Everyday Things

".... For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstance" Phil 4:11

Jules over at Everyday Mommy has a new endeavor, a weekly topic on everyday things. Read more about it here.

This weeks Everyday thing is my children's health. I take it so much for granted. We don't have doctor appointments, therapy appointments, specialist appointments, or any other kind of appointments that we have to schedule our lives around. Not that I wouldn't do it in a heartbeat if it was needed. But thankfully I don't have to. With the exception of a trip two weeks ago for shots and checkups with both boys we haven't darkened the door of a medical office or clinic for for any of the kids for more than routine checkups since youngest had some sort of virus as a baby. Before that it was when the middle child was cleared after 48 hours in the hospital with croup at 19 months.

quote

New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.

John Locke

English philosopher who made great contributions in studies of politics, government and psychology. 1632-1704

Works for Me Wednesday

The can goods on my pantry shelves are in rainbow order, from left to right. Sounds corny I know but when my 7 yr. old started putting up can goods as one of her chores, she started just stacking them anywhere. And naturally I couldn't find what I needed so we devised this system. Red things first (tomato sauce, paste, spaghetti and pizza sauce etc) Orange (canned carrots) Yellow (corn - both slushy and non slushy aka cream style and whole kernal) Green ( green beans, peas, limas etc. ) Blue ( I don't think there is anything there ) and Purple ( why purple hull peas of course!) At the end are the browns and blacks ( canned pintos, navy beans - that are really white, and our favorite baked beans as well as the cream soups we have)

For more tips see Shannon over at Rocks In My Dryer

Tackle It Tuesday

My Tackle it Tuesday will now be completed on Mondays and reported on Tuesdays because I have to work on Tuesdays, at least for a little while.......

But for my project this week I tackled my kitchen, yep the whole thing. Things have been haywire here for the last few days, well since last Wednesday and dishes were stacking up, the floor was nasty, the table was collecting junk. And to top it off I invited my best friend over for dinner last night to celebrate her birthday ( which was really last week in the middle of Bible School ) So I spent the day in the kitchen. I washed dishes, with the help of the dishwasher which did 2 FULL loads. I mopped the floor, which included cleaning stuff from under the table, do you know how much stuff can accumulate under my table?? I found homes for all the books and recipes living on my kitchen table. Wiping down the barstools and high chairs proved to be more work than I thought it would be. But it was all done in time for me to fix the rest of the dinner to go along with the Angel Food steaks my husband grilled last night.

For more Tackle It Tuesday project visit Janice at 5 minutes for mom.

GoodByes

Our officers (pastor couple in The Salvation Army) farewelled today. It was their last Sunday and last day here at our small corps. The came to us two years ago right out of seminary. We, as a church, have grown under their leadership, both numerically and spiritually. For the first time in 9 years I feel completly at peace with the change in leadership. I was sharing with Capt. Lori today that when they came to us two years ago that I was comfortable with their appointment and very glad that they were coming. They came into a hurting corps and I was unsure that brand new officers were capable of helping. However, this has been a lesson in never underestimating what God can do through the right people. This time, though I will miss the Lucas', I am very excited that the Parker's are coming. I am excited to see how God will use them to help our corps grow even more. Also, on a personal side, I am glad that they have children about the same age as my own children. Our children's department is going to double with regular attendees next week.

Saturday Around the House

It has been a fairly laid back day here. All 5 of us home most of the day, the youngest and I took a trip to pick up our Angel Food order earlier. I have spent the day in the kitchen and the rest of the house looks like it - lol.

We have had several blessings in the last few days that are helping us pay bills, Thank you Lord.

I don't know what else to say right now. I do have several blogs perculating but none of them fit here so I guess I will close for now.

Everyday Things

".... For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstance" Phil 4:11

Jules over at Everyday Mommy is starting a new endevor, a weekly topic on everyday things. Read more about it here.

My everyday thing I am thing I am thankful for is my house. Sounds obvious doesn't it? But in this uncertian time for us, I am very thankful that we have our home, a place that is ours to live, sleep, cook and yes even clean. Which I have to go do right now, so if you will excuse me........

Read more Everyday Thankfuls here.

Works For Me Wednesday

Hosted by Shannon @ RocksInMyDryer



Today's tip is in the kitchen again. Maybe one day I'll move out of the kitchen.

I also have three small children....okay the 7 yo doesn't think she is small any more but this still applies to her as well. They go through those little plastic drinking cups like crazy. They aren't study to begin with and well my kids seem to be brutal on them, or take them out to use in the sand box, or in the tub. Well I never seemed to have enough cups for dinner time. But what I do have is an overabundance of coffee mugs, from my mug collecting days and the fact that I was a classroom teacher for 7 years and if you don't know what to get your teacher you give her a coffee mug. So now, at the table my kids drink out of a coffee mug. It is just the right size for their drink, they don't complain about a half full glass, when that is all they drink anyway. It has a handle which helps the 2 and 4 yos alot! Now if I can just keep the said 2 and 4 yos from trying to pour their own cups of milk from the full gallon........


For more tips visit Shannon!

for a laugh

http://d21c.com/terri1/flash/smile.swf

Tackle It Tuesday

I finally accomplished my desk! It has been calling my name for 2 weeks now. I pulled all the papers off of it! That was a night mare in and of itself. When I stacked them on my desk chair to go through, the stack was - not kidding - a foot high!!

I stacked and filed old bills, put current ones together, stacked cards we've recived over the past couple of months aside to put in the scrapping boxes, trashed numerous envelopes, put several recipes in my recipe binder. And organized my Pampered Chef files that are still open (and by that I mean work still need on them, not physically open folders) beside my printer on the printer shelf. I now have a place to actually work on my desk so that I don't have to move my keyboard to do it.

That was my project for this week. I am loving this accountability for getting my self in gear to get something accomplished. I have a list going for the next few weeks: The entertainment center, the boys room, the girl's room, the pantry..... you get the idea!

For more participants see Janice at 5 Minutes for Mom.

A Girl With a Dream

Awhile back, I was challenged by my SIL to write about how I met and married her brother. I did it in a several part series on my blog back then. Later I compiled all the links and placed them in one post. For some reason tonight I was going through my old blog and found that last post and thought since I had a lot of new reads that I'd link to it here, so that if you wanted to you could go back and read them.

A Girl With a Dream

This is not fair!

My seven year old just got home from Sunbeam Camp and is asking to go back to Jr. Soldier Camp later this summer. I just don't know if this camp thing is a good idea...............

Everyday Things

".... For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstance" Phil 4:11

Jules over at Everyday Mommy is starting a new endevor, a weekly topic on everyday things. Read more about it here.

I am learning alot about contentment here lately. I will probably be writing another blog post on the the lesson of contentment vs. comfort. But for now I am just going to pick one of those everyday things that I use. My computer. I remember not having a computer, I still have my typwriter that I typed many, many papers and reports on for high school and college. When I bought my first computer it was used and not really much more than a glorified word processor. But is was wonderful, because my typing sills are pittiful. I use the backspace and delete key at least half of the time. No more retyping my papers over and over because of a mistake I didn't catch in time to erase. Not to mention the wonderful friends that have met via the internet, I wouldn't have ever met them or any of the others I 'see' every day via bloglines. But it is still very imposrtant to me as I have my resume on file and I can print out what I need when I need it.

Lessons

Julia at Scribblings has been posting lessons learned in the hotel room with kids. I have had different experiences lately that have taught me several lessons.

#1 Every thing we have comes from God

      We never have had a lot of money. We have always wanted to earn just a little more so it wouldn't be so tight. But somehow our spending grew just as fast/slowly as our income, so it always seemed tight. When, we'd get into a budgetarty crunch before, I'd always be able to work out a fix somehow. And we'd slim up a little until the crisis had past and we'd again be in the same tight situation again. Enough but not enough you know. Even when my husband had the wreck and was without a job for 3 months we made it through. Mostly we were relying on that next paycheck. I always knew what it would be or close to it and could work around it. That was what I was trusting in. I knew God would take care of us, but I was relying on that pay check.

      Now, however, it is a differnt story. I am not working full time Yes I dabble in Pampered Chef, but that hasn't been all that great for me. And at the moment I am not working part-time either. My husband's work now fluxuates from day to day, some days being good and some days not even breaking even. We still have bills to pay and it has only been through the Grace of God that we haven't fallen further behind than we are. He has truly been amazing. He has provided for us in ways that I didn't even dare to dream of. Steven has had to make some choices in the way he runs his day to day affairs and I can say that consistantly when he has sought after God and His direction, God has been faithful to reward that. One example, in the past we have always tithed on the amount we took home, the net amount. Even starting this current venture we did the same thing. However, in the last 4 weeks, he has been taking out a tithe each time he recieves money. It automatically goes into the front pocket of his Bible case, which he takes with him everywhere. There have been weeks that the envelope that has gone into the plate has contained as much money as what went into the bank that week (most of his other expenses come out before he gives me any money and I usually keep a small amount of cash for incidentals the rest goes into the bank for bills). But I can say we have fared better than before. Not only in moeny we have brougt in, but in other ways as well, in making ends meet. God is honoring this faithfulness according to His Word Malachi 3:8-12

      We are by no means out of the woods right now. But we are depending on God and not that next pay check. And we are so much more thankful for each and every gift we recieve, because they are ALL FROM GOD, each and every one, including the daily income that hubby brings into this house.

Works For Me Wednesday

This works for me Wednesday tip is back in the kitchen/dining room again. Our dining table is an antique table that came from my MIL's. It is a beautiful table and large enough for my family, which is why we gave her our old table that only seats four. Anyway, the chairs didn't come with said table. We have been through several different options with our chairs, old thrift store chairs, metal folding chairs, padded covered folding chairs. These all had issues that made them not quite work with our table. Mostly they were too low to properly lift my small 5'2" frame to the proper height to the table. And our children who are, for the mean time, shorter than I am, well....... forget it.

Finally my mom, (sorry no link she doesn't blog), found us four nice dining table chairs at a yard sale. They fit me. Yeah!! But not my children, and there were only four of them, my family size is five.

Looking around my kitchen for alternatives I discovered that our trusty high chair has, not only a removable tray, but also a removable support for the tray. I took both of those off and can slide the chair right up to the table. Problem solved for the toddler!

For the other two, my mom came to the resuce again. She and my dad, just recently moved and had no need of their barstools at their new house. These were nice chair type stools with backs. They brought them to me and they work wonderfully for the older two children. And I have an extra couple of chairs for the infrequent dinner guests that we have.


For more What Works for Me tips see Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

Tackle It Tuesday

Okay, as I mentioned earlier, my Tackle it Tueday plans got changed by a sick little boy. Which not only derailed my early start, but also changed the job entirely. I was going to tackle the paper monster aka my desk, that I didn't get to last week.. I did the bar area and it still looks quite nice, but never touched my desk. Anyway it will have to wait again.

Sitting with my son in the bathroom this morning I noticed just how yucky the kids bathroom really was. And that is bad since it is also the bathroom that you would use if you happened to stop by for a visit and I actually let you in the door. lol. So while my little men were resting today, I got out the broom, dust pan, mop, windex and shower/tub cleaner and scrubbed the tub, toilet and sink down. Gave the bath toys a bleach rinse. Swept and srubbed the floor. Washed the mirror. Put away toothbrusehes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo etc. And actually put a towel on the towel rack. All of that only took about an hour, it would have taken less time if I hadn't wasted time looking for the thrid toothbrush before remembering it is at camp with my daughter, and no I won't say how long I looked for said toothbrush.

For more Tackle It Tuesday project visit Janice at 5 minutes for mom.

Teaser

As with Dana those of you coming for Tackle - I t - Tuesday......well its coming..... I have got a sick little boy around here today... The same one that made up the prayer in yesterday's post.

a four year old's prayer

Thank you Lord, for Daily Bread. You have been the only one to give us Your Strength and Your S trength is our power.

Amen

Quote

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Swiss-American psychiatrist and author

Heard around my house

Middle child, walking into the kitchen from the living room, with a full sized thimble on his finger.

"Here is a thumb nipple from Po-op-poly"

Book Blog

I have a book blog -- Please visit it and find out what we are reading around here.

Mom and Bug's Reads

Quote Time

Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can - there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.

Sarah Caldwell

Works For Me Wednesday

My idea is something that I stumbled across in the countless times I crossed the kitchen fixing coffee in the morning. Now I am not a coffee drinker, but my husband is. I learned to fix coffee for him to take to work. After endless trips across the kitchen to the pantry to get filters, coffee, sugar, creamer etc. I decided to use the cabinet above my coffee maker as my drink cabinet. In it I store not only the aforementioned (don't you just love that word) fixings for coffee, but also the pitchers for Kool - Aid and Iced Tea and all the necessities for these as well, those little envelopes, tea bags etc. The hot cococa, another drink I don't like, and my hot cider and spiced tea mixes are also stored there. Incidentally you will also find the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, coconut, powdered and brown sugars on the top shelf of this cabinet, for no other reason than it is a good place to store these little used items.

Tackle It Tuesday

Okay my Tackle It Tuesday is going to be two areas: My small bar area that is home to
homeschool central and my desk that is home to piles central.

Right now the bar area is piled high with books, refernce materials, notebooks, manipulatives, art supplies and other assorted materials that could be deemed 'educational'. My husband make a bookcase to put up there last year and it needs to be organized as well. We also have obtained a small TV cabinet that just fits under the overhang. Right now it stands basically empty. That will change

My desk also has piles of papers, things to read and study I have printed, bills that need to be and have been paid, a file of things for an application I filled out a couple of months ago, recipes, books from paperbackswap, a letter for Laine (sorry it will get out today). So those are my projects. Check back later today for the finished results.

For more Tackle It Tuesday project visit Janice at 5 minutes for mom.

Quote

You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.

Paul Sweeney

LBY week 10

Okay I am going to type off the cuff here. I don't really have a planned post. I just finished the video and rededication. Self-control hit me hard this week. This week, however, I expected a lesson. I knew self control would be a big issue with me. After all, how much time do I waste infront of a computer screen? How many times have I hit the snooze bar on the alarm, or flat out didn't set the alarm? Yes those two areas are the areas I expected to be hit in and yes I got some lessons in those areas.

I talked earlier in the week about an answer to a question. Somewhere I was answering a question about my husband. I said I wanted him to take my call home seriously, as a real carreer, not that I 'get to' stay home and not work. Homemaking is a LOT OF WORK. I know I am preaching to the choir on that one here, but you know what I mean. Somewhere deep in my soul, God said to me, he will take it seriously when you take it seriously. Whoa, wait a minute, I take it seriously, I quit a good job for this, etc. You know the routine. He is reminding my now as I type this of a lesson I had in Bible Study some time back. I forgot the exact reference in the Old Testament, but the point was this, God wants obedience not sacrifice. Yes God's Will will require us to sacrifice ourselves, our own wants and desires, to follow Him, but He wants our focus to be on obedience not on what we are giving up. On the DOING, not the leaving. Okay back to me takning this seriously. If I want my hubby to take my job at home as my calling, I must do the same thing. He isn't going to see it as more than 'getting to' stay home until I show him that is not what it is, but that it is my role in this family. Which means I must allow the Holy Spirit to control my self and allow Him to move my steps in such a way that that happens. Which will mean less, but more structured computer time and yes fairly set hours of wake and sleep. Tomorrow, or to be honest later this morning, won't be good either, considering that it is 12:23 AM as I type now. But with the help of the Holy Spirit, I will be getting up earlier in the morning.

Then Beth hits on the temple in the video. At first, it didn't get to me badly, after all I am NOT obessed with the food I eat or don't eat, with working out or being thin. Just not a poragative for me. Then came the specturm, you fall somewhere in between total negelct and total obsession. Ummmm neglect, that is an issue......ummmmmmm I am not sure I want to go there Lord.........not that I neglect to but food in my body..... but working out, choosing healthier foods, drinking water..............not doing those things are negelcting................ ummm..........I said I wasn't sure I wanted to go there Lord....... can't we just leave it at not being obsessed with the being thin part, not having to be made up every or sometimes any day.............Ummm okay, okay, I hear you stop neglecting your temple..........now you will just have to give me the time and the freedom or get creative with child care while I work on some of these things.............

Addie	Heather*	Carol
M	Rach	Jeana
Jenn	Amanda	MamaB
GiBee	Boomama	Maria
Blair	Heather	Nancy
Janna	Flipflop	Robin
Sherry	Patricia	Tara
Lauren	HolyMama!	Faith
Christy	Eph2810	Karin
Leann	Rachel	Janice
This is a list of the women participating in the study and the links to their blogs. New postings on the study will be published for the next ten weeks, between Friday 8pm - Saturday 8am. Please feel free to visit each of us and comment. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion as we seek to live beyond ourselves. May God bless you richly from the hearing of His word.