How did I get into this mess?

My summer resort

2009-08-30T15:39:00.003-03:00

Here are some pictures of my new house. We plan to be into it the first week of October.. this will explain why we aren't moving into it quite yet!!

This is the view from the living room, looking through the dining room, then through the mud room to the great outdoors!! Are you lost yet??

This is the front part of our living room. The view from the front windows is amazing. Down in the valley there is a track where trains are still running... no distraction there!!

This is the kitchen. The cupboards are to be gutted... they are disgustingly grimy, small and in poor condition. Due to what we have found behind some of the walls.. you really don't want to know... its important to find out what is behind these walls as well!!

Here is my friends daughter, Jenny. She is coming through the mudroom into our rather spacious kitchen/dining area.

And this would be the dining room, with the living room behind it. Charming don't you think??

We have really been enjoying our resort town summer. The kids are very comfortable walking to the library, various parks, beaches, youth center, playground, or just walking!! I love the view from my front windows and taking the kids to the beach across the street!!

However, its about time to get back to work. I think the kids will still be happy doing their schoolwork at the park or in the yard... barring another hurricane!! I'm ready to pack up... sloooowly to mosey on home. Home will be ready in another month. I think I said that a few weeks ago! We really should be in by our Canadian Thanksgiving in October.

2009-08-18T23:08:00.002-03:00

Well... the house is coming along.
There are no longer any stairs... or walls.... or ceilings.. toilets... bathtub...
Basically its absolutely minimalistic in style.
We have utterly cleaned house. I use the term "we" loosely.
I have showed up to check up on the progress of Mark and his brother as they have done every stitch of actual labour. Mark is allowing me to use the "we" word if it makes me happier.
We noticed the electrical needs to be redone on the main floor.
We are having difficulty in putting in the new stairs.
We have discovered a horrific absense of vapor barrier.
We will be working hard to get it all fixed up.
We will also continue to fight the flippin' fleas....
and I'll check up on it all occasionally!!

New house!!!

2009-08-12T13:21:00.002-03:00

Let the bells ring out!!! After searching for months, we have found and purchased a house!! Whooooo hoooo!!!

This house has 6 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, 3 staircases and fleas.
The house will be GREAT once the renos are done. I don't need 3 staircases, one will do. We have also decided that one dog is enough, we don't need the fleas.

The dog was kind of left with the house... as were the cats that left the fleas. The cats are gone, but we are crazy about Teddy, the dog. A good friend of mine is dog sitting until we can move. Hopefully we will be into the house next month.

I am also hoping to put pics of our house reno on this thing... if I can remember how. I need Caitlyn for that and she is finishing up at camp this week!! Yeah!!! She will be home Friday.

Not that we are home, exactly. We weren't exactly safe in the last community we were in and have been summering at the resort town my mom is from. Grampy's house was empty, so we filled it. We are loving living across the street from the beach!!

The renovations start tomorrow. What have we gotten into now??

Myth Busters

2009-04-24T20:59:00.004-03:00

Wow, we made it through this week.
This week, we had 7 kids with the flu.
Somehow Matt and I escaped the violence of the stomach flu.
Of course, those who were sick got lots and lots of sleep where Matt and I didn't.
Caitlyn asked me if I didn't regret being sick as I got to have 4 nights of next to NO SLEEP.

The best part was, after the 4th night of NO SLEEP, at 10 am, a very put together woman showed up at my door... stepped into my kitchen (my horribly messy kitchen) where the kids had hooked the laptop to the TV and were watching a movie.

Some people have the delusion that I am up at the crack of dawn, shower and dress with my best MK face, make a "hearty breakfast" and the kids are happily homeschooling at 9am with their rooms clean and devotions done. That may be what I aspire to, but certainly this was not the case yesterday morning.

Drat, another myth busted!

2009-04-19T23:32:00.003-03:00

I was looking back on my archives... to see where I was about 2 years ago. This spoke to me again...

Saturday, May 05, 2007

sometimes God gives you cool things to say

Rosetta Stone Contest

2008-03-22T22:22:00.003-03:00

A contest I can’t resist

Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE!

This is a $219 program (and believe me it’s worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they’re included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.

To win this most excellent program — in the language of your choice — copy these paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post – then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff!

What does God expect??

2008-03-05T01:49:00.004-04:00

I was asked today if I thought God expected more from a believer than a non-believer.
That person didn't think it was really fair that God does. Here is my answer.

Suppose you wanted some sewing done for your bedroom. You wanted 2 sets of pinch pleat curtains (for fullness) with a beautiful ruffled valence for each set (because the tops of p.p. curtains is really quite boring). With that a new duvet, pillow shams, sheet sets (one for extra of course), some dresser scarves, etc....
And you'd like everything ASAP

3 women say they can do the job.

One woman does everything by hand.
One woman has a machine and is learning to use it.
One woman has a sewing machine, serger, a frequent user card at the best fabric store in the province and has a list of thrilled customers the length of your bedroom.

Who would you expect more from??

The lady who does everything by hand? When would it ever get done?
The lady who is just learning? What kind of quality would you have?
Or the very experienced, lady with everything she needs to get the job done and a resume to prove it?

Who does God expect more from?

Is it the person who is really trying hard but does not know Christ personally?
The new Christian who is just starting out and taking their first steps?
Or the person who is saved and has been studying the scriptures for years? Someone who has lived a life of Bible study and has experienced God's working in their lives?

He expects mature believers to act like it. To show maturity and to stand firmly when the storms of life come because they are grounded in His word.
Is it fair?? Yes it is!!!

Don't sit and whine because God expects "too much" from you. He is never going to ask for too much.
I expect more from my 13 year old then my 5 year old, and more from my 5 year old than my 7 month old. Is it fair?? You bet.

