Summer '09

Some would look at my life and say that I'm crazy busy....others would look at it and say that I'm just plain crazy! :-) But I love my crazy busy life.

I have had the wonderful priviledge of going on a Disney Cruise in May with my Granny and two amazing sisters. It was fabulous. The first trip that I've really just let myself relax, leave work/church and my cares behind and have a great time not having responsibilites. Courtney and Cassidy are old enough now to not have a second mother and it was fun to see them having fun. My mom has a hard time swallowing the amount of money that Granny spends on our every other year vacation but let me say that the memories I have from all of them are truly priceless!

Then 2 weeks later I was able to celebrate my 10 year anniversary the way Josh and I had dreamt of 10 years ago! We went on a cruise to Alaska and enjoyed EVERY minute of it!!! We never thought that we could go, but God saw the desire of our heart and opened up a door. We got tickets for $314 each for a 7 day cruise!!! We'll never find a deal like that again. I really struggled with spending the money because we are so tight right now and could have used it on a million other things, but now I am very thankful that we went. Josh and I really needed it! We needed the time away from church, kids, dogs, chores, problems, responsibility, etc. I wish we could get away for a week somewhere every year, but we'll just shoot for our 15 year anniversary.

Then we had lots of other church events plus finishing up school and moving into summer school stuff in June. The end of June my other grandma (Momo) came up and spent two weeks. It was really nice. She is 81 and I pray that I look as great and get around as good as her when I'm that age. It's amazing when you think that most people are dead at that age and she's still truckin'! We went to the Auburn 4th of July celebration and it was really neat. We all had a great time and then went over to Mom and Gar's for dinner and fireworks.

Josh did the Seattle to Portland bike ride that past weekend for Speed the Light...our youth missions program. He loves cycling now. It's really neat to watch him on his bike because he really does love to ride.

I spent this past weekend working down at Kent Cornucopia Days advertising for our upcoming Vacation Bible Adventure. It's always a lot of work, but hopefully some from the community will join us!

This week Josh is at Jr. High camp and I'm home with the kids and dogs getting ready to go to our church family campout this Friday. That means I have to get everything ready on my own, but that's okay. It's actually less stressful because I can take whatever I want and not debate whether or not we "really" need it or not! :-) I'm actually a very light packer. I don't think you have to take the kitchen sink to have a good time. If I need something that I didn't take, I figure we can live without it for 3 days! :-)

I actually have to pack for two camping trips because right after our church campout gets over we are heading straight to Sr. High camp with a van load of kids. It's going to be a great week. There are lots of kids going!

Again....I love my crazy busy life and couldn't imagine it any other way!

Broken Nose?

I think I might have broken my own nose yesterday!? Yeah, strange I know. I was trying to open a magazine that was inside of a plastic wrapper and when it finally opened the edge of the magazine (actually more of a large booklet type thing) jammed me really hard in the nose. It immediately started bleeding very badly and I never get bloody noses. I took a few deep breaths. Got the bleeding stopped. Put some ice on it for a minute and then moved on with my day. But today it has actually bothered me quite a bit. It's red in the spot where I hit it and now is VERY tender.

I've never had a broken nose so I'm not sure what one feels like. I went online and looked it up and I think it might be a small fracture which should heal itself in about a month. I put more ice on it tonight so hopefully that will help. It has a bump though off to the side and that's not cool. I don't want a bump on my nose forever. But I also don't want to pay to go to the doctor because I'm sure they'll want to xray it. So I'll just pray and wait. :-)

It is funny how fast things like that happen. You just never know what a day's going to hold!

Ramblings

It's been a long time...I won't even try to catch up from where I was in April to now. I simply want to write about this, that, and a bit of nothing. :-)

Upon leaving for a week long Disney Cruise with my Granny and two sisters I wasn't sure that my children would be happy while I was away. After all, I am the one that they run to when their knee is scratched or they need their bottom wiped or they need milk out of the fridge....but to my delight they had a fabulous week with their dad! I knew they would. I knew that Josh was more than capable, but they simply haven't been away from me for an entire 8 days. Now, some that know me may say, but they've been away from you for 5 days each summer during youth camps. Yes, that is true. But they were with Nana. Which is in essence their second home. They are completely comfortable with Nana and the life that they have at her house. I can't imagine my life nor the children's lives away from my mom because it simply always has been. Now, to some of you out there it may be that you would say, "No one should be dependent on their mother when they are 30." And to that I would agree. But I would also say to you naysayers, "Why not have all the love and support for your children possible?" Josh is very understanding about my closeness to my family. It was difficult at times at first because he didn't come from a close family but now he values their help, time, and love.

