Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Before the Clock Strikes Midnight

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Shiloh, I love you girl, and I think about you every time I hear this song. I am a teary mess by the end.

Even though you are still in the "passy" and diaper stage, I know our time together is short, and before long it will be midnight. You are growing up so fast. You are beautiful. I am glad to be home with you every single day watching you grow up.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

The "Real" Papa Smurf

Pin It Now! Wow, I was completely amazed by this story.

Monday, February 18, 2008

The Treasure Tree

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I just finished reading this beautifully illustrated book, by John and Cindy Trent and Gary and Norma Smalley, to my 3 kids. Actually I have read it to my boys quite a few times, but Shiloh hadn't had the privilege of hearing it yet. She loved it!!! Thank you Honey for giving this gift to us almost 6 years ago!!

It's about 4 best friends who happen to be animals. A lion, an otter, a golden retriever, and a beaver set out on a delightful adventure in search of 4 golden keys that will lead them to the ultimate prize, the Treasure Tree!

Each animal represents a certain personality, and by the end of their journey they realize that the very best treasure of all was knowing how much they needed and loved each other.

Also, this book creates a fun way for parents and kids to discover their own personalities. It is especially kid-friendly because it focuses on the strengths of each personality type. :)

It was neat hearing the boys talk about which animals best described them. Lincoln has determined without a doubt that he is mostly otter with a hint of Lion. Mullin on the other hand is radically different, and he thinks he is part golden retriever and part beaver. I would agree with them, but they are still so young and things can change over time. ( I do think there's a bit more lion in Lincoln than he realizes, though.) When I was this age, I am sure no one would have ever guessed that there was a lion in the making! A shy little lamb maybe, but not a lion! Actually I would truly label myself at present as a beaver/lion. Sometimes I act more beaverish, and sometimes my lionistic nature takes over. Also, being Holy Spirit-controlled, I am definitely a tame lion, most of the time. In my opinion my hubby is without a doubt a golden retriever with a hint of beaver. He and Mullin are very similar in nature.

I highly recommend this book! Even though it has a very practical message, it is very entertaining. You will want to take your kids on all of these wild adventures. My favorite was the tastiest of the bunch, Blueberry Basin!!

Here is the personality checklist from the back of the book. Let me know what kind of animal/animals best describes you!!! Technically you are supposed to mark each trait that describes you or your child, and then total the marked answers for each specific animal. Of course the larger number represents the basic personality type.

Lion:

1. Is daring and unafraid in new situations. (This is the one thing about lion that is NOT me)
2. Likes to be a leader. Often tells others how to do things.
3. Ready to take on any kind of challenge.
4. Is firm and serious about what is expected.
5. Makes decisions quickly.


Otter:

1. Talks a lot and tells wild stories.
2. Likes to do all kinds of fun things.
3. Enjoys being in groups. Likes to perform.
4. Full of energy and always eager to play.
5. Always happy and sees the good part of everything.


Golden Retriever:

1. Always loyal and faithful to friends.
2. Listens carefully to others.
3. Likes to help others. Feels sad when others are hurt.
4. Is a peacemaker. Doesn't like it when others argue.
5. Patient and willing to wait for something.


Beaver:

1. Is neat and tidy and notices little details.
2. Sticks with something until it's done.
3. Asks a lot of questions.
4. Likes things done the same way.
5. Tells things just the way they are.


My final note: I know we are all created as very unique individuals, and none of us can fit into a tiny, little personality box. For example, as I stated before I am a beaver/lion, but that doesn't mean I am not kind or loyal. Also, someone else could be a beaver/lion and still be very different from me. So with that said have a little bit of fun and discover the animal in you!

**Don't forget to let me know what you are!


Friday, February 15, 2008

Shannon's Mission Trip to Uganda

Pin It Now! Sponsored by Compassion, Shannon, along with several others, over at Rocks in My Dryer has had the privilege of visiting the people of Uganda this past week. By keeping up with her journey through her posts, my heart has truly been touched. She even got to meet, face to face, the little boy that her family sponsors. If you want to be touched to the point of tears, then you can read all about her trip via her blog.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Yes, It Does Snow in Arizona!

Pin It Now! Our family took Monday off from work and school and headed up North in search of snow!! We found some about 2 hours away and had a blast! For a while it was just us. It was so peaceful, and the view, breathtaking. We even had a picnic in the snow. My kind of picnic--NO BUGS!! It wasn't very cold either, which was nice. At one point I just had short sleeves on and felt great. The kids did get a little cold, though, since they completely soaked their clothes. I packed plenty of extra clothes, but the one thing I did forget was sunscreen. Poor Daddy, Lincoln and Shiloh suffered from some sunburns. All in all, it was a super day. A day our family needed very much!


