Goals for 2011

I honestly can't believe we're in a year named 2011. Back when I was a kid, that sounded like a Space Alien age. Really. If someone had've asked me what I thought the world would look like in the year 2011, I would've said we would be flying in cars and living on other planets. Well, in reality, we can do things like read books without an actual book (Kindle, anyone?), fuel up our cars without, um, fuel, and a cool thing like communicating with someone across the globe with our fingers and not with our mouth/ears, and I'm sure that there's way more high tech things that I'm not even aware of and no, thanks, I'll just continue being a country girl.
But, really, 2011?
I'm reminded of what my best friend of 20+ years used to do as pre-teens. We would write each other letters (before txting, internet, etc) and include with the other 6 to 10 letters, a five year letter (okay, so maybe we were teenagers, ahem) and in it we would write each other as if we were living 5 years into the future. It is hilarious now to think about us both married (to different people than we had predicted) and having more children (than we had predicted) and our lives are not so upscale as we had them predicted. :)
Now we've surpassed our 5 year letters by about, um, 11 years, and honestly, who would've thunk it? Look how the Lord has blessed. So far beyond what I deserve.
I never set resolutions. I never set weight-loss or exercise goals. I know me. Thankfully, so far, I don't have too terribly a problem with weight even though my appetite grows more every year. I never keep those kind.
I would like to make some goals. Things that are achievable and matter.
1. Getting up early to put God first.
2. Being less selfish.
3. Going outside more with the kids.
4. Reading more to my children.
5. Savoring the moments.
6. Being a more helpful wife.
7. Working on my weaknesses (procrastination, anyone?) and using my strengths for God's glory.
8. Staying on a routine for my sanity.
9. Getting prepared for upcoming economic problems by stocking up.
10. Cull entertainment in my family (okay, maybe downscale).
11. Work on teaching my children better manners and generosity.
12. Don't be a slacker with training and homeschooling.

Hope you have a lovely day.
For now, I must attend to the breakfast needs of my family. I have children to rouse and a breakfast casserole to take out of the oven (see #s 6 & 8). :)

Thoughts & Such…

I trust each of you had a wonderful weekend spent with your families. Ours was busy, but very enjoyable. On Saturday, we went to a neighboring church’s Fun Day and had a good time. The kids played so hard (they had one of those blow up slides) and were just exhausted by the end of the day. We finished off our day with some family swimming and togetherness.

I was glad to be able to go to church this weekend after missing last one due to my children’s sicknesses. My husband and the friends mentioned here sing together and occasionally sing at Homecomings and such. We had one yesterday and we really had a good singing. The Lord came by and was with us!

Ella spent the afternoon with my mom. I guess this is her first time away from me for an extended period of time. She did good, according to my mom. She is still nursing, but my mom supplemented her some with fresh goat milk. :)

Speaking of Ella, I had a really rough week last week. We have such a hard time getting Ella to sleep, getting her to stay asleep, and getting her to play or to just be unattached to my hip. This is both a good and bad age/stage she is in right now. This week was really difficult for me to stay focused on my priorities/duties (with a good attitude) and take care of a no-napping, fussy baby. There were times I wanted to get into the fetal position and hide under the table. More than once. Yes. I so pray for a better week.

A few things the Lord revealed to me through prayer last night (as I was rocking my fussy baby while church was going on….) that I need to do to, well…just have a better week.

One was, keep my commitment to my early prayer and Bible reading. There were a million several times last week that I just needed to get into a prayer closet and shut the door (and get into that fetal position).

Secondly, I felt the Lord speak a calm to my soul. Or, to put it better, telling me to calm down. After last week, I just need a calmness in my soul and spirit.

Thirdly, and this is the second or third time I’ve felt the Lord impress me to Live only for today. Why is this so hard for us? Every thing we do or say, sometimes, seems like it’s based on tomorrow or the future. I prayed that the Lord would just put up a wall when I think about anything past today. Today, I must enjoy my children. Today, I must take care of my husband and family. Today, I must be joyful. Today, I must work on my struggles. Today, I must smile at my babies. Today, I must do my duties as unto the Lord. Today.

How can I serve my family and my Lord today?

Don’t think about current situations or future events that might affect my ability to bless my family. Just do it, today.

