A Night at the Ball Park

 Not sure when I've seen so many people with matching clothes!  My sister and her husband were out of town so they gave me and the oldest tickets to Saturday's game.  So I told the boy to get in the car yesterday afternoon, he didn't know where we were going yet.  Was pretty excited to see where we ended up!

 What my sister didn't know is that it was Christian night at the ball park.  That meant several players shared their testimonies after the game.  This is(r-l) Seth from the Rockies, with Cardinals McClellan, and Pujols

 l-r  Holiday, forgot name but #12!, and Shumaker

 The main speaker of the night, Wainwright

It was great to hear men talk about their faith in God!

#1 did grow a little bored, Cards only scored one run.  He was disappointed in this!  But he was very happy and thankful he got to go :-)

School Days

My school days are about to begin again.  I plan to be adding a new title to my resume:  LMT or Licensed Massage Therapist.  My first day of school is next Monday and I'll be attending about 3 nights a week over this next year.  Excited to see how this new adventure goes.  The school I selected has a holistic approach which I love; although at the same time I feel some things are not in line with what I believe so need to have on the 'full armor of God"(Ephesians 6:11) at all times(We should always have it on).
"We are all fearfully and wonderfully made"(Psalm 139:14) and I can't wait to learn more about how to help others through touch therapy.

The kids school days are fast approaching too.  I haven't decided on the exact date of their first 'real' day of school but have had the older two review math this week and those lessons will be starting up in full swing next week for the older 3.  Trying to get a computer set up for oldest, as his is mostly computer based this year.  Still debating on some things for 2 & 3. 

Had a good birthday week.  My oldest is now 11 and my youngest is now 2. Love them all to pieces!
Being a parent takes a lot of seeing the humorous side of things and involves a lot of repetition ;-)

A resource to share

I am started to piece together next years curriculum.  I have a computer based program for my oldest to try next year(SOS).  The next 2 & 1/2 kids will be doing unit studies.  In case you were wondering what the 1/2 is, he is in preK so he will join in on some things but I don't really consider it school.  But they like to do school at this age and keeping them busy is important so they don't get in (as much) mischief ; )  I believe their curriculum will have more of a shoestring budget.  I know I have something in storage(My Father's World-I have a 2nd grade version) that should work with some add-ons. I am currently research websites with printable materials to enrich the basic idea. Plus the library is always a huge resource!
All this to say I wanted to share this site I just came across.  I've been looking around it a bit and it looks like a good resource if you have a special needs child whether you are home educating or not.   Hope of the Christian Kind  an online support of ADHD, Autism and more.  Looks like a lot of resources too.  Let me know what you think, I've just been poking around the site a little tonight and wanted to share before I forgot!

Book Giveaway

Go over to Sally Clarkson's blog at I Take Joy and enter to win her(and her sweet husbands) updated book Educating the WholeHearted Child. Click the book link to see some reviews.  I have yet to read the book but have skimmed through a friends copy and it is on my wish list!

June Birtdays

So sorry its been almost a month since I've been by! I blame the unsettledness of life. Still looking for someplace to rent and in the meantime staying with 2 sets of wonderful grandparents who have welcomed us into their homes.
Summer birthday season has started and I now have a 7 year old and 5 year old!! We celebrated first with a batman cake and then bug boy wanted star wars so we plopped some lego star wars on top of his cake and called it good. Everyone is getting bikes so we can try to enjoy family bike rides. The 7 year old finally 'got it' and can now ride without training wheels! Good job #3!
The 5 year old or #4, got a special treat and his cousin took him out to the movies for his birthday and he got to see the new Cars movie. That was really strange to have my bug boy gone to the movies!! He had a great time-Thanks for thinking of him Cuz!
I've decided #1 is my go to guy to take to concerts. We've been to two so far this summer and he really gets into it. The other older two are just like, why are we here?? Though they do get excited when they know a song but for the most part they'd rather just listen on the radio ;-)
I can see the end of the light for ball season. The kids have had a great time! Will work on getting some pictures up soon!

I will leave you with a song today. Blessings!

Perseverance-late night ramblings

Romans5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God thorough our Lord Jesus Christ.....
Romans 5:3 -4 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Ever have one of those days where nothing seems to go right? Yeah, my morning was going that way. You could possibly even say it started the night before with my oldest getting hit twice in baseball which was then followed by a sleepless night for me.
It was a rough morning as well. Just the little things that add up. I left the kids with my parents and drove up to the city to finalize my school plans. I wasn't twenty minutes up the road and my mom sends me a picture of my youngest. If you are on facebook then you know what I saw. He had some major road rash on his face, concrete isn't too kind to the skin as he fell off his trike. I wondered if I should turn around then it hit me. All this stuff going on was attacks. I was under attack. Here am I, trying my best to stay strong for my kids, myself and remain faithful to my Lord. It's not an easy time in our lives but at the same time we have been blessed in many ways.
Guess what, the enemy doesn't like that. Doesn't like it when you remain faithful, especially when all you know is changing and you feel like your life is falling apart. Remember Job of the bible? Remember all he the lost? What do you remember of his faith? Do you remember how he was blessed in the end? Maybe it is a time in your life when you should go re-read the book of Job. See what lessons he has to share with you. Remain faithful in good times and especially in the bad! He is the same God and has the same truths no matter what you are going through.
After I realized what was going on I prayed. Prayed for the safety of my family, for myself during this trip. Does that mean everything went swimmingly after I prayed. Why no, in fact, it doesn't. In fact things didn't go as planned at all. I would later joke that I should have also prayed for my father-in-law to have a winch(one thing was a car break down). You see, not everything continued as I would have like but I was able to laugh at things as they happened instead of cry because it was all in the Lord's hands. I'd given it to him. In fact, I know he did take care of me because the things that happened really were just speed bumps, slowing me down for a minute instead of road blocks, completely stopping me.
A change in perspective, a change in attitude and a willingness to run the race.

clean your face

Sometime in March I ran out of the usual facial cleaner I used and didn't see it in this new area I'm in. I had come across this recipe and thought I'd give it a try. I can't give credit to whom I got it from because I can't remember! I know it was in a comment on someones blog, the recipe was simple enough for me to remember-which is saying something for my scattered brain these days!

Facial cleaner for normal skin.

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3 Tablespoons Castor Oil

Mix and place in a small container. Rub gently on face and rinse off. Great for removing makeup, although I tend to use in the morning shower.
If you have dry skin use another Tablespoon of Olive Oil.
If have oily skin use another Tablespoon of Castor Oil.

I sometimes use this on my legs as well, helps make them more silky smooth :-)

If you are looking for something new, less expensive or more do-it yourself-give it a try and let me know how it works for you!