Well, Christmas for us this year was just a little different.  Titus and I spent Christmas in the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital in Bedford! That little cold he had w/the come-and-go fevers ended up turning into RSV and pneumonia.  Not only that, but Simon was still sick w/a fever that kept coming and going, and both he and Titus ended up w/PINK EYE!  Wasn't I just talking about how grand winter was?!  Where the heck do all these germs come from?  It's not like we're in daycare or public school!  I even avoid Wal-Mart w/them as much as possible!  Agh!  Well, nevertheless, it's over....at least we hope it's over.  And I think we're on the mend.  Titus went in Christmas Eve and came home today.  Thank You, Lord, for taking care of us, for watching over us, and for bringing  us back home.  Seems like just a few days ago, though, I was complaining about having cabin fever and wanting to get out of the house!  Now, I couldn't be more excited to be back in it!  Ah, well.  At least we have a home to come back to....clean and warm, and filled once again w/my little family.  We plan to do Christmas late obviously.  In fact, I haven't even been shopping yet, so it'll have to be late!  Haha  I think we're gonna try and do Christmas w/J.D.'s parents on New Year's Day, but hopefully we'll have it w/our boys at home sometime early this coming week.  That is, if I can bring myself to leave home long enough to do the shopping.  Everyone seems better, but the way my luck has been going, the minute I leave the house somebody will spike a fever and we'll end up back at square one.  Let's pray that doesn't happen.  :)  Anyway, just wanted to post about our holiday!  (Or not)  And put up some pics of a few of my blessings.  It was easy to get discouraged over the last couple of days....spending Christmas in the hospital, wanting to be home w/the rest of the family, worrying over Titus and his health, thinking about the boys at home who were still recovering, crying my eyes out at the drop of a hat, and stressing about life in general.  But then I remembered...it really COULD be worse!  :)  And seriously, I have so many things to be thankful for, so why should I complain?!  So here are some of those thoughts that kept me going.

I asked Titus to show me his smile the other day....and this is what I got!

I like to think that's the face he would give you if you asked him either of these questions, also.

How'd you like spending your Christmas in the hospital?

                              OR

Come on, now, Titus.  Tell the truth.  Do you like Barack Obama?

HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA

(You have to know Titus to get that.  Every time you ask him if he likes Barack Obama, he shakes his head no!  So this face really would be fitting!)

And here are three of my favorite guys!  You can see just a touch of the pink eye on Simon here, but still...what beautiful kids!  (Okay, I'm a little bias!)

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So I'm 30 today.  Really, it's not a big deal.  Everybody always seems to freak out when they start getting older, especially once you hit the mark where you're not 20 something anymore.  But for me, it's really been a non-issue.  Maybe b/c I've been distracted all day nursing more babies w/fevers!  Titus was 103.6 earlier, so that has certainly kept my mind off of aging.  But anyway, it's just been another day for me.  Watched some of my favorite Little House episodes, made some Christmas cookies w/the boys, tried my hand at some homemade projects, and ended the day w/some Red Baron pizza fresh out of the oven!  Haha  All in all, life is good.  I have so many blessings...A wonderful husband who allows me to be home w/our children, a warm and cozy bed, plenty of food in the pantry, good friends, close family, and 3 healthy boys--well....they're usually healthy...  :(   Life is gOOd! 

Here are some things I'm dreaming of today as I turn the big 3-0.....

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No, not the baby fever!  Even though everyone around me seems to be having babies, I'm not that crazy!  Haha  We've got the FEVER fever.  It started w/Elijah Wednesday night.  Not too bad, about 102.5 or so.  Which for my kids is pretty good.  Thursday he laid around most of the day watching movie after movie, and gradually over the past couple of days it's gotten better 'til today and it's finally gone.  But now Titus has a fever!  Blah!  And I know it's just a matter of time before Simon has it, too.  Actually, he had a low one last night and I was thinking, okay, this is it.  We're all gonna get it and hopefully be done by Christmas.  But now he doesn't have a fever, so who knows.....we may still be nursing fevers 'til Christmas comes.  I hope not, but....?  And to make things even more promising--I had debated on whether or not to even let Simon go to preschool on Friday b/c of all the sickness going around.  Lots of people we know are ill, lots of people in our family are ill, and one school not far from here actually shut down for the day on Friday due to illness.  But I went ahead and sent him yesterday b/c I thought it was the day of his Christmas party.  We'd put great effort into making some activity bags for his classmates, working on some apple magnets, (left over from Elijah's geography fair, but cute nonetheless), and making candy for his teacher.  Plus, Simon really wanted to go, so I went ahead and sent him.  But guess what?  The party's not 'til Monday.  I'm a total space cadet!  I've been cooped up in this house for far too long!  So I sent him.  And here's the promising part.....someone puked in his class!  Great, huh?  So if he doesn't come down w/this head cold and fever thing that Elijah and Titus have, then he'll have the stomach flu!  Isn't winter grand?!

So not only do we have the FEVER fever, but mom has cabin fever!  I so need to get out of the house and breathe some fresh air.  I haven't even started my Christmas shopping yet!  Between taking care of sick children, waking up w/nightmares the last couple of nights b/c I'm sleep-deprived, and still stressing over this job thing, I'm a train wreck.  And to top it all off, Elijah's really testing my wits with a battle of the wills here lately.  I guess b/c we're all stuck inside w/not much else to do, he's decided to challenge me.  He'd like to see who can outsmart the other.  Today he started out arguing w/me over which movie I put in (or something crazy), and I'd had about all I could take.  B/c just minutes before the argument over the movie he was arguing w/me over which pair of sweat pants he was going to put on!  So I sent him to my room for some time to cool off.  He gets mad, slams the door, and in the process, knocks one of my signs off the wall.  So of course, he earned an extra 20 minutes of alone time for being disrespectful.  Without going into all the boring, yet exhausting details, Elijah ended up staying in my room for a grand total of 41 minutes....all by himself!  Which, trust me, for Elijah, 41 minutes is an eternity to go w/out speaking to someone or without having somoeone there at his disposal to listen to him. 

