Today....

I took son G to the Dr because of a nagging, productive cough and found out he has walking pneumonia.

Daughter G and I went coat shopping because when she tried on her coat from last winter the sleeves came nowhere near her wrists.

Son C, who lives to be outside, came in after just 15 minutes saying, "it's too cold to play outside."

A confusing, outstanding bill got paid in full.

I finally mailed off the ornament to my this year's Tapestry of Grace "Loosethreads" Secret Sister!

I found the bottom of the kitchen sink.

My Tuesday afternoon tutor student did an amazing job with his writing!

Daughter G and I went to her friend's annual gingerbread house decorating party and worked on a gingerbread house together.

I enjoyed the lights and garland on our fireplace mantle.

Hubby and I sat down to watch a movie and I fell asleep after 11 minutes.

Randomness

Just a hodge podge of daily stuff lately....

Our daughter's pet mouse died this morning. I think this is mouse number 7 or 8 in the last four years since she started keeping mice. Our memorial flower bed is getting pretty full of shoe boxes, so I cut a shoe box down to make a small mouse sized casket. When G was laying her mouse on soft bedding inside the casket, she asked that we not seal it shut with tape yet because, "I want to have a viewing first, before the funeral." She seemed okay, but Little Man cried and cried. It's hard to learn about death, and yet it's so much a part of life.

I have an appointment to talk with two Jehovah's Witnesses next week about whether or not Jesus is God. They have come to the door three times already and we have had brief conversations. If it were up to me I wouldn't do this, but both my husband and the Holy Spirit have urged me to do it. I can argue with my husband, but it's pretty hard to argue with the Holy Spirit!

The main lady asked if I would give her a few minutes to show me scriptures that prove Jesus was not God, and I told her I'd be willing to listen to her proof attempt as long as I got equal time. She loves to talk and is a bit of a railroader, so I will have to be assertive with getting my equal time in. Really not looking forward to it. The practical side of me thinks that since I will not be persuaded, and she will likely not be persuaded, we are just wasting our time. But the Holy Spirit chided me ~ how do I know she will not be persuaded? And it's not a waste of time for the five young children who will be watching and listening and learning how to defend their faith without fear. Please pray for me! My husband is much better at this type of thing than I am, yet the Holy Spirit has given it to me to do.

One of my husband's two contract jobs ends this week. We have not yet heard back from the company that my husband interviewed with twice. "I trust you, Lord. Help me to trust You more."

I paid my daughter to scrub the kitchen floor last Saturday. On her hands and knees. Every corner and crevice. The water was black when she was done, and I am so happy that the floor is so clean! Just looking at it makes me smile. She also washed the doorwall. Need her to do the windows next. :-)

Thanksgiving is next week, and I love Thanksgiving!!!!

Three days after Thanksgiving I get to visit with a dear online friend who has become a real life friend. She and her four children will be passing through and are going to stay with us for a couple nights. Can't wait to see you Guinever! I even figured out where you are all going to sleep!

REAL moms is tomorrow night and it's our fall craft night. We will be making beautiful Christmas ornaments and I'm really looking forward to it! Craft night is a good opportunity to visit with the ladies as we work on our craft, and I love building friendships with so many interesting women.

The children and I went to a Veteran's Day ceremony at a local Memorial Park last Thursday. It's the same one we went to last year. My plan is to make it an annual event for our family, as I really want to be intentional about building in to the children an attitude of gratitude for our veterans and all they have been willing to sacrifice in order to obtain and secure our freedom. The more we feel the weight of all that has gone before, the more we appreciate what we have and are willing to do our part in preserving it. I almost didn't go, but I'm really glad we did.


Afterward I struck up a conversation with an elderly WWII veteran, and after I thanked him for his service to our country he began sharing memories with me. He talked and talked and talked. The children climbed on all the statutes until they got tired of climbing and wanted to go. Still he talked. I began to inch toward the parking lot, he followed me. He is a widow and misses his dear wife terribly. His children don't live nearby. His house is very quiet. I felt sad for him. He obviously needed a listening ear that day, and I was happy to provide it. Listening to the stories of the old is a way to honor them. And man, do they have some stories!

I love my church. Love our new teaching pastor. Love the people. Oh, the people! So many of them special to me in different ways. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord, for my church.

I have a new tutor student (now I have two) who met with me for the first time this afternoon. We had a GREAT start to our working relationship! I'm so thankful.