Josh did a great job with the kids though. He took them to the beach. Went bowling. Took them to movies. Filled them up with more junk food than I care to even know about. :-) Gave them showers and even combed Reagan's hair. Which is a task - especially for a dad. I was very proud of him. I have often thought I didn't know how they would survive if I were to ever die but I can honestly say that I know now that Josh would make an amazing dad even if I weren't around. Morbid? Yes, but it's still a nice thought that they would be totally taken care of. I have never doubted Josh's love and devotion to the kids - he is a great dad that does WAY more than most dads I grew up around. (Didn't really have one of my own.)

So, from me to you Babe - You're amazing!

Great Library Find!

Although I use a curriculum that we stick to, I also enjoy coming up with lots of great library books to work along side whatever we're studying that week. I also love finding great preschool resources for Reagan. I found a fabulous book and thought I'd share!

It's called Home Learning Year by Year: How to design a homeschool curriculum from preschool through high school by Rebecca Rupp

I got mine from the library, but Amazon also has it for $10.42.

There are a TON of great resources! It has some great ideas plus the best book list I've ever seen to walk you through a year of schooling using books that can almost all be picked up at the library. I still am a believer in curriculum, but this is a fabulous resource. I've said that already haven't I. :-)

I really had a fun time putting dozens of books on hold today for Reagan.

Another good series that I found was the Henry Pluckrose Series - There are 62 books in our library system that cover everything from letters and number to building a bridge, cooking, etc. They are "how to" books for kids.

Reagan's Week

My two kids have been very different in their learning styles. Javon is extremely smart since he was very young. He could write his name perfectly at 3 1/2, does math like no ones business, and picks up on things very easily. Reagan is very smart. Her strengths though have not been in writing. She just turned 4 and her name consists of "ololololo". :-) She signs everything that way and wants nothing to do with spelling "Reagan". She says that "ololololol" is how you spell Reagan. However, the girl has the memory of an elephant. She can seriously remember thinks that the average adult wouldn't even remember. And she does VERY good at concept things like "what three pictures go together" kind of thing.

It has been really fun watching her learn because it has been different than the way Javon learns. I'm having fun with her. Today we did her preschool work and she did sooooo good. She really has started loving doing her "pages" over the past few months. Today we worked on colors and numbers and the letter "T" which she did fabulous at writing a big T and little t without any help.
She had her 4 year checkup today and the Dr. asked if she was attending preschool and I said that we homeschooled. She asked what we were doing and I gave her a brief rundown, but she said that Reagan was very articulate for her age. Both of the kids have spoken very well from a really early age. She is just more selective with whom she speaks than Javon. He'll speak to a board...Reagan has to warm up a bit first.

Next week we'll be working on PIZZA. It should be fun. Then we'll end it with pizza and a movie on Friday night. I get ideas from a great website www.pammshouse.com. It has a year's worth of toddler lessons. They are a bit too simple now, but they're a great springboard for weekly ideas.

Tuesday - Nana Day! Yeah....the kids LOVE Nana days.
Math: Number Recognition
English: 4 books
Penmanship: Trace "Reagan" 4 times
Bible: Memory verse from Sunday School
4 pages of concept work
Game: Toss items into a PIZZA box (of onto a frozen pizza box) :-)
Craft: Paint a paper plate with red paint, sprinkle with cornmeal (cheese), onion flakes, other spices.

Wednesday -
Math: Cut out pepperoni circles and count them (Shape - Circle)
English: 4 books
Penmanship: Trace "Reagan" 4 times
Bible: Sunday School page
4 pages in preschool book
Game: Patti Cake Pizza Man style
Craft: Look through magazines and find pictures of pizza or pizza toppings, cut out and glue on a paper pizza

Thursday -
Math, English, Penmanship, Bible, Preschool Pages (same as above)
Game: Toss items into a pizza box
Craft: Make pizza counting game/Make Playdo pizzas

Friday - Math, English, Penmanship, Bible, Preschool Pages (same as above)
Game: Not sure yet?
Craft: Not sure yet?

Any ideas?

Just starting again today....

