To Be or Not to Be Sick...

I have found in the course of this week that there are different ways that people endure their illnesses.

First there is the Groan and Moan sufferer. You definitely know that this person is not feeling well. You can hear his groans and moans clear across the house, and all you can do is pray that everyone gets feeling better, SOON!

Then there is the Royal Treatment sufferer. This person thinks that since he is sick that he should get everything that he wants. He requests to watch movies and eat cake, when asked if he feels like eating anything.

Then there is the Silent Sufferer, who doesn't say much but endures the illness with as much grace as possible. You can only tell that she is sick by her silence and the fact that she is shivering while everyone else finds the room a comfortable temperature.

Then there is the I want the Royal Treatment even though I'm not sick anymore child. The attitude for this "sufferer" is if they get their temperature taken, I need mine taken. If they get medicine, I want medicine. If they get to lay on the couch, I want to lay on the couch. You might can guess which of my young'uns that might be. :)

Then of course the baby just wants to be held the whole time he feels bad. The baby doesn't know why he feels the way he does, but he feels like he is being totally rejected if you set him down for even one minute to help someone else.

Then there is the Denial Sufferer. I'm not sick! I'm not going to get sick! I can't get sick! I'm not even going to take my temperature, because there is no way I can get sick! I have too much to do to get sick! I'm only coughing because of allergies. Never mind that everyone else is coughing in the house! I have to be immune!

So there we have it folks! There are six family members in our home and those of you who know us well, can probably guess which one of my descriptions is which.

Scott is doing better now, besides his congestion. Joshua and Ruth were running a very low grade fever this morning, and should be completely well in a day or two. Hannah is feeling quite fine and not sick after resting a couple days. Jonathan also is back to his old chipper self.

And as for me, well, I CAN'T get sick! I can't afford to get sick! I REFUSE to get sick! *Cough, Cough* Sorry, my allergies again! I better go check on the kids.

Be careful of what you ask for!

I planned to give an update on everyone's health sooner, but I allowed myself to get busy and not get around to blogging these past couple of days. Even now I should be sleeping, but had to tell this story first.

On our way to feed the horses and gather the eggs for our neighbors, Joshua was all excited. He said, "Maybe the rooster will attack me this time. " Thursday, I had taken Ruth by herself and Joshua offered to stay behind and help watch Jonathan, who was sick. When we got back Ruth told Joshua about the rooster attacking her. Thankfully it hit her boot and not directly on her leg. Joshua was intrigued for some reason by her story and was saying that he wanted the rooster to attack him today. I told him, "Joshua, you better be careful what you ask for. You might just get it." Joshua wasn't too concerned and for some reason I knew he would get attacked. I wasn't worried about it though, I figured he might learn a valuable lesson.

Sure enough, the main rooster was in no mood to be trifled with. I had to use a shovel to get into the chicken pen. The rooster attacked the shovel three times before I could get in to throw the feed to it. The feed I threw out was the only thing that kept him from attacking the shovel a 4th time. Now if I hadn't had that shovel that would have been my leg attacked that many times. I thought Joshua would have been less excited when he saw that, but it only seemed to excite him more. He said, "Wow, I saw his neck feathers get all raised!" The rooster finally left the pen while I gathered the eggs. I turned and saw him challenging Joshua. Or was it Joshua challenging the rooster, it was hard to tell. Joshua was trying to scare the rooster away from him but was only angering him all the more. So the rooster attacked him, and I heard Joshua say, "Ow! Hey!" The reason for these exclamations were because he expected the rooster to quit after he showed the rooster that he wasn't scared. So he wound up running from the rooster. Meanwhile, Hannah is in a panic over every chicken in the yard. I had her standing safely out of the way but she was still in a panic. I explained that it was only the rooster, she had to watch out for but in her mind every chicken was the same. So I armed her with a stick and told her to hold the stick and the chickens would leave her alone.

After we fed the horses we called the chickens all back to their pen. This time Joshua was a little more respectful of the rooster's position in the yard.

Now for a health update. Scott, is feeling quite a bit better, except for some congestion that hasn't completely left him yet. Jonathan was feeling better by Friday evening. Hannah just has a tired look, but never ran much fever. Ruth threw up Saturday morning, and that evening was running 103 degree fever. I gave her some medicine and sent her to bed. Then Saturday night before bedtime, Joshua was running a fever as well, his was 102 degrees.

