Spring Day

It is beautiful outside and the kids decided to go enjoy the sunshine. The boys dug their bikes out of the garage and pumped up the tires.
Here is C showing me his new trick!

The boys love racing and they take it very seriously. Look at those faces.


J took both of our dogs and brushed them and gussied them up with bandanas. Here she and the neighbor kids are being walked by, ah-hem, I mean walking the dogs. LOL!

Makes a Mother Proud

Yesterday I slept most of the day. My children were being very quiet for me. Phillip grabbed the camera and came back with this picture. Don't they look so studious. It makes a mama proud.

As a homeschool mom we all want to show off our kids being such exceptional students. It was good to see. But, since I am a truthful individual I guess you should know the rest of the story. What you are actually witnessing is "screen time" efforts. For every minute they read they are able to get a certain amount of computer, gameboy, game cube etc. time. This really has improved my 2nd graders reading.
Alas, it is an illusion, but one I am willing to exploit! LOL

Emergency Surgery

Last weekend, shortly after our GeTOGether ended I ended up in some pretty severe pain. Phillip took me to the ER and within a few short hours I was in surgery. They had to remove a few inches of my small intestine and sew it back together. A week later I am finally home. I made it home Saturday night. It was a long, rough week, but I am recovering nicely.
This is my 20th surgery. So, needless to say the thought of another surgery was not pleasant to me. Not that it would be to anyone. LOL! However, I did want to share the faithfulness of our Lord through this ordeal.
I don't remember most of the week. I think Wed. was the first I began to be awake more than I was asleep. I had a lot of time to pray and cry out to God. God has proved His faithfulness to me over and over throughout the years so there was no fear or worry there. However as Christians we sometimes wonder what God is doing. Whatever it was, I know it was for my good and the good of His kingsom.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Rom 8:28

One thing I do know is that the whole past week and the surgery was no surprise to God. He knew what was coming and in knowing that I began to look for His hand before the surgery. Sure enough, He had already given me what I needed and prepared me for what was to come.

A little background. The Sat. before I ended up in surgery I spoke at our Ladie's Retreat. I spoke on how when we lose our focus on Jesus the storms in life around us become so much bigger than they are. I spoke about how God calls our struggles on this earth "light and momentary". Now, I truly believe this with all of my heart. I believe that our struggles on this earth are light and momentary when compared to what God has planned for us.
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 2 Cor 4:17

I know from experience and the lessons God teaches us in His word that when we keep our focus on Jesus the storms of this life seem so much smaller. It is like focusing on a dot on a wall. When you are doing this you do not see the things on the periphery around you very well. But, when you turn away from the dot toward the things around you, you see them so much more clearly. It depends on where your focus is. If your focus is on Jesus and His promises then the storms around you are hard to see. You can't really tell if the are raging or not. But if you turn your eyes off Jesus and turn them toward the storm then the winds and the waves become huge and frightening.

Anyway, even as I was speaking I knew some of the storms in life some of these women were walking through. I felt trite. Nothing was going on in my life right now. I was so worried how hard this must be for those in the midst of the storm to hear. But, I knew it was God's word and His promises but I did ask God, "Do I really believe this? Will I be able to call my next storm light and momentary when I am in the midst of it?"
Well, be careful what you ask for! LOL!
As I went through this last week I remembered asking God these questions. I then realized that Yes! I did believe what I was preaching and Yes! I did see this as light and momentary. Did I just smile and whistle through this trial. No. I cried, I hurt, I missed my family. I am human. But when it all came down, I trusted my God.
He was so faithful to get me through this time, but as I had learned on Sat. in a devotional, he not only got me through it but provided abundantly for me before it happened to prepare me and grow me in Him. He removed my small doubts about how I trusted Him and allowed me to experience Him and his provision once again.
He also had given me one more thing. At our ladie's retreat during praise and worship I heard a song I had not heard before. It said everything that I believed but was questioning. He reminded me of that song on Fri. morning while I was having my quiet time with him and I looked it up on God tube and listened. I cried through the whole song as it spoke every word I believe and how God has faithfully brought me to the peaceful place of trust through the many trials I have endured. So here, listen and praise God that His faithfulness endures forever.
I can thank Him for this trial and the suffering that not only I, but my family endured. I can call it light and momentary. Nothing that happens to me changes who I am in Christ. In this I rejoice. Rejoice with me.

Sunday Brunch 3-2-08

Early the next morning Dody, Kat, Becca and Corrine showed up to prepare for our brunch and praise and worship. Here is part of the spread. It looked fabulous. I didn’t do any of this. These women are amazing!


At 10am the rest of the gang arrived.

Time to eat!

Here Dody is pointing out the different fruits. We had Pineapple brought in from Hawaii and oranges straight from Florida. We also had a wonderful coffee blend from Hawaii that Mel was gracious to leave with me to enjoy later!

This was some of the most wonderfully sweet and juicy pineapple I have ever had! Don’t believe me? Ask Kat!

Here are just a few pictures of some of the ladies. There are so many others but can you see those smiles! What joy it was to have this time together.



This beautiful plant was sent to me a few days earlier and was presented to me to say thanks for offering my home. What these ladies don’t realize is that I needed no thanks at all. I was so blessed to have them in my home and would do it again in a heartbeat! But thank you for the beautiful plant. I will cherish it always.

