Sawyer Is Here!

My sister had her baby this afternoon!! I wish I could be there to see the lil fella. He's in the NICU because he was having trouble breathing. Please pray for him, and Ashlie. She's upset because Bryton was in the NICU for the same reasons, and it's hard. She doesn't get to hold him, nurse him, or anything. I am so proud of my lil sister and miss her like crazy. It's killing me, not getting to be there with and for her.

Now. I know it's been a while since I've posted, and I hate not having my own computer. I'm going to get one soon, I just hate to spend that big hunk of money. I'm a tight wad! Our main goal for pipelining is to pay off all all all of our debt and save as much $$$ as possible so we can go home, stay home, and start a business and let my sweet hubby farm sweet potatoes. That's his dream. He loves to farm. We farmed for 3 years, but it wasn't very profitable because of circumstances beyond our control. We also want to farm off our own money and not a loan. We also want to start some kind of business, not sure what yet, and we're praying about it.

Everything is going good up here. The weather is nice today and I hope it continues to stay that way. We ran some errands this morning and now we're just sitting around while a big pot of homemade vegetable beef soup is simmering on the stove. I miss home, but I feel blessed to be able to be with Rod. Alot of familes have to be separated, and that would be devestating to me.

Being up here has made me realize how much I miss my church!! We have been attending a church the past 3 weeks that we like. The kids have fun in Sunday School, and we really enjoy the service. They have communion every week, which I really like. Also, on Easter Sunday they are having a Living Lord's Supper, where we will participate and watch in the Lord's Last Passover. Since we are going to be observing Passover instead of Easter I am doubley excited.
I miss our church so much. I have so many fresh ideas and am so full of enthusiasm. I can't wait to get back into the grooooove of things.

Homeschooling is going great. We've been making subject books. We did one on the senses and one on weather, and we're working on one on the seasons. I just buy 3 prong folders (about .74 each) and we fill them with papers and activite sheets and drawings on whatever subject we're on. They love it. It is a lot of fun, for me, too.

For Bible we read 1 chapter in Genesis, and Mikaela writes out one verse. I dictate it to her. Then she draws an illustration.

We do Abeka phonics, numbers and social studies. We also do numerous other workbooks for all the other skills.

I love my children, love my husband and love my Lord.

Happy Birthday Sawyer Blaine Huffty.

It's early, but I have a busy mind!

It is not even 7:00 yet, but I have been up since 5:00. Went to the gym this morning. Whew. I'm whooped! I didn't realize just how out of shape I was until this morning. I did the eliptical (sp.) for 5 minutes, walked on the treadmill on an incline of 4 at a speed of 3.5 for 10 minutes, and then got back on the eliptical for another excruciating 5 minutes. (BTW, 5 minutes is a loooong time on a piece of excercise equipment!! LOL.) I felt like a limp noodle afterward, but I know it will get easier and I can work out for the 45 minutes I'd planned on doing. I laid in the tanning bed next. Can't wait to see my tan. I am so so pale! I really am glad I went, and plan on going at least 5 times a week.

Thanks for the comments on the Bible. I do love to highlight and take notes as well. I had to buy a new Bible about 8 months ago because almost every verse word or phrase was highlighted, underlined, circled or taken note of in the margin. I love to go back and look at all the notes I took! But it got hard to get anything new out of a verse or even to read the verse! So I got a new Bible and it's filling up pretty fast! LOL.

I love the OT. Most people find it 'boring' or 'hard to read' or 'not for US today'. But I love to read it. It's full of adventurous stories, amazing people of God, wonderful proverbs and poetry, and it's also full of God. God's works, God's power, God's grace, God's wrath, God's anger, God's compassion, God's love, God's words, God's heart. I just love it!

I love the NT too. Don't get me wrong. Several years ago, before I had ever read the entire Bible or even wanted to, all I read was Paul and Peter's letters. LOL. The encouragement, the 'feel good' verses. And I still do love to read the letters to the churches, but I read through the entire Bible and did a study on each book, and I just fell in love with the OT. That's also when I started studying the Feasts of the Lord, and the Torah and started asking questions. "Why don't we celebrate these feasts anymore? God never said to stop! He said it was to be an everlasting ordinace, for all the generations to come." and "Why don't we follow all the law? If we follow the Ten Commandments, why don't we follow every law of the Lord? Why do we pick and choose what to follow?" And it got me into some really in depth study. About a year of studying! I felt really close to the Lord when I was studying His Law, closer than I have ever felt. My prayer life was off the chain! (excuse the expression! it's all I could think of) I was praying for hours each day, crying to the Lord on behalf of others, spread out on my face in the living room because I could feel His presence in there with me and i couldn't get up, I could feel God talking to me, I could feel Him with me all day long. My marriage was strengthening, Rod was also studying the Law with me, and experienced the same prayer life. He was praying in the Spirit every day, just reading the Word constantly, taking His Bible to work with Him. We both just experienced a burst of spiritual growth. I have been contemplating that lately, and wondering, was there anything to that? When we were both basically forced to accept that everybody told us we were not Jewish, blah blah, and the Law is Void (BTW, get a Jewish translation Bible...the KJV and NIV are anti semitic in translations....) and we just stopped studying the Law, still studying, but not the Law, we didn't experience the same thing. I know, it's not about feelings all the time. But prayer should always be explosive, I think. IMHO. Just thinking out loud...

I just thank the Lord for His Perfect Law, Words, Love, and Grace.

And I found a Biographical study of the people of the Bible. One person a day. I started with Adam yesterday. I am keeping anotebook and keeping notes about each person as I come across information. It should be a good resource when I get finished!

i joined a gym...

Well...as the title of my blog says...I joined a gym today! I have been losing weight, and still have about 15 - 20 pounds to go, but I'm kind of stuck. So I joined the anytime fitness gym which is about 2 miles from the trailer, and I'm going to start waking up at 5 or 5:30 and going to work out and then tan (at the gym). Rod doesn't leave for work until 6:45 or so, so that will give me plenty of time each morning. I'm excited!! I bought some new tennis shoes and work out clothes today since I didn't bring my own from home, and I can't wait to get started in the morning. I've never worked out at a gym before, but I'm going to give it all I got! Hopefully I will be looking gooood by bathing suit time!! LOL.

The kids are doing good. Mercie is walking around with a blanket on her head, Mikaela and Eli are watching Arthur on PBS. They love "PBS Kids dot org" as Mikaela calls it....LOL.

Rod's good, he likes his job as good as he can. Life is pretty good up here in Indiana. It's not home, but we're all together. I miss my sweet mother, my sweet mother in law, my sweet sisters, my sweet maemae and my sweet dad. And especially my sweet little nephew Bryton. I miss his sweet face. My sister is due any time now, and I'm sad that I'm not going to be there for the birth of Sawyer. But I'm going to go see that little man as soon as I can.

I'm having a little difficulty with my Bible reading, and I'm not quite sure why. I just sort of leaf through it reading a verse here and there and mostly reading the commentary and devotions! I haven't had trouble like this in a loooong time, usually I devour the scriptures like I'm starving. I'm googling Bible reading plans (not the read through in year...done that!)If anybody has any interesting or enveloping reading plans or ideas...please let me know! I would like any input. I need to get back in the Word, because I can tell a difference in myself. Not anything bad...just not what I need to be.

wow!!

I cannot believe how much time has gone by that I haven't posted!! I have been super busy though...the kids and I left Saturday, Feb. 28 and it was a loooooong drive. 12 hours. It was alot longer and harder than I thought it would be. Mercie got car sick, had diareah 7 times and puked 2 times. Fun. We finally made it, got our travel trailer, set it up, went and bought everything we needed for it, and have been settling in ever since. The kids and I have a pretty good routine now, as much of a routine as you can call it. Tuesdays is story hour at the library. Monday, Thursday, Saturday is laundry day where we go to the laundry mat. That's a whole post in itself, so I won't elaborate on that today. We found a church we like, and have decided to start attending it. Mikaela and Eli loved it, and it had lots of kids around their age. We do our school during Mercie's nap, usually around 11 or so. School's been going great. The kids love it, which is helpful. They love to learn, and are always coming up with ideas.

Life in a travel trailer isn't that bad so far. They all share a room, and that's working out pretty good. They go to sleep good, but Eli has been waking up alot crying and coughing. I think his allergies are bothering him. I got him and Mercie some claritan, she's been coughing, too. Hopefully it will start working pretty quickly. They don't have a lot lot of playing room, and I haven't found a good "park" yet. But I am just so blessed that we can all be together as a family, and not split up across the country.

Well, I am going to post more later, I am on my brother in law's computer. He leaves it here during the day, so I will start using it until I get me a laptop. He's working up here too with Rod.

Bye!!