getting ready for company

My life belongs to me again after the 5th of June, or whatever day next Friday is! I can hardly wait!
Today we have dress rehearsal for recital, tomorrow I am volunteering at a show my kids are not in and then they dance in 2 shows on Saturday. Unfortunately we are one of the 15 families that have to attend both shows to see all the kids - just think, if they dance in more classes next year....
Anyway, then next week is the Spring choir concert and then we are finished swimming lessons and all commitments are done! Yay! I love the end of the year when we are more free with our own schedule, as much as I love the beginning when it is all new and exciting!
We are getting ready for company this weekend too, which is good for all of us as well! Company is always fun!
I have lots I want to write about, but it is late (actually early) but I was coughing and couldn't sleep so I got up, but now my brain is tired again so I should try and go back to bed....maybe more later!

I have so much work to do!

I have been trying to limit my computer time over the last couple of weeks. Getting a laptop was liberating at the beginning - but sometime over the last while has become obsessive! LOL!! You know you might have a problem if every single thought you think becomes a Google search!
So now I am trying to limit myself with a timer to the early morning before school - and then not until lunchtime, and then after the tidying is done in the afternoon. I have been making lists of the things I want to Google, so I can get to it later! Have I ever told you how much I dig Wikipedia??
The problem is that there is so much work to do in my house right now - as there is for all moms at the change of seasons! Clothes need to be rotated and stored or given away, toys and a lot of books need to leave this house, windows need to be washed now that the Windex won't immediately freeze upon contact (except that it is snowing this morning!!), and my yard needs someone who knows more than I do!!!
And technically we are supposed to be finished school in about a month! A month!! Ugh! I just remembered yesterday that I need to submit my evaluation! I have so much stuff that I wanted to do this year - and I still have no idea what I want to do for next year!
So while I still feel stressed about all there is to do - there is so much I am looking forward to! The main thing being CAMPING!! Oh how I can hardly wait to be outside, let my hubby take the kids to the lake and I can stay at the site and read in the shade of my canopy! We spent Mother's day with my parents in Lumsden where they had thier new camper parked - and the itch has been activated in me!! I can't wait!
I also am looking forward to things ending! I love the end of the year when activities are over and the schedule is put to rest! Wednesdays are already done for the kids, and almost for us, dance is ending soon, swimming will be over right away and choir is almost done!
Now if the snow would just stop falling....

why is it...

that everytime I have a 'quiet time' in the morning (which was not at all quiet today - I will have you know) that I know that God is speaking to my heart, and then after a few days I will let the busy-ness distract me again? I don't get it. I am not a stupid woman, (at least I don't usually think I am) so why don't I continue doing things that I know are good for me?

I am reading this book right now

that I borrowed from a dear friend. It is such a good book, but challenging! Even in areas where I think I am doing okay, I have to admit that if I really look at my actions and the motivations - I have work to do!

I am so glad that this life is not a sprint, but more of a marathon - although that in itself challenges me! I am a results kind of person - I want the finished product - the process is sometimes so overwhelming!

Spring

Yes, it really is!
AAA is over for this school year, and swimming lessons have started. I wasn't going to do swimming this year, but my sister asked me if I could hold one of her kids while she took the other one. It will be fine, but it seems like a lot of prep to get there and stuff. By the time I get it down to a science it will be over!
It actually works out well for me too - don't get me wrong. We are actually trading kids for that half an hour, because she is taking my Amelia in with her to the lessons, so that is helpful! Besides, my other kids would have been mad if I had jammed out anyway! So it is all good!
Butterfly larvae have been ordered and should be here next week. I can't wait!
Bowling is over, dance recital tickets have been purchased and we are almost there! Whoo, I can't wait for summer break!
My kids have been crazily playing outside, riding bikes, we have gone for a couple of walks...finally nice enough to be outside! I am hoping that I will have a new back step/deck so I can try and start my mornings out there with coffee, but we will see!
This weekend we worked on the master bedroom in this house - I will post pictures as soon as my batteries are charged!

what??

I know, it has been a while (thanks for the reminder - you know who you are!!) I just don't really have much to say. There are all sorts of reasons why that I don't really want to get into - and let me just say that I would appreciate the rest of you all posting to your blogs more regularily too!!! :) I need stuff to read here my friends!

I can share with you some of the things I have made recently....here...

They are not exactly the best pictures, but still it gives you an idea! The book mark is not my creation solely either - it is something we put together for the kids in our papercrafting class at AAA, so I won't take all the credit. Ideas for both of the other cards were taken from Splitcoast as well.

We have another dance competition this weekend, but just Olivia. I am excited for her, it should be fun...someone told my hubby that this one is a BIG deal so we'll see - we thought the one we have already been to was a big deal, so it should be interesting at the very least!

Okay, I am off to vacuum, but now you know I am still around - I do have other cards to share with you - I will get to it - I promise!

I think I forgot to take a picture of the card I made for my nephew but I will ask my sister is she still has it, because it is RIDICULOUSLY cute! Another one that I CASEd - so I am not really tooting my own horn! ;)

C

great post

I read this great post on another woman's blog - that I linked to from someone ELSE's blog. I got sucked in reading about her infant son's SVT surgery and got to this post that I had to share!!
http://www.mycharmingkids.net/2008/12/submission-is-not-four-letter-word.html
I hope you read the whole thing, I hope you read the book she is talking about if you haven't already, and I hope you take time to realize today how blessed you truly are, wherever you are!

C

Dance competition

This was our first ever dance competition. All three of the older girls competed in the 10th Annual Invitational Showcase at The Performing Arts Centre. It was a really fun time!

I was so excited to have them be a part of it - it really gets your blood pumping, all the excitement and atmosphere! It also gives us an opportunity to have them have stage practice and wear their costumes more than once!!
Here are some pics:

Olivia the ballerina!

Grace before with her hair in rollers!

Grace after with hair and make-up!

Amelia before with her hair in rollers

Amelia after costume and make-up!

Super cute, heh?? I wish I could have taken pictures at the event, but flash photography is very distracting to dancers on stage so there is no cameras allowed at the theatre....they did good. Olivia had one little mis-step and Grace got a little behind - which is unfortunate, because some of the other girls watch her so they got a bit behind too - I think it took the group longer to get all the way on stage than they had anticipated in practice. The best part is all of those kinks should be worked out before the recital! It was really great!

Olivia's group placed 1st in their division and Grace and Amelia ended up competing against each other in the same age grouping somehow - so Amelia's group got 2nd and Grace's got 3rd. Greg asked if I thought that Amelia's group were actually better - and I think that although Grace's group had better technique - Amelia's group had less mistakes in their routine as a whole. The wierd thing for me is that the group that placed 1st and Amelia's group were younger so their teachers were out with them...and Grace's group and the other 3rd place group were alone on stage - I don't know if that matters but it is interesting to note.

We don't really care about placing though, after all - I am just glad they got some performance experience! The stage can be a scary place!!

Spring...I have proof!

Well, the calendar said on March 20 that it was the first day of spring, and I guess it was - but if you just look outside you wouldn't be convinced! And now today it is snowing again, only light flurries, but still! I do however have proof of spring...wanna see??


This is one of the ways you can tell it is spring! Daffodils! They are absolutely, hands-down my favorite flower! Not only are they yellow (and really, if you want to make someone smile, yellow is the way to do it!), but they are only available for a short time, which makes them even more special, doesn't it? If you could get them all year round, they would lose some of their charm!
Even more than that though is this....


Awwwww, heh??? This is Amelia in her costume in the "cutsie pose". Oh, I can hardly stand it! The girls are getting ready for their first ever dance competition. Olivia has never even danced in a competition because the school she went to in Calgary was a non-competitive dance school. I am so excited about it! Mostly because there is more opportunity for us to see them dance in their costumes! I have everything I need now I think - hair rollers, hair nets, bobby pins, a comb and red lipstick...oh, I still need to go out and get gel....mmm, add that to the to-do list!
It should be fun anyway!
The next couple of weeks have so much happening that it is causing me a little stress - I need to be really diligent in checking the calendar - I will post pics of all the girls after their shows - so you can see them with hair and make-up! Yay!

