A Good Thanksgiving

Wow, I think the last time I had an enjoyable Thanksgiving was in Chicago at the Brooksbank's house. Today though was enjoyable. Brian and I prayed this morning, we worked hard cleaning and making some food to take. We went to my dad's house and there was no fights. Lots of good food to eat . Daniel was with his family, Adriana with hers, and Jerrith went with his girlfriend's family. plus Luke slept through the whole thing. So there was a few less people. A lot less fighting though. After dinner my parents took a nap, and the rest of us played. First we played Connect Four, Battleship and Candyland. And then Ashley suggested we all play soccer. So we all went outside except for the sleeping ones and Liz and April and we played soccer for a long time. I wasn't that great , but Ashley and Timmy made up for my lack of skill. Gabe did awesome for his team as goalie. All in all it was a great way to get some exercise and it was a real bonding experience. Ashley even said we should do it more often. Very Cool. Thank you Lord. Family bonding and togetherness is something to be truly thankful for.

Fireproof

Well, this week has been an exciting week I think. We went to Columbus Zoo Thursday and had a great time. Then Saturday my mom watched the boys and Brian and I went to see Fireproof the movie. It was an awesome movie! I cried, I laughed, my heart was pounding in several scenes, it is my new favorite movie I think. It was such a good lesson to learn, that couples really do need to protect and nurture their marriage. And then to top it off, Brian bought me tickets to see the Nutcracker ! He even told me to buy a new dress! I am so excited. The coolest part though is the fact that Brian really paid attention to me when I was talking. I had been casually saying for several weeks that I would like to go see it, ( like I usually do when they start putting the posters all over town) . I didn't expect to actually get to go see it though. He just surprised me with the tickets when we were at the Clay Center, very cool! Well I better go do some housework. My dear sister has agreed to watch the two little ones so I can do some schoolwork with the two olders ones and run some errands.

reward or real pain?

Children are a gift from God, they are his reward. Psalm 127:3 If they re truly a reward then why do people think we are so crazy when they found out we have 4 small boys? Yes they are energetic, and come up with creative ways of driving me crazy. Yet they are a blessing and more than anything have illustrated God's love for me. They help me understand how someone could love me when I do so many insane, mean, selfish things. Yes they are kids, and need lots of supervison and guidance but with loving guidance and teaching they could grow up to be godly, creative, compassionate men. They have molded my character like nothing else on earth could, and I am thankful for that. So aren't all good things in life worth a little work and sweat and toil, sprinkled with a heavy dose of understanding and a few tears thrown in for good measure.. Yes its difficult right now, but I am trusting in God and leaning more heavily on HIS arm for guidance and support , and isn't that what its really all about?
So keep your sympathetic glances, and your looks of shock and amazement. I don't need the "poor lady" comments, or the " what was she thinking? " talk behind my back. I am wonderfully blessed and am going to try with every ounce of energy in HIS power to enjoy and learn from these rewards from God.
Oh and to my dear mother, who was so happy that Brian fixed her glasses , she offered to pay for him to have a vasectomy , thanks but no thanks. That is one Christmas present we will not be redeeming. I love my little basketball team and if God chooses to bless us some more in a few years then we will receive those blessings with open arms as well.
And besides without my loving guys who would give me a million hugs and kisses a day, and become so excited when they see me? And more importantly what interesting thing would I blog about without my household full of little people doing crazy stuff every few minutes? lol
Brian always said I am high maintenance ( and he was right), maybe God knew it would take 5 guyz to take care of me and keep me happy. :)

