Beautiful . . .

"How deep the Father's love for us!
How vast beyond all measure!
That He should give His only Son
to make a wretch His treasure!

How great the pain of searing loss!
The Father turns His face away
as wounds which mar the Chosen One
bring many sons to glory.

Behold the Man upon a cross,
my sin upon His shoulders.
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
call out among the scoffers.

It was my sin that held Him there
until it was accomplished.
His dying breath has brought me life;
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything;
no gifts, no pow'r, no wisdom.
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart;
His wounds have paid my ransom."

By Stuart Townend

Kids Say the Coolest Things!

My kids say some of the funniest, coolest and wittiest things to . . . everyone but me, or so it seems. Friends and family members are always telling me that "so and so" said this or that hilarious or adorable thing and I always think, "You're kidding, right? My kid said that!?"

Well, lately they've been letting me in on their little secret. Or perhaps I just accidently snuck up on them and they let a cute or funny little comment slip. Whichever the case, I do not care! I now know for sure that they are hilarious! :D

Hannah, my two and a half-year-old was caught in the corner with her hands covering her eyes (the way little kids cover their eyes) counting to ten, though her attempt was anything but routine. Most people start at one and count by ones until they reach ten. However, Hannah prefers to deviate from the norm with a new way to count . . . "One, two, seben, seben, eleben", . . . (at this point I could practically see the wheels turning in her cute little head as she struggled to remember the next number in this unusual, yet refreshing sequence) "FIVE"! Yes! She knew she could remember that final number. Who needs a ten when you've got a five? :)

By the way, did you know that when we talk on the phone, the words evaporate out of the power lines? I couldn't believe it either! But who's going to question the wisdom of a newly six-year-old girl? Abigail got it all figured out and is sticking to it until I can figure out a way to explain how telephones are used, how water evaporates and that power lines are best kept away from water and telephones. ;D

Last night, while doing a Bible/History/Geography study as a family, Aaron was asking the children questions about Creation, the Fall, the Flood, etc. After Jesse informed us that Adam was made from dirt, Aaron asked Abigail what Eve was made from. Much "hem-hawing" and "um-ing" went on, then Abigail in her confident way said, "Hmm, . . . I think Eve was made from salt." If you know Abigail, you can picture the completely unsure, "I think I must of said the wrong thing" look immediately after saying this. I was able to snicker and snort over in the corner of the kitchen where I was putting a few things away. Poor Aaron, however, had to figure how to not offend and embarrass poor Abigail while trying to stifle his snickering. I must say, he did a pretty good job. :)

I hope no one gets offended by this next one but if you do, sorry! I just have to share a "joke" Jesse told last night. He laughed so hard at himself that he nearly fell off the couch! I love it when little kids learn to tell "jokes"! :) He said that this guy woke up one morning, sat up in bed and said "cuesta cuanto!" I have absolutely no idea where he came up with this but he was so "tickled" that we all laughed watching him laugh. I assume this guy in the joke had to have been a dyslexic Spanish-speaker, no offense intended - I sometimes think I'm slightly dyslexic and I speak enough Spanish to realize how little I know. The only thing that disqualifies me from this joke is that I'm not the "guy". Well, I've learned a lesson through this. We either need to brush up on our Spanish or improve our joke-telling skills! :)

Last, but definitely my favorite so far is Benjamin's little "fanfare" from last night's Bible/History time. We had talked about Adam and Eve, their sin of eating the fruit in disobedience, God's sending them out of Eden, their two sons, Cain and Abel and the fact that Cain killed Abel because he was angry and jealous when God accepted the slain sheep but not the produce that Cain offered. So, Aaron asked Benjamin what Adam and Eve had done that made them have to leave the Garden of Eden. Aaron even helped Benjamin with a little hint about the Tree in the midst of the garden. So Benjamin concluded that, "They had to leave because they ate the fruit. And they fed it to the sheep." He said this so "matter of fact" that we were nearly rolling on the floor. He became somewhat embarrassed at this point and began to laugh along with the rest of us. I don't know what he was thinking but, perhaps in his sweet little head he came to the conclusion that the sheep had to die because they ate the fruit as well. Or maybe he just thought they were hungry? He is absolutely adorable!

