Love Is Not Rude

The Lord has been challenging me as I am trying to complete "Love Dare". Here are a few things that really hit home this week.

"Rudeness is unnecessarily saying or doing things that are unpleasant for another person to be around. To be rude is to act unbecoming, embarrassing, or irritating. In marriage, this could be a foul mouth, poor table manners, or a habit of making sarcastic quips. However you look at it, no one enjoys being around a rude person. Rude behavior may seem insignificant to the person doing it, but it's unpleasant to those on the receiving end...

The bottom line is that genuine love mind its manners...

Embracing this one concept could add some fresh air to your marriage. Good manners express to your husband, "I value you enough to exercise some self-control around you. I want to be a person who is a pleasure to be with." When you allow love to change your behavior-even in the smallest of ways-you restore an atmosphere of honor to your relationship...

We are queens of double standards! We may be barking or pouting around the house, but if the front door chimes, we open it all smiling and kind. Yet if we dare to love, we'll also want to give our best to our own husbands and children. If we don't let love motivate us to make needed changes in our behavior,the quality of our marriage relationships will suffer for it...

There are two main reasons why people are rude: ignorance and selfishness...

Today will you be thoughtful and loving enough to discover and avoid the behavior that causes life to be unpleasant for your mate? Will you dare to be delightful?"

Here is a golden rule...

Be as considerate to your spouse as you are to strangers.

In my journal I wrote that I needed to make sure I am not rude by interrupting my husband. It doesn't matter if he interrupts me or not. I can only change my behavior. I am going to work on giving him the courtesy of listening to the entirety of what he has to say before I jump in with my two cents. I will love him by listening!

How about you? Can you honestly evaluate your behavior and see if there is any rudeness that needs to be rooted out? Would you be vulnerable enough to share it with us? I want to be a blog that encourages realness.

Lily at Seven Months

We are all captivated by Lily's toothless grin!

Here is a picture of Big Daddeo with most of his kids. Josh was riding horse with Papa Russ.

Jessica snuck Lily and the camera into the boy's room and tucked Lily into Jacob's toddler bed.

Lily still doesn't have any teeth so she is mostly nursed, but she likes to sit at the table with us and eat. She loves Cheerios and most breads. She has perfected the "pinch".

I have to confess, I actually like getting up at night with her. Time is slipping away from me. She is growing so fast and knowing that she is probably my last is just killing me. I am determined to enjoy every minute with her. At night, I just snuggle with her as she nurses and stroke her soft hair and play with her tiny feet. I am ashamed to admit that I don't even remember nursing my first four children. I didn't treasure that time like I should have. I can't change the past, but I can change the future.

First Tae Kwon Do Belt Test

This last Sunday, was the first TKD belt test that my kids have ever had. They were testing for their orange belt. Here they are getting ready. Josh looks a little nervous!

Josh and another student, practice wrist escapes. Jessica is the youngest in the class. She did so good and she was just so stinkin' cute out there! The kids amazed me with their level of concentration. I don't think I've ever seen my children so quiet and disciplined for two and a half hours straight! Now I know it's possible. They all passed! I can't wait till they get presented with their yellow belts. They worked 10 months for it!

Both sets of my parents were able to be there. Dad and Diana were such great help with the little ones. Here Dad is holding Lily Pie. They were so kind to watch the little ones so that my mom and stepdad could be in the studio watching, and I could video their tests.

I found Jessica's old bonnet and not a day too soon. Lily has outgrown it. I put it in her baby box today. Sniff, sniff...Oh, she is just growing up so fast. She is still trying to get those bottom teeth in.

Homeschooled today, it went really fast! All three of the older ones were really focused. We had a lot of fun learning about animals and weather today. I had my Bible study and then took them to their Salvation Army youth activities. It was a good day. Lots accomplished. Now for a good night's sleep!

30 Day Challenge Over! Give-Away Begins!

I just checked my calender and realized that yesterday was the last official day of the 30 Day Challenge. Oops! I have been praying for all of us and hoping that this has helped build good habits of speaking sweetly about our husbands to them and about them. Many of you have shared your failures and your victories and I know we have all been blessed knowing that we are not alone in our struggles. Marriage is hard; it is just plain work some days.

Now the fun part has come! This is my first give-away and I'm really excited! I found these two books online. I own them both, "Sacred Marriage" and "Devotions for a Sacred Marriage" both by Gary Thomas. Gary Thomas is my all time favorite author on the subject of marriage (and I have read a lot). I thought it would be perfect for our subject. Both winners will get one book.

And the WINNERS ARE....


Hip Chick

and

Mrs. Lukie (aren't you glad you delurked?)

Please email me at sbfirefighter@qnect.net so I can get your mailing info. I will try to contact you on your blog as well.

Congratulations!

Thanks everyone for doing this again. Now is the time to give me your thoughts on the Challenge. Tell me if and how it has affected your marriage and if you are glad that you did it. Love you all, Sisters! You are awesome!

Too Small A Price

Sharing My Heart

"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."- Matthew 12:34

My heart has been nasty today. It has been irritable, which has resulted in a cranky attitude towards my children. My heart has been selfish today. My life was "squeezed" today. I was like a lemon and poured out a sour response. I want to be more like a peach, when the pressure is on, I will remain sweet.

When I am stressed and my energy is drained I don't do well. I'm on edge, and patience virtually doesn't exist.

Lord, help me with this! I want to be led by Your Spirit in everything, yet, "I do what I knwo I shouldn't do", just like Paul says.

I want love to enter my heart! Yes, that is it! I cry to God for LOOOOVE! I want to be able to love the way He loves me. I want to love those that hurt me, wrongfully use me, irritate me, perhaps even hate me. I want God's LOVE to pour out of me! Would there be room for selfishness then? Would I respond to my husband and children with patience and encouragement rather than anger and exasperation?

Oh, let it be, Dear Lord, let it be!

I will choose to serve God by loving those around me. Yes, it is a choice. But even when it's a choice, I can't do that on my own. I have to have God's Spirit leading me and guiding me, perhaps even providing comfort when I've been hurt and nothing in me wants to love, but instead to lash out.

Instead of meditating on the negative, I want to think about the positive. I want to think about all of the things that I appreciate about my family. I will become a more grateful person and perhaps a more loving person.

As the book "Love Dare" puts it, "You must develop the habit of reigning in your negative thoughts and focusing on the positive attributes of your mate. This is a crucial step as you learn to lead your heart to truly love your spouse. It is a decision that you make, whether they deserve it or not." Hmmm, read that line again, "Whether they deserve it or not." That tells me that it's for me, not them.

I'm the one who misses the blessing and the joy when it comes right down to it. I'm in control of my thoughts. I can assume things till the cows come home, but do I really know what people meant when they said, "such and such"?

I hope this post makes sense. God is working on me and I just felt like sharing a bit of that journey with you. Life can be confusing, but God gives me so much hope for the future. I am a work in progress and I thank God that He isn't done with me yet.

Hopefully, someone can relate...

Our Thankful Tree!

I got this idea from the blog View In The Hidden Valley. I just loved it! The kids and I hung pictures of who and what they were thankful for on the twigs of a tree from our yard.

I just thought it was the coolest!

We even added some leaves to it.

We took the kids to the Discovery Center again the other day. Steve went in with them and let me take a walk around the grounds. It felt so good to get out and pray, pray and pray. When I met up with them inside, they were enthralled with a Birds of Prey Presentation. Steve was just riveted! We learned all about falcons and owls. Some of the littler kids were getting restless, so I took them into the kid's zone and they played. We actually had time to do a craft (totally up Jessica's alley). She made two headbands and was very proud of the results.

Today has been so nice. I haven't had to go anywhere and the kids have been pretty good. Homeschooling went well and wasn't too stressful. Steve took all the kids out and about so that I could have some quiet time. I was able to finish my Bible study, write my monthly devotion and have some serious prayer time. It felt so great! I was convicted about some things in my life and have surrendered them to the Lord. It's always good to know you are in His Will.

A Serious Case of Red "Bed Hair"

As you know, my sister came over this last weekend. My two year old niece came with her. Hailey has the prettiest red hair, but when she woke up in the morning I saw the most amazing case of "bed hair" ever! I just had to snap a picture of it!

Haily and Lily really took a shine to each other! Hailey is fascinated with babies. Lily kept grabbing Hailey's red hair.

I can't believe how much she looks like Josiah in this picture. Mom took Josh, Marcus, Jessica and Josiah for the weekend, so we just had the four little ones.

We got to really focus on Andrew a lot. He is such a character. He was watching his dad cook up some oysters and he kept calling them "moistures". He was also talking about Mt. St. Helens "interrupting". I just love it when they do that, don't you?

Stacie's Maple-Glazed Pork Roast

My twin, Jackie came down for the weekend. We had an awesome time! She requested my Maple-Glazed Pork Roast. I hadn't made it in awhile, so I had kind of forgotten about it. Here is the recipe...

1 pork roast (any kind will do)
2 tsp of crushed garlic
salt and pepper

Place in crock pot. Cook on low for 6 hours (or until tender)

Take out of crock pot, place in a roasting pan or glass pan. Mix together:

1/4 maple syrup (the real stuff)
1/4 cup sucanat or brown sugar
1 TB of cornstarch or tapioca flour
2 TBS of honey mustard, or Dijon mustard

Pour over pork roast and bake for another 35 minutes or so until glaze is thick and bubbly. The fat on top will look a little crisp. It's the best pork roast ever! I think Jackie and I ate half of it that night! Yikes!!!

I served baby peas and herbed-roasted new potatoes. We used Coconut oil and it gave it an amazing flavor!

After dinner, my sister spoiled me and deep-cleaned my kitchen with the natural cleaner concentrate that she made me! She is always after me to be a healthier housekeeper. The recipe for the concentrate is most of a gallon of white distilled vinegar, 10 drops of tea tree oil and 10 drops of citrus oil. I was very skeptical as to how it would work. It was amazing! Isn't she the best? That's my sis! She also helped me make 2 gallons of raspberry jam (no-cook, raw). Talk about the healthiest jam in the world for your kids! The last thing she showed me was how to make maple syrup out of my sucanat. It tastes just like the the real thing. I think she might have the recipe on her blog http://www.homesteadwannabes.blogspot.com/

Love is Patient: When Loving Your Spouse Gets Tough

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." -Ephesians 4:2 NIV

I'm reading a really good book called, "The Love Dare". I thought it might go well with the 30 Day Challenge. God is really opening my eyes on what He wants love to look like in my marriage. Here is what "The Love Dare" says about it...

"Love is built on two pillars that best define what it is. Those pillars are patience and kindness. All other characteristics of love are extensions of these two attributes.

When you choose to be patient, you respond in a positive way to a negative situation. You are slow to anger. You choose to have a long fuse instead of a quick temper (Ouch!). Patience brings an internal calm during an external storm.

No one likes to be around an impatient person. It causes you to overreact in angry, foolish, and regrettable ways. The irony of anger towards a wrongful action is that it spawns new wrongs of its own. Anger almost never makes things better. In fact, it usually generates additional problems. But patience stops problems in their tracks. More than biting your lip, more than clapping a hand over your mouth, patience is a deep breath. It clears the air. It stops foolishness from whipping it's scorpion tail all over the room. It is a choice to control your emotions rather than allowing your emotions to control you, and shows discretion instead of returning evil for evil.

If your spouse offends you, do you quickly retaliate, or do you stay under control? Do you find that anger is your emotional default when treated unfairly? If so, you are spreading poison rather than medicine.

Anger is usually caused when the strong desire for something is mixed with disappointment or grief. You don't get what you want and you start heating up inside. It is often an emotional reaction that flows out of our own selfishness, foolishness, or evil motives.

Patience, however, makes us wise. It doesn't rush to judgement but listens to what the other person is saying. Patience stands in the doorway where anger is clawing to burst in , but waits to see the whole picture before passing judgement. The Bible says, "He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is quick-tempered exalts folly" (Proverbs 14:29).

As sure as a lack of patience will turn your home into a war zone, the practice of patience will foster peace and quiet. (Who doesn't need that?)

Patience helps you give your spouse permission to be human. It understands that everyone fails. When a mistake is made, it chooses to give them more time than they deserve to correct it.

But can your spouse count on having a patience wife to deal with?

Few of us do patience very well, and none of us do it naturally. But wise women will pursue it as an essential ingredient to their marriage relationships!"

Can you imagine the kind of marriages we would have if we all practiced this a little more? Keep on going ladies, we are almost halfway there!

Do you have a testimony on practicing patience? Please share with us!

Remember, to keep praying for each other!

Dress Up Your Prince and Princess

The favorite booth at the Harvest Party was the "dress up your prince or princess". Andrew just loved this costume! The helmet probably weighed 20 lbs, though.

Jacob found the "armor of God" and loved it! I think this is what I'm going to give Jacob and Andrew for Christmas. We had them for the older boys, but they eventually broke. It was a great way to get them familiar with Scripture.

Andrew gave up on the heavy helmet, and opted for the "Helmet of Salvation". Yes, that is a real gladius!

Jessica got to pick out a pretty princess dress. What was funny, is that I recognized this dress pattern. My Aunt Lillian made my twin sis and I these dresses for our freshman Winter Dance in High School. Talk about a blast from the past! I thought this booth was very creative! My kids like any excuse to dress up!

Donut Eating Contest!

This has got to be one of the hardest games ever invented! Try eating a donut on a string without hands. Actually, try telling that to a four-year old. Andrew just couldn't seem to help touching it! they were so cute. They had powdered sugar in their hair, ears, and nose!

And Andrew won! Because he used his hands, Jess was a good sport about it. At the end, Jacob ran over and picked up the fallen pieces of donut and ate them. Yuck!

Harvest Party

I took the kids to the Harvest Party at Life and Christ. Andrew and Jessica love to get their faces painted!

I just can't seem to get a natural smile out of this kid.

The neighbor gave the kids the "Scully" costume from Monster's Inc. He also gave them the DVD, which they love to watch.

Andrew wanted to be a bullrider for Halloween. I thought he looked so cute with little leather vest that Jackie gave the boys.

My New Disciplining Method

I love the book "Good and Angry" and have implemented a ton of ideas from it. The "break system" has been amazing, but sometimes doesn't seem like enough of a consequence. I was reading another really good book called, "Raising a Large Family While Staying Sane". I think this might work good for our family. You see, I have a hard time thinking of consequences on the spot. When you have five children that you are constantly disciplining you can sort of lose track of things! I wrote up a chart of different colored levels. I explained to the children if they disobey and break any of the 21 Rules of The House, then they will lose privileges. So now if a child is sassy, I tell them they have a Code Yellow. That means they have lose their snacks for the day (hey this saves money, too!). If they do something else, like hit their brother or take a toy away, they go to Code Orange. Hmmmm, no snacks and no electronics (TV, computer, radio, books on tape). That one hurt a bit! You see how it is going. Green is an Afternoon Rest Time (my older boys would be offended if I said they needed a nap), Blue is 7:00 bedtime and the worse is Red, go to bed right after dinner. Yikes! A fate worse than death! I keep track of where everyone is on my dry erase board in the homeschool room. So far, only Josh has gotten to Code Orange. The next day, he was a different child. So, as always we'll so how long this works. I think if I am consistent with this and not afraid to dole out the consequence it is going to work. What is hard is when I know that we have company or that we need to go somewhere. I'll have to tweak it sometimes, I'm sure.

You can go on my sister Jackie's blog, www.homesteadwannabes.blogspot.com to see how she made it work for a smaller family. She also explained a little bit more about why we are doing this. Good stuff!

Oh, what do you think of our little Pumpkin Lily? we got the idea from Jackie.

Here is the 21 Rules of the House. It gives them something to look at during meals, and has actually helped my oldest to read better. The pictures help the little ones know what they are.

I tried to get a picture of the Rules all together.

This is a great alternative to carving all those pumpkins, I just didn't have it in me this year. Maybe next year. Jessica was the only one that seemed disappointed. I can't wait till they can start carving their own!

Aftermath of Carameled Apples!

We requested Carameled Apples for dessert. Rachel and I have a little system set up for when we go to each other's houses. Whoever's house it is gets to cook the meal, and the guest gets to bring the dessert. It works great! As you can see the apples were a hit!

Marcus usually has something left on his face, but this was especially bad!

Elijah, not quite as bad as Marcus.

And I think Josh takes the "cake" here! We had a good time all around!

When Large Familes Get Together!

When two large families get together, we have double the fun! I just love this picture of the men talking with the babies in between them.

Here are all of the kids. I think I managed to get them all! There are 11 of them, now!

I slow-cooked a pork roast. I love fresh herbs! I use rosemary, thyme, parsely, seasoning salt, lots of crushed garlic, and some pepper. I also made an apple chutney for the grown ups. I kept it simple and made oven roasted potatoes and sweet white corn for sides.

Mary and Lily just dug each other! I think they are going to be good friends! You wouldn't believe it, but Mary is one month younger than Lily!

The Pressure Is Off!

The Pressure is Off

Dear Mothers,

So many times I look at my children and wonder if they are going to truly love the Lord with all their hearts. I question if I am doing enough as a mother to instill godly values into their hearts. Am I wasting my time? Knowing that even after I have put so much energy into teaching them the ways of obedience and they can still choose to reject God and His ways, is terrifying to me.

This can not be! I read a quote by J.C. Ryle that says, “ The path of obedience is the way to blessing. We have only to do as the servants were commanded at the marriage feast in Cana, to fill the water-pots with water, and we may safely leave it to the Lord to turn that water into wine.”

My job is to fill the water-pots! It’s God’s job to turn the water into wine. How freeing! How wonderful! I don’t have to worry! What could bring more joy to this mother’s heart?

We do get tired from time to time. We get bone-weary and discouraged when we pour our lives into our children and there seems to be a fruitless season. Despite this, God wants me to continually teach my children who are struggling with bad attitudes, temper tantrums, selfish behavior, to be lovers of God and not themselves. How do I do this day in and day out and maintain a joyful-servant heart? By knowing that I am just one tool in God’s toolbox! It’s not up to me to change my children, that is God’s job. My job is to prayerfully seek God’s Will in the life of each of my children, teach them the ways of the Lord and watch to see what GOD is doing in their life.

Praise God, the pressure is off of me! It has always been up to Him.

Keep being diligent mothers! Teach your children the ways of the Lord, when you walk, sit, eat and drive in the car together. Take every opportunity and do not consider it wasted! God is working…You are off the hook!

From One Mother To Another,

Catching Up

I have been trying very hard the past few months to take my children more places and do more things. Last year, due to pregnancy, I was very limited. We stayed home a LOT! Above, is a picture of Andrew. We went to an Operation Christmas Child party and wrapped shoe boxes. It was a little stressful when I realized that not one of my four older children were able to do this on their own. I think I had that deer in the headlight look and didn't even know where to start. Some kind people volunteered their teenagers and assigned them to help some of my children. It was great! After wrapping the shoe boxes we sat down and watched the new Veggie Tale's movie, which was all about sharing and giving our Christmas away. Andrew won a door prize, "a Very Veggie Christmas". We were so thrilled for him! But when I realized that it was the a CD that we already had, he didn't miss a beat and said, "Mom, I could give this to Kenya!" He went over and put it in the Kenya pile! I couldn't believe it! We praised him up and down and told him that he had just given part of his Christmas away and how he was going to be blessed. This picture was taken after he decided to give the CD to Kenya.

I came in the door from getting my hair cut and my two older boys freaked and said, "You have brown hair again! We missed it!" It feels good to have shorter, brown hair again. It was fun being blonde, but I'm not going to spend $60 every 6 months or so to get it maintained. Now, Lily can't pull my hair quite as hard!

