I'm Tired

Tired of being tired.  This is the first time I've been pregnant and nursing another baby.  Felicity still likes to get up at least twice a night to eat.  Usually, I end up falling asleep in my bed while she is eating, but the nightly interruptions really seem to take a toll.  She is eating more solid foods now and can feed herself finger foods, so I'm hoping these nighttime wakings will soon go by the wayside.  I don't usually get to take a nap in the afternoon either.  The nap attacks hit before or after lunch, but when I finally have all the other kids settled for an afternoon quiet-time I'm not ready for a nap anymore.  I do try to rest or be quiet during quiet time, too.  It gives me a mental boost, so I can be ready to tackle dinner and be ready to hear the older kids again.

Jeff Answered the Phone

Just a few minutes ago Jeff answered the phone.  Apparently the person on the other end asked to speak to any one of the adults in the house.  Jeff said, "There are no adults that live here."  The lady on the other end sputtered and stammered and apologized before hanging up.  It was quite entertaining and had us both laughing...and laughing...and still laughing.  Now, I'm waiting.  Waiting to see if the police show up at the door of "the house where no adults live".

It was a dark night

Late yesterday afternoon the electricity went out.  I read stories to the kids until it got too dark to read easily from the window light.  Then I lit several candles around the house for a little bit of light.  Supper was cooking in the crock-pot and wasn't done yet.  Our neighbor had heard that we should have electric back around 8 o'clock.  We gave the kids glow sticks to play with so we didn't have use flashlights, except on occasion.  Jeff had to go to the next town to get some fast food dinner, as there wasn't anything I could do for dinner without opening the fridge and we couldn't warm anything up, anyway.  After supper Jeff played his guitar and we sang Christmas carols and other songs before the kids went to bed.  The electricity finally came back on just before midnight, about 7 hours after it went out.  Meanwhile, I didn't feel comfortable keeping our crock-pot dinner, as I knew it hadn't been done cooking and had sat, too long, before I would have been able to finish cooking it and getting it cooled down properly.  I didn't want to chance anybody getting sick.  I'm sad, that was three yummy meals that we don't get to eat this week, now I'll have to come up with something else :( 

I received a special gift!

I just wanted to let you know that I signed up for a homeschool swap .  We were to swap a gift with our swap sister, a fellow homeschooling mom.  My swap sister Penny from England sent me the following gift.

We have been praying for each other and corresponding over the last several weeks.  She sent me an encouraging letter, tea and English biscuits (cookies) to share with my family, marmalade, roast potato seasoning, wonderful smelling soaps, a candle, lotion, calendar, tote bag, a key chain and Christmas card with a cd.  I had fun opening her gift as it smelled wonderful.  Thanks, Penny!!!

Working Weekend - Projects

This weekend I finished up some more Christmas shopping and was able to work on some sewing projects.  I finished the dress that I started for Katy, back in October.  I started making two new Christmas Stockings, one will be for Katy and the other for Felicity.  Maybe I can finish them tomorrow.  Then I have a dress project for Kaomi that I would like to complete before Christmas and a cape project for Kent.  I think Kent would love to have something I made for him.  He is always excited about the girls dresses.  Since Kent really likes Kings, knights and castles I would like to make a cape that he can use to be whatever he wants to be.

Mystery Lunch

Kent's reading program suggested having a mystery meal as part of the kick-off for the new genre he started today.  So for lunch the kids got to choose what they wanted to eat from their menu.  I served them a 3 course meal which they did not get the interpretation of the food they were ordering.

The menu consisted of:
Course 1 (they got to choose 2):
Blueballs (frozen blueberries)
Yellow Smoothie (peach yogurt)
Shovel (spoon)
Clear Quencher (water)

Katy and Kent choose Blueballs and Yellow Smoothies.  Katy ate her yogurt with her fingers and Kent drank his.  Kaomi chose a shovel and clear quencher.  She was sad because she didn't get anything to eat (so I gave her a couple of blueberries).

Course 2 (they got to choose 2):
Brown Bubbles (pinto beans)
Rows of Ears (corn)
Refreshing Squeeze (Caprisun drink)
Pointy Peaks (fork)

Kent and Kaomi both chose Pointy Peaks and Brown Bubbles.  Katy chose Brown Bubbles and Refreshing Squeeze.

Course 3 (they got to choose 3):
Everyday Pie (1/2 Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich)
Puppy in the Sun ( hot dog and mustard)
Steaming Surprise (Chicken Noodle Soup)
Shallow Bowl (spoon)
Seasonal Flavor (Apple Cider)

Kent and Katy both chose Everyday Pie (Katy was disappointed).  They all chose Seasonal Flavor and were thrilled.  Kaomi chose Steamy Surprise which I served in a cup (she drank the broth and left the noodles).  Puppy in the Sun was everyone's favorite though, they talked about it for awhile.

They had a lot of fun and I had fun serving them.

December School

I've been having a debate over how to do school for the rest for the month and I came up with a plan.   We are going to be having school two days every week up to Christmas.  We plan to have school on Tuesday and Wednesdays.  Then we can have Monday to run extra errands, go to the library and get ready for school the next day.  On Thursdays we will have crafts and hopefully I will be able to get a little sewing completed.  On Fridays will will stick to our usual schedule since we don't have school on Friday's anyway.  Hopefully by using this type of schedule we will be able to have lots of holiday fun, get rested up and be ready to start again full time with school after New Year's, the kids won't forget everything they've been learning, and the pressures of the Christmas Season will be small.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank You Practice

This week as a kick off to Thanksgiving Day we have been having thank you practice as part of our school lessons.  On Monday, everyone had to think of someone they were thankful for and why, then they wrote that person a thank you letter and we put it in the mail.  On Tuesday,  everyone had to think of something they we thankful for and then they made a "I am thankful for..." paper, which they mailed to someone to share the things they were thankful for.  Today they had to make a paper thanking God for somethings that he has given us or let us have.  They've had a lot of fun thinking of different things to be thankful for, working on their papers and putting them in the mail.

Felicity's Balancing Act

Felicity has just recently started a balancing act.  She lays on her back and plays with a toy.  Then she puts her feet up (like a shelf) and balances her toy on her feet.  Then she'll either play with her hands for a moment or pick up another toy.  After that she takes the balanced toy off her feet and plays with it some more, before beginning her balancing act all over again.

