Ponderings In The Field of Grace

I’m glad I got to rest some last weekend because I am doing nothing but working and running my rear end off this one. Between basketball games, birthday parties, church, and meetings, I am pretty much booked all weekend.

I want to just hang out at the house and clean a little at a time. It’s just not going to happen right now. I have got to do better with this scheduling thing. I’ve already got Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights booked next week. And of course we have a Super Bowl get together next Sunday. Individually everything sounds fine, it’s when everything gets thrown together that it gets to be a little much.

And it never fails the house falls behind because I get tired from everything else I have to do. Oh well. Maybe today I’ll at least make a dent in it. I’ll just have to remember my old High School’s motto, Carpe Diem! ( Seize the day!)  I made up my mind I’m going to make the most of it!

Hope you have a great day. God Bless!

Instead of my usual to do list, I thought today I would do a got it done list. So here goes:

1. 1- load of dishes
2. 1- load of clothes dried
3. 1- load of clothes washed
4. School
5. lunch fixed
6. straightened bathroom
7. cleaned stove
8. Folded a load of clothes
9. Washed rest of dishes
10. fixed dinner
11. went to grocery store
12. bought birthday present
13. made brownies for basketball tomorrow

I think that’s enough for now. Oh well, too bad my house still looks like a bomb went off. I’ll deal with the rest of it tomorrow!

We went on a weekend getaway a few days ago.

For the first time since 1999, we went to the mountains. I am personally more of a beach person, but even I have to admit, it was one of the best vacations we have ever had.

When we left Saturday morning, things were not very promising. The forecast was for snow/rain almost all day and a few inches of snow by the time we reached the mountains. We tried to leave pretty early so we would not get too bogged down in traffic. Plus, the fact that I suffer from motion sickness, and I did not want to be having to rush through the mountains in order to get to the rental place before it closed, had some bearing on when we left as well.

We took our time traveling on the interstate through the mountains, and we arrived around 2 something. We were able to check in early, and pulled up to the house just as the flurries began to fall. It was beautiful and the kids were so excited! We stayed at Camelot which is a rental from Mtn. Laurel Chalets.

It was the perfect place for us! There were three floors, 2 living rooms, 3 BR/Ba, a pool table and a hot tub. We didn’t use the hot tub, but the pool table was definitely put to use! We ate at the Gondolier Italian Restaurant & Pizza place. We had one of the best pizzas I have eaten in a while. Then we went to get groceries, and get some apple butter. I have to get apple butter from the Smoky Mountain Farms store whenever I come to Gatlinburg. It is the only apple butter that I like. It is so good, I always have to by 2 jars!

After that, we headed back to the house, and didn’t leave the rest of the day. I had bought a book Room of Marvels to read so I plopped down on the couch upstairs, and pretty much didn’t move the rest of the night! I made up my mind I was going to relax on this vacation and not run my legs off, and that is exactly what I did.

The next morning we got up and decided to check out the shops downtown. We walked for a good while. The temperature was around 24 degrees. We went into the Mountain Mall and looked around. Then we headed over to the Village Shops, where The Professor got a Lil’ Webkinz (basset hound). After walking around we headed to Howard’s Steakhouse on the main road. The food was alright, but the bill gave us sticker shock. It was a good thing we had already planned on that being the place where we would have our “big meal”. After a little more shopping and picking up a few things from Food City, we wandered back to the cabin. The Knight was still hoping to go to Ober Gatlinburg and show the kids around, but the parking lot was full so we didn’t get to. We did go and find the chalet we stayed at on our honeymoon. It’s a private residence now, so no more rentals. Oh well, I guess it’s a good thing we found Camelot!

After all that riding and walking we decided we would spend the rest of our time at the cabin, and that’s exactly what we did. We played pool, watched the AFC and NFC championship games, read a book, made dessert, and just generally enjoyed ourselves!

