Life As I Know It

All Things Beautiful

2011-09-02T09:40:00.002-06:00

I learn something new from my kids everyday!

Each one of them is unique and just so amazingly wise!

Unfortunately, only one of them has a blog, but if you haven't read it, you are totally missing out!

She blows me away!

If you haven't taken time to read her blog, please do it. Every time I read an entry I am amazed at who she is becoming!

When I was her age I was dating guys who wore make up and listening to such bands as Nine Inch Nails and The Dead Milkmen! She is so far ahead of where I was at her age, and I am thankful!

You know people often try to say that our kids are the way they are because of our parenting, but I know for a fact that our parenting is only a small portion of who our kids are. Each one of my kids have invited God into their lives, and I know that He is the reason they are different. He is the one who gives them wisdom and discernment.

And once again, I'm thankful!

Kristen

We Can Totally Do That!!

2011-09-01T10:02:00.001-06:00

Sooo, we are pretty settled into our new house. Boxes unpacked, pictures hung, rooms pretty well organized.

But getting to this point, was not easy!!

Our move in and move out was scheduled about a week apart. So I figured we could spend a few days moving boxes and little stuff with the van, and then by Friday beg a few strong men to help lift the heavy stuff on to a rental moving van.

The first day I woke up with a feeling of dread. I couldn't believe I had really thought the kids and I (because Mike was working Tuesday and Wednesday) were going to move most of the house before Friday!! What was I thinking!!

This is where I would like to add a side note. Mike and I both have this weird brain disease. I am not sure there is a name for it, but I call it wecantotallydothatitis. When faced with a near impossible task, i.e. Running in a 200 mile relay with little or no prior running experience or moving an entire house with just four kids and a mini van, something clicks in our brains and we think "Ha, no problem!!! We can totally do THAT!!" This is not such a bad trait when the odds are favorable, but unfortunately, that is not often the case.

So Monday morning we got up and since Mike and I had to finish our walk through, he was there to help for a few hours. We managed to move the entire garage over. This is a feat of extraordinary daring and courage. Not only did we get it moved over BUT completely organized!! Not bad for our first day.

The second day, my dad was headed out with a bed he had promised to Kylee and a desk that was my grandmothers. So, on top of Kylee getting her new bed, I was getting the use of his rented mini van for the whole week and the kids were getting a papa who loves to hang out with them!! Two mini vans and an extra adult would make the move even easier!

So for Tuesday, my goal was for the kids and I to single-handedly move over all their bedrooms, set up beds, book cases etc. We did it!! And Mike and I were even able to move some stuff from other rooms in the evening.

Wednesday my dad and I moved living room furniture, electronics, and a good rest of the boxes!! By the time we got to Thursday, Mike was back home to help and we worked on our room and some of the heavier furniture. It was Wednesday evening, and on the high of getting so much accomplished, Mike and I made the bold statement, "I bet we could move just about everything without a moving van!!" Thanks to the refrigerator, we didn't try it :)

The craziest story from the move would have to be how Mike and I moved our king sized mattress from one house to the other with just a rope, a blanket and our mini van!

We bought our mattress in January of this year, from Costco. We went with a foam mattress, which was the BEST purchase we have ever made. I LOVE our mattress. It is super firm, doesn't sag, and is plenty big. Its size put it on the things-that-must-be-moved-with-a-moving-van list. But Thursday evening, the eve of the big stuff move, we got drunk on our achievements. Mike and I looked around the mostly empty house, and the twelve items still left to go, and wondered if we could take that list down to eleven...

Mike rationalized that our mattress came in a small box to start.

That was true.

And the delivery guy delivered it.

Also true.

So, why couldn't we just roll it up and put it in the van????

Sounds reasonable!!! We can totally do it!!!

We did manage to get it folded in half, and tied up. Yes, this would definitely fit in the van!!

I went into the kitchen to grab something and that is when Mike decided he could get it down the stairs. Which he did. What we didn't bank on was, trying to lift it from the front door to the van, without the furniture dolly that we left at the other house.

I tried to lift my end, but the combination of it being awkward, huge, soft, and heavy and the fact that by Thursday evening my body had about given up on me, made it nearly impossible for me to move.

At this point we totally could have left it in the living room and shut the front door. We totally could have waited for the next day for our friends to help us lift it onto the moving truck.

But we had gotten this far!!! It was so close to being in the van!! How could we just leave it?

That is when I got the brilliant idea that would save the evening. What if we took one our old blankets and drug it to the van, then used the blanket to lift it onto the van? Would it work?

YES!! It totally worked!! We got our mammoth mattress into our mini-van and then used our blanket method to heft it up the stairs in the next house.

And as we locked the door to the old house that evening, we only had 11 odd items left to be moved. We had done it! We had moved a huge part of a four bedroom house with just two mini-vans, two adults, four children, and one old man, which went a long way to worsening our already bad case of wecantotallydothatitis!

Kristen

If I Can Do It...

2011-08-31T17:20:00.000-06:00

I feel like I've been saying this sentence a lot lately-

"if I can________ ANYBODY can!!"

But seriously, in this case, it's totally true.

I'm talking running here people.

I am sure there has never been a person more unsuited to running than me. I have short little legs, tire easily, and have a tendency to fall when not totally focusing on moving my body forward.

I have never even wanted to be a runner, till recently.

I mean, I've been running off and on for about three years now, but only so I could eat ice cream when I want to, not because I love it.

But something has happened recently, I can't explain it, I just love it all of a sudden!

I think it might be because I always thought I couldn't do it. A few years ago the idea of me running a mile was just ridiculous!

And now, I am running four miles at a time! That is HUGE!

AND even more exciting I've signed up for this!!!

So, I've got until spring to add some mileage and improve my time, I don't want to embarrass my team :)

Kristen

It's Been Awhile!!

2011-07-18T10:04:00.001-06:00

I feel like I've gotten lost in our summer busyness!!!

First, we took a trip out to AZ for a few days.

Then we came back and it was back and forth from LAX 6 times in two weeks, for Faith and Kylee's best friends from Illinois. (It was totally worth it!!! We had a blast and I got a visit from my fabulous Jacki to top it off!!)

Next, the girls headed to camp, and when they got back my dad and I took the kids to visit their Great Aunt and Uncle in Portolla Valley and a small jaunt to San Fran.

And here we are.

We attempted to get back to school last week, and somewhat succeeded. I really wanted to get some of our turn ins under our belts, and we did get some accomplished.

But this week is back to crazy. Faith is at Disney with the youth group today, tomorrow the girls have shots and check ups, and Wednesday the boys and June bug have shots and check ups. I am sure some school will be accomplished this week, just not sure how much :)

And our biggest news, in the midst of all this we decided to MOVE!!!

When we moved here, we knew we wanted a house with a pool, but it just wasn't in the cards a year ago. With the approach of the end of our lease we decided to look and see what was available. We found two ads right off.

The first was not a fit, but the second house was too good to be true.

It is a great house in a GREAT neighborhood, with a pool, 5 bedrooms, and it is about what we are paying for where we are at now!!

We moved quickly, because you have to around here to get a house-with-a-pool rental.

So, we can officially start moving our stuff over August 15th. That is a Monday.

Not sure what happened there :)

So, I am going to spend that week moving boxes with the kids and letting them swim in their new pool, and the following weekend we will move the big stuff.

For now I am cleaning, throwing away, packing boxes and reevaluating the boxes that we have not opened in the year we have been here.

Mike loves moving Kristen :)

(sarcastic font anyone?)

Well, got to go, will write tomorrow, because there is more exciting stuff on the horizon, something about me and Mike participating in a 200 mile relay...

Kristen

15??!! You've Got to be Kidding!!

2011-06-14T08:08:00.001-06:00

I can't believe my oldest baby girl is 15 today!!

15!!

Absolutely shocking!!

I remember when she was 2, and so fun, a youth pastor told me they would send me their 2 year old to raise, since I thought it was such a fun age. I agreed as long as they would agree to take her through her teen years!

Truth?

I did LOVE her at two and she was so fun, but, I think she is even better now!

She is a fantastic young woman, centered, God focused, loving, compassionate, kind, brilliant, ABSOLUTELY beautiful,funny, the list goes on and on!

I am so blessed to have her in my life!!

Kristen

Rocky Peak Trail

2011-05-31T12:31:00.000-06:00

So we decided yesterday that we should do something we have been wanting to do since we moved here-go hiking!

We are surrounded by the gorgeous Santa Monica mountain range, but had not gotten out on the trails yet, until yesterday!

It was a beautiful day, clear blue skies, 75 degrees, and a day off! Off to the trail we went!

We parked and walked up to the Rocky Peak Trail, and what is the first thing we saw?

A snake.

Yeah, a snake, just all coiled up in the middle of the trail.

I took a ton of pictures of him, but didn't realize till later, that my camera was set on manual, and I hadn't adjusted it for outside :(

Anyways, he wasn't a rattler, Mike said he was a king snake, and he appeared to be not feeling so hot. Another guy on the trail got a huge branch and moved him into the brush.

Once I figured out my camera issue, Mike and I did get some great pictures of the kids and the view.

Love this picture, they look like little ducks :)

Brothers enjoying the view.

They chose this pose!!

Notice they are up high, I'm not :)

Two beautiful girls

My silly boy.

Beautiful!! Can't wait to take some winter pictures when everything is GREEN!!!

Exploring a little cave.

I think this is where I decided I really like hiking- on level ground, that is paved, when I'm wearing flip flops :)

I'm Enrolling the Kids in School!!

2011-05-27T09:16:00.000-06:00

I knew that would get some attention :)

Too many amazing things have happened in the last 24 hours!

Well, about a week ago I was looking for home school options. Groups, co-ops, organizations, anything that would assist us in our journey as home school parents. And as I was looking I ran across an organization that called themselves a home school charter school...

It's called River Oaks and here is their website.

I couldn't comprehend just what it was they were offering, but it really sounded like what we have been looking for, well, forever!

So, Mike and I went to the parent meeting last night, and it was like meeting a long lost relative. I absolutely loved meeting the director of the school, Resa Steindel Brown, and listening to her speak about the brilliance found in all children was beyond amazing.

One of the original reasons we started home schooling, so long ago, was because we believed that God created our children, all people, special. That they have been gifted with special abilities and talents. And I believe that once you discover those talents and focus on them your child will thrive and grow, and there will be no stopping what they can do! And I could never really wrap my mind around how I could help my kids find their specialness, while they were away from me for so many hours a day. So we brought them home, and hoped we would be able to help them identify what God had made them for and raise them up in that.

Now of course this school is a public school so they cannot use the name of God, but everything that Resa spoke of last night was exactly what I believe God has charged us with as parents. He tells us if we raise them up in the way that they have been created that they will not depart from it, and that is exactly the brilliance that Resa is so very passionate about.

This school is a public school, they offer LOTS of workshops for kids and parents to participate in and the only requirements are: monthly assignment turn ins (to show we are fullfilling state requirements, and those assignments count as our attendance), and state testing (which they call worksheets :). That's it!!! We can still use our curriculum. We don't have to go to the school any number of days, just have to be sure to turn in or assignments once a month. I am still the kids primary teacher, and can participate in the classes alongside the kids!

We will have access to teachers who can teach the kids, languages (as well as getting rights to use Rosetta stone at home!), computer programing, science labs, robotics, art, music, and the list goes on and on.

And guess what? It's a public school so it's all free!!!!

I know, I know it is almost too good to be true. But then I found out they have very limited enrollment, and almost cried. We really, really, felt like this is the place for our kids and for us as parents.

Well, I called this morning and I have an appointment to enroll the kids next Tuesday!!!

I am so excited! It will be the first time Kylee, Seth, and Joshua have been enrolled in school!

Okay, so that went fantastic, Faith's braces got put on yesterday without too much trauma or drama, AND I went to the dentist and had a great cleaning with out any visible issues!

Woo Hoo!

Kristen

Kinda Deep for a Monday Morning

2011-05-23T12:17:00.000-06:00

Two posts in one day? It's like feast or famine on this blog!

Today as I was running, singing, praying, praising (yeah, I'm sure it's a sight to behold, but it's my own personal God time) and I got to thinking about how we, I, praise God.

Until a couple of years ago, I would say I knew how to balance disappointment when I didn't get what I wanted, with still praising God for his greatness, knowledge, power, and goodness.

About 10 years ago, Mike and I went to a Jeremy Camp concert and he told a story about his first wife. How told how much he loved her, how happy they were as a young married couple, and then she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He told us about her on her sickest days how she would not be able to move, but would raise her hands in praise to God.

I really wanted that kind of a relationship with God.

And thought I had it.

I mean, things hadn't always gone our way, we had experienced job loss, friend loss, moving away from family, money woes, and in all these things we were able to thank God for what He did provide. This isn't to say we weren't confused by the direction, and His method of accomplishing what needed to happen in our lives, but we didn't doubt His decisions were for our ultimate good.

We praised Him.

Then, we lost our friend Todd. At that moment, nothing seemed to make sense, especially not God's plans.

And, here, I will share not my proudest moment. As his family stood around his hospital bed, singing, as he took his last breaths, I begged for God to please just do a miracle and let Todd live. And as Todd took his last breathe I told God I would never sing to Him again. Actually, in my head, I was screaming it.

I was mad.

Understandably so. I know God felt my pain, but in those moments of my greatest sadness, instead of balancing my anger with God's majesty, I lowered my arms and told Him He was not worth my praise.

That is hard to admit, and not one of my finest moments, but it's the truth.

It took about two days for me to realize I was completely wrong, and beg for His forgiveness.

Now, I'm not saying that I shouldn't have been- mad, sad, angry, terrified, frustrated, confused- God understands pain, and can handle our feelings, even at their ugliest. But there is a difference between being mad, sad, angry, terrified, frustrated, and confused, and telling God He is not worthy.

We are quick to say "Praise God!" and "He is Good!" when our loved one lives, or the house doesn't get foreclosed, or our relationships are good, or you do get the promotion, or you don't lose your job, or the test results are in your favor, but what about when the opposite is true?

Do we still think He is good and praise Him when things aren't going our way?

That is the kind of relationship I want to have with the Creator.

So, I'll keep trying.

Kristen

Charters and Braces

2011-05-23T10:36:00.000-06:00

Where did May go?

I can't believe it is almost June!

This week is an exciting week, not only are we finishing up our school year, but faith is getting braces, and I have a meeting with a perspective homeschool charter school for fall!

Faith's braces have been long awaited. Until we moved here, we were told by two prior orthos that her jaw would have to be broken and set when she turns 18. When this new guy told me we could try braces, I almost kissed him! But it is going to be a long process, so pray for her, and me :)

And, the homeschool charter school, I will discuss later in the week, my hopes are up pretty high and I don't want to make it worse if it doesn't work out :)

Kristen

Faithfully Yours

2011-05-05T17:37:00.002-06:00

Have you checked out this blog???

If you haven't, go there now and read it!

Go ahead, I'll wait :)

Yeah, my kid is the author of that blog, and let me tell you she BLOWS me away!! I mean I knew she was smart, but she is so wise also. How did she get so wise?

She will be 15 in one month and if I had been HALF as wise then as she is now, man, I think my teen years would have looked a whole lot different!!

Well, I hope you take the time to read her thoughts, and show her some blog love :)

Kristen

One Year

2011-05-02T11:38:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure how this is going to go...

Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of my mom passing away.

It was both a good and a bad thing. She had been sick for a very long time. It wasn't a big surprise when the moment finally came. We had been preparing for it for years. We even had several dress rehearsals.

I remember the day the nurse pulled me into my mom's hospital room. I was just a little girl. They wanted to explain to me that my mom was now a diabetic, and would have to give herself shots. She didn't want me freaking out when I saw it for the first time, so they explained the whole thing to me, in detail, so that I would understand why she would have to do this.

I remember the day, as an adult, when I first saw her half-gone foot. For about a month, I had been taking her to her doctors appointments because she couldn't drive while her foot was "hurting" her. The appointment was to clean out the wound on her foot. I had no idea what this wound looked like, but in my simple mind, she had a cut on her foot. I took her to the appointment and waited out in the waiting room for her to finish up. She called me back to ask me something and I got the first view of her poor decimated foot. It was at that moment that I knew she would loose her first limb.

I remember the day when my dad called me to tell me that her other leg was in danger of being amputated. All I could think of was how was she going to make it on no legs? She had poor balance on two legs!!

I remember the morning I got a call from my dad, a few years back, telling me that I had better get a plane ticket and come out, mom didn't have long to live. My dear friends Todd and Paula gave me a ticket to go and see her. And you know what she did after the doctor told us it was the end and we should say goodbye? She lived. Yep, she turned around, got better left that hospital and even went off the dialysis machine! It shouldn't have surprised us, this was the second time she had done this.

I remember the night I was sleeping on my mother-in-law's couch because she had just had surgery and I was helping her out, and the phone rang. My Mom was going to the hospital, and would most likely have to have weekly dyalisis treatments from then on. Her kidneys had given up.

And she lived like that for a couple of years. She was tired a lot. Her quality of life was poor. She was very unhappy and felt really sick and tired much of the time. Whenever I would go and visit her, I always said goodbye, like it was the last time, because I knew that it potentially was the last time I would ever see her.

I remember the day my dad told me that the doctors suggested she be put in hospice. I was out running. I was a mile and a half from home, and I got off the phone and cried and ran the rest of the way home.

It was a hard road for her the last ten years of her life, so her passing was a good thing. We were happy she was out of pain, and wouldn't ever have to go and have another shot, blood draw, shunt insertion, dialysis treatment, hospital visit, or limb removal.

