A Merry Christmas Season to You!

Okay, I think I went overboard with this, but it was fun!!!

Charity's smile was majorly exaggerated here... she is too funny!

Faith was being so funny!

Look at those eyes!

Isn't she a doll?!

Yay, a family picture!!!A "before" pic... what it looked like before I fixed it up with Picnik.com.

A Wonderful Thanksgiving

This has been a fantastic Thanksgiving time. I cannot say just how thankful I feel right now. I feel like crying for joy. Ron has even said how he thinks this was our best Thanksgiving. Sure, there were huge losses this past year in our family, but God has been really good to us. I feel like something beautiful in starting to happen in our home... a healing of our hearts. How wonderful that Ron did not have to wear a mask to Thanksgiving dinner this year and that he has a full head of hair. It is the first Thanksgiving in several years that we hadn't just gone through a crisis in our home. Yes, I am thankful for God's goodness, for my husband, for my children, our church, Ron's job, our home, our family members, etc. We are so blessed! As I look back through the past three Christmases, well, things looked tough, but God was sooo good to us! Between our church, Wesleyan Evangelistic, and Franklin BMC, Kenwood, Grace United Methodist, Apex, and many, many more, our Christmases were enormous!!! The children needed nothing, we had food to eat, we had enough toys to supply an orphanage, beautiful clothes for our children, and so much more! That first scary year, Grace United Methodist gave us soooo many gift, I don't think I will ever forget it! We had sooo many diapers and other things, I even got to share with others and were blessed through our abundance. I remember the money given by Franklin one time for a vacation, and we didn't end up having a typical vacation, but invested in some things that we could use to have little "vacations" as a family. I remember all that food they gave us, too! Whew! How could I forget? I remember that there were so many individuals and churches who supported us, that we were taken well care of. Most people who gave, I am not sure if they even knew us, or perhaps just barely, but they gave. Our church was unbelievable in their love for us. I feel I owe something to all you people, but I am not sure what I can do... I am still overwhelmed by it all! Maybe I always will be... for in the shadows of those dark days in our lives I know you were used by God to leave fingerprints. Those fingerprints would prove to me later that God never abandoned us. He wasn't neglecting us. He isn't cruel. His love is real, and His fingerprints prove that to me. Thank you dear friends and loved ones for all you have done.
This year is kind of exciting. You see, Ron is working!!! His can actually buy something for the children... we can buy food... we can pay bills... we can kiss without worrying that I might give him a germ that could set him way back... I don't have to touch him in the night to see if he is still breathing... there is no mediport or central cath to flush... and, I think I haven't heard my kids playing "cancer" for a while. I am so thankful. Now, before you get me wrong, Ron still has appointments (a bone density test in Dec) and still has pains, and I still listen in at night sometimes just to check here that beautiful deep sleeping breathing (or, occasionally, snoring). And, we are like you guys, often living from pay-check to pay-check, paying our bills, and trying to live debt-free. But, we have everything we need, and we have each other! What more could I ask for?
How happy I am! Thanksgiving was so special and I am looking forward to Christmas.
Don't tell the girls, but Ron bought a Patch the Pirate album for them... they LOVE Patch! They are going to want to listen to it right away, I pretty sure! I also found a child's Singer sewing machine at a thrift store in it's box!!! Oh, I know they are going to like it!!! I got a fantastic deal on it. I think I might sew some pretties for them for Christmas, too. I am soooo excited!
Giving to others who need to see a fingerprint from God is being considered right now, too.
It's a wonderful time of the year... full of tender memories.

The blog makeover is in progress!

Alrighty, there is a bit of a makeover going on here. Above you will find tabs covering a variety of subjects in my life. If you are interested in being updated in a particular subject, just click on one of those tabs to see if I have updated. If you wish to leave a comment about any of those pages, just hop back to this home page and leave a comment here.
Now, the "page" are supposed to be considered "static", so they we appear a bit different than this home page. Hope you enjoy, and that it encourages you along the way.

It's a "Praise God!" kind of morning

I am overwhelmed with gladness and thanksgiving this morning! God has heard and answered my prayer! Okay, you are probably wondering what kind of prayer I was praying this time. Well, I actually requested prayer for myself last night as I have been stuck in a terrible dark cloud somehow and felt trapped. It is almost like Someone flipped the light switch on last night, and wa-la... the cloud is gone!!! I emotionally can see again! I think I have an idea what happened, too. I had gotten into a "Woe is me" cloud, and had gotten stuck. The longer I stayed there, the deeper I got... poor me this, poor me that... nobody cares... blah! I actually got sucked into that cloud, can you believe? It got to be a very dark time. Death, disease, resentment, unforgiveness, and hurt clouded my vision, and I couldn't see past it. Then, the light switch flipped on last night, and I am like... "Uh, I fell for that again?!?!" You see, I have gotten in these type of clouds before, and you would think I would have some sort of awareness of them, but they are very deadly clouds and they have a way of tripping up clear thinking. Praise God I can see again! It feels so good! I have much to do to get caught up on my journey now that I feel a bit behind after the dark cloud ordeal.
Are you feeling "stuck"? Well, my suggestion would be to actually ask some God-fearing and believing Christians to pray for you. It could be that you are stuck in a "me" cloud. I got side-tracked from caring about others, cause of that "me" cloud. It is really important to get out of that "me" cloud, so don't get comfortable in it... you weren't made to live in a "me" cloud, you were meant for something so much more! And, there is also the "what if" cloud that has a way of settling right on top of that "me" cloud and causing great problems with being discontent and not thinking of "whatsoever things are true." That "what if" cloud is bad trouble. So glad to be able to see it lifting!
It is a good day! Got lots to do today... but, it is a good day!

