A few weeks ago I wrote about our kindergarten dilemma for next year.

After months of praying, discussing, putting of decision making, visiting, observing, and more discussing, I found it refreshing to have it out of  my hands.

Last week my son graduated from preschool.  At the class picnic I was bombarded with questions about where he would go to school in the fall.  I was telling one friend about our situation and she responded, “Well, it sounds like one of those things that will obviously be God working.”

To be honest, I really felt like he’d end up attending our local public school.

And maybe part of me wanted that to be the answer b/c I was afraid of the other option.  If confronted I wouldn’t have admitted it, but when my husband pointed it out, I realized he was right.

Homeschooling does scare me a little.  What if I mess up?  What if I fail?  I’m great at setting goals, but often not so good with the follow through.  How will I make time for cleaning, laundry, lesson planning, grocery shopping, the girls, and teaching?   And what will my neighbors think?  We are already that family with all the little kids that goes to church on Sunday morning, now we’ll home school too.   I wasn’t so sure I was ready for the stereotypes and assumptions that come with being a home school mom.

So last Saturday, when I got the call from the tutorial director telling me they had a spot open up for my son, I was a little surprised.

I wasn’t quite gearing up for that answer, even though it was what I knew Scott and I felt was right for our family.

And yet, even though it wasn’t in the way I anticipated, just like my friend said, it was so obvious to me to see God working.  I was prepared to send him to our local elementary school.  I figured if a spot didn’t open by June, we’d register him with the county.  And a spot opened up just 3 weeks after we were put on the waiting list! I have all summer to prepare my son for the new routine, and to prepare my house, to look at curriculum, to make a schedule for our family…and as I think about it more and more, I can’t help but get excited.

I can’t wait to teach my son to read! I am excited about having circle time with all three kids.  I am eager to do some of the things I’ve been wanting to do with the kids but haven’t stopped to make the time for.  I can’t wait to give it a try.

And I know that, for next year, this is what God wants our family to do.  I don’t know about first grade yet.  I am not worrying about first grade.  Today, I am preparing for kindergarten.

Matthew 6:34

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I gotta tell you, I find great peace in taking it a day at a time.

How about you? What’s been on your mind this week? Read something in a Bible study that got you thinking?  Heard a song lyric that touched your heart?  Realized something about yourself that maybe you hadn’t thought of before?  Have a great “aha” moment?   Please share.  I’d love to sit and have a heart to heart with you dear friend.  And thanks to this world wide web, I can.  So do tell, either by linking up below or posting a comment.   I’d love to hear your thoughts this weekend.

1) Muthering Heights
2) Closing Time
3) Home Grown Strawberries
4) Everyday Becky
5) The Train to Crazy

Note: Mr. Linky is not working today. I have my hubby on the job and he is trying to find something to work but in the mean time, leave a comment on the blog and I will move your link into the post. Thanks so much.....

Just a friendly reminder to link up late tonight or tomorrow morning with your weekend thought.  You can write something new or link up a thoughtful post from earlier in the week!  I’m eager to read your thoughts!!

 

 

My kids each have a blanket that their grandma made for them before they were born.  Being the creative individuals that they are, they call them their “grandma blankets.”  I know, ingenious, huh?

The other day I was laying on my daughter’s bed when I had a realization.  “Hey”, I said, “this blanket is my grandma blanket.”  She laughed and thought I was joking.

“No,” I said, “this blanket right here was made for me by my grandma when I was a little girl, so it is my grandma blanket.” 

Later that day I came into my room and saw this.

  

Seems she realizes how special a grandma blanket is and thought I should sleep with mine.

My oldest son is five.    He’s gotten to the point where he wants things.  And his birthday and  Christmas are over.  He’s already proven that he has the self control and discipline to save up for things. 

But he has no income.

I would like to start developing in him the discipline to save and to choose wisely how to spend his money. 

So, I was wondering, do any of you give your children allowances?

If so, at what age did you start?

Did you have your child do chores to earn the allowance?

How much did you give?

And what do you do about the younger siblings?  Do they all start getting an allowance now?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, so please share!!

