Happy Birthday Kylie

Today is my Kylie Bears 5th Birthday!

And what is neat is it was 5 yrs ago on a Wednesday that she was born.

I cant believe how big she has gotten. And how much she has changed over the last few months. It is like she went from little girl to big girl all of a sudden.

Kylie, you are unique. You are a pretty princess, deer hunter, "frog hunter", momma's big girl, daddys baby, litte momma to your brother and sister and oh so smart!

It is you who I am learning with, you who is teaching me what it is like to be a mom. Its you who tells me when I mess up and when I do good. You are so silly sometimes and at others, you are very serious and your not going to joke about anything.

I love having you at home all the time. I love how you want to help me cook and learn to sew and how you play princess, and then campout.

I never would have guessed 5 yrs ago that I could feel this much love towards somebody else. But you (and your brothers and sister) have shown me that I can. I cant wait to see what you do in the next year and the rest of your life. You are going to go far as long as you hold onto your dreams.

I love you Kylie! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

My Bracelet!

I just wanted to share the Bracelet that I recieved. It was a door prize for the Heart of The Matter Online Homeschool Conference.

It is the Teach Your Children Bracelet. (Click on the picture to go to the site). I love it. The picture does not do it justice. It is so beautiful. The colored jewels in the center are birthstones for your children so I had my kids birthstones put there.

The bracelet is based upon the bible verse from Deuteronomy 6: 5-7: "Love the LORD your God with all your heart [heart with cross charm] and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give to you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them upon your children [ABC charm]. Talk to them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." (taken from the Share Your Story website).

Anyway, Just wanted to share this with you. Hope you all are having a very blessed week.

Blessings

Crystal

Blogging Break!

I have decided that I need a break. I have lots of projects to do....some aprons to make, dishtowels to crochet, a hat to knit (kylies christmas present..if I can get it to turn out right...). I have a quilting machine to get busy using, hunting stuff to get ready..( I know a little early but this weather is making me ready for fall...)

I need to start taking pictures with my new camera (which I got for half price..which was exactly the amount I had saved for one.. :) ) so I can get better at it and hopefully take good enough ones to sell and make some extra money...

And I have a nephew coming pretty soon that I want to be ready to go see. I want my house to be ready when they call to say he is on his way so that I can just load the kids up in the car and take off. It is a 2 hour drive from here to the hospital where she will have him and I havent missed being there for one of hers yet. I was three weeks away from having Alaina when she had Claire and Jason was two months old when she had Lily. I wouldnt miss this one for the world....as long as its Gods will that I be there. But I am going to do everything I can to be there.

And I have several Birthdays this month so I am going to be quite busy. Pauls is the 24th, Kylie's is the 27th, A friend of ours is the 26th, I know someones is the 22nd, I just cant remember who right now..lol. We had a birthday at Church the other day and the 29th is another friend of ours. Plus with Julies little boy due during this time.. And we have an archery shoot at a friends house this month also...just a bunch of friends getting together to shoot bows but fun anyway....

I also need to get curriculum ordered and plans put into place. We will not be starting this month but I would like to have it ready.

And Paul has several extra jobs lined up to do to make up for not working...( he is such a wonderful provider for our family.) God is so good to give me such a wonderful Husband and my kids such a Wonderful Daddy.

For those of you that read my sisters blog, our dad did have a surgery done on Friday to clean out some blockages in his leg. They found a baseball size blockage in his leg and a lesion in the other leg. He was in surgery for 2.5 hours and then in CICU for 8 hours (they put him there to watch him for complications....) Paul and I went up to be with Mom during the surgery. My sister Tammy and her husband and two of their kids were there (Thank you Tammy and George and Sarah and Rose for being there to help with my kids and for staying with Momma....) Also one of our aunts and her husband was there...(Thank you Aunt Emma Lou and Uncle Lester.....for everything). Julie wasnt able to make it...it is a four hour drive for them and mom and dad and tammy and george and a three hour drive for us from a different direction. We didnt want to risk Julie going into Labor.....speaking of which...Thank You to Jesse and Michael for watching over Aunt Julie while everyone was gone...(they were quite scared that she was going to have to be taken to the hospital and they were the only ones home to do it...they are 18 and 19 .....just imagine...lol) But anyway, Dad came through okay. It is just scary to see your childhood (and still sometimes ) hero...in that predicament. He is supposed to be strong and able to scare the monsters away and for him to be hooked up to machines and pretty much helpless.....its tough. I know it is just life and I know that it happens and it is just the way life goes...but like I told Paul. That's my daddy, hes not supposed to get sick....hes just not. He's always been strong....