Steve took this shot of Lily. She didn't just start crawling last week, she is now pulling herself up on furniture. Sniff, sniff! She wants to grow up so fast, and I'm not in any hurry for that to happen. I am cherishing every moment with her, since she is probably my last baby.

LastWednesday night, my friend, Margaret, invited us to go see a Christian illusionist at her church. I had no idea what I was walking into. Apparently, it was geared toward middle school aged kids. I took my 11, 9, 6, and 4 year old. I decided that I am officially an old lady. The music was blaring, I couldn't understand any of the words, and I would look around and every other kid was texting, or had some kind of music device in their ear. It is such a different world since I have been in school. My kids and I felt like foreigners. Not a bad thing. Many of the kids were very rude and it didn't feel like there was much control. The illusionist was a great trooper and even though it was very distracting, several people made decisions for Christ. On the way home, I had a chance to answer questions and the two older boys both told me they are glad that our family is different. They had been complaining lately, that they didn't like how we are different (we make them work and have rules), now they are thanking me for it! Yeah!

Josh had raised his hand at the show and rededicated his life to the Lord. At bedtime, Marcus asked if he could do it, too. I was glad I went after all!

I had Bible study in my home two days ago, when in the middle of the our Beth Moore video, I hear "Mom, come quick, Josh had a stick sticking into his bone!" Oh, great! We run out there and Josh is hysterical. There was a stick about the diameter of about a pea sticking out of his leg. I couldn't tell how far it was in, so I was about to call Steve (was he there? Nooooo) and ask him if I should try to pull it out or take him to the ER. Margaret looked at me calmly and said, "Aren't you going to just pull it out?" She reached down, covered Josh's eyes and pulled. It took three really good pulls to get it out. Man, it must have hurt! It gave me the heebie jeebies! He's OK, but now it is infected. We are putting lots of peroxide and Neosporin on it. He has his last game of soccer today. He doesn't want to miss it, but I really hope he doesn't get kicked in the shin!

Yesterday was an awesome day! I quickly homeschooled, and then went to tea with my friend, Rachel. We had a great time and chatted for, oh, 2 hours! We had to run home and nurse our babies afterwards! It was just so good to catch up and encourage each other in the Lord.

We also had their whole clan come for dinner. We had slow-cooked herbed pork roast and carameled apples for dessert. The kids had so much fun together, and the adults, too! They are a terrific family and our kids get along really well! I'll post pictures later!

So today is soccer, ACTS, and a Harvest Party! Whew! Now I'm supposed to cook, clean, and do laundry in there somewhere, right? LOL!

30 Day Challenge Check

Ladies, how are we doing? I thought I might do a little "spiritual" check up on us since we are about 1/3 of the way through. Time goes fast when you are having fun (or changing bad habits)!

It has been much easier since the first time I took this challenge. I must have established some good habits! Yeah! Anytime you are going the right direction is a time to rejoice! I have caught myself several times thinking negative thoughts and do a mental check of why I was about to express my frustration disrespectfully. There are other ways to get your point across. Using a pleasant tone of voice and nice words helps. Also, timing is everything and a calm facade. I say facade, because I could be screaming on the inside, but if I can get my request out in a respectful way, Steve hears me so much better. I'm sure most husbands are the same.

I want this group of 17 women, so far, to be able to be truthful about their struggles. You don't need to go into detail (that would be defeating the purpose of this Challenge). But we need to be real with each for accountability's sake. If God lays it on your heart to write a short testimony on how you are doing with the challenge so far, please leave it in the comment section! I'm sure we will all be blessed by your transparency and victories!

I'm going to leave you with a link to one of my devotions called "Fighting Clean". We will have conflict! How do you come out clean instead of dirty after a fight? Read more here:

http://afirefighterswife.blogspot.com/2008/12/fighting-clean-devotion.html

May God bless you as you endeavor on this amazing journey with me! I'm very excited about the Give-Away! I am actually going to have two winners! It's not to late to join. Just leave a comment stating you want me to pray for you.

