My blog has moved.  Not for any severe reason, but I just like the format of blogger better.  You can see my blog at :  http://littlebitofeverythingmama.blogspot.com

I've got lots of news to share and now a series going on.

I'd love to see some of my old friends there! :)

Joyfully busy at home,
Christine

I forgot to say that we pulled out the steam cleaner the other day during our water crisis and started sucking water out of the carpet.  I lost count after 18 buckets!!

We started fans in there and have the windows open.  It's drying up in there pretty well - I'm shocked.

Big P found the leak in the barn and has installed a cut-off to stop the water leak.  He had to completely take out the big metal spiggot that was connected to the leaking pipe.  It was in concrete, so he had to dig that out.

C.11.B. stayed home with dad to help with that major project while me and the rest of the kids went to do errands and grocery shopping.  It was nice to come home after a long day's work for both of us!!

So, that's the update on the water situation and now I'm going to do a thorough cleaning on the kitchen, after having intermitten water for several days! 

Posted in Family Life

I've been accused that my life seems perfect, or that I seem to be at peace with where I am in motherhood and life.  I'm at peace, but only because my peace comes through Jesus.  I know I'm where I am supposed to be, but it isn't always easy.  But, I laugh....

Here's an example!

1)  Let me preface this by saying that I have a dear and precious husband whom I don't try to "dump" all my woes on, but who listens to me intently and provides a comforting word when I need one.  He corrects me when I am wrong, but most of all he just listens to me.  I feel so much better after a good talk with my very bestest friend, My Man!

2)  I laugh at myself - a lot!!!

Yesterday we found out that we have a leak somewhere on our property and it was spinning our water meter out of control.  They shut the water off so the problem was temporarily fixed.  Well, as you are aware, life with 4 kiddos can't move forward too much with no water - there are dishes, laundry, baths, teeth that need to be brushed, and toilets to flush!  So, last night, when we were on our way home from church after a close call with a tornado, we stopped to get gallons of water to help with the crisis.

This morning when Big P got up (remember he works nights) he started to work on the problem, but the major amounts of lightening and continuous rain seems to be a "leak fixin' party pooper" and he decided to try another home improvement project - our bathroom tub faucet needed replacing.  He did that because the water was already off.

So, he went to work on that only to find out that the faucet he bought won't fit our faucet.  We live in a mobile home and sometimes things are quirky with fixtures.  No problem, we had a nice afternoon getting things done around the house.

Then I had a "mama meltdown" when I started whining that I don't seem to be able to get on a good schedule and that the physical house seems to be out of control.  He reassured me that with time, we would get back on a schedule and not to sweat it.  The problem was that I seem to be "putting fires out" all day and the important gets skipped by the urgent.  You know the drill, right?!  (This is where you shake your head up and down in agreement).

Well, then the kids decided to go outside and have fun in the HUGE puddles in the front yard.  We have almost an acre that is completely under water right now to give you an idea of the puddles.  They were messy - dirty, gross, caked on mud, grass, having fun kind of gross.  But, they forgot one VERY important thing - the water was off!!!!  C.11.B. has some sort of funky thing happen when he gets cold - he breaks out in hives - no joke!!  He was breaking out.  B.3.B. was freezing and P.almost8.G. was just dirty and fine!

Big P went to the front to turn the water back on and I proceeded to hose them down with the water hose.  All the while I'm thinking there is NO water pressure.  So, we go to plan B.  Strip them down outside and send them inside (remember we live in the country with the closest neighbor completely out of sight).  When we were inside trying to get the water on in the shower, there was no water pressure and no hot water.

That's when Big P started running through the house yelling "oh my gosh, the water, oh my gosh, the water".  I didn't know what he was talking about and then I saw it - the STANDING AND RUSHING WATER coming out of my bedroom - from my bathroom.

He had accidentally left the faucet thingys wide open and water was shooting out at about 20 gallons a minute - no joke!!!

And after we started grabbing towels and realized there was no point in that, we stood there and laughed!!!!  Just cracked up!!!!!!

No one was hurt, everyone was getting washed off, and warming up under blankets, and we had a HUGE mess on our hands - but it was so hilarious!!

And that's when it occurred to me why people might think that I have this perfect life - I try not to ponder on the bad.  I try to move forward from the bad.  I forgive a lot and forget more.  I forgive myself a lot, too.  I laugh at myself a lot.  I laugh at my situations a lot.  I know that God has me here and I'm learning so much from being right where I'm at right now.  He has given me a teachable spirit lately, and I'm taking full advantage to learn and grow from everything possible!  I also have a great husband who can laugh right along with me and who listens to me cry when I need to do that, too.

Do you remember Pollyanna????  Yes, we had a major water spill in our bathroom, but my bathroom floor is REALLY clean now!!!

Oh, and I bargained myself into a special ice cream treat in a bit!! heehee!!

Posted in Family Life

I did it!  I cut his hair!!  My almost 1 year old - L.11mo.B.  He's such a sweetie, but he was looking kinda girly.  Even when his hair was shorter, everyone called him a girl, because he had such a sweet little pretty face.

But...he's a boy and I wanted everyone to know it.  So, as if I don't have enough on my plate, I decide to become a barber and I had the barber shop quartet (actually, it was a triplet) running around the house keeping each other busy, singing, running, and playing!  Quite interesting, actually!!

Oh, and this will be such a surprise to Daddy!!  Surprise!!!

So, here is a before and after of my littlest boy!



And After:

Posted in Homeschooling Adventures

We had International Night at our homeschool meeting on Monday night.  We had studied Mexico for a couple of weeks and so it worked out that we would do Mexico for International Night.  We made a display board and brought some of the crafts the kids did.  We were not prepared to give an oral presentation - although apparently they had announced that we were supposed to.  I was just going to get up and say that we had studied Mexico, but weren't prepared to give an oral presentation and leave it at that.  C.11.B. wanted to talk - LOL - just like his Mama!!

