I read an interview with Katie Couric in Reader's Digest yesterday. In the past she has said some things that I didn't like, but I thought I would give it another try and see what she had to say. Well, when asked if she thought it was important to give her girls two parents (her husband died of colon cancer in 1998), she replied in the answer "You don't need a traditional family to raise a child with a sense of security." That is true, but it helps don't you think. What I didn't like this time is that she went on to say, "Of course, father-daughter night at school drives me crazy because I think it is so grossly insensitive." (Emphasis mine.) When I think of her sharing her opinion with millions of viewers every night, I cringe. To say that a school is insensitive to celebrate the father-daughter relationship on account of the families who have lost the father or never had one is unfair. She also made a slam against marriage in my opinion. Just in her tone, really; nothing that she said in particular. Anyway, read the article if you want. It is in the February 2007 issue. I just wanted to air my grievances.

Sorry I haven't checked in all weekend. Just spending time with my family is all I can say. On Saturday, we drove around the countryside some more and then made the big trip to Wal-Mart. Since I am potty-training Esther, I was not much help at the store. She and I spent most of the time in the restroom where she refused to use the big toilets. She screamed and yelled because she really had to go but did not want to do so. She ended up holding it until we got home. It's still worth the hassle, though, to have her out of diapers. When we got home it was lunchtime. When we put the little kids down for a nap, Chad and I decided to take one also and ended up sleeping for about two hours. It was wonderful!

On Sunday, we had a guest preacher by the name of R.T. Kendall. He spoke about "dignifying the trial" mentioned in the second and third verses out of James 1. They read as follows:

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance."

He really focused on how we can be joyful in the midst of our trials. His first point was based on 1 Corinthians 10:13, which is one of my favorite verses. I have really leaned on that truth over the years. He also pointed out John 5:44 and how we can please God rather than man when going thru a trial. It was a good reminder about how life in Christ can be while here on earth. It can and should be joyful.

We had our life group again Sunday evening, and it was a lot of fun. We had finger foods and played games. Next week we are going to one of the other couple's home for the Super Bowl. We are really getting to know one another better. I'm thankful.

I wrote half of this yesterday (Monday) but had to leave off for childcare reasons. Yesterday the kids and I finished Johnny Tremain. I think I read over 100 pages, but I'm not sure. I'm glad to be done. It was a good book. This week we slow the pace down to a normal schedule, except for the fact that we all have dentist appointments over the next two afternoons. I have to get a crown put on one of my teeth. It has been broken for a about a year almost to the day. I broke it about three days after we moved to Kentucky and was never had time to get it fixed while there. So today is the big day to start the process of getting it capped. Tomorrow I am getting a haircut, or trim rather. I am trying to let it grow long again. I feel like I will be able to do it this time. We'll see. Right now it needs to be shaped. I haven't had it cut in almost three months but that does allow for it to grow. I hope to be back with an update tomorrow.

I am officially a Texan now. I spent half the day driving around, dishing out big bucks, just to make me and the van citizens of Texas. I also signed my organs away in case something should happen to me. We drove around the countryside looking for possible places to build. I have had a house plan for some years now that I would love to have built. We would like to live out in the country on quite a few acres of land. Maybe have a horse and some goats. Who knows? It's fun to dream! We are trying to sell our truck and get some money back in the bank. We finally got a potential buyer yesterday. I hope he buys it. If not, it's going to the Albertsons' parking lot where it will get more lookers hopefully. We live on a cul-de-sac, so there is not much thru traffic, if you know what I mean. I guess there are a couple of 12-year-olds from the middle school nearby, but they haven't shown any interest so far. The reason we are selling the truck is because Chad has a work truck and ours just sits on the street. We haven't even driven it since before the big freeze two weeks ago. What a waste! It's a good truck. I can't stand to see a vehicle just sitting there. Our van sits there enough, as it is. I am definitely not an on-the-go mom. I could sit here all week with no problem. I've inherited this trait from my mother apparently because she told me yesterday she had been going somewhere almost every day and was worn out. My dad is the opposite- he loves to be on the go. Outside anyway. It's funny I can see both of them in myself, more of my mother though.

