The Stocking Dilemma

Christmas is on my mind! :)

I know Thanksgiving is next week, but because of that I know Christmas is right around the corner waiting to jump at me, like it does every year. :)

So this year, especially with a new baby and knowing that everything will take longer I've started my Christmas shopping *gasp* (yes, I know there are many people who are done, like my sister) in the hopes that I'll actually get to relax and enjoy a few days before Christmas.

My goal every year is to be done shopping and baking and sending out cards early and every year I'm shopping up until a few days before Christmas (wrapping presents on Christmas Eve or after people get here on Christmas) baking like a mad woman up to the day, and the actual day I'm giving cookies out as gifts and then mailing out our Christmas cards the week of Christmas praying for some kind of Christmas miracle that our cards will get to their destinations before Christmas. Yeah.

I don't like being a last minute person, but I think I am. I know some people thrive under the pressure, but I don't know if I thrive on it. If being frazzled and stressed out count as thriving, then, yes, I thrive quite well, but I don't quite think that's it. :)

Anyway, so back to my title about the stockings. Every year we have the intention of doing stockings for St. Nick. What usually happens is 1 of 2 scenarios. Scenario 1. If we do St. Nick my husband or I (usually me) is out running around the day before hastily buying things to throw into our kids stockings, and while it gets the job done it's not super enjoyable. Scenario 2. We skip St. Nick and decide to fill stockings Christmas Eve and, well, unfortunately it's pretty much the same scenario again. Amidst all the other Christmas preparation we sort of forget about the stockings and then Dec. 23 or 24 one of us (again, usually me :) ) is running around looking for "leftovers" to fill the kids stockings, since by then it's not always easy to find what you're looking for. Can you say, "Parent, fail"?? :)

This year I decided to get a head start on stocking stuffers, so I can actually give our kids something they'll like. It's not really that bad. :) I do however want to do stockings for St. Nick because I want to give each of the kids their Hall*Mark ornament to hang on the tree and I got some cute Christmas pencils for the older boys that I'd like them to be able to use at school before Christmas break. :)

I started picking up little things kind of by accident *Yay me!* 2 or so weeks ago. I was at Target going through the $1 section and found a few cute items.

My dilemma comes in when I'm trying to figure out what kind of candy to get. Do I buy candy that I'll like too, since inevitably all the candy ends up in one central location (away from little hands), or do I buy stuff that only the kids will like, so I won't be tempted to eat it?

Since I'm the "Stocking Stuffer" I usually don't get things in my stocking so when buying candy I keep in mind that this is sort of for me too. :)

And now aside from a few little things for Lu-berry, and a couple of teethers for Baby E, I'm pretty much done with stockings *Hooray!* I decided to get candy for the kids that they'll like and candy for my husband that we'll both like. Ha! It's a win-win. Now I just need to remember some self-control since I am trying to lose weight between now and Christmas.

Yes, I know, I am crazy, but I won't fit into my Christmas-y clothes if I don't.

Re-Cap

Well, here I am again, after months of neglecting my blog. However, having a baby is my excuse and I think it's a good one. :)

Our newest addition was born 12 days after my last blog post. Baby E (that's what his sister "Lu-berry" first called him, so we'll go with that) was born August 29th. I should post about his birth, but that'll have to be another day. I really want to try and be more consistent with my blogging if only for my own purposes. I mean, I have 4 boys now, and I've got some good book material, and if I don't write things down I'll never remember everything and then I won't make millions after I write my "Mother of 4 Boys Survival Guide" :) provided I survive, Ha!

I wanted to document some more book material, while I'm still remembering it. And thankfully I can laugh at these things now, but at the time, I don't think I did. These situations coupled with sleep deprivation, hormones, and a not always happy baby....yeah....

1. I'm not exactly sure about the beginning date for this, I know it was early to mid September. It starts with my husband at church. J3/#3 son laid his head down on E's lap during church. E was looking in J3's ear and noticed a big ball of ear wax was in his ear, making a note to clean out J3's ears when we got home. Fast forward to Monday night, E gets around to cleaning out J3's ears and quickly realizes what he's seeing in there is not ear wax! What do you ask is in J3's ears? Are you ready for this? Bebes!! That you'd use in a bebe gun! That's right, let it sink in. Not only are there little white bebes in J3's ears, they're glow-in-the-dark bebes! So after using a flashlight to inspect J3's ears, they now glow if he's in a dark room, good times, good times. So over the course of the next couple of days (along w/ me having mini-meltdowns at the thought of taking J3, a not-so-happy baby and other children to the ER) E manages to get both bebes out of J3's ears, the 2nd coming out by E taping a tube you'd find on an oxygen tank (that he found in the barn) to our hand-held vacuum and sucking the beebe out of his ear.

At one point E asked J3 where he got the bebes, and he said he found them in the truck. J1 had found them at a park and left them in the truck and apparently J3 thought it was a good idea to stick them in his ears, help! It did explain some hearing issues he'd been having up to the time of E discovering the bebes. :) And now 2 months later I'm happy to report no new foreign objects have been found in J3's ears.

