A garden for fairies... a gift for me.

Last night Braydon and I planted a Fairy Garden. I'm sure you're thinking that's kinda silly or childish but I have to say it was tons of fun! It was actually MY project but he jumped right in with both feet and before I knew it he had taken over the entire planning and I found that the only thing left for me was the LABOR!! SHEESH!

It did give us an opportunity to research container plants together. So once again I learned that homeschool happens anytime and anywhere! I am still that mom that's trying to do schedule each and every lesson and make sure all things tie into each other nicely covering all subjects and all areas.

How lucky are we to have such a patient Father? You'd figure by now he'd have given up on me as a homeschool mom and lost all hope for Braydon (with me as his teacher) to become a functioning member of society. Instead, He takes my hand, one more time, and gently guides me back to the path He has laid out for me. The path that is PERFECT for ME! The path that is created for no other BUT ME! The path that I turn from from daily thinking I can do it on my own.

Be grateful for His patience! Be accepting of His guidance! And be aware of the times when He loves you enough to take your hand, one more time!

God Bless!

Industrial Style Flex Lamp

Our latest project! I got the idea for this awesome light out of the Lowe's Creative Ideas magazine I get every month. We aren't sure if this is where it will stay. We're thinking of making another one, hooking them together and hanging them over the large window in his room.
This one only cost us like $14! Not bad for a neat light that nobody else has! And it goes great with the industrial/grunge look he has in his room!

Instructions are as follows:

Cast a cool glow with this high-style, low-cost lamp. Grab a utility knife and follow these easy steps to create your own flex lamp.

Instructions

• Step 1: Cut the square ends off the Flex-A-Spout.
• Step 2: Fold the rope light in half and push it through the Flex-A-Spout. Be sure to leave the electrical plug hanging out of one end.
• Step 3: Twist the Flex-a-Spout into the desired shape.
• Step 4: Plug in the rope light, and you’re ready to glow

Note: The Flex-A-Spout is not part of the HVAC department. The spout can be found in the Rain Gutter / Downspout department.

You will be grateful for this tip as I spent two weeks searching for it and could not find it! LOL

Enjoy!!

Are you FEARLESS???

The caption reads: "Just before it happened, I overheard the three most dreaded words a mother could hear: 'Hey, watch this!'"

This is how I feel on MOST days! Knock on wood, we haven't had to make a trip to the ER yet but I am sure it is inevitable. My child, like most, is without fear! He gets up every morning with new ideas of how to give me a nervous breakdown and test his own physical limits. Do you remember those days? When you just KNEW you could jump off of your house with an umbrella and slowly float to the ground unharmed like Mary Poppins? Or that you could actually DIG your own in-ground swimming pool in your back yard? Ok, maybe these were just MY crazy childhood examples of limitless imagination, but we all had them! We never stood back and thought through the possible ramifications of our actions or the damage we could do to ourselves, our friends or our parent's property. We were FEARLESS!

Well, as we grow we not only gain height, weight, maturity, knowledge, responsibilities and all the other things that separate us from our youth but we gain something else... something that separates us from so much more! What is it your ask?? FEAR! Fear is one of Satan's strongest weapons! He uses it to plant seeds of self doubt which prevents us from realizing our full potential in Christ's kingdom! Fear holds us back from building relationships, fear causes us to think we don't have the abilities to do what others do and most importantly, fear makes us believe that God could never forgive the things we've done.

As a mother I want to encourage you today to remind your child to hold on to that fearlessness! To believe that they really can do ANYTHING through Christ! It is our responsibility as Christian parents to do everything in our power to build our children up as often as we can so that they won't become timid fearful adults! I promise you, for ever moment you spend building them up, the world around you is working double time tearing them down!

As a homeschool mother I encourage you to remember that YOU were the very person God chose to love, guide, educate, and train your child. Don't take this mission lightly! It is the most important thing you will ever do in your life!!

Fear creeps in and fills the cracks of our insecurities, building them up and giving them strength. Teach your children to rely on their Father for strength and to pray without ceasing!! A solid and consistent pray life will become the manna that gives them life and they will thank you for it!