And yes, Pauls mom did have a heart attack last month. I know Julie posted about it on her blog. I have just been so busy and she is okay. Nothing like her stroke in February. She has been undergoing test and stuff to make sure everything is okay. But thank you all for your prayers. She is one special lady...like I have said before. I have been blessed in this life with many sets of parents and grandparents. My inlaws are more like my parents than my inlaws.

Please keep Julie in your prayers that she may have a safe delivery and a healthy baby. Please keep my dad in your prayers that he may continue to recover. Please pray for my mommy(inlaw) that she may not have any more heart attacks or strokes and that she may regain her strength and health. Please pray for me that when Julie does have her baby that if it be Gods will that I may be able to be there with her. And please pray that He continues to bless Paul with the extra jobs he has.

Also a special prayer request. I have a friend from Church (I think I have posted on here about her before) Her husband has been stationed in Japan for the last two years. They found out earlier this year that their two year old little boy is autistic. They have been restationed to Missouri. They are able to get better help for their little boy stateside than over there. They are also now only 5 hours from family instead of overseas. Please pray that the move goes smoothly for them and that their little boy adjust well and that they are able to get the help he needs over here. They are a very sweet Godly family and I'm sure would appreciate all the prayers they can get. I for one cant imagine what they are dealing with.....I know God only gives us what we can handle...but I dont know if I would have the strength to handle alot of things He gives to others....But please keep this family in your prayers. I am so glad to have them back stateside and to be renewing my friendship with them. I cant tell you how much I have missed them in the past few years.

I will probably not be back until September at least. I will try to post pics of Julies baby when it is born and I will probably post pics for Kylies birthday but other than that...I will be busy as you can tell...

Prayers, Blessings and Christian Love to all....
Crystal

Training my Children

Prov 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (KJV) Bible.





In my quest to figure out how to train my children I discovered as I posted about yesterday, that I need to teach them Love first. I have been praaying about it and thinking about it and trying to figure out what I am doing wrong with my kids. Where did I go wrong? A year ago, my kids were willing helpers around the house and they were very obedient. Yes they threw the occasional temper tantrum and yes they were what most people say "just being kids" but overall, I didnt have that many problems with them.



Well in all my thinking and praying and reading my Bible, I had another thought. I thought of how my sister would handle this, how she would figure it out. Julie has always turned to books...(no offense Julie, you are way more knowledgable than me...and books help alot. ) Not saying that she turns only to books, she prays and she reads her Bible alot. But she does have alot of books that I would love to read. She always has insight into stuff that I have questions about. So in thinking this, I started to go through my books. I stumbled upon a binder that I had been putting together for the past couple of years (until Jason was born actually....) It was my parenting binder...silly I know but it was.



In this binder, I have several, okay lots, of articles printed out from different websites that helped me in training my children. I realized that I need to reread and integrate (slowly, dont want to put too much on them at once) some of these points into our routine (when we finally get one...lol). So I am going to share the websites that I got these articles from. I am sure you probably already know most or all of them but maybe like me, you have forgotten them. I am also hopefully later today going to put links back up in my sidebar.



Above Rubies They have far more than just training your children. They have alot of encouragement and help for women.



Raising Godly Tomatoes They actually have a book now in print that you can buy. I am hoping to buy it.



Preschoolers and Peace This site has lots of interesting ideas and helps. Lots of things to keep your kids busy(not idol) and not busy work, but busy while teaching them good habits.



