Mom of the year!!!..... well maybe not!

If you would have ask my daughter last night she would have told you that I was going for mean mom of the year!! I would have told you I felt like I was also. It was what we have come to call a somewhat normal Tuesday in October. Which means the girls have something to give/do/ say to our pastors at our church, and we could have a soccer game. Which we did last night. So we spent the morning like we do every other weekday doing school and the girls had pick to make muffins for our Pastors that day. So we were getting that all done. We ran things over to the church only a few blocks from our house, but we still feel the need to drive. In part due to that fact the girls are home-schooled I still feel funny having them out and about during “School” hours. Even if we had finish for the day, or more. But we did drive over and handle out their muffins and the girls were able to help with a job that they have come to love. Folding pizza boxes. I know, right! But there is a Pizza Place here in the town we live that if you bring back in 10 pizza boxes you get a medium for $2! So needless to say our youth group is glad to take pizza boxes off the hands of those in our church. We left the church 45 minutes after getting there. Which for us is a fast trip and I was able to drop the girls back off at the house with their dad to eat lunch and have their reading time. I was off to have lunch with a friend and just talk about life. I was back home 45 minutes later and helped the girls with their Awana verse and clean up from lunch. We were all outside helping Matthew with some yard work. That’s were we spent the rest of our afternoon. Matthew left for class and the girls and I stay at what we were working at and finish a few things. Before we knew it it was time to make dinner and get around for the soccer game.

That’s when things went from normal to bad! You see we have moved into our house this summer back in June, and have been working on it so we are only living in part of the house and still have boxes. We will just say that it is less than ideal. I ask Jessalla to go and get her soccer things around and get them on so we could leave after dinner. An hour before she needs to be at her game, she tells me she can not find her shirt. Dinner was almost, so I sent the girls in different ways looking for it and I finish dinner. Then I went behind both girls looking again once dinner was done. Checking the wash, dressers, and any other place I could think of. An hour of looking we are in the truck, with no dinner, no soccer shirt and a kid that does not want to go and is crying about being late, and not having what she needs. And mad at me that I’m making her go! I fully understand how she was feeling and wanted more than anything to say okay we do not need to go. But I did not, I made her go, telling her all the way that she needed to do this because her team was counting on her, even if she could not play. They needed her to cheer them on and support them. Most of all they needed to know that they could count on her. We made it to the game just as they were starting, and as we got out she started crying again and with a hug and one more little talk we walk to the fence and I sent her on her way.

On the way home things were better and we were able to talk on the good things from the game and whatnot. It maybe years before she see the full picture but most of all she knows that it was done out of love. And as I was writing this she was still talking about how hard it was for her to have to sit on the sidelines why all her friends were playing and how sad she felt. She was able to able to look at 1 Corinthians 10:31 which read: Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. We all have things that are hard for us to do, or things we just do not do because it’s to hard. Ask God to hold your hand, and PRAY! Just like the WWJD bracelets from the 90’s.

She has one more game this week on Thursday, and she found her shirt. We all walked away with a better understanding of what it is to give glory to God in all that we do.

Mother's day wonderful wisdom

Mother's Day......

   Mother's Day is this Sunday, and I have been very lucky to have so many special ladies in my life to help me come the person I am today.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7New International Version (NIV)

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

When you see this verse you may think of a wedding.  But I have many ladies in my life that showed me this verse outside of the wedding and in life with everyone.  

Love is Patient ~ I have seen around me for many years clam ladies.  I watch things happened that were not planned and seen them turn to The Lord in Prayer right away.  I have learn by watching not to yell at my kids, or ones that I'm working with.  But when they are acting in a way that is not okay for what we are doing to keel down to their level and talk to them quietly.  And pull out of the Bible as much as I can. 

Love is Kind ~ I have seen people come in early, stay late, miss out on things because they maybe working in the kitchen.  Hold the door open for someone who hands are full.  Take a meal to a working mom and dad just because.  And from that we now have love on them days where we just show up at the church with a little goodies for them. 

Love does not envy ~ I have learn that it is great to be happy for others.  And we are called to do that. But we are called not to want what others have.  I'm thankful for the ladies in my life that help me remember not to envy others.  When the time comes and is needed to call me out on it, remind me.

