LASIK on my Heart

Last night I learned about LASIK.

Did you know your eye’s lenses harden over the years?  Yeah, I didn’t either.

In surgery, they cut through the eyeball and use a laser to obliterate the hardened lenses.  Cool!!

Another thing about vision- sometimes it gets bad so slowly that your body compensates and you don’t realize you have a problem until you’re blind in one eye!  {True story!  My MIL just found out she’s blind in one eye all of a sudden!}

During worship this morning, I suddenly saw a parallel to my walk with God here.  I don’t relize I’m hardened to the gift His presence is, the mercy He poured out in the cross and His provision and care for me in daily life.  Thankfulness, awareness of these gifts, is more essential than sight- yet I’m dulled to the miracle of His mercies!

LASIK.  Yes, Lord, I need you to blast way the hardened layers.  Help me to enjoy You, to see You clearly.

~This is my prayer.  Amen.~

Chore List {or, earning money for our road trip!}

This trip, I’ve jotted down a list of chores I’d like to have help with and how much I’m willing to pay for them.  So far, it’s working like a charm!  The children have already completed half the list and our home is looking spic n span!  (Did your Mom use that expression when you were a kid?)

This is the Ohio Paid Chore List I printed for this trip.  I left room at the bottom to jot more down as I think of other dirty nooks.  I’ll pay out right before we leave so no one looses their money, puts it in someone else’s piggy bank, or otherwise misplaces it.  We’re one step closer to our big trip… the countdown is on!

Planning for a {long} trip

ROAD TRIP! I'm looking forward to scenic drives & great family memories!

We’re gearing up for our family vacation… and it’s time to figure out how to keep six children under 12 happy for thirteen plus hours of car time.  Each way.  Heh heh

Going on a Bear Hunt is ringing in my ears… What a beautiful day, we’re not scared!  Maybe I should be…  Nah!  It’ll be FUN!  This is our third big trip (first was to DC, second to the Smoky Mountains and Asheville, North Carolina) so I’m going to pull out my tried-and-true ideas and add in some fresh ones for a grand ole time!

Today is brainstorming… I’ll share the links & ideas I like with you:

1) Print some funny questions for family giggles.
2) Here are some fun printable ideas, including Road Trip Bingo, and a great tip… laminate, laminate, laminate!  I also love these, but the chick is from Australia, so we may have a hard time finding a Holden (?) or a Kangaroo Crossing sign!
3) I may make one of these to keep the van trash-free.
4) This car magnet could keep my kiddos from getting run over in parking lots.
5) I like some of these ideas… like pinning up our destinations in the van.  Maybe I could put something fun on the back of each for us to do upon arrival… or something to look for while there (I like that better)!!
6) I made a homemade I Spy bottle last trip & it was a hit, I plan to do that again.
7) I’ll print a US Map for the liscense plate game- the children can color in the states as they see plates from each.  We see ‘em all here in Florida!
I always include an itenerary to reduce the “are we there yet” and “how much longer” questions.
9) I’ll include some fresh snack ideas, like these “Energy Bites” and these Chocolate Coins.  {Am I really gonna have time to make all this?}
10) I wish I liked sewing.  I’d make a Road Trip Quilt & include fabrics that remind me of each destination.  Forget scrapbooking, I could make a quilt for each trip!  Maybe I’ll take it up… Hmm…
11) Almost done- I need some sleep.  I saw several ideas on Confessions of a Homeschooler‘s site that may help me with our folders.  I’m getting excited just looking all this up!
12) I hope to have time to make a Road Trip Playlist.  What are your favorite trippin’ songs?!  I don’t want to forget any!

It’s gonna be fun… send me any ideas you love & I’ll add it to my arsenal!!!

A New Kind of Growth Chart?

We’ve been working on these handprint monkeys as part of our India study.  Reading Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling has inspired us.  Georgia Anne loved it when I painted her hands!

I borrowed the idea from a facebook friend who, apparently, borrowed it from somebody big because when I googled it, a million (okay, not really- but a lot) people had these on their blogs, facebook, websites, etc.

This website, in particular, caught my eye.  What if, instead of growth charts, we did semi-annual handprint projects with our kiddos?  Wouldn’t it be a fun way to watch them grow!?!

Clara hadn’t participated in the monkey handprint project because, well, I didn’t really think she was paying too much attention to Kipling.  But I think I may go back & have her do one.  And I think we may need to do Thanksgiving turkeys and Winter (bare) trees and Spring sunflowers and Summer crabs… you get the picture.  The memories that accompany the growing handprints will be priceless!