But this last year the sting of being motherless has been hard. It is a really lonely feeling. I am not going to pretend that my mom and I had a perfect relationship, because we didn't, it was far from perfect. But what I do know is that she loved me more than her own life. I know that she did the best she could. And isn't that all that is required of us as moms?

That we do the best we can.

I miss her today, and although I am glad she isn't hurting, I would do anything to hear her laugh and have her talk to the grand babies she cherished.

Kristen

Water Fast

2011-04-28T16:46:00.000-06:00

Well, we made it through Easter.

I don't mean for that to sound terrible. Really I don't.

But for ministry families, holidays can be a tough time. Especially when you are in a new area, and haven't really established yourself fully yet.

But I didn't start this post to complain, so I'll stop!

I do have some great news.

The week of Easter our church decided to do a water fast. They asked those who wanted to participate, to abstain from all beverages other than water for one week, and give the money they saved to help dig water wells in Uganda.

So, Mike and I decided that we would participate, and asked our kids if they would want to also.

They said "YES!"

We explained to them, that it meant, only water. While I know other families made exceptions for their kids and allowed them to have milk, Mike and I asked them to abstain from all drinks except water.

That meant not even milk on cereal!

They all agreed.

They did great! I am so proud of them! They really thought a lot about why they were giving up these other beverages and were so excited to give the money we saved to those who need it much more than we do!

Really, it is such a small sacrifice on our part, to give something life saving to someone else.

I can't wait to find out how much money we raised as a church for clean water!

Kristen

Epic Fall

2011-04-13T10:09:00.001-06:00

So, as I mentioned on Monday, the last couple of months I have been in funkville.

Not just one big long funk, but really two consecutive funks.

The first, the home schooling funk, was over pretty quick, it only lasted about a week.

That one ended just in time to be followed by the I-hate-my-birthday funk.

Now that I am on the tail end of that funk, I decided to start running again.

(I'm pretty sure that while you are in a funk it is unheard of to exercise, so I didn't)

Faith and I got up Monday morning and decided it was time to start running again. And we weren't taking the sissy run either.

This particular run I speak of is three miles.

It goes uphill.

And when I say uphill, I mean UPHILL.

It also goes downhill, which is where I make up my time, for walking on the extreme uphill part :)

So Faith and I were running this morning and we had gotten past the uphill part.

And we were past the downhill part.

We rounded the corner and we were on the home stretch. I was feeling a bit winded and was ready for a walk break, when we came up to a man walking a dog, going in the same direction as us.

He pulled over to the side, which I wasn't thrilled about, because that meant we had to speed up to get past him, then stay running to stay ahead of him.

We ran past him, and I started to imagine the dog was a big scary dog, so I would run faster.

***side note*** You know those little kids that have no sense about animals. The ones who will go running up to the snapping snarling dog and try to pet it? Yeah, that's me. ***

So you can imagine, that I was having quite a time trying to imagine what kind of scary dog was following me.

Well, right in the middle of my imaginative dog chase, my shoe caught on the uneven sidewalk.

I wasn't expecting it, and therefore didn't have time to get my hands out in front of me to catch myself.

I went down on my right side and continued to skid down the sidewalk, banging my head as I went down.

Luckily, we were running alongside the golf course, and I mostly fell in the grass.

It was a pretty epic fall.

I am pretty sure that it was even in slow motion.

I jumped up, not because I felt great, but I was super embarrassed, and the big dog was boring down on us.

And now I think I am officially a real runner.

Or, I'm that little kid I call "the little falling kid". You know the kid I'm talking about, the one on your kids football-soccer-basketball team that falls during every game.

Come on you know the one I'm talking about.

No, I think I am a runner.

Kristen

Time For a Change

2011-04-11T11:27:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been kind of quiet around here.

And when I say "here" I mean, blog-here, not house-here.

Lots going on, not sure where to start.

And... I've had a bad attitude, so I thought I would keep it to myself.

So, now that I am mostly out of my funk, I thought I would write a little.

I think I will start with the home schooling situation.

So, a few months back I said we were going to go and talk to the principal of the local high school about potentially sending Faith to school part-time.

We did.

Unfortunately the offer they had for us wasn't good. Part-time was really full-time, with no diploma at the end.

Mike, Faith, and I decided to pray seperatly about whether she should go, full time, not-part-time-part time, or stay home.

Then I went into a funk.

I couldn't put words to it, but sending her full time just didn't seem like the answer. But I knew something needed to change. And I realized, through the whole move thing, that California-homeschool-Kristen, hasn't been the most fun home school mom.

I have been really focused on getting us set up here. And on top of that, it was also Faith's first year in high school.

So just like I freaked out when Kylee started kindergarten, I kinda freaked out.

Okay, I totally freaked out.

No kinda about it.

I over loaded her with work, and provided very little fun, excitement, or opportunity for love of learning.

Anyways, all this to say it was a major wake-up call to me. I changed up our school schedule, still challenging, but with more hands on activities, shaped it to fit their interests and skills, and I am looking into co-op type groups for the fall.

One cool thing in the middle of all this was, I got a call from God.

Yeah, I said God.

See I was praying and crying and feeling like a pretty lame-o mom, when I finally just asked God to give me a call and tell me what to do about my Faith's schooling.

That's when the phone rang.

I kid you not.

A lady called me. Faith's friend's mom. She called to ask me about one thing, but started the conversation out about home schooling. After she told me how great she thought it was that I home school, I felt compelled to tell her about our week, about the school visit and the decision we were trying to make.

After listening to me she said,"Kristen, I am telling you, don't send her to that school."

I about started to cry. I told her I had asked God to call me and tell me what to do, and this seemed like an answered prayer. She told me some things that I really needed to hear, and since her daughter goes to the school in question, it meant a lot.

Anyways, long story, long, we are going to continue schooling all our kids at home, with some changes for the fall.

And I learned an important lesson: I am not perfect.

There, I said it!

I try really hard but, I make lots of mistakes. And the cool thing is, there is no "too late". Sometimes you just have to acknowledge your mistake, ask for forgiveness, make the change, and move on...

Kristen

Water, Water Everywhere, But Not A Drop To Drink!

2011-03-31T15:01:00.000-06:00

Well, Mike got all the parts and put them all together.

Because, he is that awesome.

The glue is setting, and we are going to give it an hour and see if it is hydra-proof.

I'm praying it is.

Even though the water is turned off, water was still leaking out of the broken pipe, so it was really touch and go trying to get it dry enough to glue.

I am still pretty upset that there either isn't a turn off valve to the sprinklers, or it is broken. That really could have made a big difference to the amount of water that was wasted this morning.

I am finding it a bit ironic that this was all caused by a child doing a chore, without being asked... Maybe this is one of the downfalls of our allowance system :)

I am hoping that we will be able to turn the water back on soon, and return to a normal household.

Or, maybe I'll just go to the beach...

Kristen

Liquid Gold

2011-03-31T11:48:00.000-06:00

Crazy morning!

So I was getting dressed this morning when Kylee and Seth came running up the stairs and knocked on our bedroom door.

"Mom, Dad!!!" they panted, "We were dragging the garbage cans out to the front yard, and now there is water spurting everywhere!"

"What? Where is the water coming from?"

"The ground!"

Uh oh.

So, Mike and I ran down the stairs and out the front door. And sure enough on the side of the house water was pouring out of one of the sprinkler turn off pipes sticking out of the ground.

I bent down to see where the water was coming out, and the pvc pipe was snapped right in two.

Not good.

We quickly called the landlord, hoping she would tell us where the turn off valve for the sprinkler is, but guess what?

There isn't one.

So we called the city and asked them to send someone out.

They called us back after about five minutes and told us to call another number.

Meanwhile, with water costing about a million dollars per drop here in California, water is flooding our front yard and running down the street :(

We called the other number and they said they would send someone.

I walked outside and started to hyperventilate a bit, as I watched my neighbors yard fill up with our water.

Then I prayed. I sat down on Mike's car and begged God to send out the water man as quickly as possible.

And then I got up and turned around and there was the water guy!!!

God is in control.

And Russel the water guy is my new best friend.

So he turned off the water for our entire house, that's fun with four kids, and told us he would come back after we got this thing fixed.

Before he left he told us the city will work with us on our bill, because it's going to be a big one.

I suppose that is a plus.

I am hopeful that my brilliant husband can fix this pipe, so that we don't have to pay to have someone come fix it.

AND that we can fix it quickly so that Russel can come out and turn our water back on.

Kristen

Done For Real!

2011-03-28T14:00:00.000-06:00

Okay, so one more post on allowance, and then I will move on.

I promise.

Another cool thing Mike and I have noticed about our kids and their allowance charts, is that they have all developed an amazing sense of care for their surroundings.

They seem to realize that taking care of our home is all of our responsibilities, no one is in it on their own, and we all like it better when things are kept up.

It doesn't always happen, but they are all getting better at noticing when something needs to be taken care of, and doing it without being asked.

I think the reward aspect of the charts, is what got them to start looking for chore opportunities. As a result of them looking for money making opportunities, they realized it feels good to have a clean house, to have things in order, and that is an added benefit that I didn't expect them to understand.

For example, we tend to do an overall cleaning every week on Thursdays. And just about every Thursday, after we have completed the tasks at hand, at least one of the kids will come up to me and tell me how good it feels to have the house cleaned from top to bottom. They feel a sense of accomplishment and pride, and they got paid for it!

And when things get a little crazy around here, like over a weekend with a bunch of stuff going on, one of the kids will usually ask if we can work through some of the chores on the list, so that we can get things back in order.

This is not to say they are perfect! The boys struggle with keeping their rooms clean, and I still have to keep on top of them.

And, we have had weeks where someone falls behind on their laundry, and they have no underwear :)

It's a good life lesson.

So there you have it, not perfect kids, but at least they try, and that is all I ask.

Kristen

Wrapping it Up!!

2011-03-25T12:51:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I am about ready to wrap up this allowance discussion, and I think I want to talk about why I think this system works for our family.

First, I would like to say, I do not think we have all the answers, nor do I think that we do everything correctly, or that someone else's system will not work or teach monetary responsibility.

This is just the system we chose to use.

Here are some reasons I think it works for us-

The first thing that comes to mind is consistency. When we decided on this allowance plan we started it and stuck to it. Yes, there have been modifications through time, but we didn't give up.

Have we been perfect?

NO!

But the thing is, since we have not given up and the kids know what to expect, it works.

No one likes surprises. They know if they do chores they make money, if they don't do them someone else will and make the money. It is really pretty simple. This leads to the second reason I think it works.

In thinking back to the beginning, I seem to remember a time when it was pretty difficult to get anyone interested in cleaning toilets and mopping floors. But then one kid realized that she had an opportunity to make some money.

And she did.

And the first time we did pay out and she got 15 dollars of her very own money to keep and do with as she pleased (yes, you did the math correctly she earned 60 bucks all together!! That was over a couple of months time) and the others made 1,3, and 5 dollars to keep for themselves, they realized that there was a huge imbalance here, and it had nothing to do with age, favor, or ability. This really created a natural competition, that I don't think we could have created if we had set out to do it.

Another reason I think it is successful, is because our kids need money!! We provide for their basic needs but for extras, they are responsible. We would not, for example, go out and purchase a DS or an iPod for a child, even for a holiday. We also wouldn't ask a relative to make a purchase like that. We feel that by saving and purchasing a bigger item, they have more respect for what they have.

There has to be a need!!! If you, as a parent or grandparent, are providing everything that child wants, then why would they work for it? As they realize that the only way they are going to get the fun things they want is to get to work and earn the money, the sheet starts filling up and I'm a happy Momma!

Okay, I know I said this is the last post, but I think maybe one more, on what I see this system has created in our children.

Kristen

Family Tax

2011-03-23T17:11:00.001-06:00

Now on to family tax.

This idea came from the Oprah guy.

The idea behind family tax is simple- we all have to pay taxes.

You can't escape them.

It is inevitable.

Everyone pays taxes.

So, why not start now!

The quarter of their allowance that gets put into the family tax fund is used for family fun.

It's that simple.

The kids love it and look forward to spending our tax money on fun family activities.

The only real stipulation to the spending of family tax is that it must be used by all the family members, on an activity that is just fun.

It really is a great opportunity for us to get creative as parents, and reminds us to have fun! Fun can be easily forgotten when life gets crazy, so it is a good reminder.

Family tax is something our kids always look forward to. They have never minded contributing a portion of their allowance to the tax. Although calling it a "tax" could potentially give it a negative connotation, it really is a great opportunity to spend time together as a family, and give a positive spin on one of life's necessary requirements.

Kristen

Giving Back to God

2011-03-22T10:53:00.000-06:00

I know I said I would discuss the family tax next, but I think maybe I should talk about the order of the division of money, and how it has made a difference in our children's attitude about money.

The very first thing that the kids give to, out of their allowance, is giving back to God. As I said earlier the kids tithe 25% of their allowance, which is more than God asks for us to give. But really God doesn't ask for much does He? When you think about it, He owns everything and asks ONLY for the first 10%, and He lets us keep the bigger portion for our own enjoyment! That is a pretty generous God!

They have never questioned the amount we set up for them to give, and it has spilled over into the money they earn outside of allowance.

For example, when Faith started to make her own money, through babysitting, before she did anything else she took 25% of the money she had earned and placed it in the money for God.

And she continues to give 25% of her earnings, even after I told her that God only asks for 10%.

And when her sister got her first babysitting job, she brought her money to her sister and asked her to help her take out her money for God, first. She said she wanted to make sure that she gave to God just like Faith does.

I love that they cheerfully give to the One who gives us EVERYTHING, that they don't feel like 25% is too much, and that they realize that it is the first thing we should think about when we get paid.

Kristen

Lettuce Wraps

2011-03-19T20:23:00.001-06:00

We had a great time making food last night, together as a family. It is a really fantastic part of home schooling and one of the things I love to do with the kids.

Since we had just finished a week reading about China in the mid 1900's we decided to take the kids for Chinese food on Friday.

As I got to thinking about it, I decided we would spend less money and have more fun if we just made it ourselves!

So we broke out our recipes for egg rolls, crab rangoon, and (a family favorite) lettuce wraps. Mike and I showed the kids how to wrap the egg rolls and the won tons, they did a fabulous job! Not one egg roll exploded, and if you have ever made them from scratch you will recognize that, that is a feat on its own!!

I have had a bunch of requests for the lettuce wraps recipe, so I thought I would post it here. I did get this recipe somewhere, a long time ago, but I don't remember where, so I can't give credit, but I have seen other copy cat PF Chang lettuce wrap recipes that are the same as mine.

Special Sauce- combine all these ingredients, whisk and refrigerate.

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. rice vinegar
2 T. ketchup
1 T. lemon juice
1/8 tsp sesame oil

Before you serve add:

1 T. Chinese hot mustard
1-3 tsp garlic red chili paste

***This does spice it up a bit, if you don't like spicy be moderate!!! We just give each kid their own little bowl of the sauce and let them add their own mustard and chili sauce***

Next, you need to make the stir fry sauce. I usually double the sauce, but this is the single ingredients:

2 T. soy sauce
2 T. dark brown sugar
1/2 t. rice vinegar
3 T. veg. oil

Mix and set aside.

2 breast fillet cut in small pieces
1 cup water chestnuts
2/3 cup straw mushrooms
3T.chopped green onions
1 t. minced garlic

Use the 2 T. of oil to saute the chicken. If you chicken isn't cut up, cut it after you cook it. Mince chestnuts and mushrooms (I make them unrecognizable)

Add all chopped stuff and to Wok with chicken and stir fry sauce. Cook until hot.

You can use ice berg or bib lettuce to serve. I just wash it the lettuce and gently remove the leaves. Then each person can scoop the filling and put the sauce on their own wrap.

I will post the recipes for the egg rolls and crab rangoon another time :)

Kristen

Splitting the Pay Out

2011-03-18T14:55:00.001-06:00

Now back to the topic of allowance.

As I mentioned earlier, we created a chart that lists a variety of "paid chores". These chores have changed over time, as the kids have grown and based on the needs of the house we are living in.

We base the amount that each chore is worth on how frequently the chore could be done. For example, picking up dog mess in the back yard could be done every day. It is worth 50 cents every time they pick it up. There is a serious opportunity to make good money here. The catch is, it is worth the same amount of money, regardless of how often they do the chore. Unfortunately, for them, it usually only gets done once a week, so they are picking up the same amount of mess in one day for 50 cents that they could have gotten 3.50 for. But other chores like thoroughly cleaning the bathroom is worth 1.00/per cleaning because it is generally done once a week.

So we created a chart with various chores on it. The chores on the chart are chosen by need of the household, and things the kids think should be done. For example, Seth really likes cleaning windows, I am not all that into windows :) but we added it to the list. It is a chore he can make money doing, but that I don't particularly care about.

The chart is created as an excel spread sheet and when the chore is completed they put their initial in a box next to the chore.

Once the chart, or an entire row is filled it is pay out time!!

The payout is another unique aspect of this system. The original Oprah guy suggested splitting the payout into threes, but for our purposes we split it up evenly into four. These four areas are: tithe, savings, personal money, and family tax.

So lets say that one of them earned 40 dollars, this could happen if you let the chart fill up. (It's really best NOT to let the chart fill up, but it does happen :)

That 40 dollars would be split up with 10 dollars going to God, 10 dollars going into their savings account, 10 dollars going to them to spend how ever they see fit, and 10 dollars in to family tax.

Tomorrow I will go into greater depth and explain the family tax, what it's used for, and the thinking behind it, as well as one of the reasons, I think, that my kids are motivated to do the chores on the list.

