Meg's Formal

This is the homeschool alternative to prom.  All the juniors and seniors, along with their parents, dress up fancy and go out to dinner and bowling.  No dates, no drinking, no immodest dresses, or inappropriate behavior.  Just clean and fancy fun!

First...the dress.  Meg has had this in mind for over a year now.  We actually shopped for this in CO!  Time was running out and there still wasn't a dress in sight.  Then my friend, Alison, came to the rescue.  She had the perfect dress!  Sooo pretty. 

Meg and Emma

Meg and Bekah.  Aren't they lovely?

Nana and G'pa gave us some money for sparkly accessories.  Thank you G'pa and Nana!

All the girls!

And the guys!

Yummy dinner pix...

Don't you love all the smiles?

Then off to bowling!  Some of us changed clothes (like me!), and some didn't. 

Fashionable footwear at it's finest.

I actually have my very own ball with my name on it!  I haven't bowled in like 20 years but I guess I was keeping it for just the right time...like this!  Doesn't it add to Meg's beauty here? 

It was such a fun night and a great blessing to see my girl so happy.

I love you Meg!

Honoring Others With Words

"Honor one another above yourselves."  Romans 12:10
The NKJV says it like this, "giving preference to one another".

This is a portion of the passage my family is memorizing right now and the part that is stuck in my head at the moment. 

Showing preference to anybody other than myself is particularly challenging to someone as selfish as I am.  But these words keep coming to me, convicting and helpful.

I've always thought of that verse in relation to sharing or giving.  Like if there's one piece of pie left I should give it to him kind of thing.  But God is showing me that it's much more than that.

I'd be so embarrassed if anyone ever counted the words that left my mouth on any given day.  I talk all the the time.  Rather it's directions, corrections, questions, or directives, it seems like my mouth is always running.  And that doesn't even count e-mail, Facebook, or my blog!  Honestly there are times when I'm tired of my own voice. 

Unfortunately I don't usually consider the other person who is listening to me.  I just say what I need to say and keep going.  But God is showing me how to apply this verse to my conversation. 

Honoring another requires thinking ahead.  Considering how to phrase my words so they will be easy to hear, especially if it's something challenging.  "Seasoning it with salt" as Paul would say.  And while I don't want to water down something that needs the full effect, I also don't want to wound unnecessarily.  It's not about me blowing off steam, but about building up the other person. 

Do I need to start with praise and encouragement?  What are the ways that this person will receive it best? 

And most of all, I want my words to be honoring to God.  Praying over the measure of my words and asking him to fill my mouth or maybe clap a hand over it! 

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in  your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."  Ps 19:14

Today

I wish I could take some pictures of my new floors!  (Apparently we have some sort of storage issue with pix right now.)   So pretty and so much better than white carpet.  I love them.

~Wonderful beautiful weather and just right for airsofting at the Wings.  Fun day.

~I'm working on the clothes exchange.  There are clothes everywhere!  It is the biggest mess but I don't care.  At least not much.  You see I've been looking at the clothes situation for kids and thinking we'd probably need to buy quite a bit.  So I've been praying. 

I had my kids pull the spring clothes out of the attic and oh my!  So many things.  People are very generous to give us their hand-me-downs and sometimes they are clothes that will not fit anyone at the time.  So I label them and store them in the attic until the next season.  Of course by the next season I have forgotten what we have and it is like Christmas with all the "new" stuff.  I'm so thankful.

Mally is especially loving digging into her spring box.  I also had a box of dolls that I had packed away b/c we had too many out at once.  New clothes, new babies, the girl is happy!

~My mom had double knee replacement surgery today and the word from my g'mother is that she is doing wonderfully.  Praise God!

~Graduation plans are falling into place.  I cry every single time I watch the slide show of Meg's life.  How did we get here already?  So grown-up, so beautiful, and so sweet.  I'm so proud to be her momma. 