Here is a list so far of the ladies who we are praying for: Kimberly, Grandma Becky, Tammy, Hip Chick, Catherine, Jackie, Deb, Alexis, Mrs. Lukie, Jenn, Ruth, Amber, J, Susan, Margaret, Jill, "I am a Gift", and I (Stacie).

Be sure to list these names up to the Lord when you find yourself struggling! We all will benefit from each other's prayers.

Love you all!

Mary Watches Daddy Preach!

Sorry, Rachel, but I had to steal this picture. It brought tears to my eyes! Little Mary sitting on the floor watching her daddy preach on Sunday. This is just precious! Rachel and Paul are ministers in The Salvation Army. We are more than blessed to have this family as our friends. Rachel and I have been pregnant together with our last three children. She has 3 girls and 2 boys, and I have 2 girls and 4 boys. I cannot tell you what an awesome mother of many she is!

I really think she needs to blow this up and frame it!

"My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother; for they will be graceful ornaments on your head, and chains about your neck."-Proverbs 1:8-9

Love you guys! Pray the kids don't get sick so that we can enjoy Friday evening together eating casserole and Rachel's famous caramel apples!

Can I Just Say Life Is Good?

Every now and then you take a deep breath, look around and realize that your life is, well, just really good. I've been doing a lot of self-examination lately, and I have been deeply thankful to the Lord for all the good things and amazing people that He has put in my life. First of all, my husband losing weight is huge! Because of the 30 Day Challenge, I am thinking more positively about my husband and displaying more acts of kindness, which in return reciprocates back to me. It is very fulfilling and I am feeling quite loved by my ol' hubs!

In regards to my role as a mother, I am seeing some fruit in my children's lives as they have had some difficult encounters lately with other children their age. We have lots of opportunities for discussion and I believe that godly fruit is being displayed in some cases (not all). I am being more purposeful in my parenting and praying more and letting go a little at a time when it comes to my older children who are chafing at the bit to be independent.

My little ones are so full of life, love and laughter! They crack me up with their mispronounced words and literalness (is that a word?). They bring Steve and I such joy. It is worth all the bickering and such that comes with lots of siblings.

Homeschooling is going well. I have been more consistent this year and I am seeing the fruit of it. Josh is reading better and Marcus is really starting to enjoy math. Jessica seems to enjoy math as well. I have been more relaxed as a teacher and less fretful that I am missing out on something or that there will be holes in their education. I am just one tool in God's tool box!

We have gone an lots of field trips this year. The above picture is our most recent one at the Discovery Center. It's a great way to go on a rainy day. We get a membership every year, which saves our family a ton of money. We are sitting on a giant carved sturgeon.

Lily has been such a joy to us all. Despite the lack of sleep and everything that comes with babies, Lily is just the cutest little thing and we love to watch her accomplish something new. I am truly enjoying every moment with her and love it when she cuddles with me, or buries her little nose in my shoulder to wipe her boogers! She is learning to crawl, now, and is on the move!

Financially, we have everything paid off but our mortgage. We have peace of mind that way. The burden of being in debt is gone. We have everything we need and then some! God has blessed us so that we can bless others.

We are all very healthy right now. What a blessing that is. Except for the occasional cold, or strep, we have been sick-free.

We are also thankful for all the wonderful friends and family that God has blessed us with (you know who you are!). It is wonderful to be loved and to love others that God has placed in our lives for different times and seasons.

We also have a loving church family. Our pastor is going through a battle with cancer and it has been very difficult for him. He knows time might be short and it helps me to look at life and maybe let go of some of things that might have otherwise stressed me out. Things that don't matter, that aren't truly important.

Again, can I just say that life is good right now?

A Twin Moment

I was at Jackie's house when Mom brought over some magazines. We both made a beeline to the Victorian magazine. We LOVE Victorian era anything! We sat down and started looking through it, dreaming. We saw this beautiful apron and gasped (at the same time). It was actually affordable! We looked at each other and said, "We could each get one and split the shipping". So we did it! We don't dress up the same much anymore, but it is fun to have something the same. Here is a picture of us in our aprons last weekend.

