Nothing Like Mountain Apples

Last weekend the Hubby and kids and I went to Apple Valley to pick apples and pumpkins. We had a wonderful time. It was a very cold weekend! We were all bundled up with coats, hats, scarfs and gloves! But oh what a great time we had!

We first went and did the Corn Maze(we even took our dog Sandy with us). It was a lot of fun trying to find all of our 5 points. We eventually found all of our points and I believe that we did it under an hour. It was a great "family" team building experience. Fun for everyone!

Then we picked apples and we picked a 1/2 bushel of them. We picked 3 different types. One sweet type, Cameos, one in-between sweet and tangy the Goldrush , then the last one was the Mutsu that I use to bake in my apple pies. We also bought a huge cabbage that weighed 5 lbs! It is so big that I can have it with three different meals! We also bought homemade apple bread and apple butter. Not to mention that the kids each had a homemade apple strudel and the Hubby and I had a nice hot cup of apple cider! Yum-O!!

After picking apples we picked pumpkins. The kids each got one. It didn't take the Princess long at all to pick hers, but the Bookworm, well, let's just say that it took him a good 45 minutes! But that was OK, because we enjoyed walking around and looking at all the different sizes of pumpkins and looking at the goats and llama too! It was a fun filled day!

So, want to spend some quality time with your family this Fall, get outside and go apple and pumpkin picking! There is no better way to spend time together as a family then outside in God's wonderful world!

When God Calls

Several years ago now, when my husband was deployed to be exact, he heard God calling him into the Ministry. We talked about getting out of the Military so that he could go to Seminary, but it wasn't the right time to do it at that time. So, I started praying 3 years ago to God this specific prayer each day. "Dear Lord, I pray that my husband will be able to somehow attend Seminary and yet, still retire out of the Army, without having to retire first or get out of the Army and then go to Seminary. Lord if that is your will, I know that You can make it happen. "

So, everyday I prayed this prayer for 3 years. A few months ago my Husband came home from work one day and told me about a local college that offered Seminary classes and the at he was thinking about possibly enrolling, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to attend this one college or another one that was in another state. A lot of the classes he could do online, but for some, he would have to take some of the classes at the College itself. He looked at me and he asked me,"How long have you been prayer?" I said,"Praying about what?" He said,"Praying for me and Seminary." I told him,"3 years."

Folks...........GOD IS GOOD! The past few weeks have been exciting in our house! The Husband decided against both of those schools and we found another Seminary that is so much better and caters to the Military and all of his classes can be taken online! And yes, he will be done in less than four years, which equals that amount of time that we have left remaining in the Army! And another yes, we have decided that 20 years is enough, he is going to retire, so that he can go into Ministry.
He got accepted into Seminary and just received his books and DVDs yesterday.....he can't wait til classes start in a week or two!

God hears us when we pray. Lots of times we want answers now, but God will always answer us and He always answers in His time.

Think about all of the blessings that God has given to you and finish this phrase, " I know I am blessed because......................................

The Consequence Jar

For those of you wanting to know more about "The Consequence Jar", here it is....

It's hard to find away to discipline your kids and to "stick" with it, especially when they get older. We now have a teenage daughter, the Princess, whom is 13 and a preteen, the Bookworm, whom is 10 soon to be 11 in December. And yes, he is a preteen, I teach his 4th/5th Grade Sunday School Class and the Curriculum is tagged as Preteen! Yes, I know I almost fell off my rocker!

So, one night after the Hubby and I tucked the kids into bed, we were talking and catching up on our day and talking about how we could effectively nip sassy talk, back talk, eye rolling, and just plain attitude out of our kids but be able to be consistant at the same time. That's when we thought of making a "Consequence Jar".

I took an index card and wrote on it in Red Marker, Consequence Jar and taped it to an old Mason Jar. The next night at dinner during our family's devotion time, we told the kids that we were going to come up with a Family Vision for our family. All four of us participated in making it, we didn't think that it would be right not to involve the kids. So, that night our Family Vision was made, it is: To be a family that glorifies God by, showing love, respect and encouragement to one another, through JOY:Jesus, Others, Yourself.

