Martha or Mary???? or Hillbilly Weiny Roast????

  

The past few weeks I have been thinking about Martha and Mary in scripture....  So here is why:

Martha was so worried when Jesus came to visit that she continued being busy: keeping the house cleaned up, the dishes done, 'cleaning'....and then there is Mary who when Jesus came to visit sat at his feet to just merely 'enjoy his company'.  Most of us women are either a "Martha" personality or a "Mary" personality.  Why do we have to choose??  Why can't we blend both woman into our lives??? 

“Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and HEARD HIS WORD. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him and said, LORD, doest thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)

So here is my 'sad excuse' of atempting to weave both woman into my life....


Tuesday, March 22, 2011

We have been outside all day cleaning up the yard and just really enjoying what a beautiful day God has given us.  Plus, the fresh air and hard work will not kill any of us...haha :)  Caylor has been 'banned' to her room until it gets cleaned to the inspector's "okay" (Lucky I am the inspector-huh?).  She finally gets her room 'okayed' and joins us outside.  And after being out there a while, she comes up to me and asks if we can have a 'weiny roast'...now remember I told you that we had been cleaning up the yard - right??  WE had a fire going to burn the yard waste---so what else would we do with it--right??  I told her she needed to ask her dad.  Her dad works a lot and we weren't 'ready'....so I really expected him to say no.  In my mind we were having something for supper....just wasn't sure what yet (this is my Martha moment).  To my surprise her dad says 'YES'.  (here comes a Martha moment)....my first thought is "I don't even have hot dogs!!! Or buns!!!"  I quickly confirm with her dad if if indeed we are having a weiny roast and sure enough--WE ARE!!!  So I say, very quickly, "I will be right back--I have to go to the grocery store." (here comes another Martha moment) All the way to the grocery store I am thinking, "but I have already spent all of my grocery budget.  Do I go ahead and spend out of our checking acct that will blow our budget??  I am going to have to..." 

 You see....Martha does not know how to 'be adjustable' or 'just go with the flow and enjoy the moment'. 

So I get to the store and guess what???  The hot dogs there are REALLY expensive and they are full of YUCKY stuff, but what hot dog isn't right!?!?!?!  So I buy the hot dogs and return home.  So now the preparation begins!!!  Chon, Caylor, and I started looking all over the property for sticks (we do not have any weiny roast sticks here).  Chon and Colten's job is to cut and whittle the sticks.  They are really having a good time!!!  Colten played with fire and a knife...his idea of a GREAT DAY!!!  Colten added wood to the fire to keep a good hot fire going and the weiny roast BEGINS!!! (so here comes a Mary moment-notice I didn't say my Mary moment) 

Caylor decides that she also wants to make Chon some snickerdoodles, which are his favorite cookie and just the day before she had made some up in a jar to have for 'easy access'.  She begins the cookies in the kitchen.  She is turning out to be quite the Martha and Mary!!!  She had also pulled out of the fridge everything we would need for the weiny roast such as ketchup, mustard, cole slaw, cantaloupe, plates, cups (both plastic to be 'more real').  The cookies were a hit!!!  She made them a little crispy - just how her dad likes them!!!

Chon did ask that we eat inside b/c it was terribly windy...You can see a picture of a 'real hick' kind of picnic/weiny roast.

So here is what I have learned from this weiny roast adventure--I don't have to choose b/n Martha or Mary.  If I had chosen to be Marth over Mary---I would have missed the memories of our Hillybilly Weiny Roast.  I have added add'l photos below of our weiny roast...hope you enjoy!!

 

PROGRESS!!!!!

Some of you may or may not know that this is our first year

home schooling.  Our children are 14 (8th grade)

and 12 (6th grade).  So why have we waited

until now to home school??  Mostly...in all fairness

we weren't all ready. 

BUT....

Today we made progress. 

Caylor left public schools struggling with a tag

that they gave her of 'reading learning disability'.  I laugh

in the face of the person who just did not want to deal

with her.  I laugh in the face of the person who did not

understand her way of learning.

BECAUSE....

Today we made progress!!!!

Caylor told me 3 weeks ago that she would have never

been doing English on her own at school--at home she is

almost completely independent in all subjects,

 except math.

AND YET SHE HAS PROVEN THAT THEORY WRONG AGAIN TODAY!!!

One of the things that I (okay-we) love about home schooling is that they do not

have to be sitting at a desk all day being zombified...

Today we used the patio door as a dry erase board.
She has learned Phil 4:13 "I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me"
very well when it comes to math.  We keep saying I can do all thing thru Christ who strengthens
me - even math!!! :)

THINKING, THINKING....

 

She spent the rest of the afternoon working her division problems

on this door....  She used the inside of the door and the

outside of the door (Thank you God for

wonderful weather to allow her to work on both sides of the door). 

Today she was smiling and wonderful

at the completion of math instead of defeated and destroyed.

The best (if I am allowed a selfish moment) is that I was here!!!

I was here to encourage her to keep trying.

I was here to show her how to do it.

I was here when she SUCCEEDED. 

I do love this feeling!!! :)

SUCCESS!!!!  I GOT IT!!! 

WHAT A FEELING--BEIN'S BELIEVIN'

I can't have it all, now I'm MATHING for my life

Take your passion, and make it happen

Lyrics

Irene Cara - Flashdance...What a Feeling lyrics

(Sorry for the Flashdance break out-haha)

I guess my title may have indicated house progress...sorry if you were disappointed. 

This type of day will forever take presidence in my book...

Our house can fall down around us as long

as our children are learning, confident, and stay focused on what

God wants from them.

soda, pizza, and great company...and don't forget the chocolate cake

This afternoon I enjoyed an afternoon with soda, pizza

and GREAT company!!!  Why do those things seem too

simple to be writing about???  Well for a mom like me, who is forever

grateful for my husband's job, that gets VERY LITTLE

alone time: this afternoon - I was on my own!!!  I will

admit that the only thing that would have made it better was the having 30 minutes

 on my way to soda, pizza and great company would have been be able

to sing as loud and as awful as I wanted to.  :)

BUT....in place of all of that fun, I got to ride along with a

new found friend!!!  Her name will remain anonymous,

but I am excited to have a new friend.  So you may

be wondering was the soda and pizza good???  YES!!!!  I enjoyed

both very much, but felt very guilty for enjoying it

without my children as I knew they were at home enjoying grilled cheeses and chips.

:( YUCK in comparison to pizza and soda.  haha

OK so now we are in for confession time:

I HAD TWO PIECES OF CHOCOLATE CAKE!!!

Ok there I said it...

I guess my earlier guilt was short-lived...haha

The chocolate cake will probably not be short-lived as it

is slowly finding it's way to my hips or backside.  :(

But oh so worth it. 

"Fresh" milk....

We have been enjoying raw milk, or as we call it at our

house "fresh milk", for about

2 years now; and every week we get to enjoy it I become

more and more grateful for it.  I have recently started

making our own butter....

A few months ago my grandma said that making our own butter

was not worth it...I will have to beg to differ.  If you have never

made homemade butter--you are missing out. 

You scoop out the cream from the fresh

milk, pour into a

tight-lidded jar and ((((((SHAKE)))))). 

 I now understand why my grandparents

were so fit.  Homemade butter, bread, gardening, no

TV days.....there is nothing else to do

except work!!  This is good work though because we get to enjoy our 'work', and boy is it GOOD!!

And from the butter---guess what you get???

Yep, you guessed it - BUTTERMILK.  Buttermilk biscuits

are truly the best

result of fresh milk!!