Time to Simplify

I am so stressed....with school work due at the last minute and the house in shambles around me...I am ready to simplify. My final for this semester is the 15th. After that, folks, it's go time. I am going to become OCD. I have to. I cannot go on in this chaos. Hopefully, when I become OCD, then my children will too. Something has to change.

Busy Little Bee

So things have just been crazy since the last post. My husband has been a totally different man--the man I married! I love that now when we are all together, he puts on Christian Rock music for the kids to listen to instead of Alternative. I love that he now seems to appreciate the importance of family dinners and doing things with the kids. I love that he absolutely is handling everything since my surgery ten days ago. I get to sleep in while he gets the school kids ready to go. He fixes lunches and suppers. He washes the dishes and the clothes. Not necessarily because he wants to, but because I can't do it. He just does it. He knows that 14 weeks of recovery for mom is a long time, so he is adjusting.

The kids are as wild and messy as always. They certainly aren't going to make it easy on him. Or me. They know that I can't jump up and make them do what is asked of them, so they just choose not to do it. Or to do what I say don't do. Very frustrating.

I have an appointment tomorrow to get the stitches out of my foot, and will probably end up in a cast at that point. I sure was hoping for a shower! I hate baths. Just hate them. I took Baby K to Wal-mart today to get a few groceries. Today is the first day off of crutches, so I got adventurous. Of course, I ran into my doctor who doesn't even live in this town. If I had known he was coming this way, I would have asked him to bring his stuff and save me a trip to Montgomery tomorrow. The shopping trip was probably a little too ambitious for this point in the game because I am hurting now.

Just wanted to do a quick update. Halloween was great. Mr. Wonderful took the children trick-or-treating while I stayed home with my foot up. Yesterday at church was on the very few times that someone has laid hands on me while praying, but lo and behold, I don't need my crutches today. I also have made it 1 1/2 days without pain meds. And I know that yesterday was the first time that I have ever laid hands on someone while praying for them, but it was emotional for both of us. There is just something about touching someone while you pray for them that seems so right. I love this focus on intercessory prayer that we are doing right now. It makes the church seem so much more spiritual.

Well, I'm off. Happy November everyone!

The Angels are Rejoicing Right Now

That's right, folks. Our household is on fire right now! Sunday is going to be a most wonderful day. My beautiful niece and my wonderful son have been scheduled for several weeks now to go through Believer's Baptism. We have been so excited about this. But today made everything even greater. My husband has decided to also go through with baptism. He has been struggling with this decision for quite a while and feels as if a burden has been lifted. The preacher took him to lunch today where he confirmed that he wished to be obedient to God by following through with Baptism. Now, we all know that Baptism isn't what gets you into Heaven. Accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior does, but in Mark 16:16 Jesus says, "Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved." But we do know that baptism is not a requirement for Heaven because Jesus saved the man on the cross right then and there. However, in reading scriptures today regarding just the subject of baptism, I relearned that baptism is symbolic for washing away your sins, being raised to a new life, and becoming more Christ-like. And boy, Satan is going to be throwing fits at us soon. And he knows just where to hit us. Trust me....I know where he hits me. In the same spot he has for the last 12 years. But together, and with the strength of our Lord who lifted us to victory, we will defeat him time and again. Praise be to God for the glorious work He is doing in this family!

MIA

Sorry I have been MIA for quite a while. There has been so much going on, some of which I will write about, others that I can't. There are not necessarily too many eyes that see this blog, but a few of the wrong eyes to write about certain things.

My Emmy started school. She was so excited about it, but now hates it. Who hates Kindergarten, you ask. I ask the same question. Well, probably the little girl that gets in trouble for exposing her rear end to the other girls in the bathroom, making them scream and tattle. Or the little girl that is too lazy to walk home and sits on the curb refusing to take another step. Yeah, the little girl that is driving her mother nutso!! But that her mother loves so dearly.

Bro Man had a rough start to 4th grade. He kept forgetting his homework, until I started making him bring home every book every day. A few days of walking with all those books, and suddenly he started remembering what he has to do.

I started back with more graduate classes. One is online, one is two days a week during the day. Now while the class is not a long class, it takes an entire day to drive Baby K to a sitter, drive the hour to school, sit in class for 1 1/2 hours, drive back to the sitter, drive an hour home. I hate being away all day two days a week.

