Ringing in the New Year...

Well I have spent this past week trying to get ready for the New Year. I worked to get the kitchen clean and keep it that way for the whole week. Im in the process now of finishing the great room. I broke it down into sections and cleaned it a little at a time. I think that worked best for me. As I get it clean we work out a maintaince plan for keeping it that way. One week down!
Im also happy to say that I have kept up with my Bible reading all week! YAY! Im working through Eziekal right now. Im also reading Created to Be His Helpmeet again. That book does so much for me. I have been so much happier this week.
I confess I allowed the stress of the season to grab me last week and it was a downward spiral. I lost all of my joy and thankfullness and becames mean and whiny. It was not pretty. But we made it through and I asked forgivness from my family and from the Lord. Growing experience for me.
Today hubby and I worked on getting our garage cleaned up. We made a pathway and I bagged up a ton more stuff for freecycle.
Well thats all I have time for for now. Dinner is ready. We are eating late because I lost track of time in the garage.

Be Blessed!

Just saying "Hi"

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. We did. Although Im a little worried my dining room will never see the light of day. Right now thats where all the stuff is gathered. Im hoping to order another toy organizer this week sometime. Also we need to make room for new cars and cooking stuff. *Sigh*
If I dont post again until New Years... Happy New Year!

Update

Ok so those who read my last post probably thought I was a raving lunatic! I was soooo angry/worried/upset...whatever! Hubby had left to go on a business trip. He told me he would be there around 11pm and he left the website up for where he was staying. There was no phone number so I had to search and search. I found the one for where I thought he was staying and called around 11:30pm. The nice lady at the desk told me there was no one checked in under that name. I thought well let me call the other Days Inn down there and see if he got mixed up or if I had the wrong number. This lady answers the phone and asks to direct my call. Well I ask for my husband by first and last name which is all I usually have to do, then she says very sarcastically, "well who is that???" I said, "My husband, he might be a guest at your hotel." She said cooly, "might be?" I said, "Yes ma'am he is not at the other hotel yet so I thought I would check here." Then she proceeds to tell me he must now want to talk to me. He must be ducking me and if he was at her hotel she would not feel comfortable putting me through or even TELLING me if he was there. I needed to learn a thing or two....yada, yada, yada. Now here I am this wife worried becuase I could forsee car accident, car jacking...come on you know when our husbands head on these business trips we come up with all sorts of neat stuff! And she is just yelling at me. I hung up with her after telling her she knows nothing about my husband! Then I emailed the manager. Sure nothing will ever come of it. Thankfully, hubby called the next morning to tell me he was late getting in.
Anyways there are your ramblings of a mad woman for tonight!

RUDE, RUDE, RUDE!!

This place has made me so ANGRY! Im probably over reacting, but I was mad to begin with so this really just ticked me off. Anyways, I cant tell you all about it until this weekend. BUT if you are ever in Titusville, Florida you probably dont want to stay here!


Days Inn Titusville Kennedy Space Center
3755 Cheney Highway
Titusville, FL, 32780 US

Say it aint so....

All I can say to this...

"God have mercy on us all!"

If you would like to know why this scares me, besides the obvious do we really want a woman in the Presidental seat, click on this link!

Or just google the United Nations Rights of a Child Act and be prepared to pray, because it will SCARE you to pieces. They want our children.
Hilary Clinton is 100% in favor of this apostasy and God help us everyone if that woman gets in office.


I try super duper hard NOT to get involved in political discussion on my blog. Every now then I will speak out and you will know where I fall in the vast political spectrum... this is one of those times.

Healthy Eating Update

The other day I went to the local health food grocery store. I picked up four pounds of brown rice, because it was on sale, a jar of cocounut oil, a bottle of olive oil, a box of sea salt, a bag of whole wheat pastry flour, a jar of local honey and a box of stevia. At Walmart yesterday I bought two boxes of whole wheat spaghetti, two boxes of whole wheat lasagna noodles, and two boxes of whole wheat rotini noodles. I picked up a few bags of beans and two more boxes of brown rice. I also picked up some Florida Cane Juice sugar crystals. We cant afford organice meat right now, but I figure every change counts. I picked up a some ground beef and three bags of chicken breasts, I also picked up about 5 pounds of turkey sausage and 5 pounds of ground turkey. There was other stuff too, but this was the bulk of my purchase.
Last night we had brown rice, yellow squash, and zuchinni. I cooked the squash and zuchinni in some olive oil and garlic. I mixed it all together and put some mozzerella cheese on top of each bowl. The kids were not impressed because they dont like squash and zuchinni, but I loved it! Hubby thought it was ok, but he likes meat so when I serve dishes like this he eats them, but I darn skippy sure better have some meat for the next meal! :) Actually he is not that bad because he knows he needs a meatless dish every now and then, just not too often!
Tonight the kids and I will be having spaghetti, what they dont know is Im going to sneak some zuchinni into the sauce I also plan on shredding some carrots and putting them in the sauce as well. Hubby has a dinner meeting tonight so he wont be home. Too bad because I plan on putting meat in the spaghetti sauce! LOL.
Im loving our whole foods co-op. I got about 12 pounds of squash and zuchinni from them right before Thanksgiving and we are just now finishing it up. We have another order coming in next week. We also just finished up the raw milk. We did decide that while hubby and I are drinking the raw milk we will switch the kids to organic milk. It just seems the right thing to do the more we read about milk. I noticed a little girl the other day almost the same age as my oldest daughter and she was developing RAPIDLY. Now, I know some of this is just the way she is made, but come on where do we think the growth hormones they inject in cows go???? I will just feel better about it.
Ok I need to go our break is up and I have to get busy with some schooling we have missed this week.

