Me and My House

Messages for Mamas

2011-10-03T10:33:00.003-05:00

I posted this on my Facebook status, but wanted to elaborate here.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24

I think we all (including myself) occasionally need this reminder. When I am serving my family, I'm serving the Lord and I need to walk through every task throughout every day, not as if it's a burden, but as if it is a privilege to serve my Lord through serving my family. When I first learned this lesson as a young Mom, there would be days that I would repeat to myself over and over (usually while doing the much dreaded task of laundry) that "When I'm serving my family, I'm serving the Lord." I think that often the attitude in which we serve our family is very indicative of the attitude we also have while serving the Lord. Especially when He asks of us things that we don't necessarily want to do.

"Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless." Philippians 2:14-16

Some translations use the word grumbling in place of complaining. I think it's easy to get frustrated with changing diapers, washing clothes, cleaning a room for the 2nd and 3rd time in a day, taking care of meals, paying bills....the list could go on and on. It's a LOT of work to be a Mama. What we have to remember, though, is that just like any other ministries (and maybe even more important than others), the ministry of motherhood, is one that He has called us to. Being a Mama and wife is a calling. When we walk through life grumbling and complaining about the tasks that are involved as a wife and mother, we are complaining about the very thing that God has called us to.

"As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right." 1 Samuel 12:23

While the previous verse is speaking about praying, it also serves as a reminder that when we sin against others it's as if we are directly sinning against God. That means that when you've snapped at your children or your husband, you've snapped (yelled, etc.) at the Lord.

By the same token, Matthew 25:40 says, “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’" Which also means that all of the good things we do for our family, we do unto the Lord. When we serve our family with gladness, we serve the Lord with gladness. I heard a definition several years ago that really stuck with me. It was that Obedience is doing what you're told, when you're told with a right heart attitude. I believe I read that in relation to parenting, but I've learned over the years that often I need the very lessons that I'm trying to teach to my children. If I raise my children with a rotten attitude, have I truly been obedient to the Lord. Is that really what He was asking of me?

The Word of God also tells us to "Choose you this day, whom you will serve..." Joshua 24:15

We must die to our flesh (our selfish selves) daily and with our attitudes we make a choice who we will serve each day. Who will you serve today?

P.S. If you ever get a lesson that proves to you that you're doing things wrong, handling things in the wrong way, it is soooooo important to remember that Conviction comes from the Lord to lovingly teach us to walk in His ways. Grab those lessons and learn from them. However, if those lessons make you feel guilty, like you're not good enough or make you feel like a failure, remember that guilt is not from the Lord and it can often be bondage that keeps you from being able to move forward. Take on the lesson, learn from it, ask the Lord to forgive you and work your way to walking out what you've learned. Remember that we don't learn everything overnight. We don't expect our children just to hop up and walk one day, it takes practice and little by little you will get there.

We Need Each Other

2011-09-22T07:23:00.002-05:00

I learned a long time ago how much we Moms need each other. We need each other to be honest about how hard this job is. We need each other to bounce ideas off of and to hear what has and hasn't worked for you. We need to sharpen each other (Proverbs 27:17). We need to hear what everyone is cooking. How you're saving money. We need to know that we're not alone. 7 years ago the Lord showed me that my primary ministry would be to other women. He's provided small ways here and there for me to walk that out. Within the last year I have longed to walk in the purpose in a more tangible way. A friend and I sort of resurrected a group within our homeschool covering to minister to and gather with other homeschool Moms of elementary aged (and below) children. Yet I have still longed for a deeper way to fulfill that call within my own church body. I'm so thankful that God has asked us to serve Him and our church as the directors over the early childhood department (K5 and below) at our church. We love working with the children, working alongside each other and very often he opens doors for me to encourage another Mom or to introduce them to a new friend, etc. We have enjoyed this season so much and have been so blessed by the opportunity to serve. I am so excited to share with you, that the door has opened for me to step further into ministering to women, especially Moms. Our church will be starting a Mom's Group. Our official kickoff will be in November. We'll meet once in November and once in December and then pray about whether or not we will expand it to be more often after the first of the year. I will more or less be there to facilitate and plan. We may have a devotion or discuss a certain topic or have a guest speaker, but our plan biggest goal is to provide an atmosphere that will allow the Moms of our church to get a little break while getting to know other Moms. Just wanted to share with you all how excited I am about this next step and also ask you to commit it to prayer. I don't want to walk through anything that He's not right in the middle of. (Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.. Psalm 127:1) So, please pray that I will walk out His will and that He will send the women that need this and that they will be blessed and strengthened by it.

Doing Some Scheduling

2011-09-06T17:27:00.002-05:00

I've been revamping our schedule a bit. I do this at the beginning of every new school year. I don't quite have a full schedule in place, but I do have a new chore system in place and a new laundry schedule. The chore schedule is going to take a longer post, but I wanted to go ahead and share how we're changing our laundry system.

We have a good sized laundry room and we've always just taken all of the clothes there, sorted them and washed when we washed. Some system, huh... Well, we are soon to be remodeling that laundry room and moving all of my sewing and embroidery down there. This is what necessitated the change, along with the fact that the aforementioned lack of a system was not working. From now on everyone will have a hamper in there rooms and there will also be one in the bathroom. So, here's the schedule:

Monday - Kelsi and Keeli
Tuesday - Mom and Dad
Wednesday - Bathroom Hamper (Mainly towels and washcloths from the bathroom and kitchen)
Thursday - Mason
Friday - bedding

We've also been using Carbona Color-Catchers (we use Shout color-catchers sometimes, too, but prefer Carbona). They work great and are enabling us to sort less. We still bleach our whites and won't put a dark or red new item in with lighter ones. If it's my laundry day it's my responsibility to complete all of my laundry from start to finish (Wash, dry, fold and put away). Mason is 9 and for the most part is able to do his laundry alone. I will occasionally supervise, but for the most part he's on his own. Everyone will wash their own bedding on bedding days and on hamper day the girls will put the clothes in the washer, then move to the dryer. Mason will take them out of the dryer. I will fold and we'll all put away. I feel certain this is going to work beautifully. I have no idea why I didn't think of it before! What's your laundry system?

Homeschool Curriculum 2011-2012

2011-08-30T23:07:00.002-05:00

It's late, so this will be a fairly quick post. First I'd like to just tell you a brief philosophy of our homeschool. I desire for my children to be prepared for whatever God calls them to do, so it is important to me that they get a good education, but I homeschool, primarily, for Spiritual reasons. I desire to spend as much time as I can using life lessons to teach my children to walk with the Lord. That being said we are not and probably will never be a family that "schools" all day long. I look for curriculum that has a lot of good information that can be used in a short amount of time. There is one primary exception to that this year and I'll explain that as I go.

Kelsi and Keeli's 8th grade curriculum
Teaching Textbooks Math (This is our exception. It takes my girls anywhere from 1-2 hours to do one lesson. However, it's a VERY thorough curriculum, takes all of the guesswork out of it and my girls really like it.)

Notgrass American History (We will be using this for Literature, History and Bible. However, we are pairing this with a presidential study and will be taking two years to go through this with that study.)

Apologia General Science

Wordsmith

Easy Grammar Ultimate

Vocabulit

Keeli is also still working through AVKO Sequential Spelling. She LOVES it and we have seen an AMAZING improvement in her spelling ability since we started. If you have a struggling speller, I highly recommend trying this.

The girls are taking a break from ballet this year. They LOVE ballet and are very sad to have to take a break, but the karate studio that housed their homeschool dance classes was flooded during the April 27th tornadoes. This caused the teacher to have to move her classes to a farther away town and move it to a day and time that was just impossible for us. We are hoping she will be able to move back next year. However, it's enabling us to spend some time doing things the girls have been wanting to do. They are going to be learning to cook more and bake more as well as do more sewing and crafting, so we're very excited for the extra time.

Mason's 4th Grade Curriculum

If you didn't already know, I'll be transparent for a moment, ALL of my children read late. I read a book in my early years of homeschooling entitled "Better Late than Early" and boy am I thankful I did. I tried to teach them to read at the "normal" time and it just seemed that I hit brick wall after brick wall, but then there would be a random light bulb moment and suddenly they would be interested and everything would just click. For Kelsi it was the middle of 2nd grade, for Keeli it was much later, due to her dyslexia and auditory processing issues and thank you Jesus, Mason has FINALLY decided that it's time. He's having major revelation every single day! Just wanted you to understand why he has some of the curriculum that he has.

Explode the Code workbooks (Last year we did the online version and he enjoyed it, but it advances you based on what it considers the students readiness. That decision is based on accuracy and speed. Mason was very accurate, but slow and could not get past book 2, so this year we are back to the workbooks and he's flying through them.)

Spectrum Sight Word Workbooks

A Reason For Hanwriting

Modern Curriculum Press Math

Modern Curriculum Press Plaid Phonics

MCP Spelling Workout

He will be joining the girls for History and will be doing Unit Studies for Science.

I don't have our schedule finished yet, but I'm thinking this schedule should take Mason 2-3 hours per day and the girls 3-4 hours.

Lack Of Posting

2011-08-12T11:07:00.000-05:00

My life has been busy, busy, busy and of course I've been posting more of it on Facebook than here. I'll try to do better. Look for a post about my newest adventure and our homeschool year very soon!

That's My King!!!!!

2011-04-14T10:06:00.002-05:00

Newly Tested Designs

2011-04-13T14:37:00.002-05:00

I recently had the priviledge of testing a few designs for www.theitch2stitch.com . They turned out really cute. She's making a small adjustment and they will be offered on her site very soon. Excuse the quality of my pictures. I took them right as the sun was setting, so they have a sunset glow....LOL

Blog Design

2011-04-11T11:33:00.002-05:00

I have spent waaaayyyy too much time this morning trying to change the background on my blog. I really like this one, but I cannot figure out how to get the hazy foreground to go away! The background should be black and hot pink, but looks gray. I would appreciate any input on how I might fix this. Thanks so much! UPDATE : I FINALLY got it figured out. What a pain! I'm still not sure I completey love it, but I'll live with it for a while and see. I've been being super crafty lately. Doing lots of sewing and embroidery and wanted to start sharing more about that on my blog, so I was trying to make my blog reflect that just a bit more, but boy, oh boy....I had no idea what an undertaking that would be today. Why does blogger keep changing things?!?!?!

Couponing Sites

2011-04-06T18:30:00.000-05:00

We also shared some basic how-tos and the benefits of couponing. Here is some info we shared on helpful Couponing Websites. http://www.couponing101.com/ Getting Started Section – Teaches the ins and outs of couponing as well as how to coupon at the drug stores. Store deals including Wal-Mart Directs you to printable coupons http://www.iheartpublix.com/ FAQ section Forum Basics of Couponing Lots of other info! http://www.southernsavers.com/ Has a list for Kroger, Publix, Target, CVS, Rite-Aid and Walgreens. Section on Learning to Coupon Section to direct you to printable coupons Others section includes online bargains and deals at Wal-Mart http://www.fiddledeedeemom.com/ Store deals include Dollar General Restaurant Deals Section on Freebies and Samples Other couponing sites: http://www.iheartthemart.com/ http://www.totallytarget.com/ http://www.iheartsavingmoney.com/ http://www.iheartkroger.com/

Lowering Your Grocery Budget

2011-04-05T18:30:00.000-05:00

Our homeschool group has a newly resurrected group for Mom's of elementary aged children and younger. A friend of mine and I head it up. We have a Mom's meeting every month and a field trip each month. This months meeting is about Lowering Your Grocery Budget. These are the tips that I put together for our meeting. Hope you find them helpful. Menu Planning – Planning your menu greatly cuts down on waste and impulse buys. Our paychecks are bi-weekly. My budget works best when I do one big trip with every paycheck (I do usually have to go back for milk and sometimes bread.) It also is a big help when I plan very specifically all the way down to snacks. For my family I have used a weekly breakfast/lunch/snack menu and a bi-weekly supper menu. Low Cost Staples – Rice and Dried beans are a big help in a budget menu. I buy my rice in bulk at Sam’s and keep it in a 5 gallon bucket. We’ve been using the same bag for at least a year. In the past I allowed the time commitment to keep me from using these things. I often bought canned beans and minute rice. I have since learned to cook the rice in the microwave while I’m preparing the rest of the meal and I’ve learned to cook dry beans in the Crockpot. Microwave Cooking Directions for White Rice Ratio: 1part rice to 2 parts water Place Rice and water in a covered casserole dish. Cook on high for 5 minutes. Then cook on Medium for 15 minutes. Allow to stand for 5 minutes. You may need to adjust the times slightly for your microwave. These are a general guideline (I think we do 6 minutes on high). You can also do an internet search for cooking brown rice in the microwave. No-Fail Crock-pot Beans (Starting w with one pound of beans) 1. Sort dry beans, removing any small rocks or dirt pieces. Put the beans into a strainer/colander. Rinse well with cold water. 2. In a large pot, heat 6 cups of water and 1 tsp. salt to boiling. 3. Add beans; simmer for 10 minutes on the stovetop. 4. 4. Pour beans and hot liquid into crock-pot and cook on low setting overnight (8 to 12 hours) You can now use these beans in a recipe or freeze (2 cups would be equivalent to a 15.5 ounce can of beans). Shop at the Bread Store – Bread stores don’t just sell “day old bread”. They often sell the same bread that you find on the shelf in your local grocery store at a much discounted price. Deep Freeze – Owning a Deep Freeze really enables you to buy in bulk when things are on sale. You can pre-cook many things to help eliminate convenience foods and store them in the freezer. We bought ours for $150 5 or 6 years ago at a used appliance store and I’m certain it has helped us save much more than that. I suggest an upright freezer, as it takes up less space than a larger chest freezer and it’s much easier to know what you have in the freezer, which helps eliminate waste. Frozen Vegetables – Frozen vegetables are generally cheaper than canned veggies and are more nutritious as they typically do not have additives. Buy Whole Chickens – Buying whole e chickens is much less expensive than buying them pre-cut. I can often get them at Sam’s for $.87 per pound. I do not butcher them and use them that way, but they roast very well for a meal and the leftovers are great for using to top salads or make chicken salad, etc. I also boil them whole, shred them and freeze them in meal sized portions and freeze the broth. This makes meal prep easier and saves money. A great way to do this with very little time investment is to cook the chicken overnight in the Crockpot. Cutting the Meat – I have over time realized that when I use half the ground beef a recipe calls for we don’t miss it. We’ve also completely cut out the meat in things like stir-fry. When we are eating things like chili and it doesn’t have as much meat, you really don’t have to worry about the protein factor. This has saved us a lot of money. We still have meat almost every night for supper, but occasionally I omit it and I often use less than called for. Cut out Convenience Foods – Breakfast - Make things from scratch. It takes very little time to make pancakes from scratch and they freeze well. Make up a big batch this week, then use the freezer leftovers next week. Make your own biscuits. You can freeze the cut out biscuits and pop them in the oven just like the store bought ones. Make your own instant oatmeal: http://www.stretcher.com/stories/00/001009e.cfm Snacks – Try things like muffins that you premake and keep in the fridge or freezer. It’s a much heartier snack and saves money. Try peanut butter crackers or cheese crackers the old-fashioned way. Make them yourself. Whole wheat cinnamon toast is a great snack or cheese toast. Don’t buy gimmicky snacks that aren’t filling (fruit gummies, roll-ups, etc.) The heartier the snack the less your children will snack. Lunch – Make up homemade soups, etc. and freeze in lunch sized portions. Also, try new things. One of my kid’s favorites is tortilla pizza. This is very inexpensive and very quick. They use one tortilla, pizza sauce and cheese. If we don’t have pepperoni we will sprinkle Italian seasoning on top for added flavor. Stop Buying Paper Towels – Some time ago we ran out of paper towels and I decided to try not buying them anymore. I cut up a couple of old t-shirts for window cleaning and dusting. I also cut up some old towels for cleaning spills. We barely missed them. I do intend to make some cloth napkins soon. The only time that we have “needed” paper towels was the rare occasion that we cooked something greasy and would have liked to have them to absorb the grease. Make your Own Cleaners and Detergents – Laundry Detergent - http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm I have found most of the ingredients for this at Publix. I think I spent around $8.00 for my ingredients and have made many gallons of detergent from them. I do use this in my front-load washing machine. Cleaners - http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/homemadehouseholdcleaners.htm www.thefamilyhomestead.com has many money saving hints and tips.

Ch-Ch-Changes....

