What We Are Reading Together... Thanksgiving Week '08

We are about halfway through this book right now and we are all hooked! I started reading it Sunday, and so far I have read until my throat was dry and crackly every night.
I have to be honest, when I received this book from Crossway to review, I wasn't very enthusiastic. At first glance it didn't look like it was a read that was up our alley. But after I read the info about it, I decided to dig in and I am really glad I did!
There are soo many parallels in this book with the Christian faith that it's very easy to miss a few here and there. It's a very CS Lewis-Esq novel with plenty of "underlying symbolism" to meander through, which makes it a great family read aloud and really spurs some interesting discussions. Even children who are too young to appreciate the symbolism can appreciate the story, but be warned, there are some creepy parts in this plot! You may have to quell a few fears before you get through the book! We will likely wrap this book up in the next few days, so stay tuned for a complete review to come soon!
(Click on the book above to learn more)
Blessings,
Cassie

I know I know.... It's Been Awhile

I know you are probably tired of all my excuses but I just can't help it. I was without internet for over a week. But have no fear, I am up and running again now!

I plan on posting more later, but I just wanted to tease you a bit....

A little piece of heaven..... sugar cream pie with a glass of milk. Yes, I had this for breakfast this morning ; )

Til later!
Blessings,
Cassie

FINALLY..... Chicago Trip pictures!!

So this pic was obviously taken as we were entering the tolls to get into Chi-town via the skyway...

And this was after we crossed the skyway.  A nice shot of the skyline as we entered the city at dawn.

Ok.  We didn't manage to do nearly all the things we wanted to.  But we DID end up spending 4+ hours in the Chicago Art Institute where we took lots of pics... the following are just a few. 

This was one of the miniature rooms we were amazed by at the museum.  They had a whole wing of these little, detailed dioramas.  Each one is modeled after a different room, in a different part of the world and in a different era of history.  Don't they look like real rooms?

We were amazed by the attention to detail in these exhibits.

This was one of my favorites.

This one I liked a lot also.  It was a "shaker" living area.

They had a great section of ancient Egyptian artifacts, which I snapped lots of pics of since we are studying that time period now!

Canopic jars........eeewwwww!

An ancient Egyptian sarcophagus..neat!

And then we stumbled upon this very unique sculpture of Jesus on the Cross made entirely from wood.

Well that's all the pictures I have to share with you.  I am sorry there's not more, but when you travel with an infant you don't have a lot of time to snap photos!  Next time we will be sure to plan ahead better and hopefully we will get to do more.

Blessings,

Cassie

Homeschooler's Lunch with the Missionaries

We had a pretty good day today. Busy but good! Man I'm tired.

Today was our "Homeschooler's Lunch with the Missionaries". It was really neat and I am really glad we were able to attend. Pictures to be posted later this week, i hope!

So there were 2 missionaries who were present to speak at today's event, and both minister to closed countries (meaning they do not willingly allow missionaries to enter the country) which are predominantly Islamic. They referred to themselves as "undercover agents for Jesus" to the kids, which they all thought was pretty neat. We learned about the countries they minister to, Pakistan and Turkey, and about Islamic culture. After learning more about their way of life, it is easier for us to understand why it is so difficult for a Muslim person to convert to Christianity. It takes a Muslim an average of 7 years to actually convert! Talk about relationship evangelism! These people, when choosing Christ, make a decision to face many hardships in order to do so. Some of them are ostracized and threatened by their communities and families. Many are disowned and even go into hiding in order to avoid persecution. it is very sad but also very awesome to see that through the Holy Spirit these people can come to know a relationship with the one true God! I am making it a point from this moment forward to keep these countries and their people in my prayers, along with the missionaries that are risking their very lives in order to share the gospel with them.

I did get a photos of my boys with each of the missionaries, but will not be able to post them online as I don't want to put them at risk of being "found out" by their respective governments. They obtained their visas by other means. For example, many missionaries to closed countries go to school there in order to obtain their visas. Some others go there to teach to to establish some sort of social program. Thank the Lord for calling people who are trusting Him in order to go where He calls them.

On a lighter note, we enjoyed fellow-shipping with other HSing families and of course the boys made fast friends and hung out with old friends. We are hoping to make some new connections and continue to meet with other families for other events in the future! thank you to our church for supporting this event and making it possible! We will never forget it!

