Shopping

Well, we got our tax return back and I went shopping with a little bit of it with Angela today. We got her some really cute clothes and I got a couple of things for myself, too. We had a really great time. Especially, Angela. And I got some quality time with my middle child. And that is definitely her love language. She seems quite content when she's gotten time alone with me. I've been trying to find ways to get her away by herself, cause I really do think she needs that. Even more than the other kids. Although they need that too. It's impossible to get the time they need separately at home in our tiny little trailer house.

Survived

Well, I survived and I slept pretty well last night. I'm feeling pretty good so far today. I am going to take a nap tomorrow. Sundays will always be reserved as napping days.

Avoiding napping during the day

I usually take an afternoon nap, but lately I've been having trouble going to sleep at night, so today I didn't take my nap and I'm miserable. I have a horrible headache and I'm totally exhausted. I'm going to take a shower pretty soon. I need one anyway, and hopefully it will make me feel better. I have Celebrate Recovery tonight. Hopefully, they don't need someone to fill in with the children tonight, cause I know I couldn't handle that tonight. They are way to exhausting. I start to feel a little like I'm feeling now when I work with the kids. If I do it tonight, someone will have to take me to the ER before the night is over!

Hunter Safety

I took my son to his hunter safety course today. Josh usually takes him, but he's teaching a model rocketry class through Parks and Rec. His class met tonight. So he took the girls to Model Rocketry with him and I went with Jeremiah to his class. All 9 and 10 year olds have to have a parent with them. I thought I was going to be bored out of my mind, but it was actually kind of interesting. They were talking about being an ethical hunter tonight. There's a lot of unethical hunters out there that give the sport a bad name. They learned that they need to be respectful not only of other hunters, but non-hunters as well. About how Fish and Game was put together by hunters originally, to safeguard hunting and make it safe and give everyone a fair chance. And also to protect the wildlife, so each species continues. Don't want to kill too many because then there won't be enough next year. But, unfortunately there are a lot of hunters who break those laws and just do things that are not necessarily illegal, but just not very respectful. For those of you that don't hunt, please don't hold that against people like my husband, who is very respectful of everyone else and does respect the animals, believe it or not. And there are many other hunters who do as well. Like I said, hunters actually were the ones who put together the set of hunting laws we have today.

Allergies: Don't you hate them

Well, it's worked out to be a pretty good week this week. I've been getting up and getting to work rather quickly. I finally got a good night's sleep last night. The night before I woke up in what I call an allergy attack. I don't have asthma as far as I know, but the roof of my mouth started itching which is how I know it's allergies and not something else. That's always the first symptom. I got a drink of water, but was too lazy to get up and take something, besides I'd already taken my 2 allotted doses. Then, my nose started running. Pretty soon my throat got tight and my chest and I was having to struggle just to breathe and starting to cough like crazy. So finally I got up and took another pill. Needless to say yesterday I said screw the doctor's instructions to only take 2 a day. I took them whenever the roof of my mouth started itching and then at night before bed. I ended up taking 3 yesterday, too. So far I haven't taken any today. I'm trying to make up for the last 2 days, but trust me I'm not going to hesitate if it happens again.

I woke up early

I woke up early and have not gotten a lot done today, still. What a waste. But I couldn't sleep and now I'm very tired. I think I will go ahead and take a nap in a little bit. Shortly after that the kids will be coming home for school and things will get crazy since Josh has a rocketry class to teach tonight and Jeremiah has his hunter's safety course. He can't wait to be able to shoot small helpless animals. He's only 10. He can't hunt large game until he's 12, but he can hunt birds as soon as he has his hunter's safety requirement taken care of. The thought of him wielding a gun scares me, but I knew the day would come. My husband is a hunter after all, so I knew that I couldn't say no. Besides, as much as I tease about the helpless animals I am not morally against it. After all I do enjoy eating it. Especially Elk. MMMMMM, that is good stuff.

cold mornings

Oh, my goodness, I woke up to a very cold house this morning. I just turned the heat up to 80! It was already at 70 and it was still super cold when I woke up. I will soon be getting ready for church. Still going to The Bridge. Will be until further notice.

