Bragging On My Daughter

Please indulge me this little session of bragging on my oldest daughter, Rebecca...

Western Michigan University, together with Northwestern University, conducts a program for middle and high school students who qualify to take courses in either math or language arts.  To qualify, a student must be nominated, take either the SAT or ACT college entrance exam, and then score a minimum amount in one of the tested areas on the chosen exam.

Rebecca took the SAT last year and did very well for an 11-year-old sixth grader.  She did not qualify for the program, but we were all very impressed with her scores.

Rebecca took the SAT test once again this year, in January.  In addition to trying to qualify for the program once again, we wanted her to take so we had another piece of documentation that she is progressing educationally.  I suppose that is just a bit of homeschool paranoia on our part.

We just received her scores this week, and I am happy to say that she improved in two of the three tested areas.  Her Critical Reading score improved from a 470 to a 510.  Her Math score improved from a 400 to a 500 and her Writing score stayed the same at 480.

It will be another month before we hear if she qualified for the program, but we are very proud of how she did.  I'm sure the fact that she had already taken the test once helped in part, but I would like to think that she has also learned a lot over the last year too!  On a more sobering note, her scores placed her near the middle of the pack for all students taking the test nationwide - including college-bound juniors and seniors.

 Rebecca at work

Rebecca at play

Kids' Week Books, February 26, 2010

Rebecca

February 26, 2010

Outside my window…its snowing and blowing.
Inside the house…it is fairly clean, TJ is downstairs and Linden is napping.
I am wearing…my white cami under an orange shirt with blue jeans.
I am thankful that…my grandparents could come up for a while and that friends are coming over tomorrow.
I am hearing…typing, sniffling, music from toys, and my pencil writing.
I am thinking…about how cute and funny friends’ kids are and how funny Linden looks after a nap.
I am going…downstairs to do my Bible reading and to church on Sunday.
I am reading…Joshua, Romans, Brother Andrew, and The Hiding Place.
I am hoping…that school goes well and my sinus problems will go away.
I am remembering…how much fun we had while Grandma and Pappaw were up here.
From school this week…I only did two days worth; Climate in Science, number sentences in Algebra and Civilizations in History.
One of my favorite things…to do is crochet.  I love how it feels while I make it and what it looks like when it’s done.
A few plans for next week…school, cleaning, more school, more cleaning, piano lessons, church, and crafts.

Timothy

February 26, 2010

Outside my window…it’s snowing.
Inside the house…It’s pretty clean.
I am wearing…a t-shirt and pants.
I am thankful that…we have friends.
I am hearing…the toilet flush.
I am thinking…about tomorrow.
I am going…to play soccer.
I am reading…Ecclesiastes.
I am hoping…it will snow more.
I am remembering…Super Bowl 1.
From school this week…I learned stuff.
One of my favorite things…Is snow.
A few plans for next week…are school and snow.

I Believe - My Ministry (Day 5)

5.  I believe that my children have free will.

I struggled with whether or not to include this believe.  It doesn't really fit in with the others, but I really felt the need to state this belief.  To some that I have met, this is as controversial as my submission paragraph (My Calling - Day 4) is to others.  However, I really need to say this.

I know very Godly parents who are in church every time the doors are open with their children.  They have Godly homes and strive with their actions to glorify God.  They have instructed their children, prayed for their children, disciplined their children, and modeled Godly living for their children.  Yest, they have a child who refuses to accept God or walk in the Lord.  I know that these parents grieve for their wandering children and my heart aches for them.  However, in the end, we cannot accept God's gifts for our children.  They must choose to do that for themselves.

I Believe - My Ministry (Day 4)

4.  I believe that I must be willing to give up my children.

Hannah was barren for years and prayed fervently for a child (1 Samuel 1).  She promised the Lord that if He would give her a son, she would give him back to the Lord.  When the Lord answered her prayer and allowed Hannah to deliver a healthy son, Samuel, Hannah was faithful to see her promise through.  She kept Samuel until he was weaned and then delivered him to the Temple where she left him to be raised among the priests.  While she loved this little boy with all her heart and had prayed desperately for him, she knew that God wanted him to be raised in the Temple and so she did not stand in the way.  How hard that must have been for her to leave her little boy behind, knowing that she would only see him once a year.

