Cowboy Shep

Here's Shepard's latest outfit of the evening!  He found John's boots this time.  He's so cute (even though he has a knack for knowing how to pick clashing clothes!  I'm starting to think he sees clashing as his personal style. :)  Oh my!) 

Our Christian Patriotic Duty

I read this quote in a book today (Parenting from the Heart by Marilyn Boyer) and thought it was so good that I wanted to share it! 

"Far too long Satan has duped Christians and they have believed his lie that to be really spiritual, you ought to be a pastor or missionary, but whatever you do, keep out of the civil arena.  He has managed to render Christians ineffective in their society by keeping them within the four walls of their churches.  John Jay, the original Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and perhaps the most influential writer of the Constitution, stated, 'Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.'  We have a heritage of godliness.  We must take back the ground that good men have given up by doing nothing."

You cannot tell me that the Founders did not intend for America to be a Christian nation with Christian leaders!  America has drifted away from the idea of America itself.  We don't even know who we are anymore.  And sadly, even our "spiritual" area of church is lacking bold, Biblical teaching - not all churches, but I would say most.  We've entertained those in attendance, but for what?  Christians need to engage in politics while we also become bold to teach God's truth.  Alexis de Tocqueville said, "Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power."  Hmmm... our genius and power is waning today.  But they go together...  we have to have both real, true, solid, Biblical teaching that is flaming with righteousness and Christian civil servants who will serve the Lord through politics without fear!  Anyone?  Otherwise, America is dying...

More outfits

We had an invitation to a special friend's house this week...  the boys were so excited that they counted the days until the big day!  Will woke up each morning asking if "this" was the day.  While we were there enjoying the wonderful hospitality, Will dressed up in several outfits...  I got this picture of him as the football player.

Today Will played with the little Ronald McDonald (yes, it's a Happy Meal toy) and pretended that it was his little baby.  He was so sweet and took such good care of his baby.  He was sure "McDonald" needed a bandaid. :)  (Love the goggles!  They are always finding something unusual to wear around the house!)

Tonight we watched a sweet horse movie called Second Chances.  As soon as it was over we had two little cowboys riding their horses around the circle in our house.  Both of the little boys love to pretend about the movie as soon as it's over...  they can hardly contain themselves.  Josiah doesn't pretend like they do, so he watches them with us.  It was so cute!  Here are our little cowboys...  I guess these are the best cowboy hats we have.  (Shepard picked his own pajamas...  cute, huh?)

Popeye the Sailor Man

Shepard has a fascination with eating spinach just like Popeye...  I guess he thinks he'll get those big muscles!  So, he begged for a can of spinach when we were at the grocery store - the one with the picture of Popeye on it.  He could HARDLY wait to eat it!  Finally...  the moment came!  I grabbed my phone to take a picture...

I think the best word to describe it is disgust. :)  I think the fascination is over!

The Stars Sing

I read this to the boys in our morning Bible study last week:  "while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy" Job 38:7 - and I asked the boys if the stars really do sing??  Our conclusion was that they must sing if the Bible says so and we thought we should study that sometime.  And then today's school lesson was about...  the stars singing!!  We studied pulsars and their sound waves and we were able to actually listen to a recording of the stars online!  We literally sat here at my computer with tears in our eyes as we HEARD the stars praising God!  And we are also studying about speech and languages in school right now so we talked about how God created us with voices to communicate and the most important thing we can do with our voice is to praise Him.  If we don't, He says the very rocks will cry out in praise to Him... just like the stars!  We'll study math and grammar this afternoon, but I have a feeling that this morning's lesson about the stars is the one that will have a lasting impact...  at least it will for me!

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  All the boys and I had a nice candlelight dinner together...  there's just something magical about eating by candlelight.  My sweet hubby bought us heart shaped pizza - always a hit with the boys - and a treat for me since I didn't have to cook!  And then he cleaned up the kitchen and even unloaded the dishwasher for me!  Awww, thanks Honey!  I love how you love me!

The boys were pretty excited about this Valentine cookie for dessert!

I wuv you, mommie!

A few days ago, I was working in the kitchen when I felt little arms wrap around my legs...  I looked down to see my little Will (2 years old) burying his face in my knees and then I heard those most precious words from his lips for the first time...  "I wuv you, mommie!"  Out of nowhere, completely unsolicited and so sweet that my heart melts again just thinking about it.  Does it get any better than that?!  I love you, too, Will David!

Josiah's Latest School Project

We've been studying architecture and Josiah made some models of homes from different cultures.  Good job, Josiah!