I LOVE MY CHILDREN!!! :)

Achoo!! Excuse me.

I've got a little cold, so if you'll please excuse the sneezes and sniffles, I would appreciate it. :) I don't have much on my mind right now (thankfully, because it's pretty stuffy up there). I thought I'd just post some fun pictures of our summer.

Our dear, wonderful friends Mike, Laura, and Rachael came for a visit in August and we went fishing at an uncle's pond. The kids caught their first fish. It was really fun and funny, especially when Rachael chased Andrew's Bumbo seat down the hill and "fished" it out of the water. :) I just had to mention it Rachael! :D





The kids and I also went to a local park a few weeks ago and had so much fun together. It's so nice to be able to take my kids out for a relaxing, albeit hot day at the park. They are usually so good and play really well together (at least in public). ;)













Finally, I wanted to post some pictures of us just being goofy and having fun here at home. Trust me! Every day is not just a happy, fun-filled, playful, laughter-filled, relaxing kind of day around here, but we're working on it. ;D I also threw in a couple pictures of our favorite (and only) dog, Bela. If you're wondering why I spelled it wrong, don't worry. I intentionally spelled her name this way because that's the Portuguese way to say "beautiful". I did this to remind us of our sweet relatives who are missionaries in Brasil. :)




Well, that's all I know tonight!

In case you were wondering . . .

I have not been sitting around twiddling my thumbs pretending like I'm too busy to blog. ;) This is what I've been doing.

I almost lost a couple kids in these stacks of homeschool junk! Um, I mean highly enthralling, educational, and intellectually stimulating homeschool manipulatives and resources. :O

Well, I finally got it all sorted and restacked in a different location! :)

Seriously, I am so relieved to have some order again! We have had four very successful homeschool days, one zoo day, and one tomato-picking, in-touch with nature day (aka. "throw as many rotten tomatoes in the mud puddle as you can before Mama tells you to stop because you're splashing mud all over yourselves and your little sister day"). Bleh!

The kids really seem to be enjoying school so far. We start the school day with Bible-reading, verse-quoting (Proverbs 1:7 this week), hymn-learning (Blessed Assurance), state and capital drilling, Spanish vocab drilling, and reading a quick story for character-building. All this takes about forty minutes. We then work on copywork while listening to some classical music. Right now our poem for copywork is "The Moon" by Robert Louis Stevenson. It's a cute little poem. :) We're trying a different approach to math and I must admit that I'm a little nervous about how it's going to work out. It's ProfB's Math for the Conceptual Learner or something like that. I don't have it in front of me right now and can't pull the name of it out of my brain.

While the older kids are doing copywork, Hannah colors, Andrew plays or naps, and Benjamin and I work on writing his name and identifying letters and their sounds. He is so excited to get the one-on-one with me. I forget how much it means to each child to get individual attention and not just be one of the kids. :/ I really need to work on this!

We're also doing Apologia's Exploring Creation with Astronomy this year. Jesse is pretty interested in learning more about space and identifying constellations and planets. We've never put much emphasis on this aspect of science. We're all about animals and habitats! :) This should be a fun learning experience for all of us. We are also using the Simply Charlotte Mason History/Bible/Geography module this year. I am really excited about this! I don't know about you, but I never really attached Biblical history with "real" history. They always seemed so separate. This study shows how history began in Genesis and continues on to today. I'm looking forward to seeing what I missed when I was in school!

The only other things I can think of that we do are Jesse and Abigail individually read to me so I can correct any pronunciation problems and I read to all the children from the "Little House" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. We LOVE these books and have trouble stopping at the end of each chapter. :)

Well, that was long-winded! I'll try to let you know when we have our next adventure. And how do I know there'll be another adventure? Because, when you have this many little kids, every day is an adventure! ;D

I'm trying . . .

to sort through all this crazy homeschool stuff! ;) How can the school year be here so soon? I will . . . trrry . . . tooooo . . . update a little . . . more regularly . . after I get . . . out from . . under this heeeeaaaaavy stack of school stuff . . . kinda' hard to type . . . right now . . . :O ;) Later!