I'm happy for all the new things around the corner for her.  But I confess that there are moments that I feel like the rug is about to be pulled out from under me.  So many things will be changing in our family in the coming years.  Good things probably, but different things.  And I'm sorta fond of the way they are now. 

So I'm soaking it all in.  Enjoying looking at the full dining table, her little brother having a sleep over in her room, and her crowded closet.  I love my baby girl.

~It's time to start planning our garden.  I'm looking forward to it this year but thinking that next year will be better since we'll know the yard and growth areas better.  I'm also going to try pressure canning this year...scarry.

~I finished Romans this morning.  Good stuff!

~Typing this up and I just remembered that I haven't posted Eldest's formal pix yet!  Where have I been?!  A weekend blog project I think. 

Today's meals...
Breakfast - Cinnamon swirl
Lunch - Sloppy joes with the Wings
Dinner - Turkey spaghetti and salad
Snack - Animal crackers

Unbelieveable

My 13 year old son wants to work.  He wants to feed your dog, gather your mail, weed your garden, wash your car, whatever.  He made up some flyers to advertise his business and passed them around the neighboorhood. 

Unfortunately, and without my knowledge, he put them into the neighbor's mailboxes not knowing it was against the law.

A few weeks ago he and his sister tried going door-to-door offering their services.  That didn't go over so well as most of the neighbors were hateful to them stating they already HAD somebody who did that for them and gave the flyer back. 

Now I don't like solicitors either.  But never would I be hateful to someone else's child.  And it's not like he's selling over-priced cookies or wrapping paper for school.  The kid wants to work. 

Today as I'm working on school with my daughter, the phone rings.  It was a furious neighbor.  FURIOUS!  Telling me that he's going to have me arrested for opening his mailbox.   He didn't care that it was a mistake.  He didn't care that I said I was sorry.

And now what do I do?  I certainly can't have my son going back opening up people's mailboxes to take them out.   A door-to-door apology wouldn't be appreciated. 

Just wait for the next call I guess.  And stock up on Kleenex.

Joy and Peace Today

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit".  Romans 15:13

Overflowing with hope!  Imagine how our families, co-workers, school mates, and neighbors would be encouraged if we were actually *overflowing* with hope.  So much joy and peace that would naturally be reflected on our faces. 

Keeping our eyes on Him, our thoughts rightly related, and praying for the power of the Holy Spirit to do so. 

This is what I want today!! 

Be Encouraged!

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  2 Cor 12:9

I Have So Much To Learn!

"We each have different gifts, according to the grace given us."  Romans 12:6

God has made us all uniquely different to work together to serve Him.   That part is easy for me to understand and appreciate.  But reading over it yesterday I noticed something that I never paid attention to before.  In the next 2 verses, 7 different gifts are listed preceded by the words, "Let him". 

As in "Let him" do this particular gift and do not hinder him. 
Let him teach, let him encourage, let him give generously, etc. 

I have a tendancy to "not let" when it comes to people being different than me.  Especially when their differences are inconvenient to me.  For some reason I think everyone should be like me and often overlook their gifts writing them off as foolishness or bad decisions.  Oh my!   And why do I do this?  Believe me, one Me is more than enough in this world!

And so I want to learn to give people room.  Freedom to be who they were made to be without being like me.  Space to be themselves.  And...this is the big one....learn to appreciate the differences!

I'm Thankful For These.....

My friends and family are so generous and have blessed me in unexpected ways lately.  I'm so grateful.

~A freezer full of meat from my parents.

~A new food processor from my mom.

~1 basket and 2 bags of hand-me-down clothes from friends.

~I neat gecko set-up from a sweet family.  Was our birthday boy surprised!!

~Alison's dress plus Nana's money to make for a perfect formal for Eldest.

~Eggs from Emily b/c her chickens were extra busy.  I love those chickens!

Thank you everybody!!  I love you.

I Used To Be A Perfect Mom

It's true.

