Monthly Archives: August 2006

Contentment?

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Getting up at 5 in the morning is not nearly as exciting as I wish it were, but it does allow me to capture the sunrise and most importantly, to get a fresh start on my day before my family is up and roaming around.

I wanted to share with you a little this morning of what has been on my heart lately concerning homemaking in general.

There are so many comments made by many women about needing “their” time away from their children and away from their home. This is such a selfish line of thought and this self seeking leads to nothing but unhappiness and discontent in our homes.

We must step back and realize that God, in His perfect way, made us to be keepers of our home. How could we possibly find content elsewhere?

If you are truly looking to be content and to find fulfillment…you don’t have to look any further than your own walls, your own husband and your own children. They need you and you know what? You need them too! It’s nice to get out sometimes, especially to learn a new skill or fellowship with other believers, we just need to make sure that if we are doing this as an “escape” we re-examine our lives to find the real problem.

Onto other things…

The “latest” corny joke in our home….
“How does a crocodile cook his food?”
–The answer can be found at the bottom of the posting.

We’ve been working on our schedule this week, though, I’ve been on and off so I could take care of some loose ends we have had. The good thing is I designed my schedule to accommodate the children being able to go through the blocks by themselves. This way, if I’m out or needed somewhere else, it can go on without me. This is a first! Every other year, if I had to be out of the house for some reason, the whole home was thrown off. It’s nice to know even in my absence, our home is still in order.

Prayer Requests

My Mom works with David Eissler who’s 13 year old son is having a heart valve replaced today at University hospital.

We have got so much planned for this weekend. Please pray that we can work as efficiently as possible.

Paul has a tooth ache.

Somewhere….*sigh*, we have lost a little lizard in our home. We saw him briefly as he ran by the front door yesterday, but we couldn’t catch him fast enough. Today, everyone is on the look out for the un-welcomed little friend in our home.

Today, I’m Thankful For

Seeing a beautiful sunrise this morning.

Almost a week working on the new schedule.

Progress made getting the porch ready for fall.

A good beginning to this last day of August…can you believe it?

A dimpled and smiley bald little girl who likes to play “peek a boo” in the mornings!

Tracy’s Task

This is a picture of the front porch “before”. I’m going to be working on getting it more presentable before the weekend. We are also going to focus very heavily on the yard on Saturday. We are getting to the months where growth will slow down some and so it’s nice to have efforts made in the yard last a little longer! :)

*One note, my porch is not usually this messy…we’ve been going
through our storage space and have the left over sunflowers on
our porch….those are the first to go this weekend!!

Three things I’m focusing on…..

1. Setting up some pretty planters for mums in the coming weeks.

2. I would love to have a seasonal flag for the porch…I’m going to see what I can locate over the weekend.

3. I need to get big toys off my deck and find another place for them.

I’m also going to hose off the front door mat…..it needs it REALLY bad!

What are some things that you can do to beautify this area of your home?

What I’m Learning

The more you do in your home…the more you find reasons to be there and make things nicer for your family….the more you invest in your household, the happier you are there!

Today’s Scripture Meditation

1 Tim 2:5-6
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men– the testimony given in its proper time.
(NIV)

The answer to the latest corny joke…
“In a crock pot!” : )

That you may draw close to your mediator today,

Various Ramblings

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Wednesday, already? These weeks do fly by too quickly!

We are now on day 3 of our new schedule. So far, this morning, the children are buzzing around from place to place. We’ve had no real problems (This is a first! Normally, we have to re-do our schedule several times before we find something that works!) I don’t think anyone but Emma is minding the new schedule. She’s upset because she’s not on someone’s hip this morning…she’s parked in the playpen until her breakfast time in just a little bit.

Paul had a great meeting with an investor yesterday. It looks like the next step in the process is going to take a few weeks and then the next step will take a few additional weeks. At that point, Paul is supposed to meet with them again to discuss any future arrangements. This has been slow, slow, slow but I know that it is all in God’s timing and not ours.

Yesterday, I was so excited to finish a couple of the web features and bring them to life. Today, my priority is “making bread” in the ‘Making It Home’ section of the website. I hope that it will not take too long…I’ve already written the content and taken the pictures. My hold up is always the posting process. I’ve not gotten all of that figured out yet.

Prayer Requests

Pray for Jenny (one of the yahoo groups moms) and the job interview process that she and her husband are going through right now.

