Catching Up on Memories

Alright, alright, so it's been 6 days since I posted! :) So for my brother, I'll try to catch up. This past weekend we visited a church in Oklahoma. We enjoyed our visit with them. They put us up in a real nice hotel with an in-door swimming pool. The kids really liked that. We let them stay up a little late Saturday night to swim. Jonathan was the only one who didn't seem to like the water, but I think it's mainly because he was tired and wanting to go to bed.

Sunday, we stopped at a gas station on our way to church. The gas station wound up having a computer glitch and so he wound up charged twice but they wouldn't be sure of it until they counted the till later that day. So Scott told them he would be back after church and they can give him his money back if he was over charged. Thankfully we made it to church before Sunday School started even though waiting on the computer took a while.

The kids made a few friends at the church. We got to see a 9 month old baby, which got the kids dreaming of when Jonathan will be big enough to do that much. The church had what Scott and I call canned music. Their piano is played over the sound system off of a CD. We didn't tell them that I played the piano at the beginning. We don't like churches calling a pastor because of what his wife can do. Some churches may say they are seeking a pastor when they are actually seeking a piano player. I think more people should learn to play piano. I am going to have to get out my keyboard and start teaching my children how to play as well. They can play the Ukulele pretty well but I need to teach them the piano. I've never taught piano before but I figured it would be worth trying with my kids. It would be a good part of their education.

Let's see, what else is going on? Instead of blogging I need to be outside working on the trailer. After lunch I will probably start working on that again. I worked on it some yesterday but had to wait on some boxes. I now have the boxes and can finish the task. We are glad we have the trailer available to be used. We will be delivering it to it's new temporary location at the end of this week. I have a lot of fond memories of that trailer. We lived in it for a year. Even though it was small, we were actually able to manage quite simply. The only problem I had was figuring out where to put our 4th child.

From the experience of living in a trailer, I learned that a person can be content with little. Maybe we shouldn't ever sell the trailer. We should keep it around and whenever I feel discontented, I should go out to that trailer and sit in there and remember what life was like that year.

I need to occasionally remember all the trips to the laundry mat with 3 kids in tow. Laundry day back then was a once a week, all day event.

I need to remember getting the kids to bed and hanging a curtain up to wash dishes, so I would not disturb the kids sleeping on pallets on the floor, while I was doing dishes.

I need to remember the kids folding up their blankets and getting out their t.v. trays in order to do their lessons.

I need to remember all of us sitting around that small table reading our Bibles as a family.

I need to remember having to put thick curtains around the windows to keep in the heat from the heaters in the winter time. And the air from the air conditioners in the summer time.

I need to remember the time our electricity completely quit on us on the coldest day of the year. I remember making bedrooms for us in the church, for a couple of days, while Scott got it running again with a little help from his boss who was a former electrician.

I need to remember all those things and how much we learned from the experience. Now any house will seem big compared to that. I'm looking forward to the day that we are again in our own house, no matter the size it will seem big in comparison. God has definitely blessed us with always giving us a roof over our heads.

Jonathan Rolled Over!

Last Saturday Jonathan rolled over for the first time! I laid him down on the floor in the parsonage we were staying in for the weekend. I laid him on his back and I turned around for just a second and he was on his tummy looking around. I wish I had a camera! I told Scott about it and he turned him back over a little later and sure enough he rolled back to his tummy again. That time we saw him do it. They grow so fast! He's even smiling at me right now. He's too cute! I'll have to put some more recent pictures on here.

We enjoyed our trip to Florida. We took a supposed short cut that Scott's coworkers suggested but it took way too long. I think they had to have been speeding to go that route. We had to go 55 mph most of the trip because of the road we took. Although it was scenic it was dreadfully long. On the way home we took the Interstate and it was 70 mph the whole way. It was a lot quicker or at least seemed quicker since we were able to drive faster. It also helped on the ride home that Scott was able to drive more. He had caught a Virus and was not feeling well Friday, so I drove and let him sleep most of the drive. Thankfully he was better by Sunday.

Of course like a regular virus Joshua had to catch it as well. I thought of my mom the other night, while I was sitting on the floor scrubbing the carpet that Joshua threw up on. I thought about all the times my mom helped me when I was sick. You feel especially close to your mother in those times. Other than that we had a wonderful time in Florida. The members of the church were real nice. Of course I say that about everywhere we go. It seems like most everyone at our churches are especially nice. I'm looking forward to our visit in Oklahoma this week. The kids enjoy all these trips as well.

I took the kids to the zoo yesterday. They learned a lot. I had them read most of the signs themselves. They practiced following the zoo map. That was real good for them. They had to tell me which way we needed to go to see whichever animal we were wanting to find. So it turned out being a great learning experience for everyone. Joshua and Ruth got to participate in a class that the zoo had for homeschoolers. Ruth's class learned about animal senses. Joshua's learned about animal survival. Jonathan, Hannah, and I stayed outside with some other mom's with toddlers and enjoyed visiting. Hannah even made some new little friends.

