The Dr. is in

Last week, one afternoon, I had the privilege of being a patient in my own house. B decided he would be a doctor and I would be the patient. He started out by tapping my knees with his hammer. Well, one of them wouldn't 'bounce'. So he told me I needed to lay down and he'd have to do surgery. He proceeded to tell me that I had a bubble that kept bouncing between my knee and my ankle. So he 'cut' my leg open and removed the bubble and then smoothed my skin back out to heal, with a rolling pin! LOL

Then my other leg wasn't 'bouncing' right and only my foot was twitching. So he determined that my 'apprentisement' was blocking something and had to be fixed. While he 'fixed' me, I was trying to figure out what an apprentisement was. I finally figured it out: My nephew had just (that week) had to have an emergency appendectomy and he was confusing that with the word advertisement. SO! I got that all worked out and I was healed.

But during the process, of course C wants to get involved. So B tells him he can be the nurse. While B was working on my legs, C worked on my head and arms. (Apparently, I was one messed up patient!) Well, B went looking for something, a tool of some sort to work on me with, and couldn't find it. He finally discovered that C had it...and said, "Those nurses! Always using us doctors' tools and trying to be like us!" LOL I just about cracked up!

Apparently they did a good job on me....I haven't had to be seen by the dr since that day! :)

When the Bluebonnets Come

When the Bluebonnets Come
by John Dwyer
ISBN: 978-0976822417
Amazon.com
Reviewed for Armchair Interviews

Katie Shanahan loves her daddy, Ethan. Ethan is the pastor of one of the many churches in Cotton Patch, Texas and is fighting the coming of a 'family entertainment complex'...also known as a gambling and horse-racing complex. Churches are burned and people are hurt. Money seems to be driving force.
Katie shows us the way events occurred from her point of view as an 8-year-old child. Sometimes her knowledge is firsthand, sometimes it is what she figures happened. But the end result is the same: her daddy isn't happy with the situation, the town, or the people, and he struggles to find peace through it all. Katie sees how all men fail and fall and make mistakes, and how the same men can make restitution for those mistakes. God is there for all of them and offers grace to repentant hearts. Ethan Shanahan included.

Hearts are softened by the one man who stood up to the rich men--and for what was right. Ethan never wavered, but was gentle in his argument against the new complex. Finally everyone involved sees the light and has a change of heart. In the end, Katie is still living on the family farm with her children, riding horses and showing them the bluebonnets of Texas.

I struggled with this book for several reasons. I find it hard to believe the view of a child seeing or knowing so many conversations. There was so much assumption on her part about what took place that it makes the truth of the story almost unbelievable. Also, it was hard to have a male author writing from the perspective of a little girl. However, the story itself was great.

One of the best things emphasized through the book was that Katie was homeschooled, which is just not seen in many fiction books these days. My favorite line in the book is something Katie said, "When I make it to the upper sanctuary, one of the first things I'm gonna ask God is why He only let me figure out so many things later when I could've used them earlier."

Armchair Interviews says: It is very clear that the point Dwyer makes here is to learn from life's lesson and accept God's grace.

Courage the Monkey

Courage the Monkey
by Mark Jordan
ISBN: 978-0971701373
Amazon.com
Reviewed for Armchair Interviews

On the very tip of a mountain lives Jonathan the spider monkey. As Jonathan eagerly awaits his special birthday (special because he will get to climb his first tree), he becomes very afraid when he sees how big his tree will be. All the monkeys made fun of him because he was the first monkey to ever be afraid of climbing a tree. Jonathan had a wonderful brother, David, who kept encouraging him, telling him he could do it. But still Jonathan was afraid. He began to seclude himself and not play with friends. He told himself that one day, he would climb a tree.

That one day came sooner than he wanted. While resting in the grass one day, Jonathan heard a cry for help. It was David. He had fallen and landed on a ledge of the mountain. Jonathan wanted to help his brother, but was scared. After mustering all of his strength, Jonathan was able to climb a nearby tree and save his brother! All the other spider monkey's cheered as they saw this. Soon after they renamed Jonathan "Courage" because of the courage he showed that day.
I loved this book! After reading it to my two boys, we discussed what courage was and how we can encourage each other to do things we're afraid of doing. They told me I had to keep this book forever so they could read it again and again!

Mark Jordan has done a wonderful job capturing with words and pictures a character trait that many parents want instilled in their children.

Armchair Interviews says: What a great message for children.

Precious Memories

I fell in love all over again with my boys today. I pulled down a box of pictures, that need to be scrabooked, with the job of pulling out C's. (I have to start on his baby book...he's already 4 and we have nothing to show him on his birthday...and he ALWAYS asks!) Well, I started flying through pictures and found some of a vacation, some of another vacation, and some of family. Then I found the envelope that contained the boys. I put all of B's back and pulled out C's, knowing they would contain several shots of B as well.

I saw some of him as a baby. I saw some of him crawling. Then I found the pack that I had taken (as I did with B) at 6 months...in Black and White. I practically cried! They were so precious and there is so much more visibility with Black and White photo's. Then I moved on to the pack that had the delivery and hospital photos. I cried all over again remembering the emotions that were swirling through me that morning.

The boys walked in at that point and asked what I was looking at. So I invited them over by me and showed the all the photos and explained what was what and who was where in each one. It was so precious to hear their squeals of delight when they saw themselves as babies, or laughing when they saw themselves doing something silly (like eating birthday cake and having it ALL OVER!).

My boys are so precious to me. I may get mad at them and they may drive me crazy, but I love them dearly. Flipping through these pictures simply reminded me how much. I'm so thankful for the chance to put these memories in a permanant form and be able to look at them from time to time.

All is well

We got C's blood work results and all levels are well within normal. We (of course) were particularly interested in the iron levels and he is on the high side of normal with that. So Praise GOD! :)

We just need to work on more sleep and a daily vitamin (which I confess, I haven't been diligent in giving them. I'm sure there are minerals and things they're not getting that they need....so now they will get them!)

Thanks for the thoughts!

Use your own band-aids!

Oh my goodness.... :( What a bad and emotional day yesterday was. About 430, C comes to me asking me to take his band-aids off...they were annoying him. But I looked at them and could tell they were practically glued to the skin, so I told him we'd wait till after dinner to do them. Well, I hadn't counted on what happened during the evening and us not getting to eat until 8 PM. But that is what happened. We did some schoolroom rearranging and that took a couple hours...so eating dinner came late.

So after dinner, I go back to work on the schoolroom and Terry works on C's band aids. All I hear was screaming and crying from that room. :( Terry was using a wet rag to moisten the area and try to ease them off. But they were literally pulling his skin. After 45 minutes he finally got the first one off. Then he had to start the other arm, which seemed to be stuck worse. There was actually a welt on his skin from where the band aid had been. We used aloe vera gel to help get it all smushy, but that didn't work. I don't have any baby oil, and Terry didn't want to mess with butter or canola oil. So, we just kept working on C's arms. After about an hour and a half, we were able to just get them off. C was so exhausted from crying and exhausted from the day yesterday that he conked out soon after.

SO! Lesson learned: WE NEED TO TAKE OUR OWN BAND-AIDS FROM NOW ON! The ones I have just fall off in a couple hours. I just don't understand why they don't use a 'nicer' band-aid on kids. Plus, with C (who hates any type of picking-contact like trimming nails, hair cuts, etc) this just made his whole day that much worse. For most of us that would be a 1 or a 2, for C it is a 9 or 10. He is just ultra sensitive to that sort of thing.

But he hadn't been down long (maybe a couple hours) and he woke up last night in a night terror. It didn't last long, (we've learned how to help him through them) and I was able to get them back to bed.

We still haven't heard from the lab about the results. I hope we hear soon. I'm so impatient! LOL

Blood work

Over the past few weeks, we've been noticing that C has been really tired all the time. He's been falling asleep in the early evening and just gets tired really easy. We have tried getting him more sleep and rest, but it still seems to be an issue. We thought maybe we'd have him tested again for anemia. I knew it would be an issue with him so we didn't tell him until this morning. What a tense morning! He fretted all morning about it, especially cuz I kept telling him to go drink water (to help hydrate his veins and make it easier). Well, we got there (terry was with us) and B and I waited in the waiting room. C and Terry went in to the lab area. As soon as they started, I could hear C screaming and crying. I was so upset. I tried to get in the door and they had it locked!!! So I waited by the door until he calmed down a bit and then knocked on the door. The tech that let me in told me the flow stopped and they'd have to go again on the other arm to get it all.

