The other day our two older children and I were talking about when they were going to have the Right Hand of Fellowship at church to welcome them as new members.

Ds5 says, "Mama, what does Right Hand of Fellowship mean?" and I said, "Well, since J and E have completed all the requirements to become members of the church, the church recognizes that by having the congregation come up after service and welcome them by shaking their hand. Then the pastor will present J and E with a certificate."

Ds5's eyes got huge and he said, "A certificate!!!??? To where, Hobby Lobby!?" Ha! Ha! He was all set to become a member himself!

...it's me with the problem. I don't know why I can't seem to blog more than once every 3-4 months, but I can't. Then sometimes I blog every few days and then I stop. Usually if hubby is out of town I blog, otherwise, I don't. However, I'm going to try to blog more often.

I'm thinking of switching over to blogger. Nothing at all against HSB, I just like some of the features of blogger. I might do that and just start fresh. Don't know yet.

Well, for those of you who still might possibly have me on your feeds and haven't given up on me, here's a rundown of what's been going on since my last post:

* We got a puppy! He's soooo cute (show me one that isn't!). He's an English Shepherd named Silas. He's a farm dog and sleeps in the barn with the goats and cats at night. Eventually, with training, he *should* help us get the goats in at night and chickens (when we get them). I'll have to make a separate post and show pictures.

* Garden was semi-successful this year. The corn was amazing, the tomatoes were/are delicious, beans were great, but we waited all season for them, peas and carrots - not so good. The cucumbers were great, but I planted a ton of pickling cucumbers. They finally started to produce before we left for vacation and were too huge to do anything with by the time we got back. Squash beetles took over pumpkins and killed them all. Other than that, not too bad.

* School is underway and I'm already behind. Welcome to the life of someone who is lousy at time management. Thankfully the Lord is really working on me and with me. I am not going to let myself get the best of me! Strange sentence, but it makes sense to me.

* Hubby and I feeling totally committed lately to paying off any debt and seeing where we can cut expenses. It feels so good!

* Really getting into trying to be healthy and eating more raw foods. I watched a DVD recently that changed my thinking a bit (a lot) and I'll probably post more on that too.

* The weather has been incredible. Despite Ike's winds roaring through Ohio, the weather has been in the mid to upper 70's and sunny and then cool in the evenings for great sleeping. Since the beginning of August we've only had to have the a/c on twice.

* Little Joe is 2 1/2 and we absolutely cannot keep up with him. He knows no fear and if it seems to give mama a heart attack, he's all for it. Yesterday hubby was cleaning gutters and raced to get him off the top of a 12' unstable ladder. And if he can't be dangerous, he just likes to be destructive. Thankfully the Lord made him very cute!

* Life without television is grand. We do still get movies from the library occasionally, and lately I've been buying some quality Christian DVDs from Franklin Springs Media (I'm thinking of asking for a gift certificate for there as a Christmas present!). Otherwise, I don't miss it one iota.

* Hubby's home office is nearly complete. Staining/painting begins this week. It's beautiful. His brother did all the work, so it cost us much less than it could have otherwise. I'll have to post about that separately too -- wait to you see the unique bookcases!

*Painting the kitchen comes after the office. I am really looking forward to that! I have had paint swatches up for...a really long time already. We picked the paint and are now looking for "that perfect fabric" for curtians. Originally wanted deep red gingham or red with yellow, but now I'm thinking of pulling some bright blues and greens as well. We'll see. We really love cottage style and I want every room to be cheery.

So, those are just some of the highlights. There are the "lowlights" too, so don't think things are just perfect here. Lately, we struggle daily with feeling like our family is under a spiritual attack, but are continuing to stand upon God's promises and keep using the Word and prayer as our power tools.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Jennifer :)

In regards to my previous post about our mulched television antenna --  -- I'd like to say thank you for the comments about being able to catch some of the shows online! However, if you see the title of this post, you can see why it was merely pouring salt into a wound. Yep, we country folk are stuck with dial-up and I think the only time we will get high-speed is if more houses start being built around here. NOT a fair trade-off! We tried a wireless modem and it worked great if I put one foot on the credenza, one hand on the lamp and held a piece of foil to the wireless antenna (with a fork in my mouth). LOL! Hubby is now working from home and he has been sequestered to a tv tray in the corner of ds5's room because that's the only place he can get a connection. If his company only knew! Ha!

A young man in our homeschool group who happens to be my son's guitar teacher recently one a short-film award and we tried to watch it with dial-up. It took over two hours to buffer and then stopped working at 2 1/2 minutes. Oh well, from what I saw, half of the film was very good. If you're interested, you can go to www.GodTube.com and do a search for "A Fragile Hope" (It's only 5 minutes long). I'd like to tell you that the soldier running and looking back is him, but he's one of 13 children and they all look identical.

