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Showing posts from March, 2012

Cleaning and Organizing

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Every few months I have to pull apart my cupboards and reorganize them.  After so many trips to wholesale clubs and grocery stores, the bags, boxes and cans getting shoved into storage, I reach a point where I don't know what items I have anymore. When I take the time to get them organized, I can tell just what I have, what is about to expire and what I need to stock up on. So my food pantry went from this: to this... Next was my baking cupboard.  I had really let this one get messy and it needed the overhaul badly.  So it went from this: to this I think, as women, cleaning out the 'cupboards' of our hearts regularly is important for the same reasons. We need to clean out old feelings or worries that are lurking around in there. We need to salvage and nurture the little hopes of our hearts that are in danger of "expiring". We need to make the time for these things and know that they are worthwhile endeavors that will yield us great rewards.  My kitchen

Attitudes

I want my home to be a place of sweetness and delight and thankfully, most days it is.  But the longer I am a mother the more acutely I'm aware I am that this depends heavily upon me!  Sometimes I forget this.  Sometimes it feels "unfair" and a burden to be the one who has to have it all together. Because there are some day when I not only don't 'have it all together' but feel I'm coming apart at the seams! :) This, I think, can drive many moms into the impossible delusionary land of "doing it all" or at least making it appear so.    But the Lord knows we are fragile and human with a great need of divine help. We simply cannot do this on our own. I can't count how many times I have been on my knees in prayer with such burdens on my heart that all I could mutter to the Lord were feebles squeals of "help!".  Good thing that God has an interpreter! Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pra

Today's Happenings

Today on a last minute decision my oldest son went with my husband to work to help him put in some base molding for a client. He's such a big help and learning so much about the trade of carpentry. So it's just me and my younger son today and I think instead of our normal school day, we'll spend the day catching up on some different things.  Like preparing for "World's Fair" coming up this Saturday.  That's where families in our homeschool do a presentation table on a country of their choice and also bring a dish from that country to share.  I think I'll also use our time together to focus on a few areas with my younger son that have been needing some one on one attention like spelling, penmanship, sentence structure, etc.  My children are such joy to spend time with. They also enjoy these "just you and me" days around our house. I'm thankful for every day I get to spend with them for they will be grown and gone before too long. :)

Homeschool Decisions and Directions

Yesterday was a nice day. I got my 30 minute walk on the treadmill and then we got together with our local homeschool group for our monthly Presentation Day.  This is a day where the kids have a chance to speak in front of a group of their peers and parents. They each get about 5 minutes to present a report, show a special item, give a speech, sing a song - whatever they'd like to do. Of course we parents are always guiding their choices and there are monthly themes as well.  We usually like to stick with the themes, but have sometimes varied from them. Sometimes the little ones will just sing their abc's.  It's fun and a great way for the kids to learn public speaking. Afterward we have lunch at a nearby park or fast food restaurant and the children play and the moms chat.  My boys are too old to play on the playground equipment anymore and there just aren't enough kids their ages for them to have any real fellowship with during that time so I am praying for direct

Studying Your Bible

Do you enjoy studying your bible or do you find it a bit intimidating?  If your answer was the latter, then you are probably missing some simple truths and useful tools.  :)  The Normal Grammatical Approach In most cases when we say, "It is difficult to understand" what we mean is, "It is difficult to believe".  But we are not left to our own imagination to determine meaning. When Isaiah or Zechariah have already employed identical terminology, with an interpretation by themselves or another prophet, we need search no further.  It sometimes takes a little thumb work (turning the pages of a Bible or concordance), but the "Scripture with Scripture" method is superior to all "scholarship" in understanding Scripture. The layman need not be intimidated. With a complete concordance and a King James Bible, you are on the road to a great blessing. The modern commercial translations have destroyed the cross references through text alterations. St

Comic Relief

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A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. Ecclesiastes 3:4 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.  Proverbs 15:13 It is good to laugh. The bible teaches us that laughter and merriment is health to our bones. Research shows it lowers blood pressure and raise immunity. Jesus was annointed with the oil of joy. When you think of Jesus do you think of the somber, stern and unapproachable man that movies typically portray him as? That is not the way he was according to Psalms 45:7 and Hebrews 1:9.  Did you know that it takes more facial muscles to frown than smile.  It's been said that God is responsible for the face you are born with but you are responsible for your face when you get old.  The old saying "Do you want your face to freeze like that?" is actually true.  It just takes lots

The Fruits of the Spirit

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We have all had feelings to deal with that we haven't wanted to experience. It could be sorrow, depression, lonesomeness, worry, or anger. When these unwelcome feelings seem to bombard our hearts, we know they are contrary to the peace, joy, contentment, and comfort that comes from Jesus Christ.  These sound a lot like the fruit of the Spirit. Below is a unique wall hanging we received for a wedding gift many years ago. It has the fruits of the spirit burned into small pieces of wood and attached lengthwise on a strip of burlap.  I cherish it and keep it near our front door as a reminder to walk in the spirit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23) We want the fruit of the Spirit to pervade our feelings. But when we are experiencing the opposite, how is that supposed to happen?   " This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and

Crumpled Homeschoolers

Can I just say (and I guess I can since this is my blog) that just because a family homeschools, doesn't mean we should walk around like we just got out of bed.  My family has lived and homeschooled in 3 different states and in each one we've been involved in homeschool groups with families who consistently arrived late with tousled, uncombed hair and crumpled clothing. The mother sports an unkempt appearance and foggy look in her eyes and her children usually wear a harried, stressed look.  I am very sympathetic to the many things in a woman's busy home life that can deter her best attempts at ordering her home and children, but it's important to make a good appearance in public.  It is worth all a mom's effort to help her kids look their best when out in public.  Teaching our children routine and order will help them to be prepared and equipped for adulthood and greater responsibilities.  When a mother doesn't teach her children to take pride in their

Our Homeschool Schedule

Now that my kids are in older (one in 8th grade, one in 10th), their work load has increased and I have made a new schedule to help us accomplish it all in a decently short amount of time each day.  So here is what we're doing: 8:00 - 8:25      Personal KJV Bible Study                                   ("Why the King James Bible is the Perfect Word of God".) 8:25 - 9:10      Alpha Omega Language Arts 9:10 - 9:55      Saxon Math 9:55 - 10:15    Break 10:15 - 11:00  Alpha Omeaga History 11:00 - 11:45  Wordly Wise 11:45 - 12:30   Lunch Break 12:30 - 1:15    Apologia Science  1:15 - 1:40     Piano Practice  1:40  - 1:55    Rosetta Stone French  1:55 - 2:00     Mavis Beacon Typing Our new schedule is working out really well and my kids are learning to do their schoolwork on their own which is important for homeschoolers.  If you have a homeschool schedule that is working for you, please share. :) 

Scrumptious Smothered Chicken

I've read a lot of recipes for smothered chicken but none of them quite measured up to the luscious dish I had envisioned in my mind: succulent pieces of chicken swimming in a creamy wine sauce with whole crimini mushrooms floating around lending their delicious flavor to the sauce. Recently, I made this imaginary dish for real and it turned out scrumptious. I cooked it on the stove top, but I would like to try making it in the crockpot so it could feed a larger crowd. Here's the recipe: Creamy Smothered Chicken 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, sliced chicken herb seasoning cooking oil 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature 1 cup whole milk 1/2 to 1 cup white wine or cooking sherry 2 TBS cornstarch salt and pepper to taste 1 1/2 tsp capers 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice 2 green onions, sliced small 8 crimini mushrooms, cleaned paprika Hot noodles Heat a large skillet over med high for a minute. Add oil. Then add chicken and brown for 3-4 minutes on both side