On This Day in Christian History by Robert J. Morgan Book Review

Are you looking for an interesting devotion to read daily that will teach you history and provide Bible verses for your day?  Do you need a new fresh light to shine God’s love for you?  On This Day in Christian History by Robert J. Morgan is just that devotion for you!
Each day provides a short biography about  a saint, or a martyr or even a hero in Christian history.  Such amazing facts are given every day that I never knew about.  This book provides each day with a new sense of peace from God’s love and delight at having each day to thank Him for.
In the back of the book is an index that is separated by different topic subjects.  If you are interested in reading about The Power of the Bible you can look at April 28 and learn as Alexander Smith helped to teach a tiny community of people on an island the message of Christ after finding a Bible to read.  Or you may want to know about Marriage and romance and turn to George Mueller and learn about his wife that he felt so blessed to be given by the Lord.
I highly recommend this book for daily reading and have myself been enjoying it each day as I read my Bible.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

If A Tree Falls & You Are Around To Hear It, How Much Noise Does It Make?

After my post last Monday night, we experienced an experience that I don't think any of us will ever forget!  The wind had started to pick up that evening and was blowing many things around outside.  It was quite a stormy night.
I have never been a fan of the wind.  Since we moved to this area when I was in 3rd grade we've experienced wind storms and we lived in the woods.  I remember a couple of storms that were quite bad.  Since Greg and I have lived here together we have gone through many many wind storms, we have them every year and we still live in the woods.  I hate to listen to the sounds of trees falling in the woods all around us.  Especially in the dark.  It is so eerie.  And the wind seem so loud. It is unsettling to me listening to the wind howling through the night and trees crashing to the leafy grounds.
Well the wind the other night was the most incredible wind that I've ever felt here in my whole life.  We had a few gusts that were just LOUD and strong!  Shook the house!  You could hear it, it wasn't howling then, it was more of a scream that threatened to shatter all of the glass in the house.  Then there was The Gust.  Greg and I heard it coming.  He said that I looked at him and said "Greg?!" like I was really scared, that I don't remember.  But I was scared!  Then I heard "Moommyy!!  Mommmy!" so I went running into the living room where they were sitting on the couch, their eyes as big as saucers. 
I heard a horrific sound just then.  I believe what I heard was the cracking of the tree as it broke off 25 feet up in the air.  Just as I ran through the dining room, I heard THUD THUD and then the sound of what I thought was glass breaking.  I ran faster because I knew it happened right behind me.  When I got to the kids I turned around and expected to see the tree through the window and my ceiling caved in.
The ceiling was caved in a little and the molding that holds up the paneling on the ceiling of a mobile home was hanging down.  There weren't any tree branches or anything inside the house.  When I went back in to Greg, he was on the other side of the dining room in his living room (we have 2 living rooms) and he had sat on his couch and watched it all, I asked him where the broken glass was because the window wasn't broken.  He thought maybe the wind blew out the window behind him, but we couldn't tell because of the curtains.  After a few minutes Greg realized the glass sound I heard was his chandelier.  Nothing broke, but the rims shook all around the glass lights and were all messed up. 
Greg went outside after a the wind died down a little and assessed the damage.  He thought maybe it wasn't real bad, but it was hard to tell.  But by now, I am so scared that I want out of here!  So we started packing things up to go stay the night at his dads house.  Greg called his mom, who is our landlord and his dad to let him know we were coming over, but then his dad lost power. 
I was still packing to get outta here for the night and Greg was having second thoughts.  I said that we all needed to stop and pray together.  Stinky was panicking.  Bubba was ok but he wouldn't let go of the lantern in case we lost power.  We knelt down and prayed together that the Lord would lead Greg to make the right decision for the family for the night.  After he had a moment of reflection and thought, he decided that we should just stay home.  His dad didn't have power and he has trees all around his house also.  And the chances of something hitting the van while we were driving over there were high also. 
I had quite a time settling down the kids.  Or I guess mostly Stinky.  But I finally did and we laid down on the couch to watch a movie.  By this time it was 11:30 I think.  We were up until almost 1am. 
The next morning I woke up before everyone else, as usual, and decided to go outside and investigate on my own.  The first thing that I noticed was that in the woods across from our driveway, 3 trees had fallen down.  One was a huge fir that pulled up all of the roots with it!  The huge fir in front of my sister-in-law's house next door had dropped a huge limb that took out a few others as it plummeted to the ground.  In the back yard I noticed that 2 trees were leaning in the opposite direction of the wind, like maybe a tree fell over there and uprooted them a little, but they are too far back in the woods for me to tell.  A limb from a huge tree in back also fell on our tent.  That is ok, it was ruined anyways.  Greg had it up just for fun.
The side backyard, where the tree fell on the house, was another eerie scene.  Bubba's Tonka trucks were back there and 2 of them got ruined.  One was totally smashed.  There are huge holes in my deck.  The gutter was ripped of the house.  I can't tell what the damage is to the roof from down here though.
Greg said there was holes in the roof.  It is too hard to patch because when they reroofed our house, they didn't take off the existing roof like they should have.  So we have to cover it for now.  Greg covered it like his roofer cousin taught him.  But because the gutter was torn off and there was an opening there, the wind yesterday blew again and the rain blew in under there, we believe.  Because yesterday we started to get leaks.  We went and bought more stuff to cover it better and a long tarp.  The tarp is currently hanging over the edge of the roof so no rain can get back in.  And it also hangs over the window.  But I'll live with that as long as my roof isn't leaking anymore!
So that is the stress of this week for me.  Since Saturday I've been busy with things out of my control.  Sick kids, high winds, falling trees, leaky roofs and panic from the kids and I.  I have to hide my panic which makes it harder for me too.  I don't want the kids to know I'm quite as scared as I am!  lol

