Taking a true Sabbath

I have to say that the plans that I had for my family have not happened. When I first had children, I envisioned the four of us spending evenings and weekends together. I thought my kids would take up hobbies to work on in the evenings or that we could work on together during our weekend time. But I did something that I said I wouldn't do - I succumbed to the ease of the TV babysitter, the Gameboy, the iPod, the Wii and computers in the kids rooms. We didn't have a game console (the Wii) until this summer and I am glad of that. The kids are not addicted to it at all. But they do watch too much TV and play too many computer games. These activities take away from our time together as a family. My job requires a computer and Internet because I work for a virtual company. Unfortunately, that makes it all too easy to get online in the evenings "for just a moment" and end up spending an hour or more working.

Now that my daughter is in 9th grade and my son following closely behind in 7th, I realize just how much time we do NOT spend together in the evenings and on the weekends ... each one of us spends the days in our own individual worlds, on our own computers (we have 3 laptops and 1 tabletop) or watching TV or playing the Wii and maybe even listening to an iPod while on the computer (my daughter). We are not connecting. And, beginning on the 19th, my kids will be home for their winter break from school. For 2-1/2 weeks, they'll have all day to do their own thing. So, I have warned them that they will NOT spend all day long on their computers or watching TV. And, I have also decided that our family is going to begin the tradition of a true Sabbath. I actually haven't decided whether that will be Saturday or Sunday. My husband and I need to decide which day we'll choose for the Sabbath. I'm actually inclined to choose Saturday with the Sabbath ending with church in the morning. Whichever day we choose, there will be NO technology allowed.

Wow - we'll actually have to spend time together and talk - LOL! Honestly, I am excited about it, but also a little nervous. I mean, I'm not sure what we'll do for the entire day together. I am hoping for part of the day to include a nice hike. My issues of Seasons at Home have neat projects for dads and sons. My daughter likes to cross-stitch and I am hoping to piece a few quilt tops next year. I'll just plop my sewing machine upstairs on the dining room table and sew away while my daughter stitches on the nearby couch! We'll talk, play games, read together, study the Bible, etc. I don't want these next four years to fly by and all of a sudden, my daughter is in college and has no time to spend with us.

I also want the kids to know how to just "be." Our kids have grown up in a society where people are busy 24/7  - when they aren't sleeping, of course. And people are giving up sleep to do more and more. I don't want my kids to always feel like they have to be doing something. When I was growing up - without computers, iPods, etc - I spent my spare time reading or cross-stitching and I was always in the same room as my parents. So, we talked a lot. I'm not expecting us to spend the entire Sabbath together. There will be times when someone wants to read a book in their own room or whatever. What I am hoping for is to maintain a connection to my teens so that they do not grow apart from us at this time.

I'm not sure when we'll start this Sabbath. I am actually hoping it might be this weekend, but I may not begin it until the kids are out of school. Either way, I'll let you know how this new tradition goes. I really hope this is a good thing for our family and something that we all end up enjoying together!

Thank the Troops - send a free postcard (sponsored by Xerox)

My mom sent this to me today and it was easy-peasy!!

XEROX IS DOING SOMETHING COOL  

Thursday on the Homestead

 

We still do not have our tree up. We always get live trees and if we get them too early they dry out to fast so we will wait until maybe next Saturday to get it. Because the cold hit us I have yet to get my Christmas decorations out either. I hope to get to that either today or tomorrow. We need this house looking a lot more festive!  About the only thing we are doing regularly is playing Christmas music! I must say my favorite CD for this Christmas is Casting Crowns new Christmas CD. I keep switching between that and a couple of Kenny G holiday CD’s and Kenny Chesney’s Christmas CD (with my all time favorite song.. All I Want For Christmas is a Real Good Tan..  LOL) and others.. I am amazed at how many Christmas CD’s I have collected over the years. Hopefully by the weekend our home will not only sound like the Christmas season but look like it too!    

