If you have your children tested at the end of the schoolyear, as opposed to teacher assessments (depending on what your state requires), you might get as frustrated as I do. Either no one is offering the testing (except for the school district and that is not an option), or, as in our situation, hubby became certified to administer the test, but we would have to order six weeks in advance of the date he plans to administer the test and both children cannot be tested at the same time. So, with a very heavy travel schedule for hubby, that's not the easiest thing to plan. Then we wait two months to get the results. But, that's the way it is. It would be easier if I could do it, but I don't have a degree. In fact, I can't even be around when they're tested because I'm not qualified. Yeah. I know. Moving along...

Well, recently I was made aware of a marvelous company at www.FamilyLearning.org (FLO). They have the California Acheivement Test available, which is acceptable with our school district (I made sure! :). Now, get this, this is the marvelous part. I spoke with a woman at FLO because I noticed that we just had to prove that we homeschool to purchase the test. I was concerned about going through the certification again. I asked if I we had to show proof of a degree and do you know what she said to me??? "No. You know, we believe here that if you're qualified to teach your children you should be capable of administering the test to them." Hallelujah! How refreshing!!! And I need to allow only two weeks between ordering and when I plan to administer the test, which both children can take at the same time. And the turn around for the results is 1-3 weeks! Not to mention, it's cheaper. Can I just tell you how thrilled I am??? I am thrilled!

So, if you're looking to test your children in the privacy of your own home, just as you do with schooling them, please check out FLO's website and give them some more business!

Did I mention I'm thrilled??

Jennifer :)

I've decided to participate in Jennifer's Fresh Thoughts Challenge! Please hop over to her site and sign up if you're interested. The idea is to try to stick with something, ANYTHING, for 30 days. It can be organizing, reading your Bible, not going out to eat, exercising, etc. You get the idea. Why don't you sign up and be accountable!

I am going to do my Power 90 workouts, as mentioned in my previous post, at least 5 days a week for 30 days. The idea is to do it for 90 days, hence the name, but I'm all for baby steps. The workout is designed for 6 days per week, but sometimes schedules get crazy, so I'll shoot for 5.

I am not someone who is big into weighing myself or measuring inches. I go for how my clothes fit and how I feel. So, we'll see how it goes after 30 days. I imagine I will definitely feel stronger and notice some difference in my clothes. Especially since I'm being deliberate about eating more living foods and cutting out some of my unhealthy snacking. I'm officially starting today -- January 12, 2009.

So what's your challenge? Go sign up and blog about it!

Jennifer :)

...therefore, I hope to blog more than once per quarter. I don't know how some people have time to blog and upload a gazillion pictures and still manage to school their children and keep up with everything. Well, no one ever said they were keeping up with everything did they? I guess I'm making assumptions.

I made no resolutions this year, as I have had many things that have been on my heart lately to change and I just need to do them and not relate them to New Years. Though there's nothing wrong with making that "fresh start". I have been wanting to get back to exercising and it just so happened that I started that after all the holiday busy-ness (and the cookies!) settled down. I started doing Beachbody's Power 90 and let's just say that I haven't been walking with much grace this week. Any kind of movement is followed by grunts and groans. Belle keeps saying, "Mom, why are you doing this to yourself!? Just stop already." :)

This year, and from now on, I'm definitely going to learn more of God's Word and teach it to my children. It's so important and God has been putting it on my heart for a long time. I have such a poor ability to retain anything that I've been making excuses, but He's not buying it. So I'm starting out in baby steps and I'm just going to keep doing my verses until I truly know them and not just remember them for a week. I've been reading my verse during my quite time in the morning and really meditating on it. Then when I go to take care of the animals and take the dog for a walk I use that time to pray and then practice repeating the verse over and over. Thankfully we have some land so the neighbors don't see me and think I'm just talking to myself. Then again, they know I'm a homeschool mom of four, so they'd probably expect it. :)

Well, I really just wanted to say Hi. It's been so long.