The kitchen is clean and I am going to bed.

See how random this is?

Good night!

Updates and Ponderings

With some pictures from last weekend thrown in for the grandparents. :-)

I have been quite sick for the last week with the worst cold I've had in years, so instead of going to the family cottage for the whole weekend we went just for the day last Saturday (big family reunion that day). The pictures were all taken there. I was pretty much catatonic that day, but I think I faked it well with meds and makeup.


Last week we attended the funeral of a dear woman from church who died suddenly. It was a beautiful and very emotional service. She was a quiet woman, very unassuming, genuine, and gracious. She wasn't flamboyant or a woman who sought the spotlight at all, yet she leaves a huge hole that is felt by many. I am so glad she is in heaven with the people she loved most (her Savior Jesus, and her husband who died several years before her), but I really miss her. She was the first person who made me feel welcome at our church, years ago when I was a newlywed and didn't know anyone there. She welcomed me like a member of her own family, and I could tell she meant what she said. I have always been so grateful for that. Through the years her quiet yet confident way often encouraged me.

As I sat at her funeral I found myself wanting to be a better person. Wanting to be content in the roles God has given me to fill. Wanting to be quietly gracious and willing to serve. Lord, help me to be more like her, which was more like You.


My husband has this week and next to work at his current contract job, and then he will be done there. He has been looking hard for a new job and has a few things in the pipeline, but no interviews yet. Please pray with us for a job in God's perfect time, and for the faith we need to trust in God day by day. God knows our needs. He knows we need income to live ~ this is not a news flash for Him! So we can quietly and confidently trust that He *will* provide. But some days are easier than others.


One of the things that was hardest to deal with during our 9 month unemployment last year was feeling "stuck" in so many areas. There were so many ways in which we couldn't move forward because we didn't have the funds to get the one thing that was needed. So we have been pretty intentional the last few weeks in how we have spent our money. Knowing another period of unemployment may be coming up, a part of me has wanted to save every penny. And we have saved. But we've also made purchases that will help us not be "stuck". A new pair of good running shoes for me so I can progress in my 5K training. A huge order of wheat berries so I can bake bread and not have to buy. A new drill so my husband can more easily make home repairs. Filling the pool so the kids have a fun activity for the summer. And we have been able to purchase all the materials needed for next school year, so we won't be stuck in last years' grades! :0)

(cousins, second cousins, and third cousins!)

I am learning that money can be an idol no matter how much or how little you have. If I worship money or if I worry about money, both are drawing my attention away from Jesus. I have been meditating on Matthew 6:25-34 lately. Verse 34 states, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." One translation says, "take no thought for tomorrow". What does this mean for me, a planner by nature? Is planning and preparing bad? Of course not. Proverbs 6 tells us to consider the ant, who stores its provisions during summer when the harvest is good. Obviously preparing for lean times is wise.

But in planning or preparing for tomorrow do I sometimes miss out on the blessings of today?


Can I be so focused on "preparing" that I miss out on "being"? In the moment? Here and now? Lord, help me to live your Word. Help me to focus on what Your Word says, and not what the world says. Even conventional christian wisdom can at times be tradition and not necessarily truth. Help me to live Your Word.


And lastly, our minivan has reached the end of its long and illustrious 14 year lifespan. It let us know in a dramatic fashion that it was no longer safe to drive. We are thankful for God protecting us from a potentially dangerous trip to the cottage, finding out about our minivan the night before our trip (we drove a borrowed van that day instead). Please pray that God would either give us a replacement, or give us the means to get one. Thank you!

Updates and Randomness

Our computer still sits, awaiting its new part which has not even been ordered yet. But only 3 more days until payday! I'm still working on uploading pics to my blog through the old laptop I'm using. I am very thankful to have a way to check email, etc, but that and updating my blog are about all I can use the laptop for. I am really missing not being able to access my documents, and not being able to print anything! We went to the library 3 times this past week, and it was wonderful to be able to have 3 or 4 windows open at the same time and the computer not lock up. Technology is such a lovely convenience when it works. :0)

My husband's contract job has been extended through April, and at that point it will apparently end. The prospect of being hired directly by the company does not appear to be a viable option any longer. They did approve the hiring of one software developer, but the job description and compensation are for a junior position and would not be sufficient to support our family. So my husband is polishing his resume and looking for work in earnest again. Please pray with us for a solid job to be in place by the time this contract ends, and for us to trust Jesus with the details and not be worried about a repeat of last year. The final resolution to our mortgage restructuring is still in process, and we continue to be in dispute with the unemployment agency over benefits paid to us last summer which they say we did not qualify for, so to my human understanding this would be an awful time to be unemployed again. But I choose to trust and rest in God, day by day and step by step. (Pray that I will be able to make that choice even on those days when it's really hard!!)

