Are You Dangerously Obedient?

I got my dear husband to write an article on his Health blog. Go check it out!

The Joy of Older Children!

On the evening of our wedding anniversary CJ, Heidi-Mari and our babysitter (just for adult supervision) looked after the little ones while Christo and I went out for a romantic dinner at the Hildebrand restaurant at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. What a blessing to just enjoy my Beloved's company, while having excellent service and delicious food.

We left at 17h30 and when we arrived home at 21h00 this was what we found:

Sweet little Daniel fast asleep in front of the Ergo with his 'second mother' - Heidi-Mari. Daniel doesn't have a bottle (not one of my babies ever drank out of a bottle, only the breast and then a cup) and he is used to going to bed at night on my breast. But, no problem on this evening, when the breast was not available. Heidi-Mari can look after him just as well as I. She fed him fruit and water, out of a cup and when it was time to go to bed, she just put him in the ergo and he fell asleep.

Meanwhile CJ put David (2 years) and Andrew (3 ½ years) in bed, and not even one of them missed their mommy and daddy!

What a blessing to have a big family with responsible older brothers and sisters.

Apple and Cinnamon Muffins

This morning we baked some Apple and Cinnamon Muffins.

A friend's daughter was recently been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and they are coming to visit this afternoon. Christo is helping this courageous young mother to manage the blood sugar levels with only natural supplements and NO insulin, and I'm helping a little with the diet. Since she needs a healthy afternoon snack, which digests slowly, to prevent her blood sugar levels from rising to quickly, we decided on the Apple and Cinnamon Muffins. We baked it with Spelt flour (a Bible time grain), rice milk, xylitol (instead of sugar and definitely not an artificial sweetener) and fresh, organic apples. Heidi topped it with ground cinnamon, before putting it in the oven.

Like usual the little ones enjoyed the baking the most! It was the first time Daniel could join in eating out the empty mixing bowl.

The Recipe (makes 6 large muffins):

1 egg. beaten

40 g Xylitol

120 ml rice milk

50 g butter, melted

200 g refined spelt flour

7.5 ml baking powder

pinch of salt

2.5 ml ground cinnamon

2 small organic eating apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

For the topping: Ground cinnamon

Cook's tip: Do not over mix the muffin mixture - it should be lumpy.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Mix the egg, xylitol, milk and melted butter in a large bowl. Sift in the spelt, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the chopped apple and mix roughly. Spoon the mixture into muffin tins. Sprinkle ground cinnamon over muffins. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until well risen and golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!!

Eighteen Joyful Years!

In the beginning of January 1987, I had just finished school and was very excited about the new season I was about to enter. During this time, my aunt wanted to introduce me to a young man, who was a part time magician, in the entertainment business with her husband, a comedian. I thought it a good idea, but when she wanted to arrange dinner for us at her place, he wasn't interested. Around the same time my aunt's husband went to hospital for a minor operation and my dad paid him a visit. The same time my dad visited my uncle, the young magician, also came to visit. The next day he called my aunt, and said he had met my dad and wanted to meet me. She arranged the 'blind date' the next week. Within weeks we knew we were going to marry, but it was during the time when feminism was spreading like a wildfire and my mother believed a girl should get the best education possible, to prove her value.

My mother was very strong and my dad didn't really oppose her. But, almost 3 years later, December 1989, two months before my 21st birthday, my dad agreed to our engagement. 15 months later, on the 30th of March 1991, I became Mrs. Christo Lues - my biggest dream come true!

Today, it is exactly 18 years ago! Wow! I can still remember waking up early that morning, knowing this was my wedding day! On this day I was going to marry the most handsome guy I knew. He had chosen me from many other young women, to be his wife.

It still feels like yesterday that I walked down the aisle, on the arm of my father, seeing my bridegroom and beloved, waiting in front of the altar. It was a beautiful wedding, everything exactly the way I wanted it to be.

During these 18 years our marriage has had its ups and downs. I had a steady, calm, content dad and a very strong, feministic mother. Thus I did not grow up with much of an example for a godly marriage. But, we both knew the Lord from childhood and by the grace of God we were still virgins when we got married. This taken in account we had dated for 4years! I do believe this is what kept us together during those difficult years.

We both have very teachable spirits. The Lord Himself had taught us His way for marriage, parenting, children, homeschooling, medicine and discipleship. Every time we stumbled onto His truth, we repented and made the necessary changes.

We have had 3 miscarriages, teaching us the value of life. We joined Walk Thru the Bible and went through every one of Dr. Bruce Wilkinson’s teachings. I stopped my medical profession to become a full time mother when our eldest was only a few months old.