2011-04-02T09:21:00.003-05:00

~We are finally beginning another fix-it-up project around here. Our house is 113 years old and we bought it as a major fixer-upper. When we first moved in we did a LOT of work. It seemed like there as no surface that we didn't paint and we had a MAJOR amount of yard/exterior work that had to be done. Then about 4 1/2 years ago we had a kitchen fire that resulted in a completely gutted/remodeled kitchen and new flooring. This go around we are working on the laundry room and a little bit of the kitchen. The floor under the kitchen is not supported well, so we will be adding some floor jacks under the kitchen. The laundry room has BIG foundation problems. It seems like the whole house shakes when the washer spins. We'll be fixing the foundation in there, putting down new sub-floor and flooring. My laundry room is HUGE by laundry room standards. It's 12x13. It currently has a full wall of cabinets and a sink in it. My husband is going to remove the sink and lower cabinet. Then he's going to install a counter that has electrical outlets all along the back (he picked it up when they did some remodeling at work. That counter will be supported by legs, so it'll function like a bar. When he's done with that I'll have all of the upper cabinets for storage and the counter will be the permanent hang out for my sewing/embroidery machines. I'm SEW excited...LOL Those are the definites. There is also a possibility that we will be adding a hallway and pantry. Currently you have to go into the laundry room to get to what will be the den/office and we don't have a pantry (one of the things I miss about our smaller house). When you walk into the laundry room you look straight at a floor to ceiling cabinet. We will pull that out and build a pantry there. This will free up some cabinet space and enable me to bring my 5 gallon buckets of wheat, rice, etc. into the house (it's currently stored in the outside storage room). The door to the den is on the left, so we will add a wall to the right with a pocket door to get into the laundry/sewing room. That'll take that room down to about a 9x12, but I still think that is a generously sized room and our washer and dryer are stackable. We haven't been able to stack them because of the floor, but once that problem is fixed we'll be able to free up some floor space that way. Probably even enough to be able to leave the iron and ironing board set up, which will be super convenient for my sewing projects. I'm not excited about all the work and how disruptive it's going to be, but I'm EXTREMELY excited about the end result! ~Also, this process is going to necessitate a change in our laundry habits. This is probably ridiculous, but we have always taken all of our laundry to the laundry room, sorted it and kept it piled up there until it got caught up. If you have a family, you know how often all of the laundry actually gets caught up. This little system that we had mean that there were always baskets of dirty clothes in there. My Pastor and his wife have 12 children (10 still living at home). There 16 year old daughter recently volunteered to take on the laundry. Her mom told me that she had come up with a system that was really working well, so I asked her about it. It's such a simple idea, but I never thought of it. She has each person keep their dirty clothes in a hamper in their room. When she is ready to do laundry, she has one person bring their clothes and she finishes with all of those before she starts anyone else's. I was also told by another friend how much having color catchers had saved her time doing laundry. Carbona has a reusable one and Shout has disposable ones. She said she had stopped sorting clothes and just using the color catcher. I'm going to be doing a combination of those things. We separated all of the dirty clothes into which room they belonged in and sent them back there today. Obviously all the people will have their laundry in their rooms. The bathroom hamper will house towels and washcloths from the kitchen and bath and there will be one hamper in the laundry room for whites. I think this is going to work really well. I'm also thinking I'm going to have the kids be responsible for their own laundry. The already help, but only with my prompting. The girls will be responsible for theirs from start to finish and Mason will help me with mine and I'll help him with his. I'm very excited to have a new system and really think it's going to help tremendously. What about all of you (my 2 or 3 readers, anyway...LOL). Do any of you have big changes happening in your homes?

Houston....We have lift off!

2011-03-26T13:02:00.002-05:00

The entire Mint Julep Monograms, Julep Kids line has officially launched! This is the line that I will be sewing for. I'll be making the Going Gingham~red shorst and the Seersucker Punch shorts. I'd love for you to check it out at www.mintjulepmonograms.com .

Machine Embroidery Design Sites

2011-03-23T08:50:00.005-05:00

A Picture Post

2011-03-16T22:44:00.005-05:00

You can click on the pictures to view them larger.

I was given permission to share pictures with you from the new Mint Julep Monograms, Julep Kids line. These pics show the shorts that I made for the photo shoot and will be sewing for the line as orders come in. All of the shirts are by Mint Julep Monograms ( http://www.mintjulepmonograms.com/ )and these shorts will be sold exclusively through her store. I'll let you know when the line has officially been launched and items can be purchased. Pictures were taken by Melissa Tash Studios (http://www.melissatash.com/)

Clothing Line Pics

2011-03-16T11:41:00.002-05:00

If you want to see pics of the clothing line that I am a part of (I'm making red and white mini-gingham and striped mini-seersucker, board shorts for boys and ruffled shorts for girls). You can "Like" Mint Julep Monograms on Facebook and the pics are posted. The line has not officially launched yet, but I'll let you know as soon as it does. I'm SEW excited!!!!

A Fun New Venture

2011-03-15T11:01:00.003-05:00

I sort of happened upon a new little venture...or more accurately....it happened upon me. I began sewing and embroidering for a friend of a friend (who has become my friend) a couple of years ago. I love making things for her because she challenges me. She'll often ask if I can do things that I've never tried before and I don't like to turn down a challenge so I usually figure out how to do it. A few days ago she sent me a text and asked if I'd be interested in making shorts for a home-based monogramming business owned by a friend of hers. I let her know that I'd never made shorts, but felt like it was something I could probably do. So she shared my name and number with her friend, who immediately called me. The owner of the business was in a bind. She was launching a clothing line, had contracted out some of the sewing and had gotten some items back that were NOT up to par. That was Friday, I spoke with her Saturday and she needed the shorts for a photo-shoot today. My weekend was already crazy busy, but I decided to see if I could make it work. Well, I had the CRAZIEST day yesterday and I cut patterns, sewed, ironed, etc. like a mad woman and delivered them just before midnight last night. She was still up working on the appliqued and monogrammed shirts to go with some of the shorts, so thankfully I didn't keep her waiting (She has two other people sewing for this line and one of the others had still not delivered when I left). I made two pairs of blue and white striped mini-seersucker and two pairs of red and white mini-gingham boutique board shorts for her boys to model. I also made a pair of red and white mini-gingham boutique ruffled shorts for her daughter to wear for the photos. Those (and pink and white mini-seersucker ruffles) will be the shorts that I will continue to make once the line launches. She will also have madras plaid, green and white gingham, and some cute/funky designer fabric combos. There will be more shorts, a-line dresses and ruffled skirts. All of the shorts/skirts will be/can be? paired with appliqued/monogrammed shirts. I can't wait for you all to see the pictures. Go like Mint Julep Monograms on Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/mintjulepmonograms ) and check out her website ( www.mintjulepmonograms.com ) and be watching for her Julep Kids clothing line.

Keeping It Real

2011-03-14T12:00:00.002-05:00

I've had a lot of things on my mind lately. Things that I've seen in others that have really been getting to me. I usually don't post about such things, but I'm going to and at the end of this post I'll explain why.

~I'm frustrated by those that speak their opionions with frankness and don't consider how what they are saying might make others feel.

~It's bothering me that some people speak harshly of others, but then turn around and still choose to be friends and spend lots of time with those same people. Makes me wonder if they talk about me the same way.

~I'm bothered by the idea that going to others boldly (about their sin, relationship with the Lord, or lack thereof) is translated to many as speaking harshly. Jesus treated even the vilest of sinners with more love and grace than anyone else could understand.

~It's irritating when people say they want to grow in their relationship with the Lord and become more like Jesus, but when someone speaks the truth in love about an issue, they are offended or unwilling to examine whether or not there is truth to what's been said.

~I see many people looking at the lives of other Christians and judging how they are living, what kind of friend they are being, etc.

~Too many people are overlooking the people that are in their lives that could sharpen them and help them grow closer to the Lord and are instead spending their time with whoever is the most fun to be around.

~I've noticed LOTS of ungratefulness....someone goes out of their way to do something nice for you and the response is a quick "thanks" that seems given more out of duty than true gratefulness.

I think my list could continue on for a while....

The reason that I'm posting this though, is not because of what I see in others....It's because what I see in others ought to make me look at myself.

~Am I cautious about sharing my opinion and do I make sure that I do so in a way that is not hurtful, but constructive and will be well received?

~Do I expose the weaknesses of the ones that I love to others or do I allow my love for them to "cover an offense"?

~Do I go to others out of love and concern for them and speak the truth in love about their sin, salvation or relationship with the Lord? Or do I turn them off to a loving Heavenly Father by seeming anything, but loving?

~Am I teachable? Am I willing to hear the truth from those that love me and have my best interest at heart, even when it's a hard truth to hear? Am I willing to examine myself to see if it is truth and then seek the Lord to find the answers to resolving that issue? Or do I just allow myself to be offended and defensive?

~Am I spending too much time looking at the "speck in my brother's eye, instead of the log in my own"? Am I choosing to see the good in people and love them in spite of their faults and forgive them when necessary?

~Am I seeing the value of those that God has placed in my life? Am I choosing to make time for relationships that will sharpen me and that He is the center of?

~Do I make sure that those in my life feel valued by me and realize how thankful I am to have them in my life and how grateful I am for all that they do?

The bottom line is I need to realize when I see issues in others that it's a reminder for me to examine myself to see if I am guilty of those same issues. I cannot change other people, but I can change myself and if my focus is on others, then I will not have the focus necessary to change my own life to become more like Jesus. I truly want to be more like Him and must not allow the enemy to gain a foothold in my life because I'm more focused on other people than I am my relationship with the Lord. Gotta keep my flesh in check, ya know....

100 Things About Me

2011-03-08T06:04:00.003-06:00

1. I became a Christian when I was 13 years old.
2. It wasn't until I was 24 years old that I began to understand that walking out the Christian life was about a relationship and not rules.
3. I suffered for years with severe anxiety, insecurity and occasional depression.
4. When I was 28 years old a friend began to counsel me and help me to understand the bondage of unforgiveness and how God feels about me.
5. Through that counseling, God gave me victory over anxiety, insecurity and depression.
6. It's amazing to walk in the freedom that only comes from knowing the Lord.
7. I had a very difficult childhood, but am thankful that I serve a Redeemer that uses all things for good and for His glory.
8. My husband is 11 years older than I am.
9. We have been married for 15 years.
10. I have a 24 year old step-son.
11. My step-son recently married and we are so thankful to now have an AMAZING daughter-in-law.
12. My step-son is in training for Army Special Forces
13. I have twin daughters.
14. They were born at 27 weeks and spent 8 weeks in the NICU.
15. My girls are the reason I became a stay at home Mom. I had planned to return to work, but their being born early necessitated that I stay home.
16. One of my daughters has a mild learning disability and that is why we began homeschooling.
17. I'm so thankful that God closed doors that enabled me to be a stay at home, homeschooling Mom.
18. When I married I refused to be submissive. The examples of submission that I had seen were more like opression.
19. God used some sweet godly women to teach me what true submission is and it has completely changed my marriage.
20. I've been living as a submissive wife for 6 years and I LOVE it!
21. I am not a very good housekeeper, but have really been improving over the last few years.
22. I didn't have a very good example of how to keep a clean home, so I am working very hard to teach my children how to before they leave our home.
23. I have lived in one state my entire life in only 2 counties.
24. We have lived in our current home for 6 years.
25. We bought it as a fixer-upper and we're stillllllll fixing....
26. Our home is 113 years old.
27. We love living outside the city.
28. We hope to one day have some land with room for a few animals (goats, chickens, possibly a milking cow) and a big garden.
29. We began attending a Non-Denominational church almost 5 years ago and it has been life changing for our family.
30. My husband and I serve as Directors of the early-childhood department at our church.
31. We went to Dave Ramsey Financial Peace classes and hope to be debt free (except for the mortgage) within a year or so.)
32. I love to sew
33. There are 4 sewing machines at my house.
34. I have one sewing machine that is old and was given to me.
35. My girls have a sewing machine.
36. I have another machine that I purchased several years ago that is the one I primarily use.
37. I also have an embroidery machine that I love.
38. I REALLY want a serger.
39. I do not like to sew with patterns made by the big pattern companies. Their directions are so confusing.
40. I love to buy PDF patterns from Etsy.
41. I also like to sew things that I find on online tutorials.
42. I also crochet, but have not learned how to read a crochet pattern. That's something I'm trying to remedy.
43. I tried to learn to knit, but DID NOT like it!
44. I recently began to learn to quilt.
45. I also REALLY want a Silhouette Craft Cutter.
46. In case you couldn't tell.....I LOVE crafting!
47. I'm crafty, but not creative. I can replicate things that I see, but rarely come up with creative ideas on my own.
48. I spend too much time on the computer (I'm working to remedy this as well.)
49. I feel called to women's ministry and have loved seeing God begin to materialize that in my life.
50. I used to get very bored with my hair and change it's color and cut often.
51. I recently changed the color and like it.
52. I also recently changed the cut and DO NOT like it. (Lord, please make it grow fast!)
53. I love tortilla chips and almost any kind of dip that's good with them.
54. I do not care for potato chips (The only exceptions are Munchos and Pringles)
55. I love to be outdoors with my family.
56. We hope to one day own a pop-up or lightweight camper.
57. I LOVE to sing and miss having the time to do that at my church.
58. I read almost none of the classics growing up.
57. I'm now reading, listening to, or watching many of them with my girls.
58. When my girls were 12 I took them away for a "Passport to Purity" weekend and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made!
59. I also have a 8 year old son.
60. He is so fun, energetic and silly and brings such joy to our home (He's also LOUD! LOL)
61. I really enjoy street ministry.
62. I enjoy baking and am thankful that my hubby takes care of the cleanup for me.
63. I cook and my hubby washes dishes.
64. We made that deal when we married and it's worked wonderfully for us.
65. He's also begun to enjoy helping me with meal prep.
66. I have a wheat grinder and love to make homemade whole wheat bread, but do not do it nearly as often as I should.
67. I talk too much.
68. I use to many examples to try to make people understand my point. My hubby says it makes his head spin....LOL (Working on that one too!)
69. I stress eat... :(
70. I've had surgery on both of my knees.
71. I went into pre-term labor with my son and spent 10 weeks on bedrest with home health before I had him.
72. I had to have a hysterectomy when I was 30.
73. Prior to the hysterectomy we had to make a tough decision. Between the pre-term labors and other issues we had to make the decision not to have anymore children. I'm still have moments of sadness about that and often dream that I'm pregnant.
74. I can still do the splits....LOL My girls were practicing them for ballet and asked me if I had ever been able to do them...Somehow that translated to me trying it and I still can!
75. I wanted to be a cosmetologist and still regret not having done so.
76. I love to read, but rarely do. It's too hard to stay focused with 3 kids and a hubby around...LOL
77. We have two inside dogs.
78. We had a cat that lived to be 13. We were very sad to lose him, but we won't be getting a new cat.
79. My hubby is NOT a cat person...LOL
80. I recently began to learn to decorate cakes
81. I made the groom's cake for my step-son's wedding.
82. I have 5 nieces.
83. I have 3 nephews.
84. I also have 2 more nieces/nephews on the way.
85. My Mom is the 9th of 10 children and she had some of the most amazing parents on the planet. I miss them terribly.
86. I don't mind exercise, but never seem to make time for it.
87. I love Kefir smoothies.
88. I don't let my food touch on my plate.
89. I eat one thing at a time, until I've cleaned my plate.
90. I have issues with food texture. I don't like anything mushy.
91. We have two HUGE pecan trees and I'm the only one at my house that eats them.
92. I really love baths and hope to one day install a jacuzzi tub. A good long hot bath is as good as a massage to me.
93. I LOVE Praise and Worship music.
94. If we're driving in our van, chances are we'll all be singing Praise and Worship music LOUDLY.
95. There is a good bit of Indian in my family, but I got the skin tone of the Irish that's in our family... (Can you say, sunburn?!?!)
96. I almost drowned while white water rafting.
97. I am afraid of heights.
98. I began blogging on homeschool blogger years ago, but Facebook has replaced a lot of my blogging time. (I'm trying to get better about that too.)
99. I have two brothers and always wished that I had a sister.
100. I am a work in progress and hope that I remember to extend as much grace to others as I desire to be extended to me.

Dress~A~Girl Around the World Sew Along

2011-03-04T08:34:00.005-06:00

Thanks to Cole's Corner and Creations I found out about a Sew~Along at Little Big Girl Studio. I'm very excited to participate in this one, because it is for an AMAZING cause! Go HERE to find out more about the Sew~Along and HERE to find out more about Dress a Girl Around the World.

