Fresh Pecans

There are few things better than fresh pecans. I've always been a nut girl! :) Baking with them; munching on them--but when my cousin whipped these babies out one Thanksgiving, I was hooked for life. Joe C. Williams Pecans. Remember that name. Better yet, order some. They are soooo good! The difference is unbelievable, it's hard to even imagine. You think pecans are just pecans.

They're not. These pecans are sooo soft they practically melt in your mouth and the flavor is unbeatable! I'm way more a pecan-girl now, than before. Now when I see puny little dried out, no flavor pecans at the grocery, I just roll my eyes. If you get a hankering and try them, let me know what you think!

**[edited to add] Wow! That really sounds like a commercial, doesn't it. Eeek! Well...they are really good!

Winter Reading Challenge

Yeah! My first reading challenge! Reading in this house really isn't an issue, but I'm excited none the less. If you want to participate, be sure to go over to A Joyful Heart, and sign up.

First off, I'll list the Bible. I plan to continue with reading the whole Bible. I started a while ago, so I'll just continue. I hope to finish by the end of the year, but I'm not too concerned about racing with this one! I hope to at least get through Psalms and Revelation before spring.

I've never really been a plan-ahead reader, so I'm not sure how specific I can be beyond a few authors and series that I know I'll read, so I'll start here:

"King's Arrow", by Douglas Bond
"Rebel's Keep", by Douglas Bond
"Seventh Day", by Bodie and Brock Thoene (if I can get it from the library before March!)

"Song of Redemption", by Lynn Austin
"The Strength of His Hand", by Lynn Austin

"The Edge of Darkness", by Tim LaHaye & Bob Phillips
"Luke's Story", by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

"The Scarlet Thread", by Francine Rivers
"The Scribe", by Francine Rivers
"The Prophet", by Francine Rivers (reading now)

Can you tell I like reading about people in the Bible?! Duh!

Lamplighters I have and am ready to read aloud to the kids:
"Little Faith"
"A Peep Behind the Scenes"
"Winter's Folly"
"Legend Led"
"The Lamplighter"

We are always reading a Lamplighter! I'm committed to reading the whole catalog! Love them!

From here, I'd have to pick up the Truthquest History guide and see what we'll read aloud for history like...
"Away Goes Sally", by Elizabeth Coatsworth (reading now)
"Johnny Appleseed" (Sowers), by David Collins
"John James Audubon" (Landmark), by M & J Kieran

This is just barely the tip of the iceberg, if you're familiar with Truthquest. I've just listed a few highlights that I'm looking forward to! I'm sure we'll read more aloud.

My non-fiction choices, other than the one listed above, usually come from a momentary need to investigate something! I'm not sure that I can plan for that. I can tell you I'm interested enough in homeschooling, homekeeping, and gardening, that there will probably be some titles on these topics like...

"The All New Square Foot Gardening", by Mel Bartholemew (which will actually be a re-read, but needs to happen SOON so I can plan my garden!)

Disappointed!

When we went to bed last night, the local weather was forecasting we'd get 8-10" of snow overnight and 2-3 more today. We got nada--nothing--zip--zilch!

You'd think in this day and age, the meteorologists wouldn't get it so WRONG! There are a LOT of disappointed people this morning--several in this house! Husband was even going to work from home to take the kids sledding! I'm sure they were even planning to close the schools in this area.

We have only had one little 3-4" snow, and it was back in early December.

WE WANT SNOW!

If it has to be cold, we want snow! Without it, it's just yuck. What can I say. Disappointed. :)

Teaching Principles

My friend Renae over at Life Nurturing Education, wrote a great post about teaching Biblical Principles in mathematics (this is not your public school "math"!), and this really touched me:

"Using the stones from my soul, I draw my little ones close. Which stones are the most effective, the most powerful? I don’t know exactly, but I suspect it’s the brightest, smoothest, and heaviest. In my worn leather bag that stone is love: love for my children and love for the creation of God. It is the foundation stone. Everything else will build on that."

I really wanted to share it, because I want to remember it myself! I'm afraid I've gotten a bit too lax in the "teaching" aspect of math, having come to a point in our RightStart (which we love) where there is practice and mastery; not much new, and the ability for son to do it on his own.

Oh! the challenges! May they never cease.

Tough Questions

Right off the heels of daughter's sweet prayer, son's Bible lesson turned a corner. Suddenly Joshua and the destruction of Jericho, came with some tough questions.

"Why did God want women and children killed?"

"Why did God allow Adam and Even to sin?"

Don't you just love it when that happens!? Well, I do because I attribute those questions (and all the other tough questions) to the reason so many turn away from the Lord. Without the ability to reason Biblically; to understand who God really is, people in churches all over the world can't always get their questions answered and they turn away from the church and God completely, the minute "the world" throws those questions in their face!