Happy Anniversary! (ahem . . . yesterday)

Yes, I knew yesterday that it was our anniversary. Yes, I intended to blog a sweet little nothing about our darling little 8th anniversary. Yes, I procrastinated and didn't blog anything. But, today I will blog sweet little nothings, or something about our anniversary. Confused? I am! ; )

As most of you know, everyone says, "I can't believe we've been married for ____ years! It seems like it was just yesterday." Well, I couldn't have said it better myself! Wow! Eight years already and we're both still alive and sane!

Okay, sarcasm and kidding aside. Does anyone actually know why time seems to go so much faster as we get older? Why did the first and second (and third, if we dare mention a third) eight years of my life seem to drag but these last eight seemed to fly? Is it because life is so much busier? Has anyone ever researched this phenomenon? I mean I can't believe we've been married for eight years already! Oops! Well, there you go. I said it myself. ;)

So what have I learned from these years of married life? Well, I believe I've gained a lot of "hard-earned" knowledge and hopefully some wisdom. Veteran wives will most likely say that I've got a lot more to learn and I agree and dare to hope so. If I believe that I have learned all I need to know, then I have not learned much. That sounds like a quote from somewhere, but I don't know for sure. :/ Hopefully I didn't just plagiarize.

I'm not going to list all the things I've learned so far. Maybe I will in another post. However, I would like to share what I believe to be the most wonderful part of marriage. The Lord has allowed me to spend my days on this earth with my dear Aaron. I can look to him for guidance, comfort, sympathy, encouragement, reprimand, strength, friendship and love. There could not have been a better match for me! I love you Aaron Marsceau and thank our Father in Heaven for allowing us to spend our lives together! :*)

Did you know . . .

. . . that when blogger says it's "saving" a draft, it isn't always serious? Hahaha! Laugh. Laugh. The joke's on me tonight. : / Oh well! Here goes again.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

This word, or sound (whichever it may be) pretty much sums up potty training these days. I know we have to get this right one of these days! Right!? I mean, have you ever heard of an apparently normal child never getting the whole "tell Mama when you need to go potty" thing down? Sigh. : / I think we can . . . I think we can . . .

Finally

I did it! I made yogurt! It turned out pretty good considering I nearly scorched the milk right to start with. :) The kids enjoyed it, and everyone knows if kids like it, pretty much anyone will like it. We just drizzled some honey over it in their bowls because I didn't sweeten or flavor it beforehand.

Next experiment, homemade cream cheese. I'm so excited!

Good Food?

Well, if you want to learn all about the disgusting things we eat every day, watch the movie "Food, Inc." However, I must warn you not to watch it if you don't want to change the types of foods you eat or at least feel guilty and somewhat paranoid while eating them.
Aaron and I watched it a couple months ago and it has completely changed the way I think about not only what I eat, but also what my children eat!
We have many times talked about going more natural and organic. We sometimes buy "out of date" organic foods from the local discount store. We have even grown our own garden for the last couple of years. However, when I fail to plan ahead or we happen to be in town at suppertime, we firmly believe that "when in Rome, [one should] do as the Romans do." Yep, you got it! We eat out at the local organic, "go green" restaurant. HA! I wish! Can you say, "Arby's, Pizza Inn, Golden Corral, IHOP, McDonald's (unless Aaron puts up too much of a fight), Taco Bell, Wendy's, etc...?" I guess you get the point.
Well, food is just food right? Sure you've got your junk food, but what about those salads and wraps and fruit cups and such? They're good for us, right? Hmmm. . . just check out "Food, Inc.", if you think you're ready.

Mama Song

Have you ever heard the "Mama Song?"
My children sing it all day long.
Sweet Hannah Rose seems to like it best.
She hardly ever gives it a rest.

It often makes me want to scream.
At night it sometimes invades my dreams.
But when I stop to take a break,
My heart will then begin to ache.

Those little voices singing my song
Will all too soon be big and strong.
They won't sing my song anymore.
They'll have new places with songs to explore.

I know I'll one day long to hear
The song my children hold so dear.
So rather than moan, I'll choose to enjoy
The song sung so sweetly by my girls and boys.

I love you Jesse Aaron, Abigail Jane, Benjamin Earl,
Hannah Rose and Andrew David!

by "Mama" Amanda Marsceau