Owner: Writer-Mom URL:http://writer-mom.blogspot.com Join Date: Mon, 05 Mar 2007 09:58:02 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: "Random daily surprises in all colors shapes and sizes."
A grab bag of my thoughts, life with four little boys, on being a pastor's wife, on Christianity, on music, on writing and books. You really never know what you are going to get. Site statistics:Click here
Christian history for kids 2007-03-28 19:17:00 As you know, I homeschool my kids. History is a high point for all of us. We all love reading and listening to history. Christian
history is best, I believe, when weaved (as it was/is in reality) in with the rest of world history. It fits. All of history is part of God's story and part of His plan for the glory of Christ.I just discovered a neat page on the web that puts stories of Christian "heroes" of the faith into kid friendly language. These are produced sort of as pamphlets that can be used in Sunday School bulletins or other mass hand-outs but the stories themselves are archived online and available for you to read to your child.I will be employing these throughout our history reading and weaving them in where they fit on the timeline as part of the whole picture of the history of the world. They might be some good conversation pieces for you and your kids.Check them out.Nan
Paige Benton Brown 2007-03-28 16:43:00 Wow.Just. Wow.Ladies, if you ever want a spiritual kick in the pants. If you want to hear a woman speak specifically to women about what ought to be our focus in all of life, about "What's my point?", about the glory and majesty of Jesus. Go. Buy. This. DVD. Now! It might seem a bit steep for one session of a women's conference but there is enough in this one DVD for a few sessions. I am already planning on watching it again because literally all of it was quoteworthy.A group of ladies from our church got together last night and watched a DVD from the international women's conference of our denomination (PCA). The speaker was the very well spoken Mrs. Paige
(Benton) Brown
. While I have never been to the national WIC (women in the church) conference, I have been to a good handful of regional conferences where some of the speakers from the national conference were the keynote speakers. However, never at any of them have I heard such confident and stirring teaching of th
Silly boys. 2007-03-31 00:46:00 I'm exhausted. I had severe insomnia last night (not an uncommon problem unfortunately as some of you know) and I didn't sleep until 2:30 a.m. So needless to say I am feeling a bit fuzzy around the edges today.As I was beginning to move about the kitchen in hopes of getting something started for dinner, my boys of course were clamoring about me begging for snacks just before dinner (not gonna happen). Frustrated, I said, "No. You may not have another snack. I am about to fix dinner.""When?" they emplored."As soon as I put a t.v. show on. If I'm going to cook dinner I need you guys out of my hair tonight." Apparently kids pick up on a good many of our figures of speech and at some point you are sure they're familiar with all of them (unless you are related to my father in law who is from backwoods Tennessee originally and has the vernacular to prove it. He never uses the same figure of speech twice.)The reply I received from the eldest was, "What?! In your hair? We're not fle Read more:Silly
Hi. My name is Nan and I am a perpetual practical joker. 2007-03-30 19:04:00 Admitting that I have a problem is the first step towards recovery right? And I already have my higher power... So... what? I'm already at step three? Talk about rapid progress!If you don't like April Fool's Day, you won't like living in my house. I can't shake the constant nagging desire to tormentingly tease (in a sweet and loving way of course) those whom are dearest to me.My darling husband, for years has put up with a wife who secretly removes his pillow just moments before he falls into bed. Why would a loving soul do this to her wonderful hunk of a husband? I don't know, except that it's really funny to notice that no matter how many nights in a row this is done, he never suspects it.I'm not quite sure just when this pillow swiping joke began becoming a regularly scheduled tool in my bag of tricks aimed soley at keeping my mate guessing and wondering if he was married to respectable pastor's wife material (whatever that is) or a court jester. I think one of the r Read more:perpetual
My first car was a muscle car... 2007-04-01 03:12:00 Kinda sorta. My Dad bought me the perfect car for a sassy girl like myself. It had attitude. It was fun to drive. I could fit a bunch of friends in it. Not such a perfect car, it turns out, for a terribly incurable flirt though.It was maroon in color with black interior. It had a V8 engine. Boys loved it.I'll never forget the day my Dad came to pick me up from school in it. I was in 10th grade. Technically it was probably not supposed to be drivable at that point. But he had to see if I liked it. I came out the front doors of the school and saw him standing there next to it.Walking up to him I asked whose car this could possibly be."Yours if you like it," he answered.My first thoughts were something along the lines of, "Holy COW! Dad is going to *buy* me a car?! He must have gotten a good deal on it!" You see, it really pays to be the third child. My older sister had gotten one grandma's car, a 1972 brown Cadillac. It moved and it had wheels so I guess it was a car bu Read more:muscle
Put on your Donna Reed duds ladies... 2007-03-31 18:31:00 It's a "housewife giveaway!" The kind people at Dyson have been good enough to allow 5 Minutes for Mom to give away the new Dyson Slim! It's wonderfully lightweight and yet ever so powerful! Ladies, you will not want to stop vacuuming if you win this fabulous machine! Gone will be the days where you dread pulling out your behemoth of a vacuum cleaner!The housewife's life has never been so posh! You will be begging little Johnny to dump his cracker crumbs on the floor just so you can watch the amazing Dyson at work! You will giggle with glee when Suzy spills her sunflower seeds in the crevices of your couch just so you can listen to the melodic sounds of perpetual suckage that the Dyson slim offers! Don't miss this chance all of you domestic divas! You're life will never be the same!What are you waiting for? You have nothing better to do, right? Scuttle on over there and get in line ladies
!*****************(If you believe all of that you're smoking used cedar shavings f Read more:Donna
Well, I never! 2007-04-02 23:18:00 We think, therefore we blog.Blest at Blest with Sons just awarded me a Thinking Blogger award. I told her I was tickled pink. And for me to use the words "tickled pink" is noteworthy in and of itself. It's sort of like me saying, "Well, bless my soul in the bosom of Abraham!" It just never happens.Thanks Blest!Now I get to turn around and award some of my favorite bloggers!#1 What kind of wife would I be if I did not hand an award off to my wonderful husband? Besides the fact that he is my husband, his blog, though not updated often enough (nudge nudge, wink wink, hint hint, kick kick, smack smack) is always thought provoking when he does. Perhaps a steady stream of new visitors will make him a more faithful blogger? It's worth a try anyways!#2 I give my second award to Amy at the Foil Hat blog who always makes me laugh with her clever writing and jaded (well as jaded as mine anyways) sense of humor!#3 Goes to Pamela at The Dust Will Wait. I just like Pamela. She's funny an
Oooh! Check this out! 2007-04-02 20:15:00 If you haven't made Pageflakes your homepage yet. Go there and do it now. It's such a cool set up. Very very user friendly.Just thought I'd share.UPDATE: Okay, so I just found Pageflakes today and I already LOVE it. It's incredibly easy to use. Did I mention that? It's very Mac. That, my friends, is a major compliment coming from this Apple lover! But on top of this, I have to say I was incredibly surprised to receive an e-mail from Ole Brandenburg himself saying "Thanks" for posting about Pageflakes on my blog. Now that's a guy who is dedicated to his business!! I felt sort of especially special for having received this e-mail from him but he assured me that all users of his application are special! Which, if you ask me, is pretty darn special! I don't know of many companies that are so forward with their users.So in less than a day my estimation of Pageflakes has gone from really good, this morning at the 3 minutes it took me to feel comfortable with it being my per Read more:Check