2. While E was sucking said bebe out of J3's ear on the final night of Operation Clear the Ears, we were so pre-occupied with J3 and his ears that we lost sight of Lu-berry for a little bit. Well, not really lost sight just didn't realize she wasn't with us in the livingroom, not that this is a big deal, she can occupy herself. Anyway, she was busy while we were sucking out bebes. After the final bebe came out, there was much rejoicing in the house and I think that got Lu-berry's attention and she came in the livingroom. I noticed that her cheek was bleeding a little and after further inspection we concluded that while we were sucking bebes out of J3's ears Lu-berry had decided to take her first shot at shaving, yes, that's right she somehow managed to get into E's cabinet in the bathroom and shave, good grief!

The following day Lu-berry was in the bathroom with E and he took his razor out to shave as soon as she saw it she said, "I like that" (Help!).

Her shaving wound is healing nicely, she may end up with a little scar, but I think over time it will fade.

3. About 2 weeks ago now, I was in the livingroom feeding Baby E and J3 comes running in with a concerned look on his face. He says to me, "My nose hurts." Um, ok...and then I see them. He was holding a little stack of about 4-5 rare earth magnets and it hits me, he stuck a magnet up his nose. So I asked him, "Did you put a magnet in your nose?" He nods his head yes. Of course he did, of course he did, why am I surprised?! He put a marble where the sun don't shine this summer, last month he had bebes in his ears aside from his mouth this is the only other bodily opening he hasn't stuck a foreign object into. Trying to keep myself calm, since the last thing I wanted to do was pack the kids up for a trip to the ER, my mind started racing with all the different things I could try to get the magnet out before involving the medical community. It was out. J3 blew out like he would if blowing his nose and the magnet was out, Praise the Lord! So while trying to keep my twitching to a minimum I explained as seriously as I could with out yelling that nothing belongs in his nose except a kleenex when he needs to blow his nose. Later that day he came up to me and said, "My nose is sore." Yes, J3 that's what happens when you put a magnet in your nose.

4. I don't know about all children, but a couple of mine have eaten weird things over the years and thought whatever it was they were eating was good. Now some things I can understand. J3 would take my flavored creamer out of the fridge and chug-a-lug a half a bottle. Not something I'd do, but whatever. I've also caught J3 eating Boudreaux's Butt Paste, and enjoying it, on several occasions, should I be worried?? Well, the latest involves my daughter. I have no idea how she even got this, but she did. She comes over by me with this little bottle, opens the top sticks her finger in it, sticks her finger in her mouth, looks at me and smiles and repeats. It was GLITTER! Now I know it's not the worst thing in the world, but seriously, glitter??!!

5. This happened the same week, possibly the same day Lu-berry decided to have glitter for a snack. J3 decided to give Lu-berry a haircut! Yup that's right her first hair cut. Thankfully only a tiny bit of hair was lost, not because I found him in the act, but because he cut her ear in the process. I've thought of getting her ears pierced, but not like that. Anyway, it was a very small cut, but enough to draw some blood.

How does all this happen? It's called, I'm nursing a baby and being pre-occupied with him since he's not my happiest baby. Maybe I need to start taping them to a chair while I nurse??

So there my friends is a re-cap of some of the craziness (stuff I can remember) that's taken place here at the Funny Farm in the past 2 months. If nothing else I hope this brought a smile to your face or even made you laugh! I can laugh at these now, at the time I think I was doing a lot of twitching, but I'm laughing now and that's what counts! :)

What's For Dinner

I wanted to share what we had for dinner tonight. I'm always on the look-out for new yummy recipes to try and this one, at least for us, is a keeper! Everyone liked it! Even our youngest son, who if you looked-up "picky eater" in the dictionary his picture would be there. He didn't eat all the meat, but he ate the majority of what he was served, and for him, that's big! :)

Couple reasons I was drawn to this recipe, besides the simplicity of it....It has Prosciutto in it which I've been wanting to try for probably a year now and fresh basil, which the basil I planted from seeds is thriving in our garden so I was excited to use some of it! Also, I'm a big cheese fan so this recipe allows for me to indulge and try a new kind of cheese. :)

If you're looking for something new to try for dinner, our family recommends this! :)

Whole-Grain Spaghetti with Pecorino, Prosciutto and Pepper

Ingredients

• 1 pound whole-grain (or whole-wheat) spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons mixed colored peppercorns, coarsely ground
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups grated (6 ounces) pecorino
• 6 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking: Heat a small, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Add the peppercorns and toast for about 20 to 30 seconds. Add the oil and cook for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.

Drain the pasta reserving about 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Transfer the spaghetti to a large serving bowl. Add 1 cup of the pecorino and toss to combine, gradually adding reserved pasta water, if needed, to loosen up the pasta. Add the oil mixture, prosciutto, 2 tablespoons of parsley, and 2 tablespoons of basil. Toss well to combine all ingredients.

Garnish with the remaining pecorino, parsley, and basil.

Joy Comes

This week on Wednesday night we received some news that just made my week!

Besides the usual busy-ness of life with the added craziness of the summer, we've been praying for a few heart breaking situations. This news was like a cool breeze on a hot sticky summer day, just refreshing!

