Spring Break

Wow!  Where does the time go?!?  We are in-between sports right now so there should be time somewhere but I’ve seemed to have lost it!  It seems like March was just beginning.  I was so excited for spring to start and here it is already April and Easter right around the corner.  What happened to the Passion Week plans I was making for my family?  Here it is… Passion Week half over and we haven’t done a thing!  I need to spend some time with God showing me how to be a better time manager because obviously I’m way off!

Spring break came and went so quickly, we barely had time to enjoy it.  It was the middle of March.  My original plans were for a major de-cluttering, organizing, and cleaning in each of the three kids’ bedrooms.  I briefly mentioned to my mom back in the winter that maybe we could take a trip to Illinois to visit family over spring break.  I hadn’t been up there in awhile.  Well, as you can guess… mom’s plans over-ride my own.  So with three kids in tow, I head to Missouri Saturday for a big family get-together.  My parents just got back from their winter stay in Mexico.  Every year, they host a big pizza party so they can see everyone again.  As always, I had a delightful time catching up with everyone because I hadn’t seen them since Christmas.  I love this picture of Robbie with his little cousin Abbie.  She was born with a cleft lip.  Poor little thing has been through more surgeries in her four years of life than most adults will ever go through in their life time.  She is a sweet, beautiful thing and such a fighter too!  There is little evidence now of her cleft lip.

Sunday morning, we head out with Mom for Peoria, IL.  That is where all her family lives.  Along the way, we found this wind turbine farm.  It was awesome for us to see.  I finally realize what those long things are that we see semi’s carrying.  Haha!  We had to go down a few country side roads to get these pictures, but I LOVE country side roads!

While in Princeville, we came across this memorial for veterans of the town.  My Granddad and all my uncles served in the Navy and all were Seabees.  I discovered that my great-uncle, my granddad, and my uncle all served in World War II.  Two of my uncles served in Viet Nam.  My great-grandfather and great-uncle served in the Civil War.  Those that are still alive have never talked about wars so I had no idea.  I felt such pride when I read through the names.  I wish I could hear their stories of courage.

We didn’t do much sight-seeing on this trip.  It was all about visiting family and of course lots of food is always involved when my family gets together.  A little shopping with my aunts was thrown in also.  We all had a great time, even the kids.

We headed back home on Wednesday and stopped in St. Louis to see the arch. 

You don’t realize the massiveness of this unique monument until you stand beside it.

The water was up slightly at the riverfront.  Lol!  This is a Lewis & Clark statue.

It was nice to get out and stretch for awhile and break up the long trip home.

Since this was sort of a last minute trip decision, Rich had to stay home and work.  I was so thankful to have my older two kids to help out with the young one.  Ryan and Robbie have a wonderful relationship and I’m so thankful for it!  You wouldn’t have thought it would turn out this way because Ryan wanted nothing at all to do with Robbie when he was born.  Nothing!  Now, I have to practically tear them apart when they’re wrestling and playing.  So this picture is very dear to me.  Also, the little Mickey Mouse that Robbie is holding Ryan won for him in one of those little machines at a restaurant.  Robbie never laid it down for a second the whole time on the trip.  He kept thanking Ryan for winning it for him.  It was so cute!

We had a wonderful time on our trip.  I know the kids enjoyed this way more than cleaning their rooms.  It was a very long 12 hours from Princeville, IL to Bruner, MO to Catoosa, OK.  That’s when I really missed Rich the most!  My mom doesn’t like to drive so it was me all the way.  My back and bottom were so sore.  Ha!  What surprised me the most was how well behaved the kids were all the way home.  I did more complaining than they did.  I had to have more pee breaks than them.  I’m still bewildered about it!

I'm grateful for time that God allows me to spend with my family and I'm grateful for a family that I desire to spend time with!

A little Valentine fun, a little organizing fun

First, a little Valentine fun.  I always like to bake candies/cookies/foods for the kids' teachers.  They all have way too many "teacher" things so this makes the holidays more fun and shows how much we appreciate them!  This is Amariah (she really dislikes having to stand in the pictures, can you tell?  Lol!) with some goodies for her three teachers that she has this year:  Cinnamon Apple Jelly, Brown Sugar-Oatmeal Mini Loaves, Peanut Butter/Kisses Surprise cookies and Oreo Truffles.  Yum!

