Thanks everyone for the comments:) Aaron did the site for me. I am so not IT literate. I had complained to him how I couldn’t put what I wanted into the sidebars and how the themes were limited; so he got me into another side of wordpress. I don’t know much about it… but he’s pretty sweet taking the time out just for my blog.

Well, our trip to Tennessee was really great. On the way down we stopped in Jerseyville and enjoyed a Saturnight service with the church family there. Jessica was so sweet to keep us in her home that night and we had a great time of fellowship with Gina and Sam and their 3 little cuties.

Breaking up the trip was really nice on the way down. We then on Sunday stopped in to see the Hunts. That was really awesome. They invited us back and made us some super yummy smoothies (which I had been dying for this entire trip - I was going through withdrawal). It was really nice of them. And Hannah actually had a great time and played with Bro Hunt like they were old friends. This is quite a pleasant change from the anti-social little thing she was when they came to stay with us in May.

Off to the Massie’s we went then from there. They were so gracious to keep us for our entire stay. The kids all felt so at home and had a great time with their children. They all got along so well. It was really a blessing to be able to be there. We had many wonderful talks with them. I hadn’t really had a chance to get to know them before, and I am so thankful now that we had the time to fellowship. They are such a wonderful couple. They compliment each other so well. It was really encouraging. My favorite was the atmosphere in their home. It was very relaxed and joyful. Julie always had a smile to share, which made me feel so comfortable. I normally am really worried that we’re being a burden on people when we stay with them, since we have so many people in our family and take up so much space. But Julie really made me feel welcome and that it was really no big deal. It made me enjoy my trip that much more.

VBS was neat. The kids enjoyed the crafts and especially making so many friends. They were sad to have to leave, but I am glad they had the opportunity to meet so many like-minded youth to be encouraged by.

It was really cool to be able to hang out with our friends on various evenings. I had a great time talking with everyone. Thanks Janelle for the books! I am LOVING the book by Vickie Farris. Her chapter about how the Lord dealt with her on family size and birth control was really inspiring and made me want to research it more in depth. The history of birth control was something I had not really dug into and now I am really interested in learning more about the why’s and politics behind it. I can’t believe it was illegal in our country until 1960 when Planned Parenthood was in the works. Anyways, that a whole other blog:)

Only 3 and 1/2 weeks to go! I have the urge to get everything in order before new baby gets here. I have decided to re-work our homeschooling schedule to work Nathaniel in (he really wants to read and write) and to spend more time conferencing with the older ones on their subjects. We are still going with the Robinson Curriculum and Saxon math; but I would like to try and squeeze in some extras this year, now that I have the “hang” of the basics. I decided to break out the Managers of Their Homes guide on scheduling and get things worked out. Even though we don’t always adhere to a schedule, it is definitely less chaotic and less stressful to have the outline and general guide for the day to day homeschooling/chores/housework/and QT with each child.

Most importantly, I have been wanting to get back into the habit of studying/reading/praying during the day. I have been doing little snippets here and there throughout the day, but it’s not been enough. I can tell when I am “running dry” and have lost focus in the midst of the everyday hub. So, this time I am going to try and break up “quiet time” into smaller chunks of like 10-15 minutes and try and do them throughout the day. I want to invest in a good study Bible to keep me motivated and I was going to get the books “Experiencing God” and “My Utmost for His Highest”. I have been wanting to read those for a long time.

I also wanted to organize my house to better fit our everyday lives. Since we had moved into our new area, I have more space than I was used to. I wasn’t quite sure how to use it all efficiently. We have a formal dining room and an office on the main floor. The formal dining room was more being used for a sewing room than anything and the office was kind of unorganized and not really utilized. I hate having anything not being used efficiently and if there is a better way to be doing things, then I am all about it. So, I had Libby over to help me move things around yesterday and she was a great help. We brought up all the arts/crafts stuff from the basement and put them in the formal dining room. We rearranged all the books so that the artsy ones were in the formal dining room, homeschooling ones in the office, and everything else in the living room. We rearranged all the furniture so that there was an art table for the little ones in the sewing room; a table for sewing; and the hutch is holding all the arts supplies in baskets. The office now has 3 desk/tables for every size so that I can do preschool with Nate and the kids have a place to organize and store all their academic supplies/books.  I feel so much better! We can still use the formal dining room if needed; I will just put away all the sewing and craft stuff into their boxes and store them away. I also created a little diaper changing area in there so that I didn’t have to keep going upstairs every time. I think I will do another all-day potty training excursion with Hannah next week to see if she is ready to move on to the next step beyond “recognition”.

