13 years ago…

Today marks a milestone in our home.

We have wandered into the teenage years.

Our little strong willed, never-conforming, missionary-minded, God-fearing, sister-picking, brother-keeping, organizing-everything, BIG-machine-loving, tiny-machine-taker-apart, walking Wikipedia minded, handsome, mucho loved son turns 13 today.

You talked when you were in the womb.

You haven’t stopped yet.

Everything made you have questions. 

God has given you a precious gift.

To find out how things work.

And then to make them better.

Take your time.  Don’t rush into decisions.

Stay healthy.  Exercise your mind as well as your body.

Be nice to others. 

Take time sweet boy to enjoy life.

Be gentle.

Treat life like an egg.

It is fragile.

It will break open in a flash.

Don’t flaunt your height.

Even though you are taller than all the women in your life,
including your John Deere Grandma and Mom.

But keep your head raised high looking to the One who sees Everything!

Be aware of your strength and weaknesses.

When you make a mistake – ask for forgiveness.

When you are feeling weak – ask the Lord to help you.

Temptations will be lurking at every corner.

Hide God’s Word in your heart.  It is sharper than a double edged sword.

Finally, my sweet boy,

smile and don’t lose heart during these next few years.

You are a gift from the Lord.

You were given back to Him.

He is your King, your Heavenly Father, your friend, your Refuge, your Everything that is Good.

Trust in Him.

He loves you like no one else can.

Mom (aka Mommy a long time ago) loves you.

Dad (aka Daddy a long time ago) loves you.

We pray for you daily.

Happy Teen Years! (sniff sniff)

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

Crafts with Q-tips and lessons from it

My kids take their crafts very serious.  I mean they will use bananas to hold down their artwork and dare anyone to have a snack.

He made the Golden Gate Bridge.  Not bad for never seeing the bridge.  Now this artist – she is our patient artist. 

She played with the design-over and over again.

She has the snowflake down! 

Try it!  It is harder than it looks!

Then we have this Princess.

She is all artist.  Meaning she has a creative side that doesn’t blend well with crazy rules or directions that her teacher may give her regarding lines of symmetry.  She sees what are outside the lines as a pure palette for more color and more creativity.

It took her a long process for her to create her “snowflake.”  This was one of the objects she came up with – although I liked it – she had directions she had to follow. 

Sometimes we have to start over many times before we get it right. 

It is a process.

It is sometimes overwhelming.

It involves do-overs and crying out for help!

But, in the end – the reward is there.

Yeah, I’m not really talking about q-tips anymore.

I’m talking about life.

Selah!

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

Got the idea from a Tweet on Twitter!  Sometimes I just love hearing a good inspirational tweet!  Are you following me, @loving5kids? 

Christmas gift ideas that make memories

It is holiday time!!!

This is the time of year...

We watch White Christmas while decorating ALL the trees.
This year our television died. Well it still works but it is blind. You can't see the picture -just hear what is on. My diagnosis is the CRT went out. (Yep - call me Dr. Google.)

So we bought this last night....


Not a bad price and it comes to our front door! I love Amazon Black Friday Deals! I just wish they took Paypal

Until it gets here we get to read great stories like...


And



Or we might play with legos.


I would do science if I had this book - I hope my favorite librarian is reading my blog today!


I love good books! Thankfully - so do my kids.

Yes, I know Thanksgiving hasn't even happened yet. But we had ours last Saturday, so now we are in the holly jolly mood - in our shorts and flip-flops.

Blessings to you! You are loved!!!

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Please know the links in any of my posts or on my blog are affiliated links meaning - I get a few pennies if you decide to purchase anything.



©www.ilovemy5kids.blogspot.com

How to take a picture of a group of children

We have been visiting family thus the lack of posts lately.

  

 

Here are the latest pictures…
plus a few tips that might or might not help you in taking kids’ pictures.

 

• Remember why you want the memory.  Sometimes I take pictures of my kids when we are visiting relatives we don’t see often.  Never are all the children are in a good mood at the same time. 
  
  Some are thirsty.  Some are tired. 
  Some are just fussy little critters. 
  
  Take pictures anyway.  What sweet memories for the future! 
  (Plus, remember the middle children.  Seriously.  In most families – the middle child always gets left out.  My eldest I have tons of pictures.  For some reason – my 2nd born not so many.  I’m now making up for that.)