Jennifer :)

A few weeks ago I was at a friend's house and her children are always sick. It amazes me because they eat well, avoid extra sugar and are active, but I guess with four children 12 and under, things go around. Anyhow while there I asked her how everyone has been feeling and she said, "You know, I started using papertowels in the bathroom for everyone to dry their hands and they stopped getting sick. I switched back to towels and they all got sick again. So, I'm back to papertowels and nobody's sick." It makes sense, especially with little children, because they may not wash their hands really well and then those germs transfer to the towel for the next person.

Well, this past weekend Indy wasn't feeling well and was up Monday night throwing up. Poor guy. Then Tues. night Belle gets a fever and coldlike symptoms. Thankfully everyone is doing well now and Belle's cold isn't as bad as we thought it was going to be. But guess what? We've switched to paper towels in the bathrooms. Perhaps it's not as "green" as with towels, but think of all the tissues it will save in the long run. :) I did buy the Bounty "select-a-size", so we are only using half of a paper towel.

On another note, Lightning needed to get into the bathroom today while I was in the shower. He was all panicked because he needed to go #2 -- pronto. I said, "Don't worry, just go use the bathroom in Mommy and Daddy's room". When I finished in the shower I came out to find him in the livingroom and I said, "Hey Buddy, did you remember to wash your hands?" and he said, "Yes," and I said, "Did you remember to flush?" and he said, "No, I was afraid to because I used so many paper towels."  OH MY GOSH!!! Isn't that a riot!? I took care of the situation...(ahem)...but told him that the paper towels are only for washing our hands or cleaning the mirrors and sink. I would love to have seen the look on my face when he said that!

Jennifer :)

Our 11 year-old son, Indy, cracks me up. He has such a dry sense of humor and a very quick wit. This thrills me because hubby and I are both like that and are forever cracking each other up. Everyone else thinks we're wacko, but nonetheless, God knew what he was doing when he put us together.

Anyhow, yesterday Belle (9) realizes that she's lost the small cross that goes to her necklace. It sits inside a circle and dangles there. Well, she's devastated and unfortunately Indy did not share in her pain. Though I enjoy his humor, his lack of compassion is something we are working on. Anyhow, we are trying to think of when she last remembers it there and feel it's probably at home. We drop Indy off at guitar lessons and head off to Target. While in there Belle stops because her shoe is hurting her. Low and behold, there is the cross in her shoe! She's so, so happy because Grandma and Grandpa gave it to her and it was special.

We go back and pick up Indy. Immediately Belle is saying, "Guess what? We were in Target and my shoe hurt me and it was because my cross was inside my shoe!!" Indy's response was, "Yeah?...Well, Jesus is everywhere." Had I been drinking something it surely would have shot out my nose.

I needed to share this to keep a memory of it for myself.

Jennifer :)

A friend of mine invited us to a revival their church was having. I was really surprised that this revival began on Sunday and continues through next Wednesday! That's pretty long. Anyhoo, hubby is out of town, but the children wanted to go. Well, all except Indy (11) who was really nervous about going somewhere new. Guess who was all over me at the end saying, "Mom, Mom, can we please come back again?! This was awesome." That was thrilling to hear. Thank You, Jesus!

I really, really enjoyed it and we are going to try to attend as many of the remaining sessions that we can. The children were all begging. The great thing was that the friend who invited me has children the same ages, so wherever our children went, there was someone they knew.

This was held in a 130 year-old church. It was very sweet and I can only imagine what it was like back then. Not much different on the inside I'm sure. The pews were original and I'd have to say that was one thing that made me think I could never go to that church. Isn't that terrible? I'm pretty petite and I could not get comfortable! Every muscle in my back was killing me and my tailbone was actually starting to bruise! HOWEVER, it was worth it to hear the great messages.

The first message was focused on the family and really raising our children to know the Word of God through family worship time at home. It was great to hear and there were a gazillion ideas going through my head. Ironically, when I talked to hubby later he had told me he had been walking through the airport this afternoon and felt a strong sense that God wants him to be a preacher...at home. I know that sounds strange, but not if you knew some of the things we've been sensing from the Lord lately. I love seeing God at work!

The worship band was great too. Let me tell you, there is nothing like being in a small room with about 130 people singing, "It is Well With My Soul". If hubby had been there he'd have been weeping for sure. That's his favorite.  I'm so glad my friend invited me.

