Just Thought You Should Know

I just found a really good way to release the tension of the day and annoy my dear husband at the same time!! Just hum loudly and very off-key along with the really nice music that’s softly playing. There were (idle) threats of ice cream being poured on my head, but I didn’t even care. It felt as though it would be worth it at the moment. Sometimes ya just gotta let it out!

A Favorite Ritual

I don’t know if I’m strange or if other Moms feel this way too… A few days ago I went through Caleb’s clothes and got them sorted out for the winter. Every spring and fall I do this and I always enjoy it. What fits from last year? What bigger stuff do I have in a box for this year? What are we missing that we need to buy? Of course, with the younger ones it’s always fun to dig out the cool stuff that the older one(s) wore before. And it’s wonderful if I discover we have almost everything we need!

An added bit of fun lately has been to call my sister, Rachel and tell her what we need and then she goes to Good-will and finds all kinds of great stuff. We get to do that again this year, since she’s coming home for a visit next month. Yeah! So, Rachel, I have the list ready – and it’s not very long! I’ll call or e-mail it to ya soon…

Heart Stuff

I’m finding myself overwhelmed pretty often right now with everything on my plate. Home-schooling, music, swimming, baby, sick kids, garden and yard to get in shape for the winter, a house that I like to keep somewhat better than a pig-sty, mothering, cooking, laundry, etc, etc,. You get my point? I know this is probably the most demanding time in my life physically, and I know it will get better as the boys get older and can help me more… But it’s hard not to feel stressed and overwhelmed.

Yesterday morning I was out for my walk and praying. I told God that when I get to Heaven, I want to do things and then come back in “10,000 years” and find them still done!!! He reminded me immediately that my children and anyone else whose life I impact for the Kingdom of God are things that will “stay done” for all of eternity! That helped my perspective and my attitude a lot!

One other thing that God has been working on me is in the area of praying for my husband. I’m ashamed that I’ve not done that very well or consistently for most of our married life. But the Holy Spirit has been urging me in that direction. So, I’ve commited to praying for him every day for a 10 or 15 minutes. Man, the first day I did that, I couldn’t believe the things that happened around here. Keith came home from a meeting that normally could have been stressful and difficult and said it was a good meeting! We had a wonderful day together and God showed me some practical and specific ways to help Keith – and he was open to my help. Since then, I think I’ve seen changes in Keith, but I know for sure there are changes in my attitude. :-) (You mean to tell me, I have a problem here??) :-) Now that I’ve said it in cyber-space to who-knows-who, I’m really accountable to continue this!

So, now you know how to pray for me when you think of me! Life is a journey - let's travel together and help each other along the way!

Bits and Pieces of our Lives

*We’re starting to get into the swing of home-school. We spend about an hour doing Sonlight stuff in the morning. Caleb and I are enjoying it! We also read some stuff to Logan and I’m sure he absorbs some of Caleb’s stuff by just being around us. He’s still mostly interested in stories with pictures! Then Caleb does Math and Language worksheets in the afternoon when Logan is sleeping. So far he hasn’t started complaining about them.

*There’s some excitement on the extra-curricular side of things. Last week we started swimming lessons. The boys both love it and I enjoy watching them learn and excel. Caleb seems to be a natural fish. This week, they are starting music lessons. The program is called “Music for Young Children.” They will be learning keyboard, singing, reading music, rhythm, etc. It’s a really good and fun program for kids. I’ve always wanted my kids to learn piano or another instrument, so I’m excited about them having a good start this way. Hopefully it will be fun enough that they will want to go on and learn more. You can check out the program on the web at myc.com. Caleb was very unsure of the whole thing when we told them we were doing it. But after the first class, he's very excited.

*Logan and Josiah have finally recovered their health and appetites. In fact, Josiah has been wanting an early morning bottle the last couple of mornings and it seems like he’s just “catching up.” Unfortunately, Logan is sick again today. This time it’s a high fever. :-( It seems like he gets sick so much more than Caleb. Poor little guy. And tonight is his first music lesson. Bummer!!

*Did I mention that Josiah is crawling? He’s been working at it for a couple of weeks. And he’s gotten quite good at it. Of course, his favorite place to crawl to is the boy’s room where the Legos are all over the floor! :-( We’re trying to remember to keep the door closed. He sure is a cutie!! He likes to grin at you with his whole face – he squints his eyes and wrinkles up his nose. Awwwwww!!!

Small Things Make Me Happy

Some of you may remember the crumbling cement pad at the bottom of our front porch steps. Well, when Neal (the brother-in-law who does cement work for a living) was here, guess what?? We got a new one. Yeah! It looks really nice. Unfortunately, the railing along the steps didn’t quite survive when they took it off. It’s still laying in the grass, but Keith has an idea for salvaging it, and I hope he can put it back up on Sat. Then the surrounding flowerbeds need a little attention, etc. But the cement looks great!!

Hints from Hilda the Housewife, #1

How to Make Easy and Tasty Soup

1) Clean out/organize your freezers
2) Take out all the leftovers and bits and pieces that look like good candidates for soup. This would include, but not be limited to: pizza casserole, chicken gravy, scalloped potatoes, chicken broth, vegetable broth, pureed squash that the baby wouldn’t eat, etc.
3) Don’t be too concerned about the age of said leftovers. You can even use stuff that someone else gave you when they cleaned out their freezer and you KNOW it’s more than a year old. (I’ll protect your identity. Hehehe.)
4) Put everything in a big soup pot and simmer.
5) Eat and be thankful (that it actually tastes good!)
6) This works great for those “cleaning out the fridge” frenzies too!

I Have A New Nephew!

Congratulations to my brother Derek and his lovely wife, Elise, on the birth of Scott Jacob. He sure is a little cutie and I can’t wait to hold and snuggle him!!

Puke Is Good For Something!

It really is! Some time ago, someone spilled coffee on the carpet and it left a stain. I tried a bit to get it out, and since then I’ve been pondering what to do about it. It’s in a very obvious spot. Well, last Sat. when Logan got sick, some puke got on the carpet. I cleaned it up but later I noticed that some of it had been on that stain and where the puke had been, the stain was gone!! How weird is that?!? I pondered upon it and decided, hey, why not give it a try… I took a pillowcase or something that had puke on it, rubbed it on the stain, then scrubbed it with soapy water. I know it’s gross, but I just had to try. Guess what?? The stain is gone!! Maybe someone should market that!! :-)

One Word - Puke!

Yeah, there’s been a lot of that around here lately! There’s this really nasty flu bug around right now and it’s been making itself at home here. :-( Logan started throwing up on Sat. morning last week. He took a break on Sunday, but started up again early Mon. morning. He was puking from about 2:30 – 4:00 or so and when he was done, Josiah started! It wasn’t a very restful night! Since then, Logan hasn’t thrown up anymore, but he’s just not feeling 100% better. He hardly eats anything and lays around sleeping quite a bit. Josiah was still having trouble keeping stuff down today. He sure isn’t drinking much milk. Last night we had an adoption party at church for some friends who just adopted two children. I was helping organize the party so it was a really busy day! Once the party started, I started to feel dead tired!! At 8:30 or so I had to go home to feed Josiah, because he wasn’t cooperating with Keith. As I drove home I realized I was starting to feel nauseated! Oh brother! I absolutely abhor the stomach flu!!! I fed Josiah and put him to bed and took Caleb back with me to the church since he hadn’t been able to go. By that time I knew I was coming down with it. So I quickly gathered up some of my stuff and headed for home. Yeah, it was the flu all right! I”ll spare you the details! Thankfully, the nausea went away sometime between 4:00 and 6:00 this morning. Then I was just left with that achy, weak feeling all day. Not fun. I slept LOTS and I think I’ll be good tomorrow. I think maybe Logan and Josiah are showing signs of getting better too. Then tonight Keith started feeling yucky! I sure hope he doesn’t get the full meal deal like the rest of us!!

Can I Complain Just A Little Bit?

I know many people have worse troubles than I. But… This morning I woke up with a blister or two on the roof of my mouth. And as the day progressed, they spread. I’m pretty sure it’s a cold sore, which I’ve often had on my lip, but never in my mouth. It’s a real pain! There, I’m done complaining now!

God Cares About The Little Things!

On Monday we spent most of the day out on the lake with all the Grabers. We were at a nice little beach that even had a little picnic table. In the afternoon I was settling into my chair for a little snooze when I realized my necklace was missing. Of course the chain and pendant were both gifts from Keith. :-( Heather said she had seen it on me since we were there. I looked for awhile and tried to retrace my steps. But most of the area was quite sandy or the typical moss/pine needles/sticks of the bush. I finally gave up and decided, “Things come, and things go!” Quite awhile later, Keith, Heather and I were talking and I was absent-mindedly “drawing” with my toe in the sandy dirt. All of a sudden Heather exclaimed, “There’s your necklace!” I had uncovered it with my toes. Or else it had been lying there and I had missed it earlier. Anyway, I was very surprised and thankful to the Lord!!