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Mrs. Bee just sent me the cutest pictures of her and Honey Bear wearing their aprons!! I just love them!!

Isn't she a cutie patootie?? Looks just like her mama!! They are standing in the kitchen of the house where Mrs. Bee works. Mrs. Bee had to bake a turkey today for a Boy Scouts Thanksgiving dinner tonight. But she also had to work so, she made the turkey at work. I'm so glad they have their aprons to wear for this!

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I have realized that one of the things that motivates me and fills my cup is being creative. I guess taking picture of my creations and posting them does as well!  Today I filled my cup by making an apron for my sweet little friend Baby Bear. Actually her new nickname is Honey Bear because she is outgrowing Baby Bear.

I'm very pleased with how her apron turned out! It is made to match one I made for her mama for Christmas. I already gave Mrs. Bee her apron so she can wear it to do her holiday baking. Now Honey Bear can wear hers too!  I can't wait to get pictures of HB wearing this!!

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Yesterday morning Knight #1 was asking me to look for an online book club for him. I looked at him and asked, "Why don't you just start your own??" You should have seen his eyes light up! He sat down almost immediately and wrote up a blurb for it outlining what he wanted to do and what age kids it would be good for. I then posted it to the forum on our homeschool support site. Would you believe that he already has 8 kids who want to sign up?? I'm so excited for him!

He decided that the first book they will read and discuss will be Wishbone, The Treasure of Skeleton Reef. Does anyone remember the Wishbone series on PBS? It was about a cute little Jack Russel Terrier who had a tendency to daydream about classic books. Well this is the same Wishbone only in a Mystery series.

They will start reading on November 30th and read two chapters between Monday and Thursday. On Thursday, Knight #1 will e-mail a list of 3 questions about the chapters they read to each participant. They will have till Sunday night to e-mail back their responses.

I am just so pleased with how Knight #1 has taken the initiative in this. A big thank you to Mrs. Bee who offered advice to him on how to run the book club. She is so gifted in that area and I am so NOT. This should be such a wonderful learning experience for Knight #1. Beyond the books he'll be reading. He'll also be learning valuable skills, like how to work with others, how to be a leader and how to administrate.

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I have come to the shocking conclusion that computers and TV distract us from our homeschooling! Gasp!! I know you are just as shocked as I am by this revelation!  

So as a solution to this problem, we have started a new policy in our house. NO TV or computer will be turned on until after schoolwork and all chores are done. Daddy is of course exempt from this rule. I even found a new Bible reading plan so that I don't have to do my reading online.

Today was our first day implementing this new plan. It wasn't without some grumbling from the kids and yelling on my part.  I'm trying really hard to do better! We did get a lot done though! And I can see how this is going to be a very good thing for us!!

We don't have a chore chart/list made up yet so for today I just verbally gave them each chores to do. Make sure your room is clean, go clear out the drainer and make sure the dishes are done, etc. This was after we got school done of course. I also had to get onto the kids for assuming they were done and jumping onto a computer. I told them, "NO ONE gets on a computer or game until I tell them they may!"

I spent a lot of time in training and inspecting work today. I'm sure that will be the norm for a while yet. However, I am hopeing and praying that eventually as the kids get used to this and learn how to do their chores properly, it will just be a matter of inspecting and then releasing them. They were all done and on the computers/games and I still had MY chores yet to do! Sigh. I also want to work towards them being self motivated in getting their chores done. That may be a loooong time off yet, but one can always hope!

As for me, I had to keep reminding myself not to turn on my laptop. It just has become such an automatic thing for me. It was nice to be able to tell myself, you can get your "fix" later today after things have gotten done!  I am pleased with the start we have made and looking forward to seeing wonderful changes in our home and attitudes as a result!!

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I'm sitting here with a blanket over my bare feet because the breeze wafting in from our open windows is so cold!! Yay!!! I am sooo very thankful for cooler weather every time it comes to Florida which isn't often enough for me!

Here is a quote for you to chew on!

"God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him!" John Piper.

I am finally getting to listen to Desiring God. Oh, my goodness!! I'm going to have to get the print version of this book so that I can highlight passages and go back to read them again! God wants us, no commands us to enjoy HIM!!

