Daisypath Anniversary tickers

Thursday, February 18, 2010

A Week in Progress

Monday- We went to the Portland Zoo, using our membership.  Fuuuun!  The weather was just right, it was not overly crowded (I expected worse with President's Day and all) and we all really enjoyed ourselves.  Hannah was more into it than ever.  The Zoo is one of my favorite places to be.  I love being outside and I love animals.  David's favorite are the snakes, Elijah's favorite are the giraffes, Ann's favorite are the elephants, Hannahs favorite is the bobcat , Paul's favorite is me.  Then, we're all looking at the bats, and of course, we run into another family we know from The Dalles.  Small world! On the way home, we wanted to eat at a mongolian grill called Chang's (the kids call it the noodle place) but it was closed.  We don't know the area real well, but ran across an Outback.  Okay, let's give it a try.  I'm thinking big bucks here, but... as we all gathered around the table, the waiter told us it was Kid's Eat FREE Monday! SCORE! 

Tuesday- Office, Errands, Office, Errands, Errands, Chores,  BEAUTIFUL weather and we all played outside at dinner time so I just heated up some HotPockets and Sliced up some apples for dinner.

Wednesday- Office, Home League, Office, Chores, Haircuts for the boys and a trip to Walgreens to buy a new chess game because the chess pieces from the old one keep vanishing, Chores, and some Olympic watching.  Then after the kids went to bed, I stayed up late to do a crash course in finishing my CBS lesson. 

Today-  CBS (Community Bible Study), I hosted the ladies luncheon for my group at home with baked potato bar (the ladies brought toppings).  I was so glad and excited to do this because in my 5 years of CBS, I've only been able to go to the monthly luncheon 3 times because it is normally scheduled when I have Advisory Board.   Chores (my middle name), an unusual disciplining for poor Ann, who learned a very big lesson today, and bedtime for the kids when I can do my own thing, which will probably be some things toward getting ready for Israel.  Oh me, oh my, it's getting close!   Or hmm... I wonder if The Office is on tonight....  I LOL everytime I watch that show!!! It drives Paul nuts to hear me ga-fa over and over again, but I catch him giggling too from the dining room table.  I open the blinds so that I can watch his reflection in the window, and then I can see if he's looking at the TV or not, but shhhhh....  I don't think he knows!

Tommorow- go to boy's school to watch David anchor the school news, then to the Office to finish getting ready for Sunday and check on Sally (our hamster) and take care of some other things.  I should have an easy afternoon because a visitation cancelled.  I'm looking forward to just puttering around the house with the kids.  I bought a new 1000 piece puzzle that everyone's dying to start.  I might hide a few pieces to make things exciting (jk!).

Saturday David has a chess tournament.  It is SIX hours long.  Ugh!  Paul has already said he would go and just bring some work with him.  God bless that man.  I don't think I could do it (and still keep my sanity!).

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Everyday Life Pics




Sunday morning,  heading out the door. 
Notice the girls with their "bump-it" hairdos.
They are so proud with their hair all big.  It's so funny!


Mary and you-know-who.



This is the sort of stuff the kids do while I'm at the Corps (church) working on stuff.
I think I was finishing getting ready for Sunday School or something.

Hannah LOVES this.


Round and round and round we go....


where we stop, nobody knows.



We are so blessed to have a game room.  My kids are always free to run and play and the Corps kids get to use it a lot too.  (I like to use it as a reward in our discipline arsenal!)


Hannah dropping her birthday pennies on the drum with Captain Paul (Daddy!)

Ann and Elijah leading a Sunday School song.


No,we don't only pick our own kids!! ha!ha!
(I'm just not putting up pics of our Corps children who are also eager little helpers.)



The girls like to load up EVERY one of their dollies on Ann's stroller that she got for Christmas.
When they go around the house with it, they literally remind me of the bag lady that used to hang around my home Salvation Army in Vallejo, CA.  
I call Ann and Hannah the bag ladies and they get all mad "NO! We're mommies Mommy!"


This is Mary's first hairdo with a bow.
It' didn't last long and then her hair stuck up funny all day.

 "The chief danger of the 20th century will be
religion without the Holy Ghost,
Christianity without Christ,
forgiveness without repentance,
salvation without regeneration,
politics without God,
and Heaven without Hell."
-William Booth


Chilling words that are still ringing true into the 21st century.