It's been a couple of weeks

Sorry about that - I know there are a few blogs that I read regularily, and I hate waiting for new posts!
Not much has been going on so it is hard to think up post ideas! I can't even share photos because of my terrible camera! Ok, well, I guess I have taken a few lately that have been okay...I haven't really had time to shop for a new one either. Everything is just so expensive! We are going to need to do something about our stereo up here as well. I have a little stereo that I bought from the Brick a long time ago and it is just junk now...it won't read some of our CDs at all and the speakers are awful! Sometimes the drawer will continually try to close over and over - and it doesn't seem to 'catch' if you know what I mean! And when you first push the close button you have to give it a little tap to get it to start moving! I know, Fonzie moments!!! I have been trying to look at buying a TV for upstairs as well...okay, this is depressing, it is all too much money! New subject!
We have had a new niece born in Calgary - I still am trying to decide about whether or not we should go there in April without Daddy. He will be working everyday during shut-down so I think we might....hard to say. I have never made that trip alone with all my kids before though...the last time I think I only had Olivia - maybe her and Grace! We'll see I guess!
We started another session of our homeschool activities on Fridays - it has been a fun couple of weeks, the kids always have a fun time, and the class I am teaching has been fun as well. There are a few of their friends (particularily Olivia's) that don't come in the spring because of farming and gardening type time commitments, but that's the way it goes!
Spring has finally started to start here I think....the birds are back, so that is a good sign, right? Abbey just loves the birds - I have to get a feeder put up out there in the backyard for her to watch out her door.
Well, I am still feeling bored, so I think I might go to Costco...

Do you ever wish you would have just spent the money?

Last Monday after the kids had choir we went to Best Buy to shop at the Customer Appreciation sale. They had $100 off of all Digital SLR cameras and $30 off all digital cameras over $150 or something like that! So we went to shop as our camera has just been terrible lately. Worse and worse since Christmas. So I asked some people who know way more than me if digital cameras 'wear out'. The general consensus is yes.

So, I had considered buying a digital SLR - I have kids, lots of them, and they are always moving...so in order to take good pictures you need a camera that has action options! SLRs are the way to go to take quick pictures from what I have been told and now researched (thanks for the links Berkans!)

So okay, that works well, and it just so HAPPENS that Costco had a good deal on a package - actually it was an AMAZING deal really. A Canon camera with two lenses and the bag for a total of $599 - the same package at Best Buy without the bag was over $800 and at Don's Photo Shop online it was over $1100 - crazy, heh?? But still way more than I really wanted to pay for a camera - mostly because then we would have to either buy a separate digital camcorder or another point and shoot to have video options. So we did the online research and I just couldn't' bring myself to buy it at this point -so we went shopping for something smaller. Anyway, being the good shoppers that we are - but the terrible buyers - we didn't buy anything. I had basically decided to buy the same camera I shopped for my father-in-law for. It still is at the top of so many consumer reports of point and shoots....anyway, that night we bought nothing because we were going to the homeschooling convention in Saskatoon at the end of last week, which was going to be expensive enough, right?

Carry on a few days and we went to Saskatoon, and got there just in time to join some friends for lunch in the hotel restaurant. Well, would you believe it - our friends had seen the Prime Minister of Canada that morning leaving their hotel!!! "A" said she didn't want to take his picture and get tackled...LOL!!! How exciting!

The convention was at the Saskatoon Inn, and they have a lunch buffet as well as full menu service, and were just getting ready to have lunch, and all of a sudden there was an 'air'. You know what I mean, a sense of something happening, you could actually feel it in the room, and then within a few minutes we noticed lots of men dressed in black suits, talking into their hands! Before we knew it Mr. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, came into the restaurant with his whole entourage! About 6-8 people that sat with him and then a few designated security that didn't sit.

Here is a link to my friend's blog that tells the same story at home with the keffers: What a weekend! . So Mr. Harper went to the buffet, helped himself, and everyone in the restaurant had a hard time eating! My husband went up to shake his hand and was asked to wait as the PM was still eating. So when he was done, Greg got up and intercepted their path to shake his hand and say thanks for governing our country! So cool...then if you can even believe this - our friends' got their picture taken with him....really! By the official photographer and everything, turns out that "M" knows one of the PMs entourage from his hometown! Very cool, I can hardly wait to see the picture when they get it e-mailed to them!