Psalm 37: ⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD
       and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Piper quotes scripture after scripture that backs up this truth! This so enhances what I've been learning in The Lord's Table!! Praise You Lord!!!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!

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Tuesday night was our annual PPEA Ladies Tea. It was such a sweet time of refreshment and laughter! Each lady brought a treat to share and the room was decorated in fall colors and decorations.

Many of us had agreed to be table hostesses. Our job was to keep our table's tea pots full of  hot water and to keep the conversations flowing. We had a list of questions at our disposal to help us to keep everyone involved in the conversation. My table and I hear many others didn't even need the questions. The conversations just flowed natrually. I guess you get a bunch of women together and we're GOING to talk!! LOL

The  Lord graciously seated 2 moms at my table who have Asperger children! How cool is that??? Like a friend said to me, "The organizers didn't have a seating plan but God did!!"

My sweet new friend and fellow Aspie mom, Lori. Doreen is sitting next to her on the left.

Here are Cathy and Doreen. It was such a pleasure to visit with them during the tea!

On the other side of the table were Tammy and her sister. Tammy is the other Aspie mom who was at my table.

These two ladies did such a wonderful job of welcoming everyone and getting them to a seat!

Sorry this pic turned out so dark, but sweet Cindy did a fabulous job emceeing the event.

While we ate our goodies, we were entertained by a hilarious skit! Neoka emceed a hysterical Homeschool Mom's Pagent! Each of the contestants represented a different personality of homeschool moms. We have left to right, Mrs. Stressed Out Homeschool Mom, Mrs. Social Butterfly Homeschool Mom, Mrs. Hurry Up Homeschool Mom, Mrs. Information Please Homeschool Mom, Mrs. Messy Homeschool Mom, Mrs. Traditional Homeschool Mom, Mrs. Homeschool Moment Homeschool Mom, Mrs. Disorganized Homeschool Mom, and Mrs. Organized Homeschool Mom. At the end of the pagent we decided that the true winners are not the moms as much as our kids!!

Weren't the place settings lovely?? My dear friend and accountability partner Michele made the cookies and pumpkin dip which were on each table!

And this is Michele and Laura.

On the right is another dear friend Patty. I'm going to have to find out the other sweet ladie's name. Her daughter is in Keepers with Maiden and I still don't know her name! For shame, Dee!!

This is Susan, Sunshine and Tina.

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This past Saturday was the annual Pregnancy Center Gala and Auction. As usual, my hubby was there that morning to set up the computers and make sure all was running smoothly in that realm.This is the same time that many hard working volunteers and Pregnancy Center staff are busy decorating the room for the evening.

Around 4 pm our sweet sister team of sitters arrived. We showed up at the St. Petersburg Coliseum a little before 5 pm and had a little time to look at the all the wonderful silent auction items before it was time for us to work. (We call it work, but it really is a joy!) Hubby was going to bid on a fishing pole but when the bidding went over $100 he decided that was too much for us.

My job every year is to connect with the lady who works out all the problems with registration. She keeps a list of changes to names and bidder #s which I take to make changes in the computer. That way when all the bidding is over, the item that were won go to the correct people!  

I am also part of the data entry team. Once again, after all the bidding is over, there are volunteers assigned to go gather up the bidder sheets and they are brought to the computer room. That's when the computer room really comes to life! Usually about 3 of us meticulously enter each Item # and the winning bid and price. I'm not sure how many Items there are in each auction but I would feel safe in guessing maybe around 200 items. As we are entering the items and winning bids, hubby is gathering the already entered sheets and sorting them by item #. When we finish entering we take over fine sorting what hubby started while he starts running reports for the cashiers and invoices for the folks who won their bids. It is a fine tuned machine as we all work together!

As we are doing all this we get to visit with wonderful friends, who unfortunately, we seem to only get to see at this one event each year. I should have brought my camera but didn't this year.

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I've been working thru an issue here that involved a game that my hubby wanted us to play together. He likes to have me enjoy his computer games with him so that we have something to talk about instead of children. You may have heard of the game, World of Warcraft. I started playing it because he wanted me to and quickly found myself being sucked in. So there were actually two issues going on here. First, it was robbing me of time and causing me to be lazy. Second, there are some really questionable things in this game. We were trying to avoid all the magic and spell casting but you can't totally avoid all that.
 
