Home(school) Where We belong

When I got wet... Part 2

2012-01-15T14:40:00.003-06:00

you can read Part 1 here

Through the last 7 years Amy and I have each continued on our journey of growing in Christ. We would talk on the phone after church to compare notes and gleam knowledge from each other's preacher. We strengthened each other and edified each other. I love to hear her testimony about being taught her entire life completely unbiblical teachings from the catholic church and the way that God brought her to the truth. I was almost jealous of her testimony because I felt that I didn't really have one. I mean I always believed in God, got saved when I was young and just didn't live for Him until recently. It was the topic of many discussions that we had. I didn't even really remember when I got saved so I didn't have a story to tell. Amy encouraged me to pray about it and so I did. Slowly God started to bring that time back to my memory. I remembered going to the alter and then going into another room with my youth directer and another man from our church. We talked, I came out saved and got baptised shortly after. The fact that God brought that back to me satisfied me for a long time. I did my best to obey the Lord. My kids and I started going to church faithfully, I talked different, dressed different, listened to different music. I started homeschooling (as I believe as mandated by the Bible) and even was able to lead Keslee to the Lord. In 2007 my husband got saved and started changing with me. I started teaching children's church and teaching others about the Lord. Amy and I still talk a few times a week and the thought that I just didn't have much of a testimony came up a few more times. No matter how much I prayed I could not remember anything else about the time I got saved. I know Scott (my youth director) had his Bible and I am sure he went over the scriptures with me but I just could not remember. I assume I prayed to ask Jesus to save me but I don't remember doing it. I know I got baptised but I have no recollection of a discussion about what that meant or even why I decided to do it. Monty and I started going to discipleship classes at church and it was then that I saw in the scripture that baptism is the first step in obedience after salvation. Now that I knew that I thought-well good, done that so I am good. In the last few years I have seen a few of, what I thought were, the most faithful dedicated Christians come forward and get saved after years of serving God. Each time it brought back my own questions. I knew that the Lord Jesus Christ had saved me. I had no doubt about that. I knew that He had changed my life and that I was not the same person I was before. A few weeks before Christmas Amy and I ended up having another discussion about my testimony. I decided I had to get this all worked out so one quiet night as I was doing the paper route I just prayed and prayed for the Lord to answer my questions and He delivered. It was an almost audible answer when the Lord assured me that I was saved but it was not when I was 13. I was saved that day in 2005 that I heard Brother Baldwin preach. The day my life changed forever. The day I remember sooooo much about. That was the day that the old things passed away and I became a new creature. The day that all Jesus did and all Jesus is became more that just a story and He became my King of Glory. I was so relieved but immediately realized what that meant. It meant that I have been in disobedience since that time. It meant that when I was in the 8th grade all I did was get wet. Baptism must come after salvation and I had not done that. That Sunday during church I made my way to the front and let my preacher know that I needed to be scripturally baptised and last Sunday that is just what I did.

sorry it is so dark. Keslee took the picture of me

I am so excited to finally be able to have a testimony to share. I am so excited to see what God has in store for me now. I know that there are some areas in my life that, no matter how hard I have tried, I have not been able to make much progress. I have often felt like my Christian growth has stalled. I also know that God can not do all He has planned for me as long as I am in direct disobedience to Him. Now that I have finally rectified that I can't wait to learn of His plan. I know this is going to be a huge turning point for me and I can honestly say there is Joy in obedience.

When I got wet... part 1

2012-01-14T21:39:00.002-06:00

First I have to say that my God is an Awesome God!! I am so thankful that He doesn't give up on us.
When I was a child my parents took us to church. We all went for a few years and then my parents stopped. My sister, brothers and I still rode the church bus and went often but it didn't last. After a few years not being in church regularly, I became friends with a girl named Anita in Jr. high. She went to church with her mother every week and I started attending with her all through high school. In 8th grade I got saved and baptised. Although I went to church, participated in youth activities, went on the ski trips and even sang in the choir, as soon as I went to college I was able to put it all aside and live it up college style. I still believed in God. I still said my prayers at night. I even read in my Bible sometimes. I considered myself a Christian even though my behavior was far from Christ like. In college I met my bestest friend on earth, Amy. We had lots of talks about God (she was catholic at the time) and she could sway me just as easily as I could sway her. About 10 years ago Amy got married and started attending an Independent Baptist church with her husband. I visited my mom's church occasionally and often sent my young son with grandma because I knew church would be good for him. In 2005 I decided to attend a revival with my mother to hear Brother Kenny Baldwin preach. It was at that revival that my eyes were totally opened. All of a sudden the weight of my sin was more than I could bear. The gravity of what Jesus actually did to save me became real. My Lord and Savior became more than just a story. I made my way to the alter and begged for forgiveness. My life completely changed that day. I gave myself to God and started doing my best to live for Him. A few months later I joined the church and continued to grow. It was about the same time that Amy got saved and her life was changing just as quickly as mine. We were on an awesome journey together; her just being saved and I-saved at 13-but now both of us obeying the Lord...Or at least that is what I thought until just a few weeks ago.

tune in for Part 2 tomorrow:)

Homemade presents

2012-01-05T10:33:00.001-06:00

I love making homemade presents. Not only because it is a great money saver (although that is a huge plus☺) but I really love being able to make things for the people I love. This years Christmas budget was almost not existent and I was afraid I would not be able to get anything for my 6 nieces and 2 nephews. About 2 weeks before Christmas it finally came to me-the perfect gift for 6 girls ages 4-14 that I could do quickly and without spending tons of money. I ran to the dollar store and bought up a bunch of bandannas. I didn't use any pattern but instead just started putting them together and making skirts with elastic waist bands. This is what I came up with-with my own girls as models so they don't all fit them.

Red, White and Blue

Black with red sides

Points all around and then points just in front and back.

The same point in front and back and another style with points all around. I didn't get a photo of the smallest skirt because it was the last one I finished and would have been too small for my models.

I didn't get to see my side of the family this Christmas so mom delivered these for me. I guess they all liked them because I have now heard there are plans for all the girls to wear them to the 89er parade (Which has a western theme anyway) in April with a white shirt and pair of cowgirl boots. I will definitely have to get a picture then. I also have to get skirts made for my own girls so they can match with their cousins☺.

I didn't think I could make the boys matching shirts without a pattern or at least having them present to measure so I did have to buy them each something. I may try to tackle bandanna shirts before April-how cute would that be☺!

Where your treasure is

2012-01-03T22:30:00.001-06:00

I have heard several things from other parents as of late about how their young children (like 6-10) have discovered the different "high dollar" clothing labels and now will only wear soandso. These poor parents then fret over "Oh, how will we ever make it through the teen years when it is so expensive to have little kids." These parents have created their own monster and will pay dearly for it later. I have tried very hard to not allow my children to be overly picky and I sure don't want them to be materialistic. The Bible tells us to lay our treasures up in heaven and where our treasure is there will our heart be also. When our treasures consist only of the latest styles, the best car, the biggest house, and ALL the latest gadgets there is no room left for God. Of course I want to be able to give my children some of the things that they want but I also want them to be appreciative of what they have. On Christmas the Lord gave me the opportunity to see first hand that the efforts I have put into my children have not been in vain. The kids know full well that this year has not been a great year financially and I honestly think they expected little to nothing in the way of presents. They never saw me bring anything home from a shopping trip (I'm very sneaky!) so they had no evidence that there would be presents at all. That did not seem to bother them in the least. The excitement was still there and we had lots and lots of discussions about what Christmas is REALLY about. They enjoyed seeing the decorations around town and even wanted to stop and explain to people why the nativity scene in their yard was not correct. They were excited to get to see their Nana, to spend a night away from home, and just have a few days of family time. On Christmas morning they woke up to one present apiece in the living room and they were so grateful. They were happy with what they got even though none of the 3 presents were even new! I was given a 10 speed bike the week before Christmas and Kenyon just happened to need a new bike. It was in perfect condition but the chain was rusted. I asked Kenyon what he thought about it and he just said "just what I wanted, all I need now is can of wd40!" I assured him I would be buying a new chain but just did not have time before Christmas to get one after I got the bike. The girls each got a Baby Alive doll that I had found on Craigslist and of course they each loved them. We then got ready for church and headed out the door. I already had the car packed with clothes, pillows and blankets for a trip to Nana's house. Church that morning was great and the kids were happy to share what they had gotten with all their friends. There was not a hint of disappointment from any of them. After church we loaded up and headed to Monty's mom's house. When we arrived, she took all three kids to her room to show them the stockings stuffed full of goodies she had prepared for them. When they came out of her room to share this unexpected treat they saw this......

There was nothing under that tree when we walked in. It took only a few moments for them to notice that THEIR stockings were under that tree! They were in a total state of unbelief. They had no idea how their stockings made it to Nana's house. They started asking if I had mailed them or something and even "made their brain hurt" trying to figure it out. (did I forget to mention that the pillows and blankets in the back of the SUV were not just for a overnight trip but also to cover a load of presents and stockings☺told ya I was sneaky!) They still never figured out how their stockings got to Nana's house but were pleasantly surprised that the gifts also had their names on them.
After I had been sufficiently assured that tons of gifts really was NOT the main thing about Christmas in my children's hearts, we let them open their new presents.

Keslee really has a desire to learn to knit, crochet and sew. She got a knitting machine, a weaving loom and a friendship bracelet kit. She has plenty of projects to work on now.

"Oh Bother." I just love Eeyore and so does Kalysa. Keslee got the matching Pooh Bear.

Look at that smile☺ She got exactly what she has been wanting for the past year....

Her own MP3 player loaded with her favorite songs by great singers like Brother Jayson, Kaylie, Sarah, Jessica, Hannah, and the Petricks-all of which she enjoys seeing live on any given Sunday. Kenyon and Keslee both got one last year and Kalysa has waited patiently all year to be able to enjoy her music without having to ask her sister.

Monty got just what he wanted as well, a Dallas Cowboy trash can to go in his Dallas bathroom.

After presents there was plenty of family time. Time to try to explain your games to Nana.

Time to put together your new Build-a-bear.

Even time to start on some of your crafts-like making your own head bands.
and of course............

TIME TO EAT!!!

We had a great time on Christmas day and a beautiful day the next day. Just sunny and warm enough for Kenyon to try out his new football with his dad.

Of course, no day that daddy does not have to go to work would be complete without an impromptu wrestling match!

All in all, we had a great Christmas with Monty's mom. And I got just what I wanted-a day full of surprises and smiles, and lots of family time without greed and selfishness. There is my treasure-sitting on the couch with their Nana!

When your daddy works in a warehouse....

2011-12-22T13:32:00.001-06:00

You have a steady stream of duct tape around the house. Monty brings home all types of tape and glue quiet often and it is a little girl's dream come true. Especially when he brings pretty, colorful tape. We all know that duct tape can fix just about anything but when you add a little imagination there is no end to the possibilities!

Keslee has been on a shoe making kick lately.

This white tape with the pretty black flowery designs was perfect for some baby shoes.

......and they fit!!

Ain't she a cutie?!?!

If your G.I. Joe doll doesn't have any pants, the zebra striped tape works just great!

Got a barbie that just really needs a pair of knee high boots? Black duct tape to the rescue.

Use black and zebra striped to make an entire outfit.

The paint splatter tape was the girls' favorite but we were only able to get one roll-enough for one shoe and a pair of flip flops.

We had enough of the flowery tape left from the baby shoes for Keslee to make a pair for Kalysa.

After Keslee had made everyone else a gift she ran out of all the pretty tape. She asked Monty to bring her some more home and unfortunately all he could get was this halloween tape with skull designs. It was not her favorite but the ugly design didn't take away from the fun of creating one more pair of shoes.
Oh what fun with duct tape☺

Give 'em what they really want

2011-12-20T13:24:00.001-06:00

Christmas day is approaching faster and faster and everybody is doing their last minute gift shopping. I have talked before about how important it is for us to have our children's hearts. Christmas is a perfect opportunity for parents and grandparents to secure that hold. The easiest and best way is to give them what they want. Now before any one gets all in an uproar, I am in no way saying we should give our children EVERYTHING they ask for. I am not saying that we should go into debt and spend beyond our means in order to appease a child's never ending appetite for more stuff. What I am saying is listen to your child when they tell you the things they would like to have. Consider their feelings while you are shopping. Especially if you ASK them what they would like to have!! I have had several conversations as of late with a few adults that have no memory of getting just what they wanted from their parents. It had nothing to do with a lack of presents, they got plenty of presents just not what they had longed for. It could be as simple as wanting a Superman color book and getting a Batman book instead. When that happens consistently with every present they receive, a child will begin to realize that they don't really matter to you. The adults I know that had that type of a childhood do not have the type of relationship with their parents now that I hope to have with my own grown children. They struggle putting other people's feelings before their own weather that other person is their spouse or their own children. They were taught by example to always think of themselves first because nobody else would. They live their entire life in a state of disappointment and it seems impossible for them to really trust others. I am so thankful that my parents took the time to think of us at gift giving time. When a 4 year old ONLY wants a Holly Hobby Doll bed and that is exactly what she gets, she remembers -for her whole life-that her parents truly valued her and her feelings.

Thats what I love about homeschool!

2011-11-29T15:24:00.000-06:00

After we finished our lessons together, I gave each kiddo instruction on some lessons to do on their own while I finally got a shower. I had to go back to the laundry room to find my socks and I noticed everyone was gone from the school area-aka the kitchen table. I thought I better double check that things were getting done and this is what I found....

One boy laying on the couch all cozy under a blanket with his science workbook.......

and two girls on the back porch, also under a cozy blanket, with a math test and an SRA.

I love homeschooling☺

Trying to control myself

2011-11-26T00:32:00.000-06:00

Within the first few days of being laid up on the couch, the kids and I started talking about what lessons God may have for each of us through this trial. The fact that God knew what was happening and was in control was something I wanted to keep in the fore front of our minds. I began to pray, on my own and with the family, that we would learn the things God had for us to learn. There were many different lessons with selfishness being the big one. I could see right away that my husband and kids would have to put aside any selfish tendencies. Monty and the kids were forced to think of and put my needs before their own for obvious reasons. I COULDN'T take care of myself. I needed help with everything from getting across the room, to getting a drink, to cleaning house. Me and my leg had to be on their minds at all times. When anyone took a shower, they had to remember to make sure there were NO drops of water on the floor because the slightest wet spot would send a crutch out of control and I would be on the floor. When the girls played they always had to remember not to leave any toys laying on the floor or my path would be blocked and I wouldn't be able to get around at all. Monty had to think of things he normally never does; do we need toilet paper, what day is the electric bill due, do the kids have any clean clothes. They were all at my beck and call day and night because there were plenty of times that I needed something I couldn't get to or got into a position that I could not get out of on my own. It seemed rather obvious that God wanted them to put aside their own selfishness, and they were awesome. I was SOOO proud of them...but what lessons did God have for me?
You see, I really like to be in control of things. I am the first born, I am the leader, I like to take care of business. There are times that I think, well I am doing everything for everyone...where would they be without me...good thing that I'm not selfish or these folks would be lost...and I could go on and on.
Well that is pure selfishness!!
Yes, I normally take care of everything because I am the only one that can do it right (or at least my definition of right). I have to make sure things get done around here or nothing will ever get done (or so I thought). Well it didn't take me long to see that my family is capable of surviving without me. They all ate, took baths, cleaned up and the kids even did a little bit of school WITHOUT ANY HELP FROM ME. No, Kenyon and Keslee did not do the laundry exactly like I do but the clothes were still clean. Even though the clothes did not always end up in the right drawer, they still got put away. Monty did not buy groceries the way I do. Sometimes he brought home things I would never get or even got the wrong thing but it worked just as well. I was helpless without them and they didn't need me to survive.
WOW!
That is a tough one for this control freak. I was not accepting my lesson nearly as gracefully as the others. They had so easily dropped everything to care for me and all I could think about was all I would have to do to fix everything when I was finally able. I felt selfish for asking my family to do everything for me. It took me a while to realize that they were happy to help me but I was the one that was unhappy about receiving that help from them or anyone else. God knew that my own selfishness was so deep and hidden that the only way I would be able to learn this lesson was if I were taken completely out. I HAD to be rendered totally useless for more than a few days in order to even start to see it. I say start to see it because now I feel like I have barely scratched the surface. I have so much to change. Now that I am able, I am trying not to just take over again. I am trying to find a balance between getting things done and letting others get things done-on THEIR time and THEIR way. Funny how controlling things has made controlling get so out of control. I am now attempting to take control of that control. I had always counted my ability to keep things in check as an asset but the Lord has begun to open my eyes to what a liability it really is. A liability to me and every member of my family.

Practical lessons

2011-11-18T18:49:00.000-06:00

We have been back to school and going strong for a few weeks now. Lots of students have a fall break but we had an extended "break" break from school. While I was on pain pills, we just could not keep up with our daily school. Kenyon did work on alot of his on his own but with all the extra responsibilities he took on he didn't get a whole lot done. The girls tried and mainly only did some math and handwriting. As I mentioned before, I was on pain pills every 4 hours for almost a month. Thanks to the wonderful side effects, I could not stay awake long and often nodded off when we would try to do school. Since we use My Father's World, I teach and read most of the history to everyone together each day and we have discussions and make notebook sheets. Another side effect I suffered was double vision. I could not see straight to read. That really puts a damper on things when our days normally revolve around ME reading. Thankfully I have been homeschooling long enough to realize that not all, and often not even most, of our learning time is actual "school" time. Even though we were not hitting the books, my kids were learning every single day! Of course, most other people do not always understand that as evident by a conversation Keslee had with the little girl across the street...

Neighbor girl: How are you getting your school work done?
Keslee: We haven't really done much school lately.
N.g.: I feel sorry for you! When you are 21 years old you are going to be so stupid!

Although I knew they were learning, when my concerned daughter relayed this conversation to me, I knew I had to do better at letting the kids know that they were learning as well and how proud I was of them. I then started taking the time to point out the things that they were learning that they may not have if it weren't for this trial.

For instance...How many (non-homeschooled) 9 year olds can make an entire meal for a family of 5? Keslee had not done much cooking but always likes to "help" in the kitchen. One night she decided that she wanted to make dinner all by herself and she did! She ordered me to stay out of the kitchen and if she had a question she would come ask. When it came time for her to drain the grease off of the hamburger meat, I told her I would come help with that so that she did not burn herself. She assured me that she could do it but I just wasn't as sure. I decided to make my way into the kitchen anyway. Since I was not as quick as I used to be, I made it there just in time to see her finishing up with a smile on her face to say "See? Told ya I could do it." She made taco salad for supper and topped it off with strawberry shortcake for dessert.

After I got my staples taken out, I had to remove my splint and wash my ankle everyday. The incisions were doing good but the wound that the bone had made had to heal on it's own from the inside out. That was the only spot the doctor seemed real concerned about and we had to be sure that it did not "get ugly" (as my doctor put it). Since Monty is gone the biggest part of the day, I had to do something I never would have thought I could do. I had to put my medical care in the hands of a 13 and 9 year old. Kenyon and Keslee took over and were unbelievable! Everyday one of them would help me remove the splint and wash the wounds.

After everything was clean and doctored, they re wrapped my leg. Having 2 broken bones and no hard, protective cast really made me feel like my leg was very vulnerable. The times that the splint was also off was a stressful time for all of us. My foot was purple, about 3 times fatter than the other one, had scars, steri-stips and open wounds and I could not move it. Any wrong move or if the splint was not exactly in the correct position put me in horrible pain and my nurses were very aware of that. To be able to wash, doctor and wrap a wounded leg under that type of pressure would have to be tough for anyone. To do it for someone you love and would never want to inflict pain on, well that is serious. All I can think about are the times when my kids had a splinter or a huge, deep sticker in their foot. As a mother, you know you have to get it out but as a mother holding a crying child that is screaming "DON'T TOUCH IT!" you almost don't want to do it. That must be how my own children were feeling. (and, yes there were times when Keslee and I both cried through the whole process.) When I say that my children amaze me what I mean is...they AMAZE me!!!

There were lots of other practical lessons that the kids were learning along the way. Kenyon cooked almost everyday. He also did the laundry and taught Keslee how to use the washing machine so she could help. Kalysa got really good at taking clothes out of the washer and starting the dryer. Since our dishwasher went out right in the middle of everything else, Kenyon got to do dishes. The girls have done dishes by hand several times and I just did not realize that Kenyon never had before. Kalysa can now sweep the floor correctly. Since Monty got to do all the shopping, Keslee was the go to girl to ride along. She knows just which kind of dish soap, toilet paper, shampoo and etc. that we use in this house. It wasn't just me that noticed what all the kids were learning. One day my grandma came by and she told them that they shouldn't worry to much about their school work because we can catch that up anytime but they were learning things that they will use their entire lives; lessons that most kids today don't ever get to learn at home. Hearing that from her was a blessing to us all.

Oh yeah, there was plenty of learnin goin on 'round here! And of course EVERYONE in the house learned.....

how to walk on crutches ☺.

....2 months later.....

