From Super Heroes to Bible Characters

We've all got The Incredibles on our brain. I think we have watched this movie 2-3 times in about a week and a half.

So, while I was cleaning up the kitchen this evening, my two boys were discussing which kind of super powers they would want if they could have them.

I joined in and said that I thought it would be cool to be able to disappear and make force fields like Mr. Incredible's daughter.

**SPOILER ALERT**For anyone who has not seen this movie and wants to, do not read any further.




Then Lincoln chimes in with, "I'd want to be SYNDROME!!!"

Though not surprised by his answer, I asked, "Why would you want to be him? He was mean and evil? He murdered people!!

Lincoln argued, "Well, not when he was Incrediboy."


I love it when "life lessons" just happen. And this was one of them.

I proceeded to point out the fact that Incrediboy wasn't exactly a nice kid, either. We get just a glimpse of him as a boy, but it was enough of one to find out a few of his character traits. He was annoying. He was selfish. He was focused on no one but himself. And... here is the kicker... He was JEALOUS.

Some may say, "Big deal." But my boys have had many, many lessons on the dangers of jealousy. So, when I raised my eyebrows and stressed the fact that Incrediboy was jealous, my boys gave me that "uh, oh, mom's about to give a speech" look.

No monologuing here. But I did give them a quick reminder of how devastating jealousy can be. Syndrome's jealously drove him to murder. Just like Cain's jealousy drove him to murder his own brother. Just like Joseph's brothers' jealousy drove them to sell their own flesh and blood. I could mention more, but you get the picture and so did my boys.

I am sure not all jealousy leads to murder, but it is an emotion that cannot be left to fester in the depths of our wicked hearts! And that is a reminder to myself for sure!!!

Thirty-Something Metabolism

I always thought my metabolism would be as high as the sky. Folks said it would slow down someday, but someday seemed a million miles away!

Someday is now.

This is the first time in my life that I am going to have to carefully watch how much I eat. That's just no fun. I do have an overall healthy diet, but I like to graze!

The days of being able to scarf down 6 pieces of cheesy, pineapple pizza or snack on a 2 lb. bag of M&Ms are history and have been for a few years. Metabolism has finally started slowing down, and I suffer major consequences for being a pig. Those sneaky, little consequences come in the form of inches and pounds. And thanks to my genes, all of those inches and pounds like to huddle around my middle. I am sure having 3 huge babies didn't help my middle matters either!

Gazing in the mirror a while back, I noticed something. Muffin tops belong on muffins and spare tires belong in trunks.

In reality, I really only need to lose about 5-7lbs, and that is easier than the inches, in my opinion. If only I could suck out the inches in my waist and wrap them around my knees or calves. I am looking pretty flabulous right now.

Well, I don't want to let things go any further and get out of hand, so I am doing what I do best. I am taking charge and saying no to too much food!!! Guess I will have to run up and down the stairs a few more times during the day and force myself to do a few sit-ups. Lack of funds ought to help with the "too much food" issue, too!

I have done a good job this week, so I am giving myself a pat on the back!!

I see a pumpkin glow sugar scrub escape in my near future...

I was still awake in my bed at 10p last night. That is LATE for me. My heart was racing, so I new the chance of me falling asleep without some sort of "help" was pretty slim.

Tylenol PM to the rescue! Getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep after taking a sleeping pill is essential for optimal functionality the next day. I knew I was pushing it since my lovely daughter usually makes her way into my bed around 5:30--sometimes even earlier. I was hopeful. I didn't have a choice. I needed to go to sleep!

Did I mention that it is monsoon season here? Well, Mr. Monsoon decided to make an appearance the moment that little blue pill hit my stomach. For the next couple of hours heavy rains and fierce flashes of lightning kept me fully awake. Thankfully my kids didn't wake up, but I wasn't able to finally settle into a deep sleep until after midnight.

That lovely daughter I mentioned earlier was right on schedule. In my bed before the crack of dawn. My alarm goes off at 5:45 every morning, so I guess I wouldn't have gotten much more sleep anyway. So, with my Tylenol PM hangover, I managed to pull myself out of bed sometime after 6am.

