Thursday, August 31, 2006

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Wonderful Wednesday

ARGH!!! I am having a rough day so I have decided to post a list of 10 things I am thankful for

1. The Lord: He is the lifter of my head, my champion, when God is for me, who can be against me?
2. My husband: How much more pleasing is his love, than wine.
3. My children: My children are a reward from the Lord.
4. My church: And we are His house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.
5. My friends: As iron sharpens iron, my friends sharpen my wits.
6. My house: For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there forever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
7. Being able to homeschool: I train up my children in the way they should go, And when they are old they will not depart from it.
8. Being able to pay our bills: My God supplies all of our needs out of HIS riches in glory.
9. The beautiful day: This is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it.
10. The laundry: God has clothed us with much and I am not anxious about our clothing.

Monday, August 28, 2006

Kaedra's xray from 8/28/06



We noticed Kaedy's back was looking crooked last Sunday so I got her in for xrays and this is what her back looks like right now. (the bright line on the left side is one of her titanium ribs, the circle at the top is her trach)

Baby boy names

Well if we have one baby boy we will probably name it Phil Layton Lynn the second. However, if we happen to have twins, we will not use that name for one of the twins. Here are the names that Michael and I have agreed on. We haven't picked middle names out for them yet, although they will probably be combinations of the ones listed. Be sure to vote in the comment section for your favorites! (not that we will pay attention, but it is fun to know what others think! LOL)

Dalton
Dylan
Emmett
Everett
Seagar, Seager
Saeger
Hayden, Haden
Hunter
Payden
Ridgely
Ryland

Just as a side note we are naming a girl (if we have one) Samantha Annalise. Annalise is from my mom's middle name: Ann, and one of my dad's middle names: Alois. (we haven't even broached the subject of what we will do if we are having twin girls....I think Michael will FREAK!! LOL)

UPDATE: I just asked Michael what he would do if we had twin girls. Michael just said I can pack a bag for him and he is going to go to Vinita (the psych hospital) and we can come visit him every other Saturday! ROFL

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Great Book

I just finished reading a novel suggested by a lady at church. The book was called The List and it is by Robert Whitlow. Mr. Whitlow is a lawyer from the South and his books are a combination of Frank Peretti and John Grisham (both authors that I love).

This book is about a covenant that was entered into during the Civil War by several families. The list was the list of families involved in the covenant. The families each contributed gold to a fund that was sent overseas and earned compound interest over all these years. The information about the list is passed on from first born son to first born son. The protagonist of the novel, Renny, is in the lineage to inherit a share in the list. The book is not only about the list and its legal ramifications and issues, but, more importantly, it is about Renny's relationship with God.

What I especially like about the book is firstly, that the author is obviously spirit-filled and secondly, it is about spiritual warfare. The book is being made into a movie which will come out in 2007: The List-The Movie.

I do have to warn, I bawled through half of the book (pregnancy hormones, I am sure) and I also lost almost a whole day of my time reading the book. Once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. Although the lawyer jargon may be a bit much for her, I have given the book to Britty to read next. I think she will like the spiritual components of it and the love story. I am definitely going to read more Robert Whitlow, but I plan on saving his books for Saturdays. :-)

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

The death of digital mama

Well, I did it. I deleted my "Digital Mama" blog. It needed to be done for 3 reasons.
1. I couldn't keep up with it
2. I don't feel like I am an expert on that subject!
3. I went to paper. Yes, I did it. I was SOO upset with the Franklin Planner software and how it messed up NOT only my info on the computer, but my info on my palm as well, that I went and bought a paper planner. The good news is: I have since gotten rid of the FP software, gone back to Outlook and am loving life (as well as my palm) again. I have to admit, though, I do like the ease of just jotting something down on paper. My paper planner has never locked up while trying to put an appointment into it or erased appointments and contacts randomly.

Well, we'll have to see where I am going from here. If I do stick with paper, I will have to get a better planner. The one I have is the bare bones version and I will need more than that. I may go back to my palm, now that I am back using Outlook, and see how that goes. Time will tell, as well as some trial runs using both.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Back on IMs

I finally am back up and runing on yahoo messenger, AIM and MSN Messenger (actually I use one great program, Trillian, that runs all the different message applications for me...try it out!)

My screen name for any of the 3 is kedlynn. (MSN Messenger it is kedlynn@hotmail.com)

So now you have yet another way of getting ahold of me. :-)

Postcards Needed!

We are starting a United States unit study this week and would like to exchange postcards with people from all 50 states!! Please let me know if you could provide a postcard from your state. I would happily exchange an Oklahoma postcard, as well! :-)

Tulsa World article about My church

Broken Arrow church finds new home near Coweta
By VERONICA SCOGGINS World Staff Writer
8/16/2006

View in Print (PDF) Format


In Coweta, Our Finest Hour Church, which is also a Christian school, opened its doors about a month ago.

"We saw a need in this area for a Christian school, and there was only one word of faith out here," said Dan Zirkle, the church's administrator.

The 24,000-square-foot church built on a 12-acre property acquired from another church has cost more than $1.2 million to build, Dan said.

But that was just Phase 1. They are working on Phase 2, the sanctuary. The church needs about $600,000 to finish the main sanctuary, which will seat about 600 people.

"We are holding services in the area that will turn into our youth and fellowship area when we finish Phase 2," Dan said. "It will hold about 300, and we will have services there until we have enough members and money to finish the sanctuary."

About 200 people have attended each Sunday, Dan said.

"We've just had a great response," he said. "A lot of people are coming to look us over right now, so we've been having about 25 visitors each service."

The church started in the Central Park Shopping Center on Houston Street and Elm Place.

Church pastor Jerry Zirkle said the number of people attending has continued to grow each week.

"When I started

this, I didn't realize what it would turn into," he said. "I believe it will continue to grow, surpassing anything I ever dreamed of."

The services in the shopping center started as a Bible study with 20 or 30 people, but as it continued to grow, Jerry knew a new space would be needed.

Five years ago, he started building the church.

"I prayed about it for a long time," he said. "When I prayed about it, I said, 'God do you know how old I am?' and he said, 'You're old enough for me to trust you to do this.'

"I waited until God told me this was the right thing to do," Jerry said. "We're looking to be a blessing in this community."

A few years ago, Jerry thought he had finished preaching.

"I have preached at other churches, and I thought I was finished, but God still had plans for me," Jerry said. "It has been one of the greatest experiences of my life."

Jerry has been preaching on the radio on the Oasis Network, 90.5 KNYD, since 1986, but he's been on the radio since he was 9 years old. He named the church after the opening song to his radio program.

He is dedicated to his congregation and wants to be available to them whenever they need help, he said.

"I encourage people to set their lives apart from the crowd," Jerry said. "I want to encourage people and lead people to the Lord."

He said he can't take credit for the church's success.

"I just do what God tells me," he said. "And I have a lot of great people helping me."

The church has a school, New Covenant Academy.

"When I was a pastor at Living Water Teaching Church, Amber Wright was the principal of the Living Water Teaching School," Jerry said. "I wanted the school to continue at Our Finest Hour church, so I asked her to move the school from the shopping center to here."

The school was in the shopping center for 10 years, but relocated to classrooms inside the church.

"We would one day like to build another building for the school," Dan said.

The school, which has about 36 students, offers kindergarten through 12th grade classes. There are four teachers and a principal.

"If it keeps growing at this rate, it won't be long before we break ground," Dan said.

about me

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Pharmacy tech
2. Technical support @ AOL
3. Preschool teacher
4. hamburger flipper at college

Four Movies I have watched over and over
1. Ever After
2. The Italian Job
3. Lethal Weapon
4. Better off dead

Four places I have lived:
1. Albuquerque, NM
2. Englewood, CO
3. Garden Grove, CA
4. Broken Arrow, OK


Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Nanny 911 (or whichever one has Jo)
2. Operation Organization (is this still on?)
3. King of the Hill
4. What not to wear

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Martha's Vineyard, MASS
2. Eureka Springs, Ark
3. Munich, Germany
4. Venice, Italy

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Popcorn
2. Steak
3. baked potato
4. shrimp

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. on my farm
2. with the Zandis
3. on Martha's Vineyard
4. in bed

Four things in your refrigerator
1. Strawberry Jam
2. Baby Food
3. Pulled Pork
4. Muffin mix

Four things you have in your car
(okay, I'm changing this to what's NOT in my car????)
1. my kitchen sink
2. my pool
3. me
4. my missing library books
Tag you are it... "BLOG" a few things about you....

Monday, August 14, 2006

overheard at our house

Emily: "so what about that guy that supplies all of our needs?"

Mommy: "God?"

Emily: "no, the other one."

Mommy: "Jesus?"

Emily: "No! (exasperated) you know, that guy that comes when Daddy isn't here and gives us everything we want!!"

Mommy, Daddy and Brittany: rolling on the floor laughing (luckily Daddy knows he doesn't have to worry!!!)

Anyway, she was talking about Kent, the Respiratory Therapist that comes out once a week and brings Kaedra's supplies. However, he will henceforth be known as: that guy that comes when Daddy isn't here and gives us everything we want!!

Oklahoma Sky

I took these after prayer on Saturday night.

Friday, August 11, 2006

My beautiful girls

Friday Fifteen

Fifteen things I am happy about!

1. It rained last night and the weather is cooler! WOOHOO!!!
2. It stopped raining today so the girls can still go to Big Splash with their friends.
3. My pool is blue!! And swimmable!!
4. We are getting a handle on our laundry issue.
5. Brittany is done with 5th grade.
6. We are starting new curriculum. (I was ready for a change)
7. I got a new CD in the mail yesterday from Brandi-- Mute Math. WOOHOO
8. I get a day to plan school today.
9. Did I mention it is cooler today? It is only 80 degrees right now!! YEAH!! (that is 31 degrees less than yesterday's high)
10. Good friends
11. Kaedra is laughing up a storm at the moment...for no conceivable reason!
12. We organized and cleared out Kaedy's toys so her room is more manageable.
13. We have such a great church.
14. Every day I am being more and more refined.
15. and the thing I am happiest about?? Kaedra is healed and whole and has all her ribs and doesn't need the vent or the G-Tube. HALLELUJAH! GLORY BE TO GOD!

