The Constant Hunt

Part of raising a godly seed (Mal 2:15) is to find toys and books that they can play with and you do not have to worry about them teaching values or ideas that you do not agree with. After all as the parable goes, you can clean your house but then 7 worse things will come in! Of course the first step is to sit down with your husband and talk about what you feel is acceptable and what is not. Using Scripture as your basis is key as well, after all they are in fact not our children but God's children! (really want to do a post on that).

We frequently sort through the Goons toys, deciding if they have too many that cannot be used for Biblical play. In a perfect world that would be all that filled our homes, but the reality is that then they would have almost nothing to do or play with! We try to keep a balance. At least 1/2 of their toys most be related to scripture. We so not allow "magic" into our homes, so out goes Walt Disney and all that comes with that, and a lot of the fairy tales. Yes this has made it challenging in the past but now that we have learnt some "tricks of the trade" so to speak.

Now you are wondering "why is there an Indiana Jones" in this post?!?!?!?

This is to show what we do:
1) Always take the time to search through the clearance rows in the store, you would be surprised at what you may find. It only take a few minutes to briefly glance through them and see if there is anything there that you can use/change.

So we saw a stack of these figurines and the others in the set and after inspecting the package saw some potential...

Throw out all the unwanted stuff, this time it included anything that mentioned that it belonged to that set/movie/junk... stickers, notepads, info packs, the fake idols that came with them (HUH???)

Now we have an archaeologist and a high priest, complete with linen breeches! If you are serious
about finding Biblical toys you need to sign up for your local "Christian" book store's newsletter, there is one by us that every 3 mths has a 20% coupon off of anything, and also a great bargain basement. EBay is also a great place to check, especially around Christmas and Easter! Speaking of which we found 4 great Bible colouring books last Spring in a craft store for $2 each!

Basically you need to keep your eyes open all the time, thinking "hmmmm how could we use this?" Now another issue for some is that Biblical toys/books seem to be more expensive then just your regular worldly goods! Hubby and I feel that this is money that is not simply spent but invested. Instead of investing in stocks and bonds we are investing in our children's well-being and godly character building. We also save up and get stuff for their b-days and Christmas gifts when you would normally spend more. Also asking for them from others in the family for gifts as well.

When did we start looking for Bible stuff....before Magoo was even born, it takes time and effort. So if you see something and think, oh I'll get that for them when they are such and such years old, think again. Another difficulty is that frequently businesses that make these go out of business. Prime example is the makers of the "Heroes of Faith" figurines, I thought I'd wait until Magoo was 4 yrs but guess what, the next year (when he was 4) they went bankrupted! Thankfully we were able to find a bunch online and also in local stores that were selling them off for cheap!

Does this take extra time and effort? yes, but I see it as part of my job in raising a seed to manifest our Heavenly Father.

________________________________________________

Anonymous said...
So what do you do with your kids while you are fixing dinner?

-I love answering questions! Thanks for asking! Well a variety of things really. You need to look at how old your child is and what their ability's are. While I am making dinner Magoo and Princess set the table (plates, cutlery, butter, condiments, hot mats, etc.) which takes a while. Also they frequently are helping me bake and cook. Having said that there are times when that just doesn't happen. Otherwise they usually just play nicely in the living room (they like to be close). Crafts and such are out of the question here as the dining room table needs to be cleaned and set and that is where we do crafts.

If it is nice out they can go outside and play, with the understanding that they MUST stay where Mummy can see them ie: only in the backyard near the deck. Another activity I will pull out while cooking is the felt board, Princess esp. loves playing with that. Sprout is usually in the highchair in the kitchen with me, with a snack and some small toys so that I know she is safe and happy!

Hope that helped!

Serving Our Husbands

"Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement." 1Peter 3:6

This topic has been on my mind the past couple weeks and so I found myself wanting to share some of those thoughts with you, my few readers. One the kitchen cupboard next to the sink and window we have stuck our weekly routine and responsibilities. Each day has its own list of jobs to be completed, helping me to keep ontop of the house and keep focused on the important work of training up our Olive Plants to grown up towards the Son of Righteousness. For a selfish, fleshly woman this is sometimes a daily struggle!

Written in scraggly hand writting diagonal on the sheet are the words "In serving my family I am serving my Lord". This is the model for my life that has been instilled by those faithful sisters that have walked and laboured down this road before me, paving the way so that it is easier to follow in their, and ultimately our Lord's footsteps. Yes, there are still days where I struggle with this, but those are days I find I need more of the word and prayer.

