Backyard Learning

Have you ever done a Bug Battle? 

Catch as many bugs as you can, or snails, worms, etc.

Gather them all together and put them under Mom's glass serving dish.

Watch the battle unfold.

We do practice catch and release.

There actually is never much too it.  They mostly stay away from eachother.  You can tell when the spider is getting mad and the fangs protude and they stand on their hind legs.  The snail takes it easy and hidey-holes in it's shell.  The worm gets all hard. The roley polley curls up and rolls around. 

I enjoy so much pointing out nature to the children.  We are big on stopping and noticing things.  I believe we learn so very much about our Heavenly Father and the ways of the world just by taking in nature.  I am also most content when I am outside. 

Early one morning, Paul caught toads at the base of our fence.

I have a ton of pictures over the years of Paul holding up some sort of wildlife for the children.  I think it's great.  To complete my collection would be Paul holding up a Skunk :)) 

                         Even little Mary gave him a good pet. 

 “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”-Isaiah 6:3

Pumpkin

I didn't believe it, so I had to try it for myself.

Stir one box of Cake mix with one 15 ounce can of Pumpkin.

Fill muffin pan holes 2/3 full. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes

and

waalaah

~Pumpkin Muffins~

I made mini-muffins so I baked for about 12 minutes.

I also added 1 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice because I just couldn't imagine using only 2 ingredients.

I can't wait to do this again with a box of carrot cake mix and then I will glaze with powdered sugar icing.  I may even dare a chocolate cake mix. 

I love pumpkin and have already stocked my pantry shelves with 14 cans.  That will last well through the Holiday Season plus more for later.  I even eat it straight from the can and so did all of my babies.  

Soon, I will begin baking Pumpkin Pies of which I follow the recipe on the back of the Libby's can, but I always DOUBLE the amount of spices it calls for.  That is how my mom taught me and I really like all the flavor.

Also Pumpkin Cornbread and Creamy Ginger-Pumpkin Soup will be on the menu this month. 

Once, my grandmother fed her baby so many carrots from the abundance of the garden that her baby turned orange-toned.  I'm curious if that could happen from eating to much pumpkin.  We will soon see :)

Our October 31st Day!

I am a sucker for tradition.  No matter where we live or what our appointment, there a certain things that must be done on certain days!  I think it makes for stability, routine, and blessed discipline :)

October 31st is one of those days.

The children and I packed 140 treat bags for our Staff and Men.  Mary kept stealing candy so there was a lot of crying on her part until her final lesson stuck with  her.  Everyone else did great.  After years of the older children being expected to help, it is becoming natural for them and they anticipate the special projects with excitement.  The littles catch the excitement too.  I'm glad to see some of my "towing the line" pay off! 

Next year I am recruiting someone to help me tie off the bags with ribbon.  I was tying long after everyone else was done with their tasks.  Woe is me ;)

When you move to a new place, you try to focus on the perks, the upsides.  Like how we were able to carve pumpkins outside!  I was especially glad since I had just mopped the floors. 

Also, our trick or treating was great with no hills or stairs that the children had to climb.  The kids were always falling with all the stairs in The Dalles and it was happening in San Francisco too.

I LOVE trick or treating in a new neighborhood.  It is the only chance we have to knock on the neighbors door and check them out.  Otherwise, I never see anyone.

I think pumpkin carving is my favorite part of all! 

Afterschool we went and handed out the treats at the Center.  The kids were all dressed up and competing to who could give out the most.  There were some tears on Hannah's part that noone was taking hers, but she just couldn't be seen.  She was quite satisfied when we let her hand out to the kitchen crew all by herself.

                      Hannah the Mid-Evil Queen

                              Mary the Little Mermaid

                               Elijah the Spartan

                                    Ann the Barbie Mermaid

David the Banana

David stayed behind this year and handed out the candy while at the same time building a candy catapult with his Kinect set.  He had a blast, but it was different not to bring him.  Life just keeps on a changin'!

