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.....

Awana Video From Last Week

This is MJ telling the whole class about the 7 days of creation.  See how good everyone is listening?!

(Ok, I promise this is my last blog post of the day.  My family will be home soon.)

Random Thoughts That Come When The House Is Too Quiet

Today my man took most of the kiddos to play basketball at church.  That left me home with LB who didn't speak a word b/c she was so busy with her science.

So it was almost like having the house to myself.

I LOVE my family, but this super quiet time is so refreshing.  I got to wrap Jes's presents without being rushed.  I talked to a friend in CO.  I made some hot chocolate for LB.  And I blogged.  So nice.

It's given me unusual space to think crazy randomness.....

~I have a new ministry idea for some of our harder to reach community.

~I still can't believe we're moving in 4 days.  Lord willing.  Oh I hope so!

~Sitting by Honey in church, our bulletin showed a picture of a white lady surrounded by little black children.  I drew an arrow to her and wrote "ME".  He wrote back.  "GO".  

Oh be still my heart.

~I called my father-in-law and told him of our plans to invade tomorrow.  He sounded happy.

~2 common comments I'm getting about my daughter getting married.

#1 - She's happy now, but just wait 10 years.
#2 - You could be a grandma soon.

My thoughts....marriage is what you make it.  I love my husband so much more today than I did 24 years ago.  M & E have spent 20 years with married parents and know it's not always perfect.  They will be great together.

I have been praying for my grandbabies for a long time.  I can't wait to meet them!

~I hope we have plenty of youth on the Sunday my CO friends will be here so they can meet them.  I wish I could talk them into staying until Wed to meet my Awana peeps.

~Since we are celebrating Jes's birthday tomorrow instead of Tuesday will he still expect a day off school on Tuesday too? ( I bet so! )

~Where will the dogs sleep at night in the new house.

~I should pack.  But then I'll need the stuff I packed.  We didn't bring much stuff anyway and we do still need to live for 4 days.  Probably the reason I'm not a good camper.  I packed the books in my nightstand.  The ones that have been there for 4 months untouched since I bought them at the library book sale.  But then I remembered that I really really wanted to read the new Blackaby one.  And I can't.  So I'm not packing.

~Maybe I should make dinner instead?

Baby Nate ..Just For Fun

I love this cute baby face.
It looks just like him.
Only now he's 8!

Those 2 tiny baby teeth are so sweet.

Recycling Birthday

Tomorrow is a big day.  

We get to celebrate a whole decade of Jes!

Really now isn't that the sweetest face?  

I'm so in love with him.  

Eldest is our queen of re-purposing.  She can turn the worst junk into something wonderful. 

She's been using brown paper to wrap presents for a long time and this year I had to take a page out of her book.  

Amazon is so thoughtful to pack our boxes with all this brown paper.  We smoothed it out and I was originally planning to use it for packing but when I went to wrap Jes's presents and figured out I had no good birthday paper, I decided this was just the thing.  

I figured I'd make it colorful by painting on it or with some markers.  But no.  Everything like that is packed. (4 days in case you're wondering)  It's becoming a common theme.  Like 10 minutes after I pack and label the box I decide I just can't live without that whatever it is and it should be unpacked right away.  

I resisted the urge and just used my fat black packing marker.  I don't think he'll mind a bit.  

Our Week

Happy Thursday!

This week has flown by for us.  Actually that seems to be a common theme this year.

~Monday we had a nice visit from my parents.  They brought a yummy lunch and stayed for the day.  Once we get moved in Nana is already planning once a month trips and has picked out her bedroom in the new house.  Love it!

~The new house.   You knew this was coming didn't you?
ONE MORE WEEK!  And today we get to go again to sign off on some repairs before closing.   I'll leave Honey to look at repairs while the kids and I walk around and remember where we've mentally unpacked everything!

But on the packing front, very little has been done.  And right now I'm ok with that.

~My Farmer Boy is still sick.  I really take wellness for granted in my kids and when sickness hits it really takes its toll on everyone.  It started with pneumonia and a round of antibiotics.  6 weeks later found us sitting in the doctor's office half the morning b/c I can not get this kid well.  So yesterday we left with a chest Xray, breathing treatment, an inhaler, and another round of antibiotics.  :(

~That meant he missed Awana and so did LittleMan b/c he wasn't quite himself either.

But do you want to hear about Awana?  Yes?
I could go on and on.  I'm counting it our best night yet.  My boy MJ did an excellent job illustrating the 7 days of creation on the chalk board while my entire class listened very attentively.  So proud of them! I had no helper last night but didn't need one.  My guys were perfect.  So much so that we had time to talk about some of the Verses to the whole class and go through the plan of salvation with the wordless book.  A lot of time is wasted on behavior issues sometimes but last night we had none of that!

