Praise God from whom all blessings flow….
Thanks Jesus for my cheerios!!!!!
Life's never boring at our house!!
I'm not exactly sure what this picture says about me as a mom OR the imagination of my children (one in particular) BUT I captured my youngest son on the couch last night with his body crammed into my office trashcan playing with one of our 16 month old's toys.
hhmmmmm……
Firecamps, Christmas trees and Swimming pools….God’s treasures
Well, it happened….finally. Our first “firecamp” of the year as my children call it. It's become a family tradition ever since my brother, Jeff, lived with us. Don't you just love those family traditions you just happen onto. You don't plan them or spend a lot of time searching for a tradition to make all your own. They just happen. I think they are so special because they are truly your own…not borrowed from someone else.
This has been one of the greatest gifts my brother left with us. My middle son particularly loves the campfires. He helps his dad chop limbs and drag things over to the fire. He also collects all types of paper things around the house to burn in the fire. He's definitely our outdoorsman. Last night my husband and even got to see the boys put on a light saber show. It looked so cool to see them off in the woods fighting “the dark side”.
Another tradition we did borrow from someone else is the annual burning of our Christmas tree. Each year on New Years Eve we douse it with kerosene, throw on a match and watch it burn. It's something else. The kids love it. Last year we added firecrackers. We stuck them all along the branches. You could say it's a popping good time.
With boys, living in the country has been such a treat. We are in a neighborhood but outside of the city limits. We've got approximately an acre lot but are surrounded by woods on two sides. God definitely saw what we needed before we moved here and gave us the perfect house. Our neighbors have a pool they are kind enough to let us use in the summer, we have woods for the boys to roam in the spring and fall, a creek in the back yard, and now a wonderful fire pit near the creek thanks to Jeff.
I hope this wonderful time of the year finds you enjoying some of your own family traditions. Think about us on New Years Eve.
In Christ,
Julie
Rediscovering your hubbie (or wife)
With all the hub-bub of daily life I sometimes I forget to look at my wonderful husband and remember the man I fell in love with.
I mean, what DID we do before we had kids, homeschooled, carpooled, took karate lessons, and began helping our church in a start-up venture? It's really hard to remember those two years before we began having children. I'm sure our life was wonderful but WHAT DID WE DO??
Inspired by an email I read earlier in the week I decided to find out a little about my husband AGAIN 
so I emailed him a few questions I'd come up with…things I thought I'd like to know.
The thought occured to me that I could probably answer a lot of them about my children but isn't that out of order in God's priority list?
- God first
- My husband second
- My children third
- Everything else after that
I've included the questions I emailed 
to my husband while he was in California this week in hopes that I may learn a little more about him. I hope this will encourage you to rediscover that warm, wonderful body you snuggle against each night. And who knows, maybe grandma can watch the kids one night so you can surprise him and do something he loves that maybe you've just forgotten.
Happy Rediscovering!!!!
Julie
What is your favorite movie?
What is your favorite flower? or do you even like flowers?
What do you like doing for relaxation?
What is your ideal vacation?
Who do you admire the most? and why?
What is your idea of fun?
What is one thing you wish I'd do more often with you?
What do you like best about our relationship?
What do you like least?
Do you want to take dancing lessons with me sometime?
What could I do for you to make you feel more loved?
What would you like to do together we've never done?
What could I do to let you know that I trust your leading our family?
If you could change one thing about our lives what would it be?
One of those days!!
Ever have one of those days when every star in the universe seems misaligned? Yesterday was one of those days for our family. My husband had a 16 hour travel day across the country so he was gone and my children seemed possessed by something unseen all day. The fighting was neverending. 
The whining and complaining was constant and to top it off my youngest had an ear infection so she felt horrible. My nerves were shot.
Calgon, take me away
I'm thankful that on the days like that I can still call on the name of the Lord no matter how horrible I feel, how badly I've reacted to my children or how far away I perceive Him to be. He understands my temptation to scream at my kids instead of react out of kindness. He knows the frustration of trying to train up children because he trained up 12. I only have 4.
On the days where I feel like I'm going crazy, like I'm a bad mother for lacking the patience of Job and I can think of nothing more appealing than a quiet house with sleeping children I'm glad that I know His love for me depends not upon my actions or reactions but on Jesus.
Jesus……
(what a beautiful name, Son of God, Son of Man, Lamb that was slain)
The one who sweated blood for me in the garden. (Can you even imagine what it would take to actually sweat blood?) The one who took upon all my sin, it's guilt, it's ugliness, it's shame so that I can get up each morning fresh. A new day. A new start. A new beginning.