Josh is a baby. I do not expect him to make his bed and put his toys away. He is just mastering.. no not mastering.. laughing at our attempts to assist him to sit!!!

Molly is expected to make her bed and put her toys away, but I do not expect her to multiply and divide fractions.

Caitlyn *loves* fractions!! OK, does them because she has to. She also helps with babies, laundry and cooking. She sometimes babysits and sometimes is in trouble for not being where she is supposed to be on time.

God is not unfair to expect more from some than from others. He is not here to molly coddle us but to push us towards growth. We all have different experiences. These are not rewards or punishments for good or bad behaviour, they are life experiences. How we handle them depends on our level of maturity in Christ, or if we are in Christ. I can't tell someone that they handled something wrong because it isn't how I would do it. Maybe they are responding more maturely that I would.

Tonight I am told that being obedient to Christ means that I am not experiencing freedom in Christ. Its legalistic. Tonight I say being obedient to Christ means freedom. It doesn't matter what my circumstances are.
I am standing on the sure foundation I have in Christ which I find wonderfully laid out in God's Word. I am obedient to Christ because I love Him.
I deserve punishment, He gave me life. He deserves all glory and chose to die on the cross for me. All He asks is for me to give Him my screwed up life so He can fix it. This is a complete win win for me. I don't want "freedom" from obedience to Him. I don't want Him to expect nothing from me. I don't want to respond like a baby instead of a more mature believer. He's not done working with me, there is a looooong way to go!! I think I'll let Him keep on working thank you very much.
If you are in a place where you can't/won't trust God... I'm so sorry. I have found that He is completely faithful and worthy of my trust. I am not going to change my opinion of Someone who has done so much for me regardless of your insecurities. I am not going to pretend that God is not true to make you feel better. I am not going against God's Word to assauge your guilt. I am not going to pretend that God isn't upholding me through some really tough stuff because you are afraid that it makes you look like you aren't handling things well. I'm not handling things well either. I can't handle all this stuff so I am letting God do it. Mostly I remember to leave it with Him. When I try to help God its just a mess.

Now I'm going to bed. Happy that I got all this out without having singed anyones ears.
If you want to argue this post, don't bother. 3 hours tonight discussing this was enough. God is enough.

The end

Looking much better around here

2007-12-01T22:18:00.000-04:00

My IKEA order is in.
My living room is taking shape!!!
There are 2 chairs that are pretty and one delightful RED couch.
The other couch... just as red.. will be here tomorrow. The van can
only carry so much at once!!
Caitlyn's friend, Jenna, called it ... something I had never heard before and forgot...
but she says it means she likes it and maybe I'd understand the word trendy instead.
I am officially a mom of teens... I have no idea what they are saying half the time and I'm hearing them actually talk. I've also been told that I am a Kewl mom. That's cool for all you folks out there who speak actual English... like me!
One of the neighbor's helped us bring in the couch for me and actually wanted the old couches that are dreadfully ugly. Seems he wants them for his shop for when his buddies come over or for when he needs to get away from his all female family for a good nap.
Whatever the reason, he was happy to cart off one tonight and will take the other tomorrow.
One person's junk, another man's treasure!!!
I'm enjoying this little house so much. Its fun to do it up... though it may take 10 years to finish.

We had parent/teacher interviews yesterday and it was actually quite fun. I really like both teachers. The kids are doing great academically and socially. I just want them home. But, if they are out there... this is the best thing. Some of the issues I had were already noticed by staff and principal and were already being dealt with. This was very good.

Christmas is coming. I'm trying to pretend I can put it off but it won't be put off. The kids are ready to decorate and the decorations aren't even here yet!!
They will be soon though.

Redemption

2007-12-01T02:03:00.000-04:00

You'd think that I would learn by now not to purchase a book because I like the title and the book is purple. You'd think that someone with my book reading experience would know how to flip the book over to check out the plot before PURCHASING a book.

No.

I think... "Karen Kingsbury with Gary Smalley writing a book series together.... I like K. K..... I like G.S. and its a SERIES... I can pick up one a month to treat myself until I get the set... "

I am an IDIOT!!

You say, how can you miss with those outstanding authors?? And its a series?? Maybe you have read the book!! If you know me and you've read the book maybe you know where I am headed here.

First of all, its an amazing, well written, God honouring book that will help a lot of people.

BUT...

I really wanted this, my first NEW book for I don't know how long, to be one where I could lose myself in someone else's life... just for a little while. How was I to know that the main character in the book was living my life. OK, mine is still a little worse. God knows that I needed this book so I could remember that only He can work in people's hearts. All is not lost. I need to believe and be faithful.

Never have I had such a hard time forcing myself to continue reading. I've cried like a baby.. and Caitlyn has a friend over for the night who must think her mom has lost her marbles... its OK though because as a mom I can do weird things and they just blame it on my advanced age!!

I won't ruin the story line for you book lovers out there. I do recommend this book because you will understand me :) and others like me that have gone through a marital breakdown... how we really feel and, most importantly to me, why I feel that I must move towards marital togetherness with my husband. It isn't that I am crazy or out of touch with reality. I am married. I need to be reconciled to my husband... regardless of how much he doesn't want to be reconciled to me. Even when he has royally screwed up, his sin is no worse than mine. "Let he that is without sin cast the first stone.." How can I stone him with hatred when I am a sinner as well?

I need to go to bed.

I do need to say one more thing. Many people are reading my blog and have been asking questions about Dave and what is going on. I'm not picking on anyone. Many people are asking. I value all of my friends and acquaintances... but... please stop asking! I blog as carefully as I can to get my feelings down and try to be honoring to my husband. I share with a few close friends more, but not all. I hope I'm not blundering the way I feel like I am... bottom line is, Dave is not accountable to my friends, no matter how dear my friends are. I trust I'm not stepping on toes here. I love my husband and am willing to forgive him. Whether you agree with that or not is OK. You are entitled to your opinion!! Please don't put me on the spot by asking what he is doing... or not doing.

