Thursday, October 25, 2007

It's a Boy! party





Our usual course of action is to tell the other children, in an interesting way, if the coming baby is a boy or a girl. Last time, we had a pink party with streamers and a strawberry cake and strawberry frosting and pink candies on top that spelled out "GIRL." This time we wanted to do something different...Daddy came up with the idea to fill our entry way with blue balloons sometime while they were gone so that when they came in the door, they will be greeted by a sea of blue. Daddy never does anything halfway, though! He also got a large banner, made a curtain of blue ribbon, added blue color to lemon-lime soda, and got a cake with enough blue color in the icing to make us all have blue lips and teeth.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Only 5 months since the last one...

We've been busy around here lately...okay, not really, I just didn't know what to write. :o) I couldn't post anything before I told my mom we were going to have a baby, and I couldn't think of anything else to write about for a while. And now, I don't have anything to say, really...but I did add a ticker to the top that shows where I am in the pregnancy. I may get around to adding an ultrasound picture, once I get it scanned. The thing is, we haven't told the other children it's a boy yet--and that is fairly obvious from the pictures--so I will have to scan them after bedtime and I am usually in bed then!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007


One of the great benefits of homeschooling my children is that they love to be together and they are actually helpful to one another. When we went on an Easter Egg hunt recently, my twelve year old daughter was the helper for the 15 month old. It is so joyous to see what the world considers a "teenager" interacting so cheerfully and gently with a very young child, when she could be rebellious and annoyed by her instead. Another mom took this picture and sent it to me. She was as touched as I by her actions.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Worship

My oldest two children are in high school. We usually talk while we drive, generally about the happenings of whatever was going on where we just left. During last night's youth time, they had a message about worship. The youth pastor had talked about how so many of them would "worship" during the music time at church and maybe keep worshipping until they went to sleep that night, but that when they woke up, it would be back to "normal life" and they would forget all about worshipping.

I had to disagree with that pastor on one tiny point--we are always worshipping, it's just a matter of WHAT we are worshipping. Our marvelous Creator made us to worship. Everyone worships at all times.

People tend to call the time we are praising God with music "worship" and so we forget that in everything we do we are worshipping...something. If you lose yourself in music that is talking about a cheating husband, your eyes are closed, your body is swaying...your are worshipping the thoughts and actions glorified in that song. If you are so caught up in keeping your house clean that you forget yourself and act in an unseemly matter, you are worshipping your clean house. This applies to educating our children at home, driving a new car, being debt-free...everything that we do every day of our lives.

So how do we worship God, every minute of every day? Does it mean we never clean or teach our children or buy a new car? Does it mean that we don't work, don't eat, don't sleep? Of course not. It means that everything that we do should point to our Creator. That people who see us, including our family (maybe especially our family), should look at us while we go about normal life and KNOW that we are different from the world. When I drive around in my big 'ol red monster, with the little boy (you know the one) bowing to the Cross, people should see me let someone out of a driveway instead of cutting someone off in traffic. If I choose to be debt free, it should not be the driving force in my life, but rather a choice that I make so I can give more to the "least of these" who are in the world with me. If I am choosing to educate my children at home, the world should see a difference in my children that they cannot explain. That is how we worship God every minute of every day.

What are you worshipping today?

Monday, April 9, 2007

Naming puppies


We have a name for our cute little corgi. She's called Gretel...and yes, we have Hansel, too. :-) Friday my husband needed to go pick up more dog food. (Corgyn need more food than Chihuahuas apparently!) He joked that if her brother was still there, he might buy him and call them Hansel and Gretel since then we could at least have a name for her...

He was there. We now have three dogs in our home. Horatio, our chihuahua, and Hansel and Gretel, pembroke welsh corgyn. Who knew naming puppies could make them increase?

:o)
I'll post a picture once I get one taken.

(picture added April 27)

Thursday, April 5, 2007

not enough time in my day

I'm sure that no one else has ever had this problem...I am finding that I don't have enough time in my life to do all the things that I need to do. I'm currently in the process of studying to upgrade my ham license and trying to learn a new language arts curriculum, plus teach my children, keep a comfortable home, be a pleasant wife and have a little time to do the "extras" that make life interesting. This week is just jam-packed with activities...hopefully things will begin to settle down soon.

Tabitha is currently being a mother's helper to a new mommy, has a scholarship test to take on Saturday at 9am, the ACT next Saturday, and several decisions to make about her immediate future. Someone recently said something about spending the first year after high school doing mission work so that college will actually mean something and not just be the "13th grade." I see some merit to that stand, particularly for those who don't have a clear idea for their future. Tabitha, however, knows what she wants to do and has amazing dreams for her future. SO! We have some work to do. :o)

I'm off to check out YWAM and see what they have to offer...

Enjoy your day and your family!

Monday, April 2, 2007

new addition


We have a new puppy in our home. She looks like a little bear cub. She's a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, is black with tan and white markings, and is soooo cute. Our other dog is Horatio, a chihuahua. He is almost a year old and we were just about to stop buying puppy food, so we (of course) had to get another puppy. She's not named yet...I want a Welsh name for her, but my husband hasn't liked any of the ones I've suggested. :) We do this everytime we have to name something. I always let him choose, but I suggest him to death. Here she is with my littlest girl.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Love

I have recently been having discussions with other women about their husbands, marriages, children, and homes. One started with tears and a confession that her marriage was just "not what it used to be" and that she didn't have any respect for her husband.

Ladies, "LOVE" is not a feeling or an emotion, although it affects both. Love is an action--it is something you do to another or accept from another. Love is a choice.

YOU choose your own actions and this (in no small part) determines the actions--or rather re-actions--of the people around you.

We, as wives and moms, have so much more power than the world recognizes. We determine the atmosphere in our homes by the Love we show. We choose--day by day, minute by minute--how we are going to act toward our husbands and children, how we are goig to act about our husbands and children toward other people. Choose wisely.

20 Qs

My husband has a little electronic game on his desk at work called 20Q. He keeps it there for people who come in to ask for his help, so they will have something to do while he works on their problems. (I also think it is for those times when he really just need to think about nothing.) It is a variation on the old party game that people used to play. You answer a series of questions the little ball asks while it tries to "guess" what you are thinking of. It usually guesses correctly. The first question it asks: Is it Animal, Mineral, Vegetable, or Other?

I need some categories for my blogs, so one night, while I was in bed waiting for sleep, I decided to use those categories for my blog. (I made a note to myself on my phone so I wouldn't forget!) Animal will be about personal stuff like what's happening in my life right now. Mineral is the Rock on Whom I build my life; it's where you'll find any inspirational writing I might do. Vegetable--the Fruit of my womb, my children...did one of them do something amazing, cute, disgusting? Look under vegetable. Other will be, well, other stuff. :o) Probably any home-educating ramblings will go there. I expect there to be overlap.

Thursday, February 8, 2007

Why Blog??

So, why did I decide to blog? Well, everyone's doing it, right? HA!

I've thought about doing it for a while now, just finally giving in this week. Actually, I had a push--the curriculum I use has an affiliate program and I can get credit to buy more stuff from them if people buy through my link. Must be time to start a blog, right?

I really like this curriculum. It is well laid out, easy to use, complete, non-consumeable and interesting to my children. Who could ask for a better mix? I like it so much I represent it at my local Home Educators convention. This will be my fourth year to be a representative, in fact.

Check it out. (Link's on the right!)