young chef's academy

we went to the young chef's academy today with our homeschool group for a field trip. it was a lot of fun. young chef's academy is in edmond. it was decorated very cutely and was kid friendly. there was only one "chef" working today, the other was out sick. we had 20 kids in our homeschool group, but the "chef" was great and very patient with all the kids.

as soon as they got started, she had all the kid wash their hands and put on little aprons. there were 3 steel tables set up in the area with the kitchen portion on one side on the room and the tables on the other. i sat my kids on the end so i could help if i needed too. the "chef" started everyone out measuring a 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda into a bowl. she also did this with flour and salt. this was so the kids could get practice at measuring things. they were making poppy seed muffins. the "chef" went around the table and let each child do something. some poured eggs into a mixer, some poured poppy seeds in, some mixed the butter, and some measured out applesauce. the "chef" popped the muffins into the oven while they made their next thing. they made over 2 dozen mini muffins.

they also made a chicken salad. it consisted of chicken, brown rice, apples, green onions, red & yellow peppers and a vinaigrette dressing. as the "chef" told each step they were going to do, she also had trivia questions for the kids. it kept them interested. the kids got to cut up everything with kid-friendly pizza cutters. i bought my kids a couple to use at home. after everything was cut up and put into bowls, the "chef" mixed it all together and served everything up.

the kids enjoyed tasting what they made. after we were finished in the class, we went out into the waiting area and we got the pizza cutters and some pastry scrapers. it was really fun. they offer all types of classes. the officer said if they offer classes for adults i should take one. funny man.

car repairs

the other day, right after i had my hair done, i was driving to pick up my kids. the officer was at my brother-in-laws helping with some - car repairs on his car. he took the kids over there until i could pick them up.

i had to drive right by my neighborhood to get to the turnpike. right before i got to my neighborhood, i felt my car do something. i don't know what, but i knew something was wrong. i slowed down and decided i would drive home real quick and take a look. i was literally 50 feet from the turn into my neighborhood when this happened. as i turned the car into the neighborhood, it was very hard to turn. i remember the officer telling me something about my power steering that we would eventually have to get fixed. i thought this is what it must be. as i turned into the driveway, it was very, very hard to turn. i could barely get it turned into the driveway. of course, i was parked crooked - nothing new though.

as i turned off the car, i heard a flapping sound and my emergency brake light & battery light were on. i called the officer an told him the news. sometimes he gets a little stressed about car stuff, but he was great. he said B (brother-in-law) would bring them all home after they finish up what they were doing. i called the mechanic asked him how much a power steering pump would be and then made an appointment to take it in the next day. when the officer got home, he started up the car. he found a loose belt and a broken pulley. this was not good news. he was worried they may have to take out the engine (which translate to a lot more money in labor and several days in the shop) to reach the pulley. the officer decided we better have it towed to the shop. they would tack their bill onto the mechanic's bill. the kids were very excited to see them tow the car away. the tow guy was here all of 4 minutes, but he got it to the shop at about 2:30 p.m. that day.

at 5 p.m. the mechanic left a voicemail on the officer's phone, "we need to talk to you about your car." we didn't get the message until 7 p.m. we kind of fretted about it until the next morning. the officer called first thing in the morning - it wasn't even 8 a.m. the mechanic said, "it was just the idle pulley. we fixed that and had to replace 2 belts." the officer was very relieved. it was almost $150 less than we originally thought.

my car has been a great car. it has almost 150,000 miles on it and is paid off. we are working hard on trying to pay off our debt so we try to keep this car in it's best condition (mechanical-wise). the officer does all the routine maintenance work on our cars. it helps a lot.

i was so grateful that God was watching over me. i was happy my car sputtered right outside my neighborhood and i was able to get home safely. i was so relieved i didn't have the kid with me out on the highway or was not by myself on the way tulsa or somewhere else.

Philippians 4:6-9
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

God is my protector. God is my deliverer. God is good.

coloring the weeds

so this past summer i had an experience i hadn't had before. it wasn't bungee jumping or skydiving - nothing that spectacular. as summer progressed and got hotter, i wanted to put my hair up in a ponytail. i did. however, i noticed something peculiar, something strange was sticking out of the sides and on top of my head.

