We're Home.

What wonderful words! Almost like an exhalation, it always brings this cozy feeling of warmth, safety, and happiness. After a long journey it's almost like heaven to be able to say those words, like a prayer, and really mean it. For the past 6 months, I've missed those words. I've been anxious to say them but I wanted to wait until I really meant it. God has provided us a wonderful house to live in but until today it wasn't home. Today, I woke up and realized that I was home, not because we're all unpacked, or organized, or even slightly clean, (LOL) but because our home is finally a place where we want to be. We've made it home just by living here! The clutter of life is all around us and it feels good to finally be able to say, "We're home."

Blessings

I have much to be thankful for! God is providing for us in wonderful ways! When we moved up here, it was with the expectation that we would have to travel back to Miami once a month for Isaac's treatments until he no longer needed them. Probably around 2-3 years. Well, while we were buying this house I met a lady at Staples whose son was being seen by a doctor up here for the same treatments that Isaac needs! This doctor isn't a Dermetologist, he's an ENT specializing in facial reconstruction. We got an appointment with him only hoping that he might take Isaac as a patient. Well, he's decided to accept him! God is soooo good! Not only is this man a great doctor, he told us that he only has Isaac's best interest in mind. He will only do the laser surgeries once every three months instead of every month and he says that he has much better lasers than the one that Isaac's old doctor was using. What good news! His first surgery will be August 3rd. I am very happy because the stress of flying to Miami for these surgeries was just too much for me and Isaac.

And to think, if I had never needed to go to Staples that day, I would have never met this woman! God is good!

Blessings,

Lisa

My little pond...

Here is my latest project. I have been trying to grow a water garden. The people who lived here before us, left us this pond with nothing in it besides water. lol Well, Lowes was having a half off sale on their water plants and I bought them. I think the kids and I will start studying all the different creatures that are living in the pond. We happen to have a brand new microscope...lol


Here is the whole garden. We planted the honey suckle behind the fountain/vase and I am hoping to buy a nice trellis for over the pond for the vine to grow on. I am really enjoying this garden!

Blessings,

Lisa

Isaac is just so proud! He lined those blueberries up all by himself! LOL

Isn't this the life? My sister sent this child-sized recliner home with my mom and Isaac just loves it. LOL I think I might be getting a peek into the future...

Comments...

I don't know what the "Blogitique" is for comments so I've been answering comments in the comments section. If this isn't right, please inform me so that you all don't think I'm ignoring you...lol

Blessings,

Lisa

Saving Money...

We got our first electric bill this weekend from our new house and talk about sticker shock! LOL
My dh decided that in order for us to lower the bill, we would need to "get the kids on board." So on our nightly walk we decided that we would offer the kids 50% of the savings on our next electric bill. If they save $10, they get $5. If they save $100, they get $50. So here I am, with these money hungry kids, finding myself in the dark all the time. lol I'm expecting them to hand me a flashlight and a pad of paper soon. lolol Now if they could be this motivated in their chores! I've now decided that if the kids were in charge, we'd never be broke! (Of course, we'd be naked and living in a tent but we'd have plenty of cash on hand...lol)

Blessings,

Lisa

Genesis: Finding Our Roots

I just finished this book by Ruth Beechick and I have to say, WOW! I have to give you some background into my Christian Walk...I'm just beginning. lol I was a public school child who learned and was ingrained that the Earth is OLD, I mean, how else could dinosaurs exist? This book presents a different view and goes step by step through scripture showing you HOW the Earth is new and was well formed from the beginning. As soon as God made it, it was done! Now I know, to many of you, this may seem simple but to me it was like a light bulb came on and I could finally see! I am going to get the book The Genesis Record that was recommended in this book and go through and do the activities that are suggested in this book. I really learned a lot and I think I may get the next book in her series on World History. I do enjoy a good book! lol

Lisa

Strength...

I had my parents over last weekend for Father's Day and somehow we ended up talking about the Duggar family. You know how it went. My parents talked about how crazy they were for having so many children and how they must be in debt or Mormon or SOMETHING DIFFERENT!!! Well, I got to thinking about what's so different about the Duggars that my parents would attack them like this. I did defend them and straightened my parents out but they still felt that there must be something wrong with them, you know, to have sooo many children. LOL Well, I've narrowed it down and have decided that what they have is exactly what I've been striving for in my own life! (No wonder they are always telling me there's someting wrong with me. LOL)

They have three things, in fact! The first thing that makes them different is their Strength in Faith. They are strong Christians who LIVE what they BELIEVE. They try to live their lives as close to the Bible as they can. They pray constantly and fervently for God's will in their lives, even if that means a MILLION children! Their countenance shows their love of God even without speaking. Wow! and you would think that is enough, but no, they have something else that I want to strive for.