Henna Tattoos for ALL!

Our studies this year (Sonlight Core F) are taking us all over the Eastern Hemisphere.  The next few weeks, we’re exploring India.

We’ll be eating traditional Indian dishes, looking at pictures with neighbors who grew up there, doing some fun India crafts, and reading, reading, reading!  First things first, though.  We kicked off our study with some henna tattoos!

It turns out that Sarah is not only a fun friend, but a talented henna artist- she freehanded all of these!!

Timothy wanted flames & a crazy sun (surprised?!).  It goes well with his Kool Aid dyed hair.  Andrew’s is very similar.

Ben wanted his on his leg, so he could wear pants & cover it up.  It’s just above his “golden foot.”  He’s our thoughtful and cautious son.

And Mamma got one as well.  <3

 Tradition is to hide the groom’s initials in the scroll work & he has to find them.

Hands-on is certainly my favorite way to learn about other cultures!  If you have any great ideas for integrating Indian customs into our schooling, shoot me an email!

Priorities

As I read before bed last night, after a sick mommy day where life’s priorities are suddenly seen with a clarity lacking in my healthy I-can-d0-everything days, this passage struck me regarding children:

 Jesus, too, loved hearing the children, and once it even triggered His anger.  The Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of the universe was fuming.  His disciples were only trying to help- protecting him, guarding him from the crowds… But when Jesus saw them rebuking… the children… “he was indignant.  He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”  If this set Him off, it gives me pause to think He’s watching us now…

A new week is begun.  Monday is a day when we set priorities, make lists, start “back to school”.  We would do well to prioritize our lives not by what seems urgent but by the kingdom of God.

The grass can grow another 1/2 inch, the floor can be quickly swept instead of scrubbed & mopped, the world will not stop if you miss a facebook update…  Instead, read your little princess the story again.  Check out the amazing lego ship (that happens to look exactly like the last one he showed you) and admire the updated super-sonic engine with force field blasters your son brings down.  Talk to your teen.  (I’m totally preaching to myself here…)

Lord, help me to pour my life into the ones you’ve given me to love.  Amen.

My New Vacuum Really Sucks!!

I am so excited… Chris brought home a new vacuum!!!

We’ve had Old Faithful for years.  It’s two different colors because it’s pieced together from half a Kenmore cannister that I love and have had forever and half I got from a garage sale when part of mine was breaking.  It’s held together with popsicle sticks and leopard print duct tape (oh yeah!).

My hubs surprised me by bringing home a new vac Monday!  The Dyson Digital Slim is teeny tiny but powerful!  (Looks like a weedwacker, doesn’t it?!)  It’s perfect for the kiddos to help pick messes up & easy when it’s time for storage. And the best part is… the kiddos all want to vacuum!!

No more bags, no more unplugging & re-plugging to be able to vac the whole house- it’s quick & easy from here on out!  Thanks, Daddy O!

Raise Your Eyebrows

<- This is Michelle.  {Hi Michelle!}

Michelle is a wise, sweet, hospitable, godly woman.  When she shares a tip, I listen.

“Remember to raise your eyebrows!” she counselled me a couple of weeks ago.  At first, I was totally confused.  Is this some sort of wierd 80′s face exercise to stay youthful??  (Totally off the subject, but you MUST make time to click that link!)

No, it’s more of a biblical heart exercise along the “put off/put on” lines.  Try it now… it’s pretty hard to have a grumpy face and raise the eyebrows at the same time, isnt’ it?!  When I raise my eyebrows, it reminds me to smile.

Whether teaching or correcting the children, or just sending them on a quick errand, instructing with a smile communicates my love and gratefulness for the Lord sending them into my life.

Genesis 4- “So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 yIf you do well, will you not be accepted?2 And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. zIts desire is for3 you, but you must rule over it.”

Don’t let your face fall- Genesis reminds us it’s an indication of your heart! Put on a smile for those you love today.

Go Go Gadget… PATIENCE!!

Andrew just watched Inspector Gadget for the first time… and he loved it!  Do you remember Gadget?  He was the incredibly gadgeted, always bumbling, detective who saved the world from the evil schemes of Dr. Claw every Saturday morning.  With the help of Penny and Brain, of course.

Go go gadget chute! Go go gadget cuffs!  Go go gadget copter!  This robotic cop had all the tools he could possibly need for any evil scheme at his disposal.  But in spite of the awesome tricked-out suit, he messed up every single mission!

