tgif-make it great

started the day of wholesome and pure with a delicious breakfast!  i bought some delicious, multi-grain bread at the bakery last night and sliced it and toasted it for the kids and i. spread with hazelnut spread, real peanut butter and jam.  yum.  i have been a funk this week where i have been less capable of completing tasks like dishes and laundry and been addicted to reading and writing.  it's so weird to me the cycles that my brain goes through because suddenly today my eyes are more aware of trash and clutter than they have been all week.  i have been walking around picking up ever since i woke up.  why is it that all week all the piles of toys, books and dishes didn't even bother me but today i am very intolerant of it all?

my desk has looked this way all week....but today....it's driving me nuts!

this is why i don't make my bed, dust and scrub the floors every day.  when the mood strikes me i will do enough cleaning for the whole neighborhood and them some and it will feel effortless.  when i am not in the mood to organize and de-clutter, but i force myself to do it it is nearly painful to accomplish anything!

it's friday so to help us have a wonderful weekend i am de-cluttering, doing laundry and putting meat in the crock pot this afternoon for dinner.  fridays lately have been my day to do less sit-down lessons with kids and do more house work and errands.  though we will fall behind on lessons today, monday is our day where we do double duty with lessons, usually getting 9-10 hours of school in.  it all works out.

i am hoping to go to a couple of second hand shops i have seen in town and just see what they have.  i am not looking for anything in particular yet so i probably won't be buying anything.  i like to look a lot before i make a purchase and sometimes i hate going into small shops when you aren't looking to buy anything.  oh well, if they want my business in the future, they will just have to be patient and let me browse their selection;)

i want to learn how to make easy bread this weekend.  it can't be that hard.  i would like to be able to teach the kids how to make it and then each week this can be one of their jobs.  i also need to make laundry soap this weekend.  and on the topic of making things i was planning to make home-made play dough for some of the kids on my christmas list so i think we will experiment with the different recipes i have for that.

hope everyone has a great weekend.  remember, you are in charge of the kinds of days you have.  make  it a great weekend!!!!

xoxo

tell them they are perdy

the night is good. i am sitting in my husband's sweats (which i rarely wear) (my laundry service hasn't held up their end of the deal) (it's a slight pet peeve of mine when women wear men's clothes)  drinking wine and just finished watching one of my favorite TV shows on abc.com.  i was just sitting on facebook and i had a lot of things i wanted to post as my status so instead i thought i would take it here.

on the show i was watching, the actors and actresses are all so beautiful physically and most of the characters are portrayed as being beautiful on the inside too.  do you ever see beautiful people and it makes you want to shower, shave your legs, paint your nails, give yourself a facial, wear lots of make-up, curl your hair, put lots of jewelry on and finish with an excess amount of your favorite designer perfume?  people on tv are just so perfect.  even the ones that have "baggage".  you know i personally admire someone who has "baggage".  it's like i want to know all about it.  the good. the bad. and the downright ugly. because that is what makes someone so real and so unique.  i like to see fault in a person and actually it makes me quite uncomfortable when i am around an individual in which i start to gather that everything in their world lines up perfectly.  it's like you are envious of the prefect, easy life they lead but on the contrary you feel bad about there lack of exposure.

the beautiful people we see on TV reminds me of so many things.  i see young girls and i think to myself oh they are so young and they have got the world in the palm of their hands.  and it's all about choices.  i remember when i was in high school and though now i can say i was a beautiful young lady, i had a lot of things that i thought were wrong with my image.  though i think it's safe to say i was a confident one, it's also safe to say that i saw many faults.  my hair wasn't right, i had a tummy, my teeth weren't straight.....and now that i have reared three children i look at all my physical imperfections on my body.  i look back at pictures from my younger years and think what a beautiful young girl i was.  of course when i was in school the style encouraged your belly to hang out and i see many shots of my tummy exposed; smooth as silk, flat  and perfectly colored from wearing a bikini in the sun.

my wish for teen girls is for them to see their beauty.  not to see their beauty in such a way that their ego over exceeds it's limits but to see their real beauty. every mark on their body was carefully chosen by God.  every tiny flab of skin that they see as fat serves as a layer to protect their beautiful body.

if you have daughters, or know a young woman who is growing up in this world where "thin is in" and nothing is ever good enough, tell them just how perfect and beautiful they are.  do this because it is true, not because i am telling you to.  take i look into their heart and see just how beautiful they are.

if only there was an app on our phones that could show us what we will look like 5, 10 or 25 years away, maybe then we would see our own beauty.  sad that this is the way it is but most young girls and woman are guilty of beating themselves up and never accepting how truly beautiful they are. or maybe they are able to see it themselves but don't think that their friends, boyfriend or the rest of the world can see it.

remember that God made us all and for us to not except our image is like not trusting God.

tell the women in your life, especially the teens just how pretty they are, not just today but always.

