our day

It was the perfectly dreary, rainy day here in The Ville today.  You know that kind of day that feels like you need to celebrate it by sleeping in?  Yeah.  That kind.  We did that.  Slept kinda late, stayed in the pajama's a little longer than normal...except for me, who am I kidding?  I live in them these days.

I have fallen behind in my chronological Bible reading, and it overwhelms to catch up, so I decided to just start with today's date and then I might go back and catch up at some point.  I made a note on a Post-It and stuck it in the Bible.  We're reading in Psalm right now, and these verses stood out to me.

For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say, "Peace be within you."  Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek Your good.

I love that.  I love that part at the beginning, too, that reminds us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  I have a necklace with that written on the underside.  My dad and step-mom traveled to Jerusalem several years ago, and they brought me back a beautiful silver necklace with a cross on the front and that inscription on the back.

Other things I did today include having lunch with my friend Abbey.  She brought me lunch, and we spent precious time catching up and learning new things about each other.  We talked about the book I just finished that she has read, as well.  I love that girl.

We watched a movie after lunch, then when I grew bored with television and noise, I picked up my Bible, the new set of pens my kids gave me for Mother's day and my art journal and started writing and drawing.

While I did that, Jonah and Noah did this:

Once again, one is never too old to play with cars.  They haven't done this activity in ages, but today, because of the rain, they were forced to stay indoors.  At least until the rain stopped, then they were happy to be back outside.

The kids and Todd went to church, I ate leftovers and watched a really good (well, entertaining, I won't call it 'good') movie.  Crazy Stupid Love.  Where have I been all these years?  It was hilarious.  I thought about my sister Debi the whole time, because she loves Ryan Gosling.  About the time the movie ended, they pulled back into the driveway, and here I sit.  I'm about to call it a night.  I hope your day was wonderful!  Love to all.

~a little sunshine for this dreary day~

I came across this link on Facebook that K-Love shared.  I thought I would share it with  you!  It's random acts of kindness.  Read each one and make sure to go all the way to the end.  Be warned, though, it might bring tears to your eyes.

Enjoy!

http://www.viralnova.com/acts-of-kindness-random/

Happy Wednesday, and love to all.  :)

Tuesday

Today has been a better day than I've had in a few...I am back on an anti-inflammatory medicine that I had unknowingly gotten off of too soon.  It does make a difference being back on it, and for that, I am thankful.  Saturday and Sunday did not end well for me, but last night was much better.  

We have had a long day of school over here today!  My kids have rocked at school this year, and we are wrapping things up today.  We have discovered that when we stop math, we forget a lot.  So because of that, we will take a break for a bit, then start back up at the end of June, hopefully.  Even if they only do a few pages of a chapter each week, I'm okay with that.  I see the benefits of continuous school, and why not?  Especially on those crazy hot days when they're bored with swimming and it's too hot to go outside.  

I am loving this season's Dancing With The Stars.  Have you watched it?  I watched last night's episode today and am amazed at all the talent.  The moral side of me wants Candace Cameron Bure to win.  Remember her?  She played DJ on Full House.  This week was icon week, and though she picked Angela Thomas as her icon, she then said that she is only dancing for an audience of One.  I love that she is so bold in her faith!  The normal side of me wants either Amy Purdee (an Olympic double amputee) or Meryl Davis (an Olympic ice-dancer) to win.  I think both of them dance better than Candace, but like I said, I love Candace's boldness.  

My hormones are going crazy.  (Just being honest.)  There is nothing quite like crying all over your teenage and pre-teenage sons.  Poor things.  They're handling it like champs and not being too freaked out by all my antics.  :/  I don't know that anyone warned me of this part of the surgery and recovery~or if they did, maybe not quite enough emphasis was placed on it!  It's a battle, fighting this...and honestly, when I'm about to have a full blown pity party, I have to pray my way out of it.  I am so glad the Lord already knows what's on my heart, so when I don't know what to pray or ask to get help, He already knows and understands when all I say is His name.  

Because of the crazy hormones, I'm really, really trying not to be a complainer and whine about my circumstances.  God is so good!  And He hears my every cry and He knows and collects all the tears.  Seriously, I am so thankful that I've had no complications, whatsoever.  I have heard so many stories from my friends, and not the good kind that you want to hear, of how things went so horribly wrong.  Praise God, that has not happened to me!  

I am so thankful that I've not had to worry about what was for dinner each night.  My sweet friend set up a take-them-a-meal account and we have meals coming through the end of May, three nights each week.  What a God send this has been!  Especially because I still can't stand for long periods of time.  My kids will be devastated when these meals end, because each meal consists of a main course, a salad, bread and dessert.  Needless to say, my little sweet-toothed Jonah has been in dessert heaven.  

A total random thing, also about Jonah, is the fact that he is obsessed with the Duggar family.  At least they're a good family to be obsessed with!  Seriously, though, the kid watches YouTube videos about them and their friends, the Bates family that lives in Tennessee.  He cracks me up.  He has such a vast array of useless knowledge.  Speaking of...the new episode comes on tonight!  Do you watch that show?  I love their family.  They were actually at Bellevue Baptist church here in Memphis a couple weeks ago.  If I had been able to go, we totally would have gone to that church that day, just to get to meet them.  

Well, that's about all I can think of for now.  I hope you're having a great day!  Love to all.

all about

Noah.  :)  I thought I would start a series about my kids, individually, so that in case you don't know them already, you will by the time I've talked about them all.  Wow...that might have been a run-on sentence.

I will start with Noah, because as I write this, we are home alone.  Todd came home to take Graham to work (I am under strict orders and am still unable to go anywhere or drive.), and Drew and Jonah went with them.  They'll stay in that part of town until seven, when Graham gets off.  Noah wanted to stay home with me so he could play outside with his buddies.  He's such a great kid; he's always thinking of others.

Noah...

loves to climb. This picture was taken on his and Jonah's birthday.

takes his time.  He does not get in a hurry for anyone or anything.  He's always the last one to finish dinner.

has always loved animals.  If we're out and there's a dog around, he's always the first one to go ask the owner if he can pet the animal.

has such a tender heart!  I love all my kids equally, but this boy is so kind and caring.  Every time they buy me a card, I get three funny ones and one sweet one.  The sweet one is always from Noah.

has the most ticklish hands and feet.  Cutting his nails, ever since he was a baby, has always been a struggle!  I was relieved when he was able to do this task by himself, because he doesn't squirm when he does it.

is a homebody.  The other boys are always wanting to go with Todd everywhere he goes, but Noah likes to stay home with me.

was always the one to cry when I left him in the nursery or on his first day of public school.  And when Noah started crying, it started a chain reaction and Jonah and I would follow soon after.

is very considerate of others.  He will be the one who will wait with the last person on the bike ride, he will give something up so one of his friends won't be left out.

loves to cook.  He's just discovered his independence in the kitchen, since I've had surgery.  Just now, he put some cookies in the oven all by himself.

is my last child.  They say the baby of the family is always so different, and he is.  I couldn't love anybody more.

I'll leave you with some pictures of my sweet boy.

This was the bear he gave me a few weeks ago.

This is our view right now.  We're hanging out watching Kung Fu Panda together.  Don't you love the cards on my mantle?  They're going to be in that spot for several days.  

Crash is taking a nap with him.  :)

And Noah, if you read this someday, I pray that you always know that...

By the Lord, your dad, me, your brothers, and everyone who meets you.  

Thanks for reading about my sweet Noah.  Love to all.  

Mother's Day

I have enjoyed seeing pictures of my friend's beautiful moms on Facebook.  My heart breaks for those who don't have moms to celebrate this year.  This may be the first year they don't have their mom around, or it may not be, regardless, my heart goes out to them.

I am so fortunate for the mom I have.  We have such a good relationship; I honestly cannot imagine my life without her.  This has been even more apparent in the last couple weeks.  While I was in the hospital recovering, she was right by my side.  She fed me ice chips, she washed my face, she put lotion on me, she shared the horrid hospital food with me, she was up with me at all hours of the night.  And never once did she complain, she only said she was grateful for the nap she got at home later that day, a nap that was so good that she woke up with pillow marks on her face.  ;)

Mom missed her calling as a nurse.  I always tell her that she would have made a great one.  She was the same way when I was having babies.  To see her bathe and swaddle and clothe little newborns was forever etched in my brain when mine were that young.  I say that she missed her calling, but I really can't say that.  What she does now suits her perfectly, and I am thankful that she never worked while I was growing up.

There were a couple years that she and my sister owned a flower shop, but I am not counting that.  She would still pick me up from school, then I would go to the shop with her afterward.  I used to love playing at the desk, with the cash register.  She would let me happily pretend for hours at a time, she would even let me help design wreaths and such.  And in the summer time, I especially loved being there.  There was a tanning salon in the upstairs of the shop, and often times, the lady who owned the salon would let me be in charge.

And yes, I used to lay in the tanning bed.  I enjoyed every single second, and to this day, I still think there is nothing as relaxing as that used to be.  I would turn up FM 100, and adjust the fan to blow on me and I would happily bake for twenty minutes at a time.  I can almost smell the lotion...

My mom is an amazing cook.  I get my love of it from her, and I still say that there is nothing quite like your mama's cooking.  She always made me breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I remember being the envy of all my friends in elementary school because of the yummy lunches she always sent me to school with.  All my friends wanted to trade, but I never would.  To this day, my food tastes nothing like hers.  I can use her exact recipe, but it doesn't matter.  She has magic in her hands.

Isn't she beautiful?  This was a couple summers ago, when we took a girls' trip to the beach for Lisa's 50th birthday.  Her eyes are like turquoise.  My sisters Debi and Trish got her eyes...mine are blue, but they have more grey in them.  I am so thankful for this beautiful lady.  I don't know if words can ever express just how thankful I am for her, but I thank God for her every single day.  She is thoughtful, kind, talented and a wonderful caregiver.  I saw that when she took such wonderful care of her mom while she was in the nursing home.

I wish you a happy Mother's day, Mom.  I love you the most.  I will see you in the morning!

For the rest of you who are moms, happy Mother's day to you.  I pray that if you're fortunate enough to have a mom still alive on this earth, that you get the chance to tell her how much you love and appreciate her.  Whether in person or over the phone, you are blessed to be able to talk to her.

Love to all.

a little encouragement

Psalm 37:4~5

"Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this."

The first part of the verses above can so be taken the wrong way.  I think many people do take it that way, in fact.  I have many people ask me to pray for them, and some of them tell me what to pray when I do so.  Call me rebellious, or whatever, but I don't ever pray the way they ask.  I pray, instead, for God's will to be done.  And that whatever His will is~whether it's what they want or not~that He will give them eyes to see and ears to hear.

If you're wondering what that means, "praying God's will be done", I'll explain with an example.  Let's say that someone is going on a job interview, and that person feels that this job is the very thing they've been waiting for their whole life.  They might ask me to pray that they get the job.  I don't pray that.  I pray that if this job is what God has in store for them, if it's THE job He wants them to have, that they will get it.  Then I ask that if this is NOT what God wants for them, that a better opportunity will come along and that the person will leave with peace in their heart.

To me, that is what praying God's will means.  I'm not saying I've never asked for someone to pray specifically.  I have, many times, but I've been convicted of those times.  Or I've had someone say to me, "I will pray, Lord willing, that your outcome will be this."  I don't know if I had ever thought about the way I pray, until a friend said that to me.  I'm thankful she did, because it was eye opening.  Maybe praying this way comes with maturity, and maybe I've only just now "arrived".  ;)

The thing that I want you to know is that God is not like a genie in a lamp.  You don't pray this verse like He will grant whatever your heart desires.  He will not do that.  Well, He may, but He may not.  But when you have your eyes fixed on Him, what you pray changes.  The desires of your heart change.  You truly want those things that you know He wants for you, things like spiritual growth for you or for your kids, or for Him to equip you with what you need to make it through a day.  (Talking to moms here.)  The more you grow in Him, the more of what you want changes.

Did that make sense?  That last sentence seemed weird, but you get what I'm talking about.

I love the second part of the above verses.  "Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this."  To commit your way to the LORD means to surrender to Him.  It means acknowledging that you are not in control of your life.  God is in control.  He knows how many days we will live, and He knows what is best for us.  Even if we think we know it all~let me assure you, we don't.

But the most important of the passage is the very last part: "Trust in Him and He will do this."  Trust Him.  Whoever said that living a Christian life was boring was not living the way He meant for us to live.  It's scary living this way~God knows that I love to be "comfy".  I love my little home, in my little town.  I love my little family.  I love that I am comfortable right now.  There is nothing quite like being ripped out of your comfort zone.  We experienced this four years ago, when we went to Iceland.  Sure, I was excited about my first mission trip, but I was petrified!  At the same time we were making plans to leave, the volcano near where we would be staying was erupting.  It never stopped erupting and ultimately it ended up changing the entire course of our trip.

I didn't like any of that process, all of the not knowing what we would be doing.  Do you know how it feels to be going across the world, and leaving your kids in the care of someone else, not being able to give them an itinerary of your trip?  It's scary!  At least for us control-freak people it is.  But I learned on that trip, what it meant to fully surrender to God.  To let go of all my struggles and insecurities and allow Him to work through me.  And you know what?  My life was changed because of it.

My encouragement to you is this~don't give up on your prayers.  Whatever you are praying may or may not be what the Lord has in store for you.  But ask Him to show you what is best, and be open to maybe changing the way you pray.  He has it all in His hands, anyway, and He knows what is going to happen, so why not just trust Him?  It's so much more stress-free, living this way.  It's not easy, but it does no good to be fearful of what may come.

I hope you're encouraged today, and hopefully, all this is for someone who needed to hear it.  Thanks for reading.  Love to all.

Thursday

~a day in the life~

We woke up, kinda late.

Graham and Drew got dressed and left with Todd.  Todd dropped them off at a friend's house, to do the yard work she hired them for.

I came downstairs, watched The Today Show, played on the laptop.

Jonah and Noah woke up.  They made breakfast~we all had cereal.  They started laundry.

Noah had to remind Jonah how to do this task.

They asked if they could pull out all our Kool-aid dough.  I said yes.

Who doesn't love play-doh?  If you haven't ever made your own dough, you should!  Google Kool-Aid dough and make it with your kids.  It's so easy, fun and it smells divine!  Even better than the real Play-Doh brand.

I don't think one is ever too old to play with this stuff.  Every time they play with it, they pull out all my plastic cutting boards and this roller.  And usually some sort of kitchen utensils, though this time, all they used were plastic knives.  :)

I had to lay down...I've been hurting most of today, for some reason.  :/

I woke up from my nap, texted with a friend, watched a cooking show with Jonah and Noah.  Texted with Graham and Drew, about how they hated what they were doing at that moment (pulling up tons of wild strawberry plants).  I had lunch.

I got up and walked around, can't remember what I did.

Put dinner in the oven to warm up.  Graham and Drew came home.

Todd came home.

We sat and talked to Graham about how hard the work was for them today.  They pulled down a tree!

Graham made us laugh.

I caught him, mid-sentence.  I love his smile.

Todd and Graham went to Costco and Pet Smart.  The other boys plus one went to the park.

I read my Bible and art journaled.

We're about to eat dinner, then I am going to settle down with my book.  I want to finish it in the next day or two, so I can buy the new one and start reading it for my book club.

That's about it.  Exciting stuff, huh?  In case you're wondering, we do actually have school, but it just so happens that we are done, except for math, and they've each got three more chapters that they will finish next week.  Then we're done for a while.

Love to all.