Baruch

Do you know who he is? He was the faithful scribe for the prophet Jeremiah AND the subject of my Bible reading today.

Seems to me that scribes don't get a lot of credit. I mean everyone's heard of the weeping prophet Jeremiah, but Baruch has to take the back seat. In Jeremiah 36 God told Jeremiah to record his words as a warning to the people. So Jeremiah grabs Baruch who grabs his pen and gets to work.

"Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do." Jer 36:8
He was a faithful messenger.

When it was all finished Baruch had to go into the temple to read it to the people b/c Jeremiah had been restricted.

It didn't go so well. He was forced into hiding as the king cut his freshly penned scroll into pieces and threw it in the fire. Bad day.

But God wasn't finished and true to His merciful nature, He didn't give up. He told Jeremiah to do it again. Not only that, but more words as well.

"Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them." Jer 36:32 What a job!

We skip ahead to chapter 45 and it seems that by now Baruch has had enough.
"Woe to me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest."

I love God's answer.
"This is what the Lord says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted throughout the land. Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life." Jer 45:4-5

And while this may seem a bit harsh at first, I actually found it quite encouraging. It was as if God was saying..."Cool off, I'm still in control. Trust ME and stop feeling sorry for yourself."

A good message for the day!

Vacation On The Farm

A week at the farm was fabulous! Sweet family, sunny weather, a clean house, and a fresh litter of kittens.

Let's start with the family. G'pa, Nana, and Gram were waiting for us. It's been a long time and the kids have grown. Hugs and kisses all around. And just when I was feeling a bit discouraged I was reminded anew that it *was* a good idea to move back. I missed my family.

Did I mention that the house was clean? Ahhhh.... G'pa and Nana worked really hard to get it all ready for us. And ready it was! 3 queen beds, 1 twin, a pack & play, and 2 couches made plenty of sleeping space. The fridge was full of fun snacks, football on TV, a washer & dryer, and even a lamp by the bed. Hospitality at it's finest! I felt most welcomed and loved. Oh and the dog run! Yep, Dad built a dog run for Buzz and Joey. That made life easier for Lane and a place for the dogs to stretch their legs.

The first couple of mornings started early for Nana as CT was up and ready to fish. CT and Nana are fishing buddies. They both caught 3 on the first morning!

G'ma came to visit everyday and we usually did something fun.....crafts at her house with the girls, the park, out for lunch, or shopping.

Saturday morning Nana went in for unexpected gallbladder surgery. It didn't slow her down a bit! Seriously. She bounced right back with a smile on her face even.

Before we left for the farm we bought a kiddy pool at a garage sale. We took it to the farm and the kids stayed water logged the whole time. Water balloons, skate boards, popsicles, visiting with Gram on the porch, and cartoons filled our time at home. In the end, the pool turned out to be a trap for a poor unsuspecting frog.

I think the boys enjoy farm life the most. Barefoot and filthy catching grasshoppers, frogs, tadpoles, fishing at the lake with nets, peeing in the trees, and finding all sorts of treasures.

Dad cooked a ton of food and my favorite pants got a little tight. I lost track of how many gallons of gatorade we went through. On the last night we had a big dinner with Uncle Kenny, G'ma, and Great G'ma Smyers. A huge rain storm and a cozy movie at Nana's.

Thank you to our family for the fun week! I love you so much!!

There's Doors Everywhere!

No more blankets or shower curtains hanging from the doorway thank you very much!

There are doors all over the place! Nice heavy real wood doors with door knobs (instead of handles) which I like. They open and they close and they lock and they do not creak. There are sliding doors, screen doors, storm doors, shower doors, and even these cute little folding doors on each side of the bathroom.

Oh they are wonderful!

We're HERE!!

In our new house that is!

And it's way better than we even thought. As it turns out, the few things that I didn't like about the house have turned out to be perfectly fine. I can't wait to take a picture of the fancy pantry. Somebody was really thinking to have come up with such a nifty idea of spin around shelves.

We got to meet 2 of the neighbors. One neighbor brought us dinner. DINNER!! For all of us! And another neighbor brought us a huge plate of cookies. So sweet.

With the help of the wonderful Wings, we got almost everything unloaded today. Even most of the beds set up. As a matter of fact, I'm sitting here on my bed (off the floor) typing on my laptop and enjoying the amber glow of my new garage sale lamp. Oh yes, life is good.

Of course it's all a mess. We're all pooped. But with happy smiles we're looking forward to unpacking and rearranging and moving in.

Off To The Farm!!

Yep, today we set off on the short 4 hour journey to G'pa, Nana, Gram, G'ma, and PawPaw's houses.

It will seem like luxury with real beds and doors on the bathrooms!

Family
The dogs will get to run.
The boys will get to catch bugs, run barefoot, and get filthy.
Sewing projects at G'ma's house.
Hugs and Kisses.
The wooden park.
A TV. (Football this week, ya know.)
Electrical outlets in the bathroom.
A washer and dryer.

How much better could it get?

Today

Here's one of our favorite meals when our guys are away (they don't like hot dogs). My grandmother used to make this for me when I was a little girl and now it's one of kids' faves too.



1/2 onion, chopped

3T oil

enough hot dogs to feed your family

ketchup

water



Saute onion in oil. Cut each hot dog in about 5 pieces (on a diagonal slant to be fancy). Put in pan with onion and squirt ketchup all over everything. Add a little bit of water and cook until everything is hot and bubbly.

~11 more days until our new house!

~Ahhh, to have some computer time. I've been working on this simple post for 2 days. When the internet is working, it seems like I don't have a quiet moment. It's nice when the 2 coincide. I will be so thankful for extra space (and doors!) in my new house.

~Off to the farm this week! I haven't seen my dad since we moved. I'll spend the first part of the week getting ready and cooking stuff for Honey while we're gone.

~Date night last night was fun. Honey and I went to Target and bought the kids some new things to do at the rent house. We also bought some new bedding for the new house. Fun!

~Friends over today and Meg is babysitting. I'm also sending laundry over with her to work on for us. That'll be good to give Renee a day off!

Today's meals...
Breakfast - bagels
Lunch - leftovers and sandwiches
Dinner - tuna sauce and salad

A Hard Lesson

My 5yo has had a tough week. He is learning the hard lesson of honesty and has lied to me several times. And though I've been consistent to discipline him every time, it continues. It's never anything big. Just little things that make me think he just wants to see if he'll get away with it.

Today is rainy and we decided to give the play place at Eastside a try. Just before we were ready to walk out the door he lied again. Again a little one, but dishonesty just the same.

I decided to try another tactic and told him he would not be allowed to play at Eastside OR with the Wings who were coming later. He needed something that would remind him not to try this again and making his day miserable was all I could think of.

OH the play place was FUN!! Fun for big kids and little ones. And Nate had to sit by me and watch. We were the only ones there for about an hour. He sat watching his brothers and sisters run and slide and climb with big tears rolling down his cheeks.

I sat there debating with myself if I should let him get up. Maybe he should sit out part of the time instead the whole time? Should I let him slide down the fast slide just once before we go? But my heart kept telling me NO and to just wait it out. So I did. And I hated it.

Now he's on my bed taking a nap while everyone else is playing with Wing boys. A hard lesson but hopefully one that'll stick.

Work for the Kingdom or just plain torture? I guess time will tell....

A Few Deals

A *very* few deals, but deals just the same.
I'm looking forward to getting my printer hooked up and trying out the printables. But for now...

Harps
Danactive yogurt 2/$4 Use the $1/1 MQ from Sunday's paper to get them $1/4pk
Red Baron pizza 3/$10 This is my kids' favorite date night meal so it's a good deal for us.

Ad match at WM to save yourself a trip.

Walmart
Activa yogurt $2.18/4pk Use $1/1 MQ to get them $1.18/4pk

Clearasil face wash $4.24 Use $1.50/1 MQ. (Not a screaming deal but cheaper than the WM brand. )

Arm & Hammer Essentials cleaner on rollback $2/2pk use the $1/1 MQ if you have it. If not, it's still a good deal.

Schick disposable razors $1.97 Use the $1/1 MQ from Sunday's paper to get them .97/12pk

School supplies are on sale everywhere. Even if you don't need anything for school, it's good to keep for gifts. If you do the Operation Christmas Child in Nov, these things fit well in the shoe boxes.

Walgreens has a 15% coupon here good for tomorrow (July 31) only. Combine this with the store sales and rack up the savings! Here's some WG deals too....

