There was once two boys. The first told his father, "I am going to buy a car, wish me luck!" The second came to his father and told him he wanted to buy a car. He told his father why he wanted a car and asked for advice as to weather it was a wise decision for him at that time in his life.
I think about the two boys when it comes to prayer. When we pray, do we ask God to help us do what WE want to do? Or when we pray do we ask God weather something is right, seeking advice and further wisdom. As a parent, I think the latter is better.
Today in church, I heard some rather simplistic sounding talks and a rare moment of calm, silent children made it possible for me to really listen to the talks. Two were about service and the last about magnifying our callings. I felt the Spirit and a desire to do better. I have never been really regular about prayer. In one of the talks it mentioned about praying for the people we serve. I wish I would have done that back when I taught Seminary. Perhaps I could have been a better teacher, there were some students that I really struggled with, thinking they were only there by parental force. Had I prayed for them individually and trying to love and serve them perhaps I could have made a stronger impact. As I had these thoughts the Spirit whispered to me that the same thing could happen now. I can pray for the people I serve by name and make an impact in people lives NOW. My current calling is the Provident Living Specialist seeking to teach people food storage, the church cannery, and preparing every needful thing for possible future calamities. How could I pray for all the people I suppose to serve? Then the Spirit whispered that if I prayed I would be guided to the few who would need me the most.
Prayer isn't a "wish me luck" kind of a thing, similar to calling a parent and telling them our plans and never seeking advice. Seeking the advice of a parent or someone older who has been where we are going is wise. We have the ability to choose our actions, but we can not choose the outcome. We can have divine guidance if we so choose if from a father who lives in Heaven waiting for us to call on Him.
I have been touched by the Spirit on many occasions that I should improve my prayers and communication with God my Heavenly Father. Its difficult to change old habits, but I know I will be a more effective servant of the Lord if I do so. There are times as a parent that I am learning more than I am teaching. My children are quick to pray. Whenever I mention a problem my children respond with "lets say a prayer!"
I wonder if my children were sent to me for me to teach them or for them to teach me. Its probably both. I hope that my weaknesses can become their strengths. We bought a piano a while back with the intention that Peter and I would learn to play it together. Perhaps prayer and also scripture study are the same. My children and I can learn together to follow the Lord.
The bishop, during tithing settlement, asked us to each read the entire Book of Mormon during the 2010 year. So far we are reading a chapter a day, at least Monday through Friday. I haven't been this regular and consistent about reading my scriptures for a long time. Perhaps my children and I can learn together to pray everyday. These sweet spirits are so wonderful to teach as we learn together the ways of the world and the ways of the Lord. My heart is full as I think of our life together learning at home. I am so grateful for my family and our sweet life together. Good night! Don't forget to say your prayers!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Getting Better
Well, this is the first time in a while when we have done posts so close together. Hopefully this is a sign that we are getting better.
This week has been a busy one as usual. Chris has a Court of Honor with the Scouts and Peter and Joe went with him. Joe was excited because the last time he went to a Scout activity with his Dad thhe had refreshments at the end. Chris was a little surprised (he had already told Joe he didn't think there would be refreshments) when there was a small refreshment afterwards. Joe is going to think that his Dad gets refreshments every week at Scouts. This coming week Chris has a day hike on Saturday at Stephen F. Austin State Park which is about an hour from here. It should be a fun activity and Chris is going to check out the park for us. Hopefully it turns out nice because it would be an easy place to take the kids and have a good time.
Peter has really taken off with his reading. This week he read several books all by himself and has been kicking butt on his scripture study. He reads more than some adults do and it makes you realize that we don't really have an excuse not to read when a 7 year old can do it. We figure if the kid can read scriptures it should really help his overall reading level. He really likes to read, although he is less enthusiastic to write. He still does it, reading just comes easier.
