Category Archives: life

life

Resolved: That I am a Better Me in 2010

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That encapsulates all my resolutions for the new year. I want to be a better version of me as a person, mother, wife, friend, in ministry and as a blogger. Now of course I have some steps and goals to help make all of that happen both just for life and for blogging(at least a little).

So let us look at the life goals first:
– Spend more time with God: both in Bible study and just in prayer.
– Spend more time teaching my kids Bible and about God.
– Organize my house, which means get rid of a lot of clutter!
– Keep track of Birthdays and send cards! (virtual or paper)
– Do more crafts and projects with my kids.
– Do more freezer cooking
– Pray more for others!
– Plant a garden and herbs
– Prioritize my life and stop getting caught up on things that don’t matter.
Blogging Steps (Some are personal but make me a better blogger)
-Take time to read books again!!!
– Catch up and stay caught up on politics!
– Post to each blog at least 5 times a week
– Utilize Social Media
– Double Twitter followers and Subscribers
– Do more political and homeschool blogging (like I used to)

Kid Creations, life

Lesson from a Tree

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This year was a crazy Christmas. I am once again recovering from surgery. As far as the surgical sight (versus any problems from having the tube down my throat) this is my worst recovery so far. Which has had a large effect on our Christmas because I couldn’t do many things that I normally do for Christmas. I couldn’t do all the baking, decorating, and going (Christmas Eve service, Christmas Tree Lane, etc) that I usually do. Of course I had big guilt and stress about the idea of ruining the family’s Christmas.

Well, this year’s Christmas tree is going to serve as part of a reminder to just let go! Do you notice that there are only decorations about 2/3 the way up? Because that is as far as the tallest kid could reach. That is right, my kids decorated the tree all by themselves. And they loved it! NerdDad and I sat watching as they put them all up. No the decorations aren’t even but who cares!
Make sure you pop over to my food blog and see the results of my similar gingerbread lesson;). The gingerbread solution is going to be repeated every year!

Christianity, life

God’s Grace and His Miracle

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My baby girl could have died today or been seriously injured. I am blogging about it because God completely spared her from any harm and I need to share to give Him glory. (This may read a little rambly, I am on pain meds)

For those of you who follow me on Twitter or Facebook you already know that we took the crib out of NerdPud’s room on Christmas so we could move the kitchen set into her room. Now she sleeps in her big girl toddler bed. Which also means that she can get up during naptime to play. Since it is all so new we haven’t really stepped in to stop her yet.

Now in her room she also has a large dresser. It is more than 6 feet long and, at most, 4 feet tall. Out of 4 kids, we have had 1 ever start to climb on his dresser so given its shortness (and wideness) we didn’t worry about tethering her dresser to the wall. That could have been a fatal mistake.

So NerdDad put down all the kids for naps/rest time today and came downstairs. We heard them all playing, mostly quietly. Then all of a sudden I hear a large bang. I started sprinting up the stairs and she started to cry. NerdPud had managed to pull the dresser down on her self. I ran in her room to find her body covered with the dresser and her head and shoulders free. It seemed a bit propped up on the end she was at and I just slid her right out without resistance or anything.

The dresser just didn’t fall in that area all the way down. At first we thought it had landed on her bed, but it hadn’t. It may have been supported by the drawer but the dresser wasn’t designed that way. The drawer didn’t actually come out of the dresser so there is no logical way it should have been propped up. It was as if she truly had the hedge of protection around her just like I always pray for.

My baby girl came out of the whole thing without even a scratch!!!! No bruises, no bumps, nothing. As I was carrying her downstairs I asked a couple times if she had an owwie. She kept saying yes and when I asked where she kept saying on her drawers. There is no reason for this but God. I praise Him and thank Him for keeping my baby safe.

child rearing, Homeschoooling, life

My Guilt, My Fear

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I knew that I would probably have some pretty bright kids. I am blessed with a husband who is absolutely brilliant so the chances of smart kids were good. But what I didn’t expect was the guilt in the face of their brilliance.

NerdBug (8) and NerdPie (6) were pretty bright. NerdBug didn’t really read early but once he did the kid started eating books. He is a year ahead in math and overall pretty bright. NerdPie started doing 25 piece puzzles at like 14 months old, she read in kindergarten, and is ahead at math too. So, while I know my kids are above grade level, I have been afraid that I am not educating them up to their total potential. I should be doing more with them but life always seems to get in the way. I have Latin to do with the oldest that I can’t make time for. I am not diligent on the history. They could be speaking foreign languages, doing physics, who knows what. So if I was guilty and afraid before…..
NerdDad started going through a great book series with Nerdling in the this last month. Here is what my 4 year old (he won’t be 4 1/2 until the end of January) read last night all by himself:

Mike has a hen. The hen is black. It is a fine hen. The hen is lost. Mike is sad. Is the hen in the nest? It is not in the nest.

The word egg is what stumped him. I am in so much trouble…..

What if I don’t equip them well enough? Their intellect and brilliance is a gift, what if I am squandering it? What could they do if they had a better mom? In all seriousness, I am not wondering about sending them to public school. I know that a teacher in a class of 30 couldn’t take as far as I am now. But, there is always a but, is it as far as I could take them?
Uh, Mommy Guilt exponentiated.

life, science

Junk Food Worse than Heroin?

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Scripps Research Institute has come out with a study that looks at the addictive nature of junk food. Apparently these rats were so addicted that they were willing to take a shock in order to get the beloved junk food. They are trying to prove that the junk food is just as bad as drugs.

As a fat girl I don’t know what all to think. On one hand I can totally agree because I don’t know why my logic doesn’t control my intake better. But on the other hand I can’t say that I really cut a lot of slack for addicts so why should I be able to use it as an excuse because if you have a problem you should get help. The one thing that I get out of it that makes me feel better is that changing food choices is hard. Not due to my weak will but it really is hard.
So what do you think? Is the fact it may be addictive give us an excuse? Should junk food be illegal like the drugs? What?
(HT: Grist)

house management, life

Tackle It Tuesday: Pantry Clear Out!

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You know those things you never get around to? You know, the ones that drive you crazy but you just don’t seem to make time for? My pantry is one of those things. Well, Sunday while I was running a couple of errands NerdDad started clearing it out. I finally finished it Monday afternoon;). It is amazing the amount of junk I have in that pantry. The blue bins hold baking. decorating and freezer packaging for food. Then there is all the food, oy! I was amazed how much I actually had to throw out. I have been very convicted to cook out of my pantry and freezer for the next few weeks/months (my freezer is just as bad;).

But at least for today I will feel good that the pantry is finally done. I will feel guilty about the rest tomorrow!
Go check out some more projects at Tackle It Tuesday!

life, Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday: Fair Memory

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These are the tickets I won for tonight’s concert. We didn’t get to use them. We also had matching tickets to the fair, which we used. It was raining so hard they called off the concert. But they didn’t call it off until NerdDad and I had been at the fair for a few hours, in the flooding rain;). That is the $3 ring I picked up in the gem and mineral display. After the concert was called off we went to dinner and saw Surrogates in the theater (which we rarely ever do).

I will keep both of these forever but not really for all the fun (though I had fun;). But to remind how wonderful my husband is. My husband doesn’t really care for either fairs nor concerts. And that is in the best of weather;). But he went with me because he loves me. He also got soaked because he loves me;). And walked around for a couple of hours because he loves me.
I love him too!