So needless to say, I'm exhausted.  I think Simon and I are going to take off around 6:30 or so and head over to a church in Mitchell to see a Christmas play they're putting on.  It should be fun, and hopefully a much-needed break for mom.   Agh......

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Okay, so I'm totally stressing right now.  Why can't things in life just be simple?  There's a line in a movie that J.D. and I love to quote from time to time.  It's a real smart-alecky guy mouthing off to somebody he doesn't like, but we like what he says and really took it seriously.  He says, "Why don't you go buy a horse and move to the mountains and don't bother anybody?"  Haha!  He's being mean when he says it, but I think I'm almost there!  I so want to move to the mountains and not bother anybody!  Anyway, another blog for another day....

So for today, I won't write a BOOK or anything.  Ahem, ahem.  (In case anyone might be reading this....)  Love you, Larissa.  :*)  But I thought I should post so I could vent, especially since the idea of starting this in the first place was to kind of serve as a generic scrapbook-slash-journal type thing.  So anyway, I'll start venting.  Plus maybe later when I read this and see how God has worked things out (b/c He ALWAYS does) I can laugh at myself for feeling anxious.  After all, a scripture verse I taught my kids not so long ago was....Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything.  I can't remember the reference, but at least I got the verse! 

So I'm nervous about our current job situation.  J.D. has been kind of a jack of all trades for the last several months.  Building furniture, painting houses, doing drywall work, building porches, crawling underneath houses, fixing leaks, cutting firewood, and so on, and so on, and so on....  However, that work seems to be slowing down quite a bit, and naturally, I'm starting to stress.  For the last ten years we've been in full-time ministry.  And my sister keeps teasing me b/c I always say this...."Well, I'm  just trying to adjust."  She reminds me that we've now been out of the ministry (as far as ministry for a living) for a year and a half now, so it seems to be taking a long time to adjust!  And she's right.  I am taking a long time to adjust!  Haha  But this is my problem.  I've never known anything else.  I feel like we're both restless b/c we're not doing as much as we did before as far as ministry goes, but we know we're over youth ministry.  But on the same hand, when we were in ministry we worked hard and loved what we did.  So now that this season in our lives is over it seems like it's taking us awhile to figure out just what we're supposed to be doing.  Plus I got used to having a nice salary and having flexibility all in one nice little package!

This thing he does now is nice b/c it is pretty flexible.  He can sometimes, depending on what the job is, take one of the boys to work w/him.  He can sometimes, if I need him to, stay at home and watch a boy or two while I tend to something else.  He can sometimes, but not always, make just as much money doing this kind of work as he did when he was working in the ministry full-time and yet be at home and still be availble to us.  So it's nice, but on the flip side, it's not steady.  So I'm nervous.  I'm stressed.  I'm crying.  I'm worried. Plus, I'm getting on my own nerves.  B/c I know God has never let us down before, and there'd be no reason to start now.  I know I should trust Him fully and not doubt what He has in store for us as we labor for Him.  But I'm also human.  And it's sometimes harder to stick to that verse than it is to live it out.  "Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything."

So today we spent the afternoon beating the streets, putting in resumes, filling out applications, and doing what we can.  And we'll see where it leads.  But in the meantime, I need a reminder that God's eye is on even the sparrow and the lillies of the field...how much more does He care for me?  You know, maybe that's why I needed to post today.  B/c honestly, until just now, I hadn't even thought of that.  So Thank You, God, for showing me just what I needed!  I think that'll sum it up for now.  You've let me in on what You wanted me to see all along!  Now I just pray for the faith that a child has to remember Your promises.....

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So I made it through Elijah's 6th birthday.  Believe it or not, there were no tears!  Although I did think of Silas quite often as it was his birthday as well.  He would've been seven this year.  Seems so hard to believe.  But we kept pretty busy and my mind was pretty occupied, so that helped.  God certainly knew what He was doing when He planned their births to be on the same day.  Otherwise, I'm sure November 25th would be quite a different day at our house.  One w/out celebration and laughter, I'm sure.  So now looking at it from that angle, I can say I'm grateful that those two special guys share a birthday.  God is good to us in all ways.

