progress

An update for those of you who've been thinking on my food situation and giving helpful suggestions... Last night I made a casserole with spiral spinach pasta, sauce, sausage, and mozzarella cheese; he didn't love it by any means, but ate it without any big fits. I think it helped that he had a very defined time limit...they've been going to a kids' program at our old church that he really likes, and I told him if he gave me any hassles or wasn't done when it was time to go, he'd be staying home. He ate it quickly (along with a spinach salad and applesauce), and was out the door in no time.

It's progress...

thankful...

1. The coming weekend
2. My husband's full-time job (maybe if I keep saying it, my feelings will follow...)
3. A new month (re-sets the budget - yeah!)
4. All the free stuff I got from my Home & Garden Party!
5. Our family all being done with the flu!
6. Kids who like to play outside - even when it's cold!
7. My house - even though I'd like to make some changes, and my furniture isn't all new or matching, it's home, and it's got lots of potential! (Especially when I get my new H&G stuff!)
   
8. More snow today (we'd still like one really big blizzard, then spring the next week!) It's nice for the kids to play in, and when it happens on a weekend, Todd's here, and that makes it all the better. I figure - if it's gotta be winter there might as well be snow!
   
9. Kaitlyn's new & improved attitude toward school...makes us all much happier campers!
10. Nail polish (I'm planning an evening of putting kids to bed, popping in a movie and giving myself a mani/pedi!!)

touching

This, my friends, is a beautiful sight. It almost brings a tear to my eye.

I was trying to get a basket of laundry folded today (the same one I've been meaning to get to for days now...), and I had offered Luke that he could help if he wanted. I no sooner sat down to begin folding and got called away to help someone with a school question. When I walked back through the living room I saw this pile of folded towels,

and knew I hadn't folded them. I was astonished! I asked Luke if he had folded all this, and he simply replied "yes". I asked him to show me how and got the full demonstration! Yep, this is goooood info to know - and thus, the 3-year-old gets added to the chore chart! Oh, yeah!

hello... uh... poison control?

I just heard this quote for the second time in a week, and I'd never heard it before, so it's really catching my attention. Wonder if God is trying to get my attention (and if so, He's got it, but has to do more explaining, because I didn't think I was holding any unforgiveness, so I'm a little in the dark.) Anyway, it's a great quote, and maybe someone else needs to hear it, so I'll share it here:

Hanging on to unforgiveness (or choosing to stay angry about something) is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

Isn't that so true?

lightening up

So, after all that deep thought, I needed to lighten my mood so I can fall asleep. So here's this:

You Are An ENFP

The Inspirer You love being around people, and you are deeply committed to your friends. You are also unconventional, irreverent, and unimpressed by authority and rules. Incredibly perceptive, you can usually sense if someone has hidden motives. You use lots of colorful language and expressions. You're quite the storyteller! In love, you are quite the charmer. And you are definitely willing to risk your heart. You often don't follow through with your flirting or professed feelings. And you do break a lot of hearts. At work, you are driven but not a workaholic. You just always seem to enjoy what you do. You would make an excellent entrepreneur, politician, or journalist. How you see yourself: compassionate, unselfish, and understanding When other people don't get you, they see you as: gushy, emotional, and unfocused

So, do you think this is me??

What's Your Personality Type?

1, 2, 3,4...4 1/2... 4 3/4....

The last post got me thinking of another (sort of related) parenting-related topic. Today I was in a store and I heard a child apparently being disobedient, and the mom was telling him/her that they'd better do such-and-such right now. She then began to count... 1, 2 (slight pause)...3 (longer pause)...4... and then repeated the instruction again, and so on. I'm sure you've heard it, or said it, yourself. I'm not judging that mom - goodness knows that, though I don't count, my method is just to keep repeating myself, or threaten things that I may or may not follow through with...same difference.