Scotch bubble mailers on sale $.39 Use the .50/1 MQ to get it free.
Mars candy bars on sale for $.49 Use the $1/2 MQ to get 2 free.
Ajax 3/$1
Ivory soap 3/$1
Goody hair accessories free after rebate
There's a RR hairdryer deal for around $5
There's also toothbrush/toothpaste deals but I don't have those coupons so I'm not sure exactly what they are.

Happy Shopping!

Today

This morning I read in Jeremiah 13. God used a linen belt as an illustration of how he would destroy Judah because of their pride. He told Jeremiah to hide the belt, then to dig it up. When he dug it up, it was "ruined and completely useless" v. 7

"Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings the darkness." v. 15-16

In verse 11, He uses the illustration of the belt again to describe how he bound the house of Israel and Judah to Himself, "to be my people for my renown and praise and honor." Sounds a bit like tomato staking! How safe to be tethered to the Lord. Unfortunately they didn't listen or care.

How sad to be completely useless to God. But that's what pride does. I shudder to think of the many different areas of pride in my life that make me useless. So often I just branch out on my own, breaking the belt so to speak. I pray that the Lord will deal with me patiently as I learn to be happily tomato staked!

~I was so disappointed to miss Michelle Duggar. But my sweet friend Renee took notes for me and got me all the handouts. I've been looking at their website more and I love their family guidelines. You can read them (and print them out) here. I'm thinking there are many that we need to adopt as our own.

~23 more days in the rent house. Is it possible to be thankful for something and hate it at the same time?

~Living in temporary mode is not my favorite. I feel out of touch b/c I'm not able to keep with my regular routines. There will be a huge feeling of thankfulness when I get to unpack all our boxes and have our stuff again.

~I LOVE being back home. I feel like I've been here forever and never left and it's just perfectly normal to be here. Honey described it as driving back into your driveway after being on vacation. That's exactly how it feels. Very comfy.

~There are so many coupon deals to be had right now. Unfortunately, I went on a coupon break while moving and it seems like I'm missing the majority of them. Time to get back in the swing of things.

~I'm surprised at how quickly some of my stock pile items have disappeared during my hiatus. A little here and there really adds up! And while I'm missing some coupon deals right now, I am still able to stock up on Ajax since it's 3/$1 at WG. That's a pretty good deal for a cheap cleaner. I also enjoyed a trip to Aldi. It's been a long time since I've been there and it's much better than I remembered. The farmer's market was also neat. I think that'll be our Saturday morning outing for awhile.

~Today we're trying out the play place at Eastside. Sounds fun!

~Here's the pie I made for Honey's b-day yesterday. We call it Pilgrim pie since my friend Karen gave it to us.

Dissolve 1 pkg of lemon jello in 1 1/4C boiling water.
Add 2 cups of vanilla ice cream and pour into pie crust.
Refrigerate until slightly firm. Add chopped strawberries and refrigerate until completely set.

Today's meals...
breakfast - cereal
lunch - leftovers and layered green salad
dinner - breakfast burritos

Happy Birthday To My Favoritest Guy In The World!

There are a jillion things I love about him. His quirky sense of humor, his dashing good looks, his love for the Lord, the way he loves us all, his chivalrous sense of protection and provision, and his lack of fear of man.

Thank you God for preparing this guy especially for ME!!

Happy Birthday Honey! I love you so much!

Today

~A nice Sunday afternoon complete with naps, a visiting friend, and a basketball game.

~We have a working dishwasher AND a sink that's draining for the moment! 26 more days in the rent house. Honey said today how homey I've made it in just a short time. I told him that was the nicest thing he could've said. Closing got pushed back to the 21st and though we're thankful for it, we'll be happy to leave.

~I'm eager to try out my couponing here. Today will be my first Sunday paper and for some reason this house is not getting any junk mail. That means no local grocery store flyers. I've already gotten a bottle of free ketchup and done some Walgreens deals. I'm hoping the local stores come through.

~A fun day at Lake Ft Smith yesterday. HOT and humid. Airsoft wars, friends, camp food, and chiggers. Then home to snow cones, showers, and air conditioning.

~We visited another local church today. Such a sweet and welcoming body.

~Since our school is on the moving truck this has been like a summer that most people have. As in, no school. I like it and dislike it at the same time. I dislike the lack of routine but I like the reprieve.

~Next week....library, dinner with Renee, a birthday (!), a movie, some cooking, the play thing at Eastside, and lunches at Golden Living.

Doing Laundry At The Laundry Place Isn't My Thing Either

especially when I got all the way there to discover I didn't have any soap OR quarters.

A critical oversight, I know.

Renee's done most of our laundry since we've been here. And since she comes back tomorrow, I thought about waiting. But since my son used a whole bottle of vinegar to try to make something explode and then used most of our towels to clean it up, I decided that it might be best to get it done.

No more science experiments for that boy until the moving truck arrives.

I went all the way back home to get the soap and rummaged around to find 3 dollars and 50 cents. That oughta do it.

Did you know it costs $2 to wash a load of clothes at one of those places? My $3.50 wouldn't cut it after all.

So I walk across the street to see if that bank would cash an outa state check. Nope. Really? Isn't cashing checks a thing that banks like to do?

I used my MasterCard in the ATM and changed those into quarters.

I get 3 loads washed I'm checking out the dryers. The sign says I'm supposed to clean out the lint trap. Like *that's* going to happen. I don't mean to be a laundry snob but someone else's lint? Not a chance.

Big dryers! I can easily get 2 loads in one--maybe 3. Then the laundry lady comes by and tells me not to do 3 since it would be too heavy. OK, 2 it is. I didn't want to push her in fear that she'd find out I disobeyed the lint rule.

I park myself in a chair opposite my clothes so I'll know when they're done. I notice an elderly man watching my laundry spin. He comes over and asks me if I'm using the 118. Not sure what the 118 is, but I show him the ones that are mine.

"Have you seen my brown house shoe?" he asks.

Apparently he left it in there. I offer to stop the load to let him look but he says he'll wait. Next thing I know he's digging in my dryer and pulls out his lost slipper. He holds it up to me with a huge smile on his face. Kinda bold, but really cute.

I get home with my fluffy laundry glad it's done and more thankful for Renee than ever before.

10 minutes later my daughter is looking for her sheet. Nowhere to be found and I'm hoping she just forgot to give it to me. Time goes by and a few more things are missing.

Really?

So I head back up there, check the dryers, and come home puzzled and empty handed.

Getting ready for bed it hit me -- Maybe I did 4 loads instead of 3? Maybe there's something in the washer instead of the dryer? Sigh.....

So here I am at 7am sitting in the laundry place watching my lost load of clothes spin around.

I don't think it's supposed to be this complicated.

Stuff To Do Around Town

Without our stuff and our own house to take care of, I find the time passes slowly. 25 days until we move into our new house and I'm looking for things to do in the meantime. We are trying to keep up with school as much as possible but most of our books are in the moving truck. Here's some ideas I've come up with and I'm hoping you will join in with yours.....

~Library

~Lunch with Honey

~Puppet show at the mall Friday

~Monsters Vs Aliens

~Snow cones

~The fish store

~Laundry at the laundromat. (Washer and dryer in storage) Don't laugh, my kids thought this was great fun years ago when our washer broke!

~What's that new indoor thing at Eastside? Anybody been there?

Camping In The House Isn't My Thing

"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God." Phil 2: 14

I like doors. And sleeping off the floor. And filtered water.

And when I think that people all over the world sleep on the floor (w/o mattresses!), no doors, and would be thrilled to drink the water I flush my toilets with, I realize how spoiled and selfish I am.

God has blessed me so abundantly and this morning as I read my Bible, God gave me this gentle reminder to be thankful for that which I take for granted and to not grumble when I don't have them.

Update

~We arrived in FSM, tired but happy, around 11pm on Wednesday.

~House hunting the next day -- all day long. AND...we found one! So pretty, nice neighborhood, great back yard, and I'll have my very own closet that I will NOT hafta share! One of the cutest things about the house is a little goldfish pond with a waterfall in the front. Projected move in date is Aug 14.

~Our rental is rough but we are thankful for it. The kids think its funny that we have yet another house with no doors. As for now, a borrowed shower curtain fits the bill. Our friends are right next door and there's even cats for Joey and Buzz to sniff.

~We're starting back to school this week though we don't have all our stuff. Time to put the library to good use!

~I can't believe how beautiful the weather is! Where's the unbearable heat and humidity? Ok, I lived here long enough to know that this won't last but OOOHHHHH it's so nice now. Seems like Colorado followed us here.

~Church this morning. A little bitty one (sound familiar?) with some sweet families from our homeschool group. I'm looking forward to it.

Our Friends

If there was an award for the best friends in the world my friends would win it hands down.

In Colorado, we were showered with love, cards, hugs, boxes, last play dates, love, dinners, more boxes, prayers, and one more good-byes.

In Arkansas we were welcomed to friendly faces, a clean house, breakfast in the fridge, muscles to unload, casseroles, cookies, paper goods, a line of 13 ladies bearing a huge deli tray, babysitting, and laundry help.

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." John 15:12

We feel so loved!

Stuff You Talk About On A 15 Hour Car Ride With A Little Boy

~cherry pie and chocolate milk

~Are we almost there?

~How the water gets into the clouds.

~John 3:16

~What the shoulder of the road is.

~Are we almost there?

~Frozen pizza and macaroni and cheese

~How much change the toll lady will give us back.

~Where the toll money could've gone that he dropped on the floor.

~How many more tolls do we get to do?

~How the air conditioner works.

~How the iPod works.

~Building robots.

~Firemen

~When do we get to see G'ma and G'pa and Nana and Gram and PawPaw?

~When do we get to see the Wings?

~The names of all the Hinkle kids.

~Do we hafta go to bed when we get there?

~Fish and grasshoppers.

~Can we have a cow if we keep him in a cage?

Moving Update

You should see this place! yikes.

The truck is here, the help is here, and the house is looking empty.

Mike's family is wonderful and I'm SOOO thankful for their help. Strong backs, smart packing strategies, and hard workers.

It's not all going to fit like we hoped it would. We're looking into what else we need to do to get it all there. So much stuff!!

We've already said Good-bye to just about everybody and today is our last day of church. It's hard, but I know that we've made friendships that will endure. And I don't plan to drop the ball just b/c I'm moving away. We're already saving for our first Colorado vacation next summer!

We close on the house tomorrow.

We have 4 more appointments to get behind us....braces come off, a sports physical, and a tax appt. Then we roll out of Lakewood early Wednesday morning with 2 cars, a utility trailer, 9 kids, 2 dogs, and lots of fond memories.

We'll drive straight through and get to the rent house around bed time.

My blogging will be sporadic as I'm not sure about internet access at the rent house. We'll see.

Please pray for a safe journey and happy travelers!

Philippians 1:26

"so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me." Phil 1:26

Paul was such a blessing to the people of Philippi that through his company their joy in Christ would overflow.

One of my favorite songs right now is The Blessing by John Waller....

This day
You set life, You set death right before us,
this day
every blessing and curse is a choice now
and we will choose to be a blessing for life.

Each day we have the same opportunity as Paul. Imagine others' joy in Christ overflowing on account of *ME*!

I have experienced this countless times during our stay here in Colorado. The Lord has introduced me to the sweetest, lovingest people who have blessed me beyond measure. They have given more than I can return. They have loved my family and welcomed us with open arms. And they have taught me love on an a new level.

I thank God for them and for all they've taught me and my joy does overflow with thankfulness.

Now I will take this home to Arkansas. And I pray that the Lord will use me as He did Paul and my friends here in CO.

Let it be said of us
while we walked among the living
let it be said of us
by the ones we leave behind
let it be said of us
that we lived to be a blessing for life

Today

Happy Happy Birthday to my father-in-law!

~Both my step dad AND my step mom are in the hospital. Please pray for complete healing.
(And rest for my mom.)

~It'll be good to be closer to my family. Before we moved, it seemed like 4 hours was a world away. Now it's almost around the corner! Tonight we talked of possibilites of week long vacations on the farm.

~My house is a complete wreck. I'm so glad I'm not moving AND showing. We called for the truck to come early and we'll be leaving a couple of days sooner than we thought. It'll give us a couple of extra days to house shop before Honey goes back to work.

~My friend John gave me a terrific 7 layer dip recipe. I still have a working kitchen so we made it for dinner. YUM!

~I got a new hairbrush for my birthday. Boy did I need it! Jes and Mally brushed my hair tonight just for fun, then I brushed the girls' hair. Their hair is so soft and pretty. I love having girls...big and little.

~Another day with friends before we go. Our time is drawing to a close.

~My morning walks with Joey are such a treat. Singing, walking, running, taking in all the beauty of Colorado and enjoying my good dog at the same time. It's become my new favorite way to spend time with the Lord. There are usually at least 1 or 2 other walkers at the park in the morning. I pray for them as they pass. My favorite is a lady that adopted a 3 legged dog named Elliot. I pray for her and Elliot as I see them just about every day.

~I'm still struggling with balancing moving business with baby time. I do love my little ones. I just can't figure out a way to let them help much right now. This too shall pass. (And I'll be glad.)

My verse of the day....
"The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever - do not abandon the works of your hands." Ps 138:8

Today's meals...
Breakfast - cereal
Lunch - sandwiches at the park with a friend
Dinner - burritos and 7 layer dip w/chips
Dessert - leftover cheesecake bars from the 4th.

Tomorrow's menu ....
Breakfast - french toast casserole
Lunch - leftovers
Dinner - smothered chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and salad.

Psalm 109:12-13

In a situation that looks hopeless, have you ever heard (or said yourself), "All we can do is pray"?

We have exhausted our resources. The help of man has proved futile. Our confidence is shot, our strength is waning. We are fearful. "All we can do is pray."

If prayer is our last recourse then our hope has been misplaced.

Our faith is not in our circumstances, the intelligence and strength of man, or the power of influence.

Our hope is in God. From the beginning.

He who has defeated death is the One who longs to help us in our time of need. His strength is made perfect in our weakness and He is waiting for us to surrender the cause to Him.

"Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. With God we will gain the victory and He will trample down our enemies." Ps 109:12-13

Let's change the song from "All we can do is pray."
To
"The most we can do is pray."

Ezekiel's Words

Ever have trouble with the words of your mouth? I sure do. And maybe it isn't even the words themselves as the tone in which I spit them out. In any case, I often find myself hurting others and disappointed with what I just said.

I'm reading in Ezekiel again. What a guy! And what a hard lot was cast upon him. And what? No whining. No griping. No complaining. Just following the Lord and obeying each new thing. My favorite thing in the book of Eze is when God caused Ezekiel's tongue to stick to the roof of his mouth and he would not talk apart from what God said.

What a gift! How I wish the Lord would do that to me. Never an unkind word. Never harsh or sarcastic. Never whining or complaining. Just pouring forth the words of God from my very lips.

Ezekiel had it so good.

Philippians 2:3-4

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." Phil. 2:3-4

Imagine how peaceful the world would be if we'd all obey this verse. Husbands and wives would love each other, siblings would not bicker, broken relationships would be healed, the workplace would be pleasant.

This is what I shall work on with my family this week. The verse goes on to say that our example should be Jesus. He gave Himself up for us and took on the nature of a servant.

It should start with me. How can I make myself more of a servant to my family? One thing comes to mind right away.

In our house, nobody likes making drinks. It's certainly not hard to hold a cup up to the fridge to fill with water. But everybody hates it. What if I served my family this week and made all the drinks myself? It's a little thing but still one that will serve others and hopefully train my heart to put down selfishness.

As I work on this with my children, I'm going to ask God to show me practical ways to deny myself and consider others first.

This Week

All is set and moving forward quite well. We should close here on the 14th and head to AR around the 17th. Packing, packing, packing. It's hard to balance the work with spending time with the little kids. I feel like I'm neglecting them and want to try to include them more. I just can't find a lot of stuff they can help with right now. So I work a little, read a little, and pull wagon rides a little. It's a short time though and soon enough we'll be back in the swing of things. I hope.

~Just when I was running low on boxes, my friend Lisa came through with *real* moving boxes and paper. Let the packing resume.

~Muffins at the park this morning. Maybe lunch at the park with friends later. It's a beautiful day! I've cleared the calendar to make time for packing, tying up loose ends, and spending time with friends.

~I'm loving my morning runs with Joey again. He likes them too. As soon as I enter the kitchen he gets so excited.

~Our income tax return is being audited. Only the portion of how many kids we have. We have a 3 hour appointment with the tax lady next week. Very inconvenient.

~I'm learning to make kefir. Wendy gave me some starter grains and a quick lesson. So far my first two batches have flopped. I need another lesson.

~A 3 day weekend to look forward to!

~Oh you should see our grass and garden!. The tomato plants have doubled in the last few days and have baby tomatoes on them.

We are being creative and trying to eat up all the food we have before we go. I'm just about ready to empty and clean out the fridge in the garage. A weekend project I'm thinking.
Today's meals....

Breakfast - banana muffins at the park, grapes, and yogurt smoothies
Lunch - left over tacos or lunch at the park
Dinner - roasted chickens, scalloped potatoes, and salad
Tea - cheese cake bars

Good Friends

No electricity today as the electrician was replacing our box. We also couldn't open the windows due to the radon testing. I figured it would be one hot house!

So I called up my friend Yvette and invited ourselves (and our crockpot) over for the afternoon. There are not many people whom you can call and invade with 9 kids. Not only was she very welcoming, she even went so far as to invite Wendy and Laurie to spend the day with us too.

Oh my. I can't even tell you how wonderful it felt to be in the company of these good friends today. We talked about God, school, church, food, and even chinchillas. My cup was filled.

Thank you God for these sweet friends and how they point me to You, encourage me in everything, and have been such a help in every way.

Revamping The Kitchen Work

I've noticed something. Whenever I assign certain jobs in the kitchen, the kids only do that job and nothing more. They have a "it's not MY job" sort of attitude about anything that has not been assigned to them. There is not the collective feeling of working together to finish a project and being proud of the end result. No, it's more of a get-it-done mindset.

After some bickering over who's turn it was to do dishes and who did them last I excused them all from the privilege of cleaning the kitchen tonight. No one would receive the blessing of serving God by serving the family through kitchen work. I did it all myself.

And as I worked and listened to my iPod, I prayed.

Assigning kitchen duties has not been an easy task. It's a huge job. And while we have many hands, if we're not careful there are *too* many hands and it ends in waiting and tripping over each other. But it was time to rethink it and try something else.

Thinking and praying through it, I realized that I need to be more hands on in the cleaning of the kitchen. They have gotten into some bad habits that need to be fixed and don't have eyes to see what has been missed.

Soooo...my new plan is to work in the kitchen with COW (child of the week) not only in the cooking of the day but also in the cleaning. Babies can play with Daddy and I can call in more help for certain areas if needed.

It'll give me a chance to work on the bad habits and spend more time with each child.

Anybody else have issues with kitchen chores?

What I'm Learning This Week....

The Lord has been talking to me lately about what it means to really forgive. Not just say you forgive. But to forgive completely.

I've been working with our ortho office to get the balances on the kids' accts before we leave. So I asked her, "Did my insurance pay their portion?" She said, "I don't know, but it doesn't matter. Whatever they haven't paid we'll write off."

So I thought about what that meant to write something off. Erased. Gone. Like it wasn't there. We don't have to negotiate about it or work it out. It's done.

That was what Jesus did for us. That's forgiveness. When you feel like you must "work through" something then it's not true forgiveness. It's based on your ability to reconcile the events in your mind. What if you're not able to do that?

And while I can "write off" an offense, the irritated feelings can still surface. I need to examine my own heart and see WHY that bothers me.

Jonathan Edwards said, "Resolved, whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or of the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination."

So I ask, why do I care? Am I holding on to a right that I don't have? Am I exalting a man in my mind to care too much about what he/she thinks? ....fear of man. Is my significance in what someone thinks of me or my actions?

Those are what I need to get right before the Lord. I am only accountable for my own heart.

I want to deny all "natural" feelings and ask God for supernatural power of writing it off.

Today

Really I have no idea how it was possible to squeeze so much goodness into one day. Here goes....

~I had a great quiet time with the Lord this morning.

~The house is clean b/c we had a showing.

~I cancelled all other showings b/c we got an OFFER!! Oh yeah.

~We had a friend over, took muffins to the park, and walked around looking at the prairie dogs.

~I took a nap.

~Watched my son win 2 soccer games.

~Got new shoes.

~Had a fun night with my church family. Oh I will miss them.

~Read to my little ones and tucked their sweet heads into bed.

It's been a good full day.

A Blessing And A Missed Opportunity

During a recent showing we headed to a local park. Arriving at the playground it was immediately clear that a day care had beat us to it. My little son was amazed at the coincidence that everybody had on orange shirts. ;-)

2 kids were on the tire swing, leaving one spot available. My 5yo asked if he could swing with them. I said "yes" and he headed off. Unfortunately an orange kid saw this and took off running to beat him to the spot. Nate just smiled at me, shrugged his shoulders, and did that cute thing with his eyebrows that he's so good at.

One of the three yells out "Will you push us?" to his 2 teachers chatting under the gazebo.

"NO, find a friend!" was the answer from the shade.

My little guy smiles big and says, "I'll push you!"

I was so proud of him for blessing someone who was ugly to him.

Across the way there are 2 single swings. Mally and Z want to swing but they are full. So we go over to the slide to play and wait.

In one swing was a momma pushing her little girl. In the other was an orange kid.

The orange kid yells out to her teachers, "Will you push me?"
"NO, find a friend!" Apparently the standard answer.

Then the girl asks the mom, "Will you push me too?"
She was flatly refused.
She asked again and the mom told her, "No, I'm pushing my own little girl."

Really? I mean she was right there! How easy it would've been to push 2 swings side by side. This kid does not have the advantage of having a momma there to push her. Her teachers are more interested in visiting then helping her. Doesn't this momma see that? I couldn't believe the easy opportunity she missed to bless this little girl.

I don't mean to be overly critical b/c I know I've missed countless opportunites b/c of my own selfishness. But I came away from there hoping that I would eyes to see like my son and not like that mom.

Scrambled Thoughts Of Moving Part 2

I love this blog. It helps me sort out the mess in my brain. I think this will end up sounding more like something that should be on my husband's blog than mine!

Fear will stop you in your tracks. That's where I am now. All of a sudden.

Was there fear involved in the move from AR to CO? Yep. But it was different. Fear of the unknown...more like uncertainty. New city, new house, new friends, new church, new everything.

But we moved ahead with the leading of the Lord and with noble motives to boot. And boy did we move in! We pretty much jumped in with both feet and ran with it.

Oh there was the homesickness. Much much homesickness. And crying calls back home. And lots of walks with Joey convincing myself that I DO like CO.

And I do. We all do.

Then there was the day when I checked my e-mail to find a soccer registration from my son's team in FSM. And my husband got a job offer. AND our old house was for sale again. Oh my. BUT we did not have the leading from the Lord. And that was ok. A bit of a sad sigh, but ok anyway.

Life went on and we were still enjoying CO. More so everyday with new friends and growing closer to our church.

Then there were the miscarriages. And the lack of conceiving in general. And while I don't even have a reason for mentioning it, it's there all the same. Sort of the feeling of ....this never happened back home.

Graduation in AR. A fun trip back with Eldest to watch our friends. The comfortable feeling of being home and praying to the Lord with questions like..."can this ever be home again?" Lots of tears saying goodbye. And that was it. I decided that I could not have a foot in both worlds. We couldn't go back unless it was to stay. But could we go back to stay? Through prayer I felt the Lord's permission to talk to Mike about it.

That time didn't come. You see, the next morning we woke up and he prayed with me about going back! What? I didn't mention it. I was happy to be home. This was the first I'd heard anything about him having similar ideas.

A job became available and he got an offer the same day. What does that mean? A chance to go home...but is it right?? What about all the reasons we left? They are still there.

We don't have a good answer when people ask "why?". There's no particular reason. We don't hate it here. We're not moving toward more money. In fact there's every reason to stay. I go back and forth between excitement to go home and fear of leaving all that is good.

And there is plenty of good. Free college tuition. A job 2 miles up the road. A great house with lots of open space outside. Opportunities for our kids. A church that is more like a family than any we've known before.

And while we feel the Lord's permission we do not feel His leading. As in the reason to go or the command to go. Just like permission if we want to.

So now what? I'm gripped with fear and confusion and the inclination to just sit down and stay. I know the verses about fear. And right now they don't shed any light.

Please pray for peace.

Today

~Such a good day. It started a bit rushed as I saw Honey and 6 kids off to a soccer tourney in Greeley. At the same time I loaded up the babies to drive Eldest to her ACT test.

That was weird.

In 17 years I've never ever had to take a child of mine and drop them off at a school. I wanted to cry. In all her years of schooling, I've been in charge. I've had my fingers in everything. I've loved her and looked out for her best interest and encouraged her in what she loves. Now here we are at college prep and it's out of my reach. I can't go sit with her. She could have a mean proctor. She could sit by someone disagreeable. A crazy lunatic could come in and shoot the place up.

That was hard. So I thought about her and prayed for her throughout the day.

~We all left a mess in the kitchen this morning so I really hoped I wasn't coming home to a message that said they were showing the house. The machine still showed "0". whew!

~Just me and Mally and Zekey! What fun. I got them dressed and we cleaned up the house for whenever the next showing would be. We didn't have to wait long. 10:30-11:30 and 1:30-3:00.

~What to do on a beautiful Saturday when you gotta be out of the house? Garage sale!! I picked up my friend, Mrs. Whitsell, and we followed the signs. (I'm planning on blogging about and introducing you to Mrs. Whitsell later.) I'm sure we spent way more time getting little ones in and out of car seats than actually shopping but it was fun all the same. Mrs. Whitsell took Mally and I took Zeke.

~I had just enough time to get home and make lunch before the next showing and picking up Meg. This house showing stuff is cramping my kitchen freedoms. I'm tired of quicky foods and need to think up creative ways to make real food quicker and more portable. I'm spoiled to eating at home and cooking whatever I want.

~So happy to pick up my baby girl!! All in one piece and even a smile on her face. She found a friend from fencing at testing and that made it more fun for her.

~Still not able to go home, I grabbed a burger for Meg and we went to Savers. I can not believe we walked out with NOTHING. Not one single little thing. Baby Z is about to fall over he's so tired and we still have about an hour until the showings are over.

~Out for ice cream! I miss my big crew but I'm also enjoying the special splurges I can do with just a couple. Meanwhile, my boys are winning all over the place in Greeley.

~Home at last and down for naps. My guys came home with pink noses and huge smiles. Lane was happy to see her dog. Honey rushed off to church. Gigantic rain just after I watered the backyard. LB threw up (not sure why yet).

~Tonight I'm enjoying some blogging time while Honey is loading up my iPod with my favorite Henry Blackaby message. Littles are tucked in. Big kids are still rattling around the house.

~It's been a good day.

Showings

I really knew better than this.

Never wreck the whole house at the same time when you KNOW the realtor could call at any minute and want to show it.

Loads of laundry waiting to be folded.
A HUGE mess of a kitchen.
Packing projects everywhere.

"Can we show the house at 1:30?" What?? It's 1:15 now. Fifteen minutes?? No way.

I pushed it back to 2:10. In that short time all my worker bees flew around the house helping me get it in tip top shape. We're calling ourselves "The New Extreme Home Makeover Team". What would I do without them? Thinking back on the mess of it all, I have NO idea how we pulled it off. Especially since we didn't hide anything in the oven.

They seem to like to show it at dinner time. Last night we grabbed sandwich stuff and had a picnic at the park. Not wanting to do sandwiches 2 nights in a row, I had Eldest make dinner in the morning so we could reheat quickly and take it to the park if need be.

Great idea...except if it rains.

Taco Bell for dinner tonight.

My Current Reads

Isaiah. Hands down my favorite book of the Bible even though I don't understand half of it. To me it is a book of comfort and my first place to go when life goes awry. It's the most marked up book in my Bible. I'm working my way through the Old Testament and I'm glad Isaiah falls in my regular reading plan right now. Bookmark - my Bible's ribbon marker.

Philippians. Paul's letter of joy. I'm working on memorizing this book and internalizing Paul's joy, thankfulness, and contentment. I'm still on chapter one but plugging along. Bookmark - my Bible's ribbon marker.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. For about the last 10 years I've been slowly (Ok, veeery slowly) reading through some classics. I've enjoyed some, and others are a bit too dark for my taste. Wuthering Heights fits into the dark category. Or at least weird and disturbing. I'm only 1/2 through and wondering how it will end since one of the main characters just died. Bookmark - 2 cute ones that my 13yo son made for me when he was 4 and spelled my name "mome"

The Railway Children by E Nesbit. This is our tea book. I love the mom in this book and how cheerful she is amidst hard circumstances. It's a fun read and easy to read aloud. Bookmark - I still don't have one. The tea book always suffers in the bookmark area.

Pelican Cove by Milly Howard. My read aloud to the little boys. It's a treasure hunting mystery story with short chapters. The only mystery is why I'm reading it. Huge waste of time and boring BUT my guys like it. No bookmark for this one. My boys are eager to show me which chapter we're on....though I kinda wish they'd forget and skip a couple!

Raising Maidens of Virtue by Stacy McDonald This is a pretty girl book from Vision Forum that I'm reading aloud to the girls. It's meant to be a mom/daughter study. I like this book b/c its full of practical Truth and sweetness with a good measure of boldness. I confess that I'm behind on this one and need to pick it up again. Somehow I run out of steam at night and this is what gets left behind. No bookmark for this one either. What's up with my lack of bookmarks anyway??

A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23 by Philip Keller. BINGO!! I LOVE THIS BOOK. I can tell it's going to be a book that I read over and over. It is written by a real live shepherd and explains the significance behind why God calls Himself our Good Shepherd. If you're looking for a book of encouragement, love, and comfort, this is the one! Bookmark - A pretty blue and white one that LB made for me special for this particular book.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. This is LB's favorite book and she wanted me to read it too. Oh my, I was totally "enchanted" by it. Action packed, girly, and full of suspense. A quick fairy tale read that was lotsa fun for me. I was disappointed when it was over. Bookmark - a Quiznos receipt. She gave it to me to read in the airport during my last trip to AR and that was all I had.

Today

As I've been praying this weekend and thinking on the week ahead, one message rings loud and clear...."Don't neglect the littles." It is easy for them to get pushed aside in the hustle and bustle of packing and moving. I'm going to try extra hard to carve out some special time for them and include them the business of the week.

~I want to spend my time carefully while I'm here so I will still have time to spend with my friends before I go.

~I'm hoping to meet with the realtor today. Our pictures are ready and I thought I'd post them on my blog soon too. Just for fun.

~I have quite a few good boxes to get us started. I've prayed for free boxes and the Lord has delivered in abundance. Again!

~I've looked online for moving tips. Most of the things were pretty obvious but here's one that I didn't know. Label boxes by priority with A,B, and C. "A" boxes are the ones that are essential to life and need to be unpacked first. "B" boxes are helpful but not essential. And "C" are the ones you save for last.

~Potluck at church yesterday was sweet. Mrs. Whitsell was blessed with her 1st b-day party in 85 years! It was simple and homey and she seemed happy. How I love those ladies there.

~My son's soccer team won the Rush Cup last night! GO SWOOSH!!

~Meg is getting in as much open fencing as time and money will allow before we go. She also had a tournament this weekend and had a big fun time.

~Here's the house I'm praying for in FSM.
Spacious with a big level backyard (enough room for the tramp and pool)
Nice neighborhood on a quiet street with a cul-de-sac
4+ beds, 3+ baths
Workable kitchen
A good laundry room

Today's meals....
breakfast - bagels
lunch - sandwiches
dinner - smothered chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and salad (So much for meatless Monday)
tea - biscotti and milk

Scrambled Thoughts Of Moving

My mind is full of a million thoughts and I have many cares to cast upon the Lord.

The Lord put the last puzzle piece in place yesterday morning and we will be heading back to our hometown of Ft. Smith AR next month.

So many emotions! They come and go and change like the wind.

I've done this before and I pray that I remember the lessons learned the first time. I pray that Eldest will too.

If there is any lesson that I feel has stuck it is this....someday we will all be together forever in Heaven. That is the promise I hold on to when I'm feeling sad about leaving.

I love my church. I love my friends here in CO that make me feel like we'll really be missed. I love LOTS of things here. Not so much the snow.

How are the kids? Everyone's happy except Eldest. There are 4 things that hold her here that she'll miss very much.
~Our church
~Cherry
~Our homeschool group
~Fencing
She loves AR and I'm praying that re-entry will be easy for her.

I'm praying *really* hard for a church. I'm praying our house will sell quickly. I'm praying for a new house in a great neighborhood with a cul-de-sac. I'm praying for Honey's new job. I'm praying for boxes that I don't have to buy. I'm praying for discernment of what to move and what not. I'm praying for strong backs and moving help. I'm praying for cheerful faces and good attitudes and content littles.

Limited Time

In the 38th chapter of Isaiah, Hezekiah becomes ill and is at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah tells him that he will not recover; he will die. Hezekiah prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.

God spared his life and gave him 15 more years.

15 years, including leap days is 5748 days. Talk about a guy who's days were numbered!

It got me thinking of how I would live my life differently if I knew the hours I had left.

~Every minute would be more precious than the one before it.
~Time would never be taken for granted.
~My words would be measured much more carefully.
~I would hug and kiss everybody more.
~I would write lots of love notes and letters to everyone I love.
~I would teach the Word of the Lord to my children with new zeal.
~Would I ever be in a bad mood?
~My fear of sharing Jesus with others would be totally eliminated.
~I would sing louder in church.

Imagine how the temporal cares of this world would mean nothing. How carefully I would live every second. And the fact is that this could be my last day, my last second. I'm ready to start on this list NOW!!

"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

Today...Well Yesterday Really

~Random picture of Eldest.

~Honey and I needed to talk. There's some big things going on that we needed to figure out. So we planned to have lunch together.

BUT about 10am he called to tell me his parents were on the way for lunch to see us one more time before they head home to TX. How glad am I that I went to the store yesterday?? So I threw together a quick lunch and put away the school books.

We had a fun afternoon with them and there's talk of going to Yellowstone together this summer. They are fun to vacation with.

Plan B: Take sandwiches in the car for dinner and sit in the car together while Eldest was at fencing. It worked! Even the simplest date nights are nice when you're with the one you love.

~We're painting the girls' bathroom. I was sure we had enough paint to do such a small room. But no. Off to get another gallon today. Maybe that one will stretch to do the hall too.

~While we were at fencing last night, my son made a coffee cake for this morning's breakfast. HUGE surprise. Thank you my good son!

~I cleaned up my laundry room really nice this week. I spend so much time in there and I hate it when it's the mess that it was. I LOVE my laundry room. It's just the right size and has plenty of storage. That room is recently painted too. Now I'm thinking I need a curtain for the small window above the sink. Perhaps I should pull out my sewing machine this summer.

~We're all taking lunch boxes to the park to meet friends today.

~The grass and the garden are growing wonderfully. I love the green of it all.

Today's meals...
Breakfast - coffee cake and carrot/orange juice

Lunch - lunchboxes at the park

Dinner - (Winged Wednesday) baked chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, and something else that I haven't figured out yet.

Tea - graham crackers and apples

Testimony Of Now

When you ask someone to share their testimony it always means the same thing. It means telling about how you came to know Jesus Christ in a personal life-changing way. We can take that word to mean so much more.

Sharing testimony is also telling what God is doing now. This week I was talking to a friend who is going to be a leader in her MOPS group this year. She was excited about being able to share with other women what God is doing in her life. That's her testimony of now.

My pastor had a tremendous message last week. It was wonderfully from the heart. Not polished or perfected. Just what was going on in his life and what God was doing with it. Very personal, very real, very effective. That's his testimony of now.

We all have a platform of some sort. If you're married, your husband is your first ear. Then your kids, then you branch out from there. The possibilities are endless....friends, neighbors, church, blogs.

Spreading the word about Jesus today is just as sweet a testimony as telling about that first meeting. I love hearing about what God is doing in the lives of my friends. I love telling (and blogging) about the Lord's activity in my life. When we share our testimony of now it also opens up our hearts to others.

So what's my testimony of now??

I was in awe today of God's creation as we drove to CO Springs to go camping with family. The mountains and clouds were beautiful. We saw cows, horses, and even a llama (!) grazing in the countryside. Driving back home, we drove through a thunderstorm. I LOVE thunderstorms. The car was full of happy, tired kids. Worship music playing throughout the car. My life is so full of goodness.

The Lord is teaching me to be content in all things. I am terribly discontent with change. Things are still good even if they're not the same as what I'm used to. Paul is a good example, and Moses, and my mother-in-law. Philippians is Paul's letter of joy thanking the church for a gift while he was in prison. Never complaining but always at peace no matter what the change.

That's how I want to be.

Hopefully someday I'll get it. And when I do, I will share it as my testimony of now.

God Cares

When Laney was 4 she was in a Bible program with our homeschool group. Her part of the program was to recite 1Peter 5:7. Her little baby voice was so cute as she said, "Cast all your cares upon Him for He cares for you."

That verse has been special to me ever since.

This week I've been reminded of it anew. The theme of God's love and care has been popping up to me all over the place in the books I'm reading, circumstances, conversations, and daily life.

Every comfort, every smile, everything I consider good is a gift from His hand. And when things get hard, irritating, and unbalanced I'm invited to cast those burdens upon Him b/c He cares for me.

I love this quote from W. Phillip Keller in his book, A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23.
"....it is He who brought me into being and no one is better able to understand or care for me. I belong to Him simply b/c He chose to create me as the object of His own affection."

"the Lord Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom." Isaiah 28:29

Funny Questions

from my 6yo son....
"Mom, are hedgehogs good to cook?"

from my 13yo son...
"Mom, how does my hair look? I sorta washed it. "

(Since when does he care what his hair looks like and how do you sorta wash it?)

Meatless Monday Take 1

In keeping with my new menu plan idea, here's the first Monday's dinner...

baked potatoes w/sauted mushrooms and onions, sour cream, butter, and cheese
beans (from a can)
my last quart of tomatoes from last year's garden
salad
fruit (grapes, pineapple, and asian pears)

I wanted to make a spinach pesto pizza but after I got everything out I discovered we were out of nuts. Grrr....

I baked potatoes a new way. I only had a bunch of little potatoes and I didn't wanna take the time to wrap them in parchment and foil. So I washed them, pierced them, and put them all in my biggest corning ware dish with a little water on the bottom. I salted them all with coarse kosher salt and baked them at 400 with the lid on for an hour. They came out just right and saved me a lot of time.

New Menu Plan Idea

We have this new restaurant in town and the sign said "Taco Tuesday". I guess they have different stuff every day but I thought that was cute.

So now we have .....

Meatless Monday (for some reason I don't think this one will be anyone's favorite)
Taco Tuesday (is that plagiarism?)
Winged Wednesday (basically anything chicken/turkey)

I can't think of anything for Thursday.
Friday is always pizza.
Saturday is something big that I can serve for lunch on Sunday too.
Sunday is date night.

Anybody have cute name suggestions for my other days of the week?

Today

~Staying home from church with coughing kids so I thought I'd use the time to catch up on my blogging.

~I lost my favorite pair of sunglasses. I've had them 8 years...which is quite a miracle for me. I was just bragging about how long I've had them and now they're LOST!! Pride comes before a fall.

~Honey took some kids fishing with G'ma and G'pa while I was in AR. Aren't the mountains beautiful?

~Here's G'ma with dinner.

~Saturday night service last night and it was SOOO much fun! Great video clips, music, new people, and the most handsomest worship leader you've ever seen. Sweet prayer time, a terrific message, and brownies. I love our church.
~I can see how preparing for Sat service is taking away Honey's "day off". Even if he thinks he's ready beforehand, there's still last minute things on his mind. It makes me want to be careful to observe the Sabbath and try to make it restful for him.

~Jes split his frenum (sp?) on the trampoline. It's that hangy down thing that connects your upper lip. Since some people have to have those clipped anyway, I'm thinking it may have just saved us about $300. He's a tough kid.

~I'm in the middle of the clothes exchange with bags and boxes everywhere. I'm not saving Mally or Zekey's clothes so there's a big clean out going on.

~The garden is planted! Or at least phase 1. I think we may be putting in some more stuff later.

~Date night tonight!! Ribs on the grill and a nice night at home. This is the first one in THREE weeks. No more Sunday night airport runs for awhile.

~Here's some good sales at King Soopers....
chicken leg quarters $.66
whole chicken fryers $.78
cream cheese $.91 (these freeze well)

There's no wonderful sales this week from what I can tell in the paper. Also there's no coupon inserts b/c of the holiday. This will be a good time to organize the coupons I already have and use the money to stock the freezer with chicken.

~Mr. Mr. Wing gave me a new cinnamon roll recipe that looks delicious. I can't wait to make them next Saturday. I'm thinking I'll make a batch for the freezer too.

