Thankful... Day One

I cannot believe that it is already November 1st. Last night we had a nice, short Halloween. After feeding everyone dinner, we took the kids to the festival at church. We spent about an hour there playing games for candy, running through bounce houses, and finding our way through the playground maze. We stopped and walked a couple of blocks gaining the kiddos a little more candy. This was the earliest we had ever been home on Halloween. It was nice. :)

I looked at Facebook a little while ago and began reading many of my friend's statuses stating what they are thankful for on this first day of November. I tried doing that last November and did pretty well although I didn't hit every day of the month.

I give thanks daily for many things but there is something special about this month, what with Thanksgiving and all, that makes one focus one each of those things that make my world go 'round. Instead of sharing on Facebook, though, and in an attempt to not visit Facebook as often, I decided to write a thankful post here each day this month. I am also hoping that writing here will become habit and I will come back more often. So, on to day one...

Today, I am thankful to be citizen of the United States of America. I have a few issues with the way the world and our country has gone in general, but I am proud that I call these nifty, fifty United States my home.

Thankful... Day One

Awkward

Someone please tell me that I am not the only adult who still feels like a thirteen year old girl at times.

Minus the new boobs because after nursing three kids, they are so not like-new.

Maybe I'm just being silly. Sometimes, though, I still feel like the last kid to be picked in gym class. Seriously. It's not a good feeling. I look at other women and they seem like they just have it all together. They never make a mistake and they always do what they are supposed to do. I, on the other hand, feel like a doofus when as I stand there talking to them. I always seem to say something stupid or just feel like I don't measure up. This is really noticeable to me when it comes to the homeschooling community. The ladies are marvelous. Really, they are. It seems like they are such better moms and teachers than I. Involved in just about every activity under the sun, kids are excelling in all points of curriculum, and they still have time to get a nutritious, clean-eating meal on the table when hubby gets home.

It's not just me, is it?!

I'm working hard on becoming that stellar mom and wife that I see around me. I have joined an accountability group to help me make sure I start my day off right and I think that will help a lot. Starting my day out with a cup o' joe and Jesus should help. I need some of that accountability when it comes to getting up and going to church on Sunday, as well. Sean usually likes to stay up pretty late on the weekends... okay, we are all naturally night owls and we love sleeping in a day or two on the weekend. That so does not help. I'm going to keep working on it, though, because as it says in Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me!

Awkward

Going to Church

Last night my honey and I had a nice talk about church. When we first began dating and started living our lives together, we would occasionally attend the baptist church I grew up going to. The church I was baptized in at the age of ten.

We soon moved to the DFW area where church was not quite a priority. It wasn't even in the top ten on the priority list. Our marriage suffered but we stuck through it.

I have always believed in God. I have never lived in a strong, Christian home. My mom took us to church on Sundays but that is where church stayed. Sometimes I went to church with Grandma. She attended Church of Christ and was a good, godly woman who I looked up to. I found out not too long ago that scolded my dad for letting Mom take us to a Baptist church. Dad never took us to church but didn't oppose our attending. He says he "doesn't believe in that stuff".

Sean and I have been through so much crazy stuff in our sixteen years together. I have not always been a very good wife and mother. I have made huge mistakes. I made horrible choices in my marriage and tried to destroy it with my bare hands. Then, just as I had almost given in to the enemy, I became pregnant. I often tell myself that a baby saved my life. My baby saved me. I began to see that I had to do better for my family. I still dealt with depression after having the baby but wouldn't let it get me down.

Over the past few years I have worked very hard to redeem myself. To my husband. My children. And most importantly, my Father. I began to study the Word. I have stopped worrying about what the world thinks of me and started worrying about whether or not I have pleased God. It's tough, but it feels so good!

So last night Sean and I were talking. I believe it was in April that we went to Houston to celebrate Sean's grandfather's life that had expired in January. Sean had never told me this before, but last night he told me how attending the Catholic service made him feel closer to God. It lit a fire inside of me. It seems that my prayers for him to personally draw closer to God for his own good are working! (Ugh, I'm tearing up now.)

