ABC Meme

A - Attached or single? Very, very attached, with superglue permanent bonding.

B - Best friend? The person very, very attached to me--my husband!

C - Cake or pie? Cream Cheese Pound Cake with a sad streak made by Granny.

D - Drink of choice? Diet Coke (or a non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiri, or any of a variety of frappuccinos made at Starbucks)

E - Essential item? Kleenex…if I don’t have them, my little girl will definitely sneeze and you have NEVER seen a sneeze like hers. I take them EVERYWHERE!!

F - Favorite color? Blue, followed by purple

G - Gummi bears or worms? Worms, but I really prefer chocolate.

H - Hometown? Mableton, GA

I - Indulgence? I think I indulge myself too much, but if I have to choose, I would say books are my main indulgence.

J - January or February? January…we have 7 birthdays and our anniversary to celebrate that month.

K - Kids? Absolutely. My life would be entirely too sane without them. :)

L - Life is incomplete without? Knowing and glorifying God

M - Marriage date? 11 Januarys ago (no, I didn’t forget…I just don’t like to post these dates on the web)

N - Number of siblings? 3

O - Oranges or apples? A crisp, cold, tart, juicy apple

P - Phobia/fears? MRIs. I almost had a panic attack last time.

Q - Favorite quote? He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Jim Elliot

R - Reasons to smile? My God, my husband, my children, my two crazy Chihuahuas who think our living room furniture is a puppy-sized version of Pump It Up, flowers, the ocean, mountains, need I go on?

S - Season? Uh…spring and summer?

T - Tag three. Emmyjmommy ...okay, so I'll just tag one.

U - Unknown fact about me? I was listed in our senior class yearbook as the fastest reader in the school.

V - Vegetarian or oppressor of animals? Absolute oppressor!

W - Worst habit? For me to know and work on and for you to never notice. :)

X - X-rays or ultrasounds? Both. I am so thankful for anything that proves helpful in difficult situations.

Y - Your favorite food? Fried Okra or Mississippi Mud

Z - Zoo animal? My favorite is the meercat, closely followed by seals, elephants and monkeys.

Menu Plan Monday

As we are out of town, I am posting early and without the banner, but for more Menu Plan Monday ideas, visit the Organizing Junkie.

Well, we fairly successfully carried out last week's menu items minus a few changes necessitated by a sick child and travel plans.

I decided to review the new recipes we try each week. This is the key:

aaaaa As my grandpa used to say, "luscious"
aaaa A new family favorite
aaa Pretty good, worth making occasionally
aa Not our favorite or a mixed review
a Yuck!

Here are my reviews of last week's new recipes (find the recipes in last Monday's post):

Bacon Chicken Alfredo aaa

This was pretty good, although a little heavy. We liked the flavor. We used 12 oz of fettuccine rather than the 16 oz the recipe called for, and we still found it a little dry. Next time I make it I will use more sauce or less pasta. This made enough for two meals for a family of 5.

Apple-Onion Pork Chops aa

We had a mixed review on this one. I liked it and found it easy and healthy. Our oldest son liked it, our daughter liked everything but the onions, our youngest son did not like it, and my husband liked it but said he only cared about the meat--the apples and onions he could take or leave. If I make it again, I will cut the amount of vinegar in half as it was a little strong.

This week's menu:

Monday: Fast food or sandwiches as we are traveling home

Tuesday: Aussie Sausage Rolls, Potato Salad, Green Beans

Wednesday: Family Night Supper at church

Thursday: Chicken & Rice Casserole, Bread, Salad, Dessert (all doubled as we are preparing supper for a family whose child was just born)

Friday: Beef Chimichangas (we didn't get to make them last week), Chips & Salsa, Ice Cream

Saturday: Breakfast for Dinner (muffins, eggs, bacon, fruit) or leftovers if we have enough. With the children home during the day for summer, I am not sure how much will be consumed at lunch.

Sunday: We are meeting some out-of-town friends on their way home from vacation for lunch. For dinner, we'll have a sandwich and an apple on the way home from church.

Hope all of you have a great week of preparing meals for your families!

Sunday Scripture

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents--which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.

Philippians 1:27-28

Smart Habit Saturday--A Diet Coke A Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Lara at the Lazy Organizer has started a great trend of choosing to intentionally form smart habits at the rate of one (or so) per week. Since I have so many things I need to intentionally work on, I decided to join in on the fun.

The idea is to choose a new habit every Saturday and work on implementing it in our lives, giving blog updates on a regular basis. These habits can be personal, work related or family oriented...any area where you realize a change needs to be made.

This Saturday, I would like to start a new habit of drinking only 1 diet coke per day. That may not sound like much to many of you, but diet coke is sort of my addiction (ranging from 2 - 4 a day depending on the availability).

Occasionally, I break the chains of addiction, but then I fall right back into my bad habit. Not only do my friends regularly tell me that the artificial sweetener used in diet coke is bad for my mental and physical health, I have also discovered that I have severe headaches for 3-4 days whenever I go through withdrawal. Surely that is not a good sign. Beginning today, I am striving to cut way back, saving money, my health, and my memory.

What's your Smart Habit? Let us know.

Friday Photo(s)

My babies are growing up. We are now officially in the flip-flop wearing, running-thru-the-sprinkler-playing, sleeping-in-late (I can dream, can't I?) and relaxing days of summer!

A huge "Thanks a Million" goes out to the incredible team of teachers who worked with my children this year! We will miss you all! You have been a blessing to our family.

Thursday Lyrics: He's All You Need

He's All You Need

When you're alone,

Your heart is torn,

He is all you need.

When you're confused,

Your soul is bruised,

He is all you need.

He's the rock of your soul,

He's the anchor that holds

Through your desperate times.

When your way is unsure,

His love will endure

And peace you will find.

Through all your years,

The joy, the tears,

He is all you need.

When you give in

To that familiar sin,

He is all you need.

Guilt has you paralyzed.

It slowly eats you alive.

He is all you need.

He'll be faithful to you

Though your heart is untrue

And your love's grown cold.

His forgiveness is real.

It'll comfort and heal

Your sin weary soul.

God loves you so.

He'll never let you go.

He is all you need.

He'll be faithful to you

Though your heart is untrue

And your love's grown cold.

His forgiveness is real

To comfort and heal

Your sin weary soul.

Through all the years,

The joy, the tears,

He is all you need.

I used to love the music of Steve Camp. I haven't listened to him in a long time, but today I was reminded of what an excellent musician he is. Camp uses his craft to the glory of God, for which I am thankful. You can listen to this song here. For other Steve Camp music, visit audience ONE.

The words of this song remind me that God is indeed all we need, all sufficient for every situation, feeling, struggle, or joy I have in life. Thank you, Jesus, that I can rest in You!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

For the spring play, the Drama Club performed The Wizard of Oz. For a drama club composed entirely of second and third graders, I thought it was a bit ambitious, but I was pleasantly surprised by how nice of a job they did. To make it manageable for the children, they divided lines between multiple children playing the same parts. Thus, there were eight Dorothys and multiple scarecrow, tin men, and lions among other things.

Our oldest son played a munchkin (see the above pictures). He had more lines than last time and did a great job. I am continually amazed at how adaptable children are. He has been in the U.S. less than two years, and yet he has learned English well enough to nicely perform parts with multiple lines in his school's drama club.

A big thanks go out to all the teachers who spent extra time after school to teach our children this art!

Menu Plan Monday

Last week was the first time in a long time I planned a week's menu ahead of time, and I didn't post it. But, having deciding it really worked to be more organized (something only procrastinators--me--and spontaneous people--not me--ever disbelieved), I am doing it again this week.

Here's the plan:

Monday: It's soccer night and the kids' last week of school, so we are celebrating by eating out!

