Day 12

So i forgot to post yesterday but we are almost half way through our giving challenge and it has been wonderful. Today we made some cards to send off to the wounded warriors for Christmas. Being a military family this is something that is close to my heart. Ayden came up with  something thoughtful for each card and last night before bed prayed for all the wounded warriors. It is an honor to see him growing like this!

The addresses are below for anyone else who would like to send cards to these hero;s this holiday season!

Audie Murphy VA Hospital
Spinal Cord Injury Unit GLD
San Antonio, Texas. 78229

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center
Wounded Warrior Ministry Center
CMR 402
APO AE 09180

Walter Reed Medical Center
Medical Family Assistance Center
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20307-5001

Michael De Bakey Veterans Hospital
Spinal Cord Unit
2002 Holcombe Blvd.
Houston, TX 77030

Brooke Army Medical Center
3851 Roger Brooke Drive
Fort Sam Houston, Tx 78234

Day 11

Today  I had Ayden go through his toys and pick some to donate to the local womens and childrens shelter. It was fun going through his tows and him thinking about what ones he thought other children would like to play with.

We had a box full of toys to donate when we were done. It was a great project for Ayden :)

Day 10

We have been talking about how not everyone is as lucky to have what we have. During that conversation we talked about how some families we know won't have their mommies or Daddies home, due to deployments and assignments overseas. He remembered one of the neighbor kids talking about her daddy leaving and he thought her mommy would be really sad right now and that lead us to our RACK for today ( thank you to a reader who suggested the acronym)

So today we put some candy and a small trinket from our present closet in a box and left it on the front porch of a neighbor whose husband just deployed at the beginning of the month.

Day 9

Yesterday I mentioned our pumpkin cookies and the recipe was asked for so for anyone who is interested in trying these wonderful cookies here it is :

• 4 cups all-purpose flour ( do 2 whole wheat and 2 all purpose)
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 (16 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt. Add pumpkin, oil, eggs, milk and vanilla; beat on medium speed until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees F for 13-14 minutes or until edges just begin to brown. Cool for 2 minutes; remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

I hope your family enjoys them as much as we do!

 

For our kindness today I am making some cookies and attaching the recipe for my FRG leader who I have hooked on these delicious cookies. Ayden thinks it is perfect since they are the best cookies in the whole wide world and she can know make them when ever she wants. 

 

Hope you all are able to spread some Holiday cheer this weekend! 

Day 8

First off I want to do a shout out to Money Saving mom, she featured me on her blog and I am so thankful for that. I am also thankful for all the wonderful ladies that have been checking out my blog from that post. It is great to hear about you who are challenging to reach out to others this holiday season.

Second, I want to share what has been happening in our house since we have started this challenge. My five year old has been changing. Kindness is spilling over in to all parts of his life, yesterday he let a child get in front of him to use the slide. Also when we went to see Santa instead of asking for a bunch of things for him, he asked that all the boys and girls whose parents can't get them much would get extra presents from him this year. The talk of presents has pretty much stopped here all together. Which was my goal. Presents at Christmas are great and wonderful, but I really don't want that to be the focus in our house. I want him to think of others and it is happening. It is so great to see this wonderful character trait growing in my little boy.

Now on to our act for the day, I have been baking pumpkin cookies for a few get togethers we have coming up. Pumpkin cookies are a staple in this house at the holidays, we call them Christmas Crack because they are so good and equally addicting. So we wrapped up some cookies with a note and left them for our neighbors! Ayden had fun sneaking up to their front porch and leaving them there. Maybe I need to invest in some Santa hats for us to wear while we are blessing others.... defiantly something to think about!!!

Day 7

Today was shopping day. Ayden had a great idea to gather up all the carts that were not put away so they didn't bump into anyones cars and scratch them. I thought this was a great idea for the day.
We gathered up the carts there and then later at the px where we saw santa. It has been great to see Ayden thinking about others this week. I have seen it spill over in to all parts of our life, I think this lesson is working :)

Day 6

We have almost made it through a full week of doing acts of kindness :) it has been fun and a great way to spread joy this holiday season.