That's all!! Please keep praying. Someday I'll move past blog world and get back into getting together with friends world!! Whoo hoo!!!

I'll just need to stock up on some hot choc and Christmas tea!!

Happy December everyone!!!

24 days until Christmas!!!

What have I done now???

2007-11-28T08:13:00.000-04:00

To say this has been a traumatic summer/fall would be an outrageous understatement.
Have I seen God's provision, love and direction?? Absolutely!!!
Have I learned to trust in all of this?? Obviously not.
In being overwhelmed and trying to do everything, in my "wisdom" I determined I wasn't doing a good job homeschooling and decided to put my kids in school. This was a stupid, stupid, and once more STUPID thing to do. 3 of the kids are back home. This was not working for them ... and 2 of them are still there. I am leaving them there until my HSLDA membership is in the works, just in case. Their marks are great, mainly because they are at least a grade level higher than their age appropriate peers. They fit in socially and even are complimented for their ability to take discipline well. Which unfortunately means that some discipline has been required... that is another story. Actually, it IS this story!!
One of the children has been having some "anger issues"... do ya think??
He's 11. The testosterone is hitting and there are some issues there for all boys to start with, then his Dad left, Mom was incredibly busy having a baby/surgery/house hunting and hunting and..../moving/attending a new school/making new friends, etc.. etc...
Do you think he might feel like exploding a few times?? I do. I can control it better as I am 28 years older than him!! He is learning control as well.
So, on the advice of many, and because I felt out of control, I took my son to a counsellor for anger management. Another BIG mistake. I should know better by now!!
Monday morning, to start my week I got blasted by this lady.
Apparently, I must be exaggerating the events of this year or I couldn't be so calm.
She doesn't believe that "giving my problems over to God for Him to take care of" is a viable way to handle stress.
I shouldn't be asking my kids how their day went when they come home from school, it is invasive of their privacy.
I have been HIDING my children from the world because of homeschooling and they are socially stunted because of it... Caitlyn's teacher's would strongly disagree to that one... as would anyone else who heard that!!
I am manipulating my answers to what I think she wants to hear because NO ONE could have 8 kids, love it, and be calm. I am *obviously* not telling of my real frustration of being a stay at home, housebound mom.
I say I still love my husband because I am trying to look like the sweet, innocent victim here where in "her experience" in a marriage breakup the 2 parties are equally responsible.
Amazing that she has such vast knowledge of my life before she even spoke to me. It was an hour and 45 min of constant haranguing.
My "homework" is to challenge my core belief system as my faith in God is *obviously* not working for me!!
I am wondering how some people keep their jobs!
What a load of crockery. She is supposed to be the best. I had thought a good counsellor listened first, asked questions, and gentle guided you to a workable solution. Apparently not.
She wanted to play "devil's advocate" as she put it. I told her I had enough stress in my life without scheduling someone in to criticize me just to "play" and I'm not interested.
I will send a lovely card to her as well to let her know that our world view, personal and educational philosophies are completely different and any further "discussion of my core beliefs" would at best be fruitless and at worst be driving me insane. I don't need or want this kind of "help."
I called two good friends who assured me this lady was the wacko and not me.
She had an educational background, which I found out after the first hour, and tried to explain to me why the public system was so much better for my kids in every way and told me the issues I have had a the school did not exist. She does not believe them. I must be a liar.

Not much you can do with that.
Feels good to get it out.
Parent/teacher interviews are rescheduled for Friday I hear. The teacher's haven't called me yet, though the voice mail from the school has said they would. If I don't hear from them, I'll just show up.

There is more.
I'll put another post up later.
Sorry to bore you with more problems, I do want this documented though and blogging gives me a chance to get it all down and have it dated.
Its a good thing!!

Settling In

2007-11-13T16:36:00.000-04:00

Things are settling in here at the ugly on the outside/nicer on the inside little house of mine. All my wood is in.. and enough stacked so that I can safely manoever downstairs. I believe the rest may just stay in a pile as it is handy to the stove and will just be burned anyway. All the diehard wood burning people out there will cringe at the thought of a messy woodpile, but hey!! I don't care. I do need to clear a path to the water shutoff valve JUST IN CASE!! Other than that, about 2 and a half cords are neatly stacked and the rest is just done.
My dining room is lovely. People can walk into my kitchen, sit down and see all my pretty things. The wood in the table, sideboard and hutch is very restful. Teacups are everywhere... ladies bring your daughters for a teaparty anytime! I just need to get a new kitchen door (long story which will not be blogged) and gorgeous curtains. The navy gingham curtains are OK, Andrea LOVES them so they will be hers soon, but I am looking for something beautiful for there. Someday I'll have an hour or 3 to spend in a fabric store with no kids and.... who am I kidding?? Someday I'll drive the kids crazy with boredom as I crazily look through fabric at Walmart with at least 4 of the kids screaming to go to the toy dept, one will be teething and the ladies trying to peacefully browse will be giving me the "take your bratty kids and get out of this dept" look. Can't wait!!
My wonderful friend, Diane, lives 10 mins from the IKEA in Calgary and is shipping me my living room curtains. She also tried out a couch for me and made some recommendations on chairs for my living room that were invaluable.
Did I mention... no I did not... the furniture I have been eyeing for the living room is buy one get one half price this month? My wood was $400 less than my budget and the kids are forgoing Christmas presents until January so we can get our furniture!!!
They were liking the fact that if we saved money on the couches and then saved money with post Christmas sales, they could probably get more on the gift side.
That would be my sweet yet mercenary brood. My parents are up and have taken Molly and Caitlyn into town for groceries and gas. I thought later that they are notorious for getting lost. They've been gone a looooonnng time. Hope they aren't heading the wrong way up the highway.
Matt and Connor had a bunch of boys in today. 3 that stayed for hours and a couple more that flew in and out. I finally sent them on a scavenger hunt. They thought they were too big for it, but they sure are having fun!!
The little guys are jumping on the couch cushions on the floor, which is probably not a great thing for them to do, but... oh well.
The kids are all coming in. One of the Dad's called and said they were having deer burgers for dinner. I'm not sure if that is good or not.
Annnd they're gone.
I need to make supper.
The boys are off to Tae-Kwon-Do tonight.
Boys are wonderful, but I am tired!

