A Work In Progress

A Work In Progress

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A few pictures.....

Posted on Fri-10-Oct-2008 at 04:05 by Ashley - 3 Comments - Post Comment - Link

I'm even less inspired to blog today than before Homestead ate my first post. Grrrr!

Here are a few pictures from Elijah's birthday:

Yes, it's a decent cake. Not spectacular, but fair for icing piped out of the end of a plasic baggie. I still can't find my cake decorating things!

I can't believe how BIG Samuel is. He's so . . . so grown up!

And, here is me. At 25 weeks.

And now, I hope this posts. Because I'm definatly not inspired enough to blog it again a third time!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

~Ashley~

Hello

Posted on Friday, October 10, 2008 at 02:09 by MissBeth~Joy~Wood - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Hello Everyone!
I found this song its a wounderfull song! there is something about it I cant seem to put my finger on what it is that is making me feel so diffrent at this moment I dont understand why. oh well the song is called Sara Groves - "I Saw What I Saw" its on God tube! you sould really listen to it! :D

Fab Friday

Posted on Friday, October 10, 2008 at 10:24 AM by Kitty - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

I say Fab because the weather is just that, fabulous! It is cool but not cold, the kind where you open up your windows and the breeze blows the curtains around, LOVE IT!

Grinding was suppose to start today but they have pushed it back until Monday, which is OK with me. Hubby can take an extra weekend to relax before he starts working nonstop for the next three months. The money is great, but he gets tired of it after a month or so. I don't blame him either, I worked grinding several years in the scale house, and it does take a toll on you. Seven days a weeks for weeks and weeks.

So for lunch hubby wants to go to his favorite eat out, Pizza Hut. I personally don't care for them but he loves it, so Pizza Hut it is. Then it's off to see mom for a bit at the home, a quick stop at the grocery store for a few items, and then home to wait for my dear friend Debbie who is coming for a weekend visit. With the holidays kicking up soon, we are getting a visit in before things get too hectic for visiting.

So thats pretty much me weekend, chatting, swinging, porching, garage saleing, malling, eating out, and did I mention chatting. The guys will be doing some hunting. So I hope everyone else is going to have a great weekend ahead. Call you BFFs and chat some.

A little bit better

Posted on Thursday, October 9 at 05:26 by Jennifer - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

I am still feeling alot of stress, but it is a little better. I contacted Salvation Army and they said they couldn't do anything until I had been denied by Human Services. And even then, she said she couldn't touch the amount that I owe. That I would have to have the bulk of it. And I checked with the HEAP guidelines and we make too much money. So.. Back to square one.. BUT I did call the electric company and the guy there that I work with is so nice. I told him I was getting a little bit panicked and he said that he wouldn't be looking at the disconnect until Monday.. but before he told me I had to have the money in by Friday, so I guess he meant Friday by closing time and then they would be out all weekend.. anyway, I asked him if he could possibly wait until the 15th, which is when we get paid again.. and he said yes, but he is still going to have to have the total amount due.. so, that did give me a little bit of breathing room at least.

And I think we have our miniature colt sold.. not for as much as I wanted out of him, but I know horses are down right now and with the economy the way it is, it is a miracle in itself anyone is even looking at horses. I am hoping they come to get him soon.. I really need the money soon.

I have also had some interest in the other two horses I listed on dreamhorse.com, but so far just people asking questions and wanting pictures. So we will see.

I checked Pinkie's eye, and it doesn't look quite as bad as I thought it would from Courtney's description, but the bottom is all swollen. I think I am going to call the vet tomorrow and see if they will come out.. even though I still owe them money. I do not want her to lose her sight, or her eye. It is another bill yes, but it is also my responsibility as her owner to get her treatment.

We are having a decent dinner tonight.. I had one pack of country style pork ribs in the freezer and I have them in the crock pot. I should have enough milk left to make one more batch of mashed potatoes and I have a bag of noodles in the pantry.. I am going to use beef bullion to make those, and I will add a stick of butter to them when they are done.. buttered noodles.

My husband called his credit union today, and they are sending a check out.. today hopefully. I pray we get it by Saturday and can then find a place to cash it. We have money taken out of each of our pays.. supposed to be emergency fund money, but we always have to use it. For some reason, even though we got paid the 30th, the soonest they could send it was today.. anyway.. hope it comes by Saturday. We have stuff going on over the weekend.

Mission today

Posted on Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 02:31 PM by Rilda - Link

Thank You Jesus For Everything!

I greeted this day with love in my heart; I praised my enemies; I thought

“I love you” silently to all I met and I loved my self enough to protect my body from overindulgence and my mind from evil and despair.

What a great way to greet this day as I release all not of God from me and replace it with His love which forgives. This process is very lifting.

Praises to thee Father for your direction is of righteousness.