I am very excited about my plans to carry this out. I plan to have my girls help me and even have a day set up with a friend for her and her daughter to make dresses too. The most exciting part is some of the fabric that I plan to use. My Mammaw had 10 children. They were poor sharecroppers, so she made a lot of her children's clothing, often using feed and grain sacks for her daughters dresses. When she passed away I was blessed to receive much of her fabric stash. I've wondered for quite some time what to do with some of it. I think this is a perfect way to use it! When I told my Mom my plans, she said immediately that my Mammaw would have love that I was using it for this purpose. She was a very sweet woman that made everyone around her feel loved and accepted. I hope and pray that is exactly how these sweet girls will feel when they wear these dresses!

Here's a video of some of the dresses being delivered:

A Cute New Dress

2011-03-02T10:16:00.003-06:00

A friend of mine asked me to replicate a favorite dress that her little girl had outgrown. I love that this particular friend asks me to do things that I've never done before. It makes me spread out and try new things. I looked around on Etsy for a pattern (many of the patterns on Etsy are PDF Patterns and I find them really easy to use). I gave her a few options and ultimately she chose The Tuesday Top and Dress Pattern from Googoo a Gogo. I wanted to make a test dress before I used the fabric my friend had bought. I recently won a couple of yards of fabric from The Bailey Girls via a giveaway at Cole's Corner and Creations. The bodice of the dress is Green Quite Contrary Beautiful and the ruffle and sleeves are a pink on pink polka dot seersucker that I found at Hobby Lobby. I made this one for my two year old niece.

Sorry for the poor picture quality. I took this with my cell phone....

A Heavy Heart

2011-02-25T13:00:00.002-06:00

In the last few weeks I have watched several people that I know endure some of the most difficult moments of their lives. A friend from church (the leader of our Children's ministry) very unexpectedly lost his brother. This week my older brother and his wife finalized their divorce. A very sweet man at our church unexpectedly lost his brother. Another man at church lost his grandfather yesterday and now a sweet lady that I know (http://daneesey.blogspot.com/) has lost her grandson. I do not know or understand how those that do not know the Lord walk through times like this. I am so thankful that we have a loving Heavenly Father that comforts us in our time of need. Please join me in praying for these families.

Awesome Giveaway!

2011-02-04T15:35:00.001-06:00

http://colescornerandcreations.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-heart-fabric-give-way.html

For Lack of a Catchy Title.....

2011-01-25T09:48:00.004-06:00

I just don't have a catchy title in me today (or many days, for that matter). Both of my girls have the flu. We went back to the doctor yesterday and she decided she thinks they have a bacterial infection as well. They are now taking lots of meds and are super pitiful. I feel so badly for them. Some of the worst days have been those that no matter what I did or what medicine I have them, they just didn't get any relief. Thankfully last night brought a full nights sleep and my girls are both sleeping in this morning. That in itself is a huge relief as we haven't had a good nights rest since Thursday of last week. I seem to be having some allergy issues or something myself. I woke up with a bit of a cough yesterday and this morning I barely have a voice and I have a LOVELY headache.

As you can imagine we have gotten very little of anything done around here. The house is staying somewhat straight and yesterday was nice enough that I worked on the carport. I was organizing a pile of stuff that needs to be donated. I got it all ready and scheduled the pick up. I'll sure be glad to see that pile go. Sadly, it probably won't be long before we have another large pile. We really are trying to purge and organize this year. Our home is old and we need to do some MAJOR projects, so we need to get it cleaned and organized so we can focus on the bigger TO DO list.

Anyway, we're still hanging in here...Hopefully these girls will be well soon and life can return to normal....Whatever that is..LOL

One FLU into the Cuckoos Nest

2011-01-21T22:54:00.002-06:00

Yep, you read that right.....one of my girls has the flu. You'd think with as much illness as we've had around here I would be feeling kind of cuckoo by now. Thankfully God has really been helping me to keep things in perspective and I've stayed mostly sane.... Don't get me wrong I'm tired of illness, but I almost feel like it's gotten to the point that I'm in battle mode. I'm so over being sick and having sick children. I am resolved that this year will be a year of healing and healthiness in my home. I am claiming that in the name of Jesus. I am praying it, I am standing against the devil and rebuking sickness and I am making physical changes (i.e. looking into better eating habits, adding supplements). Something has to give and I will believe Jesus for our healing. I know that the devil is trying to keep us from walking in God's will, he's trying to keep us from being effective in our ministry. I know that this is warfare and this Mama Bear is coming out swinging. I'm also trying hard to remember that we are made more like Christ in our suffering and the He expects us to rejoice in the midst of all of our struggles. I'm certainly not rejoicing that we are sick, but I am rejoicing that even when things are hard I still have a Heavenly Father that loves me, that cares about what I care about, that gave His Son for me and He is still worthy of all of my praise. I will not begin to tell you that it has been easy (for the record this is our 3rd illness this month), I am constantly having to remind myself where my attitude needs to be. I am constantly having to fight off the the thoughts that the enemy is trying to place in my mind. It's not easy, but God has brought me so far and I will work hard to follow Him and to trust Him. I would love if you would join me in praying for healing and healthiness over my family.

Be Blessed!

A Silhouette Giveaway

2011-01-21T20:03:00.001-06:00

Silhouette Giveaway at The Shabby Chic Cottage.

Lots and Lots and Lots....

2011-01-19T08:52:00.002-06:00

of things have been going on here and I have lots on my mind.

~We had a HUGE snow. We got at least 6-8 inches and it stayed around an entire week. My hubby got to be home with us for a couple of days. It would have been glorious, but we only got to play in it for one day because we were passing around the stomach virus (of course I got the worst case...). I had also just gotten over bronchitis.

~So......We are claiming and declaring that 2011 is a year of healing and healthiness for our family. We have already begun to see God's hand in that as He has healed me of my bronchitis. I had been finished with a VERY strong antibiotic for a week or two and was still having symptoms. A visiting pastor prayed over myself and one of our worship leaders for healing from bronchitis and I have definitely seen the manifestation of that. Thank you Jesus!

~The latter part of last week held a ministry conference at my church (a conference that was held for people that are in the ministry), hence the visiting Pastor. We ended up spending the majority of our time dealing with childcare (We are the directors over the early childhood department at our church and for this conference we were responsible for all childcare for ages birth through 10). We had WAY more children then we expected and it took a lot of coordinating. At times it was very stressful. The awesome thing, though, is that even when we weren't in the services, God was showing up. He was making Himself known to us and growing us. The name of the conference was ReVision and we really feel like we walked away ReVision=ed. He renewed somethings in us that we had let fall to the wayside. He also planted some new things in us. I can always tell it's Him when I start feeling like I'm meant to do something that is WAY outside my comfort zone. It's so neat when my husband is feeling the same things. I LOVE walking in ministry by his side! We left the conference feeling more alive, hungrier for His word and excited to walk out this next year!

~Last night I went to a couponing class. I've delved a bit into couponing, but the time investment was offputting to me. I think I figured out that I'm gonna have to be the lady with the crazy coupon binder. So, I'll be spending the next week or two working on that and then I'll get started. I'm excited to save all that money. We're really looking forward to doing some debt busting this year (BIG possibility of paying everything off except the mortgage this year), so cutting the grocery budget will help HUGE! I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

5 soups in 1 day

2011-01-09T07:00:00.003-06:00

As I prepare for winter weather I'm making up some homemade soup. I'm trying to be as cost and time efficient as possible. Here's my process:

1st ~ I have two pots of beans on the stove now. One smaller pot of Great Northern Beans for White Bean Chicken Chili and a large pot of Kidney Beans and Red Beans for chili and taco soup.
Those will continue to cook at a high boil while I'm shopping (Patrick will man them for me while I'm gone). This method requires that you pay attention and continually add water, but they will be done in just a few hours from start to finish . (REALLY makes me wish I had a pressure cooker.)

2nd ~ Put a whole chicken on to boil.

3rd ~ Brown ground venison.

4th ~ Cut up required veggies for all soups.

5th ~ Assemble two of the soups in crockpots (probably taco soup and chili and put all ingredients for vegetable soup in a pot on the stove. The vegetable soup will be finished first and can be set aside to cool.

6th ~ While veg soup is cooling and crockpot soups are cooking, shred chicken.

7th ~ Use shredded chicken and reserved broth to assemble white bean chicken chili and virus killing soup in pots on the stove.

Using this method. I should have 5 very large pots of soup (probably at least a gallon per soup) finished in just a few hours. Most of these are good for at least a full supper for all of us and a leftover lunch for a few of us. I will probably use the leftover chili to make frito pie. All of this would be meals that we could heat in a pot on the coleman stove if we lost power. It's cheaper to make soup from scratch and tastes better too. Also, if we don't use them for winter weather, then I've just made meals easier for myself on busy days.

Edited to add : I didn't end up getting all of this done. I forgot that I needed to pay bills, so I didn't get to head to the grocery store early enough to beat the crowds. By the time I got there it was CRAZY!!!! Then I forgot the chicken. So I got all of the beef soups cooked and ready to go in the freezer and I got the white beans ready for the chicken chili. I'll take care of the chicken soups later today.

Panic or Preparation

2011-01-08T08:04:00.002-06:00

I live in the south and we get very little snow here. We are currently gearing up for what could be the biggest snow/ice event in over a decade. It frustrates me how Northeners tend to have such attitude at our ineptness when we get winter weather. They make fun of our driving, but when you only have the chance to drive on ice/snow once every few years, you hardly have time to learn how to do it well. They make fun of our school and business closings, but when you rarely have winter weather events, it's hardly cost effective for your local governments to stock up on winter weather equipment. They make fun of us running to the store, but in the south (I can't speak for the North) our power often goes out when we have winter weather and often our pipes freeze (The transformer in front of our house has blown several times during storms. There are only 4 houses on it and we are hardly a priority if there are mass outages. Typically, we are one of the last to get our power restored). It's just different here and very hard to be prepared for something that rarely ever occurs. I hardly call what we do at my home panic, but would definitely call it preparation. I will buy necesseties that we may need over the next several days in case I can't get to the grocery store (I live in a rural area, so it's unlikely that any of our roads will be salted or sanded). My husband will make sure that the grill, coleman camp stove and kerosene heaters are all operational (we also have a propane heater, so we should stay warm without issue). I'll make sure that we have plenty of food that doesn't need to be cooked in the microwave or oven or with water. I plan to make a few pots of homemade soup today, to put in the freezer and I'll make sure to have ceral and sandwich fixings on hand. I'm not scared of the weather, I just want to be ready in case I need to be. So, we'll all be spending our day in preparation and prayer that we will keep power and water and for safety in our areas.

A New Do

2011-01-07T08:32:00.006-06:00

For a while I had been considering making some drastic changes to my hair. If you look back at my hair history my trend is long, short, long, short, long....it tends to stay long more than it does short. I also like to change the color around. I started highlighting my hair in high school and never looked back. I did start graying at 24, which resulted in a not-so-nice streak of gray in my bangs, and yes I've tried growing it out, and no it's not pretty, so I'll just keep on with the coloring. For the last 2 1/2 years it has been long with blonde highlights, the more you get highlights the blonder it gets, so it was mostly blonde. I recently got some bad highlights and needed to do something about it so I decided just to change it all up, get it cut and color over the highlights. I took the below pics to the hairstylist and said that I basically wanted a combination of the two. I wanted it short in the back (to the top of my collar) and longer in the front just below my collar bone or a little longer and I wanted choppy, piecy layers. I was sort of looking for an edgy look.

The stylist really struggled with the back. Beforehand I was unable to find any pics of what I wanted the back to look like and I thought it should kind of come up to a V in the back. She had such a hard time doing that that it just started getting shorter and shorter. The end result is not what I had envisioned. I later found the below pick and wish I had found it sooner, it's exactly what I was shooting for.Anyway, I did go buy the color and come home and put it on afterward, it did for the most part turn out how I expected. Because my hair was highlighted there are lighter and darker shades of red. I like the color pretty well as does the rest of my family. I'm still not thrilled with the cut, but think I can manage with it until it grows out enough for me to get it cut again into the original style that I was hoping for. For all who are curious, here's a picture of the newest do.

Weight Loss

2011-01-05T15:13:00.002-06:00

I took my weight loss ticker down. The fact is I gained a good bit of my weight back. Most of which was gained during the holidays. I got sick again in November and had to have a steroid shot and now I'm sick again. That's poses a threefold problem. First, steroids always make me gain weight. Secondly, when I'm sick I eat....I don't know why, but I do. Lastly, when i feel bad I tend to sleep a lot and be a couch potato. I am still down by about 5 lbs. and frankly I'll take it. I started this year lighter than last year and that is definitely a step in the right direction. That's probably the first time that has ever happened. I do plan to get back on Weight Watchers online. It works well for me and my family enjoys the way that we eat when I'm on it. I won't be starting this month. We'll do a 21 day fast (for some reason I never lose weight as a result of those) in January and with the combination of Christmas and the wedding I may not have the money to start back until February or March. I will start, after the fast, to get back on a healthier menu around here, I just may not officially start with the online program for another month or two. I don't know that I have specific number goals this year. I just want a healthier lifestyle that gradually leads to lower weight.

Contemplating a New Year

2011-01-03T21:51:00.002-06:00

One of the things that I love about the beginning of each New Year is that our church participates in a 21 day fast. Now don't get me wrong, fasting is not fun. However, it has caused us to be much more focused on the Lord at the start of each new year. We won't officially begin until the 10th, but we are as a family currently praying over what kind of fast we will do and what things we will fast. (If you are unfamiliar with fasting I highly recommend Jentezen Franklin's book entitled Fasting).

I'm contemplating many things for this new year, as I often do. How do I improve our homeschooling, how do I become more organized and run my home more smoothly, what types of projects need to take priority and be completed, what can I do to be healthier (thanks to a steroid shot and lack of holiday self-control, I gained more of my weight back. Thankfully I still started this year lighter than I started the last one), how can I add in excercise (and make it stick?), how can we be more structured in our ministry at church, etc.......While I think those are all important thoughts, they are all about doing......We'll see where we end up with each of them.

However, my primary goal for this season of Fasting is to seek His will for our year and His vision. After all without Him I am nothing and my efforts alone are futile. If I find His vision for all of these areas of our lives and seek to allow Him to live in and through me then there is no doubt that He will be pleased with the results. So above all else this year I seek to glorify Him in all of my efforts. He is good!

Our Christmas in Pictures

2010-12-28T10:04:00.007-06:00

A Rare White Christmas

2010-12-27T19:49:00.004-06:00

I live in the deep south and snow that is worth playing in is a real rarity, but especially that kind of snow on Christmas morning. The snow definitely made travel an issue and we didn't get to do some of the things that we normally do, but we did have an absolutely amazing day. I thought I'd share some pictures with you.

Pajama Pants

2010-12-26T18:27:00.004-06:00

I used the Easy Fit Pants Pattern from the Scientific Seamsterss (I bought it from I Can Make This) for the kids pajama pants this year. I bought the pattern for 6 months to a size 10 and I LOVED IT!!! These area very wide legged pajama pant which my girls, especially, prefer.

I also made a pair of these pants for my niece to match a shirt that I made for her and I added the snowball trim to the bottom of them. It was adorable. I'll definitely be making more of these.

You can't see her pants in this pic, but you can see the shirt and her cute little face as she played with one of the caps that the guys got for Christmas. I <3 her!

Final List Update

2010-12-23T22:46:00.003-06:00

Well for the most part I'm done. I have cut out and still have to sew 3 pairs of pajama pants. They literally take 20 min or less per pair, so those are no biggie. I also have 2 blankets to finish, but don't have to have them ready until New Years day. So, I set those aside and will worry about them after the wedding. I've also decided to worry about the wedding after Christmas. I bought all of the tableware for the rehearsal dinner and some of the cake supplies. I'll drop by and borrow some pans and get just a bit of direction on Saturday (my cousin that used to make cakes lives near my Uncle's house that we go to for Christmas). Then after Christmas (probably on Sunday) I'll start baking the cakes and on Monday I'll start icing them. I'll probably finish the icing at the church on Tuesday. Then we'll set up and get ready for the rehearsal and dinner. Then the wedding is Wednesday. Honestly, I'm more concerned with the financial aspects of it all than I am the actual getting things done. This is not an easy time of year to pay for a rehearsal dinner and this one became "VERY" fancy and we're not even sure yet what our half of the expenses will be. This is very far outside my comfort zone because I like to budget and plan. Clearly God wants to use this situation to teach me something. Hope I'm learning, 'cause I'd sure hate for all this stress to be for nothing.....

