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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Quote of the Day!

We are crowded around the dinner table. Each of us twirling our forks in a big plate of spaghetti. It was good spaghetti. Real good! Several of the kids are sluuuuuurrrrping their noodles. ( Oh come on, you've do it too!) Philip says, "Stop slurping please. It is bad table manners to slurp." Caleb smiles, drags his tongue from the bottom of his plate all the way to the top of his plate, looks at his daddy out of the corner of his eye and says, "What about licking?" The entire table including Daddy , fell into to uncontrollable laughter. Are you ready for Philip's answer. Of course it was delayed due to laughter. " Licking is bad manners too, but not nearly as bad as slurping!"

I'm still laughing! Not sure which quote wins...

Monday, September 22, 2008

One Proud Momma!!!

I have 2 boys that play competitive football.
Noah eats, sleeps, lives, dreams, loves FOOTBALL!!!
Tonight my Noah got his first ever TOUCHDOWN!!!
All day today he spoke it over and over again, "Tonight I'm getting my first touchdown!"
And HE DID!!! I am soooo proud!!! There is something way cool about your boy running that small brown ball many yards down a grassy field with 11 boys chasing him trying to pin him to the ground and seeing him cross into the end zone, and then hearing the announcer say "Touchdown Chiefs! That was # 23, Noah Erwin!!!" I am thrilled for my big boy!!!

Just a touch of history, Noah LOVES football, but he is not naturally gifted at football. He has worked, and worked and worked for these 6 years to get to where he is now. That is why I am so proud. He finally wanted it bad enough and had worked hard enough to earn it!!!

As for Jonah, it was big night for him in the football world too. He is a HARD hitter! And he is focused, and he took out the opponents quarterback with a HARD HIT! It was such a good hit that I got to hear the announcer say, "What an awesome hit made by #19, Jonah Erwin!"
Jonah is the one with the natural football talent, but he was ON tonight like I have never seen him in a game!

Tonight, I will sleep with a smile! (And so will they!)
If you see my boys, please take a moment to congratulate them and let them know their Momma was proud and bragging on them.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Tennessee vs Gators

What a day!
I spent the day, naive I'm sure, thinking that TN actually had a chance of winning today. Whoa, was I wrong! Well, I really believe we had a chance, knowing what little I know about football. I just don't think we are willing to do what it takes because we don't want it bad enough. I am sad after watching the Gators take us down. But hey, it's just a game and in the grand scheme of life it is soooo tiny.

Parallel that game to my spiritual life... God has me equipped to do anything and everything that He calls me to do. Equipped, doesn't mean that I trust Him and it sure doesn't mean that I am willing. Each day, because my creator gave me a will to choose, I have to want it bad enough to make the choice to live for Him and not myself. OUCH! There are too many days that I just don't want it bad enough. Too many days that I let the opponent (Satan) win. So as I reflect on this troubling loss against the Gators, I will remember that I have a choice to want it bad enough to make the right choices. No coach or anyone else can make me choose right over wrong. Only I hold the key to that door.

"He trusted in the Lord God of Israel ... For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments ... The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went." (2 Kings 18:5-7)

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Biographies, Football, Homework and a Praying Mantis

So today starts out like most others; get Gage off to school, laundry, cook breakfast, clean the kitchen, then head to the front porch with a cup of coffee, my Bible and my 4 young boys. We open the Word to Proverbs 8. We discuss who will read what verses and who will go first, second, third, etc. Sounds like a peaceful beginning to my day, doesn't it? Then it starts... Caleb running back and forth across the porch while squealing, Jonah whining that he can't read without his glasses (The ones that we don't have yet.) and Chase and Noah are waiting for us to actually begin. I often wonder if I should just let them read independently instead. We muster through the chaos and focus in on one verse; Proverbs 18:7 "A fool's mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul." We discuss our mouths and what we say and how it affects us and everyone around us. We think about how what comes out of our mouths is a reflection of what is in our hearts. We recite the verse three times and vow to work on our mouths for the day. Just one day at a time.

I spend the next little bit getting them to the table. We are saturating ourselves in history for the month of September. We are studying the Middle Ages. It has been such a history lesson for me! The beginning of the Muslim faith and how it "took over" so many countries and cities and kingdoms. I have to stop and think about how this cycle in history hasn't stopped since it started over 1000 years ago. Sharing with my children and using it as a path to help them understand 9/11 and why we are at war and why we must continue to fight for our freedom to worship the ONE TRUE GOD, our savior Jesus Christ! Yesterday we learned about Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, and Marco Polo's travels on the Silk Road. Today I gave each child a project to do. Chase - Write a report on Genghis Khan. I gave him a specific format to write it in. This will be a test grade for him. Noah and Jonah - Make a "wanted poster" for Marco Polo. They will do that together. Then each one will make a travel brochure to visit one of the many places Marco Polo explored. Now for Caleb - Write simple sentences about Knights. Answers to questions like, Who were they? How did you become a knight? What did they wear? Sounds like an easy assignment for a third grader, right? This was a gruelling assignment according to Caleb. He worked on it with my help for 1 hour at the football field tonight.