• All pictures do not require a smile. 
  It is nice when kids smile.  But, it probably won’t happen all the time.  Take the picture anyway.  Their future spouse will be glad you did!

• Try to capture a story without words.  I was a yearbook editor – we had to make a caption for every picture.  It had to make sense.  Sometimes captions aren’t needed but let the picture do the talking.

• Grab a helper.  But, only have one person talk to the children.  Kids and adults have a hard time focusing on 3 people saying “Smile-Say Cheese-Fuzzy Pickles.” 

• Use a flash. 
  Don’t use a flash. 
  Try different things. 
  If you have a SLR – learn your camera. 
  If you don’t have a fancy camera – learn your camera. 
  (I have a super Pinterest Board that has TONS of tutorials to make great pictures.) 
  
  Change off the auto settings and play with your speed, your F-stops, and different lights.  The more you play with it – the more natural it will feel – then you’ll want more lenses.  (wink)
  
  (I’m not a pro by any means. 
  I do like to play with my camera in spurts. 
  Then I will put it away for months and have to re-learn everything.)

Hope that helped!  

Here is a story without words. 
I will tell you that the little girl in red is my newest niece, 5 of the kids are mine and the rest are my brothers. 

That needed a nap, was hungry, was thirsty, had a wet diaper, and was being forced to sit down and told to smile.  

Sweet memories! – All sweet cousins.

I love those kids.  I take my Auntie job very seriously and will spoil any child who calls me by that name.  Amen.

If you put your cursor over the pictures – you can read my story.

Just one more thing:  No kids were hurt, put in timeout or given excessive amounts of chocolate while taking the photos.  And there was no pie. 

Hope you have a super weekend!

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

Looking Your Best in Fall

Photo Credit:  Sprittibee.com by Flickr

As part of the Life Well Lived Panel - I need to answer
"What are my Fall Must-Have Fashion Picks?"

I must say, I live in a Semi-Tropical Climate.
It is comparable to most people's Spring weather - we love FALL in our house.

3 of my favorite picks are:

1. Boots!  I love a good pair of boots to wear with skirts.  I do live in Texas.  Boots come in so many shape, sizes, and colors.  Plus, they just give me feel taller. 
   
   
2. I love the color brown.  So, I would pick anything with the color in brown in it.  Brown shoes, brown shirts, brown jewelry, I LOVE brown!  Plus, it goes with soooo much!  Plus, dark colors hide a multitude of chocolate midnight snacks.  (Wink! Wink!)
   
3. Ever have those days, where you don't feel your best?  My fave tip is to wear a blue colored necklace.  Any blue will do, my favorite is a hand-me-down from my Mom.  It is actually green and turquoise colors.  It will lift up your face and instantly give you a pretty glow.  Plus, it goes with brown. 

• Feel free to share your best tip over on the Life Well Lived Post plus here - I like real ideas that I could do without a lot of dough!  
• You can also enter to win Life Well Lived Moments $250. sweepstakes.
• If you use twitter - feel free to use the hashtag #PGLWL at the end of the tweet, to tell me your favorite Fall item!  

Can't wait to hear your ideas!

Blessings to you!  You are loved!


©www.ilovemy5kids.blogspot.com

Where is that P31? Oh What a Blessing!

This series - Where in the World is that Proverbs 31 Lady? has blessed my heart.

If you have missed any of them - I wanted to showcase them once again!  The story behind Where in the World is that P31 - is over here - at the beginning.

Below are their names and the names of the post.  I have been so encouraged by their words and of course - the Word of the Lord, I pray you have been too!

There are still more authors but this week - I just felt I should recap. 
(Plus, my time got away from me and before I knew it - it was Friday.)

These are in no particular order:

• How Does She Do It All? 
      by:  Lisa Pennington at The Pennington Point
  
• Blueberry Cream Streusel Muffins and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
      by Christina from Butterflies Kisses and Tasty Dishes
  
• A Woman Who Knows the Lord
      by:  Shelly at Is That You, Lord?
  
• Attitudes of a Virtuous Woman
       by: Tracey Brewer from Girls to Grow
  
• You Want Me to Get Up WHEN?
       by: Rebecca at Mom’s Mustard Seeds
   

Feel free to follow our Pinterest Board of the authors and their websites. 
Go visit their sites - so much wisdom.  Some are devotionals, some are crafty, some are bakers, some are storytellers - all giving Praise to the One who it is due. 
I just love these ladies!

