We are looking forward to having company this Easter Weekend.  I have 2 Aunts that are coming to stay a couple of days.  Both are recently widows.  Both need to feel God's peace wash over them.  Both need to accept the gift of salvation that is so free.    Since finding out that they were coming, the girls and I have been praying for new ways to reach them.  JJ's heart is so tender and has such a heart for the Lord.   She is thinking of ways to witness to them without being 'pushy'.   

I am so thankful to be able to celebrate Easter as a Christian.  I have a hard time getting my mind wrapped around what Jesus willingly went through for my sins.     I am so thankful for the gift of salvation.   If I never received another blessing from God, the gift of salvation if enough to cause me to praise his name forever. 

The girls and I have been practicing with the church choir for the Easter Contada.  We have had so much fun.  It has been wonderful to sign praises to God and focus on the resurrection for the last 3 months.  May God be glorified this weekend.

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

We are back home after a very wonderful week at my parents house in Michigan.  It was so relaxing and just soothing for the body and mind. 

This week, we are busy trying to get back to our schedule and to get the house back to its "disorganized", pre-trip condition.  I wish that it would move to organized on a daily basis, but for now the pre-trip status will have to be our goal.  ;-)

Lest you think that the house is a pig's pen.  It is not that bad, Flylady has help A LOT the last year, but I have not reached my goal of having the house in a company-ready state at most times.  I am not striving for perfect, just ready for company at a monents notice.  Not that anyone stops by anyway, ;-)   

Julie and Paige,  you guys are welcome to drop in anytime.  (HINT, HINT)   Julie, it is only 12 hours, not to bad.  ;-) 

Well, break time is over.

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I have two books that I currently reading.

"Created to Be His Help Meet" by Debi Pearl.  This is a great book.  It goes against the grain and not always easy to hear, but God has used this book to change me and I am not even half way through it.

The second book is "So You're Thinking About Homeschooling"  by Lisa Whelchel.  I read this book long time ago.  I saw it at the library and decided to check it out again.  It is an easy and fun read.    I was not doubting my decision to homeschool - I really love it -- but it is fun to read other peoples reasons and approach to homeschooling.

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

My oldest daughter started a blog a couple weeks ago.  She started jjsblog here at homeschoolblogger.  It  is good practice typing and writing.

Then my other daughter wanted a blog.  She just typed her first entry at ponyexpress.

All this excitement of having a blog has affected my son also.  He wanted a blog since JJ got her blog.  Last night, he finally talked me into it.  His blog is joshuasblog.

It is so cute to see how excited the kids are over having blogs. 

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

This week we took a field trip with our co-op group to the apple orchard.  It was fun, but it was the second year in a row.  We will be taking next year off from the apple orchard.

That is about all that has happened here.  ;-)

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Modest dress is important to me.  The girls and I have had many conversation about why we do and don't wear certain things.   My main problem is with women in the church that are wearing dresses and blouses cut way open.    I don't feel that we have to wear dresses all the time, but I feel that it is important to have certain body areas covered.

 I love the new church that we are attending and we feel that God is led us to this church.    The problem is a woman (just one) that always has a lot of cleavage showing.  She is the woman that leads the singing so she spends a lot of time in front.   I feel that she is used by Satan to distract from the worship song with most everything she has showing (maybe that is too harsh).     I have not seen anyone else dress this way at this church.

Because we are new to the church and because she is related to half the people attending, I don't have any idea what to do.    Is it my job to approach the subject with her?    I don't even know how to go about it.  I am praying that God would solve the problem or show me if I show take action.   I avoid conflict at all cost, but this bothering me a great deal.  I feel strongly that she is not obeying God with her way for dress.  She is raising young boys that don't need to see so much.  Plus she is a children's church teacher sometimes.  Not the role model that I want for the young girls.    

My husband doesn't seem to be as bothered by this as I am.  Is this a woman to woman issue or do I stay under the leadership of my husband and not make waves?  My husband doesn't have an option about this, so I would not be going against his wishes either way.

Any comments or thoughts about this would be appreciated.  It is after 2 am, I have no idea why I am still up.  I did enjoy reading many blogs tonight.  ;-)

Praying for God's direction,

Kerry 

• Comments (3) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Sunday night was a night of great blessing.   

The pastor talked about prayer.   When we pray, we must have faith and we must not have doubt.   Doubt is from Satan.  He asked us, how many times have we said something like, "we want the church to grow, but... or  how often to we think that something is beyond hope  or that the person would never accept Christ.  

I know that I pray for things, but in I mind I "know" it couldn't / wouldn't happen.  I realized that I have a lot of doubt about things that I just can't see possible, humanly speaking.

After being convicted during the service, my mind was spinning.  The pastor wanted to close the service with a prayer meeting.  He asked for volenteers to pray out loud.   Several men volenteered and our little Jessica raised her hand.   

Honestly, my first thought was what was she going to say.   God reminded me that she was praying to him, so her grammer, correct speaking, too quiet (or any of my other thoughts) didn't matter.  I was able to join in and concentrate on the other prayers being spoken before Jessica.

When Jessica's turn came, she spoke with the voice of an angel.  God was smiling huge as he listened to a small child approach his thone with her heart full of love for her Lord.  I had tears running down my face (and I do now also) when I realized that I had nothing to prove to anyone.  It was not about me.  She has a very tender heart for Lord and I pray that I will not stand in the way of it because of my fears, pride or other sinful problems.  Lord, thank you for letting me experience this moment when my baby entered your presence with her prayers.  

After the service,  my 2 girls joined the choir with me.  They are both so excited to be in the choir.  How wonderful to have my 2 girls singing beside me.

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Today, our son found out that we are storing away money for a college fund for each kid.    There is hardly any money worth speaking about in these funds, but we try. 

Anyway, today our four year old says, "I am so excited that I have money for college."   I almost fell over laughing.  He was so serious.  He then looked at me and said, "Mommy, please don't laugh at me."  Then I felt bad for hurting his feelings.   He has such a hunger for learning.  My husband is working on his masters right now, so we often talk about college around here.    Our little 4 year old sponge is not missing a thing.  I just we had better start adding more money to the college fund.   

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I am very thankful for my husband.   Somedays he may not feel as appreciated as he should, but I will work on that.

He used to travel a lot for business.  Since moving to SC, he is only gone a couple nights a year.   That is so much better than week after week of traveling and he would only be home on the weekends.  We accepted it because he had to for the job.   

I had (still have), I very special friend that would call me every single day while my husband was gone to make sure that we were doing okay.  Those phone calls meant the world to me.  She will never know the days that her phone call was the only bright spot in the day.   Having a newborn, toddler and preschool, with no family nearby, was pretty hard.

Anyway,  back to my husband being gone....   He is away from home tonight.  The first time this year so I can't complain.  And he will be home tomorrow.

I am really missing him tonight.  He adds laughter to our home (yeah, I am the boring one).  Josh was all bummed out that I would be the only one tucking him into bed tonight.    I let them have cookies right before bed just so they wouldn't miss Dad to much.  ;-)  Of course, they did brush after the cookies, just so they wouldn't think I was gone also. ;-)

After the kids were tucked in bed, it got pretty quiet around here.  It is very dark and quiet way out here in the country.   I am amazed at the amount of security that I feel just by having my husband here.     I am a little more nervous about noises and such without my husband here. 

Well,  I guess I will head to bed.   I will remember to tell my husband how much I appreciate him when he gets home tomorrow.  I guess I need to be reminded once and a while.

Thanks for stopping by,
Kerry

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Sometimes life can be so difficult.  From major problems to very minor problems, they can cause difficulties that I would rather avoid.

But, without struggles, there would be little growth.  I am reminded of the pearl in the oyster story.  Without the irritation of the sand, we would never get the pearl.    Life's problems cause us to lean on God much more than we ever would without the struggle.    I am praying that God's strength and direction would be the source of my joy today.

Kerry

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I have had a terrible headache for two days.  I am amazed at how capable my girls are at helping when I am down.  They are able to get breakfast (cereal) and lunch (sandwiches) on the table for themselves and their brother.    I am thankful that they are so willing to help.