Each May the Blue Angels do an air show at the Naval Academy as part of the commencement week celebrations.  It is practically a holiday around here.   (If you don’t believe me, check the sign out sheets that afternoon at the local schools).  Scott actually saves half a vacation day each year so we can enjoy them as a family.

Hmm, do you think we enjoyed ourselves?

 

Check out 5M4M and 7 Clown Circus for more fun with pics!

Mudpies

Slugs

Puddle Jumping

We’ve had plenty of baths at the circus this weekend.  But the extra laundry and baths are totally worth it to see my kids truly delighting in the simplest of pleasures and enjoying the world around them. 

Mud, and slugs, and puddles…giggles, wonder, and smiles…

Something happened to my baby girl.

Seems she was just learning to crawl.

How is that she’s running around, skinning her knees and swinging beside the big kids?

Didn’t she know she wasn’t supposed to grow up so fast?

She’s my baby.

What is she doing conversing and counting and going on the potty?

Where did my baby go?

And who is this pig tailed princess that’s serenading us in the morning with her sweet cherub voice? 

I’m trying to cultivate my garden so I did a lot of weeding this past week.  And as I did I found there are two ways to weed.  You can pick each individual weed out by hand, or you can whack them all with a hoe.   Both are effective and appropriate methods for weeding.

But, each has an appropriate time and place.  In my old garden which was empty of any vegetation except for weeds, the hoe was the method of choice.  I was able to whack out those weeds in about 25 min.



But in my flower beds, I had to take a different approach.  If I whacked, I would have killed the plants right along with the  weeds.  And what good would that be?



Another thing I got to think about while weeding (much more then I would have liked), is how to go about disciplining my children.  When I catch my older two spreading sand throughout the yard like "mulch," in spite of our consistent instruction to keep all sand in the sandbox, let's just say it's easy to overreact.  It's true there are times in life that sin needs to be cleaned right out, fast and furiously, kinda like weeding with a hoe.  It's true that intentional disobedience is a sin that dishonors our God, more so then it dishonors the parents (Ephesians 6:1).  But the truth is, only Jesus can make this happen.  Only he can wash us clean and make us new.

And thankfully, more often then not He is gentle.  He's using me as a parent to, "train them up in the way they should go".  We aren't supposed to overreact.  My children are a garden full of weeds but, I trust that inside those gardens the Lord has planted beautiful flowers that I would like to see bloom.  A hoe is not the right tool.  I can help to guide, correct, and discipline them.  But, I gotta tread carefully.  I need to get down on my knees (in prayer) and on their eye level and I need to speak with them calmly.  I need to point out their sinful behavior, explain why it is wrong, and walk them through processing how to better handle the situation.   I need to not only point out what is wrong, I need to teach them what the proper behavior is.  And sometimes they need to face consequences.  Because sin has consequence.  But they need it explained to them.  The goal is to give them the tool to know when they have done wrong, to know whats a weed and whats a flower. Punishment isn’t as effective as discipline.

I pray that someday, when I look at my children, I'll see a beautiful garden.

How about you? What’s been on your mind this week? Read something in a Bible study that got you thinking?  Heard a song lyric that touched your heart?  Realized something about yourself that maybe you hadn’t thought of before?  Have a great “aha” moment?   Please share.  I’d love to sit and have a heart to heart with you dear friend.  And thanks to this world wide web, I can.  So do tell, either by linking up below or posting a comment.   I’d love to hear your thoughts this weekend.

1) Muthering Heights
2) Erin @ Closing Time
3) Everyday Becky
4) Home Grown Strawberries
5) The Train to Crazy

I can’t believe the school year is over all ready.  More than that I can’t believe my little guy is going to be a kindergartener next fall.  Where did the time go?  It truly seems like it wasn’t that long ago when he was taking his first steps.  And now he’ll be stepping across the stage…ready to commence a new stage of life.

He is no longer a preschooler.

