Tuesday, December 8, 2009 - 2009 "In Review" March

Finally, we're in March.

Kitty, Boyo, and Big Girl

Here is how the basement is progressing:


Boyo and brownies


Kitty, Boyo and Handsome Prince watching a very exciting movie
more basement


a little family OTogetherness

We took a long car trip; we had to pull over and just run for a bit


watching Cousin B play soccer


my baby girl giving me flowers



this speaks for itself



playing spoons


at the aquarium


that's one big fish!








Unique in both fashion sense and in comfort-ability:



a Simon luv fest



one of my favorite trees


Grandpa supervising the granddaughters washing the car



On our way home from our visit we took a little detour. This is the view from the windshield:
Love those hotel pools at the end of a long driving day


a little post-roadtrip visit to the chiropractor

a few photos of the finished basement


a chicken's-eye view


those two again, lol:


Playing in the basement can be really hard work.  Can you find Boyo and Princess?

more  'life with chickens'


with our good friends at a homeschool political rally at the state capitol:

Monday, December 7, 2009 - 2009 "In Review" February part 4

Boyo in the morning:



Big Girl and Kitty at the art class we're taking:

a water color I was working on:


with Grandpa Dale at the church family game night:


another exciting meal at our house:



The farmer and his wife (aka Kitty and Princes)

a little basement progress



a snapshot for the nature journal


beeping snooties


Seth and Princess in music class


Princess creating one of her many gourmet concoctions


My Valentine's Day card to Handsome Prince


Big Girl, Princess and Kitty decorating the Valentine's Day gingerbread house


with Bethie's family at the historical museum


more basement progress - this is the vapor barrier and insulation



Boyo



Big Girl at a violin lesson



Grandmom and Simon at naptime



two-fisted spaghetti



Here is what happens when homeschoolers study ancient Egypt:



Clarification if you're unsure what the above picture is - Princess, mummified, with all her servants, pets, and worldly possessions, on her way to the next world in her royal chariot:

Monday, December 7, 2009 - 2009 "In Review" February part 3

Here is my little farm hand helping clean the chicken coop:


And here is what we do in February because it's just so warm here in the winter:



A small fashion show from Princess:


Boyo's theme:  Play hard, sleep hard:



Princess and Kitty in good hands:


A visit from the New York cousins:


the family dance-along


Even Papa gets in the act:


at the pool:

Saturday, November 21, 2009 - Today I

Saturday, December 5, 2009 - 2009 "In Review" February part 2

Graduation from music academy

Here are Princess and our friend Rebecca waiting for the program to start.


The girls


the audience


at their keyboards   Kitty, Big Girl and Timothy


singing and playing guitar


and playing recorder


the excitement of the evening exhausted Princess



Big Girl and Kitty playing their solos


with their teacher


and with their class

Saturday, December 5, 2009 - 2009 "In Review" February part 1

One of the biggest events in February was Big Girl's and Kitty's graduation from Music Academy.  It was a three-year program, and while it focused on music theory and piano, they also worked on guitar, recorder and rhythm instruments.

Here is a photo from the last class before graduation.  These children are all ages 8, 9 and 10 in the photo.  Kitty is in gray; Big Girl in a football jersey; Timothy is on the far right.

 
and here are the moms; I'm second from right.

 
On the same day as their last class, Princess and her friend Seth (Timothy's brother) started their first class.
We had a wonderful field trip down by the river.

 

and then went to the nature center to study flood plain control


Remember that pile of stuff in the basement?  Well, here's another view.



The grocery store is so exciting when you're two.

Saturday, December 5, 2009 - 2009 "In Review" January

We checked out the new ice arena in our area; since this was their first time on the ice, the children wore helmets.
 
Boyo enjoyed his new cowboy gear he got for Christmas.
A little Wip from the can, anyone?


Beth, Amanda, Shauna and I went out for dinner when Amanda came to town.


These two...  I call them the Twin Tornadoes.  They look innocent here, but I think you can probably tell the reality is a little different.


How pretty is this?


Our basement remodel began.  After all the shag carpet, newspaper wallpaper, faux brick, nasty wood paneling and pool table lights were gone, we had this to show for it.  It was only the beginning, though.


We had a great day at the local stock show. 


Here's the family petting baby yaks.


And here's Boyo sampling some yak from the grill.

The kids all want to own yaks.  I personally think the Scotland Highlands Cattle are cool.


For breakfast, nothing beats peach cobbler cooked over coals in a cast-iron Dutch oven

Is your mama a llama?  If she is, she might look like this one Kitty is petting.



Princess and I had our first date lunch; here she is at the table.
A friend was on pregnancy bedrest, so we went over a few times to hang out with her and her children; here are all the kids together.


My little chicken wrangler
and his herd.  They are Jane, Ethyl, Lucy and Helen.

On our way to art class one day, we saw this guy; I hope he wasn't on his way to our house.


Princess likes to look at books at our weekly allergy appointment.
 


Big Girl's beautiful smile.  I took this in the orthodontist's office just before she got braces.


This shot was during...


When "da duys" showed up every morning at 7:00 to work on the basement, they came in through this basement window; they dug out this hole by hand.