Jennifer :)

We watch very little television here. We do not have cable and really only have PBS Kids on for Arthur, Curious George and the older children enjoy Wishbone or CyberChase. Occasionally we will watch Extreme Home Makeover and when Hubby was gone on travel I would watch some things here and there -- Super Nanny, The Biggest Loser (can you tell I like things that show some kind of change or transformation??). WELL, this leads me into why we are no longer watching television. The antenna cable has been run over by our tractor! It wasn't cleanly split, it was MULCHED! We just had our roof redone and the roofers dropped down the cable to work and reminded us to have the gutter guys hook it back up on the nail it was on. Well, we forgot and wish we had remembered. I really don't see this getting replaced anytime soon. Hubby could care less if we never have television. I thought it wouldn't be a problem because we still have our video/DVD player and love to rent old movies from the library and some nicer children's shows as well. HOWEVER, we had a thunderstorm yesterday morning and it must have zapped the DVD player somehow -- of course that was the only thing not hooked to the surge protector. It happened to be a rather pricey player too, because we got one specifically with the capability of being able to transfer all of our home videos over to DVDs. Doesn't that beat all? I didn't think I was wasting much time with the television, but apparently God thought otherwise. I guess I should be thankful. He could have just allowed the DVD player to stop working, but He watered the garden for us at the same time! :)

Well, it has been so long since I last wrote, that I thought I'd just do a general update...if anyone is still reading. And even if I'm the only one who gets anything out of it, that's okay too. I love to periodically go back and look at my posts and think, "Oh yeah...I forgot about that. I needed to see that again as a reminder to pray more" or whatever it might be.

This is my favorite time of year around here. I love working around the house, cutting the grass, getting the garden ready, hanging clothes on the line, etc. This is our busiest time of year, for sure, but there's just such a great feeling at the end of each day (actually, it's exhaustion). However, as tired as I am, it's a "good tired out feeling", like you actually did something. Today is one of those days, as I worked on getting things planted in the garden. Here is a rundown of some of the things currently going on.

• Hubby is finally finishing up a job he had out in California since early December. He has an apartment there and has been coming home every other weekend. It's been tough at times, but it went by quickly. We're all so happy to have him home again. :)

• Our 100+ year old slate roof is currently being torn off our house and we are getting shingles and new gutters as well as three huge skylights (as the attic is going to be converted into hubby's home office). I'll be so happy when he has a quiet place to work that isn't surrounded by toys or a crib and I won't have to worry about trying to keep the children super quiet when his phone rings (which can be a lot ).

• My brother-in-law has been working so hard to get our new barn completed. Last week he installed two beautiful skylights that he built himself. They let so much light in now. I love them! Today he worked on putting the dutch door in one of the stalls. He has so much knowledge and is a perfectionist, so we've been blessed.

• We get our first goats this Saturday! Everyone is sooo excited. They are Melody and Giselle -- the children named them. Melody, because she's so mellow, and Giselle because she jumps around like a gazelle and the children liked the name from the movie Enchanted. We won't be able to breed them until next fall, but thought it would be better to get babies so we can learn more as they grow.

• I mentioned we were planting our garden. This year we are adding corn, beans and peas, ommitting the squash and limiting the watermelon. We are keeping the carrots, cucumbers (pickling and slicing), tomatoes, lettuces and pumpkins. The pumpkin patch was a huge hit last year! Oh, and we are going to add strawberries as well, though they won't be available this year. Realistically, we would actually eat all of those things. Did you ever plant stuff and think, "Why exactly did we plant beets and brussel sprouts?" There's still so much work left to do, and I really need to psyche myself up to tackle those cucumber/squash beetles. The two just drove me nutso last year! Blech!

• School is almost done, need I say more? Okay, I will say a little more about that. I am in the process of trying to plan curriculum for next year (who isn't?). I'm having so much trouble trying to decide between two different teaching approaches. One way is what I would really love to be able to do, but would require a great deal of time with me leading and I'm not quite sure if I want to commit to that and realize in December that I'm not able to keep up with it. A strong probability considering the younger two. The other option is more self-directed, but it's a good curriculum and they love it. With another child starting Kindergarten, that might be the best approach. However, I'm still seeking the Lord for wisdom. Maybe if I get off the computer and get into the Word, it would come faster???

Okay, well, hey, if you've made it this far, you're either a) easily entertained or b) asleep. I'm "a" and almost "b", so I'm going to say goodbye for now!