Ridiculous

My children have not had their names changed on their social security cards. We finally got corrected birth certificates and hubby decided since he was home today he would head down to the office and get names changed. It should not be this hard. We have an adoption decree and birth certificates. Of course now they need another form of identification that has the full name and birthday of the child. What other form of identification do they think we have? This is ridiculous!

My baby...

If you want to see some cute pics of my littlest one hop over to A House Full of Kids. This is a blog I try to post pics on for family and friends. As you can see I updated it like annually. :) Im trying to do better though...really!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We sure did!

Im in tears....

This was so funny! I got it off of the MIH site. Dont know who wrote it or were it came from, but man is this funny...




To All Our Family and Friends.
Just a note to let you know we are hoping to see you Thanksgiving Day

But.... Martha Stewart will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving.

I'm telling you in advance, so don't act surprised. Since Ms. Stewart
won't be coming, I've made a few small changes: Our sidewalk will not be
lined with homemade, paper bag luminaries. After a trial run, it was decided
that no matter how cleverly done, rows of flaming lunch sacks do not have
the desired welcoming effect.

Once inside, our guests will note that the entry hall is not decorate
with the swags of Indian corn and fall foliage I had planned to make.
Instead, I've gotten the kids involved in the decorating by having them track in
colorful autumn leaves from the front yard. The mud was their idea.

The dining table will not be covered with expensive linens, fancy
china,or crystal goblets. If possible, we will use dishes that match and
everyone will get a fork. Since this IS Thanksgiving, we will refrain from using
the plastic Peter Rabbit plate and the Santa napkins from last Christmas.

Our centerpiece will not be the tower of fresh fruit and flowers that I
promised. Instead we will be displaying a hedgehog-like decoration
hand-crafted from the finest construction paper. The artist assures me
it is a turkey.

We will be dining fashionably late. The children will entertain you
while you wait. I'm sure they will be happy to share every choice comment I
have made regarding Thanksgiving, pilgrims and the turkey hotline. Please
remember that most of these comments were made at 5:00 a.m. upon
discovering that the turkey was still hard enough to cut diamonds.

As accompaniment to the children's recital, I will play a recording of
tribal drumming. If the children should mention that I don't own a
recording of tribal drumming, or that tribal drumming sounds suspiciously like a
frozen turkey in a clothes dryer, ignore them. They are lying.

We toyed with the idea of ringing a dainty silver bell to announce the
start of our feast. In the end, we chose to keep our traditional method.
We've also decided against a formal seating arrangement. When the smoke alarm
sounds, please gather around the table and sit where you like. In the
spirit of harmony, we will ask the children to sit at a separate table. In a
separate room. Next door.

Now, I know you have all seen pictures of one person carving a turkey
in front of a crowd of appreciative onlookers. This will not be happening
at our dinner. For safety reasons, the turkey will be carved in a private
ceremony. I stress "private" meaning: Do not, under any circumstances,
enter the kitchen to laugh at me. Do not send small, unsuspecting children to
check on my progress. I have an electric knife. The turkey is unarmed.
It stands to reason that I will eventually win. When I do, we will eat.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind my young diners that
"passing the rolls" is not a football play. Nor is it a request to bean
your sister in the head with warm tasty bread.

Oh, and one reminder for the adults: For the duration of the meal, and
especially while in the presence of young diners, we will refer to the
giblet gravy by its lesser-known name: Cheese Sauce. If a young diner
questions you regarding the origins or type of Cheese Sauce, plead
ignorance. Cheese Sauce stains everything.

Before I forget, there is one last change. Instead of offering a choice
between 12 different scrumptious desserts, we will be serving the
traditional pumpkin pie, garnished with whipped cream and small
fingerprints. You will still have a choice; take it or leave it.

I hope you aren't too disappointed that Martha Stewart will not be
dining with us this Thanksgiving and... She probably won't come next year
either

A zero tolerance policy

Today I was on the way to meet some friends when I started thinking about sin. God hates sin...shouldn't we hate sin? Its a thin line because we need to be reaching out to sinners and loving on them and showing them Jesus, but on the other hand I think we need to make sure our own hearts have a zero tolerance policy on sin. I am teaching my children truths from the Bible that will one day have them labeled as freaks and bigots. The way our country is going it might even be illegal for them to call sin sin. Wouldn't that be sick? I have to tell you when these thoughts entered my head I was passing by a building that is utilized by a religious group that God despises. I know He despises them because they are blasphemors and liars and murderers. They use HIS name thinking that He wants them to take over the world. Yet He also wants these people to come to know Him personally as the TRUE God. He is not willing that any should perish... but a lot of them will. There will be people in hell who thought they were serving the TRUE God. Mainly because they never sought the TRUE God. OR no one ever shared with them the TRUE God. I have been trying to make it a point to smile and talk to people who "offend" me. People who I in NO WAY agree with. People who are trying to corrupt the world my babies are growing up in. I am a very literal person. I see EVERYTHING in black and white, Im right, your wrong vision. Im trying to overcome that. I refuse to look at sin as anything other than a disease and YES for those of you who will come on here to call me a hypocrite I am disease riddled! :) I sin..everyday. I need to see the sin in my life as a disease as well. One I want to fight aggressivly to be rid of. A cancer even. I will call sin, sin. I will stand for what is right. I will teach my children to HATE sin. I will reach out to people I dont agree with. I will share Jesus with strangers. I will love my GOD with ALL my heart, soul and mind.
At lot of this is just ramblings, but it is heavy on my heart and I wanted to share.

