Thoughts on Life

The past two weeks have been odd. Our school schedule has been "off" to say the least, and we have had illnesses, and out of town errands, and many activities. Some days I feel like we aren't accomplishing much. But we are studying the bible each day, talking about our beliefs, praying, helping others when we can, and living our faith to the best of our ability. So does it make a difference? What we do each day, I mean? Yes, I believe it does.
Life is a culmination of the small daily events. Each day we get up and try to life life for God to the best of our ability and try daily to reinforce biblical teaching on our kids while they are at home. I know we make mistakes, though we try not to. I know that one day the kids will have to take on their own faith and run with it, and I pray they will remember the way they were raised and choose the path of the bible. No matter what we do, what we watch, what we participate in, we always try to bring it back to being pleasing to God and following His Word.
Now, I realize not everyone may think we are doing a great job of that, but all we can do is get up each day and keep trying. And by example, to try to influence others in God's ways. I hope we don't fail. I pray we don't fail, but at the end of the day, I want to be at peace knowing we did the best we knew how, and leave the rest to God. He will judge us, all of us, everyone. So when i see people who do things differently than us, I like to see why, and try to learn from that, and I hope they will do the same with us. I know many of us are taking different paths of parenting/raising kids and still turning out solid Christian children who desire to live and serve the Lord. That gives me hope, and lets me know my way isn't the only way. Many people are finding what works without straying from biblical principles and standards. God is good.
I used to be MUCH more judgemental of others and I know I turned people off. I would have turned myself off if I had been on the outside looking in. People need to know the truth of the bible, but they need to see it too, and they need to experience it through other people in a spirit of love and gentleness and patience. I hope that is how I present myself...solidly biblical, yet with love patience and gentleness. But life is a growing process, isn't it? We are all at a different stage, learning and teaching at our own pace, hopefully doing our best to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
So as the day wears on I am encouraged to know I am not on the path alone. Many are on the same path, and I love that we are here to encourage one another and not to tear one another down because we take differing approaches. We are here to build one another up and help each other to reach heaven with our children. Thanks to all my friends who have been encouraging, and who continue to encourage and teach me new things every day.
Remember--all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin if we believe and repent (repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins) and choose to walk daily in His word. He has gone to prepare a place for us, so we know He will come again to take us home. Walk in the light. Be salt on the earth. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted. Jesus came to save us sinners. Train up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Pray without ceasing. Love one another.
Have a great day for Him!

Just the Facts, Ma'am

Well, it's one of those dreaded lists of things you may not know about me....read if you dare!

1. I am afraid of the dark...still.
2. I love veggies.
3. My passion is homeschooling my kids.
4. I feel incomplete without spending time with the Lord each day.
5. I always wanted a big family
6. I do not wish to ever join the workforce.
7. I love organization
8. I love to find a bargain.
9. I hate shopping in stores.
10. I love to cook.
11. I feel guilty over all the things I've done wrong. It keeps me up at night.
12. I think life rushes by too fast.
13. I am not a keeper of "stuff" but a declutterer.
14. I am not sentimental about much, except my kids.
15. My soul longs to be at the white sandy beach in Seagrove.
16. I do not like to watch the news--it is too disturbing.
17. My ipod has a strange mix of music, from movie scores to Motley crue to Vivaldi.
18. I cannot watch tv or movies with foul language, nudity, or homosexuality. It seriously bothers and offends me.
19. I am very very protective of my children, what they watch/hear/read, who they are with and their general safety.
20. I hate crowds and traffic--scary!
21. I don't care for the mountains or desert.
22. I would rather be safe than sorry.
23. I failed typing.
24. I cannot play piano though i took lessons ( I also once played flute, but can't anymore)
25. I can't read music...at all!
26. I love to wear skirts and do not like jeans much at all (only 2 pair).
27. I hate tatoos, body piercing, and low pants that show underwear or worse, your rear end!
28. I don't like seeing women in bikinis, showing cleavage, or short shorts/miniskirts. Tacky.
29. Smoking is an unhealthy habit and affects all of us so stay away with the nasty smoke, please.
30. I am not a grudge holder...my memory just isn't that good. And it takes too much energy.
31. I can't openly lie...I just can't.
32. I do not like to be around people who are drinking alcohol, and I really don't like my kids around it.
33. I do not like to be around people who curse or slander people of other races.
34. I am a solid republican/conservative, and DO NOT like Obama in any way.
35. I am completely against socialistic practices.
36. I hate tent camping.....with a passion! Cabins are much better.
37. I hate staying in hotels because I am a light sleeper and hear everyone. Grrr!!
38. I do not sleep well, and haven't since I was about 8..I see things, hear things and have nightmares.
39. I don't like being out at night. People out at night seem creepier. DO your stuff in the light of day!
40. I do not look forward to my kids growing up and leaving home.
41. Nuclear weaponry and crazy dictators scare me.
42. More than anything else I want my kids to be solid, baptized, practicing Christians.
43. I love shoes...too much.
44. I don't want to live in the country or raise any animals.
45. I hate snakes, wasps, scorpions.
46. My kids think I am weird, i SAY I am a fun mom...they secretly agree!
47. I like eclectic styles...which can drive my husband nuts.
48. I miss having a baby in the house but I like the freedom it gives, too.
49. I have a latex allergy.
50. I can't play video games--really, i have very poor hand/eye coordination and can't do it.