Well, before we had gotten there this morning, C told me he didn't want to lay down on their bed so I told him we'd see if he could sit up. Well, for the first part they did it sitting up. But for the second stick they were gonna have to have him lay down. His little face was so pitiful....he just cried the entire time we pushed him to a laying-down position on the bed. He screamed bloody-murder the moment they put the rubber tourniquet on his arm. And then screamed more when they actually stuck him. They were able to get the blood they needed, but by then I was crying too. C was practically hysterical and actually told the lady he didn't like her! LOL (I know, not nice, but can you blame him??)

After that, we went and ate lunch and C got to pick the place (Chinese, of course!). While there, I asked Terry if it bothered him as much as it did me? and he said, yes. He's just able to hide it better than me. I can handle the blood, the needle, and all that. I just can't handle the helpless feeling I get when I can't help my baby. I have to make him stay there and practically be tortured by those needles. I know it is for his own health and good, but it still breaks me every time we have to do this. :( I told Terry that if the results of these tests require more tests, I will ask them to give us a sedative or relaxer or something to help calm C's nerves before hand. There is no reason to have to put a child through that. (He's even a hard enough stick that the girls at Children's hospital in St. Louis had a hard time getting blood from him 2 years ago.)

Hopefully we'll get the results in a day or so. One of the tests had to be sent off, so it could take a couple days. I hate the waiting! :)

The Dark Room

The Dark Room by Minette Walters
Amazon.com
ISBN: 978-0-307-27709-1
Review for Armchair Interviews
4 Stars out of 5

Jinx Kingsley wakes up in a strange room only to be told that she’s been in a head-on collision (with a concrete pole, no less) and is now in a hospital. Apparently, they say, she tried to commit suicide. But Jinx doesn’t believe this. She doesn’t remember anything, but simply can’t make herself believe that she is the type to kill herself. Even though her best friend and her fiancé just ran off together is no reason to off herself. She was happy about it! Wasn’t she??

But then the police come to question her and she finds out that her two friends are now dead…and the police suspect her or someone in her family. How can Jinx clear her name when she can’t remember anything? All she knows is this sense of panic and fear. Who could have done this? Who would want to set her up? Can she figure it out before it’s too late? Dr. Alan Protheroe is at the clinic with Jinx and works to help her regain her memory. But in the process, an attempt is made on his life as well and he realizes just how serious this situation is. Can he protect Jinx? He knows she didn’t do it, but can he figure out who did? There has to be more to this than meets the eye.

Minette Walters does a great job of twisting the tale to keep the reader from figuring out the real killer.

Little Earthquakes

Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner
Amazon.com
ISBN: 978-1-4165-2863-0

Jennifer Weiner has done it again with another great novel! Four women are bonded together by their pregnancies and birthing experiences, and continue their friendship during the hard months after. Ayinde deals with a cheating husband while Kelly's husband lost his job and refuses to get another one. Becky has a mother-in-law that just won't quit and a husband who won't stand up to his mother. Through all of this, there is Lia. A woman from Hollywood who follows Becky around, Lia eventually learns to deal with the death of her 10-week old son, Caleb.

Can these women be true friends? Can they get through their problems? Follow them all as they discover their own indivual crises that present themselves as Little Earthquakes.

@ Home for the Holidays

@ Home for the Holidays
by Meredith Efken
Amazon.com
ISBN: 978-0-373-78570-4

Rosalyn finally gets her due in this second installment of an email-based book. Dulcie, Zelia, Jocelyn, Rosalyn, and Veronica all deal with family, husbands, the holidays, and much more. Their connection is an email group called SAHM I Am. A few of the ladies have a subgroup called Green Eggs and Ham where they go to vent about Rosalyn. But Rosalyn's life isn't all she makes it out to be...her house isn't always perfect and her children need therapy. What's so wrong with admitting the truth? Well, with Veronica's (her sister) help, she does. She is able to humble herself and ask for prayers.

A wonderful and easy read by Efken! :)

The White Cascade

The White Cascade by Gary Krist
Amazon.com
ISBN: 978-0805077056
Reviewed for Armchair Interviews
Rating 3 Stars out of 5


Long before cell phones, before airplanes, or before cars were the common mode of transportation, even before Titanic, there was the great avalanche of 1910 in Wellington, Washington.

Gary Krist takes you on an incredible historical journey of the facts leading up to the avalanche: the weather involved, the men who made the decisions, and the passengers on the train. Each area is crucial to the ending of this tragic event in our American history. Krist is able to tell the story truthfully while being able to make it read like a storybook. The characters come to life on the page and their struggles and feelings are felt by the reader.

The weather had a great deal to do with the deaths of nearly 100 people that day, but certainly responsibility also falls on the superintendent of the Wellington area, James O'Neil. Although all court decisions deemed him free of any wrongdoing, it becomes very clear that O'Neil ignored the passengers on the train that was hovering over a 1,000- foot drop. Granted he was working to clear the tracks and never rested for days at a time, but he failed to meet the basic need of his charges: reassurance.

However, it was very clear by the end of the lawsuits that the railroad had learned its lesson about building track on or around mountains. They found new ways to rebuild the track with less risk to passengers, and also built structures as a means for shelter for the trains during snow season.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. It's not one that I would typically pick up and read but I'm glad I had the opportunity to learn about this point in history. Gary Krist pulled me in and held my attention the entire time. I especially enjoyed reading his personal notes from his research, which are included at the end of The White Cascade.

Armchair Interviews says: Kudos to Gary Krist on a job well done!

Author's Web site: http://home.att.net/~gkrist

WOW! It's spring!

Well, I have been stuck in the house for over a week now....10 days to be exact! I hadn't realized how long it had been since I'd been out of the house or had driven a car until today when I had to go get some medicine. We've had sickness here (from fevers to coughing and back) and we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

But when I went out today...Oh, WOW! It is SPRING! The grass was so beautifully green, there were flowers everywhere and the dogwoods are in full bloom! The temperature was about 76 degrees, there was a gentle breeze, and the sun was shining. Absolutely beautiful!

It was so nice to be reminded of God's handiwork and to know that the world changes constantly, with or without me! ;)

Here's to spring, good weather, and playing outside!

How does Kellie Pickler use her money?

Some may have seen the American Idol show last week when Kellie Pickler made a guest appearance and sang her song. Ryan Seacrest asked her what she'd been spending her money on and she said, "Mostly shoes." Then the camera panned down to her shoes. WELL! It was clearly obvious that she spent her money on MORE than shoes....she had some sort of 'surgery' to enhance her physical appearance...if YKWIM.


I made the mistake of commenting on this in front of my kids (we were all sitting around watching AI) and B asked "What did she spend her money on mom?" I hemmed and hawed for a second and said, "Well, just a surgery to make herself more pretty to some people." Terry said, "Your momma doesn't need that does she...she's got us, right?" And B replied, "Yeah she already had her 2 surgeries to get us!" He was speaking of my C-sections, but it works for me!

My Baby is growing up!

Friday night while eating, B bit his tongue. Well, I thought he did. He came to me crying and holding his mouth and since he bites his tonue all the time, I assumed that is what happened. Well....I calmed him down and told him to swallow his food so he wouldn't choke. Then I told him to sit up so I could look at his tongue. He said, "It wasn't my tongue."

When I asked him what it was, he kinda wiggled his mouth around and said, "This," and spits out a tooth! LOL

It was his first tooth and we didn't even know it was loose. He must have just bit down the right way (or wrong way!) and out it popped. He was a bit scared at first and then I told him about the tooth fairy bringing money for the tooth. That certainly brightened his evening!

But then he asked me, "Mom, is the tooth fairy really real, or do the Mom's and Dad's just do it?"

Love this Cartoon

Thanks to a friend who thought I would enjoy this!

Mentos and Diet Coke

I know we've all seen this, but my family just loves it! :) We goof with this throughout the summer and try to not to get sticky in the process. I'm sure Mentos sales went UP after this, cuz before we couldn't find them anywhere and now they are all over the place! :)

Here are two great video clips:

Extreme Diet Coke Mentos

Ellen Mentos

Enjoy!

