A Handful of Children

Motherhood

2011-01-12T12:53:00.000-05:00

We would mother differently, wouldn’t we, if we saw the direct connection between our investment in domestic life and the shaping of the world in which we live?

WOMAN.
BY EDWARD D. MANSFIELD

May, 1852

“THERE is a beautiful parallelism between the condition of woman in her domestic life, and the character of a nation. She is the mother of men, and the former of their minds, at that early age when every word distils upon the heart, like the dew-drop upon the tender grass. There is to that young mind no truth or falsehood in the world but that whose words flow from the mother’s lips. There is no beauty in character, nor glory in action, which has not been concentrated by her praise. There is to that climbing child no path where the mother’s feet has not trod. Her mind is to his the supernatural pillar of fire which illumines his mid-night ignorance, and the silvery cloud which at mid-day precedes him in every highway to the world.

And, even when science has conducted her pupil through the highest walls of knowledge; or when art has polished him into the accomplished citizen; or when power has dignified him with the memorials of office, she still lives in his soul, which she has imbued from her heart’s “pictured urn, With thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.”

Clothes Clothes Clothes

2010-03-04T23:23:00.000-05:00

Spring Cleaning

A chance to start fresh; to get ride of things broken, used, or no longer needed.

Its that time of year to go through the kids clothes to see whats needed for spring and summer. There are a few ways to do this big task. You can make a big pile and go through all the clothes at once or you can break it up into a smaller task. This year I'm breaking it up into a smaller task.

I do 2-3 loads of laundry a day to stay on top of clothes for seven people. While I'm folding I pull pieces that are to warm for spring, or are to small, or just plan worn out. Then I make a give away pile and a hand-me-down pile out of what I pulled. I do this over a weeks time and have gone through everyones clothes.

After everything is pulled that wont work for spring and summer. I go through the kids drawers or closet to see whats needed and write it down. I keep this list with me so when I'm out and catch a sale I check my list for sizes and for whats need. I will do this again the beginning of September for fall and winter.

With the clothes that still have life in them but are no longer need I give away, consign or ebay them. I have done all three it just depends on whats going on in our lives at the time.

I hope this helps some you out there that need to go through theirs families clothes. Please keep checking back for more helpful hints and encouragment.

~Amy

I'm still here and cooking.

2010-03-03T01:34:00.002-05:00

I'm still here. I'm getting ready for spring. I've completely gotten the bug to clean out things and organize.

I started with my kitchen so I would have more time to organize this month and not have to think about dinner.

Last week I got my pantry cleaned up and organized again and made 10 freezer dinners and have the supplies to make the other ten. So these next few weeks I only need to go to the grocery store for fresh fruits, veggies, and milk. For those that are

interested I'm going to list some of my meals.

My favorite friend in the kitchen is my crockpot. I put the meal together while the kids are finishing up breakfast. Well I'm not much of a morning person and have forgotten to put my meal together until later in the afternoon and then there's not enough time for it to cook. I found some great recipes that helped me out.

Last week I assembled ten dinners in 2 1/2 hrs. in the evening after the kids are in bed and I'm wide awake. I assemble the crockpot meals in 1 gallon freezer bags, lable the bags, get all the air out and pop the dinners in the freezer. The night before I pull a dinner from the freezer that I want for dinner the next night and set the gallon bag in the fridge. By morning I just empty the bag into the crockpot and turn it on and make sure I have a veggie and bread to go with it for dinner.

Buttermilk Herb Chicken Breast

(from Don't Panic Dinner's in the Freezer)

Serves 8

1 cup buttermilk

1 Tbsp. mustard

1 Tbsp. honey

1 Tbsp. rosemary

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. dried sage

1/2 tsp. dried marjoram

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

8 boneless chicken breasts

Put chicken in 1 gallon freezer bag. Mix all other ingredents together and pour over chicken. Get all the air you can out, lable and freeze.

(I label the bags first while its empty with a Sharpie. I write what it is, the date, the thawing and cooking directions on the bag so I don't have to go find the cook book for that info.)

Serving Day: You thaw chicken, discard marinade. (The meat is marinading while it thaws.) Grill until chicken is done. I grilled these on my George Forman Grill.

We had this one last week for the first time and we all liked it.

Chicken Cacciatore

( from Don't Panic Dinner's in the Freezer)

Serves 6-8

2 med. onions, sliced thin (my family wont eat onions so I use 2 Tb. of onion powder instead)

2 cloves garlic, minced ( I use 2 tsp. of garlic powder most of the time)

1-15 oz. can diced tomatoes

1-8 oz. can tomatoe sauce

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. celery seed

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup white wine ( I use water)

6 chicken breasts

Pasta or Rice for serving day

Mix all ingredents togther except chicken. Label bag, put chicken in bag, pour mixture over chicken.Close up and freeze.

Serving Day: Pull dinner out the night before and place in fridge. Morning of serving day place meal in crockpot on low for 6-8 hrs. or high 2 1/2-4 hours. Serve over pasta or rice.

We eat this two or three times a month and I always have left overs for a few lunches.

Hawaiian Chicken

(from Don't Panic Dinner's in the Freezer)

Serves 6-8

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2-16 oz. cans pineapple slices, drained

2-15 oz. cans manadarin oranges, drained

1/4 c. cornstarch

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. soy sauce

1/4 c. lemon juice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. pepper

Serving Day:

Steamed Rice

Label bag. Place chicken in 1 gallon freezer bag. Mix all other ingredents and pour over chicken. Seal bag and freeze.

Serving Day: Thaw over night in fridge. Place in crockpot and cook on low for 4-5 hrs. or high for 2-3 hrs. Add green pepper chopped one hour before serving (opional). Spoon over rice.

We had this one tonight for the first time and everyone loved it.

There are more recipes and I will share them if you like. Just let me know. Of these 3 recipes I made 2 of each. I made 6 homemade freezer dinners in no time.

We are also have Enchiladas, Shepherd's Pie, and Chicken Pot Pie. I have made all three of these in tripple batches on a Saturday and froze them all. But what works best for me is to double them the night I'm cooking them and then we eat one that night and I freeze the other for another night.

Happy Birthday JoAnna!

2010-01-19T01:18:00.000-05:00

She's Three!

Happy Birthday JoAnna!

The night before I made the cupcakes and decorated the breakfast area so she could wake up to something special.

Yes another picture of the cupcakes I was so happy the way they turned out.

When she came down and saw it she loved the stars.

JoAnna getting excited.

No talking while mommy's trying to take pictures.

Time to taste the cupcake.

Birthday Girl!

Time for presents.

She loves the Kia Lan girl and cartoon and is learning many words in Chinesse.
The doll sing and moves and talks.

JoAnna also got a playdough kitchen set and lots of supper cute doll clothes from her Marmy.
As she opend the doll clothes she said "Ahhh Cute".

She also got her own personal table and chairs.
Can you say Tea Party anyone.

Ezra is the best helping JoAnna play with her playdough.

Birthday girl on her thrown. With her favorite baby in one of its new outfits.

Being 3 is fantastic and I look forward to all this year will bring.

Love you JoAnna.

Fall Fun!

2009-11-23T17:22:00.000-05:00

Ezra drew the picture for the carving of the pumpkins.

Leaves in D.C.Our wooded back yard.They loved wathcing their Marmy carve the pumpkins.

Ezra and JoAnna took a break under the back deck.

The pumpkins are done.

We have been really enjoying the cool fall days and cooler nights. The leaves in our yard, neighborhood, and around town are so beautiful. There are now just a few trees left with color. Here comes the much cooler, colder winter just around the corner.

Escaping the Homeschool Matrix

2009-10-02T19:23:00.000-04:00

Hello there family and friends,

I came across this article today and boy this was written for me. Its crazy how I can feel like my kids are behind, house always a mess and I feel like throughing in the towel after just 6 weeks of school. This article gave me the encouragement I needed to hear and I'm excited to plan everything out for next week. Why do I let me expectaions get the best of me?
Enjoy the read.

~Amy

Escaping the Homeschool Matrix
By Steve Walden

The room was brightly lit and cold. She was sitting at a table,

across from an empty chair. She knew the questioning would begin any

minute. The door opened and a man bearing a remarkable resemblance to

Hugo Weaving walked in and sat down in the empty chair.

“Mrs. Anderson,” he began, “we’ve been monitoring your

homeschool. Apparently, you have been living two lives. In one life,

you’re Katherine A. Anderson, homeschooling mother and wife in a

respectable community. You have a homeschool curriculum. You have a

schoolroom. You volunteer . . . to help out with your homeschool

support group. The other life, Mrs. Anderson, is lived in your

pajamas. Your kids are unable to complete their assignments, and if

you can get them bathed and dressed before your husband returns from

work, you consider it a good day. One of these lives has a future,

Mrs. Anderson. The other does not.”

She just stared across the table at this man. “Who was he?” she

wondered. Why was he accusing her of these things?

The man opened up a folder and began leafing through it. “As you can

see, we’ve had our eyes on you for some time, Mrs. Anderson. I think

that you should look long and hard at how you are failing in your

role.” He pulled out a single sheet of paper. “Your son is 6 years

old and yet he cannot read. Your 11-year-old daughter spends half her

time daydreaming and staring off into space. She hasn’t scored

better than a D on her spelling quizzes all year. Your teen,

this . . . Melissa, I believe her name is . . . she hasn’t prepared

for the SAT test. If you really loved your children, Mrs. Anderson,

you would have your children at their desks and hard at work by 7:30

each morning.”

Tears started to well up in Katherine’s eyes. Was she really that

bad at homeschooling?

“As far as your curriculum goes, you’ve switched back and forth

from A Beka to Saxon to Bob Jones and back to Saxon again in just two

semesters. I have to wonder, Mrs. Anderson, if you are teaching them

correctly. How can you jump from curriculum to curriculum without

causing your children to become hopeless, blathering idiots?”

Mrs. Anderson made no effort to wipe away the tears that were now

flowing down her cheeks. She knew all these accusations were true.

There was nothing she could say to refute them.

“Tell me, Mrs. Anderson. What’s it like, living in your pajamas?

Do you enjoy being a slob?” His words began to cut deep, and

somewhere deep inside her soul, a wave began to form.

“How many times did you yell at your kids yesterday, Mrs. Anderson?

Can you really say you love them if you treat them this way?”

The wave began to build, quickly becoming a surge. Mrs. Anderson’s

anger was rising above and beyond the shame and fears this man was

exploiting.

“Your best friend, Laurie, doesn't have any trouble getting her six

children ready to go to eight different activities each week, yet you

always manage to run late . . .”

“That’s enough!” Her waves of anger burst over the dam and began

to pour from her lips. “I don't have to listen to these accusations.

I am a loving wife and mother, and I care deeply about my children.

We may not get to every activity on time or complete every

assignment, but we are trying. My children are well fed and clothed,

and they are learning so much more than they would learn anywhere

else. My son is a gifted engineer. He dismantled three phones last

week to understand how the buttons work . . .”

“You consider that school?”

“Absolutely! He is learning mechanics and science. If I can get him

to put things back together so that I can answer the phone, I’ll be

all set. By the way, Melissa doesn’t need to study for her SAT test

right now. She’s 14! We will prepare for it when the time is right.

“Another thing. My daughter may not always study with perfect

concentration, but she draws the most beautiful pictures. She

understands forms and shapes so much better than her brothers or

sisters do. She is a very bright girl, no matter what your files say.”

These bold statements took the man aback. Mrs. Anderson’s outburst,

though somewhat controlled, was clearly not what he had expected to

hear in response to his accusations.

“You say I yell at my kids, and that’s true. I do lose my temper

when I clean a room and come back in thirty minutes to find it in

worse shape than it was before I cleaned it. But your files don’t

show the breakfast we had yesterday when we sat around and talked

about three things we like about each other. I enjoy my children so

much more than you could imagine. And we truly love each other.

“I stay in my pajamas some days, that’s true. But we are at home

and like to be comfortable while we do our work. Learning is more

important than appearances.”

“But are your children really learning, Mrs. Anderson? I show that

you have lost ground every time you’ve tried to set a schedule. How

effective are you if you can't even maintain a schedule?”

“We may struggle sometimes. I admit, we don’t hit the mark with

schedules, but we do a good job setting goals. We know what direction

we’re going, and we do a good job, even if we don’t end up

completing our workbooks. If anything is out of line, it’s my own

expectations.” An idea began to form in her mind.

“What? We are not to blame, Mrs. Anderson!”

“Of course,” she thought, “it all makes sense now.”

Katherine looked straight into her accuser’s eyes as she spoke

calmly and deliberately. “I know who you are! You’re my own

expectations. You’ve been trying to trap me.”

“Nonsense. We don’t need to trap what we already own.”

“You don’t? Then you would have no problem if I made pajamas the

standard school uniform?”

“Uh . . .” Suddenly, the man became quite anxious.

“And you wouldn’t mind my going to thrift stores to buy more

phones and other things for my son to dismantle?”

“Wait . . . this isn't what we wanted. Stop!”

“Why? Don’t you want to hear about how we’re going to stop going

to so many activities and start spending more time together as a

family? I've got some great ideas, including a bug collecting

expedition and a board game night.”

“Board games don’t constitute an education! They . . .”