Columbus Zoo wildlights

We just returned from an impromptu trip to the Columbus Zoo. It was kind of crazy, Brian was having trouble starting his truck and so he charged the battery off of the van. We discussed the idea of me taking him to work and he mentioned off hand that he didn't have to go into work since they they did not have any pressing deadlines. I mentioned that the Columbus Zoo was having a special member's only preview of their Christmas lights that night. So he managed to re arrange his schedule. He took a half day off Thursday and worked extra hours on Friday. We did it though . We drove up to Columbus without a map or directions. We had to stop in Ripley to pick up gloves and hats for everyone, but we did it! And ( drum roll please,) we had a GOOD TIME! No fighting, no illness ( yet) , no meltdowns, broken down vehicles, no major crisis or disaster, of course we had PRAYED that morning, hmm. :) Just to see the look on Josh's face when he saw the model railroads was worth it all. He loved it. We do so much stuff because Ben and Gabe would be interested that it was really nice to do something that Josh really enjoyed. He also was able to hug Jimmy Neutron ( I am pretty sure he had no clue who Jimmy Neutron was, but he still hugged him lol ) The boys saw the goats, and bees from the North American exhibit. We met a lady who had been in a Costa Rican rainforest ( very cool lady) . We also saw reindeer. Cool thing too, we had a postcard which entitled us to two free guest tickets if we come back between now and Jan 1, 2009. Everyone had a good time ( even Luke) , thank you God!
I simply asked God for a good family memory and he delivered. I am humbled, is it not amazing that life can function without extensive planning and stress on my part? Who would have thought, and all this time I knew that any "fun" event required massive amounts of preparation on my part. It takes a while , but I will eventually learn the lesson.

Thanksgiving

Why is it so hard to remember all the things I am thankful for when it is so cold outside? I am thankful for hot sunny weather, which is the opposite of what we are having now. LOL My kids are getting stir crazy and so am I. Oh, I know I am thankful for my dear husband fixing the heater on the van. Of course his truck is not working, so he had to take the van to work , so I am stuck at the house. Still when I get it back it will be nice and warm when I drive it. Speaking of driving, I am thankful for gas prices going down , so I don't feel guilty driving across town once in a while. I am thankful for the massive amounts of mandated overtime which allowed us to have some extra money to pay for things like the boys' phys ed classes, and that will probably pay for ice skating lessons, swim lessons, and anything else I can think of to keep them active . I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for the opportunity to earn some money with reliv, and possibly Usbourne. I love books, and I love nutrition. I love the chance to homeschool my 4 crazy kids, and I thankful I can teach them instead of sending them off somewhere. I am thankful for basic things like clothes to wear, a relatively warm house, and plenty of food to eat. I am thankful Josh has not peed in the trashcan yet today. I am thankful no one has broken a window in a few months at least. ( is that a record maybe? ) I am thankful no one has had any serious illness since the chicken pox incident this summer. Wow there are so many things to be thankful for, when you start thinking of them. I am thankful we live in free country where we can disagree with the leaders and not be punished. I am thankful I will not be punished for my kids going around saying Obama's a lollipop. ( Though I did tell them they should respect their leaders no matter how much we disagree with them) . I am thankful I actually got myself out of bed and make some good pancakes for my ravenous kids.
Most importantly I am thankful for a Saviour dying on a cross for my sins, and another day to live and breathe and share that love with those around me.

we were meant to live for so much more , have we lost ourselves?

I believe wholeheartedly in an abudant life, but sometimes I wonder if I am living it. Homeschool co op was yesterday and it went pretty well. It doesn't excite me like it used to though. I guess the exciting part is bringing something out of nothing, the creation part. Once its up and running , it becomes kind of blase. Its still fun , and the boys always want to do it every day. So I feel like its accomplishing its purpose. I am just restless. I need something new, a challenge to sink my teeth into. I am trying to be patient and wait on God, but I am not always content with just waiting. I feel God moving in the background, but I cannot see what he is doing. I know most people do not understand what I am trying to say, what I feel God is calling me to . There has to be more than what I am doing. I feel trapped, pushed into a situation I was not made for. I love my family, and I thank God for his abudant blessings material and otherwise. I know He is preparing my heart and mind and character for something else. I need to be malleable to the potter's hands. Easier said than done. ;)

Off switch

Now is one of those moments, I just keep asking myself. Didn't they come with an off switch? My 4 dear sons , whom I brought into this world and love very much; they will NOT go to sleep. I know its not quite 9 pm and there bedtime is actually 9 pm but the baby is crying for no apparent reason. ( other than the all consuming desire to be attatched to me at all times). My dear husband is actually home for the evening, ate dinner with us and everything. He is in the room with the boys, but I think he switched his off button and went to sleep. I just don't know what to do it. My patience is beyond wearing thin. So I left the room , and decided to vent on the blog instead of yelling at them . Sometimes I just wish there was an off switch. You know , turn them off for a couple of hours and just relax, drink a cup of hot tea, and listen to classical music while taking a hot bubble bath. Ah , I can dream can't I? Well, I knew better than to stay at home all day. I was too lazy to go out anywhere ( of course I didn't really have anywhere to go , but that has never stopped me before) Well better go face the music or more aptly the yelling and screaming. Lord, give me grace , I could use some extra doses right now.

