Resolved!

     We have had a great holiday season around here.  I hope your Christmas time was filled with fun things, family times, and reminders of God's blessings in your life.  Our family really enjoyed our break from the "grind" of school, and we spent several hours just doing nothing for a change!  I even stayed up late playing video games--*gasp!

    I was pretty glad to get back to the routine today, though.  Schedule is soothing to my OCD soul.  Although, I already miss the sleeping in!

    As most people look at the new year, they think about the things they want to change, or the weight they want to be, or the goals they want to accomplish in the new year.  I always feel that my "new year" begins in August, when school starts back.  That is usually when I take stock of our lives and see what is working and what isn't, make changes, and things like that.  So, the New Year for me is more of a time to check in on the plans from August and see how they are working.  (So far, so good!)

    Secondly, I think that in order for resolutions to make any impact in your life, they should really be made on a daily basis, rather than a batch of "I want to..." at the beginning of a year, most of which are forgotten by the end of the month!  I thought I would share a few things that I try to resolve to do each day.  Like a lot of things, some days it works, and some days it doesn't!  Which ones would make your "daily resolution" list?

       1. Pray more purposefully.   We pray over our meals, and there are the quick, desperate "mommy" prayers ("Please keep me from completely LOSING it!"), but praying purposefully can be something that is difficult to do on a daily basis--especially for us busy moms!  Praying purposefully means to me that I have sought a quiet time, alone, to go to God and talk with Him in a coherent, thoughtful way.  I have tried to clear my mind of the busy clamor of life to spend some time worshiping and communicating with my Heavenly Father.

       2. Think about God's Word.   Again, this is not a snatched verse here or there, but a time apart to read an spend time meditating on God's Word and what He would have for me to apply in my life.

       3.  Tell my husband I love him.  Yes, this is something I have to decide to do.  When you and your spouse are busy working hard all day, and then you come home to kids who need you to take care of them, it can be easy to push through until bedtime and then crash and burn at the end of the night.  Then, before you know it, it's been three days since you have said anything meaningful to your spouse besides "Did you remember to pay that bill?" or "Have you done anything for supper?" or "It's your turn to deal with that!"  Take the extra minute to connect with your love.

      4.  Hug my kids and tell them each I love them.   Usually this is something that happens daily at bedtime, but once in a while even the bedtimes are rushed and it is just time for EVERYONE TO GO TO SLEEP RIGHT NOW!!  Your little guys and girls (and your big ones, if you have them)  still need to feel those special moments, even in the midst of your busy life.

     5.  Remember this song.  We have an old Johnny Cash album recorded at San Quentin prison, where Johnny Cash is singing with the Carter Family and the Statler Brothers.  One of the songs on this album has the best words for mommies (and other people) to have in the back of their mind on a daily basis.  Here are the lyrics, and you could probably hear a recording on Youtube, if you looked it up.  So simple, yet powerful if you take a few minutes to think about them.  It's like a mommy theme song!

"Less Of Me"

lyrics by Glen Campbell

Let me be a little kinder
Let me be a little blinder
To the faults of those about me
Let me praise a little more

Let me be when I am weary
Just a little bit more cheery
Think a little more of others
And a little less of me

Let me be a little braver
When temptation bids me waver
Let me strive a little harder
To be all that I should be

Let me be a little meeker
With the brother that is weaker
Let me think more of my neighbor
And a little less of me

Let me be when I am weary
Just a little bit more cheery
Let me serve a little better
Those that I am strivin' for

Let me be a little meeker
With the brother that is weaker
Think a little more of others
And a little less of me

    Anyway, those are just  few of the things I try to resolve to do on a daily basis.  What's on your daily "resolve" list?  If you don't have one, maybe that can be your New Year's resolution! :)

   

Bowling, Valentines, and Other Fun Stuff!

     This week has been a busy one for us around here!  To begin with, we are finally starting to get over the recent sickness that has been plaguing us.  Yay! I think I should have purchased stock in a tissue company...we would have seen major profits the past two weeks!  Anyway, I finally put away the medicine back in the medicine closet...the first sign we're mostly better!

     Monday, I realized that in all the planning for the Valentine celebration at school, the boys didn't have their Valentines done yet!  So we spent Monday evening working hard on Valentines for all our friends at school.




  Here's First -Born working hard on his Valentines---Choosing just the right one for just the right person!






     Then there's Middle Biscuit...he was able to write all his Valentines by himself this year!  Getting so big! 



     Last-but definitely not least!-here's Stitch with his finished Valentines!  I can't decide if the face says "I love you" or "You'd better watch out!"

     The next day was Tuesday.  We decided to have our Honor Roll field trip and our Valentine party all on the same day.  All the students in the school have made Honor Roll for the first two quarters, so we wanted to take them on a field trip that was fun, not "educational."  We also had to find something that covered a wide age group...from 3 to 18!  This is not a very easy task!  But we finally decided on bowling, and it was a hit!  Every one had a great time--even the teachers!  Even I bowled...and I am the worst bowler ever!  Mrs. Porter got to come with us and she brought her new Valentine...

Baby A!  She was bedecked in her Valentine's finest...and look at her cute smile!  :)









   I enjoyed being able to practice taking pictures on a mostly stationary subject, and Stitch was excited to get to spend a few minutes with his new cousin! 







     I love his expression in this one!  Anyway, I hope you had a great Valentine's Day, and that you were able to give out lots of love to all your special Valentines!  :)

Brotherly Love

   Recently I've been noticing that my boys are more willing to help each other out.  This isn't something we've really been stressing, other than the typical "Be kind, share, no hitting" and so forth of the day to day life with boys.  But just this morning, the First-Born took time to read the little boys their favorite book before he left for school. And a few minutes ago, I glanced up to see Middle Biscuit combing Stitch's hair!  These little moments are spots of sunshine in my day!

