Update

Not a whole lot going on here so I thought I would post some updates.

Baby girl had her 6 month appointment.  She is now over 16 lbs!  We have not started her on solids yet (she has gone the longest of all the kids so far).  Not sure when I will start yet since she seems to be getting enough through nursing.  She is starting to babble alot more now but still no 'mama' or 'dada' yet....and no teeth!!!!  All our kids had teeth by 3 and 4 months.

School is going well.  We have already completed 124 days of our 180 year so come January we should hopefully be moving up to the next grades.  I love schooling all year round!!

We have been using a lot of coconut oil lately.  A few months ago, we went to a herbal store to pick up some vitamins and got on the topic of coconut oil and its benefits.  Man o man does it do alot and is it ever healthy!!!  We use it in our cooking now but also use it in hair and on skin.  Our daughter does a weekly coconut oil conditioning for her hair.  We put it in Friday evening, place a shower cap on overnight, and wash it out next morning.  Her hair looks sooooo much healthier lately!!  I've always talked about how scraggly her hair looked but I've seen real improvement since the treatments.  Coconut oil helps with thyroid function, cholesterol, can be used as a teeth and sinus treatment (called oil pulling).

I've been on ebay for the past couple weeks snagging some great deals!!!  I'll have to post some pics.  I am getting the kids fall and winter coats....the kids enjoy waiting for packages in the mail!!

Other than that, all is well :)
 Thank you Lord!!

and last but not least....my baby girl

Child's Training Bible

Let me first start by saying this was not my idea.  To find the Child's Training Bible go to the link
http://www.childtrainingbible.com/  You can buy their package.

















The kids and I have made our own version of the CTB.  On the inside cover, the kids find several character topics (this is taped onto the page). These are the following topics I have chosen........



















They are all color coordinated with the same color sticky tab.  The kids and I over the past couple weeks have been going through the Bible, highlighting verses related to each topic (the highlighter also corresponds in color to the tabs and cover page).  Now we have a quick reference to turn to when we are in need of dealing with a particular character issue.  If I find the kids struggling with something, I can now have them go look up verses so we can discuss what God has to say about that trait.  I can also use it for copywork practice, and they can also use it for their own bible study.

We can continually add more verses as we find them.  I'm really happy with how they turned out!!

Happy birthday hubby

Here is hubby's yearly staff photo.  Can you spot him (all eyes and forehead of him!!)  If you need a hint, he is on the right hand side.

In other news, it was hubby's birthday yesterday.  (He was born on his Grandma's birthday....happy birthday Grandma!)  I made my first truffle and it was good....(a little rich but the kids sure loved it!).  I've been trying out a bunch of new recipes over the last 2 weeks and it has been quite yummy!  Most of the dishes are in the crockpot (bonus!!).  We've had crock pot potato soup, chicken cordon bleu, chicken ranch tacos, chicken and dumplings, bbq pull-apart chicken sandwiches...and I'm waiting to try the parmasean chicken.  I've also found a recipe for the most DELICIOUS bread and breakfast casserole.  We've already made the bread 5 times now.

And finally, we have another nephew/cousin...born the day before hubby's birthday!!  Welcome to the family....can't wait to meet you :)

My little man

My doll baby

My young man

My firstborn beauty

Want your kids to obey??

Absolutely LOVE this posting from Doorposts blog today......

Fuel for Obedience

“Being wanted is the fuel for obedience.” That sentence — in the sermon Bethany and I were listening to as we drove down the freeway – provided an answer to a question I have often puzzled over. What was it my parents did that made me want to obey them? I especially wanted to please my father. Disobeying him just didn’t seem like an option. I loved him too much to want to hurt him with my disobedience.

I knew he loved me. He did things with me. He bragged about me. He encouraged me and talked to me. He did Jumble Word puzzles with me and laid on the sofa to listen to me practice the piano. He gave me hugs and presents and time. He wanted me. I wasn’t an interruption in his life. I was his daughter, and he was glad I was. So was I. I knew he would love me, no matter what I did, and that made me want to do whatever would please him most.

God loves me even more than my dad did. He loves me perfectly and infinitely and unconditionally. He chose me, and there was absolutely nothing I could or ever will be able to do to earn that favor. He loves me because He has chosen to love me. He wants me. He will never let me go. He will never leave me.

He wanted me so much that He gave His Son to die for me. That’s fuel for obedience! That’s what inspires my love and my desire to obey Him – not a list of rules that I try to obey in order to get God to like me. He already likes me. That love frees me to love him in return and to express my love by doing whatever will please Him.

When our children don’t want to obey, we ought to step back and prayerfully ask ourselves if they feel wanted. Are we doing anything that unwittingly tells them that we don’t like them or that we will only love them when they behave in certain ways? Are we firmly assuring them of our love?

And more importantly, are we assuring them of God’s love? Do we believe that God loves and wants us? And do our children really understand how much He wants and loves them?

Love those nuggets!

I'm not about to talk about chicken nuggets :)  I love those nuggets of info that make the lightbulb go 'ding' in your mind!!  Pastor was preaching from John 14 on Sunday....

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

I don't know if you're like me, but all these years I have taken verse 2 in particular ('I go to prepare a place for you') to mean that Jesus is going to heaven to build us a home.  He is going to build and prepare our 'mansion', our 'room', our 'dwelling' in heaven.  After looking at it, I don't believe that is what the verse is saying! 

What Jesus is telling the disciples is that he is going to prepare the way by dying on the cross.  It already says in the beginning of verse 2 that in my Father's house are many 'mansions' or 'rooms'.  Nothing has to be BUILT or MADE.  It already is!!!  God foreknew His chosen people before the foundation of the world!  Jesus is saying that his Father's house is already made for those who will join them in heaven, but now Jesus has to prepare the way for us by dying on the cross!  After Jesus has prepared the way for our place in heaven, he will come again and receive us unto himself.  DING!!  "I go (to die on the cross) (in order) to prepare a place for you (in heaven)"
Jesus wasn't going to heaven to prepare a place for us....He was going to the cross!!!

I hope that makes sense.  It sure made me stop and think! 

More of my baby

More of my girl from today....

My baby

I know they look similar but I couldn't help posting all of them.  I just love them all!!

Pics from today

Sympathy

It was sad to hear yesterday of R.C. Sproul Jr.'s 16 year old daughter, Shannon, passing away.  He lost his wife to cancer earlier this year, and yesterday his daughter (who was severely disabled) passed into eternity.  The link I'll post is to a video that Joni Eareckseen Tada put together about R.C Sproul's granddaughter, Shannon, and Chuck Colsen's grandson (who suffers with autism)  It was very interesting and gives you a glimpse into Shannon's life over her short 16 years.

http://www.joniandfriends.org/television/when-disability-hits-home/
(Shannon in more the second half of the video)

My happy girl