Spring is definitely here. I put the winter boots away and it has NOT snowed again yet! We will probably get flurries at least once more, but I'm hoping actual accumulation is a thing of the past. My crocuses are about to bloom. There are beautiful chalk pictures decorating my front porch and sidewalks. The bikes are in the garage again. All happy signs of spring!

There were a LOT of wars in the 20th century. We are just wrapping up the Vietnam War in our history studies, and I chose to gloss over it pretty lightly with the younger boys. They've already learned about WW 1 and 2 this year. Then Stalin's purges, the Chinese Revolution, and the Korean War. So much violence. We talked about the country of Vietnam, where it is located, what the war was about, and how Vietnamese people live today. That was it. Instead we focused on the space race, and that has been really fun! We are working our way through the HBO miniseries "From Earth to the Moon", produced by Tom Hanks. Our daughter is not that into it (one space movie would be enough for her) but the boys are eating it up! Just fyi, should you choose to ever watch this series, there is quite a bit of swearing and virtually everyone smokes. I am amazed at what God has allowed man to do. In one sense it is clear that going to the moon was a huge accomplishment. But on the other hand, the moon is so close and the universe is so vast ~ it's like we barely left our block!

I just finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird this weekend, on the recommendation of my friend and fellow virtual co-op mom, Marcie. It was fantastic!! If you have not read this book, you need to. What a fascinating glimpse of life in a small southern town during the 1930's. The major conflict of the book is not fully revealed until chapter 15, but I was not bored in the slightest because the character development during the first 14 chapters was so rich! It must have been a great book for the high school literary analysis class (sorry I missed your lit discussion due to our computer troubles Marcie!). I don't recall reading it during high school or college. Assuming that since it is a classic I must have read it, I thought the plot would come back to me, but it seemed all new. I LOVE when that happens! I was seriously sad when it ended.

We're having a Bunco party at REAL moms this Wed. Before Wed I need to learn how to play Bunco. :0)

UPDATE to Daily Challenges

Do you know what this is?




Here's a hint.....



It leads to this:



Yes, my dishwasher is fixed!!!!! One of my blog readers sent her husband over last Saturday. He came in with his toolbox and said, "show me what needs fixing." He tackled the dishwasher first. The little soap door now stays shut and when I ran a load, the dishes came out clean!! Yay!!!! Thank you to our friends for this lovely gift. Just fyi, you do NOT want to know what is inside your dishwasher, between the panels. Forget I even mentioned it........

There actually was a moment, captured below, when there was not a single dirty dish in my kitchen!


(Note to my hubby, if you're reading this, I know you could have fixed the dishwasher by yourself, but it would have taken longer and wouldn't have been as much fun, would it?)

Then he went downstairs to take a look at my dryer. I was horrified later to go down myself and find dirty clothes strewn along the basement stairs, toys on every single horizontal surface (including the school table which was COVERED) and my bra hanging over the line drying, right about at eye level. **sigh** Oh well.

He and my husband found that the gas valve going to the dryer had been partially closed, so they opened it all the way. The jury is still out on that one, as two loads have dried in the allotted time, and 2 have required more time. But I'm hopeful.

This same friend has offered to help my husband replace the struts on his car, so Lord willing that can get taken care of pretty soon too. We are so grateful for friends, for the help, and for the Lord's goodness to care for us in these seemingly small ways. He is good!

I'm So Mad I'll.......

Today during C and Little Man's time together, they were very excited to make words on the fridge with these letter magnets. I smiled as I watched them skip up the stairs, and imagined son C feeling very important as he imparted his knowledge of phonics and blending to Little Man. What words would he come up with? What would they decide to write?

Imagine my surprise when I came upstairs about 15 minutes later to find this:



Truly a proud mama moment.

At least they remembered the period!