~3 day weekend and I plan to use the time organizing my school, menu, and shopping trips for the week. Nothing big on the calendar and I'm looking forward to a slow week at home.

My In Laws

My inlaws are hilarious! (Remember the time she gave her fish a bath?) They're visiting now but sorta in and out with their huge motor home parked on our sidewalk.

My MIL was gone all afternoon and evening and we decided that we probably wouldn't see her till tomorrow.

Dinner was done, the kitchen cleaned. Little kids were in bed and the house was quiet.

All of a sudden my MIL and her 2 sisters burst in and start making spaghetti! Seriously, by the time I got upstairs the spaghetti water was already on the stove. They bring in all sorts of food stuff and fill the kitchen with loud Korean words and laughter. All the kids get up to see G'ma, Mangnay, and Emo. Hugs and kisses all around with entreaties to eat watermelon.

I do love the way that they never feel out of place or worry that they are intruding. They are perfectly at home helping themselves to whatever they need. Because of that they never feel like guests no matter how long its been since we've seen them.

Adventures In Flying

I had the unique and unexpected opportunity to fly into FSM to help a friend.

Meg and I are getting pretty good at navigating our way through the DIA, DFW, and FSM airports. Leaving Denver is sad and worrisome b/c it means leaving my family. And b/c of security, I have to leave them sooner than I'd like. It's my least favorite of the 3 airports.

Arriving at DFW is a different matter. By this time, I'm eager to get to where I'm going and busy concentrating on gates, skylinks, layovers, and boarding passes. TX is not CO and the view from the windows is southern.

There's so much going on at my house while I'm gone. I'm eager to call home during my layover but my phone gets no signal in the airport. I dig around my purse and find a prepaid calling card from who knows how long ago. I use the pay phone to call home and pray that I don't get lice or swine flu or something else gross.

Unbelievable! My plane has a TV! As in my own personal TV that I don't have to share. This was a big unexpected and exciting surprise! I notice though, that the other passengers aren't as impressed as I am. I guess they fly more than I do. Cartoons and Food Network pass the time pleasantly. The lady comes by selling snacks for $3. Three dollar m&m's....yeah right. (6 hours later the $3 m&m's would've been a bargain--but who knew?)

FSM, oh my. Such a pretty airport as far as airports are concerned. A small place with no escalator or moving sidewalks. Tastefully decorated with wing back chairs, coffee tables, plants, and lamps. I'm greeted by the smiling face of a friend, and we're off. The view from the window is green and lush. Why didn't I notice that when I lived there?

Flying back and I notice how quick and easy security is at the FSM airport. I'm flying American Eagle to DFW and hoping I have a single seat. Nope. Way over by the window. Flying stand by you can't be picky and I'm just thankful for any seat that will take me home.

Now I'm hoping that no one will sit by me and I can use the other seat to pull out all my stuff. No such luck. Here sits a guy that's WAYYYY too big for his assigned seat. So he "shares" mine and there's no way we're pulling down the arm rest. About 1/2 way I notice he has one of those chunky football looking rings on. Eldest would never forgive me if I sat by somebody neat and didn't get an autograph. So I ask him, "are you a famous football player?" Nope. Sorry sweetie, I tried. The plane lands and the poor guy has to exit sideways.

Back to DFW and I enjoy a layover chatting with Honey, Meg, Becky, and Renee. How do I still have a full battery? I'm hours from home and SOO happy to be that close. I miss my sweeties and I never want to go anywhere again. Not even the grocery store.

HOME! Well at least as far as the airport. And I can't figure out the way to the outside. 2 escalators, a tram, and an elevator before I make my way outside. Not my favorite airport. I think I said that though.

It's good to be home!!!

Signing Off

I miss my blog! And I just have a few minutes on a borrowed computer.

I've had to run out of town unexpectantly to help a friend and won't be back until Tuesday night.

My family is doing great and G'ma and G'pa are visiting and helping out. God is good.

Please pray for me to get home on time.

It's That Time Of Year!

Popsicle time!!

I buy them and make them and still never have enough.

This week I've made lots of popsicles. In the store, the boys wanted push-ups. Do you know what those are? (I really thought everyone did, but it turns out that my husband didn't. Deprived boy that he was.) Well, it's basically sherbet in a cardboard tube that you push up with a stick.

I decided that buying a whole plastic tub of sherbet is much cheaper than those little tubes. When we got home, we spooned them into our popsicle molds. They don't "push up", but they do freeze well in the molds. Also, I got like 20 popsicles out of it, instead of the 12 that was in the box.

Today I made green smoothie popsicles using yogurt, spinach, pineapple, and a bit of honey. I made about 16 of those.

I opened a #10 can of pineapple to use for the green smoothies and then used the pineapple juice for even more popsicles.

Our other favorite freezer treat is frozen grapes. Grapes were on sale last week so we stocked up the freezer. Just wash the grapes, pick them off the stems, and stash them in ziploc bags.

I love the warm weather!!

Grocery Shopping This Week

Have you ever taken 5 little kids to the grocery store? It's really quite fun if you're not in a hurry.

This week I took my kids that are 8, 6, 5, 3, and 2. I loaded my 2 and 3yos in the cart and let the boys walk. We did great until we came to the yogurts and then they all seemed to come apart.

"Can I pick some yogurt too?!"
"No, I want the cherry one!!"
"Can I carry mine?"
"Let's open them NOW!"

....all at the same time.

Hmmm, time to re-align the troops. We were taking up the whole refrigerated case and people were waiting for us to get out of the way. So I steered us up ahead and had the boys walk with their hands behind their backs.

If you've never done this with your kids, it is the best way I've found to get them under control in the store. When their hands are still, their mouths usually follow.

The cart is getting full and it's time for Mally to walk. I have her hold hands with Nate with their free hands still behind their backs. This works ok until they decide to have a competition to see who can walk the fastest.

I switch kids and have Jes hold her hand instead. This leaves a disappointed Nate that is still wandering around sorta loose and we're taking up the whole aisle. So now I have them walk in a single file line behind me all with their hands behind their backs. Duckling style.

Now they look just like perfect angels and the other shoppers (especially the elderly ladies) comment on how cute and well behaved they are. HUGE smiles all around. Apparently they didn't see us on the yogurt aisle.

Mally's free hand that is supposed to be behind her back somehow makes it to the front and is rearranging all the jello. Now I have her walk with her hand on top of her head for the rest of the trip. That worked.

We come to the cookie aisle and I remind Jes that we're taking lunch boxes to the park on Saturday and I tell him he can pick some cookies for everybody. Serious decision making going on here. An older lady comes scurrying back and stands right beside me. She winks at me and says, "I just came back to see what he would pick!"

We make it through the check out and to the parking lot. I do a head count. I unload babies and everyone helps each other in their car seats and seat belts.....happy to have free hands again and begging me to let them carry the cookies in the house.

Mushy Dressers

When we first got married, Honey and I bought 2 dressers at an unfinished furniture store. They have made it these 20 years and have been painted every color imaginable.

Today we're painting them again. Actually my daughter is. She and her sister were in there painting together and moving the dressers out.

During one of the first paint jobs, we painted love notes on the backs of the dressers. One of them says "Mike loves Sandy" and the other one says "I (heart)You". I heard the girls giggling over this....

LB says, "Wouldn't that be funny if they were still like that?!"

and Lane said, "What are you talking about? They ARE like that. It's just that now they have kids and you can't go writing that kinda stuff all over the place!"

Wild Men

My boys are Bear Grylls fans. Ever seen Man Vs. Wild?

Bear goes out into the wilderness and teaches you how to survive if you get lost in the middle of nowhere. He builds shelters, finds food, and makes his way to civilization. Unfortunately, the dinner menu is pretty slim in the woods and he eats all sorts of disgusting unmentionables. Of course thats my boys' favorite part.

My little Bear-wanta-be's have had great fun making up survival scenarios. It's to the point where they want to eat every weed, flower, and tree bark in the neighborhood. Today as I watched them try to cook grasshoppers in a cast iron pot in the sun, I made up a new rule.

New rule: If you eat the plants and bugs, that's your dinner. Crickets or spaghetti....you pick.

I think the tulips are safe.

Recent Ponderings

Isn't it hard to think about how some people have nice cushy lives and others are scrapping for anything they get?

I fall into the nice cushy life category. Recently I've been blown away by God's abundance to me personally. How I often take my blessings for granted!

And I also wonder what I hold on to too tightly.

I'm ashamed that I forget to show thankfulness to others.

I want to continually look to God with gratitude and humility, never thinking that I know something that I don't.

I want to patiently wait w/o giving in to vain imaginations. And to cheerfully change gears when things don't go my way.

I want to remember to pray for the needs of my family and friends and for those that don't know the Lord.

I wish I had a more tender heart for the lost, for those that are unkind to my family, and those who think they know more than they do.

I want to embrace this day and all that God brings in it. Living life today as though I will not see tomorrow.

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"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. " Isa 40: 28-31

This Weekend

was a whirlwind of activity!

~Lotsa soccer Saturday. So much in fact that I had to use a port-a-potty 2 times! And I'm still alive. No drinking anything at soccer games again.

~My neighbor had a garage sale today. Remember how I was saying that my 9x13 pans have disappeared? Well I got a new one for $1. The kids had great fun at this sale. I bought Joshua a whole box of bolts and outlets and junk pieces to build a robot. What a happy guy he was! Then he wanted to go over to see if she had anything else. He found an old shower head in another box of junk and she gave him the whole box. He will be one busy boy next week junkin' up the garage!!

~Honey led worship at church today. Oh, I love him!

~We had a potluck to honor Emily's graduation. I hope she felt special. It was nice to meet her sisters. I wish I knew her parents. They must be wonderful people to raise such a girl as Emily.

~Babyest fell and split his head open right on his eyebrow. I was so glad that Honey and I were both right there when it happened. It was a hard call to know whether to get stitches or not. We called Nana and decided he'd be alright. I think it was a good decision b/c it looks good today.

~Cold and drizzly at the Rapids game. We left at 1/2 time. Drizzly again today and the kids discovered that rain makes the trampoline even more fun!

~1000ct sheets are heavenly! Dad bought us some a few years ago and we have used them exclusively ever since. Even as old as they are, there are no little itchy balls on them.

~It's date night and I'm alone. I loaned out my Honey to Eldest for the night and they went to a Christian comedian concert.

~A full week of school next week with a couple of schedule changes to look forward to. I think I've fulfilled all my homeschool hours for the state and I'm ready to mail them in. I like schooling year round.

~We're painting! Laney painted the downstairs bathroom is about to start in the laundry room. CT is painting the pantry shelves. We've had to move all the pantry foods into the girls' room.

Tomorrow's meals....

Breakfast - eggs and toast

Lunch - leftovers

Dinner- spaghetti, green beans, salad, and bread

Tea - lemon bread (maybe)

Green Smoothies

These are so good for you! I took a picture to show you how pretty they turn out but I lost it. Grrrr......Oh well, you'll have to use your imagination.

As with any smoothie recipe, it's not really a recipe but a method. You can mix and match a hundred different things and clean out the fridge at the same time! Here's my favorite way to do it....

I use the whole quart of homemade yogurt and dump it in the blender.
Then add whatever fresh, frozen, or canned fruit I have.
I use juice concentrate to sweeten and sometimes a bit of sugar if it's not enough. (Or if you canned a lot of apricot preserves and it turns out that nobody even likes apricot preserves, then this is a good way to get rid of it!)
A couple of handfuls of fresh spinach. (Don't use frozen.)

Blend until the spinach is all chopped up and its a pretty green color.

As my son says, "It has lots of salad, but you can't even taste it!"

We're Back

and had a wonderful time in AR! I just kept saying over and over how beautiful it was. It really is a pretty place. I loved every single minute of it all.

Graduation was sweet and I cried through the whole thing. How in the world will I do it when I actually have one of my own up there? I have no idea.

An amazing thing happened while we were gone. Zekey boy gave up his sucky with just a little persuasion! He's officially a big boy.

I came home to a beautifully clean house and a happy family. I missed them so much.
I'm thankful to be home.

Today

will be so much fun!

~I ran all my errands yesterday so that I could spend today packing and cooking. I don't want Lane to have more on her shoulders than necessary so I'm doing as much for her now as I can. She'll do great....I just hope that Babyest does too.

~My poor little guy has hurt his knee in a trampoline injury. He doesn't whine, cry, or complain but he does have a slight limp. Yesterday it seemed better so today I'm hoping he wakes up fine.

~We slept with the windows open last night and woke up to the sounds of the birds.

~My husband is a hero. He will have to get up at 2am to register us for our flights. Then up again at 4am to take us to the airport. I think we'll have to go to bed around 7:00 tonight!

~What happened to all my 9x13 pans? I'm down to two. With my load of cooking today, I'm not sure if that will cut it. I may have to hit my neighbors up for pans.

~I got a new book to take to AR!

~I'm hoping when Meg sees another graduation ceremony it'll make her change her mind about her non-ceremony graduation plan.

~I miss my family already.

~I'm really REALLY happy.

OH YEAH!!

I'm heading to my beautiful hometown this week with Eldest for our homeschool group's graduation!

I really can't believe it b/c it was a total surprise! And though it is a very quick trip, Honey was so generous to even give us an extra day even though he hates us being gone. What a sweetie!

Beautiful rolling hills. GREEN (and no white). Sitting on the porch swing with Renee and seeing old friends. Awwww.......I'm so happy!

What Will I Do With All My Extra Time?

I may have changed my last poopy diaper. I don't mean to brag, but I'm VERY good at changing diapers. After 17 years it has become my talent. And I will miss it.

Where'd It Go?

Saturday was such a fun morning. All my girls and I went to the thrift store and bought new Easter clothes. We came away with sack fulls of clothes and shoes and lots of smiles. It was fun to be on a girly shopping trip with them all at once.

They scored better than I did but I did come away with a couple of pairs of shoes, jeans, and a new purse. I LOVE my purse! And even though it was at the thrift store it is brand new.

It's a beautiful spring color, just the right size, and instead of closing with a clasp or zipper, it has a pretty ribbon.

So Sunday morning was a little more fun as we were dressing for church. Most of my dressing time was spent switching over my purse. When I had it all packed, I went to the mirror to see how it looked with what I was wearing. You know how you do with new purse. My mirror in my room is small and didn't give a good enough idea of the whole look so I took it to the living room with the full length mirrors.

I spent some time playing with the ribbon. Tying it and retying it. Does it go in a knot or a bow?

Then you know what? I went off to church and left it at home. I know! Of course I didn't realize it until I was in the parking lot. Well there was nothing to do but turn around and go back home. I mean you can't go to Easter service without your Easter purse when you actually HAVE an Easter purse!

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Enjoy my pastor's brief, but good blog post titled, "Is The Cross About Me?"

Rejoice in His perfect sacrifice!

Hiding God's Word In Our Hearts

The kids and I have started a new memory program with Scripture Memory Fellowship. I love the reward system and we've had some fun working on our verses this week. For the little boys I made them these flash cards.

Just 3x5 index cards with the verse printed on one side and a picture on the other. Not too fancy, but it was quick and easy.

My 4yo's ....

"I am the bread of life, He who comes to me shall never hunger." John 6:35

(This is a picture of a grilled cheese we cut out of a magazine.)

My 6yo's....

"God created the heavens and the earth" Genesis 1:1

My 8yo's....

"Receive, please instruction from His mouth and lay up His words in your heart." Job 22:22

God's Leftovers

"For this is what the Lord says: ' They will eat and have some left over.' Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord." 2 Kings 5:43-44

A dear homeschooling friend is wanting to add more children to their family. She is concerned about adding to an already full plate and asked me how I felt the Lord has supplied us with grace, patience, and ability as He added to our family.

As I was pondering her question, I was reading in 2 Kings this morning. This verse nailed it! God's work in the life of Elisha displays His ability to turn little into plenty. The widow's oil was a small amount that was multiplied so that she was able to pay her debts and live. Twenty loaves of barley bread were made to feed a hundred men with leftovers.

As we have followed His leading, our family has grown and He has supplied us with the grace, wisdom, organization, patience, time, and energy that we need. For that I am thankful. But the "leftovers" are the best part.
The extra things like .....

date night every week
desserts with dinner
more clothes than I know what to do with
sleeping in on Sunday morning
soccer, fencing, and instruments
books and games a plenty
the unique love of each precious child

This good life is nothing we deserve. God took our little bit of faith and multiplied it as He has made our lives richer with each blessing. Continually He shows us that if we will trust Him, He will more than supply our needs.