It's a Baby!

I know, I know, you were all expecting me to come on here and tell you whether we are having a boy or a girl. Well, we didn't find out this time. I decided to wait until we could be a little more sure and so I didn't even ask. They might could have told us what they thought this time but I think in a few weeks we'll know better. Our new due date is now March 10, 2010.

We went to a Hope Pregnancy Center that gives free pregnancy tests and a free Ultrasound to mothers. I hadn't decided on a doctor so we went there to confirm the pregnancy and they offered a free Ultrasound as well. After our visit yesterday, they gave us a few gifts. They gave me a couple of pictures of the baby and it's heart beat. They also gave us a doll baby that is the size the baby will be at exactly 12 weeks. I'll try to post that picture on Friday, since that will be 12 weeks.

They also gave us a gift package which consisted of a diaper, bottle, pacifier, and samples of shampoo and baby lotion.

When we arrived home we were all sitting together when Hannah asked, "Mom, is the baby wearing a diaper?"
I explained that the baby wasn't wearing one right now, because he/she is in my tummy still.
Then with a look of wonder she asked me, "Where does it go?"
She is picturing our Jonathan's dirty diapers.
Joshua, our oldest, said, "That's a wierd thought."
I won't say how I managed to explain that one, since I'm not even sure how I did it.

It's a lot of fun looking at things from a 4 year old's perspective. :)

Weally?

"Mom, my thumb weally, weally, weally hurts!" Hannah announced this afternoon at lunch.

I try to help her to see her mistake so I asked, "Weally?"

She looked at me, realizing what she said wrong and said, "That's it's name!"

Table conversations are never boring with our four year old. This morning at breakfast the kids were asking where Daddy was. I explained that he first drove the school bus this morning and that after that he was going to another town.

When Hannah heard the name of the town she said, "Is he going to get the Baby?"

I told her, "Oh no, Sweety, he can't go get the baby. The baby is still in my Tummy."

She said, "No! I mean the new BORN baby!"

Hopefully tomorrow when we go to see the ultrasound of the baby she'll understand better. She doesn't remember when Jonathan was born. To her Jonathan was always here.

This is definitely a new adventure. The real exciting part for her is that the baby is due in March which is the same month as her birthday. Of course that seems a "long ways away" to a 4 year old.

I guess I had better get some sleep if I'm going to get the kids ready for my appointment tomorrow. It may be too early to tell whether we are having a boy or a girl, but we're "weally" excited anyway. I'll try to come back and post more on how everything goes.

(Psalms 8:2) Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

(Matthew 21:15-16) And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?

Videos

We took a break for a couple of days this week to visit my parents. Scott will be starting driving a school bus on Monday. It was good for the kids us to take a break as well. I also am able to post a few videos before we leave high speed internet.

Scott took me out to eat today. We have not had a real date in a long time. Sometimes we'll fix up some kind of meal and watch a movie or just talk after the kids are in bed. But while at Grandparents we are able to actually go out to eat. We even spent a little extra money and visited a Texas Musicians Museum while we were at it. It was pretty fun and my husband got into a really good theological discussion with the man that runs the museum. He invited the man to visit my Dad's church as well.

Here are a few videos I took over the summer. This first video is of Scott singing Action Bible Songs with a doll for the kids.

This next video is of Jonathan and Hannah playing the piano together and singing. I'm not sure which Hymn they are playing.

This last one for tonight is of Joshua giving his siblings a ride on a four wheeler.

I guess that will be all the posts I'll try to post tonight. I may try to post a couple more tomorrow. Hope you enjoy these until then.

Church Camp Pictures

It's been too long since I've blogged. I guess I have gotten a little lazy since I've been introduced to Facebook. Lately I've been putting more short thoughts in facebook and have slacked off on my blogging. But I am going to make up for it today, and try not to forget my blogging world.

Actually I kill two birds with one stone by blogging. Whatever I blog is posted to facebook as well. The best of both worlds. :)

Here are some of the pictures I took at Church Camp. This first is my parents with my kids in the cafeteria line. The meals have actually been very good at camp.

Here is Joshua waiting for the preaching to begin during Tabernacle.

Hannah and Ruth were both covered in Bubbles from the slip-n-slide that was rented for our camp. Shampoo was used to help make it slippery. So they were good and clean afterward.

Scott, Joshua, and Ruth sang a special at camp.