Sadly, I think we will be missing church Sunday morning. This will be the first service for me to miss, since Jonathan was born. He was born on a Sunday morning. I don't remember missing a Sunday, since. We will see tomorrow how everyone is feeling. I just don't want the kids to get everyone at church sick and I don't want to leave them by themselves while they aren't feeling well. I plan on having them rest and do a small devotional lesson with them. I may even let them watch St. John in Exile performed by Dean Jones. I'm hoping they start feeling better soon. So far, thankfully, I have not gotten sick yet. I told Scott that a mother can't afford to get sick. I have no intention of getting sick if I can at all help it. Of course, if Scott realized how late I'm staying up in order to write all these thoughts down, he might think I were asking for it. So I better be careful what I ask for and get some sleep, so that I not get sick myself.

I'll try to write more tomorrow.

A Substitute for the Substitute...

Scott finally took my advice and called the school he substitutes for to let them know he was sick. I couldn't stand seeing him go into school not feeling well and then come home feeling worse. I also have to thank my Dad for suggesting that it might be the flu. Something about the word flu makes it seem a little scarier and the fact that if he doesn't take care of himself he might be feeling like this for ten days made him realize that he should stay home. It's hard for him to admit he's sick but to have to be this way for that long sounded like misery.

I think Hannah has finally decided that she likes being a girl. This morning she had watched a Strawberry Shortcake movie and said that she wanted to be Blueberry Muffin who is a boy. She gave me the normal because she never got to be a boy before. Then I suggested, "Why don't you want to be the kitty, you never got to be a kitty before either."
This of course was an exciting idea. She said, "I can be Pupcake. I never got to be a puppy before either."

Now she may want to be a Puppy or a Kitty when she grows up but at least she likes being a girl again. I tried to read her the story of Deborah out of her Picture Bible. I told her that she would probably like Deborah because she led an army into Battle. She decided that she didn't want me to read that one though, because she didn't like the blood from the battle. So thankfully, Hannah won't be a Joan of Arc. And she is still proud that her finger nail polish is still on her fingers. So I think I've convinced her to enjoy being my little girl.

Of course, Joshua dropped his guard over Jonathan today. Ruth had dressed Jonathan up in her pink sweater. When Joshua found out he shook his head and requested, kindly of course, that it be removed. I asked Joshua if he was glad that he was the oldest and didn't have older sisters dressing him up like a live Baby doll. He is definitely glad.

I'm afraid Jonathan may be catching a little bit of what Scott has though. He has been acting tired all day. I am hoping a good nights sleep will help him feel better. I hate it when Babies get sick. They can't really talk to tell you what hurts. They just want to be held all day long, and all you want to do is hold them. Ruth and Joshua have been a big help with Jonathan on that though. If I need to do something, I can pass Jonathan to one of them and they will rock him for me. They are such big helpers.

I'll try to blog more tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll have better news on everyone's health.

I want to end this blog with a thought I find interesting about Deborah. It's relating to the verse which states.

The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
(Judges 5:7)

She specifically mentions herself as a mother in Israel, not a soldier, not a judge but a mother. Of all the amazing things God allowed her to do, she still sees herself as primarily a mother in Israel, that God used for his honor and glory.

God can do amazing things even with someone as simple and humble as a mother.

Ride a little Horsey!

I finally have some videos for everyone. Yesterday, the kids had an opportunity to ride a horse. They actually will be getting to ride horses quite a bit. We have a couple that have been coming to our church that train and raise horses to sell. They offered to let the kids come out anytime to do a few odd jobs around the place and feed the horses. This is great for the kids, since Ruth has always loved horses and has wanted one for a long time. It reminds me of when I was her age and wanted a horse. I love seeing the kids get to fulfill some of their dreams.

The first picture is of Ruth and Hannah riding on Daisy, a Tenessee Walking Horse.

This one is Ruth riding by herself. The lady that works with these horses says that Ruth took to riding so naturally. Of course Hannah didn't realize that the video was being taken and is talking the whole time.

This last one is of Joshua riding Daisy. He is learning to be a little more natural. He is doing real well for his second time riding.

I'm so glad that they are getting this opportunity to learn to ride. This will be a great experience for them as they get older.

Thank you, Ms. Laura for putting these videos on youtube!

I have to end with one last video, since I don't know when I'll get this chance again. This one is of Joshua unmounting. We had a good laugh. After this video was taken he had said, "Well, at least I tried it." It was so cute!

You're never too old nor too young, to reach for your dreams! Find what God has given you an opportunity to do and go for it!

When I grow up...

Today, Hannah and I were having another one of our detailed conversation about what people like to do. I can't remember everything we talked about, but she asked me if Papa and Nana liked to do something like walk. I told her they both liked whatever it was she was asking about. She said, "I want to be Papa when I grow up."
I told her, "Nana likes that, too, why don't you want to be Nana?"
Her reply was, "But I never got to be a boy before!"

