Oh amen. And amen again.

Sarah Mae over at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee has posted something so timely, I had to share it with you.

Yes, God makes our roles clear.  Yes, His expectations of us are clear.  Yes He did take our current culture into account when He penned His Word.  No, our current culture has no bearing on what God expects of us.  No, we don't get to shake other women by the collar and judge them for not living up to our expectations. 

When God is ready for someone to deal with an issue, God will touch that person's heart.  If we travel through life showing Christ's love, maybe that person will be drawn to us and ask how we "manage."  But if we travel through life smugly pointing fingers at that person?  Mmmm-hm.  No bueno.

Who says they can't understand what's going on in church?

Whispered to me in church after our pastor finished reading the account of Christ's birth in Luke chapter 2:

Jonah:  Mommy?  Did you see an angel when you got pregnant?

Love is color blind

The favorite red shirt...

... goes great with the favorite blue leggings, favorite lavender skirt, and favorite black snow boots...

... and the favorite dancing partner.

Jonah joins 'em.

When your loose front teeth won't tackle a cookie...

... go for Plan B.

When you can't beat 'em?  Join 'em.

Dates with Mom RULE.

Fun at the park with friends

Leaves.  Who needs more than a pile of leaves?

Oh.  And friends, too.  Leaves and friends.

Thrifted fun

I don't know who Millie was, but I'm sure I would have enjoyed her company.

I'm fairly certain the angels agree.

Some just can't see the forest for the trees

More of what I was talking about Tuesday.  Only she says it so much better! 

Child rearing is soul winning... or not (an article at the LAF website.)


The more I hear, the more I read God's word, the more I realize how little I know.  This issue of just how deep is the job of child rearing is heavy on my heart lately.  There's so much more to it than just making sure the children get breakfast, naps and Jesus, not necessarily in that order, keep their rooms clean, darken the doors of the church twice a week and recite all their AWANA verses perfectly.

No, it's so much more! 

I'm trying not to be militant about it, realizing that God in His vast tenderness brings us all to the same point but at different paces.  He doesn't expect us to have it all figured out (thank you God!) and He doesn't expect us to affect a complete black-and-white transformation in EVERY area we're not getting all at once.  (Super duper thank you, God!)

No.  Can't be militant.  But it's SO important!  Please read this woman's article, you'll see what I mean.

OK. This? Is cool.

This family attached a video camera to a weather balloon and sent it to space.  Watch the video.  How fun is that?!


Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

There *is* no middle ground, y'all.

I just had to shout out a hearty "Amen!" to this post at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home.  The same things can be said for Harry Potter.  I'm just amazed at the unbiblical and unholy things parents allow their children to be involved in.  Or participate in themselves!  Satan and his minions cheer at every inch of compromise, and we should be ashamed of ourselves.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

A note from Ashley, quickly and quietly scratched into the frost on a thawing bag of last year's pumpkin.  Life just doesn't get much better.

It's not about the mercury...

... although that's reason enough to avoid compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), those fun little curly light bulbs our government would like us all to use.  Get this: they affect asthmatics, MS sufferers, diabetics, anyone with neurological problems.

Please watch this video and you'll be convinced.

A lazy blogger blogroll...

Good morning, I hope this is shaping up to be a fabulous Monday for you.  My morning has been cruising right along.  I decided to clean out the refrigerator this morning, so I can say that I've earned my computer time.  ;-)

I have lots to accomplish today in the clutter and laundry department, so no time for a real post from me.  I'll share a few links to some of my favorites out there in bloggy world instead.  Leave a comment and tell 'em who sent ya. 

Have a blessed day!

Teaching Boys Chivalry at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Bloomers for $10 at The Play Dress
Parlor and Kitchen Notes - Just found this blog this morning, looking forward to poking around.
Pleasant View Schoolhouse - She's back!!!  She'd said goodbye and closed up the blog, but she's back!
A Dress a Day - Just like it says... A dress... nearly every day.
Girls' dress patterns for those of us brand new to sewing - Found at The Handmade Dress, a fun blog!

Alrighty then, that should keep you buys for a good hour.  <3

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Mary-Beth getting some quality girl time with Hazel.

I love the smell of wet paint!

I am loving the new drapes and furniture around the old bloggy-blog. Way more fun than those old greenish polka dots, don't you think? And whoever it was that told me I should be blogging what the children say so I won't forget it? Thank. You. I've been reading some older posts and, I'm here to tell ya, I've forgotten half of that stuff. Reading it brings it back, sure, but oh how long is the road back! I'm laughing out loud all over again, as so often happens when we old ladies hear a story again that we'd long forgotten. This one in particular, and this one. Aaaaaand this one.

Thanks for dropping by!

It's got Mary-Beth all over it

I found this little poem while out on the interwebz searching for copywork quotes for Jonah. Who does this bring to mind?

Singing Time
by Rose Fyleman

I wake in the morning early
And always, the very first thing
I poke out my head and I sit up in bed
And I sing and I sing and I sing.

Places to visit while you're waiting around for me to blog

And if you're waiting for that, I'm sorry. You may as well get comfortable. My brain is completely full of holes lately.

But! I'm never without at least something to share. Thought I'd share my own blogs of interest, websites I frequent and online shops I like.


Bella Pamella - Isn't that stuff just ME?!!!

HTML Goodies - So you want to learn basic HTML, huh? Not me, but I'm glad this stuff is out there for them that do.

A Dress A Day - Erin shares my love of dresses, and she's so funny and creative. I'm never bored at her blog.

Tie One On - It's all aprons all the time, folks.

Friday's Feast - It's a buffet for your brain!

Yarnstorm - There's just something about a chippy talking knit.