Well, since I've been back from Mexico... I have been FREEZING!!  I'm not one to complain but that sunshine on my face and sand between my toes every day ruined me!  I've been trying to stay busy.  My projects have only been ones that can be worked on by the fireplace.  I LOVE my fireplace so much!

I finally put my cabinet together.  Well, I guess I should tell the truth... Rich finally put my cabinet together.  We talked about painting it a different color because I didn't think black would look good in that room.  But here it is finished and it will stay black:

Oh, I think I need to show a before shot.  This is what the room looked like in October when I decided to tackle re-purposing two of my rooms.

Here's a (not so good) close-up shot of what this cabinet's purpose will be.

I finally found an open cabinet that held three sections with interchangeable shelves.  One section for each child.  When they come home from school, they go straight to the laundry room and drop off their bags, books and lunchboxes.  It has been wonderful this week to use this cabinet.  I got so tired of stepping over bags and kicking them out of my way.  This is a lifesaver!  And now for the fun part!  I'm going to show you how we made the boxes on the top shelf that will be used to hold all their papers.

I grabbed these boxes from when I put Christmas candy out on the shelf at Hobby Lobby.  At the time, I had no idea what I would use them for.  They turned out to be the perfect size and shape!

Then each child went through all my scrapbook paper and picked out some paper for the sides, front, and lettering.  We used Elmer's glue because it is safe for the kids to play in.  This was their favorite step of the whole process.  Here are Amariah and Robbie spreading out their glue.  Ryan, at age 14, was too old to get his picture taken and I had to make him sit down and play in the glue.

Once they glued the paper to the front and the sides, I used a xacto knife to cut around the curves in the front of the box.  If you don't have a Cricut, then I highly recommend you get one!  I only have the smaller one but it gets the job done.  I originally bought it for my scrapbooking but have used it on every thing else!  We cut out their names and glued them to the finished box.

Robbie had fun saying his letters as he put them in the machine.  He was so excited to see his name print out.

 

This is what the finished boxes look like...

 

It's a little bit of organizing but on a grand scale for our family!  School stuff has been an eyesore for us as long as I can remember.  Now I have one more small cabinet to buy for this room to hold all their extra school supplies then I can mark it off my list as complete!

I am grateful for fun loving kids that like to get in there and be messy with me as we create and see what we can come up with.  I love to bounce ideas off of them and see how creative they can be.  A simple but messy project, a small amount of time, but wonderful memories made!

Cabinets, Paint, Mexico!

Sometimes it can be frustrating if you know in your mind what you want, but trying to find it in a store is a different story! Know what I mean?! We looked online for about an hour and a half Thursday night for some cabinets for the kids' catch-all area in the laundry room. Nope. Nothing. Well, nothing in the price range that I set for this little project. Yes, we can go over what I allotted but that would mean a delay in getting this room done. A delay in this room would mean a delay in my craft area. And I sure don't want that to happen! =] Everything we found had huge shipping costs attached to it! I'm talking like as much as the cabinet itself. So... this morning we dropped the kids off at school and headed out for a full day of shopping for that perfect cabinet that is in my head. This picture is not of "my perfect cabinet", but the closest thing I could find, $99:

I just wanted to share it with you because it'll be a couple of days before we can set it up and see if it'll work.

I found this FREE neat little tool on Sherwin-Williams website.  You take a picture of the area you want to paint.  "Mask" it off, and then select the color you want and it shows you what it will look like.  The stuff hanging on the wall has been masked over because I didn't want to go in and tediously mask around it so I just covered it all.  Now mind you, due to monitor limitations the colors are not completely accurate.  In fact, it almost looks rose in this picture, but it is really one of their darkest red colors.  You get the jest of it.  How about this for my dining room?

Or stay like it is...

I've been debating this color change ever since I painted the family room (the room off to the right in this pic) during spring break 09.  I picked out about 20 color swatches of the dark red.  Narrowed it down to one and taped the swatches to my walls.  I moved them around all summer and fall.  Then one day I just gave up and decided to leave it like it was because I couldn't decide.  I am probably the most indecisive person you will ever meet in your life.  Really, it is ridiculous!