Kristen

James 3:18

2011-03-17T17:42:00.000-06:00

Now for a break from allowance charts. I will return tomorrow, but this afternoon, Kylee said the coolest thing.

I was cleaning my bathroom when Kylee came in. She said,"Mom, you know yesterday when I was angry and I had to go to my room to calm down?"

I said yes.

She said,"Well, while I was in there I thought I should look up some scriptures that talk about anger, so I did. I found James 3:18. And do you know what it says?"

I said no.

She said," It says 'Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness' so I was just thinking, that every time I get upset and feel angry I will just say that over and over. I did it today and it has really helped me!"

Wise beyond her years.

Kristen

This is Just the Beginning...

2011-03-16T15:25:00.005-06:00

Alright, here we go! There is a lot to cover so I am just going to start writing and see how far I get today!

I really don't remember how much of our current plan was this Oprah-guy's idea and how much of it, we had morphed to fit our family. So I will just tell you what we came up with and how it works for us, but keep in mind, some of it is original and some of it isn't.

First, I would like to say, that we started this program with our kids when they were 5, 3 and 1. They are now 14 1/2, 12 1/2, 10 and 8 1/2. We decided, at that time, that the age of 5 was a good time to start a program like this. But as all the kids grew up knowing the system from a very young age, they have all entered in to the allowance program at different ages and stages. I think you need to know your kid.

I think that this system has worked for us for a couple of reasons:

a) We started it young! We had time to make mistakes and then changes based on what we found to work and not work. Little kids are a lot more understanding of this process than, say teenagers. I am not saying that you couldn't start this with a teenager, I just think you may have more work on your hands :)

b) As parents Mike and I are stubborn...um...I mean consistent. When we decided to take this on, just like many other challenges in parenting, we knew that we were going to have to stick to our guns, in the good and the bad. We aren't perfect in this, but we try really hard :)

Okay, so here is the basic premise of our system:

We have a chore chart. On it there are a variety of chores. They range from easier tasks (for the littler guys) to more difficult, time consuming, or just plain yucky tasks for the older kids. All the chores are assigned a monetary amount, so that once it is completed they know just how much they have earned. There are no limits or restrictions as to how many times a week a chore can be done or who can do it. That last statement isn't totally true, I do have quality control standards :) For example, if you aren't tall enough to vacuum and do it well, then you can't do that chore.

With this system, any child has the potential to make a good bit of money in any given week. I realize there is a potential for backfire here, but in our almost 10 years of using this system, we haven't experienced it yet :)

All of the chores on the chart are chores that we consider to be above their standard responsibilities. Now that they are older standard/non paying chores would include:

cleaning their room
feeding/washing their animals
washing/folding/and putting away their own laundry (yes, even the eight year old)

These responsibilities have to be kept up, for us to pay them for the paying chores that are on the list.

When they were little the only non paying job was cleaning their room. We felt that since it was their space, they should take personal responsibility for it and it didn't warrant payment. Kind of a good life lesson, no one pays you to clean your house/apartment/dorm room when you get older, it is a matter of personal pride and care.

Okay, this is long enough for one post :) I will write more about the charts and how the money is paid out and divided up tomorrow!

Kristen

Moni, Moni, Money... Money!!

2011-03-16T10:16:00.004-06:00

Today I thought I would write about a topic near and dear to all kid's hearts...allowance.

I don't know many parents that don't struggle with the how, what, when, and whys of this challenging topic.

And to be honest when our first child got to be of allowance age, we struggled too.

How much do you give a child?

At what age should you start?

Should it be based on performance or is it just our responsibility, as parentals, to provide an allowance?

How can we use it to teach them the importance of money?

All these questions and more were going through our heads when it came time to start considering allowance.

The first technique I heard about was to give them half their age in allowance each week. It could be dependent on simple chores, but didn't have to be.

That seemed simple enough. We had a five year old at the time. I thought we could handle 2.50 a week.

After several weeks of this we found that it didn't seem to be working out. There was no motivation behind earning the 2.50. She didn't really care about it and wouldn't do the chores we thought she should do to get it. We felt like we were just paying out with no lesson being learned. This felt like we were teaching monetary irresponsibility.

Then one day, I was watching Oprah, and she had a financial guy on her show. To be honest I can't remember who the guy was. I wish I could remember who he was, I would love to thank him. He gave us the allowance system that we use to this day. It has been effective in motivating our kids to do chores, use their money responsibly, tithe regularly (above and beyond what we are called to tithe), and has taught them how to use their money (outside allowance money) in an outstanding fashion.

What is this system? How does it work? Why does it work?

More tomorrow...

Kristen

Potato Leek Pizza

2011-03-15T10:44:00.003-06:00

We love making home-made pizza in our house. I found the perfect dough recipe a few years ago, and have been using it as a base for my pizza ever since. It is very versatile and can be used to make a thick doughy crust or a thin crispy crust.

1 T. yeast
1/2 t. sugar
2 2/3 cups warm water
2 T. olive oil
1 T. coarse salt
7 1/2 cups flour

Mix together ingredients. I usually let the mixer mix it for about 5 minutes on a higher speed, then let it rest for about 10 minutes.

This recipe makes two crusts, If you want thinner crusts, you can stretch it to three crusts.

I made this crust yesterday and decided to try something new- potato leek pizza.

I got the recipe out of "The Pioneer Women Cooks", with some modifications (due to ingredients that I had in the house)

Three yukon gold potatoes, or red potatoes
1 leek (her recipe called for three leeks, that seemed like too much leek for me, but maybe that's just me :)
1/2 pound bacon
1 pound mozzarella
olive oil
salt
goat cheese
Parmesan cheese

First, I sliced the potatoes very thin. I used a slicer to get them potato chip thin. Then I soaked them in cool water and set them aside.
Next, I sliced the leek super thin and set it aside.
Then, I chopped the bacon and fried it up, once cooked I removed it from the pan and set it aside.
I put the leeks into the pan with the bacon grease and sauteed them.

After the crust has been stretched out on the pan, I sprinkled olive oil, garlic and coarse salt all over the crust.

Once the crust was ready to go, I dried the potatoes and layered them on to the pizza, overlapping slightly.

After the potatoes were on the pizza, I spread the leek all over the potatoes, then I sprinkled the bacon over that and the mozzarella last.

I didn't have goat cheese, but this is the time that the goat cheese and the fresh Parmesan would go on.

Then bake. She said to bake at 500 for 8-11 minutes. I baked it at 450 for about 15 minutes. I watched it closely and once the crust and top looked brown I took it out. I was so scared the potatoes wouldn't be cooked all the way, but they were perfect!

It was delicious!!

Kristen

Home Schooling Revealed!!

2011-03-09T10:49:00.003-06:00

I ran across this blog post on another home school mom's blog today. It addresses some of the questions and misconceptions that public school parents might have about home school parents/children.

It is one I have been wanting to write for some time, but have never had the right words.

I think this mom did an excellent job of expressing everything I would want to say, so I am just going to link to it here and say enjoy!!

Kristen

Lemonade, Fresh Cold Lemonade!!

2011-03-08T11:22:00.003-06:00

My kids have this strange entrepreneur gene, and I'm not sure where they got it.

Must be Mike, because it certainly isn't from me!

As a kid, I don't remember ever wanting to sell anything. It just wasn't my idea of a good time.

And as an adult, the mere thought of me having to have a garage sale breaks me out into a cold sweat with hives sure to follow.

But my kids, they LOVE to sell stuff, and are constantly looking for an opportunity to make a buck on the street.

Last week Seth came up with his brilliant scheme.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning and Seth came running in from playing outside. "Mom! Mom!" he shouted in his sweet out of breath voice.

"Yes" I answered.

"I have the best idea! You know how the lady across the street is always having garage sales?"

"Um, yes." Gulp. Uh oh.

"Well, I was thinking with all that traffic, and these warm days, I bet I could sell a lot of lemonade if I opened a lemonade stand while she is having her garage sales! What do you think?" he said with a look of utter delight on his face.

"Hmmm, do you have any money for start up costs?" (please say no, please say no...)

"Nooo, but if you buy the first lemonade mix, I will pay you back out of my first profit!"

So I bought him his start up lemonade.

I have so many thoughts about this venture.

First of which is- why in the world a perfectly healthy little boy would want to spend his time selling lemonade on a beautiful sunny California day?

Also, I wonder if my entrepreneurial neighbor is going to want a cut on his profits?

And if we aren't careful our street could, just possibly, start looking a lot like a flea market :)

Kristen

He's All In

2011-03-07T12:31:00.005-06:00

I am blessed!

We just spent a great week with my dad, and I am overwhelmed with how blessed I am to have him in our lives.

It has been a tough year. When my mom passed away last May 3, I had no idea what our life would look like almost a year later. I knew we wanted to be closer to my dad but had no idea how that was going to happen.

Then God dropped us in California.

After being 2000 miles away from our family for 10 years we were finally going to be in driving distance.

Since we've been here, he has made the yucky 7 hour trek every couple of months, just to spend time with us. It isn't easy for him, but he does it because he knows how important this relationship is. We need him.

And because he pours over the kids, they respond to him in the most amazing way.

While he was here each kid expressed their desire to be near him in a different way, and it was so cool to watch.

Joshi is not a morning person, but my dad is. My dad is actually a too-early-in-the-morning-for-anyone-in-their-right-mind-person. He regularly gets up around 4 in the morning!

Yikes!

Every morning my dad was here, Joshi set his alarm for 6 o'clock, so that he could get up and spend a couple of hours with him alone.

Precious.

And once Seth was up, he was attached to his Papa's side. If my dad went somewhere his little buddy was right by his side.

Faith and Kylee spent time making sure Papa was okay. Watching out for him. Especially at Disney. They were very concerned about how he was, if he needed anything, making sure we didn't lose him :) Also, my dad, who has perfect day time vision, is essentially blind in the dark. So they spent a lot of time making sure I didn't swing him into too many walls in the dark caverns of the rides at Disney!!

These kids yearn for this relationship. We spent a lot of years too far away from grandparents, and now that they have a chance to have it they are hungry for it!

I am so glad that he chooses to be here. That he chooses to spend his time, to make the sacrifice of his comfort and his desires, to be here with us. I know he could be in a lot of places, but he chooses to be with us. I love that when he is here he is all in for whatever they want to do. If they want to play Bananagrams for hours on end, he's in. If they want to go to the park and play football or bags, he's in. No complaining, he just smiles and goes with it.

The time he is spending here is something they will never forget and it blesses me!!

Kristen

Just Try and Make Plans

2011-03-01T13:23:00.004-06:00

These last two weeks have been a bit overwhelming to me.

Last week was the high school visit, which I am not ready to discuss, so I won't.

And this week Mike has plans to go to an overnight conference from Wed-Fri. I thought this would be a great opportunity to spend some quality time with my Dad, so I invited him to come and spend a couple of days with me and the kids. It was supposed to be a week of fun, maybe even a trip to Disney with Papa!

I was really looking forward to him being here, and then last night Joshi got sick... twice.

I couldn't afford to get my dad sick, so I called him at 5 o'clock this morning and told him he should not come today.

I am sooo sad about this.

I got up and bleached everything that isn't moving.

And since Joshi has been awake, he says he feels fine, has eaten- toast, applesauce, and two glasses of ginger ale. No fever.

Weird.

Hoping he is fine, and no one else gets sick. Hoping I can talk my dad into coming tomorrow, so we can still have a fun week :)

Also Mike and I have tickets to go see Hillsong tonight! Think if everyone is good I will still be able to go.

Why is it that you can go for weeks with nothing going on and everyone is well, but make plans and someone gets sick???

Kristen

Back to School

2011-02-22T17:36:00.003-06:00

Well, it's that time of the year again. I am starting to investigate what it looks like to get my Masters degree.

I knew when I completed my Bachelors degree that I wasn't really finished with school and I am really excited about working towards a career.

I really want to be mindful of what my primary focus is right now and that is the education of my kids, but I also want to continue to look forward to the future.

Let's face it, at the most in 10 years my job gets outsourced. My kids will all be in college or working in their profession of choice, and my job as a home school mom will be...gone.

It is really exciting to think that in just a few years I could be doing a totally different job with all new adventures!

So, my hearts desire, right now, is to get a masters degree in counseling- marriage and family therapy. I don't know if that focus will change when I start the program, but I really feel like that is the direction God has been leading me in for quite some time.

There are a couple of problems with that degree.

First, the degree I get must be primarily on-line. I understand there will be a point where I will have to intern or do something like that to get practical experience, but for the most part I need the classes to be online.

Also, I need to make sure that the school isn't just accredited but it will also lead me into getting a license to practice in whatever state we may be in at that time. I have heard horror stories of people spending the time and money to get on-line degrees from some of these accredited on-line schools just to find out when they finish that they can not be licensed in the state they are in. For this reason, I am leaning towards a CA school that offers on-line degrees, but running into a road block when it comes to the degree I am looking into.

I am excited and a little fearful, but know that I can take this challenge on, and know that God will lead me to the right place and the right degree.

Kristen

2010-2011 School Year

2011-02-17T11:33:00.005-06:00

We are finishing our 17th week of our school year this week, and I thought I would give an update as to how our year is progressing.

Our curriculum started us out in the late 1800's, and we are now just finishing up with WWII.

Kylee finished reading "Lord of the Flies" yesterday, and only cried twice :) She is also working on finishing a WWII poster on some of the highlights of the war. She has been writing mini-reports each week on different aspects of the war.

Faith is reading "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok. In one week she will have her 9-week comprehensive final. This year I started giving Faith weekly tests as well as these 9-week comprehensive tests in history and literature. She has always taken math tests and science tests but these history and literature tests are her first experience with timed short answer/essay type tests. She has done really well on them, and is learning some valuable test taking skills. On the writing front, she is in the final stages of writing a 10 page research paper on Women's roles during WWII.

Seth is currently reading "Pipi Longstocking". He wasn't so sure about it when he first saw it, but he is great about not judging a book by it's cover and has enjoyed reading it. He has also been working on writing a 6 page biography of Stalin. And this week is working on campaign posters for Truman and Dewey.

Joshi is reading "Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot" a book about the pilots who dropped supplies from the skies during the year after WWII, when Stalin set up blockades of all roads, railroads, and canal routes going in and out of West Berlin. This is a true story of a pilot who would drop candy for the children. He has been working on an "inventions of the 20th century" project for the last eight weeks, and is almost done. His writing assignments have been focusing on writing compare and contrast papers.

We have also just started going through a bible study about the mind of Christ. Ideally, we are going to learn to think more like Christ. The author of the study states that there are 6 attributes that characterize the mind of Christ, and help you to develop these traits. There are weekly memory verses, this week's is Roman 12:2, and a unit memory verse which is Philippians 2:5-11. The kids are great at memorizing these verses, I am the one who struggles with memorization. It is actually an adult bible study, but the kids are doing great! It is covering some great stuff, like purity and humbleness.

The boys are doing Apologia astronomy, Kylee is doing a general science course from Apologia and Faith is doing Apologia Biology.

Faith has also had U.S. Government and Philosophy as electives this year. It has been an interesting experience studying some of these philosophers from a christian perspective.

We have tried to introduce Spanish this year, but I haven't been very successful with that, may be time for a Spanish teacher :)

Overall it has been a great year so far!

Kristen

Rosemary Focaccia Bread

2011-02-16T12:13:00.004-06:00

So after stressing out for a week over this meeting with the principal, it got canceled!

Got a note last night from the principal and he said that he had a meeting and would not be at the tour today, so I rescheduled for next week.

Don't know if I am relieved that I don't have to do it this week, or upset because I am just continuing the stress for another week.

On a less stressful note, I made some delicious focaccia bread yesterday, and thought I would share it.

I made the bread just as the recipe states, but gave it about an hour to rise as dough and also an hour to rise once it was rolled out to its bread form. I know a tablespoon of salt sounds like a lot, but it is kosher salt, so it works perfect!

As for the top I didn't measure the salt, oil, rosemary, or cheese, I just sprinkled it on.

It was super easy, and so yummy!!

Thinking Outside of the Box

2011-02-14T10:10:00.005-06:00

What have I gotten myself into?

We have been feeling it has been time for a change on the school front, for Faith, for a couple of years, and before moving we had even looked into some of our options.

We had opened communication with the principal of our local school in Illinois about Faith attending some elective type classes and participating in after school activities for her freshman year of school.

Up to this point, Faith has not shown an interest in going to a traditional school, but when she expressed an interest to attend part time, I looked into it.

As we approached the start of her freshman year we were also approaching a pretty major move across the country. Well, the move seemed to be enough change for one year, and we decided to wait on any other big changes.

But now we are settled and are looking ahead to the fall semester. We are investigating what our options are for Faith's Sophomore year at high school.

Yikes, she is going to be a Sophomore!!

Anyways, I wrote to the principal of Simi Valley High School last week, and got back a great response. They are running tours of the school every Wednesday of February and he invited Faith and I to come and check it out.

When I expressed to him that I wasn't sure how this was all going to look, since we only want her to attend part time, he said we could "think outside of the box".

Those are beautiful words to me!! I love that God put us in a school district where the principal is willing to "think outside of the box" when it comes to the education of my child! I do not want to depend on this school for anything that I think we do well at home, i.e. math, writing, literature, history, bible, and science. But for things like art, foreign language, p.e., and drivers ed. it would be GREAT to have assistance in these subjects.

With all that said, we are moving forward and going to the tour and a meeting with the principal this Wednesday, and I am STRESSING OUT!!!

Pray for us! Pray that we will be able to think clearly and hear clearly. Pray that if this is the right move for our family, for our Faith, that Mike and I will know it after this meeting. And if this isn't the right choice He will open up the right door and we will recognize it!