So the Lord had been "talking" to me about this for about a week or so. I kept trying to ignore His voice and justifying my actions. I told myself, "But my husband wants me to play it. I'm being submissive." Besides, this game was really fun! But like my pastor said last Sunday, "Who says that sin isn't fun??" The breaking point came the other day. I was listening to one of my pastor's wife's messages on Isaiah. She was talking about how the Israelites were consutling mediums, etc. Then she went to a verse in Deut. where it says that all that stuff is an abomination to God. The kicker for me was that it specified even spell casters. I thought to myself, "I know we are not really casting spells, etc. But I don't want to even be PLAYING with something that is so offensive to God!"

So I let my hubby know that I didn't want to play it anymore and explained why. To my shock he told me that God had been talking to him about it too.  I took that as a total confirmation that I was to quit. My hubby has had a harder time pulling away from it. The subscription we got runs out in the middle of November, so he decided that he would continue to play till it ran out and then not renew it. I believe that God has still been working on him though because he said this evening, "I gotta stop playing that game!"

Wow!!! God is sooo good!! Even as I was writing this out, my hubby (who is sitting at the other computer) asked me if his Face Book status came through. He said he wrote a sort of confession about playing the game on there!! And he has quit it and even deleted the game! I know it was hard for you to quit, sweetie!! But I know you will be blessed for it!

I have been feeling like God is smiling down on me since I made the decision to break away from that game. And last night I felt like I got an extra special blessing in that I found a website where I can download Christian Audio books. www.christianaudio.com. They have one free download a month. My goal has been to feast at the Lord's Table as much as I can each day. That means being in the Word, being in fellowship with other believers, worshiping, listening to good sound preaching, etc. I felt like this was God's way of saying, "Since you chose me over that game, I'm giving you this to fill your spiritual cup. Drink deep of Me!" I went to bed last night with overflowing praises in my heart for my Lord!

This afternoon, I got even more blessing! One of the free downloads that I got, thinking that it was a recording of "Desiring God" by John Piper turned out to be something different. It was actually a recording of John Piper speaking to a group of pastors about the life of David Brainerd. If you are unfamiliar with who David Brainerd is, (as was I) he is none other than the father of the modern missionairy movement! Wow!! Listening to that just blessed my socks off! Mr. Brainerd was an amazing man!

Btw, I was able to get my recording of "Desireing God" which is the free audio for this month. Oh, AND I'm getting to listen to a recording of a book by C.S. Lewis which I have overdue from the library! It is the second in his space trilogy, "Perelandra". The really neat thing is that I get to fill my cup while doing other things, like chores around the house, or crochet if those are all done.

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This past Saturday Knight #1 got to go for his very first fishing tourney! He was sooo excited that he hardly slept a wink the night before. Then he was up super early and daddy took him to the church to head out. The competetion was between the middle school youth group and the high school group.

I was attending a CPR class at the church all afternoon. Oh, what fun that was!  My arms and legs were sooo tired after leaning over the practice dummy and pushing on it's chest for so long. I think I saved that dummy's life many times over! LOL

I had time to run home for a bit before I had to go back out to get Knight #1. Sure wish I'd thought to bring my camera!! Knight #1 was soooo exhausted by that time that he could hardly see straight! He had caught a 4 oz Snapper. He had also caught numerous other fish which he didn't keep. Not sure why he didn't keep them.

They cleaned his snapper for us and gave us an extra one. I rolled them in corn meal and fried them up. Knight #1 was too tired to stay up for dinner and went to bed shortly after coming home. He got back up awile later and was then able to eat his fish and the rest of his dinner.

Then Monday night was Keepers at Home for Maiden. That is a group for young ladies to learn to be Godly wives and mothers. They memorize scripture and learn how to do many domestic type things. Maiden is LOVING being a part of this group. I usually bring her and stay to be with her. It is meant to also be a bonding thing for mothers and daughters. However, I wasn't feeling so well Monday night so daddy dropped her off and then picked her up a bit later.

