It would be so wonderful to be able to have 'date night'! I have read that it's really important for couples to have one every week but I have to laugh a 'yeah right' kind of laugh and move on. I have been out with my hubby once a year for the last several years and that's for our anniversary! Of course we take the baby so it's actually less than that. Sometimes I really miss my hubby, even when he's in the same room (with all of the kids piled on top of him.)
I guess it just boils down to the fact that we're not close enough to anyone that I would trust with my kids. I would leave them with family but I don't have any that are in my life closer than an hour away. We won't hire strangers and the only friend that I trust enough is 5 hours away!
Our kids are too precious to us to take any chances with. I don't believe that it takes a village to raise children but I sometimes wish that I had a close familial 'village',sigh...
I guess we have another 16 years of grabbing a few seconds to talk here and there,longing looks, great memories and very quick rendezvous... baby needs to nurse, big brother wants to talk and sister is hungry.
'Date night' will just have to wait.

Emma

"Mommy, I dropped my porn shop on the floor" (Pork chop)

"Some day I'm gonna need mommy size shoes because I'm gonna be a mommy"

"Love all. Trust a few. Do wrong to none." William Shakespeare
"No man or woman who tries to pursue an ideal in his or her own way is without enemies." Daisy Bates

Beauty

I typed the word beauty into the Google search engine and clicked on 'images'. So what qualifies as beauty in today's world? Just pages and pages of scantily clad women. Now I know that the female body can be a thing of beauty but come on! God has given us such a wide variety of beautiful things! Here are just a few of my favorites, both personal and general.

God and Noah

I often tell my husband how glad I am that God is in control of our family planning.
Every one of my children has been born during a time of stress and financial crisis! My youngest was conceived, carried and delivered in what anyone would consider the worst time and way! Conceived after the loss of all income, carried after the loss of our home and delivered at a distant hospital via c-section and brought 'home' to the tiny upstairs of my in laws house. I would NEVER have planned a pregnancy under these circumstances! I was a stressed out/ depressed mess through most of my pregnancy. I felt guilty that I wasn't excited but just couldn't muster much more than acceptance. When he was born we fell in love with our baby but I still felt overwhelmed with circumstances.
As the weeks went by my love for my baby grew into absolute adoration and that grew into a realization of how good it is to let God be our family planner.
My baby didn't add stress to our life, he added joy! He took my mind off of so many of the negative things in life and reminded me of how much I love motherhood, my husband and my God.
Having my baby right now, right here was actually good for me! If I had stopped Gods blessing most of the world would say it was the wise thing to do but only God knows what is best for us.
My little man fills every day with smiles, cuddles and purpose; all of my "unplanned" blessings do!
God has used this to teach me a lot about faith. Real faith is only needed for really big things and really hard times. I have faith that God actually knows what He's doing and He's not going to do it according to my plans or the worlds logic. If I can't trust that Gods gifts are truly good how can I trust Him about anything?
I am one grateful mommy!!

My hubby and mom-in-law drove up to Tulsa and picked up my brother in law. He will be living with us for a while and probably moving to our area. It's good to watch the love and loyalty of family in action! There's nothing but support, love and joy in the family reunited.
The kids are already in love with their Uncle, which is great because love and laughter are wonderful medicines. :)

Baby Genius

My little man is a genius! (At least to mommy) Tonight he sat on my lap while I read him a book and he would nod like he was agreeing with me.
He says 'a uv oo' and give the sweetest kisses.
Grandma will pat his highchair tray 3 times and he will wait until she stops and hit it 3 times and stop and wait for her to do it again. He looks SO proud and happy when they play this game! She also taught him to say 'owe' at the cats. I think we should teach him to say 'woof' :)
He stops when I say 'no' and gets a big pouty lip. So cute~
He says 6 words and waves 'hi'. He also loves to fake coughing and imitate others.
He tries to sing and dance to music, as well as making his own by drumming on things.
He can drink out of a cuppy and likes to feed himself cheerios.
He also likes to blow open mouth spit bubbles. I don't know how he does it but it's intentional and he will do it again and again until his shirt is soaked with slobber.
He is truly a bundle of joy and fills our hearts with it!