   As my boys get older, I pray they grow closer together.  Because it's good to know that you have someone there for you no matter what.  Families should be this way for each other, even though sometimes you have to do the hard things.  Especially when someone's doing something you know is wrong, or just unwise.  Part of being a brother is saying the hard stuff when it needs to be said, or making the choice that is unpopular.  But it's not fun.  We'd all prefer to have a great time with our family over dealing with an issue that may be a problem.  Parties are always more fun than interventions!  But there is a call to do right no matter what...even through the hard times.  I pray that we can raise Godly young men who know how to stand for what is right, even among their own family.

   But for now, I am enjoying the little moments of brotherly love I am seeing evidenced.  They are few, but growing, and I'm thankful!  :)

Grandparents, Legos, and Other Fun Stuff!

   So it's been a little while since I've posted last!  We were pretty busy the last few days with some extra stuff going on.

   The in-laws came down for a few days to visit.  The boys haven't gotten to spend much time with their dad's parents because they lived several states away.  Traveling that far (flying or driving) is a daunting task, so we couldn't make the trip as often as we may have liked!  Now, Grandpa & Grandma are retired, so they got an RV and are traveling around, visiting all their kids and grandkids!

   Now, I have great in-laws, and I am thankful for that.  But I stress when they (or anyone really) come to visit.  I think this has to do with my OCD, because I need the house to be CLEAN when people are coming, and let's face it, with three boys it just doesn't stay that way for long.  So I cleaned the house Thursday, and again Friday morning, and then the little boys and I decorated the house for Valentine's Day.  We finger-painted (another struggle with OCD!), and put up decorations that we had gotten at the Dollar Store.  The in-laws showed up early Friday afternoon, right in the middle of a snowball fight we were having with the left-over snow.  (Ulterior motive on that: if the boys are outside, they can't mess up the clean house!!)  The boys were excited, and immediately dragged Grandpa off to the toy room to play with (what else?) LEGOS!  Grandpa built a house for them, and then fell asleep on the floor of the toy room, tired after a long day of driving!  I reminded the boys that Grandpa sleeping on the floor was not like Daddy sleeping on the floor, and they were not to jump on him under any circumstances!  Then it was supper time.


   Since I'm confessing things, I will just admit that cooking for people stresses me out too.  (I know...I have issues with things being just right...!)  So, I cooked dinner, and it was well-received, which helped me relax a little.  The boys and I made a heart-shaped cake for Valentine's Day, so we enjoyed that for dessert.

   Saturday, Daddy got up and cooked breakfast for everyone (he knows about my cooking issues), and then we decided to take the grandparents to the Lego Store in the mall.  Now, the in-laws are from a smaller town, in a fairly sparsely populated state, so I tried to give them advanced warning about the state of the mall on a Saturday, especially the weekend of the holiday of guilt-induced money spending.  But they decided to brave it anyway, so on we went.  Poor Grandpa looked like he was having second thoughts about 15 minutes into it!  But we made it, and the boys and Daddy came out with some new Legos, which made their day!

   We had to say good-bye to Grandpa and Grandma this morning, and when they left, the first thing Middle Biscuit said was "When are Grandma and Grandpa going to be coming back from the beach?"  (They are going down to visit more grandkids who live in Pensacola, which is where we take the boys to the beach!)  I assured him that they would be coming back through soon, maybe even close to his birthday in May.  Thankfully, we had a fun day of a school party at the park to take our mind off it, so we got ready to go without too much drama!

   Today being Valentine's Day, everyone is thinking about love and things of the nature.  I am thankful that my boys are loved, not only by us of course, but also that they have a network of loving, supportive family members that they know love them too!  We are looking forward to getting to see some of them more often, and teaching our boys the importance of love and loyalty to your family!

   Now I have to get ready for the rest of our Valentine's Day.  Making my hubby and kiddos favorite meal of spaghetti (I have no trouble cooking for them!), and I have some 'loving' laundry to finish up!   You can love in all kinds of ways, right?  :)

Don't Forget What's Important

   I have been privileged for most of my life to have my father as my pastor.  I have always considered this a blessing for the most part, although I have been illustration-fodder on more than one occasion!  I realize that I may have the privilege of learning more spiritual truths from my father than most people, simply because I have had the privilege of having him as my pastor.  I also love the fact that my children are growing up under his preaching and teaching, and that fact was driven home even more last year, when we thought we may lose him.

   Yesterday, he preached on John 4:31-35.  He brought out the fact that Jesus had sent the disciples to "buy groceries" because they had been traveling and were hungry.  The disciples left, and when they returned, they found that Jesus had led a Samaritan woman to salvation.  She had gone to bring more of her neighbors to come and speak with Jesus.  The disciples pressed Jesus to eat the food they had brought to Him, and he said that He had already been fed. (v. 32)

   What really came out in the message yesterday was the fact that the disciples were so focused on the task at hand, that they nearly missed the most important thing about their trip through Samaria.  They had obeyed Jesus in going to get the food, but all their thoughts were bent on the immediate.  They needed a reminder from their Lord to "look on the fields" and see the spiritual needs of the world around them.  I realized that this is a trap I fall into also, because I get caught up in the day-to-day work that I am called to do.  The Lord wants me to remember that even though I am obeying Him in the work of the day, I am to keep in mind the more important things such as the spiritual needs of others.

   I appreciated this reminder from my pastor yesterday, and I hope everyone else was able to take something away from their own services yesterday as well!  :)