Thursday, June 11, 2009
Why is it.....
Does this only happen in my house???? Seriously. To keep up with the laundry, I try to do one load a day, usually this helps me maintain this chore. Those who know me well, know that laundry is one chore I rather enjoy. Not sure why, but it just is - I typically do not have piles and piles, and seldom do I ever have unfolded laundry in baskets. Now, it may sit in the dryer a day (or two if I've totally spaced that load) but I've concluded that laundry must not be such a burden to me, since I seem to keep on top of it. I digress. My amazement is I live in a house of 4 people, and granted two of those people are under the age of 8, and ONE of THOSE people is a "messy by nature" type - so Ryan can go through several sets of clothes in a day. Especially in the summer. I also recognize that while the small boys (not the big one) is still sleeping in pullups (shhhh, family secret here) I put them in new jammies each night. When I fold my "load a day" (or two) I'm continually amazed at the size of the four piles. Seriously, my pile will have just a few items in it. Do I not wear clothes every day? Are my "colors" dispersed enough that not all my clothes are "dark" or not all my undies are "white" ??? Why is my pile always so tiny? If only I could do my OWN laundry, I could probably stretch it to once a week. I try to train up my hubby to wear his jeans more than once, as well as Steffen if they've not been playing outside. Steffen wears a uniform for goodness sake - his laundry should be very minimal. PLUS their clothes are still kid sized - why are their piles just HUGE??? Mine minimal? It continues to baffle me, and it's these profound things I often think about. How about your house. Do you wonder about this? Where does the mommy clothes go? Why is our pile so small? Carry on with your day......
Friday, June 5, 2009
Exhale
We survived May. It was a little iffy there for awhile, but yes indeed Monday, June 1 arrived with great celebration in my heart.
As you may have already guessed, I'm a analyzer. After coming off a month like that, I do sit back and try to analyze what I can do to be sure THAT doesn't happen again. When life gets that crazy, I no longer enjoy the journey, I'm in pure survival mode and who wants to live like that??? However, there was precious little I could do differently, unless I had the knowledge I have now, this side of things.
To recap:
End of year stuff went well. Hindsight, the field trip to the Science Museum was not what I had envisioned in my mind. And my mind was foolish on this. To go on the bus, does mean I will be asked to HELP - it's not just a free little trip for me to enjoy the day with my son. As far as my son, it's a day to spend with his friends, not a neat little excursion out with momma. So, my bad. I didn't think that one through. I was much too busy that day to really help with a class field trip. I WASN'T too busy to spend the day enjoying a museum with my son, that is why I went. Anyway, it was still fun. The museum was fascinating, I can't wait to return and make it a family adventure - not a 1st grader field trip. One of my gripes of the day. We arrived and we all scattered, except for the kids we were assigned. So, while I understand the logic, it wasn't THAT much fun for Steffen to only occasionally see his friends here and there. Of course the boy that was assigned to me, was not one of Steffen's closer friends so you get the idea. When we all met for lunch, they were all together, and it was hard to get them rallied to go back into the museum since they just wanted to continue to play with their friends. They are 7 - very understandable. NOTE TO SELF - if the field trip falls at the END OF THE YEAR, do not feel you need to volunteer unless your schedule is indeed clear. It WON'T be the "bonding time" alone with your kiddo you envision. and that's ok.
I had volunteered to coordinate/organize all the pictures throughout the year that Steffen's teacher mainly took and put them on a DVD, and make copies for all the parents. Since fun stuff was happening all the way till the end of the year, and I wanted to include pictures of all the fun stuff, guess what, the DVD's did not get DONE before school got out, I am still trying to get those mailed out to parents. Sigh. It wouldn't have been a stressor, however I think my computer is dying, and it's getting cranky with all the DVD burning I'm doing - so the process has been very hit or miss. I don't even want to think about the reality IF MY COMPUTER DIES - noooooooo, not now. How about the end of the summer.... I can't think about a new computer right now.
Ryan's end of school, well, I had to miss his last day. It was Steffen's field trip day. FORTUNATELY, I've got a fabulous friend that I love like a sister, whom I trust my children with as I would family. She took Ryan to school AND picked him up his last day of school. It was one of those hard decisions I made, choosing to go on Steffen's field trip with him. (see above, in hind site, I wish I hadn't done that - but Steffen appreciated it, so it was worth that.) Ryan's class was such an unusually close class. I really enjoyed getting to know the mom's of some of his closer friends. They will all (most, anyhow) go to a different school as Ryan next year, so we will have to be very intentional about keeping in touch. They are so young, and Ryan will, no doubt make more fabulous friends. But really, I enjoyed the families/mom's so much, I want to make that happen. They are good folk, worth the effort. The play dates for the summer have begun, so I look forward to seeing everyone again. Of course, Ryan's BD party helped, many close friends came and they had a blast together again.