I guess that catches me up a bit on my blogging. Now I need to help the kids with their lessons and do the laundry I didn't get done yesterday. I'll try to write again soon.


Luk 5:31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.

My Dear Sweet Scott!

Well, today is Valentine's day. Today is the day that most people spend the most time thinking about the one they love. So I want to dedicate today's blog to my dear husband who I love very much. Here are just a few of the things I admire about my husband, Scott.

I admire how he works hard to provide what he can for his family. He is not afraid of hard work. He is willing to work as much as he needs to provide for us, even working extra hours to make sure all our needs are met. If I wanted him to, he would even take on an extra job in order to provide more. However, I told him I would rather do without many things than to have him gone all the time. So he honors me with his time. He also has to do without some of the things he would enjoy, in order to have more time with his family.

Another thing I admire about my husband is his ability to lovingly discipline our children when there is a need. He is firm when he needs to be firm and caring when he needs to be caring. We work together in the discipline of our home and when one decides something the other backs it up. If a situation arises we are able to talk about it and determine what the best course of action is for our children's sake. I love his firm but caring leadership in our home.

I love his willingness to communicate. We have found that the most important thing in our marriage has been communication. We are able to talk and discuss any issue that arises in our home, family, church, life, anything. If we have troubles figuring out something, we talk about it. If either of us are having a bad day, we are able to talk about it. If there is a misunderstanding, we resolve it by talking about it. Communication has become a vital part of our marriage. You can't be selfish when you discuss things, or else it turns into an argument. Proper communication comes when we both listen to each other.

Another thing I admire and love about my husband is his friendship. We are best friends. He knows more about me than anyone else. He is not critical of my thoughts and feelings. He knows who I am and what I want in life. He may lovingly tease me about some of my interesting terminoligies and idiocyncrisies. But it is always in fun. He doesn't mind me teasing him back. We are friends and as such we have fun. We play music together. He even bought me a nice Ukulele since I liked them so much. We play games together. I enjoy occasionally beating him in a game of chess. I say occasionally because he tends to beat me more than I him, but I enjoy giving him a run for his money. :) I enjoy our at home dates. With four children, our dates are pretty much Frozen Pizza and a movie at home, after the kids have gone to bed. But as long as we spend the time together we have fun.

I also love the way he guides our family spiritually. He is careful and steady in spiritual matters. He is able discuss the Bible with anyone without getting offended at opinions and beliefs that may be different than his. He is well read in the Bible and has many verses memorized. If I have any question about the Bible he helps me search it out, even taking me through the Hebrew and Greek if I need it. He doesn't just let me fall back on just his own thoughts but lets me think for myself as well. He teaches me and our children how to look at the context of passages. He is willing to admit when he doesn't have an answer, and is willing to spend time researching it out.

Finally, I love his commitment to me. Before we married we agreed together that we would never leave each other. We know that if we ever have a problem that we must work it out or just be miserable for the rest of our lives. We quickly learned how to work out our disagreements. Now I couldn't ever imagine life without my dear sweet husband. We also have guarded each other's trust. We know that it doesn't take much to lose a persons trust, so we set up boundaries for ourselves from the beginning of our marriage, so that there would never be a problem with us trusting each other. Marriages fail many times due to jealousies within the marriage and so we guard against such problems. He will always be faithful to me and I to him. We will always belong together for the rest of our lives.

I love my husband and am glad that God saw fit to give him to me.


Pro 22:29 Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

Mar 10:7-9 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.


Col 3:18-24 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. (19) Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. (20) Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. (21) Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. (22) Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: (23) And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; (24) Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

Loose Teeth

We had a pretty busy day today. I took Joshua and Ruth to their Irish Dance class today. They are real proud of the stuff they are learning. Today when we Scott got home they had to show them some of the stuff they learned. They do need to practice more. I would love to take the class with them in order to help them practice but I have my hands full in the hallway with Hannah and Jonathan. So I stay out in the Hallway with some of the other mothers and watch through the windows. I really enjoy visiting with the other mothers though, so I have fun too.

Joshua and Ruth both have a loose tooth. So today they both have been spending a lot of time with their fingers in their mouth wiggling their teeth. Joshua is a little more experienced at pulling teeth than Ruth, so I think he will probably lose his tooth first. Ruth is trying to give it a pretty consistent effort though. She doesn't have any teeth popping through behind her baby teeth this time so hopefully she will be able to pull it on her own. Maybe her brother having one loose will encourage her to try harder as well. He's been giving her tips and tricks to tooth pulling so we'll see. I just hope Hannah will not get any ideas in her head and start trying to pull her teeth to soon. So far she hasn't seemed to notice them much, so maybe she'll keep her hands out of her mouth. We pay the kids for their teeth, but I may have to pay Hannah not to pull hers. Hmm... That might get expensive so maybe just talking with her will keep her from trying.

Scott has another preaching appointment this Sunday. So I need to pack and get ready for we are leaving tomorrow.

Ok, I like to end my posts with a relative verse but the only verse I can find is out of context and well it is about losing teeth but not exactly what I had in mind. However since I now have y'all's curiosity up I'll post on here anyway. If anyone can find a more relative verse please leave a comment and I'll check it out.