Christmas

Tis the season and traditionally most of us will be exchanging gifts.  Some people give generously while others give carefully.  Whatever your style I would like to give you something to think about before your wallets are emptied out.

What if everyone bought their gifts from their local downtown shops?  The handy-man on your list could get a gift from your local hardware.  The fashionista on your list could get something from the local boutique.  That impossible-to-shop-for individual could receive gift certificates to the local "mom and pop" pizza joint.  It's possible!

Last year we lived in a small town.  Our hometown.  We have several people to shop for as many of you do.  Let me remind you that my spouse and I are both from divorced families therefor we have 8 parents to shop for and multiple half/ step and whole siblings. lol.  Anyway-we managed to get all of our holiday shopping done without having to travel out of town or order anything on-line.  That's right! Every gift came from downtown.  And it was great!  To my surprise, I managed to find something for everyone last year!

Keep that in mind this year as the financial state of our country struggles.  We are all stretching our dollar so instead of helping large multi-million dollar companies whose products are manufactured in China, shop the small businesses!  It might seem challenging at first but you will be surprised just how much you can find!

Good luck!  I would love to hear about how you did!

learning

Had a wonderful day of learning in our school room today.  After a little break the kids were ready to get back on track and do what they do best.  We are creatures of habit whether we like to admit it or not. As the holiday of recognizing what we are thankful for passes, it is never too late to constantly remember what we are thankful for.  I am whole heartily thankful for the right to educate our kids however we choose best.  In our case, it's to learn at home.  I pour my entire being into education and quality time day in and day out and it completes me.  I lye in bed at night surrounded by my family and as I listen to them all softly hum in their slumber I am consumed by what goals I have for my kids.  I am constantly thinking about what we are learning and doing and what I want to learn and do.  I am enjoying each day teaching and truly learning right along with them.  You know when you just love something and it feels so good to do it?  Well that is exactly the feeling I get when I am teaching these kids.  When I see the light bulb go on, or when I see them using something in their everyday life that I taught them it makes me want to lift them up and put them on my shoulders and run through the house in celebration!  I get excited when I teach my kids and with that said, I am thankful.

There are so many things I want to see, do, and hear in the world that I have an anxious feeling.  As I have written before, I want to sell everything we have and buy a motor home and live off the land.  It's a beautiful place from what I can see and I haven't even seen the half of it! I firmly believe God has provided everything one would need to survive. The older I get, the more I want to learn and teach.  Ten years ago I would have been 16 and I could have given a rat's ass what was going on around me at school and what my teachers were saying.  I was being forced to learn therefor I wasn't interested.  I don't know where one would begin, but I wish traditional school could change.  It's natural to want to learn so why is it that so many kids "hate" school?  If we put our children in a relaxed environment, take away all the standards that need to be met and let our teachers be inspired naturally I feel we would have more interests from the students in the classrooms.  I went to college for four years and was studying to be a teacher.  One of my plans for my future classroom was for desks to be an option.  Same goes for shoes, and whether you wanted to listen or not.  Imagine if instead of controlling 20-30 students in a classroom you laid down a brief list of rules like respect your neighbor and treat others as you would want to be treated and everything else was up to them?  I imagine that would be a spectacular place for children with brains that are like sponges to be.  If you have a teacher who teaches like the world depends on it then the kids would want to listen!!!!!!

Maybe someday I can do that.  Who knows where the wind will take me besides God?  The point is that learning is awesome and there is always something to be learned, no matter what age we are.  I think if we can rid ourselves of all the distractions that are not necessary we would regain that sense of what sparks our interest.  I once read a quote that is so true it said something like if you are too busy to read the word then you are busier than God ever intended you to be.  This is so true for all things.  Since we have moved, a lot of my small groups and clubs have come to an end and it's amazing how much clearer the vision is.  My role is to teach, love and care for my family.  That's it.  I don't have 3 meetings a week anymore.  I am not running here, there and everywhere.  I am physically and mentally in one spot now. My ministry is my family.

