Happy Birthday, Ashlyne

My third baby is five today. I kept teasing her telling her I would only put four candles on her cake and not let her turn five. She wasn't convinced.

I don't why, but I see such a gap between four and five. They just seem to mature so much in that year. I think part of it is knowing that if they were going away to school that would mean the year of separation. I'm so glad we stay home.

Ashlyne is my sweet wild child anyway. She has always been my most independent child. Her personality can be summed up in this exchange we had a few months ago at bedtime:
Me: Goodnight, Ashlyne. Are you my girl today?
Ashlyne: No
Me: Are you Daddy's girl today?
Ashlyne: No
Me: Well whose girl are you?
Ashlyne: I am my own girl.
And she most definitely is! She is also an extremely deep and compassionate child. As much as I hate to see her grow up, i love watching her become the person she is becoming.

We are celebrating Saturday with some of her friends and our family. I hope to post party pictures then.

What I've Been Reading Lately

I must confess that I have just finished reading the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. To see my review of the series, check out my Good Reads blog here.

To see the books I've read so far this year, you can check out my 2009 Book List here.

Or, come visit my home page at Goodreads.

Missions Festival

One of my favorite things that our church does is a Missions Festival each spring. We invite missionaries that our church supports and some new missionaries that are seeking support. For several years, I have volunteered as the nursery director for the festival. I enjoy this because it gives me a chance to serve missionaries in a practical way with something I am good at doing and because it gives my children an opportunity to be around the missionaries and their children during the festival.

Missions is important to me personally and to our church. One of my favorite quotes about missions comes from John Piper: “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man… Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God… But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching… Missions begins and ends in worship.”

Dadderday Bonfire

With the beautiful springy weather we've had the past couple of days, Jason decided to work in the yard today cleaning it up and getting it ready for summer grass cutting and gardening. So, he and the big kids spent the day picking up sticks and such in the yard and edge of the woods and burning.

The older kids really enjoy having a fire burning all day, and tonight we gathered around the fire after supper and roasted marshmallows.



Jason helping the little girls with their marshmallows



Kathryne enjoying her marshmallow



Charles roasting his marshmallow

Living Lovely With Family

I had never visited Mt.Hope Chronicles, but I found this lovely meme today thanks to a friend's blog. Family time is very important to us. These last two years as Jason has been in school, we have found ourselves working extra hard to make it a priority on the weekends when he is home. I am so thankful that our older children are starting to see the value and prefer to choose time at home as a family over anything else!

Here is the description of the meme: Everyone is invited to join in. Simply share on your own blog what you do (hope to do in the future, have done in the past, or remember from your childhood) to make daily connections and memories with your family.



So, what do we do daily to make connections? We have many routines that build connections as a family. The children and I go over the day together every morning and talk about what we are doing for the day. On Mondays, we also share prayer requests and pray for a missionary family for the week.

Throughout the day, we do lots of reading together. We read for school and for pleasure, and I have noticed over the years that this is something that definitely builds connections.

I try to take the kids to eat lunch with Jason once a week or so. This has been especially important these last two years as they don't see him much during the week.

Bedtimes are another opportunity for connections. We read together, talk together and pray together.

Friday night and Saturdays are family times because Daddy is home! The kids have started calling Saturday, Dadderday over the last two years! They love it that Daddy is home on Saturday mornings. They often watch cartoons or play the Wii with him, and then we will sometimes have a pancake breakfast together.

For us, it has been the little things that build connections: the traditions shared, the time taken to just be together.

A Great March Madness Contest

I enjoy reading Malia Russell's ideas at Homemaking 911. She's having a great contest for March Madness right now with lots of great prizes. You can read about it below and them go enter at Homemaking 911.

I LOVE springtime. I love green grass. I love flowers poking up from the ground. I love flowers blooming.

I realize of course, that not all my readers are in the United States, but for those who are here, isn’t springtime lovely?

To celebrate Springtime and March, I am doing a fun giveaway. (All physical products will only be shipped to U.S. and Canadian Destinations). Electronic prizes can of course be claimed anywhere!