I then tried to explain the advantages she had being a girl. "I thought you wanted to be a Mommy with milk when you gr0w up."

She said, "I do, but I want to be a boy first and then be a Mommy with milk!"

She was sure she found the perfect solution. I think she thinks being a boy is as simple as a haircut. So I tell her, "How about if we give you a hair trim so that your hair still looks like a pretty girl's hair and then paint your finger nails. Boys don't get to paint their fingernails."

To which she responds, "Ok, I'll be a girl then. Can we paint Jonathan's fingernails, too?"

That girl could make a good lawyer.

When Ruth was her age, she wanted to be a Princess. It's neat seeing all four of their different personalities. It definitely keeps life interesting.

And thanks to big brother, little Jonathan doesn't have pink finger nails like his sister right now.

A Blog A Day...

Well, my Dad blogs everyday. My brother at least blogs once a week. Me... well... I have to admit I've been a bit remiss. But sometimes I feel like I spend way too much time on the computer when I go online. It takes me a while to load pictures, since I have dial-up.

Then there is checking e'mail, which might not take me so long if I actually checked it everyday. But alas, I've not checked my e'mail in a while either. So here I am checking my e'mail and checking up on my Dad's and Brother's blogs. You wouldn't believe how many of my Dad's blogs I've missed. I've only missed 2 of my brothers, which makes me feel better. Of course last time I checked my Brother's blog I didn't blog that day either.

I love to write, in fact I'm taking a writing course from the Institute of Children's Literature. However, I hate waiting on computers to load stuff. I often feel guilty about spending too much time on it. Even if I'm only doing basic stuff like checking and answering e'mail, cleaning out my inbox, and reading blogs. It just winds up taking so much time.

O.k. So here is what I have decided. I'm going to blog a little more often, however without as many pictures, since that is what takes me so long to do. I will try to blog tomorrow. I may even put at least one picture on tomorrow. We'll see. I just have to plan it.

But without pictures I'll be able to write more often. I was just trying to get a picture in every blog before.

Uh oh, better go chase Jonathan down again and get the others back on track with their school work. They are working on their Multiplication right now. At least, they better be.

I'll write more tomorrow.

Happy New Year

A lot has happened over the past two months. If anyone is still out there checking on my blog occassionally, I'm sorry that I hadn't updated in such a long time. I know my sister has been asking about my blog.

December was a great month. We had snow! This was the first snow Hannah remembers. It was a Wednesday night and as we were walking out of the church building, Hannah started hollering and wanting to be held. She was afraid of the snow. Then her brave big brother went out there and jumped around in it to show her that it was o.k. Then she slowly made her way down the steps and into the snow. Then she started laughing about it.


The snow lasted all that night and a little ways into the next day. I have a couple of pictures of it. The first one is of Scott cleaning the car before going to work that morning.

The second is of Ruth with her snowman that she made. I really thought this picture was funny. What seems out of place in this picture?

If you said the snowman in the middle of the green grass, your right. It just doesn't seem right for a snowman to be standing on a bright sunshiney day in the middle of the green grass. But he held up for at least that day and part of the next. He was a pretty tough snowman.


We enjoyed our Christmas with my parents. We spent Christmas Eve with them and then had our Christmas at their house. I think this was probably one of our best Christmases. I liked it because it was simple. We kept it pretty laid back. The kids weren't all in a rush to open presents. We slept late, I even took a shower and ate breakfast before we opened them at about 11 o'clock. It was nice not having the day focused on presents.


My Dad had made an excellent dinner of Roast Beef, with Salad and other side dishes. Then my Sister and her husband came over and we enjoyed getting to just visit. My Dad even took the kids to his church to play in their gymnasium. It was so quiet around the house at that point. Then we played a game of Clue with my sister and her husband. We had a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to our next visit with my sister and brother-in-law. Hopefully we will learn to use those new rod and reels they gave us for Christmas.


I have so many things I plan on doing this new year. I want to go visit my Mom for her Birthday and actually go on a shopping spree with her. I am saving a little bit of money aside to enjoy a good shopping trip with her. I intend that she finds something for herself, however she already has been talking about finding something for me. But that is just the way my Mom is, for her it is more fun to find something for her kids than for herself. I plan on finding something that she likes during it all though.


In my next blog, I plan to write about my goals for this New Year. So don't give completely up on me and keep checking back. I'll try not to let another Month and a half go by before writing again. :)

Homeschool Always in Session...

