Psalm 147:1

"Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!"

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Peaceful and productive fall day...

Peaceful and productive....
I'm not sure that I used to believe those two words went hand in hand.:)
However, God is teaching me that they can. That's very exciting!
Example: I grew up where we got up early, cleaned the whole house, and then usually we went to town (which was an hour away) for groceries,stuff,etc. So Saturdays were always very busy and productive days.
So for many years I have pushed Saturdays to be very busy-often at the expense of my families peace and happiness. But in recent months I have changed. Well, I'm trying. I sooooo hate to admit this-but I tend to push to get things done. Often times I lose the "joy in the journey" if you will.
New example: Allow my hubby to sleep in without placing guilt on him (because he likes to do stuff in the afternoon and evening).
Cuddle with the kids and watch cartoons on Daystar. I have never really allowed them to watch cartoons both for content and time wastefulness, but there are some really great Christian cartoons on Sat. mornings on TBN and Daystar. I have been crocheing while I watch with them. It's really been a lovely time spent together! Then we get up and tend to the dogs, the kids do their chore chart and I start lunch. Sometimes it's more of a brunch but it has been such nice time spent together. Then I clean up and do my 1 1/2 hours of household chores. In my mind I say, "whatever gets done will be enough" but I've ended up getting all my stuff done....because I've been keeping up my daily chores. (Insert pat a PTL). Then today Sweetie and I emptied out the van and vacuumed it....in the rain.:) Then we went to the library and picked up sooooo many great books I had on hold!!!!!' Yay! Went to the grocery store then got ready for a fellowship party at a friends house from church. It was a lovely day....I got everything done I wanted to.....and we all stayed joyful and happy while doing it. I'm becoming sooooo much more aware of how much I set the tone for our family. Help me Lord!:) I want to homor You with my attitude and actions! Thank You for a wonderfully peaceful and productive day.

FYI: I have text all this on my iphone so if something is wrong please forgive and overlook the error.

Friday, October 29, 2010

A wonderful, fall day....

Here in the NW our fall is often filled with rainy, overcast, chilly days. 
But we've had a beautiful fall this year! 
There have been some rainy days but overall the weather has been beautiful. 
We've been trying to get out at least once a day for a walk or bike ride
before it gets too icky. 
.
Sweetie likes her bike that Daddy found her this summer at a yard sale! 
Only $10! 
I'm reminded time and time again that "my God will supply all my needs". 
When we first got married and had more income coming in and less house costs going out I didn't have to rely on God for my daily bread as much. (Or so I felt....)
However, now that things are much tighter due to our mortgage (that we haven't been able to refinance due to the falling house prices right after we purchased it) or just other things, 
I am much more aware of God's provision in my life. 
He has promised that he will take care of us no matter what and he always does!

Here are a few of the beautiful trees that line the streets in our neighborhood. 
I just love the quaint little houses as well. 
We live in a very eclectic neighborhood. 
It used to be farm land and over the years they have sold it off in sections 
so no two homes are alike. 
We live in a 1921 craftsman. 
It has it's issues for sure, but I love that it's not like everyone else's home on the block. 



As we walked in the door, the smell of this freshly baked bread filled our senses!
Oh, it smelled so good and tasted even better.
I have now conquered both totally homemade white bread as well as 
white bread in my bread maker. 
Now on to wheat!!!
I love the whole grain taste of wheat bread and the way I feel after I eat it, 
but I won't lie and say that this white bread wasn't delicious! :-)
For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together.  For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad.  ~Edwin Way Teale

Bittersweet October.  The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter.  ~Carol Bishop Hipps

Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.  ~George Eliot

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came -
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.
~George Cooper, "October's Party"

HAPPY FALL

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Getting ready for the holidays.....



Beginning to prepare for Christmas.:)
Normally I have most of my shopping done by this point but finances have been extra tight this year so I have not done my usual clearance prebuying. Gifts are a big deal at Christmas in my family. Not that they have to be big or expensive at all but we give lots. Now they can be from the Dollar Store for all we care. :)
My mom used to tell the story of when she was a kid and my Granny would ask her and my uncle if they would rather have one large gift or lots of little ones and her response was always.....lots of little ones. That has definently translated over into my upbringing.
Again, it's not at all about how much they cost! Just so we all have lots of little gifts under the tree.
So, tomorrow and Thursday it's time to go digging through my gift closet and make a list of what I have and what I still need.
I posted a link to flylady.com because she's got some great resources to help prepare for the holidays.
I'm so excited I can hardly wait for all the advent books that I ordered from the library to come in.
This year, I'm seriously considering NOT dragging out all my Christmas decor and simply putting up the bare tree with white lights on it and having a very organic Christmas where we make simple things to add to the tree.I'm not crafty at all, but I don't think it has to be complicated. Just for a change....I'll let you know what I decide.:)

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Grateful for family....