Jennifer :)

How's that for a title? On the first topic, our computer crashed recently. It was only a bit of a disappointment. Honestly, it was really nice to walk by the desk and not hear the hum of the computer and feel the draw of needing to check e-mails or look up more organizing tips or doing anything else that sucks time. There were some things that I needed the computer for, but somehow it all worked out. And even though I had already cut waaay down on computer time, I seemed to get more done during the day without it completely -- imagine that! Now I'm going to leave the computer shut-down until late afternoon or after dinner.

On the latter topic, I ordered a new Language Arts program this year. This was something new (to me anyway) I read about and it sounded really great. I can't begin to tell you how wrong I was! Ugh! This is the first time I've gotten something and have convinced myself to scrap it despite the money it cost and considering it's March and school *should* be ending in a couple of months. It's a consumable, so no turning around and selling it. None of us like it. You know, for the past two years I have used Christian Light Education and my children loved it! I was thinking that maybe they were getting bored with workbooks and needed more writing to do. Hello, McFly! If your children tell you they love something, provided it's godly, listen to them! And this new LA is still a workbook format, so I don't know what I was thinking. For the rest of the year I'm having the children do copywork from their reading books and I have these sweet Macmillan English Series books from the 1960's that I really love. My mother-in-law had used them at one point and we somehow inherited them. Great stuff with all the fundamentals they need and then some. The only drawback is that they need to be taught as opposed to being able to work on their own. With a preschooler and a toddler that can be a tough challenge at times when there are other subjects that also require that one-on-one time. But I'll be optimistic and do what I can. Check back for my next post entitled "Language Arts: who needs it anyway?". Oh, wait, I said I would be optimistic.

Jennifer :)

A few weeks ago the new library in town opened their doors. They threw a huge open house --with plenty of refreshments--and we went as a family. I was trying to explain to our 5 year old which library we were going to this afternoon and I just said, "The new one", but he couldn't quite remember. As we pulled into the library parking lot Sam says, "Ooohhhh, this library! I love this library! Do you think they still have cake left?!" LOL!!! (I'll be the first to admit that he gets that from me!)

Jennifer

If any of you recently read the The Homeschool Minute from TOS (it comes via e-mail), then you may have read Todd Wilson's article about organized people and unorganized people -- He basically said that some people are organized and some people aren't and if you aren't than you probably never will be. I have to say that I disagree with that. The point of this post is not to dispute Todd's article, as I realize he meant to bring a sense of comfort to those who aren't organized to stop fretting about it.

     I continously pray to become an organized person. Now, I am not totally disorganized. There are some habits I've created that would fall under the category of "organized person". I guess I'm semi-organized. The problem is that also means I'm semi-disorganized. I am a good wife, mother and homemaker, but I'm soooo far short of what I desire to be. That is not the devil just trying to make me feel I'm not good enough and I'm feeling sorry for myself. I KNOW there are areas where God desires changes in me, resulting in me desiring those changes in me. That is why it is so strongly on my heart.

     The areas I need changes in are discipline and structure. My time management is terrible; meal planning? terrible; School schedule? Terrible...etc. The first step in changing this is spending more time with the Lord. The second step is getting up at the same time everyday to do that. 6:00am sounds like a good time -- it will be a flesh fighter, but He's worth it. So is my family. From there on I'm going to learn and RETRAIN myself to be what I so desire to be. I just purchased The HomeManagement Binder: The Housewife's Best Friend , an e-book from Candy at www.keepingthehome.com. The Lord led me to her blog just yesterday and it was just what I needed. I have a "control journal" that I've started and it stays on a shelf looking pretty and not getting used. Some things work for some people and some things don't. So, what makes me think it's going to work this time? RETRAINING. Say it with me people, re-train-ing. I'm going to MAKE it work. It may go against my normal way of doing things, but obviously that's not working for me.  This will be a positive change into a "stress less" life.

     A few years back I heard a program where a man was talking about a book called "The Vector Principle". Though I never read it, the idea was that making a small 1 degree change in any direction could change the course of many things (think of a space shuttle changing it's direction by 1 degree -- totally off course). Let's say we're always rushing to get ready for church Sunday morning (can you imagine??? :) ). What if I made a change and made sure that all of our clothes were ironed and ready for the next morning the night before, or that our bibles and notebooks were in bags by the door, or that the baby's sippy cup and snack was ready to go. Any one of those things would make an impact and all of them would make a huge impact. Now, if I'm not used to doing them, I'm going to have to retrain myself, but it can be done.

     So you see, I'm excited about moving into this new phase. I desire to make these changes to please the Lord, my family, and myself. I think the only thing holding anyone back from becoming an organized person is the desire and willingness to finally make the change. It is not going to be easy nor happen overnight, there are many old habits to break. But I do have Jesus in me and the power of His Holy Spirit, so the only thing stopping me is me, right? Oh, and one more thing...please pray for me! :) The devil is not going to like this. Thanks!