It's Hard to Explain about Death to Children

Jeff's grandmother passed away last week and we went to the funeral which was a "Celebration of Her Life".  Since we've been home I've been bombarded with questions from Katy about death and heaven.  Questions about: why do we put the body in the ground since she went to heaven? or if she went to heaven how come we could see her? or when we die will we be able to see in heaven, since our eyes are in our body?.  How do you explain that it is their soul that goes to heaven and their body stays behind to a five year old?  And have them understand.  Katy also told me just a little while ago, "I'm glad I got to see what Daddy's grandma looked like, she was cute.". 

Precious Baby!

Felicity Sleeping!

A Little Bit of Fall

One of the things I miss most in the fall is the vibrant color changes that take place where I used to live in the Northeast.  Yesterday this bush in our front yard was a deep red, and today it is orange and yellow.  Wow!  What a change.

November Picnic

The kids are building a house.

They wanted to have a picnic, too.  It's November, 75 degrees and not windy.  How could I resist the plea for a picnic.  I found some veggie burgers in my freezer and we had a picnic.  I'm not sure why I bought veggie burgers at some point, but they were good, even the kids liked them.  I guess they were just for today.  Even Felicity liked being outside trying to grab everyone's plate and Katy's pickles :)

Date Night!

My wonderful husband took me on a dinner date last night.  He arranged babysitting and everything.  We haven't been on a date since...(I don't remember.).  He took me to an Italian Restaurant that we had never been to, but had eaten take out from several times.  The ceiling was really interesting.  It was made of lattice and beams and was really pretty above it was a fancy tiled ceiling.  The food was really good.  They messed Jeff's order up and it took longer to fix than they told us, so they gave us our whole meal for free.  That means that he should be able to take me on another date soon since he didn't have to buy me dinner.  Thanks, Jeff for the night out.

Our Field Trip

This morning we went on a field trip.  It was nothing planned.  Kent started it when he said to me this morning, "Mommy you should come and look at what is outside my window.".  I'd been hearing strange sounds this morning, but thought they had to do with a drilling rig that is nearby so I hadn't investigated them.

I went to look out Kent's window and I saw...

 

We went over to see the Hot air balloon after breakfast.

They let us take a picture.  Isn't it great that we live right across the street from the Early Education Center.  The kids enjoyed it, even though it was windy and a chilly 42 degrees.  Kent and Felicity were the only ones who didn't have to be bothered with the wind blowing their hair in their faces :)

Sorry

It's been awhile since I've posted.  I've been trying to come up with what to write about our Halloween ministry event, I hope to post about it soon.  It seems that we have been so entangled in life the last few weeks and I haven't thought of much to blog about.  I have a few things I'd like to post about and hopefully I'll get to them soon.

Egg Salad

I love a good egg salad sandwich.  I didn't used to care much for egg salad, but one day I was trying to come up with something for lunch that was different than the usual peanut butter and jelly.  I'll tell you what I do, but I won't give any exact measurements, as my recipe varies most times I make it.

I start with enough hard boiled eggs, for how many sandwiches I want to make (1-1.5 eggs/sandwich).

While the eggs are cooking I start chopping veggies with my Pampered Chef food Chopper.
I use whatever I have on hand and feel like eating at the moment.  I've used onion, carrots, cucumber, bell pepper, hot peppers, celery, broccoli, etc.  I use a small piece of each veggie I chose, again the size of each piece varies for how many sandwiches I am making.  I like to chop carrots, celery, and onion very fine and everything else a little chunky.  I like the crunch it adds to the sandwich.  I also use dill pickles and chop them a little chunky, too.
When the eggs are done, yes I usually use them still warm.  I slice up my eggs both ways with my egg slicer plus, so the pieces are not very small.  Then I add salt, fresh ground pepper, a pinch of cayenne, a little dill and any other spice I am in the mood for.  Then I add just enough mayonnaise to get everything wet, but not drippy.  Mix well and serve on your favorite bread or eat with a spoon.  I try to only make as much as we are going to eat at that meal, as it gets a little juicy later in the fridge.

My children even like my egg salad sandwiches.

I'm sharing this at http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/

It's a beautiful day!

The sun is shining.  It's warm.  The birds are chirping.  We went outside this morning and played some activities to help impress Kent with his history lesson.  The kids played nicely outside, and came in muddy after lunch.  The sky is so blue.  The leaves on our sweet gum tree are turning yellow.  The front yard is full of dainty white flowers.  Thank you God for the beautiful day.

Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers beat the Yankees tonight and they are going to the World Series.  How cool is that?

Katy's Birthday

Katy's Birthday on Monday.

She wanted a Hello Kitty Birthday Cake.

First thing, before anyone had a chance to get grumpy.

Special place setting

We took her to the American Girl Store.  She had a lot of fun looking at all the dolls and stuff.  She picked out an new outfit for her doll and a Mini doll - Emily Bennet (From the Molly books).

 Kaomi got to pick out a Mini-doll, too.  She chose Kit Kittredge.

Boots just like Kaomi's, now they can be "twins"

Overall it was a fun day.  We also took her for ice cream at a Coldstone Creamery.  Grammy came over in the evening for a little while to share in Katy's special day.  Thanks Grammy.

Happy Birthday, Katy.  I love you. 

Ramblings

I'm watching Sound of Music it's a good time because Jeff and Kent are on the Christian Service Brigade camping trip this weekend.  I hope they have a great time.  I can finally fit into my pre-pregnancy clothing.  YEAH!!!  I have for a few weeks and it has been great.  I took the girls out tonight.  Katy's birthday is Monday.  I'm afraid she saw most of her presents and knows they are hers, though I didn't tell her they were for her birthday, but it was either that or not have any.  I don't have a clue when I would have been able to shop without her.  I was supposed to make her a dress, but there is no way to make it right now and keep it a surprise, so I gave up.  It's hard to get much accomplished lately.  Jeff is gone so much studying for his test.  He only has two weeks left.  Pray he passes it.  I do not want to go through him studying like this ever again.

Lamentations 3:22-23
"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

The scriptures I've been reading every morning have definitely been an encouragement this week.

Quiet Time

Today, during quiet time I got to sit on my bed with Felicity.  She sat reclined next to me playing with a toy and my hand, while I read a book.  I was savoring the moment as I know that she will soon want to be too mobile to stay on the bed next to me.  She is eight months old today.  I love my bundle of happiness.

Then I heard a loud crash and Kaomi started crying.  I had to put Felicity back in her bed.  The girls are supposed to be in their beds, resting, during quiet time.  The crash I heard was Kaomi's shopping cart and she hit her head on the play refrigerator.  When I was able to find out why she was in the shopping cart (that isn't supposed to have children in it) I had to hide my laugh.  I guess she and Katy were going to North America.  I'm not sure, but I think the shopping cart was the boat :)  If so it must have sprung a leak and sank.

Awana Night

Kent and Katy were invited to go to bring a friend night at Awana on Sunday.  Their cousins invited them and they were able to go.  They had a lot of fun at the Awana program and spending a little bit of time playing with their cousins afterward.  They have been so excited since then.  We have an Awana program at our church though we haven't been able to be involved in it, as we have had other commitments at the time it meets.  Maybe one day they will get to be involved in it and I am sure that they will love it.

Psalm 92:1 & 2

"It is good to praise the LORD, and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,"

Dirt all over my back step

Someone put dirt all over my back step on Tuesday.  I knew it was one of the girls because Kent didn't play outside that day.  Wednesday morning I found out it was Kaomi who put it there.  When I asked her about it she told me, "It's our nice, new carpet."  Who can resist the urge to sweep it away when it is our new carpet?  I guess Jeff did, the dirt is gone this morning.  Now I need to sweep the living room, as it has been tracked in the back door and through the house.

Today's Homeschooling Challenge

School has been going along great, until just the last week or so.  It seems that Kent has decided that he's not going to do school.  I've decided at this point that I'm not going to nag or berate him as it doesn't do any good for either of us.  If he doesn't want to do his work, then he can't have play time until his work is done and if I can't do school with him when he is ready for me then he gets extra chores until I am available.  Yesterday he took about 2 1/2 hours to do his CIM science homework.  He only had to look up 5 words in the dictionary and write their definitions.  He usually doesn't have too much trouble using the dictionary and I do offer him occasional help if he seems to need it.  Then we proceeded to have school for the rest of the afternoon and I let him have about a 30 minute break to read, before continuing on to something that I was working on for today.  He's been learning about responsibility, diligence, and perseverance among other character traits, but it doesn't phase him that he is not practicing them.  This morning we had a late start because Kaomi had a chiropractic appointment.  He took 2 hours to do his math problems (I mean daydream.).  Then this afternoon he whipped through the rest of his school like his pants were on fire.  We even completed history, a history activity and art outside.  Maybe he is just having trouble learning in the morning.  God is giving me great patience to deal with this and I pray that he keeps on giving it.

Play Day

Today, we took a day off from our regular school schedule.  It was a fun relaxing day.  Katy and Kent slept in until around 8.  Kaomi and I kept extra quiet for them.  We leisurely did our chores.  Ate breakfast around 9 and went to the library for story-time.  Then we had a picnic in the backyard and went to a local park for the kids to play on the playground.  We walked down to a pond at the park and watched the dragonflies and saw some baby fish (they were about the size of guppies).  Then we went and got Jeff and took him with us for ice cream at Beth Marie's.  When we got home the kids all played quietly.  I wish I had taken the camera.  There would have been some great shots of our play.

Introducing our new pets

Cocoa

FiFi

Indian

 

Our floor is cute!

The most recent cutology from Kaomi was yesterday morning.  She came into our bedroom and the first thing she said, to Jeff, was, "You have a cute floor."  Which is probably true due to the fact that we have had stuff sitting on that same floor for who knows how long and put a few boxes of books in my closet Sunday evening to get them off the bedroom floor.  We can actually see the floor now.

Safe Harbor

Tonight we watched the movie "Safe Harbor".  I really enjoyed it.  I recommend it for anyone who has a heart for those older kids in the Foster Care System or Juvenile Delinquents.

Moonrise

 We saw a cool moonrise tonight.  Then we took a romantic walk under it, while the kids ran ahead of us (Katy was pushing Felicity's stroller).

I was trying out some different settings on our camera to see what worked well or not.

Katy's Reading Review

Today I did a reading review with Katy.  She just finished learning about consonant blends.  Katy liked reading the little stories I wrote for her so much that she wanted to read them to Jeff tonight.  After her bath, she perched herself on a kitchen chair and read them to Daddy.  I enjoyed listening to her as she narrated almost every sentence before she read it.  It went something like this..."Bill and Jill fell off the bus.  Something bad happened, but I didn't read that part yet...Bill will help Jill.  I like Bill he is a nice guy...Oh, I remember this part it is about...This story is about Jeff, I can't call you that, but I can when I read the story...Oh, this is a fun story...etc.

I know she loves her lessons when she wants to share them with Daddy.
Tomorrow we will start learning about consonant digraphs.

Wonderful Weekend - Conference

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a conference on Loving Your Husband at my church.  Jeff was able to watch the older kids and I took Felicity with me, as she would need to eat a couple of times.

(Now what I have written below is nothing new to me, but for some reason the way it was presented made me understand it even more.)

All the struggles we have are spiritual problems.

What really struck me was that Loving God is the Most important thing in my life.  In Matthew 22:34+ Jesus is asked "What is the greatest commandment?" and His answer was "Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, with ALL your strength, and with ALL your mind.  Do I love God like that?  No.  But I am supposed to.

Psalm 73:25 says there is "nothing [on earth] I desire besides [God].  Do I desire God more than anything else?  I should, but I don't.

Happiness shouldn't be my goal, as it is unattainable.  When you love God-completely-you will have joy.  Personally, I would much rather be filled with joy than to only have a few "happy" moments.

How little I love God, shows through my selfishness.

I want to love God, but talking and action are on opposite ends of the spectrum.  I need to make loving God my active lifestyle.  My life is not about me - it is God's life for him to use to show others who He is for His Glory.  I want my husband, children, and those around me to look at me and be able to say "She loves God."


Lord, help me to love you, like you desire me to love you.  Give me an attitude of love for you that radiates to those I come in contact with.