I’m so proud of him.  I love the way his little mind works, always processing, always questioning.  He’s got his Daddy’s logical brain.   I look forward to watching him continue to grow and develop through the years.  And yet, I wish I could freeze time right now, right where he is.  I love that he still loves to snuggle.  And I dread the day when he doesn’t want to curl up on my lap on the couch anymore.

There’s going to be a ceremony and performance at his school this morning.  He’s been talking about it all week.  I can’t wait to see him sing his songs with his classmates.  He told me tonight he gets to wear a special vest and hat too.  I’ll be bringing my tissues.

Afterwards there’s going to be celebration for the families.  So, I made these little grad caps for the picnic.



They were super easy to make and I think they’ll provide a cute touch to the festivities.

For more moments, you don't wanna miss, click here.

Ever watched one of those food network shows?  Paula Dean, Giada, Rachel Ray, Emeril… funny how different their kitchens look from mine….I’ve got kids fighting, the dog barking, and one hand balancing my toddler on my hip, while the other puts dinner in the oven and calls Scott to find out what time he’ll be leaving work. Meanwhile I am emptying the dish washer, wiping up spills, and maybe.. maybe checking face book. 

For those of you that have watched a cooking show and thought, “if only”

This ones for you…

Thanks to Becky and her super fun WOW (within one week) carnival, I managed to tackle my overgrown flower beds and get them spruced up in time for summer.  I realize many of you did your spring planting early this spring, but I already told you yesterday, I am not always timely.

Check out the before and after.

Flower Bed #1:



I’d still like to cut my rose bushes down some, but I think you will agree it looks MUCH better than it did last week.



Flowerbed #2:



I grabbed our shepherd’s hook out of our shed and added a wind chime from our deck and a new hanging basket.  It’s my favorite part of the bed.



Flowerbed #3:





A close up of the plants.  I added some Impatients in between each of the hostas.  Impatients work well in shade which defines my front yard.  And it seemed an appropriate plant for the circus…cause we needs lots of patience here!



Flower Bed #4



Note the watering can—my kids favorite part of the project!



Flowerbed #5:  The Garden



Despite my lack of follow through last year, I am going to try again with a small vegetable garden.  I purchased a tomato plant, 2 red pepper plants, some squash, zucchini, and some pumpkin seeds.  I got the garden weeded and a weed tarp laid down.  I didn’t get the vegetables planted yet.  I hope to tomorrow morning.  I am also hoping to tear out some day lilies (read get my husband to dig out the day lilies) in the side bed in front of the fence, to plant more vegetables if needed.  I am thinking about plating some lettuce seeds in a big flower pot to sit on my sidewalk.  I’d also like to plant some sunflower seeds along my fence.

Check out the improvement (and my neighbor’s dog)!



I am really thankful to Becky for hosting this carnival.  Without it I am not sure I would have made the very concerted effort to tackle our flower beds (at least not in the last 5 days).  I am so happy with the curb appeal it has provided to our home.  And now that I’ve gotten started, I think I may have forgotten about my not so green thumb and I am eager to tackle some veggies!

Visit Becky to cheer on some other productive bloggers who tackled projects this past week.

I have become a procrastinator.  Actually I am worse than a procrastinator b/c procrastinators put things off till the last minute and then get them done.  I didn’t used to be this way but now I tend to put them off till the last minute and then the deadline passes and I am still left with the job undone. 

Case in point: I bought my mom her mothers day card at the end of April.  I brought it to PA with me at the beginning of May to deliver with my gift.  But, I didn’t sign it, thinking, “Oh I will sign it when I get there.”  And the card rode back to MD with me, unsigned where it sat in the back of the passenger seat until today 8 DAYS AFTER MOTHERS DAY when I finally signed it and mailed my mom her card. 

As if that wasn’t bad enough today I also mailed my BIL his birthday package for his birthday on April 9th.  I wish I could say I forgot his birthday and that is why it was late.  I didn’t forget, I knew about it, even got him a card, but had trouble deciding on his gift and kept waiting to find the right thing, and well… it should arrive about 2 mths late.  Here’s hoping that he feels that it’s “better late than never.”