Not only was I groggy and heavy-lidded, but this is my week to be "at the back of the camp" so to speak, so I knew the day would be even more challenging and my flesh very weak. Would it be too much to ask to have a smooth sailing sort of day?

Apparently so.

After cleaning up breakfast, I hear my daughter cheerfully chime, "I poopie, Mommy." Okay, no big deal, right? Just change her pull-up and move on. WRONG. I had just put her in some new My Little Pony panties. Ugh. It was a bath-worthy mess and I was not about to try and salvage those nasty undies!

Y'all, I am in the trenches of potty training a sweet little girl who is obviously not fighting the battle with me but against me. At this point in the process I am liable to hit the next person who says, "Girls are easier."! She is 3. She needs to be potty trained. Mommy needs for her to be potty trained. I only have a couple of weeks before home schooling resumes. My hopes of having a potty trained child by the end of summer are quickly fading. Thank goodness this will be the last time I potty train ever again. No, I will not potty train my grand kids!!!!!!!!

Finally by 8am or so, I had settled the kids down on the couch for our morning Bible time. Despite the threat of a big, fat eye socket headache, I will continue to meditate on Ephesians 4 and know that this day will pass. And really in the big scheme of things, my teensy weensy inconvenience is small potatoes!

Rest time can't get here fast enough! I will have to imagine my small, ordinary, boring bathroom into a luxurious, sea grass suite as I smooth away my cares with my irresistible, autumn -scented pumpkin glow sugar scrub!

Facebook Family

I know, I know, I am always last to join in on any kind of new technology, but finally I have joined facebook.

I am known for shying away from anything that requires a lot of reading where following instructions is involved, especially if it is something on the Internet. I get this strange sort of nagging feeling that I am just one key away from accidentally selling my soul or something crazy like that!

But, I guess it was about time for me to shed my status as an amoeba concerning all things computery. I think I have at least evolved into an earthworm.

I keep telling myself that I have to at least try to keep up for my kids' sakes. As long as Daddy's around, I know there is nothin' to worry about, though!!

And Liquid Gold Fell From the Sky

Well, actually it was just water. But you would have thought it was pure gold by the way my family was acting this evening! Folks, we haven't seen rain in a long time, so we celebrated with much glee!The dark clouds rolled in and the heavens opened. Ragamuffin was beside himself!!!
The boys had a blast playing in the rain. Boy, did they get soaked. It was quite a heavy shower with whirling winds.

Uh oh. The wind yanked one of our stakes out of the ground, so this poor, young tree was touching its toes! It was amazing how fast the streets flooded. It was like the boys were wading in a creek or something. Watching them play in the rain brought back memories of when I was a little Arizonian about Mullin's age. Seriously, playing in the rain here is a rare treat!

Shouts of joy and jubilee could be heard from all the excited neighborhood children. The storm left as quickly as it came. All is calm again. And thankfully our electricity wasn't out for very long.

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Poor Shiloh didn't get to join her "bubbies", for she has spent the first few days of being three sick. :(

Monday night after a full day of fun--seeing Kung Fu Panda, no napping, eating dinner at Chili's, and helping to make home made ice-cream with Paw, she threw up all over the couch, rug and tile floor. At first we just thought it was from too much junk and too much fun, but she continued to throw up during the night and once the next day. A low grade fever set in, and she just looked so pitiful. Today at 10:30 am, she just went upstairs, tucked herself in bed, and slept for 3 hours. You know a toddler is sick when they voluntarily take a nap!!

She seems to be on the mend, and I am really hoping this won't get passed around to the entire family!! I don't think I can do another "get only 2 hours of sleep night"!

Wet Dog, B.O., and Rotting Meat

That's what it smelled like in my house today.



My 2 boys and 2 neighborhood boys decided to escape the intense heat and come inside for a little while. Almost immediately, a rancid smell infiltrated my lavender-scented home. Even the cinnamon apples baking in the oven couldn't cover the stench. Seriously, I thought I might puke!



Is this what I can expect from now on since I have 2 growing boys. Is my house no longer going to smell princessy fresh?