Controversial Christianity

I find it interesting how easy it is to be controversial simply by living a conservative life.
You don't have to tell people that they are wrong or that you disagree with their choices, just live differently than the majority.
If you don't swear or drink your co-workers will call you a 'goody too shoes'. If you don't date or believe in premarital sex you are a religious fanatic. This is considered normal and expected by most Christians but where it really gets heated is in the christian community itself.
If ladies don't wear pants or makeup they are legalistic. If you home school you are ant-social and uninvolved in reaching the world!
I have been guilty of these feelings. When you are around someone that has a more restrictive belief system it can feel as though they must be looking down on you. This can be, but isn't always the case.
I do have stricter views than most of the people that I know. Not only am I against dating, but I don't believe that swim suits are appropriate.(Where in scripture does it say that modesty doesn't matter if you're wet?)and don't even allow my 3 year old to wear them. I don't swear or wear short shorts or tank tops. I think that birth control is wrong and I believe that home schooling is an absolutely necessary part of christian parenting in this evil time. Giving your child vaccines that are made with the dismembered bodies of aborted human babies makes you complicit in their murder and is very dangerous. I could go on but I probably shouldn't.
I don't go around pointing fingers at people but I don't need to. Just by making these choices to live differently I offend and anger people. The sad thing is that most of the people offended are Christians.
I guess that says a lot about why we home school. The socialist mentality is that everyone should live the same, think the same, i.e. follow the same path. Anyone who does differently is a disruption. When someone is going a different way it makes us stop and look at WHY we are going this way at all. Is doing a thing just because everyone else says it's good enough really good enough? Being 'sheep' is much easier than really following Jesus.
If people were OK with going against the flow I don't suppose that the religious leaders would have felt the need to kill Jesus.
The question that homeschoolers are asked more than all others combined is 'what about socializing?" My answer is that I don't want my kids socializing in a socialist and worldly environment!
I know that we need to be lights in a dark world but my children are not going to be my voice or my tools to do it. We are in a very real war between good and evil, light and darkness. I would no more send my 10 year old alone into that battle than I would send him into a gunfight.

2 Cor. 2:17 "Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you."

Prov. 13:20 He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will suffer harm.

"Parents give up their rights when they drop their children off at public school."~Melinda Harmon, Federal Judge

I have been thinking a LOT about marriage and death. It has been a very emotional train of thought!
I was privileged to have a very very special sister in law that was taken by cancer at the early age of 38. She was an amazing wife, mother and friend. She was always open, helpful and hard working. Her house was spotless and she home schooled her children. Her baking and cooking were famous among all those that knew her and She absolutely worshipped her husband and they went absolutely EVERYWHERE together! We had many wonderful times and conversations with each other and shared sisterly love and understanding. Her death was truly a tragedy to many people!
My thoughts have been on her more lately, since I learned that my brother in law will be remarrying soon to a very beautiful young woman. It's not that I begrudge him happiness and companionship, I don't. Lana even told him, and my husband, that she would want him to remarry. It's just all of the memories of our times together and the feeling of seeing a person replaced.
I know that a person isn't actually replaced but it just feels that way. I guess it's because it seems like I need to let go of her memory to make room for the new wife. Silly I guess but that's how I feel. When two people that seem to be so completely 'one' you just can't imagine them with someone else.
So here I am, believing that it's fine for my brother in law to not want to spend the rest of his life alone, wishing him happiness and blessings and yet feeling this constant tug of sadness at the same time. Maybe this is normal? I just wish things could be different and that happiness could always be simple.
This last week of thinking and remembering has brought my husband and I some intense conversations and made us appreciate our love even more. We are both happy for our brother. We both miss our sister.
Maybe it's because he has always been the only one for me or maybe it's the 15 years of marriage but we both think that our time together is eternity. I am so grateful for him! I want to make every day count as a wife and a mommy. I want to be the kind of person that people just can't imagine being replaced. The kind that loves her man enough to think only of what is best for him. :) Luckily, he already feels that way!

Amazing discovery of the day

Kakapo 'Owl Parot':
The Kakapo (Māori: kākāpō, meaning night parrot), Strigops habroptila (Gray, 1845), also called owl parrot, is a species of flightless nocturnal parrot endemic to New Zealand.
A certain combination of traits makes it unique among its kind—it is the world's only flightless parrot, the heaviest parrot, nocturnal, herbivorous, visibly sexually dimorphic in body size, has a low basal metabolic rate, no male parental care, and is the only parrot to have a polygynous lek breeding system. It is also possibly one of the world's longest-living birds, living as long as 60 years.
Kakapo are critically endangered; as of February 2010, only 123 living individuals are known, most of which have been given names.
Kakapo are large, rotund parrots; males measure up to 60 centimetres (24 in) and weigh between 4.5–9 lb at maturity.Kakapo are unable to fly, having short wings for their size and lacking the pronounced keel bone (sternum) that anchors the flight muscles of other birds. They use their wings for balance, support, and to break their falls when leaping from trees. Unlike other land birds, Kakapo can accumulate large amounts of body fat to store energy making them the heaviest parrot.
Though the Kakapo cannot fly, they are excellent climbers, ascending to the crowns of the tallest trees. They can also "parachute" - descending by leaping and spreading their wings. In this way they may travel a few meters at an angle of less than 45 degrees.

Isaiah 29:13 The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and
honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship
of me is made up only of rules taught by men.

AMO 5:21 "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your
assemblies.
23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of
your harps.
24 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-
failing stream!

1JO 1:6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness,
we lie and do not live by the truth.

2:4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a
liar, and the truth is not in him.

Emma

"Mommy, what should I name my husband when I grow up?"

EMMA

Emma, you smell like man soap. "That's because I like to smell like mans" Why do you like to smell like a man? "Because I like mans!"
"Look mom, I cooked this soup and it's very hot, see the steam?" Why isn't it burning you if it has hot steam? "Because it's a gentle steam."
"If daddy shaves his beard off he will be a girl." (She actually cried when he said he was going to shave.)
"If I cut my hair off I wil be a boy and that would be bad."