So... here I go again!!  Decisions, decisions, decisions!!  I was going to buy the paint today, but ran out of time because of the cabinet ordeal.  Honestly and truly, what do you think of my 'Sun dried Tomato' wall color?  Ditch it or keep it??

I have a little bit of time to think about it.  Everything is getting ready to be put on hold.  I'm going on vacation!  Woo Hoo!!  Except without Rich or the kids.  So that's gonna be kinda weird.  Next Wednesday, the 27th, I head out to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!!!  Hello sunshine!  I'm so excited, yet sad about leaving my family.  My parents live in Mexico during the winter months.  The first half of the winter they live in a village a little north of Puerto Vallarta.  Then the last half of the winter, they move up to central Mexico (because the beach gets too hot, so sad!) to Guadalajara.  Because of Rich's incredible flying benefits from working for American Airlines, I fly FREE!  I stay with my parents for FREE!  And while there, they spoil you rotten by taking you out to eat almost every single meal.  How could I pass up an offer like this??

I'm so glad my parents have internet and a laptop where they live. I can sit out in the sun by the beach and keep up with my blogs!! =] Yes, they live that close to the beach. It is an amazing time, I've been there before.

Well, lots and lots to do before I leave.  I have a home to clean (because I'm a freak like that.. can't leave a messy home even though my kids will be making a mess while I'm gone), camera to get ready, summer clothes to dig out (that's going to be nice for a change!!).

Don't worry; I won't be rubbing in the perfect paradise weather of 80 degrees.  I'll just wait and post some pics for ya.  Have a wonderful week ahead and I'll be checking in from time to time.

 I am grateful for opportunities like this that God places before me. To travel and see his beautiful creation, to get a glimpse and a taste of paradise. Then to realize that it's not even a drop in the bucket compared to the eternal paradise awaiting me one day with Him!

Christmas, Part Three... and finally the end!

We finally made it for Christmas with Rich's mom on Rich's birthday... the day after Christmas!  Yes, he grew up with his birthday presents wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper and Christmas cards instead of birthday cards.  Poor little baby... so I try to make his birthday all about "him" even though he is 42.  Well, these were circumstances beyond my control, so he still had a good birthday/Christmas.

I just love this picture of Ryan, his eyes are so beautiful!  Now, the light 'stache that's going on... not so much!!  Anyway, he was playing around with his new hat and $$ he received from Mema.

The next morning, Sunday, we woke up and headed to Missouri.  Finally!  We met my parents in town for lunch, then headed to their house and opened our gifts.  Some family members dropped by to see us.  Even though ALL the family wasn't present, it was a very nice visit for those we were able to spend time with.  We played games and laughed so hard till way past midnight.  That's unusual for us on a week night!

We rang in 2010 pretty quietly.

Well... not too quiet, actually.  Our plan to get together with a group of friends was shattered by my kids' unruly behavior.  It was getting towards the end of Christmas break and they really hadn't been out of the house except for the two Christmas get-togethers.  They were WILD... to say the least!  I don't know what was going on with them.  I let them stay up till they couldn't stay awake any longer and let them sleep most of New Year day.  That day turned out to be a nice and quiet day.  Lol!  I guess they just needed to get it out of their system.  Whew!

With all the ice and snow we've had, we were waiting for a warmer day to give them their last present.  We knew it wasn't going to happen and they would be going back to school very soon, so we had to do it this day!  Please look past all the clutter (hopefully that will be our Spring project because it didn't happen last Spring!) in the garage, but I wanted to post this picture of them "closing their eyes".  I just love Robbie's expression... he's the little guy in the middle.  He's trying so hard not to peek!

Again, I love Robbie's expression in this picture as the other 2 are extremely excited.  Rob... he's not so sure...

...as this was their last present.

We had to take it for a spin.  So each child got one ride and then the older two got to drive a little bit.  We are going to take them and get their little heads fitted for helmets, but for this one time ONLY; I did allow them to go with bicycle helmets.

Not sure I'm too ready for this!!  Amariah is wwaaaaayy too young to be behind a wheel!

But this scares me more than anything else!!  In one year and three months... this will be a real wheel, a real vehicle, the real deal!!  I'm so glad I have God to sustain me through these years and not Prozac!

