Just to clarify...

In the body of Christ, I believe we all have different passions: some are passionate about the abortion issue, about missions, about helping the poor, about teens, about the elderly, about tithing/finances, about many varying issues. All of them are important to God, but as humans, we sometimes feel a pull towards one area.

I am passionate about God. Passionate about marriage, families, children, multigenerational faithfulness. I married a Family & Children's Pastor - I've lived with him through grad school/seminary, so I've learned a lot along the way. These topics are big time important to our family, to God ~ and they seem to be kinda forgotten about in our society today.

So if I sometimes come across as "idolizing" family or children or marriage or worship or whatever....I do apologize. I'm not sorry for my passion, yet perhaps I need to learn how to express it. In a world that is out and out AGAINST these things, I feel the need to really stand in the gap with others who hold the same beliefs and fight for the importance of family, the blessing of children, the sanctity of marriage.

In a world that views children as a burden, I want to give the opposite view: the godly view of children as a blessing. Perhaps I come across too strongly. Please forgive me. I am human and I fail. But I beg you to look past a harsh wording or strong phrase and try to see what I am trying to point too: what GOD has to say about children, about love, about marriage.

I will try not to elevate these things about their God-given place in our lives - yet I feel as though we are fighting against the norm here, against what is "accepted" and "right". Therefore I may go too far the other way. For that I apologize.

Yet I will not apologize for looking to God, to His Word for *everything* in our lives ~ including issues such as birth control, views of children, roles for men & women, the choices we make regarding our children's education, what God ultimately calls us to as parents, as husbands & wives, as children of the King.

I hope what I say here doesn't make you feel wrongly judged. Then again, I felt judged when I first learned about many of these issues a few years back. I'm so glad someone had the backbone to really say what they believed - as it forced me to look at what *I* really believed. And at what God really wants for our lives - which is the very best!! There have also been passionate people whom I simply disagreed with. And that's okay too. Again, it forced me to really look at what I believed, what I hold to be Truth.

Lastly, don't just take my word for it. Don't get mad at me. Go to your Bible. That's the end all, be all, do all. Let me know if I am being unbiblical (as God us to do so), but know this is not some debate blog. I'm not good at it, I don't have fun debating, and it's not the point of this blog. I'm sure there are many places you can go online to enjoy a good debate. I simply want to live my whole life in accordance with God and His Word!

AND, I want to just come here, blog about my life (be it mundane, adventurous, simple or crazy) and meet other mommas along the way. Really, that's it. Just share about life and how it unfolds around here. That's it.

God Bless you and yours~

The time God gives us

Is it just me, or do you struggle to fit everything into your day? I mean, 24 hours *seems* like it should be enough - um...God gave us 24 hours per day, so I KNOW He didn't make a mistake - but man, when I start off my day, I think of what I need to accomplish that day, and I can *never* seem to fit it all in.

And I'm not talking about grand gardens or immaculate housecleaning or sewing my family's wardrobes.....no, I'm talking about getting the kids their baths. Making sure their teeth get brushed. Making sure we all eat *something* around lunch time. Doing a load of laundry, vacuuming just ONE room, can I just sit down and have a cup of coffee, please?!?!?!?!?

That's how I feel.


Now, I know I'm in a "season" with all little ones. I do not fear having more children, but I certainly can't see how I'm going to get ANYTHING done when that happens. I'm just resting in the promises of the LORD, that He will take care of us, that He gave us 24 hours a day and He knew what He was doing. He *knew* I would have this many children, this many baths to give, those annoying doctor appointments and errands to run, etc.

I'm wondering if I'm missing something?? Am I not organized enough? I would say most people think of me as organized, but am I really? Am I taking on too much? I don't think so. Here's the basics:

*1 husband, a Children's Pastor, who is a godly, loving, caring, helping man - and great father!

*4 kiddos (6yob, 5yog, 2yog, 1yob) homeschooled, good kids, I honestly can't complain.

*1 home, not too big, not too small - your basic home, yard, garage, mini-van, etc.