The countdown continues for my son.. less than 2 weeks now until he leaves Iraq. These last few weeks have really been tough for him.. you would think things would lighten up as they prepare to leave.. but he says, nope.. they are working the guys 16 hours a day except on Sunday, they only work 12..  I know he is exhausted both mentally and physically. I am so looking forward to him coming home and getting some relax time with us… and he is too! 

My apologies...

My apologies to you my friends for my strange disposition lately... I am feeling much better now and I have a few things settled in my heart and I am so happy about that.
Today looks to be a fantastic day, I am finally feeling better, yeah! Shannon is home today, it is raining, it is Thursday... woo hoo! :) Great day ahead! :)
Tomorrow I plan on showing how to make the paper stars. That will be fun!  Have a great day my friends and I look forward to our meeting again soon. :)
My Cup Runneth Over...

a little catchin' up and an incredible money-saving offer for you!

I have been crazy busy ... things are just a blur! My husband's 40th birthday was Sunday and I had to give him the typical gag gift. He is really wanting an iTouch, but he wants to wait to see if they upgrade them with more space, so I have given him an IOU for one whenever he decides to buy it. One of the items in his gag gift bag was the movie, The Bucket List. We watched this when it first came out and we just like what it has to say. I've been feeling a little down lately, but watching this movie made me look at things a little differently. In it, Morgan Freeman tells Jack Nicholson that no matter the circumstances, he needs to "find some joy in your life." I have not been feeling the joy lately, but I am bound and determined to find it again.

Now for that incredible offer - I haven't had much time to work on being frugal, but I did buy this incredible ebook package from Living on a Dime this week - the Grocery Shopping on a Budget e-course. This package includes TEN ebooks for only $15.95 ($77.95 value if bought separately!). Plus Living on a Dime offers a 30-day, 100% money back guarantee! I've never been disappointed with the  products that I have bought from this company.

My mom is quilting the quilt top that I pieced for my daughter. Her 15th birthday is on December 23rd and it should be done by then. I have decided that I don't mind the piecing of the top, but I do not think I'm cut out to be a quilter. I do plan to piece a quilt top for my son and will probably begin looking into that next year sometime. I would also like to create a quilt top for my own bed and have my mom quilt that for me.

We had our first school delay due to snow on Tuesday morning. It was beautiful outside when I got up at 5:30am to check for school delays/closures. All of the rooftops were totally covered and you could just barely see the grass peeping through the snow. Of course, by the time I got back from dropping off the kids, it was all melted. We've already had six days of snowy weather - spitting snow, heavy flurries that melt as quick as it falls and the like. I've been told that this may FINALLY be the year that we have a good snow. I would love it for the kids as we haven't had a deep snow in a very long time.

I have been reading Adam and His Kin by Ruth Beechick. I really like it so far! I also just bought A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays. I can't wait for it to arrive so I can sink my teeth into it. I've become very disillusioned with "going to church." I really want to spend some time studying the history behind what I believe. There is a huge stack of books that I want to go through, but I'm going to start with this Family Guide first.  I'm having a big problem with the lack of Christmas Carols that are sung in my church in December. I grew up in the Methodist church and I remember we sang Christmas hymns each Sunday. When I asked my pastor why we don't sing them until the Christmas Eve service, I was told that it was because we are in the season of Advent and that meant waiting for the birth of the Christ child. So, we can't sing about something that hasn't happened yet. I'm sorry, but that's just a little bit too legalistic for me. I can sing about the birth of the Christ child before December 25th and it does not take away anything for me. I'm so tired of the "rules" that go along with the various holidays. I'm not too sure where I'm going from here. If it was up to me, I'd quit going to church, but my husband is president of the council and so it committed until May. I guess we'll decide where to go then.

We haven't decorated for Christmas yet and I really am not excited about it this year.  But I imagine that we'll put up the tree and a few decorations this weekend. Some years I have a greater problem getting into the spirit of the season ... and this is one of those years. Christmas is small this year because we bought the kids a Wii this summer with the agreement that we would be spending a lot less on them at Christmastime.

Well, I guess that is all that is on my mind at the moment.