Juggling

I have spent the last 3 days taking care of sick children. They job has gotten easier and easier by the day, but not without it's little surprises.  We woke up Saturday morning because Greg's friend had called at about 6:20am to see if Greg wanted to go for a ride.  Since I had to get up to answer the phone, I figured I might as well stay up even though it's Saturday.  Stinky woke up shortly after I did and after a bit told me that she thought she was going to be sick.  She had puked before Greg left for his drive.
Bubba woke up.  I tried to give Stinky some Pepto-Bismol and as she was sipping it, Bubba said he wanted some.  So I told him that he just can't have medicine because his sister was.  He told me that his stomach hurt.  I didn't believe him, I thought that he was just saying that to get some Pepto.
After a few minutes, Stinky was puking again.  She puked pink Pepto all over the blankets and floor.  I heard Bubba say "MOM!" and it sounded like he was crying.  While Stinky puked into the pan, I looked over my shoulder and there is my poor baby boy puking and crying.  I told him to run to the toilet.  When Stinky was done heaving I went in to assist Bubba.  Then I heard Stinky crying that she was puking again, so I told her to bring her pan into the bathroom with me. 
That's pretty much how my day went.  Kids puking, towel and blanket washing, changing of clothes and drinking of fluids to keep hydrated.  All day they just wanted me to lay down with them.  Once Bubba said that "This isn't how I planned to spend my day" and I had to agree with the poor little baby.  Stinky had puked all day long.  It started at about 10 min. in between each for quite a while.  After about an hour it started to slow down until she was down to once an hour.  It went that way until early evening.  She stopped throwing up when she fell asleep at about 9 or 9:30pm. 
Bubba had it much easier.  He only threw up 4 times.  But felt sick all day long. 
Yesterday they both claimed to feel better in the afternoon.  We let them get up and play last night a little as long as they were not wild.  Then Stinky wakes up this morning, 6:55am and puked.  She has felt sick all day.  Bubba started complaining of his stomach again later this afternoon. 
Not too much has gotten done the last few days.  I have gotten some things done here and there.  I have kept up on dishes a lot better than usual.  I figure I better do that since any day now, I could be sick.  This way everything will be clean when I'm sick.  See, I'm thinking ahead.  I'm a planner.
I finished reading the book that I was reading.  I am currently reading my second book that I had planned for December in my Fall Into Reading Book Challenge.  I thought that I had almost picked too many for myself to read, even though there were some children and YA books in there.  But I guess I was wrong. 
I am reading a book right now that is called Let God Be God by Ray C. Stedman.  It is a book that deeply explains the book of Job.  So far it's very good.  I'm only in chapter 3.  It's a book that you have to really concentrate on and not something you can just read willy-nilly to pass the time.  That is a great thing!  It expands the mind! 
On the other hand, my mind is currently seeking somewhere to go and relax.  So I think I am also going to be reading Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.  I have never read this story before and I want to see if it's something we can do for school.  I am going to start this after I finish reading the chapter that I am reading in Let God be God.
It's time for me to go and be motherly.  My sickly children are hungry.  I must go and feed them.  Poor little babies.