*1 part-time job - co-ordinating the Children's Music at our church, right now we are working on the Spring Musical in late-April. While I would *love* to give this up, it helps to pay for our housing (which is the church parsonage). It's the agreement we have come to with our church board, I'm thankful that I am able to help out in a way that keeps me AT HOME, and it is a commitment that I simply must fulfill for the next few years. And yes, I am praying for peace and joy in this area.


Weekly Stuff:

*Tuesday Morning Ladies Bible Study ~ happens during the same time as my older kids go to Story Tales, a reading/book group for little ones. My two smaller children are in the childcare.

*Wednesday evening activities @ church ~ choir for me, all the kiddos go to classes, dh runs the Children's programs.

*Shopping & errands are usually done on Friday (dh's day off) with hospitality and fellowship happening on Saturdays (usually).

*Sundays are rough - church in the AM, out for lunch, a quick quiet time, then back to church for evening church/Pioneer Club (I do the music)

*I (try) to attend one Home School Support Group mtg. a month

*I (try) to attend one Ladies Night Out with my girl-friends a month (my dh is wonderful about this and INSISTS I go, to get my time with other mommas/friends)

*We (try) to have one Date Night (w/ a babysitter in our home) maybe once or twice a month.


What - exactly - do women who work outside of the home give up???? When do they do their housework? When do they talk to their husbands? When do they have cup of coffee????


I'm blessed. I know this. I just want to make sure I'm being a good steward of the time, the 24 hours a day, that the LORD has given to me. Ok, now I need to go start some laundry, vacuum the downstairs, set my girls to dusting, start dinner,....oh, and try to pee somewhere in there. And dang it.....my coffee is cold again.....*sigh*




I guess I'll drink my coffee hot when my babies are grown. That's okay.




p.s. more "Peek Week" posts coming soon (hmmm....Week? Well, maybe weeks!). I'm gonna try to run to Hobby Lobby and get some picture frames tonight for our master bedroom and downstairs. My sister is coming tomorrow and I want the house all ready by then (isn't that silly? Like she cares?!). Oh well....even if she doesn't care, I do. So I'll try to snap some pics before she gets here....'cause once our 6 kiddos hit the house, there won't be much left after a week.......(just kidding. I hope.)

~Maundy Thursday~

Ok, I'm just not going to make it today to my "Peek Week" post. We've got fellowship & service tonight at church (do you celebrate Maundy Thursday at your church? this is fairly new for us), starting with a pot-luck, so I've got to get moving!! I'll be back asap and we'll get back to the home pics.

God Bless you & your during this special weekend~

a late "peek"

Sorry about it being so late today. My dh woke me up at 9am - and everyone was still sleeping (except Selah - my early bird & my night owl - she must not need as much sleep or something...). Anyways, everything is a bit behind today.

Today, we're taking a look at the girl's room & the bathroom. Both are upstairs, right off from the front room. This room is *not* done, decoration-wise. I believe we are going for a princess/fairy/garden type of design (just very girly) - but we don't have the money to simply run out and buy everything at once. Plus what fun is that? I'm hopin' for a GREAT garage sale season this year. There are a few really, um, wealthy areas that usually have stuff in terrific condition. I'll just keep my eyes open and I bet this room will be decorated in no time!

For now, here's the room. It's not all that big, but it's just fine for the two girls (5 & 2). Here is their bed, a bunk bed from IKEA with a full on bottom and a twin on top. We use the full for guests and the girls just sleep together on the top (which is usually how they end up anyways - they hardly ever sleep in their own beds).

(how 'bout that huge pony?)

(their dresser - it's actually the baby dresser, meaning whenever a baby arrives, this dresser usually follows to the baby's room. It's a dresser that holds a changing pad on it, my folks bought it for us when Isaac was a baby). Right now it just holds dollies on top~)

(we did go buy black-out liners and a valance for the window - the girls would be up at the crack of dawn if we did not have these liners. They also picked out the valance, all flowers & wispy. The pink blankie? Well, my mom made it for them, for their dollies. I didn't want to leave their walls completely blank for the next few months, so as I was struggling to find something to put up, Selah told me to hang up the "pretty dollie blankie". Sure, why not? They like it, it's a nice handmade item. I'll take it down later - so they can actually play with it - once I find some things for their walls.