Friday Fanfare - Fabric

This morning we were able to quickly complete our tasks in the Children's Learning Center at our church.  Then we went to Walmart so I could pick up a few groceries so we would make it through the weekend.  While there they had 5 yard bolts of fabric for $5.  That's a really good deal on fabric.  I found two that I really liked.  One is pink, it is a loose weave similar to monks cloth (I'm thinking a light-weight blanket for one of the girls.) and the other is a pale green with green and pink flowers.  Katy found one that she wants to make a dress out of, it is green with daisies and blue, yellow and orange spots - I got the same pattern to use for the girls in pink with green, red, and yellow spots.  So I guess I may have some more projects in the making.  I'm thinking something with pleats for Katy...is that a hassle for ironing?  I hope not because I don't manage to iron very often.  Christmas is coming.  I should start working on them soon if that is what I decide to do. 

When we got home we ate lunch and the kids all went out to play.  We are enjoying today.  It's a reprieve from earlier this week when being a wife, mom and teacher wasn't going as smooth as it has been and the house was a complete wreck.  I have a wonderful husband though, who came home Wednesday evening and just started to help - he didn't even say anything about it.  Thanks Jeff, I was dreading walking back into the kitchen, knowing that I had no place to even think of making supper and it was already past supper time.  I was thinking we were going to have to have milk and cold pop-tarts on napkins for supper, but instead we were able to at least have PBJ and chips.

Counting Cheerios

Today Kent learned that the Mayflower could hold 180 barrels or casks.  So he counted to 180 using cheerios in groups of 10.  Then we compared them to how much space there was in the Mayflower using a picture that he had drawn last week.  The purpose of the exercise was to show how the boat would have been very crowded.

Working Weekend - Shopping

This weekend I tried to get some of my grocery shopping done while Jeff was studying.  First I went to CVS, to get some of the deals for the week.  About halfway through checking out, I realized that I had forgotten my wallet.  Of course it wasn't in the car, I had completely forgotten the diaper bag and had to go home to get it.  When we returned someone had dropped some pennies where we were checking out so Katy and Kent both picked one up.  Then Katy dropped hers and started crying because she couldn't find it.  There seemed to be a line a mile long and everyone was watching me try to juggle my coupons, CVS card, bag tags, wallet, a shopping cart with Felicity in it,  two shopping bags, hold Kaomi's hand, try to help Katy understand that the penny wasn't really hers in the first place, so she shouldn't cry, Kent trying to carry the shopping bag I handed him...

I guess it is usually like this, minus a crying child, but it sure made me want to laugh at what I imagined everyone behind me was thinking.

Then we went to Target.  One of the first items on my list was baby food.  You need to understand that I don't shop at target for groceries very often and I don't usually buy baby food there.  So I start looking for baby food and picking up other items that were on my list and adding them to the cart as I looked.  I finally had everything on my list, except baby food of course.  So I continue going up and down all the isles looking for the baby food I missed.  Meanwhile my kids have been acting up and I am getting a little frustrated.  Then I saw a mom struggling with her little girl (a screaming battle of the wills) and am thankful that I'm not having to deal with that right now.  I kept looking for the baby food.  I finally saw two guys just starting to stock cereal on the shelves.  So I asked, "Do ya'll have baby food?"  Of course they looked at me kind of strange, then one of them said, "Yep, it's in the baby aisle."  Well, duh of course it's in the baby isle why didn't I think of looking there.  I felt pretty stupid as I was thinking, I'm looking for baby food in the food aisles and now I have to go half-way across the store to get food from the diaper section.  I guess it makes sense...kind of.  Maybe they should move the baby section next to the food aisles so I can find it faster next time.

I wonder how strange it looks for someone to go shopping with 4 young kids.  I get lots of comments like "you've got your hands full" and some strange looks like "what in the world are you thinking".  I don't see too many others out shopping with that many kids.  I shop most of the time with all my kids, so I don't really think about it a lot.  I do know that we are often blocking the aisle and I try to be sensitive to other shoppers and move out of their way before they get to us.  I'd love to hear your ideas and tips for shopping with several kids.

How to Eat a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup

As the slogan goes...there is no wrong way to eat a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

Reflections from a Father

Today you can visit Jeff's Blog
He has some great 3 year old quotes from Kaomi

Rainy Day

Filling up my bucket.

That's a good idea, I'll use a cup.

Surprise!!

I guess this Wolf Spider thought it was a little drier on higher ground.

  We went out first thing in the morning in the pouring rain.  By the time we were back in the car from our 1 stop everyone was rather wet.  Puddles sure are fun.  The sidewalk had an unavoidable puddle that was about 2 inches deep, so even I had wet feet.  So when we got home I told everyone to go play in the rain.  After Kent dumped his cup of water on Katy, Kaomi dumped her bucket on Kent.  They had a blast and burned some energy before we began school.  This was their exercise for the day.

At the end of the day they all played a game of Candyland, by themselves.  And there was no fighting or arguing!?!!!  I'm not quite sure that Kaomi could help play any better by being the one to read the instructions as she can't read yet.

Thanks God for giving us a peaceful rainy day.  The rain was from Tropical Storm Hermine and it wasn't too windy.

Linked with:
   

Kaomi's Chocolate Birthday

Celebration Pancakes an Chocolate Milk with her special place setting.

Playing Outside with Daddy

Trying out her new presents.  The dress is the project I was working on.

Her "Chocolate Birthday".  It's a brownie with dark chocolate icing, chocolate graham crackers, chocolate jelly beans, dark chocolate peanut butter cups, marshmallows, sprinkles and princess wands.

Kaomi's 3

Felicity is learning more

Felicity has figured out that if she bangs a toy on the floor it makes noise.  I guess I'll be packing up the bouncy chair, soon.  It doesn't look like she'll be bouncing in it much longer.

A Chicken Came to Our Door Tonight

We were informally hosting our Bible Study Group tonight for anyone who wanted to come and were having a good time getting to know our guest a little better when the doorbell rang.  Jeff answered and then called me to the door.  There was a boy standing there holding a chicken.  He found it in our neighborhood and was wondering if it belonged to us.  We don't have chickens, so it obviously wasn't ours.  If we had chickens though, they would hopefully be as tame and calm as that one was.