GREY HAIRS! UGGGG!! actually to be specific they weren't grey, they were white.

now i have had grey hairs here and there. for some reason, they have popped up from no where likes weeds in a lawn. seems like one day there's nothing there and then the next day they are everywhere. i don't understand. some of these grey hairs are LONG - like they been there a while. i guess they have been - just hiding. it just seems like this past year they have multiplied by 100. it's pretty noticeable in my hair since is BLACK (or very, very, very, very dark brown if you are one of my family members!).

it just got worse from the summer. now it's not only noticeable when my hair is in a ponytail or pulled back in any sort of way, now i see them just when i fix my hair, sticking out on the top of my head. time to do something.

in my 37 years of life, i have never colored or highlighted my hair. wait - there was an unfortunate incident with Sun-in in junior high, but i don't think that counts. i got very nervous when i thought about coloring my hair. i don't know why. i know a lot of girls do it - and some guys. my older sister did it and it looks great on her. i guess i just had visions of bright orange hair that wouldn't take color. i would be lying if i didn't also mention the cost of coloring/highlighting and maintenance also made me hesitant. i am one of those people who gets her hair cut once a year. i wear make-up on the one day a week that i work and to church only. anyone i have hung out with outside of these occasions more than likely has seen me without make-up.

well a couple of weeks ago i decided it was time to do something about the weeds in my lawn. i set aside some money from my paycheck and made the appointment.

"salon 120, can i help you?

"yes, i need to make an appointment to get my hair cut & colored."

"do you know what you'd like to do?"

"i have no idea. i was hoping the stylist would be able to suggest some ideas."

"okay come in tuesday at 10 a.m."

i went in today a little nervous. my stylist's name was julie. she was great. she asked me what i wanted. "i want all the grey gone. i was thinking about highlights but i have no idea what would look good!" she said, "i can make the grey gone and we can discuss what would look good on you." i knew when i would see the highlights it would be a little bit of a shock to my system since i've never done it before. i just did a simple short haircut, just below the shoulders with long layers. i don't even know what the color of the highlights are. the color of the hair is the same as my natural color. honestly it was just nice to have my hair washed, colored, cut and styled. it took about 2 1/2 hours and that was 2 1/2 hours i had of someone else taking care of me with no one calling me mommy in the background. that in and of itself was worth the money! :)

when i came home, my son said, "hmm i think i liked it black better, but it smells good. it reminds me of a grown-up girl!" (not sure what the last part meant). my daughter said, "it's brown! it's kind of weird." thanks honey. the officer said, "i like it a lot. i like the haircut too!" good man!

i think in a week i'm going to love my hair. they said i can't wash it for 48 hours - interesting. i guess it's so i don't loose any of the color. so if you see me and you think i look like a zebra - don't tell me. :)



the picture posted is of the back of my hair because i couldn't get a good picture of the front that showed the highlights.

maybe - maybe not

i had my nephew for the weekend. my sister and most of her family went to texas for the weekend. her daughter had a dive meet. she came in 8th out of 23 - yeah A! we watched one of her boys for the weekend. he is 1 1/2 years old. my kids were very excited to have him come to our house for the weekend. this could have been because it meant that each of them got to sleep on the air mattress for one night, but i think they just liked having a little one around.

my kids love smaller children. they do great with helping me get things like diapers, pacifiers, and glow worms. they sit in amazement as they watch him eat, play ball, or colors. in the mornings, they could NOT wait for him to wake up.

"Mommy, i think i heard T move."

"Mommy, i think i heard T talk."

"Mommy, i think i heard T say he wants "up"!"

"relax kids, he'll be up soon."

he goes to bed right before they do. as i said before, they slept in one room. my son slept in his bed one night and my daughter on the air mattress and then they switched. i've never heard so much giggling and talking. i allowed some of it because it was cute to hear them giggle. i want them to remember some of these special times.

when i thought about having a 1 1/2 year old in my house for the weekend, i thought i would be crazier than it was. now granted, T is a very, very good boy. he never once threw a fit. he ate whatever i put in front of him. he took nice 2 hour naps. when you laid him down for bed (at 6-6:30 p.m.), he is out within 5 minutes. he didn't care for television, he just kind of liked to walk around and play with the balls we had. he was a great kid and the kids loved having him around for the weekend. my son said he was going to miss T when he had to go home.

with this "perfect" little weekend with T, it got me wondering, "do i want another little baby?" this was a lot easier than i thought it was going to be, not that i thought i would be hard. i guess it was a lot easier than it could have been.

i came to the conclusion - "ummm, no. after this weekend if i didn't want another baby, i do not know what would make me want another one right now." don't get me wrong, if God blessed us with an unexpected pregnancy or hopefully the adoption we hope to do later one, we will be excited and know we are blessed beyond measure. for right now, we are happy with God has given us.