And you can just *barely* see Tali's play-kitchen towards the bottom. The girls make me tea every single day....so sweet!)

(and here are their liner hold-backs. One of them already is held together by super-glue. I wanted them to be PERFECT, at exactly the same angle.....and I snapped one of the flowers right off. great. So now it's glued together and *almost* at the same, perfect angle as the other one - and I'm okay with that, I am.....)

(here are those black-out liners - purchased at Wal-Mart, I believe. They are a bit heavier than normal window panels and they actually velcro together - can you see that?. They are totally worth the money *under $20* and they look nice pulled back)

(under the bed, we have four IKEA baskets that match the finish of the bed. Going from left to right, we have Tali's shoes, tights, socks and Selah's shoes. This is a nice use of this kinda small space under the bed)

(I use bi-fold door child locks on all my kid's closet doors, plus our education closet. It saves me a lot of messes and frustration. And helps me to retain my sanity....somewhat *grins*)

(inside their closet - nothing big. The white organizer was already there. I have a little diaper area there on the shelf, plus the girl's hair thingies are in the white bin. Their clothes hamper is in here, plus the diaper pail - ho-hum, your basic closet....)

(behind their door are their hooks. I put their clothes for the next day, so they can get dressed after breakfast, after they brush their teeth. They then put their jammies on the hooks, all ready for bedtime that night. It's works great, and I don't have clothes all over the floors. Also, see the picture? I heard pictures should be eye level - but this is a room for little girls. I don't want the pictures *that* low, so I compromise. Most of the decoration will end up being a bit lower than in a regular room - and that's okay! I just want the girls to really enjoy it.)

And quickly, the bathroom. It is on the main floor (this pic is taken standing in the front room) and is the only bathroom (not counting a toilet & cement block shower in the basement - ugh, I don't count it). So it's not decorated "kid" style, nor is it all fancy "adult" style either. Polka dots are fun!!

(I have a black picture frame photo here in the mini-hall to tie in with the front room. I almost ALWAYS have the bathroom locked (with the key on top of the door frame) - we have had some instances of momma's lotion being acquired and squirted all over the floor - plus dangers with the toilet and little ones.....so we just keep it locked. It's a hassle with letting my older kids in the bathroom, but worth it to not have my 2yo put all the toilet paper down the toilet at once - man, she's fast!!!!)

(basic bathroom: shower curtain, floor mat, book/magazine on back of toilet. Above the toilet, we have a nice picture frame w/ four pics. Three of them have pics of the kids, and the fourth one has a verse about children as a blessing. Hey, everyone has to use the bathroom at some time, and this is a nice way to express our views on children in a nice, non-threatening way. Ooooo....we're sneaky......

(on the opposite wall, we have some of the kid's artwork. What better art is there??)

Okay, so not only was the "peek" late today, but it was L O N G.....sorry about that. I gotta get back to the house and the babies. Luv to all~

(I told Isaac to look "handsome" - what a cutie! They are all such hams whenever they see me with the camera.....)

Kitchen Tip Tuesday - and a "Peek"

It's Kitchen Tip Tuesday (hosted over at Tammy's Recipes) *and* it's the second day of my "Peek Week". Let's start with a tip:

This is the kind of pb I like to buy - yes, it's more expensive than the good ol' standby ~Jiff~ so I don't use it for things like pb cookies. But I do use it for pb & j sandwiches and celery dipping. Yum......

Anyway, my tip really is tied in here somewhere. The thing is, when I was trying to decide what kind of natural pb to buy, the CONTAINER the pb came in was an important aspect. I want to be able to *use* the empty container, if possible.