We were running late this morning, so on our way to co-op we had to pick up breakfast. I gave the lady at the window more than I needed for my meal and told her to use it for the next persons meal and so on until the money was gone. She smiled and said " Not enough people do nice things just becuase, that is great!" I said "thank you" she replied with " I think I am going to take a page out of your book and pay it forward this holiday season!"

I love inspiring people to do nice things for others, there is some much bad in this world we could all use a little kindness. It was a great start to my morning.

Day 5

Today was an easy one, my FRG was wrapping presents at the PX so I went in for a few hours and helped wrap presents.

Ayden is getting really into to the whole thing and hasbeen coming up with some great ideas. looking forward to seeing what else he comes up with!

Day 4

Last night a Friend of mine posted about her daughter breaking her hand while goofing off with her Dad. I thought this was a great opportunity to do an act of kindness. Ayden made her a card and we walked to her house to drop it off with a box of chocolates. It was a nice surprise for her it was great to make her day a little better!

Day 3

Today we took a trip to the park with some friends my son had over for a sleep over. While we were there we noticed there was pieces of trash all over the place. So before we came home we picked up all the trash even the freinds we had with us helped :)

how is your challenge going??

Day 2

Last night we made some Cinnamon ornaments, well tried to and they all got stuck to my cookie sheet :(. So I took out my crafting supplies and made some stocking ornaments out of felt instead, crisis averted and this morning my son wasn't as upset since we still had ornaments to leave on peoples doors.

Armed with our ornaments taped to cards we VERY quietly stuck them on people's doors Ayden had a lot of fun with this he even made up a secret sign to show me the card was secure.

On the way home we counted the cards and he was excited that there were already three people had picked up off their doors!

Can't wait to hear of others ideas today!

Day 1

Today was the first day of the 25 days of giving! To start off our giving this holiday season while we were at Walmart we picked up 2 gift cards before we started shopping and I handed them to Ayden and he was able to pick out 2 families while we shopped to gift them to.

The first family was so surprised she thought we  were joking.  When we were leaving she found me in the parking lot and thanked me again. She was doubtful there was money on the card but tried it when she checked out and much to her surprise we were telling the truth.

The second family was also caught off guard, we talked to her for a few moments she wanted to know why we were doing it and if if was affiliated with anything. So I shared why we were, turns out they are also a homeschooling family and she liked the idea so much they are going to pay it forward this holiday season too.

When we were done Ayden wanted to hand out more I told him maybe next time, I do like his giving spirit. It was a great way to kick off our season of giving.

What did your family do today??

December 1

Tomorrow is December first, day 1 ofthe 25 days of giving. I have been thinking about what we are going to do. This week is range week for my husband so unless I really need the car it isn't going to happen, and there is nothing I need the car for. So that limits me to what I can do in my neighborhood. I think we are going to bake some pumpkin cookies and Ayden can make some cards and we will deliver cookies on the door steps of neighbors with note to pay it forward this holiday season.

What are you planning on doing?

Acts of kindness ideas

Thursday marks Day one of twenty-five days of giving! I have talked with some friends and a lot are excited about this adventure for the holidays. There were some concern about coming up with ideas and low cost ways to do this. So here are some low cost/ no cost ideas for this up coming Challenge.

• At the store gather up all the loose carts 
• take a plate of cookies to firehouse or police station
• go through your kids toys with them and have them pick some to donate to a shelter
• Pick up trash in your neighborhood, park or beach
• Have kids make cards to take to residents in local nursing home or children at the local hospital
• Make ornaments and leave them on neighbors front porches
• Let someone get in front of you in line

• Leave an extra few dollars on the tip when you go out to eat

I hope this list gives you some ideas to make this work for your family this holiday season, please add your ideas in the comments to help other think about how they can give and show love to others this holiday season.

25 days of giving

So I have this crazy idea and wonder who might want to take part in it?? First I will start with the back story.