Thanks!

I really do enjoy writing on my blog, and I do hop around alot of other blogs without saying anything, too. Thanks for the comments!
Well, I got lots done since the last time I posted, including painting! My hubby is making a hutch for Mister Prince, so he can go back to living outside. I am so excited about how some frest paint is making my home look so much cleaner! When you have toddlers, they have this thing with messing up walls. It is lookin' better. My house is also a laundry factory these days, too. It is kinda exciting to see how much is getting done. I will have to post pics sometime!
Thanks again for letting me know you are droppin' by!

Is blogging totally out of style?

Does anyone read blogs? If ya have dropped over here, say Hi, alrighty?

Got some house projects I would like to get tackled.

Hoping to get motivated here soon.

Second post in one day! A taste of our place.

Yay for broken cameras! You get the point, I think. This is Faith doing Reader Rabbit Second Grade Level... okay, it is a bit hard for her, but it was at the thrift store, and it gives her an extra challenge and introduces some new concepts to her. It changed things up a bit for her this week for school to do some computer games, too.

It was a nice day outside yesterday, so we went out to play. Then, we went out... We had a good meal at Bob Evans and went to Wal-Mart. Ron sold our 1979 RV yesterday... we had it only a short time, and it was sad to say Good-Bye to the old thing, but that's life... you don't keep what you can't afford. It would be a gas hog.

Teeter-tottering! Yes, our park has teeter-totters still, and my kids love them!

So happy it was nice enough to go out!

Me, warming the park bench.

Making up games is so fun! It seems the older I get, the more I like Fall. The smell of the leaves, the colors, and the weather... sometimes you get the chill and sometimes the warmth... nice blend, and it makes me in the mood to snuggle, drink hot chocolate or hot tea, and I would love to go to a bonfire and eat make smores. Hay rides are fantastic. We went to a farm again on Saturday and it was so much fun... going to farms in the Fall just seems like the right thing to do.

Anyway, doesn't Hope's laugh or excitement just make you laugh?!

Oh, there is just so much for which to be thankful!

Here's three reasons right here!

I will try to share more as Thanksgiving approaches!

Okay, that's better.

Well, thanks to some encouraging words and hearing others having a difficult time with their children's schools, I think I am realizing that the grass over here really is the best. There were several things that when I had children that I had my heart set on. One was nursing them and thankfully I was able to do that for at least 13 months each. Another was homeschooling them. I was passionate about it. I started inquiring about curriculum when they were still in diapers, so that I would have a good idea about which was best for them. I come from a public school background, and it was new to me to do this homeschooling business. Of course, beyond those two goals for my children, was that they are raised in a holiness atmosphere, learn Scriptures, be respectful and obedient, learn music, and be happy, productive, healthy, and beautiful. More or less... be perfect. Ha! Somehow the last few years have worn my emotions out, and I have become a bit self-centered. Now, if someone will just slap me on the head and scream, "Enough already... every day doesn't need to have you planning life if... IF the worst was to happen. Cheer up, Lady! Where is that laugh you used to have? Look around you, you have a task at hand, you need to snap out of your grief mode, and do something." Smack! Oh, thank you!
Oh, for those of you in the Dayton area, we are having Revival at our church with Mark Cravens. It started yesterday, and I am already really enjoying it and it is speaking to me. Come join us!
Also, if you didn't get to hear Focus on the Family today... it is a good one. The second half is tomorrow. Check it out!
Okay, enough talk. I have a school, home, and day-care to run here :-) Have a good one!

Keepin' up and makin' adjustments

For all you homeschooling mamas out there...
do you ever have those moments you wonder if it is worth it?
do ya ever wonder if you are making a difference?
dost thou feel feel tired?
I Do.
Sometimes I have those moments of "Well, I am not making money, and I don't feel like I am changing the world." Does that sound familiar? How do I get that voice of discouragement out of my mind? "You're not a great teacher. Your kids would be better off in a regular school, and you in the workforce." I know, it sounds pathetic.
Faith's education is going well. She loves to read, and she is actually about two weeks ahead in most of her subjects. Her passion for books is growing, which is funny, cause she's always loved books. How much more fun now that she can read them! Scary thing is that she reads signs and things that aren't really what I am ready for her to read. The other day, we were in Wal-Mart and she spotted a sign for Beer and Wine... that made an interesting conversation while I was shopping. It is rather exciting to me to know that I taught her how to read, write, count, add, subtract, about health, science, social studies, art, and many other things important for little six year olds to learn... of course, I used other supplimentary teaching tools to help, and she has a piano teacher. Yet, sometimes my mind wonders off to other worlds, as if the grass is greener in the secular world. I just sometimes feel so unimportant. Just a mom... as if that is not important. But, that is what the world and culture can cause you to think. I guess I am in need of a "you can do it" boost of encouragement. Is there an organization designated to encouraging home-school mamas? Cause I would sure like to know about it?