     Jennifer :)

"If God be for us, than who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

"I can do all things through Christ which strentheneth me."  Phillipians 4:13

"Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Psam 37:4

     The other day we were driving and listening to the radio. Something was said about this coming Monday that made me actually suck wind and go "Oh! That's it. I'm in it now."  You see, this coming Monday is National Clean Off Your Desk Day. There are probably three responses to that -- "My desk is clean", "Who cares" or "Oh no. I've got to do it." If you are in the first response group, God has blessed you. If you fall into the other two then God bless you. Actually, I normally don't care about days like that where somebody just came up with an idea and now it's "National such-and-such day", but if it's something good and motivating, then what could it hurt.

     Two years ago we bought a beautiful roll-top desk and I couldn't wait for it to arrive. I would finally have somewhere to work and store all of our files and I was going to be so organized, let me tell you. WELL, little by little things started to creep in and get set on it. Then those things got pushed to the left so I could work. Then the cubby that was strictly for important bills became another catch all. Pretty soon there was no more room to push things to the left. AAAAAhhhhhhh!!

     Two nights ago I began my task. I cannot wait until Monday or it won't get done. There's just not enough time. Little by little I've been chipping away at it and I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I've been creating files and throwing junk away. Sooo liberating. I can't wait until I go out to the burn can and burn all of this stuff. I've even been scanning things that I want to save, but don't want to create a file folder for, such as articles or small pictures.

     Now, I'm NOT going to let this happen again. This has become such a burden for me and a source of anxiety that I cannot ever do this again. From now on I'm going to find a place for everything and in a very timely manner. Now we won't have to be mortified when company comes over and I realize I need to get my camera out of the desk (it's on a print dock).

     I'm really motivated and I'm seeing so many other things in my future -- not letting small objects pile on the corner of the kitchen counter, keeping things off the dining room table, making sure the children take their items up from the stairs when they go up, etc. Come heck or high water, I'm going to be a more organized person! I'm not a total lost cause, there are some things I'm very organized about and do quite well, it's just that sometimes these darn elephants get in the way! Have you heard the expression "You can eat an elephant a bite at a time"? Well, what's your elephant? Start biting!

Jennifer :)

I must admit that we don't often take field trips. After today I've decided that we will be taking them more often. Our oldest son is 10 and absolutely loves Norman Rockwell. Well, a local art museum was exhibiting his work and I thought it would be great to take the children, and my mother there. I too love Norman Rockwell's work, and even more so after today. The exhibit was great. One room had a couple hundred of the Saturday Evening Post covers. It was amazing to look for the first time at many of his works that I haven't seen in the giant coffee table books.

On the way home we talked about what our favorite painting was and why and what our least favorite was and why. Our son's most favorite was one titled "A Scout is Helpful". He said it was his favorite because he's a boy scout, but I think it goes much deeper than that. It's been his favorite for a while and he was very excited to point it out to me and to stare at it for a long time.

Our daughter who is 9 also loved the exhibit and her favorite was of a very large baker on his lunch break. He's sitting next to racks of delicious looking cakes while reading a book entitled "How To Diet" and on a plate in front of him is a cut up carrot. ha! Don't we all know that feeling right after the new year begins!

Our five year old was bored and had no interest in playing the "What fun musical instrument do you see in this picture? game". His response? "A kangaroo...can we go now?" Our almost two year old did very well, but wanted to get up and run all over and was having no part of wearing his "monkey backpack", a.k.a. toddler leash. Ah well. I would have been bored too at that age. I think when the children get older, a trip to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Massachusetts will be on our "places to go" list.

As for now, I think we might try the science center or the history museum next. Oh, and there's an auto and aviation museum that our 5 year old would love! He's an airplane fanatic.

Jennifer :)

It's been nearly four months since my last blog. I know that sounds like it should have been preceeded by "forgive me fellow bloggers, for I have sinned", doesn't it? You know, there have been times where I've wanted to sit down and write, but frankly I don't ever feel that anything I write is that worthy of being written, or more importantly that I should be using the time I need to spend it on the computer. I'm on it more than I should already trying to just read e-mails and the few blogs I keep up with.  Lately I've been very overwhelmed with...well, everything I suppose. I am really ready to commit much more time to the Lord in order to get my priorities in order and manage the time He's given me much better. A few weeks ago I was listening to Nancy Leigh DeMoss on Moody Radio and someone on the show mentioned about taking the 30 day challenge. At the end of the show, of which the name escapes me, they talked about committing the next 30 days to spending time with the Lord -- in His Word and in prayer. That's something I want to do. I know it's what I need and I know it will make a huge impact on our family. It's not that I don't do it ever, but I'm not consistent. Some days (many) the flesh wins out and I don't wake up until our toddler wakes up. The trouble is that once he's up the day begins. Sitting and trying to read and pray quietly just doesn't happen. I need to work on that. As for now, the flesh is going to win again as I'm calling it a night.

