Adoration

Giving praise to the Lord is of utmost importance in our walk with God. Filling our lives with thanksgiving for all that he has given and done for us is a must. But it needs to be so much more than just thanking Him for the blessing he bestows upon us. We are to adore Him.

The definition of Adore is: to worship; to offer honor and respect; to express reverence and homage.

"Adoration is intense admiration culminating in reverence and worship, together with outward acts and attitudes which accompany such reverence. Adoration is perhaps the highest form of worship, involving the reverent and rapt contemplation of the Divine perfections and prerogatives, the acknowledgement of them in words of praise, together with visible symbols and postures that express the adoring attitude of the creature in the presence of his Creator" (Blue Letter Bible- by D. Miall Edwards)

To adore someone is to have intense admiration for them. The Webster dictionary says that to admire someone is to regard them with wonder and delight or to hold them in high esteem. I am convicted by this. Do I adore my Lord, really? Do I show intense admiration for my Savior? This is an area of my walk with God that I need to immensely improve on. I need to delight in the Lord. Just the word delight paints such a visual picture in my mind. Do I find delight in the Lord? I honestly would have to say most days I get caught up in the busyness of being a mom and wife and forget all about the awesomeness of God. I need to refocus my life. I need to show the Lord the high esteem that is HIS due.

Psalm 100 speaks of delight in the Lord. It gives praise to God and the writer shows pure adoration for His Creator.

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."

Dear Heavenly Father, Help me to put you first. Give to me the desire to stop and adore you. I need to live my life so that others can see how much I delight in your love, mercy and grace. Grant me the ability to see your unfathomable love and help me to return that love with pure, wholehearted adoration.

For more inspirational thoughts visit Celly B at Busy At Home

God's Bounty

I have been busy in my garden the past couple of weeks. We are enjoying the bounty of the crops we planted. I planted 4 hills of cucumbers and they are producing very well. I took the above picture of one of my cucumber plants that was just loaded with blossoms.

Our two rows of green beans are just loaded with beans. I have been picking every other day and getting two large bowls full with each picking. We have been enjoying them. We eat a lot of them raw, before I can even get them in a pot! Fresh green beans are one of my favorites and I look forward each year to eating more than my fair share!

With all this great produce coming out of our garden I have been busy try to preserve some of the summer goodness. Here is the beginnings of my winter supply.

Dilly Beans and Pickles

Dilly Beans

2 1/2-3 lbs green beans, trimmed

1/4 + 1/8 c canning salt

3 3/4 c vinegar

3 3/4 c water

red pepper flakes

7 cloves of garlic

7 heads of dill

Combine salt, vinegar and water in large saucepot. Bring to boil then turn down heat. Place in jar, 1 head of dill, 1 garlic clove, and 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Pack beans lengthwise into hot jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Ladle hot liquid over beans, leaving 1/4" headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust 2-piece caps. Process pints 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Yield 7 pints.

These taste SO good in the winter! We just love them!

"Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God" II Chronicles 9:11

Homeschool Scheduling

When we first started homeschooling 8 years ago, I had no need for a schedule. But, now that I am teaching 3 of my children I have found that my days go more smoothly if we try to follow some sort of schedule. Isaac will be starting 6th grade. I have found that he can do much of his work independently for the first couple of hours before he needs one on one time with me. Jacob will be entering 4th grade. He struggles with some pretty substantial dyslexia. He requires a lot of one on one teaching so, I sit next to him for the majority of his schooling. Caleb will be entering 1st grade. He, too, will need more individual teaching time. Lauren is 2, rambunctious, noisy and requires a lot of mommy time. It should be an interesting school year people!

