More Posts By Me...

Dear Wives, Mothers, and Friends, Please Click Here for more of my posts. Thanks, Kathi

Dear Home Maker Do You Know About Laines Letters

Laine's Letters Laine is one more wonderful mother that God placed in my life at just the right time to help me with my homemaking. Laine has hundreds of tips for doing things more economically, faster and with the right attitude.

She has a beautiful testimony of how she began her deep walk with the Lord and rising at 4:00 am so that she could spend that very special time with God; reading her Bible and praying.Here is a portion of her testimony: "...Once I got home from the hospital with my new born, I knew I had to do what I had promised. So I started to get up at 4:00 a.m., as this was the only time of my day that I could be alone, and I opened the Bible to the beginning: Genesis. I asked Him to show me Who He was, and not as I perceived Him to be, as I did not know Him as I should. And I asked Him to help me love Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. It was very hard for me to get up at 4:00 a.m. with a nursing baby, three other children, and home schooling. And I had always started to read the Bible before, but found it to be too time consuming and difficult to continue. But I feared God! So morning after morning I got up to be alone with Him. Soon I was growing and finding out who God was! And how much He loved me! I couldn't wait to get up and get into His Word, and many times would get up at 3:30..." Please visit Laine's Letters and learn from this godly woman. You'll be glad you did. I have learned so much from reading her letters. They are organized by subject as well as by date. When you go to her web site. If you click on the note pad you get letters from her by subject. Click on the wall picture and you get letters by date, beginning 1999 and are daily up through the year 2000 then they taper off a bit. If you click on her recipe box you will find some great recipes. Enjoy and God bless you. Kathi

Is Homeschooling Good? or Can It Be Cultish?

Dear Bloggers, I am going to open a can of worms and ask the question: Can homeschooling be cultish? I believe it could be, but not necessarily totally true. For me IT WAS. I zoned in on "The Perfect World" syndrome. I began homeschooling in sin. I began homeschooling out of fear of the world. I didn't trust in the Lord enough. I feared the evils of the school system so much that I did not trust God to help me either way: public or home-education. There I was full of fear and dread. I fretted and stewed. I did not trust. I took the reigns in my own hands and by my will I decided to embrace seperateness from the world which included: weirdness of being out of sink with normal--wearing old fashioned clothing etc., thinking the Amish were pure and wholesome and so should we, the Mennonites--same thing, the pride of "I can do it better" which we know where pride leads don't we? DESTRUCTION! not realizing that Christ should have been the center of my thoughts and motives. Homeschooling becomes very ugly when the people doing it have pride at the center along with fear of failure at its root. That's where I was. I have more to share about our journey and how God delivered me out of this. I am not saying homeschooling is bad. I have many friends who have d0ne it all the way through successfully and with right motives and have wonderful children. I am saying that it can do so much damage to the people doing it and to their children when their motives are wrong and if fear and pride rule them. Does anyone else out there feel the way I do or am I alone? Please comment and share your stories. Thank you, Kathi

Chore Charts: A Mother's Helper

Please Visit: My other blog http://featheringnest.blogspot.com/ This is a "Chore Chart." When my three big kids were young I home-schooled them. Life was busy and I needed a chore chart for each child to keep them structured. I got the original kit from Noble Publishing about 12 years ago. I modified it for my children.
Here's how I did it. I got poster board and drew lines with black marker according to how I wanted it set up. I used Velcro with the sticky back side and placed a piece of the rough side on my boards.
I made copies of the little pictures, colored them and glued them onto card stock. I put clear shelf paper or laminate on top to protect them, and placed the soft side of the Velcro on each card.
The original Chore Chart set came with the above pictures. I found it necessary to add to these pictures because I wanted to make them suited to our family. Because I had three children at the time, I needed to make one for each child. At the end of the week, if the children were faithful in doing the things on the chart daily, they got to spend "Mom Money" which I will show in a second.
I found out recently that the laundry photos embarrassed my daughter Victoria. She didn't want any friends who came over to see that. I had no idea. Once in while we'd have a field trip planned so I made those cards.
They didn't have a home-school card so I made that, and since we participated in AWANA, I made those.
My kids were on a chess team so each one got that card to show that they had to practice with each other 5 times a day, or that they had chess class, or a tournament.
I took plain old Monopoly money, added shiny stickers (to make them more special) and covered them in clear plastic.
An easier method for a chore chart is this paper, which also originally came from Noble Publishing. I also, modified this. I wanted to show that teeth were brushed twice a day and added read the Bible.
This is the completed paper chore chart with stickers for doing the chores.
This is my "Mommy Store." One item may be purchased per week at the cost of $7 "Mom Dollars." "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 Please go to Feathering My Nest for more of my posts. Thanks, Kathi

Quick Dinner For Busy Mothers

This is one of the meals I fix on Wednesday nights, as this is the longest day for me. I'll tell you why in second.