Here are the prizes.
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PRIZE A
-1 copy of the book: Chaos to Order: 25 Tools Bringing Organization to Your Home and One Copy of the Audio CD workshop to go along with it.
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Prize B
-1 hour of free Website Consulting from www.crossbusinesstools.com
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PRIZE C
1 hour of free facebook Consulting for Your Small Business from Christina Russell (my adult daughter and facebook consultant)
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PRIZE D
1 Free Ticket ( I will be giving TWO of these away)
To Seasons at Home Online Seminars!
http://tinyurl.com/SeasonsMag
We designed these to be hands-on, just like our magazine. Every seminar will contain great things for you to ‘do’. Again, just like our magazine, we aren’t just going to sit and talk! When you sign up for the current month’s conference, you are signed up for both The Wise Guy seminar, and The Joyous Home-Making Seminar. They are 2 day, 3 1/2 hour seminars on each day. The conference cost covers BOTH days; The Wise Guy one day, Joyous Home-Making the next.

Joyous Home is in the business of teaching you how to make things for your home. Each Joyous Home-Making seminar will hold projects with handouts; sewing, cooking, baking, homeschooling, Titus 2 encouragement and the list goes on. We are very excited about these new conferences! Find out more about the Joyous Home-Making seminars here!

The Wise Guy seminars are where dads can come and get encouragement and how to’s from John Powers. John will have “Auto-Talks” in each seminar. John has seen a decline in new car purchases and an increase in people coming to get car repair done. This can only mean that the ecomony is dictating it’s time to keep those cars until they drop dead. He has worked as a master technician for Honda the last 23 years. He’s knows the in’s and out’s of not only the auto-repair industry, but also what it takes to do basic repair at home. This is a wonderful chance to teach your sons, ask questions, and learn and save money.
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PRIZE E
Usborne books from Ann-Howard Wood, an Educational Supervisor with Usborne Books at Home
Beginner Series # 4 which includes the following titles: Planet Earth: Sun, Moon, and Stars; Antarctica; Trash and Recycling; and Weather www.ubah.com/E2976

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PRIZE F
A Bottle of Bee Immune (Bee Propolis - 500mg - 100 Capsules)

Take bee propolis, and germs—wherever you pick them up—won’t stand a chance. Feel like you’re coming down with a cold? Been exposed to strep throat? Boost your immune system by taking bee propolis, and get back into action within the day.
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PRIZE G
A copy of the book: Clutter’ Last Stand by Don Aslett. It’s Time to De-Junk Your Life
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PRIZE H
A copy of the book: The Values Driven Family by Marc and Cynthia Carrier of: www.valuesdrivenfamily.com
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PRIZE I
One copy of ALL Homemaking 911 Downloads. (Excludes downloads from other publishers hosted on our site.) This includes:
-High School Graduate portfolio
-Chaos to Order Audio workshop
-The Joy of the Lord is my Strength Audio workshop
-Keeping Young Ones Happy and Occupied
-Overcoming Bitterness and Judgmental Thoughts.
-Managing the Multi-Level Home School
-Save Gas Money! - E-book
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PRIZE J

Digging Out of Debt E-book from Tawra at www.livingonadime.com
Ready to get out of debt for good? It is easier than you think!
Dig Out Of Debt: 1,000 of the Best Ideas from LivingOnADime.com is a series of 5 e-books containing a total of 229 pages of the most popular information from the LivingOnADime.com web site. This e-book series includes the same information as the printed Dig Out of Debt book. The Dig Out of Debt Series is included in the Living On A Dime Extravaganza.

* Save over $10,000 a year on groceries!
* Stop throwing your money away in the chaos and clutter!
* Get out of debt even when you have kids.
* Learn inexpensive but creative ways to make your holidays memorable!
* Read how Michael and Tawra paid off $20,000 debt on $22,000 per year income!
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Prize K (We have TWO of these to give away!)

Shelley from One Roast Vegetable is giving away two free passes to her amazing Back to Basics online cooking class. The lucky winner receives 14-weeks of video lessons including how to hard boil an egg, roast a chicken, make fabulous burgers from scratch, AND her secret 4-ingredient recipe for cinnamon ice cream. This 14-week video class usually sells for $37 (and the last class sold out in 4.5 hours). You can learn more about the Back to Basics Cooking Class here: http://tinyurl.com/oneroastveg

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PRIZE L (We have two of these to give away!)

the e-book: Purposeful Planning from http://www.Phyllis-Sather.com

Does having your spouse’s undivided attention appeal to you? Planning weekends give you time to dream, to talk together about what you wish, or want, at a time when the other person is really listening.

Do you need a plan to keep your family moving in the direction the Lord is leading you? Perhaps you don’t know where the Lord is leading you. Phyllis takes you step-by-step through the process of planning a time together for your family to help determine the path the Lord is choosing for each area of your life. Her family has followed this format for over 12 years and has found that it provides the compass they’ve needed to plan and stay on course.

This time-tested method of planning will give your family new direction for the future. Start today! Choose the dates for your planning weekend, read her book which has the entire “how to” included, and go for it!


