My Heart My Home

Friday's Fave Five

Today's Fave Five is - MY FAMILY. Join Susanne at Living to tell the Story to add yours to the fun!

1. My son Ryan. My first-born. 21 years old and full of mystery and smarts. This pic is one of the few we even have of that boy who does not like posing for a camera. But doesn't it just scream "mysterious" at you? He is presently studying, not in school, but for himself, from books he has purchased at library sales and dvd's he has purchased from The Teaching Company. He loves to learn, but don't even dare try to put him in a box. He won't go. He won't even fit. He is his own person and you can't mold him otherwise. I tried. It didn't work. :o) He appreciates the genius of art and music and loves to study the philosophy of life. God has a wonderful plan for his life even though he is presently wondering who God even is or "if" He is. I love him so much and can't wait to see the man he becomes.

2. My son Colin. My second-born. 18 years old and full of life and craziness. He's finishing up his senior year of homeschool and works hard (for the most part) at checking off his daily high school planner and disciplining his schedule. He is a left-brainer, like his mom, and we understand each other. I can't say that about the rest of my right-brain family who make no sense whatsoever in the way they think and do things. lol. He is enjoying Psychology and loves to learn how the brain works and thinks. He loves Christian metal music and don't tell him it's not real music. He sees a depth to the lyrics and a talent in the musicians that I cannot even begin to appreciate. lol. He is a loyal friend and confidant and his friends would all admit they are blessed to know him. I love him so much and can't wait to see the man he becomes.

3. My daughter Rachel. My third-born. 12 years old and a joy to be around. She is growing into a wonderful young lady and I am blessed to have her in my life. She enjoys knitting and knitted the scarf and hat in this picture. She loves to read and write and sew. She loves to talk and hug and tell us she loves us. Learning is fun for her and she seldom complains about schoolwork. Everyone who knows her loves her. Our home was made complete the day this darling was born. I love her so much and can't wait to see the woman she becomes.

              

4. and 5. My husband and my marriage. 27 years of wedded bliss. Sure, sure. Actually it has been 27 years of growth, maturity, hardships, difficulty, happiness, stress, love, tears, smiles, laughter, pain, steadfastness, joy, forgiveness, and a blessing I could never have imagined the moment that wedding picture was snapped on September 11 (yes, September 11), 1982. We have had ups and downs and all-arounds throughout our marriage and life together, and I am so happy we both decided to persevere and hang tough and love each other through to the mature love and appreciation we have for each other right now. I would do it all over again. (Maybe without the job losses and debilitating fears and security issues, but who would I really be without those things?)

I love my family. I am a blessed woman. 

(And FYI - The middle picture was a Legends of Rock homeschool function we went to with our high school son last year. We had a blast!)

Friday's Fave Five

For more Friday's Fave Fives, go here. Join the fun!!

1. Snow. There is beautiful snow falling today. It doesn't happen often here in southern Oklahoma and we have already had what we called a blizzard back around Christmas. And now a gentle falling of little white flakes today! We're staying in as much as possible but will have to get out later this afternoon and evening. It is very nice to enjoy it all toasty and warm in the house! It's so beautiful.

2. My first proofreading jobs. I got to thinking a while back about jobs that I could do at home. I spent many years doing childcare as well as transcription work from my house, but I'm presently living with my family in a very small house and my wrists aren't what they used to be when it comes to extended typing/transcription work. I remembered how much I love to proof and correct the typewritten word and, lo and behold, a business idea was born. lol. This week a cousin and a friend asked me to help proof an e-book and a news release and I am so excited! My first paying jobs and I'm well on my way to a flourishing business! Or at least enough extra income to buy a Sunday family meal at a sit-down restaurant every once in a while. ha! (And I'm still working on the planner idea, and another one, too...)

3. Good gravy. Several years ago, I used to buy the packaged white gravy mixes to serve my kids with their toast for breakfast and they LOVED it, especially my middle child. I have since rebuked the devil over those packaged mixes (just kidding) and refuse to buy them with all their hard-to-read ingredients pretending to be food fit for human consumption. (Sorry, just a teeny rant. If you love those mixes, don't mind me.) This week, I made some homemade sausage gravy and it was a hit!! We are finally eating gravy again and it feels so good.

4. A coat for my daughter. A friend gifted my daughter with a coat that didn't fit my friend very well this week and what a blessing! My daughter (age 12) has been wearing a hand-me-down coat that was found and unclaimed at my parents' house a couple of years ago and she never really liked wearing it. It was not fashionable for a 12-year-old girl (it might have even originally been a boys' coat), but she is very gracious and non-demanding and just sweet like that, and wore it obediently anyway. The new coat my friend gave her IS fashionable for a 12-year-old girl and we are feeling very, very blessed.

5. The fact that I found 4 good things to put on this list. hehe. It's not been a great week here in the overall scheme of life and I came very close to passing on this week's Fave Five, but as I started thinking, I did remember that the week was not all bad and bleh and boo-hooie.

