Wednesdays in the Word

The kids and I have had a couple studies in Philippians 2 recently.

Here are some things that stood out to us as to how we can "shine as lights in the world":

1. Look out not only for our own interests but also for the interests of others. (verse 4)
~A good reminder that everything is NOT all about us. : )

2. Esteem others better than ourselves. (verse 3)
~A good reminder to serve other people.

3. Do all things without complaining and disputing. (verse 14)
~Oh, ouch! I've got to work on the complaining and I know a few or four (to be exact) kiddos who could use some work on the disputing part. ; )

Then we will "rejoice in the day of Christ." (verse 16)
And what a day that will be!
These verses make me want to SING and SHOUT and get my worship C.D.'s out!!!

"Therefore God has highly exalted Him
and given Him the name which is above every name.
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of those in heaven, and of those on earth,
and of those under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father." (verses 9-11)
~Becky

Making a sweet sacrifice even sweeter

One of my cute kiddos who shall remain nameless was very excited during our morning devotional today on the crucifixion and wanted to tell what was going to happen next...

"After Jesus died on the cross, they stabbed him with a sword and honey and water came out."


After we fixed that little flaw in our theology, he said "Are you sure Mom? It looked like honey on the video." ; )

~Becky

Write them on the door posts of your house

I love having scriptures around our home.
Before we put an addition on our house 3 yrs. ago, I had verses stenciled on the walls.

The one I had in the living room was "Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation." (I love that one)

In our bedroom, above the bed, I stenciled:
"I will be satisfied when I awake in your likeness." : )

And in the kitchen I had the one about how we are "the apple of His eye" because the kitchen had an apple theme.

Near our TV we've always had Ps. 101:3
"I will set nothing wicked before my eyes." (I love that one)

So, now that the addition and the kitchen are done, I'm getting scriptures back up on my walls.
I'm not into stenciling this time though.
Just printing them in a nice font on parchment type paper and hanging them in nice frames.

In the bathroom we girls use, I've framed:
"Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us." : )
(Ps. 90:17)

My latest project is a frame that holds several pictures and I've put pictures of our kids in it in black and white. (because I'm a fanatic about black and white photos) And in the middle frame I put a verse that expresses all that my hubby and I want in life....
It's really Paul to the Thessalonians but its also our sentiment towards our children.
"For what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy." 1 Thess. 2:19-20

I'd love to hear what favorite verses you've written on the door posts of your home.
Blessings,
~Becky

I've got a thing for the painter

Have I told you that my hubby is a professional painter?
He does amazing things to million dollar custom homes. He calls it his "arts and crafts" job. He enjoys varnishing and doing faux finishes. Today he was off to make some one's ceiling look like the sky...

One thing he does a lot of is faux finishing the exteriors of these homes to make them look like old world Mediterranean villas. And they are gorgeous! I tried to talk him into doing it to our little house but he convinced me that it wouldn't look good. ha ha

He recently did a neat distressed look in our kitchen. Here's how he did it:

This is the bar that used to be a wall with a built in book case.

First, he painted it green.

After it dried he took a couple of my votive candles that had been softening in the sun and rubbed wax on the green paint. Then he painted it brown.

Next, he painted a black glaze on it and rubbed it off.


And this is how it turned out! But the picture doesn't do it justice. It was really pretty and looked like an antique. And I really liked it but then I decided it didn't go with anything else in our house...

So, he took out all the black for me. (he's so sweet!) And now, it looks like this. And I like it better.
~Becky

who is in love with her painter!

Wednesdays in the Word

Almost 15 years ago, I found out that parenting is God's tool to change me and make me become more like Him. That being said, I'd say that homeschooling four children is His power tool in that process. : )
And since I don't always choose joy when I'm feeling overwhelmed and I often let myself get grumpy instead,
these verses have been on my heart lately.

"Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound. They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all day long....
(here's the awesome part)
The enemy shall not outwit him." Whoo hoo! Isn't that awesome?!

~Becky

Sad for San Diego

I'm wishing we could give California the rain we are having today...
My family members and their homes are all safe. Praise the Lord!
~Becky

Lots of whip cream for the Kingdom

My hubby took his Royal Ranger class to Ranger Kid Field Day this weekend.
Our three boys volunteered to go along and help with the event.

Nathan found a great way to help! A way that probably no one else wanted...

He took pies in the face for Jesus! : )

Whoever donated to missions had the chance to do this to him...

And then squirt him with a squirt gun.

Bless his heart!
~Becky

Beatrix

We watched Miss Potter this weekend. (Thanks JennaG !)

We loved it! It made me miss "Grandmum." ~My dear

mother-in-law would have adored this movie!

Even our younger boys were hooked on this 'chick flick'... Why? Because Obi Wan Kenobi was in the starring male role! ; )

(I should say- Ian McGregar) And even though he didn't swing a light saber, he still made it worth watching for them.

It's a really sweet movie!

~Becky

Feasting on the Word

I saw this cute name on a church building the other day:

BREAD OF LIFE MINISTRIES
"You Are What You Eat"

: )

Have a great weekend!
~Becky

The B-I-B-L-E

Andrew has had to scrounge around for Bibles to take to church lately.

