Seasons

Seasons are great! Why are they good? Because they change. Just when you think nothing is happening after a long cold winter you notice the buds on the trees are forming. The creator himself is sending you a sign. A sign that says hang on this season is changing. That is so true in life! I have four kids and they are all in different seasons of life. I have one that will be a teenager and one who will be turning 2. Then I have the two girls in the middle and they are In different seasons too.
As so with friends who are in different
Seasons, I am in a different season then I was last year! Praise the Lord!
I am blessed by a circle of great moms who are all in different seasons of life! And because of that we are able to sharpen each others faith as the bible says "As iron sharpens iron, people can improve each other" -proverbs 27:17 ncv that's what's great about friends who are in different seasons! I love them all so much! One friend reminded me that sometime God puts you in someone's life because you are able to help them because you are able to bounce back and maybe they are not able to. That was something that helped me a lot!
What season am I in you ask? Well let me see, I am a mon to an infant who was born a little early and is growing and thriving and already crawling( he could have waited a little!) and also a toddler so I am MOM! But also mom to pre-teen/teens and that require my constant guidance! So mostly I am tired but I do know this is only a season! So beautiful! And of course i am a WIFE! I'm also learning many things from the Lord like being patient, loving people, staying consistent in prayer and reading my bible. It may not sound like a lot to some but with 4 kids I am pretty busy! Also I am in a season of longing. Longing to see my family own a a home. We live in the ugliest rental in town and I am not making that up! (BUT I am thankful for a place to live and call home!!!)
Longing to have a garden which we can't here :( no yard or way to water :(
The Lord sees my dreams and I believe he will honor them someday!
:) :) then I will have a garden and produce to eat, freeze and can!!!! Oh and a clothesline!!!
Happy Friday friends!!!

A Mini Celebration

This month I celebrate 7 years of being saved and sober. I give all the glory to God because He is the only one who could have made me change. No intervention or jail-time would have gripped me the way Jesus did! I would have died or I fear worse....Lets not focus on that..

So seven years ago My life changed and it was very sudden. One day I packed up my car and my kids and left my home state and moved 1800 miles away. Crazy right? I know but once you hear that still, small voice you can't forget what it said. So we left in search of a new life and I think we did. God is in control of all of this! And He has been good to us!

Stay at Home Mom

Have I said how much I love being a stay at home mom? Maybe I have but here are my freshest reasons from this season in my life.

1. Seeing my girl grow daily.
2. Teaching her things and watching that 'Ah Ha!' moment in her eyes
3. For the first time in our marriage (11 years) I am the one staying home! I LOVE IT!!!
4. Never missing a new stage.
5. The satisfaction of doing 'mommy' things for my family
6. Being home when my older kids get home.

This is a good season of life and I do feel really blessed that I can stay home because it didn't always used to be this way.

Teething

This post is about my baby teething.

Alright so for the last week my 16 month old has been teething and it has been worse than any other time. I think because she is getting all 4 molars at one and also maybe her eye teeth. Oi!!!

Oh I try teething tablets and ibuprofen ...

they work for a minute...

Then the fussy, crying, tossing , turning baby returns...

She doesn't sleep well,

she gets upset with things...

like "YUCK!" bugs that come in the house and die...

Not too much makes her happy right now...

I CAN"T WAIT TILL MY HAPPY GIRL COMES BACK!!!!!

P.S. about the bugs: Our house is full of them! I sweep and vacuum 3 times a day or we are walking on them! Yup...walking on them...GROSS! 

I also can't wait for the first FREEZE to KILL them!

A quick snap shot of my sweetie enjoying an outing we had this week to the pumpkin patch with our friends. A really blessed day!

She was happy outside playing in the sand!

A Response To How I Use Facebook :)

Hello friends! This blog is an answer to a blog about Facebook. How are people using this site? I do know many who are on alot(just like me) and many who aren't on that much. And that's okay. Sometimes it's hard to gauge how people are using this social networking thing! Some status posts I see are quite shocking and I must confess I feel like falling off my chair and on the way down dropping a friend or two...but I am too nice to do that. Instead I say a quick little prayer for them in hopes it gets deep down into their heart.
Back to the reason for the blog though...Ways I Use Facebook-
#1.Keep in touch with my family in Washington State...as many of you know the ONLY biological family I have with me here, in Iowa is my immedite family(hubby & kids)
and my dad. We are not exactly speaking though and he is estranged from me...meaning he is strange and controlling and I stay away from him! So FB is one way to stay in contact with my long distance family members that live 1900 miles away. Sad sometimes, but OUR CHOICE. Reason being...
#2. Floyd Lighthouse Academy...To stay in constant contact with al the wonderful people of the school where my kids go and the church we, as a family, attend. We knew we wanted better schooling for our kids and knew there was no way we could afford any private school on the west coast.
#3. To Meet up with friends from middle school and high school...THAT HAS BEEN AWSOME!
#4. Meeting up with NEW family members(who I hope to meet someday...soon) and family I haven't seen since I was a kid. That has also been WONDERFUL!!!
#5. and Finally to share pics and stuff with my friends. I love my normal, boring life because it's mine and it didn't used to be that way!

Raising Goldy People

When do kids go from being innocent and making friends with everyone to picking and choosing who they will or won't play with? When do they learn it? Where do they learn it? Some people wanna blame parents, some wanna say their friends and some will say they don't know. The Bible says that children are born selfish and it's our job as parents to raise these small people to be what God has designed them to be. Some times that can be hard! Recently one of our kids have had a "teenager" attitude. There have been several incidents in the last few months. Some have shocked us, my husband and I, some have made us embarrassed, some have left us angry. I go to the Lord in prayer with my concerns. God has a great way of "showing" us things. Thru friends, reading and radio He has shown me how deal with and discipline an older child. THANKFULLY!!!
The most recent thing has left me embarrassed because we did not raise a kid to be mean to others and to leave friends out. We have always told our kids to play with everyone the same and treat them like best friends. We have NEVER let our kids exclude others intentionally! So...that is what happened...they excluded friends and hurt feelings and these friends live far away. We only see them 1-2 times a year. And now we must reconcile feeling and friendships. I am so sad on one hand and seeing the need for a different kind of parenting. On the other hand I am glad it was caught RIGHT AWAY so we could deal with it! A new season of child rearing if you will. Don't worry! We have disciplined this child accordingly and explained that Jesus does not want us to treat others this way. We know that the Lord wants us to love our neighbor! Change is comin' 'round!!!

Psalm 62

My daughter found this in the Bible and wrote it down and brought it to me in a note and I just wanted to share.
Psalm 62:1-2
My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.

God sends me those little reminders from time to time...to just remember and think about what HE has done for all of US. O how I also LOVE the little messanger He sends :)