Prankster Memoirs 2007-04-02 17:50:00 If you've been reading my blog for a while or if you've read my archives you know that I have a long history of being somewhat of a prankster.I've also recently told you that I like to tease my husband and kids endlessly. Sometimes when my kids ask me what's for dinner I tell them we are having stink weed soup, baked skunk cabbage or skewered iguana brains garnished with buffalo hoof shavings. Though this is one of the most commonly used tools in my bag of tricks, they still continue to be convinced that I'm serious if I have a poker face and if the smell of something delightful isn't filling their nasal cavities, convincing them that I must be fibbing.They still say, "Are you serious Mom?" Of course I keep the charade up for a few more minutes until finally they remember that I've tried this trick on them a few hundred times before and never have they yet had the distinct pleasure of knowing just how skunk cabbage tastes.When I was in college I was no different. Of course I Read more:Prankster
, Memoirs
I know I don't have to remind you... 2007-04-02 16:21:00 about Ree's photo naming contest today because either you found me through her comments or I have already turned you into one of her faithful converts. So I won't even bother reminding you that today is a photo naming contest.If you don't already visit the Pioneer Woman religiously on a daily basis then you haven't been reading my blog for very long and I'll forgive you for the infraction. Go and play at Ree's today! See you in her comments!Nan
I'm not quite sure if I've mentioned this before... 2007-04-01 23:37:00 I was a terribly incurable flirt when I was a teenager. I can't really explain this except that I was born that way. I wanted to marry every construction man that ever worked on our many additions and building projects in our yard when I was little. I came home from preschool swearing that I was going to marry Quentin. After school one day in Kindergarten I was sent to the office for relentlessly chasing the Principal's son with the intention of kissing him. I had a crush on my sister's high-school friends when I was in 5th grade.But if you are the visual type and just can't believe what I say about such things is true, because I just look so prim and proper and tame... well, I decided to create a bit of a collage for your... umm... entertainment.Exhibit A:Exhibit B: Exhibit C:Exhibit D:Fortunately though, I ended up with a keeper!Exhibit A-Z:Nan
Rick Steves elicits excitement from children? 2007-04-03 22:43:00 Last night everyone was getting ready for bed while Dad, exhausted from a long but enjoyable day, decided to collapse in his recliner in front of the television. He happened upon a Rick Steves tour. Rick Steves is the picture of nerdiness but we love him. Not in the we-want-to-move-in-with-him sort of way. I just enjoy the views of these other countries that we have never been to and in all likelihood will never go that he provides.Well, Ricky happened to be doing last night's show on Israel. The children overheard this when they came out from brushing their teeth and they were drawn in and mesmerized by the narrator's soothing voice. Or something.Every time the kids heard a word that they recognized from the Bible or from the news they would say, "WOW! That's what it looks like?!" or "The Sea of Galilee is a real place?!" It was great watching them see in full color the places where the real historical Jesus that they love actually walked and preached and performed miracles.
Who do you know? 2007-04-03 18:42:00 I'm hoping to start a chain reaction or a game of tag with this post so if you are reading it, consider yourself TAGGED! :^D I'm trying out Mr. Linky so make sure to add your link if you participate! (Oh and send anyone who reads your blog and wants to participate over here to sign Mr. Linky if they can so we can have all the links in one place!) And I wouldn't cry if you left a comment too. :^D If you don't know someone in the blogosphere in real life, what blogger would you most like to know in real life? Why?Who in the blogosphere do you know in real life? Tell us how you know that person. Show us a picture (or a few) if you can. Tell us how excited you were (or how nervous?) when you found out they were blogging or when you convinced them to start blogging.I know Corrie at One Gal's Life in the Raw. We've known each other since 7th grade and have been close friends ever since, along with Julie who is the beautiful redhead pictured with us here. I have a feeling both
Presto. Change-o. Rearrange-o. 2007-04-05 18:31:00 Have you heard of Presto
? This morning is the first time I had heard of it. It looks like a great little invention for those who don't have the internet at home and yet wish to receive e-mail. (I wonder if they will get all sorts of spam too?) 5 Minutes for Mom is giving one away. Obviously none of us need it but perhaps you know someone who might?Of course, I'm being honest and I always will be... after the 1 year free subscription there is a $10 a month charge which you can pay to some ISPs for dial up internet services which enables you to actually respond to e-mails too. Plus, I think it's just cheaper to send real mail. Still... if you want one for someone you know, go sign Mr. Linky!Nan Read more:Change
Who else do I know? 2007-04-05 06:05:00 Well, I guess I'm the only one who has listed just one person I know who blogs in my "Who do you know?" game of tag from yesterday. And let's face it, I'm a serial bandwagon jumper which is why I'm blogging at all. My husband made me do it. Blame him for my blogarrhea. So now I will tell you of a few other bloggers I know in person or by proxy.Hmm... well, I guess you could say I know him. Yeah. I know him pretty well. We're pretty close I'd say. I met him almost 12 years ago. I really mostly like him for his brains. But he does have a winning personality, a twisted sense of humor and well... frankly... he's hot. He's a hot pastor. (Ladies, if you go to my church and you are reading this, you are not allowed to dwell upon these converging facts. Got me?!) ;^PI did, however, think him terribly nerdy for starting a blog back in '05. I thought blogs were solely for people who like to hear themselves talk. Um. I'll say no more on that point other than the tally of
I Know that My Redeemer Lives 2007-04-04 19:30:00 I'm just mulling over this in my mind this morning. Thought I'd pass it on...Job 19: 23-27 23"Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! 24Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! 25For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.[b] 26And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in[c] my flesh I shall see God, 27whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! Words: Samuel Medley, 1775. Music: Duke Street, attributed to John Hatton, 1793 (MIDI, score).I know that my Redeemer lives;What comfort this sweet sentence gives!He lives, He lives, who once was dead;He lives, my ever living Head. He lives to bless me with His love,He lives to plead for me above.He lives my hungry soul to feed,He lives to help in time of need. He lives triumphant from the grave,He lives eternally to save,He lives all glorious in the sk Read more:Lives
Cool beans! 2007-04-06 18:22:00 My blog was nominated for a homeschool blog award: Best Blog Design! Of course there are a lot of other great blogs listed there too! Voting starts on Monday so make sure to go and cast your vote if you are a homeschool blog reader.You know I would have loved to have been nominated for something I was actually responsible for, like content but who am I to complain about being nominated for any kind of award? :^D All credit for this design goes to Susie @ Bluebird Blogs.Also nominated was The Well Drained Mind for best homeschool group blog! This is pretty exciting since The Well Drained Mind is a fairly new blog, that we just got started last month!Nan
What's so good about Good Friday? 2007-04-06 16:39:00 Why is it called "good" when it seems like such a depressing day? I really hate it that Good Friday
has somehow become such a solemn and somber affair. Was it sad that Christ died for our sins? Why can we not go into a Good Friday service with shouts of glory and triumphant joy? We can! But somewhere along the line someone decided that Good Friday was the day to be sad. And that only on Easter Sunday could we put our smiles on again.When Christ died on that bloody cross, he proclaimed, "It is finished." Our redemption was as good as done, so sure was He of his power over sin and death. Was our salvation in question for those three days that He lay in the grave? By no means!Surely the world, in the eyes of the disciples, was a very dark and frightening place in those days. Surely they rolled every moment that they had ever spent with Jesus over in their heads and over their somber mealtime conversations. Surely they went back and tried to remember every word He had ever said
How do we get to heaven? 2007-04-06 06:19:00 This was a conversation this evening with my three year old (aka. Mr. 13 Shirts). I asked him what he thought. His scratchy voiced answer came matter of factly;"Well... we better take the Suburban of course. Because... it's a long long way. (long pause) Or walking. But it's very far to walk."Nan