After six years of marriage and being fully into the rat race of success, we cut up all our credit cards and got rid of every penny of debt – not without major tribulation! We stopped using modern medicine and totally turned to natural medicine (due to the severe illness of our eldest boy when he was 15months old and the colic of our baby girl). In 2004 (having 4 children) we surrendered my womb to the Lord, and asked Him to bless my womb and give us all the children He wanted to bless us with. Shortly after that we learned about Above Rubies and Colin and Nancy Campbell’s life changing material.

I also received the book, Created to be His Helpmeet, through the daughter of a very special friend (she was only 19 years old and not even married yet), a year after the birth of our 6th baby, when I went through a bad patch in my personal life, which had a negative effect on our marriage. All these ministries and experiences have enriched our marriage tremendously.

Today I know much more about being a submissive wife, created to be a helpmeet to my husband. He needs me to become everything God intends him to be.

Today I know my husband loves me and looks after me, like his own body, and I praise the Lord for that.
Today I am the blessed mother of 7 beautiful children, who give me the opportunity to grow in faith, love, holiness and self-control.”

Therefore today:
I want to thank the Lord for being our eyes, when we couldn't see.
I want to thank the Lord for keeping us and teaching us through every hardship and tribulation.
I want to thank the Lord for His grace, forgiveness and love during times of foolishness.
I want to thank the Lord for people through whom He could teach us to glorify Him in everything we do.

I want to thank the Lord for my loving husband, who works hard to protect and provide for me and our children.

I want to thank the Lord for the precious children He has given us so far.
I want to thank the Lord for the gift of life, and that in abundance!

Looking back over 18 years, I rejoice in the Lord!!

Pyjamas for the Girls!

Six years ago I had to make a ballet costume for Heidi's first ballet concert. I hadn't made clothes for years and it was quite a challenge. Since then I have had to make another four costumes for two more concerts and have now come to enjoy the challenge.

Not only does Heidi-Mari like ballet and ballet costumes, she also likes pretty, feminine dresses. Since you only get hipsters and skirts and no dresses in the shops, I had to learn how to make dresses. Last year I did a few basic dressmaking courses and started experimenting with different textures, styles and patterns.

Once a year I visit sewingpatterns on the internet, preferably when they have an end of season sale, and order my patterns directly from them. This year I decided to try to make some pyjamas and doll clothes for Danika’s dolls.

As soon as I received the patterns from overseas, I couldn’t wait to start cutting the fabric. But I had to restrain myself during the week and work only on weekends. Since I have really come to enjoy making clothes, it was very difficult.

Last week I finished Heidi-Mari's pyjamas! Just in time for her visit with Daddy to Durban. I also made for Danika. Look how beautiful my two girls look in their pyjamas.

Unfortunately, it seems like autumn is knocking at the door. I will need to start with winter pyjamas, very soon!

Growing into Motherhood

Do our babies grow from newborn to 1 year old in a few days? Do our toddlers grow from their difficult 2 years old to a much more moderate temperament at 4 years in a few weeks? Do our teenagers grow from the difficult ‘who am I?’ at 13 years old to a confident 17 year old in months?

Unfortunately, NOT. To pass all these different milestones takes time, training, diligence and patience, both for child and parent.

Why then are we as mothers so hard on ourselves?

This morning while brushing my teeth (!) the Lord very softly spoke to my soul. You see, the last few nights were really tough with my baby and two toddlers. I didn’t get much sleep. As a result, this morning I just couldn’t be all smiles and good cheer. I even messed up by being impatient with the little ones at the breakfast table. I also wasn’t an encouraging, loving wife to my husband. I really felt like a total failure, hopeless and tired.

While I was brushing my teeth, the Lord smiled down on me, and showed me the above picture of my children growing slowly into maturity. The same time He showed me, I am growing into maturity. I could sense He wanted me to look back on my life as a mother and realize how much I had grown over the past 15 years. He didn’t want me to feel like a failure. He wanted me to walk out of that bathroom with hope, knowing He is working in me. He wanted me to rest in Phil 1:6 “6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you (me) will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”

I will stop being so impatient with myself and my growth in the Lord. I will walk in His hope and unconditional love!

LLATL Lapbook

Heidi-Mari started this year with the LLATL red book in English (her second language). To make it interesting and stimulate her creativity, we've decided to do all the phonics-, spelling-, grammar- and story telling assignments in a lapbook.

Here are the first 4 lessons, that forms the first part of the year's curriculum:

With the first fold she illustrated phonics, grammar, blending words and putting the sentences of a story in the right sequence

Paging to the second fold:

Here are guides for spelling, sentence- and story making:

On the last fold are some fun assignments: Illustrating her family tree, putting words in alphabetical order, making a calender, the days of the week and months of the year.

Heidi-Mari really enjoyed completing this lapbook. I think it is a real fun way of learning language.