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Crafts for the 4th of July

Here's a site with some neat looking crafts for the upcoming 4th of July! Your kids will enjoy preparing for your celebration by making decorations and apparel to go along with it!
I've used this site before for holiday crafts. Some are easy, and some are a little more involved. Either way, there should be something there that should suit you and your kids' interests.

I think me and my kids will be visiting the craft store later today to try the
3-D fireworks T-shirt
Star Studded Door Hanger

As you make these (or any other) crafts together, remind them of the cost of freedom, the ways God has blessed our nation, and talk about what we can do to protect our freedom and be involved, too.

Be creative! Look up quotes from our founding fathers' and add them to your crafts. Add Bible verses such as: Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord

~Kari

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Character Qualities for MOM!

The character of God includes character qualities that we must learn to understand and implement in our own lives. We have personalized the character qualities for our kids, but also, one day, I personalized some for me as the Mom. It kind of helps you to keep a right focus on what is really important. Here's a few examples:

flexibility is not being too busy to stop folding laundry and go see the ant Tuck just dug up.

Generosity is sharing the last piece of cake you’ve been waiting to enjoy in a quiet moment because Laurie just joined you on a swing. This is an opportunity to show her that she’s special to you.

Gentleness is putting your arm around your son and reaffirming your love for him when he just made a really bad decision that you advised him against, and he’s sorry for it.

Gratefulness is thanking God for the privilege of parenthood, and acknowledging that it’s a picture of our relationship with our heavenly Father, not a hindrance to serving Him.

Humility is admitting you blew it when you lost your cool at the first look at the lemonade spilled all over the kitchen floor—sticky!

Joyfulness is realizing God has given me everything I need to live today in His victory, and that He turns our greatest sorrows into our deepest joys.

"Death is Not Dying"....LISTEN TO THIS!

A while back a friend of mine sent me a link to listen to an amazing testimony..."Death is Not Dying" given by a young woman, (wife and mother) who is dying of cancer, with only a short time left to live.
I figured I would read it at some point, but knowing that is would likely be an emotional interview, I did not feel like crying, so I put it off.
Then, I found the same interview on Nancy Leigh DeMoss's website (www.reviveourhearts.com) So, I decided this time I would listen...and I am SO glad I did. I was convicted by many of her points. I STRONGLY encourage you to take a little while a listen to this amazing testimony. It is 55 minutes in length....break it up if you need to, it is worth it!
~Kari

It is titled Death is not Dying. You can find it at

http://deathisnotdying.com/eventvideo/ (this is a video and there are also pictures of the event where she spoke at this site)

Or, on Revive our Hearts' website where it is broken up into two segments....
http://www.reviveourhearts.com/radio/roh/today.php?pid=10243

Exhortation to Women...old and young!

On Motherhood and Profanity

Take a moment to read this devotional by Elisabeth Elliot as she speaks about the demeaning of motherhood and the beauty of motherhood

Penny Pinchers

Look at your "need" with a critical eye. Recently I needed some more organizational-type storage containers and drawers, but was reluctant to spend the money to buy new ones. I realized I have about 4 of the type of container I was looking for in various rooms of my house, each holding about 1/4 of its capacity in storage. I can combine them, even if I need them in two different rooms, and still have 2 free for my homeless "stuff." This applies to cabinet space, pantry space, etc. -- go through the clutter zones and look at them differently than before. What can be thrown away? What can be stored in a different place with items of like kind to make your storage system more effective? This "out-of-the-box" type of approach can often help you see things you wouldn't notice otherwise and be able to creatively solve your problem and save you money too!
~Kate Boyer Brown

Pictures from April

Our family in April

We went to Alaska for the first time ever in the month of April. We spoke at a home schooling convention just outside of Wasilla and spent a couple days touring with a wonderful family there. Alaska is awesome. There are tall snow capped mountains all around you. The glaciers were just beginning to break up and we didn't see any green of course, but it was breathtaking. The convention went well. We met lots of moms and dads anxious to raise up mighty warriors for the Lord.