Not quite ready yet....

I know that I said I was going to blog about something soon.  Well, I'm just not ready yet.  I really want to.  I know just what I want to say.  But I'm not sure that I'm ready to let everyone in on that yet. 
So on we go.....Things here are going smoothly along.  Besides the temperament of a person I put up with daily.  But that is something I have been dealt to deal with and I just do.  I try not to let it bother me, along with other things.  I am trying to grow in the Lord everyday.
Homeschool, as I've mentioned before, is going great this year!  How much fun we have!  Yesterday we did a Science experiment to make rain.  It was awesome and I will blog about it later on my homeschool blog called Teaching at Home in a Christian Way.  As my friend Tawny said on Facebook, "I'm so thankful that we answered the call from God to Homeschool".  That is not word for word, but I can't find it to quote it exactly.  But it was something along those lines. 

I found a new Christian bookstore up here on the hill, about 15 min away in good traffic.  In great traffic it would only be about 10!  But that never happens on Meridian.  So I plan on 15-20 min drive.  But the store is great!  It's a Christian bookstore (I know I already said that) and thrift.  I did see some clothes and such in there but honestly, I just wanted books.  lol  The name of the store is Love's Treasury.  Isn't that a great name?  So inviting!  The books were so fairly priced that I am going back probably this weekend!  I can't wait!  They had a large selection of books for homeschool.  I mean large. 
Speaking of Christian and bookstore.  I found a new used book store called A Novel Idea in Puyallup.  I went there to meet author Christina Weigand.  She found me last year on Facebook because I was signed up to do NaNoWriMo and she lives in Puyallup.  At that time, I didn't realize she was in the process of getting a book published!  Well she did get that book published and it's called Aaron's Revenge. 
I found the bookstore and actually got to meet her.  The best part?  She gave me a book for free for just making it there (it was quite a feat for me) and signed it.  It is the next book that I am going to read.  I have to finish White Fang first.

I have a busy day planned today.  Trying to get my house all cleaned and ready for the holidays.  Decorating is going to be kept at a minimal this year for Fall and Thanksgiving.  I don't know where any of my decorations are at the moment and really am not going to try and get them from my garage.  I'll save that for Christmas.
And since I have so much to do, I am going to start my work now.  And that has to start by stopping my blogging.  Oh I hate it when I have to do that.  I could just keep on blabbing. 

Where Oh Where Has the Blog Author Gone?

I know....bad me.  I've been missing pretty much for a month.  I messed up on my NaBloPoMo for October and decided to just give myself a break from the worry of posting.  Maybe that was a mistake. But, here I am now!  That counts for something, right?
I am busy getting the house all picked up for the holidays.  It's been a slow and painstaking job, but I'm getting it done.  Now the hardest part is keeping it picked up!  That seems to be my downfall.  I do well on one room, while another gets messy.  I must admit, I am not perfect.
At the end of October I went to the AWANA conference and fully enjoyed myself.  It was a great learning experience and send us home with many ideas to implement in our group.  One fun activity that I wanted to start was working through the workbook for adults that go along with the workbook for kids.  The first book makes me memorize the same amount of verses as Kindergarten Sparkies do.  Then I can move into the book that matches the 1st graders and then the 2nd graders.  I am making this more fun for the kids by letting them sign my book for me when I say my verses. 