If we are unable, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to give and show answers to even the toughest questions, the foundation of all that we teach about a relationship with Him, falters. Suddenly, the ground may not seem so firm.

Admittedly, it's not always the adults that have the perfect answer. I had to truly think and pray about it after our initial talk (which really began yesterday). Though I knew the answers: God's holy nature, His Sovereignty, His mercy--How to help my son understand them was tougher. I looked it up on christiananswers.net and found this post that made it all more easy to communicate. Son and I talked more and I saw the light and shine in his eyes as the whole picture began to make more sense to him. We read a few scripture verses, and we'll keep reading more, to remind ourselves daily who and what we are dealing with.

I'm really thankful right now that my son asked me a tough question and that we were able to pray about it and discuss it. If you ask my son someday if he knows the answer, I think he'll be able to tell you. Another Hallelujah!

"The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will be no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."

Ex 34:6-7

When Prayer is an Answer to Prayer

When we sat down to do our lessons today, we held hands to say our prayers and invite the Holy Spirit to lead us, as we do every day. Today, however, daughter (4yo) chimed in that she wanted to pray. This was particularly important because she has "seemed" (up to this point) to barely tolerate prayer. She hasn't wanted to participate, close her eyes (which we have never taught is necessary, but helpful) or even just listen.



This morning as she asked to pray, she bowed her head and closed her eyes and prayed her little heart out, including giving thanks. This is a first and blessed me tremendously as I listened to her put her own words together without leading, prompting--and in joy! Hallelujah!

Now That's What I Call a Bible Lesson Enhancement!

Today (since I was still recovering from illness yesterday!) we began our new Judah Bible lesson (Year 3; Theme 2; Week 8) on Joshua 6--Joshua and the Battle of Jericho.

This is "technically" the first lesson where I've purposefully included my 4yo dd. My idea for her is to have 8yo ds read to her from the corresponding Arch book,(of which I have collected a billion at book sales!) then she may do a coloring page as we discuss the lesson.

Today, I was suddenly (like a bolt of lightening!-heehee) reminded of the old Sunday School song...

"Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho.

Joshua fit the battle of Jericho and the walls came a tumblin' down!"

Okay, now it's stuck in YOUR head. ANYway! I googled it and sure enough, good 'ole Youtube has a great video of Mahalia Jackson (We've collected a few books on her to study, down the road!) singing it! You have to check it out. The kids loved it.

News with Biblical Relevance

I thought I'd share about a fabulous e-newsletter that I get from Koinonia House. It shares Biblically relevant news, helps to understand Biblical prophecy in light of world events, and is very informative in understanding some of the actual structure and laws behind our own government. For instance, they did an article a couple of weeks ago on the Federal Reserve. I had no idea is wasn't part of our federal government, but is privately owned!

This week's newsletter shares about inflation and what it really is. I'm inept when it comes to understanding these things, so I find this info very helpful. Also, it shares about some church bombings in Iraq. Did you know there were 7 Christian churches bombed on Jan. 6th in Iraq?

I encourage you to sign up and to read about the background of an incredible Biblical teacher, Chuck Missler. Our family has really enjoyed his books and CD's which really teach you how to understand ALL of the Bible as ONE story. You can sign up for the e-newsletter here.

They also offer a mailed magazine which has much of the same info and more. I believe it's free.

Recounting the Day

Psalm 9:1-2 says...
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;

I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praise to your name,

O Most High.

This got me thinking. At the end of the day, do I look back on the checked off list of things accomplished; gaze fixedly at the wall in frustration for all that I haven't gotten done, or do I "recount all of your [the Lord's] wonderful deeds."?

I pray that each day I will think only on the things that HE has done; looking at my own "accomplishments" in HIS light, and most of all "be glad", "exult in YOU", and "sing praises to YOUR name"!

Remember Harvest?

If you have been in the Christian music scene very long, then you have to remember a group called Harvest. They began back in the late 70's, I believe, and were making the best music for years after. They gave huge sold-out concerts all over the US. They had many top ten hits during the early years of growing Christian radio.

Well, I knew them because they were from my home church in Indiana. Jerry Williams, the lead and founder of the group was actually our youth group leader! It cracks me up to think about that because he's had such an incredible ministry all these years and he was "my" youth group leader!

Well, the group is no longer, but Jerry is still making beautiful music. It has always blessed me beyond belief. He writes from God's Word and it is Powerful! There isn't a song he's written that will not surround you with the arms of our Loving Father! This is real "listening" music. It's prayerful and shines the truth of who God is. I know that God has undoubtedly laid each lyric on his heart and he's shared it with us. I have been so blessed by his music all these years, and he's still writing and recording, AND he's now sharing his music on Myspace and through he and his wife's ministry, EPIC Ministries.