Field Trip to a Friend's house

This morning I told the kids that as soon as they were done with breakfast they were going to do something special.  They were excited and were even more excited when they realized where we were going.  Kaomi realized it first, just by looking out the window of the car as I drove.  I took them to a friend's home from our Life Group.  I dropped all four of them off and left pretty quickly to go back home and work on a project that I need to finish for Kaomi's birthday next week and I don't really want anyone to see what it is beforehand.  They were there for almost 2 hours and had a blast.  They spent a lot of time outside running around since it was nice a cool this morning.  They came home with ziplock bags of acorns from our friend's yard.  They played Play-Doh and watched part of a movie.  I got a good start on the project I wanted to work on.  They had a fun change of pace.  God sure knew what He was doing when He gave us some new friends about 1 1/2 years ago, who live close by.

How was Daniel taught?

Several weeks ago I had a question that was brought about by a statement that someone at a Bible Study said.  I don't remember what they said, but my question was something like this.  How did Daniel's family teach him about God so that when times got tough for him he always trusted God and did the right thing?  I want to teach my children so that when faced with evil they choose to be like Daniel and love God and trust Him no matter what.

I found the answer in my Bible reading this morning when I read Jeremiah 24.  In verses 4-7 God told Jeremiah that he had sent [Daniel] to the land of the Babylonians.  God continued speaking about the good He would do to [Daniel] then he said, "I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD.  They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart."

I guess now I need to ask God to give my children a heart to know God.  There is nothing I can do to make them have a heart that loves God.  I can teach them and love them and train them the best that I know how, but it is God and only God who can give them a heart to know and love Himself.

Thursdays

     On Thursdays, Kent will be attending a science class via the CIM Science Program.  It looks like it will be fun for him.  Today was orientation.

So on Thursdays Katy will be having her double day of school.  We started at our regular time and she was done with everything, except story time which she and Kent do together, by 10:45 am.  Kaomi was also able to complete her stuff and watch a signing time DVD, since Katy was finished and wouldn't be distracted.

Our plan is to have Kent go with Jeff to work on Thursday mornings and I will send work that he can do for his school, before science class.  Since Jeff teaches Physical Science for the CIM science program, he takes Kent to his class then I will pick him up or we will make arrangements for him to get a ride home.
Then Kent will complete his school for the day in the afternoon.  

P.S. CIM stands for Creationists In the Making.

Lizards, Spiders, Birds, and Ants

My home is being overtaken.  There are ants in my bathroom and spiders all over the house.  There are little lizards (baby Texas banded Geckos), between the living room and our bathrom.  I've seen at least 3.  Maybe they eat the spiders and ants, but I still don't want them in the house.  Lastly, there was a baby mockingbird in our garage yesterday morning.  I heard the chirping squawk of the bird, when I went out to get an ice block for Jeff's lunchbox.  I couldn't find it and thought it must have been outside the door.  When I went outside a little later I heard it again and it was definitely coming from inside the garage.  We found it in the corner by the door and observed the mama bird outside looking for her baby.  She couldn't seem to find her baby, so later I helped it out of the corner and into the shade by the edge of the garage door.  It went away, so I hope the baby bird and mama were reunited and can live happily ever after.

Felicity Unplugged

Just a little sacrifice

This quote is from the book:  "A Mom Just Like Me"  by Vickie Farris and Jayme Farris Metzger.

"If today's remnant of Christianity would make the sacrifice it takes to instruct their little ones in God's Ways, I believe we could see a vastly different America after only a few generations.
    When we raise Godly children in the midst of a  hurting world, we are striking at the very root of the problem...'Just being a mother' is far from inconsequential!"


This book was written for me.  She truly is "A Mom Just Like Me".

My next book to read is "Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends".

Critterwoman

Today our Library had a special event with critter woman.  I was thinking how fun, she'll have a rabbit, rat, frog, etc.  The first critter she pulled out to show us was a King Snake.  One of our adult Library friends is terrified of snakes and she just about fell off her chair trying to get back.  Then she kept covering her baby's eyes cause she didn't want him to start liking snakes.  Did you know that king snakes eat other snakes including venomous snakes?  She had a dragon (some kind of lizard) from Australia.  She also had a African hedgehog type animal, a box turtle, a young African beetle that was the size of her finger and she said it was only half-grown.  She then let a tarantula crawl all over her hands and my kids all started backing up.  Then she pulled out her prize, a 5 year old yellow Burmese python about 8 ft. long.  She said they grow to be 18-20 ft. long as an adult.  It was yellow because it has a disease that doesn't let it be the normal browns and greens (I think it might be an albino, though she didn't use that term.).  It was quite an interesting program and she gave a lot of information about the animals she had with her.  Since we had a small group at the library all the kids were given a chance to touch all the animals.  The only animal Kent touched was the box turtle.  Katy touched the box turtle and the python.  And the only animal Kaomi touched was the python and I think she liked it.

1st day of School

I decided to start school on Monday.  I'm running out of ideas to keep the kids occupied and they were excited to start.  We had a great first day.  Since Kent is in 1st Grade and Katy is in Kindergarten I wasn't sure how it would all work out.  I had a schedule planned for their classes allowing each one time for me to teach and them to begin any work on that subject, then while the first child was finishing up his work I would start teaching the next child.  I went back and forth between them like that for all subjects and the timing I planned for each one was just about perfect.  I used my timer for each lesson to keep me on track and if they didn't get something finished we worked on it later in the day. 

Life just goes on.

We have been so busy.  I finished the girls dresses on the 10th and they wore them to church on the 11th.
On the 11th we also had a baby dedication at church in which Jeff and I dedicated ourselves to raise our Children (Kaomi and Felicity, this time) God's way. 
We had Vacation Bible School the 12th-17th and then on Saturday we took our yearly family tradition to go blueberry picking.  We picked almost a gallon and a half of blueberries and have really been enjoying them.  They seem even sweeter this year than they have in the past.

Dresses

The Girls dresses that I am working on are coming along nicely.  They should be finished this week.  Katy is so excited that I am making her a dress.  I keep asking for Kaomi's input because she picked out the fabric for Katy's dress (but I'm making Kaomi one, too).

Recomended Reading

Within the last two weeks I completed reading:

"The Duggar's 20 and Counting" By Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar
and "Anonymous Tip" by Michael Ferris.