My children are not my own, they are merely on loan to me from God.  One day, God willing, they will grow up, move on, and start lives of their own independent of my daily instruction.  I believe that I must take full advantage of each day I have with my children to instill Godly principles in them.  However, I must also remember that they were not given to me to fulfill my plans, but God's plans.  And, whatever God has planned for them, I must be willing to let go of my children and trust that God's plan is best.

I Believe - My Ministry (Day 3)

3.  I believe that I must discipline my children.

"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth..."  (Hebrews 12:6)  When I go astray, God corrects me because He loves me and wants to guide me back to the right path.  Our love for our children should also extend into this area.  Regardless of the word you use - reproof, correction, rebuke, discipline - it all adds up to the same thing.  I believe that I am responsible for teaching my children that their actions have consequences and that choosing to disobey authority will result in consequences that are less than enjoyable.

Of course, I don't believe that discipline is the mere handing out of punishment.  I also believe that I should not discipline my children in anger or with the intent to cause them harm.  True Biblical discipline is merely an extension of my responsibility to instruct my children that God expects obedience from them.  They are instructed in the Bible to obey God, their parents, and other authority figures.  Therefore, I must first teach them that obedience is expected.  When disobedience occurs (and it will happen, after all, they are only human), I must remind them that they were disobedient and that repentance is in order.  By reinforcing the principles of obedience and repentance when I discipline my children, I believe that each opportunity for correction can help them mature and grow in God's will.

I Believe - My Ministry (Day 2)

2.  I believe that I must pray for my children.

In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul instructed believes to "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made knows unto God." (Philippians 4:6)  Time and again in Scripture we are reminded to turn our worries and concerns about all things over to God in prayer.

Who is better situated to intercede before God on behalf of my children than me?  Every day, I need to pray for my children and their present day needs.  I also believe that I need to pray for their future needs as well.  My prayers for my children also need to focus on opening their hearts to God and his gift of salvation, their maturing and growing up in a manner that glorifies God, their willingness to obey God's will for their lives, and their future spouses and children.

I Believe - My Ministry (Day 1)

While my most important job here on Earth is to be a helpmeet for my husband (I Believe - My Calling), I believe that my most important ministry is that of raising my children.  That's right, I believe that my primary mission field is right here in my own home.  Before I turn my focus to matters outside, I believe I must pour my energy and efforts into the little souls on loan to me from God.

1.  I believe that I must teach my children.

I believe that the Bible is very clear on this point.  There are numerous verses which instruct mothers to train up their children and to instruct their children in God's commands and laws.  One of the first commands that might come to mind is, "Train up a child in the way he should go:  and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6).

Let me be brutally honest here.  If there is one area that I was lax in when I first because a parent, this was it.  I relied too heavily on the church and school to train my children.  While these can both be excellent supports for my efforts, I am convinced now more than ever that I am to be the primary resource for my children when it comes to the things that God wants them to know.  For my daughters, that means life lessons on modesty, hospitality and keeping their homes, being a Godly wife and mother, and numerous other topics.  Being honest once again, I tend to rely on my husband to instruct my son in various areas of life which I had never really concentrated.  I am referring to Proverbs 31:1.  Of course, most Christian women are familiar with verses 10-31 of this chapter, as they set forth the qualities of a virtuous woman.  What really caught my attention in this reading was that this description of a virtuous woman was being recited to a son, by his MOTHER. That's right, I believe that it is my responsibility to guide my son when it comes to women and, especially the type of woman he should marry.

This teaching can be both direct and indirect to be effective.  I can directly teach Bible truths to my children in the form of Bible studies, devotionals, and lessons in our homeschool Bible classes.  I also need to remember that my children learn as much from me when I am not teaching them as when I am teaching them.  In other words, they are always watching and learning from me, even when I am not actively trying to teach them anything.  Therefore, I must make it a point to model Biblical behavior at all times.