Psa 58:6 Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.

3 Months

Wow, it's hard to believe that Jonathan was 3 months old this past Monday. Time sure goes by fast and yet it's seems like he's always been around. We can't picture life without our Jonathan. Babies grow so fast the first few months of life. It's amazing to me that I had to buy him a size 3 diaper already. His other ones kept coming unvelcroed too easily.

It's also amazing to think that Hannah will be 3 years old in March. I still remember when she was the baby, in fact I remember when Ruth was the baby as well. I even found a shirt in a bag of hand-me-downs that used to be Joshua's and now fits Jonathan. Scott and I had Joshua hold it up to himself to see how big he's gotten in the past 9 years. Joshua thought it a bit strange but he humored us and held up the baby shirt to himself. It's amazing how they grow.

Today I have them working on their reading. They read a chapter in their readers and then they work on the workbook pages that go along with their reading. It's been real good for them. I'm glad I found this set of curriculum for them.

Whenever Scott gets a preaching appointment outside of Texas. I look on a website to see what their homeschool laws are. Some States are a lot stricter and harder on homeschoolers than others. If you are interested in homeschooling and want to know the Legalities in the state you live in or if you might move to another state you may want to look at this website to see the legalities and requirements for homeschoolers in that state. http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp

You would be amazed at how many families there really are that have started homeschooling for various reasons. It's been good for my family and I don't regret having made that decision so many years ago, when our oldest was only 2 years old. At the time my husband was a substitute teacher in a public school system. He came home one day and told me that we weren't putting our kids through that. I was glad since I had already been thinking on homeschooling since I had friends that were homeschoolers. And now even when I get discouraged, I just picture my kids sitting in public school, and I'm glad I have them at home where they can learn and thrive without as many negative influences in their lives.

Psa 34:11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.


Pro 4:1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

"Where is my God?"

It is so cute seeing things through the eyes of a child. That is probably why Jesus said in Matthew 19:14 "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

Hannah is always saying, "This is mine!" Pretty much about everything. "This is my Pencil?" or "This is my coat?" Then the next question that usually follows is "Where did I get it?" It has become an ongoing conversation piece for her young almost 3 year old mind.

Just the other day, Scott was working on something, and Hannah came in the room to watch him, when suddenly she asked, "Daddy, where is my God?" So he tried to explain how God was in Heaven and he is everywhere just we can't see Him. She thought about that briefly and then she asked, "Where did I get Him?" Scott then explained that God made her, and that He was her God and she was His Hannah. This answer put a smile on her face and she was content.

It's amazing what goes on in a child's mind. We should be seeking for God also. It would be good for everyone on this earth to do a little Soul searching and ask ourselves, "Where is my God?" and "Where did I get Him?" Then we should go further and seek to be closer to Him.

Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:


Mat 19:14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

My Children and the Giant Popcorn!

I just had to share my kids lunch time conversation. I gave them popcorn to go along with their hot dogs today. Somehow they got into a discussion over "what if..." The question this time was "What if you had a giant popcorn the size of the whole house?" They discussed several possibilities as to whether or not they would share. Then they decided they could each have their own giant popcorn. So they commenced to discussing how they would eat it. First you would have to start from the bottom and let it fall as you eat it. Then they had a brilliant idea...A Popcorn House! So they were all satisfied discussing how they would eat rooms in their popcorn house. Aren't children fun! They come up with the most interesting ideas. It reminded me of a book I read before of Dave and the Giant Peach. It's a story of a boy that finds a giant peach and the adventures he and his friends go on.

We got our truck out of the shop yesterday. It seems to be running well. Scott is glad to have his work truck back. The man at the auto place told him of something to check on our van. We're getting to know the mechanic and secretary pretty well now. They have been good to us and trying to help us out the best they can. But I now know that there are 3 fuel pumps on our van, 2 inside the tank and 1 outside. If the problem is the outside one it won't be as hard to replace. We'll have to check that out. Still thinking a bicycle built for 6 is a good option. Scott is starting to talk about getting us a car dolly eventually.

On the ministrial side Scott has 3 possible preaching appointments lined up for February. He tries to be fair to all the churches involved. He schedules them in the order they call and then considers them individually. Pretty much the first church that calls him, if he feels it is the Lord's will he will accept their call and call the other churches lined up after that to let them know. He in turn offers to fill in for the already scheduled Sundays if those churches want him too. So far though we hadn't had to go through all that yet. A lot of churches seem to prefer to hear several preachers in view of call before selecting one. So we just keep setting appointments and figure the right church will give Scott a call when the time is right.

We have our Midweek Bible studies tonight. So better go for now and get the children all ready for church. I'll try to write more later. :)

A Windy Day

The wind has sure been blowing hard today. It's amazing to see such large trees swaying in the invisible wind. It almost looks as if the trees are dancing.

I think we should be getting our truck out of the shop today if they got the problem fixed, that is. And if they don't find anything else wrong with it. As soon as we get it back, I'll be able to use my parents truck, and Scott will have his work truck. Then it will be a matter of finding out what is wrong with the van.

