Dead Battery, Cards and Rain

In my life this week....

Well after the kitchen flooding on Monday, I was hoping for a simple week;) It really wasn't that bad, but we had a few more curve balls :/

Like our car battery dying in a city 45 minutes from home as we were on our way to meet some friends to play. Of course I know nothing about cars (besides putting gas in them or oil if the light comes on... LOL!!). I called my mom to see if she could tell me what was wrong so I what to ask in order to get  help.

Thankfully, some men working for the city saw my distressed look and the minivan with kids!! They were so incredibly helpful.... first jumping my car, then telling me how to get to the nearest place to check my car battery. When they saw me behind them on the road they motioned for me to follow them and then stayed with my kids so I could run into the store (I could see the kids the whole time).

They truly were an answer to my quick desperate prayer.

We then had over an hour wait for the store to try to recharge our battery, determine it was indeed dead and then replace it with a new one! The kids attempted to keep themselves busy in the parking lot!! I was really thankful for them... they played and kept themselves occupied even though they knew they were missing playtime with their friends.



And I think it was the only 2 hours it wasn't raining all day.... oh, so thankful, I couldn't imagine what I would done with them for that amount of time in the van (no AC, DVD, radio)!! Phew;)

In our schooling this week...
The girls did a couple of days of xtramath.org! We read library books, did our devotional readings and played cards:) Gotta love a real summer break while the school room is being put together;)

"The Champion" at least that is what he calls himself.... I guess 4 wins in a row merits a title

"The Rule Reader" & enforcer :)

"the Distraction"... he did "try", too still for him:)

I'm inspired this week by...
Seeing God's care and protection of us through our kitchen flooding and dead battery. He is good during the normal days and good during the crazy times, too!!

Places we're going & People we're seeing...
We were grateful to finally make it to indoor playground to play with our friends:) It was nice seeing friends and letting the kids play... it felt like it had been forever since we'd left the "packing/unpacking" routine! Nice!

What We're Reading...
I'm working my way through Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson. I'm in the sections of creating habits and disciplining:) Oh, it's been nice and a great motivator to getting us to work on some "housekeeping" issues we've let slide during the last few months.

The kids and I are working through some books about Lewis and Clark:) Yes, still!!! Our library had a ton to choose from so we've been reading those and hope to get back to our history studies as soon as our school room is useable for school;)

What I'm praying for...
Finding a church home. Now that we're wanting to get settled in the new home, we're ready to find a church home. For the last 8 years we've been at our sweet, small, community church. Going to church with neighbors where Brian was the pastor (for 7 of those 8 years). Praying for wisdom and the feeling of "this is it"! And the kids as they go into new classes (and maybe nursery for Nate..... soo new for us).

Questions/Thoughts this week....
Thinking/praying/reading about chore charts and positive habit forming;) I feel like we need a plan.... just something to follow when the days are long, the patience is short and a nap is needed... for everyone! And it's good to make it now as we are just getting settled into a new house/new routine/different chores!

Pictures to share...
Last week was too hot to play outside (not in water) and this week it has rained a bit every day!! After cooping them up during each rainstorm, we finally let them out;)

Submitting this picture  to
 Shoot.Edit.Submit., Photo Friday, Give Me Your Best Shot, and Fabulous Friday!

Nate played in the puddles with gravel:)

Linking up to Moments to Remember, Homeschool Mother's Journal and Weekly Wrap-Up.

Weekly Wrap Up: 1st week back at work

Our "big" start date was Monday!

So Monday morning we all rose and attempted to follow the new routine.... much grace and patience was given because it was NEW to all of us;) And we started with a fussy toddler and two kiddos complaining with headaches :( It was a reminder to me that it's a routine and NOT a strict schedule... we do what we can.

Tuesday and Thursday we spent most of our mornings doing errands... groceries, library, getting stocked with water, bread and milk since we have a hurricane coming. We spent Tuesday afternoon driving (more to share about this) so the kids brought schoolwork with them and we read ALL of our history in a parking lot while Brian was visiting at the hospital! Thursday after a quick shop and picking up a neighbor from the doctors, I knew I was sick and attempted to rest after I got the kids down for early naps.... not sure what is going on with me :(

So what did we get done???