We decided together that we will try out going to a local Catholic church and see how we all like it. That day in April was my and the kids first mass ever. I had little clue as to what was going I, but I did enjoy it very much.

Last night I sat up for a little while searching and researching Catholicism. I believe I have been fed some misconceptions but that's really no surprise. Hence, the reason I research anything that is of importance to me. We're going to try this and I am excited. It could be a whole new season in our lives.

Going to Church

Ramblings...

I keep sitting down and trying to write but nothing comes out. I think I'm trying too hard. Maybe I should not think too much about it...

So much going on lately. I'm getting excited for school to start back up. We're starting on September 4th. I love that we get to choose when we begin. Sage and Raiden will actually start next week. Sage begins her World View Studies class and they both begin Latin at the church. Wow, I'm really excited!

I think I have been scaring the crud out of my husband here lately. In a good way, though. *hehe* The more research I do, the more crap I want to keep out of all our bodies. I stopped vaccinating KK at 18 months because she had a reaction to the MMR. I was worried about my decision to not vaccinate for a while. Then I came across a group on Facebook that shares tons of information that has helped me come to the decision to not vaccinate my kids any more. There are horrible, horrible things in those vaccines. I am so glad that I have educated myself and know that I have the choice as to whether or not I want to inject my kids and myself with poison.

Aaaahhh! The West Nile Virus! It is the first and last thing they talk about on the news now days. I am so tired of hearing about it. Yes, I am worried about it. Yes, I am taking measures to make sure we are not bitten by mosquitoes and that we do what we can to prevent mosquitoes from breeding around our home. I am taking those measures. I don't expect the government to do it for me. There has been a big push for aerial pesticide spraying in the area because of the "epidemic" of WNV (West Nile Virus). Epidemic? I am pushing for no spraying! I really am sorry for those who have gotten sick or have lost a loved one to WNV but I don't want a blanket of cancer inducing chemicals being sprayed over our homes. I work very hard to keep toxins out of my family's bodies. I don't need the government hand delivering them to our door.

Okay, complaining  over.

Today we had our monthly mom's meeting with our homeschool support group. We have such a lovely group of ladies. I was able to meet two of our new moms and a couple of their sweet kids at today's meeting. That little boy was so cute I could've scooped him up and brought him home with me. I don't think his mother would have approved, though being that it's the first time I met them and all. We had a great meeting. I am hoping we have more in attendance next month. I think it may help that the meeting are during the day now instead of the evening. I don't know about the rest of the ladies, but I like to spend my evening at home with my honey and kiddos. I am already waiting quite impatiently for our first group field trip. We will be going to an orchard. I'm so excited! I tried to take my kids to this same farm last October and was basically told that I was too late. Apparently they do all sorts of kids out there for field trips. I was told that there will be another group out there when we will be. Boo. We will have a great time, though!

I guess I'll go cook up some grub for these people. I don't know what their deal is. They expect me to feed them every.single.day. ;)

Ramblings...

The Best Parts...

Hello again! I decided to crawl out of the deep, dark abyss that I call life and say hi. We really have been quite busy most of the time and it's been kind of nice. Although, I do enjoy our lazy days.

One of the best things over the past few months has to be our new car. We were super thankful when Sean's motor went kaput in his ol' trusty Nissan. We bought that car brand new in 2000 soon after finding out we were going to be a family of four. It meant some sacrifice once again on the kids part, but Dad had no worry about getting to work.

Our first unofficial JMG meeting

Our Junior Master Gardeners group has taken up much of our time over the past few months and we are loving it! We meet once a week and the kids get to dig in the dirt and get in touch with nature. They also get to run around the garden like a bunch of loons and they like that. :)

The best part of JMG has been the friendships I have found. It hasn't always been easy for me to make friends or trust people. I have to say, though, the ladies in my homeschool support group are awesome. I have been working hard on being a better person and opening myself up to new things and that has helped me open up to some really great people.