Anyway, I wasn't going to post my schedule, but then I decided it might just help someone else plan out their homeschool schedule for the year. I teach mostly using Sonlight Curriculum. Isaac will be doing Core 5 which starts a 2-year study on the Eastern Hemisphere. For science he will start a basic study of Anatomy. For Language he will use Sonlights curriculum which includes dictation, writing and grammar. They will all be using A Beka Math. Jacob and Caleb will be doing Core 1 which starts a 2-year study on World History. Jacob will continue his extensive study of phonics using Explode the Code workbooks, One Minute Reader, A Workbook for Dyslexics, and any supplemental activities that tie in with what he is learning. Caleb will use A Beka and Explode the Code for phonics. Both Jacob and Caleb use Handwriting With Out Tears for their handwriting. For spelling Isaac uses Spelling Power and Jacob and Caleb use Sequential Spelling. So now that you have a general idea of our curriculum here we go:

Isaac's Schedule
8:30-9:00 Group Bible time, Bible verse, calendar, weather, pledge to allegiance
9:00-9:30 Reading from Jacob and Caleb's latest chapter book and poetry reading for the day
9:30-10:00 Work on math independently
10:00-10:15 Independent Bible Study
10:15-10:30 Wordly Wise- vocabulary
10:30-11:00 Science
11:00-12:00 Work with mom. Study new math concepts, work on dictation exercises or language and writing assignments, spelling words for the day.
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:00-1:20 Piano
1:20-1:30 Typing
1:30-2:30 History reading, reading of current chapter book, poetry reading, with mom.
2:30-? Finish any undone work and do independent reading.

Jacob and Caleb's Schedule
8:30-9:00 Group Bible time, Bible verse, calendar, weather, pledge of allegiance
9:00-9:30 Reading Jacob and Caleb's current chapter book and daily poetry reading
9:00-9:30 Work with Caleb on new math and phonics concepts. Jacob works on math independently
9:30-10:00 Caleb works independently. Work with Jacob on math.
10:00-10:30 Work with Jacob on phonics. Caleb Free time.
10:30-11:00 Spelling with Jacob and Caleb and verbal phonics review
11:00-11:30 Free time
11:30-12:00 Jacob does One Minute Reader or Language Tune-Up Kit and completes any unfinished work
12:00-1:00 lunch
1:00-1:30 Jacob reading out loud to mom and A Workbook For Dyslexics
1:30-2:30 Free time
2:30-? Reading with Caleb. Science and History Reading. Help Jacob and Caleb complete any unfinished work.

I didn't schedule Lauren, because there is no scheduling this girls whims! I usually set her up with a coloring book and crayons or washable markers in her high chair. This will keep her happy for a little bit. Then we move to puzzles, toys, babies, whatever will work. Sometimes I require one of the boys to play with her if she gets to disruptive. As you can see I need to be flexible and some days our schedule just goes by the wayside. But, I know from experience, that if I don't have some sort of schedule to follow, things don't get done. I need to have a time line to refer to. Now that Isaac is older I can place the schedule in front of him and require that he follow it. It is teaching him resposibility and time management. Two very important life skills.

This is just my first draft of our schedule I usually have to do some rearranging to accommodate each child's needs and personality. For those of you who homeschool I hope this will give you an idea of how our school days flow. If any of you have any questions please leave a comment or e-mail me. I would be glad to answer any question or be of help to you.

Re-focusing

Last night I found a blog through my sister's blog it is called For Leslie. Please take a moment to read a couple posts on this blog. This family needs our prayers right now. Leslie, a young mother, just went home to be with her Savior after a long battle with cancer.

After reading a beautiful post from her husband, I was heavy hearted. He wrote so eloquently that I could feel his pain, but also the comfort he felt because his beautiful wife was in the Father's arms no longer suffering. I can't even imagine what he must be going through right now.

I also felt guilty because, I had spent the last part of the day in a funk. Lauren was a handful this weekend and the boys were bickering. Joel had been busy and away from home all weekend. I let all of this bother me and put me in a bad mood. Then I read the blog about Leslie. I was ashamed of my thoughts and behavior. I had been acting like a spoiled brat. I am so blessed but all I could focus on was myself, not the blessings God has given me.

I spent some time in the quiet of the shower praying for Leslie's family. Then I begged the Lord for forgiveness. I asked Him to cleanse my heart from selfishness. I prayed that He would open my eyes and heart so that I can enjoy each moment spent with my children (even the unhappy, crabby, bickering times).

I finished my shower, dressed, brushed my teeth and walked into my bedroom still with a heavy heart, feeling grief for Leslie's family. What I saw brought tears to my eyes. There was Lauren snuggled in my bed. I was a little suprised because I had laid her down to sleep in her bed about an hour earlier. I quickly crossed the room, laid down next to her and swooped her up into my arms. I buried my nose in her hair and thanked the GOOD Lord that I can be a mommy to her and her brothers. I don't want to focus on the negative any more. I want to focus on the blessing of my children and how grateful I am to be their mama.

Please remember to pray for Leslie's husband, young son, and family. Take time to read their blog it will touch your heart and change your outlook on life.

My Chicken Poop!

LOOK WHAT I GOT!!!

According to Lauren this is my "Chicken Poop"! It doesn't look like much, but hey, it was free! Joel will be putting OSB board on the roof then re-shingling it. After he does some minor repair to the outside walls, I am hoping to primer it and paint it with some red barn paint that my parents have. I really want to trim around the windows and door with white paint to make it look cute and country. Ya know, cuz chickens like that!

The inside of this little shack is actually pretty nice (hard to tell from this picture). It has a ceiling and walls that someone put tongue and groove board on. Joel had suggested making it a potting shed. OH, was that tempting! But, I really want to try to be a bit more self sufficient, so we are going to eventually get some chickens.

Right now, my friend is hatching guineas for me. Joel and I are hoping they will help eradicate a big bug problem we have. We live on top of a big sand pile and each summer our yard becomes infested with Cicada killers. They are a HUGE wasp that nests in the ground. They supposedly aren't aggressive, but we think otherwise! They tend to dive bomb us which results in a lot of running and screaming and that's just me, you should see the kids. Of course, our little, itty, bitty guineas won't help us this year, but hopefully next summer they will earn their keep and slay all these big, bad bugs.

Let me tell you that this picture doesn't do justice to the scare factor of these beasts! They are super big, fast, and they make a yellow jacket seem friendly.

Praise Him!

"How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears." II Samuel 7:22

This verse comes from a prayer of King David. He is talking to the Lord concerning the promise God made to establish David's throne forever. Whenever I read in the Bible about David, I am reminded of the importance of praise. David loved the Lord. He showed his love by praising God with his heart and lips. He didn't just think thoughts of praise. He lived them and spoke them.

So often I come to God asking and pleading for this or that. I get caught up in the moments of my life. Too easily I forget to praise the Lord. But praise should be constantly coming from my lips. It should be pouring forth from my soul.

Yesterday as I was hanging laundry on the line I was thinking about this verse. As I looked around me I saw God's greatness. How can anyone miss it? Especially this time of year. The flowers are so gorgeous and intricate. The butterflies and birds abound in beauty. Watching the bees as they float from flower to flower, toting around their packages of pollen is amazing. Listening to the steady hum of the cicadas gives me a sense of peace. Our God is AWESOME. Just step outside, look and listen you will see God's greatness.



One of my favorite hymns is "For the Beauty of the Earth" by Folliott S. Pierpoint (1835-1917)

For the beauty of the earth, For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies:

Lord of all to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

For the wonder of each hour Of the day and of the night,

Hill and vale, and tree and flower, Sun and moon and stars and light:

Lord of all to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

The beauty of the earth is only one area where I can praise the Lord. My life is full of blessings from the Lord that deserve recognition and praise. My prayer is that I don't forget God's greatness. I want to be more like David and praise the Lord with all my heart.

For more inspirational thoughts from the Bible visit CellyB and read Thirstin' For the Word Thursdays

I'm Surrounded!

Yesterday evening and today we are holding our annual boys night. Each summer I schedule a boys party for my sons. They each get to choose one friend to come and spend the time with them. So at this moment, I have 6 boys in my basement. Star Wars is being featured on the TV and someone is playing a computer game that is accompanied with some happy arcade music. The noise is... well I am sure you can imagine! Then you throw in Lauren who is just happy to have company and it hits a crescendo!

