All Work and No Play?

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I’m letting the kids take a break today.  We went to the park this morning for a homeschool meeting.  When we got home I fed my children lunch and told them they could play in the water after they washed our van. 
The van is nice and clean and the kids are outside splashing around in a kiddy pool.  It was hard getting a good picture with them moving around so much. 
Elijah is growing.  My mom and I bought a play mat (pictured) for him about a month ago.  At that time he had a harder time reaching both the hanging toys and the kicking ball.  Now he is able to reach both at the same time..  He loves to play with this toy.  The only time he gets upset with it is when he wants to chew on the toys and they don’t pull off.  But he has sweet siblings who will  help him out and give him toys to chew. 
Believe it or not, letting the kids take a break and play today has given me a little reprieve.  I decided to blog and then I hope to get my lesson plans organized for the month.  It’s good to stop every once in a while and take a break.  Tomorrow we’ll be getting back to work. 
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Math Problems

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IJoshua waiting to see if he got the answer correct.
Yesterday, I was grading Joshua’s and Ruth’s math work. I saw that despite all the drilling on division, Joshua was still not understanding long division.  I had given him many examples on the board.  I even began to wonder if someone else could explain it better than I can.  That is a dangerous worry that goes through many homeschooling moms’ heads when faced with what feels like a road block in their child’s education.
I always have to stop myself, and realize that if my child were in a classroom setting he would have the same difficulty.  I imagine the teacher would just give him homework and then either he would get behind and fail or bring the work home where I would have to teach it to him anyway.  So as all homeschooling Moms must do, I think of the best way to solve the problem. (Pun intended.)  
I knew that what Joshua needed was to do several problems himself.  I told him that division was a very systematic thing.  What you do to one number you do to the other numbers.   I had him go to the board and I gave him a problem to write down.  He wrote it on the board.  I then told him okay solve the problem.
He started tensing up and getting all worried about it.  I asked him what he was to do first.  He got that part right and then froze.  I asked him, “Okay, Now what do you do?”  
He then made a mistake and I very animatedly had the number he messed up complain, “No! Don’t push that big number into me.  It won’t fit!!!”  He at first wasn’t sure if I was making fun of him or just making math fun.  I was helping him with the numbers talking, he started figuring out what he was doing wrong, and getting tickled at the animated numbers on the board.  At one point he accidently put a number that was suppose to go on top of the line under the numbers, that poor number hollered, “Aaahhh!!! I fell off the table!  Help!” 
Finally, after a few rounds of division he was making less mistakes and the numbers quit talking to him.  He started getting every problem right and he announced the very rewarding words, “Wow! Math is fun! Are there any more problems?”
Those words right there do a homeschooling mom’s heart good.  I smiled and said, “See. I knew you could do it.”
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Roll Over

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Elijah is now rolling over to his tummy.  One morning I went to get him out of his bed and he was on his tummy looking around his bed.  Later the same day after I changed his diaper he rolled over onto his tummy again.  That time he was on my bed.  It won’t be long and he’ll be crawling. 

Church camp was great.  We all discussed before bedtime prayers what our favorite parts of camp was.  The kids agreed that they enjoyed different sermons several of the pastors preached.  It’s always a joy to hear your children retell sermons.  There were a few sermons I had to miss because I had to step outside with Elijah, but Friday evening my kids filled me in on all those sermons plus the sermons I didn’t miss. 

Of course, the sermons weren’t the only part of camp my children enjoyed.  Joshua also enjoyed buying lots of Sodas.  He brought his own money with him so instead of just having the drinks and snacks we bought him, he enjoyed the freedom of buying as much as he wanted.  Then he said he also enjoyed swimming. 

The girls enjoyed swimming also.  Hannah enjoyed having grandparents at camp.  Where her Daddy and I might not give her everything she wants, grandparents love to buy their grandchildren things.  The funny part is that even after camp was over she says now she wants a balloon from the gift shop.  All I can do is shake my head. 

It reminds me of a scene from Veggietales. Bob the Tomato asks Larry the Cucumber, “How much stuff do you need to be happy?” 

Larry replies, “I don’t know. How much stuff is there?”

Hopefully she will figure that lesson out as she gets older and we continue to teach her.