We got up and briefly said a few words.  I said that C.11.B. was going to talk and I would fill in where he left off.  He covered lots of things that we learned and I added in afterward.  It was great!  I made salsa - my specialty - and it went over very well.

I typed up information about our trip to Mexico in 2003.  I'll copy it below.

Here are some pictures of the evening:







About our mission trip:

Mission Work in Mexico

 

        In January 2003, Christine had the opportunity to travel to Mexico on a short-term Mission trip.  She participated in bringing gifts to the children of an orphanage in Matamoras, for Christmas.  They celebrate Christmas on January 6^th.  The children loved the gifts because they rarely get any new clothes or toys.  We also passed out Angel Dolls while we were there.  The Angel Dolls tell the story of Jesus and His sacrifice and Resurrection.  We worked on painting some of the new homes they were building in the orphanage.  They have 1 set of parents for each home of 12-15 children.

 

        In June 2003, Big P, Christine, and C.11.B. had the opportunity to go back to Matamoros, Mexico and the orphanage on another short-term mission trip.  This time we brought a big water filter for the orphanage, because many people get sick from the water.  The men and boys worked on putting a roof on a church there.  The women and girls worked inside the church for a week doing Vacation Bible School.  They sang lots of songs and did crafts with the kids.  Not many of us knew Spanish, but we all were able to understand each other pretty well.  The “Dump” was also on our list of mission work.  There are many people that live in the dump.  After a section of the dump is filled with land waste, they cover it with a layer of dirt, and then sell the property off in pieces for less than $20.  The people move there and build houses, which are more like lean-tos, with materials they find around the dump.  It smells really bad, but they don’t seem to mind and are glad to have a place to live.  We passed out toys and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches there.  The people were glad to see us.  God used us that week to do His work and we were so glad to be a part of it.

Posted in Homeschooling Adventures

Our Mexico study started out with us "driving" to Mexico.  We live within 8 hours of the border, so it didn't make sense for us to "fly".  The kids showed their passports, we stamped them, and headed in for our study - stopping to tell the border patrol why we were going in - of course.


We had a major ice storm here, and had lost power that day.  It was COLD in the house and we were all bundled up!  I had about 3 layers of clothes on at that point! LOLOLOL

Here are the kids "passport" photos:





We had such a wonderful time studying about Mexico.  I was able to ask my Mother-in-love questions about pronunciations, and talk about Mexican cities with my Dad.

We also rented a couple of DVDs from Netflix.  We really enjoyed Globe Trekker: Destination Mexico and for fun we got Scooby Doo and the Monster of Mexico.  Big P and the kids watched that one tonight.  It is based on the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico.  It has given us so many opportunities to discuss belief systems that are so different from our own.  Also, it has sparked discussion on how badly the Spaniards wanted to conquer the Indians and how they had a "unspoken creed" to convert or die.  Big P was talking about how when nations try to conquer other people and lands, they do so with their government and their religions.  That got me to thinking as to why the Mestizzos seem to mix so much of their pagan religions with Roman Catholicism.  They wanted so badly to hang on to their own ways.  And when the Spaniards came in with force, it didn't turn their heart toward Jesus, but more so to what they already knew.

We still are going to be doing some research on what the missionaries are doing in Mexico currently.  We are setting up a display at International Night at our homeschool meeting.  So, we will be including many of the information that we have learned.

On Thursday we went on a couple of field trips to finish up our Mexico study.

We have a book by Linda Morley, that is written with field trip ideas for the DFW area.  This is where we found out and planned our activities.

First we went to a restaurant.  We picked out several pieces of pan dulce (sweet bread) and bought a couple packages of fresh flour tortillas and fresh tamales!  Yum!

Then, we headed to another place that was to have a large selection of pinatas.  It was also a grocery store and restaurant.  We decided to sit in the restaurant and have a snack.  We had a great time.  I went through and read things in the menu in Spanish and had the kids try to figure out what I was saying.  They did great!  We had a great discussion of how many words in Spanish and English were similar.

I was able to find a molinillo.  This is what the Hispanics use to mix up chocolate and make it bubbly.  It was $2.69, so I purchased it.  I don't know if we will use it for chocolate, but it was fun to have.  It looks similar to an upside down totem pole.

Then, we were having our Mexican Fiesta on Friday.  We had invited over some friends from church.  They homeschool as well.  We had a great time!  We had Mexican stack-up, my best girlfriend's recipe.  We picked up ingredients for my salsa at the local Mexican grocery store.  We had some Mexican soda's that were yummy - I liked the Guava one the best!  We busted the pinata.  Our friends had brought the goodies to fill it.  In our studying, we found that Hispanics use more fruit than candy to fill the pinatas.  So, they brought apples, oranges, candy, etc.  The kids had a great time just playing with friends and busting the pinata.

We are excited to start our study on Canada on Monday!!  We are on full board with My Father's World now!!!

Posted in Homeschooling Adventures

Today we started our study of Mexico today using the My Father's World curriculum.  Yes, we are a bit behind, but we got a late start and we have decided to spread this over two years instead of one.  We are just using MFW for Bible, Geography, Science, History, Art, and Music.  We are loving it!!!  I just wanted to share a few pictures from today. 

Our power went out today for MOST of the day.  We have a fireplace, but it has needed cleaning and we had put off buying one of those chimney cleaning logs.  Today, DH went to town and bought the last kerosene heater in the area.  He also bought a chimney cleaning log.  We wanted a kerosene heater for our barn, when we get some animals.  We don't want to pay the high price of having the electricity turned on out there - plus the minimum charge!  This was easier and we felt more economical.

So - in these pictures, you'll notice that we are bundled up!!  Before the kerosene heater started heating things up, we were at 60 degrees in the house!!!!  I was having trouble keeping my temp up and just kept adding layers and more layers!! LOL  The kids were fine, but Mama was FREEZING!!  Heehee  Did I mention that I love this weather - as long as there is a working heater around! Haha!!!

