Disney and back!

What a magical trip to Disney World we had! The kids woke up on Thanksgiving morning to yet another "Tink gift" which had mysteriously been appearing for the past week. This gift was a bit larger than the previous gifts. Inside cute Mickey Mouse boxes were pillowcase dresses for the girls (to wear to meet Cinderella and Prince Charming) and Mickey Star Wars shirts for Prince and Tink. It was Mickey holding a light saber for them to wear to Hollywood Studios. There were also a few other items I'd picked up for them. The kids still had no idea so we told them to close their eyes and we put their Mickey Mouse ears on them. When they opened we asked them where they thought they'd need these.  Tink sheepishly chimed in, "At Disney World!"...I think she was afraid to say it thinking it wasn't going to be true. But yes, we told them that the next morning we were going to Disney World. They were so excited.

We spent the rest of Thanksgiving Day with family and watching the Macy's parade and doing Minnie pedicures/manicures on all of the girls. This is a tradition I started last year on our first trip. It really makes us feel like the trip has really begun.

Prince got sick on the 8 hour trip from Montgomery to Orlando. We though it was just car sickness but he started running a fever that night as well. We were worried but after some Motrin and much prayer the next morning he was ready to go. That fever never reappeared!

We checked into the Port Orleans Riverside and our room was ready! I wasn't expecting it to be ready that early so this was a nice surprise. We were able to unload our bags and head to Epcot! This was our first time in the World Showcase and I'd really been looking forward to it. I knew there was so much to learn about different countries and since it was Christmas time there were different storytellers in each of the countries telling of some of their Christmas traditions. I was impressed that all of Disney was unashamedly full of CHRISTMAS and the true reason for Christmas! There were Angels on top of the trees (large ones!), the Voices of Liberty in the American Pavilion sang Christian hymns about the Messiah, there were nativity scenes, etc. I was proud that although most of the country takes Jesus and Christmas out of this time of year, Disney of all places has choses (at least for now) to make it obvious what the holiday is all about.

We had a wonderful trip and the Christmas decorations were so georgeous. We ate lots of food from different places including Africa, Polynesian, German, and Asian. I'll try to post some pics later but I have to upload them first.

Now we are back and settled in for our Christmas holiday. It's not quite as busy this year for us! I'm loving that! We can take time to enjoy each other and truly focus on the fact that this holiday is a celebration of the birth of our Savior! God bless and Merry Christmas!

We're getting close!

Well, we have just two more days until we leave for our Thanksgiving trip to Montgomery and our surprise trip to Disney World! I can't believe we've been able to keep it a secret this long. The kids have no idea. I'm still able to pack and everything b/c the kids know we're going to Montgomery, so that helps. Although, Tink did wonder why I was taking all kinds of snack foods, etc. to Nana and Pawpaw's! lol!

I decided on a way to tell them, I think! Starting yesterday morning I started leaving little "Tink gifts" on the kitchen table. I picked up some $1 Disney gifts at Michael's and that has worked perfect. Yesterday morning before the kids woke up I left a puzzle that you color in front of each child's seat. Princess got a Princess puzzle, Tink got Tink, and Prince got Toy Story. They were all excited but it drove Tink CRAZY all day! She kept bugging us and worrying about who gave her the gifts. We explained to her that she should just be grateful and thankful, and that she'd probably find out one day.

This morning I did the same thing. In front of each chair was a box with rolled up Princess, Tink, and Toy story posters to color in it. There was also a brand new box of Princess, Tink, and Toy story crayons. This morning they were even more thankful and grateful. They even each (well, the two oldest ones) wrote a thank-you note to whoever was leaving the gifts. Tink drew a fairy in the clouds and wrote thank-you. Prince colored a Christmas tree pic and had his sister write thank-you for him. How sweet is that!?