After we set our Family Vision, we then decided on the Family Rules. We each took a turn naming what we thought would be a good family rule.
Here is our Family Rules:
1. Respect Each Other
2. No Whining
3. Encourage Each Other
4. Practice Makes Progress
5. No Lying, Always Tell The Truth
6. No Back-talking
7. Obey Your Parents
8. No Bad Words
9. Respect Your Body
10. Do Not Interrupt When Someone is Talking
11. Do Not Be Mean
12. Use Your Manners
13. Respect Other's Property
14. Take Pride in Yourself
15. No More Than 2 Hours of Computer/TV Per Day

These were then quickly typed out on the computer and printed along with our Family Vision and then posted in our home where we all four can see them everyday and refer back to them.

Next, we told the kids that we had a new way of solving back-talking, whining, etc. "The Consequence Jar". They were quit surprised when I pulled the mason jar out. We again took turns with Mom writing on index cards tasks/consequences that were to go in the jar.

For example here are some of their consequences: pull weeds out of garden, pull weeds out of flower beds, pick up pine cones in back yard, pick up sticks in back yard, fill up all bird feeders in yard, vaccum upstairs and stairs, vaccum all of down stairs, clean both toliets, sweep drive-way, etc. I think you get the idea. These are basically chores that neither of them like to do! And yes, they both have a chore chart with daily chores.

Once all consequences were written down, we folded the index cards in half and put them all in the jar. And that was it, our Famly Vision, Family Rules and Consequence Jar done as a family and all done in one night.

How does the Consequence Jar work, well when one back talks, we say go pull, and they go straight to the jar and pull a consequence and they immediately go and do it. We of course also talk with them about their behavior as well. We have found that this does work in our family and I recommend it to everyone. It is a topic of conversation in our home when guests and friends come over, because The Consequence Jar sits in plain view on our kitchen bar. They ask, what is The Consequence Jar? And we tell them pull a card..........then they say OHHHHH, this is a good idea!

Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."

Another Year...

It's been awhile since I have blogged.........summer happened that's why! Well, another school year has begun. This year the Princess is the 8th grade and the Bookworm is in the 5th grade. They are both the biggest ones on each of their school campuses this year. The year has been great so far, I am praying that they both have wonderful years this year.

The Princess is still in Band this year playing her flute, she loves playing flute. She has wonderful teachers this year and she is really enjoying all of her classes. Her Algebra teacher is our Pianist at Church. The Princess tried out for the School's Girls Volleyball Team the first week of School, and she made it! We are very proud of her wanting to try something new. Her first game is tonight........GO LADY TIGERS!

The Bookworm is already getting very involved in the 5th Grade leadership at his school. He gets to School 15 minutes early every morning before all of the other students arrive and he signs in and vests-up for his position on the morning Safety Patrol. He loves being on the Safety Patrol and has been taking his job very seriously being very adamant about not being late in the mornings! The Bookworm is playing Soccer again this year. This is his 8th year playing Soccer! He started playing Soccer when he was 3 years old when we moved to Germany, wow!

The Hubby is now an Instructor of BOLC at the Army Finance School. He loves his new job. He thought that he wouldn't be able to get in front of new Lieutenants and talk, but he has found that it is very easy and enjoyable and has found that he has to have lots of candy for his throat! Funny how it is like pulling teeth to get him to talk on long trips in the van when we are going somewhere!) I guess women do have more to say than men! HA

As for me, the usual. My job never changes....the cleaing, washing, vaccuming, cooking, errands, groceries, and Mom's taxi service. But I wouldn' change it for anything in the world! I am trying to volunteer as much as I can anywhere that I may be needed, schools, church, etc. We just had one of our friends visit us that we were stationed with in Italy, it was fun to see her and spend a few days with her. For now I am getting excited about our Ladies Small Group Bible Study starting up next Monday night, we're doing the Frazzled Female by Cindi Wood, I can't wait!