“Oh, yes they do. Colors, numbers, counting, reading, and strategy

all work together to educate my children. And the best part is that

they don’t even realize it’s school.”

The man was becoming transparent, and he was quickly fading from

view. “But what about your curriculum? You can’t change in the

middle of the year! It’s . . . ”

“I can change our curriculum whenever I think we need to. If

something isn’t working, we can try something else. That’s one

benefit of running your own school. I would rather find something

that works than have my children suffer through an entire year of

work that doesn’t meet their needs.”

She could see that the man was livid and shouting angrily, but now,

along with his appearance, his voice had faded. He was almost gone

from view when she said, “Oh, by the way, school starts at 10 a.m.

from now on.”

With that, he disappeared.

Mrs. Anderson was about to scoot away from the table when she awoke

with a start. Rolling across the screen on the television in front of

her were credits for a fantasy film about people fighting the forces

of artificial intelligence. She quickly pushed the “off” button

and headed upstairs to bed. After all, she had a bug hunt to plan

tomorrow.

Steve Walden lives in Colorado with his wife, and together they

homeschool their three children (ages 12, 9, and 5). Steve is a

freelance writer and editor. When he’s not blogging at

www.HomeschoolBlogg er.com/SteveWald en, he’s searching for new

opportunities to write about a variety of topics, including

homeschooling, coping with disabilities, and connecting with God.

Steve’s desire is to help others rediscover God as their first love

and the source of their strength.

Copyright 2006. Used with permission. Originally published in the

Summer 2006 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. www.TheHomeschoolMa gazine.com

Did you enjoy this article? You'll find each issue of The Old

Schoolhouse Magazine packed with great articles to inform you,

encourage you, and remind you that you're not alone. Subscribe today!

www.TheHomeschoolMa gazine.com

Camping Part 2

2009-10-01T01:43:00.000-04:00

Here is camp with Kevin getting the fire going.

He is JoAnna walking up the path to the bathrooms with me. You can see by this picture we are off the road.JoAnna and I came across dear on our way to the bathroom. Jo wanted to touch them.She got closer.Fires going and dinner soon to follow.We woke up to a really cold weather and a stead cold rain. Elijah got out and got drink and muffins for us.WE played in the tent for awhile.Then we played in the car for a while.

We then drove and went on one of 100's of hiking trails. It was, cold, foggy, misty, muddy, and the kids had the time of there live.

2009-09-28T23:38:00.000-04:00

Last week I posted my 2 weeks worth of meals and so far all is good. This is how the list is looking:

~~Roasted chicken with veggies~~
~~Sweat and Soaur pork chops in croc pot, rice and steamed broc.~~
~~French Bread Pizza and Salad~~
Spagettie & meatballs
Pot Roast with poatatos, carrots (croc pot)
Left over roast make enchiladas
Potato Soup (croc pot) receipe below
Tortilla Soup (croc pot)
Shepherd's Pie
~~Chili with corn bread~~ insted of baked potatos
Baked Chiken and corn on the cob
BBQ Chicken (croc pot)
~~Chicken Delicous~~ instead of lemon pepper marinated chicken I forgot to buy the lemons. recipe below

No-Fuss Potato Soup

For the Crock Pot
6 Cups diced, peeled potatos
5 cups water
2 Tbs. onion powder
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup margaine or butter
4 chicken bouillion cubes
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
12 oz. can evaporated milk
3 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
8 oz. of shredded cheese cheddar of colby

Combine all ingredents except milk, parsley, and cheese in slow cooker.
Cover Cook on Hight 7-8 hrs. or until vegetables are tender.
Stir in milk and parsley. Stir in cheese unitl it melts.

Tips:
For added flavor stir in 3 slice of bacon thats been browned until crisp and crumbled.
Or add bit size pieces of pre cooked ham last hour of cooking so they ham will be heated through.

Serves 8-10

Chicken Delicious
for the croc pot
4-6 skinless chichen breast
lime of lemon juice
salt to taste
pepper to taste
celery salt to taste
paprika to taste
10 3/4 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
10 3/4 oz. can cream of celery soup
1/3 c. water

Season chicken with juice,salt, pepper,celery salt, and paprika. Place in slow cooker.
Combine soups with water and pour over chicken.
Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
Serve over rice

It looks like I have enough dinners to keep us going. There are so many dinners left over because of last weeks camping trip and last night had a major head ache and ordered out.
Serves 8-12

1st Camping Trip Part 1

2009-09-27T22:35:00.001-04:00

We went on our first camping trip this last week at Shenandoah National Park. The drive up was beautiful. There are many over looks along Sky Line Drive. Franklin Roosevelt started Sky Line Drive in 1931. President Hoover had a vacation home there. There are 7 water falls and hiking trails for the beginner and the expert.

At the first over look we stop at a car pulled in and told us they just saw two baby bears eating in a tree about 1 mile up the road. So of course we jumped in and found them. Traffic was stopped in both direction while every looked on.

All these animal pictures are just us in our car and them on the side of the road. The bears in the tree was just the beginning. Then further up the road we saw a mom and her cubs crossing the road. It was unbelievable.

They crossed and stayed on the side of the road for minute but then quickly followed the mama into the woods.

This was the first dear we saw on our trip. This one stayed on the side of road and never ran off. Little did we know we would see a dozen in camp, grazing through camping, running through camp. The kids loved it.

Camp beginning to take shape. The first day was beautiful. A nice drive up, great weather for setting up camp and watching all the dear and there were trails everywhere for the kids to explore.

Our tent.

How did the first night in the wildreness go?

To Be Continued...

~Amy

A Powerful Word

2009-09-23T11:56:00.003-04:00

Pity And The Flame

Casual Christianity is about to radically disappear from humanity. Hot or cold love has always been on the Lords agenda, and He has a plan to get us there.

God is creating hardness in His people. Not the kind of hardness that we are warned about in the scriptures, which is the hardening of the heart. This is the hardening of the will in the midst of feirce opposition, so that we will follow the Lamb wherever He goes. The creating of a steady strength that cannot be moved by circumstances. This is the “toughening-up” of the saints. It is strength-training and conditioning for the future. Those who are called to travel through the future will be strong, as it is said in scripture:

“And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.…” Dan. 11:32

In one of the “Rocky” movies, the champion got hardened up for the fight by using his natural surroundings, rather than the mechanical means used by his supposed superior opponent. God uses the every day events of our life to strengthen us, harden us, and prepare us. Most of the time, we don’t even know that’s its happening. All He asks is that we submit to the process. Not to run, but to surrender. To commit to the flame everything that He puts His finger upon.

There is usually both a minus and a plus involved. Things that need to be added, and things that need to be taken away. The fire reveals them both. This is the “valley and mountain” principle that Jesus spoke about:

“…prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth…” Lk. 3:4
That is, the things that there are too much of in our life (the mountains), He wants to diminish. The things that there are too little of (the valleys), He wants to increase. Plus and minus. He seeks to eliminate the excesses and build up the deficiencies. This is the way of preparation for the Lord. “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path smooth”, is the command. In other words…He is coming, remove all resistance to His coming to you. He has sent His Spirit to help us.

The Burning Barrel

I had a vision while in church Sunday Morning. I saw a small burning barrel with a flame coming out of it. I did not know what it meant and so asked the Lord to tell me. He said: “submit to the flame”. I knew that the barrel was for the things that God is asking us to throw in the trash for consuming. The lying. The sexual immorality. The anger. The unforgiveness. The accusing finger. The trash talking and any other thing that Jesus would not be doing through us.

No one likes to admit that they have these things but I am convinced that we all do to one degree or another. He’s not OK with us allowing them to hang around forever. There is a big difference between being preently at war with our sins, and us learning to tolerate them. Jesus corrected His church, not for having sin and shortcomings, but because they had learned how to tolerate it (Rev. 2:20).

Later, I remembered that we had actually just had this happen to us. One night we went outside and the garbage dumpster had caught on fire. What a picture!

Becoming What We Behold.

There is a principle taught in the scripture that “we become what we behold”. Whatever captures your attention, and you consistently gaze upon, will become the thing you look like. You will be transformed into the image of that thing. There is a transformation that takes place in the human heart when we give our attention to something over and over again.

If a person dwells upon negative things long enough, they will become negative. If a person looks on the joys in life on a consistent basis, they become full of joy. You become what you behold. If you are one who always is out to find what the enemy is doing, you actually will become very dark in your appraisal of the world around you. If you however, look over and over into the glory of the Lord, you will be changed into His image by that very glory you behold.

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is…” 1 John 3:2

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor. 3:18

What we spend our time focusing on matters a great deal. We are not called to spend most of our time reflecting on our needs. We are however called to spend some of our time in godly reflection. We are not called to spend our life “navel-gazing”. We are called primarily to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord Jesus and thereby be changed into His image. We are given the opportunity to judge ourselves that we be not judged.

“For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world”. 1 Cor. 11:31-32
This is not a negative, but a positive. We have been given the opportunity, along side of Jesus the Wonderful Counselor, to approach the judgment seat that bears His name, and with Him take a good hard look at where we are, and what we need to do to align ourselves with His will.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…” 2 Cor. 5:10

“Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.” 1 Tim. 5:24

Agreement with God, is the desired effect, of submission to the judgments of a good God.

We have been given the opportunity to do now…what others will be doing later. Appearing before the judgment seat of Christ with Jesus as our advocate. We have been given a place of security and comfort in the righteous position of the cross. In the judgment that we attend, we do not get what we deserve, but what He deserves.

The Whining Dream

I had a dream recently, where I was shown some events in the coming days. In this dream, Some believers were being held captive in what looked to be a concentration camp. Some were making plans to escape so they could do the wondrous works of the Lord. Others had fallen into the snare of nearly perpetual whining and complaining. I don’t know that this captivity was meant to be taken literally, but it does make for a poignant picture of how we process our environment.

We are held captive by our gazings, how we perceive our situation, and our response to them. Some in the dream saw their difficult condition as an opportunity to thrive and to conquer. Others saw it as hopeless and unfair. How they perceived their situation, created the way they responded to it. Some were planning to move ahead, others were lying on the ground moaning and groaning.

At one point, I actually stepped over one of these believers who was lying on the ground and whining about how hard things were. I straddled them and bent over and said with a loud voice in to their face “STOP WHINING!” This startled them out of their complacent moanings and arrested their senses so they could rise up and embrace the challenges set before them. Sometimes we just need a good wake up call, that’s all.

Pity

Whining and complaining is a manifestation of self pity. It is a testimony that we are not trusting the Lord in our current circumstances. Sometimes we feel that we have the right to complain if things are bad enough. We take a strange kind of comfort from it, and the sympathy we get from others from it. When we complain, we are saying to God that He does not have a good firm grasp on us. Not to mention that much of the time the problems that we are facing, are ones we have created for ourselves. When complaining we are, in fact, blaming God for them.

Pity is dangerous. It opens a gateway to the enemy to access our lives and increase the very thing we are verbalizing. Self –pity that leads to whining and complaining, then creates more despondence, bitterness, and the casting off of restraint. This arises from a lack of seeing our situation from Gods perspective or “vision”, and seeing it from our own. As the scripture states:

“Where there is no revelation (vision), the people cast off restraint (perish)…” Pr. 29:18

The children of Israel were kept from their destiny largely because of there opening an access point to the enemy through complaining. This came from unbelief. They could see the land, but were separated from it because of their current circumstances. It was just too hard. So they stated that over and over, first among themselves and then to everyone else.

Their unbelief and complaints led to the disannulling of not only their destiny, but the destiny of millions of other hopeful wanderers. However, God was not just upset at their lack of thankfulness. He was angry that the ones he loved were going to be kept from the destiny He had designed for them.

The desert is a hard place and people are challenged in what they believe. We need to be the voice of hope to them and not the voice of discouragement. The children of Israel probably did not expect that their complaining would have such a dramatic affect, but it did. What we think, say, and do affects others. Pity disrupts the working of God in our lives as we go through difficult circumstances.

Thankfulness kills pity.

Whining opens a door or gateway to the enemy. It creates something that we don’t want. It is a luxury we cannot afford. If we humble ourselves before the Lord, He will correct us. Rebukes, correction, and Divine woundings are all a gift from the Lord and evidence that He is in love with you:

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” Rev. 3:19

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” Pr. 27:6

The Lord is our great Friend. He is a loving Father. Like a child who had not cleaned their room. He is coming to bring the needed correction in our lives so that we will be better prepared for the days ahead.

The Flame

Had a vision in church.

No one likes to see their stuff burn. When we have a house fire our first reaction is to run in and save all we can. It is normal to want to protect the things that are apart of us. God however is not interested in keeping us the same, but changing us into the image of His Son. He will burn up everything that hinders love for Him. When we ask God to “consume us with the fire of Your Love”, we really don’t know what we are asking.

That’s probably a good thing because if we did we would probably stop asking. He is determined to consume us. Everything that not built on the Christ, will not remain forever. God is going to see to it that everything that can be shaken (removed destroyed) will be shake.

Ultimately, everything that is not of Him will perish. We have, weather we realize it or not, submitted to that process now, on this side of heaven.

