Serving My Family With Joy (Phil. 4:4)

Getting Back to Normal

Things are slowly getting back to "normal" around here. I am now mobile, after a week of soreness from being on bedrest. I've been doing homeschooling planning like crazy this week. I still have quite a ways to go, though. We have some supplies to buy yet. Nothing major - some just small craft items.

Tomorrow we are having our housewarming party. I'm not supposed to have to worry about doing much, but it's hard not to want things to be....well.....perfect! Guess I (and my guests) just need to get over it. Our home is not going to be spotless - we have three kids 6 and under (soon to be 4!) That's life!

Not really much else going on. I have an OB appt. this afternoon. My hubby seems to be a little worried I've dialated more with all the pressure I've had, but I've had pressure over the two weeks prior and there was no change. If I do end up going to the hospital, Jon is going to have a lot of people to call!

Strict Bedrest for Me...

Just wanted to give those passing through an update on what's going on.

I have been on strict bedrest for about 2 weeks now. I am still dialated to 4cm, PTL! They would really like me to last to 36 weeks, but every week, everyday is another blessing. The baby has dropped which puts added pressure on my cervix so makes bedrest even more crucial. I have an OB appt. tomorrow - I don't know whether she will check me or not. I really would feel more comfortable if she did just so we know where we stand. I am currently 33 weeks, 1 day along.

I have an AWESOME support system through my church. I have different people coming over everyday to care for my children and the house while I basically lay and watch. Boy has that been hard, but it is a huge blessing. I have another set of people making us meals so Jon doesn't have to worry about cooking after working all day.

That's basically the jist of things as of now. Please pray for us. Thanks everyone and I hope to be up and blogging in a month or so! :)

We Will Soon Have A/C

Well, we had just about ruled out getting central air in the house this year. The first two quotes were over $3,200 and $3,700. Yikes! Then we had another quote this morning - a family owned business: $2,100. This is much more doable! They are able to keep their costs down because they are family operated and don't hire contractors to do the work, etc. So this is wonderful!

They will not be installing until June 23rd, however, which is still a good 12 days away! Thankfully the weather is supposed to stay somewhat cool this week and next. If you think about it, though, it is kind of sad that we have to spend $2,100 to have something that only runs 3 months out of the year.  The complications and cost of trying to prep our house just to get a window unit compared to just getting A/C is kind of more worth it. Our living room window does not open - we'd have to have it replaced and using custom windows because of their awkward size.

Anyhoo - I have a lot to finish up around here before going to my OB appt., so that is the latest on that! I should also be ordering my curriculum here soon. I can't wait because I need to get planning before this baby gets here.

Whew, What a Day!

I spent the entire morning and half the afternoon trying to help my husband (after I had to call him home for lunch) keep our basement from flooding. We had a backed up sewer (ewwww) drain in the floor that was pouring out. We kept it under bay by constantly mopping and soaking it up with towels, ringing out the towels and soaking up more.  Then the plumber got there and "snaked" the pipe and cleaned out the clog. Whew...nothing in the basement was damaged, praise the Lord, but it sure was rough trying to keep up with that and take care of three kiddos. They kind of had to entertain themselves while we worked to keep our basement from overflowing with water.

On a happier note, I was honored today with an email asking me to take over a meme. At the moment I am still praying on the matter and waiting to see all that's involved in it. But I think it's a wonderful opportunity for me.  My husband isn't so sure - he doesn't want me to be overwhelmed, but I would give something else up in order to do this. Like I said, though, it all depends on how much is involved. I do want to give it adequate attention. So we shall see!

I thank God for a cooler day today - high of 78 and it's just BEAUTIFUL! We have another guy coming out today to give us a quote on central air. Unless we can find something really reasonable (like $2500 or less), we probably won't be doing it this year. We have another guy coming out tomorrow morning and that will be our third and final quote.

Tonight, I am going to hang with my girlfriends! So that should be relaxing after such a day, today. But we are still rejoicing! God is GREAT!

No, I'm Here to Stay

Deleting my Blog

I am a part of way too many communitites on the internet so the time has come for me to make some tough decisions. I just wanted to let those of you who visit know where I've gone. I keep up two other blogs that I have for many months now. My more personal ramblings will just have to go there. Please keep in touch. I have created just a couple of friendships here but I really enjoy our emails back and forth. :)

You can find me at: Creating a Love for Lifelong Learning and Striving to be a Proverbs 31 Wife.

PLEASE keep in touch! I will not be deleting til the end of the week in order to give you time to read this.
God bless you all!