2011-11-16T22:44:00.000-06:00

Well, it has been 2 months since that fateful night that changed our entire lives. I would have never guessed how much one broken ankle could effect-every-single-aspect-of our daily lives!!! I mean, I had done it before with no problem.
I broke the same ankle 20 years ago. I was 19 (HEY now-STOP doing the math!!!) and in college. We had already had a good snow storm in the Oklahoma Panhandle and on halloween day I was wrestling around with one of the basketball players as we each tried to throw the other into a snow drift. In Oklahoma, we don't just get snow without a good layer of ice to go with it and I found that ice....right in front of the dorm...with plenty of onlookers...I broke my ankle. As I sat in the ER with my best friends, Amy and Cathy, we laughed and joked the whole time. I got a splint and some crutches and headed back to school. I made it back to my room (did I mention that I lived on the the 3rd floor!?!) and that night I stayed in my dorm room all alone and watched out my window as everyone else went across the street to the ballroom and a weekend dance. That dance was the only thing I remember missing out on the entire time(well, besides some classes but that can't really be blamed on the leg). That broken leg did not slow me down at all. I went up and down 3 flights of stairs everyday, I drove, went to the sporting events, hung out with my friends, and I even moved out of the dorm and into my first house with that broken leg.

This was definitely not THAT broken leg.

Of course I have to note that...
     I only broke one bone then and this time I broke 2
    The bone did not come through the skin then like it did this time
     I did not have surgery then like I did this time
     and of course I am NOT 19 this time
This time I almost could not even function. The pain was unbelievable!! For about the first month I was on pain pills every 4 hours. I never slept more than about 2-3 hours at a time during the day or night. I had crutches but it was not anything like the first time. Since I did not have a hard cast and did not even have the surgery for the first 10 days, I could not even rest my foot on the floor. The angle of the splint was not 90* so my toe was slightly pointed. That meant that I could not put my foot behind me without banging my toe on the floor. Have you ever tried hopping on one foot with the other held straight out in front of you?? It is NOT easy. Thankfully the church loaned me a wheelchair and I don't know what I would have done without that!! Since I was basically immobile my husband and kids had to take over. Monty did all the shopping and errand running. Kenyon took over the cooking and laundry. Keslee and Kalysa helped out being mom's nurse, cleaning up and helping Monty and Kenyon as much as they could. Through it all, God was/is still in control and we each had lessons He wanted us to learn. We each had growing to do.  I am collecting my thoughts and hope to share some of that with you soon. As for now, I am up and walking-in a huge and uncomfortable hard boot! I am now able to gradually take back over the running of my household and we are getting back into a good routine with our school work. God is good!

Not in my plan!

2011-09-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

This is NOT how I had planned on spending my fall and winter but apparently God had other plans.

Monday evening I stepped off my porch and ,somehow, completely missed the bottom step. I hit the sidewalk just right and broke my left leg and skinned up my right leg. It was almost a compound fracture, the bone did cut the skin but did not come completely through. I will be having surgery Thursday to put pins in one side and plates on the other. This has really put a damper on things but my kids have been a great help during the day. They have not complained about having to do so much for mom because I can't do much of anything but make my way to the bathroom and then back to the couch. Kenyon has taken over the cooking and the kids have brought their school work in around me to do. It is going pretty slow since I can only stay awake about 2 hours at a time with the pain medicine but we are doing what we can. Monty has taken over running the errands and doing the dishes before and after work. I am not sure what exactly God has in store for us but my family is learning servant hood pretty quickly. I am learning that things don't have to only be done MY way in order for it to be considered done. One way or another, I pray that God's name is glorified through this trial we are facing.

Can you lick your elbow?

2011-09-14T17:03:00.001-05:00

So I have been MIA in blog land but things have been moving right along here at home. Like this.....

a typical day of homeschooling. I don't even remember what lesson we were doing when this topic came up and we had to take a "contest" break.

We started back to school about a month ago. I still have a list of curriculum I need to buy for this year so we started by finishing up the things we did not finish last year. We had a few weeks of lessons left on the My Father's World-Rome to the Reformation. We have been working on finishing that before we start Exploration to 1850. Hopefully by the time we finish that I will have the funds to get the rest of what we need for this year which is mostly our read alouds, progeny press study guides, and some supplemental material for the girls.

Kenyon is doing a Baptist Heritage course this year that I am really pleased with. The author spoke at our church during our mission conference. We learned soooo much so I just had to buy the books. I did the course myself through the summer and Kenyon is doing it now. I now see why knowing where we come from is important for more than just cultural reasons. I may have more on this topic later if I can find the time and the words to write it out.

Keslee has still been having trouble with reading. She can read pretty good but not nearly as well as Kalysa or Kenyon when he was her age. Her writing/spelling is awful as well. She loves to write stories but I have a hard time reading them when she is finished. She has gotten into the habit of spelling words just the way they sound (which I know is allowed in many public schools now) and most of her words had no vowels. I have started Alphabet Island with her this year and I.AM.SO.IMPRESSED! We went ahead and started in level one, even though she knows all the sounds of the letters and can read and write 3 letter words with no problem and will be able to go through several of the lessons really quickly, but the beginning had a very detailed story about the vowels and how they "act". It has already opened up a whole new world for her. She has always been my child that need to experience things with ALL her senses in order to fully "get" it and Alphabet Island does that for her. Every letter is a different character (boy or girl) and they all have things they can or can not do. The story is phenomenal. The authors are obviously geniuses to come up with an on going story line detailing the way each "person" "acts". After just 10 lessons, I can read her stories. Her spelling has improved 100%! She is just as excited as I am because she doesn't have to struggle with it. It is finally making sense to her-YAY!!!!

We are still using Math U See and the girls are doing SRAs for reading comprehension. The girls are also starting to learn the recorder. That will help them get the basics down on reading music and then I hope to teach them both piano lessons. My mother said we can have her piano we just have not had a way to move it over here yet. I took piano lessons for about a year and I played the clarinet for 8 years so I should be able to get them started off with piano before we have to search out a "real" teacher.

Well, that is an overview of what is up here and I guess will work just fine as my introduction back into blogging.☺ Thanks for stopping by!

Surgery was needed

2011-07-13T19:44:00.000-05:00

Nothing to be alarmed about, it was Keslee's baby that had to have surgery.
Although her name changes often (currently it is Kate), this baby is very special. Not only has Keslee had her since before she was a year old, but she is also the doll that is very close to the size Kalysa was at birth. This baby's head is the same size around as Kalysa's was and they were about the same length. Actually the doll is a little longer at 14 inches than Kalysa was at just 13 inches long. As with any 9 year old doll that has been thoroughly loved, injuries occur. This baby girl's gash went around 3/4 of her neck.

After extensive surgery with LOTS of permanent stitches....

She was as good as new!!!

And her mama was so glad to have her back and healthy that she does not even mind the scar.

You might be a homeschooler if...

2011-07-08T18:50:00.000-05:00

I have read tons of "you might be a homeschooler if..." posts in bloggy world and I can relate to almost every single one of them. Some of them are pretty funny and all of them show the uniqueness of homschoolers. Instead of posting the same ones I've read before, I decided to share some examples from my own home. Feel free to share your own in the comments.

You might be a homeschooler if....

The kids ask "did you order school books?" anytime UPS is in the neighborhood.

Your kids say "the only Lady Gaga song I have ever heard was when preacher read some of the lyrics to us at church." and they are not afraid to explain to others why they shouldn't listen to it.

when your kids insist on getting the "Antony and Cleopatra" dvd even though dad is trying to convince them to get a cartoon movie.

you have ever heard "we haven't done school in awhile, can we please do some today?" in July.

you have to beat your kids to answer the door during school because they don't know the rest of the block is on spring break and you want to keep it that way.

you hear your kids say "You've never heard of the Barbary wars?!?" as they then explain them to their public school friends.

your kids negotiation techniques sound like "instead of cleaning my room right now can I just do some more math?"

when asked what grade he's in your son answers "7th-ish."

if you leave your computer and your son comes along and corrects the spelling in the blog post you were writing.

when you tell the kids to get the living room cleaned up and they immediately ask "Why? Who's coming over?"

when your doing school while others are out for a snow day but playing outside in the rain while everyone else is at school.

your kids think you've gone crazy if you say "we are only getting one book apiece at the library today."

your 8 year old can't tie her own shoe yet but can tell you who Julius Caesar was, recognizes a Roman Soldier in pictures, draw every phase of the moon, can explain why we can't live on Mercury or Venus, find the Mediterranean sea on every map, knows what country is shaped like a boot, etc. etc.....

It is no doubt that just because we homeschool makes us different from most and I love that. Just because our life is different makes it easy for the kids to go against the grain. They don't have to think as hard about not doing something just because everyone else does it. They don't worry about not being like everyone else. That is their whole life-constantly learning to stand alone.

Happy 4th!!!

2011-07-04T23:36:00.000-05:00

Here is to hoping you all had a safe and happy 4th of July!!

Thank you Lord for this great nation that we were born in.

Can I just get an essay test please!!!

2011-06-30T10:37:00.000-05:00

Anyone that has tried to live for the Lord for more than a day knows that satan will attack you every chance he gets. Although the Lord allows us to face these tests He is faithful to be there with us till the end. Each test, trying as they may be, is really there to strengthen our faith. Now I have always been a pretty good test taker. Throughout school essay tests were always my favorite. I know, I am kinda weird that way. In high school everyone else groaned when Mrs. Cooper (Sr. English) would announce that the entire final would be done in essay form. I rejoiced! In college, when I found out that every single Philosophy test would be 1 to 3 questions-all essays-I knew I had a A for the semester. Unfortunately, in our Christian walk, we are not normally given the kind of test that we always do well with. Oh no, that would be way too easy and our Christian growth would come so slowly with each effortless battle won. Instead the Lord teaches us the same way that we homeschool our own children.
If you fail the test you retake it until you finally get it right!
This is not some government run system. There is no moving on to the next level until you are really ready. There is no option for skipping ahead. Not only is skipping ahead not allowed, your test will get harder and harder until the lesson is learned through and through.
Let me tell ya, I am really wishing there was an essay test available now! You see, the tests that I am a big failure at are the financial tests and I do believe they may just be the hardest ones out there!
It all started about six years ago. We bought a house with a mortgage payment based on 2 incomes. Within months of buying our house the Lord got ahold of my heart and opened my eyes to the fact that I was not living for Him or raising my children for Him. No Problem! We started being faithful to church. A+ Each week, it seemed, brought to light more worldly things we needed to get out of our daily life and we did that (for the most part-I am definitely not claiming to have removed every sinful thing from our home then or now but there were some serious changes fast!) A- A few more months passed and the Lord showed me where He would have me to be as a mother and a wife-at home! Monty and I immediately began to make plans for that to happen. God saw our plans but implemented His own timing which sped our plans up significantly. We didn't fight it. A It was great to be following the Lord's leadership and each step seemed to be lit with a bright flashing arrow from the Lord leading to the outcome that He desired. Just a few more months and Monty got saved. Now he was also faithfully in church with the kids and I. A++ Another unmistakable flashing arrow appeared showing us that the Lord's plan for children was to be learning from us at home. You got it, Lord! A+ Within about 18 months we went from a 2 income family trying to live the American dream with a new mortgage, a little too much credit card debt, and a car payment to a homeschooling family living on about 1/2 the income we started with and the Lord was faithful through it all. The car and the credit cards were somehow paid off even without the extra income. You would think passing several tests of faith so easily would have built my faith up enough to make it through anything but then the Lord said it is time for you to tithe faithfully and support My church. Ok, we can do that-until something unexpected comes up. B- Whoops! That one wasn't so easy. So we try again C and again D and again F and each test gets harder and harder. I really do understand the importance of honoring God with our finances. I am sure I could write an awesome essay about just that but an essay is just not gonna cut it this time. My heart reminds me that my God is faithful but my head keeps reminding me of that mortgage(based on 2 incomes) that is passed due regardless of the fact that the truck HAD to have 2 new tires because the others had wires sticking out AND 2 new shocks to replace the broken ones that we discovered while changing the tires, AND a new battery because the old one had to be jump started every single time-all in one month. Not to mention the electric bill that should arrive any day now reflecting the charges incurred by 10 days of 100+ degree weather already this summer and it's not even July yet! Oh, yeah-there is still the rest of next years curriculum to buy.
Now I am not telling you these things as an invitation to my own personal pity party but because I need your help!
NO! I am not asking for money!
I need something with much more value than money. Oh, me of little faith! I need your prayers and I need them badly!!!! You see, I know how this works now. I see how much harder each test gets when you continue to fail and I am really ready to move on. I HAVE to pass this time and there is no easy A coming my way. !

And I'm the crazy one?!?!

2011-06-17T18:01:00.000-05:00

LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. Psalms 3:1

I know it is to be expected. I realize that the Bible warns us about it. People will hate us for His name's sake. The choices we make will often convict others about their own lives without us ever saying a word. They immediately get defensive and go on the attack when all we were doing was raising our children the way God has led us to raise them. It happens almost immediately when you start making changes in your life to honor the Lord. It is sanctification- setting us apart from the world and unto God. It is the growing pains of our Christian life. It is wonderful yet painful. Especially painful when the people you love are the ones against you which, in my experience, is most common. Most difficult for me is trying to remember that their eyes are often still closed to the truth. No amount of arguing and defensiveness will change that. I have made that mistake and have the ruined relationships to prove it. The hardest thing for me is to hold my tongue when other's logic makes NO sense!

Here are several of the things I heard when we started to homeschool and the things I thought(or said-probably too often):

"Well I could never homeschool." Ok, well I didn't ask you to.

"You just want to keep your kids home so you don't have to be held responsible" uuuhhhh...what? I believe now 100% of the responsibility is on me. I wont have the chance to blame the teacher but you still do.

"I think Christian kids need to be in public school to be a light to the others" so let me understand...you send your kids to school for years then college to prepare them before sending then into the world to have a career and support themselves but a Christian child should be held responsible for the salvation of others by the time they are 5 (which is very often before they themselves are even saved)?

"How do you even know they are learning anything" Well, let's see. I am with them 24 hours a day. I see what they do in school and then how they are applying that in everyday life. How do you know? Oh, right! They brought you home a paper that said so.

"Well you can't just keep them hidden away from everybody" Of course we can't....at least not until we finish the moat! ;)

Well now that we have been homeschooling for 4 years the people that know me must be convinced that they will NOT sway me on that one so they have to move on to another issue. The hot topic as of late has been purity, modesty and courtship. I can understand some of the questions about homeschooling but why anyone would not want purity to at least be the goal for their children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins or any other child is just beyond me! Now understand, my children are only 13, 9, and 8. Really it is only the 9 and 8 year old that I receive these comments about. For some reason my son's choices seem to be ok with people but the raising of my not even teen age girls is who people seem to have a problem with. You see, there is still several years before even my opposition would be comfortable with my girls dating so the topic is not one that comes up naturally. Some of these people could make big bucks writing for late night talk shows with the inventive ways they come up with to segway into this issue just to cause conflict and start a debate. Here are some of my favorite arguments:

"That isn't fair, did you and Monty wait?" Maybe it is just me but I thought all parents wanted to prevent their children from making the same mistakes they did.

"I would NEVER ask my daughter to wear a dress all the way to her knees!" Now your on the right track-I don't ASK my daughters either. I am the mother so I TELL them what is expected!

"That (courtship) is never gonna work. You know Keslee has a mind of her own and will do what she wants to!" First of all, ALL of my kids have a mind of their own and that is kinda the point. They are being taught to think for themselves instead of just doing what everyone else does!

"You don't want them to date?! You can't just never let them meet people!" Since when did "dating" mean "meeting people"? We live in a town, we go to stores, libraries, parks, restaurants and every single time there are people there. There are people at church. There are houses all around us and people live in all of them. They already meet people all the time and haven't dated yet so....

"I understand God has the perfect spouse picked out but what if that person never comes?" That either means you don't think God is powerful enough OR your ok with my kids settling for less just in case. Either way....WRONG!

"Expecting your kids not to kiss other people before they get married is just plain stupid!" Even if you think it is an impossible goal, why would anyone not support it as something to strive for? What good ever comes from making out with lots of people before marriage?? Can you give me one benefit.....didn't think so!

And I think my all time favorite would be "Every time I talk to you, you just sound crazier and crazier!" to which I say Thank you! That tells me that I am most definitely on the right track!

Now everything I have written are quotes from various people in my life. All of which claim to be Christians and all of which claim to love me and my children. If either of those are really true I wonder why it would be perfectly acceptable to them for my children to grow up to be promiscuous, scantly clad, relationship hopping adults. Some of the same people that told me "you only fail if you fail to try" when I was growing up are now telling me "Your goal is to hard and it is stupid to try!" with my own kids. People that ask their own kids "if everybody else jumped off a bridge, would you jump off also?" argue to me that I must be doing things wrong because I don't want to do it like everyone else. And then of course there is "I know what the Bible says but..." STOP RIGHT THERE! If you are convinced you know more than He does and could have better explained what He meant to say than the way He already said it then this is obviously something you need to take up with God before you bring it to me!

Now let me get this straight...the ones that refused to let me listen to Michael Jackson but now have no idea what is on their own child's ipod; that ridiculed me as a teenager for wearing a knee length denim skirt because it was not proper to wear to church but now allow their own teens to run around in itsy bitsy teeny bikinis; the ones that say "when your child is out of your sight they are in danger" but send their own children to spend 8 hours a day to be supervised, taught and indoctrinated by a person they met for 10 minutes at meet the teacher night; the ones that told me I could be anything I wanted to be and do anything I set my mind to; the ones that have had innumerable physical relationships that didn't work out; The ones that say we should live for God but now tell me am going overboard for my stance on Biblical principles.....These are the ones that think I am the crazy one!!??!!
Yeah! OK! Gotcha!

WHEW!

2011-06-08T14:07:00.007-05:00

What a weekend! We were busy, busy, busy! Just a quick rundown of what all we had to do.

Friday-make a modest swimsuit for Gabby before camp. spend the day doing laundry. get the girls clothes ready to pack for church camp on Monday. Family fun night at church from 6-midnight. Our theme verse for the year is "As Newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby." My preacher is helping us all to focus on growing in every aspect of the word; grow in grace, grow in knowledge, grow in numbers, and grow as a (church) family. One way we grow together as a family is to spend time together, laugh together, get to know each other, work together and play together. Every other month we have a family fun night at church where we get to do all of those things. We have food, devotions, games and movies. The movie we had this month was "As with Roses The true untold story of Obadiah Holmes". Unfortunately I was trapped in a Monopoly tournament (that I did NOT win but I DID beat D.J. in one round so my goal was accomplished!!)and missed the movie so I will definitely have to borrow it from the church library.

Saturday-got up early to sell candy bars for the last camp fundraiser. Kenyon had a birthday party for a fellow scout right after the fund raiser. Monty took the kids out to sell a few more candy bars that we have left, continue laundry, finalize my children's church lesson and pack the girls suitcase.

Sunday-teach children's church, come home, cook lunch and take a nap, go back to church, birthday supper fellowship after service. Only I did not get to enjoy the fellowship.

Right at the end of the service our cell phone went off 3 times(it was on vibrate in Monty's pocket). Since someone was calling non-stop, Monty checked and it was Greg. Greg is Mamie's husband and Mamie is my good friend with a baby due in a few weeks. I slipped out and called him back (Mamie had not been feeling well so they stayed home from church). I called him back and he told me that Mamie's water had just broke. We made plans for them to come by the church and drop their other 3 kids off and pick me up. Monty agreed to take her kids home and Jacinta went to babysit. It took about 25 minutes for them to get to the church and then we had about 30 minute drive to the hospital. Mamie's contractions were coming about every 3 minutes so I was able to help "coach" her through them as Greg drove (80 mph down the turnpike!) When we got there they checked her and she was already dilated to a 7 so they moved her directly to her own room and started the IV. As soon as that was finished the nurse checked her again and she was fully dilated. They did all they could to get her not to push since the doctor was not there but the baby was not waiting. She was crowning without any pushes.

One push later Shaelynne Grace was born-less than 2 hours after labor started, less than 30 minutes after we got to the hospital with no doctor present. It was the first time I have personally witnessed a birth and it was AMAZING! I stayed with them until around 12:30am and drove their vehicle home to throw the rest of the girl's stuff in their suitcase.

Monday morning I finished the paper route and then woke the girls up about 7:30am so I could fix their hair. I like to put Keslee's hair in lots of braids so she wont have to worry about it at camp. With hair as thick and as curly as hers you either know how to fix it or you don't so it is best if I just make sure nobody has to worry about it. We then loaded the car, went and picked up Mamie's 3 kids and headed to the hospital. They all got to meet their new baby sister. We passed the baby around for a little while then loaded back up and headed to the church. Keslee, Kalysa and Gabby (Mamie's daughter) and the rest of the group headed out for Church camp. When Kenyon and I got home around 3pm, it was definitely nap time!!!

Tornadoes

2011-05-29T07:48:00.000-05:00

As you probably heard, Oklahoma City and surrounding areas were hit by massive tornadoes last week. I have to say, our meteorologists are AWESOME!! Channel 4's Mike Morgan and David Payne had been warning us for several days that the weather pattern was setting up to look exactly as it did in May 1999 and May 2010 when Oklahoma saw some of the largest most devastating tornadoes to date. I attribute the fact that Oklahoma had about 5 massive tornadoes that day affecting about 14 different towns but only 10 deaths to the exceptional meteorologists we have. It is obvious by the number of awards these men have won that they are great at their jobs but watching them work together on air, usually with Mike watching the radars and David out chasing the storms, is just amazing. Their love for their field, respect of the storms and concern for the people is evident in every broadcast. The footage that David Payne has captured in his chases is unbelievable. During this storm it almost felt like we were watching the news in 3D because he got so close. We got to see a electric pole snap and fly right over his vehicle as it happened. Actually he got a little too close but thankfully was able to get out of the way.
I have seen lots of the damage over the last few days but the roads have been so crowded with volunteers and clean up crews, I had not been able to get close to much of it. Since the sun was just rising and the streets were empty yesterday morning, after the paper route, I decided to check out some of the damage around town that I had not been able to go by. This is what I found.....

