Truck Troubles

I Thessalonians 5:18:  "In everything, give thanks, for this is the will of Christ Jesus...."

1.  We're thankful that only the "Drive" gear went out 22 miles from home and we still had "1 and 2" left to drive back.

2.  Thankful that when 1 and 2 gave out, it was in walking distance to the house.

3.  Thankful for Hannah's and Andy's strong legs to carry them up the hill and around 1 "S" curve to the house.

              3.A.  Thankful that I was not alone with the girls when it gave out!

              3.B.  Thankful that the weather was pleasant when it gave out!

              3.C.  Thankful that we were on a straightaway when it stopped going forward.

4.  Thankful that, although its gonna' cost a whole stinkin' lotta' money to fix my truck, we have the means to get it done.

5.  Thankful that we were safe on that long, long drive home, and that the transmission didn't actually fall OUT of  the truck, even though pieces of the transmission fell INTO the truck.

6.  Thankful that we live in such a beautiful area and got to drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway on the way home!

7.  Thankful that the transmission place was able to send a tow truck and include the cost in their bill.

8.  Thankful that they were able to get my truck first thing on Monday morning and get right to work on it!

9.  Thankful that the girls and I enjoy being "homebodies" and, to us, there is really no such thing as "being stuck at home."

10.  Thankful that Andy saw this may have been a roundabout answer to another prayer we had about another venture we were going to pursue.

Coincidentally (yeah, right), our history lesson today was about the Greek mathematician Archimedes.  He's the one who first used ropes and pulleys, which provided a better way of lifting.  It was a great tie-in to the use of a winch to drag my heavy car up the back of the tow truck.  It made history come to life ~ exciting!  So there's a reason #11!




All aboard....

Hey, look at those pretty flowers!

 

Going.....

Going............

Gone!

math laugh

OK, so I had Han finishing up the (Virginia) third grade SOL test this morning....you know, the most recently-released one on the DOE website?  Even though she's only finishing second grade, I wanted to get an idea of where she is; there's a couple areas we haven't learned yet.

Anyways, she got to number 42*:

A girl placed eight blocks like the ones shown, in a bag:

She pulled one block out of the bag without looking.  Which color block is she MOST likely to select?

a.  red 

b.  green

c.  blue

d. yellow

*not copied exactly so I don't get in hot water with the DoE

Hannah stared at the problem for a minute, before she said,

"uh-uh!  I'm NOT puttin' MY hand in THAT bag for NOTHIN'!"

"What?"

"You can't get ME to put my hand all the way in that bag for NOTHIN.  NO way."

"Han, what are you talking about?  Read the problem again."

"I DID.  And I'm not putting my hand in ANY bag without looking first.  There might be a scorpion in there."

(Allow me to point out that I had prayed for patience this morning, because I knew we'd be doing many many possibly difficult math problems in this test and she tends to go balky during long math sessions.  THIS is how God answered my prayer.)

((Scorpion??))

[Laughing so hard] "What do you mean?  Why would there be a scorpion in the bag?  Look at the problem and just do the problem."

"Nope, I'm not putting MY hand in THAT bag.  Maybe there will be another hand in there that will pull me in."

[!]

"Hannah, its a lunch bag. She brought it from home.  Its new.  There are no scorpions or hands in it."

"Then why can't I look?"

"Hannah," (trying not to get exasperated) "its not you doing it."

"But there might be another one of those caterpillars in there that would bite me.  Or a scorpion.  Or fire ants."

"You're not actually the one doing it, though.  The girl is."

"OK, then, it would be blue."

"Why did you choose blue?  (I only asked on this one problem, as I was devastatingly curious!)

"Because its at the bottom and on the side and if I kept my hand on the side to avoid whatever is in the bottom of the bag....."


OBVIOUSLY, probability needs to be included in our curriculum for next year.

Hats

THIS is the hat that won FIRST PLACE in the Awana Crazy Hat contest at church last week.  

THIS is the girl to whom the idea occurred to use cicada castoffs on her hat and who spent only a very little time collecting their exoskeletons (science lesson!).  

We just witnessed the Magicicaida Brood I emergence....of 17-year cicadas.  Fascinating.  If you click on that link you can scroll down to a recording of the sound with which we've been deafened for the last two weeks.  They are quite melodic.

