Snack Time for the Double Portion

That's Amore

My mom turned sixty yesterday, so we celebrated with family. We ate too much pasta at the Italian restaurant, then came back to our house for cake and joke gifts (with the exception of the beautiful cross necklace she received from her three brothers).

Cleanliness is Next to Godliness

Lydia has been spending a fair amount of time washing her little toy creatures lately. She even washed a stuffed hampster that she received for her birthday--three times. When I asked her why she has been washing her pets so much (and why she leaves puddles of water all over the bathroom) she responded, "I was just baptizing them, Momma."
Then Joel got in on the act, following his big sister's example. One day I saw that Joel's sleeves where wet. I just thought he must have gotten them wet while washing his hands. Then I went into my bathroom and saw the tell tale splashes of water all over the toilet and floor. "Did you put your hands in the toilet, Joel?" I asked. "Me was jus washin' mine nanimals, Momma," he replied.

A Boy's Dream Come True

Paul has recently been the recipient of a couple of awesome boy gifts, both of which were unused by their previous owners. One of those gifts was a sword. I guess the man who gave it to Paul didn't have a whole lot of use for it--wonder why. Paul straps the sword to his belt every morning and wears it all day long. He's done this ever since he got it three weeks ago. The only times the sword comes off are for church, piano lessons and bedtime and that's only because Mom and Dad say so. The sword is so old that it's no longer sharp, although I have instituted a "don't run your hand along the blade rule" anyway. Something about seeing a kid's hand go up and down a sword blade sends shivers down my spine--don't know why.
Matt and I gave Paul a set of Cd's for Christmas in which a homeschool dad, Rick Boyer, reads the book "True Stories of Great Americans for Young Americans." The book describes the lives of people like Robert E. Lee, George Washington, Ben Franklin and others. Paul has been listening to the Cd's and has been inspired by some of what he has heard.

This past weekend, Paul received and Erector Set. These pieces of metal and screws are like Legos to the tenth power--right up Paul's alley. Upon receiving the set, Paul immediately began working on his invention. He worked for two straight days on his project, only (reluctantly) taking breaks for chores, piano practice, school work, meals and sleep. Paul's completed work is a boat he modeled after Ben Franklin's boat which was described in the "True Stories" book. Franklin's boat had a hand operated turn wheel which powered it instead of the usual oars.
Paul's boat, which he dubbed "The Tad Pole," has an electric powered turn wheel. He covered the metal skeleton with card board and he put his little Teddy bear in the boat to navigate it. Every time I have Paul read to me or do another page of phonics, he literally throws down the book after completing the assigned material, so that he can get back to his beloved Tad Pole. Obviously, if the boat is made of cardboard, it's not seaworthy, but Paul has thoroughly enjoyed pretending that his boat is indispensable to the US military. Maybe someday our little boy will invent something indispensable to the military. In the mean time, he's just our little boy with a great imagination and the determination and perseverance to bring his ideas into reality.

New Art

Matt and I heard a lecture a few of years ago that really challenged us in many areas, but one area in particular really stands out in my mind. The man asked the audience if the art on the walls of our homes reflected our belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. He asked us to be purposeful about the kinds of things we put in our homes and to think about what the decorations in our homes portrayed to our children as well as to our guests.

Since that time, Matt and I have made the effort to be more deliberate in the art that we choose to adorn our home. The picture that hangs above our fireplace mantel is one I inherited from my grandmother. Entitled, "Sunday Morning in Sleepy Hollow," it depicts various folk dressed in their Sunday best walking to the church that can be seen in the background.

A few years ago, Matt put a couple of different passages from scripture into clear clip frames which we hung on our living room wall. Our intent was to change the scriptures regularly, which we haven't done, but we still enjoy the originals all the same. Last year my brother-in-law gave me a framed page from an old German Bible that now hangs in our dining room. This past June, Matt and I had a Bible verse made into vinyl lettering which we transferred to the living room wall. Two of our doorways have the words of Joshua 24:15 hanging over them. I've also picked up everything from framed scriptures to crosses at yard sales to decorate our home.

Last summer I saw a piece of art at the home of a friend that I absolutely fell in love with. I saw it from across the room and just gravitated toward it. When I got close to the picture I asked my hostess, "Is that Simeon?" She said, "Yes, the picture is called 'Simeon's Moment.' When I saw it I loved it and my husband bought it for me." After that I started wishing that my husband would buy one for me. Yes, I'll admit it, I was lusting after that picture.

Matt did contemplate getting me the picture for Christmas, but he thought that I would like to have my choice of matte and frame, so he decided to wait. After my birthday, I got online to shop around for my own Simeon. I found the cheapest price for a print was on Ebay, so I ordered one with my birthday money. I took the print to a local frame shop to have it framed and after a long wait, I finally got my picture last week. It's hanging on our family room wall, although I'm still trying to decide if I like it better in the dining room. (A woman can change her mind, can't she?)

The new picture is a nice addition to our collection of God glorifying art, a collection which we intend to expand in the coming years.

New Neighbors

Matt's brother, sister-in-law and their seven kids moved into a bigger house this weekend. The house is located at the opposite end of the road on which our house is located. Their family is now a five minute drive from us. We're all pretty excited, but Paul is tickled because now the two boy cousins close to his age will be within spitting distance (almost). When a friend of ours heard of this development, he joked that our two families could now move forward with the incorporation of our own town.

