We are very excited!

We announced to the family at the various Christmas gatherings. Number 6 in on the way!

We are very excited! Just so that no one asks. We use our midwives and have no ultrasounds. We deliver at home not knowing whether the baby is a boy or girl until that precious moment when they are born!

God is so good to us!

Obviously loosing weight will not be on my radar for this new year. Make sure you let me know as an accountability thing what your new year's resolutions are.

31 Days to Clean!

Sarah Mae has written an awesome book called 31 Days to Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way

This book is so great for those that are not born organized. For those of us so busy that the little things get left undone and then you don't know where to start. It really makes you think about what is most important. It also helps you figure out what your cleaning style is and what will work best for you.

Have you ever got excited to make up a schedule only to become discouraged and unsure when it came to the actual doing part? Then this book is for you!

Head on over for your chance to win!

<a href="https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?ii=921540&c=ib&aff=194224&cl=163493" target="ejejcsingle">Click here to view more details</a>

Lilla Rose Giveaway @ A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

A Wise Woman Builders Her Home is having a Lilla Rose giveaway!

They have gorgeous headbands!


Wonderful and elegant Flexi-clips!




For 3 days only they are offering free shipping on orders over $20.


Of course I had to share their flexi of the month. How elegant this could make anyone feel!


 Head on over  to a Wise Woman Builds Her Home now for a chance to win a certificate for Lilla Rose up to $15!

Thankful!

Yes, I am thankful!

This time I am thanking the Almighty for shedding blood for me. Did you know that when Jesus was on the cross he was thinking of you and me? That's right friends! Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice freely given for us!

There is NOTHING you can do to earn the sacrifice of the cross. Jesus truly paid for all of your sins.

The laws of Moses are NOT relevant to us today. The law was given that man might see. That man might understand that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. God didn't want the blood of animals He wanted man to realize we needed Him. To cry out for Him. To say that we are not good enough and that we never could be.

Then Jesus changed all of that by being our unblemished lamb. Now all of the laws MUST be filtered through the cross. What God has made free is free indeed!

So, today I am thankful that Jesus shed His blood for me. Though I was just a sinner stuck in the rut now I am a child of the Living God! And you can be too!

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Vision Forum

Just in case you have not heard of them. I wanted to share a little bit about Vision Forum.

Vision Forum has edifying products for the whole family. I could honestly shop their website for the whole family for Christmas and have everyone happy! Not to mention that all of the products are from other Christians. How great is that?

Now of course I must share with you my own weakness when it comes to Vision Forum. They have Christian Books, that's right I am an avid reader and anything that can help equip me as a wife, mother, child, or servant of the Most High, well I am all for it.

So, do us both a favor and head over there to see what you can get for yourself or your loved ones this Christmas!

God is GOOD!

Another thankful post.

I know that I am behind in posting if I am supposed to be posting daily about my thanks.

I have so much to be thankful for that is sometimes difficult to list just one and then remember what I said so that I do not repeat myself.

So, this time around I am thankful for a free nation! Where I am free to believe in and assembly with other believers of Jesus Christ. Where I am also free to homeschool my children without government interference. let's not forget that I am also free to bear arms.

Today I am asking for any of you to tell me what you are thankful to be free to do here in the United States. Please share what you are thankful to be doing here.

A Wise Woman Builds her Home has a giveaway!

Inspired Design is a hospitality book written by a mother-daughter team.
Roxanne Hughes Packham teams up with.......

Head on over to A Wise Woman Builds Her Home to read more and for your chance to win!

Gratituesday!

That's right I am joining in on the Gratituesday from Heavenly Homemakers.

Today we were encouraged to take this on to facebook or into the world.

Since gratitude is something we are asked to give to God shouldn't we share our gratitude with others?

So, I will start by saying that my gratitude is all about my family.

Thank you God for providing me with such and awesome husband and such amazing children. Thank you for loving parents and plenty siblings and even more cousins! That will be my focus this week and I WILL share it with my family around the dinner table.

Thank you for the amazing Godly Influence!