Another storm... a real one this time

2007-11-03T21:46:00.000-03:00

Matt and I just got in from the great outdoors...
As I went downstairs to feed the fire I noticed the plywood over one of the "windows" blew off.
Yes, I need 2 windows. I think I will actually give this out as a prayer request as I can't swing buying and installing windows right now.
The storm is starting and will only get worse so Matt and I with hammer in hand went out to put the plywood back on... only we had no nails bigger than finishing nails and it looked like someone took the nails out of our wood... I hope not!!
We asked 2 neighbors for nails. The second one gave us a bucket of screws and a cordless drill... that was great!! Except we were doing this in the dark with buckets of rain falling and the wind whipping around. I wanted to grouse about men who let women and children do men's work, but realized this is MY responsibility now. I helped Matt do some drillin' and then he got a shower. He is now wrapped in a blanket on the couch and I'm getting him some cocoa... then I'll get a shower.
I am soaked and in soaked jeans... lovely!!
Thankfully my leather jacket is waterproof so I'm not as drenched as Matt. I also found that the eaves trough is in sad shape!!
I can only fix so much at a time. The roof isn't leaking... or doesn't seem to be so that's good.
I'm having a hard time tonight to not be ticked off at Dave.
That's my attitude though and only I am responsible to change that. God is good and He is helping!!
Off for the hot choc!

Happy Anniversary

2007-10-19T23:30:00.000-03:00

I'm looking at my last post, which was rather long, and noticed the date. This would be my 16th wedding anniversary which I spent picking lice out of kids hair!! ... with no husband... and I'm ok with that. I really am.
I thought this would be a terribly, horrible, very bad day for the old emotions... and I'm sailing through fine.
Mom called at about 2 this afternoon to make sure I was going to be ok on the anniversary and I had to ask her what the date was so I would be able to find something to do that would be fun on the 19th.
I was a little surprised to find out it is the 19th. I haven't thought about it all day and wouldn't have known until this last blog posting that I missed my anniversary.
I should have had some cake.
I need to get my cake pic of the week (mom is emailing it to me) so you can get a chuckle.
That was my first real stressor of Thursday morning, but it has to be seen to be appreciated!

The Circus leaves town

2007-10-19T22:56:00.000-03:00

This has been the most stressful couple of days... good and bad... in a while.
My parents came up on Weds afternoon. Yes, this was the first day of school for my little chickies and I thought that would be difficult. Actually, it worked though. When you have 5 kids that all have amazing stories and all want to talk at once it was good to have a couple more sets of ears to listen!!
Gwen was having a good day (she slipped a disk in her lower back a couple weeks ago) so she brought her brood over for a visit. For about 15 min it was utter mayhem until we got smart and sent them to the park... all but the 2 youngest boys. We figured at 3 and 6 mos, they may not enjoy the park as much as staying home with mom(s).
We were down to 2 kids and 4 adults with the kids not talking much. It worked far better that way. We were able to chow down on lemon and coconut cream pie.. with coffee served with International delight hazelnut coffee cream. Ok, I'm a sucker for anything that has the word "delight" in it, but this coffee cream is amazing!!
That turned out to be the calmest few moments of the next 48 hours.
The kids came back.
The McQuarries left.
Non stop talking until bedtime.
Thursday brought more interviews at the school for me ... with the little guys enjoying having Gramma and Papa to themselves as THAT never happens... and then...
The crew arrived from Rothesay to help get this house together.
They were scrubbing in the cellar.
The lawn is mowed... stove cleaned out... boxes unpacked...
Mr Brown built me a boot rack and is fixing to make me a bona fide mudroom by the backdoor.
He also listed everything I need to do for the house so if someone asks what they can do I can give them the list and say "pick something". Hopefully they will understand shop talk because I discovered I can't even change a fuse.
That's another story.
I need to update the fuse box to a breaker panel.
Its on the list!!
There were many stressful little issues including baby blankets (and some other useful things) almost going out with the trash. Thankfully Mom suggested we check the garbage that was put out as there seemed to be too many trash bags.
I need to get clear trash bags...
Making my own list!
We went through all the trash bags and boxes.. tons of fun late Thursday night. Garbage day being Friday morning a lot of it was bona fide garbage so going through it was a treat. The things you don't expect ever to say...
"Yes, last night Mom and I spent a good 2 hours going through trash bags for toys for the kids."
Barbies, lego, dolls... it would have been sickening if we hadn't noticed we were missing things until the next day!!!
The problem is now fixed.
We have our goods and the real garbage is gone.
Mom and Dad left this morning. Everyone else had left before we noticed the missing stuff Thursday afternoon. By 10 am today I was back by myself. With sore feet, but a much calmer home!!
For the first time, when the kids came home from school I could sit and talk with them. And did. After about an hour some of the kids new friends came by and they all went to the park for an hour before dinner. Then at dinner, they had a whole new set of stories.
This move will be good.
Caitlyn made the basketball team. Gotta love small towns. She showed up for an info meeting for the BB team. The coach asks, "Who was not on the team last year?" Caitlyn and her friend (either Jessica or Jamie) put up their hands. "What size uniform do you need?"
They are getting new uniforms this year. They will also have sweatshirts that will have their last name on their backs and first name going down the sleeve.
Too cool.
One child came home with a detention... first week of school!!!
Connor and Courtney went to Nacawick for the participation track day. They had a 1.5 kilo run through a trail in the woods. They were some wiped out tonight. They all asked if they could go to bed.
I'm liking this.
One child has lice nits in her hair... uh, make that a few kids.
Not liking that.
Tonight I went through 2.5 heads. Lots of nits, no real lice so far. It took about 5 hours. 2.5 heads to go through tomorrow. Whoo hoo!!
Monday they will walk both to and from school. I have been driving them in the morning and letting them walk home. They will now walk both ways, unless the weather is bad.
On a final note...
I ordered a bunch of stuff from IKEA!! I'm so excited!! My dining room and office part of the living room will look great in a couple of weeks.
My friend Kathy is excited because she loves to put furniture together as much as I do and she's coming over to help me with it.
Its like an adult size puzzle, putting furniture together.
Anyone with a decent amount of Rouse in them will understand the fascination!!

