Revealing Secrets & a Contest! :)

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thought about sharing this little story before, but I just know I’d get the e-mails about how I should not make my children pay for food.    But when I read Darlene’s blog today that she pays her kids 5 cents to flush the toilet, I thought, well . . .  I can share this little secret especially since it has a funny ending to it.

Do you moms have your own special little snacks tucked away in the cupboard to help curb those munchies?  I’ve been much better with having healthier snacks since having the baby.  So, I had this box of Triscuit crackers (the Rosemary and Olive Oil kind . . . mmmmm!) in the cupboard.  I found them open once on the counter and scolded the kids and told them quite frankly, "THESE ARE MINE!  HANDS OFF!"  This box of crackers should last me a couple of weeks!  A few days later I went for my munchies, and the box was empty.  Now, a mama who has been up with her baby every hour for the past few nights does not handle these kinds of things too well.  I have told the kids . . . you take food that is off limits, they will pay for it.  I found the guilty teens and made them each pay me 50 cents so I could buy more!  I’m sure they thought I was terrible.  A few minutes after collecting my $2 my youngest daughter came to me with her wallet open, picking out money to hand to me.  "Mama, I only ate two crackers . . . so here is two pennies" and she hands me the coins.  Talk about melting my heart!  I was also thankful to see her honesty. 

Darlene (founder of Christian Women Online & In ‘Other’ Words) is having a contest on her personal blog.  All you have to do is post one little secret or interesting tidbit about yourself on your blog today, and leave a link on Darlene’s site. The winner will be picked on September 1st and receive the book, One Little Secret by Allison Bottke (read the interview with the author and about the book on Darlane’s post today) AND an iPod shuffle (sponsored by Art Bookbindery). 

HURRY!  There’s not much time left!

Revealing Secrets & a Contest! :)

I

thought about sharing this little story before, but I just know I’d get the e-mails about how I should not make my children pay for food.    But when I read Darlene’s blog today that she pays her kids 5 cents to flush the toilet, I thought, well . . .  I can share this little secret especially since it has a funny ending to it.

Do you moms have your own special little snacks tucked away in the cupboard to help curb those munchies?  I’ve been much better with having healthier snacks since having the baby.  So, I had this box of Triscuit crackers (the Rosemary and Olive Oil kind . . . mmmmm!) in the cupboard.  I found them open once on the counter and scolded the kids and told them quite frankly, "THESE ARE MINE!  HANDS OFF!"  This box of crackers should last me a couple of weeks!  A few days later I went for my munchies, and the box was empty.  Now, a mama who has been up with her baby every hour for the past few nights does not handle these kinds of things too well.  I have told the kids . . . you take food that is off limits, they will pay for it.  I found the guilty teens and made them each pay me 50 cents so I could buy more!  I’m sure they thought I was terrible.  A few minutes after collecting my $2 my youngest daughter came to me with her wallet open, picking out money to hand to me.  "Mama, I only ate two crackers . . . so here is two pennies" and she hands me the coins.  Talk about melting my heart!  I was also thankful to see her honesty. 

Darlene (founder of Christian Women Online & In ‘Other’ Words) is having a contest on her personal blog.  All you have to do is post one little secret or interesting tidbit about yourself on your blog today, and leave a link on Darlene’s site. The winner will be picked on September 1st and receive the book, One Little Secret by Allison Bottke (read the interview with the author and about the book on Darlane’s post today) AND an iPod shuffle (sponsored by Art Bookbindery). 

HURRY!  There’s not much time left!

Sick Little Ones

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ou don’t want to come near us.  We’ve got lots of germs here.    You will find lots of tissue, and the counter lined with Vitamin C, garlic, colloidal silver, echinacia, etc. and bottles of water.  We even broke down and got cough syrups and a few of us are on antibiotics (which we probably have not used in a couple of years – so you know we are sick!)  The bronchitis bug is not leaving too quickly (over two weeks now).  For some reason, my husband is the only one who has not gotten it.  The rest of us are coughing, and coughing, and coughing and sound quite nasty.  The worst one though is the baby.  We will make yet another trip to the doctor today (3rd time in a week) to make sure his lungs are staying clear So far it’s has stayed bronchial, but he gets the awful coughing spells, and then throws up everything.  We’ve had a hard time keeping the liquids in him.  So, if you think of us at all be praying.  It’s been a lonnnggg week, and the last several nights I have seen every hour on the clock getting up with the baby.  Thankfully the older girls take him in the morning so I can get a couple hours of solid sleep.  I don’t like long holiday weekends either when it’s harder to get a doc to see the baby without going into ER. 

So my writing and recipes and all have been limited this week – and with starting school next week, I will try to get somethings together here soon.

Free Museum Day – September 29th

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aturday, September 29th is free museum day at Smithsonian Museums. To see if a museum in your area is participating, click here. 

In Other Words: His Banner

"Under the banner of God, victory is always assured; but apart from it, defeat is a certainty.  When the banner of God’s rod was not held high, Amelek prevailed.  You can’d do battle against the flesh under your own power."

~ Kay Arthur ~
author of
LORD, I Want To Know You

Above quote is in reference to Exodus 17:15: "The LORD is my banner"

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ow many times have you I said, "I can’t do it anymore", "I can’t take it another day", "I will never make it through this", "I can’t bare to go through another crisis", or "I am at the end"?   It’s then that I hear that still small voice, "No YOU cannot make it . . . you need ME."

Last summer the ladies Bible study at my church went through Kay Arthur’s book, LORD, I Want to Know you.  Over a year later, a lot of it has stuck with me, as the different names of God have become more meaningful with different life experiences.  One of the names is "Jehovah-nissi" meaning, "The LORD is My Banner".  In Exodus 17, there was a war.  Amelek and his people were enemies of God, did not fear God, and were a first and constant enemy of Israel.  The parallel that is made in her book is how our flesh, our sin nature, is like Amelek.  It is a first and constant enemy.  When we have our guard down, when we let satan sneek (or run) into our lives, we are losing the war. 

If we skip down a few more verses from the reference above, we will read,

"So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set." Exodus 17:11,12

Sometimes, it seems as though we have exhausted all "our" efforts, and cannot make it.  When we get in this mind thought, it’s easy for satan to take our thoughts captive.  It might be something like this young mom, Heather shares on her blog, Especially Heather, of her battle with cancer.  She feels like she has been "hit by a truck, and then hit again.  And again."  She isn’t denying Jesus.  But she needs her friends and family to hold her arms up, helping her keep the banner over her, and to pray "that Satan would stay out of [her] thought life".  There’s the families on Partners in Prayer for our Prodigals, waiting and praying for their loved one to come back to God, many to come back home.  I recall reading on this site, how one family bought a Bible with their prodigal son’s name engraved on it, and putting out on their coffee table so as they walked by, they’d pray for him.  What a gift to give him when he came home. 

Are you an Aaron and Hur, upholding someone, or are you a Moses, being upheld? Who are the Aaron and Hur in your life? Who is holding you up your arms when they get tired? And whose arms are you holding up when their arms get tired? Victory from sin and life’s battles cannot be done of our own accord.  When need to keep His guard over us – His banner over us. 

Visit the following participants to
read their take on this week’s quote
(Participants Please Add Your URL & comment!)

Got Pictures? Got Dirt?

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o you have oodles of pictures on your harddrive and/or memory card?  Might you have to take out a loan just to get them all printed?!?!?! Have you gone through a crash on your computer or "somehow" your pictures got all deleted from your memory card, and you so regreted not getting those precious pictures printed?!?!  Well, I fit into each of these conditions.  That’s why I am blogging about it, and hoping to win this HP Photosmart A626 Compact Photo Printer from 5 Minutes for Mom. (And JODI . . . you can’t submit . . . cuz you’d win again . . . and you leave all chances out for me!  LOL!  This is my friend who lives near me and she wins things I post about!)

ANOTHER DRAWING:  I found out Jodi had already blogged on the printer!  Aarrrg!  There goes my chance!  But, she wrote about this contest too:

ModMom is having a drawing for this DC07 PINK DYSON VACUUM – the pink for bringing more awareness of breast cancer.  To enter, all you have to do is go on over to ModMom and leave a comment on how breast cancer has affected you and how to early detect it and leave a comment like this on your blog with a link back to it at the ModMom site.  (And if I win this, maybe just maybe, the PINK vacuum will make the kids WANT to vacuum! You think? – but Jodi already entered here too!  LOL!)

So how do I ask you this?

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just received an e-mail that this blog was nominated for "Best Parenting Blog" for the Blogger’s Choice Awards. So now I am suppose to let my readers know and ask them to vote for me!  There are many wonderful blogs that have been nominated.  I am just honored to have been nominated! My writing and being accepted by ClubMom to write has all been God appointed, and am thankful for the opportunities to share.  This was on a friend’s e-mail recently and I think it sums it all up for my blog and being able to share:

If you have missed knowing me,
you have missed  nothing.
If you have missed some of my writings,
you may have missed a laugh or few tears.
But, if you have missed seeing and knowing my Savior, Jesus, 
you have missed everything in the world.

To vote for Finding JOY in the Morning,
click below:

And the winner is . . . JULIE!!

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o if you entered, check here to see what number your entry was!  One of my daughters drew this to pick the number of her choice!   If you are entry #8, e-mail me here with your name and address.  I will return an e-mail to you confirming receipt and also update this post that the winner has replied.

AND THE WINNER IS JULIE FROM ARIZONIA!  CONGRATS JULIE . . . the calendar is on it’s way to your house!

He’s Six Month’s Old . . . & Sick

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ur little guy is six months old. Of course, we can’t imagine life without him.  He’s quite a delight and a very good baby . . . even when he’s sick.  He has his first major illness . . . bronchitis, along with quite a few of us at home.  We’re all coughing something terrible.  We weren’t even this sick last winter season.  So far he is doing pretty good with it, and his lungs are clear.   He gets a little fussy, but we can still bring the smiles and dimples out!  Here his is, enjoying the backyard baby swing. 

In the past couple of weeks he has started to reach out for me when someone else is holding him.  It sure melts my heart!  He is grabbing at everything and everything goes into the mouth.  He is growing . . . weighs almost 14 pounds.  It was kinda nice though that he was able to wear his 0-3 month sized clothes for quite sometime, and we are just starting the 3-6 month sized clothes.

Later today I will have one of my young ones pick a number from 1 to 16 for the winner of the Mom’s Family Calendar.  Once I have posted it, the winner will have 24 hours to e-mail me with her name and address.  If I don’t hear from her, another number will be picked.  So be sure to come back and check. 

Tomorrow I will be hosting Christian Women Online’s, In Other Words.  The featured quote is listed below.  Write about it on your blog and come back to visit and share a link to your blog and see what the gals have written about.

He’s Six Month’s Old . . . & Sick

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ur little guy is six months old. Of course, we can’t imagine life without him.  He’s quite a delight and a very good baby . . . even when he’s sick.  He has his first major illness . . . bronchitis, along with quite a few of us at home.  We’re all coughing something terrible.  We weren’t even this sick last winter season.  So far he is doing pretty good with it, and his lungs are clear.   He gets a little fussy, but we can still bring the smiles and dimples out!  Here his is, enjoying the backyard baby swing. 

In the past couple of weeks he has started to reach out for me when someone else is holding him.  It sure melts my heart!  He is grabbing at everything and everything goes into the mouth.  He is growing . . . weighs almost 14 pounds.  It was kinda nice though that he was able to wear his 0-3 month sized clothes for quite sometime, and we are just starting the 3-6 month sized clothes.

Later today I will have one of my young ones pick a number from 1 to 16 for the winner of the Mom’s Family Calendar.  Once I have posted it, the winner will have 24 hours to e-mail me with her name and address.  If I don’t hear from her, another number will be picked.  So be sure to come back and check. 

Tomorrow I will be hosting Christian Women Online’s, In Other Words.  The featured quote is listed below.  Write about it on your blog and come back to visit and share a link to your blog and see what the gals have written about.