Which leads me to football...Three nights a week my husband and I sit at a 2 hour football practice. Watching, cheering, learning. Noah had a fantastic practice tonight. He plays the position of 3 back. This is his 5th year playing football. He lives for football. I've never seen another child to love it and live it like my Noah: 24/7/365. This year as a 3 back, his dream of running the ball comes true. This is what he has always wanted, a big dream come true. We watched as he held onto that ball as tight as he could and barrelled through boys twice his size. GO NOAH! This is Jonah's 4th year playing football. He is strong and focused. Tonight Jonah was on the other side of the field. We couldn't see him from where we were sitting. Missed most of his action, but when we were talking with the coach after practice, he bragged on Jonah and how hard he was hitting. He told Jonah that he is only a few hits away from being the team's # 1 hitter! GO JONAH!

So, we get home, pile in the house and head to the table. The kids eat like they have been starved for days! (So does Philip.) We clean the kitchen and Daddy is off to say bedtime prayers. I am just beginning to feel like my long day is finally going to be peaceful, when my oldest says, "Mom, I need to stay up real late tonight so I can finish all my homework for tomorrow so that I can go to the Homecoming Game tomorrow night!" SO much for peace and quiet, but Praise the Lord he wants to do homework!

So now, I settle down to my chair, ready to be a happy blogger. I am typing and focused and enjoying myself and out of nowhere flies an insect of some sort. It is large and buzzing around my head. Finally it lands on my screen. It's a praying mantis! What an interesting creature. Well, what kind of homescooling mom would I be if I didn't "catch" it to show my pupils in the morning. This one didn't want to be caught. It flew in my hair, back and forth across the room and tried to hide in my kitchen curtain. After at least 5 attempts, I GOT HIM! I put him in a small mason jar on the table next to me and got right back to my typing. Just as I am about to be done, my Caleb tiptoes downstairs and sneaks up behind me to say he has a "snuffy" nose. It takes only a millisecond for him to spot the unusual creature in the jar. He picks it up and stares at it with amazement. (Guess he's never seen one.) As he enjoys the praying mantis, I attempt to finish my blog. Then I hear the door shut. What was that? It opens and in comes Caleb with an empty jar. So much for science tomorrow. He is proud of the good deed he has done and so am I!

Old and New ( friendships and being renewed)

As I reflect on the Mom's Dinner last night, I feel encouraged. After wading through a very rough 2 years and not participating in many Mom's Dinners during the process, I am thankful to have been a part of the last 2. Last night's topic hit home with me, as I am sure it did for many others.

Taking the Books Off the Table

Due to challenging circumstances, I reached a point last year when I didn't "like" homeschooling. I didn't want to do it and quite frankly, neither did my kids. There were way too many days of handing my kids a "to do list" of assignments and walking away hoping that they wouldn't need my help. You have probably been there too. We just do what we have to do. As a sweet mom put it last night, "You just do the next thing next." Now that is a WORD!


So, now it is a NEW DAY and a NEW SCHOOL YEAR! Thank You Lord!
We started school 3 weeks ago. So far, it has been a joy! The excitement is back. I am renewed and ready! We have spent those weeks digging into the Middle Ages and learning about the struggles of being a christian during that time. (It's never been easy to be a believer, why do we think it should be now?) We have spent time in deep conversation about the muslim faith and how they have challenged christians for so many years. (Great insight for the 9-11 Anniversary last week.) I am so thankful that the Lord chose me, not sure why he did, but He chose me to teach and train these precious children! (Not sure if I have ever used precious to describe my boys since they were infants.) What a calling! What a blessing! I am thankful!


And in the spirit of THANKFULNESS, I come back to my reflection of last nights Mom's Dinner. At each dinner, God always sends me friends, sometimes old and sometimes new. He always has a WORD for me to hear and chew on. He always has a plan for weaving something from the dinner into my needs and my life. HE DOES IT JUST FOR ME! I am THANKFUL!




Up and running...

I am ready to commit to keeping up with a blog!
After months of "wanting to" and reading everyone elses, I think I am really ready. It's just journaling online, right? I don't even journal on paper. My idea of journaling is calling a friend. LOL

I see the purpose. I see the benefits. I see the advantages. Now, I must see the commitment!

Well, I look forward to seeing my life unfold on a blog page. Our experiences, excitement, endeavors, encouragement, explosions, embarrassments, our everything, every day!

E is for Erwin.