Stuff I Like…The Oh-My-Goodness-Has-It-Been-Two-Weeks Edition

Wow…I have really, really, really fallen behind in blogging lately.  I blame this blog.

For a while, I was maintaining two blogs that were virtual carbon copies.  Since I posted exactly the same thing on both blogs, this blog didn’t take any extra time or energy.  Recently, due to a combination of guilt and divergent interests, I decided to change the format of this blog so it included posts that are different than the posts on my other blog.    Those of you out there with more than one child may be able to relate to this.  Remember when your second (or third, or fourth, or…) came along.  That new baby required so much time and energy that you may have felt like you were neglecting your older child(ren).  That’s how I feel now.  I have been very lax in posting about homeschooling and all other aspects of our life while I worked on devotionals for this blog.  Between you and me…I’m pretty impressed that I was able to get the kids’ day books posted two weeks in a row.

I also realized that I haven’t posted a Stuff I Like for two weeks now.  Since I know you are all sitting at home desperate to find add to your knowledge of MamaMi’s favorite things, I offer you this extra-long-winded edition of Stuff I Like.

What’s that sitting on the counter?  Could it be the makings of one of our family’s favorite goodies? Let’s see…there’s flour, yeast, and sugar.

 And what’s this?  These seemingly innocent ingredients are positioned right next to my stand mixer, scale, and measuring tools.

 What’s this?  A willing helper who desperately doesn’t want her picture taken?

This is looking promising.
Let’s see…I’ll bet I can find 3/4 ounces of that yeast…

 …and 2 Tablespoons of that sugar.

 Hopefully the yeast and sugar was added to a cup of hot water.  What’s this?  I think that cute little helper found 2 pounds of that flour.

 Now, I wonder if that adorable little helper dumped the flour into my stand mixer and then added the water/yeast/sugar combination?

 Yes!  She sure did.  It also looks like she started it mixing on low and added up to a cup of additional hot water until it formed a pliable dough ball.

 At this point, my sweet, lovely helper got bored and left me in the kitchen.  Good thing I knew to put that dough ball in a greased bowl.

 And that I knew to cover the bowl and place it on my stove for around 40 minutes while my oven preheated to 425 degrees.

After letting it set for 40 minutes, I punched the dough down and shaped it into two loaves which I placed on my baking stone to rise for another 20 minutes (sorry – no pictures of this step – pilot error).  As a totally optional step, I brushed the loaves with olive oil and sprinkled on some salt after the second rise.  Then, I tossed the stone in the oven for around 20 minutes (which will, of course, vary oven to oven).

Finally, the moment you’ve been waiting for…stuff the whole family likes…homemade bread…

 Thank you for indulging me in this extra long Stuff I Like.  Hopefully the bonus recipe was enough to keep you following along!  As a side note, this recipe is super easy and can also be used to make rolls, breadsticks, and pizza crusts.

Kids’Day Books, Saturday, February 20

Rebecca

February 20, 2010

Outside my window…the lawn is snowy & filled with footprints, the road and driveway are clean.  The tree is bare & the bush has only berries.
Inside the house…Mom is on the computer, Dad is reclining & watching, Linden is trying to figure out how to write a grocery list, and TJ & I are doing these sheets.
I am wearing…a softball jersey and the penguin pajama pants Mom made.
I am thankful that…I get to go with Sarah Taplin to the prom expo tonight.
I am hearing…Mom and TJ talking, Linden talking & writing, the washer, and my pencil writing.
I am thinking…about how much fun I will have tonight, about learning to purl.
I am going…to the prom expo tonight and to have a “girls party” with Linden.
I am reading…Deuteronomy, Acts, Proverbs, The Hiding Place and this sheet.
I am hoping…that my throat will stop hurting and my nose will stop being plugged up.
I am remembering…how fun my games from Christmas are.
From school this week…I started a new math book.
One of my favorite things…my fuzzy blanket from Grandma.
A few plans for next week…school, church, library, maybe roller skating.