Having a house full of boys got me to thinking about boys in general and the crazy things they do. They are full of adventure, energy and life. My boys love to wrestle and get a good gotcha last game going on with their dad. Our house can get pretty chaotic at times. I find it best to get to a safe spot when these games start up. Unfortunately, someone always tends to get hurt, but that doesn't stop them from going at it again. They absolutely enjoy the time spent with their dad in an active non-stop game

The other day they all decided, Joel included, that it would be great fun to set up a plywood ramp off some of the big rocks that line our drive. Joel fired up the mini-bike that was given to us. Truthfully, it is a piece of junk, but Joel tinkered with it till he got it running. He cut out an OSB board seat for it and called it beautiful! Anyway, the boys hopped on their bikes, Joel got on this tiny motorized bike and away they went. Taking turns racing across the driveway and flying off the end of the ramp. Lauren and I sat down on the front steps a safe distance away and I prayed that no one would get injured. The next 15 minutes were filled with laughter and daredevil jumps. Then, Joel parked the mini-bike and started up the 3 wheeler. My head was swimming with the horrible outcomes he might face if he took that over the ramp. But, I just sat there shaking my head because, boys will be boys. He raced toward the ramp, launched and almost flipped the thing over on top of himself. He came down laughing and I turned a slight blue from the breath I was holding. I'm sure I will go gray before my time.

Having boys is a major learning experience for me. I grew up with 3 sisters and a brother, but my brother has never been rambunctious and loud. Maybe it was because he was surrounded by sisters! I have had to learn to let my sons be boys. What I mean by that is, I could so easily throw my arms around them and hold them back from doing what boys do best: having crazy adventures that sometimes end in minor bodily harm. But, I want my boys to be what God designed them to be. To do that I have to let go of some of my tendency to over protect. One of the best books I have read on this subject is "Bringing Up Boys" by Dr. Dobson. I was already heading down the correct path with my boys, but this book just affirmed that I was going the right way.

Everyday is a different adventure with my boys but I wouldn't want it any other way. Because my boys are wonderful, beautiful, silly, active little beings and I am truly blessed to have three of them!

Homeschool To Do's

We will be starting school on August 18th. Before that day comes I have some to do items on my list like this:

Organize our school closet

This closet holds everything we need and use throughout the school year. All our literature, history and Bible books, my teacher books, our science curriculum and supplies needed for experiments, some craft supplies, and coloring books for Lauren. It has gotten a little out of hand since last year and being the neat freak that I am, I feel it is time to do some damage control!

Next on the list:

Clean out the boys school boxes
Each of the boys have a drawer in this plastic filing cabinet. This is where we put any workbooks, notebooks, and projects that each child is working on. As you can see, they are in need of some cleaning and organizing.

Also on my list is to re-do our chore chart, figure out a tentative schedule for the school year, print out schedule blocks for Isaac so that he can keep track of his school work, look over my teacher books, and get everyone back on our morning schedule. We get really relaxed in the summer and I let everyone sleep in, but during school I like to keep to a stricter schedule. So in the coming weeks I will be getting everyone used to a morning routine that we will be using during our school year.

For now it is time to tackle that closet!

Wake Up!

At 5:15 this morning I about jumped out of my skin when I heard a loud rap on my bedroom window. I slowly crawled across the bed, pulled back the curtain and peeked out the window. I forgot to grab my glasses and I am pretty useless without them. So, all I could see was a blob of light shining. My heart was beating in my throat at this point, but thankfully I heard the sound of Joel's truck running. I finally realized it was just my husband and not some crazy lunatic out to harm me.

I lowered the window and he told me he needed my help out in the rabbit barn. I threw on a pair of running pants and a fleece. Once again I forgot my glasses, foggy brain syndrome I guess! I stumbled down the porch steps, literally! I got out to the barn and Joel informed me that our doe (female) Runt had recently had 8 babies. He needed me to shine the flashlight into the nest box while he made up a decent nest for them and placed them all in the same place. Sometimes the mama isn't a great nest maker and we have to help them out. Runt didn't do too bad of a job but, she had delivered the bunnies in different spots in the box. Our job was to improve the nest and place all the babies in one spot.