Miscellaneous Photos

In the next few days I will be doing a major photo dump onto my blog in preparation for our trip to Washington. So you've been warned. :-)

Husking corn


Driving on daddy's lap in the church parking lot after church one Sunday.




Daughter G making dinner. She did the entire pizza herself except for the crust (which I made in my Bosch mixer).

This 'n That

1. I didn't walk once last week. I took a couple naps, watched lots of movies with my husband after the kids were in bed, read for hours each day, and was a happy slug. But I can't afford to be a slug for long ~ I'm really shooting for 5 days of exercise this week. Really!

2. I'm in the middle of a big huge MOPS project. The two MOPS groups our church sponsors (morning and evening) decided to break away from MOPS and run our own, similar, program. This is primarily a cost saving measure, as being an official MOPS group cost us hundreds of dollars each year. It will be a good thing, but it means writing a new policies and procedures manual. Something I would really like to be done with before our trip to WA. And we're still working on fully staffing our evening program, so lots still to be done. And that's just my part. :-)

3. My husband is still looking for work. The good news is that there seem to be more jobs to apply for in recent weeks than there were in the winter. The bad news is that none of the applications has led to a job interview so far.

4. We are still waiting to hear from our lender about our mortgage forbearance application. They are busy processing other applications and haven't gotten to ours yet. It's been 6 weeks already. The bank's silence makes me nervous (my imagination makes up answers to our many questions that are not what I want to hear in real life), but that means more opportunities to lay it at Jesus' feet.

5. I have been meeting with my friend Angela once a week to watch dvd's of a writing seminar (from Excellence in Writing - IEW). We have been pausing the dvd to do the practicums (where we actually have to write ourselves!) and are both learning a lot. We are so excited to teach writing to our children this coming year! I have been using IEW for nearly two years, but not as consistently or completely as I'd like. So this is our year to focus on writing!

6. In other school news, I have just about completed 3 science notebooks for our 3 older boys to use this coming year. We will be reading through the Apologia Elementary Science series: Zoology 2, Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day. I downloaded some free notebooking pages from the author's website, as well as some free lapbooking minibooks from homeschool share. I decided not to comb bind these notebooks as we may want to add other things as we study throughout the year, but instead to put them in 3 ring binders. They look pretty cool and my boys are very excited to learn about ocean creatures this year! Next on my school prep agenda is printing out the pages for our daughter's science notebook. She will be reading through Apologia General Science, and has an accompanying notebook journal to record what she learns.

7. Our fun thing today was jumping on votemom's trampoline! The children had a great time jumping while I enjoyed some adult conversation. :-) Thanks votemom!

For my friend Targetshopper, who hates sand

Aren't you glad you didn't have to clean this up?! :-)

Life is Hard, but God is good

I was going to write an "our week in review" post today, but I just don't have the energy. Actually I don't really have the energy to write this post either, but it has been kicking around in my head for a couple weeks now and decided that this was the time to come out.

I am really tired of being un/under employed.

There have been many high points in the midst of this journey, and many rather dramatic instances of God's love and faithfulness (the unemployment blessings have been many!). I have had many days in a row, weeks even, where God's peace just enveloped me and I felt His love whispered over me and sometimes proclaimed loudly! It has not been all bad. In fact, in many ways it has been very good. But it has still been hard.

God's presence with us, and the hope we have in Him makes this journey bearable, but we still have to walk it. It is wearing to question every single purchase, make plans for the future with no guarantee of income, cook dinner every.single.night, and spend anxious moments wondering whether you or your child is truly sick enough to warrant a $93 Dr's office visit. It is stressful to wonder how you are going to pay for braces when you can't even afford the dental cleaning, what you are going to do when the van finally gets to the end of its slow, painful death, and hope that nothing has grown in your breast because you are overdue for your mammogram. It's painful to the core to worry about your husband's self esteem in the face of so much disappointment and seeming rejection.

I feel like all the weeks that God carried us on waves of His amazing provision and demonstrations of love, have been to prepare me for this time. This time of being weary. Of being worn. Will I trust Him now? Now when I don't feel like it? When there seems to be no end in sight? When thousands more people in our metro area are still, this week and next, losing their jobs? When all the news reports sound dire? Will I trust Him now? Today?

Yes, I will. And why will I trust Him?