It was back in the day about 19 years ago.   It was just Honey and me with our grand ideas and our little puppy dog.   We were sure we had it pretty much figured out and when we heard somebody's child screaming a fit in a restaurant we'd give each other the knowing look that said, "OUR kids will never act like that." 

Then something changed. 

The most beautiful baby girl was born into the world...and she was ours.  Well here we go, right? 

But no.  She wouldn't sleep through the night.  She cried for no reason.  One of her first words was, "NO". 
And she only wanted to eat macaroni and cheese. 

It escalated from there as each of her precious siblings were born.   They all came into the world with their own distinct opinions about things.  Weird. 

And then there were potty training show downs, sibling squabbles, melt downs, food fights, and  toddler tantrums.  Oh, and what about that time that my daughter had to be carried out of Walmart b/c she was throwing such a fit and stamping her little feet so hard that we weren't making any progress through the parking lot?  And over what?  A plastic pair of safety sissors. 

This parenting thing is harder than we thought. 

Everyday I am reminded that the longer I'm a mom, the less I have it figured out.  There is always something new.  Something I didn't consider.  Something I didn't plan for.  And I don't know the right thing to do. 

The good news is that although I'm no longer the perfect mom, my kids do have a perfect Father.  And so do I.  And every day He is waiting eagerly to bestow His blessings on me when I ask.   And boy do I ask!  I ask for wisdom, patience, forgiveness, gentleness, and grace. 

"I know that nothing good lives in me."  Rom 7:18

Grace like rain.  "It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy."  Rom 9:16

And I am free!  Free from having to know it all.  Or pretend that I do.  Free to walk in perfect counsel without fear. 

And when pride rears it's ugly head, I have only to roll out of bed and be greeted by the nine sweet faces that God has used to humble me. 

Perfection is overrated.

Farm Life

Say Cheese!

Imagine waking up to this site every morning.  So pretty and peaceful and no annoying rooster. 
The kids and I spent about 3 days on the farm this week and I even remembered my camera! 

Mally named this guy, Mr Moose.  He hangs in the farm house and the minute we stepped in she says, "Hello Mr Moose!"  When my Grandmother and Martha came to visit she introduced him first. 

My parents have a guest house that we lovingly call the farm house.  It's spacious and homey and I love it. 

The grandmas visiting on the porch.

Feeding Sugar.

On a walk.

A fishing hole.

Lady, being unladylike. 

Loose!

I love the freedom the kids have to run and play and get dirty. 

Remember the theme song to Little House On The Prairie where Baby Carrie is running through the pasture with her hair all messy and then finally falls down?  That's what Mally reminds me of in this picture. 

This kid loves the farm more than anybody.  I noticed he even  picked up some farm terms this time. He told me that the cow was ready to calf b/c she was "bagged up real good".

You don't hear that in my neighborhood.

Still needs a nap, even on the farm.

A huge drive way for lots of this.

Smile Lady!

Thank you to my sweet family for such a good time...as always.

The Tagg Ten

We've been studying Exodus 20:1-17, the 10 Commandments, for a few weeks now.  Good stuff.
We've also had some long meetings over the course of the weekend to help us see that we could use our very own family guidelines....not the same as Our 24 Family Ways or the 21 Rules Of This House, but something that would be mostly specific to us. 

Here's what we came up with...

The Tagg Ten

1.  You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!

2.  We train ourselves to be a help rather than a hindrance.

3.  Do it now, not later.

4.  Work when it's time to work, play when it's time to play.

5.  Leave the doors alone.  Properly said:  Leave. the Doors. Alone. 

6.  Leave a place better than you found it.

7.  No socks on the tramp, no wheels on the neighbor's driveways.

8.  When someone is resting, we leave them alone.

9.  If you grumble and push, your day will be mush.  And you may just end up with a pop on the tush.  (thanks Charlie!)

10.  Don't bongoo in front of company.  (just guess...)

What Do You Notice?

Ignore the wreck.  We talked about that yesterday.  Check out the guy in the back.

Notice who's not reading the book.

Can you see me ok Dad?

Does this boy HAVE to make it into every picture??

A Glimpse Of Lately

~Did you see on my previous post that it's popsicle time!?  Oh that brings many happy faces to my backyard!   I will have a great time playing with these this summer, as I do every year.  As for this year, I've done white grape/raspberry juice, orange juice, fruit smoothies and this one...the fave so far....

4 Cups of homemade yogurt (or plain store yogurt)
frozen strawberries thawed
1 1/2 C. spinach
a bit of honey

Blend and pour into popsicle molds.  I think they may like the yogurt based ones best b/c they are a bit like ice cream.

~Speaking of fun this summer, the kids "pooled" their Christmas money together to get a POOL.  One of those pop-up pools at Sams.  We also ordered the salt water attachment thingy.  Now we're looking for just the right spot in the backyard.

~Speaking of backyard, Honey and the kids worked on this this weekend to get ready for spring planting.

100 square feet of goodness.

~Speaking of goodness, (this is going a bit far!) I tried my hand at a new dessert recipe for Bible Study.  I wanted to do an Apple Coffee Cake but Meg said something chocolate.   I looked up something new and spent the next hour and half using up every baking ingredient, growling at every kid who dared to step in and making my kitchen look like this..

Apple Cake MEG!

~I've been needing to clean the floor grout on my kitchen tile.  I looked at Lowe's and found a spray bottle of stuff for $8.  Hmm.  So I came home and pulled out the Scrubbing Bubbles that I got on sale for a dollar. Spray, let sit, and scrub with a toothbrush.  Ta da!  Clean grout and I saved $7. 

~In one day every fish in my daughter's fish tank died.  Lots of tears.  Weird how the 5 goldfish in our pond have survived all winter with frozen water and little food.  The fancy fish in the cared-for tank all got sick.  It is the way of fish I suppose. 

~I had quite an unusual start to the day.  It started off normal at first with Babyest coming into my bed to snuggle.  Then one-by-one several others trickled in with math questions, and handwriting papers, and "can you read with me?"  It's barely even 7am but most of the boys are well on their way to being finished with school already!  (This is a refreshing change from yesterday when some were still working at 5pm.)  So I sat in bed and checked math, and passed off spelling, and read and got a good deal of work done before I even changed outa my pj's! 

~While the list of the neighbors I enjoy gets shorter and shorter, I am thankful for the one who has offered up her basketball goal and driveway for our use anytime.  SWEET.  One of the few who are kid friendly and I'm thankful for her kindness. 

~My grain mill is on it's last leg.  It's been broken for some time and I've been able to keep it going for awhile now.  Since replacing it is expensive I decided to start saving for it now.  Using the cash envelopes means I get change back on nearly every transaction.  So I've been dropping change in a glass cup in my bathroom and watching it accumulate.  It is my mill money.   But today it broke in a way that I wasn't able to fix.  I'm hoping Honey has a magic touch , especially since I only have $7 in my cup!!

Today's meals..
Breakfast - cereal
Lunch - leftover sloppy joes
Dinner - chicken spaghetti at church

'Tis The Season

For THESE!!

They Just Keep Falling Out!

Andrew Has A Purple Hat

We were memorizing Luke 6:12-16, names of the disciples. 

I found these cute Bible paper dolls and printed off all sorts of accessories for them. 

We colored them, cut them out, and glued them to construction paper to make a book.  Sometimes it's easier to memorize if you have a visual. 

The big kids giggled and rolled their eyes at this.  The littles thought it was great fun. 

Do you think that John would mind that we gave him blue undies?