Another new adventure

2007-10-16T23:08:00.000-03:00

Well, life is about to take another major change.
First, I'm a single mama.. then a baby... hand surgery... the big MOVE... and now..
Tomorrow will be the first day of real school for most of my kids.
Yes, I am sending my kids to school.
I love homeschooling, but have decided that for the moment its too much to do if I want it done well. I am not homeschooling well this year.. not by a long shot. Its time to admit that I need some help and I'm taking it.
The school here is K-12 so all the kids will be in one place, just more kids!
Most of the teachers, I hear, are Christians.
I had a tour and the kids were all attentive and not even fidgeting in class.
My kids just may be the troublemakers!!
The kids are excited/nervous about going.
I feel strangely at peace about it, even though I am a homeschooling at heart mom.
It sure will be weird at home with mighty Jack (3) as the oldest!!
Spending more time with the wee three will be good for us.
A new adventure, yes??

Internet is finally going!

2007-10-11T11:56:00.000-03:00

Hey, we have internet!!
I was hoping to have the super duper wireless modem/router that we had before... but they now charge $2.95 a month for the privilege of having one. So we are hooked up to the wall again. Of course, its the wall in the dining room that is still the workspace for the guys who are fixing up the house soooo... I'm sitting on the floor (and its not comfortable at all anymore) with the kids tripping over me. They do NOT get the fact that the computer must be where the phone jack is at all time if we want to be connected to the internet.
They are also getting very cranky.
I think I should go feed the baby and get the kids busy with something... anything!!
Martha

One More Night

2007-10-08T23:02:00.000-03:00

This is our last night in the old place.
Tomorrow night will be in our new home.
It looks good... actually great since Laun, her Dad and friend Janice stayed there all day until late tonight to finish it. This is how good people have been to me. I don't even know Janice... well, I do now!! She has been so generous to me and I am humbled by such help.
The girls room is sweet. They didn't want to leave today. The boys can't wait to see how their room looks... I can't either since it wasn't done when I had to leave today.
Joy, Laun's mom, baked cookies, a pie, a cake, a casserole, made sandwiches... yum, yum... I love other people's cooking!!
Tomorrow we will take whatever we can fit in the car and then Dave will bring the rest out little by little.
I think we have almost everything we need.
I'm excited... and very sad.
This was not what I had planned... to move on without Dave.
I can't let myself be sad though. I'm choosing to trust that God knows what is best for me even when the world isn't making sense. I have a Bible study called "Trusting God when the world doesn't make sense." Dave bought it for us to do in January and then didn't have time to do it with me. Now I will be happy to have it and do it myself.
I will learn many new things this year, including how to run a wood furnace.
Never done that.
I will learn how to manage 24/7 on my own. This is scary.
I can do this.
I need to go to bed earlier.
I need curtains... or else we will be going to bed when the sun sets!!
Tomorrow I'm picking up curtain rods... tonight would have been more convenient except that everyone who is everyone took today off for dinner.
Thanksgiving is everyday, but our feast will be in a week or 2.
We are too tired to cook a turkey dinner... that was a Victorian we, meaning me.
Mom tried to convince me to drop everything, play hooky and eat turkey with them... but I'm glad I didn't. The work is done (not much thanks to me!) and tomorrow starts a new adventure.
G'night and God bless,
Martha

On the MOVE!!