Finally feeling better

Actually I was feeling better yesterday. Too good to spend in front of a computer screen apparently. I didn't even check my email or anything yesterday. It's a lazy Saturday and I've been spending it in front of the television either playing games or watching tv. Now I'm on the couch on my laptop and my husband Josh is playing Dr. Mario on the Wii. Chloe is on her sit and spin and the other 2 are outside playing on this beautiful springlike day. Anyway, sitting around has made me tired, so I think I'm going to take a nap pretty soon.

Bible study

Random quick post. I'm off to bible study. Drugged with my cold and all, but I'm going to try to pull through. Only cause there is a video today. Otherwise I wouldn't bother. I'd stay home and rest and maybe go to the evening study if I was up to it. I'm usually worse in the evening though, so I'm going to go now. May leave early. I better go though, or I'm going to be late.

Did not go

Well, I didn't go to Jeremiah's blue and gold banquet. He got some awards and they award the parents for supporting their kids as well. I received a pin I was not there to get. Josh gave it to me when I got home. I'm wearing it right now. Jeremiah is now officially a second year webelo. After this year he'll be moving on to Boy Scouts. He wants to make it all the way to Eagle Scout. He told me that his den leader said that if you had a problem in the woods Jeremiah's the one you'd want to have around. That made me proud to be his mama.

Staying Home

Well, Jeremiah did stay home. He found his glasses around the time that I had to go get Chloe. I couldn't take him to school cause he hadn't had lunch and it was too late to get a school lunch. Ugh! His blue and gold banquet for Cub Scouts is tonight. I probably won't be able to go. What a pain.

Still sick

I'm still sick with no energy whatsoever and I have to do laundry and stuff. I really can't take the day off. I could barely drag myself out of bed to get the kids breakfast and some clothes. Jeremiah can't find his glasses and says he won't go to school without his glasses. What a pain! I'm going to treat him like he's sick if he stays home.

refridgerator

It was today that I was getting the refridgerator not yesterday. I have so much more space in the new refridgerator! it's amazing! I have a horrible cold right now. I feel like I can barely breathe, my chest is so tight. I need to go to bed soon. I probably should have been in a bed a long time ago. Josh had to take Chloe to her eye doctor today. Also he had to be here to get ready for the refridgerator to come, so I ruined his whole afternoon. Chloe's getting vision therapy to help with her tracking problems. I don't know how to explain what her problem is. She just doesn't track well. I'm sure you can find information on the internet if you're curious. Anyway, I'm going to try to get ready for bed, now.

New refridgerator

I'm getting a new refridgerator this morning. I know. I just got a new dryer. We seem to be having another year of the appliance strikes. That's what my friend, Sheri, told me happens to many families. Everything quits on you at once.

Kids fighting

My kids fight all the time. Over everything. You think you've eliminated every reason for them to fight, set the rules for them to follow and they still fight. They even fight about the rules. Never mind that once I set them they are set in stone and they will not be changed! They really don't seem to get that.

It's out

Well, the first person from Trinity Baptist Church called to ask where we've been. So now soon everyone will know we are going to the Bridge. I really hope that they don't try to talk us into staying. It won't work. We've been talking to people about it off and on for the last 2 years and have seen almost no change at Trinity, so we are definitely done worshipping there.

The Bridge

We went back to Bridge Bible Fellowship today. It was great. Lots of good fellowship, good message that we were taught that could be practically and immediately applied on prayer. It was wonderful. I'm sure we will claim it as our own. We will be going there indefinitely.

Valentine's Day and my birthday.

Well, I haven't done very well on the working out 3 days a week so far. I did twice this week. Hopefully I'll do better next week. Yesterday was my birthday. I'm 34 now. No, I am not afraid to share my age. It doesn't bother me. I'll share it when I'm 60! Anyway, Josh took a cake to Celebrate Recovery last night and they all sang Happy Birthday to me. It was nice. I have to admit I like being noticed. Today we're going to my sister-in-law's house for Valentine's Day and so that Josh can start working on the kids' Pinewood Derby cars. Jeremiah is doing one for Cub Scouts and one for AWANA's and the girls are each doing one for AWANA's.

