My heart is broken for those sweet kids who died today and for their families and the teachers!
I sat in my living room and cried for all those children that are around the same age as 2 of mine.
I know they are in Jesus' arms right now and have peace. I can't imagine how scared they must have been.
Writing this just makes me cry again.
My prayer is for the families this Christmas!

tutusandmore

tutusandmore2.webs.com 
......is my new website to find the cutest stuff online for little girls; come check it out!!

It's Thanksgiving today and I can't help wondering, what does that really mean?
Yes, of course, we have a lot to be thankful for, but what does being thankful in this world really mean?
In a far off country across the world, they probably know more than any of us what being thankful is; well what does that look like?
We have food and shelter; we have our family and some material wants, but are we thankful for them or have we taken these things for granted?
As we spend time today with our families whether we like them or not and sit down to a buffet that we or someone else has prepared and feel the warmth of our houses, lets think about those who have none; those out there in this world who would die to have their loved ones with them today, or that homeless person who is cold and  hungry!
Now I ask you, what does being thankful really mean?

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

I have recently tested out a new home school program called time for learning with Merrick and AJ. I had received an email stating I could try out their program for 14 days for free; well of course I was going to do this. I started yesterday with AJ and today with Merrick. I might mention that both of these kids have special needs so doing school work can be challenging on a daily basis.
I was amazed at how AJ took to the program with much excitement; he usually gives great opposition to math and I was very pleasantly surprised when he begged me to do the math game again that we had been working on, even when we were all done. When we usually would take over 20 minutes for one page of math (approx. 15 questions), he finished this programs math section no problem and even asked to do it again.
I really appreciate getting a chance to try this out and I look forward in getting to use it everyday with my boys.

My Angel is 10 weeks old tomorrow!!
It really does seem like just yesterday that he got here all brand new.
God blessed me with a very sweet, special baby; he gives me the sweetest smiles and even his first laugh. I am so thankful for him; my sweet Angel!!

The more kids I have and the older I get, I seem to get closer to God and learn and grow through him.
I think I am having some baby blues, but it's nothing to worry about so far, just been sad at random things about life and the day.
The Lord is helping me to appreciate my sweet children more and more. They have taught me alot about patience and love and something I learned recently rings true; "good behavior is caught, not taught".
What that means is that our behavior in front of our kids is what they mirror, not the constant, broken record sayings as they go: "put these and those away", "don't hit your sister/brother", "share your toys", or the all to famous "don't talk back".
I think most of theses problems, can be remedied by modeled behaviors; it's hard, yes, but we need to pray alot and read the bible (with our kids), and we will start to see some changes in them and quite possibly ourselves too!

-Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

-Deuteronomy 6:7  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

-We do not develop habits of genuine love automatically. We learn by watching effective role models – most specifically by observing how our parents express love for each other day in and day out.  ~ Josh McDowell

 -Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children. ~ Charles (Chuck) Swindoll

Big Day-Angel gets dedicated to the Lord today.
It's a momentous occasion in which we will give him over to the Lord and promise to raise him to love God and want to be like Jesus. I love this and my hopes for him are that he is just want God wants him to be.
I Hope that he sees the beauty in things that others would not and that he has a soft heart for helping others and showing them Christ's love!

Letting God Open and Close the Womb

*courtesy of multiply and replenish*
 

Letting God Open and Close the Womb

Some people say, "I will just pray about when to have children." Or, "If I use contraceptives, God will just over-rule it if He really wants me to have children." I have a few problems with this.

One, you would still be using contraceptives which, if you look at my earlier post, invites abortion. For this one reason alone, can we not stay away from contraceptives? Doesn't just the thought that using birth-control can cause you to abort a baby make you want to stay away from it altogether?

Two, isn't this just support for the fact that birth control doesn't always work anyway? Sometimes I hear women talk about having babies like they are ordering pizza. They think they can control everything. Then, after being on birth control for several years, they decide, okay, timing is perfect, so let's have a baby, and then it takes them two or three years to get pregnant and they mourn over the fact that they waited. I know other women who get pregnant no matter what contraceptives they use. As Rick Boyer says in his book Yes, They're All Ours "If you take action to cut off your fertility, God may or may not act to reverse the consequences. The same applies if you take action to cut off your own head. To me it seems that this question gets the issue backward. Why not let God plan your family as He did for people in scripture? Let Him open and close the womb as He knows best, rather than doing something questionable and expecting Him to overrule your mistakes." (P.122)

What scripture says about Halloween and occultism  (emphasis mine)

"Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.  And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.  But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.  For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, which is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.  Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.  Therefore do not be partakers with them.  For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.  And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them."  ~ Ephesians 5:1-11

"Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil."  ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

"Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.  You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons."  ~ 1 Corinthians 10:20-21 

"[do not] give place to the devil."  ~ Ephesians 4:27

"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons."  ~ 1 Timothy 4:1 

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"  ~ Isaiah 5:20

"Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good."  ~ Romans 12:9

 "Seek good and not evil, that you may live; So the Lord God of hosts will be with you..."  ~ Amos 5:14

It may be tempting for people to think the words "evil" and "demon" too strong for being applicable to playing with Halloween, but from what we've been taught, and from what we've learned and have read through out God's Word - we need to take evil seriously.   It's not a joke.  It's not something to be played with.  I can't encourage you enough to read (or listen to) the materials I've listed below as resources, breaking down the realities of Halloween; and encourage your teens to read and listen to this material to give them a deeper, realistic understanding as well.  Satan would like nothing more than for people to believe that just compromising a little bit on this won't hurt anything...that just a little fun in the dark won't lead to anything...that the children will be just fine...but remember,

"Now the serpent [satan] was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?...Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die.'"  ~ Genesis 3:1, 4

I heard a great quote once about playing around with sin or in this case, evil:

"Sin will take you farther than you intended to stray,
keep you longer than you intended to stay,
and cost you more than you ever intended to pay."  (author unknown)

I encourage parents to consider, is it really worth it, playing around with this occultic holiday?

The Heart of the Matter
“Give me your heart, my son.”
This is no longer the plea of the modern, Christian parent. Getting the hearts of our children is essentially “the heart” of discipleship, clearly demonstrated by our Savior as he walked with his earthly children. It is impossible to understand the necessity of this discipleship and worry about “too much inward focus”.
As a family functioning as it should (notwithstanding its own difficulties), it becomes the “city on a hill” the light in a dark world, the most effective form of evangelism.
We had better get inward focused if we want to see real outward change in the world for Christ.
                                                       -courtesy of Generation Cedar

Because of the accepted norm of birth control, life is now something we think we can choose or not, so children have become less valuable, more of a commodity and not viewed in our eyes as the Lord views them…”…for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” We don’t even realize it has happened, but it can be clearly seen as evidenced in comments like the one that prompted this post. Truly, our family is a mission field, ripe unto harvest, and until we have come to a correct perspective on our duties there, we are not fit for evangelism anywhere else.
                                                     -courtesy of Generation Cedar

Had kind of a hard day, not because I have 5 kids now, but because I have to juggle all of the daily activities with them including a new baby!

It's always an adjustment, but Angel will not let me go far for long without crying to let me know he needs me to come back quick. It's been a little hard because I feel like I have too much to do and not enough help. I guess I need to better train these kids to help me which they do, but I feel like it's more work than it's worth sometimes getting them to "pitch in".

Wish us luck because I think it's gonna start being that way (the more work part ;)..lol)

Going back to work is going to be hard for me. I don't want to leave Angel, but I know the extra money will help!
We make tough choices when we become parents; we also live with those choices whatever they are.

We have started home school and it has had some challenges, but been ultimately fun. I hope they can see the fun in it when they are learning because I wanted it to be fun. I hope the rest of the year is full of fun and learning along with some joy and not just the challenges, but it does build character!

I have been in a 1 or 2 bedroom ever since we had kids, and we have a chance to have something bigger, but it's going to take a miracle. I don't know how, but I am praying so much right now that we get it.

A 3 bedroom would be such a blessing right now, but it would require funds we don't have at the moment.

I just don't know how this would happen for us, but I am praying so hard right now for it!

Mister Angel was born on August 26th, 2012 at 7:27 pm

He weighed 7 lbs and 8 ounces and he was 19 inches long..he is truly a miracle and I am so blessed!

Recently, I read one of my favorite blogs on a family who wants to know how to make her budget work with 7 kids and being a single parent. I read it and realized I am guilty of UN-thankfulness lately.
I really hate where we live, not only because of the lack of space, but because of hateful neighbors that makes it hard to be happy here.
God promises us 3 things in the bible when we follow his will:
1. He promises us shelter- this does not mean we will get a mansion or it furnished to our liking. A roof over our heads is all we can count for.
2. He promises us clothing- this again does not mean we will get designer clothing or the prettiest things to wear, but only what we need.
3. He promises us food- spending our money wisely in this area is very important; giving our kids nutrition they need and being able to not go overboard with all the different tasty things the store has to offer.

Almost 35 weeks and I feel like I'm in the 1st trimester again. I have horrible heartburn and have to pee a lot, but I am trying to be thankful. I want to trust God in his plan for this child and I am praying for him already, even though he is not here yet, he is here to me!

I had two dreams lately about this baby...both were really good and I believe it was a preview of what he will look like. Hopefully I can get through at least 3 more weeks so he can be at a safe point to come out because of my history with early ones!!

It is so hot now..I thought it wouldn't ever feel like summer, well it sure has been!

It was my 3rd born son's birthday today; so amazed at how fast they grow. The big number 7 and he has the sweetest heart! We had cars cake and he got fun stuff from us and the grandparents.

Overall I think he had a really good day..there will be one more big surprise for him tomorrow!! (it's a bike and he has no idea..love it)

*Homemade Laundry Soap* (inspired from the duggars)
-This really works, but you must follow the directions exactly
Ingredients:

4  Cups - hot tap water
1  Fels-Naptha soap bar*
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda**
½ Cup Borax

Directions:

-Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil. *(I used vanilla oil)*
-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

I can't believe home school is around the corner along with a new baby!..doing some fun stuff with the kids this summer even though the weather has been wonky..hope it clears up soon so we can get going to the beach!

So onto our questions on family...What is God's plan for families? and What does the bible say about children? There are verses that help you understand the importance of children and how much God values them.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

—Psalm 139:13-16

See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

—Matthew 18:10

When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

—Mark 10:14

Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.

—Proverbs 17:6

The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

—Deuteronomy 28:4

For this is what the LORD says—he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited…

—Isaiah 45:18

Every day is a new challenge, a new adventure...even if it seems like the same old hum drum, we can make choices on how to make it better and change it for the better. It doesn't have to be the same old stuff.
Prayer is a powerful thing and I find myself forgetting sometimes whats important and not focusing on silly things; praying should be a big part of our lives, even with our children.
I mean if we don't set the example, imagine who will!
Philippians 4:6-7
 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So, what does God say about birth control?
Well, it very simple actually; God says in the bible that children are a blessing-
Psalm 127:3-5 Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.
That means we shouldn't reject a good thing that the Lord bestows unto us or say no to it.
If we were to win the lottery and we were to receive it by means of payments each month, we wouldn't say "Oh I have had enough now, no thank you, that's enough". 

So, in answer to the question, "What does God say about birth control"?, he doesn't!

It's plain that God doesn't want us to reject what he gives us; he clearly states that it's a gift and a blessing!

We are expecting our 5th child!!..29 weeks along and it has been a rough ride...I have been sick this time more than any other pregnancy, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat!
We decided to let God plan our family and I thought it would be easy like it had always been; we always got pregnant on the first try, but this time was different. I realized more and more when I let God decide when, it would be on his timing and not mine.
On New year's Eve, 2011, we got a positive on the pregnancy test!!..We were so excited because it had been 5 months since we started trying; I ended up taking 7 tests total I think...I don't remember the number to be exact, but it was more than I usually would have!
I had to make sure! I knew this was God's timing and his plan, nobody else's!

How many of us a Christians have ever wondered...."what does God say about birth control"?, "what is God's plan for families"?, and "what does does the bible say about children"?
I am going to go through these question and more...I can't wait to share as often and as much as I can about
how much I have learned and my thoughts about the bible and my kids.