The process of the fire has already begun in your life;
“…but each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work…” 1 Cor. 3:10-13
Trouble reveals what is really inside of us. The way we respond in difficulty, which is the fires of testing, is the true measure of what needs to go into the fire. This is a form of the judgments of the Lord which are actually to be desired, not just put up with;
“…the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether…more to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold…” Psalm 19:9-10

No one likes to think that they have stuff that needs to be burned. We all like to think that when we stand before the King, that everything…or at least most of what is in my life…will last. After all, I have built my life upon Christ! All of us however, have things that need to go in the burning barrel of God. We just don’t usually see them too clearly. He will help us with that too.

This is a trying of fire right now, and will culminate at the day of the final judgment of God. We have the opportunity to submit to this fire of testing and burning away right now. He loves us enough that He will allow the fire to come weather we ask for it or not, but it is always better to ask and work in cooperation with what the Lord is doing. He is burning off the things that keep you from being near to Him. That is what you say you want, and He has taken you at you word. Submit to the process. Submit your stuff to the flame. Let God burn off the parts that are not Him and keep the parts that are Him. Only the eternal will abide eternally. Only what God does will last.

So let the Lord harden you. Don’t pity the flame. Put pity to the flame. Let God consume everything. Submit to the Divine process. Let love that cannot be overwhelmed by the floods of trouble, begin to come forth.

“…many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it…” Song of Songs 8:6

Jim Moore
Salem House of Prayer

Two week of Meals

2009-09-22T22:23:00.005-04:00

Mom whats for Breakfast? Mom whats for Lunch? Mom, Mom whats for Dinner? Can I have a snack?

Its seems like my day can completely get taken away with these question. I can spend half my day in the kitchen figuring out what to make and then cooking. This is an area I need to get organized and under control. I have tried different methods some of them have worked other have not.

This is what I'm going to try now. I have made list of 14 different dinners. So I have 2 weeks worth of dinner written down and I shopped for all that I would need to make them. I don't assign my meals a day because I like to change my mind. I do check my list the night before to see what I want the next night so I can pull anything from the freezer to thaw and take note of any fresh veggies I will need to pick up.

Oven Roasted Chicken with steamed veggies
Sweat and Sour Pork Chops (croc pot) with rice (rice cooker) and steamed broccoli
Pasta with Sun-Dried tomato pesto sauce
French Bread Pizza and salad
Spaghetti and meatballs
Pot Roast w/ potatoes and carrots
Enchiladas made with leftover meat from Roast
Potato Soup (croc pot) and homemade bread
Tortilla Soup (croc pot) and salad
Shepherd's Pie and steamed Broccoli
Chili (croc pot) and baked potatoes
Baked Chicken and corn
BBQ Chicken (croc pot), with rice or mash potatoes and corn
Lemon Pepper marinated Chicken (croc pot), rice and green beans

I have tried this with 1 week of meals and it went really well so I hope it works just as well with 2 weeks.

I'll try to start adding some of my recipes.

~Amy

Do The Next Thing

2009-09-14T00:17:00.001-04:00

DO THE NEXT THING

At an old English parsonage down by the sea,
There came in the twilight a message to me.
Its quaint Saxon legend deeply engraven
That, as it seems to me, teaching from heaven.
And all through the hours the quiet words ring,
Like a low inspiration, do the next thing.

Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment, let down from heaven,
Time, opportunity, and guidance are given.
Fear not tomorrows, child of the King,
Trust them with Jesus, do the next thing.

Do it immediately, do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care.
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand,
Who placed it before thee with earnest command.
Stayed on Omnipotence, safe ‘neath His wing,
Leave all results, do the next thing.

Looking to Jesus, ever serener,
Working or suffering be thy demeanor;
In His dear presence, the rest of His calm,
The light of His countenance, be thy psalm,
Strong in His faithfulness, praise and sing.
Then, as He beckons, do the next thing.

~Elisabeth Elliot

Kitchen Fun Part 2

2009-09-12T23:24:00.006-04:00

Last Monday we had a game day. I also decided to make sandwiches a bit more fun.

We had leaf shaped PB & J or tuna fish.

We also had pumpkins and acorns. Josh loved the shaped sandwiches he ate 4 that day.

My baby boy. So cute.

Kitchen Fun!

2009-09-12T22:56:00.003-04:00

JoAnna and Joshua helped me make cookies.

Ezra enjoying the fruit of their labor.
JoJo enjoying a beater. Its all over her chin.

Josh enjoying his beater.

How cute can she be. It was so much fun cooking with a little girl for the first time. Josh and Jo took turns putting the ingredients in and the did great about taking turns.

Once the dough is done its all over. Everyone has to have multiple finger dips and licks.

Pictures!

2009-09-03T21:33:00.005-04:00

Here is Ezra playing outside with everyone. Zeke taking pictures.
Zeke taking one of himself showing off his black eye.

Josh showing off hi weapons.

Josh at the neighborhood park yesturday.

We went on a walk through are neighboring woods.

Elijah and Jo.

Miss JoJo

It tooks us about a week but we got it built and they love there basketball hoop.

JoAnna got a kitchen the other day from a consignment sale. She loves it.

JoAnna just being cute as a button.

There has been alot going on with us. Still looking for a church to call home. Still looking to make new friends. Still working out daily schedule, with school, meals, chores, and time to keep myself sane, and time to work in Daddy time who is on nights right now.

It's that time of year again.

2009-08-15T21:47:00.008-04:00

I'm sure having fun looking at everyones plans if you want to see more than just mine take a look at The Homeschool lounge.

I'm having fun planning and getting fresh supplies for our school year this year. I'm eager to go to my first home school support group meeting in our new town. I want so much for Jesus to be honored with our school, day and lives.

We are going to be using Charlotte Mason as the base of you school curriculum. I'm excited about it and think it will help my kids to fall in love with learning and to become life long learners.

Our Bible, Geography, and History will be taken from Genesis-Deuteronomy, about Egypt, about our Ancient History.

We will be start our year with Astronomy for Science, with many great book, CD, and hands on experience with our new telescope. ( We got it from Costco its from Meade. It amazing last night we looked at Venus.)

For science the kids will also have Nature Journals (composition books) and will go on weekly walks to observe and draw what the see.

We will be doing a picture study one day a week for six weeks we are starting with Claude Monet's art work.

The 2 oldest will be taking piano lessons again.

We will be reading out loud and individually lots of living books. Then the children will give oral narrations and the old guys will have to do 1-2 written narrations as well.

There is copy work involved.

For math we are staying traditional with Saxon and Horizon math but going try to do have kids do hands on math assignments and real life math more often this year.

We will also be keeping notebooks. It will helps keep all the work in place and have something to show if anyone comes knocking making sure my kids are learning. I also think it will be a lot of fun.

So that sum's up our school for 2009-2010.

A trip to Old Town Alexandria

2009-07-31T13:40:00.003-04:00

It was a hot down but we walk down the streets of Old Town Alexandria. Its very charming.

This is at the end of the road we ended up at the bay front. There where, shops, food, museums, and street performers.

JoAnna and Josh checking out all the birds.

My Precious Joshy.

My cool and collected Little Old Man Ezra.

My full of sunshine and smiles JoAnna.

She loves to take her baby's and blanket everywhere.

This was about 3 weeks ago our fist time with pig tails so cute.

"I'm hot and tired and would like to go now."

What Happening!

2009-07-29T18:13:00.002-04:00

The picture of the kids on the stone eagle brings back memories. This Eagle is at the D.C. Zoo I have a picute of Elijah, Zeke, and Ezra when he was a 2 months old with this satue when we lived in Frederick Maryland. Know we are back and I can't wait to get a picture with all five kids.

Its amazing how time flies. My baby is doing well and almost fully potty trained which she mastered in just a few days. She is 2 1/2 and is the sunshine of the house. She lets me comb through her curls and put barrettes and pig tails in her hair. To have a little girl that lets me do her hair is one of many simple pleasure that make being a mom so enjoyable.

Ezra is 6 now and seems to have grown and mature so much in just a month I can't imagine what he will be like at his next birthday. He started reading as a Kindergartner but with showing the house so much this spring and the move I haven't had him practicing but then other day he picked a book and started reading, sounding out words, and asking for help when he couldn't get it without getting frustrated. I love that he discovered reading again on his own with no stress, no frustration. He also has taken quiet nicely to being the big brother in charge that Joshua and JoAnna look up to. He got every one cups of milk and a granola bar out this morning while I was still up stairs. He is growing up so fast. He does miss Elijah and Zeke though and I know he will be so happy to have his big brothers back as will the whole family.

Joshua is 4 1/2 and growing up. He loves to be the first one up and get dressed right away and puts his p.j.'s back in the drawer. He is my most active child and seems to love/need order. He looks out for JoAnna but always loves to tease her as well. He recognizes most all his letters and knows most of there sounds as well. He has learned to play well by himself; setting up battles with his toys, building things with Lego's. Just the other day he built a giraffe. It was really cute and he is so proud of it that he has it stashed away somewhere safe.

Elijah and Zeke our starting there last week of a 2 month vacation. None of us knew they would be away that long but they have had a great time with both set of grandparents and have been able to visit extended family and see and do thing they have never done before. I'm ready to have them back and my family whole again though.

Ezra turned 6 and the 4th of July

2009-07-11T16:40:00.002-04:00

JoAnna and her 4th of July dress.
Ezra just went shopping at Toys R Us and picked out a couple gifts.
He got to pick how he spent his day.
We surprised him with shopping but he picked going to the movies to see Ice Age 3 and going to Chucky Cheeses. Then we finished the night with Fireworks.

All 3 waiting for the movie to start.

His birthday is actually the 3rd but daddy had to work so we celebrated on the 4th. But on the 3rd I went to Star Bucks and treated him to a cinnamon roll.

Happy Birthday Ezra!

You make my life better!

Its been a while I know!

2009-07-07T19:38:00.002-04:00

Hi to everyone.

I will post pictures of the house and kids later this week. The pictures might still have boxes in them but you will get an idea of where we live now. I hope everyone is having a great summer.

Aunt Manda!

2009-06-16T00:07:00.002-04:00

I had a great week with my sister Amanda.

The kids call her Manda even JoJo.

Our first day we went to South Beach and then drove home in rush hour traffic and a major rain storm.

Amanda with Josh and Ezra.

Day two we went to the mall Amanda treated me to some amazing boots to wear in Virginia this fall and winter for my birthday. I can't wait. The kids also got to ride the Merry-Go-Round at the mall and loved it.
Aunt Amanda, JoAnna and her babies that she takes everywhere.

We went to the Anna's Beach down in the Keys.

We went to our neighborhood pool.

We also went to the Miami Metro Zoo one last time for us first time for Amanda.

It was a great visit and I'm so grateful she came to stay with me. After we put the kids to bed we watched chick flicks and had good laughs.

Thank you Amanda.

Going Ons in the Hand Household.

2009-06-14T21:35:00.003-04:00

May was a busy finishing up with school and the with Elijah and Zeke testing. Got to end the month of May with a great visit from my folks. It happened to ran everyday they were here but we made the best of it. One of the best parts was that they were here from my birthday.

My folks took Elijah and Zeke back to Oregon with them and they will return once I'm moved to Virginia. Its been nice just having my 3 youngest with me. I just had another great week with my sister Amanda. We had a great time and much better weather. We went to the beach twice, the pool, the zoo, shopping.

I've also been cleaning out different areas of the house to make sure nothing moves with me that I don't need. Just 2 weeks and my chapter in Florida will come to a close and a new chapter will begin.

JoAnna sporting a new dress and sunglasses. Ezra showing his personality.
Joshua mixing his love of baseball and cowboys.

JoAnna has been getting her 2 year old molars and quite disagreeable to be around but we caught her in one of her sweet moments. Giving her mommy a kiss.

With all the rain we had to get out of the house so we went to Dolphin Mall.

Elijah, Zeke and Pappy went to the Alligator Farm that's just 10 minutes from where we live and had a great time learning, seeing, touching the alligator. They even went for an air boat ride.

Where do the days go.

2009-05-23T17:48:00.002-04:00

I'm always amazed how time gets away from me. Some days an hour feels like a day. Last week feels like that was months ago, and sometimes a day goes by like minutes. My days have been filled with lots of things but things that one days over and over again with no end in sight. Some days I remember to start my day giving it to Jesus and asking for His strength and there are many days I let the day take over and find myself struggling to make it until lunch time.

This time of taking care of all five kids by myself with no break in the evening when husband comes home or a break on the weekend for a hew hours to myself to just catch my breath and not worry about the kids. I haven't had that and its been a really growing time. Some days I just it seems like every time one child is done asking for something another ones has a need. Where will I find the strength to meet all the needs my children have? Some days no one can get along and there are constant bickering and down right fights to break where do I find the wisdom to discipline and instruct them over and over? The only one I can turn to is Jesus and he does always meet me.

A few verse that have added much encouragement :

James 1:4-6
"Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."

I have caught myself many times asking but then wondering why I did get what I asked for and feeling like I'm being blown around like a feather. I have to ask and not doubt. We must believe the Word of God and stand firm in what it says.

Romans 13: 14
"Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

This a big one for me I have caught myself many time rushing the kids to bed without prayers so I can watch my favorite t.v. show without interruption. Yes I need time for myself but I would be much better off reading the Word or listening to a worship music. The needs of my children should come before my selfish desires to watch a t.v. show that has no impact on my life.