II Corinthians 4:16-17

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. (When it seems as if today's strength, patience, and resolve is gone, He will renew it all tomorrow for us.) For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen (the dishes, the laundry, the never-ending projects, the toys on the floor, and the un-vacuumed floor), but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Thank the Lord He takes care of us every day.

lost it a little

today i was folding a little laundry (yeah - again) and the kids were playing outside. they both come running inside talking very loudly.

they both ran into my room saying, "THERE IS A GIRL TRYING TO GET INTO OUR BACKYARD! SHE IS TRYING TO GET INTO THE GATE ON THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE!!!!"

we have gates on both sides of the house. we only use one side. the side the "girl" was trying to get into was not the side we use. so i asked the kids, "maybe it is H (the little girl who lives next door) who is trying to get into her gate and she is just wiggling our gate."

"NO MOMMY!!! SHE IS TRYING TO GET INTO OUR GATE!"

"okay let me go outside and take a look. stay IN the house."

i walk outside in my boxers & t-shirt and sure enough, i hear someone tugging at the gate. i go to the gate and look through the fence. there is a woman tugging at the gate. i notice she is wearing a lovely fluorescent yellow vest and there are several people across the street in the same lovely attire. i figure it must be gas or electric people.

i say, "hello?"

she says, "hello?"

"you scared my kids to death!" i don't think i said this in the nicest, possible way. i know i need to work on that.

"oh - well i asked them if their mommy was home." replies the lady.

i said, "do you need something? can you please go to the front door so i can talk to you?"

she goes to the front door and we chat a little. she tells me she is from ONG checking for gas leaks. they do it every 3 years. i tell her i need to put the dogs on the side of the house and then she can come in on the other side of the house. i think i did say again that she scared the kids. i think she apologized.

later in the day, i started thinking about it again. why did she try to keep coming in the gate after she knew there were children in the backyard? why did she not come to the front door after she saw there were kids in the yard? uggg. i guess asking if "their mommy was home" was supposed to put them at ease.

my kids said she said, "hi." my son said after they heard someone at the gate, they looked out the fence, saw the "girl", and then she said "hi". they ran in screaming and told me about it. my son said, "well since she said "hi" i figured she was nice, but we ran right in!" i had to tell him just because some is nice to you doesn't mean they are nice. however, i don't want them to be scared of everyone.

what would you have thought about this?

anyway, i freak a little today. plus allergies are driving me nuts. however, the sweet officer let me and my daughter take an hour and a half nap. all is well.

14 reason why i love the officer

also late in coming - meant to post it on valentine's day too. better late than never.

14 Reasons I Love The Officer

1. he always says "i love you"

2. he brings me things like this when i least expect it

3. he does all the jobs around the house i loathe (well except laundry) like scooping the poop (sorry honey but i had to say it), taking out the trash, cleaning out my car, and cutting up the raw meat.

4. he is the best daddy around. he takes time out to play legos with my son or tickle my daughter. he has ALWAYS been a hand-on daddy from the time our son was born. i never had to worry about whether he'd change the diaper or get up in the middle of the night with a baby.

5. he works very hard. he has a great work ethic. doing a good job at anything he is attempting is always a goal of his.

6. with #5 being said, he is not a workaholic. he would rather be at home with his family than anywhere else. everything he does is for his family.

7. he ALWAYS apologizes first. i need to get better at this. however, he is always the first one to genuinely admit he is wrong and apologize for it.

8. he gets me. he gets all the strange/crazy things about me. he embraces and accepts them. no one else knows absolutely everything about me like he does and he still tells me every day he loves me.

9. he has a great sense of humor - i know it may be strange to some people, but he knows how to laugh and i love hearing him do it.

10. he always checks my car before i go somewhere by myself. if i go to tulsa for the day, he checks my oil, tires, fluids, and fuel for me.

11. he is great at letting me have a little time to myself. if i need to run to wal-mart or target, sans kids, it's not a problem. if i want to go out with my sister or girlfriends for the evening, he just needs a little advance notice (like just earlier that day).

12. he is great at taking care of me when i am sick. i am not great at this for him, but he still does a great job for me. he lets me sleep all day without interruptions and gets me whatever i need. he has a great servant's heart.

13. he has gotten pretty bold about sharing his relationship with Christ with others. a couple of years ago he would get nervous if he got the opportunity to share about his relationship with Christ, but i have seen him change and open up. he will take the opportunity if it arises and he's not afraid/nervous about it anymore. he loves God and will tell you about it if you ask him.

