Seven Quick Takes... volume 3

Taken from here: http://www.conversiondiary.com/

~~1~~

Crazy is as crazy does. And in this particular case, crazy sent the boys 2 $50 iTunes gift cards for their birthdays... after she already bought them each a brand new iPod Nano. For their birthdays. This is the woman who holds 2 college degrees yet works at a convenience store in order to pay the bare minimum in child support. She also hasn't legally been alone with either of them in over 12 years. To be exact, in October it will be 13 years. She hasn't laid eyes on them in over 3. Yeah, mother of the year material here. But the best part of this story has yet to be told! This woman who is not allowed any contact with these boys without supervision by the individual named by the court told them to write her thank you notes. Why would she want her own children to write her thank you notes you ask? Well, she is concerned that 'some "strapped for cash" person might "trade them in" for something (for example, diapers for a baby)'. Say what?! I kid you not, that is an exact quote! Um, lady if you are so concerned why don't you a) pay real child support b) try being a decent person and c) doing your visits and giving them their gifts in person like a normal decent person would. No problem though, you just pushed them closer to me - their REAL mom. You know, the one who deals with their crap, buys their clothes, supervises their school work, drives them to and fro, and cooks their delicious and nutritiuos meals. The one who has been there when they woke up, went to bed, and all the hours in between every day for the last 4+ year. I may not have birthed them, but I've done more than my fair share of the labor. They're mine!

~~2~~

We are moving on Tuesday. Assuming we can find someone to help me with the furniture and appliances. Unfortunately Super Hubbie has to work and we are stuck having to move during the week. Should be interesting!

~~3~~

Emelia sliced her foot open during Water Night at church on Wednesday. It is healing nicely and wasn't to deep but she lost a huge chunk of skin (I don't understand this as originally it was just a cut and then when I looked at it again after soaking it a huge chunk was missing) and is hobbeling around. She's playing it up for all the drama she's got in her cute little body.

~~4~~

This time next week we will officially have 2 teenagers in the house! Luke will be 13 on Tuesday. Hard to believe!

~~5~~

In reference to Number 1, the boys had a lot of fun picking out their iTunes with their gift cards tonight. Since they don't have individual accounts I sync their iPods to my account (when they are older they can have their own accounts) which means the content on their iPods is identical. Same games, same songs, etc. And when I sync my phone all their songs go on my phone too. To bad I never use the iPod in my iPhone!

~~6~~

AWANA is starting again soon! Joshua and Luke are L.I.T.s (Leader In Training) and they had their dry run today. Joshua works with Cubbie's (preschool) and Luke works with Sparks (lower elementary school). I love AWANA. I love how much my kids learn, I love the fellowship they experience, I love the whole thing. "I have hidden thy word in my heart that I might not sin against you..."

~~7~~

Soccer has started!

Thankful Thursday...

10. Strawberry Daquiri SoBe

9. Celery with cream cheese. Particularly cream cheese mixed with garlic and herb seasoning. WHO KNEW???!!!

8. Rootbeer. All the taste and none of the caffeine. WOOT!

7. Children who are old enough for slave labor... er, I mean helping.

6. That moving day is soon upon us, although I'm not entirely sure how soon. Almost definately in the next week.

5. Despite not being able to organize our homeschool stuff and not doing school every day things are going very smoothly.

4. Strawberry Daquiri SoBe. Oh wait, I said that already didn't I? Ok... how about my iPhone?!

3. I husband who loves me for me even with all my rough and ugly edges.

2. Wednesday night dinners at church.

1. http://marquissclan.blogspot.com/2009/08/surgery-update-number-two.html

Secret Keeper Mom and her Secret Keeper Girl...

Last summer I bought the Secret Keeper Girl set to do with Emelia. And then, I promptly lost it. It was too overwhelming and the baby was too little, and Emelia wasn't quite emotionally mature enough for it so I set it aside and then mostly forgot about it. I found it the other day and pulled it out to look over and see if we're ready.



Emelia's ready, I just don't know about me. I find it daunting and intimidating in the worst way. Just the thought of doing it gives me stage fright and I don't even know why. My best guess is that Satan ***REALLY*** does not want me to do this. Well, I'm going to anyway.



Our first date is supposed to be a Tea Party. So, I am in the process of picking out a really froo froo Tea House to take her too, just the two of us. We'll get all dressed up and we'll go have tea and we'll talk about how valuable she is and the importance of the way that she (and I!) presents herself to the world. Another thing I will do in preparation is to buy us each a special fine china or porcelein tea cup to use for our tea, which we can keep and always look at to remind us of the value God has given us as women.