It's good to be back.

Jennifer:)

I could swear there is a verse about being clothed in humility, but I can't find it. It doesn't matter. I was leaving a comment earlier after Valerie posted a gorgeous picture of her little girl in a dress that Valerie had worn as a child. I had mentioned that I'm thankful my daughter doesn't have to wear the brown, plaid polyester pants my dad had gotten for me. I started to think about some of the clothes I remember from my childhood. Some were my favorites, some were hideous and some were hideous and my favorites. And wasn't it funny how something that could be the greatest thing in the world could become not so cool in 6 months?! For example...One day my mom and I went into a thrift store and she bought me a dress. This dress was a red, prairie style dress with tiny yellow flowers on it. It had short, puffy sleeves and the bottom part went all the way down to my toes and I LOVED it! I got it in second grade and wore it a few times (we weren't Christians, so we never went to church or it would have been worn to death!). Well, in THIRD grade things were different. There was a new girl, Kristine, in class and I introduced myself to her and I was her first friend. She was very nice to me, but immediately was welcomed in by the popular kids (a.k.a. the ones who lived in developments and had money and wore preppy clothes). One day was class picture day and my dad suggested I wear my red dress. Umm, well, okay, I guess...since I really didn't have a huge selection and I did like the dress. I was walking in the hall the next day and came around a corner and there was Kristine with two other girls. I said hello and she looked me up and down and said, "Jennifer, WHAT are you wearing!?" I don't even remember what I said. It didn't devastate me (after the initial shock wore off, mind you), but obviously I never forgot it.

Well, then I started to think about some of the other clothes phases I went through and wondered if any of you had "clothes nightmares" you remember or favorites that you still might have or at least won't ever forget.

Okay, who had Gloria Vanderbilt jeans?

Parachute pants? (not the poofy ones, but the nylon ones with the zippers)

I had both, but they were colors no one else had because they were always the leftovers. By the time I was allowed to get any, they had been out for months and all the "normal" styles were gone -- either that or still full price.

Did you have an oxford with the collar up? I did, but it wasn't IZOD like everyone else had. And guess what? I lived through it.

Did you have the white leather Nike's with the black or red "swoosh"? No, we couldn't afford those. Still lived through that too.

Before that icky, tweenager, junior high clothing phase, I remember a few items from when I was 3 and 4yo that I won't ever forget. One was a white sweatshirt with a fairy godmother type person on it and it read "Pretty Is as Pretty Does" At 3yo, I never really understood what it meant, but I loved it. And at 4yo, my mom sewed me the greatest blue, polyester hooded zip-up jacket and the sleeves were the exact same material except with a light diamond pattern. I got an iron-on patch from the cereal box and mom actually ironed it on the left side for me and it was a Snoopy patch that said "Here comes the Great Pumpkin". Ahhh, just thinking about it and I'm a kid again in my gravel driveway on Maple Ridge Road listening to the Robins make their sound at dusk as I head inside for the night.

So, share with me some of your clothing memories! I'd love to hear them. And I won't hold it against you if you did have those Nike's or IZOD...rich kid.

Jennifer :)

I have seen this show three or four times (only when DH is on travel because we don't watch TV otherwise) and I will say that while I believe the Bible has all we need for raising our children, I am a "show me" type of person and I have taken something of value from each episode. Ironically, the things I've gotten from the show are not about child rearing per se, but more about where I need to make changes.

The last episode had the father washing the family van with his two older boys while Jo-Jo observed. At first I saw nothing wrong. The father told the boys what they were all going to do, you know "a section at a time" and they weren't really doing it. The father was calmly correcting them and then Jo-Jo called him over. My mind thought, "What? They didn't listen to what he was saying." Then she tells him, "Dad, you're washing the car with your boys, they aren't your employees. Have a little fun!" Pretty soon they were squirting water and laughing and running all over and having a ball!

OUCH! Why ouch? Jo-Jo hit me in the solar plexus. In my mind I would be so focused on getting the job done and fretting over how much mud is being created and subsequently how a new load of laundry is being created and how much I can't stand being in wet clothes that I would miss a golden opportunity to lighten up, have a little fun (or possibly a lot of fun) and make a memory with my children. Having four young children that include a 4yo and an 18mo, I'm often in the "one step forward, two steps back mode". My home seems like it's never in order unless company is coming and then we're stressing out trying to get as much done as we can. If the thought of making something fun comes with the price tag of creating more work, I want out. HOWEVER, before you go thinking I'm a big complainer or some kind of drill instructor who never lets their children do anything (which is not true), I will say that the Lord has used S*uper Nanny to grant me wisdom and insight into a shortcoming of mine and I'm willing to try to change.

