March Happenings

My daughter took a cheernastics class.








Getting ice cream from the ice-cream man.









Taking her leprechaun trap to school. Will she catch one?............










Yes! She did!







She lost her 5th tooth. This time the tooth fairy didn't forget, except she had a hard time scaling the castle bed to exchange the money for the tooth.










Putting in a sprinkler system.








Putting in a sidewalk.











Building a retaining wall/raised flower bed.









Our back yard is like a huge sand box. The kids have been playing in the dirt......











jumping off the mound........




and playing in the mud. (Biscuit tripped on the sprinkler system while Kirk was away and loosened something. I thought I got it fixed, but later that evening I looked out the back to find a flooded back yard.)







Isn't he sweet? He is getting his first tooth.








Sunday morning, Lance asked us to go out to eat with them after church. We ended up also eating with the Guerinos as well. Thanks Lance for inviting us out! Aren't Kim and Jude cute?








We went to church to clean up the garden plot that we are in charge of.

My oldest raking.








My middle child mulching.







My oldest steering the tractor.








My youngest steering.








My middle steering.







Playing on the mountain of mulch. Unfortunately, My oldest and youngest got into some red ants on that mountain and they got bit. Fortunately, they didn't have a bad reaction to the bites.







My youngest helping to put the tools away.











Every year, I try to take some pictures of the kids in the flowers.














I love this one!











I hope that you are all enjoying your spring!

Being a Mother with God's Peace

My oldest child had a complicated birth and had to spend extra days in the hospital. Not only did I have to deal with that she was a baby and I didn't know much about babies, but that we almost lost her and now I was entrusted with her care. I did have some anxious moments. I would have dreams that I had lost her and I would wake up anxiously looking for her in the sheets of the bed only to remember that she was asleep in the bassinet right next to me.

I did grow comfortable in my role as a mommy and I do enjoy it. I would have several more kids if all the conditions would be right. Every once in awhile, however, a moment of panic will hit me and all I can do is pray about it. I am in charge of these 3 children's well-being. Wow! I know that I am only human and that I can make mistakes. These 3 children depend on me to take care of them. What if I make the wrong choice. Not only do I have the feeling of responsibility for these children, but I LOVE them. I love their faces, their soft cheeks, their laughter, their kisses. If I would lose one or make the wrong choice for them, oh man, I don't know what I would do? I am getting teary-eyed just thinking about it. That's when I just have to pray. I usually pray for strength and wisdom. Now, I think I am going to start to pray for peace.

I was recently reminded of the story of Horatio Gates Spafford. I had heard the story before but on Sunday when I heard it in the sermon, I couldn't help but to tear up. This man had been financially ruined by Chicago's Great Fire of 1871. About that same time his 1 son had died. Then in 1873, he and his family (his wife and 4 daughters), were to go on a trip to England to join Dwight Moody on an evangelistic crusade. Horatio was detained on business. His family went on without him, but he planned to catch up to them later. The ship that his family was sailing on collided with another ship and it sank. Only his wife survived. This man went on to write the hymn called "Peace Like a River." The chorus goes like this, "When peace like a river, attendeth my way. When sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul." This story is the reason why I need to pray for peace as a mother. This man had been through tragedy, yet He shows us God's peace. My prayer is that whatever happens that I can be a mother that has God's peace.


"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

Praying God's Word: Overcoming Food-Related Strongholds

Food - I love it. I have never been super thin. It seems like I have always been the average weight for my age. (However that has changed.) I really was never concerned about my weight, therefore I have never been too concerned about what I eat. I just eat. If I am going to have a slice of apple pie with ice-cream for breakfast or lunch - what is the big deal? AND who said that I couldn't eat half of that pan of brownies that I just made? AND didn't it make me feel good to have the Cold Stone ice cream at 10:00 at night? Do you see what I am doing to myself? Food and I do not have a good relationship. All things are good in moderation and although I am not gorging myself everyday, or most days for that matter, I need a little self-control. I am sure that I am not alone in this. We hear on the news all the time how Americans are obese, choosing poor foods and not exercising enough. Eating is not the only "food-related" stronghold, but not-eating or purging the food that is eaten. I think that you can agree with me that many of us do not have a healthy relationship with our food.

Well, here is the real kicker. It is not so much as our relationship with food, but our relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. Beth wrote a great chapter and I encourage you to read it. She ends it by talking about First Place, a Christ-Centered Health Program. If you are struggling with the way you view food, maybe it would benefit you to check out First Place.

Here is one of the Scripture prayers from the chapter:
"Everything is permissible for me - but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me but I desire not to be mastered by anything. (1 Cor. 6:12) Lord God help me to recognize and discern what is not beneficial for me. Help me see that authentic liberty is being free to do certain things and free not to do others."

A Realization about Me

A few years ago when I was watching Dr. Phil quite a bit, he said something shocking. He basically said that when someone is late, they are self-centered. What? Me? Self-centered? Truthfully, I could see his point. When people are late, they have just been focusing on themselves. IN MY CASE, however, I could not see how that was always true. Well, recently, I have been going through a period where I continue to find myself being late. I seem to go through stages, sometimes I am late and sometimes I am on time. This idea of Dr. Phil's got stuck back into my mind. Self-centeredness. Whoa! To admit that I am self-centered is a big pill to swallow. As I was thinking on this, I realized why I do run late most of the time. I usually have a list of things to get done and I have not allotted myself enough time. I think that I should be able to get them all done. So I hurry from one thing to another. It is an adrenaline rush! Sometimes I get it all done with room to spare, but other times it makes me late. I love that feeling of when I beat the clock and it gives me a rush. Do you understand what I am saying? Have you been there? It is done out of being self-centered - I am thinking about me and what I need to get done, not about how I am affecting someone else when I am late. Just saying that I was self-centered just made me feel guilty, and I continued to be late. Now that I realized that I am addicted to the rush, I can focus on how I can change that. I might need an intervention. What do you think?

By the way, I haven't stopped reading Beth Moore's book, but I got a little bogged down. Hopefully I can get caught up soon. Love to all.

Catching Up: January and February

When I started this blog, it was just a way to get ideas. I continued it so I could stay connected to those loved ones that I don't see very often. Lately it seems that I have been blogging on what I am reading about and I forget to update my friends and family. So here it is.....

In January, after we got back from our trip to the Midwest, we started painting.

Our friends, the Marshalls, came over to see us.









Two kitties adopted us. Those cute faces are deceiving however, they had ringworm and they still are in our garage until further notice. I took them to the vet for the ringworm and the visit cost me $200. Plus, I still need to get them fixed.







My daughter's science experiment - about water density.







February
My youngest son's 3rd birthday. We were so busy around that time that we just did a family celebration. I made a banana cake and it was yummy. The recipe is on my cooking blog.









We are getting Parker a twin mattress. So I needed to get him big boy sheets and comforter.









The church gave us a housewarming. I was surprised at the number of people that came and it was a blessing. This is the pastor's wife and a friend.





Our backyard is unfinished. Kirk, the handyman, decided to till it all up. There were a lot of weeds back there.








Then we decided to level it out. It has a big slope. Let me tell you that it is a big job.









I wanted to throw a party for my youngest son, so when a Wednesday evening opened up, I decided to invite a few friends over. I worked all day on Wednesday to make this cake. I was a little stressed over it, but he liked it. I have to keep telling myself that is what matters.








My sweetheart!






I am glad that it worked out that our friends could come over. It was perfect!






There is little Marshall! He is 7 months and crawling.









Kirk and I also celebrated our birthdays this month. I didn't take pictures, but for my birthday, we planted flowers in the front flower bed. I will try to take pictures of it next month. Kirk and I finally went out for our birthdays last Monday to Red Lobster and no kids. I guess the older we get, birthdays aren't as important. At my son's party last week, my friends also gave me some presents - Kim gave me the BBC's Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth. No kidding - I watched it the next day! My friend Paula gave me a pedometer. I have been counting my steps ever since. Those were great presents! Thank you! Last weekend, Kirk flew back to Iowa to officiate a wedding of one of the kids in our previous youth group. Congrats Cody!

I love you all and have a blessed March. Don't forget to spring forward this weekend!