My Prayer Today

"since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done."  Romans 1:28

"Although they knew God's righteous decree...."  Romans 1:32

Lord, you are so good to give us every opportunity to know You.  We live in a free country where Bibles are easliy attainable and there is a church on every corner.  We are without excuse.  Lord, please cause us to love Your Word.  To know that there is nothing that is more worthy than the knowledge of God.  Let it be more important to us (and our children, grandchildren, and descendants) than the air we breathe or the food we eat.  Amen

Today.. Oh Yeah! It's Wednesday!

~I woke up feeling blah.  Even though Honey woke up cheery and chatty and talking about party plans.  But the last 2 days of school have been so busy.  And I'm tired.  And I wished it was Friday.  But WAIT!  It's Wednesday!  And that's almost even better.  Cause you see, Wednesday is Wings day.  They come over in the afternoon and we have a couple of hours of talking and fun and walking and talking and talking some more.  AND it's story time day!  That's a break in school that I call "art".  AND it's feast night at church and I don't hafta cook.  Niiiice. 

~And it's sunny.

~It's been 48 hours now since anybody's thrown up.  Maybe we're done? 

~So at this little library around the corner there are usually about 3 kids besides mine.  Always the same kids.  Quiet. Orderly. Artsy. Nice.   Today there were like 15 kids!   Another "regular" mom asked me if they had started advertising story time somewhere.  

~I'm looking for a walking buddy in my neighborhood.  Joey's not bad, but not much of a talker.   I tend to be more motivated when I have a friend.  So Saturday I called Becky and went for a walk around the old block.  6 times around just like old times and talking all the way.  We're plannng on doing that more.

~My moms are coming for a visit!  That'll make the birthday week even more special. 

~New floors in 2 weeks.  Goodbye ugly dirty white carpet.   Hello new clean sweepable mopable tile!

Some bath pix...

Bath paints are cool. 

Raisin hands!

Mayf in the baf. 

I love this bathtub!  Plenty of room for 3 kids and makes a perfect bed when needed. 

~What else?  Sewing class tomorrow and frog disection later (Jodie, I really LOVE you!).

Today's meals...

Breakfast - cereal

Lunch - tomato soup and grilled cheese

Dinner - feast! 

Round 2

The sick bed.

Who's next??

Science Fair Update

After weeks of agonizing, our first science fair turned out to be a bit of fun afterall.  

The day started out with Mr. R giving a demonstration where he dimmed the lights, lit a candle, let it burn awhile, then blew it out.  He had the kids write down the steps and retell it.  Then to everyone's surprise, he took a bite out of the candle!  Turns out it wasn't a candle at all, but a potato with a pecan on top.  (Pecans contain oil that burns.)  He then gave a brief but appropriate lesson on deception and how Satan loves to deceive us.

The judges were wonderful!  They seemed genuinely interested in each child's work and took plenty of time with each one. 

Optical Illusions....

This is what CT and Lane worked on together after his plasma idea didn't work out.   With only 3 entries, they brought in 3rd place.  

Jes and Nate talking to the judge.... 

All the K-2 kids got ribbons so they all think they won 1st place.  Cute!

JMT talking to his judges.  The competition was a bit more fierce in this age division.  He was surprised happy to pull in 3rd place on this one. 

It was NOT easy.  But it was a good learning opportunity for all of us.  Being on the other side, I look back and see that the time was very well spent...and not just for science.  I can't tell you the many character issues that surfaced while working on these projects. 

Misunderstandings, tears, disappointments.... 

One of my kids had a hard time talking to the judges.  This was a huge surprise to me because I've always thought him to be able to converse well with adults.   We had practiced at home and I felt sure that he understood what was expected of him.  But when the time came and questions were asked that he did not expect, he was flustered.  

And just when I said I'd never do it again, I've decided that we should.   When something is hard, that means you need more practice right?   I don't want to set an example of giving up just b/c it's painful.    And I'm especially thankful for all the "extras" that the Lord showed us through doing this. 

Sooo, we're already thinking about what to do next year.....