Keepers of the Faith...

Keepers of the Faith is a great organization that, I say, takes the place of girl scouts and boy scouts for my family. As a homeschooled family, we were at one time involved in a home school organization that used Keepers of the Faith. Now, we just use the books on our own. There is a book for boys called "Contenders for the Faith" and a book for girls called "Keepers at Home". I bought my books on ebay for a fraction of the cost.

Out of the books, the child is able to choose a project he or she would like to do. My kids have done baking, rocketry, electricity, cake decorating, and much more. The child can mark the date and time that the project is completed. The parent then signs the book.

Keepers of the Faith has a catalog that contains awards and pins that can be given to the child when they accomplish a project. Also, they sell many wonderful christian books, some homeschool curriculum, and even project kits that go along with the child's book. The best part I have found is that it is very affordable!

The website is www.keepersofthefaith.com and the telephone is 906-663-6881.
Check them out. I am sure you will not be disappointed.

God bless.

A stressing weekend...

I apologize to those of you who entered the giveaway and were waiting for an answer on Friday. Just as I was sitting down to take care of it Friday evening, Steven, my husban, walked into the house in a surprising condition. He was attacked and robbed after leaving WalMart. Needless to say, it has been a bit stressful here. He is better and I will be taking him in for a cat scan in the morning just to be sure all is well.
So, for those of you waiting, April is the winner of the envelope full of coupons! Thanks to those of you who commented. It was nice to read your thank you's. I hope all had a great Thanksgiving and I will do my best to post again soon.

God bless.

Supper under $2.50 total!

I found a recipe that all my kids loved and it has cabbage in it! I was quite surprised to say the least. Here it is:

Copenhagen Cabbage Casserole

1 pd. ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1/4 cup onion
1 can tomato sauce
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground clove
4 cups cabbage
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Brown meat and onion. Blend next 4 ingredients and add meat. Put 2 cups cabbage(I shredded it) in casserole and top with 1/2 meat sauce. Cover with remaining cabbage and meat sauce. Cover and bake in oven for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

The cost:
1.47 for turkey meat
.35 for tomato sauce
.25 for half a head of cabbage(I found this for 50 cents a head)
I already had all the spices.

This was very good. I was surprised how good the meat sauce tasted. When I pulled mine out of the oven(I forgot to cover it as well), the cabbage was mostly soft with some parts still a bit crunchy. I liked it that way.

The funny thing was the looks and groans I got when the kids saw it. They just knew it wouldn't be good. Next thing I know, everyone had eaten it and some had seconds. Even my picky eater liked it!

We had yams (found these for 20 cents a pound) and pinto beans (which I had cooked some days earlier) on the side. So all in all, the meal was around or less than 2.50 for the entire thing. Divide that by 6 people and you've got a really cheap per person meal.

The recipe came out of a small booklet entitled "Good cookin' from the plain people". It is from the Hearts and Tummies cookbook company. The # is 1800-571-BOOK if you would like to order it. (I think I found it on our trip to Fredericksburg.)

God bless.

FREE COUPONS!

Anybody need an envelope full of coupons? I am giving one away on Friday! I know it is Thanksgiving and most will be busy, but I am overloaded with coupons (a blessing from God) and would like to share the wealth!

All coupons expire end of December or after, giving you time to get them in the mail and use them. Here's what you do:
Leave a comment about something you are thankful for this Thanksgiving. Also leave an email or blog address for me to be able to contact you if you win. Good luck!

What am I thankful for? Lots and lots! My husband is doing so much better, my kids are wonderful, we are all healthy and well, the peace I have in God, my parents, my sisters and brothers, my home, a kitchen stocked with food, and a little money in savings! The list could go on forever! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

God bless.

Cookbooks and More Cookbooks...

I decided yesterday that I have too many cookbooks. So, I cleaned out. Over the past ten years, I have become much more conscious of what I eat. I read labels on a regular basis and have tried to cut out a few things all together(like red dye #40 and sodium nitrite). I have undergone another self assessment and decided that I need to cook even more from scratch. I do cook a lot from scratch, but it seems when a busy week comes along and I buy more ready made items, that I have a harder time going back to just from scratch. I am going to try really hard to stick to it this time. I am even going to ignore coupons that are for ready made items as much as possible.

So, I got rid of all my Kraft recipe magazines(the ones that come in the mail very often and are free). Almost every recipe in these magazines calls for ready made items, like pudding mixes, ready-made crusts, and mayonnaise(which I have also just cut out of our diet). There are some dinner recipes that are good and are made from scratch, so I tore some of those pages out and kept them. I also got rid of some of my bigger cookbooks that I just didn't seem to use very often.

I am hoping that by narrowing down my selection, I will actually try some new recipes and not be so overwhelmed.

So, if you have any absolutely to die for recipes from scratch, send them on over!
God bless!

Ms. Frizzle...

Probably most of you know who I'm talking about when I say that name, but for those of you that do not, you are in for a great adventure!

Ms. Frizzle is part of The Magic School Bus series on television. But there is also a line of The Magic School Bus books. Usually, this cartoon is found on PBS stations, but I have noticed it on Disney or Nick once in a while.

Ms. Frizzle is a crazy, red-haired, full-of-fun science teacher. She teaches the students by using field trips. But these are not your ordinary field trips. She has a magical bus that changes the size of the children(and sometimes more than just the size) to whatever is needed for them to learn hands-on. For example, in one episode, she turns the children into bats, so they can go through what a bat has to go through to live. The t.v. episodes are magnificent and my children have always enjoyed watching them. The books are great too.

So if you are looking for a new way to make science a little more interesting, you should try Ms. Frizzle and "The Magic School Bus".

God bless.

A Winter Garden...

Today the kids and I are going to plant our first winter garden! I am a bit excited. If you don't know already, I like gardening, and to see something nourishing grow during winter will be wonderful. We are not going to do much, just turnip greens and mustard greens. Those are the seeds I could get a hold of and honestly, this is a trial period for me since I've never done a winter garden before.

We will see how it goes. The kids are going to do all the work and I am going to supervise. That's the way I like to do things! They enjoy it as well.

Any advice on this would be greatly welcomed!

God bless.
----------------------------------------------------------------

How did you do with saying "Thank you" last Monday? The kids did very well and to be honest, I am proud of myself in that I say it most all the time without a second thought! A big "congrats" to my parents. They obviously did something right!
----------------------------------------------------------------

I want to give everyone a heads up. At this point, it looks like I will be taking Steven to work quite often, so my posts are going to be a bit later in the morning(I just can't seem to get them done the night before). This also may cause a few skipped posts. We are hoping in a couple of months things will be changing for the better and get back to normal. Thanks for hanging in with me on this!

Garfield...

I do hope everyone is doing well as we have all been fighting colds here for about four days now. No fun.

My children really enjoy reading the Garfield comics. We don't get a paper. They came across these at the library. There are books that contain pages and pages of the comics. I have noticed that when my kids don't feel like reading a book, they don't mind reading the comics. Also, my second son, who still doesn't like to read a lot, will sit and read these for hours.

Garfield is a bit sarcastic and he is onery, so if you've never read them, check them out for yourself first. I think the comics are funny and they offer my kids a different choice of reading. Everyone could use a good laugh. A sense of humor is a good quality in my book.

God bless.

Say Thank You...

Something I have noticed about the "world" lately is the simple manners that used to be commonplace are just no longer there. I am blessed to live in Texas and near a small town where please, thank you, yes ma'am, no ma'am, and the like are still quite commonplace. Although I will admit that among the younger people, including children, I don't see the manners I would like to.

In the "old" days, if a child did not show manners, they would be smacked upside the head. It seems that in our selfish times here in America, there are many that do not even think twice about manners. So, I want to ask if you say "thank you"? Saying "thank you" shows that you appreciate what someone has done for you. There are even times when I catch myself in such a hurry that I forget to say thank you.

To make this Monday special, I want to challenge you to say "thank you" as many times as possible today. See how you feel at the end of the day. Showing manners is humbling. This world could use more humble people. I am challenging myself and will do my best to keep count. I think I will challenge my kids as well. We'll see how they do.

Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

God bless.

Oh Happy Day!...

I apologize for not posting yesterday. Between taking my husband to and picking him up from work, as well as a dog to the vet for spaying (who threw up in the car on the way home-but that's a whole other story), home schooling, and just chores, I didn't have time for posting.
But I have been so eager to get on here!

Khristian, my second son, was baptized into Christ on Wednesday evening! The angels have been singing and the Lord is pleased. Of course, so are his mom and dad. There is a little story behind this and I want to share it with you. Last December, my oldest son decided he wanted to be baptized. My being new to the situation, I called a dear friend for some advice. Steven J. was baptized. My friend had a small booklet that she feels is good for young ones thinking on being baptized or newly baptized. So, I got the booklet from her.
My next two children were thinking on it as well, (I felt they may not quite be ready) so I gave them the booklet to read and answer. Khristian only went through about half the booklet and he took many days just to do that. I did not hear anything else from him, so I figured he wasn't ready.