I am extremely relieved that she was able to have such a good litter. Her last litter gave her and us some fits. Only one baby lived and she has a deformed tail. All the rest were born dead. We even had to give her a couple of shots of Oxytocin to help her deliver one that was stuck. You may wonder why we even tried to breeding her again, but it all comes down to production. We feel we need to have productive rabbits to help cover the cost of feed, etc. If she was unable to deliver healthy live babies, we would have had to sell her. I am very happy about this litter because I didn't want to get rid of her. I am kinda partial to my bunnies!

After all of this commotion, I climbed back into bed hoping for a bit more shut eye. But alas, that was not to be. Lauren was up at 6:00 ready for cereal. Up, I got, because there is no denying this precocious toddler her cereal cravings.

At the present moment, I am loading up on coffee so that I can face my grand adventure today- grocery shopping with all 4 of my precious little blessings. It should be interesting. Pray for me! :)

Please Excuse My Absence

Sorry for the lack of blogs for the past few days, I succumbed to the foul grip of illness and I do mean foul. Not fun my friends. To top that all off on Saturday Joel and I had a big canoe trip planned with 4 other couples. So after spending 2 days in bed, I drug my poor self out of the house to go. Normally I would have just told Joel to go with out me, but we haven't had to much husband/wife time lately. Plus, I look forward to our annual canoe trip each year.

Well, let me tell you, it rained the entire 5 hours we were in the canoe. At first, I put on a cheepie plastic poncho to try to keep dry. But, after Joel tipped us reaching for his super soaker squirt gun, I gave up. It was quite interesting to say the least! When we tipped I thankfully landed on my feet and the water was only up to my thighs, but the muck was up to my calves and it sucked my flip-flops down, down deep. We searched for a couple of minutes and then magically they popped right up out of the muck! We climbed back in the canoe, but by that time it was half full of water and it was sloshing from side to side threatening to tip us every other second. We paddled precautiously to the bank and right before we got there tipped again. As we did my paddle continued down the river without us! We got up on shore thoroughly soaked, tossed our gear on land and dumped the canoe. I stripped off the poncho that wasn't going to do me any good anymore and we jumped back in to rescue the run away paddle.

We had a great time! Almost everyone had come with super soaker squirt guns (not that it mattered how wet we got with all the rain) and those who didn't either got tipped from their canoes by my husband (I know quite the little boy!) or soaked by other means.

I don't seem to be any worse for the wear this morning. Just a few bruises, sore muscles and a bit tired. But it was all worth it to spend the day with my husband whom I love dearly and kept me laughing all day long!

VBS- The Finished Product

A couple of weeks ago I posted this:

VBS, at our church, will be coming up in the next 2 weeks. My job is to:
Turn this-

Into this-

As promised, here is an update of the work in progress:

Two days into the project with 5 or 6 hours worth of work done this is what I had accomplished. My teenage friend, from church, Autumn helped me paint the words.

Here I am with two of my helpers Aubree and Autumn. They were a tremendous help to me and did a wonderful job painting. (I am on the left) The boys even got in on the project and helped me paint some of the bigger spaces. They did a great job and we had fun working together.

And the unveiling of the finished product. Drum roll, please...

Bestest Buddies

Last night as I was praying with Caleb, he broke into sobs. I asked him what was wrong. Through many gulps, tears and a bit voice distortion, I pieced together that he was feeling sad because of his current relationship woes with his brother Jacob.
He said, "We used to be bestest buddies, but now all we do is argue."
The poor boy was broken hearted and quite upset. Jacob immediately came over and climbed into bed with him. He gave him a big hug and did his best to make ammends.
Caleb managed a little smile and said, "Jacob remember when I was little, like 3 or 4 (he's 6 now), and we used to dress up like Davy Crockett? We'd sit next to each other and say 'We are pals'."