Robbie didn't like it.  We had to force him to get on.  He kept saying "Now go real slow Daddy, did you hear me?  Go real slow".  In the end, he loved it.  I don't know who had more fun?  Daddy or Robbie?

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas.  There was no rushing here, rushing there, rushing everywhere, and not getting any sleep like our Christmas' usually seem to be.  This year it wasn't all about the presents like my kids like to think it is.  This year it was all about quality family time-- the way it should be every year!!

I am so very grateful for the love in my life, the family in my life.

My Wednesday List

Wow!  It seems like all my friends are getting snow but me.  My poor nephew and friends in the Denver area are dealing with -8 degree weather!  Can you imagine living in below freezing temps?  Yikes!  I don't know if this old body could handle that.  Lol!

I made my "Wednesday list" on Monday, so it's a good thing it's a cold, cold day here today.  We are sitting at 18 degrees, windy.  Whew!  I always feel so sorry for those that have to work out in this kind of weather.

I just printed off a recipe from the Taste of Home website for Cinnamon Apple Jelly http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Cinnamon-Apple-Jelly.

  My dear friends Katie and Alissa made some a couple of months ago.  I did get a taste of it, and it is delicious!

Well, my Christmas decorating is almost officially done.  I just need to venture down by the pond to get some greens.  I should have done that last week when the weather wasn't so frightful.  I think Robbie and I will pursue that this afternoon if the temps go up a tad bit more.  The Weather Channel says we will get up to 27 degrees.  Maybe we can head out then.

Thanks to my dear hubby for fixing me a nice, toasty fire in the fireplace before he headed off to bed this morning.  At least he didn't have to work out in the cold last night!  He was also sweet enough to put some biscuits in the oven while I was delivering kids to school.  Too bad that cinnamon apple jelly isn't already made.  Mmmmm... That would be so good right now!  =]

Well, it's time for me to head downstairs where it's cozy warm!  On my list today:  finish up Christmas cards (83 done, 49 to go!), cut out and sort coupons, get my Christmas recipes out and make my shopping list, and figure the checkbook.  Gotta get ready for Friday-- shopping!  So glad my activities today will be near the fireplace.  Now I just need to put a pot of water on for some delightful hot chocolate.

Today I am grateful that I can be home to take care of some household chores.  For those that have to work more than two days a week, I know it can be stressful trying to carve out a little time to accomplish these things.  Stay as warm as you can today.  I wish for you a grand week/end~

Going Home

What a grand weekend I had "going back home".  Although I have been gone from Bruner, MO for almost 14 years-- it will always, always be home to me.

My boys and I arrived Friday evening just in time for dinner with my parents and my brother Daryl at China House.  Love their cashew chicken!  Ryan loves their crab legs that are only out on the buffet on Friday nights.  Needless to say, he was quite happy about the restaurant choice.  We stole Mom away and headed to Branson to see the Silver Dollar City lights.  You would think that living there for 25 years and going back numerous times over the past years that there would be one season in the past 40 years that I would have made it to see the SDC lights.  But no...  This was my first year!  And boy was it magical!

You just gotta love a twinkling parade at night!

The stores were all decked out in beautiful Christmas displays.  Robbie had to have his pixie stick from the candy store with him at all times.

The next morning bright and early I met my dear girlfriends, Donna and Jeanna, for breakfast.  Time spent with those two are truly priceless!  Why does time have to fly by so quickly when you just wish it would stand still?  I guess that's just a daily reminder for us to enjoy what we have when we have it.  There is always so much to talk about and never enough time to get it all in!  I am blessed to have been re-connected with them this year!

From there, I went to my niece's home to watch the small town Christmas parade with lots of heart!  My little great-nephews were in it and they were oh so proud to throw us lots of candy!  After the parade, we all gathered in her home for homemade cinnamon rolls, brownies, hot chocolate and cider.  It was nice to relax and fellowship with my loved ones!

That evening was our family Thanksgiving dinner.  We normally have it the Saturday after Thanksgiving but my parents were going to be out of town then so they moved it back.  I'm glad they did.  It was a very nice and enjoyable weekend for me!  As always, their home was full of family and love... and food!  With 6 kids, 16 grandkids, 15 great-grandkids, and all the spouses... we most definitely have family gatherings full of love!  For Rich growing up with one brother, he gets a little overwhelmed at times.  But I wouldn't have it any other way!  =]

To celebrate one of the two new additions that will be added to our family soon, we celebrated with a baby shower on Sunday.  What a nice way to end the weekend full of family and love!