Jonathan loved helping clean the dorm. He was constantly armed with broom and dust pan whenever we went inside the dorm.

It was a very good week at camp. There were 26 campers reported saved, 2 announced their call to preach while there, and several rededications.

The good thing about camp is that you get the children out of the world, away from their t.v.'s and you surround them with the gospel throughout the day. Our scheduled included Morning Devotional in the Tabernacle before breakfast, Bible Classes after Breakfast, Children's Choir after class, Sermon before lunch, Lunch, Free time- where activities were planned each day for the children. The girls had an hour swim time while the boys were doing other activities, then the boys had their swim time while the girls were doing activities. Then after all the fun time ended at 4 p.m. everyone got ready for Dinner and then after Dinner we got ready for the Evening Service, during which was Testimony time, and good preaching brought by one of the Pastor's present. Then after the service, we had free time. We ended each day with cabin devotions and lights out.

All three of my older kids were wishing they could live at church camp. I explained that they would be rather lonely all by themselves, so they decided that they want everyone to live at church camp. I'm not sure how the other sponsors would feel about a year round church camp. Despite the fun at camp, I was still glad to get back home and back into a routine again.

I'll be getting the children started back on our homeschooling tomorrow. I gave them a couple of weeks off because of camp and Scott and Joshua's hiking trip. Then I wanted a few extra days to prepare for starting a new year with the children. So tomorrow will be our official back to homeschool day. I plan to take them to the Library tomorrow and then to the store to pick up some homeschool supplies.

I think that pretty much catches everyone up on what all has been going on our summer. I'll try to post more pictures later.

1 John 2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things [that are] in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16) For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (17) And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

All My Ducks in a Row...

While we are on our trip I took this picture of this family of Ducks. I love how the father and mother duck were together with all their little ducks. They have a few more ducklings than I have but we are trying to catch up.

Yes, we are now expecting a 7th member to our ever growing family. Right now the tentative due date is March 14, 2010. We still need to find a doctor or midwife. We are also going to have to keep our eye out for at least a 7 passenger van. Right now we've been squeezing into our 6 passenger car. My husband told our oldest son that sits between us, "Right now a van would be a luxury, but in March it will be a necessity." :) So I know we'll have a van come March.

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

Vacation

We went on a trip a couple of weeks ago to Michigan to visit some of my husband's family there. We had such a good time. I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures.

On our way up there we camped out a couple of nights to break the trip up. There was an associational meeting in Missouri so we had taken an extra night to stop and visit with some of the preachers we knew might be there.

We managed to afford this trip by camping out each night. This picture of the kids in front of the tent was taken in Illinois, right by the Mississippi River. We also found on this trip that Hannah and Jonathan have problems with car sickness, especially if we drive right after eating a good meal. We learned to eat real light while driving.

We arrived at Scott's Mom's house and were greeted by "the girls" as my in-law's dogs are called. Hannah had determined before we arrived at Grandma's house that she would not be afraid of their dogs anymore. I had to take a picture of her petting one of them. I told her if I didn't get a picture no one would believe she wasn't scared. So here is proof. :)

On Saturday we celebrated Joshua's 11th birthday. We had cake and ice cream and then we went to the lake and went fishing. I caught 3 small fish and my mother-in-law caught 1. I was praying someone would catch something, since the last time I took the kids fishing we didn't catch anything and it was a stocked pond. Joshua was sure I was doing something wrong at the time. I told him it's a matter of patience, which my four kids seem to lack when it comes to fishing.

Then on Monday we had a cook-out at my in-laws house where most of Scott's Aunts were able to come to. Here is a picture of Scott with his Mom and 3 of his Aunts.

Of course for Joshua the highlight of this trip is getting to drive the four wheeler. We let him give the girls a ride in the woods but we didn't plan on him taking Jonathan. I took this picture after we found out that Jonathan had already gone with them through the woods and he was waving at everyone and saying "Bye!!!!" They grow up so fast.

Over all this has been a very good trip. Scott and I both agreed that we were going to need a vacation from vacation, but once we got home the kids didn't have too much trouble getting back into the routine again.

Getting Rid of the Monsters!