We started our mornings with Psalms at breakfast:)

Inspired by the book we used in Bible study with our homeschooling group we have started to look for things we know about God from Psalms. It's hard for them, but I think it's better than just reading through it and checking it off a "to do" list!

We have a pretty long prayer list and the kids were volunteering to pray for each request, but it was getting hard to remember everything. Then Chris and Anna decided to do prayer cards... index cards with the dated request on the back... my kids are soo wise! Anyway, they LOVED it and were thinking of other people to pray for (and make cards for). Very sweet and too simple!!

And then we tackled our "book work"!

Anna did mostly reviewing this week. Her books finally came in Wednesday:) But it was just better to stick with the reviewing while Lydia and Chris started getting settled into their books;)

MATH
Anna reviewed subtraction facts and subtracting with borrowing! It was a great refresher;) She did start on her first Saxon 3 lesson, too!! She was eager to get into her new math workbook;)

Chris did 3 math lessons! He rocks at math! I was a little hesitant with giving him an "assessment" on the 2nd day because we hadn't reviewed some of the concepts all summer... but I was pleasantly surprised that he had retained soo much;)

Lydia begged to start math! She was ready LAST week and she carried around her workbook Monday until we finally came to her "math time" ! She has done a lovely job finishing 4 lessons!

Language Arts
I've spoiled Anna (and probably all of them) this summer by letting them read only what they wanted. So this week I"d had to push them to read books from our historical topics/time periods! I've definitely been met with resistance! Anna also worked on giving words endings (like y, ed & ing) and grammar (thanks Miss Sue sue!!) terms as a review before starting Spelling Power. She took her 1st placement test on Friday:)

Chris is working on a list of 1st grade sight words for his Spelling words. We read over the 4 the words he has and he wrote them a few times!

Lydia is working on her color words! Kids learn to identify colors, but often to teach them the color words gets neglected (like by me!!). So Lydia is doing color words worksheets.... she thinks it's "baby work" :)

On the first day we did an "About Me" on the first day! And I let the younger two trace most of it... an easy first day:)

Lydia and Chris have done 2 Grammar lessons together! I KNOW Chris is ready, but Lydia is a little hesitant to participate :( So we'll see if she continues to do it with us, I'm going to give it a couple more weeks!

History
We read about how Queen Elizabeth began queen and what kind of queen she was. We colored, did the map and quizzed each other about Henry VIII wives and children;) There are some fun books about Queen Elizabeth... one is a journal format similar to the American Girls books (Anna liked that one). I like Ten Queens which contains a chapter about Queen Elizabeth.

Science
Anna started on our first week of Chemistry alone :/ She was excited to start, so she did her Definitions page with a couple of questions about how to word the entries.

On Thursday while we were out and waiting in the car I read some of the book Drop of Water. It was a fun and beautiful introduction to water, molecules and phases of water;) Beautiful pictures... beautiful:)

Friday we did our first two experiments:) I planned only to do one ... a drop of food coloring into a jar of water...

and watched it disperse!

but then I got caught up in the simple experiment and we did it with heated water, ice water and tap water:) And watched how quickly the coloring moved in the hot water tan the others!

As I read to them from our science book, I saw blank stares as I read about atoms, neutrons, protons, electrons and a nucleus:) So I drew them one and they made their own to put into their science notebooks.

Other
While in the car this week, we've been listening to music from Handel. One CD was a biography of Handel focusing on "The Water Music" and a CD Brian picked up at Dollar Tree YEARS ago;) I'm hoping to play these for a while and learn a little more about Handel the next few weeks and then move on to someone else;) Trying to sneak in some music appreciation;)

We have been watching the news following the path of Irene and the events in Tripoli this week! We're ready for some rain.... but hoping Irene stays off the coast! We're ready though with flashlights and water!

We were hoping to go to a Splash Pad for our annual homeschool back-to-school gathering on Friday night. Unfortunately Hurricane Irene has postponed our plans :( Just praying that everyone has prepared and is ready!