The Stork Reality

The Stork Reality by Melena Lott
ISBN: 0-8439-5725-5
Amazon

Malena Lott does a really good job of describing what really happens during pregnancy. It was very true to life and it caused me to remember my days of being pregnant...I was thinking, "Oh, yeah, I remember that!" throughout the entire book. Taylor is constantly battling within herself the idea of staying home after the birth or going back to work. It really proves interesting how Lott handles this very hot topic with many people...she finds a very happy medium that would satisfy most people. And, Taylor goes through labor the 'natural' way....no drugs! I thought it was really interesting that she chose to use this idea for the book...most women would opt for the medication. :) A nice change of pace!

Painting with Oils

We began the process of painting last week. I decided to go ahead and use oils for a couple reasons. One, that is what I use so I'm familiar with it. But most importantly, two, oils stay wet and allow you to blend and mix for a bit which I thought would be helpful. We LOVE Bob Ross and watch his show every week. That is actually where the inspiration to paint on canvas started with B. Well, before we actually started painting we reviewed by watching one of the Joy of Painting shows and focusing on technique. Here are some snapshots of them working and the final works of art.

Ransomed Dreams

Ransomed Dreams by Amy Wallace
CBD.com (Released 4-19-07, pre-order now!)
ISBN: 978-1-59052-747-4
Reviewed for Armchair Interviews
Rating: 4 Stars out of 5

Ransomed Dreams immediately throws us into a tragic scene of death – I had tears just reading the prologue! But quickly, Amy Wallace created a guide-book of sorts to moving on with life. Gracie is moving on after the death of her entire family at the hands of a drunk driver; Steven is moving on after the ‘death’ of his marriage when Angela walked out 5 years ago. Each of them have to deal with the lies they have told themselves all these years – the lies that held them ransomed and kept them from moving on and truly living their lives. Slowly they move towards each other during this process. While they are trying to work through their issues, Steven and Gracie are faced with the twisted minds of two criminals who are also figuring out how to move on with their own lives.

Wallace does a fantastic job of keeping it real. While this book is a fiction and romance book, bad things happen in this book, just as in the real world. The characters offer great examples of how you can wrestle with your beliefs and question why bad things happen without letting it consume you. And the friends/family of these people show how being the gentle voice of reason and a constant spiritual support can bring comfort and help to those who are struggling in their faith. My favorite part was when Gracie is thinking of her parents’ home, she equates the feeling of peace and comfort she receives from this place with chocolate. She calls it: “Heart-chocolate. …what her parents provided without even trying. A safe place. Kind words. Gentle hugs. Happy memories. Hope. The kind of chocolate nourishment that didn’t line her hips and thighs.”

An excellent book and an easy read! I’m ready to read the next in this series about Clint and Sara!

Armchair Interviews says: An excellent book and an easy read.
Author's Web site: http://www.amywallace.com

More Pox!

Well, B now has the chicken Pox! :) He woke up with these 'bumps' on his forehead and asked me to look at them. I did and realized what they were and so I checked his trunk area. Sure enough.....POX! LOL Oh well, at least now we have them out of the way for both boys.

But, it messed up our Valentine's Party for our homeschool group. :( That's a bummer, but we'll survive!

Petticoat Ranch

Petticoat Ranch by Mary Connealy
CBD.com
ISBN: 9781597896474

I absolutely loved this book! Mary Connealy is a very gifted writer both in her use of words and her understanding of human nature...men and women! I laughed, I cried, I was scared...all at different times and sometimes within the same page!

Sophie has basically been living on her own her entire married life. When her husband, Cliff, went to war she took care of herself and her girls. Then when he came back from the war, he was a different person and again, she had to care for her family. She did the 'womans' work and the 'mans' work. Then Cliff was unlawfully hung and she was truly alone with her girls.

Then Clay comes along and she feels she must help him...and then he 'tricks' her into marrying him. Sophie and Clay learn what it's like to mesh to stubborn heads and learn quickly what true give and take is all about.

One thing I truly love about this book, is about the time when you think most people would end the story, Mary continues and tells us even more. What a treat! We get more story and more laughter.

The Break-Up

The Break-Up
Starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn

This movie was rated PG-13, and I personally would have rated it R, simply for use of language. Vaughn's character had a horrible potty mouth and used profanity constantly where it was not needed. (But let's face it...when is profanity really needed?) The story was wonderful and truly funny at times, but it made me mad at the end....no true love, romantic ending here! Only break-up and moving on. How unromantic! LOL I know they have to make movies in Hollywood where the story doesn't come out nicely, but the majority of us in life see enough sadness and heartache that we want the movie to have a happily-ever-after ending.

I like Jennifer Aniston, but I wouldn't watch this movie again.

Rating: 2 1/2 stars out of 5

The Illusionist

The Illusionist
starring Edward Norton and Jessica Biel

WOW! This was an awesome movie. And not one I would probably have picked for myself to watch! (A good friend brought movies over.) It started out a bit slow and took a while to get going. And although we did figure out the ending before we actually got to the end, it was still a fascinating story. And the good guys win in the end, which makes it even better! LOL

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Lady in the Water

The Lady in the Water

This movie if SOOOO stupid! We really thought when watching it that it would be a sort of spooky/thriller type of movie and we actually laughed through most of it! There were parts that made us jump simply because it startled us, but for the most part, we predicted what was going to happen.

And the little wolf/dog creature? Reminded me of the wolf creature from The Neverending Story when I was a kid...they even had some of the same type of scenes, with the creature having red eyes and breathing on a pane of glass. Dumb!

Very poor score: Waste of money, 1/2 star out of 5

It's February!

I can't believe it's February! Wow, where did January go??

We are still working on keeping things clean right now and have (for the moment) postponed anymore decluttering. If I can just keep things clean, keep school progress going, and continue to do the everyday running that has to be done, I think I will be doing good.

We had snow (finally!) but it didn't last long. I really wish we could have a good couple feet of snow so the kids can go out and play...and I can make snow ice cream! LOL Haven't had that in years!

Off to make some lunch and get the little ones down for naps....

An Issue of Modesty

On Saturday, we had such great weather that we decided to wash the van as a family. When we were finished the boys played in their pool till supper time. While they were playing in the pool, someone came to mow the lawn for the house across the street (it is vacant and was being auctioned on Sunday, so they wanted the lawn to look nice.). The girl who came over to do this was wearing a very skimpy bikini top and very very short shorts.

The boys continued to play for the first half hour she was there mowing...she was in their back yard where we couldn't see her. Then she came to the front of the house about the time the boys were getting out of the pool. Brent came over and was sitting in his chair drying off and was watching this lady mow.

He looked at me and (very quietly) asked, "Mom, why is she outside without very many clothes on?"

I explained to him about the word modesty and what it means to be modest and how dressing modestly makes people more comfortable and dressing immodestly makes then uncomfortable.

He says, "She shouldn't be out of her house with only a bra on...she needs to wear a shirt too! Maybe she forgot to get dressed?"

Out of the mouths of babes!

Sonic Commercial Spoof!

I love this commercial spoof about Sonic! It's hilarious and I hope you enjoy it too! (I found this when I was looking for one of Sonic's commercials online after seeing it on TV.)

Sonic

Slowly, but surely

Well, we've got the stuff that has been purged so far taken to the basement. I haven't gotten much cleaning done this week (purging cleaning) as we've been focusing more on schoolwork, which is good. I hope to get back into doing more cleaning of closets and drawers next week, but we'll just have to see how the chicken pox goes!

My next order of cleaning is the front closet. It HAS to be dejunked! LOL Next after that will be my kitchen drawers. Then the boys' closet and then mine. Hopefully after that, I'll be done for a while. My pantry definitely needs some dejunking and some organizing, but it's just too cold out there to stand for that long! :) I barely can stand it to do the laundry.

Oy, laundry! I have not been doing well with my laundry and I will have to do better. Acts of service are T's love language and I really am trying to learn it! I want to do better for him and be a better homemaker, but it's hard! I get so distracted and really have to work hard at keeping on target. (I think that is my biggest issue....I'm beginning to think I have adult ADD sometimes! LOL)

Well, off to see what I can make for supper (was gonna grocery shop today, but there's snow on the ground. Plus with the pox, we can't go out!) and to fold some laundry.