A pile of debris in a front yard after 3 days of clean up. The houses in this neighborhood look fine but the debris is everywhere!

It is kind of hard to tell but this tree is basically cut in half

Insulation and tin scattered throughout the field beside a veterinary clinic.

The front of the Vet clinic.

The side of the clinic. The Vet, his wife and daughter where inside when the storm hit. Thankfully they are all ok. This is the 3rd time this clinic has been hit by a tornado and they took cover in the center kennel-the only spot that withstood the last two hits.

Trees shaved off just above the ground.

The sunrise makes it hard to tell but the glare is actually the roots of this tree ripped right out of the ground and laying on its side.

More trees snapped like twigs.

I am pretty sure this belongs in a field and not a drive way! This house has some roof damage but if you look in the background, the shed or barn is demolished.

The large square in the top of the tree is a piece of some one's roof.

This WAS a 2 story house, now only one remains (sorry about my finger☺).

Tin, boards and trash mangled in some broken trees.

More trees just splint in two.

Another house that looked fine but their yard is littered with debris.

This house looked ok but the garage is caving in. From the other side I saw that a tree is actually on the roof of the garage. Not sure, but since the way the cars were parked in the yard it looks as though the residents may be staying there.

This is what is left of a house of one of our paper customers. We were not able to get down their street for several days because of down electric poles and debris in the road.

Another angle of the same house. I thought I recognized their house on the news and was just able to confirm that this morning now that the road has been re-opened.

Kenyon's scout leader, Geoff, let us know about a command station set up at a church in town so Saturday the kids and I volunteered there for a few hours. They have all the classrooms set up with table and tables of donated clothes. Here is Kenyon sorting them by size.

They are also serving hot meals to victims and clean up crews. Even little one's can help divide girl scout cookies into separate baggies for dessert!

While we were there they served a couple hundred people a meal. Several came in and ordered 10 or 20 meals to go that they were taking to the crews working all over town cutting trees and cleaning up. They also had cases of water and toiletry items for those in need.

Since Monty has the car during the week I don't know that we will be able to help again even though they are continuing with meals for several days but if the opportunity arises we will gladly go!

Once again God has shown us His power and once again we are thankful for His protection!!

You know I have lived my entire life with tornadoes in Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle but the last several years seems to have produced more powerful storms than ever before. Combing that with the fact that we have broken several records on amount snowfall, amount of rain, lack of rain and others it just makes me wonder...Were we warned about that somewhere??? Maybe Matthew 24:7??? I'm just sayin.

Well, it happened :( Good-bye Fred!

2011-05-27T20:03:00.000-05:00

It has been 20 years since I graduated from high school and I really did not keep in contact with anyone from high school. I still have family that live in the town I grew up in so I have "heard things" through the years. Except for the occasional Christmas card from the girl that was my closest friend, I had no contact with high school classmates until I joined facebook. There I have enjoyed seeing every one's kids and just exactly what everyone grew up to be.

Last weekend our family got to spend some time with another (very sweet!☺) family that go to our church. As a matter of fact, said friend and Monty have known each other since they were about 3 years old and it has been sooo wonderful that the Lord led them to our church so that we could know her husband and daughter and she and I could become friends as well!! As they reminisced about people from their childhood they mentioned several people they both know that have passed away. I made the comment that if anyone I went to school with has passed I sure never heard about it.

Well, it happened! Wednesday I checked my facebook page just to see posts from several high school classmates expressing their shock and sadness that we lost one of our our.

Fred Solis

Fred was 40 years old, a husband, a father, a Spanish teacher, a coach, and a friend. Several news clips are out about his tragic death like this one and this one.

Just a day after seeing first hand devastation from the tornadoes that ripped through and around my town(thankfully my family and our properties were not affected except for a few hours with no electricity!). Emotions were running high already so the news of the death of a classmate, especially this one, has really hit me hard. It just solidifies the truth that tomorrow is never promised. It immediately brought me back to Perryton Texas as a young teen.

(Fred, Shane, William, and Jorge dressed up in speech class 8th grade 1985)

Eighth grade was the time I got to know Fred the best. You see I was a typical Junior High girl with typical Jr. High crushes. At that time I was totally in love with William and had been since he moved to town in 6th grade. Of course he had NO idea!! That is until 8th grade. I don't even know how but everybody found out that I had a major crush on William. I was teased in the hall and totally embarrassed in the lunch room. As typical Jr. High boys, many of William's friends were extremely mean! Many were but Fred never was!

(Senior picture from the Sr. edition newspaper)

Yes, Fred did some teasing but it was never backed by malice. He was never mean or hateful but always friendly. He never tried to publicly humiliate me but seemed more to sympathize. We became friends.

(after graduation 1990)

Not best friends that hung out together often, but friends. Two people that respected each other as individuals with feelings. Friends that could laugh or talk together in class or at a school function or could have an occasional phone conversation. A friend that showed me exactly what kind of person he was during our eighth grade year and never changed throughout our entire high school years. From listening to the students he taught and the people he worked with as a grown man 20 years later-He was still exactly the same. He obviously made an impact on people throughout his entire life and his absence will be apparent.

Good-bye Fred!

A little less excitement this weekend Please!!

2011-05-20T20:58:00.000-05:00

I have a good friend that is due to have a baby girl in the middle of June. I have never gotten to witness a birth (other than my own and they were c-section so that doesn't count) so Mamie and her husband have invited me to join them in the delivery room when the baby comes. I will be there to catch Greg in case he hits the floor since he does not normally do very good when any amount of blood is involved. Hehehe! As you know (if you have been reading here) I have been trying very hard to change my schedule and go to bed earlier. Last Saturday it seemed that all the stars had aligned and I was actually going to be able to go to bed around 10pm. That would be nothing short of a miracle around here and would have been so wonderful since I have to get up around 2:30am to throw Sunday papers. As I lay enjoying the comfort my pillow, slowly drifting off to an extra early sleep I was interrupted by the phone. Greg was calling and Mamie thought she was in labor. We headed to the hospital a little later, after making sure the contractions were not stopping. Mamie was very dehydrated. They gave her two bags of fluid through an IV and a shot to stop the labor. After she was fully hydrated and the contractions stopped we headed back home, around 3:30am.

We got back to town just as mom was getting started on the paper route. She had rolled all the papers by herself and I met up with her and got my half. Our paper route is a rural route so we have lots of country dirt roads. I had just finished one small neighborhood off the highway and immediately turned onto a little dirt road. This road a one lane dirt road and is covered with trees on both sides. It has 1 house on it about 1/2 mile from the highway. Just a minute after I had turned onto the dirt road a car turned in behind me. Now I have NEVER seen another car on this road at night and it was going fast enough to catch up to me pretty quick. I had my mom and my brother on the phone and let them know I all of a sudden had a car following me on this out of the way dark road. It stayed pretty close behind me as I neared the house that we throw the paper to. Normally we pull into the drive way and turn around, put their paper in the paper tube and go back to the highway. Since I have a mystery stalker, I decide to pass the house because their driveway has a locked gate preventing anyone from driving the 1/2 mile up to their house. At this point all I could picture was pulling into that drive and having a crazy murdering stalker stop behind me blocking me from going anywhere! I sped past the drive with my stalker right on my tail. Another 1/2 mile and the road curves around and passes by 2 more farms. Since the cows in the field did not seem to be coming to my rescue I continued on at about 45 mph with the stranger right on my tail. Another mile and I got to a stop sign. I made a sufficient stop and turned right. Sure enough so did my stalker! By this time my heart is beating pretty fast and my hands are shaking. I let mom know I was still being followed and she headed my direction. It wasn't long before mom could see both of our tail lights and was following us. I quickly formulated a plan. We have several police officers on our route so I let mom know I was heading to one of their houses and was gonna pull in the drive and lay on the horn. Another mile and I came to another stop sign. I made a quick stop and headed in the direction of the cops house. Sure enough-I was still followed but this time, after a few hundred feet, I saw red and blue lights. IT HAD BEEN A COP THE WHOLE TIME!!! I was furious!!! I pulled over with my heart racing and my hands shaking so bad I could barely hold the steering wheel. As he approached my window all prepared to investigate me I leaned out my window and LET-HIM-HAVE-IT!!! As I started yelling things like "YOU TOTALLY JUST SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME!! WHY WERE YOU FOLLOWING ME LIKE THAT!! NOBODY EVER GOES DOWN THOSE ROADS!! I WAS CONVINCED I WAS ABOUT TO BE MURDERED!! HOW DARE YOU!!....." mister policeman just kinda took a step back. I guess he was under the impression that HE would be conducting this interview and I was the one under suspicion. As my son would say-"HE JUST GOT TOLD!!!" Of course he was a little taken back by this but after I finished my tirade I calmed down enough to let him know I was just the paper girl. By this time mom had caught up to us and he was explaining that he had just been discussing with another deputy that the area I was driving through would be the ideal place for a wave of burglaries since they NEVER see anyone out there at night. When he saw me going in and out of neighborhoods and then turn onto the lonely dark dirt road he assumed the worst. I told him my plan to pull into the policeman's house down the road and he agreed that was a good plan. After a few minutes we were both laughing about the situation and he let me go about my business without even asking to see my license and with the knowledge that Yes people do go down these roads every night but it is normally just us paper people.

Here's to hoping tonight is not near as exciting!!!

Amazing Oils

2011-05-20T10:43:00.000-05:00

I have not had a lot of experience with natural remedies but I am convinced that the Lord has provided us with all that we need. Over the past year or so I have been learning more and more. I must say that I am totally and completely amazed with peppermint oil. Did you know that it is a natural pain reliever?? A few years back I bought a small bottle of pain relief spray called super ouch spray. A member of our family was selling it at a family reunion. I have never found it anywhere else but the main ingredient was peppermint oil. At that time I had a horribly painful heel spur. Some mornings my heel would hurt so bad that I could not even step on that foot. I started spraying my heel every time it hurt and within a few months the pain stopped completely. Do you know that it has NEVER come back?!?! I have also used it on a tooth ache and I believe prevented myself from needing a root canal. Recently I have discovered another use for peppermint oil. I have menstrual cramps about once every 3 months or so. They are not nearly as bad as they were when I was a teenager but they are definitely not pleasant either. Just one or two drops of peppermint oil on the tip of the finger and rubbed on the belly button and POOF! the pain is gone!! I mean it is seriously that quick. No waiting 30 minutes for the medicine to kick in. It is mere seconds. It sounds completely crazy. It makes absolutely no sense. It is just a tiny drop on the skin and the internal pain is gone!!! I have a friend that has tried the peppermint oil for cramps(months ago) and was as amazed at the results as I was. Within about a month she is due to have a baby girl and is planning on a natural birth. She is gonna take her peppermint oil with her to the hospital. I'll have to let ya know if it helps the labor pain.

All in the day of a Little Mama

2011-05-18T10:18:00.000-05:00

Keslee has always been our little mama. She became a big sister when she was just 9 months old. I am pretty sure when we brought her baby sister home Keslee truly believed we had brought her a special play toy. She loved that baby girl and she still does. Since Kalysa is getting a little too big for Kes to carry around (although she still trys sometimes) Keslee has had to look elsewhere. Of course she has tons of baby dolls and plays with them daily but for a true little momma there is a desire for a living breathing baby. That is where Cash comes in...

See that look in his eye? He was begging and pleading for me to rescue him from the diaper change but was disappointed that all I did was snap the photo.

Of course all babies need a little bonnet. ☺

Ain't he cute?!?

I did not get a picture of it but Keslee had a blanket tied around her shoulder to make a baby sling and carried him around in that. Cash allowed Keslee about one hour of baby play time before he had enough. He had been hiding from her ever since but as soon as he forgets and she gets ahold of him again you can bet he will be dressed up again.

Yummy Breakfast!!

2011-05-16T08:32:00.000-05:00

I had been browsing Allrecipes.com looking for new ideas for breakfast. After seeing several pictures of french toast I decided they looked really good. It has been awhile since I have made french toast and I wanted something a little different so I looked through several different recipes and then, through mixing and matching, came up with a hit.
I had a loaf of french bread so I cut it into about 1 inch slices. I then cut 3/4 of the way down the middle of each slice and smeared on some smashed bananas between the two sides.

In a bowl, I put about 1/4 cup of flour and whisked in milk until all the flour was mixed in and smooth. I ended up with about 1 1/2-2 cups of milk. Add 2 eggs some cinnamon and vanilla and mix it all together. I then dipped each slice in the milk/egg mixture and cooked on a hot griddle.

The smell while they were cooking was heavenly, like banana bread was in the oven. We topped each slice with a drizzle of syrup and it was a BIG hit. This was the first time I had used french bread instead of regular sliced bread. I had also never used flour in the mixture before. Those two changes made a HUGE difference. Of course the banana was key! I don't think my old way of making french toast will ever be acceptable again.

Time for a change

2011-05-13T09:11:00.001-05:00

As you may know, I do a paper route everyday which means I get up around 4:30 am (except Sunday mornings when it is more like 2:30am). That in itself is really no big deal. Lots of people start their days around that time every morning. The problem for me is that our lives have never been morning kinda lives. Monty and I used to both work the late-late shift getting home around 4am. Our "normal" bedtime has always been about the time others are just getting up. As we have had kids and jobs have changed that has slowly moved up to a more respectable bedtime. Still not what most people would consider normal but it has always worked for us. On a typical day I get to bed between 12am and 2 am which gets me 2-4 hours of sleep before the paper route. Normally I take a nap after the route and we start school around lunch time. I have been able to pull that schedule off for about 3 years but for some reason it is no longer working. I have slowly gotten behind on keeping my house and, all you moms know, once you get behind a little it only takes the blink of an eye and you are drowning with no end in sight. Well, that is where I have found myself so something had to change! My first choice was to stop doing the paper route and devote all my time to my home. Since financial burdens prohibit that from happening at the moment I had to find another solution. For about the last month I have been slowly changing our household schedule. I have been making myself stay up in the mornings instead of taking my nap. Even on the days I only get 2 hours of sleep-I do everything I can to stay up. That has given me a few hours every morning to get things done before my kids are up. When they get up we have breakfast and start school in the morning. We can normally be finished with school between 1 and 3pm. After chores have been done and school is finished for the day I try to get in a nap. It has been really tough. I still don't always get to bed much earlier but my internal clock is slowly changing. I am happy to say I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Just what I needed

2011-05-10T08:12:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah! It really was just what I needed!! I know I am a slacker when it comes to blogging so this actually happened about 2 weeks ago. It still feels like it was just yesterday but at the same time it seems so long ago that I could wonder if it really happened at all or was it all a dream. Luckily I have a few pictures to prove to myself that it was not a dream. Yes, it really did happen......

Amy (my bestest friend on earth) REALLY was here and we spent 2 days in a motel in OKC. Just the 2 of us-no kids-no husbands-just 2 old friends (not old as in old but old as in being friends a long time!!). It is hard to believe that it had been a year since we had actually seen each other. She came last year for the homeschool convention and we got to spend a day together. This year we both did lots of pre-planning. Our husbands both agreed to keeping the kiddos and we were able to stay in a motel and hang out for 2 and 1/2 days. I love my kids and I love my husband but 2 nights away with my best friend and lots of (grown-up) girl talk really was the refresher that I needed!!

So how did we spend our time away??? Well, just like the old days! We stayed up talking ALL night long the first night! Amy and I can (and do) talk about anything and everything under the sun. Even though we stayed up until about 6 am, we still got up around 9am to prepare for the homeschool convention. Of course it was great! We got to talk with John Erickson, author of the Hank the Cowdog series and listen to him read. That brought back some memories. John is from Perryton Texas which is where I grew up and Amy grew up just 15 minutes from there. It is just a little farm town in the Texas panhandle miles away from anything where everyone pretty much knows everyone else. It was kinda funny to see a line full of people waiting for his autograph. I mean, it was just John Erickson. I knew his son growing up (his other kids are a lot younger than me). He read Hank books to us at school assemblies before they were ever even published. Ha! I guess I know a celebrity.
On our walk back to the car we saw a momma bird in a nest on a very low tree branch. When we got close she flew away and Amy said it looked like she may have been feeding babies. The branch was just low enough for me stretch and hold my camera right over the edge of the nest and snap this...

They don't even have feathers yet-so cool!
After we spent the day shopping for curriculum we did some shopping at Madel's Christian book store. Amy had never been there and was like a kid in a candy store. It is almost like a whole other homeschool convention without all the separate vendors. I had mentioned to Amy that me mom had recently told me that she has never had a Bible with her name on it and she has only had a new Bible once when she was young. All the other Bibles she has have been handed down from someone.
Since mom was doing the paper route without my help so I could have 2 free days, Amy bought her a Bible to say thanks. It is blue (her favorite color) and brown leather WITH her name embossed on the cover. Mom and Jacinta got to go to the convention with us the second day so Amy gave her the gift that morning. She cried. I knew she would. ☺We spent another day shopping and listened to a few speakers. Todd Wilson gave an awesome talk about what you can do to make sure your kids hate you, homeschool, and everything you stand for (or not if you do the opposite!). He referred to what happened with King David and his son Absalom in the book of 2nd Samuel. It was very convicting and I tell ya what, I have been doing a lot more smiling and waving at my kids lately!!!
After the 2 convention days, Amy's kids are all set for a new school year. I know what all we need for next year and was able to solidify some curriculum decisions but was only able to purchase about 1/2 that day. I am praying God will provide a way for us to order the rest throughout the summer since the money I had set back had to be used for an earlier emergency. I have faith God will provide what we need even if it doesn't happen to be everything I think we need.
Although the friend time was great, we got a lot done and had a blast, it had to come to an end. Amy loaded up her truck and headed back to Texas. We are both back in our own homes, surrounded by kids and books and school projects and settling for the occasional phone call with each other ..until next year!

OH! I hope it's true!!!

2011-04-25T20:45:00.003-05:00

I sing. I sing all the time. Now don't get the wrong impression. I don't sing GOOD but I am always singing. I love to sing. If I am not singing hymns I will just make up a song about whatever I am doing or something I am telling the kids. I can pretty much turn anything into a song and if makes for a lot of laughs around here.
My son, on the other hand, does NOT sing. He will not sing when I try to get all the kids to sing with me. He rarely will sing along with the hymns at church. He reads the words and maybe hums-as long as nobody hears him- but he will not sing.
Now Kenyon pretends that it drives him crazy but I am convinced that he really does love that I am always singing around the house. I catch him listening. I see him smile his little smile to himself. I notice his little head bob to the beat as I sing. It is really only when he notices me notice him that he has to try to save face and act like his momma drives him crazy.
And that is why I have so much fun with it. One day, as he complained about my constant singing throughout the day he asked "WHY? WHY? WHY?DO YOU ALLLWWWAAAYYYS HAVE TO SING???" To which I replied "well son, it is like this, I just sing because ♪♫♪In my heart there rings a melody, there rings a melody with Heaven's harmony♫♪♫ which sends him into fits of laughter and fake screams of torment.
Saturday was just like any other day only amplified some as we contemplated the fact that our Savior died for us and the ROSE again. I had a lot of fun with my son. It went kinda like this....
Kenyon. Kenyon. Kenyon.
What mom?
♪Are you washed in the blood♫
aaaaawwwww-not again!
Kenyon, Kenyon, Kenyon
no answer-to soon
after a while...Kenyon Kenyon Kenyon
What?
♫♪are your garments spotless are they white as snow♫♪
Which brought just the response I had expected
MOM, YOU ARE ALWAYS SINGING. YOU HAVE CRAMMED SO MANY SONGS IN MY HEAD I WILL NEEEVVVVERRR BE ABLE TO GET THEM OUT!!!
Thank you son! I so hope that is true and if so I have succeeded!! And I would not be the least bit surprised if he just so happens to find a wife someday that spends her days singing away. That's my goal☺

3 men

2011-04-24T09:26:00.000-05:00

3 men on 3 crosses on 1 hill

1 man cursed, 1 man prayed, one Man promised

1 died condemned, 1 died forgiven, 1 died Innocent

1 died in sin, 1 died to sin, 1 died FOR sin

1 was held by death,1 released from death, 1 Conquered death

1 lost life, 1 gained life, 1 WAS life!

Happy Easter Everyone and praise God for the One that Conquered death!!!

Only question that matters at all

2011-04-23T08:41:00.000-05:00

Nothing good about Friday

2011-04-22T08:44:00.002-05:00

I never really understood all the hoopla about "Good Friday". It just never made much sense to me. Why do people call it "Good"? When reading the Bible we see that there is no possible way Jesus could have died on Friday or rose on Friday so why is it celebrated? Matthew 12:40 tells us "For as Jonas was 3 days and 3 nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth." Matthew 28:1 tells us "In the end of the sabbath(Saturday), as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week(Sunday), came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the Sepulchre." When thy arrived at the tomb-IT WAS EMPTY! There is NO possible way to count 3 days and nights between Friday evening and Sunday morning. That means Jesus was already in the tomb before Friday. Friday would have been the worst possible time for all believers on earth. Jesus had died, was buried and had not yet risen. It was a time of loss, fear, confusion, doubt; in other words anything BUT a good day! Apparently "good Friday" is nothing more than tradition created by men for men. I guess if you get a day off from work it could be considered a good Friday but then only as good as any other day you are off.