So I've been horrible at blogging which is not necessarily a bad thing because I simply haven't had time to. When I do go to blog I think of all the things that I have done since my last post and then I think....should I go back to those events? So today I decided to just start where I am right now...today!

Today I was at church for our Annual Church Workday. I never mind going because I get my kids' supplies organized and ready for another season. This year was by FAR the best that the supply room has ever stayed. I've been much better at putting my kids' church stuff away after every Sunday and the teachers of the younger classes have been much better about not just "dumping" things on the ground. It was nice to get things tended to.

My sister, Courtney, was a huge help and emptied all of the cabinets in the classrooms and reorganized it all. Debbie, our associate pastors wife, worked in one of the rooms and they traded stuff back and forth and made sure all the rooms had adequate crafts, snacks, and supplies. I honestly can't say what I'd do without Courtney helping me organize things. She is gifted in organizing. I hate taking everything out and putting it on a table. It's overwhelming to look at it all. Cover your eyes for a minute crafters - I do NOT enjoy crafting! Yes, I know it's one of those things that I think is supposed to come natural for someone who works with kids. I don't mind if it comes in a nice little bag from Oriental Trading Company :-) but just looking at a pile of junk and coming up with an amazing craft like some of you is not my thing. Anyways, Courtney worked hard organizing the crafts and cabinets. Thanks Sis.

THEN I went into the dreaded prop room! It's much better than it used to be, but every year after Christmas it is a task to organize all the props and costumes. I have worked on the items that I personally used in the past, but today I dove into the depths/underbelly of the beast and pulled stuff out from the '70's. Not kidding! Yeah, angel costumes where golden instead of white after that long in a box. It sounds worse than it really was because these items were for the most part neatly shoved under shelves in boxes. That is why it took me TEN YEARS to actually pull then out. For many years, I have acted like I simply didn't want to throw away someone else's things, but today it hit me that no one else EVER goes in that room except me :-) and it was time to toss stuff. Other people do actually go in the room but not for the props or costumes. It sure felt good to get things purged.

So let me ask you a question....if you had a box with 40 pairs of sandels in the prop room what would you do? Most people have their own sandels that they would prefer to wear in a play. Right? And then the question poses itself "When was the last time that we had a play that needed 40 pairs of sandels?" Not in the 10 years that I've been hear. BUT someone went to a lot of work finding all those sandels and then what happens next year when we decide to do a play that involved 40 people wearing sandels? What then? So to keep the sandels or not keep the sandels is the question..........

Oh and I won't even ask about the 150 shepherd costumes hanging up! Were there even a 150 shepherds in the whole town of Bethlehem on the night Jesus was born? Have we ever had more that 5 shepherds in any Christmas play throughout America? Oh, I said I wasn't going there. :-) But I simply can't seem to part with the costumes.

Okay, so I've posted. Not that it has any relevance to anyone's life out there in cyberspace. But still, I blogged. :-)

A fun night about aprons

Yes, I agree. Lord, help me to teach our children and youth these truths!

1. Worship Creates Hunger “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:1-2).

When is the last time you heard a teen say, “When can I go and meet with God?” When you hear that phrase you know you’ve met a worshiper. Entering the Lord’s presence through worship creates satisfaction and hunger simultaneously.

2. Raise Your Praise. “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!” (Psalm 47:1).

In the blank provided write the name of the last professional football event that you attended that was quiet: __________________________. Is the blank still blank? Do you know why? Because the people in the stands are worshipping what’s happening on the field (at least one group of fans). When God is active in our field of life we respond with praise.

3. Let God Find You. “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks” (John 4:23).

God is looking for us. He is seeking us. Will He find us? If we had a special pair of glasses that revealed true worshipers, how many people would be in the pews Sunday morning? How many would God find?

Zone Members: Read the complete article of "10 Tips for Teaching Teens to Worship"

Your Partners in Ministry,

Paul & Al

Some thoughts....

I was going through my 2008 day planner and thought I'd take a minute to write down a few things that I wrote down last year and want to take with me into 2009.

These are random thoughts from me personally and also out of various books, sermons, and conferences.

*Do you have the COURAGE to walk through a season of disfavor, knowing that it will lead to a greater manifestation of God's favor in your life? (Mary had favor with God, but not with man!)

*I want to be more patient, present, and imaginative with the kids!

*Destress, destress, destress.....NO yelling!

*Read more books to the kids. Play one board game a day.