We turned this project into a homeschool science lesson (of course!), and learned that these little critters, whose "shells" she collected, emerged from underground after seventeen years of feeding on the roots of deciduous trees such as oak and tulip poplar (with which this region is well-supplied).

Typical cicadas with which you might be familiar don't emerge until later in the summer and are completely green with shades of brown.  These beautiful babies have startlingly red eyes and an orange tint to their body.  Hard to see on this picture, but THIS little girl is wearing one as a ring:

But back to That Hat:

When I saw the finished product, I kinda knew the other second graders didn't have a chance.  And I think she knew it, too.

Of course, I warned her:  you will forever be known as The Girl Who Wore Cicadas to Awanas.

She can handle it.

And had the Cubbies held a similar contest, I think you'd be looking at a picture of the winner.  Talk about a fascinator!

Didn't I just mention how one of my students is easily distracted?  And here I am ratcheting up the beguilement!

Well, we all found it difficult to concentrate on this morning after we decided to take our school to the yard and give the chickens a field trip....but I think it was well worth it.  We just s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d out our morning lesson time.

At first we just kind of enjoyed them ~ its only the second time they've been out of their coop for any length of time, and of course, they loved it.  The chickens did, too, ha!  Its funny how they stayed so close to us - must have been a lot of bugs for them to snack on.  They love cherry blossoms ~ isn't that funny?  They watch them fall and dive for them.  

But all too soon, it was time to turn off Chicken TV and get to work:

"Is that history?  'Cuz I just LOVE history!"

"Yes, Jeremiah, my favorite prophet!  Go on, go on, read!"

This nice Aracauna is right; we were reading from The Mystery of History about the prophet Jeremiah, also called the "Weeping Prophet."  

Hannah read some from the book of Jeremiah and from Lamentations:

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning; 

great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:21-23

And THAT reminded me of the hymn, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," of which we sung the first verse and chorus together...I couldn't remember the rest!  The Broadman Hymnal I picked up at a yard sale a couple years ago didn't have it ~ doesn't that seem strange to you?  Its such a perfect hymn.  Anyways, we did what we could with what I remembered and sang it through a couple times.

I think the chickens liked our singing, even though they didn't act very reverent (ahem).  

"More blossoms?  I see blossoms.  Are these cherry blossoms?  No?  What about bugs, any bugs on these flowers?"

"Did somebody say, "QUIZ"?!"  I'm outta' here!

Chicken roundup!

Alas, all good things must end, and after our Bible and History lessons, we moved indoors for the rest of our (less distracting) studies.

But what a beautiful morning to enjoy our freedom to school at home!

....who has told every lightning bolt where to go....

You see the depths of my heart /

      and you love me the same /

You are amazing, God /

Chris Tomlin, Indescribable

God's Gifts

As I write this post, Andy and Han are at Lowe's picking through their discards bin for chicken coop lumber.  I'm home with the little one, having cleaned up after she emptied her stomach twice - once in the car and once on me and the downstairs couch.  She's now watching an old movie musical on TBN with a trashcan beside.   The situation lends it to an opportunity to update my blog!

So many changes since the move, and I've felt God's presence throughout.  Things have not always gone as we've hoped or expected, but nonetheless, I've been blessed - by truly feeling His presence throughout everything.  One or several of us was sick for most of February, yet we still managed to make it through work, homeschooling, housekeeping and our new engagements.

The girls took swimming lessons at the far-away (20 miles?) Green Ridge Recreation Center, and I am more than satisfied with their progress.  One girl who wouldn't put her face in the water for me is actually swimming under water for significant distances, and the other quickly shot to the top of her class, demonstrating that she is, in reality, actually a water bug.  They've each "graduated" to the next level, and if we decide to re-enroll them, they'll begin again after a weeks' break.  For Abigail, her goal is to be able to swim well enough to "go down the big indoor slide"; check out their website at the link above to see what she means.

Homeschool Co-op through CHEF (Christian Home Educators of Franklin County) has been an abundantly rich experience for both me and the girls.  While I truly enjoyed the Alleghany Highlands, I often felt they isolated in terms of other homeschoolers.  True, we had a small core group (whom I miss, miss, miss, Margie!), but here we've connected with even more.  They go weekly for five week sessions ~ Hannah is studying Alaska and the Iditerod race, Royal Rangers Together, and last session she was in well-organized and presented poetry class.  Abigail is in a preschool class and a gym class.  We've gone on a couple field trips and I've been to - sadly - only one Mom's Night, but the friendships and support I've built through CHEF are priceless.