I am grateful for a large family that truly loves one another, helps one another and gets along so well.  When I only get to go back home once in awhile, I miss them so.  Thank you Lord, for such a sweet and loving family!

Log Splitting

What a beautiful day... even though it is 46 degrees here right now.

You can't tell it inside our home.  It's nice and cozy!

Remember the huge dead tree that came down in our front yard?  Well, it looks like we will be reaping the benefits from that all winter long without having to go cut wood somewhere else.

Rich borrowed a log splitter from a friend.  The afternoon that I was working on fluffing my cardinal tree, he and the kids spent that time splitting wood.  All of this came from two of those big logs:

Rich tells me I'm such a "freak" about things.  He's so silly; he doesn't realize how much he is too!  He took the bigger logs off of the rack and split them into smaller logs.  I think he was just having lots of fun with the log splitter.  I knew it was coming... and it did about 2 hours into log splitting... "Honey, I think we need to get one of these".  So my answer-- put money aside for it and watch craigslist.  Isn't that the answer for everything??

I agree that a log splitter would be nice to have to save his back and shoulders from hurting after all last season of using a maul.  Rich did have a very good idea.  How about saving a few of those big tree trunks to use as seats?  We're slowly clearing away our land to the pond and will one day have a fire pit down there.  I agree... these would make some pretty neat (and weatherproof) seats!  What do you think?

I am grateful for a husband that works around the home doing what needs to be done to take care of our family.  It's so nice to have a wood fireplace.  It heats up our family room, dining room and kitchen.  That's three rooms that don't need to be heated by natural gas.  I'm all about not giving ONG our hard earned money!  =]

Woo Hoo!!!

I am so excited... and I just can't hide it.. I'm about to lose control... and I think I like it...

Ok, so I'm really not 'Pointer Sisters' excited, but I am really excited!  We just paid off loan #3 on Friday!!  Yee Haw!!  Now we are down to two loans left to tackle.  Between the three loans, we were looking at $9,000 at the beginning of spring.  Since that time, we have dropped what we owe to $6,637.07!  That's still a lot left to pay, but we have come so far!  I sure don't miss the days of Rich's "sugar momma" at the AA Credit Union.  He would walk in, visit with her and come out with $$ all the time.  Bless Carolyn's little heart.  It would be nothing for us to have 10+ loans at a time!  All I have to say about that is... Thank You Lord for Dave Ramsey!!  It feels so good to realize that being DEBT-FREE is obtainable for us!

I am grateful for the financial highs and lows that Rich and I have experienced the past 13.5 years.  Through these experiences, we have learned so much.

What to do?

Robbie wakes up and very slowly makes his way down the hall.  I hear him head downstairs.  I quietly call his name.  He comes to me and crawls up on my lap.  He laughs as I sit and hold him, smothering him with hugs and kisses.  In his sweet little morning voice (which is so very much different from his full awake boisterous voice) he says to me "How'd you get here?".  Kids are so cute when they are trying to get their meaning across and they do their very best.  I told him I was off work today and I get to spend the day with him!  In his sweet and sleepy little voice, he enthusiastically draws out "Alright!".  I smile so big at him, yet I want to cry inside!

I am torn.  I so want to be a true stay-at-home mom.  No more home based businesses to take away precious hours from my kids that I will never get back.  No more part-time work where I have to leave my little guy at home with a Daddy that needs to sleep during the day.  No more having to say "No, I'm sorry, I can't be there because I have to work".  It thrills Amariah SO much when I can be at school to help out.  It's quite humorous actually.  She doesn't want me to be around, yet she wants me there.  I guess that's better than the way some parents get treated by their kids who don't even care if their parents are there or not.

I am not good at making decisions.  World's worst, actually.  Rich and I have had a few spats over that very topic.  What is so wrong with being indecisive??

In the past year or so, I have finally said no to church committees.  My heart's passion is for youth and for women.  While I enjoyed the Student Team and the Women's Activity Team immensely, I knew it was time to leave.  Being a part of the planning, scheduling, implementing, and achieving was a joy for me.  But making all the meetings and being available at all times was not convenient for me. 