Making a habit of desiring the sincere Milk

2011-04-08T16:26:00.009-05:00

We are working on making new habits in our house. One area that we have been seriously lacking in is reading our Bibles daily. Now don't get me wrong, our days are filled with God and the Bible. We often have Godly music playing in the background and at anytime a passerby may hear us singing a hymn as we go about our daily chores. We read at least 1/2-1 chapter of the Bible together everyday in our school work. Every subject we study is focused on God and His plan(except maybe math). We memorize Bible verses in school and in church. We constantly are faced with decisions and we teach our children to search God's will and God's word in making them. We have standards that differ from the world and we often discuss them and the reasons we hold so strongly to them. We often search the Bible for clarification of a scripture during our talks. All of these things have become the norm in our household and I had gotten comfortable with that. I was overlooking the fact that our growth depends on really getting into the Word of God. Each of us individually! It can not just be part of our day or part of our family life. It has to be part of our own personal walk with the Lord. Each of us as individuals! I can't just take my children on a walk with Jesus-they have to walk with him. Not only should our family walk with the Lord-each person has to have their own personal walk. Thankfully we have an awesome preacher who loves us all very much. He is concerned about our individual growth in grace and knowledge. Each year he picks a theme for the year. This year just happens to be 1Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby. Following the leading of our preacher, we have adopted that verse as our own family theme. We are working on making it a habit for each person individually to spend time in the Word of God.

(not sure why this picture is sideways-it is not like that in my photos ???)

The first thing we needed was a reminder. It is easy to start a new habit but the busyness of our daily lives often cloud our minds and new habits are easily forgotten. I picked up 5 small poster boards with graph squares on them. I marked out squares for every day left in the year starting on April 1.

I also added our theme verse after each person's name. We have a family goal of 25,000 verses read by the end of the year. Each of us spend time alone reading God's word. Everyone is responsible for their own reading. It is done at different times depending on the person and we each record the number of verses we read on our chart. Everyone has started reading in different areas of the Bible. Monty decided to start in Genesis. He is really going for it and if he keeps going at the rate he did the first week, he very well could finish the entire Bible by the end of the year. Kenyon started in (and finished) the book of Proverbs. Keslee started in Matthew but has now jumped back to Genesis. Kalysa kinda jumps around and reads several verses from different books each day. I started in Genesis (mainly because I was preparing for a children's church lesson from there at the time) then decided to read Lamentations and am now reading through Acts.

The first week has been a success with almost 5000 verses read. Our goal may be way too low but we will just leave it at that for now. Even my 8 year olds are able to read, understand and learn from their daily reading. That kinda kills that excuse that so many grown ups use-"Oh the King James Bible is just so hard to understand so I read from a different ~~perversion~~I mean version." We are all enjoying our personal time alone with the Lord and I know that growth is inevitable!

He really did it this time!!

2011-04-06T16:47:00.005-05:00

Yep, he sure did. Even though I asked him not to. I begged him not to. I cried and pleaded for several days. Did he listen? NOPE! He just went and did it anyway. With absolutely no regard for my feelings! Can you believe that? I mean seriously...the nerve of some boys. No matter what I said, regardless of the tears I shed, with no consideration of the feelings of others, they do it anyway. They just wake up one morning and turn 13.

OH THE PAIN!

OH THE AGONY!

HOW COULD THIS EVER HAVE HAPPENED????

I promise it was just a moment ago that I had a sweet little boy that was getting into everything. How could it be that that moment was actually thirteen years long????

How can I be the mother of a teenager???

Seriously....I am just barely past my own teen years!☺

I was not ready for this day. I am still in a state of unbelief. I mean...A TEENAGER?!?! What am I suppose to do with a TEENAGER??

I know my only hope of survival is in this book!! So first thing we did was get him a new one. His first "good" Bible with leather cover and his name embossed on the front. It even came with several key verses already highlighted. Ok, so I did the highlighting but they were there before he ever got it.

We also got him this pretty little ring. The design is a reminder of the crown of thorns that Jesus endured for us during the Crucifixion and the inside has a sweet little reminder engraved just for him.

Monty and I took our not so little boy out to Braum's for lunch. After burgers, the 3 of us had a long, not so easy, talk over a banana split.

I promise you, that is about the hardest thing I have ever done and I was afraid my poor husband was on the verge of a coronary the entire time. My shy, modest teenager was none too happy about it either. I am not allowed to discuss any of the topics that we went over (per Kenyon's demand!) with anyone! That is just fine with me and he, in turn, agreed to only discuss such topics with his dad or me if questions arise later.

The only comfort I received from the day-my son assured me he had NEVER heard of such a thing and everything we discussed was completely new and foreign to him. At least I know the first he ever heard was from his parents and was the TRUTH.

Life saving homeschool

2011-02-24T18:29:00.005-06:00

This year in science we have been learning about the human body. We use The Body Book and have made hands on 3-D models of several different body parts. They are really easy and explain alot. The kids have been having lots of fun.

We have made this model of the ear. The outer ear opens up to show the inner parts of the ear.

This tooth open up to show the pulp of the teeth, the roots and root canals and the gums and jaw bone.

The eyeball model has several layers including a piece of plastic wrap on the front for the lens.

This face has lips that open up to show the tongue. We learned all about the different areas of taste. Kalysa decided to make all her teeth either gold or silver, goofy girl:)

The skin has several layers and this model is the same. We learned the layers as well as about the nerve endings and pain receptors in the skin. Also the hair and hair follicles.

And then there is the skeleton. We have talked about the different bones and joints. We have used our own bodies to recognize the hinge joints and the ball joints; what they can do and what they can't. It has been alot of fun. I love these hands on projects. The kids have a visual of what it is we are talking about and can go back and look again when they have questions.

We are scheduled to do some astronomy this year as well with Apologia science. Kenyon is waiting and waiting on that. He has a telescope and loves to look at the moon and stars. He has gotten up in the middle of the night to watch an eclipse and meteor showers every single time we hear of them. He is just fascinated by space as most boys are. So one day while we were making one of our body part models Kenyon asked "When do we get to start astronomy? I really want to do that now instead." I explained that I had looked ahead in our book and it was still several weeks before we get to the astronomy lessons.

"We still have several more parts of the body to learn about" I say.

"Oh Good! I can't wait till we get to the penis!" uuuuhhh, yeah. That would be Keslee.

Wh...WHAA...WHAT? WHY? Why? yeah...that was me.

"I just don't understand them mom, I just don't understand."

I am sooooo thankful that we homeschool!!!

All kids are curious. They all come to a point when they just want to learn about themselves and the other ones. Just imagine if my sweet, innocent, beautiful almost 9 year old girl spent 8 hours a day surrounded by hundreds of other curious children. Lots of curious children. Lots of curious children that live lives that are often unsupervised, uncensored, and totally unBiblical. I will tell you what would happen...she would still be curious. She would have the same questions. She would look for answers and she would find them. Only she would not get those answers from her mother and they very likely would not be totally accurate. Curious young minds would teach each other things without any adults knowledge. The conscience that the Lord equipped them with would let them know they were entering territory that they were not supposed to be in and she would hide what she knew and what she wanted to know. She would no longer feel comfortable coming to her mother for such indiscreet information. And there it is...I WOULD HAVE LOST HER. Right then and there, with a simple curiosity that everyone has, I would have lost my sweet 8 year old daughter for good.

Oh, Thank You Lord for the opportunity to homeschool!!

Bow Holders and Door Hangers

2011-02-23T15:56:00.005-06:00

This year, around Christmas time, the money around here seemed to be a little tighter than normal. Our family has stopped exchanging presents between all of the adults but we still like to get all the kids something. That means, besides my own 3, I have 6 nieces, 2 nephew, 1 little sister and 1 little brother that I still needed to get presents for. Our neighbor had made the cutest hair bow holder for my girls a year or so ago so I thought I would give them a try.

We stopped in at Hobby Lobby and found these plain wood pieces for less than $3 a piece. They also had some already painted wooden decorations for .50-$1.00. I picked up a couple of rolls of ribbon for a few dollars and a few different colors of paint for about $1 a piece. I used a pencil to draw each kids name and then started painting. I used 2 or 3 colors on each board and by mixing and matching the colors made 5 different bow holders with combinations of just 4 colors.

After the painting was done and dry, I used a black sharpie to outline each name. I didn't think I would be able to outline as well with a paint brush and the marker worked just great!

I used hot glue to attach each decoration and the ribbons. For the boys I cut a belt loop off of an old pair of pants and glued each end to the back to make a hanger. A little bit of glitter glue and a few sprays with a can of clear coat later and each boy had a name plate to hang on their door.

I used some ribbon I already had to make several bows and found some silk flowers on the clearance isle to make some flower clips to for each girl. I used the same pink ribbon with green butterflies and the word princess on it for all of the bow holders and the hangers at the top.

Here is a closer view of each one individually...

Princess Peyton, my brother's only daughter and Hunter's sister. She is a girly girl with a pink room so I knew this would suit her just fine.

Sheyenne, my other brother's youngest daughter. She loves Tinkerbell so I thought the green and yellow would be a good fit for her.

Alyssa, my sister's oldest daughter. Alyssa is somewhat of a Tom boy who loves to play soccer. I thought the green was not too girly but the purple and glitter made it just feminin enough.

Aliyah, my sister's middle daughter. Aliyah is much more girly than Alyssa. I didn't want it to be just like Peyton's so I added yellow and reversed the pink and green.

And then there is Ashlynne, my sister's youngest daughter and Ashton's twin sister. Three year old Ashlynne can always be found wearing a pair of her plastic princess dress up shoes so I knew this little castle would be fitting.

My brother's oldest daughter and Sheyenne's older sister Brooksie is 13 years old and a little past the bow wearing stage so I made her a jewelry box. This plain wood box was also about $3. Instead of making a flower hair clip I just glued one of the flowers to the front of the box. I actually made one of these for Jacinta as well but obviously did not get a picture of it.

I was so happy with how well they all turned out and all the kids seemed pretty happy about them on Christmas day. I love giving homemade gifts. I also love the fact that I was able to give 9 people very special gifts for about $50 total!

Yep, He is full of it!

2011-02-15T11:18:00.003-06:00

Last week, in our science studies about the lungs we conducted a little experiment to determine the amount of air the lungs could hold. We started out with a two liter bottle filled with water. We turned the bottle over in a sink full of water and then removed the lid keeping the bottle full. Then we inserted a tube in the bottle, took a DEEP breath and blew.
The air in your lungs replaces the water in the bottle. When each participant had blown all they could blow with only one breath I replaced the lid while the bottle was still under water keeping what was left in the bottle.

Keslee was almost able to empty the entire two liter!

Kalysa took her turn and amazed us all when she emptied well over 1/2 of the bottle. Her lung capacity was just a little less than Keslee's.

Remember this is the same girl that started out on this earth at only 2 pounds 4 ounces and spent the first 5 weeks of her life on a ventilator. That is a scenario that often means asthma or other lung problems for a life time but we have none of that here. Praise the Lord!!

When Kenyon took his turn and blew every bit of water out of the two liter bottle like it was nothing and still had air to spare, we moved to an empty gallon milk jug for his test. After one try with the gallon jug, what we had known all along was confirmed...

MY SON IS FULL OF HOT AIR!! ☺hehehe!! ☺ He almost emptied out the entire gallon! I am sure he would have if we would have kept trying (like he wanted to) but we had to move on. Knowing my son, this is something he will be working on in his spare time until he DOES empty the gallon jug and who knows what size bottle he will want to tackle after that.

Ya know-lung capacity is a big one in the bragging rights of young boys.

Much to do...

2011-02-13T22:22:00.002-06:00

Well, this is gonna be one busy week. Tomorrow Monty's sister is flying in from Virginia so we will get to spend some time with her on Monday and Tuesday. Thursday we have a funeral-I am sure I will have more on that later. Friday Monty and I get to go to the couple's retreat with church-WOOHOO! I didn't think we were gonna get to go this year so when Monty said today that we WERE going I was/am SO excited. It is so good to have the chance to spend some time with other couples from our church, hear some awesome preaching that concentrates on marriage, and get to spend some time alone with my hubby in a fancy motel. It is definitely gonna be a full week. I doubt that we will be able to get much school done and I really hate that because we are already behind where I would like to be but I am so thankful that homeschooling allows us to include our kids in all the family activity without having to work around the governments schedule! Hope you all have a great week!

LOVE IT!

2011-02-13T11:07:00.000-06:00

I just ♥ ♥ ♥ kids with toothless grins!! It is just the sweetest. The only thing that can even compare to the cuteness of a toothless grin...

is the new BIG tooth grin! ☺

Disclaimer

2011-02-11T16:33:00.004-06:00

Ok, so once again I have been missing from blog land. I really enjoy my blog and have stopped in often with the intention of posting something new but for some reason I always end up leaving with nothing new to say. I have spent lots of time wondering to myself just why I can't seem to share anything new. Why can I not just leave a simple little post about the cuteness of my kids or the weather and move on?
Well I have come to the conclusion that the problem is within me. I am not really sure my purpose in this particular post. I guess I would call this a disclaimer. I want to let you know my heart. I love the Lord Jesus Christ. I want the light of Jesus to shine through me and that is in where the problem lies. I feel so inadequate. I know myself in all my sinfulness. I see where I fail daily and even hourly. I don't want to be a stumbling block for anyone in their walk with the Lord. Most of all, I don't want my failures to make my Lord look bad. With those thoughts in mind, when I am going through a tough situation and especially if it is a situation I have not or am not handling a well as I should, I have a hard time discussing anything. I am not very good at faking it. If I were to just blog about nothingness, I would feel like I am falsely portraying a person who is doing such a good job at living faithfully for the Lord when I know that is not always the case. If I were to just spill out all of my failures for the world to see I would feel as if I have let down the Lord and let down anyone who may be out there that has ever looked to me for inspiration or encouragement with my own hypocrisy. So there ya have it. I say nothing, talk about nothing, post nothing and here we are.
Well that is not working so good for me because....well...I like to talk. I like to share my thoughts and experiences and interact with people. That is the whole reason I started a blog in the first place. So, here is the disclaimer part.....
I am NOT perfect
I am not the best help meet
..I have a very hard time being submissive to my husband
..Meek and mild are adjectives never used in conjunction with my name
..my husband and I don't always communicate well with each other
I am not a great homeschool mom
..sometimes I yell too much
..some days school doesn't get done at all
..sometimes I don't expect enough of my kids
..sometimes I expect too much
I am not the greatest keeper of my home
..my laundry is ALWAYS behind
..my house is never really clean
..my sink holds at least a few dirty dishes most of the time
I am not the greatest Christian
..I don't always read my Bible
..I miss church sometimes
..I try to take control to often instead of letting go and letting God
..my faith is not always strong

There ya have it! Now I am not too vain to believe that anyone ever really believed that I was anywhere close to being perfect but I just needed to say that. Now I feel like I can share again. I don't know yet how much of the bad I will share but just know that it is there. Through it all, I am still growing in the Lord. I am always learning and changing and now you have many specific examples of areas you could pray for me about.

Happy Birthday Jesus

2010-12-14T21:02:00.002-06:00

There is one house in our town that really lets their little light shine during Christmas! The entire second floor proclaims the reason for the season. It is way more beautiful than any cell phone camera could ever show. The lights are covering the entire house-front, back, sides, top to bottom-along with the garage, porch and the trees in the yard. At the first sign of Christmas light season the kids start begging to drive by the Happy Birthday Jesus house.

As we stopped out front to enjoy the view tonight (as well as snap a picture) Kenyon says " I remember when mom use to bring us by this house when we were little." to which Keslee adds (in her most contemplative voice) "me too...awwww, good times good times."

Happy Birthday Jesus!!! Thank you for choosing to leave your place on high to suffer and die for me! Thank you Jesus!

Just one little peek!

2010-12-10T18:39:00.000-06:00

I have a very good friend that is getting married in January. Well of course the groom is NOT allowed to see the dress before the wedding so it is being stored safe and sound in a pretty little bag hanging in my laundry room until the big day.

Ok, so we just couldn't resist for just a minute but NOW it is safe and sound back in it's pretty little bag! I promise!

Luckily I know said groom does not have internet access right now and if he did I know there would be more important things for him to look at besides my blog. Yall don't tell now-ok!!

As if that wasn't enough...

2010-12-09T14:33:00.002-06:00

Now as I told you, riding in the parade last weekend was a dream come true for Kenyon so you can image how elated he was when Grandma brought this over.

" I made it in the newspaper?!? SERIOUSLY, I MADE IT IN THE NEWSPAPER?!? Wow, I'm famous."

Now when Monty asked him for an autograph he said "No. First of all I can not write in cursive that good and besides, I am one of those snooty kinda famous people!"

Dreams comin true!

2010-12-04T20:57:00.007-06:00

Every year the Shriners throw a big Christmas party for all the shriner patients in our area. Last year we just blew it off and did not even mention it to Kalysa. Well it just so happened that the local news was in attendance and Kalysa happened to see the story about it. When she saw all the decorations and clowns and children holding presents and looking so happy on that tv screen she really felt like she had missed out on something big. This year Keslee got the mail the day Kalysa received the invitation and so Kalysa heard about it before I did. In other words, we just had to go.

They really DID do it up big for those kids! Every kid got a stocking stuffed full, a present and a hat when they walked in the door. Of course Kalysa (being the daddy's girl that she is) had to pick out an OU hat on the day they were preparing to beat Nebraska and win the Championship☺.

That big present wrapped up like a big piece of candy was a blanket. Every kid there got a new fleece blanket and the fact that Kalysa's was totally pink and purple made it even more perfect.

They served cookies and drinks and Kalysa found these awesome light up sunglasses in her stocking.

While people were still arriving, the shriner band played Christmas music. Of course santa was there to talk with the kids and take pictures and the shrine clowns were making balloon animals. We got to see a few of the drivers that have taken us to Shreveport and back and Kalysa got a few hugs.

They entire place was decorated really beautifully. They had a couple of Christmas trees, balloons tied to every chair, huge blow up snowmen and reindeer and lots of lights.

The highlight of the day was when they passed out presents. I would guess there were a few hundred kids there and every single child had a present with their name on it. Kalysa sat listening and watching presents being pulled out from under the trees as she patiently waited to hear her name.

When her turn finally arrived she was not disappointed with this new doll. It is a Barbie type doll with a sled and a powder that we can mix with water to make snow. All in all the day was everything she was expecting it to be after seeing last years news story.

As soon as Kalysa and I were done at the Christmas party, we had to hustle back to town to see our local Christmas parade.

It is not a very long parade, luckily, because it was soooo cold, but the girls had a blast. The fact that the streets were not real crowded meant that they came home with pockets loaded with candy. Keslee also caught a big stuffed unicorn that one float threw. And where was my only son while his sister's were enjoying the parade???

Why he was sittin atop a hay bale, smiling from ear to ear, amidst his fellow boy scouts! Maybe you heard me mention that it was freezing...temps were in the high 30's along with 20-30 mile an hour wind gust blowing that Arctic air that just rips right through ya...but my boy wanted everyone to be able to see his uniform so he took his coat off part way through. When we picked him up at the end, I was all prepared to really yell at him for that (that is AFTER I had already yelled at his daddy thinkin he had taken my baby boy out in the freezing wind to ride in a parade without a coat just to be reassured that it was on him when Monty left him at the float) but when I saw that smile on his face, I just couldn't. Especially when he shared "Well that was a dream come true, I always wanted to be in a parade!" Well what was I suppose to do then?? just enjoy it, that's what!

Every school has to have a mascot, Right?

2010-12-04T10:47:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately our mascot, Soffie, is a little more active in the everyday studies.

Every.Single.time that we sit down for school work, Soffie is not far behind. She plants herself right on top of whatever book I may be reading from. When I move her over to read from the portion of the book that she is hiding, she will mosey on over to any of the kids that happen to have an open book or notebook. It is not just school work that she is interested in. Oh no! She will climb up between my face and anything I may be trying to read no matter where in the house I may be reading it. I know one thing, we probably have the most well educated cat in these parts!

That's my boy!

2010-12-02T14:04:00.002-06:00

On Wednesday nights we have our prayer meeting at church. After the sermon, the mood gets more relaxed as we all share prayer requests, answered prayers and blessings. It was during this more relaxed period that Kenyon sat back and put his feet up on the back of the pew near the song book holders. Now what I am about to share could be divided into at least 2 more blog posts. I could write a long post about how right my son is and then I could turn right around and write another post about just how wrong he was but I have decided to just leave it in the funny category so don't nobody start yellin at me. Just contemplate the rightness and the wrongness yourself and then you can leave me a happy little comment. Just so no one is confused thinking that our conversation just ended with the little laugh. Ok, to get back on track-Kenyon puts his feet on the pew and I say....

"Get your feet off of God's pew!"
to which he responds...
"Mom, He won't mind. He is my best friend!" insert cute mischievous little Kenyon grin that he has been flashing since before he could walk☺

November is not over yet!

2010-11-30T13:51:00.005-06:00

Ok, I just could not let an entire month go by without one single blog post going up. I know I am cutting it kinda close but November ain't over yet! (ok, so it may be by the time anyone reads this but anyway...)

