided to get the children together once a month for a holiday themed party or a field trip.  I wasn't sure if it would actually work, but it has!!!  And, now we have a yahoo group and are growing new families all the time!  We even have mom's night outs!  It has been a sweet little group to be a part of!  The boys look forward to the parties and play dates, and I look forward to hanging out with the mothers!  

Our play date for May was a family field day!  So fun!

The children were dividing into age groups and competed in various events.

The father/son three legged race...

The winners!

Giving instructions...

Free throw shooting contest...

The awards ceremony...

The family fun continued after we left field day!  The boys and I just finished reading Where the Red Fern Grows.  So, I bought the movie so that they could watch it.  Here they are after baths waiting for me to push play!  Joshua and James were dressed as red bone coon hounds, and Elijah was dressed as a raccoon!

Watch out, sweet Lije!

Life on the Range...

This post contains pictures from the last few weeks.  I cannot believe how quickly time is passing these days. It is nearly June, and I feel like I totally missed May!  Where did it go?  Life really has been a blur lately.  I am a bit sleep deprived ~ though Miss Em only wakes up one time at night.  Somehow the night after night of broken sleep does seem to wear on you especially when you are 36 years old! :-)  

Everyday I wake up, stumble to the kitchen reach for coffee, and in the distance I hear the familiar sound of hammering.  Jack even naps right through it most days.  We are becoming accustomed to living in a construction zone.  My prayer is that the renovation will be done before we begin school in the fall, but each day I am a little less hopeful!  I just keep telling myself that it will be done when it is done and not a second sooner!  So, I ought not think about it too much!

School is out and summer is in full swing.  We are loving a more relaxed schedule.  The boys practically fall out of bed and into the dirt each day.  And, my floors are proof of this!  This is a picture of my floors after I swept one morning around 10.  Now keep in mind that I had swept the evening before....

Boys are amazing creatures!  I love them dearly, but they are dirt magnets!  Now, let me tell you why... Remember that I said we live in a construction zone.  Well, we do.  We live in the middle of a construction zone.  We have builders on both sides of our home!  Behind the gym there is a large area of dirt where the boys enjoy playing.  To me it is simply a bunch of dirt.  To them it is the wild, wild west, and they are cowboys. They dress up everyday and head out to what they refer to as Ranger Rock.  They hide behind the dirt pile, or trees, or bushes and shoot at the workers, the electric company men, you name it.  No one is safe on our property!  You can learn a lot about these men by the way they respond to my boys. They are all quite pleased, but some of them play along.  One of the builders hides behind things and pretends to shoot at them with his electric screwdriver!  One of them, the other day, threw his hat off and yelled at them, "Hey!  Watch it! You shot my hat off!!"  The boys love it!

So, here is Joshua standing on Ranger Rock...

This particular day they had a visitor on Ranger Rock...

Now, right down from Ranger Rock is their camp site.  They spend hours here just sitting around the campfire shooting the breeze...

I really love having boys.  They play so hard, and when they come in they bring me lots of dirt, sweat, sometimes flowers, and always a heart full of joy!  I love those stinky little cowboys with all my heart!  Cowboys are rough and tough, but if you dig deep down inside of them, they have BIG hearts...

In honor of my sweet sister in love, I made my boys lunch this way one day a week or so ago!  I put a glob of peanut butter on each plate and put this in the middle of the table.  They loved it!

They dug right in and suggested we eat this way everyday!!!

I try to think of every little thing that might make my life easier.  If anyone has any ideas, I am always open to suggestions!  I got tired of having fifty cups on my counter each day and no one could remember whose cup was whose, so they would just go to the cabinet and get out another cup!!!  So, I bought these at Wal-Mart...

They had all my boys colors except Jack!  (Joshua is  green, JCT is blue, Elijah is orange, and Eriky is red. Jack's color is yellow, but he doesn't need cups yet!)  The extra blue set of cups is for little visitors.  The cups were 6 for a dollar!  And, so far they have worked great!

Em is growing!!  I told my Jen the other day that my first favorite thing to do in the morning is to sip Bifferdoodle and my second favorite thing to do in the morning is dress Emery!  She has so many cute dresses thanks to all my very, super, sweet friends!!!!

We've been making popsicles like crazy this summer.  If it is a liquid and tastes remotely good, the boys are wanting to make a popsicle with it!!  Here is a picture of sweet tea pops!

The boys have been begging to go camping!  Erik didn't want them on the ground even though our tent is fully enclosed!  So, he put the tent on our trampoline!  This was a hit!  And, guess who slept outside with them... Pop!!

The boys got haircuts!!  No more long hair for sweet James Christofer Truett!  He got his strawberry blond hair cut short!  Now he looks a lot like Joshua!  We had no idea until he cut his hair!  Now I have to do a double take when one of them walks by! I love these guys...

