Hello to all of my faithful readers, and those who might stumble across my ramblings,
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted, but things have gotten even crazier around here, if you can imagine that!! LOL !!
Anna was invited to the AHA "Heart Ball" again this year, and of course her dad and I get to "escort" her. She makes sure we remember that she's the only reason we get to go :O) !
So, that has meant tuxedo fittings. The first one they ordered was all wrong with the sizing, so that had to be done in 3 visits. I decided to wear the dress I wore last year, and just gave it a little "updating" with some new shoes, a dressy jacket (because I nearly froze to death last year) and jewelry. Anna couldn't wear her dress from last year, so that meant a hunt for a new appropriate cocktail dress for a 12 year old, we couldn't find a full length formal, which is what I would have preferred. Man is that kid growing!! My mom keeps saying we need to "put a brick on her head". If only that would work. LOL !!!
We've also been looking to do a little updating around our house, getting it good and ready for selling whenever the real estate market around here rebounds. That may be several years, so we decided we'd might as well go ahead and make the upgrades now so that we can enjoy them while we wait. That includes upgrading the kitchen countertops from formica to granite, the plumbing fixtures from chrome to stainless steel, and a few light fixtures that have a brassy finish to a nickel finish. Some time ago, we added the screened in porch which we have SO enjoyed! It was money very well spent, we spend a lot of time out there as a family. And, we updated our door knobs from brass to satin nickle, which was only available by special order when we built this house.
Lucky for us, being in and around the home building business, we do have some "connections" and can save a bit of money here and there with some bartering and "you send me some work, I'll send you some" kind of deals. So, the granite will come at a very reasonable price, will match our current backsplash, and be a fantastic update to our home. Todd's got a Danze rep who owes him a faucet, so we're going to get the stainless kitchen faucet for FREE!! And, of course the labor is free too. :O)
In the midst of all of that, I had a nerve conduction and muscle study done today to try to explain the continued pain I'm having in my back. The best way to describe this particular round of tests would be to say that I was poked like a pin cushion and shocked (240 Volts) with a miniature "cattle prod" type contraption for about an hour. It was great fun, as you can imagine. After the study, the doctor (this is a new one I was referred to) has concluded that the problem is in my C5 vertebrae, which is the one above the one that was removed.
His "prescription" is physical therapy, including traction (at the Physical Therapist's and at home), a change in some of the medications and the timing of taking them, and then a check back in about 2 weeks. So, we'll see how the next two weeks go. About 12 weeks after surgery I began having numbness in the middle three fingers on both hands, which I did not have before the surgery and is common in cervical herniations. So, he checked me for carpal tunnel first, and I DO NOT have that. Thank the LORD!!!! So, it's still a cervical spine issue, and hopefully we are going to get it fixed through therapy before it gets any worse. If the therapy doesn't work, we will go back to spinal blocks, this time of the C5 region, using a little different technique.
Please continue to pray for me and my family as we work through all of this.
So, that's the update from our house to yours,
Lori
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Room A Day Giveaway
Hi Everyone,
Who couldn't use some money to redo a room in their house???? I could!!!
So, I wanted to let you all know about an ongoing contest from Kimberly Clark.
From their site:
"Family time deserves a special place. We can help you create it with our great brands - and a chance to win $25,000! You could be one of 16 winners in the $25,000 Room-A-Day Giveaway Sweepstakes! Plus, once you register, play The Kimberly-Clark Brand Match Instant Win Game for your chance to win one of 100 prizes awarded daily!"
You can enter by going to www.RoomADayGiveaway.com, and you can enter once a day during the entry period.
Maybe if I don't win, one of you will :O) !
Good luck,
Lori
Who couldn't use some money to redo a room in their house???? I could!!!
So, I wanted to let you all know about an ongoing contest from Kimberly Clark.
From their site:
"Family time deserves a special place. We can help you create it with our great brands - and a chance to win $25,000! You could be one of 16 winners in the $25,000 Room-A-Day Giveaway Sweepstakes! Plus, once you register, play The Kimberly-Clark Brand Match Instant Win Game for your chance to win one of 100 prizes awarded daily!"
You can enter by going to www.RoomADayGiveaway.com, and you can enter once a day during the entry period.
Maybe if I don't win, one of you will :O) !
Good luck,
Lori
Sunday, January 18, 2009
New Website
Hi Everyone:
I have been working today on a new website for our plumbing company. http://www.mcguireplumbingcompany.com/
If you have a chance, please go on over and take a look, then you can come back here and give me some feedback. I'd appreciate any input.
Abiding in His grace, and seriously ready for bed, :O)
Lori
I have been working today on a new website for our plumbing company. http://www.mcguireplumbingcompany.com/
If you have a chance, please go on over and take a look, then you can come back here and give me some feedback. I'd appreciate any input.
Abiding in His grace, and seriously ready for bed, :O)
Lori
Thursday, January 15, 2009
TEEN PACT Program Information
Hello everyone:
I just wanted to make you all aware of a fantastic program available for students 8-19 years old. They are divided into one day programs for children 8-12 and a four day program for those 13-19. The program, known as "Teen Pact", is designed to teach children about the process of how our government works, to show them how we - as believers - can affect change in our government, how to be "salt and light" within the realm of lawmaking and to emphasis our responsibility to pray for our leaders.
I am so excited about this program, and can't wait to attend one of the upcoming one day events at our state capitol with our oldest daughter. Although we are homeschoolers, and this will be a part of our curriculum for the year, I feel certain that other Christian families who's children are in traditional schools would be able to attend with their children and I would think they could recieve an excused abscence from their school for their participation in an educational experience.
If you would like more information, check out their website at www.TeenPact.com.
God's richest blessings,
Lori
I just wanted to make you all aware of a fantastic program available for students 8-19 years old. They are divided into one day programs for children 8-12 and a four day program for those 13-19. The program, known as "Teen Pact", is designed to teach children about the process of how our government works, to show them how we - as believers - can affect change in our government, how to be "salt and light" within the realm of lawmaking and to emphasis our responsibility to pray for our leaders.
I am so excited about this program, and can't wait to attend one of the upcoming one day events at our state capitol with our oldest daughter. Although we are homeschoolers, and this will be a part of our curriculum for the year, I feel certain that other Christian families who's children are in traditional schools would be able to attend with their children and I would think they could recieve an excused abscence from their school for their participation in an educational experience.
If you would like more information, check out their website at www.TeenPact.com.
God's richest blessings,
Lori
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Welcome and Happy New Year!
Hi Everyone:
Welcome to my blog and Happy New Year!
For those of you who have read my "Introductions" information, you know that I love Januarys and Mondays. "Why?" you ask, because they are all about new opportunities, new chances to grow and change, and the opportunity to start over again and work on all those things I wanted to accomplish last year, or last week, and didn't get to.
If I had the opportunity, I might actually like to have a total "do over" for last year, considering all of the adversity I have suffered since my fall down our basement stairs last April. But, alas and alot, this is not the way, so, like Paul, I will instead say, "...one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13b-14 NKJV)
So, with that in mind, a new year has arrived, and I for one am excited about the possibilites!!
For those of you who are new to my blog, I invite you to first read the "Introduction - All About Me" here http://homeforhim.blogspot.com/2007/09/finally-i-did-it.html and then, please feel free to browse about at whatever articles might catch your interest. There are some real "doozies" in there if you just look around a bit. LOL :O) I welcome and love comments, so please leave a comment and let me know you've stopped by.
Now, for those of you who have always wondered, why do people homeschool? This article is a fantastic place to read the reasons why WE homeschool. Certainly, not all people, or even all Believers, homeschool for the same reasons, but this article explains the reasons dearest to my heart. I'm often given that wondering look by other Christians, who don't understand, and think our goal is to isolate our children. This is NOT the goal at all!!! God forbid!
Here are a few quotes from the article, written by A.B. Leaver, and I encourage you to read the entire article. I will include the link below. It is a fantastic explanation of what I believe is our responsibility as the parents of our children.
"What is the difference between isolating and sheltering? There are many differences.While isolating a child keeps him from others, a parent who shelters will give opportunity for their children to learn and grow from others. They will place them in an environment where other people will come into their lives and they will be exposed to different attitudes, actions, and beliefs. When they are exposed to something that the parent sees is against their Biblical standards, they train and teach their children what is wrong versus what God would have them do or think. This is to prepare them for later on in life when mother and father will no longer be around to shelter them from danger. They will have to be aware and awake without the help of their parents to keep an eye out for what is “dangerous”.
Herein is a huge difference, the sheltering mentality teaches children what “dangers” in life to look for. The isolationists keeps their child insolated so they never see danger and will never know what to look for when they are released into the real world of adulthood. In a way they are thought to be kept in a clean, virus-free, sin-free, bubble at home, never to be tainted by sin carried in by others."
"Christian parents are to shelter and protect their children from harm and at the same time train them to be “inoculated” against the world.
This inoculation takes place as we daily point out to them what the world is saying is true and then showing them what God’s Word says. It is a constant time of teaching them and training them in Biblical values vs. secular humanism that bombards them from every media surrounding them."
"Christ, through the guidance and teaching of the Holy Spirit, will then lead these children through the hidden minefields of life. He alone will be the one to keep them safe when they leave the safety of the home. It is our job, while we have them, to shelter them, yes, but to also prepare them to leave in the arms and safety of the Lord, the moment they are born. They are not ours. They are God’s. It is our duty to not have their world only be their parents. This is total selfishness on the parent’s part. We are to get them ready to help souls that are lost and who are to find their way to Christ. This is why our children are alive. Not to serve us as parents, but to serve our Heavenly Father."
The entire article is available here: http://www.pearables.com/shelter_isolate_inoculate.htm
Abiding in His Grace, for another year,
Lori
Welcome to my blog and Happy New Year!
For those of you who have read my "Introductions" information, you know that I love Januarys and Mondays. "Why?" you ask, because they are all about new opportunities, new chances to grow and change, and the opportunity to start over again and work on all those things I wanted to accomplish last year, or last week, and didn't get to.
If I had the opportunity, I might actually like to have a total "do over" for last year, considering all of the adversity I have suffered since my fall down our basement stairs last April. But, alas and alot, this is not the way, so, like Paul, I will instead say, "...one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13b-14 NKJV)
So, with that in mind, a new year has arrived, and I for one am excited about the possibilites!!
For those of you who are new to my blog, I invite you to first read the "Introduction - All About Me" here http://homeforhim.blogspot.com/2007/09/finally-i-did-it.html and then, please feel free to browse about at whatever articles might catch your interest. There are some real "doozies" in there if you just look around a bit. LOL :O) I welcome and love comments, so please leave a comment and let me know you've stopped by.
Now, for those of you who have always wondered, why do people homeschool? This article is a fantastic place to read the reasons why WE homeschool. Certainly, not all people, or even all Believers, homeschool for the same reasons, but this article explains the reasons dearest to my heart. I'm often given that wondering look by other Christians, who don't understand, and think our goal is to isolate our children. This is NOT the goal at all!!! God forbid!
Here are a few quotes from the article, written by A.B. Leaver, and I encourage you to read the entire article. I will include the link below. It is a fantastic explanation of what I believe is our responsibility as the parents of our children.
"What is the difference between isolating and sheltering? There are many differences.While isolating a child keeps him from others, a parent who shelters will give opportunity for their children to learn and grow from others. They will place them in an environment where other people will come into their lives and they will be exposed to different attitudes, actions, and beliefs. When they are exposed to something that the parent sees is against their Biblical standards, they train and teach their children what is wrong versus what God would have them do or think. This is to prepare them for later on in life when mother and father will no longer be around to shelter them from danger. They will have to be aware and awake without the help of their parents to keep an eye out for what is “dangerous”.
Herein is a huge difference, the sheltering mentality teaches children what “dangers” in life to look for. The isolationists keeps their child insolated so they never see danger and will never know what to look for when they are released into the real world of adulthood. In a way they are thought to be kept in a clean, virus-free, sin-free, bubble at home, never to be tainted by sin carried in by others."
"Christian parents are to shelter and protect their children from harm and at the same time train them to be “inoculated” against the world.
This inoculation takes place as we daily point out to them what the world is saying is true and then showing them what God’s Word says. It is a constant time of teaching them and training them in Biblical values vs. secular humanism that bombards them from every media surrounding them."
"Christ, through the guidance and teaching of the Holy Spirit, will then lead these children through the hidden minefields of life. He alone will be the one to keep them safe when they leave the safety of the home. It is our job, while we have them, to shelter them, yes, but to also prepare them to leave in the arms and safety of the Lord, the moment they are born. They are not ours. They are God’s. It is our duty to not have their world only be their parents. This is total selfishness on the parent’s part. We are to get them ready to help souls that are lost and who are to find their way to Christ. This is why our children are alive. Not to serve us as parents, but to serve our Heavenly Father."
The entire article is available here: http://www.pearables.com/shelter_isolate_inoculate.htm
Abiding in His Grace, for another year,
Lori
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