Babies in church

Its getting harder and harder to take the baby into church with us.
1. He loves to hear himself. He is at that age where he babbles constantly and sometimes screeches.
2. We are meeting in a home going through a video series which is not like being in an auditorium and there are not a whole lot of places to creep off to when he gets very whiny.
3. Although everyone is super duper supportive of our decision to keep our children with us, it is against the norm in our group. I always feel as if people are irritated with us for not sending ours upstairs with the others.

Dont get me wrong. Hubby and I agree that we will not be sending our children away during church. We just dont agree with it and find nothing in the Bible to support it.
So my dilema is: Is there any way to keep baby relatively quiet during church? We have come along way training him to sit fairly still. Im wondering if there is a way to train for quietness? He is 10 months old. Im impressed with how much he has learned already. I would have never thought you could teach a baby to behave as well as he does. Thank God for the mentors he has given us.
So any ideas would be appreciated.

Ponderings about children...

So here is something I have been thinking about lately. As I have stated before I am a follower of the Well Trained Mind method of education. In this method basically you have three stages of life.
Elementary which is the grammer stage. In this stage you memorize the facts.
Middle which is the Logic stage. Here you begin asking, "why and how?" You begin learning, "why and how?"
Highschool which is the Rhetoric stage. Here you learn how to express the "How and the why."
Im thinking this is the way it is throughout childhood.
For instance from birth to about 10 we are teaching our children about God and the Bible. We are filling their heads with "facts" from the Bible. "We do this this way because the Bible tells us so." We are constantly repeating Bible stories to them. We give them the basics of God and the Bible. We tell them about faith and try to model it for them.
At about 10 to about 14 we begin to explain more to them. More of the whys of the Bible. They begin to understand more and question more. We go in depth on what the Bible says about things and why God says things He says. We really start to discuss and study the Bible with them. We help them to have faith and to deepen their faith.
At about 14-adulthood we teach them how to answer for their belief. We teach them to always have an answer for why they believe what they believe and how to express their belief. We teach them to believe in their faith. To know God. To believe God.
Im often accused of sheltering my children. You have to let them grow up and learn. I believe that, but I also believe they are too young to answer for their faith. I think we should teach them what their faith is first. Teach them how to reason through the scriptures so that they can form their faith through God's word. Should my 6 year old who tells God how much she loves Him and believes He can do anything be called into question on the playground when someone steals her soul? Should my 9 year old, a new believer be expected to share why she believes aborition and homosexuality are wrong? Should she not at this age be ok knowing they are wrong because the Bible says so? Should my five year old who when she prays blesses every room and object in our home be asked about demons and spiritual warfare? No! Right now they should know these things exist. They should know that we believe what the Bible says about everything. They should know we are pretty literal when we read the Bible. They need to be hiding God's word in their hearts right now so that as they get older they can learn how to use God's word. The Bible is our sword in this battle. Before a soldier is sent off to war with a gun he is given training in how to use that gun. Before we send out children off to battle in this spiritual warfare we must teach them how to use the Bible and prayer! We are raising soldiers for the Lord's army, but we must train them.


Be Blessed!

An oldie...

I wrote this post in June of 2005. All day I have been thinking about women in the home. I know I mentioned that I wanted to discuss this a little more, but then I thought of this old post and thought...well that about sums it up. So here ya go!

