A Little Perspective

Today has just been one of those days; I can't describe how I woke up feeling exactly. It was that irritable, grouchy, sad, weird feeling. As mothers, sometimes, at least I myself, find that most of my days are filled with joy and new discoveries and just wonderful memories. Don't get me wrong; it's not easy; it's probably the hardest job I've ever done. Then there are those days every once in a great while that seem to sneak in and just clobber you as soon as you wake up from that sound sleep. That day every once in a while that makes you want to pull all your hair out, but you can't quite put your finger on the reason why. That's how today has been. I love my kids dearly, but lately, Jaden's been in some sort of funk where he just wants so much attention and wants to bawl and bawl while Jacob and I are trying to work on school. Anyway, I say this not to complain; it helps to write it out, but I say this because all day, I've been wondering why I'm feeling this way. It feels like the world is just falling in on me, and I just want to "do battle" with anything that gets in my way.:)LOLOL (Be honest, you know you've been there too!) I think it just boils down to not putting all my fears, problems, emotions, just everything into God's hands and leaving it there. Instead, I try to think of solutions myself. I listen to other people's problems, and I internalize them, and it's like I just add it to the "burden backpack" on my back. Right now, a very dear college friend of mine is in the midst of losing her father as we speak; they are due to remove the life support today, and it's just heartbreaking. And as much as I want to cry over it, I need to leave it in God's hands. I need to trust that God has a reason, and He is working through all of this. Through the midst of Dan's gram's battle with cancer, there is not much I can do here, and it's a very helpless feeling. But God knows, and He can do something, but I have to let Him. Being patient and waiting are not my strong suits, but God can make a way, no matter the time it may take. Really, these problems put my little "freakish" day into much perspective, when I think about it. The insignificance of a bad day every once in a while compared to what someone else may be going through is just so powerful to think on. I feel like I'm just rambling, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that no matter those days where you feel like the world is ending; pay no attention to them. God is still working, no matter how we feel, and He is in control. We just have to let Him be in control and let go of the steering wheel. At least in my life, that's how it rolls.:)

Autumn

Today we went to Autumnfest here in our small town of Mountain Grove, Missouri. It was such a beautiful day! The sun was shining, and it was a warm fall day. I entered my apple crumb pie in the contest and won third place; I was ecstatic!:) This is the first pie I have ever been able to make that looks good and tastes great! Trust me, I am not a pie maker, but this one has turned out good for me, so I thought I'd give it a try. Another homeschooling mom, Tabby, got second place. Dan opened up his shop, and he started a raffle for a bigscreen tv; we are trying to raise money for Elsie Lherrisson, a missionary in Haiti, who is desperately needing rice to feed the kids that she works with every day. I ended up walking around with the kids, and we found a couple things, one of which Jacob just had to have- a fully loaded marshmallow gun.:) We listened to and watched all the wonderful entertainment that they had. If you've ever watched Gilmore Girls, you'll know what I mean when I say that it had that kind of Stars Hollow feeling today.:) It was such a great day for the community, and there were so many people there. It makes me want to reach out more in this community; I so would like to get involved somehow working with some of the public school kids and just be a light and a mentor for them. I am feeling that little tug on my heart; you know, the one that the Holy Spirit gives you when He wants to use you. Anyway, I just have to say that we are so homesick for New York, but I think that before you can be used by God, you have to learn to be content and be used by Him where you are at, and that is something He has been teaching me lately. I can't remember a time when I have been so content and happy, in the fact that I know I am where He wants me right now in this moment. I know that He is calling us to New York eventually, but for now, I am so content with being in this moment, letting Him use me here as He sees fit. It's an amazing feeling, isn't it?! Here's just a couple pics from today; the rest are on my Facebook profile.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Little boys are so much fun; you never know what they are going to say or do next. Dan and I are reading Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson right now, and it is so funny because he describes little boys in just the right way. There are days when we, as mothers, wonder if it's possible for them to survive until they reach manhood, what with all the scrapes and troubles they get themselves into. In regards to their mouths, though, Jacob has not shut his mouth since we started school. I think that he has expressed every possible thought that has entered his brain. He just can not talk enough; it is every second and every moment of the day, and there are days when I ask God if He can please help me because I don't know if I can make it through all the questions and just endless talk, talk, talk. God's been working a lot of overtime lately at our house.:)LOL Anyway, the other day we were again at the grocery store in the checkout line of all places. Jacob had bought a drink for himself with his own money and was putting his money away, when suddenly, another thought entered his brain from long ago. (Keep in mind that we did not teach him that lottery tickets were ok; some of our family has introduced him to this, much to my dislike, but it's ok....it's another teaching moment for us) He piped up loud enough for Moses to hear, "Mommy, I know what I can do with my dollar!!! I can buy a lottery ticket!!!" (All the while holding up his dollar bill) Oh my. Well, everyone was laughing at this point, and I probably grew three shades of red trying to get him to stop talking about it. He just doesn't understand why that is bad because they were so much fun before when he was introduced to them. So, that's just one of the many examples I was talking about. There is never a dull moment with a 6 year old boy and a 10 month old boy in this house!!! But I wouldn't trade my boys for all the quiet boys in the world. There are days when I might consider a bit of duct tape; no, I'm just kidding!:) Don't go crazy when you read that!:) You know you've considered it too! Good night......time for some much needed "quiet" sleep.

