The Homemaking Cottage Series Presents:

Mothers of Large Families

Susan Hildebrant, Mother of seven

I grew up in Southern California, with one brother and one sister.  My father is an engineer and my mother occasionally worked as a real estate agent or babysitter.  She was always available when we were home.  I went to public school, was active in scouts and 4-H, sang in the choir at church, and was part of the color guard (flag) team that performed with the band in High School.

We now live in the house I grew up in.  We bought it from my parents almost seven years ago.

Her Husband

My husband works as a software engineer during the week and runs our small greenhouse business on Saturdays.  He is very talented with his hands.  He has done extensive landscaping, including putting in a brick driveway, in our front yard.  He did all of the plumbing, wiring, drywall, and tiling when we completely redid our kitchen.  He has put up several fences and made many things out of wood.

He is very good with the children and I am blessed to have him as my partner in teaching them.  He is very good at math and science and my strengths are in literature, history, and art, so we are a great team. 

My husband is my best friend and I love him dearly.  We have been married for thirteen years and every year is better.

Why The Decision to Have a Large Family?

We always wanted to have four children.  We bought four copies of our wedding picture for them.  After our fourth was born, we had such a nice little family.  There were two girls and two boys, and their personalities fit together very well.  I didn't want to mess it up by having another child.  Then the Lord spoke to me and gently said that if He sent us another child, it would be in His plan.  He reminded me that He can't mess anything up.  After that, we realized that we needed to trust the Lord completely and allow Him to decide how many children we had.

Abigail (11) is our oldest, she is my biggest helper.  She loves to cook, sew, make handmade lace, and is very bright.

Daniel Jr (9) is our little engineer who likes to build things.  He also loves Robin Hood and makes bows and arrows.

Isaac (8) is very good at math, and loves to sing and make beautiful artwork.  He is also interested in weapons of all kinds.

Lillian (6) is my quiet, tenderhearted middle child.  She likes to read and loves flowers, princesses, and anything pink.

Caleb (4) is my little fighter.  His pregnancy was my most difficult.  He tries to keep up with his big brothers but he is also very cuddly and sweet when he is playing with his sisters.

Katherine (2) is very sweet.  She is super cuddly and likes her teddy bear.  She looks and acts a lot like Lillian.

Rebecca (1) is newly walking.  She is a sweet little girl.

Some joyful experiences with her large family

We enjoy spending time watching movies together and playing board games.  The children love to climb on Daddy and tickle and wrestle, they call it "tickle tackle."

A Funny Story

This afternoon the older children were playing a board game, and the younger ones were playing with Little People toys.

Four year old Caleb went to go watch the older ones and came out tattling on his brother, saying "I'm pretty sure he punched me."

Eleven year old Abigail said "I saw the whole scene, it was nothing of the sort."

Experiences or knowledge has helped her on her journey

I have become much more relaxed over the years.  I am still learning and growing, as we all are.  I only have a finite amount of energy and I feel such peace knowing that there is only time to do so much in one day, and if I don't get to something then it wasn't meant to be.  

Her Mentor

My dear Mother-in-law raised five children and they are all well adjusted, God-fearing adults.

Her Housekeeping Tip

I use a lot of bins to keep things in order.  Organization is not my strong suit; any organization in our home is hard won.  But I find that bins are much easier for my family than hangers/shelves.  

Favorite Quotes

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."  Hebrews 12:1

Favorite Family Meal

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

2 cups water

1 tbsp Oregano

1 tsp Pepper

2 bay leaves

Garlic powder to taste (we use 1 tsp.)

2 tbsp sugar

2 15-oz cans tomato sauce

2 12-oz cans tomato paste

1 tbsp salt

Mix all ingredients together in a sauce pan.  Simmer 30 minutes.  Remove bay leaves.  Serve over spaghetti. (We make 5 recipes at a time and freeze it in meal-sized portions)

Meatballs

2 lb ground beef

1 6-oz package stuffing mix, crushed with a rolling pin

I use cheap stuffing, so I add 1/2 a chopped onion, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp oregano, and 1/2 tsp sage.

2 eggs

Mix all ingredients together and roll in balls.  I like to make very small (1") balls so that I don't have to cut up the children's food.  Bake on cookie sheets at 400* for about 12 minutes.  Large ones take longer.  

Favorite Dessert

Old Virginia Brownies

4 eggs

2 sticks butter

2 cups sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

5 tbsp cocoa

1.5 cups flour

Beat eggs; melt butter and add to eggs in mixing bowl.  Add other ingredients except flour and beat thoroughly.  Add flour and mix well.  Spread in greased pan and bake at 350* for 30 minutes.

I like this recipe because it uses cocoa instead of baking chocolate, so that you don't have to melt it on the stove - makes it safer for children to make.

Quick Note

Our most important goal is to train children who love God wholeheartedly.  We  find that homeschooling our children gives us the chance to spend a lot of time  teaching and training them.  Our children have become each others' best friends  due to the amount of time they spend together, and we are also trying to teach  them to lovingly encourage one another despite the differences in their  ability.  What fun it is to see them teaching the baby to walk, or helping the  toddler learn new words, or reading to each other.  This is a wonderful  growing experience for them!  And they learn to serve others at a young age.   

One big challenge in raising a large family is that it can be very  expensive.  We have been blessed with the opportunity to keep chickens, and are  frequently given abundant hand-me-down clothes.  Additionally, we have been  blessed by using Angel Food Ministries http://www.angelfoodministries.com/

If you would like to suggest a mother of a large family or if you are a mother of four or more children and are willing to be interviewed, please email Shiloah Baker.

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