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago of the kids sitting at their desks ready for a lesson. After they are done with their lessons we fold up their desks and put them up against the wall and clean the floor of all toys, DVD, tapes, games, etc. that gets scattered during lessons. At around 3:30 I let the kids take a snack, usually an orange outside and they play.

This second picture is of Hannah "washing" her hair in a puddle, one of the days they were outside playing. She can be quite interesting actually. Everyone says she's our character, and that she is. She is always asking people for gum, a habit she has that I wish I could figure out how to break. The problem is that she always asks so sweetly that everyone wants to give it to her. They then promise to bring her gum in the future. Now how do I convince her to quit asking for gum when she gets it so easily. Well, that's a problem I've been talking to her about. I may have to ban gum altogether until we get the problem solved. Of course then she'll find something else to ask for.

I hadn't been online in so long that I felt I just had to get these pictures on here and update everyone. Later I will try to put more pictures on here and tell about Thanksgiving and our Christmas and New Year plans.

Happy Birthday!

We celebrated Jonathan's first Birthday a few days ago. We didn't really do a big party but we had a few friends over and baked a chocolate cake for the occassion. It was Jonathan's first time to have chocolate cake. That is a tradition we have had for each of our children, on their first birthday they get their first taste of chocolate cake. It is also fun for pictures.

The kids and I spent his birthday making a few gifts. Joshua learned how to use the sewing machine. Meanwhile, Ruth wanted to sew her gift by hand. I helped cut out a Zebra shape for Joshua, and helped cut out a circle pillow for Ruth. The circle turned out looking more egg shape but it still turned out well. The material Ruth used for the pillow she made had dinosaurs all over it. The zebra Joshua made was made of black and white striped material. I made a dinosaur out of the same material Ruth used. We decided that the pillow she made could be the dinosaur's egg.

Scott also bought him a toy that has about 5 rings that stack in order over a cone. Our guests gave Jonathan a car that has popping balls inside of it. He really likes pushing it down the hallway. I will post a few pictures that I know everyone is wanting to see. I will try to post a few more later on as well.

New Glasses and Learning Lessons...

It has been almost a month since I've blogged. I have a lot of catching up to do. Since I've last written Joshua and Ruth both have new glasses.

Joshua does not have to wear his all the time but Ruth does. Of course Joshua has to put them on, when I insist that he gets his glasses instead of guessing at the writing on the white board or the T.V. screen.

Ruth has astigmatism, which the optometrist said she will need to wear her glasses all the time. She doesn't seem to mind though, especially since we made sure she picked a pair of glasses that she likes and look nice on her. She really wanted her glasses to be pink like mine.

Their lessons have actually shown some improvement since we've gotten their glasses. Whenever I see Joshua staring at something funny, I just send him to get his glasses and he seems to not have such a problem. It has helped him with the tired look that he often would get in his eyes.

Of course we "had" to get Hannah a pair of sun glasses as well. She went with us to Ruth's eye appointment. She felt like she needed her eyes checked also. So after Ruth picked out her glasses, we took Hannah over to the sunglasses section of Wal-mart and found her a pair of lightly tinted glasses. They look like sunglasses but they are not as dark as real sunglasses would be. They just have a pink tint to them. She was real proud of them. Jonathan just seems happy that he has so many people to pull glasses off of now. Whenever he gets a hold of Hannah's sunglasses he tries to put them on his head. He loves to copy.

Jonathan is getting big. He is almost walking. He will stand up in the middle of the floor without holding on to anything. We haven't been able to get him to take a first step, but I just know he will soon. I took a wonderful video of him playing with the his older siblings. Hannah was throwing a soft toy around the room and all of us would tell him, "Go get it!" He crawled across the floor grab the toy that she threw and then threw it for her to catch. Whenever he didn't see where she threw it, we would point to it and tell him, "It's over there." He learned a new word. As soon as she would throw it, he pointed and said "Tha" for "There." It's hard to believe that he is growing so fast. He will be a year old soon. It doesn't seem like a year has had time to pass. So much has happened this past year. I guess we've been so busy.

Hannah has been learning lessons as well. Her biggest lesson which I think she has finally begun to learn is to not lie. One of her incidences where we caught her in a lie, involved a chair that she obviously wrote on. I asked her "Hannah did you write on this chair?" She said "No." When I asked her "Who did?" She said, "Them in France did it." Hmmm... Her cousins sure would have

had to travel an awful long way to write on one of our chairs.

That is one of the lessons we try to teach our children at an early age. They get in far worse trouble for lying about a deed than they would have if they had told the truth. Hannah has figured that out and almost always tells the truth instantly now. Of course, now she tells the truth almost as if she were proud of the fact that she did it. But she gets into far less trouble that way.

