Recently I'm....

excited about.....the weekend. I can't wait to sleep in.

reading.....People.com. Sandra Bullock's baby is a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e!

listening to.....Selah's CD. Great great songs...new and old.

watching.....oh to sit down and watch some t.v. My DVR is overflowing!

annoyed with.....my house. I wish it would just clean itself once in awhile.

thankful for.....my children and their hopes and dreams.

laughing at.....WeeklyAd. She makes a funny whistle noise and today while her class was on a nature hike, she decided to make the noise. Her leader immediately said, "wait, I hear something." WeeklyAd giggled and make the noise again. The leader said, "there it is again." I was cracking up when she re-enacted the whole scenario.

missing.....our second car. It's been challenging living with one car this week.

eating.....Carvel sprinkle cup. We had a big debate at Freshwater (Bible Study) whether it was soft serve or ice cream. One woman even called the company. Debate is still unsettled but now that I'm eating it, I agree with Marie.

planning.....a date night with my husband.

OSU Price of Life Mid Week Video

OSU Price of Life Mid-Week Edit from InterVarsity/Twentyonehundred on Vimeo.

Buckeyes

I know most of you are already praying and we appreciate it more than words could ever say, but for those who don't know, we will be in Columbus this week for the Ohio State Price of Life Invitational. It would take me a long time to blog about it so I'm just going to ask you to visit the website here to see what in the world I'm talking about, what the schedule is, and many things you can pray for.

Still want to know more? Check out this article on the front page of the Columbus Dispatch. Management is already there participating in the Parade of Tears on campus and after I drop the kids off at school tomorrow, I will be heading down there too.

Please continue to pray...
1. for eyes to be opened
2. for laws to change
3. for the team that has worked hard on bringing all of this together
4. for Management (health, rest, eloquence of speech, etc.)
5. for many to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus
6. for travel
7. for the families at home
8. for my kids as they stay with grandma and grandpa
9. for grandma and grandpa :)
10. for a revival on OSU's campus
11. whatever else the Spirit brings to mind

THANK YOU!!

WeeklyAd's Journal

My family just left the house and I am here in peace trying to clean up a little. I picked up WeeklyAd's journal and flipped through it on the way to her room. I just had to come and share some of her writing~

It starts out with...

To...God
From...Addy
Holy God!

Each thing listed below has it's own page and it's own picture.

*Do not be afraid when your nervis! That means you (with an arrow pointed down at the reader).

*God told me to right in kersiv.

*God sent people to play with me. (with a picture of two girls and one saying Let's be friends)

*Believe in yourself. God said to be believed.

*God grows and we grow! Like a flower.

*God sent Santa to give me Zhu Zhu pets. The toy that I wanted.

*Halaloya! (Hallelujah)

*God helps you have a baby.

There are so many that start with God Said...
be kind to others
serve God
lissin to your parents
jump when he tells you to
follow his rools.
believe in me
give money to the poor
fight for others

and my favorite,
God Said that you are a princess to God!

Wow! My little introvert sure does ponder a lot in her heart.

Magnolia Tree 2010

We've had a week of blooms with WeeklyAd's Special Tree. She has been caught literally staring out the window at her tree countless times over the last week. It is very special to her and her daddy!

Leisure Time

Hello from Columbus, Ohio.

~About 30 minutes from the hotel I realized that I forgot to pack bathing suits. UGH! I just received a $25.00 gift card from Old Navy and though I'm disappointed that it will be spent on bathing suits, I'm glad that I have it to spend.

~I'm in the middle of a painting project at my friend S's home and since she is very open to creative ideas, I find myself observing walls and paint ideas everywhere I go. The hotel room we are in has two-tone vertical stripes while the pool area has very large horizontal stripes. I like stripes. I believe we are going to do stripes (horizontal) in the dining room but it's hard to be brave and creative in someone else's home.

~I've been fighting a migraine for two days. I think it is a neck problem as I also have a tight/sore neck. I think it stems from WeeklyAd switching pillows with me.

~Anybody else hear about the buzz going around regarding mom's having 30 hours a week of leisure time. I think I fall somewhere in the middle. I do believe that mom's have more leisure time than they think or admit, but I'm not sure that I would consider a root canal or being stuck in traffic "leisure time."

Watching the kids swim, eating ice cream, and reading...definitely Leisure Time! And I'm hoping to enjoy many hours of leisure time this weekend.

Birthday Cake

The kids and I had a secret meeting at Dairy Queen a few weeks ago. We didn't really need to have a meeting but hey, any excuse to sit at Dairy Queen is a good one right!? While we were there we decided to make a plan for Management's birthday cake. The kids and I enjoyed making a Halloween cake and a Christmas cake together and so thought a birthday cake would be fun too.

We made a very ambitious plan and decided to keep it a secret. The kids actually did a great job keeping quiet and yesterday we snuck over to my parents house to finish the project. Management had no idea what the cake was going to look like.

He was totally surprised!





The little sign on the cake says "I said no bun." HomeAudio insisted that we put that on the cake because Management has been eating hamburgers without the buns for about 6 years now.

Happy Birthday Management!

changes

We need to make some changes around here. I'm not sure if it's because it's Management's busy travel season and I've been "single-mothering" it lately or what but I have realized that we need to make some serious changes around here.

~I need to stop yelling
~My kids need to take on more responisibility
~And many other things that fall under those two categories

So STEP ONE was enlisting Management's help and setting a date for a day long Family Meeting. I've been through enough Leadership Meetings to know what is involved in good and effective training, strategizing, and motivating. I'm excited to journey through this day with my family and come up with some new things together (a family crest, new rules, bonding, etc...and hopefully some fond memories too). The date has been set for May and though that is a ways off, I have renewed hope for our family just knowing that day is coming.

STEP TWO was trying to control my yelling and anger. I have done childcare for 6 years and don't yell at those kids so why is it okay to yell at my own? Well, maybe bacause those kids don't push my buttons like my kids do? No, there is no excuse. It's quite obvious when I use my sickly-sweet tone with little ones and then turn and use a frustrated tone with my own family. It's not fair to them and it's just wrong. I am happy to report that I think I have made some progress in this step.

STEP THREE has helped dramatically with step two! This step involves restricting t.v., computer, and video games on school nights. I have to admit that this was a big sacrifice for me too! It was with fear and trepidation that I introduced this new rule. And actually it has gone pretty well. We now have ample time to get things done, spend time together, and tackle homework/studying. I have seen a HUGE change in the kid's attitudes since changing this (only 4 days ago) and am enjoying the time we have together after school.

As mentioned, there are more changes coming and seeing how well the first changes have gone gives me confidence and excitement in moving ahead.