We are moving right along with school this year and it is so nice!  So far, this is the best school year that we've had.  It's been smooth and for the most part they've enjoyed everything that we've learned.  I am looking forward to having a break though.  In 2 weeks we will then have a week break, during the week of Thanksgiving.  I know that seems short, well at least it does to me, but we are only doing school for one week in December.  We will have a break for the first week because I may be going to court, and then we will have a Winter Break. 
We haven't had the chance to do lapbooks this year.  I haven't really been able to find one that I liked for the topics that we have been learning.  Right now we are reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume together as a read aloud and the kids love this story.  Bubba gets so happy to read it.  And Stinky has finished 4 chapter books these past few weeks, one of the Charlotte's Web that is a reading level 4.  She is definitely my daughter!  I am currently getting ready to start book #53 for this year.  My goal was to read 50 and I have made it.  Obviously.
I have definitely missed blogging.  I am hoping that my time and memory will allow me to blog more often like I was before.  I have many thoughts and ideas that I want to blog about.
One is a subject that is causing me some sadness in an area of my life.  But I want to blog about it so that maybe I can give hope to others that may be in a similar situation.  I still am forming thoughts about this though, so I may not blog about it right away.
With those words.....see ya later gator!

The Treasure of God's Word Celebrating 400 Years of the King James Bible

What a beautiful book to read!  It was interesting to learn the history of the King James Versions of the Bible and all of the different changes that it went through.
This book includes Bible verses throughout the book to celebrate.  It is divided up by sections and topics.  Each section starts with some background of the King James Version Bible.  There are Bible verses for the topics of God’s Love, God’s Compassion, God’s Righteousness and God’s Strength.  Some of the topics are for us and include Our Salvation, Our Praise and Worship and Our Inheritance.  
The book is leather bound and as simple as the cover of the book is, it is still catching to the eye.  The pages of the book are beautifully detailed and each heading has artistic calligraphy that brings to life the age and authenticity of the King James Bible.
The Treasure of God’s Word is a great gift for anyone who is interested in learning a little history of the King James Bibles or even for those who are fans of the King James versions.  In my opinion, this book should be on a shelf in every Christian home.
Tyndale Publishers has supplied me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A Pastor Prays for his People by Wendell C. Hawley Book Review

This book is a great book of prayers for Pastors.  I wish I was a pastor after receiving this book because of the variety of prayers that are included.  In the back of the book you can look up some prayers by topics.  There are prayers for Obedience, Deception, Health and different prayers to pray for the church family.
It was written by Wendell C. Hawley who was a pastor and has served in churches most his life.  
These prayers would be great to use for the church, but I think a lot of use can be brought to the book by praying these individually.  
Bible verses are included in the prayers and that makes the prayers more powerful than they are just as spoken words without using the words that are written by the breath of God.
Broken down by months, this book also includes prayers for different holidays and times of the year.  The last chapter also add prayers for weddings, funerals, memorials, church business meetings and more.
I think that this book would be a great gift for any pastor to add to his shelf.  I am going to give my copy to my pastor as a gift.
Tyndale Publishers has supplied me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

And The Winner Is.....

Kristy Meyer from the Man Crew won the DVD giveaway and will receive a certificate in the mail for What's in the Bible? Battle for the Promised Land DVD created by Phil Vischer.  This giveaway was sponsored by Tyndale Books and in now way influenced my decision for the winner.  Thank you for joining the fun!!

Tyndale House Publishers "What's in the Bible? Battle for the Promised Land" Blog Tour Review and Free Giveaway!!

I am participating in the What's In the Bible?, Battle for the Promised Land blog tour for Tyndale House Publishers.  If you'd like more information than what I will provide below, please click on one of those links above to check it out!
When the kids and I received this in the mail, we were so excited!  I was curious to see it since it is by the creator of Veggie Tales, Phil Vischer, seen below.

The use of puppets in this video is engaging and funny.  Stinky and I did this review together and we let Bubba go ahead and join us. This is a great video to watch as whole family! It answers questions like "Why was it ok for the Israelites to kill the people when they moved into the Promised Land?".  And if there is something that the children don't understand, when you watch it as a family you are right there to explain more fully.  Or if you don't know the answer yourself, research it together!

There was some cute and catchy songs in the DVD.  My favorite was the Historical Books song sung by the pirate. The video to see the song is below:


I had Stinky answer a couple of questions so that she could take part in this review with me.

Q. Did you learn from it?
A. Yes I didn't know there were books called Historical Books.

Q.  Did you find it entertaining?
A.  Yea, some things were funny.

Q.  Would you watch the rest of the movies?
A.  No I wouldn't want to.

Q. Who was your favorite character?
A.  The pirate because he went up in the hot air balloon and sings.  He's also funny.