SO often our main excuse for things is that we don't have time.  Don't become so busy that you can't embrace the simple yet amazingly beautiful things in life.  Make time for family.  Make time for friends.  Put God first.  And learn something new for YOU.

You Are A Model!

Coffee is good this morning and the house is quiet.  Not a creature was stirring not even a mouse...I guess it's not Christmas yet...

Oddly enough I am enjoying these colder temps.  I am ready for them to stay!  There is something about Thanksgiving and Christmas that make it that much more magical when it is cold outside.  I hope the cold is here to stay for a couple of months and I say bring on the snow!  I guess we are in the "snow belt" now that we moved and I am not exactly sure what that means but I think I like the sounds of that!

Had a visit this weekend from one of my good friends, Brittney and her husband and 3 children.  I met  Brittney about 3 years ago.  We met through our MOPS (mother's) club and from that day forward we have been a match made in heaven.  We share the same overall parenting style, keep a home in the same manner and like any and all things spontaneous!  Our foresight is the same in that it is non existent:)  When we are together, our kids range in age like this: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7!  You can imagine how that goes!  Anyway, they came for the weekend and it felt good to have my home filled with kids and friends!  Thankful for good friends!

The election is OVER!  Josh and I both voted.  I hear a lot of people saying that no matter who won, it is part of God's plan.  Isn't that true?  This is so important for all of us to remember.  We have no control over anything-it's all in God's hands.  It might not make sense, but we have to put our faith in Him and trust in his plan.  Regardless of who we vote for, once the election results come in, that is our president.  I think it's extremely important to respect whomever is in office, no matter if it is who we voted for or not.  When Obama won 4 years ago, I bought a children's book on Barack Obama and read it to my kids.  I wanted to make sure they knew who our president was.  Does this mean that I am a registered democrat?  No.  It doesn't mean that I agree with his views on being a world leader either.  It does mean though, that I think it is important to raise your child to respect and support the leader of our country.  Our children should be presented facts to the best of their understanding and they should learn to pray and support for our leaders.  That is my goal as a citizen and that is what I want for my children.

We sometimes forget what an impact we have on our children.  OK, our kids look up to us like we are President or like we are a God.  Every time you let bad attitude shine through, you let down that child.  You let them down because you are acting like a fool and you let them down because you are passing down bad attitude that will stick with them.  It's never too early to teach your kids how to handle tough situations.  Teach them that name-calling and badmouthing isn't going to fix anything but rather spending time in prayer and in research to learn how you can help make the situation better.  Be who you want your kids to be-you only get one shot!  Your kids are ALWAYS watching!  When you feel you have failed them, or have acted in a shameful way in front of them, take time to cool off and then go back and talk to them.  Explain that you acted poorly and ask how they felt about it.  Ask then if they will forgive you.  It's easy, it sets a great example for them and it WORKS!

Well, I suppose it's time I'd get busy.  We are learning about the seasons, landforms, possessive nouns and subtraction.  There is so much to learn!  What I would really like to do is pack up and go the library all day.  I love that place!  I told the kids last night that I thought it would be fun to hide in a library until they closed and then spend all night browsing through books and reading.  They agreed:)

Go out into the world and infect it with your smile today.  Really, just smile at everyone!

Man there is just not enough time to get it all in.  There is so much to teach these eager young kids.  There is so much to do to this new home.  There is so much to tell Josh.  There are so many people to see.  AND I HAVE SO MUCH THAT I WANT TO BLOG ABOUT.  But me and time management have always had a bitter relationship.  Today, however, I am distracted my anything that is shiny or moves, so needless to say I am off of our daily routine, am wired on coffee beans and ready to write.

Today we are celebrating reading.  We pretty much celebrate reading everyday because we love to read but today is a real celebration. SO here is the story:

Bedtime takes time with 3 kids-actually, who am I kidding, it's not just the kids but the adults too.  Last night i drew a bath around 8 o'clock for the kids.  I hopped in too.  we ended up being in there for about an hour as i was teaching Spanish words to the kids and they loved it, lol.  we even had to drain the water because it got cold and refill with hot water.  anyway, once we were clean and jammies on and toofs brushed and bladders emptied we gathered in Joshua's room for Bible story time.  Read about the Earthquake in prison and prayed.  From there we always split up into our own snuggly spot and curl up with a book.  Emma started a new book and Ella started a new book too.  Ella is now reading chapter books!  By this time it was 9 o'clock and I told Ella we could read chapter one and then lights out.  Once we were through the chapter, she begged me to let her read more and who in their right mind would tell a 5 year old "no more reading"?  Not this mom!  I told her she could read a little while longer.  Emma, same thing-I went to turn off her bedroom light and she begged to leave her light on so she could read.  OK, fine.  So I went off to my room to read.  An hour went by and I saw no sign of the girls. [Ella was in her own bed and Emma was in her own bed.  A rarity!  Joshua was snuggled in my arms, fast asleep in my bed.]  I thought for sure everyone was asleep!  Well, soon after, Ella came in to report she was on Chapter 4!  She was so excited!  She crawled up in our bed and we layed there and talked.  Emma came walking in and said, I am already on Chapter 4!  I teased them that 4 was the magic number tonight!  Emma climbed up in bed to join in the fun.  There are now 5 in the bed.  We were encouraging the girls to settle down and go to sleep.  Ella asked if she could "pretty please read more of her book".  Well, I saw no problem in that and soon Ella, Emma and I were back to reading.

It got to be 11 and Ella was now to chapter 6.  Finally at 11:30, we forced our book worms to put their books down until tomorrow.  And we all went to sleep.

This morning I woke up to the sound of Ella reading aloud.  She was on chapter 7 of her Junie B Jones book!  She wasn't ready for breakfast, she was addicted to her book!  So, we layed in bed until 11:30 as she finished the entire book!  All 10 chapters!  This girl can't be stopped!  Nose in a book!  We are so proud of her!

Celebrate reading everyday with your kids!  Get all the books off the book shelf, pile 'em high, grab a blanket and read with your kids!  Studies show if you read with your kids everyday you will spark a lifetime love of reading.  There is so much to learn for people of all ages.  Turn off your TV and read.

[Dare to be nerdy]

From left:  Emma (reading), Joshua (sleeping), Ella (reading), Me (reading and drinking wine)

not a very good pic but this is us in bed last night.  Josh captured the moment for me.

It's no-shave November and I am participating!!!!!!!!!!

lol I don't know who this is but I found it on the internet...disclaimer it is not me!

Happy Halloween?

Did you have a Happy Halloween like the greeting demands?  We did!  Trick-or treat was in our neighborhood last night and despite the rain and low temperatures we had a great time!  Emma was a spooky goblin, Ella was a witch and Joshua a werewolf!  There was a generous amount of neighbors contributing to the candy collecting and passing out and I was thrilled with the positive experience! They came home with piles of candy!

So many things I read I notice that everyone has to use caution if you will when they talk about Halloween.  I see schools calling Halloween parties "Fall" parties now and encourage children to leave their costume at home.  The curriculum I use to educate my kids had an optional lesson yesterday for Halloween.  It read "If you don't celebrate Halloween, discuss Autumn as the season with your child."  Really?  Why do we have to over-think everything nowadays?  Can't it just be?  I just saw reply to a facebook post about Halloween that read "Sorry, we don't celebrate Halloween because we are Christians."  So instead of this person just not posting, she had to put it out there for everyone to see and in my opinion, make families feel like they are doing something wrong.

We went trick or treating last night and dressed up as spooky characters!  It was fun for the kids to think that they were scary and could play tricks on friends.  And then when it was all said and done we  prayed before we went to bed and thanked the Lord for such a fun, safe evening.  We thanked Him for all the sweet treats and expressed our love for all He has done for us.  So there...we're Christians too!

If people would take the time to research what they are preaching, they would realize that the origin of Halloween actually has Christian roots.  Everything in America does as we are a country founded on Christianity.  You can't hide from God, he is the root of everything.  We often times forget that as a servant to God he asks us to be accepting of everyone and not to judge others.  In my opinion, it's OK to trick or treat and by keeping it from your kids you are going to create even more of a complex within them over Halloween.  It's all in fun and indeed, it's fun!  The kids ate candy for supper last night and they are eating candy right now!

<rant over>

Anyway, on a more helpful note:  Over the years we have accumulated 3 totes full of costumes!  Last year I bought 4-5 costumes on clearance (and by clearance I mean $0.75!).  Just like with any holiday, Halloween merchandise is marked way down after the holiday is over.  Wait a couple of days though for the best deals!  This will help you to not overspend every year on costumes and accessories!  Another fun way to save money is the old fashioned make it yourself option!  If you are creative you can make an original costume on a dime!