Well, I think the pals are connecting once again. They slept on their bedroom floor last night, snuggled up close to one another. Enjoying the closeness of brotherhood!

Davey Crocket Pals

Homeschool Blues and Remembered Joys

We will be starting up school in five weeks. I honestly am not ready. I usually have things all planned out, every book ordered, and my school closet organized by now. Not this year. I am stalling! I need to get motivated, but I can't seem to wrap my mind around it yet. It seems we just started our summer break, even though we have enjoyed two months of it already.

I think I am in what some home school moms call burn-out. I have always gotten excited about the upcoming school year and what we would be learning. But last year and this year that excitement has eluded me. I think some of it can be credited to having Lauren and the high needs she has. School last year was chaotic at times. She was noisy, disruptive and sometimes down right naughty! But, what little baby/toddler isn't. Also, Jacob's dyslexia requires that I spend a lot of one on one time with him. I feel at times I am neglecting my other boys schooling. When I feel like this, though, I just have to remember that both Isaac and Caleb do very good at learning independently, with a little guidance from me.

So, in light of all this lack of enthusiasm, I decided to make a list of what I feel are the positive aspects of home schooling.

The joys of home schooling:

1) The close bond I have with my children

2) All the great books we get to read together snuggled on the couch

3) The freedom to rearrange our school schedule if we need to be out of town

4) Taking school with us when we are on the road, i.e. grocery shopping

5) Teaching about Gods word through out the day in every situation we face

6) Having my children home with me

7) Choosing what they learn and when they learn it

8) Being able to teach to each of the boys in the way that they learn best

9) Learning right along with them

10) Being able to work on character building at all times

11) Being right next to my sons when they learn a new concept and it "clicks"

12) Doing science experiments

13) Knowing that what my children are learning and hearing through out the day is God honoring

14) A closet stacked with new school supplies and books (I'm a sucker for new pens, pencils, crayons, paper and glue)!

15) The skill and discipline it gives each of us to learn on our own


These are just a few that I came up with but I would love to hear from other home school moms. What are some of the reasons you love homeschooling?

Everyday Life

I sometimes struggle to find something blog worthy. Something I think others will enjoy reading. Something inspirational. Something outstanding. Well guess what, most days nothing like that comes to mind! Then I remembered why I started this blog. My goal was to write about my family's daily lives, so that my children and grandchildren (may the Lord so bless me) could have a memoir of sorts.

Well here is the low down on my typical summer day:

We all slept in today, except Joel who dutifully got up at 5:00 AM to go to work and Isaac who spent the night at grandmas house. Jacob developed a migraine last night which ended in a vomiting episode at 10:00 PM, so I let the boys sleep in. Lauren came strolling into my room at about 6:00. Thankfully as we snuggled she fell back to sleep. It was great to get some extra sleep. We all need it. We have been burning the candle at both ends lately.

After breakfast I indulged in the reading of a few of my favorite blogs. Then it was out to do rabbit chores. One of the rabbits had somehow gotten the water bottle off of the front of the cage and I couldn't find the metal hanger that holds it on. So, I had to climb up on Joel's workbench in the pole barn and hunt for a substitute holder. I found a small bungee cord and patted myself on the back for the ingenuity I had displayed!

Next it was out the garden where I had the hot and sweaty job of pulling up the jungle of weeds that surrounded my onions, beans, cucumbers and watermelon. Lauren wandered around the garden watching me. At one point I looked up to find where she was and found that she had decided to remove her skirt and diaper. So, there she stood enjoying nature with just a shirt on. I quickly put her skirt back on (the diaper was quite wet). A few moments later she said, "Uh-Oh and looked down between her feet. She had successfully watered my turnips. I finished weeding the onions and then scooped her up to take her indoors.

Lunch, the usual fare, PB&J, leftovers and whatever we can scrounge up!

