Since 2007, our family has been on a natural, organic and healthy food quest. Over the past few years we have done this successfully for a while and have fallen off the bandwagon many times. I gotta say, it was much easier to do this with only 4 mouths to feed. Unfortunately, no matter whether we have 3 mouths to feed or 5, its something that I believe in and we must just do it! We will cut back in other areas, but I strongly believe that my children need to eat "real food" with "real ingredients".
Part of eating real food on a tight food budget means that you are no longer to buy convenience foods. Whether its organic or natural or not, it costs a WHOLE lot more than the national brands AND a whole WHOLE LOT more than making it from scratch! The promise is that this takes TIME! I don't always have time or the desire to bake at all hours of the day every week! I am getting better...... but it does get old! ;o)
At the end of last summer we began to explore the options of becoming a "farmer buying family". What that means for our family is that we began to research what can we afford to buy locally? So, it took a while for us to convince each other that this was financially worth it and we made the plunge, a year later, and began buying local, non homogenized, grass eating cow's milk. This was a HUGE step because we went from paying grocery store prices for regular whole milk to buying "specialty" milk. The cost is quite a bit before AND it does take effort. Hubbie goes and picks it up for us every week. Its not as convenient as driving to the store to pick it up!! But the milk is good and its a great feeling to be able to give our children this gift of milk without anything added or taken away or from unhealthy cows.
A few weeks ago when Hubbie went to pick up our milk, he noticed a lady sell fresh eggs! He texted me and asked if I was interested! We definitely were but most of the co-ops around the area were charging $4 a dozen. That was too steep for me to pay....especially since one breakfast of eggs or omelets usually used 7 eggs! So, when he said that the lady only charged $2 for a dozen, we jumped on it! The eggs are delicious! So much different than store bought eggs! And the eggs have a shelf date of 45 days!?! Crazy!!! Also, TMI, I'm sure, but usually when we eat eggs, they tend to upset my stomach in different ways! Eating the fresh eggs, no effects!!! There is definitely something to eating fresh!
Earlier this year we bought a deep freeze. This was in hopes of eventually stocking up on "farmer" (who live outside, eat grass and bugs, no hormones,etc) chickens and cow. We are in search of someone to buy a half of a cow with us. Just last night I purchases a share in a chicken co-op. Once a month we'll go and pick up 4 whole frozen chickens from a local farmer. The cost is substantially higher to what I was paying for Tyson boneless skinless chicken breasts at Kroger (.99lb to 1.99lb) but I was out of chicken and I couldn't STAND to feed my children the other meat. We will boil these chickens, get off all the meat and I think I'll freeze it to be used in casseroles and salads. I'm afraid that if I leave it as a whole bird in my freezer that it'll never get used because of the work that it takes on the day that I need to use it, so I need to make this chicken easy and accessible.
Another step that we've taken over this past summer was to no longer buy "kid friendly yogurt". What that means for us is that we no longer bought the character yogurt. It didn't matter which kind we bought and whether it was a national brand or the grocery store brand, the yogurt just wasn't real yogurt. It was loaded with TONS of sugar and no little to no nutritional value. I was spending TONS of money a month on yogurt and it wasn't doing a bit of good for my children, so we quit that quickly! I began buying tubs of Stoneyfield yogurt. This has been wonderful because I was already buying it for Buggy when we made the switch to it for the bigger boys. It has taken them some time to stop asking for the other yogurt. We don't even walk past that part of Publix anymore. We go straight to the organic/natural section when we need yogurt and they've stopped asking about the other kind.
We are also trying to find alternatives for foods that we "must" have. Things such as deli meat. I had started buying the Hormel lunch meat about a year ago. If the package says caramel coloring on the outside of the lunch package, I do not buy it! And all the others did....so we made that switch a while ago. Unfortunately, after doing more research, the Hormel isn't the best stuff either.....so we'll be making another change this month. I read an article on a blog a few months ago (I wish I knew which one, but I Google search "eating organically and naturally on a budget and lots of wonder helps are found) that buying lunch meat from the deli's counter at your grocery store is actually a cheap and good way to eliminate "bad ingredients" in your deli meat.
I would love to make the switch for cheese, but it just is NOT financially possible. We eat too much cheese every week. I did start buying cheddar cheese to cut instead of cheese slices. The Kraft cheese slices aren't REAL cheese and I can't stand to think about my children ingesting that wiggly piece of cheese like substance. Of course, the kids want to gobble it up SO much quicker than the cheese slices so I have to limit the amount of cheese they eat some days!!!
Another thing that we've begun to do is make green smoothies. I think I've intended to write about our green smoothies for a while. Towards the middle of summer I began to do research on eating good foods. I wanted to get some good vitamins in my kiddos body and didn't know how to do it. My kids don't eat the greatest....well, my OLDEST doesn't eat the greatest. I can get my younger kiddos to eat lots of veggies and fruits. My oldest has to be forced or bribed to eat just about ANY fruit or ANY veggies. So, we began to search out green smoothies. I found this recipe and it is quite good! You really do not taste the spinach. If you did, I wouldn't serve it to my kids, because it would be a waste!!! I do buy organic spinach because spinach is on the "Dirty Dozen" list. We were making these for breakfasts for a few months. Here lately I've begun making these for snacks after nap. It eliminates their munchies and hopefully don't spoil their dinner.
We have a long way to go....but simple things such as making cakes and cookies and breads from scratch, we have begun. We really never bought mixes or meal boxes before, but I do buy boxes of Annie's mac and cheese. I don't mind giving the kids that mac and cheese. We also stopped buying the kids spaghettio's or soups with characters and I have only bought the kids Annie's canned spaghettio's for the kids.
I mentioned the Dirty Dozen list. We can afford to buy all those items organic every month. We just can't....so we wash as best we can and pray for the rest! If you read over that list, its amazing how many of those "most contaminated" list we DO eat A LOT of....and out of the "not so bad" we don't eat that much out of that list...not on a regular basis. Except for bananas and broccoli (which we buy frozen). Not so good....so, we have made little steps and hopefully we can continue to make small steps in the right direction.
Its kinda funny how Bubbie is picking up on our changes..... one day when we passed McDonalds, the kids asked if we could go. I'll be honest here, Hubbie and I really tried to avoid "The Golden Arches" before watching Food Inc, but after seeing that leftover parts of chicken are cut up, soaked in AMMONIA and then sent to meat packaging plants ALL OVER the U.S. as a meat filler (GROSS) and then researching more into what was REALLY in those chicken nuggets, I made an executive decision... No more McDonalds! When Bubbie asked why, I told him about some of the stuff that I had learned about foods. Once we got home, I showed him the taping of Jamie Oliver's show and how he had made chicken nuggets look good no matter what was in them. Bubbie was disgusted. Now he is convinced that only the chicken nuggets at McDonalds is bad! ;o) Its funny how he digests what we talk to him about and how it comes out... its usually MUCH different!
Eating out is something that Hubbie and I strive to do less of. We will do good for a while and then fall off the bandwagon. Slowly we have eliminated certain places because of food that is served or the cost for the quality of food. Chick -fil- A is a place that Hubbie and I are confident about eating at. We use to work there and know what is served and how it came into the restaurant. Another place that we've found kid friendly and Momma approved meals at is Publix. They have begun to offer kids meals in their deli. The items in the meals have natural products in them such as Stoneyfield yogurt, organic cheese sticks, etc. I feel safe knowing that the kids are eating good food. We do pay a tiny bit more than you would at McDonalds for a happy meal, BUT I feel like its worth it and similar to what I would feed them at home.
I tell Hubbie all the time that I wish I could walk into a grocery store, with my list, buy anything we needed/wanted and be done. Not having to worry about cost or choosing between real food or something similar loaded with crap or covered in yucky stuff. I can dream. One day I want our family to live off our land as much as possible, buy local and not have the need to enter a grocery store very much..... I guess I can keep dreaming....
9/27/10
Versatile Blogger Award Given To Me!!!
My in real life MOPS and blogging friend, Jenny, gave me the Versatile Blogger award and I am honored!!! If you are into fashion, you must go read her blog!!! One day I will hire Jenny to dress me and my short and disproportioned body!
OK, so, part of receiving the award is to also list 7 random facts about myself and then I must pass on the award to some blogging friends!
Here is my random list:
1. I have changed my career ideas only a million times.... from a teacher, to a lawyer, to a nurse, to a politician, to an u/s technician....thankfully the only things that never changed were to be a wife and a mother! And I've achieved those! One of these days I'll figure the career part out!
2. I use to never leave the house without makeup. It was BIG DEAL. Growing up, I always had MAKEUP on and jewelry on! ALL THE TIME. Around the time that I became pregnant with Buggy, I slowly began to "not care". I probably look like a typical "mom" nowadays, but sometimes I just forget or don't have time! Oh well.... if you see me now, with the 3 kids in tow, what you see is what you get, this is LIFE and its bitten my bee-hind!
3. The hardest part about homeschooling ISN'T the schooling. For me, its been the change in pace (much slower) and breaking into the "homeschooling" world. Different friends, groups, activities, etc. I feel like I'm starting this Mommy journey all over again.
4. I don't enjoy being outside. I never really have. Its hard for me to "push" my kids outdoors, because I'd rather stay inside. Fall is the only time I am eager to get outdoors!
5. When I was a teenager/young adult, I use to pray that I wouldn't have a daughter! Funny prayer, I know, but my Mom and I weren't best friends while I was a pre-teen and teen and I really didn't want a "bad relationship" with my daughter. Once I turned 17 or 18, my Mom and I were able to connect and have a friendship.
6. I LOVE to decorate! I mostly copycat things I see in magazines, books or on blogs. Of course, it doesn't always turn out the way I want because I have limited funds.
7. Baby no 3 has made me lazy! I use to NEVER just SIT.... now, I can't get motivated about anything extra! HAHA! Like cooking and baking or sewing! If I have free time away from the kids, I just want to veg out! Not good!
Well, there it is....most of those things, friends and family probably already know, but oh well. This was hard!
OK, so, part of receiving the award is to also list 7 random facts about myself and then I must pass on the award to some blogging friends!
Here is my random list:
1. I have changed my career ideas only a million times.... from a teacher, to a lawyer, to a nurse, to a politician, to an u/s technician....thankfully the only things that never changed were to be a wife and a mother! And I've achieved those! One of these days I'll figure the career part out!
2. I use to never leave the house without makeup. It was BIG DEAL. Growing up, I always had MAKEUP on and jewelry on! ALL THE TIME. Around the time that I became pregnant with Buggy, I slowly began to "not care". I probably look like a typical "mom" nowadays, but sometimes I just forget or don't have time! Oh well.... if you see me now, with the 3 kids in tow, what you see is what you get, this is LIFE and its bitten my bee-hind!
3. The hardest part about homeschooling ISN'T the schooling. For me, its been the change in pace (much slower) and breaking into the "homeschooling" world. Different friends, groups, activities, etc. I feel like I'm starting this Mommy journey all over again.
4. I don't enjoy being outside. I never really have. Its hard for me to "push" my kids outdoors, because I'd rather stay inside. Fall is the only time I am eager to get outdoors!
5. When I was a teenager/young adult, I use to pray that I wouldn't have a daughter! Funny prayer, I know, but my Mom and I weren't best friends while I was a pre-teen and teen and I really didn't want a "bad relationship" with my daughter. Once I turned 17 or 18, my Mom and I were able to connect and have a friendship.
6. I LOVE to decorate! I mostly copycat things I see in magazines, books or on blogs. Of course, it doesn't always turn out the way I want because I have limited funds.
7. Baby no 3 has made me lazy! I use to NEVER just SIT.... now, I can't get motivated about anything extra! HAHA! Like cooking and baking or sewing! If I have free time away from the kids, I just want to veg out! Not good!
Well, there it is....most of those things, friends and family probably already know, but oh well. This was hard!
Now I have to give the award away. I don't really following and read as many blogs as I once did, so I'll tag the gals who write the blogs that I actually DO keep up with!
9/26/10
Dave Ramsey Giveaway
Hey bloggers! Guess what? We're having a giveaway over at the Hyperactive Lu Facebook page! This contest is open to those who have Facebook and don't.
My long time readers and family will know that Financial Peace University and Dave Ramsey have a special place in our hearts. Because of the help that we love to give back. Almost 5 years ago, my parents signed us up for FPU when we were at the lowest spot of our marriage- with each other, financially and spiritually.
Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University is a 13 week study that you attend at a local church or place in your community. During the class you have a chance to connect with other attenders, answer some questions and watch a DVD of Dave Ramsey going through the financial steps that he believes will help you achieve financial freedom.
The lessons that we learned in FPU are very straight forward and common sense. Nothing gimmicky here, but the steps that you follow "in the program" have helped us. It gave us direction, some knowledge that if we had heard it before, seemed to "click" this time.
By following the FPU program, we were able to save up $1000 in our emergency fund, go from 2 incomes down to 1, pay off $50,000 PLUS two babies medical bills during birth, etc (our insurance is NOT that great!) and are now on our way to adding 3 mos of living expenses to our emergency fund!
If you DO have Facebook, go "like" us! If you don't have Facebook, comment here on the blog that youdo not waste your time are not on Facebook and would still like to enter!
The more people you suggest to the Facebook page, the more entries you have. Just make sure to write on the Facebook wall how many people that you suggested ended up "liking" the page. If you don't use Facebook, then suggest this giveaway to friends, family, anyone who might be interested and once they've entered (by commented or going on to Facebook) leave a comment and let me know!
Thats it! Easy as pie! We'll leave the contest up and running for 2 weeks! That means on October 10th we'll choose a winner using random.org!
We really do wish we could give everyone a free course to FPU. We try to do these giveaways as often as we can afford. And as always, if you do happen to win or go to an FPU, pass it on. Give it to someone else that you know is having a rough time or to a young couple just starting off. What a blessing this would have been for our marriage if we had taken this BEFORE we got married! It would have saved us from countless mistakes during our first few years of marriage.
Good luck to all!
My long time readers and family will know that Financial Peace University and Dave Ramsey have a special place in our hearts. Because of the help that we love to give back. Almost 5 years ago, my parents signed us up for FPU when we were at the lowest spot of our marriage- with each other, financially and spiritually.
Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University is a 13 week study that you attend at a local church or place in your community. During the class you have a chance to connect with other attenders, answer some questions and watch a DVD of Dave Ramsey going through the financial steps that he believes will help you achieve financial freedom.
The lessons that we learned in FPU are very straight forward and common sense. Nothing gimmicky here, but the steps that you follow "in the program" have helped us. It gave us direction, some knowledge that if we had heard it before, seemed to "click" this time.
By following the FPU program, we were able to save up $1000 in our emergency fund, go from 2 incomes down to 1, pay off $50,000 PLUS two babies medical bills during birth, etc (our insurance is NOT that great!) and are now on our way to adding 3 mos of living expenses to our emergency fund!
Becoming debt free, to me, is one of the best things you can do for your children and marriage. Its amazing to think about the arguments we USE to have about money or maybe DIDN'T have about money. Now, that we're on the same page mentally about our financial future and goals, we just fall in snyc with one another. Sure, we both love to SPEND money, but when you have a goal and that goal will help you get places, it maybe saying No to each other a little easier!!!
OK, so here's the giveaway, we will be giving away a Financial Peace course in celebration of our 100 fans at the Facebook page. It works wonderfully that it also coincides with our getting out of debt!
If you DO have Facebook, go "like" us! If you don't have Facebook, comment here on the blog that you
The more people you suggest to the Facebook page, the more entries you have. Just make sure to write on the Facebook wall how many people that you suggested ended up "liking" the page. If you don't use Facebook, then suggest this giveaway to friends, family, anyone who might be interested and once they've entered (by commented or going on to Facebook) leave a comment and let me know!
Thats it! Easy as pie! We'll leave the contest up and running for 2 weeks! That means on October 10th we'll choose a winner using random.org!
We really do wish we could give everyone a free course to FPU. We try to do these giveaways as often as we can afford. And as always, if you do happen to win or go to an FPU, pass it on. Give it to someone else that you know is having a rough time or to a young couple just starting off. What a blessing this would have been for our marriage if we had taken this BEFORE we got married! It would have saved us from countless mistakes during our first few years of marriage.
Good luck to all!
9/23/10
Hush Hush
There has been something on my mind and on my heart every single day for the last few months. Its something that weighs on us and has been a huge stresser. It almost makes me sick to even blog about..... don't worry..... its nothing AWFUL..... but the "unknowing" things of life just gets me down sometimes and I just wish- this once- life could just go smoothly and perfectly and we'd have a happy ending! But in true Lu style, nothing comes easy for us, especially at the end of a difficult road.
The difficult road I am blogging about it is the road paved with debt. The path towards being debt free is blogged about a lot, but here lately, I haven't wanted to even TALK about. I was almost so paranoid that I was afraid that if I wished for a happy outcome, something horrible would happen to someone and our goal just wouldn't be completed. I know it sounds silly and it sounds even sillier that I'm actually admitting to it. But I think when you eat, sleep and breathe the "being debt free" dream, its all you focus on. I even asked Hubbie one night if he felt like our lives had somehow stopped during this almost 5 year process. Of course, he reassured me that it didn't, but I do feel like in a way, if you're doing it the Dave Ramsey way, your "life" does stop and all you're focused on is that debt snowball...... What are you gonna pay off next? How are we gonna pay these "daily bills" and still afford to continue plugging away towards debt free-ness. Now, I do have to be truthful here. We weren't gung-ho 24/7. We did take a few mini trips here and there, but it was always planned and saved for over a long period of time. We still continued to pay off things in the process.... just not as quickly if we had used that money towards the debt. We always did the trips or excursions as cheaply as possible and I don't think, even for a few days at the beach last summer, did we ever spend more than $300 for anything. It just wasn't in the budget. We also decided that it was best for me to be in the home instead of working full time, which definitely delayed our paying off process.
Y'all might remember me griping about Hubbie working a contract job at the beginning of the summer. The job that was suppose to take a week or two MAX ended up taking 6-8 weeks to complete. Our lives stopped and I did all I could to hang on to my sanity while taking care of 3 kids all.day.long. Hubbie woke up, ate, went to work, came home, ate, got the kids ready for bed, worked, ran and slept. That was our life for weeks and it was hard.... BUT looking back I do see the hand of God. This "simple" job was offered to my husband and a friend and the friend decided he didn't have enough time to devote to it. 1. Hand of God Also, this simple task should have just been a drop in the bucket and not the amount that it ended up being. 2. Hand of God We anticipated that this would be a drop in the bucket but that we would be at least a few more months away from paying off the remainder of our debt. 3. Hand of God
The difficult road I am blogging about it is the road paved with debt. The path towards being debt free is blogged about a lot, but here lately, I haven't wanted to even TALK about. I was almost so paranoid that I was afraid that if I wished for a happy outcome, something horrible would happen to someone and our goal just wouldn't be completed. I know it sounds silly and it sounds even sillier that I'm actually admitting to it. But I think when you eat, sleep and breathe the "being debt free" dream, its all you focus on. I even asked Hubbie one night if he felt like our lives had somehow stopped during this almost 5 year process. Of course, he reassured me that it didn't, but I do feel like in a way, if you're doing it the Dave Ramsey way, your "life" does stop and all you're focused on is that debt snowball...... What are you gonna pay off next? How are we gonna pay these "daily bills" and still afford to continue plugging away towards debt free-ness. Now, I do have to be truthful here. We weren't gung-ho 24/7. We did take a few mini trips here and there, but it was always planned and saved for over a long period of time. We still continued to pay off things in the process.... just not as quickly if we had used that money towards the debt. We always did the trips or excursions as cheaply as possible and I don't think, even for a few days at the beach last summer, did we ever spend more than $300 for anything. It just wasn't in the budget. We also decided that it was best for me to be in the home instead of working full time, which definitely delayed our paying off process.
Y'all might remember me griping about Hubbie working a contract job at the beginning of the summer. The job that was suppose to take a week or two MAX ended up taking 6-8 weeks to complete. Our lives stopped and I did all I could to hang on to my sanity while taking care of 3 kids all.day.long. Hubbie woke up, ate, went to work, came home, ate, got the kids ready for bed, worked, ran and slept. That was our life for weeks and it was hard.... BUT looking back I do see the hand of God. This "simple" job was offered to my husband and a friend and the friend decided he didn't have enough time to devote to it. 1. Hand of God Also, this simple task should have just been a drop in the bucket and not the amount that it ended up being. 2. Hand of God We anticipated that this would be a drop in the bucket but that we would be at least a few more months away from paying off the remainder of our debt. 3. Hand of God
WE ARE NOW OFFICIALLY DEBT FREE!
Did you hear the screaming? If not, let me tell you one more time...... We are debt free. We owe no one any money and its weird, surreal, amazing and a total God moment. Never in a million years dream that we would be here 4 yrs 10 months later. Never in this journey was it easy or fun. Hubbie and I had a lot of "down" moments where we looked at each other and wanted to say "What the heck are we doing?! And why are we so concerned with this when no one else is?!" It was always a blessing when one of us was down, the other one was upbeat and encouraging. My husband has ALWAYS been confident that we could do this though and I thank him from the bottom of my heart. The majority of the time he was much stronger than I was.
What started off for us as a thing of necessity because we just aren't gonna make it- turned into a life for us and a goal that brought our family together and made us stronger. We still have a long road to financial freedom, our next goal is to save up 3 mos of living expenses for our emergency fund. This will ensure that we CAN afford buying a home. And then the saving 20% down payment on a house. Miss Debbie-downer over here is just SURE that she won't own a home before I am 35 but if thats the case, I know that the house will be a blessing and not a burden and I truly believe that. No matter how much I whine!
So, to everyone that prayed for us, encouraged us, patted our back and just walked along side of us through this journey, thank you! We appreciate your support! We didn't get support from everyone....even if people didn't say anything, we got lots of weird looks! :o)
God truly does get the glory in this success. Without Him, we wouldn't be here today. Hubbie and I wouldn't be married. Hubbie and I wouldn't have 3 little boys, who are completely OBLIVIOUS to why their Momma is crying tears of joy! Hubbie and I wouldn't be debt free....... God took a simple thing like us taking Financial Peace and the rest is history! God blessed us in so many ways along the journey and we never faltered from our duty of paying tithe. Along the way, He sent us encouragement and even a cruise to help our weary soul continue on this path!
We began with $50,000 in debt- a nice chunk of the change was our stupid car purchase, a lot of credit card debt and of course, Hubbie's school loans. During the last 5 years our income ranged from an income of $45,000 to $65,000 and with sometimes one person working 2 or 3 jobs or 2 people working 2 jobs or one person working 1 job.
Of course, it went up and down a few times over the years depending on circumstances..... The last year has been difficult with a pay cut and the additional of Buggy, but we were committed to a goal of being debt free by January.
We are debt free and we are so very thankful to our Savior for allow us to have an awesome testimony of His love, forgiveness and faithfulness.
Next stop?! The beach for a week long family vacation! Hopefully we can work it into the busy schedule!
So, to everyone that prayed for us, encouraged us, patted our back and just walked along side of us through this journey, thank you! We appreciate your support! We didn't get support from everyone....even if people didn't say anything, we got lots of weird looks! :o)
God truly does get the glory in this success. Without Him, we wouldn't be here today. Hubbie and I wouldn't be married. Hubbie and I wouldn't have 3 little boys, who are completely OBLIVIOUS to why their Momma is crying tears of joy! Hubbie and I wouldn't be debt free....... God took a simple thing like us taking Financial Peace and the rest is history! God blessed us in so many ways along the journey and we never faltered from our duty of paying tithe. Along the way, He sent us encouragement and even a cruise to help our weary soul continue on this path!
We began with $50,000 in debt- a nice chunk of the change was our stupid car purchase, a lot of credit card debt and of course, Hubbie's school loans. During the last 5 years our income ranged from an income of $45,000 to $65,000 and with sometimes one person working 2 or 3 jobs or 2 people working 2 jobs or one person working 1 job.
Do some math here- median income was $55,000. Debt was $50,000. We began paying off debt in January 2006. 4 years and 9 months ago. So on average we paid off over $10,000 a year. A lot of that time, it was tight and we just made minimum payments and had little to no wiggle room after paying normal bills, debt payments and LIFE!
Of course, it went up and down a few times over the years depending on circumstances..... The last year has been difficult with a pay cut and the additional of Buggy, but we were committed to a goal of being debt free by January.
We are debt free and we are so very thankful to our Savior for allow us to have an awesome testimony of His love, forgiveness and faithfulness.
Next stop?! The beach for a week long family vacation! Hopefully we can work it into the busy schedule!
9/22/10
My Life
Here lately I have had BAD baby fever.
My husband was LESS than thrilled.
Then my children cured me of that.
QUICKLY.
That is my LIFE lately.
Disobedient kids. Loudness. Not much sleeping. Lots of wetness.
Its really straight out of a comic book. Things you can't imagine that would really happen.
They happen in our home.
Kids.....that.......I can't even put into words the things my kids have put me through the last week or two.......
Now I know why people send their 2/3 yr old to preschool a few hours- 5 days a week.
Now I know why people send their Kindergärtner to 5 full days of school.
I understand why. I didn't before. Couldn't do it before. Now I understand.
I need a break. A looooonnnnggggg break that makes me miss my kids.
But I truly DO love them and really HAVE been enjoying my time at home with them......
BUT I think they have cured me of baby fever......
for at least a year.....or two......
9/18/10
Peanut & Daddy Date
My boys are always so eager for dates with Daddy! Sometimes life gets in the way, but we do strive to have at least one date a month- some alone time with each kiddo and Daddy as often as we can schedule and afford.
With Peanut's latest issues (more on THAT later!!) Hubbie and I decided that he and Peanut's date had been put off far too long, so off they went. On a special date in Daddy's car to Sonic. They had a great time and it warms my heart to know that my boys adore their Daddy.
I hope Hubbie and I can continue to carve out individualized time for he and the boys. The reality of my life is that I do have 3 sons and one of my
I am so proud of Hubbie for never having to be pressured or encouraged to take his boys out for dates or to be "plugged in"! He enjoys it just as much as they do and I am so thankful!
Disclaimer: Please don't look TOO closely at what Peanut is wearing... its part of our "issues" with him. He must do everything and I mean (absolutely EVERY.SINGLE.THING) by himself which includes dressing and undressing! ;o) Its going FABULOUSLY!
Dave Ramsey Fan?!
My 1 yr old heard the intro to Dave Ramsey's radio show and he began to smile and clap!
I think we have a Dave Ramsey fan!
Maybe he's heard one too many episodes! Ooops!
I enjoy listening to the shows when I'm doing tedious work like ironing or cleaning out. I also like to have background noise when I fall asleep, so I like to listen to the shows as I am falling asleep. Of course, that meant for the time that Buggy was in our room as a baby, he heard the episodes! I must admit though, I do not like listening to the Friday episode.
Friday episodes are mostly for people to call in and scream "WE'RE DEBT FREEEEEEEE" in true Braveheart fashion. Unfortunately this usually causes me to get emotional and upset that WE aren't there yet. So I prefer to just NOT listen! :) Call me crazy! Maybe once I get to call in, I'll listen to Fridays as well.
I enjoy listening to the shows when I'm doing tedious work like ironing or cleaning out. I also like to have background noise when I fall asleep, so I like to listen to the shows as I am falling asleep. Of course, that meant for the time that Buggy was in our room as a baby, he heard the episodes! I must admit though, I do not like listening to the Friday episode.
Friday episodes are mostly for people to call in and scream "WE'RE DEBT FREEEEEEEE" in true Braveheart fashion. Unfortunately this usually causes me to get emotional and upset that WE aren't there yet. So I prefer to just NOT listen! :) Call me crazy! Maybe once I get to call in, I'll listen to Fridays as well.
9/17/10
Birthday Boy!
We always tend to keep our first birthdays very simple. Just close family, some dinner and a cake! We don't ever "blow it out" and make a big commotion! I plan it and we invite and we have a great time! I tend to worry more about the cake than anything else on my children's birthdays! Its usually because I've taken it upon myself to make what the kids want or would more than likely like. This causes me a great deal of stress and I REALLY wish (sometimes) I would just go buy a darn cake! But I can't! I know it probably sounds snobbish, but I like knowing that I made all of Bubbie's and Peanut's birthday cakes and that they(the cake) were what the kids liked at that time. So hopefully Buggy will be the same!
Since we call our baby boy Buggy (not sure where the nickname came from) I knew something with bugs would be fitting. I got the idea of doing bugs on Buggy's cupcakes while flipping through my "cupcake" book. I didn't like the bugs in the book though. Too time consuming. So I started searching the internet and found this. I thought these bugs were "cute" and much simpler. We weren't able to find all the candies that the recipe called for/or showed, but we did our best and I think they turned out cute enough!
We really enjoyed having my family over and had hoped to have Hubbie's folks over so that they could enjoy seeing Buggy too, but we had a few health mishaps this week, so eventually we'll get together!
Go here to see Buggy's birthday post.
Since we call our baby boy Buggy (not sure where the nickname came from) I knew something with bugs would be fitting. I got the idea of doing bugs on Buggy's cupcakes while flipping through my "cupcake" book. I didn't like the bugs in the book though. Too time consuming. So I started searching the internet and found this. I thought these bugs were "cute" and much simpler. We weren't able to find all the candies that the recipe called for/or showed, but we did our best and I think they turned out cute enough!
We really enjoyed having my family over and had hoped to have Hubbie's folks over so that they could enjoy seeing Buggy too, but we had a few health mishaps this week, so eventually we'll get together!
Go here to see Buggy's birthday post.
9/16/10
Old McDonald Had A....
While I was washing the dishes the other day- minding my OWN beez-wax- I overheard Peanut singing this in the playroom....
"Old McDonald had a farm. E-I-E-I-O.
And on this farm he had a Momma! E-I-E-I-O.
With a 'talk talk' here and a 'talk talk' there.
Here a 'talk'
There a 'talk'
Everywhere a 'talk talk'
Old McDonald had a farm. E-I-E-I-O."
There you have it folks! My almost 3 yr old thinks I talk too much! He probably thinks I talk too much to HIM because he has been a bit naughty lately. Well, maybe not NAUGHTY but just down right disobedient, sneaky and shall I say "acting like a 3 yr old"!?!
Unfortunately, I hardly EVER talk on the phone. If I talk to you on a telephone and not gmail/Facebook chat, you are extra special because I just can't seem to find time to call people! And when I do, its usually insurance companies, doctor's offices or my darling husband because I have kiddos to complain about!!!
9/15/10
Happy 1st Birthday Buggy!
Its September 15th and for our household that means there is a party! Buggy is one year old today! Early this morning, a year ago, I was lying on an operating table, getting cut open and Buggy was being pulled out! It was my 3rd c-section and I was very anxious! I was anticipating lots of "bad stuff" and the outcome of Buggy being our last child. Buggy might still be our last child, but thankfully the Lord answered so many prayers for Buggy's delivery, my body's prospects of having a 4th c-section, my recovery, our nursing experience and so many other countless prayers that were prayed by us, our family and by so many friends on our behalf. God is good! And we are forever grateful to the Lord for giving us this precious, darling boy to raise and call our own.
He is a joy to our family and brings so much laughter! It has been such a wonderful experience to be his mother, thus far, and I am eagerly awaiting the next year (and many more, of course!)! What a privilege I have to spend my days dotting on, laughing at, clapping for and praising our newest son!
He is a joy to our family and brings so much laughter! It has been such a wonderful experience to be his mother, thus far, and I am eagerly awaiting the next year (and many more, of course!)! What a privilege I have to spend my days dotting on, laughing at, clapping for and praising our newest son!
9/11/10
Always Something Time Consuming...
Seems like my weeks have meshed and molded into months and now its the middle of September and I don't even remember what I did last week much less a month ago!
Three weeks ago it was preparing, packing and getting ready for the mountains. As soon as we got back I started to prep for one of the consignment sales in town! Thankfully I got that taken care of and now I just wait and pick up my unsold items tomorrow. WHEW! Now, this weekend we are tackling the big boys room. What a chore this is! And we knew it would be a chore, but it really needed to be done, so we're gonna try out the wild-wild-world of bunk beds! (OK- you can stop laughing now!)
I have scoured all over the internet for wonderful ideas for the bedroom and I think we've got something snazzy (stay tuned for pictures!!). Hopefully it'll work out! With the amount of work that its taken, it better look AWESOME! ;o) We were able to get the bunk beds assembled (found on craigslist). I am washing the new bedding- found at Tar-jey at a super duper cheap price!! I even splurged and bought a fun rug! I love it... it is soft and has textured little hooks! I'm trying to keep my "decorating budget" to under $150. The bunk beds were NOT in the budget, unfortunately. We got them for a good price. The bunk beds are solid wood and made well, but they were still more than my decorating budget! I'm hoping that if I decorate the room nice enough, it won't have to be changed and in a few years when Buggy gets old enough, we can just shimmy him into the room also (adding another bed or something, and I'm assuming in a different house, so larger room) and it'll be something that we can make work for all ages! I am still looking around for some fabric for curtains or a valance and I also need a striped bedskirt. We didn't really see anything at Tar-jey that would work, so we'll keep looking around! I'm the type of person that wants to start and finish a project YESTERDAY! Lets get it going and over with! As I'm typing this I have about 6 clean loads of laundry on the living room floor. Every possible free spot in our living room and hall is filled with bed frames, mattresses and junk! Its chaos! Thankfully Nana and Pops came and got the big boys but this needs to get done QUICKLY!
Three weeks ago it was preparing, packing and getting ready for the mountains. As soon as we got back I started to prep for one of the consignment sales in town! Thankfully I got that taken care of and now I just wait and pick up my unsold items tomorrow. WHEW! Now, this weekend we are tackling the big boys room. What a chore this is! And we knew it would be a chore, but it really needed to be done, so we're gonna try out the wild-wild-world of bunk beds! (OK- you can stop laughing now!)
I have scoured all over the internet for wonderful ideas for the bedroom and I think we've got something snazzy (stay tuned for pictures!!). Hopefully it'll work out! With the amount of work that its taken, it better look AWESOME! ;o) We were able to get the bunk beds assembled (found on craigslist). I am washing the new bedding- found at Tar-jey at a super duper cheap price!! I even splurged and bought a fun rug! I love it... it is soft and has textured little hooks! I'm trying to keep my "decorating budget" to under $150. The bunk beds were NOT in the budget, unfortunately. We got them for a good price. The bunk beds are solid wood and made well, but they were still more than my decorating budget! I'm hoping that if I decorate the room nice enough, it won't have to be changed and in a few years when Buggy gets old enough, we can just shimmy him into the room also (adding another bed or something, and I'm assuming in a different house, so larger room) and it'll be something that we can make work for all ages! I am still looking around for some fabric for curtains or a valance and I also need a striped bedskirt. We didn't really see anything at Tar-jey that would work, so we'll keep looking around! I'm the type of person that wants to start and finish a project YESTERDAY! Lets get it going and over with! As I'm typing this I have about 6 clean loads of laundry on the living room floor. Every possible free spot in our living room and hall is filled with bed frames, mattresses and junk! Its chaos! Thankfully Nana and Pops came and got the big boys but this needs to get done QUICKLY!
9/9/10
Radio Talking
Today I had the opportunity to be a guest on Mom Talk Radio with Maria Bailey. If that name sounds familiar its because Maria is the brains behind MomSelect (which I love doing reviews and product giveaways for)!
The topic for today's 7 minute talk was "When do you decide what is for dinner?" Jay from Caffeine and a Prayer and myself had the opportunity to talk with Maria and give other moms our ideas and what we do in our home. The conversation went by SO quickly! I didn't even have a chance to get nervous or wonder what I was going to say. I must admit though, I did have a cheat sheet in case I got lost in a thought!
My ideas for meal planning? Well, they've been exhausted on this blog and I'm sure others are TIRED of hearing about it, but its a fun concept for me to talk about it! And everyone reading knows I'm a little uptight a.k.a. anal retentive so its something I proudly own! For me, meal planning is a chore and does take time, but its always rewarding! If I don't meal plan, the majority of the time, I'll call my husband and request him to pick up dinner or do the drive thru thing! Not healthy or easy on the budget! Which, again, if you've been reading this blog for ANY period of time, you also know that I'm CHEAP! Like, I squeak when I walk, kinda cheap!
So, meal planning is a must in our household. I print off a calendar. I read blogs, look through my recipes cards, cook books, revisit old standbys... whatever it takes! You can even use Emealz which is really not that expensive when you think about the period of time you get the meals and shopping list planned for you and not to mention, the time you're saving from having to do that on your own!!! Why don't I do emealz anymore? Its because I'm a snob! I know I can plan 7 nights dinner cheaper than they can.... I just gotta do the work, so at this time, I'll continue to it myself.
Jay mentioned something in the conversation that I also do. Have staples on hand. Things that you know your family eats a lot of- rice, potatoes, frozen veggies, pasta... whatever you know that your family will eat.... I often stock up on noodles when they are on sale at Publix- gotta love Buy One Get One Free deals! and I usually have a coupon to pair with them. Last week I hit Publix for some deals and had a coupon for .55 cents off 2 boxes of noodles. Normally I would think twice about this coupon, but Publix had these particular noodles B1G1 free, so we grabbed a few boxes for less than a dollar. But by having staples on hand, even when you have no idea what is for dinner, you can also visit your cabinets and piece together a meal. Nine times out of ten, I always have SOME type of meat in the house. Pair the meat/chicken/fish with some pasta and some type of sauce and you've got a meal!
If you don't meal plan, which I don't know very women who don't do even a tiny bit of it, start off small and just do a week at a time. Or just a few nights! If you're like my family, we ALWAYS have leftovers and I actually plan those leftovers into our weekly menu. I count on leftovers! I've been warned though..... leftovers probably won't last for forever with 3 boys in the house, but I'll gladly serve them while I have them!
A huge thank you to Maria and all the folks at MomTalk Radio for having me on the show to talk about a love of mine!
The topic for today's 7 minute talk was "When do you decide what is for dinner?" Jay from Caffeine and a Prayer and myself had the opportunity to talk with Maria and give other moms our ideas and what we do in our home. The conversation went by SO quickly! I didn't even have a chance to get nervous or wonder what I was going to say. I must admit though, I did have a cheat sheet in case I got lost in a thought!
My ideas for meal planning? Well, they've been exhausted on this blog and I'm sure others are TIRED of hearing about it, but its a fun concept for me to talk about it! And everyone reading knows I'm a little uptight a.k.a. anal retentive so its something I proudly own! For me, meal planning is a chore and does take time, but its always rewarding! If I don't meal plan, the majority of the time, I'll call my husband and request him to pick up dinner or do the drive thru thing! Not healthy or easy on the budget! Which, again, if you've been reading this blog for ANY period of time, you also know that I'm CHEAP! Like, I squeak when I walk, kinda cheap!
So, meal planning is a must in our household. I print off a calendar. I read blogs, look through my recipes cards, cook books, revisit old standbys... whatever it takes! You can even use Emealz which is really not that expensive when you think about the period of time you get the meals and shopping list planned for you and not to mention, the time you're saving from having to do that on your own!!! Why don't I do emealz anymore? Its because I'm a snob! I know I can plan 7 nights dinner cheaper than they can.... I just gotta do the work, so at this time, I'll continue to it myself.
Jay mentioned something in the conversation that I also do. Have staples on hand. Things that you know your family eats a lot of- rice, potatoes, frozen veggies, pasta... whatever you know that your family will eat.... I often stock up on noodles when they are on sale at Publix- gotta love Buy One Get One Free deals! and I usually have a coupon to pair with them. Last week I hit Publix for some deals and had a coupon for .55 cents off 2 boxes of noodles. Normally I would think twice about this coupon, but Publix had these particular noodles B1G1 free, so we grabbed a few boxes for less than a dollar. But by having staples on hand, even when you have no idea what is for dinner, you can also visit your cabinets and piece together a meal. Nine times out of ten, I always have SOME type of meat in the house. Pair the meat/chicken/fish with some pasta and some type of sauce and you've got a meal!
If you don't meal plan, which I don't know very women who don't do even a tiny bit of it, start off small and just do a week at a time. Or just a few nights! If you're like my family, we ALWAYS have leftovers and I actually plan those leftovers into our weekly menu. I count on leftovers! I've been warned though..... leftovers probably won't last for forever with 3 boys in the house, but I'll gladly serve them while I have them!
A huge thank you to Maria and all the folks at MomTalk Radio for having me on the show to talk about a love of mine!
9/8/10
The Count Down Has Begun...
Buggy,
In just seven days, we will be celebrating your precious life. We are so thankful for our littlest one who is a joy and a blessing to our family.
You are a walker 89% of the time and its EXHAUSTING! Grabbing, pulling and climbing are your newest tricks! Three little teeth are almost completely out and your top two teeth are finally starting to poke through on your gums. It makes me laugh when you give us a big Buggy smile! All you see is little teeth! You got to taste your first cake/icing in your 1 yr photo shoot and you REALLY liked it and went into a sugar coma shortly after. You weren't sure why your Momma was just NOW giving you this heavenly goodness!
I thank God for sending you to us to love on, teach, hold and hug and to watch grow. Happy 11.5 months and bring on the party!
Love, Momma
9/6/10
Why We Hire People To Do This...
This is our desperate attempt to get a family picture at the apple orchard a few weeks ago. These pictures back up my statement that we are a "loud and messy family"....
Heck no dude. Come back here.
And here it is folks...... the best shot of the day!!!
BTW, I had NO idea that my Mom was snapping away.
Thanks Mom for the reality check! No faking around here!!!
Bubbie is about to sneeze. Peanut is pitching a fit. He did NOT want pictures.
The sneeze was loud. Hubbie was frustrated that Buggy kept scratching him. I was irritated that he was irritated. I am STILL wrestling with Peanut, but like any good crazy Mom, I was DETERMINED to get this shot!
Bubbie thought we had finished.
Heck no dude. Come back here.
Now, being the Mom of the Year, I start to fuss and threaten Peanut to cooperate.
And here it is folks...... the best shot of the day!!!
BTW, I had NO idea that my Mom was snapping away.
Thanks Mom for the reality check! No faking around here!!!
9/5/10
Mountains 2010
Sorry about picture overload! Sadly, I didn't even share half of the pictures we took! :o)
What a long, but fun weekend we were able to have last weekend! Last Thursday morning we headed to our favorite vacation spot- the North Carolina mountains! And boy! God was good! We had awesome weather- cooler temperatures and much less humidity than we are having in the hot and sticky Georgia! My parents joined us for the weekend at a really nice and roomy cabin in the MOUNTAINS! And I mean, MOUNTAINS! A narrow, gravel and dirt road winding up a mountain to get to hideaway! Scary! Especially in the rain!
On Friday we went to Sky Top Orchards, which my parents have been taking my brothers and myself to yearly since we first moved to Georgia... 1993, I guess? This is Bubbie's 4th trip to the orchard, Peanut's 2nd trip and Buggy's first trip! We had a good time... a few bad attitudes here and there, but all in all, we all had a blast and picked LOTS of apples! Peanut did an AWESOME job picking considering this was his first time ever picking apples. Bubbie is a pro! Buggy did OK in the Sleepy Wrap, but really wanted to get down on the wet grass and crawl and totter around. Hopefully next year will be a little easier since he will be walking! After picking apples and playing on all the fun equipment, we headed into town to eat lunch! Yummy- hot dogs, corn dogs, fries/onion rings and sodas! Delicious and a special treat!!
After we finished eating, we decided to squeeze one more thing in for the day and head to Carl Sandburg's home. If you are in this area and get a chance, stop by! There are quite a few trails to walk, animals to see and if you want to pay money, you can see his home. We decided to forgo the home tour and go see the goats! Peanut was in
On Saturday I woke up feeling kinda yucky. Not sure what I ate or if I got a bug but I felt nauseated and sick to my stomach most of the day. Thankfully I was able to keep moving and we headed into town again to go to the Market. Lots of vendors selling crafts, veggies and apples! Always fun to go to, but I don't think I've ever bought anything but apples in all the years we've been going there. After looking around, the kids began to ask for lunch so we decided to find something quick for the kids to munch on, so that we could browse the downtown shops! Unfortunately, we couldn't find much that the kids would like, except for a burger or pizza (which we ate the last two evenings for dinner!) so we kept moving! We weren't able to go into many of the shops because of our double stroller! The town is definitely not set up for a family with young kids! We got lots of "LOOKS" and someone even commented on us having quite a "crew". I didn't think a family of 5 was THAT big of a deal, but I guess it is in a retirement town! I told Hubbie that I don't like being looked at like my kiddos were aliens! Oh well! I guess if we have one more kiddo, we'll be even weirder! Anyway, we couldn't really find anything and had leftovers in the fridge at the cabin, we decided to finish the shopping that we wanted to do and go back to the cabin for a late lunch! Our favorite store in town is Mast General Store! Its filled with fun goodies and cute gadgets! And another one is a local toy store! Its filled with toys such as Playmobils, Melissa and Doug, Thomas Trains and tons more! We always let the kids splurge on a small treat! Peanut picked a puzzle and Bubbie picked a school bus toy. They were excited about their purchases and we headed back to the cabin! We headed back to the cabin for lunch and naps! It was SO good to rest up and just relax and be lazy! Uncle Mark and Aunt Lindsey joined the rest of us that evening. The boys were BOUNCING off the walls about their Aunt and Uncle visiting! They think Mark and Lindsey HUNG THE MOON! After dinner Hubbie built a fire outside and we made smores! They were delicious!
On Sunday we woke up early, got packed up, cleaned up the cabin and we headed home! Before we left NC, we stopped for some more apples! This time we were "lazy" and didn't pick them! I wanted one more bag so that I could can some apple sauce. Once we got some more apples, we said good-bye to the mountains and headed back home.
God was good and answered so many prayers for the weekend trip. We had great weather- cooler temps, little rain on Thursday and that was it. We had a restful trip. Safety on the roads and a quick and uneventful trip back home.
We sure did miss my sister in law, brother and their kiddos! They love going apple picking too but are just too far away from our favorite orchard. Maybe one day we'll all get up there for a few days!
9/4/10
Words of Wisdom
Momma: "Hey Peanut? How old will you be on your birthday?"
Peanut: "3"
Momma: "That's right! How old are you now?"
Peanut: "Big"
I think Peanut has caught on!
Other things that he has learned? Copycatting Bubbie's bad attitude (folding arms across chest, turning his head away from you if he doesn't like what you're saying, being a PILL). A desire for being BIG and doing it ALL ON HIS OWN, no matter what it takes. The 3's are coming upon us TOO soon! So much worse than 2's.....
9/3/10
Smash Cake Time
Well, its that time already! Buggy will be turning one year in 13 days! Its exciting, sad, scary, exhausting- all at the same time!
I made an appointment with a local photographer to get Buggy's 1st yr portraits taken. I decided to do the "smash cake" pictures! A local gal from MOPS(if you're local and want her name and info, email me) made this cake for Buggy to smash, eat and play with! She did a great job and I love how the colors turned out on the white backdrop!
I cannot wait to see the photos! Buggy wasn't a PERFECT angel!!! He wanted to play with the camera, the backdrop...basically.... everything that he wasn't suppose to play with! He also didn't flash any of his "famous" smiles! He didn't take a nap on the long drive to the photographers house and he was sleepy! I was exhausted when we left and I had only had one child!!!
The big boys have begun to count down 'til Buggy's birthday and have told all family and friends that Buggy is wanting Hot Wheels! I found a fun cupcake decoration that I want to try out for Buggy! Lots of excitement!
9/1/10
A Quick Minute
I'm SO bad about blogging lately! I am desperately trying to get ready for a local consignment sale! Its become all consuming! Between that and the kids and trying to get some schooling in, I'm swamped! I have no desire to sit and download pictures for my posts, but soon!!!
In the meantime, I wanted to share about my current devotional book. The lessons are very short, filled with Scripture and always very relevant to the life of a Mommy. Its called Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God. I won it in a blogging giveaway about 3 years ago and I am ashamed to say, it sat on the shelf! I recently searched my shelves for something new and inspirational and this book popped off the shelf!
Recently a lesson on "the Desert" stuck with me and I want to share an excerpt. Because of how the beginning of our year went, there were often times when I was done crying and begging to the Lord. I had several people suggest things to me. Maybe Spiritual warfare. Maybe I wasn't cleaning my house. Maybe I had bad toxins. The comments are ENDLESS and they were exhausting to hear. I was so desperately seeking some sanity and "normalcy", I was DONE.
To be honest, I still don't think I've recovered emotionally from 6 mos of hardships and sicknesses. Deep, deep down, I am fried, frazzled and finished! Ya know, during those long, emotional months, I don't think I ever doubted or blamed God. I don't think I got angry with Him for not healing us or for not keeping us healthy, but I was definitely confused as to WHY we couldn't get and stay well. I threw a lot of fits! It wasn't pretty! It was definitely a learning season for me.
When I read this excerpt, memories of the challenges from earlier this year all began to flood in and I was again brought back to my knees.....
To be honest, I still don't think I've recovered emotionally from 6 mos of hardships and sicknesses. Deep, deep down, I am fried, frazzled and finished! Ya know, during those long, emotional months, I don't think I ever doubted or blamed God. I don't think I got angry with Him for not healing us or for not keeping us healthy, but I was definitely confused as to WHY we couldn't get and stay well. I threw a lot of fits! It wasn't pretty! It was definitely a learning season for me.
When I read this excerpt, memories of the challenges from earlier this year all began to flood in and I was again brought back to my knees.....
"As I sit thirsty in the desert, the help He brings is His sufficiency, not mine. He doesn't make me able; He is able. He doesn't craft a perfect clay pot out of my life; He fills the imperfect one with His perfection. Thank goodness my clay pot is cracked, for it is through my many imperfections that His glory shines...."We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of power may be of God and not from ourselves"...God doesn't change my ability to cope with the task of motherhood necessarily; He replaces my heart with His parental heart."
While reading that I am reminded of my humanness. God doesn't NEED me to glorify Him, but "through my imperfections His glory shines". So much of my life is spent worrying... what do others think of me, my family, my beliefs, our convictions? I have been on a quest for perfection for so very long- too long- that this paragraph was like a flashlight into my soul, searching through the cobwebs of disappointment, failure, fear and worry..... I am ashamed at what could be seen. Probably a soul who cares more about the world's thoughts and views of me and not my Lord.
I suppose I am in a dessert this year. I've been on top of mountains with my Spiritual life. Learning and growing. Now I am in a season of stillness, searching, asking and clinging to Him. Nothing brings you closer to Him than being in a desert..... in the desert you are reminded that you need water to survive.
I suppose I am in a dessert this year. I've been on top of mountains with my Spiritual life. Learning and growing. Now I am in a season of stillness, searching, asking and clinging to Him. Nothing brings you closer to Him than being in a desert..... in the desert you are reminded that you need water to survive.
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