Well, this past Sunday night he informed me he was ready. I talked to him and felt he was. I gave him the booklet Monday morning and told him I would like him to work on it. He could be baptized, but I wanted him to do the book as well. I want you to know that he finished the book in two hours on Monday morning, only taking one short break. Now for Khristian, that is a rare thing. He doesn't enjoy schoolwork much. I knew he was ready. Praise the Lord and now I have another brother in Christ!

Thanks for listening and I hope this is encouraging to someone out there. By the way, the name of the book is "Becoming a Christian" by Wayne Monroe. I have not been able to find it anywhere, that is why I had my friend make a copy and get it to me. If you are interested in it, please comment with contact info and we'll see if I can find a way to get you a copy.

God bless!

The New Age Herbalist...

My son is attached to this book now. Never in a million years would I have guessed that my oldest son would take a liking to herbs. I have tried to teach the kids that doing things the "natural" way is better, but I am very new to the idea myself. I am slowly learning and to be honest I am sure now that my son is going to pass up my knowledge very soon.

If you are interested in herbs or someone you know is, this is a great book. It is written by Richard Mabey. The book contains lots of pictures, which is a great help. It explains many herbs and how to use them. It also tells how and when to plant them. It is a great resource.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
On a side note: My children(as well as their parents) were saddened somewhat this morning. Of course, you know why. Around here, Obama is not considered a great character. So when I got all the statements of negativity this morning, I decided to give a little talk. This is basically what I said. I do not like the thought of Obama being our new president either, but now that he is going to be, we have to trust that God has a plan. We have no idea what that plan is, but we should pray that God uses Obama for His glory. And I am a bit excited to see just how he does that.

Now, I am not saying everything is going to be peaches and cream. On the contrary, I don't believe it is. More likely, sometimes I will be thinking "How in the world is God going to bring good of this". But I do believe He is in control and He has a plan. So, hang on for the ride and don't forget to pray!

God bless you and God bless America!

Go Do Your Part...Vote!

My husband and I will be heading off to the voting booths first thing this morning. We have a job to do. We know of two people that for sure voted for Obama(we still can't understand why), so we're going to cancel out their votes. So all of you out there(my family in particular) better head up there so yours can actually count!

After that, the kids and I will finish up our government study and then walk down to get some updates on the election at my parents house. We don't have cable, so no watching t.v. here.

This is a short post, because I am now going to go say a prayer for this nation. I also ask that you take time to do that as well.

God bless and happy voting!

To study our government...

I have to admit something here... government study is not my forte. I do not know much about our government and I choose not to stay glued to the t.v. with all the stuff going on. So, unfortunately, my children are not very apt on the processes of our government.

My kids do know that voting is very important and that taking time to find out about the candidates is important before you vote. I read about the candidates to find out where they stand on different subjects so that I will know which way I want to vote. I take my kids with me when I vote as well. That way, they at least are familiar with one process.

This year, I decided my kids needed to know a bit more, so I got online and downloaded a few things. We have discusses the three branches of gov't, a few facts about the position of the President, and the difference between minority and majority. We are going to study about the electoral votes and how voting has changed over the past. We also will follow the election.

So, even though they are not government junkies, they will at least be familiar with some of it. And I am hoping to become a bit more involved with more government issues and processes as the kids get older.

God bless and go vote!

Prayer...

Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6,7

Throughout the day, I pray. I pray for things that seem small and things that seem too big. Even when I fail and do not take time to study the Word at some point during the day, I still pray. I can always find time to pray. Most of the time my prayers are short and to the point, but there are times when I pray for long periods. I enjoy talking to God. I also enjoy knowing that even when I cannot come up with the right words to let Him know what I want or need, the Spirit intercedes for me and God knows my heart, my wants and my needs.

During this last year, I believe I have felt God's peace more than ever in my life. It is strange to say that because this last year has been one of the hardest of my life. In that too, I know God is working. He knows how much I can handle and when I can handle it. I am not, in any way, saying that things are easy because of my having God. On the contrary, my belief in God makes things harder some times. But I do know that while God is with me, I can handle anything because He can handle it. There is such an awesome peace in knowing that. At times I forget that He is in control and the peace dwindles, but it doesn't take long for me to notice that something is missing and I give it all back to Him. I still tend to try to handle it all by myself once in a while. But I am learning.

My heart aches for those in this world who do not have that peace. You can see by their lives that they are hurting and wanting for something. It hurts even more when God is the one they need, they know it, and they choose not to follow Him. At that point prayer becomes the only tool for helping them.

It is also painful to see this nation move so far from God. We definitely need prayer as a nation. It is becoming even more evident as this election moves closer.

God bless.

Shad of the circle "C" ranch...

Today's book is one that my second son enjoyed so very much. Both of my sons chose to put off reading as long as they could! They just enjoyed life too much to want to sit down in front of a book. Since I home school, I gave them plenty of time to read at their own pace. Khristian(the second son) took longer than my first and I had a hard time finding any book he liked. I still do.

The first one he thoroughly enjoyed was "Shad of the Circle 'C' Ranch", an American Farm Series book by Anne Gustafson. This book is about a young boy learning how to do the jobs required on a ranch, such as caring for horses, rounding up cattle, earning his first saddle, and much more. It is a small chapter book with 11 chapters. Each chapter consists of around five pages. It is about the second grade level. My son read it in the third grade. If you have a young cowboy in your home that is giving you a hard time about reading, this book is great! It is also an interesting read for any boy.

There are two other books in the series(of which I just noticed were written in the front of the book) called "Tim of Tall Grain Farm" and "Frank of Irrigated Farm". I am ordering these off Amazon. My son would like to read them. He's now in the fifth grade, but I encourage any reading even if it is at a lower level.

God bless and happy reading!

Festival Fun!

We had a blast at the Halloween Festival last night! The local small (K-12 size) school has a festival every year. I attended the small school for most of my life growing up and each class had a certain booth they would do each year. For example, the Kindergarten class always does a ring toss.

Taking my kids now brings back so many memories. It also opens the door for lots of jokes and laughter! You see, though the booth ideas have stayed basically the same, the winning prizes of some of the booths has definitely changed. One of the booths is called "The Country Store". When I was growing up, this was a favorite for most everyone. You gave them a ticket and you always won something, whether it be a stuffed animal, toy car, or flashlight. The items were always nice or new. Well, unfortunately, over the years things have changed. My family and I have a good laugh at what we bring home every year, but this year was great fun! While walking to the car with my husband to load the items, I cracked a joke something like this... Only in west Texas, at our little local school, can you walk out of a Halloween Festival with a large Christmas lighted candy cane yard ornament, a TV(yes, a small, very out dated TV), and some chair cushions for the kitchen table!!!

These items were at least all in good or new condition. Not counting the many stuffed animals(some with holes in them and some badly needing a washing), my niece went home with a hard foam football that had chunks missing out of it and a name that had wore off some! It is hard to know whether to laugh or cry at the change. Honestly, I say it is a sad sign of the times.

The other booth that has changed the winning prizes quite a bit is the "cake walk". If you won this when I was young, you were rewarded with a wonderful home-made cake. Nowadays, you could get anything from a bag of popcorn to a case of drinks. So very sad! Honestly, my kids do not even mess with that one anymore, but for some odd reason, they still enjoy bringing home everyone else's junk!

Thankfully, they do still win some plants, cokes, candy bars, and of course, just good ole' candy. This is how I keep my candy jar full for the year. One festival takes care of it.
The kids have a great time and that's all that matters! And honestly, the rest of us always have a good laugh!

God bless and I hope you enjoy your festival as much as we enjoy ours!

Harry Potter- what's your opinion?...

Okay, I am going to hit a touchy subject for some people. When Harry Potter first became so "big", I firmly told my children they would not watch the movies. I do not like getting involved with the "in" thing and allowing my children to become overwhelmed by it all. I also did not, at the time, want to take the time to check out the movies myself to see if they were okay to be watched.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, my dad sent the kids home with the first movie. I thought about it for a while and decided we would sit and watch it together. The whole "Harry Potter" scene is not so big anymore and I felt there would be no harm in checking it out. We could always turn it off. So, we watched the movie. Unfortunately, I truly enjoyed it. So I, of course, had to watch the rest of them. Here is one of the dilemma's. As the movie's go on, they get more adult-like. The first movie was children friendly, I thought. By the fifth one, I decided that they became more for a mature audience. In any case, myself and my children did enjoy the series.

Now, I realize there are many out there that do not agree with watching or reading anything that has to do with magic or witchcraft or anything of that sort. I agree to that to a point. When I was a teenager, I loved reading some books entitled "The sword of shannara", "The elfstones of shannara", and so forth. They were wonderful reads. They did have magic in them, as well as elves, and druids, and things of that sort. But I knew these things were simply for imagining and fantasy. I don't see a harm in letting my children grow their imaginations. I feel that if they are firmly rooted in God's Word, they will use these things simply as a means of enjoyment. I love reading a book simply for enjoyment and for taking me away from some of the everyday trials. It helps get me through the day sometimes.

