Taking a Break

I just wanted to leave y'all a note to say that I am taking a little blogging break for this week.  I'll be back to announce the winner of the Headband from Smile Like You Mean It on the 30th.  I have a lot going on and I have a new toy that I want to play with!  Have a great week!

The Disappearing Easter Eggs

The day before Easter, three little boys sat out on their porch and dyed 12 eggs.  The eggs couldn't absorb the dye fast enough for these guys, as they wanted an instant result so that they could stick the next egg in.

There were green, pink, blue and purple colors to dye them.

And fun rabbit ear tongs for grabbing the eggs.

One of the boys became very upset when he was told he could not splash in the colored water!  

Finally the eggs were dyed and put into the fridge to await the next days hunt.

The morning came with Easter baskets filled with surprises.

The boys took their time looking at each and every thing and

each piece of candy was held up and requested to be eaten.  

 After dressing in their super cute tie shirts that their awesome Mom made for them, the boys headed out the back door for an egg hunt.  The awesome Mom had hidden all twelve of the eggs out in the yard for the boys to find.  She made sure that she remembered where she hid each one.

The boys ran around looking for the eggs and as they ran past two hiding spots, the Mom wondered why the boys didn't see the eggs.  She began to realize that none of the eggs were where she put them.  They were no where to be found. The boys were ahead of her and so she hollered (because she is from Texas), "Did you guys find any eggs yet?!" and there were replies of "NO!" from all.

Every single egg was gone!  There was not a trace of an egg.  No broken shell.  No fleshy egg part.  Nothing.  The awesome Mom looked at the awesome Dad and they questioned one another about where the eggs could have gone.  It seems that they had just disappeared!  

The conclusion was made that an animal, probably a dog, sniffed them all out and gobbled them up! The doggy wouldn't know that it had ruined the three little boys egg hunt.  It would have just thought, "Yummy eggs!  This is the best day ever!"  Not realizing that later, he/she would be paying for the massive egg consumption... which the awesome Mom secretly hoped would be paid out on the owner of the dog for letting the dog run loose. 

 On the way back to the house, one egg was found.  

Just lying in the grass.  One little blue egg with a damaged side

from what appear to be teeth marks. 

Thankfully the awesome Mom and Dad had plastic eggs and the
boy were able to hunt eggs after all. And everyone was happy

....except the dog.

We are the Yankees!

Josh had his second practice last night and he got his uniform too!  A shirt, a cap and some socks.  We bought him some baseball pants and we will be looking for some cleats tomorrow.  Hopefully, he will get to play in his first game on Saturday, so far the weather man is calling for rain.  I know there will be one disappointed little boy if it is rained out.  

This is coach pitch baseball.  Josh never played T-ball.  I hope he won't be at too much of a disadvantage because of it.  In my opinion he is doing well though.  I think it will be lot's of fun to watch him.  

  He practiced playing second base.  He did pretty good.  We need to work on him throwing without doing the whole wind up before every throw though.  Perhaps he will be a pitcher next year!

He did good at batting practice.  All the kids seem to inch further and further past the plate with each swing.  

And on a side note, when it has been raining, there are many muddy puddles out at this park.  Here's one that someone found straight away.

Yep...slipped and fell right on his hiney into the mud puddle.  YUCK!

Luckily, by the time we were ready to leave, it had dried and he could be dusted off with no problem! 

Being a Parent: It Can Be Overwhelming --Part One

I've been doing some learning lately.  I wanted to work my lessons and thoughts out here.  I hope you understand that I don't wish to offend anyone so please don't offend me with any ugly comments.  This is my own personal space to write out my thoughts and feelings.  If you don't share in my beliefs and they offend you, then just don't come read my blog anymore.  But I hope you will because I really want to share how awesome my lilfe is with God in it.  Or rather how awesome my life is when I am in God.  Anyway, just going to be thinking out loud here.  I'd love for you to think out loud with me. 

Do you ever get overwhelmed at the immense responsibility you have as a parent?  I do.  To be responsible for my child's physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health is stressful.  And I think you can multiply that stress by the number of kids you have.  And if you don't have a support system, if you are doing the parent thing solo, then I think you can quadruple that stress amount!  Bottom line.  It's stressful for all of us.  But what you do with that stress is what matters.

I really think some of our stress has a lot to do with our expectations.  Our unrealistic expectations. There are so many voices out there, and they are all screaming for our attention.  It's great to get others opinions, to get tips from those who have gone before us.  However, they may not work for you.  I used to go into a situation with an opinion or two in one hand and several tips in the other.  If none of them worked for me, well I felt like I failed. I had tried, why didn't it work?  Well, I have learned that just like everyone is different; there are different solutions to the same problem.  Like many math problems, you can get to the same answer by a multitude of different ways.