You know, I realize he is just a guy, just a guy who is doing his job, but it is a prestigous job, an important job, and one that I don't envy him! I would hate to be the one making tough decisions and then having the press be more worried about your hair than your policies! It was pretty cool to 'dine' with the PM - to be just as close to him as we would have been if we had paid $100 a seat at a fundraising banquet! There was even one heckler there in the restaurant who should just be glad we live in Canada where she can be so vocal about her stupid, uneducated opinion! ;)

Here is my bad picture taken with my awful camera! The guy in the green coat, who is likely texting everyone he knows to let them know that the PM is here in the same room, is completely clear, but not the subject of the photo! Obviously Mr. Harper is the gentleman in the suit holding a plate, center of the frame. Oh, why didn't I buy a better camera on Monday????

Too cute for words

But I will use some words anyway...

We were doing math today - and I was trying to help Olivia by putting on some nice quiet classical music in the background, which apparently helps right brained people cross over to left brain activities (which of course math is). So as soon as Abbey heard the music she darted down from the Grandpa chair to dance...

Where you hear her saying eeee, eeee, that is actually Cheese - which of course what she says as SOON as she sees the camera! So, as you can hear in that first video, Olivia was doing some word problems, so I stopped to help her figure out the whole centimeter, millimeter thing and then finished Abbey's song....

Could she be any cuter, I mean really! Good thing too, it redeems her after she spills stuff, or climbs on things, or tries to plug stuff in...etc, etc. Ta-da!!!!!

I went to a retreat last weekend, actually we left a week ago today. It was two nights at a beautiful retreat center north of Saskatoon. I can't say I came home particularly rested, but I did have a good time and left challenged in my view of surrendering to God. I have long known that I don't have a hard time surrendering to God - but I do have a hard time surrendering right away! Even as I am resisting sometimes or rebelling in my heart - I will know in my head that I am going to surrender and do it God's way anyway...so I left challenged to give in sooner! BEFORE I say something I regret, or BEFORE I get myself all worked up. I want to look at things from God's perspective FIRST - because I know in my head it is best! The thing I have been thinking over and over since I got home is something that one woman shared about her crying out to the Lord about a problem she was having, and just saying finally "I can't do this" and the feeling in her heart that God said to her - "Good, finally you might let me". I laughed when I heard her say it and can relate so much!
God often wants us to let go so He can move, or give up so He has room to work. He wants the glory - He doesn't want us to boast - so many stories in the Bible illustrate this so well. Gideon, David, even Jesus' disciples. If God picks the biggest, smartest or most they will take credit themselves, but if we can admit our inability to change things - we are willing to give Him the glory and credit when He changes us or our circumstances, whichever way He decides to do it! That was the other thing that spoke so clearly to me - that God doesn't always change our circumstances when we feel like we are in an impossible situation, He often chooses to change us instead! Hallelujah, more like Jesus, here I come! LOL!!!
It was a nice time, and I had 5 hours or something of 'free' time in the afternoon one day - can you imagine? I can't think of the last time I had that much time to do whatever I wanted! I took 2 crafty workshops and then spent some time with a good friend free crafting! I think I ended up with 4 cards - plus a candleholder and cool candy can from the workshops. All in all I am very glad I went.
Another thing I had to laugh about was part of the mixer theme...the ladies who planned our wonderful time away made a point of saying that while we are always worried about what others are thinking about us - the truth is that they are actually worried about what we are thinking of them! Which I have said myself often! I also made a decision before I left to sit with whoever I ended up sitting with, to room with whoever I ended up rooming with, and to try and eat with different people at each meal, just to not get stuck in my 'comfort' zone. I think I accomplished that well enough and in the process had some really great conversations, even with a couple of people I have never actually noticed at Hillsdale before - so I will be looking for them this weekend!
Of course my kids had a great time hanging out with Dad, they watched movies, ate pizza and went skating with their cousins and good friends so how could that be bad, right? The only sad part was missing church on Sunday - now I feel behind - I better go listen to the sermon I missed right now!

too late to be making cookies but....

I am anyway. So while I wait I thought I would blog. I want to make my husband some cookies for his lunch tomorrow. He is having a hard time getting full these days! He is just about always hungry. Anyway, I remember reading one time that something sweet after a meal gives your brain the idea that you are full, so maybe he just needs some cookies. I have been slacking in that department lately.
As a reward for his patience I even used the big cookie scoop today!