Maiden was soooo excited when she came home! Each of the girls in her class (they have the girls separated according to age groups) had received a little sewing kit and they are learning to make 9 patch quilts! The really cool thing about this is that we have been reading "Little House on the Prairie" for school and it keeps mentioning Laura and Mary working on their 9 patch quilts!  I'm really excited for Maiden because this is something I wanted her to learn, but I've never gotten around to teaching it to her. Well, I wouldv'e had to learn it myself first!

Last night I had to go to a Board meeting. I love these meetings! My fellow board members are such awesome people! Knight #1 was at youth group. Daddy dropped me off at my meeting first and then Knight #1 at his thing. Then he and the other to went back home for a while, during which time our neighbor stopped by and dropped off a flyer inviting us to a fall festival at her church. She told them that they are doing costumes.

Now our kids have never done costumes for halloween. Ever. So this will be a totally new experience for us! Knight #2 wants to be a robot, Maiden wants to be a princess and Knight #1 hasn't decided what he wants to be yet. I just told them that they may have to just choose from what is available. I will have to get pictures to post on here!

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These were all in my lesson today from "The Lord's Table"

Spurgeon wrote:

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I'm going to share this story in hopes that it will speak to and minister to someone. It is not especially easy for me to share, however I have found that complete openess and honesty are important elements to becoming free from the bondage to sin.

When I was single, I worked for a company that did multi-media shows in highschools etc. This was a Christian Company. This was my first job right out of college. While I was in training I met this guy who showed more than a casual interest in me. I was completely unaccustomed to having any guy show interest in me. He asked me out and we quickly became an item. I fell completely head over heals! We remained an item throughout our tours even though it was a "long distance" relationship. He was able to go visit my family and in turn I went to visit him in his hometown.

The problem was that he was who I though about all the time. I probably drove everyone around me crazy talking about him all the time. My Aunt finally pointed out to me that I had made him into an idol in my life. She was right. I had a relationship with Jesus, but I can honestly say that I spent more time thinking about this guy than I did about my Saviour.

Now fast forward several years. I was married to a wonderfully awesome man, not the guy whom I had idolized. I was in love with my husband and totally committed to him. However, I was also plagued by thoughts of this other guy and how things could have been different with him. I was terrified to tell all this to my husband. I thought that he might be hurt by it. But I just couldn't get this guy out of my mind.

Eventually I shared my struggle with my husband. Wow! It was like a huge weight had been lifted off me. I didn't feel like I was carrying a dark secret any longer. My hubby actually took it well and was encouraging to me. I thought I had finally broken free of the bondage to my sin of idolatry.

I would still have dreams about this other guy. It was also a temptation to fall back into thinking about him. We are talking YEARS after the relationship had ended! I would shove the thoughts out of my head and prayed that the Lord would keep me from dreaming about him.

Then one day several months ago I gave in to the temptation to look him up on Face Book. I told myself that I could handle just being friends. I just wanted to know how he was doing. I also wanted him to know that I am happily married and have 3 beautiful children. I know, totally selfish and self-deceiving!! It wasn't hard to find him and he was thrilled to hear from me. He told me that he had tried to find me on FB in the past. He also made a comment about "being a fool" not to marry me. Ack!! There went my mind going crazy over that one!

It turned out that he had only recently finally gotten married. And that was to a girl from India! In fact she'd had to go back to India to get her Visa papers all straightened out. You can imagine my thoughts of wondering if he had waited all those years to get married because he wasn't over me. I also began to start thinking again about how things could have been and even how things could possibly still work out for me and him. WHAT???? I would realize where my thoughts were leading me and try to put the breaks on them only to have them pop back in my head a few minutes later. I was going nuts and my hubby could tell that there was profound effect on me by being back in relationship with this guy. I had not kept it a secret from my husband that I was in contact with him.

Needless to say, my hubby was very uncomfortable with this arrangement. A dear friend of mine gave me Godly advice at this point, telling me that I should break off the relationship. So I took immediate action and deleted him from my friends list. Like I said, that was several months ago. This morning I was on FB and had a friend invitation. I looked at who it was and it was him. So I wrote him the following message and the IMed my best friend and my husband to ask them to pray for me!