Because He has not changed. He is the same God He has always been and will always be. His character does not change just because my feelings do. His faithfulness and truth do not change just because our situation does. He is unchanging. Unchanging! Isn't that marvelous? His essence is not affected by the economic downturn. By bankruptcy or foreclosure or debt. He is not limited by a fixed income or finite resources. He is BIG! He is God! And He loves me! I simply cannot begin to comprehend this, but this truth has changed my life.

The God of the Bible is the same God who is holding us in His hands right now. He may allow hard things, but He goes through them with us. He is not incapable. Not sleeping. Not busy elsewhere, leaving us to fend for ourselves. He is here! WITH us. Even when I feel hopeless, lose faith, and have a yucky attitude, He stays with me because He loves me. How can I not trust love like that?

So. I have no idea how long this will last, and frankly I don't think about it. I have been in survival mode for a long time. One day at a time. But it really doesn't matter how long this lasts, because God is with me. And the bottom line is, that's all that matters. Life is hard, but God is good.

"In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world!" ~ John 16:33

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, 'the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?' " ~ Hebrews 13:5-6

Wild Times, Precious Times

Remember this?

March 17, 2009?


This is what we woke up to on April 6, 2009!

Just the typical wild spring weather in our state! I am happy to say that 2 days later the snow is nearly gone and the sun is shining. And I think the tips of my daffodils and crocuses are none the worse for wear.

In other wild news, we learned an important piece of information about bunkbeds last night. They are incredible platforms from which to projectile vomit. And when this happens during the night, the person on the lower bunk really wants to be sleeping near the wall, which thankfully he was, because..... you know, not all the vomit projectiles away from the bunkbeds. My husband and I both worked hard for an hour to clean it all up, while the sick boy (son L) dozed on the bathroom floor next to the toilet, and the bottom bunk boy (son C) slept soundly in our bed, albeit without his special quilt which made it on the fast track to the laundry. Even as I was scrubbing and wiping, a part of me was admiring what young, strong abdominal muscles are capable of! (I had sortof forgotton since mine are post-pregnancy, post-delivery, not-young, not-strong abdominal muscles). L is a little lethargic today so he has been taking it easy, but does not seem sick-sick (as opposed to just sick). We're not sure if he really has a virus or if it was a fluke. He has been hungry, and most importantly has been keeping all his food down, so we're grateful for that. Wild!

Daughter G and I had another precious tea time last night. She said she'd get everything ready "except for boiling the water", and when I came downstairs from kissing her brothers goodnight, this is what I found:



She had cut slices of bread into triangles, found a couple cookies and some strawberries, and arranged not only the tray but the entire room into a thing of beauty! I love her sense of beauty and style. We had a wonderful conversation, talking alot about various careers she could pursue after college. She wants to be a stay at home mom someday, but she wants to work at something first (just like her mama wanted!). We talked about her strengths and what her spiritual gifts might be. She is such a joy to my heart. Thank you, Lord, for the relationship G and I have. Please protect it and help us to do those things which will nurture it during the teen years that are just ahead.

Another precious and sweet moment happened this afternoon. We dropped G off at her horse riding lesson, leaving the sick boy at home with daddy, and the other 3 boys and I went to visit the grave of the baby we lost who would be turning 5 now. At the time we were not sure of the gender, but we imagined him to be a boy and named him Benjamin Peter. The boys and I sat and talked about Benjamin, and about what sometimes goes wrong when babies are growing in their mother's wombs, and about heaven. The boys sang happy birthday to their brother! Little Man, who was not old enough to remember the last time we visited Benjamin's grave, cried and cried. It was very touching and sweet.



As we drove away, son G told me, "Every time I visit a cemetery I always feel closer to God and to the people who died before us."

Lord, thank you that You have a plan and a purpose for every life, no matter how long or short they live. Thank you that each life touches so many others, often in ways we cannot see or understand. Thank you for the five healthy children You've blessed us with! Help us to raise them well, telling them of You and Your faithfulness, and showing them Your love. There is so much in life I do not understand, but I know that You ARE, that You are GOOD, and that You are in CONTROL. Thank you that no heartache will go unredeemed. I love you, Lord.

Recent Pics

As you can see, we are all spending lots of time in the kitchen! C is helping me make a stuffed sandwich.




Betcha didn't know that Superman paints with water! It's one of his lesser known abilities.


Daughter G has become quite the accomplished salad maker!

I Love Homeschooling!!! (or, how we spent the afternoon at the park on the first really warm day of the year!)

