Poems and Love

Tonight at dinner, which was leftovers from last night and today's lunch, we were just sitting there when Nate said, "I have to write a poem." The underside of his soda lid said he had to write a poem. I bought these flavored sodas at Sams that have interesting sayings on the cap.
I said "well write something about me."

Nate said, "now you will be amazed at my creativity, boys hand me a pen and paper."

This is his poem "Love that once lived on the wings of a dove."
"A dove that once soared on the winds from above."

"Winds start to die, and the doves cease to fly,""While true love still soars" ..... this is how far he got, he says it was supposed to be "tragic yet hopeful."


During his writing Luke kept offering tips and suggestions on love. We told the other boys to pay attention because Luke was on to something big, and he is only 6.
Luke said: "buy candy with a heart and arrow through it."

"buy her a pretty dress."

"tell her she is beautiful."

"make sure you take her to that city that is about love."

Austin said "Atlanta"
Luke "No"
Catrina "Anderson"
Luke "No, the big one with love"
Austin "New York"
Luke "yeah, yeah, New York, all girls want to go."

Luke " Make sure she has a new stove also."

Celebration Dinner

We celebrated the boys completion of testing Wednesday night with the last of the fillet mignon from our half of cow we bought last year. We ate in the dining room instead of the sun room and talked about what kind of adventures we would like to have as a family. We decided building a cabin and homesteading would be really nice for a couple of years while the boys were still young enough to enjoy it.

Wonderful steak.

Loaded mashed potatoes. They contain sour cream, chives, sharp cheddar and I sauteed garlic gloves in butter and then added that.

Green beans and Texas toast

Testing, Yikes!

I started testing the 2 big boys on Tuesday, the standardized test that kids take in public school to see how they measure up. Georgia law requires that you do it for 3rd grade, so I'm testing Evan in the 3rd because if he started kindergarten at age 5 he would have been in 3rd grade, also we are doing 3rd grade math. In everything but math and reading he probably is more like a 2nd grader but we shall see how he does, so far he has done pretty well on the first 3 parts of the test with the exception of punctuation and caps. We have only skimmed over some of that so he didn't always know what words have what punctuation and what words are always capitalized. I am testing Austin in the 4th grade because I missed his 3rd grade testing and I don't want to be to far off in my testing in case I ever get audited. Tonya was going to do it for me last year but then decided to move to Alabama. (thanks a lot!) Also I didn't start either of the boys until they were 6 so 4th grade is where Austin could be. He is above that is some areas so my hope for the testing is that Austin scores very high in the 4th grade since he technically could be in 5th grade this year if we had started when he was 5. My goal for Evan isn't as high, if he scores mediocre in 3rd grade that will be okay since he could really still be in 2nd grade. I am doing the CAT test and I got it through Seton, they offer testing to homeschoolers. I will send in the test and they will score them and let me know how they did. The CAT is the only test in Ga that a parent can give without having a certified teacher administer it, and through Seton it only is costing $25 a kid. After they are done I am going to grade them just to see how many they missed. That won't tell me how they compare to other kids, but it will give me an idea when I get the results back.

In dinner news, we had enough of the chicken Alfredo to eat again Monday night. Tuesday's dinner was fend for yourself because I had a meeting at 6pm and I had been testing all afternoon. Someone finished off the last of the chili, someone scrambled some eggs, and someone else finished off the Alfredo. Austin had a fever again so he ate a piece of toast with cheese. I think he has a sinus infection and is not actually sick again, they all still have gunk that they keep coughing up and sniffling over.

Sunday Chicken

I have no idea what is up with the camera, it did the same thing with the picture of Evan a couple of days back. This was chicken and broccoli alfredo bake, and a side salad. I didn't have to cook dinner saturday night because we got invited over to the in laws, yea!

God spends a lot of time at Ross

For those of you who know me, Ross has to be my all time favorite store. I always seem to score big time when I go. This saturday my mom and I stopped at one because she was looking for a stock pot and Evan and Luke were in desperate need of some shoes. Evan could have survived but Luke only had a creek/mud jumping pair of sneakers plus a broken pair of knock off Crocs. So anyway I head over to the kids shoe department saying a little prayer ("please God, oh please I need a deal") I immediately spy this navy blue and grey velcro pair of shoes that look like what I may need. I pick them up holding my breath, I inspect them for a size and find 4 1/2 (perfect for Evan), I then see the price tag "$48 bucks priced at $12.99", "who makes these?" I often talk to myself while shopping. They were Stride Rites so that explain the pricey original price tag. I'm sure that I could have found them cheaper than $48 but not lower than $13. I was very excited but Luke was the one I was really needing shoes for, and I didn't see another pair. (Luke has wide feet so when I went to walmart, shoe show and Bealls in town I wanted to pull my hair out because he tried on 20 or more pairs of shoes, but it was the same thing every time. "OWWW they hurt me.") So I am scanning the shelves and praying for another pair. I see one more pair on the bottom self in the higher size area, I snatch them up and look inside the tongue to see 3XW, Luke's perfect size. I say "GOD LOVES ME", as I'm hugging the shoes to my chest. This mother and teenage boy look over at me and I smile and say, "my son has wide feet and shoes are hard to find." So that is how I know that God must surely spend a lot of time at Ross.