SLEDDING: We bought some cheap, round sleds that made for a lot of hill-sliding fun. I was first to try out the steep hill, and goodness me, I had no idea how FAST I could fly. It had been a while since I had been on a sled. My backside is a bit sore today, to say the least. Didn't stop me from sledding a bunch more times, though! Mullin and Lincoln were so brave climbing way up the hill to sled half way down and then bust!! Shiloh loved flying down the hill in Daddy's lap.



PLAYING: There is just something about seeing a little, pink bundle in the snow. Shiloh liked eating it. Lincoln tried making a snow angel, but the snow was just packed too tightly, which, thankfully, kept our feet from sinking with every step.





SNOWMAN: It sure has been a very long time since we built one of these. Some of it had already been done by someone else. We just finished him.


BATTLE WOUNDS: I was trying to show off my owies, but they didn't really show up very well. When sledding down the hill one time, I forgot to push my longsleeves down, and I ended up busting. Basically, I got "Snowburn"--sort of like rugburn, ya know.
SNOWBALL FIGHT: The snow was packed pretty tightly, so it was somewhat difficult for the boys to form snowballs. One time, Daddy hit Shiloh right in the buns with a snowball. I am sure it felt like a love pat, but she didn't like it and let everyone know with her crying and whining.



What a fun day this was. I hope their will be lots more of these trips in the future!


Dusting Will Never Be the Same Again

Pin It Now! What I really want to be posting about is my trip to Cinch Hook, but I have tried about 7 times to upload pictures and they just won't upload. I want to rip this monitor from the wall and chunk it out the window right about now. But I will refrain since 1 Peter 1:3 is running through my mind like a broken record!!

Mark has already posted about our recent snow fun on his blog anyway, so for all the grandparents who wish to view our precious snow angels, go to his site.


Just so this post can be a wee bit interesting, I will leave you with this appetizing tidbit--

*Up to 90% of all household dust consists of dead skin. Mmmmm.

**No wonder there can be 5,000 dust mites in just one tiny speck of dust. It's and endless feast of their very favorite meal!!!

Too bad I can't upload a photo of those nasty-looking, spider-related, dead skin-eating critters!

I am sure my wonderful, computer-fixing husband will have everything working smoothly soon so I can upload pictures again.

(*Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey. **The Kingfisher Animal Encyclopedia)

Friday, February 08, 2008

Blog Rating

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The only questionable word found on my blog was "pooped", but they still gave me a "G" rating.

This gal got a "PG" rating, and you won't believe the words found on her site!!

What's your blog rated?


Thursday, February 07, 2008

Got Water?

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For the past few weeks in the wonderful subject of Earth Science, Mullin and I have been studying all about God's glorious gift of water. Before we plunged in, Mullin was to record in a 24 hour period the amount of times he used water. While he journaled his entries, I made mental notes of how many times I actually used water. Since I do the majority of cooking, cleaning and diaper changing, well, I realized that even one day without this essential material would be miserable! Imagine buckets in the bathroom instead of toilets! Even worse--not being able to wash your hands after handling the buckets--YUCK!! (In the mind of an 8 yr. old boy, though, the thoughts of not having to wash hands, take a shower, or brush teeth sounded like a relief. :))

Next task on the list was to make a list (with the help of a Thesaurus) of about 50 words relating to the word water. Our list included words like refreshing, vital, crucial, quenching, satisfying, useful, wet, tastelss, frozen, necessary--just to name a few. Well, a little later that day as I was reflecting on our water assignment, the Holy Spirit shifted my thoughts of physical water to thoughts of a different kind of water. Living Water.

Jesus gives me Living Water to drink by washing and cleansing me through His Word. This water is even more crucial, vital, refreshing, quenching, satisfying, and necessary to my health than physical water. Just as physical water gives life to my body, Living Water gives life to my spirit. I have never tried it, but supposedly 3 days without water is fatal. If I only drank water once every 3 days just to stay alive, I really wouldn't be very healthy. I may not be dead, but I would be in a constant state of dehydration and probably wouldn't be a very productive person.

Lack of Living Water will consequently cause spiritual dehydration in my life. I can't drink it every so often and expect to see huge amounts of growth. I must drink it on a very regular basis, and it shouldn't be a "to-do" to mark off on a list. Drinking it should come as naturally as drinking "real" water. I believe there are many ways to refresh my spirit. It's not only about sitting down and having a "Quiet Time", a time set aside to read and study, though this is very important. Relying on Living Water is all about a relationship with Christ, abiding in him moment by moment.