By the way, the new recipe I tried last night for "So Tender Swiss Steak" was a big hit! Never before have I prepared a round steak and been able to eat it with just a fork! It was very tasty. i know I promised to post the recipe, but i will get it up tomorrow, promise!

Til tomorrow -

Blessings,
Cassie

Empty Title

So I still have not managed to find my camera usb cable which means no pics yet.  I shopped online for replacements, but found a usb sd card reader at wal-mart for much cheaper than a replacement cable.  I hope to get it by the end of the week and get my pics uploaded to share.

We are not doing school this week.  I am working on some character training issues with the boys and trying to get this house in order.  There is so much that I have slacked on around here in the past few weeks there's no way I can get it all done with our regular schedule by myself.  So I am also working on getting a chore routine made up to help prevent things form getting this out of hand in the future.  It is just way too hard to get caught up!

Tomorrow we are attending our first homeschool event at our church!  This week is missions week, so we are going to a homeschool student's "Lunch with the Missionaries".  I am very excited for the boys to get a chance to really interact with kids who are homeschooled also.  And I always enjoy getting a chance to talk to and fellowship with like-minded families.  I know there are many families in our church who have chosen to home-educate, and we are friends with some of them.  But our church is so big and we have 2 services, so this will be a great opportunity to network and make some new connections!  I'll be sure to blog tomorrow after the event to share how it went.

Tonight hubby is out on a in-state run so he is not home for dinner.  But I will make sure he has a plate waiting on him when he gets home tonight.  I am trying a new recipe for "So-Tender Swiss Steak".  We will have mashed potatoes with gravy and green beans with it.  I would have liked to make homemade bread/rolls with it, but alas, I have no time!  If the recipe is a success, I will post it here later tonight for you to try with your family!

That's really all I have to share for now.  I thought I would take the opportunity to post a bit while my meat is roasting and Joey is napping.

Blessings,
Cassie

I apologize for my absence.....

Yes I am FINALLY posting a new blog entry!

A million apologies for my lapse in recent posts. My pc had a hard drive crash about a month ago and I have been using my husbands pc periodically for necessities only. His system is hooked up to our living room tv and it is not convenient for me at all to use. In order to see the screen well, i have to sit on the floor in front of the screen and can't do it for very long as it hurts my back. So that is the main reason I have not blogged for a while.

Now I have a new laptop (yay)! It is an Acer Aspire 5135 and so far I love it. It is nice to be completely wireless so I can sit comfortably in my trusty recliner and surf away! And here I sit now blogging! There will not be many pics or vids for a bit though as I am searching high and low for the usb that goes to my Kodak camera. As soon as I find it though look out! We took a field trip to Chicago this past week and we went to the Chicago Museum of Art and took lots of pics and also a few of the Chicago skyline. I am not going to post much about this right now, however, as I want to wait until I can post a separate entry with pics and things, so keep an eye out for that soon.

Joey was weighed last week at 17lbs. 4oz. and was 26 3/8 in. long! I can't believe how big he is getting (though my back had a pretty good idea he was getting so heavy)! He will be 6 months on Thursday. He is a very busy boy and is always moving or babbling, especially when he is trying to fight sleep. He is making progress during belly time, scooting and pushing himself in circles. I think he will be rolling over soon as I have been working with him a lot lately. I will set him up about a third of the way and he manages to get himself moved the rest of the way over. He has been intermittently fussy this week with his bottom two middle teeth almost ready to break through the surface. Poor little guy, he's so tough!

Isaiah and I started Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, which I will from here on refer to as 100 EZ Lessons. We have completed the first 10 lessons and he did excellently following my instruction and completing the oral tasks properly. I am very hopeful that this program will be the key to get him reading independently. His inability to read means a lot more one on one work which means less work completed by everyone daily. I am not at all happy with the quantity of work we are getting to daily lately and I am currently working on several things to get us on the right track.

