Wordless Wednesday

Zachary. Yes, he really did fall asleep like this.

Quirky Quote Contest Entry

An Open Book is holding a contest for your favorite quote. Your quote can come from anywhere. The winner gets a $15 Amazon gift card. So here's mine:

What is popular is not always right.
And what is right is not always popular.
--Anonymous

Wordless Wednesday

Random Family Fun

Alex

Emily

Zachary

Alex (doing what he like to do best---eating!)

CJ

The Homeschool Lounge

Tiany over at Less of Me-More of Him has been working hard. She put together a great website called the The Homeschool Lounge . It is a FREE online community for homeschoolers....THE FIRST OF ITS KIND!! In 4 days she has already had 600 people sign up. It is awesome. I encourage you to swing on by and check it out. I don't think you will be disappointed and I do believe there is something there for everyone.

Toodles,
Judy

Monday Meanderings

Bible/Devotions: We have been slacking in this area. Back to do doing this every night after dinner with Dad. If it is a day that we are going to eating at all different times then when Dad comes home we will do it.

Zone: Drawers. Everyone's bedroom drawers are a mess! We still have some clothes in there from summer and that don't fit.
Laundry room

Must Do: We are going to get back to getting our stuff ready for the next day the night before. This will include our clothes, backpack ready for co-op, and anything else that may be needed.
I need to revise the chore chart.
Clean off the top of my chest of drawers.

Character/Homeschool: We will be working on independent work habits. CJ (14) does his work by himself unless he doesn't understand something. Zachary has seat work that he can do without me. They need to work on sitting in their chairs and reading while waiting for me to help them.

Menu:
Monday--Hamburg Rice
Tuesday--Taco Tuesday! Tacos, Rice, Veggie platter
Wednesday--Pizza night with my sister-in-law and her kids
Thursday--Hot chicken and egg noodles
Friday--To Be Announced
Saturday--We are going to a Baby Dedication
Sunday--Family Dinner out. We haven't been out as a whole family for dinner since CJ's birthday in August. Now with 7 of us this is a far few in between event.

Prayer Requests:
I have prayer requests that aren't for me but for people I haven't even met but have been laid on my heart to pray for.
1st is Debbie. She is my friend Pam's friend. Friday she had her 11th child. He needed to be delivered by c-section (baby #9 was a section too). They were unable to stablize her after surgery and ended up having to do a hysterectomy. She ended up in ICU. As of last nights update she has pneumonia, is vomiting, has a NG tube, and possible an internal bleed. I am hoping to get an update tonight.

2nd is baby Ashley. I found her blog through another blog I read, Happy Go Mommy. Ashley needs our prayers. She has 2 chest tubes right now and has been on a respirator to breath for 12 days now. They tried to take her off yesterday and had to put her back on. Her muscles are just to weak at this point for her to breath on her own. You can go to her blog at Ashley's Journal.

Have a great week!
Judy

What kind of Mother Hen are you?

What type of Mother Hen Are You?
by Montessorimom.com: Educational Resource

On my travels through blog sites I came across this. I thought it was cute so I decided to take the test. I am SHOCKED that it says I am a Groovy Mother Hen. I have never thought of myself as that. I would love to hear what others are. Leave me a comment to let me know.

Toodles--or should I say Peace-Out since I am so groovy : )
Judy

A New Heart

It is very fitting that today, Valentine's Day, our daughter gave us a new heart. This has been a tough week for me. Sometimes, it isn't easy being Mom. Jessica wasn't budging. She was in such a rebellion, walking in her own wisdom. Yesterday she came to us to tell us she wanted to "be part of the family again". Unfortunately, she looked as hard as stone as she was telling me this, shooting me dirty looks as we were talking. When asked why...she said a list of "fun" things she missed. When asked about her heart and why she wasn't being a part of the family she just shrugged. We tried talking to her but it wasn't going very far. The heart just wasn't ready.

Today I went to co-op with the boys. Hubby has Thursday's off and spends it with the girls. Jessie spent the day in her room or sitting on the love-seat when Emily was sleeping. She still looked stone-like this morning. I spoke with her before I left asking her if there was anything she wanted to say. NOTHING. At co-op I spoke with other mothers that I look up to. My heart was breaking. I wasn't sure how much longer I could do it. All I really wanted to do was go home and wrap my arms around Jessie. After talking I knew I needed to stay strong and stay the course. I am happy to say that when I came home from co-op I could see a change. She was starting to crack. After she had lunch she came up to me and again asked to "be part of the family". This time was different. Her heart was different and you could see it in her face...especially in her eyes. When asked why she wanted to be part she gave reasons that were heart felt. I asked her why we had to do this and she told me "because I wanted to do my own thing." SHE GOT IT!!!