Let's talk about MJ.  I love that crazy boy.  I've known him since 1st grade and am always glad to see his face on Wed nights.  He certainly adds a whole new dimension to the class and enjoys one-on-one time...which he doesn't always get to have when things are crazy.  I have lost track of how many times his family has moved these few years but I'm extremely grateful that God keeps bringing him back.  And if God allows, I look forward to spending some time in youth with him one day.

~Youth was great too I hear.  Aside from the usual ear splitting teen age din, Honey was able to have some good conversation with them that carried over into some Facebook chatting later on.   Our youth are awesome.

~Moving on.....
I was doing some work and had a pen.  I needed both hands so I stuck my pen in my mouth.  But then....GASP!! .....when I went to use it again there was a big dead spider on it!!  Good grief how long must we endure this fallen world?   Spiders will NOT be in heaven people.

~Wedding plans.  Easy peasy.  I told Honey that I think a pretty wedding depends on the mother of the bride's creative friends.  They are TERRIFIC!!  And have made this a breeze.  There are still a few more things to get but for the most part we are almost finished buying stuff.  (Yay!)

~Time to move along this morning.  Honey left me his laptop and I could easily spend most of the morning playing with it instead of working....

Today's meals....
Breakfast - blueberry muffins and green smoothies (Thank you LB!)
Lunch - tuna melts (requested by Farmer Boy)
Dinner - chicken taco casserole (if I pull it all together in time)
Snack - snack mix with nuts, raisins, banana chips, seeds, and chocolate chips

Mopeless Monday

I'm following Amanda's lead to have a great attitude about Mondays.  So I wanted to play along on her Mopeless Monday posts.

We had a guest speaker at church yesterday and his message was titled Today Matters.  
He talked about making do with what you have today ...the strength, abilities, circumstances... and capitalizing on the moment.

I have so much to be thankful for!

Smiles From Last Week....

~Celebrating my daughter's birthday.  She is such a joy in our lives.  Birthdays always mean decorations, a day off school, presents, and yummy food.  A celebration indeed!   And just for fun look at how she's grown!

That precious face makes me smile!

~Spending a whole afternoon with my 11yo son all by myself.  Everyone else went to G'ma's but he wasn't feeling so hot (still) and stayed home with me.  We took a walk, talked, drew pictures, looked at old pix on the computer, and just enjoyed being together.


Looking Forward To....

~Some more wedding prep and talking flowers with Tracy and Meg tomorrow night at TKD.

~Sending out cards that I've been wanting to do for awhile.

~A wedding and a baby shower on the same day.  Celebrating Life!

Caramel

Isn't she sweet?

This is Caramel loving on Farmer Boy.  She is our stray kitty Meg found and she's never left.  I guess we've had her about 6 weeks or so.  Mally couldn't be more thrilled.  She's wanted a cat for a long time! 

LB's Birthday Part 2

We like to take the birthday kid out to lunch.  Usually the little ones pick Braums and the bigger ones have more expensive taste.  We were very surprised to hear what LB picked. 

Sonic.  

Why?  Grilled cheese.  

So Sonic it was.  But that was nice too.  Heck, anything with her is nice.  

The little kids were chomping at the bit wanting her to open presents but we had to wait for Meg.  She didn't wanna miss it ya know.  

Later in the day G'ma and G'pa came, Meg was home, everyone was cozy and it was present time! 

And cards. 

And lasagna.  Yummy dinner!  

There was one more surprise, but I'll save it for part 3 .  As for now, here's LB and we are so grateful to have spent 15 years with her!  

LB's Birthday Part 1

Happy 15th Birthday to our sweet LB! 

We started the morning with a yummy breakfast of bread and gravy and peaches.  

Cleaned up. 

Now what?  

Well there's a feed store that we pass when we drive to our new house.  My kids had never been to a feed store before and I thought it might be a fun trip.  

Box fan hanging from the ceiling.  Classy! 

Jes modeling a shepherd's staff. 

Guess who liked this place more than any of us?

I was hoping there would be some baby chicks or bunnies or something fun.  Nothing.  In fact, this blue chicken was about it.  It was very unimpressive and not worth sticking around.

  

But......we just just minutes from Grandma's at that point so we stopped by for some hugs. 

Crazy!  This is a birthday post about LB and I didn't get a single picture of her?  Oh well more will come later when the festivities really begin.  This was just the way we spent the morning.  

Awana Week 3

My man is preaching this week and I was up at the church helping him put his sermon together.  I walked through the Fellowship Hall (I call it the lunch room) to get to the kitchen.  All the tables were still set up from Wednesday and I immediately smiled.  AWWWWW........My Awana kids.....

Sappy?

I can't help it.   They are truly precious to me.

My 3rd and 4th graders are super smart.  I usually have at least one helper.  This week I had two.  It was a great help as I have one guy who especially likes individual attention.  We talked about what it means to trust Christ as your Savior, worked on start zones, and had a conversation about not sneaking chips out of the lunch room.

I continue to have around 10 boys every week.  I love every one of them.  But I find that with so many I can't do everything I want to do with them.  (Did I mention this before?  I don't remember.)  It takes awhile to get through prayer requests or highs/lows and there is no way I could do both.   Hmmm....now that I think about it, since they behave so badly at games maybe we should just skip games and give me an hour of class time?   I have so much to say!!  Somehow I don't think they'd go for it.

Dinner is surprisingly uneventful, music is getting better, games are crazy, and class time goes way too fast.  

Preventing Boredom

I'm reading a new book I got on my Kindle last week.    It certainly wasn't the topic of the chapter, but somewhere in there....just briefly...the author mentioned "bored with life".

Bored with life?  "How can that be?", I wondered.  On the other hand I knew exactly.

I've noticed that I'm more in my element during a fast-paced stressful situation.  There's tons of work.  Super busy.  No boredom.

But at home during the day-to-day everyday my mind is often bored.  I never realized this or thought to put words to it like that.  The fact is I have plenty to do.  And even if I thought I ran out, all I would need to do is pull open an over-stuffed dresser drawer and get to work.

But its not necessarily work I want to do.

And why?  Because in my perfect world I rarely recognize the fact that I'm engaged in a spiritual battle.
I go about doing my same ol' - same ol' and forget its eternal significance.   I only see dishes...more of them and the magic laundry pile that never gets smaller.

Do dishes and laundry even have eternal significance?  I believe they do.  It is along the lines of service and loving my family and working along side my children to teach them good work ethic, a cheerful attitude, and the joy of doing all things to the glory of God.

It is selfish of me to think (or fail to remember) that life is "only this".
But I'm not talking only housework.  It's also the times when I'm having a mental conversation with myself instead of listening to when someone is talking to me.  Wasting time on the computer.  Or checking my Facebook while my 1st grader is reading.

Jonathan Edwards wrote that he...
"determined to never lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can."
and
"To live with all my might while I do live."

That is what I want.  To escape the boredom of life by giving myself fully to each moment.  Everyday.

First Box Packed!

A Little Bit Of Lately

A Happy Sunday To You!

And it's a VERY happy Sunday to me.  Ya know why?  It's DATE NIGHT!!
The first in a long time and I'm really excited.   I have no idea what we are planning yet but it doesn't matter.

Other than that.....
~My family has been sick sick sick.  Josh had pneumonia, Honey had bronchitis, and most of the rest of us had some variation of it.  Blah!  Everyone is getting better now though.

~3 weeks and 5 days until we move!  Yes yes YES!  I'm searching Pinterest for decor ideas for my new house.  Twice this weekend Honey mentioned that he needs to start packing.  I can tell he's excited because he's usually the last one to pack.  Oh we are ready....

~And the week after that is Meg's wedding.  It is all coming together rather nicely.  We did some shopping this week buying fabric, centerpieces, her veil, and some rentals.  We are renting a huge 60 cup coffee maker/dispenser.  Since I can barely work a regular coffee pot, I'm thinking we'll need to practice.
The first bride's maid dress is finished and I'm really happy about the cake.  It'll all be lovely I think.

~I'm needing to try some new recipes.  I'm thinking of a few different wedding/planning opportunities where I'll need to feed friends.

~I bought a new game.  Ding!  It isn't the funnest game ever but it's pretty good.  8 people can play at the same time and even my younger kids caught on pretty quickly. Since it's the only game we currently have, I'm guessing it'll get a lot of play time in the next 3 weeks and 5 days.

~School.  School is going well.  But I find myself getting more and more frustrated with our lack of table space.  It is hard doing school sprawled all over the place....I'm about done with it.   3 weeks and 5 days.

~There's a kiddo waiting in line to play Spore. I bought it for them from a friend of mine.  They love making the creatures and watching them move.   It was also part of my plan to help my kids use the computer more for school this year.  Well, it is in no way educational but it is incentive to finish school in a timely manner with no drama.   

~Does anybody use Switched On Schoolhouse?  I bought the 5th grade History and our video card went out.  Now we have a new one but I'm not so eager to install it.  I'm so intimidated by this, but I think my boys will love it.

~My mother-in-law's b-day is next week.  It's so nice having them in town.  I'm thinking of surprising her with birthday stuff and lots of kids on that day.  Some balloons, flowers, a fun cake, and lunch.   After that...AWANA!  Ought to be a fun day!

Decorating Pillows

Little Man loves catching me make my bed.  

He always asks, "Can I decorate your pillows?"

He will rearrange them several times. 

And fluff them up. 

And make them just so. 

And admire is work. 

Ta Da!!

Yet Another Blog...

I thought it would be fun to keep a bloggy record of our homeschool goodness.  Hop on over and check out my work in progress if you have some time....

My kiddos will be posting their writings and I will be blogging my scattered momma thoughts.

My New Favorite

I love this smoothie.  Besides my chocolate one, this one is my other fave.  Super nutritious and pretty too.

Did I mention easy.  Really really easy...

Fill 1/2 your blender with frozen mango/pineapple (Sams sells this in a big bag.)
Add 2 ripe bananas.
Fill the blender the rest of the way up with some sort of greens.
Pour in water until it reaches the top of the mango/pineapple.

Blend until there are no more chunks.  YUMMY! 

Goodbye Mr. Oliver

Yesterday Honey and I went to a beautiful funeral honoring the life of one of our neighbors.

Mr. Oliver was 86 years old.  He had such a full and interesting life, including being Chief of Police for many years and investigating the assassination of JFK with the FBI.

There were many people there and the pastor noted that at most funerals of older ppl there is a small crowd.  Their friends have passed away.  But Mr. Oliver was busy investing in others until the very end.

He was married to his one wife for 65 years.
He taught Sunday School for 40 years.

Such a testimony to a life well lived.

I came away looking closer at my own life trying to determine in what ways I'm wasting it.
How am I spending my days....hours, minutes.  Am I actively investing in the lives of others or just doing the next thing until the day is over?  What should I be doing differently?

You Don't Understand!

Yesterday Savers had their 50% off sale.  I love that sale.  I wanted to go look for something to wear for Eldest's bridal shower.  Nothing.  That's ok b/c I have more than enough clothes as it is.  But I did find some vases and decor items for the wedding.

There's a nice lady that works there.  She has helped us before when we've been in there with all our kids.  I struck up a conversation with her in the checkout line and told her I was buying for my daughter's wedding.

Her:  "Good for you!  You're finally getting rid of one!"

Me:  "Um no.  I'd rather keep her around."

Her:  "Well it's gotta help to have at least one gone."

Me:  "Actually it's the other way around.  She is a great help to me."

Her:  "Then too bad you can't switch out one of the little ones in her place!"


Lady!  You just don't get it!!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my sweet grandmother!

I am certainly celebrating her life.  She is so special to me.  I talked to her today and she is feeling a tad better than she has in awhile.  I'm thankful for that.  Still sad that she hurting though.

Please pray for her!

What Works?

....Augh!  I meant to post this on my RA blog but posted it here instead.  I don't know how to switch it and blogger isn't letting me just copy and paste.  Boo.   I'm not willing to type it all over again so.....here it is in the wrong place.

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

I've been feeling so much better these days than I have since I was diagnosed.

And one day...!  Get this.  I had no pain AT ALL.  That's the first pain free day in almost 2 years.
I wasn't perfect.  I still had stiffness and that acute "awareness" of my joints.  But nothing hurt.  It was a good day.

I wish my hands looked as good as they feel.  Most days I can make 2 loose fists as soon as I wake up. As the morning wears on, everything loosens up and my fists are tighter.

So many ppl in my house have been sick and I haven't been able to depend on a long night of uninterrupted sleep for a couple of weeks.  Still I'm feeling good.

My shoulders and elbows aren't great but aren't terrible either.  And they are hurting differently than the usually sharp jab of RA.  More of a dull but throbbing ache that usually wakes me up at least once in the night.  I still have full range of motion, I just do it slower.

One thing I've noticed is that I'm SOOO tired.  No matter what time I go to bed and no matter even if I take a nap.  I hate that!  It makes me feel old.  Actually I feel great in the morning but I'm done by lunchtime.  That's a problem.   I've read about RA fatigue quite a bit and I've been glad to avoid it for as long as I have.

When I tell ppl how great I'm feeling they usually ask, "what is working?"
Honestly I don't know.  I would love to say that 1 green smoothie a day and a handful of supplements do the trick.  The fact is, when I was first diagnosed I did everything at the same time.  Every single thing that I read might work.  Every thing that anybody even suggested that helped their neighbor's cousin.  I was so desperate.  And while I've not kept up with all of it, my diet and supplements haven't changed too much.

So my answer is The Grace Of God.  I'm so thankful for continued healing.  I'm so grateful for a God who remembers me even though I am nothing.  And I will continue to pray for complete healing and wisdom to know what to do next.

I Haven't Been Doing This Lately..

"address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ."  Eph 5:19-21