These little jars are perfect. Right now I have three in the fridge: ground flax seed, vital wheat gluten and the actual PB. The yellow lid has the perfect texture/finish on it for me to label the container with a Sharpie. Easy to see, easy to identify, easy to open. I hate opening a box, pulling out the inner bag, untwisting the twistie-tie I used to close it, trying to get it out of the squished bag without spilling the contents.....blah, blah, blah. Nope, grab, twist off the cap, measure and re-twist the top back on. Simple.

So, it doesn't have to be *THIS* container (if fact, some people like to only use glass containers), but think about the containers before you buy a product. You can get double-duty out of many items. Cool!!

****again, all pics are clickable to see details****

And now on to the "Peek" ~ today we will take a look at my front room. It's technically supposed to be a living room space (I'm guessing the kitchen is supposed to be an eat-in kitchen, but that doesn't work for us), so it's carpeted. Yuck - not so great for a dining room with little children. Oh well, so be it.

(oooo....you can just barely see our new wooden high chair....I've always wanted one of those)

(our friends sent us the "Blessed" wall-hanging.)

Our front room is the dining room, plus the piano room (yet it is still lacking the actual piano - we are waiting for some of the snow to melt before we try to move it back into the house), plus the sewing room. It also houses the "Educational Closet" which is a *wonderful* thing to have.

(hey, see those red containers? those used to hold Folger's coffee......see? I told you - I really do use that Kitchen Tip up there.......and I guess I drink too much coffee.....*grins*)

(there. see the piano bench with the blankets on top? That's where the upright piano will go. Yup. someday. And there's my sewing machine - all the fabric is in the cedar chest under the double windows [1st pic])

This is easily my most favorite room in the home thus far. I love the new curtains, I love the new dining room table, I love the new benches, I love the (idea of the) piano being accesible to my little ones, I love my hutch (belonged to my mother) and the lights in my hutch.....and on and on and on.....it's just one of those spaces I want to invite others into. Once we get these sick bugs out of our home, we will do just that.

(the black and bold pattern may seem a bit too much for a "dining room" but it really does work)

(and it matches my dishes perfectly - just look at that big blue flower!)

(and those blue runners? just left over valances that I'm not using in this home - yup, gotta think outside the box! oh, and you can just barely see the entrance into the kitchen - just to give you an idea of how this room relates spatially to the pictures from yesterday.)

Anyways, there ya go - another "peek" into our home, our rooms, our lives. This is us, the real deal. This is where we all gather to eat our meals, do our devotions, color, paint, do school work, and giggle over snacks with little ones. I do try to keep these first two spaces (kitchen & front room) nice and clean and neat. They are the main spaces upstairs and they are what everyone sees when they step into our home. I try to make sure they are clean and inviting and yet livable. A far cry from the downstairs.....but we'll get there later this week.

Have a great day, my friends!!