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

My daily prayer that Jesus would fill my up with His joy and peace and that it would spill out of me and my kids would take notice. What better place to learn about really joy and peace and from the only true source that it comes from Jesus.

~Amy

The Beach!

2009-05-03T21:45:00.004-04:00

JoAnna and Josh. It was really wind so you had to stay in the water not to get cold. It was is the 80's today how could you be cold. I know.
JoAnna played with Elijah for along time.

Ezra having a blast.

Elijah getting ready to go explore under water.

Ezra crawling to safety.

Joanna clinging to Zeke when we first got there.

JoAnna taking a break with Mom.

Such a cute swimsuit. She has a tan circle on her back now.

She became fearless and wanted to venture deep.

The wind really picked up and the waves would knock her down.

I took them all to the beach by myself and we all survived.

It was good day.

2009-04-12T17:57:00.002-04:00

Happy Easter!

He has Risen!

I'm her example and she is mine.

2009-04-09T23:25:00.003-04:00

This is my current daily reminder to take each day at a time and keep my focus on what really matters. Her smile, her kisses, her hugs, her words, are all so cute and precious but its much more than that lately. All of that reminds to calm down, settle down and/or slow down.

It's amazing how God can use anyone or anything to speak to us or teach us.
JoAnna lying on the sidewalk pointing at the moon. She would stay still a moment longer.

Carefree as can be.

I'm trying to follow her example.

I get to uptight about to many things.

Finding the Good in a Bad Day!

2009-04-07T14:26:00.003-04:00

There has been more challenges that usually this last week. The day of all days was last Wednesday. I meet with a real estate agent to put our house on the market which I have never done before the kids were behaved but the meeting went weired. Its the last half of the day the thing became challenging. Elijah had baseball practice, I just dropped him off went home and put dinner in the oven so it would be ready when we got back. Practice went long so we got out to the car to let the little ones run around. Josh had a number 2 accident. Then JoAnna's diaper exploded. Then I went to the car to take care of the diaper and for the first time ever put my keys on the seat instead of in my pocket. I proceeded to lock myself out of the car. I did have quick thinking and called a locksmith. We wanted for 35 minutes for him. The locksmith then took 1 minute to break in and unlock my car and then charge me $156.00. The children had been playing hide-n-seek while we where waiting. Right when the locksmith arrived Josh fell and a broken beer bottle cut his wrist. When we got home dinner was not burned. This is Josh at the ER. He cried when the cut happened but not since. He watched with great interest as they cleaned and bandaged him up. He also didn't flinch when he got a shot.
The good amongst all the craziness. While they were playing hide-n-seek JoAnna kept pointing to the moon. Even lying down on the side walk to look up and point at the moon. When we were walking around waiting for baseball practice to get over in the first place JoAnna would keep galloping. She had a huge smile on her face and her curly hair bounced up and down. It was so cute. So even though everyday has been filled with more challenges than usual. I've tried and had to find the small things in each day that making be a stay at home mom wonderful.

Today we had a showing for the house but they people didn't show. JoAnna fell and cut her lip and I was driving and fighting the feeling of another terrible day approaching I looked in my rear view mirror and saw Ezra raising his hand waving them back and forth to the Praise and Worship song that was playing in the car. I'm so thankful that I spend my day with 5 precious gifts from God that remind me whats really important. Even though Elijah and Zeke broke a window with a baseball this last Saturday. LOL!

A Kiss before Bed

2009-04-02T15:49:00.002-04:00

Now that JoAnna is two she doesn't go to bed as easily. And two nights ago she had her babies, blanket, a quick book, prayers and kisses she still was fussy when I went to leave. I came back in and kissed but she still wanted up. Joshua came in the room and I asked JoAnna if she wanted a kiss from Joshy. She said yes. He kissed her and she layed her head down and there were no more complants. It was the cutest thing I think I have every seen. A kiss from a big brother settled her right down.

Up To

2009-03-30T21:34:00.004-04:00

Well I've survived over a week on my own taking the kids with me everywhere, and locking the house up at night. I have a nice big bed and was looking forward to a few nights with it all to myself but each and every night I have one or more kids end up in my bed in the night. To cute. I haven't had to sleep alone even though I would like to know. Everyone always ends up on the diagonal.

Tonight JoAnna wasn't happy about going to bed and Ezra follows me in to tuck her in for the second time and Ezra says "I know why she is said she thinks she will be alone but she isn't Jesus is in here with her." So I rubbed JoAnna's back and prayed with her and we said good night, shut her door and we haven't heard from. :) Ezra is such a good big brother.

Homeschool Groups Field Day Picnic

2009-03-20T23:17:00.003-04:00

It was a great day for a picnic. Ezra and his friend Levi did the 3 legged race together it was so cute.

Look at them go.

Eli Elijah and Zeke choose to seek out the nature trails and then ended up playing in a canal.

Without telling my first. Boys Boys what to do with boys.

There was a snow cone machine and JoAnna could get enough of her shaved ice.

Ezra with his friend Levi and little brother Indy. Josh was there too but ran out of the picture.

Elijah so excited that I'm taking his picture.

Parental Rights Could be taken away if we don't do something.

2009-03-20T08:09:00.004-04:00

I copied this post from http://myblessedhome.blogspot.com/ and she has 3 videos to watch to go along with this post. Please take the time to read it and please go to http://www.parentalrights.org/ and sign up to show your spport. We can not aford to be silent.

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 ChildNext, 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.

Strawberry Picking

2009-03-14T16:54:00.005-04:00

In early Febuary out homeschool had a field trip and had a great time picking Strawberries.

Strawberry picking in Febuary only in S. Florida.

We had a good time and enjoyed a great pic-nic after. This morning was actually quite cool thats why we are in jeans.

Hand boys baseball!

2009-03-14T16:30:00.006-04:00

Here is JoAnna and I at Elijah's and Ezekiel's first Little Leauge games of the season. Their games where at the same time time and many of them will be. Ezra and Josh playing because they can't sit in the stands unless they have food to eat.

Isn't my 4 yr. old Joshy so cute. How time flies.

JoAnna taking off her shoes.

Ezra and Josh walking back to me after collecting sticks.

Her hair is getting longer but is still curling up into ringlets.

I wonder if she will want to play softball after many years of watching her brothers play baseball.

She is trying to get away from me and my camera.

The are all sitting still because I brought snacks.

They only sat through the first inning of Zeke's game.

Baseball would be more fun if I could just sit and watch but I still manage to see quite a bit of the older boys play especially when their up to bat.

Bikes!

2009-01-14T13:04:00.005-05:00

JoAnna got a bike for her Second birthday. She is crazy about her bike. Josh rides it will JoAnna allows. Josh will get a bike for his birthday next month. Ezra got a bike for Christmas. He rides it but in his slow, cautious fashion.

Zeke has moved on to my bike and Elijah has taken over the bike that Zeke got for Christmas. They were so hesitant to learn but once they did the can't imagine doing anything else. The next 7 days we are not going to get any hotter than 70 degree's. So the boys will be having a lot outside time enjoy the good cool weather.

We have finally got bikes for our kids. This house and neighborhood are the perfect fit to get the kids riding. Elijah and Zeke were older for learning to ride but the mastered it a few hours.

What have we been up to!

2009-01-10T20:05:00.004-05:00

What have we been up to. Well we had a fabulous simple Christmas. E and Z learned how to ride a bike. We had family visit a week after Christmas and we went to the Everglades. We celebrated my baby's 2nd birthday.

We went to Anne's beach (thanks Mylinda for the suggestion we loved it).

My Ezra got glasses.

I also have all my kids home with me again. After trying one more time. Ezra and Elijah spent the last 4 months in school but are now home with the rest of the family again.

I truly believe this is where my kids are to be. Not everyday is smooth, or easy but the things worth having are not easy. I want a close knit family that follows after God's own heart. Living, schooling, and worshiping God together is how I see that happening for this family.

I hope your having a great start to your new year too.

~Amy

Merry Christmas from Sunny South Florida!

2008-12-22T19:52:00.009-05:00

We went to the park to take some pictures and I actually got one of JoAnna smiling but she wasn't standing by her brothers.
Joshua, Ezekiel, Ezra, and Elijah were complainning the sun was in ther eyes.

The boys were bored and wanted to know how much longer and at this point JoAnna wouldn't wear the hat.

Looking handsome.

First atempt with eveyone in there Santa Hat.

I don't want to do this mom.

My kids cute but unhappy there mom is making them

get there picture taken.

JoAnna happy to see the tree.

Merry Christmas!

Gifts

2008-12-18T21:01:00.002-05:00

Gold, Incense, and Myrrh
18 Dec 2008Marybeth Whalen

“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.”

Matthew 2:11 (NIV)Whether you grew up in church or not, you’ve probably heard the story of the three wise men placing gifts before the baby Jesus, throwing their own little royal baby shower. Christmas carols tell of it and many a Christmas pageant has featured children with crowns askew, tottering in with their royal gifts.

Yet far from soft blue blankets and a selection of baby toys, these three kings brought seemingly odd gifts for the tiny Savior. They placed at His feet gold, frankincense and myrrh. The Bi ble doesn’t tell us what Mary and Joseph did with Jesus’ gifts, but I have to wonder. Unless she understood what they meant, I can almost picture Mary saying, “Wow, umm, thanks. I know just where I’ll put these!”

I recently learned that each of these gifts has a symbolic meaning. When we study these meanings, the wise men’s gifts take on much greater significance, a significance that is at once sobering and amazing. Gold has always been a symbol of royalty. This gift signaled the wise men’s understanding of who this child was, and how we should receive Him.

Because of this child, we are transformed from lowly paupers to royalty seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:6). He had to leave the perfection and grandeur of heaven in order to walk among us, trading His royalty for a time, but never losing His deity. Incense was a symbol of His purity.

Because He was born sinless and lived a perfect life, Jesus was that perfect lamb, without blemish, o ffered up for our sins. Incense was used as a fragrant offering to God. But the beauty of the scent couldn’t be released without being touched by fire. Jesus’ life became a fragrant offering through the flames of affliction. And in His death, we receive His purity.

Myrrh symbolized death, as it was used for embalming in those times. Nothing says “congratulations on the birth of your baby” like a little symbolic death! As these men laid this odd collection of gifts at the feet of this child, a little shiver had to have run down His mother’s spine when that last one was placed before Him. Already Lord? She had to be thinking. Do I have to start letting Him go already?

But I suspect Mary knew that to accomplish His purposes on earth, Jesus’ life had to end. And now as we seek to follow Him, our lives have to end as He asks us to die to self and to take up our cross and follow Him.Have you ever asked yourself why the wise men chose t hose gifts? While we will never know for sure this side of heaven, I think it’s because they listened to God. He directed them to bring these gifts as an outward statement of Jesus’ ultimate purpose.

Each one points to suffering and death that ultimately leads to transformation. Jesus didn’t come to earth to be born, He came to earth to die so we could be reborn. This Christmas I pray we keep our hearts focused on the meaning in the wise men’s gifts – and give our lives to Him, just as He gave His life to us.

Dear Lord, I praise You for being willing to come here, be born in a stable and endure an agonizing death so that I might be saved. I thank You for allowing me to know You, and I pray You would keep my heart focused on You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

I came across this today and thought it perfect timing. I have struggled this season with not being able to shower my friends and family with the gifts I would like to give them. I have had to get creative and the gifts have become more heartfelt. And with the gifts being even more heartfelt it has kept in the spirit of the real reason we celebrate Christmas. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and praying you take the time to breath and speak to your savior this Christmas season.~Amy

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-11T10:05:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone is having fun with your families as you prepare and start celebrating the birth of our Savior. I know I get caught up in the preparations and start loosing sight of the big picture sometimes. Stop and take a moment to remember to share the love to family and friends and to those we don't know but need a helping hand. We don't need the perfect gift or the Christmas decorations just so, all we need to do is keep it simple, sweet and our Savior first.

Today I going to take the time to read some Christmas books to my kids and explain the characters of the nativity they have been playing with for weeks now. I think I will even sit and make Christmas cards with them today too.

I hope you continue to enjoy this Christmas season and wanted to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas.

Amy

Thanksgiving 2008!

2008-11-27T11:04:00.004-05:00

I just visited one of my favorite blogs Lori at The Simple Life at Home. It was perfect timing for me to some across her post. I have had a great week and have been listing my blessing but this morning Thanksgiving Day 2008 I'm emotional and down in spirit. Her post was a gentle slap in the face to walk up and remember all that I have. I'm thankful for Lori and all my friends that offer encouragement. I hope you enjoy her post that you will find below.

Many times we feel as though we have nothing to be thankful for. Perhaps you are in a struggling marriage, or have a child addicted to drugs. Maybe your job is one of the many that was cut during these tough economic times. Life can be difficult sometimes. I don't want to minimize any hurts or struggles you may be going through. But here's a little something I found that puts our lives in perspective.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep ... you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace ... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation... you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death... you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If your parents are still alive and still married ... you are very rare, even in the United States.
If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful... you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder... you are blessed because you can offer healing touch.

