What we've been up too...

I have taken a little bloggy leave of absence but I think I am back now : )

We finished up for the school year.  I am hopefully going to get my review done this coming week.  Every year I say, this is the year that we are going to do some schooling this summer but that has yet to happen.  My kids of course are thrilled about this.  The only thing that we continue is Bible (because this is not really school) and reading. 

We also had VBS.  Our church has a fabulous VBS every year!  This year it was called Sea Quest and it was about Jonah.  While they were in their classes I helped out with sorting and distributing the crafts for the younger kids.  My kids wish every week was VBS week! 

We've had company!  For the last week we have been blessed with my mom, dad and sister in laws.  My children have so enjoyed being with there grandpeeps!  They live in NC and we haven't seen them in a LOOOONGGG time.  Way too long!  We had a full house, but it was a huge blessing to have them here.  I am trying to come up with a plan to get them to move back to MD.  (Hey Mom if you are reading this, hint hint!)
The LSG house has celebrated 3 birthdays in the last month.  Yes, 3!  Little Bits, AlphaBoy and I all turned a year older.  We always let the kids choose the theme of their party, which has gotten simpler over the years.  The boys had KungFu Panda and Cars birthdays and I got a surprise party at Chevy's (my favorite Mexican restaurant)!  They even made me wear a ridiculous sombrero! 

This week we start swim lessons, another thing that my kids really look forward to! Along with our pool membership, the kids get 2 weeks of swim lessons and they L O V E it!  They are taught mostly be older teens from the swim team and they make it lots of fun for the little ones. 

So as you can see we've been pretty busy.

God is using One Little Girl...

I am sure that I have mentioned, at least once that Connie over at Smockity Frocks is one of my favorite blogger mommies, right?  Anywho, when I saw her post today I just had to share.

Her daughter Madison, who is turning 16, desperately want to build a well in Africa for people that would otherwise be drinking very dirty water. 

With all of Madison's efforts, including a bake sale, she is still shy of her $5,000 goal to build the well.  Connie has set up a Paypal account for those that feel led to donate to the Build a Water Well Fund. 

I just love how the Lord is using this young lady to accomplish His work : ) 

If it's not one thing....

I know I have been a little quiet over here.  I have not been feeling super great, I have like a upper respitory infection/cough thing going on.  On top of that lovely news I have a virus in both of my eyes, not pink eye.  Friday I went to the eye doctor and was told that in addition to taking medication for my eyes I am NOT allowed to wear my contacts for a while.  And IF I should decided to go back to them they need to be the kind that I dispose of daily. 

Did he really just say IF???  I have been wearing contacts since I was like 10.  I really do not function well with glasses on.  Truly, it is a different way of seeing and I am VERY used to my very much loved contacts.   When I told him this, he politely smiled and told me I had been spoiled. 

So, off I go for a new pair of glasses, with transition lenses because my eyes are even more sensitive to the light that usual due to this lovely little infection that I have going on. 

Once I got my new glasses I realized that the prescription was off.  I am having a hard time seeing street signs, billboards and of course my computer screen.  Yes, my computer screen.  See how I am squinting to see what it is I am typing.  No fun at all!!

Back to the doctors I went for the correct prescription and now of course that means I am waiting for my new glasses.  Prayerfully these will be better for my eyeballs.  : )

What Do Ya Think??

Did you notice anything different around here today??

There I was, going about my normal day, still dealing with sick kids and of course now being sick myself, I had decided to sit down to work on a review.  I go to my little blogspot in wide world of bloggers to find that my background was GONE!  Yes, GONE!

Ok, don't panic I try to calmly tell myself.  I decided to go to Scrappin' Blogs to see what was up, and I found a message about  Photobucket removing their backgrounds because of costs.  They are trying to come up with a solution. 

I have to admit I was a bit devastated disappointed!  I know it's just a background, but I REALLY did like that background!  So, it was on!  I had to find a new background, I just couldn't bare to leave my little blog so plain and white.

I had 2 requirements for my new background, 1) it had to have brown in it , because brown is my favorite color!  and 2) it had to be cute!