Last night I was going through some of our mail and was looking at some homeschooling advertisements. We normally can't afford all the interesting homeschool resources that are advertised on the little cards but I like to look at them anyway. I found one card that interested me. It talked about a curriculum that the children teach themselves. They don't have to be "taught" by a teacher. They are their own teacher. I took that card to my husband. I'm glad I did. He said that it sounded interesting. So he checked out the website. http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com/info

On the website it talks about unhealthy distractions. How that kids put in the right environment can't help but learn. They talked about the distraction of television, computers, video games. I knew these were definitely a distraction from personal experience. We used to watch t.v. all the time. Then one day a few years ago, I decided to get rid of our T.V. I started off by covering it with a blanket and putting decorations on top. Then after a month of not watching t.v., we watched a movie and realized how terrible some things we watched really were. We sold that television in a garage sale.

Then we were given another t.v. We never hooked an antenna to it. We didn't want the distraction of television in our home. We did watch a few movies on it and had a playstation my husband had obtained about the same time we got the t.v. Surely that won't be a distraction from learning. We didn't want our kids to be different from other kids. We could control the temptation and let them play it occasionally.

Then we gave our son his first laptop computer. I was a little afraid of giving it to him. I knew how addicted he could be to games. Sure enough. That was all he thought about. One time I tried to teach them a history lesson. He had been wanting to play a game all day and he knew I would let him after class was over. I was not happy when in the middle of the lesson he went into the kitchen to look at the clock. He had been thinking about the computer game the whole time.

This morning my husband was a man with a mission. I didn't realize how much he had been thinking on it. He was going through all of our computer CD's and then he informed me that he was going to take all the games off of all the computers, unless they were truly educational. He was going to replace them with Encyclopedias, Bible Software, Dictionaries, and only educational and beneficial resources were going onto it.

I was expecting that to be like pulling teeth for our son. He loves his computer games. I just didn't know how we were going to do it.

My husband started off by fixing us pancakes for breakfast without any sugar. He gave me a bite and said, "It will take some getting use to." At the breakfast table we talked about addictions and how sugar can be a big one. I'm a prime example of that. I sometimes feel like I have to have something sweet. We put sugar in everything. However if you don't have it for a long time, you don't need it anymore. Sugar becomes too sweet.

We told our children that we wanted to start changing the unhealthy habits in our lifestyle. Not only in the foods we eat, but in the things we put into our minds. We discussed how when you are addicted to t.v. and games, your brain can't think of anything else to do. You feel like you have to have it. However without those distractions, you can get a whole lot more done and learn a lot more as well. Then my husband told them that he was going to take all the computers in our house and remove all the mindless distractions.

Hannah was sitting in my lap and said, "What is he doing?" I explained to her that he was going to get all the bad games off our computers.

She said, "He's going to get rid of the monsters? I hate monsters."

We laughed and told her, "Yes, Daddy is going to take all the bad monsters off our computers."

I'm real proud of my husband and children. They immediately went to work getting rid of those monsters.

(Philippians 4:8)
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things.

Peter Pan

We watched the cartoon Peter Pan yesterday evening with the kids. As soon as the movie was over Scott and the kids immediately grabbed their make-shift swords and started sword fighting. I managed to get this picture of them. It is hard to catch five very active people in the same picture. Most of the time they were all over the place.

Hannah decided that she wanted to be Peter Pan. She told me that when she goes to Heaven she'll get to be Peter Pan because he can fly. I told her maybe she can be a pretty flying Hannah. She seems sure she'll get to be Peter Pan.

My husband of course got to be Captain Hook. Interesting how Dad's get to be the bad guy. Ruth said she was pretending to be Tiger Lilly. Jonathan just kept hollering "Bi Man" which is his way of saying "Bible Man". I guess of all the characters he was probably the best one.

After I took this picture I got a video of Hannah jumping off the couch. She was trying to fly like Peter Pan. I told her it was probably best not to fly with a sword in her hand. She then put her sword in her pocket. After a short battle they finally put aside their swords and got ready for bed.

Ruth gave the devotional last night. She picked Ephesians 6:1-3 for her devotional. She said that she would like to give it as a cabin devotional at church camp. Joshua also has a devotional picked out for church camp. I'm looking forward to camp in July.

We also have a trip planned this summer to visit Scott's mother. The children are all excited about it. Last time we visited Michigan, Jonathan wasn't even crawling. This time he is able to run and sword fight. It's amazing how fast children can grow in just a year and a half.