I put Lauren down for a nap and then headed out to hang up laundry and finish in the garden. While outside I noticed our outside wood burner was running but no smoke was coming out of the smoke stack. So, I single handedly started it back up with out any of the drama I displayed back in February!

Then it was back inside to hold Lauren as she awoke from her all to short nap.

Now its time to think of what to make for dinner. I'm thinking that ordering pizza sounds like the way to go!

What I haven't included in this running tally, is the countless diapers and outfits I've changed, the bathrooms I cleaned, dishes I've put away, the disagreements settled, whining pacified, tears dried and hugs given.

So, as you can see, my life in the world's terms is very uneventful, but for me it has enough events to keep me thoroughly busy and in a state of mommy confusion at all times!

Teaching My Children

"Only be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart for as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them." Deuteronomy 4:9

How easily I tend to let my self slip away from God. I have good intentions of giving Him my all. But then the next moment I let my busy life as mama, wife and teacher consume my every waking moment. I forget to hold close to my heart the wonderful truths the Lord has given me.

What really struck me about this verse is that I am to teach my children and eventually my grandchildren the love of the Lord. But if I'm not "careful and watch myself closely" I can easily let the things of God slip from my heart. I want my children to see Jesus in me. I want them to see me living fully for the Lord every second of the day. I want to be a role model that they can look to and say, " I want to live my life like mom. I want to be a servant for God."

I know it is of utmost importance how I live my life. What I say, how I dress, what I listen to on the radio, what I watch on T.V., how I respond to people, how much time I spend with the Lord, all of these things affect my children. I have a dear friend that said, "Its what you feed them that matters. Whether its food, the music you listen to, what you watch, what you say, whatever you put in is what you will get out." Good nutrition results in healthy bodies. Reading and sharing God's word with your children will result in them knowing God's love. Choosing uplifting music, videos or books will strengthen their love and knowledge of the Lord.

My desire is to teach my children about our loving Savior. There is no better way to do this than to live fully for the Lord so that every word I say, every move I make glorifies the Lord.

For more thoughts on God's word visit Celly B at Busy At Home.

I'm not sure why my kids like to eat candy that makes them do this-

But it makes for really great photo opportunities!

Waiting on the Lord

"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways..." Psalm 27:14

Over the past couple of months I have had a situation with another person that really concerned me, and honestly, it bothered me too. There were many times I created a scene in my mind on how I could approach this person and lay it all out on the line. I even picked up the phone and called but no one was home. It took me a while to realize I needed to be praying about the whole situation. For the people involved and for myself that I would be patient and let God work.

A few days ago, after several months of praying, the Lord created the perfect opportunity for me to talk with this person. Only God could have orchestrated it so perfectly. The problem isn't solved, but I feel that God is at work and that His will will be done.

So often I just take control and step out on my own leaving God out of the whole equation. This time I let the Lord lead and I know he is in control of this situation. He will use it for His good and glory.

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" Psalm 27:14

One Word Meme

I got this meme from Dawn over at P.S. I Love You and it was a good thing too, because I was wracking my brain for a post today!

Using only one word to answer, per question. Here goes......

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your significant other? Hilarious
3. Your hair? Curly
4. Your mother? Loving
5. Your father? Tender
6.Your favorite thing? Children
7. Your dream last night? Sleeping!
8. Your favorite drink? Coffee
9. Your dream/goal? Godly
10. The room you’re in? Dining
11. Your church? Country
12. Your fear? Sickness
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
14. Where were you last night? Church
15. What you’re not? Perfect
16. Muffins? Blueberry
17. One of your wish list items? Camera
18. Where you grew up? Michigan
19. The last thing you did? Coffee
20. What are you wearing? P.J.s!
21. Your TV? unimportant
22. Your pets? Rabbits
23. Your computer? Important
24. Your life? Blessed
25. Your mood? Joyful
26. Missing someone? Sister
27. Your car? Gone
28. Something you’re not wearing? Shoes
29. Favorite store? non-shopper
30. Your summer? Wonderful
31. Like(love) someone? Hubby
32. Your favorite color? Blue
33. Last time you laughed? Today
34. Last time you cried? Sunday
35. Who will repost this? Anyone?