I can't accept your request. The truth of the matter is, I thought I was completely "over" you. I told myself that I could handle being "just friends". However, when I tried that, I was plagued by thoughts of what could have been and what could yet possibly be.

I'm sorry that I dissapeared so suddenly like that. I was trying to do what I thought would be least painful for both me and maybe you. A dear friend in the Lord had counselled me to end the friendship so I took immediate action.

While I'm being so completely honest and transparent here, I want to share that I feel great embarrasement every time I think about how I went back to CA and told everyone that you had proposed to me while I was visiting you at your home. If you recall, you were getting ready to go overseas and feeling worried about going. You had asked me if I would go with you. I took that question quite literally and figured the only way the Army would allow me to go with you would be if we were married. What can I say? Except that I was young, stupid and blinded by love. I feel that I ran you off by those actions. But then perhaps it was the Lord's way of clearing the path for me to end up with John?

You need to know that I truely love my husband. I do feel that he is God's best for me. However, during the time while you and I were an item all those years ago, I had pretty much made you into an idol in my life. I didn't even realize I had done that until my Aunt pointed it out to me. I was completely head over heels. It has taken me years to break free of that.

I value my sanity, and my love for my Saviour too much to allow myself to return to that. I also value my marriage. My husband could see how I was affected by being back in relationship with you and it made him very uncomfortable.

I do hope you understand and will respect these things. I so wish that I could accept your invitation to be friends. I pray all the Lord's best for you.

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Colossians 2

⁸See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

    ⁹For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. ¹¹In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, ¹²having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

    ¹³When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

    ¹⁶Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. ¹⁷These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. ¹⁸Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. ¹⁹He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

    ²⁰Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: ²¹"Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? ²²These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. ²³Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

These verses go so perfectly with what I've been learning at The Lord's Table! There are a LOT of diets out there. There are a LOT of exercise programs out there. There are a lot of ideas and philosophies on how to loose weight. However ALL of them are rooted in self-love. None of them get to the root of the issue, our need for repentance and surrender to God! Praise God that He has spelled out even His plan for the way we should eat in His Word!!! What an awesome God we serve!!

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I'm down to 183!! Praise God!! My starting weight was 190. It is sooo exciting to see this working!! It's totally God! I'm also loving the fasting in spite of the suffering it entails. Or is it because of the suffering? It has brought a whole new dimension to my relationship with Jesus! I plan to continue regular fasting even after I finish this program.

Friends tell me that they find it hard to believe that I'm obese. But according to the charts and my height I am. I am praising God for showing me this program at the perfect time in my life to be able to accept the truths it is teaching me.

In The Lord's Table the lessons have been about repentance and what exactly that means. I can't believe I actually responded this way to one of the questions:

6. Are you escaping the trap? If so, do you see that God has granted you repentance? Explain a little about this repentance. Do you have it? If so, are you enjoying it? If not, will you seek God for it?
I haven't felt that mornful repentence for the way I've sinned with food yet. I will pray for it. I guess I'm feeling like I'm already experiencing victory over this. And to be bluntly honest, I don't feel that what I've dealt with was as bad as all that. I mean I didn't do many of the things described here. Didn't go from pizza place to icecream place to mexican place looking for comfort. Didn't plan my days around food. Yes there were many times when I wanted chocolate in the evening after the kids were in bed and I'd had a difficult day. Yes, I would continue to eat food I was enjoying long after I was already full. I'm not trying to minimize my sin, just saying that I don't think I was as devoted to food as all that. I do have the desire to turn completely away from the sin of overeating. And also not saying that I don't appreciate the lessons here. They have been sooo very encouraging to me!

I now realize that I was comparing myself to others rather than using God's standard as my guide. This is what I wrote the next day:

7. What are some ways you have minimized the sin of overeating in the past? Are you seeing the habit of overeating in a different light now?
I've read those passages on gluttony and knew that it is a sin. I was reluctant to call myself a glutton though. It is easy to compare my sin to that of others and say, "But I'm not as bad as that person". I did that just the other day in fact in one of my posts. I'm seeing again though that I need to be comparing myself to God's standard. Based on that, I'm just as bad as the worst glutton or worst murderer who ever lived. Ouch! That is a painful thing to admit!

