Today is the boy's 8th birthday. It is so hard to believe that he is eight...that I have an eight year old...that I have managed to be responsible for a human being (besides myself) for eight years, and he survived. WOW! And he is such a great little guy. I have been so blessed with my son. He has made me laugh, he had made me cry, he has made me scream, and made me feel every emotion a parent can feel. I am so lucky to have such a great kid. I ask God to help me raise him right. He has already began the process of praying, and asking what it means to have Jesus in his heart. I love that! I only hope that God will give me the right words to say to him when he is ready to make that commitment.In my mind he is still that little boy that used to crawl up in my lap with a book and snuggle in before bed, but in reality he is a big kid now. I pray that he keeps his faith and walks strong in the Lord. I pray that he always puts God first in his decisions, I pray that in those times of temptation he will be strong and turn to God. I am so super proud of my boy, and am enjoying watching him grow up into a wonderful young man. Happy birthday, big boy...you will always be my baby .

Overwhelmed...much?

I am beginning to feel a little overwhelmed with this school course load (5 classes=15 credit hours). It is sinking in how much work I have to do this semester. Lesson plans, strategy plans, literacy center, running records, special services agency visit and report, criterion reference based test project, math lesson plans, and reading reflections. All of this does not include 20 hours of field experience (outside of class), exams, quizzes, mid-terms, and finals  WHEW! What was I thinking with carrying a course load like this? I am managing, but I am trying so hard to meet my goal of graduating with honors, and it seems so overwhelming to step back and look at all I have to do (and do it well) to accomplish that goal. Things are starting to catch up with me, and I need LOTS of prayer right now. I know I can do it, and I know I will feel so awesome once it is over and all my hard work pays off, but for now I need some strength from my Lord to carry on.


Isaiah 41:10  fear not, for I am with you;  be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you,  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

TGI...ahem...M???

TGIM...Thank goodness it's Monday. Betcha' never heard that before. That is how I feel on this Monday. This past weekend was a roller coaster of crazy events (and not a fun roller coaster might I add). Saturday evening we ended up in the ER with Caleb. He had a asthma attack (first one in yrs.) and it was the first time we ever had to take him to the ER for his asthma. Weird thing is...he was actually "un"diagnosed because he was doing so well. I guess we'll hope this was a "freak" thing. Four breathing treatments, a dose of steroids, and 3 1/2 hours later we made it home. Of course, I was wound up and between that and breathing treatments every 4 hrs. I got approx. 1 hour of sleep that night. 6:45am comes awfully early for one who has had 1 hour of sleep, but I did it anyway and made it to church. Shortly after Sunday School, I hear "Amelia's having a reaction." reaction is a scary word in our house because it usually means that Amelia has been exposed to something with nuts (which she is highly allergic). So, I grabbed the Epi-pen  headed downstairs to the church basement all the while yelling "someone call 9-1-1." I get to where Amelia was and she was in hysterics, her children's leader was on the phone with the paramedics, and I began assessing the situation. It was a false alarm (praise the Lord). I couldn't convince the operator of this so Amelia got to meet some really cool EMS workers who made her feel so comfortable as they were assessing things.  Ends up what she had swallowed was an M&M instead of a Reeses pieces. Music to my ears. Everyone was great and responded appropriately. I am so unbelievably thankful for my church family. They are an awesome group of people. I know my children are cared for and looked after while in their care. I thank God for them. Had this been the "real" thing she would have been safe because of them. To top it all off...I had to sing the special in church service. Talk about an adrenaline overload. All day yesterday I trembled replaying the events of the previous 24 hours over and over in my head, and each time I thanked God for the many blessings that came out of all of  it. I thanked him for the ER doctors that helped Caleb begin to breathe normally again, I thanked him for my church family who took such great care of Amelia, and  I thanked him for protection over my family while everything was going on. AND now I am thankful it is Monday because all of it is behind me, and I can see the many blessings God gave me. GOD IS GOOD...ALL THE TIME!!!!

SATURDAY FUN DAY!

Today is Saturday, and I LOVE Saturday. Saturday is our family day. We spend the day together, eat out for lunch, and occasionally take in a thrift store or two. Today we ordered Chinese and went to a local thrift shop where we found the game Operation. Operation is by far the greatest classic game. I really do like it. What a great way to spend family time, and as an added bonus we found it for $2.00. GREAT DEAL!!!!

