All of Creation

A few months back, I came across a video ~ I don't even know who posted it or recommended it ~ and I have since watched so many of this guys video's.   The first time I watched it, I *almost* turned it off after the first few minutes, but I stuck it out for the whole 14 minutes. 

Oh. My. Goodness.  I am ever so glad I did.  It brought me to tears the first time I hear it and every time since.  It is truly marvelous.  I love Louie Giglio ~ I think it would be so marvelous to attend his church ~ his worship leader is Chris Tomlin.  What an awesome duo!  I even use his stuff in science class for my guys!  It is truly worth the 14 minutes it takes to get through it, and if you are like me, you will start it over again.  Make sure you scroll down a bit to pause the music to the left of my sidebar!

Here's the Scripture passage Louie uses.
Psalm 148:
 1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.

2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.

4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.

5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for at his command they were created,

6 and he established them for ever and ever—
he issued a decree that will never pass away.

7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,

9 you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,

10 wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,

11 kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,

12 young men and women,
old men and children.

13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

14 And he has raised up for his people a horn,t
the praise of all his faithful servants,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.
Praise the Lord.   

One full Day

Well, I have one full day down.  We survived it.  I wasn't as gentle as I should've been.  But I didn't yell as much as I wanted to.  While I didn't exactly whisper, I spoke in a more controlled manner.  Tomorrow, I will give more hugs and kisses than I did today.   Tomorrow, I will actually do some housework!

But today, I was sorta lonely, so I talked to a few friends on facebook off and on all day.   But, we got caught up on some tests for Tucker and Xavier and I worked on some more Algebra.  And we got our science class done.  But not history.  There was a gas problem today.  No, not the furnace, 2 little boys couldn't stop passing it.  Ugh.  Oh the joys of mothering little boys.  That was the moment I actually did raise my voice today ~ with an exasperated "could. you. please. stop. farting.  Holy cow ~ I need a gas mask." 
Granted, the guys really thought it was funny, I didn't.  So I proceeded to just call an end to school and leave the room while telling them to take care of all their stuff.

Then they had "P.E." ~ that is what we homeschool mom's call playing out of doors!  :)  And when it started to get dark, I called the guys in ~ and sent Xavier to run laps around the building a couple times.  You see, he has been having a hard time falling asleep at night, so my thinking was that he wasn't playing hard enough.  He was crying when he got done, and told me that the only reason he wasn't falling asleep easily was he was worried about his Dad being gone and missing him.  *melting my heart*.  I'm hoping that is all it is.  Poor guy.  Sweet little guy!  Love his heart!  He {as well as the other two} is such a daddy's boy.

I did get both of my Bible studies in today.  And let me tell you ~ it's awesome how much they correlate ~ yes, I realize Paul wrote them both!  The thing I'm walking away with today is that Paul always poured grace, mercy and blessings on the recipients of his letters.  He let everyone know that they were worthy of Grace, compassion and God's great love.  No. Matter. What.  and from my study in Philippians 1:6  For I am confidant of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ  {nasb}~ God started a work in me the instant I received His free gift.   And never has God done a work and destroyed it completely when flaws become evident {Even Noah found Grace in the eyes of the Lord ~ God saved the remnant with Noah's family}.  every thing He's ever done was Good.  It didn't (nor does it ever) stay that way, but He will never be finished working in it!  How awesome is that?!?!?!

Anywho, I need to shut down and finally get some sleep!  I'll probably be back here tomorrow night!

Told ya :)

Haha ~ another post from me so soon!  Lol!  Less than 24 hours and I'm already bored/lonely :/

Anywho ~
I had made some resolutions for this year, and  so far my weight one has been doing good.  Although, I did fall off the wagon completely today.  Yikes.  I'm a stress eater and a Pepsi drinker.  And apparently, Pepsi is like a comfort food to me.  And so, here I sit drinking one.  But, tomorrow,  I will drink my 5 bottles of water like I had been the rest of the week.  And it's not as bad as I thought it would be, as long as I use my water bottle.

I want to start trying to get up earlier so I can get my Ephesians Bible study in before my guys get up.  And at night, I want to do my Philippians study.  Try to get on some sort of schedule.  So, that means, I eventually have to get into bed, I would imagine :).

After we dropped Jesse off at the airport today, the guys and I went to Walmart and I printed off some pictures for them ~ they wanted pictures of them with their Dad ~ so, I printed off the pictures we took at the airport and bought some $2 frames and they all went to sleep with their pictures.  How sweet is that?!  Come on, admit it, you just went "Awwwwwwwwwwww".  That's okay, my guys are like super cute ;)  And tonight, Xavier asked me "Mom, can we just snuggle for a little while?!"  *heart melting*  I love that my 10 year old {well, all of them for that matter} still loves to snuggle and cuddle with their mama!  Oh, I have been blessed!

