We were at Dennis job site, cleaning up all the trash that had blown from the site onto the neighboring empty lots. Now you have to understand the amount of trash was ridiculous, and it was a windy day, so it seemed that as much as we were picking up, there was still more blowing around. The Brat Pack was getting very frustrated. I was getting frustrated with them and I was tired of the whining and complaining.
Just as it was getting to that point were it was becoming more unproductive than productive, Alexis leaned over and picked up a huge piece of cardboard and SCREAMED her head off and started dancing around!! Of course we all go running to her to see what was going on and what do we see? 2 little field mice, more scared of Alexis with all her screaming and jumping, then Alexis should have been of them.
So Brooke starts yelling at everyone to quit jumping around and she tries to catch them!! So now we have 2 little field mice running in all different directions, trying to escape Brooke who is trying to catch them. And the rest of us running away from them and squealing every time they get too close to us!
Finally they seem to have figured out a path to take themselves away from us, but then Belle starts to chase down one of the little mice. Picture her crouched over with her hands out trying to talk to this little mouse and convince it that it has nothing to be scared of, as she is chasing it down. All of a sudden that little bugger decides to switch directions! I see IsaBelle stop dead, they lock eyes, trying to call each others bluff, then all of sudden Belle turns and starts running AWAY from the little field mouse as it starts chasing HER across the field!!!! So here she comes, running as fast as she can, screaming her head off and I see this little field mouse chasing after her!! I doubled over laughing!!! As she gets closer to me I realize that the mouse is still hot on her trail and I start thinking that this little thing is going to be in very close proximity to me before too long! Wouldn't ya know it but that little mouse ran right over the top of my shoe, and what do you suppose I did?!? Screamed my head off and started dancing around like a woman possessed!! How can something so small put such terror in our hearts?!? It really is ridiculous.
Silly things finally ran under a storage trailer and peace once again settled over the field. For a short time, then the whining and complaining started again :P
Aww well, at least we had something distract us for a short time. And I will always remember the look on Belle's face as that little mouse chased her across the field :)
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Rearview Mirror
My feet are itching to get back on the road,to leave this time, this place behind me once again. I feel I am looking for something that is hiding just beyond my view, searching for that illusive piece of me that is not here. I am struggling to be content here. I dream of bigger things, bigger places. I crave the easiness of being strangers in a crowded room.
I want to stand up and scream at those who claim to love me, claim to be my friends, yet they avoid me. Skirt around me when we meet. Never look me in the eye. Don't they see me? Do they avoid me because saying goodbye again is too hard for them to face? Don't they understand that they are the reason I no longer want to be here?
Loneliness amongst strangers is so much easier than loneliness amongst friends.
The rearview mirror is going to be an easy thing to look into this time. If only it were for more than a just few weeks...
I want to stand up and scream at those who claim to love me, claim to be my friends, yet they avoid me. Skirt around me when we meet. Never look me in the eye. Don't they see me? Do they avoid me because saying goodbye again is too hard for them to face? Don't they understand that they are the reason I no longer want to be here?
Loneliness amongst strangers is so much easier than loneliness amongst friends.
The rearview mirror is going to be an easy thing to look into this time. If only it were for more than a just few weeks...
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Update time!!
Okay, its been forever since I've blogged ~ I really have no excuse. Just laziness I guess. I really have thought about the fact that I should have been updating, but I just don"t know what I would blog about. So here we go, time to update you on what we have been up to in the last month...
We plan on heading out to WY in a few days, we will only be gone for a week this time. Hopefully at some point we will be able to spend some time with Dennis on this job, but that is still yet to be seen.
I'm thinking I should really take advantage of this week and on the way home maybe take a side trip to Mount Rushmore. I have resaerched some of the history of the area we will be staying in, and some history of the areas we will be driving thru on the way out there. One stop will definantly be Wall Drug in Wall, SD. I also want to visit Devil's Tower and the Big Horn Mountains. Rapid City is only a short drive from where we will be staying, we may have to take a day trip over there...
The last few days I have felt very organized, I have felt like I have gotten much accomplished. We now have "chore charts" for each of the Brat Pack. They all have a rotating dishes chart, and we now have specific days of the week for each kids laundry to be done. Instead of me having to tell so and so to do a load of laundry, now they are all responsible to get their own laundry done on their assigned day. We shall see if this will help the mountain of laundry run smoother at least.
The Brat Pack has been doing great in school, our goal is to get done by noon every day. Anything after noon is homework. Makes my day easier, as I can get to my stuff that I need to get accomplished. So much better than spending my day sitting at my teacher's desk waiting for them to complete their work for the day!! Especially when it seems like everyone else can be done by noon, but there is ALWAYS one child who just cannot concentrate and stay on task. It's not always the same child, I really do think they take turns. But it still was making it impossible for me to get my things done.
