Forester Sunseeker tour inside

The inside of Howard our RV. Howard is a derivative of the acronym HOW (Home On Wheels)! We named it Saturday.

Forester Sunseeker tour outside

This is our new RV - can't believe we finally have it! Be sure to check out the inside tour.

Marital bliss

Marriage gets some pretty rough treatment these days. Either people don't want to get married, they try to change God's definition of marriage, or they forsake marriage all together! We were watching the Closer the other night and Lt. Flynn was trying to tell Lt. Provenza that getting married leads to murder!!

Well as I celebrate 15 years of marriage I can tell you that marriage rocks. I love being married! Maybe I am one of the fortunate ones though, I was blessed with an amazing wife! Yes we get on each other's nerves from time to time and we even fight, but I could never imagine life without my wife Patsy. So in that spirit and my affection for top 10 lists I am presenting the top 10 best things about getting married (Warning this may be rated PG 13).

10. Two minds are better than one - when you have a problem another perspective and set of eyes can really help you solve it!

9. So much warmer on cold nights to snuggle with your hunny!

8. More earning power. Whether it be taxes or income or the ability to save money, two people can earn more than one. Yes the expenses are higher, but not in proportion.

7. A happily married couple makes for the best greenhouse to raise well-adjusted kids. Stats continue to overwhelmingly bear this out despite what you might see in popular culture.

6. Face it married people have way more sex than single people, even for those who have no morals!

5. A three-prong cord can never be broken, husband, wife and God together can do the impossible.

4. There is always someone who is on your side. Even when they have to help you see the other side's point of view.

3. When you're sick, you have someone to make you soup and let you sleep.

2. Marriage is one of God's best ways to sharpen us and mold us into His image, if we let Him, of course. Marriage serves as a mirror into our soul, if we are willing to look there. A good marriage should bring us closer to the point of the death of our self.

1. God created marriage before the parenthood, the church, and all other institutions. Marriage was here before taxes, football, Walt Disney World, the Bible, sin, death, pain, the United Nations and is a fixture of every culture in the world. It is one of His greatest gifts to humans, and it helps us become less selfish and self-centered, if we let it change us. It is a picture of God's relationship with His people.

Creation video

Blake. with some help from Tanner with the clay models, made this video as their first school project of the year. Their little brothers have been studying Creation through My Father's World Creation, so this was their part in helping their little brothers help learn about the Creation account in Genesis.

A Whole Nother Story

It's been awhile, but it is time for another Martin family book review. This time we look at a quirky title, A Whole Nother Story, by a quirky author, Dr. Cuthbert Soup. Once again these are based on a five star rating. Be sure to check out other reviews (look at the labels to the right or at the bottom of this post for Martin Family book reviews).

Tanner 5 stars. It was absolutely hilarious.

Blake 4 stars. I laughed a ton, but there were some places that were depressing

Patsy 4.5 stars. The only thing that was funnier than the story was the unsolicited advice at the end of each chapter.

Marty 4 stars. Be careful when you read this if you are drinking milk. You might squirt some through your nose you'll laugh so hard! Parents of the Christian faith might need to talk through a couple of elements with their kids, like a psychic dog and a fortune teller. Otherwise the message is very positive!

Shaving cream homeschool b

In homeschooling you can also quickly and nimbly adapt to a child's learning styles (like if one finds shaving cream messy on his hands).

Shaving cream homeschool

One of the beauties of homeschooling is that if a child is struggling with a concept you can revisit that concept over and over again and find different ways to teach that same concept until it sinks in! You can also move on quickly with concepts that are quickly learned, not lingering too long on something so the child bores of school.

Psalm 24:1

Since I first started in children's ministry I have wholeheartedly embraced the concept of Bible verse memory for kids (its great for adults too, learn with your kids!). How much more dynamic is that concept when it is initiated by dad? There is a power in fatherhood that is so often untapped. Combined with the power of God's word and it is explosive!

A little slice of Americana

There are lots of things I love about living in a little town like Cambridge. Sure you have to drive 15 minutes to a Walmart or to see a movie or to go to a nice restaurant (We do have a Subway and Dollar General in Cambridge though!). Yes sometimes the locals are a little suspicious of you, but here in Cambridge that is really not a big issue, unlike the city 1o miles to the north.

But all that is more than worth the trade off for me. I love sitting on the back porch working and hearing nothing but the cicadas and a dog barking somewhere in the distance while my kids play in the sprinkler (it is what I am doing now). I love how you can see so many stars at night and how you can tell your kids they can ride their bike or walk to the town park. I love how we have tons of flat sidewalk on our street to teach our youngest guys to ride without training wheels. I love how when you walk in the evening down the road the people you pass give you the pointer finger wave (almost a salute from the forehead).I love the small town newspaper that has a picture of your kid in it about a dozen times a year (I used to be the editor of this paper many years ago).

Today was another example of what I love about small towns. Today we went to "downtown" Cambridge for the Antique tractor show. We walked while the little guys rode in the wagon. We saw the old tractors and semi trailers and antique small engines (one of them was making "wooden nickels that some of the boys got to keep.) The three youngest sons got to participate in the pedal tractor obstacle course, where they each won a ribbon some animal crackers and a toy! There was face painting, a used everything sale and of course my wife had to stop by the library for the used book sale (she got 20 for $2). Besides the book the only real money we spent was for some ice cream and a couple of items we bought at the used whatever sale (some organization things we will use in the RV).


Everyone should live in a small town at least once in their life. It's a slice of what has made America a great nation and in some ways we all need to recapture as a nation some of the simpler things that help bring people together.

Sunset the albino ball python

Tanner got his wish of a snake for his 11th birthday! His Aunt Sue had nursed back to health an albino ball python and gave it to him! It is a lot bigger than Slidey, his old corn snake (it escaped at the hands of a little brother a couple of years ago). Now we have special clips for Sunset the python's home.