This is an example of God's timing and grace for our family.  I have a hard time making friends.  I do!  And as far as co-op, I wasn't sure if I'd want to relinqish any of my teaching time or schooling to someone else.  I wasn't sure if it fit into my overall plan for their education.  But my heart has changed at the same time the I saw how much they (especially Hannah) would benefit from it.  And its not even that socialization thing.  But it ends up being that.  And while our children are engaged in their activities, I'm making developing relationships with other moms who have many of the same interests, goals and desires for their kids - all as sisters in the body of Christ.  Its something wonderful, really.

And along the lines of making friends, God has blessed me in other ways, too.  I mentioned our neighbors, right?  I'm so thankful for ours ~ we've been out to dinner a couple times and have enjoyed ourselves together as families - laughing and yukking it up in the yard and in the snow.  I know, I know, PICTURES, right?  They'll come.

But I've also met friends out at random:  Andy sold his truck to buy a 20+ year old Dodge so he wouldn't have a payment.  Chatting with the folks who bought it, they homeschool and have kids the same ages as ours.  We've cahtted by e-mail and have promised one another 'playdates' once the weather stabilizes some.

And of course there's more ~ even at the doctor's office for a physical today, I met a nurse who - um, "coincidentally" (yeah, right)  is also raising chickens, hoping for goats soon and working toward a more self-sufficient lifestyle.  So we exchanged particulars and here I am writing about her.

God is so good!  He takes care of needs I didn't even know I had, overly and more abundantly than I could ever ask for hope for.

Still Here, Praising

I considered abandoning this blog all together, based on the randomness of my postings, but I think I'll give it another shot.  After all, I still have MUCH to say on so many things, AND I appreciate the encouragement from comments and e-mails that these posts encourage.

I'm very selfish, you see....

Many changes, great and small, have taken place in the last several weeks and months since I've updated.  Most momentously has been our move from the Alleghany Mountains outside of Covington down to the Blue Ridge Highlands of Franklin County.  God has moved in ways that are evident and we are thankful for His many gifts in this whole process.

Without dwelling on past experience too much, I'll share some of the ways we've been blessed by this move, both directly and indirectly:

1.  DH's commute has gone from almost 80 miles each way to 18.  He's home by 5:45 rather than 7PM.
2.  We have 5 acres - compared to 1.5, and our neighbors are thrilled to hear we're planning on having chickens!
3.  We have joined a large, God-centered, homeschool group here in Franklin County and the girls attend co-op with dozens of other children weekly.  Praise God.
4.  Our home has enough bathrooms that we don't risk an impromptu biology or "family life" lesson when daddy is in the shower and a little girl "has" to use the potty.  Ahem.
5.  We have a dishwasher.
6.  And central air.
7.  And a hot tub.

AND, the girls gleefully attend AWANAs on Wednesday night at the church we've been attending, which is just 7 or 8 miles up the road.  We have been encouraged by the relationships we're building in Sunday School and have talked about once again opening our home to a regular (weekly? bi-weekly?) Bible study once we're completely settled.

We continue to pray and ask the Lord to work in the details of the home purchase, safety for Andy and each of us as we travel on two lane country roads, physical health and motivation toward personal goals of spiritual growth and a healthier lifestyle.  For the girls, we have asked for help in parenting and direction in schooling.

Personally, I am struggling (as always) with self-discipline, motivation and organization.  But that is another post; one which, I anticipate, will be written in the near future.

Thank you for reading!

Psalm 27:8

When you said, "Seek my face," my heart said to you, "Your face, O LORD, I shall seek."

Thankfulness Journal

We've begun a new unit on Miracles in our Sunday School class, and it motivated me to follow through on something I've been meaning to do for a couple years:  create a Thankfulness Journal.

I had one years ago when I first started working - it was a confidence booster at the time, where I wrote things people said that (what to me at the time) seemed to validate my work, my competency, etc.  I needed it when I was feeling unsure of myself.