After brunch we all settled down for a time to praise and worship our King, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the common bond that made all of this possible. Here we were able to have a small taste of Heaven.

Nothing more beautiful than a woman praising God

Praying together

Kat lead our devotional. What an awesome reminder of how our Lord provides for our every need. Not just enough, but abundantly!

After our devotional time we were able to surprise Dody with gifts we had been working on for sometime behind her back! There is no way we could thank her enough for blessing us as she has all these years but we tried!
Here she is receiving her new GPS so she will not get lost in her new role as a REAL-tor!

The "Bless Dody's Socks Off" Scrapbook is presented by Marsha. Thank you so much Marsha and Tami for all your hard work on this beautiful keepsake! Don't you just love the cover!

Finally her is the quilt that was lovingly put together by Laurie and Corrine. Doesn't God so beautifully gift each of us for different things! It was made with fabrics that were sent in by all the ladies. Each scrap signified something that represented them and their relationship with Dody.

After it was all said and done we decided we wanted a group picture. My husband graciously offered to take the picture. How do you get a good shot of 30 women all standing on your stairway????? Take lots of shots!!! Phillip did and here are a couple of the best ones!


With all those women in the house the boys decided they would find a quiet place to hideout. Here is where their dad found them and how they decided to occupy their time. LOL!


We finally had to say good-bye. It was a bittersweet time. The first night I “met” all these ladies it was really surreal. I was meeting strangers I had known for years. By the time we said good-bye I tearfully waved good-bye to dear friends. They were no longer familiar strangers, but sisters to me. Sisters made that way through the common bond of Christ.

The GeTOGether!!! 3/1/08

Earlier I blogged about an event that happened last weekend called a GeTOGether. This was a gathering of 30 women who have known each other for several years but have never met. “How is this?, you ask. It is all thanks to the internet. We all belong to a homeschool yahoo loop. We have shared over the years about our homeschooling trials and joys. But, we have also shared each others lives. We have prayed with each other and for each other. We have shared each others struggles and joys. We have welcomed new babies, cried at family losses, vented our frustrations, encouraged during difficult times, and laughed through the good times. So last Saturday night I got to meet some of my dearest friends for the first time. Here we all are......
FAMILIAR STANGERS

Notice how we realize who each other is. We all have name tags and as we read the tags we are finally able to put faces to the names we have known for so long.



Some of the ladies have become so dear to us as we shared trials together. Here I meet Marsha. Marsha who my family prayed for, for months. Marsha who I would weep for and encourage as she walked through one of life’s most difficult trials, losing a loved one. I called many of you to pray for her and her family and you faithfully prayed. Meeting her in person was more joy than a heart could bear and you see it spill over in our tears.


Here I get to meet our illustrious leader Dody, the woman who started it all when she gathered some friends together for mutual support through our homeschooling journey.

Dody is moving on to the next adventure God has planned for her so she has handed down the reigns to Mel.
Here I am meeting Mel!

We all went to eat and enjoyed getting to know each other better. (Or should I say, getting to know each others faces better! LOL)
After dinner we went back to the hotel where they were staying and just shared information and lots of laughter!



Lots of pictures were taken. But one picture we really wanted was a group picture of our moderating team. Our moderating team are those ladies who help Dody run the list on a rotating basis. Here we are in all our glory.
Guinever, Gilda, Cathy, Mel, Dody, Becca, Marsha and Laurie

After lots of laughs, sharing and pictures it was time for me to head home. After all, they would all be at my house in the morning!

Mrs. Baird’s Bakery 2-19-08

Today we traveled to Ft. Worth for a tour of Mrs. Baird’s Bakery with our Homeschool Co-op.

Trying to get everyone accounted for and carpooled took a little bit of effort.

So did getting directions to everyone and explaining how we would get there.


Here is A taking pictures for the Yearbook.

Here is another picture of A. I just liked this one!

When we got there we were excorted into a room for instructions. We also were “dressed” for the occasion. We had to put on hair nets and hard hats. The hard hats had ear phones attached ot them so we would be able to hear our tour guide once we were in the factory. The factory was too loud to hear her otherwise.
Aren’t we beautiful? I am sure we are making the designers in Paris jealous! LOL!

We were not allowed to take pictures inside the factory but it really was a fun field trip. It was really fun to see how they mass produced bread, hamburger buns etc. After the tour they took us back to our little room and fed us fresh baked bread with butter. They took an entire loaf and cut it in forths, buttered it and handed it to us. It was fabulous!

After we left the factory the moms went to a bread store right next to the factory. This is what the kids did.

All in all it was a great day. Fun field trip, fun with friends and a learning opportunity all at once!

After Valentine’s Day Surprises 2-17-08

Life has been so busy for us that we didn't do much for our Anniversary or for Valentine's Day. This will not do for Phillip. A few days after Valentine's Day he hit a 75%off sale and this is what I got!

He loves to make me laugh and smile and this definitely did the trick. The dog is on his knees and sings "Only You" while walking towards me on his knees. His lower lip even quivers as it sings! Unfortunately he brought me the chocolates too. They were great but I made sure to share with the kids as much as I could until they were gone! LOL

Here we are in a Valentine's Picture. Notice Taco. She didn't like the Valentine's Dog at all!