When your daddy works in a warehouse....

You have a steady stream of duct tape around the house. Monty brings home all types of tape and glue quiet often and it is a little girl's dream come true. Especially when he brings pretty, colorful tape. We all know that duct tape can fix just about anything but when you add a little imagination there is no end to the possibilities!

 Keslee has been on a shoe making kick lately.

 This white tape with the pretty black flowery designs was perfect for some baby shoes.

 ......and they fit!!

 Ain't she a cutie?!?!

 If your G.I. Joe doll doesn't have any pants, the zebra striped tape works just great!

 Got a barbie that just really needs a pair of knee high boots? Black duct tape to the rescue.

 Use black and zebra striped to make an entire  outfit.

 The paint splatter tape was the girls' favorite but we were only able to get one roll-enough for one shoe and a pair of flip flops.

We had enough of the flowery tape left from the baby shoes for Keslee to make a pair for Kalysa.

After Keslee had made everyone else a gift she ran out of all the pretty tape. She asked Monty to bring her some more home and unfortunately all he could get was this halloween tape with skull designs. It was not her favorite but the ugly design didn't take away from the fun of creating one more pair of shoes.
Oh what fun with duct tape☺

Thats what I love about homeschool!

After we finished our lessons together,  I gave each kiddo instruction on some lessons to do on their own while I finally got a shower. I had to go back to the laundry room to find my socks and I noticed everyone was gone from the school area-aka the kitchen table.  I thought I better double check that things were getting done and this is what I found....

 One boy laying on the couch all cozy under a blanket with his science workbook.......

and two girls on the back porch, also under a cozy blanket, with a math test and an SRA.

I love homeschooling☺

Practical lessons

We have been back to school and going strong for a few weeks now. Lots of students have a fall break but we had an extended "break" break from school. While I was on pain pills, we just could not keep up with our daily school. Kenyon did work on alot of his on his own but with all the extra responsibilities he took on he didn't get a whole lot done. The girls tried and mainly only did some math and handwriting. As I mentioned before, I was on pain pills every 4 hours for almost a month. Thanks to the wonderful side effects, I could not stay awake long and often nodded off when we would try to do school. Since we use My Father's World, I teach and read most of the history to everyone together each day and we have discussions and make notebook sheets. Another side effect I suffered was double vision. I could not see straight to read. That really puts a damper on things when our days normally revolve around ME reading. Thankfully I have been homeschooling long enough to realize that not all, and often not even most, of our learning time is actual "school" time. Even though we were not hitting the books, my kids were learning every single day! Of course, most other people do not always understand that as evident by a conversation Keslee had with the little girl across the street...

Neighbor girl: How are you getting your school work done?
Keslee: We haven't really done much school lately.
N.g.: I feel sorry for you! When you are 21 years old you are going to be so stupid!

Although I knew they were learning, when my concerned daughter relayed this conversation to me, I knew I had to do better at letting the kids know that they were learning as well and how proud I was of them. I then started taking the time to point out the things that they were learning that they may not have if it weren't for this trial.

 For instance...How many (non-homeschooled) 9 year olds can make an entire meal for a family of 5? Keslee had not done much cooking but always likes to "help" in the kitchen. One night she decided that she wanted to make dinner all by herself and she did! She ordered me to stay out of the kitchen and if she had a question she would come ask. When it came time for her to drain the grease off of the hamburger meat, I told her I would come help with that so that she did not burn herself. She assured me that she could do it but I just wasn't as sure. I decided to make my way into the kitchen anyway. Since I was not as quick as I used to be, I made it there just in time to see her finishing up with a smile on her face to say "See? Told ya I could do it."  She made taco salad for supper and topped it off with strawberry shortcake for dessert.

 After I got my staples taken out, I had to remove my splint and wash my ankle everyday. The incisions were doing good but the wound that the bone had made had to heal on it's own from the inside out. That was the only spot the doctor seemed real concerned about and we had to be sure that it did not "get ugly" (as my doctor put it). Since Monty is gone the biggest part of the day, I had to do something I never would have thought I could do. I had to put my medical care in the hands of a 13 and 9 year old. Kenyon and Keslee took over and were unbelievable! Everyday one of them would help me remove the splint and wash the wounds.