^j^ ^j^ ^j^ ^j^ ^j^

The conditions of conquest are not always easy. We have but to toil awhile, endure awhile, believe always and never turn back. Simms

Have a uplifting day as you also learn to love self and another beyond their flaws.

Blessings, rilda

baking, baking, cleaning and VERA!

Posted on 2008-Oct-9 at 01:54 by Dana - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

I'm dead and not stopping anytime soon! I got up and mopped and worked out and took a bread to start laundry, get Joey going on school, make bfast, make oatmeal cinnamon chip bars, and then vacuum. I did get Sunday School prepped for as well. The cinnamon rolls and caramel rolls smell HEAVENLY that are baking int he oven! I still need to ge potatoes peeled and diced for mashed potatoes (to go w/the chicken'n'noodles!) and then I can take a break. I"m sure the laundry is ready to come off the line as well.

I GOT MY VERA BAGS TODAY! She just mailed them priority yesterday! The post office ROCKS! And I LOVE the bags! Mom's medical binder fits perfectly in the curvy tote that I got for her! PTL! I'm still not sure if I'm going to keep the 2nd tote or not. I wished that I'd had more money cuz they would've been AWESOME gifts for Christmas!

Thankful Thursday/Using what the Army gave us

Posted on Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 10:29 AM by Kitty - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link

I have to give praise and thanks to the people who came to rescue during our time after Gustav hit us. We received help from several different organizations. The Salvation Army and the Red Cross gave out cleaning and personal items by the buckets full. We decided not to take any of these items. I was looked at as snobish by my sisters in law, but it wasn't that I thought I was too good for these things, it was that we didn't feel we needed it and would have rather had someone else have it that did need it. Also very thankful for the many power company trucks and workers that came in from other states to help restore our power lines. We actually had a crew from Alabama get us back on. Thanks guys!

Another group was the Army National Guard, they were a trememdous help to us. They gave out water, tarps, ice, and food, which we did need and took. The food came in the form of MREs, meals ready to eat. These packages are a wonderful assortment of foods. Everything from spaghetti and meatballs to Mexican food, and I have to say, that what I tasted was great. I didn't eat any of these meals due to the high fat and carb content in them, but my boys did. They are made for soldiers who need the protein and carb fill to keep going in the fields, so I understood why they were like that. These packages also contained several others items such as drinks mixes, crackers, a tube of peanut butter or cheese spread, poptarts and/or several types of baked goods (which were delish), candy, and packages of fruit, just to mention a few items. These meals are made to feed a person for the whole day on one meal pack if need be. They even came with these tiny little bottles of Louisiana hot sauce, which I thought was too cute.

*If my camera was working I would take a picture of one of these great little meal thingys.

I ended up keeping all the odds and ends that were in the meal packs that my boys didn't eat, such as the hot sauce, the crackers, the baked goods, the peanut butter, and the friut. The items have a shelf life of three years, so I stocked them on my shelf in my pantry, lol. So this morning I used some of the friut to make muffins with, and they came out so good too. I made cranberry and blueberry muffins. At first I thought Hummm maybe not, but to my surprise they were very good. My son ate 4 of them, so I know they were good, lol.

Well the weather is gorgeous outside, thank you God, so I think we will go do school on the patio. Have a great day everyone.

cancer update

Posted on 2008-Oct-8 at 07:26 by Dana - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link

I just read the email from my mom that the cancer in her throat is NOT breast cancer!!!!!!!! It's thryoid cancer, which is VERY treatable!!!!!!! PTL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She still needs to have her adbominal lymph node run to see what kind of cancer that is.

This day!

Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 07:02 PM by Rilda - Link

Thank You Jesus For Everything!

This I did today!

I greeted this day with love in my heart; I praised my enemies; I thought

“I love you” silently to all I met and I loved my self enough to protect my body from overindulgence and my mind from evil and despair.

Every noble work is at first Impossible. Caryle

Thank you Jesus for all that comes my way I bless you each day. You are my greatest most loving supporter.

I am forever grateful!!

Lovingly, rilda

How Do I Keep Order?

Posted on Wed-8-Oct-2008 at 11:22 by Ashley - 5 Comments - Post Comment - Link

This is in response to THIS BLOG, where some thoughtful questions were asked.

First of all, I don’t really feel like I do keep order! We are a family of individuals, and each does what they can. Right now, I have to handle many of the tasks necessary to run the house, so when Samuel can help me with something I’m grateful and appreciative. I'm mainly a co-ordinator of different skills, temperaments, abilities, and I try to help each of us help the other.

I'm a Helpmate - which is not a Do-It-All'er!

That means the family is primarily Jonathan's burden. As he works 50+ hours a week, he needs help. But when I need help occasionally, I don't feel like a "failure" as much as I could/would in the past.

I do have a sort of a method for our madness, and it works for me. I beat myself up for years for not “keeping house” with my mama’s method, so if this doesn’t work for you, skip it. If you find something that helps, I’m happy for you!