I also wanted to say how awesome my neighbor Jodi is once again for sending her boys over yesterday with the most delicious raspberries! Everyone ate them up within minutes. lol And yea, you can buy strawberries that yield fruit 2 times, once in the early summer and then again in early fall. I can’t remember the name of them, but those are the kind my mom’s is bringing next month:) So, when we get some, I will definitely be sending one of the boys over with them.

So, there’s the Webb update. I will post some pics as soon as I can re-locate the camera:) I am also going to start sewing Hannah and the new baby some new cloth diapers… I will take pics this time, S:) You’d be so proud of me, I actually bought a book and supplies on how to knit! That will definitely be a cooler weather project… More later!

Well, the count down is on:) Well, sort of. I know I have at a minimum of 1 month left and a maximum of 8 weeks (let’s hope she’s not 2 weeks over like my last one). I wanted to get ready for her arrival by attempting to potty train Hannah. I don’t have a lot of faith in my potty training capabilities, though, so I did some more research online to see if I could find a fool-proof method of doing this. I found a neat little e-book called, “Real Potty Training!”, that I found really helpful. However, I was not able to do potty training the entire day (or at least 4-6 hours as she suggests). So, it’s carried on into this week. I am hoping she’ll get the hang of it. She is 18 months this past month and acts ready to grasp this new concept.

Anyways, anyone care to share their methods or what worked for them and how long it was before they caught on would be some welcome encouragement.

I am going to try and infant train this new baby, so that going to the potty won’t be an issue and hopefully by the time she’s walking, she’ll be taking herself. I don’t really know anyone that well who has done this, but I would love to hear if anyone has or knows someone who has and what they did. I need to do more research in the area. Basically all that I have learned about it came from a NGJ issue that discussed how most third world countries infant train their little ones out of necessity. And how babies come into this world without one single habit, why start them on one by allowing them to wet in a diaper instead of the potty? I thought, huh, good point.

Alrighty, enough of the potty training excursions. Hope everyone is well. I will try to be more inspirational in my next post;)

Oh, and for those who are wondering how we are doing with all the natural disasters near by, all is well. We are northwest (I think) of where the severe damage is. Though many have had to evacuate their houses, crops have been lost, and several have lost their lives, God has been merciful to us and keeping us safe. Please keep praying for those families that are suffering during this time. And thanks everyone for your concern.

Ok, so I have a new favorite something or other like every other day. I guess that’s because I am always on the look out for more information, more knowledge, more wisdom on how to live this life the way God intended it to be:)

So, this website came from my wonderful and ever resourceful neighbor, Jodi:

http://www.ezhealthydiet.com/

As with everything, this website is not the be-all-end-all in health or healthy living, but I give it two thumbs up for the recipes and the major ideas of where to start in eating right.

Hope everyone who is at the campground is having a good time. We are enjoying it online:) Thanks to those who have put such an effort into making that possible. It’s been a blessing to listen. I really appreciated what Brother Buzzard had to say. Gotta love people who do their homework.

http://www.ezhealthydiet.com/healthy-breakfast-idea.html This is the cereal I am going to try tomorrow… I will let you know how it turned out. Thought it would be a good alternative to half-baked granola.

I have been trying to find a way to make healthier baked goods for our family, which are also cost-effective. I have been using speltr baking needs. However, the price of wheat and spelt are tripling this summer due to our ridiculous government tax and gas politics (that’s a whole other blog).