After everything was clean and doctored, they re wrapped my leg. Having 2 broken bones and no hard, protective cast really made me feel like my leg was very vulnerable.  The times that the splint was also off was a stressful time for all of us. My foot was purple, about 3 times fatter than the other one, had scars, steri-stips and open wounds and I could not move it. Any wrong move or if the splint was not exactly in the correct position put me in horrible pain and my nurses were very aware of that. To be able to wash, doctor and wrap a wounded leg under that type of pressure would have to be tough for anyone. To do it for someone you love and would never want to inflict pain on, well that is serious. All I can think about are the times when my kids had a splinter or a huge, deep sticker in their foot. As a mother, you know you have to get it out but as a mother holding a crying child that is screaming "DON'T TOUCH IT!" you almost don't want to do it. That must be how my own children were feeling. (and, yes there were times when Keslee and I both cried through the whole process.)     When I say that my children amaze me what I mean is...they AMAZE me!!!

There were lots of other practical lessons that the kids were learning along the way. Kenyon cooked almost everyday. He also did the laundry and taught Keslee how to use the washing machine so she could help. Kalysa got really good at taking clothes out of the washer and starting the dryer. Since our dishwasher went out right in the middle of everything else, Kenyon got to do dishes. The girls have done dishes by hand several times and I just did not realize that Kenyon never had before. Kalysa can now sweep the floor correctly. Since Monty got to do all the shopping, Keslee was the go to girl to ride along. She knows just which kind of dish soap, toilet paper, shampoo and etc. that we use in this house. It wasn't just me that noticed what all the kids were learning. One day my grandma came by and she told them that they shouldn't worry to much about their school work because we can catch that up anytime but they were learning things that they will use their entire lives; lessons that most kids today don't ever get to learn at home. Hearing that from her was a blessing to us all.

 Oh yeah, there was plenty of learnin goin on 'round here!  And of course EVERYONE in the house learned.....





how to walk on crutches ☺.



Surgery was needed

Nothing to be alarmed about, it was Keslee's baby that had to have surgery.
 Although her name changes often (currently it is Kate), this baby is very special. Not only has Keslee had her since before she was a year old, but she is also the doll that is very close to the size Kalysa was at birth. This baby's head is the same size around as Kalysa's was and they were about the same length. Actually the doll is a little longer at 14 inches than Kalysa was at just 13 inches long. As with any 9 year old doll that has been thoroughly loved, injuries occur. This baby girl's gash went around 3/4 of her neck.

After extensive surgery with LOTS of permanent stitches....

         She was as good as new!!!

And her mama was so glad to have her back and healthy that she does not even mind the scar.

All in the day of a Little Mama

Keslee has always been our little mama. She became a big sister when she was just 9 months old. I am pretty sure when we brought her baby sister home Keslee truly believed we had brought her a special play toy. She loved that baby girl and she still does. Since Kalysa is getting a little too big for Kes to carry around (although she still trys sometimes) Keslee has had to look elsewhere. Of course she has tons of baby dolls and plays with them daily but for a true little momma there is a desire for a living breathing baby. That is where Cash comes in...

See that look in his eye? He was begging and pleading for me to rescue him from the diaper change but was disappointed that all I did was snap the photo.


Of course all babies need a little bonnet. ☺

Ain't he cute?!?

I did not get a picture of it but Keslee had a blanket tied around her shoulder to make a baby sling and carried him around in that. Cash allowed Keslee about one hour of baby play time before he had enough. He had been hiding from her ever since but as soon as he forgets and she gets ahold of him again you can bet he will be dressed up again.

Life saving homeschool

This year in science we have been learning about the human body. We use The Body Book and have made hands on 3-D models of several different body parts. They are really easy and explain alot. The kids have been having lots of fun.