Hubby gets back in town Saturday night and he said we can go together to the meetings. We better get some Biofreeze for our backs beforehand! Ha!

This wasn't a big charismatic movement or anything, but they definitely preached things people need to hear about -- tithing, the family unit, men stepping up to their roles as husbands and fathers, forgiveness. Great stuff! I can't wait to hear the rest.

Ever been to a revival? You should check around and see if there's one at a church near you. I think you'll be blessed!

Jennifer :)

The other day our two older children and I were talking about when they were going to have the Right Hand of Fellowship at church to welcome them as new members.

Ds5 says, "Mama, what does Right Hand of Fellowship mean?" and I said, "Well, since J and E have completed all the requirements to become members of the church, the church recognizes that by having the congregation come up after service and welcome them by shaking their hand. Then the pastor will present J and E with a certificate."

Ds5's eyes got huge and he said, "A certificate!!!??? To where, Hobby Lobby!?" Ha! Ha! He was all set to become a member himself!

...it's me with the problem. I don't know why I can't seem to blog more than once every 3-4 months, but I can't. Then sometimes I blog every few days and then I stop. Usually if hubby is out of town I blog, otherwise, I don't. However, I'm going to try to blog more often.

I'm thinking of switching over to blogger. Nothing at all against HSB, I just like some of the features of blogger. I might do that and just start fresh. Don't know yet.

Well, for those of you who still might possibly have me on your feeds and haven't given up on me, here's a rundown of what's been going on since my last post:

* We got a puppy! He's soooo cute (show me one that isn't!). He's an English Shepherd named Silas. He's a farm dog and sleeps in the barn with the goats and cats at night. Eventually, with training, he *should* help us get the goats in at night and chickens (when we get them). I'll have to make a separate post and show pictures.

* Garden was semi-successful this year. The corn was amazing, the tomatoes were/are delicious, beans were great, but we waited all season for them, peas and carrots - not so good. The cucumbers were great, but I planted a ton of pickling cucumbers. They finally started to produce before we left for vacation and were too huge to do anything with by the time we got back. Squash beetles took over pumpkins and killed them all. Other than that, not too bad.

* School is underway and I'm already behind. Welcome to the life of someone who is lousy at time management. Thankfully the Lord is really working on me and with me. I am not going to let myself get the best of me! Strange sentence, but it makes sense to me.

* Hubby and I feeling totally committed lately to paying off any debt and seeing where we can cut expenses. It feels so good!

* Really getting into trying to be healthy and eating more raw foods. I watched a DVD recently that changed my thinking a bit (a lot) and I'll probably post more on that too.

* The weather has been incredible. Despite Ike's winds roaring through Ohio, the weather has been in the mid to upper 70's and sunny and then cool in the evenings for great sleeping. Since the beginning of August we've only had to have the a/c on twice.

* Little Joe is 2 1/2 and we absolutely cannot keep up with him. He knows no fear and if it seems to give mama a heart attack, he's all for it. Yesterday hubby was cleaning gutters and raced to get him off the top of a 12' unstable ladder. And if he can't be dangerous, he just likes to be destructive. Thankfully the Lord made him very cute!

* Life without television is grand. We do still get movies from the library occasionally, and lately I've been buying some quality Christian DVDs from Franklin Springs Media (I'm thinking of asking for a gift certificate for there as a Christmas present!). Otherwise, I don't miss it one iota.

* Hubby's home office is nearly complete. Staining/painting begins this week. It's beautiful. His brother did all the work, so it cost us much less than it could have otherwise. I'll have to post about that separately too -- wait to you see the unique bookcases!

*Painting the kitchen comes after the office. I am really looking forward to that! I have had paint swatches up for...a really long time already. We picked the paint and are now looking for "that perfect fabric" for curtians. Originally wanted deep red gingham or red with yellow, but now I'm thinking of pulling some bright blues and greens as well. We'll see. We really love cottage style and I want every room to be cheery.

