Being Still

Lately, I've been stressing about the idea of moving away from where we are now. Corey & I have always wanted to move away from Kansas, but never thought we would have the opportunity or the determination until Azariah was 18. Neither of our hearts really lay here in Kansas. Our families are here, yes, but we very much want to be somewhere else.

Over a month ago, my friend's husband got the opportunity to go to California for work, and now they are moving there soon. (Her husband is already there, while she is here with their two kids trying to sell their home and waiting for the Lord to show them a place there to live.) In this time, she's been anxious to get there and be with her husband. We remind ourselves (I remind her, she reminds herself) almost daily, that she needs to be still. God will show them the perfect time, and the perfect place that they need to go to.

Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

It is hard, at times, to be still. Your flesh is impatient and wants to move NOW, wants results NOW. Our time is not the time; God's time is the time. If He says not yet, that doesn't mean no, it just means wait; be still. 

After learning of their opportunity, Corey and I decided that it is time for us to take the chance and move away from Kansas as well. We are hoping and praying that God will send us to California with our dear friends. We are satisfied to just move, though. Being away from here will be good. My flesh wants to say: these are my requirements - warm weather most of the year, good land to have plentiful crops for our family, and the beach! My spirit knows that God will give me what is good, will send me somewhere that my family can thrive. It may not be where I want, when I want, but God will get me somewhere. Or, he may tell us no. And I'm okay with that, I think. A part of me would be truly sad if He did say no. But the no may just be not now, and I'm okay with that, too. 

This morning, my oldest child, getting into the routine of school, got up at 6am with me. He thought it was such a nice morning, and he sat on the porch drawing a picture. I loved his outlook, and his motivation to do something good with his time. Instead of using my time to worry about whether or not we will be able to do what we want, I need to use my time to pray, wait, and be still.

Is there a situation in which you need to just be still? What verses or things do you remind yourself of when you know you're supposed to be still, but your flesh wants to be impatient?

Friday Faves - Blazing Hot Summer

Today I'm linking up with Rachel @ Finding Joy for her Friday Faves. This is my first time, and I'm super excited to share with everything my favorite things this week.

Here in the Midwest, we've had extreme heat. We're on a burn ban, have had numerous field fires, and our grass is so dry it will stick your foot. We rarely go outside (or, I rarely do with the baby), so I've been grateful for the slightly cooler weather this week.

 I'm not sure how many rains we've had this summer, but it sure hasn't been many. Last week my husband captured this beautiful shot of our sweet princess with the rainbow. At one point it was a beautiful double rainbow. We got a much heavier, much more appreciated rain fall earlier this week, which my children - and my plants - loved very much. I wish I had caught some pictures of them playing in the rain.

We got a beautiful rainbow.

Our forecast until next week is nothing over 90 until it hits 92 on Wednesday. That is Ah-May-Zzzzing! This morning, we chose to put off breakfast and hang out in front while it was really nice out. I think my neighbor said it was in the 60's. Wonderful. There was a nice breeze, and the kids really enjoyed being outside. Mom was able to sit out and read (even in the sun) for about an hour.

We haven't done much with schooling lately, as I'm trying to hold off til' all the friends are in school so that we aren't distracted by wanting to go outside all day while everyone else is out. If you would like to read up on what we have been doing in school, though, you can go to my new blog, Schooling Lowry Style.

We've really been enjoying hanging out with our neighbors. We're going to miss them when they move away to California in a month!

Best friends

Four shots, and this was the best. Lol.

 Mommy has been enjoying nights/mornings lately when dad is home and can hang out with the kiddos to let me have a break. Last night I watched one of my shows and read some of my book ,A Son Called Gabriel. Daddy cooked dinner & put all the kids to bed. It was a great night.

What are some of your favorites from this week?
Head on over and read some other Friday Faves: 

Manic Monday - Salt Dough Cakes

Yes, I know it's Tuesday, but I wanted to post about our crafting activity and knew it wouldn't be done until today, so I waited.

