I'm Moving

The problems that I've been having here at blogger are not being resolved. I don't know what else to do but to move out!
So I'm moving to a new "home". I hope you all will visit me at the new place.

It's still Life with 4! just that now I'm at wordpress. Click here and come over for a visit.

Who Do You Serve?

I serve a REAL God.
I serve a RISEN God.
I serve a PERFECT God.
I serve a MERCIFUL God.

Happy Good Friday to you!

Lonesome Sound?

I've heard that a train's whistle is a lonesome sound. (Isn't that in a song?)
Some people even think it has a certain "romantic" ring to it.

We hear that lonesome sound twice each day. Although in our house, it's not the romantic, lonesome sound that some say.
We hear it as a freight train running right through our house.
The floor vibrates.
If we have windows or doors open when we hear the first faint sound of it rumbling down the valley, we rush to close everything up.

Yes, we live in a very peaceful, quiet, country valley.... but we also live right next to the train tracks.
So anytime between 9pm and 11 pm, the train comes rattling along.
As it approaches our valley, the coyotes begin their song. They howl along with the thundering of the train. You can hear them long before the train actually arrives near our house. They know it's coming.

And then again in the early morning, it returns to wherever it came from. Rumbling past again.

When we moved into this house (2 years this July), I thought I would never get used to it.
Neighbors told us we would get used to it and I thought they were absolutely crazy!

When the whistle would blow 4 times at our crossing, I would wake up with my eyes popping out of my head and my heart pounding like you wouldn't believe!
I told my hubby, "I'm going to be up with 4 kids every night when that "thing" comes through!!"
But, who would have thought, the kids don't even notice it!

And as time has gone by, there are nights when I don't even realize that the train has gone by.

When we have overnight guests, I always warn them to be prepared. Don't panic.
The train will come, and come it does.

Our valley is so tranquil most of the time.
But it really livens up and makes some noise twice per night!



(I'm still having blogger troubles. I cannot open anything that would open in a separate window, such as adding a photo to my post and opening the blogs that I read from my list. I have to manually type in the entire address to read them. uuuughhh!!! I can't even open the Help window to get this figured out!
So needless to say, sorry no pictures with this post. I actually have some really good shots of the tracks and the kids walking along them)

Blogger Frustration

Is anyone else having problems clicking on links in Blogger?
I can't open up links to my blog list.
And now found out I can't open up any images for a new post?

I click and nothing happens.

Back to Normal....

...Whatever that is!
We have enjoyed our Spring Break and now it's back to the daily grind of school, sports and life.

Did everyone else have a good Break? I hope so.

I wanted to share this recipe that I got from my good friend, Tammi.
It is absolutely dangerously yummy!

HOMEMADE VANILLA CARAMEL
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 can (14 oz) of sweetened condensed milk
Bring this to a boil; stirring constantly. Stir and cook for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and add:
1 bar cream cheese (8 oz), softened
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
Stir well.
This is so good drizzled over ice cream, brownies... well, any dessert for that matter.
We have also been eating it up with sliced apples.
I have mine stored in a glass canning jar in the frig.


Another random thing.
We had a big wind and rain storm last night... all night.
At about 4:30 this morning I heard the sound of something tin or metal crashing outside. Oh no.
My first thought was the roof to the chicken house. What a mess that would be!
But when I went out this morning to check on all the critters, all were safe and sound and dry.
Not sure what the metal sound was. I was just thankful that I wasn't going to be up on the chicken house repairing it in the wind and rain today.

Well, I pray that you all have a wonderful day. That you will see God's hand in your life.
That He will make Himself known to you today in a very special way.

Thank God They Are Washable!

A beautiful day...
kids home from school...
the start of Spring Break...
waiting for Dad to get home from work.

It all started innocently enough...

.. a short walk through the pasture...

... to go do a little of this...

... but somehow on the way back to the house, the kids got a tad sidetracked.

A small run-off pond in the field... with salamanders to catch...

"please, Mom! Only our feet, just wading."..............

Until the feet became the knees and the knees became........ well, have a look..................

So after some much needed showers, the kids and the dog jumped in the back of the truck for a lovely ride up the logging road. Just for the fun of it...

I love afternoons like this.

Laughter.

Smiles.

Family.

Blessed.

Oh Man, I Can't Keep Up!!

Friday... yeah! Last day of school until March 29th.

Looking forward to Spring Break. Although that doesn't mean that we will be able to slow down any. Actually when the kids are home, life is even busier.

My blogging has been so sporadic.

So I'll try and catch up with what has been going on....