Other times I've written lists of things for which I am thankful, but those were impermanent and I couldn't put my finger on them now if I had to.  Therefore, I'm going to dedicate one of the many hard-backed, blank, lined journals I pick up here and there to a Thankfulness Journal.

What does Thankfulness have to with miracles?  Well, for me, I am SUPREMELY thankful when I see God play an active part - even in small ways** - in my daily life ~ some people call them "God Sightings" or "God Winks," but neither of those phrases really grab me, so until I find a new way to describe them, I'll just refer to them as things for which I am thankful and write them in my journal.  Personally, I think they are "Mini Miracles," because, I mean, hey, isn't it a MIRACLE that the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE cares about little ole' me?

I see God alive and at work in my life in the smallest ways.  I mean, VERY SMALL.  An atheist or agnostic might dismiss things that I notice as coincidence, I take it as evidence that God cares about every part of me and is involved in the mundane day to day activity in my life.


FOR EXAMPLE, and here is a Homeschooling Moment:

This morning we began our school day as we always do - with our Bible lesson and memory verse of the week.  This week's verse is

Matthew 5:16:  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

(OF COURSE, we sang This Little Light of Mine)

But to put our verse in context, I backed up some....

Matthew 5:13:  You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how ^[e]can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

We had a lovely discussion about salt losing its saltiness ~ (background:  If the four year old finds a salt shaker on the table and pours it out on said table, licks it....licks it...licks it.... she throws up.  She doesn't say why she is retching, however, but Mama's detective skills are improving.  We Have Learned That Too Much Salt Is Not Good For Our Bodies And They Reject It.) ~ which has been a pertinent issue in our home at least twice.  They know about salt.

Anyways, we moved on to History.

We are using Mystery of History as our backbone curriculum and (more on that in another post) this morning we began to look at cultures outside of the middle east, specifically, China.  We did the lesson, learned about the first couple dynasties and, as a surprise, I took the girls to "Chinese" for lunch.  We compared the characters of the Chinese alphabet on the back of our chopsticks packages to hieroglyphics and cuneiform writing, talked about the differences in food and the different gods (idols) they worshiped ~ Chinese restaurants aren't complete without a Buddha! 

Lovin' us some homeschooling!

So then it was Fortune Cookie Time.

Now daggone it if I didn't lose my 'fortune,' but it said something about filling someone's head with knowledge vs. teaching them to learn for themselves.  I "just happen"** (see above) to be reading to be reading a book about Classical Education vs. Outcome-Based Education.  Right on target!  Hannah's fortune was: Keep negative comments to yourself, avoid any disputes.  Eh?  Maybe not.  Nice, but not necessarily words to live by.

But what I thought was REALLY NEATO was that on the back her "Learn Chinese" word was, SALT.

Really?

Yes, really.

Its going in the journal.

Blogging - And Why I Haven't Been

I've been Living the Life!  I think about something almost daily to write about, but when it comes time...there IS none!  I've mentioned before how my computer time is usually in the evenings when Andy is asleep or trying to drift off.  My 'clicking' over here would be MUCH too distracting for him, so I try to do more 'mouse clicks' than keyboard clicks. (There should be a clever way to phrase that, but I can't come up with it now)....

The girls have made friends with a little girl who, along with her parents and older brother, moved in with her grandparents across the street.  She comes over 3-4 afternoons a week and my girls are thrilled.  They have never had a child live so close by that they could just show up, unannounced, without hitching a ride from a parent.  I love it, too ~ it reminds me of when Amy and I used to play with our friend, Diana, who lived down the street.  They're pretty content to play on the swingset, in the creek, in the carport and under the pine trees, AKA the Tearoom.  She's over here now, which is why I can sneak a few minutes on the computer!

All the same, I am eager for our house to sell so that we can move closer to Roanoke and more homeschooling families, events and activities.  I want the girls to get involved in 4H and ballet (Abigail), but I don't want to start here and have to change mid-year.  Of course, only the Lord knows the plans He has for us, and we could very well be here for another year.  I hope not,  because I don't like the idea of Andy driving 76 miles each way in the wintertime with snow and ice in the forecast.  Its hard to be patient... and yet, 1 Corinthians 13:1 lists patient as the first descriptor of love.  Hmmmmm....could my having patience about a move be a testimony to my love for God?  There's a lesson in there somewhere....