Now to find out the details about entering, go visit her at Homemaking 911.

Happy Birthday to Jason

Today is my sweetheart's birthday! He is my hero. In a culture where men are increasingly away from home, he is a family man, and we are so blessed to have him. He loves me and our children. He is my best friend. He is definitely my better half! As he often says, he is the pole to my flag because he is solid and steady when I am flighty and moving. He is my protector and my safe place.

I know that God has put us together, and I am so thankful!

I often tell him that this song reminds me of him every time I hear it. He certainly does have a life to be proud of.



Happy birthday, Babe. I love you!

The Magic Yellow Bus or Keeping the Focus

The last two weeks have been rough ones for me. We've had quite a bit of sickness: colds, coughs, pink eye. I haven't been in top form myself feeling especially draggy and achy. I've also had more discipline training issues to deal with. Isn't that always how it is when folks have been sick?

And so, more than once, over the last few days, I have found myself wishing that the magic yellow bus came to our house each day, to whisk away at least some of these children to school for many hours. Sometimes when I am in the midst of it all, it seems as if it would get easier if I weren't in the midst of it all. If they just weren't here so much, if we just weren't together so often.

But then God gently nudges my heart. And I remember why we are here in this place living this life. I hear my baby girl singing "Gwory, gwory, halelula, He reigns." I deal with a stubborn behavior and glimpse maybe just a small softening of a heart. I see a child who has struggled and struggled with multiplying three digit numbers finally have an ah ha moment. And I know that is what I am here for- the little moments. God wants me to be faithful to live this moment, this day. I don't have to move a huge mountain; although sometimes it feels as if I am. I just have to do the next thing He calls me to do.

So, I won't wish for the magic yellow bus today. Instead, I will smile at my children and be thankful that I am here with them enjoying these moments. I will read to them. I will pray with and for them about their behavior issues. And, I will ask God to , once again, redirect my focus.

February Review

We are already at the end of February! It is hard to believe winter is mostly over- especially since, as I type this, snow is falling hard and heavy outside my window. Leave it to the weather in the South to have a heavy snow right before spring.

In February, I have kept up with my reading list for the year. If you'd like to see what I've been reading and reviewing, check out my Good Reads book review blog. Currently I am reading the last book in the Joel Rosenburg end times series, the book of Deuteronomy in my read through the Bible in a year, Reversed Thunder by Eugene Peterson, and12 False Beliefs that drive Christians Crazy by Henry Cloud.

In our school work, we have finished reading Sign of the Beaver. I have ordered the Netflix movie and am hoping to watch it this week as well as have the children do a report on the book. I have told them they could choose a written report or any type of presentation. Charles is almost finished with Math U See Gamma, and Kathryne is well into Delta. Charles is really not liking Math U See, so I have ordered him a Spectrum math book, and I am going to try that out after he finishes Gamma. We are reading about the Roman Empire in story of the World volume One. In science, we are continuing to learn about the Animal Kingdom from the Answers in Genesis, God's Design series. I have been giving the children cursive handwriting lessons because we don't use a formal handwriting curriculum. For fun, we are enjoying going to gymnastics at a local gymnastics center that has started an open gym time. We are also for fun reading Martin the Warrior in the Redwall series. As an extra, Kathryne is taking sewing lessons from a friend of mine. She has discovered a new joy in sewing and is actually quite good at it!
I have found a Charlotte Mason style homeschool organizer at Simply Charlotte Mason. I am going to give it a try. They have a free month trial. I have been using the free version of Homeschool Tracker, but since I have started using a much more Charlotte Mason style approach, I have found that Homeschool Tracker doesn't work well for my record keeping. March-May is our 4th quarter based on the year round schedule I use, so I decided to try the CM Organizer for this last quarter. If I like it, I think it will be worth paying for next year.

As far as projects around the house, I haven't done much more than keep things clean and the pantry stocked. Most days I feel like that is a major accomplishment! Jason and I have been doing some garden planning. We didn't even try last spring with him in school, but I think we'll be able to do something this year as he is finishing up.

Personally, I will be very glad when Jason finishes up school in May! He will have spring break next week (which is conveniently his birthday week). Then he will graduate May 12. That will be a big event for our family. The last two years have been hard on us. I am very proud of him because he has been on the President's List every semester!

This week will probably be a stay at home week. It looks as if the snow will keep us in tomorrow at least. Then the girls have all had colds- bad colds for the little girls. So, we've been homebound most of last week. Another week will probably do us good.