Sam has been the opposite, less eager to read but he likes to write. Peter's example has helped Sam to have more desire. Sam also was a little sick and was "milking" it a little. Poor kid looked pretty pathetic some nights. He says next time he wants to go to Scouts with his Dad. He normally only likes to trace letters, but this week he is trying to do his own letters. Peter will sometimes write longer papers and so Sam didn't want to do that. I was able to convince him to give it a trial for a week. He also likes to draw something after he does his letters.
Joe is getting more and more interest in school. We do a little preschool period in homeschool and he does well until there is talk of toys. He mostly really likes to count with everyone. On Saturday, he really surprised us when he got up and dressed himself completely. That is the first time he did it without any help. He is trying to stop sucking his thumb and I think we will have an easier time breaking the nighttime habit, but the day habit may be difficult.
Will continues to be fascinated with all power cords. We have to be careful when anything it plugged in and he is near. He always wants to plug things in and he will go from socket to socket plugging them in to different sockets. It has made us extra vigilant with making sure nothing dangerous is close enough for him to plug in. He had a little bit of a cold this week (Sam had it too) but thankfully it has passed. Now we can only hope that none of the rest of us get sick too.
The kids LOVE Legos and we sometimes have a problem because they get them everywhere. Last week when we were frustrated with them (none of their Lego guys has hands and some were missing arms) we decided to go through the entire stash and separate the men and all of their stuff out (we put them in a separate plastic bag). Turns out to have been an awesome thing to do. This week when they played they rarely made a mess. So that was a nice change. Part of it is their Lego guys all become characters from Star Wars (especially since Chris bought the Lego Star Wars game).
I had my first official appointment with the midwife (before it was just a consultation). I have been really impressed with her and it turned out to be a good visit. I am going to start doing pregnancy Yoga and Pilates to help me stay in better shape and prepare for the birth. Home school went better this week and for two of the days I didn't really have any problems at all. Little by little it is becoming easier. I also have been busy changing our landscaping. We are trying to remove some of the heavy vegetation that was here from the previous owners and plant some more productive (aka fruit) trees and bushes. This next week while Chris is gone at his hike, I hope to be able to get out and plant some flowers with the kids where I took some things out. I should be getting some fruit trees and bushes in the coming months once things warm up a little more.
Will turns 2 on Monday and we are going to have a little party with him then.
This week has been a busy one as usual. Chris has a Court of Honor with the Scouts and Peter and Joe went with him. Joe was excited because the last time he went to a Scout activity with his Dad thhe had refreshments at the end. Chris was a little surprised (he had already told Joe he didn't think there would be refreshments) when there was a small refreshment afterwards. Joe is going to think that his Dad gets refreshments every week at Scouts. This coming week Chris has a day hike on Saturday at Stephen F. Austin State Park which is about an hour from here. It should be a fun activity and Chris is going to check out the park for us. Hopefully it turns out nice because it would be an easy place to take the kids and have a good time.
Peter has really taken off with his reading. This week he read several books all by himself and has been kicking butt on his scripture study. He reads more than some adults do and it makes you realize that we don't really have an excuse not to read when a 7 year old can do it. We figure if the kid can read scriptures it should really help his overall reading level. He really likes to read, although he is less enthusiastic to write. He still does it, reading just comes easier.
Sam has been the opposite, less eager to read but he likes to write. Peter's example has helped Sam to have more desire. Sam also was a little sick and was "milking" it a little. Poor kid looked pretty pathetic some nights. He says next time he wants to go to Scouts with his Dad. He normally only likes to trace letters, but this week he is trying to do his own letters. Peter will sometimes write longer papers and so Sam didn't want to do that. I was able to convince him to give it a trial for a week. He also likes to draw something after he does his letters.
Joe is getting more and more interest in school. We do a little preschool period in homeschool and he does well until there is talk of toys. He mostly really likes to count with everyone. On Saturday, he really surprised us when he got up and dressed himself completely. That is the first time he did it without any help. He is trying to stop sucking his thumb and I think we will have an easier time breaking the nighttime habit, but the day habit may be difficult.
Will continues to be fascinated with all power cords. We have to be careful when anything it plugged in and he is near. He always wants to plug things in and he will go from socket to socket plugging them in to different sockets. It has made us extra vigilant with making sure nothing dangerous is close enough for him to plug in. He had a little bit of a cold this week (Sam had it too) but thankfully it has passed. Now we can only hope that none of the rest of us get sick too.
The kids LOVE Legos and we sometimes have a problem because they get them everywhere. Last week when we were frustrated with them (none of their Lego guys has hands and some were missing arms) we decided to go through the entire stash and separate the men and all of their stuff out (we put them in a separate plastic bag). Turns out to have been an awesome thing to do. This week when they played they rarely made a mess. So that was a nice change. Part of it is their Lego guys all become characters from Star Wars (especially since Chris bought the Lego Star Wars game).
I had my first official appointment with the midwife (before it was just a consultation). I have been really impressed with her and it turned out to be a good visit. I am going to start doing pregnancy Yoga and Pilates to help me stay in better shape and prepare for the birth. Home school went better this week and for two of the days I didn't really have any problems at all. Little by little it is becoming easier. I also have been busy changing our landscaping. We are trying to remove some of the heavy vegetation that was here from the previous owners and plant some more productive (aka fruit) trees and bushes. This next week while Chris is gone at his hike, I hope to be able to get out and plant some flowers with the kids where I took some things out. I should be getting some fruit trees and bushes in the coming months once things warm up a little more.
Will turns 2 on Monday and we are going to have a little party with him then.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
The Holidays and 2010
Well our life has been very busy since our last post. For Christmas, we were blessed to have a lot of family here visiting for the holidays. In total, we had Chris' parents and my brother Mike here (along with their two dogs). It was nice to have so much family nearby for that special time of the year. Also we had two dogs which belonged to each set of visitors. The kids liked having a dog for a little while and it gave us a taste of what is might be like one day.
After the holidays we got back into the homeschooling year and things have been going well. Peter and Sam continue to do better. Peter likes reading better than writing and Sam is the opposite. Overall they are both improving in both. Math and other subjects continue to go well.
We also decided to have our next one as a home birth. It took a lot of thought and consideration but we are excited for the new one to get here. We still have several months, but we can't help but be anxious.
Chris has been busy with the 11 year old scouts (or Blazers) and has had quite a bit going on with that. He is also having a good time although it is sometimes hard to have him away so much. We are trying to figure out the right balance with all of that.
Hopefully we can post more often.
After the holidays we got back into the homeschooling year and things have been going well. Peter and Sam continue to do better. Peter likes reading better than writing and Sam is the opposite. Overall they are both improving in both. Math and other subjects continue to go well.
We also decided to have our next one as a home birth. It took a lot of thought and consideration but we are excited for the new one to get here. We still have several months, but we can't help but be anxious.
Chris has been busy with the 11 year old scouts (or Blazers) and has had quite a bit going on with that. He is also having a good time although it is sometimes hard to have him away so much. We are trying to figure out the right balance with all of that.
Hopefully we can post more often.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Too Long!
I am flunking at this whole blog thing. Its been a really long time since I put anything here. Here's a quick run down:
* I am pregnant with boy #5 at the beginning of May. I am hoping for a VBAC but mostly I want a healthy happy baby and as quick a recovery as possible.
* I continue to homeschool our 4 boys and I was lucky to recently get a free chalkboard and some desks from a school about to be demolished.
* I continue trying to cook from scratch, maintain food storage, and living frugally, providently... although its been really hard with this pregnancy, at first nothing tasted good, luckily we are over that now.
* Yeah for me! I am getting a manual grain grinder for Christmas and I plan on putting my boys to work helping me grind wheat and other stuff and making bread and tortillas- yum! They really want bagels, so we'll see how that goes.
* I have spent a lot of time re-arranging and organizing the upstairs to make room for company coming for Christmas: my brother and in-laws get here in 2 days!
* The kids have been involved in a local art club and have made some really neat things like soap, and candles. Fun to make and stuff we can actually use!