Is it my imagination or has this highest of callings for a godly woman been pushed aside, forgotten and indeed begone to be looked down at by not only those in the world around us but in the ecclesial world as well. Perhaps it is because that generation that has gone before us is passing away, falling asleep to await the ressurection call.

"That they (the aged women) may teach the young women to be sober,
to love their husbands, to love their children,"
Titus 2:4

In order to be taught dear sisters we must also be willing to LISTEN to them, they are so much wiser then we are, in our immature spiritual state. Then we in turn must pass on these lessons to the next generation, to those that look up to us, even when we are not aware of that fact. A dear older sister made the briefest of comments the other day. I mentioned how I should be making them apple pie when they visit and her reply was "oh yes it is his fav" referring to her husband. "It's yours as well isn't it, as you always request it?" I asked "Well, in truth I prefer cherry, but then apple has been _______'s favorite since he was a wee one" was the reply! I was stunned. I had been taught a very important lesson!

Reading through that famous section in Proverbs 31, we soon see that the virtuous woman was one who spent her entire day seeing to the needs of her household. She is portrayed as completely selfLESS, what a drastic contrast with the way in which we are taught to put ourselves first....after all "we have needs".

"The heart of her husband doth safely
trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil."
Proverbs 31:11

Nothing is done that her husband would not approve of, she goes out and helps him with his work! Putting our husbands before ourselves can be in such simple things as deciding what to cook for dinner that night. Hubby detests fish and simply put will eat it if and when he is dying of starvation. On the other hand he loves beef. I was brought up on fish and hardly any beef! The last time we ate fish was while Hubby was away in France, at his parents. Do I buy fish? rarely. Do we eat fish? only in the summer, when I can BBQ a nice steak for him instead.

Wives we must be on the watch for ways to serve our husbands. Does he like a coffee in the morning, but is to rushed to drink it before he leaves for work? send it with him in a travel mug. Cultivate the same tastes in music, sports, etc. You may love fast paced action packed sports but he may prefer a family hike. Put his likes above your own and make an effort to enjoy them, you may be pleasantly surprised to find them fun and interesting. Does he enjoy watching the birds? put out a bird feeder, ignoring the mess it creates in the garden. Has he commented on something he remembers from a garden in his memories? plants some of those plants. Does he prefer you in skirts to pants? change your wardrobe. He loves you in some colour you hardly wear? when shopping look especially for something that you could wear in it.

If we saw these as pleasing to our God would we not make the changes in a heartbeat? They are so simple. I used to think they were so insignificant that it didn't matter, I am beginning to think otherwise. Sarah understood that Abraham was her head, in all things. He was her "kurios" = supreme in authority, controller. Wow. The feminists would have a hay day with that verse now then wouldn't they. If our minds are in the right bent then it becomes not an effort to please our husbands but a pleasure.

Hubby made a comment the day that he came home. We were all waiting for him, watching out the window and when his red car drove up, burst out the front door to greet him. Latter that evening he mentioned that "I felt blessed seeing you had made yourself ready for my arrival". Yes, we had dinner ready and waiting in the oven, the children were in clean shirts, I had run upstairs and put on a skirt he likes me in and a fresh top, washed my face and brushed my hair. I thought he hadn't even noticed, but he had.

Now every day it is on my mind to try to be prepared and ready for him when he comes home. Ready to greet him at the door, ready to quietly serve him and see to his needs before he asks (putting on the kettle to boil as he parks the car). It is admittedly a lot easier to finish up dinner after he gets home so he can keep an eye on the children, but it is so much more enjoyable to be ready to serve it to him and the children at the set table. After all he has had a hard day out in the "nasty world" as Magoo calls it and should be coming home to a welcome Haven.

Just a few thoughts I wanted to share. I hope that someone finds it helpful, I know that I did!

Bitter Sweetness

We all bundled into the car to drive Magoo back to CHC this morning. March break is over, and the house is now too quiet! As other parents took their children to the Museum, the Science Center, the Petting Zoo, The Children's Museum in the next BIG city; I was feeling guilty! With Sprout that is simply out of the question! She is so loud and is in the midst of the "get into everything" stage. Instead we re-discovered the wonderful home that God & Hubby have provided for us, and the lovely area that we currently sojourn in, awaiting the call to leave all and follow Him!