After my belated post office trip, I then went to the library.  A place I have been avoiding for the past month or so.

Every time I come home from the library, my husband jokingly asks, “How much will this trip cost us?” 

Well, back in March, I checked out some books and when I went to return them (already overdue b/c for the life of me I can not figure out how to return my books on time… even when I make notes on the calendar I still don’t manage to get them in on time) I couldn’t find two books.  I thought for sure they would turn up but was scurrying to pack for our Texas trip and just kinda ignored it. 

Funny how library books don’t just magically appear and return themselves when you are on vacation. 

When I got home, the books still did not appear and I renewed them in hopes of them turning up in that time.

Yes, I know it would have been smarter to renew them right away when I realized they were missing, and I thought about it, but never followed through…something about packing up my family of 5 for a 2 week trek across Texas…

So today I finally succumbed to that fact that those Clifford books were not turning up. 

And I went to pay my bill.

$18.00 in over due fines

+ cost for 2 lost books

= $42.09 in library fees

My daughter asked if we could check out another book and I told her no.  Mommy needs to figure out a system for keeping track of and returning our books before we take any more home. 

So, while I go to work on my MIL’s belated mother’s day gift, I wanna know…what’s the most you’ve paid at the “free” library for your books?  I bet I have you beat.

Between baseball practice, swim lessons, sailing races, and deacon meetings, our evenings can get quite busy.  And one thing my family is passionate about is their food.  Not so keen on skipping diner. So, to keep dinner on the table, I have found it is helpful to have a plan. 

I must confess I used to be much better about the plan. I’d write up my meal plan for the month and then make my grocery list based on it.  But, for the past few months I’ve let it go and kinda figured out dinner at the beginning of the day. 

This week I’m trying out a meal plan again..taking a step back from the monthly plan and trying out the week, it’s gotta be better than the daily opening of the cupboard and figuring out what we have that the kids will eat.  We’ll see how it goes. 

Monday:  sloppy joes, mac-n-cheese, sweet corn

Tuesday: enchiladas and corn bread, salad

Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner-scrambled eggs, bacon, blueberry muffins

Thursday: Fiesta Chicken, rice, peas or green beans

Friday:  spaghetti and meatballs, salad, rolls

Saturday:  whole wheat pizza, salad

Fiesta Chicken Recipe:

Place frozen chicken breasts in crock pot.  Pour small jar of salsa over top. Cook in crock pot on low for 8 hrs.  Pour chicken and salsa over warm rice and top with shredded cheddar cheese. 

 

Find more tasty meal ideas here.

My son recently discovered the term “Summer Vacation” and in the innocence that only youth gives, he was quite disheartened when he learned that preschool didn’t last all summer long.

The fact that he’ll be in Kindergarten and not returning to his preschool didn’t help the matter.

It’s been so fun to watch him grow this past year at preschool.  When we were looking at school’s last spring, I wasn’t sure where we wanted to send him.  I had narrowed it down to two school’s and I’ll be honest, this one wasn’t my top choice.  But the top choice only had availabilities in the afternoon and I was not AT ALL interested in interrupting the girls nap time for preschool pick up.

So, the answer became very clear.

And I knew from orientation, that this school was a perfect fit for us.   I have been so pleased with the teachers and the administration and have had a truly positive experience for us all.  Even the girls have enjoyed participating in various family events at the school and are looking forward to their chance to attend in a few years.

But when school started, my son wasn’t so sure about things.  He didn’t want new friends b/c he informed me, he already had friends.  And he wasn’t excited about being away from the girls and I all morning.    He has loved it.  He has made new friends and gained some independence.  And today he stayed for lunch bunch for the first time all year.  (Lunch Bunch is an optional hour that the kids can stay after school to eat lunch with their friends).  Before now when sign ups came home each month, he always told me he didn’t want to go b/c he really wanted to eat lunch with me and the girls :-) .  I saw no reason to push him into it.  This week he informed me that he changed his mind and he wanted to stay on Friday.

I share all of this b/c here it is spring and here we are one year later facing uncertainty about next fall.  Scott and I have spent a lot of time visiting, researching, discussing, observing, praying and thinking about how we plan to educate our son next year. We narrowed it down to either our local public school or homeschooling using a tutorial.

There are lots of things I like about our local public school (we live in a good school district) and I am not ruling it out for first grade, but, our state has mandatory full day kindergarten, which I am not a fan of. So, we decided that for kindergarten, we are going to try home schooling with the tutorial.  He’ll attend the tutorial 2 days a week from 8:30-1:30.  He’ll have a tutor (aka teacher) who will set the pace and assign lessons.  He’ll have classmates and recess and lunch.  He’ll have someone else besides his parents evaluating him.  But, I will get to be his primary educator and I am nervously excited about using my teaching degree with my own children.  3 days a week his classroom will be in our dining room.  The tutorial is important though because we really think our sons temperament will benefit from the two days out of the house and, to be honest, I really need the accountability it provides for me.

It seems like the perfect answer for our family.  Applications were accepted starting March 1 and Scott drove our application to the post office to make sure it arrived on time.

We went in for the interview and student testing and both went wonderfully.

I received a call this week from the director and learned that our son is on the waiting list for their kindergarten class.

What???   Waiting list?  That wasn’t part of our plan.

They are considering opening up two classes as they have enough applications and the board will meet this month to discuss that option.  She told me she has never had to turn someone away…God always works things out.

So, this isn’t a shut door by any stretch.

But it isn’t wide open either.

And so we wait. And pray.  And seek God’s direction for next fall.

I take great comfort in the fact that we like both options.  I take even greater comfort in the fact that I know that my son will be exactly where God wants him to be in the fall.  Be it hopping on the big yellow bus to take him to our local public school, or riding in the minivan to the tutorial.

Selfishly, I want to know now where he will go.  I want the time for me and my son to mentally prepare for whatever this new step will be.  If I am homeschooling, I have a lot to get in order and prepare for.  If I am sending him off to school all day, I have a lot to emotionally prepare for.

But, I know that God will let me know, when I need to do know.  And not a moment sooner.

And so I wait.

Got a weekend thought you want to share with the rest of us?  How about a post from this week that was thought provoking in nature?  Make my day and link it up below. It’s my first time hosting a carnival and I’d love to read your thoughts.  Or, if your not ready (or don't have a blog), please don't hesitate to leave a comment.   You can share a thought on my post, or on something you’ve been thinking/learning about lately.  I look forward to reading what you have to share.

Did any of you notice that this post is a partial answer to the two questions I posted about a few months ago? Yea, we haven't decided about the other one yet.

If you’re anything like me then perhaps you’ve got a project or two that’s been sitting on the back burner for awhile… in the daily struggle to get dinner on the table and clean underwear out of the dryer, some how those bigger projects get pushed off until “later.”

Well, Becky’s got a carnival going on this week to inspire us to tackle those projects we’ve been meaning to get to, but haven’t.

It’s called WOW.  And it began on Wednesday.  Yes, I know it is Friday, but I am speedy like that.  Always the first car in line at the preschool drop off, always returning library books before their due… ahem, yea not so much…this is life at the circus, remember?

The premise of WOW is to pick one project that you will get done within one week.  Get it?  Wow.. Yea, she is so clever.   

So, being as it is Friday and I am now participating in WLTOW (within less than one week…not quite as catchy), I’ve got some work to do…

I hope to tackle my flower beds this week… Yes, all 5 of them.  They need  to be weeded, mulched, and some annuals planted.  I’ve also been toying with the idea of planting some veggies.  If that is ever going to happen, it needs to happen this week. 

So, wish me luck.  Because green thumb I have not. 

And if you wanna play along,  go visit Becky.  It’s not too late… you can join late like me… and then I won’t be the last one to play along!!

A few months ago I didn’t now Bruce Banner from Bruce Wayne and I couldn’t have named an X-Man to save my life. 

Since my son’s Spiderman party, I’ve been studying up.   Doing some self inflicted homework. 