This is a very hard decision for me. We have a great time at home, and I really don't want to rock the boat. But, I do want what is best for my kids, and I think this is worth looking into, so here we go!

Kristen

Fifi the Five Foot Vampire Goose

2011-02-08T11:14:00.003-06:00

We have a lovely walking route, and if we do the whole thing, it is about three miles in length. It goes up hill, down hill, and past a beautiful park/golf course.

We often wait until the evening and walk it as a family after dinner, but on Mondays I go to a small group in the evening, so the kids and I have been trying to walk it in the afternoon.

Yesterday, we started down the street, it was a beautiful day, 75 degrees and sunny. The boys had brought their bikes and Kylee was running up ahead with them, while Faith and I were walking at a quick pace right behind them.

About five minutes into our walk, as we were walking by the beautiful golf course, I looked up ahead and saw three giant geese sitting by the sidewalk. As the three kids up ahead got closer to the three geese, one of the geese got up and looked quite upset.

The next thing I know she (the kids have dubbed her Fifi) began squawking and with her head low down to the ground she charged the kids!

Kylee, Seth and Joshi turned themselves around and took off back towards Faith and me. This crazy Fifi chased them down the sidewalk and even bit Joshi's tire!

By the time the three kids reached us, Joshi was in tears and they all suggested we just turn around and go down the other side of the street.

Well, I was not about to let a goose tell me I couldn't walk down the street!!

So, I told the kids we were just going to walk straight down that sidewalk, right past Fifi and we would be just FINE!

Meanwhile, Fifi had not taken her eyes off of us. We very determinedly walked back towards the three geese, and when we got about halfway there, she began screaming and charging us again!!

Okay, I admit it, I ran.

This Fifi meant business.

I decided we were going to have to just go out into the bike lane of the very busy street, and walk very quickly by this very scary avian menace.

We waited for traffic to clear and I grabbed Joshi's bike. He and I ran as fast as we could down the bike lane and got past Fifi to the other side.

Victory!!

I turned around to cheer with the other three and realized they were not behind me, they had gotten scared and were cowering on the sidewalk, being yelled at by a very angry Fifi!

I told the kids to just do what I had done, wait for the traffic to clear and run!

The girls made it.

Now, Seth was trapped on the other side of gooseland and Fifi looked like she really meant business.

She was on to our game, and at this point there was no guarantee that she was not going to follow him right out into traffic this time!

I decided to try and distract her by coming towards her from the other side, the safe side, which seemed to work. She quit giving Seth the bird-eye and came after me, which in turn made all the kids on the safe side scream.

Seth got out into the bike lane and made it to safety, and Fifi turned her goose tail and walked off towards the golf course.

We ended up stopping at a friend's house instead of continuing on our walk. By the time we got to our destination, the boys had morphed Fifi the goose into a five-foot vampire beast with huge fangs and a troll like voice.

Do you think they are going to need therapy?

Kristen

Productivity

2011-02-07T11:24:00.003-06:00

It's 9:24 Monday morning, and I have already been super productive.

It was a great weekend. We had dinner with some new friends on Friday night. It was a fabulous evening of connection, time both Mike and I needed!

Saturday night was the big surprise party for my friend JoAnna. Another great opportunity for Mike and I to connect with others. We even stayed to listen to Dick Dale, surf guitarist, for a bit before heading home.

We pulled into our house that night, tired and ready to fall into bed, when I opened the back door and heard this strange beeping noise.

Hmmm.

I walked down the hallway and soon realized it was the washer. I had never heard this odd insistent beeping noise it was emitting.

I opened the laundry closet door, or tried to open it, when I realized the door to our front loader was ajar, and being held partially closed by the closet door. I reached in and tried to shut it but there were clothes spilling out and I really had to push.

I finally got the washer door closed enough to open the closet door, and that is when I realized there was water EVERYWHERE!

Apparently, the locking mechanism on our washer door decided that in the middle of a wash cycle was a good time to stop, well, locking.

So instead of going to bed we were cleaning up water. The funny thing is that the washer is still acting like it is locking, and doesn't seem to think it has a problem, so I have no idea how long this has been going on.

That was my first order of business this morning. I called those Whirlpool guys and made an appointment for Thursday afternoon. This family of 6 will have to take our chances on the locking door, because a week without laundry isn't going to work here :)

Also, this morning I sent an email to the local Magnet Arts and Tech. high school, to see if they are willing to accept a part time student. Faith is very interested in attending part time in the fall, and I would love some help with some of these subjects that aren't in my skill subset.

While all of that was happening, I was making sure all the kids were started on their assignments for the day, figuring out dinner for tonight, and answering neglected email from the weekend!

If only I can be this productive the rest of the day :)

Kristen

A Story About a Grill

2011-02-04T14:22:00.003-06:00

I am laughing right now.

There is a lady on our little 12 house cul-de-sac who has a garage sale business.

She has garage sales EVERY single Thursday, Friday, and Saturday!

It is a tad bit irritating. There isn't a lot of parking room, on our street, and with the extra people on the street, perusing the goods, it gets really crowded.

But, this week we decided to take advantage of our crazy garage sale-ing neighbor.

We had some things in the move that were damaged beyond usability. One of those things was our grill.

When we moved, we chose a mover that said they would cover 100% of the cost of anything damaged. That wasn't totally true (but that's a different story), but in the case of the grill, they did give us what we claimed.

So, here is our dilemma, now we have a broken grill that needs to go, before Mike's wife :) will let him purchase a new one.

What to do, what to do...

That is when I came up with the brilliant plan! We would use the advantage of all the garage sale traffic, and put our grill out in the driveway with a free sign on it! After all, we just really need to get rid of it, right?

So that is exactly what we did this morning.

Several people got out of their trucks and looked at the grill then, drove away.

I was quickly realizing, we couldn't even give it away.

Then, I heard the clatter of the grill being drug away! I excitedly looked out the window, to see the garage sale neighbor, dragging the grill across the street to her garage sale!!!

She promptly removed the sign, and placed it prominently out in front.

After about 15 minutes and several people looking at it, she sold it!!

Don't know for how much, but she sold my broken grill to some poor consumer.

The good news is, now Mike can get a new grill :)

Kristen

Maple and Merfume

2011-01-31T13:21:00.003-06:00

I, admittedly, have some strange quirks.

One of those being I can't stand the smell of maple. I can eat it with no problem, it isn't actually the smell of maple in itself, it's more the smell of maple on skin.

I think this comes from teaching pre-school. Have you ever smelled a child who hadn't bathed in several days?

Maple.

So, when I had children, I made two vows.

One, I would bath my children, often.

And two, if they did consume maple they would quickly get a bath.

This last week I was taking the boys to choir. They got in the van, and it became obvious that one of them had over done it on the cologne. (Santa brought cologne for Christmas, crazy Santa)

I said,"Whew! Smells like one of you might have over done it a bit with the merfume" (that's what they call cologne)

Josh quietly says from the backseat,"Yeah, that was me. I was walking up the stairs and smelled maple and thought it was me, so I went in my room and sprayed on some of my merfume, maybe a little too much..."

Maple.

Faith was burning a candle in her room, which is right by the stairs, and it just happened to be a hazelnut candle which surprisingly smells a lot like maple.

My poor children.

Kristen

Kylee's Fumble

2011-01-27T18:28:00.003-06:00

Had an interesting interaction with my Kylee Hope yesterday.

She was outside playing with her brothers and some neighbor boys when all of a sudden she came in through the back door, and walked straight up to her room.

I was sitting on the couch reading a book, and asked her if everything was alright. There was something in her demeanor that told me she was really angry and was trying to hold it all together, but she wasn't stomping, or crying, just seemed a little upset.

She very calmly said,"I am really angry and just need to go to my room and calm down."

After a short bit she came down the stairs and I called her over and asked her if she wanted to talk about it.

She sat down on the couch and began crying. Here is pretty close to what she said:

"I was outside playing football with the boys, and Seth fumbled the ball, so I told him he had to go back to where he started from and he said, no, that he could start from where he fumbled it, and then, I got really mad at him and called him a jerk, and now I feel very remorseful that I called him that name and I did it in front of our friends, and I feel terrible about how I acted." (huge tears falling)

I was speechless. She had done a fabulous job of working out her anger, separating herself and coming full circle to accepting her fault in the situation (her out of control anger) and even felt remorse (her exact words) for her outburst.

I love that her focus was no longer on the action that had made her angry. I have to admit I am guilty of this. How easy is it to try and justify our rage with whatever it was that caused it. "If they hadn't done ____ I wouldn't have ___" Instead, she recognized her actions were not justified and felt compelled to make it right.

I encouraged her to go and tell her brothers and her friends that she was sorry for her outburst. I also encouraged her to tell her brother that when he tries to change the rules in the middle of a game (what 10 year old boy doesn't?) that it frustrates her.

She's a great kids, and it is awesome to see her growing and maturing!

Kristen

Jeremiah 31

2011-01-27T11:40:00.005-06:00

For the last few days I have had a scripture constantly pop up in my head.

It's not a common verse, that is repeated often, like John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

And until a couple of days ago, not one that I had ever thought about very much.

But it keeps popping into my head. I woke up this morning repeating Jeremiah 31 over and over.

It is really great stuff. I read it as a love letter between God and His people. It speaks of love and hope and forgiveness. It speaks of joy after pain and a new covenant with His people.

Just not sure what it is that He wants me to get, so I am reading it over and over and praying on it, and hoping God shows me what it is that I need to take from it.

Then, I thought, maybe it isn't a message for me specifically, but someone I know, so I thought I would be obedient and post this verse, maybe someone I know needs to hear it today :)

Here it is:
“In that day,” says the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people. ² This is what the Lord says:

“Those who survive the coming destruction
will find blessings even in the barren land,
for I will give rest to the people of Israel.”

³ Long ago the Lord said to Israel:
“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.
With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
⁴ I will rebuild you, my virgin Israel.

you will again be happy
and dance merrily with your tambourines.
⁵ Again you will plant your vineyards on the mountains of Samaria
and eat from your own gardens there.
⁶ The day will come when watchmen will shout
from the hill country of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Jerusalem
to worship the Lord our God.’”

⁷ Now this is what the Lord says:
“Sing with joy for Israel.
Shout for the greatest of nations!
Shout out with praise and joy:
‘Save your people, O Lord,
the remnant of Israel!’
⁸ For I will bring them from the north
and from the distant corners of the earth.
I will not forget the blind and lame,
the expectant mothers and women in labor.
A great company will return!
⁹ Tears of joy will stream down their faces,
and I will lead them home with great care.
They will walk beside quiet streams
and on smooth paths where they will not stumble.
For I am Israel’s father,
and Ephraim is my oldest child.

¹⁰ “Listen to this message from the Lord,
you nations of the world;
proclaim it in distant coastlands:
The Lord, who scattered his people,
will gather them and watch over them
as a shepherd does his flock.
¹¹ For the Lord has redeemed Israel
from those too strong for them.
¹² They will come home and sing songs of joy on the heights of Jerusalem.
They will be radiant because of the Lord’s good gifts—
the abundant crops of grain, new wine, and olive oil,
and the healthy flocks and herds.
Their life will be like a watered garden,
and all their sorrows will be gone.
¹³ The young women will dance for joy,
and the men—old and young—will join in the celebration.
I will turn their mourning into joy.
I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.
¹⁴ The priests will enjoy abundance,
and my people will feast on my good gifts.
I, the Lord, have spoken!” ¹⁵"

This is what the Lord says:

“A cry is heard in Ramah—
deep anguish and bitter weeping.
Rachel weeps for her children,
refusing to be comforted—
for her children are gone.”

¹⁶ But now this is what the Lord says:
“Do not weep any longer,
for I will reward you,” says the Lord.
“Your children will come back to you
from the distant land of the enemy.
¹⁷ There is hope for your future,” says the Lord.
“Your children will come again to their own land.
¹⁸ I have heard Israel saying,
‘You disciplined me severely,
like a calf that needs training for the yoke.
Turn me again to you and restore me,
for you alone are the Lord my God.
¹⁹ I turned away from God,
but then I was sorry.
I kicked myself for my stupidity!
I was thoroughly ashamed of all I did in my younger days.’

²⁰ “Is not Israel still my son,
my darling child?” says the Lord.
“I often have to punish him,
but I still love him.
That’s why I long for him
and surely will have mercy on him.
²¹ Set up road signs;
put up guideposts.
Mark well the path
by which you came.
Come back again, my virgin Israel;
return to your towns here.
²² How long will you wander,
my wayward daughter?
For the Lord will cause something new to happen—
Israel will embrace her God.”

²³ This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity, the people of Judah and its towns will again say, ‘The Lord bless you, O righteous home, O holy mountain!’ ²⁴ Townspeople and farmers and shepherds alike will live together in peace and happiness. ²⁵ For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing.”

²⁶ At this, I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been very sweet.

²⁷ “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will greatly increase the human population and the number of animals here in Israel and Judah. ²⁸ In the past I deliberately uprooted and tore down this nation. I overthrew it, destroyed it, and brought disaster upon it. But in the future I will just as deliberately plant it and build it up. I, the Lord, have spoken!

²⁹ “The people will no longer quote this proverb:

‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste.’

³⁰ All people will die for their own sins—those who eat the sour grapes will be the ones whose mouths will pucker.

³¹ “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. ³² This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.

³³ “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ³⁴ And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

³⁵ It is the Lord who provides the sun to light the day
and the moon and stars to light the night,
and who stirs the sea into roaring waves.
His name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
and this is what he says:
³⁶ “I am as likely to reject my people Israel
as I am to abolish the laws of nature!”
³⁷ This is what the Lord says:
“Just as the heavens cannot be measured
and the foundations of the earth cannot be explored,
so I will not consider casting them away
for the evil they have done.
I, the Lord, have spoken!

³⁸ “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when all Jerusalem will be rebuilt for me, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. ³⁹ A measuring line will be stretched out over the hill of Gareb and across to Goah. ⁴⁰ And the entire area—including the graveyard and ash dump in the valley, and all the fields out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the Horse Gate—will be holy to the Lord. The city will never again be captured or destroyed.”

Orders Up!!

2011-01-26T13:24:00.003-06:00

One of the many cools things about schooling our kids at home is the sense of independence I see them developing.

Their lessons for the week are largely self guided and because of this, they have learned to be very self-motivated.

Since they are home with me they are responsible for things that other children, who go to a traditional school, may not have the time to do.

For example, they all do their own laundry. Even the boys, who have been doing their own laundry now for about two years. They do a great job and work together to get it done. They sometimes choose to put it off, but quickly learn that that is not a good idea when they are down to one pair of underwear each, and the washer is being used by someone else that day :)

Another household duty that they participate in, that's a little more fun, is cooking. All four of them have become quite self-sufficient when it comes to kitchen work.

A couple of weeks back I hurt my neck/back, and literally couldn't move off the couch. Faith planned to make bake potato soup for dinner and I asked Kylee and Seth to bake a loaf of bread. They made the dough by themselves, rolled it out, let it rise, and baked it. I am pretty sure I couldn't have made a loaf of bread when I was 10 or even 12 years old!

And at lunch one of Seth's favorite things to do it take everyone's order and make them their lunch. This is often very complicated and involves hot lunches. Okay, who am I kidding, it ALWAYS involves hot lunches, my kids will only eat cold sandwiches if there is no other option :)

So about 10 minutes before lunch he runs around the house taking down everyone's orders and then hangs the sheet of paper from the microwave as he gets out his griddle to prepare these culinary masterpieces. He often has a sou chef by his side to do the side work, and help with clean up. Their cooperation is amazing, when they are doing something they enjoy.

I think his lunch time chefery (I just made that word up!) is awesome. Not only does it teach him to cook, manage a task, and work with others, but it also shows his sweet servant heart.

Kristen

Beds, Rest, and Ports

2011-01-24T11:32:00.005-06:00

We had a fantastic weekend!

First, I have a confession to make, Mike and I have been married for 16 years and have never bought a mattress.

So, after sleeping on a very lumpy and uncomfortable mattress for quite a few years, we decided our anniversary gift would be a new mattress.

This was a big decision for us, and it took us several weeks, but finally we made the purchase last week.

We decided to buy from Costco, because of their return policy.

And, because of their return policy, we went with a memory foam mattress instead of a traditional mattress.

We ordered it on Tuesday and got it two days later! Crazy fast!

Since it is memory foam it had to expand for two days, but we got to sleep on it for the first time on Saturday night.

I LOVE IT!! It is super firm, and I am waking up with no back pain! Mike isn't having the same great experience so far, but our last bed was squishy, and he woke up with back pain as well, so may just be him :)

Besides getting our new mattress, the other exciting thing that happened this weekend was- Mike took the weekend off.

Just took it off, for no reason, except that it was time to take a weekend off!

If you know Mike this is HUGE! He doesn't take times of rest well, and is something that he is working on. Thankfully, his boss said it was time for a break, and Mike listened!

We had a real weekend, and even spent Sunday at Disney.

Disney is always fun, we never buy food there, too expensive, and so by the end of the day our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches had worn thin. We remembered there was a Portillos in the neighborhood and found it!

It was soooo delicious! Italian Beef dipped, with sweet peppers and cheese fries. Not health food, but oh, so good!

We miss Chicago, not the weather, but the people. It's funny how food can make you feel close to something you love. We all left feeling warm and comforted.

And, as a bonus, there is a thrifty ice cream right across the street from Ports!

Yes, we indulged. Then back home again to my fabulous bed.

Kristen

Troll! Troll! Troll!