We've enjoyed being outdoors a lot this early Fall.  We've taken a couple quick family walks in the woods and two nice long bike rides down the (Rails To Trails) Jackson River Trail.  I hooked the "Wee Ride / Co-Pilot" tandem bike to mine and Hannah rides a new bike our neighbor gave her last year, and we trek away.  I hope to get over to the Greenbrier River Trail, too, pretty soon to take advantage of that as well.  Here in Callaghan there are few areas to really ride....its 45MPH in front of our house and that's the low end of the scale for the speedies who fly by.

I'll leave you with some pictures of the girls' adventures....

Keepin' on keepin' on!

A funny face after a long ride

"Wading" in the Jackson River at Petticoat Junction

VBS Season

Its VBS week again, and this year, instead of the usual 9-12 time slot, we're meeting from 6-8:30 in the evening.  I'm also teaching the 3-5-year-olds instead of just doing crafts.  Its a big difference! 
Now, you know I love VBS.  I do it every year and actually look forward to it.  But I also like to gripe.  So lets get right to it!
Whose idea is it to jack up a hundred kids on junk food at 8PM, play loud music with lots of action and moves and send them home with a message that "Jesus loves everyone"?  Yes.  He does.  But we as parents are imperfect reflections of God, and at 11:30 PM when the 4 year old is still spinning, I'm having a hard time reflecting the Love Of Christ when I am whacking on her for the THIRD TIME and she is still wound tight as as a top. 
These are the nights when I am tempted to put some Benadryl in the baby bottle.... no, not really, but come ON!  And then she was up at 8AM?  Really?  Doesn't this kid need sleep?  More importantly, do I get any time to myself??  Sigh....
The Big One went right to bed after a bit of an emotional upheaval ~ Daddy pulled out her remaining front tooth after several unsuccessful tries on her part to do the same.  She went to bed after tears of joy, sadness, and with heady expectation that her tooth fairy would reward her with a shiny coin and a smooth paper dollar.
Alas, her joy upon awakening was dashed as she reached under her pillow and felt neither. 
When she opened one round eye at me at 8AM as I tiptoed in to replace the tiny fang with money, she whispered,
"Butterfly didn't come last night."
(Butterfly is the name of her tooth fairy.)
Ding, dang, dong.
"Well," I told her, "I have a feeling she tried to get here but your sister scared her away being up so late and wailing until the wee hours of the morning" inadvertently fueling sibling rivalry in a piteous attempt to shift the blame from my forgetfulness.
So tonight is the second night of what I fear will be a long, long week of VBS.  Not at all because of the children in my class, who are precious lambs of Jesus.  Really!  Those little loves are the easy part. 
And I have GOT to remember to play Butterfly.

GIA

A quick testimony of how God is at work in my life:

Homeschool moms can relate to the stress related to choosing a curriculum that will suit their children, their schedule, their teaching style.  It might only be a minor stressor, but the decision is an  important one.  My friend Kay, after providing a recommendation for a curriculum she enjoys with her children, admonished me to "first, pray and allow God to show you His plan."  What great advice! 
Sometimes, regarding school curriculums or any other decision, large or small, I forget to "pray first and seek God's will."  I don't think I'm being willfull or rebellious, but rather not thinking or not allowing the habit to develop in my life.
I took Kay's advice, and prayed over curriculum choices.  I thought I had the answers on most of them, but Math was a sticky wicket (a timely phrase!).  I want to change from our present curriculum series to another, more rigorous one.  I'd made a decision, but since math is not my strong suit and I want Hannah to have the best possible foundation in the subject, I was a little unsure.
Week before last we went saleing.  YARD sale-ing, that is.  I found a "Hooked on Math" box for $1 over on Douthat Road.  I was excited only because of the name.  I figured it was a sister program to "Hooked on Phonics."  Not that I know anything about the program, but it was marketing, baby, pure marketing, that sold me.
When we got home, I saw that it was missing much of the contents.  Oh, well, for a dollar, what did I expect?  I put it aside.
I revisited a couple math curriculum websites and tentatively made a switch.  I gave Hannah a pretest in the program and saw where she should begin.  Even though she passed the pretest, however, she wasn't strong in the basic skills.  I would put her where she would be according to her testing level, but I was a little unsure because the program stresses that the student be strong and proficient in each previous level before advancing.  This is the key to success in this particular program, as it is designed slightly differently than other approaches.
Cleaning off our homeschool bookcase, I opened the Hooked on Math box to see if I could toss the bulky box and keep the insides.  Upon closer inspection.....
(and this is the whole point of the post, GIA - GOD IN ACTION)
I saw that what was included in this program -
what was not discarded by the previous owner -
was the BASIC reviews of the first level of the new math program I'd tentatively selected for next trimester!!
In other words, it is the review, the preparation, the foundation for Hannah's math program that she'll begin in the fall!
Now, is that a "GOD THING" (I dislike that phrase, but it fits!), or WHAT?!
It is exactly what we need to prep her for this new curriculum.  The flash cards, the prompts, the games, etc., ALL of it is what I need to develop her confidence for our next roud of math!
And I'm giving God the Praise for it!