Timothy

February 20, 2010

Outside my window…I see snow.
Inside the house…It’s warm.
I am wearing…a t-shirt.
I am thankful that…we have snow.
I am hearing…talking.
I am thinking…about sledding.
I am going…to go sledding.
I am reading…Deuteronomy, Proverbs, and Acts.
I am hoping…that I can go sledding.
I am remembering…Great Grandpa.
From school this week…I learned lots.
One of my favorite things…Is legos.
A few plans for next week…are school, jobs, and snow.

I Believe - My Calling (Day 4)

4.  I believe that I am to submit to my husband.

Ah, so there it is.  That "s" word.  There's just no getting around it.  God has called me to be under the submission of my husband.  This command is like fingernails on a blackboard to some women.  And yet, there it is, in black and white.  If I am going to believe that ALL scripture is inspired (as I do - but that is for a later devotional) and that I cannot just pick and choose what I believe, then I have to believe this.  And you know what...if I was created for my husband, and if I love my husband, and if I reverence my husband, then why shouldn't I submit to him?  I am under the submission of God.  Whenever I have worked outside the home, I have placed myself under the submission of my bosses.  So, why not submit to my husband?

Here's the bottom line.  I am commanded to follow my husband's lead and, I believe, to give him the final say when it comes to making decisions for our family.  Paul doesn't pull any punches when he writes under inspiration that wives are to "submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." (Ephesians 5:22)  However, nowhere in scripture am I forbidden from giving my input in all matters of the home or from praying for my husband as he makes decisions.  Further, let's not forget that my husband has a great responsibility when it comes to me and our family.  First, he is called to love me as Christ loved the church, for which Christ was willing to die. (Ephesians 5:25).  Second, he is called to "love [me] and be not bitter against [me]" (Colossians 3:19)  Finally, one day my husband will stand before God and give an answer not just for his life, but for me and our children.  That's a pretty hefty responsibility.  If God is going to hold him accountable for my actions, shouldn't I love and reverence him enough to follow his leading?  I believe that I should.

So, that's it for this week.  Next week I will be looking at my role as a mother (My Ministry).  Have a great weekend!

I Believe - My Calling (Day 3)

3.  I believe that I am to reverence my husband.

In a letter to the members of the church at Ephesus, Paul instructs each wife to "see that she reverences[s] her husband." (Ephesians 5:33b).  In other words, I need to show my husband respect.  A long time ago I made a commitment to never say anything critical or unkind about my husband to or in front of others.  Have I always achieved this goal?  No.  But, I believe that you don't truly respect someone if you are constantly criticizing and/or mocking them, whether to their face or behind their backs.  This is just one way that I have chosen to reverence my husband.  In addition, I have chosen to thank my husband for the things he does for our family - working multiple jobs to pay the bills, helping out with the cleaning and cooking and home schooling.  True, I don't have to thank him for this help, I could just expect it and complain when he doesn't help or provide as much as I would like.  However, I have learned that I can show him my respect by simply verbalizing my appreciation every now and then.

I Believe - My Calling (Day 2)

2.  I believe that I am to love my husband.

In Titus 2:4, Paul writes under inspiration to Titus to speak to the older women that they should teach the younger women to love their husbands.  There are two things that I find important about this verse.  Of course, the first and easiest point is that I am commanded to love my husband.  But, even more interesting is the fact that I need to "learn" to love my husband.  This virtuous love of my husband to which I am called can only grow with effort on my part.

I Believe - My Calling (Day 1)

1. I believe that I was created specifically for my husband.

Genesis 1:22 tells us that “… the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” The Hebrew word from which we get “made”, can be interpreted as crafted or fashioned. In other words, Eve was painstakingly crafted for Adam by God. In like manner, I believe that every last detail about me was designed specifically for my husband. Any strength that God gave me, was given for the purpose of building up and strengthening my husband to allow him to further his life’s work and his ministry.

I Believe

Happy Monday!

Today is Monday, February 15 and (as promised) today is the day this blog takes on it's own identity and stops being a virtual carbon copy of its sister blog.