Monday Morning Musings

This morning I have lots to do-lots of cleaning. Monday is my big cleaning day. I am, however, having a hard time getting motivated, but I need to get it done before it gets too hot. Being without central air, I don't want to be moving much between the hours of 12pm-5pm (sometimes later). Although, we are supposed to get some rain this afternoon and that often cools down the air, which is nice.

Today we have a guy coming out to give us an estimate on installing central air in the house. I am praying it is not too expensive. Other than that, we are just going to hang around here today! I need to think up something for dinner before it gets too late. I also need to be sure I'm getting my water intake. Very important!

Garage Sales Galore!

Today my in-laws sub was having their annual "sub-wide" sale and we got SO much stuff and such great deals! Lots of clothes, books, puzzles and games! We totally hit the jackpot this year.  It was a lot of fun, lots of walking and lots of water required! It was hot today - got to 91 degrees. I am a bit sunburnt on my shoulders, but not too bad. We certainly wore the kiddos out.

Tomorrow will be a long day, too, as we have church in the morning and a graduation party almost right after that. (Speaking of which, I need to get directions to that real quick!)

It has been a good weekend thus far. I am really enjoying it. :)

Monday we are having a guy come out to give us a quote on installing central air. We are not sure yet if we are going to do that, or just replace our front window so that it acutally opens so we can put in a window unit or something (which would probably be cheaper at the moment). We shall see.

Tuesday is my "girls night out" with my girlfriends. We're having a BBQ - actually, WE are not having it, a friend of mine is. We get together once a month for food and fellowship and it's really nice. So yea, there's a busy week ahead. Wednesday I have an OB appt. Not sure what's happening from there. Time will tell, I suppose!

Spent Some Time in the Garden Today

I am REALLY new to all this gardening stuff and trying to keep things simple this year until I can get the hang of it. I've chosen to plant and tend flowers/plants that mostly care for themselves, but do require some cleaning out/weeding out and watering. After that, we'll go from there!

The people who lived here before us loved woodchips and rocks and I'm trying to clean both out and want to put new/fertile soil in there. Being 30 weeks pregnant, this is taking a bit longer than usual, I think, lol. I also need to buy some gardening tools. Since I've never gardened, I don't have a thing! Of course, money just isn't there right now, so it'll have to wait (or garage saling is in order for this weekend!)

In other news...the very bank we bought this house from, that gave us so much trouble, just bought our mortgage from our mortgage company. Of all the banks out there, why did Countrywide have to be the ones to buy us? I think they knew right from the start that's what was going to happen, because before we even got the house, Countrywide had to run a credit check on us. We couldn't figure out why and they couldn't/wouldn't tell us - well, now we know.

My husband is prepared to refinance in 6 months, and that's fine with me. I just pray they don't give us any problems. My brother had so many issues with them - "losing" thier money orders in the mail (not once, or twice, but THREE TIMES!) Something sure is fishy smellin' to me. There is just so much. We are going to pay electonically, but at the same time, I don't know if I trust them with our bank account info. I just pray everything goes right. I really want to think positive and everything. I want to learn the lesson God has for us out of this - I'm sure it's to just TRUST HIM.

We bought a portable air conditioner for the house last night. Well, it won't work in any of the windows we have and I just don't think it's worth the money if it won't work for us. So I think we're going to take it back tonight and just buy a couple more box fans and maybe a window fan. I hate to think, though, how much those are going to cost us to run all summer. We have 4 ceiling fans (one in each bedroom and one in the dining room), plus a floor fan for our room, a box fan for the boys room, and we want to buy a box fan for the living room and one for my daughters' room, then a window fan for the kitchen. That would be a total of 9 fans running. Hmm....we'll have to think of something. Perhaps not have the fans running in the rooms were not in - like the bedrooms during the day and the living areas at night. ~Okay~ I know I'm doing a lot of "thinking outloud", but that's ok. That's what this blog is for!

What Do I Want For My Family?

Not to sound like it's all about what I want, but following the leading of the Holy Spirit, what do I want for them? Do I want to continue for things to be mundane and routine day in and day out? Where everyday I focus on cleaning and discipline with little fun or interaction with my children? What kind of life is that? What do I want that will make a significant impact on my family? Something unique and something that will store treasure in heaven. What could it be?

I've been pondering this very thing today - I don't want to take what someone else's family is doing it and try and mold my family into that. No - because that is what makes THEIR family unique. So I've been pondering and will be praying on what we can do to make our family unique. How can I get more involved in the lives of my children instead living parallel lives? What kind of fun can we make? What kind of spontanienty can we come up with each day? I think, for me, I need to loosen up a bit and learn how to have fun again. I'm so focused on the work aspect of life that I forget what it means to just live and have fun. The work will still get done, but my kids are growing everyday and that time can't be replaced. It doesn't come back. I want to make their childhood count - I want to make it memorable, yet prepare them for life at the same time.