It was both

I think that bug was a little bit of a bug and allergies. It was miserable. Yesterday me and all 3 kids were feeling a little icky. They got better very quickly. By the end of the day the only miserable person was me. I'm still a little bit icky, but still tons better! I went to bible study today. I never would have done that yesterday even if the kids weren't home.

Some kind of virus or allergies or something

Josh, Chloe, and I all woke up with the sneezes. I know mine was at least partially allergies because the roof of my mouth was itching. That's always what happens when I have allergy problems. Chloe and I had runny noses all day. Later on into the evening Angela started complaining that she thought she might be getting the flu. She lay down on the couch and she was asleep by 7:30. May have been earlier. I was doing housework and stuff and really wasn't paying attention. Anyway, I hope she's okay and can go to school tomorrow. She hasn't been sleeping all that well, so maybe she's just tired and she'll sleep it off tonight. That would be great.

doctor's orders

Well, I got my results back from the tests the doctor did the last time I was in. Everything was normal on the unmentionable procedure. My cholesterol level at least on the bad cholesterol was normal. My good cholesterol was low though. She said I need to exercise 3 times a week. I'd been trying to do that before, but wasn't very consistent with it. I did a Denise Austin workout this morning. I need to make sure and do something at least 2 more times this week. I have further motivation now that the doctor says I need it. I guess it helps raise the good cholesterol.

Bridge Bible Fellowship

We went to church at The Bridge for the first time for Sunday morning services. People talked to us there and were happier to see us than anyone at the church we are members at ever were. Oh, they liked seeing me before I started going to recovery meetings. When they found out that I was not who they thought I was. In there case, most of them, anyway, truly didn't like me wheb they found out who I really was. Others outside the church and from other churches liked me better when I became authentic. I have found other ministries at The Bridge to be so much more authentic than everything else I had experienced. It only took us this long for us to go to church there, because Josh was stuck on our church and there are a lot of people we will miss, but we never developed close relationships with people there, because they didn't want to know us that well. We make them uncomfortable and they really like to stay in their comfort zones. I want to do real ministry and I see it happening at The Bridge and that's where I want to be. No, they don't have as pretty of a building or a large budget. They don't have a state of the art sounhd system. But they're making a difference in people's lives and that's what matters. That doesn't seem to matter much where we've been.

Oppression

Man, this young girl's church is very oppressive! She said they don't believe in raising their hands or dancing or anything, because then you're thinking about your own pleasure and not God. I don't agree. I think that's judging other people. I don't think about it at all. It's just what naturally comes out of me as I'm Worshipping GOD. I'm not focused on dancing or raising my hands or anything. And to oppress me in my worship would make me not think about God! I would be thinking about, Oops, I can't raise my hands, I can't go down on my knees, I can't move to the music cause that's dancing. Again, DO NOT judge the way another person worships. That is oppression. And God is not boring. Just because a church might be boring. Believe me, God is not boring! No wonder every other part of their lives seems so separate from God. Their music, what they watch on tv, everything. Because if they're having fun it can't possibly be of God. God gave us our emotions and our need for fun. He's not separate from that. She thought that when David danced naked in the streets God got mad at him. NO! David's wife got mad at him and David said that that was between him and God. Not for her to judge. And that is an important thing to remember. Not for us to judge. It's between them and God. Dancing and raising hands and clapping or whatever may not always be worship, but it isn't always not worship either.

judging

You know if there is anything I have a problem with it's other people judging others for the way they worship. I heard tonight about a pastor of one of my children's friends who makes fun of people dancing while worshipping the Lord. I have to wonder if he ever read about David dancing in the streets before the Lord. It does explain how judgmental this young friend of my children's is. She seems to always be looking for something that everyone else is doing wrong. It's the one thing about this particular friend that I don't like. If a church doesn't do things the way her church does they're wrong. If other families don't operate the same way that hers does, they're wrong. And it frustrates me that a church bred that in her. That is exactly the kind of thing that gives Christ a bad name. And to this girl her pastor is obviously the ultimate authority to her. People, always check what your pastor is saying against God's Word. If it doesn't match, RUN! Do not sit under false teaching.