Peek Week

~~~all images are "clickable" if you want to get a closer look~~~


Ok, I love it when y'all give us a little peek into your homes, your rooms, your lives ~ so that's what I'm going to do this week. Peek Week!! Here's a peek into our home, our rooms, our niches, and our lives.


Granted, we've only been here three weeks (remember, it's the church parsonage, which is actually a duplex we share with the jr. high youth pastor on the other side), so we're hardly settled in yet - but hey! that's where we are, how we are living and that's real life.



So today, it's the kitchen. I would say we are fairly settled into this room, so here we go:


#1. The main part of my kitchen. Going from left to right you can just barely see the fridge, then the stove, the microwave, the sink and finally the dishwasher. That is the extent of my cabinets - hey, better than the previous place!!






#2. Just a quick glance at one of my favorite spots. This area is where I listen to my music or talk radio while I work in the kitchen (unless the kids are helping me, then I don't need any extra noise!!). There is usually some chocolates or some sweet in the basket, but I am trying to be "good" this week, so it is currently empty - perhaps when I get better will power....This area also has all my personal fridge photos from friends and family.

#3. Here we are looking into the front room from the kitchen. You can see the door of my pantry on the right and our chore/schedule cork board there on the left.

Right under the cork board, where the two stools are currently? That's where I would love to have a small, comfy chair ~ just something to take a break on, to rest my feet while baking for hours, to read my Bible with my coffee, etc. There's really no good sittin' place upstairs, except for on the beds. I'm thinking something like this:

but I'm gonna have to get mine CHEAP 2nd hand - it's a desire that I have, but not a necessity.

#4. And here's the inside of my pantry. It's huge in my opinion - definately big enough for my family of 6. I *love* having the built in spice racks on the inside of the door.

#5. Here is the opposite side of the kitchen (pic taken while standing in fron of the microwave). There's my baker's rack, the kitchen butler and one of our IKEA shelves. Come on....aren't you just diggin' my window treatment??! I totally came up with that on my own, using different swags/valances I've had for years. Neither one worked well on it's own - but I liked the way it looked together.

#6. And yes, here is one set of the infamous IKEA shelves. In our previous apartment, I used these shelves purely as FUNCTIONAL decoration. I had very limited pantry space and needed these shelves! In this home, I was searching for items to place on the shelves - amazing!! Notice the pic of Eli, his sissy and their Grammy....

I tried to get my family in the decoration as much as possible. I am trying to reinforce God & family in our home, even in what I place on the walls, on the shelves. I am going for an overall effect, not just a scripture on the wall (not that a scripture on the wall is bad - it's a nice touch, actually).

So if you look closely, you'll be able to see things like small family photos tucked onto bookshelves (or kitchen shelves), crosses, different versions of Bibles (we have everything from kid's Bibles, devotional Bibles, numerous translations, even an old Catholic Bible to bible dictionaries and commentaries) - all mixed in and becoming a very part of our home and it's decoration.

So there ya go - the kitchen. I have the pics ready for tomorrow as well, I can't wait to show you - it's my favorite room thus far: the front room (dining/piano/sewing/school). Thanks for stopping by and check back often for updates!!

*Michigan Momma*

Kid's chores - updated

Here are our new chore charts for the new house. You live & learn - one of the things I learned, at least for OUR family, is that changing chores every week was CRAZY!! No way can I keep up with that, not when I am still such an integral part of them.

I decided to go ahead and try a two-month chore chart. I also went ahead and made them a bit more age appropriate - meaning I won't simply flip-flop chores between children. A 2yog just can't do the same things as a 5yog or 6yob.

So here ya go - just for reference, Tali is a 2yog, Selah is a 5yog, and Isaac is a 6yob. We start this tomorrow (along with *my* new chore chart - so be in prayer, will ya??).

Pulling it all together

Tonight, after doing our first HEALTHY shopping trip since we moved (praise the good Lord in heaven!!), I swung by the fabric area. After my dh told me not to. Bad Lori...

While he was grabbing the needed ink cartridges, I quickly scanned the fabrics. I had a fairly good idea of what I needed/wanted: blues, tans, some white (to tie in the painted trim), nothing too small of a print (like little floral patterns), something kinda funky - this is the room that we will be hanging our black & white pictures, all with black frames, kinda modern. It is also where we will do most of our entertaining - the dining room/piano room.