On to the pics:


We are "driving" to Mexico.  Since we live in Texas, we aren't far enough to justify plane tickets.  The kids showed the "guard" their passports (photos below) and we entered without any hiccups.

Posted in Family Life

Big P and C.10.B. left this morning for a guy's weekend away.  C.10.B is about to be C.11.B! LOL  He'll be 11 on Tuesday!  I can hardly believe it!!  He has grown up so fast, right before my eyes!!  I remember when he turned 6 and Big P and I talked about how 1/3 of the "formative" years that we have with him were gone.  It really made us evaluate what we were doing as parents and take captive that time and the way that we parented our children.

So, this weekend they are having a Dad/Son weekend away.  They are camping at a state park.  It's so cold here right now, but they are in a cabin type of thing.  Their plans this weekend are to geocache, hike, talk, cook-out, and start the Bible study - Plants Grown Up.

We proposed this idea after I spoke to a friend of mine about how they do their children's birthdays.  They take a camping trip.  We met the Phillips' while we were on vacation in October.  They looked like homeschoolers and since C.10.B. was getting along so well with their 6 yo, they knew we were homeschoolers, too! LOL  Isn't that funny!  So, we talked to C.10.B. about doing this in lieu of a birthday party, promising that we would invite friends over to spend the night more often than we have in the past, so that he didn't think that was just a birthday thing.  He was psyched!!  Check out his excitement on his recent blog post here. 

I miss them both terribly!!!!

To top it off, my 2nd son, B.2.5.B. is at Grandmother and Grandfather's house (B.2.B. affectionately calls Grandfather - Potty - his 'er's come out as "y's" and he just can't get the Grand part out yet).  It's sooo cute!!!

So, I have an empty house with only 3 of us here!  Wow, you look forward to the time when you can have a little break and then your heart literally aches when they aren't all here!!  It's the strangest feeling and I can only attribute it to being a mother - the BEST profession in the world!!!

And for P.7.G.'s birthday we are going to San Antonio.  We are combining it with a family trip.  We were planning to go to San Antonio in May, as my Mother and Father-in-love gave us points to their timeshare for our anniversary.  Being the "family" kind of  family that we are, we wanted to take the kids! LOL  We can still have our time - it's a 2 room suite!   We'll end the "vacation" with her camping trip by going to one our favorite RV resorts (we usually never go to resorts - so that it is funny that I would even think of such a thing) that is down the road about 1 mile from Sea World!  You can check out her excitement on her recent blog here.

I hope your weekend is super blessed!!!  I'll be posting about some of my recent discoveries later in the weekend! :)

Posted in Family Life

Anyone who knows me knows what a computer nut I am.  I'd literally be lost without this thing because I use it for so much in order to better manage our home and activities.  The calendar is on here, the phone book, any information for various activities, my Bible study, friends, relatives, encouragement, and everything in between!  So, it would seem that it would be easy to get caught up in being on here too much and this is where I was.

I knew that I was on the computer too much and yet I didn't know how to stop it.  It's like an addiction!  Can I hear an "Amen!"?

And so, when I was talking to my best girlfriend, b, about this, she, too, had been made very aware of her need to stay away from the computer more.  She told me her plan and it helped me to formulate mine.  It may encourage you as well.

My BIGGEST excuse for getting on the computer was that I needed to handle something.  And this would happen several times a day as things popped into my mind that needed to be done - email this person, check on this date, and so it continued. It was BAD!!!  When the kids came looking for me, they walked in the direction of the computer!!  No joke - even my 10 month old! LOL

I tend to get sidetracked anyway and I would get on the computer for one thing and end up doing 100 other things and never get to the one thing that I needed to do!!!

I've now put a piece of paper on a clipboard and it is on my desk.  When I think of something that I need to do on the computer, I write it down.  That way I can check it off at the end of the night when I get back on the computer and I don't have to try to store it in my brain, only to forget it and remember it at 3am!!

I want to be the best Mama for my kiddos, and sitting on here all day isn't going to get that accomplished.  And so, b, and I talked out the plan and she said something about what we NEED to be doing is taking care of our kids.  So, I took that and ran with it and created a poster for us to post over our monitors.

I'd be SILLY to say that I could get rid of the computer completely, because it is a great tool when used correctly.

The Bible says "If your hand causes you to sin, cut if off.  It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.  And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.  And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.  It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell...."  Mark 9:43-47

And so I say, if the computer makes you stumble or causes you to sin - TURN IT OFF!!  That's right!  We are now turning off our computers throughout the day because even with our little signs up, it is too easy at this point to go to them.

Yesterday I was having a rather stressful day.  I don't think it was anymore stressful than the others as it was just random things going on and I was having to deal with them.  What I realized was the in the past, I have run to the computer in my frustration instead of to Jesus!!!  I was replacing Jesus with the computer!  What's up with that?????

The plan is this:  I get up and do my Bible study online in the morning, then I turn it off!  I pull my little sign down (quote at bottom) and move on with my day.  After dinner, when the kids are busy with another activity, showers, etc. then I can get back on here.  The computer stays off during the day.

The kids have had to turn it on to use it for Spanish, blogging, and Typing - all part of school, but they turn it off afterward.

I realized that my day is so full with the kids and just basics of keeping a house - HOW IN THE WORLD DID I SPEND SO MUCH TIME ON HERE????

The quote on the computer is made into a little poster type thing.  I found a picture of a potter working with clay to put on it because it fit perfectly.  And this is the quote that b and I came up with.  Use it if you'd like - we hope that it blesses someone else!!

The ONLY thing that I must handle is my children… to love, nurture, and disciple them!  Nothing else needs my attention more than this!  Everything else CAN wait!