As I have mentioned umpteen several times, I really struggled last week. My hormones and emotions were so crazy. It was awful (for lack of scarier term). I was reading one night before bed in the book I’m currently reading, “Instruments of Change” and the Lord put a simple sentence in that book just for me. I had to run get a highlighter and mark it. It said, You do not have to be in bondage to your emotions. Wow. Thank you very much, God, for that blow. Isn’t it wonderful how He gets down to where we are at?

Yep, last week, I was in bondage to my emotions. I chose to be a slave to how I felt. I allowed my feelings to dictate the way I ran my home.

I appreciate the Savior giving me another chance to live for today, today.

My little Sleepless One is awake again (after 3 episodes of rocking) so I need to cut my time short. My wonderful life saving husband is rocking her out on the porch. Maybe she needs a change of scenery?

It sure helped me.

This week I’m thankful for just that—a new week.

What a Blessed Weekend!

Good morning, readers friends! I trust that you had a wonderful weekend filled with God’s blessings upon your family. No doubt, you did, because:

Every good and perfect gift is from above. and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17

Thursday night was my first ever Piano Recital and it turned out great! The weather was awful and I thought that would surely hinder our crowd, but we had a turnout of about 35 people, I’d presume! My students did splendidly:

my older students…one is missing due to being out of town…

My youngest student, with lil sis admiringly looking on…

one with my only male student :)…and the refreshments

A close-up of the cake….yummy…made by my Aunt :)

Then Saturday night, lo and behold, we were invited to a Sweet 16 fancy-smancy birthday party! I could even bring a date! See who I brought…

He’s been my date for 14 years now! :) Oh, and he was in mid-song during this picture. He is so known for his singing ability and to be able to find an appropriate song for every situation/occasion. :)

Oh, but here is the Birthday Girl (yes, she is pictured in one of the above photos):

Our best friends who sat at the table with us:

My childhood friend married my husband’s childhood friend….:)

Sunday morning found us in front of the opened freezer door, trying to get some relief for my crouping daughter. Ella and I stayed home with her from church. Erin spent lots of time resting (i.e. watching Dora..ha) and I straightened up the house a bit. Before the ‘men’ came home, she and I made a pizza for lunch.

working on the crust….

Puttin’ on the toppings…

More toppings (the peppers are fresh from the garden)…..Bellpeppers, olives, peps, banana peppers, portabella shrooms….

Ready to go in…..

There is nothing quite like the satisfaction of making and eating your own homemade pizza! It was really good, even if I did forget to put the salt and oil in the crust. :)

Before the kids napped, I read to them a little out of our current Read-Aloud,

During their nap, I worked on a project that I will unveil in a separate post tomorrow. I also started to work on organizing the kids’ rooms. I feel like that is a project that I need to revisit every month for it to stay organized! Anyway, I sorted blocks, littlest pet shops, animals, small trucks, baby toys, baby dolls, magnetic toys, etc…into separate bins. I even broke a sweat and I’m not so sure I rested enough for a Lord’s Day. :/

While the men went back to church for Evening Worship, Erin settled back in front of Dora (I never let her watch that much Dora, or anything for that matter, but, I digress…we did swing for awhile). Once I noticed she seemed very lethargic and her cheeks were flushed. I decided I’d better check her temp. It was 101.8. I thought I would wait a little before I gave her medication so the fever could do its work. I made some cookies, Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies (for you, Amy, j/k) and then worked some more on my organizing. Erin’s fever seemed to get worse, so I told her to get in the bathtub and then I would take her temp after her bath. It was 103. I gave her Tylenol and within minutes her fever was completely gone and she was playing. I told my husband that someone was praying for our little girl. I have never seen temperature go down that fast!

Here she is…doing a quiet activity before bed …making a clock…(she loves to sleep in her slip)

Here is Evan playing with the newly organized small trucks:

I’ve got to take more pictures of Emory…he is practicing the guitar and taking lessons from his Dad now. I will have to get a picture of him playing. He really does look like a natural.

Well, today has begun. The children are awake and it’s time to begin our day! May you be blessed. :)

PS. Check out our Garden Tour in the post below!

Thank you for your comments. They are so encouraging to me. Honestly.