Time to go get the kiddos ready for bed. So long!

I saw the word "beforehand" twice in the bible last night when I was reading. I had to laugh to myself about the timing. I read the book of Jude and something else, and it was in both of them. I also read a little bit about how the church decided which books would be in the bible way back in the 3rd and 4th century. It was pretty interesting since I really didn't know much about it. Time to go fix breakfast now. Abram just told me he is really hungry.

I decided today would be a good day to tackle potty-training Esther. All in all, it went well. She went pee-pee at least three times on the potty and more than that in her pants. I'm going to tough it out for three days, I figure, and then all will be done. Three days of washing and cleaning up is worth it to get her out of diapers.

Chad and I switched to decaf on Tuesday, and I was surprised to discover that caffeine already had enough of a hold on me to give me a headache for most of that first day. I really don't like being dependent on anything (besides the Lord)! It bothered me pretty much. I'm really glad we made the switch. Chad handled it better than I thought he would. Of course, I always think that he is a lot more addicted to things than I am. He's pretty tough, though. He didn't complain.

In the past week or so, Esther has started eating her vegetables heartily! Wow! I was ready to label her a pickier eater than Abram. I really need to watch what I say! It seems that I keep putting my foot in my mouth. As I get older, I keep realizing that I still have a lot to learn about life. On a final note, I hope everyone learned at least one thing that they didn't know about me beforehand (Is that supposed to be a compound word or not?).

Five Things You Don't Know About Me (2nd time around)

1. I was born in Wiesbaden, (West) Germany because my dad was stationed there in the army. We moved back to the U.S. before I was one year old. While growing up, at school I often had to tell where I was born for one reason or another and the kids would always ask if I was German. Sometimes I would say "yes" but couldn't fool them for long because I didn't know a word of the language. (Dad will already know this one about me, if not all of them.)

2. I cracked the windshield of my dad's jeep with my head when I was 7 years old while he was trying to pull our cousins' truck out of a snow-filled ditch. I was able to walk away from that one thanks to the snow hat I was wearing. This incident explains why I am a genius today.

3. I have completed a 25-mile bike ride at least once since I have had kids. I would have done it another time if it hadn't been for a certain person who had to keep stopping close to the end of the race to fix the light or something on his bike until my legs finally cramped up. I'm not referring to Chad either. You know who you are!

4. When I was in the 8th grade, I had some cool Converse tenny-shoes that were pastel pink, yellow, purple and blue. I really liked them. It was one of the more daring things that I wore at that time. I didn't like to stand out in a crowd.

5. I never dreamed of being a mom when I was a little girl. I always loved kittens and puppies, not babies, and here I am now a mother of four and loving it! I don't even have any pets. I would like to have some for the kids, though.

Five Things You Don't Know About Me

1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
5. ?

There. You see, you still don't know. I couldn't think of anything. You know how I'm like an open book.

It's just after lunch, Tuesday. I am finally sitting down to write something. Honestly, I have just been at a loss as to what to say. The Sunday morning service was just as emotionally draining as I expected. I arrived home with a headache and the knowledge that I would not get a chance to rest because I had to cook a soup for that evening. Life group turned out well- I was only a little frazzled and was able to enjoy visiting with everyone. We had two families come with their children. The kids were like wild indians, which was no surprise since it was the first meeting. Our next two or so meetings will also be the get-to-know-you type so that the kids and everyone else can get used to it. I expect the kids to settle down after a couple of times and just play, without yelling. It's just so exciting for them, especially my kids.

This week we have a red flag waving on our car that says "LIFE" in honor of unborn children. It sure makes a lot of noise when one is driving. Our preacher recommended that we use that annoying racket as a reminder to pray. Good idea! The flag made so much noise on the way home from church Sunday that Esther was able to stay awake until we got home. She said over and over, "Whuz zat, Daddy? Eetz flag, Daddy?" Saul wasn't bothered by it much and managed to doze off. We have at least a 10-minute drive home; plenty of time for a small child to get mighty comfortable after a morning of playing and doing activities with other small children his size and mindset.