As much as it scares me to death, as inadequate as I feel, it excites me at the same time. I will keep you posted! If you have a daughter who is old enough, I strongly suggest you do the Secret Keeper Dates with her too.

Thankful Thursday... better late than never!

10. Back to School shopping is done! I've bought the yearly sock and underware stash and Josh and Luke's backpacks are bought and filled. I'm not eager for them to go back, but I'm thankful the stuff is bought and done.

9. We are moving. Did I mention that? I am sooo thankful that we will have a bigger house. I love the location of this house but it is TOO SMALL. And it's super old and falling apart.

8. Super Hubbie brought home cherry italian ice's.

7. It's raining and I don't have to go anywhere which means I get to enjoy it!

6. Homeschooling. I am really enjoying it and I know I will enjoy it more when the year officially starts.

5. Fully stocked kitchen means I've been doing some great cooking! Tonight is simple comfort food - meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

4. Tomorrow I am making my famous salad and heading out for a girls day. I may never come home. ROTFLOL!

3. I got to go to Target today. All by myself!

2. AWANA is starting again soon!

1. The lawn is mowed and the holes in our plaster walls are patched.

Seven Quick Takes, Vol 2.

From here: http://www.conversiondiary.com/2009/08/7-quick-takes-friday-vol-48.html

~~1~~

I hired someone to finish the upstairs bathroom. He's up there doing it right now. The tile is mostly laid, and he's installing the toilet right now. I can not describe to you my happiness. One bathroom for 7 people is doable, but not comfortably!

~~2~~

We still don't have a move in date. We're waiting on the current tenants of the house to be out so we can put everything in motion. We also have our landlord coming on Sunday to look at the house. No, no stress here!

~~3~~

My heart hurts for a lady I know. Badly. I've lived in her shoes, walked where she is walking now. Her husband has lost his job and their home because of his sin issues and she and her children have to pay the price. The sin of Akin... so not fair. But then again, if life was fair not one of us would stand a chance. We would all be headed to hell with no hope for salvation. I pray she has the grace and mercy to walk in forgiveness to her husband. And I so wish that he would be humbled and accountable.

~~4~~

I saw a double rainbow today and so wish I had a camera that would capture it. I was driving when I saw it though so I wouldn't have been able too. It was absolutely stunning though!

~~5~~

Super Hubbie got the lawn mowed just in time... it's raining and we're supposed to have a big storm coming in tomorrow.

~~6~~

The down side is that if rains tomorrow it will interfere with my long awaited pool party/girls day with my friends. I am waaaay to undersocialized these days and my life shows the stress of it. We will still get together regardless, but it wont be as fun for the kids and much more stressful for the moms.

~~7~~

If you give a teen a cell phone...

If you buy a teen a cell phone, you will tell him that it is for your purposes and not his.

And if you tell him it is for your purposes and not his you will tell him to keep it plugged in on the microwave when he is at home.

And if you tell him to keep it plugged in on the microwave at home he will think he knows better than you, because after all, he is 14.

And if he thinks he knows better than you he will walk around the yard with his cell phone in his pocket.

And if he walks around the yard with his cell phone in his pocket, it will fall out.

And if it falls out he will not notice it.

And if he does not notice it, it will happen while his father is mowing the yard.

And if it happens while his father is mowing the yard his father will not notice it either.

And if the father does not notice it, he will pulverize it with the lawn mower.

And if the father pulverizes the cell phone with the lawn mower, the teen will wish he had left it plugged in in the house.

Dishonest estimates...

"Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other." ~ Romans 12:3-5

Just a little warning, I'm about to use this passage out of context a little bit. However I do not think I am changing the meaning.

This passage is talking about not thinking we are more holy than we really are. However, I propose that it works the other way as well. Sometimes we focus too far the other way. We see all that is bad and sinful within us and we think "how can God possibly use me?!"

This morning as I was sitting in church I was watching one of the other mothers. She had 3 of her 5 children with her in service. This is a woman who I greatly admire and would like to know better. She always seems totally calm and "with it". Even when life has been hard (and lately life has indeed been hard for her) she seems at peace, unruffled. Her children are always happy and joyful and show a great deal of interest in those around them and treat others with respect.

As I sat there admiring the way this woman was with her children, and the way her children were so obviously enjoying each other I was tempted to be envious. Much the way I feel a bit envious of Michelle Duggar when I watch the show 18 Kids and Counting.

Does she ever lose it? Does she ever have it up to "here" after giving the same instruction too the same child for the 5th time? Does she ever feel like running away from home because no matter how many times she sets her children up to suceed they continue to refuse to follow the rules and guidelines she has set out for them? Does she ever cry and yell out of frustration she feels over being disrespected?

And that's when it hit me.

From the outside looking in we can all appear to be the perfect Proverbs 31 woman. Anyone who didn't look to closely at me might come to the wrong conclusion that I have it all together. Reality is I know what it takes to make this home run successfully. The problem is that there are 6 other independant human beings with their own sinful wills and priorities.

I can go to church and put on the perfect mom face. And... monkey see, monkey do. My kids are also going to put on the "perfect Christian" face. When we are around others we all play the part. The break from reality leaves us feeling relaxed and happy. We smile, laugh, and treat each other with respect. We do it as naturally as breathing. And then we get in our cars and drive home feeling like we can never measure up to so and so.

The grass is always greener in other families. Other wives are prettier. Better house keepers. Wiser disciplinarians. Everyone else is always more.

"What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eye and think themselves so clever." ~ Isaiah 5:21

Seriously guys. I'll be the first person to admit that I fail my family. Big time. I have sin issues. I yell. I use words I should not use. All the time. I am severly lacking in patience and grace.

But that is not all there is to me. If that is all I see myself as then I am NOT being honest in my estimation of myself. There is so much more to me than that and I sin AGAIN by judging myself by only that. Especially when God came so far and gave so much to cover my short comings.

The bottom line is this: at the end of the day, the people I love are crazy about me. And they love me enough to look past my rough edges. They might behave disrespectfully, but they are "but dust". They are sinners just like me.

Why should I expect more of them than I do of myself? And why do I insist on beating myself up? Why do I persist in wallowing in the muck which is the lies Satan has sold me?

Honest in my estimation of myself: I am a sinner, covered in the blood of THE Sacrificial Lamb. I am a faithful and playful lover and companion to my husband. I am an excellent home organizer, and my family's behaviors do not change that. I am an active and involved parent. I care deeply and invest myself completely in my children's lives - physical, spiritual, and emotional. Some people have much bigger problems than to have to be subjected to my sin issues on a daily basis.

Back to my friend at church. She claims that she yells at her kids just like the rest of us. I can't imagine it. Really, I can't! But maybe, just maybe, behind closed door she fails just like me. And maybe, just maybe, I'm as good of a mom as she is.

Inspiration...

Things that inspire me:


~ God. The One True God who lives in and through me. The Creator of the world I live in and provides me with every good thing. The God who sacrified His only Son to pay for my sins so that He could have fellowship with me. The One who I owe everything, yet can pay nothing.

~ Super Hubbie. He is my best friend. He is my tender warrior. The one who fights to be the godly leader of our family that God has called Him to be. And when he fails and is discouraged he does not quit or give up. He dusts himself off and gets back on the road and works to be and do what God has made him for.

~ My children. The ones I would die for one minute and want to kill the next. The ones who can be so infuriating and yet humble me. The ones who quarrel with each other yet are lost without each other. The ones who long to live lives that are reflections of God. The ones who, despite their childishness and sinfulness have tender souls that put others before themselves. The ones who are so eager to learn about and explore the world in which they live.

~ Other Christian women. I wont name names, but there are those in whom I can see attributes of God. I see their failures, but I also see glimpses of who I wish I was.

~ World worn people. These are people who do not live lives that are pleasing to God. They stand to remind me of all that is at stake in life and how easy it is to fall short of God's standard. They stand to remind me of why God came and why I need Him. They stand to remind me that I am supposed to share Him with others.

~ Music. Music is the thread that holds me together. It expresses the very essence of who I am. I love to sing. I love to worship God in song. He made me musical. I feel Him urging me to use this for Him, but I am not sure of exactly what that is supposed to look like.

~ Photography. Boy do I miss my camera! I can not WAIT to replace it!!! I absolutely love looking at the world through the lens of the camera... especially capturing God's artwork in nature. The way the light shines through and hits things... amazing!

Seven Quick Takes... vol. 1!