We have made this model of the ear. The outer ear opens up to show the inner parts of the ear.


This tooth open up to show the pulp of the teeth, the roots and root canals and the gums and jaw bone.

The eyeball model has several layers including a piece of plastic wrap on the front for the lens.

This face has lips that open up to show the tongue. We learned all about the different areas of taste. Kalysa decided to make all her teeth either gold or silver, goofy girl:)

The skin has several layers and this model is the same. We learned the layers as well as about the nerve endings and pain receptors in the skin. Also the hair and hair follicles.

And then there is the skeleton. We have talked about the different bones and joints. We have used our own bodies to recognize the hinge joints and the ball joints; what they can do and what they can't. It has been alot of fun. I love these hands on projects. The kids have a visual of what it is we are talking about and can go back and look again when they have questions.

We are scheduled to do some astronomy this year as well with Apologia science. Kenyon is waiting and waiting on that. He has a telescope and loves to look at the moon and stars. He has gotten up in the middle of the night to watch an eclipse and meteor showers every single time we hear of them. He is just fascinated by space as most boys are. So one day while we were making one of our body part models Kenyon asked "When do we get to start astronomy? I really want to do that now instead." I explained that I had looked ahead in our book and it was still several weeks before we get to the astronomy lessons.

"We still have several more parts of the body to learn about" I say.

"Oh Good! I can't wait till we get to the penis!" uuuuhhh, yeah. That would be Keslee.

Wh...WHAA...WHAT? WHY? Why? yeah...that was me.

"I just don't understand them mom, I just don't understand."

I am sooooo thankful that we homeschool!!!

All kids are curious. They all come to a point when they just want to learn about themselves and the other ones. Just imagine if my sweet, innocent, beautiful almost 9 year old girl spent 8 hours a day surrounded by hundreds of other curious children. Lots of curious children. Lots of curious children that live lives that are often unsupervised, uncensored, and totally unBiblical. I will tell you what would happen...she would still be curious. She would have the same questions. She would look for answers and she would find them. Only she would not get those answers from her mother and they very likely would not be totally accurate. Curious young minds would teach each other things without any adults knowledge. The conscience that the Lord equipped them with would let them know they were entering territory that they were not supposed to be in and she would hide what she knew and what she wanted to know. She would no longer feel comfortable coming to her mother for such indiscreet information. And there it is...I WOULD HAVE LOST HER. Right then and there, with a simple curiosity that everyone has, I would have lost my sweet 8 year old daughter for good.

Oh, Thank You Lord for the opportunity to homeschool!!

Yep, He is full of it!

Last week, in our science studies about the lungs we conducted a little experiment to determine the amount of air the lungs could hold. We started out with a two liter bottle filled with water. We turned the bottle over in a sink full of water and then removed the lid keeping the bottle full. Then we inserted a tube in the bottle, took a DEEP breath and blew.
The air in your lungs replaces the water in the bottle. When each participant had blown all they could blow with only one breath I replaced the lid while the bottle was still under water keeping what was left in the bottle.

Keslee was almost able to empty the entire two liter!

Kalysa took her turn and amazed us all when she emptied well over 1/2 of the bottle. Her lung capacity was just a little less than Keslee's.

Remember this is the same girl that started out on this earth at only 2 pounds 4 ounces and spent the first 5 weeks of her life on a ventilator. That is a scenario that often means asthma or other lung problems for a life time but we have none of that here. Praise the Lord!!

When Kenyon took his turn and blew every bit of water out of the two liter bottle like it was nothing and still had air to spare, we moved to an empty gallon milk jug for his test. After one try with the gallon jug, what we had known all along was confirmed...

MY SON IS FULL OF HOT AIR!! ☺hehehe!! ☺ He almost emptied out the entire gallon! I am sure he would have if we would have kept trying (like he wanted to) but we had to move on. Knowing my son, this is something he will be working on in his spare time until he DOES empty the gallon jug and who knows what size bottle he will want to tackle after that.