The day after we returned from Alaska, Rick and Laura left to speak at the MassHope Convention in Worcester! They had a wonderful time. It is so encouraging to see moms and dads who want to train their kids to serve Him and and are willing to make the necessary sacrifices to do so.

Easter was a fun family celebration for us. I (Marilyn) made salt and flour empty tombs with Cassidy and Anne as well as Resurrection Rolls. That was a really neat illustration and a yummy treat too!! We all got together for dinner Easter night as usual with our traditional ham dinner.

We had two birthdays in April, Tim's and Lauren's. We had our first cook out of the year to celebrate Tim's. It was a beautifully warm day. We cooked hamburgers and hot dogs and had plenty of wonderful side dishes. Tim chose caramel squares instead of cake. The kids had a wonderful time having rides in the wagon, Uncle Tim's truck, and on the toy tractors and bikes. Rick Jr. even took a short break from studying for law school to join us for dinner.

Dusty and Luke and Melody are in Tucson visiting her family. The kids are enjoying museums and the zoo. Luke was excited to see a space simulator and get to "work" it. They will return home after Rick completes his last law school final next week.

Chris and Grace got to spend a weekend at the beach with family friends. It was a treat to have such a warm weekend.

Lauren's birthday's was celebrated with pizza for supper, one of her favorites and a doghouse cake with doggie cupcakes that Kate made. It was super cute. Kevin's folks came to town to help celebrate. It was good to see them again. Lauren got a jack in the box, a tricycle,a personalized drinking mug, Busy Bible, Familiar Things puzzles and a little homemade apron and cooking spoons and spatulas. She wanted to make cookies the next day! She had lots of fun. Daddy and Uncle Matt assembled her trike while the grandkids played with the rest of the toys.

Matt, Emily, Carrie and Chris left the end of the month to attend the graduation of their cousin, John, from Maine Maritime. Congrats John!! They drove all the way up and will be home again early May.

Grace has been busy duplicating CD's and preparing for all the upcoming conventions in May and June.

We hope to see many of you in the next two months.

Blessings, Marilyn

New Pictures soon to follow. =)

Organize Yourself!

You don’t have to start out organized, but you do need to organize your home, growing in skills as the seasons demand. I’m still learning about this. Sometimes we’ll do an organizing project and I’ll think, why didn’t I thing of this years a go? Here’s a helpful hint: I remember being really frustrated one evening when Rick got home from work which prompted him to ask what I was frustrated about. I couldn’t put a finger on what exactly it was that had caused the frustration, just a lot of little things. Rick wisely suggested that the following day I make a list of all the things that frustrated me, which I gladly did. We discovered that some of them could be easily solved, like getting bookcases for all the books we have. What homeschooling family couldn’t use more bookcases? Another thing that is kind of unique for the size of our family was the issue of shoes. Now imagine you have 14 kids. Each one has a pair of church shoes, a pair of play shoes, a pair of go-to-town shoes, and of course a pair of sandals. That means you’re dealing with 56 pairs of shoes—where do you store those? We just have normal sized closet space. So, to remedy this HUGE frustration, Rick made a shelf in our entry way with 48 cubicles to accommodate all those shoes. What sounds like a little thing, made my life so much easier! We’ve made dividers in our closets to stack jeans so the stacks won’t topple over, and many other simple improvements that came from my frustration list.20It’s not like he gets to everything as soon as I put it on the list, but it’s a to-do-when-you-have-time list. It’s so helpful to me to know that he cares and that he’s going to make time to do it when he can.

Household Tips and Dollar Stretcher

Here are a few household tips that have been passed along to me over time from one person or another. I cannot say I have tried all of them, but I have tried a few, and plan on testing out more. These should help your dollar stretch a little further and give you some practical help around the home, too. Enjoy!


~Dryer Sheets- 21 New uses

~Also on the subject of dryer sheets, be sure to tear one in half with your load of laundry, instead of using it whole. It works just as well and it makes your box last twice as long!

~Peroxide- 13 New uses

~Homemade Glass Cleaner
2-3 parts water
1 part ammonia
A Few squirts dish detergent

-pour all into a large spray bottle.

I have tried this one and it works Great! An entire bottle of Ammonia is around $1, so you can see how economical this one is!