Are you able to "verbalize in one word" answers?!
WARNING wordy ones: It's tougher then it looks!
Give It A Try!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Give Me A "C"

Summer Cheerleading Camp 1990
Memories of a former cheerleader

My friend Sara, Me (with a bug in my eye) and my sister Marisa

Summer Cheerleading Camp was brutal! You spent the days, in the hot summer sun, learning new cheers and the evenings, in your rustic cabin, perfecting them so that you could perform in front of everyone the next day. Then you would be judged by the college cheerleaders who had taught you the cheers the day before. No pressure! And check us out! There were only 3 of us!

Here I am looking total confused! Believe me, that was the look plastered on our faces for most of the week. I'm not sure why we liked it so much, because I'm pretty sure it was a cruel form of torture. We would fall into bed exhausted and need log chains to drag us out of bed in the morning. Sore muscles and sunburn were the talk of each day.

We did have some fun moments though. Like this one! Who would turn down the opportunity to climb on ones little sister!

One great thing about cheerleading was that it forced me to overcome my shyness. You can't be shy and stand in front of a crowd yelling a cheer into their faces. It also kept me in shape. Our coaches required a lot out of us. We did strength training, running, gymnastics, and continous cheering to prefect our routines.

Fast forward a year. Here we are cheering at a basketball game looking less confused and sweaty! These pictures bring back such great memories of wonderful friendships and lots of laughter. I was blessed to have such great girlfriends and the best sister/friend a girl could ever ask for!

These days I'm not cheering at a ball game, but I am cheering for my children. My goal is to help them find the positive in our every day lives. Some days they can get down, but not for long cuz they got a cheering Mama comin' up right behind them!

GO BLUE!

For more trips down memory lane visit We Are THAT Family

Berry Vanilla Smoothies

Its a 5 ingredients or less Works For Me Wednesday, so in honor of that here is my easy, breezy recipe-

Breakfast can be a crazy free-for-all at our house most mornings. This past school year I posted a breakfast schedule. Smoothies were on tap for Wednesdays breakfast. This goes together fast, is delicious, and nutritious!





Berry Vanilla Smoothies

2 cups frozen, unsweetened strawberries
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 banana sliced
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 cup 100% apple juice or juice of your choice (use more juice if you want a thinner smoothie)

Place all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Yields about 6-7 cups

Check out more easy recipes featuring 5 ingredients or less at Rocks in My Dryer

Blog Award

Jackie from Our Moments, Our Memories has presented me with a blog award. Thank you, thank you! This award is from Arte Y Pico.

It is awarded to me because Jackie likes my blog! Let me tell you, it made my day! This is my first blogging award and I am really excited!

I have just recently found Jackies blog, but I enjoy it so much! She has great insight and thought provoking blogs. Plus she reminds me of myself!

I am awarding the following bloggers this award. I find their blogs inspiring, funny, creative and a huge part of my day!

1) Marisa at Small Moments Captured

2) Jamie at Life and Love in Rose Cottage

3) Amy at The Kings Table

4) Katie at Mamma of Many

5) Amber at Mamalovesadeal

Here are the rules that go along with this blogging award:

1. Pick five (5) blogs that you think deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog.

3. Each award winner has to show the award on their blog. Then put the name and link to the blog that gave the award to him or her. The Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of the “Arte y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award (http://arteypico.blogspot.com/)

VBS- painting

VBS, at our church, will be coming up in the next 2 weeks. My job is to:

Turn this-

Into this-

Yeah, right!!! It should be really interesting to see the final product! Stay tuned for the results! I'll post a picture when I get done with my masterpiece! :)

*sidenote- To all you lovely ladies who thought I would free-hand this, thank you for your vote of confidence. But, I must confess I won't be doing that this time. I am short on time and jeeze, I have a toddler! So, I will be using an overhead projector for the majority of the project. Some of it I will free hand, but I just needed to take the easy way out this time!