Adam and Lindsay had a wonderful time during the AFA graduation. Adam will be a senior next year, so this was when they got their rings, and a huge formal "ring dance". I'm not military, so I am pretty green at what it all means, but the ring dance is a big deal and they seemed to have a very good time. I was glad to see them get out and enjoy Colorado a bit - whitewater rafting and a hike here in town. With the AFA graduation, it brought up thoughts of next year and Adam's graduation. (See, next May will NOT be any less chaotic, probably even more chaos with him graduating and family in town etc) The thought of him graduating, and "moving on" just breaks my heart. I cannot even imagine if it were my own kiddo. If he were "mine", I'd know he'd be back. As it is, the US government will have him for at least 10 more years and who knows where he'll lay his head? So no, it's unlikely he'll be back to Colorado any time soon. We'll have to chase him around wherever he goes. :D
Tanner has moved in. He seems to have immersed himself into our family life well. I don't know. It's been so crazy over here, I hope we haven't scared him off. There are 20 (??) interns at Compassion International this summer, and they seem to be getting together often, so that is good. The boys, of course, love to have another big brother to wrestle with etc.
Dan's job continues to go well. His 90 days is up the end of June. We're hoping for a raise??? We are thankful for the good job. They seem to be very happy with him. With the addition of Dan and a new secretary, the "bosses" are thrilled at how they are getting organized etc. We'll see how "thrilled" at the end of the month - tee hee. They've been very accommodating to us for some long weekend plans we have planned for the summer. One, being next weekend, Dan flys home to be with his family to celebrate his oldest sister's birthday. Do I dare say the age????? Let's just say it's a milestone and she's 12 years older than Dan. Amazing. I'm sad I can't make this trip, but our "new" budget cannot afford us living like the Rockefeller's (not that it ever could, but we were more accommodating on family oriented trips). I've got a few fun things planned with the boys and I while daddy is away.
THE PARTY of all parties. Dan's dreamed of having a large party in our backyard for one of the boys for years. I've put him off until this year. We rented a jump house and invited all of Ryan's friends. Ryan has a lot of friends! Check out our picassa website (link to the right) for pictures. (NOTE: Ryan's biological family came - mom, brother, aunt - there's a cute picture of them all together) A few of the older boys found a few snakes in our back lot (where they belong) and they were a big hit. Even the little girls were enthralled. They are harmless, I know, but the closer they get to the house, the more creeped out I get. I LOVE that our yard is a place for the boys to explore and do things that boys should be doing - but keep it away from the house. sigh.
Being the practical gal that I am, I figured why waste the 6 hour rental on the jump house??? We invited our entire Sunday School class, and their families back at 4pm for a family BBQ. Of course, being the end of the school year, everyone was ready for a nice family get together. My house was packed. The rain held off, but the temperatures dropped, so it got a bit chilly for the little kids - my house was packed. I wouldn't have minded, but the snakes came out again. AND more kids got involved in finding them. I think three or maybe four families went home that night with pet snakes. We make Steffen release them at night. We just feel that is the right thing to do, plus momma WILL NOT ALLOW the snakes in the house WHATSOEVER. Dogs are pets, not snakes. Obviously, not all parents feel like I do, so it became an expensive BBQ for some - since they had to go out and buy aquariums or whatever those things need to live in. We have Steffen convinced that they need to return to their rocks, to their own families and sleep with their mommy and daddys. He can recatch them tomorrow. ewwwwwwww. Overall, this side of things, it was a very full, but fun day.
JUNE has arrived. It's been cold and rainy this week. So no pool action yet.
That's it for family life, I think.
The boys have started their T-Ball/Baseball schedules. I was pleased to see that the season ends early/mid July. I'm glad that the boys games are on different nights, however, that will make our June nights very busy M-Th. Sigh. I'll keep you posted.
We said our goodbyes to one family already. My heart still aches. Kristi will, I believe, be a friend I will travel to go see, and they love to ski, so I think chances are pretty good that we haven't said our final goodbye. They are military as well, so we'll see where they land. They are both from the San Antonio area, which is near where my sister and her husband retired to, so that's a plus as well. Still, I will miss her deeply. I prayed for so long for a friendship like ours, and God gave me her for just a blink of an eye. Good Folk.
I started to read "the Shack". Interestingly creative. I look forward to finishing it and pondering the creative ways it was written. By no means do I, nor do I feel one should, find it answering deep theological questions, but creative literature is still fun to ponder now and again. Maybe another post I'll discuss further interesting points. I'm still reading my other two good reads, and still have thoughts I want to post on those as well. I just needed to get through May.... and I have. - amen
As you may have already guessed, I'm a analyzer. After coming off a month like that, I do sit back and try to analyze what I can do to be sure THAT doesn't happen again. When life gets that crazy, I no longer enjoy the journey, I'm in pure survival mode and who wants to live like that??? However, there was precious little I could do differently, unless I had the knowledge I have now, this side of things.