Yesterday was in the high 60's and sunny. Practically a heat wave for this time of year! We worked very hard at our schoolwork all morning and then after lunch we walked to our neighborhood park to play. We even wore sandals! (yikes! I need to start shaving my legs again!) It was simply glorious. We had a marvelous time!


We watched our neighborhood duck couple frolic in a very large puddle...........


....and then we joined them!

Salon Mom

Before:




After:

(one boy is still holding out with long hair for a little while longer) :-)

Fun Family Field Trip

On Saturday our family joined the Stockade boys from church on an awesome field trip to a World War II air museum. We learned quite a bit about the B-24, B-25, and B-17. We got to see all these planes up close, though the B-24 is still being re-constructed from scratch, and we even got to go inside the B-17! Both the B-25 and the B-17 are flyable, and they fly each summer in several air shows. This was particularly fascinating for us because my husband's father helped build and maintain the B-24 during the war. It is amazing to have a WWII vet for a father in law! They are becoming such a rarity as the years go by.

Here are C and Little Man standing beside the B-25 propeller. The B-25 is the plane used by Doolittle's crew during the Tokyo raid. If you have seen any war movie involving that raid, you may recall that they had to take off from an aircraft carrier with only 600 feet of runway. These planes were designed to take off on a runway twice that long. Looking at this plane, we could not believe that they were able to do it. Even though it is a medium bomber (as opposed to a heavy bomber) it is BIG!


G and L under the nose of the B-25.


It was seriously cramped inside the B-17! It was designed for 18-20 year old young skinny boys! Sadly, so many of them did not make it home. Here Little Man and I are walking on a narrow walkway across the top of the bomb bay to get from the main part of the fuselage to the front of the plane. When the plane was in flight and the bomb bay doors were open, you would have been able to see straight down several thousand feet. On either side of my shoulders it is just open to the ground. Very freaky!

In front of the B-17.


This made the day unforgettable for Little Man!! He did not want to get out of this toy plane. It fit him perfectly, and he happily pedaled for about half an hour. They keep it at the museum just for little visitors to play in.


G and L sitting in the bombadier's seat in the B-17.


The whole Stockade gang in front of the B-25.

Eventful Day

Wednesday was an eventful day at our house. I woke up sick. Again. It's strep throat. Again. I called my Dr and basically pleaded for more antibiotics without having to come in and be seen and swabbed again (which would have cost over $100), and she was merciful and phoned in a prescription for me. Thank you Lord! When I am mildly sick we forge ahead and do school anyway, but yesterday I was too sick to supervise school so the children got the day off. They felt bad that I was sick but they were VERY happy to have an unexpected free day!

After collapsing in bed for a little bit in the afternoon, I took our son L to the Dr to get his leg checked. He has had something called "molluscum contagiosum" for about a year now. They are little bumpy lesions on the skin which look like warts but are not warts. Well, one of them on his leg got infected and had turned into cellulitis. So he is on antibiotics now also. I am so thankful for modern medicine!

He and I stayed home from church last night, and as we were cuddled up on the couch together watching American Idol, a pizza commercial came on that showed a man with his mother and he said something like, "There's only one thing a man loves more than his mother....." and he goes on to talk about these delicious pizzas. L turned to me and said, "that's silly. There's nothing a man loves more than his mother except God." So sweet!!!!! That made me feel good. :-)

Then, the biggest news of all happened. My husband had a phone interview at 7:30pm which resulted in him being hired right over the phone! It is a part time job, and the pay is low, but it's in his field and it's a JOB. Yay!! It will not pay all our bills, but it's a start. We are very thankful! He started today so I keep thinking about him and praying for him and wondering how it's going. I can't wait til he comes home tonight and can tell me all about it. Rejoice with us! And please keep praying for "the" job!

New 'Do May Be a Thing of the Past

Well, those of you who asked to see my new hairstyle may have to be disappointed! So far I have not been able to re-create it, and my efforts this morning left me with a frizzy mess that looks rather horrid. I didn't have the right tools or the right "product". I wish I'd taken before/after pics right away! You'll have to be patient or I'll have to go back and have another lesson in how to fix my hair. Or both. I love it regardless because my gray is covered and the bushy-ness is gone. And if I don't try to do something different, it will curl nicely in my former style. So, we shall see! Stay tuned.....

