Sunday Celebrations

If you have been reading my blog recently, you know I have been talking about how our family spends our Sundays.  Today is a special Sunday though.  We will be attending church and Sunday School this morning as usual.  Then we will come home to prepare for our company that is coming to dinner.  Our youngest three have all had birthdays in the past two weeks.  It began on October 14, continued on the 20th and finished on the 23rd.  If you want to read about their births and other things I shared about each on their own birthday you can go to the posts for those dates.

So we tend not to do regular birthday parties.  Since we moved to Pennsylvania, I have tended to have special family dinners.  So today we are having friends of our family over to eat.  We are preparing Bar-b-cue Pork (thanks to my father-in-law for the awesome sauce we will be using), boneless pork ribs, greens trio sauteed in olive oil, potatoes, green beans, and corn.  I may make some homemade bread to have as well.  For dessert we will be having cake.  I love opening our home to friends and family.  Tune back in on Monday when I will be sharing pictures of the food that we created and ate.

I hope you have a restful and wonderful Sunday afternoon.  Please feel free to comment.  I look forward to reading what you have to share.

Sundays

We have three children who share the same birthday month, which happens to be this month (October).  Two are sons and one is our only daughter.  When they were younger and we lived in North Carolina still, we would rent the local rollerskating rink and have a huge party.  The nice thing about that was we could invite a lot of people without it costing a lot of money - beyond renting the rink, getting the cake and things.

Now they are older (my youngest just turned 12) and we live about 12 hours away from our immediate family.  So we have to try different things.  This year we will be attending church this morning as we always do.  Then we will be having friends over for dinner.  To me there is nothing like spending a Sunday afternoon with family and/or friends.  

I really enjoy cooking, so this gives me a chance to do this for more than just my own immediate family.  Today we are having Bar-b-Que Pork that I am fixing in my Ninja cooking system (I love this machine).  Plus we are going to have ribs cooked on the grill.  We will have a salad, vegetables and some type of potatoes.  Actually I think I am going to have my oldest son and his father make their special oven baked bacon cheesy potatoes.  This is their new creation and it is fantastic!  

So what are you doing special today?  What are you having for dinner?  I look forward to reading what you share!

What Happened to Sunday?

Well it is day 12 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge and I am still going strong.  Today I want to talk about Sacred Sunday.  I can remember growing up as a child and there being blue laws, where most businesses did not open on Sunday or holidays.  Those were days to spend with God and with family.  You typically went to church, came home, ate and spent time with your family or friends.

After I met my husband, I spent most Sundays at my in-laws' house.  We would get up Sunday morning, go to church and then come back to their house to eat and spend the day together.  As we had children the tradition continued.  It was so nice to know exactly what we were doing.  But over the years, we have moved twice thanks to the military.  We now live in North Central PA while my in-laws live in southeastern NC.  So we don't get to spend many Sundays with them.  While living in PA (and we have lived here for almost 6 years - 4 years in the western part of the state and 2 years where we are now), we don't always succeed at keeping the Sabbath as I would like us to do.  

However, I want to get back to it.  It makes for such a better week to take one day and devote the day to God and what He has given us.  All too soon my children will be gone.  There is no telling if they will live close by or live far away.  Which means, I don't know how often I will get to see them.  So I want to instill in them a sense right now of spending Sundays with God.  Oh I am not saying we should just spend Sundays with God and forget about Him the rest of the week.  We need to focus on God all the time, but Sundays should be a day of rest.  After all if God took the seventh day to rest, why should we be different.  Also in the Bible, it continually points out how Jesus went and took time for himself in prayer.  We need that time to focus solely on God so that we can focus and understand what He would have us to do.  

So I pray you take time on whatever day your Sunday is to focus on God and your family.  Focus on what really is important.  I realize everyone may not have Sunday off, but devote one of the days you do have off to God and family.  See if you don't have a better week for it.  Share your thoughts and results with me.

