A Story

This is a story written by my 8 year old daughter...

I changed nothing in the typing of this story.

Enjoy...
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The Story How a Unicorn Killed a Lion

Once upon a time a unicorn named Furball was walking in grass when suddenly she heard a loud "Roaoaoar!". It was a lion! She was so frightened, that her front legs went up in the air. Then she made a loud "Neigh!"! That made her friend, Jesie come. She said, "Let's neigh and get Caroline, Princesess, and Jesica." So they made a huge "Neiiiigh!" and Caroline, Princesess, and Jesica came. Caroline knew what to do. The lion was ready to attack all the unicorns. But while he was getting ready, Caroline told all the unicorns, "We have to gallop on the lion. We will kill him like that." Then they made a humongus neigh, and galloped on the lion. They squished the lion dead. The lion roared one last roar and died. They were safe! They neighed happily and went home exept Caroline. She was already home, so she went inside her garage.
The End

If You're Happy and You Know it...

When Teri Lynne asked us to write our thoughts on joy I had many rolling round in my head...thoughts that is. But I just couldn't seem to get them to make sense. I hope what is written below is understandable and encouraging to those who read.


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I wonder sometimes if that old children's song is true...If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it...

Do I, as a mother who struggles sometimes with the overwhelmingness of my task, have to walk around with a silly grin on my face and a singsongy tone in my voice? I hope not. But does that mean that I have lost my joy?

Find your joy...

When our children are demonstrating a wrong attitude we tell them, "Go find your joy." Because it is just that simple. I didn't say easy...

Joy is a choice...but it is also a heart attitude, not necessarily a facial expression.

When I think of "finding my joy", I am reminded of the chorus of this old hymn:

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face; And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.

I love the imagery of "look full in His wonderful face". Have you ever held your child's face to make sure you had their full attention? That is what I think of when I read that line. If Christ has a hold of my face (or my heart) and my FULL attention...how can I not have joy. It is impossible!

So amid the troubles and heartache of today's fallen world...I "find my joy" in my Saviours face. He has my attention and I know, in the end, the battles is already won!

To read more joyful posts head over to Pleasing to You for Teri Lynne's 100th post celebration!

Making the Best of it...

The other day I was ironing clothes for my husband and I kept finding spots. I thought I had just missed something. But upon further investigation, it was discovered that our washer was...dying. It not longer agitated, instead it would just "stir" the clothes around in the soapy water. It may have gotten smells out, but not spots, stains or anything else.

When I told my husband this his reply was, "Would you like me to go out back and find you a couple of rocks to beat the clothes with?" I smiled and said "No, an old fashion washboard will do."

The next Sunday we were in the car {which he doesn't drive that often} on the way to church and he says, "Wow, the car's really running rough." I just smiled. The check engine lights been on for over a year. It squeaks and sometimes makes a strange clanging noise. But my guy knows his cars and informs me that it's not really a big deal till it starts backfiring.

On the one hand that is comforting to know. On the other hand I can see myself sitting in car line when I happens and all the parents around me ducking for cover.

This is our life. We've lived in this little house for almost 10 years and it's about time for things to start breaking. The dishwasher died a few months back. The washer...and the dryer sounds like it's full of tennis balls...all the time. Our furnace broke early last spring and we heated our sweet love nest with portable heaters. 3 to be exact and it worked great! The shower in the master bath drips like a fountain and the fix to that involves a whole new shower. He just fixed the toilet in the other bath, which also has issues and the freezer make a loud popping noise every once in a while.

This is what we do. We make do until he can fix it or we have the money out right to get it fixed. It's the TeamBabetz way. And we laugh about it. Well, I wasn't really laughing about the washer. It's irritating not to be able to find clothes that are clean. But other than that...we laugh. My husband was saying just the other day, "Ya know, I didn't want to grow up and be like my family was." I can hear my MIL laughing as I type this because she knows he meant it in a loving way. It may not have seemed like fun at the time, having no heat and getting dressed in the kitchen by the warmth of the stove. Or cramming kids and groceries in the back of a hatchback, but if nothing else, it taught my guy that you can deal with anything... for a while. And that "making due" has gotten a bad rap over the years. It's really not so bad.

