Happy Birthday Rachel

I just wanted to say Happy Happy Birthday Rachel. Rachel is the kind of friend that someone can depend on. WHENEVER I need help with my kids, Rachel is always there. Rachel is an example of a biblical wife and mother, always putting her family first and never faultering in the discipline of her children. Rachels home is a fun place for all children. She works very hard at serving the Lord at the Grace Baptist Church. I would have to say I want to be just like Rachel when I grow up. Happy Birthday Hon! I hope your day is as sweet as you are!!!

Heather's Wedding

Today was a very special day. Heather LeeAnn Todd was married. The day was beautiful and the weather as perfect. It is such a blessing to see two young kids just starting out in life. They both are born again Christians and want to serve the Lord with their lives and their marriage. What a blessing to see the purity and beauty in Heather's face. Congratulations Heather I know your parents are very proud of you and so is Uncle Sam and Aunt Kris.

Happy Birthday Cindy

Today is a special day for a very sweet lady in my life. My dear sweet friend Cindy. If Cindy was a friend of yours you would realize as I have, just what a good friend that she really has become. Cindy is the kind of person if you need something and she is able to help you she will. This morning was a perfect example, I needed a driver because I had to have a tooth pulled, even though it was Cindy's birthday that did not stop her from getting up early coming to pick me up and take me to the doctor. Cindy is the perfect example of what a Christian woman should look like. Cindy is always ready to cook a meal for someone that is sick, Cindy has been known to clean houses for people who can not clean for themselves. Cindy is always ready to listen when someone just needs to talk. I have never heard Cindy gossip or backbite. Cindy always finds something good to say about everyone. If you have ever been to Cindy's house you know how beautiful she has it decorated and it is always clean. I don't know anyone that doesn't like to visit Cindy's. Cindy always puts her family first, she has two teenage boys and if that is not enough, one of the boys has special needs. In our house we LOVE Zack and that is because of the way his mom has loved and trained him to live to his fullest. On top of all this Cindy assists her husband in his copier business his garden and his social life. Cindy is a good wife to Bob. I could go on all day about how my life has improved since I met Cindy. (if I don't stop I might get in trouble because Cindy is a very humble lady). HAPPY BIRTHDAY CINDY from the Todd family. WE LOVE YOU.

Happy 4th Of July

I want to take this opportunity to say, Happy 4th of July to everyone. I am very thankful for America and all the freedom that we have because of this great country. Many men have lost their lives for that freedom. We have so many wonderful blessing in our lives. The freedom to do what God has called us to do. The freedom to worship God freely. The freedom to own land and maintain a home, have our own businesses, and the freedom to raise our family the way we choose. We have the freedom to read God's word openly. The freedom to pray openly and the freedom to attend a good Bible believing church. I could go on all day about the many blessing and freedom that we have. Thank You Lord for America and the freedoms that she brings.

Happy Birthday Ashley

Today is a special day. Ashley is 19 years old. Ashley we are so proud of you. My dear friend Ashley as completed her first year of Bible College. She is a great soul winner and on fire for the Lord. Tonight we had T-bone steaks and bake potatoes with all the fix ins. We finished dinner with a wonderful chocolate cake. We had Keith, Ed, Tony, Grandma Edith and our family. After dinner we all headed to church. We have a sweet little tradition at our church. If your birthday falls on a Wednesday or a Sunday everyone in church gives the birthday girl a dollar. We were very thankful that Ashley's birthday was on Wednesday. Now we are going camping. We will be gone until Sunday in God's great nature. This is not anything that I have ever done before. If you think of me say a little prayer. God will go before us. It should very interesting to see how this turns out. Thank You for your prayers. I feel very honored to be asked to do this with my special birthday girl. We love you Ashley Jane. Happy Birthday Honey

Breakfast In Bed

I had the sweetest morning of all time. Daddy has been working so much and I have been a little extra tired these days. I happen to ask my son Quin if he would like to attempt to make coffee. He go so excited and said "Mom can I make you breakfast in bed?" I of course said sure (who wouldn't). This morning my nine year old made coffee, a bagel with cream cheese and a slice of banana bread. Don't forget the strawberries and grapes on the side. I was so touched by his kindness and he was so excited to be doing this for me. Then he said "Mom consider this a late Mother's Day gift. Isn't he sweet. I love you Quinten!!! Thank You.

This is Cute

Today in History we were talking about World War II and Adolph Hitler. The book said "In April 1940, Germany attacked and defeated Norway and Denmark. In May, Germany defeated the three small countries of Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Then Germany invaded France and defeated her." With a very serious look on his face my son said
" Mom did Hitler defeat Peter Pan?" If Hitler came up against Peter Pan who won? "Quin what are you talking about. He thought that the Netherlands was "Never Never Land" It is so cute. I love homeschooling.

A Great Big Thank You

My little four year old daughter is so blessed. She was given a gift of a life time. Paige has done nothing but play with this sweet little doll house since last Saturday when a wonderful friend from church gave it too us. Paige and I want to thank Karen Groose for her wonderful gift. Some times some one's junk is your treasure. Karen YOUR THE BEST!!! We love you.

This is Sweet

Today at lunch my heart was so filled with overwhelming love. Justin the little guy that I take care of Tuesdays and Thursdays asked Christ to be his personal Savior. My son Quinten lead him to the Lord. Quin did a great job with the Romans Road and Justin is the first person that Quin has been able to take through the entire process. Justin is 5 years old and fully understands what happened. It was so cute after Quin was all done Justin said, "Quin I just have one question? Does Jesus have a dog in heaven?" Justin has always wanted a dog and he needed to know if heaven had a dog if that was where he was going to spend forever. Justin so sweetly got saved. I'm very thankful for a husband and a church that taught my son to be a soul winner. Praise the Lord!!!

A Night of Family Fun

Today was just one of those days where everything went wrong. At 5:30am we lost power in the house and my poor husband had to take his morning shower at work. And school was not as successful as I had hoped. It just seemed like every thing that happened all day long was going wrong. I had a doctors appointment, which is never fun and we had family situations that needed to be handled. But the Lord gave our family a special blessing, we had a opportunity to go to a Harlem Globetrotters basketball game and it was so much fun. I love how the Lord always has a way of giving us just what we need on the not so perfect days. Today had a lot of "little" things go wrong, but a lot of good things happened too. This little basketball game was one of the blessing of the day. We went with the marvelous Bob and Cindy. Zack and the children get along really good and Bob and Cindy are wonderful people to spent time with. On the way home we listened to good Christian music and I was reminded weather we are having a good or a bad day, the Lord is in charge of both. The day did not start out so good. However it ended good with good friends and good Christian music. My Pastor always says "It's not how you start, it's how you finish." Well today I finished well. Thanks Bob and Cindy and thank you Lord.

Surprise Surprise!!!!!

Last night was so much fun. I had the privilege of surprising Ashley at school. This is not a easy task to do. I don't keep exciting secrets very well and she tends to find things out. But last night with the help of her room mates we pulled it off. Ashley gave her testimony at RU for the first time in public. She did a great job. She was very nervous and she thought she was going to be there all alone. At the last minute I showed up at the college and was there to support her. She was very relived and many people were very blessed. I thank the Lord for my wonderful husband who stayed with the kids so I could do this. I'm also thankful that the Lord has given me the opportunity to be a blessing in this young ladies life. Ashley is almost finished with her freshman year in Christian college. We are very proud of all the things the Lord has done in her life. We are thankful for our wonderful Pastor and his wife who took the time to encourage her to go to Christian college. I look forward to spending time with her this summer.

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UPDATES

We at the Todd household have been very busy and have found very little time for blogging. School has kept us on our toes and Paige is FINALLY potty trained YEA. Paige is excited about being in Jr. church and Kings Kids at church and she is growing up so fast. Mr. Todd has worked a 65 hour week for the past six weeks and mommy and the kids are hanging in there with out him. We are very thankful that the Lord is taking care of our family in these hard times for so many others. We are looking forward to next weekend. Mr. Todd's ENTIRE is going to Indiana to celebrate Mr. and Mrs. Todd's 50th wedding anniversary. I have mixed emotions about leaving for the weekend. We are all looking forward to this big celebration. But I am going to miss the Ladies Conference and Family day at our church. This is the only weekend everyone else on the family had available. On Easter Sunday Paige turns 4 years old. WOW it seems like yesterday we brought her home form the hospital. So many things have happened since my last post I feel like I could be typing all day but there is so much to get done today I better sign off. May the Lord bless each and everyone of you who take the time to read about the happening around here.

We Are So Excited

The Todd family is very thankful and excited. Jon and Ashley Lindahl are moving and my kids have inherited a beautiful bunk bed. Everyone is jumping for joy. My son has wanted a bunk bed since he was little. He has finally gotten his heart's prayer answered. Of course Quin wants his sister to move into his room and he wants the top bunk. Paige also wants to sleep in Quin's room now and she wants the bottom. I guess that will work out ok for a while. We are excited about our new bed and we are also excited because the Lindahl's are moving to Plainfield! New neighbors (in the same town anyway) and new beds. What a fun weekend!!!!!

Ladies Missionary Society

Tonight was our Ladies Missionary Society meeting. I had the privilege of hosting it in our home. The purpose of this meeting is to introduce the ladies to the missionaries and to give them a chance to pray for them together. We also prayed for the needs of the church and the church staff. We prayed for some of the church senior saint and shut-ins too. This was such a neat meeting. We had faithful seasoned Christians, and young adults that were baby Christians that were not even sure what a missionary was. It was such a blessing to see the baby Christians pray out loud for the first time. Seeing new Christians grow in the Lord is one of the most exciting things in the world to me. I was very blessed to see how excited everyone was and I look forward the next meeting. Serving the Lord is so much fun!

Ashley's Volleyball Skirt

Ashley has been so excited because she has gone out for volleyball. But we have had the hardest time finding her culottes for her to play in. What we were looking for was a skirt with shorts (built in) so that when she dives for the ball she is modest. This has been a real challenge. I asked several ladies at church to make them for us and no one has had the time. After lots of energy I finally found a lady on line that can make them. I was delighted. The problem was they were way to short. When we ordered them we gave the on-line person the wrong measurements. I was very frustrated. AND THEN my DEAR friend Rachel came to my rescue. I want to take this chance to tell everyone how wonderful Rachel is to me. She is such a sweet friend. She took the culottes that I ordered on-line and just looked at them and she was able to make Ashley a beautiful pair of culottes. Thank You so much for all you have done for us. YOUR THE BEST !!!! I just thank the Lord for good friends and a church family that is there for me when I need them. Oh by the way, if Ashley would have wanted me to do any sewing she would have been embarrassed by the results. WE LOVE YOU RACHEL!!!!!!!!!

Laundry

It has been quite a week at the Todd household. There is always a lot to be done. This morning I woke up to many loads of laundry. Sometimes this can be overwhelming at least to me. Laundry is not my favorite household chore but of course it needs to be done. I made the comment to my children that today was going to be the day that we get the laundry caught up. My daughter is so cute, she is only three, Paige says "Mommy I can help you with the laundry" And that is exactly what she did. Paige took all the clothes out of the dryer, helped me put the wet clothes in the dryer and then handed me the next sorted load. Now I think that we should teacher her to fold and put it all away.

Quinten is very excited about his Science Fair project. School is going well and we are going to a Home School art class at the library once a month. Quin goes to an art class and Paige goes to story time during that time it is working out well. That is all the time I have for today. I'm thankful for a blessed full life. Hope all is going well for all of you.

Please Pray

Last night I received a call from my dear friend Ashley. She asked me to earnestly pray and to have all the prayer chain ladies pray. I thought I would ask all of you to pray as well for the Ben Anglea Family. Ben and his wife and two children (4&2 years old) are missionaries to Madagascar. They have been advised to leave the county and their lives have been threaten by the government there. There have been bombings and coffee shops blown up by hand grenades ect. We as Christians have been asked to pray for Ben and his family and their safety. As well as comfort for his (Ben's) parents here in the states. Pray that they will not be separated as a family and that they will be able to flee the country soon. The Bible says that the fervent prayer of a righteous man availth much. Please join me in prayer. Thank You

Grandpa's Are Wonderful

Today we are thankful for our Grandpa Bruce. Grandpa is a very important man around our house. Lately we have had the privilege to spend a little extra time with grandpa. Last Saturday Quin was able to go the Science Expo at Fermi Lab. There they had the all famous "Mr Freeze". He brakes roses in thin air using liquid nitrogen. We all love "Mr. Freeze". The science expo is lots of hands on activities and lots of science fun.

Today grandpa is taking all the grand kids that are old enough, to a Children's Concert at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra downtown Chicago at Orchestra Hall. He will be having a special lunch and a wonderful time with his grand kids. We are so thankful to Grandpa for all he has done for our children. We are so blessed that he takes the time to be involved in our children's lives. A little culture and exposer to the Arts never hurt anybody. Grandpa came over for bacon and pancakes this morning and read library book to Paige and then he and Quin left for the city. I thank the Lord for good grandparents for my children. I thank God for family and the love that they give on a daily basis. Praise the Lord for grandpa.

It Does Matter

The Lord has really been working on me this week, about the way I do things in my household. On Monday night we had a home school meeting and Preacher gave a lesson on the sorer and the seed. (Luke 7) In this parable the sower is responsible for the results of the seed. Preacher gave us the lesson of how we as home schoolers need to strive for the excellent ground for our children. There are so many little things that we are changing in our home school to strive for excellence this week. I have changed the way I pray for my children and the actions are beginning to change as well. Thank You so much Pastor Fink for that wonderful eye opening lesson.