Anyone else out there feel like that?

Random Happenings

Well, today I am going to be venturing out of the house with the kiddos. I have an OB appt. and may possibly have to do my glucose test. I was supposed to have already done it, but with all the moving chaos, there was not a chance for me to. 

Before that I have plants/flowers to water and tend to. I've never had my own flower beds or anything, so this is all new to me. Perhaps when we go to the library later, we can get some books on gardening. I am going to pick up a Jane Austen book - Emma, because I need something good to read!

This is my first day of not drinking coffee. Yes, I miss it a bit. I'm on a 30-day water challenge. The goal is to not go back to caffiene and to drink my water daily. We'll see how it goes.

Yesterday I was looking for a job I could do from home. That is such a joke, because every "company" wants you to put forth money to work for them. I don't think so. If I am going to work for someone, they are going to pay me.  I think it's rude for them to use people to get their way to the top by requiring them to buy their products in order to be in the business. This is called a pyramid scheme. The only person who gets money is the one on top. The rest are being fooled into buying the stuff. Anyhoo - I wish I had a talent to "sell" to help benefit others. I can't sew or knit. I can write, but I feel wrong making people pay for things like devotions. I am always on the look out for FREE devotions because I don't think you should have to pay for them, lol. I don't have the time to write a book, lol. I need something now.

Well, enough of that...that's what's going on here at the moment. The very thing I didn't want to happen after we moved is happening - money is beyond tight, work is scarce and something needs to be done. I cannot work outside the home.

That's about it, I guess. :)

Fatigue

Boy the fatigue is killing me today! I haven't been able to do much of anything because I've been so tired. I also have a horrible case of heartburn. I have about 10 weeks left in this pregnancy. It sure has flown by with everything going on! And things will continue to be busy for a little while yet.

I have two children with birthdays this summer. Don't think we're doing any parties this year, but I believe we are going to be decorating our daughter's bedroom as a gift. Not sure exactly what theme we're going with, but I think it will be "Princesses". Not sure if we'll do the same for our son (in "Cars" or "Thomas the Train") yet, we'll see.

Anyhoo...this weekend ought to be a relaxing one (I hope). I wish it were Friday already. I miss my hubby so much. I always miss him. I am such a sap!

I really want to get into spending more time with the Lord. I'd like to find a free Bible study for mom's or wives or women. Something designed for me in those areas. Anyone have any resources or links on a free Bible study for women? I'm not necessarily looking for a devotion - rather something I can dig deep into on a daily basis. Thanks in advance!

Robbed

I have been so robbed of time with my husband this weekend.  Friday we had a friend come over to have his brakes fixed and by the time Jon was done with that, I was in bed - it was like 10:45pm.

Last night we had our daughter's recital and had hubby's parents over for dinner. Then some friends of ours called to come hang out and play cards - and yes, that was fun. It's not that I regret it or anything.

But then today my hubby wakes up sick with a virus.  So he's been sleeping pretty much all day. I miss him so much. Tomorrow he works til 8pm (it's his late day). Tuesday we have to plan our message out for Wed. night. Wed. night we have church - then that leaves Thursday and whatever surprises that might spring up then. We'll probably end up unpacking more because it'll be the only day we get a chance to. I just miss my husband and I am feeling so empty. I am weary from taking care of the kids alone without some kind of relief.

Just Need to Vent - New Home Woes

This is the type of thing I created this blog for. Just a place to really release some emotions to hopefully leave them here (at the foot of Jesus).

I love our new home - it's all the "issues" that I am struggling with. In the beginning, I could deal with the issues - not having a sink or stove/oven, etc. Then they were put in and I was grateful and happy to have my kitchen functioning.

Well, now.......chuckle sarcastically......our garbage disposal and kitchen sink is clogging into the downstairs washtub and I can't do any dishes. On top of that, we just bought a new dryer and can't even use it because there is a leak in the gas line that needs to be fixed.  These two seemingly minor things are causing a major back up in my house of dirty laundry and dirty dishes. We don't have any money to go to the laundromat - seriously. Zero.

To top things off, I have sick kiddos - two of which have been in the ER in the last 5 days (one being last night). Everything takes twice as long to do around here because of all the "inconvience" and I am just extremely weary. My body aches and my patience is thin (lack of sleep I'm sure).  The more I try to get the house in order, the more it falls apart. I have bruises on my thighs from running into the edges of boxes so often.

I am just ready for all this to be done so we can live life. Yet, a certain song keeps coming to mind that I can't forget or seem to get out of my head. It's a country song by Phil Vassar called "Just Another Day in Paradise". I just watched the video for the first time and it made me cry because I so feel like that's us right now! I'm really trying to make the best of it all, I'm just wearing down. I just need my sink and dryer back so we can get some kind of "flow" back to this house again. It is really draining.

Wow, I feel better after writing that all out. Thank you Blogger!

Cough, Cough, Cough

That's what my two oldest have been doing all morning. Coughing.  Obviously they picked up something. My youngest (13 months) was in the ER on Friday night with a 104.1 temperature, but the doctor diagnosed him with a bacterial infection. Now I'm starting to wonder.  Hopefully it will pass quickly. Perhaps it's the weather? Today it is rather gray outside and isn't going to be as warm as it was last week.

We have been very busy getting our new home in order - now that we are moved in! It has been a lot of work, but I'm trying not to overdo it. On top of unpacking, I have 3 children to care for and a home to maintain. I can't possibly do it all. I also try to focus on the things I did accomplish rather then the things I didn't. That helps a lot.

The months ahead will be busy as there are going to be adjustments with no end in sight! In just a few short months, we will have a new baby to welcome home. Not long after that, formal lessons will begin again and we will be using a new curriculum. Also, my second child will begin a few more "formal" lessons as well. Formal as in deliberate or planned out. Homeschooling around here is actually rather casual.

The children's grandpa will be bringing over a butterfly bush for us to enjoy. It is apparently supposed to attract butterflies. So this will help us begin to study them a bit. There will be more on that at my homeschool blog when the time comes. :O)

So Much To Do....

....so little time!

Today I am going to be working at packing up our house and cleaning as I go. There is so much to do it's not even funny!

• Laundry
• Clean off desk/pack items
• Clean off countertops and wipe down
• Clean off kitchen table/wipe down
• Pack up remainder of hutch
• Pack items in living room
• Pack remainder of kids' room
• Pack remainder of Master Bedroom
• Clean/dust master bedroom
• Pack unnecessary clothes
• Scrub down bathroom
• Sweep floors

Welp! Better get to work!

What a Weekend!

Ever since we signed our closing papers Thursday afternoon we have been working and cleaning non-stop at our new house. We have a few things to bring up to city code before we can move in and those things are just about done. Another day or two and we'll be ready.  But we have been kind of living out of that house even though we aren't sleeping there at night. So it's crazy!

But I do need to get the children ready to go to the house! I'll try to update you all as I can! :)

Prayer Challenge - National Day of Prayer

Today is the National Day of Prayer and enlight of that I have accepted a 20 day prayer challenge to pray for a country of my choice. I have chosen America.

There are plenty of things this country needs prayer for - including the upcoming election. I can't tell you all the things I'm going to pray for at this point, because I actually don't know. I will allow myself to be lead by the Spirit. Obvious things are for our troops, for our current and future Presidents, for other leaders who make a difference in this country, for our schools, for the redemption and repentance of the American people.

 It is not too late to join in on this prayer challenge. Choose a country and pray everyday for it and share with us on your blog which country you've chosen. Click the button below for more details.

Saturate

I am aiming to saturate my life with the Word of God. For too long I continuously go to "man" (through books on parenting, marriage, mothering, etc.) to give me the answers. Now, I don't think they are all bad. I believe there are excellent books on these topics out there and I believe there is a lot of garbage, too. The problem comes when I begin to get confused because there are so many different methods suggested by different people. They are not all necessarily wrong - it just brings me to a point of confusion on what I should do. But the truth is, God has a unique answer and "method" for my unique family. It will never look identical to someone else's way.  That doesn't mean it will veer from His own Word, though.  In fact, that is my Ultimate Sourcebook for life, there. I don't want it as just an occasional "lesson to learn" - I want it to saturate my being. I don't want it to be a part of me, I want it to be all of me.

As I spent time in prayer last night, I proceeded to open God's Word and just read a Proverb and Psalm that corresponded with the date. I was so blessed! God confirmed to me that He would answer my prayer.

I just need to figure out how to get into the Word as much as possible. Even in "spurts" throughout the day. That will probably be the main way of being fed is opening it many times and reading small portions throughout the day as opposed to sitting down and reading a large portion at night or early in the morning.  I am excited to be changed by the Word of God and know right away there will be a battle for my time on this - this is the last thing satan wants and he'll do what he *thinks* he can to stop me. But God is bigger!

Whining Tots in the Morning