I realized this week.... that with the school year officially started now SCHOOL is going to have to be our priority again! I have a couple of different things that are pulling on me... but i have to stay focused! On the right priorities!

Picture of the Week
Nate's 1st day of School

Nate was soo "off" and fussy Monday while Anna tried to keep him during her time with him!! She worked her little tail off those 15 minutes!

Linking up to Weekly Wrap-Up !!!

Momentary Pains

We see these a lot during the summer...

And we've had plenty of summer "pains" this summer... skinned knees, itchy spageeto (aka....mosquito) bites, poison ivy, chiggers and now summer colds :(

Really the last weeks has seemed like week after week one of us (usually ME!!) is dealing with some summer ailment :(

I"m soo thankful that they all have been minor and momentary!!! And it encourages me to pray for those with much BIGGER concerns.

During a recent trip we got caught in a torrential downpour.... cars were pulling over on the sides everywhere... yikes!! We slowed down and put on our hazard lights. The rain was soo loud the kids immediately were more concerned about the rain than their video.

And then I hear in the back, "Dear God, please help make this bad rain storm go away so we can be safe. Amen." And Chris raises his head expectantly waiting for the storm to dissipate.

In time it did. We saw the clouds breaking ahead of us and soon the bad rainstorm was a memory. But I was left with my son's immediate response of calling out to God even in the minor momentary "pain" we were in.

May I learn from him and call out to God during momentary pain/sadness/grief/discomfort instead of complaining or becoming discouraged!!

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

The 14 Month Milestone

I'm a little delayed in celebrating Nate's 14th Month:)

It's such a memorable age for us because when our little Chris was 14 months we were welcoming little Lydia:) It's looks soo overwhelming now.... bringing home a newborn and having a just toddling toddler wanting to be held, too;)

Anna (2.5 years), Lydia (2 days old) and Chris (14 months)

And here they are from today:) (we made it!!!)

So to look and be with Nate now at 14 months... I am just amazed!! How did we do it??? Did I really have to chase Chris around this much?? Was Chris really this little when Lydia came home?? And he was!! :)

In so many ways and from soo many years no passed... those early Lydia days are a blur:)

So it's sweet to have these toddling Nate days and then see my grown little Anna, Chris and Lydia... such a bitter sweet reminder to CHOOSE to ENJOY each DAY and all that each day BRINGS... because they DO grow up soo fast.... I didn't really believe it was all that fast when I was diapering 3 bottoms each day in 2007;)

Onto some Nate Updates;)

The Stats

• Weight 22-23 lbs
  
• Sizes 18 and 24 months, some 12 month shorts/pants
  
• 2 naps:)
• Sleeps soundly and consistently through the night;)
• Finished nursing at 13.5 months :(
• Two molars came in... so 10 teeth!!

Foods

• Anything and everything;)
• Begs for broccoli, cooked carrots and green beans;)
• Potato chips has been his weakness
• Starting to recognize foods/boxes and makes his requests KNOWN

• Doesn't pass up any treats;) Sorry... had to share this picture again - his messy baby cheeks are adorable to me
  

New Tricks

• Climbing onto the couch
• Pulling stools & toys to stand on.... gets stuff off counters or onto sisters' beds
  
• Starting to hand us stuff when we ask:)
• or getting DOWN off stuff when we ask;)
• Sticking his face down into water
• Trying to eat with a fork (adorable!!)

"Bad" Habits

• Fussing loudly for things at dinner... leaving us to guess what he's wanting
• Wandering
• LOUD at church.... working on this;)
  
• HATES brushing his teeth
• Playing ON the kitchen table - usually accidentally knocking over leftover drinks
• Carrying around Doggie, Paci, burpcloths and Taggie blanket after/before naps ( too cute!)
  

Momma's Thoughts
I had been really enjoying the baby days with Nate. I wasn't always good at enjoying "baby days" before but I really had been with Nate.... when those seemed over with him it was sad!!

