the hunk

i love to show my husband respect through praising him.  he's great, so it's not like i have to pull hairs trying to think of things to praise him for.  here's a small list of things i love about him:

• he's a hunk.
• he's great with junk.
• he can make anything he wants to work.  and work perfectly.
• he's amazingly brilliant.
• he's so thoughtful in ways you wouldn't guess.
• he's a fabulous father without gripes.
• he's so supportive
• he's comfy.
• he's kind . 
• he's giving.
• he's the best mechanic in the whole world.
• he's athletic.
• he likes me.
• he puts up with me.
• he likes the kids.
• he puts up with them too.
• he's passionate.
• he loves his mom.
• he loves his family.
• he's hot!

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

gratituesday - new life

i have been inspired to do a theme on tuesdays.  through raising homemaker's link-up that is posted every wednesday, i found a blog that was thinking along the same lines as i was last week.  we both posted on blessings.  when i jaunted over to her blog, i really liked the post (link above "a blog") and she explained that EVERY tuesday she does a post on gratitude, or things to be thankful for.  what a great idea, as my post on blessings stated that thinking of the positive turns your thought process up to Him and helps you find joy.
so, along with a few others... i am going to start a gratituesday posting each tuesday.  this week i chose "new life" as my theme.

• with the celebration of easter just a few days ago, it's fresh in my mind what a blessing new life is.  in my case, the new life is the promise of ETERNAL LIFE.  that promise is the biggest blessing ever!!!
• since we're experiencing some of the beautiful benefits of spring, i am always so thankful for the new life we see at this time of year.  i'm thinking of:  

budding trees,

and blossoms coloring up the scenery,

GREEN grass making an appearance again (with a little added color),

more tree blossoms,

and MORE tree blossoms,

tulips, daffodils, and a few other early spring flowers...
(we don't have any tulips or daffodils at our house. 
we do, however have these when my husband
gets a $10 tip and brings them home for me! 
;)  'cause he loves me!!!)
• there are lots of spring babies in the wilderness, not that i witness much of that in our home... but i know it's out there.  calves, goslings, fillies, ducklings, piglets, kids, lambs, chicks, bunnies, fawns, kittens and puppies too! etc.  it just makes me smile typing all those sweet baby names, picturing each one individually as i think. 

• blue skies and sunshine gives us a new type of life that we've been yearning for for the past few months.

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

my tangley

i have a sweet little three-year-old girl.  she LOVES skirts!  she LOVES headbands!  she LOVES horses!  she LOVES sparkles!  she LOVES lip gloss!  she LOVES gum!  she LOVES Jesus!  and recently she's begun to LOVE brushing hair!  hers, mine, dolls, her horses... 

the hair brushing started after about a dozen views of the movie, "tangled".  if you haven't seen tangled and you have littles, i recommend it.  i don't like kids movies, especially animated ones, but i really liked this one!  it's the "new" story of rapunzel.  boo likes to pretend she's rapunzel. 

it helps that she has the most gorgeous, long, beautiful hair...  last night her and aleemay pulled their shawls down and hung them from their head with headbands pretending that their hair was long, like rapunzel's.  this morning they've been walking around with the shawl's fringe hanging over their foreheads and the long train following them like pink and brown tresses.  :) 

oh the joy of girls!
boo also LOVES to watch me in the kitchen.  she will sit and watch me make anything.  she'll sit and watch me clean.  she LOVES me!  i think it won't be long before she's an efficient little cooker if she's taking in everything she's watching...  i love me a boo.

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

my little peanut

my little guy, starboy, went to bed early the other night.  he was being SUCH a groucho.  he's not like that often, so i knew something was wrong.  after feeding him well (that's usually when he gets grumpy) and making sure he had a clean, fresh diaper on, i put him in bed.  he usually lies right down without tears or cries, but he even fussed a bit in bed.  i thought he must be cutting teeth.  he's definitely hurting, so i gave him a dose of ibuprofen to ease his pain. 
he's signing a lot these days.  it seems every day he learns a new sign and/or verbalizes a new word that i can understand.  he's yearning to communicate much better than some of my other littles did at his age.  this is great and i love to watch him learn too.  but anyway, that night, we weren't communicating well. 

the next morning, he woke up just as cranky.  he wasn't even poopy, so i just decided to sit him in the bath.  he always loves the bathtub, even if he's hungry.  so, even before breakfast, i ran a bath and set him in it.  it hardly did anything for his grumps!  i noticed a bit of a runny messy nose when i was getting him ready for the bath and when i put him in the water i tried to do a quick wipe up of the snot.  he doesn't mind me wiping his nose, but he doesn't love me to do it with a wet hand.  however, since he had just woken up, it was a little crusty and water helps!  anyway, he swatted me away. 