-our Principal/Administrator search is almost over. 2 more meetings, 3 more interviews with the finalists, and then someone will be hired. I've been really praying that it will be the person that God desires to have in our school. The person who can make some much needed positive changes.

- Bear has a couple of ortho appts. We are starting Phase 2! All that means is that we are in the process of another 1 1/2 yrs of braces and appts every 6 weeks. And of course, money, money, money coming out of the Health Savings Account. Praying that we won't have to do any more oral surgery this time around!

- I'm missing crafting time. Quilting, scrapbooking, knitting, whatever. I miss it.

-Getting geared up for track and field season. This will be Ryan's first year to participate in track. He has always played baseball (since he was 4 years old!). This year he wants to try something new. Should be interesting. I'm not even totally sure what to expect.

-In the meantime, Bear will be playing baseball on the Majors team. He is really looking forward to this season. His coach is great. A neat Christian man who prays with his team before every game.

-In the back of my mind, I realize that Lindsey's birthday is only 1 1/2 months away. Maybe I'm just in denial about the fact that my baby will be 3! But she reminds us often saying, "My birthday coming up soon!!" Yes, Baby, it is.

-Dust bunnies are taking over!! Having hardwood floors does have some pros but also has cons. Such as, if you don't sweep and mop very often, the dust bunnies reproduce and they spring up all over. They hide under the furniture, in the corners, around the woodstove........uuugh, they are EVERWHERE!! Maybe today I'll get them rounded up.

So pretty much, that's my life today.

It may sound like I'm complaining and whining, but actually I am thankful for all these "things" that keep us busy.

God has blessed us with the ability to try new things, to be involved with activities we feel are important, and to be with each other.

He is always good.

He is always faithful.

He is always loving.

He is always near.

And every day I need a good, faithful, loving and nearby God!

Boat Access Only!!!

Away from the crowds....
Away from busy streets....
Away from stress....
That's where we spent the weekend!
A 1/2 hour drive from any town and a 5 minute boat ride to seclusion....

My in-laws just bought this lake house. It's so pretty!
The surroundings are beautiful!

Of course, with it being March, we didn't do any swimming but the kids have already made summer plans to run down the dock and jump right into the lake.

We spent some time just boating around the lake and enjoying the scenic beauty and quiet.

The kids all got a chance to drive the boat!

Fun!!

Now we are ready for summer to come and weekends at the lake house.

The perfect get-away.

"Bless the Lord, all His works,

In all places of His dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!"

--- Psalm 103: 22

Where Did The Week Go!?

It's been busy around here........
-a birthday
-parent/teacher conferences
-basketball tournament
-meetings
-baseball and track sign-ups
-Literacy night at school

Whew!! It doesn't look to be slowing down any time soon.

Hopefully I'll be back soon.

Blessings

Today I'm thankful for so many blessings in my life....

• discovering a new snack, hummus with spinach and pita chips.... yum!


• heart to heart talk with my teen son


• laughing with my children as I chase them around the house


• a vehicle that gets me where I need to be


• a husband who loves me


• teaching and talking with my son, applying scripture to his life


• sunshine that peeks out from behind the clouds


• pushing my daughter on the swings and hearing her laughter


• learning some new skills with a camera
  
• finding a hide-out for the kids to play in (where the blackberry bushes create little "rooms" underneath them)


• gazing at the stars while I pet the cat


• wondering if our dog is going to have puppies


• knowing that I can take my concerns to God and He hears and answers


• little broccoli and lettuce sprouts basking in the sunlight


• having money to get groceries to feed my family (even though I can't stand grocery shopping!)


• having tax return money to be able to pay off a couple of bills


• a warm bed


• a homemade dinner of vegetable beef soup and wheat bread
  

God is so good!

A Front Yard View....

God doesn't force us into anything.

Instead, He leads us to green pastures and causes us to lie down beside still waters.

But, when the forces of life do come against us,

He has promised to be our strong shield and ever-present help in time of trouble.

(taken from What I Learned From God While Gardening ... Niki Anderson & Cristine Bolley)

4-H Winners!

The boys had their 4-H Photography Contest this weekend and they both won blue ribbons!!

They were so excited when we arrived at the exhibit hall and they saw how well their photographs had done.

This is Bear's 1st place photograph in the Junior Landscape Division....

And Ryan got his blue ribbon with this picture of my niece at her 1st birthday party . First place in the Intermediate People Division...

Actually all the kids in our group who entered the contest ended up with at least one ribbon. They all did so well!