One thing I am working on is getting a schedule made up for the entire family (excluding Daddy of course as he has an unpredictable work schedule) with the help of Managers of Their Homes by Steve and Terri Maxwell. I am starting with Joey. I have been keeping track of his natural routine for 4 days now and I have a pretty good idea of how to make up his schedule. I need to try and keep him awake an extra hour before bed, but I don't know if it's possible until I get his naps straightened out. Yesterday and today he slept 10-11 hours at night and about 3-4 hours a day. This was with half hour naps sprinkled throughout the day with 1-2 hours of alert time in between each. Except for the evening, which is his most alert time. He usually stays up 2-3.5 hours from between his last nap and bedtime, depending on how tired he is. I am thinking if I either keep him up an extra hour before bed (maybe with another small nap to help) or keep him up longer when he first waked in the morning that I can get him to take less frequent, longer naps through the day so that I actually have enough time while he is sleeping to accomplish something. I will keep you updated on how it's going and will get a google docs link up as soon as I have a schedule made up in word.

We have also started using First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind. We are really liking it so far. The boys started memorizing their first poems last week and they are really impressing me with how quickly they are learning them. The lessons are short and sweet and I like that the level one lessons (Isaiah) are mostly oral.

Well, it is 11pm here and I am getting sleepy, so I will be getting myself to bed very soon. I will be making more posts in the coming days to drop in periodically!

Blessings,
Cassie

Yay for Home Movies!!

Yes, I am still uploading video and as I promised I am posting them here as I get them up.

I really love this video. This was taken the first time my grandma and grandpa saw and held Joey. I really enjoy seeing my grandpa with babies. He is like a big ol' teddy bear! I will treasure this video forever. Joey was about a week old here. Enjoy!



I promise there is more to come!

Blessings,
Cassie

New Video of Joey

Ok, here is another video as promised...

This one is of Joey learning how to play with his rattle and hold onto it really well. Enjoy!




Blessings,
Cassie

New Home Video of Joey

Well, I managed to get one of several videos uploaded to YouTube today as promised!  This one is a pretty long one of Joey showing off his vocal range.....Enjoy!  By the way, this was the last 5 minutes of him 15 minute tirade!  it's a miracle the lil' guy didn't get hoarse!



More to come soon!

Blessings,
Cassie

HS Memoirs #5 - My Favourite Things..

THEME:
Since I’ve been making you work really hard on the previous Memoir themes I decided to take a little break, and do something fun! This week I want to invite you to share a few of your favourite things - er - sites. I know the list of favourite things could be never-ending, but I’ve made a list for you to do regarding your favourite homeschool things. Just copy this list and add your favourites underneath the appropriate category. BUT by all means you’re welcome to add your other favourite things on the post as well!

Magazines/Carnivals - in print or online

• Eclectic HS Online
• Home Education Magazine
• The Old Schoolhouse Magazine (this link is to online archives)
• Articles by Barb Shelton
• The Heart of the Matter online
• No Greater Joy online (parenting etc.)

Freebie sites - any sites that offer freebies or often have giveaways

• Free printable flashcard maker
• Free worksheets and awards
• Jennifer Erix' Free Educational Bookmarks
• Midsprinting free tutoring
  

Homeschool news/informative

• HSLDA
• Homeschool buzz
  

Forums/book clubs

• Christian homeschool Fellowship on the Web
• Homeschool Fellowship
  

Networking, Blog “About” (sites that offer tech-support or tutorials for computer/internet) & Quick Links

• Blogger video tutorials
• Magic with Blogs
  

Mom site - sites just for moms / Homemaking

• Titus2 Christian Homekeeper
• Homemaking 911
• A Christian Home (homekeeping index)
• Above Rubies
• Christian Moms of Many Blessings
  

Inspirational/encouraging/motivational - (see above list)

Memes - the ones I participate in you can find in my sidebar -->

      Homeschool Method - sites that offer a lot of info on a certain method

• Charlotte Mason Series (in modern english)
• Old Fashioned Education
  

Family blog - sites that give you a glimpse into another family’s life, run by a family

• 
  Just click on the link at the top of my sidebar that says "View my complete profile" and it will bring up a verrry long list of blogs I follow
  

Businesses, particularly homebased

I apologize but I don't have any bookmarked and can't think of any from the top of my head.

Hope you enjoy the links!

Cassie

Weekly Update - 9/20/08

So, welcome to the new blog! I hope you like it as I have worked very hard to get it just the way I want it! I had a few problems on the prior site getting certain things to work correctly, so I wanted something a bit more flexible.

Being that I spent my spare blogging time last week getting this blog set up, I didn't get to post any new entries. I have a ton of videos to transfer onto my PC and then upload to youtube and I will be working on that tomorrow, so keep an eye out for those soon!