If you want to be blessed, go listen--then go over to EPIC and order one of his CD's for a donation.

At Week's End

I'm currently propped up in bed, laptop in tow, trying to enjoy a reprieve from the bathroom. Whether I contracted food poisoning from a restaurant I will NEVER go to again, or the stomach flu, I'm not sure, but yesterday was not a fun day. I'm pretty sure I haven't thrown up since my school days--until yesterday. Not fun. So far, the rest of my family has been spared, which makes me lean toward the stomach flu diagnosis. According to the WebMD, they could come down with it any time in the next ten days. Yuck. I wouldn't wish this on anyone, especially my babies.

So, my week didn't exactly end as I would have hoped, but up until then, we did great. My experiment with setting weekly goals went very well. It was nice to have that list to keep me focused on certain things. I only went off on a tangent a couple of times, but I did okay. I didn't complete my whole list, which mainly consisted of certain things I wanted to do everyday. That was tough. I either did them everyday, or didn't do them even once. The treadmill is still sitting there--waiting. I'm going to try to set these goals each week during my planning time.

For school this week, we enjoyed having the sister in on things again. As we continue to adjust, it just becomes more fun. I have no doubt that us all doing school together is the way it's supposed to be; just wonderful! We rowed (FIAR) "A Pair of Red Clogs" which is a great book to teach about lying and deceit. It also teaches about remorse and stewardship. The "Five in a Row" author did a great job choosing life-lesson books! Daughter made more lap-pages for her notebook and informed me she needs a bigger notebook. I guess that 1/2 inch ring wasn't going to last too long! Brother needs a new notebook as well, only his is a 3" very stuffed binder. Volume II?

We managed to do all our subjects on their assigned days this week, which was one of my goals. It has been easy to drop one here and there. The husband was gone this week, so we had a bit more freedom to take our time and eat on a different schedule.

For Bible this week, we studied Rahab (JBC year 3, theme 2, week 7). What a wonderful way to study and understand that faith without works is dead. We seem to continually come back to the fact that a real relationship (with the Lord) involves more than just receiving and resting. It's the whole decision of whether you believe that obedience equals a loving relationship or whether a loving relationship equals obedience! Everything we have learned this year has come back to that statement. And our answer is that a loving relationship will always equal obedience. I guess that is our principle for the year.

While I was googling Rahab for lesson enhancements, I came across this blog. I was very excited to see a familiar face: Jules, from what used to be Everyday Mommy. You know, the source of "Moms for Modesty" (see sidebar).

Our tabernacle model finally came. A few weeks late, but we still had fun putting it together. We love our Rose's Book of Charts, so the Rose's Tabernacle Model was a perfect compliment. If you order this, just a few tips. Go for the laminated version, and don't try to use glue on it. Too messy on laminate. Tape all the way. Son really enjoyed this hands on "picture" of the tabernacle. I'm thinking he's not likely to forget our Tabernacle studies anytime soon, which is the whole idea, right?

For history this week we began studying the pioneers. We are truly in the Westward Expansion link on our Chain of Christianity/PIPEline/Timeline now. We'll probably be on this topic for awhile, getting more specific and looking at certain people and events. This is kind of a tough topic for me because it could involve a lot of hands on activities which I am so NOT good at. They cause anxiety, panic. I'm not sure why. I've bought a few little craft kits, so I'm going to attempt to deep-breath my way through them. We're really trying not to race through this year's Truthquest Guide (AHYSII), like we did last year. I want us to enjoy it a bit more and have more to show for it.

One thing that is truly a no-brainer was getting the Frontier Fighters CD from Homeschool Radio Shows. Son has it memorized--literally. He has always loved audio programs; this one is no different! I'm always looking for more of these.

Well, those are the highlights. Next week may get off to a rocky start if I don't get to feeling better soon. We also have some big events coming up soon, too. I'll keep you posted!

Popcorn Day

Yesterday, Tuesday, Jan. 22, was National Popcorn Day. 'Nough said!

Corn in a pot on the stove! The only way to go!

The two on the outsides are mine.

Yep. He's mine, alright!

Here is the source of all our fun Holi-"Days"! We've enjoyed this!

All-Natural Shampoos

All-natural shampoos. That is what I really wanted to post about. For some reason, I felt I needed to give you a background. So if you've read my last post, bare with me for "the ugly".

Remember I promised to post about the good, bad and the ugly? Well, we've been trying all-natural shampoos. We've tried about four--different prices and brands. They all have varying degrees of "smell-good" and they all have that ever-wanted list of all-natural ingredients. No chemicals or "poisons". The problem is they just don't work!

Now, they may "work" fine for eight year old boys with close-cut hair and men with shaved heads. Yes. You heard me right. Shaved heads. But, for women living in drysville Indiana--with long hair and frizz issues? No can do.