I have also started selling jewelry. I am in the process of starting my little part-time income generator so I am having to book homeshows quite heavily over the next month. Hubby will be so happy when he reaps the rewards of those shows. I'm thinking I might do something nice like put up some money for Christmas (that he doesn't know about) and get him a new acoustic guitar that he feels he needs. He has one, but I would love to splurge on something that he just wants. But mainly the goal is to get some debt paid off so next year Bro Man can go to private school. I have not even discussed this with him, but he hits middle school and I don't know if I am comfortable with him going to the middle school here.

Facebook has taken over my life. There have got to be support groups for it because it is so addicting. I took a three day hiatus from it and it just about killed me to stay off for 3 days. But I get so much more accomplished during the day at home when I decide not to get on the computer.

Well, that just about raps up the night. Good night, blog buddies!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that...

Today marks the last day of summer vacation with my children. Bro Man starts 4th grade tomorrow and Emmy starts K-5 tomorrow. That leaves me with Baby K, and a little peace and quiet. When asked what she is going to do here with just Mama all day she replied, "Be good." Now, wouldn't that be nice? But while I would love to think that I will have all the time in the world to sew or craft or clean, I am a realist. My husband calls it a pessimist. I'm not negative, just real. The start of school leaves me with only 2 more weeks before I return to the pursuit of a master's degree. Counting this semester, only 7 classes left! Woo-hoo! (Insert booty bump!)

On another note, why do vitamins make me sick to my stomach? I take them with food as instructed, but yet I still get the chills and the dry heaving. I take them because I want to be less tired, but after several days of taking them with this result, I stop.

Sorry about screaming at you the other day. I have a million and one things running through my mind, all of which are frustrating me to no end. I look for things to do that allow me no time to think, but those are few and far between.

I am totally addicted to Facebook. I don't really chat with anyone, no one helps me with my Mafia Wars requests, no one comments on my status, but yet I check it 759 million times a day. Maybe its a bit like blogging...if I comment, they will comment. But I do not need to spend all day on facebook. So I don't know if I want people to start commenting because that might compel me to check it more often.

Okay, so that's it for this totally random post. I'm sure I can think of a million more random things that I could talk about, but I'll stop for now. Peace. Love. Change.

ahhh....change

Are any of you like me in that you love change? I don't mean change that dramatically impacts your life, but change within your home? I love to paint. That is one of the easiest transformations that a person can make. But more than paint. Like getting bold and rearranging the furniture. O.M.G., people! Did you realize that there are some people who don't even think of moving furniture as a means of making your house more pleasant? Those people are called MEN. Why are men against change? Unless it is an increase in your income or a drop in your weight, men are against change. No paint. No moving. No rearranging. Why? Because they might have to lay at a slightly different angle to watch baseball. And that, my friends, is unacceptable.

Since we are soon returning to just one income, and I love change, I am trying to do a little remixing instead of decorating. That is, I am trying to be thrifty and use things that I have already bought or things from other parts of my house to give the house a different look. And yes, I moved furniture. But first thing this morning, I moved it back. Why you ask? Because Mr. Wonderful hated it so much that he did not even want to be in the living room. And since he chooses to watch Baseball Tonight every night when I want to sleep, it is better for him to go to the living room. But I took a few pictures of some changes that I have made over the last 24 hours. Keep in mind, nothing drastic. Just beautifying. Fluffing. And when the rooms are finalized, I'll post them. Oh, okay. Stop twisting my arm. I'll post some now. Gosh, you're so pushy! But I'll save some for later.
This is the newly paired down mantle. The before picture was too embarrassing, so we'll just go with an after. The huge mirror was a bargain at $17, and the only thing new is the flower arrangement which is not complete. Everything else was already in my possession.

In the kitchen, to add a little flair beside the free hutch, I added this cast iron (super heavy) fork and spoon. I got this on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $2.49 about 2 months ago. I don't know what took so long for me to finally put it up.
While this picture is a little dark, you should still be able to see the little shelf above the toilet. This has been in my possession for a good four months now. The white fleur-de-lis I bought at hobby lobby last year for $5.00. The candlestick, bird, seagrass box, the small glass jars and fillings I've had for quite some time now. The curtain and shower curtian (not shown) are from the other bathroom because I did something new in there that I did not take pictures of yet. Those will come later. I am putting the finishing touches on the dining room that I have struggled with for so long, and then I will post pictures of that, along with the new lamps in the living room.

So, until next time, Peace. Love. Change.

Scream

AAAAARRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!