Monday was spent at the playground (I love how living in the country means they find this such a treat!), cookies, hot chocolate and lots of story time

Tuesday was library day! Magoo loves playing a DK history game there, and we found lots of interesting books in the non-fiction section!

Wednesday was a difficult and gray day, until we ventured out to the children's choice of lunch...they choose McDonald's! Oy! The kids got their first Happy Meal....Magoo being the health freak that he is choose the cheese sandwich! "Mummy we gets' our own bag and look Mummy a toy!" yep, it was priceless! Then we headed to the store I have refused to enter for 2 years (Wal- Mart) to get Wellies for Magoo as Zellers didn't have his funny size...13. Mummy gave in a got "hum-brellas" as princess calls them as well.

Grocery shopping was actually fun, letting Magoo help, with his own little list. Meeting a dear sister in the Truth by accident there was wonderful, and turned my day back up the right way. I left with a smile on my face and a lighter step, perhaps it was providence as God knew that I needed to be uplifted that day. Lecture on Baptism that night was good, and even Magoo got some of it!

Thursday was by far the most exciting. Hubby took the day off and after a filling and energizing breakfast of porridge with raisins and dried cranberries, we all piled into the car. An hour and a bit latter (with a Tim Horton's stop for donuts and bathrooms) we arrived at the amazing second hand book shop we love, which happened to have everything at 50% off! Bliss! The children poured over the shelves, finding treasures while Sprout simply emptied the shelves! 2 hours latter Princess remarked "Mummy my tummy is feeling a little bit hungry"...it was 1:30! so off to a cute coffee culture place for lunch....and then into the car again...to see the Big Lake (Lake Ontario) and walk up the pier. Back into the car, did I mention we listened to "Mr Henry's Wild & Wacky but Totally True Bible Stories" the whole time! to go to the hugs pet store in the Great Big City nearby....the shark had been moved, but we enjoyed looking at all the amazing creatures God has created....and came home with a much bigger tank for our African Cichlids. We drove home to snow, the typical "it always snows on March break" snow.

Friday was a down day, well sort of. Off to SIL for tea, lunch and play time. Home for "naps" and regular readers will know that "naps" are! Baking Challah bread, archeology in the backyard & searching for tulips.


What a wonderful week with our Sprouts! Now today Princess and I are trying to get back to our jobs and put the house back in some sort of order.

"I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully." 1 Timothy 5:14 KJV

Today is a grey day. The sky is overcast, and it is an effort to smile. Sometimes it seems the burdens on this life are simply to hard to bear.

In an effort to lighten the mood around here the Goons and I are going out for lunch, and then grocery shopping.

I pray tomorrow will be better in all ways.

On The Board This Week

I keep forgetting to post this on Mondays, oh dear me!

Letter of the week: Q (Queen Esther)

Number of the week: 70 (Gentile nations)

Words of the weekd: Lord, he, to

Hebrew word of the week: (blogger won't let me put the Hebrew in!) "bah’- yith" = house (very neat study for the Mummies out there on the relation to Ben (son & children) & Bat (daughters)

"I am my beloved‘s, and my beloved is mine" Song of Solomon 6:3

Hubby has returned from France! The past week was full of sleepovers at his parents, baking with the Goons, clearing of clutter (well in truth a beginning of such) study in Leviticus, sewing and basically business to keep my mind away from the tears that wanted to well up because I was without my beloved. The above is on a necklace that he got and gave to me in the old quarter of Jerusalem from Moshe's shop (www.shorashim.net) and I wore it everyday that he was away. we have been testing Magoo to see if he has outgrown his allergy to berries and he has! Even the strawberry family, so now we can buy berries and he loves having them on salad, cereal & oats! Needless to say it is a good job they have been on sale all this month! So the beginnings of a berry patch are in the plans for this spring.

One of the very neglected areas in our home has been the arts & crafts section. Our olive plants love being creative and Mummy loves seeing them use their imagination. The problem was that it was such a jumbled mess that I despised trying to find the desired items amongst all the mess! It also took up the entire bottom half of the dining room hutch....problem! so we emptied the puzzle and toy drawers, put them in their new homes in the playroom. Bagged up the puzzles that were missing the odd piece for charity, and Viola a new home for crafts

The play dough and colouring books & some puzzles are still under the hutch, but now only take up half of the space! Hurray! The drawers are split into
1) Markers, crayons, etc.
2) Glitter (every mother's nightmare!), stickers, pipe cleaners, kiddie scissors
3) Paint, glue, basically stuff that needs more supervision
4) Craft supplies (paper plates, fake grass, fabric, felt, letter foams, foam stickers, etc.)

