Poor Child

It makes me so sad to know the pain children are going through. How do I even have a right to complain about things in my life, or that things can seem unbearable?  It really opens my eyes that things could be much worse.


http://haitirescuecenter.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/djounka/

Weekend

This weekend has been so much fun.  It never really started for me until Saturday but Peter got home late Friday night and we went to bed early because we both had to wake up earlier than normal. I went to a Beth Moore simulcast that I heard about through my church and that was hosted at the Lancaster Covenant Church.  She spoke about insecurities and on Ephesians 4.  She talked about how we let little things get to us, such as when someone looks at us the wrong way or when we see a pretty woman we instantly feel threatened, or when we think someone has better clothes than us, or is better at something than us, we instantly have a 'hardened heart' or a cold heart because we are insecure! I never thought about it that way! But it does make sense. She said something that really hit me:  How would a SECURE woman respond in this situation?   So i guess i need to ask myself that question each time I feel somehow threatened by someone or a situation. 

She talked about being a poster child- In Ephesians 4: 17-24 it talks about removing your old self and putting on the new self that you have learned through God.  Isaiah 48:6 says God has given you NEW things, do not remember the past (or dwell on them).   She also talked about being a perfectionist, and how that is a sign of insecurity. And that's true too.  For instance, I dont leave the house without makeup. I dont want anyone to see my face... I am insecure. Security makes us think less of ourselves and helps us not to obsess about ourselves.

She said, too, that insecurity is unbelief. Jer. 9:20 says Open your ears to the words of his mouth. Believe what God says!  Remember what you were taught, Ephesians 4:21. 

That's what I remember anyway, I am excited to read her book soon. I took a few cute pictures this weekend that I will post maybe tomorrow.  I have bible study tonight so I better go!

Sewing

It is naptime now and I think I might do some sewing. I have been so thankful the girls are napping at the same time now. Since it's been so nice out, we've been outside most of the morning and then they both just take naps in the afternoon. Knock on wood though, I dont want to jinx myself.  Here's some pictures of my 'new' room...... it would be nice to rip out the flooring because it is hardwood under there. I am just too lazy to remove all of the furniture and rip.  I have to get a peice of countertop (which I have, just needs to be cut) and then maybe a better chair and some trim around the windows.  I have an old pair of curtains that do just fine for now. I love scrapbooking there. I think I get more done!

I got these cute racks at a woman's close-out sale in her garage in DL.

I decided I needed a spot to put my gift bags and another to put all of my tissue paper.

I had this rack downstairs and it wasnt used except for a decoration. I plan to get more wire baskets (I have no idea where the rest are) to store some scrapbooking things. Or if I get a sewing machine, maybe some sewing supplies since I will put my sewing machine below.

Here's a cute card I made.

And here is my quilt.. s-l-o-w-l-y getting done, with no ambition because I am not sure I am doing it right!

Well better get busy.

R.I.P

It appears as though these little seedlings are not growing. They were... and then they quit due to dehydration. All I can say is, rest in peace. You will be missed.  There is hope for Basil. I hope she makes it. Sage is planted in my herb garden, and I will have to cover her many nights so the frost does not bite her. I tasted my first Oregano though, just tonight. It was beautiful. And at least my bigger pots of Basil and Sage are growing... but they will quickly die due to little hands so I hope I can plant them soon too!

DQ

Today seemed like a long day.  We didnt go outside this morning.... just played upstairs and I put a pot roast in the crockpot for supper and had waffles for lunch. I tried to do some more cutting today on my quilt but i feel like all my measurements are off and everything is crooked =0)   oh well.  I dont really care I just dont want to waste fabric!  I got to spend a little time with Maddy today by myself since she got up a little early from her nap. It is always fun to spend one-on-one time with each.

We went to DQ after supper to get out of the house. Maddy is teething so it makes for a really, really long day. Our first DQ treat of the year, and kate had her own ice cream cone. I didnt want to give her a whole one so I asked if they could take a little off. She did pretty good in the car. I scheduled a dentist appointment next Wednesday. I think she has a cavity!!! :(  I guess she has been cursed with bad enamel like her daddy and grandparents. Peter is really good at brushing and flossing and using mouthwash every day, yet he gets cavities each time he goes to the dentist.  Well I am tired. Off to bed I go!

"Revelation Song" - Gateway Worship, Song led by Kari Jobe

Down

I feel like posting again today during nap time because I am emotionally and physically in a bad mood.  I am not sure how i can be physically in a bad mood, but I am.  Yesterday was laundry day and the house was trashed from the weekend, somehow, so I spent as much time as I could cleaning it up even though we were outside most of the day. Needless to say I slept well last night, but still really tired. I took a walk this morning with the kids and it was so nice out.  Peter built the steps on the swingset last night around 8:30 pm after work so when he got in at 9 we had a snack and went to bed. Kate enjoyed the new steps today instead of using a step stool ;)

I had a discouraging day with kate and potty training yesterday. I am probably going to take a couple months off of not even mentioning it.  It annoys me that people say she is not 'ready'.  I just want to find someone that went through exactly what I am going through.. to at least tell me it's going to be ok and that she won't be afraid forever. I have been trying for 6 months off and on, and thinking she is not ready I let it go and started up some other time.  Are people going to say she is not ready when she's 4 and isnt' potty trained?  Her fear of the potty or releasing isn't going to go away with time. I need ideas and new ways to teach her that it is ok, otherwise this issue will still be an issue whether I wait 2 months or a whole year.  Do you see where I am coming from? I can't keep at it because I dont want her to go every day holding her urine for several hours. it is not healthy. This girl has good bladder muscles and enough will-power for our whole family. 

It seems like today and yesterday have been very discouraging days and for a lot of different reasons. I wish I could go to a Beth Moore conference so I can get emotionally and spiritually pumped up again.

Is planting over?

I feel like I haven't seen my husband for a long time. This week is the busiest for him though, because he is planting beets for the first time.  He started yesterday, with the interruption of a dentist appointment that was scheduled 2 weeks ago. He got a phone call saying the dentist had a bad illness (it must have been pretty serious) so all appointments needed to be canceled and rescheduled. His only option was this week (because he needed to get a crown and a filling...)   I told him to switch dentists a long time ago so I think he will finally listen.  His experience with planting beets was going well until he had to leave for his dentist appointment. He came back to his planter making weird beeping noises so he was worried most of the night about it.  I realize all this happened for a reason but just not sure why.  It seems like everything is such a rollercoaster. 

Anyway i was just going to post that some pictures that I took of the scrapbook weekend are on the website.  You can find them here.   I am hoping I can get some exercising in. Lately I have been feeling like I dont look nice in any of my clothes. If anything i've gained a few pounds but it shouldnt leave me feeling the way I have been about myself.  I just wish I could finally be happy. How thin does one have to be before they're satisfied?  I am going to try to work hard at lifting my daughteres self esteem up so they dont have to feel like I do now!  We as mothers can make a difference! A friend from bible study said that even mentioning in front of our kids that we're fat or complaining of the way we look really affects them. Soon they will start to do it.  Isn't that awful?    

Scrapbooking

A quick post to show the some of the work I did on my scrapbook. Keep in mind this was an already made scrapbook... but I ripped out some things and pondered what I could change about them. Some of it looked really cheesey.I've been working on my quilt this week too at night. It is sorta coming along. I have lots of cutting left, and I hate cutting. Anyway, I dont have much time, I already posted pictures to facebook so I've got to go to bed now. I had a restful Sunday. Until later!

Websites

Two blogs updated I'd like to share. One of them I am famous :) Just kidding.

Update on Darlens, the 3 year old who weighs 15 pounds. and Debbie's blog about shipments and all the donations being sent in.

I am so happy to see that Darlens is doing better. Keep praying for him and the others at the Rescue Center... and especially those who need to be saved still.

Weird Day

Today has sort of been a weird day!  About 2 months ago I got a letter in the mail that I had to serve jury duty. I filled out information and sent it back. A week ago I got another letter in the mail stating I had to come Tuesday, April 13th, at 9 am.  This meant I might be selected, or I might not. Unfortunately this was the same day as Madelyns year appointment.  I couldnt really get out of it, so I went hoping I wouldnt get chosen and would be able to make her appointment.  I got chosen, and I had to miss the appointment. It was an interesting experience. Not even a half hour into the case, we get called out so they could discuss something. The next thing I know, the judge is in the room telling us we are dismissed, as new information was discovered.  Ok!! At that time, it was 1:30.  Maddy's appointment was 1:15.  So, I guess I was a little dissapointed that we couldnt go, but relieved that I experienced the Lords protection! I truly believe He was protecting me from something happening. There's a reason I was not able to make it to her appointment, especially after the case was dismissed, which I don't think happens that often.  And even if it wasn't that exact reason, I am still thankful for His timing and His purpose. 