Love does not boast ~ I learn that you do not run around doing good things and yelling about it to everyone to get pats on the back.  I have a hard time with just saying Thank you when someone does say something to me.  I try to brush it off.  

Love is not proud ~ I learn to do things not because it make myself look good or feel good.  Not to be happy for all the "GOOD" that I do, and how it makes people feel.  Or what people will say because of what I have done.  I'm not saying that you should not do things, but watch why you are doing them.  

Love does not dishonor others ~ I have learn not to gossip about others.  It so easy to get talking over coffee, and just like a wildfire so much can be lost.

Love is not self-seeking ~ You do not run away looking to what you will get out of this.  You put yourself a side and look at what you can a give, what others can get out of it.  How you can glorified The Lord.  You come in early and stay late.  You stay up all night with a kid who can not sleep.  You shovel your neighbor walkway just to make them smile.

Love is not easily angered ~ You do not yell and tell people what you think.  I learn and seen people seek wise counsel. That you should turn to God in prayer. And remembering  Proverbs 15:1                                                                                                        A gentle answer turns away wrath,                                                                   but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Love keeps no record of wrongs ~ I seen forgiven first hand, and what it should look like.  I seen second and third changes with no mention of pass wrong doing.  Maybe just as big if not bigger if you are the one that's done the wrong, right it and ask for forgiveness.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth ~ I have said many times to my kids, " I will not be mad, as long as you tell me the truth"  I praise others for going out of their way for others.  And at the same time of rejoices I learn to give thanks to The Lord.  

Love always protects ~ I learn that you do this but doing everything else from above.  By taking the extra time to make sure the car seat is in right, to stop the gossip.  To call and check on a friend after a hard day.  

Love always trusts ~ To be able to handout tasks to others and not checkup or go ahead and do it myself. I learn to watch myself and ask myself if it's about losing control.  If it's not about that then I have to go back to all of the above. 

Love always hopes ~ I seen others want nothing but the best for others.  Like a parent, wants nothing but the best.  But I'm thankful for all that have help me learn that as much hope as you have you need just as much if not more prayer.

Love always perseveres ~ I learn that you never give up, that you never walk away.  You keep going!  There are three ways to get out of the trial that you are in.  Pray that it goes away, pray that God will take you from it, or pray that God will get you through it.  

By all means I do not have it all together, and I'm still learn as I go.  This is just a small part of what I have learn from my Mom, Mama Beth, Sharon my step mom, Dixie my mother in love, My sisters, My Grandmas, my Aunts, my friends and many ladies from church.  Sometimes a lady from the store.  These are lessons that I have learn and hope to pass down to my kids.  Behind each lesson are memories, there is laughter, some tears, and more laughter.  There are memories that we will pull out when we teach the lesson to someone, or when we need the reminder our self.  We will remember they smiles, that saying that they always said.  And for that I'm so grateful for.  Thank you for all that have left their mark on my life.  I look forward to passing on all I have learn.

No more walls!

It's taken longer than we had hope, but the walls are coming down in the upstairs and things are moving along.  And as soon as next week we will start putting back up the new walls.  There is still a lot that needs to get done before we are able to move in, or even paint the upstairs but it's coming along.  Here is our list of order to come.

1. finish taking down the old walls
2. Clean up
3. Move and put in new pluming
4. Put in new wire and outlets, lights

It does not look like a lot but most likely will be the next few weeks of work.  And it's gotten so nice here in Michigan that we have been able to clean up the yard and start thinking about what we want to do out there.  We also have gotten news that Matthew's parents are coming this summer for a few weeks so we have a count down going with the girls and making a list of things that we want to have them help with when they are here.  Lots of fun things like getting layers and layers of paint off the doors and trim.  :)  I hope we will be painting some by then.  Some craft things for the girls rooms.  But who knows by then the list could have change 100 times and have something different on it by then.

But here a few things that we have learn in the last few weeks about working on this house...

1. When taking down lath and plaster it's better to take it down one at a time.  And not all at once.  It makes clean up a lot easier than having to pick it apart.

2. To have a good vacuum is helpful when dealing with dust, plaster, and insulation

3. That you can reuse almost all the things coming out of the house for something else.

4. A flat pry-bar has worked best for taking the lath and plaster down.

That is all for now, I hope the next time we give an update that it will show new walls with wires and little blue boxes all over the place.

We have some news......