Anyways, I had been buying the Ezekial bread for our regular bread and have been very interested in the whole sprouted grain bread concept. So, I did a bit of research was amazed at what I found. Turns out that when you sprout a grain, it changes the make-up to that of a vegetable like substance, instead of a starch.

So, if you’re interested, here’s a website that tells all about it: http://www.creatingheaven.net/eeproducts/eesfc/about_sprouted.html

I think I am going to have to look into sprouting my own grains, dehydrating them, and then grinding them into flour as I need it. We’ll see. Not sure how much a good mill will cost, but it’s definitely something I want to look into:) Always up for healthier eating, in the most cost-effective way! I think I just need my own farm so I don’t have to rely on buying so much of my food. Some chickens, a milking cow, few acres for crops and I should be good to go…

Ok, so I am little late getting out the details; but here they are nonetheless. Every year the church we attend here has an International Meeting over the holiday weekend. Fellow believers from all over the world gather together once a year to fill our sanctuary and our homes. I have always loved being able to keep people for a meeting. It is such a blessing to be able to serve God’s people in a home environment. I have always wanted to have a huge house where I could house families for varying periods of time and help them out. When I first got saved, or gave my life to Christ, an older couple took me in and gave me a good home to live in while I got myself on my feet.  I learned so much while living in that communal atmosphere, good examples and not so good:) But all in all, it put a deep desire in my heart to want to do the same for other young families. I want to be able to minister to them, show them a godly and biblical pattern for family life, for living healthy, for raising children for the glory of God.

Anyways, so if you hadn’t guessed, acts of service is my love language and I love to “do” things for others. And it also means to much to me when someone “does” something to me. It speaks volumes to me. (That’s why I rave over my new friend Jodi for helping me out at the end of our first homeschooling year - she’s awesome, by the way.) So, being able to keep my friends and their parents that past weekend was truly a blessing to me. They wanted me to sit down and relax, but I tell you, I got more pleasure and joy from serving them than I ever would just resting:) So, thank you my sweet friends, Amber and Rachel, for allowing me to take care of you for a few days. I had such a great time of fellowship and wished our time had been longer where we could have just spent days talking and working together. Rachel’s mom had suggested that I open a “wellness center” where I would take people in and teach them how to live a healthy lifestyle and prepare/cook healthy meals and snacks. If I did, Rachel and Amber would the perfect people to help me pull that one off:) I am blessed to have such wonderful friends.

I am sure the messages were great during services. I did not hear all that much, working in the nursery most of the meeting. But the night service that I was out (and the one I snuck out of during song service) the Spirit was rich and I had a wonderful time praising and worshipping the Lord with friends I do not see so often. I know some might call this just an “emotionalism”, and you can call it whatever you want. God made us with emotions and if He wants to use those as a vehicle to allow me to “feel” what being in His presence must be like, I am totally in for it. I know that serving the Lord is not all in what you feel and that your feelings will often lead you astray, but it is refreshing when God uses them for what He created them for - to assist us in praising Him. As the song says, “The reason I live, is to worship Him.” I was created to serve and bring glory to God. And I have to say, it is the most fulfilling reason for living I have found, and trust me I looked.

Well, I was asked for some recipes that I used this weekend. So, here they are:)

Partially Baked Granola

2 cups barley flakes

2 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup raw honey

1 cup sunflower oil

3/4 cup flax seeds

3/4 cup sesame seeds

1 cup mixed premium nuts

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup pumpkin seeds

1 cup dried fruit (cherries, cranberries, apricots, etc.)

dash salt

cinnamon to taste

Mix all dry ingredients first, then add oil and honey. Stir. Bake in glass casserole dish in oven on the lowest setting your oven will go (mine was 170) for a few hours (you could leave the door partially cracked if you don’t have little ones running around at that time). If you have a dehydrator, that would be the ideal way to have some raw granola. (But for me this, is just going to have to work. I consider it to be partially raw, kind of like Ezekial bread.) Stir occasionally. Remove when slightly browned. Place on aluminum foil to dry and cool. When it has cooled, place into an air-tight container. And enjoy:)

Double Chocolate “Oatmeal” Cookies

Preheat oven to 375

1 cup butter

1 cup turbinado or raw sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 egg

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cup whole grain flour (I use spelt)

1 1/2 cup barley flakes (or rolled oats)

1 cup dark chocolate chips

Mix. Bake for about 10-12 minutes.

