WINTER SATURDAYS

After a nice warm shower on a cold, cold Saturday night, it is nice to sit down and color with your best friend. Lord, may they always be this close.

And HERE'S what happens when you have a 16 yr old brother that got Guitar Hero III for Christmas! She is so cool. (Trevor dressed her up and took these pictures!)

And HERE'S what happens when your 16 year old brother works at Chicfila and gets the guitar from "the"rock 'n' roll cow and wants you to pose with it. (Notice the cow "arm" on the guitar:~)

THESE DAYS....ALMOST A YEAR LATER

I was reading archives from last year and I came across this post.

To be honest, it was gut wrenching. I had forgotten about it and when I read it I felt ill.

You see, I still have sadness about my miscarriage that occurred on Nov. 12 at 4pm.

When I read my own words about trusting the Lord with our family size back on March 19, 2007 I had not experienced the pain of losing a baby through miscarriage.

On March 19, 2007, I was naive about pregnancy loss and the pain that is involved. I was totally unaware that the Lord would have me go down this road.

When my husband and I decided to give that part of our lives over to Christ for Him to control we did not know what we were facing. But, God did.

Have I changed my mind about the decision we made? No, absolutely not.

In that post, I touched on being obsessed with getting pregnant back 10 years ago when we were trying to have a baby. I am having to fight off those urges now. I am having to force myself daily to leave all of it at the feet of Jesus.

I don't know how this journey will play out. I don't know if we will have another baby. I am learning to trust more and more. Trusting is hard. Pure and simple.

O, THE NEWS I COULD SHARE!

But I won't. Because it is not mine to share. Jen~~ she is busting at the seams!!

I will tell you when I get the okay from said person that I can share it. But, O, it be some exciting and joyful news!!

Gosh, I want to spill the beans! I am SO pumped about this! (You can tell I grew up in the 80's, right?)

Okay, okay I will get off the subject now because it is dangerous ground. Because I want to tell this special thing~but I can't~but I want to real bad~but I won't. Stay tuned!!!

I want to introduce a new blogger to the bloggy world realm (and yes, I did get permission to share this!!) My sweet, sweet SIL just started herself up a new blawg for all of us to enjoy!

She is over on my blogroll and hers is the longest title on there!!! (J/K Jessie, love ya!)

Her Blog is Lean Not Unto Thine Own Understanding

Go give her some bloggy love. Will ya?

Have a Fabulous Friday, ya'll!!!!!!

WHAT A TESTIMONY

If you have a few minutes, go here and listen to this father.

God bless him and his family.

I LOVE BUBBLEGUM!!!!!!!!!!!

When I pick up my youngest daughter from Tutorial she always has a HUGE wad of bubble gum in her mouth. When I say HUGE wad I am talking 3 pieces.

See, she gets to go into the prize box and pick any three things in there if she behaves herself in class.

She can hardly close her mouth and it is hilarious. She has this bright pink gum sticking out of her mouth and she is chewing for all she's worth. I say, "Abby, why do you have all that gum in your mouth?"

She says, "I luffff bubbbblgmmmm!!" Translated~I love bubblegum.

I have to remember to take my camera next week and get a picture of this sight.

IS THE CONTENDER READY????

I don't know about ya'll but I was LIVING for the day they brought back American Gladiators!!!

It just hasn't been right all these years to miss seeing an adult version of Double Dare.

Oh come on now, you know you use to watch that show!!

Well, if you are tired of re-runs and if you feel like you are going to be sick if you watch one more game show~~watch American Gladiators.

Or just turn your TV off~whatever:~)

BBBBBRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our heat has been running non stop for two days.

Thank God for it!!

We are running around with socks and long sleeves and an occasional blanket thrown over our shoulders or on our laps.

It was a bit hard to get out from under our covers this morning to go to church, but we did. We are glad we did! It was such a good service. If you want to hear it you can go here.

It should be uploaded in the next couple of days. In the mean time you could listen to the other sermons. They are good, too:~)

One thing that was taught today in Sunday School and church~~giving. In SS we read from II Cor. 8:1-10. These verses really spoke to me (3 )"For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own free will, (4) begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints (5) and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the sill of God to us.

I don't know about you but I seldom give beyond my means or beg to give. In fact, to be honest, I have a hard time giving if we need the money for other areas (bills, bills, bills) Mike and I have struggled with this issue on and off during our married life. We would do good about tithing for a while and then slack off.

It would be a cycle we would repeat many times. We decided last year to stop being hot and cold about it. We decided we needed to do it as an act of worship not because God "needed" our money and not because we were guilted into it by a sermon we heard. We decided it because God said we should do it.

Now, I would like to tell you that we have not had any money problems since we made that commitment. ABSOLUTELY NOT! In fact, it has been even harder! Why? Because the devil knows we have been weak in this area before. Not trusting God to meet our needs and not being faithful with what we have. It is a battle. Pure and simple.

What has happened though is a more intimate relationship with God because we have chosen to acknowledge what God has said is important in our walk with Him. We have sought His desires for our money and the way we handle it. We have given all that was His to begin with up to Him for Him to direct it's path.

I KNOW that everyone's walk with Christ is an intimate one and we all grow and develop differently~~just like children. We should seek His face in all our decisions and ask Him to direct our paths.

He is faithful. We are weak and He is strong.

UMMM, UMMM, GOOD!!!!!

I just got finished drinking two big ol' mugs of hot chocolate. I just could not get warm this afternoon. It is cold!!

I have been slack the last couple of days with the girls' schoolwork. Trevor pretty much knows what to do next in his subjects and unless he has a test or something he works independently. It makes me feel like a bad mom when I get like this.

I have to remind myself they will still learn and they do. We talk about stuff all day long that keeps them asking questions and in turn keeps them learning.

Shelby has done writing and Abby has done verbal math. So, I guess I should not be so hard on myself.

Mike is not sleeping very well this week and I get all bent out of shape about that. I KNOW he is tired and I KNOW that we get loud sometimes during the day. We have hardwood floors with no rugs so our footsteps are loud when we have shoes on. AND the girls have a bad habit of running down the hall. I have threatened life and limb if they do it, but every once in a while they forget and then I have to go through the whole, "NO RUNNING IN THE HALL!!!!!" in a VERY loud whisper.

It would be different, I think, if we had rugs and a two story house. We have neither:~)

Tomorrow is another workout with Isabeau. Gosh, I am dreading it!!! But, I have done lots of jumping jacks and jump rope so I am hoping I do a little better than last week. This week we will be a fitness center which will be a little better than laying on the extremely wet from melting FROST, hard, cold ground.

I'll let you know tomorrow~if I can still type or sit or stand or breath.

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH

Yesterday wasn't as hectic.

Trevor worked, Mike went to school, the girls and I did our "things" at home.

Trevor had bass lessons and then we ate soup and cheese toast at church. It was yummy and I didn't have to cook~woo hoo!

We received some sad news yesterday~our friend and former pastor, Brother Frank has been diagnosed with cancer. I have not talked to him or his wife yet but I will call later today.

We are praying for him and his family.

LET'S WATCH THE BIG GREEN GOOSE

I am going to let you in on a little secret. When you see a post title that doesn't make sense at all. It was probably something I heard one of my kids say during that day.

Most of the time I have a hard time coming up with a good title so this is a way I use to title my posts. Plus, it's funny to me~~and to you now~~hopefully~~~well, even if you don't think it is, I do.

Anyhoo~~ here is how we spent our day today:

-got up got ready drove Mike to school at 8:15am
-drove kids to Tutorial
-stopped to get gas cause it is cheaper up there than around our house
-talked to my SIL, Jessie, to wish her a belated birthday with was Sunday
-went to Panera Bread and could not resist an Asiago cheese bagel with reduced fat cream cheese ( I had to throw the reduced fat in there to make myself feel better)
-sat in Panera and did my daily scripture study
-went back to the church where kids have Tutorial and knitted til time to pick up the girls
-took Trev to Ms. B's used book store so he could look for guitar music books~found a punctuation Usborne book for 99 cent WOOO HOOOO
-ate lunch driving to the orthodontist's office
-stopped and got the girls and I a drink because we were choking to death on our sandwiches
-sat in the parking lot of the orthodontist for 25 min wanting for them to come back from lunch
-waited on Trev for one hour and fifteen minutes
-drove back to pick Mike up at 3:50pm exactly one hour and 20 minutes AFTER his last class ended becuse we had NO clue that the were replacing a bunch of Trev's brackets today
-got back home at 4:05

WHO SAYS HOMEMAKING IS EASY??????????????????

Whew! I am tired! Going to watch Biggest Loser. BYE

OH MY OH MY NO MORE PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, the workout with Isabeau this morning was CRAZY!!!!!!

1 FULL HOUR OF EXERCISE!!!! Painful, gasping for air, burning lungs, red faced exercise.

I haven't felt that bad since middle school P.E. where you HAD to run and do all that stuff.

I mean it, ya'll, it was hard. I know that I will have some sore muscles now because I have some now. It can only get worse!!

I have to say that it was invigorating, too!! It was cold out this morning but it got warm real quick.