As I type this it is lightly thundering and raining alittle. I love rainy days, they are absolutely my favorite kind of days. Hoping that your day is blessed and that you, like me, are thanking God for all of his many blessings that he has given to us.

Prescription for Contentment

A few years ago when my husband was deployed, I had been dealing with a lot of anxiousness in my life. All of us deal with this. Are you saying to yourself right now that you never are anxious or are not content? Ok then, have you ever complained about anything? You know you have. Have you ever complained about that person driving in the car in front of you because they are going to slow?! Anyway....

That one year when my husband was deployed was one of the years where I grew the most, I don't mean bodyweight, I mean spiritual growth. I was became stronger that year spiritually. I was apart of a wonderful Ladies' Evening Bible Study that year and it really blessed my life. The study that we did was Calm My Anxious Heart. If you are apart of a Ladies' Bible Study Group at you Church or PWOC at your Chapel, I recommend this Bible Study, especially if you have ladies and their spouses are deployed.

I am happy to say that I have been anxious free for 3 years! It's not something that happens over night, trust me, it takes a lot of work and a lot of pray.

Here's the secret recipe:

Prescription for Contentment

~Never allow yourself to complain about anything---not even the weather.
~Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.
~Never compare your lot with another's.
~Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.
~Never dwell on tomorrow---remember that tomorrow is God's, not ours.

Enjoying Your Life

Have you ever thought about your life....or thought about your day? Do you often think that the only days that you can enjoy in your life are the days that you are on vacation or are off from work or when you get to go to a movie or shopping or just to take a nap? I think that we have probably all thought this my dear friend, but the TRUTH of the matter is: Jesus died so that we can all enjoy an abundant life all the time, every day.

"Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily, as for the Lord and not men, knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the inheritance which is your reward." Colossians 3:23

Jesus wants us to enjoy everything in our life, EVERYTHING, yes, EVERYTHING. From paying your bills, to going and buying groceries, to taking the kids to school, to weeding your garden and cutting your grass and yes, doing laundry(pray n wash).

You're thinking, I can't enjoy some of those things! Yes, you can! You can enjoy life if you determine to do so. How? It's really simple.....say to yourself that you are going to enjoy every aspect of your life because Jesus died so that I could have unspeakable joy.

Errands, cooking, bills, your job, the future, retiring, college for the kids, yard work, moves, the list could go on and on.............enjoy it, God gives us nothing that we can not handle and HE knows our every need.

Start today and start enjoying your life!

3 Cups of Coffee and On The Edge of My Seat

Yesterday was a very nice day, windy, but nice. Sandy(our dog) and I worked in the garden all of yesterday morning pulling weeds. It was nice to be out in the cool air.

Yesterday afternoon I made a pot of coffee right before the kids came home and had a cup while waiting on them to get home from school. I had one more cup before we left for The Princess's Softball Tournament and I made a to-go cup and took it with us! Total of 3 cups..actually I may have had 4, but who's counting! So I was full of caffiene!

The Princess made it to round one of the Girl's Softball Tournament. WOW what a game! They played Taco Bell. They had already played Taco Bell 2 other times beating them both times and the last game against them went into Over Time! The Princess really had her game face on last night and pitched an AWESOME game! She in fact pitched the WHOLE game! She had me on the edge of my seat the entire game. In fact I was literally on the edge of my seat for the entire time! We started out by being behind 6-1, then we came back and tied it 6-6. All of us Parents just knew that we were going to have to go into OVER TIME AGAIN with Taco Bell, but not so! We were the Home team and got to bat last. The Princess was up to bat, bases loaded(I think), she hit and made a HOMERUN! This gave us the 1 RUN that our team needed to win! Game was over and now the Princess and her team advanced up to round two of the Girl's Softball Tournament. So, say a prayer for the Princess and her team on Thursday evening!

Goooooooooooooooooooooo P&G!