I got this here http://marquissclan.blogspot.com/ and she got it here http://www.conversiondiary.com/ . AND, if I wasn't such a loser I would be able to make the word "here" be the link. But I don't know how, so deal.

~~~Number 1~~

We're moving and we're 99% sure we know where we're going. The choices were:

- moving out of the county to a house we could eventually buy
cons:
*Super Hubbie's commute would be 20 miles longer, making it a grand total of 92 miles 1 way!!!
*big boys would have to move to the schools in the other county. This is a negative for a couple of reasons but a big one is the other county does not have an NJROTC program, which Joshua is really excited about starting this year.

- moving to a bigger house in this county
cons:
* no option to buy
In the end we decided to go with option number 2 and should be moving at the end of the month if all goes well.

~~Number 2~~

Joshua (14) is starting high school this fall. If that weren't enough he is also going to be in NJROTC. When did he get to be so grown up?! I can't believe we've only got him home for 4 more years, He definately has the teenage "don't tell me what to do" attitude going on. It's frustrating how he can go from sweet to nasty in the blink of an eye. It's going to be very hard dropping him off at that high school campus. It will be even harder the first time we see him in his NJROTC uniform.

~~Number 3~~

I made this deliciousness for dinner last night and despite being a total experiment it was soooo yummy!!! The kids devoured it.

~~ Number 4~~

I'm going to be an aunty again! My brother and his wife are expecting baby number 2 in February. This will make Ian a big brother at the ripe old age of 15 months. I know most people think that is too close but in my opinion it is just about perfect! I really prefered having them close and really wish Sarah was going to have a close in age sibling.

~~ Number 5~~

Been trying for number 6 for over a year with no luck. I am so frustrated I've turned to Soy Isoflavones. We'll see how that works out for us.

~~ Number 6~~

Super Hubbie has been talking about getting a motorcycle. If he does decide to do that I wont try to stop him, but I'm not all together sure how I feel about the whole idea. Being that I was almost an only child because of a motorcycle my dad was fortunate to survive when I was a baby it makes me a bit apprehensive. But I'm not totally opposed to the idea either.

~~ Number 7 ~~

Thankful Thursday...

Eh, why not? Maybe I'll actually get back into the swing of it.

10. Moving. Yeesh is packing up a household of 7 daunting and overwhelming! But this time next month I will have central heat and air, 2 fire places, a basement, and TONS more room. I'll even have walls that I can put things on. The only problem is I don't know where we are moving to.

Both choices have pros and cons. The first choice is a more stable choice as we would be able to buy the house, but it would require sacrifice from some members of our family because of the location. Option 2 would be yet another temprorary move. I've moved 9 times in the last 6 years, 14 times since I got pregnant with Emelia. The thought of having to make another temporary move is really upsetting and overwhelming to me. My parents have lived in exactly 3 houses in the last 30 years and I am craving that kind of stability. And, it's really hard to make a house into a HOME when you know you aren't staying indefinately.

9. Super Hubbie is finally getting on board with some of the parenting crap that is neccesary around here, but has been left by the wayside. I am overwhelmingly thankful for this.

8. Homeschooling! We've started already and it's giving me a good idea of where they are, what their learning styles are, and where we need to go. It's also giving us a head start so I can impliment some other things throughout the year (like their AWANAs work) and take breaks as needed/desired.

7. Sesame Street, Blues Clues, and Yo Gabba Gabba which occupy my toddler so I can get things done.

6. This mild summer. I hope it is a set up for a mild winter, but I'm not holding my breath!

5. Vanilla Dr. Pepper. Who knew that would be so yummy???!!! Thanks Joshua and Luke!!!

4. Boxes - I saved all the boxes when we moved here so I don't have to run around trying to find boxes! Although I will probably still need to get more.

3. Freecycle - unloaders of the world, unite!

2. Midweek church services.

1. Bible curriculumn and listening to my kids read their Bible text out loud.

This, That, and The Otter...

Do you have any idea how hard it is to cook dinner when all you can think about is sitting down to blog? And does that make me pathetic?

Now that my little monsters... er, I mean monkeys... are occupied with dinner I can do a brain dump.

THIS

It's funny how my husband and I are so different in the kitchen. He can cook, I mean REALLY cook. Anything I want, no matter how fancy it is, he can make it if I ask. I am not so talented in the kitchen. What I make I make rather well, but my repertoir is very limited. The longer we are married though, the better and more varied my profferings become.

There are 2 ways in which I am a genious in the kitchen, and he falls short.

When Super Hubbie cooks, I swear he uses EVERY. SINGLE. DISH. POT. PAN. AND UTENSIL we own. It literally looks like a bomb went off in my kitchen and the thought of cleaning up is enough to reduce a person to tears. I on the other hand use exactly 1 cutting board, 1 knife, 1 spoon, 1 whisk if needed, and no more than 2 or 3 pans. The counters stay clean and there is very little clean up needed. Just load the dishwasher and wash the pots and pans and VOILA! You're done! When the Super Hub cooks however, you eat like a glutton and then it takes 2 days to dig out the kitchen.

