Nathan's Whippin of Mass Instructions

Can you find all the word misunderstandings in this dialog that occurred today? :)

Nathan: Daddy, do you like this gun I made out of Tinker Toys?

Dad: Yes, Nate! You should go into the army and build weapons!

Later…

Nathan: Mom, I built a whippin. A Big, Giant Whippin. Watch it whip. (A lot of long flexible pieces put together in the shape of a whip…)

Mom: Wow, Nathan, that’s long.

Nathan: Do you think I was busy making this Whippin?

Mom: Why yes, you were.

Nathan: Daddy told me to make a Whippin.

Daddy: A Weapon of Mass Destruction.

Nathan: No, I made this with no instructions… There are no instructions with Tinker Toys.

Thanks, CVS!

CVS paid me 60 cents to take this stuff home.

Thanks, CVS! Glad I could help you lower your inventory! :)




PS - this is Halloween Candy. I do not normally collect candy like this. :)

I Will Rise

Enough Said.

Everyone Should Home School

Everyone should home school. Pretty bold and opinionated, I know. I firmly believe that good, diligent parents who teach their children at home will have better educated and more well-rounded children.

This idea grew when school started this fall and I began asking the question to friends and neighbors, “What do you do after school?” I’ve heard from many about the hours of home work taking place. Twenty-six spelling words practiced three times each evening. History readings and questions to answer. Math worksheets that dad is required to help with. Reading assignments in various books. Then add violin practice, after school snacks, football practice, dinner, fifteen minutes outside, baths, and science projects that the parents do most of the work on, and the four precious hours after school are gone. And this is just with elementary aged students!

After talking in the yard with neighbors a few nights ago about the heavy home work load, I candidly announced that they were home schooling and not evening knowing it!

My school day consists of a Bible story, spelling words, read alouds, a math assignment, grammar work book pages, hand writing pages, an occasional art project, a history text, and either a science text or experiment. We are finished well before lunch. An hour of rest time each afternoon allows for independent reading. During the week the kids are in a study group while I attend a woman’s Bible Study, they take gymnastics during the day, and we have weekly field trips.

My morning doesn’t look very different from public school evenings.

So when I hear people say, “I could never Home School,” I have to think that yes, they could. That doesn’t mean they should or would ever want to, but in reality, if they’re helping in the evening, they probably already are.

Cucumber Tomato Salad

I love our garden! I was looking for a recipe to use my cucumbers and tomatoes, and I ran across a great recipe that I tweaked a bit. Here's the final, yummy result! (I double it)

Cucumber Tomato Salad

INGREDIENTS
• 4 or more medium fresh tomatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1 large cucumber, sliced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• salt to taste
• ½ tsp Dill
• 1 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large bowl, toss together all of the ingredients. Chill.

Living in light of forever...

My thoughts tonight...

God made our universe in 6 days. He’s been preparing Heaven for 2000 years. Can anyone even begin to imagine what that will be like?

A father builds a paper airplane with his son. His son laughs and watches it soar. Then his dad takes him on a rocket ship to the moon. Any comparison?

And that isn’t even close!

In light of this, how am I to live?

- Does it matter if my laundry doesn’t all get finished on “laundry day?”
- Is it THAT big of deal when my daughter can’t find her shoes… again?
- Should I get so upset when I’m running 10 minutes late looking for ballet slippers?
- Is it really that important whether clothes make it in the laundry basket each and every time?
- Should I gripe and complain when life doesn’t go the way I’ve imagined?
- Do they really need to finish their potatoes?
- Is it that big of a deal that she doesn’t like me?
- Can I say no to things and not feel like I’m letting go of major areas of my short life?
- Am I willing to go where God wants me and not hold so tightly to my plans?
- Do I trust Him to provide for my Eternity but not the daily necessities of life?

On and on I could go. For further meditation…

Psalm 43:5 “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

Psalm 71:5 “For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.”

Revelation 21
1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this own, for these words are trustworthy and true."

6 He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son…

22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Rev 22:1-5 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

Matthew 6:20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

John 14:2-3 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Self Control

This week I’m teaching my kids about Self Control, using I Peter 5:8. “Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

Whenever I’m teaching them a new character trait, the Lord sees fit to test me as well. How did He do it this morning?

As I was leaving for Bible Study, I strapped Kevin into his infant seat, only to notice that it smelled… the cat had peed in it beyond repair. What to do?? I used an old towel inside w/ holes cut out to fix the situation short-term. “Be Self Controlled, Becky,” I reminded myself. Thankfully, this verse kept the cat alive to tell about it.

My tests today also came in the form of Nathan stepping into a stinky old pond, covering himself in mud from his knees down. From me stepping in gum on the way to the grocery store. (Flip flops are hard to maneuver in when they’re constantly being stuck to the ground.) A dishwasher that for some reason overflowed and poured water on half of my kitchen floor, requiring 4 beach towels to clean it up. Baby spit up all over me while he’s in the sling as I’m getting the kids ready for bed.

I’m just thinking I’d better head to bed before I get tested anymore!