My neighbor and I have decided to start doing crafts with the kids (hopefully) once a week. This week is the first one. We made salt dough yesterday and had them look at a book to figure out what they wanted to make. Keona, who is 6, and my neighbor's daughter, decided to do a cake. What did everyone else choose to do, you ask? A cake. Why, you ask? Because Keona chose to! My kids adore her, and want to be like her (yes, even the boys!).

After doing the cakes, which Zarek and Josiah (neighbor's 2 year old) quickly lost interest in, we had to bake them at 200 degrees for 1-4 hours. I did them for 3 hours, and they still weren't done, but I didn't really want to put them back in, so the bottoms are a little undercooked.

Today Joy (my neighbor) brought over paints and we let the kids have a blast painting them. Keona and the boys were done really quick. Josiah lost interest, and Kaleii wanted to have some fun so I tried to let her do it, but she just wanted to try to eat the paint. I ended up doing Josiah's, and I guess that's a good thing because it still looks like a 2 year old did it! I'm horrible at crafts, but that's not what matters. ;) Not when I'm the one writing about it, anyway. Syleii, my sweet little 3 year old, took the longest, but hers turned out so amazing! They all did, actually, but Joy & I were just so amazed by hers because of how great she did. She was determined to get it all done and she was really focused. 

Bottom left up and back down to bottom right: Keona, Syleii, Malaki, Zarek, Josiah

This was a really fun project, and I can't wait to do more. We think that next time we're going to do animals. We'll probably make them and just let the kids paint, because they are so much harder to make.

What kind of crafts, or fun inside activities do you do with your family?

Wonderful Wisdom Wednesday -- Food and diseases

Has a ring to it, doesn't it? Wonderful Wisdom Wednesday - say that ten times fast. ;)

Last night, Corey and I watched "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix (we watch everything on there, we cut off the cable to save money - saving money will be something else I talk about soon).

Examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.

 We've been big into food and health lately, so this really sounded great to me. Boy, were my instincts right! I think as a society, we've become too complacent. Don't get me wrong, we all do it, and it's not wrong when you're thinking that you're trusting your government to produce and give us the proper nutritional standards. Instead, you get big corporations caring about money. And yes, the government is a 'big corporation'.

I have been a big meat eater my whole life. Corey has talked occasionally about becoming a vegetarian; I've always responded with "Are you crazy, I can't live without meat!", and now my response is "NO MEAT is the way to go!". It's really frightening how extreme the changes I want to make in my life really are, and why I want to make these changes.

What is the main reason people say they have to have enough meat in their diets? Enough dairy? Enough Eggs? Protein. Did you know that you can get just as much, if not more, protein from whole food plant diets? Did you also know that Animal Protein is the leading cause in Heart Disease, Cancer, and Diabetes? I'm sure there are probably more diseases that can be attributed to the animal proteins, but these are the ones they covered in the documentary.

Radical Change --

rad·i·cal

 [rad-i-kuhl] Show IPA

adjective

1. of or going to the root or origin; fundamental: a radical difference.

2. thoroughgoing or extreme, especially as regards change from accepted or traditional forms: a radical change in the policy of a company.

3. favoring drastic political, economic, or social reforms: radical ideas; radical and anarchistic ideologues.

4. forming a basis or foundation.

5.existing inherently in a thing or person: radical defects of character.

noun

9. a person who holds or follows strong convictions or extreme principles; extremist.

10. a person who advocates fundamental political, economic, and social reforms by direct and often uncompromising methods.

change

   [cheynj] Show IPA verb, changed, chang·ing, noun

verb (used with object)

1.to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone: to change one's name; to change one's opinion; to change the course of history.

2. to transform or convert (usually followed by into ): The witch changed the prince into a toad.

3. to substitute another or others for; exchange  for something else, usually of the same kind: She changed her shoes when she got home from the office.

4. to give and take reciprocally; interchange: to change places with someone.

5. to transfer from one (conveyance) to another: You'll have to change planes in Chicago.

 

verb (used without object)

9. to become different: Overnight the nation's mood changed.

