It's here, it's here!!!

No, it's not the new phone book. It's not the Netflix movie we've been waiting for. It's not even the shipment of ANTS our 6 year old is waiting to put in the ant farm he received for Christmas! It's even more awesome than those!

It's the brand spanking new, hot-off-the-press Sonlight Curriculum catalog! Yup. I bet you can't believe it either. And I'm fairly sure that this is a phenomenon that only occurs with Sonlight users. It's just something that happens to us. I can't really explain it other than to say that I love to get the new catalog!

Every March, it seems that I begin to get "the itch" for new curriculum. It's usually when I can see we're on the downhill side of the school year and there are not many books remaining that we haven't read. *sniff* I guess I just get eager to look ahead to what awaits us in the coming fall. To see what new gems that Sonlight has added to their wonderful literature-based curriculum. I have been waiting to receive mine since they were shipped on March 17th!

So today we had a houseful of friends stopping by...my sister-in-law and her 2 girls were here to play, some dear friends from church came by to let me hold their 4 day old baby boy *sweet sigh*, and a friend who is having Jason perform her wedding ceremony in two weeks dropped off wording for the service. In the midst of all this visiting, the mail person arrived with MY CATALOG!!! Ack! I wanted to shove it under my shirt, grab a cup of coffee, and run to my bedroom to pour over it! Nevertheless...I...must...resist!

So it stayed UNOPENED on the china hutch until everyone had left and as I started dinner preparations, I poured myself a glass of cranberry juice and sat down to glance through it. So much for dinner! Just kidding.

It's now 9:45pm and the kids are in bed and my catalog is still sitting open on the table beside me. I will probably carry it with me everywhere I go over the coming days...maybe even weeks! Pretty pathetic, huh?

I guess it just comes from loving the home school curriculum that we are using. Joe has loved everything about the books we read together and as a home schooling mom, I can't complain about that. I am truly thankful to Sonlight for working so hard to make such a wonderful biblically based, literature rich, user-friendly, high quality, library building, home school curriculum. Thank you, Sonlight!

Now back to my catalog!

~ Marcia ~

The Truth Project

Jason and I have been going through this DVD series from Focus on the Family with the leadership of our church and it is so powerful! I grew up in good, strong Bible teaching churches, I attended Christian schools, I have a great Christian heritage, I'm a pastor's wife and yet my eyes were opened through this class! Even with my great "Christian genes" I have been sucked into seeing some things through this world's eyes instead of my Father's eyes! The class brings all the pieces of what I know together into one cohesive view of the world...it's a biblical worldview.

The Truth Project asks the question, "Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?"

The Truth Project equips us a a biblical worldview. I want everything that I see and do to be filtered through the truth of the Bible and the character of God. It is imperative in this day and age to do this or you get so caught up in the lies of this culture.

I encourage you to find a Truth Project small group near you or attend a Truth Project training seminar so you will be equipped to share these DVDs with people in your life who need to be grounded in the truth.

The Truth Project will change your life!

What???

My husband and father-in-law went to the grocery store with my youngest son Jesse. As they were walking through the parking lot, Jesse asked, "Why is that man on a toilet?" Huh? What is he talking about? "Why is that blue man on a toilet?"

It took them a few seconds before they realized that he was talking about the handicap sign painted on the parking space. They chuckled as they explained to him that it was a wheelchair and not a toilet.

Isn't it interesting how children just see things through totally different eyes sometimes?

I was reminded of this as I was talking with my boys about Easter and the resurrection of Jesus this past weekend. They are such precious sponges! I want them to know all about my Savior and Lord! I want them to love Him with their whole hearts. To desire to share His love with everyone. I want them to always see Him with totally different and trusting eyes than we as adults. May they never lose the wonder they feel when they think of the miracle of Easter!

Deuteronomy 11:18-20 says, "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

As a parent, this is my highest calling!

~ Marcia ~

Tech-savvy kids!

So my son, Joe, is in 3rd grade this year and used to beg me to let him type his spelling tests on the computer. That went fine until he realized that the red squiggly line under his misspelled word meant he needed to try again. It sort of tipped him off!

So we banned him from taking his tests on the computer.

Fast forward to this week. He had a new list of 10 spelling words all with the -tch ending. Our routine is Monday he writes them 3 times each, Tuesday he write a sentence with each word, Wednesday he writes them 5 times each, Thursday is his pre-test, and Friday is his test.

He begged me on Monday to allow him to type his new words on the computer and figuring he couldn't cheat (unless he tried to copy and paste), I said "yes." So I started working with Jake and Jesse and pretty soon I heard this, "Oh no....oh, no!" from Joe. I looked over and saw that there were multiple text boxes and spelling words everywhere! I asked him what happened, and he said, "I don't know!" I asked him if he had tried to copy and paste and he hung his head and whispered "yes." I chuckled under my breath, deleted the other text boxes and then told him to finish up the right way. I guess he accidentally c&p the whole text box instead of just the spelling word!

Tech-savvy kids...gotta stay one step ahead of them and sometimes it's not very easy!

~ Marcia ~

How do you take care of yourself?

Hop over to Jill Savage's blog and enter her March Contest about how we moms take care of ourselves.

Speaking of taking care of ourselves...my incredibly wonderful husband gave me the night off tonight! After dinner, he took the boys and bathed them and got them into bed while I was free to relax and play around on the computer. He is such a doll!!! I am spoiled! Thank you, Jason!

I'm joining Lysa's recipe swap!

Tonight I was reading Lysa TerKeurst's blog and she seems to be a recipe slump. I know as moms we get tired of feeding the same thing to our clan over and over again, but sometimes it just happens. I think recipe slump is rampant in the winter especially. The sad and wilting produce does nothing to inspire my creative cooking skills. How about you?

Knowing that my recipe box could use a face lift, I decided to join her recipe swap and I would encourage you to take a peek at Lysa's blog as well as follow the Mr Linky to some other great inspiration as well.

So without further hesitation, here is my contribution:

I found this recipe at Menus 4 Moms and it was a hit with my family full of hungry boys. We like to add chunks of fully cooked ham for a hearty soup.

Hash Brown Soup
1 sauteed onion
3 cans chicken broth (or water and bullion equivalent)
1 large bag frozen hash browns (cubes or shreds)
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 to 1 pound Velveeta cheese, depending on taste

Combine sauteed onion and broth, bring to a boil. Add hash browns, bring to boil. Add soups (don't dilute) and milk, bring to boil. Add cheese. Heat until cheese melts. Optional: serve with bacon bits on top.

And for the daring...take a peek at my post about Cat Litter Casserole down below and have a little fun with your kids! The pictures just gross me out but the casserole was very good.

Blessings,
Marcia

My friend's book has just been released!

Hello! Today I am shamelessly plugging my friend Judy Crawford's new book, Time-Out For Tired Moms. I received my autographed copy last week and have been eating it up. Judy is so down to earth and encouraging and I love her way of coming along side us tired moms and giving us funny and tender stories and practical advice on finding time for ourselves and finding time to be with our Heavenly Father.

Mom, Are You Tired?

Tired of Laundry!

Tired of Multi-tasking!

Tired of Boys Belching in the Backseat of Your Mini-Van!

Have you ever sent your kids to their rooms for a Time-Out and wondered…

When is it MY TURN?!

Well Today, it is Finally Your Turn to GO TO YOUR ROOM!

In Judy’s first book, Time-Out for Tired Moms, you will find the AAAAHHHH that you so desperately need!

This eight week devotional is just the book to lift your spirit, lighten your load, and cause you to Laugh-Out-Loud! What Mom doesn’t need a good dose of that!

Eight distinctive Time-Out categories highlight creative ways you can incorporate time-out into the everydayness of Mothering.

Daily Devotionals draw you closer to God, the true refresher of a Mother’s soul!

So sit back and enjoy!

Today Mom, it is finally Your Turn to GO TO YOUR ROOM

You can get a copy (or many!) from Christian Book Distributors, Barnes and Noble, or you can contact Judy to find out how you can get your very own autographed copy.

Remember...Mother's Day is coming and this would make a wonderful gift for a mom in your life.

Listen to Jill Savage today!

Jill Savage is the founder and CEO of Hearts at Home, an organization that encourages, educates, and equips women in the profession of motherhood. Yesterday, a keynote speech of hers was spotlighted on Focus on the Family's daily broadcast. Today is part 2. You can catch it on a local Christian radio station or go to Focus on the Family and listen online.

Here is the new Hearts at Home promotional video for the their national conference next weekend, March 14 and/or 15. You can call 309-828-MOMS for registration information.




I highly recommend this weekend of refreshing and renewal as moms. I have been for the last three years and I am unable to attend this since it falls right on my son's 6th birthday, but I ordered a home conference pack and I cannot wait to get it!

Please check out Hearts at Home! Their ministry has truly blessed my life and has helped me to love being a mother.