The other way that we are different is time. I have this ability to have everything I'm cooking done at the exact same time. Super Hubbie can't do this. When he cooks everything gets done one thing at a time. For example, I made home made taco mac for dinner tonight. My home made cheese sauce, taco meet, and pasta were all finished cooking at the exact same moment. If Super Hubbie had cooked it he would have done it one thing at a time. It must be that whole "guys can't multitask but we girls do it like it's an art" thing.

THAT

I've started school with my 2 home schoolers this week and it is going very well. I haven't started making any actual lesson plans yet, as we have another month before the school year officially starts. I wanted to start early so I could get an idea of how I can best serve ADHD boy as a teacher. I also want to get a head start so we can take a more laid back approach and take days off as needed. I am wanting to incorporate their AWANAs stuff into our curriculumn so I'm trying to get a lot of the Bible curriculumn done.

One of the best parts of my week has been listening to Elijah read out loud from the Bible. He is such a strong reader and he reads with such enthusiasm and uses great inflection. We read the main text from the NLT (New Living Translation) and then they do their book work using the KJV (King James Version) so that they will understand what they are reading but still have the wording that the curriculumn as well as AWANA and Sunday School expect.

It is really interesting seeing how differently their minds work. Emelia works well independantly, but does not easily or quickly grasp new things. Elijah on the other hand must not leave my site or he will never accomplish anything. He, on the other hand, grasps things quickly and easily. Having the big boys around makes it a bit challenging to keep ADHD boy on task, but I've managed to find things for them to do to keep them occupied and out of his hair. I am having run relearning all the stuff they are learning right along with them! I am very much looking forward to Sarah being ready for kindergarten, she is such a sponge and loves to learn. I'm in no hurry though, I'm soooo enjoying this stage and we'll take our time moving on the the next one.

THE OTTER

(If this doesn't make you go "awwwwwww" then you have no soul!)

Just call me Rosy the Riveter...

It has been just about a year since we've had a full functioning bathroom. The shower in the downstairs bathroom is unusable because the walls and floor are rotting because the tiles were not properly grouted and water leaked through them. Because our landlord has not fixed this problem, we have not been able to use the shower for fear of causing much more damage.

THEN, as if that were not enough, the tank on the upstairs toilet cracked and would not hold water. The landlord promised to fix it. He never came. I tried patching the crack but nothing would contain the water and recently I noticed that the crack had become a full on break. For months (and months) we've been flushing it by pouring buckets of water into the toilet. This means we don't flush it every time it gets used. About a month or so ago I got a toilet off of freecycle with hopes of either replacing the whole toilet or at least taking the tank off the old toilet and replacing it with the tank on the "new" toilet.

Today I got fed up and decided to give ADHD Boy aka Mr. Fix It aka Elijah the oppurtunity to try to undo the screws on the upstairs toilet. There was just no way he could do any more damage to that bathroom than was already done. The carpet (yes, I said carpet... who in their right mind puts CARPET in a BATHROOM???!!!???!!!) was rank and really needed to be ripped out.

So, a few minutes into his task Elijah comes and tells me that not only will the screws not budge, but the toilet keeps tipping. Not the tank, the bowl. Whuh???!!! I go upstairs to look and sure enough, THE TOILET IS NOT SEALED TO THE FLOOR!!!!!!!! Well, it was the whole unsealing and resealing the toilet that had made me decide not to switch out the entire toilets. If the stupid thing isn't sealed anyway why not just take it out.

So, I got as much remaining water out of the bowl of the toilet as I could, donned some rubber gloves, and I picked up that toilet and moved it out of the bathroom. All. By. My. Self. (I'll leave the dragging it down the stairs to my big manly Super Hubbie TYVM!!!)

This led me to start ripping up the carpet. It was moldy all the way through and the particle board underneath it was wet and gross too. I was able to rip all of both out except for what is under the (also rotting) sink cabinet. I don't have the ability to get that out.

So, here is my plan: Since the floor boards seem to be miraculously NOT rotted I'm going to wait until pay day and get some stuff to water seal the wood and then I am going to lay tile on the back half of the bathroom. Once that is done I am going to hire a friend's husband to come in and install the "new" toilet and take out the sink/cabinet. Once that is out I will rip out the carpet stuff under that, seal the wood on the other half of the floor and finish laying tile in the bathroom. In the mean time I will be on the hunt for a new bathroom cabinet/sink for free/cheap. If I can't find it I will insist that the landlord find one for me and I'll hire my husband's friend to install it for me. And THEN I will FINALLY have a full working bathroom.

If only I had the money and ability to fix the DOWNSTAIRS bathroom