This morning, I found myself whispering, “Go Go Gadget, PATIENCE!!”  If I were Gadget, I think a flowerpot would have popped out of my hat or something comical like that.  Because in spite of my well-equipped suit, I too bumble…errr, sin… quite a bit.

I said it wistfully… but as I thought of it, the Gadget illustration really held out farther than my initial impulsive blurt.  (Which reminded me of Sarah on Labrynth, “I wish the Goblin King would come and take you away… right now.”  But I digress…)

Do you remember Brain, the brilliant dog?  He and Penny always had to bail Gadget out.  Well, it’s like that here, too.  I can wish for a go-go-gadget fix, but I really have to be engaged if I want to see change.  Kind of like Brain talking to Penny on their watch walkie-talkies.  (The Holy Spirit & me?  I know this is a stretch, but it’s my illustration & a comic after all!)

Here are some things Brain tells me, after my Go Go Gadget wish flops:
1) Think on scriptures that apply and meditate on them.  (ex: Let me be quick to listen, slow to speak & slow to become angry b/c my anger doesn’t achieve the righteous life God requires. -James 1:19 paraphrased by me)
2) Ask for help!  Go to the Lord.  Confess my sin, identify my weakness, and ask (beg!?) for His mercy, which is new each and every day.  AND ask a friend to pray for/with me and to check in on me later (it’s called accountability!)
3) Put off/put on.  I need to put into practice what I’ve just been meditating on!  I can’t read, “Love overlooks a multitude of sins” -1 Peter 4:8 and then keep on rehearsing all the ways my children/husband/the driver that just cut me off (fill in the blank) are making my life difficult!  (Side note: I’ve often noticed that they’re not even sinning against me, I’m just irritated b/c their preference isn’t the same as mine!  In those cases, I REALLY need to overlook!)
4) Go Go Gadget, SMILE!!  Raising my eyebrows helps change my whole countenance.

Quiet Time, Part 2

Quiet Time, Part 1 is here.

So you know you want to teach your family to appreciate both a rest time and time in the Word.  Do you find yourself wondering where do I start?

We’ve tried many things over the years and my perennial favorite is letting the children listen to the Dramatized Bible during nap time.

<– This is the NIV Bible dramatized(by Zondervan).  Dramatized means they read exactly what is written (and only what is written) adding different voices for different speakers, music and a few sound effects.

We also have The Bible in Living Sound and some Your Story Hour Bible-based radio dramas that the children love, but I like the children to listen to the Word (unaltered) at quiet time.  We save all our other audio dramas (including Jonathan Park, Focus on the Family Radio Theatre and Lamplighter Books) for car rides, fun time or bedtime.

How long is quiet time?  I’ve let the CD become a timer for those who no longer take naps.  So they lay quietly (or draw or play w/a quiet toy) during nap time until their CD is over.

What do they listen to?  All of the Bible!  We don’t always go sequentially… sometimes I pull a CD related to a recent conversation or Sunday School lesson or favorite story.  Other times, I work through in order.

What about the scary stuff?  I used to worry about the “scary parts”.  You know, the battles, weeping and gnashing of teeth… not to mention Sodom & Gomorrah or Lot’s daughters’ reprehensible behavior… Mom advised me to pray and trust God and also be available for questions.  So I don’t really edit what they hear day in & day out.  There are a few CDs I don’t put in often- you can listen with your kiddos and use discernment.

How young do we start?  I didn’t realize how much my little ones are retaining until I overheard a conversation in Sunday School about Samson, the 300 Philistines, the donkey’s jawbone and his power coming not just from long hair but from the holy spirit.  That was Andrew (4).

We usually start when a CD playing offers something for the children to focus on and relax… Georgia is just starting to benefit from them, so I suppose around the 3rd Bday is when I usually add a “devotion CD” to their naptimes.  Ben (12) is managing his own quiet time now, but I still like Lauren to listen- I think the ages depend on where the children are developmentally, their learning styles, etc.  What doesn’t change is the importance of spending time in the word- written or audio!

Don’t stop there.  This shouldn’t replace family devotions, it’s a way to help your child grow up having his own quiet time.  Trust God to speak to him.  Ask God to be real & personal to your child!

See if it works for you!!  I hope and pray that God’s Word, hidden in their hearts, will serve my children well over the years.  It’ll lead them where they should go (Ps 119:105), keep them from sin (Ps 119:11) and help them to love the Lord.  Learning to quiet their little hearts is a gift I try to give them every day!