2011-01-20T11:08:00.004-06:00

Well, we just ended a week long visit with my best girlfriend Paula and her three boys. We had a great time and had a ton of adventures. One of the most memorable was our trip to Disney.

It was a beautiful day, 80 degrees and sunny. We had to do some convincing to get Sam and Luke to ride the rides, and with some coercion, they did ride a few.

At dinner time we decided that since they had never had In and Out Burger, that it was a must. So we left the park and hunted down one of these fine establishments. It was a hit. Everyone enjoyed it and we headed back to the park.

Now, if you have ever been to Disneyland you will hear the voice on the tram tell you to please keep your parking ticket for re-entry to the parking garage.

Which we did.

Mike was in the car in front of us, since we had ten people in our party, we couldn't make it in one vehicle.

Mike pulled up, showed the man his parking ticket, and pulled on through.

I pulled my van full of boys up to the parking man, and showed him my ticket, his response was, in a gruff voice,"Where's your Disney pass?"

This is when I realized that my parking pass was obtained because we had prepaid one vehicle on my annual pass.

Uh Oh...

So I calmly tried to explain to the man, that I have an annual pass, but it was with my husband in the vehicle in front of us, so I can't show it to him. By this time Mike had slowed and pulled to the side, but the other parking attendants started yelling at him to move on!

It was at this point that the parking attendant, not so kindly explained to me that without it he would not let me in, and slapped a bright pink "EXIT" sign on my windshield and told me to leave the park!!!

I wish I could say it was at this time that I calmly smiled and dealt with the situation in a mature adult like fashion.

But, I didn't.

I rolled up my window and as I drove away, I, well, lost my temper just a bit. It is also possible that at this time, I may or may not have called the man a Troll.

Yes, I realize this isn't my most shinning parental moment. And I also realize that with this one slip of the tongue, every uplifting and encouraging thing that I had ever said to these five boys, sitting in the back of my van, flew out the proverbial window.

There arose from the back seat a chorus of Troll slurs that you cannot even imagine! I looked at Paula and we both realized that it was going to be a long time before we were going to be able to undo this misdeed.

I calmly explained to the boys, that I had made a grievous mistake in calling that man a Troll, and I apologized to them. I told them that he was a creation of our God, therefore not a Troll, but an individual, we should respect. Further, I explained, that as Christ-followers we should not let our temper get the best of us, as I had, and we should always try and treat others with respect no matter how they treat us.

I was answered by Luke who simply said,"Mrs. Jones, it wasn't your fault, that Troll should have let us in!"

Great.

So, Mike had to exit the park, and brought me my card. We re-entered the parking garage with a chant of "Troll! Troll! Troll!" coming from the back seat, which we quickly quieted as we approached the parking troll, I mean man, who, if I might add, was just as rude the second time around as the first.

We made our way back into the park and enjoyed the rest of the evening, with only a few more mentions of the parking troll.

Kristen

A Commitment to Writing and Please Pray

2011-01-19T14:57:00.006-06:00

It's been a long time.

But, it's a new year, and I am committing to write more. I was convicted last week after being directed to this blog. I have been praying for this woman and her family for the last week and was brought to tears after reading past her husbands updates to her own words.

I began to think, what an amazing gift this beautiful woman has given her children, her husband, her friends. They can go and read her words. Through this nightmare, when she can't speak to them, she still can communicate through her past words. There has to be comfort in that.

I never want to leave my loved ones without my words. So I will try and be better about writing.

Please take the time to read through her blog and pray for her and her family.

Kristen

Listening...

2010-08-26T09:03:00.003-06:00

This journey we are all on is an unpredictable one.

I am finding this statement to be more and more true as the days go by.

If we think we are in control, even for a second, we are fooling ourselves.

Another true statement.

For about the last six months Mike and I have been wrestling with God. He wanted us to step out, make a change and trust Him.

We were comfortable.

We were fighting Him, because the change He wanted would take us out of our comfort zone. It would mess up our plans and make us rely more on Him.

We were miserable.

Miserable because when you fight God's will, you WILL feel conflicted.

You will feel unsatisfied.

You will feel discontented.

And until you give in and listen to Him, those feelings will not go away.

This is where Mike and I found ourselves about six months ago. After several months of not understanding these feelings we finally gave in and told God we would listen and obey.

He moved quickly.

Once we agreed to follow His will, there was peace where there was conflict.

There was satisfaction.

There was contentment.

Even in the midst of the change, which is heartbreaking, overwhelming, and scary there was this amazing amount of calm.

Now as we find ourselves leaving our friends (who are really our family) we are sad but hopeful. We will miss The Orchard, the people who have loved us, and those who have worked with us in ministering to God's people. Those people will be in our hearts forever. We are not just friends but so much more and distance can not destroy that.

Even though we are sad to leave what has been our home for the last five years, we look forward to what awaits us on the next leg of the journey.

Kristen

Conflict Resolution

2010-01-09T09:41:00.004-06:00

Who's tired of all the fighting?

I am!!

I am talking about the bickering that goes on between the children. It mainly occurs amongst the boys.

The scene is the same every time. The little one wants something. The bigger one wants something else. The argument begins. Then the yelling, crying, screaming. Then the punishing and the banishment to the room.

Oh, and I must not forget, in the middle of all this the tattle tale usually makes an appearance.

It usually isn't bad during school days, but on breaks it is inevitable and really unbearable.

This last break was no different. So, Mike and I decided to try something different.

We decided that at 7 and 9 years old it was unreasonable to expect them to be able to handle their conflict on their own. But on the other hand I can't stand the tattle tale-ing.

We called them together and told them that when they felt as if a disagreement was brewing that at the first stirring of these feelings one of them should come and talk to me or Mike.

BUT (here's the catch) they could only use "I" statements. We told them if they came to us and, using "I" statements, told us what was going on, we would help them in their conflict resolution.

We have been doing this for one week and today the boys are being rewarded with extra video game time with daddy, because they had a successful week of not arguing!

I have to admit, they have not mastered the art of the "I" statement. Here is an example of one from last night-

Joshi- "I" am getting frustrated.
Mom- What? (not realizing that we were having a conversation about conflict)
Joshi- "I" am getting frustrated.
Mom- Oh, right, you need help with a problem?
Joshi- Yes, "I" let Seth play with my toy, and now "I" want it back, but..."I" can't get him to give it back to me.

From here I was able to help him resolve the problem without fighting. The key for my boys here is them removing themselves from the situation before it escalates into irrational screaming and fighting. I don't think they are really seeing that they have a part in the disagreement, but it gives them a quick timeout so they can calmly handle it.

And right now they are actually having fun with trying to tell me the problem with the word "I" in it. I think to them it still gives them a feeling like they are telling on the other person, so they are satisfied. It isn't a perfect system and probably needs some tweaking, but hopefully we can train them to handle their difficulties calmly and work things out so there is a win, win situation. Eventually I am hoping, they will be able to handle it without coming and talking to me.

Baby steps.

Don't know if this is going to have any lasting effect, or for how long it will work, but it worked this week.

And a calmer gentler house is always a plus in my book!!

Kristen

Joshi's Leadership Lesson

2009-10-29T08:43:00.003-06:00

Joshi just read a great book for school. It is called "Yonder Mountain A Cherokee Legend" told by Robert Bushyhead and written by Kay Bannon. What a great story!

The story is about a great chief who has aged and knows it is time to pass on his position to a younger man among his people. He calls three young men who he thinks might fill the spot. He tells them they must travel to the top of the mountain yonder. He tells them to bring back what they find there.

The first man goes part way up, finds beautiful rocks and says he shall bring them back, for they will brings his people money.

The chief tells him he has done well, but they must wait to see what the others bring back.

The second one goes a little farther up and brings back herbs, to heal the people. The chief also tells him he did well, but they must wait for the last man.

Several days pass, and the last man finally comes back, empty handed. When he gets to the chief he tells him that he went to the top of the mountain, and it was a tough road, but when he got up there he saw a signal from somewhere beyond, there are people there that need help.

And this is my favorite part:

Sounding Eagle rose to his feet. "Chief Sky," he pleaded. "We need to go to them quickly. They are in trouble."

Chief Sky stood straight before his people and the three young men. Pausing for a time, he lifted his eyes to the mountains and watched the mist settle on the peaks. He then turned to his people and spoke. "We need a leader who has climbed to the top of the mountain. We need one who has seen beyond the mountain to other people who are in need." (Bushyhead and Kay Bannon, Yonder Mountain)

Wow.

I love the way the chief was looking for someone who was brave enough to travel outside their reach, and then notice the need of others. Where the other two men brought back good things, they didn't risk it all and go to the top; they didn't see beyond the needs of their own people.

I couldn't help but relate this to the church today. One of the things I love and respect about the leadership at The Orchard is the way our focus, as a church, is constantly being directed on those outside the church walls. And it isn't about trying to convince anyone that Christ is the way to go; it is about loving others without an agenda. Christ can do His own work, we just need to love and He will do the rest.

And so I say to the church everywhere, we need leaders who are willing to travel the rough road and see the people who are in need, and then act.

Bumps in the Night

2009-10-12T09:01:00.003-06:00

Had a great birthday celebration yesterday. Just a small family affair, consisting of pizza at pizza hut, a pizza cake, and the movie G-force at the dollar theater.

Seth had a blast.

It was great celebrating his day!

In the process of the fun, lots of junk was consumed.

Faith can't eat junk. She has had an acid reflux problem since she was born. We pretty much have it under control, but if lots of bad stuff is consumed, an attack is certain.

So we weren't terribly surprised at 1:30 (that is the time it happens every time) when she woke up moaning.

And when I say "wake up" I say it loosely. She never actually wakes up and rarely remembers the experience in the morning.

She will probably never forget last nights, though.

So Mike got up with her like usual, I don't get up well at night, once I am up I am up, so it's best if I stay put and try to ignore it.

Mike seemed to get her worked out and I heard him leave. Heard the bathroom door close. Heard the bathroom door open.

Heard, thump, thump, thump, thud!

We both shot out into the hall to see her lying at the bottom of the stairs!

We ran to the bottom and she was able to stand. I walked her back up to the top, and she acted like she was going to faint!! I freaked out a bit, but realized she was still asleep!

We took her back in the bathroom, flipped on the lights on and put cold washcloths all over her till she woke up and could talk to us.

She seemed to be okay after that, said she only hit her head at the bottom.

She is super sore this morning.

Really, I blame the design of this crazy house. I have feared, for the last 4 years, that someone would fall down the stairs in the middle of the night. I always thought it would be Seth, my other non-waker. The stairs are placed right next to the bathroom, and there is very little hallway, great way to conserve living space, horrible for sleep walkers.

I would like to say thank goodness this house is a tri-level, therefore she only fell down eight steps and not an entire flight of steps.

Good thing we took the day off today. We shall all rest a bit.

Kristen

What Does Your T-Shirt Say?

2009-10-07T11:25:00.003-06:00

Once again, school is overtaking everything!

Love my classes this semester. Lots of art, literature, and philosophical analysis and interpretation. I am enjoying it, and trying to get everything I can out of it. After these classes just two more next semester and I graduate!

Kids are doing great in school.

Faith started using Video Text Interactive this year for Pre-Algebra and Algebra. We are really loving it and can't recommend it enough! Bit pricey, but really well worth the price, so far. Going to find out in the next month or so, what our options are for Faith going to high school part time. Pretty sure I don't want it to be a full day, and neither does she, but would like the access to activities offered there. We shall see.

Great things at the Orchard. Awesome to be involved in a place that cares about the community. One that realizes that it is all about unconditional love for people and not love with an agenda. Loved the song from this weekend Mike did "T-Shirts" by Derek Webb . The lyrics say it all:

they'll know us by the t-shirts that we wear
they'll know us by the way we point and stare
at anyone whose sin looks worse than ours
who cannot hide the scars of this curse that we all bare
they’ll know us by our picket lines and signs
they’ll know us by the pride we hide behind
like anyone on earth is living right
and isn’t that why Jesus died
not to make us think we’re right

chorus
when love, love, love
is what we should be known for
love, love, love
it’s the how and it’s the why
we live and breathe and we die

they’ll know us by reasons we divide
and how we can’t seem to unify
because we’ve gotta sing songs a certain style
or we’ll walk right down that aisle
and just leave ‘em all behind

they’ll know us by the billboards that we make
just turning God’s words to cheap clichés
says “what part of murder don’t you understand?”
but we hate our fellow man
and point a finger at his grave

chorus
they'll know us by the t-shirts that we wear
they'll know us by the way we point and stare
telling ‘em their sins are worse than ours
thinking we can hide our scars
beneath these t-shirts that we wear

What a sad commentary about the christian community. Love that the Orchard is all about letting people know what we stand for, instead of what we stand against. Jesus loved the people, hung with the sinners, and criticized the religious community. So if we want to be true Christ-followers we should be loving people where they are at and showing them the love they need, not telling them all the things they do wrong, as if we ourselves are blameless.

Okay, that's it for now.

Kristen

Songs That Move

2009-07-02T13:43:00.004-06:00

Music is so powerful. I remember as a teenager, listening to such sad, angry music.
And guess what?

I spent a lot of time being sad and angry.

Music still moves me, and can totally effect my mood. But lately I have been drawn to certain songs, that are able to express where I am better than I can say in my own words. I am grateful for this.

The song Faithful by Brooke Fraser is one that is really speaking to me right now. If you don't know it, find it and listen to it. Here are the lyrics:

There's distance in the air and I cannot make it leave
I wave my arms' round about me and blow with all my might
I cannot sense you close, though I know you're always here
But the comfort of you near is what I long for

[CHORUS]
When I can't feel you, I have learned to reach out just the same
When I can't hear you, I know you still hear every word I pray
And I want you more than I want to live another day
And as I wait for you maybe I'm made more faithful

All the folly of the past, though I know it is undone
I still feel the guilty one, still trying to make it right
So I whisper soft your name, let it roll around my tongue,
knowing you're the only one who knows me
You know me

[CHORUS]

[BRIDGE]
Show me how I should live this
Show me where I should walk
I count this world as loss to me
You are all I want
You are all I want

There is so much truth in this song. You can't always feel Him near, can you? And when you can't do you abandon that hope and faith or do you become more faithful in those times of waiting? She talks about having a hard time releasing the past and acknowledges that God is the only one who can remove the guilt...And He can do it by just you asking. There is a lot of hope and faith in this song. I love that!

What's moving your heart right now?

Kristen

Making an Impact with Your Super Power

2009-06-18T09:01:00.004-06:00

I've been thinking a lot about what my impact in this world is. What am I doing today to make tomorrow better. What steps am I taking to make this world a better place? I don't just want to be one of those people that see the starving children, or the abused women, or the hurting underdogs and say, "Oh, isn't that sad!" Then quickly change the channel.

I want to make a lasting impact on this crazy world. And I know I am just one little me, but I know that God has something incredible designed for me. I just don't know what it is yet.

Oh, and before I go any further, I know being a mom and wife is important. And I love it. But I am talking about something bigger than all that.

I was talking about my good friend Todd the other day. If you knew him you remember his super power.

Yeah, I said super power.

No he couldn't leap tall buildings or stop a bullet with his eyes, but he could encourage you like no one's business.

I mean this guy had the most amazing gift for encouraging people. And not fakey-make-stuff-up-to-make-you-feel-good, type of encouraging, but honest, sincere, thoughtful, encouraging.

He was really incredible at it.

If you were ever encouraged by him, you didn't forget it.

I miss that.

I could use some of his encouragement today.

I am getting off my point. My point is that Todd did a lot of stuff in his life. A lot. But what comes first to my mind every time I think about him, is his encouragement. He was given this huge gift and used it to the fullest.

What is that gift that you have you been given that you are using, or should be?

I am struggling with this right now. My heart is being pulled in the direction of those who need help. I feel like God wants me to act. He wants me to do something, possibly something that seems extreme to some. I don't know what it is, and I don't know what my gift is. Not in regards to this.

All I know is that I can't be a silent observer. I can't just sit her and witness injustice. But I don't know what I am supposed to do.

Any ways that is what is on my mind right now. Don't know if it all makes sense, and it doesn't have to, because it's my blog!!! :)

Kristen

Bullies

2009-06-15T19:26:00.003-06:00

Witnessed an episode at the pool today. Little girl we know was being harassed by another girl. The little girl we know was standing up for herself, quite well.

But the situation was escalating. I stood up to move a chair so I could see Joshi better, and in the process, realized the situation looked like maybe it needed to be...helped along. Our friends mom came up and called her girl out of the pool, great parenting, while the other child continued to throw threatening comments and anger, but now towards the friends of the girl who got pulled from the pool. My kids.

My kids shook their heads and swam away and continued playing and I realized what was happening. She is a bully.

My friend, the mom of the other little girl, told me this had been going on at school, and she had encouraged other girls to do the same.

This brought back memories. Memories of my junior high experience. It was really awful. I had a friend, we were close, I upset her, she hated me, and turned a bunch of people against me.

One girl threatened to hurt me, and said I had better run home everyday after school, because if she caught me she was going to beat me up.

I beleived her.

I was terrified. My entire eighth grade year, I was terrified. I never told my parents. I was too scared.

By the time high school came along, these people had calmed, maybe they weren't even there, don't know but those problems were over. But psychologically, it was far from being over. It had created some deep emotional issues that were not easy to overcome.

Okay, here is my point. Your kids don't have to go through this. I decided when I became a mom that no matter, what my kids would not be bullied. I didn't care what I had to do, it just wouldn't happen.

I have actually had parents tell me this bullying is good. Tell me that if it doesn't happen when they are young they won't know what to do with it when they are older...hmmm, really?