* We have our tree up and the weather is cold, feels like Christmas! The kids are going to get spoiled again this year, I think the grandparents have really outdone themselves this year! Wow! But with 3 sets its hard not to.
* Will likes to plug things into sockets... scary! He plugged in my hot rollers and got a little surprise- they get hot!
* Joe is a partner in crime with Will, Will can get into plenty of mischief by himself but when the two get together-- its bad!
* Peter and Sam are still best friends and are including Joe more and more. They usually make Will the bad guy. They are also doing great with school, eager to learn, curious about the way things work, love the library.
* We have had 2 weeks of overcast, cloudy, cold wet days and its been hard on the kids, too much energy!
* Peter drew the 3 sets of grandparents a drawing of our family. He even included the new baby. Too cute!
Well that's pretty much a quick recap of life at the Duffey's!
* I am pregnant with boy #5 at the beginning of May. I am hoping for a VBAC but mostly I want a healthy happy baby and as quick a recovery as possible.
* I continue to homeschool our 4 boys and I was lucky to recently get a free chalkboard and some desks from a school about to be demolished.
* I continue trying to cook from scratch, maintain food storage, and living frugally, providently... although its been really hard with this pregnancy, at first nothing tasted good, luckily we are over that now.
* Yeah for me! I am getting a manual grain grinder for Christmas and I plan on putting my boys to work helping me grind wheat and other stuff and making bread and tortillas- yum! They really want bagels, so we'll see how that goes.
* I have spent a lot of time re-arranging and organizing the upstairs to make room for company coming for Christmas: my brother and in-laws get here in 2 days!
* The kids have been involved in a local art club and have made some really neat things like soap, and candles. Fun to make and stuff we can actually use!
* We have our tree up and the weather is cold, feels like Christmas! The kids are going to get spoiled again this year, I think the grandparents have really outdone themselves this year! Wow! But with 3 sets its hard not to.
* Will likes to plug things into sockets... scary! He plugged in my hot rollers and got a little surprise- they get hot!
* Joe is a partner in crime with Will, Will can get into plenty of mischief by himself but when the two get together-- its bad!
* Peter and Sam are still best friends and are including Joe more and more. They usually make Will the bad guy. They are also doing great with school, eager to learn, curious about the way things work, love the library.
* We have had 2 weeks of overcast, cloudy, cold wet days and its been hard on the kids, too much energy!
* Peter drew the 3 sets of grandparents a drawing of our family. He even included the new baby. Too cute!
Well that's pretty much a quick recap of life at the Duffey's!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
HEB Family Homeschool Camp
We went to family camp with our homeschool group. Chris was unable to go with us so I went with a friend from church instead. We left Monday and were done on Friday then Chris and my friends husband drove up and met us at a nearby state park and we camped another day. At family camp the kids played in the sandbox a lot. We waded in the river.
They had a Zainy Olympics with silly and challeging events. Events like watermelon spitting aiming for a large bowel. Blowing a ping pong ball through an obstacle course. Balloon Volleyball and Basketball. It was a lot of fun, and challenging because our team consisted of mostly children under 10 years old.
They had a Trading Post where the kids each bring something to trade and everyone lays out their stuff and kids go around trading homemade crafts or old toys for candy or someone else's homemade toys or old toys. The kids bargain, how many star-burst for your homemade mask of Darth Vader as an example. Peter and Sam don't quite understand the concept, but they are learning.
They also had crafts that the kids got to do. One was a photo frame. The little kids painted Popsicle sticks and I helped glue them in the shape of a square and added HEB CAMP in pre-cut letters, later they could add a photo. It was very messy with the paint and Will kept unplugging the hot glue gun. Overall it was a lot of fun.