Continue to keep the Beutows in your prayers.

Pray for Paul as we take care of some legal lose ends associated with a couple of our businesses.

I had a really bad day yesterday. I know that we all have those days, yesterday was mine.

Today, I’m Thankful For

The schedule running so well.

My husband having sent me sweet emails a couple of times this week.

Scout plans through December almost complete.

Rain over the last few days.

Tracy’s Tasks

I’m going to take a picture of the front porch today and decide what needs to change. I’ve already printed my holiday planner sheets.

How are you coming with the holiday grand plan? Do you have ideas for making your porch more welcoming and warm for your family and friends?

What I’m Learning

My dentist gave my children a quick tip that I thought I would share here. They both brush and floss multiple times a day but one of them seems to have a tendency towards swollen and painful gums.

She told them both that if they would continue flossing and swish with a little warm salt water afterward, this problem would resolve itself.

Today’s Scripture Meditation

I came across this today as I was reading this morning during my devotion time. What an awesome scripture…this one may get taped up on a wall somewhere!

1 Pet 4:12-19
“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”
(NIV)

Wishing you a wonderful day,

Popcorn, Anyone?

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Last week was very long folks!

About midweek our van died, again! Paul thinks that this van must have been submerged under water at some point because we have basically had to have almost everything under the car replaced due to rust!

This week, we had the fan belt, fan belt pulley, water pump and radiator changed…to the tune of $900.00! OUCH!

I know that bad things happen to everyone….it’s just hard to swallow $700 and $900 bills all the time.

We also have been having terrible server problems. Our sites were all down until late last night when I realized apparently the problems they were having caused my web site to be reset to the beginning of last week meaning I have now lost a week’s worth of postings and information! (I was most depressed over having lost the work we had done to the hope chest section of the web site. We are going to see if we can restore this sometime today!)]

Saturday, was one of our annual cub scout recruiting events. That went very well! We were excited to have some new boys signed up for our cub scout group. Hopefully, it will be the start to an awesome cub scouting year!…but, I especially enjoyed running into old friends and even my aunt Cathy whom I rarely get to visit with, but always run into at this event! What a blessing!

On the lines of scouting…my boys and Paul have been going out in the evenings to sell popcorn…it’s fun to watch them come in and be so excited over their orders but mostly to see all the grins due to the fun they have had walking neighborhoods with their dad! Last night, I heard about them having run into an old scout leader and Jacob’s experience with some neighbor’s dogs. It sounded like they had been on quite an adventure and they are raising much needed funding for our pack to operate. Popcorn anyone?

Prayer Requests

It seems that the Beutow’s may have lost the new little life that they had learned of last week. Please pray for them.

David Blackwell’s Grandmother.

Our week to be uneventful in the area of car repairs or financial disasters! :)

A good response as I begin to call families who signed up for scouting on Saturday.

Paul is making a phone call today we hope will lead to a meeting tomorrow.

Today I’m Thankful For

New and growing cucumbers!

Large eggplant….we just realized we had two! One is the traditional variety I’m a little more used to and the second is a Japanese eggplant.

We’ve finished our new schedule and are taking it for a test drive today…so far, so good!

A good weekend with my family.

A good Bible study time this morning.

Tracy’s Task

I’m continuing on the holiday grand plan this week.

If you’ve not yet checked it out, it can be found at http://www.holidaygrandplan.com .

This is a web site fully devoted to helping you to plan ahead and have a stress-free holiday.

On the list this week is, printing out planner forms (I’ve created my own for my planner). and working on your porch. (Mine needs some overdue love….this is the “before” picture.

I love these plans because they are so detailed they make you think to work on areas you might not otherwise even consider…but it’s these things that can really make a house a home!

What I’m Learning

I’ve said it before, I *love* two-year-olds! They never lack for excitement and adventure!

Last night at 11:00, Benjamin came into the living room…I wished I had a picture of this. Apparently, he had not went to sleep in his bedroom and had been playing. One of his favorite things to do is change clothes (he loves his Bob the Builder shirts and p.j.’s and will change in and out of them frequently). Last night, he walked into the living room, completely covered…actually his head was stuffed into the sleeve of his shirt. He had tried to change clothes in the dark and this time, it didn’t quite work. He had gotten himself into some tight spot! I didn’t know a head could fit into a T-shirt sleeve! I can’t even tell you what he looked like walking into the living room…a tamale, maybe? Anyway, you could tell there was a reluctant stride…he was afraid of getting in trouble for not being in bed but he realized he had no choice but to seek help. Paul and I tried not to laugh as we freed our grateful son and scolded him for not being in bed on time.