This is a picture of Jonathan at my Mother-in-law's house in Michigan last year. He was about 5 months old at the time.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
(Ephesians 6:1-3)

No More Pancaking

"Ruth's pancaking again," Hannah told me this morning.

I turned from my Bible where I was doing my morning's reading and asked her, "What's pancaking?"

"Oh, I don't know how to say it," was her response.

She told me how she had told Joshua where Ruth was hiding during hide-and-seek and that now Ruth was Pancaking.

I asked her, "Oh, do you mean panicking?"

She was quite happy that I figured it out. I then taught her how to say "panic". Then as we were eating lunch, I joked that the computer was "pancaking" since it was making so much noise. She quite clearly said, "No Mommy, It's panicking!"

So my little girl is "Pancaking" no more. She is learning so quickly.

The girls earned five stickers for our Rewarded Reading program. For every five stickers they earn, they get a piece of bubble gum. After ten stickers, they get a candy bar. Then once they reach 30 stickers, they get a Pizza Party. Joshua has one more book to read to have his five stickers. The older two children have to read a chapter book and write a book report to earn a sticker. Hannah must have 5 books read to her and tell me about them to earn a sticker. They each have a chart on the wall where we write the names of the books and place the stickers.

As I'm writing this, my son came in the room wanting some medicine for an itchy round spot on his arm. He asked me if it could be ringworm since we have a new kitten. I thought I would look up a picture of ringworm for him. I opened another browser window and sure enough, what he has looks just like ringworm.

I looked up information about it and treatment information. I read that it can be contagious by touch. I asked the other children if any of them had any itchy spots like Joshua. Hannah had a mosquito bite that she really wanted to be ringworm. Ruth said she didn't have an itchy spot but she had a bump on the back of her shoulder that bothered her. I looked and yep, she has ringworm too. Jonathan of course held his arm up for me to inspect. So far, the younger two don't have it. I think it's because they are afraid of the kitten. They won't let it come near them.

Okay, it's tempting to "pancake" but I think instead I'll go to the store and by some anti-fungal cream for ringworm. I also need to wash their clothes, sheets, and towels. At least it's treatable. We'll just need to get rid of it before it spreads anymore. Better check on treatments for the kitten as well.

Philippians 4:6 "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

Our Mission Field...

I read a poem a while back, that was a discussion between a mother and God about her desire to be on a mission field. I really liked that poem because by the end of it, it showed that even though God doesn't always send us off somewhere else. We all have a mission field.

My mission field is my family. While that may seem like a small thing compared to feeding and clothing the homeless, taking care of orphans, or reaching far off peoples that have never heard the gospel. It is a very important role that I must take on whereever the Lord has us to go or stay.

I realize that the Lord wants His people to go into all the world but maybe it's not me that's suppose to do the actual going. Maybe it will be my children, or my grandchildren. I can be only one place at one time. However, I have four children. If I raise them to love the Lord and to do his will then how many people could be reached through them. I could have at least 4 Missionaries whether at home or abroad someday.

I do not know what the Lord has in store for us in the future. We may never go into a foreign field. I do know that my mission is right here at home, with my husband, my children, my parents, my in-laws, my grandparents, my neighbors. How many more lives can I touch if I quit looking out and wondering when the Lord is going to use me and looking in at what the Lord has right here for me to do. I could reach the world right where I'm at. Whether at home or in another country.

The Lord could one day decide to send us on a foreign field, but the most important field I have is my family. If I keep this in mind, I will be able to keep my focus no matter where we go.

If you are struggling with where God wants you, maybe you should look at where you are at right now. Are you a Sunday School teacher? Your students are your "Mission" field.

Are you a parent? Your children are your mission field.

Are you married? Then your spouse is your mission field. You are to help your spouse be all that he (or she) can be for God. We all have struggles. Sometimes we can help our spouse reach his full potential by being a source of encouragement and help in whatever he needs to serve God.

Do you have neighbors? Then you are to reflect God's light to them. If they see your life maybe they too will desire to serve him.

Whereever we are God has a mission for us. We need to pray and seek his will for our lives. God knows what is best for each one of us. We cannot decide what another person is suppose to do. But we are able to determine what it is God wants for our own personal lives.