But, tonight, I was just sitting here with the house a mess, I didn't feel like doing anything.  At All.  Yes, I allow myself to sit on the pity pot when Jesse leaves.  But I was thinking ~ I want to be actually productive this time, while he's gone.  And, gosh darn it, I will.  My goal while he's gone is to Not shop while he is gone.  I tend to do that ~ if you actually looked at our goals of paying off some stuff, 50% of what needs to be paid off is from my need to self soothe while shopping.  Oy vey!  Yep, I'm That girl.  I hope not to be her any more.  So, I decided to have a goal.  My goal is to get my scrapbook table cleaned off and maybe crank out a page or two or ten.  Whatever.  And to get rid of the pile of "donate" things in the basement.  But that is my goal.  That and to clean up the house and get into a habit of keeping it tidy and slightly more organized.  I try to keep my expectations low, because I know how I am.  But I will try :)

this week

:'(  This week, Jesse is gone for a few weeks doing some training.  He is going to be the Ground Defense instructor where he works, so he has to go to an "instructing the instructor" class, then for the last week and a half will be nothing but ground defense.  He likes that sort of stuff, but the class is going to wreck him.  Or so he says ;)  So, he is on his way to Little Rock right now.  Should be landing soon.

I hate it when he has to leave for stuff like this.  I can survive.  I carry on, but I truly do miss him.  Although, I look at the positive ~ you know, I don't have to shave my legs as much, get to have the bed completely to myself all those nights, I don't have to get out of my pajama's, and the clincher ~ Dinner can be cereal Ever. Single. Night.  :D  Yeah, Buddy!  So, Jesse, you have any more training you can do there, dear?!  LOL

Of course there are the downfalls ~ 24/7 non-stop of mommy and me time with my guys.  I guarantee they don't always look forward to these times :/  They actually asked me if I could go and dad could stay here.  And let me tell ya, I would be more than willing, but I don't think I could pass myself off as Jesse McCoy ;)  Nor could I survive Ground Defense training!!!!

Well, last week I know I mentioned I was taking the Gentleness  challenge with Courtney (and many other women around the country) at women living well.

I cannot tell you how much I am appreciating all the encouragement and camaraderie I feel doing it.  It's nice to know that I am not alone with this.  I am just praying I can exercise gentleness more to my boys this week.  I did okay last week.  I lost it a couple times, today being one of those days.  But, I am trying.  It's good for me!  And it's great for my guys!

So, for right now, that's all.  Hope you all have a marvelous week!  I'll probably blog a lot this week ;)

Excited

Well, to do with my new years word ~ KNOW ~ I had planned on starting a personal study of the book of Philippians.  Then Courtney at women living well introduced a 3 month Bible study of Ephesians and a friend of mine Sherry at he{art} started a Good Morning Girls group on facebook and I really wanted to do it.  So I decided that in my journey this year to KNOW HIM more, 2 studies at once couldn't necessarily be a bad thing, right?   So I will be doing both.  I can't wait.   Philippians has always been a favorite of mine.  And Ephesians, well, Ephesians has my marriage verses in it, so I can't wait!

I am also wanting so badly to get a little more involved in politics.  I'm always posting political things on facebook, but I really want to get more involved in real life.  I get so caught up that it's not good for my blood pressure though.  I really just need to find a good balance for it.  I am hoping to become more involved with Smart Girl Politics.  if you are a conservative and concerned with the direction this country is going, I would encourage you to go check out Smart Girl Politics.  I have really slacked in being on there much, but will now that things are starting to settle down.  I'm hoping and praying for an opportunity to host a Smart Girl meet and greet at some point in the near future. 

Now, (I kinda feel like I'm doing a business meeting ~ next order of business ;)  ) I have also been taking the Gentleness challenge with women living well.  And let me tell ya ~ I'm having a tough time.   But I truly know it is something I need to work on.  And it is so convicting because it has been around me the last few days.  At my MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers) meeting, there was a director (I think she was a family therapist too) she uses and teaches the Christian version of the nurtured heart method of parenting.   And WOW.  As she was teaching, the conviction that I was getting.  Some of the things that she had talked about ways of NOT parenting, I had just done like an hour before.  And I'm so thankful.  I'm considering signing up for one of her monthly seminars.  I need it.  

So, that is what's going on here.  Hope your year is shaping up to be a great one!

