Check out this video...

http://www.ignitermedia.com/products/iv/singles/18/meCHURCH

Too funny!

Some great places to visit and more...

Here are a few places that I have been visiting and enjoying as of late:

No, No, Nanette - Nan is a friend IRL, is hilariously funny and loves the Lord. You will be inspired and encouraged by reading her Mommy thoughts. I'm so glad she started a blog!

Queen of My Trailer - This blog proves that great home decor can be done on a tight budget. Scroll through posts of how this home improvement homeschooling mama turned her terrible trailer into a beautiful oasis...on a shoestring. I love the title of the blog!

The Pioneer Woman has a fabulous artery stopping recipe for Twice Baked Potatoes. They are soooo good!!! I loved them so much I ate one cold from the refrigerator!

This DVD is an awesome homeschooling tool for the up and coming reader. There are actually three Meet the Sightwords DVD's and they are great! The DVD's are wholesome and the kids love them. Even Noah says, "the, the, the". They don't have a great story line, but they are cute and the kids learn the words. Hey, anything to make the learning process easier and more fun! Thanks Suzanne for telling me about these dvds!

Craigs List - I have found so many great deals on here. Its more effort than shopping at the store but its so worth it for the savings!

Blindspots

The thought occured to me the other day...blind spots are just as they sound. Blind. Spots. Things we cannot see. It is true that others can see our blind spots and we cannot. It is also true that we can see others' blindspots and they can't see them.

I find it easy to notice faults in others, but I was thinking that just because I see or perceive a fault in someone doesn't mean that they are even aware of it. Likewise, and here's where it gets scary, others see my faults and I have no idea about what those faults are.

It would be wise for me to use more grace and less criticism.

For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. Luke 6:38b

Mr. Mischief in Action

I saved up a collection of glimpses into the life of our own resident mischief maker. Little did I know when Sophia was a baby and playing with Baby Magic, what I was in for in just four short years. Noah never ceases to surprise with his feats and antics. Here are the highlights...

He got the first bath and got dried and into his jammies. Then he saw Eli in the tub and wanted to get back in and Mr. Impulsive just climbed right in...

And on yet another occasion. Notice how he is holding onto his pants after realizing that something was awry with his situation. Too funny. He sees fun, wants to be a part of it and totally forgets the obstacles in between himself and said fun.

Sophia got a drink and Noah wanted one to, thankyouverymuch, so he helped himself. Apparently, the pitcher was left within his grasp...

Thankfully, it was empty.

Another Noah pose...who said the high chair is only for sitting? Is it a baby or a monkey...I can't tell...

And my favorite moment of late. the bana incident. Because Noah is part monkey, he loves his banas. He will eat three in a row without hesitation. Apparently, one morning he was hungry, and I didn't come quickly enough to give him his banas, so he helped himself. How, you ask? The bananas are situated on the back of the kitchen counter. Noah is tall and his arms are long so that he can reach about 1/3 of the way back on the counters....but not to the back of the counters. He did what any logical climbing child would do, and "made it happen". He did this by pushing the metal (and very dirty I might add) trash can over to the counter top, a distance of 10 feet or so, climbed on top of the trash and up onto the countertop. When I came into the room I saw him on the counter and bana peels on the floor, as well as napkins, because I suppose neatness is important to him.

There's always excitement at our house.

Camera Hijacking

Am I the only one with a hijacked camera? Practically every time I download pictures (which isn't very often), there are a slew of "hijacker" pictures. You know, one of the kids gets the camera and goes to town. What did we do before digital!?
There are usually lots of floor shots, and chopped off head shots, but occasionally, they surprise me with their creative shots. Here are a few. I'm not sure who the photographer was, so I cannot give proper credit to that person because, as it were, the camera was hijacked.


One of the beloved 4th grade Science textbooks. We don't use it for school, they just love it...can we say weird homeschoolers?


Sophia. I think I can safely attribute this one to Elijah...or Noah, he has gotten hold of the camera once or twice too. However, I don't think he could take one this good.

The sun shining in on the entertainment center...

I like to call this one, "spring blossoms"...

Okay, enough silliness, time to get back to real life....

Daddy-O Turns Three-ty three

Graeme had a birthday on October 27th! We celebrated with dinner, cake, and a few practical presents. The big kids each made their own cards...without me helping them...that was nice. I love that they are getting old enough to do things without me!

Here's our Darling Daddy sitting at the table with his little olive plants about him.

This year I delegated the cake decorating responsibilites to my determined young lady (the string of fall birthdays in our family wears my cake decorating finger joints out). She begs to do the decorating and I am obliging her early with hopes of her learning early so that she can do most or all of the birthday cakes at our house!

This is her first solo masterpiece, although she did her birthday cake this year as well. She calls her creation, "Daddy in the rain with an umbrella and a heart, because he loves me".

Her Daddy does love her. So much so, that he has on numerous occasions stayed up all night with her as she repeatedly lost the contents of her stomach...what a man! He plays dollhouse with her and picks flowers with her. He tells her "care bear stories" before bed and does devotions with her and Elijah.

What a Daddy we have. He memorizes oodles of scripture passages, and recites them methodically and perfectly. I don't know how he does that. Actually, I do, it's practice, practice, and practice. Meditation and more meditation. It amazes me and puts me to shame.

He plays "doggie catcher" and horsey with the kids and tucks the big kids into bed each night. He does dishes and takes out trash. He stays up late to listen to me talk about my day, even when he is uber tired and has to get up early..and I am not saying anything important but rambling about my day. He prays with me, prays for me, and loves our home and being with the kiddos.

I am sooo thankful for my man and his attitude of sacrifice for the good of our family. I love that he loves children and that he is the reason we are having another one. He gave me "the speech" right after we brought Sophia home from the hospital. The speech was something like, "we're going to have 4 or 5 kids". I told him he would have to use a surrogate womb. He won. :) Here we are with his #4 on the way.

I love that I know that Graeme desires to put Christ first in all things and that even though he is human, I can trust God and know that my hubsville is doing the same. I love my man and the longer we are married the more I know that we are MFEO (made for each other).

I love you darling!

Ps. The boys were especially fond of the chocolate icing...

Applesauce

Last week I promised the kids we would go to the Farmers Market and orchard on Friday. I woke up tired on Friday, but they remembered, so after school we were off to the Market and Orchard. The kids rode the ancient kiddie rides at the Farmer's Market and we got 8 baskets of apples at the orchard. I had no intent to do applesauce that day,but Sophia was convinced and excited to do applesauce.

The last time we did applesauce she single-handedly milled almost all of it. I was so amazed at the time because she was only four that I must have praised her up and down and now she loves doing applesauce and has been begging for months to do it together. Its amazing what praise can do. I'm wondering where else I need to use more of it in my mothering!?

I didn't want to let all that excitement go to waste so Friday afternoon we started our applesauce and we got it all done on Friday and canned and frozen on Saturday. I was so glad we did it right away.

Here's the beginnings of the applesauce...

Rub-a-dub, getting a bath in the sink...

My enthusiastic worker with an enthusiastic eater in the backround...

Lots of containers were needed to hold all the applesauce we made this year...

Eli getting in on the action...

Daddy the innovator finding a better way to get the job done, and getting to use his toy in the process.

Elijah definitely wanted to be a part of the tool action...

The finished product.

We did 7 1/2 half bushel baskets of apples and ended up with 64 quarts of sauce. It was a fun family evening. Who knew making applesauce could be so much fun?