We are loving our new 4-H group. After having a bad experience with our previous club, I wasn't sure the kids would be up for trying another club out.

We are called the Fantastic 4-H'rs. It's a small group of only 6 kids. But we are all Christian families with very similar parenting standards and home life.

It's so wonderful to see the kids interact and enjoy each other's company. I believe we'll be with this club for a long time.

The 4-H Pledge:

I pledge my HEAD to clearer thinking;

my HEART to greater loyalty;

my HANDS to larger service;

and my HEALTH to better living for my club, my community, my country, my world.

Cranberry-Chocolate Scones

I dug up some old Sunset magazines and thumbed through them for some good recipes to try.

This is one that is a definite keeper!

3 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup cold butter

3/4 cup half & half (I just used regular milk)

1 large egg

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup dried cranberries

can also add 1/2 cup chopped pecans

-- In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut butter into chunks and blend into dry indredients with a pastry blender.

In a small bowl, whisk together the half & half (or milk) and the egg, reserve 2 tbsp for later.

Add remaining egg and milk mixture to the dry ingred. along with chocolate, cranberries and nuts.

Blend with a fork until moistened. Scrape out onto a lightly floured counter and pat into a 7 inch round circle.

Cut into 8 equal wedges.

Place 2 inches apart on greased baking pan.

Brush the tops with the reserved egg and milk.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are golden. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.(If you can wait that long!)

---Sunset magazine January 2004 issue.

Growing

I've been thinking about "growth" today.

All around me things are growing.

These are growing...

And these are growing...

I'm growing...

I potted all my herbs. Right now they look small in their large pots, but soon they will grow and fill up the pots with their fragrant, green leaves.

And underneath the soil, their roots reach and lengthen until they have nowhere else to go.

So what happens when the roots reach the edge and the bottom of the pot?.... they stop growing, they begin to hunger for more nutrition and more space. They want to spread out.

I feel like that plant sometimes. My roots are reaching and seeking for more nutrition, more of God's word, more of His wisdom.

But my roots bump into walls at times. They come up against the sides and can't reach anymore.

God tells me to wait on Him.

To trust Him.

To bring everything to Him.

To know that my trials allow me to grow.

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

And whose hope is the Lord.

For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,

Which spreads out its roots by the river,

And will not fear when heat comes;

But its leaf will be green,

And will not be anxious in the year of drought,

Nor will cease from yielding fruit." --- Jeremiah 17: 7 & 8

I'm trying.

I'm trying to be that tree.

The one who spreads its roots by the river.

Who bears fruit and turns green.

The tree who doesn't fear heat.

I'm trying.......

On the Agenda

• call hospital about outrageous ER bill
• call orthodontist about down payment on phase 2 for Bear
• call 4-H lady about photography contest and then make arrangements with other 4-h mom for traveling to contest
• call my brother to make sure my hubby and boys can stay at their place this weekend for boys weekend skiing
• bake bread
• change Kaycie's sheets
• clean bathrooms yuck!
• bake banana bread to use those nasty bananas sitting on my counter
• balance checkbook
• make sure the boys' laundry is all caught up so they have jeans and underwear for this weekend

That's my written list that sits on the counter to check off as I go. I'm sure there is so much more that needs to be done, but I seriously doubt I'll get to anything else today.

But on a positive note, I'm glad to be home today. It has been so busy lately that I really need this day at home to catch up.

Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow or the next day with funner (is that a word?) things to chat about.

The Bug That I've Caught

No, I'm not sick.
I've got the spring-is-in-the-air, i-wanna-plant-some-things bug.
My sewing and quilting projects have taken a back seat to dirty fingernails and dreams of a perfect garden.
We had another beautiful day here. And though I know that the rains will return, I'm enjoying every second of this weather!



This is what I picked up at the store the other day.

The startings of an herb garden....

-English thyme

-Italian oregano

-Peppermint

-Lavendar

-Rosemary

-Sage

-Sweet basil (seed)

-Chives (seed)

And to get a jump start on veggies for the garden, I grabbed up broccoli and lettuce seed.

Garden plans are coming along!

Anybody else caught the bug?

Apology and Fresh Faith

Please forgive me for that previous post. I went to bed with a headache and frustrated beyond belief. No prayer.


This morning I woke up a little early and decided to revisit my rage here on my blog. But during the night my computer had done a security scan and needed restarted.

THANK GOD!

Because instead of sitting down here, I picked up my Bible.

It's amazing how He speaks. I prayed for wisdom and guidance.... and He provided.

The devotion for today is Psalm 62. Beautiful psalm.

verse 8-- Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.