Today’s Scripture Meditation

I have loved my study in II Peter…I was sad that my thoughts and recordings of this were erased with the server problems we had over the weekend.

This week, I’m moving onto I John.

One of the things that I like most are the greetings and closings of the letters written in the New Testament. Greetings such as:

I John 1:1-4
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched– this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.”
(NIV)

I’m also very much enjoying the “matter of fact” …”this is just the way it is” wording of these letters. They speak so much wisdom and explain so many things.

This is from I John 3:

I John 3:1-11
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.”
(NIV)

“how great is the love the Father has lavished on us……”

What a beautiful way to begin a new week! I hope for you to feel the lavished love of a Father!

Until tomorrow,

II Peter

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Yesterday, I had the privilege of spending some time with two of our Yahoo Groups ladies making T-shirt dresses! It was a wonderful time of fellowship and I enjoyed getting to meet these two women in person!

Today, we’re focusing our efforts on finishing the schedule. I thought that we would be finished yesterday, but it’s taking longer than I had hoped. I still have some items I would like to fit in, but I’m not sure yet how. I’m going to wait until we are up and running and see where I can pull a little time to fit those things into our day.

It’s a tough job to schedule a big family…you have to make sure that you see to each individual child’s needs.

We also have the kitchen and living room (we didn’t get to yesterday) and our home schooling to do. It’s going to be a busy day!

Prayer Requests

The Beutow family is having some problems with their house AC unit, as well as their van. Please continue to pray for them.

My older children have a dentist appointment this afternoon. Please pray that all goes well with their visit!

My hubby is continuing to make phone calls on behalf of our business today. Please pray that all goes well with those.

Michael, a little boy, Kim Greenlaw knows, has come out of remission from cancer.

She also asked for prayer for her nephew, Cody, who has been having a sort of “spell”. He’s currently undergoing testing.

Today I’m Thankful For

Yesterday’s T-shirt making success!

A new mom on our Yahoo Groups this morning.

More rain yesterday.

Finishing the children’s haircuts yesterday.

My sweet Paul. Each and every day, I’m aware that I am a very blessed woman.

Tracy’s Task

Today, I’m working on uploading new information to the web site. I’ve mentioned before, this to me, in many ways is a Titus 2 “thing”. I enjoy knowing that I might be posting something to teach another woman a new skill to help her family.

We all have unique skills and talents.

What skills do you have that you could use to teach to other women in your life?

Make some plans today to begin to teach these things to younger women around you…even if it is to your own daughter.

What I’m Learning

I’m going to have to purchase new laundry baskets. A few posts back, I mentioned that the laundry baskets I purchased from Walmart, are just not holding up to the abuse they get from going in and out of the house multiple times a day hanging laundry.

I’ve been reading lately that bushel baskets make great laundry baskets. I’ve decided to purchase a couple and give them a whirl. I’ll post an update as soon as I try them out and see how well they work!

Today’s Scripture Meditation

Recently, there seems to be such an attack on the Christian faith in general. I remember no other time in my life when Christianity was trampled on so openly.

Families, even Christian families, are falling apart by the masses.

Parents aren’t taking on the roles to train their children…they just haphazardly bring them up until they are old enough to turn them out into the world resulting in selfish, irresponsible people who seem to care of nothing more than what they can spend their money on next.

It is sickening to walk into almost any store and see statues of idols sitting on the shelf waiting to be purchased (when did this trend begin?….I know that people can make idols out of anything but to openly sell, or buy something so evil….) , or to hear people on the news or on a talk show professing to be Christian talking about how we have to be “open minded” and accept the beliefs of others. I hear people openly talking about Christians, saying nasty things about the people who choose to follow God.

At the same time, I think it disgusting to see homosexuality so openly embraced (if you’ve never studied the destruction of the Roman Empire…go back and REALLY study the root causes….it will run a shiver up your spine to compare it to modern day America!). Even more sickening, to hear the account of those surrounding the latest news sensation, who openly admits to molesting and murdering an innocent six year old girl. The most sickening part of this being, not the individual who committed this vile act (we will see if he actually did this or not….either way, he’s obviously deranged beyond what most of us could fathom), but rather the news “matter of fact” coverage….aren’t there supposed to be some things that are so wrong that they should not ever be spoken of so candidly in public?