Because I think Momtrepreneurs should be rewarded... 2007-04-06 05:50:00 (If I just coined that term I am hereby copyrighting it and you can e-mail me if you would like to send me royalty checks. Capiche?)I have always wanted to make jewelry. Unfortunately, the thread-weaved friendship bracelets we wore by the dozen in highschool is as good as I ever got at it. I still hope to take up the hobby one of these days but in the mean time I can oogle and perhaps purchase the beatiful creations made by a fellow blogger.Today I am sending you all on over to visit Blest With Sons to check out her beautiful homemade jewelry! She makes absolutely fabulous necklaces, bracelets and ear-rings. And she is raising four boys. Those two things together put her in a special category in my book. :^DI never plug any blogs or products unless I am really and truly impressed and I am seriously impressed with the products made by Blest. Have you ever seen something like this winnie the pooh piece? She has a Narnia themed one as well which has text and images from the book, Th Read more:think
, rewarded
Happy Birthday Mr. Boo Boo! 2007-04-07 16:56:00 7 years ago today I became a mother. 7 years ago today a little someone made me a part of the "mommy club." Thanks for the membership card! It's the best gift I've ever been given!Thanks for being such a wonderful son. You are a joy to be with. You are a person that I don't just love because we're related, I also like you.You make me laugh. And I admire your artistic abilities.You make life more interesting and you have taught me so much. Thanks for being such a good student. I admire your thirst for knowledge and your hunger for wisdom.You are a wonderful big brother.You are a blessing to me. Plus.... you just fit in so well with the rest of us.I love you! Happy
7th Birthday
!Nan Read more:Happy Birthday
, Boo Boo
Go vote for us now! 2007-04-09 16:01:00 If you want to that is. You see, I don't feign being the pushy type very well. I'll encourage you in that general direction though. And I'll tell you that you're my best buddy if you do! And I'll promise to lather you with praise and thanks and all manner of good things if I win!After all, you're not really voting for me, you're voting for Susie at Bluebird Blogs who just took some of my ideas, picture preferences, color preferences and then went to town and got busy! But she deserves it! :^D Just click on the image below to go vote for us!Nan
Life in the Frozen North. 2007-04-09 01:18:00 While driving in the car near our home one day last week we had this exchange:Children: OH! Mom! Look! Look over there Mom! Mom: What? What am I supposed to be looking at?Children: Mom! It's almost Summer time! Summer is almost here!Mom: What makes you say that? (As she shivers, rubs her hands together, watches her breath appear and then dissipate and hopes that feeling will soon return to her feet)Children: Well, look mom! The pond is only HALF frozen! YAY!!!! It's almost SUMMER!My children's version of "almost Summer"(Today the sun shines and we play at the park and for a moment think that the children might be right. We then go to our Pageflakes page and see the weekly forecast. Every day includes images of snowflakes.)Nan Read more:Frozen
, North
Proof positive. 2007-04-11 21:25:00 This is proof positive that #1 really bad hair is a pervasively prevalent problem in today's youth culture. And #2 that some people are really suffering for entertainment.Many thanks to my little brother, Matt, for showing me this doozy of a clip.Nan Read more:Proof
He's watching the markets? 2007-04-11 16:46:00 Yesterday afternoon we were watching the news with the kids and our extended family who are visiting from California. The kids were talking about the upcoming soccer season and what team they would be playing on. The little one will be on a team that is sponsored in part by Tim Horton's Doughnuts and Coffee. They put the name of their doughnut hole, the Timbit, on the shirts of those teams.My young brother, a teenager, was unfamiliar with Tim Horton's so I was explaining what it was to him. My seven year old chimed in with, "Tim Horton's is a famous doughnut and coffee store." Matter of factly tacking on, "But they are going down this year."I looked at him, perplexed, and asked, "What are you referring to when you say they are 'going down' this year?"He replied, "I was watching the news and they said the company is going down this year. It's talking about the quality of the company. I just know that."Well, color me surprised! I never knew my 7 year old was paying attention