Yesterday, I took Joey to his 4-month check-up with the pediatrician. On one hand, I was very excited to find out how much he had grown over the past 2 months. On the other hand, I was dreading the appointment because I knew he would be getting more immunizations :( . Then it ended up that Bobby was still not home from his run in time to go with us, so I had to do the whole thing alone. Luckily, my friend E came and stayed with Drew and Isaiah and let me take her car to the Dr., so it was just me and lil' man.

Bobby and I were guessing he would weigh between 13 and 14 lbs. Boy was I surprised to find out the lil' chunk weighs 15lbs. 5.5 oz.! Now I don't feel like such a big baby whining about my increase in daily back pain. And to top it off, he is now 25.75" long. But what really shocked me was to learn that with all the growing he has done in just 2 short months, he is still only in the 50th percentile for height and weight. And as for his lil' noggin, only the 10th percentile. Though you wouldn't know it to look at him, he looks well proportioned to me (for a baby)! So the Dr. checked him over and asked the typical questions and said he was doing excellent. Which was, of course, no surprise to this proud momma!

I am sad to say that this proud momma has been a very tired and discouraged momma this week. I have so much around here that I just can't seem to keep up with and it is becoming increasingly annoying. I find myself doing things in 5-10 minute intervals between making meals, feeding bottles to Joey, changing diapers and settling disputes between sibs. And that's just not nearly enough time to get much of anything done! So the state of things around here are just getting worse and worse, including my level of frustration. The laundry is overflowing every basket and hamper, the dishes are constantly piled up, I can't seem to keep bottles clean, the boys' things keep managing to migrate downstairs, the school room is in disarray and the upstairs is badly in need of vacuuming. This is just what I know off the top of my head. There's lots more that needs to be done but I can't even see the big picture right now. I am trying very hard to just look at the mess in bite sized doses, since that is the way in which it must be tended to. The main reason for all this chaos is the absence of my dear hubby this week. He has barely been home long enough to sleep in between runs this week. Which means I have had no help with Joey and no breaks to regain my sanity. Which also means I haven't been the best mommy I can be either. That is the absolute worst part about it. One of these days I pray I will daily be my best for my kiddos, regardless of my mood. But for now God is still working on me.

On another note, Wednesday was Isaiah's birthday! he is now officially 7! We were going to have a party today, but since Bobby got offered a decent run, we decided it would be best that he take it and postpone the party til next weekend. He has requested a Star Wars cake (chocolate of course) so I have a pretty good idea of how I'm going to decorate it. I can't believe he is 7! How fast time flies. I will be sure to post more when we have his party and plenty of photos, too!

Well, I am now rambling and I finding my thoughts are getting quite fuzzy as I go, so I will cut this short and promise to post more tomorrow (complete with videos)! Til then...

Blessings,
Cassie

In Pursuit of Proverbs 31 Bible Study

This 10 week study will consist of the following:

Proverbs 31 - Shattering the Myths
The True Woman of Proverbs 31
Proverbs 31 on Relationship With God
Proverbs 31 on Being a Wife
Proverbs 31 on Being a Mother
Proverbs 31 on Management
Proverbs 31 on Resourcefulness
Proverbs 31 on Ministry
Proverbs 31 on Matters of the Soul
Proverbs 31 and YOU!!

This study will be presented each Monday over the next 10 weeks, God willing, and you will be able to share your responses, thoughts, answers to questions, or related scripture on your blogs and link to it via Mr. Linky. If you do not have a blog then you are more than welcome to enter your responses in the comments section or simply do them at home on your own time.

For this introduction post, I would like for everyone who intends to participate to post about it on their blog and answer the following thought provoking questions:

What do you hope to get out of this bible study?

I hope to become a better Christian, woman, wife and mother and to grow in relationship to the Lord.

What, if anything, has prevented you from studying these scriptures in the past?

I have studied them and even read books based upon them. I just seem to forget the importance of them unless I study them regularly.

What have you found helpful or frustrating about living out these scriptures?

I often feel as though I can never live up to them, but at the same time they help me to see my own shortcomings and motivate me to be better than I am.

