Santa's Rules

It seems that even Santa needs some basic rules by which to conduct himself.

Jenny Zinc, an employee for a U.S. temping agency that has trained and supplied

Santas to department stores for more than 30 years, sums up the most important

tenets of Santa etiquette as follows:

• Santa is even-tempered
• Santa does not hit children over the head who kick him.
• Santa uses the term "folks" rather than "Mommy and Daddy" because of all the broken homes.
• Santa does not borrow money from store employees.
• Santa wears a good deodorant.

All pretty good advice I'd say....:-)

Motherhood

Lord, forgive me that I have so little time to spend on my knees.

Raising children and running a busy home,

I have to do most of my praying

"on the hoof" as it were.

But, Lord, You know my heart is kneeling.

Ruth Bell Graham

"Let your father and mother be glad,

and let her who bore you rejoice."

Proverbs 23:25

Home

www.rhythmofthehome.com

What a great resource!

Vacation Bible Adventure

This year's Vacation Bible Adventure was another success thanks to a fabulous group of people that use their talents for the Lord each year. I'm so blessed to have a family that helps so much as well. My mom does all the recruiting of volunteers, Josh is the game guy, Courtney is the music girl, and Cassidy was Reagan's preschool crew leader. There are many, many other people who give of themselves all week long, but it's so nice to do ministry with my family.

This is me getting gacked! It had been a while so I had it coming!!! :-)

I'm not sure why my picture format is being soooo weird. I can't get the pics to go in any order, same size, etc. Oh well....here's Reagan in craft time with Teacher Janell and there's also a pic of the whole gang!

Kent Cornucopia Days

Summer is here! I know...I know....for most of you summer has been here for a long time, but not for us in the Pacific NW. Summer never begins until after the 4th of July weekend. We left right after church to go camping Sunday and it was thankfully dry while we put up our tent and cooked dinner but it rained all night making it very chilly. It sprinkled a bit on Monday and then Tuesday the sun came out and I was able to shed my top layer. :-)

I'm enjoying the calm before the storm tonight.....tomorrow morning begins the adventures of Kent Cornucopia Days. Which means long, hot days. But it's always great to have the opportunity to meet new people in our community and invite their children to our Vacation Bible Adventure. Praying for a great response to our invites!

Seriously, I should be sleeping but I have way too many things running through my head....I believe I have everything done that can be done for KCD until I get to church in the morning. I should be able to shut my brain off right?! But no, I'm wide awake. Part of it is because it's so in our bedroom. Living in the PNW does not usually mean heat so I'm not complaining about the daytime heat it's just that the attic gets sooooo hot during the day then it's hard to sleep at night. Isn't it funny how we complain about the rain and then get a few days of heat and think we're gonna die?! I'm very grateful for the sun!!!! Don't get me wrong....just making excuses for way I'm not sleeping when I should be. :-)

Interesting things about today:

Word of the day: Ebullience
What does it mean?

"Noise is an imposition on sanity, and we live in very noisy times." Joan Baez

I will say that my house always has noise. :-) Probably like most of your homes. :-) Josh loves to have music on all the time and Reagan follows closly in her father's footsteps. She HAS TO have her music on when going to bed. And she likes it LOUD! I like to have worship music playing when I'm doing things around the house and even when we're doing our schoolwork about 50% of the time. Do you have music on at your home? If so, what kind?

On this day in 1493: Christopher Columbas, sailing off the coast of the Dominican Republic, reported that he had sighted three mermaids and that they were "not as beautiful as they had been painted." Later he realized that he had seen these creatures before and that they were manatees.

Quick Tip:
Make the most out of every trip. My mom calls it the "anywhere you go game". I used to hate playing this game and it wasn't until recent years that I have accepted it back into my life! However, I do realize the value that this game holds. If you're going to the kitchen, take the dishes. If you're headed to your room, take the toys. It really does work. Why pass it by? Stop, pick it up, and put it away!!!!

Ebullience means the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression

Interesting Facts for the day:

Today's Word: Sardonic
What does it mean?

"You know the best way to double your money? Fold it and put it in your pocket." Phyllis Diller

On this day in 1997: The principality of Monaco began a yearlong celebration in honor of the 700th anniversary of the rule of the Grimaldi family, who seized power in 1297 and gained firm possession of Monaco in 1419. Wow, that's a long family rule!

Born Today:
Elvis Presley

Take a minute today to sit down with a cup of tea and put some soothing music on for 15 minutes! You deserve it.

I will have to admit that things have been crazy hectic in our family for months now. It just feels like we never get breathing room especially around the holidays. Church is busy, family stuff gets put on the calendar, our trip to CA, the Christmas program, this year we've also had a litter of puppies to add to the whole commotion. I was very excited to start school this week and get back on our schedule, but it hasn't been quite as scheduled as I'd have liked. We're having a week of prayer at church so that has added to the schedule differences. Javon has had a week of testing me and using his strong-will about getting back into the school groove. I understand that we are all different. I'm constantly trying to come up with new ways to make school enjoyable for him. He can do the work so quickly if I can get him focused on it. Yesterday we did his math verbally and then he wrote it down. It's funny how it's the same thing but he likes having me ask him the problems out loud. Well, praying your week is going great. I think tonight we're going to get "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" and just chill. :-)

Sardonic: disdainfully or skeptically humorous

Interesting things about today:

Word of the Day: Euphony
What does it mean?

Today in 1959: The U.S. recognized the new Cuban government under Fidel Castro. In 1961, the U.S. Air Force would support Cuban exiles in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.

Born Today:
Zora Neale Hurston
Katie Couric
Nicolas Cage

"My favorite thing is to go where I've never been." Diane Arbus

Quick Tip:
Identify time-zappers. For one week, take note of when you're wasting time, then go back and think about how to imporve your time-management. Do you spend precious time in the morning hunting for your keys? Put a small basket or box by the front door. Do you get sidetracked by emails every few minutes? Limit yourself to checking facebook, blogs, and emails.

My time zapper is TV in the evenings after I put the kids to bed. Last year I commited to the Lord to watch only 1 hour total of TV per day. I did really good for a long time but there were days that I watched 2 shows instead of one and thought well yesterday I didn't watch anything so I get 2 hours today....right? Well, it isn't really about the amount as much as the commitment that I made to the Lord.
So this year I'm back to 1 hour of TV per evening. It allows me to read more and spend time on things that are more important. What are your time zappers?

Interestings things for today....

Well, I've been terrible at posting although I love going and seeing other peoples blogs. There are so many encouraging thoughts and ideas that you are sharing. Thank you! I don't want to be stingy and never share anything for you to look at so I decided to share some interesting things for the day from a new calendar that I received for Christmas. Enjoy!

New Word: Kerfuffle
What does it mean?

On this day in 1838: Samuel Morse's telegraph system was first demonstrated. Because Western Union charged by the word, the telegram became known for its succinct prose. And because there was no charge for the word "stop," it became the most frequently used word of the times.

Born Today:
E.L. Doctorow
Gabrielle Reece
Earl Scruggs
(I'm not sure who any of these people are???? So I think that later today we will look them up. :-) Isn't the internet wonderful!?)

"The greatest part of our happiness or misery depends on our disposition and not on our circumstances." Martha Washington

Wow, what a great quote! I've already allowed my stress level to enter my voice this morning with the kids. :-( I am very excited and happy to get back to school and our schedule, but the kids don't seem so excited about the whole thing! I had to take a minute prayer break and try to see things from their eyes. They've had 3 weeks of no school with lots of variations in our schedule. So I'm sure it's difficult jumping right back into school. It's been on mind for a week, but not in their little minds. How has your return to school been this week?

Kerfuffle: a commotion