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!!

List Update #3

2010-12-21T06:16:00.002-06:00

For some reason I can't copy my list over and I'm just not about to type it. The list actually grew because I did a favor for a friend. Last week I made a wreath for her (which definitely wasn't on the previous list) and yesterday I embroidered 4 blankets for her. I also got a key wristlet finished. It also grew because I forgot to put something on it. So I still have 17 items to complete.

List Update #3

2010-12-18T15:20:00.002-06:00

Key Wristlets - 3
Checkbook Covers - 2
Debit Card Holders - 1
Burp Cloths - 3 (DONE)
Onesies - 1 (DONE)
Shirts - 2 (DONE)
Stockings to finish - 5 (These are about 3/4 of the way finished. Just need to do the final assembly).
Towels to embroider - 7 (DONE)
Throws to embroider - 4 (DONE. I TOOK TWO OFF THE LIST. THEY HAD A BUSY PATTERN AND WEREN'T GOING TO WORK AS WELL WITH EMBROIDERY)
Pants to make - 4
Blankets to make and embroider - 3 (I EMBROIDERED TWO OF THESE AND FINISHED ONE)

The last two days have not been nearly as productive as I had hoped. I did get some things done, but did not get my list finished. I did also take an order for and make a wreath and subsequently took an order for 4 more throws. I'll not be adding those to the list right now. I just can't bear to see the number go back up right now. I'm tired and my motivation is waining. That leaves my # at 15 for now. Hope to whittle away at a little more of it today, but we have a party to attend tonight and looks like we'll be gone most of the day tomorrow. Did I mention that I'm tired????

List Update #2

2010-12-16T22:42:00.002-06:00

Key Wristlets - 3
Checkbook Covers - 2
Debit Card Holders - 1
Burp Cloths - 3
Onesies - 1
Shirts - 2 (DONE)
Stockings to finish - 5 (These are about halfway finished. GOT ALL OF THE CUFFS EMBROIDERED.)
Towels to embroider - 7 (DONE)
Throws to embroider - 4 (DONE. I TOOK TWO OFF THE LIST. THEY HAD A BUSY PATTERN AND WEREN'T GOING TO WORK AS WELL WITH EMBROIDERY)
Pants to make - 4
Blankets to make and embroider - 3 (I EMBROIDERED TWO OF THESE AND FINISHED ONE)

That's a total of 22 items left. I'm feeling better about this because I should be able to finish the stockings in about an hours time and the blankets my girls can help with. Everything from the onesie up are pretty quick stitch outs and should honestly be finished in a day or less. The biggest job is the pj pants and I can usually finish at least 2 pairs in an hour. I think I'm still set to finish this week. However, I'm getting my hair done tomorrow and babysitting my niece and nephew tomorrow night. Saturday night we have a party and Sunday we have church and baking at my Mom's. I may have to pull at least one late night, but I really feel like I'm in pretty good shape.

If you could all please pray for me I would appreciate it. My step-son is getting married the week after Christmas and I have to get all of the decorations and paper-goods together for the rehearsal dinner and I just found out that I'll be making the groom's cake. I'm very nervous about the cake. Please pray that God will give me wisdom on the best way to tackle that job and that everything will go smoothly. Thanks!

Tackling the List

2010-12-15T16:22:00.002-06:00

I've been busy at the machine all day today and some on Monday. I also revised my list a little. Just no point in making it harder than it has to be, so I decided a few things could be changed or wait until the first of the year. Here is the revised list and what I have gotten done so far.

Key Wristlets - 3
Checkbook Covers - 2
Debit Card Holders = 1
Burp Cloths - 3
Onesies - 1
Shirts - 2 (I'VE FINISHED ONE OF THESE)
Stockings to finish - 5 (These are about halfway finished.)
Towels to embroider - 7 (THESE ARE FINISHED)
Throws to embroider - 6 (I'VE FINISHED FOUR OF THESE)
Pants to make - 4
Blankets to make and embroider - 3

I have a total of 25 to go. I'm coming along. My goal is to finish before the end of this week.

Christmas Sewing and Embroidery List

2010-12-13T10:36:00.002-06:00

I just sat here and made out the list of all the sewing and embroidery that I have to do between now and Christmas. WOW is it long. I'm gonna have to tackle it hard and am really going to try to finish it up this week. Thankfully a lot of it is easy embroidery, so I can be embroidering while I'm sitting at my other machine sewing. In case you're curious here's the breakdown:

Key Wristlets - 3
Checkbook Covers - 2
Debit Card Holders = 1
Burp Cloths - 3
Onesies - 1
Shirts - 2 or 3
Stockings to finish - 5 (These are about halfway finished.)
Towels to embroider - 7
Throws to embroider - 9
Pants to make - 6 or 7
Blankets to make and embroider - 3

That's a total of 40 -42 items......oh and we're planning a rehearsal dinner and I just got elected to make a groom's cake for the 29th. Yep, I'm gonna be busy. Hopefully I'll have the presence of mind to post pics as I go. Say a little prayer for me. ;0)

Onesie Dress

2010-12-03T13:40:00.002-06:00

I've been wanting to make a onesie dress for a while and just hadn't gotten around to it. I finally got one done this morning. I'm not sure whether I'll add embroidery or not. I think it turned out very cute and it was very easy and quick to make. I'll definitely be making more of these and I think it'd work just as well with a t-shirt for a toddler or preschooler.

I used Barefoot in the Kitchen's tutorial.

Custom Christmas Order

2010-12-02T11:23:00.003-06:00

I got this order from a friend at church. She has two daughters and wanted them to have matching shirts for pictures with Santa. I still have to applique the second shirt, but here's the first. It turned out so cute and I especially love the hairbow.

The applique is 8 Claws and a Paw Chunky Curlz Applique.

The bow is the Basic Bow from Girlythingsbows. I added the stacked bow in the center.

Christmas Music

2010-12-01T08:47:00.001-06:00

I finally got my playlist fixed.....so grab a cup of coffee (or tea), turn up the volume, then sit back and listen to some of my favorite sounds of the season!

Playlist Caution

2010-11-29T01:21:00.002-06:00

When I changed my background for Christmas I also changed my playlist to the Christmas one that I had used lastyear. Thankfully, I was sitting here listening to it, hopefully before anyone else did. One of the songs I had on there had been changed to a very vulgur song. The title and artist were the same as they had been, but the song was completely different. If any of you happened to be listening and heard it I apologize, though I suspect you would have immediately realized that it was not my doing. I also noticed that quite a few of my songs were no longer available. I am currently going back and listening to each song to make sure I don't run into that again and if you have a playlist you may want to do the same.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T05:29:00.002-06:00

The Thanksgiving festivities are now finished for my family. We've enjoyed our week and have especially been thankful to have my wonderful hubby home for 4 days straight. Here's the rundown of our week.

Saturday (20th) - My Mom's family met for our annual Thanksgiving meal at my Uncle David's house. My Mom is the 9th of 10 children, so this is a very large gathering. This was our 1st Thanksgiving without my Pappaw, so of course it was a bit bittersweet. The turnout was great. There were a LOT of people there and a lot of great food. My hubby was at home in the bed sick. I was very sad that he couldn't go with us and had such a hard time leaving him. I think he was glad for a bit of quiet time, though.

Monday (22nd) - Our homeschool group has an annual Thanksgiving feast. We were not planning to go this year because we had two appointments that morning and I was just not sure we could get there in time. However, a friend called my girls and wanted us to come to the feast and then come to their house afterward. I'm also friends with this girls Mom and she has a brother my son's age, so it's a great fit for our family and we get together whenever we can. There is a lot of time for fellowship at the feast and I got to meat a Mom that I hadn't met before and chat with her for a while as well as catch up with some Mom's that I hadn't seen in quite a while. There never seems to be quite enough food there, but there are always 2 pots of community soup. Everyone brings an ingredient for the soup and it all goes in the pot. It's actually quite tasty. There is a pie baking contest, so there are plenty of desserts. I had a piece of pecan pie and it was very yummy. There are also costume and weapons building contests as well as a skit. We left there and thoroughly enjoyed spending a couple of hours at our friends house.

Tuesday - My Mom had a cousin that babysat my older brother and I from the time we were infants until I think I was three or so. Her name was Lois and her husband's name was Bob. My brother dubbed them Mama Lois and Daddy Bob and those names stuck. That's what their grandchildren called them and most everyone else. When I was 16 she died of breast cancer, but we have remained very close to the rest of her family. Several months ago their son and daughter-in-law moved in with Daddy Bob to help take care of him and began having a Tuesday night meal for friends and family. We go once or twice a month and it is truly a highlight of our week when we get to go. They live in a cabin in the woods. It's such a neat place to be. Tuesday night we had our Thanksgiving meal with all of them and had 59 people in attendance. It was such a good evening.

Thursday - We went to my Mom's and had homemade pizzas. Very nontraditional. Honestly, I wasn't thrilled with the idea. The theory was that we had all had traditional Thanksgiving meals and might be growing tired of it, but I had actually not had much traditional thanksgiving food and we already had plans to have a pizza night on Friday night. It was really an oh well kind of day I suppose. I didn't get a vote and it's my Mom's home and if that's what she wants to do that's what we will do. So, we had pizza and cookies. I woke up on Wednesday with a bit of a sore throat and by Thursday I knew I was coming down with something so I felt pretty yucky most of the day and we decided to head home a bit earlier than usual.

Friday - I got up early and headed out to do some shopping. I usually do a lot, but I was just feeling so yucky and tired and it was rainy and cold. I got several things that we needed for the holidays and bought a gift to put up for my son's birthday (which he already found, because I'm a dork and sent him to the van for something before I remembered I had not yet gotten the gifts out of it....) I came back home and went to bed for a couple of hours. Then I got up and we got some cleaning done and watched the Alabama and Auburn football game (better known as the Iron Bowl). It was a very interesting game. Auburn was down 24-0, but we've spent most of the year being a 2nd half team and in the end we came back and won 28-27. WAR EAGLE!!! Later that evening my cousin and her family came over for a homemade pizza night. This is a tradition that we started with them a few years ago. We do it at both houses and typically only do it with each others families. It seems weird to do it with anyone else.... Their daughter is in her 2nd year of college, so we usually try to have pizza night when she is home. We made 5 pizzas and they were very good. My girls also made some cake mix cookies and those (especially the caramel ones) were a HUGE hit! We always have a ton of leftovers, so we got to have that for supper last night as well. YUM!

Saturday - I would have to say that yesterday was the highlight of my week. My husband has a son from his first marriage. Patrick and I have been married for 15 years, so Josh has been in my life for 16 years (including the year that we dated). I love him like my own and miss him terribly. Josh joined the Army in January and was recently selected for Special Forces. He will spend the next year and a half going through the training required to actually become SF. Thankfully, he is now stationed about 8 hours away and his eventual station will be about a 7 hour drive. I'm so thankful it's driving distance! Anyway, he was home for Thanksgiving and he and is fiance (we LOVE her) were able to come over to spend the day with us. I prepared a meal (Turkey, dressing, garlic and rosemary potatoes, blackeyed peas, green bean casserole, corn and cranberry sauce) and we headed over to our friends house. The provided the drinks, desserts (brownies, pumpkin pie and flan) and rolls. The meal was very yummy. Afterwards the guys and our soon to be daughter-in-law headed out for a game of volleyball (Paige is 5'11" and went to school on a volleyball scholarship. Her senior year her team won the national championship and she is now a graduate assistant coach for the team, while she gets her master's degree, which the school is also paying for.) Why the guys wanted to get stomped by her I don't know.....LOL Needless to say the team that Paige was on won and it didn't seem to matter who played with her. My very favorite moments are those when all of our children are together and having Paige here has been such a blessing to our family. She was drawing with the kids yesterday and drew a picture of all our children. It was very cute, but my favorite part was that she included herself in the picture. It was such a wonderful day.

The only negative part is that we have been fighting sickness in our home for 2 1/2 weeks now. It started with our children, then my hubby and now me. I'm fairly certain that mine is a sinus infection and I feel horrible. A "doc in the box" recently opened about 10 minutes away from my house and I do believe I will be in their parking lot when they open this morning. It's so frustrating that the only thing that seems to make me well when I get these things is a steroid shot. I've tried everything else I know to try at this point (Sinus rinses multiple times a day, herbal teas, probiotics, homemade cough syrup as well as over-the-counter meds) and I'm getting worse daily. Maybe the shot will speed up my recovery and give me the energy to get my Christmas decorations put up......

Thrifty Decor Chick Giveaway

2010-11-24T11:25:00.000-06:00

There's an awesome giveaway at http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/

A Big Fat Honkin' List

2010-11-22T01:10:00.002-06:00

I had planned to get a lot done before thanksgiving in order to be ready for the company, shopping, Christmas decorating and crafting. However, I've had sickly people around here for about a week and a half. Needless to say that put me a bit behind. We've been doing a pretty good job of keeping the house straight, so the things that need to happen are mostly deep cleaning type things or cleaning up things that just get overlooked. I have 4 days to do that this week. I also have several goings on, so I've made a list of when I need to do what in order to not allow things to sneak up on me. The kids have a pretty good list, but they will be helping each other. If they work well without arguing they should spend an hour or less cleaning each day. That's probably about what I will spend cleaning as well. I've also got some sewing that has to be done this week. I'm making and embroidering stockings for my cousin's family (4), finishing a key fob, embroidering two burp cloths, making two hair bows and appliqueing two shirts. I'll spread that out through the week so it won't be too overwhelming. Just in case you're curious, here are my lists. For some reason I LOVE looking at other people's lists. Weird I know, but I'm a list person....

Monday -
9:00 Chiropractor
10:10 Dentist
11:00 Possibly head to homeschool groups Thanksgiving Feast
2:00 Possibly hang out with friends

Tuesday -
Make dish and go to extended family Thanksgiving

Wednesday -
Home all day; no church tonight
Begin to thaw the turkey

Thursday -
Make a dish or two and go to Thanksgiving at Mom's

Friday -
Hubby is home
I'm going shopping
Possibly pizza night with cousins (Could be Wed. night)
Brine turkey
Cook cornbread for dressing

Saturday -
Cooking
Step-son and his fiance are coming for Thanksgiving lunch; we'll be having lunch with some friends, too.

Mine
Monday - Bedroom Dresser; Kitchen Counters (Busy day. This will probably happen after the kids go to bed.)
Tuesday - Sewing Area; Laundry Room Cabinet
Wednesday - Desk Area; Refrigerators
Friday - Change Bedding and Vacuum bedroom; Check Kids Rooms

Kids
Monday - (We'll be gone most of the day, so I tried to choose the lighter chores for this day. They should be able to do most of this while I make supper.)
Living Room - Clean off tops of things and under things thoroughly
Kitchen - Wash fronts of Cabinets and Appliances (Give all three of them a washcloth and some spray and the love it! Who knew????)
Bathroom - Clean out baskets
Halls and Stairs - Organize Drawers
Laundry Room - Clean off counter; make sure laundry is sorted properly and in baskets
Son's Room - Clean off beds (He has two beds and he likes to put his laundry on one of them instead of putting it away.)
Daughter's Room - Clean off tops of everything
(Remember all three of them will be working on each of those tasks. Should take about 10 minutes per job.)

Tuesday - (We'll be home all day, gone in the evening)
Kitchen - Wash top, sides and legs of tables and chairs (see note about washcloths and spray..LOL)
Living Room - Clean out couches and chair and basket (I think half of everything ever lost in my house has somehow ended up in the couch cushions!)
Bathroom - Wash walls (there tile....we need an update!) and cabinets
Halls and Stairs - Organize school bookshelf
Laundry Room - Wash off washer and dryer
Son's room - Wash bedclothes and remake beds; Clean off tops of trunk and dresser
Daughter's Room - Pick things up out of floor (You know...a pre-teen/teenager's favorite place to store all their stuff.)