Because I don't want my children playing in the neighbor's homes, I open mine up. So, I guess that means it's gonna stink. I mean, it probably wouldn't be very tactful to hand the kids a bar of soap while I escort them out back to the hose. I do make them take off their shoes--hmm, maybe today that was a mistake.



I really do desire to be a cheery, hospitable mom, and since God's strengths are made perfect in my weaknesses, I know He's going to bring me through. I am just not quite there, yet. I do love me a clean, quiet home!!



Oh how I miss hearing Jean share countless stories about raising boys. I have gleaned so many wonderful child rearing tips from her, including how to be a hospitable mom! If we were sitting at my kitchen table over a cup of tea, I know she'd tell me in that sweet, southern drawl, "Brandi, you're raising your kids not your house!"



Feel free to send me your best tips when it comes to inviting your kids' friends/neighbors into your home!!

My Very First Harvest

I can't even begin to express how delighted I was to pick my very first yellow squash! I know it sounds silly, but there is just something so amazing about watching food grow. This is my very first garden, and I am absolutely loving it! Thanks to hubs for building it for me. :)
These are my squash and zucchini plants. I have a few carrots and 2 pumpkin plants, too. My cilantro and onion seeds just wouldn't sprout even after planting them twice. Oh well, not too bad for a beginner.


I have been so tickled over the excitement the kids have shown. They helped plant the seeds--even Shiloh helped. Everyday they would watch for sprouts and boy, you can imaging the shouting when the first one emerged!!



Here they are, my first two squash. (Should that be squashes?) Lincoln was so excited about them, and he doesn't even like squash. That is until Sunday when we cooked them.



He helped me saute` them in butter, onion, spices, and cheese. And......he like it!!! But, he says he will only eat squash from the garden not the store. Silly boy.

Diaper Doozy

Let me just start out by saying I am thankful for 2 things right now: Changing tables and bathtubs.


So, my daughter decides to change her own poopie diaper today.



Yes, I was horrified, but we all managed to survive.


Seriously, she'd only been out of my sight for about 5 minutes. I had to finish washing lunch dishes. As soon as I was done, I headed upstairs to get the kids ready for rest time, and, oh my goodness, that's when I was met with that most dreadful sight!

Her diaper was off and she'd already used about 10 wipes. For a moment I didn't know where to begin. We are not talking a convenient little patty here; it was a mess. Some was on the wall, some on her clothes, and it was smeared all over the diaper changing table. It was gross, but I haven't even shared the best part yet. With her free hand she was taking her passy in and out of her mouth. That hand had POOP on it!!! I was trying my best to remain somewhat calm and still drive home the fact that she was to never do that again!!

Thank goodness she had sense enough to do the dirty deed on the changing table and not on the floor!

I bet some mommas out there are so relating to this!! If you want, feel free to share your worst diaper nightmare with me. :)

My Ebay Pile

Oh my goodness. I just couldn't stand looking at those growing ebay piles in my room any longer. So, today I finally got around to listing some items.

I always find it hard to add the non-regular things to my everyday to-do lists. The regular, everyday things take up all of my time. Adding even just one thing is always a challenge, but I told the kids to entertain themselves and let me be so I could do this much needed task.

I finally signed up with Half.com and listed about 15 books. Won't make much money off of them, but anything will help right now. I am wondering if listing some of them was a complete waste of time. $0.75 cents doesn't go very far. Didn't have time to list the other ebay items. Going to try and sell some of Shiloh's clothes and other misc. items. All proceeds will go toward school books, and a few summer items to help entertain kids when it is 115 degrees outside. And that will be here before I know it!

I Shouldn't Be Surprised

Went to get my "small" cavity filled yesterday afternoon.

I know you all want to grab a cup of hot tea or coffee and share in my tooth woes, right? :)

Before I go any further let me inform that an X-ray is 2 dimensional, so it cannot show the dentist what is underneath a silver filling. I already had one of those in the tooth that was getting worked on.