2007-10-06T22:24:00.002-03:00

I am taking a break from packing!
This has been a crazy couple of days of packing, lugging, sorting, trucking, unloading, moving, moving, MOVING!!
I commented (rather vainly) two days ago how good my nails were looking. My fingernails almost never look good so I was pretty impressed.... I now have ONE fingernail left and its discoloured from when I got my hair dyed this week!
So much for vanity.
On Friday Pastor Steve and Arthur (with the help of Chester's truck) moved ALL my beds for me to the new house. Thanks guys... not that you ever read blogs, but you are thanked all the same.
Andrea came up and helped all day yesterday and today.
Laun and Jodie came up yesterday... brought a ton of stuff with them!!! ... and thoroughly cleaned the new place.
Andrea's husband Andrew came up today with his truck.
My brother Jeff brought up his truck and my nephew Trevor.
Last but certainly not least, my friend Pat brought over her wonderful new truck (its a Chevy Avalanche and its loaded.. that's who I drove with!!) and helped a bunch. Then she went home and bought a bunch of Greco pizzas for supper.
Do I have great friends or what??
I do need to mention Eugene. He is the angel I'm buying this house from. Not only is it a superb deal and he's holding the mortgage for me, he is constantly at the house putting on new trim, doors, siding, etc.. He is giving us the history of the house and the low down on the town, making me feel like this is my home. He is essentially giving me roots.
He wants to put some extra shelving for me when he's done his work.
He looks like Santa...
We had a few mishaps... somehow I was expecting to chase down baby clothes on the highway... and wasn't disappointed!!! Though I wasn't expecting to see the wicker bookshelf fly off Andrew's truck and over our truck.... I needed the exercise though to chase down my stuff and pick up pieces of this and that off the new super duper twinned highway!!
Jeff and Trev got their pictures taken by the big axe.. that was a thrill... ha! ha! I'm expecting to be sent those pics if Jeff can get them off his phone.
I have more stuff to pack here. The old house is a disaster, which is pretty amazing given all the things that were taken out of here!! How could it possibly look messier than on Weds??
I am at a loss.
There is a mouse in the back of my stove making terrible clicking noises... at least it was until I kicked the oven door a few times... right after telling Connor not to kick it. He doesn't think this was fair, but it is my stove after all, at least until Tuesday.
On Tuesday we move!!! Yep out the door and into Canterbury.
Dave is helping us finish moving Monday.
That will be weird... my husband finishing moving us out of his home.
Oh well.
He will be getting back from Atlanta tomorrow night. I wanted to be out before he got back, but just couldn't do it.
He is most likely getting the biggest award he will ever achieve in his career this weekend.
It the PMI award for Professional Development of the Year. He is accepting the award with some people from Global Knowledge. He is the only one accepting for Skillsoft. Skillsoft and Global Knowledge won it together for the Project Manager Development program that Dave headed up the creation of.
I am trying to be happy for him. This was one of the major things that Dave put in front of his family and makes him happy. We are in the way of his career. Its so sad. He thinks he'll be happy... he's not so far.
Right now he's out to some fancy dinner with the others from Global.. its a Brazilian Restaurant.
I'm wondering what Brazilian food is.
The mouse is acting up again. Our cat is a waste of time and airspace. It couldn't catch a mouse to save its hide... unless its bringing one in from outside... or killing one beside the dinner table when I am at dinner.
And people wonder how I'm losing the baby weight so fast!
I'm off to do more packing. I'm going until I'm out of boxes. Tomorrow is my day off. Monday we move these boxes, unpack some at the other house and then bring more back to pack.
Its almost over.
It will be nice to be done.

Bloggin' again!!

2007-09-21T12:17:00.000-03:00

This will have to be quick, as I really should be getting lunch... tuna melts today and my stomach can't wait!!
After the summer hiatus from this thing, I am ready to be back. I really didn't want this blog to be negative and really had to deal with a bit of an attitude problem on my part before I could really be positive.
This summer has been really, really good and really, really horrid.
I have a wonderful new son who is a blessing to all of us... and when I have friends over I only get to see him to feed him... thankfully I'm nursing him!
The gross thing is off my finger!!! YEAH! The stitches have finally dissolved and I'm sure the feeling in it will right itself in time.

My husband has decided he no longer wants to be a husband to me or a good Daddy for his kids. I have found out there have been MAJOR problems that I was unaware of and feel rather like an idiot about that BUT its ok. God is in control of the situation and He knows what I can handle and what I need.

In fact, I am in the process of buying a new house... new to me at least. Its 30 years old, 1500 sq ft, 3 big bedrooms, living room is 19 by 19.5 feet, all new wiring, plumbing, insulation and decks... and its $35000. Yep, it will be paid off in 2 years!!

Tomorrow we go to paint. A few good friends are coming to help. The paint is in the van, ready to go. Caitlyn and her friend Daniella are coming too. They will paint A LITTLE, just to make them happy. They will really be taking care of the baby so I can really paint up a storm.
The stroller is also in the van so I don't forget.

My fridge went on sale yesterday for $800 off. Mom found that out a few days ago. It has now been ordered and will come the 3rd of Oct. My new phone has been ordered as well.

The kids are doing school very well. They are zipping through the work. We are finishing up from last year as the end of the year/summer was shot for schoolwork. They are looking forward to starting their new work... At least some of them are!!!

Caitlyn is off to get milk and eggs. Justin is crying for her. They have a connection. He actually stinks so I should go change him.

If anyone wants to help paint tomorrow....

Martha

BACK!! for a freebie

2007-09-21T12:11:00.000-03:00

Enter to win the complete set of Terrestria Chronicleson the HSB Company Porch!

This looks like an amazing book series that I would love to have... and intend to for Christmas!!
Take a look!!

Yes, I'm still here!!!

2007-06-05T00:03:00.000-03:00

This has been a wild few weeks. Not that pleasant actually. My mother-in-law has been diagnosed with cancer around her eye and has her first round of chemo. Thankfully it went very well. The combo of steroids and chemo has already made a very noticeable difference in the size of the tumors (there are several) and the irritation level in her eye. 2 rounds to go then radiation and she may lose the sight in that eye, but she can at least open her eye again and we praise God for her great attitude and His healing. They believe this is the primary source of the cancer and they will get it all.
I have also had this ridiculous, large, raw, open growth on the end of my left ring finger. It has been so painful that I could not type (its the e-s finger y'know!).
I have had my first biopsy. First cauterization, and actually found out that that means BURNING YOUR FLESH and not what I had thought it meant.
I also found I have a place at the end of my left ring finger that is resistant to freezing. That means when you chop off something on the end of your finger and then torch it you find you can make a noise that you never thought possible.
This thing seeps stinky ooze through 3 or 4 bandages a day and hurts like fury if touched. Today I learned its benign which is wonderful. None of the doctors have seen anything like this before and they are all looking forward to seeing what it is. I personally don't care what it is (as long as its benign) I merely want it to go away.
Then, to top it off we are having some really wretched family issues going on here.
But ...
DO YOU KNOW WHAT????