And, I love this last picture because I just do. It was taken on one of our last days of school.  Eriky was doing puzzles while I taught his big brothers.

I'll be honest. I kind of miss school.  Nothing brings me more joy than teaching my favorite little people.  I love watching light bulbs go off!  I love high fives and big smiles when they get their work right!  I love lesson plans and read alouds and history and learning Latin alongside them.  I love sipping coffee and patting little red heads while they work on handwriting and I slowly warm up to the idea of starting our day. I love the sunshine streaming in through the windows onto open books and into open hearts.  I love listening to sweet soft music while we putter away through our day.  I love watching the boys teach and encourage and read to each other.  I love going over scripture recitations and times tables. I love the sweet simplicity of our days.  I love the bonds that are growing between these brother friends.  I love sitting down with a cup of coffee and an empty weekly planner and putting together lesson plans.  I love it all!  It is the hardest thing that I have ever done, but it is also one of my very favorite things I've ever done. God is so sweet to give me this great opportunity to pour into them. But, as much as I miss it and love it, I am thankful that we can slow down and play and take it easy for a few months!

Memorial Day Weekend

She always thought spending money on flowers was such a waste. "They're just going to die," she would say.  So, when Erik told me that he wanted to visit his mama's grave on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, I suggested he pick some of the flowers from our yard to take to her.

Grown by her son...

Picked by her grandsons...

And, placed with hearts full of love...

We love and miss you so much, Mom Dukes.

A Slow Learner, I Am!

The homestead is unusually quiet.  There are no workers hammering, no children playing, only the click clack sound of Rain's nails tapping the concrete floors and the gentle roll of the coffee maker percolating.  Erik has the four older boys, and I am here keeping watch over my sweet babies ~ both of which are napping.  Thus, I am left with coffee, Christy Nockels (on nano), and my computer.  My heart is full.

So many people ask me how things are going with the addition of our sixth child .  It tickles me because some of them visibly cringe when they ask me ~ almost as if they are afraid of my answer.  Rest assured, all is well here.  Life is busy.  Life is full.  But, as always, life is good, really good.

As always, God is whispering, teaching me new little lessons.  Well, maybe.... they are old lessons that I need reminding of or that I need to continue to work on. :-)  I'm a slow learner.  I actually looked at my sweet Emery girl yesterday and wondered the thing that I wonder so often ~ what will she be like, this little girl of mine.  And, I thought, "Maybe she will be like me ~ except without fear."  Since fear and lack of trust have plagued me since birth.  And, then God gently reminded me that I could be "me ~ except without fear" if only I would let go and trust Him more. Ouch.  And, I think that slowly, gently, sweetly He is working this out in me in ways that only He can.

I love Him for so many reasons.  But, I think the most beautiful thing about Him is His tenderness toward me ~ His patience, His gentle prodding.  He knows what our society does not know, and that is that it is best not to rush things.  That some of the most beautiful things in creation ~ from gorgeous aged oak trees to the Grand Canyon are formed over years and years and not overnight or with the click of a button.  And, true beauty, as well, may just be a slow process ~ a slow process very much worth the wait.  And, so we carry on.  We walk on hopeful, prayerful, and thankful.

Through the busyness of meeting the needs of 6 children 9 and under, He has taught me to slow down and trust Him.  I make plans, but He directs my steps.  I make my plan each morning.  I always have a list.  I love a good list.  And, so I take my plans, and I offer them to Him.  And, I am learning to trust Him to choose how my day will be spent.  This was especially true a week or so ago when school was still in full swing.  My lesson plans were made... but He directed my steps.

After Emery was born, I really felt that He brought me to the end of myself.

Early in the school year one of the board members at Excelsior told me, "Erin, if you do 75% of the work assigned in each class, then you are doing well.  Don't try to do it all."  She went on to say, "There are two types of people who do not survive at Excelsior.  The ones who don't do any of the assignments.  They quit because why participate if you aren't going to participate.  And, the other are those who try to do everything that is assigned.  They burn out.  You have to decide what is best for your family in the various seasons of life."  But, I am type A, and I have good, strong German blood coursing through my veins. And, even though I was told this, up until Emery was born we were doing 100% of the assignments.

But, with the addition of Emery, I literally could not do it all.  It was impossible.  Each day I made a list of things to accomplish only to be frustrated because Jack and Emery alone kept me busy.  The laundry was piling up, the house falling apart, and I was literally teaching with one child in the baby carrier and one on my hip.  I drive hard.  I work hard.  I push hard.  Why, you ask? I don't know.  But, it all goes back to the fear that has plagued me my whole life ~ fear of the unknown. Like when I was a child I really thought the world might open up and swallow me whole if I got my name on the board or I made a B. So, being unable to keep my home running like a well oiled machine was KILLING me!!! Discouragement was beginning to settle in on me.  But, then sweetly, beautifully He whispered deep within my soul....

