Today's verse: III John 1:4  "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."

Isn't that verse SO true!  I just love that old KJV Bible!  It is packed, jammed full of wisdom and truth.

I know for me it brings me joy, as a mother, to hear someone compliment my child on how they act or a decision they make or, or , or, or.  It's a reminder that I'm on the right track.  Thank you Lord for those compliments.

My 8 year old son was invited to spend the night at a neighbors house, about 2 min. away.  This is only his 3 time spending the night out.  I wondered if he would stay all night but by 11:00pm I was pretty confident he would be okay.  Well...Peter and I were sitting watching TV, I think it was pushing 1:00am and the phone rang...It was Brendan, he wanted to come home.  Bless his heart!  Peter got his shoes and and walked down to get him.  I was glad to have him home.  I like having my babies with me when I lock my doors at night.  I'm trying to let him grow up and it was nice to see he still needs his momma.

My 5 year old girl is expressing her desire or should I say showing me her desire to be more independent!  I think it's great except when I get the attitude that comes with not getting your own way.  You all know what I'm talking about... 

She gets her own bread and butters it, all by herself.  She tires to get and pour her own drinks.  She wants to do her own hair...Now SHE can try to get the knots out of her own hair.

Well that's all for now.

I've been reminded that I haven't blogged for awhile :(  I can't say I've been any busier.  I'm not sure what the problem is...? 

Part of it has been the beautiful weather.  We set the pool up last weekend (I think) and the kids have been in it probably 3 times since then.  Of course when they are in the pool I have to be outside with them, watching them.  I really enjoy having the pool and our kids love it, especially Brendan.  We have lots and lots of kids around in the summer.  I really enjoy having them all around, most of the time.  Last summer we had a really difficult time with some of the neighbourhood kids but this year it seems to be going MUCH better??!  I think it's just their age, they are starting to mature a little.

We are mostly done school now-yipppppeeeeeee!  Just a few more lessons to do in Math.  I don't know about anyone else but it's time for a break...a BIG one!  Brendan has done really well this year.

Proverbs 27:17 says, "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."  

My countenance is being sharpened!!!  Does it hurt.....YES~!~!  It's not always easy to hear but thank the Lord for those people who feel they can "sharpen" and can do it in such a way as to not offend. 

I'm being confronted with things about me that I really need to change in my life.  With the Lord's help, "all things are possible" 

Today is Peter(daddy) birthday!  He is turning 30!  I remember when I was 30, oh how long ago that sounds...  Brendan, Holly and I went to the mall last night and we had a fun time picking a couple things out for daddy! 

I am planning on making a special supper for Peter and his favorite, cheesecake!  I hope he has a great day.

I am really starting to enjoy my children!  We are starting to develope a friendship with each other, not just you mommy me child kinda thing.  I don't remember that happening with me at this young of an age but it probably did???...

For Mother's Day, I got a new pair of silver hoops, big ones, and I love them.  I also got 2 hanging baskets of flowers, they are beautiful.  The most special thing I got was from my 8 year old son.  He got up early on Sunday morning and went downstairs and made me a card.  Inside the card he actually took the time to write a few words of encouragement to me.  I am so blessed to have 2 wonderful children.

We are finally getting  things ready for the pool to go up...yeah!  I could have jumped in yesterday, it was quite warm.  The only thing I'm really not liking about the nicer weather is all the BUGS!!  They make outside in the evening unbearable!

It's been awhile since I last wrote... lots has been going on.  We are almost all done our language for the year...yeah!!!  We will be all done tomorrow.  Then I can focus mainly on Math.  Math has alot more lessons than the other subjects.  I am very please with the progress we made this year. 

I did have the professor from the university come over and the meeting went very well.  It was not at all intimidating.  I recommend that other homeschoolers get involved in the study.  The impression I got from the prof.  was that Brendan is doing very well.  Praise the Lord!

We had a talent show for the homeschooling kids last week and it went very well.  The kids all did a really great job.  I think my favorite had to be I think it was Myles or was it Drew? anyway one of them sang, "There's a hole..."  He did such a great job on that song.  I loved it!

The upcoming project night is fast approaching and I have not yet had Brendan get the info on his project yet....ugh!  It won't take us too long...I hope???

Today the kids had soccer and my Holly, who is 5, decided she wanted to be a bully today!  She pushed a little guy down....TWICE!   What's got into her?????  There is a boy at church who does bug her and he actually pushed her down last night at church!  I'm thinking she got the idea from him?????  Isn't parenting sooooooo much "fun"!!!  NOT!

For most of this week, starting Wednesday, I will go from a family of 4 to a family of 7!  I thought I was losing it before now I KNOW I have!  Friends of ours are going away for 10 days and their son doesn't want to go so they asked us to watch him.  He's the boy who pushed Holly down at church last night....please pray for me!  I will have Mikey, a little boy with down syndrome, for 3 days, and then of course I have my own.  To add to the mix, we have special meetings going on at our church from Wed-Fri.  Just writing about it makes me wonder if I really thought this whole week through...?????  Oh yeah, Brendan has a dr's appt on Thursday, a birthday party on Saturday and I have an appt on Fri.....OH MY DEAR!!!!!!

I'm okay....everything will be fine...like I said....PRAY! PRAY!PRAY!

Don't you just love the weather these days!  I sure do enjoy them.  I was out cleaning the outside of my windows yesterday, yeah!  I bought myself a squeegie this year, and I am having fun using it.

There is something exhilerating about spring cleaning, don't you think?!  After being inside with all the windows shut tight for 4 or 5 months, no sun after 5pm, and the dry skin from the cold, I look forward to spring.  We are thinking about getting our pool out and setting it up soon.  I'm trying to convince Peter to do it this weekend, since he will be home for more than 5 hours.  We have friends that have already set theirs up!  We have some prep work to do before we can set ours up.

On Tuesday, I am having a lady come over from Mt. Allison University who is doing research on homeschool vs. public school.  I hope all goes well.  From what I understand, they are doing tests with children to see how each group does.   I am confident that Brendan will do fine, this kind of thing interests me.  I'll have to write about how it all went on Tuesay. 

Well......I must go get school done with Bren.  It's exciting to see how much work we have done this year.  It's looking like by the end of this month I will have at least one subject complete and by the end of May it should all be done.  Well, almost all!  History and Health may not get completely done but we'll try!

Today was a very nice day!  It didn't start off to great for Brendan, my 8 year old, when he came down with the flu.  Once he got "it" out he seemed to be okay.   Peter had the whole day off and we did our usual grocery shopping, we took the kids to the park, it was just nice to be together.

Tonight I got our back porch cleaned up...FINALLY!  With the winter mostly over, I was able to put all the winter stuff away and see the floor again.  I would love to get a bistro set for out there.  I think that would be so nice! 

I must admit I am looking forward to the summer.  I am NOT looking forward to all the bugs but the warmer weather would be nice.

"come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laiden, and I will give you rest"

What a promise!  When I feel that there is just no rest in this world and when my burdens feel so heavy, God IS there, with His arms open wide.  Thank you Lord for your love and forgiveness.

Today was a great day!  The snow left a little to be desired but it was just another reminder that we live in the Maritimes.  We took our children to see the new Ice Age movie.  It was cute, there was a part I nearly jumped out of my seat.  It was nice to be able to do something as a family.  Peter is usually working so we don't have a lot of family time to do fun things like go to the movies.

Tonight at our mid-week Bible study, I saw some very interesting, amazing pictures of Israel.  Places where my Lord and Savior actually walked on this earth.  I saw places that I have only read about in the best book ever written, the Bible.   Can you tell it made an impression on me.  I came home and told my husband about the pictures and it was exciting just talking about it.  Oh, how thrilling it must be to walk where Jesus walked!

It made everything I believe seem a little more real.  Faith can sometimes be a hard thing to comprehend but without it I don't know where I'd be today, or how I would have got through some of my own life experiences.   Thank you Lord for being my God and for always being there for me.

Tonight I found this mothers journal book I picked up years ago.  Inside on each page is a quote or statement made by or about mothers.  It made me realize reading through this book just how important, influential and necessary we as mothers are to our children.  I know how important my mom was to me but because I haven't had her around for most of my life, I forget just what it was she meant to me.  Oh, if only I would take this very important role more seriously, I would look at my children through different eyes and with much more love and compassion.  Children are truly a gift from God! 

Another day to serve the Lord, and a beautiful one at that.  Thank you Lord for the sunshine.  I'm about to get down stairs and begin a new week.  It's getting late, I know, but I have to take some time and do the computer thing-check my e-mails, send some e-mails, blog, etc..

It's hard for me to believe that I have almost completed my third year at homeschooling....Wow!  Who knew!  I face new challenges next year, when I add Holly to the "table".  That should be interesting.  I'm really scared about it but by the grace of God, we'll do just fine. 

I am really excited about attending the HomeSchooling Conference next month.  I want to see all the different cirriculums and see what I can add or change about my present cirriculum.

Gotta run, Brendan needs to get some work done.

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family:
Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one"

I had the privilege of spending the last couple days with my dad and my 18 year old step-brother.  They only live an hour away but we still don't see each other that often.  We spent the evening reminiscing the past.  My brother was a little surprised at some things but you could tell he was loving every moment.

Having lost my mom when I was 16 and my dad starting a new family, I've let my family (my dad and his new family) get put to the side.  It struck me when I hugged my dad last night, he's getting old and I really need to love him and make more time for him.  Like the quote at the top says, "...whoever you are, you need one."   I've tried to ignore that and focus all my energy on "my" family, ignoring that fact that I need my dad and his family.

As I've already experienced, life is too short!  We need to make the most of the time we have to love those around us.

I want to thank the Lord for my WHOLE  family!

I came across this quote and thought I'd share it:

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother."