On Child Training

We've been watching a child training DVD series in church and it's got us thinking a lot about how we raised our children, what we would do different, what we'd do again if we had little ones, etc.  It's been interesting hearing our children tell us what they think about the way we've raised them.  Anyway, I thought I'd share my thoughts on things I would do again if I could do it all over again. And yes, they are just my opinions and you can take them for what they're worth - after all, you will never find someone you 100% agree with!  I might also come across like we did everything right - wrong, we made lots of mistakes.

1. We would love them so much!  Need I say more?!!  More praise for a job well done or good character would be a great thing too.
2. We would continue to discipline them with first time obedience as the standard. We did pretty good with this with the older children but let it slide a little with the younger ones.  We did a lot of training at home so they knew what to expect when going out which helped some. 
3. We would continue to make whatever sacrifices we had to to do what was best for them.  We have always tried to have the mentality that if need be, we would move to guard their hearts for God.  Sometimes sacrifices came in time, sometimes in money when they needed some good books, or needed to go to a good conference we thought would benefit their walk with God.  It might mean letting them go for a summer so they can serve with CYIA which is really hard here on the farm where everybody carries part of the load.  It might mean spending small fortunes to let them compete in Bible Memory whether with the Bible Bee or ACE international conventions.
4. We would continue to teach them to work hard.  A man must be a hard worker if he is to be a success in the working world especially when times are hard.  A woman must be a hard worker to help her husband, keep house, and raise children.  A wise lady once said, when a job needs to be done, always look for the youngest child that is capable of carrying it out rather than always choose the older child.  I would do this more.  One practical thing I would do again is train each child on a job in the house.  Have them do that job over and over and over for maybe months till they can clean the living room with no help - even under couches, dust and vacuum!  Sometimes I would hide a new video or book in a place they didn't like to clean, like behind the garbage can.  If they did a good job they found the reward, if not, oh well.  By the time Naomi was 10 the children could clean the house in about 15 minutes!  With a little help of course.  But it worked great and I would definately do this again.  Even the youngest cleaned the stairs or lined up boots in the entry.  For a few years it never stayed clean long but it didn't take too many years to start to really reap the benefits.  I started doing this one day after seeing a high school girl told to sweep the floor.  It was awful!!  I decided that a child should be able to "clean the kitchen", or "clean the bathroom", when told and have it cleaned just how I like it done. 
5. We would try our best to protect them.  When our children were little, and till they were about 12, they had strict yard boundaries.  From this spot to this spot, and not a step further.  I think that has been really helpful today as the children now tell us where they are going to be whenever they leave the house.  We would protect them from bad influences till we felt they were ready to handle the pressure from peers.  We would protect them from questionable movies, books, etc. This is sometimes a touchy subject but I don't think it hurts to protect a child "too much".  I've only seen a couple of children in my life that I thought would benefit from more time with other children.  Eventually as they get older you can give them more and more room.  Start tight when they're young and then loosen the strings rather than be free when they're young and try to tighten them as they get older - not an easy thing to do.
6. We would continue to homeschool them!  This might be considered a sacrifice but well worth it.  And on this line, our goal was to have the children get to a point where they can work on their own, read fluently on their own, and master the materials.  If school needs to be suspended to work on spiritual issues, then suspend it if we must.
7. We would read more, have more tea parties, play more as a family and do more soulwinning. 
8. We would always have those "town clothes" ready for going out in public to be a good testimony.  I sometimes cringe when I see a dirty child up town and wonder if they are being cared for.  I would try to always have them in clean "town" clothes with faces washed and hair fixed.  Now I know this seems silly to some but it was / is a big deal to me.  I would really hate to have someone see my sons filthy and wonder if we care about them, or see my daughters grungy looking and think they would never make their girls wear dresses if they're going to look like that.  For years a grandma would give us Christmas money to buy the children gifts and we always used it to buy their "town clothes".  Even on a small budget a child can look clean and neat.  On the farm, that's a different story!!  Filthy we may look!!!
9. We would continue to teach them the better way to get to the marriage altar - through betrothal or courtship, or whatever you want to call it.  We started when the children were very young and we would do that again. 
10. This one will step on a lot of toes - but we sit in the front of our church so I really have no names in mind, honestly - we would not let our children walk out during a service except in a really emergency.  Somehow I think we have lost a lot of the respect of the whole worship experience in church.  The church meaning the building of course.  This is where we go to hear God's Word read, a message from God's Word, and a place where hearts are challenged.  If there's anyplace reverence should be showed, it should be in church.  Sometimes you can actually feel God's presence and I don't want my children walking out to get a drink, use the bathroom or whatever when in God's presence.  Does that make sense?  I know God is everywhere but I can't help but think we need to reverence his presence in church. Someone could be under conviction about getting saved, or under conviction about a serious decision.  If at all possible, I'd hate to halt that conviction with a distraction.  When our children were really young we sat closer to the back and if they did have to go to the bathroom or whatever, we always went with them.  Somehow if mom goes along, they don't have to go as bad!
11. We would continue to give our children their "Christmas talk".  I'm sure they'll laugh when they read this!!  This talk we have every Christmas includes, smiling when you get a gift, look at the name first, open it carefully, say something nice in a cheerful tone even if you hate it or have six of them already as part of your thank you on the spot, and never say "Is this all I get?".  I think everyone loves grateful children!! 