I believe God wants us to enjoy life and books are one way of doing that. I still think you have to be careful sometimes to not step over that boundary. I do not see us buying the Harry Potter movies. (The ones we watched were borrowed.) I am allowing my children to read the first book if they want.

So, what is your opinion? I would be glad to hear from you.
God bless.

A Horse, of course...

My children just love being around the horses! That is one of the perks of living in the country next to my parents. They have miniature horses, shetlands, and one full size. My children are becoming more and more comfortable with them. They, of course, love to feed them. That job in itself can be quite a challenge because when you feed one of them, they all come running and expect the same. Sometimes you find yourself being surrounded and cornered by horses!

Yesterday, I was outside digging holes for my clothesline to be put up and noticed my youngest riding the full size horse! I was surprised she had the nerve to get on him. My second son was leading him with the lead rope and the horse is very accustomed to this, so I had no real worries. (Yes, I am the one that worries about all the things that could happen, my husband does not.) As a matter of fact, the horses have been great therapy for him(he has PTSD and depresssion).

My oldest son rides some, but is not as interested as my second son. He loves riding and has already been working on breaking on of the shetlands. Yes, he has been bucked. But he gets right back on.

My third child, a girl, also likes riding and is becoming more interested. She likes hugging and kissing and loving on them most of the time. She loves animals.

I remember when I was young and wished we had some horses on all this land my parents have, so I am very excited that my children get the chance to enjoy what I wished I had had. My parents also enjoy the horses so much and love watching the grandchildren with them.

God bless!

History Day...

Okay, between the weather and doctor's appointments for my husband and children, my week has been helter skelter. It is very cold outside today, so I am having second thoughts about heading to the grocery store!

I received one of the movies from Netflix yesterday. It is a historical account of John Adams. So today I think we are going to have a history school day and watch the movie while snuggled under some warm blankets. It is warm in the house, but cold weather just always makes me want to snuggle! Maybe I'll even throw in some popcorn.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steven had a great week at work this week, so praise the Lord for that. I just hope things continue to be good for him there.

God bless and enjoy the weather!

Piano at the Nursing Home...

I have tried to get the kids involved in community service over the years in different ways. Most of them do not work out for very long for some reason or another. Now that we have moved into the country, it is even harder to find something that doesn't cost a ton in gas. I read about a mother that took her children to the local nursing home to play the piano for the residents there. I decided to give this a try. Today is our first day! The kids will go this afternoon and for the first time, play the piano in front of an unknown audience. Now, I teach them piano myself and to be honest, I am having to refresh my own memory at the same time. So, they are not very far along. I am hoping the residents enjoy it anyway! To be honest, I think they just enjoy the company.

I will let you know how it goes. At this point, I am going to try to do this every other month. That way my kids get quite a bit of practice time in between.

Do you have any other ideas for community service? What have you tried and how did it work out? I'd love to hear about it!

God Bless!
------------------------------------------------------------------
Update: Yesterday, Steven had a great day at work! Hoorah!

A Turn of Events...

After my husband was dignosed with PTSD, we started looking at some things in his life that could be causing the problem to be worse. The first thing he said was, "my job". He has a very stressful job and the at this point in his life he just cannot handle the extra stress. So we began praying. I pray for God to bless him in his job each day. I was not sure what to pray exactly because he makes good money where he works and would be "hard put" to find the same money elsewhere. I also know that he enjoyed his job before they made him supervisor (shop foreman). I also know that the people he works with are not the best influence, but I am not sure he would ever find a job where there wouldn't be the bad influence.

My husband's walk with the Lord is fairly new and so, my prayer has been that God knows what he needs to do, so just please do it and help me make it through it. Well, over the past month, Steven has been seriously considering telling them to give him his old position back or he quits. Last Monday, the last cherry was added to his aggravation and he blew. Now, he controlled himself pretty well physically, but verbally he made it very clear that he was to be given his old job back or he was walking out.

That is how he received his unpaid week's vacation. (Even though no pay is going to hit us hard, he needed the time off.) His boss told him he could have his old job back and keep his pay(God's blessing!) and that he needed the week off to cool down. Steven is a very hard worker and the company would have lost if they had let him go.

So, today is his first day back and I am a little anxious to know how it goes. If any of you out there have some extra prayer time, we would greatly appreciate any prayers over this. I know the Lord is in control and I have such a peace in knowing that. But I am still a little anxious to see how this all works out.

God bless!

A Blog Break...

I apologize for not getting a blog on yesterday. My husband is off work this week unexpectedly, so I will not be blogging again until next Monday. It is almost impossible for me to get this done when he is home! You all have a great week and see you on Monday.

God Bless!

Out for ice cream...

Last Friday, all four of my children quoted their scripture memory verse correctly and for their reward, I promised them an ice cream. Now, usually, the reward for this is something out of the treasure box, but at the moment there are no treasures in that box as I have not made time to replenish it. So, to make this Monday special, while we are in town today, we will take time to stop at McDonald's and spend some time with my kids over an ice cream or yogurt. (By the way, McDonald's is on my "never to eat at list", except for ice cream or yogurt. I do love their yogurt with fruit and granola.) I am looking forward to it already.

It doesn't always take much to make a day special. Just some time enjoying eachother's company lifts the day. So my suggestion today is to take 20 minutes out of your day and spend it with the kids over cookies, ice cream, or any other treat you all enjoy.

Have a great Monday and God bless!

Family Day Friday

Today, we are going to spend the afternoon with another home school family. We have known the Parker's for a couple of years now and spend time together on occasion. Some of our children are around the same age and get along really well. It is nice for my kids to get some time around some other kids once in a while and we mothers have a nice time chatting as well!

I do not spend time with other families(other than relatives) very often. Since we have moved to the country, we really haven't seen too many other families. Our church is very small and there are only a couple of other children there. I used to be a member of a home school group and we did outtings with them once in a while, but with gas prices right now, we have cut that out as well. The funny thing is that this is not a major problem for my children. They enjoy eachother's company and they now have granny and papa's to visit whenever they want, as well as all the extra things to find to do around here.

So, if there is anyone you haven't seen in weeks or months and you can sense that your children are needing a little outting, give that person a call and get together for the afternoon. Take some time to visit with another mother for a while and let the kids run free!

So, I am going to get things done so I can head on over there and have a nice little visit!
God bless!

Take an easy day?!

I am trying something new this year with my home schooling. I am not a structured person, so in the past years I have schooled year round. In this way, we can take days off whenever I need to. I also believe in letting my children learn at their own pace. Sometimes this means things go slowly and other times rather quickly.

This year, I have decided to school the same days as one of the local school systems. I decided to try this because my oldest is in the 7th grade and I think he needs to do "more" this year than he has been doing and also because I don't have any "little ones" running under my feet. That gives me a bit of an advantage time wise.

So you ask, how is it going? Well, to be honest, better than expected. I am making myself have school days on days I might have taken off otherwise. That is good for me. Also, I see the progress of the kids more quickly. I have run into one problem though. There are days when it seems we are just so busy with schoolwork that I get tired of schoolwork. In the past when I got like that, I would take a day off. This year I don't want to do that, so instead I am throwing in what I call "easy day". We just do basics, nothing extra. This means they do math, writing, and some sort of literature study, whether reading on their own or reading together. They don't get behind in what I call the mandatory subjects, and we have a very short day.

My philosophy on home schooling has always been that if I can teach them to read and they learn to enjoy reading, everything else will work out fine. I do believe math is one of those subjects you just have no choice but to "stick into the day". (I don't normally start an actual math curriculum until third grade though).

What do you do to help when things start getting overwhelming?

God bless and happy home schooling!

We Have A Winner!

I want to thank everyone who took the time to comment and enter the drawing! I do hope that some of you found the site interesting enough to come back again!

The winner of the book "Pirates at Noon" by Mary Pope Osborne is Alyce! Congratulations! You will be receiving notification soon Alyce. Alyce has two blogspots to check out, they are "at home with books" and "flute mom". Enjoy the book!

-----------------------------------------------------------

I mentioned last week that I had finished the "Love Comes Softly" series by Janette Oke. Well, I received a pleasant surprise at the library. I still had two more books to go in the series! So, I have read those over the past couple of days and still say that it is an excellent series! I am much more pleased with the end now though!

Enjoy your reading and God bless!

Halloween- What Do You Do?

Over the years, we have done a couple of things for Halloween. When my husband was in the military, we trick or treated on base. This was the safest place. We also trick or treated around the mall one year. When we moved back home, a very small town, we went around town to the people we know. I also started taking the kids to the carnival at the small school I attended as a child. Talk about bringing back memories. We have a blast there!