Good Eats

Brittany is going to start cooking one meal a week and last night was her first night. She made Pasta with Green Vegetables, breadsticks and Strawberry Trifle. The pasta and trifle recipes were in the Usborne Beginner's Cooking book. Everything was wonderful! The green veggies were broccoli, green beans, snap peas, scallions and zucchini. They were not veggies she would have normally picked, I don't think (at least the scallions and zucchini). It also had a yummy creamy herb sauce. She made the breadsticks from a refrigerated roll of breadsticks (we'll try "real" breadsticks in a few months, when she has gotten everything else down. It took her quite a while to cut the veggies up last night) The trifle was fantastic! The whip cream topping had lemon zest which complimented the strawberries wonderfully! I LOVED it. That recipe was definitely a keeper. :-)

Next week she is making a fish pot pie and a carrot cake. I am already looking forward to it! :-)

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Update on school

First and foremost, (drumroll please)

Brittany FINALLY finished 5th grade yesterday! WOOHOO!!!! :-)

I had given her two goals she had to finish before she could be considered done with 5th grade and sort of left it in her hands to figure out when she would get them done. (they were both memorization) She is scheduled to start Jr. High Youth Group at church on the 20th and I told her she couldn't start it if she wasn't done with 5th grade. I think she FINALLY "clicked" yesterday and she got cracking. She did great and she is now officially done and ready for 6th grade! WOOHOO!!!

We have a bunch of changes for 6th grade this year. Most of our curriculum is changing, we are changing what activities we do and I am changing our focus.

We have done Salvation Army's PE/Art/Cooking/Swimming program on and off for years. This year they are greatly increasing their prices so we are dropping out of that. However, we DO have fun things planned. Brittany is joining 4H this year and will also be taking horse back riding lessons! She is very excited about both of those.

As far as curriculum goes, we are trying a whole slew of new things. Some things haven't been working, some things WERE working but she has moved on and I need to change the emphasis on other things to get her ready for high school. We will be using LLATL for Grammar/Literature/Spelling. She is switching from BJU math to Saxon math because SHE said she needed more drill. (not what I would have expected a child to say!) I got her a new devotional from Kenneth and Gloria Copeland that looks terrific. We are doing a new science curriculum called Christian Kids Explore Biology. We have never done a science "curriculum" so I am excited to have a whole year of lessons laid out for us! If we like this, which I am sure we will, we are going to do their Chemistry curriculum next year. As far as history goes, we are REALLY veering off course (for those of you who know me) because we are NOT going in order this year. AAAAAH. But Brittany missed out on her state study the year Kaedy was born and I really want her to have a firm knowledge of where the states are, their capitals and their main features. Our Konos group is doing a state study this semester and we are going to join them. We are then going to go back to our regularly scheduled history. (lol) The only thing we are really keeping is Latina Christiana which we didn't get through last year. We are going to concentrate more on writing this year, memorization, vocabulary, and notebooking. She is also going to get grades! (up until now she has just had to keep redoing her work until she made an A+)

We also have Emmy starting this year. She is officially in Kindergarten. I don't really know her learning style yet, so we are trying a few different things to see what works.

Anyway, today we are going to work on getting the schoolroom back in order and getting a schedule made, etc.

I am really excited, though, and the girls are too!

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Emmy on horse

Here is Emmy on a Shetland pony at her friend Dyllon's Birthday party. She was afraid at first, but I was SOOO proud of her for getting on and riding around! She fed the horse apples afterwards, too!



Thursday, August 03, 2006

Fitting In


You may say to God: "I never fit in anywhere."


God will reply: "Why do you try to 'fit in'
when you were created to STAND OUT!"

(copied from a Brandi's friends The Garbers)

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Pics from Britty's B'day

These were taken with my phone, not my camera (I forgot it!!!) so they aren't great quality, but you can still get the idea. :-) She had her party at Incredible Pizza with the all the girls from church in elementary and junior high and two other special friends. As you can see, it was BIIIIG....14 girls!


Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Pics of Kaedy in San Antonio

I know these are a few months overdue, but here they are!

Home improvements!

(ARGH As a side note, I keep trying to post here but it hasn't been letting me put up pictures!!! Today I can't get into myspace but I can get on here, what is up???)

Anyway, we have been doing some home improvement projects around here. I installed a new fan in Kaedy's room, installed a fan in the den (see pics below), installed a gate on our stairs and put together a new smoker for Michael. (Now he can smoke meat at home! WOOHOO!) We are done for awhile....whew. I think my drill needs a break, anyway!