Tuesday: Bacon Chicken Alfredo, French Bread, Salad

Wednesday: Family Supper at church

Thursday: Apple-Onion Pork Chops, Steamed Broccoli, Mashed Potatoes

Friday: Either leftovers or Beef Chimichangas

Saturday & Sunday: Eating at the grandparents!

You can check out more menus at the Organizing Junkie. Happy eating!

Sunday Scripture

7But whatever former things I had that might have been gains to me, I have come to consider as [[a]one combined] loss for Christ's sake.

8Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One),

9And that I may [actually] be found and known as in Him, not having any [self-achieved] righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law's demands (ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired), but possessing that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ (the Anointed One), the [truly] right standing with God, which comes from God by [saving] faith.

10[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [[b]which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]

11That if possible I may attain to the [[c]spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body].

Philippians 3:7 - 11, Amplified Bible

Friday Photo

These pictures were taken in May of 2002. Sweet Pea was wearing her great-grandfather's christening gown for the child dedication service at our church. She was not quite a year old, and the cutest little bundle of joy I had ever seen. Now, she is finishing kindergarten.

Those of you who know me well know that I become on occasion, sentimental teary-eyed a basket case of emotions over Hallmark commercials, sad stories, happy stories, anything sentimental, and most of all, my family. So you can imagine what I am going through now that my baby is finishing kindergarten! I actually have two children finishing kindergarten, but somehow it is knowing that my youngest is getting this big that has me so emotional. I know I should be happy, but it seems time is flying by so quickly, and I wonder if I have made the best use of it.

I know that we read and played and learned and laughed a lot together, but I'll be honest. I regret every moment spent reading my own books, every moment she was awake that I watched TV, every moment that I wasted on the computer, because those days will never be back. Even though most of our friends and family would probably say I did more than enough with her in those years, it doesn't change the fact that those years are now gone, in the twinkling of an eye.

So, I am renewed in my determination to make the most of this summer...spending both quality and quantity time with my children. I want our home to be a place where they want to be, a place where they want to bring their friends, a place where they feel loved and secure and cherished, a place where their mom and dad teach them about what is truly important in life (and folks, contrary to the "I Love Money" song they learned at school, that ain't it).

Moms and dads, let us all remember that we have them but for a short season. Let's enjoy those moments.

Prayer Needed for Pakistani Christians

The Taliban has informed Pakistani Christians in a northwestern town that their churches must be shut down by today, and that they must convert or die. The government is offering little protection. Please pray for our brothers and sisters to have faith that cannot be shaken, a peace that passes understanding no matter the circumstances, and for their persecutors to be thwarted.

You can read more about this story here and here.

Thursday Lyrics: Heavenly Father, Beautiful Son

Heavenly Father, Beautiful Son

Father, You loved me
Sent Your Son to redeem
Jesus, You washed me
By Your blood I am clean
Spirit, You’ve opened these blinded eyes
And brought me to Christ

Heavenly Father, beautiful Son
Spirit of light and truth
Thank You for bringing sinners to come to You

Father, You gave me
To Jesus to keep
And Jesus, You love me
As a shepherd, his sheep
Spirit, You've given me faith in the Son
And made our hearts one

Father, You're waiting
To hear my requests
Jesus, Your loving
Open hand is outstretched
Spirit, You're in me, You intercede
And help in my need

Words and music by Mark Altrogge
As recorded on Valley of Vision

I really enjoy this song. It is from the Valley of Vision recording by Sovereign Grace Ministries. Click on the link above to hear a clip of this and other songs included on the CD. The music in this recording was based on the puritan prayers compiled in the book, Valley of Vision. I have not read this book yet, but it has been recommended to me numerous times.

Tell Me Something I Didn't Know

You Will Not Be a Cool Parent

And that's pretty okay. While your kids may not think of you as a friend, they will respect you. You know that kids need discipline and structure, and you're not afraid to give it to them. Just be careful that your strictness doesn't lead to rebellion. It's good to have standards and rules, but you don't need to have an iron fist when enforcing them.