My Beloved

My amazing Beloved has started to blog himself. I really enjoyed his last post about back to school. Won't you head on over to see what he wrote I fully agree with what he wrote. So, please head on over and be sure to leave him a note saying that you stopped. Also, come back and leave me a comment here telling me if you feel the same way. Also why you feel that way. Perhaps this is an issue I should jump into more myself.

180

Follow this link to watch what made these people do a 180. Then leave me a comment and tell me how this did or did not impact you.

Nutrimill Giveaway from Paula's Bread!

Head on over for your very own chance to win this awesome Grain Mill!

Just click through the link.

Nutrimill Giveaway from Paula's Bread and Heavenly Homemakers!

School

For those of you that don't already know we are homeschoolers. This time of year everyone is talking about back to school. Homeschoolers are talking about school rooms, curriculum choices, and a host of other discussions.

So, in keeping with that I thought I would share a little bit about what we do and why.

This year we chose a different curriculum thanks to a close friend. We are doing KONOS! There are also 2 other families from our church using this curriculum. The 3 of us get together once a week. We all started up 2 weeks ago. I have found this curriculum to be very freeing. KONOS is a unit study for those of you that are wondering.

Now, while KONOS is awesome it does not cover phonics or math. So, we do those subjects first thing in the morning and Konos in the afternoon. For math we are using Saxon math. Phonics is covered in Sing,Spell,Read, Write. Also for my older son I am using www.spellingcity.com I simply plug in the Konos vocabulary words and off he goes.

The afternoon is filled with Konos activites.

Of course we also do chores throughout the day. Laundry is an all day affair.

Morning school takes place at the dining room table for all of the kids with my oldest switching to the computer for spelling. Konos activities are all over the house, yard, and other places. Most of them are right in our own living room!

So, there you have it. What we use and where we school. So much fun and excitement!

So, what are you using this year? Or, are you sending your kiddos off to school?

What is God Saying?

That's right what is God saying to you?

Is He talking to you throughout the day?

  

I am really trying to remember that all those little distractions that interrupt my day. Well they are really sent by Him.

  

 So, when the kids are screaming, the house looks like a tornado hit, and the doorbell rings. That is God.

  

When I am on the phone and a child gets into something. That is God.

  

Since I was taught and KNOW that God doesn't make mistakes. Who am I to correct Him? How can I say He is wrong?

I guess it is time to step back and remember that He sent these wonderful blessings to me and He ordains my days.

 

So, what are you dealing with that God is speaking to you through?

Home Educating Family Publishing & a giveaway

Home Educating Family is havinga giveaway!

That's right a chance to win one of their awesome Well Planned Day planners!

Not only could you win a planner but the winner also gets to choose a binder.

Well I do not yet own one I have friends that love their Well Planned Day planners.

I am just so excited for a chance to win one!

So, head on over for your chance to win.

Just go to   Home Educating Family Publishing

Things I love

First and foremost I love the Lord.

Then my Beloved and kids.

The rest of the family.

Then Chocolate! Oh Yes, I love chocolate. The Diaper Diaries is having a giveaway for a S'Mores kit. Now who doesn't love S'Mores? Head on over for your chance to win. A winner will be drawn on July 29th.
http://thediaperdiaries.net/smores-things-i-love-thursday-plus-a-giveaway/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheDiaperDiaries+%28The+Diaper+Diaries%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

Enjoy!

My brother's wedding with pics!

My brother got married on Saturday. I was the matron-of-honor. Our older brother was the best man. 

 Here we have my Beloved with my sister, Tina.

My brother Paul and me!

The ring bearer, my son Thomas!

The flower girls. The grooms daughter Zoe is on the left.

My daughter Hannah is on the right.

The bride!

A great picture of everyone!

A picture of the ladies!

A picture of the gentlemen!

 The kiss!

I introduce for the first time, Mr. and Mrs....

The receiving line.

From left to right we have..Jason and his wife Della (brides brother)

My Beloved with my sister Tina and our son Thomas.

My brother Paul and I.

My brother Mike with his new wife Candice.

My Beloved with our youngest Grace.

My bouquet added to my center piece at home!

 I decided to add this at the last minute which is why it is out of order, sorry.



After the bride walked down my daughter Cassie decided to come down so she could watch the ceremony. The funny thing was everyone paused and turned to watch her!

So, you have my Cassie.