Heroes or Villians?

I just put the baby to bed again. He is developing a bad habit of not wanting to sleep during the night. I know he is not quite a year, but he is already showing signs of ADHD. Scary!
But the real reason I am blogging at 6 am instead of cuddling with my sleep deprived, wife deprived husband is to figure out something that has been troubling me for a while. My dear friend who has 4 kids said something that made me say "aha". Her 14 yr old dear son, said that he always wanted to be the hero but he feels like the villian most of the time. I keep thinking , yeah, don't most kids want to feel like heroes . They want to be the good guy who helps out and saves everybody from some horrible thing. Too often they re made to feel like the bad guy who never does anything right. My 7 yr old is often made to feel like the villian; he even calls himself a bully when he is in a bad mood. The question I am trying to figure out though, is how do we make our kids feel like a hero? I don't mean let them run over top of us and give them whatever they want. I mean how do we instill a sense of value and self worth in them amidst all the daily bustle and grind. I want to be the patient mom who calmly explains how to make macaroni and cheese . The mom who encourages and says positive things instead of yelling and belittleling. I am praying to God to help me and I know he will. I just wish there was some forum where moms could say," hey look I did something right today, want to hear about it?" Moms are such a great source of creativity and inspiriation. It just seems too easy to get caught up in laundry, dishes, sweeping, changing the baby's diapers, cooking meals, running errands, etc. I know that if it is to work, it must be an intentional thing. It just seems that all of my great ideas involve time and money which I rarely have enought of both as it is. I know it is so important though to catch them now while they are still young enough to be caught doing good things. I know my kids are heroes, how do I convey that to them? Stay tuned for the sequel to heroes part 1.

at home on a Friday evening

Wow, for the first time today I feel kind of good about something. Hm, maybe I am not a horrible mother after all. My quest, goal, longing for this school year is to become more disciplined. First I want to become more disciplined, and then maybe other members of my family will be more disciplined too. I really know it is of vital importance to be self disciplined if you are going to have a Godly character. Anyway, I have been trying to get the boys onto a schedule of regular bedtime regardless of whether or not Brian was going to be home to help me put them to sleep. Establishing a bedtime routine for small boys who have never been accustomed to one is not an easy task, and it seemed rather daunting at first. I stuck with it though, and it seems like I may be seeing some fruit. Thank You Jesus! ( seriously, I was standing on the steps thanking God just a minute ago). The baby was asleep in the van, and I went down to check on him . Before I went down , I told the three older ones to get ready for bed, and then lay down. I left , just praying they would be quiet when I came back. Well I came back a few minutes later, and what do you know, they were all asleep. These are the same kids who we routinely gave melatonin too, last year just so they would go to sleep. Ben especiallly would stay up all night, we just could NOT make him go to sleep.. It wasn't even that late tonight, though it was a little later than their normal bedtime. Wow, this is so different than last year. I think having them be more active, take their nutrition shakes, and having a consistent bedtime routine, have made a world of difference. I know normal families would already have had their kids on a consistent routine years ago, but Brian and I are not normal. Better late than never , will hopefully apply in this situation.

Cheers for 21st Century Techonlogy

I love all the things you can do . Now instead of calling a friend and ranting for an hour over something the boys did , I can just blog about it instead. There are definitely drawbacks to the techonological improvements but overall its kind of fun. Just two days ago , I "met" another homeschool mom through an online group. She has four kids about the ages of mine, and she unschools. Then I found out, she lives less than half a mile from me! How cool. I might never have met her if it wasn't for yahoo groups.