Now that we have moved out to the country, where I grew up, we just go to the carnival. I like this the better than trick or treating because you don't have to drive to the different houses(or walk). Everything is under one roof. The kids also have much more fun because they get to play games to win the candy. The one catch- this one costs money. You have to buy the tickets to play the games. It is 50 cents a ticket and the money goes to the school in this way- each class has a booth(It is a school of about 250 students K-12) and the tickets used at their booth are cashed in at the end of the night. That money goes to their class to be used as needed. I consider it a fun night out since my kids are home schooled.

Do you let your kids dress up? What do you let them wear? My rule is this- if it is something I consider of the devil, like a "witch" or the "grim reaper", or something evil like that, they are not allowed to wear it. I do let them choose otherwise. I think it is great to get to dress up fun and have a good time together as a family!

I would love to hear your thoughts on this! Please feel free to comment.
God bless!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TODAY IS THE LAST DAY FOR THE FREE BOOK! Find the info in my past posts.
Good luck!

To school, or not to school...

I am not talking about home schooling. I am talking about my schooling- college. I finished up my associate degree (by taking online classes) last year. After that, my plan was to finish my bachelor's and then my master's, so that when my youngest was about sixteen, I would be able to consider employment. The degree was to be in English and if I teach, I wanted to teach college. My plans hit a snag. You can easily find online classes offered for your associate or your master's. The bachelor's, well that is another story. At this point in time, I do not want to take out a loan because once I do that, I must devote the next six or so years to being in school non- stop until I finish so that the loans do not become due. Also, if I take a loan, I want the amount to be able to pay for college and still have at least half left over for investing. In that way I am hoping to be able to use the invested money to help pay off the loan when it becomes due.

Another snag- I am unable to attend classes because home schooling my children is a priority right now. I have only come across one university(I also receive the pell grant, so I must attend a university that accepts it) that offers a Bachelor's that can be taken online. It is a business degree. I considered this and at the last minute dropped mainly because of the costs.

There is something else nagging at me as well though. When I attend school, it takes up every bit of my free time. When my kids were smaller, it seemed I was always running around doing something. As my kids have gotten older, I have noticed that I have more free time. And now that we live next to my parents, I have noticed enough free time that I have taken up sewing projects lately! So, when I think about attending school and giving a lot of that up, I am not sure I want to anymore. At least not at this point in time.

I enjoy my schooling very much. I am a bookworm for sure. My husband tells me I am very book smart but have no commom sense. There are times when I have to agree with him. I know that if I really wanted to and made it a priority, I could be anything I wanted to be job wise. For me, that is a hard reality sometimes. I am really giving up quite a bit to stay at home and be with my children all day. I admit, sometimes I wonder about this decision. But as I am getting older and honestly, getting closer to my heavenly Father, I am more settled and content with doing just what I am doing.

It is still a struggle for me sometimes. I wonder if I should go ahead and put them in the small school we have moved near to. I wonder if I should go ahead and give up my free time and continue my education. Should I keep home schooling. Should I just relax and enjoy the wonderful free time God has blessed me with. I know there are mothers out there who don't think on these things and are perfectly content to be at home. I am sure there are mothers out there like me though. They choose to do what they feel and know is right for their family at this moment, but also dream and know that God wants more out of them in their future. They just don't know what it is or how to go about it. They just trust that God will grant them time and are patient and content with the now.

I think I will make this post #1, as I am not happy with ending it there, but have taken up enough of your time. So, next Monday, I'll finish this up.

God bless!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Don't forget about the free book! Tomorrow is the last day! Look for the info in my older posts.

Making Hand Soap...

Yesterday, my daughter pulled out the soap making kit that had been given to us last Christmas. She has pulled it out quite a few times and I always say, "we'll do it another time when I have more time to do it" or something like that. Which explains why we've had it so long and it still isn't done.
This time, I decided we'd do it. I prepared myself for the huge mess that was going to be made and we got started. All in all, it took about 25 minutes and the mess was easily wiped up on the counter. Boy, was I surprised. The girls had a fabulous time! My youngest daughter took her soap to her Granny and my oldest daughter put hers in the kid's bathroom to use.
This was a prepared kit, so I don't have home made instructions for it. I am pretty sure you can find these at Hobby Lobby or Michaels. They made the liquid soap that comes out of a pump container, not the bar soap.

Anyway, my Family Day Friday idea is this. Do you have any crafts that have been taking up space on a shelf, in the floor, or anywhere else. Make today the day that you choose to do one of them (or more) with your kids. You may be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is. And if it is a big mess, just think of all the fun you're having!

God bless!
-----------------------------------------------------------
5 days left in the book giveaway! Look for the post in my past posts section for the details.

Organic coupons!!!

I just love finding coupons for my organic buys! I don't find them very often, so I was thrilled to find this deal. I went to my local "Natural Foods Market" for vitamins and they offered me the usual magazine at the checkout. I said sure and went to the car. As I thumbed through the pages I came across a small booklet. It was full of coupons. Most of them were for Organic Valley items, but I also found one for my Meyers goat milk. I was so excited. I cannot tell you the exact coupons as I don't have the booklet on me right now, but there are a few others in the magazine itself as well. For a free magazine, this wasn't a bad deal. The name of the magazine is "delicious living". I am not sure if you can get this magazine at another market or not. But if you have a Natural Foods Market, be sure to ask for the September 2008 issue.

God bless!
----------------------------------------------------------

Don't forget about the book I'm giving away- you still have 6 days! Look for it in my older posts.

Janette Oke can write...

I just finished reading "Once Upon a Summer", which starts another series of Janette Oke's. I admit that I liked "Love Comes Softly" better, but she has managed to grab my attention anyway. I will have to read on in this series as well.

Once Upon a Summer is about a nineteen year old girl who decides to head to the other side of the country for a teaching job. She has to learn how to care for herself on her own and how to live in a new part of the country. She quickly falls in love with her students and the country about her. She also falls in love with a "Mountie" along the way, but seeing as how this is based on "the olden days", there is nothing in the book that would cause a child to be unable to read it. As a matter of fact, Janette Oke's books do a fabulous job of showing the respect men and women should have for each other and the bond of marriage.

It is another book that I recommend highly.
-------------------------------------------------------------
On another note: Don't forget the FREE book I'm giving away!
Check out my past posts for the giveaway- you still have seven days!
Good luck!

God bless!

PRAY for our military!

One of my brothers is leaving for Korea this morning. We got to spend some time together yesterday. My family is somewhat of a military family. My dad was in the navy. My oldest brother was also in the navy. My other brother is still in the army(the one going to Korea). One of my brothers-in-law was in the Air Force. And my husband was in the army. So you could say I know a little about military life. Corey, headed for Korea, is on my mind this morning. He has been in the military for almost ten years. He has been to Iraq twice and this is his second time to Korea. That's not including the other small tours. My husband was in for just over six years and also went to Korea and then Iraq(and other small tours).

The reason I wanted to write about "our military" this morning is because I think there are many people out there who do not understand how important it is to support and pray for these boys and girls. My husband now has PTSD(post traumatic stress syndrome) from Iraq mainly, and I see a lot of the same symptoms in my brother as well. Joining the military was a choice for both of them, and they are both proud to have served and be serving our country. But at the same time, they each are having a hard time with the emotions brought out from serving in a war. I know there are so many others like them. My point- pray for them. Whether or not the war is right, and no matter your feelings about the situation, PRAY for them. I am admonishing myself here extremely. I pray for my husband daily, but I do not pray for the other soldiers nearly enough.

These young men and women will come home and return to being a part of this society. They will have to try to live as normal of a life as possible. And believe it or not, this will be hard for a lot of them.
Okay, I will get off this "soap box". My heart had the need to share this. I do hope you will consider what I have said and add this to your prayer list.

Have a great week and God bless!

Flannel Board Fun

When my kids were smaller, they loved playing with flannel boards. They still do sometimes. Flannel boards are easy and inexpensive to make. To make the board itself, we took a box and cut it along one of the corners, so it would fold out lengthwise. We then took felt we bought from the store (We got ours from Wal-Mart and it cost less than 50 cents a piece- it may be a little more now) and wrapped it around the box. We hot glued the edges of the felt down. It's all finished. Easy enough.

To use your board, you can purchase some different colored felt and cut out characters to go with stories. If your child has a favorite story, let him/her help you cut out some characters and then retell the story using them. Also, you can cut out letters and numbers to help your child learn these. Shapes could be learned this way as well. The possibilities are almost endless.

Another idea is that these make great homemade gifts an older child can make on their own and give away.

Have fun and God bless!

One Adventure Ends...Another Begins

I did something today that I wasn't sure would ever happen. I gathered up all the items that belong in my phonics program, put it back together and then placed it on a high shelf to be (hopefully) handed down to my grandchildren one day! This is both a sad and exciting event. My youngest is now beginning to read on her own and no longer needs the program. I have to admit that this is a little sad to me because the early years are my favorite to teach. I love watching their excitement when the light bulb comes on. Young children learn in the easiest way. There's no books or assignments. You don't have to schedule in everything they need to learn because they simply learn by living. You just enjoy them.