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and [then] cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard [him] ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
(Joh 4:35-42)

And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and [his] disciples rebuked those that brought [them]. But when Jesus saw [it], he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put [his] hands upon them, and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16)

We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please [his] neighbour for [his] good to edification. (Romans 15:1,2)

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) . . . Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. (1Timothy 3:2-5, 12)

Blisters

Our family loves music. My kids each play instruments. We started them learning music a few years ago. I remember when I first gave them Ukulele lessons. At the time I thought it was a kid's instrument.

I remember telling my husband that I wanted a cheap ukulele just to use to teach the kids. I figured, once they learned to play I wouldn't be wanting to play it any more. I was wrong.

I loved playing that little ukulele more than the kids did. Their ukuleles were louder than mine. My husband, seeing that I really liked it, bought me another ukulele straight from Hawaii. I tell anyone that says they can't play an instrument that they should try the ukulele. There are only four strings and you have four fingers. You don't have to figure out what to do with the two extra strings you would have on a guitar. I remember when I first played it I had gotten a blister since I was new to the instrument.

The above picture was taken just about a week ago. That blister on my thumb is the result of not practicing. We went to a singing about a week ago at one of our local churches. It was a lot of fun, but I hadn't practiced my ukulele in a while. My husband was going to play his guitar, my oldest son was going to play the bass guitar, my oldest daughter was going to play her mandolin, and my youngest daughter was going to play one chord on the piano.

My husband had worked with the kids on their parts. They were all set to go. It was an easy key and I did practice a little. Well, I practiced it that morning with them right before we went. It's not hard to play the ukulele.

My husband said that it would sound really good if I could play a fast rhythm to compliment the rhythm Ruth would be playing on her mandolin. Not a problem. I'm pretty good at playing my ukulele fast. However without practice you don't have a good callous on the finger you use the most.

After our special the kids and I returned to our seats. My husband stayed with the other instrumentalists at the front, that play along with all the songs. My thumb was bothering me. I looked down and saw that I had a blister.

I couldn't play at all on Saturday. Then Sunday we were going to do a special for our fifth Sunday services. We were going to play the same song. I had to wear a Band-aid and still couldn't play it fast. It hurt through the band aid.

God gives us callouses for a reason. Now that the blister is gone, I'm very thankful for that thicker layer of skin that followed it. I try to practice everyday now. That way when my husband asks me, "Can you play this with us?" I'll be ready.

Bible Study is the same way. Without a daily walk with God and practice by studying our Bibles, would you be ready if someone asks you a question about God or His word. Will you have to say, "Um, you'll have to talk to my pastor about that." They may not go to your pastor. You may never even see them again. Will you have an answer for them?

What about the challenges that may come your way? Have you built up those Biblical callouses that will protect you from the enemy that wants to see you fall?

With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
(Psalm 119:10-11)

"Jonasin"

Jonathan is constantly being reminded by his 4 year old sister that he is a sinner. "Jonasin!" she hollers everytime he takes her toys. Of course she hollers "Jonasin" when he isn't doing anything also.

She calls her big brother "Joshwa", her big sister "Woofy", and her little brother "Jonasin". All these nick names are the result of our picking names hard for a little girl to pronounce. When Ruth was little she had troubles calling herself "Woof" as well.

I've been trying to help Hannah pronounce the names correctly. After Hannah gets it straight I'm sure Jonathan will be next. Right now he calls Ruth "Foof", Joshua "va" and Hannah "na". Mispronouncing words may be cute when they are little, but I have to remind myself that it won't be cute when they get older. I then continue to teach them.

(Proverbs 22:6) Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Field Trip

Friday, the kids and I went with another homeschool family to the Lufkin zoo. We had a lot of fun. The homeschool family we went with was one of the first homeschoolers we met where we presently live. The mother helped us meet the homeschool group here and helped us get involved with the Keepers of the Faith group that I have been taking the children to.

The first picture here is of Ruth and Hannah riding a lion at the zoo. The second picture is of Joshua and Jonathan sliding down the slide at the playground outside of the zoo.

The kids had a lot of fun. I did too. I'm hoping to be able to get more involved with the homeschool community during the next school year. The group will be breaking for the summer. My husband and I would like to get more involved on the boys side of the Keepers. The boys are called Contenders for the Faith. Both groups are a Christian alternative to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. They have activities and Crafts and they are learning in all the activities they do to be all they can be for Christ.

