Today I am thankful for 4 healthy children. At ages 7,6,3, and almost 5 months, we've had no major illnesses. They were born healthy and except for minor colds/viruses - we've had healthy years with them. I thank God daily for that. I read of so many babies/children struggling to make it another day. I can't even begin to imagine what their parents may be going through. All I know, is for some reason, God has spared me that heartache so far in my life.
I know the day may come when I have to endure the trial of having a sick or injured child. I dread that day; but, I know that even though circumstances in my life may change from day to day - God is God ALL THE TIME! He never changes! I pray that in the midst of those circumstances I can remember that.
I pray for those who are having to endure these trials presently. I have a college friend who is currently pregnant with twins. She is (as far as I know) in Miami getting ready for laser surgery because her baby girls (who are 15 weeks gestation) have TTTS (twin to twin transference syndrone). I pray for those babies (Payton & Maren) that they will survive surgery and continue to grow and develop until they are ready to be delivered. I pray for their sweet mommy who is doing everything she can possibly do to ensure their healthy delivery. I believe surgery is tomorrow (if insurance problems were fixed).
Thank you GOD for your grace.

Too Busy

Seems life is always so busy!! I don't make the time to keep this thing updated. Of course, it doesn't much matter because I don't think anyone reads it anyway. But, it is a great release for me to write this and get our goings on off my chest. Life is great -- most days. Homeschooling is going great and it looks like we'll be winding down our year in about 4 weeks. Needless to say, the girls are excited about that.
Raylyn and Hannah are doing great with their school work. Hannah loves reading. Raylyn loves math. Stephen loves to get in the way. Ha!! He talks about "doing his lessons". So, I give him papers to "do". He enjoys feeling like a big boy (for short periods of time).
Andrew is so cooperative with our schedule. He wakes, eats, plays, and sleeps. We've finally got his stomach to feeling better and he has very few "crying" spells. Praise the Lord!!
Daniel works... We are so thankful that he gets to come home at lunch most days. That's a nice break for me.
We are so busy that it seems we have limited time to go visit family. We did enjoy a great Easter weekend in Augusta with Daniel's family and then spent Easter Sunday afternoon in Dublin with my family. It seems that, working in the church, every weekend has some activity we need to be present for. We love our ministry, though. Working with children and teens was what we were called to do ... but it would be nice to have a few more free weekends.
I'm so proud of myself.. Yesterday, my friend, Jennifer and I recovered my dining room chairs. Go, ME!! Well, she was a great help, too. They look so good. Didn't know I could do such a thing. It looks like I have brand new chairs. Maybe I should open up a business. Yeah, right.
So, that's life in a nutshell - as of late. See ya' back on here again soon.

GratiTuesday

What I'm thankful for...

A Husband who loves me and loves spending time with our children and me


http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/blog/gratituesday

Giveaway!! Don't miss out!

There's a great giveaway going on that all you "mommies" won't want to miss.

http://www.hearthmanagement.com/2009/03/dress-for-success-and-giveaway-its-real.html?showComment=1237903200000#c5826174317293822610

Click on the link and it will take you to the place to enter. Read the info on this site! Very helpful information and also very uplifting. Don't forget to enter the contest. Of course, I hope I win.

On the road again... I can wait!

Well, we began our week on the road. Daniel had school in Marietta on Monday, so we arose - quite early - and rode to Marietta with him. We dropped him off at school and met his cousin Heather at McDonalds. She has a 3 year old, Caleb. So, the kids played a while at McD's and we ate breakfast. Then, we rode to a local park. It had to be the best park I've ever been to. Wish we had one like that in this area. It had several play things - one for each age group. It had a merry-go-round, bouncy things, swings, etc. There were also walking trails and a creek. The kids had a great time wading in the creek. We left the park and went to Heather's house. The kids played outside while Heather fixed lunch and I fed Andrew. After eating lunch, we had to go back to the school to pick up Daniel.
We left Marietta and headed to Madison. Not as long of a trip as I had anticipated. (only about an hour) We dropped Daniel off at Source Of Light Ministries International, where he is a member of the board. He had board meeting Monday afternoon and most of the day Tuesday. The kids and I checked in to a hotel. (w/an indoor pool). We swam a while and then Stephen got quite bored. He doesn't care much for swimming. Daniel came back about 5:00 and we got ready for a banquet.
Gaga and papa got there about 5:45 to stay with the kids while we went to our banquet. They enjoyed swimming with Gaga and Papa and eating pizza. Andrew had a few quiet moments with Gaga in the room.
Tuesday - was quite long. Daniel's meeting lasted longer than planned. The kids and I went to Wal-Mart, got lunch, ate at the park and played. We showed up to pick Daddy up at 2:00 but he didn't get done until 4:00. So, the kids got bored. They did fairly well under the circumstances, though. We left at 3:00 to get icecream and then went back to get daddy.
We arrived back home just in time for Upward practice. So - busy couple of days - but at least we were able to be together. The joy of homeschooling is we can pick up and go when we need or want to w/out missing school. So, glad this door is open for us - although - I would like to SLAM it shut every now and then.

Snow Days

Wow! What fun we had in the snow this last Sunday and Monday. By the time we got home from church and lunch on Sunday, there was a nice blanket of snow covered the ground. So, we all bundled up and prepared to enjoy the beauty of God's creation. First - to the backyard. The girls jumped on the trampoline and made snow angels. Stephen enjoyed watching the snow fall on "Dukey boy"'s nose. He also enjoyed the fact that our yard looked like "Narnia". It didn't take long for their gloves to be wet and their hands to be cold.
So, we changed gloves and headed toward the church with our boogie board in hand to do a little sledding. (You know you're in the south when you go sledding on a boogie board.)
They had loads of fun sledding down the hill by our playground at church. Oh - the joy in their laughter is something that I will long remember. After a while, we came back home and the girls wanted to build a snowman. So, we all got started. It was fun watching them create these snow people.
We came inside and had hot chocolate and watched Narnia. Right after supper, our electricity went out. We spent the evening playing cards and other games. The girls loved the fact that we had to use candles to see. We headed for an early bedtime - when the kids got bored of playing games.
It was very relaxing and unbelievably quiet to not have the TV on all evening. It was a refreshing and fun time that we spent all together playing and having fun.

Eventful Trip

Well, we're home from Winterplace, WV. The youth had a great time skiing. I just went up to see the snow. But, boy, was it an eventful trip home.
To start with, we woke up Sunday AM with 3-4 in. of snow and it was still snowing. It was BEAUTIFUL!! The kids loved playing in the snow. WE hit the road at 9:30 AM and boy was it freezing. Yes, that's right, the heat on the bus did not work. We got about an hour and a half down the road and the bus broke down. Not sure what the problem was but we were able to coast and partly drive to the next exit to a gas station. WE were there 2 1/2 hours. Daniel and one of your other leaders drove the other guy's car into town to find a church. They ended up at FBC Hillsville, VA. Church ended and they talked with the preacher there who hooked them up with a couple willing to drive us part of the way to meet some of our church folks. So, we left and headed toward Charlotte. We met up with our church people about 30 miles south of Charlotte - and arrived back at our church by 9:00 PM.
YES! The bus is still in Virginia. Someone is supposed to be going to look at it to see what's wrong.
God protected us and brought us ALL home safely. The teenagers and leaders all had great attitudes and we had no major issues. It was a great trip despite the problems. It was fun and inspiring to see a whole new part of God's creation - the mountains, the snow, etc. He is SO GOOD!!!