Ruth enjoyed the swimming and enjoyed hearing people tell the story of when they were saved.  She also liked singing a special Friday morning before her daddy’s devotional.  She sang a song she had written a few years ago entitled, “I Love You, Jesus.”

Jonathan said that he enjoyed Wal-mart.  We can only assume he meant the gift shop.  I think favorite is a difficult concept for a two year old.  But I’m pretty sure he enjoyed all the time he got to spend with his Daddy this week.  Scott also mentioned that Jonathan enjoyed watching the boys that dived off the diving board durng swimming.  For Jonathan watching them splash was like getting to watch fireworks.

Scott enjoyed teaching the High School/ College class.  He also enjoyed spending a lot of time with Jonathan.

I enjoyed teaching the third grade class again this year.  I found I had quite a few of the same kids I had last year.  Several of the kids were 10 years old this year which is the age I was when I was saved.  I shared with them my testimony.  At the end of class on Wednesday, I told the students that if they wanted to talk to me they could stay after class was over.  One of the girls from my dorm stayed. I shared with her the same verses we talked about in class.  She then prayed her own prayer asking God to forgive her of her sins.  During testimony time that day, she gave her testimony and I believe from her testimony that she understood what I had shared with her. 

Over all we had a great camp.  The only problem I had at camp was getting stung by a bee.  I had stepped outside with Elijah during one of the services.  I went to sit down in a chair and my arm went down right on a bee.  I’m just glad it was me and not my baby that got stung.

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God’s Provisions

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Scott made it home safe and sound.  The kids surprised me and were fairly easy to get up.  I however only got an hour of sleep that night.  But I managed to get up and get the kids out the door.  The kids were all pretty excited.  Hannah kept telling Scott about the bugs we bought for him to eat.  Of course, he didn’t really understand what she was talking about until we got home and offered him some gummy bugs that they found at the store.  We didn’t want him to miss Thailand too much. 
The picture above is Scott holding Elijah wrapped in a cloth Scott had given me.  When I nurse Elijah in public I needed a good breathable cloth to cover with.  Scott found a cloth for me.  The people there have multiple uses for it.  Elijah enjoyed being swaddled in it. 
The rest of the pictures are of Scott and the kids eating the gummy bugs we bought for him.   The kids are all gathered around on a blanket pretending to be in Thailand.  After seeing all the pictures of the people there sitting on mats on the ground they wanted to pretend to be there.  So they are coloring in the coloring books Scott bought them from Thailand and sitting on a makeshift mat.  They were using their new Thai pillows for desks. 
Scott said that these gummy bugs tasted much better than real bugs.  We all had fun watching his pictures and videos.  I’m glad that he went and that the team he went with were so good with the people there.  I hope that their will be much fruit for their labor there.  It was good to know that the missionaries there now have an open invitation to return. 
Scott is finally starting to get over his jet lag.  At noon he has been wanting to sleep and at midnight he wanted lunch.  But today he decided to go out and get some coffee at a local cafe.  He also drove to the post office to check our mail.  He returned late in the morning all hot and sweaty.  He had to walk home from the post office.  The ignition switch in our van wasn’t working.   He first walked to the Dollar store to get some WD-40, but that didn’t work so he walked home.  About halfway home someone that knew him offered him a ride.  He then did some calling around for the price of ignition switches.  He decided he would go try it again.  He went out to walk the 3 or 4 miles to the post office again.  Thankfully he was able to get it to crank and drove it home.  He thinks it will be okay for a while but he wants to get a new ignition switch soon.  I told Scott at least all the things we have to replace on our vehicles are still better than a car payment.  Let’s see this month we’ve had to buy 3 windshield wipers, a new tire, a new brace for the back door of the van, and now we will be getting a new ignition switch.
Tomorrow we will be going to visit my sister and her husband.  We will be looking at buying a car to replace the one that had to be scrapped after an accident Scott had the week before he left.     We should be able to have the car paid for in full in just a few weeks.  We prefer to buy good running older cars for less and spend the money that would have been car payments on fixing them up.  It seems to work for us anyway and so far God has blessed us with being able to find good prices on parts most of the time. 
I know that is the question a lot of people have is how can we afford five kids.  It’s only by God’s grace that we do.  We depend on Him for our needs.  So far with each new addition we’ve made to our family God has provided in many ways that is hard to explain.  We try not to live over our means and find good prices whenever possible.  It’s amazing how many times God has provided for our needs and even some of our wants.  He is truly awesome!
Php 4:19-20 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (20) Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 

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Early In the Morning…

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This is probably my favorite picture of Jonathan from our trip.  I took this picture of him at the Kalamazoo Air-zoo.  He loved being inside a real cockpit with real buttons and switches to push. 