Now, our children aren't all raised yet and married, so maybe in a few years I'll have to revise this list!  Hopefully I didn't step too hard on any toes!  I'm the kind of person that feels really, really, awful if I offend anyone so I hope I didn't do that either.  I just felt a need to put this all down on "paper" and who knows, when Arthur reads it he may want to add his list as well!!  I also want to thank our children for being the wonderful children they are!  Thank you for putting up with our mistakes and blunders in child training!  We love you all very, very much!!!

Just Wondering...

We've been talking about the North Dakota Home School Convention in Fargo. Are any of you reading this going? Have any of you heard Kevin Swanson? Anyone been to Amy Vest's Purity Conference? Just wondering :) Have a sweet and glorious day with God's love everywhere you look!

Quick Update

Hello everyone! Sorry for the lack of pictures on this post...They have the camera with them in Washington D.C., so this is just to tell you all that yes, they are surviving in the big city - and so are we here at home without them!

We've only talked to them a couple times briefly, but they made it there fine, walked around and did a little sightseeing, and yesterday Hosanna had the written test and two oral rounds - but I guess she was not one of the top 20 finalists. That's a little sad, because she worked so hard - believe me, you would have been impressed! - but I'm sure she's a little relieved to have all that stress over with as well. You can watch the final rounds by going to the Bible Bee website. (we have a link to it on our sidebar)

At home, we're busy getting ready for hunting season - it starts tomorrow! So we hauled in the blaze orange and winter boots, sighted in our rifles, and all those other important details :) We're planning on baking a couple things today to have for a lunch while we're sitting out there in the woods.

We're about out of flax straw again - this time of year a typical phone converstion goes like this -
"Do you have flax straw?"
"Yes, how many were you looking at?"
"About ten or so."
"That should be fine"
"Would it work for us to come by tonight?"
"Yes, someone should be around."
"How much are you getting per bale?"
"A dollar-fifty"
"How do I get out to your place?"
- and so on...Certain members of our family do not like to answer the phone in the fall! It isn't so bad when we have it, but if we're out of straw, that's not very fun because a lot of people don't understand that it's weather related as to when we can combine flax and therefore bale the straw. Sometimes they ask for hay, and we have to ask, "What do you want it for?" just because we know they probably don't really want hay! Then sometimes we sell some oat straw...

Anyway, I'm sure we'll have a couple fun posts on here when they get back with all their pictures! Have a great day!

Black Light Mini Golf

There's a black light indoor mini golf course in our town and since it was very cold, rainy, and snowy, Arthur took the kids to try it out. Don't you just love the Statue of Liberty!