This post linked to:

Friday's Fave Five at Living to tell the Story

Friday's Fave Five

It's Friday again! What a blessing to wake up to a new day this morning.

This has been a week of changes, yet again, for our family. We're making adjustments and having to reassess and re-think. Change is good. Change is good. Change is good...

My five favorite things for this week were:

1. Beginning a new Bible Study. I have teamed up with a friend to do A Heart Like His with Beth Moore. We are watching her on VHS tapes with big hair in a small, intimate room full of women and no hint of high-tech, computer-aided equipment. Just Beth and her Bible. Welcome to the past. lol. But it promises to be a wonderful study and we are very much looking forward to the next few weeks of learning how to obtain A Heart Like His. I can't wait.

2. The end of math. My high school (homeschooling) son has completed all his math requirements as of yesterday. If I'd had a dollar, I would have thrown a party. You have no idea how monumental and freeing that moment was when he closed the math book to never, ever, ever open it again. Our home is calm. There is a new spring to our steps. We are happy, elated, beside ourselves with joy.

3. Beautiful weather. Many areas around the country are experiencing blizzards and all sorts of bad weather conditions. Haiti still lies devastated in the after-effects of an earthquake. But here in south central Oklahoma, we have had near-perfect weather for the past few days, almost Spring-like. I've even had the front door and windows open to let some fresh air blow through the house. I'm sure it will change soon, but this week I am enjoying tweety-birds and sunshine.

4. My heating pad. For some reason my back has been hurting this week. I'm sure it's not because I'm terribly out of shape and have been picking up pecans in my yard or anything. At any rate, I've been sitting with a heating pad on my back and it feels wonderful. I could just sit here forever. Maybe I will. At least until I have to get up and do something more physically constructive than writing a blog post.

5. Raw milk. I'm sure that my preference for raw milk raises some concern for many of my readers. (Did you notice how I slipped in the word "many" as if I actually have "many" readers? It could happen.) I promise to address that concern someday and give explanation as to why it is so important to me to drink milk as God created it rather than milk that has been "improved" by man and technology. But for today's Fave Five, I will simply say YAY! The cow has finally calved (said as if I know what I'm saying) and I'm back to buying my favorite kind of milk.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

This post linked to

Friday's Fave Five at Living to tell the Story

Friday's Fave Five

I'm back!!

It has been a nice break for me but, boy, does readership go down when you're not blogging! And I didn't have that much to begin with, so now I feel like I'm starting all over. But that's okay! It's the beginning of a new year and I'm ready to come back to the blog world.

1. Christine. Since my blog break, Christine has checked on me several times and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. I have not even been good at responding to her while I have been on my break and she keeps letting me know that she's thinking of me and praying for me. It is so wonderful to know that a new cyber-friend is there for me and thinking about me. THANK YOU, CHRISTINE!!

2. A nice slow week for catching up at home. This has been a wonderful week for me to spend at home without too many outside commitments. I have so much calling for my attention and when I spend days out and about, I don't feel like I have accomplished very much on my to-do list here at home. This week I have been able to catch up on a few things and organize (mostly in my head) how I'm going to get some other things caught up and finished. I feel like it has been a productive week instead of a harried one full of other commitments and I love that!

3. I'm writing a blog post! I was beginning to wonder if that was over going to happen again! Exciting!

4. I have a "word" for 2010. It is HOPE. I have lost sight of it more and more as the past few years have gone by and I want to do my best to re-gain it this year.

5. I found my original planner pages this week! A few short years ago, I decided I wanted to create and market homeschool planners. I spent countless hours creating planner pages, printing them out, binding them and marketing them. Business was pretty fair considering I didn't have many funds to work with for advertisement, and Facebook and blogging weren't viable marketing options at the time. I gave it up after just a few months when printing off my printer became too big of an expenditure and I couldn't find a good option elsewhere. BUT I decided a few months ago I would like to try it again by marketing e-planners. Send me payment via paypal and I send you a planner via email. Love that! But one small problem. We had gotten a new computer and the original planner pages were on the old one somewhere in the dark recesses of the shed out back. My husband found the old computer for me this week when he took the Christmas decorations back out to the shed. We dusted it off, and prayed that it still worked well enough to find the pages and transfer them to the new computer. After some trial and error and the assistance of our 12-year-old daughter, they have all been successfully transferred over. Now all that is left is taking the pages and combining them into one document (I wasn't too organized apparently during my first business endeavor), updating some areas and making a few changes, creating a pdf document from it, and hopefully selling a few. It may take a while because I have "several" projects and duties lined up in addition to that one, but it will eventually get done and I'm excited about it!

This post is linked to Friday's Fave Five at Living to tell the Story

Friday's Fave Five

1. Coffee. I am never so fond of coffee as when cold, gray, blustery winds are blowing on the other side of my front door. This week has been one of those weeks for sure! Yummy, yummy coffee. Warm and black and the perfect compliment to...