Thursday, December 3, 2009 - an obituary to aspire to

I still get the hometown newspaper, and recently there was an obituary that made me go back and read it again and again.  I didn't know the woman who died, but her obituary really made me think.  Here are parts of it:

She went to be with the Lord at the age of 72 after a crippling disease that stole her body but couldn't put a dent in her sweet spirit.  She became a child bride at the age of 13...After a year of marriage and learning the responsibilities of married life, she became a mother at the tender age of 14, giving life to her first child... She put her heart and soul into making their young marriage and meager lifestyle into a warm and loving home. She became a mother at the second time at the age of 18...

She became a devoted child of God at the age of 40. She was blessed with the spiritual gifts of service, mercy and generosity. She used those gifts without reserve, blessing all who knew and loved her and never gave a second thought to her own needs.  She and her love of this life were married 56 years before his passing. She cherished her grandchildren and great-grandchildren with a powerful love that was the essence of her petitions to the Lord. Her faith and her family were her whole world, and her absence from this world will truly have an impact on all who knew her.

This is an amazing testimony of the life of a mother.  I'm sorry I didn't know her.

Dec. 1, 2009 - Take My Cup And Fill It Up!

Take My Cup And Fill It Up Lord!



After months of serving outside my home I am taking a much needed break to pull “in” and fill my cup.  It’s hard to explain what that means because my cup truly is filled when I am able to serve outside my home as well? 

What I am learning is that my life has a rhythm that I have to be very aware of.  Too much downtime depletes my energy and makes me lazy, but too much time outside my home can do the very same thing. 

Right now, I am enjoying the holidays as I pull in to spend time with my family and focus on my Savior.  Last night was a precious and perfect example of how I fill my cup. We put our Christmas tree up while Avalon blared Christmas music through our house.  I was cooking fajita’s and the smell of sauteed onions and green peppers mingled with my evergreen candles.  I heard my boys engaged in laughter as they worked together to put the tree up.  My heart was so full I thought it would burst.

I am beginning to see the rhythm of my life.  I have come to realize that “spurts” are a good thing for me.  I finally get that my personality does better with “spurts”, whereas, I have friends who need daily balance. 

Neither is better or worse, right or wrong.  It’s finding out who you are and then engaging it without apology.  We shouldn’t spend our whole lives striving to become what we admire.  Our goal should be to thrive in who God made us to be.

It’s funny that I always worry that I’m not home enough during my busy season and then in the down time I feel like I am home too much.  Does anyone else ever struggle with that?  Balance is such an elusive creature.  I know that it doesn't come naturally, I have to be thoughtful, purposeful and most importantly prayerful.  Finding balance gets me to the very throne of God where HE pours out, wisdom and direction.

"Therefore, God elevated him (Jesus) to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father....," Philippians 2: 9-11

Father, as I quiet my heart and bow before your throne may I always keep my eyes on "you" and seek only "your wisdom", "your direction".  Show me where to say, "yes" and more importantly where to say, "no".  I only want to do your will Lord.  Help me to decrease so that you might increase.

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Nov. 27, 2009 - Strength's Based Living! Change Your Life!

Strength's Based Living!

Mary with Linda Werner at the FPEA State Homeschool Convention

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.  Loosely based on Romans 12:6-9

Last May I heard Linda Werner speak at our convention on Strength's Defined and it has truly changed my life.  Six month’s later and I am even more in love with the heart of this message.  Strength’s Defined was an introduction to Strength’s based living. 

Strength’s Based living is all about being purposeful with those talents God has given you.  It talks about stepping back and looking at who you are, who you really are.  Imagine if you quit trying and striving to become something or someone you admired and instead threw yourself passionately into who you already are?  Sounds simple doesn’t it?  It’s NOT!

Our society has programmed us to think that overcoming our weaknesses is character building.  Though I don’t totally disagree with that concept, I do think that we as  a society have given that way of thinking too much room in our lives.  Overcoming our weakness is all about “striving” and embracing our strength’s is all about “thriving”. 

Strength’s based living does not have you ignore your weaknesses, but instead it tells us to manage them.  How do I manage mine?  I look around me and take note of the people God has put in my life.  Most often, those friends who I cherish and adore are strong where I am weak, and so I include them in my management plan.  What does that look like?  Sometimes they offer words of wisdom, other times they hold me accountable, sometimes they simply listen and pray. 

If you’ve noticed I am blogging two days in a row after lots of time off.  Last weekend when I spoke to leaders at the "Leadership Tea" I realized that I had been too busy and that I love doing this.  Facebook seems to get more attention, because it takes less time and nets lots of immediate feedback, yet it's not the same thing.

Blogging allows me to put thoughts together more completely.  I can take my time and process, plot, plan what I want to say.  The truth is I've missed it.  I have come to learn after 4 1/2 years of blogging that there are seasons when I can and seasons when I can’t.  Right now, I am in a downtime schedule wise, and plan to use the next few weeks to catch up and fill my cup through blogging.

If we’re not engaging and embracing those things that fill our cups, energize us, empower us, than our cup runs dry and we begin performing as we try to pour out what we don’t own.

So my Christmas break goal is to share those things I’ve been learning this past six month’s about Strength’s Based Living.  I plan to write about my personal experiences because I think real life stories are more powerful than any how-to book.

Not only will I share my triumph’s, but I want to be real and share my hurdles as well.  It’s not about getting it right, never making mistakes, but instead this journey is helping me to live out our family motto, “Fall Down, Get Up, Fail Forward, Finish Well.”

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