He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit. There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health. The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace is joy. There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief. Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.
(Proverbs 12:17-22)

Aftermath of Ike

Here is a picture as promised of some of the damage caused by Hurricane Ike. In this picture you can see a tree down, the church's steeple twisted and moved, the power line is down, and there was a stick impressively harpooned into the ground. Yes, those are the trees roots you see. It's amazing how much damage can be done by a hurricane. We have other more detailed pictures of some of the damages but I thought this one made an impressive over all view of the damages.

We stayed with my parents for 2 weeks. When we arrived home we had to find a way to park in our front yard. The entire yard was covered with branches. We came home expecting the power to be out for only a couple of days, it turned out being closer to a week and a half. We were really happy when the electric company finally showed up in our front yard. It's funny how much you appreciate something after you have been without it for awhile. We really appreciate electricity having gone that long without it.

The kids are doing well. We were doing our lessons over at the church during the week that we didn't have electricity. We would go over there for breakfast and then I would get the older involved with a lesson, while I figured out what to do with the younger two. It was fine but it is a lot easier to keep them out of trouble in our own house.

It amazes me how much there was for my 3 year old to displace. I walked into a room to get something and saw a large stack of books where she cleared the bottom two bookshelves that she could reach. I, of course, commanded that she put those back on the shelf neatly. Later I found half the church sign numbers moved and set messily on another table. I told her to put those back and she said, "O.k. I'll put my money back." Then on another occasion she had pulled all the coffee cup holders out of one of the kitchen cabinets and piled them on a table. I first turned it into a lesson for her by having her separate the cups by colors and then count how many cups of each color there were. Then I had her put them back. That was only some of the things she found to unorganized.

Now that we are able to do lessons here again, I feel like I'm able to keep a better eye on all the children. At least, here I know what she could possibly be doing in another room. There aren't as many surprises. I can also keep a better eye on Jonathan this way as well.

I have a lot to do this month. I plan to put some of the things the kids are doing in homeschool next time I write. We've been pretty busy. I'll try to get some pictures of them doing some of their lessons. Until then...

Cause and Effect...

As promised, I'm adding a couple more videos to my blog. I entitled my blog today "Cause and Effect." See if you can figure out why.



I don't know if I will have time to post again before we leave. We will be back home this weekend but we're not sure what the conditions of our home will be. We should have water and phones. However we are not sure if we will have electricity when we get there.

Hopefully we will be able to get any problems repaired. I know that we will have a tree down in our yard. It's a pecan tree and I do not know which one it is. So I'm looking forward to getting back home and seeing first hand what the damages consist of at our house. I'll try to get some pictures and post them as soon as possible.

Two's Company...

This video is of Hannah. She ran into the my parents living room announcing, "I stood on the clock and I weighed 30 feet inches!" So we had to get this video so everyone else could hear her. She is so funny.

We talked to some of our church members and found that electricity is gradually coming back to our area. We were planning to make a short trip there and then come back to my parents, but now we are planning to go ahead and pack up and go back this week. I'm not sure which day. We may have to go a couple of days without electricity but it's not as bad as two weeks.

My parents have graciously shared their home with us these two weeks. Two weeks is a long visit. Two's company but eight can be a crowd when your used to two. So I'm sure they will enjoy getting their house and their routine back. I know I'm ready to get back to a routine again. I'm sure it will be quiet around here.

Since we will be going back this week and leaving fast speed internet behind, I will have another blog tomorrow with a few more videos. So check back later on this week for some more cute videos.

For now enjoy the above video and this video of Hannah and Ruth playing on Nana's piano. You will notice that Hannah is chewing bubble gum in this video. She had bought the gum with her own money that she was saving for a piano like Nana's. Obviously she has a little ways to go to have saving and spending figured out. Enjoy the videos!

Waiting...

I wanted to post a couple of videos since I have access to faster internet. Yes, we are one of many Texas families that evacuated due to hurricane Ike. It is hard to wait sometimes.

I try not to get impatient, as I wait. I try to be adaptable but I like routine as well. It seems like all the different places we have lived over the years, one thing I try to maintain is some sort of routine. It takes me a while to adjust to change, however after a few weeks I get the kids used to a routine and then we are doing well again. We finally started the first week of our new KONOS curriculum when hurricane Ike came through. Now I'm trying to decide whether or not to come up with an "at grandparents house" routine. If we were to go back to our home, we would not have electricity and possibly no water. The sheriffs department there suggested we wait a few days. So by the time I finally got some semblance of a routine going here, we'd be leaving again. For now I plan to work on basic reading, writing, and math with the kids. When we get back home we'll return to our Unit Study. I plan to take pictures of different activities we do as we go along. Which I will be able to post on here to show some of what the kids are learning.