The dentist, while removing my silver filling, found that my tooth underneath was basically rotten! I shouldn't be surprised b/c I was feeling a twinge in that tooth every time I drank something cold, and usually by the time I feel any pain it is anything but a small cavity we are dealing with. Plus, this very same thing has happened to me before, so it was just like De Ja Vu!!! I guess I can let myself off the hook b/c no amount of brushing, flossing and rinsing could have prevented the decay taking place under my filling.

Fearing the worst and trying to fight back tears over the "big mama" cavity as the assistant called it, I prepared myself to hear the dreaded R word--root canal. Plus, all I could see were dollar signs dancing around in my head. Those things aren't cheap! My dentist, who by the way is a very good one in my opinion, explained everything he had done so far and showed me a few disgusting, color photos of the decay and the huge gaping hole left in my tooth.

Then came the diagnosis: No root canal, thank goodness, BUT b/c the cavity was so gigantic it can't be filled with an ordinary filling. In an effort to save what remained of my tooth and to keep me from having to get a crown, I am getting a permanent porcelain thingy cemented to it. I get to go back again in 10 days. Yea!

I hope I don't have to have anesthesia again. I just can't handle that stuff anymore. Almost immediatley my heart starts to race and I become very jittery. It lasts for hours, too. Makes me feel just awful. Snappy, too!! I also can't stand to hold my mouth open for any length of time, either. Oh, it just really bothers me now!!!

I don't remember that happening as a kid. And I have had TONS of shots in my mouth. I am the girl who had about 7 baby teeth, roots and all, pulled around the age of 7 or 8. In fact I still have them. My kids are dying to see them. When I had my wisdom teeth cut out from under the bone, I refused to be put to sleep for it. I got about 10 shots and was good to go. Oh, the joys of being young!!

I am seriously trying to be thankful in the midst of this trial, but my flesh wants to stress over the extra $600.00 that has to be spent. This came at a time when we need to be paying for home school books not porcelain caps.

I am thankful, though, that I don't have to have a root canal--that would have been much more expensive!

I am thankful that I don't have cancer or some other fatal disease that would keep me from home schooling my kids.

I am thankful that I don't have to get a set of false teeth....yet.

Another Cavity

I am so tired of singing the same song and dancing the same dance at the dentist's office.
It has been this way since my very first visit at age 5 or so. I think I am just going to blame it on my genes b/c I don't know anyone more obsessive compulsive about cleaning their teeth!!

In the past I have blamed my weak teeth on the fact that I grew up on modern, nutrient deprived foods such as formula, white breads, canned and processed stuff, convenient, frozen meals with the never ending lists of unpronounceable words, skim milk, etc. Then in my teens I got the brilliant idea of trying out a no fat diet for a while. Nutritious, huh? While I am sure all of these components didn't help the problem, I have come to the conclusion that it wasn't necessarily the cause.

Why? Well, my brother and sister never seemed to get any cavities as kids. They were eating the same food that I was eating. At least I think they were.

As far as brushing goes, I am a legalist. Even as a teen, I used the before mouthwash, Plax, flossed, brushed and used an after mouthwash. Now I am at home all day and brush at least 3 sometimes 4 times a day. I even use the fluoride rinse that I got from the dentist's office. I also chew the kind of gum that is supposed to help prevent cavities. Mark loves to tease me about my whole teeth cleaning ritual. I actually hate using all of the chemicals that I use for my teeth, but I will do anything to keep from having any more cavities and root canals. Obviously it isn't working!!!

Back to the gene theory. It just isn't fair! My dad never went to the dentist as a kid. He has very healthy teeth that are perfectly straight. So, I guess I didn't inherit a lick of his healthy teeth gene. I remember my mom having quite a few cavities. Don't know if she's had any root canals-- I have had 3 already!!! What I have been told, though, is that my maternal grandmother had an entire set of false teeth by the time she was in her 30's. Yikes! I am trying to look at the bright side and be thankful that I am not having to take my teeth out every night and soak 'em, but I am still a bit miffed about having yet another cavity. Blaming my genes really doesn't make me feel any better, actually worse b/c I feel that I am helpless. Not to mention I have read many articles that suggest there is a relationship between a person's teeth and their overall health. Presently I wonder, am I eating all of this healthy food in vain??