Faux Chocolate?

So, last week I went for my weekly trip to the grocery store, and of course, my cravings steered me down that lovely little Halloween candy aisle. Yep, it's that time of year again, the glorious candy season.:) From now through Easter, we will have some of the best candy available to us, which just makes it even more tempting to buy that fattening bag of Hershey's candy. Anyway, I bought a bag of Hershey's Kisses and a bag of Hershey's Minis. What I didn't know, though, is that Hershey's is changing their candy. Did any of you know this? As if we don't have enough fakes in the world, but we have to have our wonderful chocolate candy stripped away from us too?! Hello!!!!! The next morning I watched the Today Show and watched a newspiece on how they have changed their chocolate in all but the Kisses and the flat Hershey's bars; those have remained the same with the ingredient "Cocoa Butter." In their minis and other candies, though, instead of real cocoa butter, they are using vegetable oil. Can you believe that? So, I decided to check it out. I looked at my bags, and sure enough, the minis said vegetable oil, and the kisses said cocoa butter. Keep in mind that the kisses also say "Milk Chocolate," and the minis don't have that on the bag, as the newspiece had said they wouldn't. So, I put them to the taste test; Dan and I both did. The kisses definitely are so much creamier and chocolatey. The minis are just not the same. There is a huge difference! If you don't believe it, try it yourself. Out of all the things to make faux, why chocolate?! Especially Hershey's chocolate, which is supposed to put a smile on our faces? Hmmmmmm..........more like a bigger smile on our hips now!:)

Family Camping Trip at Big Spring, MO! (cont.)

Well, we are back from our camping trip at Big Spring.:) We had a great time! We ended up going down on Saturday and stayed until later on Sunday afternoon. I didn't get any really good pictures of the actual spring, but it is really beautiful. Josie learned how to ride her bike without training wheels.:) Trey was just a cutup the whole time and was a lot of fun. The kids all had a good time. Jacob was in his prime.:) Jaden was a dirty little baby the whole time; we had no water, only what we brought and could fill our jugs with.:) We swam in the river (I took pictures mostly), and we ate good food.:) The kids caught crawdads in the river. Dad and Mom just were relaxing and having a really good time too. I'm really glad because they have had quite the summer, between Dad's illness and tractors constantly breaking down. Nicholas, the cat, made a few appearances when the kids weren't anywhere around.LOL Dan and I learned how to play Hand and Foot, a card game Jimmy and Jennifer taught us; I think that it could be really addicting, because I already want to play again. Anyway, between getting our tent all set up and just relaxing, it was a really good weekend. I'm ready to go again.:)

Family Camping Trip at Big Spring, MO!