Now to the fun part of my blog.....and the first ever *GIVE AWAY*!!!!  Would you like to win a certificate to get What's in the Bible: Batter for the promised Land for free?  If you would, read the rules below:

1. I know most people ask you to follow them on this blog or their twitter accounts, but I'm not all about numbers.  But I have to know that you're a real person so you are going to have to follow me publicly so I can check out your blog!  I'll let you have the choice, either follow my blog or my Twitter.  Whatever your choice is don't forget to let me know! I'm gonna check!  My Twitter name is @Daintydecker.

2.  Leave a comment below if you'd like to enter and tell me why you'd like to win this video for your family.  I will choose the winner on Tuesday morning!  Good luck!

October's Illness

Well October seems to be hard for me to blog so far.  On the first when I missed the first day of NaBloPoMo was because of stress and we were gone.  Now I missed yesterday...and I think Wednesday.  How sad.  I was trying so hard.  I guess life just caught up with me.

*THE NEXT FEW LINES IS WHINING.*

And now I'm sick which is great.  Just great.  I hate being sick.  And I can't count too much on hubby helping me today because he is sick also.  And we all know how sick men are......
I don't know what will get done as far as school today.  I'm not really worried about it at all though.  Not at all.  We are ahead in History.  In Math both kids have been working in their workbooks without me telling them to. 
So now I am going to sign out.  I just needed to write a quick update about what a loser I am on not making a blog everyday this month.  There's always next month!

The One Year Choose Your Own Ending Devotions by Pioneer Clubs

The One Year Choose Your Own Ending Devotions by Pioneer Clubs was not what I expected it to be.  I was disappointed by the book actually.  The book is supposed to be devotions for kids for each day of the year, which it is.  Then it is called the Choose Your Own Endings and that sounds exciting.  
Here’s the catch, the stories that you can end yourself are very thin stories.  There aren’t enough stories there to catch what is going on to finish the store, in my opinion.  
The book has to be for older kids although, even though there wasn’t an age specified on it.  But my kids did not understand what to do with the stories.
I was also disappointed because the book says that it goes along with a Pioneer Club program.  To get the most out of each devotion it says to use the activity book that goes along with it for the club.  
I wouldn’t recommend this book to many people at all.  If there children were older and I thought maybe they would enjoy it without the other materials and still be able to build off of the stories, I might.

These are my ideas and in no way influenced by Tyndale.  Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for my honest review.

God's Promises for Women of Faith by Thomas Nelson Books

God’s Promises for Women of Faith is a wonderful book for Christian women to have.  This book takes Bible verses for woman and uses them in ways that apply to our daily lives.  There are topics for women who need help with an area in their life or will show them exactly what God expects in certain areas of their life.  
There are topics such as God Helps Women to Grow By....God Comforts Women as They Learn to.... and God Delights in Women Who Are.  These topics work for us women, today.  In our real lives.
This book has been something that I can pick up when I need a quick refresher to uplift my soul.  Or if I am in a hurry in the morning and I don’t have the time to read my Bible chapters then, I can read a few verses from this book in just a few minutes and feel the Lords’ hand guiding me through my day.  
I am curious to read the section that talks about financial problems to see the verses that are there to lead me.  I have not yet read every single Bible verse for all of the topics.  A wonderful book to buy someone as a gift too!

Day #5 No Coffee

I love to just throw random pictures into my blog.  I don't know if there is some rule that your picture has to go with whatever you blog about, but mine don't always. 
Here I am, day #5 without coffee and I've survived.  Who'd a thought that could happen?  I miss it terribly though.  I have been waking up ok without it in the morning, but Teeccino just doesn't cut it for creamy roasted goodness in my morning mug.  We'll see if I keep drinking that in the morning.  I might just drink it in the afternoon.  Dunno what I will drink in the morning then.
After the first 3 days there was no headache, and the 3rd day was an extremely mild one.  I experienced  very mild mood swings.  They were pretty easy.  And no one else in my family suffered from them!  Lucky for them!

