My Husband, The Builder

For my birthday, my sweet husband decided to build a deck "for me." Knowing how much I do not like the out-of-doors, it sounds kinda funny that I would want him to build something outside for me. But I really wanted somewhere we could congregate & enjoy in the shade. Unfortunately, my birthday is at the end of May & this summer has been the most sweltering here in Texas! So...the deck is now built & it was a great father/son project but it has not gotten used hardly at all. But it will be there for us when God decides to let it cool down below 109 degrees on a daily basis...perhaps October or November.

I am very thankful for my sweet husband building the deck! He conquered something he's never done before!



Our backyard before the deck...

Getting organized...

Cutting the boards...

Building the frames...can you tell how hot it is by the red cheeks on Evan?

Eli's (our dog) checking out the new "stuff" in the backyard...

Ethan's getting excited about it...

The complete deck...looks so nice!

Mauri & Ethan enjoying a little shade...

Oh, did you the broken umbrella? Yes, it broke the first time Eric put it up! A little dust storm came up when he & Ethan were outside one afternoon. He said the wind picked up that umbrella OUT of that HEAVY base & blew it clear across the field! He was worried that Ethan was going to get hit, but luckily he was safe. And after a little duct tape, it looks all better now too! You gotta love duct tape!

Dolphin Tale Movie Challenge

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to listen and learn from Sally Clarkson at the THSC Homeschool Family Conference. I learned SO many things about being a better parent, and she shared some really neat stories about her children.

Her son, Nathan, is in Hollywood as an aspiring actor, but for the next two months, he has the special job of promoting the new family film, DOLPHIN TALE. Sally Clarkson told us that a special interest group from Warner Brothers has given a challenge to see if they can get 150,000 people to watch the move on September 23! I think we can!

And if they achieve this goal, then Warner Brothers has agreed to make another family friendly movie!

As I was laying in bed last night, my math teacher mind was thinking how easily & quickly we could get this word out on Facebook. If each of us had just 300 "friends" on facebook & we told our 300 friends & they told their 300 friends (300x300x300), then you would have 270,000 "friends" that know about going to the movie on SEPT. 23! (I know my mathy mind kinda goes crazy sometimes.) And you only need a little more than half of them to actually GO to the movie! How cool would that be if they way exceed their goal!

Let's pray for this movement to be a great success! Go to the Homeschool Movie Club & sign up for their newsletter. They even have a curriculum guide/unit study to go along with this movie and a few others.

Here is a little ditty from the Homeschool Movie Club blog:

FIELD TRIP TO THE MOVIES!
Mark your calendars for September 23rd…and set up a field trip for your local homeschool group or go as a family!
We are going on a giant homeschool field trip to see:

Dolphin Tale

Homeschool Movie Club and Warner Brothers will be offering a ‘homeschool day’ for matinee shows on September 23rd and if you sign up HERE you will get information on special group promotions, discounts for homeschoolers, and FREE DOLPHIN TALE CURRICULUM written by Sherri Seligson who wrote Apologia’s Marine Biology curriculum! Also, contact usand let us know if you want to bring your homeschool group to see the movie and we will send you some extra ‘goodies’!Register here to get updates on Dolphin Tale’s “Homeschool Day”:

And Scholastic.com has a novel for less than $5 right now. You could read it as a family before the movie comes out!

Dolphin Tale: The Junior Novel

So let's get going...start spreading the word & let's make it a date to watch Dolphin Tale on September 23!

Finding JOY in the journey,

Kim

Memory Verse #15

AUGUST...the HOTTEST month of the year for us in Texas! Today, the lady on the news said this would be HOTTEST week yet for us! How can it possibly get any hotter than 105-110 degrees???

So...I think we should all just stay inside & memorize our verses. What do you think? :)

"The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down."

Proverbs 14:1 (NIV)

I got the idea for memorizing this verse this time from a Sally Clarkson workshop that I attended this weekend at the THSC Homeschool Conference in The Woodlands. Sally (and all of the other speakers) kept teaching about how important it is for us to cultivate a GODLY HEART in our children.

She kept telling stories & teaching us that we will reap what we sow. If we get frustrated easily with our little ones, we will cultivate FRUSTRATED HEARTS. If we get impatient because our children are not getting ready quickly enough for church or school or the trip to Walmart, then we are going to cultivate IMPATIENT & RUDE HEARTS. If we have a bitter attitude toward our jobs, church, friends, or life in general, we will cultivate BITTER HEARTS.

Then, Sally Clarkson quoted Proverbs 14:1: "The WISE woman BUILDS her HOUSE, but with her OWN HANDS the FOOLISH one TEARS hers DOWN."

Wow! What a gem of a verse! I've read it many times before but it really HIT me over the head when I heard Sally say it with her kind, gentle voice! She said do we want to build up our children or tear them down? I certainly do not want to tear down my house with my own hands!

I need to keep this verse in the forefront of my mind at all times! I can't tell you how many times I snap with an impatient, unkind attitude on Sunday mornings as we are trying to get out the door! And then I want them to be happy about going to church to learn about Jesus?

So this month I am going to try my hardest to say this verse to myself every time my boys (husband and dog included) try my patience. :) Will you pray for me & hold me accountable & check back to see how I'm doing?

I'd love to hear the verse you are memorizing this time!

Finding JOY in my journey,

Kim

M.O.B. Society Boy Mom Blog Hop

Welcome! I’m participating in the Boy Mom Blog Hop today at M.O.B. Society. What a fun way to connect with other boy moms!

I enjoy cooking & decorating cakes & cupcakes, scrapbooking (although I don’t have much time do to that anymore), taking pictures, & traveling.

I have been married to my best friend, Eric, for 16 years. He is a Music Minister at FBC Center, TX, and God has truly blessed him with a beautiful voice & a talent for anything musical. We met teaching high school…he was a band director & I was a math teacher. We met in August & got married 2 days after school was out in May. Needless to say, we were teased by our students all year long!

Our two miracle sons are Evan (12…a definite TWEEN) and Ethan (4…almost 5). Evan is a miracle because we were actually able to have him, and Ethan is a miracle because God created him just for our family through adoption!

It’s funny how God’s plans are not always our plans! Life has not turned out exactly how I dreamed about it growing up, but I know His plans are so much better than I could ever dream or imagine! And I always claim Jeremiah 29:11—“I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans for good & not for evil, to give you a future & a hope!”

I like to say that I didn’t marry a minister…I married a band director! But God changed that just a few years after we were married when Eric was called into the ministry.

I also always dreamed of HAVING four children…I loved being pregnant! But that is not how God chose to grow our family. Eric & I used to both dream of having 4 children…until we had ONE & realize how much work it is to raise them. But I still sometimes wonder if God will continue to grow our family through adoption again…

We built our “dream house” in 2000 & thought we’d live right down the road from my parents forever…but then God called us to a “crisis of belief that required faith and action” (Blackaby’s Experiencing God principle). We have served at 2 other churches 2-3 hours away from my parents since then…

I thought I would teach high school math until I retired & then God changed that last year, too! Through a series of circumstances, God showed us that homeschooling would be the best choice for our older son who struggles with dyslexia. We just finished our first year and it has been a great fit for our family! We’re still learning, but we definitely see the benefits! You can read more about that here.

Evan enjoys building with Legos, loves anything to do with technology, and enjoys science. He recently joined Boy Scouts & spent a week this summer at Boy Scout camp in A TENT! I don’t know how he did it, but he loved. (Can you tell I am NOT an outdoorsy person? Just another way God has a sense of humor by giving me BOYS that LOVE the OUT OF DOORS!) Some of the books he enjoys are Narnia & Harry Potter (I just started letting him read/listen to these because he’s 12 now).

Ethan enjoys learning anything about Geography & loves to look at books. He has a love for learning & I’m praying that will never be squelched! He has the cutest personality & the funniest sense of humor! Ethan enjoys reading ANY book but especially LOVES two stories from the Bible—Joseph & the coat of many colors & Jonah. If we have any sort of Bible story book, these are the 2 that he wants us to read EVERY night OVER & OVER. That’s ok though. They do teach wonderful lessons!

Come to think of it, all three of my boys are pretty witty (husband included). I’m so blessed!

Thank you for stopping by! I’d love to hear from you & have you follow me! I look forward to meeting some of you at the Boy Mom Blog Hop!

Memory Verse #14

The verse I chose this time is really for our family. My boys tend to argue with each other or with us (talking back but think they aren't talking back). I know my boys are probably the only children in the world that do this (wink), so maybe God wrote these 2 verses just for my family. :) When I was reading my Bible the other day, searching for my next memory verse, these just jumped out at me! So here they are:

2 Timothy 2:23-24 (NIV)

Don't have anything to do with foolish & stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be KIND to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

I can't wait to join Beth Moore & the rest of the Siestas for the Scripture Memory Celebration in January! Will you be joining us?

Jenna's Coming to Sing at our Church!

A dear friend of mine is coming to visit us next Sunday evening to sing a benefit concert for their upcoming international adoption. Because we know first hand how expensive adoption is, we are trying to get the word out in every way possible to encourage people to attend this concert. You won't be disappointed...she has a beautiful talent that she is using to glorify God! Here’s a link to Jenna’s blog so you can learn more about her story.

And here’s what Shelby County Today has posted about the Concert of the Ages.

First Baptist Church of Center will kick off its “Concerts of the Ages” concert series with Jenna Lorick on Sunday, July 17th at 6 P.M. Jenna has a phenomenal voice and a heart for worship. Lorick has a new CD project entitled “Chosen Love” which will be available after the concert. She is asking for a minimum donation of $15. A love offering will also be given. 100 percent of the proceeds from the CD and love offering will go toward their international adoption and orphan care around the world. Jenna Lorick is the wife of Nathan Lorick, pastor of First Baptist Church, Malakoff, Texas. Don’t miss this event!

Upcoming “Concerts of the Ages”:
August 7: Trey Wilson
October 9: David’s Song
January 8 (2012): Zambian Vocal Group

Memory Verse #13

Happy 4th of July!

I'm a little behind on posting because I haven't had time to get on the computer. I hope you have a wonderful Independence Day! Let's remember to say a prayer for the service men and women that are sacrificing for our freedoms!

I have two verses that seem to really go together for this time. One was part of the Warrior Prayers challenge that I thought would be very helpful for my "tweenager's" attitude. :)

Proverbs 27:19 (NIV)

As water reflects a face,

so a man's heart reflects the man.

Luke 6:45 (NIV)

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.