Always, make sure the opinions and tips you are getting line up with God's word, the Bible.  "Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart." Job 22:21-22

How about your parents (the grandparents)?  What role do they play in your expectations?  Do you feel that there are expectations that they have for you and your parenting skills that you just can't live up to?  Are they real expectations or imaginary ones?  I am the queen of imaginary conversations.  I have this whole conversation between me and whoever, in my head, and then I get myself all worked up with real emotions, over a very unreal conversation.  Then my real relationship is filtered through the fake reality.  That's not good.  I know this and I have been working on it.  I've come a loooooonnngg way.

I have learned that communication is key when it comes to this. My parents are not the same people they were 31 years ago.  They have changed and developed as people, just as I have.  So my past experiences with them are just that.  Past.  I shouldn't get worked up trying to meet an expectation that has carried over from my childhood.  For example, maybe your Mom stayed home with you until you went to Kindergarten.  However, you work and your children go to daycare/preschool because your household needs two incomes.  Should you assume that your Mom expects that you should be staying at home with your kids too?  No.  Just ask. 

We have also been fed the ideas, "You can be whatever you want to be.", "You can do whatever you want to do." and "You can have it all."  All that stuff, feeds our stress. You can not be whatever you want to be, you can not do whatever you want and you can not have it all.  Now before you start getting really mad at me, please keep reading so I can explain.

You can not be whatever you want because you need to be whatever God wants.  If you aren't in line with Him and what he wants you to be then there won't be the fulfillment of "being".  You will strive and strive to be what you want and never reach it.  Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lords purpose that prevails."

You can not do whatever you want because God wants you to do what He asks.  It's selfish and self-serving and no one is truly happy when they are just thinking about themselves.  Look at Jonah.  He didn't want to go to Nineveh even though God asked him to.  He did what he wanted and tried to run as far away from Nineveh as he could go.  Did it work?  No.  Was Jonah happy while he was doing what he wanted?  I really don't think so.  I mean not unless he really always wanted to be eaten by a big fish.

You can not have it all.  You can have many God given blessings.  Things that God has promised his believers and followers.  But if you are looking to have all that the world gives and all that God gives.  You can't.  Matthew 6:24 says it well, "No one can serve two masters.  Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You can not serve both God and money."


So what can we do to help alleviate some of the stress that comes with being a parent?

We need to constantly reevaluate our expectations. Our expectations for ourselves as parents and for our family as a whole.

Are they realistic within the boundaries of Gods word?  Because if they are, then those expectations should be freeing and not stressful.

"Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”  Lamentations 2:22-24

THE WORD for Encouragement

Do you know someone who could use a kind word, an uplifting reminder or a verbal hug?  Is it you?  I know I do!  Every day, please.  God's WORD is filled with those reminders.  It's amazing how a biblical truth spoken into your life by the reading of the Bible, or by the lips of a dear friend, can give a boost to your faith.  I've been encouraged a lot lately and I must say I am glad to get it.  I needed it a lot.   Now I want to share it.  Share the love!  I'm going to be sending some encouraging words to some friends and family in a fun and cheap way.  Here's how:

 THE WORD in a mini frame.  Yes, you are right, a framed verse is not an original idea.  But I just wanted to pass on a reminder that we CAN take the time to do something special to show the people we love that we care about them.  The frames were $1 and I printed out the verses from my computer and did a little cutting.  It's something super easy and fast but it's nice looking and fun.  As I made them I said a prayer for the person who will be receiving them.  The verses I choose were ones I felt especially drawn to for them.  I hope that they will feel encouraged, special and loved.

 Having a scripture setting out at home is a good way to keep our minds on the things of God.  

(I think I should have scripture wall paper.  Does anyone know where to get that?) 

I put this one beside my bed in hopes that it would turn my mind toward things above at the start of my day.

How do you encourage those you love? 
Would you like to share your ideas?

Link up your ideas

Caleb Lost His First Tooth

Well Caleb lost his first tooth and then he really lost it! It was loose this morning and then this afternoon while on a walk it came out...on to the road some where. So we will be writing the Tooth Fairy a note explaining this and instead of his tooth going into the pocket of his new tooth pillow, the note will.  I assured him that the Tooth Fairy would understand and would still give him a surprise.  When he told Grammy about it on the phone he said that his tooth fell out because I (Mom) forgot to let him brush his teeth this morning!  

What a cutie!

First Day of Spring 2011

It doesn't really feel like Spring yet.  At least not to me.  Not when it's still below 60.  However, it is looking like Spring.  There are flowers blooming and things are starting to turn green again!  Yay!  Troy even mowed on Saturday!  He hasn't been able to do that since the Fall.  On Sunday we made an effort to welcome Spring.  

 We visited the ducks at the VT pond and tried to feed them.  