We have a preaching appointment this Sunday. Scott will be preaching in view of a call. He is still thinking on the new job possibilities but also doesn't want to start a new job just to say, "Oh, Sorry I just got called to a church." So he has talked to his present employer about training in order to get a raise. His boss sounds favorable toward that end and Scott plans to work hard and see if he can earn a raise. With his present job he knows he can have weekends off for preaching, other jobs may not be so flexible. So we'll see. Since churches have been contacting us again, we may just hold tight and see what God might have in store for us.

It's easy to get discouraged and near sighted but I know God has something that He wants us to do. We just have to hold tight and wait for his timing.


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

Car Troubles Again!

It seems to be an ongoing thing with our vehicles. Every month seems like at least of our two vehicles wind up in the shop. If not both at some point. Scott and are also joking whenever something goes wrong with one of our vehicles that it's going to cost at least $200. So here we are with our truck in the shop and our van needing to go as soon as we get our truck out. Hopefully our van will be an easy fix. Eventually with all these repairs we'll have new vehicles.
At least all of the parts will be new. The '80s weren't that long ago our vehicles should be in their prime.

Last night we were heading to our church from the Spanish Bible Study. We were maybe half way when our van just stalled out. Thankfully we were able to coast to the side of the road where Scott tried to crank our van up again. It sounded like something was blocking the fuel somewhere. The sun was about to set, so we decided to get out and just walk the few miles to our church and then maybe someone would be able to give us a ride from church. Thankfully we had a stroller in our 15 passenger van and some warm clothes to put on everyone. The main unspoken concern on both Scott's and my mind in walking was getting all 4 of our children through any dogs that might come out barking. We had only started walking a few feet when a young man stopped and offered to help us out. He had to get his mother's Quad Cab pickup and me and the kids had to share seat belts but we made it home and my husband was able to have a wonderful talk with him. He was a youth minister of a nearby church of another denomination. He just happened to be passing us when he stopped to help us.

Right after he dropped us off at our house, we had restroom breaks for the kids and then we all got into my parents pickup truck which we have been borrowing until we get our other truck back. After loading everyone into the truck (yes, two of our children had to share a seat belt again) we went back to the van with a fairly decent but not perfect tow strap.

I was sort of dreading the long drive down oil roads hauling the van behind the truck but I knew it had to be done. Scott and I have pulled so many vehicles that broke down on us that it no longer phases me as much to hear that it is time to pull another one. Thankfully we were able to pull our 1 ton, 15 passenger van and didn't even break the strap once. I breathed a prayer of thanks to God for helping us again with another towing.

When we finally made it home, Scott came to my driver side window and told me, "Wow, Stacie you're getting good at this!" I responded with a smile, "I guess practice makes perfect." I just wouldn't mind not having to practice as much. I now know when to go slower and when to speed up and how to keep the rope between the vehicles tight or it will snap. That snap is not a pleasant experience. Especially when the strap keeps getting shorter and shorter every time it breaks and we have to tie a new knot in it.

Well, we made it home with out a hitch! :) And now we will just wait patiently for our next step.

Scott is already starting to look for another job with better pay. We have been using up too many of his hard earned pay checks on vehicles. But I told him that I know that God has something in store for us and when we look back on this day it will seem like such a small thing that happened a long time ago. He still is looking for a church to pastor but so far God hasn't brought us to the right one. So until he finds the right church he is planning to also seek another secular job.

I just know God has a plan for us. All these problems are just building us up for something to come. One thing I do know is that when things get better, we'll really enjoy them even more because of the trials we go through today. So we just have to keep hanging onto God's promise to provide for our needs and keep praying for his help.

I like to end my blogs with a related Bible verse when I have time so here is the Bible verse for today.


Psa 34:6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

Psa 34:17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

We had a pretty good day so far today. Yesterday after I had written we went to a Spanish ministry. I really need to improve my Spanish by quite a bit. The missionary needed Scott to read a letter he had written in English to see if it sounds right, so we will be going over to another location that this minister has a ministry to help him with his letter and see how there services are on Sunday afternoons. I'm not sure if we will stay at that church for the English services tonight or go to our services tonight. I guess we'll see. It's easy to get too many irons in the fire. There is so many directions that we can feel pulled toward.

Yesterday I had my sights a little too high as far as what we are able physically and financially able to accomplish in a short time. I try to rush things and then it is no longer done well. It's just done fast.

Scott and I have talked about what we would like to accomplish in the future. We want to teach the children skills that they can use when they are grown whether or not they choose to go to college. We want them to have a broad range of possibilities as far as carreers are concerned.

Scott would love to build and sell musical instruments. That has been a dream of his for a long time. I would love to see him pastoring and building instruments in his freetime. I told him that his building instruments will dedfinitely save us money.

I want to complete my education in Institute for Children's Literature and start publishing things for magazines. It won't be long and we'll see these goals accomplished especially if we slow down and watch what God wants for us.

Well, time to go to the Spanish Ministry. I'll have more to write later. Keep smiling!