Christian Moms of Many Blessings another site that is just full of help.



Also Kelli had a very good post on parenting today with a couple of very good videos.



I will post more links to websites in my sidebar as I find them. I know that I am just getting started in this topic and I may post on it for a while. It is a topic that has become very important and dear to me. I know that I should have been trianing my kids all along and I think that I was but got lost at some point. I need to get back on track and get my training back underway. I dont mean this to mean that I want to be a tyrant, I just want my kids to mind and not have to be told 20 times to do something. And yeah 20 is a little exaggerating. More like 5 or 6. I know that if I train them right, then I wont have to tell them that many times. But I also know that it wont be easy.

Things in my head

Scary I know...the things that go around in my head. I have gotten alot of stuff organized around here lately and I have gotten my house back on track. My house, not my home. My kids are still disobeying, they argue, they throw fits and I get really really mad. I get so frustrated that there are days that I ask God "WHY ME?" But then I turn right around and tell Him I am sorry and ask Him to please let me learn patience and let me show my kids that I love them and that they really do mean the world to me.

I have read several blogs in the last few months in which the authors are being very real. I have always been very afraid to be completely real on here. Afraid of what people will think and what they will say about me. But I can't deny that my life is crazy and hectic and that there are days when I really want to throw it all up in the air and go to work and put my kids in school. But those are the days too that something really good happens or they make me laugh and I immediately say I'm sorry and renew my resolve and my purpose of rearing my kids in a loving Godly environment. Which means I can't yell and scream.

It is getting better though these past couple of weeks. I had a thought hit me one day....(yeah they do that just hit me all of a sudden).... I have been looking at Character Training sites. I have found several as I am sure you all know. I have found the many characters of honesty, obedience, kindness and so on....I want to teach my kids love first. I want to teach them about the love that God has for them. I believe that if you teach them about the Love of God first, that honesty and obedience and kindness will all come easier and in their own time. 1 Cor. 13:13 says that the greatest of these is Charity (love). If I dont have Love, It is harder for me to have faith, hope or patience.

This all may sound a little crazy to alot of you but this is what has went through my head the last couple of weeks. Just more on how to teach my kids. I had all but given up hope and then the thought came to me that I have to teach them love first. The rest will fall into place. So that is our journey right now. That is what I'm praying for, is guidance in loving my kids in a way that they will learn to love.

I also have stuff going on in my head about my husband. He is such a wonderful man. He has been doing stuff around our house to improve it, He has been doing things to make more money since his job got cut back. We paid off one of our bills the other day. He finished putting my quilting machine together so that I can start quilting. (My way of making extra money). He has been giving me breaks whenever he can. He has been helping me with laundry and cooking since he has been home more. All these things that he doesnt have to do...he is doing. He is so wonderful. We had a guest speaker at Church Sunday so Paul didnt have to preach. He held Jason for most of the service so that I could actually listen to the lesson. He has the talent of being able to listen and hold kids..I dont. He knew this so he held Jason while I got to take in a wonderful lesson. Last night, he grated up my soap for laundry detergent (I usually use an old blender to chop it up but my blender went out a couple of weeks ago and my newer blender I just dont want to use for soap..) but he sat and grated it for me. I am just so filled with love for him.

I am going to be a little busier here in the next few weeks because I have a yard sale to do and I need to start quilting on some quilts that I have already made and see if I can get them sold. I also am going to start doing an online photography course...I havent made up my mind yet which one but I got a new camera the other day and photography is something I have always been interested in and loved doing. I am also going to go ahead and start the girls with school stuff even though I cant order any books right now. I have enough free stuff off of the internet that I can get them started. So between my "school", the girls school, quilting and just everyday life, we are going to be quite crazy around here. Plus, Julie is due to have her baby boy the end of this month and my dad is supposed to have surgery this week. (He may not have it).

Thats what is going around in my head here lately,,,what thoughts are in yours? Do you have days like mine with your kids or do you have yours trained? Are yours older so as you dont have the same problems I do or are they younger? Please let me know. I know it is crazy but sometimes, it feel like I am all alone in this world of unminding and challenging children. I know I am not, but it sure feels that way alot.