For the next four weeks, I am going to be publishing a series I titled I Believe.  Each week will deal with a different area of my faith as it relates to my life.  This week's topic is my relationship with my husband and is titled My Calling.  Unlike the next three studies in this series, My Calling only has four devotionals.  Each devotional in this (and all) of the studies is designed as a short 10-15 minute devotional.  I decided to jump right in with this study and this series because it is the most personal one that I have written and you will learn a lot about me and my personal beliefs as you work through the devotionals.

Have a blessed Monday.  Tomorrow - My Calling!

Quick Organizing Post

Just a quick post today.  Last month I saw a solution at Complete Organizing Solutions that I loved.  One of the contributors added a hanging rod in her laundry room and I loved the results.  I spent a little time yesterday reorganizing my laundry room (and adding that hanging rod) and I thought I would share my progress.

 My laundry room - obviously the lack of a hanging rod is not the only problem this room has!

 The gap between my cabinets - the perfect place for that hanging rod.

 Clothes hanging from the door knob and the towel rack

 My clean and organized counter

 Yeah, a place to hang our line dry clothes

 The perfect spot for my husbands compression shirts - no more hanging them on the door knob to dry!

Kids' Day Books

I noticed some ladies posting day books on their blogs.  I liked the idea, but changed it slightly for the kids (another writing assignment!).  My goal is to have them fill one out at the end of each week.

Rebecca

February 13, 2010

Outside my window...I see lots of snow and leafless trees.

Inside the house...I see my brother writing and Mom on the computer.  Dad is in the bedroom and Linden is in her room.

I am wearing...jeans, a black and purple shirt with a blue heart necklace.

I am thankful that...I have a few quiet moments to myself, my new whiteboard, and that I can possibly go to Quizzing.

I am hearing...mouse-clicks, typing, TJ talking, Mom answering, and my pen as I write.

I am thinking...about how fun Quizzing is, how great of friends I have, and about my next crochet project.

I am going...to go to Quizzing tonight, to play outside, and to have fun.

I am reading...this sheet of paper and The Hiding Place.

I am hoping...that school goes well, Aunt Wanda gets better, and that I have a good birthday.

I am remembering...how much fun I had at Karissa's birthday party.

From school this week...I learned about Economics, negative numbers, climate regions, Jesus' life, and sentence parts.

One of my favorite things...my fleece blanket that Grandma made me.  I also like my Sam Stern cookbooks.

A few plans for next week...school, piano, church, library, and doing dishes.

Timothy

February 13, 2010

Outside my window...I see snow.

Inside the house...It's a mess.

I am wearing...jeans and a long sleeve shirt.

I am thankful that...I have family.

I am hearing...the dryer.

I am thinking...about football.

I am going...to play football with my dad and sister.

I am reading...Deuteronomy, Numbers, and Psalms.

I am hoping...I can buy NFL helmets.

I am remembering...The Super Bowl.

From school this week...I learned about different weather devices.

One of my favorite things...I s football.

A few plans for next week...are school, piano, and church.

Friday Evening So Soon?

Wow!  This week has gone by so quickly.  We have been really busy around the house and I feel like I hardly posted anything this week.  Before we settle in to watch the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, I thought I would share a little of what we have been doing this week.

Rebecca is almost finished with her first Algebra Life Pac.  She has been learning about negative numbers and simple algebraic equations.  She finished up her most recent History Life Pac dealing with economics. She finished her Language Arts Life Pac on adjectives and adverbs and is excited to be reading The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom for her next Life Pac.  She continued learning about climate regions in Science and started a section on the Life of Christ in Bible.  She is also preparing for her first Spanish test.

Timothy worked on addition and subtraction of fractions and geometry in Math and learned about the Metric System in Science.  He is studying Switzerland and the Alps in History & Geography.  In Language Arts, he learned about parables and fables.  He looked at man's quest to find God in Bible.  He is also preparing for his first Spanish test.