So anyway,  that's that. Now I am back at home with both kids napping (Kay Ellerbusch came in to watch my kids, SO THANKFUL!!) and soon Peter will be home.  I got the cabinets upstairs and my table set up. I am SO excited to start scrapbooking.  I was a tiny bit dissapointed I couldnt serve jury duty b/c you get $10 a day plus mileage.. and I thought.. I can buy a cricut cartridge!!! I was so excited!! but, I will have to wait to get it as a gift or something.  :)   I have been sort of searching for sewing machines too. I know some day I want to get one, but I would have to wait for a gift too. Anyone know of any good reliable sewing machines?

I will be taking some pictures of my new space soon.. once I can find some curtains to hang up there. We have an old bathroom sink/drawers (no counter or sink) that I think we want to get rid of. If you want it, it's yours. Originally I wanted to use it for someting but I think i need to get rid of it now that I have cabinets. And I have to take pictures of the swingset!!! It is coming along, but still lots more to do.  So excited to share. Well, here's just a few pictures i already posted on facebook. 

My weekend

Sorry it's been a whole week since I posted. I have lots of material to post, just not enough time it seems. It's Monday today and I am busy washing laundry and trying to clean up the house a bit.  Doesn't it always seem that your house is a lot messier if your kitchen has dishes that need to be washed or put into the dishwasher? Today I tried coaxing Kate to go in the potty. At least she put on big girl underwear, but nothing. She is not wanting to go in the potty... for some reason, I just don't know why. I am trying to be peaceful that it will happen sometime, hopefully before she goes to preschool and that it won't be really stressful for both Kate and I. 

This weekend, or part of a weekend anyway, I went to a scrapbooking retreat.  Me, along with 11 other girls stayed in a cabin and scrapbooked alll dayyyy longggg. About half of us stayed up til 1:30 friday night to scrapbook, and i started 8 am the next morning, showered and ready to go. There was a huge 50% off sale at this woman's house who previously owned a business-- I am not sure if she was forced to close down or if it was her choice.  It was good for me to get this awesome sale. I got tons of paper and a few racks for storing things, and also lots of ribbon and buttons. I bought what I thought I needed. I left Friday at 12:30 pm and stayed til Saturday at 3pm the next day.  It was so much fun and I would for sure do it again. The best part was coming home to two excited girls who missed me. My first time away from both of them at the same time during the night!!

I forgot to mention that some quilted, some made cards, but most scrapbooked. Here's some of the work I got done. I had boughten a pre-made scrapbook for Maddy, but found that a lot of it was really not so cute. So I spent a lot of time wripping out what was in there and re-doing it. Some things I left though because it wasn't that bad.  Here's some of the pages I did.

I am hoping to get my 'room' done this week. I've got the cabinets up there and most things are organized. I just need to put my table up there and put some curtains up and then i can get back finishing the scrapbook. I thought I would get more done, but i only got about 6-7 pages done. I might have been able to do more but I spent a lot of time pondering how to fix the ugly pages that came in the book!! :)  Oh yeah... I got picked for jury duty :(  What are the chances.  AND its the same day of Maddy's year appointment (Tuesday, tomorrow) so.... I guess 35 get picked, and 21 get chosen to serve. Pray that I am not one of the 21 chosen. Maddy wont be able to get in for another month for her appointment and when I asked if that would be ok... she said it was debatable. She gets 3 new shots.  Anyway, Mondays are always so busy so i better get back to my work.

Madelyn's First Birthday Party

Well, it is over.  My second baby's first birthday party is over! It has been a really tiring weekend, but fun at the same time. I am sad that her party is over but very happy that I dont have all that work to do again. We celebrated on Saturday, and to make a long story short, I had to do the cake/cupcakes again because the first cake I did on Friday night stuck to the pan. So Saturday morning I made it all over and began decorating the cake at 10 am. I didnt finish until 1pm because I ate dinner and made two or three separate batches of icing and also had to mix colors, which took a long time to get the red the right color.

We made pulled pork (YUM!!!) with homemade BBQ sauce, coleslaw to compliment the sandwhiches, the buns were made on Thursday, we made the strawberry ice cream Friday night, and the baked beans were a hit too.  Here's the lonnnnnnnnnng list of pictures!