Aldi

I wanted to pass along a little tip to you guys. Do you have an Aldi nearby? If you have one anywhere near your travels or your husbands, it is well worth stopping in for certain items....like fresh veggies, milk, and frozen items. Actually I buy lots of things there like the blue corn chips above....yummy...my family loves these! And the price is wonderful!

I am REALLY picky about where I buy my meat......some things I can let slide but not meat. Last Thanksgiving my friend Jennifer at "Smelling Coffee" wrote about buying a spiral sliced ham and how wonderful it was....so I tried it...wonderful. So a few weeks ago I really stepped out and bought 90/10 hamburger meat??? I prepared it with a back-up plan in mind....seriously that is how goofy I am about meat. Oh my goodness it was wonderful and cheaper than anything I have seen around here! I was sure it was a fluke and I did not want to pass along anything to you until I tried it again....last night was our 3rd round of using it...bought at 3 different times. It is so good! I haven't tried any steaks or chicken but I will be! I have tried their frozen fish...great!

I am so sorry to those of you who do not have an Aldi near you??? Back to sick babies!!

Sick Babies

No one really likes to be sick but if you have to be sick....this is the place for it. I have two sick children today. They are propped up in my bed watching TV, drinking Sprite, and eating soup, crackers and Jello. Why is this good.....They all love my bed...they are sure that it is the coziest bed in the whole house.....and while it is a good mattress.....given to us by Eric's parents...I really think it is psychological! It's mama's bed!!!!! Then we have the Sprite....we do not keep soft drinks in our house.....occasionally for a birthday party.......and of course we make a QT run on Friday and they get a fountain drink or a frozen coffee....but other than that I do not buy them. So getting the opportunity to drink them all day from a straw in a large cup right by MY bed....WOOHOO!!! And to top it all off...a TV in the room!!! Another thing we rarely do except for the weekends( a little bit) is watch TV....and certainly not for hours on end! But when you are sick.....hours of TV and food in MY bed at your beckoned call between naps! I should get sick!!! :) Love those Babies!!!

multi tasking

Today was productive! The day started early and went very well. Yesterday I make a huge batch of homemede spaghetti sauce which we had for dinner last night. Today I made 2 large batches of lasagna. I didn't cook them...I just put them together and froze them. It always makes me feel good to know there is a meal ready for another day.... a crazy day! And it really didn't take much time.

Last week I bought a huge bag of apples. We prefer a really crisp sweet apple...Gala or Fuji.....these were very tart and softer than we like to eat but......perfect for baking! Emily and I worked together to peel and slice the 20 pound bag. It didn't take very long and of course we had a great time together. I bought one of these handy dandy apple peelers...which is a great alternative to the expensive kind. We found it on clearance for $3.oo a few years ago and it works great. It doesn't slice them for you but it peels very well....and the kids love to crank it!

We put them in large bowls....sprinkled with a little sugar, cinnamon and a few pats of butter. We threw them in the microwave for 5 min......took them out stirred them and then another 5 min. We had 2 large batches of these....we let them cool and put them in freezer bags to use later for apple crisp.

Yes ,I know that my pictures are all out of whack!!! Our PC is going crazy and I am having to use Eric's lap top.....I can't make it work???? I do not have time to continue to fiddle with it:)

Blessing pictures

I wrote about how we do a special celebration for our kids when they turn 13...my parents also do a special outing with them as well. My daddy arranged a trip to Ft. Benning in south GA where the Army Ranger school is located. We told Marshall that he could choose 1 friend to go with him and he chose his other grandfather! How awesome is that....he wanted to spend time with both of them! So we let him choose another friend and he chose Evan Apon. He loves to spend time with Evan and his father died 10 years ago......Marshall said "all my friends have dads to take them...I think Evan will have the most fun with us." Below is a picture of all of them. Eric's dad, Marshall, Evan, my daddy After watching an amazing show of all the fire power..including tanks....they actually got to shoot the weapons...with real ammo! This is Marshall with a machine gun.

They had a blast! What amazing memories! Thanks Tom and Daddy for taking off work and making this amazing memory with my boy....young man that is!

Hard things!

Above: Eric always has the football players join around players who are new believers and pray for them.
Above: Eric in the gym with some of the guys he mentors...they work out....pray.....do Bible studies...and build relationships!
Above: Eric encouraging a young man after he prayed to receive Christ.
Above: Eric spoke to 80 kids at a local public high school...there are the 19 that raised their hands saying that they wanted to give their hearts to Jesus!


God is moving and so much as Eric speaks! We are so amazed, honored, overwhelmed, excited(I could go on and on with the adjectives) that the Lord has chosen to use us! Many doors are still being opened for Eric to speak and share...especially in public schools...crazy!!!!.....but we have to feed our family! For those of you who do not know me personally.....we have not overextended ourselves financially.....we live in a small home....especially for 7 people....drive "paid for" need repair cars....we are thrifty.....not poor.....just really thrifty!!! We have tried to be in a place financially that would allow us to serve without that burden. And still we do have to have money.

Eric is looking at the possibility of moving into a bi-vocational position......which is fine....he is an amazingly hard worker....but it also means going part time in ministry work! So here are my struggles in no specific order :) ....................Which ministry opportunities do we cut? If God is opening these doors(and we believe that He is) why isn't He supplying for the finances? Are we missing Him somewhere? Is He trying to grow our faith? How much more do we need? Should I get a job?...that is a paying job :) Why can't a wealthy business man just underwrite the whole ministry??? Now that would be an easy fix!! That usually isn't how the Lord works....now we are back t the growing our faith question?? :)

You know...I really do not think it is a faith issue...it is a "knowing" issue. I'll explain...If miraculously....Jesus could come for dinner tonight,,,you know in person....and we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt..."You are right where I want you! Trust me! When you need it it will be there...and not a moment before you need it" I really could walk there! We have been walking there! I can wait expectantly to see how He will provide for every need. It is that nagging doubt......"Does He want us to do something different" "Something more" "Is there a different way????"

This is where I struggle! Does this make me weak in the faith? Feels like it! Does it mean we are growing? Maybe. So I am asking my blog friends to pray for us! Pray for wisdom!!!

Questions 2

What made you decide to home school your children? My motivation for schooling my kids is very different today than it was 12 years ago when Lindsey was 4. Lindsey's birthday is September 24 so she was going to have to wait a year to enter school. I usually tell parents that it is best to wait especially with boys....and I have with some of my other kids.....but Lindsey was so mature for her age....I couldn't imagine having her wait. We decided to home school so that she could start school when we thought it was the right time. I am so glad that we made that decision all those years ago...the fruits are immeasurable!

Who taught you to cook? My mama!!!! She is an amazing cook. She hardly ever uses are a recipe and she makes wonderful home cooked meals all the time. Because she gave me the confidence by giving me a good base....I have learned to throw all sorts of things together. I enjoy cooking very simple meals.....lots of fresh vegetables and fruit with a good grilled, baked or broiled meat!

Do your sisters like to cook? Both of my sisters are good cooks. One enjoys cooking but as a single, working, homeschooling mom......she is really busy. My other sister..HATES to cook! She does it because she has to but she can't stand to be in the kitchen. I seriously do not understand this!!!

Blessings

When our children turn 13 we give them a "Blessing" party. We teach our children from the time that they are old enough to learn about the importance of purity not just sexual but also purity in thought and action. We teach them about the importance of personal integrity and most of all we teach them about how important it is to have an intimate relationship with Jesus! A Blessing party is a symbolic time of putting away childish things and moving into young adulthood. We try to pour wisdom and encouragement into them in a special night.

When Lindsey turned 13 we had her friends and their mothers, along with grand mothers over for a special dinner. Each girl wrote Lindsey a beautiful letter and each mother spoke encouragement and wisdom into her life. Then Lindsey and I took a trip...just the two of us and enjoyed great mother daughter time!

Marshall turned 13 in June and I came across the pictures from it today and I thought I would share it with you. He had a great time and the men who attended were such a blessing to him. He and Eric are going to go this Fall on a hunting trip....pray for Eric...remember the camping trip in the back yard?????

Questions Part 1

I am always open for questions....I love to ask questions!!! You learn a great deal from asking the right questions! I am super transparent and I have sometimes put myself in bad situations because I asked a question that I wished I could take back. Have you ever been there? But over all I am glad I am so curious because I have asked questions that others want to know but would never ask!!! Anyway.....I am asked the most random questions by people sometimes they are thoughtful sometimes they are funny. I am surprised by the number of you guys who email me with questions but do not ask them here! I thought I would answer some over the next few blogging times. I will not attach any names of those who have emailed me a question or asked it in person but feel free to ask a question here if you want to ....I do not promise to know the answer but I will attempt one anyway!!