I'll keep ya'll posted. I know you are sitting on the edge of your seats in anticipation!!

SORRY TO LEAVE YA'LL HANGIN'

I am so excited about this Biggest Loser stuff. Not only do we compete for money but Isabeau (the runner up from last season of Biggest Loser) will be our trainer for the duration of the contest!

I will be going to the work out with her tomorrow so I will let you know how it goes and if I like her or not:~)

We have been busy, busy, busy this week with all kinds of stuff and Mike went back to school Tuesday. His schedule is so crazy this semester that I had to write it on the memo board to keep it straight. I HAD to do that cause everyday this week I have asked him, "What is your schedule??" He was getting fed up with me asking him a dozen times a day:~)

We had our homeschool prayer group last night and it was such a good time. We started by writing down reasons why we homeschool. We shared our thoughts with each other and it was refreshing to hear people's reasons. When I leave our little group, I walk away feeling more determined to finish this course that we are on and finish strong.

I am reminded of II Corinthians 12:9- But He said to me,"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I feel very weak most of the time. When I think of teaching my kids I feel weak. Not up to the task. With my strength I am not but with God's strength and power I am more than able to accomplish the course set before me.

Have a great weekend, ya'll!!!!!

GETTING BACK ON TRACK

This is the third straight day of exercise for Mike and I. We are getting back on track after the holidays. We were hitting and missing our walk for about a month. Truthfully, more missing than hitting.

A neighborhood where a friend of mine lives is having a "Biggest Loser" contest. She invited me to participate with her and we start that next week. I am looking forward to getting back to my routine and having more energy.

I'll let ya'll know how things go during the contest.

UNO!!! NO SPEAKING SPANISH 'ROUND HERE!!!!

Mike, Trev, and I played a mean game of Uno here last night and when I say we played a mean game~~I mean, a mean game.

We are not one of those families that let each other win just to be nice. No!!! We play to whoop some butt!!

We had a blast trying to beat the pants off each other.

Mike had gotten out the old video camera and put it on the tripod because the girls wanted to make a movie so they were pretending like they were filming us.

Abby was taking her turn behind the camera when I got to my last card and yelled "Uno!" She looked around the camera and said, "We are not speaking Spanish in this movie!!"

I wonder where she gets such wit!! Hmmmmmmmm

RECOVERING FROM THE PARTIES!

Here is the sight I just came across! Our two girls, their Daddy, and Miss Kitty all curled up on the couch snoozing away!!

The flash on the camera makes the room look bright but it really isn't. The only light in the room is the TV. They are wiped out from our partying. We went to a New Year's Eve get together last night and they did not go to bed til 2 am.

Then, we went to a New Year's Day get together at 11:30 today. We didn't get home til almost 5. They really earned a nap!!!

My sweet Michael has to go to work tonight so he really, really needs the rest. He loves it when the girls curl up next to him. He calls Abby his little "pea pod" because she gets all warm and toasty when she lays up next to you and goes to sleep.

We had a wonderful time at both parties!! Last night, the guys played Mexican Train with dominios and the women played Phase 10. We laughed our heads off.

We ate authentic tamales and guacamole til we thought we were gonna puke. They were delicious!!!!!

Today, we ate tons of good food!! We all felt like we were going to explode and then they brought out the fondue pots!! Oh! sweet! chocolate! glory!!!!!! They had bananas, strawberries, Oreos, pretzels, marshmallows, cream puff, Nutter Butters, chocolate chip cookies, rice krispy treats to dip into blessedly delicious chocolate.

Let me just say that a cream puff dipped in chocolate is about the best thing there is!!!! It is so yummy!

It was nice to spend ringing in the new year with friends and enjoying each other's company.

I have been thinking about 2007 and what has transpired since I started this blog. I have been looking over things I wrote last January and it has been funny in a way. We have had a trying year. It has been happy, sad, exasperating, challenging, etc. I know that God stretches us and shapes us through our experiences.

I know the main experience He used this year is the miscarriage. I have struggled to make sense of it where there is none. I have questioned why and received a response I knew deep down all along.

God has been faithful through this year.
When I thought He wasn't there, He was there.
When I thought He didn't care, He cared.
When I thought I wasn't going to make it through, He held me close.
When I thought I was alone, He whispered, "I am here."
When I didn't think I was ever going to get any help, He gave a series of messages to my pastor and I believe they were just for me.
When I needed a loving hand to hold and a shoulder to cry on, He showed me my precious husband.

I know that through it all God's plan will prevail. I don't have to know the whys and the hows because He does and I can trust in Him.

I am excited to see what will happen in 2008 and what He has in store.

He is God and He, alone, is worthy to be praised!!

Happy 2008