Wednesday - (No plans to be anywhere, so I put the heavier chores here.)
Kitchen - Thoroughly clean counters and backs of counters
Living Room - Clean out corner and take care of Kids Market Bags (We've been cleaning out and several boxes and bags have been piled here. Gotta make room for the Christmas tree!)
Bathroom - Clean out tub (for some reason it seems we hang on to the empty bottles...) Clean tub and tub walls
Halls and Stairs - organize large bookshelf
Laundry Room - clean up floor (the dogs hang out here when we're asleep or not home, so we have to pick up their toys and spilled dog food, plus stray clothes that may not have made it to the basket.)
Son's room - clean up floor (apparently also a little boy's favorite place to store his things.)
Daughter's Room - Clean under everything; Wash Bedclothes and remake bed

Friday- (We'll be home most of the day and Daddy is home too._
Kitchen - Clean sinks and stove top; mop (My kids LOVE to mop!)
Living Room - Vacuum thoroughly including baseboards and under things (The girls also really like to vacuum!)
Bathroom - Clean toilet, sink, counter and mirror
Halls and stairs - sweep and mop
Laundry room - sweep and mop
Son's room - sweep and mop
Daughter's room - sweep and mop

Hubby's potential list
(He's still sick , so he may not be able to get to all of this and most of it depends on weather.)
Clean his corner of the bedroom and his things in the closet
Clean off carport
Change oil in van
Clean up leaves in the yard
Bring food buckets in from storage room

That's probably more list than any of you ever wanted to see, but it's what ya got....I warned you in the title...LOL With the exception of Monday we will get up in the morning and knock out our chores right away, so we'll have most of the rest of the day for the other stuff we want to do (probably no school this week). My kids like to do chores together, it makes it feel more manageable to them. The fact that I divided the rooms up into one chore in each room per day also makes us feel less overwhelmed. Usually they will set a timer and kind of race themselves to see if they can get the chore done before the timer goes off. I think we'll get most if not all of it done. I'm looking forward to a week of accomplishments mixed with lots of family, friends and good foods!

Super Easy, Not So Greasy Boston Butt

2010-11-17T08:37:00.002-06:00

Tonight for supper we are having shredded pork sanwiches with coleslaw and baked beans. I thought I'd share with you my method for cooking Boston Butt.

I put it in the crockpot on low overnight. The next morning I pour off all of the grease, pull out the bone and slice off the fat (once it's cooked it's easier than slicing butter). Then I put in about 1/2 a bottle of barbecue sauce (Honestly I can't tell a very big difference, no matter what brand I use) and I add 1/8 to 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar. I just pour it in 'til I'm happy with it. Then I let it cook on low most of the rest of the day (My crockpot has a warm setting, so I will eventually switch it to warm). I check it periodically and use a fork to shred a little each time I check it. That's it, the whole process....I think you'll be surprised that you barely notice it doesn't have a smoked taste, like the barbecue joints have. The pork really supplies it's own flavor and it is GOOD!

Another Kitchen Creation....

2010-11-12T11:57:00.002-06:00

I've been trying to be frugal about groceries lately and came up with another really yummy meal out of things I had on hand the other day.

I always cook my rice in the microwave. I haven't used any other method in at least a couple of years. I use one part rice to two parts water (for my family that's 2 cups rice and 4 cups water). I put it in a covered casserole dish, microwave on high for 5 minutes, then microwave on medium for 15 minutes and let stand covered for 5 more minutes.

For this recipe I put the rice on first and then begin with the rest of the ingredients. In a pot on the stove combine 2 cans blackeyed peas, 1 can rotel (can use mild or tex mex tomatoes), bell peppers and onions (I used minced dried) and smoked or polish sausage (sliced). I actually used little smokies that we had on hand. Bring to a boil, then simmer until rice is ready. Serve this over the rice and add salt and pepper to taste.

This was a hit with the whole family.

Cough Syrup

2010-11-12T05:20:00.002-06:00

When I was growing up my parents made homemade cough syrup. They used equal parts honey, lemon and whiskey. Well, we do not have alcahol in our home. I don't think there is anything particularly wrong with using it for medicinal purposes or even drinking it (as long as you are not over-indulging). However, it is a personal conviction of ours that we do not drink. So, I was wondering how I could make similar cough syrup for my kids without the alcahol. A week or so a go a friend of mine actually posted a solution. She was very sick and nothing was helping, so her mom made her the same cough syrup, but used apple cider vinegar instead of the whiskey. I made this for my daughter last night and it seems to have worked and honestly the taste and smell is very similar to what we had growing up. It is best warmed a little. I gave her two teaspoons before bed and the nice thing is she can take it as she needs it, because none of the ingredients have any adverse side effects.

Tour of Hell

2010-11-03T08:04:00.003-05:00

On Saturday our church had a HUGE Harvestfest and over 3000 people from our city attended. (Keep in mind we are a small church with between 150 and 200 in regular attendance). On Sunday we followed that up with an illustrated sermon entitled Tour of Hell. We had around 600 people between the two services. The sermon investigated the lives of some people in the Bible that almost made the decision to follow the Lord, basically of people that almost went to Heaven, but ended up in Hell (one example would be the rich young ruler). These two videos were used during that sermon and they are incredible.

The 2nd one is definitely hard to watch, but it is needful. We need to realize that we have a very real enemy and then we need to get in the Word of God and learn how to recognize him and how to stand firm against him.

I'm a Winner

2010-10-08T08:59:00.004-05:00

No.....for real....I am!

There was a contest on FB to recommend that people become friends of the Camp Macoba page. I did that and I was one of two winners. I won my choice of a $50 gift card to a restaurant or Itunes. I really struggled with this decision, but they graciously agreed to let me have a $25 card to each. Hang in there for a minute and I'll explain why I wanted that.

Then on Sunday afternoon we had a Chili Fest at church. Well, I LOVE chili, especially White Bean Chicken Chili. So, my girls entered a traditional chili and I entered my White Bean Chicken Chili. I WON! (Each category had a winner.) I received a $25 gift card to Chilis.

The reason I had such a hard time deciding between the Itunes card and a restaurant card is that I wanted to buy an Audio Bible for our mp3 players and I wanted to go on a date with my hubby, but I also wanted to take my girls to Chili's with me, since we all kind of worked together on our Chilis. Since Camp Macoba is being so kind as to split it for me I now get to do all of those things. What a BLESSING!

Also, the desire for the audio Bible came about because I've been listening to Biblegateway's free audio Bible and have been loving it, but you have to be near the computer. This will give us the freedom to take it with us. I'm so excited. Maybe Daneesey's winning streak is rubbing off on me!

Brotherly Kindness

2010-10-07T07:54:00.000-05:00

2 Peter 1:5-8
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Original Word: φιλαδελφία
Transliteration: philadelphia
Phonetic Spelling: (fil-ad-el-fee'-ah)
Short Definition: brotherly love

Word Origin from philadelphos
Definition the love of brothers, brotherly love
NASB Word Usage brotherly kindness (2), brotherly love (1), love of the brethren (3).
brotherly love, kindness

Philadelphos means loving one's brother; love as brothers

BROTH'ERLY, a. Pertaining to brothers; such as is natural for brothers; becoming brothers; kind; affectionate; as brotherly love.

My Notes : The definition of this one isn't very hard to understand. What is hard is actually doing it. No big complicated theme here. The question is are you loving your fellow Christians they way that you love your very own family? Are you kind and affectionate to them? Are you becoming like family? If not, then you need to work toward that. Ask the Father to help you see people the way that He sees them and ask Him to love them through you.

I don't Want My Children To Be Happy

2010-10-05T12:03:00.001-05:00

I just read an AMAZING blogpost and I think you should too. Read it HERE.

Godliness

2010-10-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

2 Peter 1:5-8
5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Original Word: εὐσέβεια
Transliteration: eusebeia
Phonetic Spelling: (yoo-seb'-i-ah)
Short Definition: godliness
Word Originfrom eusebés
Definition piety
NASB Word Usage godliness (14), piety (1).
From eusebes; piety; specially, the gospel scheme -- godliness, holiness.

GOD'LINESS, n. [from godly.] Piety; belief in God, and reverence for his character and laws.
1. A religious life; a careful observance of the laws of God and performance of religious duties, proceeding from love and reverence for the divine character and commands; christian obedience.

Godliness is profitable unto all things. 1 Tim. 4.

PI'ETY, n. [L. pietas, from pius, or its root, probably a contracted word.]
1. Piety in principle, is a compound of veneration or reverence of the Supreme Being and love of his character, or veneration accompanied with love; and piety in practice, is
the exercise of these affections in obedience to his will and devotion to his service.

HO'LINESS, n. [from holy.] The state of being holy; purity or integrity of moral character; freedom from sin; sanctity. Applied to the Supreme Being, holiness denotes perfect purity or integrity of moral character, one of his essential attributes.

1. Applied to human beings, holiness is purity of heart or dispositions; sanctified affections; piety; moral goodness, but not perfect.

My Notes : The original Greek word means godliness or piety. It is froma Greek word that means holiness. So, I decided to add the definition of all three words. I love that in the definition of godliness it looks a little like legalism by speaking on religion and following laws, but then adds that godliness is not those things alone, but those things must procede from love and reverance for our Lord. I think so many people miss that. So many people are bound by the "lists" as I call them. We often think okay if I do these things and don't do these other things then I'll be a good Christian, but we miss that it is truly about a relationship and if we are walking in relationship with Him, we will love Him more than we ever imagined possible and that love for Him will be what drives us to keep His commands, to listen to His convictions, to want to be more like Him. Piety follows suit. It says that piety is having a reverance for Him and loving His character, that it's the exercise of these affections. In otherwise it's the outward expression of an inward relationship. My favorite part of the definition of Holiness is the part that is in specific reference to people. Obviously holiness within the Lord is perfect. He is completely perfect, but as much as we desire to be like Him we are not. I believe holding ourselves to a standard of perfection is a form of bondage, it's the quickest way to fall into a lifestyle of legalism. He is perfect and He is perfecting us, but we will not be perfect until we get to Heaven. Sure we should strive to be like Him, but we must cut ourselves a little slack. We are going to make mistakes. One of the most freeing things for me to read was about Paul struggling to do what He knew was right and what He wanted to do. If Paul who was clearly a student of the Word of God, an instructor to the churches, the author of 13 books of the Bible, struggled, then why can't I allow myself to make mistakes? I'm not at all giving us an excuse to sin, but want to encourage you all that we can live a life of holiness, we can strive to be more like Him daily, but we are not perfect and we will make mistakes and when we do we must learn from them, get back up dust ourselves off and try again...

My challenge for you is to learn more about His character. It's pretty hard to emulate someone you don't know well. Read Psalms and learn more about God and who He is , go through the gospels and learn more about the character of Jesus. A perfect place to start is with love. He is love. There are many people in our lives that we love dearly, that are easy for us to love, but we also all have those people in our lives that are more difficult for us to love. Pray that He will help you to see those people through His eyes and ask Him to love them through you.

Just want to leave off with some applicable verses:
1 Peter 1:15-16
15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."[a]

2 Peter 1:3
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Perseverance

2010-10-01T07:55:00.000-05:00

2 Peter 1:5-8
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Original Word: ὑπομονή
Transliteration: hupomoné
Phonetic Spelling: (hoop-om-on-ay')
Short Definition: enduring
Word Originfrom hupomenó
Definition a remaining behind, a patient enduring
NASB Word Usage endurance (7), patient enduring (1), perseverance (21), steadfastness (3).
enduring, patience, steadfast
From hupomeno; cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy -- enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).

PERSEVE'RANCE, n. [L. perseverantia. See Persevere.]
1. Persistence in any thing undertaken; continued pursuit or prosecution of any business or enterprise begun; applied alike to good or evil.

Perseverance keeps honor bright.

Patience and perseverance overcome the greatest difficulties.

My Notes : I get so excited when I learn a knew thing, especially in the midst of something I already thought I knew. The study of the word perseverance gave the word such new depth to me. I think to us the word often means that we keep on trucking even when things are difficult, and it does mean that. But to truly have perseverance we must also have:

PATIENCE, n. pa'shens. [L. patientia, from patior, to suffer.]
1. The suffering of afflictions, pain, toil, calamity, provocation or other evil, with a calm, unruffled temper; endurance without murmuring or fretfulness. Patience may spring from constitutional fortitude, from a kind of heroic pride, or from christian submission to the divine will.
2. A calm temper which bears evils without murmuring or discontent.
3. The act or quality of waiting long for justice or expected good without discontent.
4. Perseverance; constancy in labor or exertion.
5. The quality of bearing offenses and injuries without anger or revenge.

ENDU'RANCE, n. [See Endure.] Continuance; a state of lasting or duration; lastingness.
1. A bearing or suffering; a continuing under pain or distress without resistance, or without sinking or yielding to the pressure; sufferance; patience.

STEADFASTNESS, STEDFASTNESS, n.
1. Firmness of standing; fixedness in place.
2. Firmness of mind or purpose; fixedness in principle; constancy; resolution; as the stedfastness of faith.

The word that this greek word came from also means: cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy

CHEERFUL, a.
1. Lively; animated; having good spirits; moderately joyful. This is the most usual signification of the word, expressing a degree of animation less than mirth and jollity.
2. Full of life; gay; animated; mirthful; musical; as the cheerful birds.
3. Expressive of good spirits or joy; lively; animated.
A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance. Prov. 15.

HO'PEFUL, a. Having qualities which excite hope; promising or giving ground to expect good or success; as a hopeful youth; a hopeful prospect.
1. Full of hope or desire,with expectation.

CONSTANCY, n. [L., to stand.]
1. Fixedness; a standing firm; hence, applied to God or his works, immutability; unalterable continuance; a permanent state.
2. Fixedness or firmness of mind; persevering resolution; steady, unshaken determination; particularly applicable to firmness of mind under sufferings, to steadiness in attachments, and to perseverence in enterprise. Lasting affection; stability in love or friendship.
3. Certainty; veracity; reality.

WOW!!!! I found this one so very convicting. I think we believe that we're supposed to just suffer through, but we are supposed to have a constant patient endurance while being steadfast, cheerful and hopeful. I could go on and on about this, but I truly believe the conviction and guidance is in the definitions. Read them well. Look at them with honesty. Where are you falling short (I definitely have a few areas). I want you to also notice that what comes after perseverance is godlinss. I think we all desire to lead a more godly life, but if we are to attain it we must first learn to persevere. In our lives through our trials we must be immovable, unshakable, counting it all joy, trusting and being willing to wait for His timing. He is faithful!

Self-Control

2010-10-01T07:53:00.000-05:00

2 Peter 1:5-8
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Original Word: ἐγκράτεια
Transliteration: egkrateia
Phonetic Spelling: (eng-krat'-i-ah)
Short Definition: temperance
Word Originfrom egkratés
Definition mastery, self-control

TEM'PERANCE, n. [L. temperantia, from tempero.]
1. Moderation; particularly, habitual moderation in regard to the indulgence of the natural appetites and passions; restrained or moderate indulgence; as temperance in eating and drinking; temperance in the indulgence of joy or mirth. Temperance in eating and drinking is opposed to gluttony and drunkenness, and in other indulgences, to excess.

2. Patience; calmness; sedateness; moderation of passion.

He calm'd his wrath with goodly temperance. [Unusual.]

My Notes: I'm pretty sure we all know what self-control is and for the most part we all lack it in some area of our lives. There are things in this word study that I found interesting. Especially the fact that not only did the Greek word mean self-control, but also mastery. I think we should all be praying about what areas we are lacking the most self-control in and we should be seeking to master self-control in that area. Also, self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. If we are allowing the Holy Spirit to live in and through us (which requires a dying to ourselves daily), then we should see this fruit growing in our lives.

Reproducing Who I Am

2010-09-29T07:17:00.002-05:00

My pastor's wife often shares a quote that she attributes to Ronald Reagan. I hope I don't butcher it, but at least the gist of it is this..." We teach what we know, but we reproduce who we are.". I've been thinking on that a lot lately.

As my daughters get older, I think on this so much more often. The recently got email accounts and in February when they have their birthday, they plan to get Facebook accounts. Facebook is a funny little thing. I often call it a blessing and a curse. I definitely see some value in it, but I also see some very negative qualites that it has. Recently I've been trying to figure out where my balance is with it. The question I'm currently asking myself (not just about FB) is how can I make sure that I'm using/doing this more for His glory than my own. I think in regard to FB, I'm finding that balance. What I haven't found is balance in the amount of time that I'm on the computer. Frankly, that is something I do not want to reproduce. So, I'm going to be doing something about that. What exactly I'm not sure of yet, but I'll figure it out and soon. The bottom line will be much less time on the computer and much more time focussed on the things that are important (My home, family, etc.).

I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm gonna be working toward being more like the woman that I want my daughter's to become.

Just Give Me Jesus!

2010-09-27T09:38:00.000-05:00

Living on the Edge

2010-09-24T07:42:00.002-05:00

Wearin' white pants.......Drinkin' red kool-aid.....Just call me your resident risk taker....