So, those are just some of the highlights. There are the "lowlights" too, so don't think things are just perfect here. Lately, we struggle daily with feeling like our family is under a spiritual attack, but are continuing to stand upon God's promises and keep using the Word and prayer as our power tools.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Jennifer :)

In regards to my previous post about our mulched television antenna --  -- I'd like to say thank you for the comments about being able to catch some of the shows online! However, if you see the title of this post, you can see why it was merely pouring salt into a wound. Yep, we country folk are stuck with dial-up and I think the only time we will get high-speed is if more houses start being built around here. NOT a fair trade-off! We tried a wireless modem and it worked great if I put one foot on the credenza, one hand on the lamp and held a piece of foil to the wireless antenna (with a fork in my mouth). LOL! Hubby is now working from home and he has been sequestered to a tv tray in the corner of ds5's room because that's the only place he can get a connection. If his company only knew! Ha!

A young man in our homeschool group who happens to be my son's guitar teacher recently one a short-film award and we tried to watch it with dial-up. It took over two hours to buffer and then stopped working at 2 1/2 minutes. Oh well, from what I saw, half of the film was very good. If you're interested, you can go to www.GodTube.com and do a search for "A Fragile Hope" (It's only 5 minutes long). I'd like to tell you that the soldier running and looking back is him, but he's one of 13 children and they all look identical.

Jennifer :)

We watch very little television here. We do not have cable and really only have PBS Kids on for Arthur, Curious George and the older children enjoy Wishbone or CyberChase. Occasionally we will watch Extreme Home Makeover and when Hubby was gone on travel I would watch some things here and there -- Super Nanny, The Biggest Loser (can you tell I like things that show some kind of change or transformation??). WELL, this leads me into why we are no longer watching television. The antenna cable has been run over by our tractor! It wasn't cleanly split, it was MULCHED! We just had our roof redone and the roofers dropped down the cable to work and reminded us to have the gutter guys hook it back up on the nail it was on. Well, we forgot and wish we had remembered. I really don't see this getting replaced anytime soon. Hubby could care less if we never have television. I thought it wouldn't be a problem because we still have our video/DVD player and love to rent old movies from the library and some nicer children's shows as well. HOWEVER, we had a thunderstorm yesterday morning and it must have zapped the DVD player somehow -- of course that was the only thing not hooked to the surge protector. It happened to be a rather pricey player too, because we got one specifically with the capability of being able to transfer all of our home videos over to DVDs. Doesn't that beat all? I didn't think I was wasting much time with the television, but apparently God thought otherwise. I guess I should be thankful. He could have just allowed the DVD player to stop working, but He watered the garden for us at the same time! :)

Well, it has been so long since I last wrote, that I thought I'd just do a general update...if anyone is still reading. And even if I'm the only one who gets anything out of it, that's okay too. I love to periodically go back and look at my posts and think, "Oh yeah...I forgot about that. I needed to see that again as a reminder to pray more" or whatever it might be.

This is my favorite time of year around here. I love working around the house, cutting the grass, getting the garden ready, hanging clothes on the line, etc. This is our busiest time of year, for sure, but there's just such a great feeling at the end of each day (actually, it's exhaustion). However, as tired as I am, it's a "good tired out feeling", like you actually did something. Today is one of those days, as I worked on getting things planted in the garden. Here is a rundown of some of the things currently going on.

• Hubby is finally finishing up a job he had out in California since early December. He has an apartment there and has been coming home every other weekend. It's been tough at times, but it went by quickly. We're all so happy to have him home again. :)

• Our 100+ year old slate roof is currently being torn off our house and we are getting shingles and new gutters as well as three huge skylights (as the attic is going to be converted into hubby's home office). I'll be so happy when he has a quiet place to work that isn't surrounded by toys or a crib and I won't have to worry about trying to keep the children super quiet when his phone rings (which can be a lot ).

• My brother-in-law has been working so hard to get our new barn completed. Last week he installed two beautiful skylights that he built himself. They let so much light in now. I love them! Today he worked on putting the dutch door in one of the stalls. He has so much knowledge and is a perfectionist, so we've been blessed.

• We get our first goats this Saturday! Everyone is sooo excited. They are Melody and Giselle -- the children named them. Melody, because she's so mellow, and Giselle because she jumps around like a gazelle and the children liked the name from the movie Enchanted. We won't be able to breed them until next fall, but thought it would be better to get babies so we can learn more as they grow.