No New Pictures

Ok, I know that in my last post earlier today, I said I would put up pictures of the days accomplishments. I was kind of hoping for more to be accomplished. The wood was too wet. So Scott and the kids just cleared some of the trees and came back to the house around lunch time. Scott was good and wore out. I wish I could have helped more but he said there wasn't much to do until the boards dry to build the floor joices. So we wait. I'm hoping that maybe more will be done next week. But there is more rain in the forecast for our area. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. In the mean time I'll try to wait patiently.

I'm sure looking forward to having a home of our own. I don't know what God has in store for our future, but I kind of hope it includes a home soon. Ok, I guess I have a lot of work to go on being patient and waiting. Which maybe why God has us here for now. I do know that once we finally have our own home, I'll be so happy and will appreciate it even more. So I don't know why the wood has to be so wet today, but I'm sure there is a reason.

We are also still waiting to hear from churches that want my husband to come in view of a call. We have one appointment in February. So I don't know if the Lord has a church for my husband or if we will build this house first. It's times like this that I would like to see into the future at what it is to plan for.

In the mean time I suppose I'll just wait and try to keep working on our present living quarters until the Lord provides us a more comfortable arrangement. Hopefully I'll post a little more encouraging news next time. Please keep praying for us and that God will provide us a home that we can really call our own. I'll just keep on smiling knowing that eventually God will answer our prayers.

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

Building a House

Today, Scott and our older children are at the house site working on our new home. This picture was just taken this morning. I'll be going down there shortly as well. We plan to set up our tent for the kids to play in while we are working. Hopefully the weather will stay nice. Here is the picture. That's our 3 oldest children standing by a pile of bricks. I'll try to write more later and add another picture of what we accomplished today.

Psa 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Homeschool

Today has been a good day, as most days are. Today, I got up and got the kids their breakfast. I am amazed at how big Jonathan is getting. He is one big baby! I may have to give him rice cereal earlier than I did my other 3. He just seems to need to eat more often. The pediatrician had told me at Jonathan's 2 month visit that he would be ready for some rice cereal at 4 months of age. I waited until 6 months on the other children. I'll probably wait and ask the Doctor again at Jonathan's 4 month visit. Right now he nurses every two hours during the day time. At least he does sleep through the night. However I feel like I'm always feeding him in the day time.

The kids have been working hard on their homeschool lessons. I started them on knew readers yesterday. I found some wonderful readers at a Bible Book Store. They are really good readers for a good price. The workbooks were a good price as well and will be easy for me to upgrade each child to the next level when they finish. All I will have to buy is the workbooks for each of them but those are only $2.25. So that is not a bad price. I started Joshua on the 2nd grade reader and Ruth on the 1st grade reader. Technically they should probably further along than that but I wanted to start them off simply. This way we get through all the workbooks in that grade level and then by the next grade level they will be familiar with the format of this set of lessons. So when Joshua completes Grade 2, he will go into grade 3 and Ruth will go into Grade 2 and use his hard cover books and I will only have to buy the workbooks for her.

For math I found some reproducible workbooks. I like those for I will be able to reuse the lessons for each of the kids. When Hannah and Jonathan get bigger they will be able to use all these lessons as well. Right now Hannah has an Alphabet workbook that we found at the same bookstore. So far she has learned the letters "Aa" and "Bb". I'm trying to teach her the letter names and the sounds they make. The hard part is keeping her serious and keeping her brother and sister from laughing at her when she makes a mistake. She likes them laughing at her and so she will make mistakes on purpose just to make them laugh.

Jonathan has gotten to where he can chew on some of his toys. Here is a picture of him chewing on his Butterfly toy that he got for Christmas. He was so cute I had to take pictures of him. So I will include them on this post. Even Jonathan is learning. I guess we are all learning something new all the time.

I'm sorry this post isn't very neatly and probably has a lot of typos. Joshua and Ruth are finishing up there lessons for the day and Jonathan and Hannah are napping. I want to take advantage of this quiet time while I have it. I'll write more later.

Team Work

I am finally able to stop and blog a little bit. I have a hard time finding a "good" time to blog. So I'll just try to pop in and blog as best I can when I am able and the computer isn't tied up.

Yesterday, the kids and I worked a bit on our living quarters. I swept all the toys, clothes, trash, papers, etc. into a pile in their room and had them picking it up. I would love to be organized like a family I saw a website for that has 11 children. I like to glean tidbits of information from those families so that I might can incorporate a little bit of organization into our daily routines. I have quite a ways to go before I'm that organized, but maybe before I have 11 children I'll have it figured out. Until then we just have a massive clean up the bedroom of too many toys. It gets better though because they wind up breaking their toys and those get thrown away, so that makes less to pick up for next time.

While they were working on their room, I had my own challenge of clothing. There is 6 of us and a lot of clothes. So I spent the time they were working on their floor to work on sorting clothes. Winter clothes, summer clothes, church clothes, play clothes, outgrown clothes, torn clothes, for 6 people can be a bit daunting sometimes. Then on top of it being daunting I put the job off and it really becomes a disorganized mess. So that was the task I worked on yesterday and still have more to go on it. I have found though that when the children and I work together on tasks they get done pretty well. There are a few jobs that the kids wind up being "too much" help and slow me down, but if I get them on the right task then the job gets done easily and quickly.