My plan is to leave two more mornings of "Tink gifts" on the table. That'll get us until Wed. Then on Thurs. morning (we'll be in Montgomery) we're going to leave a large Disney box that I bought for each of them. It'll be filled with some shirts I bought for them to wear, dresses for the girls with Princesses on them, the personalized pillowcases that I had made for the characters to sign, etc. That's when we'll tell them. This is our Christmas present for the kids so we wanted to make it special. I may even wrap the gift items if I have time.

We'll be gone from Fri. to Fri. We leave Montgomery the Fri after Thanksgiving and we'll stay somewhere off-property that night. Then we'll check in Sat morning and head to Epcot for day 1! We're excited, but I'm a little stressed right now. It's nerve wracking trying to pack for 5 people for 9 days! Ugh! I'll write more when we get back!

Pumpkin Time!

I must admit that Halloween is my least favorite time of year. I love the weather and I love watching the kids dress up and go Trick-Or-Treating but other than that I really would rather skip this day. Tink (dd7) asked the other day if I would celebrate this "holiday" if I didn't have kids. I told her, "No, honey, the kids make it o.k. but other than that it's just a holiday for Satan." Obviously Man-Man (ds5) was listening because when we went to Wal-Mart to get a pumpkin he loudly proclaimed across the store, "Mom, I though we didn't celebrate Halloween because it was for Satan!" I had to laugh. It's true, but nonetheless the kids wanted to carve a pumpkin. So we made it happen.

We host a group of college students from our church every Tuesday night and I seized the opportunity to have the college students assist my children in this task. Everyone had a wonderful time! It started out as a selfish request on my part but turned into a wonderful night full of memories.

We started out the night by eating and celebrating one of our student's birthdays. Then we had all of the "kids" (ours and the college kids) draw a picture of what they would like the Jack-o-lantern to look like. Tink was the judge of the contest and the top two designs were then drawn onto the pumpkins. To help our kids feel more a part we let them color in the face with markers before we carved it. This was a great idea because Princess (dd2) had her own baby pumpkin to color the entire night.

Above are pictures of the finished products. What a wonderful night and a fun way to get the pumpkin carving done.

Jill

Double Fun, Double Trouble!

It was a wonderful day full of cake, friends, and fun when we recently celebrated Prince's 5th and Princess's 2nd birthday parties! Happy Birthday Angels!

Mississippi Livin'

MISSISSIPPI LIVIN'

It is not a shopping cart, it's a buggy.
"Jawl-P?" means, "Did y'all go to the bathroom?"
"Fixinto" is one word.
The word "jeet" is actually a phrase meaning for "Did you eat?"
You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH 'em.
You know what a "Dawg" is.
You carry jumper cables in your car – for your own car.
You only own five spices: salt, pepper, Tony Chachere's, Tabasco , and ketchup.
We don't need no dang Driver's Ed. . . if our mama says we can drive, we can drive.

Too true, too true!
Jill

Princess!

I have to tell you my little girl is so grown up all of a sudden! I mean, she speaks as well as my 5 year old so I forget sometimes that she's just now two. She's so prissy and dainty, yet at the same time rough and rowdy! I love watching her play pretend. I honestly don't remember Tink playing pretend this early. Tonight as we were getting ready to settle down for bed I had Prince and Tink clean up their rooms. Princess usually joins them (and makes a mess while doing it!). Tonight she found these two little bitty babies from somewhere in Tink's closet. The babies were maybe an inch long. One boy, and one girl. They had a little bottle as well. A blue bottle for the boy and a pink bottle for the girl. Well, as we were getting ready to say "goodnight" I started looking for Princess. Anytime she's quiet I get scared, she's usually up to no good!;) I found her sitting at one of the kids folding tables in the schoolroom. She had three chairs around it. At one chair she had that little bitty pink baby, with the pink bottle, and a plate of play food from the play kitchen for the baby. The blue baby, with the blue bottle was sitting at another chair with another plate of food by him. And Princess was sitting at the third chair with her milk cup (that she went and got out of the refrigerator) and her own plate of play food. She was so proud of herself when I walked into the room. She said, "babies are hungry". I called Tink and Prince in to see what she'd done. We were so proud of her. When I said it was time to go to bed she started to get upset. I quickly pulled two baby beds out of the doll house box (one blue and one pink...yet these weren't the babies from this doll house)and told her that the babies could go to bed with her. This satisfied her and she kissed Prince, Tink, and Lucy (the dog) and went to get in bed. She wouldn't let me put the babies on the dresser or the bench by her bed. They had to be in the bed with her. And before I turned out the lights she gave each baby a little drink from their bottle and then she fed them pretend food from her hand. I am still amazed! She turned two less than a week ago and she's already so grown up...playing pretend by herself?? Wow! Maybe our entire two year old year will be so wonderful! ;)