They have Strength in Family. They don't just have children, they HAVE children! They love and nurture and care for each child. They have a patience that can only come from our Heavenly Father and a discernment that only our Lord can provide. The kids are strong, loving, obedient, nurturing and will bring glory to God during their time here on Earth. WOW!

The third thing they have is Strong Lives. They live FOR the Lord to His glory. They live with a strength that goes beyond their own fears, out there as missionaries for those who would look upon their lives and question them and say they must be crazy! Just as those who have come before them, boldly, they are trusting God. What a great testament! I pray that God will work in my life like He has worked in theirs, so that I might bring glory to my Heavenly Father and have those things that the Duggars have.

Blessings,

So, this is the cover that we put on our patio so the little ones can play even when it's really hot. The little ones love it! (And our older kids love the big pool in the background.)

















And here is my oldest daughter, Allison, and my wonderful dh, Eric.

Here's my little cheer leader, Genevieve! She just loves dressing up.




Here's my oldest son, Jonathan, sporting his new hair do. I buzzed him this week and he's really enjoying it in this heat. He was replacing the batteries on a crib toy for Isaac in this picture. He's such a good big brother!

I am so excited about this! I have now learned how to upload pictures onto my blog! I am learning so much. LOL

This is Isaac and his noodle. Genevieve is watching from behind because she likes to be in every picture and because Isaac is dangerous with that noodle! LOL

Boundaries...

I am learning a lot from my youngest kids lately! I guess sometimes I forget that even the littlest ones need boundaries, they are just usually in the form of concrete things instead of them being mental. LOL

In other words, I put up gates today. I hate gates but it is amazing how the behavior of the kids changed, like they felt more secure. It made me realize that I feel better with boundaries too. I have been wrestling with lots of insecure feelings since the move. Things have changed and I am slowly beginning to see where my boundaries need to be for me to feel safe and secure. It's hard to put up those walls at first because it feels like your freedom is in jeopardy but once things are up and running you realize that this is how life should be. I have to admit that I wish I had put up those gates sooner. LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

Child Directed Education

Well, I've given up on Tapestry of Grace. I know that some may think I didn't give it much chance but I can see that my kids are not benefitting from this curriculum. It just doesn't fit us as a family. So...

I've come to a big decision. (O.k. God knocked me over the head and gave me a decision. LOL) I've decided that it is time for my kids to direct their own education. We are still going to use Teaching Textbooks but that's it for texts or organized curriculum, we're going Child Led! I believe that God wants us to allow the kids to begin specializing in the things they find important to each other. I have decided that the kids will begin a blog and will get graded on content, frequency, and fun extras that they learn how to do on the computer, like banners, counters and such.

We are also going to be learning the fine art of taking care of ourselves and others. They will learn all the home management things that they will need to care for the home, inside and out. Cooking, cleaning, budgeting, gardening, yard work, home maintence and such. I want my kids prepared when they leave home!

I am also requiring a quiet reading time each day and they must read from a different genre each time they finish a book. I cornered 10 different genres that I think they need to hit and they need to read at least 5 books a month.

I'm also thinking that the kids and I need to come up with a home business that we can do together. I'm not sure if it'll happen but I think we need to do some brain-storming and see if it is possible.

I'm excited about our new lives! I really think this is what we should have been doing all along. I hate it when I waste time like this. LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

Muffins...

Need I say more? LOL I've been trying to make good, homemade muffins for the past week. I tried and tried but every recipe just stunk. Finally, I found an old email from the SHS group and VOILA! I now have two different kinds sitting in the freezer! How great is that! I have made blueberry/orange and peanutbutter/chocolate chip. I plan on making one batch of each kind so that the kids have a healthy breakfast or snack in the freezer anytime they need it. These will hopefully replace the not so healthy cereal and frozen waffles that the kids have been eating.

Here's the recipe if you would like to try it...

Muffins from Judy in Texas on the Support4homeschool group:

5 cups flour (use up to two cups whole wheat, crushed cereal, packed rolled oats if desired)2 to 2 1/2 cups sugar (use the higher amount if fruit is sour, you may also use all or part br.sugar, You can substitute half or more of sucrolose for the sugar if counting carbs)1 tsp salt1 tsp baking soda1 Tbs.(3 tsp) baking powder2 cups buttermilk, or reg. milk soured with 2 Tbs. lemon juice (I think that buttermilk makes the most tender muffins and is low fat to boot.You can use part yogurt for the milk as well and eliminate the lemon juice.)1 cup vegetable oil or melted butter ( you can substitute 1/2 cup apple sauce (one snack cup size) for half the oil. I have tried all apple sauce, but the muffins become a bit tough if you don't keep some of the oil.)3 eggs2 1/2 to 3 cups berries or cut up fruit pieces (you can make red -white- and blue by using 1/2 blueberries, 1/2 either raspberries or strawberries and 2 cups of white choc chips)Place dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to blend.Place wet ingredients (oil, eggs, milk ) in blender container and blend well.Make a well in dry ingredients in bowl, add wet mix from blender and pour into well. Stir gently to mix, add fruit and fold and stir in. Do not beat, batter should be a bit lumpy. Over stirring muffins makes them tough. This will make 24 to 30 muffins depending on size of pans. Spray pans with pam,(I don't like to use the paper liners, the muffins tend to stick to them and you don't get the nice crust that you get if you bake them in greased pans) fill almost to the top and sprinkle with and of the following: sugar, cinn.sugar, chopped nuts and sugar, coconut, rolled oats and sugar etc.Bake at 400 degrees for 20 min. The are done when they spring to the touch. Take out and cool 5 min in pans, then pop out (use a knife run around each cup to lift out) onto cooling racks. I freeze these in Ziplocs for quick breakfasts.Apple cinnamon: Use 3 - 4 apples (just peel and cut in chunks and throw in blender with wet ingredients, don't over process, or chop by hand), 2 tsp cinn. and 1 cup chopped pecans.Apple raisin - same as above but add 1 cup raisins (plumb first by covering with liquid and nuking for a couple minutes. I like to used part rolled oats with the apple muffins and sprinkle the tops with a little oatmeal and sugar.Carrot raisin - same as above but use 5 or 6 carrots chopped in blender with wet ingredients instead of apple. Add 1 cup chopped nuts if desired.Carrot raisin pineapple - Same as above but add one large can crushed pineapple and reduce milk to 1 1/2 cups.Strawberry - cut up 3 cups strawberries and mix inStrawberry - white chocolate, same as above, but add 1 cup white choc piecesStrawberry pecan - same but add 1 cup chopped pecansTollhouse - add 2 cup choc chips (1 12 oz bag - I like to use the mini chips) 1 cup chopped nuts, walnuts or pecans, use brown sugar and add 2 tsp vanilla.Banana - Reduce milk to 1 cup - add 5 or 6 bananas to blender - add 2 tsp vanilla and 1 cup nutsBanana/Strawberry 1- same as above but fold into batter, 2 cups cut up strawberries.Banana/Strawberry 2 -Add 1 cup strawberries to the blender with 4 or 5 bananas. Stir 2 cups of cut up strawberries into batter. Banana/Strawberry 3 Follow either banana or banana strawberry 1, but add 1 pkg strawberry jello to wet ingredients.Banana Choc chip - same as above but add 2 cups mini chips and 1 cup nuts if desired.Blueberry /Orange - one of my favorites! Peel the orange skin off one orange in very thin pieces using a potato peeler and put in the blender with the other wet ingredients. Remove the white peel remaining on the orange and cut orange into 4 or 5 chunks. Pick out the seeds and put the chunks in the blender. add the remaining wet ingredients reducing milk to 1 3/4 cups, if you are using regular milk do not add lemon juice. Blend well. Proceed as directed stirring in 2 1/2 to 3 cups blueberries.Cranberry Orange - Same as above (no blueberries) except add 1 1/2 dried cranberries (plumped in microwave by covering with liquid and nuking for a couple minutes). Can also add 1 cup chopped nutsOrange Pineapple - Same as above (no blueberries) but add 1 large can of crushed pineapple and reduce milk to 1 1/2 cups.Hawaiian - Same as above but add 1 cup coconut - sprinkle tops with a little coconut.Peanut Butter and Jelly - This is for the kids, into blender container put milk, 1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky, you can add extra chopped peanuts if you like) and only 1/3 cup oil. Use 4 eggs and mix as usual. Fill muffin tins 1/2 full and put 1 tsp jam or jelly in center of each cup. Fill with batter almost to top and bake as usual. Chopped peanuts sprinkled on top is a nice touch.

Enjoy!

Lisa

Personality test...

Well, I received my copy of MOTH and I've been trying to implement it. lol I am just not the organized type. I keep thinking, why am I doing this again? lol Not the best way to get on a schedule but it's hard to change who you are. Genevieve, on the other hand, is definitely thriving on a schedule. She just loves going from one thing to another and being able to ask, "What's next?" I am trying to keep her busy because it sure is helping her behaviour. WOW, what a difference.

My dh has been obsessed with personality types lately and it's got me wondering...can you change who you are? What if you take one of those high falutin' tests and it says you're a lazy bum who likes to have people wait on you hand and foot. lol What then? Do you just say, "oh well, I guess I'm just never going to be anything." lol (Well, maybe this person would...lol) Or would you change? Does God change you or does He use you "as is?" I think MOTH is going to change me. I think that it will be a good thing for me and my family. I think that all I have to do, is be willing to change. So does that mean the test was wrong or does it mean that I'm becoming who I really was all along? lol

Blessings,

Lisa