Praying, singing praises, sharing my faith, memorizing scripture, practicing what I read, and just listening to God are all ways in which my soul can stay hydrated. While I do believe that I am growing by leaps and bounds, it is no secret that I have not attained perfection, nor will I be able to as long as flesh is my fashion.

Somtimes staying at home all of the time brings about feelings of isolation and a sense of being ineffective, so it is so neat to see how God speaks to little, old me through our home schooling venture.

"As the deer panteth for the water so my soul longeth after Thee.
You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship you..."

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Happy Birthday Paw!!

Pin It Now! Hope you are having a wonderful day!!



Even though I can honestly say that I don't miss the Beans-n-Rice meal, :) I miss being able to celebrate with you. Even the boys are wishing they could be at your birthday dinner!



Glad to hear you and all the rest of our TN family is okay after such devastating weather. We were thinking about all of you last night as we watched voting results.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Fruit Quiz

Pin It Now! Yeah, so I know you aren't supposed to take these things seriously, right?



I hate to admit it, but this is sounding just a bit too much like me. :) I am sure that those who know me best would agree but probably won't comment and tell me so.


I am a lemon!!!


You Are a Lemon
You have a very distinct personality. And if you're not being sweet, you're a little hard to take.You're a bit overpowering, especially in one on one situations.
And while you are very dominant, sometimes your power is needed and appreciated.You can liven up a dull situation, and you definitely bring a fresh outlook.
You are a bit of an acquired taste, and you tend to grow on people over time.People feel refreshed and rejuvenated after spending time with you.
What Type of Fruit Are You?






Bloggy Giveaway Winner!

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And the winner of the very cheery Care Bear book is ... curlygirlcrochet. Congratulations.

I had a blast doing this for the second time, and I even won something again!!! I won a baby girl scrapbook, and last time during The Fall Y'all giveaway I won a $10.00 Starbucks giftcard and some Singing Hippo bathtub toys that Shiloh loves!







Friday, February 01, 2008

My Very First Real Coconut

Pin It Now! My boys and I thought it would be a fun experience to buy a "real"coconut. I did a little research yesterday on how in the world to cut one. I hope my efforts pay off...
It felt wierd using a screwdriver on a piece of fruit, but it proved to work quite well in poking its "eyes" out.
Mullin is draining the coconut milk into a bowl. Not sure what we are going to use it for. Guess I need to research that now.
Sorry Lincoln, but Mama is going to be the one to hit the coconut and hopefully split it!

I hope this works, and I really hope no one is passing by my garage right now. I am sure I will look very silly!
What do you know-- 2 hits and whammo! I know I am wierd, but I felt so elated after this experience. Trying new things is fun, and since I have no desire to do something really fascinating like, deep sea diving or wrestling alligators, cutting open a coconut was adventurous enough for me.
The meat inside was so smooth and pretty. I wish my teeth were this white!


After all that work I ate a healthy snack of banana, coconut, raw almonds, and local honey. Yum.
My boys weren't so impressed with the taste, but they had a fun time with it.



I must add that I never thought anything could be more difficult and time consuming than cutting open a pomegranate! Acorn squash can be a bit tricky, too, but nothing compares to the coconut! As I was trying my darndest to cut and scrape away at the pearly white meat, I had a lot of time to just think.

As I was scraping away, I thought about how easy it was to get to the milk. Getting to the "meat" on the other hand was taking time, dedication, hard work, and patience. Then, in the quietness of my mind, the Holy Spirit began drawing a mental picture for me, relating the milk and meat of the coconut to the milk and meat of God's holy Word.

As baby Christians, drinking the milk of the Word that is so easily accessible is vital, but we were never meant to be sustained on milk alone. It is just as important to move on to the meat of the Word growing up in the wisdom and knowledge of God and becoming cross bearing servants in His Body, the Church. So many are content to just sit back and sip on milk without ever moving on to the meat. It requires time, dedication, hard work, and patience. It requires sacrificing one's own desires, and that never seems fun at the time.

I am glad I bought a coconut today! Blessings to you and yours--it is time for me to wake my sleeping beauty.

**I know with this many words and my spell check not working, there are bound to be some misspelled words, but I just don't have enough time to proofread. Gotta wake my girl or she won't want to go to bed tonight!

Flexible Friday: Painting Footballs

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We work really hard Mon.-Thurs. on our home school lessons here at Rivendell Academy, so that we can be more flexible with our time on Friday, doing other things besides keeping our noses stuffed in books.


So after a few tests, a trip to the store, lunch and rest time, the boys pumped up their footballs that they got for Christmas and started painting away.



Oh no, I don't think my spell check has been working the past few posts. I really hate to reveal my knack for making a mess of the English language. Please be kind and overlook. I've even pulled out the dictionary a couple of times!

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