However, it reminded me of a lesson I heard in a parenting class we took at church on the importance of requiring first-time obedience. That means that I, as a parent, give an instruction once and require it of my children to obey quickly and completely. I remember some of the other parents thinking this was harsh, and they felt it was more gracious to the child to give them some 'wiggle-room' - some time, such as counting to 5, before they were forced to act on the instruction. While there are all the standard explanations (which are very good) as to why this is probably not the best line of thinking - like if my child is headed into a dangerous situation and I tell them to "stop", that I want them to do it immediately - there was one comment that stopped me in my tracks. Someone leading the class pointed out that when we count, we are still teaching something, and still requiring obedience (that is, if we actually follow through), we are just teaching them it's OK to delay the obedience. It's OK to do things in their time, as opposed to when we, the parent, tell them. Then this question was raised (and this is what really stuck with my heart) - when God tells them to do something, is HE going to count for them? Or do we want them to learn to do things in GOD's time?

Interesting thought. While God is certainly a gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and his mercies are new every morning...couldn't we usually save ourselves a boatload of trouble if we'd just obey - the first time??

eschatology and parenting???

We are going through a study on 'end times' right now in our small group. It's very interesting, and a somewhat different viewpoint than the one I was raised on. Growing up, I assumed that what I had been taught was THE correct thing, until I began learning about different eschatologies (end-time doctrines), and found that, while I didn't necessarily agree with all the different things I heard/read, I felt that they at least had valid points, and certainly I could understand where they were coming from. For me, someone's doctrinal stance on the "End of the Age" isn't one of those fundamentals of the faith worth dividing over; rather, it's something that I believe there is room for differing opinions, and people who are earnestly seeking God's truth (and also looking to build up one another in love - this is key) can have some very thought provoking and challenging conversations about such matters. I would also note that there are some notable people that I really respect, several of which would come out differently on their viewpoint.

However, tonight something I came away with, personally, was a strong encouragement to "keep on" in my endeavors as a Christian parent. The funny thing is that the teacher didn't touch on parenting at all. (And while the focus of this post doesn't have anything to do with which doctrinal view point we're studying, let's just suffice it to say that the spurring on in me was not a result of some fear that my kiddos might get "Left Behind".)

No, not at all. Rather, as the discussion turned to the implications of what these things mean for us personally, and how any of this affects my life now, what came to my mind was that, no matter your viewpoint, as Christians we must be daily growing closer to God, and not only hearing His voice, but learning to obey in a timely manner. How do you learn something like that? I believe it's much easier to obey God quickly and completely, when we first know how to obey earthly authority in the same manner. This becomes very practical to me as a mom, and puts into perspective how very vital it is for me to teach my children to obey - the first time.

This is something I really struggle with. It really is my own laziness that gets me into the rut of threatening or repeatedly scolding my kids (which drives me crazy, yet it's totally my fault!); it's really because I don't really feel like the implications of dealing with the problem. Maybe I'm in the middle of something and don't want to stop and take the time to discipline; maybe I don't want to hear the whining that will result from taking away Webkinz; maybe I don't feel like coming up with creative things for the kids to do while I shower if I ground them from the TV!

Whatever the case, it's something I want to work on, not just so my life is easier, but so that my children will learn to be quickly responsive (which, side-note, that's the meaning of "Bryce" - quickly responsive), not only to me, but to their Heavenly Father. If their response to me when I tell them to go somewhere or do something is to hesitate, think about whether they feel like it or not, and then argue with me about if they really have to do it or not, why would their response to God be any different when He asks something of them? See, sometimes I lose sight of the fact that parenting isn't just about getting a desired behavior, it's about training the heart, shaping attitudes. That's really the long-term goal. So when I allow my children to be disrespectful, I'm allowing that weed to take root in their heart. When I tolerate them telling me what the 'program' is going to be, I'm really doing them a disservice, and making it harder for them to have a soft and open heart to receiving God's will for them. I'm allowing them to cultivate their own fleshly desires.

This may all sound pretty intense and heavy, and you might be thinking "lighten up, they're just kids!", but it really helps me to "keep up the fight" on a day-to-day basis, in the small things, when I think about the fact that my main job as a parent is to lead my precious little gifts back to the Father and help to cultivate His plans for their lives. Then, in the moment that I'm tempted to overlook that temper tantrum, and mutter to myself, "it doesn't really matter", I can remember that yes, even this day, this episode matters. This is the training ground for them to fulfill their destiny.