Our dear friends from church who suffered a miscarriage in March announced that they are almost 20 wks. pregnant! And the icing on the cake is they found out they're having a girl. This is the first granddaughter on either side of the family!

I am beyond excited for them!! God is so good!

"...weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."

Psalm 30:5b

Blessed Be Your Name

After receiving some sad and for some heart-breaking news this morning, some of the words to this song immediately came to mind.

You give and take away

You give and take away

But my heart will choose to say

Blessed be Your name

We had a lot of flooding in our area last week, and the elementary/middle school I went to was completely flooded! There was water up to the ceiling and Everything was destroyed....all the curriculum, books, computers, desks, supplies, everything. This is a small one room Christian school, so for all of this to happen was devastating!

Church leaders and some of the families of the school held a meeting last night to decide whether or not to re-open the school. Members of the church have been fasting and praying this week, asking for the Lord's guidance as to what to do.

My mom called this morning to let me know that the decision was made to close the school.

My heart is aching for my mom who's been working there since I went there. The other teachers, families and church members who were so heavily involved in this school. It was more than a school but like a small family.

I am praying for all involved!

I thought this song was appropriate, no matter how hard, sad, heartbreaking the circumstances.....my heart will choose to say, Blessed be Your name!

11 years ago....

my husband and I said "I do". We committed our lives and our love to each other, "'til death do us part." So much has happened in the past 11 years. We've grown from 2 people beginning their married lives in an apartment to a family of almost 7 living in the farmhouse my husband grew up in.

If you would've asked me, even on our wedding day if I thought we'd be where we are now I would've said, "no". I never imagined I'd have 5 children, it was only a dream that has now come true that we are living where we are today. Although, I have to say the experiences of marriage were many times much harder then I expected!

Learning to cook and keep a home....well let's say through much trial and error and the Lord's help and grace, I think it's safe to say I've come a long way! Ha! Thinking back to my cooking days when we were first married makes me a little twitchy, but I'm thankful for all I've learned and am still learning!
Keeping a home, again, those early days make me a little twitchy, and with each baby we've added to our family, it seems the learning process, in a way, has started again. I'm bracing myself for that learning process to begin again sometime this September and I'm hoping to have it "mastered" again by Thanksgiving....or at least make it look like I have it mastered! :) I have to say though, through gaining ideas from friends and so many times praying my way through the day, I'm happy with how I've learned to keep our home clean.....and while it usually lasts less then 24 hours, it's at least getting done. :)

This past week I spent some time reflecting over the past 11 years of marriage. We've been through a lot in our young lives and marriage. We've had so many fun times, many amazing times (4 soon to be 5 of which top the charts), sweet times, sad times, times of sickness, thankfully many more times of health, stressful times, times of anger with each other, times of wonderful talk and fellowship and we've had our share of stormy times....some of those storms severe!

The day we got married on the front of our wedding programs was typed, "God is Faithful" the theme of our wedding. And as I was reflecting this past week, it truly is God's faithfulness that has been the constant in our marriage! We are 2 imperfect humans who are living and building our lives and family together, and things are not always happy and cheerful, but Praise God, He is and always will be faithful!! That is one thing we can depend on and believe in!

Truly it is God's faithfulness that has brought us, carried us and seen us through these past 11 years! Through the good times, the bad times, in sickness and in health, our God is faithful!!

I am so thankful for the Lord's faithfulness, it is because of Him that we are celebrating 11 years of marriage today!!

♥ ♥ ♥ To my, Bear, I love you more today then the day we said, "I do" and I want to love you more with each passing year! Happy Anniversary!! ♥ ♥ ♥




This song is perfect for our anniversary....He's been so faithful...

A Call to Anguish

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5

Teacher's Gifts.....a little late...

I've been meaning to post these pictures for a while, but just haven't gotten around to it. These are pictures of what the boys made for their teachers as part of an end-of-the-year thank you. The class as a whole gets the teachers something, so these are optional gifts, but I love doing it because we are so blessed with the teachers our boys have had! It's small, but we are so thankful for them and all they've done for the boys throughout the year!

Before...




After....

These are pictures of J2's gift for his teacher. He painted the pot himself and picked out the flower too. We were so blessed to have Mrs. H for J2's teacher this year! She is wonderful, you could tell she just loves her students! She was wonderful in keeping us up to date with J2's progress throughout the year. So thankful for her!





These are pictures of J1's gift for his teacher, Mrs. H. He painted the pot and picked out the flower himself! My involvement was planting the flower. :)
We absolutely love Mrs. H! She is the perfect transition teacher from K to 1st grade! She is just wonderful, she's great with the kids, but keeps them on their toes, and doesn't let them get away with anything. The kids adore her! We were so blessed to have Mrs. H for J1's teacher this year!






This was for Mrs. D she's the school's computer teacher. J2's class "adopted" her to give her little "perks" throughout the year. This was part of her end-of-the-year gift from the class. J2 picked out the flowers and I had a sweet friend paint the pot, she said it was therapeutic for her and she enjoyed painting it. I think it turned out beautiful! :)

Strawberry Freezer Jam Success

After loading the pictures I realized I didn't take any of the jam-making-process. I blame that on it being about 10:00-10:30 pm. when I was working on this (after a very, very busy day) since we had a wedding the next day that took up the entire day. :)

We have 24 jars of jam in our freezer and the leftovers I kept in the fridge are long gone and enjoyed by my husband and kids. So I'm looking at this process as a BIG success! :)

Now I'm hoping my tomato plants grow nice and big so come August-September I can make some homemade pasta sauce. :)

View From My Windows

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork." Psalm 19:1


View from our truck window. There were storms coming in this night and we happen to be on our way home after some shopping.






View from our Family Room and Living Room windows.

The Hiding Place

I am almost to the middle of the book "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom. This is at least my 5th or 6th time reading this book, and I've decided I need to read this book at least once a year. If you've never heard of this book or heard of it but never read it, I highly recommend it. It's the type of book that can change your life, your thinking, your heart, in a good way!

"The Hiding Place" is about Corrie and her family. There is some history from her childhood but the bulk of the book focuses on their work in the "Underground" hiding Jews during Germany's occupation of Holland during World War II as well as the time Corrie and her sister Betsie spent in concentration camps in Germany after their capture.

Each time I read this book I come away challenged. Betsie has a heart like few people do, her compassion for her captors and those who treated her wrongly is amazing! I'm challenged to be more like her, because my heart is so far from where hers was...mine is so lacking in compassion for my enemies.

I'm trying to decide how to do this. While reading yesterday I came across 3 quotes I want to share and I know there will be more. I'm trying to decide if I want to devote a blog post to each quote as I come across ones I want to share or lump them together a few at a time in a post and share maybe what the Lord is speaking to my heart through those quotes or why they impacted me. So you'll have to bear with me as I figure this out. :)

If I can encourage you again to please read this book! We can do it together and then maybe you could have your own blog post(s) about ways this book is impacting your life? :)

If you do read this book (which I obviously hope you do) please don't feel pressured to blog about it, but I would love for you to let me know you've read it or are reading it and what your thoughts are!

If I Only Had a Brain......

or at least my memory!!

Yesterday, I was sitting on the couch listening to a friend play the piano and sing. She has a beautiful voice and I was just relaxing and enjoying the rare moments...
The kids were outside playing so other then the piano and my friends voice the house was quiet.
While I was sitting I must have thought of at least 3 different blog topics to write about, I didn't write them down anywhere because, of course, I was going to remember them!

Do you think I can remember them now? Any of them? NO!! I have faded ideas (kind of like memories of a dream you think you had) of what I "think" might have been a topic or 2, but I'm not sure.

Seriously, this is sad, so very sad, but unfortunately not uncommon for me. Sigh....

In the days to come if I actually remember 1 or all of the topics I'll be sure to write my idea down.

On a happier note. My strawberry freezer jam was a success!!! We now have 24 jars of jam in our freezer! I'm hoping to ration them so they last into the winter, but part of me is afraid they won't last that long.

I used the recipe I posted, and while it's a tad putzy (mainly mashing the strawberries) it was very easy. It was my very first time making jam of any kind so if I can do it anyone can! :)
I took pictures that once I get off of the camera hope to post.

Thanks for reading my ramblings if you made it this far....sorry that this isn't more interesting. :)

Strawberry Freezer Jam

I'm posting this here because in order to print out the recipe I'd have to print 6 pages and a bunch of other stuff, so I thought
I'd post it here.
Hoping to make some this weekend or next week, provided I go strawberry picking today. :)





Strawberry Freezer Jam
Makes Five - 8 oz. Jars

4 cups mashed strawberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 packet freezer jam pectin

1. In a large bowl, crush st until only small pieces remain and mixture is quite liquid. This may take a few minutes.

2. In a small bowl, mix Pectin and sugar together until incorporated. Add to mashed strawberries. Stir for 3 minutes.

3. Ladle into clean jam jars, leaving 1/2″ space at the top. Cap and let sit for 30 minutes. Store in your freezer until ready to use, or transfer to fridge and eat!

Jam keeps several weeks in the fridge or up to one year in the freezer.


Hoping I get a chance to try this!! :)

Memorial Day

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." ~Ronald Reagan


I saw this quote on one of my friend's fb page this past week. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it to be true. In the day that we live in we seem to be rapidly losing more and more of the freedoms our Grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great grandparents fought, sacrificed and died for. Some of these freedoms have been, unfortunatly, given up without a fight, others are in a sense being taken from us. There is an ache in my heart as I think of what our country will be like when my young children are adults. Will they enjoy the same freedoms I did as a child? My children live in a much different world than I did and I'm not that old. What kind of America will my grand-children grow-up in?

I know the road we are on now as a country did not happen overnight, it's been a gradual "decline" if you want to call it that. Starting with giving-up "little" freedoms and now it seems to be escalating at an alarming rate!
I know the world we are living in is growing darker, and that make me so much more thankful to have Jesus to cling to. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I do know Who holds my tomorrow!!