We checked out Monday morning, and grabbed a bite to eat at McDonald’s in Sevierville. On the way back we stopped by Smoky Mountain Knifeworks store, billed as the World’s Largest Knife Store. That place had a little bit of everything. I loved it. Lil guy found a sword and shield that he hasn’t stopped playing with yet. They have some really cool stuff there. I told Howard, I thought it was now a must whenever we go to Tennessee.

The trip home was pretty uneventful, and we made it back in plenty of time. I absolutely enjoyed almost every minute of this vacation, and if you know me, that is something I rarely say. I can’t wait to go back!

I am somehow getting behind on things around the house. So today I have really got to play catch up. We are planning a short getaway for the weekend, so it is even more important that I get this stuff done!

• Laundry (at least 4 loads) 2 washing/2 drying
• Change sheets on all the beds
• Vacuum
• Dust
• Sweep/mop
• Clean bathrooms
• Dishes / Clean counters
• School

Now there are actually some more things I could add to this, but honestly I am going to be doing good just getting this done right now.

We’ll see.

Just had to tell you it snowed!!!!

It’s been almost a year since it snowed here. We got around 2 inches. Now it will most likely be all melted by tonight, but for now there’s snow!!!!

Just had to tell somebody!

Ok, time to get a little political.

Let me start off by saying, I am a conservative. I am not a registered Republican, but have never voted for a Democrat in any federal elections. I, personally, believe a candidate’s opinion on abortion is crucial. It helps me see if they share similar values. However, it is not the only issue. I also believe just because someone wraps themselves in the American flag, carries a Bible, and pats me on the back to tell me they are “listening” to me, does not mean they are sincere. Quite the opposite is true, actually. I tend to be leery of those types of politicians, simply by virtue of them being politicians. That is their job to try and influence me to their camp. It is also my job to be informed, and if I’m not informed, then I don’t need to vote!

Which leads me to my problem. I have a few courses of action I can take in my state’s upcoming primary.

1. I can vote for John McCain.
2. I can vote for Mitt Romney.
3. I can vote for Mike Huckabee.
4. I can vote for Fred Thompson.
5. I can not vote at all.

Here in lies my problem.

I don’t like John McCain’s take on certain issues. He supports Stem Cell Research. I do not share his views on immigration. However, he has been in Washington long enough to know how the town works. Having sponsored bills with Democrats, he has been able to get people to work together, and that is key in that town if you want success.

I don’t like Mitt Romney, because he supports gun control. And I know I am going to get flamed for this, but I don’t feel I can support a Mormon candidate. Now his religion is not the only reason, as a matter of fact it is actually only a very small part. He comes off as insincere to me, even more than some of the other candidates do. I also have some questions as to if his definition of conservative matches my definition. On the plus side though, he has experience working with Democrats to get things done. After all, I don’t see how someone could be Governor of Massachusetts and not be able to work with Democrats.

I like Mike Huckabee. As far as social values go, he seems to be pretty close to me. I have been watching him for months. I like what he has to say. However, some things have me questioning my support. I know anyone can make up a story, but there seem to be a lot of stories of impropriety just flying around. Also, having grown up in a SBC church I am fully aware that being president of the SBC for your state involves major political savvy. Also, I would like my candidate to be more economically conservative, as well as socially conservative.

I like Fred Thompson. He seems to be the social and economic conservative I would like. That he opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment is not a deal breaker for me. Simply because, I do not see the federal, state, and local groundswell of support needed for it to be a reality. He has also been in Washington enough to know how the game is played. My biggest concern with him is more than that. I don’t know whether he really cares if he wins or not. I’ve seen him show more emotion in a TV program than I have on the campaign trail, until recently. I watched the FoxNews debate, and he finally appeared to really want it. He defended himself well, and he called people out on several things that needed to be cleared up.

So as of right now what do I do?

1. I pray.
2. I research some more.
3. I pray.
4. I vote.

If the primary were held today, I would vote for Fred Thompson. I am still praying and still researching. Unless there is a smoking gun somewhere, he has the vote of one homeschooling, church going, minivan driving mom of four.

