Wednesday afternoon

Thankful for...
Warming a mug of green tea
listening to cello practice (hymns, leftover Christmas songs, Harry Potter theme...)
Daniel finishing the first of the Sing, Spell, Read and Write readers (child #5 learning with the same books!)
Our spontaneous morning at Monkey Joe's with the Jacksons
Discovered Amazon prime and ordering household stuff... Will it save me money and trips to Target or cost me more???

And now... bracing myself for a visit to the laundy room then up to the bonus room to look for some motivation to find a way out of the chaos and disorganization.

Moving on

Christmas tree is down tonight, ornaments and stockings and lights packed away in the blue container with a newly broken lid. And the little nativity scene on the mantle, and the NOEL are safely tucked in their box. Water spilled and cleaned up, needles swept up (much easier to clean up wood floors than the carpet we once had!) and the drooping tree stands a bit neglected and offended on the deck, waiting to be removed to the woods or the fire pit by whichever boy gets to it first. The choosing and decorating of the tree is such a big, special event... the removal just happens and we're all a little relieved! The living room seems bigger and cleaner. There's a bit of nostalgia... but Christmas this year came and went -- celebrating, rejoicing, singing, fellowshipping, praising God for the gift of His Son-- these marks of the "season" we must carry on this month and next and next. Praying for the grace and the joy... truly gifts and not of my own ability to conjure up!... to spill out and mess our home all up again!

But tonight I have a headache. And tomorrow alarm will go off at 5:10 so I can work off more of those Christmas cookies!

Insomnia

3:08 a.m.
Can't sleep -- thinking about New Year's Resolutions...goals and hopes for 2012:
Perhaps the year of the re-
rekindling
resuscitating
renewing
reviewing
rejuvenating
... rejoicing

trying again
not giving up
hoping
trusting
loving better, more fully
serving, ministering more, as a family
developing a family vision, becoming more unified
Laughing. I need to laugh more.

Need to work on making these concrete and measurable.

New Post

Today I'm sitting on the sofa at the James' apartment holding their sweet baby girl, (2 months old?) while she sleeps a few more minutes. Her mom and dad are at the movies. Her big two-year-old brother is making quiet waking up noises in his room down the hall. They sometimes seem like a lifetime ago, but the sweet days when I had my own two sleepy babies every afternoon were much like this... and being here today, quiet and admiring this little love, remind me how quickly these sweet days went by. Our days at home are so much busier now, louder, not nearly as snuggly. But a stage I'm enjoying anyway, and should work to treasure just as much.

Finding this old blog... resuscitating it might help a bit, help me to remember and treasure... Ponder up in my heart the busy days and special moments and remind me to enjoy it all along the way.

And now I can even do this from my phone! Crazy!

It's still here!

Birthday Boy

At breakfast this morning, B said, "I'm thankful that I was born into the most awesome family in the universe."

This happy Mama just 'bout cried!

Motivation

So I was in the dressing room tonight at Stein Mart. I had an entire hour and a half out by myself this weekend and I spent it shopping. Really, not my favorite past-time. Anyway... I did find a cute skirt on the 30% + another 15% rack, blue and white, my size, and went to try it on. Cute, I tell you! but the zipper up the back was stubborn and being in a hurry, I yanked until it finally came up. Now, mind you, the skirt was not too small, that's not the reason the zipper wouldn't zip! The reason, I realized, was because the zipper was broken! When it finally came all the way up, it wouldn't go back down.

Seriously.

There I stood stuck in the skirt in the Stein Mart dressing room. It would not budge. And there was no way that skirt would come down (or up for that matter, tried that too) without unzipping the zipper. Y'all, I had to RIP the skirt to get out of it!!

What would you have done??

Finally, with my own clothes on, I took the skirt to the sales lady and explained the problem...

Motivation, because no matter if the fault was the broken zipper, or my big belly, you can't even imagine the humiliation of standing there stuck in the dressing room.

Maybe I'll give the south beach another visit.

Eight Random Things...

This from Mrs. Grits:

The rules are as follows~
1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of the blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and to read your blog.

Humm... well, I'll play, but since this will be read by the three of us, I won't tag anyone...

