The weather is finally starting to warm up. The cold front kind of caught us by surprise last week. All three of our children became sick last Wednesday. I was hoping it would be just a 24 hour virus or something. But they continued to be sick on Thursday as well. I didn’t get much sleep either of the nights and Thursday night, I decided that if they didn’t improve then I would take them to the doctor the next morning.

Well, after very little sleep, one hour before the Doctor’s office opened, I was praying that the kids could hold themselves together for one more hour. Well, they did and I loaded them all up into our 15 passenger van, and took them to the clinic. Of course, since it is a walk-in visit, we had to wait for a while. While we waited, we looked at magazines, I cleaned up after my middle daughter who spit up. Then I directed my son, to where he could go to the restroom.

Finally, their names were called, and after Joshua returned from the bathroom, we were able to see the doctor. Joshua’s fever had already gone down, he was now left with a throat infection and diarrhea. Ruth, had throat infection and a high fever (103 degrees) and congestion. Hannah had a high fever, an ear infection, and congestion.

The Doctor called in prescriptions for each of them. We then stopped by the laundry mat to see my sweet husband, who knew I hadn’t had time to do laundry all week. So he had gotten up early enough to go to the laundry mat, before he had to run off to work. I then took the kids to the house to let them all use the bathroom, get something to drink, and a light breakfast. Then we went back to the laundry mat to pick up the clothes.

On our return trip to the laundry mat, I smelled the van was overheating. So, I called my husband who had left for work and told him about the smell. I still needed to go to Wal-mart to pick the kids’ prescriptions. He said for me to just drive slow, and not push the van too hard.

While I was paying for the medicine at the pharmacy, my son, suddenly shrieked that he needed to go to the bathroom. Too late, it was already coming, the pharmacist’s assistant said that she would hold the medicine for us, and I rushed off with the kids to the bathroom, grabbing paper towels I found along the way for my desperate son. I felt so terrible for him. I’m not sure how embarrassed he really was, but I was embarrassed for him. He ran into the bathroom and I posted Ruth, at the door, to let him know, if he came out before I got back that I was getting him a change of clothes. She was a very willing guard. So I took the youngest with me to the van, I was so glad that we had just picked up clothes from the laundry mat.

Thankfully, my son changed, and we bagged up the dirty clothes, and went back to the pharmacy. The pharmacist gave me a run down of all the medicines, and I finally took the kids home. I have an index card system of who took what when. A tired pregnant mother can’t rely on her memory all the time. The system has been working and each child has been getting the right medicine at the right times so far.

Who says, being a mother isn’t exciting. Thankfully, after much prayer they are now feeling much better, and I’m finally getting some sleep.

Luke 5:31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.

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I hadn’t written in quite a while. I guess by the end of the day, I would be tired and just felt like reading other’s thoughts, or chatting with my family. But now, I’m back and ready to start back where I left off. My thoughts may not always be as deep as they sometimes had been. I’m not going to be trying to think too hard at the end of the day, as I was before. But I’m sure my deep thoughts will just come out on there own without my having to think about it, right?

Well, some things in our home are the same, and some have changed quite a bit. We are still living in the Travel Trailer. We are still happy with our trailer, although the older our three children are becoming, the more cramped the space seems to get. We are in the market for a futon bunk bed, to hopefully help on our space. So as soon as we find a good one, hopefully that will take care of some of our space issues. Our son will be able to sleep in the top bunk, while the two girls sleep in the bottom bunk. Then we will have a couch by day and bed by night.

One of the changes that have taken place in our happy home, is that we are looking forward to having to find space for a fourth child. I just had an appointment with my Doctor this week and confirmed that I’m expecting a Baby. According to the Doctor, I am at about 8 weeks. We’re so excited! My son, wants us to have a boy, my daughter wants us to have a girl, my 2 year old just thinks we’re talking about baby dolls.

Oh, there is a lot to tell about, and talk about, but that can wait for another blog. My dear husband is home and I want to visit with him. So check back. I intend to be more prompt on writing. I’ll try to keep everyone posted on how our lives are growing and changing.

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I can’t believe it’s been that many months since I’ve blogged. Well, I’m back again, and need to catch everyone up on what’s been happening over the past few months.

Since I’ve last written, the children still know their Bible verses, although we hadn’t been learning one, every day. They still quote a Bible verse before they pray at most meals. I haven’t even begun to teach them Hebrew yet. It’s still in my future plans, I’m just not quite ready for that one yet.

Our baby is now turning into a regular toddler. Complete with mispronounced words and stalling at bedtime. She’ll be turning two before too much longer. The time has sure gone by fast.

One new thing that our family has started is a band. The children and I have been picking up the Ukulele. I never thought that I would like playing Ukulele so much. My husband and I, were talking one day and he was saying how he thought the children were probably old enough to start learning on their ukuleles. They are now 8 and 6 and matured and grown so much. So I told him that if he would get me a cheapy ukulele, I would help teach them to play. We would have regular practice sessions. I was sure with a little bit of encouragement from my learning with them they would probably get it down pretty quick. Well, my husband went out and bought me a fairly cheap ukulele for about $10 more than I was thinking. That’s o.k. I thought, he likes to splurge and by me nicer than what I ask for. I was thinking after I got the kids started on it, that I would just fade into the background and let them learn on their own.

How wrong I was. I had so much fun playing that simple ukulele. It wasn’t very fancy to look at and was quieter than both of the ukuleles that the kids had, but it was fun. So much fun, that I asked my husband for a louder one that was a good one. He was so excited that he found an instrument that I would practice and enjoy, that he ordered me a really nice handmade one from Hawaii. I’m not sure why I like it more than the other instruments I have tried in the past. My husband has tried teaching Guitar, which I know I could learn quickly if I really wanted to, but I usually wasn’t that excited about it. I also tried learning violin, but after a short time of showing a little bit of

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Memory Verses…

We, my family and I, have been setting some new goals for the upcoming months and year. The children and I have started working on memorizing a new verse everyday in homeschool. It is real neat how it has been getting easier and easier for them to memorize their verses. It’s amazing how much their minds can retain. Some people may think that it would overload the mind to keep putting that much information in it. But it seems like the more we put into our minds, the more our minds seem to grow and the easier it is to remember.

The amazing part is I’m not just teaching the children just parts of verses, or even just verses. I am actually having them memorize whole Psalms and chapters. Right now we are memorizing Psalm 23. A few weeks ago, I had them memorize Psalm 117. They have that whole Psalm memorized. Of course, Psalm 117, is only 2 verses long, but they were happy about it. Last week, my son, Joshua, wanted to stand up at church and quote Psalm 117. So I told my husband and he announced a guest speaker and let Joshua come up and quote the Psalm. It was great hearing him quote it flawlessly.

We’re not even using a “kids translation” that puts everything in simpler terms. I’m having them memorize it right out of the King James. I simply teach them new words and add them to their vocabulary. It’s pretty amazing. We were talking about how many verses they could memorize and I told them that if they worked on it, they could even have the whole Bible memorized. That would be neat.

I also have them quoting their Bible verses before meals and before we pray at bedtime. This has been a good practice time for them. We’ll first discuss which verse we are about to quote, and then after we quote the verse or verses, we have prayer. This has been real good. It gives them a chance to practice and then when they see their Dad after work, they are excited to share their verses with him. By the end of this week they will have the whole Psalm 23 memorized. Right now we know the first 4 verses and the sixth verse. Tomorrow, we will work on the fifth verse.

I also plan on trying to teach them some Hebrew. I’ll need plenty of prayer on this one, since I’m still trying to learn it myself. But maybe as I’m teaching them, I’ll learn more as well. I’ll have to, in order to keep up with them. They learn things so quick. Who knows, one day they may start teaching me.

Psalm 117 “O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD [endureth] for ever. Praise ye the LORD.”

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The Finer Things of Life!

While living in this 40′ travel trailer, I have learned so much about the finer things of life. Some people may think I am talking the things that we miss out on, not having a bigger house. But that’s not what I’m talking about.

The finer things of life are really just what you make of them. Doing dishes by hand can be the finer way of life. I have a small double sink in the kitchen, so when the sink gets full, which only takes a couple of meals, I wash the dishes. There really aren’t that many dishes to wash. And over time, I have even been able to get the dishes cleaner faster than I used to. I have learned to enjoy doing dishes!

I have also learned to appreciate hot water with good water pressure. When we first moved into this trailer, our water pressure was terrible. There was a valve that was broken in the line that would shut the water line off to the trailer. We would have to go outside and turn the water off. Then we would undo the hose and let the pressure out. Then we were able to put the hose back on and turn the water back on. Once my husband figured out that problem, we had good water pressure again. Now whenever something in the trailer breaks, we both smile as my husband reminds me, “At least we have good water pressure!”

I also appreciate air conditioning. Although we did pretty well, with only one decent air conditioner for a time. I found that around 4:00 p.m. or so there was a nice evening breeze that would pick up. I always enjoyed the evenings when the breeze would cool the house down. Now our house is cooler all day, since my husband fixed the other airconditioner. I told him he was going to be an expert handyman, by the time he gets done with this trailer.

I also enjoy sewing by hand. My daughter needed a dress lengthened. I do not allow her to wear dresses above her knees, but she really liked a special dress that was too short for her. So I took the shirt part of the dress off and let her keep it as a shirt. Then I bought her a longer shirt that would lengthen the skirt of the dress. I do not have a sewing machine but I was quite pleased with the fact that I was able to sew the skirt onto the shirt by hand. I was incredibly slow at first, but the farther I went, the faster I was becoming. I was so excited that I was able to make straight small stitches that looked nice. I had never tried that before.