Yesterday we watched the inauguration of our new president. I could not believe how much I was being watched. During prayer when I bowed my head, Quin bowed his head. When I clapped for different things, Quin would watch me and he would clap as well. When I stood up, Quin would stand up. You ask me what is the big deal about a son imitating his mother? Well it about the influence that God has given me in these little lives and the awesome responsibility to guide and teach them in the ways of the Lord. When I think about what God has called me to do I am humbled and overwhelmed with accountability. Ladies, it's not just taking care of our families(all though that is important) it's a responsibility to train and have a Godly positive influence on them. I thank the Lord that He has given me the responsibility and the privilege to stay home with my kids. I'm also thankful I can home school. I know there are days when I wonder if we have made the right decision to home school. But, I do know that this is what God has called me to do and I'm thankful for it.

WOW! This is Hard to Believe

Matthew L. Rzepka, CPA, CFP®; Managing Partner / Owner
"...At the local Sam’s Club, my wife purchased a 4 pack, shrink wrapped, of "The Works" toilet bowl cleaner. On the way home, in the back of our van, it tipped over, and some leaked out (about half a bottle) on the seat and the carpet because of a hole in the top of one of the bottles. The seat, the carpet and the underlying steel were all damaged. The final resolution: our insurance company totaled the van, because of the spill!
According to the insurance company and poison control, the fumes from the toilet bowl cleaner made the interior environment of the van permanently unsafe for anyone, especially young children, so we wouldn’t be able to drive the van any more. The fumes also corroded any exposed metal in the van and poison control warned over time would ruin most if not all electrical connections. After the van was cleaned and repaired to the fullest extent possible, it was still determined that eventually, the residual fumes would continue to have a chemical reaction and deteriorate anything left in the van, leaving the van completely useless and unsafe, hence the insurance companies decision to total the vehicle was made."

Now ask yourself, if the van was totaled because of the "fumes" why in the world are people cleaning their bathrooms with it weekly and breathing the fumes daily?
Because they don't know the truth.....now you do....get the word out. I'm thankful that I use green cleaners.

Happy Birthday Sam

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday. I am so blessed to have this wonderful man as my husband. He is a hard worker and a GREAT dad. His spiritual gift is peacemaking which has comes in handy on more than one occasion. Sam is always quick to see the best in everyone. He never says anything negative about any thing, no matter how bad it gets. He works very hard at this job and enables me to stay home with my children and I am very thankful for that as well. I believe that my husband loves my with a Biblical love. He will do just about anything that you ask him at any time. I can't count the amount of times he has put someone elses needs over his own. I have failed my husband so many times and he just keeps on forgiving me the Bible way. I don't know where I would be without this wonderful man. I LOVE You very much Sam. Happy Birthday Honey.

We Live in a Zoo

My kids minds never cease to amaze me. This morning when we got up for breakfast my son decided they were going to take all the stuffed animals in the house and make a zoo. Now this is not a ordinary zoo it was complete. He got on my cell phone and pretended to call all different countries and ordered animals. He called Africa to order elephants and giraffe. We then called Antarctica and asked for penguins, seals and walrus. Australia for kangaroos. We had nine different countries and every animal came for the correct county. We then stated that we needed to ask the state of Illinois to help us fund the zoo. I suggested that the zoo needed insurance in case a animal got out of control. We than had to deiced how much we were going to charge for admission. (It was $5.00) We needed cages and food for all the animals. We needed to interview and hire zoo keepers and maintenance men and security guards. I then asked my son to take out the garbage and he returned with a notice the the animal were beginning to arrive and informed his sister to start cleaning lion cages. We hung up signs giving people directions on how to get to the zoo. We stocked the concession stands with hot dogs and popcorn. The last thing my son said to me before we started school this morning was "OK mom call the radio and tell them to tell everyone about the zoo. We will give them free passes to give away. Also call Pastor Fink and tell him his family can have life times passes. His grandparents and family were given passes as well. I think that is so cute. What a imagination. I love home schooling and I love my kids.

A Busy Weekend

The Todd family has a very busy weekend. Tuesday is my husband's birthday so his family is coming over for dinner on Saturday night, dinner for thirteen is a lot of fun. Tonight we are cleaning the house and getting ready to plan dinner. There is also cooking to do and gifts to wrap. The kids are so excited and FUN is in the air. We also have packing to do and lots of laundry. Ashley is going back to Providence for her second semester in Bible college (we are so proud of her). I will post more as the week end progresses. We are also excited because my SECOND favorite preacher is coming to church this weekend. We love pastor Fink but we really like pastor Gray too. A busy weekend a head and a whole lot of FUN.

Kids Are Amazing

This morning durning school my son was singing a Patch the Pirate song in math class. I of course, being the teacher told him to get his work done. I said that if he knew his times tables as well as he did the music he would be a lot better off. His answer to my comment was a riot. Quinten proceed to say "Mom this is how it works, Your mind is like a computer when the hard drive gets to full you have to delete some information when I got my new CD I had to delete some of my times tables. That is a riot!