Friday, May 18, 2012

2012-2013 Curriculum

Mycah 6th Grade

Math~  Math-U-See 
Grammar~ Easy Grammar
Writing~ Writing Strands
Spelling~ BJU Spelling
Handwriting~ A Reason for Handwriting
History~ We're Finishing up  The Mystery of History: Creation to Resurrection. Then we're starting     The Mystery of History: The Early Church and the Middle Ages
Science~  Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. Along with the notebooking journal.
                 Zoology Lab Kit
Bible~ Boy, Have I got Problems!
Reading~ Spectrum Reading
Flag Football

Trinity 4th Grade

Math~ Math-U-See
Grammar~ Easy Grammar
Writing~ Writing Strands
Spelling~ BJU Spelling
Handwriting~ A Reason for Handwriting
History~ We're Finishing up  The Mystery of History: Creation to Resurrection. Then we're starting The Mystery of History: The Early Church and the Middle Ages
Science~  Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. Along with the notebooking journal.
                 Zoology Lab Kit
Bible~ Boy, Have I got Problems!
Reading~ Spectrum Reading
Dance

Jhet Kindergarten

Math~ Math-U-See
Phonics~  Explode the Code, Book 1
Handwriting~ A Reason for Handwriting

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Absurd

I read this article from Fox News.  This is really absurd!  The state of Florida lowers the passing grade for writing exam for 4th graders.  In a nutshell, the 4th graders were suppose to write an essay, the topic was "Suppose you or someone else had a chance to ride a camel. Imagine what happens on this camel ride. Write a story about what happens on this camel ride."  Only 27 percent passed.  Then the decision was made to lower the scoring so more students could pass.  One teacher makes this comment, ". "A lot of fourth graders in my school probably don't even know what a camel really is."
I'm sorry, what the heck.. a fourth grader should know what a camel is.  My 4 year old does!  Thank goodness we homeschool.


Saturday, April 07, 2012

Birthday gifts

This year I got some really sweet gifts from my friends.

First my friend Shannon made me 2 new dish rags and 3 new napkins to add to my stash.


My friend Gloria made me these Starbucks earings.


And my sister made me this beautiful card with a gift card for Scentsy.


  I am blessed with such wonderful friends. Thank you guys!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Coffee Coasters!

My dear friend Shannon made me these coasters for my sitting room in my new house. They were a slightly late Christmas gift, but just in time for my new house :)
She put a lot of work tracking down the right pictures for them. Thank you so much Shannon, I love them!!!

Saturday, January 07, 2012

House Warming

Today my sisterKarina gave me my house warming gift for my new house since she will not be here when I move in.  She gave me a journal book to write all the special memories about my children that I want to remember.  All the little cute things we tend to forget.  She also got me some latte dishrags ( I love coffee).  She also got me some new coasters to go in my coffee sitting area.  I love her so much!

Monday, January 02, 2012

The 50 Best Marriage Quotes of 2011

The 50 Best Marriage Quotes of 2011

found at

http://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/2012/01/the-50-best-marriage-quotes-of-2011/

'Hand Holding' photo (c) 2007, Vincent Diamante - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
2012 is upon us, and I thought I’d open the year by coming up with a list of the 50 best marriage quotes I could find from 2011 from different marriage blogs. So here they are, organized by topic, though in no particular order. Some are funny; some are profound. Some are convicting; some are simply research statistics. But I find them all interesting, and I hope you will, too! I do not necessarily 100% agree with all of them, but I thought they could stimulate discussion. And maybe you’ll discover some new blogs in the process.