Growing up during the holiday season my mom was always teaching us to give back to others by doing random acts of kindness to strangers. Every year there was one act of kidness we did from buying food for holiday dinners, to giving ornaments out to strangers in parking lots, to paying for the person behind yous coffee. Even the years where things were tight my mom managed to still keep this going. Looking back I know see that she was teaching us you can ALWAYS find a way to help someone and make their holiday season a little brighter.

So my newest crazy idea was born, instead of just one act of kindness why not 25 days! Starting Dec 1 till Christmas me and my boys are going to do one act of kindness a day. I am not talking about big gestures just little things to make peoples days brighter. Like letting someone who looks like they need it go in front of you in line. Going and picking up trash at the local park or beach ( granted not all places have climate that allow for that), donating food, toys or whatever to a local shelter, taking cards/cookies to a local nursing home for them to give to the residents who don't get any visitors or things for Christmas or taking cookies to your local fire department or police department.

On top of this I am going to make an effort to smile and be kind to those I run into and deal with. Working retail at the holidays is a tough job, I am sure a smile and a kind word would make a little difference in their day.

Imagine the difference you could make in your community by doing 25 acts of kindness and having friends also do 25 acts of kindness to  spread Christmas cheer. I am hoping to be able to post what we are doing each day starting the 1st. If you want share this on your blog with a link back here so those who decide to can post about their acts of kindness each day and help give others some ideas they never thought about.  

Look for a post  at the end of the month for the kick off of the 25 days of giving!
Merry Christmas :)

Busy, busy, busy!

This month has been so packed full of stuff it has been CRAZY! We have made it through, but I haven't had much free time. We took the week of homeschooling this week just because I needed it. Between making Halloween costumes, company gatherings, Halloween itself, mandatory dinners life has been flying by.
One nice thing we have a formal dinning out tomorrow where we get to dress up and the best part NO kids. We are leaving them overnight to get some much needed alone time.WOHOOOO!
Not next week but the following week we will start a new work out plan P90X yes I am crazy, but it should be fun ( i hope).

I hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween and I post again if I survive the craziness of P90X!

Forgiveness

While I was working out at the gym today 7x70 Time by Chris August came on my IPOD. I heard this song for the first time last march and had to pull over cause I couldn't stop crying. It struck a chord with me and I believe it has a great message.

I come from a divorced family and Dad who just wasn't there. Unlike the song there was no screaming and yelling, but my family did fall apart. When I was eight my Dad walked out of our family, he refused to get help for his alcholisim, so he left. I can close my eyes and I am right back there sitting on the couch crying with my mom and brothers bot really knowing what all that meant.

My Dad was never consistent in our lives he would pop in and out, he would say he would try and make plays and graduations but something else always came up. From the time I was 8 my heart was broken, and there were times where the hurt was so much, the doubt of myself was so heavy that I thought I would be crushed.

I am thankful for my Uncles who stepped up, and showed me and my brothers love and did their best to fill in the gap. I am thankful for different adult men in my life, who encouraged me and took interest in me as an adopted daughter. I am thankful for the Friend ( I can't even remember her name now) who invited me to church where I learned about my heavenly Father who would not let me down, who loves me unconditionally and who always forgives me.

I am doing alright I have two wonderful boys and a husband who loves me. I made it through and now I am raising my own children, who are lucky enough to have a father who will always be around. 


Six years ago I started a journey in really getting to the root of ( for lack of a better term) " My daddy issues" I am still working through things but I can say  I have learned to forgive my father, and it was the most freeing thing I ever did. For the longest time I wanted  to sit with him and ask him "why?" hoping for what, an apology, I am not sure. Any time I would get close to the subject he would avoid it. Now I know I don't need an explanation, he will be accountable to God for his actions not me. I am able to forgive him. I am still forgiving him for new stuff that I find that has been buried deep down for so long.