Sunday, February 14, 2010

A Happy Valentine's Day

What a week it has been.  All good, but even good can be difficult, which is where I'm finding myself lately.  I have been worked up about an issue and trying  to be careful not to say too much.  I am relying on the Lord to give me a self-controled tongue and patience as I wait on Him.  It's hard when "hurry-up" is my middle name.  I am learning. 

Paul and I had a "Valentines" date on Friday night.  Our good friend, Stacie, babysat for us at the last minute, because we really needed to just go out alone.  We sat in the car for an hour and talked and then went out to dinner at the Baldwin's Saloon which has hands down the BEST french onion soup in the world. 

And so... on with the show...

What a wonderfully lovely Valentines Day we had today.

It started with an early morning for me (thanks a lot, Mary!) and as quiet as I intend to be, my girls always seem to hear me and wake up ready to go.  Ann pounced on me to tell me a Happy Valentine's Day.  Hannah followed.  I have big red mark on my stomach from where I got burnt from my spilled coffee.  Ouch.  Love hurts.

We did our usual Sunday morning routine and then off to the Corps (church).  In Sunday School with the children, I skipped our usual lesson and  I taught about Saint Valentine instead.  We talked about marriage, and the sanctity of it and how the world has always been against it in some form or another.   We also talked about being a martyr and being brave and courageous.   (St. Valentine used to marry people in secret because it was illegal for young men to get married.  He was also a martyr) Then the children made Valentines for the residents at the Veteran's Home that attend our monthly church service.  They did such a good job making them special.

A few of our people brought Valentines to give out.  One of our younger ladies brought little maze games and lollipops for all of the children.  They were so excited.  I was blessed to see her generosity to 25 children because I know that she doesn't have much.    Another couple of our ladies HAND WROTE 50 Valentines with John 3:16 and a Valentine word acrostic integrated into it.  That was such a special blessing that they would go through all that trouble because they love their church.   I feel like it is such a privelege to know and love these people.  I am always praying that I would be a better leader  for them.  They deserve more than I can offer.

In church, I preached a sermon on Grace and shared a short story to go along. 

After church, Paul and I did our drop-offs.  I heard Ann in the backseat telling a little boy, *A*, all about Mt. Hood and how it's a volcano and how her Grandma told her so and on and on and on.  *A* is such a darling little boy, he just sat there nodding his head with his big brown eyes in a daze.

Then we met at Denny's.  We had a coupon for 25% off.  We had a lot of giggles, did some sorting, patterns, and math problems with our rainbow goldfish, but I got SOOOO embarrassed when one of our children spilled their drink 3 times!!!  I am not an embarrassed type kind of person, but the 3rd time was too much for me!  Afterwards I ran into an acquantice (the kids love it- she has an animal name) and had a couple things I wanted to have a chat with her about.  Paul paid the bill and loaded the kids up in the car and patiently waited for me to finish.  I swear, if I was my wife, I'd kill me.  I finally got out to the car and he's just sitting there, kids buckled, and asks me kindly if I had a nice chat.  Why can't I be that patient????

Paul did church at the Veteran's home in the afternoon.  We usually switch off with the preaching and nursing homes.  I was glad to stay home and use that hour to get some of my reading done on a subject I've been studying.  The boys played dollies...errrr.. "soldier figures" and the girls harrassed poor Mary.

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story....

Receiving their Valentine from Paul and I.


This picture turned out bad, but my friend, *J*, who also teaches the church ladies crafts once a month, made this for me a couple years ago.  It is such a neat thing, a long ribbon with patchwork looking fabric hearts slid on.  I love the pretty simplicity of it.


I bought these months ago to give them for Valentines. They are little lock and key diaries with pens. The kids really seemed to like them.


The kids were upset I didn't get Mary anything.  Oopsie!


Ann began writing in her diary right away.  I wrote "Dear Diary," on our dry erase board and she must've sat there and wrote that on 10+  pages.


Elijah mostly enjoyed his lock and key.


I never realized how much everyone would want to feed the baby.  I am working on weaning her (boo, hoo)before we leave for Israel.  I took a picture of Elijah feeding her because I had overheard him singing "Mary Had A Little Lamb" to her. 


My 2 friends gave me this MOST EXCELLENT idea when I was visiting with them the other night.  They are soundproof ear muffs.  David has been quite vocal about his annoyances with lip smacking and chewing at the table, mainly at breakfast time when the younger kids are stuffing their mouth with cereal or oatmeal.  So I told him, he can either get used to it or wear these because they are still learning to eat quietly with their mouths closed every time.    I actually bought two pairs, one for me too!  LOL!!! 

