Looking Forward To The New Year

Do you have any NY goals? 

When Honey asked the question I was surprised and happy to find out that one of our sons had a long list. And one of our daughters is planning to read through the Bible in a year. 

As for me, it is 2 fold.  First of all I want to concentrate on my relationship with the Lord.  Through Bible reading and prayer, I want to have a closer walk with God. 

The 2nd is loving others.  I want to be broken and poured out.  So often I have good intentions but never follow through.  Then there are the times when I am oblivious to the needs of others b/c I'm not paying attention.  Also, my extreme selfishness gets in the way of everything. 

Once those two things are in place, I figure everything else will fall in line. 

So how about you?  Do you have any New Years resolutions, plans, or goals? 

A White Christmas

Since it's an extreme oddity around these parts I count it as an extravagant gift!

LOVE
THE
SNOW!!

We dug out the snow gear and made up some hot cocoa mix.  What more do you need?  Well maybe my new marshmallow blanket too......sooooo nice.

Remember what happened the last time we had a white Christmas?

Poor Baby Girl!

Well this time there were no face plants.  Only FUN...

Notice how much space they have?  We love it out here.  Have I mentioned that before?   Last time they had to go across the street and import snow.  This time they had more snow than they could play with.

Life with boys = snowman with legs and a gun.   Life with girls = a nice little snow village with a hotel.

The view from the back.  Isn't it pretty?

We had 2 good days of snow play.  And just when we thought it was over, there was more snow in the forecast.  We had to cancel movie night with the Awana friends and head home early.   I'd be perfectly happy with a snowed in weekend.....we'll see.

Our Christmas Our Christmas

Best. Christmas. Ever. 

The kids and I got to spend some time in Texas last week visiting all my family. 

It was a great time of.....

crafting with G'ma

shopping with Nana

talking (alot) to Gram

watching Gunsmoke with Paw Paw

watching Grandpa kill a hog

and seeing Uncle Kenny gut it 

We also got to visit with my pretty grandmother.

And for those of you who have been praying for her, she is feeling a lot better these days. 

It was good to see her smiling.

My family is so hospitable and made it a great week for us all. 

We headed home to get ready for our own Christmas. 

This year we decided to do something a little different.

When the kids came out on Christmas morning they had to follow clues to a scavenger hunt to get their presents. 

Honey made up all the clues (in rhyme).  When they found the hiding place, there was an envelope with letters inside. 

When all the envelopes were found, they dumped out the letters to unscramble the words....

Season Passes To Silver Dollar City! 

We are SOOOO looking forward to this! 

Ethan and Meg came over bright and early and didn't miss anything.

Ethan stayed until the afternoon when he left for work

but we had Meg for the whole day. 

Love my girly at home. (So does everyone else)

Presents! 

And the whole time my in-laws were a part of the action even though they are in far away Florida. 

Thank you Face Time! 

Playing all day! 

Best Silly Straw EVER! 

This was one of the presents I was most looking forward to. 

A car track on the wall. 

For whatever reason, I'm a bit sentimental about my boys and their cars. 

I love their cars.  I'll keep them forever.

And I'm perfectly happy to decorate my living room in Hot Wheels.

Later in the day the Riley family came over. 

We had decided to spend our Christmas time (and money) together by shopping the Compassion, Food For The Hungry, and World Vision catalogs. 

We drew names, dividing up into 7 teams of 2 and splitting the money 7 ways. 

Then we divided up the catalogs and shopped until the money ran out. 

We bought lots of sheep, chickens, and goats. 

Fed a hungry baby for a week. 

Bought a fish pond. 

And I don't remember what else. 

I pray the Lord will use it all to bless those who need it.  

It was an awesome day! 

And I didn't even mention the SNOW. 

SNOW!!!

That'll be tomorrow.....

Oh NO!

I just thought of something.  I went through the Christmas season without talking to my Awana kids about the birth of our Savior!  AND I have new boys this year!!

What in the world??

And now it's too late because we don't have class next week.   AWWWWWW............

I'm praying someone has told them that Christmas is more than Santa and elves and pretty trees.  I'm praying that someone will stand in the gap and pick up where I dropped the ball. 

Oh my goodness gracious. 

John 14

20 precious lives stolen in minutes.  Heart broken families, a stunned and horrified nation.

Oh God.  It is too much.

I am trying to understand (and help my kids understand) the tragedy and injustice of it all.  I weep for these families and can't get the news coverage pictures out of my mind.  The fact that I have a child that age doesn't help.  I think about how they started the day so normal, never suspecting in their wildest dreams that they'd never see their baby again.  And I've prayed that our all-knowing God blessed them with a good and loving morning before they went to school.  Why them?  It could've been mine. I'm just so sad for them.

How much longer can this go on?  When Lord?  When will You return?  When can this be done?

 But God, in His goodness, has helped me line it up with Scripture.  My regular daily reading was John 14.  I was stunned at how fitting it was.

"Let not your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God; believe also in me."  John 14:1

There is so much in this world to trouble our hearts whether it be a lunatic murdering precious children, hurting loved ones, or a busted washing machine.

But, "Let not your hearts be troubled" is not your lame think-positive-and-be-happy approach to life.  Jesus tell us exactly where to turn our hearts instead.

"Believe in God; believe also in me."
But don't the demons believe and shudder?  My commentary tells me that this particular usage of believe denotes a personal and relational trust.

This Genesis 3 world will never lend itself to an option of trusting in our circumstances, ourselves, or other people.  Things won't get better when fill in the blank.  Until the Lord returns, we will always deal with disease, loss, disaster, and sin.

Praise be to God that this is not all there is!

"In my Father's house are many rooms.  If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."  John 14:2-3

An eternal home of joy, worship, peace prepared for the redeemed who call upon The Way, The Truth, and The Life, our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Because I live, you also will live."  V. 19  (Those little ones are safe in the arms of Jesus.)

And in the meantime, the Father has given us the Holy Spirit (V 26).  God Himself, teaching us the good and helping us remember the right way.  Whenever I would struggle with something, my friend Van used to say, "I trust the Holy Spirit in you to make a good decision."  Such wisdom.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  V.27
In this fallen world we will never be free from despair.  But the Prince of Peace has offered Himself so that we have the blessing of a right standing with the Father and an eternal home prepared for us.

"Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."  John 14:27

Living Life Now

I had my first acupuncture appt this week in an attempt to get a handle on these crazy flares.  It's divided into 2 parts.  And after the first part, he told me that he would walk out and be back in 15-20 minutes.

I said, "I should've brought a book."

Then he told me that it's better not to read or play on my phone or anything else.  Just relax and rest and let the needles do their work.

Nothing to read.  No one to talk to.  Nothing to look at.  Nothing to listen to.

Just sit.  And be quiet.

Turns out I'm not too good at that.  I'm so used to having people around me.  I have my stuff to entertain me.  I have lots of books I'm in the middle of.  I have my blogging, and Facebook, and e-mail, and my phone to play with.  What in the world would I do for 20 minutes??

I tried to remember the Verse I'm trying to memorize.  I tried to pray.  But I was afraid of falling asleep especially since I had barely slept the night before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday was a busy day of Christmas-y things with my kiddos.  Meg was over.  It was full and sooo much fun.

After I got the littles to bed, I settled into my usual nighttime routine.  Reading.
But I couldn't concentrate.  I couldn't remember what I had read.  My mind was full of thinking over the events of the day.  I couldn't settle down.  I wasn't sleepy.  Did I spend my time wisely?  Did I pour into my kids like I should have?  Did I do anything to reach out to others?  Did I concentrate on what was important or was I just busy?

I spent a lot of time on my computer and phone yesterday.  Yet, I would be the first to say that I never think I have enough time to do the things I want to do.  But instead of doing what I should be doing, I distract
entertain myself with what other ppl are doing.  No, I don't spend hours in front of the screen, but if I added up all the minutes I "steal" from my life with it, I know I would be surprised at how much of my life I am wasting.  No wonder I can't just sit and be still.

Something needs to change.  I don't want to be addicted to the silliness of Facebook or YouTube, or ridiculous movies.  At one point last year, I deleted my Facebook account.  But I had some lame excuse that I don't remember for getting back on.  Today I will try again.....

My life is a vapor.  My kids will be gone soon.  I have no time to waste.

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom."  Ps 90:12

15 More Days!

And we are desperately behind.  Like seriously.

But tonight we are going on a shopping date.  Just me and my man.  Then a choir concert after that featuring some youthy peeps.  And speaking of youth, they were very good last night.

So 15 days to go and we haven't even decorated the gingerbread houses!  Or watched The Grinch!  Or made cookies!  Or hardly anything.  So this week we are ditching school and doing Christmas fun.  Meg comes over tomorrow for gingerbread housing and Grinch watching and Momma cooking.  Today we are making some salt dough ornaments or cookies....haven't decided.

Yesterday was a great day.  After church the boys and Lane went to pick up some fencing supplies at Lowes while the girls and I went to Savers.  This was a perfect combo b/c my man likes Lowes so spent a nice long time in there while the girls and I shopped.  Or maybe it wasn't such a good idea since I'm $73 poorer.  Shopping the thrift store on a non-sale day is highly unusual.  Here's to living on the wild side!

Meanwhile my boys were picking up tools and fencing stuffs to make a dog fence that is hopefully not too obtrusive on our land.  They will have access to the shed like a dog house and the whole thing will double as our chicken coop in the spring.  They are over 1/2 way done and it looks perfect.

Thanks to a good friend and his tiller, we got the strawberries in their brand new plot.  Seems late to plant anything to me but from everything I've read, it seems they should be ok if covered properly.  My boys collected pine needles and FarmerBoy bricked off the new strawberry patch.  And just in time......

It's SNOWING!!!!

Those Tricky Hearts

Awana last night was great as ever. 

My own kids were doing Christmas play practice so I only had my Awana kids in class.  Honestly, that's usually the way I like it.  But last night I was wishing they had been in there.  There was a great lesson to be learned. 

We went around the table and answered 2 questions. 

1.  What was your favorite thing in your day?
2.  What do we need to pray about?

The favorite things were silly and funny and a couple of my guys said coming to church tonight was their favorite thing.  I (heart) them. 

Last week we mostly prayed about grades, but this week it seemed most boys had a family member to pray for. 

Jayden has been to class a couple of times and I was glad to see him back last night.  He's a good boy and fits right in.  When it was his turn, he asked for prayer that his dad would get out of jail soon. 
I asked for a show of hands to see whose dad was in jail.  Half.

4 of the 8 boys in my class has a dad in jail. 

But here's where we made the hard stop.
Hayden says, "I hope my dad doesn't get out of jail.  He's mean and I hate him." 

I saw my chance on jumped on it.  We all make mistakes.  There is none of us who are perfect and never sins.  We've talked a lot about that so they are familiar with it.  Jesus came to take the punishment for sins....and our dads' sins and God is in the business of forgiveness.  We also need to forgive. 

As far as memory work went, they were mostly divided into 2 groups.  One group was memorizing the books of the Bible.  And is it any wonder that the other group was working on Jeremiah 17:9 ...
"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure, who can understand it?'

Some Thoughts From Interrupted

I've been reading Interrupted again.   It wasn't on my Christmas reading list but it just happened.  God knew I needed the refresher course. 

There are times when it's difficult to balance family life and ministry.  Especially for my man who is working a LOT.  And there is the thought of ....is the cost too high?  Are we sacrificing our own on the alter of ministry?  What needs to change?  Have we reached the time when something has gotta give? 

Today I read about broken bread and poured out wine. 
"Do this in remembrance of Me."  1 Cor 11:24 

The "do" is a continuous action.  Not only does it require a constant response, but the "remembrance" comes from anamnesis which means "to make real". 

From the book:   Communion is more than a memory, more than a reverent moment when we recall Jesus' heroic sacrifice.  Remembrance means honoring Jesus' mercy mission with a tangible, physical action since it was a tangible, physical sacrifice.  In other words, "Constantly make this real." 

Constantly make this real.  Constantly be broken and poured out for humanity....for the sake of Jesus.
Constantly is ringing in my mind. 

I felt so encouraged after reading this to think that we are still moving in the right direction.   As Richard Blackaby recently reminded me in his book, Putting A Face On Grace, grace always costs something.  Others have to be poured out for the grace that is bestowed on us.   Why should we expect a sacrifice to cost nothing? 

But we need to be in constant prayer to know how to include our kids.  Our little kids are growing up very different from our older kids.  We are in a different place in life and I can see how our older kids are a huge safeguard for our littles.   I love how they love them by helping us keep them on the right track. 

It was easier when it was just me and some of the older kids at Awana every week.  I could pour into the precious lives of my boys without a single thought of neglecting my own.  They were safe at home with Daddy and all was good.  Win win.  But now that everybody's on board, I constantly have the red light blaring in my head "DANGER DANGER DANGER!!!" 

And while I know it's wise to be aware, I also am thinking that they are benefiting in huge ways that I didn't see before.  I'm pretty sure it's the right place to be.  For all of us. 

Awana This Week

It's been awhile since I've posted an Awana update.   Last week we were on Thanksgiving break and since we follow the public school schedule that meant no Awana.  It was weird to not have something to do on a Wednesday.  And by Friday I was missing my Awana boys.  I can't go too long without my 4th grade boy fix!

Have I introduced you to Shannon?  He started coming at the end of last year having NEVER HEARD THE NAME OF JESUS!!!    So you can imagine that he's a little bit special to me.  He's been eager from the start and a quick study.  Super smart and one of the better behaved, he's a joy in my class.  He's also one of the best about keeping up with his book and shirt.

This week we prayed mostly about grades.  I guess with the year almost 1/2 over, kids are getting tired and ready for a break. I really can't believe we are almost at the end of this semester!

We talked about some of the harder words in the Verses and whose responsibility it is to make sure you have your shirt on Wednesday.  Most of the kids were studying the books of the Bible.

With over 90 people this week, Awana continues to be jam-packed and busy and full of fun!

Look What I Made!

Shampoo!  

If you've read my RA blog lately, you'll understand why.  For whatever reason all of a sudden my medicine or something is making my hair fall out.  Being off my med for 3 weeks did nothing but put my wrist in a brace.  Soooo, I needed another idea.  Any idea.  

And this is where I landed.  I figure I have nothing to lose, since I'm losing it anyway.   So I googled an all-natural recipe and  filled my Azure Standard cart. 

 A few basic ingredients....

1/2 C. water
1/4 C. liquid castile soap
2 tsp avocado oil
1/8 tsp peppermint oil and tea tree oil
1 tsp vegetable glycerin
10-15 drops lavender oil

I poured out one of my mom's cokes (funny, no?) and filled the bottle and shook it up.
I am soooo proud of it and I haven't even used it yet.

I'm not so thrilled with the smell.  Peppermint and lavender are kinda weird, but I wanted to follow the instructions the first time.

As I was making this, I was thinking that if I read this blog a few years ago I would've scoffed at the idea of making an all-natural shampoo when I can buy perfectly fine shampoo for less than a dollar.  Life has sure changed.  And I wonder if many ppl really make a vegan/natural/free-ish move unless they are forced by health issues.

I remember the first time I went to a health food store and wondered why the ppl just didn't look right.  And now I figure they didn't grow up with a dream of working at Squash Blossom, but probably had some wicked auto-immune disease they were desperately trying to control and learned a lot in the process.  Maybe??  I still don't understand why it smells so weird.

Next on the list.....deodorant and green stuff.   And  YOGA.  Yes, I know.  Yoga will solidify my crunchy status forever but I read that it can really help with RA symptoms....can it be?

So help a girl out here.  Do you know of any good yoga videos that don't have a lot of new age meditation? Is all Yoga considered Hinduism?  Can you just benefit from the exercise without all the "emptying your mind" business?  Or is there a such thing as Christian yoga?  Or is it dabbling on the dark side?  The arguments I've read about it seem flighty and stupid.  Thoughts??

Maybe I should stick to shampoo...

Inspired!

I've been reading a new book....

This family did a one year experiment to eat only food they could obtain in their own county.  Not country, but county.   There were very few exceptions....flour and oil, a few spices, and each family member chose one luxury item they could still get elsewhere.

It's super informative on the dangers of GMOs, the difference between seeds, and the benefits of eating local, organic foods both to our bodies and our soil.  Good read.

Apparently it's just what I needed to pry me out of my cooking rut.  I spent our vacation making lots of food and dirtying up stacks of dishes.  It felt good to actually be depositing something homemade into my freezer and seeing pretty glass jars of food cooling from the canner.  This week I hope to do more.

My friend at church gave us some strawberry plants.  While the weather stays warm I'm going to have Farmer Boy plant those and get them mulched for the winter.  He also gave us 4 big sacks of greens from his garden.  Lots of green smoothies and salads for us this week!   He just has a normal sized backyard but is a seasoned gardener and makes very good use of his space.

Yesterday my guys started our compost pile and worked to clean out some more of the garden.  And GUESS WHAT?!  We staked out where the chickens are going to go!!  Now we just need some fencing materials.  But since I'm not so faithful at going outside when it's cold, I'm thinking the chickens need to wait til spring.

The honey man from the farmer's market is going to work with us in February to get our bee hives started.  He said by May we should have our own honey.  Imagine!!

I LOVE living out here.

Goodbye Vacation

Wow this vacation week has flown by!  It's already the weekend and it seems like it barely started.
We had a lot of Daddy time, a lot of hanging at G'ma's b/c our dryer is broken and her's isn't time, a lot of church family, a lot of Meg time, and some a lot of sleeping in.

We celebrated Thanksgiving, did some shopping, put up the Christmas tree, worked in the yard, worked in the kitchen, and even celebrated a birthday!

Look who turned seven!

 

I finished a book, canned pepper jelly, canned green tomatoes, and cleaned my closet.

Can't we just stay on vacation?  Pleeeeeease?

Tomorrow is my get-my-act-together-to-prepare-for-church-and-school day.  I have a new crockpot recipe to try for after church.  But since we are having a Thanksgiving leftovers lunch after church then I'm going to try it out on the family for dinner.

I also have a lot of school to organize and plan for next week.  But guess what?  I have 3 new cabinets to store our current school stuff in!  No more milk crates stacked on the laundry room floor thank you very much.  And I found the 3 hole punch!  Ok, well actually Meg found it because it was AT HER HOUSE!!  After turning my house upside down and offering a reward for the blasted thing, it was at Meg's the whole time.  Now I can return the church's 3 hole punch that Ms. Linda has probably been looking for everywhere.
(Don't tell her I had it.)

My New Favorite

Vacation

A couple of weeks ago Honey casually mentioned that he took the week off.  You did!?  Great. 

And that was the end of it.  

But now that it's here....GRRRREAT!!!  

LOVE me some vacation time.  That was a good idea. 

2 days into it and I am NOT missing that annoying alarm.  In fact, everyone's been staying up late and sleeping in.  Ahhhh, vacation....

I had a bunch of peppers from Josh's garden to deal with.  With some inspiration from Atwoods, I decided to can some pepper jelly.   Some of us thought it was too hot, I thought it was too sweet,  some thought it was a wrong flavor combination, none of us thought it was great.  Oh well, moving on to green tomatoes tomorrow.  

Settlers of Catan!  My kids are gaming like crazy.  Monopoly, Clue, Battleship, you name it.  I love board games but don't always have the time to play.  I've been wanting to play Settlers of Catan since we moved. I lost, but that's ok.

Take a guess.  Give up?

It's a swimming pool for the doll house people made out of popsicle sticks.  

And these!  Cinnamon rolls all ready for my Birdy's birthday tomorrow.

Coming up....
Birthday!
Setting up Christmas tree
Thanksgiving
Spending some time with Eldest

Ahhhh Vacation!!

Learning To Crochet

Lane is such a great teacher.  Someday she's going to be a great homeschool momma!

Look how she holds her mouth when she's concentrating!

I hope to have some more pretty crocheted potholders out of the deal...

Update On Eldest

People are often asking me how Meg is doing and how we are getting along without her.

Well she is awesome. 

Loving her home, her husband, busy with school, and learning to balance it all.

I'm so grateful that she is not far away.  We are blessed to see her 2-3/wk  and her siblings get to enjoy sleepovers at her house.   This week she went shoe box shopping with us and we hung at her house last night after TKD.  She and Ethan are great hosts! 

So here is a cute note I found that she wrote when she was 5.  My momma heart melts!  I love my girly!!

Scavenger Hunt

I wanted to do something fun in the afternoon.  I looked on my Pinterest boards but either didn't have the supplies or the energy to dig them all out.  I really REALLY wanted a Thanksgiving craft but couldn't even pull together a cute coloring sheet.  Obviously crafting wasn't in the picture at all. 

So instead I put together a scavenger hunt.   (thank you Pinterest)

Something shiny

Something straight

Something round

Something beautiful

Something that makes you smile

2 kinds of leaves

Something orange

......etc.....

No Walmart sacks to be found, I gave them small paper bags and shooed them outside to find their treasures.   Everything must be found outside and only in our own yard.

Here's the things that make them smile....

A homemade dagger from the deck box.  Can you tell this girl has brothers?

A candy bar found in the grass obviously from our party the other night.

A green tomato from Farmer Boy's garden.  Of course that would make him smile.

Pine needles?  Because they are really green but they look blue.

A purple flower.

This was great fun with lots of unique finds, giggles, and good exercise.

I think this would be fun to do with each season changing up the things to find and maybe going to the park or nature center.

I Am Thankful For...

....November tomatoes in Farmer Boy's garden. 

Of Cakes And Enthusiasm

Here it is Monday again and I haven't blogged in 7 whole days!  Where have I been?
I'm turning into an occasional blogger instead of a run-my-mouth-about-everything-that-pops-into-my-head blogger.   But maybe I'm giving my reader(s) a break from too much of me...are you thankful?

Honestly I am STILL having trouble keeping up with life.  Even 3 weeks post crazy move and wedding I'm lucky to feed my family one respectable meal a day.   We just NOW as of Saturday got our last box unpacked.  And that was just b/c we were having a party and people were coming over.  We should seriously do that more often so my house will be cleaner.   Don't even ask me about my closet.  And who knows where our Wii and 3 hole punch is.   The 3 hole punch I use EVERY DAY....gone.

But this week I have a head start thanks to friends and family.

My kids helped Mr. T cater a church luncheon and came home with leftovers.   Lunch?  Yes!
He also sent home some incredible cake that is amazing.  I plan to text him later and beg for that recipe. Is it weird that I stayed awake last night thinking of what I was going to re-name it?  Because it'll never be *my* cake until I name it something different.  Here's the crazy cake naming process....

~I could name it after Amanda's baby b/c if I still lived in CO I would definitely make this for her when her baby comes.

~I could name it after Mr. T.  Or come up with something cute from the letters in his name.  No, that's stupid.

~Maybe the kids will have a good idea.  I should make it for tea time and ask them.  I hope they don't eat it all.

~I'll make it for Thanksgiving and come up with a name from that.   Maybe my standard IBC cake b/c I know they will all love it and will shun the pumpkin pie.

~Naming cakes is hard.  Maybe that's why we don't have any more kids.  Because if I can't even name a cake, I would be sure to name my kid something ridiculous.

Hmmm...maybe once a week blogging isn't such a bad thing you're thinking?

Moving on.

My mothers are coming today and bringing deer meat and chili!  Dinner? Yes!
Meg's coming too and we're going shoe box shopping together.

Wanna hear what we're doing for Thanksgiving?  My church family is having a big meal and inviting the community.  I'm so excited!!  I hope it's huge with lots of our Awana families.  How I wish BigBoy were still around!  I would give him cake...and let him help me name it.

And Christmas?  I have some ideas.  Just thinking.  I know I want to sponsor one of Jeff's kids in Haiti,
shop the Compassion catalog, and buy some Ugandan jewelry.  

So the other day I was telling my man how I much I loved him and how we should stay married forever...just for fun.  And he added that if we did that we could move to Africa when the kids are grown and do mission work.   I tell you, he is FULL of good ideas!!

My pastor has been preaching on enthusiasm and persistence.   And its one of those months in church when you sit there and wonder why he doesn't just look directly at you the whole time and say your name to get it over with.  I didn't even realize I was missing that.  I knew something was off.  But it turns out persistence and enthusiasm is what I've been missing at home and in my ministry.   God is good to point that out.  And I'm grateful for a pastor that speaks the truth.  

Ok, I'm done.   But I'll leave you with this....
"For You are a gracious and merciful God"  Neh 9:31

I've been thinking on that Verse for 2 weeks now and pondering the grace and mercy of our Lord.  And when the day isn't going the way I think it should, when I'm not moving as well as I'd like, and when nothing seems fair (rolling my eyes) then I've been going back to this truth.  That I deserve nothing but death and eternal torment but b/c of the great mercy and grace of Jesus, I hold the promise of eternal life and a tangible relationship with the God of the universe!   Yes, for You are a gracious and merciful God.

Mopeless Monday

First Monday of November!  The leaves are beautiful, the weather is cool, and my backyard is PERFECT!
We had a great weekend and now I'm looking forward to a new week.

But first...
Smiles from last week...

~light sticks!  My kids came home with a bunch of them from church.  That night when it was pitch dark, I camped out in my little boys' room and watched them battle light sticks.  And yell, and bounce off the walls, and laugh hysterically.  I love how they love each other.

~Last week we checked out the local park.  It totally made up for the lack of library.  Lots of open space, great play equipment for big kids and littles, and very clean.  We took a lunch and spent the afternoon enjoying the new fun.

~LittleMan took a huge nap yesterday and slept through church.  I stayed home with him.  When he finally woke up, I made us some popcorn and cake and we vegged out in front of AFV.  Just the two of us.

What I'm Looking Forward To This Week...

~Voting!  Lane and I are getting it done this afternoon

~A new spelling and history program to work on with my kiddos.

~Youthy cookout at our house Saturday night!  That means I have a lot to do between now and then!

Thank you Amanda, for hosting Mopeless Mondays

Cake In A Mug

Here is my favorite special treat recipe I like to make when I find myself at home with just one other somebody.

Tonight everyone went to basketball/church and left me with a sleeping beauty.

Perfect time to make a cake, right?

Here's what you need....

3TB each almond flour and cocoa powder.
2 TB honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 dash each cinnamon and salt

Mix everything together and pour into a greased microwave safe mug.  Microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes.


 Although its very nice to work with, almond flour is super pricey. Save yourself some money and just throw some almonds in your blender until they are very very fine.  Technically this is called almond meal and it works just fine in most recipes that call for almond flour.  If you have some tiny chunks that's ok.

Swipes

I have been working to assign new jurisdictions in our house.  

This house has a lot of bathrooms (yes!) so I've had to spend some time giving those some attention. 

I've decided that Little Man is now big enough to take over the everyday wiping of the boys' bathroom.  He was soooo excited to be counted responsible enough for this! 

I made a new batch of swipes.  It's been awhile since I've made these but its time. They make daily clean up a breeze and cheaper than the ones you buy at the store. 

Start with a lidded container that can hold 1/2 a roll of paper towels.  Buy something cute or recycle what you already have. 

Get good quality paper towels for this.  Bounty is fine but Viva is fantastic.  Cut the roll in 1/2,  Or ask your man to do it.  Or better yet, buy a bunch of them and ask him to do them all with his saw then you won't have to ask again for a long time.  

Mix up a solution of 1 1/2 C water and 1/2 C of whatever kind of cleaner you like.  Since this is for Little Man, I used vinegar.  Completely safe and gets the job done.   Simple Green is also good, or Pine Sol, or whatever you use. 

Pour the solution over the paper towels and let sit a few minutes.  The cardboard tube will soften and pull out.  Then you can pull the swipes from the center. 

So here's my guy hard at work.  He uses one to wipe the sink and counter everyday.  But if its not dirty enough, then he uses it to wipe the outside of the potty, or the baseboards, or the floor around the potty until it's super dirty.  

These are also nice to have in the cabinet for a super quick clean up when you're having unexpected company! 

Apparently We Are Library Snobs

When we were moving to CO the university my husband worked for generously allowed our family  to spend the summer in a dorm so we could be together.   It was a great chance for us to get introduced to the city where we were to live, house hunt, and meet some new friends. 

One of the first things I did was look up the library.  Where was it?  How do you get a library card?  When is story time? 

Within the first week of moving in we made our first visit.  OOOOhhhhhh and AHHHHHH!!!
So nice. 
It was big. It had everything!  It had self check out and a whole room for you to pick up the books they were holding for you.  There was a used book store (Be still my heart.) and stacks of free magazines.  The story time lady was pretty good. 
It was love at first sight. 

After officially moving for good Eldest and I made a visit back to our hometown.  I needed to use the internet and we went to the library.  I had forgotten how sweet and homey it was.   Perfectly adequate and very hospitable. 

Now we've been in our new house for about 3 weeks and finally made our first visit to the library.  I had asked around and heard many positive things.  I found out when story time started and we planned the whole day around it.  

Story time was filled with 2 and 3 year olds that didn't listen to their mommas and pulled all the videos off the bottom shelf.  The story time lady was mediocre at best and was dressed up like a vampire.  After sitting under Ms. Turner my kids have understandably high standards for story time and good children's literature.  They were not impressed. 

I took a walk around and toured the place hoping for at least a reasonable selection in my genre.  No.  The building is spacious alright, but not many books. 

I asked about getting a library card.  No.  I didn't bring the proper paperwork. 

It was big. It was new. But it was NOT what we had in mind.

I'm wondering how I can justify a trip to town every Monday to see our Ms. Turner. 

Ramblings Of Recently

Life has slowed down this week and I am EXTREMELY grateful.
I am feeling the freedom to just love on my family, homeschool my kids, and do the work in front of me.   The perfect weather is just that....perfect (!) for jumping on the trampoline, working in the garden, and walking the new neighborhood.

~For years now, we start most every morning with a "morning meeting".   We talk about our plans for the day, our menu, school, upcoming events, I read my Bible, we pray and talk about anything and everything before the school day begins.   This week I talked about everything from genetically modified foods, Halloween, why the history book was missing, and where the cakes went that we won on the cake walk.  Oh yes, it's good to be back in the swing of things!

~We got a new refrigerator.  We needed one.  I HATED the old one since the freezer exploded and I had to unplug it and completely clean out the thing.  Twice.  So when the lady that bought our house liked it, I was happy to leave it.

The newbie is nifty.  Our favorite part is this fancy thing on the front where you can program how much water will fill your cup.  Leave your cup and walk away and see how many dishes you can do before it gets to the 8 oz mark.  Or...you can just stand there and watch it, whatever you choose.

But it's hilarious now to hear my littles ones ask for "3 ounces of water since you're up".  Or my father-in-law to say he needs 4 ounces of water before he leaves.  (He's good at playing along.)

~What is the deal with public school fund raising?  ALL the time?  

~I have a short memory.  That's why I only make Four Minute Brownie Pie once a year.  Apparently it takes me that long to forget that the four minute part is a lie.  Four Minute Brownie Pie took me four minutes.  Plus forty one more.  I would share that recipe with you, but I don't want to be the one to promote a lie.  Besides you could make a whole dinner in that time!!

~Speaking of dinner, what do you feed your kids when you forgot that people need to eat dinner?  At our house, Raisin Bran.  And that makes me the rock star mom. 

Halloween Again

We are so weird.  And most of the time, I'm ok with it.  But for some reason, Halloween makes me feel bad for my kids not participating and having such a whacky mom that takes things to the extreme.   It doesn't take me long to get over it, but every year I have to re-examine the whole thing and remind myself why my kids can't have cute pumpkin outfits like everybody else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


We had a fun weekend of churchy fall festival type things.  Friday we visited Fellowship and got to see some old church family that we miss.  Last night was our own church's block party which is always a blast.  My favorite part is seeing all the brand new faces from the community and some Awana families that rarely come.

Lots of prizes, cute costumes, food, and a TON of candy.

And after a few years of doing this, I have to admit I'm softening a little on the whole thing.   At this point I'm still trying to figure out what I think of the whole church fall festival parties.  Am I compromising?  Am I confusing my kids even more?  Why do I think my kids need an alternative to something I feel so strongly about?  And if I say that I'm only involved for the outreach opportunities then why am I so happy for the chance for my kids to do something fun?  But anyhow....

The other day I was thinking how I hadn't visited the whole Halloween issue with our kids in a long time.  Sometimes Honey and I take for granted the fact that b/c the older kids know something, then the younger ones should too.  That's not the case.  And I need to remember that just b/c I've taught something to some kids doesn't mean that every kid knows it.

And of course, if its something that looks like fun, my kids want to know what its all about.  So it's time for me to teach my little ones and remind my bigger ones about my thoughts on Halloween, scary movies and books, and the new vampire/zombie craze.

Last night on the way home, Mally speaks up from the back of the car.
"Momma, how come we don't dress up for Halloween?"

Oh Honey, I'm so glad you asked.

I don't want to re-hash my take on Halloween.  If you're interested, it's all right here.

But instead, I want to share some links with you in case you happen to feel the same way and need to explain it to your kids that feel like they are missing out.

If you're still trying to figure it out yourself, here is one of my favorite articles written on it.  A very practical way of looking at it written by a mom.

And here's a pretty good one about explaining it all to your kids.


Here's a link explaining about the pagan roots.  Disclaimer:  I do understand that just about all of our holidays do have a pagan history behind it.  Again, this is just my own personal convictions about Halloween.  I don't think that just b/c God has laid something on my heart, that it will necessarily be the same for everyone.  Pray about it, and see what God says to you.

Saturday

I LOVE living out here!

And today was our first lazy Saturday in the new house without rushing around. 

The weather is beautiful and our house has tons of windows.  Everywhere you look you can see outside and its such a pretty view.  As I type, I see my youngest kids giving each other wagon rides on the pretty grass. 

I LOVE it here. 

The lazy part of the day didn't last for long b/c we had TKD testing to get to.  Great morning watching kids (and my man) succeed and visiting with family and friends.  We picked up Meg on the way and she included Ethan by text b/c he was working. 

But when we dropped her off.  OH NO!  She was locked out of her house.  So we took her to eat then she hung out at the inlaws until Ethan got off work. 

Back at home.....

There were mowing lessons....Farmer Boy had a ball with this!  We don't have one of these yet, but borrowed it from my father-in-law.   We're looking on Craigs List for a good deal.  It would take forever to do with our push mower!

Music in the house again!  We don't have all the instruments set up but we've been without our piano for 7 months.  Lane and Jess worked together for a long time on Christmas music.  Sweet sweet sound. 

Tonight is burgers for dinner with oven fries and grilled squash from our garden.  Meg and Ethan should be here any minute to join us! 

Board Breaking For Nate

TKD testing today!

My kids have been looking forward to this for a long time.  It's it a wonder it even happened for us this cycle b/c of the busyness of the season and missed classes. 

But it did.  And most of my kids are just a couple of belts away from BLACK!!

Weddingness

It was a beautiful Saturday

With beautiful weather

For a beautiful wedding

Uniting two beautiful people.

Here's how it happened...

Aren't these flowers just beautiful?  And if you can believe it, they are even prettier today because the roses have fully opened.  I've decided that fresh flowers in my house make me happy. 

My friends  heros showed up early and worked late for 3 straight days, including the wedding.  Left their kids at home, ate who-knows-what for dinner b/c they were gone all day, and worked to make everything perfect.  I do NOT deserve these people God has blessed me with.....but I'm so glad He did!  They moved tables, cut fabric, hung lights, moved bushes, tied bows, made tons of flowers, and kept this momma sane.

My friends are the best! 

Tara started about 8:30 to do make up and hair. 

Girlfriend's got talent.  

Then there was the dressing up!  Such fun! 

Like Cinderella going to the ball.

Lacing the dress was my part.  I love tying my children's shoes...and now wedding dress.

While her daddy fastened on the finishing touch. 

And George gave a pep talk..

Meanwhile, the boys were doing their own dressing up..

And the pictures began....

Flower girl and ring bearer....or according to him, "the most important job in the whole wedding."

Aren't they so pretty? 

 Ok skip past the bijillion other pix that will probably blow up my blog  later and let's skip to the ceremony.  Oh we also have to skip the aisle pix b/c my other photographer hasn't gotten them to me yet.  But I bet they are wonderful.

The bride and the groom.

And a special shot of the maid of honor.

Bekah's been Meg's bestie since she was seven and a very special part of our family.
She does a good job keeping Meg's head screwed on straight.

It was a short and beautiful ceremony with Meg's pastor and Ethan's pastor both officiating.

Is that the word?  officiating? 

Basically George and Dale nailed it.  And it was just right.

First kiss ever.

The happy Mr. and Mrs!

And more pix....

Isn't my girly gorgeous!!

My I love this kid!

Tons more pictures including pretty family shots but this is mostly about Meg so we will look at those another time.....

The cakes...

The wedding cake

And the groom's cake.

Ethan is a TaeKwonDo black belt.

The reception was lovely with lots of family and friends that we haven't seen in forever.

And because of Jodie and Tracy and all our awesome friends, I didn't do a thing!

They ran the whole show serving cake, figuring out the music we forgot, pouring drinks, and keeping the guests happy.  Really, I love them.  And I'm so grateful!

The farewell and bubbles.

And Meg running off in her blue jeans.

That's my girl.

Off to start their new life together.....