The day I was able to finally forgive him for the big thing, the hard thing, him leaving it was so freeing. It was like a weight was lifted off of me. Things changed I am able to be okay with where he is at as far as being in mine and my boys lives. I have never told him that I forgive him because I don't think I need to right now. Mainly because at this point I don't think he even knows what effect he has had and that I even needed to forgive him. I pray one day he will find God, be sober and when he does and if he asks for my forgiveness, I will be able to look him in the face and say " Dad I already have!"

Discipline

We have been having a challenge with our five year old and behavior. He is driving me up a wall. Since I homeschool snd we are facing a deployment in the near future we needed to find a solution to the problem quickly and because of where we live public school is not an option. Today we were given a suggestion put up s chart so he can see what level of dicipline he is at. So tonight we made a chart that looks like a stop light and a little car to mark where he is at. He is not going to be happy about this in the morning, hopfully it will be useful. We will give it thirty days hopefully there will be a change.

Courageous

Tonight my husband and I were able to to go on a date night and saw the newly released movie Courageous it is by the same people who did Fireproof and Facing the Giants. I strongly suggest going and seeing this movie, I don't think I have gone from crying, to laughing back to crying this much in any other movie.

With out giving to much away, it is basically about a group of fathers that make a decision to be the kind of Fathers God has asked them to be according to scripture. It is very moving and I don't think anyone in the packed movie theater walked out the same as they walked in.

After the movie we walked to Jamba Juice for a quick treat before heading home. As we talked about the movie, my husband shared the points that hit him the most. One of which just being around isn't enough, he feels he needs to actively engage in our sons lives. 

We also talked about men being the spiritual leader of the household. That is where it hit me, do I  allow my husband to lead our boys? Do I actively listen to him and God when I need to take a step back? Do i push my agenda on him, instead of suggesting something and listening to how he feels about it?

I am going to take a risk and make a HUGE generalization here but I believe many women in our culture have been taught that they shouldn't have to let go of the right to run the family. We were raised to be strong independent. How can you do that when you are being submissive?

Submission is not about being a doormat, it is about knowing only one person can lead the family and God decided it was the husband. It doesn't mean you don't have a voice, it just means when someone has to make the decision and there is no agreement, the husband has to take on that responsibility. One day our husbands will stand before God and be held accountable for their families that is why they get to lead.

The main verse they use in the movie is in Joshua "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord" we have always used this as the foundation for our family. We want people to know when they interact with us that we love God. Tonight that verse took on another meaning, God wants my Husband to be the leader of the house, and for me to let him.

If we are to take  " as for me and my house we will serve the Lord" and try and live it not only should the outside world see God working in our family, but our sons should see what a family is in Gods design my husband leading and me following him.

Workng out

First of all I am so excited after over 2 weeks of not being able to go work out at the Y I get to go back on Monday :). I am so ready to be back, I have a goal of losing 10 more pounds before Oct. 28 we have  a dinning out with the army, it is like a ball just a little less formal so 10 less pounds would make me look a lot better in my dress. Still have a ways to go till I hit my weight goal, but I am losing at a pretty steady pace, and I didn't gain back any weight while I was sick, can't ask for much more than that.

This weekend  I was talking to a friend who just couldn't understand how I could be so focused at the gym, knowing what to do and not getting lost in the many machines they have available. There are a few things that help me stay focused in the gym. One is thankfully the Y branch closest to us is fairly small so it is not overwhelming and still has the stuff you need. Two is my husband, he knows his way around a gym and any exercise or muscle group I want to work he can help me. Then lastly is my friend Google, I figured out my overall goals and using different key words  I found a workout plan that works for me. This is what I am using at the moment  http://www.gymprofessor.com/gym-routines-toning-women.html I really like it and it eases you in to working out, so if you have been away from the gym for awhile ( like I had been) it is a great way to get back in to the groove.

