Real life, Real problems

I have a horrible problem with contentment.  It's something I'm somewhat working on.  It's not that I'm discontent with THINGS or things money can buy.  I'm actually a pretty simple person when it comes to things.  No, my contentment problem comes in the form of doing.  I LOVE to try new things!  I also LOVE to create!  

I love to create babies.

I have always dreamed of building a home.

I love to start new projects around my home.

I love new jobs.

I love new routines (like homeschooling).

I've never even had a bad first date because the idea of trying something NEW is so fun!

I even love doing things against the grain just for the sake of doing something different.

I think the funnest thing in the world would be to sell everything we own and travel.  Of course we would have to travel on our hopes and dreams, but I've got it all worked out.

Philippians 4:11

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:

1 Timothy 6:6

Now godliness with contentment is great gain.

1 Timothy 6:8

And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

Hebrews 13:5

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

As you can see, my discontentment is totally unbiblical.  

And my husband is the storm on my parade!  Or as one friend put it, the string to my kite!

 

There he is...doing what he does best...bringing in the kite!  

Yes, sometimes he's not much fun, but he's practical.  And Real.  And he's gotten pretty good at it!

Regardless of my hubby's best intentions, even HE is not always good enough to reign me in.  Satan has been after me the last two weeks!  Did I tell you I'm somewhat working on this contentment issue?!  It turns out that God is on my side!  He said He 'will never leave or forsake' me!  He has given me a great new friend with the same problems...only SHE has it more under control than I do!  

I'm totally looking forward to seeing what God does with this!  How he will fix me and mold me!  And I'm really excited about my new friendship!

gay rights

What a night!  My facebook has been lit up like a Christmas Tree!  It all started when my newsfeed was flooded with profile pics like this

I didn't even know what this meant!  The Human Rights Campaign, which advocates rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, has been promoting the pink over red equal sign in lieu of their normal yellow over blue background. It’s in response to the Supreme Court beginning their hearings on gay marriage Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

And in response to the above picture, I also saw pictures like this

and this

Although, there were very few openly supporting traditional marriage compared to the hundreds of marriage equality signs.  I've never posted my opinion on gay rights because I've never known what my opinion was.  I believe the Bible is clear on homosexuality (and incest, bestiality, and polygamy), but I've never really seen what the problem with letting homosexuals marry was.  I have friends and family who are gay and I love them just as much after their 'coming out' as I did when they themselves didn't even know they were gay!

I saw signs like these too

  

and then it dawned on me what my issue with gay marriage rights is.  I believe and stand behind what God's Word says 100%.  That doesn't mean I don't sin and have shameful sin myself.  BUT, I didn't want to make an argument based on God's Word.  I didn't even plan to argue when I posted this picture as my profile pic

It's the polygamist sister wife family.  Here's my deal, NOT from Scripture but from...well, from THEIR view:  We have all these "demand equality" signs but nobody is demanding equality for polygamy, incest, gay incest.  Why not???  Is marriage only good enough for man and woman, man and man, woman and woman, and that's it? What a double standard!  Gay marriage is a stepping stone to all other kinds of marriage!  Let's leave the Bible out of this for a moment (because clearly it's been left out for quite some time!).  Who on Earth gets to decide that incest is just too icky for equal rights?  Whose standard is that?!  Because I'll be honest, if we have gay marriage, WE SHOULD HAVE ALL KINDS OF MARRIAGE.  Love is love, right?  A brother and a sister who are madly in love are just two people who love each other, right?  The polygamist family has a LOT of love to share!  Or maybe we should abolish marriage all together?

What happens when you have no marriage?  I have an acquaintance who lost her children (from surrogacy) from a illegal gay marriage.  Here's where the cart got in front of the horse.  There was no legal union; this lesbian had no legal power over her partner's surrogate children, even though she raised them up until the partner decided she wanted to take the children and leave the state...which was easy since they weren't really married, and these children weren't really theirs.  

It seems that supporters of equal gay marriage don't want to talk about Bible.  So I'm not.  I'm talking standard.  Standards in society change.  I was attacked because I questioned where to draw the line and, if we aren't using the standard God gave us, then whose are we using and why is their standard the absolute truth?

I think these are legitimate questions.  I think these are questions that people are asking, even if it's just a minority.  Homosexuals only make up 3% of the population, yet because of their loud voices, their campaign is changing laws and lifestyles.  

It was not and IS NOT my intent to hurt anyone.  Actually quite the opposite.

The questions were asked "why say anything at all?  why is it your job to give your opinion publicly?"

Because the questions I raised WILL be raised and fought for.  I don't think it's my job or responsibility to give my opinion but, why not?  Why do gay rights supporters get to put an equality sign as their profile picture, but I don't get to sound my opinion?  Or better yet, GOD's opinion.  

Which by case, I purposely left God out of my own personal questions.  But for those concerned with what God does say,  here's a fantastic article that wraps it up the best I have ever seen.  The author is gentle, yet truthful.  

www.bible-truths.com/homosex.htm

Being snarky is easy for me.  It's a sin, and it's easier to be snarky than gentle and graceful.  I pray for that kind of grace.  What started out as a snarky profile picture has turned into something I feel strongly about, and something society will eventually ask.  

I asked myself, and God, if this post is in line with Philippians 4:8, because regardless of if there is a God or if the Bible is an outdated book of fairy tales, I DO try to live by it.  Yes, I have peace that it is True and honest, just, pure.  I have peace that while this is not a 'lovely' subject, it is a subject I speak of IN love, because I want to have a good report, I want others to have a good report in God, and live virtuous lives based on God's standard.

It's not my job to be the Holy Spirit to others.  However, it is my job to boldly proclaim God's word, even if it's not liked.  That's okay.  The world hated Jesus first.  We all have our own sin with which to deal.  I'm just asking questions and giving information.  

Maybe tomorrow I will post about why it's wrong to commit adultery, steal, kill, and eat bacon, but not because of biblical morals, but because of some standard that someone, somewhere has given us.  

  

Peace and love!

Truly, sincerely.

Are We Nearing the End Times? IDK?!!!

One thing I look forward to as my children get older, is being able to study more advanced topics with them.  Today I was watching "The Bible" on the History Channel...very good, but VERY gory and violent.  It's totally what we call a 'nightmare show!'

Anyway, one of my other recent renewed interests is what we call the Rapture.

I never knew there were other theories than the ONE I was taught.  If you've read any of the Left Behind books, you understand they portray the Rapture as happening anytime and the anti-christ coming afterward, along with the tribulation and the wrath of God.  This is something I claim NO advanced knowledge of, so hang in here with me.  Most protestant Christians aren't taught much about the End Times, because we aren't supposed to be here for it.  We are taught that it will be bad, very bad, but if we know Jesus as our Savior, we won't have anything to worry about because we will be sucked up into the sky into Heaven, while the unsaved are left to fight it out with the anti-christ.  

I have a two minute video to share a little about what some think The Rapture will be like. 

I've gone to church my entire life and I never knew there were any other thoughts about this.  The first time I heard about 'Mid-Tribulation' and 'Post-Tribulation' was while I was sitting in my church's "this is who we are and what we believe class."  My church is a 'Pre-Tribulation' church, but, should we find ourselves in the tribulation, we will become a 'mid-trib' church/believer.  

I say this a little tongue-in-cheek, but the reality is, the Bible is not perfectly clear...or maybe it is and we've been conditioned to ignore it's clarities.  I don't know.  Again, I'm no theologist.  Is that even a word?

And I'm not writing this post even as a ministry or Truth.  The only truth there is in this post is that you have to seek it out yourself.

What I came across was this youtube video that really intrigued me.  As a homeschooling mom to 3 young kids, I had to watch it in increments, and listen to it while I paint, but it was so interesting to get a different spin on something I had always been taught was different.

Here's the video I found.

And after I watched it, I started asking questions.  Like:

Are we in the End Times now?  Many people think so.

There have HAD to have been times in the last 2000 years that others thought we were in the End Times, right?  What's different now than then?