I enjoyed reading the Duggar's book and picked up a few tips from it.

I highly recommend "Anonymous Tip" to anyone looking for a good intriguing Novel.


I am currently reading "Is There Life After Housework" by Don Aslett and Next up is "A Mom Just Like You" by Vickie Farris and Jayme Farris Metzgar.

Thing I Wish I'd Known Sooner

My favorite quote from the above book:

"Sometimes we just turn a corner, and the unexpected reward is there, waiting.  The walk is worth the surprise.  Those who love may find starfish for breakfast."  -Jaroldeen Edwards

This quote is from the last chapter.  I enjoyed this book and the last chapter was like the icing on the cake.  I even read Jeff a part of it.  It sounds like something I might have done as a child if I had thought of it.  I Pray that God helps me to love my family, so if I have a similar situation I would respond in a good way. 

Now I understand...

why we have the hardest time finding clothes that fit Katy properly.  I took Katy's measurements yesterday to know what size pattern I should use for a dress I would like to make her.  She is so scrawny that she measures for a size 2 shirt, she is long waisted so she measures for a size 7 and her actual height shows that she should be a size 4-5.  Needless to say, I'm going to have to pull all my sewing memories for how to adjust a pattern so I can make her a nice dress that fits her well.

Current Books

Yesterday, I finished reading "The Duggars: 20 and counting".  It has a lot of information I found useful and I may just have to add the book to my personal library.  It shows their faith and trust in God and God's blessing on them throughout the whole story.

Next up is:  "Things I Wish I'd Known Sooner: Personal Discoveries of a Mother of Twelve" by Jaroldeen Edwards.

Continuing:  "Interwoven: A Pioneer Chronicle".  I've been enjoying this piece of History.

Have a I mentioned that I love our Library System.  We have a small library that is in a Consortium with many other small Libraries.  I can go online and search for whatever book I want and put a hold on it then pick it up when it arrives at my library.

Psalm 70:4

"But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, 'Let God be exalted!'"

Thanks God for your Salvation; help me to exalt you and show that I love you.

Mayonnaise on What!

Yesterday at church I was talking with a friend about how we get our kids ready for church, meal planning and picky eaters.  Somehow we got on the topic of spinach.  Her son likes sauteed spinach with lots of garlic and black pepper; I like spinach with mayonnaise on it. 
Why do I like spinach with mayonnaise on it?  It's what my father did, so I called my Dad.  "Dad, why do you put mayonnaise on spinach your spinach and broccoli?" 
"I don't know," he answered "my father did it.  Do you do that, too?" 
"Yes, I do."
Today I called my Grandpa.  "Grandpa, why do you put mayonnaise on your spinach and broccoli?"  Grandpa simply answered, "Because I like it that way." 
I don't know if Grandpa's father did it, too, but I like his answer.  I like it that way, too.
My Dad also told me that my Grandpa also likes tomatoes with mayonnaise and sugar on them.
I prefer my tomatoes with mayonnaise or ranch dressing, no sugar.

Current Book

I've been trying to do some more reading and I thought I'd try to keep you updated on what I am reading.

Currently I am reading:

"The Spiritual Power of a Mother" by Michael P. Ferris
and
"Interwoven: A Pioneer Chronicle" by Sallie Reynolds Matthews  (This book is often used as a source of West Texas History.)

I recently finished browsing through "The Well-Trained Mind"

Sports World

This week Kent is going to Sports World.  It is a day camp through Student Ministries at our church.
He's having fun.  He is supposed to be learning about how to play baseball in the mornings.  I  think he is a little disappointed that they played catch on Monday (even though you need to catch in baseball), he wasn't real clear about what they did today.  I'm praying that the whole week will be fun for him.

I don't like feet.

Kaomi just came and crawled up in my lap to snuggle and we had the following conversation.

Kaomi:  I don't like feet.

Me:  Why don't you like feet?

Kaomi:  They are dirty.

Me:  God created us with feet; they help us walk.

Kaomi:  I smelled Kent's feet and they stink.

Me:  You're silly.  You are supposed to smell flowers, not feet.

Kaomi got a big grin and got down to go play again.

Chore Charts

I made new chore charts this week for the kids.  Katy has been asking me to make a pink chore chart.  I revised our chore list and made a morning chore chart (pink) and an evening chore chart (blue).  They are all excited about it.  Katy is excited that she gets to wash the dishes once a week.  Kaomi is excited that she gets to help set the table and wipe it off after dinner a couple of times a week.  Then there is Kent...he was reading the chore charts and excitedly said, "Oh, boy I get to do chores on Saturdays."  He loves schedules and routine.  Maybe now he won't grumble if we give him a chore on Saturday, especially if he is just doing his regularly scheduled chores.

The Box Car Children

I had Kent take "The Boxcar Children" out of the library on Tuesday.  Then I told him at quiet time that he should read 1 or 2 chapters everyday at quiet time.  After quiet time on Tuesday I asked him how the story was and he showed me that he was almost done - with the whole book.  He read 12 chapters at quiet time.  He finished the book yesterday and restarted it.  He said it was an interesting story and he should read it again.

Feeding the Giraffe

We had a wonderful day.  Jeff was able to take the day off and we went to the Frank Buck Zoo.  It was a beautiful sunny and hot day.  We enjoyed seeing the animals.  We also enjoyed feeding the giraffe, the kids were just a little bit scared.  We held out romaine lettuce for him to eat.  Giraffe's have incredibly long tongues and he would stick it out trying to get the lettuce from you.  When he got the lettuce on his tongue he would curl up his tongue around it and pull the lettuce into his mouth to eat it.  Giraffes have purplish black tongues, too.  Later we were able to feed some goats.  After visiting the Zoo we ate lunch in the park outside the Zoo.  Then the kids had fun playing on the giant playground that was there.

Blue Bubbles

I had noticed that Kaomi had stopped coloring with markers and I assumed she was done and had gone to play in her room....

Then Kent said:  "Mommy, Kaomi is in the bathroom and has blue soap."
Blue Soap?  The only blue soap we have in there is the girls shampoo.  Well, I guess I'll go see what he is talking about.

Sure enough Kaomi had blue soap, but it wasn't what I was expecting.