Mother's day is tomorrow. We have quite a bit planned for this afternoon to get ready for tomorrow. We will be passing out a gift to all the mothers present. I am also working on a nice Mother's day bulletin. I am also needing to finish the skit that I'm writing for our Fifth Sunday Fellowship and Youth Sunday. So I have a busy afternoon before me. I am hoping to get all of this done and still get to bed at a decent hour.

I'll try to post more tomorrow. Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers that read my blog!

Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband [also], and he praiseth her. (Proverbs 31:28)

The Days of Your Youth...

Scott and Joshua had a wonderful time at the All the King's Men retreat. Joshua made a new friend while there. There was another boy that was eight years old and he and Joshua hit it off well. Joshua even taught him how to play chess.

The rest of the children and I had a good time at our Keepers' meeting. There were fun games for the kids. One of the games that the girls played with the other children were musical chairs with a twist. The difference was that one of the chairs was a bucket of ice. Just like with a normal game of musical chairs one chair would be taken out each time. The only difference was the bucket of ice remained. Ruth chose to be out rather than to sit in a bucket of ice, which was the only chair available. Hannah however had the funniest grin on her face when she sat in the bucket of ice. Thankfully she didn't get too wet and she dried quickly. My camera ran out of batteries though, or I would have gotten a picture of it. I had tons of old batteries in my camera case but none of them had enough battery to even turn the camera on. So I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures of the kids at the meeting.

I did take this picture today though. One of the things we did this past Friday was to borrow my Dad's truck and trailer. We have some wood that we are planning to load up and haul it off back to Henderson. We are planning to possibly build a storage shed on my Dad's property with it.

We've been doing a little spring cleaning. I realize that it is just about Summer but I guess I procrastinated a little bit. We have too much stuff or at least not enough space. Both can go hand in hand. So we have been trying to go through some of our things and figure out what we don't need, what we need to store, and what would be good to keep. I have already made one list of things to pick back up that we have already put into storage. It's funny what you miss, when you realize it's not around.

Today, I have a soar throat. I think I've been a little behind on my sleep. Scott complained of his throat feeling poorly on Sunday and Monday. But today his throat seems to be doing better. So I'm hoping that mine will feel better after a couple of days as well. I'm going to try to get to bed at a good time tonight. I say this and it is already 11 p.m. :)

I think I will end this blog with a devotional I gave to my family the other night. We each take turns giving devotionals. It was taken from Ecclesiastes 11:9 - 12:1. Sometimes a chapter breaks in the middle of a thought. Here is the passage:

Ecc 11:9-10
(9) Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these [things] God will bring thee into judgment.
(10) Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth [are] vanity.
Ecc 12:1
(1) Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

You see the preacher of Ecclesiastes telling young people what most of them want to hear, follow your heart, do what feels right, what looks right to you. What kind of a preacher is this? But then he hits them with "But know thou that for all these things God will bring you into judgment." So have fun but remember that judgment is coming. Then he tells them what they should do "remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity." Then he tells them "remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them." When you look back on your life will you see your life filled with doing God's will, or will you regret your past and wish you had done more while you were young? It's not to late to change. No matter your past you can start making a difference right now... the younger the better.

Father - Daughter Social

It's hard to believe that it's been a week since my last post. It's also been a week since my husband took our daughters to a Father Daughter social that was held for the Fathers and Daughters of our homeschool group. There actually were some mothers there to help serve food and what not but I decided to stay home with the boys and let the girls have some good quality time with their Dad.

The first picture my husband took of the girls posed on a bale of hay. The daughters were to dress up if they wanted to in old time clothes or even princess dresses. Ruth had a play dress her cousin had given her that looked real nice and old timey. So I told her she could wear it to the social. I ironed all the wrinkles out of it and then I fixed her hair up on top of her head with lacey material on top of the bun. Hannah wanted to wear her new Easter dress and she wanted her hair fixed up just like Ruth's. I was glad she had enough hair to put it up. Since I've cut her bangs, she has less hair to style. It turned out real nice and they both looked really cute.

This second picture is of Hannah riding on a wooden horse with wheels. Her daddy was pulling her around the room on the horse and he had to stop and take a picture of her having fun.