What not soup

This soup was made with all of my dinner leftovers minus the chili. The leftover wild rice and brown rice, english peas, corn and beef tips. I added half a bottle of vegetable juice, one can of cream of mushroom soup and a can of diced tomatoes. It made enough for a medium size stock pot. We also had leftover chili so Nate and the two big boys had that while Luke and I had the soup. I froze the rest for a rainy day and there was enough left to make a meal plus some. It turned out super tasty despite its suspicious looks.

back to the beginning

We have been stuck at home all week due to the lingering sickness. Everyone still has a bad cough so we have stayed indoors and at home. During this time it was brought to my attention how disrespectful my children can be sometimes with each other and us adults. So we decided to kill many birds with one stone. Anytime at all that they speak or act in a disrespectful way they have to get out their notebooks and write sentences. They write between 5 and 10 for each transgression, unless they give any attitude or try to buck me. We have one who got 40 snetences at one sitting because he was innocent of course. (wink!) This is forcing me to listen to everything that is said in the house, therefore I have been hanging with them a lot this week and the notebooks are being used so much that they stay out all the time. The benefits are: spelling improvement, penmanship, and discipline. The benefits for me are: more active listening, discipline, and hopefully more respectful, obedient children.

It has been a long and tiring week, but I shall not grow weary in doing good. (sigh!)

Thursday's chilli

I always add a can or two of black beans for color. I want diversity in all aspects of my life. lol

Wednesday dinner

This is beef tips with wild rice. I still have some stew meat left over from the half of cow I bought last year, so I slow cooked it with onions and garlic and mushrooms.

Tuesday dinner

This is one of my all time favorite quickies that everyone loves. It is an egg casserole with a side of cottage cheese and toast. You can pretty much add whatever you want but be careful of too many veggies for they make it to wet.
1. Spray the bottom of your dish, otherwise you will have a difficult time getting it out.
2. This is the only time consuming part - peel enough potatoes for about 2-3 cups. Then dice them and fry them brown and crispy. If you are adding veggies stir fry them with the potatoes, I added 2 cloves of garlic to this one. Drain and put in the empty dish.
3. Mix up at least a dozen eggs. I used 14 for this one. Pour over potatoes.
4. Next add a cup of grated cheese. The stronger the cheese the better for flavoring. I used sharp cheddar and Parmesan.
5. I always keep real bacon pieces in fridge, that way when I need some for a recipe like this I don't have to make a mess frying bacon. (Hormel has a good one in a jar in the salad dressing isle) I sprinkled them over the top
6. Bake at 350 for 25-35 min depending on how many eggs you used.

Invasion of the deer

8 of these girls were outside our sunroom the other morning.

Food, glorious food

I decided to keep a food diary for the next couple of weeks, maybe a month. First off I like to see pictures of food, and secondly I'd like to keep track of what I am feeding the troops. I plan to post a picture of whatever we eat for dinner no matter how yucky or good it may be. I'd like to see if I am serving a variety of dishes or the same ole thing over and over again. I also want to see how many nights I am actually cooking in a months time. Am I making enough to have leftovers and get 2 meals out of it or am I cooking every single day. This is just an experiment for my benefit but I will put down some basic recipes in case someone wants to try one.

Monday dinner - cubed steak

First I browned the cube steak in butter,

then I added a can of diced tomatoes and pressed fresh garlic on top
this is what it looked like before I baked it on 350 for 2hrs. I served it over brown rice and english peas on the side.

Sunday Night

The really good stuff that made Nate dry heave.

Making the 24hr stock with the broken bones and other nasty things

The Sickies on the mend

Sickies

My house is full of sick people. Nate had a cold/cough thing for 2 weeks and then got a slight fever, he seems to be on the mend again, however all the boys are puny. Evan has a higher fever and cough, and the other 2 are suffering from coughs and low temps. Oh Luke said he doesn't have a fever and he seems correct.