My Salon Experience

So. I went to the salon that my benefactor chose for me on Saturday morning. It was beautiful! Much nicer than the chain salon I normally go to. The kind of place where they take your coat and hang it up for you, and offer to get you something to drink. The kind of place that also has a spa where you can receive manicures, pedicures, facials, and massages. Very, very nice. I was glad I had put on makeup that morning!

I got a very cute, very sweet stylist named Heather who turned out to also be a christian! We had a lovely talk about Jesus, churches, different ministries, family, etc. She asked me lots of questions about how I normally wear my hair and how I take care of it. She totally got it that I don't have much time to fuss with my hair in the mornings, but also encouraged me to get out of my rut a little bit. So I consented to getting a completely different hair cut. It would be too hard to try and explain here how the cut was different, but it was TOTALLY different than anything I have experienced before. The actual cutting was different. It was very interesting to watch. She taught me how to style it the way she did, and I think it will be easy to copy and won't take more time than I take now (which isn't much).

Knowing that I would have to sit for about 45 minutes letting the color "process", I was tempted to do school prep while waiting. But I was pretty sure my benefactor had wanted me to feel completely pampered, so instead I took a new fun book to read. I thoroughly enjoyed my two hours there, reading without interruption and getting fussed over.

And I left the salon with a sassy new 'do!

My hubby and I had a WONDERFUL day/night together. We were able to totally ignore our PIT of a house, with Christmas decorations still out, ornaments still sitting on a card table to be packed away, school books covering the table, and stacks of stuff on the kitchen counter, and instead really focus on each other and reconnecting. I am so thankful to our friends for watching the kids overnight. It was just what we needed! Re-entry into the real world has been a bit rough today, but that's a different post.....

My hair looks a little different today after sleeping on it one night, but hopefully later I will be able to post a pic.

Thank you again, my sweet anonymous friend!!

Update

Our tree is OUT of the house. Needles are vacuumed up. Yippee!!! The ornaments are all on a card table in the family room waiting to be packed away, but already that room looks so much bigger without the tree. I do love a beautiful Christmas tree, but there comes a time when it just needs to come down.

We start school tomorrow. I finished a big scheduling project this afternoon (more on that in another post) that I think will help to keep ME on track throughout the day. I am excited to get back into our routine. Everything starts back up this week: piano, MOPS, Awana, youth group, virtual co-op, real life co-op, tutoring. Everything except Tae Kwon Do. It will be busy.

I am more than a month overdue in getting my gray roots colored. I cannot justify the expense right now, but I am sorta depressed about the prospect of having to go back to gray. I have been coloring for a year and a half now and I'm sure in that time my "natural" color has become even more gray than before. Fortunately I am tall and I have curly hair, both of which help to hide the gray. If you know me in real life please pretend you don't see it, or better yet, tell me my hair looks fabulous!! :-)

Still no job for my hubby. I'm going to be really transparent here and say that I am depressed about that too. I want to have the faith of a spiritual giant, but right now I feel like a spiritual wimp. I have so much to be thankful for that I hate to whine about it, but I am really afraid of losing the house. I don't want to be one of the statistics that we hear about on the evening news. I don't want to have to live with my mother in law (though I love her very much) or stop homeschooling to go to work, or any number of awful scenarios I have imagined. I am so tired of weighing every single purchase. I'm tired of not being able to afford something one of the children needs. I'm sad that we probably won't be able to go "home" and visit my parents this summer. It has been 3 years since we've been back to my ancestral and I was so looking forward to it. And worst of all I feel terribly guilty for having these feelings. So. Please pray for me. My attitude sets the tone for the whole family, and I simply must live out the faith that I profess to have, now more than ever. I am painfully aware of my own weakness and inadequacy, so any peace or trust or faith that is evidenced in my life is COMPLETELY the Lord. I need to have another good long prayer time, but part of me is afraid of voicing everything I fear, even to the Lord. Isn't that weird?

Our son who lives with SPD got very frustrated with one of his brothers this afternoon and you know what he did? He stormed upstairs, banged his door shut, and sat on his bed for awhile. I was so proud of him!!!!! This time last year he would have hauled off and hit the offending brother. He is slowly learning to remove himself from the frustrating situation and find a place to cool off. I told him that I noticed he was growing in self control. That made him feel very good. Thank you Lord.

This is what greeted me at breakfast the other morning...