About

My name is Kimberly and I have been married to Mark for 14 years. Together we parent and home educate our 10 children.

Our primary goal in life is to glorify God and to raise our children to do the same. To that purpose, we attempt to examine every decision that we make in light of God’s word, so many of the decisions that we make seem strange to the world and we are good with that.

As a second generation homeschooler (read about how cancer influenced my parent’s decision to homeschool) and a mother of many, I get a lot of questions about parenting, home making and homeschooling. Answering those questions, letting others know that they are not alone and sharing the joy and peace that we have found in the midst of our large, homeschooling family is the purpose of Raising Olives.

Being a mom of many and living on one income necessitates a bit of money saving know-how. I’ve talked about how we feed our family on a budget , shared some of my tips for shopping at yard sales and shown how we decorated the boys room on the cheap . We have a great system for using cloth napkins and even stopped using shampoo in our journey toward frugality. And believe it or not even after this haircut, my husband still allows me to cut his hair.

While the kitchen is not my favorite place to spend time, I do have 12 mouths to feed so I am familiar with the basics. I have a killer granola bar recipe, am becoming adept at mega-bulk cooking for the freezer and have some favorite recipes for feeding a crowd.

Scheduling, cleaning and organizing, these I enjoy. Is there something odd in the fact that I’d rather clean than cook? Laundry management and chore lists, menu planning and scheduling make me happy and I post a lot about organization.

As a second generation homeschooler I realize that one of the benefits of homeschooling that many people miss is the opportunity to build strong relationships between parents and children and between siblings. This is one thing that we seek to maximize in our home school by working and learning together as a family as much as possible.

Solving sibling squabbles in a Biblical manner is another important aspect toward building those relationships, in addition to incorporating fun family activities, like family fun nights and jammie drills, into our normal life.

Of course with a house full of children we also have lots of funny stories, crazy moments and hysterical kid pictures. Every Monday I come clean about our less than perfect moments in a Not Me Monday post. Some favorites are Dames, Trains and AutomoBeetles , Rice and Bathroom Etiquette and Dinner Disaster. Some of our favorite wordless posts are Outnumbered, Table Manners and Window cleaners.

Despite the fact that I share loads of wisdom  about raising a large family, homeschooling  and organization (ahem), some of the most popular posts are my DIY tutorials like rain gutter book shelves, children’s playsilks,  a magnetic wall to display the children’s artwork and more.

Are you still reading?? Well then you deserve to meet the cast of characters here in the Olive house!

Our oldest daughter Amber (13) is diligent, a great cook and takes initiative to help with just about every chore around the house. She is our current breakfast and lunch menu planner.  (Amber’s birth story)

Kaitlin (11) is every one’s friend and is one of the most generous and giving people that I know. Kaitlin always has an encouraging word and is a deep thinker. (Kaitlin’s birth story)

Matthew (10) is always smiling and wants to be a missionary to India when he grows up. (Thanks to reading about and praying for the homeless street children in India when he was 4 years old.) He is constantly striving to work hard “just like Daddy.” (Matthew’s birth story)

We praise God everyday for His mercy in giving Alyssa to us, in spite of our lack of faith. Our first 3 children were born in 2 1/2 years. I was tired, overwhelmed and scared about having anymore. We decided that we needed a space between our children. After a few weeks neither Mark or I felt comfortable with taking our “family planning” away from our sovereign God who loves us even more than we love ourselves. We trusted Him. This was our shortest space between children (14 months), BUT it was my only pregnancy with no trace of morning sickness and Alyssa was an angel baby. God knows and does what is best for us and sometimes it is different than what we think. Praise God for giving us this child, even when we thought that we didn’t want her.

We call Alyssa (9) our sunshine, she brightens our days and I can’t imagine not having her as part of our family.

Steady is the word that comes to mind when I think of Carter (7). He loves people, snuggling and is always aware when I need cheering up. Yesterday he told me that I was beautiful. Read Carter’s story and how God preserved Carter’s life.

Sadie (6) is a bit of a loner but still loves to snuggle occasionally. She does an amazing job at whatever she sets her mind to, probably because she is such a hard, patient worker.

Savannah (4) is our compliant child, a complete people pleaser, loving to snuggle and passing out compliments all ’round. She will most likely grow up to be a princess, probably Belle.

I have never seen or met a child who is more strong willed or active than Colby (3). He is also one of the most charming children and is helping me learn to be more consistent and patient.

Nicholas (18 months) is a sweet, fun-loving little fellow, who has an opinion and knows how to get what he wants in our full house. Read about how Nicholas was injured at birth and how he’s doing now.

Isabella (pronounced ‘eesabella’ not ‘izabella’) (born July 2010) beautiful like her name, loves to be held, cuddled and fed.  I’m not sure that she’s been out of a persons arms for longer than 20 minutes in her life. (Why we chose to have Isabella via c-section.)

Still want to know more? Read 25 Random Things About Me.

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