I could go on and on, with the things I have learned to appreciate! But I’ll save those for future blogs. For now I’ll leave you with a couple of verses and a thought that I find quite fitting…

Philippians 4:11-14 “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

Hebrew 13:5-6 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

Can we fully learn to appreciate things the same, unless we do without for a time? I can be glad when we go through these “hard” times, because we have to depend on God to provide for us. When we do have more, I hope I will never forget the times when we had less, so that I will always remember to Praise the Lord!

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Highlights!

There are certain things I look forward to each day. There are also certain highlights I have each week.

Sunday, we start our week, with worshipping and praising God at Church. It’s a time where we get to share with others, the things we have learned throughout the week. It is also a time, when we are able to encourage others in their walks with God, as well.

On weekday mornings, I look forward to starting my kids on their lessons, and seeing what they will accomplish in the day. Then when my husband comes home from his study, I enjoy hearing my children, quoting the Memory Verses for their father. Then after he has left for work, I enjoy letting them go outside and ride their bicycles or just play. I enjoy watching my toddler play and explore in the yard, while I hang the fresh washed clothes on the line. Then around 8:00, I enjoy our Milk before bedtime. I fix the children and myself chocolate or strawberry milk before they go to bed. I give them a bedtime devotional, and try to get them to bed by 9:00.

My favorite part of my weekday is after 9:00. No, the highlight of my day is not the fact that I finally got my kids to bed, it’s the after 9 phone calls I get to make to my husband as he is working. He is a delivery driver in the evenings Monday through Friday, and after 9:00 p.m., we get extra free evening and weekend minutes. I so enjoy getting to call him and hear his voice.

In a similar fashion, I enjoy the end of our week. Every Friday evening, the kids and I work really hard to get our home extra nice for the weekend. We prepare a special Friday evening dinner, set the table with a pretty table cloth, and sometimes even flowers. Then, we anxiously await my husband’s arrival from work, so that we can spend the weekend together as a family.

Then Saturday comes and with it comes the highlight of my week. I enjoy all of us sitting together with our Bibles open, reading and discussing the Bible together as a family. Even though we study our Bibles throughout the week individually, it is extra special to me that we stop and study together. It’s our special family time with God.

We need that special time with God. It brings us closer together as a family, and brings our family even closer to God. It is one part of our week that helps us focus on what God wants for our lives.

Lamentations 3:25-27
“The LORD [is] good unto them that wait for him, to the soul [that] seeketh him. [It is] good that [a man] should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. [It is] good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.”


Matthew 11:28-30
“Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.”

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Psalm 25:5 ” Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou [art] the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. “


We have so much to look forward to!

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A Perfect Record?

I could also label today’s blog training wheels part two. You may be wondering how Ruth is doing without training wheels. It’s been one week since we took her training wheels off. And so far you may be amazed that she hasn’t fallen off her bike while riding yet. How could she have such a good record? When Joshua first had his off, he was falling everyday until he got the hang of it, and now he can ride perfectly. The only time he falls off now is if he is trying a new stunt.

So is Ruth a better rider than her brother? Not exactly. You see you don’t fall down, if you’re not even trying to ride your bike. Every evening I ask her, “Did you ride your bike at all today?” Her answer each day has been, “Not really.” Upon deeper inquiry as to the reason she hasn’t been riding, I found out that she was nervous, because she was shakey on her bike, and was afraid she might fall. I told her that if she would practice riding and ride everyday, that soon she wouldn’t shake at all.

Yesterday, I went outside and insisted that she put her helmet on and get on her bike. She did, slowly. I told her that I needed to take the trash down to the dumpster and that I wanted her to ride down there with me and Joshua. So she climbed on her bike and rode. She didn’t fall, although she almost did around the curve.

The reason she almost fell was because she quickly threw her feet down, stopped, and walked her bike to the dumpster on tip-toe. I asked her why she stopped and didn’t just keep riding. She said that she couldn’t turn without falling. I don’t know how she came to that conclusion, since she never tried. So I insisted that she not stop on the way back. I told her to take the turn slowly without stopping. She did and sure enough she didn’t fall down at all.

When we arrived back to our home, she smiled and said, “Mom, I turned and rode all the way here without stopping, and then I turned again!” I told her that she did very well, and that I wanted her to ride her bike more, so that she won’t be afraid of it. She assured me she would.

It’s amazing how often I’ve been afraid of making a mistake. There is a lot, I’m sure I miss out on, because I’m to afraid to try. God gives clear instructions for our lives in his Word. Why do we get scared to even try to do His will? Sure, if you don’t try you won’t fall down, but you don’t get very far either. So does that mean, by not trying you’ve already fallen?