I made giant chocolate cupcakes for....

DINNER!!!!

-BIG Smile-



Thank you Lord, for LOVE! 

Monday, February 8, 2010

Beautiful (Organized!) Woman

I have been reading a most excellent book lately called "The Gentle Ways of The Beautiful Woman- A Practical Guide to Spiritual Beauty"  by Anne Ortlund.  I am really loving it, and learning.
Some things I say, "Thank you Lord for developing that in me", so many other things I say- "Oopsie!  Better get to work on that!"

The book takes you through different areas of your life: attitudes, thinking, beliefs, and allowing the Lord to work in you. It also gives very practical disciplines to incorporate into your daily life for maximum effeceincy.  LOVE IT!  NEED IT!  I have found several ideas that I have begun implementing.  It helps me to accomplish the things that are most important and to do it with grace and joy.  I never want to be that crazy-busy-stressed out woman that I was 10 years ago (and that was with less children!) Not that I never "go there", but at least it is less! ha!ha!



The first area I've been working at getting a handle on is my nightstand.  That is where the author says we should start restoring beauty to physical surroundings,  and it makes so much sense to me!  It's the first place I see in the morning and the last thing I see at night.  Unfortunately, it tends to be one of the messiest physical areas of my life.  In all my years of marriage, Paul has never complained about my housekeeping, except for the occasional mentioning of my nightstand ;)  Especially when things suddenly come crashing down.  And then I just leave it where it landed until my (maybe)  once a month shoveling out. (I also blame my babies who pull everything down in an effort to bury themselves alive). What's it so full of ?  Books upon books upon books. Bibles. Some magazines like The Officer or Above Rubies or my Human Events newspapers.  Even some cookbooks and sometimes little notes  my children leave me when they feel brave enough to step over the pile (s). 

So, I've been working at it, with my end goal being NOTHING on top of my nightstand except for my alarm clock, lamp, my picture of Paul as a first year Lt., and, as the book suggests, a small glass vase with a flower inside.  I have two drawers in my nightstand and I have cleared out the top one so that I can put my 1-3 books or magazines, Bible, pen, and notebook in.  The rest of my books must make their way downstairs or  to my office which will be their permanent home.  I love waking up in the morning to a nice and neat nightstand and going to sleep at night with at least my nightstand being beautiful.

Dinner tonight- chili bake and fruit

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Organizing Meals

Well, what a wonderful couple of days I've had with friends.  Last night on my way out the door to meet up with two friends that I just adore, the kids were asking me "where are you going, what are you doing?".  I told them I was going to play with my friends... I can imagine that they pictured me running around screaming my head off like they do when they're with their friends, but nope..... I sat my rear down and I think we talked for like 4 hours!  We have so much in common, a deep love for the Lord, larger than "normal" families, and just trying hard to do our best at what we do.  I even got a couple of ideas to implement.  (Ear muffs that block the sound for me was one of them! ha!ha!ha!)   Then we got to go over and visit as a family today so that the kids had their turn to play :)  Now it's even. (I'm a twin, I 'heart' even!)


I thought I'd post about meals... but like I say.. I so don't know it all!  And I sure hope I never come across that way... I just like to share ideas because I know when I get a glimpse into other's lives, I get ideas too.  The Bible says "we should be spurring each other on toward good works"  though I think I get spurrred on more than I do the spurring!

Meals are one of the major daily "chores" of life (the other is laundry), especially when you are caring for children (or others) who can't make meals for themselves, or when you are trying to maximize the nourishment for your money or when you are trying to follow a healthful diet or when you are just plain trying to feed someone some grub!

This last month, God caused Paul and I to really go to town on our budget. It seems to have been a theme for us lately, not because of financial crises or anything like that, but in an effort for us to really be aware of where every dime goes. God provides for us and we should have an account of every penney. Sometimes we let things slide and then it's time to reign in again. We decided to spend barely any money in January and it actually got fun doing it.   I know for sure that God caused that because He foresaw our need to come up with the money to fly Paul down to El Paso for his friends funeral at the last minute.

