We are the Pretzel Family. Not really but we always use the word Pretzel to tell everyone how to spell our last name. This is our adventure through the ups and downs of homeschooling. I hope you can learn something from my ups and my downs. I am 31 years old, I have been married to my wonderfully patient husband P, he's 42 years old, for 12 years. We have 4 children, P's 21 year old son J (He's in college), Our 9 yr. old twin girls KH and KG, and our 5 year old son M. We are in our 5th year of homeschooling. Blessings!!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:20:00 -0500 Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:20:00 -0500 I've been blogging for a while on blogger.  I like it much better.  It's much easier to make my blog pretty and add things to it, etc.  However, I have almost no traffic there.  The only people that read my blog are my friends and it is my hope to reach more people than that.  Not that everything that I blog about is profound, but I hope that some of what I blog about will be helpful to others.  So, I am going to try to maintain a blog at both places at least for the moment.  I am adding some past blog posts from my other blog here.  If you want to read more you can go to my other blog at www.squeeli2.blogspot.com . http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731734/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:20:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731734/ I heard this poem many years ago as a very new mother. I don't even think I had Mason yet. It spoke to me powerfully back then and I have wondered where to find it for years since. I'm not sure these are the exact words as I copied and pasted them from another blog/forum. I hope it speaks to you as deeply as it does to me. JESUS MAKES GOD VISIBLE He is enduringly strong. He is entirely sincere. He is eternally steadfast. He is immortally gracious. He is imperially powerful. He is impartially merciful. He is the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizons of the globe. He is God's Son. He is the sinner's Savior. He is the captive's Ransom. He is the Breath of Life. He is the centerpiece of civilization. He stands in the solitude of Himself. He is august and He is unique. He is unparalleled and He is unprecedented. He is undisputed and He is undefiled. He is unsurpassed and He is unshakable. He is the lofty idea in philosophy. He is the highest personality in psychology. He is the supreme subject in literature. He is the unavoidable problem in higher criticism. He is the fundamental doctrine of theology. He is the Cornerstone, the Capstone, and the stumblingStone of all religion. He is the miracle of the ages. Just give me Jesus! He makes God visible! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731731/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:19:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731731/ Our women's ministry at church had pancakes Tuesday night and we were asked to bring our favorite pancake topping. I usually only eat syrup on my pancakes, so I tried to think of something that sounded yummy. I decided I wanted to make a butter pecan type sauce and began to look for a recipe. This is what I came up with and it was super yummy. It tastes a lot like pecan pralines. 1 c. butter 1 c. brown sugar 1 1/2 c. chopped pecans 1/2 tsp. vanilla flavoring 1/8 tsp. cinnamon Melt the butter and sugar together and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add remaining three ingredients. That's it. It's that simple. Of course you want to make sure your sugar is disolved, so you may need to continue to stir for a bit after you remove it from the heat. It was really good on pancakes. I think it would be really good on french toast, ice cream and maybe even as a sticky bun topping. You can also leave out the pecans if you wish. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731728/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:16:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731728/ Today is my husbands birthday and I just wanted to take a minute to tell you all how amazing he is and how blessed I am that he was chosen for me. We met and fell in love almost immediately. It wasn't love at first sight, but Patrick who was recently divorced and said he would never marry again, says that he knew immediately that I was someone he could marry. Within a month we were pretty sure we were in love and wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. Minor problem, he was 29 years old, divorced and had an 8 year old and I was almost 18. Our parents were none too happy to say the least. We had a really hard time when we were dating becaause of the negative pressure from everyone else. Honestly, it didn't make sense to me either. I even tried dating other people that were closer to my age, but it was not to be. Even when I was seeing someone else (which he encouraged me to do) we could not go a day without speaking to each other. We got married just a few months after I graduated from high school. Things were definitely hard for a lot of years (largely because of my insecurities and anxiety and the fact that we were not living for the Lord), but through all of that he was so patient. It is a joy to wake up every morning next to him and I can't wait to see him at the door every afternoon. He is such a hands on Dad and my children absolutely adore him. They have the relationship with him that I could have only dreamt of having with my dad. He doesn't mind a bit helping with the housework or homeschooling. He's just all around a fabulous guy. Our beginning may not have been as conventional as others, but there is not doubt in my mind this is exactly who I was supposed to be with for the rest of my life. Happy Birthday, my sweet man. I love you more and more each day!!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731726/ Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:14:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731726/ I heard this song today. I may have heard it before, but if so I'd forgotten. I love the words and these are questions I ask of Him often. I so want others to see Him in me. I want to exude His presence. Hope you enjoy the music and the lyrics and I pray that they will inspire you as they have me.   (You will need to pause the music player at the bottom of the screen to hear this song.) Is the face that I see in the mirror the one I want others to see Do I show in the way that I walk in my life The love that You've given to me My heart's desire is to be like You In all that I do, all I am Do they see Jesus In Me Do they recognize Your face Do I communicate Your love, and Your grace Do I reflect who You are In the way I choose to be Do they see Jesus In Me It's amazing that you'd ever use me But use me the way You will Help me to hold out a heart of compassionate grace A heart that You're spirit fills May I show forgiveness and mercy The same way You've shown it to me Now I want to show all the world who You are The reason I live and breathe So You'll be the One that they see When they see me http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731717/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:55:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731717/ I heard this song today. I may have heard it before, but if so I'd forgotten. I love the words and these are questions I ask of Him often. I so want others to see Him in me. I want to exude His presence. Hope you enjoy the music and the lyrics and I pray that they will inspire you as they have me.   (You will need to pause the music player at the bottom of the screen to hear this song.) Is the face that I see in the mirror the one I want others to see Do I show in the way that I walk in my life The love that You've given to me My heart's desire is to be like You In all that I do, all I am Do they see Jesus In Me Do they recognize Your face Do I communicate Your love, and Your grace Do I reflect who You are In the way I choose to be Do they see Jesus In Me It's amazing that you'd ever use me But use me the way You will Help me to hold out a heart of compassionate grace A heart that You're spirit fills May I show forgiveness and mercy The same way You've shown it to me Now I want to show all the world who You are The reason I live and breathe So You'll be the One that they see When they see me http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731716/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:55:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731716/ I grew up in a very judgemental home and have really had to work at becoming different and not judging people. I will not begin to say that I succeed at that everyday, but I am at least to a point that when I am being judgemental I feel the Lord's conviction and am able to repent and learn from that mistake. That being said, I have realized recently how guilty many of us are of judging other peoples convictions and walk with the Lord. Especially in the area of family planning or lack thereof. Why do we think that it is okay to judge people about the size of their family if it is something they feel like they are called to. Would we judge someones calling to be a Pastor, Missionary, Worship leader, etc. What if someone is called to adopt, do you judge that? The Word does not speak of modern day forms of birth control, so did we all just deccide that since it is available we must all use it? I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with using birth control. We to some degree planned the size of our family (although now that we are living for the Lord I have some regrets about that). God designed things a certain way and if he enables people to get pregnant and give birth many, many times, maybe that was His plan for their lives. I was unable (because of a miscarriage and difficult pregnancies with pre-term labor and delivery) to have a large family (although the four children that we have is large by many peoples definition) so maybe that wasn't His plan for me. I'm not trying to be on a soap box or say that everyone is wrong. I just hope that people will begin to think about what they are thinking or saying and how God would feel about those feelings or words. I happen to be friends with or aquainted with many large families and several people that desire to allow the Lord to determine the size of their families and I'm telling you I respect them greatly. For the most part these families bear good fruit. You can see Jesus in them and their children. They typically lack selfishness and have the heart of a servant. They tend to be very polite and respectful and have the kind of children that you want your children around because they are such good examples. I guess I'm just saying, look at your attitude about such things, commit it to prayer and ask the Lord if you've had a right heart in that area. I know I haven't always, but I'm sure glad that He has and is changing my heart in that and many more areas and that He has brought some of these families into my life, they truly sharpen me and I am blessed immensly by them. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731713/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:52:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731713/ People are often asking me how I deal with different "parenting" situations. The truth is I've done a lot of reading and re-reading. I'll do really well for a while, then things around here will get crazy and I'll realize I haven't been bing consistent and I'll have to jump back on the wagon. As my girls are approaching their teenage years and the fact that Mason is a boy I'm always coming across situations I'm not sure how to deal with. I thought I would share some resources that have been helpful to me over the years and that I sometimes still turn to. Of course the ultimate resource is the Word, but sometimes it's nice to learn how to handle specifics. Here's the first: www.raisinggodlytomatoes.com http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731712/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:51:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731712/ Here is another great parenting resource. It is a very thorough approach to parenting. The gist of it is, as in probably almost anything that I would advocate, that the goal in parenting is raising godly adults, not good children. So, everything that you do should be to that end. These people (Michael and Debi Pearl) have practiced what they preach and their children are the fruit of that labor and the proof is surely in the pudding. I recommend their books "To Train up a Child" and all of the volumes of "No Greater Joy". You can read the Introduction and first chapter of "To Train Up a Child" HERE and sign up for their free magazine HERE . http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731711/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:50:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731711/ I just read this blog and thought it was a good reminder for all of us wives. Hope you enjoy as well. Falling in Love vs. Living in Love http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731710/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:49:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily/731710/