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

©www.ilovemy5kids.blogspot.com

Homemade Egyptian School Projects–The Mummy

My kids loved learning about mummies.  (Me – not so much.)

They loved to share with anyone who would listen how the priests got the brain out of the head.

Let me just say, be careful when you blow your nose. 

Ugh.  I don’t like the thought of any of the above that I mentioned.  So let’s just forget it okay?

The Mummy was made by my hubby and daughter.

They used paper Mache (flour and water mixture), newspaper, toilet paper rolls and a fishing bobber for the head.  The coffin was out of a cardboard and then sprinkled with glitter. 
(I did mention this was my daughter’s project – it had to have bling.)

We also made a homemade Sphinx and a homemade Pyramid. 

We have enjoyed learning about Ancient Egypt.  Our local university had a tour of Egyptian Artifacts that we got to go and explore.  It was so neat to see some of the replicas that we have studied and brought it all together.

King Tut –  What an amazing story!  My daughter thoughts were “Gross!” and “He was only 19 years old!”

During this study, we found that the Ancient Egyptians needed a savior.  They trusted in themselves.  They forgot where they had come from.  Another reason I want to continue to blog and share about the One who brings true life.  Make no confusion – His name is Jesus.  He is the giver of Life!  He loves us so!

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

Where is that P31? How Does She Do It All?

How Does She Do It All?
By:  Lisa Pennington  

Proverbs 31:10-31 has always been among my favorite verses.  I so appreciate that God took space in His amazing Word to give us a glimpse of what a godly woman looks like. While the Scriptures are clear that outer beauty should not be our focus, He doesn‘t ignore beauty in these verses.

Verse 22, “She makes coverings for her bed, she is clothed in fine linen and purple."

God knows that we women enjoy beauty and He reminds us, ever so gently through His Word, that what is really beautiful is what is in our heart.

I don’t have expensive things. In fact, everything I own was either a flea market find, a hand-me-down or some broken down deal that I fixed up, painted or re-purposed. It doesn’t say HOW this woman got her fine linens and purple. I assume she didn’t nag her husband for them or go into debt.

That’s the trick, isn’t it? Finding a way to make a lovely home and clothe the family well without breaking the bank or ignoring other responsibilities.

For me, it works to set aside an afternoon every week (Friday is my day) to do those extra things that make my home peaceful and relaxing.

I have a spot in the kitchen where I set all of the torn book pages, broken toys, etc. In that same spot, I keep a little notebook where I write down things that can be fixed simply, like touching up paint or changing a light bulb (you know the kind…you need a ladder and a special bulb and it somehow becomes overwhelming). I know I will get to the pile/list on Friday so I don’t let it bother me the rest of the week.

Sometimes there’s a bigger project. Maybe the bathroom needs painting or the summer clothes need to be stored for the winter. I will look at my calendar and find two days together that I can carve out for bigger projects. I put them on the calendar and they are set in stone.

I won’t accept any invitations during that time. I won’t get a project finished if I have to stop at 4:00 and go take a shower because of something I have to do that night. Also, knowing it is ahead on the calendar gives me time to casually pick up the materials I will need while I am out running other errands already.

I have taught the children to either help me or play quietly without interrupting. Usually they are all hanging around and we are chatting and playing word games or singing songs together while I work. Often they will help. Last weekend I was spray painting and several of them offered to spray paint too. With their help I could go on to parts of the project that only Mom can do.

I often think of the Proverbs 31 woman when I am doing work with the kids that makes our home beautiful or more organized. Setting aside time to make “bed linens” or “fine garments” instead of hoping time will magically become available helps me find joy in the process. I don’t feel stressed about things that haven’t gotten done when I know they will get done next Friday or two weekends from now.

Planning a time to take care of yourself and your home means that you will be able to focus on what is really important the rest of the week: God, family, friends and neighbors.

About Lisa and her family:

Lisa lives in the Texas Hill Country with her husband of 25 years and their 9 children.  They homeschool their kids and 2 of them have graduated.  Lisa says don’t let the diploma fool you, they are just as much work at age 21 as they were at age 5.  

Her family blog, The Pennington Point has taken the place of scrapbooking in Lisa’s life.  She writes about child training, home decorating and whatever else pops into her head.  