Perspective

1. Love is by definition focused on its object. If I’m thinking about me, I am not focused on loving my man.
Elspeth, Traditional Christianity, The Heart of the Five Love Languages
2. The biggest barrier to a good attitude is self. It can be the self-pleasuring of a mate who spends hours looking at online pornography, the self-focus of being too tired or too body conscious to make love, or the self-preservation instinct of someone who was molested in their childhood years. Yes, this is a wide range of issues, but a healthy sexual relationship must begin with prioritizing relational intimacy above one’s self. Let me be clear: These are not all selfishess, but they are about self. For some, putting the marriage first means a simple attitude adjustment; for others it requires deep self-examination or therapy to heal from a painful history.
Hot, Holy and Humorous, Godly Sex is Complex
3. Too many of us have virtually no respect for what a husband really needs, but we have unlimited respect for our own needs. And we’re not only hurting our husbands–we’re hurting ourselves.
To Love, Honor and Vacuum, Why He Won’t Meet Your Needs
4. Christian women have come to believe on the one hand we’re to always treat others the way we want to be treated, and on the other that doing this for our husbands makes us a doormat.
Elspeth at Traditional Christianity, Why You Should Cater to Your Husband
5. We fight because of our desires, specifically unfulfilled desires. Sound familiar?
One Flesh Marriage, Sex: The Art of Asking for More
6. It’s one of those cases where you may win the battle but lose the war. In marriage, it’s either win-win or lose-lose. There is no win-lose. If you both don’t win, you both lose.
To Love, Honor and Vacuum, Am I too Hard on Women?
7. Remember – there are no exceptions in the Bible where it says on Birthdays, Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day we have permission to get selfish and self-centered.
Women Living Well, What a Majority of Men Want for Valentine’s Day
8. We judge ourselves by our intentions. We judge our spouses by their actions. No wonder we think we’re better!
Anne Moodie, To Love, Honor and Vacuum, Live Blogging FamilyLife Canada’s Weekend to Remember Conference
9. Marriage is meant to be more about your surrender than about your satisfaction.
Journey to Surrender, Concluding Thoughts on Sexual Surrender.
10. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we should wait for someone else to do the right thing before we do the right thing.
To Love, Honor and Vacuum, Am I too Hard on Women?
Sex
11. If the church is really all about good marriages and preventing divorce, it seems to me that we need to get very serious about helping couples with sex.
The Generous Husband, Sex–Important to Husbands and Wives
12. Sex is God’s idea. It is His blessing to husbands and wives. It is His provision for making children, increasing intimacy, and providing pleasure to married couples whom He loves. Take a brief moment today to thank Him for sex.
Hot, Holy and Humorous, Are you Thankful for Sex?
13. Your husband is not an “animal” for wanting to have sex. He is not being unreasonably demanding. And he is not a selfish pig.
Intimacy in Marriage, What Sex-Starved Husbands Tell Me
14. God-honoring sex is not dirty. But it is flirty!
Hot, Holy and Humorous, Talking Flirty vs. Talking Dirty
15. Interestingly, for the couples who used pornography as a tool or enhancement in the relationship, as therapy progresses, one or both of them didn’t really like the effects of it on themselves or the relationship. They were simply appeasing their partner’s desire.
Simple Marriage, Living According to What You Hold Dear
16. Sex will fall by the wayside if you do not intentionally make it a priority.
One Flesh Marriage, Sex is the Glue