This has made craft time a lot more enjoyable and fun for the Goons and Mummy!

I have a couple more posts in mind. How we show respect and honour to our Husbands in how we greet them when they come home. Also some more toys that can be slightly altered to be Biblical toys! you won't believe what we found this weekend!

If you care which comes first let me know, otherwise we'll see which appears first! For those in Canada, enjoy your March Break!

Purim Preparations

Hence the fun orange colour for our post today! Tomorrow is Purim, so this morning Princess and I are baking up a storm of Hamantachen (with apple)! Yes we are still in our pjs (at 10am) and having lots of fun!








The rest of CHC is on a field trip today, so the teachers of K & gr 1-2 were looking for something fun to do with those classes as they are not included this time in the trip. Hence the huge amount of Hamantachen! Princess is very excited to be able to go into CHC this afternoon to join in as Mummy is helping out. We find it is a very good way to teach our children Biblical principles and to follow the command given in Deuteronomy 11:18-22 ;

"Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;"

to teach them of the Feasts of Yhwh. Not just simply having a day of celebration, but reading the scripture pertaining to His ordinances on how to keep them, and what they were designed to teach the children of Israel, and hence to teach us. I am thrilled that they are doing this today because with Hubby in France for the week it was going to be a less then happy as usual Purim.

Here is the first batch cooling under the shade of the tulips Hubby got me last week, a wonderful reminder of his love while we are apart!


Mazol Tov.....Have a wonderful Purim!

Doing the Happy Dance

Yep, finally I've reached the 5 lb mark, yahoo! 10lb to go. So after a 4 day break from Pilates (I was exhausted, the kids needed some serious play time the one day, getting ready for Hubby's next trip) I started again yesterday. Ouch! What had become pretty easy and bordering on boring, is not! I feel back to square one, but not quite. The weird thing is that my clothes don't feel any different on me yet....hmmmm.....thinking that is not the best of signs.

Oh, and before I go it is 15C, cloudy, but so warm! So our day is filled with spring jobs.
1) Wash all 12 screens and put them in the windows (I detest looking through mesh in the winter time)
2) Take off the snow-flake stickies from the windows and wash the windows inside (rain is threatening so not doing the outside today)
3) Find (this may take all day, they are in the basement....somewhere!!!!) and wash the spring jackets and wellies
4) Air out the house
5) Make the Spring clean out list by room....I think I will start with the study as usual, it is terrible!
6) Get ready for SS entertainment pizza party (I will take a salad) and get costumes for our class ready and packed.
7) Tea party with the Goons

"And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Deut 11:19


I wanted to share something special which is now taking place in our home. Magoo has started to read simple words, and is sounding out longer ones! Now he is able to read most of his verse during the daily Bible readings.

We follow a daily reading planner (if you'd like the link just ask and I'll find it for you) that has 3 sections (2 OT, 1 NT) for each day. However we find it too much for the children to sit through all three and get something from them, so we follow 1 book of the Bible at a time, and do that reading with the children and then finish the other one our own. Usually I will do 1 reading with them in the morning after breakfast and 1 in the evening. We are doing Leviticus in the morning and Psalms in the evening. We involve the children by asking questions and then playing pictionary about that section, or act it out and look at books that have illustrations of the storyline or for example, we are looking at a book of the tabernacle right now with the readings in Leviticus.

Anyways I am thrilled Magoo is starting to read! So yes I had to grab the camera and snap a picture!

I'd like to spend a couple minutes to write about a special place in our home. This is my regu-venation corner. It takes up a decent amount in our bedroom, but is very much needed! The shelves are full of books that I find interesting and helpful. Special items, like the tea cup found at a garage sale, a picture of hubby and I when we were first dating, a Bible, the "highland coo" that was Hubby's the sheepskin we brought back from Scotland, the quilt my great-grandmother made (and that was the wedding quilt for my grandparents). Everything is there for a purpose and a reason: to help me relax.