This is very important. Please listen carefully.

Satan can attack and attack and attack. He can hurt you, distress you and keep coming back with more attacks BUT .... HE CAN NEVER, NEVER WIN!!!

God is bigger that all of this. His love is greater far than whatever hate Satan can come up with and His faithfulness endures forever.
Regardless of anything else God chose me and drew me to Himself. His son died for my sins. He has bought me with His own blood and marked me with the seal of His Holy Spirit that guarantees me an inheritance as His precious and well loved child.

Do you know what else matters?? NOTHING!

My thought on the book of Judges for the past weeks I have missed.
God uses whom He chooses. He allows all kinds of bad stuff to happen so that He may be glorified. Whether its a cowardly Benjamite whom God chooses as His mighty warrior, a mother in Israel who is a prophet and warrior, a woman with a tent, a glass of milk and a tent peg, a son of a hooker or a foolish and blind strong man. God's chooses whom He chooses for His own reasons.

Why has God chosen me for the particular path I'm walking today? I don't know. I'd sure love too though!! He chooses whom He will and my job is to be faithful and obedient. I've had it worse before and God has been faithful. For a little while the other day I was questioning if God remembered me at all, but still faithful He gave me someone to encourage and uplift me.... thanks Ang!!

God is good. Very good. He is absolutely worthy of our trust and praise. He is ever faithful and loving to us. He will never forsake me. I can fully rest in Him.

Happy Mother's Day!!

2007-05-14T12:25:00.000-03:00

This would not be a special day in 2007 if things went as normal!! I woke up in the morning with a wicked sore throat and NO VOICE...nope.. couldn't even croak until after supper!!
Connor made me breakfast in bed... It didn't hurt to eat, thankfully. Justin was coughing up a storm, so we stayed home from church. I was very happy when he decided that he needed a nap very soon after everyone left. I napped too!!!
The kids made pearl bracelets for me in church. I'm told they brought flowers home too, but I haven't seen any!!
It was a very quiet day!!
Dave had cleaned out the porch on Sat. as I had this vision of sitting serenely on the screen porch, cross stitching, babies playing at my feet, bigger kids playing happily in the yard where I could hear their laughter and enjoy the games....
It was not to be.
It was freezing on the porch as I was running a fever.
Dave watched the kids out there with the babies at his feet as he worked on his laptop... we love our wireless Internet!!
I stayed in the dining room, alone.. where I could see Dave and the babies on the porch between dozing, cross stitching and tons of hot green tea and Halls cough drops.
It was actually kinda nice.
The kids have run to the store for more cough drops.
We made it to the next pay day!!
Justin seems better.
I'm able to croak a bit today... just not enough to carry on a decent conversation. A few words and its major coughing time.. not much fun in your 3rd trimester when you know too much coughing can be terribly hard on your belly!
At my last Dr appt I had lost a pound.
Just had to fit that in. I don't think I was supposed to, but I spent a lot of last week sneezing and guzzling green tea.
Didn't keep me from getting sick though.
Molly wants to see her name in type.
MOLLY... is so much fun!
MOLLY SUSANNE PERRY.... yup, that's my name!... she says.
Off to reality.

BRF -- 1 Corinthians 13-16

2007-05-11T22:35:00.000-03:00

Plenty of familiar verses this time around. ch 13... memorized... ch 15 full of AWANA verses that I go over regularly with the kids.
Plenty of relatively unfamiliar verses as well.

How can people read chapter 14 and believe that tongues are the be all and end all of gifts?
How can the pentecostal churches allow tongues with no interpretation in their services?
I was in a service palm Sunday where there were tongues with no interpretation and yes, Paul is right, they seem like they are out of their minds!!

However, tongues are not obsolete like some Baptists like to preach! It is a viable gift for a specific purpose. Even Paul spoke in tongues!

"Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues, Let all thing be done decently and in order." ch 14: 39-40

We need to find a balance. So far, I have not seen a church where this is balanced. Its everyone c'mon and speak in tongues!!! Whoo hoo!! or Tongues?? Never happens!!

My roommate in University... good Baptist gal... went to Bolivia on a mission trip. While there she was given the gift of praying in tongues. It was a beautiful experience for her to pray and have the interpretation there with the ladies she prayed with.

Then back to Canada, where she hardly dared admit she prayed in tongues. Its not done you see. I do not have this gift. I believe many have it and don't dare admit it. "Do not forbid to speak with tongues" is what scripture says.

"Do not be deceived: 'Evil company corrupts good habits.' Awake to righteousness and do not sin." 15:39-40 This is the crux of a lot of problems. For instance, there are 3 boys in this neighborhood who aren't saved, could care less about spiritual things and have ungodly home lives. In the past few years Matt has tried to tell them about the Lord and has prayed for them. We encouraged Matt to reach out to them, BUT they still aren't saved, Matt no longer witnesses to them and Matt's attitudes and actions have been coming down to where they are. This is not good. We were deceived. Yes, these boys can come to know the Lord and we can't shun them... but now its hard to get rid of them!! I don't want Matt with them all the time. Matt is not allowed to go to their homes.. we foolishly let him try that once last year and once this year.. neither time was a blessing.

Sometimes, I think God made a mistake in giving us kids... they get hurt from our mistakes and when we try to backpedal, they just get confused. Who can blame them? Where are the christian kids?? The ones we know are worse than the non christian ones here and my kids are getting weary of being different than EVERYONE else.

15:10 "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain..."
I am where I am because of the grace of God. Loving that!! He has never expected me to be the perfect one who made it through life without ever messing up. Perfection in parenting was not expected either. Its by His grace that I can experience forgiveness, daily fresh starts... multiple new starts each day and direction for our family.

