The Shirt That Just Might Change My Life

Remember how I told you about Shade Clothing? Well, anyone who wants to be modest, LISTEN UP! I just got my order and I am THRILLED! I ordered this in the champagne color and it works perfectly under the dress I got for the wedding, totally appropriate, shimmery, light, flawless coverage. Not only does it look fabulous under the gold dress, I decided to try it under the strapless wonder that made me feel like a cow at my sister's wedding...guess what? IT WORKED UNDER THAT ONE TOO!!! No funky looking wrap needed! I'm doing cartwheels over here! Two totally different shades of fabric, both very fancy, and a T-SHIRT that worked under both of them! Think "Covered, but not 'covering up'".

I also got a three pack of the cami's and have to say that they are going to be sooooo versatile. They are soft and light and stretchy and thin, (but not sheer). They cover my long waist and are high enough to keep the girls from popping out, even when a whiney child is tugging on my shirt front; and an added bonus: they don't gape down under the arm either! Now I can't wait to try the under t's in all their rainbow of colors...imagine the possibilities! I could buy just about anything I think is cute, slide one of these babies under there and be totally modest, no matter how revealing the top was intended to be! I'm in love. I need one in every color. And I need them for my daughters. Especially the oldest one. This is modesty that I think even she can get on board with. You need them too, seriously, don't be afraid to spend $14-20 bucks on a t-shirt. Coming from one of the world's biggest cheapo's, that's really saying something.

The Toe Bone's Connected to the...

One more reason to love homeschool. We had a little anatomy lesson last night.

We (I) started with "tattoo's". (Shut your eyes now mother, the ink in the bloodstream thing, yeah, you toally made that up didn't you?) Then I got a bit more *ahem* creative.



That is a big old Texas fire ant bite, I just drew in the ant so she'd remember what bit her.

Then we moved on to anatomy.







But then they exacted their revenge, with the help of their father...



My cheeks are still pink from the scrubbing. The kids? They still have pink highlighter all over them!

Wow. I'm a Blog Slacker.

OK. So the semester and work has turned me into a blog slacker. I'll even admit it, I've actually had enough spare time that I *could* have posted a couple times, but I watched Grey's Anatomy instead. Yup. That's right. Total slacker.

So, for the benefit of my family, who are probably the only ones who bother even checking the old bloggy lately, I will post. I'll even upload pictures. Hope I remember how.

There have been lots of blog worthy events, trying to decide where to start is the tough part.



I took the kiddo's ice skating in February. J was not thrilled to have the skates strapped to the feet. She was happy to wander around the ice yelling "Sip! Sip! Woah! Sip!". K took to it right away and was begging for lessons by the end of the session. B was more interested in the arcade games than the actual skating. Skating is for girls, Mom.



Someone finally had her first real haircut. Right on the heels of the fake first haircut that resulted in a mullett due to a head shaking moment on the part of the irritated toddler. The real hair cut went much better than the fake hair cut.



The Hubster took me to the ballet! Yes, an ACTUAL ballet with actual ballerina's. Very talented, thin, strong, ballerina's. And ballerino's. *Shrug* Hey man, this is Texas. The picture is of Bass Hall, and yes, I realize it is just the stage, but they sort of frown on blinding ballerina's and ballerino's with picture flashies while they are leaping through the air. Take what you can get.



My Spring Break project was to paint my laundry room and make these cute little curtains. K sewed one of the edges before she got bored.



The girls decided to try on easter hats while mommy was looking for ANOTHER wedding dress. They were absolutely the bright spot in this little disaster adventure.

OK so I should explain the wedding dress thing just in case I have any blog friends left that might actually care about what I'm talking about. E, the middle boy is marrying his hs sweetheart in less than a month. I am happy for them, but I do wish they would have taken our bribe offer to elope. Then we could have avoided the ugly scene created by omitting my name from the invitations. Oh.yes.they.did. It was "all a big mistake, we just forgot", yeah-freaking-right-you-did. Much drama has ensued. I forgive my soon to be daughter in law, but reserve the right to be ticked off at her mother for an indeterminate amount of time. It's not my party, but I'll cry anyway. Whah. Perhaps wearing this smashing dress and looking fabulous next to the "real mom's" club will make me feel a tiny bit better.



I ordered a top from Shade Clothing to wear underneath the obviously too-sexay top. SO use your imagination and envision no flesh showing in the cleavage area and back coverage more than what the sheer shawl offers. I love it. And I got shoes. They are fabulous beady-covered little affairs that make me giggle with delight.





We had tons of Easter cuteness.





The worst sprained ankle in the history of the world. D did it tumbling at cheerleading. We seriously thought it was broken. She couldn't drive for two full weeks. She did it the week before easter, and it is still purple. She can at least walk on it and drive now. Poor thing.



Yup. B turned 8. My camera died during the party we had after the baptism, but I was lucky and got a couple shots before it went.



Take a good look at those brand new scriptures. Ten minutes from when this was taken they were carried into the changing area and, in typical 8 year old boy fashion, set down in the biggest puddle he could find.



Just because the B doesn't get enough blog time. He really is as adorable as the girls. Just don't tell him I referred to him as adorable. He might disown me.



This is how to cook tilapia. In a disc in oil in the backyard. Salt and squeeze on lime juice. Mamasita, who has sort of adopted us, makes us authentic mexican delicacies and brings them to us like some kind of religious offering. A very appreciated and well loved religious offering. An offering that necessitates my currently strict diet of irritating proportion that may enable me to actually wear the above mentioned dress. Pray for me.



Proof that I am busy. See. Just cake. No dragons, no teapots, no fairy mushrooms, no Blue's Clues.







I love 2. This much cuteness should be illegal.



At six, I can see where this is headed:



I know, I should totally lock her up now.



RIP little super-soft, put-upon bunny. Bad doggies, BAD. *sniff*

That's enough for now. Lets hope that Blogger will post this super long post without me having to swear and stamp my feet. I think I'll copy the whole thing just.in.case. Much love to all the fam who anxiously await the blog report who've been dissapointed these many times. And if I have any Blogger friends left, I am totally impressed and I'll be able to visit bloggies just a bit until finals start next week. I'll come back this summer for sure. I promise.

Sad Day For The Saints Here

Church Fire
This is the earlier edition. On the 7 am news the guy said it's a total loss. I hope it wasn't arson. Whenever we go to church, J is at the age that she is so excited for her "wass" that she asks us "Where Chooch?" from the moment we leave the driveway to the minute we pull in the parking lot. I always tell her the Church never moves, it stays in the same place as it was the week before. I'm so sad I have to tell them the bad news.

When I was about 7 or 8 I watched our house burn down. This feels the same to me. Funny how something like that affects you long after it's gone and forgotten by the world. I'll never forget my Grammie telling me "Stop that crying, crying isn't going to fix it." How right she was. That advice has served me well over the years.

The Texans are Coming and They Want Hippos

B: When are we going to see Grandpa D?
Me: This spring when we go to my cousins wedding.
B: Cool!
Me: We are also going to take the time to go through Yellowstone Park.
B: Where is that?
Me: Up in Wyoming, near Montanna.
B: Oh! Where they have the huge water fountains!
Me: They're called guysers.
B: Cool! Do you think they'll have hippos?

**************************************

Hubster: What is this horsie's name?
J: Thwakie
Hub: He's white, he could be whitey, and this one could be blackie and they could have a baby and name it pinky.
J: No! Dis.one.Thwakie!
Hub: What's your name?
J: Me!
Hub: Your name is me?
J: NO! MEEEEEEE!
Hub: What's my name?
J: Daddy
Hub: Right, my name is daddy and what is your name?
J: Me
Hub: Your name is you?
J: Jyeah! Me!

Homeschool Moment

The boy hates writing. Today his language arts assignment was to write a story about a pet show. To ease the whining that ensued, I offered to write down the story as he told me ad let him copy it onto his paper. Here is what we wrote:

Me and my friend D$#@! went to the pet show. There were cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, fish, lizards, hampsters, horses and their owners. I won first prize with my dog Tag. My friend D#@!$ won second prize with his cat. K won third prize with her guinea pig. K*&^% won fourth prize with her naked mole rat. We got medals and trophies.

After he wrote down the first sentence, he became discouraged and cried and whined at the top of his lungs for no less than 1 hour.

BUT.