Defining Roles

Today was nice. I went out with some ladies from church to breakfast and we had a great time. SO guess what subject came up?? Come on guess? S-U-M-B-I-S-S-I-O-N. My favorite subject. :) I was able to share some really neat things I have learned from Debi Pearl's book Created To Be His Helpmeet. Hubby and I had a long talk when I got home about what society says is right versus the Bible. I think we have strayed so far from the Bible and its core truth that we dont know right or wrong anymore. We find ourselves looking around church and saying oh well everyone else is doing it so it must be ok. But what does the Bible say?Ok example we spend so much time on God's love and mercy that sometimes we forget there are other sides to God. The other day in my Sunday School class (3-5 grade) one of the girls found a verse that talks about fearing God. Well that cant be right this sweet girl declared. God does not want us to fear Him. I explained that it was a healthy fear. When we sin we should be fearful. We should drop right to our knees and ask forgiveness. Dare we tempt God and think oh He wont care this time or this time. God does care. I explained to the girl that as a parent when my child does something wrong I expect them to be afraid of consequences. You see God forgives but we still have to pay the consequences. When my children do wrong they are still my children and I still love them dearly BUT there are consequences. We MUST MUST MUST respect God. We must fear him, reverence Him, stand in awe of Him. Without this healthy dose of fear in our lives we will live however we want.
2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
This brings me to another point. I believe that God has His plan for your life mapped out in the Bible. If you dont follow the map you may not reap punishment BUT you will miss out on the full blessing for your life. For instance, I think that men's roles and women's roles in the family are established. We as society have tried to redefine these roles to the point where its the "norm" for women to leave thier children and go out and have a career instead of being "keepers at home "Titus 2:5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed and "guiding the house"
1 Timothy 5:14 I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. Are there instances where the wife has to go to work? Absolutly. I grew up in that house. My dad was severly disabled and my mom had to work full time. But women dont need to "define" themselves through career. They need to look and see how the Bible defines them. Daughter, Wife, Mother, Grandmother. Both of my little girls want to be mommy's when they grow up.. oh yeah and marry daddy's. :) I encourage them in this. When someone tries to tell them they can be a mommy but what else do they want to be I gently cut the person off. Why do they need to be more? The Bible says that children are a heritage from God, children are a blessing, Psalm 127:3-5 3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate he maketh the barren woman to have children Psalms 113:9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. Nowhere does it say earn your law degree and turn your children over to someone else. Of course Im going to take it a step further. I think married women in general should be home. We as women are designed to be nurturers and caregivers. Ok young wife you say oh but my work is done by 10am what do I do the rest of the day? Learn a new homemaking skill, volunteer at a nursing home, help a young mother with many children, help at the church, extend hospitality to neighbors and people from church, have a Bible study... oh the choices are endless. Dont spend all day away from home of course but if you dont have children yet and your house is in order and your husband approves find something BIBLICAL to do. I feel so strongly about this that I cant seem to not write about it. I think we as women are being decieved and losing out on such a wonderful blessing by not following God's plan for our lives.

My opinion

I know Im going to get blasted for this, but frankly I do not care. This is my blog and therefore I can put my opinions out there. So to put this as maturely as possible...
A WOMAN speaker of the house... YUCK!!
I just dont agree with the idea of a woman in leadership AT ALL!! I am a woman so I get to say that and the worst things you can throw at me are rotten tomatoes.
I am in the business right now of training my girls to be future wives, mothers and keepers at home. To be honest they are young enough they wont really know that we now have the first woman Speaker of the House. But I will say this, its getting harder and harder to fight society on this. I pray every day, quietly and out loud so the children can hear me, that my girls will follow the role of Biblical womanhood and my boys the role of Biblical manhood.
I want my girls to: to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed as out lined in Titus 2:4-5.
I have said it before and will say it again. Why do women have to go looking for their purpose when God has already given it to them? We dont have to search for what God wants us to do with our life...its right there in the Bible.
Im in a hurry, but I am not done here.
Ladies, its soapbox time! :)

Let the tomato throwing commence.

PS I really am busy right now so this might be just a jumble of words. Im busy helping hubby get ready for work and the kids up and ready for the day. I should have some extra time tonight and would like to discuss this a little bit more. So stay tuned. Until then all comments are welcome. IF you are leaving "constructive" criticism however please be courteous enough to sign your name...or make one up. And understand it is my blog and I can delete comments that are rude or offensive. :)

More Time in The Day...

I just read this article over at Ladies Against Feminism and I was just awed by it. This is what I need to do. I just wanted to stop in and let you all see it.

The Maker's Diet

I am reading this book now. I read that it is a good book to follow when you are taking Yeast Assasin and trying to rid your body of harmful yeast buildup and candida. I am also awaiting some books from the library that deal with yeast build up. Funny thing about The Maker's Diet. My mom bought it a year or two ago. She read it and thought it was not for her but maybe I would be willing to give it a go. I read through it and thought, "Huh, this guy is crazy!" Now reading through it with my eyes opened to the health crisis around me Im amazed. This guy is right on target. Why are we so quick to dismiss God's dietary laws to the Jews? I know in the New Testament he made all animals fit to be eaten, but if we look at the Jews history we can see the health benefits they saw as a result of following God's dietary laws. I dont have a lot of time right now. Hubby is home from work today and we are heading out for some fun. I will be posting some interesting stuff I am reading in the Maker's Diet. I plan to start the Yeast Assasin in the next few weeks. As soon as I can come up with a meal plan to follow for the first few weeks. I will tell about my journey there as well.
I am so thankful that God has led me down this new road. I am finding that Im not as "dependent" on food as I once was. I have also implemented a new rule for myself. I do not eat until I have had my time with the Lord. Some days because of pure laziness or lack of planning I dont eat until after noon. Its ok. God is molding me everyday into a new person.
Wait until I share with you some stuff that has been revealed to me about my children. WOW!
Ok gotta go.
Be blessed!