I usually double this recipe for my family (cookies don’t last very long around here).

Nut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Preheat oven to 375.

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup nut butter ( I use sunflower)

1 - 1 1/2 cup raw sugar cane (the less sugar the better;) I often use 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce as a substitute for 1/2 of the sugar allowance, then I just have to add a bit more flour to make the consistency thick enough)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cup whole grain flour (still using spelt)

2 cups rolled oats, or barley flakes

1 cup dark chocolate chips

Mix. Bake for about 10-12 minutes.

Oat Bran Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Preheat oven to 400.

1 cup whole grain flour

1/2 cup flax meal

1/2 -3/4 cup oat bran

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 beaten egg

3/4 - 1 cup milk ( I use vanilla almond milk) (May need more milk, oat bran seems to absorb the liquid)

1/4 sunflower oil

1/3 cup raw sugar (or use some applesauce, or honey, or xylitol)

1 cup chopped apples

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix. Fill paper muffin cups about 3/4 way full. Bake for 20 minutes.

I usually triple this recipe so that they will last for a week or so around here. They make great quick breakfasts for the kids on busy days. Add in a protein smoothie and they’re good until lunch.

Dark Chocolate Truffle Cake

This is a treat around here. I was glad I was able to make it and enjoy it with my friends. It’s a lot of work, but worth it for those who truly appreciate a not too bad for you, once in a while treat.

Preheat oven to 325.

1 cup walnuts or pecans, coarsely ground

1 cup cookie crumbs ( I used the double chocolate cookie crumbs that are left in the bag)

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons raw sugar

12-16 ounces of dark chocolate, cut up

1 cup milk (I use the vanilla almond)

5-6 beaten eggs

3/4 cup raw sugar

1/3 cup whole grain flour

1. For crust, combine pecans, crumbs, melted butter and 2 TB sugar. Press onto the bottom and about 1 1/2 inches up the sides of a greased ( I use coconut oil) springform pan. Set aside.

2. In a large saucepan or double boiler, melt chocolate and milk over low heat till completely melted. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, 3/4 cup sugar and flour; beat 10 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. Fold 1/4 of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture. Fold chocolate mixture into the remaining egg mixture. Pour into crust-lined pan.

4. Bake cake in a 325 oven for about 45 minutes or until puffed around edge and halfway to center (the center will be slightly soft). Cool pan for 20 minutes. Remove sides of pan. Cool for 4 hours. Serve with fresh strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries.

Cover and store any leftovers (yea right) in the fridge.

Be careful! This stuff is really, really rich. A small piece goes a LONG way:)

Okay, I think that was all the recipes I was giving out. The grilled Mahi-Mahi recipe I got off of allrecipes.com, and the wild rice vegetable side dish as well. Oh, eggplant! Okay, here’s how I do mine:

1. Peel eggplant. Slice into 1/2 inch circles. Set out on towels and sprinkle sea salt over all. I use about 2-3 eggplants for my whole family. Let the eggplant dry out for as long as possible (all day, or all evening and then dry and put in the fridge for the next day). Flip eggplants and re-salt.

2. After they are done drying, I rinse off the excess salt and pat dry. Now you’re ready to assemble your “lasagna”.

3. Put it together just like you would lasagna. Layer of tomato sauce, then eggplant, then ricotta mixture, then sauce, then cheese and repeat until eggplant is gone.

4. Bake covered for 40-45 minutes in 325 oven. Remove cover and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until liquid is dried and top is slightly browned.

Ricotta mixture:

1 tub of ricotta

1 beaten egg

1 TB of parsley

1 cup Parmesan cheese

For the cheese on top, I use a mixture of Asiago, Romano, and Parmesan (all freshly grated).