Gentleness

Courtney at http://womenlivingwell.org/ is hosting this challenge.  And it caught my eye.  I have a problem at times with anger and yelling.  And what caught my eye about this is she said it was aimed towards mommies who get angry.  And it is so me, unfortunately.   So, I am going to take this challenge to try to become a better mommy to my boys.  They deserve the best mommy around.  So I will do what I can to be that!  Oh, Lord that I could be a gentle mama!

Come join me!

2012 Word

I was sharing with Xavier tonight as I was tucking him in that a few years back, I saw some bloggers I follow talk about their "word for the year", and how CRAZY I thought they were.  I mean, come on?!  Seriously?!  One word?!  UGH.  Ridiculous.
Then last year, I saw it and read their blogs about their "word" and thought, okay, maybe I understand it.  Whatever.
This year, I started thinking, I want a word.  One word that will be my theme for the year.  Yes.  I am going to be one of those CRAZY bloggers.  So I had started thinking about it a couple of days before Christmas.  And I would just go through my day praying and thinking about it.  And a few days ago, I read a verse and I knew that was going to be my word for the year.
KNOW.  That's my word.  Know.  Then today, in church, our Pastor preached out of the same text that I came across the other day.  Philippians 3:10 (well, he used the whole chapter, but that was his theme verse).  That I may KNOW him.  I want to know HIM more this year than I did last year.  And I will admit, shamedly, that I didn't strive to learn more about HIM last year.  I was having a rough year ~ since about August 2010 it had been rough.   But, the fog in my brain and on my heart is starting to clear just a little bit, and I am longing to know this ONE who gave me everything and who gave everything for me.  My theme verses for this year are:
Philippians 3:8-14

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 

                                 {NASB}

Such powerful words.  Such awesome verses.   Like I said before, we've had some pretty crappy things happen to us in the last year and a half.  But, I decided that I want to put it all behind me.  FORGET what went on back there, stop dwelling in the past {and yes, that may require me to forget some people and let them take their place as simply a memory} and look forward to the promise of the clean slate of a brand new year.  I want to KNOW CHRIST in ways that I haven't before.  I want to know the power of HIS resurrection.  I want to know the fellowship of HIS suffering.  Everything I've went through, HE has been experiencing it with me.  How precious is that?!  

I know I have LOTS to work on this year.  And, there are some things that are just too tender and raw for me right now.  So, instead of working on those things, I decided that I just need to KNOW my Saviour.  I need to KNOW that HE is right here beside me.   I need to KNOW HIM.  And somehow all the rest will just work out.  

And, another way I'm wanting to use KNOW ~ I want to get to KNOW my family in a new way.  I want to get to KNOW my husband in a deeper more intimate way.  I want to get to KNOW my boys and learn better ways in which to train them to be men of God.  I want to get to KNOW so many things.  But for this year, KNOWING my Saviour and my guys is enough.  

So, how about you?!  Do you have a word for this year?!  Or do you think I've joined the rank of the crazies?!  And that's okay because I have ;D !  Would you mind sharing your word?!  I love comments! 

Resolutions

The closer Christmas gets, the more I think about the New Year.  And what a new year means to me.  We have had a rough last few years.  But, as usual, I am looking forward to 2012, and the new year.  I wonder what it will bring for us.

I love that the beginning of a new year is always such a clean slate for all of us.  A time to move on from the good, the bad, and the ugly.  We have had a lot of ugly this year it seems.  And when a new year comes, those "slings and arrows" are officially behind us.  Oh, how grateful I am for new beginnings.

As most people do, I have already started thinking about my New Year's Resolutions.  I make them every year, and like most people I find that come February 1st they have all been tossed away.  Mostly because I set some pretty lofty goals ~ goals that seem so daunting and unrealistic.  Last year, I said that I wanted to lose over 50 pounds ~ well, that just seemed so unreachable.  BUT this year, I decided it was more do-able to say that I would like to lose 1 pound a week.  That sounds more reasonable.

I also have other resolutions ~ some are personal.  Others I'm gonna share. 

I have the weightloss thing.  I also want to learn a new hobby ~ I'm thinking I would like to learn how to knit.  Or maybe just do counted cross stitch.  I don't know.  I would also love to learn how to sew, but one needs a machine for that one.  So maybe in the future. 

Another thing I want to do is organize and clean out stuff.  I have already cleared out Christmas stuff ~ I got rid of almost 2 full rubbermaid containers of Christmas stuff for donating.  And I am going through my closet and drawers and getting rid of clothes that haven't worn, won't wear, or can't fit into.  I'm really just getting in the "use it or lose it" mindset right now.  I'm loving it. 