Murmur to self:
I have to do better, I have to do better, I have to do better...

We've Got the Pox!

Well, we've got the Chicken Pox! We've been exposed from the kids at church but both boys have had the vaccine, which I see now is useless! :) C started getting spots last night and has several more this morning. Bless his poor heart, he even has one in his ear! We're putting a cream on it to help with the itching, but he still seems really cranky...which I don't blame him!

B has been praying to not get the pox and I hope he doesn't. He will be the one that is more miserable (and more miserable to live with) with the pox. :)

More later!

Thine the Amen

A series of essays by various authors
ISBN: 978-1932688115
Amazon
Reviewed for ArmchairInterviews

A collection of essays written for the music student or someone who simply loves the history of music in the Lutheran church, Thine the Amen is full of fascinating and educational information. Up to 16 authors are included in this book from Editor Carlos Messerli all the way to Paul Westermeyer and Paul Bouman. All authors give wonderful history lessons behind the music used currently in the Lutheran church, as well as many other denominations, and insight as to what the composers were thinking and feeling during their times of writing. Martin Marty states it well in the foreword, “…it occurred to me that what the readers hold in their hands is not so much a book as a reference library. …not so much to be read as to be used.”

The book is divided into three parts. Part I covers music in the Lutheran Heritage, dating all the way back into the 1500’s. Part II discusses Musical Heritage and Worship in the 21st Century, dealing with choirs, children’s songs, the idea of music being music and not having doctrinal themes, and how passion for music creates new life. A particular essay in this section is a letter written by Paul Bouman to a new church choir director. He offers advice on how to pick music for the choir, how to get the best from the choir while also enjoying the music himself, and finally offers 30 pieces of music that were special to him. Part III is a special essay written by Steven Wente on “The Life and Works of Carl Schalk” whom the book honors.

One thing that I learned from this book was the J.S. Bach composed and wrote music for the Lutheran church. I did not realize that Bach wrote religious music!! One quote I liked from Bach was, “With devotional music God is always present in his grace.”

Armchair Interviews says: Great for music students or those who love to learn about music.

The Potluck Club

by Linda Evans Shephard and Eva Marie Everson
ISBN: 978-0800759841
Amazon
Reviewed for Armchair Interviews


How do you find true friendship that will go the mile? It all starts with recipes and a meal. The Potluck Club meets once a month, for food, fellowship and prayer. What started out with an underlying gossip tone soon turns into a fight for true spirituality for all involved. Evie soon discovers she might have a scandal on her hands. Lisa Leann is trying to take over to soothe her own lonliness. Goldie has to deal with her marriage, which has been failing since the beginning. Donna is bitter about her life. Lizzie is happily married, but has her own secrets. And Vonnie is hiding the biggest secret of all. These women have more to pray about than they ever bargained for when starting this club. But most of all they learn the true meaning of prayer and a healthy relationship with their Heavenly Father. These ladies struggle and deal with life issues, grace, forgiveness, love, and humor, and share their recipes with us along the way!

The Potluck Club is a book I truly cherished. So much of it involved issues that I could relate to, thus causing me to cry or laugh right along with them. The conversations seemed a bit stiff and mechanical, instead of real life talk, but it did not take anything from the story itself. I am thoroughly anticipating the next installment of The Potluck Club and the recipes that will come with it!

Armchair Interviews says: Readers will anticipate the next installment of The Potluck Club and the recipes that will come with it!

The Only Pure Thing

by Patrick Hyde
ISBN: 978-0931761614
Amazon
Reviewed for Armchair Interviews


Set in Washington D.C., we’re immediately taken into the life of lawyer Stuart Clay as he takes on a new murder case and his client, Cleveland Barnes, is a homeless street person accused of murder. What is the deal with Cleveland Barnes? And what is his connection to the mafia? Clay works day and night to find the clues and evidence to free his client and ends up stumbling onto more than he bargained for. Working with his private investigator, Cyndi, Clay unearths details involving several different parties, from mafia ties to Mexican leaders. After a couple of days and a couple more murders, Clay gets his client released…but only to discover another twist! Clay suddenly finds himself tied up somewhere facing the real murderer. Can he figure it all out before he gets himself killed?

I absolutely loved this book! Mystery/crime isn’t normally my genre of choice, but this one had me from the beginning. Hyde jumps right into the story and takes the reader on many different paths to figure out the storyline. I was amazed that the entire book covered only 4 days! So much happened in that 4 days, though, that it made the book very enjoyable. There was a lot of legal jargon that could have been left out, but it was easy enough to skim over without losing anything in the story. Hyde has a knack for being descriptive without being gory, which I appreciated. The murder scenes were told in a way that the reader definitely gets the picture, but isn’t grossed out. Character Stuart Clay is definitely a person I would come back to revisit and reread!

Armchair Interviews says: Good, good read.
Author's Web site: http://www.patrickhyde.com

Shoot From the Lip

by Leann Sweeney
ISBN: 978-0451220172
Amazon
Reviewed for Armchair Interviews


Shoot From the Lip is number 4 in the Yellow Rose Mystery series of books, and you wouldn’t even know you missed anything! Leann Sweeney does a wonderful job capturing the reader from the very beginning and keeping them till the very end. Shoot From the Lip is full of emotions! Anger, sadness, fear, happiness, laughter, joy, and tears…they are all there, and you will feel them along with the characters in this book!

Abby Rose finds herself wrapped in another adoption mystery that has more twists than a pretzel, and she organizes her life around her newest client, Emma Lopez. Emma, the strong sister who has raised her brothers and sister, now leans on Abby as she is plastered across the newspapers and TV because of a mysterious body found under her house. But what will happen when Abby learns that by helping Emma, she has also seriously involved her own family? And what about Jeff, Abby’s boyfriend? Will he be able to help her figure out this mystery? Abby, the police, and the rest of the crew, do a fantastic job of narrowing down the suspects and bringing the guilty one to justice.

I truly enjoyed this book by Ms. Sweeney. There were many times I kept telling myself, “One more chapter, one more chapter…” and then an hour and a half later put the book down! It drew me in and had me almost from the first page. I actually thought I had the mystery figured out, and WHAM! She surprised me with the ending! I would be truly happy to read another of the Yellow Rose Mystery series books. A pleasure!

Armchair Interviews says: This book's a pleasure!

Men Under Construction

by Bob Barnes
ISBN: 978-0736917193
Amazon
Reviewed for Armchair Interviews


In this wonderful devotional book for men, Bob Barnes is able to capture the need men have for living Godly lives, while also maintaining their be-the-tough-man mental state. With simple topics like Remember the Morning Watch, to deeper more internal topics like Anger Management, this book is designed to cover one 2-3 page lesson each day and the reader is able to jump around in the book as he needs. At the end of each lesson, there is a prayer to be prayed to the Lord, an action to be taken by the reader, and daily wisdom for the reader to ponder. Filled with scriptures, quotes and simple stories, this book will help anyone willing to open their mind and heart to the subject matter.

Armchair Interviews says: Filled with scriptures, quotes and simple stories, this book will help anyone willing to open their mind and heart to the subject matter.

Love, Magic, and Mudpies

by Dr. Bernie Siegel
ISBN: 978-1594865541
Amazon
Reviewed for Armchair Interviews


Siegel offers a simple, easy-to-read book for parents on raising children to feel loved. Divided into eight parts, we’re shown how to create family values, show love, be comedians, get creative, use the three R’s, work through rocky roads, encourage a child’s soul, and care for ourselves as well. Each section is then divided into topics—short, two-paged devotional-type messages, starting with a famous quote and ending with a gray box entitled “How to Make the Magic” which offers tips on how to incorporate that topic into your life. This book could easily be a daily reading for a parent, with over 100 topics to work through over the course of a few months.

I really enjoyed working through this book and trying some of the tips and tricks within my own family. I especially like this particular line in the book: “The key ingredient…is love. You cannot consume too much love nor become deficient by giving too much away. …If love makes the bricks out of which you build your life, laughter and humor are the mortar.” Everything in our parenting boils down to love…our discipline, our laughter, and our friendships with our children. How we treat them is how we show our love to and for them. By following the vast array of advice from this book, any parent…any family…would benefit greatly. It’s a nice little handbook for great parenting!