Suddenly, as I ponder this, I feel like mothering is a hugely important job again!! Yeah!! It had really been one of those days! You know, the kind where I'm trying to Google where you go to resign from this job, or relocate or something... Who would've thought that God would use my end times study to give me new perspective on the daily grind of mothering? He's so faithful to meet us where we're at, and give us what we need.

all in due time

This morning as I laid in bed, trying to convince myself to get up and start my cleaning/schooling/errands, I could tell it was sunny outside by the rays peeking around the edges of the drawn shades. While I was thankful for the brightness instead of dull gray (which, of late, has been such a mood-dampener for me), what I was really thinking was "Oh, God - can't we just have spring?!?!" While I tried to re-adjust my mindset to not get in a frustrated funk over the cold weather, abounding sickness and still-wet spots in my family room (every time there's any amount of flooding our carpet gets wet spots all over) - I heard a bird chirping outside my window! Not a usual mid-winter occurance for sure! I took it as gift from the Father - a reassurance, that, while it wasn't quite His time to give me my 'wish', he knows my desires and was reminding me, "All in due time, daughter."

oscar night

OK, I confess - I'm watching the Oscars. Yep, watched the Barbara Walters special too. (And frankly, I was quite happy with Miley Cyrus interview. It made me feel even better about letting my kids be into the whole Hannah Montana deal. "You get the beeeeesssttt of both worlllllddsss...")

I'm really bummed that I wasn't able to go to church, because tonight was our first "Kids and Coffee Night" - where the whole service time is to be geared toward the kids - everything from worship to the message (a.k.a. - the story) as well as craft & snack. The adults were encouraged to get involved with the kids, but since there's really not room for everyone in one room, and some people are less inclined toward hyper-worship and finger paints, there's also coffee and fellowship in the adult room. We're in the process of trying some new things at Koinonia House (you gotta get creative when your pastor is bi-vocational, you don't have your own building, and you have limited adults and tons of kids!) and "Kids & Coffee Night" is one of the new things. So I was anxious to see how it would work...guess I'll have to wait til the fam gets home and I can hear from my kids while sipping my coffee! :)

But as I was saying - I'm watching the Oscars...I'm not sure I ever have actually sat and watched them before! I'm a sucker for fancy dresses and up-dos, so I'm really enjoying it. I keep calling Bets ("Didn't her dress make her look like a mermaid??" "Didn't she look like so-and-so?") because I have no one to chatter with about it all...I tried with Luke, but he just begged and pleaded to watch 'Spy Kids'...so that's where he is now, on my bed.

Anyway, I'm obviously rambling and substituting this computer for a conversation with a friend...so I'll let you go now...

Lord you are good

While my body might not quite be up to it yet, my heart is full of worship, and I wish I was kickin' it like this today!! (I love this song, but it sounds just a bit different when our team does it... ;)

still battling

I guess I may have gotten a little over-zealous about how much I could do yesterday...being well again and all. I got up and really attacked the day, frustrated over having totally lost 3 days of the week already! By about 3:00 yesterday afternoon I felt completely wiped out and never really got my 'oomph' back. Last night we just crashed and watched movies (one with the kids, and then one for us - or me, rather - I finally got to see "Becoming Jane" which I've been waiting to see ever since it came out back in September!!)

This morning when I got up I wasn't feeling bad, but my body is definitely warning me that if I don't want to re-lapse, I better reign myself in and take it easy a bit. So today I'm going to be much more low-key.