WOW! I can't believe November is almost gone. Where oh where has it gone?? I am just sitting here wondering what exactly was it that has kept me from my blog? What did we do in this past month? Wasn't it just yesterday that the neighborhood was being decorated with pumpkins and scarecrows? Now the trees and Christmas lights are popping up all over the place and another page is being ripped off of the calender.
Well let's see.....I spent a lot of time this month trying to get back on top of the mess piles in my house, school has been chugging right along, Kenyon has had a great time being busy with boyscouts, Kalysa had 2 trips to Shreveport....I guess we have been kinda busy.

About my house...It has been a long time since I have felt on top of things. I am much more familiar with the drowning under piles feeling. Well, enough was enough and we have done something about it. It all started with the girls bedroom. For the past several I don't know how longs, they have had the bunk beds separated into two independent beds. Come to think about it, that drowning feeling started not long after their beds were separated. I never realized it but their room was holding up the entire house! With two beds in their not so large room there was very little play area left. That room was the most disgusting room in the house. I am not exaggerating at all. Even after spending an entire day with them cleaning, 2 days was the record before you could no longer walk through the room. I had tried helping them, punishing them, and even removing their toy box and leaving them only with 1 baby doll apiece. Nothing worked. That room always looked like the after tornado pictures we have so often seen on the news and it inevitably spilled over into most of the rest of the house. Well 3 weeks ago I put those bunkbeds back together freeing up over 1/2 of the room. The girls and I went through everything. We got rid of trash and found a place for everything. They were excited to have so much room to play. And would you believe that 3 weeks later that room is still clean and has even been the cleanest room in the house several times!?!? (I am tellin ya, if you would have seen it before-you wouldn't believe it now!) Once that one room was conquered the rest of the house just seemed to fall into place and I feel like I am on top again! YIPPEE!

Remember the stick system I started in our school? Well they are really working out good. It has kept us all on track and nothing is getting forgotten. They have been a great motivator. One week Kenyon did not want to cooperate and did not get many sticks done at all. I did not say a whole lot to him about it but come Monday morning his cup was full again and also held the dreaded black stick. When it hit him that he had NO games-gameboy, xbox, OR computer-he decided he did not like that option at all! He spent Tuesday and Wednesday almost dawn till dusk both days getting his entire weeks worth of school work done (besides the part we all do together). He worked hard and I was very proud of him. It was very encouraging to me to see him work so hard on his own to make sure he got everything done. That confirmed to me that by the time he is ready for high school he will be ready to work independently and be responsible for himself (which is one of our goals).

At the first of the month, Kalysa had her year check up scheduled in Shreveport. She had a gait analysis to compare the way she walks now to the way she walked before the surgery. After that test, she had a new splint molded to account for the growing she has done and saw the doctor. When the Doctor did all the measurements, they were still not real happy about how tight her calf muscle is so they decided to put her in a cast to hold it in a slightly stretched position. That decision really felt like a step back for me but she was super excited about it. She just really loves having a cast on-crazy kid☺. I guess after about 25 casts in 5 years ya either love them or hate them. I am glad that she doesn't hate it since they are such a constant part of her life. She got a green cast and 3 weeks later we made another trip to get it removed and pick up her new splint. Although her measurements were not as good as the doctors hoped, she really has made a lot of progress. She can now stand on her left foot and balance for a full minute. Before surgery she could not do that at all and after surgery she could only balance for 6 seconds. She can also hop on her left foot and actually come off the ground-something she was never able to do before. She has been working hard on walking with the heel-toe step instead of just toe. She can do it great and now just has to break the habit of stepping on her toe. I sometimes have to remind her but it is getting closer to becoming more natural for her. She will continue physical therapy and wearing her splint and we will have another check up in May. We will also be doing some shoe shopping soon since the new larger splint wont fit in her most perfect girly shoes.

Well there ya have it-our November-in a nutshell-all in one post for the month. Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving and hopefully I will be able to stay on top of things which will give me more opportunities to check in here.

Daddy at work

2010-10-30T15:25:00.000-05:00

Monty's car has a bad tire rod so we have been sharing one car until we get the money for repairs. What that means is that Monty takes my car to work and I have his car for the few errands I may need to run around town during the day. The kind of errands that do not require going more than 20-30 mph or being more than a few blocks from the house just in case that ol' tire rod decides it's time is done. On days that I may have a need for more driving, I take Monty to work so I can keep my car.
Well that is what happened on Wednesday. After church the kids and I headed on over to pick him up from work to find out he had at least 2 more hours until he would be ready. Instead of making the 30 minute drive home to just turn around and drive back, we were able to wait it out in the break room at his job. I remember when I was a kid getting to visit dad at work was about the coolest thing ever and my kids feel the exact same way. Since Monty does not have the kind of job that is "bring your kid to work" friendly, staying at daddy's job was an extra special treat!

They got to see their dad driving his lift truck around the warehouse. The only thing better would have been to be able to ride along but that would be a serious safety violation.

The break room was full of fun activities and the kids wanted to be sure they did not miss a single one. A deck of cards left on one table was just asking to be used in a game of go fish!! My kids did not leave those poor cards lonely for long.

Although they were really too busy exploring every nook and cranny to sit through a tv program, they did stop long enough to find Qubo network for a quick cartoon fix.

Then on to the set of dominoes! The girls don't know how to play dominoes but the fact that this set had bright colorful dots meant that they would be perfect to make some pretty little stick figures! ☺

Anyone that has kids knows that anytime you visit some where new- whether it be a store, a restaurant, or a friends house-the trip is not complete without a stop in the restroom. I am not sure what it is about restrooms and kids but you would have thought that the one at daddy's work was the most beautiful and exotic place ever. They would have went about every 15 minutes if I would have let them.

The next best thing to visiting a new restroom, is choosing a snack from a vending machine. Since they don't normally get many vending machine opportunities everyone was excited to push the buttons and watch their treat fall.

After snack time may as well get in some exercise time. Kenyon has been working on doing push ups and he did not let the fact that we weren't home interfere with his practice.

Of course the best part of the break room is the little window in the door. Perfect for watching out for a glimpse of dad driving past.

All in all we spent about 2 hours in the break room but with all the excitement of a new place with tons of things to occupy 3 kid's minds and hands, it really did not seem long at all.

aaawwww...memory making!

♥ ♥ ♥ IT!!!

2010-10-28T13:50:00.004-05:00

I love love love the fall!! It is just the most perfect season. I love everything about it. The cool weather, the leaves changing colors and

falling everywhere adding their own decoration to anything they touch.

The cool rains storms with gray skys and thunder and big clouds swirling around the sky.

Fall weather always brings back the best memories. It seems that tons of the most important memories I have happened between August and November. Now, why would anyone want to miss the opportunity to enjoy the fall every chance they get?

That is why I ♥ ♥ ♥ homeschooling!!!

We can take a "play in the rain " break right smack dab in the middle of our school work!

There is no need to get your shoes on.

No need for don't get dirty speeches.

Just no real good reason to stay out of the puddles!!

We can always finish up with our studies after we kick up our heels and have a little fun!!

Cup o' sticks

2010-10-20T09:26:00.000-05:00

Since all three kids are doing the same curriculum, our days go pretty smooth. The 4 of us do the bulk of the school work together. After our together work, they each have math, language, and writing and then Kenyon also has extra science and personal help for boys character training. Those extras have been posing a problem. I have a bad habit of forgetting one or the other subject for a few days and then have to spend a day on catch up. I also seem to forget how many lessons I have assigned. I was writing assignments down one side of our chalkboard but they seem to disappear or get distorted. To solve this problem I have just implemented our knew system; Cup o' Sticks. Each child has a cup and mom has a cup. Each color represents a different subject. At the beginning of the week I will place one stick for every lesson due by the end of the week. When a lesson is completed that stick is then moved to mom's cup and I know what I need to go over and grade. If any sticks are left in a child's cup on Sunday morning, mom will place a black stick in that cup. Any child with a black stick in their cup has no computer or video game privileges until they have a week of completed sticks. Everyone can tell, by just a glance, how much work they have to complete and in what subjects during the week. If they put off doing math all week, they will have to spend extra time or their Saturday completing the weeks worth. We are just starting this but I have hopes that it will not only help me stay organized but also teach the kids some responsibility about keeping up with their own work. If they don't, they will have to pay the consequence. I'll let ya know how it goes.

Time for some BOY STUFF!

2010-10-18T10:40:00.001-05:00

As you know, I have not been posting on a regular schedule and here is one reason for that.

The past few years of homeschooling have been just that. I have concentrated on our schooling and growing the family relationships. We have not done much extra. Family stuff and church stuff was all we made time for. This year we have jumped into a few extras. The girls have started going to brownies twice a month and Kenyon is now a boy scout. Before the school year started, the girl and boy scouts had a big welcome meeting at a nearby park. We stopped in after church for some hot dogs and games and just to see what was being offered in our area. To my surprise, the scout master of our local boy scout troop is a man I know. Geoff and I worked together for a few years and were actually pretty good friends at the time. That put my mind at ease about letting one of my kiddos go off without me some. The girls are still young enough that they do not do much other than games and crafts at the meetings but Kenyon is now in a very active troop with weekly meetings and at least one outing a month.

The troop is very focused on growing leadership skills in each of the boys. The meetings are led by the boys and they are involved in all the decisions made for the troop. At the first meeting, Kenyon was a little anxious about joining in with a group of boys that he had never met. He did not (and still does not) want me to leave him there so the girls and I sat in on the meeting. It did not take long for Kenyon to feel comfortable with Geoff because he had heard me talk about him several times over the years even though he did not actually remember him. The other boys were also very accepting of the new scouts and went out of their way to make them each feel welcome. At the end of the meeting they watched a slide show of pictures that were taken on the troops last outing. The event just happened to be a trip to explore the depths of a cave. During the slide show, I watched my son's face change from trepidation to anticipation. His normally introverted self was being overtaken by his need for some serious "BOY STUFF!" As soon as that slide show was over, Kenyon went up to Geoff and said "I want one of those uniforms!" He was ready to be a boy scout. He was ready for camping and caving, and plenty of testosterone filled activities. It has been about 2 months since that first meeting and he has had several opportunities for just that.

His first outing was a camp out at the Wild life expo. The Wild life expo is a local event filled with events for families to engage in and learn and experience all things outdoorsy. The boy scouts camped out at the event and then had a monkey bridge set up for visitors to try. The boys had to take turns working at the bridge and then had free time to experience several of the other activities available. The highlight for Kenyon was visiting the shooting range where he got to fire a shot gun.

His next all boy activity was an event that the troop was hired to work. The AKC Retriever duck throw. Hunters bring their dogs from all over the country to compete. The older boys were used to throw the ducks in the fields for the dogs and the younger smaller boys spent their day stacking dead ducks for the throwers. Although it was not all fun and games, Kenyon did enjoy watching the dogs do their work while he did his work. The boys (and the dogs) had to work from about sunup until sundown. It was a long hard day but the troop earned $1000 for their work. A good long hard day of work it just what every 12 year old needs!

This weekend they are camping out on a buffalo ranch. They are supposed to put up some towers and hook up a hamm radio to talk with boy scouts around the world. In the past they have reached scouts in Europe, Australia and even Japan. Depends on the sky on who they may be able to reach this year.

Kenyon is almost a teenager and I am confident that his new boy scout troop is just what he needs right now. Hard work and plenty of boy stuff!

Best compliment ever

2010-10-17T23:54:00.004-05:00

On our way to church yesterday I was listening to an old cd of the men's group from our church for about the 1000th time. Keslee said "Mom, do we HAVE to hear this song AGAIN??" Why yes we do!! It got quiet for a moment as we all enjoyed the music until Keslee interupted again with this....

Kes: Mom, I just told God that if I had one wish I would wish that my mom liked some other things like maybe Justin Beiber but then I waited for just a minute and then I told God, NO I DON'T! I DON'T want that! I take that wish back! I want to be raised just exactly the way you are raising me and the way God wants me to be raised!

Praise the Lord!
Just like we all have our struggles with the world, my 8 year old has them too. The thoughts of why do we have to do things differently from so many others? What is so bad with it? An internal struggle and a conversation that she was having with God, just the two of them. A conversation that I knew nothing about until it was over. A thought that I would have never known she had if she had not told me herself. And an outcome that I did not prompt but was prompted only by the Holy Spirit speaking directly to her 8 year old little heart and reminding her of the whys. And then thankfulness from her tiny heart back to the Lord that she loves.
WOW!
all I can say is
God is Good-All the time!!

Daddy

2010-10-07T07:24:00.006-05:00

A few weeks ago, I had a birthday. Nothing exciting. I have decided that I will stay 25 and after your 10th(or more) 25th birthday, the excitement kinda fades. There is, however, one little thing that has happened on every birthday for the last several years that I cherish. My daddy calls. It is always first thing in the morning, usually around 7, and I answer the phone to hear him singing " ♪♫happy birthday to my little girl, I♪ love♪ you♫♪!" Now I don't care how old ya get, that is just a GREAT way to start your day.

It made me start thinking about what really makes a great dad?Now our culture tells young people to WAIT. Wait to get married, finish your education, get a career, wait to have children until you have all these other things in order. (Of course there is no expectations on waiting to enjoy some of the perks that should be reserved for marriage.) These are supposed to be prerequisites of becoming a good parent. Unfortunately our culture is lying to our young people. These things have absolutely NOTHING to do with whether or not you will be a good parent. I would be willing to bet that those things, more often than not, hinder our ability to be good parents because we spend so many extra years on our own selfish pursuits and are then expected to all of a sudden be willing and able to put other's needs before our own. Easier said than done!!!

My dad was 19 when he married my 15 year old mother. They had neither one had tons of heartbreaks from years of failed relationships. They had not spent years living out on their own with only themselves to please.

At just 16 and 20 years old they became parents. I mean, they had not finished school and there was no talk of college. My dad was working at a furniture factory for a while and then worked in a greenhouse. Far from being established in a set and secure career. They rented a small house from my mother's grandma. They had not done any of the things our world said they should have done first. What they did do was love each other and they loved me!
Since I HAVE a great dad, it is obvious to me that none of those other things really matter. So what is it that really makes a great dad?!?

I think I will start by saying that my dad is not and was never a perfect dad. He made plenty of mistakes. I could easily sit here and give you a detailed list of the worst mistakes I believe that he made while raising 4 kids however, the specific mistakes are not important. The important part is that HE knows what mistakes he made. I can not tell you how many times my dad has apologized to me. There have been a number of times, even since I have been grown, that my dad has called me crying on the phone and begging me to forgive him for this or that from 5-10-20-30 or even 35 years ago. His ability to humble himself to his own child is just one way that he secured the hearts of his children. THAT is what makes a great parent! Holding the ♥hearts♥ of your children!

My dad has always securely held the hearts of every one of his kids. I have not lived one minute of my life questioning if my dad really loved me. I never felt the need to search out the love of a man to replace what I did not get from my dad. There has never been any topic that I did not feel comfortable in talking about with my dad. I have always known that I could go to him with ANYTHING and I always knew that I would get the truth from him. It is the same for my sister and both of my brothers.

My dad is who he is. He never tried to be somebody he is not. He has always been genuine. That is probably the reason I have always been able to discuss anything with him. I never had to worry about how he would react. I pretty much knew ahead of time what things he would be disappointed about, what things he would be excited about, what things he would disapprove of and what things he would approve of. I knew that even when he disapproved, he would love me and then he would let me know exactly why he did not approve. I knew when I disappointed him, he would love me and then encourage me to do better. Even if the disappointment caused him pain and tears(which he NEVER hid from us) love and encouragement was always there. He never hid who he was from us and we knew him as well as he knew us.

Just because his children are grown, he is still the same dad. He still makes time for each of us. He still calls just to talk. Before we all had children of our own, he still took us to 6 flags every year. After we got married our spouses joined us. After we started having kids, it changed to a camping trip or a trip to the fair. He always has time for the needs of his children! He still has a secure hold on the hearts of each of his children and now

he is also holding the hearts of his grand kids. My kids know that their hearts are just as safe and secure when they are around their papa as they are with their own daddy.

Now I feel I must say, I believe raising your children to love and honor the Lord is about the-most-important thing you can do for them. When I was growing up, my parents had us in church when we were young but they both strayed from that practice. They were both believers and did give us a foundation of faith, they just did not continue to build on that foundation like they should have. If they would have, I am sure their marriage would not have ended after 20 years. Because my dad held my heart, I ALWAYS thought "what would dad think" before I made decisions. If his worldview had been more biblical, my decisions in turn would naturally have been more biblical as well. I consider having your children's heart to be THE prerequisite of being a great parent because I have seen the results of a family that has had their children in church their whole lives, sent them to private christian schools, and produced kids that know more about the Bible than I do but because the father never held those kid's hearts, the outcome (so far) has been disastrous! My goal as a parent is to securely hold my children's hearts AND raise them with a biblical worldview. BECAUSE I have their hearts it makes the rest a lot easier.

When in Rome

2010-10-01T16:19:00.005-05:00

I just have not had much opportunity to update here much. We have been spending a lot of time in Rome. School has been moving along well and the kids and I have learned so much. It is amazing to me how much I am learning. I am kinda embarrassed to admit all that I never knew. I mean I was a good student, always got A's and B's. I never had to study very hard. Cramming for a test a little was all I needed to make the grade. I was even in the honor fraternity in college. Did you know I never knew that Julius Caesar was a real person??!! I thought he was just a Shakespeare character. I did not know the impact he had on our life today with our calendar. I had know idea how many similarities the Rise of Rome had to our own country. All that I have learned has re-emphasized to me just how public schooling is really not about learning. Their only goal is making sure students can regurgitate information onto a test paper. As long as you can make the grade it really doesn't matter if you ever really KNOW anything. Well there is one thing that I do KNOW. My kids wont have that same fate. They know more now -at 12, 8, and 7-than I had ever even heard in my lifetime about Rome, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra and Mark Antony. AND we have had a little fun in the process!

We made writing tablets from non hardening clay and cardboard. Sharpened chop sticks work perfectly as the writing tool. The pink one is with the cover flap closed and the green is the clay on the inside. The kids have enjoyed drawing with their stick and then smoothing out the clay to start over, similar to how the Roman children would have. They have been a helpful tool during our read aloud times as well. The kids sit quietly drawing on them while I read. It eliminates the constant rustling of paper and digging through the crayon box that normally accompanies reading times.

Of course we could not travel around and study about Rome without our Togas. Did you know that I do not have one single plain white sheet in this whole house??!! That's ok. I rather like the more colorful versions. ☺ In case you did not notice the stranger in the camouflage mask(scarf tied around head)? All I can say is that Kenyon did not want to be seen in a toga covered in Winnie the Pooh so he disappeared during this part and this stranger in the mask showed up to complete the lesson. Of course by Kalysa's smile you can tell she is More than happy to wear her toga!

Besides learning about how the Romans dressed, we have also learned about their way of life, the bath houses they went to, and how their homes were set up. Since Mosaics were used often in the decoration of their floors and walls, we decided to make our own. Above is Keslee's rendition of a flower.

Kenyon decided he would do a house. Now even though we had talked about what a mosaic was and we had looked at several examples, Kenyon and Keslee thought they were just going to get away with only making their small picture with the tiny bits of paper. I explained that the whole thing was to be covered. Keslee did not want to spend the time digging through our bowl of paper bits and choose a color scheme so her flower kinda blends in with the background. Before long, Kenyon decided that the observer would just have to imagine that the black WAS the mosaic pieces.

Now Kalysa, on the other hand, was more than happy to wade through the pieces to find all the pink for her fish and the blue for the water. She is ALWAYS the one that insists on taking her time on anything artsy. She is also the reason I have to be sure to save any projects that involve coloring, cutting or gluing until the end of the day or she would get nothing else done.

In science we have been learning about the human body. We have drawn models of a cell and the brain and brain stem. We have learned how the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and vise versa. One of the books that comes with My Father's World is The Body Book. It is chocked full of hands on projects about parts of the body. We are talking about the 5 senses. This model has flaps in the face that reveal what is underneath like the brain, nerves, and ear canals.

We are all enjoying these fun hands on learning projects.

Keslee held hers up over her own face to show where her own personal parts would be. Kenyon had to open his notebook to show me his finished model because he was already finished by the time I got the camera. And of course.......

Kalysa was ALMOST done...with the cutting. ☺

Well, there really is lots more that we have learned but I am afraid I may have already caused any readers that still may be out there into shock by FINALLY posting an update. I am really going to try to do better with that. You will all have to stick around to hold be accountable, K?