Pinterst-anonymous

Hello...My name is Gina, and I'm a Pinterest-a-holic. For those who have not tasted the pure greatness of pinterest, I highly recommend that you do NOT start. It is highly addictive, but for those who are interested I will be your enabler and explain...


Pinterest (pronounced to rhyme with "interest") is a vision board-styled social photo sharing website and app where users can create and manage theme-based image collections.

The mission statement of Pinterest is to connect everyone in the world through shared tastes and the “things” they find interesting. 

There is everything from DIY crafts to recipes to lesson plans to quotes...you name it, they probably have it. I can spend hours pinning and re-pinning. I have actually done a few of the things that I have found on there. For example, if you read a post in December about Photo coasters that is where I got the idea, and Amelia's birthday cupcakes...yet another Pinterest find. It is a great place to find ideas for things to do during your free time (if you have it). You can visit the link here. ENJOY!

LAZY...the best word to describe me thus far today. I must get moving. I have the usual house work, groceries, and homework. I just haven't gotten my kick of motivation yet. Still in my jammies. Sometimes it is nice to just laze around and relax, and I have done a great job of that today. Now my time is now up and I must get started so...READY...SET...GO!


"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Sleeeeeeeeeeepy!

All I can think about right now is how sleepy I am. After being awake until 12:30am this morning and waking up at 6:00am followed by a full day of school...I am exhausted. AND the older 2 kiddos just walked in the door. So now I have to switch gears, put on the Mommy hat and take care of them. Luckily, it is near 60 degrees out so needless to say, they're outside. I have a few minutes to recharge (by sitting at the computer) and then it's off to make dinner and praise team practice. Wednesdays are my looooongggg days. I am so tired by the time we get home from practice that it takes all I have to peel off my clothes and crawl in to bed. I CAN NOT WAIT for that time to be here today. I am so tired right now that I literally feel sick. My prayer right now is for patience (hard to have being tired) and one good boost of energy to survive the next 6 hours.


My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. (Psalm 62:1-2)

My new crazy life!

I have not posted in 2 months, and for that, I am sorry. I will try to get better, but no guarantees. A lot has happened in the past 2 months. The year ended nicely. I passed both classes with "A's" last semester, Thanksgiving and Christmas both spent at home, and we rang in the New year in our basement as usual (because that is how we roll). 
Thanksgiving was great. We had dinner at my FIL's (father-in-law)house and it was just the family. Each of us brought side dishes an all sat around the table. It was nice to have a traditional family dinner for Thanksgiving (and to not cook everything).
Christmas was just as nice. We took in our annual Christmas Eve Movie and saw "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked." It was cute, but I must admit I enjoyed the second one better. Then we had Christmas dinner here and had my FIL over. I cooked it, and it turned out great!
Then we did our annual New Year's dinner: Crab legs, black-eyed peas, and greens. My FIL joined us for that too. It was nice to spend the holidays with just the family and not travel, but I do miss my side of the family.
 In January, daughter 2 turned 6. I made these cupcakes. 

Brownie base with strawberry cake...Pinterest recipe. YUM!

Birthday Princess.

She got tons of Littlest Pet Shop stuff. She is a big collector now. 


Now, my spring semester is in full swing, and by full I do mean full. I am carrying 5 classes. That is 15 credit hours in case you didn't figure that out. This is the heaviest course load that I have ever attempted to carry in my college career. I must admit carrying this many classes and wrangling 3 kids along with homework, housework, grocery shopping etc. has it's challenges. BUT I am managing thus far...granted it has only been 2 weeks since the start of this semester. I am enjoying it, though. Keeps me busy! I am ever so grateful for my FIL. He has been a Godsend. He is watching Annie while I go to school. This is a huge help, and baby A adores her time with him. Win...Win. I am also thankful for a great friend of mine that helps out on days that I am off school, but need time to catch up. She has a baby boy that is the same age as Annie, and they love playing together. I often help her out by keeping her kiddo while she needs to catch up...so yet another Win...Win situation. 
God has blessed me tremendously over the past few months. He re-vamped our small group,which at first was upsetting to me, but he worked it out in the end, and now I am excited to see his plans for our new group. I am looking forward to the next few months. I hope to have time to do some more blogging...it helps with the insanity of my new crazy life.


Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV)