Joy Comes in the Morning

All I want for Christmas

2011-12-02T12:39:00.001-05:00

Please help a child with a real need this Holiday season. Lets spend sometime caring for the least of these. And the king shall answer and say unto them, verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you have done unto one of the least of these my brethren you have done unto me. Matthew 25:40

So true.

2011-12-02T12:17:00.001-05:00

Another great giveaway again.

2011-11-29T13:25:00.000-05:00

The Modest Mom is hosting a giveaway for Vision Forum. You can always count on Vision Forum for all your christian book needs. Head on over to check it out.

Vision Forum http://visionforum.com/

Another chance

2011-11-25T17:59:00.000-05:00

Vision Forum is giving you another chance at a great giveaway. I love all of their christian books and think you should check it out. www.visionforum.com/

Another great giveaway

2011-11-25T17:48:00.000-05:00

Vision Forum is having another great giveaway. They have any "christian book" you could ever need. So, what are you waiting for sign up now. Visit

Vision Forum Giveaway

2011-11-22T13:04:00.000-05:00

Doorpost giveaway.

2011-10-17T11:00:00.001-04:00

Head over to Doorpost and check out their great giveaway. This is an awesome giveaway with many chances to win. I have purchased several Doorpost products and I love them. So hurry on over and enter.

Contest Prizes:

Contest prizes include $500 in gift certificates to Exodus Books, Wise Decor, and Doorposts. Winners will be announced on December 6, 2011.

Today’s Giveaways:

To help kick off the contest and spread the word, we’re offering five prizes which will be given away one week from now:

■One $75 gift certificate from Doorposts.

■One $75 gift certificate from Wise Decor, a company that offers Bible verses in pre-cut vinyl lettering that looks painted on.

■Three sets of 12 calligraphied Scripture prints from Doorposts.

Menu Plans

2011-04-11T00:17:00.000-04:00

T-ball starts today and with hubby managing the team our evenings are going to be very busy. So I need to come up with a plan for fast or crockpot meals that can be whipped up in a hurry.
Monday-crockpot Italian chicken
Tuesday-beans and cornbread
Wednesday-burgers and baked beans
Thursday-salmon patties and fried potatoes
Friday-meatloaf

That should do it. Of course leftovers will be used for next days lunch.

Fanfare for the common man. The true American Idols sound the trumpets o...

2010-10-05T23:21:00.001-04:00

This lady of God is so inspiring.

2010-10-05T22:56:00.001-04:00

I took this from we4bates.blogspot.com

How sweet.

2010-10-01T01:50:00.002-04:00

That is called a what???

2010-09-10T00:07:00.001-04:00

I love homeschooling my kids because I have so much fun with them. Today my five year old was coloring a picture from her age appropriate body book. She was coloring the digestive system while I was explaining it to her. A few minutes later, I over hear her explaining everything to her older brother. When she go to the intestines, she paused a minute and said, "This is called the poop pipe." How funny is that?

New way of eating

2010-09-08T12:17:00.002-04:00

Let's keep this post real. I am very overweight. It started with my first child and hasn't stopped. I need to change a few things. My diet wasn't so much about piggin out on ice cream or pizza but more about PEPSI, to the tune of 6-7 cans a day. Oh, and the wonderful world of white bread. A perfect snack would be a can of Pepsi and a slice of white bread. YUM. Okay I have issues.

I am currently holding the soda down to one can a day and I have traded white wheat for whole. I of course in two weeks have lost zero pounds:( That ticks me off. But on to the rest of my family's new diet plan.

The NO NO list:
No soda
No white wheat(except special occasions)
No soy (I am allergic)
No HFCS
No MSG
No nitrates
No things with ingredients I can't pronounce

The CAN list:
Fruits
Veggies
Whole wheat
Almond milk for me
Lean meats
Our own eggs
Lots from scratch

I am wondering if I need to take a herbal supplement or something to jump start my metabolism. I though for sure I would lose at least some when I quit drinking soda, so maybe there is something else going on.

Hubby is on this new way of eating and is loosing lots of weight. I am still not sure if I am happy or envious about it.LOL

The only problem I am having with this new program of sorts is I have no idea what to do for snacks. Fruit is not cutting with the kiddos anymore and I am out of ideas. So if anyone happens by this blog and has any ideas please let me know.

On a different note, I know that I never post anymore, but I have some post coming, I promise. I hope to get up at least a post on our homeschool year and some pics of the kids in the mountains in the fall. We love to go riding around the ATV paths around here in the fall.

More praising the Lord

2010-06-29T11:36:00.002-04:00

In a previous post, I wrote about how my mother and sister in law were spared when they were involved in a wreck. Well, today hubby was in a wreck. On his way to work, his brother was driving when he slid off the road and over the mountain. Praise God he is okay and unharmed. They managed to get the car back in the road and everything is fine now, except maybe the car and their egos. LOL. PRAISE the LORD!!!!

Robert Byrd

2010-06-28T16:12:00.002-04:00

Today WV Senator Robert Byrd died. Although his political beliefs may have sometimes differed from mine, I have to give the man his dues. Senator Byrd did hold the most consecutive terms of anyone in office and he also had a very good attendance record with more roll call votes than anyone else in the history of the senate.

From a personal perspective, Senator Byrd was always very prompt on responding to my questions or complaints in regards to his representation. I fully believe that he cared deeply for the people of West Virginia and I also believe he tried very hard to represent them to the best of his ability.

Praising the Lord

2010-06-24T23:52:00.003-04:00

Our family is so thankful for God's protection lately. A few weeks ago, my sister in law was going to the local feed store to get some feed for her horses. She went early in the morning because her and her husband was going on a weekend getaway. As she was pulling off another car hit her head on. She is okay. She ended up with some stitches, sprains, scrapes, and bruises. But she is okay and finally able to get around. Her truck is totaled. The guy that hit her had no insurance and a revoked license. He plans to sue her but that is another post. Don't get me started.

Last weekend, I got a call that my mom was in a wreck. She was on her way back from her dad's when she was hit head on. A car crossed into her lane and she went off the road and scraped her passenger side all the way down on a rock cliff. AND the car still hit her head on. The driver got out and accused her of hitting him. Uh, hello, her truck is pinned between a rock cliff and YOUR car. At the accident, she kept loosing consciouses and they took her to the ER. She is okay. She suffered a major concussion and a torn muscle in her arm. She is pretty banged up. She has been referred to a neurologist and may need some PT for her arm. Her truck is totaled.

I still have reason to rejoice though. They are both okay. God was there with them. Actually, my mom was praising the Lord over and over and the EMTs thought that she was delusional from the concussion. LOL God is Good.

A few of my favorite people

2010-06-07T23:31:00.004-04:00

Go baby go. Hooray

My baby and her baby, picking flowers.

My beautiful blue eyed princess.

Raising Homemakers

2010-06-01T23:08:00.004-04:00

Check out this great, new site for future homemakers. I strongly feel that a tide has turned in this country. Women are once again taking up the call to be keepers of the home. Of course, if any are like me, I had no idea how to be a homekeeper. I grew up with my mother working and going to college full time so I didn't really know how to keep a home, cook, or anything else. Now I have a long way to go but I have come pretty far in my abilities over the last few years. But hopefully with websites like this we will have help in training up our own daughters to answer the call of homemaking.

One last thing, Raising Homemakers is having a great giveaway too. So head on over and enter.

What a great eleven years.

2010-05-22T12:56:00.002-04:00

glitter-graphics.com

Happy Anniversary, Daniel. I love you!

2010-05-19T12:45:00.001-04:00

I copied this post from Grape Moments in Life. You should drop and look around at her wonderful blog.

I found THIS BLOG and thought I'd share. I did a copy and paste to my blog so I can't take the credit for this neat list. This is a list of just some of the famous people that were homeschooled.
There are a bunch of athletes that weren't added and Venus and Serena Williams (tennis) as well as Tim Tebow (football) are just three of them. Anyway, I thought it was interesting. =)

Constitutional Convention Delegates

* Richard Basseti – Governor of Delaware
* William Blount – U.S. Senator
* George Clymer – U.S. Representative
* William Few – U.S. Senator
* Benjamin Franklin – Inventor and Statesman
* Alexander Hamilton – Lawyer and Economist
* William Houston – Lawyer
* William S. Johnson – Columbia College President
* William Livingston – Governor of New Jersey
* James Madison – 4th President of the U.S.
* George Mason – Justice of Virginia County Court
* John Francis Mercer – U.S. Representative
* Charles Pickney III – Governor of S. Carolina
* John Rutledge – Chief Justice U.S. Supreme Court
* Richard D. Spaight – Governor of North Carolina
* George Washington – 1st President of the U.S.
* John Witherspoon – President of Princeton
* George Wythe – Justice of Virginia High Court

Presidents

* John Adams
* John Quincy Adams
* Grover Cleveland
* Jefferson Davis (the only president of the short-lived Confederate States of America)
* James Garfield
* William Henry Harrison
* Andrew Jackson
* Thomas Jefferson
* Abraham Lincoln
* James Madison
* James Polk
* Franklin Delano Roosevelt
* Theodore Roosevelt
* John Tyler
* George Washington
* Woodrow Wilson

Statesmen

* Henry Fountain Ashurst
* William Jennings Bryan
* Winston Churchill
* Henry Clay
* John Dickinson
* Pierre du Pont
* Benjamin Franklin
* Patrick Henry
* William Penn
* Daniel Webster

Military Officers

* John Barry – Senior Navy Officer
* George Rogers Clark – Revolutionary War hero
* Nathanael Greene – Revolutionary War hero
* Nathan Hale – Revolutionary War hero
* Stonewall Jackson – Civil War General
* John Paul Jones – Father of the American Navy
* Robert E. Lee – Civil War General
* Douglas MacArthur – U.S. General
* George Patton – U.S. General
* Matthew Perry – U.S. Naval Officer
* John Pershing – U.S. General
* David Dixon Porter – Civil War Admiral
* Joseph Bradley Varnum – Revolutionary War hero

U.S. Supreme Court Judges

* Charles Evans Hughes
* John Jay
* John Marshall
* John Rutledge
* Sandra Day O’Connor

Religious Leaders

* Joan of Arc
* Dietrich Bonhoeffer
* William Carey
* Jonathan Edwards
* Philipp Melancthon
* Dwight L. Moody
* John Newton
* John Owen
* Hudson Taylor
* John & Charles Wesley
* Brigham Young

Explorers

* William Clark – Lewis & Clark Expedition
* Meriwether Lewis – Lewis & Clark Expedition
* John Wesley Powell – Colorado River Expedition
* Sir Ernest Shackleton – Antarctic Expedition

Scientists

* Wilson A. Bentley – “The Snowflake Man”
* George Washington Carver – agricultural research
* Pierre Curie – discovered radium
* Albert Einstein – theoretical physicist
* Paul Erdos – Hungarian mathematician
* Michael Faraday – electrochemist
* Pierre-Gilles de Gennes – French physicist
* Oliver Heaviside – electromagnetism researcher
* T.H. Huxley – biologist, zoologist, Darwinist
* Ruth Lawrence – mathematician
* Gilbert Newton Lewis – physical chemist
* Ada Lovelace – founder of scientific computing
* Benoit Mandelbrot – pioneer in fractal geometry
* Blaise Pascal – French mathematician
* Joseph Priestley – father of modern chemistry
* Samuel C. C. Ting – Chinese American physicist
* Konstantin Tsiolkovsky – Russian rocket scientist

Inventors

* Alexander Graham Bell – invented the telephone
* John Moses Browning – firearms inventor/designer
* Peter Cooper – built the first modern skyscraper, the first commercial locomotive, and patented the first gelatin dessert which was later named Jell-O
* Thomas Edison – invented the stock ticker, mimeograph, phonograph, and electric light bulb
* Benjamin Franklin – invented the lightning rod
* Elias Howe – invented sewing machine
* William Lear – airplane creator
* Cyrus McCormick – invented grain reaper
* Guglielmo Marconi – developed radio
* Eli Whitney – invented the cotton gin
* Sir Frank Whittle – invented turbo jet engine
* Orville and Wilbur Wright – brothers who built the first successful airplane

Artists

* William Blake – painter, engraver, poet
* John Singleton Copley – American Colonial painter
* Evelyn De Morgan – Pre-Raphaelite painter
* Christian Grew – American Painter
* Donal Hord – San Diego sculptor
* Akiane Kramarik- 10-year-old art and poetry prodigy
* Claude Monet – French Impressionist
* Grandma Moses – American folk artist
* Charles Willson Peale – American portrait artist
* Lu Pinchang – ceramic sculptor
* Leonardo da Vinci – Renaissance artist, sculptor
* Andrew Wyeth – American realist painter
* Jamie Wyeth – American realist painter

Composers

* Johann Sebastian Bach – Baroque
* Irving Berlin – Patriotic
* Anton Bruckner – Symphonies
* Noel Coward – Musicals
* Felix Mendelssohn – Romantic
* Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Classical
* John Porcaro – Experimental
* Francis Poulenc – Choral
* John Philip Sousa – “March King”

Writers

* Louisa May Alcott – author of Little Women
* Hans Christian Anderson – fairy tale writer
* Margaret Atwood – Canadian novelist, poet
* Fawn M. Brodie – biographer
* Pearl S. Buck – Nobel prize-winning author
* William F. Buckley, Jr. – conservative writer
* Willa Cather – American novelist
* Agatha Christie – mystery author
* Samuel Clemens – a.k.a. Mark Twain
* Charles Dickens – British novelist
* Robert Frost – Pulitzer Prize-winning poet
* Charlotte Perkins Gilman – early feminist writer
* Alex Haley – African-American novelist
* Sharlot Hall – poet, writer, Arizona historian
* Joshua Harris- pastor and author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye
* Bret Harte – frontier California journalist
* L. Ron Hubbard – science fiction writer
* Helen Keller – blind and deaf author and lecturer
* Rose Wilder Lane – journalist, ghostwriter, daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder
* C.S. Lewis – Christian writer and apologist
* Amy Lowell – Modernist poet
* Gabriela Mistral – Nobel-prize winning Latin American poet
* Sean O’Casey – Irish author
* Thomas Paine – political writer during the American Revolution, author of Common Sense
* Christopher Paolini – teen author of Eragon
* Isabel Paterson – conservative political author
* Beatrix Potter – author of Peter Rabbit Tales
* Jedediah Purdy – author of For Common Things: Irony, Trust, and Commitment in America Today
* Kenneth Rexroth – poet, translator, critical essayist
* Carl Sandburg – American poet
* George Bernard Shaw – Irish-born playwright
* Mattie J. T. Stepanek – 11-year-old author of Heartsongs
* Rosemary Sutcliff – historical novels for children
* Rabindranath Tagore – Bengali poet, essayist, dramatist, songwriter
* Leo Tolstoy – Russian writer
* Mercy Warren – American Revolution eyewitness
* Phillis Wheatley – African-American poet
* Walt Whitman – American poet
* Laura Ingalls Wilder – children’s book author
* Virginia Woolf – English novelist

Educators

* Amos Bronson Alcott – innovative teacher, father of Louisa May Alcott
* Catharine Beecher – co-founder of the Hartford Female Seminary
* Jill Ker Conway – first woman president of Smith College
* Erik Demaine – associate professor of Computer Science at MIT
* Timothy Dwight – President of Yale University
* William Samuel Johnson – President of Columbia College
* Horace Mann – “Father of the American Common School”
* Charlotte Mason – Founder of Charlotte Mason College of Education
* Joyce Reed – Associate Dean of the College, Brown University
* Fred Terman – President of Stanford University
* Frank Vandiver – President of Texas A&M University
* Booker T. Washington – teacher and founder of Tuskegee Institute
* Noah Webster – “Father of American Christian Education”
* John Witherspoon – President of Princeton University

Medical Practitioners

* Clara Barton – started the Red Cross
* Elizabeth Blackwell – first woman in the U.S. to receive a medical degree
* Florence Nightingale – Nurse
* Susan La Flesche Picotte – first American Indian woman physician
* Albert Schweitzer – Physician
* Mary Walker – Civil War physician; recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor

Business Entrepreneurs

* Andrew Carnegie – wealthy steel industrialist
* Amadeo Giannini – Bank of America’s founder
* Horace Greeley – New York Tribune founder
* Soichiro Honda – creator of the Honda automobile company
* Peter Kindersley – book illustrator and publisher
* Ray Kroc – founder of McDonald’s fast food restaurant chain
* Jimmy Lai – newspaper publisher; founder of Giordano International
* Dr. Orison Swett Marden – founder, Success magazine
* Adolph Ochs – New York Times founder
* Joseph Pulitzer – newspaper publisher; established Pulitzer Prize
* Colonel Harland Sanders – started Kentucky Fried Chicken
* Dave Thomas – founder of the Wendy’s restaurant chain

Others

* Abigail Adams – wife of John Adams; mother of John Quincy Adams
* Ansel Adams – photographer
* Susan B. Anthony – women’s rights leader
* John James Audubon – ornithologist and artist
* Alyssa Buecker – director, Milbo Productions
* John Burroughs – naturalist
* Jennie Chancey – historical costumer
* Davy Crockett – frontiersman
* Edward Curtis – photographer
* Robin Lee Graham – youngest person to sail around the world at age 16
* Alex and Brett Harris – twin teen writers and conference speakers for “The Rebelution,” a Christian ministry/youth organization
* Eric Hoffer – social philosopher
* Sam Houston – lawyer; first leader of Texas
* Abraham Kuyper – Dutch politician, journalist
* Mary Leakey – fossil hunter
* Charles Fletcher Lummis – journalist, historian, photographer, founder of the Southwest Society
* Harriet Martineau – first woman sociologist
* Margaret Mead – cultural anthropologist
* John Stuart Mill – free-market Economist
* Charles Louis Montesquieu – philosopher
* John Muir – naturalist
* Raymond Parks – Civil Rights activist, husband of Rosa Parks
* Sofia, Susan, and Judit Polgar – chess masters
* Bill Ridell – Newspaperman
* Will Rogers – Humorist
* Eleanor Roosevelt – wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt
* Bertrand Russell – Logician
* Drew Ryun – co-founder of Generation Joshua, director of Jim Ryun Running Camp
* Ned Ryun – co-founder of Generation Joshua, president of American Majority
* Deborah Sampson – female soldier in the American Revolution
* Emerson Spartz – 12-year-old internet entrepreneur (MuggleNet)
* Herbert Spencer – philosopher, sociologist
* Gloria Steinem – founder of Ms. magazine
* Timmy Teepell – chief of staff for Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana
* Lester Frank Ward – Father of American Sociology
* Martha Washington – wife of George Washington
* Frances E. C. Willard – educator, temperance leader, and suffragist
* Frank Lloyd Wright – architect
* John Lloyd Wright – architect, toy designer, inventor of Lincoln Logs
* Sho Yano – gifted child prodigy
* Elijah ben Solomon Zalman – Jewish scholar
POSTED BY KELLI AT 12/16/2009 10:00:00 AM 0 COMMENTS

In memory of our miners. May we never forget.

2010-05-06T00:28:00.002-04:00

Summer school

2010-05-05T23:52:00.003-04:00

As this school year is winding down, I am thinking about the summer months. I would like to do "light" school work during summer. Not a lot, just touch up on some subjects.

CC: Work on multiplication tables and cursive.
KC: Reading well and handwriting worksheets. Maybe some "very light" math.
Both: Independent reading, botany study, and geography study.

We will be using Galloping the Globe, Fun with Times Tables, and some on line resources.

Of course, I will need to look at curriculum for the fall as well. I really need to get CC away from Saxon math because he is so bored with it. I was thinking about using Horizon Math or Math U See, but not sure. Any ideas? I want to do more hands on as well this fall, as both kids seem to enjoy that. Daddy will have to help with the science experiments though, so not my department LOL. Anyway, just thinking out loud here, but could use some help.

Frugal way of life

2010-04-28T11:14:00.002-04:00

Are you green or are you frugal? Some people would have you to believe you must buy this and try that to be "green" because the would is going to come to an end if we don't. Our children will "suffer" because we all didn't buy 100 percent recyclable materials, solar panels, or hybrid cars. Lets be real. This world will end when God says it will and the enormous debt that we as a people have is what is really going to cause our kids to suffer.

Over the last couple of years, I have learned a lot about being so called green (mostly due to my financial struggles brought on by huge debt). God calls us to be good stewards of the earth, and our finances, and our families. It is so funny how all of this works together.

If we work hard to manage our finances always looking for a cheaper, better way to save, we will not be buying into the overly consuming lifestyle that so many do. For example if we want to better manage our heating bill, do we go out and spend upwards of twenty grand on solar panels or do we just turn the thermostat down in our homes?
Here are some green/frugal ideas from our home.

-BUY USED SAVE THE DIFFERENCE. This is our families anthem.
-Turn your thermostat down in the winter and up in the summer. Let your body get use to the adjustment. It will, I promise.
-Use ceiling fans, they can lower your homes temp by several degree and use way less energy than a air conditioner.
-Turn lights out when no in use and learn that you don't need to have a light on just because you are in the room. While watching tv, turn the lights out.
-Turn the computer off when not using it. I was surprised to learn how much electricity my computer uses when left on.
-I wash all of our laundry in cold water except diapers and bed linens. The laundry will be clean.
-Air dry your laundry. My favorite chore!!!! Dryers is one of the biggest users of energy in your home.
-We use only natural cleaners in our home. Do we go out and spend a fortune on them? NO! We make our own. There are a ton of recipes for this on the web. We use vinegar and water for an all purpose cleaner. Baking soda and borax work great for tough bathroom stains. A small amount of olive oil will shine up any old piece of wood and we even use it to shine our hardwood floors. We also make our own laundry detergent. The laundry detergent doesn't irritate our eczema and it is way cheaper than those dye free brands in stores.
-We grow our own garden every summer as well as fruit trees and various berries. All organic, heirloom varieties.
-We also have our own chickens for organic eggs. Better for us, better for the environment, and better for our wallets.
-Cook from scratch and save a ton on packaging.

That is just a small sample of some of the green/frugal things we do to try to lower our expenses and our carbon foot print.

Some of my favorite Lincoln quotes

2010-03-27T23:46:00.002-04:00

No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.
- Abraham Lincoln |

I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.
- Abraham Lincoln

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
- Abraham Lincoln

The ballot is stronger than the bullet.
- Abraham Lincoln

Our Castle of Dreams

2010-03-27T23:32:00.001-04:00

My beautiful Bride
You did say "I do"
My heart is all yours
I promise to you
To build a Castle
A Castle so great
And gardens of love
My Princess of fate.

My shy handsome Groom
I could not say "no"
My heart is your heart
I’ll never let go
A white picket fence
A house with fresh paint
You are my Castle
The Prince of my fate.

My beautiful Bride
With child you are
I promise to be
Best Father by far.
To share all the pain
To share all the good
Make true my promise
Your Castle of wood.

My shy handsome groom
I cannot disguise
The part of our love
My womb holds inside
A wife and Mother
The best I will be
Within these old walls
A Castle will be.

My beautiful Bride
How is it I see
Three children later
And no time for me
Sorry I’m home late
I do need a hand
Hired help will build
Your Castle of sand.

My shy handsome Groom
I’m tired and worn
The children run wild
The wallpapers torn
I swear I do need
Just one helping hand
To help with chores in
My Castle of sand.

My beautiful Bride
I have to leave town
Business is calling
Lest all should fall down
My ventures I sought
Have not turned out well
They seem all for naught
Our Castle we sell.

My shy handsome Groom
I must tell you this
Children all grown now
So leave with a kiss
Our Castle is paid
I own it you see
I learned in good time
The Castle was me.
Jeanne (Carlton) Walters ©1995

The Girl I Used to Be

2010-03-27T23:29:00.000-04:00

She came tonight as I sat alone,
The girl I used to be.

She gazed at me with her earnest eye
And questioned reproachfully.

"Have you forgotten the many plans
And hopes that I had for you?"

"The great career, the splendid fame,
All the wonderful things to do?"

"Where is the mansion of stately height
With all its gardens rare?"

"The silken robes that I dreamed for you
And the jewels in your hair?"

And as she spoke, I was very sad
For I wanted her pleased with me...
This slender girl I used to be.

So gently rising, I took her hand,
And guided her up the stairs

Where peacefully sleeping, my babies lay
So innocent, sweet, and fair.

I told her that these are my only gems,
And Precious they are to me.

That silken robe is my Motherhood
Of costly simplicity.

And my mansion of stately height is love,
And the only career I know,

Is serving each day in these sheltered walls
For the dear ones who come and go.

And as I spoke to my shadowy guest,
She smiled through her tears at me

And I saw the woman I am now...
Pleased the girl I used to be.

author: Rowena K. Lewis©2001
Used with permission
Thank You, Rowena.

Great twist on an old favorite

2010-03-27T23:17:00.001-04:00

Mary had a little lamb
His fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went,
The Lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school each day,
T'wasn't even in the rule.
It made the children laugh and play,
To have a Lamb at school.
And then the rules all changed one day,
illegal it became;
To bring the Lamb of God to school,
Or even speak His Name.
Every day got worse and worse,
And days turned into years.
Instead of hearing children laugh,
We heard gun shots and tears.
What must we do to stop the crime,
That's in our schools today?
Let's let the Lamb come back to school,
And teach our kids to pray!

John Wayne for president?

2010-03-22T23:58:00.003-04:00

Today, I was discussing with my 7yo son a picture that showed the American Forefathers. I asked him if he could identify any of them. His response? George Washington, Thomassss uh, uh, Jeefferson, and oh yeah, John Wayne! He meant to say George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams.LOL I still don't know how he knows anything about John Wayne. Out of the mouths of babes...is always something funny.

2010-03-22T23:37:00.004-04:00

I want to write a really meaningful entry to describe the way I feel about the way our political leaders have completely disregarded the majority and passed this health care death sentence. I want it to be inspiring and motivating, honestly I do. But all I can think of is "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME" and maybe some "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?", and a little of "HOW CAN YOU BE THAT BOLD TO GO AGAINST US?".

How does this all end? I don't understand why they would pass something they know is going to get them kicked out come election time. There is only two explanations that I can see.

1. They are so out of the loop, that they really think they can't get pushed out of office....OR
2. They find a way to ensure that they stay in office. HMMMMM....ever hear the one about the president who gets rid of term limits to better himself. I am just saying, I would not be surprised. Actually, nothing would surprise me anymore.

Please check out the Christian Mother Series.

2010-03-22T23:34:00.002-04:00

This website is full of wonderful advice, ideas, and encouragement for us christian wives and mothers. You will love it.

Oh joy

2010-03-22T23:32:00.002-04:00

My seeds finally came in. I'm running late on getting them, but woo hoo they are here!

Ready for spring!!

2010-03-10T10:13:00.004-05:00

It has been warm and about 60 degrees here so far this week. Of course, that means spring fever has hit. It could not have happened soon enough as this was the worst winter I have ever seen. I think I could go a long time without seeing snow again and that would be fine with me. Anyway I thought I would share some of what we will be planting this year. All of our garden so far is going to be heirloom seeds from various on line sources.

Kentucky Wonder Bush Beans
Great Northern Shell Bean
Copenhagen Cabbage Seeds
Golden Bantam Corn
Straight Eight Cucumber
Hale's Best Melons
Dixie Queen Watermelon
Black Diamond Watermelon
Sweet Banana Peppers (hubby)
California Wonder Peppers
Jubilee Tomato
Brandywine Tommto
Soft White Wheat
Hard Red Wheat
Buckwheat
Chicory
Chamomile
Red Clover
Sage
Parsley
Pollinator Flowers
Alfaflfa
Lettuce mix
Onions
Potatoes

That should be a good start anyway. I would like to get some more herbs for the herb garden but we will wait on that. Hubby wants to plant only what we really like as far as the veggie garden so that narrowed it down a lot. I still have some half runner beans and some Silver Queen corn from last year. I plan on being able to can or freeze a lot this year, if the Lord be willing. The wheat is more of an expeirment. We have this large upper bottom on our property that just sets there. Hubby wants a mini jersey to call that place home, but those little things are expensive. So for now we are just going to plant lots of wheat there. If it does good we may grind some for ourselves but it will also be used for the chickes and goats(as soon as I talk hubby into it). The stalks will be used for compost as they are rich in many nutrients.

I also need to order some fruits trees and berries but that is going to have to wait until next payday. We already have some apple, peach, and pear trees along with some grapes, blackberries, and strawberries. I want to add a lot to that because we have very little of them and they tend to be ate on the spot instead of perserving them. I also would like to have some paw paw trees and a few cherries.

We are wanting to get some type of vegetation for a border by our house. Our backyard is right beside the dirt road by our house. This has always bothered me especially because we have lots of windows on the back side of our house and it makes me paranoid. I wouldn't mind the privacy in the backyard either. We thought of privacy fencing, but that is WAYYY to expensive. Any ideas on what kind of trees or shrubs that would make a nice full barrier and be fast growing?

Well, that is the garden so far. What are you planting?

In memory of Buck

2010-02-23T12:44:00.004-05:00

Our beloved dog of thirteen years passed away Friday morning. I am not one to usually cry over the death of a pet, but I must admit I was crying like a baby. Buck first became a member of our family when my husband and I had only been dating for four months. Some people were giving away pups at a flea market. Over the years he has been a protector and a friend. He has ran off robbers, mountain lions, and pit bulls. He has warned us when something was wrong like the day he wouldn't let us in our truck. Turns out the brake line in the truck had broke and the brake fluid had leaked out. Our kids have know him their entire life and looked to him for protection when they were playing in the yard or when we would go into the mountains for a hike. I guess he was just a good, lovable country dog who will be sadly missed and loved by our family.

Kylee's Birthday

2010-02-15T23:53:00.004-05:00

Maybe sweet baby is finally one. Where did the time go? She is trying to get the hang of this walking thing, talking up a storm, and has a temper and a half. She is going to be one opinionated little girl. Happy birthday baby girl, we love you more than words can say.

2010-02-15T23:20:00.006-05:00

FOR TODAY
Outside my window...rainy.
I am thinking...that I need to do a lot of outside work on the homestead.
I am thankful for...my family and the heat pump being fixed for free, again.
From the learning rooms...I am taking a break. I need to get back to basics.
From the kitchen...homemade tacos and brownies for dessert. YUM!
I am creating...a less cluttered home.
I am going...to get new curtain rods for the bedroom.
I am reading...Calm my Anxious Heart. I can't think of the author's name, but it is good so far.
I am hoping...for a productive garden.
I am hearing...the patter of little feet.
Around the house...we will be working on gardening and yard work this week.
One of my favorite things...Air conditioning. I am a total wimp at working in the heat.
A few plans for the rest of the week: Yard work, garden, decluttering my kitchen cabinets.
Here is picture for thought I am sharing..

That picture reminds me of my grandma who I miss everyday.

To participate in The Simple Woman's Daybook visit http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

2010-02-01T11:08:00.002-05:00

I have saw this list on a couple of blogs today and I thought I would do one too. This is a list of 100 things one could do in their life. I will write all the ones I have done in bold print.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been inside an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma>
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

There you have it the good, the bad, and the what was I thinking!!!!!

Thank you, to all vets. God Bless

2009-11-11T14:23:00.000-05:00

glitter-graphics.com

My Montage 10/29/09 at OneTrueMedia.com

2009-11-10T21:02:00.002-05:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

More kid funnies

2009-11-10T17:32:00.002-05:00

A few nights ago, I was watching Glenn Beck (I had it recorded). My 7yo walks into the room and says, "So where is Glenn?" Glenn wasn't on the show at the time. I told him that Glenn was in the hospital with appendicitis. So he replied, "Is that a side effect of H1N1 or something?" I think that is when you realize that the news is on way too much in your home:)

Menu ideas

2009-11-05T23:35:00.003-05:00

Have you ever had something for dinner that was, well strange? This usually happens to us the day before store day, otherwise known as use it up day. I try to spend the day using up some leftovers and things that will soon go bad. Today for dinner we had Ramen noodles with green beans and cut up wieners. Strange? YES. But at least we aren't wasting it. I am wanting to change around my menu some. I want to do a two week rotating menu. DH job keeps him from being here for supper, so I thought about keeping suppers light. Something easy and cheap would be nice. I am doing this in an attempt to cut back on time spent cooking in the evenings and also to cut back on grocery expenses. If anyone has any ideas let me know.

Please join in.

2009-10-28T18:44:00.001-04:00

Visit As A Mom...

One voice may be small and meek, but the voice of many will be heard.

Bad breath

2009-10-28T18:41:00.003-04:00

Overheard conversation between my kids.

5yodd-"Oh, no!"
7yods-"What's wrong?"
5yodd-"My breath stinks like Reese Cups!"

Ha,ha. How cute. She had just had a Reese Cup snack and I guess she thought she smelled like them.

Ugh!!!!!!!!!! My pics

2009-10-27T16:51:00.004-04:00

Last night I was uploading the pictures from Katie's birthday. It said download complete. That means it is finished, right? WRONG!!! I was going to post today about her party complete with all of those beautiful pictures, but they didn't upload. And because I listend to the stupid computer, I assumed it was FINISHED and deleted my memory card. Poof, my baby's birthday pics gone, forever. They were some great pics of her. I want to cry. I feel like a bad mom. I am going to go sulk now. Stupid computer or stupid me??!?!

Please join me in prayer.

2009-10-24T14:29:00.001-04:00

Please pray for this little family. We sometimes forget how blessed we really are until we see someone else's pain. Let us pray.

Bad, Bad Blogger

2009-10-21T01:17:00.002-04:00

It has been sooo long since I have posted here. I am usually looking at others blogs in my spare time and I just don't get around to here that often. We have been busy with homeschool, birthday preps, fall, and such. K's b-day is in a few days and I have not got her anything yet. YIKES!! I better do that soon. I did order her a hot dog stand. It is so cute. It is like a play tent but with a hot dog stand theme. She will love it because restuarant is one of her favortie things to play. My sweet 8mo has been sick this week. I HATE the thoughts of swine flu. She ran a fever, had a sore thorat, and was very fussy. I hope it will be okay. This swine flu thing makes everyone so nervous.

Other than that, life has been well...normal. Which can be nice. Tiring, but nice:)
I promise to try to blog more often. I wanted to have a blog to use as a journal for my kids. I want them to be able to look back on it and be able to read all the thoughts and feelings I had. Pretty cool, huh. Anyway, better posts, I promise. Blessings.

Friends of America Rally

2009-09-12T03:31:00.007-04:00

This post is a little late, but better late than never. On Labor Day, we attended the Friends of America Rally. We heard rumors that a big crowd was to be expected so we left home at 4:30 am. We arrived at the site of the festivities which was an old surface mine, at about 6:00am. There was already a huge line of traffic but we got there early enough to get a good seat in front of the stage. The Rally lasted until seven that evening and we had a blast. There were 100,000 in attendance. That was a huge number for such a small town. Seeing rallies like this makes me have hope for the future of our country. I really hope this kind of awareness continues because it frightens me to think of what kind of America my kids will have. And since this rally, I am going to make certain that I will try to do more to ensure a better tomorrow for them. At least I will know that I tried as hard as I could for them.

I also would like to add that Glenn Beck is going to be hosting a special 9-12 project tomorrow on Fox News. I think it starts at noon. This project is to try to get average Americans to remember how we all felt on 9-12-09. The day after September 11th. He hopes to once again get Americans to stand together for our families and our country. I think it will be a great show.

Here are some pics from the rally. Ted Nuggent, Sean Hannity, Hank Williams Jr., and John Rich were the headliners for this event.

2009-09-03T17:51:00.001-04:00

Please read

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9766870

The state fair

2009-08-24T23:15:00.007-04:00

We recently attended our state fair. It was so much fun. The kids love all of the live stock and the rides. This year Coty got to milk a cow!!! His dream come true. Kate backed out on that one. Of course they got to pet lots of animals and even dad got into that. We visted a colonial stand were the kids got to make their own candle and beaded necklace for free. It is good to see people caring enough about our youth to sit out in the heat all day for free. We looked at several different farm tractors, campers, and other equipment. We caught the BMX guys doing their thing at a show. My kids are in love. Of course, we had to get autographs and a picture with the crew. We finished the night off with a few rides. Kate is wide open and ready for any ride. She is definitely my dare devil:( Ohhh the worries I am going to have. We actually rode one ride that left me completley dizzy: she jumped up and said "what's next, momma?" After we left the fair, we stopped by McDonalds for burgers and then we were homeward bound after a very long and full day.

2009-08-23T00:30:00.003-04:00

Happenings

2009-08-14T17:27:00.003-04:00

We have all been sick around here. Everyone down to the baby. Although we are doing some better, we still have a yucky cough and feel very tired. I will be washing all of the bed linens and cleaning up after this nasty cold today. I hope we will feel better by tommorrow. It is state fair time!!!! We promised the kids we would take them. I have to get my energy back up for that one. I feel blessed though, we haven't been sick like this in about a year. So that is a good thing. Hope everyone has a blessed weekend.

They grow up too fast.

2009-08-11T23:54:00.003-04:00

It seems like yesterday when I had my beautiful Kylee. She just turned six months and I sit in amazement wondering; where did the time go. I feel like I have missed something. Like I didn't squeeze enough time out of those first six months. Don't get me wrong, she is always with me and we spend lots of quality time with her. I just think I took it for granted before and now I realize how precious our time with them really is. I don't know how I could possibly teach them all they need to know in just 18 years. I am thankful that I serve a might and gracious God that will fill in those gaps for me. I know that they have to grow up but I really grieve in my heart about it. To think that she could be the last baby I have is too much. I pray that the Lord blesses us with more arrows and gives me and my husband the ability to raise them up in admiration of the Lord.

Hold tight to those little ones. Before too long they will be grown and we can only pray for God's help in raising them. So, go, momma. Go and play with them a little more, read to them a little more, and pray for them a little more.

Fall, fall, fall

2009-08-05T16:41:00.003-04:00

Am I the only one ready for fall? This summer has been a bust here on the east coast. I think we only had a handful of summer like days. It has been rain everyday it seems. It looks like winter outside, all dark and gloomy. The temps are not bad but not what we are use to this time of year. I just feel ready for fall, maybe the weather will match the season. LOL I also can't wait for the colors of fall and the smell of pumpkin and apple scented candles. AHHHHH....

We are hoping to take the kids to a farm that host corn mazes and pumpkin patches. They have never been to an actually pumpkin patch before so it should be fun. We are also planning to go to the state fair in a few weeks. I am hoping the kids have fun. Katie wants to be able to milk a cow and goat. She is such a tomboy at times. Coty wants to see the BMX riders. That boy loves anything with a motor. I just want to see them smile:) Hopefully, there will be alot of low cost activities for us to do in the next couple of months. We have a lot of festivals and things to usher in fall. Hope it will all be a blast.

I am off to work. I have lots of laundry to do and some curtains to hang up. I am wanting to start planning for a small fall garden and some projects to do with the kids. Blessings.

Who am I?

2009-08-04T03:19:00.003-04:00

Ok, one more post. Candy at Keeping the home, wrote a post all about her and she invited other bloggers to join in. So here goes.

I am a saved by grace follower of Christ.
I believe that the bible is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the TRUTH.
I am married to my best friend.
I have three children.
I homeschool the oldest two.
I love the country.
I like to garden.
I like to read.
I like to learn new things everyday.
I like to see my children's eyes light up when they learn something new.
I hope to have more kids.
I really believe I was born in the wrong decade. I love the 40's and 50's.
I love cheap, uh, I mean frugal things.
I like to make others laugh.
I am known for being "passionate" about my beliefs.
I don't back down from a good debate, except with my MIL, you can't win with that woman:)
The older I get, the more I realise just how secular the world really is and just how close the rapture must be.
I weep for those that are lost and don't even know it.
I weep for the unborn who are murdered everyday.
I can't wait for the day that I hear "well done good and faithful servant."

My van, my van, it is fixed.

2009-08-04T03:06:00.002-04:00

My wonderful van is finally fixed. It had some transmission problems which left it with no reverse. We still drove it anywhere we could make a u-turn:) But hubby took it out and his cousin fixed it. Thank you cousin!!! Hubby, myself, and the in-laws put the transmission back in yesterday. Now it runs great!!!!! I love the van. It was a gift from my dad. He bought a newer one and gave us the old one because we could use the room. Hubby would always say how much he hated vans, but now; hubby hearts vans!!!!!

We are also going to the eye doctor today, in our van!! Okay, enough with the van thing already. We really need new glasses. After that it is back home for us. We are waiting patiently for payday on Friday because I need to go to the grocery store badly. I have such a love hate relationship with the store. I am so happy to provide my family with their needs, but when the cashier rings up my purchase....ughhh. Food should not cost that much.

I must go now. My hands are dry and cracked and it hurts to type. I promise to blog more in the future. It has been a busy season in our family. God bless you all. Blessings.

Just a little something about my home.

2009-07-22T01:53:00.000-04:00

This is my Home - West Virginia @ Yahoo! Video

Changing America and the world

2009-06-11T21:10:00.002-04:00

This is kind of scary.

2009-06-11T16:49:00.001-04:00

National Level Exercise 2009 (NLE 09)
National Level Exercise 2009 (NLE 09) is scheduled for July 27 through July 31, 2009 NLE 09 will be the first major exercise conducted by the United States government that will focus exclusively on terrorism prevention and protection, as opposed to incident response and recovery.

NLE 09 is designated as a Tier I National Level Exercise. Tier I exercises (formerly known as the Top Officials exercise series or TOPOFF) are conducted annually in accordance with the National Exercise Program (NEP), which serves as the nation's overarching exercise program for planning, organizing, conducting and evaluating national level exercises. The NEP was established to provide the U.S. government, at all levels, exercise opportunities to prepare for catastrophic crises ranging from terrorism to natural disasters.

NLE 09 is a White House directed, Congressionally- mandated exercise that includes the participation of all appropriate federal department and agency senior officials, their deputies, staff and key operational elements. In addition, broad regional participation of state, tribal, local, and private sector is anticipated. This year the United States welcomes the participation of Australia, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom in NLE 09.

EXERCISE FOCUS

NLE 09 will focus on intelligence and information sharing among intelligence and law enforcement communities, and between international, federal, regional, state, tribal, local and private sector participants.

The NLE 09 scenario will begin in the aftermath of a notional terrorist event outside of the United States, and exercise play will center on preventing subsequent efforts by the terrorists to enter the United States and carry out additional attacks. This scenario enables participating senior officials to focus on issues related to preventing terrorist events domestically and protecting U.S. critical infrastructure.

NLE 09 will allow terrorism prevention efforts to proceed to a logical end (successful or not), with no requirement for response or recovery activities.

NLE 09 will be an operations-based exercise to include: activities taking place at command posts, emergency operation centers, intelligence centers and potential field locations to include federal headquarters facilities in the Washington D.C. area, and in federal, regional, state, tribal, local and private sector facilities in FEMA Region VI, which includes the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

EXERCISE OBJECTIVES

Through a comprehensive evaluation process, the exercise will assess prevention and protection capabilities both nationally and regionally. Although NLE 09 is still in the planning stages, the exercise is currently designed to validate the following capabilities:

Intelligence/Information Sharing and Dissemination
Counter-Terrorism Investigation and Law Enforcement
Air, Border and Maritime Security
Critical Infrastructure Protection
Public and Private Sector Alert/Notification and Security Advisories
International Coordination
VALIDATING THE HOMELAND SECURITY SYSTEM

Exercises such as NLE 09 are an important component of national preparedness, helping to build an integrated federal, state, tribal, local and private sector capability to prevent terrorist attacks, and rapidly and effectively respond to, and recover from, any terrorist attack or major disaster that occurs.

The full-scale exercise offers agencies and jurisdictions a way to test their plans and skills in a real-time, realistic environment and to gain the in-depth knowledge that only experience can provide. Participants will exercise prevention and information sharing functions that are critical to preventing terrorist attacks. Lessons learned from the exercise will provide valuable insights to guide future planning for securing the nation against terrorist attacks, disasters, and other emergencies.

For more information about NLE 09, contact the FEMA News Desk: 202-646-4600.

FEMA leads and supports the nation in a risk-based, comprehensive emergency management system of preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation, to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the nation from all hazards including natural disasters, acts of terrorism and other man-made disasters.

Last Modified: Thursday, 04-Jun-2009 11:54:54 EDT
Home Contact Us Privacy Policy Important Notices FOIA No FEAR Act Data USA.gov DHS
U.S. Department of Homeland Security | Federal Emergency Management Agency
500 C Street SW, Washington, D.C. 20472
Disaster Assistance: (800) 621-FEMA / TTY (800) 462-7585

I must be doing something right.

2009-05-28T21:34:00.002-04:00

I really must be doing something right. What do you mean? I must be doing something right to make the devil fight me so hard. It seems Lucifer is really trying hard to destroy us, to burden us down. I admit, I have faulted from time to time. I have gave him a little bit of help on that. But still, I have to be doing something right or he wouldn't care so much. I feel like our family has been pulled down and drug through the mud. It isn't serious stuff...We are all here and healthy. It is just stupid stuff. Of course, this all started with our business that went out of business, a bad accountant, and stupid decisions. We thought my husband's new job would be the answer, but his pay is now cut and he only works four days a week now. That is down from six days a week. We also owe a huge debt to the IRS. They started garnishing our paydays, HEAVILY. We have finally, hopefully got that straightened out. We filed bankruptcy. OUCH. Still have to pay IRS of course and our house payment. I burned part of our car with a spotlight that was left on. My dad gave us his van because he got a new one. The transmission went out and it will cost around $2000 to fix it. I have my OB follow up tomorrow. About two and a half months late but oh well. I have no way to get there. My husbands truck, a stick shift, will not hold us all and my MIL is sick and can't keep the kids. There is also so much in between like our grass growing up to my shoulders because our mower was broken and we couldn't get the part to fix it.

I know this is a pity party post for me. I will probably delete it later. I just needed to get it all out. To say it. To release it. I do feel blessed with my children, my husband, and my family. I am BLESSED. It is just sometimes this world will try so hard to break you, to cause you to fail, to cause you to turn away from what is right and true. Sometimes we need to release all that we carry. We need to give it all to God. Sometimes we need to just keep on moving. Doing the next thing, and the next, and the next. Sometimes we just need to be, to be still, to be silent, to be God's little child. To wait and listen for our Father to lead us and to guide us.

I know I am not alone. I know other families out there are hurting and that just makes me hurt more. Perhaps this is just a test. Perhaps He needs to mold and shape us for these end times. Maybe, we need to be stripped of everything. To be brought down and humbled. Maybe that is the only way we will truly listen to God. The only way we really full rely on God.

I do know that these stories are the kind of stories you tell your grand kids. Stories passed on of struggle, trials, and rejoicing. It will define who we are. My kids and grand kids will have wisdom because of the things my husband and I have endured. They will learn to lean on the Lord. They will learn to surrender to Him. They will learn that sometimes you cry but you must pray and keep on going. You can't let IT beat you.

2009-05-25T03:11:00.000-04:00

glitter-graphics.com

Beautiful poem floating around

2009-05-13T12:16:00.000-04:00

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt..
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body...
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom ..

Send this to someone who you think is an awesome Mom.

May you always be overwhelmed by the Grace of God rather than by the cares of life

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How sad

2009-05-13T12:12:00.001-04:00

THIS NEEDS TO GO AROUND THE USA MANY TIMES SO

KEEP IT GOING

What's wrong with this picture?
If you look closely at the picture above, you will note that all the Marines pictured are bowing their heads. That's because they're praying.
This incident took place at a recent ceremony honoring the birthday of the corps, and it has the ACLU up in arms. 'These are federal employees,' says Lucius Traveler, a spokesman for the ACLU , 'on federal property and on federal time. For them to pray is clearly an establishment of religion, and we must nip this in the bud immediately.'
When asked about the ACLU's charges, Colonel Jack Fessender, speaking for the Commandant of the Corps said (cleaned up a bit), 'Screw the ACLU.' GOD Bless Our Warriors, Send the ACLU to France
Please send this to people you know so everyone will know how stupid the ACLU is Getting in trying to remove GOD from everything and every place in America May God Bless America , One Nation Under GOD!
What's wrong with the picture? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
GOD BLESS YOU FOR
PASSING IT ON!

EDIT: The orginal copy had a picture of marines praying, but I couldn't get it to appear. I think you can still get the message.

I should have known.

2009-05-13T11:56:00.000-04:00

You Are the Kitchen

You are creative and inspired. You have a lot of projects going on.

You are also a homebody who enjoys a cozy night with a nice home cooked meal.

You are generous and giving. You enjoy taking care of people.

You have a knack for knowing what each person needs most.

What Room of the House Are You?

I'm back

2009-04-23T21:55:00.002-04:00

Where does time go? I have been wanting to post here, but things have been crazy around our neck of the woods. Too many crazy things to mention here. Have I told you how big my baby girl is getting? She is growing so fast. I think she is just the cutest thing in the world. She loves to laugh and coo. Big brother and big sister love to take care of her. I over heard my 4yo telling the baby that she was her momma. She then corrected herself by saying your second momma or just your sister.

Do too our recent run in with the IRS, my 6yo now loves to have "government and taxes" rant. It is so funny to hear. Gee,, I hope politics is NOT in his future.
We will be doing testing for home school next week. I still get nervous around this time of year. I am always afraid of getting behind. I guess that is every mom's fear. I also need to get busy on picking our new curriculum. Anyone know any good ones for second grade and kindergarten? I want something with a little structure but something I can add to alot. Oh, and it has to be cheap. I thought about MFW of FIAR. But I have not decided.
I do want to add playing a musical instrument to the curriculum but I don't know what program to use for that either. I don't play any and I can't find anyone around here to teach it. That may be a wait and see thing.

I need to get off the computer and get busy on some housework, but I will try to post more on here. Things have just been too busy. I'll get better, I promise.

2009-03-23T18:47:00.001-04:00

Taken from Candy's site. PLEASE READ

2009-03-19T16:19:00.000-04:00

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - BAD NEWS

Apparently, it's no longer enough for Uncle Sam to try to force us into taking care of our children Old Sam's way. Now the U.N. is stepping in, on an international scale, and what they are planning to force on families is insane, and MUST BE STOPPED.

If you have never been politically active, then YOU are part of the problem! Stand up, and look around you! We are no longer fighting for our rights, and they are being taken away. I am NOT exaggerating, and YES I'm mad. You should be too.

Take a look at this seemingly "innocent" commercial for children, about the The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child:

'All children will go to "nice" schools.' Do you know what the UN Convention defines a "nice school" as? It's not private schools, and it's not homeschool. It's public school, but with MORE secularism than ever. If Americans allow themselves to be enslaved under The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, then homeschool will be ILLEGAL in all 50 states, regardless of state laws - they will be overrode with federal and international laws. Christian private schools will no longer be allowed to teach Christianity, without equally teaching all other religions - this means there would be no more CHRISTIAN schools. Perhaps there will be in name, but not in content, subject matter or sanctification.