Many blessings and prayers your way.
Crystal

**************Side NOTE!******** I have some very good and thought provoking comments on this post. Please read them also as they have helped me and made me think more on this topic. Thank You Kelli and IN Pursuit of His Call *******************

Rain Rain!

Rain Rain Rain.....that is what it has done here for the last 24 hrs. But hey, I'm not gonna gripe....we need it and it beats 105 temps. I want to live somewhere where there is not summer..is that possible. I think I will move to Alaska or somewhere...lol. I love Fall, Winter and Spring......absolutely cannot stand summer.

I was going to post Husband Encouragement yesterday but I got so busy spending time with hubby doing things to our house. We have a list of repairs and organizing things to do and yesterday, alot of our little stuff got knocked off of the list. I will go into more detail later but for right now, I am off to get ready for Church. I am so excited.....Its SUNDAY!!!!!!! God is so Good!

Blessings
Crystal

Catching up!

Finally, I get to catch up on my post. But only because I dont feel like doing anything else right now. I just got back from the dentist (I had two teeth filled) and the numbinb stuff always makes me sleepy and sick to my stomach but I have kids to love and hug on so I am sitting here with them watching a movie and resting. (Hubbys orders!)

Let's see. I left off on Thursday. Well, Friday we were at the archery shoot and were really really busy. My Husband Encouragement (H.E.) for that day was the fact that my dear sweet hubby worked hard all weekend to make some extra money so we could pay off some bills....He takes such good care of us and loves us so much.

Saturday, he told me that I could go shopping for the girls one new outfit apiece and when I got tired, he told me to go back to the motel and get a nap. I did get to go shopping and I got the girls several shirts at the goodwill store (that has to be my favorite goodwill store around...lol). I also got Jason several shirts and some jeans for this winter. Then I got the girls one outfit apiece at Goodys for 60% off. I was so happy.

Sunday, when we got home from the shoot, Paul helped me to unload and start laundry and he went and got a pizza so I didnt have to cook and he fed the dogs and watered them and then came home and we sat down and watched Star Trek.

Monday, he got up at 4:00 a.m. to go to work and get in some extra hours. He also came home and worked on our new project we have going.

Tuesday, he got up at 4:00 again and when he got home, my parents were here to visit so he visited with my dad. He had to go get some stuff for our project so he invited my dad and dads friend to go with him and they had a great time visiting. When he came home, he helped me get the kids in bed.

Wednesday, my dear sweet hubby let me sleep in and he had to go to real estate for a little while but when he got home, he worked some more on our project and he helped me last night with a major catastrophe in the house.

Today, he is doing an extra job to make som extra money. But this morning while Iwas gone to the dentist, he watched the kids and done dishes and laundry! Isnt he sweet! I really think so.

I am still trying to get caught up on everything. It seems like the laundry is never ending and I am also trying to get our school schedule made. I was going to start school at the first of July. As you can probably tell, that did not happen. It seems like one thing right after the other happened to keep us from it. All it was was the devil, I know it and I let him in. I need to focus on God and not let the devil in. I really need to get my schedule made and stick to it. So that is my plan by Monday, to have my schedule, to make sure I am up earlier than the kids, and to stick to my plan.

I hope you all have a blessed Friday and weekend and that your plans are working out.

Blessings
Crystal

I'm Home!

Glad to be home. I am catching up on laundry and STUFF! If you have emailed me I will get back to you in a day or two. I will also try to post my Husband and Kid encouragements tommorow.

We had fun but an archery shoot in August is not all that appealing anymore. It was HOT! TIRING! We did get to see alot of people we havent seen in a while and we did get to eat at our favorite Italian Restaraunt (sp). We only eat there once a year and I had been saving money for it. lol. It was worth it after a hot day outside.

I am off now to go get Jason in the bed (his bed finally he says), take a shower, eat some Wal Mart pizza, and do laundry and watch Star Trek....weve missed that. lol

Blessings..
Crystal