The sickness has caused me to get out my big guns (chicken noodle soup). The kind that calls for an organic chicken simmering on low heat for 24 hours with the bones broken to draw out the gelatin and marrow. I took some of the meat off today and used some of the broth to make a small batch of soup for dinner tonight, unfortunately I spent to much time today talking about marrow nutrients and skim on the top of the broth and broken chicken carcasses. By the time Nate came to get his soup, he looked in the pot and dry heaved. (not because it looked gross) but because he couldn't get the thoughts previously mentioned out of his head. To his credit he did manage to eat half of a good size bowl. I learned tonight that the word "broth" makes his skin crawl, apparently he doesn't like juicy meat either. He prefers it dry, in fact he finds the thought of meat drippings revolting. Who Knew? So the lesson that I learned is to keep all the "secrets" to my cooking just that, secrets. If I do, I know that he will continue to enjoy all the juicy meat that he has eaten for the past 14 years, like gravy, vegetable soup, sauces and stews.

In other health related news, I am conducting an experiment on myself. I am seeing if all my home remedies for warding off sickness is going to keep me from getting whatever is going around this house. I am drinking echinacea tea, drinking EmergenC powdered drink mix, taking acidophilus (since a few of us have had tummy issues) and garlic capsules since I am out of garlic tonic and I don't want to eat the cloves because I've been around people to much. I have felt a little run down a couple of times but we shall see if it works. Or maybe I should just pray that I am spared, how's that for a revelatory thought.

How do you see your sin?

I've been thinking a lot lately about personal sin. I've noticed the way my children view their own sin and I've found it interesting. Which has led me to also spend a great deal of time thinking about the sin in my own life and have drawn some conclusions based on my experience.

1. The guilty sinner -

2. The blame shifter sinner -

3. The oblivious sinner -

4. The carefree sinner -

5. The good sinner - the type of person that sees sin for what it is, ask for forgiveness and truly endeavors to sin no more.

I'm sure that there are 1000 other categories and descriptions that could be used but this is how it has been unfolding in my own head. Having children makes it easier to notice the variety of different patterns that are out there.

I've noticed that the guilty sinner is under a lot of condemnation. They compare themselves to others, lean towards legalism and tend to do quite a bit of cleansing and purging. (the wrath of God is just around the corner) They do take their sin seriously and are grieved over it, which can be a good thing, but they would probably enjoy carrying a little whip around to beat themselves up with.

The blame shifters are usually defensive people. It is hard for them to admit to wrongdoing and if they do there is usually a big fat "but" at the end of the apology. They have a sense of entitlement and a high sense of "fairness" especially in regards to themselves. I definitely have one of these in my home and at least as far as children go, I find them incredibly difficult to parent.

The oblivious sinner doesn't think before they act or speak. A lot of times they don't even see sin for what it is. The good side of these types are they are usually quick to say sorry and forgive others easily. I have one of these in the home.

The carefree sinner will admit to sin but often don't think that sin is serious. They have a " I'm doing the best I can mentality". They tend to not be judgmental towards others.

And of course the "good sinner" is perfectly clear. They are the people that it is so easy to be around when you are in a mess because they are rationale, encouraging and diplomatic. I am fortunate to have one of these in my home.

When it comes to me personally I think that I have a sinning disorder. I am neither of the above, I am all of the above. At times I am the biggest loser on the planet and deserve to never see the light of day. In my marriage I have for sure been the blame shifter -" it is so not my fault that the door was slammed so hard that the house shook." or "the frying pan wants to be lifted up over my head and come crashing down." That is definitely my less mature self that I haven't seen in quite a number of years, yet she is familiar. I am not an oblivious sinner at all. (I mean I know that as I grow I will be further enlightened to myself. But I am pretty introspective for that. (you could also use the word self focused) If I sin, I know exactly what I'm doing and sometimes even like it a little. The carefree sinner is also the lazy side of me, which appears often if I am to be truthful. I think about something, mull it over and then decide to give myself a break because I am so "good" otherwise.

In dealing with my children about their cute little black hearts, it has forced me to take a good hard look at what I am modeling for them or just passing on to them. It easy to let certain things slide because I so often let them slide with myself, or I can become the "UNMERCIFUL" because I see the exact same thing as before, only it frightens me because I don't want them to turn out like me. It is also so much easier (in my opinion) to see sin for what it truly is when you have little people under foot all day. Today I observed one of my children loading the dishwasher, they became agitated because something wouldn't fit. I was standing there thinking "oh my goodness, they are totally in sin" even though I couldn't point to an exact reference. There was huffing, grunting and facial attitude that was clearly evident of a heart going bad. They didn't ask nicely for help. They didn't try with a good attitude, and they weren't being patient in the least. Normally I would have stepped in to help or just say "STOP THAT", this time I asked them what was going on inside and had a little discussion about it. I so desire to have a house full of "good sinners", so my goal for now is going to be working towards that with myself and the 3 little people that God has entrusted to me.

My Tag

I was tagged by Tia to reach for the closest book to you and turn to page 123 and write the 5th-8th sentence.