I was glad that Chris got to meet us and extend our camping a bit. The kids were excited about camp and talked non stop for a couple hours about everything they did. We spent the night Friday at Palmetto State Park and woke up Saturday to a beautiful day. We got a chance to try our hand at fishing. The kids were bored with it fairly quickly, the casting is fun but the waiting for the bit is hard. I got to catch my first fish though! Will got hungry and wanted to eat an apple. I put him in the wagon to sit and eat it. I failed to notice the distance between the river and the wagon, because moments after I put him in the wagon, the wagon started drifting towards the river and he fell in, wagon and all! Scary moments! Chris dove in after him and Will hardly noticed what happened other than he was suddenly all wet! Chris' cell phone is still recovering...
Peter's Thoughts about Camp:
What did you think of camp? It was my favorite camp I have ever been in. At Trading Post we got He-Man, Spider man, and a red Power Ranger. And I even built my favorite things at craft time. And we goed on a hike. And we have walking sticks from the hike. And we have egg cartons. We put tied feathers and beads to our walking sticks and collected rocks and things and put them in our egg cartons on our hike. I do not have to swim at family camp. I can get to the other side of the river without having to swim. I have no floaties at pools. And we goed camping and fishing. And that's all I have to say.
Sam's thoughts about Camp:
Camp was fun. I swam at camp. I made a necklace. I played in the sandbox and tried to dig a well. I saw a raccoon. I ate bacon and eggs. That's it! (time to go play)
Joe's Thoughts about Camp:
Hands raised excited: "Make a mountain!" (out of sand). Joe and Will loved the sand box.
Its a shame I didn't have a video or tape recorder when Chris came on Friday night. The kids chatted non stop and then the next day they talked even more about camp. Now its Sunday and I think they all told Chris (all at the same time) everything they had to say about camp. We had fun and it was a lot like summer camp, what you might picture a week at a camp like in the Parent Trap. We ate cafeteria style with surprisingly lots of opportunities to eat large lettuce salads with all the fixings which made the health conscious adults like me quite happy! It was a really fun week. I wished we could have camped out more with Chris, we only did an overnight stay with him at Palmetto State Park. But the kids were cranky and out of sorts and Chris couldn't stay on Monday, so it was best to leave Saturday evening. The good news is now we know of a nice place to go about 2 1/2 hours from our house--not too bad.
They had a Zainy Olympics with silly and challeging events. Events like watermelon spitting aiming for a large bowel. Blowing a ping pong ball through an obstacle course. Balloon Volleyball and Basketball. It was a lot of fun, and challenging because our team consisted of mostly children under 10 years old.
They had a Trading Post where the kids each bring something to trade and everyone lays out their stuff and kids go around trading homemade crafts or old toys for candy or someone else's homemade toys or old toys. The kids bargain, how many star-burst for your homemade mask of Darth Vader as an example. Peter and Sam don't quite understand the concept, but they are learning.
They also had crafts that the kids got to do. One was a photo frame. The little kids painted Popsicle sticks and I helped glue them in the shape of a square and added HEB CAMP in pre-cut letters, later they could add a photo. It was very messy with the paint and Will kept unplugging the hot glue gun. Overall it was a lot of fun.
I was glad that Chris got to meet us and extend our camping a bit. The kids were excited about camp and talked non stop for a couple hours about everything they did. We spent the night Friday at Palmetto State Park and woke up Saturday to a beautiful day. We got a chance to try our hand at fishing. The kids were bored with it fairly quickly, the casting is fun but the waiting for the bit is hard. I got to catch my first fish though! Will got hungry and wanted to eat an apple. I put him in the wagon to sit and eat it. I failed to notice the distance between the river and the wagon, because moments after I put him in the wagon, the wagon started drifting towards the river and he fell in, wagon and all! Scary moments! Chris dove in after him and Will hardly noticed what happened other than he was suddenly all wet! Chris' cell phone is still recovering...
Peter's Thoughts about Camp:
What did you think of camp? It was my favorite camp I have ever been in. At Trading Post we got He-Man, Spider man, and a red Power Ranger. And I even built my favorite things at craft time. And we goed on a hike. And we have walking sticks from the hike. And we have egg cartons. We put tied feathers and beads to our walking sticks and collected rocks and things and put them in our egg cartons on our hike. I do not have to swim at family camp. I can get to the other side of the river without having to swim. I have no floaties at pools. And we goed camping and fishing. And that's all I have to say.