To recap:
End of year stuff went well. Hindsight, the field trip to the Science Museum was not what I had envisioned in my mind. And my mind was foolish on this. To go on the bus, does mean I will be asked to HELP - it's not just a free little trip for me to enjoy the day with my son. As far as my son, it's a day to spend with his friends, not a neat little excursion out with momma. So, my bad. I didn't think that one through. I was much too busy that day to really help with a class field trip. I WASN'T too busy to spend the day enjoying a museum with my son, that is why I went. Anyway, it was still fun. The museum was fascinating, I can't wait to return and make it a family adventure - not a 1st grader field trip. One of my gripes of the day. We arrived and we all scattered, except for the kids we were assigned. So, while I understand the logic, it wasn't THAT much fun for Steffen to only occasionally see his friends here and there. Of course the boy that was assigned to me, was not one of Steffen's closer friends so you get the idea. When we all met for lunch, they were all together, and it was hard to get them rallied to go back into the museum since they just wanted to continue to play with their friends. They are 7 - very understandable. NOTE TO SELF - if the field trip falls at the END OF THE YEAR, do not feel you need to volunteer unless your schedule is indeed clear. It WON'T be the "bonding time" alone with your kiddo you envision. and that's ok.
I had volunteered to coordinate/organize all the pictures throughout the year that Steffen's teacher mainly took and put them on a DVD, and make copies for all the parents. Since fun stuff was happening all the way till the end of the year, and I wanted to include pictures of all the fun stuff, guess what, the DVD's did not get DONE before school got out, I am still trying to get those mailed out to parents. Sigh. It wouldn't have been a stressor, however I think my computer is dying, and it's getting cranky with all the DVD burning I'm doing - so the process has been very hit or miss. I don't even want to think about the reality IF MY COMPUTER DIES - noooooooo, not now. How about the end of the summer.... I can't think about a new computer right now.
Ryan's end of school, well, I had to miss his last day. It was Steffen's field trip day. FORTUNATELY, I've got a fabulous friend that I love like a sister, whom I trust my children with as I would family. She took Ryan to school AND picked him up his last day of school. It was one of those hard decisions I made, choosing to go on Steffen's field trip with him. (see above, in hind site, I wish I hadn't done that - but Steffen appreciated it, so it was worth that.) Ryan's class was such an unusually close class. I really enjoyed getting to know the mom's of some of his closer friends. They will all (most, anyhow) go to a different school as Ryan next year, so we will have to be very intentional about keeping in touch. They are so young, and Ryan will, no doubt make more fabulous friends. But really, I enjoyed the families/mom's so much, I want to make that happen. They are good folk, worth the effort. The play dates for the summer have begun, so I look forward to seeing everyone again. Of course, Ryan's BD party helped, many close friends came and they had a blast together again.
Adam and Lindsay had a wonderful time during the AFA graduation. Adam will be a senior next year, so this was when they got their rings, and a huge formal "ring dance". I'm not military, so I am pretty green at what it all means, but the ring dance is a big deal and they seemed to have a very good time. I was glad to see them get out and enjoy Colorado a bit - whitewater rafting and a hike here in town. With the AFA graduation, it brought up thoughts of next year and Adam's graduation. (See, next May will NOT be any less chaotic, probably even more chaos with him graduating and family in town etc) The thought of him graduating, and "moving on" just breaks my heart. I cannot even imagine if it were my own kiddo. If he were "mine", I'd know he'd be back. As it is, the US government will have him for at least 10 more years and who knows where he'll lay his head? So no, it's unlikely he'll be back to Colorado any time soon. We'll have to chase him around wherever he goes. :D
Tanner has moved in. He seems to have immersed himself into our family life well. I don't know. It's been so crazy over here, I hope we haven't scared him off. There are 20 (??) interns at Compassion International this summer, and they seem to be getting together often, so that is good. The boys, of course, love to have another big brother to wrestle with etc.
Dan's job continues to go well. His 90 days is up the end of June. We're hoping for a raise??? We are thankful for the good job. They seem to be very happy with him. With the addition of Dan and a new secretary, the "bosses" are thrilled at how they are getting organized etc. We'll see how "thrilled" at the end of the month - tee hee. They've been very accommodating to us for some long weekend plans we have planned for the summer. One, being next weekend, Dan flys home to be with his family to celebrate his oldest sister's birthday. Do I dare say the age????? Let's just say it's a milestone and she's 12 years older than Dan. Amazing. I'm sad I can't make this trip, but our "new" budget cannot afford us living like the Rockefeller's (not that it ever could, but we were more accommodating on family oriented trips). I've got a few fun things planned with the boys and I while daddy is away.
THE PARTY of all parties. Dan's dreamed of having a large party in our backyard for one of the boys for years. I've put him off until this year. We rented a jump house and invited all of Ryan's friends. Ryan has a lot of friends! Check out our picassa website (link to the right) for pictures. (NOTE: Ryan's biological family came - mom, brother, aunt - there's a cute picture of them all together) A few of the older boys found a few snakes in our back lot (where they belong) and they were a big hit. Even the little girls were enthralled. They are harmless, I know, but the closer they get to the house, the more creeped out I get. I LOVE that our yard is a place for the boys to explore and do things that boys should be doing - but keep it away from the house. sigh.