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, you are wealthy enough to have an internet connection and power on, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Have a good day, count your blessings, and pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.
~ Author Unknown ~

To all that I would add that we have even more reason to be thankful. Besides the material blessings of life, we have the knowledge that God sent His own Son to take the punishment for our sins. Because of Christ's sacrifice, all of us have the opportunity to take God up on His offer to become children of God and to enter into a personal relationship with Him. It's a life of joy and abundance which He offers. Should you have any questions about this, I'd be happy to talk with you. Just let me know.Have a blessed Thanksgiving and enjoy the start of the holiday season!!

More Thankfulness!

2008-11-24T17:36:00.002-05:00

Well I have found more things to be thankful for. I have had bills be forgiven or reduced. I have received a long awaited refund that I gave up on ever arriving. The weather has stayed cool for a straight 2 weeks. I have not had my air condition on for 2 weeks that is a blessing from the Father Above.

During the holidays is when I don't like that I live in South Florida. Its far far away from my family. They are all in Oregon bundled in sweaters and sitting by the fire. OK ,I know some of them are reading this and think I'm crazy because they would love to have the weather we are having now. To me Thanksgiving and Christmas mean cold weather, the hope for snow, hot chocolate, and lots of warm blankets. When its hot here it makes my heart ache even more that I'm not there for the holiday. Once again God is good. I'm taken this fabulous weather as a personal gift from God. :) Thank you Lord for the cool weather, keep it coming.

I'm getting excited and so thankful for a 4 day weekend with all my kids home and preparing for our first Christmas in our current house.

What are you thankful for?

~Amy

Thankful.

2008-11-22T19:19:00.005-05:00

In uncertain times and with thing not going as I hoped or planned these last 5 months there are so still so many things to be thankful for.

A home to live in.
Food in my fridge and cupboards.
5 healthy kids.
A hard working hubby that loves me unconditionally.
A hubby who took his health back in control almost 2 weeks now. Lost 15 lbs. so far.
A Mother, Father, and Sisters who care about me and my family.
That I've been able to reconnect with friends.
This is the first Thanksgiving my husband wont be working in 6 years.
That God's Word has never been more alive to me. IT truly feels like the Bread of Life.
That I'm totally dependent on Jesus. He is the only One who can give me total peace about everything and every time I reach out to Him. He shows up. There is no other way to live.
That I'm a daughter of the King.

I hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving. Even though dinner might not turn out like planned, you didn't get everything you wanted to get today you can still stop and take a moment to show thanks for the truly important thing.

~Amy

My Joshy and JoJo, OH how I love thee!

2008-11-08T22:17:00.017-05:00

Lots of pictures on this post of my two J.J.'s Josh will be 4 in February.Time sure does fly.
My handsome little tough guy is also sensitive especially to his sister.

JoAnna at Ezra's field trip to the The Little Farm had no fear of the animals she found the farms cat and didn't want to stop follow it.

JoAnna check out the animals.

She feel in love with the toy house they had to play in. She was so happy sitting in them, opening and closing the windows.

This is for you mom. It was cool enough for her to wear the clothes you set.

Isn't she so cute? I can't stand it. :)

A different cool day. She has on the Old Navy sweater you got her, the jean jumper, and those leggings I got on my last visit. More cuteness!

Josh and Jo hand in hand and it was there idea.

My heart is melting.

The pink apple sweat suit. So cute. Yes she is on the patio table.

JoJo enjoying the backyard her favorite place to be.

We are waiting in the car for Elijah and Ezra.

This is the skirt an shirt you sent too Mom. You have such good taste.

JoAnna and Josh have a great time everyday.

I hope they continue you to enjoy each other this much as the grow up together.

I love spending my days with them.

I love you!

2008-11-05T09:09:00.004-05:00

Psalms 25 : 1-5

"In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause. Show me you ways, Lord, teach me you paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long."

This is one of the passages of scripture I read this morning. I plan on memorizing it so the words will be engraved on my heart and mind. The country voted for change but I don't think the people really realized the change that is coming. In these very uncertain times these verses really spoke to my heart and brought me comfort. I pray all who read this find comfort and truth in the Lord Jesus as well.

Jeremiah 29: 11-13
"For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope the future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find whe you seek me with ALL your heart."

~Amy

Halloween.

2008-11-01T09:39:00.011-04:00

They are so excited and JoAnna's

right there feeding off her big brothers excitement.Having a fairy princess this year was so fun.

She stole every ones heart.

My little Cowboy Joshy was total in to and wanted to keep going .

Fairy Princess up close and personal. At this point she has had so M&M's.

She is sitting there with her basket to her right. I was trying to put the basket up and she was making it known that she was keeping that basket.:)

She walked up to the door and when the people said bye she would say "bye "back in her cute, adorable voice. And they would all say "ahhhhhh!"

Then the most handsome 9 year old ever was a Baseball Manager. Sporting the big gut.

Ezra was wearing his cuddle buddy. Its a monster face on the hood, a tail on the back, and claws at the hands. It his blanket that he sleeps with every night and it was his idea to wear it. Half way through he wanted to stop. He said his feet hurt. By the time we got home we realized why he was so tired. He had a full day of school and it took 2 hours to walk our neighborhood loop. They had fun and have so much candy in the house its crazy.

Eli isn't pictured but he stayed home and gave out candy. Our neighborhood was the happening place we ran out of candy.

~Amy~

Ezra's Field Trip

2008-11-01T09:18:00.012-04:00

This is the end of the day they took a

class picture at the pumpkins. They gave the kids feed and let the goats out of the pen and the goats came and ate from the kids hands. Ezra stood strong a few other kids freaked out.
Ezra got to milk a goat.

Ezra waiting his turn to milk the goat.

Ezra's pony ride.

He did a great job wasn't scared a bit.

Ezra watching while the other kids take there pony ride.

The field trip was very hands on. The touched a pony.

Touched a goose.

JoAnna wanting out of her stroller and be a 5 year old too.

They also touched a chicken.

The field trip was to The Little Farm. They gave the kids lots of information and lots of hands on experiences. Luckily there were lots of parents to help man the kids because I had to deal with JoAnna. I have whole bunch of pictures of her at the field trip too.

~Amy

Words to Live By!

2008-10-24T15:12:00.002-04:00

I have been digging into God's word and its has been coming to life for me. One of my most recent verse that has spoken to me is :

2 Timothy 4:2
"... be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction."

To me this verse has helped a lot. The elections and economy are taking us on a crazy ride. If you total follow it and focus on nothing else you can get very discouraged and stressed out. I know I was.

If I follow the advice of the verse which I have been doing my best. I take the time to prepare for my families needs, make meal plans; storing up some meals for anything unexpected. I also have stopped and took note of how I was responding to my kids. This verse has helped me to think before I speak. I have had a really problem with me tone of voice. I have been working really hard at having great patience and carefully instructing them and it has made a big difference in my kids behavior and my attitude and stress level.

I hope you find comfort in God's word and have a blessed day.
~Amy

Fall Fun in the Pool!

2008-10-22T18:14:00.007-04:00

JoAnna was finally tired of the goggles.
There she goes trying the goggles out in the pool. She didn't
put her head under.

There are on and she likes them.

So cute I can't stand it. What is she thinking about.

Man this little precious girl never falls to make me smile each and everyday.

Josh having a snake beside the pool.

Ezra enjoying his snack too. It was great to be together again.

Ezra and Eli had a no school teacher planning day.

Just trying to enjoy my kids everyday. I had been so focused on all things not going how I planned. Lately I have been again enjoying everyday life. It's easy to do once you stop looking to fill you own agenda. I love my kids and the Lord has shown me how its such a privilege that He let me raise me five great kids. Living for Jesus is the only way to live.

~Amy

The Bible

2008-10-20T09:12:00.004-04:00

I don't know about you but the Bible has never come alive for me more than it does now when I read it. It doesn't feel like a 2000 year old book. It reads to me as it was written for right now. There is such power in Gods Word. Every time I open it whether its the Old or New Testament. I have been receiving comfort, given direction, have been challenge, and reminded how amazing our Jesus and Lord really are.
It's so easy to get distracted with the daily grind a life. We don't want to forget that God has His Hand in all of our lives. Here are some nuggets I want to share with you.

Romans 15:4-6
"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had,
so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God an the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

2 Timothy 3:14-17
"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of , because you know those from whom you learned it,
and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scripture, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is God -breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
so that all God's people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

I pray you find time to talk with Jesus today. Whether it be in a quiet time in the morning our little prayers through out your day. Don't forget he wants to hear from you. I also challenge you to open the Good Book and take a look and find out something new God wants to teach, remind, or encourage you today.

God Bless!
~Amy

Front Yard Fun!

2008-10-20T08:55:00.007-04:00

It was rainning off and on. The boys playing out front

with a new friend.

Elijah tied himself to the tree.

JoAnna with her drink running around outside too.

She wants to be in on all the action.

Look at those curls, she looks like her brothers but is so cute

and our little princess.

Girl on the go! She doesn't like to be told to come in.

She is walking away from me.

Fall brings Change!

2008-10-09T00:03:00.005-04:00

Fall is my favorite time of year. Growing up in Oregon I could always count on it being cool in the mornings and still heating up in the afternoons. Then without a moments notice it would stay cool all day and you could plan out cute outfits with sweaters, jackets, and boots.

Then seven years ago I moved to Maryland in January and had the coldest whitest winter I have ever had. I also experienced my first New England fall. Oh my, I fell in love. The cool mornings, warm afternoons, and the changing color of the trees and the leaves falling. I wanted to go for a drive in the countryside every weekend in the fall it was so beautiful.

Now these last four years fall has only brought hurricanes and then less humidity. It sill gets quit hot. Last week it seemed if fall was arriving her in Florida the was a nice breeze, humidity was down, and the temperature was staying in the 80's, and I noticed the air conditioner wasn't coming on as much. This week brought hot temps. and still warm nights.

The Fall means change. I have already rearranged me living room furniture and I have only lived in this house for a year. It means start working on school more. It means holidays are just around the corner. I love Christmas.
It meant that two of my kids were off to school and I'm still not total happy about it. It means our home school group starts meeting again yet I have only been able to make it once.

I felt there was going to be a big change in my household these last 4 months but not what is in store. My hubby has been job hunting and has a few phone interviews and jobs that thought were going to happen and fell through for what ever reason. All the changes that have happened and all that are coming and I don't even no of yet I know I can relax and have all my faith in Jesus. What ever is to come Jesus is enough. (There is a really good article about Is Jesus Enough. You can click on the purple words above to read it.)

Whatever changes are coming for you this fall rest assured that you can always count on Jesus. He will never change!

~Amy

A Baby with a Baby!

2008-10-01T09:33:00.003-04:00

JoAnna went out with me. I let her walk instead of putting her in the stroller. We were walking down the sidewalk. Mommy, JoAnna, and Baby.

I wish someone could have been there to take our picture but at least I stopped and got a picture of JoAnna and Baby. She takes her baby doll with her faithfully where ever she goes.

PreSchool!

2008-10-01T08:43:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I got pipe cleaners and beads out for Josh. He needs lots of different hands on activities and I finally got something out besides play dough and crayons and coloring books. He was really excited.

Josh showing off his bracelet. He had no trouble stinging the beads onto the pipe cleaners. He made a total of 3.

So whats a mom to do make her first and only daughter her first bracelet's. I also made 3.
JoAnna loved them. She even tried to copy us and string the beads. She did it. It was so cute to watch her concentrate and be determined to see it through.

~Found Memories of 2008! SO FAR~

2008-09-23T08:53:00.006-04:00

If you you read my blog entry The Only Way to Live. I talked about how hard and challenging 2008 has been. Well I thought it appropriate to remember all the good that has happened in 2008 and I still have 3 months to go to add more wonderful memories.

Well January 2008 my daughter JoAnna turned one ( it feels so neat to type and say daughter ). Also in January my Nana and Papa from Independence, Oregon came for a visit. They are my kids great grandparents and have more energy than me most days.

Then in February Joshua turned 3. We bought a dinning table that seats 8 people so my whole family can sit around it together. You could sit more people around it if I hadn't picked out such big chairs to go with it, but the chairs are great.

With March we have another birthday Ezekiel turned 9. The weather was still cool enough to enjoy the out doors. I had lots of blessed days with my kids, staying home and baking cookies or just watching a movie together.

April started with another birthday Elijah turned 11. How did that happen. How do the grow so fast and were did the time go. Lots of schooling with the kids.

May came and our neighborhood pool was finally opened. We went 3 times a week most of May. We finished another year of homeschooling. JoAnna walked on her own on Mothers Day.

With June I turned 31 and had the best birthday I have had in a long time. My sister Amanda and her friend and now mine came to visit for the week before my birthday. It was a fabulous time.

That brings us to July the month Ezra turned 5. JoAnna and I then get a 10 day trip to Oregon to be in my sister Ali's wedding. It was beautiful and so was she.

August brought the start of school for two of my boys and Kevin's 31st birthday. He would have me not that pre-season football games start being played.

We are still in September but I will note that Kevin and I celebrated our 12th Wedding Anniversary. Was safely taken out of Ike's path. It been an amazing journey so far with the addition of 5 great blessing. Now I really got to buckle up and hold onto Jesus because in these next 12 years I will start raising teenagers.