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it."

~1 Corinthians 10:26

Back to Blogging

I'm back.  I was not "feeling it" to blog much, or really be on the computer much at all.  I get way over-stimulated and then I think my brain short-circuits.  I know that happens when sparks fly out of my ears.

A few of us just got over a round of sickness, but other than that we are all happy and healthy.  I am praising God in a lot of ways lately, even in my uncomfortableness in certain areas.  He is maturing my faith in intense ways.  He is at work beyond what our eyes and ears tell us!

                                    
Last night we did a round of Pumpkin Carving with our Men.  It was a great time of real fellowship to have, our family with them, making a huge mess :)  It was good and even better to have help cleaning up!  As we walked around checking out their pumpkins, I was envisioning them carving pumpkins with their children.  My dad always carved pumpkins with us, and I remember the lesson I learned every year "Don't stop scraping and scooping until ALL the guts are out".  (A lesson I still apply to life today!)  I also remember my dad's own strong, tattooed arm carving away the tough spots for us.  Maybe I'm awfuly hopeful, but I have so much hope that these men will be walking with God and restored to their families and our Army will be stronger in number and influence.

Our home is nicely decorated with Fall things. I have been making an effort to keep everything lit up and all the blinds open because it is getting darker earlier.  I hate a dark house.  My family is getting tired of me saying "It is so dark in here!" even with all the lights on. I imagine it will get worse when daylight savings starts.   What I really need is a glass ceiling.  

I will post pictures soon.  We had to take our computer in to repair and this backup can't handle much.  I love when we go through my blog and look at all the pictures and past happenings.  It's like an extra brain to help store memories.

Paul was gone for the last few days and the kids and I enjoyed eating breakfast for dinner every night.  (Paul doesn't like breakfast for dinner.)  Can you believe we went through 4 dozen eggs!!! Holy Cow, I mean Holy Chicken!

I have a lot packed into today, Cinnamon Rolls and Bacon for breakfast, haircuts for the boys, trip to CostCo for candy (for the Center), pumpkin hunting and carving for us Chouinard's, company coming for dinner, and stuffing candy bags for our Staff and Men for Halloween. 



some pics

We just now got our PC hooked up.  In the kitchen, in the wide open.  A good place for it to be ;)  Although as I sit here, I am needed by someone about every 10 seconds.  So now I'm relating computer time with annoying time.   Which equals less time.   Fine by me, I'm loving our weather here!!  Hot Mamma!

Here are some of our goings on around home.

                       Hannah fell asleep like this.  Little cutie-pie.

              Mary gets this from me... throwing her head up to heaven with a sigh...."God help me".

                Ann doing her musical jewelry box project.

                  Elijah and his lego project.

                      David and his lego project.

     Daddy-O in the pool with his little mermaids and mermen.

                           David helping Ann on his Ripstick.

                         Elijah cleaning out the pool.

                                     Hannah's boat.

                          Chouinards on wheels.  Look out!

I can hardly get enough of my rollerblades. 

When I was jumping in the pool with my clothes on (I'll do the other when the kids are in bed ;)))

my scrunchie came out of my hair and Elijah freaked out  "Mom's panties!!" 

So funny when I threw it at him.  As if my panties would be that little!

                                               Isn't this a cool picture?

                                                    This one too!

MYO pizza night.

All of my doughs rise so quick here.  I put it on the back porch and it will double in half an hour.

                                              David shootin' some b-ball

The Beauty of Simplicity

“Everything is permissible—but not everything is beneficial.

Everything is permissible—but not everything is constructive." 

                                                                                                                 1 Corinthians 10:23

~

I can tell God is prodding me to get back to the basics. Not so much that I ever left it, but it can so easily get muddled up by my big imagination and lofty ideas.
 The basics that God SO LOVES you and me that He worked on this earth again and again to draw us to Himself, finally culminating in the GIVING of His only Son, Jesus.  He gave Jesus the free choice to offer Himself up for us, dying a horrible death, and then doing the inconceivable-  RAISING from the DEAD. 
Giving us LIFE. 