Linden is really starting to get excited about learning.  Tracy, if you are reading this, I can't thank you enough for your tip about Starfall.com.  Linden spends time on this website each day and has learned more about letters and phonics in the last few weeks than she did in the first several months of this year.  We don't have to fight anymore about "school time" with her - which is an amazing blessing.

Of course, the week was filled with cleaning, cooking, bread-baking, movies, and games.  We even took a snow day on Wednesday when we got around 8 new inches of snow.  This was the first time this year we have taken a snow day and the kids had a blast playing outside.

Remember My Messy Office/Sewing Room??

Last month I wrote about the disaster area that is our Office/Sewing Room??

**Does this photo help your memory**

Anyway, you may also recall that I entered this room in the Mabel's Labels My Messy Room Contest on Facebook.  I promised you an update on the contest.  The winner was announced today and while I didn't win the contest, I did learn that I am not the only person with a very messy room!

You can check out pictures from all the contest entrants by visiting the Mabel's Labels page on Facebook.  While you are there, you can also check out all the cool labels you can purchase to organize your home - so you don't end up with a lot of rooms that look like the one in the photo above!  You can also click the Mabel's Labels link on my page to go directly to their site as well.

Oh yeah...the room still isn't finished yet, but we are making progress.  Hopefully by the end of the month I will be ready to post a set of "After" pictures showing our completed workspace!

Super Surprise

OK...I promise not all my posts this week are going to be about the Super Bowl and all their titles won't start with "Super", just indulge me for a little while longer!


Have you ever faced a situation that you thought was going to be a hassle only to find that it was a huge blessing? Our family had just such an experience this past Sunday. My husband is a Deacon at our church and he is responsible for "counting and locking up" two months during the year. This just means that during his months he stays after church on Sunday evening with our church treasurer and financial secretary to count the offering and then locks up Sunday and Wednesday evenings after the services. This year February is one of his months. As I posted before, our family was very excited for the Super Bowl so we were all a little bummed at the thought of not getting home until around 8:00 and missing the first half of the game.


About an hour before church, we realized something - we have a DVR, why not just record the game and then we could start it over from the beginning when we got home. This turned out to be a huge blessing for us. We were able to come home, assemble our snacks, change into comfortable clothes and then rewind the game and watch from the beginning. Even better - we didn't have to sit through the commercials or half-time show, since we could fast forward through them. We had a wonderful evening together as a family laughing, talking, and just being together.


I know that time together in front of the television isn't always viewed as "quality time" (whatever that is). I also know that the extra $3 we pay a month for the dvr, on top of the money we pay for direct tv could be saved or spent differently. We have gone without television in the past and have even talked about turning it back off again recently. However, the fun we had together definitely made it worth it!

Blog Format Change Update

Last Week, I posted about my virtual carbon copy blogs and that I will be making some changes to my blog formats.

I am now ready to provide more details about the changes that I will be making.  Starting Monday, February 15, this is what you can expect:

Home School Mama (This blog, my Blogspot blog) will become my primary forum for devotional posts.  My goal is to post a short devotional each weekday directed toward a common theme for the week.

Home School MamaMI (my Word Press blog) will continue to be my primary forum for posts about our home schooling adventures and our family.  This blog will remain largely unchanged from it’s current format.

As I said before, there will be some overlap in content between the sites from time to time, but they will no longer continue to be near-identical sites.

Super Snacks

This year we let the kids make the menu and prepare most of the food for the Super Bowl.  The menu was not so healthy, but the Super Bowl only happens once a year, so I am sure we will all survive!  We had Rice Krispy Footballs, Puppy Chow, Cookies, Chips, Crackers, Cheese, and Pizza Rolls.

Timothy starting on the Rice Krispy Footballs

Linden measuring cereal for the Footballs

Timothy and Linden finishing up the measuring

 Footballs made and shaped, now it's time for the decorating

Timothy showing off his decorating skills

Rebecca pouring the melted chocolate and peanut butter over chex for puppy chow

Linden helping mix the puppy chow

Timothy and Rebecca cleaning up

The snacks were a big hit and the kids even did a good job cleaning up after they made their creations!