A good example of team work was our moving a t.v. yesterday. We have a big t.v. that my brother had given us before he had moved to France. The t.v. was on our floor because we didn't have anywhere else to put it. We had been given a rolling t.v. stand and it was in the children's room. Hannah helped me roll it into our dining/ family/ bed room. Ruth helped hold the cart from rolling so that Joshua and I could lift this incredibly heavy t.v. Joshua held the back of the t.v. while I lifted the front. We had to lift it about two or three feet in order to get it on the cart. It didn't take long and we were real happy to be able to surprise Scott when he got home, instead of having to wait until he got home from work to pick it up for us. I was real proud of our team work. I couldn't lift it by myself so with the little bit of extra help, we were able to get it done.


Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
(Ecc 4:9-12)

It's amazing what we can accomplish when we all work together. Time to get back to work. Just wanted to share my thought for today. :)

District Ladies Auxiliary

Today, I woke up after hitting the snooze a couple of times and had to hit the ground running pretty much. After giving the kids their breakfast I had to get them and myself ready for the Ladies Auxiliary meeting that was going on at a church near us. It was pretty neat going back to the church I grew up in. A lot has changed and yet quite a few things remain the same. It was a good meeting and I enjoyed hearing my Aunt play a special on her harpsichord. I didn't even know she could play anything besides the piano. She is a wonderful piano player and played for the song service today. Next quarter our church will be hosting the meeting. There was only two of us ladies there from our church and so it felt a little awkward offering to host without knowing if everyone else would mind or not. So I went ahead and said we would go ahead and host it. I'll let the rest of the ladies know tomorrow at church. I wanted to sing a special but got there a little late to tell anyone. I was going to play my Ukulele and sing "Amazing Grace" and "He Looked Beyond my Fault" as a medley. It is really pretty together. I wish I had gotten there early enough to sing it. But there is always next time.

At the meeting we got to see a presentation by a man that had spent 3 months in Australia with his family helping a church over there. I think they are planning to go back there. It was a really good presentation.

Well, I guess that is all that has happened so far today. As soon as I get off the computer I plan to mail my next assignment to The Institute of Children's Literature. I have finally completed Assignment 3 and will be mailing it in to my instructor. I am glad that I am taking this writing course. I love to write and hope to see my work in magazines and maybe even a book written by the time I'm done with this course.

We had lunch at the Auxiliary meeting so I do not have to get the kids lunch fixed. However I do need to get them to work on their lessons. I also need to buy stamps sometime and I would like to get some laundry done before Scott gets home. I'll try to keep up my posts as often as I can. I may miss some days but seeing my dad writing a twice a day post has me wanting to try to keep mine going more regularly. It's good practice for my writing as well.

Must go for now. I'll try to write again tomorrow or later on this week.

Much needed Update

It's been a few months since I've written. Jonathan has now entered our lives and Scott and I have agreed we can't imagine life without him. He is only two months old but he adds so much to our family life. I mean homeschool lessons wouldn't be the same without the occasional "Isn't that right Jonathan?" He just loves it when any of us talk to him. He usually returns a big smile in response.
He also loves the attention of his doting brother and sisters at least until he gets a little overwhelmed by them. Then they all say, "Oh, Oh! We're making him mad!" then they run away from him. He usually calms down again when I pick him up.
I'm getting fairly proficient at typing one handed as well, being as the only time I really get to get on the computer is while I'm holding him.
Scott and I are very proud of our children. Every time I bring all four of them to Jonathan's doctor's appointment I receive compliments on how well behaved they are. The doctor told me that it is very unusual to have a room with that many children that quiet.

We are still waiting for a church to call Scott as pastor. We have been to several churches in view of a call but none have called as of yet. He is not the only preacher waiting for churches to call. We have friends who we go to church with on Wedneday's and we ask them, "Have y'all heard from ___ church yet?"
And they say "No. How about y'all? Have y'all heard from the church y'all went to?"
"Not yet."
So many churches say that they are praying for God to call more men to preach and yet there are men called by God waiting for churches to accept them. I don't know what these churches are looking for. My husband has preached some really good sermons and has the salvation message in each one. He answers all their questions honestly and makes sure everyone understands the answers. He has even stated he is willing to take a part time while pastoring if needed. But he still has yet to hear from anyone. I think these churches should hear a man at least twice before assuming he's not the one for their church. I don't know though. Someone suggested that it could be Scott's beard causing churches not to call him. That seems rather petty to me though. I personally like his beard and I don't think it should matter as long as he keeps it neatly trimmed.
Scott said that a lot of churches are looking for Saul when they should be looking for a shepherd. The other preachers in our church seem to agree. I'm tired of church politics. It's almost like preachers have to run for office in order to preach.
Anyway until God sends us to the church he wants us to be at we will continue to do our best where we're at. I'll continue to fulfill my purpose taking care and teaching our children and Scott will continue to work hard at his construction job and continue to organize materials for the house he intends to build for us. We will also do our best to help with any local ministries we are able to help.

Well, I must go for now I need to buy some more homeschool supplies. It's amazing how fast pencils disappear when it's time for writing lessons. Until next time!

One Month Left!

I just realized today that I'm on the last Baby on my Baby Ticker! For those who don't know what the ticker is it's the picture at the top of the page that shows which month the baby is in. It updates itself. I'm officially at 35 weeks! The baby can come any time this month and still be fine. I guess that does make me a little nervous but I'm ready. I'm really not afraid of labor being as this is my 4th child. All of my other children were born past their due dates so I half expect this one to throw us off and come before the due date.

This weekend my husband and I took our kids to the park. It was a lot of fun! We had a little picnic and then the kids all played on the playground while we watched. They are all getting so big so fast.

I started working on a baby blanket but haven't been the most faithful at doing it every day. I guess I need to get busy! I hope Jonathan likes yellow. The yellow and white yarn was so pretty to me. The yellow looked so bright next to the white! So I'm crocheting a pretty yellow and white blanket. Maybe after this blanket I'll crochet a more masculine color one for when he gets a little older. I know that yellow is suppose to be a neutral color but my older children all thought I should do blue. Oh well, I like the colors and will have a lot of fun making it.

I've been giving the children homeschool assignments. One of the things they do is memorize a bible verse for their class on Wednesday nights. They were told to pick one on their own for this next couple of weeks. Of course they were wanting to pick an easy one, but I'm insisting they rememorize Psalm 23. They still have it partially memorized from before but were starting to forget some of it. So I told them that they were smart enough to memorize a longer passage. Of course I've taken the fun out of their getting to pick their own verse but I'm sure they will thank me for it one day. Hannah is proud to be memorizing the verse 1. She says my turn after the other two are done and I help her quote the first one. She quotes her verse with a smile on her face.

I've also been printing off worksheets for them. Joshua is able to read his assignments real well on his own. It's been good for them to practice reading and following the instructions on their own. Ruth isn't quite as far along on her reading as her brother but she's not too far behind. She just doesn't seem to understand why I have her read it, when I'm right there and can read it for her. She'll eventually understand I'm sure.

Hannah has to have the same number of papers as her brother and sister. I have a table for her as well. She sits down there with her pencil, paper, and crayons and brings me her work just like her brother and sister do. When they finish a worksheet or have a question, they bring it to me and shortly after them comes Hannah saying, "Look Mom!" And I tell her what a good job she is doing.

Jonathan is even showing signs of being athletic. :) Hannah has a small soft football. Today she had the ball and I was sitting on the bed with her and the other children and my husband were sitting around the room. Jonathan started kicking and I took the football and sat it on the top of my tummy. We all had a good laugh every time Jonathan would kick the football and it fell off. It was so funny! Our little football player and he isn't even born yet!

Well, it won't be long and I'll have to get a sideways picture of me. We always get a picture of me sideways. It's also our family tradition to take a picture of my husband and children all standing sideways with pillows in their shirts. We always have a good laugh over those pictures.
It makes a nice memory over the years. I can see us telling Jonathan, "This is what mommy looked like before you were born. And this is what everyone else looked like."

Only 4 1/2 more weeks to go or so. I'm looking forward to getting to hold Jonathan in my arms. I'm also looking forward to letting my husband have a turn carrying him. I'll try to update pretty regular this month and let everyone know once the baby comes.

Psalm 23:1 "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want."

Labor Day Weekend

I hope everyone else had a great Labor Day weekend. We had a wonderful time at my parents for the weekend. We enjoyed getting to visit. The kids enjoyed being spoiled a little bit. :)

I am blessed with wonderful parents. Of course for Hannah it wasn't enough. She woke me up this morning asking to see Papa and Nana. I told her we couldn't see them today but later. She was o.k. with that but she had to ask again later on. She is cute though. We were driving home and listening to a CD of Gold City singing "I'm goin' to read it again." Hannah was singing over and over "I wee 'gin, I wee 'gin". It took us awhile to figure out what she was trying to say until Ruth figured it out for us. Ruth said, "Oh, She's saying 'I'm going to read it again'." We all had to giggle over that one which of course Hannah loves the attention.

I plan to take the kids to the store for our Homeschool supplies this week sometime. This is the official week I plan to start them back on their more formal studies. So we will probably kick it off with a little shopping for supplies and organizing their "classroom".

I have a 3D ultrasound picture of Jonathan, that I was able to scan at my parents. It is amazing what you can see with modern technology like it is. Here is the picture.