I also have goals for the homeschooling side of things.  I want to be more scheduled with our day to day tasks.  And I need to work more with my Tucker on his reading blocks that he has.   And I want to help Xavier learn how to do research, so we are trying to think about some good science projects and history research he can do. 

For our family, our resolutions are to pay off our truck and fix it (it's been needing some work done, and come income tax time it WILL get done ;) ) and we are wanting to pay down our credit card bill and get a new tv and couch.  Those are some lofty goals, but achievable, I think.  I also want to find a family that we can help financially next Christmas ~ food and gifts.  So, I am excited with the possibilities of the new year. 

How about you?!

Christmas

We had a very wonderful Christmas.  It was just the 5 of us.  On Christmas Eve, thanks to the urging of my husband, we got our presents wrapped early in the day, so while we were waiting for the little ones to fall asleep, which with the anticipation of a soon visiting Santa Claus it took AWHILE!  So, Jesse and I were able to clean up a little and then we watched movies and drank hot chocolate.  
It was wonderful and relaxing.  I'm thinking that is how it needs to be every year.  ;)

After Xavier finally went to sleep, we made our way up to bed and next thing I know all 3 guys are up and asking to go downstairs.  That's the rule around here.  I want to be the first one downstairs so I can see their faces when they see the stash :D.  It wasn't as early as I figured.  They woke us up at 7:30.  So, as usual, by about 8:15-ish all presents were unwrapped and we were getting pestered to open every gift.  The boys LOVED everything (I hope so ;) ) .  But new rules are going to have to be put in place for their new Nintendo 3Ds's.  I've already had to confiscate a them a couple of times.

I did NOT leave my pajamas once yesterday.  It was SO nice!  We had went to church on Christmas eve.  With Jesse working on Christmas day, it was just easier to do that!  And it was an awesome service!  Beautiful singing and a great message!
So, I stayed warm and cozy all day long!  I hadn't done that in so long!  We had a simple pork roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green bean casserole.  Nothing special, except that I was sharing it with the most special people in the world to me.  It was just the 5 of us.  First time in so long since that happened.   Not that we had anywhere to go.  But we are best just the 5 of us!  I am so thankful for the 4 guys I have in my life! 

I have some friends who are divorced or separated from their children's father and they didn't have their kids for Christmas break and that just broke my heart.  I am so very thankful for our cohesive family unit.  We may not have perfect relationships with our extended families, but our family of 5 is truly all I NEED.  We miss our families but are so grateful we have each other.  Oh, how I love my 4 guys!

How was your Christmas?  Were you blessed beyond measure like I was?  

December 21

I am just sitting here breathing deeply.  Sitting by light of the Christmas tree and other Christmas lights in the house.  Just contemplating making my way up stairs to start clearing my bed off and climbing into it. 
I'm trying to psych myself up for my busy day tomorrow and the next few days. 

I have gotten quite a few presents wrapped.  I've decided this year to put all the clothes in gift bags.  Which truly does take alot off of the wrapping jobs off my hands.  Today, I took Tucker out to buy presents for his brothers.  He was so cute!  It's so funny to watch a kid with his pocket full of cash.  He has great schemes in his head.  But the cost sort of curbed his enthusiasm.  And with mom reminding him that he needed to buy for his brothers, not himself, kind of hurt his enthusiasm too!  But it was fun! 
Tomorrow morning, I am taking Xavier out too.  I'm hoping he has what he wants to get already in mind, cause it's gonna be CA-RAZY out there tomorrow.  Then, I have to bring him home, help him ;) wrap the presents, then I'm taking all 3 of them out to finish what I am planning on getting for them for their dad.  Then we are hitting up the dreaded grocery store (which, shouldn't be SO dreaded.  Not like it is before thanksgiving).  Then we need to get everything in the house, wrap Jesse's gifts all before he gets up.  OY VEY. 

Then tomorrow, Jesse will get up, go finish up his shopping and I will be here wrapping presents and putting together my food for our family get together on Friday.  And the hope is that there won't be any running around on the 23 or 24th except for the run to Utica on Friday evening!  I'm hoping to be SO ready for Christmas that we can just watch movies and play games and drink hot cocoa all day Christmas Eve! 

I'm finally getting stoked about Christmas.  But, I'm kinda stoked about starting to take the ornaments off the tree and start getting it put away.  I'm ready.  Although it does make for some beautiful soft lighting!  That part I will miss!  I'm also SUPER DUPER stoked about seeing the boys open their presents!  I can't wait. 

So are you guys ready for Christmas yet?!