This is just a blog about everyday life, be it home school struggles, health concerns, family, friends, Church, animals, homemaking, or my random thoughts, etc.... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:31:00 -0600 Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:31:00 -0600 Thought I would post this here, as I have been neglecting my blog... I wrote this on another blog in the comments: Sundays: We go to worship service, and either come home and eat lunch, or go out if we need to be in town for some reason. I love Sundays that are not filled with busyness and noise. I really love to have a quiet house, and and take a nap, either on the couch, or in bed, snuggled under the covers. Or, if it is nice out, maybe go for a walk, ALONE, and enjoy the peacefulness that comes when enjoying the great outdoors and all of HIS creation, noisy or not. There is something calming in hearing distant sounds of hogs at feeding time, dogs barking, birds singing, leaves rustling in the breeze, kids playing outside, the sound of my breathing, and the sound of my own feet hitting the pavement. There is a sense of connectedness to GOD and HIS creation that comes with the smell of fresh cut hay, or even natural fertilizer, the sight of fluffy white clouds against a blue sky, hawks gliding down to catch some prey, butterflies fluttering, cats stalking insects, the sweet scent of honeysuckle in the air...and the list could go on.....it speaks to me...it says, "you are a part of this! YOU are fearfully and wonderfully made!"    :) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/662611/ Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:31:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/662611/ I am neglectful.......I have been sidetracked by facebook! I do hope to get back to my blog again, soon! We have SNOW here, DD finally got to go sledding yesterday, and has plans to go again today!  Yay! I think I will make her some banana drop cookies, since I have three over ripe bananas. Have a great day! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/651969/ Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:04:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/651969/ Whew! Who wants to continue reading after that title!? LOL ICKY SICK: Friday, I was sick. Icky sick. I vomited. Worthless all day long and and did not sleep good that night. (had a headache/backache and stuffy/runny nose all night) Bless my daughter's heart, while I lay in bed, she spent at least an hour and a half on the phone with her cousin, cleaning. Yep....they were phone cleaning buddies. They were racing to each clean two rooms in their home. The living room and kitchen looked so nice! I have a friend who is my phone cleaning buddy. Yep....we strap that phone to our heads...and clean while we chat. It must be on my cell phone, though, because I can "headband it" to my head....and I have free mobile to mobile....so, if we have time...we can get a lot done. Come on, admit it, who else has a phone cleaning buddy? I told my girlfriend about my dd and her cousin, and she replied, "Awe, they're mini us"!  roflol! Saturday I felt pretty good...a little stuffy, but not bad. I cleaned the bathtub and toilet, and washed the sheets off the bed, and did a load or two of wash. Sunday, I was miserable...stuffy runny all day, and into the night.....took Alka Seltzer cold plus, rubbed vicks on my nose, and sucked a halls while blogging. CONTENTMENT/DISCONTENMENT: That topic has been on my mind for various reasons lately. Our Sunday School Teacher has asked what would we ladies would like to study on. She will do an online Bible study via Youtube. This was MY response that I commented her: "As far as something "I" would be interested in studying....what about contentment/discontentment? Is discontentment a sin? I don't "think" I am discontent, at least not for very long, or too often, or not about big things. I don't dwell on things, ya know? But I was JUST thinking about it as I was reading a family member's blog. A cousin of mine and his wife have regular date nights, and just for 2 seconds I allowed myself to think, "I wish we did that", but that is not who my hubby is. A date night with him would be helping him when he cuts wood. I'm fine with not having date nights. :) I KNOW he loves me. I have to say I am pretty well content, but what causes discontentment in our lives? Is it because in that moment we are "self-focused", not getting what we want, WHEN we want it? What are some of the consequences of discontentment found in the Bible?" ------------------------------------------- I talked to my mom a little about this. Read her blog post here. Now, if my mom can be content, I (and anyone of us) can surely be content, in any situation. (you would have to know her husband) He did not change, not in the ways she would have liked. But GOD changed her heart, and gave her peace. So I was thinking while laying in bed tonight (really last night...look at the time, but you kwim) again about what causes discontentment. I asked the question do we get discontent when we don't get our way, and I guess that is a part of it. But deeper than that is, we are discontent when our needs (or perceived needs) are not being met. (or met to our own carnal satisfaction) Who cares for us? Who clothes us? Who sacrificed his life for ours? Who feeds us? Who knows