Anyways, I grabbed something I thought might work, quickly checked the price ($2/yard), then told the two kids I had with me, "nope, daddy said not tonight" (I was still *trying* to be good). After a quick family trip to the restrooms, we headed up to the front of the store to check-out. I took a chance and said "hey, turn right" - he (reluctantly) turned and I showed him the fabric. He doesn't really mind how I decorate as long as he doesn't HATE it. He didn't.

So I got some fabric and can now set about getting some swags up in the front room - we have already put up these fancy roller blinds (I know, how can a roller blind be fancy? but I just wanted you to know it wasn't just some vinal, cheap stuff - like you care?!). I think it'll work great! It's not the highest quality material, but I'm guessing it'll last a few years. By the time it's faded and ready to be replaced, I'll be itching to make up some new ones anyway!

And just to clarify, my kiddos are all sick - yup, every single one of them. Plus dh & I can both start to feel it in our chest. A whole family with sickness in our chests, trying to avoid full-blown pneumonia. So my dh was just trying to get us all home and in bed. He envisioned me standing in front of the fabric selection for HOURS (or minutes, whatever) trying to find the *perfect* pattern. He wasn't just being a big, ol' meanie ~ honest. He's a great guy!! (luv ya babe)

Here I go to get the fabric washed and dried and ironed (well, at least washed tonight - it *is* 11:30pm). We have been discussing having people over soon - since the house is mainly put together - I'd better get to it!

I'll share pics (of course)
*Michigan Momma*

I think I can, I think I can....

I think I can..........


Maybe.

No, really, I want to get back to a regular schedule. A normal schedule (if only normal for us, which may still be fairly weird for the rest of y'all). I'm am SOOOOOO tired of fast food, or processed food. I can't tell you the last time I made bread - but it was before we moved, that's for sure. Did all of this lack of schedule, lack of organization, lack of good, healthy food contribute to all the "yuckies" in our home?? Maybe.

Anyway, so I'm about to take a break, sit on the couch with my little Tali and write down a new schedule for our new home. New home, new chore assignments, new basic schedule to figure out.

Okay, okay, I really do like this sort of thing. I'm almost giddy.
Almost.
*Michigan Momma*

the "bad guys" are here

Yup, the "bad guys" (as my kids call the germs) have invaded my daughter's lungs - it's pneumonia.

So we are doing breathing treatments 4x/day, antibiotics 1x/day, cough syrup up to 4x/day and ibuprofen/acetaminophen combo for the fever. Yuck.

Then my son has some type of infection (be it bacterial or viral) which has manifested as little spots all over his face. Impetigo kind of thing, although the doc said it didn't look like that particularly. We'll see......he is on his own round of antibiotics.

My other daughter, well, she just sounds funny - has a little cough and seems to be losing her voice. The baby is about the only healthy one - I think that has a lot to do with the amount of sleep he gets. He is downstairs, so the light is not an issue for him - he sleeps in as late as he wants.

I'm just a little nervous about the rest of the kids contracting either the pneumonia junk and the rash/impetigo stuff.

And to top it off, we really aren't that into meds and antibiotics - we usually only go to the doc when things get bad. So I guess this counts as "really bad".

Last thing, I wanted the doc to check Isaac's mouth for perhaps a slight case of being "tongue-tied". He has this thing where he kind of gags when I ask him to stick his tongue out. He also has all the normal letter sound mix-ups that are fairly common - but ALL of them.

He said to go ahead and just get his hearing checked (although I would be VERY surprized if his hearing was an issue) and a consultation with speech therapy. We just want to make sure that Isaac's mouth is fine and not causing some of his distortions. I wouldn't even be concerned if it weren't for the tongue/gagging issue. The letter sounds thing I'm betting he would simply grow out of - but with the gagging, well, I just want to make sure.

Well, that's it - the moving-in is going great! I am almost all done, except for hanging pictures and making some window treatments for the front room. The bookcases finally got done, the education closet is organized, things are starting to feel like *home*. Ahhhh......

Unfortunately, Easter seems to have snuck up on me - and I don't have things near as "planned" as I had hoped. I have a nice family Easter devotional book, so I'll give that a once-over here tonight.................after practice for the musical...........which I don't have memorized............but let's not go there, 'kay??!!

God Bless you and your day~

*Michigan Momma*

Crumpled Foil

