Yet, when I walked back into the room a half hour later my bed was totally unmade again, throw pillows back in the corner of the room where we put them every night.

Am I going senile?

Or maybe my children just think they’re really funny.

We noticed these little almost cute sugar ants about a week after moved in.  They were headed toward the kitchen trash.  The trash can had just been cleaned so all I could think to do was move it.  Then I noticed them in the bathroom.  Then yesterday in the baby’s room.

It’s not like there are long lines of them trailing off so we can see where they’re coming from.  With the exception of the garbage can we’ve only seen them in packs of 3 or 4.

Until yesterday. 

I had given Jesse some juice in spill proof cup.  He asked for water about an hour later so I went and got his cup out of his room, and opened it to find 30 or 40 of the tiny little buggers all over the inside of the lid.

That’s just gross and I’m really not quite sure what to do about the little invaders.

Maybe they have mistaken my kindness to the Katydid as an invitation for them, as well?  All I can figure to do is bug spray all around the outside and inside perimeter of our house and hope they take the hint.

Daughter took the good camera - pics lately have been less than marginal, I know.

During a normal homeschooling day around here you’ll see things like this.

I can’t tell you how much learning goes on in small moments like these. But I can tell you it’s not just about the reading.

It’s the quality time. The giggles. The habits being built.

The bonding.

It’s I Love You Stinky Face.

At least the house gave us a nice break since the last episode.  We were getting too comfortable I guess.

Ryan is pretty handy but he seems a little torqued about this new development.  I’m wondering if he even wants to just fix it himself.  Personally, I just want to call the landlord.

Okay. I’ll admit they look a little silly.  And, yes, a few kids have laughed while pointing to my “frog feet”.  Yes, they get a lot of stares.

But, my daughter’s orthodontist actually looked them up on his iPhone right then and there in the middle of her braces appointment to bookmark the site so he could buy a pair later. I’d already paid him in full so I doubt he was just being agreealbe.  He’s a professional doctor person and he loved them.  That’s got to mean something.

So just hear me out.  K?

I’ve had trouble with my right foot for about a year and half now.  I injured it jogging, then stepping into the garage, then again doing who knows what.

Doing research on proper walking, and building muscle in your feet to combat foot and ankle issues, I ran across an article on the benefits of going barefoot, even running barefoot.  That sparked my curiosity and looking further into it led me to these Vibram FiveFinger athletic shoes.

Anybody who knows me might already have guessed that I’d want these shoes simply because they are unusual.  And you guessed right!

My oh-so-awesome husband surprised me with them and, although I haven’t worn them running, I’ve worn them regularly for about 5 months now and definitely think they’re helping.  I have high arches and regular shoes force me to walk in a way that is unhealthy for my particular foot shape.  I’ve also found that wearing arch supports do more harm that good in the long run by failing to help my feet build the muscle needed to promote their health.  The vibrams act more like socks so my feet are forced to take on a more natural walking motion. I’m rebuilding muscle I forgot I had and strengthening my feet more with every step.

This post is in no way an advertisment.  I just found something that worked for me and thought I’d pass the info along.

Parenting is such a curious topic for me.  How we view our children comes out in what we expect from them, how we educate them, and how we treat them.  The typical Christian parent wants to raise their children to be Christian adults, that’s not the question.  The question is, what are we actually raising our children as right now?

Are we raising them as Christians?  To be Christians? To hopefully someday be Christians?
Is our child’s Christianity an assumption, an expectation, or just a hope?

Are we raising our children as if Christianity is an option, just praying they’ll stay on the right side of the fence?

After an eye opening conversation with some good friends of our ours a few weeks ago I really got to thinking.  How are my husband and I raising our children here in this house?

The answer was easy after a little thought.  We’re raising our children as though Christian is who they are.  Not what they will be, or what we hope they will be.

I’ve never even thought of saying, “Mommy and Daddy are Christians and someday you will be too!” 
What we might say would sound more like, “Yes, we’re a Christian family.  And that means we….”

But this new line of thinking has brought to the forefront the question of Baptism.

What is Baptism?  Why Baptise?  When to Baptise?

When God came to Abraham he told him to not only circumcise himself, but all boys 8 days or older, and everybody in his household.  It was a covenant between God and His people. Genesis 17:10-14

Unless the 8 day old babies in Abraham’s house were much further advanced than our 8 days old babies are now, which is a ridiculous thought, this meant that babies, through no choice of their own, were to be circumcised in this bloody ritual as a sign of membership in the covenant community.

Now that Baptism is the sign of membership in the covenant community (also a bloody ritual of sorts, I might add), I’m curious to what changed the ‘when’ of it all.

And if we’re raising our children as today Christians, as though they have been elected already, not maybe-someday Christians, as though they might someday be elected, how does that fit in with our current credo-baptism practices?

And if I’m wrong does that mean a person isn’t elected until they choose to be elected?  And if that’s case, how can they really be elected?  Isn’t the idea of choosing to be elected a contradiction?

Sometimes somebody says something to you.  It could be just a couple of sentences, but it totally changes the way you’ve been thinking. 
This whole Baptism thing has created new questions for me, but has actually cleared up a number of other questions I’ve had about election and God’s sovereignty.

It’s given me something new to ponder.  And that’s always good.

Literally.

The kids call him Spike and he’s a Katydid who found his way into our home sometime on Sunday.

We first saw him on the ceiling.  I was gonna tell Joe to get him and take him outside but our ceilings are high and it was late in the evening.  He’s not scary looking or anything so I just let him be.

The next day we saw him again around breakfast time.  The boys were fascinated with him, all hovering around him to get a good look.  I figured I’d let them look for a while and then have him banished to the out of doors.

That didn’t happen either.

He ended up on my plant.  My indoor plant.

I noticed that he was missing one of his long back legs and started to feel sorry for him.  I couldn’t very well banish him to the harsh outside where all sorts of predators are waiting for a crippled bug such as him.  So we’ve let him stay.
Then, last night I couldn’t find him and I actually started to worry about him a little.

What’s with me?

This morning Joe found him and stuck him back on my plant. I don’t know how long Spike will be with us, but he has added a small amount of interest to our week.

Some things, ideas, are occurring to me lately.

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.  1 Corinthians 13:11

A couple of years ago we started treating Kait more and more like an adult.  I’m not sure what prompted us to do this, a leading from The Spirit or something.  Over time we gave her more adult-like responsibility, started expecting more adult-like actions, and gave her more adult-like privileges.  At 13 she was no longer a child.  And though silliness and childlike antics are a fun part of our family, it was time for her to pack up any childish ways and toss ‘em.

It’s becoming quite clear to me that this is what is wrong with the majority of our youth these days.  They hit a certain age, have all the physical and mental abilities of an adult, but none of the responsibility or expectations.  They are no longer a child, but not yet an adult.  They are just there. 

Think about this.
In the typical public high school you can’t use the restroom without permission from a teacher, and sometimes an explanation of what you might need to do in there.  Oh, and a pass so everybody in the hall knows you’re allowed to go potty by yourself.
These kids are old enough to be an adult, and we often rant and rave because they continue to act so childish; but if they dare expect to be treated with the dignity of an adult they’re likely to be faced with some form of punishment.  In public schools that means detention, suspension, or in severe cases, expulsion.

A male of 17 should not only be expected to act like a man, he should also be given appropriate manly privileges.  Like getting up to go to the restroom without begging permission. 

I understand why changes like this could be difficult to implement in the public school system.  It’s just not gonna happen.  So, the system will continue to work to produce perpetual children; whiny, needy grown girls with no sense of true womanhood, who go through relationship after relationship after relationship in search of something they’ll never find in a grown boy; and lazy, dependant, demanding grown boys who expect nothing of themselves, have a warped view of pride and manhood, and desire no responsibility at all.

Even the most attentive parents have trouble combating these things in the few hours a day they have with their public schooled kids.

But we’re not completely without help.  There are other options, though they aren’t always the easiest choices.  But the narrow gate, the one that leads to life, isn’t supposed to be easy.

Enter by the narrow gate.  For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.  Matthew 7:13-14

Whatever it is that you chose, remember this.
There is no middle child-age where our kids quite growing and learning.  What is it you want your children being taught?

Michelle Duggar

For a long time I’ve noticed how women with a lot of children look much younger than their age.  I thought that maybe having a lot of young children kept them busy, or outside more, or less stressed than if they had a full time job. 

I didn’t really know.

But I just learned something interesting.  The average pregnant woman will produce a combination of estrogen and progesterone that work together to keep her youthful looking.  It’s the estrogen that is the fountain of youth hormone.  The progesterone just keeps the estrogen in check.

Don’t confuse this with the synthetic estrogen that your body can’t process as efficiently.  Although synthetic estrogen can help you feel younger when you take it, in time it can also destroy your liver and increase your chances of cancer, both which can cause you to age very fast.

Other ways having lots of babies can help keep you young -

-A pregnant woman is less likely to smoke and drink.  Both have strong aging properties.
-A pregnant woman typically drinks more fluids.
-A pregnant woman rests more.
-A pregnant woman tends to stay away from prescription and non-prescription drugs.
-A pregnant woman often craves pickles.  Vinegar is a natural anti-aging food.

Michelle Duggar is in her mid-40’s and hasn’t a gray hair as far as I can tell. That’s quite interesting.

I started a money saving blog a few years ago.  Mostly, I wanted to chronical my families adventure into saving money and de-stuffing our lives.  It turned into something pretty good sized, morphed, changed names, got bigger, then shrank to almost nothing again.

In the last two years the online world has become filled with blogs like If You Give a Mom a Coupon.  Deal blogs are so plentiful and the sale/coupon matchups have all become pretty close to carbon copies of each other.  My blog wasn’t really necessary anymore.  What I was posting could easily be found on blogs where multiple people work to create something huge.  I just haven’t had the time or energy to keep up. 

However, I’m pretty good at this whole frugal thing.  I feel like I have something to offer and I want to share what I know.  So, I’m getting back in the game, but I’m going to try something a little different.  I’m not sure how it’s all going to work but I am ready to give it one last try.

If you have anything specific that you’d like to see me write about on If You Give a Mom a Coupon please let me know.  I’m more than happy to submit guest posts so let me know if you have something for me to post.