She has an etsy shop, Shop 24, where she sells handmade, personalized items.  The name of the shop is based on Proverbs 31:24, “She makes linen garments and sells them and supplies the merchants with sashes...” 

She loves making things for customers, but her favorite part of the shop is spending time sewing with her four daughters.  

Most of all Lisa loves the Lord Jesus Christ and her greatest desire, even more than drinking hot chocolate on a chilly evening under a monogrammed blanket, is to honor Him.

 ©www.ilovemy5kids.blogspot.com

Once upon a time...there was a real fairy tale.

There is no other book that makes me appreciate my life more than the Word of God.  It is a Real Life Fairy Tale. 

In my home school curriculum - it suggests that I teach my students to memorize the books of the Bible.

I don't know about you but sometimes I ponder "Why do I need to teach that?"  Just knowing the books of the Bible has never helped me in giving birth, washed my dirty dishes, or even helped me pay bills.

Seriously, the knowledge has only caused me to feel more comfortable in a pew of a church, so I'm not still flipping pages while everyone else is reading.  Even then, most people in our church carry their smart phones in and their Bible is digital.  (I love my YouVersion App by the way.)

But, due to the fact, that it was in my curriculum I still did my "duty" by teaching all 66 books.

Yesterday, I remembered a song by Aaron Jeffery, He Is.  I played it for my children and the tears started to flow.  (They probably think I'm a crazy Mom.) 

From Genesis to Revelation, The Trinity is displayed in every book.

It is ALL about Him! 

If you haven't heard the song and can't see the video it explains from Genesis to Revelations, about the character in EACH book.  (It is an OLD song but still powerful!)

Okay, you may be reading and say "Duh!"

But, it was a sweet revelation to me. 
I love when God whispers to my heart a sweet answer that I didn't even have to ask.

I will not teach my children just the books of the Bible to learn them so they can find something faster than their neighbor - but I want them to learn them because I want them to know the Author of those Words. 

I want them to experience the Word of God for themselves and not just be branded as a "Christian" because he/she is a homeschooler or attends a certain church.

One of the books, I received recently is a beautiful book by New Leaf Press called The Family Illustrated Bible.

The inside of the book is gorgeous.  

It has beautiful pictures that make it fun to read at bedtime or around the coffee table.  My younger children (and even older ones) have loved gazing through the pages.  I love that they are getting glimpses of the Lord.  

It spurs conversations.

It makes us fulfill Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ⁵ Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

If you are in need of a gift for Christmas or Birthday, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book, the Family Illustrated Bible
for any age.  

Making a difference for the sake of eternity is never a wrong choice!

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

 

©www.ilovemy5kids.blogspot.com

Note: I was sent complimentary copy for review purposes only. This review has not been monetarily compensated. The review was my honest opinion and views and not influenced by the sponsor in any way. 

Homemade Egyptian School Projects: A Pyramid

Yesterday, I shared how we are studying Ancient Egypt and showed the Sphinx.  All of my children have been working on some type of Egyptian Project with their Dad. (He loves helping his children and his wife.)

I had no idea what they chose for their project and walked outside to see my daughter cutting wood (with close supervision of her Daddy.)

A Pyramid that sparkles.

You can’t see it well in the pictures but it is covered in pretty glitter!

They used leftover pine wood from another one of my Hubby’s infamous DIY projects.After all the sparkles have settled, I was rather impressed.

It is not every day – that one would have a Modern Day Pyramid in their dining room.  The joys of Home School! 

Next week, I share more of the Homemade Egyptian School projects. 

Tomorrow is Where in the World is that P31 Lady? 
Have you seen those posts?  Super challenging!

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

Homemade Egyptian School Projects –The Sphinx

Shameless Plug:
I’m posting at The Homeschool Post today –
“What Home School is REALLY like.”
Please go visit and leave a comment.

We have been doing an Egyptian Study for weeks.

Each child had a project to do without me (the teacher) but they could use their Dad’s help.  (Don’t you love how I got out of that one?)

I got to say – Dad is their best ally in making school projects!  He is so creative and uses material that I had no idea existed.

My son and him worked for a couple of days playing with salt dough to form the Sphinx just right. It was nice to hear them planning and processing the information to make it look just right.

I love that they also made a sweet memory!  I just have to find a place to put this thing!

I would love to hear suggestions where to put “School Projects” after they have been graded.

More Egyptian Projects to come…

Blessings to you! You are loved!