A Day in Our Life as Homeschoolers

So it is Friday and it is also day 10 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge.  Today I want to talk a little more about homeschooling and how how our day goes.  My husband is usually the first one up because he typically leaves around 7:30 in the morning to go to work.  He likes to start his day off by reading his Bible.  So typically he gets up between 6 and 6:30.  Then at almost exactly 7:02 every morning, our daughter bounds into our bedroom to begin her homeschool day.  She works in our room at my desk, which makes life easier - she can show me her work as she completes it.  Plus she doesn't (or should I say I don't) have to lug the books all over the house.  She finishes these subjects and then assumes her duty as the town crier (AKA - the walking, talking, screaming alarm clock) going around to the boys' bedrooms to tell them it is time to get up.  Sometimes the boys do well with this and other times laziness sets in for a while.  She then proceeds downstairs to eat breakfast.  

After eating breakfast, she heads to her bedroom where she does her subjects on her computer.  As she goes to her room, she typically reminds the boys that it is time to get up.  All three boys work in their bedrooms.  Our youngest son will come show me his work as he completes it.  The older two tend to forget this step.  My oldest son does all of his work on the computer.  My second son has a mix of books, workbooks and subjects he does on the computer.  Starting around 12 Noon everyone begins their lunch time routine.  Once lunch is over the younger two typically have recess outside for 30 minutes while the older two have some time to do things they want to do.  Around 1:30 everyone is back to work.  They continue working until they are either finished or Dad gets home from work.  Dad typically gets home anywhere between 3:45 and 4:45 depending on the day.

At 4:30 everyone is supposed to be on the first floor to help with dinner detail.  Some will set the table.  Some may empty the dishwasher.  Still others help Dad or I prepare the meal.  But everyone is supposed to be roughly together.  Once dinner is ready, we all sit down at the table and eat together.  Some of our dinner conversations are quite fascinating while others lend themselves to the disgusting side of life.  We may discuss things they learned about that day or we may talk about things they are simply interested in - it all depends on the day.  After dinner, the four children are tasked with cleaning up the kitchen.  Once that is done, everyone basically has free time.  Sometimes sone of them play games.  Sometimes we may watch a movie.  Other times we have evening activities planned such as church or shopping or other things that need to be done.

Anywhere from 9:30, if it is a school night, to 11 pm is bedtime.  Then the next day we start it all over again.  So I hope you enjoyed taking a peak inside our day.

It's been a while

So it has been a while since I posted.  Life has been moving right along.  We are getting settled into our new home.  Everyone seems to really be enjoying themselves.  School is still going on at a reduced level.  However, this time next week, we will be back at full force doing all subjects.  We still need to add Literature, IEW-SICC, Latin. Art and Music to our day along with our Wisdom Books.  So Monday morning will begin that.

Our family labored on Labor Day Weekend.  We put up corn, beets, tomatoes, peppers, and worked on getting pickles done.  The pickles will get put up today.  I will try to post photos later.

This weekend Dennis will be attending a change of command ceremony.  The children will be working on school.

I will spend most of the weekend planning school materials and getting ready for the Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Studies new Bible Study - "The Best Yes" by Lysa Terkeurst.  I am really looking forward to this study.  It has been nice to take the summer off, but I am ready to get back into things.  In two weeks, Dennis will be preaching at the Salvation Army Corps.  I am looking forward to hearing him speak.

On August 22nd, Dennis and I celebrated 22 years of marriage.   We spent the day together.  We went to Carlisle, PA to get his DA photo done.  We ate lunch at the Macaroni Grill in Harrisburg, PA.  From there we went to the outlets at Hershey.  We took a ride through the Hershey Resort Campground.  We really want to take our family camping there.  Then we came back through Selinsgrove and spent some time looking around at some stores.  We found a refrigerator we fell in love with.  Then we went to the Outback Steakhouse in State College.  The service was not as good as we would have wanted.  But the food was pretty good.  One of the most enjoyable parts of the ride was seeing the countryside and all the Amish farms/people/buggies.  Well I guess that is enough for now.

Our Week So Far - Thankful Tuesday

Well, this week is a lot less busy than last week. Last week, we had VBS each night.  Dennis and I led the music and did the opening.  It was wonderful.  Our church did "Weird Animals".  Dennis did great playing Dr. Paws.  My oldest son was a leader for the 7 & 8 years old, and I went around with him.  My second son took pictures.  My third son ended up helping with the 5 and 6 year olds.  And of course our baby girl was in the 9 - 12 year old group.  