I want to take more naps than usual, but that should go away soon.  Hopefully. 
Today we went back to homeschooling after taking a break last week.  It was nice to have a break.  I wanted to get a lot done, but between having cramps and then having to catch up when they were gone, not too much housework actually got done.  But that's ok with me. I am doing the most important things here and that is worshiping my Lord, taking care of and teaching my children and trying to make my hubby happy. 
Tomorrow I think I may have a couple book reviews to do.  We'll see....I may do them tonight.  It depends....

Blogging w/Sick Kids

Bubba woke up this morning w/a small fever still.  Shortly after he was awake and took a drink of something, he puked it up all over my bed/couch.  So I changed the sheets and cleaned him and everything up and he laid back down.  I laid down w/him and he went to sleep.  After he slept for a few hours he felt better.  He has still been a little warm all day, but no more puking.  That is good!
Now Stinky is complaining that her throat hurts, which is how Bubba's started on Friday night.  She usually fares better than Bubba when she is sick so hopefully it will be faster w/her.  Right now they are both drinking chicken broth. 
I have felt achy and tired all day.  I have taken two naps.  I hate to take even one nap, but I just couldn't help it!  Everytime I laid down I wanted to read but I couldn't.  I just fell asleep.  I want to finish this book!  It's a short book and it's taking me forever to get through.
I think I figured out why though.  This book has a study guide included at the end of each chapter.  Well I hate to skip over it, so I try to do it, but it just makes me dread picking up the book.  So instead of torturing myself, I'll just read it like I want and skip over the study guides.  I am only on chapter 4 of 12!  I'm on page 62 out of 204.  *sigh*  It's a great book though!  I just need to sit down and read it.
It is A Busy Woman's Guide to Prayer by Cheri Fuller.  I really enjoy it and find it informational.  I just have to skip the study guides.
I got all of my plans done for school this week.  We are finishing up Egypt and moving on to the Sumerians and the Jewish people.  We're still reading about the Israelites and Moses in our Bible lessons and still reading Charlotte's Web for our read aloud.  Bubba and I are really going to dive into the alphabet this week.
I'm going to cut this short because I am going to read and try to get rid of this awful heart burn that I've got going on.

Ooops!

I thought I had posted a blog yesterday morning.  It turns out, I didn't.  I must have imagine it.  That means I already didn't make NaBloPoMo for the month of October.  But that doesn't mean I have to stop for the rest of the month either.
Last night we went out to a youth house to watch a concert.  It was an old firehouse and it seemed like it was the hangout for quite a few kids.  My hubby's best friend has a 16 year old son who taught himself to play guitar.  He sings, writes all of the songs and plays rhythm guitar for a band called Shoreline Drive.  They have a deal going with Sony right now.  I am so excited for them!  I just loved watching those energetic boys rocking out last night!
It was the first time in a very long time that my hubby and I were out without the kids.  We considered it date night for us!
I will have the pictures to show off tomorrow, but tonight I have to make this short.  My Bubba is sick and running a fever.  I am tired tired tired and thinking of bed early tonight.  I am going to lay down with my book and probably fall asleep.  I have to teach Sunday school in the morning and also kids' church.  I am going to need my rest.

Day #1with no Coffee - Full Month of Blogs!

Well I made it.  I made it one month of blogging every single day and I made it one day without coffee.  My headache now is worse than it has been all day.  Ugh.
I did get some things accomplished today and am glad for it.  Some things have been picked up the last few days that were just in our way!  Now to get rid of it all! 
Today FINALLY got up to the temperature that the weatherchannel said it would.  Well, that's not true.  It didn't get up to it, but it got closer than it has all week.  I got 2 loads washed and hung up on the line and hopefully they'll get close by the time evening comes all the way.
The kids and I baked some Pillsbury Spooky Cat cookies today.  They are nummy!  They sure love doing that.  We don't do it much.  I hate to cook or bake.  The only thing I enjoy in the kitchen is eating.  And it's not like those cookies are hard, it's just something I hate.  HATE.  So I procrastinate it. 
My poor hubby didn't marry a Susie-Homemaker.  lol 
I don't know if I posted this book yet that I am currently reading, but it's pretty good.  I haven't had much time to sit and read it so I am still on chapter 2 and page 22.  It's called A Busy Woman's Guide to Prayer by Cheri Fuller.  I bought this book for only 1 penny on Amazon.com!  What a deal!  And it was labeled Like New, but I think it's brand new! 
I am going to head out now so that I can read it for a few while the hubby is gone with his dad for a drive.  I think I'll just tie the kids up put a movie in for the kids for a bit so that I can have some peace and quiet to read in.
Say goodbye to September and hello to October.  How can we already be to Christmas again?