10. to become altered or modified: Colors change if they are exposed to the sun.

11. to become transformed or converted (usually followed by into ): The toad changed into a prince again.

12. to pass gradually into (usually followed by to  or into ): Summer changed to autumn.

13. to make a change or an exchange: If you want to sit next to the window, I'll change with you.

I (and my husband) am making radical changes in my life, and the lives of my children. These changes may not fit everyone's idea of 'good', or 'better', but they definitely fit mine. Corey told me last night that some people will probably tell us that we're being radical in our changes. Okay, so we are... I would rather be radical about what I eat, than have my chest cracked open and have veins from my legs taken out to sew into my heart so that it can bypass the blockages. 

So, I guess in conclusion, we will essentially be vegetarians for the most part. We will still have the occasional animal proteins, but I would like to be healthy, and the best way to do that is to eat a whole food plant diet. 

How does your family view food? Do you eat healthy, and what is your definition of healthy? Do you have advice or recipes for a whole food plant diet? 

 

Thankful Thursday -- 6/7/12

Today was my first bible study with my neighbor and her mentor. It was very enjoyable. It was just a 'get to know you' type of thing today, since her and I had only met once for a short moment. She is a very nice woman, and so far, seems well versed in the bible. I am excited to dive in and learn more on a personal level, and not a whole church level. So, my first thing to be thankful for today is the opportunity to fellowship with a wonderful neighbor who I really enjoy, and a great woman that I look forward to getting to know more.

I am thankful that my kids acted decent during my fellowship, while they also played with their friends, who are our neighbor's daughter and son. My children are usually fairly well behaved, but the boys have some major behavior issues at times. And, since the boys got back from GG's (my grandma's), Malaki has had some major attitude problems. So, I was very grateful that they behaved, for the most part.

I am thankful for the resources to learn more about different things I've been concerned about. Recently, Corey and I have been concerned about the things we eat. It's been a long time coming, our finally changing our diet, but we really started focusing on this recently. I say we, but I really mean me, since I am the one cooking and picking out all of our food. We are starting to be gluten free. I also want to take away all dairy from the kids, and slowly allow certain bits back in to see how they affect them since they have dairy allergies. I need to take all dairy out of my diet as well, but I am such a butter fiend when I cook, that it's really hard. And I can't eat tacos without sour cream. The point I was trying to make here - we have been watching documentaries about foods and nutrition. Food, Inc. is one, Food Matters is another. I can't remember the other, but it's a series about corn, wheat, and other foods.

To expand on the foods, I am also thankful for Farmer's Markets and Trader Joe's. There is a FM that my friend told us about that a wonderful woman with grass-fed beef is at. This woman gives great deals, and the meat is so great! Trader Joe's has organic food that I can use, because yes, organic is best. It's really expensive to buy this way, but I really want my family to be healthy.

I'm thankful for a renewed spirit daily. God blesses me each day with a calm spirit in the morning. Now, that's not to say that it lasts long! But I do my best after the kids start going crazy. By the time 10:30 rolled around this morning, I was frantic. I meant to get up at 6 this morning, but couldn't fall asleep last night due to some personal issues that happened before bed, and I ended up sleeping until almost 9 when the kids woke up. My morning was full, and my kids didn't even eat until after 10. Sigh.

And last, but surely not least, I am thankful for my husband. I may get frustrated or irritated with him, and he usually just grins and bears it - he is forgiving of my irrational anger (my hormones are out of whack lately and I've had some major mood swings, but don't worry, I'm not pregnant!), and he comforts me when I'm feeling down. He randomly buys me candles, which I love. And he always supports me, even if he doesn't think what I'm doing is the best thing. 

Now, some pictures for your enjoyment. :) We went out with my sister and her boyfriend of 6 1/2 years (she's 19 & he's 20), and took some pretty good pictures.

 

It's all about Kaleii

Labor Inducer?