In the past month I have seen all 3 Spiderman Movies, The Incredible Hulk, The Punisher, and the 3 X Men movies…and tomorrow Scott and I are going on a double date to see the new Wolverine movie. 

Before you go thinking I’m working for the mother of the year award, I gotta confess that while part of this did stem from a desire to be able to explain to my son who the bad guys were, the shocking thing is, I have  really grown to like this whole super hero genre. 

I think it started a few years ago when I started watching Heroes.  It opened up a whole new world to me.

It’s called fantasy.

Prior to that, I really wasn’t into sci-fi or fantasy. 

• never read Chronicles of Narnia or Harry Potter
• slept through Star Wars in the theatre
• don’t even get me started on those trekies.

But after becoming a devoted follower of Heroes, I’ve grown to enjoy the uh, less than realistic fiction genres. 

This fall I devoured the Twilight novels.  Never would have thought vampires to be my thing. 

And this spring I moved on to the world of comic books.

Only really I just watch the movies.  In crazy multi day movie marathon format… This week it’s been X-men Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed, and Thurs…when I wake up in the middle of the night dreaming of mutants, you will know why. 

While I still enjoy a good ol’ Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks romantic comedy, I must confess that I would rather watch Xavier and his crew battle Magneto over a multi disk set of Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility any day of the week.  And in fact I am willing to bet I could name more Marvel bad guys for you than I could characters in Jane Austen novels. 

Any other Super Hero fans out there?

Vist 5M4M for more WW

I am quickly approaching a new age bracket. 

The thirty somethings. 

It hit me rather squarely in the face yesterday when I looked into a women’s Bible study at a nearby church. 

I got so excited when I found a Beth Moore study meeting at a church less than 5 minutes from my house.  I quickly e-mailed an acquaintance from that church before even reading the small print. 

The study I mentioned to her was for 18-30 year old women, she replied.  “Do you fit in that category?”   She sent me a link for the “30 and up group” which meets the next night of the week. 

“Wow” I thought to myself.  I could fit in either group.  Since my birthday is this summer, I could join the 30 and up or the 30 and under. 

And since this is a new church to me, I don’t have friends in either category that could help sway my decision. 

I am in a rare position where I get to chose where to place myself.  And I have to ask, “Do I want to be the oldest in the crowd or the youngest?” 

Both nights of the week work equally well for my family.  I get to base my decision solely on where I want to position myself in the age bracket. 

I am leaning towards joining the 30 and up crowd because I assume more of them will be “motherly” like myself.   I see a world more of difference between myself and an 18 year old then myself and a 40 year old.

How did that happen?  When did I start identifying more easily with the middle age group than the young adults? 

I still have some time to decide, so I wanna know…which group would you join if you were in my place? 

One of my hubby’s fav breakfast foods is my home made coffee cake.  I often make it for him on special occasions like Valentine’s Day, our anniversary, or his birthday.

Because you can make it the night before, it is great to serve for overnight guests.  Or for freakishly early breakfast guests like I had this weekend.  My son had a 9:30 baseball game on Saturday and we had invited my husband’s extended family over for breakfast before the game.  Breakfast before a 9:30 soccer game translates to having kids dressed, table set, and breakfast ready by 8:00am.

The only way that is possible at the circus, is if the main course was made the night before.

Enter Nancy’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake.



My mom got this recipe years ago from a coworker and I have enjoyed it ever since!

Try it yourself, you won’t be sorry!

Nancy’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Topping:

• 1/2 cup sugar


• 1/2 cup brown sugar


• 1 tsp cinnamon


• 1 cup chopped nuts

Cake: mix together

• 1 cup butter


• 1 cup sugar


• 2 beaten eggs


• 2 cups flour


• 1 tsp baking soda


• 1/2 tsp salt


• Last add: 1 cup sour cream and 1 tsp vanilla

Spread 1/2 batter in greased 9 x 13 baking pan.  Sprinkle with 1/2 of the topping mixture.  Spread remainder of batter over topping and then top with remainder of topping.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 min until center is done

Enjoy!!