17. You don’t need a lot of money to plan an off-the-charts sexual experience with the man you love. You don’t need a 5-star hotel, expensive outfit or $100 bottle of wine. All you need is your heart and a little creativity.
Intimacy in Marriage, The 5 Cheapeast Ways to Turn Your Husband On
18. Sex should be deeply intimate and connecting, and while the physical pleasure is great and important, too much focus on that (for yourself or your bride) means not having the ability to focus on other vital aspects of the sex act. Maybe we would all enjoy sex more, and maybe even have more of it, if we stuck to a narrow menu, with something extra thrown in only very rarely.
Generous Husband, How Much Variety Does it Take?
19. Quantity is a poor substitute for quality. Quantity plays a role, but it is a supporting role, not the leading role.
Intimacy in Marriage, Happy Husbands Come from Wives Who Put Out
20. Researchers found that spouses who reported above-average sexual satisfaction were 10 to 13 times more likely to be “very happy” in their marriage, compared with those who were less satisfied sexually.
Marriage Gems, Want a Happier Marriage? Be Generous
21. Intimacy should not be equated with sex. In fact, chances are, if you aren’t intimate in the other areas of your life your sexual intimacy will be one of the first things to suffer.
Marriage Life, Intimacy is a Marathon not a Sprint
22. So here is the bottom line for Christian leaders: Sexual refusal is a common and growing issue. Ignoring it does not mean it does not exist in your church, and being embarrassed about it does not get you off the hook with God.
Generous Husband, The Sex Sin the Church Ignores
Commitment/Intimacy
23. The myth that women can open up to someone who may not marry, or remain married to them, is hogwash, baloney, hooey, and crap. Women want – no, need – security if they are to relax and to give themselves completely to their marriage partner. How can you feel free in the bedroom to give yourself fully to someone who may or may not be there tomorrow? Wives need to know that their hubbies love ‘em and will love ‘em tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day.
Hot, Holy and Humorous, How Women Feel About Noncomittal Sex
24. When you have children, your marriage is now more important, not less, because other people are counting on you!
To Love, Honor and Vacuum, Avoiding Marriage Ruts
25. Don’t let another day go by where the health of your relationship is sacrificed for a false sense of peace.
The Romantic Vineyard, Water into Wine
26. And in a world of celebrities constantly splitting up, having a good, solid marriage is something that can make others believe that God does make a difference, and that lifetime love is possible.
To Love, Honor and Vacuum, People are Watching Your Marriage
27. The desire for a happy marriage is present, strong and unquenchable. The work it takes to make a happy marriage is what most people standing at the altar do not understand.
Between The Sheets, Surprising Survey Finds Marriage is a Priority Among College Students
Acceptance
28. Give your man a break. Let him be who God designed him to be.
Hot, Holy and Humorous, Prince Ideal vs. Prince Real
29. Even if you are right, and she is wrong (and you are not right as often as you think, trust me on this) does that mean God has appointed you to correct her?
Generous Husband, Being Able to Disagree Agreeably
30. You don’t have to agree with him over everything. Just value him, listen to him and take him into consideration when there are choices to be made. And, please, never disgrace him publicly.
The Generous Wife, Worth and Value
31. How we handle our husband’s shortcomings reveals more about our own character than our husbands.
Women Living Well, How to Deal with Disappointment in Marriage