Today marks a year since the day God blessed our family with the birth of Miss Kaleii Liberty. It has been a fun year. We've had our rough moments, but most of it has been a lot of fun. The first year of life, so far, is my favorite part of having children.


At the beginning of January 2011, I planned with my doctor to have a scheduled induction on March 8th. I knew what day she was going to be born, barring labor before then. This date was a week before my due date, but by February 25, I was ready to have her out. I had read many places that Black Cohosh Root was supposed to induce labor. I had a friend who recommended it as well. I also got castor oil, and Daddy was checking my cervix constantly at that point.

Water breakage?

I tried the Cohosh, with no luck. Then, the castor oil, with no luck again. Finally, I remembered that spicy food was supposed to help get contractions started. I hate spicy food. I mean, I detest it, seriously, to my core. We went to Chipotle and Daddy got the spiciest burrito he could manage to get me. It wasn't spicy?! I loved it, and it produced no contractions. Daddy then had the wonderful idea to have me eat a forkful of jalapenos. Awesome idea, Daddy. My water broke! Seriously, we ended up in the hospital. But, as it turns out, pregnant women sometimes can't tell if they are peeing or if their water broke. I thought that was hilarious and it was a myth - all the movies show women thinking they are peeing themselves - I guess it's real. This is my third pregnancy, you would think I'd know the difference.

Then we walked. Almost everyday, and I ate more spicy food. I did just about everything I could think of to get her out before the induction date, but she was determined to stay in until the doctor forced her out.

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 we arrived at the hospital at 7am. They started me on Pitocin within an hour - why they waited that long, I'm not sure. My sweet mom - she showed up after being up all night and getting off work at 7am. No one else showed up until around 9am. That's when Corey went back home to pick up the kids - Azariah (eleven at the time) stayed home from school and got all the little ones fed (twins were four and Syleii was two). My friend Christy, her husband Chris, and their youngest daughter Lydia came to visit while I was in labor. At some point while they were there, the nurse came in and broke my water. After that, it progressed pretty quickly.

Gg & Kelsey

My sister had never seen a baby born - and I'd already had three at this point - and she really wanted to see her born, so she stayed to watch. I'd been promising her since I was pregnant with the twins that she could be in the room, but it wasn't possible with the boys (we were in the OR in case of an emergency c-section & only Daddy was allowed), and I could only have two people (my mom & my mother-in-law) in the room with Syleii. I was allowed to have one more person in the room, so my grandma stayed. Both of them had the most expressive looks on their faces the whole time.

We're all in awe.

The delivery was so smooth. Kaleii was out so fast. She was born at 3pm. My doctor was so awesome. Doctor Cynthia Eckert was my doctor from the middle of Syleii's pregnancy until the end of Kaleii's. I didn't have her for Sy's delivery, just for K's.

Love at first sight.

We welcomed an eight pound, four point five ounce baby, who was twenty one inches long. She was so beautiful. Doctor Eckert respected my wishes, and had her sent immediately to my chest, instead of to the warmer. I was the first one (after the doctor, of course) to hold her. I didn't get to hold the boys until they were a few days old, and Syleii until everyone in the room had held her. I nursed Kaleii almost immediately, and we were in love at first sight.

My amazing doctor.

Kaleii and I spent the next two days in the hospital, in a mostly quiet room. We had a few visitors, and our siblings visited with Daddy a few times. We just got to know each other and enjoy one another for those two days. If she left my room, I went with her. We were in love. And we still are.

To this day, I don't understand how a year could have already passed us by. My precious little girl, who was just nursing and not even rolling over, is now a one year old running toddler. She's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life. One of four. I love you Kaleii Liberty, and I will love you until my dying breath.

My beautiful one year old.

Catching Up

Things have been really hectic around here. From making the boys bunk bed, to planning Kaleii's first birthday celebration, I've been incredibly behind on everything.