I have been struggling with the fact that I do not have 2 minutes in the entire day without children. Magoo no longer naps, Sprout likes to be held, Princess demands her fair share of attention. It is a blessing and a joy, but lately I have been seriously craving some time alone. To sew, knit, read, sip a cuppa, phone a friend, shop, to listen to the quiet and think! So the last evening I spent a couple hours curled up in the chair and read. It did me a world of good!

Do you have a special little corner in your home? do share!

"Mummy I need new clothes"

Sure enough there stood Princess in the bathroom, pants down, in FRONT of the toilet....





The toilet seat was UP......








"Why didn't you go in the toilet?" I asked...........







"Cause I wanted to pee like a boy"

Yes, I had to literally bite my checks to keep from laughing!

Oh dear

I am "one of those" people that likes complete and total fulfillment RIGHT NOW! yep, generation whatever that has no patience....I know not exactly a Christ like attitude (need to work on that). So I've decided enough is enough, this baby fat has got to come off. So my weight lose goal is 15 lbs. Two weeks of kicking my butt with Pilates Cardio (6 days a week, 45 min) and really watching what I eat and so far I've realized a total lose of:

2 lbs

ARGH! so frustrating! The temptation to give up is so strong! but I must persevere as there is a wedding in mid-May we are attending and well, I would like to get a new dress.

Oh I have so many topics I would like to write about. But first off last Wednesday was noodle night. Wednesday's are usually noodle night as it is off to Bible Class afterwards for the whole family (we have an amazing cryroom at meeting so taking Sprout is a no brainer). Well I looked at the clock and............ahhhhhhhhhhh...........screamed, inside my head ofcourse ;-) see I only had 20 minutes until Hubby arrived home. Usually I try to have dinner made 15 minutes before he gets home so that I can keep it warm in the oven and have everything cleaned up before he walks in the door. I worte about that idea on Thursday, November 27, 2008 tried to put a link in but couldn't figure it out! I'm hopeless with computer stuff!

sorry that was a bit of a ramble

Well I thought, no problem, and started cooking and veggies only to realize NO GROUND BEEF IN THE FREEZER

(this has never happened before)

So we found 8 breakfast sausages, and long story short, ended up winging it and threw together a new version of alfredo for us:

1) Brown 1 large onion, as many breakfast sausages as you have (we used 8), 4 cloves garlic
2) Add 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1/4C milk
3) Add some green veggie (we used 1C brocolli, but you could use peas or spinach)
4) Add 3/4C shredded cheese & 1/2C sliced mushrooms
5) Stir until cheese is melted and it thickens. Add white floor to thick if still too runny 1 Tbs at a time
6) Serve over cooked penne

Yum!
P.S. The number for this week is 24 (the 24 courses of priests), the letter is "W" for the whale that swallowed Jonah, the words was "way" & "we" & "God", the Hebrew word and memory verses are still the same, Mummy did a terrible job on those last week :-(

Family Day



I'm sure that the government did not take it into consideration, but I found it so meaningful that after a day wholly dedicated to doing the LORD's work and not our own, that then was the day dedicated to our families.

What Fun!

1) First bible reading in pjs and blankets curled up with Daddy
2) Tag with Daddy
3) Magoo's favourite breakfast (eggs on toast)
4) Princess' favourite lunch (tomato soup and salad)
5) An innumerable amount of stories
6) Dancing to the Micdash tape
7) "Tea" served by Princess in the Playroom
8) Fun background music c/o "Mr. Henry's Wild and Wacky but Totally True Bible Stories"
9) Funny Fish crafts
10) NAPS!!! (Mummy loved this activity)
11) Sipping cappuchinos with Hubby
12) Helping Magoo read a verse with the 2 bible reading
13) Visit to the playground
14) Pruning the garden
15) Riding bikes (in full snow gear as it was so cold)
16) Chocolate chip cookie picnic!

Needless to say we had a wonderful good day! While Magoo was working on some home school day sheets for CHC I was able to get a project done that I've been wanting to for, well I'd rather not admit for how long!!


This is the Goons Board. I've flipped their names under for privacy, but normally it shows their names under their Hebrew names. There is a section for the two eldest memory verses (obviously Sprout is too young for those since her vocabulary consists of "fish" "hot" Mama" "Daay" & "this"). At the top is Proverbs 20:11 "Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right" mainly to remind me of the biblical expectation of children of God.
On the left hand bottom is a sleeve for Magoo's work for Home Schooling Days and an illustration of their responsibilities. We do not call them chores but responsibilities but that could take up a whole other post! They are expected to put their pjs under their pillows and make their beds each morning. Set the table, and clear their spots. Sweep the dining room and kitchen (with Mummy's help) and tidy up the toys before Daddy gets home each evening.