... weird ... but, he was grouchy, so i just let him sit in the bath for a little. 
he didn't settle down.  so i came to check on him.  he's so cute, sitting there just pouting away.  naughty, but cute.  even "cuter" was the snot that was smeared on the side of his nose onto his cheek.  i knew he was already mad for the first water-wipe so i was quick to get my hand wet and pinch his nose to get it all this time.  as i pinched his nose, i felt a big pressure release and come popping out.  i couldn't believe it.  that's never happened.  i looked into the bathtub where the snot rocket had shot, and saw a peanut floating! 
he looked up at me and then laid down into the water.  i gave him his water bottle and he smiled and said, "tank chew!"  no more grumps.  no more groucho. 

a peanut.  hmph. 
kids...

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

blessings

if you're having a down day, think of all the blessings around you.  being thankful can turn your heart from pessimism to optimism.  here are just a tiny short list of blessings i have been given:

• a home
• Bibles in our posession
• kiddos.  every single one of them!
• no leaks in our roof
• a vehicle that runs
• gas for said vehicle
• a husband who's employed
• food
• warmth in the winter and cool air in the summer
• good health
• healthcare for when our health is not so good.  a great pediatritian.  an awsome OB/GYN
• knowledge
• sewer
• trash system that pays to recycle!
• a loving husband
• a strong husband
• a romantical husband
• a respecting husband
• a handsom husband
• a handy husband
• all of those husband-traits and i only have one husband!
• five wonderful kids
• computers and internet access
• phones and service for them
• clean(ish) [well totally clean comparing to other places] water out of the tap
• a Savior that loves me so much He DIED for me
• eternal life through faith.  just faith.  that's all.  just faith. 
• a body that was created in His image
• the perfect dog
• great family.  extended family.  close and far family.  they're all great!
• wonderful friends.  all three of 'em!  :)  j/k
• a HILARIOUS sense of humor

...this has been a post in the making for about a whole month.  it might as well be published for all to see while being a work in progress! 
there are so many blessings in our life, that it's so absolutely ridiculous to get caught up on the little things and let them carry us down.  satan is a stinker and i don't like him!  look to the Truth when you're feeling anything but good.  let Him tell you what He thinks of you.  gaze your eyes upward and see how good He is! 
the Bible instructs us to think on what is true and what is good (Phil. 4: 8).  Jesus is the truth (John 14:6).  and the Lord is good (numerous Bible verses, like Ps 100:5)!

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

another 3-weeker

since we're living with one vehicle to share between the seven of us (ha!  i'm so funny.  yes, only two of us drive.) i am making these menus stretch out to last longer.  it's working too.  that last one lasted 3 weeks and so did the one before that!  and i like it.  it makes me dread making it and grocery shopping though. 
this week, i was short on time, so i purposely just made a 1-2 weeker.  it has seven items on it, and i think that should last at least a week and a half.  also, because of lack of time, i also don't have any new dishes.  but that's ok.  i like everything on this menu.  anyway, enough jibber jabber... let's get to this menu. 

• grilled kabobs (pre-made from the store) with rice and grilled asparagus
• chicken yum-yum (recipe is at the end of the post on that link) with salad --we had this last night and i ate my yum-yum over my salad like a taco salad.  the kids either ate it plain, or rolled up in a tortilla. i served it with salsa, sour cream, and olives.
• meatloaf with baked potatoes and granny green beans
• spaghetti
• tortilla soup (i think i could eat this every night!  i LOVE it!!!)
• stuffed peppers with garlic toast and macaroni and cheese
• french dip sandwiches (new recipe) with steamed broccoli

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

God is GREAT

i started a prayer journal with all my new ambitions with prayer.  it has been so amazing to see with my own blue eyes answered prayer.  today i was even able to witness a full blown miracle happen in my prayer journal.  God is good.  ALL THE TIME!  He still makes miracles happen. 

from A.W. Tozer:  Omnipotence is not a name given to the sum of all power, but an attribute of a personal God whom we Christians believe to be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and of all who believe on Him to life eternal.  The worshiping man finds this knowledge a source of wonderful strength for his inner life.  His faith rises to take the great leap upward into the fellowship of Him who can do whatever He wills to do, for whom nothing is hard or difficult because He possesses power absolute.  Since He has at His command all the power of the universe, the Lord God omnipotent can do anything as easily as anything else.  All His acts are done without effort.  He expends no energy that must be replenished.  His self-sufficiency makes it unnecessary for Him to look outside of Himself for a renewal of strength.  All the power required to do all that He wills to do lies in undiminished fullness in His own infinite being.  (Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, 73)

how awesome is that?!  how awesome is MY GOD!  God IS good.  ALL THE TIME!

here's another nice one.  this time from Isaac Watts:  When we consider his nature, we stand afar off from him as creatures from a God, for he is infinitely superior to us.  When we speak of his attributes a great acquaintance seems to grow between God and us, while we tell him that we have learned something of his power, his wisdom, his justice and his mercy.  But when we proceed to mention the many works of his hands, by which he has tangibly revealed himself to our understanding, we seem to approach yet nearer to God.  (Watts, A Guide to Prayer, 13)

