Home Is Where The Heart Is

I know this saying is as old as the hills, and probably most think of it as a total cliche, but lately I've realized how incredibly true it really is.

Back in March we moved from our family's first home to my mom's house as a temporary place until our new home is complete.  Then after living here for less than 3 months we found out my mom's house sold and we have to be out by next week.  Our house is still not complete (and may not be for at least 2-4 months), so we are moving to another temporary home.

I've never really been a materialistic person - I'm actually a minimalist - but now more than ever I am realizing that it is not the house, or the things in the house that make a place your home.  I honestly don't care where we live as long as it is safe and clean and our family can be together.  And while it is absolutely exhausting to move again and again, it can also be very refreshing and cleansing because you truly learn what it is important in life.  It's not the stuff.  Stuff doesn't make me happy.  I've actually enjoyed letting most of my stuff go.  My new house may not have much in it, but I know that it will be filled with joy and love and that is what I desire :-)

I think the most challenging part for my Type A personality is living "in the moment" and not having everything perfectly planned out.  Oh, yes, I still try to plan things out, but I've discovered lately that no matter how much I plan, those plans often get thrown out the door because of circumstances.  With my previous two pregnancies I had their rooms set up, the names on the wall, the clothes washed and hung in the closet, the swing, carseat & stroller all in place and a stash of diapers and wipes just waiting for that little bundle of joy.  Because we've been living "in limbo" I haven't done any of that.  I have ONE small package of diapers, a few burp rags, a few outfits, his bedding, and that's it!  I have no bed, changing table, dresser, carseat, stroller, swing...NONE of what I would normally have by now.  But the funny thing is that I'm okay with it.  Obviously I will get a carseat and other necessities, like some more clothes, diapers & wipes before he arrives, but all those other things will just have to wait.  Right now I have to focus on moving again, and the less stuff I have to move the better!  I just want a happy, healthy little boy and that will suffice.  All the other "stuff'" can wait.  Because STUFF is just STUFF, but HOME is truly where the HEART is!!!

A Day At Rose Hill School

Today we took a very exciting field trip to Rose Hill Pioneer School in Perry, OK.  The school is still set up as if it were 1910, and the students who visit get to spend a school day just as if they lived in 1910.

In order to prepare for this field trip, we spent a couple of weeks learning about what life was like in 1910.  First, we got together with some good homeschooling buddies and went through a huge wooden crate that was full of information about the time period.  They watched a video about the time period and about the school.  Also in the crate were pieces of clothing, books, pictures, toys, games, and so much more for the kids to handle to get a better idea of what life would have been like.  Here is just one small tub full of old toys that came out of the crate...

After the kids explored the things in the wooden crate we set them to work on some activities.  First, they had to learn how to wash their clothes THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY!  We set them in the yard with a bucket of water, a wash board, a bar of lye soap, and some dirty laundry!  Then we made them scrub away to get the idea of how hard it was then to wash clothes :-)

Next they used an apple peeler/corer to see how they prepared their apples for canning/baking.

To end our group day we played some games from the time period.  Their favorite was called "Drop the Hankie".  It was very similar to Duck-Duck-Goose, but with a little different twist.  Even though it was a very simple the kids LOVED it!!!  They had so much fun and giggled with delight the entire time :-)

After group day was over we did several activities on our own that related to the pioneer days.  Zora also checked out several books from the library about that time period and indulged herself in them!

One of the first activities we did was learn about the kinds of food that kids took to school then.  We talked about the fact that there were no plastic baggies, or tupperware, or anything of that sort to keep their lunches fresh when they went to school, and that they had to wrap their food in hankies or paper and put it in a pail to carry to school.  We found some pails to carry our lunches in and then we had to make some "tin cups" to take with us since we couldn't use plastic bottles, styrofoam, etc.  Our "tin cups" were some vegetable cans that we took the labels off of and scrubbed inside and out.  Here is Zora peeling off the labels and washing the cups...

Some other activities we did included keeping a daily journal, making a name-tag to wear to school, learning some old-fashioned phrases and what they meant, practicing some math word problems from the time period, reading some old fables, and learning some spelling words they would have learned then.

By far, Zora's favorite activity was interviewing someone who would have information about the time period. Since my grandparents are all gone, we spoke with a precious lady from our church, Lois.  She went above and beyond when we went to her house for the "interview".  Zora had a list of 11 questions for Lois...

1. Where did they have their babies?

2. Who helped them have their babies?

3. How did they clean their house and wash the dishes?

4. What did they use to cook their dinner?

5. What did they do for fun?

6. What happened when they got sick?

7. What kind of chores did they have to do?

8. What did they use for glasses (drinking and seeing)?

9. What kind of decorations did they use in their homes?

10. What did they use to keep their meat cold?

11. How did they keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer?

Lois not only answered her questions but told some great stories of her childhood.  She also took the time to pull out numerous things that she still has that were from the early 1900's.  Things that were her parents', grandparents', and even hers as a small child.  She was so gracious to let the girls ask endless questions and even show them how everything worked.  We spent 2.5 hours there and it only seemed like minutes!  Here are some pictures from our "interview"...

Lois shared a story about a relative who was a broom maker.

Several different items she pulled out for them to see included old quilts, a butter churner, a kettle, a washboard, cheesecloth, a wooden rolling pin, a wooden bowl, and old milk bottle, a flour sifter, a meat grinder... and the list goes on!