We had amazing people in charge of the various activities.  The crafts were fantastic.  Each night, we had animals brought in - including two snakes, a skunk, two dogs, some guinea pigs, a bunny and some other animals.  The children loved them.  

Sunday we had our graduation ceremony and everyone did fantastic!  We sang two of the songs - everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

We are also still doing modified school - meaning we are not back to full force on all the subjects yet.  We still need to add in Latin, Wisdom Books, Chemistry for my oldest two, Literature and IEW SICC-B.  I am getting most of the subjects entered into our online planner for the year.  Once I am done, all the children will need to do is log on to see what they need to do and they can mark it as completed.  Then I can go back and input grades as they finish.

I am reading Paperless Organization in the hopes of going digital for my home management binder.  I am also trying to get more into Flylady and utilizing her routines, Cozi, and the flight plans to help me stay on top of things at the house.  I am also getting ready to re-read Large Family Logistics to try and get some systems in place for living in our new home.

We have had some amazing meals the last few days - including our last quart bag of my father in law's pork bar-b-que.  We had fresh zucchini on the grill last night that our neighbor gave us (he also gave us some lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, mint and basil).  I love having the fresh vegetables.  

I am looking forward to a quiet weekend this weekend, since Dennis has drills.  Plus the children and I will hopefully get some things done around the house.  In two weeks, Dennis and I will be celebrating 22 years of marriage.  That is amazing to me.

So what's up with you today?  I would love for you to share!

Our New School Year so Far

So we are about 2 weeks into our school year.  We began on the 16th of July.  The first couple of days, we basically just covered math and language arts.  Then last week, we added in History and Science.  This week we added in the excitement of Vacation Bible School.  Dennis and I are doing the opening, the music and the opening skit.  I have to say, my husband is absolutely amazing.  He is doing a fantastic job getting into character.  Our oldest son is a co-leader for one of the groups (ages 7 and 8).  I am amazed by the gifts God has given him every time I see him work with children.  Our second son is taking photographs of all the groups.  Our youngest son is helping with the opening, plus assisting with one of the younger groups.  

I love the experiences the children are gaining by participating in VBS.  They grow in their faith, their ability to communicate and the ability to relate to others.  So school is somewhat slowed down this week, but next week we will kick it up into high gear.

For this year, I have one that would technically be in 10th grade, a 9th grader and a 7th grader.  All four children are doing the Advanced Training Institute Wisdom Book Language Arts, and Wisdom Books, Art, PE and Music.  The younger three are all doing Student Writing Intensive Course B, and Phonetic Zoo/Spelling Power.

The 10th grader is doing:  Alpha Omega Monarch Algebra and Geometry, First Form Latin,  Daily Grams 10th grade, Friendly Chemistry, Introduction to Criminal Justice, as well as Forensic Science.

The 9th grader is doing Life of Fred Math (currently preparing to start the Advanced Algebra book), but while we are waiting for the book to come in, he is doing Videotext Interactive Online Algebra.  He is doing Apologia's Exploring Creation with Biology, First Form Latin,   First Form Latin, and we are still working to pick out his electives.

Our 7th grader is doing Life of Fred Math (currently doing Pre-Algebra I with Biology), Daily Grams, Latina Christiana, and Exploring Creation with General Science.  

All of the children participate in Home Economics by helping around the house.  Some of the children are starting to be more involved with the preparation and cooking of our meals.  

Also since we just moved to a new home in the later part of June, we are still settling into the house - which means lots of unpacking, sorting, decluttering and such.

So  how are things going in your world?  We welcome comments.

FROM CONSUMER TO CONTRIBUTOR LIMITLESS LIFE BLOG HOP

We are in week 4 of  the Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Study of "Limitless Life" by Derwin Gray.  In the book he talks about going from consumer to contributor.  We are a military family.  Six years ago, we moved from eastern NC to western PA courtesy of the military.  We knew no one in our new community, which meant we had to find a new church.

We started our search at the church that was directly beside our new home.  My husband immediately became a contributor by helping with shoveling snow from the sidewalks.  Then he started preaching when necessary - he is an ordained minister.  The people were fantastic and we loved the church, but there were no other children for ours to interact with.  At the time, my sons had activities they were involved in, but my daughter did not really have any.