Armchair Interviews says: It's a nice little handbook for great parenting!
Author's Web site: http://www.berniesiegelmd.com

In Every Flower

by Patti Hill
ISBN: 978-0764229398
Amazon
Reviewed for Armchair Interviews


In her third book in the Garden Gate Series, Patti Hill again does a marvelous job capturing the readers’ attention and keeping it till the very end! We enter on the tail end of Mibby’s honeymoon to new husband, Larry, and meander through the crazy journey of blending families. Ky is a teenager, missing his father, and lashing out at all new circumstances, ends up getting himself in trouble. Mibby and Larry find themselves on opposite sides of almost every issue, from Larry’s imposing mother to how to handle Ky’s rebellious attitude. And during all of this, Mibby is finding her first husband, Scott, at every turn…his chair, the flowers he bought her, and Andrea, his daughter from a previous marriage. Mibby again finds strength in her dear friends and in the gardens she tends on a daily basis. She also learns to let go of Scott and relish in the special relationship she has with Larry.

In Every Flower followed the pattern of the first two Garden Gate books: I couldn’t put it down! There are so many ways I connected with Mibby and how she was feeling and dealing with Larry and Ky. What will happen to Mibby, Larry, Ky, Andrea, and Blink in the next Garden Gate book??? Praises to Patti Hill for wrapping us in her wonderful writings!

Armchair Interviews says: Praises to Patti Hill for wrapping us in her wonderful writings!

Dr John Lee's Hormone Balance Made Simple

ISBN: 978-0446694384
Amazon
Reviewed for Armchair Interviews


In Dr. Lee’s final writing before his death in 2003, he collaborates with Virginia Hopkins on a book to give a simplistic approach to hormone balance. The writers start out by giving the reader a basic lesson in hormones: which ones are present, how they work, and what happens when they aren’t working properly. Next, they delve into symptoms of the person with imbalanced hormones followed by testing for hormone imbalance, and finally instruction on using natural hormone replacement therapy. There are a variety of ways to balance your hormones. The writer’s devote several chapters to the individual hormones and their function in the body and the proper ratios of these hormones in relation to each other.

This book would be a perfect place to start for a woman of any age, from child-bearing years all the way through menopause. The best way to determine your need is the symptoms guide, which will allow you to see if you fall into any of the categories that could be benefited by natural hormones. There is so much to be gleaned from Dr. Lee’s books and more people need to know of the natural methods he advocated. I was truly fascinated by the information given in this book, and plan to follow up on it by reading one of Dr. Lee’s other books, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About PreMenopause.

Armchair Interviews says: This book would be a perfect place to start for a woman of any age, from childbearing years all the way through menopause.

A Line Between Friends

by Michele VanOrt Cozzens
ISBN: 978-1932172263
Amazon
Reviewed for Armchair Interviews


Noelle begins the story by telling us about sending Christmas cards out, and a specific one she received from her long-time friend, Joel. Joel has asked her to no longer contact him. The tale unfolds as we are pushed back to their days of high school (where they met) and college. Noelle tries to figure out why Joel would ask her to stop writing to him…after all; they’re just friends, right? Well, we soon see that Joel has a very special place in his heart for Noelle, and he compares every other woman to her. They both date other people and they go their separate ways, but they always end up back with each other. While making friends, moving all over the country, and marrying other people, Joel and Noelle are able to remain friends although many years prior they ‘crossed the line of friendship’, they now had a sexual relationship as well. Noelle’s reaction to Joel’s request for her to no longer contact him is to write a book about their relationship. She becomes famous for this book, and Joel never speaks to her again.

Cozzens’ first book reminds me of a popular teen soap opera show of the nineties…Dawson’s Creek. Two childhood friends who one day cross ‘the line’ and then struggle to have relationships that aren’t compared to their first love. In the end one of them moves on and the other makes a bunch of money exploiting the relationship. It’s your typical ‘friends grow up and grow apart’ story-line and was very easy to read. There is a lot of history in this novel. The time frame goes back to 1977, so there is a lot of political issues and legal issues that are dealt with, along with personal struggles by each of the characters. Even though this wasn’t one of my favorite novels of the year, I can only hope that my first novel is this good!

Armchair Interview says: Good title to attract readers.

A new leaf?

One whole week of cleaning and purging and we're on our way! Hopefully I will be able to keep it this way, but it is lots of work! LOL B empties the dishwasher now every morning...and he's good at it. Of course, he doesn't do the plates/bowls (which he can't reach) or the knives, but everything else he puts away. It's nice to have an empty dishwasher each morning!

C picks up the dirty laundry around the house (what is it about boys that they just drop things where they take them off??) and the trash/junk/empty cups in the bathrom.

It is amazing how much different the house looks with just that little bit of picking up! LOL And since B got his own vaccum cleaner for Christmas, he vaccum's almost every day! And he even vaccum's things that I don't vaccum very often...the couches, under the beds, etc. It's nice! And they have found things we thought were lost forever in the process. LOL

My goal now (for the next few weeks anyway) is to continue doing this and create habits with the few things we've started. Then I will add more stuff (for a few weeks) and create more habits. It's a long process. It didn't get this way over night, and it won't fix itself over night.

Street-Racing in my Kitchen!

While waiting for dinner to finish cooking, I sat down to look through that days' mail. The boys were just playing with their cars (from the Cars movie) and began running them on the kitchen floor. Well, this progressed into racing with the cars. The started at one side of the kitchen and raced the cars individually across the floor to see which one could be 'zoomed' the farthest. The would see who won, then crab crawl (don't ask me why they did it that way) across the floor to the other side and start the whole process over again in the reverse direction! They were laughing and screaming and having a grand time! For the next 45 minutes this continued and when I called them for supper they didn't want to stop. Unfortunately, one of the 10-12 cars they were using went really crazy and drove under the oven! (Of course, it was the cars fault, not theirs! LOL).

Catching up...

I haven't posted here in a while (because of troubles with the site loading and locking up) and want to come back, since it really seems to be the most user friendly! :)

I will be posting regularly again soon (hopefully) so that friends and family can see what is going on with us!

More later!

Playing Church

This afternoon while I was making lunch, I was listening to the boys play. I just love to listen to them play church, and this was their current activity. B was the song leader, which made C the preacher and the person who would pray. Well, B led several songs, all with a Christmas tune, but with his own made-up words. Then he said they would have one more song and then the lesson.
When C got up to do the lesson, B quickly reminded him, "Remember, it's Wednesday so keep it short!"
Here was the gist of C's lesson: "The other day, Vindy and Conner and I went hunting. And there was blood but we did good. Want to thank you for paying attention today, we'll have a song and a prayer. God bless you today." ('Vindy and Conner' just happen to be our minister's wife and son, whom he uses in illustrations occassionally. The rest is almost verbatim of what our dear ministers says every Sunday!)
Well, B got up and led one more song and then C had the closing prayer. Then for the next 2 minutes, they walked around the living room, shaking each other's hands, hugging pretend people and saying, "Oh, how are you!?" or "It's so good to see you tonight." or some other platitude.
It really cracked me up! To them, that is church. That is what they see. It is always so amazing to me how much they take in when we're not aware of what they see.

I have an idea....

The following conversation took place in our schoolroom on Wednesday....totally cracked me up!


B: Hey, C, I have a great idea for a game. Why don't you hold your breath till I count to 88?

C: Sure brother, that sounds like a great idea!!

B: Okay, ready GO! 1, 2, 3, 4, ......86, 87, 88! Okay you can breathe!

C: Haha! I tricked you! I was breathing the whole time and you couldn't tell!!


B is my Mr. Command and C is my Mr. Visionary/Mr. Steady. C is willing to go along with most any idea and is very compliant. One of these days, he'll turn the tables!

Counting Blessings

Last night we were at a gymnastics makeup class and so I was therefore sitting with some moms that I don't see very often. Most of them happened to be teachers so they were talking about the new year and how they can't believe that 1st quarter is almost up and so on.