Natural Healing

I wanted to take a minute and tell you about what happened a few weeks ago. My oldest daughter came to me with symptoms of a urinary tract infection. I used to get these all the time growing up and spent many weeks on antibiotics. Now that I know about yeast build up due to antibiotics I wanted to see what we could do without them. So I researched all night. I sent her to bed with a bottle of water. A few hours later I gave her another bottle. Throughout the night I made sure she drank plenty of water. This is very effective in flushing out the bad bacteria. The next day she was not allowed any sugar. I gave her lots of plain yogurt with blueberries mixed in. She also took a cranberry suplement three times that day. Once mixed in with her yogurt, once mixed in with some water and once she just wanted to swallow the capsule. I kept her drinking water. By the next morning she told me that she felt much better and it did not hurt to potty anymore. I kept her on the plan for the next two days just to be safe and she felt completly better by the end of the week. I never even had to call te doctor.
Please dont freak out and think that I would not take my child to the doctor and even have antibiotics in a minute if I needed to. Had she not shown any improvement the next day I would have taken her, but I think its important to know how to take care of our children without a doctor if we can. I read about all these possible epidemics and though Im not paranoid they make me think about what I would do if a doctor was not readily available for my family. Would I be able to take care of them? Just a thought to ponder.

Healthy changes

Just thought I would update on the changes around here.
We are drinking water almost all the time now. Occasionally we will brew up some cold brew tea from Lipton, but thats only when we get a craving. LOL
We are drinking at least a cup of Kefir a day. We get ours at Publix. Its the Lifeway brand. I have been searching ebay and a few other places to look for some starter grains.
Hubby and I are drinking raw milk. We are not comfortable giving it to the children yet and I dont know if I will say when we do, because some people might twist it around and try to accuse us of being negligent. I will report on how hubby and I do on the raw milk. We did a ton of research before we decided to go for it. We read alot of pro and a lot of con and eventually decided to try it. Taking the kefir daily will help any stomach problems we might encounter. I will tell you this about the milk its the best stuff ever. Its so yummy. Its thick and creamy and very filling.
Im reading through the Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin. Im preparing to start ridding my body of yeast and I need to follow a pretty strict diet the first few weeks, so that the Yeast Assasin can do its work. A lot of people have suggested the Maker's Diet as a great way to go. I also have some books about yeast on hold at the library if I ever get down there.
We eat oatmeal and honey every day for breakfast and plain yogurt with fruit and either honey or maple syrup for lunch almost every day. We are eating beans and rice at least once a week. I just finished my first batch of chicken broth. I made like two gallons of the stuff with some chicken thighs that I got on sale. I threw those in with water, carrots, onions, garlic and basil. It smells so good and cost me pennies to make. I know everything that went into it and I feel like I accomplished something.
I made whole wheat bread for my family most of last week. I still need to tweak it a bit, but the kids liked it.
Im amazed at the energy I have. We went for walks almost everyday last week, in the morning. Im looking forward to incorporating another walk in the evening soon.
I was amazed at all that I accomplished last week around the house, in spite of being very ill a few days because of the time of month it was. And I can not recommend peppermint tea enough for this time period!! Im loving the new healthy lifestyle. Its funny all the verses I have run across in my daily Bible reading that deal with food. One day I will have to post about all of the interesting things God says about food. Of course I want to post some of the information I found out about raw milk to. Im also hoping to perfect some recipes and share them as well.
Ok I have to go, the kids are ready to read. :)

Staying Home

So God just keeps convicting me. Believe it or not Im actually ENJOYING the things God has shown me in the past few weeks.
Here is a look at my schedule
Monday: Home
Tuesday: Bible Study, Play date
Wed: Home
Thurs: Home
Friday: Errands

Now last week looked like this.
Monday: Doctor for baby
Tuesday: Bible study, play date, haircuts
Wed: Playdate with new homeschool group (it was raining so we did not do this. Instead we ran errands all day!!)
Thursday: Home
Friday: Home

I have a Bible study I really enjoy on Tues morning. I think Im going to keep that. I am however going to see about playdate with my friends happening monthly. I just joined a homeschool group and they meet once a month for park days, once a month for a field trip and then once a month for meetings. They also have a co op that meets every week which I was struggling with joining. I will stay with the homeschool group through the year and see how it goes. But I will not be joining the co op.
I really need to be at home. I need to be homeschooling, playing with my kids, reading to them, and keeping my home. I will go on field trips once a month, maybe do the park day once a month, and visit with my friends once a month. I am also not going to put my kids in any extra activities for now. The exception is when we get a piano, the two older girls will start piano lessons. I will try to keep errand day on Friday, because thats our light school day. I just need to be home more.
God has shown me that through a lot of different ways. Im frustrated because I dont think we are getting anything out of homeschooling (or at least not what I think we should be getting out of it) its becoming book work. BLECH! My house is a disaster no matter that I spend most of the time I am home puttering around it. And we are down to one car for the forseeable future. Its a pain to drive all the way across town twice a day. A pain! And when its raining and rush hour...well lets just say I use that time to praise the Lord Im not working anymore! LOL
I had a revelation the other night. Ya know in pioneer days unless they lived in a big town the kids rarely had school. Maybe they had church a few times a month if they were fortunate. The kids saw their friends on rare trips to town and when familys came a calling. They adapted and made do with socializing with their families. Why cant we be content with this as well? I mean my kids get church every week. So thats more socialization then the pioneer kids had, right?

Ok thats my soapbox for today. :)
Be blessed.