And he's not been too thrilled to use Zach's first Bible which weighs a couple of pounds at least and is falling apart. He'd rather use Daddy's pocket size Bible. But, since he has lost two Bibles already, I haven't been in a hurry to buy him his first really nice one either.

But yesterday was the day!

And oh, how special it was!

"Are you going to put this picture on the blog? Oh good. Are you going to say that it is real leather and has giant print? Good. And that it has red thingies? And maps in the back?!"

I don't know that I've ever seen a kiddo more excited about the words of Jesus in red before. : ) It's pretty cute. Here's some more of the things he's said about it that warm my heart:

"Can I take it in the car with me to Wal*Mart?"

"Have you ever seen how many words of Jesus are in red in Revelation?!"

"I can't believe it's real leather!"

"I'm bringing it with me wherever I go."

"The Bible is what my life is all about!"

~Becky

It's a tiny bit cooler here

It was 66 degrees when we woke up yesterday. Nice and cool! It was just beautiful.
The kids were so excited they got out their sweatshirts and wore them out. (even though by the time we were half way to our destination I had to crank the A/C and I didn't even have a sweatshirt on) They were bummed that it didn't stay that cool all day and ended up back in the high 80's.

That evening it was an almost chilly 79 degrees (ha ha) so guess what we had to do?

Light a fire in the chimneia on the patio and sing John Denver songs!
Just think of all the fun we'll have when it really gets cold! I can't wait! ; )

~Becky

Not chocolate

Last night I made Pumpkin Butterscotch muffins for our Junior Bible Quiz party.

After I thought I was all done baking, Andrew asked me if I was now making chocolate muffins.....
because this is what you get when you forget to turn on the timer and you have a STUFFY nose. : )

~Not chocolate I'm afraid.

This the time of year for all things pumpkin, so give them a try. They are fabulous. They are best made as mini muffins since they are pretty rich.


Pumpkin Butterscotch Muffins

1 stick of butter
1 3/4 cups of flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 can (16 oz) canned pumpkin
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 bag of butterscotch chips

Melt butter in bowl and set aside to cool. In large bowl add all dry ingredients and stir thoroughly. Add pumpkin, eggs and vanilla to melted butter and stir. Add wet ingredients to dry. Don't over mix. Spray muffin tin. Stir in butterscotch chips. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill tins 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 15 min. Makes 40 mini muffins.

Here's how they look when they haven't been left in the oven for over an hour. ; )

And speaking of Junior Bible Quiz we had our first match of the year on Saturday. My hubby and I are coaching a team for the first time. It was great fun!

And congrats to Andrew who came in 10th place! Very exciting.

~Becky

Our welcome home party

Zach is arriving home sometime in the wee hours of the morning from his week long Royal Ranger camping trip to Alabama! And we just can't wait to see him. (and if he was home, he probably wouldn't want his cute face on the blog...but he's not back yet) ; )

Anyway, he's been calling us almost every evening at dinner time.

So everyone who has called us this week hasn't heard the answering machine...

They've heard a VERY EXCITED "hello" from a breathless mom who has sprinted across the kitchen to beat 3 kiddos to the phone. : ) My hubby says he wants that kind of a reception when he calls now. ; )

And then whoever it was, heard these deafening whispers in the background:

"Is it Zach?"

"I want to talk to him."

"It isn't Zach???"

"UGH!!!" (in unison)

We are having a little welcome home party tomorrow after church. I'm planning on killing the fatted calf for him. ~Or in this case buying fried chicken. ha ha

And I am making some of his favorite 'fixings' to go with it. Also a peanut butter pie which is a big family favorite. (see recipe below)

The kids are making him cards.

I think they could have a future at Hall*mark. ; )

Joy's says:

"Welcome home, Zach. We are nuts about you." And it has peanuts that she drew all over it. Andrew's has a skull and crossbones on the front and it says:

"You are the greatest treasure I've ever found." Aren't those the sweet?!

Peanut Butter Pie

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

cool whip

a graham cracker pie crust

1 cup of powdered sugar

8 oz of cream cheese

Mix the peanut butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar together. Add a half of the container of cool whip and mix. Put it in the pie shell and put the other half of the container of cool whip on top. If I have chocolate syrup handy, then I drizzle some of that on top and use break up a couple of Reese's*Peanut*Butter Cups on top to make it look cute. : ) Enjoy

~Becky

We've missed you, Zachary!

Floridian hair spray

Joy and I like Aus*sie hairspray. It just smells yummy and it works!
While shopping for a new bottle, we found this new 12 hr. anti-humidity variety... and I laughed in the store and had to buy it. And since you can't read the small writing, I'll tell you that it says:

"12 hours of anti-humidity. Even in Florida, in your Grandparent's car, with the A/C broken."

Isn't that great advertising? What a word picture! I get hot just thinking about it!!!

I only wish I had this hair spray when I first came to FL ....and had those very TALL, (flammable) late 80's bangs! ; )

~Becky

I love this picture

What could be more interesting than having a huge hippo behind you?! : )

~Becky

Our first match

We found out on Saturday that TBQ is the coolest thing!
This was the first match we'd ever seen and it was really neat. Its different than JBQ in that it has this whole kind of debate angle where you can contest why you answered a question the way you did and the other team can give a rebuttal. Like a Bible debate or something. What great skills to learn!

I had to stop and soak up the moment and look around this room full of teen agers who knew all (or most of) the book of Galatians by heart! Really incredible. What a blessing! What a great thing to be apart of.

It was pretty exciting that our brand new team won more than they lost. (five wins and 3 losses) Hurray!

Most of the kids in the league are a lot older than ours. (most looked like high schoolers) Our team is made up of 3 middle schoolers. So, they looked small... and cute... and overdressed. Our coach wanted them to dress up and wear color coordinating colors. They looked cute and did I mention small? Everyone else was wearing jeans and t shirts. I got such a kick out of one of our girls on our team saying she really liked TBQ but "we are really going to have to discuss the clothes!" : )

~Becky

Growing up

Our sweet first born is off -for a whole week to another state for a Ranger event!!! boo hoo

I did really well though. It was my goal not to cry in front of the guys when we said good bye today and I didn't. yay! He still wasn't not too happy that I had to get up on my tip toes and kiss him good by, but he lived through it. : ) I heard him telling Joy, Andrew and Nathan "just shake my hand good bye" which was pretty cute. I guess hugging siblings isn't too cool at this point.
Andrew idolizes him, so Zachary is really going to be missed this week!

I've had a lot of peace about Zach's trip and so has my hubby. And of course its good for this mom to put her son in God's hands and trust the Lord with him. : ) Also, a great chance for Zach to be away from home and be dependent on the Lord alone. He recently had to memorize Psalm 139 and I'm so glad. What a wonderful passage that he can recite to himself if he ever gets lonely.

If ever a kid deserved a week off, then he does. He has been so diligent. He did double the school load last week to make this possible! I was so impressed!


He is our organizer and so he'll have that camp site in tip top shape. And in the mean time, my house will probably be a mess. Or at least a certain bedroom that he shares with two other boys who aren't committed to cleanliness, will be.

I hope he has a wonderful time. It will certainly be an adventure. (and not my kind of fun! )
It's a historical reenactment and everything they bring and wear and use has to be period appropriate.

(I insisted on the bug spray, even though I know you are suppose to let the smoke do the job....it doesn't do the job in FL so I don't know if it would in this other state!)

Pray that the Lord keeps him safe around all that gun powder for me.
I may not have made a good pioneer wife. That stuff makes me nervous!

He will thankfully, NOT be throwing his knife while barefooted! : ) So, I think I'll make it!

~Becky

Have you read these?! I love them

I picked up the first book in this series Yada Yada Prayer Group to read on the plane during our trip

and I'm hooked!

They are so good!!! Book three is my favorite.

They are fun fictional reads that will teach you some things about prayer.

They will challenge and encourage you. If you are like me, they will make you laugh out loud and keep you reading until crazy late hours of the night. They may even embarrass you by making you cry on an airplane and confirm to the lady next to you that you must be nuts. : )

I'm thankful that our library has all but #4 which I plan to donate that after I finish.

They'll make you want a Yada Yada prayer group of your very own.

(but then when reality hits, I know I don't have time to devote to praying with 12 other women on a regular basis. But it would be fun if I did. ) ; )

~Becky

A new view

Right before we went on vacation, I realized that I could see the TV while doing the dishes!
A first!
What fun!
That was an added benefit to knocking down the kitchen wall, that had never even thought of!
The other night I tried out a new recipe for dinner. But I messed up on the mixing of the ingredients! Thankfully the finished dish was still great.
It made me wonder how could I make such a dumb mistake on such an easy recipe.

And then it hit me!

It was the first time I'd ever cooked while watching TV before! Too funny! I guess it has its draw backs. Lucky for me, my kiddos aren't usually watching a movie while I make dinner! : )
~Becky

He did it!

Congratulations to Nathan! After several months of practice, he can now quote the whole book of Galatians.

Oh my goodness! It's pretty amazing! I'm so impressed.

His first Teen Bible Quiz match is on Saturday. So, we've been eating, sleeping and breathing the book of Galatians this week. (not really but it seems like it)

(And let me say that quoting a certain part of chapter 5... is um, gross. Or as he says "yucky, yucky!")

~Becky

Turkey day is on the way

Have I mentioned that we don't live in the suburbs or on a piece of land?
We live smack dab in the middle of the city on a street with houses built in the 50's, if you don't count the two 'new' ones across the street where a lovely wooded lot used to be.
Because of the 50's we all have nice size yards though.

That is why I was so surprised when I came home from our trip and heard a commotion on the side of the house.

I thought it would be the doggy welcoming committee having it out with Honey as usual. But what I saw were these guys:




It was a big surprise!

And are they ever ugly up close!

I guess my neighbors are getting excited about Thanksgiving! All I can think is that they must be planning on having a lot of company!

That one fella looks like he could feed 20 people all by himself.... poor guy. ; )

~Becky

A reward?

"Mom, since I did so good at school today, can I skip dinner?"


~this was from the picky eater of the family : )





~Becky