One

So the Nebraska Cornhuskers are a big deal in our house. When I married my husband I more or less hated football, tho I did have a team I was a fan of...Michigan. BUT...I didn't watch the games, and if there was a game on and I wanted to know the winner, I just wanted to know who won at the end of a game. I didn't have any interest in spending hours watching a football game, and I didn't know the rules anyways. The first game that Nebraska and Michigan played years ago, Michigan was all set to win, and then Nebraska won at the.very.end. I was so mad, I was so looking forward to my team winning and giving my husband a hard time about it. We were watching that game at our families house and it was a LONG drive home. Well, in later years, I decided to become a Husker fan, mostly because I didn't want to feel left out in my own home. My husband is a HUGE Husker fan, and our kids were becoming fans as well, so it was join in or be the odd ball out. (My husband was not going to let one of his offspring become a Michigan fan...they could like Michigan, but the Huskers had to be their favorite team.) Fast forward to now. Our eight year old son saw the Florida Gators on TV, and has decided he likes them. I think sometimes he likes them as much or more than Nebraska. This has driven my husband nuts. He NEVER thought one of his boys would have a favorite team besides the beloved Huskers. SO the other day my husband says to our son, "Son, how many wives are you going to have when you get married?" He then goes on to explain that football is like marriage. Marriage is ONE husband, ONE wife. The same goes for football. ONE favorite team. I couldn't help but laugh!  :)

Psalm 105

Oh, give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works!
Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!
Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
O seed of Abraham His servant,
You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!

He is the Lord our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
He remembers His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,
The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac,
And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the allotment of your inheritance,”
When they were few in number,
Indeed very few, and strangers in it.

When they went from one nation to another,
From one kingdom to another people,
He permitted no one to do them wrong;
Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes,
Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”

Moreover He called for a famine in the land;
He destroyed all the provision of bread.
He sent a man before them—
Joseph—who was sold as a slave.
They hurt his feet with fetters,
He was laid in irons.
Until the time that his word came to pass,
The word of the Lord tested him.
The king sent and released him,
The ruler of the people let him go free.
He made him lord of his house,
And ruler of all his possessions,
To bind his princes at his pleasure,
And teach his elders wisdom.

Israel also came into Egypt,
And Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.
He increased His people greatly,
And made them stronger than their enemies.
He turned their heart to hate His people,
To deal craftily with His servants.

He sent Moses His servant,
And Aaron whom He had chosen.
They performed His signs among them,
And wonders in the land of Ham.
He sent darkness, and made it dark;
And they did not rebel against His word.
He turned their waters into blood,
And killed their fish.
Their land abounded with frogs,
Even in the chambers of their kings.
He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
And lice in all their territory.
He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
He struck their vines also, and their fig trees,
And splintered the trees of their territory.
He spoke, and locusts came,
Young locusts without number,
And ate up all the vegetation in their land,
And devoured the fruit of their ground.
He also destroyed all the firstborn in their land,
The first of all their strength.

He also brought them out with silver and gold,
And there was none feeble among His tribes.
Egypt was glad when they departed,
For the fear of them had fallen upon them.
He spread a cloud for a covering,
And fire to give light in the night.
The people asked, and He brought quail,
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
It ran in the dry places like a river.

For He remembered His holy promise,
And Abraham His servant.
He brought out His people with joy,
His chosen ones with gladness.
He gave them the lands of the Gentiles,
And they inherited the labor of the nations,
That they might observe His statutes
And keep His laws.

Praise the Lord!

Where Does Time Go?

So I have done a sad job of keeping up with my blog lately, and an even worse job at stopping by to comment on the blogs I enjoy reading. I am hoping to get some posts here soon. It seems like everytime I sit down to work on a post, that something needs my attention, or I just can't find enough to say in a blog. This thanksgiving is the first one in four years that we will be getting together with family for Thanksgiving. Kindof exciting! Everyone is coming to our house this year, so I hope that our dinner goes off without a hitch! :) I plan to get some more posts up, but if I don't, I hope that everyone has a wonderful, family filled Thanksgiving!

Sushi

The other day we finally got around to giving our puppy her first haircut. She was really looking like a mop. So much like a mop that I really could of mopped the floor with her. But once we got all that hair off, Sushi was so happy, that she went boundin' thru the house, and I kept thinking of the Pixar Short Film, Boundin'.
http://youtu.be/FAZLT82YA_8

Japanese Candy

I saw this video on the web. We actually bought this Japanese candy and tried making it. I have one left and I think I'll make it again. Watching the video gave me some tips!  :)
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/fascinating-japanese-candy/1jrueb5r7?q=candy&rel=MSN

Homeschooling???

