Let's "Ketchup"!

I suppose it's time for me to write a blogpost, seeing as how I'm getting about 347 spam blog comments each day with very vague and generic (but surprisingly lengthy) comments for product-selling websites.  They're onto me, you might say.  I've been a lazy blogger, but have enjoyed a productive and fun summer.  Hope you have too! :)  I've got some issues and thoughts swirling around in my brain, so I'm hoping to be more productive, writing-wise, very soon.

1. As of today, I'm 20 weeks pregnant with either a little Ruby Jane or a Theodore Gideon (we'll call him Theo).  Either option delights me... in different ways.  Certainly, our six year old daughter, Maranatha, would be utterly thrilled, complete with heart flops and chillbumps, to have a little sister.  But I love my squishy, funny, what-you-see-is-what-you-get boys... so either way, I'll really be thrilled.  Virtually every person who knows us is pulling for a girl, for Maranatha's sake, poor little girl in a sea of testosterone.  :)  We thought we'd find out last week, but the sono machine was out for servicing (what???).  Hopefully we can find out soon.
2. Projects I've been up to: I've made a lavender-scented rice heating pad and used it about a bajillion times, fixed our couch cushions (they had ripped off of the back of the couch and had to constantly be readjusted to not look TERRIBLE), and organized our family's shoe area with some Martha Stewart cubbies I found on deep discount @ Home Depot.  (We don't wear shoes in the house, so we previously just had a big ugly pile of shoes, grass, and random books/toys at the back door.)  It's felt great to be PRODUCTIVE!  I started a special board on Pinterest just to document which Pinterest ideas I've actually completed, to help motivate me to do more.  How do motivate yourself toward productivity?
3. We had a garage sale on Friday.  Saturday was a complete rain-out, but it worked out fine, as we'd already sold about 2/3 of what we had on the Friday, and allowed me to use those "free" hours to fix the couch cushions.  It felt so good to see all the "stuff" that had been clogging up one whole section of our garage walking out of our yard in other people's hands, with a little extra cash in our pockets.  
4. I've been making pumpernickel bread from my 
5. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day Cookbook
.  That method is genius.  SO easy and incredibly tasty... this is the first time I've had success regularly baking bread, because it just makes the whole thing so very easy.
6. Homeschooling this year has been entirely different than any other year we've had.  We've always done Sonlight, with TONS of reading out loud, lots of great books, and a bunch of time on the couch together.  That just wasn't practical for us this year, as I thought about the variety of ages and stages our kids are at, so we've been using something I previously snobbily sneered at: workbooks.  LOL.  And it's going great!  We're still reading aloud-- some --but the great majority of their subject learning is happening via workbooks. The kids are each making solid progress and I've definitely come to see that God gives grace and kindness in a variety of ways, in each season, as we need it.  Truly, while I intellectually believed it before, I am seeing in practice that there is not one right "formula" and that we each have to do the best with what we have and trust God for the increase.
7. Our ladies' Bible study this fall has been going through True Woman 101: Divine Design: An Eight-Week Study on Biblical Womanhood (True Woman) and it has been phenomenal.  It has been so exciting to see women synthesizing the truth about the culture we live in and where it deviates from what Scripture says about why God made men and women, and the ways we are different, by design. 
8. I've been going through Scripture from the beginning, looking at how Godly people interact in ungodly cultures.  That theme has existed from Genesis 3 onward, and I have already noticed some interesting things.  I've also been reading through John, looking at Jesus & the way He interacted/spoke with people around him.  That, too, has been incredibly insightful.  The first thing I noticed, for example, was that Jesus' first question recorded in John is "What is it you are seeking?"  It's a good question for all of us to think about.  What is is, if I try to look at my life in an unbiased way, that I'm seeking?  What am I pursuing?  What is it that I sacrifice to obtain?  What am I looking for?

What's been happening with you?  Any comments/thoughts on any of the above?  

As always, this blog fluctuates and flows according to how often I'm able to sit down and write, but with the outdoor-summer season ending, and with being home more often during the days, I'm foreseeing more opportunities for writing in the near future.  

Hope you'll continue to join me as we thoughtfully interact with Scripture & culture as Christian women. :)