They didn't come flocking like they usually do. 

They climbed the "climbing tree".

Then we headed over to a shop called 

Rita's where we got FREE Italian Ice's. 

 I got Mango flavor.  Troy got Orange Creme.  

Simon got lemonade.  Josh and Caleb both got Cotton Candy.  

They were really yummy but it was hard to eat since it 

was so cold outside.  I think we all got brain freeze!

 One of their favorite things is to put money in the parking meter.  I love their expressions in this picture!  Clowns!

Then the boys (including Troy) all got haircuts at Sport Clips. 

 Simon did not do well.  But it's cut!

Here are some daffodils that were growing at the pond.  

They seem like a popular flower here.  They sure are cheerful!

Caleb's First Soccer Game

Caleb played his first soccer game on Friday evening. He did really well and so did his little team. They were all so cute! They didn't get their jerseys in time for this game but hopefully before this Friday we will have them. Their color will be turquoise and I don't think they have a name yet.  There was talk of Lions and maybe The Storms?  Troy is coaching and this is his first season as head coach.  He assisted when Josh played last year and I am so glad that he is able to do this with the boys.  He doesn't have an assistant yet but hopefully he will have some help next week.  Josh helped him some.  But, I'm to busy chasing Simon around to really help much.  Two year old little boys don't really like watching...they would rather do.  He made it a personal goal to kick over every cone and marker!  Arghhhh!

Simon's First Trip to the ER

Simon got to take a trip to the ER last night after hitting his chin on the table, causing his teeth to go through his bottom lip.  After 3 hours of waiting we finally got one little stitch in his bottom lip.  I was told the cut on the inside would heal fast.  It was not a fun experience, for him or for me.  It was my first experience to have one of my kids need stitches.  I know it probably won't be the last, but I pray it is.

The poor baby went to bed with a grape popsicle mustache and a dose of Tylenol.

This morning I noticed he has red dots on his cheeks and temples.  I guess they are from his screaming.  My shoulders and neck hurt from tensing up with him and holding down his arms and legs.  Which was something I didn't want to do, but there were not enough nurses available to help.  I hate being the bad guy.  But of course he came right to me after it was over and I held him and snuggled him and we cried together. 

I Do It My Self

There is a 2 year old asleep in my bed right now.  He's snuggled next to my hubby, all warm and toasty under the blankets.  He inserted his squirmy little body in between us sometime around 4:30am.  During his squirming around he left his lovie towards the end of the bed and when I retrieved it for him, he told me "I do it my self!"  So he put the lovie back in it's former location and then retrieved it himself.

Simon is not my first 2 year old.  I've done this before.  I've watched in amazement as little 2 year old humans, who needed you to do so much for them, start doing things on their own.  They want to put the lid on their  sippy cups, put on their shoes, peel their banana and climb into and out of the car by themselves.  Not well, at first.  There are spills, mess ups, accidents.  And that is okay because I realize that those are part of the process.   They take pride in the doing. I carefully watch over this process and guide when I can.

Being the guide, I set the limits.  Like last night when Simon came into the living room, pulled out the piano bench and climbed up.  I asked, "Are you going to play the piano?"
He said,"No, I need a tissue."
He was pulling out the bench so that he could stand on it to reach the tissues on TOP of the piano!  Did Mom have issues with that?  Yep.  I got up and handed him the tissue box, explaining that it wasn't safe for him to stand on the piano bench and that I would help him get the tissues.  His response was, "I DO IT MY SELF!"  So I placed them on the keyboard part of the piano and told him he could get them from there.  That wasn't good enough so there was a mini tantrum. 

So this morning when Simon said, "I do it myself," I was a little irritated. But what I heard was, "You do that too!"  I know who it was that was talking to me.  It was the Holy Spirit and he was calling me out!  What he was telling me is that I've not been asking for help lately.  I've been trying to do everything myself.  I've been trying to do it all in my power and I am failing.  Big fail.  Big mess.

God is good.  He is kind and faithful and loving.  He will let me learn from my mistakes--IF I will let me learn from them.  However, there are some mistakes He really wants to protect me from.  Just like my two year old and the piano bench.  Simon could have stood on the bench and reached the tissues just fine.  But just as easily, he could have lost his footing and fallen, hitting his head on the piano or floor.  I didn't want him to learn that way.  There are some things that he can learn without actually making the mistake himself.  I can too.

It says in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

I don't have to carry the burden of my failures, my sins, on my own.  He wants me to find rest in Him.  To learn from Him.  If I am yoked with Him then I have to work with Him.  Not against Him.  If I am failing, feeling heavily burdened, then I have taken off the yoke.  I can't wear the yoke and drag Him along.  That doesn't work.  I can't go a different direction then Him while wearing the yoke.  That doesn't work either.  I'm either yoked or I'm not.