We even got school done today.  I don't know how, it was a gift from God.  The kids really buckled down and got it done in less time and with more breaks (for me) then normal.  Praise God.  Since we took last week off because the kids were not felling well,  I really wanted to get back to school today.

Another praise, is that my husband caught and got rid of the mouse that was eating the chicken feed in the shed.  I am glad that I didn't have to do it. 

Until next time,

Kerry

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

My husband took the kids to town to go out for breakfast and to buy birthday presents (my birthday is Wednesday).  I am so much enjoying the peace and quiet.    My husband has blessed me by spending time with the kids and giving me this time to relax.

I have so much that I want to do, but I don't know where to begin.  Getting off the computer is my first step.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Today, I am thankful for the friends that God has added to my life.  This morning, we got invited over to a new friend's house.  I met her at the library.  Her and her husband, moved here only 6 months before us.  They are from Ohio - that is almost the same as being from Michigan ;-).

This evening, we were able to go visit our previous landlord.  They have a daughter that this the same age as our oldest.  She was the first friend for our kids and they spent a lot of time together during our first 1 1/2 years here.    I had a very nice visit with them while the kids played together.  What a great blessing it was to be renting a house from a family that loved the Lord so dearly and they had a daughter the same age. 

The day was filled with a lot of laughter at both places for me.  How great is the Lord to give us friends.

I have never been one to enjoy a large crowd, but I truly treasure the one-on-one friendships that God has granted to me.    I have a very dear friend in MI that is struggling so much right now.  Julie, I am praying for you.    I miss all the time that we spent together.

I have also been blessed with meeting a MFW homeschooling family in NC.   Paige,  you have been a great blessing to me.  I enjoy our time together so much.   I wish you lived closer.  The kids wish you did too.

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I have had very little to blog about the past year.  I never really decided on a theme or purpose for my blog.   Our school days leave very little to blog about.  I love My Father's World curriculum and we are enjoying Exploring Countries and Cultures this year.  I feel blessed that God lead us to this curriculum.  But, on a day to day basis, I don't have much to say.

In my personal life, the past year has been a year with some heavy struggles.   I have grown closer to God through these struggles.  But, they were way to personal to share on such a public blog.  These were the kind of struggles that you share with a close friend (while sharing coffee and chocolate), knowing that crying together and prayer together would be healing.

So, my problem was that I had nothing to say that was interesting and at the same time not to personal.  This led me to ignore my blog. 

Last night while unable to sleep, I had a new idea for my blog.  I am going to share about the blessings that God has added to my life.  This will help me to remember to look for things to be thankful about each day  and I will have something to say most days.   

My idea for this came from this blog: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ourquiverfull.    (If the link doesn't work, click on jkestes in my friends list.)

They have a very sick little boy and yet they have made it a practice to end each blog with something they are thankful for.   If they can be thankful while in the hospital with a very sick little boy, then I certainly can be more thankful at home with my healthy family.   

My other thought was that God want us to remember how he cares and provides for us.  We are to tell our children of the ways that God provides.  God likes to have us look back and remember his faithfulness.  I am going to start recording God's faithful to me.  Starting today.

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Today was our 3rd meeting of co-op.  It is a new co-op that just started this fall.   We feel blessed to be a part of it.      The kids are really enjoying it and looking forward to it.   Thinking about the path that God lead me on to find this co-op makes me smile.     I saw God's hand at work.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

We are in the middle of our 5th week of ECC.  It has been so much fun so far.   We started school before we started all our activities for the Fall.  

Finding a routine is so hard for me.   I get credit for being spontanous and flexible.  Hah!  If they only knew that being SO unorganized allows me to be 'flexible'.  We had finally gotten into a working routine for school.    We were at least getting school done each day.   All that changed this past week.

Tuesday night, Julia went to her first gymnastics class.   On Wednesday, Jessica has her 2nd ballet class.   Thursday morning, we had our 2nd week of co-op.   By Friday, we had lost our momentum and it was a Monday all over again.   On Mondays, we always struggle to get the feel of the routine again.  Now, we are doing that twice a week.  Ugh!  