Posted in Clean Heart - Clean Home

In accordance with Amy's CCC - Colossal Clutter Clean-up, I did a heart check.  Our first assignment was to clean our hearts and find out where are hearts are in regard to the clutter in our homes.  There is a reason behind our clutter in our homes and it starts with our heart. 

I will be adding more to this series of posts as I declutter my home and get ready for the CHCHC (Clean Heart, Clean Home Challenge) which is deep cleaning our home (and our hearts).  First I needed to declutter and am so grateful to Amy for putting all that she has in this.

Here's my entry:

I'm realizing that this is a vicious cycle.  When I am stressed about the house and it's condition - I go to the store and try to buy happiness and peace.  I get home with my "happiness" and it clutters up my home more.  Then I, again, get stressed about the clutter and buy again.  And so the vicious cycle continues until I cry out to the Lord and say "Please help me STOP!"

I thrive in a neat and orderly environment and yet my home is rarely that way.  So, it would seem that this is the very reason I am stressed a lot of the time.  This isn't the legacy that I want to pass on to my children.  I need peace in my home - the kind of peace that only Jesus gives.  To be consumed with Jesus is to not be consumed with stuff.  When I think of peace, I think of clean, crisp, cool & warm.  I think of spring and fall at the same time because I love those seasons.  Christ is my Spring and Fall!

I have cried out to the Lord for help and He is helping me!!  Praise God!!  I'm learning, as He is graciously showing me how impulsive I am.  I will elaborate further in another post going into detail the issues that I have in my heart and why I struggle so bad in this area.

Some have expressed to me that it would seem on my blog that we have the perfect life.  We do have a great life, please don't misunderstand what I am about to say.  God is gracious and good to us!!  He loves me so much that He sent His One & Only Son for ME!!  Because of that, I lean on Him for everything!!!  And because of that, I can have a more positive outlook on circumstances as they arise and seem out of whack.

We have struggles!  I'm a sinner - my children are sinners!  But, God is bigger than all of us, and He allows me to see the best in situations and praise Him through all things. 

I have a dear sweet husband and a sweet best girlfriend who listen to me complain and then quickly set me on my feet with sweet words of encouragement and guidance back to the Word. 

They do not let me complain and join into that complaining!  That IS NOT A FRIEND!  Don't kid yourself if you think that someone who would let you wallow around in your sin and then sin right along with you is a friend, at least not a Christian friend.  And whether that talk is talking bad about your husband or your children or your circumstances, a real friend leads you to the Lord for strength and WILL NOT allow you to badmouth any of the above.  Read Matthew 18:15 and you'll know that for sure!!

And so, I've been able to share with b and Big P about this decluttering journey and I know that I have their prayers and guidance.  I'm excited about it!  Call me weird, but I look forward to the challenge of having God call out my sins! LOL  Seriously!!  It is a great and glorious thing for God to bring me to my knees and make me completely rely on Him.  My heart is so wretched!!!  And I need to clean it as much as I do my home!!

So, I look forward to adding onto this as I go through this journey and look back at where the Lord is taking me and what He is doing in my heart.  And I'm certainly looking forward to a decluttered and clean home!!! :)

In Christ,
Christine

Well, the long holiday week is over.  We have much to show for it, though.  Christmas eve was a whirlwind when we visited my parents, then went to the annual Christmas Eve party at Big P's aunt's house.  They always do a gift swap thing and have lots of yummy goodies to eat.  The kids played fun games and we even got in on the fun with a game of musical chairs.  Oh - have you seen musical chairs played by adults?  They are ruthless!!  Heehee!!  Big P and I were out pretty quickly.

Christmas Day was wonderful.  We ended up opening gifts when we got home on Christmas eve.  We knew that Christmas day would be busy.  This is how Big P grew up doing it.  It's not my favorite way to do Christmas, but I figure I'll give in on that one every few years.  The little boys didn't open up their gifts that night, though, because they were fast asleep - so we spent Christmas morning opening gifts with them.  It was a fun time and everyone was really watching what everyone got.

Our Christmas' have gotten smaller and smaller each year in terms of gifts.  Although we did spend more this year than on most, they only got 3 gifts each.  We are really trying to focus more on giving to others and about why we celebrate Christmas - the birth of Christ - than on getting gifts.  It's fun to get gifts, I'll admit, but we are trying to tie gift giving more into their birthdays, as a day to celebrate them.  It's really working!  Both big kids got bikes this year.  We camp a lot and their street bikes weren't handling the trails very well - or the hills for that matter.

The other two gifts they got was where I got resourceful!  I had a Tupperware credit and used that to purchase some things for the kids.  Then I made each of them something special.  For L.10m.B. I made a blanket with some flannel I already had.  It's a tie-down quilt and it's so soft.  I think he loves it - but he is 10 months old, so who knows?! LOL  For B.2.5.B. I made a tied fleece blanket with Thomas the Tank Engine.  He loves it!!  For. P.7.G. I made a t-shirt dress with some fabric that I had.  I just purchase the long sleeved t-shirt.  When it starts to get warmer, I'll cut the sleeves to short sleeves and hem them.  For C.almost11.B. I purchase fabric for a new pair of sleeping pants, but never got around to making them. I will be starting those in the coming week.  He was very appreciative and understanding!

Big P got me a pair of Mary Jane crocs (which I love - Crocs are my all time favorite shoe!!!) and a Bluetooth.  I think those things look completely dorky - but I was begging for one for convenience.  When I started wearing it, it hurt my ear.  I gave it to him.  He has offered it back, but I'll have to see.  I gave him something for both of us - the Song of Solomon wedding bands.

We renewed our vows on Christmas Day with our family here.  We've been married 10 years and it has been absolutely incredible.  There have been so few hard times, that we couldn't think of many, and so many more awesome times.  I bawled through the entire ceremony.  Big P just means so much to me that I couldn't contain it.  The second time around was so much better than the first.  He bawled the first time and this time we switched roles! Heehee!  So, we exchanged rings during our renewal and it made it even more special.