I Love You Bean

This little cup with two bean seeds was a gift for Lydia from her Auntie Em. The beans are now over a foot tall. They actually have the words "I love you" inscribed on them. What will they think of next?

Waiting for Spring

A gift from my parents--the most luscious smelling primroses. After three weeks of languishing on the front porch, I finally got the poor things transplanted into a proper pot this past weekend.

Joel is Three

Chocolate cake, dinner with godparents, a couple of balloons from Auntie Em (in church, per Joel's request), Hot Wheels cars and a horse with an Indian rider. What more could a three year old want? More chocolate, I suppose.

My Funny Valentine

Lessons I learned on Valentine's Day:

1. Never underestimate the determination of a chocolate-loving two (almost three) year old. I gave each of my kids a small trinket and a chocolate bar for Valentine's Day. While I was busy making breakfast, Joel asked me to open his chocolate bar (he always needs help opening things). "No, we don't eat chocolate in the morning. Give it to Grace to put on top of the refrigerator with the others," I said. When we all sat down for breakfast, Joel came to to the table with a ring of chocolate around his mouth. Necessity is the mother of invention, I guess.

2. Grass fed beef may be better for you, but it just doesn't taste as good. It's official. I've decided. (Although I may have to change my mind since I have a freezer full of the stuff).

3. Chocolate fondue for six kids probably won't be listed in my future book, "101 Brilliant Parenting Ideas." Bicker, bicker, bicker. "Hey, you knocked the banana off of my stick! Mom, he knocked the banana off of my stick!" It wasn't exactly the scene of warm familial bonding I had envisioned. Last time we had fondue it was just the two of us. My how things have changed.

Getting Older

I bought some wrinkle cream today as part of a coupon deal. The checker was a young blonde gal with braces. She commented on what a good deal I got on the wrinkle cream. "I hope it works for you," she said. Thanks.

Busy Weekend

We got our second installment of The Truth Project on Friday night. We're enjoying this Bible study so far, as well as our study of the Gospel of John with Bible Study Fellowship (the whole family) and our study of the Five Aspects of Woman (Melissa) and the Five Aspects of Man (Matt). We've found that being in three Bible studies is definitely a huge time commitment and sometimes it's a bit overwhelming. However, we're all learning a ton and we're becoming better managers of our time (or at least we're really trying).

Grace and I also got a little Goodwill shopping done yesterday. We didn't get what we went for, but we did come home with a fertilizer spreader for Daddy (yay for Daddy). Matt pressure washed the back porch. Between the chickens and our cow visitor, it was high time for a good cleaning. No more chicken poo in the house--at least for awhile.

Matt's parents came for dinner last night. It's been a long time since we've had some one on one time with them. It was a very relaxing evening.

Elizabeth's Davis Method teacher came after church today. She worked with Elizabeth for a couple of hours and then stayed for dinner with us. She'll be back Saturday for another visit. It was definitely a "God thing" that this woman was planning to be in town this week and could stop by to see Elizabeth instead of us traveling so far to see her.

Another busy week awaits. I made my dinner menu plan for the week today. This is one small change I've been able to make and implement consistently this year and it's relieved a lot of stress for me. It's pretty much eliminated the daily panic attack I used to have at 5 p.m.. I still have many other areas of my life that need a good deal of improvement and sometimes I just plain get discouraged. Thankfully, I have a great High Priest in Jesus who understands my weaknesses and gives me the grace I need to continue to serve Him. Praise be to God!

She's Finally Done It

Grace has been tinkering with a whole wheat bread dough recipe for a few months now. We've eaten lots of loaves of bread, but none as tasty as the loaves she turned out today. Up next--we'll be exploring the possibility of getting our own wheat grinder.

Lydia is Five

We celebrated Lydia's birthday this past Sunday with the menu of her choosing--teriyaki chicken, pot stickers, rice, green beans and yellow cake with pink frosting. Grandpa Tom and Grandma Jane joined us for the festivities. Joel "Tiggered" it after he ate his piece of cake--to be expected.

Weekend Trip

Our whole family went to a small home school conference this past weekend. We all enjoyed our time listening to the different members of the Maxwell family as they exhorted us to "stay the course" and practically apply scripture to our lives. Grace and Elizabeth were able to talk to the Maxwell girls about sewing and I was able to pose a long burning question of mine to Mrs. Maxwell. I received some sound advice in answer to my question.

We also visited the Evergreen Aviation Museum. We followed a tour guide around the museum and listened to his explanation of each plane on exhibit. Before the guide moved to the next plane on the tour, he would ask if any one had any questions. Lydia's hand flew up and the tour guide said, "Yes, young lady, what's your question?" Lydia asked, "When are we going to see the big one?" We all had to laugh because the "big one" was the "Spruce Goose" and she took up nearly the entire museum. There was no avoiding her.


However, we did finally get an up close and personal of the one of a kind ship of the air. The Spruce Goose was the last stop on the museum tour. The plane is made almost entirely out of wood, although mostly birch, not spruce. She was intended to carry either 750 troops or two Sherman tanks and 500 troops--pretty impressive. I think Paul's eye balls finally found their rightful places back in their sockets on the car ride home. He's been building all sorts of replicas of the planes he saw out of Legos this week. His favorite was the Corsair. The boy is crazy about planes.