Oh My!

What a week this has been!!!!  I don't think I have had such an emotionally trying week as this one in a very long time.  I really should have expected it after the holidays, but nope not me!  I am glad today is over!  I think I am all cried out now and look forward to a more peaceful weekend. 
  Although it has been a trying week, God has been working.  I think that will bring the tears back again, but my precious Lord picks me up each time I stumble.  He sent someone to pray for me, gave insight into the word today, ministered to me through music and allowed for time away tonight.  He has provided me with a precious family.  My husband and children are very gracious when I have had a melt down and are very strong encouragers.  I am so grateful for them.  I am so grateful for the prayer support I have been receiving this week, even those I don't know that are praying for me. 
  God meets me where I am and provides encouragement when I need it most.  God is good!  He provides grace, giving us good when we really deserve bad.  He is my strength.  He is my refuge.  He is the lifter of my head.  God is for me and not against me.  Even when I was overwhelmed and crying my heart out, he could have shook his head at me and turned away.  He did not!  He drew even closer to wrap his arms around me.  Thank you Jesus!

A song from Kutless that God used to minister to me today.

Everybody falls sometimes
Gotta find the strength to rise
From the ashes and make a new beginning
Anyone can feel the ache
You think its more than you can take
But you are stronger, stronger than you know
Don't you give up now
The sun will soon be shining
You gotta face the clouds
To find the silver lining

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

It doesn't matter what you've heard
Impossible is not a word
It's just a reason for someone not to try
Everybody's scared to death
When they decide to take that step
Out on the water
It'll be alright
Life is so much more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way
If you keep believing

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

Overcome the odds
You don't have a chance
(That's what faith can do)
When the world says you can't
It'll tell you that you can!

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do
That's what faith can do!
Even if you fall sometimes

It's not just faith, because people have faith in lots of things.  It's God that makes these mountains move and the hope that never ends.  God makes miracles happen and prayers get answered.  God heals the broken heart and brings peace. God gives strength for each new day.   That's what God can do!

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe it's been so long since I have been here!  It has been a busy holiday season as it always is.  The season was filled with lots of baking and family time.  I enjoyed the time with family and have learned a few things I hope.  How many of you overdo during the holidays?  I inevitably do each year!  Always with good intentions and hope of blessing people.  I believe that I blessed many families this year.  I do know though that I could have did far less and still blessed them.  Does that make sense?  I don't think I remembered to take a single picture!  Oh well!  Memories are in the mind of many.  And other people shared pictures of the holidays.  So grateful for that.  I do regret not taking pictures of the Nerf gun fight on New Year's Eve though!  It was hilarious watching people of various ages 4-59 running through the house shooting each other with Tommy Guns!  Only Nerf of course!!! :)    
  We did some house cleaning in the holiday season as well.  I have a nice open living room now.  Even the office is picked up!  My honey helped move furniture and build some new book shelves.  I don't know if a person can get too many bookshelves.  Can they!?  I appreciate things being able to find a home!  We also helped one of two families move during the holiday season.  It was such a eventful holiday break.
  We are back to school tomorrow, much to the dismay of my children.  Children in the public schools go back tomorrow.  Mine think they need one more day, but since we took a few days off before they did, we are back tomorrow.  It's amazing how quickly I can forget where we were and where we are going.  My journals have been helpful in keeping things in order!  Don't know where I'd be without them. 
  Well, I am getting off here for now to get some sleep.  Got a big day ahead of us tomorrow!  TTFN and I hope you have a great week!  God bless you all!

Thanksgiving Break

  Thanksgiving was a wonderful time with family.  We were with both sides of our families this holiday.  It was fun.  The older I get, the more precious the holidays have become.  I know that our days are numbered and I want to make the best of them.  Sometimes I miss the important moments.  I look forward to the next ones that come along.  Can't do anything about yesterdays, but learn from them. 

  We spent Thanksgiving day with my Mom's side of the family.  Enjoyed time eating, making crafts with kiddos and playing games.  It was a wet Thanksgiving, but a good one.  Missed those who couldn't be there.  We will see them soon. 

 

   We had a lot of fun!  Just look at all the smiling faces.  Sorry about the blurry ones.  The battery was going dead on my camera.  And guess who forgot batteries.  Grrrrr!  Oh well!  :) 

 We also spent time with my sweetheart's family.  It was an equally wonderful time (sorry no pictures--forgot the camera!).  Spent some time playing with nieces and nephews and talking with precious brothers, sisters, and my Momma-in-law.  I did tire out and the enemy began to work on me.  He lost in the end, because God helped me come up with a plan for future holidays with lots of happenings.  Will need to share that on another blog!