14. he never stops wanting to be a better husband, father or person. he's very humble. you ask him what he does a great job and and he will say "nothing" even though he is. he always wants to have a better relationship with Christ. of course, he can't wait for him to come back and just take us all home. he always wants to be a better father. he takes advice pretty well. he always wants to be a better husband. he genuinely tries to change things he thinks he needs to.

it was hard to keep it to 14. i love you plus 10%!

valentine's day

i didn't have time to type another post on valentine's day. so this is late in coming.

i hadn't expected much for valentine's day. the officer had to work and we had not made any plans. however, it turned out to be a great day.

when we woke up, there were little presents and cards for the kids and me on the kitchen table from the officer. i cleaned the house a little bit and then we had to head to tae kwon do. i had decided to make a roast for dinner (another of the officer's favorite meal and something i can cook!). when we arrived back home from tae kwon do, the officer surprised us and came home for lunch. he let me take a nap AND during that nap he had the kids clean their room. the nap itself was good enough, but then to have the house cleaned a little more was "gravy".

we ate dinner together around the table - that doesn't always happen. during dinner, we each took a turn saying something we loved each person sitting at the table. the kid's answer were interesting. my daughter said she loved daddy tickling her and my son said he loved it when i took them to church. after dinner, the kids got their pajamas on and we read the story about Jesus dying on the cross - the ultimate act of love. it was a great day to be able to spend together.

if at first you don't succeed...

just some random stories from our day today.

i was in my room. the officer and my daughter were playing on the bed. he was tickling her. the officer gets up and runs out of the room. my daughter chats with me for a minute. she heads into the front room to find her daddy - for some more tickling. she is calling for her daddy.

"daddy, where are you?"

over in the corner of our living room we have a bookshelf. right next to the bookshelf is the couch. earlier in the day she piled up all her pillows and blankets onto the couch to make "big mountain (she likes to jump off the coffee table and onto the "big mountain".) she sees a big blanket piled up right in front of the bookshelf. my daughter is easily distracted - she was on a quest for her daddy but got distracted by the "big mountain".

she says, "OH! my big mountain!"

she climbed onto the arm of the couch and launched herself onto the "big mountain".

after she landed, she sat there for several seconds. she did not realize her daddy was under the blanket hiding from her. he groaned. he came out from under the "big mountain" and she just stared at him. i think she very confused. at the sound of laughter, i went into the front room.

my daughter said, "i thought it was my bouncer (a big rubber ball with a handle on it that she hops on)." i think she was trying to figure out why it was not such a soft landing.


the officer and i were in our bedroom talking. my son is supposed to be in bed, but he comes into our bedroom to inform us "i need to tell you something. i think i'm getting a beard because my face is itchy all over here." he is showing us where he thinks his beard is. "plus, i can pull the hair on my beard." he's just pulling at his sideburns. he thinks it's time for him to shave.

today we went tae kwon do. there were only 4 people there. 3 black belts and my son (green belt). he is excited because he gets to be in the front row. as they are doing their kicking techniques, my son is getting frustrated because he can't remember kicking technique 7 & 8. master lee is showing him but is a little irritated he doesn't already know them (although no one has shown him both techniques all the way through yet). my son is squeezing his eyes shut, which means he is tearing up. he does NOT like to mess up. in the year he has been doing it he has never out and out cried or been so upset he has had to come out of class.

master lee told him to work on tae kek 4. my son was confused - couldn't remember the very beginning of this form. master lee had asked him if he knew it and he did, but i think the fact that he was already frustrated didn't help. he was getting upset again. master lee told him, "if you don't know something, don't say you do! take a break!!!!"

my son came out of the studio crying. i felt so bad for him. he sat in my lap and let it loose. i just told him make sure he tells master lee what he does know and what he doesn't know. he calmed down after a couple of minutes and went back into class. master lee asked him if he knew the kicking techniques they were working on earlier. he said, "not all of it sir, no one has taught me all the steps yet." "do you know the tae kek 4? it starts like this..." master lee asked him. "Yes! i know that one, i had forgotten how it started sir!" he went into his section of class and started practicing.

i was proud of my son today even if he didn't know all his forms or steps. he stayed in the class and continued to try to learn the steps he didn't know by watching the black belts. he didn't give up. he didn't yell at master lee or quit. he stayed until master lee told him to take a break. he went back into class and told master lee what he did know and what he did know. i liked his perseverance, patience, and attitude. i can learn a lot from him. :)

the pampered chef

i went to a pampered chef party last night. it's been a while since i have been to one. my friend over at disney's world invited me. i was surprised to see an old college friend of mine was the consultant (???). it was a small party consisting of the consultant, the hostess, the husband of the hostess, and another friend.

as you know, i do not consider myself a good cook. however, the pampered chef has a lot of great things. i wanted to see if they had anything new. i think of the few things i have that is pampered chef my favorite is a mini-spatula. it's perfect for serving brownies, cheesecakes, and small desserts of the kind.