I wonder what my children are thinking? I always tell them to brush their teeth so they won't get cavities. I am sure they have to be quite confused as to why mommy gets them.

Because I am already in a bad mood about the whole thing, don't anybody dare to even mention the possibility of my cavities being related to the fact that I love to eat sweets!!!!!!! :)

Hmmm, now there's a thought. Maybe I could sue all of the companies whose candy I am addicted to. Yeah, it's their fault for making such tasty treats. It shouldn't be my responsibility to use self control at the store when they strategically place the beautifully wrapped packages right next to the check out counter.

32's Come and Gone

Had a great birthday. Got to go on a date to The Cheesecake Factory with my husband. Last date was May of '07. Our gracious friends from church offered to keep our kids so we could go out. Would you believe it, they even gave us a Cheesecake Factory gift card. Oh my stars!!! I ordered the best tastin' steak ever. Oh, and their desserts are out of this world. I have had a few of their tasty treats before, but this time I hit the jackpot with Chris' Outrageous Chocolate Cake.--- As described on their menu: CHRIS' OUTRAGEOUS CHOCOLATE CAKE A Cheesecake Factory Original - Layers of Moist Chocolate Cake, Chewy Brownie, Toasted Coconut Pecan Filling and Creamy Chocolate Chip Coconut Cheesecake---YUM!!

Besides stylish gardening tools, an awesome date, and some birthday money, I acquired a few more wrinkles and spider veins. You can imagine how trilled I am. I am still clinging on to youth the best that I can, though. Still no gray hair. Will I be able to say that next year??? Oh please, I hope so!!!!

My Very First Real Coconut

My boys and I thought it would be a fun experience to buy a "real"coconut. I did a little research yesterday on how in the world to cut one. I hope my efforts pay off...
It felt wierd using a screwdriver on a piece of fruit, but it proved to work quite well in poking its "eyes" out.
Mullin is draining the coconut milk into a bowl. Not sure what we are going to use it for. Guess I need to research that now.
Sorry Lincoln, but Mama is going to be the one to hit the coconut and hopefully split it!

I hope this works, and I really hope no one is passing by my garage right now. I am sure I will look very silly!
What do you know-- 2 hits and whammo! I know I am wierd, but I felt so elated after this experience. Trying new things is fun, and since I have no desire to do something really fascinating like, deep sea diving or wrestling alligators, cutting open a coconut was adventurous enough for me.
The meat inside was so smooth and pretty. I wish my teeth were this white!

After all that work I ate a healthy snack of banana, coconut, raw almonds, and local honey. Yum.
My boys weren't so impressed with the taste, but they had a fun time with it.



I must add that I never thought anything could be more difficult and time consuming than cutting open a pomegranate! Acorn squash can be a bit tricky, too, but nothing compares to the coconut! As I was trying my darndest to cut and scrape away at the pearly white meat, I had a lot of time to just think.

As I was scraping away, I thought about how easy it was to get to the milk. Getting to the "meat" on the other hand was taking time, dedication, hard work, and patience. Then, in the quietness of my mind, the Holy Spirit began drawing a mental picture for me, relating the milk and meat of the coconut to the milk and meat of God's holy Word.

As baby Christians, drinking the milk of the Word that is so easily accessible is vital, but we were never meant to be sustained on milk alone. It is just as important to move on to the meat of the Word growing up in the wisdom and knowledge of God and becoming cross bearing servants in His Body, the Church. So many are content to just sit back and sip on milk without ever moving on to the meat. It requires time, dedication, hard work, and patience. It requires sacrificing one's own desires, and that never seems fun at the time.

I am glad I bought a coconut today! Blessings to you and yours--it is time for me to wake my sleeping beauty.

**I know with this many words and my spell check not working, there are bound to be some misspelled words, but I just don't have enough time to proofread. Gotta wake my girl or she won't want to go to bed tonight!

Isn't It Ironic?

So, I am driving all around town yesterday with 3 kids in tow to run various errands.