She also pulled out some old family dishes that have been passed down in her family.  She let the girls handle them even though they were antique and breakable.

The girls giggled with delight when she showed them how they milked a cow!

When Zora asked the question about staying warm in the winter she showed them how they used multiple quilts and body heat to stay warm.  Here are the girls laying under 3 of her heavy homemade quilts.

At the end of our visit we started getting silly.  Lily and Zora both decided to see just how big this butter churning pot was :-)

She also dug out an old-fashioned cast iron stove with all the little utensils for the girls to bring home and play with.  She explained to them that this is what a stove may have looked like then only MUCH bigger!  The girls have loved playing with this and letting the Barbies "cook" at it :-)

So after all the preparation - TODAY WAS THE DAY!  I took over 100 pictures, so it's going to be hard to choose what to post, but here goes...

 All dressed and ready to go!

Students walking across the "time-bridge" and into the life of 1910

Rose Hill one-room school house

The students are lined up and meeting their teacher "The School Marm"

How cute is this?!?!  The girls all had to remove their bonnets for their lessons

Students standing by their desks waiting for permission to be seated

Zora's orthology lesson

Students preparing the drinking pail and washing basin for lunch

 Drinking pail (left); Wash basin (right)

The students had to wash their hands before lunch then have them inspected for cleanliness.

The boys had to use the lye soap and towel on the left.  Girls used the one to the right.

 Before they washed their hands they had to read aloud individually.

 Washing hands

 Hand inspection for cleanliness

 Students are dismissed for dinner (lunch) and recess.

Look how happy they are!

 Zora enjoys lunch from her pail.  Lunches had to be authentic to time period.  

Zora had biscuits with jelly, dried meat, carrots, an apple, a brownie, and water in her tin cup from the well.

 After lunch they enjoyed some games from 1910.

Zora on stilts

 Miss Rupp pushes the kids on the Merry-Go-Round

 Zora's face is priceless!

 Playing the handkerchief game again

 More old-fashioned games

 Zora even found time to read in the shade before they had to go back in for more lessons

PRICELESS

 After lunch they had their Oklahoma history lesson

 Their final task for the day was a spelling bee.

Zora was SO nervous... look at her nervous little smile!

Zora knew how to spell the word she got, 

but she got nervous and restarted the word, so she had to sit down :-(

This little guy was such a good sport.  He didn't actually get in trouble, but the teacher used him to demonstrate one of the forms of punishment.  She drew a circle on the chalkboard a little above his reach so that he had to stand on his tip-toes to get his nose in the circle. He had to remain there for quite some time.

 Class dismissed!  All lined up and ready to go HOME!

 Here is one of Zora's writing samples from her lessons.

 And her certificate for a completion of "A Day at Rose Hill School"

 And last, but certainly not least, the class picture.

(They were not allowed to smile because in 1910 people didn't smile for pictures!)

CHANGE

I think if I had to sum up the past few months for our family with just one word it would be CHANGE.  There is so much that has changed recently and if you read my blog very often you know exactly what those changes are - moving, building a house, new baby, etc.  Well, this week brought about even more changes - some good, some not-so-good.

Lily decided the other night that she wanted to be like her sissy and ride without training wheels on her bike.  Joel agreed to take them off and teach her.  We were sure it would take her a while to get-the-hang-of-it (especially since she is so accident-prone), but she just needed a little nudge and off she went!  She's only been riding without them for a couple of days now and it's like she's a pro :-)

Zora was due for her yearly eye exam which is always exciting for her because she knows that it also means a new pair of glasses. She chose an absolutely adorable pair, but I must say that they make her look very grown-up...that's kind of hard for this mommy!

Lily also finally got a dresser to match her big girl bed!  She was still using the dresser that matched her baby crib, but now she has a white dresser to match her white bed.  She loves it :-)

And we can't leave out Baby Seth. I had another appointment this week.  He is growing well, which continues to make my belly grow!  The doctor measured him on ultrasound and is estimating that right now he weighs about 2 lbs. 9 oz. which is above average for 28 weeks!  I have a feeling this one might be a big one!  This picture didn't print very good and it's rather blurry, but here is the latest picture of the little guy.  He's already got chubby little cheeks! (His head is on the top right of the picture and his hands are folded under his chin)

 Belly pic for Mom (28 weeks)

While I'm on the topic of pregnancy and babies, I just have to share this video with you.  I think flash mobs are one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  I would love to be somewhere and see one live.  Better yet, I think I'd love to be IN one!  Anyways, this video is a flash mob of all pregnant women.  Take the time to watch it because YouTube will donate money to The March of Dimes for every view of the video!

Click here: Pregnancy Flash Mob

The new house continues to change as well.  Joel, his dad, and Wesley are doing such a fantastic job.  I know they are all three exhausted from working full time and then going to the house to work until dark almost every night.  I'm so proud of them and extremely grateful.  Here is the most recent picture of the house with the trusses on!  We might have a roof by next week!!!

And speaking of houses, we got some not-so-good news the other night.  The house we are currently living in has a contract pending and we have to be out in less than a month.  Obviously, our new house will not be ready, so I am going to be spending a lot of time searching for another place to live and packing again...UGH!  Please keep us in your prayers.  And if you know of a place we can live let me know!