So anyway, I love that we don't have T.V. in our house.  It serves MANY great purposes by not having one, but one of my favorite things is this:  We aren't constantly inundated w/the newest toys, movies, and gadgets on the market.  My boys know what they like and they're happy w/what they know.  (And mom's happy w/what they DON'T know)  It does make for a difficult shopping experience, though, when it comes to birthdays and Christmas.  I asked Elijah what he wanted this year for his birthday and he said, "Turtles."  Okay.  Turtles?  Well, I know he loves turtles.  We had a live one we caught this last spring.  We called him Nubby.  He was missing a foot!  So we kept him in a tractor tire all summer, fed and watered him, gave him fresh veggies and fruit; then released him into the wild at the State Park so he could hibernate for the winter like turtles do.  Elijah was pretty understanding about the whole "releasing" thing.  He didn't cry like I thought he would.  I think b/c I told him the turtle would die if we kept him in the tractor tire.  He needed to be free so he could find a mud hole and hibernate for the winter.  Besides, mom certainly wasn't going to let that thing stay in the house all winter--even though that's what his dad suggested!  He said Nubby could live in the bathtub for crying out loud!  Come on, J.D!  Seriously!  So needless to say, Nubby was set free and that was that.  So Elijah wants turtles for his birthday.  "Not soft ones, mom.  Just hard ones I can play with."  Have you ever tried finding such a thing?  Well, I'll tell you this.  Turtles are not a hot item on the market this year!  Unless you want Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or some other kind of obnoxious monster-looking gross toys, forget it!  So it made for a challenging search.  I finally did find a few things we didn't already have.  Schleich makes a "Giant Turtle" figurine, so we bought that.  After searching Toys 'R Us, Target, and every other department store on the planet, including the internet, I finally decided to check out Hobby Lobby.  I thought for sure I'd at least find some turtle stickers or a turtle paint-by-number or something.  But no such luck.  Turtles must be stranded on the Island of Misfit Toys b/c I couldn't find anything to do with turtles anywhere.  Finally, Larissa found a few painted wooden turtles, so we bought those, wrapped them up, and gave them to him.  It was funny b/c they weren't really toys.  They were more like ornaments--just little thin wood crafts.  So it was interesting to watch Elijah's face when he opened them.  He was grinning ear to ear b/c they were turtles, which is what he had asked for, but you could tell in the back of his mind he was thinking, "What the heck am I supposed to do with these?"  Haha!  It was cute.  Oh, well.  No matter.  Titus knew what to do with them.  Within half an hour he had the head ripped off of one and was well on his way to breaking the others!  So we put them up high and we mostly just look at them now!  :) 

He got some other fun stuff, too, though.  The last time we were in Tennessee we played a game called Pickle Ball.  The boys LOVED it.  It's kind of a cross between ping-pong and tennis.  You use over-sized ping-pong paddles and a whiffle ball, hitting the ball back and forth over a low net like you'd use for tennis.  It's actually pretty fun.  So I found two extra large ping-pong paddles and we're calling them pickle ball paddles.  He thought that was cool.  He got a book on sport fishing since he's a bigtime die-hard fisherman, a Wow, Wow Wubzy movie, some moo-lah, which we finally just went to spend today, a new dinosaur book by Ken Ham, and some other goodies.  Oh, and I can't forget.....bowlercade!  Yes, that's right.  I said Bowlercade.  For those of you who don't know what that is--it's a six foot long bowling arcade game that runs on like fifty million batteries and takes up an insane amount of room!  That was a gift from his Nanny!  Haha  Leave it to Nanny's to be practical.  So much for turtles and pickle ball.  :)  Oh, well.  Like my mom keeps telling me, they're only little once.  And he sure does love the game--so we can find somewhere to put it!

All in all, it was a good day.  Simon had a little trouble coping w/all the attention and gifts that Elijah was getting.  The green-eyed monster reared his ugly head a few times over the course of a few days.  I asked Simon if he remembered when he got his frog cake and we sang and got him gifts for his birthday.  Naturally, he didn't remember!  It was kind of pitiful, Simon w/his little lip stuck out crying about Elijah's gifts.  So we helped to remind him and it got better before it got worse!  Kids are funny  :)

So here are a few pics from Elijah's special day.  I got to take the pics on my new camera, which was an early b-day gift for me from J.D.  He gave it to me just before Elijah's party so I would be able to take pictures w/out having to hold the batteries in with my thumb while pushing the button and trying to focus!  My old camera had just about bit the dust!  So these pics were especially fun to take!

Here's his cake by special request.  Legolas (from Lord of the Rings) and turtles

The Man of the Hour!

He wanted his b-day party at the bowling alley, so he invited some friends and had a big time bowling and being w/everyone!

At home getting a few gifts from mom and dad

And yes, that's Bowlercade!  You think the box is big?!  You should see it put together!  Haha

Thank You, Lord, for another year w/one of Your precious children!

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Is he not the cutest thing  you've ever seen?!?  That's my guy!

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 Tonight Elijah participated in his first geography fair w/our homeschool group.  It actually wasn't too bad.  I wasn't sure what to expect since we'd never been involved in one before....really, we've never been involved in much of anything before....he's only five!  (At least for a few more days....sob, sob...)  Anyway, our family had been studying different habitats during our science days already this  year.  First, we learned about the grasslands, then the desserts, then the tundra.  Then we found out about the geography fair.  So naturally, since we were studying all of these habitats and their geographical locations, I thought for sure we'd do an exhibit on one of them!  But Elijah decided he wanted to do an exhibit on "where we live."  Indiana?  Gag, I thought!  That's boring!  Besides, I pick the tundra! It's such a neat place--a frozen wasteland filled w/strange and wonderous animals that God created.  We never see or hear about things like that here in Indiana.  After all, I had fun teaching about the tundra.  I learned a lot of fascinating facts about the tundra.  I thought the tundra was really interesting.  Why shouldn't we do an exhibit on the tundra?  I even went to the library and rented all the books I could find on eskimos, (which by the way, in my studies I learned that they prefer to be called inuits), and every other living thing that strives and survives in the artcic.  Of course we're doing the tundra!