I'm so glad that God didn't let me say in that place of Pharasaical self-righteousness!! What a dangerous place to be!

Here are my verses for today, I pray that they bless you as they did me!

Isaiah 33:² O LORD, be gracious to us;
       we long for you.
       Be our strength every morning,
       our salvation in time of distress.

    ³ At the thunder of your voice, the peoples flee;
       when you rise up, the nations scatter.

    ⁴ Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts;
       like a swarm of locusts men pounce on it.

    ⁵ The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high;
       he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.

    ⁶ He will be the sure foundation for your times,
       a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;
       the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.

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I need prayer today. Yesterday was a fast day for me in The Lord's Table. It was a tough one! Still need to read that e-book they provide! It's called, "A Hunger for God" and is about true fasting and what it should look like. I had a migraine yesterday as well. It was after 7 pm by the time I was able to truely break my fast. I was sooo hungry by then that I stumbled and went back for seconds even tho I'm sure I didn't need them.
 
Then last night I had horrible bad dreams one after another! I finally woke up enough to remember to quote Bible verses to myself to help get the dreams out of my head. Was so sleepy that I was having trouble remembering even verses I know by heart. My friend who is in Phase 2 suggested that the bad dreams were a result of my fast and toxins leaving my body. Makes a lot of sense!
 
What I need prayer for is today. After such a bad night, I'm really run down today. Keep feeling kind of dizzy and really out of it. I need to exercise, but just not sure if I have it in me today. Hubby told me to take it easy today and take cat naps in his recliner.

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On Monday I heard that the Holy Land Experience in Orlando was giving guests free admission for the day on Tuesday. www.holylandexperience.com I asked John if we could go. He asked his dad for the day off and his dad said that he could have it! I was sooo excited about getting to finally go there! I had been wanting to visit HLE since I had heard about it.

So yesterday we headed out from home and got to HLE around 12:30. There was traffic backed up and we saw people walking toward there on the sidewalk. When we got up to the gate it was blocked off and police were directing traffic on past there. We went up and made a U-turn then ended up parking at the Super Target up the road from HLE and started walking there. We were almost to the gates and there was a huge crowd of people standing there waiting to get in when John said, "Let's just forget it." Maiden was having a HUGE drama fit because her shoes were hurting her feet. We walked all the way back to the car with her drama going on. I must admit that I had a really rotten attitude at this point. I was disgusted with the way my daughter was acting and I was extremely dissapointed at not getting to go to the Holy Land Experience. I was blaming Maiden for keeping us from going. I was NOT happy with her. At this point we didn't know that they were turning people away because of the crowds!

Then we decided to go visit Downtown Disney and check out the Lego Store. While we were there Maiden's feet "magically healed"! Actually, they were still hurting she said, but she had realized that she didn't have to make the whole world aware of how much she was hurting. I told her that she had just learned a very important life lesson. Can you tell, I had been praying silently about my attitude and sharing my dissapointment with the Lord??

We ended up having a lot of fun at the Lego store. Knight #2 kept saying, "This place is the BOMB!!!" It was so funny! When we first walked in, I thought he was going to hyperventilate, he was sooooo excited! The Lego Store had a deal where you could fill a small or large cup from different bens of legos. I think it was like $14 for the big cup and $7 for the small cups. We let each of the kids fill a small cup to take home. They had soooo much fun filling those cups! I was having fun helping them choose different legos. One of the guys who worked there showed Maiden how to build a lego tree. She had already decided that she wanted to get legos to build a garden. Knight #2 got legos to build a ship I think and Knight #1 got ones to make a crystal mine.

Later we went to a Pizza Hut in Orlando for dinner and the News was on the TV there. The news was covering the story about the Holy Land Experience and how people were being turned away. Apparently they gave out a lot of rain checks! Also, some people were allowed in as other people left. It was really too hot to be there yesterday anyway. On the same newscast we saw that the feels like temp in Orlando yesterday was 100! It sure felt all of that! It did turn out to be a pretty decent day though and we are hoping to try the Holy Land Experience again sometime when it is not so hot out or so crowded there!