My in-laws and parents were here to witness it.  My best girlfriend and her family were supposed to be here, but were with their family for Christmas and were delayed a bit.  We recorded it and watched it with them when they came over.

It was a VERY FULL DAY!  And we fell into bed when it was over.  But we had so much fun and visited with our family and friends.

Then, b, my best girlfriend, invited us over to their house for New Year's weekend.  We spent the weekending geocaching and catching up.  It was a great time.  We were blessed to receive tickets for Six Flags from Big P's cousin as a gift for one of the games the kids won on Christmas Eve.  Then she said that she had 2 more (for a total of 4).  She then emailed me that she had an additional 5 tickets.  We were so excited that we were able to pass those on to b's family and we all went together on Sunday after we visited their church.  It was cold, but I had L.10m.B. in the ERGO (love that thing!!) and he stayed warm.  We wrapped B.2.5.B. up in a blanket and he stayed in stroller except to get out for rides.

We rode the newest ride Rockin' Rocket (I think), and we all (except the little bitty ones) rode the Titan (the tallest roller coaster in the world)!  Wow!!  That is a 255 ft. drop going 85 mph.  Wowwowowo!!!

On New Year's we vegged!  Big P and the big kids took the tree down and got all the needles up out of the floor.  I finished up putting the Christmas decorations and ornaments up today.  I even got rid of some that didn't have sentimental value - but didn't read Amy's Christmas tree post until later and realized I could have gotten rid of a few more.

Big P said that he thinks we should go for a fake tree next year.  He doesn't want the needles stuck in the carpet.  I don't blame him, although I will really miss that tradition.  I'm coming from a different angle, since I didn't have to clean any of them up.  But, I do understand and have been contemplating some new tradition ideas to make up for that.  He suggested cutting down and tree and putting it in the front yard!  That's a great idea!!  Easy clean up! LOL

We also have thought about a tradition that my best girlfriend, b, has done for years.  She lets her children each pick out a new ornament each year that means something to them.  Then they have a box where they have all their ornaments.  Each year, they get to put up their ornaments.  She is even doing a scrapbook on the ornaments and their special meanings.  When they get married and leave home, they will get to take their box with them to put on their own tree.  I think this is something that we are going to start also.

So, lots of memories were made this last week and a half.  We learned so much about our family and the direction that God is leading us.  We learned so much about our children and how valuable and precious each of them are.  We learned what our roles really are as their parents and training them for the Kingdom and what that means.  When things get tough and we feel too lazy to do what we know we are to do, we have that in mind, that we are raising these little ones for God - and we have to answer for that! 

Discipline has the root word of disciple.  That means that we are to be teaching these littles the Word of God - not just by mouth, but by deed!  This usually means going against the grain, against what the world says is "okay"; even the Christian world.  We are finally seeing the fruit of this thinking and are praising God for opening our eyes!!

I'm looking forward to 2007 and all that it holds.  I'm looking forward to the refining fire that we are going to go through as a family as we aim to transform ourselves for Christ.  I know that it will be tough, but I'm truly looking forward to working with Big P, as we seek God and make changes for the better in our home.

I hope your holidays were as blessed and as much of a learning experience as ours.  To God be the glory!!!

Last year we went to Walls Family Farm to cut down our tree.  It was neat and nice!  They took us on a "hayride" out to the where they were currently cutting trees.  We picked out the one that we wanted, cut it down, then went to the middle aisle where they came back to pick us up.  When we got back they shook it for us and baled (sp?) it for us.  It was a hair over 4 ft, and we were charged for 5 ft.  At $5 per foot, that adds up.  And this was one of the smallest trees we could find, by the way.

This year, our plans were to do the same thing.  The first day that we were going to go it was raining, so the plans changed.  They are only open on weekends, so then we were going to go on Friday, but had other plans and couldn't fit it all in - again change of plans.

We knew how badly the kids wanted to cut the tree down, but honestly, it crossed my mind to buy a tree and just plop it up.  The tradition that we had started was neat, though, and we thoroughly enjoyed it and reminisced over it all year.

Then the fridge went out!  And we started calculating the costs of that.  All of a sudden $25 seemed like a whole lot more!!

Mama had a little meltdown about money! LOL  Daddy comforted her and Mama said "I'd just rather pull some sticks up from our yard and call it a tree".  Big P (Daddy) said "we could do that!"  And so our imaginations started churning. 

We live on 10 acres and a lot of the back part of our property is treed.  We went inside and told the kids our plans.  They were excited!!  Who would have known?  We geared up for a trip to the back and headed out.  L.10mo.B. was on my back in the Ergo.  He loved it.

And so we trekked out there.  It's been over a year probably since I've been that far back on the property.  It was a WONDERFUL walk.  The weather is unbelievable right now in Texas!!




Mama and L.10m.B. are lagging behind to get great pics!!

So, after some searching I spotted the tree I wanted and we headed towards it.  It took a little navigating to get to it, but we made it.

And so the instruction for cutting it down began.



After dragging the tree back to the path, we decided to look around some more.  I saw where the fence was down in the back.  We saw the kids "hide out" which is basically an empty spot in the middle of a circle of trees.  We talked about the improvements they could make on it by taking some of our old chairs, a table, and stuff out there.  They did that at our previous house and spent hours out there at a time.  They would take games, food, all kinds of stuff out there and just play, talk, and dream!

We even found the site where we want to build our home in a couple of years.  It's behind our current mobile home.  We will need to burn a lot of brush and a couple of trees down (they are dead) to clear it out.

And then we headed back.  It was an awesome time.  It didn't cost us $25!  In fact, it cost us nothing and we had so much more fun than the year before.  I guess we know where we'll be getting our Christmas trees from now on.

Posted in Family Life

Purity Seekers laundry idea has worked for me for well over a week now!!  I cleared out much of the excess clothing in our house.  I put some away, thew some away, and gave some away.  Some would have been an insult to give away! LOL

The kids have 2 daily outfits, several nice outfits in the closet, and many pairs of socks and underwear.