Pandora Internet Radio - Free radio from the Music Genome Project. Enter a favorite artist or song and Pandora designs a station for you based on that artist or song style. I have a station named "Taylor the Latte Boy" that I listen to a lot.

WSDOT - I like to see what the weather's doing on my parents' side of the mountains. Love those traffic cams!

Provincial Arts - My friend Nicole is brilliant, y'all.

Mom's Minivan.com - Ever wonder what to do on the road? Wonder no more, my friend.

DesignHerGals.com - For the truly bored.

Longaberger - Retail therapy, anyone?

The Well-Trained Mind - Why we homeschool.

Trivium Pursuit - An article (long but worth the read) on why we're waiting to teach formal sit-down math until the kids are older. We'll concentrate verbally on everyday life math until the time comes.

Homeschool in the Woods - How cool are these timelines!

Brown Paper Patterns - Not that I sew, mind you.

Favorite Things - Again, not that I sew. But if anyone out there does, and feels compelled to, oh, I don't know, sew me something? Call me.

This Little Piggy Wears Cotton - The place I get Mary-Beth's bloomers. Dude, the name alone makes the store worth a peek.

IKEA - Who doesn't love IKEA?

Well, that ought to keep you busy for a few minutes. Until I find the rest of my brain and work up a real entry.

Dang Winter Anyway!

It was so. so. cold here yesterday. A freakishly low temperature coupled with an icy wind. Just a quick trip from the house to the car had my fingers freezing. So of course I picked yesterday to get a few errands done. Made sense, since I didn't have to be home at 11 for Kindergarten girls to arrive.

Well, will somebody please slap me the next time I get a bright idea? Here's a little taste of what I get for thinking when unsupervised.

• Put on coats, hats and mittens to go from house to van.
  
• Take off coats, hats and mittens to put kids in car seats; freeze my *ahem* - and a few fingers - off in the process.
• Write grocery list while sitting in Starbucks drive-thru.
  
• Arrive at shops, put coats, hats and mittens back on babies for trek from parking lot to indoors.
• Go inside, remove coats, hats and mittens. Stow them on the bottom rack of the cart (y'know, where we used to ride when we were kids) so babies can't throw items overboard.
• Pay for grocery order; take up space in Purgatory (foyer between store and doors) to once again apply coats, hats and mittens for the trip back to the van.
  
• Take off coats, hats and mittens to put babies back in car seats. Sweet fancy Moses, y'all.
• Plan ahead for parking at mall because I have to go potty. Really really bad.
  
• Arrive at mall.
• Sit in van and try to pinpoint the moment I went completely wacko.
  
• Reapply coats, hats and mittens for jaunt from van to Macy's door (uber close to the public restrooms) which wound up being LOCKED!!!
• Walk (dance) around outside of mall until I stumble across an open point of entry.
• Power walk to the loo. The big stall is out of order; leave stroller outside sardine-can-sized stall and listen to Mary-Beth scream while I do my bidness.
  
• Get to Bath & Body Works (after putting Mary-Beth back in the stroller... again) only to find they no longer carry what I'm after.
  
• Leisurely stroll back to van. Exit mall via the Macy's door that is now unlocked, after putting on coats, hats and mittens. Macy's Purgatory is much warmer than Wal-Mart's, in case you're wondering.
  
• Remove coats, hats and mittens for proper installation of babies in car seats.
• Arrive home exhausted, but a little wiser. Take babies out of car seats, put coats, hats and mittens back on for trip from driveway to kitchen door.
• Once inside, remove coats, hats and mittens. Shove them in the closet with a growl. Kick shoes off and leave them where they land all day long.
  
• Start The Sandlot for Jonah. Ponder alcoholism... briefly... but settle for hot chocolate.

Important Note - Why take the coats off?
Outerwear can compress in an accident leaving dangerous slack in the car seat's harness. Slack could cause baby to be ejected from the car seat.
To see if what you have on your baby is too bulky, put baby in the seat in her outerwear. Adjust/fasten the harness snugly. Take baby out without loosening the harness, remove the outerwear and put her back in. There should not be any slack in the harness webbing. If there is, then there is too much clothing between baby and the harness, and you must remove the outerwear for the harness to do its job.
See CPSafety Online and the Carseat Bulletin Board at Parents Place for more information about car seat safety, the importance of extended rear facing, and other child safety restraint facts.

"Howcome I'm always the poop checker?"

My favorite line from the movie "Ice Age" - so short, and yet it says so much.

There's a poop checker in every house, isn't there. There are two in our house, myself and my husband. He's a pretty helpful guy, is Dan. If you toss a diaper in his direction, he'll dutifully ask to be pointed in the direction of the baby with the full britches. (I just love that man o' mine.)

He's a super guy. If there are dishes to be done, he does them. If his shoes stick to the kitchen floor, he'll mop it. If he can't see through the sliding glass door, he'll wash it. Truly, I don't deserve him.

But let's face it, there are some things that only a mother can do.

We are the keepers of the Cheerios, the washers of bottles (or boobies), the finders of blankies. We pick hair off binkies, gum out of hair, and toys out of toilets.

We cut the crusts off the PB&J, put a dot of ketchup on every single tater tot, and make sure the peas aren't touching the mashed potatoes (the horror!).

We always have juice in the fridge, crackers in the purse, and tissue in the pocket.

We make sure the lovey is washed and dry by bedtime. We know exactly how toasty you like your toast. And somehow our macaroni and cheese is perfect every time.

My point? I guess I don't have one. I didn't think that far ahead. (My coffee pot is empty and the brain matter is a little sluggish this afternoon.) I'm just hoping that, as I journal the ups and downs of my mundane little life, you might find yourself saying, "Yes! That happened to me last week!" or "I totally understand what this woman is saying!"

You might find that you aren't a crazy whacked-out mess after all. Won't that be nice?