Projects and Pictures

We have a big 8 yr old in our house now! These are the shirts I made for the girls for homecoming.

Here they are all dolled up and ready for school!

These are some burp rags I made for a friend who recently had her first baby. This is my second batch and I am getting a little braver and more creative....

More of the baby gift...

So.....where have I been? Well. I started BSF in Sept. That's Bible Study Fellowship, an international, interdenominational bible study. It's a year long study and very in depth. Right now we are studying Isaiah. It's really great. I also started attending a bible study at my church. It's the Beth Moore Revelation study. The two studies are remarkably well suited to be done at the same time. Certainly NOT a coincidence!

We also just had our Youth Disciple Now. TONS of fun but taking me a while to recover from. And this month is PACKED! So you may not hear from me again for a while...I need to get some pictures of the beds my dad made for the big girls....they are affectionately known as the "bonk beds."

We are also busy taking care of an ant farm and waiting for 5 butterflies to emerge from their chrysalises! Things are really moving along here....

Progress Report

Last week I wrote about busting the routine rut. I struggled all week long to make some progress out of the rut. To tell you the truth, I dealt with a LOT of guilt. Do you ever do that? You know what you need to do and you work hard but just don't see the progress you were hoping for......That was my week.



I have done some serious thinking about the progress I made and did not make this week. Here are some of the conclusions I came to.



Once you start to make progress in the right direction your eyes are ALWAYS opened to time wasters, bad habits, selfishness, and various other ugliness that has taken up residence in your heart. I don't know about you but my first reaction after these realizations are made is to feel guilt, frustration, and defeat. We have two options at this point: Give up and snuggle back into the rut you have created and loved for however long OR KEEP WORKING.

It's really important to keep a positive attitude. If you are a list maker, then keep two. One is the list of things that need to happen and the second is a list of GOOD things that HAVE happened.

My to do list seems to be everlasting. No matter how hard I work it will never get finished. But that isn't really the goal is it? There is more to life than getting THINGS done. I mean I am trying to nurture a family here in this home. I want to take my role as Family/Household manager seriously but that role includes more than cooking and cleaning.

Here is my list of good things that I did this week that I didn't do last week:



-two bike rides with the little man

-trip to the library

-read several books with Judson and some on my own

-worked with little man on learning to play solo in a designated area

-cooked a few more meals than last week

-swept the floors.

-Hung things on the walls in J/O room (it only took me 3 1/2 years to get to that!)

-Got to sleep at a reasonable time at least 5 out of 7 nights.

-Made pumpkin ch. chip bread

-Studied up on new recipes and saving money on grocery shopping

-Sat in front of the computer a LITTLE less

That list seems longer than it did in my head. Those are things I succeeded at. That is something to celebrate. Now I can keep moving on. It is always a struggle for me to jump out one rut and not fall right into another rut called guilt. This week I am starting off tired and the list is long but I am determined to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Here's to finding Joy in the work that is set before me!

RUT Busters

Ever get in a rut?

I always find myself in one when our schedule changes drastically. Like....school starting up. Seriously, friends it was a CRAZY summer. And who thought routine would actually throw me for a loop? But it has. Do you have any methods to get yourself going again or just stop the crazy cycle?

I do.

I read. I make time to pray and get in the Word and I go to the library. Most of the time I will pull out the old stand-by books on my shelves....Like the Complete Tightwad Gazette, Miserly Moms by Jonnie McCoy and her cookbook Healthy Meals for Less. Sometimes I need a kick in the pants. I start to see all the things I should be doing or need to catch up on or just need to get back to doing and then all the things I would love to be doing and someday hope to do and I get stuck. So, usually I start looking at ideas and let them run wild for a week or so...I do some crazy project to kick start myself and then I go to the library and get down to the nitty gritty of the doing.

I love being a Stay at Home Mom! It's the ONLY thing I want to be doing with my life right now......but I don't always give it my all and I don't always love my family with my time or even with my efforts. So it is time to get serious. Get organized. Motivated.