In the last month we have:

• Made a set of bunks - and are preparing to make a loft bed that is lower than a normal loft.
• Got a new washer & dryer because my old ones went ka-pooie on me. 
• Got a cute little counter top dishwasher. It's small, but it helps a lot. I can fit all of my dinnerware into it, and now I only have to hand wash my pots & pans. 
• Had a birthday celebration for Kaleii, who will be one TOMORROW! 
• Had sicknesses, TWICE, and they usually last at least a few days each around here for each person, and not everyone gets sick at the same time.
• Got tablets. (L.O.V.E.)

Tonight I started reading A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickets, to the kids at bedtime. The boys fell asleep before the first chapter was even over with. Either it bores them to sleep, or they really enjoyed it, I'm not sure which yet. Syleii, on the other hand, was a terrible mess at bed time - and that's putting it nicely. We've begun our drama queen stage. I'm not sure I'm really looking forward to this. We've got foot stomping, screaming, "Leave me Alone!'s", and, of course "I don't like you!!!'s" ... We've had many conversations in the last few weeks about how it's not okay to do/say these things, but they haven't seemed to work. Any ideas how I can lead her toward better actions and attitudes?

Friday night I got Syleii's hair cut. It looks really cute. It's a bob in the back with a sort of side swoop bang. This was her first haircut - Yes, she's three and never had her hair cut before. Her hair doesn't grow. And now I realize that if I would have gotten her hair cut before, it would have grown more. My neighbor (our stylist) told me that at this age I'm going to have to keep her hair short to get her follicles to grow. I hate that her hair doesn't grow. It brings be back to my jealousy that my friend's daughter has gorgeous curly hair (her mommy's white and her daddy's black), and my irrational desire to have mixed babies (because mine are mixed, but their daddy is native american and doesn't have curly hair). Any ideas on how to get her hair to grow better? 

On the school front, we haven't been doing much this month because mom's been really unfocused and out of it. Next week we start catching up on everything that I have planned. I have the boys until just before noon, and then they go to preschool at a public school (which I really like right now). Next week we will start working on letters (they know the letters, and know how to write some, but not all) - they both know how to write z a r e k & m a l a k i, but not much more than that. We will work on one letter per day - sound, writing, and words.

Spring Break - for public school - is next week. Daddy will be taking off the week so that we can start working on the school room.  Really, we should have it done by now, but it took a long time to get the bunk done, so he couldn't start yet. I will be pushing hard to get the room finished fairly quick so that we can start doing school downstairs by summer. My house has started to look like a book hoarder has moved in. I start feeling bad about this by 8am everyday, but then I remind myself that most of these books are for school, and will soon have a place to call home on a shelf in the basement.

The Midwest Parent Educator's conference is next month. I'm really excited, as this will be my first conference. I'm looking forward to hearing Israel Wayne speak. I was reading about him on his website today, and read something I really liked:  

The average parent spends about 19 minutes per day interacting with his or her child. In contrast, a student in public schools receives over 12,000 hours of instruction by high school graduation, mostly by secular teachers who are shaping their worldview. When you add to this the 7.5 hours per day that students spend engaged in digital media, plus time with peers and extra-curricular activities, it is clear that most Christian parents today are not the most influential factors in the lives of their children.

I really like what he says here, and I'm hoping that I can gain a lot from him at the conference. 

This is the third time writing at least part of this post, because either Firefox, or my computer, is messing up. So, although I had a lot more written initially, I am done for now. I will come back and add pictures after I post this, because it seems like the pictures are what make it mess up each time. 

What have you been up to lately? What is it that you need to catch up on? Or, what are you excited for?

Thankful Thursday

Our Kindergarten Binders.

In life with five kids, it's so easy to become unaware of the things you should be thankful for. You get too busy, too excited, too overwhelmed - you don't realize that there's more to it than the things that happen everyday - that there is something more. But isn't that why we do what we do - because there's something more that we're leading our kids to? So I've decided that each week I'm going to make a list of things I'm thankful for that week - I think mostly it will be a lot of the same things, but it may very well be different things every time.

I'm thankful that I have a Father who loves me. That I can live and breathe everyday, because He gave His son for me, that I could live without blemish in His death.

Malaki's sequence drawing.