A Tale of Two Shoes

2010-09-09T21:05:00.005-05:00

It was a warm spring afternoon when the kids and I decided we would hit the shoe store. Kenyon was growing out of shoes about every 6 months and was in desperate need of a new pair. Keslee needed a bigger pair of shoes for church. Kalysa was now in a brace full time and had the one pair of shoes that fit over her splint.
She was happy to wear it but every once in a while she just wanted to wear some girly church shoes without the splint. As we were heading out the door I put Kalysa's splint in my purse to just see if we could find a pair of girly shoes that would fit over it. At the shoe store, each child ran to their sizes and started trying on shoes with a frenzy. We were able to find Kenyon 2 pair of tennis shoes and a new pair of dress shoes in a size that fit. Even better, they were all on sale! Next, Keslee had already found several pair that she just loved. I helped her try them on, checked prices and decided on a pair of strappy sandals and a nice pair of church shoes with a small high heel. She was feeling very grown up and happy. Now to tackle Kalysa. She had picked out several pairs that she knew she just had to have. As I pull the splint out of my purse Kalysa just knows that her dreams of pretty shoes had been dashed. I pick up the first pair of little brown baby doll shoes and slipped the splint in. IT FITS PERFECT. We both get a little excited. I have her try on both shoes and they fit perfectly! WE DID IT! WE FOUND CUTE SHOES THAT FIT OVER THE SPLINT. Even better, they were on sale for $10. We quickly gathered our finds and headed to the check out stand. As the girl checked each box of shoes, the kids giggled and try to decide which of their new shoes they would wear first. As the girl checked the box with Kalysa's shoes she found a problem. "Mam, one of these shoes is size 12 and one is 13." Oh no! That was the only pair I saw in that style. As she went to check in the back room to correct the pair, I told Kalysa she may just have to wear 2 socks on the non-splint foot to make up for the difference. The girl returned with the same shoes she left with. "There must have been a manufacturing error-these shoes do not even come in a size 13." I explained that I would be more than happy to buy the mixed matched pair because they were exactly what we needed. "Well, since I can't put them back on the shelf like that, I guess I can let you have them but I will have to ring them up at 1/2 price." On the outside I said "that would be just fine!" while on the inside I was yelling "WOOHOO! You are gonna let me have Just what we want that is EXACTLY what we need and you are gonna make me pay 1/2 of what I expected!!! WHO COULD TOP THAT!!" With that, we payed $5 for the perfect pair of shoes for my littlest splint wearing girl and she no longer had to wear her big bulking tennis shoes with a pretty dress.

Now THAT is just the way that my God works!

Made it through

2010-08-21T19:23:00.003-05:00

This week has been kinda rough. My mom has had some car issues so I have had to do the entire route 4 days. That just means even less sleep for me. She rode with me to fold papers twice and Monty and the kids rode along the other 2 days. Although I really do enjoy the only peace and quiet "me" time I normally have, I was glad they went. They ♥ to go on the paper route and really are a big help. Even though this made for a week was far from ideal,

We made it through our first week of school and it went pretty good. The kids are all using the same curriculum this year. It was so nice to all be together learning the same thing. I think it is really going to work well.

We still need to get our schedule down good. There are times when Kenyon finishes up faster than the girls and sits and waits for them to finish. I believe he will be able to use that time to work on his Personal Help for Boys instead of sitting idle. Since the girls do not yet have a corrisponding subject, that will help him finish his day about the same time they finish theirs and will make everyone happy.

We are learning about Rome to the Reformation. We got our notebooks put together with a cover sheet on the front and the books of the Bible on the back.

The kids learned to count to 10 in Latin. They then learned about the Roman Numerals. Kenyon has gone over this before but it was a good review for him. It was also nice to see him helping the girls understand and figure out the age of their father and their grandfather.

They had to fill out a blank map of the Roman lands. This was the first time the girls have done much with maps. Of course they participated some with Kenyon and Jacinta in Exploring Countries and Cultures a few years ago and they really picked up a lot about geography. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did finding everything on the atlas and then finding it on their blank map. They completed it with very little help from me. Of course when it was time to color, Keslee choose not to use only green because "land is not only green!" She added some brown and some flowers(naturally!) Wednesday night, at church, Kalysa was looking at the maps in the back of daddy's Bible. She whispered to me, "I can't find Turkey on this map." I said "maybe Turkey is not on that map." She then informed me "the Mediterranean Sea is right here and Turkey is supposed to be right beside it!" Guess that means she really did learn something!

We learned a little about the life of Ancient Romans. We learned that most kids were homeschooled unless they were rich and had tutors. This next week we will be making a writing tablet to show the kids one way people wrote with no paper.

We also learned about the legend of how Rome began. After reading the story about Romulus and Remus we printed out this picture of the twins with the wolf that legend says they were raised by. Each of the kids re-wrote some of the highlights of the story in their own words. Keslee and Kalysa both wrote about 2 sentences and Kenyon had to write a little more adding more details. This is still one area that Kenyon hates and has to be prodded to complete. This year I am going to start him on writing stands to hopefully help him.

Kenyon is also doing Truth in Science in addition to the sciece we will be doing with My Father's World. I am SO excited about this science. The first section is about worldview; what it is and why it is so important. It also explains what true science really is. Unlike what the main stream science lessons presented in public schools say, evolution is NOT science. In turn, Creation is NOT science. BOTH are beliefs. This year of science will show Kenyon what true science really is and show him how to determine scientific facts from beliefs. It will also show how true science supports a belief in creation. Although the Bible's account of creation can not be proven by science, every other mention of things in the Bible that can be proven through science have been proven true 100% of the time. I am very thankful that my children's minds will not be filled with man's beliefs presented as fact. I am also excited to go through this science curriculum with my son for what I will get to learn. I am looking forward for God to use it to rid my own mind of some of the untruths that have been placed there that I may unwittingly still hold as truths!

The girls are also going to be doing SRAs. SRA is a reading comprehension program that I used in public school way back in 1980-3rd grade. I have always remembered them. They were my favorite thing to do and I really believe they really helped me. Each card has a short story. After reading it, you have to answer about 30 questions about it. The questions show you how to remember what you read, find a new words meaning based on the context it is used in, identify words that mean the same thing and overall comprehension. Last year my mom found this set (copy righted in 1958) at a garage sale for $2. Kenyon and Jacinta went through several of them but I really think the girls will get the most out of them since they are starting them from the beginning.

All three kids have started Math-U-See. So far, they all love it. Math time has felt a little more like play time to them which really helps relieve some of the stress that has previously been present. All three kids have already worked a little ahead of schedule because they don't want to stop after just one lesson. The biggest testimony for this math is the words "I'm bored, there is nothing to do so can we just do some math?" ♥it!

We even fit in a library day. Lucky for us, it is food for fines month. We have not been to the library this summer and we still had $19 worth of fines to pay from before. (you see we normally rent books instead of borrow! at least that is what it feels like with all the fines we accumulate through the year!) I was able to take one can of food for each $ of fines. We have recently been given about 40 cans of tuna. Since Monty is the only one in the house that will eat tuna, I was able to use some to clear our fines and he still has about a years worth of tuna for himself! CAN'T BEAT THAT!

Well, that is our first week in a nutshell! I am so excited about this new year and can't wait to learn. I believe my mom's car problems have been solved for now so that will hopefully mean a little easier week for me. I still have some scheduling to solidify and some organizing to do but I'm am not sure that is something that ever changes. ☺ If you know otherwise-please share your secret!!

I think we made it!

2010-08-15T22:24:00.001-05:00

I know, I know! I have been missing from the blog world for a while but the good news is that I think we have finally made it! We have made it through the summer and it is time for school to start and life to get back to normal. I have wondered what could be busier for a homeschool mom than the school season. Well now I know...it is summer! I feel like we have run and run all summer long. Problem is I don't know that we ever really got anywhere or accomplished much besides just busyness. For the last few weeks, I have been sooooo excited about the upcoming start of school. I am excited about all the learning we will be doing of course but also for the simple fact that crazy summer life will slow down and a more structured and scheduled life will take it's place. I AM READY! As a matter of fact....

we are starting in the morning!!

Isn't this the coolest thing?!!? My aunt went back to college and gave me this 4ft. by 4ft. chalkboard that she used while she homeschooled her girls. I got it up on the wall and am so excited to have it this year instead of just the 1ft by 2ft dry erase board I have used.

I know "Taylor Christian Academy" is a rather generic school name but it is all I have come up with so far. I figure I don't have to solidify a name until I start making transcripts for high school so I am up for suggestions!! I want something different and unique but also representative of the Biblical teaching that goes on in our school . What do you call your homeschool?

I actually had not had a start date set but Tuesday, when we finally got the chalkboard on the wall, I wrote this little note to see what the kids would say about less than one week left of their summer break. The girls were so excited that they wanted to start then! (actually the girls have both done several lessons in their math. A few weeks ago, when they saw me watching the Math-U-See videos in preparation, they just couldn't wait any longer.☺) I did not hear anything in favor of or protesting the 1st day of school from Kenyon so I wasn't sure if he noticed the message. That is until the next morning when I found this note....

"Important-Do Not make it hard!!!!! Kenyon:)" That little note told me that he was ready but just not ready to let me know he was ready, know-what-I-mean?! That's my boy! Never admit you may be a little excited about something like school, especially since your mama is excited!

One thing we did to prepare for the new year was to add a splash of color to the playroom/schoolroom.

Ok, so it is really more like a full on tidal wave of color than it is a splash! When the color swatch says "bright green" it means "BRIGHT green"!

All three kids helped with the painting and it certainly brightened the place up! I totally love it!

Especially after we got our maps hung

and our bookcase loaded with new school supplies. So, are you ready for school?? Have you started??

Now that we are trying to get back to about as normal a life as any homeschool family can have, I hope to get back to a more regular blog schedule as well. Hopefully I will be able to share about all the learning we have been doing before long!!

Have a Great week!!

2010-07-21T10:26:00.001-05:00

As soon as Keslee and Kenyon got home from camp we had just a few hours to get ready for another trip. I had to do do some laundry because, as expected, Kenyon once again did not use his "wet clothes" bag and just dropped his wet towels and swimsuit in his suitcase with everything else.
Monty's sister, Latrese, is in the air force and lives in Virginia. She flew in for the 4th of July weekend. His father, Kenneth, lives in Houston and he drove up for the weekend as well. As soon as Monty got home from work, we headed to his mother's house (about an hour away) to spend the weekend with them all.

LET THE SPOILING BEGIN!!

Aunt Latrese has not been home in 3 years and she definitely made up for missed birthdays and Christmas. She had one entire suitcase full of nothing but new clothes for her very excited nieces and nephew(of course there were a few things for her brother and his wife as well☺).

Once it was all said and done, we had an entire box full of new clothes, shoes, purses, nail polish, head bands, and a few souvenirs from her trip to Brazil.

Of course she could not leave out her only brother! Yes, technically this is a huge dog bed but because it has the cowboys logo she could not resist bringing it home to their biggest fan. It is actually quit comfortable to throw on the floor and watch tv or use to prop up in bed to read a book.

Of course new clothes are always a good thing but Latrese knows that the true desires of a kid's heart is really in the toys and games. You should have seen Kenyon's face when she came back from a quick trip to the store with this X-box!

Knowing that a boy and his new x-box are not easily parted, Latrese was sure to get the girls their own new toy. A Pink Nintendo DS complete with a a game that is all about caring for baby animals until they grow up-that's right up their alley!

Of course, no 4th of July weekend would be complete without a cookout. There were plenty of helpers but Joyce (aka Nana) really did all the work in the kitchen. Homemade potato salad, baked beans, hot dogs, chicken and of course....

RIBS! The girls and I are really not huge rib eaters but Kenyon and Monty were in rib heaven.

Kalysa and Keslee were more excited about the cold watermelon!

The weekend was not all gifts and fun. The guys got together and did a few things around the house that needed done. My mother in law just bought her first house in March and she is still settling in. There were shelves that needed to be hung,

New bar stools to put together, old chairs that needed tightened up and even some yard work.

After some work time, the guys just had to get a little domino play in there

Between the new toys, great food, a little work and a little rest we made time for lots of family time!

I am so glad that Monty's parents are good enough friends that his dad is welcome to stay at his mom's house and truly have family time. Kenneth was not involved in most on Monty's growing up years but has been a great grandpa.

He lives about 8 hours away so we don't get to see him often but he is always the first to call on birthdays and holidays. Monty and his dad pretty much spend the entire football season on the phone with each other. Kenneth is such a great guy and I wish that he had been a much bigger influence in Monty's life before he was grown. Although I can't change the past, I am thankful that he has been a great grandpa to our kids.

It was so good for all of us to have the opportunity to catch up. We don't get that chance nearly enough with Monty's family. With everybody living in different parts of the country and each with our own schedules and commitments, time together is not always easy to arrange.

As you can see, the distance and time between us does not affect the love we have for each other.

Even Kenyon tolerated a few hugs-even outside-where somebody might see it!

We had a great weekend with lots of family time!

None of us really wanted it to come, but the end of the weekend inevitably arrived.

Hugs were given all around

and the goodbyes were drug out as long as possible-until next time!

An only child

2010-07-19T18:14:00.000-05:00

This week(actually the last week of June-I'm a little behind as usual) Kalysa has been an only child. Keslee is now old enough to go to church camp. They left on Monday. Kenyon was very excited but Keslee has been pretty nervous about being away from mom for 4 whole days. That is until it was time for them to leave! She just hopped on the bus and picked her a seat.

I had to remind her to GET OFF AND GIVE US A HUG!!

Kalysa has been dreading this week. She and Keslee are best friends and when I asked what she was gonna do while Kes was gone, she busted in to tears and wailed "I DON'T KNOW!!!"

After all the hugs, everyone loaded up the bus and headed off to camp.

This is my favorite picture! See Keslee's little hand on the window? It just shows the love between two sisters as they each embark on their first week away from each other EVER.

With a last wave, they were gone and I was left with only one child to take home. After a few hours I asked Kalysa what she thought about being an only child. She said "there is no fighting and it sure is quiet!" When I asked if she thought she would like to always be the only child I got a definate "NO! I don't like to go sleep alone!"

We made it through the week. Kalysa got lots of extra one on one time and even got to sleep on the couch a few times. It made her nights alot less stressful. We enjoyed each other and the peacefull quiet of a house with only one kid but by Friday we were all ready to have the whole family back together. All of us EXCEPT Keslee. The first thing she told me when they got back was that she was NOT ready to come home. My little girl did not miss me! The same little girl that can't even stay at grandma's house without a tear or two. The one that has to go with me everytime I leave the house. She had so much fun at church camp. The last several weeks have been filled with stories about the dorms and the Bible lessons and the swimming and the food and the carnival and the other kids. Keslee's life is now just a countdown until she can go back to camp next year. She has spent lots of time preparing her baby sister for next year when it will be their first year of church camp TOGETHER! Through all of her excitment and stories, I can't help but be saddened by it all. It really makes me realize that I don't have any more babies! They are all growing up so fast. Wondering if there is any way that I can hang on to Kalysa a little harder and keep her my tiny baby girl just a little longer!? guess not, huh? :(

God and Country

2010-07-03T09:26:00.000-05:00

1 Timothy 2 says 1.I exhort therefore, that first of all,supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men. 2.For kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3.For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4.Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
This verse tells us that we need to pray for, intercede for and be thankful for all men-EVEN the kings and others that are in authority. How far could our country go if these same people in authority were to find the saving power of Jesus Christ?!?! How can they know if they aren't told? Since it is our ob to tell them, our preacher planned a God and Country Sunday last week. He sent invitations to all of our local and state government officials and military personal. Our church prepared for months to make everything just perfect.

Every part of our building was decorated. The Lord worked out all the details. Hot dogs, apple pie, baseball and Chevrolet are all associated with "all American" so that was the theme. It was amazing to watch as the Lord provided everything from all the food to all the drinks and even the huge tent and chairs to set up outside.

Everyone in the church had a part in it, including the kids. Before the service the kids waved American flags and waved at the arriving and passing cars.

Monty was on parking lot duty.

Members of the Navy were there to present the colors as we opened with the Pledge to the flag, the Christian flag, and the Bible. We then had a moment of silence to reflect on the all the men that have fought and died for the freedoms that we enjoy today (like being able to assemble in church every week without persecution!)

During the silence, the Navy stepped outside and did a 21 gun salute.

And then played taps. It was very powerful!

Afterwards, they looked for and picked up every shell from the shots they fired. I thought maybe I could keep one shell for Kenyon as a reminder, but they have to collect and keep everyone of them.

Our preacher had invited Brother Chuck Harding to bring the message. Brother Harding has held some very prominent positions that has given him a special incite on government workings and employees. He made sure every person (from a mayor, the D.A., an Oklahoma supreme court justice, veterans, active duty military, and local police and fire department members) got a clear presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He preached on liberty. What it is and what it is not. (It is not the freedom to do whatever you want whenever you want.) He challenged everyone to stand for and protect our God given liberties. He also taught about our country's history that seems to have been forgotten like the fact that Paul Revere was on his way to the Preacher's house when he was warning that the British are coming. He wanted to be sure the preacher's men-not the army but the MEN of the church- were ready and the preacher assured him that HE-not the government but from the pulpit-had been preparing God's people all along and they were ready! How many public schooled children will learn that?! Kinda throws that separation of church and state myth out the window, huh. It was a very powerful and informative message. At least 3 of the attendees, raised their hands for salvation and extra prayer.

After the service, everyone moved outside for food and fun. The Starks family provided Christian music. We had tons of hot dogs and apple pie.

Rowdy the redhawk stopped by.

?

He is the mascot for Oklahoma's baseball team.

Kenyon even got his autograph.

Their were some brand new Chevy's on display. This pretty green camaro was my absolute favorite!!

Monty really liked this pick up truck but I think he and Kenyon (and every other man in attendance) agreed that the.....

the little red Corvette was the best. Of course, afterwards, everyone needed to hear some real hard preaching on thou shall not covet!
It was really a great day and God was glorified in everything that took place. We now must continue to pray for our civil servants that had the gospel seed planted.
Hope you all have a GREAT 4th of July!

Taking America Back

2010-07-02T08:39:00.003-05:00

While mom and I do the paper route, we normally listen to a local talk radio morning show. Well, last week they were giving away tickets to the 10th caller. Now my sister, Chastanie, wins those kinda things off the radio ALL-THE-TIME but I never have any luck. (She even won a casket signed by the the members of KISS one halloween. She made enough money off of that thing on ebay to get new carpet!!☺) Well, I decided to go ahead and give it a try and this time I actually was the 10th caller! I won 2 tickets to Glenn Beck's Taking America Back tour and an autographed copy of his new book The Overton Window. I don't get to listen to Glenn Beck's show very often because we don't have cable and I can not get the local AM radio station on any of my radios except in the car but the times I have heard it, I have enjoyed. I always learn something from him and he causes me to have a desire to learn more. I would have to say-that is a good thing! Since Monty is not as interested in spending 3 hours on a Saturday afternoon listening to some political speech, my mom was more than happy to go with me.

The show was hosted by John Rich from the country music group Big and Rich. He spoke between each of the other speakers. He was very good and spoke a lot to the Christians in the audience. He said that 10 million professing Christians did NOT vote in the last presidential election and reminded us all that evil prevails when good men do nothing. I was also glad to hear him give a challenge to any preachers in the audience. He told them that if they were scared to preach the hard hitting lessons from the Bible for fear of offending someone-they were the problem. Our country and our world needs revival and that needs to start at the pulpit.

Next we heard from Carl Rove. His message was not filled with humor but just the facts. He basically crunched the numbers for us all. He explained how the government counts a savings from one area as savings but still uses that money in another area. They are basically counting the same money twice to make the picture seem a little better than it really is. He broke down the spending from the stimulus and the Obamacare and really showed how NONE OF IT MAKES ANY SENSE. No matter what pretty words you use to describe these things-the numbers never lie and the numbers do not show a pretty picture for our country.

Of course Glenn Beck was the main speaker and he had his trusty chalkboard on stage to go over news of the day. He spent a lot of time trying to get everyone to realize just how much of our true history has been rewritten or deleted from what we are being taught now. He stressed how important it is to learn things and research for yourself instead of just eating everything you are fed by government run schools or the media. He gave several historical examples like a bombing in Manhattan in 1916 that can only be compared to Pearl Harbor or 9/11 but nobody has ever heard of. He reminded us that if you do not learn from history you are doomed to repeat it. He gave lots of examples from history where other countries have gone down similar paths that we are on now and that path never ends well. Glenn also gave a challenge to all Christians. We know that God is the answer but we can never expect our country to get back to the great land that it once was if we continue to let them push the Answer further and further out. We have got to stop letting them remove God from our government, our schools, our country, and eventually our lives.

Lastly, there was a special guest. Joe the Plumber. He was really good and it really meant a lot to hear him challenge us all knowing that he is just an everyday guy. Not a professional public speaker, an ex-government employee, not some rich country music singer but just a regular guy that is a plumber and got thrown into the spot light because he asked a presidential candidate a question that the main stream media was to afraid to ask. He encouraged us all to "look it up!" Look up the voting records and past writings of all our candidates. Research what they believe BEFORE we vote for them. Stop sitting in the side lines and then complaining when things get even worse. He stressed that as Christians our job is to serve the Lord and as Americans our job is to serve our country. We can not do either effectively if we always do or believe what others say but never learn it ourselves. He addressed the fact that many people tell him he should have just kept him mouth shut when he met Obama and he would have been saved the grief of being drug through the mud by the media. He assured us that the little bit of persecution he has or will have to suffer is nothing that he can not handle. He reminded us of some of the things the 12 disciples had to go through which really makes the little inconviences or hurt feelings we may go through when we stand for God and our beliefs seem so petty.

Mom and I had a blast and learned a lot. It really did seem like we were kinda at school and then kinda at church. I feel encouraged that so many Americans eyes seem to be opening about the condition of our country and I have real hope that we could see another great awaking. I know that my God is powerful enough to bring our country back to what it was started on if the people's hearts are willing to listen and then to act.