Did you do something to upset your child lately? Maybe when your child wanted to eat a box of chocolates right before bedtime, and you said "no." Look out! Under The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the child could decide to take you to court and claim that you are not feeding them enough. One child took his parents to court (and won!) because he thought it was cruel of his parents to take him to church three times a week - Sunday morning and evening, and Wednesday nights.
We need an amendment that stands up for PARENTAL RIGHTS. Take a look at this:

The above video states "if we all stand together and raise our voices, Congress will respond." That's right! Let's stand together for parental rights. The U.N. should not have a say in which school our children go to, or if we homeschool them. Nor is it any of the UN's business if our child does something wrong, and is therefore grounded for it.

If The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is ratified, then each child will have a list of rights, of which they will be taught to know by heart in the public schools that they will be attending by the choice of the UN and our government. Here are a few of those "rights:"

The right to privacy - Yep. If you suspect your teenager has pot stashed in his room, you would not be allowed to go in there and find out. Your child could end up dying from a drug problem, but you couldn't interfere, or it would have violated their "right to privacy."

Freedom of expression - If your toddler throws a temper tantrum, you are not allowed to do anything. If your teen starts yelling the 'f' word out the widow of the car while you are driving to the grocery store, you are not allowed to do anything. The parent would have no right to interfere with the child's "freedom of expression."

If your child decides to take home another child and go to their room and close the door and have sex, you cannot stop them, else you'd be violating their "freedom of expression" and "freedom of privacy." Do you think I'm exaggerating? I'm not...

Here are a few excerpts from HSLDA:

"Under Article 13, any attempts to prevent their children from interacting with material parents deem unacceptable is forbidden. Children are vested with a "freedom of expression" right, which is virtually absolute. No allowance is made for parental guidance. Section 1 declares a child's right to "seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice."

In Article 14, children are guaranteed "freedom of thought, conscience and religion." Children have a legal right to object to all religious training. Alternatively, children may assert their right against parental objection to participate in the occult.

Article 15 declares "the right of the child to freedom of association." Parents could be prevented from forbidding their child to associate with people deemed to be objectionable companions. Under Article 15, children could claim a "fundamental" right to join gangs, cults, and racist organizations over parental objection.

Under Article 16, the "right to privacy" is granted to children. This UN sanctioned "privacy" would seemingly establish as the child's right to obtain an abortion without parental notice, the right to purchase and use contraceptives, and the right to pornography in the home.

Article 19 mandates the creation of an intensive bureaucracy for the purpose of "identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment, and follow-up" of parents who, in violation of the child's rights, treat their children negligently.

To insure State and U.N. control over their development, Article 7 requires all children must be immediately registered at birth."

The above excerpts are taken from the HSLDA.org website. Please read the article in its entirety - Oppose the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Next, please read this .pdf file called "THE UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD - The Most Dangerous Attack on Parental Rights in the History of the United States." The information contained in this .pdf document is something that everyone needs to know.

As Americans, we need to take steps to make sure America does NOT ratify this treaty. 192 nations have already ratified this treaty. The "Holy See" Roman Catholic Vatican was one of the first ones to ratify it. I make specific mention of this, because I know a lot of Catholics who will NOT support CRC (Convention on the Rights of the Child). Therefore, devout Catholics must be made aware, that if they stand with Bible believing Christians in rising up against the CRC, then they are going against the Vatican's wishes. BENEDICT XVI supports the CRC. Roman Catholics, I pray you DO stand with us on this issue. America must not ratify the CRC! Regardless of what religion you are, please stand with me to preserve parental rights.

To date, the only nations who have not ratified CRC, are Somalia and the United States. U.S. citizens, we must NOT allow this treaty to be ratified!

Please take the time to read The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child for yourself. You can read it here.

Here is a list of "Children's Rights," being taught from a UK website.

From what I've read, it looks like Canada and the UK have signed onto this treaty, but have not agreed to every stipulation yet. I know homeschool is still being allowed in Canada and the UK, but I don't know how regulated it is, etc. Obama is pushing for the full ratification of the entire Convention for the U.S, which could make homeschool in the U.S. instantly outlawed. "Primary Education" in article 28 could be defined as government (public) school education only.

Please listen to this video, in which the woman explains this stuff so much better than my feeble attempt:

Steps to Take Action - Time to make a stand!

STEP ONE: Sign the parental rights petition at the parentalrights.org website.

STEP TWO: Contact your state Representatives and Senators. If this is something you have little to no experience in, then consider joining the 10 in 2 program with ParentalRights.org . Here is a quote from their site, summing up the program:

"We need 10-and 2 volunteers who can enlist 10 people to do the following: sign the petition for the Amendment, sign 3 postcards to their Representative and Senators, and donate $1.
Then, we need those volunteers to recruit 2 more people to do the same thing."

I'm volunteering. Are you? Please join me; it'll only take a few minutes of your time, and it could make a BIG difference.

STEP THREE: If you have a website or blog, then please put up an article about the CRC and its atrocities hidden within. The media is not going to get the word out, so it's up to us. If you want to, you can just copy this article I've written and put it on your site - just get the word out! Email and call people as well. Let's do this.

Please take time to read and respond

2009-03-15T17:32:00.001-04:00

Barack Obama spoke at a Planned Parenthood Action Fund event, uttering the now infamous line, “Well, the first thing I’d do as president is, sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing I’d do.”

This is what we’ve been asked to do in response to this:

Mark March 31, 2009 on your calendar.

Get a red envelope. You can buy them at Kinkos or any party supply stores. On the front, address it to…

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Washington, D.C. 20500

On the back write the following message:

This envelope represents one child who died because of an abortion.

It is empty because the life that was taken is now unable to be a part of our world.

Mail the envelopes out March 31, 2009.

Forward this to every one of your friends who you think would send one too. The goal is to send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died in the U.S. before having a chance to live.

It may seem that those who believe abortion is wrong are in a minority. It may seem like we have no voice and it’s shameful to even bring it up. Let us show the President and the world that the voices of those of us who do not believe abortion is acceptable are not silent and must be heard.

Together in prayer and solidarity, we can change the heart of the President and save the lives of millions of children.

An empty red envelope will send a message to president Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue.

Thank you.

Filed under: Eternal Musings | No Comments »

Note: This was taken from Wholly By Grace. Thanks for the heads up.

Decluttering okay...not so much

2009-03-11T23:47:00.002-04:00

I was doing really well on tossing all kinds of stuff. Really, I was. And then baby girl decided that she wanted to be held all the time. If I put her down she is usually crying in under five minutes. I can barely do the basics.

I did manage to get the kids rooms done before her little spoiled rotten stage started. So now there are tons of bags of toys and clothes setting in my living room. Yeah. There is so much to do here in preperation for spring. It makes my mind go crazy. I will never get it all done in time.

We sold dh's box truck that happened to house all of his tools. Now we have nowhere to put the tools so we have to fix that. Along with a ton of other stuff. Good news is that we made a little money off of the box truck. We will be using that to pay off our smallest bill which is a credit card. It will also fund our emergency fund. Baby steps but still, one day, I will be debt free.

We have to grit our teeth and do our taxes soon. Our taxes is in such a mess because the CPA we had with our business was not filing extensions even though he told us he was. Of course he had no proof of it. But we are stuck with the bill. We owed around $6k in taxes but with the penalties it cost us $12k now:( I have no idea how we are going to pay it off but I guess we will some how.

I am going to get off of here and get busy since baby girl is asleep. I still have dishes to do and laundry to put away. Blessings.

Thankful Thursday

2009-02-26T16:14:00.002-05:00

I am so so so thankful that I got five hours of sleep last night instead of the usual three. God must have really felt sorry for me and had mercy on my sleepy eyes. Baby girl seems to have colic. I thought breastfeeding babies didn't really get colic but oh well. I am just thankful to have them and the sleep was just icing on the cake;)
Other stuff:
I am ready for spring. I need to air out the house and declutter and organize. Once again the toys are taking over. DO NOT buy toys for my kids. Please. They do not need them. At least some other kids will benefit from the unused toys. I just miss my some what empty house. When we first moved here three years ago, the house seemed so empty. We didn't have the furniture or anything else, to fill it. I sure do miss that. Now there is stuff everywhere. Mostly toys, books, and papers. Even when the house is clean it still looks messy because of the clutter. Maybe I could post some pics as I start the cluttering process. I also want to paint some rooms with some left over paint that I found. Some time this spring/summer, we will be taking up our carpet. We don't have anything to put down in its place yet. But if you know me you know that I hate carpet. We all have allergies and that carpet just traps all of that stuff. I am so tired of vacuuming it and shampooing it. We will just have sub-flooring to walk around on for a while, but that is fine by me. At least it can be just mopped up instead of having to look at a stain on carpet forever:0 When we get more out of debt, we plan on buying unfinished hardwood. I lived with plywood floors before and I can do it again. I better scoot, I have laundry left to do. Blessings.

Thankful Thursday

2009-02-19T16:25:00.002-05:00

It has once again turned cold here. We are suppose to get a big snow this weekend. It is hard to be thankful for that. I guess I will just keep trying to think of something:)

Anyway, besides the cold, I have so many things to be thankful for. I have my wonderful little family. I have a baby girl here, despite all the complications. I have very active and smart kids. DH's job seems to be holding out. Which is great news in this economy. He tries so hard to help with the baby, but bless his heart, when he is sleepy, he is sleepy.

I am so thankful that I got everything I needed for Kylee for free or very cheap. I heart ebay. There was a time that I just didn't think I would be prepared. I am also thankful to my fellow bloggers who introduced me to cloth diapers. They rock. I kind of feel bad for putting that scratchy disposible on my other two.

So, that is some of the things that I am thankful for. I am going to go put a load of laundry on and think of some reason to be thanful for the cold.
Blessings.

2009-02-16T20:31:00.002-05:00

Our baby girl, Kylee was born on February 7, 2009. She weighed 7lbs and 7 ounces. She is very healthy and beautiful.