Now, I am entering into new territory. My oldest just turned thirteen. I still can't believe I am old enough to have a teenager. As my kids have gotten older, I have learned a few things about myself. I love being able to talk to them. I mean a real conversation. That is something that is sort of hard to do with a three year old. I also very much enjoy knowing that they can take care of their own needs. What I mean by that is: they can bathe themselves, brush their own teeth, fix a sandwich for lunch, do some chores around the house, etc... I also enjoy their company. We discuss books, movies, likes, and dislikes, and are becoming, in a way, friends.

What I don't enjoy is having to be more scheduled with school(I am not a schedule person) and making sure my oldest is learning what he needs to be able to go to college one day. I don't enjoy having to tell him he has to do his math, whether he likes it or not. I don't enjoy grading all the papers. I don't enjoy making sure he hasn't missed something he should have learned. Now, I know he must learn to be responsible not only with the things he likes, but those he doesn't like as well. And I know he needs to learn that sometimes life is just not fun, it is hard work. I also know that just because I don't like doing these things doesn't mean I don't have to do them. I do. And I will. But I am not going to promise to smile the whole time! ;) Sometimes it is a struggle for me to continue home schooling. But most of the time it isn't. And I truly believe this is where God wants me to be and what He wants me doing right now.

So, life is still going on and I am seeing opportunities every day to enjoy my children. We don't do any more "book" work than what has to be done. And I still throw "hands on" activities in there pretty often. I am going to enjoy these last "early" years of my youngest daughter's and hang on for the ride through the teenage years up ahead! (By the way, I am open to any good advice!)

God Bless!

Don't miss the free book "give away". Look for it under the title "My first give away-free book."

My first give away- A FREE BOOK!

Up for grabs is a wonderful Magic Tree House book by Mary Pope Osborne. These are great books for kids. This one is #4 Pirates Past Noon. I'll just put down what is on the back cover: It's a treasure trove of trouble when the Magic Tree House whisks Jack and Annie back to the days of deserted islands and nasty pirates! Will they discover buried treasure? Or will they walk the plank?

Okay, here's what you do to get the book. Just comment on any post of mine starting September 17th thru September 30th. When you do, I'll add your name to the drawing(be sure and leave your blog address or email so I can contact you if you win). You may come back each day and I will add your name for each day you comment. That means you could have your name added 14 times! I will draw one name on October 1st and then contact the winner! ;) This is exciting!

Good luck and God bless!

Tuesday's Talk

Any other writing moms out there? I really enjoy writing. I do not make enough time for it. About a year or so ago, I finished a course from the Chilren's Institute that taught me some about writing for children. I have a wonderful friend who finished the course as well and we have critiqued each others work. Both of us are quite secretive about this writing thing and do not share our work with others easily. But we trust each other and are great friends, so that helped.
To be honest, neither one of us knew the other was taking the course. So, her opinion of my work is- "It's very good." I have also been told by a few others that my writing is good. So, why is it that I have such a hard time believing that something could come of this "gift" of mine. I do believe it is a gift and I should use it for some purpose. I am just not sure what that is yet. I have been sending submissions to magazines, but do not have anything published yet.
The advice I mostly hear and read is to not give up. I am trying hard to listen to that advice.

It would be a great blessing to hear from any other moms going through a similar situation. Please feel free to comment!
God bless!

--------------------------------------------------------------------
My first GIVE AWAY! A FREE BOOK!

On a different note, tomorrow is Wednesday's Book of the Week and I will be announcing a giveaway (free book)! So come back tomorrow for all the details!

Monday's Home School

I don't know about you, but I love a good deal! And I especially enjoy getting something I need for free or almost free. Something else about me: I am almost always interested in new home school items(at least new to me anyway). In fact, that is something that I have had to work hard getting under control. I get bored with the stuff I have and start looking for something else all too quickly!
Back to the free thing. I have come across a website recently that offers something called Freebie Friday. If you go to there website and sign up for their newsletter (it is free also), they will send you a daily email. The also sell a magazine, but you don't have to order the magazine to get the newsletter. On Friday's, the email is about all sorts of free home school resources you can find online! The lady that writes it really does a great job finding different resources. It is not the same sites every time or anything like that.
Okay, so here is the site: theoldschoolhousemagazine.com (of course don't forget the three w's at the beginning)
After you check it out, please come back and let me know what you think!

Have fun and God bless!

Family Day Friday

I apologize for posting this a bit late. After the funeral yesterday, I am running a bit behind.

A very simple solution for family time is a good movie and popcorn. My kids love doing this together. This one requires a little money, but not much. You could also throw in some munchies like pretzels, carrots, or chips. Whatever your family likes.

My family has chosen a special night, usually Tuesday night, to have game night or movie night(just depending on how busy the day was, I sometimes like a calm movie night). They really enjoy knowing that this time has been set aside for something special.

Just have fun with your kids!
May God bless you.

Thursday's Thought

Patience.
That is a word that brings about quite a few different thoughts and emotions. For some, patience seems to come easily. For others, not so easily.

Last night, my husband joined me for a Wednesday night church service. That in itself is a miracle and blessing from God. We have been married for 13 years, and I don't remember him ever coming on Wednesday. I attend church regularly and have for our entire marriage. But I was brought up that way, and I believe that is what I need to do. He did not have the privilege I had of having a close relationship with the Lord from an early age.
I have prayed for him pretty much non-stop since the day we married. And I have to truthfully admit that there have been times when I just did not think he would ever care about having a relationship with God.
This is an area where God is teaching me some major patience. Very slowly, over the past few years, I have seen gradual changes in Steven. But sometimes it just seems things are not changing fast enough. I am amazed at the patience of God with mankind. How he doesn't just wipe us all off the face of the earth, I don't know.
I am writing this especially for those out there who are dealing with the same situation. Don't give up. Don't stop praying. Give it completely to God(it took some years for me to really do this one). Only He has enough patience to deal with it. But He can give you the patience you need on a "daily" basis.
I do hope I am more patient than I used to be. I still pray daily for God's help because I just know that without His help, I am more likely to yell, get upset, or just have a bad day. He gets me through and I am constantly watching out for those little signs that He is working in my life and those around me. When I see those signs, I know that He is with me and His patience is complete.

Romans 5:3,4 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope...

Wednesday's Book of the Week

Today's book is titled "From Pulling Weeds to Picking Stocks" by the Beaty brothers. I am pretty sure that is spelled Beaty and not Beatty, but I may be wrong as I do not have the book in hand. I am finished reading it and it is at my parent's house right now. This book was advertised on Rush Limbaugh. It is written by a couple of teenage boys and their younger brother.

I read through the book in one afternoon. It is easily readable and to the point. The young men did a good job. The boys speak of how they have learned over the years to be wise with their money. They also speak a little of the hardships of their parents and how they have been taught to think twice about how they spend because of those hardships.

I am having my kids read this book. If it hits home with any of them, that would be great! Most of us learn a little too late how to use our money wisely.

May God bless you.

Tuesday's Talk

Another year of home schooling. When I first began home schooling, I really had no idea that I would still be doing it seven years later. There are many times when I wonder if I should enroll the kids in school, but always change my mind. When I first started, I really did not have many doubts about being able to school my oldest son, Steven J. It was first grade, what could I do wrong. Then a few years went by and I discovered that I had serious doubts as to whether or not my son would ever read! ;) I follow the schooling method of Ruth Beechick and when they decide they want to read, they will. At least that's what the books say.

I trusted in the words of many different people who agreed with Ruth Beechick and just let my son keep "playing" until he was truly ready to put forth the effort. I did read to him, and the other children, from the beginning, a lot. And Steven J. started a phonics program (I think he was probably about seven) and read some words and small books here and there. When I was about to think he would be twelve before he really started reading good, he took an interest. He was about nine years old and within about 6 months, his reading level jumped over three grades!

He is now thirteen and reads, reads, and reads. We have a joke between each other. There are many times now when I will have to tell him to put his book down and help with something or do something else. He says, "You know mom, you used to gripe at me because I wasn't reading enough, and now you gripe at me because I'm reading too much!" Isn't that grand!

I am going through the exact same struggle(only he is even more reluctant to read) with my second son. But I am a little more relaxed about it. I've seen the rewards. My third child, a girl, taught herself how to read at about four and has been reading since. That one sort of blew my mind for a little while. And my fourth child, another girl, is finishing up phonics and starting small books at the age of seven. She is more interested than my boys, but not as interested as her sister.

It never seems to amaze me how different each child can be. I have learned over the years to trust my instincts a little more about what each child needs. And to say the least, it has been a great rollercoaster ride!

Please feel free to comment on any post. ;)
May God bless you.