It is a society that seems to spit in the face of God!

I have spent much time in II Peter this last few weeks.

This morning, this Scripture almost jumped off of it’s written pages:

2 Pet 3:3-18
“First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”
(NIV)

T-shirt Dressmaking…

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Sorry for the delay in posting this morning…our internet has been on and off following the storms that rolled through our area last night.

We really needed the rain, I’m so thankful for it. Some of our little plants look like they took a beating last evening. I’m hoping they’ll perk up as the day goes on.

Today, I’m going to help a couple of ladies in our yahoo group learn to make T-shirt dresses! Pictured here is one of the T-shirt dresses that I made for Miss Emma.

I’m looking forward to it! I always look forward to helping moms find affordable, and modest clothing for their little girls. They are difficult to find in stores.

It’s a short post today because I still have so much going on.

I am posting a picture of my schedule in progress…I’m hoping to be finished laying out my time slots tonight so we can take it for a test drive in the morning.

Prayer Requests

David Blackwell’s Grandmother is still in the hospital and not doing very well.

The Beutow family is still having some auto problems. (I know how stressful this is….this seems to be the story of our life!)

There was an auto accident yesterday in our area that killed two children. Please keep their family in your prayers.

Today I’m Thankful For

Our first beans!!

Yesterday’s rain.

Fellowship time this afternoon with a couple of moms who also have large families. (This is a rare opportunity!)

Progress that I’ve made on our schedule.

Yard work that we finished this morning! (Glad to get that done before the heat of the day!)

My Mom sold a painting yesterday that was part of an exhibit in a coffee shop across town.

Today’s Task

It’s time to start the Holiday Grand Plan. This is something that I’ve done for years and have found it to be very helpful in making my holidays stress free!

Visit this site today at www.HolidayGrandPlan.com and get ready to begin “list week” with me. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

What I’m Learning

We’re at the point in the year where our once monster thriving sunflowers have now dropped their heads and are dying back.

This morning, I went outside to remove the two remaining in our front yard and couldn’t cut them with my clippers!! Even with something heavier, it took me nearly 20 minutes each to get these things down. It was like sawing through a tree!

Today’s Scripture Meditation

2 Pet 1:2-8
“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(NIV)

Family Schedule

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Good Monday Morning! I hope that this finds you having had a restful and peaceful weekend.

We had a very enjoyable weekend. My Mom came for a visit, which we always enjoy. We cooked roast, creamed potatoes, lima beans, carrot slaw, homemade rolls, and brownies for desert.

We did have some excitement in that the oven stopped working properly about halfway through cooking our meal but thankfully, we were able to finish what we needed in the microwave and then Paul worked on it to get it up and running until he can stop and get a replacement part that we need on his way home from work.

Yesterday, we stayed home from church. Miss Emma still has a yucky nose lingering and we didn’t want to make anyone sick. We’ll be glad (hopefully!) to get back next week. We’ve really been enjoying our visits with this group.

Today, I’m working on our daily schedule for the year. Over the last year or two, after agreement and encouragement from Paul, we decided to start and end our school year at the end of calendar year instead of the time when the public school year recognizes their start and end. This is a natural time because we normally school year round but take a longer vacation around Christmastime…perfect for me to work on the upcoming year.

So, now I’m working to make sure that everyone has everything scheduled that they need as well as continuing to work on the chore system that we’ve been trying to institute. It’s a lot of work, but in the end it will make things around here work much more efficiently and for that, I’m really excited!

Prayer Requests

My Mom has hurt her arm somehow. She said that it’s been like this for three weeks…her upper arm is really red and hurting. I’m not sure what she has done but, please, keep her in your prayers.

My scheduling process.

Lingering “yuckiness” in our home. Please pray that the sickness will leave our home!

My friend Tanya, and her hubby Jeremy, have a new little blessing on the way.

On the subject of pregnancy, please remember one of our yahoo group moms, Jenny who is also expecting.

Today is Kimberly Greenlaw’s birthday, please pray for a great year for her and that God would put His hand on her family to keep them safe and to lead them where He would have them go.

My sister in law, Melissa, starts school today (she is going to college).

Today, I’m Thankful For

My husband having the opportunity at his job to lead a group of men on a project that they are working on.