It doesn't make ridiculously huge cookies or anything, slightly larger than normal, but not crazy. When I first bought it from the Pampered Chef I used it for all cookies, until he told me that he took the same number of cookies no matter how big they are! So I went back to making smaller cookies! Tee hee!!

Here is a picture of Amelia's birthday cake - that I made with my Cuisinart - I am not doing a very good job of posting those pictures am I? Believe me, I am using it, maybe everything is getting eaten before I can get a snapshot!

The forecast is..

6 more weeks of winter!
Yes, all 3 of the most famous groundhogs saw their shadow yesterday and so we will have more winter...doesn't surprise you I am sure! Especially if you are here in Saskatchewan with us - I haven't followed what has been happening in Calgary, but there has been a lot of snow here, and the coldest of the 3 winters we have been here. It is cold...longer cold snaps than we have had in the other winters and colder cold snaps too.
Olivia was disappointed with the forecast and Grace was extremely happy!
She loves winter - probably because she is a sweater kind of girl!
I don't know how Greg will feel - he is working outside again, and apparently yesterday was ridiculously cold to work in, so we will see! I am guessing he was hoping the groundhogs would be on his side! Hee, hee!!
Anyway, we are supposed to be using a new schedule and it went really well yesterday - but we are already behind today. Partially because I slept in and partially because Olivia and I did our linked bible study today! It was fun!
We both got new bibles in recent months, and a I purposely bought myself a Women of Faith Study Bible because I had chosen the Young Women of Faith Study Bible for her. It was quite a hard decision.
She was given a bible when she was 6 by Uncle Blake. A real bible, now that she could really read! It was great! Anyway, she has used it well, and it has been duct-taped, packing taped, on the binding, on the cover, and even in Psalm 100 which is her favorite! So we decided to buy her a new one this year because she was in Junior Youth (new milestone right?).
So being the nice guy he is, Blake had let me pick out her bible when she was 6, and I picked her a very plain bible, with a few pictures, but no study notes or devotions to be distracting as she was just beginning to read. This time I wanted her to have one that had some other stuff in it - but not just stuff, good spiritual stuff! Things that would enhance her walk with God, not just be fluff to cloud the point.
What a nuisance! Especially when there is no Christian book store where you can browse. I looked online and after discarding a few because they might as well have been Cosmo for the content of the quizzes and 'devotions' inside (I use that term loosely) I found the write up for the Young Women of Faith Study Bible. After reading a few reviews and bios of the contributors to the text notes, I decided it was the one!
Then I realized that I didn't have an NIV of my own anymore either. I had bought myself a no-frills, no distraction NKJV when we went to Calvary Chapel (which I still love to read aloud from) but it is hard to use in Bible study or church, now that we are at an NIV church...so I decided I should get myself a new bible as well - and these two had 52 linked studies so a young woman and her mom could study the Bible together. How could that be bad, right?? So today was the first one...I liked it and I think she did too!
Okay, but I digress, we are behind on our new schedule for those two reasons and now a third that I am blogging and someone needs to watch their math DVD, so I gotta go!!

I told you it wouldn't last!!

I knew it couldn't last, I was doing so good with blogging until I started baking! LOL!! Yes, I am blaming it on my Cuisinart, although that is only partially true! I used it every day the first week after I got it! We made cinnamon buns, cookies, cake, cupcakes, frosting, cream cheese frosting, homemade Oreos, Dinner buns...I can't remember what else, but it was all so very exciting!
I wish I had taken pictures, but I did not - sorry...too busy eating all the goodies, I guess!
I am still menu planning, and it sure does help! I have also started trying to do Flylady's missions each day - so today I washed down my front door...well, the side IN the house anyway....I sprayed some cleaner on the outside side, but it froze immediately! LOL!!! I guess it will hve to wait until a warmer day! WE also managed to complete most of hte weekly home blessing today so that is great. I just need to remember to change this stuff one small bit at a time! Now I have to get moving on supper for the day, I am only here to change my background because I was inspired by someone else's - how do you like it??

Still my birthday??

