Rest

Yesterday was not so good. My Kelsie got sick at Chik Fil A. Instead of continuing with our weekly home ec stuff I am putting it off for today so we can all rest. And of course pray that no one else gets sick. YIKES! :)

I will be working on my laundry still!!

Taming the Monster Challenge Day 1

I was really hoping to get this up yesterday, but blogger would not cooperate. So without further ado..I'll show you my dirty little secret.






Look how little that sign turned out! I really though it would be bigger. Oh well.

Here is the first, oh so humbling, before picture. this is actually the pile of darks, as sorted by my oh so I'm sure color blind children...LOL. Also off to the side is a pile I have never been able to tame. The "other" clothes. Towels, bed linens, and line dry and/or hand wash items. A little bit later and a different angle. I have done about two loads of towels at this point. Please don't be disgusted. I am putting myself out there... please don't leave!!

When I first put the kids in charge of sorting clothes I made signs. My oldest is the only one who pays attention. I tried to use colors for the non-readers. After we tackle this monster I will figure out a new system.

The new system will definitely consist of less clothing. Thats a given! LOL

Here we are at the end of day 1. Four big loads of laundry later I still don't see any light. This is in our garage so please ignore any of the garagey things.

Oh well maybe day 2 will offer some hope. LOL

These are from Monday. We were not home Tuesday though I did get one load done. Today is Wed and I will resume my challenge.

And, I tried really hard to make sure there were no embarrassing articles of clothing in the pictures. LOL

OK girls, I am putting it all out there for you. Anyone else want to take up the Taming the Monster challenge?

Be Blessed!!

GRR

Blogger won't let me upload pictures...stay tuned for day 1 of the laundry challenge!

Challenge

I need to tell you a secret... a big, big, secret. My laundry is taller that it has every been.


I am talking imminent danger here. So I decided this week is going to be laundry challenge week. Each day I will take a before and after picture of my piles. Lets see how much of it I can get done this week. Want to join me? Do you have any secret piles? Want to see how much we can get sorted and cleaned and put away this week? Play along on your blog or in the comments section.
I will go to my mom's house tonight and upload today's photos. I will post them tonight or first thing in the morning.

This should be fun.. and a bit too revealing for my tastes. LOL

More?

Feeling a bit restless today. Have not really accomplished a whole lot, but I am drained and worn out from all the stuff I have been thinking about.

Have you ever looked at your life and wanted something more? Something different?
Not in a "identity" way. I mean in a good way. Like I want my kids to have a more stable mom. A mom who has fun. A mom who takes the time to play and read. A mom who is gentle and kind.
I want my husband to have a wife that is not constantly trying to take control. Not constantly trying to get her way. A wife who is more helpful and sweet. Encouraging.
I want a home that is more organized and efficient. A home where the laundry does not pile up and smoosh a passing toddler. :) A home that is welcoming and safe for all who enter it's door. A home my family and I want to be at.
I want a life more filled with simplicity and quietness. Not the quietness that comes from not having five beautiful blessings making our home joyful. But a peaceful kind of quiet. One that you can rest in and be recharged.
I want to be able to provide better for my family. I want to garden and shop frugally. I want to sew. I want to sit around at night with a project to keep my hands busy.

Let me tell you a little about myself. I am uptight sometimes. I am a control freak. I am a perfectionist. I am a bit of a sluggard. I am angry... a lot. My daily prayer journal records many, many, many prayers asking God to replace the bad in me with good. I beg and cry out to replace my uptightness with a calm and peaceful spirit. My controlling ways with faith and hope. My perfectionism with grace and mercy. My laziness with motivation and creativity. My anger with love, joy and laughter.

I know that He is working on me. I do see some improvement. I know that God has to do some surgery on me and take out the bad to make way for the good. I have grand ideas and goals. I think most of them are straight from the Father. I just need to sit back and let Him work in His time. Ahh.. the control thing again.
He has given Dh and I a real heart and vision for our family. We have so many desires and such a short time to work them out. I have had to let go of my perfect little family vision and embrace the family vision God has allowed us. One with children who try us everyday. Hurting children with scars from their past that we have to help heal. Children who were born sinners and need love and guidance. A safe place. BOUNDARIES!
As the time draws shorter and shorter we need to focus on the godly things instilled in our children. Godly parents who love God more each day and share that with their children. A mother who sets the example of God's love by guarding and keeping the home. Keeping it safe and welcoming. Keeping the evil out. Filling every nook and cranny with the love of Jesus Christ. The grace of God. The voice of the Holy Spirit.
Education that does not hinder their walk with Christ or their parents. I need to let go of some of my standards and ideals when it comes to school work. I need to not make my children miserable (or myself for that matter) every day at school time. I need to focus on the younger children a bit more. Reading with them. Teaching them to read. I need to focus more on real life stuff with my older girls. The Bible! Applying it's principles. Math is of great importance. Language Arts is of great importance. BUT the Bible needs to be the foundation they are building on.