After the day we had yesterday I'm so thankful for a new beginning today. The PEGS (www.familytools.com) board starts anew. The day begins fresh. Life, once again, is renewed by the Holy Spirit.
“Father, thank you that we can begin anew every day. Yesterdays sins forgotten. Today, another chance for obedience, love and gratitude for the One who made all things new again.”
Julie
My daughter, what a treat!
Having a daughter has been so different after three rambunctious boys. Dressing her in pink (even if it is a football shirt), buying pretty clothes and finally getting to buy sandals that aren't navy, dark brown or Spiderman has been a real treat. I pray each day for the safety of my family and for my children to make good decisions. Each child is so precious and I love that God has gifted me with the experience of raising a girl alongside of three boys. Look out Mall…..here we come!
PEGS
We recently purchased the PEGS system from Family Tools.com. Might I say it’s fabulous!!! 
It’s a wonderful way to help your children not only build character but also get their chores done each day. My husband and I saw their advertisement in the Spring Issue of This Old Schoolhouse magazine and just got around to spending the 80.00 to buy it. You can buy a less expensive one for smaller families but we needed the large one with 6 in our family, not counting pets.
We used it for the first day on Friday. My children raced off to do their chores so that they could flip their disks over indicating the task was completed. Then it was tons of good manners, good communication and good behavior which awards them BONUS or green disks. We alot one point per disk per day and keep track of them. If we have a day with no fighting and everyone has an “all done” day then we get a small reward at the end of the day. 
The children may use their accumulated points for things like sleepovers, going for ice cream, a pack of sugarless gum, a night out at the local high school football game etc. It’s a wonderful way to really see what is important to our children as well as allowing them to choose within boundaries we have set as parents.
I highly recommend the PEGS system. We use it M-F, taking a break over the weekend. That way it tends to stay fresh and new. We change weekly tasks each week, each child being responsible for a different task. My 5 year old told me on Friday that the Penalty disks (given for bad behavior,
attitude or manners AND can be worked off by apologizing, correcting the behavior or attitude) were worse than spankings. YEA HA!!!
If you would like to check out the PEGS system you can do so at www.familytools.com.
We’ll keep you posted on our progress. So far it’s changing our household. The kids actually try to work together to earn more points for bigger rewards at the end of the week. I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.
Auburn Football
My husband and two oldest sons (ages 6 and 5) took off this morning to Auburn, Alabama for their very first college football game together. My husband graduated from Auburn and is a HUGE fan.
I think his life long dream as an Auburn fan and a dad has been to take HIS BOYS to an Auburn Football Game. He's called me about three times already from the car. He told me they had stopped at the Waffle House (a place mom refuses to eat) for an “all boy toasting session” with orange juice. “Yea football!!” “Yea Auburn!!” I just have to imagine what all the people in the Waffle House thought of them this morning. My husband and boys are staying with one of his old college teachers. I think that aspect of the trip is really exciting for the boys…imagining their dad doing something other than being a daddy. I mean, “weren't we always parents”??
At the dinner table last night I was informed that my husband plans on droping quite a bit of money at the local store Tiger Rags. I mean every boy MUST have a jersey, a hat, and something to shake at the game. I'm sure they will come home with something for my 3 year old son and 1 year old daughter as well. He asked if I wanted anything (does time in Aruba all alone with my husband count?).
It's so neat to see my husband do something he's always wanted to do. I hope the tales from their adventure are as grand as his expectations. And for all you Auburn fans out there
WAR EAGLE!!!
If You Give What to Who??????
Kiss me Mom!!
A fellow blogger today suggested I post my quirky but true rendition of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie after reading her blog earlier today. If you’d like to visit her blog you can at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/tn3jcarter/
Happy Blogging
| Nance…..I think you need to write one about kids too……
Maybe it’ll go like this… One day you’ll get married and decide to have kids So you’ll have the kids and then you’ll have a neighbor that asks if you’re going to immunize SSOO…..you’ll do a bunch of research to see what in the world she is talking about and in that research you’ll find that parenting is more than changing diapers and feeding your little one. SSOO…..you’ll finially make a decision about immunization that isn’t popular with your family and friends So you’ll learn to keep your mouth shut about it and only bring it up when God prompts He will allow you to witness to your sister in law concerning your trust in The Father SSOO….you’ll begin to learn about all kinds of other things to help keep your kids well too….things your momma never taught you… AND then The Father will allow you all to catch the whooping cough just to test your convictions and your trust in Him So you’ll learn to stick to your guns even more and Trust the One who Made All of Your Family… Then you’ll learn just who matters in your life and who doesn’t But you’ll still have a few friends left and those will become really good friends Then they will decide to get married and have kids…. And you, being their dear friend, will have to ask
Have a blessed day!!! |
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