Reminded of Lent

My friend Marcy reminded me, via her blog, that TODAY is Ash Wednesday! I am growing in my walk with God and this has been on my heart and mind -- yet I had not taken the time to look up when Lent season began. Today I was with a friend and had mentioned the need to look it up and see when Easter was (the Holy Spirit is so good!)
So, thank goodness for the good in Facebook that had me looking at Marcy's beautiful blog reminder. http://locustpointeacademy.blogspot.com/2010/02/focusing-on-lent.html
I have since stayed up and began planning our lent season. I printed a great calendar from
http://childrensministry.org.au/wp-content/uploads/lent-fridge-faith-2010.pdf
I also plan to limit the TV time and computer time we us as a family and spend more time in HIS word and doing HIS work.
I am going to ask my children to give up something and replace that time serving and being the BODY of Jesus. Ideas I have is using our prayer journals, adopting an elderly person from a nursing home, taking food to shelters, cooking a meal for someone each week, making cards, etc.
I also plan to make a paper mache Easter egg and leave a slit in it for the kids to write a love note to a family member each day and then on Easter we will open it and read the notes together. The direction for doing that are on the childrens ministry webste when you print the calendar.
I have been doing the Lord's Table course through www.Settingcaptivesfree.com and have been blessed through this study to be able to reconize the gift of the Holy Spirit more in my life. I menion this because I am so thankful that God did not let me miss another day of this Lent season. It was on my mind, in my heart and I am thankful that I get to focus more on HIM and plan to stay more in tune with my fathers plan.
Please pray that this season is special to my children, husband and myself and pray that God brings us closer to HIM through this time. I too will pray for you and as Marcy is doing on her blog--please give us as a family any special request so that we can write them in our journals and lift you and yours up in our prayer time.
BE BLESSED AND BE CLOSE TO YOUR FATHER THIS LENT SEASON AND ALWAYS!

My Brinley Gale

This is my beautiful daughter, Brinley Gale, who will be turning 3 on 3:16 ;)
She has a speech delay and has trouble communicating, yet she is LIGHT and so beautiful to us. She can run in my high heels, faster than I could. She calles them her "ancy ooes" (fancy shoes)and she is almost always in a pair. Here lately she has chosen my wedding shoes. Mark asked if I was going to just let her play in them and I said "well, at least someone is wearing them!" She loves to say "ance" with me mommy and I spin her around the kitchen as she twirls. We have a fireplace in our family room and the fireplace area is her stage where we watch he "ing" (sing) many times a day. She can carry a tune. I am in prayer for my sweet baby because she is about to go to school for a pre-school program through our county where they will offer her speech for free twice a week. She is happy and says "I go ool, ee!" ( I go to school speech!) I am torn about it because I know she needs the speech help so much yet the idea of her not being home with me 4 half days a week just seems unreal.
I understand her words and I am afraid that the teachers, ect won't be able to and that they will miss the way my baby shines and how smart and special she is.
Please say a prayer for Brinley, so that she will get her words this school year (March-June) and not need to go again next fall.
Anyway--back to her-- she is the best big sister who loves her "baby" and takes such great care of him, to include pulling him by his neck out of the bathroom as he attempts to play in the toilet (his favorite new pass time) or she will share her food with him in the car (like when he was about 5 months old and she fed him a fry!)
The love she has for him and her other siblings is so precious. I am blessed that they do not have jealousy--yet really find joy in one another and even our 12 yr old, Nathan, would do anything for his Brinley Gale.
Brinley's favorite things to do right now are to cut, play playdough, read her picture books, sing, dance, do "school" and eat her rice cakes!
I thank God for her, she makes me "SO HAPPY" and she says I make her the same. It could not get much better than this!

A Stay at Home Moms Title

You know,I think I need to change my name to a driving mom or an on the go mom. I do not feel like I am ever a stay at home mom. Yes we "homeschool" but outside of our school moment we seem to be out of the house, out the door. My house and my van can show the proof! I want to simplify things a bit and actually stay at home... driving Alexus to and from her school each day stinks. It is about a 2 hour out of the day job to do by time you load and unload 5 other children and sit in the car riders line. I have thought about changing her school, but with not knowing what will happen at our next court date with her, I guess it is just better to keep her there. Then at least she also won't have another change to face in this 6 yr old world she is in.
O well-- until then I guess we will be an on the go each day kind of family. I used to LOVE Tuesdays and Thursday knowing we could stay in PJ'S all day if we wanted too! Pretty soon we will be back to co-op Monday's, bball practice and YMCA Tuesday's, Church Wednesdays, Bball practice and YMCA Thursdays and Field Trip Friday's--top the week off with Bball game Saturdays and Church Sunday's and tell me if homeschoolers are unsocialized?
I need a vacation---in my home for a week!

I'm not on here much---yet I am going to try to update the "blog world!"

I have lost weight--between 8-10 pounds in 17 days. I am giving all the glory to GOD because I am not on a "diet" per say, yet I am on a life style change; a change of heart where I note that I have made food way to important to me...I am a noted glutton who lived in sin where food is concerned. I am using the tool www.setttingcaptivesfree.com to help me on this walk. They have a program called The Lords Table and it is a FREE, 60 days of intense Bible study, geared to free you from gluttony program! I pray I chose to obey God and turn to HIM instead of food in my boredom, stress, etc....resulting in the added bonus of weight loss!

Brinley Gale had her speech evaluation yesterday for Jefferson county public schools. After she turns three in March the bus will come and take my baby to school four half days a week where she will have speech on two of those days. It is a very hard thing for me to do--yet she wants to go and is happy about going on the school bus and she needs the extra push by kids and teachers alike to get her out of the comfort of where we understand her mumbles. We know "me ush ma ee" means I want to brush my teeth and unfortunately it is not helping her to communicate better so that others can understand her.

Bryson is WALKING...when he wants to of course. He is still favoring to crawl but he gets up in the middle of the room alone and walks when he chooses! All of the kids are pumped about that.

WE DID SCIENCE! HA! I am making myself do it FIRST a couple of days out of the week. So often I do not get to it because we wait until after lunch and by then we are all just done with school. SO--now science will be an AM class a couple of days a week. Today we made soap and looked at the embryo of a bean! Yeah us!

Nathan is doing much better and has done his school very well here lately. I have all the older children in basketball and they are doing great and having fun. Brianna and Alexus have made baskets which they just are so happy about having made.

We have started to attend a new church. We do not know where God is going to take us with this but we know he has guided us this far. It has been great, full of "meat" and like minded large homeschooling families. They do lots of outreach work, separate their boys and girls in middle and high for Sunday school programs. They also have K and up go into service with you, which Mark and I have really enjoyed that worship time with the kids. It is an adjustment, we love our church family--but we really hear God saying "it is time for you all to go."