The birth story is something different all together. On the sixth, I went to a regular OB app and was admitted to be induced. I was to be induced because I wasn't dilating and my blood pressure was going up. So to prevent pre-eclampsia I would deliver. Everything was going well. I was given the medicine to dilate me and it was late afternoon on the seventh. The doctor came in to break my water when I had dilated to a four. When he broke my water, he made the statement "oh, that's not good." And the chaos broke out. Apparently, I had a lot of bleeding when he broke my water. It was what he called "old blood". Then the baby went into distress with a heart rate of 60 and they could not get it back up. So quickly my doctor called in an OR staff for an emergency c-section. I was terrified, not for me but for my baby. It is an awful feeling knowing your baby is in trouble and you can't even hold her in your arms. By God's grace, the OR staff just happened to be already at the hospital. Including one that had left the building. The entire staff took less than ten minutes to gather. My husband, mom, and a nurse wheeled the bed down to the OR room. I could tell they were scared but trying to be calm for my sake. In the OR, the most wonderful anesthesia doctor tried to calm my fears as they prepared for a spinal and the delivery of my baby. Because the doctors believed she would be critical upon deliver, a team of pediatric doctors and nurses were standing by. Finally after getting everything together in a mad, crazy state of hurry, they make the incision. I think that was the moment when time stood still for me. I just begged God to spare her life. Talk about boldly going to the throne of God. A few seconds later, I heard her struggle to breathe. They had to work with her a while but she was breathing. She was so blue. She looked bruised all over. They quickly showed her to me and then took her to the nursery to get her help with her breathing. I asked my husband to go with her and he did. From the time they wheeled me into the OR till the time she was born was a total of eight minutes. Can you believe that? So, they finished the surgery and took me back to my room to recover. Anyone who says a c-section isn't painful is lying!!! I would much rather have a vaginal delivery any day. Later that night my husband brought her to me. She was so perfect. Praise God, she only needed some time in an oxygen tent. She amazed everyone with how quick she came around. And although, it hurt to move, I kept her with me as much as possible and I was still able to breastfeed her. As for the reason for her distress, her umbilical cord had entered the birth canal before her, pinching it off. We still don't know where the blood came from because the placenta was intact, but it has been sent to a lab. So we are home now. I even had my staples out today. All sixteen of them. And while, I will NEVER forget the horror of this birth story, I can only thank God for his mercy and grace. I also thank the staff at the hospital for their quick response. I thank my mom for being there and praying a heart felt prayer. And I thank my husband for being there, even if he got scared and called his boss while I was being sewed up. Honey, I am never going to let that one go!LOL But, I understand and love you. I look forward to having Kylee in our family. She is so sweet, if feels like she has always been here.

Kylee Grace

2009-02-16T20:27:00.001-05:00

2009-01-13T03:55:00.000-05:00

Getting ready for baby

2009-01-13T03:27:00.002-05:00

I feel some nesting coming on. I could not possible get everything done. Things like painting is just going to have to wait. I have most of everything I need. My diapers finally came and I love them. They are too cute. My uncle gave us an old dresser to put all of the baby stuff in. It is really neat because on the inside it has the names of all of my aunts and uncles. I have been having some contractions but not bad. I have been having alot of ligament pain especially if I have been standing. I thought it wouldn't be like that considering this is my third. But we still have more time for her to get here....I think.

We also got some chickens. Five hens and three roosters. My uncle, not the one that gave me the dresser, finished our coop and gave us the chickens. Actually, the three roosters are now in the freezer. I Love free food. I hope that the hens start laying next month. I would love to have some fresh eggs.

Because of our stuffy heads, we took the Lowes gift card that dh got from his job and bought a whole house humidifier. I hope it works well. We haven't got it installed yet but maybe in a couple of days we could try it out.

Anyway, that is the kind of stuff that has been going on lately. We are trying to get caught back up with schooling too before the baby gets here. It is going really well. DS is reading everything in sight and DD has learned her abc's. Well, dh will be home soon so I better go. Blessings.

Fred Thompson Explains the Economic Recovery Plan

2009-01-06T02:43:00.001-05:00

Getting caught up

2008-12-20T15:19:00.002-05:00

I am about to finally get caught up from being sick. I still have a few house things to do like shampoo carpets and sort through some ebay stuff. We had a few good days of being back on our schedule and then my ds got a tummy bug. So, I spent yesterday holding him for the most part. I was going to finish up some last minute gifts for them but I am going to wait until later. We have our Christmas play tommorrow and I am just hoping everyone is well enough to attend. I think he got sick from one of those McDonalds playgrounds. I hate those things but they begged to go with some friends of theirs.

Dh had gotten some wonderful gift cards from where he works and we have been very excited about using them. They are for alot of fast food places but a couple were used to buy christmas presents. Dh traded one with his brother in order to purchase me a new camera:) I used one in order to save $120 on a pair of work boots he needed. Poor thing, his had holes in the bottom of them. So basically we got a camera and a pair of work boots for $80. It would have easily cost over $400 without the cards. God is good. My in laws also shared with us some food that they had recieved from the church. We got popcorn chicken, gatorade, cough drops, and some school supplies. I am excited about the school supplies because my momma bought me a new dry erase board for our school room and now I am feel renewed about school work;)

I need to go and finish some laundry. Everyone have a blessed day.

Thanks

2008-12-08T18:14:00.001-05:00

glitter-graphics.com

Thanks to my hubby for trying to help out with the house and the kids while I have been sick. Thanks to my momma for taking care of me and taking me to the doctor. Thanks to the in laws for watching my babies while I have been sick. God bless!!!!

I have drugs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-08T17:49:00.002-05:00

After some more excuriating pain Saturday, I returned to the ER. It was a difficult trip because I went during my baby shower that our church was hosting. Sorry guys. I just couldn't handle the pain anymore. So, my mom took me to the ER. We were going to go to the hospital were my ob doctor is but the roads got terrible and were shut down. We ended up going to our small local hospital which is more like a band aid station. Well, good for them because finally someone gave me pain medicine. Apparently, I don't have just sinusitis. My sinus pressure has aggravted the vessels in my face which in turn aggrevated the nerves in my face causing some serious pain. The condition called temporal something or another also causes blurred vision which I was having big time in my right eye. You could actually feel a pulse in my cheecks the pain was that bad. And of course, the pain was so bad I wasn't eating or sleeping and being very pregnant, that was not good. The ER doctor decided it was time to give the pain meds to me because my inablitly to eat and sleep was causing stress on the baby and he felt that the pros out weighed the cons for the meds. The way to treat this problem is actually with medicine that I can not take at all while I am pregnant so I guess it is going to be a wait and see. I have been using the medicine only when I really need it. Today has been so-so thus far. I still have pain but it has been tolerable. I have been able to do some light housework with lots of rest in between chores. So, I am just going to keep praying and hope that I will be totally pain free soon. Blessings!!!!

What?? Already?

2008-12-05T16:20:00.001-05:00

Just a quick note, baby girl is already in postition. That's my girl, getter done. I can't believe I just used that phrase.

Prayers please.

2008-12-05T15:58:00.002-05:00

I could use all the prayers I can get. I am once again sick with a sinus infection and double ear infection with some swollen tonsils. To put it short my head is full of crap. You wouldn't think that something like that could cause so much pain, but it does. I have had two kids and a battle with kidney stones, there isn't much difference between that and this. At least with child birth and kidney stones, you know it will eventually end. I have been sick everyday for over 3 weeks now. Of course, there is little the doctors will do for me because of the pregnancy. My face feels like someone has beat me. Not that I have ever been beat but I imagine that is what it is like. I have used every vapor, home remedy, massage, ect known to man and nothing seems to get rid of it for good. My ob doc just put me on semi bed rest yesterday. I hate not being able to do stuff. I miss playing with my kids and doing projects around the house. Everything seems so, well, lazy now. I HATE it. I want to clean my house, play with my kids, prepare for the baby. And I can't. I completley believe this is a battle with more than some sinus problems. This whole year has been a battle for us. I feel that it is a battle of powers and principalities. The devil only bothers you during two times. When you are doing wrong, and the other is when you are doing right. I know that I will be delivered. This can only last so long. One day I will be walking the streets of gold with my Savior and the devil won't be able to do a thing about it. Tisk, tisk, how angry he must be. So, pray if you feel led. I am going to have a generic coke and Praise the Lord for my husband, kids, and momma, and in laws. Blessings!!!

2008-11-18T16:23:00.000-05:00

glitter-graphics.com

It gets even colder.

2008-11-18T16:16:00.003-05:00

It is even colder today than yesterday. We also got a good bit of snow. It was so cold today the kids went out for 15 minutes and back in they came. DH had a hard time getting home this morning because the roads were so ice covered. He said he slid a few times. I think we are just going to lounge around today. I still have laundry to do and I may try out a new hm furniture polish. Have fun and stay warm today. I think I need to go light another heater. Burrr!!!! Blessings.

Oh baby its cold outside.

2008-11-17T16:43:00.002-05:00

It is so cold outside. I guess in the grand scheme of winter weather, it isn't really that bad. It is about 30ish and around here in winter it can get alot colder. But when you are use to warm weather, the cold comes as a shock. So the fireplace is going and the kittens are all huddled up on the porch. I got up today to a coughing and congested 6yo and a 4yo with a belly ache and throwing up. Ahh, motherhood. Hopefully they will perk up soon. I dread the cold weather ahead. My kids thrive on the outdoors. I have a hard time with keeping them entertained in the cold and dark months. It also has me thinking about Christmas. I have no idea how to handle Christmas this year. I will probably have to use dh's saftey bonus and get some gifts from ebay and such. I hope he gets the bonus. He is also getting all next week off. He was hoping to be able to work through Thanksgiving, but they are shutting the job done for the week. He will be working 13 hour shifts for the next 6 days to try to make up for the pay differnce from the holidays. Ain't he sweet!!!!! I am also trying to find some cloth diapers and a baby bed on ebay super cheap. I keep holding out because I believe I will find a great bargain on them eventually. My church is also suppose to have a small dinner and gifts for me and the baby sometime soon. I will probably wait until then to really be on the hunt for deals that I need for the baby. I also wanted to say a big thanks to our dear friends Felix and Sherry for the gifts they gave us. We recieved a gifts set of about 4 shirts, 1 pants, a hat, and booties and also two beautiful and thick blankets. I wished my camera worked and I would post a pic of them. I was really hoping to get good blankets as the baby will be here in the winter and I don't have any good ones already. Well, I think I will go do some extra chores and sip some cocco with the kids by the fire;)