Can I learn while wearing the yoke?  Sure.  He says I will.  Will being yoked keep me from making huge mistakes that I will regret?  I think so.  I think He can teach me without me making those mistakes.  Just like my two year old, I don't have to fall off the piano bench and injure myself in order to learn a lesson.  Might there be a tantrum if my pride rears it's ugly head and I feel like I know where I should go and what I should do, but he's leading me in a different way?  I'm sure there will be.  I'm only human.

Who knew that God would choose Simon to talk to me and to teach me a lesson at 4:30 in the morning?!  Not I.  But I am so glad He did!

Sick Leave

I've been sick.  Lucky for me I have an awesome husband who has been able to help when he is home from work.  I have been functioning in "survival" mode and now my pile of projects has grown and the house is less than clean.  I hate being sick for the very reason that it stresses me out to see everything all backed up.  So I'll be playing catch up for the next week and that may mean that you won't hear from me for a little while.  Of course, several of my projects are sewing projects, so you may see those on here. 

Clean laundry...waiting to be folded.

Dirty laundry...waiting to be cleaned.

Projects waiting for the kid's nap/bed times.

 The saddest thing is that I think my baby may be getting my cold.  Poor Simon.

Bus Rider

Josh has been begging me to ride the bus to and from school for quite sometime.  Since he's only in Kindergarten and Troy and I are usually available to take him and pick him, I didn't think it was necessary.  However, he has worn me down and I have to admit it's kind of nice not to have to get the other two kids loaded up to drop off or pick up.  He is on the same bus as 3 other kids in his class and it is all elementary age kids.  It's amazing to see how much he's grown up and I am so proud of him. Sometimes I just wish that he wasn't so independent.

Wordless Wednesday-Never Leave the 2 Year Old Alone With A Bottle of Syurp

Made to Crave God

I started a new study this week.  It's a book called Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst.  I saw her speak at Feminar in 2010 when I went with some gals from my church back in Texas.  I'm doing the study with a lot of other women but I don't see any of them, because it's online.  It's all being organized through a lady named Melissa Taylor and you can check out her blog HERE.

We started on Monday and read chapter one and then today we are doing the personal reflections that are at the end of the chapter.  I decided to share a little bit of my thoughts that Chapter one brought about.

Lysa mentions a t.v. ad that a weight loss company did.   In it there is a little orange monster that personifies craving.  This little monster “chases us around, tempting us to eat unhealthy foods”.  In my experience, I would say that my craving personified, would be very soothing in appearance.  It would be something approachable and soft and cuddly because I usually nurture my cravings with food.  I welcome it and then after I’ve submitted to the craving, I feel guilty. That’s when it turns ugly.  My craving is a shape shifter.  After I’ve given in, the craving immediately taunts me.  

“You are so weak” it snears.  “I’ve got power over you!”  “There is not a thing you can do to resist me.  You might do it for a day, even a week.   But then you will come right back to me!” 

And I know, it’s so right!  That has been my response, my behavior.  My craving has me trained.

I have heard before that we all have a God-shaped void in our lives that only he can fill.  I believe this to be true.  Lysa talks about the idea that God made us to crave.  Crave God.  Only God.  I want to be there.  I realize that I try to fill up myself with other things.  Satan is only too happy to watch me do it.  He wants to do everything he can to take our hearts and minds off God.  I’ve failed time and time again and I feel like a failure.  

But I know that I am a child of God and I don’t have to fail again.  I know that by feeding myself scripture and consuming God’s word daily I will be empowered to fight my bad cravings.  Maybe if I listen harder to what my craving is saying then I can know exactly how to pray and where to read.   I’m going to start fighting my craving.

So little craving, you better watch out!  You may have had me trained but I’m looking to a new Trainer now and you are going down!

Christmas Fun

My parents(Also known as PawPaw and Grammy.) and my sister Melinda came to spend Christmas with us. We were so glad to have them and we really enjoyed our time together. The only thing that would have made it more perfect would have been if Melanie, Phillip and Madison had been here too.

PawPaw and his grandsons.

 Simon gets in his snuggle time with PawPaw.

Josh puts on PawPaw's pants.  

We all decorated a gingerbread house.

We all went sledding on Christmas Eve morning.

Aunt Minda's going down with Josh.

PawPaw doing a skeleton with Josh.

Josh actually fell off but got back on for this picture.  

Sometimes we got in trouble.

We put out Reindeer food.  

The boys opened up one gift on Christmas Eve.  Ornaments from Aunt Minda.

On Christmas morning we woke up to find that Santa had been there.

The madness of present opening began and the living room soon looked like war zone.

After breakfast we went outside to play in the snow and do some more sledding.

These boys were ready to go!

It was so fun having our first white Christmas!  It's one I will never forget!