I got these frozen chicken tenders at COSTCO, which is like Sam's Club. I do visit this store about once a month. You bake these already breaded pieces of chicken for about 20 min. at 425 degrees.
Use this really tasty dipping sauce on the side called Sweet Chili Sauce for Chicken. Open a bag of lettuce and add tomatoes and cukes, and you have a meal. Okay okay... I am not sure that this is the healiest meal, but it will keep body and soul alive and it will keep busy Mom from getting stressed out.
This is me with my friend Dawn. We sit in the nursery at church and pray together for our children every Wednesday night, while they are attending youth group. We get to church at 6:00 pm, and don't leave until close to 9:00 pm. We both own a copy of Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian and we use it as our guide. I thank God for my prayer partner, Dawn. We have seen God answer so many prayers. There have been miracles and complete turn arounds with our kids. "The fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16. I encourage you to ask the Lord for a prayer partner, if you don't already have one. You will be blessed indeed. Have a blessed day, my dear blogging friends.

God Heard ~ A Mother's Wish

Have you ever been humbled to tears by a mere remark and facial expression? Once, years ago, I took my children to a pond for a picnic. As I sat there enjoying every moment with my children, a car drove past on the gravel road. A woman flatly stated that I was on private property. I apologized and got up to leave. She scowled at me. I cried silently and hid the tears from my children. I quickly told the children that we needed to go to the park. They sadly said, "But there are no ponds or frogs at the park, Mom." I told them I knew that, but we were not supposed to be at this place. There were no signs up to indicate private property, so I thought that it was a vacant lot, at the edge of our neighborhood.

I never prayed, but rather had the wish of having such a pond some day. Two years later we were able to buy this 80 acre farm with a creek running through it. I praise God for giving me the longing of my heart. He saw those tears that day.
I am so thankful for the frogs in this creek and the fun found here on hot days. I never dreamed that God would bless me with something I didn't ask for, but had simply dreamed of inside my heart.
I'm thankful and I hope and pray for you to have those little secret dreams that are inside your heart too, that only God knows about.
May God bless you dear blogging friends. I know that you probably already know this Bible verse and you do these things, but it's worth repeating. "Seek first His kingdom, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you..." Matt. 6:33 I truly believe that when we keep our eyes on Jesus and His Word, then we are in a position to be blessed. Not all blessings are monetary or in the form of things. Many blessings are in the form of a crisis that bring us to a place of feeling HIS presence, or in the form of an encouraging friendship. This is only one example of something that happened in my life, and it was something I didn't pray for; I only had a moment of wishing. Our real blessing is knowing HIM in a closer way. Praise HIS name, Kathi

It's Off to the Beach

Hi Dad and Mom and blogging friends, We went to the beach during spring break. I just love that icy water on my toes.

Who can resist all those flavors of salt water taffy?
The famous salt water taffy boat full of candy. It's been there since I was a child. I love stuff like this. I want my children to experience the same things I did. Off to the Oregon Aquarium:
Our daughters, Jessica, Victoria, and son Garrett, and Victoria's friend Jordan inside the shark tunnel at the Oregon Aquarium. Stacey, my husband, and our other son Harrison were having fun at the dirt-bike and thrift stores.
Garrett found Nemo.


It's tradition to go to Mo's for lunch. They have wonderful seafood. Stacey and I love it and each other.
Our son Harrison and Victoria's friend Jordan waiting for their meal. The waitress paid us the best compliment parents want to hear. She said our kids were polite and friendly. She said it's a joy to serve them. They smile and speak respectfully. Our hearts were so happy to hear this.

We are so proud of the kids. They bring us such joy.
Oh the joy of being on the beach, even if it's cloudy.
Fun, fun fun...
More fun...
There is something so intriguing and inspiring about lighthouses. We went inside and learned many facts about them.
This one in Newport is the tallest.
As you can see behind me the rocky cliffs, which the lighthouse protected ships from during the night. It reminds me of the old song, "Jesus is the Lighthouse..." Jesus protects my life from life's sharp jagged rocks and keeps me safe from ship wrecking along the rough shore. He brings my life to safe harbors. He also provides my "boat" (life) with a rudder, motor and he is an anchor. He keeps my little "boat" (life) from drifting aimlessly.
What else did we do during spring break?
Harrison invited his friends over on a rainy Saturday afternoon for an air soft war out in the muddy shady thicket. They loved it. During breaks they came into the shop to warm up and eat.
Jessica, Victoria and their friend Abby helped us serve food to the boys. They were cheerful helpers.
We served baked beans, hot dogs, Mountain Dew and cake for dessert.

We cooked the food inside the house, but kept it hot sitting on top of the wood stove.
The boys came from several high schools, church, former homeschool groups and buddies from Washington, who we knew before living here. They were one happy bunch.
I had been looking for a boom box. Did you know they are hard to find? They are out-dated. Kids want i-pods instead, so I guess they are not making them anymore. Well I love them and wanted one with a Cd player, radio and tape recorder.
Don't 'cha just love Goodwill? Yep, I found this lovely little red perfect boom box for me for just $14.99 and it works! I'm so thankful for these bargain that God brings my way.
I decided to try orzo pasta. I cooked the noodles, then added fresh flat leaf parsley, Smart Balance, grated sharp white cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese and garlic.
I tossed it all together and "Wah La." It is very yummy.
As you can see behind Stacey, the old gate broke in two. This is not good if you have six large cows in your pasture.
They got right to work and replaced it.
Stacey said he appreciates Harrison's help so much.
It's spring here on the farm. I'm enjoying all these gorgeous blooms. Have a wonderful day. Love, Kathi "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives liberaly and without reproach, and it will be given him." James 1:5