But these days with this busy, happy, full of life, adventurous little guy are GREAT!!! They are just soo much fun. Don't get me wrong.... we are BUSY, too, when he's awake!! I know sometimes I make it look like it's very HARD work... it can be!! I just adore the kids and the stages each is at. And I'm making a conscience CHOICE to ENJOY THEM and all that comes with them;)

I am soo very thankful for my once little crew of 3 that has turned into my super big helpers;) They watch after their busy little brother, too!! Sometimes it takes ALL of US :) LOL!!

While Nate stays super busy, messy and into EVERYTHING, he usually has the most pleasant little spirit about him. He's watching. He's smiling. He's running and playing. He's exploring. He's climbing.

He's a determined little fella... working hard to figure out how to accomplish what he wants!! And when one of us gets in his way or takes the "treasure" he will speak his mind... with fussing and grunts;)

I know we are soo blessed with our family!! I am in awe of the sweet family I have been given and get to enjoy them and raise them! What an amazing and humbling task!! I pray often for wisdom, patience, the right focus and stamina to keep up with them. So thankful that God hears the prayers of those who desire to seek Him, even in the midst of busy kid days;)

And because my little ones were looking like little patriots waving their flags... I'm linking up to I should be Folding Laundry;)

Tiny Talk Tuesday - school and prayers

Thanks to Mary @ Not Before 7 .... I just love recording and remembering what my kids have said each week;) Here are some more!

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Lydia asked for "orange juice" one morning. Trying to expand her vocabulary (or teach her our lingo), I said, "Lydia sometimes we call orange juice, OJ. Can you say OJ?"

Lydia proudly responded back "OJ, D-I-A (like she was spelling it), OJ!!"
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Lydia (3 yrs old) asked to pray for our lunch this week and this was her prayer:

"Dear God, Tank que for Anna, Christopher, Mommy and Daddy. Tank que for me lunch. Tank que for all da people in da world. And tank que for what we eating. Amen"

********************************************************************

Anna and I have been practicing her math addition and subtraction facts since she has finished her math work for the year already. (As a trained high school math teacher I think knowing math facts is sooo foundational!!) Anyway, we still need work since she's still using her fingers for some of them.

I show her "11-5 ="

And she says out of frustration, "MOm!! How can I do that one? I don't have eleven fingers!"

LOL!! See we have some work:) But I thought it was really funny:)

Study Buddies

As many of you know, Andrea has been in the hospital because of pre-term labor...

Sometimes I feel helpless because I can't leave my kids to go sit with her or clean her house (they'd destroy it before I'd get any cleaning done):) But I did offer our home for the boys to stay if they needed some help with them. I was thankful Travis called this morning and let me help in one of the only ways I felt I could!!

We did some school before they came over! And the finished a worksheet while everyone was quiet! We played outside, had lunch, watched a quick video and did our devotion for the day. Then it was time for the 3 smallest to NAP!!!!! LOL

Caleb and Anna both said that they weren't tired.... so we decided to do a science lesson:) They picked sharks and we had at it!! They did really well:)

Caleb and Anna did well during our little "science" study.... definitely won't be good all the time because there was a lot of giggling:) But it's always nice to have a different routine every once in a while!!

Please continue to pray for Andrea and her family

Pray for a MIRACLE!

My heart is burdened and my hands are folded...

We have a sweet family in our town that is really struggling. Their 5 year old son, Josh, was diagnosed over 1.5 years ago with Gorham's Disease. Thankfully, they have learned to treat and take care of Josh... enough for the family to participate in community, school and church activities:) We have gotten to know them better through VBS and Awana:)

But this week as Josh was receiving his bi-weekly treatment, something happened. We're not sure what or why but Jennifer (his mom) had it explained to her that his brain was "angry"!

So this sweet little boy has been in ICU since Tuesday night, truly fighting for his life!! The prognosis isn't good... doctors told his parents that Josh is probably completely paralysed, he has fluid in one of his lungs that needs to be drained and other health issues. When he is alert he can see and move his eyes. His mother has to encourage him and help him not be frustrated with his limitations (a frustration she can see in his eyes).

Please PRAY!!! Jennifer shared this afternoon that we have to

pray for a MIRACLE for JOSH!!!