Joshua, Jonathan, and I had a nice quiet time at home. I was going to let Joshua play games or watch a movie. Whatever he wanted to do. Now what would you imagine a 10 year old boy would normally want to do? Video games? A boy movie? Nope he wanted to watch the cartoon Madeline. His sisters had watched it a few weeks ago, when he and his father went with my father on a hiking trip. I guess the girls talked about the cartoon so much that he's been wanting to see it too. He watched every Madeline movie we have while the girls were gone. After he watched the last one, he was about to ask me if he could watch School House Rock. Then I asked him if he would rather play a video game for a little while. He got all excited like the thought never occurred to him that he could play video games. It was really funny. So for the last few minutes before Scott and the girls got home he played Game Hunter. He even shot a deer. He also got to drive on a four wheeler, which he says is easier in real life.

So that was last weekend. This weekend, we drove to Henderson to pick up my father's truck and trailer so that we can haul some wood off. I left Scott and Joshua with my father's truck and they are attending an All the King's Men retreat at the camp there. I'm sure they are having a lot of fun. I wanted to send the camera with them but I will be using the camera tomorrow to take pictures of our last Keepers of the Faith meeting that me and the girls and Jonathan will be going to tomorrow. So check back soon, hopefully it won't be a week before I post those pictures. :)

Yesterday's Tomorrow

"Is it tomorrow?" Hannah likes to ask. She usually asks this when I tell her of something we are going to do tomorrow. She will ask me that day, "Is it tomorrow?" Then she will ask me the next day, "Is it tomorrow?"

I usually respond, "Today is yesterday's tomorrow." She just hasn't figured out that tomorrow is always tomorrow.

One of my favorite songs says, "I don't know about tomorrow." Even though I don't know what will happen in the next few tomorrows, I'm not worried about it. I am actually looking forward to tomorrow with anticipation, knowing that God is ultimately in control. He has helped us time and time again with all our yesterdays. I'm not worried about tomorrow.

How can I go through life with a smile on my face knowing that something bad could happen tomorrow? God is with me and my family. If I just look around He reveals himself in such wonderful ways. It seems like when we are going through the hardest times that He is really just a breath away.

I know that some people may think I'm crazy. But unless you know my Lord like I know Him, you'll never understand. What you don't realize is He is only a breath away for you too. All you have to do to draw close to Him is breathe a prayer asking Him to reveal Himself to you. He is right there if your heart is ready.

Mat 6:31-34
(31) Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(32) (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
(33) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
(34) Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof.

Is This a Mountain?

We bought ourselves a wagon. Thanks mostly to my father, my husband and oldest son have become quite interested in hiking. Since my husband has been looking at all sorts of hiking gear and my son has been adding hiking tools to his back-pack I thought we needed to start walking more. With this in mind, we decided to take a trip to the park. On our first trip Joshua and Ruth brought their roller blades and Hannah brought her scooter.

Joshua skated on ahead of us, Scott was a little ways behind Joshua, walking at Jonathan's pace. Then Hannah did her best to keep up with Daddy, and not get tripped over. I was holding Ruth's hand helping her keep her balance, when she looked ahead of us and asked me, "Mom is this a mountain?"

Sometimes in life when you are struggling through situations, it may look like you are going over mountains. However once you through those hard times and you turn around and look back you realize that they were only hills and in some cases not even hills but just mere bumps in the road.

I've been through some of those mountainous bumps in the road. I may never fully understand those bumps. However, God is always in control. Just like how I was right by Ruth ready to hold her hand and help her get over her "mountain", God is always here to hold my hand and help me over any mountains I may face.

You know He can be there to hold your hand too. Just cry out to Him; reach for His hand. He won't let you fall.

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. (James 4:10)

Family Pictures

This has been a very busy week. Friday we went to my grandfather's birthday party. The kids and I started a scrapbook for him which we are showing him in this first picture. This will be a present that will keep growing as we have the pages here at the house and each time we visit we will add more pages to his scrapbook.

Saturday, I took the kids shopping for clothes. I almost thought I wouldn't get them any clothes this year for Easter, but when I was trying to figure out what to have them wear Scott told me it was fine to go get them something. We set an ideal amount to spend and I took them to the store and we actually found some really good prices on clothes. One of the stores we went to had a really good sale on and I found the girls some lovely dresses for an amazingly low price.

Joshua was a little harder to shop for. I told the cashier that for boys they should put the toys on the dress clothes. All Joshua saw were the T-shirts that were sold with a toy. I told him he could buy the toy separate later, but right then we were looking for church clothes. He didn't think he needed any more church clothes but I told him he did. For some reason the girls were more enthusiastic about clothes shopping than their brother.