She had colored with blue marker all over both hands and then went to wash her hands and used the foaming soap (it looked like she had used about 1/4 of the bottle).  She had blue soap all the way up her arms, above her elbows and on her face where she must have pushed her hair back.  Of course she hadn't turned on the water so she couldn't rinse the soap off.  The top of the toilet where she was standing had soapy blue splotches all over it too.  I should have taken a picture, as she was a pretty shade of blue.  Of course I didn't think of taking her picture then.

The Understanding of a Child

Yesterday I had sat down to feed Felicity and the phone rang.  It was my Mom (thanks for calling).  While I was still feeding Felicity and on the phone with Mom, I heard Kent (6) say from the bathroom, "I need a new roll of toilet paper."  I told him he would have to wait til I was done feeding Felicity.  Then I thought well maybe Katy can help him.  I sent Katy(4) to get the roll of toilet paper from my bathroom, but she came back shortly and said she couldn't get it off the holder.  Kaomi (2) was sitting there absorbing all that was going and she got up and went to try to get the toilet paper from my bathroom.  Soon she comes back with a whole wad of toilet paper and took it to Kent; who of course didn't want to use it since it wasn't on the roll.  I told Kent that it was okay to use it, because she brought it from my bathroom just for him.  Then she came back through with the leftover wad of toilet paper and put it back in my bathroom.  I have to admit what a smart child and why didn't I think of that?  She was probably sitting there thinking, "Why can't Katy get the toilet paper for Kent, I can do it."

7 years!

Wow!  We have been married for 7 years.  It seems like just yesterday we were running around getting ready for our wedding.  Sometimes it seems like we should be married longer than that since we have 4 children.  Wow!  God is so good to give us this time together.

Exercise and cake

I've been trying to be sure I get more exercise, I'd like to fit back into my regular clothes soon (I can almost fit).  So today I made a Pina Colada Upside-down Cake.  It is really good and pretty.  Though loaded with sugar, etc.,  I enjoyed every bite and will have more tomorrow.  Maybe I can get a little more exercise in tomorrow, too.

Field Day

Today was our last day of school.  We have had a fun year.  I remember field days from when I was a child and I thought it would be fun to have one of our own.  So last night I quickly set up my sewing machine and grabbed a long piece of fabric (which I didn't remember its original intent) and my scrap box.  30 minutes later I had 3 sacks for a sack race and 2 bean bags.  Jeff helped set up an obstacle course in the back yard last night and we had a lot of fun today. 
     So this morning, armed with a bunch of stuff we had around the house we began our Field Day.  We had 2 different obstacle course races, marble toes, a three legged walk, Frisbee throw, snow cone relay, jumping contest, Spoon and egg race, Kicking for distance, a balloon popping race, a sack race and bean bag walk.  The kids all had a lot of fun and I am all tired out.  The balloon popping race was the funniest.  It was quite windy today, so I made sure to tell the kids to hold on to their balloons tight.  They had to take their balloons and sit in a designated square on the driveway and try to pop it by sitting on them.   Almost every time someones balloon blew away they would start crying and screaming because they lost their balloon.  Then we would try to chase it down and they would try to pop it again.  Katy popped the most; 4 in about 3 minutes.  Kent popped 4, but only 3 of them while the timer was going and Kaomi couldn't get hers to pop.  We only lost 2 or 3 balloons to the wind and who knows where they will end up.  Maybe I should have put messages in them.  Then we ate lunch (including the eggs from our egg race) outside.  I think the kids liked the obstacle course best as they continued to go through it after we were all done with our activities.

Reflections

This morning I read Psalm 51 in my quiet time.  It reminded me of something I had written in college after a long, tiring and frustrating day, when I had gone to pray and observed a beautiful sunset.  i was inspired to write what I prayed...though this doesn't really do justice to my prayer that evening.

My Painting

You're painting a picture LORD, and I'm in it.  You change it everyday and I know you'll only make it your way.

     Your painting a picture LORd, in which you've place your hand over my head, but that dark cloud of temptation hovers in front of my face.  LORD you're painting my life, but when I look at it I don't see what I want to see.  I am horrified because I know you're painting it true, and I know you will not lie. 

     You change this painting everyday and make it new to show me who I really am.  Sometimes the cloud of temptation is very near to my nose, but most of the time its shadow is on my face.  when I sin by giving in to temptation the picture you're painting is changed again.  My face is shadowed with such a deep black that even though I cannot make out any features I know it is me.  I have no desire to see this painting, but yet I do.  Your painting shows me areas in my life that I need to better to be more like my Savior.  I want to see a wonderful, gloriously, bright painting that does not show the bad.

     You always paint you hand over my head, and I know you are protecting me.  I like the days when your painting shows temptation spiraling down towards my feet and that cloud becomes gray and hard to see.  I know I've lived for you when that cloud of temptation shrinks under my feet and my face shines bright from a reflection of your glory.

     I desire your daily picture of me to be perfect in every way, yet there is always a flaw somewhere in my life.  When I look back over each day I cringe inside when I see what you've painted about me.  It is bad with little good shown, always gray, dark, and light; although, sometimes the picture is bright and colorful revealing my love for you, because you helped me to send temptation away.

     Oh LORD, how I look forward to the day when your painting of me will be perfect in every way.

     Thank you LORD for showing me in your word how to be a better person.  Guide me each day and help me to choose to walk in your way.  Thanks for your promises of always being here for me and caring for me in your special way.  Please help me to know and understand your Word and apply it to my life.  You've loved me and I've put you on "hold" while I went my own way.  I'm sorry, I really want to serve you and there is no excuse of my neglect of you.  Help me to keep my attitude one of serving you and bringing you the glory and honor that you deserve.  Help me to be like Jesus as Paul describes in Philippians 2:1-11.  Thank you for the encouragement you give me in the Bible.  Help me make my life pleasing to you.  Your everlasting mercy and grace are more than I am worthy of, but yet you continue to pour them into my life.  I love you and thank you for all you give to me.

