I'm joining Mama Bzz in their Mid-Week Pick-Me-Up.  I am sharing a short video of Hunter enjoying some ice cream.  His sweetness and smile really pick me up!

Hope y'all have a great day!

Back in June, I joined in with The Blind Pig and The Acorn's corn experiment.  Tipper wanted to find out if corn planted on good planting days turned out better than corn planted on bad planting days.  Tipper and a few of the others had problems with their tests, so they weren't able to finish them.  I don't know who else was able to finish their test, but I wanted to share my results.


The corn I planted on the good days did end up being taller than the bad day corn.  It was probably 18 inches or so taller.  In the picture above, the good corn is on the right side.  That was the biggest difference.  Both produced corn, however some evil critters ate more of it than we did!  We probably ended up with about 6 good ears that were edible.  There were maybe a couple more ears on the good side.  I don't think that's enough to decide if the planting day made a difference or not with ear production.



It was fun participating in this little experiment with Tipper!  Maybe next year I can figure out how to keep all the creepy crawlies away from my garden.

I hope everyone has a blessed Sunday!  Here's a hymn I wanted to share.

To God Be the Glory

1. To God be the glory, great things he hath done!  
 So loved he the world that he gave us his Son, 
 who yielded his life an atonement for sin, 
 and opened the lifegate that all may go in.

Refrain:
 Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, 
 let the earth hear his voice!  
 Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, 
 let the people rejoice!
 O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son, 
 and give him the glory, great things he hath done!

2. O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, 
 to every believer the promise of God; 
 the vilest offender who truly believes, 
 that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Refrain:
 Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, 
 let the earth hear his voice!  
 Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, 
 let the people rejoice!
 O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son, 
 and give him the glory, great things he hath done!

3. Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done, 
 and great our rejoicing thru Jesus the Son; 
 but purer, and higher, and greater will be 
 our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

Refrain:
 Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, 
 let the earth hear his voice!  
 Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, 
 let the people rejoice!
 O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son, 
 and give him the glory, great things he hath done!

Last night I went to the Encouragement For The Homeschool Family Conference in Sumter.  It was led by Steve and Teri Maxwell of Titus2.com.  In case you don't know who they are, they have 8 children and have been homeschooling since 1985.  They have a program called Managers Of Their Homes which teaches women how to schedule their days with homeschooling and chores in order to be the most effective. 

I knew about their book because my friend Barb loves schedules and lists, so she already had it.  She was going, so even though I hate schedules and such, I thought maybe I could learn something from them.  The thing I hated was that it was over an hour and a half away and I had to drive by myself at night.  Barb was coming with some friends, but they live in NC, so they came from a different direction.  It was all good because I had a safe trip and time alone with no kids for a change!

The first part of the conference was by Terri about managing the home and chores.  Some helpful things she mentioned were assigning playtimes for an older child with a younger child and assigning alone playtime with each child going in a different room for 30 minutes to learn to play by themselves.  Another idea is to let the older children help the younger children with their school, that way that frees up mom to work one on one with another child.

Teri said that every child needs to know every chore in the house.  That way even boys would be able to help out if their wives need help or are sick.  She started her children when they were around 1 by making them pick up their toys.  She also said chores are to be done with a good attitude, with a serving attitude.  My two year old happily helps me to unload the dishwasher every time.  He thinks it's fun.  So, I do believe starting them early is a great idea.

^{Lamentations 3:27} It is good for a man that he should bear The yoke in his youth.

If we instill that serving attitude while they are young, it will carry on into their adult years.  I'll be honest here, my mom did everything for me, I didn't really have any chores.  So, it's been really hard for me to adjust to having to do everything now.  I usually only do things around the house when I have to.  My mom didn't train me to serve, she trained me to expect others to serve me.  I know she only did it because she loved me so, she always wanted to take care of me, even after I was married.  But, perhaps if I would have had chores to do on a regular basis, I wouldn't be so lazy now.

The other session was on keeping our children's hearts and it was led by both Teri and Steve.  Are we spending enough time with our kids?  At first thought, I would say yes, I'm here all the time, and so are they.  But really am I spending time with them?  Divide up your time between these things and see:
There are 168 hours in a week-

• work
• sleep
• TV
  
• entertainment
• children
• in the word
• ministry
• witnessing

When you put it like that, I am really falling short in a lot of key categories there.  Steve asked "Are we spending time with our children as if where they spent eternity depends on it?"  He said to turn our hearts to our children and that we need to have a vision for our family.  We need to delight in them and don't consider them an interruption, or a nuisance.

1 Corinthians 15:³³ Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."

Steve says to be with your children always, never apart. Because whoever they are with is the person they will learn from. That means he doesn't let his children participate in youth groups or sports, or any activity where someone else can influence his children. Their family also has no TV and urged all of us to get rid of ours. I do admit that most of what is on TV is pretty bad, but I can't see our family not having one at all. We have TVs in the game room and the living room. My son has one in his room that he only uses for video games.

The Maxwell family seemed like a really happy family and the children were so polite and always smiling.  At the end they all sang a couple songs for us.  While I wouldn't do everything they suggest, I did get a lot of useful ideas from this conference.  I also have a lot to think and pray on.  What about you?  What do you think of their ideas?  If you want to see what Barb thought about the conference her post is here, it also includes a picture of all us girls.

A few days ago, I got a CD in the mail to review for One 2 One Network.  It was the new Harry Connick Jr. CD titled Your Songs.  Let me just say, wow!  There's just something about his voice.  I could listen to him all day long.  His voice is so soothing and romantic!


Your Songs features classic songs sung by Harry.  He's accompanied by a full jazz band and string orchestra.  One of the great things about this CD is I know most all of the songs, so I can sing along.  Even though these songs were made famous by someone else, Harry makes each song his own.

Some of my favorite songs on the album are Smile and Can't Help Falling In Love With You.  You can see the making of the album and hear a little bit of it at Amazon.  If you want to learn more about Harry and his new album you can become a fan of Harry Connick Jr. on Facebook.

Song List

All The Way (Frank Sinatra)
Just The Way You Are (Billy Joel)
Can’t Help Falling In Love With You (Elvis Presley)
And I Love Her (The Beatles)
(They Long To Be) Close To You (The Carpenters)
Besame Mucho
The Way You Look Tonight
First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Roberta Flack)
Your Song (Elton John)
Some Enchanted Evening
And I Love You So (Don McLean)
Who Can I Turn To? (Tony Bennett)
Smile (Charlie Chaplin)
Mona Lisa (Nat King Cole)

Harry's CD just came out a couple days ago, so he's going to be on TV promoting it, probably even singing some of these songs.  You can catch him for the next few weeks on these shows:

9/25 – Oprah “Live Friday”
9/28 – Today Show
9/29 – The View
9/30 – Imus in the Morning
9/30 – Letterman
10/1 – Today Show
Week of 10/5 – Rachael Ray

In my opinion, this is a wonderful album!  Thanks One 2 One Network and Harry Connick Jr. for giving me a CD to review!

I haven't felt well today, so I am just going to share a recipe I have already posted for Karrie's Holiday Recipe Swap.  I hope that's okay.

On Saturday my son wanted to make something sweet, so I pulled out a recipe I haven't used in years. It's called Texas brownies and it's very chocolaty! My husband says it's too much chocolate, but my son and I absolutely love it! I forgot to take a picture of it before we ate it all. The above picture is from the recipe card. If you love chocolate, I'm sure you'll love this.

Texas Brownies

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup strong coffee or water (I use water)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Frosting

1 stick butter
2 tbsp. cocoa
1/4 cup milk
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees
In large mixing bowl, combine the flour and sugar.
In heavy saucepan, combine butter, shortening, coffee or water, and cocoa. Stir and heat to boiling.
Pour boiling mixture over the flour and sugar in the bowl. Add buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and vanilla.
Mix well on high speed.
Pour into an oiled 17 1/2 by 11 inch pan and bake for 20 minutes.

While brownies bake, make the frosting.
In a saucepan combine butter, cocoa, and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring.
Mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla until frosting is smooth.
Pour warm frosting over brownies as soon as you take them out of the oven.

Yesterday, I just started hearing this song in my head, so I thought I would share the lyrics with y'all.


There's Something About That Name

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
There's just something about that name
Master, Savior, Jesus
Like the fragrance after the rain

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Let all Heaven and Earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms
Will all pass away
But there's something about that Name

Kings and kingdoms
Will all pass away
But there's something about that Name

Um Four is what my little one has been calling the four wheeler ever since his dad started riding him on it. At first he was kinda scared, but now, he loves it. He's even learned how to give it the gas and steer it. It doesn't always go the right way, lol! But, he tries. Here's a short video of him and his daddy.

I'm participating in the 30 day husband encouragement challenge with Susanne from Truly Captivating. It's a month long challenge to honor our husbands. There is a different instruction given for each day. For example one day we were supposed to tell our husband something we admire about them and another day we were to tell him thank you for a way he serves others. Also for the whole month we aren't supposed to say anything negative to our husbands or about our husbands.

I was doing so good being attentive and listening to everything he said and not saying anything negative. I also met each challenge for the day. However, one day I was extremely frustrated and snapped at him. I suppose only one bad thing in 15 days isn't too bad. But, I still wish I didn't say what I said. I have picked myself back up and am determined, with the Lord's help, not to do that again. Because I know through him I can do this!

Wish me luck for this next 15 days of this challenge! If you're not already doing it with us, I highly recommend signing up for it. It doesn't take a lot of time, so there is no excuse not to. It can only make your marriage better!

The winner of the ReliOn Temple Touch Thermometer as chosen by random.org is comment #3 Michelle from Big Blueberry Eyes. Congratulations Michelle!

Thanks to everyone for entering! Come back and visit soon!

On Saturday our homeschool group went to a museum that was hosting a Digging For Fossils day. My sons love digging in dirt, so this sounded like something they would enjoy.


The museum had received a load of dirt from the Miocene period. That's around 13 million years ago. The dirt, which came from a phosphate mine in N.C. is rich in fossils.


Every child was given a identification chart and a large baggie to put their finds in. They were also given screens filled with dirt to sift through. My little one had some help from his dad. There were also experts on hand to make sure everyone found everything in their screens.


Mitchell loved finding shark teeth, whale bones, coral, and stingray grinders. He got his biggest great white extinct shark tooth made into a necklace.


When we got home we did our best to identify everything he found. In the baggies below are most of what he found. We put them in separate baggies according to what we thought they were.


We would like to visit the Aurora Fossil Museum sometime so the kids can search for more fossils. The museum is free and has a large pile of fossil dirt for children to search through.

****If you haven't entered my thermometer giveaway, please do, it ends at midnight tonight.****

I used to have a chihuahua that followed me around everywhere. He loved me so much and my husband was so jealous! Then last year our oldest son got a chihuahua for his birthday from his cousin. His name is Little Man and he's in the picture below.


My cousin was giving away Little Man's mother about 2 weeks ago. He knew my husband really wanted a chihuahua, so he gave her to my him. Her name is Sugar and she's about 4 years old. She is a little bigger than Little Man and lighter colored on her face than he is.


My husband is IN LOVE! Seriously, he's in love with Sugar! And she loves him too! I didn't hold her or pet her for the first few days she was here so she would bond with my husband. It worked pretty good, she likes me, but she loves Ronnie! I love seeing him love on her!

You may remember after the tragedy this spring, that I was never going to let my chickens free-range again. Well, never say never! Lately I have been spending so much on feed, and we have lots of land for the chickens to roam and peck, so I changed my mind.


At first, they were timid and didn't go far from the coop, but now they are all over the place. I think they are much happier when they can free-range and I love seeing them all over the yard. It makes me so happy to look out the window and see them.


The 5 chicks that were hatched in February are big now! All the pictures on this post are of those chicks. They were a mix of some of our chickens. There were 2 roosters out of that hatch. They are kinda funky looking! One is part top-hatter and part something else. The other is a buff orpington mix that kinda looks like he has a beard.


My favorite of the ones from that hatch is the hen below. I call her Big Red. She's much bigger than both of the roosters above. She is also feather footed, so she is part partridge cochin and probably part buff orpington. I think she's gorgeous!

If you have a little one, you know how hard it can be to check their temperature when they don't feel well. I used to have an ear thermometer, but my son didn't like having his temperature taken that way, especially when he had an ear infection. I was always too scared to take it the recommended way, you know where I mean.


I was very excited when Mom Select sent me the ReliOn Temple Touch Thermometer for me to review. It's so easy to use! You just turn it on, wait for 2 beeps, then hold it to your child's temple for 6 seconds. When it beeps again, you read the temperature. ReliOn measures heat radiating from the body to get an accurate measurement of core body temperature.


I love that you only have to touch it to the skin, so you could even check your child's temperature while they were asleep. My 2 year old thinks it's fun to have his temperature taken now! I also like that it's small enough to take anywhere. It will fit right in your purse! The ReliOn Temple Touch Thermometer is available at Walmart and Sam's Club.

Mom Select and ReliOn gave me an extra thermometer to give to one of my readers! Would you like to win?

There are 5 ways to enter-

First, leave a comment telling me why you think you would like the ReliOn.

Extra Entries for the following-
1 for placing my button on your blog
1 for following my blog
1 for following me on twitter and tweeting about my giveaway
1 for mentioning this giveaway on your blog

You must leave a separate comment for each entry.
Giveaway ends Monday night August 14th at midnight. U.S. residents only.

Have you ever heard the song I Can See Clearly Now? Here are some of the words to it.

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day. It's gonna be a bright (bright),
bright (bright) Sun-Shiny day.

I think I can make it now, the pain is gone
All of the bad feelings have disappeared
Here is the rainbow I've been prayin' for
It's gonna be a bright (bright),
bright (bright) Sun-Shiny day.

I tried to stay upbeat here on my blog, but I had been really down and felt like I would never make it back up. I've had that dark cloud hanging over my head for a long time, but now, it's gone! I've been singing this song a lot because I feel so much better now! Praise the Lord!