So I started investigating programs for her and found out about Missionettes.  So we visited our local Assembly of God church so she could see if she liked the program.  At first just our daughter, my husband and I went, but we were told they had activities the same night for our sons, while my husband and I attended their Bible study.  Soon we were attending the church and consuming the things they had to offer.  But we are not ones who like to sit on the sidelines at church, so we began to find ways to help out.  Dennis, my husband, helped with ushering and doing things he could.  I began to help where I could as well.  Before we knew what was happening, we were teaching a Sunday School class for the teens.  All of my sons and husband were helping with ushering.  Our family that sings a capella sang songs at various times.  We also assisted with Vacation Bible School and various other festivals.  I eventually became a Sunday School officer for a short time.  On occasion, my husband filled in for the preacher.  I became the leader for the Missionettes.  We also assisted with services at Weatherwood Manor - a place for Seniors to reside.  At this church, I saw my husband baptize our two oldest sons with our pastor's blessing.  The church became our family and we were meaningful participants.  We went from consuming what the church had to offer to contributors.  It feels right to use the gifts and talents God has given us for His glory and honor.

A small update

Here is a small update on our family.  Life has been really busy around our house since the beginning of February.  In February, Dennis, Jacob and I attended the Candidates Seminar weekend for the Salvation Army in New York.  That Friday night, we attended services at the temple in Manhattan.  It was an incredible evening.  It is amazing to see what God is doing in our oldest son's life.

Then in March, Dennis, Jacob and I attended the Soldiers Retreat for the Salvation Army at Camp Ladore.  Again, it was an incredible weekend.  Joseph was supposed to come up for the day on Saturday with some of our other Youth, but it didn't happen unfortunately.

Then on the last Saturday of March, Dennis, me, and a couple of other adults from our corps took some of our youth to a Divisional Youth Music festival on the outskirts of Philadelphia.  It was a really long day because we got up at 4:00 AM and didn't get back until 9:30 at night.  But it was incredible to see the talent in our division.  It also was great to get to see our Training College cadets at work that day.  They did a devotional time that was incredible.

Then at the beginning of this month, we took a group of youth (including all four of our children) to our Divisional Youth Council.  It was also an incredible time of worship, praise,  and decisions being made for Christ.  Our oldest son joined Dennis and I onstage during the call to officership.  What was incredible about this was our Corps officer along with those in attendance joined us on stage (the same went for all those who responded to the call from other corps) and there was a time of prayer for us.  It was truly incredible.

Now we are winding down the school year and working toward cleaning up and decluttering our home.  For one never knows when we might get our next orders to move.  We have some children who are experiencing growing pains and we have others who are growing incredible amounts but not having the pains.

January 13 2014 update

Well it has been a while since I posted anything.  A lot has been going on with the holidays.  We helped with the Christmas activities at our corps.  Dennis completed his final course for his bachelor's degree, so now all we are waiting on is his diploma to come from Liberty University.  

We took a trip to North Carolina to see his family.  We thoroughly enjoyed our stay.  It was good to get to see the family and the children even got to walk in the sand a little bit.

We recently found out that Dennis, Jacob and myself were accepted to go to the Salvation Army's Candidates' Weekend in Suffren, New York.  So we will be making that trip in February.  We (Dennis and I) are going since we want to become officers in the Salvation Army.  Jacob is going because he wants to pursue going to Railton - the Salvation Army Eastern Territory Youth Pastor College.  So we will see what happens.

Next month we need to have another Corps Cadet Sunday, so we will be gearing up for that.  Jacob may be the one to give the sermon that day.  This month we will finish our first course for Corps Cadets.  Then in February we start the second course.  The cadets seem to be doing an excellent job.

Today is the first day back to our normal routine of activities.  The after school program resumes along with Music Company as well as Beginner Band.  This morning we woke up around 6 am so Dennis, Joseph and I could go to the YMCA.  Our goal is to get Nathan through the course he needs to take so he can go with us.

So there is  a little update on our family.

Wow

So alot has been going on around here.  In the month of November, we had Corps Cadet Sunday.  All of the Corps Cadets participated in the service in some way.  They either read a Scripture, sang, did part of the Call to Worship or performed in our skit.  I preached my very first sermon during Corps Cadet Sunday.  In between the service and our afternoon activities, we brought home all the Corps Cadets and fed them.  Dennis and I sang with our Corps Cadets along with some extra youth from our Timbrels program at our Regional Youth Praise meeting.  Our Timbrels performed a number and did an excellent job.  