First stop, Target. Had to return a quilt.

Second stop, Wal-mart.

Third stop, Dollar Store. We have a "house point" system in our home, and after earning 100 points they can spend $1.00 at this store.

Next door is Sprouts, the health food store. Going to this store and the next store is really why I wanted to get out in the first place. Unfortunately it isn't very conveniently located. Takes about 40-45 min. to drive there from our house. But, they have the most yummy, healthy bread there! Plus, I had a few other items that I needed. Glad I went because they had the most beautiful cherries on sale!!!

On my way back to the car, I realize that it is almost 11:30. My kids eat every day at 11am. Every day. I still have one more stop to make before going home, and it is to a place that I have never been. I am thinking, "Oh great, it'll be 1:00 before I can get home, they will be starving and it will be nap time!"

What is a mother to do who needs to feed her hungry kids while out and about on a very tight budget?? Exactly. McDonald's. As we pull into a parking space, I gently warn my children, who by the way have behaved wonderfully the entire morning, that we don't have enough $ to buy happy meals, or enough time to play on the really cool playground. Once we sat down with our food, I told them to eat fast so we could get to our next stop before 1:00 since that was this particular place's closing time. My kids were absolute angels!

Okay now for our last errand. A farm. A farm that sells raw cow's milk. This was my very first time ever to buy raw milk. For years I have bought organic cow's milk, goat's milk, and soy milk, but I am ready to move on to something that may even be a healthier choice. My kids thought is was neat going to this farm to buy milk, and they even got to see a few sweet, little, baby cows. I will let you know how the milk tastes after I open it.

Isn't it ironic that I am out driving all over town to buy healthy food for my family, then swing by McDonald's to quickly and cheaply fill my kids' bellies?!! I am still questioning why b/c every time I eat there, my body immediately recognizes that what I just put into my mouth is not food.(Obviously I didn't order a salad.) Thankfully my body is working properly and can quickly purge the poison from my intestines. Yum. Hopefully my kids won't be scarred for life from eating there every once in a while. There were lots of customers at McDonald's that looked like they ate there quite a bit, and they were still kickin'. Brad or Catie, this would be a great time for you to comment and tell your Happy Meal story. I would tell it myself, but it has been a while since I have heard it and I don't want to botch the details.

Happy eating, especially if you're going to McDonald's. :)

Dates

Guys usually get a bad reputation for being a little slow in the date-remembering department, but not my guy. He remembers every important date having to do with "us".

I get so consumed with remembering the gazillion birthdays, appointment dates, special event dates, sport dates, and every other misc. date on the calendar, that I do tend to forget those special, romantic dates that happened forever ago. About a week ago, my dear husband blogged about one of those "dates". If you are curious and haven't already read about it, go here.

Thanks, Babe, for remembering stuff like that!

Dreadfully Busy!

"Busy, busy, dreadfully busy.

You've no idea what I have to do.

Busy, busy, shockingly busy.

Much, much too busy for you!"

This is the Veggie Tales song that has been playing over and over in my mind like a broken record since Thanksgiving! (I have made the assumption that all of my readers know what a record is.) I have been busy decking our halls with Christmas decor, getting my kids back in home school mode after a 4 day weekend, wrapping and packing up presents that need to be mailed to what seems like a galaxy far, far away, cleaning and scrubbing, planning for Friday dinner guests, updating addresses for Christmas card mail outs, gathering up recipes for a baking day with my mom and sister, etc, etc... All good and fun things, well most of them anyway, but still all things taking up every precious moment of my time. Blog land had to be put on the back burner.

So glad to finally have all of our Christmas decorations up. The kids had a fun time trimming the Memory Tree. I love Christmas ornaments! Good thing, too, because several of our beloved family members give us each new ornaments every year! We all anxiously anticipate what they will be and can't wait to find a spot for them on the tree.

Mark and I also like to exchange ornaments with ourselves and the kids. From now on we will open up our ornaments from each other right before we decorate the tree,instead of waiting until Christmas, so we can enjoy them all month long! This year I gave Mark a Smore basketball player and a Starbucks mug. He gave me a jeweled cross. Mullin got a Smore baseball player, Lincoln a Smore soccer player, and Shiloh got three since she hardly has any ornaments to her name yet--Wish Bear, Strawberry Shortcake, and a Victorian baby buggy.