our worth? Who knows our heart's desires? Who is the Alpha and the Omega? Who is creator of all, and LORD of Lords, KING of Kings? Does HE not know best? I think sometimes in all our discontent, (whining, wishing, tantrum throwing, pouting...etc) we are "stuck in the wilderness" of what ever situation we are unhappy with. If we would all just be still, and know that I He is GOD, and cast all our cares upon him, and let HIM truly deal with the situation in his time, we will be content. Just remember how long the Israelites had to "wander in the wilderness", before they reached "the promised land". We may be in "our wilderness" for awhile......so what are we gonna do? Are we going to decide to be happy any way, or are we going to keep whining, wishing, tantrum throwing, pouting...etc, and maybe perhaps PROLONG our journey to the "promised land?" --------------------------------------------------------------- Okay...so I turned out to be long winded......I will have to continue another day...I really must get some sleep....can't breathe laying down....so I have been at the computer...not to mention that I when I DID go to sleep...my dd was being "icky sick" at 11:30, then again at 1:00. My poor kid. I gave it to her. She asked me to make it go away.....even though she knows I can't. But I did pray for her. You all say one too? I will try to get to my selfishness another day....(note to self-it involves my basic needs being met when a child, and who met them--love, food, shelter, emotional security...)  Thanks~ C. Lynn http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/635238/ Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:32:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/635238/ Anyone here read Have a New Kid by Friday by Dr. Kevin Leman? No matter what the age of your child, it is a good book to read....and anyone can learn from it. There are a lot of great points in the book, and it is directed at changing your child's behavior by changing YOURS. Bt teaching you how to respond rather than react. You will have to read it for yourself...but I did want to share just these few thoughts with you. In the book, he (Dr. Leman) asks, "what is the atmosphere like in your house?" Is an angry person in control? A person can be loudly angry, or quietly angry. Either way, you know the person is angry, because they WANT you to know they are angry. Anger is an ACTIVE choice to control someone else. It is projecting your thoughts and emotions onto another person in an attempt to change their behavior." (doesn't usually work, by the way, and if it does get your way, the others WILL resent you for it, sooner or later) Now in the book he is talking about children using anger as a way to get their way, and it puts them in the "driver's seat" in their home.Without it, they don't have the control they crave, so the create a temper tantrum that says, "Pay attention to ME!" How many of us as adults do the same thing? Oh, we may not throw a screaming fit, but others DO know we are angry, don't they? Anger is not always bad. I heard a radio sermon once on the different types of anger. I can't recall them all, but the point the preacher was making that we need to be careful of certain kinds of anger. Jesus was certainly in the right in his anger with the money changers. (I wish I could recall the types of anger, or even the name of the preacher) Dr. Leman states in his book, it is not the anger that is wrong, it is HOW the anger is handled that is wrong or right. We can react, (blow up, have a hissy, pitch a fit...you get the picture), or we can respond...(remain calm, remain calm, remain calm, and talk about it) Remaining calm, and teaching your child to use "I" feel this way or that when this or that happens, instead of using "you" jerk, look what you did!" Using "I" statements focuses on how your child feels about what is happening, rather than pointing an accusing finger at someone else. I don't know about you, but that is hard for ME to do, and I am (almost) 39. sigh..... Anyway, I think I went rambling....here is the countdown for what Dr. Leman calls "funday" (Friday), and I think that it is just common sense parenting, and may have some carryover into other relationships as well. (not saying we should treat other adults like kids) 10)Be 100 percent consistent in your behavior. 9)Always follow through on what you say you will do. 8)Respond, don't react. 7)Count to 10 and ask, "what would my old self do in this situation? What should the new me do?" 6)Never threaten your kids ("if you don't stop pulling your sibling's hair, I'm gonna...") 5)Never get angry (yes, kids push our buttons, but we are the  adults in the situation, and we decide when we get angry) If we get angry, an explosion of anger is like throwing up all over your child. (I so love that analogy) 4)Don't give ANY warnings (that's right-goes right along with not threatening) 3)Ask yourself, whose problem is this?