I'm not even going to be heading to church tonight, as Lukey actually did start again yesterday with a fever over 102, so I need to keep him home. Poor little guy...with nose running, eyes all puffy and watering, and while hacking up a storm, he begged me to let him go out in the snow and play with his brothers. It broke my heart to look at that adorable little face and explain that no, he was too sick to go play in the snow. He insisted "No! I'm better!!" and even tried to smile. He even was managing to get his daddy on his side, saying "Would it really be that bad if he's all bundled up...?" But I stood firm - and sold him on his new Play Doh set instead. That's worked for all of about 15 minutes, and now he's asking again. Poor guy... But this momma's had enough sickness, and I'm stickin' to my guns on this one!!
But can you just imagine how hard it is to resist this face?!?!?

no more, no less

There are lots of frustrating points in church planting, not the least of which is hitting a point that is tough to break through. While it seems fairly common for church plants to get 'stuck' at the 40-ish member point (where we currently are), it doesn't make it feel any less aggravating. We've gone over and over the reasons why we're seemingly stuck, what it will take to press through to the next level, what we could/should/would do different, etc. It seems like it would be so easy to compromise some things, jump on the bandwagon of great programs, or throw our energies into the next 'big idea' in an effort to bring about growth. But it would not be the kind of growth we really want. In seeking God for how to proceed in regards to the life of our church, the main things we keep coming back to are these:

1. Pray, pray and pray some more - we only want to do what we hear God saying to do...everything else is a big waste of time...and time is something we have none to spare!
2. Discipleship - real, down-and-dirty learning together to actually live what God's Word says. It can be hard; people don't always want to hear it. But we are committed to it, and need to keep working to cultivate it.
3. We need to have a heart for the lost - and keep on asking God to create that in us to a greater degree. We are no where near where we want to be on the evangelism front, but it's also not something we can just 'muster up'. But until we burn with passion to see people encounter Jesus personally, we must keep asking God to change our hearts - to let us see people the way He sees them.
   

Sounds simple, right? Not entirely. For one thing, some of this is a big change for some people from how they are used to operating. There are tons of Christians in churches right now who have been able to go years without having to really get serious about prayer or get real with their 'stuff' in order to grow in their relationship with Jesus. It's time to break out of that.

Randall Neighbour really says it well in the tag line of his blog "The Naked Truth About Small Group Ministry":

I don't give a crap who's bringing snacks next week. Why are we still sharing the same struggles we had last year? Why aren't there any gold-plated heathen here tonight? We have damned ourselves to spiritual mediocrity! We must embrace a completely new way of doing church in small groups.

Somehow, we must stay steadfast in the identity God has given us for our particular part of the Body of Christ. It can be a struggle, especially for a people-pleaser like me. I can be easily manipulated sometimes, thinking we (or I) have to come up with the answer, the program, the accomodation for every problem, request or complaint I hear. I think God (through friends and other leaders) is working on breaking me of that. But God repeatedly says to me "Do what I say - no more, no less."

I survived!

This morning I have awaken without fever! Hallelujah!

I've been completely out of commission for the past 3 days, suffering, along with my family (except for Bryce & Todd who somehow managed to escape) from the dreaded flu. We started with it on Wednesday, and once it hit, it hit hard. Most of the time we had fevers of at least 102. The boys got as high as just over 104...that sort of had me a little worried. But the fevers were responding to Tylenol and Motrin, so I figured there was no need to call the doctor, but rather there was nothing to do but wait it out. You know, plenty of liquids, chicken soup, etc., and sure enough, we've finally made it through!

Anyway, that explains my blogging absence, and now hopefully we will be able to re-enter the 'normal' world - starting with the mounds of laundry and dishes that have piled up while I was out of commission!

I know many of you are/have been battling the flu as well - my prayers are with you! Hope you make it out in time to enjoy the weekend!

mid-day update

A big thanks to those of you who are praying for us; I really appreciate it! I thought I'd let you know the outcome of the crayon fiasco, and give you an update on the sickees...

Kate's eating chicken soup...
The boys are resting...

And then there was Bryce:
Anyway, the hot water and the concoction of Era, Oxyclean and vinegar took all the red crayon out of the clothes - woo hoo!! I'm amazed it was so simple! That was a big bright spot in my day before I started with the achy-ness and my nose turned into a faucet...

from bad to worse

I am hoping that the events of the morning before we even got to 9 a.m. are not indicative of how the rest of the day will unfold. In addition to having sick kiddos (though they seem to be doing better after getting some ibuprofen in them, though still coughing), I went to get laundry out of the dryer that I had put in last night, to find RED CRAYON and GUM, melted all over the laundry and the inside of the dryer!!!!!

Aaaaaagggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!
I found a helpful website for getting crayon out, though it called for:

1 c. Tide (I only had Era...we'll see)
1 c. Oxyclean (only had about 2 scoops left, so I threw it in)
1 c. white vinegar (that I had!)
1 c. Shout (didn't have any)

It's soaking on HOT now; then I'll have to run through the wash cycle on hot again...

I'll let you know how I make out!

attack!!

It seems like the flu bug is on a rampage. Last night one couple from our small group called to say they wouldn't make it to our meeting because their little guy had a fever, and the daddy of the family had just come home feeling achy himself.

Then my sister's family ended up having to head out early because 2 of her girls ended up with fevers; she's at the end of her rope with all the sickness - they've had something almost constantly for the better part of 3 weeks!! She almost was in tears last night to realize they were still battling, after she thought they were just coming out of it.

And, sadly, my family did not escape the attack this time. 3 out of 4 Clemmer children were up in the night; 2 had/have fevers. And I'm battling something nasty trying to take root at the bottom of my throat.

So, we're doubling up on vitamin C, echineacea, throwing in some ibuprofen, and LOTS of prayers!!

hold the pasta

Every week I go through the same exasperating process of trying to find something new to make for dinner. And every week I give up and make the same old things: chicken (baked or fried in every way imaginable); tacos; meatloaf and spaghetti (occasionally I'll throw in some ham for variety). Those are the staples of our mealtimes. And frankly, I'm sick to death of them!!

The root of my problem is trying to find things that don't have pasta as the foundational ingredient. It looks to me like pretty much every casserole known to man includes pasta of some kind! I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and start making it...but after our last fiasco (see the post entitled "The Great Casserole War" if you missed that one) I'm not too excited about the prospect of another mealtime showdown.

Anyway, I guess I should just start making things the other 5 members of my family will enjoy... Any words of wisdom or good recipes for me???

getting myself out of the way

We've started really working on putting together our plans for Koinonia's coffee shop, and while it's a TON of work, it's also been very fun, interesting and I'm learning lots. While we don't have any idea when it will become a reality, I've felt God impressing us to just begin getting ready - preparing all the stuff that we need to ahead of time - so that when He provides Divine opportunities, connections and open doors we will be ready to move. I felt very strongly last night that He was telling me that fully bathing this venture in prayer is a million times more important than putting together any business plan.

But even more than that, God has been speaking to my heart that everything - coffee shop plans, hopes for the church, my family - must be born out of prayer. As I've been reading about Moses and the people of Israel moving from place to place, following God in the form of a pillar of smoke by day, and fire at night, my heart cry has increasingly become "God, don't let us move an inch without your Spirit, your Presence, going with us and guiding us".

It's oh, soooo easy for me to get caught up in ideas - planning, brainstorming, etc. - always trying to find the thing that is going to 'work' or 'make it happen'. My personality is a 'starter' - I love to come up with ideas and set them in motion; I'm not so good at long-term stuff. I like to see results. But God is teaching me how to press in to Him, to be consistent in 'knocking' and asking for those things that He has given us vision for. And I must admit, it's not the easiest thing for me...like I said, I'm a mover...I like to get things done. The thing is, I must be renewed in my mind to realize that prayer IS getting things done - it's just things that I cannot usually see with my physical eyes.

In my mind, I sort of equate it to strength training...I can go strong for a little while, but the I peter out, and get somewhat sidetracked, fall back into my old modes. But I am so thankful for God's patience, and that He knows that my heart is saying "Yes!", but sometimes it takes a while for that 'yes' to kick in with the rest of me!

In all of the uncertainty of church planting, business starting, etc., my prayer is simply becoming more and more "not my will, but yours Lord".

happy president's day

While we don't take a day off school for President's Day, I did decide to change things up from our normal routine, and focus on 'presidential' topics. I must confess, I feel very lacking, personally, in the history department, and especially when it comes to politics. I'm not quite sure how that happened, as I spent grades 4-9 in a public school, and 9-12 in a good Christian school. Maybe I just didn't pay attention, I don't know. I have learned, in the course of home schooling my kids, that much of my education consisted of memorizing information to pass tests and get good grades, but apparently didn't truly learn as much, now, as an adult, as I would have liked.