I guess it must be, because we just got home from a lovely 'lupper' (not a typo - just a combo of lunch and supper, kind of like brunch, but less celebrated) of fresh hot Houston Pizza IN the resteraunt, and my hubby gave me a present before we left. Can you guess what it is???
Maybe it is a Cuttlebug!! Ooohhhh
Maybe it is a Cricut!!! Aaahhh
MAYBE it is a Cricut EXPRESSION (have you seen the infomercial for that baby??)
Nope...all of those guesses are wrong!

It is (drumroll please)




Isn't it FANCY??? I can hardly believe it - and can't wait to cook something! What should I make? Cookies, cake, pizza dough, meringues, whipped cream....my hubby is voting for cinnamon buns!! Oh, I can't wait - I am totally making a souffle sometime next week!!
I will try to remember to post pics of my first mix-up.....Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!

Can you believe it???

I am being so consistent in my blogging! Yay me! Don't get used to it, I am sure it won't last!
I have been doing so well with my menu planning too - Greg is so happy that we are eating earlier than we had been. It is much easier to eat at a reasonable time when you have a plan for what to make!
Tonight I deviated from the plan, but still had enough of a plan to make it early. We had chicken fingers and mashed potatoes with Italian seasoned green beans! I should be taking pictures of all these yummy meals. Maybe next week.
Greg and I ran out for a few groceries the other night, and it is so neat to be able to go out for an hour and leave our kids at home. It is so weird to have an old kid! Superstore is not exactly the hottest date spot, but it was still good. We stopped and bought coffee on the way, so it is kind of like a date, right?? They are just glad they don't always have to come with us!
Look at this picture of these crazy babies

I am trying to make an effort to take more pictures. I think we need a new camera. I deleted at least 10 pictures out of 30 or so because they are blurry. This camera (the newer Sony) has been such a disappointment. I have barely used it for that reason, but now the older Sony seems to be taking bad pictures too - maybe it's me??? LOL!!!




Here are the cards we made on Monday at our hostess club...it is my favorite night. I can't wait to have a spot set up to do some crafting that doesnt' always have to be put away in order for us to have dinner! Maybe soon!

It has taken over

Yes, High School Musical has taken over our house! I bought it for the girls as one of our movies in the our first shipment from the Disney movie club and they love it! A while ago a friend of mine took my daughter and her daughter and another little girl to the movies, so while I was on Plugged In online to check out that movie, I also looked up High School Musical, because I had never heard anything about it while it was new, but at that time had been hearing about what a testimony it was to Disney about making clean movies - because it made so much more money than ever expected. So anyway, now I figured out that is because it was a made-for-TV movie, not a theatrical release!
I bought it, but just the original version - not trusting the bonus features or whatever else there may have been in any one of the 'extended' versions. We love it, it is a really sweet movie, with not even any innuendo. There is some mild crush sense. To be clear, I mean no one actually 'talks' about having a crush on someone, but there is some senses of it. Zeke wants Sharpay to come and watch him play basketball, and there are obviously feelings happening between the two leads, but they don't do anything about it - one small kiss on the cheek at the very end!
(There is a couple of actual kisses at the end of the sequel so be fore-warned)
It has reminded me of our evolution as parents! When Olivia was 3 and I was a new Christian, I had heard someone on TV, on 100 Huntley Street or something talk about letting our daughters watch movies like Lady and the Tramp and then wondering why women get involved with men that they have to change. So although I don't want to necessarily over-analyze everything, I saw some validity in that train of thought so I began watching our movies more discriminately (I don't think that is a real word, but you get my drift). Not only does the Lady manage to settle the Tramp down, but Hercules is the son of a false god, Mulan prays to the ancestors and Ariel is downright disobedient to her father with no real repercussions....he even gives her what she wants!!! Horror of horrors! Needless to say as a good mother with the intentions of protecting her child and possibly someday children from all things bad I gave away a lot of our Disney movies - because I didn't want negative messages in our house.
Well, that is all well and good - but you know what happens??? 3 year olds grow up and need to know about other religions, false beliefs, and yes, even that people (and deer) even die, even sometimes mommies. So now my kids are older and some of the movies that I have previously banned - I have realized that there is value in using as conversation points. Not necessarily when they are 3, but when they are older! Apparently there is a whole book about it - by Kathryn Stout or something called Movies as Literature. Anyway, many of these movies have provided excellent conversations about why Ariel doesn't get disciplined, and why she maybe should have, or how there is no hope or joy in religions who rely on the dead to answer prayers or give luck - our hope comes from Jesus, God, who became man, to die as a substitute and ultimately rose to life and is LIVING today, interceding for us at the throne of God! Yay!
So all of that to say that from the very first watching of this movie, we were able to talk about the point - and that is that God has a plan for you, a plan, a purpose, and He has designed you a certain way, with talents, gifts, abilities and desires, to be used for HIS glory - and no matter what other people think of you or want you to be, you can do things for Him, for the audience of One and it will be the right thing! I love it! I love being able to talk about the good, look for the spiritual and even when necessary discuss the unspiritual! It's not like we are letting them watch the Exorcist or anything, just remembering that even if there is negative elements, as long as they are age appropriate, you can use those as teachable moments!
I love being a mom, and what it has made me learn about myself!

Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthdaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Yes, it is today! Yay for me, and I start it with cleaning, and sweeping, and mopping!
Now I took a break from blogging and mopped my floor - it is unfortunately not as shiny as I would like, but it is definately not sticky either!!
I have to go to the grocery store - but wanted to check in and let you all know that I did so good on my menu last week! Yay me!
I was so happy with that and will be until the menu has something wierd on it like black bean casserole, or okra, or something else that is strange and unusual! I have such a hard time being flexible for stuff like that lately! I so need things to be easily laid out for me. I don't remember always being this brain-dead, but lately it is the norm.
I have a friend who always has her menu posted on her fridge when we go there on Wednesdays for care group - and I have told her that she needs to send me the list once she makes it because sometimes I need someone to do my thinking for me! She has asked her husband to make a program that will generate the grocery lists for the meals, which I know I already get in my inbox once a week, but really I haven't seen a single thing on her list that I wouldn't eat so.....
anyway, speaking of Sandra - she is new to blogger - check her out here - maybe you will be inspired by her challenge 365 - which is one picture a day - digitally scrapbooked - sounds cool, heh??? I would like to try and take on one page a day in my physical scrapbook - but one small babystep goal at a time!!!

Renovations over Christmas

Greg spent all the time he was off (that we werent' eating at someone's house) working on the bathroom - so now it is painted, and the floor is complete! The tile even goes up around the shower! It looks awesome! Wait until this is done! It will be awesome! Nice bathroom, then paint the bedroom, ooooohhhh, it will be fancy!

A New year...sort of

I never have gotten too excited about New Year's Eve (even in my wild years) or New Year's Day - I guess I have always assumed it is because my birthday is so close to New Year's and that is the REAL start of a new year for me! I have never made resolutions, or anything like that - although I have occasionally made goals...which I don't call resolutions, for obvious reasons! They haven't fared much better than the standard resolutions, unfortunately!
I have more than once decided to read through the bible in a year - and I think once I even made it to February!
I once decided to go to the gym, and that didn't make it till the end of the week, I don't think!
I have often decided to be a better correspondant and send birthday and thank you cards on time - don't even comment if your birthday is after March 10 - I think that is the farthest I got ONE year - many years and a couple of children ago!
So then for this new year (which officially starts for me in only a couple of days) I wanted something new as a goal - and so I decided to focus on what makes me happy about my life. That is what my goal is for this year - to do the things that I love about my life! What things are they? God, Greg, the girls, (the rest are in no particular order) homemade bread, stamping, reading, family, dessert, friends, and things that fall in those broad categories!
I wish I had taken pictures of my bread the other day - but that was the first step! Some nice fresh white bread that I made on the 1st, or second, or something like that, and today we went to the library, and I made this for a yummy supper!!

Yes, yummy lasagne!!! Well, I am assuming it is yummy, I just took it out of the oven! I also threw in a loaf of Italian herb bread in the breadmaker, since we were out all afternoon! MMMM!!!!

I also have printed off chore charts for the kids, my menus for moms menu for this week, and the grocery list and started cleaning out behind the bar downstairs, which has been a project I have put off for too long already! Diligence, diligence!! That is what I am aiming for! I hope in the not too distant future I can post pictures for you of my clean, functional bar area! I haven't decided what kind of bar yet, it may be just a pop and chips bar...but I am also throwing the idea around of a sundae bar...so stay tuned and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!