~"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."~ Philippians 4:13

Something to look forward to...

Today I woke up with a LARGE Migraine!! I have no doubt I owe a big thanks to all the crazy stress in my life lately mainly the illness of family and friends. I believe that God is shaping me though and now more than ever I am learning to reach out to him for needs of those around me other than just my own. Don't get me wrong, I have always prayed for others, but never like I have in the last few weeks. I have felt such a tug lately to get on my knees for each and every person I know who is struggling. My heart is breaking for the people around and I am yearning to help in a way I have never felt before. That being said, it's difficult to know of someone's struggles, go to the Lord on their behalf and not take on some of the very worry, grief or pain that you are praying for relief of. So as I rolled out of bed this morning I thought "Not today... I just don't need this today." And then, as the day went on so did my headache; but just now, as I sat down to check my email I remembered something amazing. Tonight is the UHSE Mommy Jammy Night! Why is that such a big deal you ask? Well, it's a big deal to ME because it means headache or not, I get to spend a couple of hours chatting with other christian moms all around the country who are dealing with all the same things I am. They encourage me, pray for me and help me remember why it's important to pray "outside the box"! I take comfort in knowing that these women take time in their own quiet time to pray for me and my struggles, and that not only makes me want to pray for others, it makes me excited to get to share in those trials and carry some of the burden.
When you get bogged down by the sadness of your pray list remember Paul and his excitement as he wrote to each of his churches time and time again. He prayed for them with such fervor and confidence! Even in times of sadness or letters or reprimand Paul still expressed JOY!! He KNEW that God was in control! He never let the struggles of the people get in the way of his excitement for what God was doing in the world.

I am so grateful for all my new mommy friends that help me to remember just that...

~"Don't let ANYTHING get in the way of your excitement for what God is doing in the world!"~

Stepping Out Into the Great Unknown

Recently I was blessed with a new job as a virtual assistant for a publisher in Florida. She is a homeschool mom and owns the Ultimate Homeschool Expo. This was one of those times that I felt God's hand directly guiding me in the direction I was to go. But that story is for another blog, I only tell you about it to explain how the new adventure Braydon and I will be taking this summer came about.
With this new job I have had to dive right into some web design and upkeep and this is an area that I know nothing about! Most of my computer knowledge is self taught and building a website just is not something I have been able to wrap my mind around.
Well this summer Braydon and I will be learning how to program TOGETHER!! Microsoft has this awesome area in their education resources called Kid's Corner http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/bb308754.aspx where they actually GIVE you the software you will need for FREE and then offer classes that teach you step by step how to build a website!
This is just a tiny piece of everything they offer. It is truly an untapped resource in my book. I can't believe more people don't know that this FREE information and training is out there!!
I hope you will take a moment to go over and take a look for yourself. They also have a site for older students as well but to be honest, with my limited knowledge of web-based material it looked a little intimidating to me!! LOL http://www.microsoft.com/student/en/US/default.aspx However, it could be something your teen would thrive at!!! Good Luck and hope you enjoy it!!
And wish me luck!!! We'll be learning this together so it should be interesting, I'll keep you posted! :)

*disclaimer this is not a paid review for Microsoft; just me, a homeschool mom, sharing what I'm learning with other moms along the way.

Sweet Surprise

Just learned of this awesome new company called Vintage Remedies!
"Vintage Remedies provides educational resources for healthy and natural lifestyles for all ages! We offer a curriculum series for ages 2-12 that enables parents to teach little ones about healthier habits.
We also operate the Vintage Remedies School of Natural Health, which trains herbal and wellness professionals around the globe. Our comprehensive programs are biblically based and backed by evidence based scientific research." (copied from the info section of their FB page)

How neat is that?? Helping parents like you and me teach our kiddos about healthy lifestyles! I am so excited to really dig into their products and see what all they offer!!

Another super cool thing they offer is a you Tube channel with instructional videos on how to make different creams, rubs, lotions etc. Check it out!!
Here's the link to one of their videos on a Peppermint Foot Soak that I can't wait to try!!! ENJOY!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVNRri1ZVN8