Let's face it! Nothing works all the time. Including all-natural products! Believe me. It's a great idea, but there are issues! Dry, frizzy, staticy issues! Fly-away hair--flying far, far away! Tangles--OOooh, the tangles. It was just too much to hope for. So I'm currently embracing my chemical-laden shampoo and conditioner. And yes, I tried the matching conditioners too.

I'm not giving up, however. The husband and son are good with them and they need them for skin issues. Daughter and I have to think about our beauty first. HeeHee. Just kidding. I'm really not sure what the answer is. I'll keep researching. I know that coating my hair in honey for hours is not a solution, nor is sleeping with coconut oil on my head.

It could be a long road.

Going Natural

I began learning about using all-natural products about a year ago, I'd say. First, of course, you hear all the bad things about everything from toothpaste and laundry detergent to Robitussin. Just the tip of the "non-food" iceberg.

I found myself interested, and convicted enough to begin making small changes--all in hopes that larger changes would come automatically and have a dramatic impact on my family. Specifically, the impact I was looking for involved health, health, health. Don't get me wrong. We are not un-healthy. We are not sickly, or disease-ridden. We are probably very average. There's just these issues. Issues which a lot of people probably have.

Issue #1: Husband's entire family is riddled with every kind of horrible cancer imaginable. Being from a family that has never had one person suffer cancer, this has had a huge impact on my thinking. Especially where it concerns the safety and health of my husband and children. Whether or not anything can be done to prevent them, of even me, from ever getting it, I don't know. Only the Lord knows, but if food and environment really do make a difference, why risk it. Why wait till it's too late to make the change.

Issue #2: I suffer from an under-active thyroid. Hypothyroidism does run in my family. I've had it for over 20 years which is a long time for someone relatively young. I've watched my dad deal with side effects and some dibilitation from it and he's only had it a couple of years longer than me. Of course, he is in his 70's too.

Issue #3: Allergies. I've shared before that my son has a peanut allergy. This allergy is one thing in itself to deal with, but the seasonal allergies that he is more suseptible to because of it, are horrible--and (were) getting worse all the time.

Issue #4: Weight. My husband has had a hard time controlling his weight. Like most americans, his lifestyle is usually somewhat sedentary. He doesn't over-eat, though he has. He does like sweets--don't we all! But again, his family members all struggle with this--way more than my family, and even myself.

These things have been my motivating factors. First and foremost, last fall we were forced to take drastic action for my son so that he could breath. Dragging him to a bunch of doctors for shots, enhalers and nubulizer treatments did not seem the answer. Mostly his symptoms are manageable, though uncomfortable, and he's only really required intervention when he's developed cold-induced asthma--which has given us a glimpse into that horrible world that many suffer.

So we began reading and learning. First thing we discovered--dust mites. Their favorite place to live in a bedroom? Down comforters and pillows. Son had both. We removed those and IMMEDIATELY he began to be able to breath again! Score one for the good guys! We also have attempted to remove refined sugar from his diet. This is specifically to boost his immune system (and every other system imaginable!)

This gave me the confidence to continue learning. The next thing to tackle was my thyroid. I began reading about the benefits of coconut oil and spirilina. The spirilina--a sea weed component (or in my circles more commonly thought of as pond scum--mmmm, yummy!) is in many natural vitamin supplements. I found a good one (that's a whole other story) and began taking it. I added coconut oil (also a great story) to our diets and what do you know?! My thyroid med dosage dropped for the 1st time in 20 years! Within 3 months!

So, as you can imagine, I feel like we are on the right track. Still learning and adjusting. We have a long way to go. I will share each milestone--the good, bad, and the ugly--throughout the year.

Making Goals

Since September, I've had the goal of making goals. How pathetic is that! :) Wow! Okay, so seriously, I've had this form for setting goals for the year and I keep looking at it. Though I haven't filled it out, I have established some "goals of thought". Maybe not the same to those who are die-hard goal-setters, but it's a start.

With that in mind, it occured to me during my all-day weekly planning, that my frustration with not getting certain things done... week after week, might better be served by establishing weekly goals. Why this seems like such a revolutionary idea to me, I'm not quite sure--but it does.

I've got this list. I've added to it even today. I have high hopes for victory. Don't you just love that word? "Victory!" So, we'll see how it all ends. Here are a few verses worth remembering as I claim another victory:

Deu 20:4 for the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.'

1Ch 29:11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.

Pro 21:31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD.

1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1Jn 5:4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith.

Gotta just love God's Word! Also E-Sword, which helps in word searches!

What's on my goal list for the week? I can't share them all, but here are a few:

1. Put all the laundry away! Don't leave any in baskets.


2. Follow menu plan, even when husband is gone.


3. Complete our full school plan for each day.


4. Deal with scrapbook area.


5. Go through one cook book each day to add to Recipe Binder.