15:58 "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
In the light of everything we've read in 1st Corinthians, this verse means much, much more than it has in the past. In the light of all we have learned, we need to stand on this scripture and not budge. We need to know the gospel of Jesus Christ WELL... If you don't remember it go back over ch 15... we need to be truly discerning.. we need to judge sin in the church and not back down from it... we need to truly love... we need to not be deceived when it comes to choosing friends... we need to KNOW we have victory over sin and death... we need to stand against sin and not be moved!!! If we "get" the church doctrine here and live it we will have plenty of work to do!! We will be abounding in work!... If we are labouring for the Lord, it may be tough, but it will NEVER be in vain. People may not like us too much.. some may slander us, tell us off, stone us or have us flogged or jailed... who cares? Look at Paul. He stood for what was right. Plenty of folks loved him and did everything they could for him. Plenty of folks didn't like what he had to say.. in and out of the church, but did he change his message? Did he compromise? Did he tactfully change the subject and try to make them feel ok about their sin? No
We do.

One more thing... about giving. Note Paul makes a request for a gift for the Christians in Jerusalem who were desperately needing funds. Did Paul ask for them to tithe a gift for the collection? Nope. Does Paul ever ask the church to tithe?? Nope. Neither did Jesus.
The more I study, the more I see we are duped on tithing.
Remember back in Haggai?? We all were really feeling like we had been stealing from God. Lets get back to reality. What was the temple of the Lord then? What is it now? A church building?? NO!! We are the temple! God does not dwell in houses that men build.. He dwells in US!!
What was a tithe in the OT?? Money?? NEVER!! It was grain, food, oil... for the priests!!! Only a Levitical priest could accept the tithe as this was his sustenance. They were not landowners. They didn't grow crops. This was the sustenance for his family. God never said to give them any money.
In fact the only time money and tithing are mentioned together is when the temple is too far away for you to take an offering, you are to convert your offering to money and then when you get to the holy city you are to have a grand ole time, spending it on whatever your heart desires, feasting with your family. Then keep some extras on hand for those who God brings to you to feed.

We are to give cheerfully to those in need. Our money should not be wasted on new pews or overhead projectors or programs.... especially those that would elevate women and children over men which would be.... almost all of them!!

We need to take care of our pastor. We work them to death!! I keep looking at Paul though. He preached and travelled and never took a penny from those he preached to. He always worked as did his companions.

Look how far we have strayed from the model of the church. I see no record of building plans for larger sanctuaries or gymnasiums... not because they didn't have them back then... the pagans had them.. not the Christians. Their money went to take care of their families, widows, orphans and those in need. Yet, we are guilted into thinking God wants a monetary tithe from us when he doesn't!! He wants us to give as He gives to us. Is it honoring to God to get into debt to pay the church what He doesn't ask for?

Its not honoring to spend, spend, spend and never give either. We need to spend more time in prayer about where God wants our money than listen to more words of men.

We need to be in the loop so we know men who are really godly and those who aren't. We also need to treat all of them the same. None higher than others. Paul wanted Timothy, Apollos and whoever else may come to Corinth treated in the same loving way as he. We shouldn't treat some visiting missionaries with red carpet treatments and then barely entertain others as though they were less important. I've seen some people come to the church and are put in hotel rooms, potlucks are put on in their favor... everyone wants to host them for dinner!! and then... some are basically left on their own. It isn't right. Some are given both services to speak at and some are given 5 min in the morning and an honorable mention at night. Not right.

So... how do you get a church where sin isn't tolerated, everyone loves each other, gives to those in need, makes wise decisions, doesn't ask for what isn't their due, has pastors and teachers who are self sufficient??? AAAGGGGHHHHH! Mind boggling! Read the book!

By the way, guilted isn't actually a word (like AAAGGGGHHHHH is!!).. I just couldn't think of how to properly phrase that sentence so I used creative liscense there. Just because I can cuz its MY BLOG!

sometimes God gives you cool things to say

2007-05-05T17:07:00.000-03:00

Someone asked me today what was the catalyst to make the decision to make wholehearted decisions for God. I wish I could remember exactly how she worded her question, but we had systems failure and my memory is... 3rd trimester pregnancy... yeah.

This is my answer.

When I KNEW who Jesus really is and what He really did for me, what choice did I have?

I was saved at 4 and knew that Jesus died for my sins. When I was older and KNEW what He did for me, and saw who and what I was... a sinner who actually sinned... not a good kid... a SINNER!! How could I not choose to run with all my heart towards Him?

A speaker today told the difference between running to and running from. I'm no longer running from hell and the consequences of sin... I am running as hard and as fast as I can towards my Saviour and the lover of my very soul. Sometimes I fall. I get hurt. I get bashed, bruised and bloody but I CAN'T stop running.

Others may laugh and tell me its easier to stroll and picnic along the way, but I can't. I NEED to be near Christ. I am running towards the Father... Jesus is running with me, picking me up, cleaning the wounds with His word... still running. Jesus never says slow down, this
is a race.

When I am tired, hungry or thirsty HE gives me rest, food and water... its all Him.

How can I stop?

I can't. If I slow down, will one of my dear running mates kindly kick me in the rear and get me moving again.

Thanks.
The room is back up.. what timing... back to the conference!!

For DAWN and ANDREA and anyone else who stumbles upon this

2007-05-05T15:25:00.000-03:00

I am relinking this very cool
and yet controversial post on tithing. What is it? Do we actually believe what the Bible says about tithing? Where does God ask for money?

You girls go and read!! Pray for wisdom and discernment and let me know what you think.

ps BRF is late because I am at the Ultimate Homeschool Expo and having a ball. I will post tonight or tomorrow.

Gotta run..

TTFN!!