HuMp DaY hAs ArRiVeD!

You have no idea how bad I need this week to be over. Actually, the next 5, but who's counting? We're down to like 22 days left of school, only 5 more Mondays! Thank You, Lord! I am so bad every year at this time~everyone usually is, but man I have major spring fever every April. Just give me my family and uninterrupted time together, and I'll be fine.

TCAPS were uneventful today~much easier today than yesterday. Today we did math. And I mean "we". It's as hard on me as it is the kids because I have to sit through the whole blasted thing! AUGH! Why did I agree to proctor? Because I was needed, nevermind. At least we're halfway through!

I am so glad tonight is church, I need some time with Jesus so bad. My dad once told me that going to church on Wed. night was like going to the gas station to fill your tank with gas. Jesus fills me back up each Wed. night, and if I miss that then I feel empty. Plus, you get a yummy cheap dinner with family and friends, and you get to visit with all your other friends during practice. Choir practice, that is. It's so much fun.

On another note, I am so thankful for the friends I saw at the school today who volunteer their time. Heather in the cafeteria with me EVERY SINGLE MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY WITHOUT FAIL: God bless you. You do not know what I would do if you stopped. You make it more fun on the days when you're there, too. I appreciate you so much!!! And my friend Karen in the health room this afternoon~she is so great with those kids. And Phyllis, for coming and volunteering in the health room every month as well. God love you all. You make our life easier...I can honestly say that since I am now on the other side! You are all much appreciated.

Well, I gotta run and get my babies and get us all filled back up for the remainder of the week. Love to you all....you're all in my prayers today!

Inspiration Has Struck

One more quick little cute thing:

Nana and Big Daddy came over and joined us for dinner tonight and after they left, we settled down to watch Free Willy. Have you seen it? It's such an awesome movie. I've seen a hundred times at least. So anyway, we're watching the movie, and it comes to the end where....

SPOILER ALERT: STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW!

Jesse sets Willy free in the ocean. Graham heard me sniff and asked me if I was crying. I wasn't, I told him, I just had a runny nose. And Jonah says, "Well, I'm 'bout to.", and bursts into tears. All because they were letting Willy go. I told him it was ok, that I've cried in the movie before, but that Willy was happier now because they were setting him free to be with his family again. And he was better.

Just thought I'd share.

A Teeny Tiny Lil Favor...

The next time you read something I've posted, will you scroll all the way down and click on the "follow" button? I'm just curious to see how many read this, and how far out it goes. I would greatly appreciate it, it only takes a sec, and you can follow publicly or anonymously. Thanks, y'all!!

Oh, and you'll be glad to know that I am in a much better mood now. It must have been a sugar low, or somethin' b/c I AM NEVER CRANKY. I'm standing back now and waitin' on that lightning to strike. Lol. Love to you all!

I'm Baaaack

I know. Seriously. This has to be my all time record for not posting. Call it what you may, but I have been enjoying my family to the fullest and have not had a spare second. That and writer's block.

I know it's now Tuesday, but we had the greatest weekend. You heard about Friday earlier. On Saturday we got to church at 9am for choir practice and the big Eggstravaganza was at 11. They had so much fun~even if the hunt itself was a bit on the babyish side. That may have been our last year to hunt for the older boys...I felt sorry for the kids, for all ages, the eggs were just tossed on the grass. It was sad. Graham looked at me and his expression said, "are you kiddin' me?" But they still had fun with their friends and on the inflatables. Fun times.

Saturday night we dyed eggs! I love doing that. Even Todd joined in on the festivities. We had a yummy dinner of buffalo bites (TGI Friday brand, called ANYtizers) and celery sticks, then went on a bike ride. Actually we ate, then dyed the eggs, THEN went on a bike ride. My butt still hurts. I think I need a new seat.

After everyone was squeaky and clean we settled down and watched Bedtime Stories. Have you seen it? If not, it's totally appropriate for kids and a great movie~Todd and I cracked up in several places. I'm thinking about watching it again. Or buying it, b/c some you just should.

Sunday morning was church! I was not disappointed, friends, it was the best service EVER EVER EVER. If you didn't come and I invited you, shame on you. You really missed out. You'da definitely been blessed, ya know what I'm sayin'? Sorry....I think I'm sounding eerily like my sister Debi~I just read her blog, and she KILLS me. Anyway, I invited several peeps, but for whatever reason~they didn't come. It's ok. I'll choose to let it roll off my back and not be offended, b/c SERIOUSLY I've invited them a hundred times. Jesus is just so good and I want to share Him. I don't want anyone to accuse me of keeping Him all to myself. And I don't know how people don't want Him in their lives and choose to ignore Him. But...

We~the choir~got so blessed it wasn't even funny. The songs we sang were amazing, once again all thanks to the Music Man. He's so talented. We had a LONG time of just praise and worship, a message, and more praise and worship. In the middle the Music Man had these people on stage giving their cardboard testimonies. It was very powerful. The signs said stuff like, "Broken marriage and divorce for 2 years/now restored, addicted to gambling and pornography/God delivered me from it and called me into ministry, lost parents within 1 year at the ages of 22, 14, and 9/God sustained us and kept us together!" You get the drift? I bawled the whole time. Really. Good thing I had lots of kleenex.

After church we ate lunch with Mom and Bill~yum~then came home at 5 and watched Beethoven's Big Break. Thank you, Mr. Easter Bunny. Well, in our case anyway. Todd bought it. It was cute. Except for the middle part when I fell asleep and missed it, the rest of it was cute. Not as cute as Bedtime Stories, but hey. What can ya do? The kids liked it.

Our week is going....not fast enough, but it is. This is tcap week at school. It is ridiculous. I've never been on the employee side of it, and let me tell you~it is complete and total chaos just about. The kids are all freaked about doing bad, some cried, some got sick, and NO ONE was where they usually were. One thing I have learned in working for the public school system is flexibility. Work where needed, don't complain, and don't expect it to ever be "normal" again. I have tremendous respect for all administrators in our school~one in particular, the "TCAP Nazi" she is so affectionately called. It's crazy. But it's like a well~oiled machine, and somehow, everything just kind of flows. Don't ask how, but it does. The one great thing about this week? NO HOMEWORK, somebody shout AMEN!

I was a proctor in a 2nd grade class~the one I so did not want to be in but would have never said that out loud!!! But I was in there and am all week, so that's why the no writing thing has taken place. Well, that and laundry I had to do yesterday. It went ok, although my feet are KILLING me from not sitting down for um, 5 hours straight, minus the 10 for lunch. I know, I know, stop the complaining. Ok. I'm done.

I am so excited about tonight. As soon as I finish writing this, I'm headed upstairs to put on my flannel pj pants, a sweatshirt and my warm furry crocs. We're having loaded baked potatoes for dinner. And pizza from Dominoes. It's customer appreciation day there today and tomorrow, and medium pizzas cost $3.99. Anyone want pizza for dinner??? I think we're gonna watch another movie, too. I'm not sure which one yet, but I'll figure it out. As long as all the kiddos agree, that's what I always say.

Well, it's been great catching up, but I must go. I need to go change and leave to pick up the boys. Phyllis, this one was for you. I hope you enjoyed it~I think I'm in rare form today. Hope I didn't offend too many people. I hope you witness the love of Jesus today. And forgive me for the complaining thing. I am not perfect. I have always said that, but now you have witnessed it. Thank You, Heavenly Father for Your mercy on me.

It's Our Friday!

This week went by in the blink of an eye. Monday flew because of the kindergarten field trip, and the rest is a great big blur! I love weeks like that! My hubby is working for the sheriff's department tonight, so rather than being alone, I asked my amazing friend Christa to come over! I love girlfriend time! She comes with Asher the wonderdog, Andy's best friend.

While we're waiting on her to get here, the boys are occupying themselves with Drew's new Star Wars mold making oven. It's the boy version of the easy bake oven. I am waiting on the chicken spaghetti to cool off, then I'm going to let the boys eat their dinner while it's piping hot. Yum. It's a great recipe if you're interested. Maybe in a later post. It's super easy.

Tomorrow we're going to my dad's for a picnic. The boys are going to fish with fresh crickets {blah}, and he's going to grill us some hot dogs. That is their idea of what Heaven will be like! Tomorrow night we have a Good Friday service at church, then Graham and Drew are sleeping over at a friends. Saturday is dress rehearsal for Sunday and our annual church family Eggstravaganza. Fun times, I tell you. If you're looking for something to do Sat. and you're in our area, I can let you know some more details if you're interested.

Well, I'm going to feed my babies. They're all practically panting, they're so hungry. Imagine that. Happy Thursday to you all, and have a blessed night!!!

Easter

I have been saying that this is my favorite holiday, and it is. I am totally fascinated with it~the customs, traditions, meanings, all that is associated with it. I did a little (ok a lot) of research and thought I would share how it all kind of ties together. If this subject does not interest you, then stop reading here!

Passover is closely related to Easter. The actual date of Easter differs each year, but it is determined by the Passover calender. This year, Passover starts tonight at sundown, Wednesday April 8th, and will end at nightfall on Thursday April 16th.

Passover, quite literally means, "The hovering over and guarding of the houses of the Hebrews". This comes from the book of Exodus, but is also mentioned in Numbers and Deuteronomy. The passage in Exodus was when Pharaoh was ruler of Egypt. During the time when the Lord sent the ten plagues to Egypt, the tenth and last plague was the killing of all firstborn sons. The Lord protected the Hebrews during this plague, and He hovered over their houses and guarded them.

How did He do this? He had told them to take a lamb, to slaughter it, and to mark their doorways with the blood of this lamb. Do you get this??? How closely this is related to us? We are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and NOTHING can take that away from us.

So back to this...there are fourteen days of Nisan (which is from the Passover calender and it is March and April). During these days, the feast of the unleavened bread is also talked about in the Bible. This part I did not research, but I do know that Jewish people today still celebrate with this feast. They eat motza bread instead, which is...you guessed it. Bread without yeast. I also know that when the Hebrews were to flea from Egypt and return to their own country that God had promised them, they had to do so hurriedly. They didn't have time to wait for their bread to rise. So maybe I did research that part. Anyway, isn't that interesting? And especially because it's still carried out even today!

So how are Passover and Easter related? Well, in Christianity, Jesus is the paschal lamb, or the Korban Pasach in Hebrew, which means Passover sacrifice. See how it's all coming together? Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice, the paschal lamb. He was this because He died for our sins.

1 Corinthians 5:7&8 say this: "Get rid of the old "yeast" by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been "sacrificed" for us. 8 So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old "bread" of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth. *New Living Translation*

Another thing that ties together is the Last Supper. In the Synoptic Gospels {the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke}, it says that Jesus' last supper was a passover seder, which is a Jewish ritual feast. Do you think this is why we celebrate Easter Sunday with a huge feast with our loved ones? Hmmm....I'm growing more and more fascinated.

One last thing, and I will stop. It really has nothing to do with Easter, but with spring. Do you know the phrase, "spring cleaning"? Well, this also came from Bible times! I'm laughing here, because God is just good, do you know what I'm sayin'??? Think back to the feast of the unleavened bread. Not only were they NOT to eat bread containing yeast, it was not even supposed to be in their homes. Chametz is what it was referred to as. They also had to throughougly clean and scrub their homes during this time, because it was to be NOWHERE. So, even today, we still do this!!! Isn't this amazing?

I told a story, and I am ending this, I promise. This is it. The first night of the Passover is when the Israelites fled from Egypt to return to their homeland, the land that YAHWEH had promised them. According to what I found on the internet (Wikipedia), YAHWEH is one of the many names they used for the Deity~God. And I thought of the song that we never got to sing in choir, about Yahweh~the words are "Yahweh, our Lord is coming".

I am floored by my God this morning. Yes, He is Yahweh, and yes, He is coming. Let it be, Lord, let it be. I may continue with some more tidbits tomorrow. Hope I didn't bore you too much. Love you all.

Happy Tuesday!

Isaiah 60:1~5 "Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the LORD rises to shine on you. 2 Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the LORD rises and appears over you. 3 All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see your radiance. 4 Look and see, for everyone is coming home! Your sons are coming from distant lands; your little daughters will be carried home. 5 Your eyes will shine, and your heart will thrill with joy, for merchants from around the world will come to you. They will bring you the wealth of many lands.

Isaiah 61:3 To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In the righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory.

v. 10 I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels. 11 The Sovereign LORD will show his justice to the nations of the world. Everyone will praise him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring, with plants springing up everywhere.

Isaiah 66: 1&2 This is what the LORD says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that? Could you build me such a resting place? 2 My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are mine. I, the LORD, have spoken!

Psalm 5:1~3 O LORD, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. 2 Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. 3 Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

v. 7&8 Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house; I will worship at your temple with deepest awe. 8 Lead me in the right path, O LORD, or my enemies will conquer me. Make your way plain for me to follow.

Psalm 8:1 O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens!

Psalm 9:1&2 I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. 2 I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.

Psalm 18:1~3 I love you, LORD; you are my strength. 2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. 3 I called on the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.

Psalm 23: 1 The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need. 2 He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. 3 He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. 4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. 5 You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. 6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 34:1~3 I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. 2 I will boast only in the LORD; let all who are helpless take heart. 3 Come, let us tell of the LORD'S greatness; let us exalt his name together.

Psalm 42:1&2 As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. 2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?

Psalm 48:1 How great is the LORD, how deserving of praise, in the city of our God, which sits on his mountain!

Psalm 61:1~4 O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! 2 From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, 3 for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. 4 Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings!

Psalm 66:1&2 Shout joyful praises to God, all the earth! 2 Sing about the glory of his name! Tell the world how glorious he is.

My pastor did this on Sunday~he had us repeat{shout!} these after him. They're all praise to God from the book of Psalm. It can be really powerful! I encourage you to say them aloud in praise to Him as you read them...He loves to hear His own word spoken back to Him in praise! Part 2 will come tomorrow...