1. I love to bake, but once I get started, I can't stop. Seriously... what's the point of heating up the oven for just a batch of cookies when we could make a triple batch instead plus six loaves of bread?

2. Baking is cheaper than therapy. When life is getting stressful or I can't figure something out, watch out b/c I'm going to be mixing up some cookies. Other random info: yesterday I used parchment paper for the first time! Wow, did those cookies come out great. Where have I been??

3. Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6:15 a.m. I walk for 30 minutes with my neighbor. It's a great way to start the day, get some exercise, and have a wonderful adult conversation. Do you think it defeats the whole purpose for me to come home and eat three of the above mentioned cookies?

4. I love natural, healthfood stuff! Whole grains, brown rice, whole wheat pasta... I have a grain mill and we bake our own bread. (...and homeschool. I know, how cliche!)

5. I also love Diet Coke. And Chocolate. And ice cream.

6. But I don't love vegetables. Seriously, it's hard for me to eat a salad.

7. This is the third time I've started blogging. It'll probably not last very long either.

8. Reading aloud is my favorite thing to do with the children. Right now we're reading the Trumpet of the Swan.


So now you know.

yumm...

Oh how I love choclate chips
Into the big box my hand dips
I grab two or three
and snack happily
as sweetness does pass by my lips!

How it all turned out

This is how the cake looked when I went to bed at midnight on Friday. By Saturday a.m., the bow was FLAT!! So I took the advice of may cake making expert friend and put a real bow on top. It was a little wierd, but cute enough and still tasted great. Working with the fondant was fun, covering the cake and making the ribbons down the side was pretty easy (and I think it's really pretty!!), but I clearly need a little more practice with the bow thing.

The important thing in all this was the sweet baby and mom whom we were showering! What a joy it was to celebrate the gift of this long waited for and prayed for TINY BLESSING!!

Here's a picture of the cake as it appeared on the table...

Ugh.

This day. A comedy of errors. A comedy? If I could watch it on a movie, I think I could cry, not laugh. But this evening I think I should laugh because if I don't I would cry. (Funny, I just typed the letter I eight times!)

This day will live in my memory as a living testimony to why eating ice cream for breakfast is not wise. Even if it is Mayfield's Blueberry Cream Pie ice cream. Sugar high! Sugar crash for the rest of the day. Seriously, y'all, its been bad. (And yes, 'y'all' refers to about three of us.)

BUT so has T's vomiting, D's diapers, E's whining, the Critter Control guy coming to tell me the mice have been with us oh probably all winter, the laundry piling up, the e-mails not sending (stuck in the outbox?), the mess in the kitchen not getting cleaned up, the wierd smell in the house, the baby's new squealing habit... and Matt gone at a meeting tonight. Add to this the realization I have four major events to plan in the next two weeks including B's book 1 recital and a visit from my parents and my mother-in-law.

And yet, the phone conversation with a friend at church who is struggling with infertility puts it all in a different perspective. My life, and my home, is full of children. There is no void in my heart where the love of a child doesn't fill.

Thank you, Lord

Our Thinking vs. God's Promise

It's impossible
All things are possible (Lk. 18:27)

I'm too tired
I will give you rest (Mt. 11:28-30)

Nobody really loves me
I love you (Jn 3:16)

I can't go on
My grace is sufficient (II Cor. 12:19)

I can't figure things out
I will direct your steps (Prov. 20:24)

I can't do it
You can do all things (Phil 4:13)

I'm not able
I am able (II Cor. 9:8)

It's not worth it
It will be worth it (Rom. 8:28)

I can't forgive myself
I forgive you (I Jn 1:9 & Rom. 8:1)

I can't manage
I will supply all your needs (Phil. 4:19)

I'm afraid
I have not given you a spirit of fear (II Tim. 1:7)

I'm always worried and frustrated
Cast all your cares on Me (I Pet. 5:7)

I don't have enough faith
I've given everyone a measure of faith (Rom 12:8)

I'm not smart enough
I give you wisdom (I Cor. 1:30)

I feel all alone
I will never leave you or forsake you (Heb. 13:5)

A new adventure...