Weekly update - 9/8/08

Well it's been a while since I actually posted an update so it's well overdue. Last week was hectic. Joey started really teething. His bottom two middle teeth are working on coming in. You can feel a hard bump and his gums are lighter there in that spot. He had a rough time the first 3 days but seems to be doing better now. He had the typical congestion and diarrhea. I think it's either hurting him less or he is just adjusting to the discomfort. I felt lost because my usually happy, smiling baby boy was nowhere to be found, I am so glad to have him back! We did manage to FINALLY get some video of him giggling. This was caught at the end of my tickling attack....

I just love his giggle!! Though you have to catch him at the right moment in the right mood to really get a good one out of him. Just the other night I was getting his bath ready while daddy was playing with him in the bedroom. The boys were in there too. For some reason, Drew was hopping around being silly and it cracked Joey up! It was the most I have ever heard him laugh. It was a shame I wasn't able to get the camera, but I am sure I will get another chance soon. Here are some more new pics...

And he said he wouldn't be caught dead wearing it...

Yes, those are baby moobs that you see...such a chunk!

Not quite enough hair yet for a mohawk...but we had fun trying anyway!


I have some more videos to upload to youtube, prob later this week when I get the time. I bought Joey a pair of 6-9 month jammies today and they fit good.. a little too good. He is only 4 months old!! It's not fair : (

I don't have much to update as far as school goes. We had a pretty relaxed week. We did some nature journaling spurred by the boys obsession with a crabapple tree by our building...

Here is Drew working on his drawing

and here is what thier finished pages looked like (I filled out the info)

Here is Drew's finished drawing

and here is Isaiah working on his drawing

We had a lot of fun figuring out what kind of crabapple tree it was and looking info up on the Internet. I think they enjoyed choosing their branches and drawing them the most. This was our first attempt at nature journaling and I think we may do it more often.

Other than that, we played some file folder games, did some math and reading and I worked some more on my homeschool recordbook. I am working on finding a more efficient way of keeping grades and things. I love my Homeschool tracker program, but honestly, I spend way too much time working in it. I am in the process of making my own forms and things so that all I have to do is jot something down. Lately I feel as though I have spent more time doing records and prep than actually teaching.

Overall we had a good week, though we got very little done school wise. But we managed to get the house cleaned in one day with everyone having jobs assigned to them and I managed to get a handle on Mt. Laundry. (though I have yet to get it all put away.) And with Joey being cantankerous, I didn't have much time where I wasn't tending to him. I am learning all about the challenges of homeschooling with a baby first hand. It's tough but I am learning to adjust the way we do things in order to accommodate everyone's needs. We still have a long way to go, but we will get there!

I hope you all had a blessed week! Til next time....

Cassie

BFS Assignment #100 - Oh What a Feeling!

Blogger Friend School Assignment for 9/1/08

Assignment: Take time this week to write about YOU and your feelings of trials and triumphs with homeschooling. Touch on when you first heard about the concept of home schooling and whether you tip-toed into the idea or just jumped in and never looked back. Share your schooling as a child and how you compare it to what your goals are for your children.

I am very excited to join this meme group!

I have touched before upon our journey into homeschooling in a previous post. I wrote:

We have been homeschooling since our oldest son, now 8, was 4. It was not planned to be a permanent plan at the time, nor did we refer to it as homeschooling, but after learning more about it, I was hooked on it! We have been doing it and loving it since! Originally we started because we could not afford traditional preschool, then it was because we didn’t want our children to attend the school we lived by at the time and couldn’t afford private school. Now it is because we believe this is the way God meant for our children to learn and grow closer in relationship to Him. I can’t imagine sending my children off to school for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week to have a complete stranger teach them about life. I am selfish and I want my husband and I to be the strongest influence in their lives.

My trials with homeschooling have been many, but with prayer and perseverance, we have overcome many of them. The rest we are still working on! I would say my biggest trial is getting it all done. I have high expectations for our homeschool and there are many times we don't live up to those expectations. Another trial I face on a regular basis is finding creative ways to make our learning fun. I have incorporated a lot of hands on activities into our lessons such as lapbooks, notebooking, manipulatives and file folder games. We try to do at least one fun project a week to keep things interesting and give the boys something to look forward to. I also struggle with knowing what to do when one of the boys has trouble with something we are learning. I tend to research and read as much as I can to help them as much as possible with the things that are challenging for them.