I'm thankful that I have a husband who supports me. He does everything for our family that a man is expected to do, and he helps even when I don't ask. He loves me, and he encourages me.

I'm thankful for my children. They are beautiful and smart, funny and kind. They bring me so much joy. I may get tired and irritated, but nothing can compare to what they bring. No amount of irritation could ruin how happy they make me.

I am thankful that I can stay home with my kids. Not only is it not affordable to put four young children in daycare, but it's not emotionally affordable, either. When I worked and my husband stayed home, I was miserable. I missed my kids.

I'm thankful that I live in a society that homeschooling is becoming acceptable and I don't have to hide it. I'm so grateful for the families that fought to get me the rights I have when it comes to my children's educations.

Zarek doing addition problems.

I'm thankful for the job my husband has. It may not be as much as we wished it was, but it provides and that's what is important. I'm glad that he is able to work forty hours a week, sometimes more, and that we don't struggle as much as so many people do.

I'm thankful for my church. There are so many great people there, and they are all so supportive. I've not really ever needed much from anyone there, but when I have, they have really come through and been there for me and my family.

I'm thankful for my family that is there for me no matter what. There have been so many things in the last several years that I have been through, and they've been there regardless of what it is. They love me no matter what, and I'm grateful for that.

I'm thankful for my friends, no matter how few they are. I used to be a social butterfly, but when I started having kids, the friend selection became so slim. I wanted the right kind of people around my kids, and so many of them just didn't fit in that category anymore. My kids are the reason for everything I do, and I don't want to be around the wrong kind of people who could influence my kids to do things I don't want them doing - not that they don't find that stuff outside in the neighborhood, but that's not the point!

Azariah and I's 'Ninja Stars'.

I'm sure I have a lot more to be thankful for than this, but I can't think of anything else at the moment.

Raising a Preteen

It seems like everyday there are new issues in my house. My stepson is 11 - will be twelve on Feb. 17 - and it's like he's going on 18... He's got the worst attitude, and I don't know how to help him. We've been dealing with the attitude for a few years now, and it's not just that anymore, it's full out disobedience. We've had so many excuses as to why he acts like he does. The number one excuse - his siblings made him do it, i.e: they made him mad and he didn't care to control his actions and got himself in trouble.

Azariah (11) with Santa - Christmas 2011

Over the years we've had lots of time to try different discipline styles. It started off when he was about 6-7 and he would get spankings from daddy. Then we started taking things away - his DS, the household game system, going out to play with friends, etc. We finally realized that even though we were taking things away, he still wasn't acting right. First came sentences, then came paragraphs, that had to be copied so many times. We thought, maybe if we have him repeating something so much he will remember it and he will DO it, but that didn't work either. At one point, we tried having him walk stairs - a good exercise, and it made him miserable - starting at intervals of fifty, and going up twenty-five if he was bad during it.

We've talked and talked and talked..... It's always the same thing. He doesn't like having siblings, he wants to be an only child. "Hunny, you haven't been an only child for over five years now, there's really not much we can do about that." Well, then, I want to go live with my mom. "Sorry, that's not really an option." ... This is one of the conversations we've had many times. I'd love to go into why it's not an option, but doing so on the internet isn't really a good thing to do.

Last night we had more issues. Right now, the three boys share a room. We want to change this, but won't be able to until we buy a house - we would put a room in the basement, but there are no egress windows.  We had to bring one of the twins downstairs so that they were separated for bed time - they were all talking and wouldn't calm down, and Zarek (5) was running around the room, so he came down to the living room to lay down. That left Malaki (5) and Azariah. Not a minute after we had Z come downstairs, M & A were up there giggling. We had the come down and we talked to them. Immediately, they were giggling again.We had them come downstairs a second time and asked why there were acting up again - Azariah said it was because he sneezed and slobber went everywhere and he couldn't not giggle. I asked why they were still talking after that, he didn't answer.