Benefits of healthy living

Well one of the benefits I have noticed over the past week is more energy. I dont want to sit and play on the computer as much. LOL I have not changed much, just tried to cut out some of our white sugar and drink more water. Today I feel like I am coming down with a cold so I have been popping vitamin C and drinking hot lemon and honey tea. Im making some now for hubby and I. He has a cough that wont go away. Im looking into garlic remedies as well.
We have been buying Keifer at Publix lately. We tried the cherry kind which was way to sour for me and now we have the peach kind which we all like. I am hoping to get some starter and make my own keifer soon. Check out the benefits of keifer, you'll be amazed.
I just ordered Yeast Assasin and Tummy Tuneup Original blend from beeyoutiful. Im hoping to do the water cure also. Just to try it out. I have not been able to make bread yet... but thats another post. WOW the areas Im convicted in right now.
OK well just wanted to update. Now I have to go back and add all these links *sigh*. :)


Be Blessed

Update on the church thing...

Well as of last Sunday we dont have a church "home". My husband stood up and basically called the Pastor to forgive and move on and the pastor buried his head in the sand. He thinks there is nothing wrong. Hubby wont let us sit under a pastor who will not follow the word of GOD. We met with a group of like minded people from the church yesterday. We watched an awesome video and prayed and discussed the future. For now we will just continue in prayer, being careful to seek God's will and then we will see where God leads us. There is some talk of trying to start a church, but once again a lot of praying going on.
All of these changes around, I just feel like Im on a roller coaster. Its exciting but very nerve racking.
Tomorrow I will be posting some health research I have been doing.

Operation: Clean out the pantry

So for the next week or so I will be working hard to only eat our of what is in our pantry. I WANT Mother Hubbards cupboards to be bare. I want to start over. Not to mention the money I will save not grocery shopping. Ok, I will do a little grocery shopping. Hubby has to have a little meat and the kidlets have to have milk. And I will probably buy some fresh produce, but I want my meals to center around the cans of veggies and tomato products in my pantry..along with who knows what else. In the next couple of weeks I will be joining an co-op in town that I just found out about. I will begin making my own bread next week. I am reading a lot about whole foods, herbal remedies, and cleansing our bodies. I will definatly keep you all posted on the changes. Im looking for three things to change this month. I will update on what they are in the next post. There is so much information out there. :)

A new post...finally!

Every time I have tried to blog this week, blogger has been acting up....dont make me go back to homeschoolblogger for all my blogging needs. LOL
Anyways I have to hurry because as soon as hubby comes home we are off to my brother's softball game.
I have found a new website that I adore. Actually most of my allotted computer time (and maybe even a little of my not so allotted time) has been at this message board. OH the things I have learned. I found out about it in the latest issue of No Greater Joy magazine when their daughter had an article about using natural medicine to help heal some friends who were in a motorcycle accident. It was amazing. Anyways, the website is welltellme.com. Its full of information on natural foods, diet and remedies. Plus oh so much more. SET THE TIMER! You will be at this sight all day.
The other day.... Wednesday I think, God convicted me. He wants to move me to a healthier lifestyle this year because of changes He wants to make in our life next year. I will need a lot of energy for the tasks I have to learn next year to prepare for our move in the next two years. I cant go into a lot of detail, but God has really revealed some of the future of our family to me and I am so excited. It involves a lifestyle that I am completly and totally new to and cant believe that I will be able to accomplish what He has in mind. Of course as someone once said, If God brought you to it, God will bring you through it. Or God does not call the equipped, He equips the called. Of course the confirmation of my revelation was hubby coming home from work and announcing that He thinks God is calling Him to a career change. A HUGE career change. If you know us personally, please dont ask yet what the career change is. I promise you will know soon enough. No, its not a Preacher..although that would have been my choice over this anyday of the week. LOL. Hubby will need support, encouragement, and a healthier lifestyle especially in the next few months as he prepares. IMAGINE. God gave me a revelation in the A.M. to really truly begin persuing a healthier lifestyle and then in the afternoon God told hubby that he would need to change careers and it will DEMAND a healthier lifestyle. Im so awed with God right now.
Please be in prayer, especially for my strong, handsome man as he leads the family through the changes in the next few months. Pray for him as he starts to loose weight, get in better shape, and eat healthier. Understand he cant even begin to persue this new career if he is not in top physical condition. Pray for him emotionally as he really does not want this career, but knows he will be happy in it, because it is God's will. Pray that I will have the knowledge and wisdom to do my part in making healtier lifestyles for our whole family. So much to pray for! We really do appreciate any and all of your prayers. I will keep you updated. The minute hubby releases me to let you all know what his career change will be I will tell you. AND then you will know why I need your prayers most of all. ;) LOL.

Redecorating on a budget...

Im in the process now of uploading photos and taking new ones of our new projects, school room and dining room. I will post them this week...I think. :)For now though I would like you all to visit a fellow blogger. Miss Olivia lives at home and helps take care of her family. She is recieving excellent training to be a future wife and homemaker. She just helped redecorate a room in her family's home using things around the house and things found at the thrift store or on sale. It is absolutely lovely. Please enjoy!

A Daughter at Home

Nothing much of interest...

Well there is a ton of interest in my life right now, but nothing I could write about due to the circumstances surronding it all. Life really isn't fair. I guess I should be grateful that God allowed certain people to come into my life...even if it is to be for a short time. I guess what bothers me the most is I feel like we should not be the ones to loose our friends and connections we made because one person cant say they are sorry. Because one person cant stand up and admit that he was wrong. There is so much potential for the place we are leaving. So much potential for the wonderful people who feel they have to leave to. I remember my favorite Frank Perretti book, The Visitation. I remember the struggles the preacher in that book went through. I remember the famous phrase, "We are going to take this town for Christ!". Our church could have been an awesome church like that. We could have done some serious soul work on our side of town. I cant say any more about this. I have probably already said to much. But this is my online journal. I will want to look back at this post next year and see that it was not as bad as I thought it was. No matter where I go, God goes with me. He has a new adventure in store for us. This time next year I may still harbor some hurt over this, but I will be busy at our new adventure.