Suanna Peterson, March 1999

Poetry

Kent entered a poetry contest through our local library, back in March.  Today Katy was looking through one of the books I had had on hold and checked out on Monday, when she asked me what this card is for.  I took it and looked at it and It said: For Kent Sears, 1st Place Primary - From ...Public Library Poetry Contest.  I guess the Librarian stuck it in the book we had on hold and forgot to tell us about it.
Here is his poem.
Bears
Bears eat, roar and growl.
Bears eat honey.
Bears growl and roar loudly.
Bears lumber through the woods,
looking for food.
Bears are brown or black, too.

School Books

I ordered the rest of the school books I will be needing for Kent and Katy next fall.  The only thing I don't have yet is Katy's handwriting workbook, which I plan to get from Mardel's.  It's hard to believe that I will have one in First Grade and one in Kindergarten come August.  The curriculum I've been using is from HeartofDakota.   I really like the way it is set up.  I find it not only homeschooler friendly, but also fun to teach from.

Camping

Jeff and Kent are camping this weekend with Christian Service Brigade.  Kent was so excited.  They went last fall, so Kent knows a little bit what to expect.  They are camping close to the Red River just over the border into Oklahoma, its about an hour away.  He got a foam camoflage rifle for his birthday and he took that with him.  I have a feeling he'll be hunting bears, like Teddy Roosevelt.  Jeff seemed pretty excited, too.  I hope they both have fun.

Kent's Birthday

Yesterday was Kent's birthday.  It's hard to believe he is 6 already.  We had a busy, fun-filled day for him.  Jeff took the day off of work.  We went to story-time  at the library in the morning, then Kent wanted to go to chick-fil-a for lunch and play Legos.  We took Kent to a large mall not to far away and got lunch in the Food Court (Chick-fil-a for Kent and I, sonic for everyone else) then we took him to the Lego Store.  He had fun looking at all the different Lego sets and of course he got to pick some out.  He and the girls each got to design their own Lego figure to take home.  Then Kent got to pick out Legos that he liked.  He chose a dump truck and a steam roller.  Since the steam roller was on sale we were able to take them both home for his birthday.  Then we walked around the mall a little more and then went to visit Ian, Micah, Ethan and Joshua (Kent's cousins).  They had a lot of fun running around and playing.  After we returned home we had the rest of Kent's birthday celebration opening presents.  He loves the combat mission set that Dad-Dad and Grammy gave him.  He also wanted a trash can and a watch for his birthday.  So we gave him a small trash can with one of those step things that open the lid.  It was packed with "trash" --  clothes, an army guy set and a watch.  He was excited to get the two things he was wanting.  Then we sent all the kids to bed.

Making Butter

Kent's been learning about the history of our nation.  We've been having an extended focus on pioneers.  We made butter yesterday.  It was cool to be able to understand what was happening to the fat globules.  The butter tasted great, too.  The book we've been reading is "A Pioneer Sampler".  It is a great resource.  We've borrowed this copy from the Library, but I'm going to have to buy a copy to add to our home library as I'm sure we will be using it multiple time over the next several years.

Planting

We've started planting our garden.  Since Kent was learning about pioneers in school and how they planted their gardens, we thought we would try it.  On Saturday, we planted corn, beans, and pumpkins or squash all in the same hill like early settlers would have done (we didn't put a fish in our hills).  We have 4 hills like this.  I still have about 2/3 of my garden to plant, but need to till more to plant more.

Easter

We had a fun Easter.  Christ is Risen!!  Went to Church and Sunday School, then we spent the afternoon with Jeff's family.

Of course we had our Easter Egg hunt for the kids (mine would have missed it, if we hadn't done it.  They were talking about the Easter Egg hunt at Grammy's all week.).  We also used confetti eggs and had fun smashing them in the games that Mark planned.

Beautiful Floor

We finished our flooring project on Saturday.  We still have some trim work to do.  The floor looks great.  It is a dark walnut laminate.  I hope to post some photos of it, but I'll have to figure out how to do that first.  A big thank you to Kevin, Micah, Joe, John, and Andrew for spending time helping us.

Sleep

The last two nights Felicity has slept well.  One night was 8 1/2 hours and the other was 9 hours.  I don't really expect it to last as she is only 6 1/2 weeks old, but it was nice to wake up just before the alarm and not in the middle of the night.  She likes to sleep and has been making it quite clear that she wants to go to bed around 8:30 at night, but I've been making her stay up until at least 9:30 pm and then she goes down til she gets hungry again.  She seems to have grown since Monday, too.  I think she is longer.

Fun at the Circus!

We had a lot of fun last evening.  We got coupons for $5 tickets if we attended a 4:30 show.  The savings was great and we never would have gone if we had to pay full price.  Jeff and I had never been to a circus before, so it was something new for us.  The kids enjoyed it, too.  Kent wasn't sure he wanted to see any clowns. Kent says his favorite part was: Alex the clown, in one of his parts he kept popping balloons that he was supposed to give to an audience helper.  Kent also liked the parade they did with animals, performers and trainers.  Katy says her favorite part was every part and the clown popping balloons.  Kaomi says "My favorite part is the clowns.  I like the circus, too.  And the train." (we let all the kids go on a kiddie train ride).  Felicity took several short naps, she appeared to like the circus tent's roof the best it was dark blue with white stars.  I thought the elephants were cool and the contortionist was kind of weird to watch, he put himself into a small box.  Of course we had to sample Circus Popcorn and Cotton Candy.  Beware: the popcorn is very salty (they make it that way so you'll have to buy their drinks, too).

Circus

We are all excited.  We have plans to go to the circus this evening.

Pine Car Races

Kent, Katy and Kaomi all had vehicles in the car races at Christian Service Brigade this weekend. Kent entered an Ambulance in the open class for Tadpoles. It was really cool. He and Jeff worked hard on it and it had blinking lights. He earned two red ribbons and one blue ribbon. The categories being judged were for craftsmanship, design and speed. Katy entered a police car in the Powder Puff races she painted it red and blue and it also had blinking lights. She earned 2 red ribbons and 1 white ribbon. Kaomi entered a bright pink fire truck with purple windows. It had sparkling glitter on the lightbar. She received a participation ribbon. When we raced the three kids cars together the police car arrived first, followed closely by the fire truck in second and the ambulance in third. We celebrated afterwards with a trip to Fuddruckers for lunch.

We are in the process of putting in some new flooring. Hopefully the job will be completed by next Saturday. Today Jeff has been pulling off baseboards, linoleum and carpet.