Well here it is

2010-07-01T09:00:00.001-05:00

It seems that most all conservative Christian mom blogs have at least one post all about modesty . I guess it was just a matter of time before this one had one as well. Well, here it is.
For the past few years, the Lord has really been changing my heart where the way we dress is concerned. I have never been one to dress in very revealing clothing so I had always considered myself pretty modest. I have never been much of a girly girl and the only time I wore dresses was for church. Jeans and a t-shirt was pretty much my wardrobe. As I have learned more and more about the distinct and intentional differences that God used when creating men and women, I slowly began finally embracing those differences. I have also learned that modesty is not just about showing skin. It is also about showing the shape and curves that God gave women that incite the desires that God gave men. The Bible says that to lust in your heart is the same as committing adultery. Women should not dress in a way that brings those desires up in every man that passes by.
As I have slowly been changing the way I dress to include mostly skirts, I have experienced benefits that I never even expected. The most shocking to me has been the way I am treated when in a skirt. Many people say that chivalry is dead but I am now convinced it is very much alive in the hearts of men but the appearance of the "lady" is what has died. When I am in a skirt, I am treated like the lady of days passed. Doors open, men call me mam and speak to me in a more mannerly way, someone always wants to lend a hand in things ranging from changing a tire on the side of the road to loading my groceries into my car.
There was a time that I thought the poor women that have to wear dresses all the time were so restricted. Now that I am one of them, I see that I was actually the one that had been in bondage by the jeans I always wore. No matter how great of a pair of jeans I found, they were never as comfortable as a skirt. They had their tight spots, or the gap at the back that showed off your panties every time you bend over or any number of other issues that come with the perfect pair of jeans.
I have learned now that(like most other things) we teach the natural girliness out of our daughters. I have heard many mom's say " my daughter would wear dresses all the time if I let her." For some reason we have started to believe that dressing like a girl is only for times we need to dress up. My own daughters both decided for themselves a few years ago that they wanted to wear skirts or culottes instead of pants. For a long time I held on to many of the jeans they already had just in case. Just in case what-I don't know! I finally got rid of them all and they have never missed them at all. I try to be more aware of the little things that God created my children to be that I unintentionally try to change.
That brings us to my next sewing project. My husband and son are probably the most naturally modest people I have ever met in my life. You will never see either of them without a shirt on-even in the privacy of our home. Kenyon will not wear shorts outside of the house and the ones he will wear in the house must be loose and long. Thanks to the Bible teaching they have had as well as the modest way their father has always lived, my girls understand that we should dress and act modestly. The problem is that they also love to go swimming. They have always had swim suits and just wore a t-shirt over them if they were any where other than our back yard. This summer, when Keslee put on a swim suit to go swimming in my aunt's pool she said "you know mom, I kinda feel naked when I wear a swim suit." I realized right then that I was teaching her convictions out of her. She understands and embraces modesty but I was telling her "be modest every where except when you go swimming." That is the reason Christian children grow up confused and often leave their faith behind. They get mixed messages their whole life from the parents that God gave them to steer them down the straight and narrow path. I started my research then and found the perfect solution. Modest swimwear! It is kind of expensive to buy them but I was not sure if I was skilled enough to make it myself. It just so happened that a lady from our church had the pattern for the ladies swim suit and assured me it was super simple to make. My mom looked it over and decided she could modify it to fit. Another lady from our church works in a fabric store and let me know that they were having a 50% off sale. I got the material, mom cut it all out for me and we got Keslee's suit done before she left for camp!

The material is the same that all swim suit are made of so it will be just as easy to move and swim in. She will not get weighted down like you do with a big t shirt over a suit.

The leggings are a separate piece so it will be a lot easier to go to the bathroom after you are suited up. No more getting totally naked just to use the restroom!

The best part is that I did not teach Keslee to listen to the Lord's convictions "except when....". And she LOVES it!

Sew happy I got it all done!

2010-06-29T15:09:00.006-05:00

Kenyon has gone to church camp for the last several years. This year, Keslee and her friend Gabby were finally old enough. They were sooooo excited. At our church camp, the kids are all expected to dress modestly, which is really no different for my kids than how they dress everyday anyway. Gabby wears skirts or dresses all the time but has never really liked culottes. Church camp involves LOTS of play time and in order to not show the parts that should stay covered, culottes are a lot easier for the girls during play time. Mamie, Gabby's mom, bought some material that Gabby liked and I was able to make Gabby and Keslee matching outfits for the whole week. They LOVED them!

This material is some I had gotten for Keslee and Kalysa. They have the pink panther all over them. I had enough left for 1/2 a pair for Gabby so I used some pink for the other side.

Now all three girls can match.

These are some pink John Deere. There was enough to make 1/2 for Kalysa so I will add one side of plain pink and she will have a pair also.

Keslee and Gabby also had a striped pair and Kalysa got 1/2 stripe 1/2 pink.

I think their favorite is the High School Musical! Kalysa will also get a pair with one 1/2 blue. Keslee and Gabby made sure they had each of their new outfits packed in order so they could wear the same ones each day of camp.

I also was able to make Kenyon new pants for each day of camp. They will be a lot cooler than blue jeans. He has one pair of red checks and one pair of green checks.

There was enough left to make Keslee and Kalysa each a pair of 1/2 red and 1/2 green.

These are Kenyon's favorite (and mine too!) I got all the rest of the material they had and there was only enough to make 3 of the 4 pieces needed. I had to use just black on one leg and I think they turned out so cool. You can't really tell but the design is basketballs, footballs and soccer balls with flames.

I found one piece of this Dallas Cowboy material in the scrap bin and it was just enough to make Kenyon a pair of sleeping shorts. Now you know-these are Monty's favorite.

Kenyon also got a pair with red and white stripes. He calls these his circus pants because they remind him of a circus tent.

There was just enough left to make Kalysa a matching pair.

One of my favorites is this brown plaid. It just looks so preppy and I was so glad that I had enough to make all 3 kids a pair.

When I said I was busy last week, this is why! I got all of this done last week in time for the kids to go to camp. Each of their suitcases were packed full of new clothes and now everyone should be set for clothes through the summer. I have had so much fun having my sewing machine and being able to make my kid's clothes. I have one more sewing project I am sooo proud of but I will do a separate post for it in the next day or so.

Its whats for dinner

2010-06-29T08:28:00.003-05:00

The faucet that I use to turn my sprinkler on is on the outside of the fence so I don't actually check my garden every day even though I water it. Just a few days ago I noticed a couple of the squash blooms were turning from bloom to real life vegetables. I thought I better check it out and man am I glad I did!

Aren't they the most perfect and beautifulest things you ever saw in your whole entire life!!??!! I know-me too!

The clear ruler doesn't do so great for pictures but that baby is between the 8 and 9 inch mark. I still can not believe I did it. I actually have grown something all-by-my-self! Not only did I grow it but....WE ATE IT(one of them anyway) and it was gooooood! ☺

That is just so cool!

Monty always claimed that he hated squash but a few years ago I got him to try it my way and guess what...-I slice it up really thin and steam it until it is really soft and then melt some butter on it-He loved it! Sometimes I will slice some potatoes really thin (skin and all) and steam them with the squash. That is one of our family's faves! After he realized that he DID like squash I got him to try some fried squash and he likes that as well. Now I am just waiting on the fresh okra to grow. Not sure what I am gonna have to do to get him to try that but I am convinced that anyone that doesn't like okra obviously has not tried it. He swears he has but I have never seen him. If not, that will just leave more for me and the kids!

Yall have a good day and if anyone needs me, I will be staring at my beautiful squash for a while!

SOOOO BUSY!

2010-06-24T07:21:00.002-05:00

This week has been so busy and the weekend is gonna be even more jam packed. Haven't had much time to sit and write about any of it yet but once it is over I am sure I will have great things (and photos) to share. Hope you all have had a great week so far and I will fill you in with all the details next week. Just have to say...GOD IS GOOD...ALL THE TIME!

WOOOHOOOO!!!

2010-06-18T08:58:00.002-05:00

Look what I found......

blooms on my squash plants!!

Some of them are getting big. And that is not all either.....

Isn't that little green tomato a beauty?!?!? But still not as pretty as....

This BIG green tomato!!! I am so excited! I did it. I have actually grown something! I can't wait until they start to turn red. I am so ready to PICK something. This is so cool!

Homeless

2010-06-17T07:36:00.002-05:00

I found this guy on the side of the road this morning while I was doing my paper route. This is the after math of our floods. A poor homeless river turtle washed to land. I have seen several turtles on the roads in the last few days but this guy is the largest. Luckily he was only about 10 feet from the bridge that flows over a little creek. I am sure it will not take him to long to find his way home. Of course he could be miles from his original home, but he will find a home none the less. It just makes me think of how so many times life has a way of picking us up from where we are comfortable and happy at a time we were not planning on moving and then dropping us off in a new place that we had never intended to go. Lucky for us, the Lord knows the plan. He knows where we should be and when. He knows that sometimes it takes a storm to get us there. We just have to trust Him, toughen up our shell and seek His guidance on where to go from there.

WOW! We could learn a lot from a turtle.

Completing Him Challenge

2010-06-15T16:12:00.008-05:00

Now if you know me at all, you know that meek, mild, submissive and many other Biblical adjectives used to describe a good wife do not come naturally to me. I am normally much more brass, loud and controlling. When I saw that Courtney, at Women living well, had issued a marriage challenge for the summer, realizing that I need all the help I can get, I knew I better participate.

The first assignment in the challenge is to share our dating story and vow to do something that will captivate your husband the way he was captivated when the love was new. You can read and join the full challenge by clicking on the "completing him challenge" button. Also, please feel free to join in on the challenge whether you blog or not. If you don't have a blog, leave me a comment about what you will be doing to captivate your husband.

~1994~

I have shared some of our dating story here but I will go over it again.
Monty and I met while working at Taco Bell. I was a shift manager and he started working there as a second job. Sparks flew with Monty and I from that very first day. Monty says that he fell in love as soon as I walked through the door. I obviously felt something as well because I popped off with one of my famous smart aleck comments. That kinda got the ball rolling and the little games began. It was just within a few days that he was always teasing me and tickling me whenever he was around. He would come by every night that I was working on his way to his other job (he was the overnight manager at a 24 hour McDonald's). He told all of our fellow employees that we were getting married. They all just laughed but he assured them that they would see. I had been in an abusive relationship for several months and was trying to get out of it. One night, after an especially explosive night at home, I walked to a payphone and called Monty. I still don't know what made me call him. We had never talked outside of Taco Bell. Maybe it was because it was the middle of the night and I knew he would be working all night. Whatever the reason, we talked on the phone while he worked all night. We had only known each other and been sharing over night phone calls for a few days (or maybe a few weeks. I'm not really sure but I know it went really fast) before he asked me out on a real date. Our first date was on October 8, 1994. He picked me up in the early afternoon and took me to an arcade. We played lots of games there and he won me a little stuffed monkey, which he immediately started referring to as our first son. After the arcade we went bowling where he had no mercy and really kicked my butt. He was on a league at the time and was pretty good whereas I had not bowled in years. We then had dinner and saw a movie. It was really a whole day together instead of just a date. Even after spending the entire day together, we just did not want it to end so we sat talking in the car until the sun was about to come up. Monty says that he knew I was the one because we spent the entire day together but he was to scared to even hold my hand (something that was surprising since neither of us had been practicing Godly, pure relationships). After that first date it was clear to both of us that we were meant to be together. It took him a whole 6 days before he asked me to be his girlfriend. I tried to discourage him because I was moving 2 hours away in just another week. I knew that moving was the only way I would be able to get away from the abusive ex. Plus he had caused me so many financial problems, I needed to move back in with mom to regroup and get things back under control. Monty convinced me that we would make it work. On October 14, 1994 we officially became an item. A week later I moved and our long distance relationship began. Neither of us had cell phones and long distance calls were still expensive so we had to use the old fashioned post office to keep in contact.

We wrote letters and sent cards almost on a daily basis. I kept/keep all his letters in this notebook. Although I am normally very camera happy, for some reason the picture on the notebook is the only one I have of us when we were dating.

I do however have several of these hand drawn balloony, bubbly, hearty love pictures.

When I was living with my mom is the only time in my life I have gotten cards for EVERY holiday. He wrote me poems and letters and we each really poured our hearts out to each other on paper. I lived with my mom for about 10 months before I was financially ready to move back to Oklahoma city. When I got back into my own apartment, we began our life together. A few months after I got my apartment, his lease was up and we decided to live together. If I only knew then what I know now, I would not have encouraged this step. We did all the things that couples do.

We have lots of keepsakes from our times together stored in this little box.

It holds things like movie tickets, bowling score cards, tapes that we had made for each other while we were apart, balloons, the first present(a Taz watch) he gave me, Happy New Year hats and even the receipt from our blood test and marriage license. We spent the next 2 years living like we were married. When we found out we were going to be parents, we knew it was way past time to make it official. Because there was some tension from both of our families concerning the whole inter-racial thing, we decided to just go to the court house and get married without telling anyone. We decided to do that on October 14, 1997-three years to the day that he asked me to be his girlfriend. It was so exciting to decide the date and time, make the plans, get everything prepared , and make the trip to downtown Okc with nobody knowing. When it was official, we stopped in at Taco Bell to show everyone that we really did get married. Just like he had told them we would 3 years before. They gave us free food for lunch and then some of the girls threw rice at us when we left. We then stopped by his mom's job to show her our new license. We spent the rest of the afternoon calling everyone we knew to tell them the news.

Now, part of the challenge calls for me to do something that reminds my husband of the "wife of his youth." I have talked to Monty some in the last few days to get some of his ideas. He is now VERY suspicious as to what I may be up to~hehehe! I have decided to try to bring back an appearance, and attitude and and action.

The first thing I am going to do is bring back the braid. A few years before we met I had gotten my hair cut from very long to about shoulder length. Before I cut it, I braided one little section right behind my ear to keep long. I even bleached the braid blond for a while. When I met Monty, my hair was long again but I still had the braid and he loved it. He still mentions it so I will bring it back, at least for a while.
As for the attitude, I need to bring back my confidence. Monty gets very upset with me when I put myself down and always tells me I never used to do that. In my defense-I wasn't quite as over weight then , and had not yet had the chance to be a horrible mother or wife yet. I know he hates it when I feel that way and especially when I voice it and to be honest, it doesn't make me feel any better either. I am gonna work on that.

Now the action I am going to take is bringing back the game nights. Monty and I ALWAYS used to play games. Before we had kids, our kitchen table always had a running game of scrabble or trivial pursuit on it. We do still play games with the kids but I know my husband really misses the very competitive and very serious battles of wits and knowledge that we always shared. I have to make time for just the 2 of us to play together.

Well there is our story and my plans to captivate my husband again....what are you gonna do???

The River Runs Through it...

2010-06-15T15:34:00.004-05:00

Through our town that is. Oklahoma got lots of rain yesterday. Lots meaning more than 10 inches in just a few hours. The kids and I spent yesterday in front of the tv watching firefighters in boats rescue stranded motorist after stranded motorist from the rising water. Several of the poor people actually had to swim from their submerged car and hang in a nearby tree until help arrived. Monty spent about a hour on the highway trying to get to work. He only got what would normally be about 15 minutes away before he had to turn back and come home for the day. The highway was closed. We knew then that we would be flooded in the next day or two. When all the water drains off in Oklahoma city and the surrounding area, it drains into the cottonwood creek. The creek that just happens to go straight through our town. About 8 pm yesterday, our sirens were sounding and the creek was rising.

Our local police officers keep a close watch on the creek and were ready and waiting to keep all our local residents safe.

The signs started popping up all over.

The news stations all came out to get the story.

And the river banks broke free. You can see the large bridge in the background. Under it is where the cottonwood normally flows. This bridge also divides the east side of town from the west side. Over here, on the west side, we have 1 gas station that is not affected by the water and the hospital. The east side has the grocery stores, wal-mart, all the restaurants, and the entrances to the highway to go to Oklahoma city. So basically, we are stuck at home!

I went to this gas station yesterday to fill up before the water came out. They were busy emptying the lower shelves in the store and the freezer. They will spend the next few days with a squeegee and mops getting rip of the Oklahoma red mud.

The news camera men will do whatever is needed to get their shot.

Including wading in red, muddy, knee-high water.

I lived here until I was 7 but my grandma Brock always lived here so we were here often. Monty and I have lived here for 12 years. I only remember one time when I was young that I actually saw the floods come out. My kids have now got to see the flood waters every summer for the past 3 years. They have been out for over 12 hours now. As soon as they recede, I have to go pick up the newpapers I was unable to get to last night and go throw my route. Guess we better load up now and go check it out.

He is moving in!

2010-06-08T14:39:00.004-05:00

You may remember my dad's best friend, Cash. He has been dad's best friend and companion for the past couple of years. Dad is a truck driver and Cash has spent his life on the road with him. When dad first got Cash, he was going through a divorce. Since he had renters living in his house, they stayed with us on their weekends home. Our house is the only home Cash has ever known besides the truck. Now that dad is back in his own house, Cash still stays with us when they are not on the road. He will not stay in dad's yard. My grandma lives with my dad and she does not like letting a dog in the house or on her furniture. Since Cash has never been told that he is a dog, keeping him off the couch or out of the bed is near impossible.

About 2 weeks ago, when dad and Cash showed up, they brought in more luggage than normal. Cash just watched dad as he unloaded his bed(complete with his coat because Cash likes to curl up under it.)

Next came his own little food and water bowls.

Even his bag of food and treats came in this time (since we have dogs as well dad normally did not bring his food home every time.)

You could tell that poor Cash just did not understand what was going on. These were things that never left the truck...he always had everything he needed here. I am sure he also did not understand why dad gave him more hugs and had tears in his eyes when he left. Cash knows dad always comes back in a day or 2 to pick him up-why all the drama???

Unfortunately one of the other drivers has a Rottweiler that rode with him. He left his truck (with his dog still in it) for the mechanics to repair something. When the mechanic opened the door the dog attacked resulting in 37 stitches in the mechanics face. Luckily the man is expected to be ok but now none of the drivers are allowed to take their dogs. Dad was heartbroken and is missing Cash more now than he ever expected.

Dad wanted to make the transition as easy as possible for his little buddy so he brought all of his favorite things, including this stuffed referee doll.

As you can tell, Cash really loved that referee!

I know he misses dad just as much as dad misses him. He watches at the front door. If he hears a car pull up, he runs just knowing it is dad coming to get him. He has started running out every time the door is open to get into the car with us. He just wants to go. We take him when we can but I know it is not the same for him. Dad has not lost hope. All the guys in the office know and love Cash and dad uses every opportunity he has to try to get them to ok him bringing Cash back to work. Until then, he will be staying with us.

Hunker down for the storm

2010-06-02T09:25:00.001-05:00

We live in central Oklahoma. The only place I have lived other than central Oklahoma is the panhandle of Texas. Both are in tornado alley. About the only difference is that in the panhandle of Texas, there is no worry of being hit by a tree since there are none and you can see the storm coming for miiiiillllleees because it is completely flat(of course with no trees to block your sight). So ya see, I have dealt with tornado season my entire life. So many people that have never lived in an area frequented by tornadoes are so afraid of them and say they would never like to live here BECAUSE of tornadoes. First I would like to say that, Yes, I have a fear of tornadoes but I would much rather deal with tornadoes than I would earthquakes or hurricanes. With the meteorology today, we normally know hours before the storm if tornadoes are likely. When they are near, we know almost to the minute when it will be in our neighborhood and they only last a few minutes. During a recent outbreak of severe weather, I decided to catch some photos.

Most of the storm is spent outside if the rain is not too bad. Especially when the warning sirens go off. That is a sure sign that every single person on the block is outside watching. Kenyon is always ready to be right by my side to watch the storm come in. I personally love storms. I love to see the power of God at work and would love to someday ride with a storm chaser. You can watch how fast the storm is moving, see if it is really coming in your direction or will be a few miles away, and of course you can see if there are any funnels forming that will dip down forming a tornado. My husband and my youngest daughter are on the complete opposite of that scale.

Kalysa would much rather spend every scary moment in her safe place(the hall closet) with her bike helmet on and her special blankie in place. Keslee was sure to remind her baby sister, "remember what preacher said God promised in Joshua 1:5 I am with thee. I will not fail thee or forsake thee." and Kenyon reminded them both Psalms 23 says not to be scared even when you are in the valley of death. Monty was at work this night but he gets updates on the cell phone, they had the tv weather on and he was calling to check in on us every few minutes. Alot of time is spent on the phone making sure everyone in the area is watching the storm or having everyone else calling to make sure we are.

Keslee wants to be outside with Kenyon and I watching but she still kinda wants to be in the closet with Kalysa. She goes from checking outside for a few minutes at a time then just watching from a window then going to the safe place. Here she is watching Mike Morgan describe the storm in our area but also in a place that she felt a little safer. Don't really know how well those laundry baskets would hold up but they made her feel better.
Now when the wind starts whipping so hard you can hear it and the sky gets dark all of a sudden and the rain is driving so hard that it stings your arms....

it is time for everyone to get in the safe place. We normally never have to stay there for more than about 10 minutes total before it is all over. Luckily we have never been in an area that was actually hit. We have all gotten to witness plenty of damage after a storm that has hit within miles of us. Now those are some amazing stories. Allthough I pray we never are quite that close, I do love our stormy season.