We spent last Saturday shopping, trying on clothes and buying! We had so much fun, adn found some really good deals! I had a friend tell me today, when she was growing up her brother was a clothes horse and had expensive taste. he was always wanting something new, something stylish. Her moms answer was," if its not on sale, its not God's Will". I thought that that was a very wise woman to teach her children that something as simple as shopping for sales is being a good steward of what God has given us. Well, we did find some very good deals and everything we bought was 70% off the already marked down clearence price!!! I loved it!!!
I do plan on getting the kids a few new things for the drive to WY. Things to do. I'm thinking a new LPS for Alexis and Belle. A new DSlite game for Joseph. A new book for Michelle and some drawing things for Brooke. And I would really like to get little gift bags ready for Valentine's Day for The Brat Pack. I have never done anything special for them for Valentines, I think it would be alot of fun to make it special for them :)
I'm so excited to spend Valentine's Day with D this year!! It has been a few years since that has happened!! No fancy plans or anything , just going to spend the day as a family, hopefully hiking thru the Big Horn Mountains :)
Well, I should get off. My 13 yr old is patiently waiting for her hour on the computer :) Part of the new chores and privelages thing we have going on ;)
'Till next time!!!
We plan on heading out to WY in a few days, we will only be gone for a week this time. Hopefully at some point we will be able to spend some time with Dennis on this job, but that is still yet to be seen.
I'm thinking I should really take advantage of this week and on the way home maybe take a side trip to Mount Rushmore. I have resaerched some of the history of the area we will be staying in, and some history of the areas we will be driving thru on the way out there. One stop will definantly be Wall Drug in Wall, SD. I also want to visit Devil's Tower and the Big Horn Mountains. Rapid City is only a short drive from where we will be staying, we may have to take a day trip over there...
The last few days I have felt very organized, I have felt like I have gotten much accomplished. We now have "chore charts" for each of the Brat Pack. They all have a rotating dishes chart, and we now have specific days of the week for each kids laundry to be done. Instead of me having to tell so and so to do a load of laundry, now they are all responsible to get their own laundry done on their assigned day. We shall see if this will help the mountain of laundry run smoother at least.
The Brat Pack has been doing great in school, our goal is to get done by noon every day. Anything after noon is homework. Makes my day easier, as I can get to my stuff that I need to get accomplished. So much better than spending my day sitting at my teacher's desk waiting for them to complete their work for the day!! Especially when it seems like everyone else can be done by noon, but there is ALWAYS one child who just cannot concentrate and stay on task. It's not always the same child, I really do think they take turns. But it still was making it impossible for me to get my things done.
We spent last Saturday shopping, trying on clothes and buying! We had so much fun, adn found some really good deals! I had a friend tell me today, when she was growing up her brother was a clothes horse and had expensive taste. he was always wanting something new, something stylish. Her moms answer was," if its not on sale, its not God's Will". I thought that that was a very wise woman to teach her children that something as simple as shopping for sales is being a good steward of what God has given us. Well, we did find some very good deals and everything we bought was 70% off the already marked down clearence price!!! I loved it!!!
I do plan on getting the kids a few new things for the drive to WY. Things to do. I'm thinking a new LPS for Alexis and Belle. A new DSlite game for Joseph. A new book for Michelle and some drawing things for Brooke. And I would really like to get little gift bags ready for Valentine's Day for The Brat Pack. I have never done anything special for them for Valentines, I think it would be alot of fun to make it special for them :)
I'm so excited to spend Valentine's Day with D this year!! It has been a few years since that has happened!! No fancy plans or anything , just going to spend the day as a family, hopefully hiking thru the Big Horn Mountains :)
Well, I should get off. My 13 yr old is patiently waiting for her hour on the computer :) Part of the new chores and privelages thing we have going on ;)
'Till next time!!!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Having Joy
Okay, so, I was having a hard time finding joy in this journey home...
Funny thing how God works, after I wrote that I listened to Pastor's sermon, and in his sermon he talked about what is wrong with us when we lose our joy.
I really felt convicted about how I was reacting to my circumstances. I was letting the circumstances control my feelings, actions, emotions and attitude. When I should have been letting the Holy Spirit control me. He talked about walking worthy of the Lord, and how Paul prayed that the people would have 3 things:
1. spiritual intelligence
when you are born again you have everything you need in Jesus, and you have the handbook for your life, its called the Bible. we don't need to look for outside info~ those false teachers who try to get you "in the know", kinda like how the serpant convinced Eve that he knew how it "really was" and that she should believe him.