This Little Prayer of Mine

My four-year-old is not quite reading on her own, however, she loves to have people read to her.  Recently, I received an advanced copy of This Little Prayer of Mine, by Anthony DeStefano in the mail.  Since my kids have reading and prayer time before bed each night, I kept the book back for that time of the evening.  When reading time arrived, we all piled on the couch and I read through the book with Linden (and her older brother and sister!).

The story is written in the form of a prayer offered up to God by a young child.  With the turn of each page, the young child talks to God about the need for wisdom and guidance throughout the day.  Topics such as making wise choices, asking forgiveness, feeling scared or alone, and being grateful are covered in this fun and engaging book.

Sometimes it can be a challenge to teach prayer to our young children.  We want them to know that they can ask God for anything, while not teaching them that they should ask God for all the "things" they want.  This book not only kept our daughter's attention (as well as her 9 and 12 year old siblings') but it also inspired her to ask so many wonderful questions.  We had so many teaching moments (as I like to call them) that it took us almost 20 minutes to read through the book the first time!  What a blessing it was to know that she was learning about prayer while we enjoyed our evening reading time.

This Little Prayer of Mine is available for pre-buy at such retailers as Barnes & Noble and Amazon and will be available for purchase at these and many other retailers on February 16.  The National Day of Prayer has endorsed This Little Prayer of Mine - and so has our family!  I believe this book is a wonderful addition to the library of any home with young children.  Your family will love the rhymes, illustrations, and (most importantly) the message of this new book.

In the interest of full disclosure, I just wanted to let you know that while I received a complimentary copy of This Little Prayer of Mine, I received no compensation for writing this review.  As an Amazon affiliate, I will be compensated if you follow the Amazon link for this book and then make a purchase.

Geaux Saints

Sorry to get all Football on you guys, but it is almost Super Bowl Sunday!!

I grew up in West Virginia in the 1970s, about an hour and a half from Pittsburgh.  Needless to say, I watched a lot of Steelers growing up.

In 1990 I moved to Indiana for college and lived there for over a decade.  I was never really a fan of the Steelers, so when I moved to Indiana I decided to throw my lot in with the locals and start following the Colts.  I have considered myself a fan of the Colts now for almost 20 years.  I followed them through the bad years: 3 and 13, NOT selling out a Monday Night Football Game (ABC bought thousands of tickets so the game wouldn’t be blacked out), and Coach Mora’s infamous rants (Playoffs, anyone???).  But then along came Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy and the Colts started winning some games.  Of course, they couldn’t seem to win playoff games, but at least it became a little easier to be a Colts fan.  And then in February 2007 the Colts won the Super Bowl.  We even let the kids stay up late to watch the game!

But wait a minute, did you catch the title of this post?  Did I mention that in the early 1990s I attended Purdue University.  I was a student B.T. (Before Tiller).  I am pretty sure we didn’t even win 10 games in the 4 and a half years that I was a student there, but maybe I am misremembering.  Anyway, just like I cheered for the Colts all those miserable years, I have always been loyal to my Boilermakers.  A few years after I graduated, enter Drew Brees and Joe Tiller and my Boilers were actually playing football like a football team.  When Brees graduated and was drafted by the Chargers, my husband and I continued to be Colts fans, but my husband and I started following the Chargers as well.  Then when he left San Diego for New Orleans, we traded in the Chargers duds (except the powder blue jersey, which is just fantastic) for Saints Black and Gold.  Once again we were fans of the underdogs.  For a while anyway.

Fast forward to fall 2009.  Both the Saints and the Colts kept winning.  In our house we started dreaming of how much fun a Colts-Saints Super Bowl would be.  Needless to say, we can’t wait for kickoff on Sunday!
I have had a number of friends ask me if I am conflicted about this game – what with the team I’ve followed for 20 years playing the team I’ve followed for 5 years.  Let me just say this – not at all.  I will, of course, be happy if the Colts win Sunday – I am and always will be a fan.  However, when we get home from church Sunday evening I will be throwing on my Brees jersey and cheering for the Saints.  Peyton already has his ring.  I want to see Drew Brees – the man all the “experts” said was too short to ever be a factor in the NFL – win a Super Bowl!