He did finish the story, with some "minor" revisions:

Me and my friend D%$@ went to the pet show. And it was horabl. The fish were pranas the snakes bit me, the dogs chast me. The cats clad me. The lisrds were posunis. The pigs had buttid me.

He's going to hate the spelling list I give him next week.

But it is a major breakthrough in some respects. He absolutely hates coming up with stories, so, I'll call it progress.

One More Thing I Hate About PS

Well, the season of holiday cheer has come to a close and I'm here to tell you that it is followed by the season of Whining and Wailing and Gnashing of teeth. I hate Christmas break. Well, I guess to be completely fair, I like Christmas break O.K., but I do NOT like the learning hangover it leaves in its wake. I AM the meanest mother on earth. My children did school work the day after Christmas. But as the week wore on with the neighborhood children knocking at the door and the christmas treasures demanding to be played with and extra rush created by people being home to read the newspaper and thusly, our ad in the newspaper, it all added up to my determination to soldier on with lessons during the public school break being dashed into little tiny pieces. We were going to do school work every day. They get enough breaks during the year, the work isn't difficult and I want them to recognize that in REAL life, there really is no such thing as a BREAK.

So I gave in and they watched movies and played Nintendo until their eyes went all square and glazed over and they lost their minds. And I admit, the whining voices that pleaded that NO ONE else had to do school during christmas break got to me in a sort of peevish "I don't care what your friends are doing, this is what we're doing, but now I'm tired of fighting with you so have it your way", kind of way.

*sigh*

So today has been something less than stellar in terms of my ideal homeschool fantasy. You know the one where the children eagerly awake and dive right into their lessons, completing everything and then some in record time so that they will have the remainder of the day to work on their science fair project, which includes a cure for cancer AND the common cold.

Yeah. It's been more like:

Drag children out of bed by the hair at 10 am, so tired are they from playing yesterday and staying up too late.....again.

Beg and plead and yell at children to motivate them to clean up the school room which looks like an abandoned playground and crumb factory.

Start lessons.

Swear children will not have spring break if crying and whining keeps up at current level.

Fix lunch so that they will stop banging their heads on the table.

Put baby down for nap. Read history lesson because my ears are bleeding from the endless questions.

"What is 9 take away 3 Mom? I can't do it. Why won't you HELP me? I've never taken 3 away from 9 before, Mom....Mom...Mom...I can't DOoooooooo it...."

Make tape recording of the phrase "I will help you with it if you will ask me a question about something you do not understand, but I will not DO the work FOR you." because I have lost my voice.

K has long since finished her lessons, but B is still on Math. Only language, phonics and spelling to go.

Shoot me now.

Better yet, shoot the fool administrator that decided christmas break was a good idea to begin with.

Drawing on the Powers of Heaven

This little gem was written by Grant Von Harrison and for a time, was included in missionary literature, which is where my perfect BIL came upon it. I'm quite convinced this book is a big part of the reason this particular BIL is perfect. This book clearly lays a foundation for a deeper and more perfect understanding of faith and sets forth a clear and organized way of moving yourself ahead spiritually, benefitting in every possible way, both spiritually and temporally, as you go.

So, I'm going to open up a discussion here. If you have the book, or can get your hands on it, read along and feel free to participate. It will be a worthwhile endeavor. Even if you don't have it, feel free to add your thoughts.

The first chapter talks about faith. The opening statement is:
"Generally, members of the Church do not have difficulty understanding the most basic aspects of faith, such as faith that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that there is life after death, or with a general faith in the overall plan of salvation. However, many people do have trouble understanding the specific kind of faith required to draw on the powers of heaven to help them be more successful in every facet in their lives." (1)

Basically, we believe in the things we are supposed to, but have a hard time remembering that every action is moved forward by Heavenly Father. When we incorporate this concept into our prayers, and recognize that we have the power to do all things by faith (2 Nephi 1:10), we can gain confidence that Heavenly Father wants to give us all the powers He possesses as long as we put forth the effort and faith to make it possible for Him to bless us.

The book uses the example of someone wanting to lose ten pounds. The faith required to lose ten pounds is different than the faith required to gain special assistance from the Lord. If a person wants to lose ten pounds, they must motivate themselves to action by having faith in the laws that determine weight loss (eat less, move more), resolve to follow those laws, and maintain a constant effort, motivated by faith in the laws that govern weight loss. But many times in our lives, we encounter circumstances that require help from the Lord in addition to resolve and determination on our part. Basically, what I got out of reading this part, is that we should not be afraid to ask for miracles and we should get used to seeing them used to answer our prayers. Which makes sense. Every prayer answered really is a miracle, isn't it? Miracles are the Lords way of letting us know He exists, how much He loves us and how His power is limitless.

The end of the Chapter asks us to explain what is meant by the powers of heaven. I take it to mean that the powers of heaven is the power of God, which can and should be summoned to help us during our mortal lives.

It's Official

My blogging break paid off and I got a 4.0.

Go me, go me, go me.....

*happy dance*

Ahem.

Never cared about doing that before. Well, not since before I had any control over it. It's just mean to give over achieving first graders big, black checkmarks that stand for "Needs Improvement" quarter after quarter even when they TRY to control their talking and stay on task. It goes to show you how very fragile the ego is. Knowing that simple truth would probably have saved my parents a small fortune in private school tuition costs.

See? Learn something every day, don't we!

Doing the Hokey Pokey

I have been stuck in finals mode so, I seriously slacked off in the blog posting.

I do think I managed to pull off a 4.0. The one class I was borderline posted grades yesterday and I must have rocked it out on that last test. Anyhow, here is the video of the year at my house:




We will be including it with her application to Juliiard.

Feeling Joy

Something strange happens to me the moment I become pregnant. I didn't know it would happen with my first child, was in serious denial when it happened with my second child, but there was no doubt I knew what was coming by the time I became pregnant with J.

When I become pregnant, I become unhappy.

I wanted children so badly I could hardly stand to hold our close friends' babies during church. I obsessed over getting pregnant, being pregnant and how I was going to get un-pregnant. I really, really, really, wanted to have kids. What I didn't count on, was the case of the orneries I got each time I got the chance to add to our family.

With B, I was sick. So.so.so.so. sick. I was the only person allowed to use the upstairs bathroom. My softball team kept a large trash can in the dugout, which I visited several times each game. I modified my diet to consume only foods that came up as easily as they went down. Watching my body swell up like a cartoon character did not delight me as it seems to some other members of the female race. The baby moving around was cool for about a month. After that, it just felt like a prolonged case of a wierd stomach virus.

After the baby came, I was thrilled to be a mom, and with barely any chance to breath, I became pregnant with K. I was tired. Overwhelmingly, bone-achingly, w.e.a.r.y. Once she got here, I was sad and emotional. My body wouldn't respond to excersize, I felt dumpy and raving and emotionally crippled. When K turned two, I recognized a shift in my outlook. I became less over-reactive, more patient, and happier with life overall.

When I became pregnant with J, I cried for three days. Along with the discomfort of being pregnant, I also figured out that my life would be seriously tampered with and upset for the next three years. I was right. Along with all the temporal trials we underwent during that time, my own during and after baby slump was added to the mix.

I am happy to report that the slump is coming to a close. I caught myself on SEVERAL occasions this week, slowing down to relish time spent with my children. I stopped working in the yard to watch the girls push each other on the swing. I sat next to B and watched him read and helped him with his homework. I caught myself playing their games with them, watching their shows with them and doing things for them without sighing and feeling pressured to add one more thing to my already full plate. I wish I could take away every harsh word, every impatient remark and every time I raised my voice or brushed them off. I wish I could have those moments back now, when I can fully appreciate the aching lovliness of their skin, the sweet smell of their heads and the charming twinkle in their eyes. I wish I would have written down every cute word, new discovery and recorded every silly dance they ever danced. But I know I can't. I can only move forward and drink in every precious moment from here on out. Unencumbered by my funk, I can try to be the mommy they deserve and be the person they can count on.

I think I'll take extra care with J. She'll probably be the one that picks out my retirement home. (But then again, B has already promised he will build me a house next to his so I can live there and make him spaghetti. K is going to live there with me. She's getting married when she's 35 and needs a place to stay until then. Good to have a plan, isn't it?)

Creative Use of New Skillz

M, the oldest, watched the youngest three children while I worked at the office for a few hours today. I left homework open and ready with instructions that the children finish their work before they were allowed to play or watch TV. K wrote the preceeding note and stuck it to the door. Calling to M, she said, "I found a note! It says: M, do not make the kids do the homework." To M's credit, he said, "Oh! OK, well, let me take a look."


"Um, no, that's OK, Mom taught me how to read, I can tell it to you!"

Gotta give the girl credit for trying!

Love is...

Someone who cheerfully helps clean up puke at 2 am.




Someone who let's his little girl paint his nails, and wears pink nail polish for three days because he thought it was clear.




Someone who takes the kids fishing.



Someone who plays when he'd rather be napping.



Someone who teaches his kids, supports their dreams and does everything he can for them.

Someone who takes the time to celebrate his wife's birthday and Valentine's Day, even though they fall on the same day.

Someone who takes his wife on a date at least twice a month, no matter what.

Someone who does dishes, and folds laundry...and never complains about it.

We certainly are lucky to have you, dear.

Kill.me.now.

Me: I want to build the receptionist desk.
Him: Sounds good.

A week passes, we now need the desk.

Him: Dad wants to go look for a reception desk.
Me: I thought I was building it.
Him: Me too. But he says it would be easier.
Me: Easier and a whole lot more expensive.
Him: You never know.
Under my breath: *yes I do. I always know.*

Next day:

Him: I called a place and we can rent a desk.
Me: Sounds expensive.
Him: No, they'll practically give it to us and fly us to Tahiti as an added incentive.
OK, no he didn't really say that last part.
Him: They are having a huge sale this weekend, we're going.
Me: I want to build the desk.
Him: Dad will be here at 8 am.
Me: Great, he can take us to Home Depot.
Him: Scowl.

8 am:
Him: Ah, yes, here it is.
Me: Great. And only two hours of driving to find it.
Him: The sale is around back in the warehouse.
Me: Why is that big black man shouting at that little round guy? And why are all those people standing around them?
Him: (on the phone with his dad) You might want to slip your pistol in your pocket before you come in....
Me: Um. I don't see any office furniture.
Him: I'll ask the manager.
Me: I'll just stand over here and try to stay out of the line of fire.
Him: More scowling

10 am:
Him: Well, they don't have a receptionist desk.
Me: Great. I want to build it.
Him: We'll go buy the other stuff we need.

Noon:
After having gone to three more stores, FIL says to buy the desk at store number 2, Hubster says $400 for particle board is a no-go, he decides to buy a cheapo one from the store he went to earlier in the week. Cost: $189.00 plus tax.
Me: I hate that desk. I want to build a desk. I can build what I want for less.
Him: I need it by Monday. Less work this way. You can built what you want later.
Me: Less work for WHOM?
Him: More scowling

1 pm:
Salesclerk: I'm sorry sir, I'd have to order that, I sold the last one yesterday.
Me: Great. I want to build the desk.
Him: OK, we'll go to Home Depot. But I want to make it out of paneling.
Me: Paneling is going to be more expensive.
Him: Well, we'll just go see.

2 pm:
In Home Depot, mind you, I built the last desk. I designed the space for this desk, I've been thinking about what I need for 2 weeks now. The plan is to build an "L" shaped wall that has a 6' section and a 4' section, is 4' tall, with a 6' counter top as a work space, and a 6" wide ledge around the top to be used as a writing surface. Short file cabinets fit underneath. People can't lean over, the side wall prevents prying eyes from peering in from the waiting room. Simple. Brilliant. Cheap.

Him: We could put that over the front, that would be fast.
Me: That's hardwood flooring. I guess it could work, but you'd still have to attach it to something.
Him: OK, well, how about this paneling?
Me: I want drywall. It will cost half.
Him: Well, how about the counter top? We need a four foot counter top.
Me: No, we need a six foot counter top.
Him: What about the four foot section of the wall?
Me: No counter top there.
Him: Why?
Me: It would take up too much space.
Him: Well, what about the writing surface part? I want to go look at the shelving to see if there is something laminated so the writing surface is smooth. Plus, it will be fast.
Me: We can look. We used oak last time. Holy cow. That stuff is expensive. We'll go with oak.
Him: Well we only need four feet.
Me: No, we need a little over 10 feet.
Him: Only for the short section, not for the short wall!
Me: What short wall?
Him: Where the counter goes.
Me: That's not going to be short.
Him: Why not? It would be faster.
Me: Because it's not.
Him: Well we don't have to put it on the whole thing.
Me: How else are you going to finish it?
Him: Blank stare.