I just have to brag about my sweet sister, Jackie. She is the most amazing woman! Our spiritual journeys are very similar. We believed in Jesus around age six. Grew some, but kind of back slid when we were in high school and college. After I got married and became pregnant with Josh, the Lord got my attention and this is when I would say that I made my faith my own. Jackie, unfortunately was inundated with the thinking of college professors that were very liberal. She was very confused. As my faith grew and I started learning about revering and submitting to my husband, she could see the fruit in that. She bought a Life Application Bible and took OFF! I would get convicted of something, share with her and then she would get convicted. It seemed like I was always a step ahead for awhile. Things have changed now. She has grown so much in the Lord! She knows the Word, she digs the nuggets of wisdom as if they are great treasure. If I want godly advice on how to handle something, I know that I can go to her. If we don't know the answer, we start digging some more! She is my gift from God. She is my best friend, my other half.

We talk almost every day on the phone. She is my greatest cheerleader. She encourages and advises me with my children, husband, editing devotions and my blog.

She rides a HUGE Harley, she loves tea parties and pretty things, she loves the Lord and is a wonderful mommy to two fiery redheads! She is a military wife who endures LONG absences while her husband is away on drills, trainings and wars. She is into healthy eating so much that she makes EVERYTHING from scratch, including her own cheese. She is my sister, my twin and my best friend. You can visit her at her blog http://www.homesteadwannabes.blogspot.com/

We always say, "Everyone should have a twin". We know we are blessed and we don't take it for granted.

Sorry, Jack! Just had to brag about you! Love ya...

My Husband is Shrinking!

I am so proud of Steve. About 5 months ago he decided to lose weight. He has lost over 50 lbs so far! It is very exciting to watch him and cheer him on! Everyone asks how he is losing the weight. It is simple....He will tell you that he eats less and exercises! He does not consider that a diet, but a life-style change.

Even though he still has a ways to go, he is well on his way to being thin and healthy. I'm so happy for him! The kids and I are his greatest cheerleaders. He is so open and honest with them and others about his eating addiction. I pray that they see the courage that it takes to face an addiction head-on and ask God's help to be freed from it. He is being a wonderful role model to our children!

It is exciting to see 14 years of prayers being answered before my very eyes!

I will end this with a quote on marriage. I want to encourage the ladies who have taken the 30 Day Challenge to not speak negatively about or to their husbands.

"A successful marriage is not one in which two people, beautifully matched, find each other and get along happily ever after because of this initial matching. It is, instead, a system by means of which persons who are sinful and contentious are so caught by a dream bigger than themselves that they work throughout the years, in spite of repeated disappointment, to make the dream come true." -Elton Trueblood

I'm praying for you, Ladies! Remember, if you fail, repent and pick yourself back up again. You are becoming aware of bad habits!

The Lord bless you!

Jessica, Lily and Marcus Pics

I love it when Jess smiles naturally. She looks so much like Jackie and I, it is amazing!

I can just hear her goofy laugh!

Here is a sweet one with Big Sis holding Baby Lily, who just turned seven months today. Lily's dress used to be Jessica's Easter dress.

And here is my Marcus. Mr. Serious! He looks cute in that clean white shirt! Do you know how hard it is to keep four boys clean when they are in white shirts for an hour?

Mommy Pictures

Now as you well know, it is hard to get pictures of you when you are always behind the camera. I forced myself to have Marcus take some pictures of me.

Jacob wouldn't hold still, the little stinker. He's just so cute and wiggly!

I love Andrew's look in this picture. Believe it or not, I took this one!

Jessica took this picture of Lily. Tomorrow she will be 7 months!

I was dreading having our family photo taken today, so I decided to pray about my attitude this morning. I told God that I knew He was awful busy running the world, but I believed that he is a big enough God to help me in the smaller things. He answered my prayers and it was the most pleasant and fast photo session ever! Thank you, Lord!