Life in General!

   Greetings!  I am about to embark on my 10th year of homeschooling.  Savannah is going to be in the 9th grade this year.  She only has four years left and then off on her own adventure.  I pray that as this year goes by that I will equip her well.  I am a bit of a tenderhearted person, so I have to say this makes me a little sad.  Man!  I just didn't think about that until just now -- I mean, I did think of it back when she was tiny, like 6 months old.  The song, "Butterfly Kisses," came on the radio.  I literally began to weep.  The years were truly going to fly -- and they have!   Anyway, what I want to talk to you about today is something that some people don't want to admit that they have a problem with.  For some it is more serious with drug and alcohol abuse, while others it is with food and body image.  While I haven't had the issue with drugs and alcohol abuse, I have dealt with food and body image, BU...

  I have been without a computer for a month!  I am laughing on the inside because I somehow managed to go through high school and a tiny space of college without one.  Amazing, I know!  And then couple that with a syndrome that I seem to have gotten -- short attention span -- or as one of my buddies calls it, "Squirrel!" -- equals not posting in June.      Why does this matter to me?  Well, I have been posting here for over 4 years!  I know - it has gone by so fast.  It has been a fun-filled, eventful four years.  So where am I now, emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually?      Emotionally-speaking, I am in a better place.  I still have some mommy-meltdown moments, but I am happy to say they are getting fewer.  I am still, sadly, set off by spills.  Silly, isn't it? But I tell you the moment a liquid or little tiny particles spill everywhere, I explode like Godzilla. I am almost 100...

  So have you been like me and lately, I don't want to say worrying, but I guess thinking about our children and their future?  I am a homeschooling momma, so I am responsible for educating my children.  I get to where I think, "What is Siler going to do?  What are Savannah and Sarah going to do?  What will Seth end up doing?"  And good grief, who will take care of Sullivan?  These things stay on my mind and then I end up thinking and a little bit of worrying and immediately Proverbs 3:5-6 come to mind.  I know you know these verses: Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; Lean not unto thine own understanding In all thy ways acknowledge Him And He shall direct thy paths     Looking at these verses I have to think to myself am I doing that right now?  It is just like the song, "I Surrender All."  It is so easy to read this and say okay, Lord, I am trusting in You.  It is another to actually do it.  I thi...

  So I didn't get a post in for March, but I am shooting for at least two in April.  My time management as of late has not been the best.  But my sweet momma has told me to cut myself some slack.  That is hard to do, but I am trying.     Today I am hoping to take my kiddos to Park Day.  You know how important these types of days are.  Sitting with your friends, watching the children play, talking, and laughing!  Such good times :0)     I went to a Homeschooling Convention - their site is below  https://www .greathomeschoolconventions.com/.  I had a great experience.  One of the classes I attended was about An Angry Mom.  The lady I heard is Wendy Speake.  She and her friend, Amber Lia, authored a book called Triggers - Exchanging Parents' Angry Reactions For Gentle, Biblical Responses .  This is just what the Lord had ordained for me to hear that weekend.  The first chapter is Disobedienc...

  It is Valentine's Day --  Happy Valentine's Day to you!  I know this has been quite a year for many of you.  Some of you have lost loved ones, so this day may be bittersweet.  For others this may be a holiday of time with your loved ones.  I know B.C. - lol, Before Children - we used to have a romantic dinner and enjoyable time alone.  Now that we have the five little people, we have morphed our day into family time.  And I am really okay with that.  The more I read and talk to others, the more I realize that one day I will miss all the chaos that is my life.  Are you in that season with me? If so, let us embrace this time.  As Point of Grace sings in a song, "This day is fragile, soon it will end, and once it has vanished, it will not come again."   I think of love on Valentine's a little differently than when I was younger.  I used to expect to get something.  Flowers, candy, card - anything.  Now, I am not ...

  This Wednesday will be our oldest son's birthday!  He will turn 12!!  I remember when he came into this world - mainly because it was a hard, back labor.  LOL!  And they are right - that infamous "They," that tell us you will forget the pain.  It is true that you do forget the pain;  however, I will not ever forget the moment of him coming into this world.   You see, I had just had a loss the year before of a set of twin boys.  It was a very painful experience that was soothed by another pregnancy and delivery of a BOY!  I will share my story of loss one day and how the Lord carried me through it, but today is not that day.  I will, however, say that if you ever have experienced that deep, sorrowful loss, you can come out on the other side of it and be healed from that!   In any case - Siler is going to be 12.  I remember turning 12!  It was a fun time in my life.  So I am really excited to be celebrating th...

  So our Christmas celebrations are wrapping up, and we are heading into a    New Year!  2017!!  Amazing!  I think the years are going by faster each year.  I have asked friends that are raising children, and they agree their  children are getting older faster.  This year my family will be 44 (me),  43 (My Mr. Benson), 15 (Savannah), 12 (Siler), 10 (Sarah), 7 (Sully), and 6 (Sethman).  We will also celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary!!!     I am so excited to see what the Lord is going to bring about this year.       But Christmas is just freshly over.  How was it for you this year?  Was it  fun with a little of that typical stress?  Was it sad? - you may have lost a  loved one or received some not-so-merry news.  Was it completely stressful and you survived?  I think for me this year it was a combination of all of the above.  I have had some sad news as thre...