What I ate and wish I didn't

Our home school group had a fun event yesterday.
We called it Road Trip USA.
Each child studied a state, made a presentation board and had the chance to tell the group all about what they had learned. We also had everyone bring a small 'souvenir' from their state to share with the group.
Joy and Andrew studied WI and gave out cheese cubes. : ) Arizona's tumble weed cookies rocked and I'm glad they shared the recipe! Hawaii gave out pineapple juice. North Carolina brought pickles. Washington DC passed out pennies.

I had a fun chat with the girl who studied New York. She had a plate with an apple, a potato, and a sub sandwich made out of Sculpy Clay in front of her display board. When I asked her what the little yellow things were on the plate, she said "chips."
So, I thought those were the 'souvenir'
and I popped one in my mouth....
But NOT before she said:


"It's play dough!!!"

-In hind's sight, I really think the sub sandwich out of clay should have tipped me off! ; )

As I was frantically cleaning out my mouth, I could just picture her running to her mom and saying "Ms. Becky ate my play dough!!!" : )

During her presentation, the MC joked about taking a bite of her clay sub sandwich and THAT had me fervently praying that she would somehow refrain from mentioning that the lady in charge really did eat one of her 'chips.'
(but God was faithful!) LOL

Come to find out she owns:








Which includes"A Chip Maker Super Tool"
and I happen to think they look pretty realistic. ; )

~Becky

Cute and chocolately

OK, so I was at the grocery store today and I was walking down an aisle next to a mom and her 3 year old daughter who looked at me and said "Mommy! What a cute little girl!"

I laughed out loud and so did her mom. -I could definitely say same about her! (she was adorable!)

Here is the kicker, when I got home and told Joy the story, she interrupted me and said
"Oh no! Mom! You have CHOCOLATE on your face!"
Me: "AAHHH!!! REALLY?!"

Oh how funny!
I guess that is why she thought I was so cute.
That is what I get for:
being short,
licking the spoon while baking
and then running off to the store without looking in the mirror.
Bahahaha!

~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

Here are some more quotes I love from Oswald Chambers:

"Sanctification means being made one with Jesus so that the disposition that ruled Him will rule us. Are we prepared for what that will cost? It will cost everything that is not of God in us." Ouch!

"Let the past sleep on the bosom of Christ, and go out into the irresistable future with Him."
Whoo-hoo!

"The process of being made broken bread and poured out wine means that you have to be the nourishment for other souls until they learn to feed on God. (Can all the moms say 'Amen?')
They must drain you to the dregs. (Now all the moms say 'Amen,' I'm sure) LOL
Be careful that you get your supply or before long you will be utterly exhausted.
(Don't I know it!) ; )
Before other souls learn to draw on the life of the Lord Jesus directly, they have to draw on it through you...
We owe it to God to be our best for His lambs and His sheep...
"He saved and sanctified you in order to exhaust you.
Be exhausted for God, but remember that your supply comes from Him." : )

~Becky

Horses

Joy has always been a horse lover!

But she has never had the chance to actually ride a horse until last week when the teens of our home school group went to a stable and took a trail ride! Our boys were not interested in going, but she couldn't wait to go!

This goose, which looks cute here, turned out

to be rather vicious and tried to bit my leg! Thankfully it only bit my jeans!

The girls were choosing horses by how cute they were, of course.

One of the girls picked a fuzzy looking mule.

Another one got a draft-horse-mix of some kind that kept things exciting by kicking horses near it on the trail. Oh my!

One of the other moms ended up with a horse that had asthma. (she felt guilty the whole ride, listening to it wheeze) Poor thing!

(There were some normal horses in the mix too) : )

I ended up with an old horse named CeCe that had a craving for Spanish moss.

Joy thought he looked like he was about to keel over.

She ended up with the horse that refused to ever let any other horse in front of it. Not even the trail guide! So, there was my girl leading the way for the other 9 of us and looking for all the world like she'd done it before.

Which of course, she hadn't.

In fact, she just looked so much like she belonged on a horse that that is probably why no one gave her the 30 second talk on how to steer and stop! Bless her heart. (I'm glad I didn't know that) She figured it out though.