Would You Be a Cool Parent?

High Paying Jobs :)

My daughter found a dime a few days ago. This weekend, she put it in her pocket and added two pennies I generously gave her. She felt rich.

We were on our way to a birthday party at the bowling alley. Almost always of a sweet nature, she excitedly said, "Mom, I brought my money. I have a dime and two pennies. I can PAY today."

To which I replied, "Sweetie, that is so thoughtful, but how many cents do you have?"

DD: "uh, 12 cents."

Me: "That's right. I imagine it will take about 800 cents for you to go bowling, though."

DD (with a gasp): "Mom, do bowling lane workers make the most money?"

Me: "No, sweetheart. Even your lunches cost more. Did you know we send about 2,000 cents a month just for you to have lunches at school every once in a while? Not even every day?"

DD: "Wow." And after a thoughtful pause..."Do lunchroom people make the most money, Mom?"

You CAN make a difference!

I have a hero. I don't know her name, but I chat with her frequently. She is just another mom who picks up children at the local elementary school. Two of her children are special needs, and she has to be there when school is released to get a daily report. Her other children are much the same as mine, laughing and bouncing as they arrive to tell Mom all about their day at school. Three of her children are adopted, all from foster care she provided. I admire her desire to make a difference in the lives of a few children, her willingness to sacrifice normal for something better.

May is National Foster Care Month. Click on the picture below to find out more about how you can make a difference!



There are 513,000 children in foster care in the United States. Here are the most recent stats I could find on foster care in my state.

• As of 2003, there were 6,079 children in the foster care system.
• 25% were under the age of 5.
• 52% were between the ages of 11 and 18.
• The average length of stay for these children is 34 months. 34 MONTHS.
• Over half of these children are not reunified with their birth families.

Imagine being a toddler or elementary school age child and spending three years without a family of your own. Now imagine being a teenager and doing that. Adolescence is hard enough with a family to support and guide you.

Think about spending your formative years in a group home and then trying to be a spouse or a parent, maintaining a home and having had no one to learn how to do these things from. How do you know how to be a mom or dad, a husband or wife? Where have you learned how to solve problems and work through disagreements? Who has shared Christ with you? Prayed for you? Disciplined you? Felt joy in your successes and sadness in your times of disappointment?

Scripture tells us that pure and undefiled religion is caring for orphans and widows in their times of need. How are we doing that?

Great Posts by Hubby

My excogitating hubby has written two great posts lately.

One is about Mother's Day and those struggling with infertility. As one who formerly struggled with this, I urge you to read his post and encourage a friend struggling with this on Mother's Day.

The other post is about how we should view our brothers and sisters in Christ.

I am so blessed to have this man as my husband!

Summer 2007

The summer of 2006, with the exception of our family trip to the beach, was a complete disaster. I was new to being a mom of three. My sons were new to almost every experience they had. They needed more structure, something I don't particularly enjoy in the summer and didn't implement as needed. They couldn't understand that because we didn't go to the pool one day did not mean they would never go again. Their responses to not getting their way (as well as my response to their responses) made a house full of noise, disorder, and unhappiness. A lot of cleaning was left undone. We had to do a lot of fixing things they broke normal repairs.

We lived in chaos, trying to have fun together, but disappointingly, in the end , we were all overjoyed about school starting, except for my daughter who was content, even happy, to be at home by my side.

This school year, we have come a long way. We understand each other better. We have learned about ourselves. God has taught us about Himself. I do not want to go back to last summer.

This summer, I am determined to have a game plan. A friend wisely recommended that I make a few goals for the summer, and then order my summer around accomplishing those goals. She also suggested that I give more structure to my son who needs it, and more freedom to the ones who don't, while still accomplishing those goals. For example, one son may need a schedule for his day. My other son may need to know what must be accomplished by week's end, but I can leave him to figure out how to accomplish that.

