I am hoping this morning to pull tons of tiny blue rollers out of my girls hair and find curls galore. We tried this a couple of years ago and no luck...that'sbecause the girls pulled them out in bed...maybe this year will be different. I am practicing for the wedding on Saturday. Hoping to make it a little easier on the hairdresser doing our hair. We shall see how this turns out. At least it was fun to see their faces last night when they looked in the mirror, not so much fun for mom though, putting all those curlers in took lots of time and my back ached!
I have had such a blessed weekend here at Dad's house with my family! I am truly feeling completely undeserving of such happiness! I loved seeing Ethan get in on the cooking fun. I also really loved the fact that this weekend I have been surrounded by such fun and loving people! I loved seeing my brother Todd and my sis in law Samantha and my future brother in law Sean and my sis Meredith and my Dad. I just feel so loved. By God. Because if not for Him granting me these wonderful blessings, where would I be? Not cuddling my daughter on the couch covered in blankets watching Charlie Brown...not putting shimmering eye shadow on the eyelids of an amazed little 5 year old, or the more common...arguing with a 6 year old about eating too much pie....
Life is good, no life is GREAT. I am just blessed to be a part of all of this fun and laughter.
I just love the fact that my sister is getting married! I just have to say that, because it's true and also because I want everyone to know! She's so sweet and I am happy she has finally found her match. Sean is great! I took some pictures of them today and yesterday, they are so busy with the wedding planning and budgeting, but they still are having a blast together. So here's a couple fun pics!
I have decided that I want to get into the habit of trying 1 new dinner recipe and 1 new desert recipe every week....so for this week, I decided to make Fresh Strawberry Bars..the recipe came out of Better Homes and Gardens and had been beckoning me to try..so I did. It was fairly easy, other than the fact that I don't have a mixer, so I had to do it all by hand...I am sure most women older than me would laugh, having cooked and baked without special tools..but I am a wimp. I put it in the oven and 25 minutes later it was nice and done. After cooling, I topped it with fresh preserves and fresh sliced strawberries...yummy! The cake/bars are kinda like peanut butter cookies, in cake form. Yum. I can't quit saying that. Yum. My two taste testers, Ethan and Aimee agreed that they were yummy and Ethan begged for seconds, I allowed him to have 2 total. So my first recipe was a success and I will undoubtedly make them again, next time probably with the use of a nice mixer to save my arthritic hands..
Sweet nectar of the Gods...okay, so not really, but I have found a new favorite in my breakfast foods...its called Mountain Medley. Its by Kashi. I love Kashi foods. I have loved them since I was acquainted with them a couple of years ago, but sometimes they are so pricey that I just try to walk fast past them and cover my ears so I won't hear the boxes crying..or is that me? I buy on a budget, sorta, I mean, I try to buy what seems to be a better deal at the time. I know I should plan better...but back to this cereal. It is awesome. It has pecans, almonds, cranberries, raisons, oats, sunflower seeds...health. It is great with soy milk, some people shoot down soy milk without giving it a try, I LOVE it. I don't care for it in sugar cereals, but it is wonderful on Kashi cereals. Health and health just go hand in hand. I also figure, I get plenty of calcium from the other dairy foods that I consume such as yogurt and cheese. I can just grab a glass of milk if I need to. Kashi = goodness, wholesome...yummy. So try it.
So, I decided to make a normal lunch today fun for Ethan and also give me some time to talk about his morning at VBS. I packed a lunch for both of us, sandwiches, chips, banana and drinks, put it in a basket(he requested this specifically) and picked him up from VBS. He said he loved it, it was a great morning for him. He told me part of the Lord's prayer...it was so funny to hear him try to pronounce "hallowed". He kept say How would it be your name...lol. We pulled up to the park and sat at a little table and ate beneath the trees by the playground...in the wonderful breeze...it was lovely. He ate(pretty fast) and then rushed over to join another child on the playground. He loved it. I sat by the other child's mother and we talked a little, but not much. It is so wierd how I never meet a stranger, yet sometimes the words just don't come out like I want them to. I always think of nice things to say once that person is already gone...I have been trying to work up ways to share how much God loves us, in small talk with people I meet. I have been unsuccessful thus far. The words just leave me, or is it my courage...anyhow, I smiled and made small talk about how cute her little boy was. He was 2 and imitated everything Ethan did. Makes me think of just how impressionable children are. Well, lunch was great, the company was even better and the weather was perfect enough to keep us on the playground for more than an hour. Praise the Lord.
So...I started off the morning much better than in recent months, read from 1 Peter and was encouraged. I couldn't get enough of God(don't think I ever will) last night before bed, so I listened to another one of my Dad's sermons online. This one was about the Joy of God Calling. I felt even more broken while reading it. God has called us to live holy, to be holy as He is holy. I have such a struggle with the way that I am lately. Sometimes I find myself envying other Christian woman and their lives, their passion. But instead of doing anything about it, I just get down on myself and then slowly the void just seems to disappear with more and more sin and then I have forgotten. God is not letting me forget this time. He has broken my heart and I see my sin, I see myself in the mirror, the real me.
I do not plan to daily blog about what I have done for the Lord or what have you, I have read in scripture somewhere (I will find it) that it is better to serve in secret, to not let your deeds be known to man, you know, so that we can not be boastful. But I will tell you this, GOD IS GOOD. I am going to be trying to get as close to my Savior as possible, get to know him and learn what pleases Him. He is, after all, MY LORD.
So, I have done the first of important little things for the day and that was spend some time with the Lord. I am not done with that yet, I need more of Him, all throughout the day, so I will pray as unceasingly as possible and meet again with Him as soon as possible.
The next little thing I wanted to focus on was my family. I so often take for granted the time that I have with the precious four that I have. So today I have planned something fun for Ethan and I to do when he returns from Bible school. Now, I want to also mention that usually the mornings with the girls are hectic and lots of the time I fail to give them lots of hugs and kisses and grace in their slow dressing and frequent trips to the potty, but this morning, I tried harder to smother them with love. I felt good as Hailey, the last one out the door because she couldn't pick out which shoes to wear waved at me and probably would have come back for one more hug if I would have let her. Tomorrow, maybe I will let her. God has apparently given me some grace in patience this morning. I love my girls. I enjoyed them this morning, even though it was just getting them out of bed and dressed.
My next little thing, I will blog about later. Got to get to it!
So, for the start of my "Little Things", I have made a little scrapbook type cover for my journal binder thingee....Flylady would call this my "control journal" (flylady.com) but, since I am NOT in control, I am going to try and figure out some other cool name for it. In the mean time, I have a date tonight with my husband, whom I love SOO much and I can't wait for the evening. By the way, the pictures on this scrapbook page are old, but I chose them for the looks on their faces and the day we spent outside in the backyard, discovering and marveling over the "littlest" things, like grass =) Love the faces. More to come.
I am going to be starting a new "theme" for my blogging(and pray that this time I can keep up). My new thing is IN THE LITTLE THINGS...Little changes that I am praying will in the long run make big differences. Each day, I am going to try and talk about a change and keep updating how that change is affecting my family, positively or negatively. I am doing this for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is because at times(a lot times lately) I feel very unmotivated and unhappy with my home, my children, my faith...you name it, I am struggling.
Something I have always longed for was the prioritized life that started out with FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDS and Career. Faith has always been a big part of my life, but lately, I have seemed to fizzle away...I believe it, I pray it, sometimes I say it, but it hasn't seemed that my relationship with the Lord is how it needs to be. I neglect my daily quiet time and my children are lacking the kind of mother so deserve, a Godly one.
I listened to a message this morning, it was one of my father's from Bible Church in Cabot and it struck a cord with me. He said, "a little faith can send a soul to heaven, great faith brings heaven to the soul." He was quoting Charles Spurgeon I believe. I need some heaven in my soul, and being that heaven is all about worshipping and praising the Lord, my faith is crucial right now.
I am going to blog again later this evening, when my children aren't chasing each other around the house and I am not having to deal with an overflowing bathtub(more on that later!).
I know that I don't blog as often as I should, but I am going to try to blog a little each day. Today was a wonderful day, I got on free-cycle early this morning and began diving out my plates(the stone and glass ones). We never use glass ones, for obvious reasons. I was glad to see them go to be honest, sometimes having more dishes just mean more laziness for me, you know, I still have plates in the cupboard so I can neglect those in the sink. Its a chore for me, to be productive.
I did feel productive a little today...I met a sweet girl named Lin, she has 2 children the same age as mine(a boy that is six and a little girl thats nearly 5). She came to pick up some of the dishes. She stayed and talked for like 20 minutes...last night when she called about the dishes we talked for 30. She is very easy to talk to! She introduced me to a site called SWAPMAMAS.COM, which is a clever little idea for moms who want different things, you can say, swap out a dvd for a couple of picture frames or swap books...its really neat. So I gained a friend and a new fun site to play around on!
After 3 people stopped by and grabbed my free items, I got back on to the computer and piddled around on swapmama. It's pretty fun. I am going to be getting The Devil Wears Prada on dvd and I think I will be trading a book or two, I am also getting a book or two that I don't have and trading a couple of planters for them. It's like shopping without the cash or checks! Of course, you have to ship it, but who cares, its not much to ship small light items.
I am slowly cleaning my home...slowly. I have like zero motivation on the weekends!! I just want to lounge around with the kids, bake cookies(I baked peanut butter today) and play around on the computer. I did manage to do a little laundry, but nothing else. The kids played in the kiddee pool for a few hours earlier this morning and so it was kinda hard to do anything while they were outside, I can't stand to worry about them running and slipping on the concrete or something....
So....we are pretty much moving to Cabot within the next couple of months...Shain is working on a transfer with his job and we are certain Cabot is where we want to be. I am VERY excited. We talked and talked about what we should do because Ethan starts first grade this fall and we needed to register him for school but havent found a house yet...the option came with loving care from my Dad...we are just going to stay(not move our stuff in) with Dad in Cabot until we close on a home. It shouldnt be terribly long, but its a necessary step if we want to get Ethan enrolled in school and not have to change schools in the middle of the year. Anyone who is familiar with Ethan's behavior knows that he is NOT a fan of change, he IS a fan of routine/order(not in his room).
So I said all of that to say that I am trying to downsize our belongings and start packing up what we will need to keep. Its kept me busy. Tonight I decided to hit Ethan's room for some organization. Of course, Ethan offered to help...but bless his little OCD self, he couldnt do much but try to match up all his things such as star wars guys with their appropriate guns...he has soooo many, it took him a while. I cleaned and then just left him still busy organizing and reuniting his characters with their belongings...lol.
So...I am tired. I am ready for some boxes, a little uplifting music and no children so I can get some stuff done around here. I have lots on my agenda for the coming weeks....picking up my sisters car so Shain doesn't have to drive mine(long story), visit to Dad's for some fun, visit to Rogers to meet my friend Caroline and her kiddos, packing, house hunting, school registering, wedding attending(my whole family is in the wedding, the girls are flower girls, Ethan's a ring bearer and Shain and I are Groomsman/Bridesmaid) and hopefully in the end settling into our first home... =)
So...highlights of my day so far....Sims 3!! I went to Walmart last night...at midnight...yes I am a nerd...The only thing was, they didn't even have it out on the shelf, they had to go look for it..sad, most of the people(other Sims addicts) that I have heard from waiting in line for the sims, not waited around for them to bring it out. Well, I guess thats the fun of being in a small town. As for the gameplay, I love it. The game is AWESOME. The only problem I have is too small of a processor..so, as penny pinching as I have been lately, its going to be very hard not to invest in yet another laptop..
Active, day 2! SWEATING...big time. I worked my tushie off again, loved the new added workouts for today and had to slow down just a bit at the end. But this time, no little kinks. The strap stayed on my leg, the numb chuck stayed where it was supposed to. Good steady pace. Lets hope this starts to show in my body soon. I am tired of my worn out 30 year old tush.
I figured maybe I would try and use this blog to keep up with how much I am doing to help reach my fitness goals. I have recently acquired a Wii Ea Active. My husband so sweetly gave it to me for my birthday, because I wanted it by the way....No husbandly hints or anything. ;)
My first problems were that the numb chuck was facing the wrong direction on the squats, finally figured that out, then the numb chuck kept flying out my leg thingee when I was running. I had a few incidents when the leg thingee slid down also...it is a work in progress...
The great thing was that I sweated my ever loving rear end off. I felt the workouts in my thighs and butt. I enjoyed it...well, I hated it really, but thats sometimes the joy of being overweight and out of shape. I much rather run out in the beautiful breeze, but lately, its been a hot breeze and I haven't located a sports bra that doesnt either lose my women or cause them to have a "uniboob" appearance. Excuses, I am full of them.
Well, so for my first workout, hopefully the first of many, I will pat myself on the back. I am now drinking a bottle of water, the first of 3, I attempt to drink 3 everyday and then its off to shower off the earned sweat.
So...last night was really weird. My children did something they never have done before. It baffled me. I was sound asleep in bed...it was 3am...I heard some giggling and thought, surely not...so I got up and slowly made my way to the girls room...sure enough, the girls, ALL three of them were giggling and playing, like it was mid afternoon! I couldn't believe it! I immediatly shot them the mom look and they took off at maximum speed into their beds...but it didnt end there. I went into their rooms to tuck them in and explain it was still nighttime and they had food hidden in their beds! Pringles and popcorn! I wonder just how long they were up?! I had to confiscate all the food and then I headed back to bed...3 minutes later...giggling...jumping from bed to bed! I was tired, Shain was tired, but he stood up and made his way to the girls room where you could hear the scrambling feet and the nervous noise. After a couple spankings each(yes we spank for defiance) they were all in tears and then quieted down nearly immediatly. Not another sound....until 7 this morning, which to me, was tooooooo early for Saturday. So when or when will they finally appreciate sleep?!
Yeah, he does....last night he knew that I was having a rough day. I was tired and emotionally spent. He came home with a Wii Fit for me! What a sweetie!! I had really wanted one and we just hadnt gotten around to getting one. So...we spent about 2 hours on it last night, finding out just how yucky fat we have gotten....I am hoping to remedy this with the help of Wii Fit, I really enjoyed last night and this morning, and I like that it graphs where I am in my weight loss journey. SO thank you Shain, you rock. =)
I just wonder sometimes why people do mean things to people they dont even know. Last night someone decided that Shain's carbon fiber trunk needed to be stolen..right off of his car. Shain was really upset. I am sad for Shain, he puts very little money into his little Civic, but he really enjoys fixing it up. The carbon fiber hood and trunk were some of the more pricey pieces. It wouldnt have even gotten broken into, but Shain had a blowout on his tire a few days ago and the tire had to be special ordered(racing tire), it came in this morning. Poop.
So Shain is upset, not only did they steal the trunk by the way, they bashed in his drivers side window....and its really REALLY cold today. Oh, and the door was unlocked anyway....lol..
Anyhow, I am mad, why do people have to do evil things!!!!! UGH!!!!!!!!!
I could probably start all over and no one would ever even know I had a blog spot, but oh well. I just was reading someone else's blog and remembered, hey, I have one of those!
Its been a while. I have been kinda crazy busy, I am hoping to keep up this time. I guess I will just start with today.
Today, I went to a church in Texarkana called the Circle J Cowboy Church. Shain's parents have been attending there for a while and invited me and the kids this morning. I was thrilled. Seriously, I have been aching to attend a church, but Sunday mornings are difficult without Shain. He has to work every Sunday lately so, well...I know lots of Moms probably do it.
The church was really nice, very western and laid back. Almost everyone wore boots and a good majority of the men wore hats. I even wore my boots...but the rest of me was pretty traditional, minus the jeans of course. I even dressed the kids in their jeans and boots, they loved the idea. The music was fun, very western, at times I kinda felt out of place..ok, a lot out of place, but at the same time, I felt like I was in the house of God, so really, I was already a part of these people. After they dismissed the "buckaroos" to their classrooms, I was finally able to appreciate everything around me...no more hanging or slouching children, asking very loudly to use the potty(or "go gucky" as Aimee loudly spoke at one time).
I enjoyed the message, it was meaningful, mostly about how we are the sheep of God's pasture, that we need to come through his narrow gate and allow him to lead us. I like it. I have to say, I still like my Dad's sermon's a bit more(I am not biased or anything =) ). I did really enjoy the company of Shain's parents as well. They helped me a lot when it came to rounding my kids up to board the van and even took us out to lunch which the kids really enjoyed.
After church, I hightailed it home to chunk the kids in their beds, greet the babysitter and head off to a funeral. My dear friend Erica lost her grandmother over the weekend. She was not very old either, they think it must have been a heart attack. Her funeral was the first one I think I have attended since my Mother's 5 years ago. It was harder than I thought it would be. I was glad to hold on to Erica and squeeze her mother tight as well, but as I walked by the open casket, I couldnt help but think of my mother and last time I told her goodbye. I imagined Erica's pain in losing someone who was very close to her, someone who was by herside when her mother wasnt able. I had a rough time holding it all in. I managed to keep it in for about 30 minutes or so during my drive back home...but when I lost reception and couldnt talk to any friends during the drive, I lost it.
At least the pastor who gave the ulogy said some wonderful things. He encouraged us all to draw closer to God and our families during a loss. He said that death comes to all of us whether we are ready or not. Of course these are things I already know. But sometimes you have to hear it again. I know that I am a Christian, I am sure of my salvation, but what I am not sure of is how many people that I have had the opportunity to share with that I have let pass by. How many close friends do I shut up around. It made me think. I am still thinking. God is so good I dont know how on earth it is that I dont just scream it from the rooftop all the time. I have everything I could ever need and so much more than I deserve. I have a beautiful family, a roof over my head and too many other things to list. I am guessing that is something that the Lord is trying to make sure I see. I am opening my eyes. Oh and thank you Lord, for one more day.
I am a 31 year old mother of 4, my oldest is Ethan, he is 7 and my youngest(s) are 6, Aimee, Hailey, and Meredith. I love being a mother! I recently moved to Cabot. I know that in all trials there is a purpose and I am confident that God can use all things for good.