God has been teaching my lately that I need to engage my whole heart in this thing called life. I need to love the people around me and love them more than myself. I need to work as if unto the Lord in EVERYTHING. That has started to find its way out of my head and heart in various ways. One of the ways I decided to engage in life is to do some of the projects around the house that I have been saying I would do someday. I re-decorated the master bathroom. That was my first step. It is usually the last place that gets cleaned and I just didn't really like being in there. So now we are well on our way to lovin' it! I still have some projects to do in there, some that involve paint, some that involve the sewing machine and some that involve some elbow grease.

While doing this project I was awakened to an attitude that has become more and more prominent in my life.....Just buy it and finish already. I have been leaning on convenience far too heavily lately. I tell myself that it makes life easier and saves time and effort for the 'important' stuff but let's be honest shall we....It only makes me lazier, less satisfied, and less diligent with the budget and less likely to do those 'important' things. Maybe that 's just me?

These sweet faces deserve the best I can give them. And I want to bring glory to the name of Jesus even through housework, homework, and laundry. So here's to the RUT busters!

Life.

So. I had big plans for this summer. I threw all those plans into the wind and held on for dear life! It was fast and furious and stressful and emotional and it's OVER! I wasn't home long enough to paint my table. I did ok keeping my laundry done. Traveling with 6 makes lots of laundry. I didn't win the fight against summer mush brain.....I didn't even execute my battle plan. I didn't read to my kids every day, I didn't do many of the things I planned. I do have tons of pictures on my computer. I did have TONS of fun visiting friends and family. We did take the family on one of the summer mission trips. We cried, we laughed, we loved.

What can I say. Sometimes you take life by the reigns and some times you just hold on and try to enjoy the ride! It was one rip roaring ride for us this summer. One I will not soon forget!

But now School has started back. And starting tomorrow it will be me and my little super hero here alone all day. He keeps telling everyone he is starting Momma School. I keep thinking of all I will get done with only one sweet face following me around. I am still planning to paint my table. I have some plans for Momma School with the Stud. I have some goals to work towards. I have two bible studies lined up. But we will see. I have one Youth Leaders conference I get to attend with Dan, all ALONE...in 14 days. Most of all I want to enjoy my days with the little man and not watch life as it blazes past me. I want to be fully engaged and lovin' it!

Summer Time!

Woo-stinkin'-who! It's summer time!

For me that means:

-no more lunches to pack

-lunches with the whole clan again!

-more hands to help with cleaning

-trips to see family

-summer trips with the youth group

-summer reading program

-plenty of water fun!

NEW FOR THIS SUMMER:

-family mission trip(s)

-fight against summer mushy brain

-fight to keep the laundry baskets EMPTY

-mandatory morning outside play time for the kids!

-*Daddy Dan's idea* Books in Bed nights! ( A BIG Hit)

-I am determined to FINALLY paint my table and chairs black!

Preschool Graduation

Olivia graduated from Preschool this week. She is a pretty big girl. She has been reading for a couple of months. Every morning she asks when she gets to start Kindergarten....I tell her it will be soon enough.

I have also been gettin' my craft on. I helped one night while the GA's were making T-shirts for camp and I thought, I can do this...Here are my first attempts.

I also saw some flip-flops on one FL's friends and thought...I can do that! Here's what my first attempt produced.

I also have another cupcake shirt for Elise that I made into a dress by adding a skirt. But I don't have a picture of that yet.....she hasn't worn it yet.

SO, Angie, here you go. I think you are the only one still checking this. If you want I can post all the pictures I have been meaning to post. The baptism, Easter, the new coffee table...there are lots.

Psalm 85:8-13

I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints-

but let them not return to folly.

Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.

Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.

Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks d0wn from heaven.

The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.

Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.

Righteous Right Hand

Isaiah 41: 9-10

"I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, 'You are my servant'; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

41: 13

"For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."

40:13-14

"Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?"

Pressing into that Righteous Right Hand.