Before you head to the gym figure out what are your fitness goals. Mine for example are loosing weight, muscle toning, and being healthy and in shape. Then figure out how many days a week you can work out. For me I can only do Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the gym. Next to Google, start using key words to help you find a work out for you. Then sit down and make sure you know how to do each thing correctly and come up with an alternative in case your gym doesn't have the machine/equipment you need. Then armed with your list so you don't forget anything head to the gym and get started. :)


I do the full toning work out 3 days a week, and cardio ( for me walking on the treadmill) I up my weight and walking pace when I feel like things are too easy, great rule of thumb if it is to easy then it is not going to do what you want it to do.  I do abs once a week at home, and may up it to 2x here soon.

So with a little bit of planning and some help from Google you can use your time at the gym well. So much time can be wasted wandering from machine to machine and not doing enough reps of an exercise a good plan can help with that and make working out at the gym a breeze and the most beneficial.

The joys of kidney stones

Last weekend I found out I have a large kidney stone stuck in my kidney. So I have been couch ridden mostly since then. So thankful for the internet to entertain me.

So because of all of this I have had to stay away from the gym for almost 2 week now. I was not happy with this I was doing so good, and I will probably have to start at the last 4 week session again. So this morning with fear that I had gained weight and the hope I was at least staying the weight I was I stepped on the scale... I am DOWN 4 pounds since Friday. Since I can only eat ramen, think that is the key. My new weight loss plan, forget the gym just eat ramen for 2 meals a day ;)

A decade

A decade ago the biggest tragedy hit the United State. A decade ago thousands lost their lives, mothers, fathers, children, husbands and wives. A decade ago heroic men and women risked their lives to save others. A decade ago a group of ordinary people became hero's as they brought the hijacked plane they were on down in a Pennsylvanian field.

I remember being asleep and my little brother yelling " we are being attacked" down the stairwell. I ran upstairs. I watched as the second plane crashed  and the towers both fall . I remember sitting in shock thinking is this really happening here, to us. I was in High school at the time of the attacks, after sitting and crying with my family I headed off to school. The halls were empty every classroom had the same footage and on going coverage of the attacks. I found my best friend Megan told her I was going back home I couldn't watch the coverage anymore and classes were obviously not happening today.

As I headed home I saw signs for different churches that were holding prayer for the attacks that day. As was the story across the nation. I went to church that evening and have never seen it so full, strangers holding hands all praying for the same thing.


It is hard to believe it has been ten years. The new Tower is well on it's way to being built, there are memorials in the field and at ground zero.

Ten years ago as a high school student I didn't think I would have sent my husband off to war and seen most of my friends send theirs off as well.  I didn't think that my 5 year old  would know what and where Iraq and Afghanistan are and how to say their names. Ten years ago I didn't think I would be sharing the events of 9/11 with my son ( in a way a 5 year old can understand) to help him understand why daddy has to leave in a few months.

Today as I remember the events of that  morning the things that stand out to me the most is the passengers on flight 93. They banded together, and prevented the plane from reaching it's intended target. And the first responders, many who weren't even on duty, they ran in to those burning crumbling buildings saving as many as they could. Many lost their lives trying to help others get out. Many were there for days and weeks sifting through the rubble hoping to find what they could. Those two groups are the hero's of that day, in my opinion.

Amazing how one event changes the lives of all Americans. We will never forget and we will not stop praying for the troops overseas till they all come home.

Homeschool in the ER

On Wednesday this week i went in to the Emergency care clinic with what I was certain was a kidney stone. They deemed I was not in "enough" pain to run any scans saw a had a kidney infection and sent me on my way.

Yesterday I was not feeling any better so we called the advice nurse and she suggested going back to the Emergency care clinic since there were no open appointments. We decided instead to take the trip to the ER since we were not happy with the care at the ECC.

While at the ER they ran a scan and found out there was a massive kidney stone. So while we were there for MANY hours my 5 year old got to learn how to put in an IV, and what it does. How a CT scan works and see the inside of Mommy's body and all sorts of cool stuff. Who says you can't learn through life experiences. 