1) How did you potty train your kids? First......Don't stress!! The short answer is they were naked A LOT!!!! They ran around naked or only in their undies a great deal of the time....It is just easier! We had lots of rewards and claps and showing daddy...He always made a BIG deal but I am sure he was less than thrilled to come home from a long day at work to have to get excited about poop that had been waiting in the potty for him!!!! But he is a great daddy so he played along!!! Some of mine were super easy....some not so easy. A couple of them started going pee quickly but it was a good 6 mos later for the poop. Honestly, there isn't a magic age or time. If you try to push this you will be frustrated about something that will eventually happen.

2) What is the craziest thing you have ever tried raising your kids? Well there are many of these but in light of the first question I will give you this one!! When I was a new first time mother....16 years ago I read an article about potty training an infant. This seems to be a big deal today for some as it is all over the web. I tried doing this very diligently for about a week and then I started asking myself......And why am I doing this?? I think I just wanted to be able to say that I had trained my baby to pee on the potty before she could even hold her head up good???!!!! Nuts! Well if you want to do this go for it and if you did do this....awesome!! However for me it was definitely up there in the "what was I thinking category!" By the way this is not my child...although I must confess that I do have a picture of her! 3) Do you spank? Yes!! Absolutely! We have spanked all of our children although some more than others....some much more than others! Always for direct disobedience and we certainly used other forms of discipline. Just for clarification...this is NOT a beating.....this is not hitting, slapping, humiliating! Do they hurt...of course but they were not beatings. I had a parent tell me that she couldn't very well tell her child not to hit and then turn around and hit them. To which I turned to my then 8 year old son who was playing near by and asked him the question...."Has Mommy or Daddy ever hit you? Ever? Ever?" His answer..."No way" To which I replied to the woman...."I spanked him this morning" You see he did not equate it the same in his head....not in our house anyway. A spanking was controlled and given as a consequence not a reaction to the child in anger. I can't tell you an exact age that we stopped spanking them but I will say around 9 -10......why? Well, because the major direct disobedience things were under control by then! We punish differently for things as they get older. I'll leave that for another question time!

Love those babies!

My New Brother!!

My youngest...Luke has been asking for some time about "asking Jesus into his heart," and he was wonderfully saved over a week ago!! He loves to say...your my mom and my sister!

At our house.....we teach our kids about how much Jesus loves them from the first time we lay eyes on them....we pray for their salvation from the time we know we are pregnant. I can remember holding my babies in my arms when they were hours old and telling them...."I love you so much but Jesus loves you more and He laid His life down for you" Of course I do not think they know what in the world I was talking about, but I wanted to start their time with me out by sharing about Jesus. So we are always talking about Jesus and how much He loves us and how He wants a personal relationship with each of us but we do not ask our children if they want to ask Jesus into their heart...why??? I'm glad you asked! :)

I you ask most 2 year-olds who have heard a Bible story....if they want Jesus to live in their hearts they will tell you yes... so we wait for them to start asking questions. It has been the same with all five of our kids.....at different ages (4,5,6,6,&7) they have started asking more personal questions. We love that process!! For our children...that process has lasted from 3 to 8 months, and it is so amazing to watch as the Holy Spirit begins to draw them. They ask more personal questions...more thoughtful questions. Sometime I will have to write about each of them and what a blessing that process was with them. It was interesting how they came with such different questions and a different thought process. YOu know the Lord tells us to bring up our children in the way they should go...or in their bend.....and I believe that He deals with us in the same manner. My kids had such different questions it was evident that He was working on their hearts in "their bend"......the Lord is so amazing!

So he is my "son and my brother"!!!!

Yep..I'm still here!

My sister invited us to join her at the beach. What a blessing! A free stay at the beach!!! WooHoo!! I took the youngest three and enjoyed 5 days right on the ocean! Here are a few pictures from the fun!
Emily....little sweetie!

Luke....little funny man!
This is a castle that Benjamin and I built...it was much more impressive in person!

The beach and a private pool.... a girl could get spoiled!