This past week was my little sister's 17th birthday. 
She loved the Hello Kitty slippers that Sweetie got her. :-)
I'm so grateful that God gave me two sisters!
Growing up as an only child for 13 years 
and then being blessed with two sisters has changed who I am. 
I defiantly have only child/first born tendencies...:-)
but God has used my family to help me grow. 
Cassidy is so different from my mom and other sister.
She is quiet and reserved and often feels like she lives in the shadow 
of our loud personalities, but God has given her so many wonderful qualities
that we could all learn from. 
She is incredible compassionate. 

She is also an incredible Auntie!
So is Courtney. :-)

Just taking a moment to be grateful for sisters that I didn't think I would have....
and now that I do - I can't imagine living without!



Friday, October 22, 2010

Busy couple of weeks.....

I gave Busy a haircut. He likes it long on top. :-)

Sweety always has a puppy in her hand. 
She has understood much more with this liter 
that they all have other homes that they will someday go to. 
It hasn't hurt that last time we decided to give them each $50 
for all of their hard work that they have put into the puppy care as well.
She already has her shopping trip planned.:-)
This past Monday was picture day at co-op. 
This wasn't all of the kids since some come for afternoon only. 
PATH co-op has been a blessing to our family. 
I'm not gonna say that it isn't difficult giving up Mondays, 
but the benefits outweigh the negatives by far!
The kids wanted to take pictures with the crosses....

I think it's wonderful that the cross is important to them!!!!!
This is one of my favorite pictures of them together in a long time. 
 I LOVE THEM!
And this one is pretty special also!
Yep, love this guy!
And this adorable, sweet princess of the King!

Wow, praying that you are remembering your blessings as much as I am today. 
I Samuel 13:14b says, "The Lord has sought out someone after his own heart." 
Oh Lord, may that be me and my family!



Tuesday, October 12, 2010

An imaginative week.....



Sunday wrapped up our Fall Renewal Services with Tim and Rochelle Enloe. 
He is a really great teacher and had lots of great truths from the Word to walk away with. 
On Sunday morning of all of Renewal Services, we always have the Impact Kids (grades 1st-6th) stay 
in service with their parents. Tim made sure to include them in the sermon and did a great job explaining the Holy Spirit to them. We got their book, Kid Power, and Busy has had a great time reading through it.
 It's really neat to see him take interest in the things of the Lord on his own. 
He's still not sure about prayer times at church, but is very comfortable with our
 family times at home and reading the Bible together as a family.
Monday was our first day at PATH co-op for the year. It went really good. The kids had a great time as usual. Busy's first period teacher for Pilgrims and Pioneers has been with him every year in first period. She said that she can tell a really big change in him maturity wise over the summer. Then I had the mom that's a helper and it's her first year at co-op come up yesterday and say that she just loves him and that he's really creative. That always makes a mom's heart happy. 
Sweetie is doing great in her classes as always. :-)

 Here's some imaginative play time that she has been doing at home this week. 
Personally, I have never been into imaginative play (or talking to myself for that matter :-) 
but she loves to play alone and talk with her animals.
Especially when she's in trouble. It's so funny. She goes and pours her heart out to them! 

 We've been working on reading. 
Right now, we are spending more time on reading together as a family.
Every afternoon, I've been reading a chapter book to them. 
It's really turned into one of the best parts of my day. 
I actually take that as an answer to prayer, because I was not particularly fond 
of reading out load when they were younger. 
Growing up in a Christian school we obviously didn't have group reading times so
it was simply not something that I was used to. 
My grandma used to always read books to me when I was young, but not chapter books.
I'm really enjoying it this year. We are reading some great stories together. Both long and short. 
 For my personal reading time, I have about 4 books going but this is the one that I'm primarily focused on and longing to finish in the next few days. It's a really well written book that is challenging and reminding me that success is primarily based on what I give and not focusing on the other person. When I'm the best person I can be then things usually work out really well in any relationship, especially marriage. 
I'm thankful that God continues to mold and develop my family and relationships. 
Wednesday I woke up with a terrible head cold that I'd been fighting off since Sunday. 
It felt as though someone had poured concrete in my sinuses. 
I decided to stay home from church that night which is VERY, VERY unusual for me but I was 
afraid that if I didn't take it easy that I'd end up with a sinus infection and this weekend was Youth Conference which I had to go to. So it was really nice actually taking a very relaxed approach to school.
 We completed all of our work but just took longer into the evening to complete it.  
I wished we had more of those type of days....
but I'm thankful for the time I do have with them.

