Seriously Folks....

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Moving

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Ok...I'm not so good at this

I was doing pretty well with no television last night...until about 1am...when I COULDN"T GO TO SLEEP! So I put a dvd into my computer and promptly fell asleep...I'm pathetic...

We did really well today until lunchtime...when we put in Dora. This is CONSIDERABLY better than before but still, what is my problem? I am starting back to exercising tomorrow morning...maybe that will help a little? UGH!

GOOD READ

I just started and finished "What Would Jesus Do" by Garrett Sheldon with Deborah Morris today! It was amazing and I have a lot to say about it...but right now I am trying convince myself I can go to sleep without having the television on...that has been my crutch for 15 years!!!!! I promise I set timers...but we are trying to go without television...I think I might hate it the most!!!

More random thoughts...

There are a couple of things I am worried about: My husband's grandmother is in a cult. I know that sounds completely bizarre...but it's true. She believes she is doing the right thing by herself...she attends regular "meetings"...she has the leader of this "religion" in a framed picture in her house. I am seriously concerned. I am also concerned about my brother and sister-in-law. I know they are amazing people...but I am scared for them...I know they believe they are doing things the right way...my sister-in-law believes in psychic (spelling???)...and various other things...I know they both think I am crazy for believing the Bible is infallible. I know they do...I know they believe the Bible was written by men therefore there are holes...I disagree. I wish I could explain it to them and have them understand where I am coming from. I can't even talk to them about it because they are so not open to hearing. I know the Bible says "those who have ears let them hear"...


TOTAL TOPIC CHANGE: I have been listening to "Shepherding a Child's Heart" on cd and THORUOUGHLY enjoying it. The book is VERY dry but full of TOTALLY interesting things...I was listening tonight about Proverbs. I think I am going to do some serious studying of Proverbs so I can really help my children to be the people God wants them to be...I want them to see how I act/speak/treat others...I have so much more to say but can't remember any of it...probably because it's 11:38pm...HA! :)

Sigh...

I love my life. I have an amazing Savior...an amazing husband...awesome kids...beautiful house...I am going to be content where I am. Just happy to be me...

Although...I am a bit sad about school starting back. My oldest boy starts kindergarten and my oldest girl starts 3rd grade...ok...sad about that but content with everything else ;)

Check this out!

This is so thought provoking...reminds me of where I want to be versus where I am. I feel like Paul in Romans...I do things I do not want to do and yet I know I don't want to do them...I just want to be good...

Ramblings of a Tired Mom

Ok...it has been an amazing week for a variety of reasons...so I am hoping I can put into words what is going on in my head and heart...especially considering I am a tired little chica!!!

I guess I am going to have to bullet this so I can try to make sense of things:

1. Youngest boy has been potty trained by my in-laws! They have already reached a special place in my heart after a difficult start and they are awesome...but this takes the cake!!! I called and told my MIL she was my hero...to which she replied "You can never get mad at me again...". I am not sure she was kidding, ha ha! They really area amazing! Took them 5 days and the boy is POTTY-TRAINED!!!!! WOWOWOW...they used pennies by the way...nothing like a bit of cash to make a kid do something.

2. We ran a fireworks tent again this year. This makes year 3 of us running one and year 4 of us being exposed to them...they are TOO much fun! This year was exceptionally fun due to my parents flying in from Texas and of course my brother and sister in law running it with us again. It was awesome! Actually, it was INSANE and awesome all at the same time. Needless to say, I have been a SLUG when it comes to anything around my house...nothing like a little catch-up after a long time of no sleep...

3. The simpler life is a must in my world. I am trying to find the best way to handle EVERYTHING...from kids rooms, to my things to the garage to the yard to PTO to school...just a lot of things going on in my head. I know I want things to be as simple as they were the couple of weeks before the fireworks tent. I am about to start reading the book "Boundaries" in the hopes I will attain a new level of understanding about myself to encourage myself to truly simplify.

4. Thoughts of moving have crept up. I am thinking my parents have done a major diservice to my sister and myself...somehow Ben managed to escape the desire to move. Good thing is that my husband is not a mover at all or my poor children would be moved every 3 years!!! Not only that but a part of me is realizing I could easily become someone who runs away when she is sad...or frustrated or whatever emotion I am not enjoying at the moment. Having a grounded husband definitely helps me deal with my own emotions when I should be dealing instead of leaving.

5. Visited our old church tonight. Still working through these emotions. I was amazing to see everyone and to just be able to be around them and enjoy them. Don't get me wrong, I love our church for a variety of reasons...but I miss the smallness of our old church...the people are truly loving and kind and they love us for us...not sure where my emotions on this one will take us but I am guessing it is God's plan for me to have these emotions.

6. I can feel a pull towards God. Maybe that sounds crazy but I can. I can feel myself being guided to do something about my relationship with Him. Now it is up to me to do something about it. This fits into my simpler life category...maybe I shouldn't have bulleted it, ha! :)

7. My parents took us to IHOP yesterday for breakfast. That place is so dirty...SO dirty. I kept asking myself WHY DO WE EAT HERE??? Then the food came, YUMMY! Enough said.

8. I am so sleepy and I need to go visit with my husband...did I mention we had an awesome fireworks show tonight, it was AWESOME! Those husbands can sure blow some stuff up! They had fun doing it, I do believe!!!

Good night...and thanks for reading my randomness.


TOTALLY FORGOT TO WRITE THIS BUT TOTALLY DON'T WANT TO FORGET:

Twins got two presents from my sister for their birthday...golf clubs with little portable golf holes and tattoos. So youngest girl comes up to me yesterday and requests a "tootat". I busted out laughing and told her of course she could have a "tootat". So adorable!!!

My Name

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 6 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Perspective

Lately, and seemingly too often, I worry. I worry about stupid things...not stupid things...random things...I simply worry. I have posted about things that bother me ALL the time...now I want to share what I am learning about myself...

1. God loves me. God loves me where I am and where I am going. He wants me to be myself...and He wants me to improve myself. This is not to say God wants me to stay stagnant, that is not it at all, He wants me to change EVERYDAY! THAT BEING SAID, HE LOVES ME REGARDLESS!!!

2. My family is amazing! I am learning so much about the kids this summer. They are awesome! I am learning you don't have to go anywhere to have fun. We have had a great summer already by just being at home. The kids love playing outside, they love riding their bikes, playing on the waterslide, swinging on the swings...just being. It is awesome!!! AWESOME and rejuvinating. Actually, it's empowering to know I don't have to do MORE to have MORE...does that make sense?

3. I am married to an AWESOME man. He is willing to do anything to take care of our family. He loves me no matter what. He truly doesn't care that I haven't lost the baby weight...('tis true...). He loves me in spite of my depression issues...He loves me even when I have PMS. WOW! :)

4. I love my friends...I truly love my friends. They are hilarious, fun, crazy, NORMAL and struggle with their own stuff...they aren't perfect. I love them...and I love knowing I am ok with them and without them. Does that make any sense? I love that I can be real with them and really STINK...and they will love me through it. That is remarkable in a friendship...BLESSED!

Mary J. Blige (I don't know but I think she might be a Believer COOOOLLL) just said it: You can't make other people responsible for your happiness...TOTALLY TRUE! I love it. I am so thankful God has put people in my life to show me how to trust Him. I am so blessed to have been surrounded with awesome people...Thank you God...

Youngest girl just came in here after a nap and said "it 8:40 I wake up" of course she has no idea how to tell time...too funnny! :) I am going to spend some snuggle time with the baby! :0)

MY NEW MANTRA....NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES

"It is no bad thing to celebrate the simple life" Bilbo Baggins (no, I do not know who Bilbo is...but I sure would like to meet him!). This is a quote I found at Amy W's Blog...I do believe I like this blogger already!!!

Thinking about God's plan...

I was just reading a blog (boy do I have to stop doing that, it is WAY to much fun)...and I had an epiphany of sorts...

5 years ago in January, Hubby and I realized it was time to move. Not change houses, MOVE TO ANOTHER STATE. We wanted to save our marriage and protect our family from falling apart. So we researched the Nashville area (as this was as far North as I could convince Hubby to move) and Hubby sent his resume to EVERY dealership and mechanic job in the entire Nashville and surrounding areas. SERIOUSLY, EVERYWHERE...Goodletsville, Hendersonville, Cookeville, Nashville, Smryna, Antioch, you name it, he sent it out. Hubby got one job offer. One. This is from 50 (at least) resumes. Now, at the time, I couldn't figure out why this was the only offer...I thought maybe this area was not interested in good mechanics.

Moving on, it's February and we are trying to find a place to live. We begin our search by the interstate...we check out about 20 different apartment complexes in about 3 towns/cities...and then we decide on an apartment right back where we started...

Moving on...it's 7 months later, we have lived in the apartment for 5 months and are miserable...absolutely miserable...we attend a church we love, we have great friends but we are hating our apartment...so we start looking for a house...my poor realtor...she took me to no less than 20 houses. The first one on the street we eneded up buying on. HA! No, we did not purchase the first house we looked at, it was just on the same street...

Moving on...We've lived in our house for almost 5 years. It is the perfect house for us right now. It has expandable space (which we are working on), it is in a great area, very close to our school...our friends are close by. We attend a different church than at the beginning of our move but we are more in love with God than we were before...we are stronger than we were...we are learning more than we've ever learned before...I say we, Hubby is pretty nifty...I am the one that needed the "learning"...it's working...

Some might call this coincidence. I believe God put us where He wanted us. We are learning to be content where we are. To be happy with the here and now. I am learning I want it simpler. I want to go through my house and take the garbage bag with me. This is what God has planned for us...and I want to say Thank you God...You knew what You were doing all along...

2nd burning question of the day

Is it smarter (economically and sanitily...ok, so not a word but you get my drift) to do small loads of laundry every day or wait until it piles up to a larger load in a few days? I am finding I can keep it up if I do a bunch of small loads but I am concerned for my water bill? Any suggestions?

HELP

Why did my pictures load sideways? Does anyone know???

The picture of summer

This is summer at our house...SO LOVED yesterday! It was awesome! I do believe hubby had a great time, he got to play on the waterslide and let the kids ride bikes...it was a great day! Oh, and I cooked TWICE! That is remarkable! :)

Messing around online

Tonight, I am being lazy...got the kids to bed (albeit a little later than usual) and decided to watch a movie with the hubby...now, watching a movie with me is a little different than with most people, I cannot watch a movie and do nothing else (you would think I would ALWAYS have all of my clothes folded, eh)? Tonight is no different, I am playing on the computer while watching the movie.

I love to read Shannon's Works for Me Wednesday posts. They are the most fun to go through and I have gotten a gazillion great ideas from her linky people. The latest post I just read was to fully rely on God. How incredible! After just discussing my "feelings" in my last post...it seems God really does look out for me ;).

I am determined to make a point to keep my MIND, SOUL, HEART, STRENGTH on God. He is my Deliverer. Thanks Shannon for the great idea of WFMW!!!

On a completely different note...we went to a birthday party today at Flicka's house, a pool party. It was a blast!!! The kids raced their battery powered cars (Lightening McQueen was the theme) and then ate a DELECTIBLE cake (Flicka makes the BEST cake and icing)...then the kids got to play in the pool. After a while, I got out of the pool and wasn't paying much attention to what was going on in the pool (hubby was still in there with the kids)...and didn't hear youngest girl calling for me and then when I did hear her, I didn't respond very quickly (you would think I had learned my lesson at the frozen yogurt store...which might be another story for another time)...and she proceeded to clear the pool in the worst way. I am thoroughly embarrassed (yes, I know it could have happened to ANYONE's child...BUT IT WAS MINE!)...and now I am regreting not pulling her out quickly so I could get her to the restroom in a timely manner...or at LEAST OUT OF THE POOL...So there you go...Flicka's SIL didn't know what had happened and quickly noted the time (party over time) and said "WOW, you people must really make a big deal out of the 4 o'clock thing". Ha! I am still a little (trying not to be a lot) upset and trying to work through it...sigh...it's back to swim diapers for the squirt.

I feel:

I have been thinking a lot lately...about what I keep saying "I feel...". That seems to be the mantra I have been giving recently and I am wondering if I am taking it to an extreme.

When I read the Bible (which I don't do enough of AT ALL) I don't get the impression God wants me to "feel" a certain way. Does this make ANY sense? I am wondering what emotion God wants to exude from me. I want to find the emotion God desires for me. I don't want to go through life saying "I feel _____". I want to go through life sharing God's promises and God's desires for myself and my family. This is my latest goal for myself.

So I wish I knew what caused this:

But I am still awake. It is 12:34am Saturday morning. My kids will be up soon. They will probably want to eat something...which requires my getting up too. They might appreciate some attention, which I will want to give them. You might think this requires sleep...apparently not.

On another note...I really feel good today. I am feeling like I am moving in the direction God wants me to move...because you know, it is ALL ABOUT ME...seriously though, I am thinking I am moving finally, no longer stagnant. Today, the verse I kept "hearing" in my head was "Be still and know that I am God" Psalms 46:10. WOW! If I can just keep this going...I might be able to work on my relationship with Christ. He is SO AWESOME!!! :)

So Oprah Might have something going

I Tivo Oprah every day and sometimes I watch them (some of them I choose to delete)...I watched one recently that spoke of improving your marriage...The way the people decided to work on their marriage is a rather interesting one that I am attempting to adhere to...we'll see how it goes.

On another note, I am praying to improve my self-esteem. It seems I am constantly YELLING (inside myself) at the devil to leave me alone...he seems to have a field day with my relationships and the way I feel in general. I hope I can figure this out...well actually, I cannot figure this out...only God can make me see how important to Him I really am...by having the self-esteem I have...I am all but telling God He does bad work. Don't get me wrong, I believe I need to work on this...but I know God doesn't make mistakes...now I just wish I could figure out how to make my emotions a NON-MISTAKE...

Don't Forget to Remember This!

So tonight...I am attempting a new discipline idea...it is a great one (remembering of course that lots of ideas are great, implementing them is another story)...The book was recommended to me by a counselor and it is called "Parenting With Love and Logic"...by Faye & Cline...ok...anyway, it is a method of teaching personal responsibility. Here's the scenario: Youngest Boy doesn't want his pillow turned a certain way so I flip it over while saying "Son, I am not sure you are going to want to sleep on this side because the print may be a little rough"...he takes this to an extreme and decides he doesn't want this pillow case at all and I am to get him a new one...NO WAY BUCKO! I hold my ground and go for the prize in reasoning with a 3 year old: "Son, you have two choices, you can either sleep with this pillow on the other side or you can sleep without a pillow." He chose to scream and yell at me...so I chose for him, pillow gone. Now its not like I am torturing him, there are plenty of nights I get rid of my own pillow for comfort. Ok...moving on 30 minutes...I walk in the bedroom for youngest girl discipline (kicking her bed...) and tuck her back in, she REFUSES a pillow...because Youngest boy doesn't have one...WOW! That was sweet...I hope they always feel this way about each other!!!

Went camping this past weekend...more on that later, IT WAS AWESOME and reminded me I want to live a simpler life. I am not sure God meant for us to be so insanely busy...?