We all LOVE the ornament tradition!!!

For a more thorough post on our family's Christmas decorating weekend, see my husband's post.

Fridge Art

Hanging art on my fridge was something I said I would never do. Then I had kids.
Kids love to draw pictures, and honestly now that I am a mom, I love to see their work displayed! To try and keep things on the "neat" side, I bought each kid a magnet clip and they're each allowed to hang one picture on the fridge.

Four Guys You Wouldn't Mind Having as Sons-in-Law

For the past few weeks I have been reading, studying and meditating on the book of Daniel. I have read about Daniel, Shadrack, Meshack, and
Abednego and their incredible testimonies many times, but I just felt God leading me to do so once again. He has me completely drawn in to the lives of these 4 handsome, intelligent young men.



From the very first day that I became a mom, I have been able to read Bible stories with a totally new perspective. My heart just sank when Daniel and the others were kidnapped from their homes and taken to the worldliest of worldly places, Babylon. For parents, the kidnapping of a child is one of the worst things that could happen!!! I am both amazed and impressed with the way these 4 boys handled being ripped away from the comfort and familiarity of their own homes to being plunged into such a pagan society. Even though God blessed them in many ways (Dan. 1:17), they still experienced many difficult trials and tribulations. Good grief, in modern times it seems like kids can't even go off to college without quickly succumbing to the pressures of this world.





Moms, could you just imagine how heartsick you would feel knowing that your child was about to be thrown into a fiery furnace, but yet how proud you would be, at the same time, knowing that he was willing to face a terribly painful death rather than forsake God and bow the knee to an idol.

How about knowing your son was about to be ripped apart by famished lions? The thought turns my stomach, yet Daniel had the courage to defy man's law and continue to pray to the one true God despite the horrific consequence.

I can't help but wonder what happened to the mothers of these boys. Were they kidnapped, too, and taken to Babylon? Were they killed? Were they left behind only to bear the burden of not knowing what was happening to their children? Did they ever get to see their sons again, or get to hear their incredible testimonies? Did they ever get to hear their sons thank them for raising them up in the fear and knowledge of God? Really, I have no idea what their moms were like, but I do know what kind of mom God wants me to be. One that soaks herself in the Word, one that prays without ceasing, and one that continually points her children to Christ.

I can only hope that my 3 children, when the last of the apron strings have been severed, when they have completely emerged from under the shelter of my wings and entered this cold, cruel, Godless world, that they will express the same kind of courage that Daniel and his friends expressed in the face of extreme hardship and severe suffering.

Diaper Trivia

Dedicated to all of us mamas changing the world one diaper at a time!!


Did you know: Americans throw away 570 diapers per second? That's 49 million diapers per day!! Wow!!

But, I have to say I am VERY thankful for disposable diapers, aren't you?

Play-Doh Phobia

As a kid I loved this stuff. Mmm, the salty smell, beautiful, bright colors, and cold dough being formed in the palm of my hand bring back fond memories.

As a mom I hate this stuff. It's messy, especially when boys play with it. It ends up in little pieces on the floor, gets stuck on the bottom of shoes, and gets ground into carpet and into the "straw" seats of my kitchen chairs.

A couple of years ago, after cleaning up a big Play-Doh mess and throwing every last bit into the trash can, I vowed never to let it in my house again! (I know, I am a terrible mother.) Well, my oldest received some Play-Doh from church recently, and he asked if he could have another chance at playing with it. Of course I couldn't resist his kind plea. He used a paper plate and cleaned up after himself! He did a great job, but then his younger brother got a hold of it and well, let's just say the Play-Doh's new home is yet again in the garbage can.

As a Christian, I am supposed to get rid of the stumbling blocks in my life, right? Well, for me Play-Doh is one!!! Maybe I will try again when the weather is cooler and have them use it outside. But as for now, I have a Play-Doh free home!!