Real early tomorrow morning we will picking Scott up from the airport.  I will have to awaken the kids and at lunch today, I described to them how I imagine tomorrow morning will be. 

Joshua, I’ll only have to tell twice and he’ll be up and at ’em.  He’ll probably even help get the others up.

Ruth will be a challenge since she usually sleeps so soundly.  I anticipate having to tell her loudly severral times and then shake her shoulder, or threaten to tickle her feet to finally get her up and moving.

Hannah, I will come into the room and quietly and sweetly as possible tell her to wake up. There are two possible reactions I expect from her. She’ll either grumble and turn over covering her head with her pillow and then cry as I insist she get up, or she’ll jump out of bed and squeal excitedly because we’re going to get Daddy. . 

Jonathan, I’ll probably have to carry out after trying to wake him up enough to at least go potty first.

Then Elijah should be the simplest to just feed and put in his car seat.  But I wouldn’t be surprised if he chose that time to have the dirtiest diaper of the week.  Watch them all surprise me and give totally different reactions than I am anticipating.  We shall see.  I’ll try to post again tomorrow if I get a chance.

One funny thing that from my confusion of Scott’s arrival was I had rescheduled Elijah’s 4 month check-up for Wednesday, thinking that we might be too tired from picking Scott  up on Tuesday.  Oh well maybe I’ll leave the kids at home to watch a movie or something while Scott rests.  It will be different taking only Elijah to the doctor. 

This eveniung, I took the kids with me to the store to get some much needed groceries.  I found Hebrew National Beef Hot Dogs on sale for 75 cents a package.  That was 6.5 cents per ounce!  It was just about cheaper than the cheap stuff.  I bought just about every package they had.   I told the cashier that with a family our size you don’t pass up a good deal like that.

Now I need to wash some dishes and then get some sleep.  Scott’s flight will take him about 2 and a half to 3 hours to get all the way from Los Angeles to Houston.  It will take me a little over half that just  to drive to the airport.  Kind of funny isn’t it? 

I’ll try to post an update sometime tomorrow about Scott’s arrival.  Thanks for all your prayers.

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"Can I Tell You Something?"

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I’ve probably heard this question a billions of times (using another of Hannah’s favorite phrases).  Everything seems to be a billion with that girl.   I don’t know exactly how to break her of the habit of asking, “Can I tell you something?” before everything she wants to say.  And if anyone says, “No.”  She’ll stop and look at you like, “what do I do now?”  Usually the person that tells her no gives in and lets her tell them.

Here are some more pictures from our trip.  I wanted to post the pictures I have from our fishing trip. 

Jonathan caught his first fish with the help of Grandpa Art.  Jonathan was a little nervous of touching the fish, he wouldn’t even hold the string the fish is on for the picture. But the position his hand was in makes it look like he was holding it.

Joshua caught two or three fish.  He was the official fish carrier.  He would carry the fish that were keepers to the bucket and release the ones that were too small back into the bucket.  After we got back Grandpa Art taught him how to clean the fish.

This is the only picture I could get of Hannah.  She was freaking out over the fish on her line and was demanding in a very shrieky voice that someone get that fish off her hook.  If you hadn’t guessed already she is our drama queen.

Ruth was the last to start catching fish.   She was getting disturbed by the fact and I told her that the fish probably knew that she wasn’t baiting her own hook.  She didn’t like touching the worms so we kept having to put the worm on for her.  I was a little tired of having to stop what I was doing to put a worm on her hook, so I told her that the first step in catching fish was to put the worm on your own hook.  She then got her nerve up and started baiting her own hook and sure enough she started catching fish.  In fact she probably caught the most.