All that is an aside. I thought I'd share what we are doing today to celebrate President's Day, and give you some great links if you have some kids of your own that you'd like to connect with a bit of the history and/or politics of our great country.

We started off the day taking a virtual tour of the White House. That was fun, and interesting. There is a 'kids' link to that has a really cute video of the Presidential Dog, Barney in his quest to become a Junior National Park Ranger.

This President's Day page has really great, and simple information and activities for kids of various ages. We really enjoyed reading about how Lincoln got his beard!

With all this presidential talk, it seemed like a great time to discuss the upcoming election and the candidates. It can be really tough explaining the issues to kids, so I'm still searching for a good website that would make things kind of easy and concise. If anyone knows of any good resources for this, I'd be really grateful for some help on this one!

And, in my quest to learn more about what is going on in the world of politics, so that I can be a better, more responsible citizen (AND so that I can have half-way intelligent discussions with my husband who loves to talk politics!!), I've been trying to keep up with this blog...and would recommend it to other moms who don't have time to watch the news, debates or read newspapers (or really anything else that wasn't written by Dr. Seuss!)! I've found it to be fairly quick to read, somewhat easy to understand, and non-biased. You should check it out (even if you're not a mom!) Just click below to visit.

Have a great holiday, for those of you who are off today. And take a moment to be thankful for great men such as Washington and Lincoln, whose convictions and resolve have resulted in many of the freedoms we enjoy in this country~not the least of which is the right to blog!! :)

on a mission

Tomorrow some gal-pals and I are heading down to D.C. on a 'business trip'...we're hitting Coffee Fest - a huge trade show for the coffee industry. We are scouting out equipment, vendors, etc., etc., etc. for our new coffeehouse that will hopefully be materializing in the not-too-distant future (exactly how long that is, we still aren't sure). God seems to be giving us a lot of divine connections right now, and hopefully what will turn out to be some open doors. This is a very central aspect of the mission of Koinonia House as a church, and we are prayerfully waiting on God to somehow, miraculously make it a reality. In the meantime, we're doing our part with the legwork.

We'll also be making a visit to Ebenezer's, a coffeehouse in the capitol that's already doing what we're passionately working toward. I'm sure we'll return tired, but totally pumped about pressing on with the vision.

party time...

Yesterday and today was jam-packed with activity, so this is the first minute I've had to sit down and post about our wonderful Valentine's party yesterday. I definitely didn't have any blogging time, but the 10 things I was thankful for were these 10 little people (though baby Eva was napping and didn't make it into the pic, so you'll only be able to count 9. But Ang is in there to make 10 people, and I'm thankful for her too...)


Betsy came up with great games like this Valentine BINGO that included v-tine pics and little pics of everyone at the party - very creative!

The kids loved it; they played 3 times



while I got the pink pancakes ready.


It was a precious moment when they all held hands and prayed before they ate.


Then we did 3 great crafts:

The first one was adorable hanging hearts (see pic above).

Then we made these cool key chains; they made them out of clay, then we baked them and attached some beads and the key ring. We also made fun bookmarks (which re-used the pictures from the bingo sheets).



I think everybody had a great time. The little ones were plenty worn out til the end of the day, and some of them had to leave a bit early to get a nap. We took these pics to make V-tine cards for the daddies, but ran out of time. So I thought I'd at least share them with you, (and maybe hang on to them to make daddy cards some other time!)



And I had to post this...just cuz it was too cute not to!!

Moses and leadership lessons

I am currently reading through the Old Testament book of Numbers, and it has really struck me how many times it says Moses "fell facedown". It is usually in correlation with the people complaining or doing something wrong, or sinning in some way, and, on their behalf, Moses fell facedown before the Lord.

My initial reaction was to think "Sheesh, I'd get tired of falling facedown for these people!", but God was revealing something much deeper to me, and really stirred my heart. Every time I read the phrase "Moses fell facedown" it was like those words flew straight from the page to my heart. God began revealing a leadership truth to me; good leaders MUST be intercessors on behalf of their people. When they are in sin, have needs, need God to breakthrough in some way, leaders need to be spending a lot of time on their faces before God, crying out on their behalf. It amazes me that after the Israelites turn on Moses time and time again, he still pleads with God for them.