the party started with the consultant telling us about some of the products. she also made something - i can't remember the name of it now. it was like a chicken club pie - crescent rolls, chicken, cucumbers, tomatoes, bacon, cream cheese, dill seasoning, garlic, & mayo. it was delicious!!!!!! as the party started, the husband was off to the side at the kitchen bar doing some work. he keep peeking over at the very cool gadgets the consultant was demonstrating and talking about. at one point, the hostess just told him to come join the party. it was a good thing. now the husband could see all the things the hostess wanted. i think he even found a few thing he wanted himself (i.e. tool caddy).

one of the neatest things i saw was a can opener. when it opens the can, there are NO sharp edges. it breaks open the seal on the can. of course the garlic press was pretty impressive too. i ended up getting the cheese knife - i love thin slices of cheese - and the quick-stir pitcher. you know when you make lemonade and you get to the bottom of the pitcher, you pour it into your glass and it is so strong. you just pull up on the handle on top of the lid and it stirs everything.



















i also got the mix -n- chop. supposedly i won't hear the hamburger meat squishing while is use this. it will help to have another utensil i can use to cook hamburger meat and free up my spatula.

the items come in a couple of weeks. i will have to wait another paycheck or so to get the can opener and garlic press.

maybe this will inspire me to get busier in the kitchen. i was in a room full of people who LOVE to cook and are good cooks. i'm hoping by hanging around them i will learn something by osmosis.

riding it out

okay before i start what i am going to write about i want you let you know, this is a fluff piece. i realize there was some CRAZY weather in oklahoma today and i realize the potential of what could have been and what was for some people. with that said, just take this post for what it is....

something to pass 5 minutes for you... no real life benefit :)

so about twice a year the sweet officer of mine take our kids to his parents in stillwater. they stay the night and i have the house all to myself. ladies, most of you probably know what a rarity this is. the officer is always great about making sure i have nights out with my girlfriends or sister or trips to target or walmart without the kids. however, it is not that common that i would get time in my house by myself. i get very excited about this. often my first thought is, "okay what do i want to do, where do i want to go shopping, who do i want to go out to eat with?" however, it doesn't take long before i start thinking, "hmmm a night all to myself in the house with no one there. it will be completely silent!!!" when i know this is going to happen, there are things that need to be done.

it starts the night before they leave. i MUST clean the house. i really, really love having the house clean and being able to sit back and enjoy .... it staying clean. so i clean up the kitchen, the living room, the kid's bathroom, vacuum, sweep, picked up the kid's room today, and got half way through my laundry (the lack of completion of the laundry does bother me, but i decided to put it in my room, continue to try to finish the washing/drying portion and shut my bedroom door - it's only now bothering me since i am in the bedroom typing this blog).

the officer had traffic court this morning and he was leaving after court. while he was at court, i packed the kid's bag, got their pillows & blankets, jackets, games/toys for the car all prepared and loaded by the door for my husband. i got them dressed and ready to go. we did school this morning. my goal was to be completely done by noon so my husband could leave whenever he wanted. :) i did wake up on the grumpy side of the bed this morning, so bless the officer for being so sweet and heading to stillwater when he did.

it's 1:30 p.m. and my family is on the road. i have turned off the radio and am checking my email. my husband calls and tells me he heard we are in a tornado watch (it's still bright-ish outside so i just say, "okay, thanks for calling!"). i get a call from a friend and we make plans for dinner tomorrow night. we talk about how nice it is that i have an evening to myself. lastly we talk about what we do in tornadoes (since there's the possibility of storms later on in the evening - or so i think).

we get off the phone, and not 15 minutes later, i turn on the tv and tornado sirens start going off. it's 2:15 p.m. everyone knows what the weather was like today and i'm sure many of your were in your tornado shelters or glued to your tvs. the tornado sirens are a constant sound until 4:30 p.m. i am sitting in my tornado shelter (the laundry room) with my husband's motorcycle helmet on (which is making me sleepy because it's so stinkin' heavy - don't know how my husband does it every day.) i have never received so many phone calls (btw -thank you all for checking in on me!). it's not over though, because all the storms that just hit my side of town are heading to where the officer and my kids are. i'm not too worried about it because they have very quick access to a storm shelter underground. i just know my kids would be worried - they really do not like thunderstorms. at bedtime they used to listen to k-love, but when there are thunderstorms they listen to cds because they don't want to hear the warning from the national weather system.

now i'm only blogging about this because as i said before the times i get to spend in my clean house all by myself don't happen that often. however, something always happens when the time comes. last time my husband took the kids to stillwater to give me a quiet evening to myself, i got very sick. slept for like 2 days. missed all the time to myself - however the house was clean. this time - tornadoes. really???? really???? oh well. i am wondering what will happen next time i get the house to myself.