Happy Birthday Princess!!

My baby girl is two years old! I'm still having a hard time with this fact! Oh, she's amazing. She talks 90-nothing and has a vocabulary out of this world. I love to hear her and listen to the things that come out of that sweet mouth. One thing is for sure...she loves her Bruh-boo (her word for brother) and Sissy. She looks up to them so much and now that she's older she's really able to play with them and understand what they're doing and join in. I love watching her with her sister and brother. She does whatever they do yet she's not afraid to step out on her own and do her own thing. She's also not afraid to tell them what to do. She's already a born leader. With her birthday upon me, I'm now realizing that it's time to begin potty training. She's shown a lot of interest over the past few weeks and to be honest, I just haven't been ready. But Dr. Joe (her pediatrician) says she'll be potty trained by Christmas since her vocabulary is so high. I guess because she's able to tell us what she wants and understand our directions on what she needs to do. It's funny, because Prince was nearly three before he was ready. She's such a big girl and I've got to get used to this! I'm so excited to see what this next year holds for this precious angel of mine.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

We woke up this morning and the kids know that Sat. mornings have cartoons. Now, when I was little the cartoons started at like 5:00am and lasted until lunch. Well, not anymore. I guess since most people have satellite or cable t.v. the networks don't feel they need to put cartoons on very often. But since all we have are "bunny ears" we don't get many chances for the kids to watch t.v. especially since we don't allow it during the week. Well, the kids woke up and got to watch about 30 minutes of cartoons this morning...and then it happened...Kennedy's funeral! Oh, it was horrible! How dare they take cartoons off of t.v. right as Disney was coming on just to show a funeral (well, that's what my three kids were saying at least)! But I did manage to snap a really cute picture! Have a great weekend!

Jill

Seven Words of Worship

I was going to bed early tonight, but I decided to read a little before I went to sleep. I picked up a new book that Jeremy had lying on the shelf. It's called, "Seven Words of Worship: the Key to a lifetime of Experiencing God". The book is written by Mike Harland and Stan Moser. I'm not familiar with either man nor am I familiar with the book. I'm not sure why I even picked it up except that God wanted to give me a blessing tonight. He is so wonderful like that! So I'm going to share some things with you that I learned about worshiping our Lord. It's pretty safe to assume that everything else you read is straight from the book. :)

Psalm 139:7-8 says, “Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.”

The men then go on to define worship as this: “Worship is our response to God’s revelation of who He is and what He has done.”

“God has gone to great lengths to reveal himself throughout history-including sending His Son, Jesus, into the world- and He continues to reveal Himself today in at least three ways:
1) God reveals Himself in creation.
2) God reveals Himself through His Word.
3) God reveals Himself through the Holy Spirit.

“As we focus our time and attention on the Lord in worship, proclaim His place of honor in our lives, and thank and praise Him for His eternal promises, we can expect God to intervene in our circumstances. God has promised to inhabit our worship, and He will. And when the King is present, all things are possible! “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations.” (Ps. 100:4-5)

“That’s why we must worship through the good times and the bad-when we’re waiting for God’s merciful touch in our circumstances and when we’re standing in awe of His power at work around us. Worship invites God’s presence, enabling us to experience God.”