Today, the kids had a lot of fun flying some airplanes that Dad had picked up for them.  They spent most of the day decorating them and flying them.   I threw Joshua's plane once and it hit him on top of the head.  He was not happy and I was not invited to play with them again.  But, they did let me watch and take pictures. 

I found this picture slide on another blog and I love it.  I will try to keep recent pictures in it.   It is fun to play with.  Since I can't seem to upload more than 1 picture to my blog because of space issues, I will have fun using this.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

We have completed two weeks of school.  We started really slow, with several half days the first week.  We are doing ECC (Exploring Countries and Cultures) by My Father's World.  We are loving it so far.   We loved My Father's World last year so I expect similiar results this year.

We finally got some much needed rain today.   It was so much fun to play out in the rain.  We had a great time getting all wet and muddy.

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

It has been so long since I posted anything.  For a while, I had nothing new to post, then so many things happened at one time that I didn't know where to begin.  This will be a short summary post.

We purchased a home in South Carolina and moved from the rental house.  God blessed us with a nice, little house on 5.5 acres.   God is allowing us to move toward the farm that we are dreaming of.    Our six year old dd is asking God every day for a horse.  Getting a horse is no problem, building the fence to keep the horse is the problem.   We will think about doing something after the temperature goes below 90.  These days over 100 degrees are turning my brain to mush and making us lazy.

We finished My Father's World 1st grade and Adventures (2nd grade).  We loved both grades.   We are soon going to start My Father's World ECC.  We are looking forward to a year of learning world geography. 

Our first animals on our new farm (besides the dog and cat that we already had) is 11 baby chicks.  It is a long story, but at a farmer's market in Michigan we were given 11 baby chicks.  We didn't know that breed or even how old they were.   We put them in the dog crate and brought them down from Michigan to our house in South Carolina.   While trying to get them water in a hotel parking lot, two of them escaped and the girls were chasing them around and under the van.  The girls did catch them without much trouble.  It is a lot funny when we remember it now then it was that night.   We have had them 2 months now.    The kids love carring them around and caring for them.

Until next time,

Kerry

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

My dryer has not been drying correctly lately.  I was commenting to my husband that I have to run the dryer at least twice to dry a load.    Today, I decided to pull the dryer out and clean the lint hose.  We have had the dryer a year and it is probably time.

I pulled the dryer out and climbed back behind it.  Pulled the hose off the dryer.  And stuck my hand in the vent.  I hit something that was rather hard (I was expecting a handful of soft lint).  Not being able to see into the hose and not knowing what creature maybe lucking inside, it scared me and I ran the hose outside as fast as I could.  Funny how it took a lot less time to get out from behind the dryer than it took to get back there.  ;-)

Outside, it was discovered that a bird had built a nest and layed her eggs inside my dryer vent hose.  The kids loved it.  I hated to destroy all the hard work that the bird did building the nest, but the eggs had been bounced out of the nest by the time that I got it outside.  Also, I realized that when the bird came back for the nest, she would be flying straight into the house instead of into the dryer vent hose.  Needless to say, we cleaned out the dryer vent hose and the dryer is back in working order.

• Comments (6) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I can't believe how much time has past since I added anything to my blog. 

For the most part, I didn't have anything great to write about.  I am had several months of just being a wife and mom.  I love my job, but I think that it would be boring to read about.  ;-)    Also, my husband went back to school online so the computer is being used almost every night by him.   This really limits my computer time, which is something I wanted to start doing anyway.

God's timing is so prefect.  Just this week, I came across a ladies blog that mentioned they were starting a co-op at a church here in Gaffney.  I emailed her and found out there were only 7 spaces left.  We took three of those spaces.  Starting September, we will be part of a co-op here in town.  We have yet to meet any homeschooler that lives within a hour of us, so we are pretty excited.  We are simply people that get excited with little things.  ;-)

Well, I have a math lesson that I have to teach before school is done, so I had better get off the computer. 

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link