We sent Malaki back up to bed and told him that we weren't going to have anymore issues with him or he would get a spanking. We had a nice, long discussion (and I say nice very sarcastically because it was a horrible conversation) about how and why he acts the way he does - how he wasn't being a very responsible brother by doing things to get them in trouble at bed time. We talked about how privileged he was this weekend to get to go out of town with a friend - for the first time ever! We told him that we didn't have to let him do things like that, and that if his bad attitude and bad actions kept happening, he wouldn't be doing things like that anymore - but we did make sure to say we want him to be able to do fun things.

This is when he said Well I don't think I should do anything good when bad things are always happening. We asked what the bad things are, and he said not being able to do things, getting the Wii taken away, and just getting in trouble. So we reiterated that he was saying that he shouldn't do anything good if bad things happen when he gets in trouble.  He said "Yeah, why would I do anything good if I just keep getting in trouble? I'm supposed to get good things, you're supposed to buy me things, if I'm good." Both Corey & I were shocked - we didn't know what to say. We knew that his mom & grandma were buy your love type of people, but we didn't realize that he really thought that he should only be good if he is sure he's going to get something in return. Daddy attempted to explain that it's not that way for most kids. Most kids are good because they know that it's the right thing to do and that they don't want to get in trouble for doing the wrong thing. I explained that good things come in more forms than just getting things bought for him - every time we let him stay up late, cook a specific meal for him because he requested it, let him cook a meal because he's been good and he asks for it, or anything else good that he gets to do - those are ALL forms of something good happening because he was good.

So for now, he gets to go to bed at 8:30 instead of 10. Daddy told him he could earn back the time by being good. He told him that he would have to be Mary Poppins, but that he could do it if he really tried. I also suggested to Corey last night (after Azariah was finally sent to bed), that we send him to a youth group on Wednesdays since he's not with us for church on Sunday. I'm not sure if he'll do it, but I think I'm going to start looking for a good youth group in our area - our church doesn't have one on Wednesdays. I'm just so exhausted. I never thought it would be this hard to raise a boy - and I've got two more to get through who will hit this age at the same time. I don't have anymore ideas. I'm totally open to suggestions - so if you have any, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO GIVE THEM TO ME!

Wordless Wednesday

I have two posts today, this first one consists of minimal words and a few pictures. :)

Mom said "Smile", and this is what happens.

Princess.

THIS is how you play Wii.

Chocolate Chip pancakes.

Boomerang + Eye = Four stitches.

Time to gate the stairs.

Fell asleep on the ottoman.

Weekly Reading

So I've started reading each book that I read at bedtime for a week instead of just one time and switching to a different one. Monday night we started reading David Goes to School. I love the book. It talks about how David does all these things wrong, and it gives me a chance to talk to the kids about what we should and shouldn't do in 'class'. The boys love having this conversation every night. They love talking about how we keep our hands to ourselves so that we don't hurt or bother other people, and how we don't run in halls (or the house) because we could get hurt, or we could hurt someone else. I like this book, and I'm glad it's our first weekly read.

I also started a new book myself last night. It won't last me a week, but I'll update when I switch. It took me a really long time to read the first book in the series I'm reading. Sometimes books just don't catch my attention too much and I have to force myself to read them, and I end up loving them. So I took months to read Left Behind, and I finally started Tribulation Force last night. I'm really excited to completely dive into this series. I have the complete series, plus three of the four books in the series that came after it about the lives of the people before they were left behind. I haven't seen the movies, either, so I'm really excited to get through the first three books so I can watch the movies.





We started something months ago that I thought I'd also share today. We watched the movie Letters to God, in which the little boy writes a letter to God everyday. I loved this movie and thought we would do this with the kids. Everyday, the kids and I each write letters to God. I think it's a great thing to do, and makes them really think about what they want to tell God everyday, and how they want God to help them.


What do you do for reading with your kids? Do you read the same book more than once, or do you read a different one, or even multiple books, each night?

For those of you who are believers, have you done anything interactive to help your kids really think about God during their day that isn't simply prayer or a Bible story? What ideas do you have for a creative way to bring Jesus into your day?