Mondays

Always the hardest day of the week, trying to get back in to the swing of school, and picking up the house from all the weekend fun. Around here we like to play and have fun most weekends, which means my house gets horribly negelcted for 2 days.

For the last couple of weeks I have been re organizing my house a room at a time when I have extra time after chores. This weeks goal is to get the kitchen cleaned and re organized. My pantry is overrun by mess created by little hands looking for snacks. Plus my sink is over run with dishes that even though I have washed them it keeps getting higher...hmmm. So this is my goal to get the kitchen spic and span then it is so much easier to put it back that way in the mornings while my oldest does his seat work.

I am hoping having my house in order from top to bottom ( eventually) it will make my mondays less taxing since everything will be mostly clean to start with come Friday afternoon. There is hope for me not to hate Mondays so much in the future :)

Today I start week 5 of my 12 week work out challenge. I am adding an ab routine on Tuesdays and maybe Thursdays depending on how sore I am. Plus what I have been doing is changed slightly, I just got in a groove too. I will post more on how this challenge is going tomorrow.

The best cooking tool EVER

Well at least I think so. I just managed to cook chili for my family with only 2 tools my knife and my mix and chop. I just renewed my love for my mix and chop, it is a great tool for ground meat. You can just throw your meat in the pan and the mix and chop breaks it up effortlessly. The reason I am so excited about this handy dandy little tool is tonight I was looking over my recipe and I was supposed to hand squeeze or blend plum tomatoes ( I have made this meal before and usually go the route of the blender) then I thought I can just use my mix and chop, not only did it save me having to pull out the blender and then wash it it saved me time and worked like a dream.

It saved me so much time in fact that dinner is done, and I am still waiting on my family to get home from the Y so we can all eat. So I decided to share with you all ( if you don't already know) what a wonderful little tool this mix and chop is.

My favorite tool the Mix 'N Chop

You can get it through your pampered Chef consultant. A quick shout out to a friend of mine who is a consultant she is doing a Fundraiser for the Navy Seals Foundation now through Sept 4th.  20% of all sales go to the foundation to help the families of those who lost their family member in the devastating crash and families like them. 

http://www.pamperedchef.biz/gravygirl?page=products-detail&categoryId=96&productId=15658&itemId=2583 this is her site you can order through it for the fundraiser. 

Our Life as of late

So I am not very good at this whole updating my blog thing :p but I am trying and that is what counts.

We are starting week 4 of schooling and things are going well, there are the challenges, getting the toddler to color with out eating the crayons. Today I gave him dabber's he ate those too! But I got my house clean while my kindergartner worked on his seat work and the toddler was contained.  I have put a new system in place to help my kindergartner stay focused, he is thinking that most of his school work is beneath him so he will draw on his page or whatever. Today was rough since it was day 1 but things went so much better than last week, once the tears stopped. Here is to no more tears by the end of the week, (  I have such high hopes).

We joined a co-op and that was a lot of fun, it took my kindergartner a while to warm up. Which I expected, he has generalized Anxiety disorder so new situations are rough. The great thing was instead of him shutting me down and refusing to go back we came up with some great ideas together that might help him next time. Which is such a great improvement for him, we have been taking him to see a therapist since the beginning of the year and we are now starting to see the work we have all put in come around full circle. He still has a ways to go but it is so reassuring seeing him take these steps. 

I am on week 4 of my new work out regimen, it is going well, I am not dieing as much as I was in the beginning and I have increased my weight and my reps. Also I am doing much better on the treadmill. This is my last week of this section then on to the next, finally after I have gotten in a groove. I am loosing weight at a pretty decent rate. I am hoping to meet my first goal by the middle of November we will see how that goes. I am setting goals of losing 10% of my body weight every 3 months or so until I get down to my goal weight.