<since it had been awhile since I drafted this post, I am not even sure what the point was to that, but I was tired when I wrote it-sorry) 2)Don't think the misbehavior will go away. (don't ignore it) 1)Keep a happy face on, even when you want to do something else. (like "throw up all over your kids" / It doesn't mean you have to actually BE happy....lol) Anyway....maybe someone out there could make some sense of my bedtime ramblings. Blessings~ C. Lynn http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/631165/ Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:24:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/631165/ Morning ladies! (and any gents) My Sunday School teacher, (who is very thorough) held a women's Bible study at her home, which I was able to attend. It was titled "A Fresh Revelation of Christmas." She has posted a "listener's guide" on the Sunday School Blog, and there is a link to the left where you can listen to her at Gabcast. It is about a 23 minutes recording. Very Good....go check it out when you have time. (On dial up, I have to click play, turn on the mute, let it finish loading , the turn the sound back on, and click replay) A Fresh Revelation of Christmas Have a blessed day and may you learn something new!! ~Lynn http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/630333/ Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:04:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/630333/ I will not have more lab work done until February. So that makes four months in a row. I would actually like to keep having it done monthly, for at least the first 6 months....but I have trusted GOD thus far, so I guess I will just TRY not to worry or be anxious.   :) Sorry this has to be short today, and I just feel terrible about not posting in a MONTH! But, this has been a busy time of year, and really has me worn out. I get tired. So I just do not spend much time online anymore. If I do not get back on to blog before Christmas, ya'll have a merry one!!! Will try and get pictures on here some time.....(dukygirl...I will get back with you later....thanks for the offer-you r sweet) Blessings~Lynn http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/628350/ Fri, 5 Dec 2008 09:42:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/628350/ Yay! Good news/bad news! Good news: I got a digital camera! Bad news....I have windows 98.... hmmm.... Do I just go buy a newer version and install it on my computer, or do I have to "uninstall" the 98 version? Thanks....I will blog when I can...and maybe get some pics up sometime before the end of the year! lol Blessings~Lynn http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/614261/ Tue, 4 Nov 2008 08:43:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/614261/ Ladies, (and any gents) would you mind stopping by this BLOG, and check it out. Leave a comment if you would like. Thanks! Have a great Sunday! ~Lynn http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/606896/ Sun, 19 Oct 2008 08:30:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/606896/ While reading blogs this morning, I found THIS POST BY MRS. DANI Folks, we need to spread the word, and make people aware, and if you all know anyone in CA, make sure they know about this!!! Here is the LINK to the news article itself. Might as well post another news link while I'm at it.... OBAMA SAID WHAT!? Meanwhile, Barack Obama said he needed to correct some misconceptions about his background. "I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-el, to save the Planet Earth," he said, in a reference to Superman. He also listed his great strength as "my humility" and his greatest weakness as being "a little too awesome". http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/606064/ Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:12:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/606064/ By reluctant reader, I mean a child that does NOT like to read. At all. My dd read the first book in The Island series, (Shipwreck) over a year ago, and just recently read it again, along with the second book, "Survival", and neither one did she want to put down. (I read them, too) She read them non-stop! We own the first one, and got the second from the library, and have the third on request, and are eagerly awaiting it. I would like to read some of his other books, to see if  they are something she would like, and of course, are not inappropriate. I know a lot of kids like the Chronicles of Narnia, but my girl didn't like them. (She liked the movie, just not reading the book-neither did I) We don't "do" H.P. I just can't bring myself to read them. Have any of you heard of the Code bearers series? You can actually read the first book online, FREE! The authors are brothers who were home schooled, how cool is that? Check out their OFFICIAL WEBSITE. Well, I am off for a busy day...the breakfast casserole was pretty good, but I would have liked it better with not as much green peppers, and maybe bacon instead of the Italian sausage I used. We have a lot of it leftover. (It used 12 eggs-so this would be great for large families, or company) I have got to make my bed, clean up in kitchen a little, shower, run an errand or two, babysit for a friend, go visit with other hs moms, (in other words-take dd to PE) come home, and pick up some more, and wait for our new refrigerator to be delivered. (ours is going out) I think Pizza is in order for supper tonight, even though we had Pizza for lunch yesterday! Ya'll have a great and blessed day! Blessings~Lynn ps....I may make some coffee to take with me.....mmmmmmm http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/605571/ Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:04:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeecravingirl/605571/