Spiritual intelligence is not just straight knowledge but the knowledge of what God has for us. We will never know the Will of God without the Word of God. God doesn't expect us to know everything, but He does expect us to apply what we know and understand.
2. practical obedience
knowledge and obedience go together
My Heavenly Father expects the same from me as I expect of my children, I give them the knowledge and I expect their obedience
learning and living go together, we know the things from the Word of God, but we choose not to apply it to our lives such a sad but true statement.
we should be striving to walk worthy of the Lord, the world should be able to look at us and see that we are walking with Jesus. Even if they don't know exactly how to express it, they know what they are looking at.
I want to walk worthy, I want the world to stand in awe of my Lord Jesus Christ!!
3. moral excellence
"I can walk in a way that honors the Lord..." okay, I've heard that since I was a child, so, how do I do that??
For one I have to have patience, yikes!! not something I usually pray for! but patience is enduring the difficluties in life while growing closer to my heavenly Father, (not questioning Him.)
I also have to have longsuffering, okay, such a trite thing to say, but longsuffering is really self-restraint while dealing with the people in my life, even God's people, (sometimes that takes more self restraint than we would expect).
okay, now for the one that I've been having a hard time with~ I have to have JOY!! Yep, its not about finding joy, its about having joy. I endure, I have longsuffering, and I must have joy thru it all. When I find myself complaining or feeling sorry for myself, then I know that I have lost my joy, and I am not walking worthy of the Lord. When I let circumstances control my life then I am not letting the Holy Spirit control my life, I lose my joy and I lose my closeness with my Heavenly Father.
I do NOT want to lose this closeness that I have come to enjoy so much!!
This closeness that I feel with my Heavenly Father is amazing! I have never felt this close to Him before, like He is always in the room with me, and instead of talking to myself I find myself addressing Him in everything I do. When I'm doing the dishes, when I vacume the floor, as I make supper or when I'm getting ready to turn in for the night, I find myself asking Him for wisdom in every situation or trial that I am having.
So I don't need to find joy in anything, I need to have joy in everything! I have Christ in me, therefore I already have joy! Next time I question the joy in my life, well, then I guess I will have to dig deeper and realize its not about the things around me, but its about my heart and my relationship with the Lord.
This journey that I am on has nothing to do with where I am at in this world, but its about where I am at in my spiritual walk with God. Where my heart and life are at in obedience to Him and His Word.
Yep, its quiet a journey. And I am so excited to see what HE has for my life as I walk closer to Him and dig deeper into His Word...
Funny thing how God works, after I wrote that I listened to Pastor's sermon, and in his sermon he talked about what is wrong with us when we lose our joy.
I really felt convicted about how I was reacting to my circumstances. I was letting the circumstances control my feelings, actions, emotions and attitude. When I should have been letting the Holy Spirit control me. He talked about walking worthy of the Lord, and how Paul prayed that the people would have 3 things:
1. spiritual intelligence
when you are born again you have everything you need in Jesus, and you have the handbook for your life, its called the Bible. we don't need to look for outside info~ those false teachers who try to get you "in the know", kinda like how the serpant convinced Eve that he knew how it "really was" and that she should believe him.
Spiritual intelligence is not just straight knowledge but the knowledge of what God has for us. We will never know the Will of God without the Word of God. God doesn't expect us to know everything, but He does expect us to apply what we know and understand.
2. practical obedience
knowledge and obedience go together
My Heavenly Father expects the same from me as I expect of my children, I give them the knowledge and I expect their obedience
learning and living go together, we know the things from the Word of God, but we choose not to apply it to our lives such a sad but true statement.
we should be striving to walk worthy of the Lord, the world should be able to look at us and see that we are walking with Jesus. Even if they don't know exactly how to express it, they know what they are looking at.
I want to walk worthy, I want the world to stand in awe of my Lord Jesus Christ!!
3. moral excellence
"I can walk in a way that honors the Lord..." okay, I've heard that since I was a child, so, how do I do that??
For one I have to have patience, yikes!! not something I usually pray for! but patience is enduring the difficluties in life while growing closer to my heavenly Father, (not questioning Him.)
I also have to have longsuffering, okay, such a trite thing to say, but longsuffering is really self-restraint while dealing with the people in my life, even God's people, (sometimes that takes more self restraint than we would expect).
okay, now for the one that I've been having a hard time with~ I have to have JOY!! Yep, its not about finding joy, its about having joy. I endure, I have longsuffering, and I must have joy thru it all. When I find myself complaining or feeling sorry for myself, then I know that I have lost my joy, and I am not walking worthy of the Lord. When I let circumstances control my life then I am not letting the Holy Spirit control my life, I lose my joy and I lose my closeness with my Heavenly Father.
