Interesting....

A few days ago Ethan asked his boss ( who happens to be a very successful business man) where he got the money to start his first business. What followed next was startling:

"I live with in my means."

All I could think of was the years and years of counseling from leaders of my church telling us over and over "stay out of debt, live with in your means. "etc....

This man is one of the most worldly human beings I have ever encountered. He is constantly telling people not to get married, wine is a HUGE passion, and his goal is simply to make more money. He doesn't even really do anything with what he has. He would be a charities dream come true.

He is also incredibly successful. I don't know if I have ever met a more generous soul in my life. We went to dinner one night and he tipped the waiter 1,000$!

I find it incredibly fascinating that his tip for success is live within your means.

We were already planning on doing it, but now we are working harder to put more money away for emergencies,investing, retirement, missions etc. (and as far as I am concerned for traveling)

If you have any suggestions for things I can do to cut costs at my house and or make money with minimal effort around here. Please leave them for me. Thanks!

Serves me right.

I was on the phone the other day for a long time.
My middle two children who generally spend the day harassing each other played nicely while I was busy.
I wrote in my journal that day that I was grateful for the lack of battles.
I wrote in my journal before I took a nap.


When I awoke from my nap I heard Victor passively saying "no, don't do that. Stop."

I then came downstairs. Caleb had escaped from his room and had slipped past me unnoticed. He and Naomi worked really hard together..... dumping pitcher after pitcher of water on my living room carpet. The room is approx 12 ft by 12 ft. They soaked nearly every inch that was not already covered by furniture. I was really mad.

Then I realised they had added dish soap.

I handed them towels. I don't know if I have ever witnessed a bigger exercise in futility in my life.

When we took the towels to the laundry I noticed there was water on the floor in the basement. It had not rained recently. That seems odd. Oh... That is because it is coming from the living room. Dripping through the floor. Filling up the empty sand box. Landing on cans of beans and boxes of spaghetti.

I sent her to bed. I sent the boys outside. I called my husband to bring home the carpet shampooer from work. Then I turned on the fan.

It sucked up a balloon.

While trying to remove the string I heard ear splitting screaming from the backyard. My younger son hit his older brother with a stick and now there is blood involved. We got out the band aids and then went to sit on the front stairs until my mom came to save me from my children and my house.

It was really amusing to read my journal the next day.

Ahhh the days of kindergarten.....

Here we are in the world of kindergarten. We pour dry beans in containers and weigh them. We learn the beginnings of reading. We get to play with the parachute and scooters. We eat snack and are thrilled to be picked as a helper. We devote great amounts of art time to dinosaurs and monsters. Our friends tell us about inappropriate acts they are doing with little girls. Wait! That isn't supposed to happen in kindergarten, or first grade, or sixth, or eleventh....

So why on earth did my kindergartner come tell me about this? This isn't supposed to happen.
I always had an idea in my head that my kid wouldn't deal with this kind of stuff. This was the kind of thing that happened to trashy families. The kind that don't really pay attention to who is with their kids or what they are doing. I am here to tell you. I happens to anybody.

I can be at home.
I can be at the bus stop.
I can go to the library.
I can go to church.
I can be at the store.

I can not ride the bus. I can not control or divert what is said there. Even if I am the best mom in the entire world I can not be everywhere. Nor would that be healthy for my children if I was to do so.

Parent of said child was less than thrilled when I informed them. Understandably. I am very proud of my son. When they came to interrogate him about what he said he stuck to his story and didn't back down or change it. This is because he was telling the truth. a

I don't want you to think I am angry at this other child. I'm not. My heart goes out to he and his parents. Someone is stealing his innocence. Children should have a time when they don't worry or think about this kind of stuff. They should have time to be innocent.


Sometimes I just don't want my kids to leave my side. They have to. I have to let them go, but that doesn't mean I am not going to try to undo damage or change situations later.

Ice cream

We had a grand adventure tonight. Ethan came home "early", as in before 7. He had done a bit of shopping on the way home. Ice cream making stuffs. Graham cracker ice cream is an Eberle family tradition. Tradition meaning any time there is a gathering that is at Peg/my house we make it. A few weeks ago we were discussing what we are going to do with the blueberries we are going to get this year. In the past we have made blueberry ice cream. It was quite good. You could almost pretend it is healthy. Just think of all the antioxidants! So tonight we combined the two. Yup homemade graham cracker blueberry ice cream. If you aren't jealous you certainly should be. He is a genius. It was SO good.

Another cool point is- we didn't have to buy ice. We made it on the front porch and just grabbed cups full of snow. Bet you haven't made ice cream with snow, have ya? It was a very cool experience.