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)

Gift Idea for the Grandparents

I have recently discovered the pinterest website. If you haven't checked it out, you don't know what you're missing. It is FABULOUS!!! Check it out here.  http://www.pinterest.com/  I found a really neat and inexpensive crat to do for a gift for the holidays. These are photo tile coasters. They can also be used as a display. So here's how you make them.



Step 1:

Supplies:

4x4 ceramic tiles

photos

glue stick

mod podge

bowl for mod podge

foam brush

clear spray sealane (top coat)

felt

scissors/paper cutter

ruler





Step 2:

Next: Choose photos for your coaster, and cut them to fit. I left about an 1/8 of an in on each side to have a border. You can choose how big you want your border.  You'll want to leave a little room to be able to mod podge over and seal it to the coaster.

Step 3: Glue cropped photo onto ceramic tile using glue stick.







Step 4: Once you have finished gluing you will be ready to coat with mod podge. I put 2 to 3 coats on just to make sure it is sealed. It will look like this at first, but it dries fast and clear.

Step 5: For this step you will want to take your photo tiles outside in a well ventilated area and spray a generous coat of clear gloss on top. Let them dry over night outside. Then you can add felt dots to the back corners or cover the back with a square of felt to finsh. Put a pretty bow around the set of 4(or how ever many you choose) and you have a great gift.



Tame your Tongue

Ok...I need to vent a little so I thought what better place to do so than my blog. So...here goes. I have come to the conclusion that the phrase "agree to disagree" no longer holds the value that it used to. Everyone has the right to their own opinion, and that is all good unless, in the midst of expressing your opinion you decide to discredit someone else's. Just because we have different opinions doesn't make us right or wrong...it makes us individuals; sometimes it even makes us unique. I'm all about listening to others opinions, and have from time to time expressed my own, but what I try not to do is disrespect those that I don't agree with. It is fine to have a different opinion, just DON'T disrespect someone because of it. Afterall, what makes one opinion better than the other? They are OPINIONS not facts.  It is also fine to ask why they feel as they do,  as long as you do it respectfully.  If not please LEAVE IT ALONE, and agree to disagree. It is that simple.  As Bambi said, "If you can't say something nice...don't say anything at all." Ok, so now, off of my soap box. Thanks for listening!

Here is what the Bible says about taming your tongue. (English Standard Version ESV)

 Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. Proverbs 21:23


There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Proverbs 12:18 

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1

Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
Proverbs 17:28



Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.
Proverbs 17:9

"What if...?"

Sometimes I ask myself "What if...?" Let me specify...As a child I was not raised in a Christian environment. My mom was a single parent who worked very hard to get what little we had. She believes in Christ, but hasn't been involved in church for years. There are so many obstacles to overcome while being an only child with a single parent, and not in church. I know God had his eye on me, and had a plan for me. I was ALWAYS a good kid. I NEVER partied, drank, or even smoked. I won't say that I was never tempted because then I'd be lying, but I just never fell in to that type of thing. Most of my friends were the same way. We just never had the desire to do any of that. I now know, that God had put them in my life for a reason. I had always been niterested in church, but never found the one I felt led to...that is when God put someone in my life that went to First Church of God. She later fell out of church and moved away, but I am thankful for the time that God used her to get me in church.  I was 15 and little did I know that going to THAT church THAT one time would forever change my life. From that day on I went everytime the doors were open, no matter what it was, I was there. I loved it. I was on the praise team and in the youth. I even met the love of my life there. To this day I wonder "what if" I had not gone to that church that day. There are so many things that I imagine and none of them are as good as what I have now. Although I have moved away from that small church, I am still very involved in my current church. I am on the praise team full time, nursery coordinator, in a fabulous small group, and married to the guy I met in that small church in Holdenville, Oklahoma. I also have three beautiful, healthy children, and am working on my passion of becoming a special educator.  Now tell me God wasn't involved in all of this. I believe that God has a plan for all of us. We have to be the one willing to listen and change for him, and even though I do sometimes wonder "what if..." I am so thankful that I am, what I am, by the grace of God. So, ask yourself "What if...?" That simple little question will make you stop and realize how blessed you are.

Scouting for Deals

I am all about a good bargain. I LOVE second-hand shops, consignment stores, and garage sales. CLEARANCE racks are my favorite! It is kind of an addiction for me to find the best deals on stuff. I'm not much of a couponer; though I have been known to use a few now and then, but I do love to rummage through gently used things. Especially kid things. Kids grow out of or play through clothes so fast that I find it hard to spend a fortune on clothes when I can find great deals on clearance. I am a "season ahead" shopper. I like to buy things a year in advance on clearance and put them away for next year. ANYWAY...today is what I consider the ULTIMATE success in second-hand shopping. Caleb is joining boyscouts and although the club isn't that expensive overall, the uniforms are quite pricey so I've been asking around to see if anyone had one we could use. No such luck! Well for some reason I got the itch to get out of the house today. So, where else would I go, but to our local consignment shop. (Added bonus: I have an account there and my balance going in was $11.15). YAY...Money to spend!!! As I was looking I really wasn't finding much so I decided it was time to go, but glanced back over at the boy's section one more time only to find in plain sight a brand spankin' new official cubscout shirt, tags still on perfect size for Caleb. It was like it was meant to be. Now, these shirts go for $21.99 on the boyscout website, I paid...wait for it... a whoppin' $6.50!!! WOOT WOOT!!!! AND it was out of my account so it was like free money. So this, my friends was my deal of the day (and possibly the year!!!) SCORE!!! Now off to find the wolf neckerchief, patches, and cap...