Chris and I sat her down and it was like talking to a new little girl. Happiness was truly beaming from her face. Actually let me correct that....Her clean heart was showing. She came to the place that she was ready to accept the correction. I spoke to her about her anger towards me. She told me she was praying and asking God this morning to help her with this. She said she doesn't know why all of a sudden she was angry with me. This is something that I think will get better with time. She is going to have questions in her mind and heart about "why" her birth-mother doesn't have her. I want to help her through the questions and feelings. She then asked us to forgive her. We told her we did just as God forgives us. We sat her between us, prayed together and gave her a huge squeeze.

I am taking this as a new beginning. I want to build a strong relationship with her. I love her so.

Toodles,
Judy

Wordless Wednesday

Valentine Craft

Finished Hearts

My Funny Valentines

One hard nut to crack!

We have been dealing with some big-time heart issues around here. My oldest daughter, who is 7, had a horrible weekend. We had taken her out of co-op for a couple of months but let her go back for the last 3 weeks. She really just can't handle it. Starting Thursday night attitude set in and has been here ever since. My heart is breaking because I know it is a heart issue with her. I truly believe that she is angry with me that I am not her "birth mom". In her mind, I think she believes if she acts up enough for me that I will "give her back". Obviously this is not true. I love my daughter as if I had given birth to her myself but she honestly wears me out sometimes. She can be subtle in her disobedience and if you didn't know her you might take it that she is being "cute" or "just a kid". But it is her trying to show me that she is the boss.

God has been showing me today that I NEED to prepare myself better. I need to equip myself with bible verses and be able to show her what the bible says. As an example: Right now she is thinking she is wise in her own eyes. The bible talks about forgoing the wisdom of your parents...but I don't know exactly where it says it. Looks like I got some homework to do.

Finally yesterday Chris told her she needs to make a decision about being apart of the family---heart and all. So right now she is like an outsider looking in. She is not allowed to eat with us because we eat at a "family table", she is not allowed to play with her siblings because they are part of the family...stuff like that. It might sound tough...especially on a 7 year old, but you need to understand, she doesn't THINK like a 7 y.o.! And let me tell you...she is one tough nut to crack right now. She is stubborn!!!

If you get a moment, and you think of us, could you please lift us up in your prayers. Once she comes to the point of realizing how much she is wrong and being sinful we can let the healing begin.

Judy

January's Swap Sister

I got a package in the mail this week from my Swap sister. LOVED IT!! It had all kinds of goodies in it...A cake and Valentine cake pan(with a note saying it is for the love of my life to make me), scrapbooking paper, jasmine tea, a Valentine dish towel (I have been looking at those at the store) and Hershey chocolate (yummy). This was my first swap and I can't wait to do another. If you want to join the fun, head on over to The Homeschool Blog Awards. They will be posting when the next swap sign up is.

Toodles,
Judy

"A Lovely Marriage" Giveaway

"A Lovely Marriage" is doing a giveaway. It sounds like a good one. It includes:

"How a Wife Can use Reverence to Build or Save Her Marriage" by Pastor S.M. Davis

"How to Change into the Ideal Wife" and "How to Rear Children" memory verse pack by Ron Hood

A small tin pill box

3 note cards

All package in a Hallmark Card Keepsake box.

Go on over to http://hskubes.blogspot.com/2008/02/lovely-marriage-giveaway.html to enter.


Toodles,
Judy

History Has Come to Life!

I am not a big history person. I have a hard time getting into it. My husband for the first 4 years of homeschooling was in charge of this with my oldest son. Now I am in charge of it. CJ (my 14 y.o.) does Switched-On-Schoolhouse and doesn't need me too much for it (only the occasional correction). With my other 3 school-aged children I bought My Father's World. I love the whole idea of the curriculum, however I have a hard time implementing it. This is no fault of the program...it is me. I am trying though.

I figure some history is better than none. We were on George Washington last week (which went into today). I read to the kids a few books, read from Abeka 3rd grade history and planned on finishing today with a movie about General Washington. Today was a slow day (stayed up way to late cheering crying over the Patriots). We watched the movie and then Zachary asked me if I could get a picture off the computer of Washington to color. I liked the idea so I did it. I was feeling like I pretty much failed again with history over this past week. We haven't done really that much compared to what I hear others say they do (most homeschoolers I know LOVE history and could do it all day)...and then I couldn't believe my eyes. Zachary and Alex all afternoon have been playing Revolutionary War! They are actually taking turns being General Washington and the British Army! I am speechless! You truly have to understand this from my perspective. I didn't think I did enough...but they are putting what they learned into practice. I am in awe. I love a-ha moments with homeschooling, don't you?