Meet the Ingalls Clan

We have been T.V.-less for over a week now. And it is going great. I have wanted to get rid of the T.V. for months now because I really felt like the kids were watching too much t.v. But in truth I was not ready to do that when it took all I had to wash two loads of clothes a day, do a load or two of dishes, and fix dinner. I was just not up to finding more ways to entertain the kids. So the t.v. stayed - though in my heart I hated that we had it - and really felt like it was becoming an idol in my children's lifes. But once I had the baby - I had tons of energy - and a lot more patience than I have had in months. So, praise the Lord for that! And praise the Lord - the t.v. is out of the house for now.

We went to the library and brought home 30 new books (not as if we have shortage of books here - but I wanted to give the kids something new to read). Now most of the time when I sit down to feed the baby, I also sit down to a stack of books to read to the girls (by the way I am learning things about insects and dogs that I had no idea about - like some grasshoppers have wholes in their legs which allow them to hear!). One of the books I got for them was Little House on The Prairie. I read it to them and their daddy at bedtime (we have to catch daddy up for the chapters he misses while he is at work and I read to them at nap time). The girls love it!

In fact they love it so much that Daddy, Mommy, Micah, Gabriella, and Jeremiah no longer reside at our house. Instead we have, Pa, Ma, Mary, Laura, and Carrie (I refuse to call Jeremiah Carrie - but the girls call him that). The girls respond better to their new names and are much more cooperative when I call them by their Little House on the Prairie names than when I use their real names. They also get upset when I forget to use our character names.

It has been much fun to pretend to be these characters. However, it is rather amusing to Clay and I as we laugh about the time period differences. For example, last night I told the girls that Ma was going to set her timer for five minutes while the girls picked up around camp. At one point I asked Mary "Micah" to pick up her phone. In which she responds, "Okay, but its my sister's cell phone."Though it may only be amusing to us - it is something we will always treasure. Clay and I are very thankful that we have gotten rid of the T.V.

Thought I would share some pictures of life on the "prairie" with Mary, Laura, and Carrie.

Mary, Laura, and Carrie in the Camp.

The girls went out to chase gophers in the prairie.

Mary
(Note that her hair is braided: She never likes her hair fixed but wanted it braided because Mary's hair is braided in Little House on the Prairie.

Laura