Making Monday Meaningful

I am posting a little late as I received a call at 4:00 in the morning that one of my husband's aunts passed away.

For a lot of people, it seems Mondays are just not the best days. Having to get started back to your schedule is hard for some after the weekend. So I am going to try to post some way to make Mondays a little better for you and for me. (I am one of those that tends to be a little slow getting started on a schedule again after two days off.)

After receiving the call in the middle of the night, I did some thinking. Steven couldn't sleep, so he went on to work. We knew his aunt would pass at some time(she has been battling cancer), but I think we were both a bit surprised that it was this quickly. When someone passes, there are so many things that can go through your mind, but I think the most common is that it reminds us of how very short life really is. Not a one of us has a gaurantee of tomorrow. The Bible is very clear on the point that we should live one day at a time and make each moment count. I have missed quite a lot of moments. When something like this happens, I become a little more determined to do my best not to miss any more of those moments.

So, my way of making my Monday better is this: I am going to call all my children together and tell them that I love them and then name something special about each one of them. I will then hug each one. Now, we give hugs and say "I love you" regularly in our house, so this won't be anything unique. But we don't often enough tell each other something specific that we like about each other.

It is funny that something so simple can brighten your day. Tell someone what it is you like about them, whether it is that they are kind, hard working, honest, or whatever. Everyone likes to hear positive feedback. Not only will you make their day, you just might make yours as well.

May God bless you.

Family Day Friday

Cornstarch Clay:

Mix 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup cornstarch, and 1 1/4 cups water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for about 3 minutes. It should resemble bread dough. Pour onto wax paper to cool, then knead until smooth. Store in plastic bag or other airtight container.

This recipe is excellent for beads and Christmas ornaments as it dries very hard and can be painted. (Taken from Castlemoyle Books)

My daughter especially enjoys this recipe. It is a bit more time consuming to make beads, but for younger kids, you can just shape it or use cookie cutters.

Pics from last Friday's Finger Painting:

Thursday's Thought

Do your children ever argue? Okay, I probably already know the answer to that question. I have four and it seems that every day, at least two of them have decided to make the day "argument day". I have read about other families and how they deal with their children's arguing. I would try to implement their ideas, but I used to think that I must be not doing something right because it seemed every day at least one of them was just not being nice.

I have since discovered that is completely normal. You see, they do not argue all day(to clarify, there are a few times when it seems that is all they do) or about everything. They just disagree sometimes throughout the day. Yes, there are times when the disagreement gets out of control and usually it is over something so simple. But I have learned to watch them afterward and I cannot remember a time when any one of them held on to hateful feelings toward the other. I think that is a wonderful sign. They know how to forgive.

I have to think about my husband and his days at work. Even on a good day, he still has disagreements with one or two of his coworkers. Now they don't throw down or anything, but it is very difficult to always get along with everyone, all of the time. My hope is that my children will learn to respect and love those around them even through the disagreements.

So when your children are driving you crazy over the color of popsicle they want, just step back, take a deep breath and remember, "this too shall pass".

"Beloved let us love one another, for love is of God..." 1 John 4:7

May God bless you.

Wednesday's Book of the Week

I have mentioned this book before, but I want to add it to the Book of the Week list. In actuality, it is six books in all. The series is The Love Comes Softly Series by Janette Oke. The first book is Love Comes Softly and by far my favorite of the series. I came across this book, checked it out from the library, and proceeded to read it in two nights. I am bad about doing that. If I find a book I simply get caught up in, I just won't put it down. Sleepless nights.

Back to the book. The first one is about a young woman who loses her husband while traveling to a new part of the country. She has no choice but to marry a widower with a small child from the local town. They go through some very tought times, but have a respect for each other. Through time, they fall in love- softly(hence the name of the book). Janette Oke does a magnificent job of drawing you into the characters. The books go on in the series to tell you about the struggles and good times of the couple as well as their children. I am on the last book now.

These books are set in the "Little House on the Prairie" days. I have decided to add these to the required reading list for my girls in the future. I think they would make great reading for teenage ladies looking for wholesome reading.

On a side note, movies have been made of these books, but in my opinion, do a poor job of telling the story. I suggest reading the books instead.

May God bless you and happy reading!

Tuesday's Talk

Just before I went to bed last night, my husband, Steven, informed me that he needed a uniform washed for the morning. I, of course, said, "Thanks for telling me now." Okay, the uniform situation is a touchy one for me. His company has a dry cleaning service pick up the uniforms on Thursdays. At least it is supposed to be on Thursday's. There are weeks when they will simply show up on Wednesday. That's when I feel like calling the service. I have plenty of my own family washing to do and the uniforms just add to the situation.

So, I admit I need to work on my attitude concerning this. I put some in the wash(if I had been more concerned with making sure my husband had what he needed, I wouldn't have forgotten to wash some in the first place). Now, my washer is not a speed machine, so I was going to have to get up in the middle of the night and move them to the dryer(and take the white clothes out of the dryer as well, so I could put the uniforms in). This is not the first time I have had to do this. As I've mentioned, this is a sore spot.

At 12:something a.m., I woke up and remembered to go take care of the dryer thing. At 3:something a.m., Steven woke up, went to the bathroom, came out and asked me if I had taken care of the uniforms already. I told him "yes." Now, listen carefully, as this is the important part of this story. He then got back in bed and said, "I appreciate you." Now, I don't hear that on a regular basis. I don't even hear that on a non-regular basis. But I tell you what, when I do hear it, I am on cloud nine.

Steven and I have been going through some rough patches lately. And I don't mean just your normal marriage stuff. But we both know that we made a promise to each other and God joined us together. We love each other and are trying and praying to make this marriage a joyful one. We know our children are watching and we do not want them to learn that giving up or taking the easy way out is acceptable. Way too many people in this day and age simply throw up their hands and seperate or divorce. The Bible is clear that divorce is not the option God wants. Man decided they needed that option.

By the grace of God, Steven and I are making it. Prayer gets us through. The rough patches are beginning to smooth some. I am learning more and more about humility and patience. And once in a while, I receive a little reward. Steven gave me one last night when he told me he appreciates me. What more could a wife want.

Family Fun Friday

FINGER PAINTING!

Grab the kids at some point today, sit down together(or stand) and do some finger painting. The great thing about finger painting is that you can use anything. I think we are going to use cake frosting today. Some ideas are pudding, whipping cream, shaving cream, hand lotion, vaseline, vegetable oil, or anything else you may have handy around the house.

You are going to have to use your imagination a little here. You could lay out wax paper, or give each child a plate, or anything else you think would work. And just have fun!

This is also a great way for little ones to learn different textures and of course any kid of any age likes being allowed to make a mess!

May God bless you.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Just a side note, since this blog is fairly new. I will only be posting Monday thru Friday, no weekends. That time is for my family and myself. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thursday's Thought

For the past six months or so I have been keeping up with a website called MoneySavingMom that helps you to save money on groceries. I have to admit it does help. Sometimes it helps quite a bit and I save more than I spend. Over the months, I have been trying to keep up with how much I spend approximately every two weeks on groceries and have been pleasantly surprised to find that for a family of six, I only spend about $50 to $70 for every thing we need. This includes hygiene needs as well. I do not have a set dollar amount budget, but I think even $70 is pretty good.

On a seperate note, there are times when I don't even have $30 or $40 to spend and those are the times I feel guilty about. I am a person who likes to serve natural as opposed to processed and when you cut costs, you tend to cut a lot of the natural. My husband does not care as long as he has something to eat, so that helps. But I simply do not like when I have to buy bologna and processed cheese. Ugh :(

So, yesterday, this is where I was at, and to be honest, I cannot remember if I prayed for the Lord to help me make the best decisions with what money I had and for his help in finding the things I needed. I probably did, as I pray short prayers like this often when I am struggling with little things. In any case, I received a few surprises.

My neighbor had told me earlier in the day that I could help myself to his apple trees. In the afternoon I got a craving for a good piece of fruit, so the kids and I took the wagon to load up on apples. I needed eggs and lately eggs have been getting quite expensive. I remembered that a friend of mine had been wanting to travel somewhere to pick some apples and she has chickens with plenty of eggs left over. I gave her a call and asked if we could trade. She was more than willing. When I got to her house, she also had a bag of squash and cucumbers for me! (I recently moved and my new garden is not yet making). And last but not least, when we went to church last night, a friend there had some cereal and snacks, that he can come across for free, to pass out.

So, my thought for the day is that the Lord is Good! ;) We have never gone hungry. The Lord has always provided. I am so very thankful.

If anyone has a story of the Lord's goodness, please share. It is great to hear how He works in other's lives.

May God bless you.

Wednesday's Book of the Week

I love to read. So I've decided to make Wednesday's my book of the week day. Each wednesday I will post about a book that I have read either to my children or just for my own enjoyment.