I hope all is well at our church and our home. I imagine that we will find a lot of trees down when we do get back. Some of our church members were planning to go back earlier today to assess the damage. I hope they find all in order and we will be able to get back as soon as the electricity is turned back on. In the mean time we will just have to wait.

(Psalms 27:14) Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Baby in a Pot

I had to post this picture of Jonathan in a big pot. This was a pot Scott had bought when Joshua was just a baby. He liked it's size, because you could cook a lot of food in it. It was funny when he bought it, since Joshua was just a baby he joked that he would fit in it. Of course, we would never really cook our children.

Scott and I had a real good discussion on that subject before we were married. He had studied Deuteronomy 28:56-58 in seminary, also 2 Kings 6:28-29. It is funny to look at that conversation that we had 12 years ago. I remember it started when we both saw a teenager steal a cookie from the bakery of the grocery store we both worked at. I was shocked to see him do such a thing in plain sight, and just before I let the words out, Scott said, "Don't say you wouldn't do that." I was even more shocked that he would think, I would be low enough to steal a cookie. That of course got into a big discourse over the fact that I would not steal a cookie. He then told me about the women in the Bible that were so hungry that they ate their own children. I was shocked to even have that brought up, I told him that I would never eat my children. I would give my own fingers and toes rather than eat any of my own children. The funny thing is we both agreed, but we saw things in a different way. He thought I was saying that I wasn't capable of sin. I thought he was saying that I can't say I wouldn't do anything like that. I firmly believed that if you follow the Bible and stay within those guidelines and you will never have to eat your children, because God will provide all your needs. After the strangest argument we have ever had, we both agreed that we were sinners and that we didn't have to eat our children.

Of course, we still have to joke about our first argument, and when he bought that large pot, I just shook my head and reassured Joshua at the time that we would never eat our children. Of course, now Jonathan fits in it and thinks it's the funnest toy around. His brother and sisters all had him in there and were adding toys and pushing him around the carpet like he were in a car. He just loves it. Hannah uses that pot to pretend she is cooking noodles.

I love my family. It's amazing how much, we have all grown these past 12 years. God has really been good to us. I'm glad that he has provided for our every need, spiritual and physical.

Thankyou, Lord for all your blessings, especially my wonderful, precious family.

Back Online!

I'm finally back online again. We have finally moved into our new home. We still have a few things that we need to pick up from our previous home, but for the most part we're here now. Our kids really like it here. We have been a lot more organized. It's nice not to be constantly driving on the weekends. We are now able to settle down and start a routine of sorts.

At this point, we have been trying to get the house organized. I've been giving Joshua and Ruth worksheets to complete and writing assignments. I have been giving Hannah little assignments as well. She wants to do everything the other two are doing. Scott has gotten their computers set up. When I first started homeschooling the children, I never dreamed that one day we would have 5 computers. Scott spent quite a bit of last week getting 2 of those computers set up for the children.

Alas, it is very late. I must go to bed for now. But I did want to give a little update to let everyone know that we're back online. I'll be able to update more often as we get going. I'll try to add pictures soon as well. So keep checking back!

What Do You Want to Be?

We spent a whole week in our new home. Scott's back gave out on him while he was at work the week before last week. After seeing the chiropractor he took Friday, August 8, off and then after an achy weekend he called his boss and decided to take the rest of that next week to rest his back.

Monday night, last week, Hannah suffered a little bit of homesickness. We had rocked her world by not going back to our old house. She wanted her blanket that Mamaw made. My explaining that we would get it when we went back the next week didn't help any. She was better the next morning, but still wanted her blanket. I did find another blanket that was hers when she was a baby.

I went to the store Tuesday, while Scott stayed home with the kids. He had asked them what they all wanted to be when they grew up. Joshua wants to be a zoo keeper, Ruth wants to be a veterinarian, and Hannah wants to be a Mommy with milk, and to eat chocolate cheesecake when she grows up. Whenever Daddy, gives me something that they do not get, he says it's becuse I'm mommy. So Hannah has decided that being a Mommy is the best job in the world.

