Welcome To The Official Website Of Wolfgang Puck! It's fast. It's different. It's good. It's reasonable! Great place for lunch with friends. There is a fountain outside where kids can run and play afterwards.
Elliot's BBQ Great BBQ. They are good people with a great story. Their tag line is...Everyone has to be somewhere. We are glad you're here. Isn't that great! Now, I don't have to go all the way to Shelby for some good BBQ.
Almost a year ago to date, Curt bought me a gift certificate to a spa so I could get a massage for our anniversary (last year). Well, as much as I really enjoy a massage, I just never got around to taking advantage of it.
After panicking that it was about to expire, I booked it this weekend since my mother in law was in town. While I was away in a nice dark room listening to music that sounded of rain and waves getting a glorious rub down, Curt and his mom cleaned out our garage. It was lovely!
I think Curt was a little irritated that it took me so long to redeem the gift, but hey,at least it had not yet expired (phew).
Anyways, I got my massage and a clean garage! Life is good!
I don't think he will get me another one for this anniversary!
I thought I would start writing some homeschool posts. I always love reading other homeschool moms blogs. I get lots of great ideas and they often motivate and encourage me.
So, if you currently homeschool or are thinking about homeschooling take the fish and leave the bones. That is what I love abut homeschoolinging...no two homeschools are the same. They are unique to you, your kids and family.
What works for me, may or may not work for you. And that is OK! I use to compare what I was doing with what everyone else was doing and I drove myself crazy! Nothing and I mean nothing good ever comes from comparing.
I do believe God made every family unit unique and different. Some for homeschool and some, not so much. I also would never make a blanket statement that everyone should homeschool. (Now, I might try to talk you into it so that my kids could play with your kids and we could eat lunch together, but those are purely selfish reasons, I know;-)! But, I love it, I believe in it...and I know I was called to do it. I fought it and I still do some days. What I have come to realize is that anytime God calls you to do something, there will be opposition, because it is what is best for you (and or your kids) and most importantly it is best for God. The Enemy knows that. So, I battle my flesh-fears all the time. But, at the end of the day I refuse to give in to it, and more than anything I want to be obedient to what God has called me to. The enemy knows my weakness and fears and he plays on them weekly. And though it has not been an overnight victory, each day I become more comfortable with the calling and less likely to throw in the towel when the going gets rough.
When people would tell me they were thinking about home educating, I would all but try to talk them out of it, because it is not easy! It has been the most overwhelming responsibility for me ever! I battled thoughts like...Who am I to teach my kids? I am not qualified! My kids and I would drive each other crazy. I don't have the patience to teach my kids. And my personal favorites, my kids would never sit and listen to me or get from me what they would a "real" teacher and there is no way they will learn as much from me as they would in a "real" school.
Well, now I laugh at myself 5 years into this calling and I am sure God laughed harder! But, I know that I have been teaching my kids since they came out of my womb. To talk, eat, potty train, respect, manners... Ofcourse I can teach my kids! And if they can't listen and receive from me things like school work, than how in the world will I ever get them to receive from me the things that really matter, the things of God?!?
All that to say, finally I realized once I stopped listening to the lies of Satin and realized that though it may be hard, God would give me the grace to do it...and He has!
If you hang around my house you might hear things like, "Wheeler boys don't lie." "Wheeler boys always keep their promise." "Wheeler boys never hit girls...EVER!!!" "Wheeler boys...(insert some good character trait here)."
Well, I must admit that the first time I heard Curt speaking this to our sons, I thought it was a little goofy.....until.....
Curt was on his way out the door to work early one morning. Kage caught him before he left and asked if he could play with his good flash light. Curt started to say no, then Kage said, "Dad, I promise I will put it back when I am finished...promise." Curt then said, "Ok son, you can play with it today just make sure you put it back when you are finished." To which Kage promised again.
Skip ahead in the day to around 3:00 or so, friends come to the door wanting to play with the boys. Kage and Jed race down the stairs to go outside. Before Kage could hit the door he came to a screeching halt. He told Jed to hang on he had to do something. He raced back up the stairs to his room grabbed the flashlight and brought it to my room to put it back where he got it. He told Jed, "I have to put dad's flashlight back cause I promised and Wheeler boys always keep their promise."
I could not believe what I had just heard!
Needless to say, I don't think it is goofy anymore, because I hear them daily say things like this and it really means something to our boys.
So, when Curt came to me the other day and said he was going to make a 200 year plan/vision for our family (based on Psalm 128), my first initial response was to crinkle my nose and raise an eyebrow. Two hundred years sounds a bit ambitious doesn't it?!? But, then I thought about the impact of this plan-vision for my children and my children's children! And, well, at this point nothing sounds goofy and absurd to me anymore...just tell me more...
Today, Jed decided to draw a picture at my kitchen table with a permanent sharpie marker which bled through the paper onto the table...forever!
I blew up! Putting it mildly, I fussed and screamed and all the kids scattered. This was just the straw that broke the camels back, the final blow, the icing on the cake. This was the grand finale to a "week of destruction".
Boys are so rough on things. I found our Geo Trax in the bathtub....uuugggghhh! If you are familiar with Geo Trax, then you are cringing as you read. They have batteries and remotes. This is just one of the many things that have been broken or damaged by these crazy boys.
So, I call Curt to vent about my table and he calms me down. It is just a table...I know, I know. To which I explained I am never going to have anything nice. Probably not. We have four kids 3 of which are boys. They are just so rough and rambunctious.
I want to raise them to respect stuff, but at the same time, as mad as I want to be at them, I know that they are not being destructive on purpose. They just like to take things apart, so they can see how it works. They like to bang things...lots of things while making crazy sound effects. They get urine all over everything because they like to think they are equip with a machine gun (sound effects included). You don't even want to know the crazy things I find in their pockets. They still think my tampons are torpedo's and my bras...sling shots!
I walked in sweet little Gideon's room and stepped on a real squirrel tail that had been chopped off of the dead squirrel that Kage shot and killed then ate while at Grandma and Papaw's house.
I am trying really hard to understand "little boys", but sometimes I feel like Abbey and I are surrounded by a tribe of savages. Sometimes we look at each other and say to ourselves, "We are way too civilized for this kind of behavior."
I want to encourage them in all that manly-boyish stuff, really I do! But sometimes the female in me finds it really overwhelming. But I look at the final product (their Dad) and I breath a sigh of relief, because I know they have a fantastic male role model and this surely is only for a season.
Anyways, after having had enough of this crazy behavior, Jed comes down from his nap, sat on my lap and hugged me tight for a few minutes. When he finished he looked at me with those big brown eyes and long eyelashes then said, "Mommy I'm sorry I ruined your table, I won't do it again, I promise. Please don't be mad at me." Then, gave me a sweet little puppy dog stare topped with a kiss....
So all that to say, squirrel tails, broken toys, rocks in dryers, torpedoed tampons and urine everywhere....worth it...because I love love love having lots of boys!
You know I use to think I had a real reverence for God and His word. But lately, I have realized just how little I really did. And I still can not imagine that I reverence Him as I should.
Curt and I attended a conference recently, and instead of coming back on some mountain top, I came back low! Humbled. With a passion and a hunger burning in me like I have never, ever experienced. A heart for the lost, like never before. And a real intense FEAR of God, like I have never experienced in all of my Christian walk thus far.
And it seems that when I position myself so low, God reveals Himself sooo big to me. It is not a quiet place. It is quite the opposite, He is quite loud. His Word has been speaking and revealing volumes to me. And I don't want to leave this place of lowliness. I really don't want to even lift up my head, I just want to stay humbled and low.
So the questions I have to ask myself are, if I truly love this place of humility, then why is it so hard to take up my cross and die to my flesh everyday? I love it when He speaks so clearly and loudly to me. Don't I want this everyday of my life? Don't I want to consistently be in a position where God can use me and speak things to me the way He has recently? Obviously, this is what He desires for me. And when I am here, I desire it for myself and wouldn't have it any other way.
But then, I answer my own question with...because it is hard. Everything about God goes against everything this world and my flesh love. Wanting Him and what He wants, more than what I want. Being so in love with Him and so grateful and thankful for what He did for me on that cross. I am a wretch and without Him...worthless.
But, in this place, I want to want Him more than your approval. I want to want Him more than pleasing my flesh. I want to want Him more than anything. I want to fear Him more than I fear man. He makes me want to keep a good check on my intentions and motives. I want to go only where He leads. I want to speak only what will glorify Him and keep my mouth shut when I want to speak on my behalf. All of these things sound fantastic, doing them is hard. In one of my previous post, I referenced the scripture about bearing fruit,"Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." Matthews 7:17-20
This is my standard. Today did I bear good fruit? The verdict it still out...
How can ONE hour, just ONE hour screw everyone up so much? My kids were up at the crack of dawn. The boys would not nap, and I had my shower before 9:00am...that is not right! Even the dog is out of whack.
On the up side, now that it will get dark earlier, maybe Curt and I can get to bed at a decent hour from now on. We stay up waaay too late at nights. Since we do not have cable, or DVR or any of that fancy stuff, we actually have to stay up to watch the shows we like. Maybe we can just ditch those few little shows for some extra zzz'z....naaaa!
I voted the other day! So, in my mind this election is officially over for me. Not really, but it does seem a little more final to me now. I look at it more like-I did not really vote for someone just against someone. Does that count?!? I am done researching judges and state officials, my vote has been cast, so let the games begin. (Now, if they could just stop airing those hideous commercials...just one more day...just one more day.) Speaking of commercials, is it just me and Amanda who think those commercials for Elizabeth Dole and Kay Hagen are over the top?!? I guess I expect the presidential candidate commercials to get a little raunchy, but gosh those two have gone a little too far.
In other news, I got this bright idea to make sausage balls tonight, so that we could just pop them in the microwave in the mornings for a fast breakfast. Well, it smells like peppa up in here! Not sure how long they will last. It seemed like a good idea for a little something different in the AM...but we shall see.
Kage keeps singing, "Take take take it all, take take take it all, Take take take it all, take take take it all, Take take take it all, take take take it all, Take take take it all, take take take it all," I think I need to teach him a few more lines to that song!
Here are a few pic's from our fun and crazy soccer season. We will miss hanging out with those Hummels on Saturday afternoons!
I am very passionate about my freedom! I could have been born anywhere in the world and God put me here, in the GREAT USA! I do consider it a privilege to be able to worship my Lord and Savior freely and unashamedly. I consider it a privilege that my country was founded on the beliefs of The ONE True God. I consider it a privilege that I can start my own business, home educate my children and can take my children to a clean hospital and receive outstanding health care. I am so thankful that I was not born in a Buddhist or Muslim country where it is against the law to worship God. Where poverty stricken people have no voice and can't care for and raise their children to the standard I can here in the US. I consider it all such a privilege. Man, we all should!
Therefor I don't ever want to down play or stand idly by and let others make decisions that go against my values and beliefs.
So having said that, to me politics is pretty simple. Basically, I believe that it all boils down to ONE ISSUE. Life.
If you don't have the right to life...then the right to vote, the right to have freedom of speech, the right to practice the freedom of religion, or the right to any other rights...is a mute point!
So, the issue is, do they (the candidates) value life, or don't they? Simple. It is all contingent on life.
The economy, the health care system, their views on foreign affairs while yes I do believe are very important, pale in comparison to the right to life issue. At the end of the day, God is in control of my financial situation, my health care, my freedom. But while I can, I will do my part and represent the innocent. One of the many things I can do is vote for a pro-life candidate.
It trips me out that some people (mainly women) are so narcissistic that they really think they are the ones who create life.Therefor they have the right to choose to let a baby live or not.***News Flash*** Only God can create life and big mistake, HUGE if you think you should play God!
And the people who are pro-choice-for abortion, are the same people who want to protect polar bears, whales and eagles...but not babies! That is insane! I'm not saying I have no regard for polar bears and whales, they are all God's creatures, BUT we humans were created in God's image, not the bears and the whales. Those same people are also against lab testing on animals, but FOR stem cell research on babies....messed up! That's all I'm saying...messed up!
All that to say, I vote according to my morals and values and belief system FIRST! Then, I will fight for the other rights and freedoms that I believe are such a privilege to exercise in this great Nation.
I think it is soooo important-vital that the leader(s) of this nation put their faith in Jesus Christ! But, since I know not the condition of a mans heart, (I can only judge him by the fruit he bares), I just can't imagine that one of the those fruits would be God condoning the senseless act of murder of the innocent through abortion...not the God of the Holy Bible. Either way, I will pray for him like it ain't nobodies business. At the end of the day, God is in control and nothing can happen with out His OK...the earth is His. And He will use all things to work together for His Glory!
But thank God that we can (and we should) humble ourselves before God, and be on our knees in constant prayer for this Nation, it's leaders, it's protection so that ultimately God's perfect will, will prevail.
*Now, having said all that, let me say I have known many girls/women who have had abortions and have since repented. God is so faithful to forgive and restore! I have seen Him do this first hand. Since abortion is happening just as much in the church as it is out, I think how we the church respond to it is crucial! It seems to me that now days if you are against abortion and speak openly against it, you are the "radical" and might offend someone. Where as a few years back those who supported it were radical. There seems to be such a shift in our society regarding sin, and calling it out. Especially those more controversial ones (if there is such a thing). No one wants to offend, everyone wants to be politically correct. Forget that! I don't care what people think of me (obviously). And I am sure that when Jesus was hanging from that cross, brutally beaten, and eventually murdered, He was hoping that those of us who would call Him Lord, commissioned to carry out the Gospel would totally shy back, as to not offend someone and take the politically correct route. And I am not talking about hating the sinner, I am just talking about hating the sin. That is what is so lovely about the Gospel, God loved sinful man so much that He sent His son to take the judgment that we deserved, all because He despises our sin.
Here is an amazing story about a woman who actually survived an abortion. She is such a lovely and gracious young lady.
Background- Abbey, Kage, Curt and Rock outside in yard. Curt is teaching Abbey how train the dog. Kage is watching. The dog just did what Abbey told him to do...
Curt: Now Abbs make sure that you praise him.
Kage: WHAT?!?!?! What did you tell her to do?
Curt: I told her to praise him, not worship him. That means to tell him he did a good job. Like the way we praised you during your soccer game today. We told you what a great job you did. How proud we were of your 2 goals and for trying so hard. That is praising someone.
Kage: Oh, well good cause I was gonna move out!
How cute that he thought Curt was telling Abbey to "Praise" a dog the way we praise and we worship God. And that he was so irritated by the thought of that, he wanted to move out. heehee:-)