  The day after Thanksgiving we did not follow the trend of the day by shopping til we dropped.  We decided to stay home.  Remember that pesky project that did not get completed a week ago... The terribly horrendous blanket closet!  Yep, that is what we tackled on Friday.  It was a daunting task!  YUK!  The only way that I knew it would be completed was to change it's location.  So I asked my boys Skiddy and Peanut to bring everything down from the blanket closet into the living room.  Everything!  In order to get clothes switched from summer to winter I had them bring their drawers down as well.  The result:

 After working all day long, up and down the stairs, loading drawers, bagging clothes to give away and putting drawers and baskets back in place, it was completed.

 

One child was completely exhausted!

One child happy it was done.  And two children no where to be found!  lol

Friday afternoon and evening, we enjoyed the company of more family--my Daddy and his beautiful bride, my sister and her crew.  Some were unable to come due to the miles that separate.  Some were unable to come because of previous engagements.  Some were unable to come because of sick children and work.  Oh and one was out deer hunting!  :)  We had some yummy food:  turkey biscuit stew and cheesy chicken chowder were the main courses.  We enjoyed cherry rose rolls and sourdough rolls, pumpkin pie and cherry pie.  The day was fun with lots of laughter and an impromptu water bottle fight!  Crazy, but fun!  We finished out the family time with a game of Phase 10. 

 

The holiday was a good one with lots of memories for my children to enjoy remembering and sharing with their friends.  I am so grateful for all of my family!  Each one of them is unique and wonderful in their own way.  So glad that God has blessed me with such neat people to share this life. 

  For those who have lost family members or have struggled through this holiday, I pray that God will bring you peace and hope for the days to come.  We lost my sweetie's Daddy this year and the holidays have been a little more difficult with him not here.  So I feel your pain and know that God is a God of comfort and peace.  I pray that you will find this to be true in your life as well. 

  Well, it's late and I have rambled on enough for one night!  Have a wonderful week my friends and may God bless you.  

Beautiful Rainy Day

  On this beautiful rainy day, I am tired.  Have been for a few days now.  Not sure what the trigger is, but I find myself pulling away again.  Guess it's time for a small retreat.  We have had some wonderfully busy days recently.  We have enjoyed the company of some fun people.  I am so grateful that God has given me such neat friends and family. 
  School has been a bit off this past week.  Well, I could tell it was coming.  For the past month or so, I have been allowing the kids to do their seatwork at their own pace with little to no urging from me.  Unfortunately, in the past couple of weeks, more prompting has been occuring daily.  The more I have to pull, the more I feel anxious on the inside.  I find myself more easily agitated and the kids more unruly.  We have not been doing any exercises in the morning and I can tell it!  The boys are very active and seem out of control.  When we were exercising first thing in the morning, they were better able to concentrate and stay on task.    So I told the children today after our Thanksgiving break (for which I am soooo grateful), we would be returning to our schedule.  I believe things will move back to a more peaceful roar as we get back to our schedule.  It's always good to go off the schedule to see the value of it.  It really does help to have some sort of schedule for us anyway.  We use a flexible schedule.  One that we can float with and see where we have been and where we are going. 
What does our schedule look like, you ask.  I'll show you! 
                    8:30-9:30  Prayer, pledge, exercises, memory verse
                    9:00-9:30  Megan works on seatwork independently and boys
                                    work on Bible, Spelling, and Lanuage
                   9:30-10:00  I go over Megan's Bible, Spelling and Language 
                                    while the boys finish up seatwork including Math
                                     facts
                  10:00-10:30  BREAK and team chores (laundry and dishes)
                  10:30-11:30  Group Activities:  Depending on the day of the
                                     week, it could be Spanish, Science, Health,
                                      States book, or Art with the most recent read aloud
                   11:30-12:30  LUNCH and team chores
                   12:30-1:30   Math  and any seatwork not finished
                     1:30-2:00   BREAK and team chores
                     2:00-2:30   Quiet reading in room (quiet home!  ahhhhh)
                                       Hasn't happened this way for a while.

  So as I said before our schedule is flexible, depending upon the day and the attitudes of all involved.  It's an interesting journey.  It helps to re-evaluate the journey and the goals for the journey.    Thanks for listening!  God bless you all!  Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

The Conquering!

I had some tasks today that just had to be conquered!  They were driving me crazy.  So the kiddos worked on their seatwork today and I conquered some monsters!  The first one was Mount Washmore!  The most overwhelming despicable creature of all!  He is one of those monsters that continually rear it's ugly head.  Starting small at first and then becoming huge!!!!!

One thing I have learned from the teachings of the FlyLady is:  take it one step at a time and you can conquer any task!  So after listening closely for the dryer to buzz it's buzzy buzz to tell me it was done, I would run upstairs and change out the laundry.  Unload dryer into basket standing by, load wet laundry into dryer and start it, and load the washer with dirty laundry.  The final step to this task was to fold the laundry and put it into the baskets for each family member.  Fifteen minutes tops!  After a full days worth...