I am hoping to be able to get on her more and share my thoughts more often. We shall see how that works out :)

Foucus

This morning at church part of the sermon talk about Philippians 4 specifically the following verse:

Phl 4:8

¶

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things.                                                                                                                               This verse challenged me, what is it that I am thinking about daily. My thoughts need to focus on the good, pure, honest, lovely. Not worry, fear, anger or resentment.  How can I be giving praise to God through out my day if my thoughts are focusing on everything bad that is happening. I am not in control of what is happening, my circumstances may not change, but I am in control of what I am thinking, and changing my out look.  The bible it says to   hold my thoughts captive, and by doing so I can change to only be thinking on things that are honest, true, pure, and lovely. As soon as I notice a thought that doesn't fit in to those categories stop it. This week I am going to make a more focused try to do this in my life and see how it can change things.   My challenge to you is what are you thinking about?

New start

Yesterday was a day of new starts :) It was my oldests first day of kindergarten and I started a new work out regimin with help of my hubby.

We homeschool and have been for a little while, but now he is offically school aged so it feels different you know? We have a great year planned and I am really excited about what we are going to be doing. The little one like to sit and listen to our stories so even he is joining us for bits at at time.  I look forward to sharing some of our adventures as we learn this year.

Then there is the work out  thing, I have been away from the gym for a few months and have never had some clear direction. So I looked up a toning and work out plan and my husband is helping me by MAKING me go to the gym and helping me figure out what these exercises are and how to do them. Also helping me figure out  how heavy my wieghts should be. This program is 12 weeks, it is to help me get back used to working out, we shall see how that goes, back at it again tomorrow!

So here is to new starts and I will share our journey as we make our way.

6 Years

A few weeks ago my Husband and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary. We had an romantic candle light picnic on our living room floor while the kids watched a movie upstairs ( plan B when there are no available babysitters). It was a lovely evening and we spent sometime talking about were we started and where we are now and how unexpected things can get. Since then  I have thought about how what things I have learned so far in our adventure in marriage and parenting. Here is a list of what I have come up with, ENJOY!

1. You make plans and God laughs.
2. You can love someone more than life it self
3. I would be able to speak Army speak fluently. 
4. Never say never
5. Being a stay at home Mom is the most rewarding job on the face of the planet
6. Home is where you make it
7. Looking for a new church is the hardest part of moving
8. Family isn't just those who share your DNA
9. It only takes one afternoon for movers to pack up your entire life
10. No matter the distance there are friends who will be there no matter what.
11. When you have to you can make it through anything.
12. Mom's don't get sick days.
13. God puts you in the right places at the right time. 
14. Even if you can't see it at the time God is using everything for your benefit. 
15. Marriage is the most wonderful thing, even though your spouse can drive you up the wall at times.
16. I can teach my kids.
17. Technology is wonderful.
18. No one will agree with everything you decide, or what you do for your kids, but that is okay as long as you are okay with it.
19. Don't count on anything till it is actually happening.
20. When you husband is gone your phone is never out of site.
21. Kids are resilient.
22. You do the best you can, and that just has to be enough some days.
23. Having kids changes everything, in a good way.
24. Marriage is hard work, but more than worth it.
25. you can miss the dirty clothes on the bathroom floor
26. It doesn't matter how long you have been Married, you need to make the effort to date.
27. A good babysitter is worth her weight in Gold.
28. After 13 months of deployment a dirty stinky uniform is the best thing you  have ever smelt.
29. Doesn't matter how many times you have said Good bye it doesn't get any easier. 
30. At first you think it is going to take awhile to get used to sharing a bed, then at some point you can't sleep in an empty bed. 
31. You can still get butterflies when you see him for the first time in weeks or months
32. No matter how bad your day is " I love you mommy" and a hug can make it better :)

I hope you enjoyed my list, leave some of things you have learned in this crazy journey of love in my comments.
Until next time

Fear

Fear is something everyone has at one point or another in their life. The problem with fear is that it can become a driving force in your life and every decision you make is out of fear. Fear shows a lack of trust, you can fear your husband is going to leave, because you don't trust he would stick with you no matter what happens. When fear becomes a driving force in your life, as a Christian, you are not trusting God.