I don’t know how well my fishing advice will go for anyone else but it seemed to work for her.  I think technically it was because she was able to get her hook in the water faster because she wasn’t having to wait on someone else to bait it for her. 

I normally wouldn’t put a picture of myself on my blog but Scott e’mailed me to tell me he was catching up on my blogs.  I know that he would want to see a picture of me too.  So this picture is more for him than anything.  But everyone else might like seeing Jonathan.  He was a bit nervous at first whenever Art would drive the boat around the lake.  So he wanted to be held the whole time.  He’ll say, “Hold you!” I’m finally starting to get him to say, “Hold me please.”  But it’s still a work in progress.
Speaking of Scott, I realized today as I was looking at his e-ticket that I had the wrong day to pick him up.  I thought I was going to be picking him up tomorrow morning at 5:25 a.m.  but it turns out being Wednesday morning at that time.  I’m glad I looked.  It was disappointing to see that it was going to be a day later, but it would have been worse to find out at the airport that I had the wrong day. 
It won’t be long and we’ll all be together again.  I told the kids that it just gives us one more day to get the house in order before Daddy gets home. 
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Ruth’s Birthday

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Today was Ruth’s 10th Birthday.  She had asked me as we were driving back to Texas from Michigan that we not have to drive on her birthday.  I told her that it all depended on how many times they asked to stop.  I did have to tease her yesterday once we arrived that on her birthday after she opened her presents we could all get in the van again and ride around town just for fun. But she didn’t seem to like that idea.

They were encouraged by me telling them how many hours were left along the way.  If we had driven straight through without any stops we could have made it to my parents house in 20 hours or so.  They were all excited that it could be that quick and all started agreeing that they would not ask to go to the restroom the whole trip.  I smiled and told them that we would see how long that lasted. 
 

 It didn’t last super long but they did pretty well.  Hannah would say, “Mom, can I tell you something? I won’t ask to stop anymore but I need to go to the bathroom just this once.”   When we got back to the car I would check the GPS and tell them the new arrival time if we didn’t stop.  They were pretty excited when we only had 4 hours to go.  If Scott had been here we probably would have opted to drive on through Thursday night while the kids were asleep.  But without the extra help driving I decided to stop Thursday night at a hotel. 
The worst part of the trip was probably trying to find a hotel when we arrived in Texarkana on Thursday night.  I could have stopped at a hotel on the Arkansas side but I had wanted to get on into Texas that night.   I didn’t realize how bad the construction on the streets were there.  It was a mess and my GPS wasn’t any help.   I hate driving in construction at night.  I had planned on driving into Texarkana at 9:30 p.m. finding a hotel and then ordering a Pizza to be delivered on our last night in a hotel.  But I couldn’t find the hotel in my price range that I wanted.  It felt like I was driving in circles I was so turned around.  So after the headache of trying to figure out the mess I was in, I decided to drive out of town before finding a hotel.  Thankfully getting back on the main road wasn’t too hard and we drove to New Boston.  We arrived at a hotel about 10:30 that night and after getting everything inside the hotel, I tried calling Pizza Hut only to find that they had already closed.  I then decided to load the kids back into the car and go see if we could find a restaurant open.  Everything but the gas stations were closed.  So I bought a box of doughnuts and some peanut butter crackers for Supper. 
I finally had the kids in bed by 12:30 a.m.  I was then able to check the internet and see if there was any news from Scott and took my shower and went to bed about 2:30 a.m.  I opted for sleeping late over free breakfast that morning.  We checked out of the hotel at 11 a.m. and only had 3 1/2 hours left to go.  Of course it turned into about 5 after stopping once or twice for restroom breaks and then stopping for feeding the baby and refueling the car.  We finally arrived safe and sound at my parents house. 
Tomorrow we will go to my parents Church and hear my Dad preach.  Then Sunday afternoon, we will be heading out to visit my sister and then visit their church to hear her husband preach Sunday night.  Then from there we will head home and hopefully get things unpacked on Monday and get ready for Scott’s arrival early Tuesday morning. 
I’m so glad that it’s that close to time for Scott to be back.  Three weeks is too long to be apart.  But I heard from him again today.  He called and said that they were dropping off two of the team members at the airport and then he would be heading back to visit the church in Chang Mai.  He told me that he wasn’t feeling too good. He had eaten something that didn’t set well with his stomache.   Please keep him in your prayers.  He told me that this was a really productive trip.  He was really impressed with the response of the people in the village they visited.  I’ll post more pictures from our trips over the next few days. 
I want to post a couple of videos tonight in case I do not have a chance to blog tomorrow. After tomorrow I’ll be back on dial-up and can only post pictures. The first video is of Scott’s Aunt Shelby who was showing Jonathan how to blow bubbles at my Mother-in-law’s house.   In the second video my Dad was playing with Elijah.   
Only two days and two nights left until I get to see Scott again!  Thanks for all your prayers.
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On the Road Again