On the top of that sheet is Deuteronomy 6:7 "And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." to remind us of our outlook while doing the housework together.

On the other side is our weekly work. The Weekly Words for this week are "God, jump & as" the letter is J and we are using our ABC Bible flashcards for this section. Our Number is 12, for the 12 tribes of Israel. Our Hebrew word is (seh) for lamb. In my Goon drawer (must do a post on that as well!) I found some "children of the Bible" stickers and used them to decorate. Overall I am thrilled with the way it turned out, now we just need to hang it! In case you would like to do this, the back is a cork board, and I covered scrapbook paper with packing tape to "laminate" it so that the only pieces that need to be switched out are under the thumb tacks and will not wreck the paper.

Memory verses for the Goons:
Magoo: "I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love" Psalm 119:163 (yep, we are going through THAT stage)
Princess: "Yea happy is that people, whose God is Yahweh" Psalm 144:15b

I hope you found that helpful!

Okay, I gave in a BOUGHT cloth bags from the grocery store at the tune of $0.99 for 5 small ones and $1.50 for 2 very large ones which are for my produce.

I figured for $7.95 (plus tax....isn't that rediculous! so really $9.14) I couldn't buy the fabric to make them, and there is the slight problem of the time to sew them all up. Afterall I've been working on a skirt since mid-December for drying out loud and am far from being finished!

New Bed for Magoo!

Grandpa Ray left us some of his furniture, and Magoo is so excited! The Girls have my old bedroom set to use (very girly, not my taste at all, but hey it is free!) and Magoo has been using odds N' ends from around the house, an old black Ikea (fixed twice) dresser from my sister, a cabinet for books from Daniel's work that we got for $5, my old girly princess desk, a cheap Ikea bed we got on sale for $25, an end table from the living room. It was perfectly fine, but hey a free almost brand new bedroom set for our lil man is MUCH appreciated! The movers just called and they will be arriving in about an hour. So we (the Goons and I) moved all his old stuff into Daddy & Mummy's room and we washed the walls and floor in anticipation of the stuff!

I don't know who is more excited, me or Magoo!?! I will definately post pics in a day or so after it is all sorted out.

A very dear friend is coming for Tea as well, so this is turning into the perfect day. Oh and did I mention they are calling for a high of 8 C....time to strap on our running shoes and Wellies and splash all the way to the library!

CHC Open House

Magoo's class (K) Presented 3 songs, one of which was doing "Jesus Loves Me" in Sign language. The crowns are from their first song about Christ gathering his jewels when he returns. The last song was a hoot...."wiggle worm"

Then they joined the whole school to sing a hymn for our hymn book
"Who is on the Lord's Side" which incidentally
Hubby and I walked out down the aisle to at our wedding 8 years ago.

After the trip into town for the olive plants doctor's appointments they are all on the mend. Magoo and Sprout are on inhalers and Sprout is on anti-biotics. I am so glad I followed my gut and took them in. Doc said that if Sprout was not on the anti-biotic she would probably had developed pneumonia by the weekend!

As we had to wait an hour for the meds to be filled the Goons and I hit the dollar store (or as my Sis calls it "the 20 dollar store!") to get stickers, glue and such for the crafts for tomorrow. So after we picked up the meds, drove 20 min home, unloaded the 3 Olive plants and got into the house, I realized that I had left the bag from the dollar store in the cart outside the store! OIY! so frustrating...so we loaded back into the car (which takes about 15 min....2 in cars eats and 1 in a boaster) and drove back (another 20 minutes) and lo and behold the cart was gone. After checking 3 stores and finding that it had NOT been turned in I was near tears. It had been one of those days. Princess was being so good about it, see her original tea set had broken in the hospital while visiting Grandpa and we had found a replacement there, and it was in the bag. Anyways we got back into the car and drove across the parking lot (15 min into car seats again!) to the dollar store and SOMEONE HAD TURNED IT IN! I was so relieved!

The day turned wonderful when we arrived home and minutes latter Hubby came in...he was an hour early, getting home at 5:30 instead of 6:30pm~!