Proverbs 1:7, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Proverbs 2:6, "For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."

Proverbs 9:10, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."

I am the mother of this home. The wife of this home. The keeper of this home. Attitudes start and stop with me each day! I need to let God work in my life. Not hold onto things so tightly.

Please pray for me. I am going to open up to the Lord more this week. I am going to ask Him more earnestly to refine me. He has given me a lot to think on. A lot to ponder. Apart from Him I can do nothing.

Be Blessed!!

Just a head's up...

Remember these? Well now I am trying to win them. I would love for you to have a chance to win them as well. Go to this blog and enter yourself in to win. Go ahead. I promise to be happy for you if you win. LOL

Be Blessed!

North Carolina

Here are the pictures and stories from our recent trip to NC.
Does anyone else snap pictures of weird things all the while planning the blog post in their head?? LOL
We stopped at a hotel Friday night. We usually don't do this. We just drive straight through. Its anywhere from a 7.5 hour to 9 hour drive. Since for some odd reason we did not leave until 8p.m. Friday night we decided to stop.
Here is the smoke detector in our room. It worked just fine. Whenever someone finished their shower and opened the bathroom door the steam from the hot bathroom would cause the smoke detector to go off. Nice.

They already had a crib in the room. We never get one of these. We just tote around our pack n play. This crib was really cool though...
It had it's very own baby escape hatch and...
baby impaler! Needless to say...
we used this! Look you can see his little foot..Aww!
He was OUT!

Adrian camped out on the floor. I threw the crib mattress on the floor and covered it with a sheet. See it was good for something! Though he still ended up scooting off the matress and onto the floor.
The girls shared the bed. They are just waking up. My kids are cute!

Kelsie waiting for the graduation to start. She looks enthused!
Here comes the graduate. Aunt Jenny to my babies. Can you believe I used to babysit this girl?!

Here is her preacher giving her the charge to continue serving God. He had some great things to say about her. She is a great worker in their church and a real example to others!
That's her dad in the background... already a little choked up!! He is one of my spiritual mentors.
Here is her dad talking about the accomplishments she has made and what a great kid she is!
A really bad picture but I had to post it...aww!! I'd been teasing her earlier telling her she was going to cry and she kept saying she wasn't. Hey, Jen, "I told you so!"


This is her hugging her mom. I was at a weird angle. See the tissue in mom's hand. She cried from the first chord of Pomp and Circumstance. Too sweet!

Both of the graduates got a copy of the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss. A bit of trivia... I was given this as a graduation present as well 11 years ago.
With her homeschool diploma. They got to design the cover and everything. It was really neat.
After the graduation and dinner. "Can we go home now, mom?" "No, honey, there are millions of pictures left to be taken!"


"Honey, when are we leaving?" "After all the pictures in the world are taken!" Adrian found something to entertain him! Of course my oldest was not thrilled that we would not let her run around with all the other kids.

Tamara found a way to entertain herself.

Then the camera man posed my children and took really cute pictures of them. I took really amateur pictures of them. LOL
Ice cream on the way home from graduation! Such bliss on this small face.


I almost made this picture all about my oldest boy. Look at the ice cream on his face. But then I noticed my little priss in the back. The napkin in her lap and no less that two napkins wrapped around the cone!

Waiting for his ice cream. Can you see the twinkle in his eye? Its always there! How can I resist?
Miss Priss after her ice cream. Just the faintest traces around her mouth.
My graduate and Aunt Jenny. Tamara graduated from kindergarten this year.
Not one to be left out of pictures....
I love this picture. Check out the eyebrow action on my baby. Irresistible!




We had so much fun. It was a weekend of graduation parties for Aunt Jenny. This week the family of this girl will leave to go see their oldest son graduate from Navy Boot Camp. He is so handsome I can't wait to get a picture of him in uniform. :) Yes, I used to babysit him as well!

Be Blessed!