She was watching me give Jonathan a bath and she asked if she could help wash his hair. He was very happy and I did not want him to get shampoo or water in his face so I told not right now. So she watched a little while then she asked me, "When I get to be a mommy, will I get to give Jonathan a bath?" I explained that when she gets to be a mommy she'll get to give her own babies baths. She was quite concerned and asked, "So I won't get to give Jonathan a bath?!" I tried to explain that Jonathan will be big by then and would be giving himself baths. She can't imagine him being grown, she thinks he will always be a baby. After finally conceding that argument she asked me, "Well will you get to give my babies baths." I told her that that was another nice thing. When she gets to be a mommy, I will get to be a grandma and sometimes I will get to help give her babies baths. Another new concept.

"So will I get to be a grandma?" she asked. I explained that she had to be a mommy before she was a grandma. She then decided she would rather be a grandma and give Jonathan baths. As I've told the kids many times, sometimes you just can't win an argument with a 3 year old.

I feel like I must be doing something right for Hannah to want to be a Mommy when she grows up. Of course it may just be all the special "privileges" she thinks mommies have. Of course she does not "see" the work. Right now, washing dishes in a sink looks like playing in a sink full of bubbles. Vaccuuming is fun. She especially wants to be allowed to mop, or rather sling water all over the kitchen floor with a big wet wig. I asked why their was a mop in the girls bedroom, they had been pretending that it was hair. I asked that when they were through pretending that they return the mop back to it's rightful spot. Yep, being a mom, is a lot of fun. There is never a dull moment.

I've been working on my lesson plans for the upcoming school year. I'll actually be starting the kids classes Sept. 1. I wanted one extra week after we move to get organized, before we actually start our lessons. I have a lot of work to do this week. We will be moving the last of our stuff.

Scott plans to substitute teach, while I am homeschooling the kids. Things should go well. I'm pretty sure he will get enough calls to supplement the income the church will be giving us and to pay the bills. We really don't need much. We are pretty good at pinching pennies sometimes. We may have to pinch quite a few, but you can actually live pretty well on very little. I'm just glad that we were able to have enough money this summer to get some curriculum and a copy machine for homeschooling. That will help me a lot this year. We're pretty much all set.

We haven't got a phone line, nor internet access set up at the new house yet. I will get that sorted out as soon as possible. I may have to blog from the library a few times. I'll try not to get too behind on my blogs.

Learning Lessons for Life

It's been about 2 1/2 weeks since I've blogged. A lot has happened in that time, and I've been keeping pretty busy. We had a good week at Church Camp. Scott taught the High School and College classes. He gave them lessons that were very pertinent to what they are going through. He taught on being committed to their future spouses, and to God. Pretty much admonishing them to keep themselves pure from life's temptations.

I taught the 3rd and 4th Grade class. I had good students as well. We learned about the lost sheep in Matthew 18 on Tuesday. Wednesday we made Bracelets and several verses about Salvation and describing the colors of the Bracelet. Black for sin, Red for Christ's blood being shed for our Sins, White showing that we are forgiven and washed clean by His blood, Blue after we are saved we are then able to show the world that we are followers of Christ, Green stands for our Growing in Christ, and Gold stands for the time when we shall meet Jesus in Heaven. Then on Friday, I taught the Lesson on the Mustard seed from Luke 13:18-19. I even brought mustard seed for my class to look at and take home. I had a lot of fun teaching and no one was stung by bees this year!

Last week I took up quilting. I had been wanting to learn for years. I finally asked my Mamaw, if she would teach me how. She agreed. So after Scott gets home, mainly on Tuesday's and Thursdays, I've been going over to her house and visit with her while working on a quilt block. I've completed one block, and will have to put some pictures of it on here. I just hadn't taken time to get any on my computer. As soon as I get some pictures on here though, I'll be sure to post them.

You may have also noticed my Domestically Challenged Corner. I don't know how many people actually read my blog, and I don't know whether your domestically challenged, as I like to term it. However, in my years of working hard reverse my domestically challenged state, I have happened on some hints and tricks to make life and clean-ups easier. So I decided to start my Domestically Challenged Corner where you can see what hint I come up with from time to time. And I have some really basic ones, which some folks might laugh at. But believe it or not I at one time, really didn't know some of the things I'll put on here. It took trial and error many times to figure it out. I mean there was even a time that I didn't realize dishes rinsed in warm water dry faster than those rinsed in cold water. :) Oh well, some of us have to learn it the hard way. But at least we learn. So that was where I came up with that corner of my blog. Check there often for interesting and maybe painfully obvious tidbits that might help someone like me, who may be out there, struggling with how to get that stubborn stain out.

However, for now, I better get busy cleaning before my dear husband gets home. I'll put some pictures of some of my quilting, as soon as I can. I changed the look of my blog a bit and hope everyone likes it. I may play around with it some more, until I like the look of it. Check back often for more Thoughts from Stacie.