I do NOT want to lose this closeness that I have come to enjoy so much!!
This closeness that I feel with my Heavenly Father is amazing! I have never felt this close to Him before, like He is always in the room with me, and instead of talking to myself I find myself addressing Him in everything I do. When I'm doing the dishes, when I vacume the floor, as I make supper or when I'm getting ready to turn in for the night, I find myself asking Him for wisdom in every situation or trial that I am having.
So I don't need to find joy in anything, I need to have joy in everything! I have Christ in me, therefore I already have joy! Next time I question the joy in my life, well, then I guess I will have to dig deeper and realize its not about the things around me, but its about my heart and my relationship with the Lord.
This journey that I am on has nothing to do with where I am at in this world, but its about where I am at in my spiritual walk with God. Where my heart and life are at in obedience to Him and His Word.
Yep, its quiet a journey. And I am so excited to see what HE has for my life as I walk closer to Him and dig deeper into His Word...
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
finding joy
Sometimes its not a very easy thing, to find joy in every journey. This journey has been hard for me to find joy in.
We have left a wonderful church where we were growing and learning and being convicted on a weekly basis. We are struggling to find the joy in our home church, the focus for God's Work is not easy to see, the fire for God's Word is hard to find... I am finding myself asking God if this is really what He has for us. Is this His plan for us? I know I said I would take what I learned down in BB and bring it home with me.
Yeah~ um, thats easier said than done. See, for anything like that to work, you first have to have people who want change, and they don't. They don't want change, they don't want to be convicted, they don't want to search their lives and hearts to see where Christ is leading them. They don't want to be forced out of their comfort zone. And the reason I know this is because that was me 8 months ago. That was me that was sitting in the pew, making my "to-do" list for the week, writing notes to my hubby, picking apart the sermon, trying to stay awake.
I went thru all the motions of being there, but I wasn't there. I had become so bitter. I refuse to become that person again, to be that bitter person who has just given up. But I have to tell you, its hard not to get sucked back into that cycle of bitterness.
It would be so much easier to just sit back and say, "well, that's just how it is up here, " I don't want to do that this time around, I want to throw myself into this work with my whole being... but yet, I don't. I don't want to put myself out there just to get shot down. I am scared of being the one, the one who comes in and shakes things up, who shakes things up just to leave again. But I am more scared of coming home next time and not having a church to go to.
I am trying to find the joy on this journey home, I may have to dig deeper into myself and into God's Will for my life to find the joy this time. I will keep searching for the joy. If I can't find it, maybe I will have to make it...
We have left a wonderful church where we were growing and learning and being convicted on a weekly basis. We are struggling to find the joy in our home church, the focus for God's Work is not easy to see, the fire for God's Word is hard to find... I am finding myself asking God if this is really what He has for us. Is this His plan for us? I know I said I would take what I learned down in BB and bring it home with me.
Yeah~ um, thats easier said than done. See, for anything like that to work, you first have to have people who want change, and they don't. They don't want change, they don't want to be convicted, they don't want to search their lives and hearts to see where Christ is leading them. They don't want to be forced out of their comfort zone. And the reason I know this is because that was me 8 months ago. That was me that was sitting in the pew, making my "to-do" list for the week, writing notes to my hubby, picking apart the sermon, trying to stay awake.
I went thru all the motions of being there, but I wasn't there. I had become so bitter. I refuse to become that person again, to be that bitter person who has just given up. But I have to tell you, its hard not to get sucked back into that cycle of bitterness.
It would be so much easier to just sit back and say, "well, that's just how it is up here, " I don't want to do that this time around, I want to throw myself into this work with my whole being... but yet, I don't. I don't want to put myself out there just to get shot down. I am scared of being the one, the one who comes in and shakes things up, who shakes things up just to leave again. But I am more scared of coming home next time and not having a church to go to.
I am trying to find the joy on this journey home, I may have to dig deeper into myself and into God's Will for my life to find the joy this time. I will keep searching for the joy. If I can't find it, maybe I will have to make it...