So, we’ve been getting in the groove a little more since we started back to school. I eased them all in. The first week back we just did basics. The next week we’ve added TOG, Science, and Art. Hopefully next week we’ll throw in Health for good measure. Then we’ll have everything covered completely again.

Right now the kids are memorizing the 12 tribes of Israel. We’re reviewing Week 6 just because it had been a while, and I never really had the evaluations and things before. Since I have them now I thought I would go back over them.

I have admit, I’m doing something with my  TOG order that I have never done before. Instead of going into a frenzy trying to get the whole year organized and having everything just so, I have had it almost a week and only opted to open the MapAids and Evaluations! The rest of the stuff is still in the box! I am actually going back over some of the stuff we did before, and doing it all out. We’re using the right maps instead me winging it. I am curious to see how they do on the evaluations. That, truthfully, had been one of my concerns and why I did want to order the “whole kit and kaboodle”. I wanted to have something in writing so I could actually see for myself that the kids “got it”.

For this week they are going to be tested on Abraham’s Family tree and the 12 tribes (TOG),  studying the moon, and catching up on some reading besides the basic stuff (reading, phonics, spelling, math, language, handwriting, vocabulary, etc.)

I love Tapestry of Grace!

Now, truthfully this isn’t exactly in TOG as a particular “lesson”, but anyway.  I stayed home with the boys this morning from church with the understanding that we would have a “school” lesson from the Bible. We are working on learning Abraham’s family tree. So we worked on that a little bit, then I read a story from Genesis about Jacob and Laban. We had a fantastic discussion about it. I think that was the best part.

I will freely admit that I have a hard time talking with my children sometimes, and it’s mostly my fault. I have been overwhelmed with just trying to keep up with 4 children, homeschooling, and keeping the house up, that I was too busy telling people things to do, and didn’t listen. That is probably one of the reasons I have many of the troubles I have with my children. They know I have never really taken the time to listen to them on a regular basis.

Thanks to conviction by the Holy Spirit, reading The Heart of Anger, and using Tapestry of Grace I have begun changing some things. The most important I believe, is that these things are teaching me to not talk at my children. They are helping me re-learn how to talk to my children.

The sad part is I do know better than to have behaved this way. I grew up with parents and grandparents who modeled what it is to be a good parent. If I think back, I can recall countless conversations with my parents and grandparents as I was growing up. Through these conversations, I can probably tell you more about my family than almost anyone else. I took the time to get to know them because they took the time to get to know me. They listened. That may also be the reason my parents are still some of my best friends. I talk to my Mom everyday. Now my Dad isn’t as much of a talker, but I still have some fantastic conversations with him too.

I want that with my own children. Hopefully, though I’m starting a little late, I can still develop that kind of relationship, and one day be their friend as well as their Mom.

This morning I am staying home with the boys from church. Instead we are going to work on some of our Bible History and go over Abraham’s family tree some more. I’m also going to work on having most of dinner ready when Howard gets home. I’d like to get some planning done for school today too, we’ll see. I know the guys are wanting to watch the Dallas game, though they won’t get to see it all because of church this evening. I might also try to go and help with Kids4Jesus if I get the chance. That’s a lot, so we’ll just have wait and see if it actually gets done.

So on to the list:

• Bible story
• Cook dinner
• clean up
• plan for next week
• Kids 4 Jesus
• Church tonight

Time to get started

Well, I guess I didn’t do too well on cleaning yesterday, so I really have a lot of catching up to do! I need to get motivated. I can see my house slowly slipping into the abyss if I don’t!

What to do:

• mop
• clean out the refrigerator
• vacuum
• put up clothes/finish laundry
• clean kitchen counters and table

There are a few other things I would like to do, but if those get done that can just be the icing on the cake.

Whoo-Hoo! I finally got caught up! Happy Dance!