I kind of got off on a tangent, so to come back to what I really wanted to post... :)

THANK YOU!!! Thank you to the men and women, past and present, who have fought, died, sacrificed, served and still are serving our country!! Thank you....those words don't seem to be enough!!!

I have grandparents who served in World War II. A dear friend who's husband has been deployed 3 times since the start of the Iraq War, and may other friends who have served or still are serving in our country's armed forces!

Thank you!!! Today I am remembering you and the sacrifices you have made, you are not forgotten today!!

Happy Mother's Day

I realize I've neglected my blog once again. However, being a mom of 4 keeps me very busy without the kids being sick or without any added craziness, which seems to be the story of my life lately. :)

Anyway, this being Mother's Day I wanted to post and email a friend sent me about 2 years ago. It was very timely, because I was going through some struggles being a mom, and this just brought perspective and encouragement to my heart!

I think being a mom is probably one of THE hardest jobs anyone could ever have, but it is also one of the most amazing and rewarding jobs!

So with these short reflections which I hope made some sense (long busy weekend = me very tired right now) I'll leave you with the email I received. We are all in different places as mom's because our children are at different ages and places themselves, but the general message of this email is what really impacted me!

Happy Mother's Day!!

I'm Invisible

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the

lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while

I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.


Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the

phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking,

or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner,

because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom.


Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more:

Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?


Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a

human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?'

I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the

Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30 , please.'


I was certain that these were the hands that once

held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that

graduated summa cum laude - but now they had

disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's

going, she's going, she's gone!


One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of

a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous

trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was

sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It

was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my

out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could

find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a hair clip and

I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling

pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped

package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great

cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I

read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the

greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'



In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the

book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing

truths, after which I could pattern my work:

No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record
of their names.

These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.


A legendary story in the book told of a rich man

who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a

workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and

asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird

into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.'

And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'


I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall

into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering

to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day,

even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no

sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to

notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't

see right now what it will become.'


At times, my invisibility feels like an

affliction . But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the

cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to

my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see

myself as a great builder. As one of the people

who show up at a job that they will never see

finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The

writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be

built in our lifetime , because there are so few people willing to

sacrifice to that degree.


When I really think about it, I don't want my son

to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for

Thanksgiving, 'My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade

pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all

the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself.

I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there

is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it

there.'


As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We

cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very

possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at

the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of

invisible women.



Great Job, MOM!



Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know

.... I just did.

Good Friday

I had several ideas of what I wanted to write today. Reflecting on the death and resurrection of Jesus, so many thoughts come to mind. I decided though that to keep all that I was thinking in order and get it to make sense once I typed it out might not work so well. So I'm going to post part of a story from the Bible story book we read to the kids before bed.

The Sun Stops Shining
Taken from Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23 and John 19

" 'So you're a King, are you?' the Roman soldiers jeered. 'Then you'll need a crown and a robe.' They gave Jesus a crown made out of thorns. And put a purple robe on Him. And pretended to bow down to Him. 'Your Majesty!' they said. Then they whipped Him. And spat on Him. They didn't understand that this was the Prince of Life, the King of heaven and earth, who had come to rescue them.

The soldiers made Him a sign-'Our King' and nailed it to a wooden cross. They walked up a hill outside the city. Jesus carried the cross on His back. Jesus had never done anything wrong. But they were going to kill Him the way criminals were killed.

They nailed Jesus to the cross.

'Father, forgive them,' Jesus gasped. 'They don't understand what they're doing.'

'You say you've come to rescue us!' people shouted. 'But You can't even rescue yourself!'

But they were wrong. Jesus could have rescued Himself. A legion of angels would have flown to His side-if He'd called.

'If you were really the Son of God, you could just climb down off that cross!' they said.
And of course they were right. Jesus could have just climbed down. Actually, He could have just said a word and made it all stop......
But Jesus stayed.

You see, they didn't understand. It wasn't the nails that kept Jesus there. It was love.

'Papa?' Jesus cried, frantically searching the sky. 'Papa?' 'Where are You? Don't leave Me!' And for the first time-and the last- when He spoke, nothing happened. Just a horrible, endless silence. God didn't answer. He turned away from His Boy.
Tears rolled down Jesus' face. The face of the One who would wipe away every tear from every eye.

Even though it was midday, a dreadful darkness covered the face of the world. The sun could not shine. The earth trembled and quaked. The great mountains shook. Rocks split in two. Until it seemed that the whole world would break. That creation itself would tear apart.

The full force of the storm of God's fierce anger at sin was coming down. On his own Son. Instead of his people. It was the only way God could destroy sin, and not destroy his children whose hearts were filled with sin.

Then Jesus shouted out in a loud voice, 'It is finished!'

And it was. He had done it. Jesus had rescued the whole world.

'Father!' Jesus cried. 'I give you my life.' And with a great sigh he let himself die."

----Taken from "The Jesus Storybook Bible".

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:16-17

"Jesus saith unto him, 'I am the way, the truth and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.'" John 14:6

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name (the name of Jesus) under heaven given among men, whereby me must be saved." Acts 4:12

Need to Document this somewhere....

This post is more so for my own memory's sake. I need to get better at this since, I think, with some of the situations I find myself in with my boys, after my blood pressure has returned to normal and my shot nerves seem to correct themselves, I do find these humorous... I think I have to for my own sanity's sake.

These are 3 stories about my youngest son, J3, from this week and while the 1st 2 are cute, humorous stories, the last, well, lets just say my nerves are still recovering...

1. One thing I admire about children is their ability to be entertained and/or amused by the simplest of things. Case in point. I'm sitting in the Family Room and J3 comes walking through, talking to a lady bug. Yes, he found a lady bug (actually one of those orange Japanese beetles) and was talking to it. Telling it all kinds of things while gently holding it in his hands. At one point he said, "This ladybug will go to sleep everyday." I'm not sure how long the relationship lasted but haven't heard a thing about it since that day. :)

2. This morning I'm in the kitchen and J3 is in the bathroom off the kitchen. I hear him flush the toilet, nothing out of the ordinary, until I hear something else. I hear J3 talking, talking to "anybody" that might be in the toilet. I hear, "Hello!" "Anybody in there?" "Anybody home?" "Heeelllloooo?" this went on for just a minute. It did however start my day out with a smile! :)

3. So I have the boys hop in the shower (for now it's easier to have them all shower at once) since J2 had a Dr. appt. Well, they start getting out and J3 is crying and crying. I run in there (totally calm) and ask (of course very nice) what's going on. To which J2 pipes up and says J3 stuck a marble in his butt. Seriously??!!
Ok, now what? I have him climb out of the shower and sit on the toilet hoping it'll fall out and that will be the end of it. Nothing comes out. Super! Ok, well, we're headed to the Dr. anyway, we'll just mention it then. J3 goes on as if nothing ever happened and we continue getting ready. I did ask him a few times why he put a marble in his butt, to which I got answers along the lines of, "because it's stuck in there", Duh, what was I thinking :)
We head to the Dr. spend at least 30min. in the waiting room. The kids have off of school today so I'm trying to keep the 4 of them from destroying the waiting room, while J3 continues to act totally fine. We see the nurse what we came for is finished up and we leave. I call my husband on the way home and he asks what the Dr. said about the marble. Shoot!
Claiming pregnancy brain, J3 acting fine and trying to keep the peace in the waiting room as my excuse I explain that I totally forgot to mention the marble (there went my 'Mother of the Year' award).
Head to McDonald's for lunch, J2's reward for doing a good job at the Dr. Then head home.
Call the Dr. office to let them know what happened and wondering what I should do. The receptionist got a good laugh out of my predicament and told me a nurse would call back when she was finished with an emergency patient. Ok good.
Nurse calls back, briefly tells me that because we're dealing with his rectum, basically they won't do anything and that I need to go to the ER right away! Lovely!!!
Now I must explain (so you get a taste of what I felt like when she said to head to the ER). J3 is our child who can get a scrape or cut and while cleaning it up he sounds like we are literally killing him!!! And I'm not exaggerating at all! He will scream if we try and put a band-aid on him. So when the nurse said take him to the ER right away, whatever was left of my nerves at that point....well, you get my point.
I let my husband know via chat what's going on and he isn't happy because of the huge bill we're going to get (I was too) and he was frustrated that the Dr. office was so willing to do nothing. So I call the ER to get an idea of what to expect because if they're just doing an x-ray wouldn't it be cheaper to have it done at the clinic?
After delaying our departure for 10 min. or so the phone rings again. This time it's J3's Dr. she says DO NOT take him to the ER, this is not an emergency (insert Hallelujah chorus)!! She says J3 should have no problem passing it, if I want to I can bring him in and she'll take a "look" in there, that it may be a bit traumatic but if I want the peace of mind she'll be willing to do it. I mention his "band-aid" phobia and we decide to wait it out and that if he starts complaining or acting weird (which after this week I'm not sure what classifies as "weird" anymore) to bring him on in. And also mentions she'll be talking to her nurse. :) (I love our Dr.)
I'm thanking the Lord I didn't have to take him in! I'm just hoping the shaking stops soon and my nerves regain what ever they need to regain before the next situation happens, which, in our home could be in the next 5 minutes......

Broken but Held

I've neglected my blog for too long. I've been meaning to write recently but just haven't had the time. This post isn't exactly how I'd planned my "come back" but here it is....

Yesterday at church we found out some dear friends of ours are going through their 2nd miscarriage. I couldn't stop the tears from flowing when I heard and as we prayed for them. I feel so broken.

I don't fully understand their pain because I've never had a miscarriage, but there's just a brokenness in my heart for them. Maybe in part because I'm pregnant and am having no problems.

Maybe because I know they've been praying for 6 years to add another child to their family and feeling that excitement and that hope for them....and now it's gone...replaced by sadness.

Maybe it's because I want to take on the pain and grief they're experience and bear it for them.

Maybe it's because I want to say some "magical" words to make them feel better, but in my heart know there are none.

Maybe it's because in the physical I really can do very little for them, and maybe knowing that makes the brokenness more real to me?