Another thing is, that after all their constant complaining to Moses, about Moses, he never really rises up in anger to defend himself. He always lets the Lord defend him. He doesn't argue or get into a big debate about his "calling" or "right" to lead, but He lets God, who is the One who called him in the first place, do miraculous things to stand as signs of God's will for Moses (and Aaron) to lead and do the things God commanded them to.

What great leadership lessons there are in these chapters. If you are a leader of anything - a church, a small group, a family - I'd highly recommend reading Numbers (or at least start around chapter 12 - that's where these particular things I'm talking about start). I've been very enlightened about how God dealt with such things as sibling rivalry, 'ministry envy', complaining and disbelief - just to name a few!!

(By the way, I still love the fact that scripture still shows us the human, fallible side of all these amazing Biblical figures. As great of a leader as Moses was, he still didn't get to take the people into the Promise Land - he seemed to confuse "speak to" with "hit" (hey, I think my boys occasionally get those two mixed up also!). Anyway, it's nice to see again how God can use whoever he chooses, and none of them/us are ever perfect!)

oooohh, he's good..

These just got delivered about half an hour ago... Yeah, he's gooooood...

(And yes, that little box contains chocolate...)

I think the hot wings must've been a hit...

our heart-day party

Tomorrow we are having a Valentine party with my kids, my sister's kids and another friend and her 2 little ones. (Yep, that would be 10 kids - and all but one are 2nd grade and under!! Should be a crazy time!!) Anyway, we (by we I mean Betsy) are planning some fun games like Valentine picture bingo, a Hershey Kiss scavenger hunt, some fun crafts and red/pink foods like pink heart pancakes, strawberries, raspberries, pink milk or red juice, and cookies (what party would be complete without some heart cookies??)

If you are looking for some fun craft and party ideas, here's a few links to check out:

Disney Family Entertainment page

Homeschoolzone

And you'll find a few fun Valentine songs to sing over at Preschool Education.com

Here's some pics of our Valentine fun last year:

my heart burns for you...

Well, our 'hot' night was fun...I decided on "Walk the Line" for our movie (the Johnny Cash/June Carter story). I thought, well, it was about a couple (valentine-y) and he did sing "Ring of Fire", so it went with the theme. (I got all giddy when the movie opened with a flashing ring of fire...and Todd did so good to notice and say "See, it has fire!" He's good...) My original plan was to do dinner and movie in our bedroom with lots of candles, but because of the crazy cold weather we are having, we only made it through dinner and decided we needed to move the party to the living room 'cuz it was just too stinkin' cold in our bedroom!! So we lost a small bit of ambiance, but it was still fun and cozy. We had hot wings, and hoagie with hot peppers.

On a funny note, Kate and Bryce knew what I was planning and they helped me clean up a bit this afternoon to get ready. They knew my theme was 'hot' stuff, and they had all kinds of wonderful suggestions... Kate thought I should try to dress as 'fire' myself - she thought she could help me come up with a red cape and attach orange streamers and I could 'flap' it to make it look like flames. ("Uh, thanks honey, but I think not this time....") Then, while I was quick doing my hair and makeup before dropping the kids off, Bryce came in to the bathroom, took a look at me and said "You call that a hot outfit?" I was totally taken aback - what would he know about "hot outfits"??? (And I had said nothing about hot clothes, but they were really hyped about me doing something with a theme...) (Oh, yeah, what I was wearing was jeans and a red shirt.) I just looked at him and said "What do you mean?" He replied, as he turned and walked out "I just think orange would be better than that red..." (Big mom sigh of relief...)

Now it's on to planning fun food, crafts and games for the kids for Thursday.

And here's hoping all the 'hot' food doesn't revisit in the form of heartburn tonight!!

smokin' HOT valentine's date!