They began talking about how busy their schedules have been and how they don't ever get home until 8 or 9 at night and then have ot help their children with homework and such. One teacher was talking about how the kids in her class seemed to be so tired...even to the point of falling asleep in class. She said that one little boy was sliding out of his chair and another little girl kept sleeping on her arms. They were laughing at these poor kids falling asleep in class! I casually asked what grade she taught....1st. She went on to say that she can't get too mad at the parents for not getting the kids enough rest, when her own don't get to go to bed until 11 or midnight each night due to homework.

I just sat there feeling so thankful that I had a husband who supported the idea of homeschooling so that this wouldn't be an issue for our boys. I couldn't imagine (for one thing) getting the note from the teacher saying, "Your child fell asleep in class today." And for another, can't imagine the embarrassment that poor child had to go through for falling asleep.

Thank you, Lord, for a supportive husband! :)

When it's good, it's good...

Well, we've been getting back in the swing of school over the last few weeks, but I must admit: The lack of schedule has been my fault. We've been running like crazy around here and it has made school very difficult to get to. However, we are getting on track. And this week is no exception.

We started this week very slowly, but I have been determined to get everything done that I had slated for each day. So far so good. Brent is willing to work and wants to make it through first grade, so he is working hard.

And I LOVE my new software that I've been using to track our progress. Edu-Track has been a wonderful addition to our schooling. Brent finishes his work for each day and leaves it on my desk. And during naptime, I grade it and input it into the software, which tallies everything for me. It couldn't be simpler! Well, it might be. The only way it would be a bit easier is if I could put the lessons in for a couple weeks at a time and then I'd only have to input the grade for each assignment. This is highly doable with this software, just not with my schedule. I never know from one day or week to the next how much we'll get done. Anyway, I love it. I truly hope someone who reads this will give it a try.

Next I just have to get Clayton interested in doing schoolwork. But he's only 4 and is just much to wiggly to sit still for anything like school. :) But he tries. He loves to cut paper and draw, so that is a start. He has a TON of time before it even becomes an issue.

Cheers! And Happy Tuesday!

My Money Got Wet

Last night we went to wash our big blankets and pillows at the laundrymat, since we don't like doing this with our washer/dryer at home. Before we leave the house, C realizes he has pockets and wants some money for them. So Terry gave hime some pennies. Anyway, after we were finished we still had to eat supper and, being in the small town we're in, there wasn't much open. So we decided to eat mexican at El Torero. Well, while we were waiting for our food to come, C takes a drink of his soda and tips the cup instead of pulling it down beside himself and keeping it upright. (It's one of those styrofoam cups with a lid that leaks out the hole the straw is in when turn on it's side.)

The cup leaks and we hand him napkins to wipe up the mess and he says, "Oh no..my money got wet in my pocket!"

Terry looks at him, grins, and says, "That's okay....money can be laundered too!"

Hummer Life

It is truly fascinating to me to watch hummingbirds. We finally have a feeder up this year and have spent several hours outdoors watching them feed and fight and play and feed some more. I would venture to say that we have at least 4 who frequent our feeder, but the information I've been reading says that you can take whatever number you see all at once and multiply it by 4 and that is the number you actually have using your feeder. Wow!

We enjoy especially the evenings, cuz that is when the male is the most territorial. He will swoop down and fight off any other hummer that even comes near 'his' feeder. It's so funny to watch cuz the other hummers don't give up...they just keep coming back for more thumpings from him. :)

Last night I saw 2 females around the feeder and it truly looked like they were dancing with each other. There was one on either side of the 4-sided feeder and they would mirror each others movements. When one would drink, the other would drink from the hole opposite her. When one would go left, the other would follow suit. And so on. Truly amazing.

Yesterday afternoon, I was out on the porch reading a book and the hummers were playing as usual. Well, all of a sudden this one comes extremely close to me and starts flying right behind my book! I just sit there very still, cuz I could feel his wings moving the air across my legs. I also knew that if I moved I might scare him away, and they are very comfortable now with us being around so I didn't want to jeapordize that. Anyway, he flew around me a bit, just looking at me and then abruptly flew away. That's when I realized...the outside cover of my book was bright PINK! He was attracted to my book color, looking for a food source! :)

I did a bit of looking online this morning and wanted to share this link:
http://www.hummingbirds.net/index.html

This page describes much about the type of hummers we have here, the Ruby Throated:
http://www.hummingbirds.net/rubythroated.html

Please take a moment and look at the beautiful creatures. If you have any in your area, get a feeder and then sit back and enjoy them!

The Woes of Night Terrors!

I was just about asleep last night when I hear this weird noise. It almost sounds like an animal making a weird noise. Then I realize it's C crying like he's mad...almost screaming. We've been dealing with night terrors with him for quite a while now, but we haven't had one in a few weeks...and certainly nothing like this.

He was standing by his bed stomping on his blanket (apparently it had gotten around his feet in his struggle to get out of bed) and was screaming this deep throated scream, like he was mad at someone. Then he starts angrily going around his room trying to pick toys up and not being able to (they were too heavy in his 'dream'?) and wouldn't let me touch him. Every time he tried to pick up a toy or I tried to touch him to calm him down, he just scream more and went another direction. Then he starts saying, "Aunt Darlene" or "Aunt Donna" but wouldn't say anymore than that.

Well, I see T walk past the bedroom on his way to bed. I can normally handle these episodes on my own, so this isn't out of the ordinary. But then C heads over to the step-ladder we built for their bunk beds and proceeds to climb them. I started to follow him over there, but he was fast enough I couldn't get to them before he got to the top and started walking towards the edge of B's bed. So I went to the front....he chose to go back to the stairs, which made me more nervouse...cuz I couldn't get there fast enough if he started to fall. So I called T and told him I needed help....

By the time T got in there, C had come down the steps and walked right to his daddy like nothing was happening.... They went back in our bedroom and started talking. T asked him if he had a bad dream...C said it was about an airplane that wouldn't get away from him. He said he didn't have anyone else in his dream except Daddy so who knows about the Aunt connection!

Anyway, a few minutes later he just climbed down and said he needed to go back to his room for a while. T followed him in there and he just crawled back in bed and went to sleep. We didn't hear another peep all night.

Like I said, these terrors aren't new to me, they just seem to be getting a little worse as time goes on and I dont' know what to do with it. There is no cure from everything I've read....people say most kids just outgrow them. Guess we'll see.

Hard Lessons of Life

Hard lessons are being learned around our house this week! We've been working on B's attitude and 'hmphing' when told to do something he doesn't want to do. It's been a building frustration with T and I and we've talked endlessly about what to do. We've tried talking with B about it and explaining how we want him to act and how disrespectful it is to act the way he's been acting.

Well, it all came to a head last night. I was outside grilling supper and the boys were outside playing too. A neighbor boy was playing in his yard and they all started to play together. Then B and C decided they both wanted to be the 'fixer' and each picked up a toy wrench. Well, C had the one that B wanted and he tried to take it from him. C screamed no and said it was his. I interfered and told C to stop screaming and use words...so he did. Said, "No brother, I had it first." Well, B was not satisfied with this so he proceded to get in C's face and scream at him at the top of his lungs with red face and clenched teeth, "I said give it to me....I want it...Give it to me NOW!" Well, this again got my immediate attention and I was so aggravated (and okay, embarrassed) by the whole thing. See, the little neighbor boys dad came out and I told him his son was fine and minding his own business...it was the boys fighting.

So, I had B sit in a chair till I could calm down and then we had a talk. We discussed selfishness, treating others the way we want to be treated, how it makes God sad when we treat people bad, and many other things. But it just didn't seem to be truly getting through to him. I thought of spanking him, but realized at this point it wouldn't work either. So I told him that he was finished playing outside for the evening and he was to go inside and sit on the couch and think about what we had discussed. No toys, no tv, no nothing....just thinking. He was very sad but went in anyway.

A bit later (maybe 10 minutes) I went in to get sauce and he said, "Mom, I thought of two things." He proceeded to tell me these two things: That C had the wrench he needed, and he wanted it. I told him that didn't even begin to talk about selfishness and treating his brother with love. He asked, "but can I come outside again since it has been a while?" I said, "No, I told you that you were done for the evening. That means you dont' get to go outside at all again tonight...this is a punishment...a consequence for your actions. Punishments aren't supposed to be fun...they are supposed to make you think about what you did wrong." Then I went back outside and I could hear him crying from the porch.