Goodbye Coffee

Doesn't she look happy?  Sitting there, drinking her cup of coffee, relaxing.  *sigh*  Well, today was my last day to have real coffee.  I gave all that I had left away and there is not more here.  Now when I drink "my coffee" it is Teeccino.  Which is all good and well, but I am still going to miss my creamy vanilla coffee.  *sigh*

This morning I gave it a shot.  I didn't make a pot of coffee when I got up, I made a pot of Teeccino.  Teeccino doesn't have caffeine and soon I was feeling it!  A headache was slowly taking over.  So I gave in and made some coffee.  And why not?  I've got I had good Starbucks coffee here.  I certainly can't waste it!  So I knew I just had to get rid of it.  I gave it over.  Sadly. 

So tomorrow I start my no coffee morning.  I have already warned the kids that I may will be grumpy.  lol  I dread the headaches more than the grumpiness.  But I will survive through this and live to drink Teeccino!  lol

So if you can today, pray a little prayer for me to get through this ordeal.  And for my family!  From now on, the only caffeine I will get is from chocolate and maybe some teas.  I don't have either very often though.

Fall Into Reading Question 1

Every Tuesday, Katrina at Callapidder Days asks a question for us to participate in the Fall Into Reading challenge every week.  Today her question is this:

What do you think is the biggest obstacle to your reading? What prevents you from reading as much as you’d like?

For myself, it is definitely finding a balance between reading a book and the other hobbies that I have.  Other than reading I teach my kids, teach Sunday school, teach AWANA, play in the hand bell choir, crochet, take photos, write and of course, play online and/or on computer.  I also can not have any distractions to read.  Like hubby and/or children talking to me or the TV/stereo blaring in the background.  If I am tired or my mind is moving to fast I also can not read.  I have to be relaxed and in a non-active environment.

National Coffee Day with Galen and Caroline MacDougall

2nd Tag of the Day....well sorta

Kitties in coffee cups?  How much cuter can you get than that?

So my friend Kristy, over at The Man Crew answered Mishmash Maggie's questions and I wanted to answer her questions too!  So here are the questions from Kristy:

1 What is in your CD player (or on your iPod) right now? Why do you like it?
Francesa Batistelli and I LOVE her!  Such great uplifting and praising songs!

2 Tell me about your childhood in 3 words, your teenage life in 3 sentences and your adult life in less than a paragraph. Be succinct : )
Childhood:  Daddy's little girl
Teenage Life:  School was my favorite place to be because it was away from home.  Home brought anger and frustrations.  Still a Daddy's girl!
Adult Life:  I've learned what is most important in life.  I have prioritized my life the way that I think God wants me to.  I have had to make some really tough decisions to separate myself from people that bring my troubles or stress.  I learned that it is much harder to be the submissive wife than it is to try and fill a role that I was not meant to fill but with the grace of God I can fulfill the role that He has chosen for me.

3 How did you meet your spouse, or best friend?
When I was 18, my parents sold our farm and moved from Western Washington to the Eastern side.  I stayed here w/an aunt for a while, but eventually moved in w/my parents because of financial and personal problems.  While I was staying there, I came back here to visit my best friend for the weekend.  Her boyfriend had his cousin over and he was so cute!  I just had this feeling when I met him that we would be together.  And here we are, 15 years later with almost 12 years of marriage behind us.

4 How has blogging changed your life? It doesn't have to be PROFOUND
It has given me a way to unwind, a sort of release.  It has also allowed me to write, which I love, without feeling like I am being graded or might get turned down by a publisher.  It is a way for me to share my life, my problems, my joys and my love for Jesus with others.

5 What is your favorite Bible story and why?
I love to read about Saul's conversion to Christianity.  I think it is so powerful.  A man persecuting the Christians and the Lord speaks to him.  He is a changed man after that and one of our most leading Christian men of the past.  It is awing and inspiring to me.