Teaching Kids

Teaching children at Celebrate Recovery has been one of the most difficult things I have ever done. But also the most rewarding. I love those kids and I love the opportunity to get to know them better and see what great things they have to offer, but most of them have no clue what an inside voice is and they do not obey! I'm always completely exhausted when I get out of there, but I still wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm thankful to God for making me step out of my comfort zone and teach those precious kids. They deserve the love and attention we give them.

No life

Okay, I definitely have no life. I spend all my time doing laundry and dishes and taking people places and picking them up and playing on the Wii and helping people with their homework. When did I sign up for this? Oh, yeah. That would be the moment I got pregnant the first time.

It's Friday

Finally, my easy-going day. Not that I have a life anyway. I just drive everywhere dropping kids off and picking them up and shopping for things I need. No wonder no one reads my blog. I hope someone will soon though.

Cheerleading!

Oh, my goodness she was so great! And she so tried to get as much attention from the audience as possible. She's such a ham. The pictures are still on our camera. I'll take care of that some other time.

Today's the day

Today's the day! Angela's performing in public for the first time. I hope the first of many times. I don't want her to think it's so scary that she doesn't want to do it again. I just don't ever want her to give in to fear. I did so much of my life and I don't want that for her. And besides it's time for her to find some things she really likes to spend her time and energy on, like her brother has. He is very active, in Cub Scouts and baseball and learning the guitar. And next year we're adding football to the mix, so we need to get her involved before she gets lost in the shuffle and then get Chloe involved with stuff as well. So far she hasn't really liked anything. She really enjoyed this cheer camp, so I'm really hoping we finally found something for her! She'd like to take piano lessons she says so maybe we'll try that next fall. It's kind of late in the school year for the person I want her to take lessons from. Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to put pictures on here and put some pictures on tomorrow from her cheering tonight.

More Cheerleading

Tomorow night's the game! I'm so excited! She's going to be awesome I just know it! And she's going to love it! I just hope she doesn't get upset if she messes up at all. She's such a perfectionist.

Sleep

You know what I learned from my quiet time this morning? Sleep is necessary and good. I really should get more sleep. Preferably at night!

Psalm 127:2 (HCSB)
In vain you get up early and stay up late, eating food earned by hard work; certainly He gives sleep to the one He loves.

Morning again

It's going to be quite a day. The kids have AWANA's as well as Angela's Cheer Camp. I have laundry to do. What else is new? My eyes seem to be getting worse. I have allergies and every once in a while it gets so bad that I get an eye infection.

More cheering and other stuff

Once again Angela had a wonderful time at Cheer Camp, even though her first words when she woke up this morning were, "I don't want to cheer. I'm too tired." Wow! They must have worked those girls hard. I also took Jeremiah to Walmart to spend the gift card that he got for selling so much popcorn for Cub Scouts. I think I should've got some of that. Of course, I bought Valentine's for the kids for school since I was there. I forgot to get Angela a red scrunchie for her hair. I'll have to do that tomorrow. Moscow High Schools colors are red and black. It's not required but I thought it would be fun for her to be wearing the colors for the game on Thursday. I did mention that they are performing at the Moscow High boys varsity basketball game didn't I? During halftime. It should be fun.

Cheer Camp

Angela is going to the Moscow Mini Cheer Camp this week. She went for the first session last night and will be performing at the high school boys varsity basketball game this Thursday. She is thrilled! She had a great time! She's so looking forward to the performance on Thursday! She's always been a bit of a ham. She poses whenever she sees a camera pointed her way and when she found out Moscow Charter School was going to have a drill team, she wasn't interested until she found out they would perform on stage. I think someone has a need for the spotlight!! She ended up missing too many practices and wasn't able to continue with the drill team this year. I plan to encourage her to try again next year. It would be a wonderful experience for her I think.

Morning

It's way too early. I know it's not very early, but I am not a morning person and I didn't sleep very well last night. Plus I still have a little bit of pink eye that I got this last weekend, which makes me feel even more tired. Got my kids off to school even though I did sleep in a little bit. They were being difficult. They were difficult about going to sleep last night and of course difficult to wake up this morning.

Super Bowl commercials

I love Super Bowl commercials. Josh was out earlier and missed the Super Bowl. He's watching them online right now on our home computer. I'm on my laptop. That's pretty much where I always am when I'm online. This is pretty random, I know. I just felt like posting before I go to bed. Josh loves Super Bowl commercials, too, obviously. I only saw the second half of the game so I missed a lot of them, too. And I missed the half time show. Bruce Springsteen! I couldn't believe it. They finally got someone good for the half time show and I missed it. I'm sure I can find it on youtube and watch it. Not quite the same as watching it on tv, but it'll have to do. I have to say I loved the Pepsi commercial. Josh just said he thinks it was kind of dorky. It figures. I loved it. He thinks it's dorky. We're complete opposites in so many ways and yet we love each other. Strange how that works. I'm really tired and probably going to be sorry I posted this when I read it in the morning, but hey isn't that what a blog is all about. Writing what you feel like writing. I'm not going to bother previewing this before I publish it. I just need to go to bed, so I apologize for how crazy this all sounds. I should have gone to bed a while ago.

My first blog

Well, this is my first blog. I always wondered how to do this. I'm a stay-at-home mom, mother of 3. My kids all go to school at Moscow Charter school here in Moscow, Idaho. Jeremiah is in 4th grade and loves to play the guitar. He's only been playing for a couple of months but he loves it.

Angela is in the 2nd grade and wants to be a cheerleader. She may be going to a cheerleading camp starting tomorrow after school if we can afford it and I can get her there.

Chloe is in Kindergarten for a second year, but she's very smart. Just extemely attention deficit. She's doing very well now that she is in special ed. And the little bit of speech therapy she's had so far is doing wonders. She corrects our grammar all the time. As soon as I get some pictures downloaded onto my computer I'll put some on here. She is adorable. With her daddy's curls and her aunts platinum blonde hair. Her sister's lovely too. She has gorgeous thick honey blonde hair and big blue eyes. They both have the big blue eyes. Their daddy is scared to death cause he knows all too well how the boys are going to think they're in love at first sight when these girls are teenagers. I'm shocked that he's going to allow Angela to wear one of those really short cheerleader skirts. I'm sure he's going to be scouring the crowd and glaring at any boy who is watching her. Let's pray that's all he does!

Josh is my adorable husband. He works for Comcast Spotlight. They do advertising on cable television. He's starting working out a lot and feels really good already. He finally found a lifting partner to go to the gym with. I work out at home and have to admit I'm not very consistent about it. But I don't like people watching me work out. I'm very self-conscious about that.

We are all devoted to Christ and desire to serve him. I love to write and have no idea where that will take me. I have a heart for Christian women. Right now I am teaching children at Celebrate Recovery here in Moscow. That's another thing. I supposedly have the gift of teaching, but I have never successfully taught children and yet that always seems to be what I end up doing wherever I am. I find this group of children particularly challenging. They're not bad kids. They're just different then what I'm used to. They weren't raised there whole lives in church, most of them, so they haven't gotten church etiquette down to a science like my kids have and most of the kids I've taught in the past. But what a wonderful opportunity to touch these young lives. The more I think about it the more I think I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world. And I'm helping their parents to be able to work on their recoveries while I take care of their children.

I am also involved in recovery. I only teach the children once a month, so I go to the adult groups the rest of the time. I have struggled in the past with drugs, alcohol, sexual addictions galore, etc. The list is endless. I have a very rebellious personality, so most self destructive patterns you can think of I've probably done at some point if only for a short while. I'm on a good track now, having finally figured out that Jesus Christ really does want what's best for me.