all that to say from what i hear everyone is safe and their houses are okay. i'm so glad. you can never be sure of what oklahoma weather is going to do. how did you ride out the storms???

the picture is of one of the many times hail came down at our house.

shepherding a child's heart - foundation 5

i didn't post one of these last week because it went hand-in-hand with this week's lesson. i felt they needed to be posted together. once again these are notes from my sunday school teacher which he took from shepherding your child's heart by ted tripp. again, my comments/thoughts are in green. here are some questions to think about before you read the whole post.

foundation 5 - goals for child rearing

what are my goals for my children?

how do i define success?

how would your children complete this sentence? "what mom and dad want for me is....."

think in terms of spheres (what are you goals for these specific areas?)

spiritual

mental

academic

physical

social

psychological

really think about these for a second. what do you want to your children to achieve? what do are you actively working toward? this was last weeks lesson. here is this weeks lesson.

goals for child rearing

common goal: i want my children to be happy. most people want this for their kids. you are not to seek happiness, you are to seek righteousness and then you will be happy.

biblical goal: to glorify God and enjoy him forever. john piper would say: to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. what does it mean to "glorify"? to praise, enjoy, delight in them.

John 17:4
i have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.


developing special skills

baseball, football, basketball, soccer, gymnastics, swimming, dance, music lessons, tae kwondo lessons etc. these certainly are not evil and may have their place in your child's life. but is the measure of the parent the number of activities provided for the child? is the measure of the child the number of skills developed? what are the values taught and modeled by their teachers and coaches? will you child receive biblical instruction in an accurate self-image, sportsmanship, loyalty, poise, endurance, perseverance, friendship, integrity, competition, and respect for authority? what values are taught when the Lord's day of worship plays second fiddle to a baseball tournament or gymnastic meet? we don't have this situation yet, but i'm sure if my children stay in sports/extracurricular activities it could arise. the officer and i have talked about only allowing our kids to be involved in one thing at a time. so that 1) we have more family time together, 2)they are not going everywhere all the time. we hadn't thought a whole lot about who their coaches/teachers were and that aspect. i had to think about why do i want my daughter in gymnastics and my son in tae kwon do. what do i hope they gain out of this?

a biblical worldview dictates that you should teach your children to exercise and care for their bodies as an expression of stewardship for God's gifts. grow their capacity to share, serve, and minister to others. grow family unity and oneness. keep the body that God has given you in good physical shape so that you can serve others. this also hit me. am i showing my kids a good example of how you can serve others by taking care of my own body. if i cannot take care of my own body, i will may not be able to serve others either physically or because of my laziness.


psychological development

the pop psychology is often directed at building self-esteem.

have you noticed that there is no literature that promises to help produce children who esteem others? to function in God's kingdom is to serve others.

Philippians 2:3
do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider other better than yourselves.

for example, what do we teach our children to do when they are being bullied? "Don't ever start a fight, but if someone starts a fight with you, then you end it."

Romans 12:17-21
do not repay anyone evil for evil. be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. if it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "it is mine to avenge; i will repay," says the Lord. on the contrary "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. in doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
i had heard in a sunday school class once, the part where it says 'heaping burning coals on their head' was actually a good thing. i had thought - you know - it would make them feel bad, burden their load. however, it is actually helping them - back then fire was life. heaping burning coals on their head helped bring fire to their household.

Luke 6:27-36
but i tell you who hear me: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. if someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. if someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. do to other as you would have them do to you. if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? even 'sinners' love those who love them. and if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you. even 'sinners' do that. and if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment. what credit is that to you? even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners' expecting to be repaid in full. but love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

this verse got to me too. i have heard it many times before. i guess just reading it again reminded me. it is very easy for me to "help" people who i know will doing something with my help. i.e. give money to someone, give my time, talents, or whatever. if you know someone will appreciate it, be grateful for it, you are willing to give it. what if someone is not appreciative, not grateful and do something with what you've give them that you do not approve (or not do what you would do with it). is this for me to judge. God says to give regardless. He will be the judge, we are to obey his command to serve.

I Peter 2:21-23
to this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving an example that you should follow his steps. he committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. when they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made not threats. instead he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

lest we forget who were before God saved us. we are not to judge. Jesus suffered the same death for us as anyone - ANYONE else.

Proverbs 15:1
a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh words stirs up anger.


saved children

some parents are preoccupied with "getting their children saved." they take them to vbs, backyard bible clubs, summer camps, and anywhere else where someone will invite and challenge them to "pray the sinner's prayer." nothing in any of the passages that deal with child-training say anything about bringing our children to salvation. there are two problems:

1. we can never tell if a child is saved or not.

