Last night a winter storm passed through our area and we received several inches of snow! We had fun playing outside and making snow angels but the snow was not sticky enough to make a snowman. We had planned to pick up a snow disc at Ace Hardware but when we stopped by they had already sold out. The forecast predicted 2-4 inches of snow to fall during the middle of the night so we went to bed looking forward to seeing in the morning how much snow stuck around. Continue reading Snow! Homemade Wood Snow Sled
Category Archives: Faith and Family
Construction Loan Closed!
Its been a long time since our last post on building our dream home! The last post we made was regarding our Master Landscape Plan and was posted back in mid May.
Since that time we have:
- moved out of our old home and into a rental house,
- we got our plans approved by the HOA,
- we finalized everything with the builder and signed the builder contract,
- and we worked on getting approval for the construction loan.
On October 17th we closed on the construction loan and were given the green light to begin construction!
For those that are following our build process and would like to have a little more detail on securing a construction loan just keep reading. Continue reading Construction Loan Closed!
Paper Pizza Prank – Your kids will love this!
Let me set up the story first and then I’ll explain the pizza prank. Back when we only had three kids we used to frequently do homemade pizza nights. We would spread out the dough and pizza sauce and then divide the pizza into sections using cheese for lines. Continue reading Paper Pizza Prank – Your kids will love this!
Communicating Chore Expectations
I know I can’t be the only parent who has ever dealt with the following situation. It’s Saturday morning and it’s time for everyone to do their weekly chores. You give the orders and you proceed to attend to your own weekly duties. You march full steam ahead, hopeful that each child has their zone under control. Periodically, a child will come to you to inform you that they are done with their responsibilities. You smile to yourself because you know that you are well on your way to an orderly house and fun times as a family. When you finish with your tasks you breathe a sigh of relief and you start to tour your clean home.
Only … it’s NOT clean!
Inspections of each zone reveal atrocities overlooked by each child. Missed dusty surfaces. Half-cleaned toilets. Neglected mirrors. Toys under beds. Crumbs in the corners. Sticky drinks rings on the counters. Perhaps a stray napkin or two.
How could the kids POSSIBLY think this is CLEAN?!?!?
I used to get angry at this scenario. Week after week I would have this experience. Same show, different episode. I was so frustrated with what I perceived as laziness and indifference to a job well done.
One day it occurred to me that the kids did not have a clear picture of what my expectations are. I was looking at their attempts with perfectionist adult eyes. From their point of view, they DID do their job and often seemed confused over my dissatisfaction. Continue reading Communicating Chore Expectations
The Ultimate Dad – A Father’s Day Tribute
If you have gone to the movies or watched television in the last decade or so, you may have noticed a disheartening trend in the way the modern day dad is portrayed. Often the father figure is subtly (or not so subtly) represented as detached, aloof, clueless, lazy, disorganized, selfish, clueless, foolish,absent, and uninvolved. I don’t know what kind of men the rest of you are dealing with out there, but I am grateful that the father of our six children is a stark contrast to the above stereotypes. He is the polar opposite of all of those things and more. I couldn’t have asked for a better dad for our kids and I am eternally appreciative of the father and husband he is to us. I wanted to take this opportunity to tell him thank you for all of the big and little things he does for us daily. Continue reading The Ultimate Dad – A Father’s Day Tribute
Today’s Proverbs 31 Woman – A Mother’s Day Tribute
I know there are no perfect people. One of the frustrating things about blogging is that there is a tendency to present yourself and your life in such a way that if people didn’t know better they would think you were living the perfect life. Our blog is no different. We celebrate the exciting events in our life and share interesting and educational posts, but the pictures and stories are usually edited so every imperfection is wiped away.
When I decided to draft this post as part of my Mother’s Day gift to my wife, I wanted to start by clarifying that our life is messy. We have 6 kids ranging in age from 5 months to 17 years. I have a demanding job that frequently has me traveling most of the week. We home school all six children. We have bills. We have moods. There are diapers to change and teenagers with attitudes. We get irritable. We are almost always tired. We have unfulfilled goals. We struggle with allergies, headaches, and illness. We sometimes resort to junk food even though we know better. Our house is in a roller coaster state of clean and dirty. The laundry piles up. The lawn needs mowing. The eight of us frequently let each other down. We lose our tempers. We fight. We are selfish. We drive each other nuts. Our life was not always this “messy” though. Continue reading Today’s Proverbs 31 Woman – A Mother’s Day Tribute
Lesson 009 – From Cain and Abel to the Flood – 4000 to 2500 BC
Today’s lesson covered a lot of material and a huge span of time – from Cain and Abel to the Flood, spanning from roughly 4000 BC to 2500 BC. We began the lesson by reading Genesis chapters 4 through 10 and then we discussed the questions below. This portion of the Bible is difficult for many people to accept as history so throughout the discussion time I shared with the kids the various perspectives on the flood, the Nephilim, and the longevity of pre-flood humans, ranging from myth to historically accurate perspectives. We also continued to focus on how all the stories of the Bible lead up to and point to Jesus. Here are today’s verses for easy reference (using the World English Bible version): Continue reading Lesson 009 – From Cain and Abel to the Flood – 4000 to 2500 BC
Lesson 008 – The Garden of Eden and The Fall – Before 4000 BC
I have decided to start a series of lessons with my kids that will cover the entire history of the Bible. I will be using the World English Bible (WEB). I prefer the New International Version but it is copyright protected, whereas the WEB is public domain.
I covered the creation story in a previous Life Lesson with Dad so I’m jumping right in with Genesis 2 & 3 and the story of Adam, Eve, The Garden of Eden and The Fall. Continue reading Lesson 008 – The Garden of Eden and The Fall – Before 4000 BC
Be Rich: Volunteering at North Fulton Community Charities
Every year our church does a fundraising campaign called “Be Rich“. The term “Be Rich” comes from 1 Timothy 6:18 – “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” Its one of my favorite things our church does each year. Continue reading Be Rich: Volunteering at North Fulton Community Charities
Introducing Gideon Stanley
Please welcome our son, Gideon Stanley, to this wonderful world! Gideon was born on November 23, 2013 at 10:25 PM (the same birthday as my Dad and Grandpa Jeff :-)). At birth he weighed 8 lbs and 14.5 ounces and was 21.25 inches long. Mommy and baby are both doing well! Continue reading Introducing Gideon Stanley