Blue Moon

When I was a little girl, the moon woke me up at night,

so bright.

My window was high in my wall

and

my room was often flooded

with moonlight.

I would sit up and 

stare

 for what seemed like hours

and be amazed at how
God
lit the night sky.

I always look at the sky now

and notice the moon

Tonight

the moon is pure white

like the icy air drained its color;

glowing

like pearls on a black dress

It distracted me all the way home

Tonight the sky is bright enough

to sit outside

in the country

and read a book

and

bright enough to wake my little girl

WeekEnd

It's been a while since I've done one of these...this one will be short because my lovely husband is waiting for me to socialize while the kids are watching a movie!!

This week I...

Made

~three darling beaded necklaces for three darling little girls I know
~a fabulous ragg skirt for MY darling little girl
~cookies without two important ingredients, TWICE!
~lots of mistakes with prioritizing, and my laundry situation shows it!
~a big deal over the Garden of Eden Alec made on his own initiative with Legos (complete with Satan the serpent!)
~a Lego man chocolate cake for Benji's sixth birthday party

Taught

~school
~patience
~sharing
~Ava how to string beads
~Alec how to sew
~Benji how to read a new book

Went

~to a new mom's group
~to a huge thrift store with a friend and got some terrific stuff, including my 4th thrifted Gap scarf! (yep, I have a little obsession with scarves)
~a little overboard with the chocolate consumption, assisted by the giant chocolate cake I made for Benji's birthday
~to the post office to mail a phone charger to a friend on a two week vacation who will desparately need said charger by the second week
~to the rec center to make a payment for the tap class that Ava will start taking next week
~to a friend's house for a nice afternoon of Nerf gun battles and warm cookies
~to another friend's house to drop off her car keys that I found hidden in my couch cushions
~to Awana with my boys and stayed because Benji is still too shy to go alone
~ will go to Alec's basketball game in the morning VERY early, too early for a Saturday, if you ask me!

Didn't

~go to the grocery store like I planned
~follow my housekeeping list
~get a haircut like I wanted to
~see my parents
~spend much time alone (and awake!) with Marvin

Did

~get our school list for this week mostly accomplished despite the two busy mornings
~stick to my guns and hop on the treadmill three times at 6:30am
~get excited about our upcoming trip, sans children, to Florida
~learn how to properly use a crimp bead and crimping pliers
~wish I had one of those Roomba robot thingys to vaccum for me
~watch the movie Shorts with my boys and laugh as much as they did
~listen to my kids playing all together and realize that I actually had an un-contrived moment to myself and feel sad about it

OK, guess that's not a very short week!  February will be nuts for us, Ava's starting tap classes and the boys are starting choir, in addition to basketball, Cub Scouts and Awana that we already do.  I'm also still hosting my mom's group from our old church and attending my new mom's group.  But that's all just for Febuary...I hope!

Once Upon a Time...

...I used to be a hairdresser...

 and I had the expertise of all my co-workers at my

fingertips

to work their magic on MY wild hair

Now I convince my 4 clients to sit down for 30 seconds

once every six months so I can

work my magic on THEIR hair

There is a hairdresser that lives down the street from me

and

every morning I see him out my window,

walking to work.

It takes all I have to not leap out in front of him

on the sidewalk

in my pajamas

and

hold him hostage until he cuts my hair

in my

kitchen

Dear Readers,

I am having a huge clearance sale over at my shop,

meeUp Baby Carriers

They are semi-fitted, pouch-style baby carriers, they are

sleek, chic

and

a must-have for any baby-wearing momma who wants to be

in style!

During the sale, all carriers will be discounted $10

That means...

my normally low priced, quality meeUps are

EVEN MORE AFFORDABLE!

Prices range from $25 to $35

If you blog about this, or tweet about it, you will receive free shipping on your order!
(just leave me a comment and let me know)

So...help me out and spread the word!!!

Thanks you all!

(sale does not include children's meeUps)

It's 9:01

and I've

gotten up (at 6:15)

made the bed

gotten dressed

started laundry

folded laundry

walked/ran for 30 min on the treadmill

brushed my teeth

helped Marvin out the door

made smoothies

served applesauce

put dinner in the crockpot

played captain of Ava's laundry basket boat

played Joseph and answered Ava's Mary's question about where the blanket for baby Jesus was

folded more laundry

cooked turkey sausage

wiped a poopy butt

 unloaded the dishwasher

taken everything off of the top shelf in my fridge and washed it in the sink with soapy water

prayed (a LOT)

wondered if my life could possibly get any richer, or more filled with joy

remembered Benji's birthday party yesterday and the 8 happy little boys building Legos

thought about my best friend packing her house

cried when I remembered receiving prayer yesterday in church for the gift of encouragement

sent a text message to Marvin

sent a very inappropriate text message to my other best friend to make her laugh while she's in school

looked out the window and seen white snow falling on the soggy brown yard

realized that I shouldn't be blogging because I'm still playing Joseph and Ava Mary is waiting for me to play

He's SIX!