It really is that beautifully simple. 

Jesus didn't die so we could feel all self-righteous.  Jesus didn't die so we could hold ourselves or others up to impossible standards.  Jesus didn't die so we could impose harsh expectations on our brethren.  Jesus didn't die so that we would be shielded from the harsh realities of this fallen world.  Jesus didn't die and make us free so that we could enslave ourselves to human ideology.  Jesus didn't even die to gratify our wish list.

How many souls have been lost because we ourselves have made Jesus' death into something it wasn't.  There are people dying, dying, dying in front of our eyes and all we can do is portray to them how awful they are for not living life according to our own expectations.   We should not just be merely "putting up" with people or "loving them with God's love" (whatever that's supposed to mean).  We are to love.  Jesus makes it possible to really love, genuinely, sincerely. 

Jesus died to save us. You know what from.  Sin.  When we think we are not sinners, we are deceiving ourselves.  We all fall short of 100% goodness.  Don't give me that "goodness is relative" rational.  Goodness, God's Law,  is written on our hearts.  Take a look at yours.  You know right from wrong.  Where does that come from if it doesn't come from God? 

Jesus died so that we could truly live and experience and give real love-  joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  I want that so bad.  I want Him so bad.  I want it to permeate every area of my life.  And just another thought... if I were a person (which I know I am!)... do I love myself?  Am I patient, kind, gentle to me?

 

As I go about seeking God's way with my husband, children, and my public ministry role,

I think about how God has called me to show and share His love. 

If I don't have that, than I don't really know what I have to offer that is substantial.  

So I'm just really trying to get back to the basics of God's love.

Just give me Jesus.  Just give them Jesus.  The details really will work themselves out.  

Oh, how great is His love toward us!  Every one of us.  He doesn't leave anyone out. 

We find it so hard to grasp that anyone could love like that, but GOD DOES.  Freely. 



   

Sweet Summer Days

 

"It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth;

You made both summer and winter."

Psalm 74:17

 

Oh what a sweet summer we are having!    Sweet Summer days that God has set in place. 

• Swimming in the pool out back counts as a bath.
• Sleeping outside under the stars and hoping for a shooting star, night after night.
• Icecream and strawberries for lunch. 
• Watermelon for dinner.
• A bit more squabbling among the children... 
• A bit more love among the children.
• Two trips to camp for the boys.
• 26 books read.
• Late nights and early mornings. 
• 1/2 price slushes and Diet cokes at Sonic during "happy hour"!
• Unpacking, organizing, re-organizing, again and again. 
• On a whim trips to the park (or Walmart!)
• CAUTION: Children in Tow.... Bringing the children to the Center and making sure noone ends up in a Tote or ran over by a C-Cart and keeping them from swinging around on the ZRacks. Or wait.  Is that me?
• Getting kicked out of Major Daddy-O's office. Hummpphh. Fine then. 
• Squirting fully clothed children with the hose,  fun for me :)
• Countless trips to the Library, Doctor, Dentist, Schools, Groceries, Dry Cleaners, and our Family Stores.
• Paper plates and plastic forks.
• Craft upon craft upon craft.
• Wii, Movies and the Military Channel and my newly discovered favorite Judie Byrd cooking show. 6am and all to myself.
• Imaginitive, Creative, Adventurous Play, Play, Play. (mess, mess, mess too) 

   And sometimes,  me just longing for a little break.... aaaaahhhhh.... one day....

 

 

He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,

but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.

Proverbs 10:5

 

Ants are creatures of little strength,

yet they store up their food in the summer;

Proverbs 30:25

  

We Gather and Store Up love, cherished memories, and character building in our family as we engage these summer days.
Soon it will be time for a harvest!