“God has plenty of everything-except you! And your worship is the time when you open up yourself and pour out on the One who loves you more than anyone else. So, don’t always be consumed with what you GET in worship. Think about what you GIVE! God wants worship from YOU. No one else can give that to Him.”

O.k. now that's amazing to me. God needs and wants me?? Little old me?? Wow! And to think that I can give God something that noone else in the world can give Him. That's awesome! I am so excited about my growing worship to our Lord. I know that I'll never be able to worship Him the way He deserves, He's too magnificent for that. But I will be praying about and learning all that I can on ways that I can truly worship my Father and thank Him for those many many blessings!

Jill

Never make a bet with a 5 year old!

O.K. I'm learning a lesson the hard way! Never make a bet with a five year old! She will remember it even two years later! See, when Tink was 5 she began asking for an American Girl doll. Well, these dolls are $100+! At this time in her life she was very adamantly against reading. Now, I'm a reader! I usually have at least five books going at once...on different subjects. I've always loved reading. I even remember sitting in Mrs. Miller's class in the first grade when it finally "clicked". I realized I could read! I could read anything! That was an amazing experience for me. My daughter, however, just wasn't interested in learning.

Now, the fact that I'm a teacher...her teacher...didn't help matters any. I worried and fretted! Was I doing something wrong? Can I really homeschool if I can't even teach my daughter to read? You know what I mean! Anyway, I told her that if she learned how to read and read her very first American Girl book then I would gladly buy her an American Girl doll.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about I'll give you a little history. The American Girl books take a girl during a particular period of American history and write a ficticious set of books based on that time period. Uncle David and John gave Tink her first series of AG books for her birthday this year. They're about Kit, who lived during the Great Depression. Tink now knows all about the Great Depression thanks to these great books, and thanks to her great uncles!

So, obviously, my fears were for nothing and my precious daughter did indeed learn how to read. When she got her AG series for her birthday, she was off! I made her narrate the first book to make sure she was understanding and comprehending. Every two pages that she read she had to come tell me about. She did this for the entire book. I was very impressed.

The day she got done reading the book we waited for Daddy to get home from work and set out towards the computer. She picked an AG doll that looked just like her. She even has earrings! I must say, that was the best $100 I've spent in a long time. Watching her work so hard for that doll, dream over it, search the catalogs and internet for it, and wait for it. That's what is so wonderful about children and bringing them up. They love and treasure things so much more when they work for it themselves. So often they're lavished with gifts before they even know they want them. This doll, Hannah, is special to Tink and always will be. She's special to me too! We've already made a place for her in Tink's room and made her a bed, jewelry, food, etc. Oh, to be a child again!

Holly and Brad

I just wanted to ask my friends and family to please pray for my best friend Holly. She and her husband, Brad, have been in the process of adopting a baby from Russia for some time now. Things are looking awesome and a child has been matched to them. They are praying about this baby and whether she is the one God has chosen for them. We are all so very excited to get this information. I can't believe how happy this makes me! I'm crying as I write this! The little girl they have been praying about is 17 months old and is only 6 months younger than my Princess! Please pray that the agency, the Dr's., the baby's home, and all those working with Holly and Brad give them the information they need in a timely manner and we can hopefully bring this precious baby girl home by Christmas!

Mrs. Valera Gibson

At 5:34pm this afternoon Jeremy's grandmother, Mrs. Valera Gibson, went to be with our precious Lord. This was an expected passing, yet a hard one none the less. Grandma was 84 years old and had been in a nursing home, due to Alzheimers, for some time now. She was a very special lady and she will truly be missed. Please pray for Jeremy and his family as they endure yet another funeral. This is the third funeral for them since December. His grandfather (paternal) died in December-suddenly. His uncle (paternal) died in May-suddenly. And now his last remaining grandparent (maternal) has gone to be with our Lord. We know where she is and are thankful that she's able to rejoice with Him right now. Her faith in Jesus as the ONLY way to get to heaven was true. Her mind is now clear and she has cast off this earthly body for a more glorious and eternal one. We love you, Grandma!