My husband walked in while I was baking up a quick Wednesday evening meal (before church).

He kinda cocked his head and asked "What are ya doin'?".

See, I had read somewhere that in order to evenly bake things like french fries, chicken nuggets, meatballs, etc. a good idea is to line your basic cookie sheet with crumpled up aluminum foil.

I'd never heard of that.

But with our frozen meatballs, it really does work - if you happen to buy the ones that have some...um....extra grease that comes off as they bake - that greasy-ness ends up in the nooks & crannies of the foil - and *not* on your food. And your french fries really do end up evenly cooked, withOUT burning them on one side.

So that's my tip for Kitchen Tip Tuesday - hosted over at Tammy's Recipes.






Anyways, just give it a try next time. Lightly crumple up two sheets of foil, line your cookie sheet and bake away. An added bonus is the easy clean-up!!


Sweet~
*Michigan Momma*

my sweet Tali

We had a nice little visit to the local hospital today.

Yuck!

Last night, we ended up calling the on-call doctor due to Tali's coughing, high fever and heavy breathing (the whole whooping cough deal). He recommended a few things, then told us to come see him in his office Monday morning. We *almost* went to the ER anyway, but decided some sleep might just be better for her. She did end up sleeping some in our bed, and her high fever (104.2) *did* break about 3 or 4am.

At the doc's office, her oxygen was found to be a bit low, they did a nebulizer treatment which helped some and sent her to get a chest x-ray. Apparantly, this is running rampant in our area - as the x-ray/lab was SUPER busy. He wants to see her again tomorrow morning and is hoping the x-ray will rule out pneumonia. Me too.

In the meantime, my eldest child has broken out in funny bumps on his face. Just his face. With these kinda "zit" looking bumps. Weird. He says they don't itch - they've been around for more than 24 hours now, and from what we can figure, it doesn't appear to be a food-allergy reaction (he's not allergic to anything that we know of). I'm bringing him to the doc tomorrow with Tali and hoping the doc will at least take a look and give me his opinion.

And I'm tired. I honestly don't know how people co-sleep. Granted, Tali is sick, so I have that extra worry on my mind, but every single time she moved, she woke me up. I'm exhausted.

Just to let you know what's going on around here.

I also have a dress-rehearsal for our Easter musical tomorrow night ~ and I honestly DO NOT have my music memorized. Seriously. That's what I'm going to do now - just sit down with my choral book, the practice cd and listen to the music. Again and again and again.....

And lil' Elijah is getting his top two teeth now. So adorable.
*Michigan Momma*

Cool comments

Look what I added!!

At the end of each post, you will now find this cool comments, um, thingy.

Basically, you simply click on an icon - scroll over the differnt options to see which one you agree with - then click on it and express your opinion.

I even added the "negative" comments so you could be honest and I will just have to deal with the fact that not everyone agrees with me (and that's okay, really).

So now, for all you lurkers (and I know you're out there, I've heard about you), you can comment without any commitment. For those busy mommas out there (and I *so* know about that), you can give your opinion super-fast and get on to the next diaper. I found it on Mama Archer's blog (which is a great blog in and of itself): http://www.mamaarcher.com/ (again, why my linky-thingy isn't working, I have no idea - so frustrating - come on, blogger....)

Enjoy~
*Michigan Momma*

I know she won't die....

What a great lyric, eh??

I'm sitting here, checking my email, when I hear my son singing into his microphone while playing his piano. He singing about going to visit his grandma, very soon, and he know she will not die before he gets there.....la, la, la......no, she will not die....la, la, la......will not diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie.

He then goes on to sing about how he thinks the Little Einsteins have died (yes, we have cut back on the amount of t.v. he is allowed to watch - apparently it's been a while since he's seen that particular show).

Now he is talking into the microphone saying, "thank you, thank you so much, yes, yes, thank you all". Ummm.....his baby brother is the only other person watching him.

Oh my goodness, just pure cuteness wrapped up in my little Isaac-dude!!

*Michigan Momma*

~~we read the book I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always and he believes the momma in that book, at the end when she is old and sick, is a grandma - so he's a bit concerned about his grandma's dying. Understandable, really. Poor, sweet, loving child.

Intentional spiritual training

Christian parents, as a whole, have dropped the ball.

(oh, great Lori, it's going to be one of *those* posts....)