I can’t give away my famous Italian tomato sauce, sorry;). (Just kidding, if you really want it, email me.)

Enjoy!

I am really looking forward to seeing everyone at Campground next week (Lord willing that we can make it!). I also had a great time visiting the White Bear Lake assembly in Minnesota. Hopefully, Aaron will post some pictures from our trip to the zoo online. It was fun. The kids had a great time. The Patton family in White Bear are such wonderful hosts and always treat us so kindly. Makes us want to stay longer and visit more often:) I had a really, really awesome time fellowshipping with Priscilla, Jessica, and Rebecca (and the guys too). I especially enjoyed our late night talk. Why is it that we always bond over those last few moments before we turn in for the night? I always have such good conversations then! Anyways, I am thankful to be able to call them my friends and look forward to seeing them again.

Looks like we are going to get as much traveling in as possible before our newest arrival makes her long awaited debut. I love this time of year when we get to visit and spend time with good friends and make new ones.  Looking forward to seeing more of everyone next week!

It’s been forever since I blogged! I have had so much I wanted to write about, but fear that my incredibly blunt presentation would ruin it:)

The weather is finally gorgeous and I have officially shut the heat off! Hurray! We have been trying to get the house ready to keep our wonderful friends from KY and MI this weekend. I am really looking forward to fellowshipping with the Hunts and Halls, as they are such delightful people with whom I have much in common. It is always nice to be able to be around others that share similar views on health, and children, and of course God:)

The children are doing a lightened load of academia for this week of just one lesson in their Saxon Math. We do schooling year-round, as the whole purpose of the summer break was devised during the time when so many children had to leave school to stay at home to help with the crops and harvest.  We will be taking time off here and there for times we are out of town or for “field trips”, but I do not ever want my children’s minds to be idle. There’s always reading time each day - from the classics and pre-1960’s literature (before children’s reading materials were “dumbed” down). Being an English major, I am prone to not want my children to feed their minds “fast-food fiction”; but rather, want them to enrich and challenge their minds to rise above the mediocrity of today’s youthful literature.

Anyways, I have quite a tendency for going off on tangents, huh? I have about 9 weeks to go before the birth of our sixth blessing! Hurray! The last trimester is always the hardest, isn’t it? I feel absolutely gigantic! I got that waddle thing going on in the evenings when my lower back starts telling me how annoyed it is that I have used it all day long. Oh well, I still think it is all worth it. 9 months of some personal suffering for a lifetime of joy is hardly worth comparing. And the healthier one is before they get pregnant and during pregnancy, the less problems there are anyways. I am very thankful that I have not had any complications or problems (besides the varicose veins - ew!) with any of my pregnancies. God has been good, allowing me to find and learn, study and research in the area of health and wellness. It also helps when you’re mom is a CNHP:) We are getting a birthing “hot” tub for this birth. I am super geeked about this. I have read so many helpful and good things about water birth and am looking forward to adding this to my experiences.  I thought home birth was the best ever, but home birth with a hot tub might just be the absolute tops:) Of course, I will have to chronicle the experience. Maybe I will even have newborn pictures! hehe… We always have the camera out and ready when we do and go places, but forget to use it. So, we’ll see.

Alright, enough of the ramblings! I am praying that God will meet with us this weekend and bless the efforts of all involved; that those traveling will be covered and the fellowship will be uplifting and insightful. The meeting review will be up shortly after this weekend, I hope:) God be with us all.

A couple of weeks back we were able to see the movie, Expelled, in the theatres. If they had a large turn-out they would continue to run the filml; so I made it a date with Aaron to help ensure they would continue the film. The theatre was packed!!! We had to sit like way up close. But it was definitely worth it. The film was incredibly well done. Ben Stein’s digging and researching was so adequately well displayed and explained that it was hard to walk away from the film unchanged by the blatant truth he had uncovered in our school systems, as well as the scientific professions. The people who are totally against creationism were interviewed with incredibly frankness. They had even said themselves that they were being very upfront and forward and are not always so. I read some review that said they thought they were being interviewed for a totally different film. Of course, if they had known for what purpose they were really being interviewed, they probably wouldn’t have been so honest. At any rate, I am glad that someone is getting the truth out there about our loss of freedoms in the country and its connection to atheism and evolution.

At any rate, Voddi Baucham wrote a wonderful review. CHECK IT OUT HERE.

So, let’s see..how much did I actually get done this weekend? Well, most the list, except the healthy living classes… didn’t get my outline done for that. Oh well, I just have to set a date for the class, then that will make me get myself into gear:) Always work better with a deadline.

I learned a lot on Saturday night, though. Friday night the girls were over and we stayed up way too late, so I was mostly tired come Sat night. This night, though, it was just me and the boys (and Hannah). I have been scared to stay at home for as long as I can remember. I grew up in a large family. I went to college and had roommates and house mates; when I got saved I was living with some other saints; but when I divorced, I lived on my own for almost a year, before I got a roomie (Aleeta, miss that girl). I hated it. I was always trying to overcome my fears of being in a house, so unprotected, in the midst of much bigger and armed than myself. I would sleep with my Bible; praying, reading, until I passed out from exhaustion. I would overcome fear for a little while, but then it would come back again and I would have to go through it all over again. Fear is torture, to say the least.

So, I was doing good Saturday night, turning out the lights, keeping myself talking positive. I went upstairs to go to bed, had my prego tea, my Italian “cake”, and my “Created to be His Helpmeet” ready for a relaxing evening before drifting off to peaceful sleep. Well, that was the plan, until I heard the sound of a glass falling over onto the counter. I had so many dishes out from the girls being over, and most of them were still drying on towels on the counter. This noise totally freaked me out and of course, my mind started thinking the worst. Someone’s in the house, they are going to kill me, and my unborn baby… who will take care of my children… and on and on. I was paralyzed for a good while at the top of the stairs, wondering if I should go and investigate. I chose not to follow along with the classic horror movie plot, and opted to finishing up my night time clean up and getting in bed (all the while keeping my eye on the staircase area). As I sat up in bed, with all the lights on, I read my book, trying to get my mind off of my fear. The chapter just had to be on how this wife’s life was able to turn around an abusive, drunk to a decent person. Instead of being uplifted, I was now combatting my past and fears of the uncertain future of my children, along with the fear of someone in the house.

I decided that I have gone around this “mountain” too long and it was time for me to get to the root of my fear and dig it up. I began to think of scriptures and logically go through the process of what fears I had. I was afraid that someone might kill me and harm my children. I thought of the old lady who faced a mugger calmly who held a gun to her, demanding money, and how she smiled at him and said, I am ready to meet my Savior, but are you ready to face your eternal damnation? What courage! Death was not something to fear; God has appointed the number of my days, I thought to myself. He said He would put a hedge about those who fear Him and angles encamped about those who trust in Him. I was protected and covered and so were my children. My fear then became what it really was - a lack of trust in God’s almighty providence and character. God knows just where I am and what I can go through; I have to trust that if anything ever were to happen, given I am not bringing it upon myself, it is planned of God and will work for my good. That anything that would happen to my children would be for their good, since they are still under the covering of the parents. I told myself that I could not let an evil heart of unbelief steal my peace. God was full in control and I had nothing to fear. I called Aaron. I knew he would make me feel better. He spoke comforting words, timely scriptures that soothed some fears. As I got off the phone with him, and prayed and meditated some more, I really felt a peace in my heart and was looking again out of eyes of fear for the Lord instead of fear of my surroundings.

Well, I hope that I have finally gotten the victory over this once and for all. I know that fear will try to come back and bother me again, but I hope that this time I will be ready, girded up with truth that God loves me and nothing can harm me without His divine permission. That whatever situation that comes against me I can overcome, because He placed it there to help me.

Oh, and the glass had fallen over because I had placed it on the edge of the towel it was drying on, and the vibrating from the dishwasher underneath caused it to tip over. Nice, huh? I saw it in the morning and laughed at myself.