My children’s willing spirit to try the new scheduling “stuff” that we’ve started…no grumbling, no complaints! : )

Prayer time with my children this morning.

The Scout year that will be kicking off this week. We’re making some changes and I’m excited to see where it leads us!

The work we finished over the weekend to the websites.

Tracy’s Tasks

If I could show you just a glimpse of what the Lord has shown me over the last few years it would take hours.

He is teaching me to question the how and why I do everything.

If you’ve never done so, stop and ask the Lord to show you the areas in your life where you could improve if you weren’t doing things the way you had always been taught and instead looked to Him for wisdom. You might be surprised what you will learn!

What I’m Learning

There are some things that can’t be fixed. I wished that I had taken a before picture. This is the after….getting out of the car for church a couple of weeks ago, I realized that Timothy had cut huge chunks out of his hair. Why must all of my children do this? I tried to make the best of it and get it back in some normal looking style, but I think he had cut it too short!

I’m learning that every child will do the thing that you least expect and the least desirable moment! It is these moments that define us as parents! *Sigh*, at least it will grow back!

Today’s Scripture Memory

1 Pet 1:3-9
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade– kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith– of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire– may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
(NIV)

Looking forward to a good week,

A Boy and His Dog

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Bless his heart, Matthew would love to have a dog. We just can’t have one where we live and I’m not sure how his allergies would react to another animal.

That being said, he has built the next best thing. His own dog, built entirely from Legos, is the actual size of some small dogs, doesn’t make a peep, nor leave annoying little “messes” anywhere. He’s also a very economical and obedient little animal. In short, we love him.

Seriously, this is Matthew’s latest LEGO creation. He asked if I could give it top billing on the blog today…how could I refuse such a request.

I’m constantly amazed at the things my children create with little LEGOS. Matthew has just turned seven and he’s building dogs, when my older children play with LEGOS, they turn out small cities with little working factories. It’s amazing. I love to see what they will come up with next!

We’re trying to get an earlier start today. We’ve had such a full week. Earlier this week, we were planning to have the long over due, weekend yard sale to clean out our storage space. After pulling box after box, and bag after bag, into our home, and sorting it, we found out yesterday that Paul has to work on Saturday. I’m sure in most homes this would not be a problem, but in my home, with so many littles, one of which is nursing, I’m not about to try a yard sale by myself. My dear friend, Christy, mentioned yesterday that at least it will be cooler when we are able to have it. I know she’s right…it will make for a much more pleasant day. For now, I have to go through the process of re-packing the “stuff” that now lines the halls, living room and bedrooms of my home. *sigh*

This is a picture snapped by Courtney last evening of the fog that had settled over our neighborhood. Between the heat and the humidity, it was hard to breathe!

Prayer Requests

Efficiency in our day

Our friend, Marty’s Mom fell and now has broken bones in both legs!

David Blackwell’s elderly Grandmother not doing well and is now being seen by hospice in her home.

Emma’s continued recovery from the sickness that we’ve had.

Today, I’m Thankful For

Items on our list already finished for the day

Rain yesterday.

The cooler temps that continue to move in…I’m hoping that Fall is not far off!

My mouth being so much better…I’ve now been 3 whole days with no Motrin.

The church group that we’ve been visiting. We’ve been out for the last couple of weeks but are looking forward to returning on Sunday.

Tracy’s Task

Today, I’m making a list of items that I would like to have to decorate the outside of my home for Fall. A new welcome mat, Mums, a fall wreath, these are the kinds of things that make a house look like a home.

What I’m Learning

Many of you know that we struggle to keep our home cool in the summer. It is not at all unusual for temperatures in our home to be in the upper 80′s or low 90′s with the air conditioner on in the months of July, and August.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve made a huge effort to keep the house cooler by hanging blankets over our windows during the day. Though I don’t particularly like the “look”, I do very much appreciate the cooler temperature in our home. What a wonderful thing!

I’m looking forward to the next power bill. Hopefully, it will be lower due to our efforts!

Today’s Scripture Meditation

Heb 3:1-4
“Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.”
(NIV)

Blessings…

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Today, I’m posting for Mom, because she isn’t feeling very well.It is going to be a short posting, because we have a lot to do.

The picture is the picture of the booklet they gave her to explain about her wisdom teeth.