Oh, and our oldest Joe is in this shot between the groom and the best man.

All in all it was a beautiful day and everything went great!

Congratulations you guys!

Father's Day!

I wanted to tell my men happy father's day!

Unfortunately, my father lives too far away. So I have no recent pictures of him. My beloved is another story. Though his most recent picture is from my brother's wedding on Saturday. (That's another post)

So for now I will just leave you with this link.
A Father's Love letter to you.

Hope ou all enjoyed your Father's Day as well!

Our first event!

Yeah, we survived our first event of the season! The weather kept changing and we had a scare but all was well.

I think the kids most enjoyed making homemade butter. Our friend Mercedes was so patient with all the kids. I will say though that the high temperatures caused the butter to turn out a little bit more like a whipped butter. I myself do not care for butter but everyone else said it was great. But then don't we know that the homemade stuff is always better?

I really enjoyed getting to connect with other re-enactor friends that I missed all winter. We spent more time away from camp this year and the kids got to ride on all the rides. Then came Monday. Memorial day is so very special to us. Our unit currently has 2 active duty Marines and we have several retired military. My own brother is a veteran. I couldn't help but cry a little as all of the military members past and present were called onto the field. We all clapped for quite a while tears ran down our cheeks. How can I thank these men and women for all that they have done? I guess that is really what I think about for Memorial Day.. What do you think about for Memorial Day?

I would also like to THANK our Veterans and remind everyone to pray for our troops!

Computer down, Arg!

Well,
 I just wanted to let you know that I am having computer problems so I may be missing for a while.

 I also wanted to let you know that we leave Friday for our first event of the season! We will be re-enacting at Greenfield Village for any Michigan readers! Come on out and visit the village!

Day 12-Perfectionism

Perfection..
FlyLady says that perfection is our enemy and that a job done imperfectly is still a job done.

Jesus was our perfect lamb! Just a thought but if we strive for what only Jesus accomplished and try to do it on our own are we pushing Him away? I guess that I really need to remember that though I am created in His image, I am not perfect. Therefore, my house does not have to be perfect. He has called me to make my house a home. Not a perfect house but a lived in, comfortable home.

So, as I am backing away from this perfectionism will you join me? Let that stress just run right off of you. Give it all to God our perfect sacrifice!

May God strengthen you as you try to walk in His ways!

A friends giveaway!

Head on over to:http://raisinghomemakers.com/2011/daughters-and-sons-of-history-a-giveaway/for your chance to win!

They are giving away a Set of His History Paper Dolls which teach modesty and history through famous women of history! These are a great way to encourage our daughters!



For the boys they are giving away Soldiering Through History:Revolutionary War. What a great way for our boys to learn about history. The boys I believe get to reenact being a soldier.

What great ways for our children to learn about history in an interesting fashion!

Once again head on over to raising homemakers to win!

Happy Mother's Day!

Just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day!



My Day was great! My wonderful husband bought breakfast so I didn't have to cook. Then we all headed to church. After church he took my mother, grandmother, his mom and myself out for lunch. Then my sister and I sang songs to our mom and grandmother. After a short walk home we cleaned in the garage and the utility trailer(this is our re-enacting trailer). We pulled everything out so we could get to our canvas tents. Then we put up our tent and my mom's tent. Then we put some things back. We sprayed Mom's tent with Camp Dry so it has to stay out. After we got things put where we wanted, we went and played with our new toy. We recently bought, and just brought home, a pop-up trailer. The neighbor came over and said we got a great deal!

Now we are putting the kids to bed so we can put our feet up. Tomorrow starts soon enough.

So what did you do for Mother's Day?

Day 5 - Priorities

Day 5 -Priorities!

This is a hard one for me. I honestly try but feel I fall short. I am working on applying God's Grace to myself. As flylady would say "A job done imperfect, is still done!" I can't let my perfectionism keep me down. I am a daughter of the King and my priorities need to be in line with the Word.

So, Yes I do try to get up every morning and spend time in the Word. I am currently working on reading through the bible in 90 days. I am almost finished! Something that also helps me stay motivated in this is my Good Morning Girls! (For more information head on over to www.goodmorninggirls.org)

That makes God my #1

#2 Is my wonderful Husband.
 I try to watch my tone and be respectful to him. I try to make sure I am honoring him at all times. I desire to be his friend and companion, his soft landing, the person he runs to, and the person the Bible tells me to be for him. I should always be his helpmeet!