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We arrived in Michigan Friday evening.  We had a good visit with the family.  There was a lot of Construction in Illinois and in Michigan.  We arrived and unpacked most of our things.  I had Jonathan and Elijah sleep in the room with me while Joshua, Ruth, and Hannah slept in the livingroom.  The older two slept on cots, and Hannah slept on the couch.

Saturday, we went fishing on a pontoon that belonged to Scott’s, mother’s, husband’s, brother.  I guess that would be Scott’s mother’s brother-in-law.  Anyway, we went on the boat and everyone caught a fish.  Even Jonathan caught a fish. 

Saturday night, I asked Scott’s mom, Judy,  if there was a church that she would like to visit.  Normally we always go to the church Scott was saved and grew up in.  This time we went to the church she went to when she was a girl.  It was a cute little church building in the country.  I was amazed at how many people went to that little church.  They had a lot of cute little children as well.  There were several people there that were friends with Judy’s family.  Some she remembered from when she was a girl.  I even saw Scott’s uncle Howard there.  He is very nice.  I found out that he has been helping the Amish in their part of Michigan.  I think that is pretty neat.

Monday, we went to a Museum called the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.  There were a lot of rides there.  One section had air planes and another building had an outerspace exhibit.  It was pretty neat and the kids were able to ride a lot of neat rides.  I’ll have to post more about that when I have more time.

Then Tuesday we stayed at Judy’s home and enjoyed visits from several of Scott’s family.  His Aunt Vicky and Cousin Nancy came that morning and then around lunch time we enjoyed a visit from his Aunt Beverly and Aunt Shelby.  Joshua enjoyed playing with Aunt Shelby’s grandson Joey.  

Then today, we loaded up the van and headed out around Noon.  If we were able to drive the whole way without any stops we could have been back by 5 a.m. or so.  The kids were real excited about that, and even said they wouldn’t ask to go to the bathroom for the whole trip if we could get back to Texas in one day.  But I knew that wouldn’t last long.  Right now we are in Illinois and will probably make it through to Arkansas tomorrow. 

Ruth’s birthday is Saturday and she is really not wanting to be on the road on her birthday.  So I’m going to try to make good time tomorrow and hopefully stop around 9 p.m. tomorrow night.  I’m tired and will need to get some good sleep tonight. 

Scott called me today and he told me that this has been a really productive trip.  He is amazed at all the ministry he has been able to help with on this trip and the response of the people to their team.  I have not had internet the whole time I was in Michigan and had been wondering about how he was doing.  It was so good to hear his voice.

Friday, I am hoping to make it to my parents by Friday.  On Saturday, we will celebrate Ruth’s birthday, and then Sunday I am looking forward to hearing my Dad preach again, and then Sunday or Monday I hope to head home and get the house in order for Scott’s arrival on Tuesday. 

The above pictures were taken as we were headed toward Michigan.  The one of me was taken by Hannah.  The other two pictures were taken at Boomland which is one of our favorite stops on our way to Michigan.  We had stopped for a restroom break and I let Jonathan and Hannah ride one of the kiddy rides. 

I’m so glad to be able to be online again. Tomorrow, I will try to post some more pictures from our trip.

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From a Hotel Again…Night 2

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I am so tired right now but I wanted to blog that we made it to our hotel around 11:00 tonight.  It took an hour to get everything in and the kids to bed.  I should be in bed right now myself but really wanted to go online since there was free access and see how things were going for Scott.  I hadn’t heard from him today but I saw some posts by others on the Mission team.  I also got to see some new pictures.  It sounds like everything is going well there.  I pray every night that God will help them as they awake.  And every morning I pray that they are able to sleep well. 

I decided to drive later tonight than I did last night.  We had stopped at Boomland in Missouri for a restroom break and to let the kids stretch their legs.  It was about 8 p.m. when we stopped there and I decided I was feeling pretty well, that I could drive a little further tonight while Elijah and Jonathan were asleep.  I figured that would leave us with only 6 hours to drive tomorrow.  Check out time is 11 a.m. tomorrow so I hope that we are able to make good time in the morning.  Even if we left at check out time, we could drive 3 hours and stop for a break or lunch and drive another 3 hours and make it to Michigan before it got dark.  That’s if we can manage to keep our stops short.  We tend to take a long time getting back in the car after we stop.  Having to change two dirty diapers in one stop doesn’t help any.  But I think we will be able to do it tomorrow.  Especially if I go to bed and get some sleep here in a minute. 

Last night we stopped at a hotel and the three older children wanted to sleep in one bed and I let Jonathan sleep in my bed.  It’s amazing how much wriggling a two year old can do in his sleep.  I had fallen asleep or was about to and suddenly I was kicked hard in the back.  I turned around and found Jonathan was laying sideways in the bed.  So I repositioned him correctly on his pillow.  Then I tried to fall asleep again when suddenly I was hit in the face by his hand.  Then I was afraid he might fall out of the bed with all his moving around.  At one point he even put his head toward the foot of the bed trying to get comfortable.  It was crazy.  I moved him back the right direction again.  If he does it again tonight he might wind up sleeping on the floor.  But so far he seems to be staying still over there.  He must be too tired to care which position he falls asleep in.

I had a slight emotional moment while driving tonight.  My shoulder was sore from being too tense while driving.  I have a problem tensing my muscles when I drive at night.  I was all tense when I thought about how Scott would rub my shoulders.  It made me sad a little and in the dark I allowed a tear or two to fall.  I also thought about how I’ve never seen this much of the country before.  Usually Scott and I take turns driving and sometimes while he drives, I fall asleep.  This time I have been awake the whole trip.  I reckon that is a good thing.  But I miss him terribly. 

I’ll end with a picture Hannah took today.  I was trying to get pictures of everyone in the van.  The only one I couldn’t get a picture of from my driver’s seat was Elijah so I gave the camera to Hannah.  Here is the picture she proudly took.  I have four copies of this picture in my camera.   It must have been the first picture I’ve ever let her take with my camera since she was so proud of it.  I did have Ruth take another picture and Ruth actually got his face in it. 

Well, I had better get some sleep now.  From some of the messages I’ve read on Facebook, I’m hearing that God is doing some amazing things in Thailand.  He’s been taking care of them and He’s been taking care of me and the kids as well.  

I’m looking forward to tomorrow.  I better get some sleep though.  I don’t guess the Prov. 31 woman didn’t let her candle go out by night because she was blogging. 

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A Billion Eyes…

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“Is God helping Daddy in Thailand?” Hannah asked me today as we were driving down the road.  I assured her that He was.  Then she asked, “Is God here with us too?”  Again I told her that He was.  I was afraid she was going to start asking me deeper and harder questions, but instead she exclaimed, “Wow! God must have a billion eyes!  He can see everybody everywhere!” 
We are staying in a hotel in Arkansas right now.  We didn’t quite make it to Little Rock, but I hope that we will make a little better time tomorrow.  We left from my parents house later than I had wanted to, but we made pretty good time only stopping twice.  Once to feed everyone, including Elijah.  The second was to let everyone use the restroom.   It’s now 11:40 p.m. and I have all the kids in bed listening to the Bible.  As soon as I’m done blogging I will be going to bed too. 
I did a first this evening.  This was my first time to get a hotel room all by myself.  I know that doesn’t sound like much to the braver sort, but for me that was a pretty big deal.  I didn’t even act like it was my first time.  I just went in asked how much the room would be.  He told me the price after asking how many children I had.  I decided the price was worth the free breakfast we would get in the morning.  So I gave him the informnation he needed and paid him.  Hopefully tomorrow will go just as easily. 
If the hotel we stop at tomorrow has free internet, I’ll try to blog again about tomorrow’s adventures. 
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