Jill

I love how God talks to us in such suttle yet obvious ways sometimes. I was writing an email the other day about how I have been convicted about the amount of internet usage I do on a daily basis. Now, let's get the record straight, I'm not saying I'm on the internet a lot. I would say, though, that 5 minutes here and five minutes there do add up to too much time for me! God spoke with me about that a month ago (Impression without expression = depression ) and I vowed to change.

Then Jeremy went to work some extreme and very difficult hours at work. For a month straight he worked an average of 15 hour days without a single day off. This trial brought me right back into the lion's den and put me back to my old ways of computer usage. I used it as an outlet, an escape. God is again convicting me. And this morning in my quiet time I found this verse:

But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? Galations 4:9
Isn't He suttle?? lol! I love that He speaks to me in so many different ways, just as I've been taught all my life. He speaks through the Spirit, that small quiet voice within that tells you you're doing something wrong. He speaks through other people, my children making jokes that I am on the computer too much. He speaks most assuredly through His Word!

I have assigned times, that I even discussed with my children so as to be held accountable, in which I will check email or write on my blogs. So far this week has been so wonderful! It's amazing how much joy a person can get over following Him even in the simple things like this! Thank you, Lord for not giving up on me!

And now I'm telling my friends and family. It's a personal struggle which I'm sharing yet I felt the need to share how God is working with me and through me on this. He wants to help you too. I'd love to speak with any of you about Him at any time! I can't wait to see what He teaches me later today! :)

Jill

New Blog

Yes, I'm setting out onto a new frontier. I have for some time wanted to create a blog to use for my homeschooling thoughts, ideas, and resources. This current blog is primarily for friends and family to be kept up to date with our ever changing and growing family. It's hard when so many people we love live so far away. I feel strongly that those dear to us should be able to see the children do the wonderful things that children do.

This said, I do also want a place to put my homeschooling ideas as well. Therefore, I've created a new blog. http://www.childreninthemidst.blogspot.com/ is the website. It's a public site therefore I won't be putting any personal info on it. Feel free to check it out. But rest assured I'll continue to keep this blog for our faithful friends and family!

Our Memory work for this term

I've been trying to find a poem, passage, or work to have dd7 work on memorizing this term. Many wonderful ladies have given their opinions and I love hearing what others are doing. A part of me wanted to let her choose which she'd learn, yet this being her first work I wanted to set a firm foundation for her. Our preacher preached a wonderful sermon this morning about being at a crossroads. Daily, in our Christian walk we have to choose which path we will take. We choose the path of the world which is wide and full of others we know. Or we choose the path of Christ which is narrow, hard, and sometimes lonely. I'm sure you can figure out where I'm headed now...here is the poem we've decided to work on this term.

ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth
Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference
Robert Frost

Family Time in Picayune!

We just got back from a wonderful trip to visit family in Picayune. We went down for a ceremony that my mom was involved in. Her base (she's Army civilian) was BRACed (closed) and they had a decommissioning ceremony. She recieved a beautiful medal and bars. I was so proud of her.

We stayed with my Dad and had a wonderful time. D and Nana graciously opened their house to us and we LOVED EVERY MINUTE! We played in the lake, jumped off the pier, rode the party barge, paddle boats, kyacks, oh...we're exhausted!

I also got to see the other side of my fam! All of my cousins, their kids, and my aunt and uncle got together at Angie's house (my Ninnie's house) and we had a wonderful dinner together! It was just like old times...except that instead of us playing hide and seek in the yard it was our kids! Oh, how wonderful wonderful! I thank God for my beautiful family! ALL OF THEM!