This being said, I’m going to write a little on how to be a blessing to others in your home. As many of you know, Mom had some wisdom teeth pulled and had some other dental work done. Afterward, she didn’t feel great, and she needed to recover. She needed peace and quiet.

Before her surgery, my close friend and brother Joshua and I, developed a schedule, chore lists, and a general plan of what was needed. I believe Mom has already shown a picture of the boy’s door.

Each door had everybody’s chores for that room, a copy of the schedule, room rules, and a sign indicating what room it was. It was up to us to run the house. Included in the schedule was school, chores, meal prep.,laundry, dishes, and activities to keep the house quiet but efficient. The benefit was that the house was clean and dinner hot and ready when Dad got home. In fact, we are going to do the schedule tomorrow, to further bless Mom and give her some much needed free time. It is easy to bless someone. We enjoyed helping Mom get to feeling better. You have no idea how you can bless someone. In this case, we were blessing Mom by helping her get to feeling better by allowing a good recovery, but you can bless someone’s day just by doing a unexpected favor.

In our house, we have a special star. When you do something nice for someone, you leave the star where you left what you did. Whoever got the blessing blesses someone else. Try this in your house! We love it! It is another unexpected blessing.

We received the blessing of rain yesterday.We were very thankful for this, seeing as how our “crops” outside were getting some much needed water! Amen! You can receive unlimited blessings, you just have to let God pour them down! (This is not a coincidence with the rain, really!;))

On the though of rain,

“It’s Rainin” by Kirk Franklin

Chorus:
Send it on down
Send it down
Send the rain down

Repeat 3x

Lead: choir:

We need to feel some holy drops from you (send it on down)
Lord we are willing to go through and through (send it on down)
Shower down a blessing on your people (send it on down)
Lord we need you to shower down a blessing on us.(send it on down)

Chorus

repeat lead

Bridge:
We’re waiting here for a blessing
Let it fall down on me
We need to feel your anointing
Let it fall fresh on me.

Vamp:
Its raining
Its raining
Its raining

One day, two weeks back, it was incredibly hot and sunny. On my way out to check the mail (one of my favorite chores! I love being outside!) I started singing “It’s Rainin”. As I’m singing the part about the rain and the blessings rolling down, I heard it. It was thunder. With that thunder came lightening, and then heavy rain drops. The Lord had blessed us with the wonderful,cool,steady rain.
I love this song. It speaks a lot to me personally.

Prayer Requests:

My Mom’s dentist appointment today

For us to get over the Post-Nasal Drip

For it to rain after the laundry dries today

For the Bogdan family. Their precious little son, James, had his funeral yesterday. Please pray that God’s love and peace is all bestowed upon them.

For the Fuchs family. Their son has an upcoming surgery.

The continuing war in the Middle East.

For my Grandmother, her car engine died today.

Praises!
That we are getting more done on our websites and sewing projects! Yippee!

Courtney’s Task
To help Mom with anything she needs help on.

Scripture Meditation:
Deuteronomy 28:1-3

“Blessings for Obedience–If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.”

Psalm 128:1-3
A song of ascents.

“Blessed are all who fear the LORD,who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor;blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.”

I suppose that would be it for today!

Courtney, Posting for,

Split Watermelon?

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Good Morning! I’m so glad to be starting this day feeling almost normal again!

There for a while, I was beginning to wonder if I would ever feel like myself!

Miss Emma, also, is feeling a little better this morning. It’s so hard to see someone so sweet feeling so bad. She has just wanted to sit in my lap. I’m glad to see her smiling and playing again.

Today, we’re continuing on our web programming work. I’m particularly excited to begin sharing the financial information that we have learned over the last several years.

Along the way, Paul is using this site as a “hands-on” learning experience for Courtney and Joshua! They are having a lot of fun and I’m just amazed at how quick they pick things up!

We’re still working on our “emergency menu plan”. I did have to go and get 5lbs. of sugar and another bottle of Dawn. We also picked up milk but only because two of the gallons that we purchased last week were soured when we opened them! YUCK! There aren’t very many things worse than the smell of soured milk.

At the conclusion of this two week period, I’m going to substitute a little more white flour for whole wheat, and try to decrease our sugar intake again (I just know that this is the culprit for us being so sick recently….you wouldn’t believe how bad sugar is for your immune system!). I’m still working on a few other changes, but I would say for the most part, we’ve really enjoyed the meals that we’ve had.

