Sonic and True Love

It is a cold, snowy night in Iowa. The wind chill outside is  -14 degrees. But this afternoon as I made pancakes for the kids for supper, I longingly thought about a lovely hamburger on the grill with tomatoes, pickle and onion. Of course, that wasn't going to happen. It will be many, many weeks before my first bite of a hamburger or hot dog on the grill.

But my wonderful husband brought me this:

A Sonic burger with onion rings! I am going to enjoy it. I may even share my onion rings with the kids.

That is true love on a cold Iowa night.

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Those Sweet Little Moments in My Day

Our oldest son is now 21 yrs. old.  Our daughter is also 21 (she was born 9 months later). Our youngest child is now 7. 

There's also a sprinkling of ages in between...19, 15, and 13.  I think we would all say that our 7 yr. old is a sweet ray of sunshine in our home. He's had some health problems since the age of two, so we all tend to dote on him a bit. He's always making us laugh (he cracks us all up by reciting a State Farm insurance commercial word for word) and still likes to snuggle with me. Each evening, he makes his nightly rounds and asks his siblings if he can sleep in their room for the night. Usually my daughter gives in, even though she says she can't get a good night's sleep with him taking up most of the bed.

I've home schooled for about 16 years.  Now I have a first grader again! This time, we are doing Abeka's web streamed 1st grade program and I love it. Miss Weiler is an excellent teacher and he has learned so much. Here's a picture of him with his "class" and teacher.

 

 We sit together at the computer and do a basic curriculum with her which consists of Bible time (with a lot of scripture memorization that we do with the entire class, singing, and Bible stories), phonics instruction, and reading. I do the math, handwriting, and two workbooks with him separately.

Another part of my day that I love is this view of him I often see from the kitchen - the top of his little blonde head on the couch. It never fails to melt my heart.

I also often see this. A bowl of mini marshmallows. Sometimes he may eat the whole bowl, but more often than not, I see a bowl like this one somewhere in the living room. He may have had a few, then went on downstairs to play Madden 12 on his x-box. It's a good day when he finishes any kind of food.

As our 7 yr. old often says to me, "Life is good". And he's right...life isn't perfect...whose is? But it is good.

These are just some of the sweet moments of my day.

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Jesus Sees You So Differently

This will probably be the world's shortest blog post, but I hope so much that it will encourage someone else today.

I was praying a short time the other morning and telling the Lord how sorry I am that I'm so inconsistent when it comes to prayer and Bible reading. I really am inconsistent in those things. I do great for a week or two, then I slide back into a hit and miss routine.  I let out a big sigh and then went downstairs for my day.

Later that day, I gave our littlest boy his meds and formula through his g-tube (he looks like a perfectly healthy seven year old, but has a metabolic disorder that requires the g-tube since age 2 ). I walked over to the counter and opened a notebook I keep there and wrote down the time I gave his meds to him. Then, suddenly, the Lord spoke to me.  He said, "I don't think you are inconsistent at all. You've been doing this job of giving Nathaniel his meds for five years." I was so shocked and also flooded with Jesus' love for me. I never thought about it like that. I thought He was more interested in how much I read the Bible or prayed during the week, but He was showing me that He didn't look at me and my efforts as a giant check mark on His calendar.

He feels the same way about you. He sees your heart and that is what He is most concerned about. The things we do for Him and forget - He will NEVER forget. He lovingly watches you throughout your day and He remembers each and every thing you do in His name. His heart is tender towards you.

Have a blessed day!

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Classic Books to Enjoy

I love to read when I can and I loved reading books to my children while they were (and are) growing up.

I still have the remnants of my oldest son's favorite Mickey Mouse board book. It finally just wore out. My littlest boy loved to have me read Goodnight Moon to him over and over. He always laughed at the page that read, "Goodnight, nobody." I could see his anticipation building as we approached that particular page. Sweet memories!

courtesy Google

If you are just starting out reading books to your child then  The Little Engine That Could and Winter Barn  are two books that kids have loved forever. I love books that illustrate the four seasons.

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton is a sweet story about a little house out in the country and all that it sees and experiences as the city grows up around it. You can see how worn my copy is.

My First Little House Books are beautifully illustrated. This scene is from Winter Days in the Big Woods.  I love the detail that go into these pictures.

The Arthur books by Marc Brown always caused my kids to laugh out loud. (Give me a rainy day and a blanket and I can be happy as a clam engrossed in an Arthur episode on PBS. I like the older episodes best).

When I was about eleven years old, I discovered Nancy Drew.  I read as many as I could get my hands on. I like to think that Nancy Drew is timeless. I wonder if young girls still read them?  I also read the Robin Kane mysteries. I don't think those were as well known, but I loved any kind of girl detective/mystery. I also remember finding The Happy Hollisters at the library. They were a fairly old set of mysteries at that time, so I'm not even sure libraries have them anymore. If I remember correctly, the Hollister children all had red hair and loved solving mysteries together.

Images Courtesy Google

Two of my very favorite books during junior high were The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. In case you're wondering, the first book is not about witchcraft or witches, per se.  It always amazed me when people were reluctant to read it based on the title alone. It is a story of a misunderstood Quaker woman and a young woman whose life becomes connected to hers. It is also a Newberry Award winner.  A Wrinkle in Time is a story about a family whose scientist father has disappeared. His children and their friend meet three ladies who help them travel through the fifth dimension to rescue him from a distant planet.

courtesy Google

Finally, for you or your older readers, there is the classic story To Kill a Mockingbird. If you've never read the story of Scout, her brother Jem, and their father, Atticus, you are in for such a literary treat! These characters walk off the pages and become real living people that you'd like to know.

courtesy Google

These are just a few of the books I've loved sharing with my kids and even love re-reading myself. I don't think you're ever to old to re-read A Wrinkle in Time. During this winter hibernating season, going to the library for a book is one of the things we enjoy doing. I'd love to hear some of your favorites!

P.S. I almost forgot one of the best books ever...Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard. It is a life changing story about a girl named "Much Afraid" and her journey to the high places.

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