Pictures from Christ Led Family

As I said before I really admire the Maxwell family and all their sacrifices they have made for their family. It was truly an amazing experience to hear them speak again. After the Saturday sessions we took the Maxwell family out to Sweet Tomato's. Luckily for us, it was one of their favorite places to eat.

Mrs. Maxwell and I with Mady.

Bret and I helping with packing up. He just makes me laugh, I feel so blessed to have such an amazing man in my life.

One of the sessions was for the younger children learning to make balloon animals for evangelism. We bought 2 packs of balloons and 3 pumps. Needless to say, I have balloons everywhere.

I realize how important it is to stay encouraged, but most importantly how much my life depends on my Jesus. My precious quiet time with him in planning, discipline, training, and everyday walk. It isn't the easy road that we took, but one of struggles. This family has been through it all and shares openly of the how and why's of their decision. I really appreciate that. I am not perfect and I don't desire to see perfection, I want to see reality and transparency. You get that with this family.

You can visit their site at http://www.titus2.com/ for more info on their books and CD's. You will not be disappointed.

On a side note, Sunday evening I fainted and hit my head on the door frame of our bathroom. I was taken by ambulance to the ER where I was found to be just fine. I opted for butterfly sutures instead of stitches, because having 5 kids is easier than having a wound cleaned out. Being the big wimp that I am. :)

Life has been good as we rearrange our furniture, again, because life isn't exciting enough. I have taken to making our own bread, rolls and bagels, and they have been a huge hit. I will post the recipes here in the next couple of days.

It is cold and rainy for a first in a long time and I pray it won't be the last till spring. But who knows. I do know that I am enjoying each precious moment of winter because it ends way too fast.

I pray you all have a precious weekend. I will post again real soon.

A Christ Led Family Conference

A family that I truly admire is the Maxwell family. They have a site http://www.titus2.com/. They have a wonderful ministry of encouraging families as they walk their walk with the Lord and home schooling. I LOVE them!

I invited them back along with our home school group to a conference this weekend. Last night was their music and testimony night and today, a day full of encouraging sessions. The best part is that it is all FREE!

If you ever get a chance to hear them speak or are able to host a conference, please do, you will not regret it at all.

The one thing I really admire about the family is that their goal is to show how God has worked through their lives. With anger, depression, etc., they show you what God has done to get them where they are now. They give all the glory to God. They are not perfect, though it may appear so on the outside, but their lives were truly transformed.

Well, it is almost 8:00am and I still have some getting ready to do before we leave for the church. I hope you all have a blessed weekend.

Oh, and don't forget to have the peace of the Lord, resting in Him.

Starting Over

Have you ever messed up, realized it, sulked over it, and then tried to start over. To me right now that is my parenting journey. Life hasn't been easy. Dealing with Hunter going back and forth between two homes has never been my ideal, and it hasn't been easy. Dealing with other adults who communicate differently and even worship differently.

I am learning a lot about the person I have become and the many changes I need to make, to be there for my kids, to have their hearts. It won't be an easy journey, changing 33 years of me, but I believe that my motivation is great and my God is greater.

You see, I have never been a play, fun mom. I have a lot of work to do. Character training, discipline, cleaning, cooking, changing diapers, schooling, etc. So fun isn't always my priority. Do we laugh and such, but mom isn't always involved. The kids always have fun things to do. But now I am learning that I need to change myself to gain their hearts and keep their hearts. For my happiness and for their souls. Being a mom is hard work, home schooling is hard work. So I am going to change.

So today to start, we went for a walk, we made peanut butter playdough and laughed. I didn't make a big fuss over the little things, I let them go and smiled when discipline needed to happen. It will always be baby steps right now as I retrain myself. I will keep you updated as I go. May you be encouraged to make changes where you need. :)

Some of my favorite blogs...

I always love to see where people travel on cyberspace. Especially blogs. I know for myself I am extremely picky of where I go and what I choose to read. So I thought I would post a few of my favorite places to visit when I have time.

My favorite blogs:

http://www.asailingjourney.blogspot.com/
http://www.idreamtidweltinmarblehalls.blogspot.com/
http://www.growingupgracefully.blogspot.com/
www.titus2.com/blog
http://www.pleasantviewschoolhouse.blogspot.com/
http://www.strivingtoserveathome.blogspot.com/ (if you visit her site before Tuesday Jan. 12, you can register to win a monogrammed bag).
http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/
http://www.mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/
http://www.hillbilliehousewife.com/

I think that is the majority of them. I hope you enjoy sailing around the web. If you don't mind leaving me some of your favorites in the comment section. Thanks so much. God bless.

Too Long

It has been way too long since I have posted. Sorry about that. Unfortunately as I was cleaning up one day I misplaced my USB cord for my camera to download pics and now I cannot find it anywhere. So hopefully I will recover it shortly.

Our holidays were awesome! We told the kids this year that there wasn't a santa because we wanted our Christmas to really be Christ centered. They took it like troopers. It was actually kind of funny, and next year it will be really nice to be able to take them out shopping and spending time with them.

My husband took off 12 days! That was unbelieveably awesome! It was so great to have him at home for so long and I know that the kids really loved it as well. We just really hung out and he went to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego.

This year, well, I am not big for resolutions, but I do have a few goals in mind. Organizing our school, making more things from scratch, sticking to a budget, and just enjoying my kids more.

We have been going to a new church, that is smaller and it is awesome! I love it. Our church family is so wonderful, I feel beyond blessed and after much searching have found our home. The kids love it as well, and having like minded people around really keeps you focused.

Mady is going to be 7 months in a few days and it is amazing how sweet she it. She has 2 little teeth on the bottom and hates baby food. It is funny, I think she was doing it for me, but she could care less, though she does love those biter biscuits. It gets all over her and she get cute and crunchy. I love it.

Other than that, it has been pretty boring here at home, which I don't mind. In March we will be leaving on a cruise to Mexico and that hopefully will be a lot of fun!

Well, I will be on the lookout for our camera USB cord and when I find it, you will have tons of pics to look at.

God bless you all. Thank you for being so patient during the holidays.