Pure Sweetness

My blog is such a tattletale.  

It's the first to tell when I have become busy...too busy to blog.

I try not to let my life--my family's life--become too busy.

In fact, I have the word "Simplify" above my calendar as a reminder to not become too busy.

It reminds me of what my mom used to do.  She would tape a notecard with the word "NO" above the telephone as a reminder not to say "YES" to everything she was asked to do. The funny thing is, I remember her standing there, talking on the telephone, with her hand covering the "NO" card and saying, "Sure!  I'll do it."

You know...we are busy.

But it's a good kind of busy. 

I love this time of my life very much.

I love the endless activity that comes with teenagers 

and young children.

I love falling into bed at night completely exhausted. 

I also love this reminder...this command...from Scripture. 

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.  (Titus 2:3-5)

So, enough about where I've been and why.

Now...let me tell you about this little bundle of pure sweetness!

I refilled my bird feeder last weekend and have found 

this little guy out there several times a day.

He still has his baby bird fluff!

What I love about him is that he sits there and eats--

totally unafraid.

Usually, when the birds hear me at the sink inside this window, they scatter.

But not this one!

He just sits there and keeps on eating.

I just love him!

I will be sad when he loses his fluff and becomes more wary of me and my noise.

Even Charlie, with her noisy puppy-doggedness, doesn't scare this little one away.

Speaking of Charlie...I hear her moving around in her crate.
I think that it's time to put her outside.

And it's time to go shake William.  He has an orthodontist appointment today.  Then it's off to Walmart, back home to finish up our schoolwork for the week, and then out to clean up the yard a bit.  Our homeschool group's youth group is coming over for an afternoon of recreation between our yard and our neighbor's yard (what a blessing to have them as neighbors, fellow homeschoolers--and in the same support group!).

Enjoying the pure sweetness of baby bird fluff...and the busyness of my life,

Cheap...and Not-So-Cheap...Entertainment

 Have I told you lately how much I love Zak?

He is THE GREATEST PET EVER!

He turned two years old on May the 16th and is as adorable as a frog can be.
He is easy, cheap, and oh, so entertaining.

He sings "Hello" to me almost every morning.

I would say that he gets the "Cool Pet" award.

Charlie is pretty entertaining too.

She was interested in my iced coffee on this morning.

(Have I never mentioned the best iced coffee in the whole entire world?!)

She's a pretty good pet too.

Not as easy as Zak...not as cheap either.

But she is a good girl.

And pretty adorable.

Remind me to show you someday how she can catch a ball 

and how she can lug around a log that is bigger than she is.

Now that is entertaining.

Enjoying my entertaining pets,

From the Archives: "L"

(In my defense, I think that I should add that at the time of the writing of this post, I was in my seventh month of pregnancy.  I contend that I had a good excuse.  You'll understand as you read on...)

From February 20, 2008...

I loved the comments that I received on my last entry! One of the great things about blogging is to be able to "say" the things that I'm thinking--and then to find out that I'm not the only one thinking those things!

And thank you, Happy Homes, for your latest blog entry! Along with the strong dislike I have for cooking is an even stronger sense of guilt. I worry all the time about our health and about the message I'm sending to the kids--especially when they catch me with my hand in the Peanut M&M bag. (Chocolate is easier to get off your hands than Cheetos!)

You want to talk guilt? One of our favorite TV shows to sit down and watch is "The Biggest Loser." We've followed this show through several different seasons in our family life. One season, we used it as a motivational tool. We would watch it and get good ideas on how to take care of ourselves. It would motivate us to eat healthier and to exercise. This season? Let me share with you the "conversation" that Joshua and I had last night at 7:56 PM.

Me: Hey, Joshy, let's go watch "The Biggest Loser!"
Joshua: "Eat ice cream?"

O.K., so this season we're using "The Biggest Loser" soley for its entertainment purposes. We've even been known to say, "What's our 'Biggest Loser' snack tonight?" At the beginning of the season, the guilt quotient is almost non-existent. But later in the season--as the contestants begin losing the big numbers--the guilt quotient gets pretty high. That's where it was last night. We didn't eat ice cream--but only because we had just eaten Papa Murphy's pizza. All right--and because we didn't have any in the freezer.

Go ahead, put your right hand up there close to your forehead in gun formation and give me the Big L sign. I deserve it.

Enjoying ice cream and Peanut M&M's and brownies and pizza and...

For the Love of Family

How often do I find myself thinking that I'm not doing enough for my kids?  That I'm not giving them all that they need?  That I'm not quite the mom/homeschool teacher-mom that they deserve?  That I'm not all that God created me to be.  


Just yesterday, I was visiting for awhile over at
Clover Lane when I found this lovely quote 
by Mother Theresa...  

"Start by making your own home a place where happiness and love abound, through your love for each member of your family and for your neighbour.  Try to put in the hearts of your children a love for home.  Make them long to be with their families.  So much sin could be avoided if our people really love their homes."

Mother Theresa

Oh!  That's what I want!  That is my heart's cry!

I encourage you to take on this assignment.  Put together 20 pictures of your family.  You will find a new perspective on your role as mom--God's perspective. You might also find, like I did while working on this post, a little boy at your elbow begging for his mom to come watch him...just watch him...ride his bike.  And, after reading Laurie's blog post this morning, that's just what I did.  I watched him ride and ride and ride.  

And I treasured it.

I will make my home a place where happiness and love are found!

Enjoying the love of family and home,

OhhhYeahhh

Brilliant idea.

Cookie Saturday.

Ohhhyeahhh.

That was one of the more popular ideas that I have had. 

One that the kids reminded me of often..."It's Saturday, Mom!"

It didn't last though.

My conscience killed it.

The guilt was overwhelming.

Another pretty good idea.

One that was a bit less guilt inducing.

Trail Mix.

Ohhhyeahhh.

We took this one on our camping trip back in June.

Delicious...although the boys would have opted out of the raisins if they could have.

This one will be joining us on our next camping trip.

Raisins are invited along.

Check out this beautiful mug of coffee.

My dear friend, Nicky, brought this mug to me back in June.  

She didn't know it, but on this particular day 

I was thinking of my mom.

This would have been Mom and Dad's

 47th Wedding Anniversary.

Sweet Nicky. 

She noticed that many of my mugs have a Christmasy/Winter theme, so she wanted to be sure that I had a beautiful anytime mug for my coffee.

Not only did she bring me that beautiful mug, but she also brought me a cheery little yellow flower and a package of Mackinac Island Fudge.

Ohhhyeahhh.

Thank you, Nicky.

Enjoying those Ohhhyeahhh moments,

From the Archives: The Top Ten Things That Scare Me

Sometimes my blog posts don't get published.

For one reason or another, I just put them aside...maybe to work on them later when the creative juices are flowing more freely...maybe because I am just not happy with how the post is coming along.

This is one of those posts that became a "draft" rather than a published post.

So, here it is...From the Archives...

From September 30, 2008...

As we were driving home one evening, we saw a billboard that really scared me. I don't even know what it was advertising, but it was a picture of this guy with big googly eyes. He looked frightened. I think that must have been the point of the billboard...he was maybe afraid because he didn't have insurance, or something like that.

It got Carrie and me to talking. I said, "Boy, that would be on my top ten list of scary things." Then she tried to guess some of the other things that would be on my list.

Of course, there are the obvious things--the ones that I think all of us fear...life without Jesus, accidents that hurt our loved ones, disease, etc...

But this is a list devoted more to my common, everyday, even silly fears.

So, now you have it.

 My official

"Top Ten List of Things That Scare Me"

#10  The Googly-Eyed Guy on the billboard

#9  Rollercoasters

#8  Swimming in lakes--What's in the water that I can't see, anyway?!

#7  People dressed up in costumes who try to shake my hand and talk to me

#6  The Burger King guy in the commercials--the one with the big plastic BK head

#5  Clowns

#4  Darth Maul

          Sorry...I can't even post a picture of him because he is so scary.

So...here's the Lego Darth Maul...

#3  Spiders

#2  Snakes

#1  Tornadoes

It seems that #4, #5, #6, and #7 are the same...but different.
Ew.

Enjoying Living with Avoiding the scary things in life,

America's Got...Talent?

 Carrie was very proud of herself yesterday.

She found one of her Dad's ties and decided to teach herself how to tie it.
Using youtube.
Of course, she found a video that taught her how to tie a tie...
and there you go.
You really can find anything you want to know on youtube.

All that's left is to bask in the satisfaction of a job well-done.

(Note:  It really was her goal to wear it down to her knees.)

I'm not quite sure when the Captain Morgan stance became her trademark, but it seems to be her default pose.

Passing the football...

We'll call this her Secret Service pose...

minus the mirrored aviators.

She's thinking...she's thinking...

Hang on.

For some reason, the next pose caused her to lose her comPOSEure.
I know.
I spelled it wrong.
But you get it, right?

Wait!

Deep breath.

Straight face.

BAM!

How do ya like that one?!

Some kind of Happy Dance.

I think I've caught this one on Spongebob.
(Please don't write to me telling me about the study just conducted on children who watch Spongebob.  I think that Matthew is a very good problem-solver despite his slight obsession with that absorbent, porous, yellow character.
Wow.  I think he's gotten to me.)

I don't know what this is called either...

I know this one!

Disco...

Hokey Pokey?

Jump for joy!

And back down again.

What?

Really?

I'm not sure what look you're going for here...

Rambo?

 Actually...now that I think about it...this may have something to do with that full Harvest Moon in the sky...

Yep.

That's what it is.

I'm now trying to figure out if I can give her some type of grade for this.

I need to get creative with my credit assigning.

Enjoying the tying of ties and the silliness of a teenage girl,