Being the practical gal that I am, I figured why waste the 6 hour rental on the jump house??? We invited our entire Sunday School class, and their families back at 4pm for a family BBQ. Of course, being the end of the school year, everyone was ready for a nice family get together. My house was packed. The rain held off, but the temperatures dropped, so it got a bit chilly for the little kids - my house was packed. I wouldn't have minded, but the snakes came out again. AND more kids got involved in finding them. I think three or maybe four families went home that night with pet snakes. We make Steffen release them at night. We just feel that is the right thing to do, plus momma WILL NOT ALLOW the snakes in the house WHATSOEVER. Dogs are pets, not snakes. Obviously, not all parents feel like I do, so it became an expensive BBQ for some - since they had to go out and buy aquariums or whatever those things need to live in. We have Steffen convinced that they need to return to their rocks, to their own families and sleep with their mommy and daddys. He can recatch them tomorrow. ewwwwwwww. Overall, this side of things, it was a very full, but fun day.
JUNE has arrived. It's been cold and rainy this week. So no pool action yet.
That's it for family life, I think.
The boys have started their T-Ball/Baseball schedules. I was pleased to see that the season ends early/mid July. I'm glad that the boys games are on different nights, however, that will make our June nights very busy M-Th. Sigh. I'll keep you posted.
We said our goodbyes to one family already. My heart still aches. Kristi will, I believe, be a friend I will travel to go see, and they love to ski, so I think chances are pretty good that we haven't said our final goodbye. They are military as well, so we'll see where they land. They are both from the San Antonio area, which is near where my sister and her husband retired to, so that's a plus as well. Still, I will miss her deeply. I prayed for so long for a friendship like ours, and God gave me her for just a blink of an eye. Good Folk.
I started to read "the Shack". Interestingly creative. I look forward to finishing it and pondering the creative ways it was written. By no means do I, nor do I feel one should, find it answering deep theological questions, but creative literature is still fun to ponder now and again. Maybe another post I'll discuss further interesting points. I'm still reading my other two good reads, and still have thoughts I want to post on those as well. I just needed to get through May.... and I have. - amen
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
My Baby is 5
Today is Ryan's 5th birthday! It also happens to be the day he "graduated" from Pre-Kindergarten. I asked the other mom's/friends if today was a sad day for them, and they said no. (Mom's who their 5YO is their youngest) and the general consensus was we are ready for our little ones to move out of pre-school era. I am a little more tender thinking my baby turned 5 today. It just seems like such a big boy age.
LOTS going on right now, so not time to blog, but I wanted to celebrate my son's birthday with y'all.
(PS that is one of his Pre-K teachers, not me - I didn't become gorgeous overnight :D)
Be sure to check into our picassa site for more photos. Enjoy.
Happy Birthday my baby!!!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Randomness for sure...
It's almost been a month since my last post - wow. I've always maintained that May is FAR busier than December. c.r.a.z.y.
So, here's the latest family update:
***
Steffen ended his Landsharks Running club on Monday. He really enjoyed it. Amazed me, because it's a pretty LOW KEY club, with only having 3 "meets" and the kids only run 1 race at each meet, everyone gets a ribbon. Thankfully it wasn't too much a family commitment to the practices etc. He loved it, his best friend Timmy also ran, so it was fun. RYAN, of course probably loved it more. Practices were held at a neighborhood park, and the siblings of the runners got to play at the playground during practice. Ryan met "new best friends". Some who could likely be in his class next year since it was a team from our school. I got to dialog with a parent about their dog, a golden doodle, as we are casually researching breeds for our next pet. Anyhoo, it's over, and I'm glad to have my evenings back to "normal". Steffen has just a few more weeks left to school, lots going on. They have their school-wide "field day" tomorrow - which is bunches of fun for the kids. I should help volunteer with the events, maybe next year. I just like to follow Steffen's class around with my camera.
***
Ryan just finished his swim lessons. He passed his level with flying colors. Truth be known, I think he could have been bumped up to the higher level right away. Can he swim....hmmm, not sure I"d feel comfortable throwing him into the middle of the pool. He really didn't learn some of the swimming strokes - just going under, floating etc. Our pool at our health club opens Memorial Day weekend, so we're not long for me to go and see for myself his ability level. Again, glad to have it over, and my Tues/Thurs mornings available.
***
Dan's job is going well.
***
Ryan turns 5 next week (20th). We've got quite a party planned for him, and his friends. Because the weekend AFTER his birthday is Memorial Day, we're putting the party off until May 30, school will be out, so it will be a good time for all the buddies to all get together. I'm making it a Knight and Shining Armour and Princess theme (since he's got lots of girlfriends). Should be a photographer's dream. Stand by for pictures.
***
Adam's girlfriend is coming into town next week as Adam finishes up his Jr. year at the Air Force Academy. It's hard to believe he will be a Sr. next year. He's certainly part of our family now, and I will be very sad to see him go off and start his life. Speaking of which, he just got notice that he did get "into" flight school. So he will go train to be a pilot once school is out. He will not get his base until next February. Apparently they do not know what plane they will get until flight school starts???? He's torn between a fighter jet, or a cargo plane. As his "mother" I hope for the cargo. But I can imagine that fighter jet would be pretty darned exciting. Let's hope by then, we'll not be in war. Pretty proud moment, none the less. I don't think Lindsay (his girlfriend) is too hip on the plan, but I'm sure once it's sunk in, she'll come around. :) Speaking of Lindsay, she graduates this weekend for SALVE. Lots of big life stuff going on around here. We're equally as proud of her and all her accomplishments. Adam heads there this week for her Ball and commencement program.
***
We're taking in another college student this summer as he comes to town to "work" at Compassion International on an internship program. We've not met him yet, but it seems he'll be a good fit into our family as well. Because he'll be here at home "full time" (unlike Adam, who is here on occasional weekends) I will have to step up my cooking! I don't think cereal dinners will cut it with a college boy.
***
Gotta run, just wanted to give y'all an update. LOTS going on. We've got plans to camp the weekend of memorial day weekend. We've got TWO sets of friends that are moving this month. BOTH military, one is a neighbor, so we will all feel their absence profoundly since the kids seem to be playing non-stop these days. Sad days ahead. The other family, the wife, is my playmate. (she likes to get out and enjoy nature like me - hike, ski) It took me 8 years to "find" her, and now she leaves....sigh. God is faithful, I know.
Toodles - check in at our Picassa site, since with business, comes lots of pictures!!!
So, here's the latest family update:
***
Steffen ended his Landsharks Running club on Monday. He really enjoyed it. Amazed me, because it's a pretty LOW KEY club, with only having 3 "meets" and the kids only run 1 race at each meet, everyone gets a ribbon. Thankfully it wasn't too much a family commitment to the practices etc. He loved it, his best friend Timmy also ran, so it was fun. RYAN, of course probably loved it more. Practices were held at a neighborhood park, and the siblings of the runners got to play at the playground during practice. Ryan met "new best friends". Some who could likely be in his class next year since it was a team from our school. I got to dialog with a parent about their dog, a golden doodle, as we are casually researching breeds for our next pet. Anyhoo, it's over, and I'm glad to have my evenings back to "normal". Steffen has just a few more weeks left to school, lots going on. They have their school-wide "field day" tomorrow - which is bunches of fun for the kids. I should help volunteer with the events, maybe next year. I just like to follow Steffen's class around with my camera.
***
Ryan just finished his swim lessons. He passed his level with flying colors. Truth be known, I think he could have been bumped up to the higher level right away. Can he swim....hmmm, not sure I"d feel comfortable throwing him into the middle of the pool. He really didn't learn some of the swimming strokes - just going under, floating etc. Our pool at our health club opens Memorial Day weekend, so we're not long for me to go and see for myself his ability level. Again, glad to have it over, and my Tues/Thurs mornings available.
***
Dan's job is going well.
***
Ryan turns 5 next week (20th). We've got quite a party planned for him, and his friends. Because the weekend AFTER his birthday is Memorial Day, we're putting the party off until May 30, school will be out, so it will be a good time for all the buddies to all get together. I'm making it a Knight and Shining Armour and Princess theme (since he's got lots of girlfriends). Should be a photographer's dream. Stand by for pictures.
***
Adam's girlfriend is coming into town next week as Adam finishes up his Jr. year at the Air Force Academy. It's hard to believe he will be a Sr. next year. He's certainly part of our family now, and I will be very sad to see him go off and start his life. Speaking of which, he just got notice that he did get "into" flight school. So he will go train to be a pilot once school is out. He will not get his base until next February. Apparently they do not know what plane they will get until flight school starts???? He's torn between a fighter jet, or a cargo plane. As his "mother" I hope for the cargo. But I can imagine that fighter jet would be pretty darned exciting. Let's hope by then, we'll not be in war. Pretty proud moment, none the less. I don't think Lindsay (his girlfriend) is too hip on the plan, but I'm sure once it's sunk in, she'll come around. :) Speaking of Lindsay, she graduates this weekend for SALVE. Lots of big life stuff going on around here. We're equally as proud of her and all her accomplishments. Adam heads there this week for her Ball and commencement program.
***
We're taking in another college student this summer as he comes to town to "work" at Compassion International on an internship program. We've not met him yet, but it seems he'll be a good fit into our family as well. Because he'll be here at home "full time" (unlike Adam, who is here on occasional weekends) I will have to step up my cooking! I don't think cereal dinners will cut it with a college boy.
***
Gotta run, just wanted to give y'all an update. LOTS going on. We've got plans to camp the weekend of memorial day weekend. We've got TWO sets of friends that are moving this month. BOTH military, one is a neighbor, so we will all feel their absence profoundly since the kids seem to be playing non-stop these days. Sad days ahead. The other family, the wife, is my playmate. (she likes to get out and enjoy nature like me - hike, ski) It took me 8 years to "find" her, and now she leaves....sigh. God is faithful, I know.
Toodles - check in at our Picassa site, since with business, comes lots of pictures!!!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Teaching to Change Lives...
I received this book from a woman I deeply respect. A sister in Christ, but more importantly, someone I am watching very closely - my unofficial mentor. I co-lead a woman's Bible Study this past year and was so amazed at watching her. Anyway, she gave me this book at the end of our time together. So when Marion gives me something to read, I sit up and take notice as I esteem her highly. (taken from 1 Thessalonians 5:13) I know, Paul was talking about our Elders, but I still esteem her highly, and thank God for her in my life continually.
So, back to the book. I opened this book up today and thought I'd jot down my initial impressions as I embark on this reading, and thought it could be interesting to compare my thoughts AFTER I read it. Here's the "note" I made on the inside cover:
April 21, 2009. Initial thoughts as I start this book. This book was a gift, not one I purchased myself. A gift from a woman who's life I admire greatly. If she felt I would benefit from this book, let me learn what it has to say. "Teacher" would not be a word I'd use to describe myself. Not one of my "giftings". I feel I struggle with clear articulation, so how can I effectively communicate my "material"? No, I would not call myself a teacher. (except where my boys are concerned). I would, however, think I have some "leadership" qualities (not necessarily my strongest gifting) but it made me wonder where the difference lies. Again, I'd cite my "lacking" in ability to articulate concisely - I"m the Queen of Rabbit Trails - a horribly frustrating quality in a teacher. (IMO) (But, I'm working on this) Leader? perhaps. I have a strong heart's desire for spiritual maturity. I LOVE to contemplate God's Word, and apply it to not only MY life, but lives around me - and really strive to encourage those in my circle of influence to pursue things of God. Therefore, I ask, where do teaching and leadership differ? Where am I thinking incorrectly? I tend to gravitate to books that talk about good leadership (Twelve Ordinary Men, by John MacArthur comes to mind - may dust that off again), as opposed to good teaching. So this could be interesting. I look forward to finding these answers, and what God is about to teach me. (LOVE THAT)
So, like my other book, I'll pipe in now and again what I'm learning. I'm already diggin' what I've read so far. Still not convinced I'm a "teacher" - except where my children, and perhaps as a neighborhood mom is concerned. It's good stuff ladies - come follow along if you want - I'd love the company.
***
Thank you for all the encouragement from my last post - I needed that.
I'll keep today's post short, and give you time to go out and get your own book and follow along. :-D
So, back to the book. I opened this book up today and thought I'd jot down my initial impressions as I embark on this reading, and thought it could be interesting to compare my thoughts AFTER I read it. Here's the "note" I made on the inside cover:
April 21, 2009. Initial thoughts as I start this book. This book was a gift, not one I purchased myself. A gift from a woman who's life I admire greatly. If she felt I would benefit from this book, let me learn what it has to say. "Teacher" would not be a word I'd use to describe myself. Not one of my "giftings". I feel I struggle with clear articulation, so how can I effectively communicate my "material"? No, I would not call myself a teacher. (except where my boys are concerned). I would, however, think I have some "leadership" qualities (not necessarily my strongest gifting) but it made me wonder where the difference lies. Again, I'd cite my "lacking" in ability to articulate concisely - I"m the Queen of Rabbit Trails - a horribly frustrating quality in a teacher. (IMO) (But, I'm working on this) Leader? perhaps. I have a strong heart's desire for spiritual maturity. I LOVE to contemplate God's Word, and apply it to not only MY life, but lives around me - and really strive to encourage those in my circle of influence to pursue things of God. Therefore, I ask, where do teaching and leadership differ? Where am I thinking incorrectly? I tend to gravitate to books that talk about good leadership (Twelve Ordinary Men, by John MacArthur comes to mind - may dust that off again), as opposed to good teaching. So this could be interesting. I look forward to finding these answers, and what God is about to teach me. (LOVE THAT)
So, like my other book, I'll pipe in now and again what I'm learning. I'm already diggin' what I've read so far. Still not convinced I'm a "teacher" - except where my children, and perhaps as a neighborhood mom is concerned. It's good stuff ladies - come follow along if you want - I'd love the company.
***
Thank you for all the encouragement from my last post - I needed that.
I'll keep today's post short, and give you time to go out and get your own book and follow along. :-D
Saturday, April 18, 2009
I am OUT OF SHAPE....
This full time motherhood thing. I thought I had it all figured out. I realized this week how OUT OF SHAPE I AM. WARNING: serious whining ahead This week kicked my b**t in the motherhood arena. I knew Dan was a fabulous help to me around here, but I had no idea HOW MUCH he helped me until this week. Dang! My hats off to all you friends out there whose husbands have "regular" jobs (which is all of you) I AM NOT WORTHY. Not once, not twice but three different occasions this week I was feeling pretty ticked off at this new "employment" thing. Then he deposited his check on Friday and I got over it. Let me explain.
Tuesday I had it all worked out. Dan would come home from work, we'd have dinner, and he could go deliver a refrigerator we had bought on Craigs List. I even had the open bed truck all lined up, had the refrig already paid for, all the people in their places. Dan had to stay late at work to finish up a bid. EXCUSE ME???? No, send my husband home on time, please. I was pretty indignant as this hiccup really messed with my evening. I had to go pick up the truck, which now meant I had the boys with me, which made it complicated, how could I get a refrig into a truck. The seller was not cooperative to reschedule.... it all came together, and the kids and I ran through McDonalds at 8:15 pm that night - and Dan met us in the driveway - he was just getting home as well. GRRRRRR. Wednesday, both boys have school, so it's my "free" day. My tummy was experiencing some "odd" pains, so I thought I best stay close to home, and didn't take long to realize I was coming down with a flu bug. Chills etc. A little hiccup in car pool, meant I had to go get both boys from school, so going to bed was not an option. By my 3:30 carpool, I was good and trembling, but knew I had to push through it, Dan could not come home. I did ask him to meet me at Steffen's running club practice field so we could tag team ASAP and I could get home and get to bed. (5:30) GRRRRRR. Friday - snow day. It was so beautiful, and I was feeling better from the flu bug, so it wasn't so bad. Then about 3:30pm the sun started to peek through and the kids wanted to go sledding....nooooooooo, can't you wait until daddy gets home? No, here in Colorado, you cannot wait for those rare sledding moments. when the time was right, you have to jump on it. Especially this time of year. God's agent (aka the Holy Spirit) worked quickly on me for this one, and I announced OF COURSE we'll go sledding. Lets get our snow pants on. (I so did not want to go do this) We had a ball, and sure enough, as we stomped through the door at 5pm, another storm started and we wouldn't have been able to go sledding at that time (daddy home time). By the time Dan rolled in the door after his long week at work - I had a great appreciation of how much time I have been taking off these past two and a half years from "stay at home mom". VERY HUMBLING my friends. I've got to step up my game and get much more organized around here. Daddy is just not here to fill in for play like he has. Momma has to play and engage. WOWSA.
For the record, Dan let me sleep in, wAAAAY in today (saturday) and I sorted Lego's much of my day, playing with Steffen. Daddy built a very ugly snowman in the backyard with the boys.
This slacker is signing off. May I be much better tomorrow than I was yesterday. I can do this.
Tuesday I had it all worked out. Dan would come home from work, we'd have dinner, and he could go deliver a refrigerator we had bought on Craigs List. I even had the open bed truck all lined up, had the refrig already paid for, all the people in their places. Dan had to stay late at work to finish up a bid. EXCUSE ME???? No, send my husband home on time, please. I was pretty indignant as this hiccup really messed with my evening. I had to go pick up the truck, which now meant I had the boys with me, which made it complicated, how could I get a refrig into a truck. The seller was not cooperative to reschedule.... it all came together, and the kids and I ran through McDonalds at 8:15 pm that night - and Dan met us in the driveway - he was just getting home as well. GRRRRRR. Wednesday, both boys have school, so it's my "free" day. My tummy was experiencing some "odd" pains, so I thought I best stay close to home, and didn't take long to realize I was coming down with a flu bug. Chills etc. A little hiccup in car pool, meant I had to go get both boys from school, so going to bed was not an option. By my 3:30 carpool, I was good and trembling, but knew I had to push through it, Dan could not come home. I did ask him to meet me at Steffen's running club practice field so we could tag team ASAP and I could get home and get to bed. (5:30) GRRRRRR. Friday - snow day. It was so beautiful, and I was feeling better from the flu bug, so it wasn't so bad. Then about 3:30pm the sun started to peek through and the kids wanted to go sledding....nooooooooo, can't you wait until daddy gets home? No, here in Colorado, you cannot wait for those rare sledding moments. when the time was right, you have to jump on it. Especially this time of year. God's agent (aka the Holy Spirit) worked quickly on me for this one, and I announced OF COURSE we'll go sledding. Lets get our snow pants on. (I so did not want to go do this) We had a ball, and sure enough, as we stomped through the door at 5pm, another storm started and we wouldn't have been able to go sledding at that time (daddy home time). By the time Dan rolled in the door after his long week at work - I had a great appreciation of how much time I have been taking off these past two and a half years from "stay at home mom". VERY HUMBLING my friends. I've got to step up my game and get much more organized around here. Daddy is just not here to fill in for play like he has. Momma has to play and engage. WOWSA.
For the record, Dan let me sleep in, wAAAAY in today (saturday) and I sorted Lego's much of my day, playing with Steffen. Daddy built a very ugly snowman in the backyard with the boys.