*Childhood Matters: Everything we do deposits something into our children! Our words, our actions, and our tone of voice.

* Invite wisdom....even if difficult.

*Faith - without it it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God!

*We create our world with our words.

*Jeremiah 29:11 - God has a plan for our lives Psalm 139 - I am fearfully and wonderfully made If we can get these two things verses into our children's spirits they will know that God has made them special and has a marvelous plan for their lives.

* Every time you touch a child out of kindness you impart a blessing - Touch heals.

* The Five Love Languages of Kids - Read it!

These are all things that I worked on last year and am trying to work on again this year. I have more that I'll post later. I think this is enough to ponder on. :-)

A good life!

Yesterday was a great day! I have been trying really hard to keep up on my schedule, housework, school, church, and life in general. I've been reading a lot of great books lately on marriage, parenting, ministry, etc. and they are a great reminder of what the important things in life are. A few that I'd recommend highly are:

Raising Godly Tomatoes by L. Elizabeth Krueger
It is mostly for parents of younger children. It talks about how important it is to keep young children by you while you train them in the ways of the Lord. There is a lot of great tools in this book. www.raisinggodlytomatoes.com

Help Mate by Debbie Pearl
Wow, what a powerful message to women about how to be a godly wife! All I can say is READ IT. :-)

My crazy imperfect Christian family: living out your faith with those who know you best by Glenn Stanton
I've really enjoyed this book. It covers a broad range of topics from forgiveness, raising godly kids, getting along with your spouse even in the rough times, and more. Glenn works for focus on the family and is very candid about his families imperfections but also about the hope that comes through Jesus to raise our kids up in a solid Christian home.

Just a few of the books that I'm reading and enjoying right now.

Kids Routines from flylady.net

Since I wrote about MY routine that I really enjoy based off of flylady.net, I thought I'd share some of their kids' routines.

They actually have a new section for kids called Riley's Challenge. Each day it has one little task for the kids to do which usually takes about 5 minutes. (Put away crayons, organize books, straighten sock drawer, etc.)

They also have a Student Journal that helps teens start to get their lives organized. It has a morning and evening routine plus a daily cleaning schedule for their bedroom. I printed it off for my sisters and thought I'd share it really quick.

Monday - Your Bed: Straighten your bed. Clean your nightstand. Get rid of all trash in bedroom.

Tuesday - Your Closet: Hang up all clothes. Put all dirty clothes in hamper/put away all clean clothes. (Do laundry if that is part of household responsibilities)

Wednesday - Your Floor: Pick up all the clothes and trash up off of the floor. Vacuum - without being told to!

Thursday - Your Desk: Throw away all of the trash and junk papers on your desk. Put important papers in drawers. Take all dishes to the kitchen. Clean out all desk drawers that last Thursday of each month.

Friday - Your Bathroom: Once a week, clean the shower while you are in there. Throw away old bottles of stuff and old razers you don't use. Wipe down the sink, toilet, and then floor with your wet towel. Empty laundry basket.

Without even realizing it, your kids will have a clean room every day! No more spending hours on a Saturday. Just 5-10 minutes per day.

Daily Routine

To my blogging followers (my mom), sorry that I've been absent. I can't promise it will get much better. I've found that I really enjoy looking at other peoples' blogs more than I enjoy typing on my own. But it does seem like one of that give and take relationships in the blogging world where I would be selfish to only take from others and never give anything, so here's my gift to the world. :-)

In the middle of last year I found Flylady.net and it has been a great tool for me! I really love it. It breaks your house down into different zones to work on each week. It also encourages you to do certain daily tasks to help keep life more organized. During the holidays I slipped a bit on my daily routine, but I've been trying VERY hard to maintain it so that my house stays pretty decent at all times.

Here's my AM routine (except Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays):
-Brush teeth, go potty, weigh (too detailed?)
-Make hair and face look somewhat presentable if someone drops by or the I see a neighbor, but I do stay in sweats or PJ's when I'm at home because I dress up for church and work.
-Swish and Swipe the bathroom....clean the toilet and wipe down the counter after putting everything away. This has been a new one in 2009. I didn't do it last year, but have been trying to keep up with it every day this year.
- Start 1 load of laundry. This is also new for 2009. Last year I saved all my laundry and did it all on Thursdays, but I thought I'd give it a try and I've actually liked it. Somedays I just do my one load and other days I just work on it all day and get it done for the week. Thursdays are still my "have to have it done" day though.
- Get the kids' breakfast.
- Put away dishes that I washed the night before while the kids eat breakfast.
- Lay out dinner for that night.
- Take vitamins and get a glass of water.