Blooming where you're planted

How can God use me, a stay-at-home-mom with a limited social circle and interaction with strangers?  In the grocery store, in lines at the pharmacy and over a couple racks of heirloom tomatoes at the local market:
After a conversation of how good that first summer tomato sandwich will taste, how Jackson River Road used to be called Cedar Creek and on why he chooses yellow 'maters over red, and "would you guess that I'll be 80 years old next month?" I asked him bluntly - 'where will you go when you die?'
Yup.  I threw it out there and didn't even flush.  I said it like the "how to witness" books tell you to, how the Sunday School lessons suggest, how I've heard of others doing it.
"In the ground, I guess."
'No, you know what I'm talking about, after y- - - '
"I don't believe in any of that mess.  Now, look, I can go through that Bible and show you where its wrong and there's nothing in it ~ for starters (holding up a bony finger), how can ONE being, ONE thing create all of this (waving his hand over the tomato patch and at the mountain behind us) in six days?  What about the fish in the ocean?  And the universe, too?  There's just no way that ~ why, we've even PROVED it that dinosaurs was here for millions of years and the Bible expects us to believe the earth is only 7,000 years old?  And people coming back from the dead after all that ~ they's just no way they was dead in the first place...now, I was baptized way back in the, the, I was born in '31, ya know; I was baptized and I used to believe all that but then I got to thinkin' how there was just no way the Bible could be true, what they tell you young people, its all wrong...."
"You've obviously given this a lot of thought, but see hear those two kids squallin in the car over there?  They're mine, and I'll have to get them home.  I'd been wondering if I'd be seeing you in eternity."
"There's no such thing.  When I go in the ground I'm staying there.  Now, I can see I"m making you mad with all this, but you just have got to know that you're wrong about all this.  There's no such thing as all that, you'll find that out for yourself one day ~ that Bible is, well, its just all wrong you know..."
"I'm not mad at all, in fact I am feeling pretty good right now, but my girls are getting louder, can't you hear them?"
"I know I made you mad, I make a lotta folks mad about this, but I know I'm right about it, you're mad..."
"No sir, I just have to get my girls home.  I don't get mad!  If anything I feel sorry for you because I know what I believe and I wish you the best yourself, have a nice day!"
"Waaal, I knowed I made you mad..."

I wasn't mad.  I was praying!

Spring Beauties

Happy Easter! 



AAAAAAAAlleluia!



DaddyO and little ladies on the church lawn

 A birthday present for another spring beauty....

Sundress with matching hair clips

And....
Oh, wait...how'd that get in there?!
(Abigail in costume for live crucifixion scene at church)