Until....my sweet and loving husband stepped in one day when he saw how unenthusiastic (is that  a word?) Elijah was over our project, and he ever-so-gently reminded me that the geography fair was not about me and what I wanted to do, but rather was about the boys and what they wanted to do!  Bah-humbug!  What a stick in the mud!  Haha    (Just kidding)  So, needless to say, we did a project about Indiana.  :)

It ended up being a lot of fun, too.  I drew a big tree on some scrap wood and J.D. cut it out for us, along with a bunch of wooden apples.  We had fun painting the tree and the apples; we put magnets on the backs of the apples after we painted them so we could pass them out at the geography fair for families to put their names on; we collected leaves, nuts, berries, and pinecones from the yard and from various places we visited and made a display in an old egg carton; I drew a woodland scene on one of his posters, he and Simon glued leaves to the tree, and Elijah colored the pictures.  He wanted to do an exhibit about honeybees, too, so I drew some pics that he colored and we added that in there w/it.

All in all, it really was a fun experience.  And Elijah did a great job presenting.  He looked so small up front all by himself!  Of course, since he can't read yet, he didn't have a script to follow like most of the older kids did.  He just winged it....told a little bit about what he had learned, and shared his findings w/the crowd.  Pretty impressive considering there were probably 40 plus people there and all eyes were on him when it was his turn.  He really did do a great job!  I was so proud of my little man.  He's growing up way too fast....sob, sob again. 

Elijah turns six next Wednesday.  He says he wants a birthday cake with Legolas (from Lord of the Rings) and a turtle on it.  I'm sure I'll be able to call Dairy Queen and they'll just have a picture of each of those lying around and they can just whip it up real quick!  Haha  I'm actually wondering where I'm going to come up w/a picture to send them!  Anyway, we're planning a bowling party for him on the Tuesday night before and he's really stoked about it.  He asks every day how many more days 'til he gets to go bowling!  I know he can't wait...and I'm excited to see him enjoy his special day.

Anyway, I do plan to post some pics of the geography fair on here....but I'm a loser mom and forgot to take my camera to the church w/me tonight!  So I'll snap some pics of his projects and then I'm waiting for another one of the moms (who was actually responsible) to email me some pics of my own kid from the presentation!  As soon as I get them, I'll put them up to serve as a reminder of what a fun time we had!  Not just at the fair, but fun time spent working on the projects together and building lasting memories!  I am truly blessed!

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My oldest brother's children spent the weekend w/my mom and dad, and the boys and I got a chance to spend some time w/them!  We had beautiful weather, rode the pony some, rumbled and tumbled in the leaves, roasted hot dogs outside, fed leftovers to a skunk that is quickly becoming a family pet, and just enjoyed one another's company!  We are so blessed!

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I don't know if it's a boy thing or what, but I know this for sure--my boys are fiercely competitive.   Whether it's shooting basketball outside, playing a game on the Wii, seeing who can throw a rock the farthest, or run the fastest, or talk the loudest!  It doesn't matter.  They're bound and determined to outdo each other.

Case and point.....Tonight as we're laying in bed all snuggled in together (I know, bad habit, but hey, it's a king-sized bed and they're only little once), I ask the boys who wants to pray.  Naturally, they both say, "Me, me."  So, to avoid a screaming fit out of Simon, who usually gets extremely loud if he doesn't get his way, I allow Simon to pray first.  It goes something like this:

"Thank You for our family.  Thank You for the Lord.  Amen."

Now, remember, at this point in our lives, Simon has some issues w/his speech so he doesn't say a whole lot, and this is a pretty standard prayer that he uses quite often.  So....now it's Elijah's turn.  His goes something like this:

"Thank You for our family.  Thank You for this day.  Thank You for this world.  Thank You for the beautiful Creation.  Amen."

Same basic concept, just a little more than Simon's.  So....you guessed it.

Simon:  "I want to pray again."

Mom:  "Okay, Simon.  Go ahead."

Simon:  "Thank You for our family.  Thank You for the Lord.  Thank You for God.  Thank you for my pre-school.  Thank You for Nanny and Papaw.  Amen."

Mom:  "Okay, boys.  Time for bed."

Elijah:  "Mom, I want to pray again."

Mom (to herself):  "Oh, good grief!"

Mom (to Elijah):  "Okay, go ahead."

Elijah:  "Thank You for Nanny and Papaw.  Thank You for please letting us not fight when we play the Wii so we can get to play it again.  Thank You for, please, God, letting me beat my dad at Carrom's every time.  Amen......I mean, dad can win sometimes, please, God.  Thank You.  Amen."

Mom:  "All right, guys.  Good night."

Simon (very quietly):  Thank You for God.  Thank You for Nanny.  Thank You for Papaw.  Thank You for Daddy.  Thank You for Mommy.  Thank You for Baby Titus.  Thank You for Elijah.  Thank You for...." 

Now, keep in mind....the whole time Simon is whispering his prayers, he's keeping it as quiet as possible b/c he's caught on now and realizes that if Elijah hears him, Simon won't be able to get in the last word.  And the whole time Simon is praying, Elijah is not so quietly saying, "I hear you, Simon.  I hear you.  I hear you.  I hear you.  I HEAR you."

I'm just laying in the bed, tucked in between the two of them, chuckling to myself, and thinking how precious these moments are.  The endless competition can be so annoying, but at the same time I can count my blessings and realize that I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to be with my boys each day, teaching them about Creation, about family, about God's goodness to us....so that they can in turn know what they have to be grateful for.  Even if they turn it into a challenge of who can come up w/the most unique thing to thank God for at the end of the day!

So finally the rhetoric comes to an end.  The boys are slowly drifting off to sleep, each one feeling I'm sure, like they've outdone the other, and Elijah gets in his last little dig. 

Elijah:  "Mom, I want to praise the Lord."

Mom:  "Okay, buddy.  I do, too."

Elijah:  "Well, how do I do it?"

Mom:  "Well, there's lots of ways.  One way is to just do things that glorify God."