I know I have left stuff out but I'm pretty proud of my list. My entire family had birthdays and are healthy. In these last few weeks I have gotten a tighter hold onto my Jesus and better grasp of who I am. That my confidence in myself comes from being a daughter of the King. I pray I make him proud and that I can make lots of more memories these last 3 months of 2008. It is my favorite time of the year.

~Amy

Menu Monday!

2008-09-21T22:47:00.005-04:00

Everything from this weeks menu is from my freezer. I have meat cooked and portioned out in 2 lbs. amounts. I make most all my bread or I get it from the day old bread store for so much cheaper. They have the healthy kinds there too now. I'll I bought was fresh veggies and fruit from the local farmer market. I also try to keep my pantry stocked with the item I usually use.

This last Saturday we had French Dip sandwiches. The roast cooked all day in the croc pot. I cooked a 3 lb. roast so I got two dinners and husbands lunch out it. I love cooking once and eating twice.

Sunday: More French Dip sandwiches, fresh peaches, and chips

Monday: Soft Taco's with all the fixings

Tuesday: Kielbasa sausage and potatoes is the croc pot, with streamed Broccoli

Wednesday: Lasagna, green beans and homemade bread

Thursday: Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches

Friday: Left over or pizza and salad

Don't forget to check out http://www.orgjunkie.com/ for more receipes and menues.

Have a blessed week.

~Amy~

The only Way to Live!

2008-09-21T15:32:00.004-04:00

God is so good.

Yet its never been more clear to me that life if truly a journey. January 2008 proved itself to be hard. We had just returned from a month long road trip and spending 2 1/2 weeks in Oregon. Leaving my Parents and Sisters was emotionally very hard. For the last 8 years I've been trying to figure out how to move back to Oregon to be next to my family. I thought maybe I would head back to the Northwest 4 years ago when Kevin got out of the army but no we headed to Florida. The first two years I stayed in a state of unhappiness that I was not living were I wanted. I have let that go these last two years and embraced were I'm at.( Off and on.)

Yet last January seemed to be especially hard. Then in the months to follow different challenges kept appearing. As new challenges arrived I was not quick to run to my Saviors feet for comfort, strength, and guidance. I turned to others things to distract myself from reality.
I just became more frustrated and miserable. These last few weeks have been just as challenging as the rest of 2008 has been but I have drawn into Jesus. He cares about everything that happens to us. Jesus doesn't want slaves he wants friends. (He did gives us free will.) We start living by what His word says because we following are very good Friends advice. They more we follow it the more blessing we see, peace we experience, and strength that we need to make it through the day we receive.

We are all born sinners into this world and when we acknowledge that and ask are Creator to come into our life. You are born anew. Ready to start a new chapter in our life that involves faith in Someone bigger than ourselves. Once we do that all of our sins are erased, forgotten. WE are now saints walking with Jesus the King of all. WE are princes' and princess'. As a princess I (we) am destined to a life of royalty. We are God's royalty. We are know longer sinners but saints once we accept Jesus into our lives.

I have been reading a book called The Supernatural Way of Royalty and the Bible. I can't seem to get enough. (But that makes since to me because I've been spiritually starving these last few years.) Here are few quotes from the book that mean a lot to me.

"If we know we are destined for greatness why would we even consider abandoning that course or not living up to that potential."

"When we begin to act like royalty, issues that felt like mountains in our lives will become mere stepping stones to demonstrate our character."

"When we believe in God, we empower the Holy Spirit and the angels to bring about His will."

Some verses that I also can not get enough of.

Phil. 1:6 "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry int on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

Psalms 139:7-10 " Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast."

That's were I'm at right now. Embracing God's word as much as I like to embrace chips, Red Vines and peanut M&M's. I'm making the choice to enjoy this moment right now wherever I happen to be. Because God knows whats best for me and will provide everything I need.

~Princess Amy

Ezra's Kindergarten Open House

2008-09-18T14:00:00.006-04:00

Here is my big boy. We are at home when I took this picture

he made the frame at school and Ms. Shrodier took his picture

to put in the frame.

At the end they had deserts for everyone.

This is were it all happens when he is at school
He sits at a table and chair just his size. There are 4 to a table and his table he has 3 girls he sits with.
I still have my issues about sending him. I think he is stressing because
he has had two 'wet pants accidents'.
His class sang a song it was the month of the year it was really cute.

Joshua & JoAnna at the Park today!

2008-09-16T16:14:00.012-04:00

JoAnna on the teeter-tater with Josh. She is always

pooching her lips and scrunching her nose.

Josh climbing!

Josh trying to go fast and knock JoAnna off but then slowed down for her.

My J.J.'s together.

SWING BABY SWING!

DON'T FORGET ME!

Taking a break in the shade.

I'm going to go explore now.

Joshua bang'n the drum.

JoAnna on the running. Nothing stops her as long as "mama" is close by.

This was just one small part of our busy day. I don't have any of Zeke because he was off playing with his Home schooled Friends that he hasn't seen all summer. Tonight I'm off with Ezra to his Open House. I hope to get pictures to show you.

I hope you all have a great night.

I'm still here!

2008-09-15T16:41:00.002-04:00

Hi all, I'm still here. A lot has been going in the Hand house hold. First I lost me digital camera/video camera. I've been looking for it for weeks. Today I found it and its safe and sound. Thank you Jesus. Yesterday I woke up with a really bad cold, runny noise, very bad sinus headache. Yesterday was my 12Th wedding Anniversary. We cuddled on the couch with a movie after the kids went to bed. We will have to celebrate grander another time. Last week I spent a lot of my evenings helping my 6Th grader with his homework. He has a lot. Ezra as well has his nightly homework. I've also been plugging into God's Word more. I have found myself very hungry and not able to read or process what I read enough. I'll share with you some of what the Jesus has speaking to me later this week.

Safe from Hurricane Ike but still discouraged!

2008-09-08T09:22:00.004-04:00

I spent all Friday and Saturday preparing for the worst of Hurricane Ike. Thankfully Ike is just going to give us some rain days and get pretty windy. I still find myself this morning discouraged, under the weather, wanting to crawl back under the covers and not do anything. I am very thankful that I not packing up what I can carry and praying I have a home to come home to but still why do I feel so discouraged.

What I do know is that I've started my period. Elijah was up set that I didn't get him to school in time yet I had to yell at him 3 times to get out of bed. I do my part I get him up, feed him and have a clean uniform for him to put on and get him to school with 10 minutes until he had to be sitting in his first class. Where is the love where am I going to find the strength to make it through 5 teenagers. At least they come at one at a time. I do all I do for the family but were is the love. My big boys say I never do anything with them.

I also know that my husband is unhappy. He has gained most of his weight back and is discouraged that he doesn't have a new job offer yet. He is mad at himself about his weight gain and unhappy with his job. He brings all those feelings home and there isn't much I can do to help. I've tried.

I don't want to end this post without speaking goodness, thankfulness, and the truth.

The truth is that Jesus loves me and my family. He cares about my needs and concerns I just have to lay them down at his feet and he will lighten my burden. Jesus will show me His love even when I don't feel the love from my kids and hubby. So today I'm doing the mounds of laundry for Jesus, creating a weekly meal plan for my King, and I'm going to do the dishes as if Jesus himself were coming to have a cup of coffee with me in my kitchen. And while I'm working on those things. I will also be preparing meals, changing JoAnna's diapers, making sure Zeke gets his school done, and play with Josh so he doesn't get into to much mischief. Yesterday I found an empty white out bottle and the furniture he was painting and all the the drips that landed on the floor. My 5 gifts from God sure so keep me busy

Thankfully all my kids are healthy, I have a home with air conditioning, a fridge full of food, and a hard working husband and sisters and parents who love me and a Savior who has already saved me from myself.

I hope you have a blessed week. I will let you know how the day turned out. When I post my menu later today or Tuesday morning.

~Amy

School Is Not So Bad After All!

2008-09-04T10:25:00.003-04:00

Well its week 3 for my 6th grader and Kindergartner being at school. It has been nice with the house being quieter during the day. I've been able to spend one on one time with Joshy. I've been doing alphabet flash cards with him telling him the letters and sound and he repeats after me. He sometime traces the letters. I'm also able to focus in on Zeke ( I still can't believe his is a fourth grader) and give him one on one attention with his school work. There is even time left for me to do much needed things around the house.
By 1:30 I start watching the clock because I really start missing them. But I feel good that they are their because they enjoy school and Elijah is get challenged and learning to be accountable for his work more than I was able to give him. I do wish they got out earlier and weren't so tired in the evenings but I'm also able to focus in on those two because the other have been with me and have had me attention earlier.
I think what has helped is that they are in a Charter school which you have to apply for. Its publicly funded but since its a Charter School they can set up higher expectations of the kids and parents and enforce these expectations.
Anyway some of my kids went off to school this year and I thought its was the end of the world but guess what it wasn't. It has actually helped my relationship with Elijah and opened up are ability to talk about different things.
Ever family needs to do want they feel God telling them to do with there child's education. I have always taken it year by year and having them is school this year doesn't mean they wont ever be home schooled again. Its just what was right for our family right now.

Have a great day and live in the moments that God gives you and enjoy the journey.
~Amy

Menu Monday!

2008-09-01T15:01:00.004-04:00

Well its a new week I will be useing some meals from last week. I got to tired and order pizza last week and another night I ended up making just sandwitches.

Tonights is a new meal. I will let you know how it turned out.

Monday: Beef Stew Ol`e a (croc pot)

4 Carrots

4 Potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 onion, Quartered

1 1/2 lbs. beef stewing meat, cubed

8 oz. can tomatoe sauce

1 pkg. dry taco seasoning mix

2 cups water, divided

1 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch

2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1. Layer first 4 ingredient's in slow cooker. Add tomatoe sauce.

2. Combine taco seasoning with 1 1/2 cups water. Stir cornstarch into remaining 1/2 cup water until smooth, and combined with taco seasoning and water. Pour over all the ingredients in slow cooker.

3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4. Cover cook on low for 7-8 hours.

5. Serve over Rice.

Tuesday: Shepherd's Pie from last week with a tossed salad.

Wednesday: Turkey burgers, homemade french fries and baked beans

Thursday : Beef and Broccoli over rice

Friday: Homemade Pizza and salad

Saturday: Pasta and Herb sauce with grilled chicken.

Sunday: Leftovers

Rain Day Fun when Fay was close.

2008-08-29T22:22:00.010-04:00

I hope they stay close friends. I love this picture.
The had so much playing in the rain.

They didn't want to come in.

Lots of running, yelling, jumping, and plain boyhood fun.

Joshua just couldn't get enough.

Playing in the rain and not even the slightest best cold. I think it was 85 when they were playing and while JoAnna and I looked on from the garage I had to spray bug spray on us ladies because the mosquitoes were out in full force.

Brothers!

Some Pictues of the Kids!

2008-08-29T22:13:00.003-04:00

Zeke is in the 4th grade this year and is still at home with me and JoAnna and Joshua. He just learned how to play solitare and loves it.

Little Miss Jo Jo is a busy little bee. She loves to know where I'm at at all times but does toddle off to play by herself. She is growing so fast. 19 months old and can entertain herself crazy. Her smile sure does make me smile. I love her crinkled up noise.

Believing No more Doubting!

2008-08-27T06:57:00.002-04:00

I don't know if my kids go off to school is a crisis but it feels like one. Tuesday was another busy, day and I was still trying to fit everybody in and feeling over whelmed. I read this and it helped me. This morning I'm tired but got up when Kevin did 5:30 a.m. because I knew it was better for me to take advantage of the quite alone time than try to sleep until 7 a.m. I was having trouble falling back to sleep and I knew I would just be cranky and thrusted into breakfast and getting kids ready for school. I'm learning and listen to God's small still voice. YAH! I can learn. :) I made my coffee and re-read James 1:2-5 out of my Bible and then kept going. Verse 6 was a slap in the face. James 1: 6-7 "But when you ask you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave in the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. Those who doubt should not think they will receive anything from the Lord; they are double-minded and unstable in all they do."

Can you say OUCH! I don't want to be unstable or double-minded so I take a stand today NO DOUBTING FOR ME, I BELIEVE I BELIEVE!

Have a great day believing.
~Amy

This Lifted Me Maybe it will speak to you!

2008-08-26T20:18:00.001-04:00

From Pain to DestinyTGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman08-20-2008'Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything' (James 1:2-5). God often allows pain to ignite destiny in our lives. Without motivation, many of us would never fulfill the purposes for which God created us. Oftentimes a measured assault invades our life and creates a depth of pain that all we know to do is press into God with all our being. At first, our motivation is to alleviate the pain. After a season of extreme emotional and sometimes physical pain, a second phase begins. This phase moves us to discover a new and deeper relationship with God. We begin to discover things about ourselves and about God that we never would have discovered without this motivation. Gradually, our heart changes our motivation from pain to loving obedience because there is a transition of the heart that takes place. No longer do we seek God for deliverance from the pain; we seek God because He is God. We seek His face and not His hand. When we move to the second phase we often find ourselves moving into a new destiny and calling for our lives because God often separates us from the old life in this process. No doubt Joseph and Peter felt the pain of their individual crises. However, later they could realize God's purposes in their crisis. Like Joseph, we are able to say, 'You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.' Today, let God move you from the place of pain to the place of destiny. Let God show you the secret things He has reserved for you as a result of the crisis you may find yourself in.
I was forward this and thought I would share it with you all. It meant alot to me.