On a less silly note....My back is TONS better today. Hallelujah!

Of Back Aches and Chicken Bakes

2010-09-23T19:13:00.003-05:00

My back ache has gotten out of control. I finally gave in and headed to the chiropractor today. It was my very first chiropractic visit ever.... I think it helped. He seems to think we will easily be able to get it under control. Guess I shouldn't have waited so long. He did say the dreaded A-word.....Arthritis....Said that's pretty much what the pain after sleeping and the sitting means and I need to get moving if I want it to stay better.....BLAH, BLAH, BLAH....Drs. answer to everything is excercise.....JUST KIDDING! I do know I need to excercise and I have a plan to get started, so here I go....

As far as Chicken Bakes are concerned. I haven't posted a menu for a while so I thought I'd share.

Chicken thighs baked in Hot Wing Sauce (My family loves this)
Mustard and Apple Cider Vinegar Slaw
Loaded Mashed Potatoes
Rolls
and BIG glasses of something to put out the fire!!!! ;o)

Birthday Week Day 7

2010-09-23T07:47:00.002-05:00

The final day of my birthday week was Sunday.

Sunday we got up and went to church, then we went to my Mom's for lunch. I got to choose the menu, but I really only chose 2 of the items. I'm really not very picky. I decided several weeks ago that I wanted carrot cake, so my Mom made one from scratch. It was YUMMY! It took me much longer to decide on the main course. I finally decided on Buffalo Chicken Casserole. There is a Buffalo Chicken Dip that I really LOVE. I even posted a recipe for it. You can find it HERE. I didn't think it was very practical to have dip for lunch, so I asked my Mom to combine the dip recipe with her hashbrown casserole recipe and it turned out SO yummy. It will definitely be something that we repeat around here. We also had broccoli, corn, mashed potatoes and rolls. She also had a little bit of smoked chicken available for those that didn't like the spicy stuff. I got a few cards and some money and an Arbonne travel set w/some extras. It's always funny when my older brother gives me money for my birthday. His birthday is 8 days after mine and it seems our monetary gifts always cancel each other out. The guest list included my Mom, older brother, younger brother, SIL, niece and nephew, my bunch and my best friend and her two
boys. It was a LOVELy day.

I had such a great birthday week. I promise what I received this week was not the norm. I can't ever recall having such an eventful birthday week and it was certainly very undeserved, but so very appreciated. I am so very blessed.

Birthday Week Day 6

2010-09-18T07:59:00.003-05:00

I'll go back and add this to day 5, but in case you didn't scroll down to see the change wanted to tell you that in addition to everything else that went on yesterday, my best friend ended up coming over to hang out for supper. My hubby made BLTs at my request (YUM!). Afterward we walked over to the nearby football field to watch a local high school football team. My cousin is the coach and my best friend teaches math at the school that was playing. So, I also got to sit next to my Aunt and catch up and see a few of my cousins. It was wonderful weather for football and I truly enjoyed my day.

Today, I woke up to another gift from my mom. This time it is a black and clear beaded necklace and earring set. It's very pretty.

Now we are all going to head out to watch the trail of tears motorcycle ride come through our area and then we are headed to a big Craft Show in town. Then tonight my hubby and I are going to dinner with my cousin and her husband to celebrate our birthdays (her's is the day before mine). It's gonna be such a great day.

I'm am sooooo very blessed!

It's the Little Things....

2010-09-17T08:57:00.004-05:00

Update: Right after I finished posting this I went out to the mailbox and there was a very sweet card from my very sweet husband. What a lovely surprise....

It's not even 9:00 and I've gotten a TON of FB Birthday wishes, but the best Happy Birthdays have come from those closest to me. My hubby was first then, I opened the gift and hat the letter from my Mom, my kiddos at home, my step-son, my soon to be daughter-in-law, my sister-in-law (and niece and nephew), my brother.....The list goes on and on, but it's truly my Mother's heart that feels like it's full to overflowing. To have even my step-son who is now in the Army in another state and my daughter-in-law that is in college (getting her masters degree) in another state with her college's volleyball team, in the middle of recruiting season (she's a graduate assistant for the team and does a good bit of the recruiting) take time out to make sure they've wished me a Happy Birthday first thing in the morning. It just means more to me than I could have ever imagined. It's a good thing we have friends coming home today or I might just cry tears of joy all day long.

Lord, I am so very undeserving, so very unworthy.......but you've still chosen to bless me more than I could have ever dreamed of......Your plans are so much better than any I could have come up with ........and I'm just so very humbled.....and THANKFUL!

Birthday Week Day 5

2010-09-17T06:31:00.003-05:00

Today is my actual birthday!!!!!......LOL.....I woke up this morning to my husband telling me Happy Birthday. Then I found a sweet letter from my daughter and another gift from my Mom. This gift contained two journals and a very sweet letter from my Mom (I had to fight back tears). The birthday wishes on FB have also begun. I'm going to make biscuits and chocolate gravy for breakfast then we have some friends coming over for lunch. We'll be having taco salad and brownies. I think I'll have my shower and then have some iced coffee and maybe I'll spend a little time on my porch before the kiddos get up. What a great day to reflect on all the Lord has done in my life over the last year. He has surely grown me and blessed me!

Updated: We had a GREAT time with our friends! Then my best friend ended up getting to come over for supper and we went to a football game that my cousin was coaching so I got to see my Aunt and Uncle and some of my cousins. It was a FABULOUS evening!

Birthday Week Day 4

2010-09-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

I received another necklace and earring set from my Mom (It's kind of a redish-orange and orange together). I also had a homemade card from my son. I had to take the girls to dance and then we went to Hobby Lobby. We got some fabric for a fall project and I bought (with my 40% off coupon) another quilt stencil. This one is the stipling effect. We came home and did a lot of cleaning. Overall it was a pretty good day!

Reminder

2010-09-15T07:08:00.001-05:00

I'm posting about my birthday week and my to-do list everyday. Also, I'm pulling some notes from FB and adding them hear until I get those caught up, so make sure to scroll down and see if there are posts you haven't read yet.

To-Do Today

2010-09-15T07:03:00.004-05:00

Today's have to list is a little lighter as my day is a little shorter because I'm going to lunch with my Dad and I have a staff meeting and church this evening.

Have tos:
~School with the kids
~Pay Bills
~Cook supper (I have to do this early because I leave at 4)
~Make one key wristlet and a checkbook cover
~At least two loads of laundry
~Order more checkbook covers
~Bottle laundry detergent that was made yesterday (It has to sit overnight before bottling)

Want tos:
~Clean off my desk
~Clean off my dresser
~Straighten sewing area

Update : I've removed all of the extra sewing off of my want to list for the day. I'm having a lot of trouble with mylower back and as of yesterday my right shoulder and neck and I just cannot sit and bend over sewing right now. I'll have to leave those off until I'm feeling much better. Guess I'll keep busy with things that keep me moving. (I am on my 3rd load of laundry for the day.)

Knowledge

2010-09-15T06:58:00.001-05:00

2 Peter 1:5-8
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Original Word: γνῶσις
Transliteration: gnósis
Phonetic Spelling: (gno'-sis)
Short Definition: knowledge
Word Origin from ginóskó
Definitiona knowing, knowledge
NASB Word Usage knowing (1), knowledge (27), understanding way (1).

Knowledge ~
2. Learning; illumination of mind.
6. Information; power of knowing.

My Notes: On the surface this word sort of speaks for itself. However, I loved some things that I found in my study of it. Knowledge is more than knowing, it's also understanding. How many things do I know because I've read them in the Word, but I don't really understand? It's also an illumination of mind. A light illuminates. There are several references to the Lord being light:

Then Jesus spoke to them again saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12
"I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me, should not abide in darkness.” John 12:46
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 1John 1:5
The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105
For the Lord will be your everlasting light…. Isaiah 60:20
For You will light my lamp; The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. Psalm 18:28
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
“While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” John 12:36

Through these verses it becomes very clear to us Who the light is, but what I also find very interesting is that if we follow Him, believe in Him, read is Word then He will enlighten our darkness, we will becom sons of light and that light shining through us will bring Him glory. If we are furthuring our knowledge of Him His light will shine brighter and brighter in our lives.

I also loved the part of the definition that said "power of knowing". Matthew 22:29 say, "Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God." If we want to have the power to do things that the Lord says we can do, then we must have knowledge and understanding of those things. We need to know the scriptures and the power of God. If we also receive power from the Holy Spirit ("But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8), then we need knowledge of the Holy Spirit.

I think a couple of great places to start would be Psalms and Proverbs. Proverbs will help you see the value of knowledge and understanding and will help you gain wisdom and understanding. Psalms is a great place to learn about the character of God. Just last night I was going through some of Psalms with my daughter and in the first four chapters we found at least 8 statements of who God is/what He does.

The solution to gaining knowledge is simple.....ask Him to open His word to you, to help you understand it....read it....start somewhere...It doesn't have to be some perfect Bible study. Just start somewhere.... :)

Virtue

2010-09-15T06:56:00.000-05:00

2 Peter 1:5-8
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Original Word: ἀρέτη
Transliteration: areté
Phonetic Spelling: (ar-et'-ay)
Short Definition: praise

Word Origin of uncertain origin
Definitio nmoral goodness, i.e. virtue
NASB Word Usageexcellence (2), excellencies (1), moral excellence (2).

Virtue ~ Moral goodness; the practice of moral duties and the abstaining from vice, or a conformity of life and conversation to the moral law. In this sense, virtue may be, and in many instances must be, distinguished from religion. The practice of moral duties merely from motives of convenience, or from compulsion, or from regard to reputation, is virtue, as distinct from religion. The practice of moral duties from sincere love to God and his laws, is virtue and religion. In this sense it is true,

That virtue only makes our bliss below.

Virtue is nothing but voluntary obedience to truth.

My Notes: I think these definitions make it plain to us what virtue is. I love the part of the definition that is careful to seperate religion from virtue. Good people that do not know the Lord can have virtue. They can have good morals and try to do good things, as the definition says, from motives of convenience, or from compulsion, or from regard to reputation. We need to make sure the roots of our virtue are in the Lord, coming from our relationship with Him and what we have learned from His word. I also love the idea that virtue is more than "good morals" it is moral excellence. There is no room for mediocrity. Seems that this definition would make a good measuring stick for us. Is this movie, book, song, conversation, etc. morally excellent? Proverbs 31 tells us that a virtuous (or morally excellent woman) is hard to find. Kind of made me think of a diamond in the rough....so that's my challenge for you today...From this moment on allow the Lord and His Word to begin the polishing and grinding and chipping away needed to make you that diamond.

Birthday Week Day 3

2010-09-15T06:51:00.002-05:00

I woke up this morning to another homemade card from one of my girls a few bangle bracelets from my Mom and my dad will be taking me out to lunch today. He will be out of town for my actual birthday and birthday dinner, so I get a lunch instead. We're going to go to a Mexican restaraunt that is very near my house and I LOVE their food.

Birthday Week Day 2

2010-09-14T12:30:00.002-05:00

You may already know from reading a previous post that it's my birthday week. Yesterday my daughter Kelsi wrote me an amazing letter and I had a lime green and brown wooden necklace and earring set from my Mom. Today my other daughter Keeli made me a homemade card and I had another necklace and earring set from my Mom today, this time it's turquoise. Tonight we will also be heading to my cousins house for dinner we do this a lot of Tuesday nights. There is always a pretty big crowd. The day before my birthday is my cousin's birthday, so the crowd will sing Happy Birthday to us tonight. I'm sure we'll have a great time and eat lots of yummy food. I've heard there may be some kind of peanut butter pie with an oreo crust. In my book you can't go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate. YUM!

To-Do Today

2010-09-14T08:59:00.007-05:00

(The ones in yellow are ones I have completed)

I have got to be busy, busy today. Maybe if I share my list here I'll be more motivated to accomplish the things that are on it:
~School with the kids
~Make laundry detergent
~Make dishwasher detergent
~Make 4 checkbook covers
~Pay bills
Edited to add :
~Wash the shower curtain and bathroom rugs
~Bleach the grout around the tub
~Clean the tub and tub walls (I bleached them and wiped them and rinsed them off, but my back was hurting to bad to give them the scrubbing they needed.)
~Run oven through self-clean
~Do two loads of laundry
Those are the MUSTS.
Here are the other things I hope to accomplish:
~Make an additional checkbook cover and 2 key wristlets
~Clean off my dresser and finish cleaning my sewing area
~ Attach the border to my quilt
~Prepare my quilt for quilting
~Practice Free motion quilting

It is a lot, but the detergents take very little of my time, I can do other things while my machine is embroidering, including sewing. So, if I stay on task today I should be able to accomplish most of what is on this list.

Update : I got a LOT done. Not everything I wanted to, but a LOT. Maybe I need to post my to-do list here everyday.....

Diligence

2010-09-14T08:58:00.000-05:00

2 Peter 1:5-8
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Original Word: σπουδή
Transliteration: spoudé
Phonetic Spelling: (spoo-day')Short Definition: haste

Word Origin from speudó
Definition haste, diligence
NASB Word Usage diligence (4), earnestness (5), effort (1), hurry (2).
haste, diligence, forwardness
From speudo; "speed", i.e. (by implication) despatch, eagerness, earnestness -- business, (earnest) care(-fulness), diligence, forwardness, haste.

DILIGENCE, n. [L., to love earnestly; to choose.]
1. Steady application in business of any kind; constant effort to accomplish what is undertaken; exertion of body or mind without unnecessary delay or sloth; due attention; industry; assiduity.

My Notes : I've attached the meaning of the original Greek word and the definition. I think the thing that struck me the most is that diligence is not merely staying constant in working toward something, but rather doing it with haste. When we are truly diligent we are giving something due attention, with a sense of eagerness, we're in hurry! I think in our walks that diligence usually comes when we are especially hungry for Him or when we are walking through trying times. We need to be disciplined enough to stay in a state of "diligence" as it pertains to going after the things of the Lord.

The Wife's Role #7

2010-09-14T08:54:00.002-05:00

Intercessor, Discerner - Your intercession for your husband and family brings you assurance of God's hand in their lives. Exercise authority over the enemy in the name of Jesus. Do not fear the work of the enemy; be alert to his attacks. Ask the Holy Spirit to develop discernment within you and to clothe you with wisdom.

a. Ephesians 6:18
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

b. 1 Thesselonians 5:17
pray continually

My Notes - "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." James 4:3 This verse greatly convicted me several years ago. The things I was praying for my husband were rooted in selfishness. I wanted him to be the Spirtual Leader, I wanted him to make more decisions, etc., but my motives were wrong. I wanted those things because I thought they would make life easier. We should be praying for them, for their benefit. If they are walking with the Lord those other things will fall into place in God's timing. Pray for his relationship with the Lord, pray that God's Word is opened up and relevant to him, that He will hear God's voice, that God will give him the confidence, strength, wisdom, discernment, understanding, compassion, etc. Pray the fruits of the Spirit over him. The Power of a Praying Wife is a VERY good book and will open your eyes to things you haven't thought of and as walking out that knowledge will strengthen your prayer life it will also strengthen your marriage. Also, understand how beneficial discernment can be in your own life and your relationship with your husband. It is very helpful to be able to discern motives. If your husband comes in for a long days work (Mine often sits on the hot pavement in 100* weather wiring gate operators.) and is short with you or doesn't respond the way you think he should, it's very helpful to be able to realize that he's exhausted and had a rough days work. Often as women we don't search the motives, we automatically take everything personally. They don't communicate in the same ways that we do , so discernement is very important. Think of things today that you need to start praying
over your husband, also, ask the Lord to reaval any selfish motives you may have had in your prayers for him.

Submitting with a Right-Heart

2010-09-13T11:41:00.002-05:00

I just read a good blogpost on submitting with a right-heart and thought it be good to share.

Learning as They Grow : Defiant Submission isn't Really Submission

Amazing Morning...Amazing Daughter...Amazing Mom...AMAZING LIFE

2010-09-13T08:01:00.002-05:00

I am so blessed!

My birthday is on Friday and we've been sort of joking around here about my birthday week. My Mom used to do little things that sometimes made it feel like we had a birthday week. Nothing major or expensive just little things. I told my husband I didn't have any needs or specific wants for my birthday, but I would love for my kitchen to be finished. It only needs a few small things and it will be completely finished. On Saturday he spent his morning putting the hardware on the rest of our cabinets. I was joking with him about that being the start of my birthday week. He said weeks begin on Monday, so if I even got to have a birthday week it wouldn't start until then. So that's the preface of the story.