The Quiltmakers Gift by Jeff Brumbeau is the book I have chosen today. I read this before bed a few nights ago to my youngest daughter. We both enjoyed this book. It is about an old lady who stays on top of her mountain making quilts for the poor and when she finishes, she brings them down and hands them out herself. There is a very greedy king in the story who is, of course, unhappy even with all the things he owns. He decided he wants a quilt but the old lady tells him he cannot have one because he is not poor. He must decide how badly he wants this quilt and what he is willing to do to get it. It is a very cute story and basically tells the old true teaching that "giving to others will bring joy."

2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grugdingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

let's begin again...

I have been away for a while, but Lord willing, things will go more smoothly here on out.

The verse I have placed at the top of this blog page reminds me each time I read it that God has given me one purpose. I am to teach others and show others His grace by the way I live. There is no greater thing I can do than to guide someone to the Lord through His word. And when I get to heaven I will be richly rewarded, though I believe the rewards of having another brother or sister in Christ while on this earth are great indeed.

This verse and this purpose from God hits me the hardest when I think on my children. I have four souls that I am responsible for. It is my job to guide them in the right direction. So many, many times a day, I get lost in the needs and cares of this world and forget that main purpose. It truly does make me sad when I realize I have missed a moment or opportunity to guide simply because I am too busy just living.

It is not hard to get caught up in this world and the foolish things around me. It is especially easy to do this when there is so much foolishness and the things of God are a little more scarce to see. I believe this is one reason I must try to stand firm. So my children will know that it is not easy, but is well worth the effort. I pray that those of you who read the verse above will receive encouragement. Don't lose sight of what is most important. Life is too short and those moments don't come again.

May God bless you.

Please Forgive Me...

I can't believe is has been a month since I updated this site! We are in the new house finally! Hoorah! We've been in for about 2 weeks. I still have lots and lots to do before we are completely settled in, but things have been moving along rather quickly. I do not have internet service yet, which explains the lack of communication on this site. I am borrowing my mom's computer to do this. Talk about country living! But honestly, I love it! We don't have a land line phone either. Not planning on getting one. Hoorah!
I will do my best to get back again next week and hopefully next month gets some pics of the house on. It is fabulous being back out here again. Some folks will never know the peace and joy that comes from country living.
We will be getting those chickens soon and hopefully a goat soon as well. The kids are just loving being able to walk down to Granny and Papa's for a swim or just a visit! (Also, they have made it a habit to "choose" where they want to eat as well!) Spoiled rotten children!
I must go for now, but I will get back on schedule as soon as possible.
God bless!

the good ole' days...

THE GIRLS ARE WASHING THE CLOTHES AND THE BOYS ARE SITTIN' AROUND!

I searched for the pics of the cabin where we stayed in Fredericksburg, but wouldn't you know it, I guess I never took one. We got plenty of video tape of it though! So I thought I'd post these instead. I just couldn't get the boys to wash any clothes! Go figure.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The house will be finished in about two or three weeks! I am so excited! I am ordering chickens this week and can't wait to start getting those eggs. Also, we are going to look into some goats, so we can have fresh milk. Oh, don't worry, I do have a washing machine, so the girls will just have to hang them on the line to dry. I'm not that extreme of a prairie girl! Ha, Ha!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Book review: I am going to pick up number four in the Love Comes Softly series. I am still hooked, although the first book is my favorite so far. Feel free to post if you've read any of these or are reading a fabulous book right now!

busy, busy, busy...

I know that it is just awful that I am not keeping things up to date here, but I just can't seem to get back on track!

I have to recommend taking vacations for a full week! This was the first time we have ever done this and it was absolutely wonderful. We rented a cabin (which I fell in love with), and basically took it easy for the full week. We did go to a couple of museums, picked fresh strawberries, ate German food, and a few other things, but mostly we lounged around! My husband even liked the cabin, which surprised me a bit. It had a living room, fully stocked kitchen, bedroom, loft, and a bathroom. My girls thoroughly enjoyed the loft and stayed up there most of the time. I though it was pretty neat as well. The owner of the cabin added a blowup bed for my boys in the living area(there was plenty of room) and she stocked the kitchen with continental breakfast items. The cabin was definitely a blessing from God! The owner gave us a great discount since we were staying six nights. And all the extras were an added bonus.

I have a funny story to tell, and I think that most home school parents will understand why this was such a great thing for my kids. When we went to meet the owner of the cabin, we noticed a black angus cow that was slowly inching its way over a fence to get the "greener" grass on the other side. We mentioned to the owner that a cow had gotten loose and she asked the kids if they would like to "herd" the cow back into its pen. Of course, they yelled "yes"! So we followed her back to where the cow was and the kids got to help her and another young man put the cow back where it belonged. They had such a fun time. It was very exciting watching them! I was so glad they learned this little lesson.

Also, later that evening when my dad called to talk to the kids, my youngest informed him that they got to put the "bull back in its cage"! I just died laughing! If you knew my dad, that would not be the best thing to say to him because he is such a worry wart! I just knew he was saying, "You did WHAT?"

Okay, the place we stayed at was call "The Spotted Pony Ranch" in Fredericksburg, Texas and I recommend it highly if you are ever in that area. I will try really hard to get some pics on soon.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

House Update:

We are just about there! You walk in and the kitchen actually looks like a kitchen! With running water and everything. We will finish the texturing in the kitchen and kid's bathroom tomorrow, Lord willing, and then we can get them painted. After that, there is a bit more for the bathrooms, putting the floor down, and then we can start moving in!! Yeahhh! We will still have to finish the porch, but I figure we can do that as we move in. God is Good!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Homeschooling note:

I would love to hear from anyone else who homeschools and if there is a big enough difference between your children that you have to use a different curriculum for one or more of them. I have run into a unique thing in that one of my daughters is very bored and requests more work! I am going to try to put her on her own curriculum which will be more strict than the unit studies I do with the other ones. We will see how this goes! Any helpful ideas would be greatly appreciated!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Have a great day and God Bless!

Update...

I apologize that I haven't updated my info in a week, but we were on vacation in Fredericksburg, Texas last week (FABULOUS) and I am extremely busy getting caught up now that we are back home.

I do want to say that I finished the sequel to Love Comes Softly, which is entitled Love's Enduring Promise and I was thrilled with it as well. I am now on the next one in the series. While on vacation, I came across the movies that were made based on these first two books and sadly, I have to say I was very disappointed. The storyline was not followed very well. I think I will stick to the books!

I promise to have an update on Fredericksburg and the house sometime this week. Thanks so much for your patience! Please let us know if you are reading a good book!

Have a great day!

Apples this year?!

My apple tree is blossoming! This is the first year it has had blossoms. It is four years old and I had to transplant it this year to the new house, so I wasn't sure if it would do anything or not. This little tree just made my day! Now to pray that it will actually produce some apples! My neighbor has about five grown apple trees so there should be no problem with mating it. We'll just have to wait and see. The blooms smell wonderful!

Another little blessing from the Lord up above.

__________________________________________________________________

COUPON NOTE

Check out www.moneysavingmom.com today for a link to another site that is have a huge coupon giveaway!

Adara learns to sew...

I sat down this evening to work on some sewing projects and decided I would start making some baby bibs to sell. I pulled out my patterns and got busy.

Adara, my 9 year old daughter, came into the room, and being the crafty little one she is, immediately started working on copying a pattern for herself. I showed her how to pin the pattern to the material and then cut it out. She listened and followed directions quite well. When it came time to sew the pattern she cut out, she asked eagerly if she could do it herself. She informed me that this bib was going to be for the new cousin she is expecting.

I told her sure and proceeded to guide her through sewing this wonderful gift. She had to do some seam ripping, and re-sewing, but in the end she did a beautiful job. When she finished, she made the comment that it wasn't very good, and I immediately told her she had done a lovely job and Aunt Leslie would be thrilled to have the bib, knowing it was made by her. She was very proud. And to be honest, so am I.

I will not even mention the times that I feel as if my children are just getting shoved aside due to other daily duties. I go through times when I think they just must not be learning anything. And then these moments come up and I am reminded again that my children are learning the most valuable lesson there is. Each one is spending their day helping their family. Each one is learning that there is nothing more important in this life than knowing and honoring their Heavenly Father. Each one is learning how to be the person God wants them to grow up to be.

In this day and age, it is extremely easy to get caught up in the world and lose sight of what life is truly about. I thank God for these precious moments that remind me of Him and allow me to see the rewards of following His Word.

This book is definitely going on the reading list...

One of the things in life I really enjoy is finding a good book. I am quite choosy when it comes to what I read. I am the same way with movies. So, on that note, I would like to share this little story.

A little less than a month ago, I was in Mardel's and came across some DVD's they had marked at 5 dollars. I noticed a couple of them were by Michael Landon Jr. The name of one was "Love Comes Softly" and the story line was written by a woman named Janette Oak. Now I am a huge fan of Little House on the Prairie and this movie looked to be along those lines. I decided to write down her name and look up her books on ebay and amazon. I did that and came across some, but decided I would order them later.

