Jellybeans and Roses

Somehow the kids and I started talking about jellybeans on Easter after all the festivities (church, lunch, and Easter egg hunt).  I started telling them about how my Grandma Betty liked jellybeans.  So, we decided to pay a visit to her grave.  We took some jellybeans with us and some roses from our yard.  As we got close to the graveyard Laura said, "We have to wear our pants crooked for Grandma Betty."  Grandma always had the middle seam of her pants twisted in some way or another and it has been a great source of laughter for us.

So here stand my silly kiddos with jellybeans, roses, and twisted pants for their Great Grandma Betty.

We love you Grandma Betty and we miss you.  We hope you enjoyed the jellybeans and roses we left for you.

While we were there we decided that their Great Great Grandma Ruby needed some jellybeans, too.

So, we dug a small hole and buried jellybeans just for her.

and we arranged some on her headstone.

It's great to remember and share stories of those that have gone before us, those that are partially responsible for our exsistence and took a part in molding our family into what it is today.

Spring "Break"

So much to say. Been avoiding posting all week as I really want to share the good things happening. But here goes...Worst. Spring. Break. Ever.
-spent the first 3 days of break moving everything we own
-moved into temporary housing (2 weeks in gpa and gma's empty house) Didn't think it would bother me, but it has struck many emotions within me. I sure do miss my gma!
-attempted to make choc chip cookies while my love was working hard on moving the last few heavy things. Oven doesn't work. 25 minutes on 500 degrees and chips were just beginning to melt.
-F1 tornado went thru the neighborhood of the house we were scheduled to close on Thursday. Neighbors all had a single tree down. Not us. We're pretty "special" apparently. 5 trees down for us. But hey, we made the news.
-$500 going to stump removal now on a property we no longer own
-doing laundry at the temporary housing when toilet starts gurgling and nastiness comes up from the bath drain
Let's just say that if my kids weren't watching I would have curled up in a corner and cried. Now I'm sitting around looking at boxes. Can't find anything but will be moving again in a week and a half (Lord willing). So, I don't dare unpack anything.
I'm grumpy, moody, and frustrated. I'm working on a very short fuse.
But God loves me and walks with me in spite of it all. Thanks for not throwing in the towel on me God.

OCD

I am a creature of habit. I like to know what's going to happen. I like for things to be organized and settled. Clutter is not my friend! I do admire those that look past it and call it life. I want to relax enough to let things go. But I'm a bit OCDone who likes organization. Everything has a place and everything in it's place. In fact, I recently read a quote that was so true of who I am at times. "I have CDO. It's like OCD but the letters are in alphabetical order as they should be. Funny to read but often frustrating to live. Frustrating for my husband and kids as I nag and insist that things be put away properly. I need to let go. I need to let my kids live and enjoy. I've often read another quote, "Excuse the mess. We're busy making memories." How many memories have I allowed myself to miss out on because things weren't tidy? Grrr! It's embarrasing to think about and quite disappointing. So, I'm going to try to let loose a bit. Allow creativity in my children that is not limited to "clean" creativity. Let loose and live. Enjoy! Laugh! For the clutter will still be there tomorrow, but the ones I love might not.

Building Up or Tearing Down

My desire is to raise my children to love the Lord with all their hearts and to want to serve Him in everything they do...or at least I say that is my desire. But sometimes I let myself get in the way. I want my children to love others, to be respectful, to be a person others want to be around. But so often instead of teaching and guiding I find myself tearing down and ridiculing. Is it It is so often pride. What will others think of ME when they see my kids acting that way? What will others think of ME when they hear my children speak? But it's not about me. It's not about my pride. It really should be about showing my children what it is to walk with the Lord daily and how He respinds the many times others watch me, His child, behaving or speaking the way I do. See, it is my job duty to show my children what a true life lived daily for Christ really looks like. Man that's hard impossible to fake to those who love you most. I want to be sold out. I want my kids to remember me showing not telling about how God wants us to live our lives.

Accomplishments

I cooked dinner, did laundry, helped kids with homework, packed two boxes, and made a short post all since 4:15pm. It feels great. It's 8:45pm and now I'm off to bed. It's exhausting accomplishing things. :-)

Somethings Always Happening

FYI...This will not be a short post. One of these days you may find a short post on my blog but I can't start today. Sorry.

God has so brilliantly ochestrated every part of my life and the lives of those that live with me. Why? Why do I act shocked when God puts things in place as only He can. You'd think I'd be used to it by now but I'm not. I'm honored and maybe a bit embarrased that He ochestrates things for me and He speaks to me. It's not that I don't LOVE it but I am so unworthy.

Almost a year ago we decided to put our house on the market. Lots of different reasons for this decision but the biggest reason was to be closer so our kids could be involved in extra activities without it being a huge burden to our family. I know, why on earth would you decide to do this with the economy the way it is? Go ahead. I know that's what you're thinking. Well, what the heck. Let's just try it. We'll see what happens. So, our house has been on the market for several months but in the last 4 months God has brought us to a place of utter disgust. It was disgust with ourselves. It was disgust with our debt. We'd heard all the great reasons to become debt free. We knew it was what God desired for us but it wasn't until 4 months ago that we sat down in pure disgust and said, "Look, we've been talking about this for a long time now. Either commit to it or life a life chained by debt." It has taken work. It has taken self control. And it has taken a bit of sacrificing. But we're doing it. We are committed to seeing this to the end. We've been using the envelope system since November now. We haven't used a credit card and are hold to a budget. And really in the grand scheme aren't really doing without. Instead, we are gaining so much. Time at home together, more dinners sitting together at our table, a sense of freedom just to name a few.

In all this God brought us to a place where we wanted to move because the ability to payoff debt would be even greater and would move even faster. So, now that we're here, now that we have arrived at this place, God sold our house. Yep, even in this horrible economy. We're excited. We're moving forward. We'll be adjusting from the housing we're used to but He even worked that out. We're moving to a house we already love and we already own. It's our first "grown up house" as my sweet hubby calls it.

It's amazing to see how God has orchestrated every part of it. And I'm just skimming the surface. If you ever want to sit For a few hours I could share every amazing detail. In the mean time...I've got boxes to pack and some purging to do.

May God lead you to a place of courage to follow Him and His plan whatever it takes.

One more thing...God spoke to me thru his word this last week, the day before He sold our house. He said, "And I will send down showers, showers of blessings that come right when you need them." Thanks God! You never cease to amaze me.

Hume"isms"

Monday the family and I did a little shopping after work. Daddy took the little diva off to a part of the store with him while I took the others. I received a call on my cell. It was the man of the house insisting I come where he was immediately. When I got there the little diva was standing in a rather awkward position and immediately started crying when she saw me. An accident!!! Grrr!!! So, daddy took care of the floor and I took her to the car. "Why are you crying?" I asked. "Because I was afraid you would freak out," was her reply.

Today, in science lab the teacher was discussing endangered species. She told the class that buffalo are becoming endangered. Little man raised his hand and asked,"How will we eat buffalo wings if they're gone?"

Never a dull moment.