I've been able to manage keeping up with laundry.  It has been amazing!

Tonight I got caught up on hanging up the clothes.  There is some that just needs to be put away, but everyone is asleep and I'm not a glutton for punishment.  It has taken a lot to get B.2.B. to sleep tonight after a pretty rough day at the doctor's office with more ear infections.

Anyway, just had to tell you all of the success that I am having with this system!!  Praise God - something is working!!!

I'm also realizing for the first time what really a full-time job mothering is.  There are many things that I would love to do - and I just dont' have the time to do them all.  Mothering, training up my children, keeping house, and loving my husband keeps me so busy.  I've stopped my bread-baking, jam business because I know that I just can't manage it all.  God has called me to this place and I want to be about His business - not my own!!

There is still much to be done to get my home in physical order, but we are on our way with the new laundry system - thank you B(PuritySeekers)!!

Posted in Family Life

I have been totally inspired by a blogger's post.  This is a AR (Above Rubies) lady and I was browsing through the recent posts on AR, when I saw the subject "my Laundry Revelation".  Ha, I knew I had to read it.

See, I struggle with laundry - BAD!!  It piles up so fast.  There are 6 of us, and we go through a lot of laundry.

I'm going to give this a shot with a couple of modifications.  Of course, I'll run this all by DH when he gets up.  We'll see what he thinks.  As long as the stuff gets done, I'm sure he'd be a happy camper! LOL

Here are my mods:

3 outfits each
2 jammies each
6 pairs socks
6 underwear
3 nice outfits (only to be worn on Sundays or special occasions)
1 extra pair of pants


The real problem is at Christmas, when everyone starts getting new clothes.  I wish someone would give me new clothes! LOL  This just may revolutionize my laundry piles - they are ever growing!!  We may even be able to get back to our cloth diapers, as I so desire!  The $80 a month in diapers is killing me!!  We are potty training B.2.5.B.  So that just leaves one in diapers.

Anyway - check out the great post here: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/purityseekers/250732/

Posted in Family Life

I seem to be struggling with order in the home a lot lately!  And not just in the area of physical order, but spiritual order with my children.

I'll try to make this brief, I'm spent for the day!

I know what God has called me to do - be a wife, a mother, and a teacher.  I'm not talking homeschooling here, even though I know He has called me to that as well - I'm talking teaching.  Isn't it interesting how we homeschool to teach our children the Word (well many of us do, at least) and how it seems that academics can easily become more of a priority than just living for and loving Jesus!

These are verses that most of us are all aware of and yet I don't think I've really ever read them as I do tonight.  Taking them in deeply and letting them penetrate my heart, change me, and teach me.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Wow - those are powerful words.  Not only is God telling me to love the Lord with all of my heart, but I am responsible for teaching my children the same!

I haven't been doing that as I should have been.  Life (and everything involved in life) has become more important than teaching my children to love the Lord.  How sad!  The state of our home is horrible right now - or I should say that it was - until I had a wake-up call.

My children are well behaved outside of our home and they are even semi-well behaved inside of our home.  Their actions don't grieve me nearly as much as the state of their souls right now.  And it really all comes down to one fact - I haven't been the kind of Mama that God has called me to be.  Their precious little hearts need my attention and my discipleship, more so when Big P is away at work.

I've been frustrated lately because of Big P's hours at work.  They are rough!  Yes, he has a 4 day workweek.  It helps a lot with gas because he drives soooo far to work, and that is one less day that he doesn't have to drive.  It helps financially, because he also works evenings and gets a little extra for that.  But, it has become a thorn in my side in the last week.  It just seems like we are always rushing.  Rushing to get lunch ready and eaten so that he can get to work on time.  Rushing for this and rushing for that.  Our evenings used to be spent as family time, but with him home during the day, our days are supposed to be our family time and we are always busy!  He drives a total of 3 hours a day to and from work.  That's 12 hours per week on the road.  Man, I'd do quite a few things for an extra 12 hours - or even 6 hours - extra with my husband every week!!

So, all this time I've been trying to blame the state of our home and lack of family time on his job.  But, that isn't the problem at all.  Do I wish things were different?  Yes, I'd be lying if I said otherwise.  But, I'm extremely thankful that my husband has a job and longs to support his family without being a workaholic.  He is a trooper!  He's not a workaholic.  He does his job well and doesn't have to be babysat like many others he works with - but he longs to be with us more than he does them! :)  I'm so thankful for that!

So, it really comes down to me.  And yet, I know that there are things physically that I can do and should do to make the atmosphere in our home better and I'm so spent at the end of the day, that doing those things seems almost impossible.

• I really want to get some laundry done tonight.
• I really want to spend some time working on our chore schedule - which I know would be a major benefit in our home and relieve much of the stress of no one knowing what they need to do and me having to think for them.
• I really have some dishes that need to be washed.
• I am really eager to start a new Bible study.
• I have a week's worth of papers that need to be graded.

And yet, I don't "feel" like doing any of that.  And so, this is when it all comes back down to obedience - which is what I've been trying to teach my children.  There are going to be times when we don't "feel" like doing something, but we just do it!

Tonight I called Big P about my desperation.  He agrees and we both realize that we need to spend some time in prayer and talking and making a "plan" on what steps need to be taken in our home to really teach our children about loving the Lord.  And yet, with his schedule, getting some uninterrupted one-on-one time with Big P is pretty close to impossible.  And so, I'm thankful for the phone company (of course, he works for the phone company! LOL)

I went in the boy's room to tuck them in and C.10.B. asked if I was mad at him.  I'm not mad at him, I'm grieved by the state of his heart.  And it just crushes me to know that Jesus hurts so much more than that when I dishonor Him.  I put Big P on the speaker phone and we talked to C.10.B. about his heart.  His actions are just a manifestation of his heart.  His heart broke and I really think that he wants to change and be loving to his siblings and serve his family.  Now, it's up to us.  It's our job to teach him how to serve the Lord in these areas and how to honor him.  Big P prayed on speaker phone with him.

