Today is our wedding anniversary- 14 years! WoW!

After I gave birth to Chasity- 9 years ago- up until a year and a half a go- I weighed the same weight. Then the ‘creep’ started. I don’t know why- I can blame it on my age or whatever. I am hoping that by posting my weight ticker- (see bottom of blog) that I will help motivate myself into loosing the weight. I never had to worry about my weight in the past and I think that created some bad habits, too.

My friend Charity came over (yes- we have the same first name)- along with her three kids, niece, and niece’s friend. They spent the night at our house Thursday night. Charity and I went to a home school convention. It was great! There were lots of good classes and vendors to buy curriculum from.

Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Exodus 20:12

Dylan began professional guitar lessons yesterday. The instructor said that he already knew quite a bit. (Thanks to the other home school student who was teaching him.)

I’ve been reading the book- “Purpose Driven Life” for the second time.  One of the things the book is about is FOCUSING on what is important in life- Loving God- and for us- teaching our children to do the same. As another weekend is whizzing by_ God is showing me that we can have purpose in our everyday lives. Saturday morning, while I went to training to be a camp counselor- Dan took the kids fishing. They had a great time fishing, and while there they thought of our neighbor and wanted to give her some snails they caught for her backyard fish pond. It made me realize how they are learning the lesson to ‘Love your neighbor as yourself ‘and was thinking of someone other than themselves. This afternoon Dan went to fix an elderly man’s car – I believe that example showed the kids to think of others. Tonight we went to a “kick off” party for children’s workers at our church. Dylan is going to begin to help with the pre-schoolers tomorrow and I am proud of him for that. (Also think it’s funny- he has to learn to wipe noses and change diapers!) Tomorrow afternoon we are going to go door to door and collect food for the local food pantries and ask families if they need prayer. Dylan is going to walk with our friends Frank and Margo- while Chasity walks with us. I believe this is a good practice for them- to see that our faith is real. I guess what God is showing me this week- is that we are busy people- all people are busy- but that our business should be focused on doing His will and honoring him by Loving him and Loving others. Our busyness is a good thing if it has focus on the Lord.

Dan was 32 today! Look at how thrilled he is! The neighbor girls helped us eat a cake to celabrate!

Yes! After spending 2 hours- I finally figured out how to add music to my blog! If you go down to the bottom- you can pick a song to listen to. The second one- called "Better is One Day" is the song that always reminds me of my Grandma Devall. She became a Christian in her 70's and only lived a week as one, until she died. (No, she didn't know she was dying.) It makes me think about all the time she spent on earth without Christ and then becoming his only a few days! Now she has eternity with him!

Better is one day in your courts, better in one day in your house- then thousands elsewhere.

We appreciate all the current and past military people. Some have given their lives for us, and we thank God for you!

WE went to a cook out today at our friends house to celabrate Memorial Day.

The kids keep saying- put Cody on the Blog-

So, here he is our dog- Cody

Cody Facts-

-Cody can swim. We found this out when he jumped into our pool. He did get tired quickly. I had to fish him out.

-Cody doesn’t like ants. He got into an ant hill and they were crawling ALL over him. When this was noticed he got a quick bath. He hasn’t returned to the ant hill.

-Cody doesn’t like to get  groomed. He was so bad for the groomer that he had to walk around with half a haircut because he wouldn’t stay still for her. His body hair was short and his head had long hair. He looked like some kind of funky, strange dog.

We can't call this 'verse of the week' because it is taking us longer to get through the verses. If dad is working over or if mom is busy- we wait for the next night- So New Verse-

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 17:17

We did our school work this morning and Chasity had a  M.R.I. this afternoon.  Dylan only has math left- because he finished all of his other subjects. I am going to have him practice his writing skills more each day, along with Math.

Chasity still has all of her books left. She goes through them very slowly. So, we’re still plugging away together. She was excited today when her new ‘Animal curriculum” came in the mail. It’s a themed study all about animals- her most favorite thing right now. It covers reading, language arts, spelling, and has science. It is very hands on. I am hoping this approach will work better for her. Dylan learns exactly like mom and is strong in the same areas- so he is easier to teach. Chasity is completely opposite and thinks in a different way- harder for mom to teach.

I also ordered a new Science curriculum for Dylan- that he is looking foward to. It was wrote with a Christian-World view and has all the experiments included. He is always wanting to do the experiments and I am always saying "We don't have this- We don't have that"

I finished my class up today- Intro to Pentecostal Doctrine- I took the exam part online and got an A! Yes two classes down only 7 more to get through my first level. (ha!ha!)

The kids took another bus trip with me on Thursday. (The last bus trip, too, for this school year) We went to six flags in  Gurnee. It was our first time there, because we always went to the one in Missouri before. Chasity wanted to ride everything and was too short for most of it. Dylan didn't want to ride much of anything- he's afraid of heights!

Happy Mothers Day to our moms- Connie and Diane!

The kids made home made gifts for me at their art class, very sweet!

After church, Dan took all of us to TGIF, a treat since we don’t eat out too often.

Another bus trip today! Chasity and I went to Long Grove. It's a place with a bunch of antique shops and specialty stores. Dan and Dylan went to Tinley Park and worked on a roof for a side job that Dan got.

One of the perks (okay only perk) of mom driving a school bus is that the kids get to go on any field trips that I drive.  We went to the Brookfield Zoo yesterday. It was cold and windy!

New verse- New week-New section in book! (Choosing your Friends)

What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

-2 Corinthians 6:15

(Belial is Hebrew word for Satan)

I went to Atlanta Georgia for a children’s leaders’ conference with the Elementary Pastor at my church this past week. I learned a lot- and went to the Coca-Cola factory on the last day before we left. I love Coca-Cola and thought it was very cool! This is a picture of me with the man who invented Coke. (What a genius!)

Chasity was goldielocks today in a play, she did a great job!

Dan found a place where he could get some free wood.  He's been working hard to start stocking up for winter.  We plan on burning wood this coming winter- to combat HIGH gas prices.

It's been interesting this Spring- living in a new house and seeing all the trees/shrubs/plants as they bloom. I found white, yellow, and red trees/shrubs in the yard. Also my other favorites are the 7 Evergreens on the North side of our house and the Spruce in the front.

Blessings

We met a couple who are the next door neighbors this past weekend. The woman, Gretchen, is a retired art teacher. She invited the kids to come over and work on some art projects with her today. They had a great time- and can’t wait to go back. What a blessing for the kids to do art- (something that mom is lacking in)- God always seems to provide for us in our home schooling!

We walked in the Royal Family Kids Camp Walk-a-thon. Our family raised 370.00$.  The total at the walk-a-thon was close to 10,000$! Thanks for everyone's support!

A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom. Proverbs 10:23

The Coveted Wii-----

The kids have been saving their allowances for months now. We told them that we would pay for half of a Wii , if they would pay for the other half.  The surprising part for us was that we had to call 20 stores to find a Wii. These things have been on the market since last May and it is now April. (Almost a Full year!)  Dan was down to his last 2 stores on the list- when one of the clerks let him know that he had found a store that had gotten in a shipment of 14 wiis! By the time Dan and the kids got there- they were down to 3! They did get their wii today- and they are very excited.  Apparently this is a VERY POPULAR game system or Nintendo is rationing them out as a sales tool. Oh well, the kids are happy and have learned the value of saving.

A wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless- Proverbs 14:16

The kids had fun swimming tonight with other youth from church. Mom and Dad helped out.

What is a co-op? We spend the whole day with other home school families and we (parents) teach the classes.  Dylan is in his Gizmo and Gadget class. Think-Laws of Physics with experiments. The photo of Chasity is from her ballet class.

Chasity did have an infection and is on antibotics. She will take these for two weeks and then go back on the growth hormones after that. Please pray that God would restore her body to normal growth, bone density, and hormonaly.

Our family is going to walk in a Walk-A-Thon on April 19th-  We are trying to raise money to help Royal Family Kids Camp. This is a Camp that is for foster children. The foster children are treated as royalty for a week while learning what it is like to be loved and free from their worries. One camp counsler is given to every two children and they are given A LOT of love! This is our second camp and we can't wait to see how God helps these little kids during this week!

If you would like to donate in support of this worthy cause, please e-mail me and I will take your pledge. Our families goal is to raise 250$'s in pledges by April 19th. We only have 60 so far- we could use your help!

Dylan has been taking guitar lessons from an older home schooler. He really enjoys it.

Chasity had an appointment with the endocrinologist today. She had grown ¾ of an inch in 5 weeks- Thanks to the growth hormones she is now taking.

She has also been experiencing headaches and the doctor discovered that her lymph nodes were swelled up. We were told not to take the growth shots for 2 weeks. We also went to our ‘regular’ doctor today- to help determine the cause of the headaches and the lymph nodes swelling. He sent us for blood test. Until the test results come back, we will have to wait and see. We are hoping she can continue to take the hormones safely. They really did help her. Please keep her in your prayers.

Thanks to being homeschoolers we did actually get school work done today- during all of our doctor visits!

Chasity is Cheetah Crazy! She loves all animals but Cheetahs are her very favorite! This is a photo of part of a mural that a friend of ours painted on her wall! She loves it! He did the entire mural in oil paints- that is why it came out so shiny in the photo.

Fun Cheetah Fact- From Chasity- Cheetahs can run 70 miles an hour!

They are also an endangered species!

While we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house- I had a little fun with my camera. Check out these photos.

The kids visited with thier cousins-(mom's side) at Easter. This is a photo of them, thier cousins(minus Cassie who was sick) and thier Great-Grandma Brown.

We have started doing a Bible study with the kids each night.

We are using the book "Searching for Treasure A Guide to Wisdom and Character Development"

I would highly reccomend doing a family Bible study to all families.

We are also memorizing scriptures as a family. We have a verse a night in our books. It gets to be too much, so we do one verse a week with the kids.

Last weeks verse-

The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10

This weeks verse-

Listen, my sons, to a fathers intruction; pay attention and gain understanding. Proverbs 4:1