Enough for now.

Photos, As Promised!

Girls got swimsuits off the rack this year. Not modest, but we are going to make black skirts for all three. Very cute! I bought myself one too (not the same one), and plan to make a black skirt for myself too.
This is the generations banquet at church. It was wonderful, except that Kim had come down with strep and felt horrible. She was running a high fever.
Here is the group of us right before we left. Aren't they beautiful. YES!!!
A day at the park was great fun.
And a little more fun.
Lastly, this was science. These are models of the heart--4 chambers, with red and blue blood--all edible, grahams and marshmallows, with icing.

A Week in the Lifestyle...

Well, I really want to post some photos, but that will have to wait because I am on one of the two new laptops and do not have access to the photos from here. Did I mention we have two new laptops? Yes. Loving that! With a 7th, 5th, 3rd, 1st and K graders in the house it was time to spend the $ and get them. We have science, spanish, and math on cd and all use it for learning and editing work, and I use it for co-op and keeping in touch with homeschool, friends, and family. The week started with 2 girls sick with strep. One was very sick. we had to see the dr for meds, but the other three did school. On Tuesday we did some school with those three who were well, but by afternoon we headed to pick up the second laptop from rockwall. i didn't really want to go but had to pick it up. then on wednesday we did some school, then went to play at the park with friends for about 2 hours, did some more school, then headed to church. that night i lost my cell phone. i still haven't found it. thursday we did more school and had ballet class. but i couldn't get phone messages since my phone was lost, so i had to work off emails. fridayschool went well on friday and we rested that afternoon before heading to theater class. we got take out for supper and went to bed early. Today we had hip-hop and got groceries. tonight we have a scout banquet, and tomorrow LTC and hosting a youth devo. so all in all a great week. I just wish it wasn't cold today so i could plant my garden! We got good financial news this week, which is great because gas is crazy expensive! AND lastly the check engine light came on in the new van, just as a recall notice was issued. SO off we go to the repair shop next week--the suburban needs a/c work, too. And i need to get a new phone.
So that was our week.
Kids are practicing yoga today and I got a needed haircut. About to grill some burgers for lunch and enjoy the family!