Holy cow... did I need that first thing this morning!


Why do I think that everything has to be on my schedule and done how I like it? His timing is perfect; mine is flawed and selfish.


My eyes have been opened and refreshed this morning. I'm seeing things in a different Light.


My dear blog friend, Laura, had this on her post yesterday:

In time of trouble say,

First, He brought me here. It is by His will I am in this place; in that I will rest.

Next, He will keep me in His love and give me grace in this trial to behave as His child.

Then, He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He means for me to learn, and working in me the grace He intends for me.

Last, in His good time, He can bring me out again, how and when only He knows.

Say, I am here;

by God's appointment,

In God's keeping,

Under His training,

For His time.

---from Humility

Headaches

I'll warn you right now, this post is me in my bitter, frustrated and angry mood.

How many hours my kids are in public school each day..... 7
How many hours we spend as a family each day.... maybe 3 (if Ken gets home by 5pm)
How many hours do I get to spend with my children..... 5
What do I try to teach my kids........ truth, God's truth
What does the public school try to teach my kids......... baloney garbage

So if my kids are actually at the public school more then they are with our family, how can i expect anything i've taught them to sink in?
Other people are raising my kids........ and that makes me angry!

Don't give me the line about homeschooled kids not getting the social interaction....... that's a bunch of spittle!
Homeschool kids interact and socialize as much as their parents allow. They still can play sports on the team, they can still be involved in clubs such as 4-H, they still attend the church youth groups...........
So why do I send my kids off to "socialize" with kids I don't even want them to socialize with?
It doesn't make any sense to me.

If I were to list the pros and cons of each (homeschool vs public), ............ wait I can't do that.. I can't think of a pro for public school that homeschool can't meet or exceed.

I"ve just spent 4 hours.......... 4 HOURS!!!......... looking and pouring over 22 Principal/Administrator applications for our small k-12 charter school. Yikes! There are some strange monkeys out there!!
There were a few that i found promising and would like to see interviewed but just thinking about how my conservative values and morals will be going up against some liberal thinkers, well, it just gives me a headache.

Then to come home and look at my 7th graders homework for science, made my headache even worse. Origins of the EArth....... give me a break! 483 million or was it billion years ago!? What?
How sad that our children are being shovel-fed lies instead of truth.
Not long ago, the school curriculum was .......THE BIBLE!
It was used for science, english, social studies, history, math, writing , spelling......... for it all.
now we've replaced the only infallible book in history with man's theories.
Here kids... don't believe what God says but instead believe what some man has made up!

headaches, i tell you, headaches.

Sunshine, Sweet Sunshine

After spending most of the day in town for an ortho appointment, we were sooooo ready to get home and enjoy the sunshine......... a balmy 60 degrees here.... love it!

All of us had different activities in mind....

For Lindsey it was stripping down to "take a bath" in the puddle. Well at least until Mommy said ,"absolutely not!!". It was only 60 degrees today, not naked-let-it-all-hang-out weather, for goodness sake!

But once she had her clothes back on, she decided playing in the garden dirt would be ok....
barefoot, of course...

the boys were anxious to take apart some wood pallets that were free at the lumber yard. they have some ambitious plans for it all....

And you can't enjoy a warm day without a bit of tackle football, right?.......

As for me, I was eager to get my raised beds built for my garden. I now have 3 made. I'm so excited to see how my veggies turn out this year...

shoveling the poop... so glamorous!!!...

We had some old outdoor carpet-type stuff rolled up in the corner of the garden. So I laid it out between the boxes to be weed crushers!...

Kaycie was the photographer today. She did manage to get a shot of herself though....


Ken is in Dallas TX for the week. It's his yearly conference for work. So far we've done all right without him. The kids are staying busy. Bedtime is a bit rough for the little one. She's Daddy's girl and he's not here to rub her back.

Mommy is trying to fill his shoes but it's hard when they are a size 14!!!

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

Puppy Chow

Here are 3 big bowls of Puppy Chow... ready to head to the 2nd, 5th, and 7th grade classrooms today...

PUPPY CHOW.....
1 box of Chex or Krispix cereal
1 bag semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter (can leave this out if there are allergies)
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Place cereal in a large bowl.
Melt the chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter in the microwave. Stir until smooth.
Pour over the cereal and carefully fold and stir until well coated.
Place in a large brown paper grocery bag and pour powdered sugar over mixture. Gently shake and rotate bag until the cereal is coated.
Dump back into your large bowl or resealable bags.
Start munching!