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Jacob became a Senior Soldier.  Dennis and Joseph were the Flag bearers for the service.  After the service, we had our Thanksgiving Dinner at the corps.  

Thanksgiving night our youth kicked off the Kettle Season by attempting to do a 24 hour marathon.  I volunteered to help at one of the two locations.  We only made it past 11 o'clock and then it got too cold and too dead to warrant us being out there.  So we came back home.  I was glad to get come back to my warm home.  Then we went back out on Friday morning.  Of course this was one of those times where our children did not really want to move.

This past Sunday, we kicked off the Advent Season.  Dennis and I read Scripture verses.  Nathan lit the candles to start the service and then blew them out at the end.  Joseph laid a wreath during the Hanging of the Greens.  All in all it was a beautiful ceremony.  They lit the advent wreath, told various stories regarding Christmas, and Major Harris preached a wonderful message.

Now tomorrow night we will be singing at a local apartment building.  Our family is singing "O Beautiful Star of Bethlehem".

In the midst of all of this, Dennis is finishing up his last class for his bachelor's degree.  So by the middle of the month, he will be finished with school.

Also, we are continuing to move forward with our intention of becoming Salvation Army officers.  So we are actively participating in various Corps programs.  Dennis is helping with our Boys Adventure Club (think similar to Boy Scouts).  And I of course am doing the Corps Cadets.   We also take a turn doing the Sunday School opening and teach the Young Adults Sunday School Class (although I am not sure the name truly describes who is in the class).  Dennis tends to be the only male in the class.  But we have a good time, and I think the students are enjoying the class.

Wow, what a week!

Wow what a week last week was!  We began the week with the after school program at our Salvation Army Corps, which included tutoring and dinner.  Then we did Music with the children that attended.  Following that, my family (well the youngest three and Dad) did Beginner Band.  On Tuesday, Dennis went and did a sleep study, so the rest of the family had a quiet evening at home.  Then on Wednesday, we had the after school program plus Youth activities - Dennis is one of the leaders for the boys. Then on Thursday we had Cantata practice and Corps Cadets (Corps Cadets is one I lead).  Friday morning we got up really early and went to the Salvation Army Trade Store, so Dennis, Joseph, Grammie and I could all be fitted for our Salvation Army uniforms.  The four of us all got the hats for the uniforms, which is really exciting.  Saturday the children had Young Marines - they marched in a Veterans' Day parade.  Sunday we got up and went to Sunday School.  

During the opening of Sunday school, I was checking on everything for Corps Cadet Sunday.  I actually set the program and everything.  I picked the songs with the cadets' help.  We chose "Here I am to Worship", "Amazing Grace" and "You Are My All in All".  The title of the message was "Lost and Found" and dealt with three parables Jesus taught - "the lost coin", "the lost sheep" and "the lost son".  The corps cadets did a skit - including Joseph and Nathan - Joseph played the father and Nathan played the youngest son.  It went over really well.  Joseph and Nathan along with another cadet read the scripture passages.  

One of my other Corps Cadets did a skit involving the children so they had the chance to participate.  Plus everyone helped with the call to worship.  Oh did I mention my baby girl did the opening with the welcome and the announcements and Daddy did the prayers for the service.  Plus I actually preached the message.  I have to say it is quite different to be behind the pulpit than it is to be in the audience.  I feel like God was truly present.  

Then we brought almost all the Corps Cadets to our home and fed them lunch.  They seemed to have a good time.  Then we went to the Extended Care facility of our local hospital to help with our League of Mercy Service there.  We were supposed to sing, but it did not happen.

From there we went back to the corps to practice singing for our Regional Youth Praise meeting which was at four o'clock that afternoon.  We loaded up three different vans - two twelve passengers (ours and the Corps along with our major's minivan).  Off to Williamsport we went.  Our Corps performed two different times - once was our timbrels and the other time was our Corps Cadets singing.  All in all it was a great day! 

This week Dennis has drills on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  We ask for prayers for good weather on Friday and for him to pass his Physical Fitness test.