So the car is getting fixed in a couple of weeks. And I'll be dusting off the heaters in a month or two. We'll get a new dishwasher...someday. But until then I have two good hands and a couple of good helpers to choose from. Then there's that nagging shower. It will get fixed and we may get a new shower in the process. Not so bad. The Lord knows where we are and ALWAYS provides for us!

As for the washer...
The new one arrived today.

Isn't it pretty. And look...NO AGITATOR!!!

And it's so quiet...shshsh do you hear it??? I know! I told you it was quiet. Saves water and I can do bigger loads too. I may just fall in love with the laundry again.

THANKS HONEY!!!

My Baby's Business...

Today, this is what my 18 month old thinks you do with toilet paper...
But not for long...

We're getting on with the business of ... her business...

Getting her used to her throne...
And her new drawers...

{It's times like these when I feel like I'm too old to have a baby.}

But the thought of not buying diapers any more is really, really appealing to me.

Incidentally, I've didn't potty train any of my others this young... if anyone has any helpful hints I would be happy to hear them. Thanks!

Candle Wax

I love these little candles...
In a small house...
In the summer...
With sweaty little boys...
And the occasional dirty diaper...
Or
On a cold winters night...
It's nice to have the sweet smell of berries or vanilla and apples...
And the warm glow of a candle.
But when the wick runs out there's always a lot of wax left and I always felt a little...
Just a little guilty tossing it.
So...
I decided to recycle...Breaking up the wax and tossing the medal "wick holder"...
Putting the wax in a glass measuring cup inside a pan with a couple of inches of simmering water...
I slowly melt the wax...
Set it on the counter to cool just a bit...
Then I pour it back into the glass I took it from...
Let it sit just a few minutes...
Then stick a birthday candle in it. (if you stick the birthday candle in right away...it melts.)
It smells lovely.
I usually wait till I have 2 or 3 candles worth of leftover wax to melt down and it really turns out nice.
Though I've never had a glass break on me, or been burned by hot wax...
If you try this...
It's at your own risk. :)
Head on over to We are THAT Family for more WFMW ideas!

Team Colors for Free Chicken

TeamBabetz all "geared" up to get some free chicken.

We seriously need some more burnt orange in this picture. We'll have to work on that!!

Hook-em-horns!!

Corporate Worship Training

Today was the first Sunday in about a month that I was able to sit in the service and worship corporately. Just the nature of life with TeamBabetz sometimes.

My husband ushers and so when the baby, who isn't a fan of the nursery, gets chatty, I take her and our 4 year old out. The older 3 are OK to sit there by themselves but the 4 year old is still a toss up.

So there I was taking Communion in the lobby with my baby grabbing for the cup and my 4 year old wanting to know why he couldn't have a snack. I kept thinking this is nuts! Why do I not just take him to the 4 year old class and be done with it. Then my husband came and took the baby and I went back in with the boy to sit with the rest of the kids.

Teaching our kids to sit in the service is really important to us. But it is really hard. Like I said before the older 3 are fine. It's just balancing the 4 year old and the baby right now that's the issue. We are still in the stage of whispering in a normal tone of voice...you know what I mean? Holding his paper up to see if he can see the lights through it...and my favorite, kicking the seat in front of him. Ya, good times. Our goal, at this point in time, is just not to be a distraction to those around us. And with every service we inch towards sitting still and quiet. Working on paying attention comes as they get older. So I have to keep reminding myself we are still in the beginning. And we are getting there.

So if your sitting near someone who is training their young children to worship corporately...be encouraging to them. If you're easily distracted by that training... be assured we don't want to distract you any more than you want to be distracted. But we have to train them. And as with all types of training...it just takes time. And in the end it's worth all the effort.