Well, before supper, I talked to him again and had him tell me everything that went wrong outside and what he could have done differently, and what it means to be selfish. We also discussed that he's been ignoring T and me and not obeying and wanting to only do what B wants to do no matter who's feelings it hurts. And how sad it makes us when he's disrepectful to us. He just burst into tears and hugged me for the longest time.

We had supper and discussed it a bit more when he'd ask a question. But I also told him that it has become a habit to act the way he has and that a habit is very hard to break. So I told him that he may be in extra trouble for a little while cuz we're gonna stop this bad habit no matter what it takes. So far so good. We've had a couple instances this morning and he's handled them well....getting sort of sad, but I can also tell by looking in his eyes that he knows he wrong and that I'm trying to help him.

Such a hard lesson and so exhausting (to all of us) in the process!

(My) Kids are so Hard to Figure!!!

C doesn't like scary shows. He runs from Star Wars, even though he's quite proficient with the LightSaber. A movie like Star Wars for a 3 year old...scary? Yes. However, he hides his face during Lion King, Bambi, and the fight scenes on Tom and Jerry...he says they are scary and bad for him.

B on the other hand, loves all of that. Star Wars is his new favorite movie. Everything he sees (whether true or not) he says, "I saw that on Star Wars."

Here's the weird part: The other day they asked to watch the Wizard of Oz.....I was a bit concerned it was truly too scary for them, so I told them the story of it first and asked if they thought that would be too scary. They assured me it wouldn't so we watched it. Throughout the movie, C kept hiding his face in the couch and peeking through his hands...but he never ran to his room (or the hallway to peek around the corner, as he has done with Star Wars). When the movie was over, C looked at me and said, "Mom, I made it through the whole movie and it wasn't scary...I liked it!" Brent, in a very quiet voice, says, "I didn't like it...I thought it was way to scary for us to be watching."

Go figure!!! :)

It's official!

Brent is now in 1st grade! He is so excited. We are going to go over the questions on his test that he got wrong and I will be organizing the 1st grade stuff into a schedule of some sort! :)

New Group...

I have started a new Yahoo Group for members of the church of Christ who are stay at home moms.....I am very excited about this new venture. I hope it will be an encouragement to me and mostly an encouragement to others on the loop.

1st Grade!!!

We finished Kindergarten yesterday!!! :) Brent is so happy. We will be doing the final testing this weekend and that means he starts 1st grade on Monday!!

His main question to me was this: "So, mom, now that I'm in 1st grade, when we got to church which Bible class will I be in: Kindergarten or First Grade Bible class?" :)

Happy Mohter's Day

Mother's day is coming soon, don't forget your mother!!!

Been a while...Update

Hello to all....It's been awhile since our last update...since February I see! Wow, time has flown!

Brent is now 5 and we are planning his big birthday party for this Saturday. We are working very hard to get the house ready....it's been a disaster for awhile while we've been working on getting the schoolroom ready for school!

We recently attended the SHEM convention in Springfield and had fun. We learned alot, mostly that we belive Clayton to be dyslexic. We're still doing more research and learning, but our communication has changed with him and he already seems to be doing better.

We now have a schoolroom!!! We have gotten a new computer and moved the desk into the spare bedroom. Brent and Clayton both have desks where they can do 'schoolwork'. Brent does his bookwork and Clayton colors and cuts. Brent is almost in the 1st grade....a few more days and then the big Readiness Test. He is so excited! We already have 1st grade books in place and are ready to go!

Better close now. So much to do and so little time! The picture of flowers that I added above is just a gentle reminder that Spring is here and Summer is not far behind!
A

PaperBackSwap

Does anybody like to read? Have you checked out PaperBackSwap.com? It is awesome! If you sign up, be sure to let them know who referred you!

Is it Winter or Spring?

Just have to ask! Our weather here is so completely messed up! Yesterday it was freezing cold and today it is warm and windy. The trees are even confused...they are starting to bud out already and it isn't even February!!! However, the wind has blown in like it is March. Who knows!!!
What's it like where you are?

My Favorite Color Is...

Brent informed me yesterday that his favorite color is no longer blue, but is now red! He asked me if my favorite color is still green and I said yes. (when they divvy up toys or pieces of a toy, brent is always sure to give me the green pieces cuz, he says, it's my favorite!) B's fav color has been blue for a very long time and was orange before that. He doesn't change all that often, but is always sure to tell me when he does!

What is your favorite color?

More Christmas Pics!

While at Janice's for Christmas, we (of course) took lots of pictures. These below are just a few that I think are the best.
The one with the cup in his face is Clayton...he seemed to always be drinking or eating something that weekend! We also took some shots of all the cousins together for Janice...been working on that now for 2 years! Maybe this year we got one that will turn out!

Christmas Happenings!

Wanted to update you all on our Christmas and upload some pics for you to see. Everything has gone digital, so I figured this was the best way to share our memories!

Before the big day, the boys got a special visit from Santa who brought them a new barn to play with. They absolutely love it. Of course, it was from grandpa and grandma, but the boys don't know it.


Then, Christmas Eve Santa stopped by Grandma Janice's house to deliver their presents. They were so excited to have Santa in the same room with them and hand delivering their gifts. They even gave Santa some of the monster cookies we made for him. (Thank you Uncle Dennis for dressing up in the HOT suit!) They had so much fun opening their presents from Santa and having Daddy set up the Thomas Train set Clayton got!


Sorry I have been so slow on the uptake with this! Between illness and just trying to get back in the groove of normal life, I just got the pics loaded on to the computer the other day!

Fixed some things...

Hey all...just wanted to post that I fixed something I didn't know what wrong! I know, that sounds funny... I didn't realize that I had it set where you couldn't post a comment on here. Sorry about that! I have fixed the problem and you may now post comments!

A

Trials of Learning

We have been having a really hard time with Clayton learning how to do any little task. He actually told Terry last night that he doesnt' know how to learn. Really discouraging to us, cuz we're working really hard lately to teach the boys how to work and be hard workers when they work. We don't want them to be lazy. But oftentimes, Clayton will start out picking things up or working with us and then trail off and play when he doesn't know how to do a particular job.

Terry and I were talking about it last night, trying to gain insight and collect ideas on what we could do to help C through this hump and help him to learn. We have been so used to Brent's style of learning where we can just explain to him how to do something or show him one time, and he's got it and can do it from that point on. However, with C that doesnt' work. And he gets so frustrated that he just cries...and you can see it on his face that it truly upsets him that he physically cannot do many of the things we expect of him. Anyway, after talking we have decided to try actually holding his hands during a learning process and moving his hands through the motions. This worked very well with overcoming the frustrations of the spoon at the table....the food would fall off his spoon or he couldn't even get it on there to begin with and he would just give up eating all together for that meal. We finally had to physically manipulate his hands and put our hands on his and show him how to use one hand to hold the spoon and the other hand (or finger) to push the food onto his spooon. That worked well, but even now there are times he starts to get upset cuz his 'food won't work' and we remind him again (verbally this time) how to push the food on with his other hand. And again, it's like a lightbulb flashes in his brain, and he says, "Oh, yeah...I forgot."

So that brings me to today...folding laundry. I have started the chore of them folding their own laundry and putting it away. I'm always there to sort it and surpervise, but they do the folding. Today it took us almost an hour to fold one basket, but it is worth it in the long run I know! But C was doing okay with folding his pants, but when it came to his shirts he almost had a meltdown. Well, I did what Terry and I discussed last night and took his hands and arranged the shirt the way I wanted him to hold it, and together we folded the shirt while I gave verbal instructions. Luckily, he had about 15 shirts to fold in total and so he got lots of practice. However, he was still struggling even up to the end and I was still holding his hands and helping him do it.

This is very hard for me....it takes so much more time than what I think it should and I know that God is teaching me a tremendous amount of patience, both with Clayton and with myself, through all of these trials of learning.

Back in the Groove....

There has to be a way to start the new year without being so exhausted! It seems like every year we say we're going to not do so much around the holidays, and then every year we end up extremely busy. Seems unending...but I know it really is a matter of us just saying no to things and people.

