And the Curtain Closes...

you know how when you are the symphony and the musicians play such an amazing song...  it moves your whole body.  your hands wring with emotions, your eyes swell with tears unable to keep them from falling.  you feel it in your chest and neck trying to keep from sobbing of all that stirs within.  the song ends.
you jump to your feet. bravo!  bravo!  clapping with all you can.  you shout encore! encore!
once again  the performers give just the last several measures of what they had just triumphantly completed - bravo! bravo!

and then it's over....
that's it...
you sit...
try to gain composure.
the last song has been played.  it's time to get up, take a deep breathe and move on.
the curtain closes.

this happened as i sat for the last performance my sweet "baby girl" played her violin in the symphony orchestra.

it happened again tonight.

tonight a man came with excitement to pick up our piano.
as he came in my girl was triumphantly playing "joyful joyful".  i stood there in the room staring at her - tears streaming, flooding down my cheeks.
she can play this piece amazingly.  and i love it.  every time, i love it.  every thousand times, i love it.  she plays with passion, with all that she has.  sometimes i wonder how the keys can with stand the amount of passion that's played on them...  but they do and they lift the sound of praise to our Heavenly Father.
i'm in awe.  looking at this girl who has grown to be a young woman.  so musical.  so talented.  and i cry knowing that hearing that, seeing that in my life every day is coming to an end.  the piano now gone.  just a year and a half ago our oldest daughter was wed and started her own family.  the sound of the violin left.
it's not just the music of course - it is the ones who play it...
they grow up.  the seasons change...

hours and hours and hours, the children have played music.
piano, violin, cello, mandolin, a little bit of accordion, ukulele, drums, guitars, banjo,
it's just been part of the atmosphere of our home.
and it's changing...

it's ok.  there will still be music.
i am sure someday there will be another piano and the littlest girl (who is three right now) will make "joyful joyful" sounds on it as well.

i am grateful for the sweet gift of music in our home.

thank you Lord for blessing our house with song.  constant song.
thank you for the joy it brings and the millions of memories that come over me when i hear certain songs.  especially the ones my children have played over and over again.
Father God - please Lord - help me never to forget the joy of my children playing songs.  beautiful ones, off key ones, just learning songs, noisy songs - and please let me never forget the sound of their voices singing to YOU.
and Lord, as the curtain has closed with that little brown piano on the other side, please don't let me forget and please don't let them stop playing...
amen.

Rules Conclusion

What could be better than happy, creative children who want to learn, love and play?  The list of rules is long, but in all it’s just for play.  We don’t live by tight rules. An occasional bouncy time on the bed or the couch happens, but not everyday.  I want to remember that my children are children.  They don’t need to act like little adults.  Polite yes, prim and proper always? No.  We encourage lots of play in the mud, bouncing on the trampoline while holding a hose, back yard adventures that include tipis, worms, and archery.  That reminds me of another rule, you must wear underpants under your Indian costume that you have made with paper, yarn and scotch tape.

                 

We learned back when we only had two children, when our third went straight to heaven and not into our arms, that children are truly a gift from God.  They are not ours.  Even though we name them, care for them, play with them, teach them and all of those different things, they are not ours.  Each and every child belongs to God.  Each and every child has been put here, in our care, ultimately to be trained to serve Him, love Him and to point others to Him.  I don’t want to mold my little ones into what I want them to be, but rather what the Father wants them to be.  I want to teach them to yield their will to mine when they are young, so that when they are older they will yield their will to Gods.  Yielding of themselves won’t be a brand new idea.  

As with all rules...

             As with all rules, even silly rules, they are usually put in place because the event it is referring to has happened.  Yes.  All of these rules have been put in place because of previous incidents or because of great planning.  My children tease me that I have to many rules, but as you can see with the list below, some of them are just necessary.  With seven children almost anything can happen.  Trust me.  ANYTHING can happen.  Praise the Lord for that.  What an incredible blessing of adventure they bring to our home!

I know some of them would fall under the category of "Oh gross!", but Hey!  It's real life!  And it's mine...

House Rules

1.    No tinkling into the coop for the baby chickens, especially when the coop is in the house.

2.    Do not vacuum up the chicken poop.  It makes the vacuum and the hall closet smell really bad.

3.    Do not hit chickens with sticks when you are chasing them.

4.    Do not eat chicken poop.  Don’t even try it.  It is not good for you.  Icky. Icky.

5.    Do not chase your brother with the mop.

6.    Do not chew gum that you find already chewed at the park.

7.    Do not pour the honey onto the table, or onto the chair your bare feet are standing on.

8.    Do not tape your brother to a tree even if he asks you to.  This is especially important if mommy is not home.

9.    Do not fasten your stuffed animals in anyway to the ceiling fan.  They can go for a ride on the swing set instead.

10. Do not keep your snail collection behind the couch in the house.

11. Do not turn the refrigerator or freezer knobs to the “off” position.  This is especially bad right before mommy is planning to entertain for dinner.

12. Do not chase each other with butter knives.

13. No you may not kill a bear with a butter knife.

14. Do not drink ketchup out of a sippy cup.

15. Do not open three boxes of almond milk at the same time.

16. Do not mix a container of almond milk with popcorn and water.

17. Do not serve this “drink” to your brothers or yourself.

18. Do not drink out of the fishbowl.

19. Do not try to hunt the fish with a butter knife.

20. Do not mix syrup and baking soda on the pantry floor.

21. Do not climb on the counter to unlock the high lock daddy put on the pantry.

22. Do not empty mommy's hair products out.

23. Do not kiss anybody’s eyeball.

24. Do not take a bite out of anyone’s deodorant.

25. Do not pour the container of laundry soap on the laundry room floor.  This isn’t really how the clothes get clean.

26. Do not chase your brother with a PVC pipe.

27. Do not put rose petals in the VCR.

28. Don’t encourage the dog to walk on the table.

29. Don’t put the dog in the baby’s crib.

30. Do not put extra covers on the baby with out asking.

31. Stop telling your brother that FedEx is coming to pick him up.

32. Take your muddy boots off before you come in the house.

    Do not put gravel in the hubcaps of the car.  This makes daddy think that the           breaks are having a really bad problem.

33. Do not look up in the bottom of the vacuum while it is running.  This is really bad when your sister is the one looking and she has really long hair.  This can cause her hair to get sucked up really fast.  If this does happen, pull the vacuum off of the child’s head quickly in one smooth motion.  Kind of like a big heave. 

34. Do not pour milk on your sister.  This is not considered “water” in a water fight.

35. Do not tie your grandparents to the sofa bed at three in the morning with yarn.

36. Do not paint the dog.

37. Do not paint the house without Daddy or Mama’s permission.

38. Do not glue anything to the carpet.

39. Do not put the baby on the treadmill to see how fast he can crawl.

40. You must keep your clothes on in Sunday School.

41. Do not paint the chickens.

42. No chickens allowed to free range walk in the house.  I know this is ok at your Aunt’s house but not here!

43. Do not run thru the house with a pail of water.

44. DO NOT take Mama’s dark chocolate with out asking.