Ya know-lung capacity is a big one in the bragging rights of young boys.

LOVE IT!

I just ♥ ♥ ♥ kids with toothless grins!! It is just the sweetest. The only thing that can even compare to the cuteness of a toothless grin...


is the new BIG tooth grin! ☺

Best compliment ever

On our way to church yesterday I was listening to an old cd of the men's group from our church for about the 1000th time. Keslee said "Mom, do we HAVE to hear this song AGAIN??" Why yes we do!! It got quiet for a moment as we all enjoyed the music until Keslee interupted again with this....

Kes: Mom, I just told God that if I had one wish I would wish that my mom liked some other things like maybe Justin Beiber but then I waited for just a minute and then I told God, NO I DON'T! I DON'T want that! I take that wish back! I want to be raised just exactly the way you are raising me and the way God wants me to be raised!

Praise the Lord!
Just like we all have our struggles with the world, my 8 year old has them too. The thoughts of why do we have to do things differently from so many others? What is so bad with it? An internal struggle and a conversation that she was having with God, just the two of them. A conversation that I knew nothing about until it was over. A thought that I would have never known she had if she had not told me herself. And an outcome that I did not prompt but was prompted only by the Holy Spirit speaking directly to her 8 year old little heart and reminding her of the whys. And then thankfulness from her tiny heart back to the Lord that she loves.
WOW!
all I can say is
God is Good-All the time!!

Well here it is

It seems that most all conservative Christian mom blogs have at least one post all about modesty . I guess it was just a matter of time before this one had one as well. Well, here it is.
For the past few years, the Lord has really been changing my heart where the way we dress is concerned. I have never been one to dress in very revealing clothing so I had always considered myself pretty modest. I have never been much of a girly girl and the only time I wore dresses was for church. Jeans and a t-shirt was pretty much my wardrobe. As I have learned more and more about the distinct and intentional differences that God used when creating men and women, I slowly began finally embracing those differences. I have also learned that modesty is not just about showing skin. It is also about showing the shape and curves that God gave women that incite the desires that God gave men. The Bible says that to lust in your heart is the same as committing adultery. Women should not dress in a way that brings those desires up in every man that passes by.
As I have slowly been changing the way I dress to include mostly skirts, I have experienced benefits that I never even expected. The most shocking to me has been the way I am treated when in a skirt. Many people say that chivalry is dead but I am now convinced it is very much alive in the hearts of men but the appearance of the "lady" is what has died. When I am in a skirt, I am treated like the lady of days passed. Doors open, men call me mam and speak to me in a more mannerly way, someone always wants to lend a hand in things ranging from changing a tire on the side of the road to loading my groceries into my car.
There was a time that I thought the poor women that have to wear dresses all the time were so restricted. Now that I am one of them, I see that I was actually the one that had been in bondage by the jeans I always wore. No matter how great of a pair of jeans I found, they were never as comfortable as a skirt. They had their tight spots, or the gap at the back that showed off your panties every time you bend over or any number of other issues that come with the perfect pair of jeans.
I have learned now that(like most other things) we teach the natural girliness out of our daughters. I have heard many mom's say " my daughter would wear dresses all the time if I let her." For some reason we have started to believe that dressing like a girl is only for times we need to dress up. My own daughters both decided for themselves a few years ago that they wanted to wear skirts or culottes instead of pants. For a long time I held on to many of the jeans they already had just in case. Just in case what-I don't know! I finally got rid of them all and they have never missed them at all. I try to be more aware of the little things that God created my children to be that I unintentionally try to change.
That brings us to my next sewing project. My husband and son are probably the most naturally modest people I have ever met in my life. You will never see either of them without a shirt on-even in the privacy of our home. Kenyon will not wear shorts outside of the house and the ones he will wear in the house must be loose and long. Thanks to the Bible teaching they have had as well as the modest way their father has always lived, my girls understand that we should dress and act modestly. The problem is that they also love to go swimming. They have always had swim suits and just wore a t-shirt over them if they were any where other than our back yard. This summer, when Keslee put on a swim suit to go swimming in my aunt's pool she said "you know mom, I kinda feel naked when I wear a swim suit." I realized right then that I was teaching her convictions out of her. She understands and embraces modesty but I was telling her "be modest every where except when you go swimming." That is the reason Christian children grow up confused and often leave their faith behind. They get mixed messages their whole life from the parents that God gave them to steer them down the straight and narrow path. I started my research then and found the perfect solution. Modest swimwear! It is kind of expensive to buy them but I was not sure if I was skilled enough to make it myself. It just so happened that a lady from our church had the pattern for the ladies swim suit and assured me it was super simple to make. My mom looked it over and decided she could modify it to fit. Another lady from our church works in a fabric store and let me know that they were having a 50% off sale. I got the material, mom cut it all out for me and we got Keslee's suit done before she left for camp!