Much stepping off and speaking with the hands ensues. Animated explanation was presented by both sides. An understanding of the vision is reached.

Me: OK, so we need four sheets of dry wall, three for sure, but four to be safe.
Him: We only need two.
Me: NO, WE NEED THREEEEEE AT LEAST....*spoken v-e-r-y slowly*
Me: There's TWO sides to the wall....
Him: But you only need to finish one side, it will be faster.
Me: And you are going to have 2X4's on the desk side? BUY FOUR.
Him: OK, how much oak.
Me: Two peices
Him: I thought we only needed four feet.
Me: I'm going to kill you now.


5:30 pm:
Delivery of needed supplies to office. Included:
4 sheets of drywall
2 pieces of oak
8 2X4's
1 2X2
1 six foot counter top
1 bucket of joint compound
2 peices of bowl nose
Framing screws and Drywall screws.
Total cost: $182.00 with tax, and I bought a new tape measure to boot.

Basically, if left alone, I would have built the desk, painted the desk, and moved my crap into the desk in the time it took to help two grown men decide to listen to me.

I didn't yell once. And they call US the weaker sex.

Just Singing Our Little Song!

Photo Sharing

If nothing else...

I certainly do enjoy job security.





And yes, Mother, it *WAS* clean last night thankyouverymuch.

Happy Halloween!

(Man that was almost too easy! LOL)

Golly!

Don't mean to break my arm patting myself on the back, but I've been fretting over my thesis statement for my long research paper assignment for two weeks now. I finally posted my thesis:

While it has become apparent through comparison of academic test scores that home school students generally out perform their public school counterparts, until recently, very little research has been available to compare the social outcomes of public school student to those of home schooled students. An analysis of the small but growing body of evidence supporting the positive social development of home schooled students reveals that while many of the initial studies have been performed and interpreted by Christian fundamentalists, newer studies, including at least two performed by less biased professional educators, all support initial claims that most home school students are at least as socially adept as public school students, and often, they are more socially advanced, exhibit fewer aggressive behaviors and exercise better self control than children educated in the public school system.

and this was my instructor's response:

Wow. That's really good. You have added new information to discussion that is highly debated that seems reasonable and interesting. I like how you recognize the previous possible biases and present confirmation based on less biased studies. I am drawn into your paper on those tantalizing bits of information. I am very curious to see the numbers and interpretations of the studies to back this thesis up.

I'm glowing. Hee, hee!

Excitement and Freecycle

Two posts in one! LOL

The kids are excited because we got this:



And I got him from Freecycle. If you don't know about freecycle, you should check it out at www.freecycle.org. It's amazing what people give away. Sometimes you get things you didn't even know you needed! LOL The lady with the rabbit needed to find him a home and gave us everything, the cage, feeders, waterers, food, bedding and leash. I've also picked up a shampoo bowl and sink for my SIL. It's a great way to get rid of some of the "stuff" that's cluttering up your life. You never know, someone might get some use out of your old things, so before I trash, I freecycle.

I apologize for my blogging slack-iness. After a whole lot of personal drama and financial upheaval over the past three years, my husband is going back into business for himself and we have been hard at work getting that adventure underway. You know. In my spare time. Between classes and homeschooling and baseballing. I won't even go into how the housework is suffering. But somehow, I'm keeping my head a little bit above water and each new day filled with things to do is a blessing.

DEUTERONOMY

Chapter 5:7-21.

7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.
13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:
14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
17 Thou shalt not kill.
18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
19 Neither shalt thou steal.
20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Just as we command our children thou shalt not drive fast and wear no seat belt, and thou shalt not eat ten cookies lest ye ruin thy dinner; He gave us these rules not to spoil our fun and rain on our parade, but for our own benefit and safety, and He meant every word, it isn't up to us to pick and choose which ones we want to obey.

I'm thankful for a loving Father in Heaven who gave us rules to live by, and guidelines for raising our children. Happy Sunday!