Maybe it's because I don't understand, and want to, but that may not be for me to ever understand.

And maybe this is one of those times when I don't understand why, but, I'm choosing to trust the Lord and His wisdom and knowledge of the situation.....even when a part of me doesn't want to....

Seeing again that our journey on this earth will not always be easy or fun or pleasant or rosy. In fact sometimes it's just plain heartbreaking and hard!

And seeing again that it's not always easy to trust the Lord and His ways...but knowing in my heart that His ways our best even if at times they bring sorrow and pain....

And strangely enough, it's in those times... in those valleys...that I seem to feel His presence more to know Him more deeply...it's in that place of brokenness that He's able to move more freely and to heal more deeply...

Why?

Maybe it's because I know I'm "Held" and that our dear friends are "Held" today too.


"The Lord is near to them that are of a broken heart; and saves such that have a contrite spirit." Psalm 34:18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-hJ87ApWtw&feature=related

The View From My Window (Wordless Wednesday on Thursday) :)

Tuesday's Topic/Question

What would I do with $50,000? (I'm assuming taxes have already been taken out and I really have this much) :)

The first thing I would do is tithe 10% ($5,000).

Next I would want to give to an organization helping the people of Haiti. Red Cross, maybe, I'd also look into Christian organizations helping. My heart is so broken for these people. I'd give $1,000 to whatever organization I chose.

Another thing that's been on my heart is sponsoring a child. Through a couple of blogs I frequent I've found out about a wonderful organization called Compassion. They have programs set up in many different countries. Even before the earthquake sponsoring a child from Haiti was on my heart. I found out though that, I'm assuming because of all that's going on, sponsorship for children there is not available right now. I think I would hold out until it was available again, otherwise, my 2nd choice would be to sponsor a child from India. Through Compassion to sponsor a child for a year would be a little over $450 the cost is $38/month, but so much is done to help.

OK so I'm at $43,550.

Looking for a new vehicle is on our list this year. The mini-van we have is on it's last leg, we bought it used in 2002 and it's been wonderful. We have over 200K on it now and it's still running....it runs loud, but it still runs. :)
My husband's dream vehicle...well, dream that we could fit our family in, is a Toyota Sequoia. The practical side of me says to go for the Toyota Sienna, mainly because it's cheaper. :) So I'm thinking we'd spend $15,000-18,000 on a new used vehicle. What we get would depend on how much we spend. If this were the case I think my hubby would win out and we'd go for the Sequoia, so to get a good one we'd probably drop $18,000.

Alright we're at $25,550

I'm going to take $5,550 of that and use it toward 2 trips. Maybe I'm low-balling here, but we do like to find deals. And, well, we usually try and keep our trips as low cost as possible. So I'm not sure how I'd budget the money but I'd use some for our upcoming Disney trip and then use the rest for my husband and I to take a trip to Hawaii. And I'm pretty sure we could make it work....we know of a deal or 2 we could get. :) Anyway, the Hawaii trip would be a dream trip for me! :)

Now I'm at $20,000

I'd like to take $2,000 and pay off all our medical bills. I know those don't accrue interest, but I hate having them! And since other than our house payment we really have very little debt, to wipe out the medical bills would be a weight off my shoulders!

Ok, $18,000 left

At this point I think I'd want to save most if not all the rest. Use more if we need to for our trips, but keep the rest in savings or use a couple thousand to finish up some of the never ending projects around the house. It's hard to say. :)

I'm going to leave it at that. Probably not the most exciting of things, but..... oh well. :)
Maybe some things would change (for sure not the first 3) if I spent more time thinking about it, but that's what I've got for now. :)

Unexciting Post

I have forewarned you, this isn't going to be that exciting. I have a post that I want to do, some reflections from over the weekend (we went to a dear friend's funeral). However, I should be in bed sleeping right now, SO I want the fore-mentioned post to make sense so I will save it for a later time (hopefully this week).

My post is going to start with a question.

Why?

Why is it, the only time I run into people I haven't seen in a long time, is when I look like a scrub?

Can anyone tell me? Seriously, I could have the best hair month of my life and I wouldn't see a single person I know (outside of church, school...the regulars) but THE ONE day I look like a scrub is when I run into someone I haven't seen for 10+ years?

Do you see where I'm going with this?

It happened to me, tonight!

Now I have to say that this time it wasn't so bad, because, the girl I ran into, is a mom also, and well, quite honestly we both didn't look our best tonight. :) So after the pink faded from my flushed cheeks I realized, she gets it, she's a mom too, and well, sometimes you just look like a scrub. I mean seriously, are we not entitled to that at least once in a while?! :)

Also, in my defense it is Monday, and well, it's Monday....do I need more of an excuse? :)

I just seem to not have great timing when it comes to "running into" people.

Another time I remember was when we had just, I mean just gotten home. In fact we hadn't even gotten home we were stopping at Wal-Mart on the way home from camping. Now, if you are an avid camper you know that, well depending on where you're camping you may or may not have taken a shower that day (or if you're some people, thankfully not in our group, you may not have showered the whole weekend) because you know, there's a lake for swimming. Anyway, I know I had showered, I just didn't look like it.

So who do we run into? 2 guys I went to high school with.

I felt like a deer in the headlights...I was trapped...they had seen me, so I couldn't run...so I walked up to them gave them hugs and as quickly as possible explained how we were just getting back from camping....hoping that would explain why I looked like something the cat dragged in. :)

Anyway, just wanted to throw that question out there. Which along the same lines the question....Why doesn't anyone just stop by when my house is clean? Why is it they show up on the 1 day, possibly the 1 hour my house looks like a bomb went off?

I'm asking deep questions here, deep questions :) The kind that will never really have an answer...or at least a good one!

If you actually read this whole thing, I'm impressed. And if you ever see someone in a store that looks like me but is trying to run and duck down an aisle...it's probably me having a bad hair day, nothing personal. :)

It Sounds So Simple

Trust.

A 5-letter word, it's simple to say, simple to ask of others, but when it comes right down to the actual trusting, that's where it's not always so simple.

I'm struggling with this very word, not so much with the word itself, but in doing...trusting.

Not in trusting my children, or my husband, or in others around me, but in trusting God. Which when I really think about it has to be one of the silliest things ever.

Why?

Well, my husband, my children, my family & friends are human, they're not perfect. They've broken promises. Some have hurt me very deeply. Some have lied at one time or another....they're not perfect.

So why is it, I'm having such a hard time trusting God, who has NEVER broken a promise, has NEVER hurt me in the sense I'm talking about, who has NEVER lied?

Right now the Lord has brought me to a place, where, concerning a specific situation that's all I can do (trust). That is what He's requiring of me. Every question I've been asking has been met with the same answer, "Trust Me."


I've asked.

How is this going to work? "Trust Me."

What will people think/say? "Trust Me."

Lord how will I get through this? "Trust Me."

What's going to happen, if...? "Trust Me."

Every question, has been met with 2 simple, yet sometimes impossible, words. "Trust Me."

And in my feeble attempt to "argue" with the Lord, I've said, "This wasn't part of my plan Lord". And He has answered with...

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

I am in a place where all I can do is trust.

This hasn't been easy, there have been tears, but this situation has brought me to my knees, it's kept me at the feet of the cross. And that is never a bad place to be!

I know the Lord knows that I'm still learning and that He's not expecting me to have it all together. So I continue to cry out, to ask Him to teach me how to trust, no matter what the cost, what the outcome, what others think or say. Knowing that what I'm going through hasn't caught God off guard, but that He's allowed it, and that He will use it to bring glory to His name. And while I may be having a hard time wrapping my mind around what's about to take place I know that the ending will bring about a great blessing, a great reward.....that the end result will actually be the Lord trust-ing me with something.

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. " Proverbs 3:5-6

My song for today

I am and needing to lean on those Everlasting arms today!


What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Refrain:
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.

Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Day 1 Is a Success

I am happy to say I have met my goal of exercising today!!! Hooray!! One day down, lots more to go! :)

Ideally I'd like to exercise when my youngest is napping....one less person to "dance around" while trying to follow the exercise instructor on my DVD. While that didn't happen today, I'm happy to say I only had to do a few push-up with a little person on my back and managed to not hit anyone either while lifting my arms up and down during other "moves". :) And watching my itty bitty try to "exercise" with me was worth all the soreness I'm experiencing now! :)

Oh, and my youngest son who was home only managed to spill/use/ about a 1/3 of a bottle of maple syrup. :) And he was so sweet to "clean" the bathroom for me after he spilled what syrup made it onto his plate all over the counter and floor. :) So I guess you could say I got 2 workouts for the price of 1. :)

I know being sore is a good sign, but I'm not looking forward to tomorrow! I was sore about 15 min. after I finished and am getting more sore by the hour....tomorrow could be brutal...but soreness is a good sign, right? :)

The Time Has Come....

for me to get my butt in gear and start exercising again!! I pretty much haven't done anything since this summer/fall. I did a lot of walking, but now that the ground is covered in snow and ice and the temps are only in the teens with wind chills that feel below zero....walking isn't so fun anymore! :)

I'm hoping that somehow by posting this I'll be holding myself accountable. I need it, I'm pretty sure I gained a few pounds over the holidays, so now's the time to get rid of them....plus I've got 2 trips coming up this year that will be taking me to warmer climates and I want to make sure I fit into my summer clothes with breathing room!

I've got a couple of new workout DVD's that I'll be trying. They're a little over 20mins. each, which I know is not the "recommended" time, but in my world, getting my boys to school in clothes that match on time is an accomplishment! Not to mention getting a shower in is something to be celebrated!! So...in my world 20 min.s is very much the "recommended" amount of time. Ha! :)

When am I starting? Well, I wanted to start today, and I still have time, but I have to get the boys from school soon and then there's after-school busi-ness and dinner, etc. I'm still going to try and fit it in, otherwise, tomorrow, January 6th will be my 1st official day of getting my body back into shape!

Ok, need to go get ready to get the kids from school!

Happy rest of your Monday!