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

land

today otter pop took me and the kids to look at some land and a home up northeast of us.  his mom is getting a little tired of "city life" and is looking for some space to stretch out on.  she's getting up in her years and thought she'd rather be paying on a place she knew she could retire on, rather than a place she'd want to get away from when she retires. 
we love to go for drives, so it was nice.  it's about 45min-1hr. away from where we live.  it made me sad to think she'll be even a little bit away from us.  it's so nice right now because she's always willing to take the kiddos for a weekend so that they can have some good quality time and it gives me some nice quality time with myself.  she's a great grandma in that respect.  she takes ALL 5 kids for overnighters!!!  it's quite amazing.  i hardly ever hear complaints [from either party] when she returns them too. 
so anyway, now the pluses.  the land was GORGEOUS!!!  the drive was BEAUTIFUL!  the house looked amazing!  it was cute and cozy, but still looked spacious and up kept. 
we don't know if it's in the future for her, but it was fun to look.  if you'll all start to pray about it with us, maybe it'll help with her decision.  we, of course, want the Lord's will for her.
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

ladies night

i'm 29 years old.  in my 29 years, i have NEVER had a "ladies night" like most people think of ladies night.  well, i take that back.  in high school as we were nearing graduation, one of the girls in my class invited all of us other girls over for a slumber party "girls night out".  it was wild.  it was fun.  but other than that one (since i've been grown up), i've never done the girls night out/ladies night fling.  yeah, i'm serious!
last night my mom and sister drove up and picked me up.  we went to a hotel and started my first ladies night out.  my mommy rented a residential suite at an inn that was right across from the mall.  we had a GREAT time!
here's what we did:

1. checked into the hotel at about 8ish pm.
2. popped in a work out video of jillian michaels and worked out for an hour.

3. went down to the pool. 


4. did some toe nails. 
5. talked a bit.
6. went to bed/sleep




7. woke up and had facials 

8. went to a leadership breakfast at my church where everyone could tell that my sister and i were sisters!  (we're sure it's because we both had our hair in braids because we really don't look like twins or anything!!!) 
9. met some new friends.  hi "dick & arlene"!
10. went shopping!!!  (grocery shopping of course)
11. came back to the hotel.

12. soaked in the hot tub. 
13. made lunch because our awesome room had a cute little kitchen equipped with stove and everything!
14. made some goals and decided we were gonna do this again (soon)!




15. had a little surprise fun.  i pulled out some silling string on them!  they screamed like girls and locked themselves in the bathroom.  then my little sister remembered that she's not so little anymore and overpowered me.  she then surprised me!!!




16. went ice skating. 
17. came home. 

it was A-MAZE-ING!!!  'MAZING i tell ya!  no wonder ladies do this all the time...  what fun.  we had good, clean, healthy fellowship and good, clean, healthy fun.  it was great!  it really was.  it was GREAT!

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

march 2011 happenings

• i continued my fourth day group on prayer. 
• i stopped going to my support group meeting that was once/week.
• instead we started a new routine on saturdays that i am l.o.v.ing.  it goes like this: everyone work hard and get all the chores done well but quick.  then do *nothing* for the rest of the day.  i've been doing a lot of reading and the kids are watching lots of movies [of course].  i've also spent some time on the sewing machine.  saturday evenings sometimes end with a date with the hubs.  that's fun.
• i had another GREAT keepers of the home study finishing off the discussion of intimacy.
• we had a great day of photos (see this post if you missed it)
• the girls had a fun week at school the second week.  it was kinda like a spirit week.  crazy socks day, hat day, scarf day, and their school colors day.  fun?  aaaa... it was alright.
• i continued babysitting my one little extra guy monday through wednesday 9-4.  what a great job! 
• otter pop's aunt came up to visit.  she stayed with otter's mom, but we got to see her a few times and it was super great.  she's a wonderful lady! 
• the boys got their much needed spring haircuts.

• adejay wrote an AWESOME essay on a character in history between soandso and soandso.  she chose ruth (as in ruth from the BIBLE) and man was i proud.  it was a great paper too, did i mention?! 


• adejay did a presentation on that same character.  she had to dress up and "memorize" the information she learned.  all the kids did and they had a little colorful sticker placed on their shoulder.  the visitors of the "wax museum" [us] went around the museum [auditorium] and pushed the wax statue's buttons [stickers] and they [the students] would come alive and tell us their story and then freeze back into a wax statue pose.  it was cute.  it was informative too.

• we sold our justy(s).  -that was sad-  and our little pick-up. 

• the girls had their school class pictures.  those will be fun to see. 
• starboy learned how to somersault.  he's so adorable!
• we finished off the month with a GREAT spring break.  i miss those girls!  it was so great to get to have us all home for a whole week.  it made me miss homeschooling.  :(  here are some fun things we did during the week:  made and baked cookies. made and baked rolls and cinnamon rolls.  learned about the fruits of the spirit.  crocheted.  sewed some more (made a blanket).
• also had one 'nother extra that last week to babysit.  that was nice.  he's a sweet babe just 10 days older than starboy.  

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."