  

I asked a friend who is well studied in all things biblical, and who is not afraid to go against the grain if it means she is following the BIBLE and not tradition.  She had these words of wisdom:

"I don't know what it will be like.  I don't know when Christ will return.  I try to live by the boy scouts motto though, 'Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.'  All I know is that people missed the birth of Jesus the first time He was here because they thought it would be different, they thought The Messiah would be different."

I think it's so fun to think about things like this.  I love hearing and reading viewpoints and then searching God's Truth for what HE says.  Someday we will all know exactly what happens.  Probably not today though.  

Happy End of Times!  

Family Snow Day!

We really enjoyed our late February snow last week...as much as this warm weather girl can!  I got the boys and myself dressed for a blizzard in Alaska and went outside!

The boys helped me build this awesome snowman...we thought it turned out GREAT!  And no, it was not our plan to flip off the neighborhood :)

The boys were all about building a fort, which didn't really happen, but they used the plowed snow to make a 'dragon.'  This is Clark riding it and Heith working on the head.

Heith was doing a bit of whining here...not sure why, but it was as close as he let me get with the camera.

Clark is always smiles in front of the camera.  He wanted to make sure I got him riding the dragon and the entire dragon tail!  Notice both boys have their coats unzipped...they are a little more used to the cold than I am...I wore my ski outfit...everything but my ski mask!

Blaire stayed inside.  We've been doing 'blanket time' lately in order to train her to play quietly during our school time.  She playing with her baby here.

Here she is with daddy for "blanket time."  She had her boots on because the poor thing thought she was going outside to play too.  She really enjoyed getting daddy to herself though!

And there you have it...that was our snow day!  Personally, I'm thrilled that we only get a couple each winter!  I've found a new house for us a little further south than where we live now...I kid Justin that my goal is to move us to Texas, ten miles at a time!  :)

Guilt or Conviction?

What's the difference between feeling guilty and conviction?

How do you know the difference between guilt and conviction?

Here are some examples of my questions:

Occasionally I feel guilty about my laundry not being done and put away, so I go to the laundry room and spend 3 hours doing it.

I feel guilty about not getting up and dressed for the day, every day, so sometimes I get up and dressed for the day like 4 days in a row...yay me!

I feel something (conviction?) about not rising early to start my day.  I'm lazy.  

Some people feel guilty for feeding their kids unhealthy meals.  Some people feel convicted to not feed their children unhealthy meals.  

Again...

what's the difference and how do you know?

Homemade Butter

I know it's been quiet on this blog lately.  We are getting into the hang of homeschooling.  It's coming along, and I'll post another day about it.

TODAY, though, I made butter.

That's right...

I MADE BUTTER!

...churned it and everything...straight from the cow!

Step one: milk a cow

 Ohhhhh I WISH I had a picture of me milking a cow!  Maybe one day!  But for now I buy my milk straight from the cow from a dairy farmer.  It hasn't been pasturized or anything...raw milk!

 Then you scoop the top cream off into small mason jars, about half full.  Then you shake the jars.  I forgot to add that I stick a little marble inside...I think it helps the cream butter up!

Then you pour out the butter-milk and refrigerate; you can cook with it.

Then you pour COLD water in with your butter and keep rinsing and stirring.

After all that, you get a tiny bit of butter from a 1/2 gallon milk!  This is about a tablespoon, maybe a little more.  Can't wait to use it!

Happy Churning!

Big News!!

It has been a very exciting week at the Rahar Ponderosa!  We have an announcement...

We are the newest homeschooling family!!!

That's right, folks!  My husband and I (actually) agreed to withdraw the boys from public school during Christmas break.  We felt it was a great time to make a natural break for them.

I'd like to say a few things...well lots, actually, but I'll do my best to keep it short.

1. I am convicted to not have my children in public schools.  While I do not believe sending your children to public school is sin, I do believe that homeschooling is a Godly principle with blessings, should we follow His instruction.

Psalm 1:1,2: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

2. I LOVED their teachers!  I do not believe public school teachers are any more evil or corrupt than I am. I have values I want taught to my children based on God's Word and I cannot trust the school staff to teach those values or even to support those values.  If they are not supporting my values and authority, they are against it.

Jesus said something similar: "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."  Matthew 12:30

and Solomon: "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain."  

3.  Contrary to my opponents' beliefs, I am qualified to teach my own children.  While I do not hold a four year education degree, I have raised my children for the past seven years.  I taught them to walk, talk, sing their abc's, eat with a fork, write their name, use the toilet, make their beds, and many other things.  I am too sorry that I did not have the opportunity to teach my oldest two to read.  Statistically, homeschooled children score better on academic tests than public or private schooled children, regardless of race, income, the parents' educational background, and even state involvement.  I am confident God will equip me.

Solomon reminds us that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowldege..." Proverbs 1:7

4.  My children still have friends, still see their 'school' friends and even get to make new friends.

I already had a lady ask the boys if they missed their school friends.  We live in a town of 1100 people...my kids see their friends.  We live in a neighborhood with many of their friends and they usually congregate at my house after school anyway.  Now that they aren't spending 35+ hours a week in school, I allow them to spend more time in sports and recreational activities than I did before.

5. I will answer to God for how I raised my children.  This ties in with how God has convicted me.  He says to "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve..." Joshua 24:15.  

I am to "bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord."  Ephesians 6:4

I want to teach them to proudly profess His name before men, and not be ashamed.  Romans 1:16

And when I stand before God and He asks if I helped my children or hurt them, if I raised them up in His Word or let them be taught contrary to His Word, it is my prayer that He will be pleased.  You see, God takes the care, love, and training of children very seriously.  He says at least three separate times in the New Testament that "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea."  Mark 9:42

With relativism and humanism taught in our schools, evolution, and other teachings contrary to God's Word, it is my conviction that public schools certainly set up a child who believes in God to stumble.  THAT is on me!

6. Sometimes my children get on my nerves.  Just because I voluntarily choose to be with them the majority of their time, doesn't mean I'm not just like any other parent.  I am, and I fail daily, hourly if someone is keeping score.  Here's the thing, I am called, by God, to be a mom. While I teach my kids to try to do all things without complaining (Phillippians 2:14), I am learning how to do the same.  I'm also praying that the way I intentionally raise and teach my children, they will grow into adults who love and serve our Mighty God (Proverbs 22:6).

3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

I have no greater calling than to raise my children in the Truth.  For my family, that means doing it outside of the public school system.  

7.  My children may not always be homeschooled, but I will fight, hard, to ensure they are, and to ensure their education centers around the fear of the Lord.

I have not even touched on how we will 'do school', but I wanted to tell you WHY it will not be in the public schools.  Hopefully, we will get into a routine soon and figure out what works best for us.  After all, one of the benefits is getting to choose how we do things, what works and what doesn't.

Justin and I do have friends and family who are not in agreement with our choice to homeschool, and that is fine.  Those people have chosen a different path for different reasons.  We do ask, require, that a positive attitude is kept regarding our choice in front of our children.  I understand how it can be difficult to be excited about something you don't agree with; I have had to do it for the past year and a half.  I had to be excited about public school for my kids even though I thought it was a stumbling block for them.  I pray those in opposition to our decision will know that we are doing what we think is best and what aligns with God's Word.

If homeschooling is anything you might be interested in, I urge you to spend an afternoon researching statistics and methods.

the best days of my life

My baby girl has been sick, pretty sick.  This came on while I was staying with my mom in the hospital during her surgery.  I came home after 3 days to a sick baby.

After Christmas week, and several days gone with my mom, then a week of sick baby, I'm still recovering myself, not to mention my house is disastrous!  I have toys to sort through, huge piles of laundry to put away, new bunk beds to put together, kitchen dishes to wash, crib sheets to change, school to get ready for, breathing treatments to force give, antibiotics to dose out...the list goes on and on.  On top of that, my baby isn't sleeping.  I've spent several hours during my sleeping hours, awake, holding her.

Here's the thing...

I have a husband who stayed with our children so I could be with my mom, who was able to get the best medical care offered.  My house is disastrous because we have been blessed beyond our needs with toys and clothes.  My laundry piles are huge because I have been blessed with three children and a husband and we all have more clothes than we wear.  God gave me the ability and funds to build my children new beds even though they already had one, AND build extra beds for when we have friends over.  I have dishes to wash because God has never let us go hungry.  We live in a country that values education when others don't even bother to dream of being able to read.  I have access to breathing treatments and antibiotics!  And I am thrilled, absolutely thrilled, to hold a baby in my arms at night.  I know so many whose arms ache to hold a baby.  

An elderly lady saw me playing with Blaire at the grocery store last week.  She looked me right in the eyes and said, "Enjoy these days.  These are the best days of your life!"  I smiled and said thank you and went on my way.  

I have to say, these are the very best days of my life!

Christmas week at school!

The week leading up to Christmas was filled with craft days, pajama parties, and Christmas parties for the boys at their school.  They had a great week and were jealous of each other and the things each of them got to do.  

Here Heith is on craft day, making a beaded candy cane.

My project for craft day was salt-dough ornaments.  I made entirely too much dough so we made our own ornaments at home too.  Even Blaire joined in the fun!

And Blaire was wreaking havoc instead of helping.

...and me finishing up the ornament project after the kids went to bed.

Heith's craft day was Monday when we made the ornaments, I took them home to bake for 6 hours each batch, then Friday I took them back for their party and the kids painted them and took them home!

Clark's class got shimmer tattoos and he was really impressed with those.

I had to throw this picture of Blaire in...she looks so cute but was such a little orphan Annie that day!

I'll post some Christmas pictures soon!

Christmas Business

I started my Christmas shopping yesterday...the 19th...of DECEMBER.  I hate Christmas shopping and I put it off as long as possible every year!  This year, I've been busy building the boys each a bunk bed, and I built Blaire a play kitchen...which also involved sewing a sink skirt...I finally bought her apron from Etsy because I knew I wouldn't be able to get it done on time.  The beds are going to be nothing but a miracle from God above!  I still haven't built the ladder or the bed rails yet!  YIKES!!!

Anyway, I have sent out most of my cards this year, I still have several waiting for stamps, and I have a new box of 20 still waiting to be stuffed, addressed, and stamped...Did I mention it's now 4 days till Christmas?!

Here's our card this year:

So while I was at the mall yesterday, I decided to pick up some personalized ornaments.  I had to get one for Heith because he was the ONLY child that didn't have a "1st Christmas" ornament, BUT he already broke it...10 minutes into having it!  I also got us a family ornament with all our names and year on it. 

Isn't it cute?!  Do you notice anything?

First thing Clark (7) says is "Ummm, mom?  Those are two boy deer!  Girl deer do not have antlers!"  After a short argument and me ending with "whatever, this is a girl deer because it's mommy!" Justin comes in and says "Clark is right babe.  That ornament is for a gay couple with 3 adopted deer children."

All we're saying is that somebody at the ornament company needs to pay attention to deer anatomy!  

Either that or they were all out of the heterosexual deer couples!

Merry Christmas!!!

Comfort

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the sandy hook shootings, like many of you. While its 'draining' emotionally, I never want to come to a place where this is 'normal.'  I already see it in so many in my circle, the desensitization.  

I've come across many scripture verses the last week, but I liked these today:

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

"Therefore we do not lose heart.  Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

I liked this because it reminds me that even though there are horrible things going on, they are temporary.  Vs 18 reminds me that while most people are looking and concentrating on the bad and what they know (see), Christians know there is God working behind the scenes for the eternal. 

Love you 

After Friday

Friday's shootings at a grade school has taken it's toll on me, especially because my oldest boys are in kindergarten and first grade, and because I don't want them in public school in the first place.  What helped me with their going to school is that we live in a tiny community (1200) and their grade school is literally across the street from my home.  I thought they were safe.  But after Friday, after finding out that a k-4th grade school in a town of 1900 people had a massacre of teachers and 6 & 7 year olds, I was startled, alarmed, horrified, and just plain scared for my own kids.  I also thanked God for keeping my kids safe this far.

I've struggled this weekend with sending my kids back to school tomorrow, knowing that they really aren't safe, knowing that a tragedy like what happened in small Newtown, CN could happen in my town, at my school, to my kids.

Many postings made to facebook and news media made me mad and angry.  Many made me sad though, sad for those who were posting.  Instead of drawing nearer to God, they were questioning their faith, and questioning if there even is a God.  I can only hope I would still call God good if this tragedy had happened to my family.  I would question why and I would be furious.  But I would know, in my heart, that God is good, and He is good all the time.  I would know that while this was a CRIME, that God can use it to bring glory to Him if we allow it.  I would know that my babies are in the arms of Jesus right now, even though my arms are aching to hold them again.

Kim Brenneman says this in her book "Large Family Logistics"

"There are bad things going on in the world all the time, but it is for a season; God will bring glory from ashes.  He does it all the time in small ways; someday we will see it in a huge way!  We will never be able to understand the whys of evil things, but we can rest in the fact that we are His sheep and He is our shepherd.  He has a plan for us, whether that is to take us home with Him unexpectedly, to transplant us to another region, to cause some kind of crisis that causes us to fall upon Him for help, or to use us to bring comfort and hope to a dying world.  He is God, and He will do what He wants.  Our duty as His people is to be obedient to His commands to love our neighbors as ourselves.  We are to follow the example of Jesus and lay down our lives, our self-centered ugliness, and bring glory to Him in whatever way is at hand."

The truth is, what happened is bad, horrible.  But we are in a time when things are going to get far worse before the coming of Christ.  It's what He has written.  When your faith is small, I urge you to remember that this IS a battle between God and evil, and as Christians we are called in God's army. 

 And in the end, God wins!

Job 1:21, 22

"...The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.'  In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong."

Psalms 80:19

"Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; Cause your face to shine, And we shall be saved!"

I share my love for Jesus because He first loved me, even as a sinner.  I don't want anyone to go one more day without knowing Him as your Savior.

Isaiah 55:6, 7

"Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.  Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon."

Love you all.

My shame and heart ache

I've had this post sitting in my draft box for over a week.  I've been hesitant to post it, just because it hits a nerve in me, and I'm sure it will in others as well.  The truth is, we are called to love Jesus with all our heart, soul, and mind, and we are called to love our neighbors the same.  I can't think of a closer neighbor than a child living inside you.

You can read this series INTRO and PART 1 before or after this part 2 post.

I hate to think how many of these sweet blessings I have waiting for me in Heaven...the ones who never had a chance to grow and breath fresh air and be loved by their momma.  God and I have had several chats over my shame and heart ache.  If there are any of these blessings waiting for me, I know they are comforted by their Maker.

You see there's been this rumor going around that certain birth control (contraceptives) can cause abortions. After hearing so much on the subject, I decided to do a little research myself.  I was astonished at what I found, the harsh reality.

Most types of chemical birth controls (shots, IUDs, pills...) aren't so much contraceptives as they are abortifacients.  We've been dooped to believe that these contraceptives cease ovulation in a woman's cycle.  The truth is that breakthrough ovulation can happen just as much, and in some cases more often, than it doesn't.  If a woman ovulates and the egg is fertilized (conception), the choice birth control makes the uterus a near impossible place for the newly fertilized egg to attach and thus, grow to be a human baby.  The result is a chemical abortion and the momma herself never knew.  I believe, as well as most doctors, that human life begins at conception; however, a new argument is being made that pregnancy actually begins at implantation  in order to ease patient's minds over this controversy.

I urge you to read books, scientific journals, online sites, and even ask your own doctor about these claims.

While I no longer use a form of birth control (my husband practices coitus interruptus), I spent many years using birth control pills and an IUD.  My husband and I both agreed that it was in my best interest not to use chemical birth control anymore due to the mere fact they are chemicals.  Our choice didn't actually have anything to do with the sanctity of life.

The sanctity of life is what brings me to my next point in the series Manners of Women.  John Adams refers to women losing value of human life as one of his main arguments in a nations moral decay.

See what I have to say in my next post on the Sanctity of Life.

But in the mean time, I encourage you to do some research and find out the truth on contraceptives.  I also encourage you to search your own heart and find out why you want to use contraceptives.

My mom has always said that a baby is a blessing, always.  God calls babies and children blessings.  

What about you?  Do you call children blessings?  Are they ever not a blessing?  Is the Word of God wrong?

Lots to think about,

Ashley

Picture Day!

I got a SUUUUUPER cool new camera this week for Christmas from my hubby.  I picked it out, and ordered it, and now I'm trying to figure out how to use it.  Instead of diamonds, this cool new camera says "I love you more than I did the day I married you!"

Anyway, while I'm not even thinking of going pro, I had my first FREE clients today!  I didn't even have to pay them to sit for me!!!  Here's a few pics from our session...they were such great subjects!

This is my sister, Amy, and her son, Cameron.  Aren't they gorgeous?!

Cameron is such the little climber, so it was only natural to get him in the Birch tree.

My most surprising part of the shoot?  With only 2 people, it went super fast!  Totally unlike my own family of 5 who took over an hour!

For anyone wondering, my new camera is a Nikon D3200.  These were taken with the standard 18-55 lens but I also purchased the 55-300 lens for far away shots, like sports and school plays.  I'm really excited to learn how to use it, but I can already tell you it is beyond my capabilities.

Love and have an awesome day!

Family Pictures

We had family pictures taken a couple weekends ago and got them back today!!!

Here are some of my favorites.  

Family pic with Mickey

The kids...poor Blaire refused to smile

Another family pic with the dog, Mickey...which do you all prefer? 

Heifer

Blaire playing shy

Clark being silly

Oh yes, and Justin got one with his hunting mate!

Blaire and I..I had to keep pretending I had something special in my hand to get her to come to me

Haven't decided on Christmas cards yet...which family picture do you like best?!

Letter to my Baby

Dear Miss Blaire,

You are nearly 20 months old...on the close side of 2!

Your dad and brothers and I have loved every minute of having you here...

well, I have.  It can be hard for anyone but a mother to love you when you are throwing a fit at 3:00AM.

Sometimes it takes me longer to get things done because you must help me with EVERYTHING!  And by helping I mean taking things from the dryer back to the washer, or getting in the dryer!  You are such a big helper though!  You help me unload the dishwasher and you love to wipe things clean.

You also looooove shoes like your brother, Heith!  In fact, you looooove Heith's shoes the most!  I yelled to you in the hallway to go bye-bye and you came to the kitchen with Heith's shoes on, your jacket and a spare diaper...all ready to go!  

We are about to start potty training...I guess.  

You hate wearing a diaper and you are constantly taking your diapers off!  Almost every morning I come into your bedroom and you are naked!  In fact, if I leave you alone for any amount of time you get naked!  You also occasionally climb out of your crib so I lowered the rail to help you.

You STILL do not sleep through the night.  Every once and a while we get an 8 hour night but you must sleep with motrin (your poor molars hurt you), your fan (for noise) and your tv on (with the sound turned off) all night long!  You have also started asking for your Bible (a hard page kid bible) so you can read in bed...oh...and don't forget your 'duddy' (suckie)!

With all those silly quirks, you are just soooo silly and adorable!  I love you with all my being!  I thank God for you every single day that He has loaned you to us, because, you are really His anyway!

You say the funniest things too!

"I gonna gets you!"  Which you do with this creepy finger thing all hunched over, ready to race up and 'get' me!

You also point and say animals, ask for cheese (your FAVORITE food), and walk around the house all day looking at pictures of the boys and daddy, constantly asking for 'boy', 'daddy', and 'Heith'...I think 'Clark' is too hard to say right now.  OH!  And I almost forgot the funniest thing that happened today!  You (always) point to pictures of me and daddy, only pointing out daddy.  When I pointed to me in a picture today and asked who it was, you barked like a dog!  

Love you baby girl,

Momma