Call me cheap, I don't mind

2010-05-30T12:31:00.002-05:00

One part of being a stay at home mom and keeper of the home after being a 2 income family is doing whatever is needed to spend less money. When I quit my job 3 1/2 years ago, I had to learn to be more frugal out of pure demand. It got to the point that I was standing in the toilet paper aisle in the grocery store with my calculator reading the number of squares on each roll and calculating which brand really would give us the most for the least money. At least at our walmart, it is White Cloud double rolls, hehehe. I also have done a lot more cooking and baking from scratch. I like cooking and LOVE when my family and friends enjoy what I make but having a full time job just put so many time restrictions on me that I did not get to do it often. I have learned that I can make things that I had previously thought just had to be bought like seasoning packets and bagels. One of the best money savers I have found is laundry soap. I have been making my own for about a year now and have probably already saved our family a couple hundred bucks. It is so easy and cheap and it also does not have all the unpronounceable mystery ingredients that store bought soap does. I used the recipe found on the Duggars website. I figure anyone that washes clothes for 20 people must know something about it! In the past year I have spent about $10 on laundry soap. I don't know why I haven't thought to share this process before now but when I made a new batch this weekend, I decided to take a few pictures.

All ya need is Borax (about $3), Washing soda(about $3), and a bar of soap. I use Ivory which I can get 3 bars for $1. Since you just need 1 cup of soda and 1/2 cup of borax, each 5 gallon batch really only costs a few cents.

First you grate up the bar of soap and cook on low heat in about 4 cups of water. You don't really want it to boil. I have discovered that if you let it continue to cook for a while after the soap is all dissolved it seems to help it thicken. I also add my cup of soda to the pan right when I remove it from the heat and stir it until it is dissolved. I have made some that never got thick but this step seems to help.

We have a 5 gallon bucket that we fill 1/2 way with hot water. Pour the pan on soap and soda into the bucket and then add the 1/2 cup of borax.

Fill the bucket the rest of the way with hot water and stir good. Let the bucket sit over night and it should thicken to look like this..

I have made some that did not get thick but it is still just as usable. It is the ingredients that clean the clothes and not the consistency. I have noticed that I use a lot more per load when it is thin. You can find tons of people that make their own laundry soap and they all seem to recommend a different amount to use per load. I say it really doesn't matter. I use about a cup per load. Some people (like Mrs.Duggar) also fill an old laundry soap container 1/2 full of soap and 1/2 full of water and then use that container when doing laundry. This would make your 5 gallon batch actually 10 gallons. I have done that but I usually just use it straight out of my bucket without diluting it farther and have not noticed any difference. Diluting it farther and using less per load would make this even more frugal but I am happy with $10 or less per year for soap. I just really can not see spending the money on store bought laundry soap again even if we get to a place in our lives that being frugal is not as necessary.

Who's the boss?

2010-05-28T09:41:00.000-05:00

One thing I have learned from homeschooling my kids is that they have at least as much to teach me as I have to teach them. I may know more about math and grammar than my kids do but when it come to spiritual things they are always teaching me. The faith of a child is truly a miraculous thing to witness. They have not yet had the worldly experiences that taint their views and replace their faith with doubt and fear. They hear the word of God and they just BELIEVE IT! Imagine that! How much better off would we all be if we believed the truth as soon as it was presented to us. The complications of the world lead us to incorporate complications into our spiritual lives that were never meant to be there. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is quite simple. He is God and we are to serve Him. He died for us so we should live for Him. He owes us nothing but we owe Him everything! He created us, He knows best so we should trust him. It is just that simple and the kids don't have to struggle to remember that. I thought I would share with you what Keslee reminded me of...

"Mom, when some men pray at our church I think they do it wrong because they say 'Lord help someone' but they should say 'Lord PLEASE help' because we are not the boss of God. We should be asking for His help and not telling him what to do!"

I know right!!???!!! She is 8! Why do we have to be reminded that we are not the boss of God? That is about the most simple concept there could be. God is God and by definition we could not possibly be His boss but we grow up and automatically try to take over.

Why do we do that?

When does that start?

How do we prevent our children from doing the same thing?

I don't have those answers but I know someone that does. I also know that I do not have the power to prevent my children from doing the same as they grow older but once again, I know someone that does. One more thing I do know is that I will be doing a lot more asking and even some Begging for guidance and direction in that area.

Protecting our kids from what?

2010-05-26T08:44:00.001-05:00

This week our church and this world lost someone great but heaven has gotten so much sweeter. Brother Gayle Burroughs has met Jesus face to face. It is oh so wonderful to know where he is but it is still so very painful for him not to be here with us. I am sure his wife, Ms. Aneada, would appreciate your prayers.
Dealing with the death of a man that meant so much to every person that knew him, including my own children, has brought up a question we have dealt with before.
Do you let your children go to a funeral?
Kenyon is now 12 years old so it is not quite as "controversial" for him but some people still question if we should let a 7 and 8 year old go to a funeral. We were questioned more when Grammy died and the kids were about 2, 3, and 7 or even when we lost Uncle Boy(who was actually a step great grandpa, Leroy, but the kids always called him Uncle Boy. Cute story but not the point here.) and the kids were 5, 6, and 10.
The answer is yes we do take the kids to the funeral. I have never understood when people do not take their children to a funeral because they want to protect them. I just have to ask "protect them from what?" In today's world it seems to me there is a lot of protecting the kids from the things of God and exposing them to all the things of the world without a second thought. The penalty of sin is death. Because we are all sinners, there will be a time that we all must die. Death is part of it. How do we expect our children to understand their need for a savior if we "protect" them from the consequence of sin. It amazes me that so many parents want their children to stay pure until marriage but expose them to all the s*x on tv, movies and in today's music with little or no parental control. Parents expect their children not to use bad language but expose them to that same language in the music playing on the car stereo or maybe even use that language themselves. Kids are expected to control their growing and raging hormones but are allowed and even encouraged to have girlfriend/boyfriend relationships even in elementary school. They are allowed to put themselves in intimate situations while the adults in their lives wave good-by with no more than a time limit on when to be finished doing whatever they want in the form of a curfew. So many parents will agree that there are so many dangers in the public school system; whether it is bully's, crime, violence, immoral teachers that may prey on them, or any number of other dangers, but still put their children on that bus everyday. Parents that check on their children playing in the back yard every few minutes to be sure they are ok but send them to strangers at school or day care for 6-10 hours a day with no real way of ever knowing what may be happening to them. Now I don't claim to know all the answers, or even a large part of the answers, when it comes to raising kids but it seems pretty obvious to me that a lot of people are really doing things backwards. When I don't want my children to do something-those are the things I need to shield and protect them from. Because I do want my children to love the Lord, it is apparent that the only way for that to happen is to expose my children to things of the Lord. That means ALL things of the Lord. Even the unpleasant or painful details.
So yes, we will ALL be attending a funeral in the next few days. My children will cry with me and other members of our church family. They will remember all of the great things about Brother Burroughs. They will talk about all the fun things we did at the annual cook out at his house. They will hug Mrs. Burroughs and feel her pain. They will pray for her for months just as they have prayed for her husband for the last year. They will understand why we must all go through the pain we feel now and then they will rejoice for Brother Burroughs as he walks the streets of Gold and talks with Matthew, Peter, Luke and Jesus Himself. By allowing my children to attend the funeral of people they knew and loved, I am protecting them. I am protecting their hearts and their souls by not hiding the Lord from them.

Hard work or hard fun??

2010-05-21T15:32:00.006-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we actually had a weekend that was nice and cool and was not raining. Thankfully we were able to get lots of outside work done. Monty and Kenyon worked together on the front yard. We have several bushes in front of the house that are unruly and just plain ugly. Not being trimmed at all during the winter meant that you could no longer see the windows on the front of our house. I was expecting them to be trimmed but the guys decided to just chop most of them out completely.

The roots are very deep and will take a lot to get them out but at least for now the ugly is gone.

Kenyon's job was piling the limbs near the curb so we could get ready for bulk trash pick up day. Of course the mind of a 12 year old boy looking upon a pile of cut limbs makes ya start to think...."Wonder if I could take my bike...."

"Yep! It works." A pile of limbs makes a great obstacle to drive through. Kenyon would drag more limbs to the pile then take a few runs through the middle of it then pile on some more and try again. We should learn from the kids and continue to try to make our own mundane work a little more fun.
While the guys were in the front yard, the girls and I were working on a garden. We tried a garden a couple of years ago but it was a total bust. This year we went much smaller and we started tomatoes and lettuce inside to get them going.

We had a 10X10 plot tilled and I decided to take measures to prevent the weeds from taking over. The girls helped me roll out the weed control stuff(not really sure what it is called). I then just cut holes at the spot I wanted to plant something and dug the hole. The girls helped transplant our tomato and lettuce plants and then spread mulch. Just like their brother, they were continually looking for ways to make the work more fun. They kept telling me "boy, planting a garden is really hard work!" I am not sure what part they thought was the hard part. Maybe it was burying the seed(packet and all) and then digging for the buried treasure(and not finding some of them for a few hours!); or maybe it was sifting the dirt through their fingers "looking for grass" even though it appeared to me more like throwing dirt; maybe the hard part was trying to jump over the mulched part and landing in the dirt; then again maybe it was just hard on them because I kept taking the little shovel to actually plant a seed while they were trying to dig their own holes for other reasons.

Nevertheless, we got about 1/2 the garden finished and have tomatoes, lettuce, okra and squash. It was a productive weekend day and we all had a little fun . Of course one of the best parts for the kids was....

playing in the dirt with mom. And then of course the fun of...

the clean up.

All the rain that we have had means I have not even had to water but our garden is doing great. A little over a week after the planting...

we have sprouts! The okra and squash are both coming up and the lettuce and tomatoes are doing well in their new home.

So far the weed control stuff is working great as well. I have high hopes for our little garden this year. I guess I can't call it our first garden but hopefully we will be able to have a first harvest.

HE DID IT!!!

2010-05-18T18:18:00.005-05:00

♪♪♫insert pomp and circumstance....♫♪♫

Isn't he handsome!?! That is my baby brother John. My baby brother that is now 18 years old and.....

a high school graduate!

Yep! He got his diploma even though he kept us guessing until the last minute. He went to a Christian school and they use the ACE paces. In the last WEEK of school, John finished a 15 page term paper and 10 paces. TEN PACES. And not easy paces but in classes like Algebra 2 and senior English. He did a few months worth of work in 1 week and we were all on pins and needles until we talked to him at 4pm on the last day of school and learned that he finished it all! He made it and did get to graduate! Not only that, he finished on the B honor roll just 1/10 of a point from an A. That is based on ACE grade scale-not the normal public school scale. He had to make a 93.4 average to get an A. Proof that my brother can and WILL do whatever he puts his mind to!

Here he is with his fellow graduates. Yes, he was the only senior boy. John has been a big flirt since he was about 2 years old so I am sure that he was not bothered by that at all! ☺

It was so good to get to see everybody. This is John and Heath(his cousin) with Brother Jayson. Brother Jayson is just the most awesome music director a church could ever have. He is also the writer/singer of about 20 of the greatest God honoring songs I have ever heard. Unfortunately, God saw fit to call him and his wonderful family out of his music director position at our church into a full time youth director position a few hours away. I guess it was about time he put that Bible college degree to work but we sure miss them all!

Not sure what was up with all the guys holding each other. When I got my camera back, I found John holding Heath, Heath holding John, Jayson holding Heath and John, John holding Chris, Chris holding John and maybe some others. Looks like they were all having fun so I guess that is what counts. I have also said understanding my boy is my biggest challenge. If these boys are any indication, it will be a never ending challenge.

John and his fellow graduates out of their caps and gowns.

John's buddies all came to watch him graduate.

My grandad (mom's dad) had come down a few days earlier because he has an older sister that is not doing well. He made the trip down from Washington to see her one last time. He spent the week with us here and got to watch his youngest grandson(not counting the GREAT grandsons) graduate. Don't know when the last time was that my mama got a picture of herself with her daddy and ALL of her 6 kids. AAAWWWW....good times!!

Unsocializing my homeschoolers

2010-05-08T11:58:00.000-05:00

We are a homeschool family. Like every other homeschool family, we do what works best for our family. We are not the family that gets up at 7:30 every morning and finishes school shortly after lunch. We normally START school after lunch time. Because of that, we are often not finished for the day until 5pm. The children in our neighborhood all attend public school. I have had a hard time getting them to understand that just because they are home from school at 2:30 does not mean my children are free to go play. I tend to get very impatient when the little boy down the street rings my door bell every twenty minutes just to ask "are you done yet?" When public schools have a day out does not mean that we will not be doing school. There is one little boy in the neighborhood that has told my kids that they do not have to do school and can come and play because there is no school that day. This same little boy feels that it is ok to ring my door bell at 8:30 am on the weekends. With the hours of Monty's job and me doing a paper route in the middle of the night, we DO NOT get up at 8:30 on weekends (or most any day!). I also do not like for my children to play with the neighborhood kids everyday. These children are outside from the time they get home from school until the sun goes down. I believe playing outside all day is great but I don't know when they ever have any family time. When my kids are with their friends every single day, problems arise in our home. They start to focus purely on their friends. They start talking to me in a way they know not to talk to me in. They fight more with each other. The family relationships we work so hard to preserve seem to go out the window fast.
I had to find a way to UNSOCIALIZE my homeschooled kids. A way to keep the door bell from disrupting our school time. A way to keep the door bell from disrupting our family times. I decided to make a sign for the door that was simple enough for even the 6 year old neighbor boy to understand.

This is now what they see as they step on to my porch. I hang this sign on the door at night and leave it there until I decide my kids can go outside(in the front yard) and play. They are still able to go in the back yard because we have a privacy fence. When I feel that me kids have had TOO much friend time, I just leave this sign up all day long. We can often hear little boys on the porch reading the sign but we never hear that door bell ring! That may be because Keslee asked me what I would do if they rang the bell anyway and I said "I will just whoop their butts!" Keslee told them all what I said. Of course I would never spank them without their parents permission (even though a few of them really need it) but as long as they think I will-I don't have to worry about that door bell!

89er days

2010-05-06T12:55:00.001-05:00

April 22, 1889 was the date of the first land run in Oklahoma. Every year we celebrate 89er days with parades, carnivals, rodeos, and tons of other activities. My mother and my youngest brother John also share a birthday on that same date. Not many people get to say that their city throws a parade every year for your birthday. hehe:) We have several other family members with birthdays around the same time and 89er days have always been a time of family fun for us. This year John turned 18 years old. I can't believe my little brother is 18!!! To start the festivities, his other brother and brother in laws had to chase him down....

tackle him...

and give him his 18 birthday spankings! No birthday would be complete without that!!

It did rain during the parade (which is not uncommon) but it was such a nice, light rain that it did not ruin it. I always remember this HUGE American flag being carried in the parade when I was younger.

It was always one of my favorites parts and I was so glad to see the boy scouts bring it back out this year.
Luckily the rain did not stick around all day and the kids got to enjoy the carnival.

I still can not believe that ALL of my kids are big enough to ride everything. The girls are not yet ready to try the flipping rides like the zipper but Kenyon was able to get his cousin Alyssa to ride with him for her first(and maybe last) time. One of the girls favorites is

the zero gravity. They will ride it over and over and every time they do I am so thankful that the Law of gravity is a constant!!! Can you find them on there???

You can't tell by the look on Nathaniel's face in this photo, but everyone really had a great time. We always have so much fun on 89ers but I am glad it only comes once a year. It was a busy, fun filled day and NOBODY had a problem falling asleep that night. (by the way-this ride had not started when the picture was taken and Nathaniel decided to get off before it did! )

When homeschooling doesn't work

2010-05-05T13:32:00.000-05:00

I ♥ homeschooling. I will just let you know that I am "one of those homeschoolers." believe that home school is the best option, it is for everyone, and ANYONE could do it if they wanted to. I realize that there are several factors in our world today that often times make it harder or seem impossible for some families to homeschool. If our country would have stayed on the path our fore father's intended and continued to seek the Lord in all of our endeavors, I believe homeschooling would still be the norm instead of the exception. Unfortunately I have experienced one incident when homeschooling does not work today.

As you may know, I have homeschooled my sister, Jacinta, for the last 2 years. She joined our homeschool because she is just a year younger than my son and my mom works and does a paper route. She had been enrolled in a Christian school since Kindergarten but my mom and step dad found themselves with financial difficulties that made continuing to pay tuition impossible for them at the time. I thought that I was helping them and helping her by taking her education on myself. The first year went really well. We all enjoyed it and learned a lot. Well, that is not true-we did not ALL enjoy it. My husband did not like it. Monty feels like I take to much on. I try to be everything for everyone. I always want to help others and often times it is at the expense of my own responsibilities. Monty told me that he did not want me to continue teaching Jacinta. When this school year started, my mom and step dad's financial situation had not improved and my mother's jobs make her time very limited. I decided to continue with Jacinta's education.

IT DID NOT WORK!

It did not work because I was in direct disobedience to my husband which means I was also being disobedient to God. I did not submit to his will as the Bible instructs me to do. It did not work because I can not "home" school a student that does not live in my home. One of the greatest benefits of homeschooling is the relationships that develop between all the members of the family. Being together and learning together is natural. Jacinta was not getting any of those benefits. She was getting angrier everyday that she had to come to my house. She did not like for her sister acting as her mother while she was here. We are to the point that we do not even like each other anymore. I realized that I am not helping Jacinta or my mom. I have tried to take on a responsibility that is not my own. In doing that, I became an enabler. Just like anytime we outsource any of our own responsibilities, we do not deal with the problem at hand and just let the other person or government entity take over. Nothing is solved.
Even though this years school year has been very difficult and at times I wonder if we have actually progressed academically, I learned many lessons. First and for most, I learned that I should have listened to my husband. No matter how much I tried, I could not make things work and I know that is largely due to the fact that I was going against my husband's wishes each day that I continued. My own convictions to never put my own children back in public schools have also gotten stronger. I have seen first had the fact that only I have my children's best interest at heart. Even though Jacinta is my sister, I love her, and I want only what is best for her (which is what every public school teacher would tell you), it is not the same. There were many times that she had a bad attitude (she is 13!) and wanted to argue about different lessons. Although I tried, I did not feel the same need to make sure she "got it" that I feel with Kenyon in the same situation. I will always go the extra mile for my own children. That same instinct is just not there for someone else's child no matter how much you love them.
These lessons were hard to learn and even harder to admit to myself and then admit to my mom. Luckily, it only took this one year and now I want to make everything right. I have told my mom and step dad that I will not be teaching Jacinta after this school year. I do not know what avenue they are going to use for the rest of her education but they will figure that out. It is not my place to make those decisions. I have to concentrate on my own family; teaching my own children; honoring my own husband. I am soooo excited about this next year of school. It will actually be the first time that it will be just me and my 3 children. It will be a whole new dynamic for us. I can't wait! If the joy that I have been experiencing in my marriage since the day I made the decision to not homeschool Jacinta is any indication-NEXT YEAR IS GONNA BE AWESOME!!

You know what this means.....

2010-05-03T23:34:00.004-05:00

Here is another hint....

You got it yet???

YEP! You guessed it....

HOMESCHOOL CONVENTION TIME!!!

Last weekend was the 3rd homeschool convention that I have gotten to go to. The last two years I went with my mom and we tried to sit in on as many workshops as possible. They were always good and we both always learned a lot. This year my mom was not able to go. I did not want to go by myself so I thought I may not go at all. That was until I found out.....

AMY GOT TO COME DOWN!!!!

I was so excited to see her. Her husband, Tanner, had to work on Friday so they did not get to OKC until late Friday. Since the convention is on Friday and Saturday, we decided to just get a shopping pass for Saturday and skip the workshops. Amy had never gotten to go to a convention so it was really helpful for her to get to see everything available and talk with the vendors about how it all works. We spent the entire day walking and talking and BUYING! It was a lot of fun and we both got everything we will need for the next year. We also ran into a few ladies that are very important to me and Amy got to meet them. I have talked about them so often to Amy and they have heard lots about her so I think they all kinda felt like they already knew each other. It was great to get to catch up a little.

In the past I have gotten to look at all the curriculum and decide what I wanted and then order it later. This year I pretty much knew what things I was looking for and I actually got to buy at the convention. Here is what I got. I have decided that I will do My Father's world-Rome to the Reformation with all 3 kids since the girls are reading pretty well know. This will really help since I won't have to teach 3 different levels everyday. They will each just do the assignments within their own level. I also got Truth in Science for Kenyon. My Father's World uses Apologia but I wanted to supplement more for Kenyon so we will do both. I got to hear a talk by Dr. Sharp last year and really fell in love with this science. I am so excited to start it. Keslee will continue to work on her Eagle's wings science that she has not finished yet and I may order another workbook for Kalysa. All three kids are going to use Math U see this next year. I am waiting on Writing Strands. They were sold out at the convention but I was able to order it and it will be mailed with no shipping costs. Kenyon is still working his way through Intermediate Language lessons and the girls will start on Primary Language lessons. Kenyon will also be finishing his Personal Help for Boys. I also go a few extras like a unit study guide for Little House in the Big Woods. We may try to go through it this summer. I got some more penmenship books-Keslee is gonna start cursive- and several paperback classic books for reading.

It feels so good to have everything ready for the next school year and I am so excited about the upcoming year. Of course the kids can't help get excited when a new load of books arrive and the girls are already asking if we can start "new school" instead of finishing what we have. Kenyon is excited because we will be building a castle and learning to play chess. Monty and he play some but he has already been reading the new chess book to learn all the tricks. I think he is excited about some of the other books as well but he just doesn't want me to ever know about it. Now I will be spending the next few days going through the different teacher manuals to prepare myself for the next year.