#3 My 5 wonderful kids.
 Between babies and homeschooling I am very busy. I need time to get all the chaos under wraps so that I can effectively school the children while still showering everyone with God's grace and mercy.

#4 My house
 Yes, the house needs to be a haven. A warm place where everyone feels welcome. A place where messes can be made and cleaned together. I want my children to remember me as the Mom who did things with them. Not, the Mom who was always too busy cleaning to do anything with them. I am still struggling in finding the happy medium here. But with God I am getting closer.

#5 Would be myself.
 Most days I tend to forget that I even make this list. I try to remember that I need to stay healthy so that I can do the first 4 things! I know that I am important I am just sometimes so busy with life that I forget about me.

If you had to list your top  priorities what would they be?

My Mother and Grandmother!

 I wanted to take today to thank my Mother and Grandmother. I was raised by my single Mother until Grandpa passed away. Then we all moved in with Grandma. Grandma took care of us before and after school while my Mother worked.
Both women worked and sacrificed for my siblings and I. I can't begin to let them know how much it means. I guess the scripture says it best
   "Her children rise up and call her blessed:" Proverbs 31:28aNKJ

After all God knows best!

I guess I didn't understand all that my Mother and Grandmother did until I became a Mother. I can only hope that I have learned these lessons well. I certainly hope and pray that my children one day rise up and call me blessed.

 Now in case they come over and read this.. Thank you both! I love you and indeed I do rise up and call you blessed! We are all hoping to show you how much you are blessed.

Oh and I should also ad that my parents as I call them live just around this short city block. My children are so blessed to have family close by. My younger sister actually comes over here quite a bit. My Grandmother babysits when I need help, and my Mother is always there for me, right or wrong. I can't say thank you enough. You are both awesome!  God Bless!

I just wanted to add that my Mom just stopped by with a new water bath canner for me! Yeah thanks so much Mom. You are the Best!

I am linked up over at:

<a href="http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt60/junefuentes/thisbetterwork.jpg" border="0" alt="A-Wise-Woman-Builds-Her-Home"></a>

31 Days to Clean Challenge

So today is day three! I missed yesterday so I will be doing both challenges today. Having said that I think my biggest challenge is motivation. I know how to clean, I know why I should clean, I just don't have the motivation to clean. I am really hoping this book and challenge help me find some motivation. I don't know why I struggle with this while other women don't. I just know that I do. Anyone else have the same problem?

If you had this problem before how did you solve it?

Bounce Ideas!

Here are the rules and such...

Head over to Bounce’s Facebook page and post their most creative ideas for using the Bounce Dryer Sheets or Bar outside the laundry room by leaving a comment on the Bounce Facebook page.  Then three ideas will be chosen each week and voters will vote for the best one. Weekly winners will have a chance to have their idea made into a video by the "Bounce Fanatics". Check out some of these ideas for inspiration.

<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AKWjtIC-q6U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

You can leave your comments weekly between Saturday and Mondays until May 27th. Then on Tuesday through Thursday they will create the winning videos. Every Friday the winning video will be posted, in an exciting moment of fame and glory for the winning fan!



Perhaps crazier is better! What would you do?

31 Days to Clean challenge

I just linked up to join the 31 days to clean challenge! This can be joined over at joyful mothering.Just click on the button over on the right hand side to sign-up!
I will be posting updates at least once a week and linking up there. I am excited to be starting on this journey with such wonderful and godly women!

Let's get started!

Welcome to my blog! I thought I would start by telling you a little about myself. I am married to my high school sweetheart. We have 5  young children thus far. (Yes, this is why I titled the blog this way) I am also homeschooling  them. I cloth diaper my young children and believe in home births. I try to cook healthy meals and live frugally. We are also part of a civil war re-enacting group. That about sums me up! I'll try to add more as I think of it.

Well I hope that you enjoy your time here! Things are not always easy but we are doing the best we can with what God has given us. We give Him all the honor and the glory!