Almost Wordless Wednesday

Awe, look at the new sleeping mat I got for the dogs.  WAIT!  That is MY new kitchen rugs I got for me, not them!  LOL!

Meet Pepper and Spice.  They need a haircut, but I don't have time to do it right now.  They are Lhasa-Poos.  They are a mix between Lhasa Apsa and Poodle.  Pepper has more Poodle, Spice has more Lhasa.

Have a GREAT day!
Sherie

Tithing Tuesday

Today I am starting a new series called Tithing Tuesday.  It seems that if I wait until I am at church on Wednesday night to write out my tithe check, I will inevitably forget to do it until the offering plate is being passed around and then its too late to get it written.  So, I have started taking Tuesday and writing my check out.  Yes, I recommend you write a check.  That way you have a record of how much you have given for tax purposes.  I have a client that one year, got tired of waiting on the check to clear the bank, so they would get cash out and put that in the offering plate.  Guess what, they forgot to write down how much they gave a few weeks out of the year, so they didn't get the write-off because the church had no idea who gave that cash.

How do you tithe?  Well, according to the Bible you are supposed to tithe 10% of your income.  Yes, you can tithe more.  God will never say, ummmmm no this is too much.  LOL!  No, whatever you tithe, the church will use it to further the work of the Lord.  If you give more than your 10%, then they will have that much more to help further it.

Why tithe?  Its part of God's word.  I always like to do what God tells me to do.  And this is definitely one of those things in the Bible that God directs Christians to do.

Let me tell you, He will bless you for tithing.  I am a testimony to that.  In fact, just a few weeks ago, I had tithed on a Wednesday night.  On Sunday night, my husband asked if I had written many checks.  One of the ones I told him about was the tithe check.  I guess he was not prepared for me to tithe that week, because he asked me why I did that.  I told him that God will bless me because I tithed.  You know what?  The Very Next Day, my phone rang.  It was a tax client that owns a business. she was asking me to start doing her payroll.  You know what?  That was a blessing from God!  He was rewarding me for being faithful in my giving.  You Can Never Out Give God!  So, my little $100 tithe check turned into a client that will bring in $150 every month.  So, my little tithe check has now grown by another $15.  Another $15 that will Will further God's work in our community and across the globe.

Am I rich because I tithe?  Heavens No!  But, the Lord has blessed our family enough that we don't suffer and we don't do without.

Is Tithing a fix all, solve all?  No Way!  You AND your spouse (if you are married) have to be on-board and budget together. We don't sit down every week in a budget meeting anymore.  We used to, when we were working together to eliminate our debt.  But, now we sit down every few months and make sure we are on the same track and thought process with our finances.  Let me just say, when we do sit down and discuss our finances, mountains are moved.  We are very determined people and we like to get things done.  (Next week, we will discuss budgeting, debt, and fitting the tithe money in there as well)

I encourage you to tithe.  You will not regret it.  Don't expect great blessing the first week of tithing.   God has something special in store for you.  And it may take some time in order for you to reap the blessings.  But, as long as you stay faithful in your faith, continue to tithe, and live a pure life, God will Bless You for it.

Let me just say, if you haven't asked the Lord into your heart, please do so.  You Must first be a Christian before the blessing begin.  Tithing alone will not get you into heaven.  Living a pure life, full of good deeds, will not get you into heaven.  But, praying and asking God to save you from your sins and cleanse you of all of your bad deeds, WILL get you into heaven.  And, if you mean it (God knows your heart), God will help you with anything you may have going on in your life.

I am not perfect.  I am FAR from perfect.  But, God is helping me work towards being perfect in His eyes.  I will never be perfect, Only God is perfect.  Nobody will ever be perfect.  But, if you ask Him into your heart and you are going through something (Alcohol, Drugs, Pornography, Lying, Adultery, etc), seek help through your church.  They have or know of programs that can help you.  It takes a heart that is willing to change.  And God knows if you have that heart or not.  He may be speaking to you right now.  So, ask him into your heart and then pick up the phone and call your church to ask for help in your situation.

Have a GREAT day!
Sherie

Living History

Have you ever been to a bridal shower and had to wrap somebody in toilet paper to create a dress?  Me too!  So, when I read about making mummies, this is what I pictured.  Well, when you are dealing with 7 & 8 year olds, it doesn't alway turn out the way you have pictured in your mind.  LOL!  But you know what?  We had fun, no matter what!

I love to make history come to life.  I don't remember doing this in school, EVER!  I remember history being B-O-R-I-N-G!  But, when you bring it to life it embeds history in your mind and you don't forget it (like I did).

So, off we went into the boys room and they picked out the stuffed animal they wanted to mummify.  The first animal my youngest boy wanted to mummify was a whale.  I was like, ummmm no.  That would take all of the toilet paper we have in the house.  LOL!  They then chose small animals to mummify.  Shphew!

Here are the result of the mummification of stuffed animals.

Yes, I have a mess in our office/classroom.  I'm getting ready for a yard sale, but its has rained every weekend this summer, so this stuff is just sitting there.....

Yes, it is 90 degrees outside and my youngest has on long sleeves.  I'm allowing them to pick out their own clothes these days and so we are experimenting with what matched and what doesn't.

Yes, we used A LOT of toilet paper.  But you know what?  The frugal mom in me made them pick it all up and put it in a basket and they had to use it every time the went to the bathroom until it was all gone.  LOL! 

Back to history, I LOVE how Mystery of History has an activity after every lesson.  It really brings history to life for everybody!

I hope this gives you some ideas as to how to bring history to life for your kids!

Have a GREAT day!
Sherie

Astronomy Update

We are still on Venus.........

I have to say, we are all sick of Venus!

 But, this is our last book for this planet, and we will be moving on to Earth!

 This is the book we are reading now. It has quite a bit of detail in it, so we are reading 1 chapter per day.

 

Do you utilize your library?  We LOVE our library!  We take a trip to the library every week.  The boys get to check out 15 each.  And let me just say, they loooooove to check out books.  And I am happy to say, they read most of what they check out.

We are using our library to do our Astronomy Unit Study.  If you are interested in our previous updates, here is the link.  http://www.genesis129trailblazers.blogspot.com/search/label/Astronomy

I hope you have a GREAT day!
Sherie

Psalm 19:7

I LOVE my Bible studies in the morning.  I Always get something out of what I am reading.  Today, this is what I got out of reading and I had to share it with you.  I hope you get the joy out of knowing God is in Total Control as I do.



"The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;" (Psalm 19:7 ESV)

Reading the Bible transforms me and it can transform you. That’s what this verse is saying. “The law of the LORD .”

 God’s Word is to be the norm. It is the standard by which every other truth is measured or assessed.

Notice it says, “The law of the LORD.” Think about how through the centuries men have laid down their laws and rules saying this is the way society should be governed. People come and go but, “The law of the LORD” remains.

It is also “perfect.” That summarizes it doesn’t it?  The word perfect means literally all-sided; many faceted; all encompassing; comprehensive.

“The law of the LORD” is so perfect it “revives the soul.”  The soul is the inner part of you. It’s the immaterial part of you. You’re not just a physical person. There’s also a part of you that is spiritual. There’s a part of you that will live forever. That’s the part that needs to be converted.








I'm praying for all of you who stop by and read my little blog post today that you will be blessed by what you have read and it will impact your life as it has impacted mine.

Have a GREAT day!
Sherie

Giving, its what we do! Try it, you will see the blessings!

Some people look at other’s lives and wonder, “Why don’t I have what they have?” They may speculate on all the horizontal reasons, but I can tell you why. The flow of God’s blessing into their own lives has been plugged up by their stinginess. They are not experiencing the grace of giving. 

One of the most important decisions you make as a believer is to give your tithes and offerings to the Lord’s work. God knows what you give. Every time that offering plate comes down the aisle, He sees you take that huge step of faith, cheerfully giving what you can.

You may say, “How will I get by?” or “If I give to God, who’s gonna take care of me?”

I’ll tell you who—God will! Do you think you can out-give God? No. He may bless you financially, or in answered prayer, or in health and strength. But no one can out-give God. No one. 

Pork Chops

I have had people ask me, how do you menu plan?  That has GOT to be so hard.  Well, here is my not so organized way of doing a menu plan.  I don't necessarily know the meal I will be cooking every night.  BUT, I do know the meat I am cooking. 

You see, I have a system of eating.  I don't like to have 2 beef dinners in a row, etc.  So, here is my list of meats:

Chicken
Beef
Pork
Fish/Shrimp

So, if we had a beef dinner last night, I know we will have pork tonight. 

I print out a blank calendar and start listing it out in order.  Then, on Sunday's I go to the freezer and see what I have left from last week.  So, I know how much meat I have to buy.  I do all of my grocery shopping on Sunday, hence me looking in the freezer.

And then I look on the calendar and I know that this week we will need 2 chicken dinners, beef dinners, 2 Pork dinners, and 1 fish or shrimp dinner.  So, if I have only 1 package of chicken left over, I know I have a boat load of meat I need to buy.  LOL!  I usually have more meat in the freezer, this is just an example.  Although, we are trying to buy better meat, like buffalo, natural chicken (not boosted up with hormones), etc.  We are using ground chicken now, instead of beef for tacos, chili, etc.  Nobody can taste the difference and its much better for you.

Then, every day I go onto Pinterest and decide what I want to make out of the meat for that day.  Today, we are having pork chops, but I can't find a recipe that is meeting my craving.  So, I am just adding some spices to it and baking it.  I included 2 veggies (I need to get better at cooking these from scratch too, but one thing at a time).

 

(I added McCormick's Garlic and Herb seasoning to these pork chops)

 

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350.  Sprinkle a generous amount of seasoning on chops.  Bake for 45 minutes or until done.  (I know all the chefs bake their pork to a certain temp and call it done.  But, I don't play that game.  It is done when it comes out of the oven.  We've had salmonella in the house, I don't want to have it again!)

 

 

I hope you have a GREAT day!

Sherie

First day of School

I'm a little behind in posting this.  My daughter is starting her Senior year in Public School.  Yes, I said Public School.  However, her school is a little different from your typical PS.  She is in a Technical High School, which if you were like me, you would be like, *gasp* a Technical High School?  Yea, its not like that either.  Her school you have to apply to go there in December of your 8th grade year.  Then, they inform you in April if you got in or not.  They only allow 300 kids in each year.  So, if all of the kids stayed at this school, there would 1200 students.  BUT, of the 300 per class some transfer out to other public schools, some are military families, so they transfer out.  Anyway, the senior class ends up with about 150-200 students.  Which does sound like a big number, but when the other schools are graduating 400-500 per school each year, 150-200 is s-weet!

And, they aren't learning hairdressing, or mechanics (which there is nothing wrong with those careers, I have many friends in both of those career fields and making great incomes).  No, this school has Information Technology, Nursing, EMS, and others I can't think of right now.  My daughter happens to be in the career field of Biomedical Technologies.  Her goal is to become a nurse practitioner.  She is a great student.  She is in all AP, Honors, or Dual Enrollment classes.  I am so proud of her!

A little background on her.  She went to private school until 5th grade.  Then I homeschooled her for 3 years.  Then, she went into the public school system. 

Here is a couple of pics.

Isn't she beautiful?!?

And now, this is what the rest of us did on the first day of public school.

(don't be hatin' on our scores!  LOL!)

 

After bowling, we went for pizza, and then we went to see Turbo!  It was a total blast of a day.  It turns out, we had just finished 30 days of school.  I think we may have another fun day after the next 30 days of school are accomplished.

 

Have a GREAT day!

Sherie

 

Making Models

Our Public Library offers free model making classes for kids.  I just found out about it, so we hightailed it downtown to enjoy this experience.  My boys HAD A BLAST!!!!  Here are a few pics of them creating their cars.

( Our great library assistant, helping us figure out the instructions)

They were sooooo proud of themselves!  I am proud of them too.  Coming in November, we will be going back to make Blue Angel Models.  (and word on the street says that one of the pilots may be there.  We will see about that)

Have a GREAT day!
Sherie

The Perfect Morning

Anytime I can wake up to a conversation with Jesus and a good cup of coffee, you know its going to be a good day.

Yea, I'm a little behind on my reading the Bible through in a Year.

I hope you have a GREAT day!
Sherie

Mystery of History Update

Adding to our timeline!

WE are learning so much during History every day.  Yes, I said we.  There are some things, ok most things, in history I do not remember learning in school. 

 

Yes, I remember learning about the Sumerians and the Tower of Babel.  I remember learning about the Tower of Babel in Sunday School and church.  But, I do not remember learning about the Epic of Gilgamesh. 

 

I found the pictures for our timeline on the internet.  Just a simple Google search and Bam!  It was done.

 

FREE resources, that's what I'm talking about!  LOL!  You  can find so much on the internet.

 

How do you come up with the items for your timeline?  Did you buy the pre-printed pack?  Or do you create your own?  We have a mix of it all.

 

Have a Great day!
Sherie

Astronomy Unit Study Update

We are now past Mercury and are now studying Venus!   I was going to start an art project, but the boys were not very well behaved at the store yesterday, so we moved on from the fun stuff to the not so fun stuff of watching the video of Venus.

I went onto the Public Library's website and searched the catalog for anything on the subject of Venus.  I found a ton of stuff!  So, I sorted through the titles and found 1 video and several books (will post those when we get to them).

This video was a great introduction to Venus.  Although, when it started out, I had to pause it to make sure it wasn't an X rated movie.  LOL!  The introduction was nothing but artwork of the Goddess Venus.  Well, if you've seen any pictures or even any artwork of Venus, you know she is a half naked, if not all naked woman.  I have 2 boys ages 7 & 8.  I was a little concerned.  But, I just forwarded through the introduction and on to the movie/documentary.

Like I said earlier, it was very good.  We will be studying more about Venus in the next few weeks, so be sure to check back for updates!

Check your local library for great resources on study material!

Have a great day!
Sherie

How Is This Comfortable?????

I mean really????  I am not complaining though.  Do you see what he is doing?  HE'S READING!!!!!  My little guy hates anything school, so when he stops and reads on his own, I am ecstatic!

To make it fair, here is my Big guy being studious! 

I love how different they are.  They may only be 13 months apart, but they are like night and day in every aspect of life.

Have a great day!
Sherie

Florida Caverns

We took a trip to the Florida Caverns in Marianna FL.  If you don't know where that is, well its about a 2 hour drive from Pensacola.  We got up early, because it has rained every single weekend this summer in NW Florida.  And almost ever single weekday too.  According to the National Weather  Center, this is the 2nd wettest summer ever recorded (the 1st was last summer, but I don't remember it being this wet.  I think we got all of our rainfall in 1 weekend last year.  This year we are getting rained on every day)

Anyway, back to my story.  We headed out on a beautiful sunny Saturday and got there at the perfect time.  It hadn't got too hot yet.  So, we went into the little gift shop and paid for our tour.  And this is what we saw:

 (I don't remember what any of the formations are called except this one ^.  Its called the wedding cake.  Can you see it?)

(My beautiful children!)

 

WOW!  If you EVER have the chance to go see this gorgeous wonder of nature, DO IT!  You will not regret it!

 

Would you believe that as soon as we walked out of the caverns, it was thundering.  We barely made it to our car before it started downpouring.  And it rained ALL THE WAY HOME!  UGH!  Florida is no longer known as the sunshine state.  :-(

 

Have a great day!

Sherie

Baked Shrimp Poboys

(I am not a photographer!  This sandwich is goooooood!)

 

 

2 Lbs Shrimp (this is enough for my family of 5)

2 Tblsp Creole Seasoning

1/2 Cup Olive oil

1 Tblsp Honey

1 Tblsp Soy Sauce

 

Mix the Creole Seasoning, Olive oil, Honey, and Soy Sauce in a Ziploc bag.  Add Shrimp.  Coat completely and marinate for 30 minutes.  In the meantime, heat oven to 350.  After marinating, transfer shrimp and marinade to 9x13 baking dish.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until shrimp are cooked through.

 

Broil or toast bread.  Now, fill that delicious bread with shrimp and shredded lettuce.  (In my opinion, no dressing is necessary)

 

Enjoy!

Sherie