6 How would someone else describe you in less than 5 words?
Well it depends on who you ask, lol.  I know this would be said of me, "Brings others to God."

7 If you were stranded on an island, what 4 things would you take with you and why? Assuming that food, water and basic shelter was somehow provided.
1. My Bible
2. My husband
3. My daughter
4. My son

8 How did we meet and why are we friends?
We met on Cafemom in the CEO group.  We are friends because we share the love of the Lord and that makes us sisters in Christ!  We are friends because we share some of the same problems and joys and that stirs a kinship in us.  We are friends because we both have the same sense of humor and we can take the jokes directed towards us.  We are friends because we just love each other!  I can't wait to actually meet you in person sometime Kristy!!

I am not going to post 8 more questions.  It was hard enough to come up with the first 8! lol  Hope you enjoyed!

Tagged by Mishmash Maggie...well not really

I just love lions.  They are my favorite cats from the cat family.  I just love cats!!!  lol

This morning I came across Mishmash Maggie's post and since I like to answer these type of questions I am going to!  lol  So here we go.....

1. What is your favorite Bible verse? How did it become your favorite? (If you don’t have a single favorite, please share one of your faves.)
My favorite Bible verse?  That is a hard one.  But I think the one that keeps me going the most is Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengtheneth me."  It helps me to remember that He won't send me anything that I can't handle.  I might just have to lean on Him to help me handle it.  Which is the reason for some of my troubles I think anyway.  To teach me to cling to Him and no one or nothing else!

2. What is currently on your nightstand? I dump my heart and brain on my nightstand... what's on yours??
I currently am using my end table for a nightstand because my water bed heater broke and I can't stand to sleep on that freezing bed!  So I moved out to the couch.  So on my end table is a popcorn bucket with Leapster and Nintendo DS games and the kids' library movies.  There is also chapstick and hair ties in the bucket for me.  I have my glass of ACV water, my alarm clock and my coasters with Bible verses on them.  I also have a candle warmer that I use to keep my coffee warm when I am sitting there.  At night when I go to bed my book, glasses and hanky is there for me.

3. What place have you not traveled to but would like to?  Why?
I would love to travel to Europe and see the old castles in Scotland, England, Ireland and everywhere else.  That is my dream vacation.

4. What is your favorite snack?
Usually anything with salt!  Potato chips are usually my first choice.  Nachos are my absolute favorite!

5. Why motivates you to blog?
To share my story with others, maybe I can help them or let them know the problems they are facing are being faced by others.  I also want to share my love for my family and Jesus.  This is my way to witness to others because I don't like going door-to-door.

6. Which person from the Bible (besides Jesus) are you most looking forward to meeting?
I think, at this moment, it changes you know, that I would like to meet Moses.  He was such a strong leader and love God, was so close to Him.  I would ask him what it was like walking through the Red Sea, how awesome was it to be in God's tender care while He was making the Egyptians miserable and the awe that he felt at the burning bush.

7.  What brings out the best in you... what brings out the worst?
People who are inconsiderate bring out the worse in me.  I just can't stand it!  I think Jesus brings out the best in me.  It is through Him that I find happiness and peace.

8. What characteristic of God are you the most grateful for?
His everlasting love.  To know that whatever wrongs I do, He still loves me.  He still yearns for me.  He still is in my corner rooting for me!

********************************************************************
Now it is my turn to list questions.  I am not going to list other bloggers to tag because they rarely participate and if you want to do this, you will anyway!  So please if you decide to answer my questions, please come back here and put your link for it in the comment box!

1.  When you have free time, all to yourself, what do you do?

2.  If you could choose one question right now to ask God and have Him answer it now, what would it be?

3.  If you could go to school for something or learn something new and money was no object, what would you choose?

4.  Do you have any specific Bible verses that you pray over your husband or children?

5.  What is one thing that you love to have or do now that you really should have outgrown?  For example, I love crayons and to color!  lol

6.  When you feel troubled is there something that comforts you?  Is it a material object like a fuzzy blanket or one of those stress stones?  Or do you turn to someone for comfort?

7.  What is your favorite time of the day and why?

8.  Do you have a comfort food and what is it?