I think I am ready.  I think I am about ready.  I'm really not sure.  My very short-term goal is to see about finally quitting work after inventory at the end of January.  If not then, I will quit by summertime.  And if not then, most definitely by the time school starts next year.  I am having a hard time knowing what to do.  I know where my answer lies.  I know the only way I will ever find peace about it is by seeking God through prayer and searching God's Word.  A couple of years ago, I did that very thing.  I spent much time pouring over God's Word and seeking His will for this very subject of my life.  I never received the peace I was looking for.  I knew it wasn't time.  So after Christmas I will start searching again.  To say I have it made is an understatement.  Being with the company for 18 years (along with the hard work I give them), affords me the luxury of an extremely flexible schedule that I know will be impossible to match anywhere else.  When I go, I have to make sure it is the right thing to do.  There will be no going back.

Although I don't like it very much, I am grateful for the choices I do have for there are so many people out there begging for work.  In the end, it all comes back to this:  Can anything compete against my little guy being ecstatic about getting to spend the day with me??

Routine, Organization, Efficiency

It's so nice to be back!  I love routine and organization. I love efficiency in every form of the word!  As mundane as it can be, I feel like I'm not getting anything accomplished if there is not some sense of order around me.  I'm not a control freak at all.  I don't have to be in control of my day or any tidbit of my day, BUT I just can't seem to focus if I'm unorganized or inefficient.  To have Ryan back in school and Rich back to work; I feel, is a huge accomplishment!

  Ah, how I've missed our family devotion time.  It felt so good to get it going again.  I hate to say it, but it went bye-bye for awhile with the onslaught of school starting and hospital ordeals.  I so wish I wouldn't let life get in the way of our family devotions.  What are my kids learning from that?  That when life gets busy or hectic, take a break from God's word?!  That's when we need to be in it as a family every single day!  I so want my kids to be grounded in His word.  I want them to seek it and not friends when they are having a bad day.

It was so nice to have Rich home every single night for those 5 weeks.  After we put the kids to bed, we would sit on the couch together and watch the diy network... every single night until midnight or later.  It was relaxing.  We would dream about our house and our yard.  I will hold out for those flagstone pavers on top of all the concrete in our back yard.  Yes,  I know they are expensive, but I love the old-time feel and look of them.  We discussed projects we wanted to tackle and list their importance.  We would go to bed at the same time.  I would lay there beside him and think about how much I cherish that time with him and how much I loved just having him there beside me even though he was snoring.  It's been a long nine months that he has been on midnights.  Only nine months??  Are you kidding me??  It seems more like nine years!  I'm glad he gets to see the kids after school and spend the whole evening with them.  He gets to be at all the games and even gets to coach now-- since he can make the practices.  But oh, how I miss having him home at bedtime!  I have found myself in a routine that I'm not too fond of!  I seem to stay awake as long as possible every night that he is working so I will just go to bed and crash.  I have such a hard time falling asleep without him beside me.  I tried putting Robbie in bed with me at night, but it's just not the same.  I need my husband beside me, where he should be.  Speaking of... why am I still awake at 12:45 AM when I need to wake up at 6:30 AM?  I am grateful for a husband that I enjoy being with.

Strength

It's amazing how I find strength when I don't think I have anything left!  God is so good to me.  I really don't understand why He gives of Himself so much when I don't even deserve it!

It's funny (in a weird way, not haha! funny) how it's easier to see a husband in a hospital bed than it is to see your own child.  Having experienced both in these past 5 weeks, I didn't realize how helpless I felt until I saw Ryan lying in his bed with his hospital gown on awaiting surgery.  I didn't cry though.  How could I?  He kept cracking joke after joke.  I'm glad he was so calm, it kept me calm.  As I was sitting in the waiting room, I was pondering many things.  Like, why was I there by myself?  Why wasn't Rich there waiting with me?  We have been blessed beyond what we could ever dream to have so many friends and family offering to help in every way throughout our hospital ordeals.  Why had I not thought about getting the kids taken care of that morning so he could have been there with us?  At that very minute that I was thinking on these things-- it's like God was listening to me and sent a friend, Anthony, to sit with me.  Thank you God for those little things that are a big deal to me!  Well, I survived the surgery.  I guess I should say "we" survived.  Ryan was a trooper.  Except for the times he was asking for pain medication, he was still cracking us up.  We made it home and I slept for 4 hours!  Guess I was a little tired.  =]

I'm grateful for my relationship with my loving Father that allows me to get through anything that He places before me!