No Pictures...

Now I need to catch everyone up since my last blog. Jonathan now has 4 teeth. His fourth tooth which is his other top front tooth, came in last Friday evening. Now we're just waiting to see which tooth will come in next. I'm not sure yet whether it will be a top or a bottom tooth next time. So stayed tuned for more on his teeth.

My Papaw died last Friday morning. My mother called me around 8:00 or so to let us know that he had passed away at 7:20 a.m. I called Scott to tell him. Then when the older two kids woke up before their sister, I told them. Joshua's number one question when he hears that someone has died is whether or not they were saved. Thankfully, I knew for sure that my Grandfather was saved. This made my son feel better, and he said well at least he was saved, that's good.

When Hannah woke up that morning, I knew I would need to be careful in how I explained it to her. I had asked her if she remembered how Papaw was in the hospital. She did. She always asks about shots, when we talk about because she attributes hospitals with shots. (She is actually thinking of the Doctor's office where she has seen Jonathan getting vaccinated.) I explained that Papaw had had some problems with his heart. She might have understood some of that. But then I told her that Papaw had died. She just looked at me blankly. I told her that he went to heaven. That was interesting to her, she asked me if we would go to ___ (name of town where we are moving too, left blank for anonimity.) I realized that she just thought that heaven was just another city or state. Like Texas, Michigan, Florida, California, or even another country like France. So I then explained, "No sweety, Papaw is in Heaven and he gets to see Jesus." That put a big smile on her face. I knew what was coming though. "I want to see Jesus!"

So I explained that one day many, many years from now, she will get to see Jesus. Then I told her, "But do you know what Jesus wants you to do right now?" She looked at me with anticipation. "He wants you to be happy, and do what he says to do, obey me and daddy, and when you get old enough to feel bad about the bad things you do, he will want you to be saved. Then once you are saved you will have Jesus in your heart, too. And when you get older and Jesus is ready for you, you'll get to see Jesus, too." She was fine with that explanation, even though I'm not sure how much she actually retained. I do know that she is excited about the fact that Papaw gets to see Jesus, and one day she will, too.

I think the only thing I regret, is that I did not take more pictures of Papaw and Mamaw with our kids. We've been to their house many times, we've had real enjoyable visits, but I never thought to bring a camera. I don't have pictures of Papaw taking his teeth out for the kids. Nor a picture of them caught in the bear trap, or running from the claw. I do have those memories in my head but they are not in print. I am now determined to take more pictures and to not let those memories just be my memories. I want to be able to pass my memories on to my children as well. So I'm determined to record my memories. I want to record the memories from my childhood and stories that I remember my parents telling me of their childhoods. I also want to record my memories of my grandparents, Parents, Aunts, and Uncles. I want my children to remember our past. Because we can learn from our past, and which will help us shape our future.

My oldest daughter, Ruth just celebrated her 8th birthday this week. I took her and her siblings to a museum. They are getting older now and are actually interested in things that had happened in the past. I still have a little trouble with Hannah, since her attention span is short and her energy level is high. Thankfully she didn't mess with much, and she did sit down for any videos that was available to watch. So I just took the kids through the museum section by section and let them watch the videos, and read the signs that were about different specific items that they wanted to know about. It was very interesting.

Next week is Church Camp. I have been working hard on my camp lessons and since my class size may be more than doubled, I am going to plan to teach at least 50 kids, just in case.

I may not get another chance to post until after camp, however I'll try to post some pictures when we get back.

Tooth Number 3!

Jonathan's 3rd tooth has just come in. It is his top right front incissor. I thought it would come at any time. He had been a bit fussier than usual, and last night he kept whining in his sleep. It was hard for me not worry over him, but since he continued to sleep, I just went back to bed. This morning, he was extra fussy and so I decided to check his teeth. Sure enough it was there peeking through his gums. Ahh!! 3 teeth down and many more to come.

So far I haven't had any trouble nursing him. He has been pretty good about not biting me. Hopefully this will continue now that he has a top tooth. I'm pretty sure his fourth one is real soon to follow. Three teeth with at least 4 more months of nursing to go. I think we can make it.

It's hard to believe he will be a year old in 4 months. This has been a fast year so far. I guess, there has been so much going on that it has just flown by. This will be a busy month as well with Saturdays filling up with activities, Ruth's birthday coming up, and Church Camp. I will try to get in some blogging during it all but if I lag behind this month, I may just be busy. I definitely won't be able to blog during camp. I should be able to blog next week though. So please don't give up on me. :)