With this in mind, here are my goals for the summer, in no particular order:

1. Read some books together. My goal is to read seven or eight books together, and then the children will have some reading to do on their own. Our current book list includes Shanghaied to China (a Trailblazer fictional story that shares part of the true story of Hudson Taylor), Spy for the Night Riders (another Trailblazer book, this time involving Martin Luther), Traitor in the Tower (A Trailblazer book involving about John Bunyan), a biography about Walt Disney, a biography about Betsy Ross, The Call of the Wild, and Little House on the Prairie.

2. Work on math skills. There are a number of reasons for this, but the main one is that my son will hopefully be in a different school next year with a tougher math curriculum, and thus he needs some help catching up to others in his grade.

3. Physical Exercise. My boys NEED this, my daughter loves it, and I could certainly do with some as well. To this end, we will be spending time outdoors and participating in some summer half day camps as well as swimming.

4. Household Chores/Projects. Being part of a family means pitching in to be good stewards of what God has given us. Also, we need to teach our children how to do certain jobs for the time when they eventually move out of our homes. Thus, this summer, we'll be doing some regular chores and some special projects around the house.

5. Cooking. My children all want to help in the kitchen. Honestly, this is often difficult during the school year. I want to take the time to teach them how to cook some things this summer. I haven't decided if this will mean one night a week per child or several nights a week with all the kids.

6. Scripture Memory. I will be memorizing trying to memorize the book of Philippians this summer. I would like my kids to memorize part of it. I am still trying to decide which part, but it will probably be the second chapter. In any case, their minds soak up so much information it should be a piece of cake to them, right?

7. Time with extended family/Fun. Summer also provides us with extra time to spend with out of town grandparents and other family members, and we would like to do some of that as well as create some fun family memories.

8. Catechism/Daily Bible reading. Last summer, we worked on a catechism but once school and thus, AWANA started, we fell out of that habit. We will be picking that up again. Also, now that all the kids can read independently to some degree, I want them to be in that habit of daily spending time in the Word.

Given camps, VBS, time away with relatives, etc., it will be hard to have a firm schedule for the summer, so at the moment I am thinking a weekly one will work better.

What are some things that have worked for your family during the summer? I would love to read your ideas on this subject.

Sunday Scripture

Praise the LORD, all nations!

Extol him, all peoples!

For great is his steadfast love toward us,

and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.

Praise the LORD!

Psalm 117

Teaching a Boy to Fish

A couple of weeks ago, I went to our state's nature center with my oldest son. We were on a field trip to a destination that his teacher had never before taken kids to see. I was delighted that we were doing something other than going to the zoo for the umpteenth time as most of the other classes were doing.

I think his teacher was as surprised as I was when we heard that one of the activities was going to be fishing. Mind you, we were with a bunch of eight and nine year olds. As we were being led in this, our wildlife instructor told the kids to hold their poles and hooks in a certain fashion and then gave examples of people who didn't listen and got hooks barbed in them. All I could think about, at least rationally, was the legal liability, but inside I was secretly feeling pleasure. Almost everything is sanitized these days, and I was glad my Boy would have an opportunity to do something basic, something that has been done for thousands of years.

My son had never been fishing before. This is partly because he hasn't been home that long, and partly because his father would rather sit inside and read a book or blog on the computer. My hubby, who is a wonderful gift from God, killed all the romantic spirit of one of our early dates when he refused to sit out and look at the stars with me on his Papaw's farm. The road was gravel, and he "might get dirt on his jeans."

Anyway, back to the fishing. As a child, my uncles took me fishing, but my father (like my husband) would rather figure out a gadget inside the house than get dirty outside the house. His one exception to this was his pride in having a beautiful yard. And, after all, he could always go buy fish if he wanted some to eat.

For me, memories of fishing are reminders of easier days when, as a child, all I cared about was getting a fish to bite, not how am I going to pay for something or how are we going to reach our children's hearts about a sin habit they have or whether or not the mass they found might be cancerous.

No, fishing was relaxing...sun and sparkling, splashing water, proving that girls could bait their own hooks, and getting a little muddy without caring. It had been a long (as in at least a decade) time since I had done that. I was excited about passing on the bug to my son. After all, his father and grandfathers weren't carrying on the tradition the way my husband's grandfather and my uncles had done for us. Some of you may have heard about catching fish with dynamite--you just didn't know that it started with my husband's grandpa. My uncles, on the other hand, were purists who spent vacations fly fishing in Oklahoma and Arkansas, or in the salty waters of the gulf. Nothing tasted better than our own fish caught and cleaned at the beach, then fried up that night.

The Boy was wildly excited, giddy with happiness, bouncing with sheer joy at the thought of catching a fish.

And then...

The worms. They. Freaked. Him. Out.

Here he was, with his peers, who mostly were handling it, with his teacher, who caught more than anyone, and with me, who showed him how to do it the first time around. The second time, it was his turn. I knew the feeling he would get after successfully baiting his hook. I had had that same feeling before.

I eagerly awaited his expression.

We never got there.

He picked the worm up (f..i..n..a..l..l..y) and screaming, dropped it to the ground. It almost escaped, but mom deftly caught it and once again baited the hook.

The next time, I told the Boy he must do it. After watching him almost lose the whole container of worms (provied for usage by many people), and seeing him fuss for a few seconds, I gave in.

And then I got the greatest pleasure, because he who baits, fishes. Or in this case, she.

And so, even though he enjoyed fishing when he got the rod back from Mama, I think I enjoyed the experience even more.

Oh, yeah...he did manage to catch one himself! Triumph.

And the next time he fishes? Well, it's coming up soon, and Mama won't be around!

Friday Photo

Saturday is Grandma's birthday! We love you Grandma!

Thursday's Thoughtful Lyrics: There You Go

There You Go

Is this the strange feeling
Of you working all to good
'Cause I am so confused
I don't even ask for what I should

When I asked for and deserved a stone
You broke and gave your body as bread
And even the stone that dropped down and rolled away
Spoke of the one who bled

There you go working good from my bad
There you go making robes from my rags
There you go melting crowns from my calves
There you go working good of all I have
Till all I have's not that bad

When I asked for and deserved a serpent
You gave a net full of fish
And even the serpent that told the lie
When lifted high foretold the gift

For you so loved the unlovable
That you gave the ineffable
That who so believes the unbelievable
Will gain the unattainable

This song, put out by Caedmon's Call a number of years ago, remains one of my favorites. I don't own many CDs put out by Caedmon's Call and can't speak to what they do now, but I loved this CD and still enjoy listening to this song.

Unfortunately, half the time that I listen to "Christian" music, I think to myself that while the song may not necessarily be bad, there is nothing overtly Christian about it. Sometimes it seems that to be a musician in the genre of Christian music, you don't have to be familiar with the Scriptures, you just have to sing wholesome songs. That is one reason why I still listen to some older music, such as Rich Mullins or Keith Green or Scott Wesley Brown.

Pathlight is Online

Just a quick post to tell all of you about an exciting new adventure my hubby and I are embarking on today. We are the new owners of Pathlight, an online Christian bookstore.

We both love books, and are excited about this opportunity to be involved in the book business. I purchased a few titles from my own store this week, and was able to get several missionary biographies to read with the kids this summer for a slightly lower cost than Amazon offered. They were from the Trailblazer Books series, by the way, and have been highly recommended to me. I can't wait to get into them soon!

Since I am a SAHM, hubby and I thought this would be an exciting way to generate some extra income. I wouldn't ask anyone to purchase items they didn't already need/want, but if you're considering purchasing a Bible, or a Christian book, CD, or DVD, please check us out and give us a try. Our website is http://www.pathlightstore.com/.