Elijah:  "Okay, mom.  I will.  Good night."

And with that.....they're finally asleep.  But I'm sure their minds are far from resting.  Each is probably busy conjuring up new ways to outdo his brother when he wakes up tomorrow morning!

Oh, isn't God good to us, though?! I  wouldn't trade a second of it for anything you could offer me!  So now as I finally lay me down to sleep, I'll offer my humble prayer.

Mom:  "Lord, Thank You for Your many blessings on me.  Thank You for these children that You've allowed me to watch over and care for at this season in my life.  Thank You for the wonderful family I have and the good fortune I have of being close to them.  Thank You for blessing me w/a husband who fears and loves You above all, who provides, cares for, loves, and protects me and our children.  Thank You for the opportunity to homeschool my children and for providing us the means with which to do that.  Thank You for making a way for all of us to be in Heaven with you one day.  Thank You for Your Son, Jesus, who died and rose again to make that possible.  And Thank You for loving us with a love that is so deep that I'm sure we will never fully grasp or understand it.  I am constantly in awe at the depth of Your love and the length of Your mercy that You never seem to tire of extending to me.  Thank You for this one life we have to live.  I pray that even in these little moments of humor, and sometimes frustration with my children, that you will remind me that it is only one life.  Please, don't ever let me take for granted what I have, and don't ever let me forget that it is because of You that I even have it at all.  Let all that I say and do bring glory and honor to Your Name, for You alone are worthy.  Amen."

Good night all! 

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Titus found some leftover gourds

Elijah taking a break on a pile of pumpkins.

Baby Titus loves to be outside!

You know Simon's been having fun!  Look at that dirty face!

Brothers

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He looks a little worried....?@!

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I always laugh when I see J.D. on this 4 wheeler.  Obviously b/c it's so small....but I really laugh when he decides to cart all three boys around on it!  They don't even care, though!  They just love riding!

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What could be better to do on a Sunday afternoon than to just kill some time?!  I love Sundays for that very reason.  There's something to be said about relaxing, visiting around a table full of food and eating to your heart's content, and taking in all of God's blessings.  What a beautiful day we had today.  It wasn't real warm out, probably around 58 or so all day, but the sun was shining, so that was nice.  We had friends over for dinner after church.  Jeff and Larissa and their beautiful family, and mom and dad came down.  We cooked vegetable soup outside over a campfire, had some pretty mean Mexican cornbread muffins that Larissa made, and enjoyed some of mom's wonderful desserts.  Probably ate too much of it all, but like I said, eating is one of the great things about Sundays! 

So I guess b/c it's getting cooler outside, all the flies decided they'd join us for dinner today.  I guarantee you between all of the women in the household, we probably killed no less than 30 flies!  And that's not an exaggeration!  They were everywhere!  They didn't eat too much, though.  There was plenty of food left for all, and we were still able to have a nice visit in spite of the flies.  Overall, it was a great day, and really, a great way to wrap up the weekend.

Speaking of weekend, just as a footnote, b/c I can't get by w/out posting this.....Friday Elijah and I took a field trip w/our homeschool co-op.  We went to the John Haye Center in Salem and toured the pioneer village and museum.  It was a lot of fun, and a day for Elijah and I to spend together w/out any other siblings, so he got his turn for some mommy time.  It was a nice change of pace.  Well, while we were there we had a picnic lunch packed and went into the basement of the museum to eat together as a group before going home for the day.  I had a nice little picnic basket packed w/forks and plates, homemade chicken salad, a bag of pretzels and some drinks for both of us.  I was really feeling good about myself and what a good job I had done preparing this nutritious meal for us.  Until......I pulled the loaf of healthy whole wheat bread out of our basket, unwrapped it and prepared to make our sandwiches, and found a little surprise!  Mold was growing on the top piece of bread!  Great!  Then I really felt like mom of the year!  Haha

Here's the funny part, though!  The rest of the bread in the bag was fine, so we decided to go ahead and use it.  I never said anything to Elijah about the moldy piece, but he, being ever-so perceptive, noticed it and overheard our conversation as I discussed w/some others about going ahead and using the bread that was still good.  So I fixed his sandwich and handed it to him on his plate....he in turn smiled at me and looked somberly at his sandwich.  Then w/a puzzled look and in all seriousness, quietly asked me, "Mom, what will happen if I eat bread w/grass stain on it?"

We laughed and laughed!  Elijah had no idea what mold was or what it looked like, but he knew what grass stain was and thought for sure he had some on his sandwich!  Haha

I thought that was too good not to post! Oh, the funny things our kids say and do!  They sure do keep us smiling!

All in all, it was a fun weekend and was good to be w/family and friends again.  And really, I never knew you could have so much fun just killin' time and swattin' flies! 

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Titus was pretty unhappy about being stuck in the pack and play while we sold pumpkins.  But every time I let him out he headed straight for the highway!  So I snapped this shot of his pouty face!

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So for the past couple of days I've been reading a book that a friend loaned me entitled, "The Marketing of Evil."  I was warned before I plunged into it that it would get me fired up (might make me mad), but honestly I didn't think too much about it.  Needless to say, I'm only into the fourth or fifth chapter and couldn't be more disgusted.  I won't go into a whole lot of detail on here, but will make a few comments for memory's sake in case I go back and re-read this later!