The material is the same that all swim suit are made of so it will be just as easy to move and swim in. She will not get weighted down like you do with a big t shirt over a suit.

The leggings are a separate piece so it will be a lot easier to go to the bathroom after you are suited up. No more getting totally naked just to use the restroom!

The best part is that I did not teach Keslee to listen to the Lord's convictions "except when....". And she LOVES it!

Who's the boss?

One thing I have learned from homeschooling my kids is that they have at least as much to teach me as I have to teach them. I may know more about math and grammar than my kids do but when it come to spiritual things they are always teaching me. The faith of a child is truly a miraculous thing to witness. They have not yet had the worldly experiences that taint their views and replace their faith with doubt and fear. They hear the word of God and they just BELIEVE IT! Imagine that! How much better off would we all be if we believed the truth as soon as it was presented to us. The complications of the world lead us to incorporate complications into our spiritual lives that were never meant to be there. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is quite simple. He is God and we are to serve Him. He died for us so we should live for Him. He owes us nothing but we owe Him everything! He created us, He knows best so we should trust him. It is just that simple and the kids don't have to struggle to remember that. I thought I would share with you what Keslee reminded me of...

"Mom, when some men pray at our church I think they do it wrong because they say 'Lord help someone' but they should say 'Lord PLEASE help' because we are not the boss of God. We should be asking for His help and not telling him what to do!"

I know right!!???!!! She is 8! Why do we have to be reminded that we are not the boss of God? That is about the most simple concept there could be. God is God and by definition we could not possibly be His boss but we grow up and automatically try to take over.

Why do we do that?

When does that start?

How do we prevent our children from doing the same thing?

I don't have those answers but I know someone that does. I also know that I do not have the power to prevent my children from doing the same as they grow older but once again, I know someone that does. One more thing I do know is that I will be doing a lot more asking and even some Begging for guidance and direction in that area.

Does this ever happen to you?

Ever have one of those nights when you wonder if the preacher is EVER gonna finish the sermon and your eyes are getting heavier and heavier and your head keeps bobbing to the side and it is taking everything you have to keep your focus on the preacher and concentrate on the verse he is preaching about until you just can't hang on any longer........

If so, Keslee and Kalysa know just how ya feel!!!

Oh so pretty!

I am just amazed at the beauty I see in my little girls. I know that every mom feels that way about their daughters(or at least they should!) but some days I just can't stop looking at the flawlessness of there skin or the perfect shape of their lips. Kids are a glimpse of the perfectness that must have existed at creation yet we know that it was even greater than our imaginations will allow us to envision. I just thank God for allowing me the privilege of raising these beautiful gifts.

My sweet little angel with the dimples!


My pretty little mama.

I LOVE her curly curls!!

Being a little goofy!

Best of Friends!