My horse was happy towards the back of the line as long as it wasn't dead last. Then it would trot and cut in front of someone else. I was concerned about Joy WAY up in the front, some times out of sight. I didn't have a clue that her horse had this leader mentality thing going, so I was calling to and saying NOT so helpful things from the back of the line like:

"Hey Joy, slow down."

And "Joy, let Ms. Karen lead us! She owns horses!" lol
I was just clueless!

And Joy's favorite: "Joy, take some pictures while you're riding!" (Apparently I said that after her horse bolted into an unexpected gallop which was very scary for her!)

But she gave it a try and she managed to get this picture of the back of her horses head. lol

(Bless her sweet heart. I'm glad she forgave me later) : )

This was truly, the horses taking us for a ride and NOT the other way around.

At the halfway point her horse turned around and started leading us all back to the stables after 30 min. -I think it had done this before. ; )

Doesn't she look cute on a horse?

So, that was our fun day.

-Joy hanging on for dear life while trail blazing and me, trailing behind and stopping for all the Spanish moss in sight.

She wasn't sure she liked horse back riding after that. But once we got home and Daddy told her how much he'd love to go horse backing riding with her on one of their dates, she was in!

I think she will have a lot more fun without me there. LOL

I'll be sure to remind them to steer clear of the goose. ; )

~Becky

Our Annual House Celebration!

Every February, we celebrate THIS!
Hard to believe it all started FIVE years ago!
We are still in awe!
Thank you Lord, for one amazing friend! : )

~Becky

The dance!

After helping me decorate for a good part of the day, run errands and serve lots of punch, Joy did dance with her sweet daddy! : )

Whoo-hoo! (see previous post)

It was to "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman! So sweet!

I can't post all the cute pictures we took of the daddys and their daughters for our yearbook, but here is a little glimpse of the evening.

I was helping dads and daughters roll keepsake letters they wrote to each other, into scrolls and seal them (to be read on their graduation or wedding day)

when the DJ played "Butterfly Kisses"

and every dad went to dance with his daughter. AHHHH!!!!!

I had to squeal in delight. It was SO cute! Especially because most of the daughters only came up to their dad's waists. Watching that made it worth ALL the work.

My thanks to Joy, Andrew and my wonderful hubby who helped SO much.

Only a couple of mishaps happened.

My hubby melted chocolate for the chocolate fountain, which didn't want to work and became what he called at '3 tier fondue' but no one minded.

We bought a beautiful cake and guess what? The bakery spelled 'daughter' wrong. Ugh!

I wanted a serious discount because I was in a serious hurry. lol -But they fixed it pretty quick and it all worked out. And I forgot a cake server, but 2 knives got the job done.

So, that was that!

Next year, when my year as president and treasurer of our home school group are over, I think it would be great fun to be in charge of just one little thing....

and that would be the Daddy-Daughter Dance.

(but only if I can talk Joy into helping me again) : )

~Becky

Another Father Daughter Dance

Here is a poem about one of the big topics around our house this week:

There once was a girl who was three
who went to a dance with her daddy

She had no desire to go
She didn't like her gorgeous dress, don't ya know

Her mommy thought it was too cute to miss
Her mommy was in definite BLISS

A nap was missed and tears were shed
The little girl went to the daddy daughter dance but with dread

Cute pictures were taken
And food and cake were eaten

The little girl and her daddy had a nice time
And mommy thought it was all just sublime

Now the girl is thirteen
And sweet as she can be

But there is another daddy daughter dance in view
And the girl says that even though that is true

She's done that before
And can live without more

Although her mom has tried
And even bribed...

Dresses and dancing are not what is in store
For this girl who wants to someday minister on a foreign shore

But she would love to go and serve the cake
And help her mom decorate!

I love you, Joy!

~Becky,
who knows that poetry is not her thing! lol

So sad

Have you ever become informed on an issue and then kind of wished you hadn't because, hey, 'ignorance is bliss' as they say.
I had that feeling recently.
We attended a meeting about the issue of human trafficking and it was heart breaking. Just about every speaker that night was in tears. There was a woman in the audience bawling and my guess is, there probably were not too many dry eyes in the place. It was a standing room only meeting. We were all so saddened by the facts and then challenged to do something. You could feel a somber determination to make a difference in the people around you when it ended.


One of my boys said "What are you going to do about it, Mom?"
Yikes! I had no idea.