I'm going to still try to get down to business and tackle the things that need to be done, but I'm going to pray for the wisdom to be able to do it in a way that allows us to 1) be together; 2) have fun and 3) get the job done. I'm realizing that the reason the children can't seem to follow the simple chart that tells them what chores they are to do and they just mark it off is because it's monotonous and boring!! Yes, sometimes we all need to do things that are just that, but why not try to make it monotonous and fun!? This weekend I'm going to rework those chores into something like, "Clean Big Bathroom -- but first ride your bike around the yard twice while singing Zippety Doo Daa!" (We live in the country, so no one will hear and call social services.)

Tomorrow is supposed to be perfect weather and our van is really dirty! I can't wait!

Jennifer :)

Friday I went to a worship and prayer for the new schoolyear, which was held at the home of another homeschool mom. The devil sure tried to talk me out of going, trying to deceive me into thinking that if I have the time I should be working on getting my schedule planned as school was a mere three days away (we're taking a vacation in Sept., so we're starting early to compensate). Thankfully I have a husband who is wise to the devil's schemes and stayed with the children and sent me and my plate of scones on our merry way. I just have to share with you what an incredible blessing this time was.

First of all, I knew no one except for the woman hosting, and even then I didn't know her that well. It made no difference. I felt very welcome and comfortable. One woman came and set up her keyboard and led the worship music and then we had a time of spoken worship and different prayers, including our family, husbands, children, and ourselves. Then we just sort of started discussing things and questions of getting order and discipline into our homes. There were so many things I was supposed to be there hearing and I thought I'd share a few things because they may be blessings to you as well.

1) Get up in the morning and get that time with the Lord! That is probably the most important thing you can do that will affect your entire day, not to mention your life and the lives of your husband and children. Now, I knew this one before I went there, but hearing it again really solidified the importance of it for me. I don't want to start my day without Him because I want everything to be in His hands, so I need to lay it all before Him.

2) Make your home a haven of joy and peace. There should not be any yelling. Did you get that? There SHOULD NOT BE ANY YELLING!!! It might feel good to get it out at the time, but I for one usually feel awful when I yell and lose that self-control. What an ungodly example. Yuck. The one woman made a great point when she said, "Since God tells us to have a meek and gentle spirit, then when we yell, we are going against God." Yes, even when we are correcting sin, we are trying to overcome evil with evil and as the Bible says, "A house divided against itself cannot stand". As difficult as it may be, don't cave in. Leave the room if you have to, but don't succumb to the devils ways of handling things.

3) Train your children to respond to you the first time you say something in your calm voice. Don't let them ignore your requests until you scream at them. If you have to, take them by the hand and walk them to where they need to be (the dishes, trash bag, shoes on the floor or whatever) and calmly say, "You know, I asked you to do this and you are not obeying. Please do said request now please." And a sincere smile and a thank you go a long way. I know if you are like me, you may have years of mis-training to correct. Don't give up. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, remember?

4) Sit your family down and ask them what sin is evident that you need to work on. This isn't a time to lash back with "well, yeah, that's because you never listen..." The woman who suggested this said she wasn't expecting what her family said and it made her realize things she either didn't notice or that she didn't realize how it impacted her family. And be prepared to take these to the Lord and work together on them.

5) This next one was a biggie for me and really hit me hard. Hard in a good way because it was truly God's wisdom pouring out and I felt such a burden lifted. When your child disobeys, do not look at it as a sin against you. It is a spiritual battle between God and the enemy. We certainly need to address that sin with rebuking and reproofing, but that is why we need to refer to the first point I made and make that prayer time to start your day. Then continue with it throughout the day and end your day that way. You will not regret it!

I felt so refreshed when I left this prayer group. It impacted me so much. Two of the mothers spoke about how they were in a mom's prayer group for seven years that used to meet every other Friday or something like that and what an impact it made. She is now seeing the fruits in her children in ways that she couldn't have even dreamed of. I felt and still feel a strong pulling by the Holy Spirit to begin one myself, as this meeting was only for praying over the new schoolyear and will not continue to meet. The devil will have me believe that I can't afford to miss one day of school work a month for this, my house will never be clean enough, or that it would be too hard with the children around. Already my husband has offered to take the children to breakfast and/or the library if need be. And I do think I would need him to as I don't want the children hearing the requests for them or other people's children. So, with that said, I'm still praying that the Lord would work out all the logistics as I prepare to open my home to this. Wanna come? The scones are fresh and the coffee's hot!

Jennifer :)

P.S. One more point I wanted to share -- there were 9 women there. I thought for sure that I was the only one who screamed at their children (though I've gotten so much more patient because of the Lord) and how humiliating it would be if people knew that about me. Wrong. Yet another one of the devil's failed attempts. Every single one of them deals or dealt with it and moreover are there to pray about it. If that describes you, you are not the only one.