Then I went to P.7.G.s room.  We did the same and prayed with her and she started crying.  She wants a sister so bad!!!  We talked about how if she would help us more and we would have to tell her a little less about all the things that she leaves out all over the place, that I would have more energy and time to do girly things with her.  I did tell her that I feel like God has a sister in store for her someday.

And so, I'm sorting out all my thoughts on the WWW and this blog! LOL  And I'm seaking the Lord for a plan.  I need a checklist (I'm a list girl) of what I need to do to accomplish all that He needs me to do.  (See* I'm feeling the need for a schedule * here - I need to dust of MOTH!).

Right now I'm going to go do the dishes, then I'm going to work more on that chore thing!

Posted in God In My Life

Food wasn’t an issue for me as a youngster.  When my sweet husband and I got married, food was something we "did".  I started gaining weight.  It wasn’t long until I realized I had a problem.  So, in came the fad diets and meetings to lose weight.  I was successful at times, in terms of losing weight, but before long, I was back up to my original weight plus some.  I had pretty much come to the point that I was saying that Jesus made me this way, or that this is the way I would always be.  But, I knew that wasn't true.  I knew that when I would run to the fridge late at night searching and searching for food, as I was bored, alone, or stressed, this is not what God wanted for me.

 

I even got on the healthy kick for a while.  I was doing everything healthy - you name it, we were doing it.  I was the "healthiest" fat person I knew!  I had high hopes that our whole foods diet would magically pull the pounds right off my body, but it didn't happen.

 

My best girlfriend told me that she was starting The Lord's Table and started sending me her lessons as she submitted them.  I wasn’t sure about joining, because I didn't want another diet program.  I had been in two Christian programs, and was frustrated about them.  So, I prayed about it and waited. 

 

My heart was so distant from God.  I felt like I didn't even know Him, and that He didn't know me.  I didn't feel like I could talk to Him, pray, or worship, and I knew that I wasn't honoring Him with anything that I did.  This was my cry.  I wanted to be close to my Savior.  And it was The Lord's Table course that taught me that I separated myself from Christ by my sin of gluttony.  When I ran to the food for comfort, instead of to God, I was separating myself from Him.

 

He has delivered me from the sin of gluttony.  I still have much to lose, but for the first time in my adult life, I haven't been overwhelmed at the amount left.  The key is the fact that I have grown closer to Christ.  He is carrying this burden for me.  My relationship with Christ has become something that I never imagined it could be.  I love Him so much and enjoy feasting on Him daily.

 

It is hard to find real Biblical teaching that doesn't approach the hard areas without tiptoeing around.  I'm thankful that Setting Captives Free is addressing the hard issues - the ones that no one else wants to talk about.  They are teaching the Word and that is exactly what I needed!

 

Total Lost: 28.5 pounds!!  Praise God!!!

And my journey will continue as I do Phase I of The Lord's Table again.  I know that God has much more to share with me and for me to learn, as I'm starting this time with my heart completely turned to Him.

Please consider checking out the free Bible studies at www.settingcaptivesfree.com

I love the designs of this blogger.  And she will design a custom blog for you for a VERY NOMINAL FEE!  I can't believe her talent.  My best girlfriend and I just oogled over her designs one night, as she is not your typical artist, in that she has such different degrees of designs!  incredible!!

She is having a contest right now to win a free blog design.  Check it out here.

Posted in Homeschooling Adventures

Well, I seem to have a knack with running into poisonous creatures as it has happened on several occasions within the past year.  We live in the country and therfore we expect to see spiders, snacks, and various other creatures - not all of which are poisonous of course.  Snakes and spiders generally don't bother me, unless their bite will send me to the hospital.

So, let me brief you on some of the run-ins that I have had in the past year.  Animal lovers who don't believe in killing these creatures will not want to read on past this point!!

Black Widow Spider - P.7.G. found one of these in the laundry room one day in our laundry basket.  We promptly pulled it into the light and proceeded to determine if yes, indeed, it was a black widow.  It had the shiny "kabump" as my kids like to call it.  And after a bit of trying to flip it over, we were able to see that it did have the red hourglass on it's belly.  It was pretty upset with us after a while and it threw out some venom.  Yuck!  We killed it with a shoe, but only after we had made a lesson out of it.

Rattlesnake - this last weekend we were camping with my best girlfriend, Lone Star Academy, and her family at Fort Richardson State Park.  Some people a few sites down came by on the first night to tell us that they had seen a rattlesnake about 5 ft. long.  The kids were pretty scared because they were sleeping in a tent outside the camper.  The adults and the little kiddos were sleeping inside the camper.  We didn't see the rattler until Saturday night.  I was driving around waiting to go pick up b and her girls from the bathroom (the whole park - 60 something sites - only had 1 shower stall!!!).  And I was driving by our campsites.  I saw something in the road and thought it was a snake and then I saw the rattle sticking up at the end of it!!  I told P.7.G. to hold on, that I was about to run over the snake.  I did a TAWANDA on that thing!!  Back and forth, back and forth, over and over we went.  I realize that we could have very well gotten in trouble for killing this snake, but I really wasn't thinking about that at the time.  All I was thinking about was that my children weren't safe in that tent with that snake around!!  I went and got Big P so that he could make sure that thing was dead.  Well, it wasn't.  He proceeded to take a big rock and take care of it.  After it was all said and done, I went back to the bathroom to get b and her girls and tell her the whole story!!  Then, Big P, and M (b's husband) went and cut the rattle off.  Not for a trophy, but for a homeschool lesson!!  Isn't he sweet?!! 

And yet, my venomous critter story is not yet over!!!

Scorpion - now, granted, this was a baby one, and I don't know what that means in terms of venom, as with snakes are more venomous the smaller they are.  But, this one was crawling on my son's underwear!!  In the laundry room, the very same place that we had found the black widow!!!  It was tiny and P.7.G. called Big P on his cell while he was mowing some of the property.  She told him what we had found and he came running in, not knowing it's size.  I had caught it in a canning jar.  We put a cotton ball in it with some rubbing alcohol and it died later in the day.  It's really too tiny to do anything with in terms of dissection, but it was pretty cool to look at.  I think we may have brought this one home with us from camping.

And so, you may think that we are scared to go camping - have no fear, we will return to the big woods in just 2 weeks for a 10 day vacation camping!! :)  And we are all as excited as ever. 

But this is just evidence that God protected us 3 different times from these creatures.  Yes, He created them, and I'm sure they have their purpose on this earth.  But, it will be one of the questions that I have for God when I meet Him in Heaven.  I'm just so thankful right now that we haven't been bit by any of them and that He gave us dominion over these animals!!!  Amen?!

Posted in Family Life

L.6.5mo.B. has his 6 month check up today.  We really like our doctor, because he is pro-life and never razzes me about having babies!  I really like that!!!  So, when we come in, he always asks us how things are going and asking about more babies, etc.  They just had their 4th as well.

Today L.6.5mo.B. was as happy as usual.  He is loving being able to stand up and bounce on our legs.

He weighed in at 17 lb. and 27 in. long!!  He has the sweetest little chunky legs.  Well, they used to be a bit chunkier a couple of weeks ago, but then he started crawling.  He was crawling right before he turned 6 months.  The same week he was sitting up, and now he is pulling up!!!  All in the matter of 2 weeks!!   He'll be cruising soon, I know it!!!

He just started solids, as well.  We started with cereal, and we've also done green beans, and butternut squash.  We make our own baby food, so he is getting the good fresh stuff! :)  Yumm-O!!  Then, B.2.5.B. decided to dump the remaining baby cereal all over the floor!  Oh, how fun that was to clean up.  So, we got another box - and HE DID IT AGAIN!!!  Urgggg!!!

Fortuanately, my good friend, T. Bee, had given us some Baby Museli.  WE aren't supposed to start it until 9 months, but he loves the stuff and is taking well to it!!

Diaper changing has becoming a big adventure though!!  All of his BMs since starting solids have ended him up in the shower!!!

So, my littlest boy isn't so little anymore and it makes me sad :(  Oh, he is so sweet!!

We are trying blanket training and it is working very well.  He is learning to stay on the blanket, but we have to stay close, to teach him - as he is still wanting to wander off after a while.  The first day he threw a fit!!!  Yes, a fit!!!  He did not like us turning him back around and saying "stay on the blanket".  He wanted off that blanket and he wanted us to know about it.  I can see that the blanket training will be very beneficial, though, so we are sticking to it!!  He has gotten lost around here a few times.  He likes to crawl behind the couch! LOL

Sweet, sweet babies....  Oh speaking of babies, I can't wait to tell you all about being with my friend T. Bee during her labor at home!! :)  She needs to post her birth story first, though, so that I can tell my side!! Heehee.

Posted in Family Life

Well, as if we didn't have enough going on, we decided to start a little home business.  Here's the story of how it started out (cut and pasted from our flyer):

We purchased our Homeschool curriculum used over the internet in an effort to be good stewards of the money which God has given us.  The lady that was selling it had thoroughly enjoyed using it, but was using it with her youngest children – so she no longer needed it.  The night before she was to mail it, I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about the curriculum, which had likely not been insured for delivery (she was paying for postage).  It was like God was advising me to take out insurance on it.  So, I emailed her and fortunately she checked her email before she left for the post office the next day to mail the package.  After 3 weeks of us emailing back and forth waiting for the package, she received a notice in the mail that my package had been separated from the label, and was lost.  She started a search, which came up empty, and then filed the insurance claim.  We finally received a check on Monday, but it was short $50, which was the P.O.s error, and they are mailing out a supplementary check.  At this point, we have already started our school year with what curriculum we do have available, but need to repurchase the rest.  So, we are purchasing directly from the company this time, to save time and any more possible misfortune.  We are truly thankful to God that He has allowed us to Homeschool and that He has blessed us to be resourceful to be able to repurchase our curriculum!  Glory to God!!

So, the original intent was to do a fundraiser to raise the additional funds needed to purchase our curriculum new from the publisher - My Father's World.  We are selling fresh homemade bread made from fresh whole wheat flour and homemade jams.  The day after  Big P took the fundraiser order form to work a woman that he works with came to him and wanted to give him a donation for our school.  At this point, we had already received enough in orders to cover the cost of the curriculum, but the donation she gave went over the top and then some, so that we were able to purchase some other "wants" for our homeschool curriculum, as well.

I have been praying since the day that this little venture came to fruition that the Lord would be honored through it and that it would not take a higher priority than Him or my family.  The orders have been pouring in, and there is even a possibility that I could have some rather large orders from a friend with her company for my specialty jame "Kickin' Strawberry Jam", which is a hot strawberry jam.

So, I am praying and thinking about how to fit it all in and not neglet my family.  I believe that I will be doing all jam making in the evenings after the kids are in bed.  With bread, I want to sell it fresh, so some of that will have to be done while they are awake, but I'm thinking of offering deliveries every 2 weeks.  My Mom and Mother-in-love took orders for me at church, work, and through family members.

I spent all of Friday and a lot of Saturday filling those orders.  I've learned a lot about baking bread and making jam in the last week!!

I made another batch of peach jam today and will do another one this afternoon.  Tomorrow I will make 2 batches of my Kickin' Strawberry, as I have orders waiting for that and I feel like the rest will sell easily if they are in hand.

So, that is what I have been up to - and we started school last week.

About to serve lunch, so I better get.  I'll try to update more later.