One--we need to move far and fast away to the hills and to the mountains!  Some of the things brought to light in this book that are happening in America are.....well, there are no words.  The author made this eye-opening analogy.  Several years back there was apparently a movie made, and in the film a scene was developed to portray the sinful city of Sodom & Gomorrah.  I never saw it, but evidently it was explicit enough that you got the point.  Sodom & Gomorrah was evil, wicked, and perverse.  The Scriptures tell us of the depravity of the city and of the people and their hearts, but here's the neat part that the author brings to light.  The things that were going on in that city then can hardly hold a candle to what's going on in America today.

I thought I was pretty current and up-to-date on today's youth culture, especially in light of the fact that J.D. has been in youth ministry for the past ten years.  I thought I knew all the slang terminology and all the sick things that go on at parties, things kids say and do, and what-have-you.  But boy was I wrong.  You'll have to read the book to see for yourself b/c it's too morbid to even post on here, but all I can say is that as a nation we are in a sad state, considering the faith and "good and noble" things on which we were founded.  It seriously makes me want to take my family and move as far away from society as I can.  (As if I hadn't already considered that before--now this is just adding fuel to my fire!)

Two--how have we become so desensitized?  In our family we don't even have T.V.  Well, we have a television but only watch movies on it, so I feel pretty good about that.  But still, even without exposure to the worldly things on T.V., I find myself insensitive to the issue of sin at times.  For instance, we have a family who, over the years, we have become very close with.  Within the last two years, one of the members of that family, who is very dear to us, has come out that he is homosexual.  At first it was no surprise to us.  We took it for what it was, learned to adjust, and seemingly have accepted it.  Now, two years removed and after reading excerpts from this book I look at the situation and ask myself, "Why?!"  Why are we accepting it?  Why aren't we desparately seeking God for this young man and begging conviction on his life?  Or better yet, why aren't we just calling it what it is.  It's sin!  There's no way around it.  No matter how much I love this boy, how much fun he is to be around, how talented and kind he is, he's still living in sin, and on top of that, committing what the Scriptures tell us is an abomination to God!  But why are we afraid to call it out?  Am I afraid b/c I don't want his family to be upset w/me and call me a holy-roller?  Am I worried that it will turn him away from Christianity altogether?  Am I worried it will offend him?  Am I worried people will think of me as being judgmental?  What is it? 

Well, after only a few chapters into this book I'm already feeling convicted!  I need to stop being lulled to sleep in today's "anything goes" society and call homosexuality what it is.  An abomination.  I don't care if that hurts people's feelings or not.  There's a reason it's an abomination, and I know I don't need to go into that either, but the bottom line is, as Christians we are called to be set apart.  We are not to conform to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God!  We're also told to shun the appearance of evil!  So no matter how hard it is, how much it hurts, or how sad it will be, we have to stop embracing sin just b/c we love the sinner and start taking a stand for what we know is right!

Three--I read a really awesome quote in the book that I think is worth noting.  In fact, while I was reading, I stopped, found a pen and paper, and wrote down what I had read so I could journal it.  The author was making a statement eluding to the fact that there was a solution to this problem of exposure to this hideous and raunchy culture that we live in.  Homeschooling!  Here is what he had to say about homeschoolers:

"The real America is now being reborn in families where children are raised with real understanding and insight and protected from the insanity of the popular culture until they're big enough and strong enough in their conviction to go out into the world and make their mark."

I love this for a couple of reasons.  One, he's obviously an advocate for homeschooling!  But two, because contrary to what many people believe, and what many Christians will argue when defending their reason for sending their children to public school, this statement is truth b/c it reminds us that our children are babies!  They're not strong enough to be "salt and light" in a government-ran school where they're constantly bombarded and indoctrinated w/secular world views.  Christian parents will use the excuse that if they keep their "Christian" children at home then that's just less and less "Christian" influencesthat there will be in the public school.  But what they're forgetting is that those "Christian" children are still babies!  We have the duty and the responsibility to train them and equip them at home before we send them off to battle!

So this was refreshing for me and a good reminder that we're doing the right thing.  Not that I ever doubted my decision to homeschool, but it's just nice to be reaffirmed every once in awhile.  But also challenging....to make sure that I'm not only homeschooling to keep them away from all the evil that's lurking around the corner, but that while we're at home we're establishing a Biblical worldview, a foundation they can stand on, and a burning desire to do what we were designed to do.....Imitate Christ!

So tonight I pray for the strength to follow through with some of these convictions; don't be a weenie when my friends or my family are accepting of behaviors that I know are not pleasing to God; don't be afraid to call sin what it is; be faithful to pray for those I love who are involved in sin right now; be true to my calling as a homeschool mother to glorify God in all that I say and do; be sure that I am giving my sons, who will one day be young men, the tools they need to be as much like Jesus as they possibly can; don't wet their appetites for worldly things; and to shun the appearance of evil. 

I read something else  in the book that I want to post.  It said this:  "It's a lot easier to be corrupted than it is to become uncorrupted."  I pray for the courage and the boldness to be different so we don't become corrupt!  To be transformed, be set apart--no matter what it costs--for the sake of my children.  Eternity could very well depend on it! 

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So I got a day off today!  Hats off to my wonderful hubby.  I asked for the afternoon off, meaning I get to leave the house w/no kids, and ended up getting over 8 hours to spend by myself!  Well, technically I wasn't alone.  Larissa and I got to go out together, but I didn't have any kids w/me, so in that sense I was alone.  At least no one was hollering my name, tattling on their brother, whining about something, telling me they were thirsty, or demanding my attention.  Although Larissa did whine a few times about paying for the meal or dessert and coffee!  Larissa, if you ever found me and are reading this, gotcha!  Your whining seriously could've gotten that boy at Backyards fired!  Haha

So I leave at like 2:00 o'clock or so and come home around 9:30.  Usually when I get some time off I come home to a trashed house, dishes everywhere, unbathed children, and a heap of work to do.  But not tonight!  The house was clean, the kids all had their baths--even the baby, which I totally couldn't believe, no one was bloody and bashed or bruised from any knock-out sibling rivalries that tend to happen from time to time, and J.D. was in a surprisingly good mood.  So all was well w/in the Gaines household.  Too bad these days off don't come more frequently.  Maybe I'll have to look into that!