Sam's thoughts about Camp:
Camp was fun. I swam at camp. I made a necklace. I played in the sandbox and tried to dig a well. I saw a raccoon. I ate bacon and eggs. That's it! (time to go play)
Joe's Thoughts about Camp:
Hands raised excited: "Make a mountain!" (out of sand). Joe and Will loved the sand box.
Its a shame I didn't have a video or tape recorder when Chris came on Friday night. The kids chatted non stop and then the next day they talked even more about camp. Now its Sunday and I think they all told Chris (all at the same time) everything they had to say about camp. We had fun and it was a lot like summer camp, what you might picture a week at a camp like in the Parent Trap. We ate cafeteria style with surprisingly lots of opportunities to eat large lettuce salads with all the fixings which made the health conscious adults like me quite happy! It was a really fun week. I wished we could have camped out more with Chris, we only did an overnight stay with him at Palmetto State Park. But the kids were cranky and out of sorts and Chris couldn't stay on Monday, so it was best to leave Saturday evening. The good news is now we know of a nice place to go about 2 1/2 hours from our house--not too bad.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Peter's thoughts
I like to draw pictures of Optimus Prime. I like drawing pictures. Yesterday my Learn At Home Grade 1 book came in the mail and I’m excited to start using it. I love school. I have been learning the colors in Spanish. I have been learning to read and tell stories. I read a few books. I like to read simple books in the BOB series, they are only 6 pages and they are fun and easy. Dad read me Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I liked that book. Our DVD player can’t work anymore. I am learning about Thomas Edison and Peter Smith. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. The first light bulb was pointy like the picture. 
That’s funny to me. Peter Smith is my great great great grandfather who I am named after. Mom and I found out that Peter Smith was 3 years older than Thomas Edison. Peter Smith lived in Norway and then moved here to North Dakota, he never did get to have electricity and light bulbs in his home. I like learning about him.
This week we are going to learn about the sun and how God created the world. I am almost 7 my birthday is in a few months. When I am 8, I am going to get baptized. I am excited and I am also going to get my own set of scriptures when I am baptized, they are going to be 2 books, one is the Bible and one is the Book of Mormon. I can’t wait until I am really big. When I am big I’ll take care of my family.
That’s funny to me. Peter Smith is my great great great grandfather who I am named after. Mom and I found out that Peter Smith was 3 years older than Thomas Edison. Peter Smith lived in Norway and then moved here to North Dakota, he never did get to have electricity and light bulbs in his home. I like learning about him.
This week we are going to learn about the sun and how God created the world. I am almost 7 my birthday is in a few months. When I am 8, I am going to get baptized. I am excited and I am also going to get my own set of scriptures when I am baptized, they are going to be 2 books, one is the Bible and one is the Book of Mormon. I can’t wait until I am really big. When I am big I’ll take care of my family. Peter
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Joe Likes to Wash Up!
Joey did something really cute recently. He was eating dinner and got his hands dirty so he got down from the table to go wash his hands. When he came back I helped him back into his booster seat and asked if he got his hands washed ok? Then I noticed his hair was wet, and I ask, "Joey your hair is wet, what happened?"
Then he told me that it was dirty, and I noticed his shirt was wet too and I asked about that, and he said that was dirty too. It was cute the way he kept tilting his head the the side and thinking a minute and saying, "Oh, it was dirty". It looked like he nearly took a bath! What a funny kid! We are now quite careful when we tell him that his hands are dirty.
Then he told me that it was dirty, and I noticed his shirt was wet too and I asked about that, and he said that was dirty too. It was cute the way he kept tilting his head the the side and thinking a minute and saying, "Oh, it was dirty". It looked like he nearly took a bath! What a funny kid! We are now quite careful when we tell him that his hands are dirty.
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