Today’s Prayer Requests

Paul has a meeting with the business incubator program today in our area. Please pray that this goes well. This whole “find an investor” thing takes sooooo long.

For our continued recovery.

Today I’m Thankful For

Deborah wrote me a note to let me know that she is feeling much better this week! I’m glad to hear it Deborah!

My son’s willing spirit to learn and grow…..it’s a privilege to watch him work by his Dad. I’m so proud of his efforts. Not afraid to make mistakes, he’s taking huge strides and I can see him running his own business at some point with no problem.

Chicken Pot Pie for dinner tonight! One of my favorites!

Our school time going very well today.

All of the rain that we have had lately! It’s been a huge blessing!

Tracy’s Task

Today, we are continuing on our weekly schedule. This is Wednesday…time for kitchen cleaning in my home.

I’m also taking the time to keep a running list of items that need to be replaced. At the moment, I’m seeing a silverware and hand towel purchase in our near future!

What I’m Learning

My lesson is from my yard this week. Sadly, I’m reporting that for some unknown reason, my watermelons have all three developed cracks and are now obviously not going to make it. We’re trying to figure out what went wrong but it’s looking like it’s some type of bacterial infection.

I don’t like these lessons…especially since our mouths were already watering with the mere glimpse of that growing fruit in our yard. UUUGGGGHHHHH.

I can’t complain too much…everything else seems to be doing pretty well.

Today’s Scripture Meditation

Neh 1:11
“O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”
(NIV)

Emma Sniffles

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Well, I’m always up to try new things….I consider myself to be rather adventurous. I think it’s safe to say that yesterday’s adventure into colored text and I-Frames for the site did not work. It’s as simple as that. I promise that at midnight, the night before, it really looked great. I guess that goes to show what a good night’s sleep can do! : )

We are continuing on our road to recovery. I’m happy to say that I made it through the day with no Motrin yesterday and this morning was glad to wake up to both sides of my nose working (notice I’m not saying working properly yet!). Little Emma has not been so fortunate. Apparently the last to get the “crud” this round in our house, she’s still a little nasty and not feeling very well today.

On our list for today are to add the portals for the new sections of our website. We’re VERY excited about this! If I could tell you how many years of work have went into our websites it would make your jaw drop! It’s exciting to see it finally coming together (as slow as I know that probably seems from the outside!).

Today, (a little later, today) you’ll begin to see our main portal buttons appearing under the posting.

Our new categories are:

Our Family Homestead — Our online shopping experience!

Making A Home — The place for recipes, sewing, and all the things that go into making a house a home.

Financial Strength — The home of our vision for financial freedom.

Home Learning — Articles, printables, unit studies and even an online library.

Media — Podcasts, online books, video tutorials, etc. This one will take a little longer than the rest to bring to life.

All The Rest — This is for everything that won’t fit in the categories above. Of special interest, Joshua has been really longing to design a place for boys to come and read tutorials on how to begin their own web programming projects….they will find their place here, along with other assorted goodies!

Be patient with us. They are each a work in progress. We’re having to dust off years of paperwork to get it entered into the computer and ready for web traffic.

Today’s Prayer Requests

We’re getting ready to kick off our new scouting year. Please pray that all will go well and the boys will not only have fun, but come away having learned as well.

Paul stayed up late working last night. Please pray that he is able to find energy today!!

My little Emma, to feel better.

Today I’m Thankful For

Feeling Better!

Just when we thought my Mom’s entire engine had went bad, we find out that it was a $300.00 part. We are SO thankful!

My older children. We have prayed so much over the projects that we are working on. I’m so blessed to be able to share this vision with them and for them to be on board helping! I’m enjoying this experience with them very much!

Cooler weather this week! (It’s actually been in the lower 90′s!)

The menu plans that we’re currently using are going very well! I can’t wait to post the final 2 week update on that! : )

Tracy’s Task

Did you come up with your basic cleaning schedule yesterday? If so, now you should proceed onto making a list of what tasks need to be done in each area on cleaning day. This may be a “list in progress”…that’s O.K., the plan is to have a plan!

What I’m Learning

Very short…baby sneezes, bless her heart, she is sick with a cold….me, sitting in front of her, having just fed her a spoon of her favorite morning treat….oatmeal. Ugh.

You would think that I would know better.

Today’s Scripture Meditation

Acts 2:17-21
“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
(NIV)