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Home for the Holidays
Well, for those of you who haven't heard, we are back in MN for an unspecified amount of time. Dennis' build down in Florida still hasn't started and his boss cannot justify continueing to pay his salary, we totally understand were he is coming from, he has already put alot of money into a project that hasn't even started. After getting more details we decided to leave all our summer stuff down there and we left my van down there too, so even if the hotel falls thru (his boss really doesn't think that will happen), we will be heading back down to FL to get the rest of our stuff :)
We decided to make the 28 hour drive home all in one marathon! It was a very long drive! I was so proud of the kids, not one complaint, they played nicely together, no fighting, hard to imagine with 5 kids in a vehicle for 28 hours, but they really do defy the normal :) Dennis was amazing, to drive the whole way! We got to the 694 bypass,saw that sign that said, "St CLoud, 47 miles," and we knew we could make it home! We turned on the AC (hard to fall asleep when you are freezing) and talked and laughed the last 2 hours of the trip :) We pulled in the driveway at 1:50 am :P the kids helped unload the truck and the pillows from the trailer, and then it was time to crash! D and I had hard time falling asleep, everytime we would close our eyes we felt like the room was still moving and swaying :P YUCK!!! I finally got to sleep around 5 am, then woke up a few hours later to 3 inches of snow on the truck and the wind blowing!! God really is good, He kept the storm away until we were safe in out home :)
Dad, Mom and Alan drove up after church and brought dinner! It was very appreciated!! The cupboards were empty and I did not look forward to going to the grocery store in the snow, I know, I know, I'll have to get used to it! But the 90 degree difference in 2 days is kinda hard on one's sytem :)
It was great to be in church Sunday night~ to see some of our friends and church family was a blessing. After getting groceries we drove home in the cold and blustery snow! "Welcome Home!!!"
It has been a very busy week so far, I think we have something going on everyday for the next few weeks!! And Dennis already has some leads on work to keep the $ coming in :) Always a good thing!
I miss our friends in FL, and our church family down there, but it is nice to get their phonecalls everyday :) It's very important to stay in touch with friends, otherwise we lose that closeness, and it makes for some akward silences when you find you have nothing to talk about anymore.
I will cherish the friendships I have made over the last 6 months.
The house is ready for Christmas~ the decorations are up, and I am in the mood to bake goodies :) So my busy week will just be getting busier!!
Well, I had better sign off~ so much to do, so little time to get it all done!!
We decided to make the 28 hour drive home all in one marathon! It was a very long drive! I was so proud of the kids, not one complaint, they played nicely together, no fighting, hard to imagine with 5 kids in a vehicle for 28 hours, but they really do defy the normal :) Dennis was amazing, to drive the whole way! We got to the 694 bypass,saw that sign that said, "St CLoud, 47 miles," and we knew we could make it home! We turned on the AC (hard to fall asleep when you are freezing) and talked and laughed the last 2 hours of the trip :) We pulled in the driveway at 1:50 am :P the kids helped unload the truck and the pillows from the trailer, and then it was time to crash! D and I had hard time falling asleep, everytime we would close our eyes we felt like the room was still moving and swaying :P YUCK!!! I finally got to sleep around 5 am, then woke up a few hours later to 3 inches of snow on the truck and the wind blowing!! God really is good, He kept the storm away until we were safe in out home :)
Dad, Mom and Alan drove up after church and brought dinner! It was very appreciated!! The cupboards were empty and I did not look forward to going to the grocery store in the snow, I know, I know, I'll have to get used to it! But the 90 degree difference in 2 days is kinda hard on one's sytem :)
It was great to be in church Sunday night~ to see some of our friends and church family was a blessing. After getting groceries we drove home in the cold and blustery snow! "Welcome Home!!!"
It has been a very busy week so far, I think we have something going on everyday for the next few weeks!! And Dennis already has some leads on work to keep the $ coming in :) Always a good thing!
I miss our friends in FL, and our church family down there, but it is nice to get their phonecalls everyday :) It's very important to stay in touch with friends, otherwise we lose that closeness, and it makes for some akward silences when you find you have nothing to talk about anymore.
I will cherish the friendships I have made over the last 6 months.
The house is ready for Christmas~ the decorations are up, and I am in the mood to bake goodies :) So my busy week will just be getting busier!!
Well, I had better sign off~ so much to do, so little time to get it all done!!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Family Portrait Time!!
Well, its that time of year again!! I love taking pictures of the kids, and I love the fact that I have been doing this with them since they were infants, so they are very patient with me and they put up with my hairbrained ideas :)
The only annoying thing for this years portraits-- I got home to download the pix on my computer and *BAM* half the pix were gone!!!! I was SOOOO mad! Oh well, I guess we will have to head to the beach one more time this week so we can get some retakes done. Oh- and I really wasn't pleased with any of Joseph's pix, so I plan on retaking all of his :P Can't you hear him jump for joy?!?!
It was a great day- I cannot believe we took pictures in the middle of November at the beach!!! I love Florida!!!
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