They all thought it was kinda cool and want to go again.

Here's Naomi. Overall, Dad got first place, Isaac second, Miriam third, Hosanna and Silas fourth, Naomi fifth, Caleb sixth, and Priscilla got last place although all the scores were fairly close.
Okay, who's got the golf ball in their mouth?

Something New

This week ALL of our children are at camp and so Arthur and I are home alone. That's something that hasn't happened at home since we had children!! We've gone away and spent a night here or there in a motel, but not at home. There's more work to do than normal but my children have told me that I had to take this week off and rest. Rest? So, while I was resting today I went to town to run multiple errands, picked raspberries, moved chickens from one pen to another, and then when they all got out, moved them back to their original pen, went out to a couple of fields to get Arthur and to drop off Arthur, had Amos, Rebekah, and Daniel over for lunch, and froze the raspberries I picked. Did you know that when you have a full bag of raspberries and you forget to zip lock the bag, and then you drop it, they don't just roll gently on the floor? They splat! So, I cleaned up my mess as well! All that before 2:30. I have a few 'surprise' projects for the kids I want to work on so I better get busy. Have a great day in the Lord!

Psalm 37:7 Rest in the Lord...

Work and Play

Priscilla with her 31 inch northern. When Rebekah's relatives come up, fishing is always on the agenda!
Silas and Nathan went canoeing one evening. Yes, they got home safe! By the way, Nathan's dad made this canoe with small strips of wood and it's really a work of art.
This morning was 'Weed the Petunias' day. Hosanna does such a nice job!
Of course Miriam and Naomi do a good job too!
After so much cold weather, the petunias are finally starting to look good. Arthur also informs me the corn grew yesterday as did the weeds in our garden. This afternoon Arthur and Silas are mowing some hay. Naomi, Hosanna and Isaac are heading down to work at our church booth at the county fair. If you think of it, please pray that many children will get saved as a result of the wordless book being shared at the booth. I know the ones that tell the wordless book usually get really sore throats so pray for them to have strong voices throughout the week.

Have a great day!

Wednesday Night Fun

Hi from Naomi - Last night we played "Balderdash" with some of the J.'s - one of the unusual laws was that, in CT, a pickle is only "officially" a pickle if it bounces. Of course that got us thinking and we had to get out a jar and see if our pickles are real :) They aren't - but we enjoyed them anyway!

Micah sleeping and Jonathan almost sleeping!

Karen and Miriam racking their brains to come up with a creative something...

Isaac got in late, so instead of playing Balderdash, he played Legos with the kids - I think that was the first time in a looooong time!

Clockwise - Jessica, Priscilla, Mrs. J., Caleb, Silas, and Nathan - Making new friends is so much fun :)

Daniel and the Spring Thaw

Arthur enjoys spending time with little Daniel who is now six months old. He was trying to educate Daniel on the art of hunting, unfortunately, Daniel would've rather eaten the magazine than read it.

Spring is finally here although it really isn't all that warm out. In the 30's and low 40's. The little Bulldog River that runs through our property is really flooding it's banks this year due to the large amount of snow we had and the rain last night. On the left you can see our "Prayer Bench" on our walking trail. I don't remember it being in standing water since the flood a few years back. There's still quite a bit of snow in the yard but it's days are numbered.

Other news ... Everyone in our house is finally feeling better. It seems like there are two bad flu strains going around and we had some of both although not everyone got sick. My nephew got the flu really bad. He actually ended up being flown to the Fargo Children's Hospital Sunday morning. I guess today he's doing lots better although he still has a high fever and doesn't feel too great. It's a reminder of how fragile our lives really are and how our lives are in God's hands. Have a great day remembering God's protection and provision!

One Year Blogging

It's been one year this month since we started our blog. Naomi informed me that when you post your one year entry, "lurkers" should identify themselves. That would be really nice! We've wondered who it is that reads this blog from Ontario, Utah, South Carolina, England, and lots of other places our stat counter tells us we have readers from. You can see the photo of our stat counter. It doesn't always seem to record hits when we know they should or the places people are really from. Even so, its fun to look at. We average about 25-35 people a day. 41 people have been on the blog over an hour in a day! People from 27 countries that we know of have checked the blog out. The P. family from Illinois has been on here the most times, and there's been 343 entries on the blog since we started. Wow! We never planned on posting that much but it seems like there's always something going on. As for most popular blog entries, well, I think we've had more people comment on Isaac's building a fire video more than most, even though it wasn't written comments but verbal. Someday I'd like to do that video clip over again but with a little longer video.

So thank you, blog readers, for making this so fun! It has made our family see things through different eyes and hopefully given you all a taste of life up here in the north on a dairy farm. Thank you for all you nice comments and encouragement. We feel like we've made some real friends out of some of you that we've never even met, and maybe never will till we leave our earthly homes. We've also enjoyed having a way to keep our relatives and friends up to date on what's going on in our lives.

So with that thanks, have a great weekend, spend it in church, spend it in prayer, and spend it in a way that your time will count for eternity. You can pray for Naomi too, she's got a really bad case of the flu with a high fever. Bye!

Ecclesiastes 12:13 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."

First Day of Spring

Or second actually - it's been so nice out! I (Naomi) tried my flipflops today - but considering our driveway is fast becoming one big puddle, it probably wasn't a good idea! The family who is doing the Creation seminar at church is staying next door, and this is a picture of a couple of their kids out helping Silas move some calves.

Isaac and a Northern he caught. Sorry, we know you're probably sick to death of all the fishing pictures, but this was a special fishing trip - he, Dad, and Silas spent a whole night out on the lake! They had a great time - caught a bunch of fish - didn't freeze to death - and all got sunburned!

Have a great week :)

March 10th

I've been saving this post for a day when we had nothing blog-worthy going on, and today is a day like that! I kept a journal on random days here and there when I was younger, but in 1999, I started writing in a diary every night - most of it's just the basic what-I-did-that-day stuff and so here's selected clips of what I/we have done on March 10th for the last 11 years...


March 10, 1998 - It seemed like one of the coldest days all winter and so we had slept downstairs. Mom made granola for breakfast. I did school and some cleaning. Us kids and Mom played "Knights and Castles" - Isaac got in trouble b/c Mom heard him say a slang word (I don't remember that - it must have been the only time he ever did!) Miriam and Hosanna went to a birthday party. Dad and Silas went to Greenbush to check on trading some cattle.


March 10, 1999 - We gave Miriam a hot/cold treatment because she was sick. Aunt Kim stopped over. I went to Grandma Krahn's and finished sewing a jumper for myself (she was helping me). We went skating on the "spring puddle" (every year we get a huge puddle where our horse pen is.) Miriam and Hosanna went to a birthday party (same girl!) and Amos and Isaac went to AWANAs with the Heppner boys, so Silas and I went out and helped in the barn.


March 10, 2000 - We had French toast for dinner. I drew a picture of a loon (must have been for school!) and made a list of some names and their meanings. I sewed some at Grandma's and in the evening I babysat Ronnie and Jeshua. We watched "The Treasure Map".


March 10, 2001 - A neighbor was having trouble with a calf and so Dad went over to help him out, but they ended up butchering the cow and the calf died. We played some Dutch Blitz and Rook, and did a whole bunch of cleaning in preperation for the Compton family (missionaries to AK that our church supports) - they arrived around 11:30 PM.


March 10, 2002 - Sunday - Dad told the story of Sampson for Sunday school. We had the Hunter family over for dinner and served mashed potatos and fajitas. We took naps (for us kids - that meant we had to stay on our beds) and for the evening service we watched "Israel, Islam, and Armaggedon". Rebekah D. (age 5) sat by me. Grandpa had plowed a big snowpile at the church (we were still in our old building) and the kids were having a great time playing on it.


March 10, 2003 - We did school. Miriam, Amos and I went over to the house where us girls clean and washed a bunch of windows. Our water at home wasn't working! I practiced piano, exercized, and memorized.


March 10, 2004 - We went through a bunch of books someone donated to help start our church library. I finished Algebra 2! I read a Danny Orlis book and the book Time Changer. We cleaned the attic - it was very bad! We played some Dutch Blitz and Rook and listened to "Music Paints Pictures" as we went to bed.


March 10, 2005 - I made Black Bottom Banana Bars and worked in the church album for a while. (not much to tell about this day this year!)


March 10, 2006 - Mom, Dad, Amos, and I were attending a homeschool convention in Minot, ND. We went the keynote sessions with Mark Hamby from the "Lamplighter" book company and spent a while looking around the vendor hall. We went to a "50's diner" for supper and went clothes shopping at Wal-Mart


March 10, 2007 - I was going to get up at 3:45, but my alarm didn't go off, so Dad woke me up at 4:45 and I showered and we were still out the door by 5! We drove 7 hours to the U of M West Bank campus down in the cities and I played a piano sonata in the state contest. After stopping at a farm store, we drove the 7 hours back home. I got carsick (I know you wanted to hear that...) and we saw a timber wolf beside the road and some pheasants.


March 10, 2008 - Dad had one of his "jail friends" (the same one that got the gray car) working here. I got ready for, and we went to a Good News Club at the elementry school. Miriam and Hosanna helped teach and we brought along Silas, Priscilla, Ronnie, and Jeshua. I went with Dad to visit a neighbor and then at home we played Boggle and Anagrams. (we really don't play games as often as it seems by this post!)


March 10, 2009 - I was going to post this earlier, but our internet was having trouble - probably because it's snowing a little and blowing a lot outside! (we'd like to call it a blizzard...but that might be stretching it a bit) - so it'll probably be the 11th before most of you read this. Oh well! Have a great day!

Stretching...

The kids and I were talking today. We were comparing our lives to a rubber band that God seems to be stretching and stretching and we wonder when we'll snap! Or rather a maze with many turns. You know what is at the end but how to get there we have no idea. One of the kids said it's like whatever decisions we make, things will never be the same. What on earth am I talking about? Well, God seems to be doing some stretching in our lives. While decisions are hard to make, and often painful, things need to be decided on. How good it is to know that God is directing our lives even when things seem topsy turvy. How good it is to know we can put things in His hands and leave results up to him. How good it is to know that even small things, like summer plans, are important to God. How good it is to know God cares!!

Blueberry Muffins and a Bird

Hi! Mom is gone this morning, and I so got left with the responsiblity of putting something on the blog - since we haven't done anything really exciting this week and we "happened" to take a picture of these muffins, (some of our very favorites!) I thought we'd give you the recipe. Normally, Miriam is our muffin maker, but Priscilla made these - and they turned out! (actually she is a good cook!) Oh, and we always double the recipe...

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

1/4 cup softened butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2 2/3 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup blueberries

Mix butter, sugar and egg. Add dry ingredients and milk and vanilla. Fold in blueberries. Fill 12 greased muffin tins 2/3 full with batter.

In small bowl, combine: 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 cup butter

Sprinkle over muffins. Bake at 375 for 20 to 25 min.

The girls had a little surprise this morning - Silas walked into their room with this bird! He had rescued it from the dog and thought Miriam should take a picture of it. It did escape from him a few times - but he was able to recatch it! I'm not sure what kind it is, but Isaac said they're never around in the summer.

Matthew 10:29-31 - Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground without you Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

This and That...

Naomi made a really cute cake yesterday for a lady who had twin boys. If I read Shelly T.'s blog correct, the shower lady set it on her table and a dog attacked it! Hope he enjoyed it!! In case you didn't get to see it first, Shelly, here it is!

This morning Isaac decided to make a butter churn. Interesting isn't it? Yes, it works and we got some more delicious homeade butter.

Yesterday morning before our company even left, a few of my nieces and nephews came over for the day. This is Marie, Esther, and Joanna. They really kept us entertained!! It was a reminder of how old my children are getting when Marie asked why my kids didn't play in the snow. Somehow they've outgrown the, "Let's go out and play" stage. She was also surprised when Naomi called me mom. She said, "You're not a mommy. You're a grandma!" What kids don't think of! One other time during the day our office door was shut. I thought that was strange because we never shut the door. Anyway, there was Marie, sitting in the dark, looking at our blog!! I couldn't believe it!! Yes, we were quite entertained!!

Aside from helping with the little girls, Rachel and Priscilla decided to spend the day reading books, knitting, and watching videos. How fun to have a girl cousin your own age! I guess now that things are back to normal, whatever that is, we can go back to our cleaning list :) It's a good thing we started before we knew we had company coming but we still have a long ways to go.

Mom's List Coming to Life

This is Silas cleaning "the pit" - You mean you don't have a pit in your house?! - it used to be the outdoor entrance to our basement, and now is the indoor entrance to our basement and the place where barn boots belong. It's a great place to hide if you're playing Hide-n-Seek in the dark! Silas got the job of cleaning it because us girls don't like to go down there...

Miriam shampooing the carpet in our parents' bedroom - Mom was getting tired of it, so she taught Miriam how.

Hosanna cleaning out the silverware drawer - a couple years ago Dad put the dividers in for us and we love them!

Me - washing Mom's candles and the candle shelf. Everyone cleans house (or should) and so I'm not sure why we're putting pictures of it on, but I guess it's something you can all relate too :) We burn candles a lot, but it seems like it only takes a couple days on the shelf for them to get dusty - That can be our spiritual thought for this weekend - Don't let your Bible, or your your relationship with God "get dusty" - it only takes a couple days for it to happen!

Spring Cleaning?

One of my favorite school "toys" is our Geosafari machine. We don't use it much except for geography. I'm sure computers have some neat game to teach your countries, states, and capitals but this works, and it's a lot of fun. Priscilla's been using it to learn the Canadian provinces and their capitals.

On Saturday I told the girls we were going to start "spring cleaning". They sighed. They have commented in the past that not only do we do spring cleaning, but fall, winter, summer, birthday, Saturday, Valentine's, whatever the occasion is. Maybe so. Anyway, I always post a very detailed list of what I'd like to get done and here's our new list on the door jamb. Everything from washing walls to washing garbage cans. Then we slowly plug away and try to get those things done that don't always need it but occassionally do. Now I'm the last person to give cleaning tips but since I'm on the subject, here's my idea of how to clean the house.

#1 - Teach the children when their young how to clean! Assign each child an area of the house and have them do it over and over and over for many, many days till even the three year old knows how to clean the living room! Then when everyone has mastered their jobs, and can do them without you reminding them to look under the couches and behind the garbage cans, rotate jobs so they can learn each thing. We usually had the two or three year old clean the stairs. Things that go upstairs get put on steps and they put them in the right room and sweep the steps. And on up by age giving the older ones harder jobs. I know my house often got to be a disaster but it doesn't take too many years and the hard work pays off. Our goal was to have each child able to do each job well by the time they were about 10. Then even if it is a disaster at least once or twice a day it can be clean! Also, unless your children are really young, they should always clean their own rooms and make their own beds. Yes, they might need your help occassionally but the norm should be them doing it themselves. Thankfully, it gets easier as the children get older! And if you ever wonder why janitors are often men, it's because boys can often clean even better than girls!!


#2 - Try to do some deep cleaning everyday or at least every week. I'm talking a drawer, a closet, a shelf, top of the fridge, behind the washer and dryer, that kind of thing. It really does make it a lot easier in the long run. Better yet, in addition to everyday chores, assign each person in the house an extra job each week. If you're really faithful at this, you won't have to "spring" clean like we're doing!


#3 - Get rid of anything that doesn't serve a purpose! The less stuff the easier it is to clean! Each time we had a new baby we had to make room for them so it was a good time to evalute, do we need that chair? Game? Knick knack? Outfit? The less items in a room the easier it is to clean. I guess that's one reason people can relax in motels so nice. There's nothing but the bare essentials. This is one of those things that continually needs work. After all, we buy things, we get gifts, etc.


#4 - Find a place for everything. This sounds simple but every once in a while we have something that travels from room to room because no one knows what to do with it. Here's a few of the solutions we've found for those wonderful clear shoe pocket hang-up.

Organizing the girls hair stuff by colors.
Sorry - this ones upsidedown! Anyway, it holds our pencils, pens, stapler, tape, etc. When the kids were little and the bottom row would get yucky and torn, we'd just cut it off.

Arthur gives out lots of tracts. We've tried lots of methods over the years but this seems to work good. It's not really neat right now but at least we have a place to put them behind his office door.

#5 - And for a couple of final tips from the cleaning expert - Don Aslott. When very overwhelmed at cleaning - start with the front of your house where people enter. Most people just come to the door so at least have that area clean. Yes, I know when you have lots of shoes, and coats, hats, etc, it gets hard. When that's done, do the bathrooms.

Another thing he says that I think really works is when you make your daily list, make it long! Now, you won't get everything done, but this way if you have fifteen minutes, you have a few things you can do instead of only having a few big projects that you don't want to start with only a few minutes to work. Does that make sense? I hope it did. I guess that's more of time schedule tip but it works with housecleaning.

Again, I'm probably not the one to give cleaning tips. I remember when I had Priscilla and I ended up in Grand Forks the church ladies decided to come out and clean house for me. I was mortified when I found out! With six children nine and under I just know it was probably a mess. Plus she came two weeks earlier than I was expecting so I hadn't really worried about cleaning it yet like I always did before having a baby. There have been many times I have been really embarrassed at the state of my house when someone would drop in. But, if anyone gave us a warning, we did get it cleaned nice so at least I feel good about that!

Just for the record, I don't have anybody mind as I write this! I really hope I'm not offending anyone. This is one area I really struggle with and we've worked hard to learn what we have. I'm in a cleaning mode so I just felt I needed to put it on paper. Well, I gotta go, have a great day.

DVD Reviews

We've never had a TV but we do have a "video monitor". In other words, a TV that only works for videos / DVD's. We don't rent movies either so yesterday when we got a set of three videos we ordered to check out for our church library, we were really excited. So last night the guys got done with chores early, Naomi made pizza, Miriam dished up ice cream, and we started our DVD family party. It's been a long time since we've had a nice evening with everyone at home so that made it even more special. We thought you might enjoy hearing about our movie reviews, all of which were presented at the San Antonio Film Festival. The Sword is a 91 minute movie put out by Pointy Stick Productions. You can tell it's "amateur" done but it still good. It tells about a sword that is past down generation after generation from father to son to be used to protect the family. It goes over several of these generation passes but the majority of the film is taken place in 730 AD with a boy who has to protect his mother and sisters in their castle while the father goes off to war. We all enjoyed it and it will be put in the library. If there was anything questionable it was a young lady at the beginning with a low necked dress on and there was a monk in the castle. I guess the key message would be to obey your parents and trust God for protection.

The Widow's Might was put out by HeuMoore Productions. It was good but we agreed that we liked their other movies, Heartstrings, Bubble Trouble, and Siblings What a Blast, better. There was one scene we didn't care for with some music we didn't appreciate and so it probably won't go in the library. It has a good message and I'm sure we'll watch it again with the remote in hand for the one scene. It's 54 minutes long and Gator is entertaining once again.

Pendragon was put out by the Burns Family Studios and is 110 minutes long. This is done by the same family that did Quest for Glory if you've ever seen that. This movie however, was very professionally done. I'm sure for those that watch TV you'll see lots of problems and it might be a bit fakey in parts, but we felt it was excellent. It's a very dramatic story that takes place in the days when the Saxons were invading Britian. For those that don't like war type movies you probably wouldn't enjoy this, but it has a good story line with it's good guys and bad guys. It was a good reminder that in the end, God will prevail. Yes, this will go in the library with a warning for anyone that has young children that might get bothered by violent sword fights.

By the way, for those not familiar with the San Antonio Film Festival, the idea of it was to get people making movies that glorify God and are clean. The top prize this year, $101,000!!! went to the makers of The Widow's Might. (Wow!) Most of the films entered are done by ordinary families or people that are just learning film making so they may not be professional but they are good. Some, like Fireproof, are professionally done. And yes, we were up really late. We had to keep pushing the pause button everytime someone got up so they wouldn't miss anything!

Dirty Laundry...

Last week after I did a few loads of laundry I noticed water on the floor. Ignored it because it was just a little and maybe someone walked by with a glass and spilled some. Anyway, this is what the inside of a washing machine looks like. Pretty dirty isn't it considering there was a cover over it? When water started running through the kitchen ceiling, I finally realized I had a problem.

After a few days, with Arthur being so busy, Isaac decided to tackle it. He fixed it, and I washed a load. Yes! It worked! The second load I had a few drops leaking, and by the third load I had a puddle on the floor again. Kinda reminds me of sin. Laundry can sure build up in a few days if you don't take care of it just like sin can slowly build up in our lives till we finally get overwhelmed with the magnitude of it all. Some people try to patch their sin up and things seem better for awhile. But when pressure comes, you find they never did deal with the sin or problem. I was reading the preview for Fireproof and thought how little things build up in marriages as well. Going to God is the only real way to fix sin and problems in our lives.

Isaac said he'd take another look at the machine so I'm praying he can fix it. When you look at that big black tub agitating it's a wonder with all the loads we do it hasn't leaked a long time ago!! (actually the leak is right under the black tub where it attatches to the grey thingy)

Surviving the Cold...

Another cold day but it looks like it's finally going to warm up. Yesterday it was 35 below zero but it seems like everything was as usual. They didn't even close the school although a few games were cancelled. No, our school wasn't cancelled either much to the dismay of it's students!

Last night we had our yearly "Secret Prayer Pal" meeting at church for all the ladies and girls. We reveal who we prayed for the year before and draw names for the coming year. It was hard to go out when it was so cold but it was even harder to leave once we got there! I was asked to share a few things about prayer. I couldn't help but wonder if the lady that asked me thought I was an "older woman" now that I'm a grandma!!

I shared three good reasons to pray for each other. One, because God commands it. Two, because Satan is attacking and prayer can fend off those attacks. Three, because God answers prayer. I told about a few of the things we've prayed for in our church and how God answered. It makes me wish we had written all those requests and answers down from day one - I'm sure it would be astounding to see God's hand in things throughout the years. It is so easy to forget.

Today Naomi headed over to Thief River Falls for her piano lesson with Miss K. Arthur was a sweetheart and went along since it was so cold this morning. The rest of us kept shovelling wood in the stove to keep warm and started making some bread for Sunday. It's our family's turn to make dinner at church and we're looking at making chilli unless we get some other great idea. Have a great evening and don't forget to pray!!

Cuttin' Wood ...

We heat our house with wood and usually we cut enough for the winter when the fall work is all done. Well, the fall work was really slow this year due to the weather, and when we finally scheduled in a couple of days to cut, Arthur hurt his ribs shipping calves. So we've been doing it a couple of days at a time - not the best way to heat your house but it works. Maybe when this cold snap is over we can get the rest of the winters supply now that Arthur is recovered most of the way.

The girls went out to help Arthur this afternoon after they all went skating. Arthur enjoyed getting back on the ice and my kids enjoyed having him along. Don't trip, Priscilla!

Nice armload, Hosanna.

That's our house in the background.

Arthur using his Husqvarna to cut dead trees. Thanks Miriam for the pictures! By the way, did you look at our weather this week? Brrr! Have a great evening in the Lord!