Ramblings

2008-11-11T18:37:00.004-05:00

Hi, it is cold here. I am still trying to get use to the time change, but I'm still having problems. I like daylight. Call me silly. I just sold my first item on ebay today. Now I am going through the house to find more junk, I mean treasures. Don't worry I won't sell the kids or the dog;)lol We have been busy latley trying to get the yard ready for winter. Alomost got it all. Our car still needs to be cleaned and we need new tires. Of course I don't have the money for tires so I am hoping it will just fall out of the sky. The money that is, not the tires!!! The kids are doing great. I recently discovered that my daughter is going to need glasses. She has a good memory, but when it came to recognizing her ABC's she would confuse letters that looked similar. Sunday before church she was playing with my glasses and put them on. She then got a stunned look on her face and said Momma, I can see. At first I thought she was being silly, but then I noticed how she would look at things. I asked her to point out her letters and guess what, she did it. I am going to make an appointment Thursday. I would have sooner but dh and myself had app. this week and it takes two hours to drive to decent doctors around her. After our apps. are over I will make one for their eyes and also one with the dentist. I LOVE having insurance now.LOL

I wanted to tell you about what my children did to Moses. Last year for Christmas, I bought them the dolls/action figures that talk and are from the bible. I don't remember what they are called but they have Moses, David, Ester, and Mary. They seem to like playing with them in dd's doll house. The other night, I heard them in the bathroom so I went to investigate. Of course, I sneeked up on them thinking I was going to catch them tearing up something. When I saw what I saw, I was speechless. There on our counter was Moses. He was stripped off to his undies and sitting on the toy potty from dd's doll house. When I finally could speak, I asked dd what he was doing. "Moses is pooping momma!!" O-k-a-y. I always wanted my kids to relate to people of the bible as real people and not a fairy tale but this is pushing it. What are you going to do with him, I ask. "When he is done, I will wipe his butt and flush for him." Oh my!!! I watched her and sure enough she got some tp and pretended to wipe him and flush. It is never a dull moment around her. Christ himself must of had to laugh. Blessings and have a good day.

Ramblings

2008-11-11T18:37:00.001-05:00

Halloween pics

2008-11-05T20:56:00.002-05:00

I forgot to add some pics of my babies dressed up for Halloween. We let them dress up in decent costumes and we take them to a nice neighborhood for "treats". 6yo was a ninja. He loves all things ninja. 4yo was a princess bride. She is very prissy as you can tell by the pics. They had a great time and I am sure the dentist will have a great time fixing all of that candy damage.

2008-11-05T20:54:00.000-05:00

2008-11-05T20:52:00.000-05:00

2008-11-05T20:50:00.000-05:00

2008-11-05T20:44:00.001-05:00

2008-11-03T23:59:00.001-05:00

Things!!!

2008-11-03T23:36:00.003-05:00

I am still here. I have once again been battling a terrible sinus infection and chest cold. I finally broke down and went to the ER last night. The facial pain was just too much to stand. I feel some better today but I am not back to my old self. I am just doing what has to be done to get by. I hope that I will soon be back to my old self. DH is being wonderful while I am sick. He isn't nagging over things being a mess around here and he has tried his best to help me feel better. He even made breakfast today;) My kids are doing great. They spent some time with their grandparents while I was in the ER. They get so spoiled when they are with them. I am afraid that my ds is coming down with something. He has just laid around this evening and he also took a nap. That is so not like him. He is usually my very busy little bee. DD has gotten out some old--er, previous used baby clothes and is organizing them in my dresser. She is so excited to see this baby. My son is excited too. He has taken to lifting my shirt up to expose the preggy belly, which is cute except when he does it in public:0 I also wrecked our car this weekend. Not a big deal. I was turning in our driveway and I guess my brain was foggy from this infection. I turned the wrong direction and backed into a huge stone that is used as a seat near our pond. It scratched the car pretty good, but at least it wasn't anything serious. My dh came outside and said you are not in any shape to be driving. He was right!!! It was only my second accident in 12 years. The first was in a parking lot. A truck side swipped me. OK so I have problems with driving in parking areas:( Hope all is well. Blessings!!

How to stop pre elampsia

2008-10-22T20:15:00.002-04:00

I went to my doctors appointment today. Everything looks good. I have gained about 10 pounds so far. I was getting ready to leave and he said, when did you have problems with your first pregnancy. I told him I had pre term labor at 29 weeks. So now I am going to the doctor every two weeks. Did I mention the doc office is almost two hours away. He wants to monitor my blood pressure because it was up from the previous visit. I told him it was up because it was 90 degrees in the waiting room. Ha!! I wasn't being smart, he knew I was joking and it actually was that hot. It is not that my bp was high, it was just higher than before and I am almost at the same time frame that I was with my son. I am determined not to let this happen. If anyone has any ideas let me know. I also need to say how proud I am of my kids. We waited two hours in the doctors office after the two hours to get there and they were angels. The staff even commented on how well behaved they were;) It is days like today that make me so proud to be their momma. Blessings!!!!!!

My baby is four

2008-10-21T15:22:00.001-04:00

glitter-graphics.com

Ugh!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-20T23:41:00.001-04:00

I am so sick. I hate having sinus problems. Can't breathe, can't cough good, can't talk. The kids are bored and want mamma to play with them. I think I'll just go back to bed:( :( :(

Economic hardship from a tax payer

2008-10-08T04:14:00.002-04:00

Well, if it doesn't look like the end of the world as we know it. This economy is going down fast. Let's not forget the $700 billion dollars the US government blowed in the wind last week. If it wasn't so sad it would be funny. All of these politicians told us that we were not competent enough to understand what was happening in our economy and so they pass this bill and guess what nothing happened. I am just ticked that these Wall Street millionaires are getting their pockets full while I am spending a total of $1700 a month to IRS. That being what is withheld from my dh's paycheck and what we owe in back taxes from "our failed business." The US government in my opinion is just robbing Peter to pay Paul and we all know that doesn't work. So where does that leave this family? In debt and barely scrapping by. Of course we have a desire to be debt free but that desire came along right before our business went bust and we haven't made huge process in paying down our debt. We have however, made progress in frugal living. I just told my dh that if the rapture doesn't occur in ten years time (which I actually think it will) that I should become quite the expert on frugal living. We are staying put and doing much of nothing while we wait. Wait to get out of debt and wait to see what this economy is going to do. I personally think that a little would have went along way. Instead of passing this monster bill, the government should have looked at alternatives. Maybe refinancing default mortgages and giving people with ARMs just a better rate. Most people want to keep their homes if possible so I think they just need a little break. I don't think liquidity is such an issue. I know people who have just went this week and gotten loans of over $10,000. It is just perhaps people with good credit getting the loans and we are just not use to that. I really hope that no one gets a wild idea to add fuel to the fire. All we need now is some sort of second fear such as attack on our soil, food shortages, or more of the gas shortages and this country could be in for all out chaos. I have to admit, I do find it interesting to watch some of these rich CEOs and politician freak out over the economy. I think they are more concerned than average Joe not because we do not understand economics but, because they do not understand surviving poverty. Most of us at some part of our lives have dealt with severe economic hardship. We know what it is like to eat pintos for every meal. But the upper class probably doesn't. Anyway, our Saviour will see us through. One question, anyone know what to do when the kids get cabin fever and you can't go anywhere? It is starting to hit here and they are bored. Don't get me wrong, being bored builds character, but sometimes I need to get some work done and it is hard when they want me to entertain them. God Bless!!

Shana Tovah to you (good year)

2008-09-30T15:03:00.000-04:00

glitter-graphics.com

Another choice

2008-09-29T15:30:00.002-04:00

Please take time and visit this website. You can petition to let third party candidates participate in the presidential debates and you can post questions to ask at those debates. There are currently at a little over 5,000 signatures and they need 10,000 to start the process. Please check this out and let's give ourselves more options in choosing our president. There are about four other candidates that you may have not even heard of, so check it out and decide for yourself.

2008-09-29T15:29:00.000-04:00

I am still here.

2008-09-25T15:44:00.002-04:00

I am still around. I have been out dealing with stuff for a while. As I had mentioned we had a death in the family. We spent four days with the family. My ds handled it very well. He wanted to help all he could. He even helped his daddy dig on the grave site and he also helped with the burial. I was very proud of him. He seemed so grown up. We are also dealing with a very difficult financial situation. Bills from our former business mixed with our personal bills, mixed with increases in cost of living, equal disaster for us. DH has been working all of the overtime he can get. I worry about him because his heart has some side effects from chemo and it sometimes gets out of rhythm. It usually occurs during stress or exhaustion. Well, he is pretty stressed and exhausted. It is hard to cut back when you have cut all you can. It is like were do you go from here. I have only spent around $380.00 for food and household needs this month. We are all set for what is left of the month. On a better note, baby girl appears to be doing fine. The doctor says, she appears to look good and she is very active. Well, I could have told him that already;) I had the AFP test done and everything came back fine. My bp seems to be stable so let's just hope it stays that way. I couldn't imagine bedrest with two little ones and my dh working all of this overtime. We are still wondering about names. Our other two have names that start with a "K" sound. So we would like to keep with the theme. Silly, yes, I know. We have thought about Kiara Grace. My mom likes Calie, but it reminds me of the state of California. Anyone got any ideas? My other two are Colton and Kaitlyn. I have so much to purchase before she gets here in February. We loaned out/gave away everything but a few outfits. My wish list would be a co-sleeper, good quality cloth diapers, a sling, and a bouncy seat or swing. I think my church is going to have a baby shower for me. That would be nice. Around Christmas, dh will get a bonus if the job has no injuries until then. I will use that money for gifts for my kids and things that I need for the baby. Probably used things as I am that cheap. I hate to buy new things if I can buy the same thing like new, but alot cheaper. We need to finish some school work and I have some hm bread baking so I need to go. God Bless.

Dealing with stuff

2008-09-11T13:16:00.002-04:00

I have been away for awhile dealing with life. There are so many things that need to be handled before cold weather sets in. We are also dealing with a death in the family. Please pray for the family if you feel lead to. He leaves behind three kids, two young grandsons, and two more on the way. Please also remember 9-11. Seems that so many have already forgotten. As a former EMS worker, please take time to pray for those who work so hard to be there in our time of need.