Sometimes after reading the kids their bedtime Bible story we start to wonder, are they listening? Are they getting the point of the stories?  Every once and a while they offer up another reminder that they really are.

Tonight after reading our children the story of Daniel and the Lions Den, my husband tried a little follow up to see if our 5 year old son was connecting…

Scott: “What if President Obama made a law that said that everyone had to bow down and pray to him?”

<insert a brief discussion confirming for him that Obama wouldn't actually do that>

Son:  I wouldn’t do it because that would be bad.

Scott: Why would it be bad?

Son: Because we should only pray to God.

Scott: What if he said you would be thrown into den of hungry lions if you didn’t?

Son:  Then God would save me.

Scott:  But what if he didn’t save you?

Son:  Then it would be time for me to go to heaven.

Sometimes the faith of my son just completely blows me away.  I’ve read the account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the book of Daniel several times.

Daniel 3:16-18 “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

That last verse has always gotten me.  They had such faith to be able to say that even if God did not save them, they would never bow to a false god.

And tonight, my son said the same thing.  At 5 years old, he understands that God loves him, he knows he is a powerful God who can save him from anything.  But he also knows that God has saved him from his sins, and even if God doesn’t rescue him from his situation, it does not mean God doesn’t love him or isn’t protecting him.  Because God has already saved him.

How blessed he is to know and grasp this at this point in his life.  I pray that as he grows, so will his faith.

Awhile back, I tried posting a weekend thought every weekend.  While my posts typically relate funny anecdotes about the happenings here at the circus,  I tried to use this last post of the week to highlight something a little more “thoughtful” and significant.

I’ve taken a hiatus from this for awhile, but would like to start it back up.  Next weekend, I will open up Mr. Linky for anyone who would like to share a thoughtful post from their week.  You may either write a new post for the weekend or link up to a post you wrote during the week which you feel fits this theme.  It can be a devotional, a tribute, something on your heart recently…it doesn’t have to be about your faith, though mine typically are.

Anyone interested in joining me and sharing a weekend thought?  Link up next Saturday, May 16th!!

For a good time at the circus

 

simply wear your underwear on your head!!

My son pleaded to  his Daddy the other night,

“Please, Please, Please wear underwear on your head…It can be clean!” 

Much like I do almost every day, I loaded my sweet baby girl into her car seat.  I buckled her in and then handed her a purple sippy cup.

After strapping her sister in her seat and after double checking her brother, I went to my spot in the front. 

About 20 minutes later I looked back and saw my sweet baby girl holding two purple sippy cups.

“Where did that other cup come from?”

I quickly took both cups and tried to figure out which was the good one and which cup of milk was from our drive 2 Nights Ago.

About 10 minutes later my poor little girl puked curdled milk all over her self. 

My poor sweet girl!  She guzzled her sippy cup expecting some nice fresh milk, only to have her momma give her 2 day old spoiled, rotten milk.  I felt awful!! 

Shame on Me

 

 

Check out 5M4M for more WW

I write to you today with a happy heart.  3 days ago my bloggy world and my real life world collided at lunch in Pittsburgh.  As I drove to my meeting place, I was a bit nervous.  “What if we run out of things to say?  Will she like me when she meets me in person?”  It felt quite similar to those first date jitters.  (No I wasn’t worried about whether or not she’d kiss me when she dropped me off at the end).    But there was still that eager anticipation for what lie ahead. 

When you tell someone you are going to lunch to meet someone you met on the internet, it sounds a bit like something you might see on TV.  People start to get a bit alarmed and concerned or give you a weird look. 

Those of you who are part of the blogging community know how you can know someone before you know them.  They get it when you refer to someone as a friend, even though you’ve never technically seen them face to face.   

That’s how it was with Rebecca.  She left several sweet comments on my blog last fall which led me to check out her blog.  Commenting led to e-mailing which later led to facebooking and before I knew it I found myself wishing I had her address so I could send her a Christmas card.   She was more than just a name on the screen or a blog in my reader.  She was a friend. 