He looks pretty healthy from the picture. :) You can see his chubby arm on the left side of the picture. On the left side under his chin is just part of the placenta. The Ultrasound technician told us that it is rare to get that good of a picture. She said that 80% of the time the baby is either in a bad position or has a foot or hand in front of his face. So we got one of the few babies that cooperated with the Ultrasound. :) My husband was able to get off work in time to be there for the ultrasound which made it extra special. I had felt bad about him missing out on the first ultrasound we had done. But this time he got to see the whole thing. It was pretty neat. Hannah kept growling though. She thought that the baby looked like a little monster. So she probably thinks the baby is a monster in my tummy. Aren't 2 year olds cute sometimes. :)

Well, that's most of the latest news thus far. My husband has gone back to work and has been getting quite a few calls for preaching appointments over the weekends. So we keep pretty busy. Maybe the time will pass by quickly 'til the baby is born. The last month is the month that is usually the longest. But maybe I'll keep busy and it will go by quickly. I wonder if Jonathan is going to come early or late. Scott will sometimes ask if he can help me carry anything and my usual response is "The baby." He just smiles and says he would but I get too nervous when he tries to pick me up! I guess he's right I'll just have to wait until October.

Mar 9:37 Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.

I'm back!

Sorry about the long delay in posts. It seems that summers are already so busy and then to add moving to the summer just made it busier. We managed to get moved about 2 months ago. Everyone made it safe and sound. My husband has settled into his new job quite well, and now that he is being reimbursed for his gas mileage we are actually able to start saving up a little bit for clearing a spot and building ourselves a new home to live in. That will include getting electricity run and water hooked up.

My husband has sure been learning a lot about construction. He comes home just about everyday telling me of something new he has learned. Which will be real handy for getting our new home finished.

Since my last posting in May, the baby has been kicking up a storm. He stops and rests of course but he seems to be a night owl at this point because he especially likes to kick when I either sit down to rest or lay down to sleep. Oh yes, and we found out that we are having a boy! We are naming him Jonathan Paul.

We have had a good summer. I started taking a writing course in June. I really have been enjoying it. So far I have turned in two stories to my instructor. I read them to my older two kids, since the stories were written at their age level. They were actually impressed. Joshua told me, "I didn't know you could write like that. It sounds like a real story." I'm not sure who they thought wrote the other "real" stories. I guess they just didn't think that mom could write real stories too.

Our other 3 children have been having fun. I'll be starting Joshua and Ruth back to homeschooling next week. I found a homeschool group that do activities together in a nearby town and we joined the group. I'm hoping that our kids will be able to have some friends that are also homeschooled and still get to learn a lot in the process. As long as we can keep our vehicles going, I plan to take them on a lot of field trips and activities. Hannah of course won't be left out.

Hannah, our 2 year old, has finally figured out that baby Jonathan is in my tummy. We had a 3D ultrasound of the baby, and Hannah growled a bunch because she thought that the baby looked like a little monster. She is also putting more and more sentences together. She still has a little trouble pronouncing every word right, but she is so cute in how she says things. I'll try to keep a post of her new anecdotes on here. I can't think of many examples right now, but if I were posting more often, I would have plenty to write about.

So I intend to keep up my blogs. I hope no one gives up on me too completely. I'm going to post some links on the side. Since I'm going to be starting the homeschooling again, I thought everyone might like to look at some links to some of the resources I like to use. I'll probably put more links up as I go along.

Two more weeks!

Well, only 2 more weeks, before we move. We have been in our present location for about 5 years or so. However we are looking for to living closer to family and friends. Thankfully my father and brother will be coming down to help us. We will have to move our travel trailer and a trailer with a car on it. I was really dreading that long drive with 3 kids in the back and having to tow a vehicle on the back of our 15 passenger van. But my brother is used to hauling trailers so I really am appreciating his taking time out of his busy schedule to drive all the way down here to help us. Isn't family a wonderful thing?

We have been getting ready. We plan to take our kids to visit some of the sites around here and kind of get to say "good-bye" to the places we will not be able to visit again. They are looking forward to the move though. Since we homeschool, they will not have to change their routines too much. I'm sure I'll give them some slack at first, but I've already made arrangements for them to start in the Library's reading program in our new hometown. So they'll be having fun learning again.

Today, we bought a "fancy" lawnmower. I was tired of our other lawnmower stalling all the time, so I talked to my husband about it and he agreed with my idea of a new lawn mower. We now have a lawnmower that doesn't require gasoline, no motor, no oil. All we have to do to start it is push it. My son is the most excited, since at almost 9, he is actually able to start this one. All he has to do is push. After plenty of warnings about being careful for the blades, he was able to mow one side of our yard by himself. He was so proud! I'm amazed at how big he's getting.

Violin lessons are going well for Joshua and Ruth. Our goal is to get them able to hold their violins up without groaning and moaning at their lessons and during practice. Hannah is doing pretty well copying her brother and sister with her little violin. She can groan and moan just like them. They're getting stronger though. These lessons have been good for them. Our next trick will be to find them a new teacher, once we've moved. By the end of this month they should be able to play "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". That would really make them feel good.

Well, the baby hasn't kicked yet, despite my coaxing. But who knows any day now maybe I'll feel something. It still a little early I guess.

We've picked names! If we have a boy we plan to name him Jonathan Paul, and if we have a girl we plan to name her Joanna Lynn. So now to wait and see which it will be.

James 1:3-4 "Knowing [this], that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have [her] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."