Geaux Saints!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I believe I mentioned in a prior post that I am currently maintaining two blogs.  I wanted to try out two different blog hosts (both wordpress and blogger) so I decided to run basically the same blog on both sites.  My original thought was that after a trial period, I would close one of these blogs and just continue on with the other.  Recently I have been doing some rethinking of that plan.  I think I am going to keep both blogs but stop making them virtual carbon copies of each other.

I am going to continue to use one of my blogs as a primarily homeschooling and family blog.  That blog will still have updates on our family goals and our homeschool adventures.  The second blog will be primarily for my devotional posts.  I have several devotionals that I am working on, including a series that I hope to turn into a book, and I think I would like a site devoted primarily to my devotional and Christian writings.  Of course, there will be some carry over from time to time - neither site will be completely devoid of the content of the other.

My primary motivation for this change is to simplify things for my readers.  I know I have some readers who come here for the homeschooling posts, but don't really care to read my devotional material.  Likewise, I know there are some readers who want to read my devotional musings but really aren't interested in our homeschool updates.  As I said, neither site will be completely lacking in themes or material from the other site, but I think this is the best course of action. 

I will, of course, let you know when this change is taking place.  I will also continue to have a link to my sister site for all those who would like to follow both blogs.  As always, thanks for reading!

Book Review – Get Cooking

I asked my oldest to write a book review as a Langauge Arts assignment. I decided to share it here.

get cooking (Sam Stern)

Got a favorite ingredient, but you don’t know what to put it in? Sam Stern can fix that problem with his third cookbook, get cooking. He asked seven friends what their favorite food group/ingredient was, and made a section of the book on that food.

Sam includes several simple recipes in each section. He has plenty of recipes for pasta, veggies, meat, cheese, and even chocolate! There are recipes for snacks, quick meals, family meals, and treats. He makes sure that the recipes are simple enough for a teenage cook, but he also makes sure that they look and taste great too!


I have made his Excellent Chocolate Truffle Bars, which truly are excellent! Some of his recipes I hope to try soon are his Chocolate Mayo Cake, homemade ice cream, homemade hot dogs, DIY Pasta, and his Chinese Ketchup Spareribs. There are so many more to try, so let’s “get cooking”!

Making Over Our Money - January Round-Up

At the beginning of January, I wrote about the renewed committment my husband and I have to getting our finances under control.  I am all about accountability and I think one of the best ways I can be accountable to myself is to post monthly updates of our progress on my site.  If you are curious or think this might motivate you in some way, please feel free to read on!

In my January 6th post, Making Over Our Money, I listed our January goals.  Let's see how we did.

• By the end of the week, we will have our budget for January drawn up and have a draft for February completed.  We will also have a spreadsheet detailing exactly what we owe to every creditor.  We finished our January budget within the week and drew up a tentative February one as well.  We finalized the February one this past weekend.  We also created a spreadsheet with exact debt amounts.
• By the end of the month, we will have our emergency fund in a safe but accessible location.  OK, not completely finished with this one.  We have our emergency fund partially funded.
• By the end of the year, we will have all of our medical bills, credit cards, and a small loan paid off.  Whew...not the end of the year yet, still in progress.

I like the idea of re-evaluating our goals (and establishing new ones) on a monthly basis.  So for February:

Long Term Goal:  Be debt free, of course!

Short Term Goals for February:  We will have our emergency fund completely funded within the next 10 days.  We will be receiving a tax refund later this month, and will use it to pay off two bills and pay down a third.  My husband wants to use all of his referee income to pay off debt.  February should be a very good month for him on this front - unless there are weather-related cancellations or his knee decides to give out before the end of the season.  Therefore, we estimate that we will be paying off that third bill and paying down a fourth by the end of the month.  By the end of February, we will also create our March budget spreadsheet.

Check back the first week of March to see how we did!