No, no, really. While that obviously is a broad generalization, I believe it holds true for many Christian parents. We are super busy, with our own lives, with our children's lives, with the church duties we have, with work, with hobbies, with sports, with school, with whatever....that the spiritual training of our children has fallen by the wayside.

We tend to think if they make it to Sunday School on Sundays, big church service perhaps (if we are good family-integrated parents), maybe a mid-week service, hey, we're going a good job. If we remember to pray before meals and before bedtime - even better. But I still say that's not enough. It needs to be ALL day, EVERY day. Yes - ALL day.

"Religion" and "church" and "God" should never be set apart from the other parts of our lives. If we are running errands, talk about the Lord - work it into your regular ol' conversation. If it feels weird - too bad, do it anyway. Then go back and ask yourself why you are uncomfortable talking about Jesus?? And is your uncomfortableness worth the spiritual lives of your children???

ANYWAYS......the whole point of the above was really something simply and easy.

This book, Devotions for Preschoolers, is what we use every morning at the breakfast table. As everyone is finishing up, I flip to today's date and read a short story to the kids. It is aimed at 3-6 year olds, so it works great for my bunch! We then go over a short verse and a cute prayer (in rhyme, no less).

At lunch, we pull out the same book, turn to the same page, and reiterate what we talked about at breakfast (today it was "Honor Your Parents" - Exodus 20:12). We go over the verse again, with motions we have made up and pray again. This gives us a nice topic to be discussing throughout the day. [Honor your parents??? Yup, we had LOTS of discussion with that one!!]

It gets us in God's Word, every day, as a family. It focuses my own brain, reminding me of why I am folding laundry, making sandwiches, wiping bottoms, teaching, training, and loving - day in and day out. It teaches my children the importance of having daily devotions. It gives us a specific topic to talk about at quiet times throughout the day (yes, we have quiet times around here......okay, well, quietER times anyway).

So instead of merely *hoping* your children are learning about God - be INTENTIONAL. Make the extra effort, make the time, make it your priority. If you don't, time will slip by, you will get busy and forget, and before you know it, your children won't be so little anymore and their hearts will no longer be yours - or the Lord's.

God Bless you as you parent these beautiful blessings~

*Michigan Momma*

p.s. in looking for a pic of this book ~ I ran across this website: Christian Children's Book Review. I havent' looked beyond this particular page, but I'm always up for checking out something that has "Christian" and "book" in the title.

a late night quickie

Ok, it's not quite midnight and I'm about ready for bed - that's fairly early for us these last few weeks. Today we got the table oiled (dh got it assembled yesterday), the benches put together, some more shelves up, the girls' bed put back together, a few errands, loads of laundry - PLUS, we celebrated Selah's fifth birthday!! Her birthday is technically tomorrow, but my hard-working dh is working all day tomorrow (including an evening meeting) so we jumped the gun a bit. It was our first meal on our new table - cake & ice cream and pop! Whoo-hoo!!

I feel like I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. All the bookcases need to be assembled and filled, plus all the family pictures hung on the walls, but all in all - we're gettin' there! I aksed dh when the garage might get done - he said when things thaw out around here. I thought maybe that would happen today - we got a nice, long rain - but it's all snow and ice again now. *sigh*

I have lots of pictures to share - just as soon as I get a few minutes to sit down and download. I have organizing of the kids' toys to do, plus some major cleaning (you get everything set up, then take a step back and realize it's all dusty!!). I have given myself one more week, then we get back to school around here. I also have to memorize the musical in two weeks (the adult Easter musical) and get some more details worked out for the kid's spring musical.

The washer is leaking (just a poor connection with one of the hoses), the dishwasher is leaking, and the fridge is freezing things. Yet I'm still happy as a clam!! God certainly knew what He was doing, having us live in that ultra-small apartment for 6 months. It was just the perfect amount of time (of course it was - God is perfect) - enough to make me re-evaluate what we *needed* in our home, to prioritize ~ yet not enough to drive me completely crazy! Now that we are here (in what some would still consider a small space for a family of six), I am *so* happy and content. I'm estatic about the storage space, I'm searching for things to display on my shelves (rather than decorating with necessities), and we are settling in nicely.

Pictures coming soon......
*Michigan Momma*