We had a great time, though.  Went antiquing, found some goodies for Lauren's upcoming birthday, had a good lunch, went Amishing, which is one of my favorite things to do, then out for dessert and coffee and some good old-fashioned "girl talk."  Now I'm home and trying to wind down after too many cups of coffee and two large Mountain Dews!  Talk about caffeine overload!  :D  Oh, well.  Sleep will come in time.  The day off was a much-needed break for me and a wonderful chance to get away and develop a growing friendship.  And for that, I am certainly grateful. 

God is so good to us in so many ways.  I never want to miss an opportunity to thank Him for his many blessings.  Even the small ones.....like bathed and happy children and having the world's greatest daddy at home!

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Simon and I had the day together today.....alone!  What a treat!  Just to have some one-on-one time w/your kids every now and again is so important.  And something I tend to forget about b/c we're all almost always together.  Today, though, his pre-school class took a field trip to Huber's Orchard.  We went to the "petting zoo", but it was kinda strange.....you couldn't actually pet anything!  There were coin slots for buying food to feed the animals, but then there were signs up on the fence reading, "Please don't put your fingers inside the cage."  Well, how the heck are you supposed to give the animals their food?!@*!  It was quite funny watching the kids buy their corn pellets to feed the miniature horses, and then realizing they couldn't fit their little hands through the fence to actually feed them.  I'm not sure which was funnier, though...watching the kids try and squeeze their hands through the fence, watching the horses do their darndest to get to the food they so badly wanted, or watching the parents try to feed the animals through the fence after realizing their kids couldn't get their hands through!  Simon wasn't really interested in seeing the animals anyway since we have our own miniature and have almost always had goats.  So I guess that was a good thing.  He didn't have to deal with any harsh disappointments! 

He had fun going down the "mountain slides" and playing on the playground.  We went through a tour of the apple picking and bagging process, walked through the farm market, and had a picnic lunch w/his class.  It really was a lot of fun.  His pre-school teacher is fabulous.  The kids all really seem to love her.  I know Simon seems to love going to class, so that's a plus.   Makes me feel better about sending him anyway after I had such a hard time deciding to begin with.

So it was fun to get away and just be w/him for a change.  He's such a good little guy, too.  When it's just us he's pretty different than what he is when he's w/Elijah.  Hardly ever whines or complains, never yells or raises his voice, obeys the first time, sticks right w/me.....wonder how much simpler life would be if it was just me and him all the time!  Haha  Simpler maybe, but definitely not as much fun or nearly as rewarding.  I love having a house full of boys.  As trying as it may be at times!  :)

I think we'll check out Huber's again as a family, though.  It was pretty neat, but I'm thinking Simon may enjoy it more w/the rest of his usual gang!

So when we came home, Daddy was here working in his shop and we solicited his help.  He cut out some wooden apples for us to paint for a geography fair project we're working on, and I sketched a tree that he cut out and we painted it together.  I'm not sure who ever thought that doing crafts with kids under 5 would be fun, but I'm pretty sure that either they were wrong or else I'm just a really bad mom.  B/c crafts are not fun for me!  No, seriously.  It was fun......for awhile.  But certainly not something I'd want to do every day!  Haha

Now I'm winding down for the night, thinking of all the housework I have to face tomorrow that is backed up from taking a day off.  Oh, well.  It was worth it!  Simon and I had a wonderful day, and I thought I needed to jot it down so as not to forget what a blessing it is to get away and be w/each one of your kids from time to time.  Elijah and I will get a chance to do it later this month when we take a field trip w/his homeschool co-op class, so I'm looking forward to that, too!

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Just thinking about how good God is to us.  We are so blessed to have our family, our health, and our friends.  Simple things that we sometimes take for granted, yet are so vitally important.

This morning we had church services, with which I was so happy.....both my older boys were wonderfully well-behaved.  Sometimes we take bags of small, quiet toys for them to play with during the service to keep them entertained if they get a little restless, but that usually turns out to be a nightmare b/c they're either turning the "quiet toys" into noisy ones by making animal sounds and what-not, or else they're fighting over who gets which dinosaur or action figure to play with.  So this morning we took coloring books, crayons, and some hidden picture puzzle books.  What a drastic difference!  I think we'll probably stick w/those and maybe even check on eBay for some more puzzle books! 

Then this afternoon we came home and had supper w/mom and dad.  My mom can make anything taste good.  We had porkchops w/mushrooms and rice, her famous mashed potatoes, green beans, steamed veggies, and a salad.  Delicious!  So forget counting Weight Watchers points for today.  It was a futile attempt.  Between that meal and knowing we were hosting our small group Bible study tonight, I knew there was no way I'd stay w/in my limits.  Lanie brought two homemade pies.  Pecan AND pumkin!  Two of my favorites.  We had chicken fajita soup, broccoli and cheese soup, and chicken noodle soup, cornbread, corn chips, cheese, sour cream, crackers.....and the list goes on!  So, needless to say, counting points for today was.....well pointless!  Haha