Matthew 7:21-23
not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?" then i will tell them plainly, "i never knew you. away from me, you evildoers!"

2. when a child is saved, that does not change any biblical goals for child-rearing. they need to be taught the gospel, whether they are saved or not. once the goal of the child being saved is met, often many parents just leave it at that. we will not be the ones who save them, God will.

now this was interesting. this is something i had not really thought a whole lot about. i mean, of course, i wanted my children to be saved. however, i had not thought that it wasn't MY job. i see that i can only present the gospel to them in as many ways as possible and as often as possible, and leave the rest up to God. if we think it is OUR job to save them, then we may think we are the ones who saved them. we have just as much work after they have been saved to do then before.


well behaved children

often the desire for well behaved children is a result of parental pride. manners, properly understood, are an expression and application of the scriptural principles to love and serve others. well behaved children is not the goal, to serve others is.

if i am being honest here, so guilty of this. leave it at that.

Philippians 2:3-4, 20-21
do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider other better than yourselves. each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others.
i have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. for everyone looks out for his own interest, not those of Jesus Christ.

Colossians 2:6-8
so then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthen in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depend on human tradition and the basic principles of those world rather than on Christ.


good education

much of parent's wanting their children to do well in school is motivated by parental pride. most wanting of children to get a scholarship is for the same reason. getting a "good education" is often viewed as a step toward getting a "good job" which is translated a "high paying job." proverbs 23:4 says the opposite.

Proverbs 23:4
do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.

j.p. moreland's love the Lord your God with all your mind says a person can be well-educated and still not understand life. a person can be well-educated and be a fool.

Psalms 14:1, Psalms 53:1
the fool says in his heart, "there is no God." they are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is not one who does good.

Proverbs 28:26
he who trust in himself is a food, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.

diligence and stewardship are two worthy educational goals.

Proverbs 14:23
all hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

Luke 12: 48
but the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with a few blows. from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

i liked this. as a homeschooling mom, i will work on this. my son does not have to have the perfect penmenship. he does not have to know every phonic sound. he does not have to know how to count forward and backward to 250. if i can instill in him diligence and stewardship, he can learn what do with what God has given him, no matter what that amount is.


conclusion

how would your children complete this sentence?

"what mom and dad want for me is...."

ask yourself this question, and then ask you kids. how far off or close to the mark did your answer match up with your kid's answers.

what's the "nellie olsen"?

the officer was showing my son some simple control techniques. he was showing him how: if you control the fingers, you control the hand, if you control the hand, you controls the arm, if you control the arm, you can control the body. the officer also showed him what the full-nelson and half nelson (my son liked "chicken wing" better) was.

oh wait - a little back story... my kids have started listening to the little house on the prairie series on cds. we check them out from the library. if anyone knows of another series we can listen to, let me know. they listen to it when they are going to bed. my son has really, really enjoyed them! we have heard just about all of the books available in the series.

back to today ....

when we got home from lunch, my son and the officer were drawing transformers.

my son stops drawing and said, "daddy, can you do the "nellie olsen" thing?"

"what?"

"you know, remember the "nellie olsen"?" my son replied.

"what is the "nellie olsen", son?"

"you know the "chicken wing" stuff!"

"OH, do you mean the "full-nelson"?"

"YEAH!!! that's it, daddy!"

**update**

sitting at the library.

kids playing games on the computer.

writing on my blog.

watching my son now help his sister (repeatedly) change the game she wants to play on her computer - without complaining, irritation, or arguing.

just being helpful to his little sister.

no throwing up today so that's good.

the long day

i really had a long day yesterday. made me wonder if i was cut out for all this homeschooling stuff (i know it was just Satan trying to make my weaknesses larger than they are).

i should have known it was going to be a long day. when my daughter woke up, she told me her stomach was hurting. now usually a trip to the bathroom alleviates this "stomach ache", but it did not. she ate some apples & peanut butter for breakfast (not much of it). i was in the the kitchen (where else?) doing the dishes. she came into the kitchen and said, "i think i am going to throw up!" i said, "go to the bathroom and do it in the toilet or sink." she ran back there and i was following behind her but she didn't make it. she threw up all over our carpeted hallway. yep. she was yelling the bathroom door was locked. i checked. it was. she said, "Oh NO!" yes, you guessed it, she did it again - so much more this time. my son came running in from outside because my daughter was screaming and crying. he looked at the mess, covered his mouth, said, "I'M SORRY!" (he locked the bathroom door) and ran out before he puked.

no biggie. we got it cleaned it.

now time for school (everyone's in a great mood now.) my son was just not in the mood to do school and if i'm honest i was not looking forward to it either. we started with our notebook (where we do spelling, phonics and reading). we were on the first word of our spelling and he lost it.