As far as my biggest triumphs, I would have to say that recently, it has been my realization that I need to spend less time planning and keeping records and more time teaching. As I shared above, i struggle with getting it all done and I have for years. So the simple answer for me is to lessen my workload. I am also recruiting the children to help me more with everyday jobs so that I have more time to do those things I need to. Another of my biggest triumphs was when I realized I didn't have to use a "box curriculum". Just because I use a particular publisher for math, doesn't mean I have to buy all that publisher's subject material! I have since learned to use a very eclectic mix of materials and methods, taking what works for us and dumping the rest. I have definitely become a "tweaker". And I have taken it a step further this year and making my own interest led science units. We are really excited about it.

When I think about my school experience compared to that of my children's, it makes me glad that I am able to spend so much time with them. I am able to see their eyes light up when they "get it". I know, in detail, what their strengths and weaknesses are. I can tailor their learning experiences to their own unique learning styles and interests. I really loved school until about the 4th grade. For some reason it was then that my enthusiasm fizzled out. I refuse to let that happen for them. I will always make it a priority to make sure that they enjoy school and learning as much as possible! My goals for my children are very different from the goals the public school system sets. First and foremost, I want them to have a lifelong relationship with Jesus and I want that relationship to determine how they choose to live their lives. More than cramming them full of facts and figures, I desire to ingrain love for God, a love of learning, a love for books and the ability to stand up for their beliefs. I don't think any of these goals were set for me when I was in school many years ago, and I am sure things haven't changed now.

Homeschool Memoirs #3 - Routines

THEME

I am sure some of you are still getting into your homeschool routines. I know some people are very routine oriented while others may be more “day-by-day”, and it all depends on your family and what works best for your life-style. This week please post what your planned homeschool routine is. The theme banner should give you some ideas on how to do that. I had fun making that and adding in real info (except for the times! lol).

When you’re done posting your routines please share
your prayers for this school year, and then sign the linky so others can visit.

Ok, this is hard for me because I am still trying to figure out our "routine". It definitely varies from day to day depending on whether I am babysitting or we have errands to run. My hubby's scedule also affects what we do from day to day.

With all the different circumstances we encounter from day to day around here, I have recently decided to take a more relaxed approach to our school days. On the days when I watch my friends toddler, we do lessons in between his and Joey's naps until he leaves for the day. Then we try to get some more things done in the evening before dinner.

But I can share with you what our IDEAL routine would be.... who knows, maybe we will get into a routine similar to this after we find our niche. Just a note, we do not schedule blocks of time per subject. Rather we schedule blocks of time for lessons and try to get done as much as possible in that period of time.

• 
  
  7 am - Mom gets up and feeds Joey
• 
  
  8-9:30 am - Mom's pc time and a couple loads of laundry
• 
  
  9:30 am - Boys get up (sometimes earlier) and eat and have free time, I tend to Joey (by now he has usually had his morning nap and woken up) and try to get things done around the house as I can
• 
  
  10 am - Mom feeds Joey his second bottle and he is usually ready for a nap soon afterwards
• 
  
  11am - Mom preps lessons for the day and boys complete some work with my help periodically
• 
  
  12:30 pm - Lunch
• 
  
  1 pm - Mom feeds Joey lunch and has playtime with him, then lays him down for a short nap
• 
  
  2 pm - Lessons resume for as long as we are able (usually no more than an hour or so)
• 
  
  3 pm - Mom gets housework done and boys have free time (they usually play with Joey for a bit to help me out)
• 
  
  4 pm - Mom feeds joey his fourth bottle
• 
  
  4:30 pm - More lessons as time allows
• 
  
  6 pm - Make and eat dinner
• 
  
  7 pm - Joey eats again
• 
  
  8:30 pm - Joey has a bath and dresses for bed
• 
  
  9pm - Mom feeds Joey his cereal and he goes to bed for the night, kids have showers and clean rooms, dress for bed
• 
  
  9:30 pm - Mom reads to kids, Kids to bed, Mom cleans up kitchen and has free time
• 
  
  11:30 pm - Mom to bed

The above is a very loose routine (not a strict schedule) that I would like to stick to, though the ability has eluded me to this point! But we will keep trying!

Dear Father,

This year Lord, please help me to focus on what's really important. Please bless me with the energy and discipline to do what needs to be done. Help me to let go and follow Your leading for my life and the lives of my children. Help me to enjoy every day to it's fullest and to embrace every opportunity to teach my children. Thank You Lord, that You are with me. Amen.