We enjoyed our services on Sunday. Scott preached some good sermons and I had some great ideas on ministering from his sermon. During the Sunday School lesson he taught he mentioned how we should not let any Sanballats or Tobiahs discourage us from the work God has for us to do. (You should read Nehemiah to find out who Sanballat and Tobiah were. It is really a very interesting story.)

Monday we got all dressed up again and had our family picture taken. The children were very well behaved. Jonathan even smiled for the feather duster the photographer used to tickle him. Jonathan had so much fun that he didn't want to leave the table and kept reaching to go back on the table after having his individual picture taken. I'm glad he wasn't real shy and clingy.

I'll post more pictures in future blogs. Today I'll just put the picture of our family above and this picture of our children. Be sure to check back later for more pictures.

(Nehemiah 2:17-20)

Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.

Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?

Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

New Piano Keyboard

When Scott and I were first married, he bought me my first keyboard as a wedding present. It was a 61 key Yamaha keyboard. I have used that keyboard for the whole of our over 12 years of marriage. Pianos have come and gone out of our home but I have never gotten rid of my keyboard. It was always so versatile and easy to move.

We went shopping the other day. We were mainly getting a gift for my grandfather, but since there was a Best Buy in the same town we decided to go by there and get a computer part we needed as well. I wasn't expecting that Scott would find a good price on a Full sized Keyboard. It is an 88 weighted key Casio piano Keyboard. Scott has been wanting to get me a weighted keyboard for years. When I questioned whether we should spend the money on it, he said that it's not every day that we could actually afford to get a keyboard and that I would use it.

Scott put it together last night. He had given me the User's manual and I played a little bit on it. I'm pretty excited to have the extra notes. There were some songs that I needed to practice more, but needed more space for the Bass runs. I am now able to play all those songs. The weighted keys are also good for my arms as well. I found that after playing a few songs my arms were sure tired. That means I'm getting exercise too. I never thought of the piano as a form of exercise before.

I took this picture of Joshua this afternoon. I was pretty amazed at how quick he figured out some of the features on the new keyboard. Things that I gave up on and was planning to look at later, he had going in just one sitting.

Right now it's o.k. since I still have some things I know that my kids don't know. But what will be like when the day comes that the kids know more than I do. Hmm...Well, until then I'll just keep on teaching them. One day Scott and I will be calling Joshua, "Hey Joshua, will you come over and help us figure this out?"

Acting

Sunday we had a special youth Sunday. We let the kids take special part in the services. Andrew led the singing, Joshua presented the Sunday School devotional, and Ruth helped teach the preschool Sunday school class. They all did a good job.

The kids did a good job on their skit Sunday. I didn't get a picture of our actors. They were Ruth as Mercy, Hannah as Grace, Joshua as Brother, and Andrew as Burden. The skit was based on the passage in Romans 12: 19-20.

Throughout the whole skit Brother and Burden were being mean to Mercy and Grace, but Mercy and Grace always responded with kindness. In the first scene Mercy and Grace are watching a movie. Brother and Burden come in and snatch the remote from their hand and push the girls off the couch. Then the girls decide they will bake cookies now and watch their movie later.
After a brief trip offstage they come back in with a plate of cookies. They offer some to the boys and they all go offstage.

In scene two, the girls are playing with their dolls on the floor. The boys come in and purposely trip over one of the dolls complaining about the dolls. They then start tossing one of the dolls back and forth over Grace's head while she tries to catch it. Mercy catches it and hands it to Grace. She then asks them if they want to play with them. The boys tell Mercy that she's no fun and that she's too nice. She then asks them if they want her to be mean to them. Which they decide that they don't. She then explains how she tries to treat others the way she wants to be treated, just like she learned at church. She doesn't want them to be mean to her, so she won't be mean to them. The boys then leave the stage looking guilty and hopefully having learned a lesson. It ends with Grace giving Mercy a big hug and telling her that she is nice.

All the kids did their parts very well.


This picture is of Hannah, Ruth, and Joshua with their light sabers and Hannah in her Bibleman costume. They have been working on their own Bibleman skits. They are really having fun acting.

Romans 12:19-21
(19) Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. (20) Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. (21) Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.