But what a great time we had visiting!  Bible study tonight was a little different than what we normally do.  Typically we will watch a DVD and then have discussion.  Tonight J.D., my husband, just kind of led us in some Scripture reading and we had an open discussion.  He had a self-examination checklist that he passed around for each of us.  Which, by the way, was quite convicting.  It forced me to look at myself personally, spiritually speaking, and to evaluate where I was w/the Lord.  Not so much in a personal relationship w/Him.  But what am I doing for Him?  What am I doing for my fellow man?  What am I doing for my kids?  What can I be doing?  And what should I be doing?  This week I'm going to do my best to stick to doing what I KNOW I should be doing.  Things like prayer and devotion time before my kids get out of bed.  Pray for specific needs of people I know, pray for lost souls.  My family and J.D.'s are both full of them.  Why aren't we praying for them?  Let's do it!  Get on w/it!  So just things like that.  Things we shouldn't have to be reminded of, but unfortunately, b/c we live in a crazy self-centered society, we get so wrapped up in what's best for us that we forget about doing for others, too.  At least I know I do.  So this week I'm going to do my very best to stay on top of it.  I'll go back and re-read this next Sunday night to see if I've accomplished that goal!

Anyway, I'm loving living the good life!  And I'm loving the fact that God is ever-faithful to meet needs that we sometimes didn't even realize needed meeting!  He knows what we need even if we're too blind or stubborn to admit that we need it!  So again today I must say, Thank You, Lord, for your blessings on me!

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So I'm new to this world of blogging.  I'm finding it to be a very popular trend, though.  And my thoughts behind starting one are b/c I am terrible at keeping up on my scrapbooking but have lots and lots of thoughts I want to put down yet somehow never get around to doing.  So I was thinking maybe this could be my generic way of scrapping!  Maybe minus the pictures b/c I haven't figured that out yet. 

One thought I have that is a recurring one is....how fast my kids are growing up.  I often look at them and think, where the heck did you come from?  Though my oldest will turn 6 next month, it seems like only days ago I was going through the emotions of welcoming him into the world.  Elijah, our oldest, came at a critical time in life, and has been what we called our healing baby.  I'm actually mom2allboys of four, one of which is now in Heaven.  Silas, our first, was born in 2002.  I got really sick w/pre-eclampsia and had to deliver early after spending 6 weeks in the hospital on bedrest.  Then he spent 5 weeks in the NICU at IU Med Center....came home w/us New Year's Eve.....then died in his sleep on March the 8th at only 3 1/2 months old.  What a roller coaster ride we've been on since.

We chose Silas' name b/c we were so impressed w/the ability of Paul and Silas to praise God in what seemed to be a dark and hopeless situation.  Little did we know that we would have to prove ourselves worthy of naming our son after such a hero!  We had to find the strength to continue to praise God in our own dark and hopeless time.  It was difficult, trust me, and sometimes felt impossible.  But we made it.  And we're continuing to praise God today....through it all. 

So get this.  I miscarried once early in the pregnancy before Silas.  Then Silas is born November 25th, 2002, 8 weeks premature; passed away in March; 2 weeks later I find out I was already pregnant w/ Elijah when Silas died, (which is supposed to be impossible--getting pregnant while you're breastfeeding; yeah, right); then Elijah is born November 25th, 2003!  Same day, one year later.  A friend of ours had given me a devotional after Silas' passing that I want to post just for memory's sake and for an extra boost in faith for anyone who may read this.  Here's the Reader's Digest version:  March 8th, the devotion for the day Silas died, gave scripture and meditation for...."Today, expect the unexpected."  Well, of course, that was fitting b/c we obviously weren't expecting his passing.  March 5th, the devotion for the day doctors say I conceived w/Elijah, gave scripture and meditation for...."God rewards those who remain faithful."  Well......needless to say, it was difficult to remain faithful to God in the coming days and even months after Silas' death, but the all knowing Father knew the outcome of our circumstances, knew that we would remain faithful, and knew that we would continue to praise Him through the storm.  Thus, the reward, (at least we like to think of it this way), was Elijah.  Hence, our healing baby.  And to be born on the same day.....what are the odds?  It was totally a God thing.

So, speaking of what are the odds.  Get this, too.  Elijah turns one and surprise!  I'm expecting again.  This time, baby Simon comes on July 15th, 2005.  And what a blessing he is.  I got pre-eclampsia again, so he came a little early, but just three weeks.  And I never worried for one second about him or had any of the anxiety that was so overwhelming when I had Elijah.  Of course, this is two years past losing our first, so some of that paranoia (notice I said SOME) is gone.  He is healthy, happy, and such a joy to our lives.  A month before he turned one, we had another surprise.  Notice the trend here?  All of these babies are conceived while breastfeeding.  So please don't be fooled into thinking breastfeeding is a form of birth control!  Hahaha  However, I miscarried again early on, but don't worry--God never fails to surprise us.  Another baby was on the way soon and guess when Titus, boy number four, is born?  July 15th, 2008!  Two sets of boys.....two sets of birthdays!  I think the Lord knew what a scatterbrain I am and knew I could only handle two birthdays.  I do well enough to remember my own!

After this, I'm relatively certain we've decided to be done, considering all babies have been born via c-section and all w/in a 6 year span.  Plus, my husband said, "What are the chances that the next baby would be born on one of those birthdays?  Then we'd have to have another one to keep the score even!"  Haha

So anyway, I think I've probably surpassed the "normal" time slot for homeschool bloggers, but since I'm just getting started, I wanted to go back to the beginning of where my life as a mom began.  Good memories, bad memories, happy ones, and sad ones, but none of them would exist at all if not for the gracious Father being willing to entrust His children to me for such a time as this.  Thank you, Lord, for your blessings on me!

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