Well, hear we are again trying to get back in the groove of school and housework. So hard....since we're so tired and fighting colds. But we'll make it. Slowly we're getting the school room into shape and then we'll be doing all school work in there, which will help clear out some clutter in the dining and living rooms.

Is anyone else having trouble getting back in the groove? Any tips to share on how to make it go smoother? Am willing to listen to any suggestions!

One Week Away!!

I can't believe that Christmas is only a little over a week away!! We are so pleased this year that we finally get to celebrate Christmas morning here at home with the boys! Of course, we will go and see extended family later that day, but we will begin our day at home. The boys are excited to make cookies for Santa and the idea of waking up to presents the next morning. They have both been constantly telling every Santa we see what they want. Clayton saw someone yesterday in the store with a Santa hat on and called him Santa. I love this age and this time with my boys!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

What do we teach our Children?

Yesterday at Tuesday School when I went to pick the boys up, there was a discussion going on about what we teach our children about Santa. There are some there at church that allow and encourage their children to believe in Santa. There are others, that feel they are lying to their children if they do that and tell them that there is no Santa and that parents buy the presents. Now these children are slightly older than or the same age as my boys and are telling the boys that Santa isn't real...which in turn causes them to come home and ask questions about Santa's reality. When B asked me yesterday, I just turned the question on him and asked what he thought...did he think Santa was real? He said he did, so I told him that maybe he needed to ignore the kids that were saying these things.


So, my questions are: Are we lying to them when we allow them to believe in Santa? I look at it as being a fun part of the season and don't see a problem with it. However, the thoughts are there now.

Tell Santa what you want....

We went to a Parents as Teachers function last night and the boys got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted. Neither of them were shy at all! They told santa over and over what they wanted. Brent told Santa that we were going to leave him cookies and milk and wanted to know what kind he liked. Would plain cookies be alright? Of course, Santa said yes, but then Clayton piped in and told him to make sure he washed his hands before he ate the cookies and milk. Santa got awfully tickled at the boys and told us of another girl who was there earlier in the night. She told him that last year when he ate his cookies and milk he left a huge mess in their kitchen and she and her mom didn't appreciate it and could he please be more careful this year and not make a big mess. Apparently, her dad was standing there and heard all of it and was laughing his head off! Of course, it was dad who ate the cookies last year and made the huge mess, but the girl naturally blamed Santa!

Merry Christmas!

By the way....This guy is local and makes a great Santa, don't you think??

Our Tree 2005

Just wanted to share a pic of our tree for this year...the boys were so excited to put it up and did a really good job helping with the ornamets. Of course, with their help all the ornaments ended up on the bottom 1/3 of the tree, so I went back and moved some so the cat wouldn't have a hay day with them. Enjoy!

Bunk Beds!!!

Saturday, we rearranged a little bit! We decided to turn the spare bedroom into a school room, because school stuff is taking over the dining room and living room! Anyway, that meant the boys would need a different bed setup...so we decided to bunk them. They are so excited. We worked most of the afternoon and evening and finally got it all done. Then Sunday we built some stairs for the top bunk (cuz brent was having a hard time getting to his bed). I've added some pictures. The boys are so excited. The next step is to clean out the spare room and set up their desks for school. There is so much to do, but we are all very happy with the results we've had so far. Brent said yesterday when we got home from Tuesday school, "Tuesday school is fun to go to, but home is even more fun to go to." Gotta love it!

New Game

Brent began the learning of checkers last night. He was thrilled to be taught, but got tired quickly. His favorite part was being crowned and getting to be king. We may have confused him some ...trying to explain strategy and all, but he handled it really well. Considering that the age that is appropriate for that game is 9, he played well. He enjoyed jumping dad's pieces and getting 'quarters'...what he called the pieces.

On sunday night before bed, we taugth them pick up stix. They really enjoyed that game. Clayton even got into that one....he got the black stick, which you can use to pull out the stick you want next so it's not touching the others. Clayton picked up on pick up stix quickly. But then again, so did Brent. He figured that since clayton got the black stick to use, he'd just use his fingers to do the same thing. Clever boys!

All for now!

A New Week

Wanted to give all an update on our upcoming week! It's another busy one, but we'll manage like we always do. Today, this afternoon, I will be filling in for Diana at Slender Lady. She will be back from California tomorrow, but back to work on Thursday. Anyway, today I'm working from 230 til 7, and then tommorrow morning from 7 to 830. The boys will go with me...will be a long day for them, but they will manage. They like it there. Terry is hoping to get off early enough to come pick them up and take them home to start dinner. :)

Tommorrow after I finish work, the boys have Tuesday School, then tomorrow evening we have a Parents as Teachers activity. Thursday is gymnastics and then Thursday night mom and dad will be here for the weekend.

That fills us up for the next few days! I probably won't be online much but will try to keep up the blog and answer emails as much as possible.

Better go for now...Clayton just climbed on the couch by the coffee table and knocked off a coffee cup...with coffee in it! He came running to me saying, "I'm so sorry mommy...I didn't mean to!"

Enjoy your week and God bless!
Amanda

wanted to share one of my pics from the botanical gardens! the boys will be going to hannah's tonight for the weekend. they will be going to the pumpkin patch and having some fun.

brent fell last night in gymnastics and hurt his wrist. apparently he was doing a handstand and his arm buckled underneath him. the teacher said she heard it pop, and he just laid on the mat and screamed. anyway, they iced it and although he said it was still sore after class, there was no bruising or swelling. and this morning he is playing just like nothing happened. hasn't complained once of pain or soreness. will watch it and let hannah know so they will watch too. but i'm sure it will be fine.

not sure what we will do this weekend with the boys gone. tg's fall picnic is tomorrow so we will most likely go there for a while. but i told terry that we have never had a weekend where we could do nothing while the boys are gone. so i told him last night i wanted to just do a couple things and then watch football all day! it will be our only day the whole season to do nothing but watch football. then sunday we will visit another church and pick the boys up in the afternoon.

nothing much else to say. hope you all have a good weekend. will send more pictures next week of our vacation. love to all!

Is that a chicken house??

We were driving across town the other day...going to gymnastics, i think....and we drove past some people putting up a metal building in their back yard. brent popped out with, 'hey mom, it looks like they are building a chicken house like we did. but i don't see any chickens.' what a creative mind....now all metal buildings are going to be chicken houses to him! just thought i would share.

aj

Family update

We are doing well....trying to get life back to normal. However, I'm also trying to figure out what 'normal' is anymore! We try everyday to do school, but some days we just play games and read books and call that school. For now I know that is okay, but we will have to get more organized and scheduled before too long.

We are looking for a new congregation to worship with. That is going very slowly as we've not been home much to visit other churches. But we have some time and are doing what we can. It just feels a bit weird to not have a 'home' church right now. As a friends recently put it, we are nomads.

Terry just started back to work after a week off...it looks to be a long few weeks as everyone else is trying to get vacations as well.

I have been working out at an exercise place in here in Perryville and loving it. I'm out of the habit right now, since we've been gone, but am trying to get back into it this week. I'm not sure how much I"ve lost recently, but I'm continuing to exercise and just remain positive about it all.

Brent is now 4 1/2, going on 15. Somedays he is so much of a little boy, and other days he has so much teenager in him, it's hard to deal with. He asks questions of us that I wouldn't think a 4 year-old would think to ask, let alone understand the answer. Every night when they go to bed he wants to have a talk with one of us. The questions/conversations range from "What makes engines work?" to "How do we get electricity?" to "What are germs and how do they make us sick?" That is just the tip of the iceberg. We try to answer everything honestly and do the best we can to help him understand.

Clayton is growing like crazy...mostly in height! Now that we have his anemia fixed he seems to be more like the boy we had when he was a baby....up early, full of energy, and a cutup! He tries to do 'school' with me and Brent...and we are taking it slowly. He struggles with sitting still for more than 2 minutes and would rather play with me than sit and do workbooks....even one page. But we continue to play games and use every non-school method I can think of to help him learn. He is picking up on many of the math concepts we've been working on with Brent, he just doesn't show it as openly as Brent does.

Well, better sign off for now. Will try to keep this up more consistently to keep everyone informed on how we are doing.

Love, the Schafer's