Well this morning I woke up and laying on the bathroom vanity I had a note from my daughter. Here's what it said:
You are an amazing mom and I hope to be a mom like you are. Thank you for everything, thank you for cooking and cleaning, listening and understanding, disciplining and loving, buying and making, rocking and feeding, worrying and praying, reorganizing and redoing, driving and walking, teaching and preparing, reading and searching, being joyful and being kind, putting up with and paying attention to, forgiving and forgetting, weeping and smiling, being there for and getting ready, giving us a roof over our head and a bed to sleep in. Your children that you love so much, you can't even put it into words (and anyone else you com in contact with) all say thank you. But most importantly thank you for following God and having a relationship with Him (we wouldn't be here if you hadn't). Happy Birthday Week!

Ummmm.....WOW!!!!! I really don't even have words....that my 12 year old daughter would sit down and come up with those words for me....seriously.....I am so unworthy of that, but so very thankful for this Amazing life He has given me!

Then to top that off I walked into my kitchen and there was a little gift bag on the counter. The card said Happy Birthday Week, Monday and it was in my Mom's handwriting. There was a really cute necklace and earring set inside.

Needless to say, I plan to spend this week, thanking Him for another year. Asking Him what He wants me to do in the next one and reflecting on and praising Him for all that He has blessed me with!

The Wife's Role #6

2010-09-13T07:58:00.001-05:00

Reflection of Gods Creativity - Each woman has unique talents and gifts. Don't compare yourself with others, but allow God to develop what is uniquely you. You reflect a specific aspect of God's personality, and ministry flowing from you will reflect that to others. Your gifts and talents should complement those of your husband; likewise , his gifts should complement yours. Couples should flow in harmony even if you are ministering or working separately.

a. 1 Corinthians 12:7
7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

b. Titus 2:3-5

My Notes: God is so very creative. He did not make us all alike. We are all very different. We see those differences the most when we look at women and men. Your husband is not like you. He doesn't think the same way you do. He's very visual, you are more emotional/relational. In most cases you probably talk more than he does. You want someone to just listen to your frustrations, he is a fixer, so he wants to do something about them. His idea of clean and yours are probably a bit different. He probably parents a little differently than you. You have a choice to make.....stay constantly frustrated about your differences or be thankful for them. The outcome of your marriage depends largely on that choice. Choose to embrace that you are different, that God made two sepearte different parts that would one day join to make a whole. Your differences do complement each other, but you must choose to see the good in that. In our ministry I have seen time and time again how helpful it is that we are good at different things. Sunday's and Wednesday's are very fast paced for us. I don't have time to accomplish it all alone and it began to flow so much more smoothly when we realized what we were each naturally good at and allowed each other to operate in our own unique giftings. Ask the Lord to help you see your husbands uniqueness today, thank Him for making your husband different than you and strive each day to appreciate those differences.

The Wife's Role #5

2010-09-13T07:54:00.002-05:00

Lover, Companion - Your first ministry is to your husband. Do not neglect him. Remain well kept and pleasing in appearance as an honor to him. Submit your flesh and emotions to the control of the Holy Spirit. Honor and respect him, compliment him. Be the physical lover he needs.

a. 1 Corinthians 7:3-5
3The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. 5Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

b. Titus 2:3-5
3Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

My Notes: Guess I'll address these in the order in which they are posted.
~ For YEARS I put many, many things before my husband, including my children, my extended family and my church. Thank the Lord a VERY wise woman in our church corrected me and became a mentor to me and it CHANGED my life. If you're not putting him first now.....do it! It will change your marriage.
~I've been a stay at home Mom for 12 1/2 year and like most people my body changed after I had my babies, so none of my pre-baby clothes fit. That made it very easy to fall into the sweats, jeans, t-shirts rut. When I had to go somewhere nice I would dress nice, but around the house I was frumpy. A few years ago the Lord really convicted me of that. Men are VERY visual and I could not complain about my husband not being as affectionate as I would like, not telling my I was beautiful, not desiring me (he really was doing those things, but I was very insecure) if I wasn't trying to be attractive to him. We cannot expect to woo them before we are married then stop when we get married. So, I began to really work on being attractive to him and it made a huge difference! I try to wear more feminine clothes when I'm home. Nothing fancy, but shirts and pants with a more feminine cut. I dress nicer when we are going anywhere together. Anybody wonder why I'm almost 34 and have long blonde hair??? He LOVES it! Make the effort, it's well worth it!
~The last one is rather personal, so I'll try to be discreet. 1st - Pray about ALL aspects of your marriage, including the physical ones. If he desires more than you do, then pray for that desire, etc. 2nd - Don't say no. Meet his physical needs. You may be tired, you may not want too, but in the end will you really regret it? He wants to feel desired by you, too. Turning him down is a blow to his ego. You can do it...

2010-09-10T08:04:00.002-05:00

The next video is one of my favorite excerpts from the entire movie.

The Wife's Role #4

2010-09-10T08:01:00.001-05:00

Reflection of God's Love - Caring for your husband and family should be a joy and reflect the heart of a servant. Forgive quickly, not keeping a record of wrongs. Draw strength from the Word (ability to weather circumstances and minister healing and wholeness). Use words and actions toward your husband and family to nurture, never destroy.

a. 1 John 4:19-21
19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

b. John 13:35
35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
My Notes : I think the best way to walk this out is to truly understand what love is. Ephesians 5:2 Says, "and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
So we must remember that Christ's love was sacrificial. We have got to die to ourselves daily. We cannot walk around with a Me attitude thinking about what we "deserve", etc. That's not godliness. Christ was selfless and we are to imitate Him. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Tells us what love is: "4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails." We need to all take a personal assessment and see what of those things we are not, and ask the Lord to help us fix our weak areas.

Also, I think it is VERY important to learn you husband's love language. It has helped me TREMENDOUSLY. Mine is Words of Affirmation and Patrick's is Acts of Service. Which means he doesn't receive or give love the same way that I do, so if I want to show that I love him I'll get a lot farther by doing something nice for him, than by saying something nice to him. It also helped me realize that when he's doing all the things for me that he does, he's showing his love for me.
Here is a brief synopsis of what each love language is: http://www.5lovelanguages.com/learn-the-languages/the-five-love-languages/
and Here are some quizes and assessments you can take to figure out what your languages are: http://www.5lovelanguages.com/assessments/love/

Finally, 1 Peter 4:8 says, "8Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." We should not be pointing out all of their faults to them or anyone else. We need to show love to them regardless of their faults and we need to make sure to focus on the things that we love about them.

New Posts

2010-09-09T07:34:00.003-05:00

I've been posting some notes of Facebook for a couple of weeks now. I began because the Lord laid it on my heart to share some notes that I had received at a Bible Study on marriage some time ago. I shared those points on the wife's role along with my own notes. When I came to the end I felt called to continue these notes in some capacity. I have decided to also post those here. I'm behind in doing that, so I will post a few a day until I have them caught up.

The Wife's role #3

2010-09-09T07:30:00.002-05:00

Administrator - Skillful and godly administration will increase and multiply that which the husband has provided. As the Spirit leads, wisley invest that which is saved to produce even more. Know God's plan for you; spend time daily in the Word and prayer with Him. Prosperity comes from seeking the face of the Lord and knowing Him.

a. Proverbs 31:13-27 She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls. She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.

b. Luke 19:13-26

My Notes: I think this one probably looks a little different in every home. In ours I handle all of the finances, scheduling, etc. My husband jokingly calls me his secretary. Do I invest our money? No, but I do work very hard to make it go farther. I'm very frugal. I do lots of research before a big purchase and look all over until I've found the best deal possible. I'm very cautious even about our food, trying to make sure that we eat healthy, but frugally. Administrating a household requires creativity. I wouldn't call myself creative, but I serve an amazingly creative God and He will supply all of my needs, so when I need some creative influence all I have to do is ask Him.
What ways can you be more creative or more efficient in as administrator over your home?

The Wife's Role #2

2010-09-09T07:24:00.002-05:00

Helper - Comes from Hebrew word "to surround". Not a secondary role; vital. Surround your husband with: Support, Exhortation and Comfort. Make available to him all the godly qualities within you to help him develop into the man God has called him to be.

a. Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

b. Proverbs 31:10-12 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

My Notes: I think we all pretty much know what a helper is....but what strikes me right now is that being helpful is the opposite of being harmful, so if we are meant to be a helper to him then we are also meant not to be harmful to him. The most commonly harmful thing that I can think of a wife doing to her husband is to make him feel as if she doesn't respect him. Do you question his decisions? Do you trust his opinion or do you ask it of him and then go seek the opinions of others? Are you insulting, even in small ways? Do you listen to his ideas? Again, those things that I mentioned yesterday work here : Ask him how you can help him today, what you can do for him? Think of ways to show that you respect him; listen to him, tell him that his idea was a good one, or that you appreciate his hard work, etc. Step outside your comfort zone today, say something encouraging to him even if it's uncomfortable. Maybe he'll be taken off guard, maybe it will be uncomfortable to him too, maybe he won't know how to receive the help, or the compliment.....but he'll never forget it....

The Wife's Role #1

2010-09-09T07:23:00.001-05:00

At some point during a Bible study I recieved a list of 7 points in a wife's role to her husband/family. I'm not sure who to give credit for the list, but I thought it would be neat to share a point each day for the next week.

#1
Supporter - Respect and honor your husband, God has given men the desire to conquer. When a wife is supportive, a husband is more willing to step out. Criticism keeps him from going forth boldly. Respect the authority God has placed in him. Work together in decision-making. Don't side with the children against him.

a. Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

b. 1 Peter 3:1,2 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

My Notes: Be his biggest fan and let him know it! Encourage him in all that he does...from the little things to the big. It's just not that hard to take him a cold glass of tea while he mows the yard. It's also not hard to say thank you, though if you are not used to saying it, it could be uncomfortable at first, but it easily can become the norm. I often call Patrick at work and ask "Is there anything you need me to do for you today?" or "I'm going to be in town. Do you need anything while I'm here?". 9 times out of 10 is answer is no, but he knows I'm thinking of him and trying to make his life easier. Let him hear you commending him to others. Seriously, if you are just beginning to walk a journey of becoming a godly wife, this is such an easy step to start with. I promise it will become more and more natural to you. I challenge you to think of a creative way to support him today and follow through with it.

Weekend Getaway

2010-09-07T09:44:00.004-05:00

I just spent a few days in the mountains with my husband. We were celebrating our 15th anniversary and we had a glorious weekend. We could not have asked for more beautiful weather. We spent time doing what each of us enjoy doing. It was amazing! We drove up on Friday night. We've started reading books out loud as we travel and we've decided that it makes the car ride go by so much more quickly. This trip we read "Sweetbrier Autumn", which is a story of the history of Seattle. We really enjoyed it, but didn't get finished. I imagine I'll be devouring the rest of that one this week. The drive up into the mountain to get to the cabin was a bit scary in the dark. It was very rural, so the roads were not maintained well, they were steep and very curvy. I was thankful to have my very capable hubby at the wheel. We got in in time to veg on the couch for a bit before bed. Saturday we slept in a little, had breakfast then headed to Gatlinburg. We stopped at the Welcome center for brochures to help us decide what to do. Our first stop was the Arts and Crafts village. I of course enjoyed that part more than Patrick did. We bought a small watercolor painting for my mother-in-law for her birthday, bought mason a wooden toy axe, but my most favorite place was the quilt shop. I've always wanted to quilt, but felt a little intimidated by it and wasn't sure I could do it with a basic machine, and sure don't want to have to pay someone to do the quilting. The sweet owner of the shop talked to me for a while and convinced me that I can do it. She owns a very expensive long arm machine, but still chooses to do most of her quilting on her sewing machine. She recommended a good beginner pattern (which I love!) and I can't wait to get started. I loved being in that store. I'm pretty sure I'm now hooked! We left there and went to eat at The Old Mill, the food was really good and reasonable (we shared and it was plenty) and the atmosphere was lovely, we stopped by a candy shop there and I got some homemade toffee, a bear claw and some Zots for my kiddos (anyone remember those?). We also went into the pottery shop and got to see pottery being made. It was VERY neat. We then went to the national park and decided on a trail to walk. We walked to Laurel Falls. It was said to be easy, but I had forgotten my knee brace at the cabin and found it fairly difficult. We had to park quite a ways away, so the round trip for us was around 3 miles, a good portion of it uphill. Thankfully it was paved an my sweet husband was patient. The falls were pretty, but much too crowded and I think DeSoto has just as much to offer. We drove back through downtown Gatlinburg on the way back to the cabin. It was fun to people watch as we drove the strip. Once at the cabin we ate a quick supper and headed to bed earlier so we could get an earlier star the next morning. Saturday we headed out pretty early to get to Cades Cove. We spent most of the morning there and would have stayed longer if we had not forgotten the cooler bag with our snacks and drinks in it. We walked at least a couple or more miles while in the park. One of the trails we walked took us past a big red barn and up to an old home place. When we headed back to the van we saw two bucks in the big red barn. We were able to watch them for a few minutes before they moved on (some other people came noisily down the trail and scared them away). We turned and just across the path saw a doe and her fawn. We stood 10 - 15 feet away from them and were able to watch them for a while. Then as we continued on we saw one more doe. It was so neat. I've sat in my van and seen them many times or watched them through a window, but never have I stood so near to one in the wild. Breathtaking! We left and had lunch at a nearby cafe then headed to the outlet malls. I only went to a hand full of stores (I tried to be merciful to my sweet, patient man), but had great success in those stores. I was able to find replacement lids and hot/cold packs for my pyrex portables for a VERY reasonable price. I also found 6" mini loaf pans for a reasonable price and picked some up for myself and my Mom for our holiday baking. My last stop was the Old Navy outlet. I ended up with 7 items for $28 dollars. We headed back to the cabin early for a restful night in. We watched a movie (The Cross, which I HIGHLY recommend), then we spent a while in the hot tub. We spent that time really talking (the movie had us in a very thoughtful, reflective place) about where we were going as a family, what God had called us to and where He is taking us and what we need to be doing to prepare. A couple of notes from that: My favorite quote from the movie was "My unworthiness does not disqualify me from the call of God." ~ Arthur Blessit The movie really made us think about something we've heard our pastor talk about many times. If we cannot be faithful in the little things, how can we ever expect God to trust us with the big things. We know God is calling us to something bigger and that we need to be living in a state of preparation for that, but it convicted us that we needed to get a handle on the little things, to set our priorities and hold fast to them, to make time for the most important things. So, I'm working on a schedule that will help us make sure that we aren't letting important things slip through the cracks. Monday we headed back with a stop at a very disappointing Flea Market (when did they become an avenue for people to sell imported merchandise?) and at Bass Pro Shops and finally at lunch at Cracker Barrel. We tried to stop at a quilt shop in Chattanooga, but it was closed. We missed our children terribly, but were so thankful to have the time away. It was so good for us physically, emotionally and spiritually. I'll try to post some pictures soon.

P.S. All this lovely fallish weather, the time in the mountains, the antiques and the quilt shop, led to my latest background change. I'm loving it!

The Old-New Me

2010-08-21T23:45:00.002-05:00

So, if you know me one thing we've probably talked about it what a horrible time I've always had keeping a clean house. I've never been good at it. Didn't grow up in a clean house and honestly for the first few years of my marriage I didn't care. I was going through so much junk from my past and suffering with such anxiety and making my hubby pay for all of my Dad's mistakes. Anyway, it was not good. Thankfully my God is a redeemer and He completely showed up and showed out in my life! He healed me of so many hurts and gave me victory over anxiety and depression. He is AMAZING!!! After that whole process He really began to plant in me a desire to submit to and serve my husband, so I began to really try to get my home together, not because my husband demanded it, but because I knew it would make him happy and make his life easier. I really started trying and things got so much better, I even got much better about being consistent with our homeschool day and I was really on the right track. The other thing you may or may not know about me (I guess I'm being really real today) is that I've always been a starter and not a finisher. I come hard out of the gate and make good progress in the beginning, then I lose steam or life happens and I don't get back around to whatever I was doing......Enter my job. In December of 2008 I took a job working from home and in July of 2009 my husband and I became directors over the preschool ministry at church. My home began a downward spiral, the kids were doing most of the chores without being checked on and doing most of their school independently. I didn't have time to get rid of things, it just was not good. After much prayer the Lord showed my husband and I that the time had come to lay down the job and I did. My last day was July 6, 2010. The most exciting thing to me is that very quickly that desire to regain control of my home kicked in and I am slowly but surely getting there. I'm so excited to know it wasn't a fluke, it really is who God has taught me to be....I have a long way to go, but I'm on the right track and I'm excited about it. :)

Women Living Well

2010-08-20T11:50:00.002-05:00

Organized Everyday introduced a video today and pointed us to a blog. I have watched several of the videos from the blog and LOVE it. The blog is Women Living Well. I highly recommend it for all wives and mothers. She is very focused on submitting to her husband, as unto the Lord and serving her family. She is super-duper cheerful and honestly in the past her chipperness would have gotten on my nerves and I would have thought she was way too extreme, but having begun (over the last several years) to walk out submission to my husband and service to my family, I TRULY see it's benefits. First, the Word of God tells me to do so and Secondly, it has changed my life, my marriage, my relationship to my children. I strongly recommend checking it out with an open mind and heart.