I've learnt my lesson, always check the cart....and SLOW DOWN!

"O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me." Psalm 30:2

Just a quick post today. Since the children have been so under the weather, I've kept Magoo home from CHC both days. He is such a good worker bee (as we like to call it) we just worked together on 2 sheets in his "Letter and Sounds K" A Beka book, and did them so nicely! It is so thrilling to watch his little eyes light up as he sounds out and then recognizes a word!

Now he and Princess are doing some pre-sewing activities that they love! We need to bake the weekly amount of bread this afternoon, and maybe some yummy muffins. That should keep us busy!

In the middle of the day though we are all going to see the doctor. Now I'm not one to take the children in that often. It usually is a stressful experience for me as we disagree with the doctor on some issues. Usually we head into the pediatrician, but he is booked up. The children were all up with their coughs last night, all night! Sprout is wheezing as well, so I'd like to make sure that this is not developing into something more serious like an infection or worse! Mummy has it now, but that's okay cause I'm not so worried about my lungs. Of course we do have 110 pieces of wood to cut tonight to make the 55 scrolls needed for the Study Day on Saturday....just a wee job (wink, wink)

Anywho Vix asked about clothing and my reply was so long I decided it would make a great post!

(First here is the new Winter Dress I made for Princes and a matching one from Sprout, which she out grew after wearing twice...!)

Our kids have way to much clothes, we get given them from friends and family at the Eccelsia. Here is some of the things we do in our household to keep it all under "control".

I keep a box that I put "too stained to wear in public" but otherwise fine clothes for camp and the cottage every summer. This helps me get them out of the dresser (where they sit and waste space...and when 2 girls are sharing a dresser space is at a premium!!) and also in the summer I just go through the box and pack it and add whatever we need more of for the trip to the bag, so much easier!

Hubby brings home xerox paper boxes from work (otherwise they get thrown out) and I keep one in both kids rooms in the closet to put out grown clothes into and then put them in the basement when they are full.

Once every month I go through and sort out the excess into "donate to charity" you know the really old stuff that no one would want, and "go to friends" bags and distrubute! Last week we took 4 bags of clothing, old blankets, a couple coats and such to the donation bin in town and took an old playpen and carseat that was perfectly fine to Linda the Library Lady (previous post) who has a friend that works at the pregency center in town.

Here is what I've gutting the kids clothing down to:
2 weeks worth of undies & socks (actually Princess only has 7 pairs, and we must buy more!)
2 weeks worth of t-shirts
10 long sleeved shirts (we live in Ontario it is cold!)
6 max sweaters (inc. 2 nice for Meeting)
1 pair of runners
1 pair of snow boats
1 pair of wellies (rain boots)
1 pair dress shoes
2 snow jackets (keep out the smaller sized one they grew out of incase of an emergency)+ snowpants
2 pairs mittens
2 winter hats
2 sunhats
1 scarf

Magoo:
4 dress shirts for Memorial Service and Bible Class
2 dress pants
2 jeans
2 comfy pants
4 shorts
1 gym uniform
1 CHC regular day uniform (next year he'll need 2)

"Da Girls":
2-4 everyday dresses
4 nice dresses for the above
4 nice tops for Bible Class

Now I'm sure that we could do with less, but our kids take after their Mummy and are very clumsy and make LOTS of messes! It is a huge blessing to past on clothes, and we follow the same, passing on what the next kids in the house do not need. I really don't know how families get one without that!

Here is a precious moment captured, Magoo teaching Princess how to make snow people!

Oh Dear

I do believe it is going to be "one of those days" Magoo had a bad ashmah attach this morning at 6:45am, and now lies in bed not feeling well. So he is home from school, and I am aiming to work on some blends with him latter, and maybe a game of "Jericho Cards" to work on his numbers.

Princess has a great immune system so she just has a cough.

Sprout has been sick for a week, and until the kids woke up sneezing and coughing (and not breathing) I thought it was just part of her teething, but it isn't. Last night the 2 or 4 teeth that as nearly through came in. It takes her a whole week of no sleeping and screaming 24 x 7 to bring in 1 tooth, so I reckon we have 2 more weeks of this.

Oh dear, This is such a "sorry for myself" post.

Princess is asking for cuddles so I must sign off, in my "spare time" I'll try to post some pictures of the Goons enjoying the snow! Man do we have a lot of it again this year!