Benji, I can't believe this day is here!

You were so sick as a baby, and I always wondered what you'd be like as you got older.

For me, the "baby" years are birth to 5

Now you're SIX

God is good

You are so healthy

so happy

you make us laugh all the time

You love Legos

you adore your older brother

(to the point of hitting your Father when he disciplines him!!)

You love playing with your younger sister

now that you've figured out that she really isn't out to get you, she's just little

You're mommy's little snuggler

your favorite thing to do during mommy time is to snuggle in my bed

with me

and read books

You love berries, pears, pickles, celery, and

anything mommy bakes for you,

especially chocolate desserts!

 We love you so much, Benji...

Happy SIXth Birthday, Boo Bear!!

Handmade pt.9

i used ~THESE~

to make ~THIS~

whaddya think?

{she wears it every day and says it's her 'Cinderella necklace'}

Handmade pt.8 and {another Goodwill find}

It's probably not rocket science to figure out what I made in these pictures

and what I found at the Goodwill store

Here's a hint:

the Goodwill item involves ::ORANGE:: dots

and

the Handmade item involves the color ::PINK::

So ~ ~ should I make these and sell them?

Would ::YOU:: buy one for your little girl?

How much would you ::PAY:: for one?

he said, she said, we said

"Dear Jesus, help me to be brave, help me to be not afraid, and send an angel to me.  Amen."

 ~Ava

"Jesus is a big giant and he takes care of people and doesn't step on them.

He's the only giant that doesn't do that."

~Benji

One of the reasons we started home schooling was to make sure that teaching our kids about Jesus was our top priority.  I do my best to start each day with our Bible lesson.  If I forget to do it, I definitely notice a difference in the flow of our lessons and the attitudes of the kids.

We also are trying to focus on heart issues as priority over academics.  If our kids don't have a soft heart and a teachable spirit, they are not going to learn anything from anyone.  If someone is being sassy or disobedient, I will stop all school for them until the issue is resolved.

I realize, as I re-read this that this may come across as "holier-than-thou" or that we're perfect Christian parents.  We're NOT.

We make tons of mistakes, I struggle with consistency and Marvin struggles with losing his temper.  But...we have Jesus in our corner.  As our children's Heavenly Father, He takes care of all the deficiencies that us as earthly parents have.  As long as we are following the parenting instructions in the Bible, and our hearts are willing to be changed and obedient to OUR Heavenly Father, we aren't worried.

The Bible says that, "out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45).  When my kids say things like the quotes above, it blesses me so much and I can see the fruit of our hard work.

Hideout

My kids love hideouts.  They come in all shapes, but not all sizes.  They're always just big enough for them and not me.  It makes me laugh, they balance precarious pillows and dangle heavy blankets and say, "MOM! Come in and see!"  When I look inside and think maybe I could stifle my claustrophobia and squeeze in, it collapses on my head and it's their turn to laugh!

I love my hideout, too.  Some days it's my office and my worktable, some (rare) days it's my bed, some days it's my whole house, and most days it's my head.

It's comfy and cozy in there.  It's just big enough for me, but I can always make room for someone else if I want to.  It feels safe, predictable, and I can make it look how I want.  Usually.

Today, someone peeked into my hideout uninvited and it collapsed.  I'm still sitting under the figurative pile of pillows and blankets trying to figure out how to put them back.

Because of the situation, I can't blog about the details.  I can only say that I'm feelin' a bit insecure, uncertain, sad, and wishing I could erase parts of this day.  {Wouldn't it be nice if our day was on a big white board and we could just obliterate a few sections and re-write it?}

Here's hoping for some help putting all my blankets and pillows back into place...

Outside...

...it looks like Narnia

Inside...

it's warm 
and

colorful

monkeys

have plenty

to

eat

and

Princesses

get away with almost anything!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We're having fun in the snow and in the house

enjoying the fresh start to the new year

enjoying new routines

and

old friends

making cookies, playing basketball

learning math and cursive

learning to share and work it out

without

mommy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've got a new schedule to share, and why I break my rules...funny stuff that Ava and Benji said...and a great recipe for anyone who needs to be egg, wheat and dairy free...but that's another post.  Right now I've got to go enjoy more of my new found motivation to run a tight ship!

quick as a wink!

from this~~

to this~~

in one day~~

gotta *love* those daughters!