The first thing I decided to do was to join with other people from our church who are going to pray and fast one meal every Thursday in February and ask God to put an end to this horrific crime in America and abroad. (yes, it is going on in America and it is so sad)
Join us if you would like to.

"Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free...." (Isaiah 58:6)

"Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked." (Ps. 82:4)

~And I'm throwing in some of David's prayers for his enemies from the Psalms. Remember those? The ones that say things like "Break the arm of the wicked" and "Let their evil schemes come back on them." Because this issue not only makes me sad but angry. Angry about the young girls who are kidnapped, betrayed or deceived and end up living in the nightmare of _ _ _ slavery. (you can fill in the blank I'm sure) It's just horrifying.

We saw a clip from a documentary where an American with a hidden camera went to Haiti (before the earthquake) and was actually able to purchase a human being for $150.00.
(the price of an ipod)
Doesn't that make you mad?! Think about it. An 11 yr. old girl....


Run for freedom hopes to make the color orange what pink is the breast cancer by bringing awareness to this issue. Here are some other web sites if you feel led to become informed and let your heart be grieved for the oppressed of the world. Jesus said he came to:
preach the gospel to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind and to set at liberty those who are oppressed! (Luke4:18) Amen!

Stop Child Trafficking Now: sctnow.org
Lisa Bevere's ministry: pearlalliance.org

Believing for an end to human trafficking in Jesus' name,

~Becky

Only really awesome daddys learn to knit

My sweet hubby likes to find ways to connect with each of our kids in the evenings whenever he can. So, he gets into whatever they are into.
(guitar, drumming, video editing etc) A long time ago he decided that during these child-raising years he was not going to pursue hobbies of his own, but be apart of theirs. He's such a good dad!

And that is why he has asked Joy to teach him to KNIT.
Thankfully, the Knifty Knitter looms make it really easy and fun.

It sounds a little funny to hear him saying things like
"After dinner, Joy and I are going to knit." ~I kind of do a double take every time he says it. ; )
But what is funnier... is when he says
"Joy, let's go build a hat." lol

What a wonderful guy!
~Becky

Super Bowl

~Andrew said "This must be every man's favorite holiday!" lol

Homemade?!

At dinner tonight, my hubby said "This is the BEST cornbread that has ever come out of that oven!!! What is different?"

Me: "It came from a box..."

I'm told his face went completely blank.
LOL!

So much for making it from scratch for YEARS. (I can count on one hand the times I've used a box mix!)
The kids got a big kick out of this.

And THEN, my oldest son, who missed the cornbread conversation, came in and looked at my homemade potato soup (that he usually likes) and said
"Do we have any Top Ramen?"

AHHHHH! ; )
So, why do a cook anyway?!

~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

I was reading Proverbs 31 with our kids recently.

I emphasized to the boys verse 3 which says "Do not give your strength to women."
We talked about the Bible characters who had done that very thing and how messed up their lives became. (David, Samson, Solomon)

Then the reasons to avoid "strong drink" in verses 4-7.

Of course, I had to emphasize verse 10 -"Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies." Whoo-hoo!

Verses 11-31 are longtime favorites of mine about the "Proverbs 31 woman" and when Andrew said that I reminded him of HER, I was sure that he is my favorite child. Ah ha ha. I'm kidding, of course!

I pointed out to Joy and the boys that "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain but a woman who fears the Lord she shall be praised." (v.30)

Now when I read verse 28 "Her children rise up and call her blessed,"
I couldn't resist saying "You all feel free to rise up and call me 'blessed' anytime now." LOL -Any other mothers of teens want to chime in with an 'Amen?!'

And guess what I heard all day long?
"Blessed, can you go to store?"
"Blessed, what is for dinner?"
"Blessed!"

~They crack me up! I officially have the need to be called 'Blessed' completely out of my system now! Ha ha



~Becky

ALL things

I just LOVED Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!

It was so cute!

Remember the inventions that Flint felt were failures?

The spray-on shoes,

monkey thoughts translator

and the ratbirds? (or were they birdrats?)

Well, each of those so-called 'failures' are the 3 things that ended up helping him the most!

I love that. It reminded me that God makes "All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose."

He can take our mistakes and failures and use even those to further His purposes in our lives.

He's good like that! : )

~Becky