Well, how did I do?  What do you think? 

I am Just Wondering...

If anyone would be interested if I started a Fabulous Friday Giveaways Link?  Anyone else have giveaways that they would like to link up on Fridays?

By the way , if any one was wondering, we did find the rebel hamster alive and well.   The Hubs found her running through the family room and scooped her up.  I have to admit, I am not quite rejoicing over here, mentally I already had her replaced with a friendlier hamster : )  The kids are very happy to have her back!

What a Week. And it's ONLY Tuesday!

So far this week I have given myself a bloody nose, had my computer ruined by Little Bits and lost one of our hamsters.  I am ready for the weekend, is it almost here yet??

I can laugh about it now, but yes, I busted my nose Sunday evening.  How did I manage such a thing you might be wondering.  Well, the homeschool group I belong to is having their once a year used curriculum fair today and I wanted to go thru my books to see what I needed for next year.  I was in the garage pulling down boxes and one of them was an old Pampers box.  The handle broke and my hand flew up and busted my nose.  I immediately felt the blood dripping down my face.  The hubs was upstairs helping the kids get ready for bed so I go to the steps and scream up to him.  He of course doesn't hear me because the door is closed, the kids are running around and the tv is on.  I am thinking, are you serious right now, this stuff only happens to me.  I hollered again and he finally heard me.  I am a sissy when it comes to blood BTW, hence the screaming for the husband.  He comes down, hears my story, plugs my nose, and tells me he thinks it is broken.  Praise God it wasn't.  After the blood stops he cracks up and says "Ha ha!  I am going to have to facebook this one!"  Have I told you how much I love this man??!  Anyway the nose is still a bit sore but no big deal.  Who knew homeschooling could be so dangerous!

As far as the computer, I was checking my email yesterday morning while drinking morning coffee and Lil' Bits decided it would be lots of fun to take a cup of water and DUMP IT on my laptop!  HELLO, doesn't he know I need my computer, I have a blog to run!  : )
I thought it was a goner!  My friend said it would be an act of God for it to start working again.  I guess it was the Lord's will for my computer to be in working order because this morning I tried to turn it on and IT WORKED!  That was a HUGE BLESSING!  The Lord did however show me few things in the mist of this little situation.  One was that I need to seek Him before I seek my email. 

As for the hamster, did I tell you we got a third hamster?  This one is so NOT like the other two.  This one is mean & bites everyone.  We can't even hold her.  I have never had hamsters prior to now.  Beings that the other two are so friendly, I just assumed that most hamsters were the same.  Big fat N O T!!! 
I have just gotten to where I can pet her on the back for a second or two before she tries to chomp my finger off - this is a HUGE improvement.
Last night I had decided that I was gonna hold this thing whether she liked it or not.  I put gloves on, because one injury was really enough for me this week, and picked her up.  I think I held her for a whole 15 seconds and then put her back.  Evidently, I someone forgot to close the cage door last night and this morning she was gone.
We spent half the morning looking for the rebel hamster and finally gave up.  A little later I was changing Lil' Bits and there she was!  As we tried to catch her she almost got eaten by 2 of the dogs and the family room got rearranged but we were so happy we had found her!  Now ask me if we caught her??  Not yet, but hopefully, she will turn up again soon.

Don't you love it, NO yellow spelling blocks!

Random Dozen

Just for Fun!  I thought I'd do the Random Dozen.





1. What is one really fast, know-by-heart "go-to" meal to fix in a pinch?
It would have to be Chicken w/ Cream Cheese OR Feta and Bacon, which I serve over brown rice with a veggie.

2. What is one item you won't leave home without. (Purse and license do not count.)
My Cell.

3. Where is one place you never tire of visiting?
The Beach

4. Share one factoid of your family's history.
No one is getting wrote up in History books to my knowledge.  Can't really think of anything.

5. Complete this sentence: "Once upon a time I ...."
wanted to me a lawyer.

6. If you could win a one year's supply of anything, what would it be?
Panda All Natural Soft Licorice Chews, Raspberry flavor only please!  I have convinced myself that because they are "all natural" they are good for me.