• I mentioned we were planting our garden. This year we are adding corn, beans and peas, ommitting the squash and limiting the watermelon. We are keeping the carrots, cucumbers (pickling and slicing), tomatoes, lettuces and pumpkins. The pumpkin patch was a huge hit last year! Oh, and we are going to add strawberries as well, though they won't be available this year. Realistically, we would actually eat all of those things. Did you ever plant stuff and think, "Why exactly did we plant beets and brussel sprouts?" There's still so much work left to do, and I really need to psyche myself up to tackle those cucumber/squash beetles. The two just drove me nutso last year! Blech!

• School is almost done, need I say more? Okay, I will say a little more about that. I am in the process of trying to plan curriculum for next year (who isn't?). I'm having so much trouble trying to decide between two different teaching approaches. One way is what I would really love to be able to do, but would require a great deal of time with me leading and I'm not quite sure if I want to commit to that and realize in December that I'm not able to keep up with it. A strong probability considering the younger two. The other option is more self-directed, but it's a good curriculum and they love it. With another child starting Kindergarten, that might be the best approach. However, I'm still seeking the Lord for wisdom. Maybe if I get off the computer and get into the Word, it would come faster???

Okay, well, hey, if you've made it this far, you're either a) easily entertained or b) asleep. I'm "a" and almost "b", so I'm going to say goodbye for now!

Jennifer :)

How's that for a title? On the first topic, our computer crashed recently. It was only a bit of a disappointment. Honestly, it was really nice to walk by the desk and not hear the hum of the computer and feel the draw of needing to check e-mails or look up more organizing tips or doing anything else that sucks time. There were some things that I needed the computer for, but somehow it all worked out. And even though I had already cut waaay down on computer time, I seemed to get more done during the day without it completely -- imagine that! Now I'm going to leave the computer shut-down until late afternoon or after dinner.

On the latter topic, I ordered a new Language Arts program this year. This was something new (to me anyway) I read about and it sounded really great. I can't begin to tell you how wrong I was! Ugh! This is the first time I've gotten something and have convinced myself to scrap it despite the money it cost and considering it's March and school *should* be ending in a couple of months. It's a consumable, so no turning around and selling it. None of us like it. You know, for the past two years I have used Christian Light Education and my children loved it! I was thinking that maybe they were getting bored with workbooks and needed more writing to do. Hello, McFly! If your children tell you they love something, provided it's godly, listen to them! And this new LA is still a workbook format, so I don't know what I was thinking. For the rest of the year I'm having the children do copywork from their reading books and I have these sweet Macmillan English Series books from the 1960's that I really love. My mother-in-law had used them at one point and we somehow inherited them. Great stuff with all the fundamentals they need and then some. The only drawback is that they need to be taught as opposed to being able to work on their own. With a preschooler and a toddler that can be a tough challenge at times when there are other subjects that also require that one-on-one time. But I'll be optimistic and do what I can. Check back for my next post entitled "Language Arts: who needs it anyway?". Oh, wait, I said I would be optimistic.

Jennifer :)

A few weeks ago the new library in town opened their doors. They threw a huge open house --with plenty of refreshments--and we went as a family. I was trying to explain to our 5 year old which library we were going to this afternoon and I just said, "The new one", but he couldn't quite remember. As we pulled into the library parking lot Sam says, "Ooohhhh, this library! I love this library! Do you think they still have cake left?!" LOL!!! (I'll be the first to admit that he gets that from me!)

Jennifer

If any of you recently read the The Homeschool Minute from TOS (it comes via e-mail), then you may have read Todd Wilson's article about organized people and unorganized people -- He basically said that some people are organized and some people aren't and if you aren't than you probably never will be. I have to say that I disagree with that. The point of this post is not to dispute Todd's article, as I realize he meant to bring a sense of comfort to those who aren't organized to stop fretting about it.

     I continously pray to become an organized person. Now, I am not totally disorganized. There are some habits I've created that would fall under the category of "organized person". I guess I'm semi-organized. The problem is that also means I'm semi-disorganized. I am a good wife, mother and homemaker, but I'm soooo far short of what I desire to be. That is not the devil just trying to make me feel I'm not good enough and I'm feeling sorry for myself. I KNOW there are areas where God desires changes in me, resulting in me desiring those changes in me. That is why it is so strongly on my heart.