Also, I had a couple of victories yesterday in my learning how to honor the Lord with my eating habits. We went to Giradelli's (chocolate!!!) after we left the Lego Store. My hubby had told me that I could get a treat from there since the kids got legos. I felt bad about getting a treat when no one else was getting one though so I said, "No, thank you"  I'm still in shock at myself! We did each get a little square of chocolate from there because they were handing out samples.

Then later when we went to Pizza Hut. I ordered a Ceasar side salad and had only one slice of pizza. In the past I would have thought nothing of scarfing down 3 or more slices even if I was already full!

Walking toward HLE. Had to cross an overpass going over the Interstate!

In Downtown Disney parking lot.

All these dogs, leashes and people, (except for my kids!) are made of legos! Well, maybe my kids are too! LOL

I was trying to capture the look of total awe when he walked in!

Even daddy was excited!

Maiden being silly! Knight #2 with his standard pose, "Peace-out, dude!"

Knight #1 will try to defeat it!

Want a ride on the Millineum Falcon?? Lego version?

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Or you could visit the lego Ewok village!

Knight #2 having a moment with the Lego robot/sword guy. It is simply amazing all the things you can do with those little blocks!

The wall of lego bens they got to select legos from!

Maiden with her lego tree!

A whole wall of Mini Figs!! Knight #2 wanted to know if there was a Darth Vadar amoung them! I dare say there must have been!

This is a lego dragon actually in the water!

Yes, we were tired!

Playing with the legos after we got home! That is a water fountain in the middle! Knight #2's contribution. I even jumped in and helped Maiden with her garden. Knight #1 was at youth group. He was so glad that we was still able to go even after all we did!

Can you see the little switches and timer for the sprinklers in Maiden's garden?

That is my webkiz elephant there! Isn't she sooo cute! Oh and the kids are cute too! LOL The wilted roses are what my hubby got me for my birthday last Monday!

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This is one of my questions from my "Lord's Table" lesson today:

11. Please take a moment to tell us how you are doing today. Did you learn anything new, or were you reminded of any vital truth that will help you?
Last night I was hungry when I went to bed. I had been hungry all evening. I realize now that I should have pulled out my Bible and spent time in the Word. I did keep reminding myself of verses. I kept having thoughts like, "I'm getting so tired of being hungry all the time!" I tried not to dwell on those thoughts, but to dismiss them by reminding myself how I am growing in Christ. The Lord has shown me some awesome truths this past week which I believe I never would have seen except for my obedience in fasting and being willing to deny my flesh.

Here are a couple of the truths that God has taught me this past week:

It is encouraging to think about how feeding on Christ can satify my soul far more than food can ever satisfy my body. I want my spirit to become stronger than my flesh so that my spirit can win the daily battles to do what is right. If this means I must starve my flesh then so be it! I've never thought of it this way before! Romans 7 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me..... 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Suddenly seeing the idea of suffering with Christ in a totally different light! I always thought of it as being willing to endure persecutions and it certainly has much to do with that. But I'm realizing that it also has to do with a daily conscious decision to deny my flesh in very practical ways.

I guess that's all for today! Time to start school with these young'uns of mine!!

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I'm going to make an even greater effort to post on here at least once a week for the sake of my Aunt who is in Peru.  I am soo excited about the possibility of her coming to visit the end of December beginning of January. It may be a very short visit, but I'll take what we can get!

We have been working thru Prairie Primer and loving it! We have already read "Little House in the Big Woods" and are now in "Little House on the Prairie". One day after reading we pulled out our copy of the movie premier of the TV show. It was fun to watch that and allow it to fill in some of the gaps that my kids had in their understanding of the book. For instance, Knight #2 saw Pa pull out his fiddle in the movie and asked, "What's that??" I was able to tell him that it was his fiddle. Not real sure what Knight #2 thought a fiddle was before that.

At first the kids didn't really care to be read to. Now they beg me to read more chapters than or lesson calls for. I'm loving the wonderful opportunities for reinforcing good character that the Little House books provide.