This is the best blog post on people who question homeschooling! Love it!!!
(It's right below the brownie recipe, just scroll down.)
http://www.icantbelievemylife.com/2007/11/to-well-intended-dead-fish-everywhere.html

Homeschooling Tips

I know that some Mommies are new to homeschooling, so I thought I would throw a few resources out there and also some tips. 

When it comes to grade keeping, I've done good and sadly I have done poorly. The year before last I did good. Last year, well let's just say I still need to organize my grades. This year we started using the Homeschool Tracker. I love it. It is a great way to keep grades, keep track of the days of school you have done, etc...I have a free version of it, but might look into upgrading sometime. It is a great way to keep track of your students work, grades, tests, and field trips etc...The link is here
http://www.homeschooltracker.com/tracker_basic.aspx

Another web site I like and have started using some of their products is The Simple Homeschool. Their products are very affordable and you buy and download. You can print off the pages you need, and still have the product for your next child if you want to use it again. I really like this since we have five kids. They have lots and lots of unit studies. The only thing I wish was included with the Unit Studies were tests, but you can make your own tests. You can also sign up and get weekly freebies from them. The link is here
http://thesimplehomeschool.com/

Another organization that I really appreciate is the HSLDA. You can become a member and they will help you if anyone comes to give you trouble over homeschooling. They also offer a lot of other things such as state specific laws for homeschooling. Their link is here
http://www.hslda.org

I love to "laminate" things. I put laminate in quotations because while I love to laminate, it is expensive to do so. I use to buy rolls of clear boxing tape and use that to "laminate" things. But this year I was having the kids make something and the homeschool book said to use clear contact paper to cover what they were making...lightbulb! Now I use clear contact paper to laminate things. I love it. It is an inexpensive way to keep papers looking nice.

Boys...God has blessed us with four boys. You have heard the saying that "Boys will be boys". While this is true to some degree, boys still need discipline and lots of love to turn them into God honoring and well behaved young men. But boys have a lot of energy. They think about things as noises and moving. They have a hard time sitting still. I want to encourage all mommies who have boys, be patient with them. They might have a hard time learning to sit still. Try to find a way to get to their heart. Don't worry about trying to always keep a certain schedule. Be flexible. If they are struggling with a concept, pray about it. Go on line and search for an answer. Talk to other mothers whose boys are older and who have homeschooled their young boys. They can be a wealth of advice. If you need to slow down the material you are learning. It's OK. It is better to slow down and let them learn a concept well. Sometimes when we slow down it opens other doors to teach things that might have been left by the wayside.

Comparing ourselves. Don't compare yourself with other families, other homeschooling moms. When you look at what other homeschooling familes are doing, it can be discouraging. They get more done, their kids are always behaved. They have more money and can buy more things for their kids, their kids are taking pre algebra in fourth grade. Stop comparing. We do not need to keep up with everyone else. It can cause us a lot of discontent to be always comparing ourselves to each other.
We can always find tips and be open to learning something new from others when it comes to homeschooling, but remember what works for one family, might not work for another family. Bathe your day in prayer.

And lastly, don't lay your husband to the side. Remember his needs. Talk to him about the homeschooling. When he makes a suggestion listen to him. Often our husbands suggest something to us and we are quick to say...no that won't work, no that is not how I think we should do it. And you know what? Eventually they will stop suggesting things to us. They will pull away and let us have our way. But we need to go to our husbands. We need to listen to them. And when they want to do something, sometimes instead of arguing over it, we need to listen and do it thier way. I think sometime us wives would be surprised at how something works well that they have suggested. We also need to remember that our husbands are the head of our homes. God put them in that position. We need to love and respect our husbands. We need to be his helper. We need to encourage him. I know that a lot of days we are exhausted at the end of the day, but we need to make sure we love and honor our husbands. I am guilty a lot of thinking about me and what my husband and kids need to do for me. It is good for us to have the mindset of serving our families. Of serving them because we love them. Because we are thankful for them.

And finally, bathe your day in prayer. Ask the Lord for wisdom. The Bible says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."  James 1:5