The Slide show will come, I am having problems getting it to load. I am still learning how to use my Mac.

I promised a post so I will keep my promise and what better way than to tell how much fun we had on our vacation.

We took a mini tour of Kentucky for our trip, and we had so much fun. First stop on our tour was Cumberland Falls(a place we love to visit). While at Cumberland we stayed up until about 1230 at night to see the elusive Moonbow. We were rewarded with one that kept coming and going. It is very difficult to take a picture unless you have a camera with a 3 minute exposure time, my does not. It only does about 15 seconds and even though it is not a good picture I did manage to get it. I will post one later. On monday we did some hiking. We hiked to Dog Slaughter Falls. Absolutely beautiful, strenuous at times but worth it. before going on the hike, Alex asked me about Dog Slobber Falls, and I had to correct him and tell him it was Dog Slaughter Falls. His response," but that means to kill". Yes it does and there is a not so nice folk lore history revolving around that.

Second stop on our tour, we went to Mammoth Cave. I was amazed at the underground beauty that God has placed there. I took many pictures but it is something you have to see for yourself. Tuesday we took a short 1 hour tour of the historical entrance, the one the indians used to mine the resources for trading. The inside is so vast, I was thankful for lights because otherwise it would be very dark. Weds we took a much longer, 4 1/2 hour hike underground. We even got to eat lunch in the snowball room. It was an old lunch room for the CCC workers back in the early part of the 1900's. We walked some wide open spaces and we walked some very narrow places. Even with having to climb many stairs and steep inclines I enjoyed it so much. I would love to go back. We were at one point put in total darkness. I have never been in a darkness so thick that you can't even see your hand in front of your face. Well, I could write and write about our adventure but I think my pictures will show you the fun we had.

I will post a slideshow shortly. Have a wonderful day.

It has been so long since I have posted anything on my blog, almost 2 years. Too, long if you ask me. I think I just might pick it back up again and start posting. The problems is FB has overtaken my blogging. This is just a short note but look forward in the very near future of fun blogging and photos.

Because it is right

If a child can get away with disobedience they will, they will question authority until they are made to realize they, either, obey or face the consequences. I have been dealing with that a lot in my home lately. One particular child has problems with questioning my authority in such a way that I get very frustrated. I will admit it makes me angry because I have told her time and time again that she is to obey, no matter what. A couple evenings ago she started questioning and kept asking why she had to obey me, the reasoning behind what I wanted her to do. This child is never happy with the short answer, she wants a long detailed explanation before she decides if she agrees or not. As we were talking I thought of what the Bible says in Ephesians 6:1 Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. There it is the short answer, because it is right. Not because you have to obey for a specific reason, sometimes there just is no other reason than because I just want you to do the way I told you. I have a firm belief that children need to obey because they are told to obey. I explained to her this verse that says it so simply, and how Jesus wants us to do what is right. I want her to understand that as she grows up she may be expected to do things and if she wants a big long reason she might lose the joy of just doing it because it is right.

I am, in no way a perfect parent, but as we go through our days God is faithful to show me how I can teach my children what it is he wants from us. Just plain and simple obedience.

Preschool Activities

Homeschool moms with little ones who aren't quite ready for school but need ideas to keep them busy. I heard of a great idea to make acitivity packs, I then googled preschool activities and guess what, here is a place that gives very good ideas for those packs. I also thought of my older children who might feel a little left out of the fun and I am going to make them a special activity pack that they can do during a 15 minute break from regular school work. What I have read that is recommended is limit the time with activity packs, like 15 or 20 minutes and then clean up that one and move on to another. Happy homeschooling!

Disclaimer: none of these ideas are mine but come from other great and wonderful homeschool moms who have tried these wonderful ideas and found that it works to relieve the stress of trying keeping everyone busy at the same time.
Preschool Activities

Learning as I go

I have to admit I am not the most organized person. Just trying to get organized can be quite difficult, but I have talked to God about this and have requested his help and you know what is happening. He is helping me. Are you surprised? I'm not, he has proven true in difficult circumstances before and he his proving true once again. I am not trying to be super organized or get everything done in one day, I am building on what I have learned each day. Maybe we could call it "saxon organization", whatever it is its working. The fun part is I am getting my kids in on the fun. They are learning organization with me. I have figured out that if they can get in a routine of doing the same things everyday like, empty the dishwasher, take dirty laundry to laundry room, and unload washer and load dryer, along with cleaning their rooms each day and just getting into the habit of helping when asked. This has worked wonders, they have quickly learned that it is easier to get it done early then to miss on playtime later. I don't claim to be the next writer of a book on organizing you house, or getting your kids to cooperate but I just wanted to blog about it. I have actually gotten a lot of tips from other bloggers and different website who offer home organization tips. Also our unit study curriculum gave tips on keeping your kids organized and doing their chores along with their school schedule. It keeps on track with our day and they are up and moving so when the "school bell rings" they have gotten their brain cells active and are ready for some learning. I'm telling it works, think about kids who may ride the bus to school or sleep until the last minute, when it comes time to sitting down at their desk they are still lethargic, cold and just want to lay their head down and sleep. The was my oldest last year. I thought that if she is always so tired then she must need her sleep, so I waited to get her up and even when she did, she would come to the couch with a blanket moan and groan about having to busy with school. On top of that, fights would break out between the three and then I would get stressed and frustrated and just plain ready to give up. God has promised to give us wisdom if we ask, what better to ask for than wealth or a better job, or even a bigger house. I don't need any of that, because it is wise to always depend on God for what we need, and since wisdom is my current and ongoing need that is my request. God has been faithful to provide for that request. I also believe that in order to teach out children to live godly lives they need to learn to honor their family and work together. Do I expect everyday to go smoothly, oh no, but I do know that God will give me the wisdom with each new day he allows me to enjoy on this earth.



Here is a couple links to blogs that have proved useful to me, and in the meantime read Ephesians chapter 5

http://www.donnayoung.org/

www.butfirstwehavecoffee.com

Country Profiles -

This is a link to an interactive map dipslaying countries that make it difficult to be a Christian in.
Because of what my children are going to study in school this year, I am trying to become more aware
of the issues of christian persecution around the world. We need to pray for the many men and women
who suffer in these countries.
Country Profiles -