My King

Do you know Him?

My favorite pic!!!

O.K. this has got to be one of my all time favorite pics!!!!!!!!! I took it this morning after Prince so sweetly helped Princess put the holster on. They were playing together! AH....not to be fighting or arguing....it's wonderful!

Let Me Hold You A Little Longer

Recently I've been watching my precious angels and realizing that they are growing up way too fast. This is one of my fears in life, that I will be so focused on the future and what they can do when they get bigger...that I miss the present. I've been trying to love every minute of every day with them. Tink just had her 7th birthday. Prince will be 5 in two months. Princess will be 2 next month. It happens so fast. I know that I will look back on THIS time as one of the best in my life. So I'm determined to soak up every minute of it. This video was shared by a friend on her blog. I knew I had to share it too. And yes, I'll be looking for this book to add to my library!

btw...scroll down to my song list and hit the pause button before you watch the video!

Impression without expression = depression

O.k. so I've had my foot stepped on this morning. I need that....like everyday! I need a good kick in the tail to get me headed in the right direction. I thank God that He gave us Bro. Greg to be one of those people in my life who help to lead me along the right paths. Bro. Greg is my pastor, and although I know he sometimes reads my blog I'm going to pretend...for my sake...that he doesn't! ;) Because I'm about to try to relay to everyone what he spoke about this morning. It's important so please don't stop reading!

Bro. Greg is doing a series on "Christian Worldview" that began this morning. This is something I've been thinking about a lot recently as I watch the decline of morals and judgement in our world. I sometimes just want to stick my head in the sand like our friend the ostrich and just pretend it's all perfect. Well, it's not. And although virtually all of us have Bibles, most of us rarely study them. It is NOT a good thing that you know more about Michael Jackson's funeral, or your facebook friends, than you know about the Bible. Culture and current events tend to saturate our lives and they help to form a worldview in your mind without you even knowing it. A worldview is defined as the way we look at the world. Usually this worldview is acquired subconsciously. This is one reason it's important to monitor what you watch, see, hear, read. I've always heard the saying, "trash in = trash out". In my case, trash is facebook, the computer, Farmtown... nothing that is considered "trashy" by the world's standards but it's "trashy" to me because it takes my mind and attention off of my family and God. God gives us minds and emotions and we are to monitor those minds and emotions in a way that is pleasing to God. Your home needs to be a place where those worldviews are created. Saturate yourself in His word and His works.

God has ordained that we be His ambassadors in the world. We live in this world on a temporary basis to serve a purpose that is sometimes mysterious to us. But God knows His purpose and we just trust Him and follow Him. That is our job. However, we tend to make this life about us! We say this life is a big deal, it's all about me and what I get to do, see, feel. The truth is, nobody is Ultimate. We all live, die, and then guess what...life goes on! This bothers the secular mind. The secular philosophy tries to find meaning in themselves or in this world. If you leave God out of the formula then there is NO meaning. The world believes that "I am the sum total of my experiences." Are you comforted by that? There is NO meaning without god.

Scripture says in Psalm 24:1 "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein..." Colossians 1:16 "For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all things were created through him and for him."

The point is...God is where our focus should be. But that's not what the world believes. So how do we change it? The secret for changing the world is going to be God's people acting, living, being like God's people one experience at a time! God is at work in the midst of a broken world that we're a part of. So what's the point of trying? How do we change it to make a difference? God made us to honor Him. We've decided to honor ourselves instead. We've made idols out of hundreds of things. The reason the church lost it's voice is because Christian's have "spiritual laryngitis". No one speaks up anymore for wrong. How will the world hear us, hear about our Jesus, unless someone tells them. We have a voice, let's use it!

Romans 1:20 says "For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made." So God has clearly shown himself and those who choose not to believe are "without excuse". vs. 21 reads..."For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things."

Have we all turned our hearts towards t.v., celebrities, internet, friends, etc. etc. What are the idols that stand in the way of your relationship with God? Don't make things, and especially other human beings a big deal. They/we will all die and be replaced. And the next day people will get up, eat, and drink and life will go on. Isn't this what happens? We think our life is such a big deal. But we have been created to be a voice for the Creator. This life is about Him and we are to serve Him.

If you're waiting for the church as an institution to change then you wait in vain. Go change your world yourself. Make much of our Christ. We have to come to decide that God is the most important thing and make sure that what we learn and believe is relayed to the rest of the world...one person at a time. This is the first step to developing a Christian Worldview.

Impression without expression = depression. This is what Bro. Greg said this morning. What we learn we have to share, use, build on. We have to tell the world, or even just your neighbor. We can change this world ourselves. One person at a time! This is one of the ways I'm going to share with the world. What are you going to tell? What are you going to do??

note: 99.9% of what was said here was from Dr. Greg Belser, Senior pastor Morrison Heights Baptist Church.

Making Strawberry Preserves!

We spent the entire day today making homemade strawberry preserves. Our strawberries are very cheap right now and we go through so much jelly in our house that I decided we'd take advantage of strawberry season and store some up for the coming year. It's been about 15 years since mom or I have made jams or preserves so we had to do a little research.

Tink is actually the one who started this whole process. Her Uncle David sent her a Little House cookbook for her birthday (as well as an entire set of American girl books) and that little booger has been bugging me to death all week to make something out of that book. I decided today was the day. Jeremy's work schedule is crazy and he's been at work all day so what better time to do this!?

O.K. so we ended up making three different batches of preserves...with three different recipies. The first batch came out pretty good but I wasn't happy with the amount of sugar it called for. So I found another recipe that called for half the amount of sugar and more fruit...I thought that sounded perfect. Well, it was excellent tasting but it didn't set up as well as the first batch (I guess that's why all the sugar). So for the third batch we went against the advice of everyone and tweaked it a little ourselves. We now have a bona-fide Kyser/Brown strawberry preserves recipe. At least it tastes good to me. It doesn't set up like the first batch but it's not quite as liquid as the second. With less sugar I think I can deal with the slight liquid texture. The nutrition is what matters to me.

So we're excited and happy to have made them all ourselves. Tink helped with the first batch and Prince helped with the second batch. We had a ball...and now Gidgi is chopping up some peaches!!! Peach preserves coming up next!!!!

My Angel is 7!

This past weekend was quite busy for us. We had a wonderful 4th of July parade followed by Tink's birthday party at the skating rink. Oh, it was a blast and she and her friends had a great time! She felt like a Queen. Speaking of Queen, Nana was asked by Tink to make her a Queen Amidala cake. Mommy searched the internet over until I found a picture of the cake she made below. They worked on it most of the week! And Tink even made the candy chocolates she handed out to her guests after the party. She's really growing up! Enjoy the pictures...I'm off to church for the Loop event!

Happy Birthday USA!

The 4th of July is always special at our house. Our neighborhood has a parade every year and the Clinton Fire Dept. comes to lead the way with one of their engines. We walk up to the top of our neighborhood and get behind the fire truck. This year Prince was able to sit inside at the steering wheel before it took off down the street. What fun he had. As the parade begins the fire truck (with sirens blaring) takes off down the street followed by the bike riders. Tink rode right behind the engine...leaving the rest of her family in the dust! lol! At the bottom of the street we always have snacks and drinks in the yard of a sweet family. They host this event each year and they even have a flag in their yard so we all say the Pledge of Allegiance together. It's very special to us. But even more special this year was that the Firemen hooked up to a fire hydrant and let the truck spray water over all the kids. They had a ball! It was so much fun and Tink is still talking about it. Now, the bad part was that her birthday party was less than an hour away...but a little time in the dryer and those clothes were as good as new. I'll post bday party pics next. But for now, enjoy the parade!