Around the house:
My kitchen has stayed clean all week. I have to sweep and mop and then Im done for the day.
I have one more box of clutter to get rid of from our school room. So far thats two boxes. WOOHOO!
Im breaking everything down. This month Im keeping the kitchen clean and decluttering the school room.
I have laundry folded just needs to get put away.
I have to sort the laundry from our bedroom and remind the girls to take thier baskets and empty them. We are getting there slowly but surely.
Im going to boil some chicken and shred it and pour bbq sauce on it and we will have sandwhiches tonight before church. I will fry up some hashbrowns and bake some beans to go with it.
Im trying to stretch our grocery budget this month which means getting creative! :)

Churches.

My whole 27 years here on earth I have been in a few churches. Lets count them up and see why I had to leave.
Birth - about 4 or 5 Church 1. I dont know why we left here. I have never asked. Hmm..
4 or 5 - about 8 or 9. Church 2. Dont remember much about leaving this church either. I think something happened and the Pastor left and mom and dad did not like the new pastor. I was saved at that church.
8 or 9 - 11 or 12. Church 3. The week after we joined the Pastor resigned. Red flag number one. Red flag number 2 came when we realized the deacons ran this church. Mom and dad worked alot during those years and I spent a lot of time with my grandparents at thier church. Should I count that as a church. Lets and call it church 4. We left church 3 when the pastor and music minister were run off by the deacons and another man stood up in the business meeting and called my best friend's dad out into the parking lot. My dad stood up and said my family is outta here and not coming back. We followed. Church 4 I left because my mom and dad were back home and so were we. Thus began my aversion to business meetings.
12ish - 17 Church 5. Left here when Pastor told his wife he did not love her anymore and walked out. I was close to this family and felt the whole thing. Also had people teaching the youth who were on the brink of divorce and fought constantly. They did not like me a bit, mainly because up until they showed up I was the one running the youth group and because they talked down to us and fought all the time people still looked to me (the oldest youth) as the leader. It was a difficult time for our church and I was not sticking around to see it. I was done.
18-22 Church 6. I sat through some gory business meetings here. Should the pastor step down because his ADULT son was arrested? Should the music minister, whose wife and family is completly out of control and who refuses to show up for meetings and other church events be kept around? By the way yes, the Pastor should stay. No, the music minister needs to find another calling in life. IMO. There were more issues there but those are the ones I remember. The next big thing in our church life there was the homeless people for crying out loud!! There was a homeless ministry to women and children that area churches were taking up. Basically for one week these people slept at your church. During the day they were out getting job help. Some of the people in this church thought this would be a blemish to the church. UNBELIEVEABLE! The church got it voted in and then the neighbors (some of them church members) got it blocked by city council. NICE. Glad Im not going to be one of the ones answering to God on that one. I was all for it. Anyways, the church and its AMAZING pastor withstood both of those things. I love that man and his wife. They are saints in my book. Hubby and I left not long after marriage to find our "adult" church. We wanted a church were we were seen as husband and wife. Also we wanted one closer to home.
22-present church 7. Is it time to say goodbye to this church? Looks like the time is drawing near. I want to find a church were I can get lost. I dont want to be in the "core" group anymore. Im sick of it! Now, I have kids to think about. I want my kids to grow up in a church. I never had that. I always wanted the bond that kids have who have known each other in the church setting their whole lives. I want my kids to have that. Now, because of immaturity and a lack of leadership my kids are not going to have that. Im just sick!

The End.

The day after.

The day after September 11 is one I cherish. While we were still mourning for our nation there was a mother giving birth to a beautiful little girl. I did not know this little girl. As a matter of fact it would be a whole three years before I ever met her. I had no idea just how much my life was changing on the fateful day after. But what awes me... is God knew. When that little girl was born He thought about me. He knew that she was not born to live there, he had another family picked out for her. He was preparing another mother for her. A real father who would always be there for her to love and protect her. Two brothers to annoy and adore her. We knew none of our children back then, but God knew them. He also knew that one day they would be ours.
All that to say Happy Birthday to my angel girl. With the sweetest smile and the cutest cheeks and the uncanny ability to raise one eyebrow and look at you like you are her one and only!





Happy Birthday Tamara Kathleen!!

Remembering September 11.