The task is completed.  Well, almost completed... I have a load in the dryer and in the wash that I need to move over.  It will be done before I go to bed!  I also worked on another task that needed to be done today.  The refrigerator...  We had a few things in there that were quickly turning into science experiments.  I don't know about you, but I try not to keep too many science experiments going at once in my fridge if you know what I mean!  So after pitching and wiping and pitching and wiping....

The task is complete!  Now I need to go shopping!  A family of 6 cannot live on this all week!  I am so glad that I have 2 freezers that I can dig out of!  Thank you Lord.  I did not accomplish one of the most horrendous tasks of all in my home today.  I had intended to do it in 15 minute segments, but chose not to today!  The most horrendous task of all in my home is starting to take over my upstairs......

It no longer stays in the confines of the closet, it is pushing out into the hallway! 

Run!!!!! Run for your lives!    Ok, Ok, it's not that bad, but it has got to be done and quick!  My sweet Princess can't get to her room without tripping over boxes or clothes or toys!  I have been so overwhelmed by this task that it has sat this way for a month I think.  I know, it's awful!  I have just allowed other things to yell louder.  It has got to be done, though!   So sometime this week I will have updated photes of the dreaded Blanket Closet Monster conquered and subdued!  You shall be my accountability partners!  No excuse now! This week...!!!!  Until then, I better get off of here and get that laundry finished up!  This blogging thing is way too much fun!  I hope I get better putting the picture in the right places.  That was difficult!  As Tigger would say "TTFN!" and God bless you!  

 

Family Togetherness: 60th Wedding Anniversary

We enjoyed celebrating my Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary today.  I hope they did,  it got a bit noisy at times.  :)  I caught Grandma smiling a few times at the antics of her great grandchildren.  Good memories were made with my family today.
  My Grandparents have been through a lot in the past few years.  One thing that really blesses me is watching my Grandpa take care of my Grandma.  The love in his actions makes me want to cry at times.  His sacrifice is evident as I watch him walk across a room.  He does all that he does with a smile and a comforting word.  Grandma has been through a lot in the last few years, but she always seems to have a smile for us as well.  She's always happy to see us, well she seems that way anyway, and tells us to come back and see her.  I know that the children bring Grandpa and Grandma such joy and I am grateful that they do not shoo us away.  Grandma and Grandpa thank you so much for being who you are.  It is an honor to call you my grandparents.  I have many, many fond memories and look forward to adding to them. 
  It is nice to get together with family.  We enjoyed getting together with more family at a wedding this weekend.  It had been a while since we had seen some of these family members.  It is amazing how time flies as I get older.  I can't tell you where it goes, really.    Some of my family do not live far from me, but I do not seem to see them all that often.  The older I get the more I miss them.  I guess it is finally sinking in that time just slips by too quickly.  I am so grateful for all of my family and friends and grateful for the time we get to spend together!  I could go on and on today, but I better call it a night for now. 
  As we continue into this thanksgiving season, I am so thankful that God has chosen to put me in an awesome family with such wonderful people.  Love you all so much!

What Matters?

I tiptoed to the bathroom this morning, trying not to wake anyone so that I could have a few more moments in my warm bed.  What do I hear as I finish up in the bathroom but a binder being opened and shut.  Oh man!  Someone is up.  I know who it is, Peanut.  He is getting his papers out for school this morning, because I didn't get them out last night.  Instead of being excited about his desire to complete his school work early, I begin to grumble at the fact that I don't get to go back to bed.  Grrr...  Then a thought came to me, a thought that has been coming back to me at different times this week "don't get stressed out, this is just something we do until Jesus comes back".   I don't think I have taken into account that Jesus is coming back and time with him is quickly approaching.  This brought into perspective my attitude.  Sometimes I get all stressed out about getting this or that done, being at a certain place, teaching my children, being the proper wife.... I get stressed out about a lot of things.  I want to do right and be called God's good and faithful servant.  I think though that I get caught up in the work of things and don't check my heart and my attitude.  I can do the work, but if my attitude stinks while I work, I might as well not do the work.  It's just wasted effort.  I also have to wonder when I have a wrong attitude about things, am I pointing people to my Lord and Savior whom I love so dearly?  Am I being Christlike, when I am all worked up about getting done what I think needs to be done ignoring my children's questions?  Am I being Christlike as we go over a bible verse for memory and growl at the kids because they aren't paying attention?
Well, thank you for listening to my ramblings.  I am going to work on really focusing on the things that matter.  The hearts of my husband and children matter.  Being a friend to those that need one matters.  Reaching out to the hurting matters.  People matter.  Jesus loves us and died for us.  That matters!  I want people to know that they matter to me, just as they matter to Jesus.  God loves you all and wants to have a real intimate relationship with you.  I pray that you feel his nearness to you today!  I am going to go play a game with Peanut now!  :)