This slacker is signing off. May I be much better tomorrow than I was yesterday. I can do this.
Monday, April 13, 2009
This is not necessarily a bad thing....
Apparently, according to our President of the United States, we are no longer a Christian nation. At my first hearing of his talk where he stated this, I was appalled, outraged, very offended. Where does he get off......???? After pondering on this a bit, I thought, perhaps this is not such a bad thing. Let me explain.
Several years ago I had the opportunity to travel to Ireland with a girlfriend who had an unexpected "extra" ticket. We travel with a bus tour company, but took a few extra days and went up to Belfast and got to experience their "Orange Parade", and all the glory of all the trouble up in the northern part of that country. We stayed with family of friends of hers - strangers basically. We really got to hang with them and really get a taste of what real Irish folks do with their days. We sat around the house a lot, drank copious amounts of beer and smoked cigarette after cigarette. (my friend and I didn't, they did :) In our just hanging around, talking about any and everything it led to very interesting conversations of what these regular folk thought about Americans. I am not kidding, their impressions of America comes from the Jerry Springer show. They REALLY thought this is how the American family lives - as lived out on Jerry Springer. We were flabbergasted. Certainly they could not believe that.....yes, they believed that. We took no time to set the record straight of what Jerry Springer really represented in our culture. Many years have passed, the internet and all, have hopefully broadened their horizons to who we are (and are not).
9-11 happened, and I remembered vividly hearing the prayer that Dr. Dobson gave his staff gathered for the occasion. In part, it was sobering to really dig deep within ourselves and know that we are not such a "great" nation as most would lead you to believe. As a nation, we are, and have long been, on a slippery slippery slope of moral chaos.
Recently I read on a blog, sort of a tribute to the recently departed Paul Harvey, one of his excerpts as follows:
Several years ago I had the opportunity to travel to Ireland with a girlfriend who had an unexpected "extra" ticket. We travel with a bus tour company, but took a few extra days and went up to Belfast and got to experience their "Orange Parade", and all the glory of all the trouble up in the northern part of that country. We stayed with family of friends of hers - strangers basically. We really got to hang with them and really get a taste of what real Irish folks do with their days. We sat around the house a lot, drank copious amounts of beer and smoked cigarette after cigarette. (my friend and I didn't, they did :) In our just hanging around, talking about any and everything it led to very interesting conversations of what these regular folk thought about Americans. I am not kidding, their impressions of America comes from the Jerry Springer show. They REALLY thought this is how the American family lives - as lived out on Jerry Springer. We were flabbergasted. Certainly they could not believe that.....yes, they believed that. We took no time to set the record straight of what Jerry Springer really represented in our culture. Many years have passed, the internet and all, have hopefully broadened their horizons to who we are (and are not).
9-11 happened, and I remembered vividly hearing the prayer that Dr. Dobson gave his staff gathered for the occasion. In part, it was sobering to really dig deep within ourselves and know that we are not such a "great" nation as most would lead you to believe. As a nation, we are, and have long been, on a slippery slippery slope of moral chaos.
Recently I read on a blog, sort of a tribute to the recently departed Paul Harvey, one of his excerpts as follows:
IF I WERE THE DEVIL...
Paul Harvey speculates about what he would do if he were evil.
I would gain control of the most powerful nation in the world;
I would delude their minds into thinking that they had come from man's effort, instead of God's blessings;
I would promote an attitude of loving things and using people, instead of the other way around;
I would dupe entire states into relying on gambling for their state revenue;
I would convince people that character is not an issue when it comes to leadership;
I would make it legal to take the life of unborn babies;
I would make it socially acceptable to take one's own life, and invent machines to make it convenient;
I would cheapen human life as much as possible so that the life of animals are valued more than human beings;
I would take God out of the schools, where even the mention of His name was grounds for a lawsuit;
I would come up with drugs that sedate the mind and target the young, and I would get sports heroes to advertise them;
I would get control of the media, so that every night I could pollute the mind of every family member for my agenda;
I would attack the family, the backbone of any nation.
I would make divorce acceptable and easy, even fashionable. If the family crumbles, so does the nation;
I would compel people to express their most depraved fantasies on canvas and movie screens, and I would call it art;
I would convince the world that people are born homosexuals, and that their lifestyles should be accepted and marveled;
I would convince the people that right and wrong are determined by a few who call themselves authorities and refer to their agenda as politically correct;
I would persuade people that the church is irrelevant and out of date, and the Bible is for the naive;
I would dull the minds of Christians, and make them believe that prayer is not important, and that faithfulness and obedience are optional;
I guess I would leave things pretty much the way they are.
All this to say, perhaps it's a good thing that our president has "declared" that we are NOT a Christian nation. It would give us a place to get to, a place to work towards, righting the wrongs we as Americans have let slide for so many years. Maybe we're not so far off from the image Jerry Springer portrays? (Is he still even on the TV???)
Just something to ponder. I've not made up my mind yet - I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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