Well, Aaron and Caiah left today, before the crack of dawn, to go on a Father Daughter Retreat. I am really happy that they will be able to enjoy this time together, especially in the beautiful surroundings of the Gardens in Georgia that they will be at (should already be at). I am also sad that they are gone for a whole weekend! Micaiah called and wrote me like 3 texts/emails already (on her father’s phone, no I am NOT getting her a cell) saying how much she missed everyone but that she had fun on the plane. It was the first time she has ever flown, well, first time any of our children have been on a plane. When you have 5 + kids, airlines are not the most economical way to travel;)

Anyways, I envy the weather they’re having down there. They text me that it’s so hot and they didn’t pack sandels or lighter shirts, so they’re going shopping. It’s raining and on the verge of snow here. Funny, how weather can be so different…

I ventured out to the store with my kids, plus a little toddler I am watching this week (so that was 3 children 3 and under, and 2 boys only a year apart in age - and if anyone knows what it is like to shop with young gentlemen, well, need I say more…). I was almost wondering how it would go.

To my delight, everything was great:) Really not all that long ago, I used to dread taking my little ones out to the store, but the training at home has definitely paid off. If I expect and train my children to obey me the first time, not to whine, and not to ask for something more than one time, then why would they do any differently at the store? If they “have a melt-down” at the store, it only shows me where I have not been diligent in their training.

I am learning that consistency is everything; that taking the time out to stop whatever I am doing and direct a training session every time they start one, instead of just spouting off instructions that I am not going to follow up on; that my words have to carry weight when I speak, or they won’t listen; that I cannot expect more of my children than I do of myself (like if I tell them not to have a bad attitude, or to be grouchy/emotional then I can’t be going around not controlling my emotions); and many other tid bits here and there.  Life is just one educational moment after another with children:)

Anyways, I hope I survive being without those two for the weekend;) I am hoping to have a girls’ night study with some of the younger ladies in our church today, so that will keep me busy. We have been reading “Beautiful Girlhood” and “Raising Maidens of Virtue“; both are incredible resources with godly values and principles for young women. Hopefully I will also keep myself busy and finish my books and prepare for a series of health classes that I will be hosting here:) (I am really excited about that one… sharing healthy living with others is definitely a passion of mine…) And I am DEFINITELY going to get myself into gear and do some Bible studying:) So, that’s my plan for the weekend to keep my mind occupied…we’ll see how it goes. Anyways, enough random tidbits for now…

I finally ordered some stuff from NGJ ministries. I really have enjoyed their newsletters and thought I should check out their parenting books.

 Well, after reading “To Train Up a Child” by the Pearls, I have to say that that book (out of all the gazillion of parenting books I have read) was the BEST one ever.  I feel like I am learning everything from scratch as a parent, because though I love my parents, I am a first generation born again Christian, such a one who has vowed to live as Biblically as possibly, following Christ in every area of my life (not a perfect overcomer by far, but I am definitely resolved in my beliefs.)

At any rate, that book is “revolutionary” (more like old-fashioned values and parenting models of our founding leaders that have been lost along the way) and is totally changing the way I parent. I am (by the grace of God) trying not to get angry when my children do “childish” and “spoiled bratty” things, because I know that everything they are is a direct result of my conditioning and training of them. I can hold no one else responsible for their behavior other than myself. If I do not like something they are “weak” in, then it is an opportunity for me to re-train them correctly where I have not been diligent.

Since reading that book, I have been trying to use each opportunity as a training session. If you do your training correctly, there will be little to no need to discipline later anyways. I have found that if there’s disciplining that has to be done, it’s because of a lack of training or diligent consistency in that area.

I have gleaned so much from that book. I find it hard to ever agree with everything I read in a book, there’s always something there seems that I don’t quite agree with. But with this book I have not come across anything I do not support or now agree with completely. I love their stuff so much, I am also reading “Created to be His HelpMeet” and the 4 volumes that go along with “To Train Up a Child“. It’s probably the best investment I have ever made in a parenting/marriage education.

Anyways, just thought I would share:)