     The areas I need changes in are discipline and structure. My time management is terrible; meal planning? terrible; School schedule? Terrible...etc. The first step in changing this is spending more time with the Lord. The second step is getting up at the same time everyday to do that. 6:00am sounds like a good time -- it will be a flesh fighter, but He's worth it. So is my family. From there on I'm going to learn and RETRAIN myself to be what I so desire to be. I just purchased The HomeManagement Binder: The Housewife's Best Friend , an e-book from Candy at www.keepingthehome.com. The Lord led me to her blog just yesterday and it was just what I needed. I have a "control journal" that I've started and it stays on a shelf looking pretty and not getting used. Some things work for some people and some things don't. So, what makes me think it's going to work this time? RETRAINING. Say it with me people, re-train-ing. I'm going to MAKE it work. It may go against my normal way of doing things, but obviously that's not working for me.  This will be a positive change into a "stress less" life.

     A few years back I heard a program where a man was talking about a book called "The Vector Principle". Though I never read it, the idea was that making a small 1 degree change in any direction could change the course of many things (think of a space shuttle changing it's direction by 1 degree -- totally off course). Let's say we're always rushing to get ready for church Sunday morning (can you imagine??? :) ). What if I made a change and made sure that all of our clothes were ironed and ready for the next morning the night before, or that our bibles and notebooks were in bags by the door, or that the baby's sippy cup and snack was ready to go. Any one of those things would make an impact and all of them would make a huge impact. Now, if I'm not used to doing them, I'm going to have to retrain myself, but it can be done.

     So you see, I'm excited about moving into this new phase. I desire to make these changes to please the Lord, my family, and myself. I think the only thing holding anyone back from becoming an organized person is the desire and willingness to finally make the change. It is not going to be easy nor happen overnight, there are many old habits to break. But I do have Jesus in me and the power of His Holy Spirit, so the only thing stopping me is me, right? Oh, and one more thing...please pray for me! :) The devil is not going to like this. Thanks!

     Jennifer :)

"If God be for us, than who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

"I can do all things through Christ which strentheneth me."  Phillipians 4:13

"Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Psam 37:4

     The other day we were driving and listening to the radio. Something was said about this coming Monday that made me actually suck wind and go "Oh! That's it. I'm in it now."  You see, this coming Monday is National Clean Off Your Desk Day. There are probably three responses to that -- "My desk is clean", "Who cares" or "Oh no. I've got to do it." If you are in the first response group, God has blessed you. If you fall into the other two then God bless you. Actually, I normally don't care about days like that where somebody just came up with an idea and now it's "National such-and-such day", but if it's something good and motivating, then what could it hurt.

     Two years ago we bought a beautiful roll-top desk and I couldn't wait for it to arrive. I would finally have somewhere to work and store all of our files and I was going to be so organized, let me tell you. WELL, little by little things started to creep in and get set on it. Then those things got pushed to the left so I could work. Then the cubby that was strictly for important bills became another catch all. Pretty soon there was no more room to push things to the left. AAAAAhhhhhhh!!

     Two nights ago I began my task. I cannot wait until Monday or it won't get done. There's just not enough time. Little by little I've been chipping away at it and I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I've been creating files and throwing junk away. Sooo liberating. I can't wait until I go out to the burn can and burn all of this stuff. I've even been scanning things that I want to save, but don't want to create a file folder for, such as articles or small pictures.

     Now, I'm NOT going to let this happen again. This has become such a burden for me and a source of anxiety that I cannot ever do this again. From now on I'm going to find a place for everything and in a very timely manner. Now we won't have to be mortified when company comes over and I realize I need to get my camera out of the desk (it's on a print dock).

     I'm really motivated and I'm seeing so many other things in my future -- not letting small objects pile on the corner of the kitchen counter, keeping things off the dining room table, making sure the children take their items up from the stairs when they go up, etc. Come heck or high water, I'm going to be a more organized person! I'm not a total lost cause, there are some things I'm very organized about and do quite well, it's just that sometimes these darn elephants get in the way! Have you heard the expression "You can eat an elephant a bite at a time"? Well, what's your elephant? Start biting!