It really has been one of the best times of my life here lately. I have a sweet husband, great kids, and best of all, a loving God. All of which are truly the best parts. 

The Best Parts...

Guess who's back... back again...

Hey, look! It's the worst blogger in the world!

Ahh, yes, I am back again and boy what a week this has been. Mostly in a good way although I think I'm going to stop praying for patience because every time I do, the kids are real boogers that day. hehe

I have to say that since Sean got this new job, things have been looking up for us. God really blessed us. It's nice to be able to pay your bills before the due date and still have money left over. I know! It's great!

Last week and the week before we were doing a little internet searching. It seems my husband finally gave in to us needing a new car. Well, not new new, but new-to-us new. Which is how we would prefer it. Last week we found the perfect vehicle with everything in it. Well almost. It comes with a flip down dvd player but Sean wants to add some screens to the headrests as well. Otherwise, it has a moon roof, touchscreen navigation/stereo, leather seats with memory set (yay!), tow hitch, and as I said before, a dvd player. Now we're just waiting on it to get shipped in from California. It's only been a week but it feels like foreeeever! Also, it's blue. Just like we wanted. I can't wait!


On another note, I got myself up and went to church this past Sunday morning. It had been a while since I had been to our church. We checked out a couple others to see if we may prefer something different, but I feel at home at this church. I am really glad I went. I almost cried to when I saw my neighbor and stopped to talk to her. She is the sweetest little woman I know and it felt so good to be back in the Lord's house. I even went to the women's group Sunday night. I felt like I belong there. Not something I feel very often. The kids also seemed to enjoy being back at church. Maybe this Sunday we can get there early enough for Sunday School class. Maybe this Sunday we can get Sean to go with us. Last Sunday he needed a haircut so he didn't want to go. Yeah, I'm still trying to explain to him that no one cares. Especially God.


Another thing I did Sunday was attend a meeting at the church regarding the start up of a new homeschool academy. I'm kind of excited about this for the kids. I think that starting in the fall my kids will be in the pastor's Latin class. I have wanted to teach the kids Latin, but I don't know it myself soooo.... I think it's going to be great for them.


It also looks like I'm going to be heading up a Junior Master Gardener class with a group of kids from our homeschool group. I have wanted to put the kids in the program and I wanted to plant a garden so I was super excited when one of the other moms asked about doing a community garden. The JMG was sort of my idea so I said I wouldn't mind leading that. I like it. It makes me feel like I have some purpose. Ya know, besides taking care of my kids and cleaning up after my husband. ;-)


Now I'm going to try harder at keeping up with my blog and writing on a more regular basis. Until next time, have a blessed day!

Guess who's back... back again...

Bring it on!

Wowzer, wowzer, wowzer! I have really missed blogging lately and have been trying to get back on here. So here I am!

So much has been going on around here. Halloween was a ton of fun with our sweet babies despite the fact that I fell and apparently twisted my ankle something fierce. All I know is it is swollen, bruised, and super sore.

This past week we have been remodeling our bedroom. We took everything out and painted the walls a beautiful blue. We still have to cut and paint the trim before installing it but the room already looks amazing! I don't want any more white walls in my house whatsoever!

Now on to something that I am super excited about. The kids, eh, not as much. As many bloggers probably already know, November is NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. The kids and are participating for the first time this year and I can't wait to see what the kids write about! There is a preset word minimum for adults of 50,000 that I hope to achieve but I have adjusted both of the kids goals. Sage is expected to write a minimum of 24,000 words and Raiden's goal is 15,000. That doesn't sound too difficult for a 13 and 10 year old, does it? I'm hoping that next year Sage will be able to make the 50,000 word goal! You may want to say a little prayer for us. We're getting started a bit late! (the story of my life)

Bring it on!