Homeschool this week

this week was different. we took off monday and tuesday to switch out winter clothes for summery stuff, but left a little bit of the long sleeves. it was nice to be relaxed but as i have learned, structure and routine are our friends, so back to a semi normal routine we went on wednesday. we did devo, math, writing and reading and a bit of science that they all begged for. usually the kids 6th and under do KONOS units, but wehn we hit the human repro unit i decided to springboard into the new apologia anatomy book, and we love it. this week we made a model of the human heart with grahams and marshmallows after learning the function and structure of the heart. we also did some more history. we are combining mystery of history with story of the world for a 4 year cycle. once the kids hit 7th grade we doa modified version of sonlight core curriculum. when they hit 9th, that will be their routine full time, so it is good prep, thoguh they are still welcome to join the KONOS and history stuff. i like the independence i have seen this year and the curriculum we have chosen. some have learned by leaps and bounds. we also decided to go year round sicne some are on a staggered schedule anyway. works better for eveyone. i signed us up for a field trip to the dr.pepper plant in waco for next month. i may regret that given the long drive but i think they will love it. besides, it will get them ready for the trip i want to take to the athens fish hatchery! so, back to our week....by wednesday night elizabeth was having more bad cough--after a long trip to the park on one of our days off---so we headed to the dr on thurs where we foundshe has some mild asthmatic symptoms and was put on a 3 month dose of singulair...she tested negative for flu which was good. then we headed to ballet and when we got home the garage door had broken..big fun. the next day was friday and we had co-op fromm8 to 1, then picked up some DQ for lunch and headed to sam's club for the march groceries. we got home just in time to unload whiel clay clalled a garage repair man, and then we headed to theater class and came home to a house of boys for games and snacks. busy! saturday came with a shock though......................jacob woke up vomiting at 6am and kept it up until i got back from hip hop class with liz...then we girls had to get ready for a banquet at church and right as we were about to leave kim began runing a very high fever. i had to call her dad to come get her from the banquet. he wasn't home when we left or i would have left her at home.after the banquet she got really sick and motrin wasn't helping. she began vomiting. this went on all night and into today. and this mornign liz woke up feeling bad, and by 10am she had high fever and still does, but no vomiting yet. so now i am wondering if we picked up flu at the dr? oh well, a new school week starts tomorrow and we will see what it holds for us...my prayer is wellness.
prayers this week for wellness for my kids, the Bonney family, Libya, Egypt and Korea, freedom, the Word to spread, safety for all of us, the Estes family, our co-op and for the Lord to use us and direct our paths in His ways.
Blessings to all!

What Happpened in February

As usual, these are out of order. This is the fabulous group of kiddos.
One more of them. Getting so big! See why I cry over their growing up so much???
We had a trip to see the Dallas Symphony play Peter and the Wolf and Squirrel Nutkin. Very fun!
Our baby boy turned 7. SEVEN! Can you believe it??? I can't. He is such a neat kid. Very private, not terribly social, rough, tough, lover of guns swords and combat. Smart, sneaky, loving, tenderhearted.
He had some friends over for a party with brownie sundaes. He seemed to have a great time even though he wouldn't look at anyone while we sang to him.
The local homeschool group also had a Valentine Party for the preschool thru 2nd graders. That was fun and tasty! Our homeschool group also had registration for classes which start soon. We love that!
We have been studying human anatomy. Here are the kids with the Somebody game. A family favorite!
As you can see, Kimberly's person has some issues with one side of his lungs and his stomach. Maybe he is in surgery? And i think Jordan's guy has a kidney on his foot.
We also had a second BIG snowstorm. Lizzie stayed inside that day, but Jacob climbed a tree by the creek.
Lizzie has really been doing great with her reading! I am so glad to see that!
Jordan and Kimberly love working on school together, too.
And these are our ballerinas--obviously one lost her leotard!
so, I guess I am going to be a monthly blogger...well...probably not. But I do have much going on and life doesn't lend itself to a bunch of computer time. So with the passage of another month it was time to post some pictures! Hope you enjoyed a peek into life at our house! Blessings to all!

January Stuff

This month has been COLD. There has been a lot going on. We have had ballet, hip hop class and pinewood derby, a parade and a birthday party. So here comes lots of photos! The above is the pinewood derby race. Jordan had a great car, even though it didn't win. He likes to wear the scout shirt, though.
This was Emily's pirate party. I cannot believe she is 11. She had 6 girls come for pizza and games and crafts and a crazy talent show.
This is part of the talent show.
Jacob got in on the talent show and games by being Joker.
Duck Duck Goose is always big fun...
Pirates eating pizza.
pirates working on treasure chests with chocolate gold coins to go inside.
This is what kids do when they are imaginative. They make your bedroom into fru fru land and act stuff out.
They also help make lunch and set up themed tea parties for siblings.
And very often they leave the room before cleaning up. Is that really my room????? Yes, yes it is!
Sometimes we take kids out for ice cream on thier birthday. Apparently it makes them act strangely.
This is Jordan with his great grandma at the pinewood derby. Note the extreme excitement on his face. Mostly he sat in a chair to watch. Not much emotion. Calm and cool as always.
Her is Elizabeth with grandpa at the mall. She was showing off some hip hop moves.
Here is grandpa with Kimmie. She was acting crazy as always...giggling all the time.
And this is just schoolwork. They had just learned about nutrition as part of a human anatomy lesson and were cutting out pics for a food pyramid.

Well, that sums up the month....