What a week I have ahead of me

I'm normally not one to complain about a busy week, but starting it out being sick is surely not helping it any!  Today started out early with waking at 6:20 AM.  Ryan to school at 7:15 AM.  Back home to get Amariah and get her to school at 8:00 AM.  Worked 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM.  Pick kids up from school, home at 3:30 PM.  Thank you Lord for no homework today!  Amariah to cheer practice at 6:00 PM.  Tracy Morgan's jewelry party at 6:30 PM.  Back to pick up Amariah from practice at 7:30 PM.  Home!  Dinner, baths, bed.

Wednesday starts out the same.  Ryan 7:15 AM.  Amariah 8:00 AM.  Work 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM.  What is normally my day off, I will be working.  Make that working all week because we have 3 people on vacation and my boss asked if I could work more days this week.  Now I'm wondering why I am so nice. ;)  Get home at 3:30 PM.  Hopefully no homework again.  Avon is in-- sort, sack up and get ready to deliver.  Dinner.  Church.  Yah!  I love the re-charge in the middle of the week.  Home!  Baths, bed.

Thursday starts out the same again.  Ryan 7:15 AM.  Amariah 8:00 AM.  Work 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM.  Get home at 3:30 PM.  Amariah to cheer practice at 6:00 PM.  Ryan football game in Catoosa at 6:00 PM.  Yah!  Thank you Lord for a home game this week!  Home! Dinner, baths, bed.

Friday, here we go again.  Ryan 7:15 AM.  Amariah 8:00 AM.  Work 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM.  Get home at 3:30 PM.  My oldest sister, Pam, from Missouri will be here!  Ahh, I get to relax and enjoy her company!

Saturday.  Pam and I to Black Buggy Days in Chouteau.  We so admire the Amish.  I really want to relax and enjoy that day... but somewhere in there I have to fit Amariah's cheerleading at the football game in Jenks at 4:30 PM and Rich's band playing a show in Tulsa that evening.

Whew!!  I'm already wore out and the week is just beginning.  Can't I just skip it all and let it be Friday afternoon already??  I know... I know... slow down and enjoy these years.  I hear that on a constant basis.  I'm trying!

Oops!! I'm going to be late!  God, help me to keep my focus on You amongst all the activities of this week.  Help me to influence my children to do the same.  I am grateful for my health that I am able to get all this accomplished.  I know I will look back on this week and say "What were you worried about?  That wasn't so bad after all!" =]


Update:  Tuesday, 10:35 PM.  Well, I've already been successful in failing this evening.  I managed to yell at two kids (I didn't scream at them though, does that count?) and the other one went to bed mad at me.  With Amariah's bedtime at 8:30 PM, she finally made it to bed by 9:15 PM, trying to talk to me while I was cooking dinner, doing dishes and trying to keep Robbie quiet.  I wouldn't answer her right away and she got a little perturbed, and marched off to bed with me yelling "I love you" over my shoulder.  Got Ryan sat down for dinner at 9:45 PM, although he has a bedtime of 9:00 PM.  Then it was time to get Robbie settled in his bed.  He was a little wound up so it took a couple of spankings, and yes I'm sorry to say, I did yell at him.  After I regained composure, I took him in my arms and told him how sorry I was, but how important it was for him to obey.  I kissed him goodnight, told him I loved him.  Then it was finally time to tell Ryan how sorry I was for yelling at him.  I had too many things I was trying to take care of myself.  It's a bad excuse, but all I had to offer him.  After accepting his apology, I put him to bed 1 hr. and 5 min. after his bedtime.  Now, here I am.  Sitting here eating my dinner at almost 11:00 PM.  Do you ever have one of these days??  What is wrong with me??  I'm sorry for failing tonight God.  I am so grateful that your tender mercies are new every single day!  The only thing left to do before I go to bed is to go to Amariah's bedside and tell her how I love her and how sorry I am for not having time to listen to her.  No, she won't hear me, but at least I'll be able to sleep.  Then in the morning, I will tell her once again so she will know.