"Sweet girl, you try so hard.  You push and push, but you are simply beating your sweet little head against the wall.  Relax, and fall back on Me.  I promise that I will catch you.  Many are your plans, your lists, but, Love, I direct your day.  You want so much to do, and do, and do ~ to check every little box off on your list.  Could you trust Me?  Could you relax and simply take care of the precious gifts I have given you?  I will fill your gaps.  Will you trust Me?  Will you trust Me even if the boxes aren't all neatly checked?  Will you trust Me even if you fall into bed without every i dotted or every t crossed?  Will you trust even when it doesn't all work together the way you want it to?  Let's let a little more of your fears go. Will you rest and trust?"

And, so I took a deep breath.  At this point I think we had about 2 weeks left of school to finish up.  I began approaching each day in a new way, and it made all the difference.  I made my lessons plans, my lists, but I did not own them.  I gave them to my Maker.  And so, when I snuggled my little ones in for naps, only to sit down and begin diagramming sentences and hear a baby crying, refusing a nap, I reminded myself that He directs my steps, my day.  So, I would go get my little one and put off diagramming with Joshua until a more opportune time.  Somedays a more opportune time came, and somedays it did not. And, those days we went to bed without finishing grammar that day.  And, guess what!!!  The earth did not split up and swallow us whole!!  I, also, learned that I could, in fact, send the boys on Fridays without having them perfectly prepared.  And, they came home in one piece and even with a smile!!  So, slowly I am learning to not get frustrated when I can't do the things that I want to when I want to... because God has a plan!!!  His plan doesn't always look like mine, but I learned that I could trust His plan, trust Him!

Recently, I heard an interview with Christy Nockels where she talked about her new album ~ Into the Glorious.  She talked about how she asked a friend of hers who has 9 children how she does it all.  The friend said something like this, "Christy, I invite the Glorious into the mundane."  I loved that!  The Glorious treading my floors as I teach and train and hold and rock and do laundry and sweep.  The silly mundane chores are seen in a different light when we realize that the Glorious is there with us, guiding us, directing us, holding us, loving us.  May His sweet light and precious presence fill your home as you serve your family for His glory!

Two Months, Miss Emery Elaine!

Oh, sweetness!  Sweet gift I never dared ask God for, but in His sweetness He so generously chose to give.  Babydoll, with fair skin and hair the color of mine, I still have to pinch myself! Your long thin fingers and the way you point your little toes when you stretch, you are so different, so dainty, so fragile, so precious.  My heart overflows, sweet little love.

And, I try, really I do, I try to live in today and not let myself dream of tomorrow because tomorrow is not yet ours.  But, every so often I stumble upon something ~ a copy of Little Women or The Secret Garden, and I overflow with joy that one day I may sit next to you in your bed, the old antique brass bed that I slept in all my unmarried life, and I will read these favorites of mine to you.  And, as I bake I think of teaching you things of the home, these things I love, like how to break eggs and sift flour and bake cookies in such a way as to make them perfectly soft, not doughy but not yet completely firm either. I have to slow myself down, one day at a time, one day at a time, my sweet little friend!

Oh, how I love you!

But, I am not alone!  Your brothers adore you.  Sometimes I fear for your safety, they all maul you at once ~ covering your face and head with kisses and squeezing any part of you that they can reach.  I had a sweet moment with James Christofer the other day.  I was holding you, and he was sitting next to me staring at you and petting your sweet baby fine hair.  I looked at him and reminded him, "You know you always wanted a sister, and God gave you one!"  Never taking his eyes off you, he said, "Yes, I didn't really think He would give me one.  I love her sooo much!"  And, last night I sat gazing at you in wonder with Erik Daniel near me.  I was wondering what you will be like when you grow up.  So, I asked Eriky his opinion.  "Eriky, do you think Emery will play in the dirt with you boys?  Or,  do you think she will stay inside and play princess?"  Without delay he responded, "She will play princess!"

We will see. :-)

You are beautiful, and your sweet Daddy makes sure you know this.  He tells you at least 5 times a day!  One thing you can count on, sweet girl, is that in this home you are loved so much!!!  We look so forward to living life with you day after day watching you reveal to us exactly who God made you to be!

I love you to pieces, sweet one.

Happy 2 months!

Mommy

What She Thinks....

I don't know why my Mommy doesn't hold me all the time???  I'm so cute, and it isn't like she has anything else to do!!!