   We had started a new chapter in our life and some big for the whole family.  Something that we will love and make memory with and around for a long time coming........ We bought a HOUSE!!! We have found a home church here in town and now we will be around for awhile we hope.  Our life is still in God's hands and things could change.  But back to the house!!  We will have to move back in to town...and leave our land that we have now.  We have a yard that we will be able to to play in, but no chickens for us.  And we are okay with that for now.  The house is need of some work....well some maybe a little off.  But we knew that coming in and are happy to do the work as we go.  It's an older house and has great details in it, and we would love to bring them out and add a little of us with the old.

          ( the front of the house was covered with bushes and last week when it was nice we work on them.  Haft way done I remember to take the pictures.)
  When you walk in the house, it is out dated in all things.  Flooring, wall paper, lighting and more.  And there are some odd things that come with the house like having to walk through the bathroom to get from one side of the upstairs to the other.  We would like to see if we can work it out so that is not needed when we are done.  We would also love to get the paint off the wood, and in time remove the wall paper.

  We have our plan to start upstairs and work our way down.  I feel that we need to give the girls back their place and make this as easy as we can for them.  We have been working outside already, picking up sticks and taking out bushes that we did not want, and now we can see the house.  And it looks so much bigger.

 We were able to get some work done outside and still have a little more work to do in the front yard to open it up a little more.  And hope to get somethings planted this summer with a little color.  But loving how it looks from the street now!

Loving our lazy Saturdays

Today is Saturday!  Our Saturdays over the years have look different and changes when needed.  But what our Saturdays have become.... a day of laziness in the best of ways.  Not to say that we do not do anything.  But over the last few months we have not made big plans, no big time frame.  We may have a play date with some friends, or do some shopping if needed.  It's just the girls and I at the house on Saturday, Matthew is at work.  

   It's come my day to clean the house and do anything that did not get done over the week.  The girls and I do not set a time to get up on Saturdays but are still up early and will eat around 8:30.  We may or may not watch a show.  The girls may plan something to do.

  Here is what our Saturday may look like:

8:30 - up and eating and the TV is on

9:30 - Cleaning round 1 - girls room, bath room and start the wash

10:00 - Jessalla picks out 30 minute fun thing  ~ her pick TV show

10:30 - Cleaning round 2 - Living room and more washing

11:00 - Eammah's picks out 30 minute fun thing ~ her pick TV show

11:30 - Cleaning round 3 - Kitchen and more washing.

12:00 - Lunch and I put on a music.  May need to rethink cleaning the kitchen before lunch!  Why would I do that.  

1:00 - The girls have free time and I'm on cleaning round 4 - our bedroom and more washing if needed

1:30 - Cleaning round 5 - girls are back helping and we are cleaning the school room and we all put our cleaning cloths away. 

A little after 2 we are done with the cleaning and have the rest of the day to hang out do nails play games.  

Please note that this is our big cleaning day, but does not mean we do nothing all week.  We pick up all week as needed.  I sometimes forget about the washing because it's in the basement, out of sight out of mind...  :)  It's may not look like a lazy day, but it feels like one for me.  I do not have to run to town, I can get away with PB&J for lunch, and I can stay in my PJ's all day if I wish to.  

  I do this not because it's my job, or because I have taken Proverbs 31 to a point where people ask if it's gone to far and if I'm okay.  I do it for my family and for my girls.  We all do better when we can start the week off well.  I'm teaching the girls how to clean, and that it can be fun.  We have a great time talking and working together and it's goes by fast.  I help them with their things and ask them to help with the family areas of the house.  And most weeks they help me with our room.  

I would love to hear what your Saturdays look like, and what your cleaning list looks like.

Hope you all have a great weekend

It's my Christmas!

Working on this summer plan, and wish list....

       We will finish up this years "school" work. Not that we are ever done with "school" but hope to finish up our book work with in the next few months.  I have already started looking at our new things for next year.  It's like Christmas for me!!  :)  For the most part we are staying with everything that we been using.  As the girls get older we will need to change things up here and there.  I been looking in to different things to add and replace some of our older things.  Some of the things that we use, only go up so high.  And I do love what we are using, I still want to make sure they have a great understanding of it.  To give you an idea of what I'm talking about.  We use Hook on Phonics and it works so well for us.  The dvd, work book, little books to read and games on line!!  The down side to it is that it only goes up to 2nd grade.  We will be using it again this coming year for Eammah for 2nd grade.  We have not put anything in when Jessalla finish, but am looking at finding something that we can do to review once a week or so.  She dose great reading but just to keep up on it and whatnot.  Still not 100% what we will be using.  Or if I will find anything that I like enough to buy it.  We may just do a game on the internet.  We are dropping one of Jessalla's math books and adding on Teaching Textbooks for her.  We feel great about this choice and how it is working for us. We are finishing up all her books this year and next year will not order 180 Days of Math.  But Eammah will keep 180 Days of Math for 2nd Grade.  On top of our math books we play lots of games and will keep them and add a few I'm sure.  I'm just not sure where we will put them.  Like I said before we will keep most of what we have been using but there are a few things that I want to look in to and some little things to add in.

    With that said for the last two years we have not had a good Bible curriculum that we loved.  We have used the girls Awana.  And we love Awana and the girls have a great time studying their books.  But I just wanted more, so I have spent many hours over the last few months looking at different ones.  I think I found one that I want to try.  The one that I'm looking in to runs for 35 weeks, and has a colorful fill in book that goes with it.  I think it will work great for us, and I hope that they will enjoy it and gain lots from it.

We also started looking at summer studies also....What does summer looked like for us.  We will keep up with Bible I pull things off line and other books that we have.  We also keep up with reading daily, and reading out loud.  We love to pick books that have been made in to movies so we can watch them.  And end up writing something up, I find something that I think they will like. I find fun ways to keep them writing.  We have one workbook that we work on in the summer do a page a day and by the end of summer we are done with it and the girls like them.  There is also a book list in them, and a place to make goals.  Then our big thing for the summer is a theme.  One summer it was stars, this year is not nailed down as much has I would like but we are getting there.  We will read on it, do art if we can and lots and lots of hands on things.

  In the next few weeks I hope to have the summer out lined so I have my goals outlined.  I do not write down day to day things.  I will have goals for the summer and the months and may do the weeks.  Lots of fun!!  Then once that is done I will start on next years school year.  And I have the girls and what they will be using I have not found something that works for me.  So I hope that sometime with pinterest and I will.  I do not need anything big and fancy.  When I come up with what I hope will be the last one that I have to try I will post.  I will do the same with the summer theme and next year study.

 

church, voting and so much more!!

  Tonight we had our yearly business meeting at church.  What a night it was!  Let me take you back a few weeks almost a mother ago.  There was a meeting to nominate new people for the opens that we have for this upcoming year.  I prayed for those in the meeting before leaving the church that night after Awana and did not think much of it till my sweet friend called me and ask me if I would like to be a deaconess.  We talk and I ask what it would mean and what would be ask of me.  We had a great talk and she let me know that I had a few weeks to let her know.

   I got off the phone with her, and was able to think and pray about it.  Man ooo Man!!  What this has nothing to do with kids...and just in case you do not know I mainly deal with kids, it's just were I feel called.  What did they see in me that I was unable to see....  I spent many hours in prayer over it and ask others to prayer for wisdom for me.  And talk to a few that I knew would give me Biblical words of wisdom.  I came to a point that I knew what I was going to say.  I wanted to talk with one more person.  I had said that I would help them and wanted to make sure I know what they wanted from me and to make sure that they would not feel like I was unable to uphold what they were needed from me.  The time had come and I needed to give them my answer.

  My answer........ Yes!!!

  That brings us up to tonight, we needed to vote in 6 new deaconess there were 11 names.  I did not get voted in.

  I learn so much over this past month.  I was able to see how much I have grown, in the past I would have just said yes.  And not taking the time to pray about it, or even talk about it to others.  God also use this to show me that he can use me in other areas.  I could not have seen it!

 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 

 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

                                                       Proverbs 3:5-6

This verse is one that I have always had a hard time with.  How can I trust with all my heart, and not myself.  But come on, sometimes I need to know now, right?  No, the best timing is his timing.  And trusting in him with everything and not your own understanding, because we can not see the big picture.  We see the here and now, but not life times.  

I can say that I will be praying for those who did get voted in, and will keep helping out where and when I can.  I'm so thankful that I was able to take Proverbs 3:5-6 and use it in my life.  And can see the different that it brings in my life.  I'm so over joyed, that people seen things in me that I did not see.