I was threatened, terrorized, abused, and guess what, it didn't help me deal with it, not one bit!!! Not at all. What exactly was it supposed to teach me? Don't trust your friends? It's okay to be mean?

What I want to say to all parents is that it isn't normal, it isn't part of growing up and it doesn't have to happen. You don't have to allow your child to be abused. It should not be a part of childhood.

And finally, don't get me wrong, I am not talking about conflict. Conflict is a part of life. What I am talking about here is bullying, totally different.

Kristen

To Mow Or Not To Mow

2009-06-03T09:41:00.004-06:00

It happened about seven years ago. It was spring, our family had moved to North Carolina the prior fall, and the 1/2 acre of grass that surrounded our house was beginning to grow. I was pregnant, and Mike was working about 168 hours a week.

We had no mower.

It was getting pretty jungle-y, and I was starting to freak out. We didn't have the money to buy a mower and even if we did, who was going to do it?

I remember so clearly praying, and being pregnant- crying, asking God to please send us someone to help us with this yard.

I was very overwhelmed with everything in our lives at the time and the yard was just the tip of the iceberg.

The next day there was a knock on my door. It was my neighbor Venessa. We had never really spoken much, just hello and goodbye, not much more. The conversation went kind of like this:

Venessa: "Kristen, God wants me to mow your yard!"
Kristen: "Oh, Venessa, no! I couldn't let you do that! We will figure something out!"
Venessa: "Kristen, I am not asking your permission, God wants me to do this, I am being obedient to Him! I am going to mow your yard for you I am just telling you."
Kristen: "Oh, well, I guess, okay?"

Venessa, continued to mow our grass for about two years until we got ourselves on our feet and bought our own riding lawn mower. We also became best friends, our kids became best friends and our yard lines became blurred, as we worked on them together. I often wish she was here to help me make some landscape decisions :)

This story comes to mind as we are dealing with an issue in our neighborhood, and I need to apologize for my heart and attitude.

Our neighbor, nice young couple with two small kids, up and left their house about 8 months ago. Don't know what happened to them, they didn't say, just left.

I have been worried about the abandoned house throughout the winter, and Seth did see them return once and they told him it was their second house that they would be back when it got warmer. Hmm. Don't know how accurate that is coming from a 8 year old.

Anyways, as it has gotten warmer their grass has gotten longer and longer and weedier and weedier. As we returned from our time in Az this last week their grass is almost as tall as Joshi! All I could think about was, I needed to report them to the home owners, to get this fixed!

Yeah.

So yesterday as Mike got the mower out to mow our yard he began to mow their yard as well. And at first I thought, "What are we going to mow their yard every time we mow???"

And a voice in my head said,"Maybe."

That is when the Venessa story came rushing back to me. Oh my. What a hypocrite. We don't know what the situation is for them, they may really need the help right now, and regardless, shouldn't we as a community care about the people and environment we are living in and around?

It was a wake up call to me. Thanks Nessa for being a great example to me, once again.

Kristen

Am I Going To Regret This Later?

2009-06-01T13:00:00.003-06:00

This is a question I seem to be asking myself a lot lately.

Ever since we said goodbye to our good friend Todd, this phrase has been running through my mind quite a bit.

It has made me more intentional in my decisions, and even made some decisions that would have, in the past, been quite difficult to make, a little easier.

For example, Mike going to Africa. When he came home and told me about the opportunity, my first reaction was not, "Awesome!! You should do it!!"

I wish it had been.

But that just isn't me. My first reaction when someone, especially Mike, tells me they are going to be leaving me for an extended time is never one of joy. I have all sorts of issues with loved ones traveling, that I have had to try and overcome throughout the years. I have to continually remind myself that I do not have a spirit of fear but of courage. I am getting better, but still not great at it.

So after Mike told me of this opportunity, I went through my usual thoughts of terror, and then I asked myself, "If he doesn't go, won't he, and you, regret that decision later?"

The answer was "Of course!!" If we wait for me to not to be scared, he will never go.

I am finding this question to be especially useful when it comes to dealing with relationships. We have a tendency to think we have lots of time to build and strengthen the relationships in our lives. But the reality is we don't really know what the future holds for us, who knows what tomorrow will look like.

So I would say that when it comes to spending time with your family and friends there are no excuses. Because let's face it, the economy will never be good enough, our jobs will never be less busy, life will never be less hectic, the kids will never be old enough, on and on and on...

And in the end, really, all this stuff, money, houses, cars, you name, just don't really amount to much of anything. Ask anyone who has lost a loved one. It just does not matter. But our relationships, the memories we make together as friends and families, with our loved ones, that is really what counts in the end.

Don't wait. Live with no regrets.

Kristen

WOW!!!

2009-05-13T09:39:00.003-06:00

I just found out I am a Great Aunt!!! Long complicated story, but just came in contact with my niece for the first time since she was little, and she has a beautiful 1.5 year old daughter!! Gorgeous!!

I am sad that I missed out on so much of her life, but hope that I can be a support to her now that she a mommy!

I am hoping to meet them when I get to AZ next week.

Kristen

Scone Friday!!

2009-05-08T08:42:00.003-06:00

Yum!! Faith has started a tradition of making scones every Thursday night while Mike and the kids and I all go on a walk around the neighborhood.

Let me tell you, she has gotten pretty good at these things. I will share the recipe with you, so you too can have scone Fridays!! Be sure to read the comments, there is one from a person who owns a cafe and she gives some great suggestions for variations on the recipe!

For the last couple of weeks she has been making chocolate chip scones but this week she shook it up a bit. This time she added apples chopped and lightly coated in cinnamon and sugar, and cinnamon. Delicious.

Enjoy!!

Kristen

Big Salads and Big Shopping!!

2009-05-07T10:50:00.002-06:00

Paula and I got to celebrate yesterday!! With a delicious lunch and great time of shopping we got to celebrate surviving my first semester back to school!

We met at Portillos and enjoyed their garbage salad and yummy lemon poppy seed muffins. Yum!! Felt so nice to sit outside and talk and munch. I appreciate my P. hanging in with me through these last few months. She has been a bit neglected by me, while I tried to figure out my new schedule. It was great to just slow down for a bit.

Then we hit the stores, me with the goal of spending my birthday money, thanks Paula, mom, mom Jones, and Gma Bolles :) Paula had a different goal. She decided that since I was a college student I needed a bikini. Yikes!! I humored her and tried one on, but quickly took it off and tried to erase the image from my mind!! We compromised and I got my little black skirty bottom and a bikini top.

It was a good day. I thank God for putting my sweet friend in my life. I don't know what I would do without her!!

Oh, and now that I have a break, I can finally read a fictional book again!!!! P. gave me a bagful. Last night I started reading "Belong to Me" by Marisa de los Santos- only read three chapters last night and it is already fabulous!!!!

Kristen

A Close Shave

2009-05-06T08:44:00.004-06:00

I helped Faith shave her legs for the first time the other night. It was over due. She had never cared about it before, but told me a couple of weeks ago she was reluctant to wear shorts because of the hair on her legs...

It was time.

Okay ladies, do you remember the first time you shaved your legs? I do. My mom was convinced I was too young. I think I was in the 6th grade.

I remember I was being teased by kids for my hairy legs.

Mom said, No. So I, fortunate enough to have a big sister, snagged a razor and went at it. I don't remember any major issues with the shaving, but I do know I didn't clean the tub out when I was done.

Mom found the remains in the tub and asked me if I had shaved. I can't remember if I said yes or no, but pretty sure I said no.

Always a memory that stuck with me. I always said I would let my girls shave whenever they wanted and told them that.

But I have to say it was a tough moment. It just seems so grown up. I know she is growing up, but until now I have been able to deny it a bit. This was much more tangible.

All that said, I was glad to share in it. Faith and I sitting on the side of the tub, Kylee sitting on the toilet seat behind us. Me teaching Faith the ins and outs of a smooth shave, and how not to nick yourself too badly. I am sorry that I stole that moment from my mom. And so glad that I got it.

Kristen

Blog Break

2009-05-05T16:28:00.003-06:00

Well the Spring semester of school is officially over for me!!

I took a break from writing on here, there was so much to do, something had to go. The blog got cut.

But I missed it. And have lots and lots of thoughts swirling around right now.

School for me was great! The thing I was most worried about was the writing portion. I had not written a college level paper in 13 years! So of course, one of my classes, Humanities 370- The Popular Arts, was super writing intensive. Huge amounts of reading, like 60+ pages a week, and tons of writing. Very challenging, but I learned so much and loved thinking about stuff! Also cool, was watching all the movies for the class. My kids now have a huge appreciation for 1930's-1960's cinema! Pretty cool.

And I ended up with a 4.0 this semester!! Still made dinner for my fam. at least 5 nights a week, schooled the kids and kept the house in a sort of order. Now that I am on break, I am feeling a bit restless. Break won't last long though, I have a 30 day summer class starting on June 1st, so I have much to prepare for before it starts.

Also learned something about myself. I think schooling the kids has really taught me some amazing organizational skills!! I was not even aware that I had them!

Lots going on this month.

Mike is going to Africa with Scott. The kids and I are going to AZ while he is away. We are all excited.

Kids are also finishing up a great school year. They have really done awesome this year, learned so much.

Faith went for an orthodontic appointment to see if her jaw and slowed down enough to possibly fix her bite with braces. Unfortunately, it looks as if we are looking at surgery as she gets older :( What a great kid though, she thought that sounded better than wearing braces for several years.

Okay, I guess that is enough for now. More later.

Kristen

Seth's Pinewood Derby!!!!

2009-01-26T20:17:00.005-06:00

Well this is supposed to be a post about Seth's derby race, but I had these two pictures of Mike during the minus temps we had a week or so back. And since we never see Mike in a jacket let alone, his big old down jacket, I had to post this!

Shot of the outside with all that snow!!!

Okay here are the cars in Seth's second race all lined up. His is the silver shark car in the second row!

Here is Seth starting the race because he was the first car in the row!

Here are the cars racing down the track! His came in second this time around.

Brothers!!

Mom and Seth loving each other

Daddy pinning on Seth's bobcat he had just earned!

Seth pinning on the bobcat medal on his daddy.

He had a great day!

Kristen

I Am Sorry- Me

2009-01-20T14:27:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I think I owe myself an apology.

For the last 14 some years I have been embarrassed and ashamed that I was so near a degree in humanities. Not that I was so close to a degree and never finished, although that is pretty embarrassing, but because I was actually getting a degree in humanities. Whenever someone would ask me what I had studied in school, I would mutter something about being a humanities major and then quickly try and explain, that I was young when I chose it, that I wasn't really thinking about my future, that it was a silly choice and if I could go back and change things I would.

And since, I decided to go back and finish my degree, my attitude about that degree hadn't changed much. Until this week.

I am now realizing once again why I chose the major that I did.

I love it! I am so enjoying my history and humanities classes. My biggest struggle right now is drawing boundaries for myself so that I don't get so involved in my school work that I am neglecting what must come first. At first I thought it was a time management issue, but it isn't, I am just really enjoying my study time and re-learning some of the things I had forgotten.

So from this point on, I will not be ashamed of my education!

I will be proud!

And when people ask me what I am going to do with my humanities degree, and they will ask, I will tell them......well, I don't know what I will tell them, but I am a humanities major, I am sure I will come up with something creative!

Kristen

Guitar Hero

2009-01-18T16:26:00.002-06:00

Mike and Kylee have been having a little guitar hero battle the last couple of days. Kylee has won every round.

Mike is a little frustrated.

They are playing right now.

Kylee just won again. While he was jumping up and down and shouting, "No! No! No!"

Kylee said:

"What's wrong you can't beat a little girl? hehehe"

Ah, smack talk, where did she learn that??

Kristen

School Stuff

2009-01-18T16:02:00.004-06:00

Well, I made it through my first week of school. And I am only slightly over whelmed.

I think I made a good choice with the classes that I am taking this semester. The humanities class seems a bit intense, but the teacher also seems like the kind that will be fair, especially if you are trying and showing a lot of interest.

My history teacher seems....removed. He doesn't even seem like a person. Just seems like he threw some stuff up on the website and is done. Doesn't really seem to want to get involved personally. But one really cool thing about my his. class is that it starts off in 17th century Europe which is about where we are at home! The kids are just about a week behind my history! So not only am I getting the benefit of learning and finishing my degree, I am also preparing for what the kids will be learning in the coming week. Pretty cool!

So I am trying to stay ahead of my week, tonight, while Faith is at student group, I am going to head to Starbucks and work on the rest of the reading assignment for history and the discussion question I have to post for this week, then I will only have the hum. class to worry about. Yeah, I know, Mike said I am that old person everyone hates in class, luckily it is an online class so there are a lot of me in the class, I think.

Also, loving my new MacBook. Really is helping with organization and keeping my stuff together.

Also Faith started blogging this week, so check out her blog for an update and give her some encouragement!!

Kristen

2008-12-30T10:00:00.007-06:00

Okay, I admit it, Facebook is taking over. It is just so easy to post pictures and stuff, it seems that my blog has become neglected. I will try and catch up a bit.

This last month seems like a blur. Christmas eve eve service at the Orchard was AWESOME!! Mike's team did such an incredible job. Loved being there with my extended Mitchell family and getting to see all of them.

Christmas morning was so much fun, the kids opened the gifts from Santa, and Nana and Papa, granny and papa, aunts and uncles. Mike surprised me with my new-to-me Macbook! I love her and am quickly becoming a Mac addict. Then we packed up and were off for three days, two nights in Gurnee, Il!!! We went to Key Lime Cove a brand new indoor water park there and had such a great time. This is our second year skipping gifts for the kids and doing a trip instead. The kids had a blast and so did we. It was so cool to spend individual time with each kid and just relax as a family.

We came home on Saturday night and Mike and I left on Sunday evening for a fabulous anniversary over night in Chicago. Mike planned the whole thing and wouldn't tell me a thing till we were almost there. He booked a night stay at the Hyatt in Chicago on the magnificent mile and we had dinner at Aria, same as last year. We loved it so much last year and it doesn't disappoint. We had a great time. Next morning we went to our favorite Lou Mitchells for breakfast and gorged ourselves on some delicious fresh baked doughnuts, omelet and potatoes. Yum!!!

And today, Mike goes back to work and I pack away Christmas.

That about does it. I will try and give the blog equal opportunity, although with school starting for me and the kids I am afraid the blog maybe put on hold till I am done....Maybe go down to monthly updates. Don't know yet.

Here is a video from the waterpark, off of Kylee's new camcorder. I snagged it and took this priceless video. Things to look for in it- sneaky guy who appears in everyone's frame, a sharing moment, and mommy attempting to duplicate Kylee's sign off. Enjoy!!!

2008-12-15T09:32:00.015-06:00

Okay I admit it, facebook is taking over. It is just so much easier than blogging. I am ashamed.

I just posted a ton of pictures of our fun cooking decorating time together with Ms. Jen and Mr. Brad. But I will post them here too, for all of you who are not on facebook yet.

Ms. Jen set up a great assembly line with rollers, flatners, and sprinklers.

Like a fine oiled machine.

Then came the rice crispy treat houses! Yummy! Much better tasting than ginger bread houses and much, much easier to work with!

Kylee's finished house!

Seth asked Mr. Brad to help him with his house. This house had everything from a car port with a monster truck, to a satellite dish up on the roof top.

Here is the completed creation. It was very, creative.

Daddy and Joshi worked together on their winter wonderland.

Great job guys!

Faith worked alone. She did a great job. Love the logs on the side of the house!

Putting on the final touches on the roof.

And of course, Jasmine was ready and available to lick the frosting off of any one's hands when they were done!

Kristen

Christmas Decorating Party 2008

2008-12-06T13:45:00.006-06:00

Last night was our annual Christmas decoration party. The kids each got to choose a snack for dinner, we ate and decorated, then took silly pictures by the tree.

Mike sent out an invitation by email to the kids, which they all loved, that included the menu for the night, it had been top secret up till that point.

I know you are all just dying to know what the was on the menu. Taquitos, bagel pizza bites, potatoe skins, nachos, swedish fish, and rice crispy treats. Very healthy dinner!

Here are some more pictures. Couldn't decide if I liked the flash on or off, probably should do some photo editing.

Kristen

Thanksgiving Photo Essay

2008-12-01T11:06:00.024-06:00

So, when I got up Thanksgiving morning, I decided I was going to document our day in photos the best I could. I tend to start out with good intentions, bring the camera but then never take it out of it's case. This became very evident when Todd passed away and all of the holidays and vacations our families spent together were left just to our memories, because we forgot to take pictures! Pick up the camera people and take pictures of today!!!!! I did a little better this year. So here it goes. Enjoy!!

Faith and her dog intently watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Kylee and Seth intently watching the parade.

Josh, intently watching the parade.

Daddy, still in bed. Yeah, I am probably going to be in trouble for this :)

Monkey Bread!!!!!!

Jasmine, waiting for daddy to get up.

Mike making eggs to go with our monkey bread. I tried to get him to take a serious picture, but not so much.

Kylee and I making cranberry relish, with the Magic Bullet. And when you use the Magic Bullet you must always do the info-mercial that goes along with it.

Got to the Mitchell's house and was greeted by a huge hairy spider!! I think I have grandma Jo to thank for that :)

Paula busy at the sink in preparation for our big meal.

Seth and Jackson playing some Playstation before dinner.

Jackson and Seth deep in conversation during our feast!

Our family eating. Man we missed Todd. I think we all made a choice to focus on what we were grateful, thankful for this day, but there was definitely a big Todd sized void.