Jennifer :)

I must admit that we don't often take field trips. After today I've decided that we will be taking them more often. Our oldest son is 10 and absolutely loves Norman Rockwell. Well, a local art museum was exhibiting his work and I thought it would be great to take the children, and my mother there. I too love Norman Rockwell's work, and even more so after today. The exhibit was great. One room had a couple hundred of the Saturday Evening Post covers. It was amazing to look for the first time at many of his works that I haven't seen in the giant coffee table books.

On the way home we talked about what our favorite painting was and why and what our least favorite was and why. Our son's most favorite was one titled "A Scout is Helpful". He said it was his favorite because he's a boy scout, but I think it goes much deeper than that. It's been his favorite for a while and he was very excited to point it out to me and to stare at it for a long time.

Our daughter who is 9 also loved the exhibit and her favorite was of a very large baker on his lunch break. He's sitting next to racks of delicious looking cakes while reading a book entitled "How To Diet" and on a plate in front of him is a cut up carrot. ha! Don't we all know that feeling right after the new year begins!

Our five year old was bored and had no interest in playing the "What fun musical instrument do you see in this picture? game". His response? "A kangaroo...can we go now?" Our almost two year old did very well, but wanted to get up and run all over and was having no part of wearing his "monkey backpack", a.k.a. toddler leash. Ah well. I would have been bored too at that age. I think when the children get older, a trip to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Massachusetts will be on our "places to go" list.

As for now, I think we might try the science center or the history museum next. Oh, and there's an auto and aviation museum that our 5 year old would love! He's an airplane fanatic.

Jennifer :)

It's been nearly four months since my last blog. I know that sounds like it should have been preceeded by "forgive me fellow bloggers, for I have sinned", doesn't it? You know, there have been times where I've wanted to sit down and write, but frankly I don't ever feel that anything I write is that worthy of being written, or more importantly that I should be using the time I need to spend it on the computer. I'm on it more than I should already trying to just read e-mails and the few blogs I keep up with.  Lately I've been very overwhelmed with...well, everything I suppose. I am really ready to commit much more time to the Lord in order to get my priorities in order and manage the time He's given me much better. A few weeks ago I was listening to Nancy Leigh DeMoss on Moody Radio and someone on the show mentioned about taking the 30 day challenge. At the end of the show, of which the name escapes me, they talked about committing the next 30 days to spending time with the Lord -- in His Word and in prayer. That's something I want to do. I know it's what I need and I know it will make a huge impact on our family. It's not that I don't do it ever, but I'm not consistent. Some days (many) the flesh wins out and I don't wake up until our toddler wakes up. The trouble is that once he's up the day begins. Sitting and trying to read and pray quietly just doesn't happen. I need to work on that. As for now, the flesh is going to win again as I'm calling it a night.

It's good to be back.

Jennifer:)

I could swear there is a verse about being clothed in humility, but I can't find it. It doesn't matter. I was leaving a comment earlier after Valerie posted a gorgeous picture of her little girl in a dress that Valerie had worn as a child. I had mentioned that I'm thankful my daughter doesn't have to wear the brown, plaid polyester pants my dad had gotten for me. I started to think about some of the clothes I remember from my childhood. Some were my favorites, some were hideous and some were hideous and my favorites. And wasn't it funny how something that could be the greatest thing in the world could become not so cool in 6 months?! For example...One day my mom and I went into a thrift store and she bought me a dress. This dress was a red, prairie style dress with tiny yellow flowers on it. It had short, puffy sleeves and the bottom part went all the way down to my toes and I LOVED it! I got it in second grade and wore it a few times (we weren't Christians, so we never went to church or it would have been worn to death!). Well, in THIRD grade things were different. There was a new girl, Kristine, in class and I introduced myself to her and I was her first friend. She was very nice to me, but immediately was welcomed in by the popular kids (a.k.a. the ones who lived in developments and had money and wore preppy clothes). One day was class picture day and my dad suggested I wear my red dress. Umm, well, okay, I guess...since I really didn't have a huge selection and I did like the dress. I was walking in the hall the next day and came around a corner and there was Kristine with two other girls. I said hello and she looked me up and down and said, "Jennifer, WHAT are you wearing!?" I don't even remember what I said. It didn't devastate me (after the initial shock wore off, mind you), but obviously I never forgot it.