7. "One quirky thing you may not know about me is ...."
This is a pet peeve of sorts.  You know those dust jackets on books to help them stay nice or look fancy or whatever.  Well, I can't stand them!  They drive me a little nuts to be honest.  I actually throw them away.  Weird, right?

8. You have one dollar in your pocket. What will you buy?
Can I hope I find a quarter and then buy some of those yummy Panda Licorice Chews? 

9. "One thing that always makes me laugh is ...."
My husband, even when he is getting on my last nerve, as husbands can do sometimes, he still makes me crack up. 

10. What is one thing you could do today to help yourself reach a personal goal?
One of my goals is that my children have a firm foundation of God's Word and that they have a personal relationship with Christ.  While I can't make the relationship happen I can be washing them in the Word each day.  Does that count?

11. What is one thing you could do today to bless someone else?
I could  take my neighbor a meal, she has been sick.


12. What is one thing you're looking forward to soon?
Summer Time!  Hangin' poolside, hopefully taking the RV and hitting the road.

Re-Introducing

When I started the blog the kids and I thought it would be a cute idea to "name" them after nursery rhyme characters but I have decided to "rename" them in a more personal way.

This is Lil' Chef.  She is 9 years old and LOVES to cook and bake anything and everything.  On most days she is the one that blesses us with breakfast.  While I am drinking my coffee in the morning, Lil' Chef is busy making breakfast for her siblings and her self.  Her favorite thing to make is waffles, and it is not unusual for her to create a work of art out of them.  Just this morning they had waffle faces with blueberry eyes and strawberry eyelashes.  

Lil' Chef hard at work, she was making chocolate covered pretzels.

I am going to call my 6 year old Computer Girl, because she loves the computer!  She really enjoys playing learning games, making computer paper dolls and playing with her WebKinz!  She has been know to babysit, make a meal and ski all on this very laptop.  I am sure that she dreams of, one day, having her very own bloggy blog and Facebook account just like her mommy : )

Computer Girl is pretending to eat a worm to gross her little brother out.  Yum-yum!

This young man is Alpha Boy!  We call him Alpha Boy because like most almost 4 year olds he is learning his letters.  He enjoys playing games with the different letters, watching the Leapfrog Letter Factory videos and reading books that focus on a particular letter.  I am sometimes amazed how many letter sounds he already knows just from the watching the Letter Factory and from playing with Mom.

Alpha Boy with his best buddies, Chestnut and Oreo!

Last but not least is Little Bits.  I could have called him the Little Climber, but I am going with Little Bits.  I have been calling him this almost from the beginning because has always been a little guy.  He is finally starting to catch up a little, but he is still my Little Bits! 

I love when me children are independent.  Little Bits was having Art Class all by his little self!

Just In Case You Were Wondering...

Since I am now obsessed really into blogging, my blog is the ocassional the topic of conversation with my hubby and my RLF's (real life friends). Last night the hubs and I were talking about the blog and he thought that Sola Gratia was spanish for something and really wasn't sure why I had chosen this title for my blog considering I speak do not a lick of it.  I was explaining to him that Sola Gratia was one of the five solas.

Then this morning my friend and I were also talking about the blog and she also thought is has something to do with espanol.  Seeing the theme here I thought an explanation might be in order.
Soooo, allow me to explain.  Sola Gratia is By Grace Alone in Latin ,God's Grace that is.  The five solas are from the reformation and they are:

1 Sola scriptura ("by Scripture alone")

2 Sola fide ("by faith alone")

3 Sola gratia ("by grace alone")

4 Solus Christus or Solo Christo ("Christ alone" or "through Christ alone")

5 Soli Deo gloria ("glory to God alone")


So, Living Sola Gratia means to live by God's Grace alone, in other words, not of me but of God.  Now that I am looking at the five solas I am thinking any of them would have made a fine blog title but Sola Gratia works for my life.  The things that the Lord has called me to do (be a wife, mother, homeschooler, keeper of my home, doer of the word, etc), the only reason that I can do any of these things is because of the Grace that Christ has given (and continues to give) me!  The scripture that I try to continually cling to is:

2 Cor 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.