Now, what does that have to do with organizing? The biggest area that we could save money on was groceries. We do like to keep a full pantry and freezer so that we are always prepared for
great meals, company, quick meals, and worst-case scenarios.
We do this by stocking up on our most used items when they go on sale. Like chicken breasts, beans, cereals, frozen berries, canned salmon, toilet paper, soap, etc. Paul is very good at this and even better about organizing our pantry. He organizes it according to expiration dates and then tells me what I should be focused on using. When we're tight on money or just looking to be more frugal, we eat our way through it, supplementing with fresh produce and dairy. Amidst our last run through, I came accross THIS pantry recipe website that I found most useful. You enter what is currently in your pantry and it organizes your food into great recipes. A couple of them I looked at and though "wow! I didn't know I had all the ingredients for that!" It takes a little time to make your entrys (I did it on a Sunday night) , but after that, you can just update here and there.  I also follow a couple of blogs about keeping a deep pantry.  I even get ideas to implement at the Corps(church) in our Social Service pantry.

Another couple of things I do to keep the meal part of my life running smoothly is to keep a list of all the meals I can come up with that I could make right now this minute without a trip to the grocery store.  On this list, I also keep Paul's or the children's requests so that I don't forget to make their favorite meal sometimes.  I add my own too ;)  I also will keep a weekly menu because I need to plan for things like crockpot meals for Wednesday church nights or Sunday lunches or an evening activity that requires a packed sandwiches or a trip through the drive-thru.

I also try to freeze a couple of meals a few times a month.  For example, if I'm making a casserole, I will make a huge one and freeze half.  I also started doing this with goodies too, like cookie dough (a great idea from my friend Stacie).  And when I'm cleaning up from dinner I'm getting things ready for dinner the next night, however insignificant it may seem, it is so much easier to go into preparing a meal with some of the tedial stuff done first, like chopping, mixing, measuring.  A lot of that is stuff the kids can be doing too.  They want to do it, it usually means a bit more of a mess for me, but on most days, I don't mind.

I am still trying to come up with a good snack system.  It seems like I am always offering the kids the same kind of things- cheese, fruit, crackers or 2 pieces from their candy stash.     It gets pretty boring and redundant, but I don't want to fork out the money or forgo nutrition for a bunch of pre-packaged foods either.  I could really use a good snack system.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Organizing-

ORGANIZING is one of  my most favorite words ever.  I love organizing:   people, tasks, stuff, areas, anything!  

Some may say... I don't have time to organize.  I say, I don't have time NOT to organize. 

Every one of my days are brimming over with people to care for and things that need to be done. (Thank you, Lord).   I don't have the time to be looking for things or time to waste in unproductive ways.  And I want to fully utilize my time occupying planet earth.

In fact, I even look for ways to make my rest time productive (I'm sure my mother wouldn't be surprised! ha!ha!)   I like to plan and organize how I will take my rest- a Little House and the Prairie episode rewound and ready to go, a cup of tea in the clean cup w/ saucer ready to go, a workout on the treadmill where I can always find my work-out shoes waiting for me right beside it, or some time in the Word with my Bible that is always on top of the schoolwork/art drawers with my notebook and blue smooth writing ballpoint pen. 

My organized life will look quite different than yours.   For example- a person might look at my unevenly  and unalphabitized stack of spice jars, packets and shakers in my  spice cupboard and say "what's up with that?!", but I know that I can reach my hand inside without even looking and grab exactly what I want out of about 25 items.  Everything has it's place. It has the order that I want from it so that it works best for me.  How does your spice cupboard work for you?  Do you waste time and energy digging for something?  Do you buy things you already have because you couldn't find it?  Or, are your spices spread out all over your home- pepper? in the couch.  garlic powder? back porch.  gaucamole seasonings? on top of the dryer.

Here are some words I associate with organizing:
Prepared
Plan
Efficient
Streamline
Integrate
Simplify (a theme running in my life right now)
Purge
God (He is a God of order, not chaos ;) check out Genesis 1)

So, this month I will be peppering my posts with the organizing element of my life.  I am not coming with a lot of formal knowledge in this area but I do know what works for my family and tweak it often to change with our needs for the time or when I get a better idea or new inspiration. I do know what works for me in my responsibilities in the ministry, but that changes too, and I end up looking for new ways to make my tasks most effective.  Maybe you'll find something useful or absurd, who knows.  Maybe you might offer me some advice also. 

A quote from a very good book that I just can't seem to put down----


"Let all things be done decently and in order."
-Bible    (1 Corinthians 14:40)

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