"i don't want to do this."

"i don't know how to spell it!"

"i need some help!"

"why don't you just tell me how to spell it."

"you don't want me to do good at this!"

breathe, breathe!!!!!

he's just 6. he's frustrated.

i won't give you a blow by blow but things did NOT get better. in fact with each part of our lesson we did, he slowly progressed in his tantrum. there might have been a pencil thrown (no, not by me) and paper ripped.

well i decided for today's fit we had to write our spelling words 10 times each for each fit we were throwing. if want to know how many he actually had to write, comment me and i'll let you know. it was A LOT! we had to add more words for each time he threw a fit or talked in a manner that was not positive (i.e. you don't want me to do good).

school on that day took us 4 hours to complete. then he had to work on his spelling words. it took him a long time to do his words. there was no playing that day. no dessert after lunch. nothing. he ate his lunch, worked on his words, had small breaks at the table, and then back to working on his words. when he was finished, we laid down on the bed together and talked about the day. we were both happy it was all done.

after dinner, he headed to bed. i was woken up at 2:30 a.m. it was my son. he said, "i just threw up in my bed!" oh no, here we go again. he proceeded to throw up 3 more times. at least the last time he threw up in the trashcan beside his bed instead of all over the sheets, pillowcases, and pajamas. i guess this is one time i'm glad he likes to sleep with 3 pillows - he had extras whenever he threw up on one of them. in addition, my daughter woke up several times due to the commotion.

here's the good part. my wonderful husband let me sleep in until - get ready....

blessed 10 a.m.!!!! what a great guy!

today is a new day, school went much better. Thank you God for providing days like these after days like yesterday.

like father, like son

like father (the officer almost 2 years old)


like son (my son, 1 1/2 years old)

can you help a girl out?

i'm in the kitchen doing the dishes.

my daughter comes in to the kitchen.

"mommy, don't you think it's nice to help people?"

"yes, i do. it's very nice to help people out!"

:)

my daughter then says, "then how come you don't help me out when i ask you to help me clean my room?"

didn't even see that coming and walked right into it.

a perfect day

have you ever have one of those perfect days - and for those of you out there that say every day is a perfect day - well.... i am just being realistic for my household. yesterday was a perfect day. it may have been the fact we were couped up in the house for most of the week and saturday's weather was awesome (a little windy - but that's oklahoma for you). the temperatures were in the 60s after they had been in the 20s & 30s all week. it may have been that there was very little fighting or pestering. everyone was in a good mood and so happy to be out of the house. we were able to spend the whole day together just as a family and enjoy the time. there was a lot of laughing involved (due to a rip-stick). get ready... there are a lot of pictures for this post.

the officer had to work but he said he would come home early so we could take the kids bike riding. we like to go to empty parking lots so the kids can ride in wide open spaces and we don't have to worry about cars. we usually go a nearby church, but we wanted to go somewhere different. we decided to ride at a school by my sister's house. i took my son to tae kwon do and when we got home at lunchtime the officer had already made it home. the nice weather was too tempting. he came home even earlier than he had planned. we invited my nieces to come bike riding. the parking lot had a downhill slope to it and a lot of curbs so my son was pretty excited to be riding somewhere different. he's trying to get better at his bicycle riding so he can ride his dirt bike this summer. the officer put up a small ramp so our son could practice a little bit. it was a little too small for my nieces but our daughter tried it. we rode bikes for about 45 minutes and then went to the

playground to run off more energy.

after the kids played on the playground, we headed back to my sister's house. my niece got out her rip-stick. these things are crazy looking - kind of like a skateboard (with only 2 wheels). the officer had to try it out, and then of course my brother-in-law could not be out done. it just turned into a big competition for both the boys to see who could get the furthest. we are only talking down 1/2 the driveway and about 8 feet of the road (that was the record set by my brother-in-law). i was geniunely scared one of the guys would get hurt. i got a lot of pictures and videos of this. i couldn't believe the officer tried it - it looked crazy. the guys were pretty proud of themselves until a 10 year old classmates of my nieces from down the street came down and showed them how it was supposed to be done. a little lesson on pride there.

we headed back home after the rip-stick adventure and ate dinner together. the officer and my daughter decided to let us all go on their ice cream date together as a family. we went to braums and each got a treat. i just added that last picture of my daughter eating her ice cream because i thought her facial expression was funny.

it was such a fun day! the weather. the officer getting off work earlier than he planned so he could spend time with us. spending time with the ones you love. being blessed to be able to have the time together. no whining (by kids or adults). no fighting. a lot of laughter. great memories!