This is the last week that I need to double up on the schoolwork. I counted out the weeks left until the end of May (when I would like to be finished), and I have an extra three weeks to cover any mishaps such as illnesses or only God knows whatelse that might arise. I'm glad, although I know that at first it will seem strange to not be pushing all the time to get things done. It will probably take a week to adjust. At least a week. Well, it's time for me to put the little ones down for a nap and then get back to school. Later.

It is Saturday, and we are about to embark on house cleaning. I did not do any on Wednesday other than the necessities such as dishes and clothing since we had taken Monday off from schoolwork. Tomorrow night we begin our Life Group here in our home. It is a getting-together with other believers to do life together that is strongly encouraged at our church. Pray that all will go well and God will be honored. Chad and I have tried to lead a Life Group in the past and we let circumstances stop us from sticking with it. This is a difficult area for me, especially, because I tend to let myself get overwhelmed with the idea of "entertaining" people in my home, which is not what the idea is about anyway. So pray that I will keep my eyes on the Lord and follow through with this and therefore reap the reward He has in store for me by communing with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We will be meeting with about two or three other couples weekly for about two hours on Sunday evening. We plan on starting it out with food and fun until everyone feels comfortable with each other. We know all of the couples but they do not all know each other yet. And we don't even know them intimately ourselves except for maybe one or two. In the past, I had tried to keep the kids "not seen and not heard" but that sure did increase the pressure, so this time we will try to keep it pretty free. The kids will be directed to stay to their rooms and play for the most part, but I do not want to be like a dictator about it. That is not any fun, nor does it represent life in my opinion. Speaking of life, it is getting close to the anniversary date of Roe v. Wade. Please be praying about abortion in our country. I believe it is one of Satan's biggest lies. I hate abortion, and I really feel sorry for women who are tricked into believing it is the best thing for them. I think that they really suffer for a long time afterwards in many different ways. Three years ago when I got pregnant with Esther, I wasn't expecting it as I had in my three earlier pregnancies. It was hard for me to accept because I hadn't "planned" it. I cried the whole first week. And it softened my heart toward women who have abortions because prior to that I definitely would judge them as hard-hearted women. I never considered abortion in my life, but there I was- a married woman with a family struggling with the hardships that another pregnancy was bringing. By the way, Esther is such a blessing! But I had a loving husband, financial resources, and so forth when I found out I was pregnant and it still hit me like a brick wall. I can just imagine how someone without those benefits must feel when finding out about an unexpected pregnancy. So now I pray for women in that situation rather than condemn them as I had before. God really opened my eyes in this area, and I am so thankful that He did. Anyway, with all that said, I am very pro-life. I always have been, but now I am also understanding of women who have made that choice and feel empathy for them.

"And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." Ephesians 4:32

This verse has spoken to me so many times in my life- I love it!

Yes, we are definitely experiencing winter here. The weather channel is calling for more snow/sleet/freezing rain, a.k.a. wintry mix, over the next few days for this area of Texas. I'm glad it is January because I would really be complaining if it was March. That is one of the reasons I didn't mind leaving IL a few years ago- the long winters! I remember the city pool never warmed up enough until July to actually enjoy the swimming. Of course, the pool there was the size of a football field so that might have had something to do with it. It was an awesome pool.

That's all I have to say for now. Maybe I will check back in later on today.

Woke up to a little snow on the ground this morning. Needless to say, the kids were all excited. They didn't know about until their dad was walking out the door for work and commented that there was snow on the ground. They immediately forgot about the rest of their breakfast and started running around whooping and hollering. I helped them a little with the donning of their snow clothes but had decided that I would not wear myself out for them to be outside for 10 minutes. Because of the lecture that I gave them on this subject, they did stay outside for about 20 minutes. Every 30 seconds or so, they would call out to me to see something they had discovered in the backyard. I finally had to tell them not to call me unless it was an emergency because I wanted to get dressed. Not long after, they came in.

Abram is starting to read with confidence. He has turned that corner where a person sees the joy it can bring. He is asking me if he can read his next story instead of the other way around. This morning he began reading one of his earlier books to Saul. It was a great moment!