Oh, I forgot to mention, that WE are the parade. We walk, ride, scoot, etc down the street waving flags at the neighbors on the sidewalk. This year Nana, Pawpaw, and Gidgi sat in Gidgi's driveway waving as we passed. That made it extra special. And Lucy, our dog, had fun walking in the parade as well!

Box Day!

As a homeschooling mom I get very excited about this time every year. All of my curriculum came in today...at the very same time. Last week I placed the orders after months of tweaking and praying over what to use next year. I'm so excited about our upcoming year. We take a Charlotte Mason/Classical education approach. I know for most of you that means nothing, but lets just say we use a ton of classical books and not very many text books. Take a look at my homeschooling links to the right if you're interested in learning more.

This was better than Christmas morning for me! I've always loved books and now I get to share these wonderful marvels with my children. I've been called to the very best job in the world! We may just go ahead and start the new year next week!

Jill

VBS 2009

We had VBS this past week and what a blast we all had. We were on the "Boomerang Express" where we visited the "land down under". The kids loved singing all of those wonderful songs and learning about the life of Peter along the way. We raised over $750 for the Baptist Children's Village and one other charity (I'll find out...I forgot). I hope you enjoy the pictures! We're resting this week. We're all exhausted! But what a wonderful week it was!

Busy times...

Do you ever feel like you're just walking around in circles?? I mean, I swear I've been busy all day today but I have nothing to show for it! Honestly, I've been busy keeping Princess out of trouble...or cleaning up the "trouble" she's already gotten into. She's a little 21 month old mess...literally! And now, it's come to a whole new level...she can reach onto the counters!!! Oh, yes! The items that used to be safely placed up high out of her reach are no longer safe. This means kitchen AND bathroom counters. My sanity is going out the window! Earlier today I walked into the living room and sitting right by Tink was Princess...with a permanent marker...and Tink's IPOD! Yes, she'd taken a black sharpie and drawn all over Tink's seafoam blue (or is that green?) IPOD! Luckily a little windex on a paper towel got it off, but now we'll have to see if the IPOD still works. Oh, she keeps me running. Yesterday she threw my brand new Southern Living magazine into the bathtub. It's a gonner. No use in trying to clip those recipes. But she is old enough now that she can go into the back yard with Tink and Princess and not get into too much trouble. I watch them from the kitchen and bedroom windows and she loves playing with the "big kids". So she steps on dog poop every now and then. After all, that's what baths are for, right! lol!

Jill

Orange Beach May

We just got back from a wonderful vacation to Orange Beach, AL. It's been a while since we have been to the beach so we were so excited to get to go back. The kids had a blast! They all loved swimming in the Gulf, the pool, playing in the sand, and eating yummy seafood. This was Princess's first trip to the beach and Prince was too young to remember his last time. So this was a wonderful trip of discovery and trying out new things. Oh, the weather was simply georgeous. High's in the mid-80's. No rain. Yellow flags the entire week (although there were a couple of days that really should have been green flag!). And the best part...there was NO ONE else there! Late one night I counted only 20 lights on in our entire condo. We stayed on the ground floor so we were right by the pool. We could come in off the beach and drop our stuff straight on our patio. While Princess was napping I could sit on our porch and watch the others swimming in the pool. Ah!! We may just have to go back at the end of the summer....once school starts back up again of course! That's the joy of homeschooling. We vacation when others can't! Enjoy the pictures!

Jill

Prince at KinderToT!

Prince has had so much fun at KinderToT this past year. It's a wonderful class that teaches ball handling, hand/eye coordination, and so much more. He's worked on his color mixing, his vowels, counting to five in Spanish and French, and his left/right hands. They even talked about the different senses. It's been a wonderful class and we can't wait to take it again next year. Here are a few pictures of his last class that was yesterday. He'll also have a "Shine Time" and be able to show his skills to parents and grandparents next weekend. He'll even get a trophy!