2 OF My Kids off to school!

2008-08-25T22:24:00.005-04:00

We have two kids is in school now. Ezra started Kindergarten last Wednesday on the first day of school. I have had a hard time letting go but Daddy thinks its best and Ezra is having a lot of fun, I do miss him through out the day though. He loves school, his teacher loves him and says he is so well behaved. Well of course he is. She asked if he went to a private pre-school because he has been so well behaved and knows all of his letters and there sounds and ready to learn more. I said know just home with his mama sitting on her lap learning his letters and being read to.

On Ezra's 1st day we got a phone call from the school that they have an opening for Elijah who is a 6th Grader. After doctors appoints and getting all the right forms he started today. He really liked it and he didn't think he would. He has 4 class on Mon./Wed. and 4 separate classes on Tue./Thur. and all 8 on Friday. The school is small so he just as one hallway to work off of and find his classes. I think school is going to be good for him but its different to only have 3 children home with during the day. I was surprised how well he did considering he has done school on the couch for the last 3 years reading great books, doing math, and lot of exploring. Oh how they grow up.

Menu Monday!

2008-08-25T13:17:00.002-04:00

I do have a menu. I have actually had one for the last couple of weeks. I have been moving it around a bit what we eat on what days. Its been crazy around here. With last weeks prepare for Fay and first two school days canceled to Fay it messed me all up but I do have this weeks schedule.

Tonight (Monday): was suppose to be Oven Roasted Chicken, potatoes and gr. beans but it was a long and tyring day so I got we had Little Ceasers. The kids loved it. Me not so much.

Tuesday: Crock Pot meals. Chicken Ole (the chicken for this recipe needs to be cooked before being put in crock pot I cooked it to Monday night) with rice and green beans

Wednesday: Oven Roasted Chicken, potatoes, and steamed broccoli

Thursday: Baked Ziti (made double batch this one is from the freezer), homemade bread and a steamed veggie

Friday: Shepherd's Pie (the main part is being pulled from freezer all I have to do is make the potatoes for the top) and steamed veggie

Saturday: Chicken Pot Pie and veggie

Sunday: Pasta and Herb Sauce (I made a double batch pulling sauce from freezer to thaw and warm up and cook up pasta and toss together so easy) with grilled chicken and veggie

I try to spend one day making allot of meals or spend a week making double batches of every nights meal. Hope you have a great week.

~Amy

A Rainy Day!

2008-08-18T12:22:00.003-04:00

I grew up in the beautiful Northwest state of Oregon and in the winter you would cuddle up on the couch with hot tea, a good book, a blanket and enjoy a cold rainy Saturday. We can already feel the effects of the storm its been over cast all morning and raining on and off. I'm prepared for the storm but I can't help but love days like this. I love days off from the blaring hot sun. It is different though; the air conditioning is still on I'm still in summer clothes but not sweating because of intense humidity. I still like to put the days plans on hold a little and cuddle up and read to the kids are bake some fun treats with them. The kids even like me to make hot chocolate. I should just make chocolate milk but they love to breakout the mugs and add the marshmallows every time its over cast which isn't that often. School is still delayed so I'm thankful to have my little guy still home with the rest of us. God is in control and we are all safe. The rain and wind is due to pick up this evening and last through the night as the bulk of the storm passes by to the west of us but the outer bans can still given us some intense weather.

First Day of School!

2008-08-17T22:12:00.002-04:00

Only in South Florida does you first day of school get canceled due to a Hurricane. Her name is Fay and is currently a level 1. Tomorrow Ezra was going to go to Kindergarten. He is so excited but you can see that he is nervous too and is asleep right now. He doesn't even know yet that he can't go. We went to an open house last Friday to meet his teacher and see his classroom. I'm hate to let him go but Kevin thinks it will be good for him and that its a good school. I respecting his wishes and letting him go. I don't care that a storm is approaching I'm glad my boy gets to stay home another day with me. It does wrinkle the plans I had set but that's o.k. I can still get my older boys onto there school work here at the house.
I'll keep you all posted on the storm situation.

Baby Girl!

2008-08-16T16:40:00.005-04:00

It is so fun to have a girl in the house. I almost forgot what a nightgown looks like. I like my p.j.'s but ther are tank tops and shorts.

My baby is 19 months old. Where did the time go. She is become independant, at times stubburn, but is still very sweet and loving. This is here first nightgown. I love looking at the pictures when I was little and had a Christmas nightgown and my dolll had one to match.

JoAnna loves the nightgown, loves having her shoes put on, and her baby doll and blanket.

Have a blessed weekend.

~Amy

Choices!

2008-08-12T16:23:00.004-04:00

I struggle with choices. I have learned that the everyday little choices I make are the ones that matter the most. When I get up in the morning, when I decided to take my quiet time. I take the time to schedule out my day countless times but it only takes a two days for something to come up to get off track. I total let the schedule go when these interruptions come. I could choose to pick up where we left off but that never happens. Why do I let myself get defeated I don't know.
I do know that when I choose talk to God in my quite time and all through out the day my days are not smoother but my reactions to the chaos of life are better. In turn my days are better. When I choose to get up before my kids I can get breakfast ready and a few minutes to myself. I struggle daily with both of these things. I feel like I'm in a battle and I want to be victorious but staying strong is hard. When I sleep in or don't take the time to talk with Jesus I beat myself up and get short tempered with my kids and let myself get distracted by other things that don't matter.
I have to then choose not to be so hard on myself and turn to the Word of God for his promises. These are a few I go over everyday.
John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they (Amy) may have life, and have it to the full."
Proverbs 17:22 "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."
John 15:11 " I have told you (Amy) this so that my joy may in you (Amy) and that your joy may be complete."

Have a great day and think about the choices you make.
~Amy

Nim's Island

2008-08-06T09:23:00.003-04:00

We just rented Nim's Island last night. What a good movie. I'm going to get the book for my kids to read. Its an adventure story and the main character Nim is homeschooled (Island schooled as she calls it). She know how to cook, grow a garden, start a fire, the animals and nature teach her many things and the rest she learn from books. Its so cool! My boys wish there could be Nim and live on an Island too.
Write more later!

I'm Back!

2008-08-04T17:26:00.002-04:00

Its been a couple months sense I said I was done blogging. I do miss it and realize that the blog is for me and I don't need to compare my blog to others or post what I think people would want to see and read. Its for me and I want to honor myself and God with what I write and picture.
I have had quite a summer. I lived at the pool most of June with the kids. The first 10 days of July I went to Oregon to be with my mom, dad, and sister. The last one of us got married on July 6. I got to have a break from all my men but it only took a few days for me to miss them. Since I have been back I have been trying to schedule this next year homeschool for my oldest boys and to organize and simplify the running of my house. I feel like my house; laundry, meals, cleaning is running me. I have started something to simplify and hope to share them with you soon.
Remember to enjoy this last month of summer time with your kids before they head off to school or get set into your homeschool routine.

Glad to be back!
Chooseing Joy, Love, and Peace with Jesus!
-Amy

Summer fun.

2008-08-04T17:24:00.000-04:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I'm done!

2008-06-16T15:18:00.002-04:00

Hi all. I'm done blogging. I didn't do that much of it anyway and it just doesn't seem to work out for me. Its easier for me to curl up with a notebook and pen to write my thoughts down. Have fun out there.
Bye!
Amy

Tell Me More Give Away!

2008-06-10T18:07:00.001-04:00

TELL ME MORE� Spanish Homeschool Version set. This set retails for $249.99!!

HOST: Laura Williams' Musings

CONTEST LINK: REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: TELL ME MORE® Spanish Homeschool Version
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PRIZE: a TELL ME MORE® Spanish Homeschool Version set. This set retails for $249.99!!
HOW TO ENTER: The set up for this giveaway is a little different this time per company's request. So be sure you read the guidelines. (They're easy I promise!)
DEADLINE TO ENTER: .June 24th at 11:59 PM EST

Start to the summer!

2008-06-09T16:57:00.007-04:00

I'm still here just busy. We had are end of the year party and then took a week off of school and swam a lot at our neighborhood pool. Then my oldest came down with a really bad cold and it has spred through the whole family. Its been 3 weeks now and everyone is over it but Baby J still has a runny noise. My 3 youngest had to be on antibiotics they were really sick.

My wonderful 5 kids at the end of the afternoon at our end of the year homeschool group party.

I hope to have a fun filled summer with me kids.

Josh going down and Ezra quick to follow.

Zeke talking to Ezra. Ezra found his confidence and started going on the big water slides. Its was soon fun to watch.

Ezra and Josh playing on the little kids water slide when we first got there. JoAnna is at the bottom of the slide splashing around and having a blast.

This is Ezra letting loose. He doesn't like water in his face.

My Brave Boy!

Menu Monday!

2008-05-19T20:20:00.003-04:00

WEll her we go again!

Monday: hot dogs and baked beans, and watermellon

Tuesday: grilled BBQ chicken, green beans, and mashed potatoes

Wednesday: Spagettie, salad, and garlic bread

Thursday: Sausage and patotoe casserole, steamed broccoli

Friday: home made pizza and left overs

Saturday: split pea soup and grilled cheese

My sister fly's in on Sunday to visit for about a week. She has to leave right before my birthday but I wont let that damper my day.

Sunday: Lasagna from the freezer(I made it a month ago), bread, veggie ( not sure what)

Monday: Chicken and Broccoli over rice

Tuesday: Oven roasted chicken ( its easy and turns out everytime) Potatoes, and a veggie

Ove Roasted Chicken:
1 3-5 lb chicken
rosemary
thyme
garlic
olive oil
salt and peper

Wash your bird, put thyme, rosemary, and garlic inside the bird
Give your bird a rub down with olive oil an salt and peper

Cook at 450 degrees for 15 minutes and the turn oven down to 400 degrees and cook for an hour to an hour and half depending on size of you chicken. Let rest for 15 minutes and the slice and enjoy. Happy dinners this week if you need some ideas please check out http://orgjunkie.com/.

Finally Friday!

2008-05-16T23:29:00.002-04:00

I'm so happy its Friday. My 2 school aged boys just finished up their testing and we are glad its over. Our schooling wont be over though. We will keep doing school at least 3 days a week and finally do those fun hands science and art activities. My boys finished up their baseball season this week, our home school park group had our last park for the year.
It just nice to not feel like I have to remember were I have to go to day what time, for what child, and where. Its going to be very nice to have a more relaxed pace at home. My 3 year old is completely potty trained and my baby (16 month old) is know walking like she has been doing it for months but its been only days. She seems happier now that she know she can walk like the rest of us.
I'm so thankful that I get to be home with my kids and see them grow and wonder. I'm going to try to keep reminding myself that though when my 11 year old once to do a science experiment in a clean kitchen.

I hope you have a great weekend and wish you all God's blessings. He has them for you all you have to do is claim them.

Moday's

2008-05-12T16:10:00.008-04:00

Ezra will be 5 in July. My kinds and sensitive one.

Josh 3 and really active.

JoAnna 15 months loves the pool.

HI There,

I don't have my Menu planned and up but I have dinner in the croc pot this for this evening Cow boys Casserole, steamed broccollie, and homemade bread. I will figure out the rest of the week this evening. Make sure to check out the www.orgjunkie.com . That were I will be getting some more dinner ideas.

I thought I would share some pictures. Our neighbor hood pool opend about a month ago and we have been there 2-3 times a week since. I love having the place mostly to ourselves and the boys getting all there energy out. We usually go 10-noon and then my 3 youngest go down for a naps so I can actually give my schoolaged boys my full attention. As you know if you follow my post I have struggled trying to balance even find the time to school my older boys with my little boys needing me and not playing well on there own. So we will still do school through June and July nothing major just doing some fun hands on Science and History projects and keeping up with Math and Language Arts. One thing about kids, the pool and sunshine my kids seems to growing like weeds.

Mother's Day!

2008-05-12T16:06:00.003-04:00

I hope you all had a great Mother's Day. My big boys cleaned up my house and did the dishes. We went to the mall and got a Starbucks drink. I haven't had one since December. I got two new tops and a skirt and new swim suit. I topped off the evening having Chinese food with my hubby. Its was really nice.

Good Days and Bad Days!

2008-05-09T13:44:00.002-04:00

Today its the first really hot and humid day of the season here in South Florida. It is the beginning of many hot and humid days to come. There are not my favorite days but they keep us inside and is one of the reason I homeschool my kids through the summer. Our winter months are perfect spring days and we spend a lot of time outside in the winter.
Today is also a day that I enjoy the fact that we homeschool because my husband has more week days off than weekend days off and they are all running around the house playing hide and seek. In few days I will again be struggling with why I homeschool. Its especially hard when everyone needs me. Older ones help with an assignments and pre-schools want to do some craft with me and JoJo 15 months toddling around wanting to be were mommy is. There are meals to cook, chores to be done and a hubby thats wants sometime with his wife. Sometime I feel my days would be so much easier to handle if my 2 school aged kids were in school and I could give my day time to the younger ones and in the afternoon time to the older. I know in reality there would be days when I feel like I don't see my older ones at all if they were in school. So I'm learning to give each day to the Lord and those days that I do and ask Him for calmness throughout the day. Everything seems to get done and all the needs met. Everyday I have the choice to give the Lord my day but there are many days I choose not to and it seems nothing gets done and I'm fazzled and cranky at days end. I hope to write about this more and keep you posted on my journey. Now thats its in black in white, written down, I'm feeling more committed to give my day to Jesus becasue He wants to walk with me through mylife and I want to walk with Him.

Moday Again!

2008-05-05T22:46:00.002-04:00

I can't believe its Monday already. I don't know where last week went. I did follow my meal plan fully. Things happen so I have a few repeats.

Monday: We had Chicken Ole' and green beans

Tuesday: Shephers Pie

Wednesday: Spagettie, salad, and homemade bread

Thursday: Hamburger Hash and steamed broccollie

Friday: Homemade burgers and fries and watermellon

Saturday: Pasta with herb sauce

Sunday: soup and sandwitches

Hope you have a great week and I hope to blog more thing week. Check out other dinner plans at The Organized Junkie http://orgjunkie.com/

Motherhood!

2008-05-03T21:51:00.003-04:00

Who new. I sure didn't know of all the challenges that lied ahead of me. I've been a mother for 11 years now and still everyday seems like I don't know anything. The babies make your tired but its easy to love, feed, change, and play with them. Toddlers more challenging with potty training testing there boundaries. Its tiring always telling them no but it pays off later. To teach them to listen the first time. Not that my children always listen the first time but most of time. My pre-schoolers are fun time but always want to a project of some sort. I find it hard to find the time. Then there is the elementary age. They can do chores and be very helpful with the younger siblings but are in a new stage of testing there boundaries (how much they can get away with before mom will blow).
I'm very happy to be a mother and love that I have 5 children. I don't like feeling that something didn't get down today or that someone didn't get enough time with me, or that someones needs weren't met. I feel like I've tried different organizing tools but nothing seems help run the day smoother. Even my Monday Menu's are a good plan but this week alone something happened, time flew by and I missed 4 of my planned dinners and had to give the kids sandwiches or resort to fast food. Yuck! I would love any suggestions of running a smooth day for a homeschooling family with 5 children and a husband that works very long days and so leaves Me with very long days on my own.
I want my children to have happy memories with there mom and not just remember me as being a task master that is always frustrated and yelling. Pray for me and offer any advice that you can.
Have a blessed weekend. I'll keep you posted on my progress (on my journey).

Menu Mondays

2008-04-28T22:55:00.005-04:00

Menu Planning Monday!

2008 has been a rough year so far. Its been full of tugging, pulling, struggling, crying, forgiving, learning, growing, and praying. I hope to get into all of that in the days to come for know I back to Menu planning because it sure does make life easier. So this is what we will be having this week.

Tonight: Soup and sandwitches
Tuesday: Croc pot meal Potatoe and sausage supreme and salad
Wednesday: Lemon herb chicken and roasted potatoes
Thursday: grilled chicken with pasta and herb sauce
Friday: Homemade pizza and salad
Saturday: leftovers
Sunday: shepherds pie

Don't forget to check out other great receipes over at The Organized Junkie.http://orgjunkie.com/

HAPPY EASTER!

2008-03-23T20:35:00.002-04:00

He has risen! I hope you all a wonderful Easter. I was not with my extended family but still had a good time at church and a wonderful rainy afternoon with my kids and a few hours with hubby.
I have a lot going on this week as I'm sure you do to. My prayer this evening will be that God will guide my decisions and I will do all that I need to do only with His strength because I don't have enough strength or patience on my own to be what He wants me to be. A mom to fabulous kids! Raising soldiers for the His kingdom.
Have a great week.
-Amy

Thankful Thurday!

2008-03-13T11:05:00.002-04:00

I'm going to make this short and sweet because I've already been on the computer too long and I'm still in my p.j.'s and its 11 a.m.
*I'm thankful for my smiling joy we call JoAnna.
*For my boys inquisitive minds.
*For a husband that is willing to grow and puts us first.
*For having great sister and a mom who always there to encourage me.

Thanks you!
Amy

Trusting Tuesday

2008-03-11T23:35:00.003-04:00

This mostly likely wont be a weekly thing but for I thought it was a catchy title. I've realized I need to do a lot more trusting. I take control so many times. How am I ever going to see the work of God in my life or the anwser to my prayers if I don't sit back and let God do His thing. I have to trust that God who created me wont leave me when I feel alone. I'm not sure how a woman with 6 people asking for and wanting her attention daily can feel alone but I do. I msut trust that God beleives I'm fit to raise these 5 children and school them. Trust that God didn't make marriage up as a cruel joke. LOL! There have been some days lately were it seems the hubby and I just don't see eye to eye. I know one things for sure God has used my marriage to mold me and make to the daughter of the King that He sees in me. I just need to believe I am that daughter of the King. Most days I'm good but there are those days when I don't trust anything. I know I can't see the bigger picture of my life and where will I be in 5 years or what I will be dealing with each of my kids and hubby. But I'm trusting that know mater what hardships and challengers come my way God will always be there. Thanks for reading my rambling.-Amy

Its Party Time!

2008-03-08T00:28:00.002-05:00

This time of year is full of parties. We have 4 of out of 5 childrens birthday in the first 4 months of the new year. At least it just one birthday a month. This sit is a work in progress and will be tracking my journey of motherhood to 5 children, my own spiritual growth with Christ, ramblings about my favorite things that I don't get to do to often such as scrap booking, gardening, painting, drawing and organizing. The will also be a lot of talk about my homeschooling adventure. I hope you'll join my on this journey and I can't wait to check in on you blogs and see what everyone else is up too
-Amy

2008-03-05T00:12:00.002-05:00

JoAnna enjoying herself on one of your trip to the zoo.
Joshua blowing out his candles.
JoAnna turned 1 in January and is not walking but crawling everywhere and pulls up on everything. She did her best to get the crayon box knocked off.
On our trip to the zoo last month the boys and I finaly took a picture of us in one the the giant nests. A mama with 4 of her 5 chicks.

ITS BEEN TO LONG!

2008-03-04T23:55:00.004-05:00

I know its been so long since I have last blogged. I would love it to be a daily or even weekly habit. I just seem to have so much going on. I just have a long list of things that millions of mother have but none the less; I've been busy. At the end of each day there seems to be still so much still to do but I'm trying to let those thing go and just reflect on the time during the day I held a child in my arms, read to a child, or helped a child figure out a math problem. I'm trying to end each day relishing in the moments that are so fleeting with my kids and promising to make more and notice more of those moments. My oldest will be 11 yrs. old in April and my youngest is going to be 14 months old this month. The daily going ins of a homeschooling family with 5 children is long and tiring but I plan to make the most of it. With God as my source of strength I know I will make it through each day.
I plan to record my journey on this blog and I hope you will enjoy reading about my life adventure.

We made it home.

2008-01-04T15:30:00.000-05:00

My internet is down but will tell you all about the trip as soon as I can. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
-Amy

On our way!

2007-12-03T12:49:00.000-05:00

Todays the day. I'm taking a break from packing to check my e-mail once again before we hit the road. We leave tonight after dinner to take our big road trip adventure across country. Don't worry about the weather we plan to stay very south and roads should be in good condition most of the way. When I get to a computer again in about 10 days I will let you know how the trip out West went. I hope you all have a great week.
-Amy

Preperation.

2007-12-01T23:47:00.000-05:00

Well its been quite the job get everything ready to be gone for a month and have Christmas away from my house. Besides making sure the car is in top shape and digging out every ones winter clothes and purchasing some, making sure I have snack for the kids and different things for them to do, making sure I have all the food and diapers for the baby, and trying not to over pack. My kids are sick. Elijah has had a week long cold and passed it onto , Joshua who is miserable, his nose and eyes keep running he keeps wiping it so his nose is sore and he crys out. JoAnna has it to and that so hard to have a baby sick. Ezra is also on the list with mostly a cough. I have been able to keep it at bay and I pray Zeke and Kevin are spared too. I still managed to get a lot done each day with the Lord giving me the strength to make it through each day and teaching me to just be in the moments and not lose me temper. JoAnna has been a perfect baby but doesn't want to be held much now that she is a crawler. She only likes to sleep in her own bed but will sleep in her car seat after a little fussing. But these last few days while her nose has been all stuff I have got to treasure holding her and rocking her to sleep. I've loved every minute even if the laundry didn't get done and I stayed in my p.j.'s all day. I got to hold my baby without her fighting it. Oh so precious!

Where Did November Go!

2007-11-27T16:02:00.000-05:00

I know its been way to long. I have thought about it many times, should I take a few minutes and write. Well I'm sorry I didn't earlier but will try to do better. I'm not really sure where November went. Each day has been filled with projects and or planning. The kids have been learning but not learning in way that can be recorded on paper really. There are no test or paper to grade just conversations to be had to find out and discuss more about what we have been learning. We have been working on a unit about Christmas. We learned about how the date of December 25 came about, the story behind Santa Claus, we learned about Advent all about the candles and scriptures read, and about he Jesse Tree http://www.eriercd.org/jessetree.htm
( I had never heard of it before but I'm adding the tradition to our families Christmas') we have also been reading "A Little House Christmas Treasury" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My boys can't believe that the Laura and Mary could be so grateful and happy to get a shinny new silver cup, a penny, and little cookies in the stocking on Christmas morning. My how the times have changed. We have also got out the atlas and Puzzle of the United States and been learning about where everything is and what the weather is like in other parts of the country.

We also have broken ground on our Second project as home owners. We are making our patio off the back of the house bigger so we are digging up the ground and levelling it out to place more patio stones. The finished project should be 12' x 20'. Our first home improvement project wasn't able to be completed without the expertise of my Grandpa Dean. He took a day with Kevin and they put an awning on the back of the house over the sliding glass doors leading out. Its wonderful I lower it every afternoon to keep the setting sun out of the windows of my family room and kitchen, its also so much cooler in those rooms now that the sun is out of there. The awning in 20 feet wide across the back of the house and when open extends out from the house 10 feet 2 inches, it wonderful. (Thanks again Grandpa Dean! It would still be in my garage if it wasn't for you.)

I have been to Pep Boys 2 in 10 days. I have taken the many hours waiting as time for myself. (Kevin stayed with kids at home.) The first day I walked to the Christian book store, and Tuesday Mornings where I was able to look at everything and take my time with out any distractions. The second time to Pep Boys I walked straight to the nail shop and got a pedicure and some nails. The pedicure chair was fabulous, its one of the best back rub I have had by a chair. :)

For those of you that don't know we are embarking on a major road trip. We head out Dec. 3 and arrive back Jan. 1. We are headed to Oregon where my family still lives. We will be visiting family on the way, will be apart of my sisters wedding, and get to celebrate Christmas with my family the first time in 8 years. I'll will take the time in Oregon to blog and keep you posted.
-Amy

Candy anyone!

2007-11-09T11:05:00.000-05:00

Elijah as Darth Vador.

Zeke is a kinght we made his shield.

My Ezra 4 1/2 is a cowboy again this year.

Joshua 2 1/2 dressed like a dinosuar. He slept any and wore the costume for 3 days.

Can anyone say cute. Oct. 31th 2007

Big Boys!

2007-11-09T10:55:00.001-05:00

Elijah ia 10 years and in 5th grade. Mom's first born.
Elijah is always eager to use his imagination. He reads up history
and science like its water. He also like piano and
playing video games. He is sessitive to other and really
good with his younger syblings.

Ezekiel or as he is called around the house Zeke is

8 years old and in 3rd grade. He is a great kid and

who loves to be around people, play sports, play video

games, and loves the piano and has found a love for reading.

Experiencing the sand!

2007-10-23T09:27:00.000-04:00

Look at that smile. She was tired but still had a good time.

She is getting her toes in the sand.

JoAnna is 9 months old this month. She went to the beach in July but it was much to hot for her to enjoy. She spent the whole time under a big beach umbrella and sleeping.

This time she splashed in the water and got her feet in the sand.

Older Hand boys!

2007-10-23T09:07:00.000-04:00

The boys this fall our playing Fall Baseball. It's more of an instructional leage. SO there favorite thing to do right now is going in the backyard and playing catch.

Elijah trying out his pitching.

Elijah and Zeke have had lots of disagreements and have had to climb the fence a few times but for the most part they are having fun together and learning to be patient with each other.

Generations.

2007-10-21T19:42:00.000-04:00

We just had a great week at our house. My grandparents came for a visit from Boise, Idaho. They drove. My kids got to hear stories, play card games, and go to the beach with their Great Grandma and Great Grandpa who are 79 years young. Grandpa Dean help Kevin put up a 20 feet awning we bought, onto the back of our house. It would have been in the garage of months without our very helpful and knowledgeable Great Grandpa. G.G.( great grandma) helped with laundry, dishes, floors, she played with the little boys , she played with the big boys, and she took care of JoAnna. I'm still in awe that they wanted to take this trip to come and help me. I'm greatful for there help and greatful for their efforts to keeping relationships alive. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Dean.