Here are a few standards or precepts by which I run our home:

I don’t compete with media. We watch 0% TV during the day, unless, say, Samuel is sick and I’m trying to get him to relax, or I’m sick - both rare. I turn on the radio when I have a task that requires that I’m going to be standing for a long time in one place, say cutting up green peppers and freezing them, or canning. Because we rarely watch movies, Jonathan and I talk a lot and if there is something he needs to get done, he has the time to do it. If you watch two programs a day, then I average 7 hours more to my week. I use that, even if it’s to “do nothing” with my family.
Without the media, when the boys are napping, I get a lot of “silence”. I enjoy it! Even half an hour of quiet can really let my mind unwind and regroup.
I (try) to keep things simple. Samuel has one pair of shoes and a pair of sandals. I keep my main kitchen utensils in a wire basket on the counter so they drip dry after I’ve washed them. All Jonathan’s socks match, so I toss them in a drawer together and don’t fold them. If I find a corner I’m comfortable cutting, I cut it. It makes my life easier, and gives me more time to unfold other corners, like making tortillas by hand or soap.
The boys have toys. They just don’t have a million-bazillion. If they leave them all out, I don’t want to spend more than a few minutes picking them all up. If it takes me forever to pick them up, I certainly can’t expect them to accomplish such a task! I go through them every few weeks and weed out some to keep the number manageable.

As long as they are playing nicely, the boys are free to play. Unless they want to help; in which case I (try) to always welcome their “help”. If they are grumpy or irritating each other, I might put Elijah on the countertop while I cook, or have Samuel look at a book in the kitchen or have one boy stay in the living room and another in the kitchen.

I am not quite as focused on having my boys' help in the kitchen as I would be with a little girl. It is more important that Samuel helps his Daddy mow the lawn and change the oil in the vehicles and work with wood than it is that they help me with dishes every night, etc.

I think the lack of media keeps their attention spans a bit longer. I also hardly ever “entertain” them. When we’re in fun moods, folding socks can be goofy and great. If we are in grumpy moods, someone has to sit on the sofa, or stand in a corner, or sit right smack-dabby next to me until the mood is improved. If the grumpy person is me, hopefully I pray and repent of it and move on when I realize it!

Needless to say we don’t handle bad moods around here with much tolerance! Even Mommy gets scolded for having pity-parties by Daddy and reminded too get her heart right.

We can be really noisy when happy, but quiet and reflective as well. Often I curl up with a book on the sofa and the boys quietly play around me. Books, for me, are easier to put down and I don’t resent it (unlike being on the computer!), possibly because I grew up in a family of 6 and constantly had to put my book down in the middle of something – it’s habit and I expect to be interrupted!

· Assumptions = irritable mommy. I try, as much as possible, not to make assumptions. You just can’t plan to wake up to a telephone crammed into the VHS or dried cheese stick crumbled strategically so that you have to vacuum at 7am or jump over it in the hallway. I do not “assume” both boys will nap at the same time, though they often do, because it sets me up to be a grump when it doesn’t happen. Usually the only awake boy is subdued without his companion and we enjoy our one-on-one time greatly, but not if I’m mentally “caught off guard” and battling resentment of the loss of something I feel “I deserve”.

My list of Must Do’s:

· Make my bed

· Eat, dress, take vitamins

· Fed my boys and dress them as time allows/necessary

· Read the Bible

My list of Would Like to Accomplish’s:

Vacuum before Jonathan comes home (we’re messy folk)
Make dinner
Clean up kitchen
Clean up dining room, living room

My list of As Needed’s:

Laundry
Dusting
Cleaning bathrooms
Sweeping & Mopping tile (often sweeping is daily needed)

Often I get the first two lists done as well as something off of list #3, BUT if it’s a really interesting day and I spend more time teaching the boys to get along, or I'm super tired, or I just don't feel like doing anything, I don’t beat myself up about it. Tomorrow is another day.

I plan, plan, plan for the future. If I allow the boys to be selfish now, I expect them to be selfish in another year. With increased vocal capacities they might have more excuses or be more polite about it, but selfish is selfish . . . .

That is not to say that I make my children hand over toys every time someone else wants them!

But we work on things now, to the best of our limited capacities, so that one day they might be easier for us. Which means on my part, practicing selflessness as an example. Oh, yeah. Like I don’t need to work on that!!!!

I guess because the focus is on where our hearts are, the whole house is rather secondary. I don’t mind loud, happy children, or Daddy playing noisy games with them. The whole house shining like it’s out of Better Homes & Gardens wouldn’t matter if I was grumpy and irritable when my honey gets home! We might have dust in areas, but Lord willing not on the covers of our Bibles . . . it’s all perspective!

Pick your priorities and taylor them to your family. Each has different needs!