This past Sunday in our ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship), we were going around the room with prayer requests. The one woman asked for prayer for the children and the new schoolyear that was quickly approaching. Then everyone seemed to chime in about how sad it all is. It's exciting at first and then they children get on the school bus and you watch them leave. I was sad for that moment too...sad for all of them. There's only one family in our ABF where the mother is unable to stay home with her child and thankfully they have managed to save enough to be able to send their child to the church's christian academy. Our family is no better than any of them, the difference is that we've responded to God's calling to homeschool. I truly wonder how many others are being called to homeschool their children and either don't hear it or simply aren't responding.  I find it so surprising that more Christian families don't homeschool. In a church of about 1,000 members, there are only 5 families, including ours who are currently or have homeschooled. Now, the demographics of that area and of the members who live there would lead you to believe that the mother's in the families are working outside the home to make ends meet, but that's simply not so in most of the cases. I am a children's worker and most of the children's mother's stay-at-home.

Two or three weeks ago, one of the mother's at church said she wanted to call me and "pick my brain" about homeschooling and to see what I would recommend for a good Bible curriculum, as they were using Sonlight for the rest. After the last schoolyear they felt God was calling them to homeschool. I was so happy for them! She said it took a little longer to get her husband on board because he's not involved in the school -- going to and from school and helping out, so he didn't see the things she did. Thankfully they prayed together and he now is very much for homeschooling. I'm also happy to have someone at church now who also homeschools and who's children are the same age as mine.

 Please don't think I am judging anyone who sends their children to public school or any school for that matter, I just feel that they are so unaware of the joy they and their children are missing out on if they have the opportunity to have their children home with them and don't take it. I'm sure God is expecting me to be an example and be willing to share the joy of homeschooling with others. Yes, homeschooling is hard and time consuming, but isn't that what all work is supposed to be? This is my job, but it's also my joy. And if we had responded to God based on our ability to do the job, our children would be in public school and we'd be missing each other terribly and trying to weed out even more sin from their lives. Praise Jesus for His calling, His ability to equip and for His perfect plan!

Jennifer :)

...But I'd like to! How dare they create ice cream called Triple Chocolate when I've decided that I'm getting love handles and it's time  to finally get in shape! Have you tried it? Don't! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I enjoy ice cream, but there's none that I rave about, except for the Breyer's brand in general. Then I discovered Triple Chocolate. Now I admit that it's not just the ice cream. I am a big sugar hound. I love to eat healthy, really healthy, but then I go on these spurts where I also love cookies and cake and ice cream and Texas Longhorns that hubby brings back from travel. Needless to say, it's all catching up with me -- right around the middle. Blech! I've always been pretty thin and have had a high metabolism. And by most people's standards, I'm still pretty thin. However, I'm still nursing a baby and I swear I've put on 10 pounds this last month! I feel like that scene in "The Santa Clause" where he tells his doctor "You call this a little weight?! I've gained 45 pounds in a week!" and he smacks his stomach. (And no, I'm not pregnant. :) )

Well, I have to say that as much as I'd like to find some thing to blame it on, I can't. It's me and my own lack of self control. I need to get my Power90 DVD out and drag my unfirm keister out of bed and start burning off the "goo". Much, much easier said than done. Since I've finally found that precious time in the morning with the Lord, I don't want to lose that. I guess I'll have to get up even earlier. Sigh. I'm already tired, but I don't want to be tired and out of shape. I guess I'll have to save the Triple Chocolate for a sometimes food and stick to the healthy as much as I can. Another sigh. This is the only thing I miss about high school. Ha!

Jennifer :)

Hello again! Yes, I know it's been quite some time since I last blogged. The Lord put it on my heart to take a break (not that I added entries very often to begin with!), but I have no room to complain about not getting anything done or being able to spend time with the children, or the Lord for that matter when I allowed myself time on the computer. Something had to give and blogging went. I still don't know how often I'll get on. I still feel led to use my time more wisely.

Getting on with my entry point. Does anyone have any experience with the McGuffey Readers, Ray's Mathematics and or Spencerian Handwriting? Actually, the McGuffey Readers are my key interest right now.

DH was listening to a pastor on the radio a couple of days ago and he was speaking about public eduation. He said something to the effect of statistics show that in our country each decade students decline one grade level. Meaning that seniors are at a level that 6th graders were 60 years ago. And of course it will continue to get worse. My husband mentioned some of the things this pastor referred to being taught. I asked dh, "Sooo, what curricula was being taught back then?" Dh said, "Probably things like the McGuffey Readers". So, I found their website, which also lists the math and handwriting I mentioned. Now I'm just wondering if anyone has used them and what they thought of them.

