Spring Break, Trials and Triumphs and Other Ramblings

So much on my mind, it's hard to know where to begin!

I am so pleased with the homeschooling. One bedroom of our home looks like school room because it IS a school room... complete with chalkboard, books, supplies, posters, computer, desk, etc.  We officially started in December and now we are already half way through the curriculum!  Homeschooling the girls has made me a better mom and a better teacher (I work full-time as an educator in the public schools).  Yes this seems hypocritical, but I was a teacher before I was a mom, and I still need to work, and also do what we feel is best for our children :) I am seeing my girls grow and learn and know that I have had a big part in this, thanks to the guidance and direction of God and the curriculum! 

This week has quite possibly been one of the best weeks in quite a long time!

It was spring break, and although I did have to work part of the time, I was able to do many of things I wanted to do.  Primarily I wanted to just be there with my kids, with no distractions!  So the first 2 days of spring break were rainy, of course! So we stayed in and found ways to entertain ourselves.  I also got a lot of cleaning done, which the girls were thrilled to help with... don't you just love it when kids are young and they WANT to help clean!! Now the house is cleaner than it has been in a long time.  And isn't it amazing how a clean house gives you energy, whereas an untidy house seems to rob you of the energy you need to get it cleaned! I'm not saying you won't find a few stray socks in the living room, but you WILL find baseboard cleaned, thanks to the cracks and crevices tool on our new vacuum. :) Unless you live in sand and have white baseboards, you might not be able to fully appreciate the clean baseboard thing!  And so far, one wall in the living room has been painted "peach mango sorbet" and it is BRIGHT! Not sure why we are going to do with the rest of the room, but I think it needs something to balance out the brightness, LOL!
It's our happy wall.  If you are sad you can look at it and get happy very quickly!

 This past weekend was just awesome - beautiful weather, and Daingerfield State Park! The four of us spent Saturday afternoon paddle boating and watching the girls play on the playground.  Naturally, my husband and I did the most peddling!  I did switch seats with Emmarie once to let her give it a try.  She could barely reach the pedals and it was, well, a little hard for Richard to peddle alone, LOL!  Thankfully we did not tip the boat over trying to rearrange our seats on the boat! Sunday came and I spent most of it sitting outside with the girls riding their bikes.  They have not been able to ride their bikes unless I"m here in the last couple of weeks.  I'll talk more about that in a little while.... but all the neighborhood kids were riding back and forth, playing basketball in our yard, or playing bean-bag toss.  It was so much fun interacting with all of them and enjoying the great weather. 

So the deal with the bikes is that we have a neighbor, who will remain nameless, who lives a few houses down from ours, who is a stay-at-home mom (blessed she is!) whose husband is a law enforcement officer for a neighboring county.  God love her, but she takes it upon herself to police our neighborhood, NOT in the way that would be appreciated.  So of course, I was at work and the kids were riding their bikes in front of our house on the road.  Chloe (4) somehow managed to pick up a wad of grass/dirt and threw it at her car.  She yelled at her, telling her she had better not throw rocks at her car ever again.  Then, she called the police, told them there were kids riding bikes unattended in the street and throwing rooks at cars.  Next thing Richard knew, the cops were at the door.  They told him the girls could not ride their bikes at all in the street unless someone was watching them.  Well, he can't "watch" them because he is blind. So that means they can't ride unless I am here.  Well, as soon as I get home from work, our school day begins.  So bike riding will be reserved for the weekends! So the story doesn't end there.  

I had Chloe tell me which one of our neighbor's cars had she thrown the dirt at.... she pointed out the car as we drove up our road (which by the way is a small rural COUNTY Road, not a busy street in the middle of the city)! We pulled into the driveway and I told her she was going to apologize for what she had done.  So when the lady answered her door, I asked her if Chloe had thrown something at her car.  She said yes, and then Chloe made her apology.... it was really sweet and sincere.  So I proceeded to tell this woman that we wanted to be good neighbors and have a trusting relationship with our neighbors.  And so I asked her to please, if there is a "next time" to come tell us when she sees our children misbehaving.  To this she replied, 'I"m not about to put myself in the position to be in a conflict with another parent. Anytime I see something unsafe I"m going to call the police." I told her that this was not the way to get along with neighbors.  So we ended by me telling her that she has to do what she has to do, and I will do what I have to do.... which is to PRAY for her and to restrict playing in the front yard or riding bikes for the weekends.  Well, enough of that....

Before spring break I took a couple of days off work and we took a vacation to Dallas to attend revival services at Christ for the Nations.  The Bay of the Holy Spirit revival was at CFNI and we are still believing for Richard's healing from blindness.  The presence of God was SO strong during the services, and even though he hasn't received his healing yet, I believe it is close! He is starting to have dreams about being able to see! He's had 4 or 5 in the last year! Awesome! 

Emmarie is a worshipper and she did just that.... you can see the video below.  Jesus said, "Forbid not the little children to come to Me." At first it appears she is just copying other people, but keep watching until the evangelist steps in....then you can see the power of God all over her! Thank you Jesus!

 As Christians it is important for us to not water downy church for these little children.  I personally believe that children have a lot more spiritual insight than we know.  As we grow older we are untaught many spiritual truths or we are beaten down by experiences and words spoken by others.  I don't mind if my kids get a little restless in a long service and need something like the iPad or coloring books to keep them "entertained" but I know that when they want to worship they can, and I have seen that they can understand the Word as it is preached in these meetings.  My girls have already seen so many miracles of healing in their first 4 to 6 years of life than I did until I was in my mid twenties until now.  I am super excited for why the future holds.

One of the products we purchased at the revival was from John Kilpatrick entitled, "Atmosphere + Climate = Culture.  I have been listening and applying it to our household.  We are not a perfect family by any stretch of the imagination.  And the enemy has been having a field day with us in regard to our 4 year old and some behavior issues. These of course make mom a little crazy too!!!  So we have began seeking the Lord to bring about the change we need for our home, our lives, and our future ministry/church/whatever God has planned for us.  I'll be writing about that in the next post.

Thanks for reading! I hope you are blessed and I invite your comments!