Well, I've been wracking my brain to come up with something new and exciting to plan as a Valentine date for me and my hubby. Here's my conclusion: we have tried everything there is to try in our 18 Valentine's Days together! I've Googled date ideas, I pulled out the old "Simply Romantic Nights" date ideas from Family Life Together that we got a few years ago... But nothing seemed to grab me. Then, out of no where, it came to me...a theme...perfect for my guy AND the freezing cold weather.

The theme is: HOT.

Yep, that's what it's going to be here tonight: I'm cranking up the heat a bit, lighting some fire (a.k.a. candles), trying to find an appropriate themed movie (something to do w/hot or fire, but is still decent enough to watch...this is proving to be the biggest challenge...)ordering in some hot wings (Todd's ALL-TIME favorite), and of course, serving it in something hot (another favorite ;o)), with some hot (salsa?) music!

My natural tendency is to plan dates based on what I would want or enjoy. But this time, going all out means doing stuff that wouldn't necessarily be my idea of a dream date, but may cause Todd to think he died and went to heaven...though, hot and fire aren't usually associated with heaven, huh? Anyway, I venture to say, it's going to go over well, and I'm really excited about it.

I'll post later about the big plans we have for a fun-filled Valentine's party for the kids...

So what are you doing to celebrate those you love?

monday morning

Remember when I was saying I was ready for the weekend?
I still am.
Last night I got to bed somewhat late,
and then a child awoke at 4 a.m.
He went right back to sleep...
I could not,
Until about 6:30 a.m.
Now I'm dragging
Not a good way to start a week.

Pray for me,
and them,
folks.

Let the games begin.

WELCOME WEEKEND!!!!!

I am SOOOO ready for the weekend!!

None of us really felt like doing school today, so I decided we'd do "fun school" - we really can't lose any days, but I'm about as tired of 'text books' as they are today, so we're gonna chill things out a bit and star gettin' into weekend mode...

They're watching "National Treasure" right now and righting down some historical sites they see, and some facts that we are going to research to see if they are "truth or fiction"...

Then, some Mad Libs...otherwise known as Language Arts (it's a great, fun way to review parts of speech that doesn't feel like learning at all!)

And we have to do some grocery shopping this weekend, so I think we'll grab the list and have the kids do some price comparisons with me...

Not sure what other fun learning things we'll find to do this afternoon, but all I can say is

"WELCOME WEEKEND!!!!"

This would also explain the 'fun' music that you hear playing (if you aren't muted - sorry if it scared you, Zo)... In my "gettin' ready for fun" mood, I decided I was in the mood for some FUN music...but I kinda drew a blank when I went to upload some tunes to my playlist (which I sometimes open and just let play even if I'm done on my blog...it's a good way to hear some songs I don't actually have - and hear only what I want - unlike the radio)...

So what do you think of as fun, bringing in the weekend songs?? Maybe I'll add 'em to my list...

shameless sales pitch

I'm not really big into having home demonstration parties; I used to be, but I guess the busy-ness of life and kids sort of just made it one extra hassle that I didn't need. But when my sis and I started looking at the stuff from Home & Garden Party online, we decided there were a few things that we'd really like for our homes.

So guess what...I'm having a party.

Yep, if you are interested in getting a few new things to spruce up your home, check out Home & Garden Party online and then let me know, and I'd be more than happy to order it for you (and of course I'll get credit toward what I want...I'm not too proud to say it!). Here's what I'm working towards (and yes, earning it is the only way I'll get it because there's NO WAY I'd spend almost $200 for a home decor item for my bedroom!)

Here are a few of my other favorites:
Yummy jar candles (fantastic scents...creme brulee, vanilla spice, hot cinnamon bun and butter crunch are a few that I plan on getting!) that burn great (approx. 50 hours!), and these cool topper things help them burn even better and look cuter too! AND THIS MONTH THEY'RE ON SALE FOR LESS THAN $5!!! (All the candles are 30% off in February)


These would do quite nicely in my bedroom as well...


And these would be perfect in my mom's new kitchen (housewarming gift??)...
Anyway, all that to say...if you are in need of any gifts or a special treat for yourself, you should definitely check out Home & Garden Party - and let me know if I can help! ;)