32. You might think that you have all of the answers and need to protect your husband from making the wrong choice, but nagging, pouting, losing your temper and complaining aren’t going make him a better man.
Time Warp Wife, Trust in the Potter
33. You are not his mother.  He had a mother.  He wants a wife! Your job is to make him happy, not holy.  God does a better job at that.
Lori Alexander, Ashton’s Desire for a Wife
34. As I released my fears and unrealistic expectations, I started to really like and love my man for who he is – as a husband, father and friend. My heart and my marriage began to heal.
Renee Swope, RooMag, Searching for Happily Ever After
35. Your love for each other doesn’t have to be overwhelmed by your differences.
The Simple Mom, Will We Ever See Eye to Eye?
36. God is the ultimate rewarder, and will ensure that you get what you’re due. Trust him to take care of you while attempt to take care of your spouse.
Marriage Works,  The Danger of Scratch My Back and I’ll Scratch Yours
37. Because one thing I’ve (finally!) learned is that no matter how I may be feeling at the moment, my husband is never “a problem”! He does not need me to “solve” him. “Math mode” simply does not work for marriage.
One Thing I’ve Learned, Healthy Marriages Major in History (Not Math)!
Marriage Tips
38. Kiss every chance you get.
Intimacy in Marriage, Do You Really Have Plenty of Time to Nurture Your Marriage?
39. What you do EVERY DAY matters more than what you do ONCE IN A WHILE,
Simple Marriage, The Secrets of Marriage
40. Most guys like to look and touch. Don’t be stingy with your body.
Generous Wife, Show Your Skin
41. As husbands, I think one reason we have some trouble with Paul’s command to love our wives “as Christ loved the church,” is that we don’t really fully know how Christ loves the church.
Journey to Surrender, What Kind of Love is This?
42. Hug him like you mean it!
Time Warp Wife, 10 Ways to Love Your Husband
43. Your only expectation of your future husband should be that he walk with Jesus. You want a man who will be a spiritual leader and that you worship Jesus together. If you have that, the chances of having a happy marriage are very high.
Lori Alexander, Your Standard of Beauty
44. You and your spouse are created in the image and likeness of God. Marriage speaks to the world about the Nature of God. Since Satan cannot hurt God, he will hurt you, His image, or your marriage, His reflection. Satan will interfere with your marriage in any way inhumanly possible. If he can’t end the marriage, he will mar it to make it as imperfect a reflection of God as he can entice the two of you to make it.
Garden of Holiness, Why Sex is Complicated
45. Put a couple together doing something for someone else and you’ll see a marriage full of joy that is contagious.
The Romantic Vineyard, So Where’s Your Focus
46. Nothing will undermine your effectiveness as a leader faster than a bad marriage.
Michael Hyatt, How to Become Your Spouse’s Best Friend
47. Having a goal helps us make choices that free us. The goals don’t chain us.
The Simple Mom, Living a Good Story in the Chaos
48. Never think that you are doing your children a favor by prioritizing them over your husband.
To Love, Honor and Vacuum, Your Husband Trumps Your Kids
49. A child-centered marriage is a recipe for disaster. Teach children early that their “happiness” is not Mom or Dad’s reason for living.
Breathing Grace, Everything I Know About Marriage in 200 Words or Less
50. Marriage is hard work and can be a bumpy road at times. But if I hang on tight to the hem of Jesus and the hand of my husband – I’ll have the best ride of my life!
Women Living Well, 14 Things I’ve Learned in 14 Years of Marriage
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Thursday, November 17, 2011