excuse note

There was a minor upheaval in our house to which I can attribute my lack of posts of late! 
When we first moved into this house, Hannah claimed the master bedroom as her own.  We gave in, thinking that she would share it with her Tiny Baby Sister when she arrived, the third bedroom would be an office - and that plan worked in theory. 
You probably know that I kept each one of those tiny babies in my bed until they quit nursing and then moved them to their own beds.  Abigail was an easy transition from mama's bed to her own, and she actually slept well in her own bed.  At first. 
Abigail discovered all of the exciting things on her sister's side of the room at about the same time that Hannah began to be (naturally) possessive of things that were hers.  She also discovered that trying to keep her sister awake in the evenings was great fun and a source of great attention from her parents.
So...we did the room swap.  Each girl got their own bedroom and we lost the office/spare bedroom.  Andy and I are now in the master bedroom and while this arrangement has worked out very well for the girls, Andy and I have had to adapt.  The television/VCR and computer are now in our bedroom.  So when one or the other of us goes to bed, the other has to avoid clicking the keys late into the night. 
We need more space - another bedroom would be great, but so would a den.  Don't even get me started on a second bathroom!  It will come, I'm sure - I'm praying daily - but until then, we're crowded.  For school, we use the kitchen table - most homeschoolers do - and I send Abigail to my bedroom to watch a video when she's finished with her work. But she's so far away from us that its like sending her to the barrens.  Andy likes to fall asleep to the TV on, which is a surefire way to trigger a bout of insomnia for me...we're still learning to adapt.
This passage comes to mind whenever I consider our housing arrangements: 

Philippians 4:11-13  ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

It comes to mind, but in all honesty, I do not feel content in this situation.  I struggle daily with it on some level.  I look to friends who are more tightly packed into their homes who make things work and I quit bellyaching to myself about it.  Is this coveteousness?  Maybe.  That just occurred to me.  I don't covet any specific home, nor do I fault anyone for the homes they have.  I just feel that we need to spread out a little more here - have more privacy, more room to be efficient.  Nothing excessive or ostentasious.
So there, friend, is my rant/excuse as to why I've been quiet for awhile.  We've been settling in to our new living arrangements.  Hannah can now stay up till all hours telling her "stories" in peace, Abigail has her own group of toys to call her own, while Daddyo and Mama race to be the first to fall asleep so as not to be disturbed by the others' snores. 

Christmas Music at Temple Baptist Church 2010

I finally got the kids' Christmas videos uploaded to YouTube!

Abigail's class is called the "Mini Miracles," and Hannah's is "GROW Choir." 

Click here for the Mini Miracles Christmas Presentation!

The GROW Choir's video is split into three sections so it could be uploaded in segments; otherwise it would have taken hours to upload.  If there are any problems with these links, please let me know and I'll do what I can.  I tried to get everyone's kids in the video, but from my location (directly behind the director!) it was tough focusing on everyone, especially if your initials are GG!! :)

GROW Choir Part 1
GROW Choir Part 2
GROW Choir Part 3

Please, please, please leave comments at the end of this post!

Facebook Status

There's a new pastime on Facebook. Maybe you've seen it, wondered about it, or even participated. I've seen it, been invited to participate - It is purported to raise awareness for breast cancer, and what you do is change your status update to answer the question of "where you like to put your purse." Only you indicate the location only and do not reveal to what you are referring. The "joke" is that it is supposed to be suggestive - supposedly your "friends" will wonder what you are posting about and think about it in terms of anything but where you hang your purse. HA, HA, very funny, right?


I know that my Facebook friends who have posted the different locations to their status updates don't see any harm in joining in on the "fun." It's just a game, after all, and it's for a good cause, right? We're just hinting around at something…let the guys or those "not in the know" become curious. After all, most of my FB friends are married…so it's OK, right?

But wait…these same friends have guys listed as their friends. And those guy friends were created in such a way that such titillating comments so very easily trigger sinful thoughts…and lustful thinking…and, again, because of the way they are created - visual images. That's right. Her guy friends are PICTURING her…

It's not just men, either. Facebook allows users to be as young as 13. What kind of message does this send to young girls and boys? That sex is the butt of a joke? That single women are engaging in…

Do you profess to be a Christ follower? Do you tell others that you love Jesus?  Do you go to church? 

Here is what Paul suggested about how we should interact with those who will be watching to see if our actions measure up with our words:

2 Corinthians 8:20, 21: "We want to avoid any criticism

of the way we administer this liberal gift.

For we are taking pains to do what is right,

not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.

Is posting a suggestive status taking pains to do what is right in the eyes of men?

There's more…

But among you there must not be

even a hint of sexual immorality,

or of any kind of impurity,

or of greed, because

these are improper for God's holy people.

Ephesians 5:3

Yikes! There's more…

Abstain from all appearance of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:22)

…Be careful to do what is right. (Romans 12:17)

Yes, but it isn't really evil, or wrong, now, is it?