Joshi chowing down!

Josh and Sam clinking cups of apple cider.

Faith and I posing for a picture.

Mike and I posing for a picture.

Kylee posing for a picture during dinner. How did I miss the hat at dinner???

Mike, our wine steward.

Then after dinner was over Mike took my kids home and P.'s mom took her kids home and we got to work on the ads. As you can see it is very hard work.

Paula, also busy at work.

We wanted a picture together but we were alone so here is our attempt.

And here I am after a couple hours of sleep at, 3:30 in the morning, ready to depart with our ads!

That is it, I wasn't about to leave my camera in the car while we shopped, but there is a camera phone picture out there somewhere of me in a Shiatsu chair enjoying a free message at one of the stores :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Week Off

2008-11-24T09:59:00.004-06:00

I'm back.

It's been kind of quiet around here this last week. Mostly because Mike took Wednesday-Sunday off this last week!

It was an unexpected surprise, and we all enjoyed it very much!

What did we do with our time off? Nothing!

It was awesome. Most days we were all in our pajamas until late and only got in clothing to go out and do something fun.

The kids still had school. I had not planned for them to have a break last week, but this week, and I wasn't about to give up my week-off-for-Thanksgiving.

But it was good, dad got to teach a bit, we got our two book dates that we owed completed, Mike and I went on a date, we all played a TON of Shang hi and we even got to go to the Orchard together as a family Saturday night! How fun was that?!

Last night Mike left for the Orchard-year-planning-overnight- trip. Today the kids and I will do the thanksgiving shopping for Mitchell/Jones Thanksgiving feast and take all the stuff to Paula's in preparation for our great day together.

Still waiting on snow. Real snow. We have had cold and flurries, but we need real snow. The kids are going crazy and unless there is snow on the ground there isn't much playing outside when it is this cold.

So, Please let it snow!!!

Kristen

Feed My Starving Children

2008-11-15T12:00:00.005-06:00

We ended our school week this last week with a trip to Feed My Starving Children. It was great! The kids loved helping to fill the food bags with the nutritious food mix and they did such a great job!!

Joshi loved his hair net. Well, they all, except Faith, loved their hair nets. They really thought daddy needed one on his chin.

We had 86 people in our group and we packed a total of 90 boxes! The lady said that was enough food to feed 56 kids for one year! Amazing. Such an easy thing to do and it makes such a huge impact. We will definitely be putting it on our family calendar to do once a month, at least.

After we were done packing food, they had some of the food, that we had just packed, prepared for the kids to try. Seth devoured his and said,"Mom this is sooo good!! Can you make it at home?"

At first I thought, maybe he shouldn't like it so much.

I wanted him understand how desperate the situation was.

That these children are starving to DEATH and they will eat whatever, it is a matter of survival.
But then I realized, he had spent time and energy packing this food for these children who desperately needed it. Not only were these kids getting nutritious food that would help them survive and grow, but it actually tastes good too? How cool is that! He was really happy to have helped these kids and know that it wasn't some nasty concoction, but something that was yummy! What a cool kid!

Kristen

Bread bowls and Soup

2008-11-11T08:42:00.003-06:00

With cold weather upon us it was time to break out the soup recipes again.

Luckily my kiddos have all developed a love for most of the soups I make. Broccoli cheddar is a favorite of all except one. And she isn't the picky eater, I know this is just personal preference.

Anyways, when I suggest Broccoli cheddar soup yesterday they all cheered, except the one. Then it was suggested that mom should make bread bowls for everyone. Initially, I thought,"you've got to be kidding me!" But then the one who didn't like the soup had a look of hope on her face. So I succumbed.

I found this recipe on my favorite site. The only change I made was I made six bowls instead of 8, I used my kitchen aid for all the kneading, and I used Bakers Bread flour from Sams club instead of all purpose. Really people, not only the type but the brand of flour makes a difference. Trust me I have made a lot of bread and the flour and yeast that you use makes a difference.

They turned out beautiful. The kids were all very excited and ate up the soup and the bowl!

For the soup I modified a recipe I found last year.

Here it goes

2 tbs butter
two chicken breasts
onion
garlic
pinch nutmeg
pepper
dried parsley
3 cups chicken bouillon-or broth
1 cup milk- with 1 cup flour
11 cups of water
three potatoes peeled, cubed and partially boiled
two carrots diced
two heads of broccoli- I used frozen, so I had to cook it less time. I just estimated how much to use.
three cups of cheese

I placed the chicken cut up, in a big stock pot with the butter. If you are going to use onion this would be a great time to put it in. We don't use onion, it hurts us.

After the chicken has browned I add the spices, carrots and one cup of bouillon. Let the chicken cook the rest of the way.

Then add the rest of the chicken bouillon (or broth) and the 11 cups of water.

Bring it back up to boil and while it is heating mix the milk and flour. Mix until it is smooth- no lumps, and slowly add it too the hot soup. If you have some lumps once you add it don't worry, they will cook out, beat them a bit with a whisk and they will disappear.

Add potatoes and broccoli. I turn the heat up and let it get to a rolling boil then turn down a bit but not too much because I like the broccoli to get pretty soft, so I can break it up with the spoon, before I serve. I usually cook this part for about 20-30 minutes. If using fresh broccoli, you will have to cook it a bit longer. Once we are about 5-10 minutes away from eating I add the cheese and stir. I didn't add any additional salt, but it did need a bit, I just added to my own, that way we aren't over salting. But it was a bit bland without it.

That's it. Easy and really yummy. I changed the original recipe, because it had a lot more butter and heavy cream. Also they mix the flour and butter and add it too the soup. Every time I did it the original recipes way, I had lots and lots of lumps that I couldn't get out, this way we had no lumps.

Kristen

November! Yikes!

2008-11-09T09:09:00.005-06:00

Lots on my mind so hold on to your seats.

Having a hard time adjusting to the winter temps. Partly because we were having lovely fall weather and then all of a sudden had a weird warm front come in and then went from 70's to 40's in just a day. Yuck.

Busy week this week ending with Feed My Starving Children on Friday. I am excited about it, even though the set up of it was not that easy. I am finding that, unfortunately, setting up field trips for home schoolers isn't always easy. But the people at the actual center have been fabulous and very kind. The kids are really looking forward to it. We have really been wanting to get more active in the community and volunteer more, but it is hard to find a place that will let little guys volunteer.

Thanksgiving is just a couple weeks away!!! Weird. Paula will be out with the boys before Thanksgiving so I will be doing the thanksgiving dinner shopping alone. Sad, but so glad she is getting away. We will be cooking and eating together. It is going to be a sad day for us all. But I am so glad we will be together.

Still hoping our annual Black Friday shopping extravaganza works out. Paula and i love to plan and stratagize, and have such a good time dodging and weaving through the crowds! Very fun. We never go into it thinking we have to get anything, just some fun ideas of stuff we would like to get our hands on and if we get them, cool. Whatever. And how fun is it to price match every item you have at Walmart? The cashiers love us :) Oh and another fun thing is calling across the country and to other states to our friends and family who are doing the same thing as us at that very moment! It is a true bond.

Mike and I are planning relational gifts again this year for our family. The Orchard started this last year and it is such a great idea. Instead of spending so much on toys that break and garbage that no one really wants we were encouraged to put thought into our gifts and buy relational gifts. Things you can do together as a family. It means so much more! Then with the money you save do something meaningful for the community or the world.

So last year on Christmas morning, our kids opened up gifts from relatives and Santa. Then Mike and I had booked a stay at a water park in the Dells and spent Christmas and a couple of day after, there with the kids. We swam and played, ate and played and swam. It was very fun, and none of us had any regrets. It was the best, and the kids want to do it again this year.

And what happened to the money we saved in not buying a bunch of garbage toys? We donated to help drill wells in places that needed clean water. Very cool.

Okay, that is it for now.

Kristen

Mytatstory.com

2008-11-01T19:27:00.002-06:00

I am being blown away by the stories on mytatstory! If you haven't checked it out, do it. You will be amazed.

Have I mentioned how much I love the Orchard recently?

Kristen

Halloween 2008

2008-11-01T12:38:00.009-06:00

What a beautiful Halloween day we had!!! Mike has been super busy lately so we took the day to catch up on some stuff that had to get done! We almost ran out of time for carving pumpkins, but scaled down our design at the last minute and got these out on the porch.

Punk rock girl, was sad it was too warm to wear the black leather coat that Ms. Karen lent her from her rocker days:(

Yeah, I said too warm. Do you think we have lived her too long when high 50's- 60's is too warm for a coat?

Kylee went with the old blow up polar bear costume. Always funny.

Seth is always the challenge. He wanted a scuba diver, so I made his costume. Not too hard. It turned out pretty cute.

Joshi also went with one of our old blow up costumes. He was pretty excited to be wearing the shark this year. Also, loved the fact that he was a shark and Seth was a scuba diver :)

Hope you all had a great night!!

Kristen

Book Date One

2008-10-29T18:07:00.002-06:00

Tonight was the first of our "book reading dates". We started this last year, for every 24 hours of reading the kids earn a date with mom or dad. Seth was the first to reach his goal a couple of weeks ago, so tonight I utilized my live in babysitter and we went out on the town.

He was very excited about our date. This afternoon, as I was planning for our school week next week, Seth ran upstairs and changed into a dress shirt, dress pants and did his hair.

When we were about to leave I ran upstairs to run a brush through my hair, when there was a knock on the door.

"Mom it's your date" giggled Kylee.

I ran downstairs and opened the door and there was my little guy standing there with a rose. I am sure he snagged it from the neighbors, since my roses quit producing....last year. He also handed me the buy one get one free coupon we were planning on using. I laughed and told him he probably shouldn't hand his date the coupon his is planning on using!

We posed while my my babysitter took a couple of pictures, and we were about ready to leave when he asked me in such a proper voice ,"may I please use your toilet before we go?"

I about cracked up. I told him of course and then he just looked at me, waiting for me to tell him where it was. Yeah, he was taking this date stuff serious! I showed him to the restroom and then we were ready to go.

We went to dinner and had a great night. Great conversation and delicious food. Very fun.

And last but not least, we stopped at Starbucks for some salted caramel hot chocolate. Let me just say there aren't words to describe this hot chocolate and if you haven't tried it, you really need to. Yum!

Kristen

Shanghi Tournament- Halloween '08

2008-10-27T08:36:00.015-06:00

Ok, so until I can figure out how to post pictures on facebook, I will just have to post them on here. But I will figure it out. Here are some pictures of our Shanghi tournament/costume party.

Mike was a joker (as in cards joker not scary joker) and I was the queen of hearts.

Here is the joker on his own. You can also catch a glimpse of a shark, but you will have to wait another week to see the kids in their costumes :)

The blues brothers were at the tournament, and Elwood even took the much coveted shanghi trophy home.

Here is a whole family of cards. This queen thought she was more important than the queen of hearts, but we know that isn't true!

Oh yes, and don't forget our metrosexual vampires. And if you don't know what metrosexual is, google it.

There were a few friends that missed my camera shots, like Smarty pants (Paula), Doug and Joni, and Terri's Dad, sister and brother in law.

And there was lots and lots and lots of card playing. Four tables, 4- 5 people at each table! It was very fun!

Here is the punk rocker. Again you will have to wait till Friday to see the whole costume. Very cute! Also a very good Shanghi player.

Mike had to wash off the make up and take off the hat, he was scaring little kids! But he did find one of the vampire's wigs and make use of it. He was reliving the old days :)

For those of you who didn't know him back in the day.

Kristen

Pictures Seth's Birthday Party Weekend

2008-10-25T13:08:00.009-06:00

Here is the much anticipated Coral snake birthday cake (sorry mom and dad, it took so long for me to post these).

Yeah, I couldn't decide which pose I liked better, so I posted both.

Seth and Philip had a great time with Mike playing laser tag and bowling, then came home to play video games and eat cake.

What? Our dogs aren't allowed on the couch!

Mom and Seth cheesing it up.

All the candles blown out!

Then the next day we had a treat after our free movie, Jackson got to come over and hang out with us for a while. They spent a good part of the day building card houses and were very proud of this one.

Kristen

Happy Birthday Todd

2008-10-17T19:58:00.005-06:00

Kind of a strange day.

I have had lots of emotions today, and have been unsure of what I want to share.

Tonight I celebrated my friends 43rd birthday with his boys and his wife. He should have been with us.

Paula and I took the kids to Chuckie Cheese, where they had spent Todd's last few birthdays.

While there, Kylee and Jackson, such good friends, were paired off. They found a game that they had found a way to get A LOT of tickets out of. I didn't feel bad that they were bending the rules of the game a bit to get a lot of tickets, because let's face it Chuckie got his money tonight.

But here is the thing. After Kylee and Jackson got all of these tickets, and there were a lot of tickets, Jackson asked Kylee if they could take these tickets and go around to some of the little kids who don't have that many and give them away. Kylee said sure!

That is what they did. They gave every last one of them away!

You know who that is?

Todd Mitchell.

Oh my gosh, I just wanted to cry. That is Todd's legacy, he imparted to his children how to be generous, by living a generous life.

I am so proud of them and I know he is too.

Kristen

Puppy School

2008-10-16T10:27:00.007-06:00

Kylee and June Bug doing spelling.

Faith holding her baby while doing her science. This was such a cute picture but at the last minute she moved her ear and it blocked Faith's eye. GRRR.

Typical Junie pose.

And lastly while we were taking pictures of the baby, the big girl was sitting, waiting patiently for her picture to be taken.

She even smiled a little, but I missed it.

Then she got tired of it all and tried to go to sleep.

Kristen

Pink.....The New Black

2008-10-15T19:47:00.003-06:00

So one of the problems with having girls then boys is , there are just some things that can't be passed down.

When they were little, jeans could sometimes be passed down.

Baby toys were not a problem boy, girl it didn't matter.

But bikes, skates, etc. are a whole different story. We did keep the first bike Faith ever had to train the little guys on when they were learning how to ride without training wheels. It was purpley and pink, but was used strictly for training purposes.

Recently, they have all been into roller blades. Faith and Seth got new ones for their birthdays and Faith's old ones got passed down to Kylee.

What happened to Kylee's old ones?

The cute little bright pink roller blades?

Yeah, Joshi has been wearing them. But only in the basement, up until last week.

The three of them wanted to go to Philip's and see if he could play.

I said sure.

They said they wanted to wear their roller blades.

Hmm. I thought about it and suggested maybe Joshi wouldn't want to wear the pink skates outside.

He said he didn't care, they are roller blades and he wanted to roller blade, he didn't care what color they were.

Whatever.

Few minutes later, in comes Seth in a huff.

Apparently some bigger boys were at the park they had to pass to get to Philip's, and they made fun of Joshi :(

Kylee followed in a huff. She was agitated that someone would make fun of a little guy. She said Seth stood up to them and told them not to pick on him because he was just a little kid.

Good boy.

Then, in came Joshi. I was worried he would be upset. He said he didn't care what those kids said, he likes to roller blade.

I told him that pink was the new black.

So tonight as Joshi and I were sitting at the table eating, he started rubbing his eye.

He said,"mom, what is pink eye?"

I explained to him it was an infection in the eye.

He said,"it makes your eye pink?"

I said yes.

He said, very matter of fact,"pink is the new black."

Yes, Joshi, it is.

Fascinating Ant Fact

2008-10-15T12:18:00.005-06:00

I just learned, from my kids science book, that ants keep aphids like we keep cows.

They take care of them and when then stroke their backs the aphids emit honeydew which the ants enjoy drinking!

Who knew?

Also, our experiment to lure unsuspecting bugs into our meat or fruit trap has attracted exactly.........zero bugs. The kids are very disappointed. So to all you teachers out there what do I do when an experiment fails completely?

Science teacher Jen Bell? Anyone?

Kristen

Dioramas!

2008-10-14T10:07:00.014-06:00

So far this school year has been the year of Dioramas.

A couple of weeks ago we were reading about the beginning of Islam and the Muslim influence in Europe and Africa after the fall of Rome.

So here are some pictures of an Islam market c.700A.D.

Each kid took a piece of the market place this was Seth's rug shop.

This is Faith's cloth shop with Kylee's smith shop in the background.

This is a front view of Kylee's smith shop. I love the donkey with a pack of beans!

Joshi didn't do a shop this week, but made a scimitar, which was really cool, but too fun and got played with and destroyed before I had a chance to photograph it :(

This last week we started in on the feudal system in Europe during the dark ages. Their dioramas were to show one of the four parts of medieval life. Kylee choose the church. Love her stained glass!!

Faith chose the royalty. Unfortunately this isn't the best picture but she did a great job!

Seth, of course, chose knights. His guys are hilarious!

Joshi did the peasants. His sheep are adorable, made out of clay then covered in cotton.

Ideally the whole diorama is to be stuck together and hung so I will have to get on that.

Kristen

Seth's 8!!

2008-10-12T07:41:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was the day Seth was waiting for all week.

About driving me crazy!

He was so excited about his birthday. Just couldn't wait for the day. It wasn't about getting presents because Mike and I had already given him his present earlier in the week, roller blades. I am convinced he just really loves being the center of attention.

He got up Saturday morning and opened up his gifts from his sisters and brother, two shirts and two Funkeys(if you don't know what they are you must not have kids in the 8-10 year old range.) Kylee bought the Funkeys and told me he could use her port even though that might mean sharing her funky coins. So kind.

Then we went to the free Saturday morning movie as a family! It was a treat to be together, since Mike was gone to a conference for a good part of the week, and didn't get home until 12:30 Friday night or is that Saturday morning? Whatever. We saw Spiderwick, which we have on DVD, but it was so good on the big screen, we all loved it!

