just to clear up any confusion...

for those of you who thought i was just a stay at home mom who sits around watching soaps and eating bon-bons. ha.
you may not know, but...
i am a TEACHER. yep. full-time. it's what i do. crazy, i know. since i went to college with the intent of being a piano teacher and youth leader. i guess my job title is a little bit different than i once thought it would be.

of course, i am a home-school teacher. BUT before you dismiss this entire post as if that doesn't count, let me tell you that not only do i teach one grade, but i teach two!
now i know that is NOTHING compared to my sister who teaches 5 grades, or my bloggy friend who teaches at least a million grades, but none the less. i am a teacher.
i do real live teacher things.
we do science experiments

we have a schedule.
that must start with this for mommy...

after my Bible reading of course.

one of many perks is that i get to be with the little loves of my life all day long.
and i love everything about them.
i mean can you imagine a job where you get to look at these eyelashes every morning??

and these??

i have to make schedules, write assignments, plan projects, field trips and book reports.
i have to pretty much be right with them during every subject to explain and teach.
then i have to correct everything.
oh ya, and i have to plan snacks

can you guess whose snacks are whose?

then i have to make meals and keep the house clean and the laundry washed (my husband has been doing a lot of laundry for me lately!)

and that is just my day job! ha!

here is my book shelf (have i mentioned how much i love my curriculum?? it takes up waaay less space compared to the bazillion books i had last year)

THEN...i have to set aside an hour to do this elaborate blog complete with pictures and explanations!

ok. seriously. i am tired. i have to go to bed. gotta start another school day tomorrow.

i am so thankful.
so grateful that i live in a country where i have the privilege of training my kids to grow into the men of God that i pray they become.
i can teach them about creation, and the fallacy of evolution
i can teach them how to have a Biblical world view.

i will never take that for granted.

sometimes i forget...

that my kids are...well.

they're kids!

i expect a lot of my boys.
i expect obedience. the first time.
i expect respect.
i expect them to sit still in church
i expect them to be respectful to their elders.
i expect them to get me coffee. every morning, and prepare supper. every night. (haha...JUST JOKING. but now that i mention it...that coffee every morning wouldn't be a bad idea :))

sometimes i really forget that they are 7 and 9. they are boys. they are kids. they are kids that have a huge imagination, and a ton of energy. they like to play and have fun.

so today, i didn't care if their outfits matched, if their hair was done, or if they were being too loud and rambunctious.

today i enjoyed watching them be boys.

just in case you're down...

a good dose of Psalm 103 will remind you of what life is like for those of us who have God as the center of our lives:

God...
*forgives all your sins
*heals all your diseases
*redeems your life from the pit
*crowns you with love
*crowns you with compassion
*satisfies your desires
*works justice for the oppressed
*is compassionate
*is gracious
*is slow to anger
*abounds in love
*does not treat us as our sins deserve
*removes transgressions
*has great love for those who fear Him
*remembers we are dust
*keeps love through generations

what an amazing list! may i never forget everything that my God does for me when i am tempted to start feeling sorry for myself.

I heart faces - September 28th

This week's challenge for the i heart faces contest was chalk.

I thought Kayla's picture was the perfect selection :)

a little late...

i just realized that i never posted about labor day. all my pictures from the last couple months are on a different computer, so i didn't even notice that i had forgotten.

here are a few pictures of our annual labor day picnic with the family (minus ron, bobbi, lilla, mel, chad, callen and great gram!)

Mother's White Bread

everyone in my family loves bread, and pretty much carbs in general.
i found this great recipe several years ago, and have gained a reputation of making great bread.
it's obviously the recipe, not me...so i thought i would share it with you.
(this is for you tara!)

Mother's White Bread of Rolls

In a large bowl mix together...
        1 cup milk, room temperature
        1 1/2 cups hot water, abouy 140 degrees
        3/4 cup shortening
        1/2 cup sugar
        1 tsp. salt
        pinch soda
        2 envelopes dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)

Let mixture stand until yeast begins to work.
Stir in thoroughly, a little at a time...
        6-7 cups all purpose flour

Cover and allow dough to rise until double. After second rising turn dough
onto floured board or counter top and knead until all air bubbles are gone.
Form dough into bread or rolls. Cover with a cloth and let rise until almost
double. Bake rolls at 425 degrees, loaves of bread at 400.

I usually make 1 loaf of bread and 18 good sized rolls.

it is so delicious and this is the perfect time of year to be baking anyways!

soccer, soccer and um...ya, more soccer

soccer season is in full swing, and the boys are getting plenty of time playing. there was seacoast united try-outs on wednesday and thursday night for 2 hours a night. 

then regular soccer practice on friday night, then games today. i am looking forward to a little rest this afternoon! 

in the middle of all of this, we have been trying to finish the painting and flooring of the porch to be able to open for the teens in the town this week. 

of course, school has been going on as well, and that is only some of the craziness that makes up each day 

last night was team pictures for aj, so i brought my camera and snapped a few shots of my big boy

not to leave my little boy out of it (his team pictures are wednesday)

and that's all i have the energy for today. maybe i can think about some deep, philosophical words for later this week. so, stay tuned...but don't hold your breath.

i really never would have thought...

that i would be a homeschooling mommy.

i know i've said it before, but i just never really pictured myself homeschooling. not that i ever had anything against it. i mean, i was homeschooled and turned out pretty good (haha...you're not supposed to be laughing!!)

but yesterday morning when i was driving home from the gym (ya...it was the first time in 2 months i have even gone. i was a little surprised to find my name still in the computer) i passed a couple of buses, and i thought...wow.i am so blessed. so incredibly blessed. i hate the thought of dropping my kids off at school for an ENTIRE day!! i don't mean this to sound like i think i'm better than those moms who do send their kids to school. not at all. not even close. but i am so glad that i get to be with them all the time! i know what makes them tick...totally.

i just feel blessed. i love my kids. absolutely adore them. i think that they are honestly 2 of my best friends. i can act like a total weirdo (and i DO - a LOT) and they just love me anyways. if i need to run to the store, aj is always the first to jump at going with me. and ry? he is the first to jump at hugging and kissing me goodbye. :) (he is not a fan of any kind of shopping) but he NEEDS to hug and kiss me goodbye every time i go anywhere. and then he'll say. "bye mom. love you. bye. bye mom. love you mom." it is so cute.

ry loves to eat popcorn and chips with salsa.
aj loves to eat ice cream.

ry loves to watch tom and jerry.
aj loves to watch espn - anything.

ry is constantly making me laugh. he is seriously hysterical.
aj is constantly saying sweet things. he is very sentimental.

ry is hyper. always moving. always. just like me.
aj is chill. walks slowly. just like his daddy.

i love them both. i am so in love with these little boys who God is letting me temporarily enjoy and claim as my own.
and i am so enjoying it. every single minute of it.

being with these boys constantly makes me smile. and reminds me of how thankful i am that i am able to be at home with them all the time. i can't imagine it any other way.

blogs are liars

do you know what i mean by this title? 

every once in a while i will go to random blogs, and read about the lives of unknown.people. 

i see the pictures that supposedly describe the life of this unknown person.

sometimes, after i read them...i can get discouraged. i see the beautiful and clean homes. the perfectly decorated little boys and girls rooms. the smiling family playing quietly by the fire, and can almost smell the apple pie baking in the oven.

all i'm saying is, no one is posting pictures of a messy bedroom, the dirty dishes in the sink and the kids fighting like cats and dogs while the mom is burning dinner.

these are pictures. they are words. 

so when you read my blog, understand something.

yes, this is somewhat a description of my life, and of what is going on today. but it is not necessarily picture perfect the way that the pictures portray. just wanted to put that out there.

in the last week, i had the amazing privilege of seeing a brand new baby nephew. 

this is not just any nephew. this is the baby boy that i would sit outside every morning and pray would be conceived. 

this is God's answer to the prayers of a beautiful, godly woman who happens to be my little sister.

he is perfect. just perfect.

today was another soccer day. they were tough games, but my boys did great. we are big into sports, but adam and i decided when we had kids that we would not put the importance of soccer or basketball, or any other thing above God. our goal is to please Him. and in doing that, we encourage our boys to play as hard as they can. to be doing everything they can heartily as unto the Lord. so they play hard. and adam coaches hard. and i cheer hard :)

aj had 6 goals today and one amazing save as goalie. but most importantly, he had a sweet spirit that honored Christ.

riley had 5 goals to win by one! and he was also a great testimony of obedience and respect.

it was a good day. 

craziness

i can not believe it has been so long since i posted anything.
i have made a trip to new jersey. twice.
had 3 photo shoots, had to say goodbye to my older sister :( and my younger sister and new nephew :( started school, moved from the back to the front of the porch (story about that to come soon) and gone on with a million other things that i couldn't even start to write about all in about a week and a half.
aaahhh...
things are great, just busy and crazy.
i have so much to say, but for now will just say that i L-O-V-E alpha omega lifepacs. why didn't i start these earlier?!?!?!
and i am very blessed.
i will write more later and post more pictures too!

cute boys

i have a lot of pictures to edit from our labor day picnic, but here is one cute one of my boys :)

focus

it is so easy to lose my focus.
i know what my focus should be. i know that life is not about me, my problems, my needs and my feelings.
according to isaiah, i was created FOR GOD'S GLORY.
believe me, i know plenty of verses to remind me of what i need to be focusing my eyes on.
this is what came to me last night.

if i was a missionary in...Haiti, for example.
if i lived in a dirt floor, tiny little hut with no air conditioning.
if every morning i went over to a little table holding all my clothes and chose between the blue shirt or the red shirt.
if i put on the same pair of flip flops every day, and put my hair in a ponytail without blowdrying, or straightening it...

would there be any doubt in my mind what my purpose was? what my goal for the day was? what i was doing in life? i think i would know. i would think... God called me to reach these people in haiti. maybe it's hard work, but this is where God wants me, and this is what i will joyfully do.

here's what i do instead.
i AM a missionary in my little town of epping (because we are ALL to be witnesses if we are believers)
i live in a small apartment with air conditioning.
every morning i go over to my closet that is filled with probably 50 shirts to choose from.
i choose between the flip flops that i own in every color, and blow dry and straighten my hair.

then there are times that i wonder what my purpose is? what am i doing in life? what is my goal for today?
there are times i drive by a big, beautiful house and feel a a feeling of "ugh...why can't i have one of those?" there are days that i might just be in the mood to go and shop and by something for myself for no reason at all.

here's my point. why should these two situations be any different? what is my purpose and where should my focus be? i am not going to allow the fact that i live in america, change my mindset.
people need Jesus. they are lost without him. they have no hope without him! people are just as hopeless in america as they are in haiti.
and i am more worried about if i look skinny enough in these jeans before i go to my boys soccer games then if i am prayed up enough, and filled with the spirit enough to have boldness to be a witness!
should this be?? GOD FORBID!!!

maybe i am alone on this one, but i really think that because everything and everyone around me is telling me that i need to have a house, and that my kids need to have the best education, and that maybe my husband and i should go back to school and get a piece of paper that basically says "you have now graduated college. please continue doing exactly what you were doing before, and thank you for all your money" i am losing sight of what is important.
i do think it is nice when people can have a house, but i am not willing to go get a job and have my husband work another job so that we can pay for something that is not going to last.
i do think it's important for good education, and a college education, but i think that the money my husband and i are investing in the international AWANA clubs in many different countries, and the other missionaries we support is a little tiny bit of a better investment.

see, i don't WANT to listen to the world if you don't mind.
even christians, so many times, who are telling me their opinions only are not helping!!
i want to listen to Jesus. i want every single person i come in contact with to see something different about me.
i want them to know that life is great and all, but eternal life is better. and you can know that you have that!!

i want my focus to be... God called me to reach these people in epping. maybe it's hard work, but this is where God wants me, and i will joyfully serve Him!
it should be no different for me than any missionary anywhere.

imagine how we could turn this world upside-down if we all had the mindset of reaching every single person we came in contact with?!?! let's do it!

cousins

it's soccer time again!

soccer season is here again.

ready or not.
today was a beautiful, sunny day and it was a perfect day to watch my baby boys play soccer. ok. maybe they're not actually baby boys anymore, but they still are to me!
we made sure that they did their devotions before we left, and got their armor all put on.
daddy prayed with them as we drove in to the field, and then we reminded them to let their light shine!
after all, no matter how many goals they score, the most important part is remembering that we make it our goal to please God!

ry was first with a game at 9.

we had a huge buch of fans to cheer him on (the curriers, ruthie, sarah b were all a part of ry's little fan club!)

oh, and just to let you know. all the pictures from soccer will most likely be somewhat blurry. see. i have this nervous energy everytime my boys play. i get all excited and into the game. i am not a totally super like get kicked off the field kind of crazy momma, but i do get excited!

wouldn't you? ry DID score 4 goals today in their 6-0 win. maybe i am just a little tiny bit proud!

then it was on to aj's game. there was a brief moment or two of panic, when i realized it was 9:59, aj's game started at 10:00, but i was so into riley's game that i was not thinking. aj didn't have his shin guards, socks or cleats on.
and oh ya...his soccer socks were AT HOME!!!
that is so not like me, and i did not know what i was going to do!
luckily, adam is the head coach and he had an extra pair of game socks in his bag, since one of aj's team mates wasn't going to make it to the game today.
stress-central. but it all worked out.

aj started out great with a goal pretty early on

yep...he scored!

aj ended up with 4 goals, and 2 assists in his 6-0 win also!
and aje and ry LOVED the fact that they both had 4 goals today. they are amazing little boys with some mad skills!

i am so proud of them for their talents, for their hard work, and for their love for God. i am so blessed.

More Swimming

a little more swimming fun :) amazing the fun that can be had when you bring one little ball with you!!

Here's my beautiful mom

my adorable niece