The Apostle Paul comes at it another way:

We put no stumbling block in anyone's path,

so that our ministry will not be discredited. (2Cr 6:3)

Can a status update be a stumbling block?

1 Corinthians 8:13 says:

"Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin,

 I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall."

(Chew on that a minute.)
Try this version:

"Therefore, if my use of Facebook causes my brother to fall into sin,

 I will never use Facebook again, so that I will not cause him to fall."

I'm pretty confident Paul would agree with this translation...do you?

"So whether you eat or drink

or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Do not cause anyone to stumble,

whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God-

even as I try to please everybody in every way.

For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many,

 so that they may be saved."

1 Corinthians 10:31-33.

See a trend here?

The Bible is pretty clear. And that was before Facebook was even invented!

I'll close with this - which is the yardstick by which I measure many things in my life, thanks to a lesson I studied with a friend who worked closely with The Navigators:

Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble,  whatever is right,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable

-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-

think about such things.

Conversation with a 3 year old

3 y.o.:  Who was dat on the phone, mama?

Me:  It was my friend T--.  She lives far, far away from us in a place called Dallas, Texas.

3:  Is that where the lions are?

Me:  No, its a state in our country.  We need to pray for her today because she is having trouble with someone....

3:  Are the lions going to eat her?

Me:  No, there are no lions, why do you think there are lions in Dallas? Texas is just like Virginia, only bigger. [?!] Its in our country and there are no lions there.  We need to pray that.....

3:  She's going in the lion's mouth?

Me:  Abigail, just pray for my friend today, OK?



Jesus said, "Let the little children come unto me."  Matthew 9:14

homeschool field trip

Its days like yesterday that, in sum, add up to the busyness of our lives. Of course, no complaints, and I wouldn't change a thing - but an otherwise typical day quickly gets full of exciting adventures when you toss in a field trip with two Littles.

This year we've used the My Father's World curriculum for kindergarten. I'll review it later - we've enjoyed it, and it has been a good fit for the first year of homeschooling. This week we've been studying rocks. For our field trip, we drove a couple of miles up the road to a slate bed outcropping off of a forest service road. We go there every now and then - its a good place to demonstrate erosion, for example. The girls love to climb and slide.

Its the first warm day we've had in awhile, so I was on the lookout for snakes. When we stopped for a turtle crossing the road, I hopped out and almost stepped on a second turtle there on the shoulder. This was a great time to explain reptiles - cold blooded animals, predators (i.e., why a Box Turtle can close up so tightly), creation, and so on. So we scooped up both turtles, popped them on the front seat floorboard, and drove them the 2 miles home.

Now, don't hassle me about these turtles! They are essentially in the same habitat, as our backyard has plenty of wild space, food, and places for them to burrow. We don't plan on keeping them forever - but for now they have a cozy home in Tuggy, a plastic tugboat/sandbox/outside toybox/former mosquito larvae nursery (purchased at a yard sale several years ago for $10 - we've gotten more than our money's worth!). We filled it with uprooted plants from my newly- weeded garden, a plastic tub with creek rocks for our two turtle friends to soak in, a handful (literally) of slugs, a few earthworms, some fresh blueberries and strawberries, and two reticent turtles.

I put two cut up slabs of baby back ribs in the crock pot on "low" first thing in the morning. By the time I scrubbed down to get the turtle potty off of me and the dirt out from under my nails, it was time to baste them with homemade barbecue sauce and finish them off on the grill:

A quick introduction of our new pets to Daddy-o when he got home, supper, and our day was drawing to a close. A very good, busy day!

Reverence & Respect Fail

We're using the LifeWalk curriclum at Wednesday night church, reading through the Bible in a year. At home I usually use a parallel version: NASB (New American Standard) and The Message. The best time for me to be in the Word is in the morning, as I'm relatively undisturbed if the girls are sleeping, so I fix the first of 3 cups of morning coffee and come back to read in bed.

On a recent morning, however.....

when I got up to refresh my coffee.......

I returned to the bedroom and the Bad Cat with a haughty tilt to his head saying,

"Me? You'd blame ME for that?"
"Uh - you got a little of 1 Samuel there under your fingernails"......

This could be an argument of why pets (certain ones, anyways) will NOT be in heaven. Ahem.