Next took him to Red Robin, where he ate himself silly and got sung to. He is such a ham, he ate it up!

I let the kids play for the rest of the day with friends, till we had to get to church. I bought him a big bag (90 pieces) of candy to take and share with his friends at church. This is where his very generous spirit comes out, he had two pieces, every child in Wahabu was given two pieces, and he came out with a few left in the bag. But instead of keeping them for himself, he proceeded to go through the building giving away the rest of his candy to smaller children, who weren't in Wahabu, and adults.

He gave it all away! That just blows me away. I can't wait to watch him as he grows , and watch this generous spirit grow with him. He is going to do huge things!

So next week is his party. This year since we are doing "one friend parties" he chose Philip, and Mike is going to take the boys to play laser tag and bowl next Friday night. And he is having his first sleep over ever!!!!!

Wish me luck.

Kristen

Cool Glasses!

2008-10-10T08:58:00.001-06:00

Faith helped Joshi make these special glasses yesterday.

He wanted to wear them while doing his math.

Had to take a picture.

Enjoy.

Kristen

All in the Name of Science

2008-10-09T12:52:00.004-06:00

Do you ever start something and even as you are doing it realize that the results could quite possibly be not so good?

We started Apologia science this summer, Faith is doing a middle school general science course, and Kylee, Seth, and Josh are doing Zoology, winged creatures.

Sooooo, this is a picture of Joshi working on an experiment.

The idea of the experiment is to dig two holes in the ground and put in two different cups, one with a piece of meat in it and one with a piece of fruit in it. Cover it with a board and see which attracts the most bugs, meat or fruit.

There are so many things that could happen here.

When Faith asked me what they were doing, I tried to explain the experiment to her, and before I could get to the point of the experiment she interrupted me with, "Ew what are you trying to do attract maggots?"

Hm, I hadn't thought of that.

So in the name of the scientific process my kids are outside digging holes in the mud and setting traps for unsuspecting bugs and, quite possibly, their young.

Not to mention the two hounds that reside in our house and quite often use the back yard as their playground/bathroom. Jasmine doesn't sniff so good, so I am not sure she would even find the bait, but Junie is a first rate sniffer.

Yeah, it's going to be interesting.

Oh yes, there will be pictures.

Kristen

2008-10-08T14:22:00.002-06:00

With Seth's birthday fast approaching it is also the celebrated birthday of Harley.

And guess what Harley got for his birthday?

Yep, a harness. Doesn't he look pleased?

Any shred of dignity that a guinea pig may have was completely stripped away with this contraption.

And to top it off Harley isn't a big, how should I say this, mover. He just kind of likes to sit and eat, so while he is a great pet to hold and cuddle, he really isn't the most fun pet to have on a leash.

Seth was a tad disappointed, he had visions of taking his guinea pig on walks around the block, going for Sunday strolls with his little friend. All Harley really wants to do is, eat grass.

Kristen

Frogalina

2008-10-08T13:56:00.003-06:00

This is Frogalina.

The kids had big plans for Frogalina. I was, of course, on the phone when they found her.

By the time I got down stairs they had named her and located the old fish tank in the basement.

They all had their hearts set on keeping her. But the voice of reason won out.

I told them they could keep her, trapped in a tank, but what would they do when winter hit and there were no bugs to be found? I convinced them it would be cruel to keep her in a tank when she has such a lovely life outside in our yard.

Frogalina is, once again, a free range toad.

Whew, that was a close one!

Kristen

Cakes!

2008-10-07T13:13:00.038-06:00

A few months ago our printer died. It was very sad. But we were blessed that same day with an even better one! It even has a scanner! So a good friend of mine suggested that I scan in some of the first cakes I made and include them on a blog post of all the cakes. So I scanned and searched through disks and tried to include as many cakes as I could. These aren't all of them but it is a start.

Elmo was the first birthday cake I ever made. Faith's first birthday. He got made several times, so I only included him once.

Same with Tigger. I was still forking out dough buying pans.

By the time I got to Barney I think I was desperate. I couldn't find a pan and decided to take on making it free hand. Not a great picture. But I came up with the idea of printing out a picture, drawing it on the cake with tooth picks then frosting in the outline. That is what I have been doing ever since.

This was an early attempt at free hand. Not so good.

This one was another attempt at free hand, still rough, but a little better.

Then came the multitude of Barbie cakes. This actually was a pan that came with a plastic Barbie. It got used A LOT!

Same pan, different Barbie.

Then there was the stand up Barbie. There have been a few of these as well.

Dragon Tails- is that show even on any more? I am sure I am breaking about a hundred copy right rules by copying their images, but I am not selling them so is that okay? If not then we will say it is not from Dragon Tails but, lets see, Dragon Stories.

This was one of my first attempts at a non-kid cake. Not a very good picture, but it was fun to make!

Another non kid cake. I really didn't know what I was doing here, but a friend of ours was getting re-married so I made her a cake for her reception. For free. I would never have charged her for it!

Another free hand picture, I found the picture in one of Faith's books and drew it on the cake.

Same cake but on a heart.

Then I discovered Familyfun.com. They really have great cake ideas.

Next was the care bear stage. Care Bear Cake 1.

And Care Bear Cake 2.

Seth wanted a alligator for his third birthday. I must have gotten the idea from somewhere, but I don't really remember where.

Ah, strawberry shortcake. I remember this one was tough. I drew her on the cake but there is something about pictures that are frontal pictures, they are just difficult. It is a perspective thing.

Winnie the Pooh! I drew him and frosted him. Not too hard.

Scooby, this was the year Joshi was born so the girls shared this cake.

Star Wars. This was the cake that made everyone sneeze. I made a cake cut it up lumped it all together, frosted it then covered it with about a box of crushed graham crackers. Yeah, it was sneezy.

This was the first cake I made for the Mitchell boys. They got a little black labor-doodle for their birthday's, Maisey, and so we made this cake. We filled the bowl with cocoa puffs and wrote their names in cocoa puffs around the square cake.

Also for the Maisey birthday.

This was the twins birthday cake for this year. Super easy and fun, got it off of Familyfun.com.

This was for Faith's sleepover party last year. The girls were Twinkies!

Here is the wicked cake for this year. Again it was done free hand.

We had quite a few ice cream cakes in the last few years. This was one of them. Seth got to join the basketball team for his birthday last year, so I made him a basketball cake.

This was Jackson's football cake this year. Believe it or not it was one of the more difficult ones.

Free hand Larry and Bob. Also hard because of the dimension issue.

And finally the pool cake for Kylee's birthday this year.

Kristen

Army of Women

2008-10-02T10:43:00.002-06:00

My friend sent me this website this morning.

I went to the website, read about it and signed right up.

To be apart of the search for the cure for breast cancer? You bet! What an amazing opportunity.

I love the proactive approach and can't wait to hear more about it!

Go to their website and read about it. Then sign up.

Go on, go now.

Kristen

Saturday Fun

2008-09-28T08:33:00.010-06:00

Recently found this movie theater in the area that has free kid movies every Saturday at 10 and 11 a.m.! They are older movies but since our dollar theater went away we have been seriously missing the movie theater experience, and you really can't beat free! So Paula and I took the kids (minus Kylee because she is in Michigan with friends this weekend) to see the Pirates who Don't Do Anything and then we took them to Philips park to run off their popcorn.

I wanted to snap some pictures of the kids while they played. Not very good with action yet. Seth was thinking he was a squirrel and was on a mission to find as many nuts as he could. He left them as an offering at a hole that he was sure was a squirrel hole.

It wasn't too hard to get a good picture of Joshi and Sam. They were pretty willing subjects.

What great friends!

Adorable! Luke was good for a pose or two. Why is he so cute?

All three boys moving across the playground. Too cute!

Yes, Seth is a ham. I liked this picture because of the green in the background and his shirt, he was almost camouflaged!

Jackson was being elusive, so all my pictures I had to sneak. He was probably running from me in this picture. Shh don't tell him I took it, he will be really mad at me!

And our only girl who kept everyone in bounds. She is our helper and I don't know what we would do without her most days! What cracks me up is that she had the most skin exposed and got no bug bites while I came home sporting three giant swelling masses (one on my face). What's up with that?

Kristen

Mama Mia!

2008-09-25T07:53:00.003-06:00

A friend of ours snapped this picture before we left for Mama Mia! the other night. Mike of course had to be silly and was doing his Doug Heffernin look. There was a slightly more serious picture. But I chose to post this one.

The play was hysterical. Loved it. I wonder if the movie could possibly be as good as the play.

The seats were awesome, never been that close to the stage before. The whole experience, where it was fun, was also kind of surreal, due to personal reasons.

It was awesome going to a play where I already knew half the music. The crowd had a totally different energy than any other play I had ever been to. They got a little rowdy.

And don't let Mike lie to you he was totally singing along to the ABBA songs!

Kristen

Caddy and Pill

2008-09-22T15:49:00.004-06:00

This is Caddy.

Faith found him this morning out on the patio.

She gave him, well, didn't really give him because she doesn't touch bugs, insects, or larvae of any kind, but showed him to her sister Kylee, who entrapped, I mean made a home for him in her butterfly habitat.

They had to know what kind of caterpillar he was. So thanks to the world wide web we were able to identify him as a black swallowtail caterpillar.

They love to eat dill which was very good information for Seth who desperately wanted his own caterpillar to imprison, I mean care for.

So armed with an empty yogurt container and the knowledge that they love dill he set off to find himself a new little friend as well.

He did succeed and now is the proud papa of a itty bitty black swallowtail caterpillar. His name is Pill.

Maybe if he lives through his forced incarceration, I mean luxury yogurt hotel, then we will photograph him as well.

Kristen

Tagged- 6 Random Things

2008-09-20T13:27:00.003-06:00

My brother-in-law tagged me.

1. Post these rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself.
3. Tag 6 people at the end of you post (I’m making this optional to relieve any guilt, including my own for continuing this).
4. If you get tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag.
5. If you don’t do it, I will be crushed emotionally and will probably never recover from the rejection. Okay, maybe I will.

So here it goes. Six random things about myself.

1) I like mayonnaise on my french fries not ketchup.

2) I love to read but have no patience for unimportant details in a book and will skip pages to avoid them.

3) If I am going to wear open toed shoes my toe nails must be painted. No chips or cracks!

4) I love the smell of my little boys when they have been playing outside.

5) I joined the tennis team in high school not because I was good at it (because I really, really wasn't) but because I really liked the little tennis skirts.

6) Since taking typing in high school, I type constantly. Like when I am watching a movie, I will type lines over and over again on my leg. OCD? Maybe.

And one more just because I like the number seven more than 6. (That fact kind of makes it eight though doesn't it?)

7) I love to throw things away. It actually gives me pleasure. Sometimes I get in trouble for accidentally throwing away important stuff, like car titles. OOPS!!!

Let's see I need to try and tag people that I have not seen this on their blogs, okay how about, Mike, Mandy D., Mandy C., Leeanne, Jen b, and I would love to tag Renee but she did it only a bit ago so I won't make her do it again.

Kristen

Wow! What a Gorgeous Day!

2008-09-20T11:13:00.005-06:00

79 degrees. The kids are all playing. Girls down the street, boys in back yard. It's really quiet. I am trying to motivate myself to go and do some MUCH needed yard work. But just haven't cared much lately.

This week was super busy. Mike was away at Innovate '08 so the kids and I were on our own Wednesday afternoon-Friday evening. I never like it when Mike leaves. But this time seemed especially hard. Lots of reasons.

The kids and I got to go and take care of Paula, her mom and the boys on Thursday night. We made a ton of breakfast food for dinner and devoured it all. I am talking- a whole pan of sausage gravy, close to 20 home made biscuits, 28 pancakes, 10 eggs scrambled, one tray of lemon bars.

We definitely made a dent in it! There is nothing like comfort food and good friends.

Then Friday we finished up our school week, weekly cleaning of the house, went to the library, and music and then to a friends house to help with some moving stuff. Got home just in time to greet Mike at the door at 7:30.

Popped pop corn, cracked open some movie candy, and watched Bee movie as a family.

Slept great for the first time in a few nights last night!

Tonight, Mike and I have been blessed with some tickets to Mama Mia. Long story about the tickets, but lots of mixed feelings. Definitely excited about spending the evening with Mike.

To the person who gave us the tickets, you know we love you, and are going to have a good time in your honor.

Kristen

Just a Few More Credits

2008-09-17T10:40:00.003-06:00

So I talked to someone at the registrar's office yesterday at NAU because there was some confusion as to whether or not I needed to send my transcripts from the community college I attended prior to NAU. since they had them at one time, I wasn't sure if they needed them again.

Any ways, the women said yes, and she pulled up my transcripts while she was talking to me and then she gasped.

Never a good sign.

She said,"You almost graduated."

I said, "I know, I was close but then had to move because I got married and when I transferred my stuff to ASU they didn't accept my major work, so I had to start all over again. I have three more semesters of work at ASU on top of what I did at NAU."

She said," You mean to tell me you have three more semesters of work? You may only have a class or two before you have your degree!"

Now, I realize she isn't a counselor but I knew I was close to graduating when I left NAU it just felt good to hear someone else acknowledge it.

That is when I decided that if a counselor takes a look at my stuff and says that I only have a couple of classes to get my BA in Humanities I think I should just go for that. That scares me to death. I am not sure I can jump right into all that again.

I wonder if I could double major and go for the Early Childhood education stuff also?

This is getting exciting!

Kristen

Nones?

2008-09-17T10:35:00.003-06:00

Joshi: Mom did you know that men that were pastors ( pronounced past-ores) in the middle ages were called monks?

Mom: Oh, very interesting.

Joshi: And the women were called nothing.

Mom: What?

Joshi: Yeah, they were called nothings.

Mom: Oh, do you mean nuns?

Joshi: Yeah that's it!

Kristen

Quiet Please!

2008-09-16T12:56:00.003-06:00

One of the books that the kids had to read today, for life in the middle ages, talked about monks and how sometimes groups of them would take on the job of praying for everyone else. They believed that if they didn't speak they would gain wisdom through silence.

The book challenged the kids to stay silent for as long as they could. To use a pencil and write down what they needed to say.

So it was a somewhat quiet morning. The girls actually did better than the boys. But by lunch everyone except Faith had given up on their vow of silence. Although, Faith was writing so much that I made the point that she wasn't really being silent. Just because she wasn't using words she was still non-stop talking on paper!

Exasperated, she gave up and declared that she just had too much to say.

So much for wisdom through silence.

Kristen

Floods

2008-09-15T11:13:00.004-06:00

Wow, so the kids down the street called this morning because they wanted to play.

Their school was canceled because of flooding.

I don't know where the flooding occurred that canceled their school. The school is just down the street from my house and nothing in my area looks flooded.

My kid's school was definitely not canceled because of flooding.

I think they were a little sad about that.

Now, yesterday, the second service at the Orchard was canceled because the streets all around it were being closed because of flooding. It is right next to the Fox River, so that I understand.

Fortunately, I got to spend the day with Paula and the boys on Saturday and we all went to church together Saturday night so we didn't miss out!! It was a great service!

Kristen

College Part 3

2008-09-14T07:19:00.006-06:00

I woke up this morning with this nagging feeling.

I kept thinking about that NAU application that I filled out and never submitted. I said it was the 25 dollar entrance fee that was holding me back.

That was a lie.

I couldn't figure out what it was that was holding me back.

I am really busy.

That was a good excuse.

But am I so busy I don't have time for self improvement, to finish something I started.

No.

Well, I think one of the real reasons I was so reluctant to apply to this college was the whole Humanities degree. I loved humanities, when I was in college. I still love literature and art, music, and history, I just don't think I want a degree in it.

I woke up this morning with the idea that maybe NAU also offers an early childhood education degree on line. That is something I have pretty much dedicated my life to up to this point. And I have often thought that once my kids no longer need me to home school them it would be a shame that I couldn't share my experience or knowledge with someone else just because I don't have an official degree in it. Also, I took classes geared toward education while I was at NAU and ASU because I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the humanities degree. I figured I would teach. So I am hoping some of those classes would go towards it as well.

And lastly, I have for a long time, been interested in a degree in social work or counseling, and am thinking maybe I could get a masters in social work once I have my BAS?

Don't know haven't looked that far into it yet.

But I did it!! I filled out the rest of the application and applied to NAU for their spring quarter as an online student!

We will have to see what they come back with. I did see that one of the requirements for the early childhood degree was an AA. I had all the credits for it when I left MCC but never applied for it :(

I think that was one of those cocky young adult moves, "I don't need an AA, I am going to get my BA!"

Ha! Oh well, if hindsight were foresight. Can you apply for an AA years after you completed the work?

So I am hoping maybe I will hear something this week.

Pray that God will bless it and give me direction.

Kristen

Is There a Puppy In Your Shirt?

2008-09-10T14:19:00.004-06:00

Here is something you don't see in school everyday.

Yes, the puppy is in her sweatshirt.

Yes, she is doing her history reading assignment.

In her defense the weather has taken a cold turn the last few days and the mornings have been quite chilly.

Cold enough to put a puppy in your sweat shirt?

You decide.

Kristen

First Day of Fall School 2008

2008-09-09T10:31:00.006-06:00

True to form yesterday, being Monday, and the first day of our full fall schedule was a tad hectic.

I knew it would be.

Maybe that is why it was.

Today has been smoother.

This year has the added challenge of Joshi being in 1st grade. Just a little more work on my part.

Faith told me yesterday she was glad we were back to our full schedule. I love hearing that.

Snapped these pictures as the kids were doing their work.

Enjoy!

Kristen