"Enter good guests! she said, and as she spoke they knew that it was her clear voice they had heard singing. They came a few timid steps further into the room and began to bow low, feeling strangely surprised and awkward, like folk that, knocking at a cottage door to beg for a drink of water, have been answered by a fair young elf queen clad in living flowers. But before they could say anything, she sprang lightly up and over the lily bowls, and ran laughing towards them, and as she ran her gown rustled softly like the wind in the flowering borders of a river. Come dear folk! she said, taking Frodo by the hand."

Do I need to mention which of the trilogy this came from?, or are some of you die hard enough fans to figure it out?

I go to Alabama with a Banjo on my knee

We are off to see Tonya and the gang today. Nate has a board meeting and several other meetings this weekend and early week so I thought it would be a good time to head down. Usually when I go away I never sleep good because it is not my own bed, well this time I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed because Nate has had a barking cough for 5 days now and instead of feeling sorry for him, I'm feeling sorry for my sleep deprivation.

He rode in on a white horse and saved the day

Many of you who know me in real life will know that when speaking of the lord’s intervention in our lives I will often say "He doesn't usually ride in on a white horse and save the day." That means that while I believe in miracles and they do happen, they aren't the norm in my life or in the life of those around me, especially when we are hell bent on having our way. (I can't think of a better term than hell bent because I mean it)


Well I have been proven wrong and I couldn't be happier about it. Remember several months back when I spoke of someone living in our house because their marriage was in trouble? Well not only was it in trouble it was almost over, papers were filed and it would have been over in 35 days. I am in awe of what has transpired since I wasn't seeing much reason to hope, and there is where I made my first big mistake. There is always reason to hope in the lord whether we see anything or not. His hope is all we have in this world anyway. Where would we be without the hope of his coming? Where would we be without the hope of his resurrection? And where would we be without the hope of our salvation? Is there any situation, any person too far gone for the lord to stretch out his hand and touch? So you can guess what my next sentence is. HE RODE IN ON A WHITE HORSE AND SAVED THE DAY!!!

The person moved back home, counseling has begun, and some serious house cleaning is taking place. I can't say that the marriage is out of any danger but this is HUGE in light of where it was, and all I can say is, Thank you God for your hope.

The Superbowl of Elections

This has by far been the most exciting election season ever. It was like the super bowl last night at my house with fist pumping, deep sighs, agony of defeat and nervous anticipation. Ron Paul had a dismal showing, at least as far as I could tell since his name was only mentioned once in the hours of coverage that I watched. Unless he runs as an independant it is obvious that his day in the sun is over. We were barely paying attention to the GOP race as the Democratic race was the one with all the excitement. Nothing has been lost on me in their race, the fact that a women has a good shot at the presidency, and our first black man may hold the highest office in the free world. (A side note for all you Pearlites out there) Michael Pearl says a women can lead the country as long as she is not leading her home or church. (wink!)

I am pretty sure that a Dem will take the White house unless something lights a fire under the Republicans across the nation. Did you notice that every time they showed the winner of a state the numbers under the percentages (votes registered) was so much higher under the Dems side then the republican side. At one time during the night when they called GA there were several hundred thousand more votes cast in the Democratic nomination than on the GOP ticket. That means Dems are coming out in droves to vote.

At one point in the coverage when Nate was cheering an Obama landslide I leaned over and said "You know he may be the antichrist." to which Nate replied, "I don't care because if Obama is the antichrist then Hilary is satan." (heehee!)

Relax people we jest.

Stuff

I have not given up on plugging Ron Paul for President, and here is just one more reason to like him. Authentic

I had Ashley and Christy over on Firday afternoon for one last playdate before they headed back to Brazil. All 3 of our families had one sort of sickness or another so we all hung out in a coughing, runny nose, fever frenzy. Baby Nate was sick as well but plodded on to work because he was going to be on TV. Our local development authority had picked his business to receive aid and support from the statewide developmental authority that operates out of Georgia Tech. Over the past year his has been given the resources of the Tech people to grow and promote his business. His business was the poster model and has exceeded expectations so he had a crowd out Friday for the demos and taping of the TV and radio slots.

I had a blast at CVS on Sunday picking up all the practically free stuff I got. I'm still tweaking my method but I did pretty well. I got $35 of stuff for $11 out of pocket and used up $12 of ecb and $7 of store coupons plus $3 of manufactors coupons, but I walked out with 22 ecb plus $14 of in store coupons. I figured that I actually spent $1 for all the stuff I got, however the goal is to not spend money while increasing ecb so I lost $1 on this transaction, but I found a way to make it up this next weekend plus increase by $3. It is kinda confusing but some of the most fun I've had in a while. (yes I do need to get out more!)