Keslee Gillian

On the 12th of April, my Kessie-Boo turned 7. I can't believe she is already seven years old. My own birthdays don't make me feel near as old as my kid's birthdays do! So almost 8 years ago, I was pregnant with my second baby. Kenyon was almost 4 years old and ALL boy. That kid never stopped and was into (and on top of) EVERYTHING! That is why it took me sooo long to decide I was ready for another baby. I wanted a baby girl so bad. I just knew this time had to be a girl. When I was only about 11 or 12 weeks pregnant, the doctor was concerned about the place the placenta was attached so he ordered an ultrasound. This was a MAJOR bummer for me! Maybe I have mentioned before but I have a high tendency to be a control freak. I like to plan. I need a plan!! How could I PLAN on having this baby without knowing the sex!? You know insurance companies only pay for 1 ultrasound and 11 weeks was too early to tell much about the baby(well except for hearts beating and major organs all where there should be but that stuff I already knew! I needed to know-BOY OR GIRL!) I was also planning on have a v-back. I had a c-section with Kenyon and really did not want to do that again. I wanted to do it the normal way. Well my doctor was not really big on that idea. He did not like to take the chance. He explained that there is about a 1% chance of the uterus rupturing and although that seems so minimal now, while I had a baby growing inside of me depending on me to get it here safely-1% all of a sudden sounded like a HUGE risk that I did not want to take with my baby so I agreed to another c-section. This pregnancy was not going as PLANNED (and of course my next one was even MORE off the plan!). I had a pretty uneventful pregnancy for the most part. I wasn't sick like I had been with Kenyon. I felt good most of the time until the third trimester and then she was laying in a way that really KILLED my hips! I couldn't sit, stand or even lay comfortably for long. One of my favorite memories of being pregnant with Kes was at about 8 months along during a thunderstorm. I was laying in bed when a HUGE thunder crashed. You know the kind that shakes the house and feels like the cloud is about 2 feet over your roof when it hits? Well my sleeping baby awoke and JUMPED about a foot inside my belly. It was the strangest but most awesome feeling! We definitely knew there was nothing wrong with this babies hearing! Well since God new about my need to know things so I can plan accordingly-the company I worked for changed insurance companies in the middle of the year. Whatta ya know! New insurance company=1 paid ultrasound! I had the next ultrasound at about 37 weeks and it was very clear that YES! it was a baby girl. A baby girl with big chubby cheeks and big enough to see EXACTLY what she looked like on the fuzzy ultrasound. It was the most awesome sight! Ultrasounds are just really cool anyway-getting to see a developing baby months before you would ever meet them but to see one the size of a newborn and big enough to see every detail of their little face-AWESOME! The test also estimated her to already be over 8 pounds so we scheduled her delivery for the next week. There is something to say about having a baby with no labor and really no pain. I went into the hospital that morning and my doctor came during lunch and we had a baby in a matter of minutes-12:21pm only weighing 7lbs and 7 ounces and GORGEOUS! I got to be awake this time and Monty was in the delivery room with me. I got to hear her cry and Monty got to be with her as they did her apgar tests and then she was handed straight to me. I got to hold her as I was wheeled back to my room. It was so peaceful and calm and not anything like the emergency c-section I had with Kenyon. Since my muscles had not been contracting at all before the surgery and the epidural had a 24 hour pain block in it-I literally had NO pain! A few hours after she was born I was sitting indian style in the bed and never felt uncomfortable at all.(also I had stitches this time where as I had staples the 1st time. If you ever have abdominal surgery-request stitches! I believe they made a world of difference!!) Keslee likes to hear the story of how I had her and never had pain but with Kenyon and Kalysa I was in pain for hours. Keslee was an easy pregnancy, an easy birth and has really always been my easiest child-so tender hearted and loving where the other 2 have a definite stubborn streak!

Well now my baby is SEVEN! My how the time flies! This year, since the month has been so busy anyway and her birthday was on Easter day, we just had some cupcakes at home with the family after church and gave her the one present she had wanted since the 1st time she saw it(about 4 years ago!)....

BABY ALIVE! (which I found on sale for about $20 off the regular price;)) She named her Kate.

Of course after being in that box for so long she must have been hungry and being the good little mama that Keslee is-she had that baby eating within 2.3 seconds of getting everything out of the box!!