Applesauce Oatmeal Recipe

2010-08-19T08:49:00.002-05:00

I wanted something different for breakfast this morning and I'm trying to us things I have on hand. So, I just typed in Applesauce Oatmeal Recipe and hit search. I found a recipe that looked easy enough and I tried it. It was very yummy and very easy. It barely took more time than making regular oatmeal. I definitely think this will be a keeper at our house. I did make a larger batch to feed the four of us. I used 3 cups of water and 2 cups of quick rolled oats.

http://www.food.com/recipeprint.do?rid=50627

Prayers for Our Soldier.....Please

2010-08-09T07:58:00.002-05:00

My step-son Josh joined the Army back in January (actually he signed up for delayed enlistment in September of last year, but started Basic in January). He felt called to join Special Forces and tested high enough to get into the 18X program, which is an accelerated Special Forces Program. He has been through Basic Training, Infantry Training and Jump School and has been on hold for SFPC, which is pre-selection, basically it prepares you for Selection. He starts SFPC today and it will last 19 days (with no phone!). He will then (in Sept.) begin the Selection process. If he makes it through selection he will be SF and will then be assigned a base. Please pray that he is able to mentally, physically and most importantly physically handle all of the challenges. That he will find favor with his superiors and that he will acheive his goal of becoming Special Forces.

Thank you so much!

Explode The Code

2010-08-04T07:20:00.005-05:00

I just found out that ETC now has an online version. It spans K-4th grade, is self-grading and levelling. It advances with your child. It's $55 for 1 year for 1 student. Definitely worth looking into. HERE is a link. If you look to the right on that page and click on Free Resources, there are sample lessons from the books (these lessons look WAY too simplistic, but trust me they work, and the simplicity allows them to become more independent, thus boosting confidence). You will also find research information on how ETC works. THIS is a link to a video explaining how the online program works. THIS link is a demo of lessons that your child can try out. I'm SERIOUSLY considerring this for my son. He LOVES to work on the computer, so I know he'd be asking to do these lessons and he's in 3rd grade, but not reading as well as I'd like. This would take out the guesswork on what his weaknesses are, etc. I'm EXCITED!

Update: I talked to my hubby and we decided to order the online version for Mason this year. The only bummer is that once you place your order (they do charge tax) you will have to wait 3-4 business days for an email that explains how to set it up and use it. Oh well, guess he'll have to play on www.starfall.com for a few more days.

Final Curriculum Decisions (with links)

2010-08-03T11:18:00.004-05:00

Teaching Textbooks Math 7 is rather pricey, but the company allows resales (I bought mine used) and you can easily use a notebook instead of the workbook and will be able to pass it down from child to child.
Modern Curriculum Press Math C
First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind I used this with my girls and they still love to sit in on these lessons.
Mystery of History Volume 1 with History Through the Ages Timeline Figures (from Creation to Christ. I will also be using a Book of Centuries for my timeline. Something like this free one. If you decide to use this, I highly recommend the yahoo group.
Explode the Code (These books are Great for any student, but were especially written for children with dyslexia. They also have Getting ready for the Code books for earlier grades.) I used these with my daughter that struggled to read. They were the first thing that really produced light bulb moments. She loved using them and they quickly learn to do them independently.
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons I've used portions of this method with all of my children.
MCP Phonics
AVKO Sequential Spelling (Great program for struggling spellers and easily passed down.)
Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the 5th day and the free notebooking journals.
Twin Sisters Publications (Multiplication, Division, Addition and Subtraction) Songs and Workbooks for memorization.
Egermeier's Bible Story Book and Simply Charlotte Mason's Free Scripture Memory System
The Five Finger Paragraph

1st Day of School

2010-08-02T15:40:00.002-05:00

Well, I wouldn't call it and epic fail, but I wouldn't exactly call it a success either. I'm not quite finished with all of my planning and we don't have all of our curriculum yet, so we did a little improvising. A couple of things we are using we have never used before, so there was a bit of a learning curve, too. We all did Bible, Language, Science and History and the girls did a little Math Memorization, most of that went pretty much as planned. The not so great part is that these kids are bouncing of the ceiling. Yet another reason, why I refuse to take another summer completely off. I think they COMPLETELY forgot how to act and since I haven't felt well the last couple of days and I haven't slept well in months....I did not have the energy to properly deal with it. Guess they'll have a talk with the Principal (Hubby likes to call himself this) tonight and I'll try to get some rest and more planning, etc. done, so we can really get back into the swing of things.

Here's to a better tomorrow....

Fresh Direction

2010-07-27T18:19:00.003-05:00

The kids and I got together with some friends today. At the end of last year we decided that we really needed to get our girls together. Her daughter is 7 months younger than my girls and she has a son that is just a little younger than mine. She also has an older son and a younger son. What we realized in the process of getting our children together is that we also really have a lot in common and it's one of those relationships that I feel really good investing time in. Anyway, the kids and I went to their house today. We went to the pool for a while then went back to their house and had lunch and more play time. The kids all really entertain themselves when they are all together and that gives my friend and I some time to talk. Today we were talking about the homeschool year and I was telling her how stressed I get every year at this time and how I look back on all my failures and worry so much about not repeating them and how to do better, etc. She was such an encouragement to me. I have kind of been married to the workbook for a while. When we first started homeschooling it took my quite a while to find curriculum that suited our needs. I bought some things that didn't work, but every time I would buy something new I would feel like we needed to start over, so we ended up getting really behind, couple that with dealing with a child with a learning disability, a Mom (me) that wasn't as motivated as she should have been in the early years, and had 3 surgeries (preceded by medical problems) in 5 years, a house fire and the death of 3 grandparents and we were REALLY behind at times. We've worked really hard to catch up, but at times I've felt really overwhelmed by it. A very wise friend talked me into skipping some math and moving forward a couple of years ago and today's conversation furthered that. My girls are very smart, they have strengths and weaknesses like anyone else, but I felt like if we didn't finish every single workbook, then they might be missing something. After our conversation today (and some things I'd been noticing and thinking on). I feel fairly confident just putting them both in the appropriate day and dealing with weaknesses as I notice them. I will not continue to define us as behind. We will begin a new "day" so to speak and I'm confident that my children will be no worse for the wear. I'll let you know when all of our final decisions are made and what our schedule ends up looking like.

School Year Plan....so far

2010-07-22T23:52:00.002-05:00

I really haven't had a lot of time to ponder what our year will look like. So for the moment I kind of mostly know what we're going to be using, but I'm not sure yet how we'll be structuring our days. I do know we are hoping for a 4 day school week, but we'll see. We may just have a 5 day with one day being a lighter load. Here's the breakdown thus far:

All
Bible together - We typically have a short devotion, Bible story, then take turns reading the corresponding scripture, a short discussion, scripture memory practice and prayer. Sometimes we also sing praise and worship music. This usually takes about a half an hour or more, but we LOVE this time together.
We'll finish this time together with a lesson from 1st Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind, mostly for Mason's benefit, but the girls enjoy reviewing the poems and it doesn't hurt them to review the language rules while he learns them. These lessons are very short.
Science - Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day ~ We may also buy the corresponding lapbook or notebooking pages.
History - The Mystery of History Volume 1
I definitely have to figure out how we are going to structure this time together and exactly how we will do the science and history. I'm leaning toward spending two days on Science and two days on History each week, but I'm not sure yet.

Mason
Reading - We need to hit this subject hard this year. Mason can sound out words, but has no confidence in his own abilities, so we'll really be working on that. I plan to use a combination of things: MCP Plaid Phonics; Explode the Code and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. He's been through most of 100 Easy Lessons, but enjoys the lessons, so I thought going back through it might help boost his confidence. We'll also be using Bob Books.
Math - Modern Curriculum Press as well as some math games and memorization tools.
Spelling - Spelling Workout
Language - Possibly - Scott Foresman's Grammar and Writing Handbook

Keeli
Math - Modern Curriculum Press and Memorization tools
Spelling - Spelling Workout and ???? She struggles in this area and I may look into some curriculum for struggling spellers.

Kelsi
Math - Memorization tools and ?????? probably Teaching Textbooks, but I'm still slightly undecided.
Vocabulary - ????

Both Girls
Language - Simply Grammar? and Scott Foresman's Grammar and Writing Handbook
I will also add journaling this year.
Literature - I will be assigning books and book reports this year. Not sure which books yet, another decision that must be made soon.

It looks a little overwhelming, but I plan to break it down into very manageable days and we are not participating in co-op this year, so we should be good. I'm hoping for a 3-4 hour school day. Their reading and journaling would be done in "free" time. Both girls like to read and I'm pretty sure they will enjoy the journaling as well, so I don't feel like those will make their load feel any heavier.

I'm also planning to start a Bible Study with the girls this year and think we'll all enjoy that time together. We may also try to find a way to squeeze some art in. I have some good curriculum and the supplies and think they'd enjoy doing that at least once a week. Also, some of the subjects that have multiple things listed, if we find that some of them are unnecessary we will drop them. I'm pretty flexible (took me a LONG time to learn that) and like to do what works for us, so I usually make out a schedule then adapt it as we go to what is actually working for us.

Breakfast and Lunch Menus

2010-07-21T12:28:00.002-05:00

We'll use these menues every week. Right now we mostly eat cereal and oatmeal for breakfast and sandwiches and soups for lunch, so this will add more variety and make it easier to calculate what I need for groceries.

Breakfast Menu
Monday – Cereal
Tuesday – Muffins
Wednesday – Oatmeal
Thursday – Toast w/cheese or Jelly
Friday – Cereal
Saturday – Free (Mom cooks or pick your favorite)
Sunday – Muffins or biscuits and sausage or bacon

Lunch Menu
Monday – Veggies (mostly this will be leftovers)
Tuesday – Sandwiches
Wednesday – Wraps (Tortillas with chicken, veggies, cheese and ranch dressing)
Thursday – Soup (Ramen, canned or homemade)
Friday – Tortilla pizza
Saturday – Free
Sunday – Mimi’s or leftovers

2 Week Supper Menu

2010-07-20T09:46:00.003-05:00

I created this menu and will use it regularly. I will occasionally make changes based on what's on sale or what I already have on hand, etc. But for the most part it will stay this way.

Taco Salad
Homemade Vegetable Soup with Cornbread
Greek Chicken with Greek Green Beans (Potatoes are cooked in with the chicken)
Grilled Chicken with Potato Salad and Cole Slaw
Grilled Venison with Broccoli and Garlic Rosemary Potatoes
Chicken Casserole with Black Eyed Peas and Whole Kernel Corn
Spaghetti with Salad and Homemade Whole Wheat French Bread
Stir Fry
Country Veggies (Pinto Beans, Mashed Potatoes, Turnip Greens and Cornbread)
Salmon Croquettes (in the South we usually call them Salmon Patties) with Salad & Lima Beans
Santa Fe Rice and Beans with Mexican Cornbread
Fajita Stew served over Rice
Chicken and Dumplings with Corn on the Cob and Green Beans
Grilled Chicken Salad with Homemade Whole Wheat French Bread

I don't assign particular days to any of it, so I can choose what works best for me that day. I might do the meals that require cornbread together, so I only have to make it one day, etc. You can click on some of the items and it will take you to the recipe. I'll try to post some of the other recipes soon.

I Didn't Fall Off the Bandwagon or the Face of The Earth

2010-07-19T07:41:00.002-05:00

I'm still here! I've just been sooooo busy that I haven't had time or energy to post. I did have my last day of work almost 2 weeks ago. I left the very next day for 5 days of church camp. Then my uncle passed away so we had church and visitation on that Sunday, then the funeral on Monday, then I went back to church to help organize food at our church's Manna House. Tuesday night we had a ladies pajama party and game night at our church. Wednesday we visited my Dad's cousin (she's a widow and the kids and I really enjoy spending time with her), then church that night. Thursday we went to a Water Park with a friend. Friday I had to do some gift shopping and met my friend in town to try on and buy my bridesmaid dress for her wedding. Saturday we delivered baked goods for our church's apartment complex outreach and went to my Mom's to see my niece (my brother is divorcing and we only get to see her a couple of times a month). Sunday was of course church, then we came home and vegged. I think I took a 3 hour nap and then slept awful last night.

Anyway, as you can see I'm enjoying my newfound freedom. We're doing fun stuff and getting to serve more often. Eventually I'm gonna have to slow this wagon down a bit so we can tackle the house and the years homeschool planning.

As for weight loss, it has been slow going. I've almost been at this for 4 months and for about 4 weeks the scales didn't move. Thankfully (praise the Lord), I was able to stay on the bandwagon and have started losing weight again. At last weeks weigh in I had lost another 1.4 lbs. and on this weeks I'd lost .6 lbs. for a total of 18 lbs. lost. I think this slow weight loss is what I can expect from here on out. It can be frustrating, but I keep reminding myself that the slower it comes off the easier it will be to keep off, I'm eating much more healthfully and every month that I stick with this is continuing to build on this habit of a healthy lifestyle. I have not lost a size yet, but can see a big difference in my waistband. I'm definitely ready to see more progress. I'll keep updating my ticker as I go and I'll try to be a better blogger.....

Silhouette Giveaway

2010-06-28T18:49:00.002-05:00

Thrifty Decor Chick is hosting a giveaway and I'm really excited about it!

http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2010/06/silhouette-craft-cutter-giveaway.html

Be Anxious for Nothing.....

2010-06-23T07:35:00.002-05:00

As an adult, I dealt for many years with terrible anxiety. It affected every aspect of my life and almost cost me my marriage. There were many reasons for my anxiety and it's roots were very deep. I became desperate and the Lord placed me in the right situation with the right person at the right time and I learned all the right things and He delivered me from that terrible bondage. Every year of my life since then has been better than the year before. I'm a much better mother, sister, daughter, friend and especially wife. My husband and I are constantly growing closer and I am so very thankful.

The problem is that I have 2 children that deal with anxiety issues. My son has basic fears that I really think he'll eventually outgrow. He was afraid of lots of the rides at Disney World. The unknown factor really got to him, he didn't like the speed of some of them, he doesn't like the dark, etc. My daughter, however, has been gripped with fear from the time she was very young. There are some things that have improved, but not much and to some degree there are things that are worsening. She will not sleep alone, doesn't want to, but will, go to the restroom alone in a public place, panics about having to put her thoughts down on paper (writing reports, etc.), will not go outside alone after dark, etc. She is just overall very fearful. The worst seems to be the fear of vomitting....I know it sounds crazy, but she's always been what we've called our puker...If she has a fever, she will vomit...If she gets a headache she'll vomit....If she cries too much, she'll vomit, etc. If someone in our home comes down with a stomach bug she will immediately begin to cry because she doesn't want to get it. She also has reflux which is for the most part under control, but lately she has spent the night away from home a couple of times. Both times she forgot her reflux medicine, ate foods that complicated the reflux and didn't get enough rest, which proves to be a disastrous combination. She begins to have reflux, then she overreacts because she's afraid she'll throw up, then she starts crying and then she begins vomitting. I have tried so many things. I've had her memorize and claim verses on fear and protection, I've tried to teach her to pray through the anxiety, I've tried to explain to her the logical side of the situation and how illogical the fear is, we've consoled her, we've been firm and I'm now at a loss. I just don't know what to do next. I know that the idea of her growing into adulthood still dealing with this is very frightening to me and we MUST figure out how to get her past this. This has certainly reminded me of how much I NEED my Heavenly Father, of how I CANNOT walk through this on my own, of I DO NOT have the answers, but I know Who does. I believe that He will show us what to do and I believe that my daughter will receive victory over this fear.

I would love your prayers as we seek the Lord for answers.