And this friendship bloomed over lunch on Saturday.  As we sat and talked at Chili’s for hours, I felt as if I was having lunch with an old friend.  We knew so much about each other and the every day highs and lows, big and little things which had transpired over the past several months.   It was great to get filled in some of the details and to follow up on things.  We talked about our kids, our husbands, Bible study, blogs, discipline, labor…I couldn’t believe how quickly our time together flew by.  I felt like I could have talked all day with her!

What blogging meet and greet would be complete without some picture taking?  As she dropped me off at our meeting place at the Giant Eagle, we realized we needed a picture.  After a failed attempt at snapping the picture ourselves, we set off across the fairly deserted parking lot to find someone to take our picture.

Ever been approached by someone as you were loading your groceries in the car to see if you could snap their picture?  Sure, I’ve been approached in Disney World or a National Park, but never Giant Eagle.  I felt a little awkward so I said something like, “bet you don’t get asked this every day,” to which she replied “No, it’s cool, I do stuff like this all the time.”   I wanted to ask, “Really, you ask people for pics in parking lots all the time, b/c I felt kinda silly asking you?”

I tell you only a real friend would go along with a crazy antic like this. 

And thanks to this crazy thing called the internet, that is exactly what Rebecca has become to me. 

A Real Friend.

I am not an athlete.  Those of you blog readers who knew me in high school can vouch for me on this.  My position on the HS sport team was bench warmer, my role, “team encourager.” 

When my recent blog friend turned IRL friend accompanied me this weekend to pick up my runners pack for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon and called me athletic, I almost laughed in her face.

Me athletic?

Just because I ran 13.1 miles yesterday, does not make me athletic.  If you heard me whining all afternoon and saw my crazy/gimpy/80 year woman hobble today, you would understand that I am no athlete.

I started running a few years ago b/c I wanted to try to get in shape, lose some of that baby weight, and to feel good about myself.  And while part of me dreams of being able to call myself “a runner” I don’t feel I have yet obtained that status. 

Runners run All.The.Time.  As in up everyday at the butt crack of dawn running.

I run in spurts.  As in, “Oh no that race I signed up for is coming up soon, I better go running this week”. 

Last summer I was pretty good about sticking to my training guide.  I had this goal of running with a local runners club by the end of the summer.  I finally got to the point where I felt I could run with them and then chickened out b/c I didn’t know any of them and didn’t feel like a real runner. 

I am thinking about joining them this month (once I can walk again without wincing) and maybe, maybe after running with them for a few months, I will feel comfortable calling myself a runner.

Scott hates running with a passion.  He does not understand why anyone would want to run just for the sake of running.  He would rather run to hit the racquet ball or catch the Frisbee or throw the football.  He likes to run with a purpose.

Not me.

I do not like any added pressure of catching or throwing anything while I run, thankyouverymuch.  Just let me put one foot in front of the other and count down the miles till my run is done.  No added stunts or tricks please.  No team mates counting on me to perform those added stunts.  No pressure, pressure, pressure. 

Running is all about me.  I set goals for myself and only I can achieve them.  If I fail, I let down only myself.  No team members involved. 

Or at least, so I thought.

But as I ran yesterday, I realized that I do in fact have a team.  Without Scott and the kids willingly supporting me as I take my practice runs, and then coming out and cheering me on for the big race, I couldn’t do it.  I am not in this alone. 

Yesterday as I ran alone in the cool, rainy weather I kept looking forward to the next point in the race when I knew I would see my husband, 3 kids, and my parents cheering for me.  I literally counted down the miles till the next spot where I knew they’d be waiting.  They spurred me on, gave me something to aim for, and helped me run a little faster.  They were my team.  I didn’t want to stop and walk because I wanted to make them proud.  I wanted to finish strong for them. 

I forgot to mention the other reason I run…I really like to get the free tee shirt!  Shallow I know, but I do really love those race day shirts they give you even more so than the finishers medals.

The other night at dinner my daughter was not so excited about eating her peas.

So, her little sister decided to step in and help her!

Sisters make everything better… even eating your greens!

Sometimes you just need a little encouragement!