The good old days

I was going through a box of trims and other sewing items that was given to me by my mother. In it was an adorable little package of white bias tape with a black crocheted edge - so tiny and sweet. I was thinking of how lovely this would look on a fancy baby bib. I was looking at the packaging more and saw a little blurb on the back

Does your child sew?
Send 3 labels and 15 cents to cover the postage and handling for a generous package of clippings of Wright's Trims suitable for trimming doll's clothes. Include your zip code.

There are so many things that I find adorable about this. First of all, the fact that children used to learn how to sew. Second, of course, the fact that they gave it away to loyal customers. And third, they needed to remind you to include your zip code.

Some days, I feel like I long for a time I never really knew. I would love to have a more simple life, but it seems that these are not simple times. In fact, the only way I can think of to truly escape the craziness is to move way out in the middle of nowhere. I'm thankful for all the progress that humans have made, I know I benefit from progress daily. I guess I wish it didn't come with such a hefty price tag: loss of true face-to-face relationships and focusing so much on the outside world instead of our homes.

I'm thankful God is still working on me and I pray He never stops. This is Good Friday and I can't help but think about what God gave up for me. What will I give up for my family? Personal space, private time, putting those craft projects aside, cleaning when I'd rather be FBing. Focus today on your salvation and the price that was paid. If you are unsure of your salvation, I would encourage you to find a Bible, read the book of John, and find someone who seems to have a happiness about them that can not always be explained. You can experience the most amazing gift - and it's waiting for you today.

Can we do it?

We are considering not putting the kids in Spirit Academy next year due to financial constraints. I'm guessing that means that I'd be homeschooling completely on my own. I prayed today - Lord, can we do it? My answer: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

So the answer is no - we can't do it, but God can. I've known from the beginning that this was going to be a growing process for me as much as for the kids.

On another note, I'm so proud of my big girl. We had many discussions about a child that has been consistently mean to her. We talked about praying for that child and even writing a kind note to let the child know that her feelings were hurt. Tonight, she told me that she thought it would be a good idea to invite the child to her birthday party so that she could let them know how much she loved them. That's her plan, not mine. Made me smile.

Still Recovering from this weekend!

Well, I had a great weekend with the Orange County Tres Dias community. I served on the music team, which was a first for me. I just love singing and I was thankful for the opportunity to grow in this area.

The Boy gave us quite a scare when he was having trouble with his ankles. Thankfully he is fine now. Long story, but it's over.

I'm still trying to work on cleaning out our house. Got quite a bit done today and still have quite a bit more to go.

These last few days have been so beautiful and warm. I'm enjoying them so much and am so tired by the end of the day. The older I get, the longer it takes me to recover from working these weekends. It's worth it!

Grrrr...

My sweet baby biscuit is teething - those big eye teeth, or canines, or whatever you call them. We call them trouble. She's hardly fussed a single time she's had any teething, but today's been a doozy.

Hasn't wanted to eat, sleep, or really do much of anything.

I had the wonderful gift of having both big kids away from home today and should have been able to get a bunch done, but I'm so tired. I wanted to nap, but as it is my policy to never go to sleep unless all kids are asleep, it didn't happen.

I wasn't even that productive. Could we please press rewind? I'd like to get this day back.

The photo was taken on another day - can you tell these sisters love each other?

You can do that at home?

Well, today I got busy doing a few things that needed to be done. Cleaning out clothes that don't fit the baby biscuit anymore and other house cleaning (still tons to do).

I also made some jam because we ran out. I had some no-sugar added pectin on hand and frozen mixed berries from Costco. I tried the freezer jam recipe and since I had never made it that way before, I wasn't sure what to expect. The Sure-Jell hot line apparently has only one person who answers and if the line is busy, you just have to call back. So after multiple 1-800 calls, I decided to try to go for it. I boiled the pectin for the prescribed time and mixed it into the prepared fruit. I stirred for 3 minutes, as directed, and got what can only be described as globules of pectin interspersed with the fruit. It was not looking good for the home team.

Back to the phone - busy again - apparently this was a busy canning/preserving question kind of day - OK, how can I salvage this? Well, I resorted to doing what I know to do. I transferred the fruit/pectin globules into a larger pot and cooked just until it came to a boil. After stirring and stirring, I could no longer identify any globules, so I transferred it into a cleaned out Costco sized jelly jar. *If I had planned on storing this, I would have used a water bath canner and followed directions, but we'll be using it up right now, so it's not necessary to seal it.*

Today is a fasting day, so I haven't tried it, but by this afternoon, it had set (much to my relief) and I gave the big biscuits a spoon full. They both loved it - and little do they know that it has minimal sugar (like 2T instead of 7 cups) and tons of wonderful fruit.

Since the Hubbs isn't home for dinner tonight, I think we'll have a PB&J.


I also cut biscuit boy's hair today (see above). I used the clippers and I carefully trimmed the neck and sideburns and over the ears. I was pretty happy with it, he was pretty happy with it and his big sister didn't think I actually did it. He's told me several times he likes his new hair cut. This was the best cut I've ever given, usually it looks like he's got the mange. Maybe it's because he wasn't screaming and crying and I wasn't going as fast as I could while trying to distract him with a Wiggles video and lollipops. I like it when he sits still.

The Do's and Don't's of Fasting

Well, during the 40 days of prayer and fasting at our church, I decided to follow a program the Lord's Table Bible Study. During this time, I'll be fasting at least 1 time per week. I think I'm on my 3rd fasting day (not in a row) and I've learned a few things. Being as I am very forgetful, I thought I'd better write them down. I expect to be adding things to this post each week. So here goes:

1. Thou shalt put wonderful smelling food on to cook in the crock pot when you will be home on a fasting day.
2. Thou shalt not sign up to bake cookies on a fasting day.
3. Thou shalt not forget to feed your children on a fasting day.
4. Thou shalt not get into deep discussions with your spouse on trivial matters on a fasting day (especially if he is fasting that day too).
5. Thou shalt not make jam or cook anything that needs to be taste tested on a fasting day.
6. Thou shall remember to drink lots of water.
7. Thou shall remember to spend time in prayer and reading your Bible.


That's it for now, but I'm sure more will come to mind. I'm thankful for the gift of a Savior. I'm thankful that fasting is a choice and we don't have to go hungry every day. I'm thankful that God is calling me to a more disciplined life and He's starting with something very close to my heart - food.

Life is good and we are blessed.

So what was I going to say?

It seems like I have so many thought during the day but at night when the kids are all finally tucked into bed, they evaporate just like my energy. I was rather amused today when I was drafting some recruiting strategies for a university model school (homeschool/regular school) and I was having a flashback to my old HR/Recruiting days. Of course, that was quickly put on the back burner as I needed to clean up the tee tee, wipe banana off the baby and help my son get out the game he wanted to play.

Right now my life seems less than glamourous, and quite frankly, it is MUCH less than glamorous, but really, I wouldn't trade it. Every time I just want to scream, I'm quick to remember that these three precious children will be up and grown all too quickly. Then, I can do things for me. Then, I can keep a kitchen floor clean for more than 37.2 seconds. Then, it will finally be quiet. I guess I'm old enough now to realize that when "then" finally gets here, I'll be thinking about the good old days. I'm living the good old days.

We had a good day in our little homeschool. My son is showing great interest in reading and we're on lesson 24 of TYCTR and he really seems to be taking to it. This did not work out so well for my daughter and we abandoned it about half way through. In our family, it has worked best for those who like structure and routine.

My daughter is doing well with her lessons and was very excited to weave a pot holder on a little loom. She's so proud of this and I'm proud of her too. The baby is just beginning to switch her nap schedule, so we are trying to juggle school around naps. Gets interesting.

My husband's business has been slow, but we are seeing some signs of improvement. We trust wholly in God and we realize that we are abundantly blessed.