I decided to post my memories of 9/11/2001 as I read others stories. Mine is similar but it has meaning to me. I had been married for about 10 months. We were living in our first apartment. My mom and dad were living in an apartment not to far away because thier house had burned down in May of that year. I was on my way to work at a payroll company. I was a shipping clerk. I made sure payrolls left the building packaged and headed to the right destination. I was listening to the local Christian station. I strolled into work and my coworkers greeted me with the words. "We have the TV on, dont worry we are watching." I just stared at them. Ok, why was the TV on? They looked at me dumbstruck. Well a plane had just flown into the World Trade Center Tower. "Oh." I heard nothing on the radio. I scurried over to the TV where I saw a replay of the first plane hit. The station kept cutting back and forth between the replay and footage of the tower smoking. I saw the second plane hit. My coworkers tried to convince me it was the replay. I remember screaming at them that a second plane had just hit the other tower and it was not an accident. All of a sudden our whole building got really quiet. I emailed my husband begging him to call me. I called my mom frantic. We dont have many tall buildings were I live and she worked in one of the tallest down town. "Mommy, you have to leave!" A little while later she did leave. There was a bomb threat. All I wanted was for my family to be in one place together. We heard the news reports of the Pentagon, then the plane in Pennsylvania. I remember all the rumors of other planes and car bombs and people dressed in bombs entering schools. We were not getting a lot of work done. Until....well until I realized that planes were grounded and well...people were not going to get thier paychecks because FedEx was not going to be flying for who knew how long. We then shifted into overdrive. Contacting couriers. Contacting our offices in busy states as we prepared to remote print payrolls. I wanted to be with my family. I was at work until 9pm making sure people got thier paychecks. We ended up with fast food at my mom and dad's apartment that night. Even my brother stayed home and we watched the replays and listened to the commentaries into the night. I called a few friends with relatives in NY. I got nothing but good news. The head coach of our NFL had a son in the WTC towers. We heard he was ok. We cried. We wept. We prayed. I was ready to support our troops that night.
One thing I remember praying over and over was "Thank you God for a real man in the office to lead us."
One more thing I remember and one thing I saw a year later. President Bush had been in our town a few days before. From here he'd gone to Sarasota, FL. I remember watching the newscast when he was told of the planes. When he found out we were under attack. I remember the look on his face. I will never forget it. It was whispered in his ear as he sat in a classroom full of children. I saw him blinking. I saw the dread as he looked at these children. Many criticize what happened next. I applaud. He did not panic as he stared at these children. He did not jump up and leave. He stayed. He thought. He reveled in the children, the innocence for a few more minutes. He knew when he walked out of that school his whole world was going to be different. He prayed. Oh and another thing I remember the things he was called because he did not rush right back to Washington. That made me mad/laugh. This man LOVES his wife. Its obvious in everything he does and says to her and about her. I really think had the Secret Service asked him where he wanted to go he would have said straight back to Laura.
The thing I noticed a year later will always endear me to Donald Rumsfield. Say what you want about Rummy but dont ever say it to me because I am the man's staunch defender. We were watching anniversary footage of 9/11. Who ran out into a sea of injured people at the Pentagon? My boy Rummy. I was so pround as I saw him out there limping with his sleeves rolled up, helping people.
These are some of the memories I cherish of that awful day. Memories I will pass down to my children.
Tomorrow I will tell you all about why we celebrate around here this time of year. There is such sweet joy in the sadness.

Whatever!

Ok so Im not a big celebrity follower but this I could not pass up.
Check out Brad's reason for not marrying the mother of his child. Its great. You have to see this lame reason for not commiting to her or his child.

Suggestions, please?

I have really missed doing school this week. But I am so excited that we will be starting again next week with a whole new look about us. I do have a question for the pros. I am looking at these tables here as individual school tables for the two older children. Any thoughts? I also have the option of getting another big table. A large rectangular one that we can all sit at. If I get the individual tables I will get a smaller table to do group work and arts and crafts. So any suggestions? Right now I have the 6 year old and the 9 year old. I am doing preschool with the 3 year old and the almost 5 year old. Oh they are getting a small table for thier use.

The Swing

I was so thankful for our baby swing last night. My baby was so congested he woke up screaming. His face was covered in snot. I had to suction out his nose and wash his little face. He was miserable. He fell asleep in my arms but when I put him down he would wake up because he could not breathe well laying down. So finally I put him in his swing where he slept peacefully for about 3 hours. When he was not nearly as congested and he was able to lay down in his bed. But that was about 2:00am. He slept the rest of the night. Boy was I thankful for that swing, it let me get some sleep as well. Now he is sleeping peacefully.

Frugal Fridays

Crystal at Biblical Womanhood is hosting a new weekly feature called Frugal Fridays. She wants us to spread the word so that we can make this a happening event.
Here is my tip for the week.

If you live on the coast its so nice to go to the beach on a week night. We pack a picnic or grab some cheap food on the way spread a blanket and let the kids play. We usually end up near a hotel so there is just enough light to see, but not so much to distract you. Its tons of fun and if you take the picnic is almost free. :)

Third times a charm...

Ok so this is the third time I have tried to post an entry. The first time, I hit the wrong button and my post went into the black hole of blogland. The second time, the power went out. So hopefully I will finish and send this one.
I have updated, deleted, and added some blogs to my random blogroll. I have to work on the homeschooling one next. There will be other changes in the day to come. I love the ease with which to change everything over here.

Around the house:
Rearranging the rooms. Making a big school/playroom. I will post specifics and pics a little later.

Whats for dinner:
Meatball subs
French Fries

Blog Cleaning

Well Im back. I need to do some cleaning up around here, with my links and stuff. And I want to add some more stuff to the sidebar. Oh how I have missed being able to do that. Right now I am fighting with my new counter. It keeps telling me it was installed, but as you can see it was not. More later.