2. Peanut Butter Fudge.  This is one of my favorite holiday treats.The kids like chocolate fudge better, but my husband and I go for the peanut butter. Soft, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth peanut butter fudge and a cup of black coffee have been my simple pleasures this week.

3. High School Psychology. It has been very neat to see my high school senior enjoy his Psychology studies this year. It never entered my mind, until this year, to actually find a course and use it as a school subject for him, even though I knew in the back of my head that he enjoyed that kind of thing. Par for the course that I waited until his last year of school to have that lightbulb go off. (Wonder if that means anything? Maybe I should ask my son.)

4. Fruit, Crackers, Cookies, and Tomato Products. I work a very part-time job keeping our local soup kitchen stocked for each week's meals. They have provided me with a Walmart credit card to pay for the groceries, so that is where I shop every week for them. I have been thinking lately that if only I didn't have to buy the heavy cans of fruit cocktail (the BIG ones always on the BOTTOM shelf), 15 boxes of crackers, 15 packages of cookies, and countless cans of tomato products each week, my job would be much more enjoyable. (Do I detect a discontentment issue here?) Lo and behold, the soup kitchen coordinator called me this week and told me some supplies had been donated, which is not super unusual for this time of year, so I needed to go arrange the storeroom to accommodate them. When I got there this afternoon, I found large cans of fruit, lots of crackers, lots of cookies, and some cans of tomato products, along with a few other things. Do you think Someone may be sending me some hugs this week? I think so.  (((((Me)))))

5. Food co-ops. I picked up my first Azure Standard order this week and will pick up my Oklahoma Food Cooperative order next week. I am so thankful that these options have finally become available to me! I have wanted for a long time to be able to buy as many of my grocery and toiletry products affordably and locally. Azure makes them more affordable and the Oklahoma co-op helps me purchase healthy foods from independent, local farmers who sell grass-fed beef and free-range eggs and all sorts of other wonderful types of foods that I love to feed my family. This has become even more of a blessing to me after watching Food, Inc. last night! Very informative documentary about big business and not-really-healthy food supplies.

Thanks for being a part of my favorites this week! I hope you're having a wonderful one!

If you would like to be a part of Friday's Fave Five, visit Living to Tell the Story

Friday's Fave Five

This past week seemed very uneventful to me until I started trying to remember some things about it. I guess when I spend a lot of time at home, it is easy to think that a slower pace equals ho-hum. But after coming up with this list, I have changed my mind. It has been a very good week!

1. Weather was perfect to go out into the woods at my parents' house to look for a Christmas tree. Usually, it is cold or windy or wet or some other kind of uncomfortable, so I let my husband and kids go on without me. But this year, I went with my husband and helped him pick one out while the kids stayed and spent more time with cousins before they went home after Thanksgiving. I was thankful for a nice day for tree "shopping".

2. I am so happy that our tree is decorated as well as the house! And it's only the first week of December. lol. That almost never happens!

3. I made wassail this week from the recipe a friend gave me. I love it! My daughter and I are looking forward to making more in the near future.

4. I was glad to hear a few weeks ago that Azure Standard has begun a Midwest route and I can pick up an order only a half hour away from me. I placed my first order this week and am excited to go pick it up next week.

5. I am a homebody and love being at home more than out-and-about. This week has been a wonderful week for me to be able to stay at home the majority of the week without too many outside obligations. Add to that the fact that winter has hit southern Oklahoma a bit early (COLD!!), and it has been a fun week for me to be huddled up at home with hot coffee and warm wassail and a ceramic heater at my feet. Love it!

If you'd like to add your favorite five to your blog, go here:

Living to tell the Story

Friday's Fave Five

I love the idea of Friday's Fave Five from Susanne over at Living to tell the Story. Here are mine for the week:

1. I am so excited that my blog is getting visitors - more and more each week. I love to check the stats and see that there are even a few "returning" visitors. lol. Of course, my only Bloglines subscriber at the moment is *me* but who knows what the future will bring. I love blogging and look forward to making lots of new friends in the blogosphere.

2. I am thankful for friends who invite me and my family to parties. Do you ever feel more loved than when someone invites you to help celebrate a special time in their lives? Happy 50th, Jim! We had a great time last night. Brenda is an amazing hostess and very good friend.

3. Watching my teenager struggle through the mess of whispers and rumors and teen drama is not one of my favorites. But helping him navigate the waters and being able to talk and direct and teach and maybe even impart some wisdom as he attempts to find his way through it is priceless to me. And to think that maybe he even listens and hears what I'm saying makes the whole mom-job worth the effort.

4. Growing a good friendship even deeper by holding each other up in prayer is a new favorite for me over the past couple of weeks. 

5. Watching the cold, drizzly day from my living room window while typing on my laptop in my favorite green recliner and listening to the dryer hum in the background (or squeak, as it were, due to a loose belt maybe?) is something I'm very thankful for at this precise moment. My kids are quietly going about their business, my husband is in his office working, my coffee sits beside me. Do I wonder how long it will last? Or do I just enjoy the moment while it's here? I think I'll just enjoy the moment.

Have a great day, everyone!