And Pray for his family... that strength, stamina and peace would be on them as only the LOrd can give!

*The picture was taken of Josh in July 2008 when his family came over to play and enjoy a popsicle picnic with us!! What a great little kid this guy is and such a fun and sweet family!!! We pray for more "picnics" together!

Choose to Praise

A couple of months ago in the car alone... I broke down. I had a hard task before me, one that I had thought I was "over". But in those tears and frustration I realized I only started the journey and many hard days and times were ahead.

So back to the teary car trip by myself, dreading the stop I had to make, I had the radio on.... and it wasn't kiddie songs this time:) I was listening to a Christian radio station and at that moment the PERFECT song "for me at that time" came on. I cried through the rest of the trip, but I had some of the truth of the song with me (but forgetting the name or artist).

For MONTHS now I everytime I turned on the radio I hoped the song would come on again.... and it did this afternoon while I made lunch. Here it is from YouTube.....




I found comfort the first time I heard it... I kept with me that I would make it through the storm, not because who I was (or what emotional condition I was in) but who God is. Applying the truth one of my favorite set of verses in Psalm 121 which is embedded in the song!

Interestingly, when I heard it today (now numerous times on youtube) I have kept with me that in difficult (or emotional) times I need to make a conscience choice to praise God through the storm instead of throw myself a pitiful "pity party". I know what God requires of me and I know the blessings and peace He alone can provide through "the storms" of life.

Let me also throw this out there... it's been on my heart a while. After mentioning some of my own struggles, I have been confronted over and over with others' more challenging, heartwrenching and stressful "storms" than my own. Looking around I see soo much more heartache and sickness than my little "storm" could ever muster....

So I am choosing to praise God for who He is, even in the little "storm" in my own life. And I am praying for the sweet saints that I personally know who are facing much greater "storms" in their own lives. May we praise God together and ask for His comfort and healing!

Two Requests

Please pray with us today concerning:

1. Grandma - This morning, Grandma (Brian's Mom) is going through a partial knee replacement procedure. While it's planned for a month now... it's still on our hearts! We've often heard it said that "minor surgery is when it is happening to someone else, major surgery is when it is happening to you."

We are praying for wisdom for the surgical team, Grandma's health and recovery and for the use of her knee to be much improved!!

2. This second request is on behalf of our friends and neighbors. They have many hard choices this week concerning a family member's health situation. I can't imgaine being in their shoes. Please pray for their strength, peace and reliance on the Lord through these next hard days!

Lunchtime Prayer

"Dear God,

Thank you for this beawtiful day.
Thank you that we can know Jesus in our hearts.
Thank you for this beawtiful day.
Thank you that we can eat our meal with a happy heart and no pops.
Thank you for this beawtiful day. Amen."

Then she adds:
"Oh, I forgot to pray for my family?
Oh well, maybe next time."

An Awesome Answer to Prayer

I'm not sure how many of you have been keeping up with the Chappells..... but at 20-something weeks pregnant Casey found out that her little one had some pretty serious conditions. Because of their strong view of LIFE they decided to postpone any tests that had risks....

On Monday they had the amnio (since she's now 35+ weeks preggo) and they received some preliminary results today....

We are also overjoyed to let everyone know that the initial results show that Chromosomes 13, 18 and 21 are normal and there s no sign of a trisomy at this point! This is great news and our great God deserves all the glory for He has given great grace today! The results mean that the "lethal" issues they were suspecting, are not there.

Please read more on their blog, their little baby still has a "long road" but praise God for the glimmer of hope that they are beginning to see. OH, and find out if they are having a boy or girl...they finally were able to find out:)

A Kid's Prayer

I asked the kids at dinner who wanted to pray.

Anna's hand went up and she said, "Whoever prays gets to have more oranges if they only have two." I looked down on her plate and saw....two orange slices left.

She bows her head, folds her hands and prays

"God is good
By His hands
I want my uncle not to go
on the ambulance
And thank you for our food. Amen"

She finishes her prayer and looks at the bowl of oranges saying, "Can I have some? I can get them myself?"

Later I asked what her uncle's name was. She replied, "Just Uncle."