PM Routine -
- Pick up entry way.
- Wash the dishes and clean the counters. (I hardly use my dishwasher anymore now that I do this.)
- Clean desk area while shutting down computer for the night.
- Do a quick runthrough of the house and pick random things up.
- Brush teeth, floss (I try to remember!), and wash face or take shower
- Kiss Josh (He always stays up later than me!) Night owls.....
- Read my Bible (I love my Daily Bible that has Old, New, Psalms, Proverbs)
- Write in my journal
- Lights out by 11 PM on weekdays; 12 AM on weekends

Kids Chores -
I've started having the kids do some specific chores every day before we start school just so they get used to the routine of it. It's been working very well. They both put their shoes away that are in the entry way, make their beds, tidy their rooms, and then Javon takes the recycle out while Reagan puts the silverware away. They usually make a race out of it and it only takes like 15 minutes.

My mom has always been great about keeping everything picked up! I never remember our house being messy as a kid. I wish my kids could say that! :-) But I'm really working on it!!! I want to be organized and clutter free. I've been letting go of things and learning to keep on top of this routine so that things stay within my control. It all about self-discipline. Yeah, I'd rather not do the dishes before bed, but then I wake up and feel yucky seeing them in the morning. So that's what I've been working on in 2009!

Happy New Year!

A smile sits on my face and I'm not quite sure why except that with the stroke of the clock comes a fresh sense of DAY 1.... I am not in New York City or even surrounded by friends or most of my family, but I am completely aware that my FATHER loves me and has a plan for my life, Josh's life, and my kids' lives.

There are small fireworks displays going off throughout my neighborhood; reminders that most of us don't have a lot of financial wealth but we do have more than so many others around the world. Our home may not be show quality or our cars built in the last decade, but what we do have is more than enough.

I don't have my husband to kiss tonight, but I know that he is right were he should be....praying with and having fun with our church kids. My kids aren't awake to "ring in the new year" with me, but they are cuddled up in blankets laying at my feet. That's pretty special if you ask me.

There was no party to attend and no reason to even take a shower for that matter today, however, I accomplished a lot around the house and with the kids in school and that's more rewarding than getting all dolled up to have a night on the town. Not that I even know what that is considering I've only stayed up past 1 AM a handful of times in my life. :-)

I have $12 in my checking account but my bills are paid and I the promise of another check coming this Friday; but if it didn't come I know that my heavenly Father would take care of me. There have been times that I have stressed about money, but I've come to the realization that having little or much doesn't change your worth.

There hasn't been anything "BIG" that has happened in 2008 per say. No babies or buying a home or finding out that someone you love has a disease you have no idea how to manage....no ministry changes, no death or lose, no great victories to speak of.....but what I can say is that my babies are healthy and growing up every day and that at least I have a home when so many are losing theirs and that my husband has felt better than he has in 5 years and I feel like I have the man I married back again after an absence due to fear and side effects of medication. I can say that although our church hasn't grown by much, I know that there are little boys and girls that will always remember that I took time to care for them and teach them about Jesus. Hopefully someday they'll do the same for others. I can say that there are teenagers who know Josh believes in them when most other people don't. I can say that I have sisters who I love and I believe are realizing God's will for their lives although they may not say it to others. I have a mom and dad that support me and love me and are always there for me. I have friends that God has put in my life that "stick closer that a brother".

Is everything perfect? No, nothing ever is, but that doesn't mean it's not good. I have yelled at my children this year when they didn't listen for the 10th time. I have been frustrated and treated my husband poorly when I shouldn't have. I haven't told my sisters enough that I love them and can't imagine how boring life would have been without them. I haven't spend quality time EVERY day with my Savior and Lord...the One who died to take away all my wrongs and offer my eternal life. But for all the wrongs and all the mishaps, there is one promise - tomorrow will come - tomorrow is here. 2009 will be what I make it! Whether the economy is good or bad, gas prices rise or fall, or God forbid a tragity comes across my path, I will say, "That whatsoever state I am in I (am learning) to be content."

Hug those you love tighter today, smile wider, teach more passionately, share more openly, love deeper, pray longer, sing louder, dream bigger, speak softer, cherish everything....may God bless us all as we seek and serve Him in 2009!