I'm feeling anxious to move Knigth #1 along in his study of math. Well, not just him but the other two as well. I may read ahead in the Math It stuff and see about how to get him going with multiplication. In the meantime I'm thinking they should add a new set of tiles to what they are practicing each day or two.

In the department of weight loss, I have started a whole new adventure! A friend of mine has been doing this program since the beginning of the summer. I asked her about it and have started it for myself. It is at www.settingcaptivesfree.com and is called "The Lord's Table". I love that it is all about learning to honor the Lord with how I eat and not so much focusing on loosing weight. I have a mentor who stays in contact with me via e-mail and I do daily lessons. The lessons are saturated in scripture. They have two eating plans that are both optional but which facilitate learning how to have a healthy diet. The one I am doing consists of 2 liquids days, 2 half-portion days, 2 normal days, and 1 fast day a week. It is a 60 day course and I have completed my first week.  I've already learned so much just in this first week! Oh, and did I mention that this program is totally FREE???

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We had another wonderful day with the kids. The same 3 girls came in addition to our children. It has been such a pleasure getting to know these girls. Litte J is such a well behaved 4 year old. I'm also impressed with the maturity and love for the Lord of the two teen girls.

We talked about Ruth today, and how she was willing to be rejected and go to a place where she didn't know anyone and didn't even speak the same language perhaps. She did all this to help Naomi and because she wanted to serve Naomi's God. No doubt, she saw the emptiness of her own gods compared with the one true living God.

We then reviewed our Bible verses and learned the last one for the week. The rest of the week we will spend reviewing all 3 verses. We ended up by putting together a puzzle of one of our verses. The kids had fun with that. Some how we started talking about music and then we pulled up the song we were thinking of on youtube. So we spent some time listening to Christian Bands (Kutlas, Newsboys) and praising God together.  I think this especially ministered to the teen girls, I know it did to me!

We didn't get to spend much time outside today because we were driven inside by thunder! We are getting a deluge as I type. I better get off here now.

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I am so sorry! I have been sooo bad about keeping up with this! Hear is an update! My dear sweet neighbor/friend and I have spent the last 2 weeks preparing to host a 5 Day Bible Club at her house. We started yesterday. Our hope was that many of the kids that don't go to church from our neighborhood would come and we could share the gospel with them. Apparently, God had other plans because He has brought kids that are in church, in addition to our own kids. We are using the opportunity to help them build a deeper relationship with their Saviour. The past two days we had a middle school age girl and her best friend show up. They also brought along a little friend who is 4 years old. She is so sweet and cute! Today the middle school age girl's brother showed up. We had such a nice time with them all.

It is becoming very apparent that God has plans for my kids this school year as well! As I prayed about what curriculum to use this year, He has led me to several "Character-building" ones! We will be using "The Prairie Primer" which is a Unit Study based on the Little House on the Prairie Books. She even has us working through a book of our choosing on manners!! Awesome!

My kids are in need of re-covering the basics in math. So we are going to be using a combination of Math It and CalcuLadder. Math It is an old classic homeschool curriculum. It teaches kids how to use math tricks to get the correct answer. CalcuLadder gives daily practice in math facts. On the front of the CalcuLadder Manual it says, "Character-building". Hmmm where have I seen that before???

As if that were not enough, last night my hubby decided that it was time to get rid of our TV cable. He decided not to attach our TV antenna, therefore we also have no TV reception! I couldn't have been more thrilled!!!! He did this because he was sick of the attitudes in our kids and their lack of willingness to help around the house. He also told them that if he continues to see issues then he will also get rid of the Wii and Xbox and their computer! Yippee!!! My kids were mortified! We are trying to hammer in to them that all these things are privilages, NOT inalienable rights!

But do you see the pattern here??? I have a feeling that my kids and I are in for a tough school year! But if we can stick with it, then the results will be well worth it!!

One of the verses we are learning this week applies perfectly here: Galations 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

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Isaiah 5:3-5 "And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down." Lord, I praise You that You love each one of us soooo much that You have done every thing You could to bring us to Yourself! Thank You for the walls and boundaries You have put up around me! May I never become a wild grape! Help me to always be a good grape for You!! Amen!