While we were home so much this past weekend, Chad discovered a new love- building with Legos. I don't know how many different houses and boats he put together- everything that was in the book probably. Now he wants more. I suggested we hit some garage sales because we could probably find them for pretty cheap. He liked that idea. He also did about ten puzzles with the kids. I even helped on the one with 750 pieces. What was I thinking when I bought that from Aldi for $2? Actually, it was fun since we were all working on it together. No, we did not finish it.

Special note for JanJan: Chad went to the store yesterday and bought five more gallons of milk. We drink it at every meal.

We spent another day at home yesterday due to the ice. Chad had the day off in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. anyway. I did venture out late in the afternoon to the corner gas station to buy a gallon of milk. I don't like that ice. Our front walk to the house was completely covered with a layer of slick ice. Then I couldn't find an ice scraper anywhere (we must have left them in IL) so I had to use an ice pick to get the ice off of my windshield and passenger window. Brrrr! Chad was able to leave for work this morning with comparable ease. He doesn't have a whole lot going on today so we should see him back at the "home office" fairly soon. We are on weeks 18 and 19 according to our school schedule and will therefore be caught up in another week or two from where we had fallen behind when we moved. There are 36 weeks total in our curriculum. Boy, it's hard to read that much out loud when we double up the weeks!

I have decided to give up reading fiction (except for the read-alouds for the kids) for the next 40 days along with the movie-watching that Chad and I jointly decided on. I know it will be good for me. Well, I must go now as time is ticking away.

Severe Weather Alert

We are definitely iced in this morning. We looked on the web first thing when we got up. Preacher Mike's blog said that he had spoken to the police dept. and therefore cancelled services this morning. We also looked at Beltway's website and they had cancelled also. If that hadn't convinced us though, the sight of our vehicles covered with a layer of solid ice would have. We took the kids outside to show them the bushes that were frozen and that was when we got a close-up of the cars. We don't park any of them in the garage because we don't have an automatic door opener (it would only cost $35 to order one from Sears but we haven't gotten around to discussing it with the landlord yet) and it is not worth the time to manually open and close the garage door unless there happens to be an ice storm in the area. Anyway, we are not expecting any emergencies. Who would?!

Possible ice storm today; better make that probable. Chad and I were supposed to go to a Josh McDowell conference at our church tonight, but I don't think we will make it. We drove thru an ice storm once and vowed never to do it again. Besides, I don't think the babysitter will be allowed to drive over to our house in this kind of weather either. I hope the conference is cancelled and then rescheduled. It is all about what teens face today and why their beliefs are messed up often times.

I finished the first hat and have started a second one. It is pretty easy on the loom. Chad is making a gumbo in honor of the freezing weather. Thankfully we have plenty of food and milk in the house and won't need to be getting out for anything other than an emergency.

There is some land south of town that we had looked at last time we lived here. It is still available. We are going to check into it. Oh-oh, Chad's calling. Bye.

The draft is posted on January 10th.

When I woke up this morning, I grabbed my bible looking for a place to read in it. Titus caught my eye, so I proceeded to start from the beginning of that book and what do I run across right away but this:

Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the work of God may not be dishonored. Titus 2:3-5

Wow! Is that awesome or what?! I was encouraged and challenged by it. I was reminded of what my role really is in this life that God has so graciously given me. There was another verse referenced in the side notes for the part that I italicized. Here it is:

Therefore, I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach. I Timothy 5:14

Now, some of you may be wondering what I am getting at and it is this- for me, the decision to stay home and care for my family God had continually shown me His approval. Not only through His word, but in my everyday life. No, I do not walk around on cloud nine with a silly smile on my face, but I am satisfied. My satisfaction is in the Lord. He is good.
Alright now I am going to post my draft from the other day.

We did some house cleaning yesterday; well, I guess I did most of it actually. Chad does a great job of regularly vacuuming and dusting, so all I really have to do is take care of the bathrooms and mop the floors. I also washed the sheets yesterday, and naturally it was extremely windy outside while the kids played in the backyard. They had dust all over their clothing and all the way down to the roots of their hair. We have a Wednesday evening service at church and don't usually get home until close to 8:00 p.m. (their bedtime). Well, I told Chad that they absolutely had to have their hair washed, I didn't care how late it was because I wasn't about to have any dirty heads lay down on clean pillowcases. Of course, Chad didn't argue. Washing the sheets is a special occasion for me, as you can see.
We are still reading Johhny Tremain. It only has 322 pages that I have to read aloud to the kids. Thank God that it is a very interesting story, otherwise I might croak in the process.
I was just now able to demonstrate to Naomi the art of indenting a paragraph. I had just been skipping a line between the paragraphs rather than indenting, so when she pointed in out I went back to do it the other way for her. Every day when we do her dictation she has to indent, so it caught her attention.
Chad and I are at another crossroads in life which I talked about yesterday but didn't post it. I just drafted it because I didn't know if I was ready to hear anyone else's opinion on the subject. I am so reserved in that way. Anyway, Chad said that he has realized that he needs to participate in the homeschooling process actively, not just as a principal-type figure. We think that maybe helping with the history reading would be a good place for him to start . I read the fiction, such as Johnny Tremain, but he will read the textbook portions which are not very long but just seem to be too much for me to do. He is a very good husband. God has blessed our marriage and continues to do so.

One of the local grocery stores is having a sale on their milk this week, so last night we went out to take advantage of this special. We had drank our last drop of milk at suppertime. We bought seven gallons for $13.93. That is a real deal in this present day and age. Obviously we are big milk drinkers. We have it with every meal. One of my friends told me the other evening that the Jewish people won't drink milk when eating meat because the two are difficult enough to digest alone. It has not affected us so far as I can see. I have to admit that I am not up-to-date on Jewish customs. They really do intrigue me though.

On Sunday while I was away learning how to knit on a loom, Chad ran across a segment on 60 Minutes Online called "Quiver-Full". Those of you familiar with Psalm 127 will know what it is referring to. The show interviewed a family of ten who was part of this Quiver-full movement. It is Christians who don't practice any kind of birth control. They let God decide how many children will be added to their family. Anyway, Chad was moved by this. I had been hit with it in the face years ago when I read a book titled A Mom Just Like You. The book was written by a homeschooling mom of ten (at the time) who had been convicted early on in her marriage that she shouldn't try to control the womb. It was a hard read, but a good one. I didn't have to do anything then though because my husband didn't agree with it. It is a different story now. I have no choice but to admit that I know we (Chad and I) should be placing our faith in God in this matter. I can't tell you how many people ask us if we are done having children. Every week at least. I kept asking myself, "Why do they keep asking me that?" Well, now I know. Chad has been grinning like a cat since Sunday. I have been grimacing. I know that I have to be obedient, but it is not easy to laugh about it. When God gives us a clear direction, we have to obey or I believe there is a break in the relationship with Him, a wall so to speak. This is our direction that he has given us. I am certainly not saying that everyone has to do this. God has shown this to me and Chad personally. I have been saying since Esther was born that she was probably it, and she may be. I kept saying that I didn't want to have children after 35. Every time I would say that I would feel a little prick in the back of my mind. I knew all along that God wasn't going to let me go on thinking that I could decide in this area. By the way, I am already feeling more peaceful about it. I needed some time to digest it.


Psalm 127
Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep. Behold, children are a gift of the LORD; the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They shall not be ashamed, When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

Even though yesterday was a Monday, it was a good day. At lunch time, we went outside to enjoy the Texas sunshine and to get some fresh air. Since I didn't feel like swinging on the rope from the tree, I took out my Knifty Knitter and some old yarn I had and began to work. Immediately the kids came over to see what was going on. My Knitter consists of four circular looms of different sizes. Naturally, each kid wanted one. I chose to let Naomi work on the smallest one while I used the next size up. And we began. After about half an hour, I had to go in to put Saul and Esther down for their naps. Abram took over working on my loom while I was gone. He had been in my lap assisting me prior to that. Guess what? Naomi and Abram are hooked. They are over half-way done making some hats. I help Abram on his, or he helps me on mine, (whichever way you want to look at it) and I will have to do the finishing up. I am a little nervous about that part.