I'm going to try to make a cake for the baby shower I'm hosting this weekend!

A smaller version of this is my goal:

This website is FULL of directions and advice. Stay tuned for the results!

Change is Good

I have a friend who changes all the furniture around in her house when there's a baby on the way. That's how her husband knows... he comes home from work, and the whole house is rearranged. Well, I'm NOT expecting, but I have rearranged furniture in six rooms here. It's like a whole new house! Matt asked me if I was discontent, but I think no, just hormonal. It helps fulfill that urge to create...

Plus, it makes the cleaning more fun if after I vacuum behind the bed and dressers they don't go back to the exact same place. The children think its so fun, too, and I do let them help figure out where to put stuff.

No matter how superior the cleaning company may be, they wouldn't do that!

Oh, and another thing about today... my sweet husband took all six children out to IHOP for breakfast BY HIMSELF! That meant I had an hour and a half here BY MYSELF! Woo hoo!

225 reasons to clean my own house.

The best motivation for getting our gang in gear and cleaning the house?

Yesterday I had a representative from "Superior Cleaning Company" stop by and walk through the house with me, tell me what they'd do in each space and give a quote for a cleaning schedule.

GASP!

Today we are moving furniture and cleaning our own baseboards, bathrooms, ceiling fans, and chair molding.

And we can vacuum, too.

A year and a half later...

Look here, a blog entry!
And it's THURSDAY... so here's a limerick to celebrate my re-entry:

I just put my baby to bed
I prayed and then kissed his sweet head
I turned out the light
for another quiet night
When with a shout "MAMA" he said!

That boy doesn't have many words, but he does say MAMA really frequently, and really loud.

So there you have it. A blog entry. How long will this last? Hummmm.... well, I'm not making any promises but it is fun to think about posting again!

last blog...

My blog time is over... it's been fun, journaling on-line, but I'm going to stop for now. Maybe I'll start again when I have something important to say, or the brain power and energy to think about how to say it well. LOL! Thanks for visiting!

Great find!

Just found this website for making math worksheets... also free vocabulary games, math games, logic games,etc

It's a BOY!

That brings the count to 4 boys, 2 girls. Everyone's fine with that (except for my dad who was so sure this was a girl, he convinced Mom to buy "her" a lace hanky in France!); the children just say we can have a girl "next time!" Or twin girls to even things out... yikes!

I'll try to post a picture of the ultrasound later.

Tonight Matt and I are going here for dinner!!!

What were we thinkin'?

Okay, so I have been home all week. I think I whined enough about that in the last post. Matt has been working late, and had to work this morning. So, when he came home this afternoon, sweet thing said, "let's go out for dinner!" YIPPEE! Everyone had a bath (including me!) got all spiffed up and off we went. Early -- we left at 4:45 so we'd miss the Sat. p.m. crowds. Went to this Italian "family style" restaurant someone told Matt about (and we had a gift card), thinking it would be safe. Weeeellllll.... picture big noisy, tacky place covered floor to ceiling with pictures and souvenirs from Italy (one table even had a bust of the pope in the middle; we didn't sit there)... we sat in a huge booth and well, let's just say our five dear ones were not exactly the poster children for the QF lifestyle (LOL, did I really just describe my family w/ those letters??). Tonight BWF stood for "Big WILD Family." Kim, I think we'll adopt y'all's policy of just NOT going out w/ the whole gang; at least for another 10 years or so.

You know, though, the evening didn't end there. After that lovely dining experience, we all went to Sam's. I can't really bear to write any more. This expedition went a little smoother b/c of a "serious discussion" in the parking lot before we went in, but you know I think I'll just leave it at that.

On the bright side... now I have that huge bag of chocolate chips downstairs...

We did have a fun, cozy afternoon reading the last few chapters of Duncan's War. Wow, do I ever have a greater appreciation for our freedom to worship... and a great desire to live for "Christ's Crown and Covenant!" (We also read about this in the little devotion book we did last spring called Finding Jesus in Genesis by Susan Hunt. ) I won't say any more, b/c I know you're about to read it, Kim... but it was a great ending!