Well, then I started to think about some of the other clothes phases I went through and wondered if any of you had "clothes nightmares" you remember or favorites that you still might have or at least won't ever forget.

Okay, who had Gloria Vanderbilt jeans?

Parachute pants? (not the poofy ones, but the nylon ones with the zippers)

I had both, but they were colors no one else had because they were always the leftovers. By the time I was allowed to get any, they had been out for months and all the "normal" styles were gone -- either that or still full price.

Did you have an oxford with the collar up? I did, but it wasn't IZOD like everyone else had. And guess what? I lived through it.

Did you have the white leather Nike's with the black or red "swoosh"? No, we couldn't afford those. Still lived through that too.

Before that icky, tweenager, junior high clothing phase, I remember a few items from when I was 3 and 4yo that I won't ever forget. One was a white sweatshirt with a fairy godmother type person on it and it read "Pretty Is as Pretty Does" At 3yo, I never really understood what it meant, but I loved it. And at 4yo, my mom sewed me the greatest blue, polyester hooded zip-up jacket and the sleeves were the exact same material except with a light diamond pattern. I got an iron-on patch from the cereal box and mom actually ironed it on the left side for me and it was a Snoopy patch that said "Here comes the Great Pumpkin". Ahhh, just thinking about it and I'm a kid again in my gravel driveway on Maple Ridge Road listening to the Robins make their sound at dusk as I head inside for the night.

So, share with me some of your clothing memories! I'd love to hear them. And I won't hold it against you if you did have those Nike's or IZOD...rich kid.

Jennifer :)

I have seen this show three or four times (only when DH is on travel because we don't watch TV otherwise) and I will say that while I believe the Bible has all we need for raising our children, I am a "show me" type of person and I have taken something of value from each episode. Ironically, the things I've gotten from the show are not about child rearing per se, but more about where I need to make changes.

The last episode had the father washing the family van with his two older boys while Jo-Jo observed. At first I saw nothing wrong. The father told the boys what they were all going to do, you know "a section at a time" and they weren't really doing it. The father was calmly correcting them and then Jo-Jo called him over. My mind thought, "What? They didn't listen to what he was saying." Then she tells him, "Dad, you're washing the car with your boys, they aren't your employees. Have a little fun!" Pretty soon they were squirting water and laughing and running all over and having a ball!

OUCH! Why ouch? Jo-Jo hit me in the solar plexus. In my mind I would be so focused on getting the job done and fretting over how much mud is being created and subsequently how a new load of laundry is being created and how much I can't stand being in wet clothes that I would miss a golden opportunity to lighten up, have a little fun (or possibly a lot of fun) and make a memory with my children. Having four young children that include a 4yo and an 18mo, I'm often in the "one step forward, two steps back mode". My home seems like it's never in order unless company is coming and then we're stressing out trying to get as much done as we can. If the thought of making something fun comes with the price tag of creating more work, I want out. HOWEVER, before you go thinking I'm a big complainer or some kind of drill instructor who never lets their children do anything (which is not true), I will say that the Lord has used S*uper Nanny to grant me wisdom and insight into a shortcoming of mine and I'm willing to try to change.

I'm going to still try to get down to business and tackle the things that need to be done, but I'm going to pray for the wisdom to be able to do it in a way that allows us to 1) be together; 2) have fun and 3) get the job done. I'm realizing that the reason the children can't seem to follow the simple chart that tells them what chores they are to do and they just mark it off is because it's monotonous and boring!! Yes, sometimes we all need to do things that are just that, but why not try to make it monotonous and fun!? This weekend I'm going to rework those chores into something like, "Clean Big Bathroom -- but first ride your bike around the yard twice while singing Zippety Doo Daa!" (We live in the country, so no one will hear and call social services.)

Tomorrow is supposed to be perfect weather and our van is really dirty! I can't wait!

Jennifer :)