Absence of fear doesn't mean you think nothing bad will ever happen, it means that you trust that God is sovereign and he will use all things to help grow you and has a different plan than you thought. Everyone goes through tough times, it is all how you choose to deal with them and let them impact your future decisions. Learning to give all things to God is hard, even harder is leaving them there. It is like we take the ball from him and play with it a while, when we have no business playing with it in the first place. He is the only one qualified to take care of the things in our life.

Learn to give to God with an open hand, and let go of fear, for God is not a God of fear.

Getting ready for School

Well my plan today was to go grocery shopping, that got waylaid because my 5 year old got really sick. So I decided to organize my book shelf for the upcoming school year, being as it starts here in 2 weeks. We use Sonlight for our core ciriculum, which is a literacy based program, so we have a lot of books. I went through and stored away the books we won't need this year, and sorted through the work books we have and my bookshelf is ready for the school year. The rest of the homeschool area, well that is a different story.
 We moved here a year ago and have this nice size space for all the things we have for schooling, colored paper, paint, stamps, beads, games, Ect. I just can 't seem to figure out how to get it all organize and keep it that way, I try and keep things accesable for my 5 year old and out of reach of my 1 year old. Something has got to change over there and I hope I figure it out soon.
 However I am very excited for the school year, keeping my 5 year old challenged is hard work but I think we have a fun, interesting challenging year ahead of us. This summer we did some unit studies and discovered Lapbooking, it is so much fun. You can check out a list of free lapbooks and templates on this site, they have some great simple ones to get started. I also discovered my son loves them and learns alot from them  so I am going to try and tie them in to what we are doing when I can this year. Also we are doing a science with lots of fun experiments :)
We are going to finish up our unit study on Mars then jump into the year. So exciting. What are you looking forward to this school year?

Blogging

Blogging... I am not very good at it as you can probably tell by how long it has been since I last posted. I guess I just never feel I have things worth sharing or that anyone else would want to read. I don't really have a direction for this blog, mostly just the randomness that happens in my life.

I am a Army wife living in beautiful Hawaii. I have an amazing husband and to very energetic boys that are 5 and 1. I am a stay at home mom and homeschooler. I love sewing and spending time with my family.

I think I will try and do this blogging thing again, there are always interesting things going on in this house, what else can you expect with 2 boys who are full of mischief. Hmmm... now what to write :)

New Year's Resoultions

I don't do New Year's Resolutions, to put it plainly because by February I have failed and they never  bring about real change. I do take time at the end of the year to reflect. Reflect on how I have been as a Christan, Wife, Mom and Friend. Then set realistic goals to change my behavior so I  can do better in these aspects of my life.

This past year has been good and hectic for us , last January my husband was half way through a year long school that was high stress, he graduated and that meant another move this time to Hawaii. We also welcomed a new member to our family while he was in school. We made a trip home for a month while we were moving, and lived in a hotel while we waited on a house. That was a challenging time but we made the best of it and can laugh about it now.  Our oldest has turned in to a  little boy right before our eyes, this year he will be 5, where has the time gone. He is so smart and can learn and retain things so fast.

It was a good year full of fond memories and good times. Along with all the good there is one big bad I was diagnosed with fibromialgia and since we have arrived that have been our rain cloud. It seems like that colors everything we do. It is looming in the corner, my husband is concerned I am overexerting myself and one minute I can be fine and the next I am done for the day. We are coping well and are blessed to have some amazing Dr's here who are helping me make the best of this diagnosis.

My goals as a Christan be in the word more. Pray more. Stand out more.

My goals as a wife this year are to meet my husbands needs better. He doesn't always make them known, so I am going to commit to pray specifically that God will show me what he needs so I can meet his needs. He takes care of me fully I want to be able to do the same.

As a mother make sure I am doing what I can to give my children the best I can to help them be the best they can be even if it makes no sense to anyone else.

As a friend, check in more. Call, e mail, text, just keep in contact and encourage.

I hope you all had a wonderful 2010 and wish you a blessed 2011!