We once had an (almost) hairless dog. 2007-04-10 19:32:00 Growing up we almost always had two dogs. Generally one was a purebred of some sort and the second was a stray that made itself at home with us. One such stray was Nikki. Nikki was a Belgian Sheep Dog. They basically look like black Collies. Lots and lots of black hair.Nikki wandered onto our street and into our lives and never left. Having grown up in California where weather was temperate and in a family peopled with severe asthmatics and allergy sufferers, all of our dogs were outside dogs. And they liked it that way. They ran freely on the nearly half-acre lot, had their cozy dog houses to sleep in and a covered patio during inclement weather.The only problem with Nikki being an outside dog was how much hair she had. Her hair really needed to be meticulously groomed but no one in the family, sadly, made it a regular enough priority. When Nikki would be brushed and groomed the yard would appear as one big black cloud so prolific were the tufts of fur. One could look out the f
Ooh, Pick me! Pick me! 2007-04-13 06:20:00 I blog like an addict anyways. It's an abnormal day when I don't blog. I think I wouldn't so much mind being paid to blog, especially if I get to blog only and entirely about what I want to blog about which I am already doing completely free of charge.Why on earth wouldn't a person want to be paid to do it? Chances are it ain't gonna happen but sheesh... it's like a tractor beam or something Star Trekky like that.So consider helping me blog for a year and get paid an exorbitant amount of money to do so.I realize this is just about as likely as going sky diving over the equator above the Atlantic Ocean and being carried off by a stiff breeze to an island in the South Pacific the size of a thumbtack and peopled entirely by 1 foot tall elves. But what the heck. The real reason I am posting this right now is because I'm bored spitless and I am not in bed for some reason. If you are bored spitless and not in bed right now you might click that link up there for a really lame attem
This message is brought to you by... 2007-04-12 23:54:00 Another Annoying Blogging Award(It's a MAJOR award!)Are you getting tired of blog awards yet? I know I'm starting to see enough of them that they are beginning to be about as pesky as SPAM and yet they are the sort of SPAM that you openly call junk mail and secretly stash away into your saved files for later perusal because, hey... maybe you really do have a chance at fame? Maybe you are going to win the next Reader's Digest contest! Maybe you really are the next American Blogging Idol!Well, that's how I feel about blog awards. They are really lame until you get nominated for one.And then suddenly you feel special and you must do ridiculous things like blog about blog awards and tell people to vote for you. People who have no idea if you are really the person you say you are or if you are a 750 pound bikini wearing bearded boil-backed woman. And you don't care if they are that too, as long as they go and vote for you! You'll do things as ridiculous and unfathomable as going
Sociological Mathematics 2007-04-12 18:19:00 Sometimes kids say things that hold more depth and meaning than I think they even know. The other night while riding in our car our seven year old had been quietly contemplating something for a few moments and then suddenly said this, "People all over the world are plussing and people all over the world are minusing."Wow. Where did this come from?Then he clarified just as I was about to ask him what exactly he meant, though I was fairly sure I knew. He said, "I just mean, people all over the world are always dying. But people all over the world are always having babies too."My husband and I looked at each other for a moment in silence thinking, "Is this boy from our loins?! Are we sure there wasn't some sort of mix-up at the hospital? What provokes such thoughty thoughts in a seven year old?" After all, we were just driving home from a hockey game. It's not as if we had just gone and listened to a symposium on birth, life and death. This child's thought processes are reall
A Photographic Masterpiece 2007-04-14 06:33:00 I like to call this:"Hammers in the Hands of an Angry Tot"Click here if you don't know what I'm referencing.Make your own GIF using GICKRAh! The refreshingly wonderful power of Almighty Google! I've been Googling for a make your own GIF that would cost me nothing and require 0 downloads and I found it! All Hail Google!!This animation was made possible because of a wicked cool site called GICKR where you simply upload a series of pictures and it turns it into a GIF for you. Awesome tool!Nan Read more:Photographic
, Masterpiece
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