James 4:17 “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

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Training Wheels!

Monday, my husband took the training wheels off of our daughter’s bicycle! A big moment in a six year old’s life. We were all outside cheering her on. We knew she could do it. She was scared at first but she had been practicing a whole week for this day.

Why a week? Well, she had broken a rule, we had set for her on her bicycle. We had boundaries that she was not allowed to pass. Her 8 year old brother had shown responsibility on his bicycle and was doing so well, that we increased his boundaries by about 10 feet. However she was to remain inside the original boundaries. That did not seem fair to her, so that Monday as her father was coming outside to take off her training wheels, he saw her way beyond her boundary. Needless to say, she was disappointed to find out that she was just about to get those wheels off, but by her own fault, she lost that opportunity. After her punishment was declared, she was told to sit and think about it. What was she thinking about?

No, not the fact that her parents were right and that she was sorry that she disobeyed us. Oh no, that wasn’t what she was thinking about. I knew exactly what she was thinking, “Mom, and Dad are so mean… They let Joshua go across the speed bump, why not me? It’s not fair!” I knew this because it’s exactly what I thought when I was a kid, “It’s not fair!” So I talked with her about that.

“Joshua is two years older than you, Ruth. Would it be fair to him to have to wait until you were ready, before we let him do anything new? It would be like if we told you that you couldn’t play outside until your baby sister was old enough to play outside. Would that be fair?”

She seemed to understand what I was saying, if not completely agreeing with me. Toward the end of the week, she was behaving better, and staying within bounds. I mentioned to her that Monday, maybe Dad would take off her training wheels. She said, “Oh boy! I’m going to try very hard to be good and not get in trouble like last time.” And she did! Now she is riding her bike without training wheels!

The smile on her face was so big as she rode without help. Later she came inside and told me, “Mom, I am SO excited!” She was really happy!

You know I wonder if that is what it will be like for us in Heaven. We will be able to do everything perfectly. We will be able to understand the Bible and do everything it says perfectly, without falling down. I’m sure we will even know every word in the Bible by memory and quote it without stumbling.

In the mean time, I’m going to keep on practicing, studying and doing all that I can to learn right now, preparing for that day. That will be a wonderful day to be able to do God’s will, without training wheels!

Isaiah 40:29-31 “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

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Homeschool!

I’ve started the children on their homeschool lessons again. I gave them a short break over the summer, because of a lot of different events we had going. Now we are back at the grindstone. We set up fold-up tables for both of our older two children, and a smaller chair for the baby with a folding chair set up for a desk. She likes to be just like her brother and sister.

It is really neat having them all three sitting at their tables with Bibles open. I have each of the older two read a verse a piece. They are really doing well. Then we focus on any reading problems they might have had. Today I focused on “me” and “my” for my 6 year old. Then for both of them we worked on when the “c” makes a “s” sound, as in “voice”, “face”, “nice”, etc…

The Bible makes a good reading book. It has lots of words for children to learn. I have them reading out of the King James, because if they can read from the king’s English, they’ll be able to read anything. It also helps their vocabulary. We’re not shying away from big words either. I believe a child at 6 and 8 can read the word “righteous” and know what it means as well. Why not teach it to them? They may not remember the first time they learn it, but after some repitition, they’ll be able to tell me exactly what it means.

So I’m excited as we start our 4th year of homeschooling, to see how much more they will learn. Believe it or not, there are a lot of subjects covered in the Bible. Reading, writing, math, history, and good citizenship are all covered there. I do use other resources besides the Bible, but I think the Bible makes a good foundation for any subject. Don’t you?

2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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Sympathy Pangs!

My son, Joshua fell off his bicycle, yesterday, while practicing jumping over speed bumps. I heard a knock on my door and a couple of children were in our yard telling me that he was hurt. I hurried barefoot after them over the gravelled road. Joshua was sitting by the road crying. I told everyone gathered around him that he would be o.k. Then I quickly carried him to our home, where I could clean and bandage his wounds.

There awaiting us was his baby sister. She was very concerned over her big brother, who was crying. She watched as I put medicine and bandages on his wounds. Then she held up her hand and cried “Mah.” She wanted a bandage too. So I put a bandage on her knee and her hand, just like her brother. I told Joshua that she must be having sympathy pangs. This caused giggles to replace the tears from her wounded brother, as I explained that sympathy was feeling bad over someone elses hurts.

Did you know that Jesus can sympathize with us?

Hebrews 4:14-16
” Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast [our] profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. “

Romans 15:1-3 ” We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please [his] neighbour for [his] good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. “

If Jesus is willing to sympathize with us, shouldn’t we do the same for others?

Gal 6:2 “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

It’s amazing what we can learn from children. Maybe that is why the Bible tells us to be followers of Christ as dear children (Ephesians 5:1)

Shouldn’t we all be more like my 1 year old?

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