The 4 Things You Need in a Husband

I found this blog post at http://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/ and it thought it was so good I wanted to share it here!




'Wedding Cake' photo (c) 2011, mags - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/



My girls are both teens, and they’re constantly getting into conversations with friends about what they want in husbands. And some of the things the girls and their friends come up with are quite funny. They have to be good looking. They have to be musical. They have to have a sense of humour.
Thinking back to when I was 18 or 19, the things that I wanted in a husband ended up not really being that important. I wanted someone who could sing with me. I wanted someone very athletic.
And boy, do I not care about those things anymore! My husband may not be overly athletic, but we do active things together, like bike ride, or canoe, or play squash, and that’s more important.
But really all this is beside the point, because after being married for almost twenty years, and after reading email upon email upon email from women really struggling in their marriages, I have decided you really only need four things in a husband. Everything else is extra, and really rather unimportant. And what are those four things?
1. He must love God and be totally and utterly committed to Him.
When someone loves God, they’ll love marriage. They’ll make the marriage a priority. And when you do have disagreements, you know that he’ll take those disagreements to God. Ironically, I believe it is more important to marry someone who loves God than to marry someone who loves you (though obviously you want both). If you marry someone who loves you, but doesn’t love God, then when fights happen or struggles come and that feeling of love goes, he may go, too. Marry someone who loves God, and the commitment to the marriage will be rock solid.
2. You must be able to talk about God and pray with him.
It isn’t enough to love God; that love has to evidence itself in your ability to talk about God as a couple and to pray as a couple. If you can bring God into conversation naturally, then God is an important part of both of your lives, and you’ll be okay. If he goes to church but never really talks to God or about God, then you have to wonder if that commitment to God is true.
3. You must bring out the best in each other.
Lots of people marry someone because they are in awe of them. It’s almost a case of idol worship. He is just so amazing. He is so talented. He is so smart.
I dated some men like that before I met my husband. I was so enthralled with them, and they loved the fact that I was enthralled with them. But it was never obvious whether they were enthralled with me back.
For a marriage to work, you both need to be able to encourage each other in the gifts that God has given them. You both need to be able to recognize each other’s strengths, and gifts, and dreams, and encourage the other to go for it! Marriage should not be about one person completely serving the other at the expense of him or herself. It should be about you both becoming who God made you to be.
Lots of girls fall into this trap of putting a guy up on a pedestal and marrying him because “I’m just so amazed that someone so wonderful could be interested in little ‘ole me!”. But that’s not a recipe for a good marriage.
That’s a recipe for a lonely marriage.
If he soaks up all your adoration, but doesn’t give much back; or if he appreciates you for what you can do for him, but never really listens to what you want or think; then you’re going to end up feeling alone. It’s not that the marriage won’t last; it’s that it won’t be fulfilling, and it will be hard for God to do what He wants to with you.
You need to be able to share what God is doing in your heart, and not just support what God is doing in his. It needs to be a marriage on equal footing.
And that applies the other way, too. You really don’t want to marry someone who is in awe of you, but doesn’t want to talk about what they want in life, or what they think about something. There has be a sense of camaraderie and equality for a marriage to work. It has to be a true uniting of two souls, not one person being dependent on the other.
God wants us to support each other and bring out the best in each other. If you have to hide your best when you’re with a guy, then he’s not for you.
4. He must be Motivated/have Initiative
He doesn’t have to have a good job. He doesn’t have to have a good career. He doesn’t even have to be brilliant. Because in the end, what will matter far more than intelligence or educational credentials, is whether or not he is a motivated individual who takes intiative. If he is motivated, he will always find a job or look for a way to provide. If he is not, it doesn’t matter how much education he has, he could easily become lazy.
You don’t want to marry someone lazy. Someone who is lazy won’t get the promotions at work, and won’t look for a better job when the family needs him to. He won’t fix up the house. He won’t get involved with the kids. He’ll wait to be waited on. He won’t volunteer in church. He won’t have an active life.
Someone, on the other hand, who has always looked for a way to be involved, and who has pursued job opportunities, is someone who will be a good provider. If they were were helping out at summer camp or in Sunday School or on praise team when they were 17, instead of sitting around at home playing video games, that’s a good sign. If they helped their dad build a deck, or a shed, that’s a good sign. If they worked part-time in high school and got a promotion, that’s a good sign. If they worked really hard to learn some sort of skill when they didn’t need to (like music, or programming, or woodworking), that’s a good sign.
That’s it. Marry someone who loves God, that you can talk to about God. Marry someone who brings out the best in you, while you do the same for him. And marry someone who has initiative. Do that, and your marriage will likely be fine (as long as you put God first, too, and are motivated as well!).
All the rest doesn’t matter. Attraction isn’t even as important, because attraction grows out of friendship, and those who marry just for attraction don’t tend to last long. Being good looking isn’t as important. These are the things that ultimately last.
When I get emails from women who are distressed and distraught in their marriage, it’s usually because of one of these things. Their husbands are lazy and won’t provide. Their husbands are addicted to porn because they don’t really love God first. Their husbands won’t take interest in the kids because they’re lazy.
Now if you married someone who isn’t like this, I’m not saying you should divorce! Absolutely not. You just have some struggles. Work on your friendship first, because when there is goodwill, it is much easier to deal with a lot of these other issues.
But for those of you who aren’t married yet, that’s it. That’s what you want.

Friday, October 21, 2011

killed a spider with a dollar cause I didn't have a tissue



good video.

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Greek Quinoa and Advacado Salad

I made this salad today for lunch and it was super delicious!!!!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Menu Plan Monday

This weeks meal plan...

Monday- pot roast, mashed potatoes, and corn
Tuesday- meatball subs, french fries  breakfast for dinner, eggs (scrambled and fried), grits, biscuits. bacon

Wednesday- garlic chicken and broccoli, rice meatball subs, french fries
Thursday- sweet and spicy glazed chicken (crock pot)
Friday-  mozzarella chicken roll ups over noodles
Saturday- (if we are home) chicken marengo