On another note, I ordered the Beautiful Feet American History Primary that we will begin next week. I'm picturing "Class on the Grass" with a picnic blanket and snacks while we learn about Leif Erickson, Ben Franklin, etc. I want to try to make it fun. Praise the Lord that the library had about 90% of the books for the course. I really can't wait to get started.

And now I need to stop. It's bedtime for my babies.

Jennifer :)

Okay, I don't know what the problemo is, but is anyone else having problems with their links? On my last post I did three links. Now, before you go jumping to conclusions, I know how to do these. When I typed in the URL, I did it correctly. It took a long time and seemed to hang up a bit. However, I made sure that what was in the box was what should be there. However, they are not working. When clicked on, the address reads http://www.homeschoolblogger.com before each one and I did not put it there. For example, the printables link came out http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/www.ourlosbanos.com/homeschool. So, with all of that said, is anyone else having the same problem or is everyone thinking, "Uh...nooooo...just you."? Maybe I don't know how to do these after all.

I'm going to try a test here. I'm going to try to link to nsremom (wish I knew her first name). If you click on it and it works, please feel free to leave her a comment telling her she's been blacklisted from HSB for not buying into the hype of Apologia Science! LOL! You can tell her I said so, too. (You'll have to read some of her posts to get that).

Jennifer :)

P.S. Guess what? I don't need help. (There's a door left wide open for comments!) Anyhow, I tried hubby's computer, which is much less "glitchy" than mine. Either that did it, or the fact that I went in and put "http://" before my links and that could have been my problem. Like I said, maybe I didn't know exactly what I was doing. But please, feel free to leave nsremom a comment anyhow. And she could use your prayers, btw.

Well, apparently someone and I won't mention any names (not in large letters anyhow) Sandi, a.k.a. Titus2woman, has given me a bit of a hard time about not updating already. Geeze, you mean I have to blog more than once a month? My problem is that I love reading others' more than writing my own. Well, that's just ONE of my problems. Ha!

On another note, I realized that I have done my children a disservice (sp?) by not making them practice their penmanship more than they have. I make them write everything in cursive, but I haven't made them practice cursive much since they completed their cursive books last school year. Well, I've heard it said, "practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect". Left to continue practicing poor writing, they will perfect it that way. Soooo, this left me to search for what I wanted for them to practice and I found it at  ourlosbanos.com. What a great site! The printables were exactly what I was looking for. I wanted something where the children could see the cursive up above and practice it on the next line below. Today I had the children work on some of the sheets and they were actually excited and enjoyed doing it. I told them that they may see some of the same sheets over and over, but they need to get their minds and hand muscles used to doing things the right way.

Ironically, yesterday dh was mentionioning how one of the children's handwriting was unaccaptable. He said to me, "Remember the writing of George Washington? His penmanship was beautiful. Had he done work like this he would have had to sit there and do it over and over and over again until it was acceptable. We don't need to strive for perfection, but we need to strive for excellence." Meaning that we need them to do work that is to the best of their ability and continue to strive to do better, but we don't demand perfection. There is a difference. The irony is that I read Melissa's (Honeybee) blog entry yesterday and she spoke of her family's current study on George Washington and made mention of his strive for excellence in his penmanship.

By the way, also on that printables website are links to other websites. These are really good links. One of them (I think the DonnaYoung link) had organizing pages you could print out for homeschooling, home and kitchen. The kitchen pages had a master grocery list as well as a menu planning sheet and some other things. For those of you trying to get organized in that department (picture giant fingers pointing at ME!), these are wonderful.

Well, now, there, I've updated my blog and hopefully have provided some useful information for others!

God bless,

Jennifer :)

This morning was pretty darn cold outside, so I decided to try the recent Winter Science Activity that JayFromCleveland blogged about here. The idea is to fill a mug with boiling water and then go outside and fling it  (the water, not the mug) into the air in a frisbee motion -- provided it's bitterly cold outside. It worked! As a matter of fact, dh captured it with the camera. Here it is.

 The image is kind of dark, and though you can't tell, I'm appropriately using a NASA mug. Thanks for the experiment, Jay. Very cool.

On another cool note, literally, I saw on Martha Stewart the other day a man who captures snowflakes. I only saw a small portion of it, but this is how he said to do it: You capture a snowflake on a microscope slide (you can use a small children's paintbrush to transfer it) and then put a couple of drops of Superglue on it (everything at outside temperature of course so the snowflake doesn't melt). Then you cover the slide with another slide and stick it together. Put the slide in your freezer for a week. After that, you will have captured your snowflake. Hopefully I got all of that correct. You can probably go to MS's website for more info.

Jennifer :)