I, of course, forgot all about this little find just about the next day. At this moment in my life, with the house building added on to all the other duties in my life, my brain cells are not working at 100 percent! Ha, Ha! I tend to forget things just about 10 minutes after I think about them. Anyway, back to the story.

Our little town library just finished moving into a new and much needed building this month and the kids and I were thrilled to go check it out. As I was walking through the aisles and admiring the fact that you could easily see what books were available(the old building was so crammed, it was very difficult to even get through the aisles), I came across a section of books for teenagers. I decided to look for some wholesome reading that would be good for my kids over the next few years. I came across some books by a woman named, you guessed it, Janette Oak. I did not even remember the fact that I had already come across her name. There were at least fifteen books by her on the shelf. I searched and found the one she wrote first in her life, and you guessed it again, it was "Love Comes Softly".

Now I know you think I must be lying, but I did not remember anything about this title or her name. The book looked good, so I thought I would give it a try. I proceeded to take this book home and stay up until after midnight for three nights in a row to finish it. It was beyond excellent!! I still can't help but wonder about the future of these characters! I went to the library today and got the sequel. Maybe not such a smart idea, seeing as how I had to lay down and take a two hour nap today due to exhaustion!

Anyway, after finishing the book (I am not sure if it was ten minutes later or hours), I realized I knew the name. I checked my notes by my computer to make certain it was the same author and yes, it was. I then said a short prayer to God, thanking him for putting this book in my way. God blesses me with little things like this all the time. I believe he realizes how scatter brained I am and helps me out. In any case, if there are any other "little house on the prairie" lovers out there, you've got to read this book. It is definitely going on the list for required school reading for my kids! I'll let you know if the sequel is as good.

In fact, I suppose I will probably read every book the library has on the shelf by her.
Hope this blog has been worth the reading! Have a great week!

Oh, and if you have a book that just couldn't put down, let us know about it.

Coupons really work!

WOW!!! Okay, I have to admit, I was a bit surprised to save this much. I have used coupons before, but never anything like this.

My sister called me one day a few weeks ago and told me to check out a website called MoneySavingMom.com. That is where it all started. I figured it couldn't hurt to save a couple of dollars, especially since we have to buy groceries anyway! So, I started printing off coupons from the internet and buying the Sunday paper(I don't subscribe to any papers). It does take some time to go through the coupons and find the best deals, but that is where websites like MoneySavingMom come in. They find the best deals and let you know about them. This was my first trip after all the hard work of getting started. I think I did pretty good.

So here they are, my totals:

WalMart: Grocery Total was $80.40, Coupon Total was $47.75, Total I spent was $32.65
Target: Grocery Total was $21.41, Coupon Total was $12.10, Total I spent was $9.31
Albertson's: Grocery Total was $67.55, Coupon Total was $30.58, Total I spent was $36.97
Walgreens: Grocery Total was $23.98, Coupon Total was $20.00, Total I spent was $3.98

So all in all I spent $82.91 and saved $110.43! I just can't believe I saved more than I spent. I think I am going to enjoy this coupon thing!

Thanks so much MoneySavingMom (and sis for the idea)!

If you have a great coupon trip to tell, please share! I get excited about these things.

house update...

Just a quick update on the house building... I got to paint today! Now that is exciting! My dad got the cabinets started, so now we can see more clearly what the kitchen will look like. We've got four rooms ready for paint and we've painted the ceiling and under the cabinets already. I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel now!

I had no idea it would be this much work when we started the house back in August of 2007. I knew it would be work, but this is hard work. I love it though. I know that forever in the future, I will look back and remember working on the house with my husband and children and my parents. That makes the work well worth it.

The house is going to be beautiful! I will try to get some pics up next week.

On a seperate note, I am going to be making my rounds in the morning hitting the stores with coupons in hand. Hopefully to find some great bargains and post what I find tomorrow. I am very new at this coupon thing and I am loving it!

Have a fabulous evening everyone!

One of those days...

I know I am not the only one that has these days. I went to Walgreens today to get my printer cartridge filled for free(there was a coupon for today and I made a special trip just for this). I knew they would be very busy, so I got there before 8:00 this morning. Since I was in town(I have to drive about 25 miles to get into town), I decided to run a few other errands.

A new thing I have been trying is clipping coupons and checking out websites for ideas on good savings for groceries. So, I went to Target and got 6 bags of goldfish crackers and two bars of children's soap and paid $1.60 for all of it! Pretty good start to the day so far.

Then I went to Wal-Mart and got some things there. Of course, the kids are starving by now, so I find some cinnamon rolls on the day old bakery rake and buy a gallon of water and some cups. We ate this at the Subway inside Wal-Mart. I am so thankful they put that place in there. I got a couple bags of groceries here and left with sixty cents in my pocket.

Then off to Hastings where I just knew they would be interested in the used books I had and therefore I might have a little more pocket change. They weren't, but that's okay. Maybe next time. We went straight to the YMCA for some exercise time-basketball and volleyball and of course, this was enjoyed by all of us. We always enjoy playing games together. But about half way through our time there, my daughter slipped on the ball and hurt her tailbone and my son tripped and hurt his pinky. So, time to go.

Next, we catch the Friends of the library bookstore to drop off the books hastings didn't want. Unfortunately, we walked in and the lady said, we're closed. So I didn't get to check out their store yet again. They really have terrible hours. Back in the car and heading to Walgreens to pick up that cartridge.

Sounds too easy doesn't it. After about another hour and a half wait when we get there, come to find out the cartridge isn't any good any more. Go figure. So, I am home now and typing this, fixing to head to the library for some school time. Oh, my daughters decided two minutes after we got home to put the ant farms together that have been sitting on the shelf for months and then go hunt for ants. No bites yet.

My headache is pretty much gone, so I guess we will head to the library. Typical day for us. How about you?

Great B-day Party!

My youngest had her 7th birthday this past weekend. I still can't believe she is seven! But to be honest, I have quite settled myself to this life of no little ones around my feet. Don't get me wrong, I still find those little ones quite adorable. But I am seeing the benefits of older children. The other morning my daughters offered to cook breakfast for the family and they did it all on their own! Gotta love it!

Back to the B-day party: It was "An Afternoon Movie" party. I got the idea from birthdaysrus.com. I really like this site. If you don't know about it, it is a site from toys-r-us about birthdays. It even has some invitations you can print off. The site offers many ideas on different birthday parties and how to go about planning one. Our party movie was Madagascar. My daughter figured this would work for both boys and girls. She has that personality where she likes everyone to be happy. So sweet!

We had a "Walk of Fame", and ticket drawings for prizes. I thoroughly enjoyed it, because it allowed some down time for me to visit with some moms while the kids watched the movie. And the kids loved the popcorn and prizes!

Another great birthday come and gone. They just go too fast!

Feel free to share any of your own birthday ideas.

What are bowels?!

I have a cute little story to tell. We are studying Knights and Castles in a unit study right now and we're reading the book 'Catherine, Called Birdy' by Karen Cushman. During the reading, the word "bowels" was mentioned. I asked my four children if they knew what this meant.

They sat there for a little bit, mostly nodding their heads "no", when out of the blue my 10 year old said, "a, e, i, o, u"?!!!! I just died laughing! Then I repeated to him that I had said "bowels", not "vowels"!

Funny things like this happen often around my children. It's those moments that I really enjoy! Anyone else have a story like this that you would like to share? Please do so.

Have a great Sunday!

I'm so excited!

I went to bed last night knowing that I would make myself start this blog in the morning. I could hardly go to sleep just thinking about it. So, here I am.

A little info about myself. I am a wife and a mother of four. I have been homeschooling my children for about seven years now! (That even surprised me when I counted that up.) I just finished online classes and got my associate degree this past year. Don't ask me why, I guess I just felt like I needed to be even busier. Ha, Ha. I am a happy-go-lucky person and pretty much look at life as fun and exciting. I am also a writer(still trying to get published, but I know it'll happen).

So, why this blog? Does anyone else out there like to talk? I do. What about knowing that there is someone else out there going through something similar to what you are going through? Me too.

At this point in my life, my husband and I are building a house, with the help of my parents. My dad built houses in his younger years, so he has all the expertise. You talk about a full time job. My day consists of trying to throw a load of laundry into the washer when I remember, school the kids, keep the dishes from taking over the kitchen (the laundry's already taken over the bathroom), drive out to the house we're building and do oh, so many things, and then feed my husband(he gets kind of cranky if I forget this one). I remember telling my mom a few months ago that I do not see how a woman could work outside the home and still do all she needs to at home with the kids and husband. I am absolutely exhausted!

For any homeschooling moms out there, I am always up for a good chat about the curriculum you use and how it's working. I am very laid back with my homeschooling. We use unit studies mostly because they allow us to all work together at the same time. At this point, though, I am just trying to make sure that their math and writing get done! I'll be so glad when this house gets finished!

Feel free to post at will. Take care and have a great day!