Chad listened to the Ohio-Florida game last night via the computer, or most of it anyway, and I guess I did too. It was pretty disappointing. Ohio lost. Now, it had only been 51 days since they had last played. The same thing happened to Illinois a couple of years ago in the Sugar Bowl against LSU. IL had not played in about six weeks and got stomped on. That is what basically happened to Ohio. It just doesn't seem like much of a game under those circumstances. Okay, enough about the football.

Chad just got home and said that I need to go tend to the clothes situation, a.k.a. Mt. Washmore as my good friend puts it.

We had a good weekend. Yesterday morning our pastor challenged us to fast for forty days starting next week. Chad and I were both in agreement on what we need to fast from in our lives. We look forward to focusing on God. It's good to be reminded that God should be first in all areas. It's easy to think that we are doing pretty well- no "big" sins going on and so forth. But we know it is not about being good, but loving God.

In the afternoon, I went to Michael's for a free demonstration of my new Knifty Knitter. It really does seem to be easy. I haven't yet had time to try anything on it, but maybe I will this evening. Chad and I watched The Fiddler on the Roof this weekend and enjoyed it very much. It supplied some food for thought and the music was excellent.

We took the kids to Home Depot this morning for the free kids' craft that they offer on the first Saturday of every month. We have been participating for about two years now. Each child receives a small building kit of some sort. Today it was a bag holder (Wal-Mart bags, for instance). It is really neat. We parents usually have to assist in the assembly of the project which involves hammer and nails. After the child completes the project on site, he or she will receive a certificate and snacks. Our kids really look forward to it each month. Actually, Chad and I do also. Home Depot gives the kids cool orange aprons too. All the children end up looking like miniature employees-of-the-month. Today Naomi and Saul each won the give-away prize for the girl and boy respectively. She got Tinkerbell wall stickers and he got Nemo wall stickers which they each promply put up on their stark white, rental house, bedroom walls. That worked out pretty well for Esther and Abram since they share the rooms with them.

Just called it quits for homeschooling today. We could always do more, but sometimes one just has to say "that's enough!" Our read-aloud is Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes. It is very exciting and long. Naomi noticed right away that it was written by a woman named Esther. Then asked me if that was her real name or her pen name. I honestly don't know. I'll have to read the "about the author" section. I'm not letting Naomi read her next book yet. She only read three books over Christmas vacation! Abram is still reading the simple readers which I have to really help him along with. He is doing fine.

Tonight I am going to watch The Pursuit of Happyness with a friend. Chad already saw it and said it was really good. It will be fun to get out with her. She has four kids also, about the spread of mine, but her youngest one is Naomi's age. Well, time for me to log off. Farewell.

We started back in on our homeschooling today. It went well, especially considering that I really did not prepare for today. I simply pulled out the books this morning to see where we were and got busy. The kids were just a little bit rusty in the subjects that are tough for them- Naomi in math and Abram in reading. We will be back in the groove by the end of the week, I'm sure.

I finished Anne of Green Gables today. It was excellent. I laughed outright more than once as I was reading it. I have the next two in the series but don't dare pick them up for fear of not getting anything else done. They will have to wait until the next school break. I really enjoyed the dialogue in the book. That is the same thing I liked so much about Jane Austen's books- the dialogue! Anyway, I recommend this book to all females, ten and older. I'm sure some guys would enjoy it also. I read a few parts to Chad and at first he said that Marilla was mean. Later, I was able to help him see the humor in their relationship (Anne and Marilla).

It is so cold today. I was simply freezing earlier. I had to put on my fleece jacket and slipper socks, then drink a cup of hot coffee to get rid of the chill in my bones. I think that the temperature outside is above fifty by now, but it was below freezing until noon. At least, that is what it felt like to me in the house. This house will be wonderful this summer when the hot sun is beating down all around us; however, right now it really keeps the cold inside and the sun's warmth outside. That's all for now.