Thursday was my birthday. :-) It was the first time in forever that it wasn't on a church day, event, work day, or some other random thing was happening. It was really nice to just be home with the kids. 
I was feeling better but not great so it made for a wonderful day to just relax and do school at a slower pace. 
We went over to my mom's that evening and had 
Onion Burgers, Potato Salad, and Cherry Pie. Yummmmm!

Praying you had a very blessed week as well.....

Friday, October 8, 2010

Value

As a woman, you have incredible worth. Not only are you a daughter of the Most High God, but you were created to manage a household, give birth and train children, soothe and encourage your man, listen attentively with both your natural ears and the ears of your heart, and manage your time wisely while many times holding down a job!
You have the ability to be a counselor, teacher, friend, servant, manager and accountant. You are able to sense the longings within others and help them realize their dreams. In addition, you are compassionate, giving, strong and a source of joy!
You have the anointing within you, making you willing, able, capable, mighty, strong, valiant, efficient, wealthy and worthy of good things.
Remember that your mood affects your entire household. We've all heard the saying, "If Mama ain't happy; ain't nobody happy." Your mood will set the tone for the atmosphere in the home. Whether you realize it or not, your spouse and children can immediately sense your happiness or displeasure. When you are happy, even the blackest of moods can disappear in them. On the other hand, if are depressed, then everyone in the house feels blue. This is simply the result of the influential position you hold in your household.
Esteem yourself the way that God esteems you.

Taffi Dollar in The Successful Family

Great book!

I'm so grateful that God is doing a work in my heart to understand how to BALANCE everything. :-)

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Large Families



I had the privilege of being in the room with my friend as she had her 6th baby this past week. It is always amazing how each delivery is unique and precious in and of itself. At this point, most people are saying, "You're done, right?" but I can honestly say that I think they will have more. She says that being a mom is what God put her on earth to do. And she's really good at it. I don't believe I could handle it all, but then again perhaps I could. After I got home from the hospital, I watched 19 kids and counting. :-) It was a great ending to the LONG night. The nurse was saying that large families are becoming much more popular. I believe that moms are realizing that two incomes are not as valuable as time with their children. It is really neat to be part of the huge homeschool movement that is happening in America right now. I pray that more families will understand/realize that God gave them the responsibility, authority, AND right to train up their own children.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Weekly Update


Another busy week has come and gone!
Sunday was church as normal in the morning and then Sunday night we starting practicing for our Christmas play. We are doing “How the Grinch Found Christmas”.

Monday was our first day of co-op. Well, it was actually just orientation. The kids wanted it to be classes but that all starts up this Monday.
Busy’s classes are: Pilgrims and Pioneers,
Exploring the World Around Us (Science), 











Manners w/ Mrs. Harris, and Math Games.

Sweetie's classes are: Crafty Kids, 
Animal Science (that’s my class), 
Creative Learners Kindergarten class, 
and Drawing and Handwriting.

Tuesday was work and then wrestling.

Wednesday we went to the Seattle Woodland Park Zoo for their Homeschool Day.
We went with another homeschool family of 4 and the kids had a great day. While we were at the zoo, my precious friend called and said she thought she might be going into labor. That meant I had to head home and get the video camera before church. We made it back to church in time. I did youth worship then taught my sister's Ranger class for her because she had already gone over to watch my friends other 5 kiddos. After church, hubby took our kids home and I headed to the hospital. I’ve been with her for all 6 births now. It is a very special experience. No sleep at all….but worth it. Kyle Douglas was born at 9:42 am. He was healthy and mama did great as usual. By the time they got mama and the baby all cleaned up and things settled down it was noon and I headed to mom’s to pick up the kids and go take a nap. Hubby took the kids birthday shopping for me so I could just have some quiet last night. I didn’t go to sleep til 8 PM cause I was afraid my body would be off it I slept all afternoon.
Friday—Tonight through Sunday is our Fall Renewal Services. So that means we’ll be at church all weekend.  Well, that’s our week!