WOW!

I'm just blown away today. The Lord always uses things in my life to just knock my socks off!

So let me back up a bit ... a WHOLE bunch of months ago I was sharing with our Bible study group that I've felt such a burden for people's marriages lately. We have seen and experienced SO many people with failed marriages in the past year. Family, friends, Christians, non-Christians - just a WHOLE bunch of people whose marriages have ended. For ALL different reasons - and just for the record, this post is not a judgement of those people or the reason for their marriages ending - it's just to illustrate my point that this issue has been a burden on my heart for a while now.

Then, this past week we had our monthly MOMS meeting and one of our elder's wives talked about Cultivating Your Marriage - which was a fabulous and honest talk which truly encouraged my heart.

Also last week our pastor's wife called to ask me if I would be willing/able to help co-lead a group at our church's Ladies Bible Study this spring - and the group they want me to help co-lead ... the topic is MARRIAGE! {did you guess I was gonna say that?}

I'll be honest ... I was a little terrified and a little flattered! The more I thought about and prayed about it though, the more I realized that there is a reason the Lord has put this burden on my heart lately. There is a reason He wants me to pray for my marriage and the marriages of those around me. There is a reason He wants me to help lead - but also LEARN - these important truths!

I feel so blessed that I get to be a part of this. We had a planning meeting today where all the group leaders gathered together. This is a wonderful bunch of Godly women who are amazing leaders at our church. These are some of the elders wives, some of them have led the women's ministries for YEARS, and all around just an awesome group of Godly women. I am excited to work with them and be part of their team. I'm a little nervous, but also honored.

For those who are interested, the book we're going to study in our group is called 'The Joy of a Promise Kept' and it's written by the wives of many great leaders of our faith such as Max Lucado's wife and a bunch of others. {sorry, their names are escaping me right now!} The book is a pretty easy read so if you feel like you might be interested you should pick up a copy and follow along with us this spring!

Anyway, that's all for now ... just wanted to share! =)

I've been thinking lately ...

about marriage ... and loving our spouse and how to do it well.

I've been discouraged lately by so many people who rant and complain and go on and on about their spouse on Facebook.

I've been challenged to love and respect my husband as I should.

And today I read this awesome post from Ann at A Holy Experience. Please take a moment to go read it.

I was most struck by this line, "This is how to make love out of a marriage: Love lays down it’s own wants to lift up the will of another."

Many times truly loving our spouse means putting aside our own agendas and plans for the day. It means giving up the TV so he can watch what he wants. It means when he calls from work because he forgot his wallet I put aside whatever I was doing and drive it to him.

Loving someone else means you are willing to make the sacrifices for them. And not just to make them, but to do it willingly and yes, even cheerfully. Not grudgingly, not complaining for all of FB to see, not treating your man as if he is a forgetful child.

I made a lot of mistakes in my early years of marriage. And I still make a lot of mistakes. But one thing I have learned is when to keep my mouth shut out of respect for my husband. In the book 'For Women Only' by Shaunti Feldhan she talks about how being respected is one of the most valuable ways that a man feels love.

Just a few things I've been thinking of .... so as we go into the month of February and reflect on how to love our spouses, let's put RESPECT right up there at the top of our to do list.

***Edited to add***
Saw this on another blog today too and loved that it ties in with what I was talking about ....

I Corinthians 13 gives the best definition of what loving your husband looks like ~

Love is patient ~ Are you patient with your husband and allowing God to work in his life instead of nagging, manipulating, and controlling him?

Love is kind ~ Are you kind to your husband and treating him better than you treat others?

Love is not jealous ~ Are you jealous of your husband, maybe when he goes golfing with the guys while you are stuck at home? Or do you encourage him and are happy for him when he gets to have fun and do something he enjoys?

Love does not brag and is not arrogant ~ Do you respect your husband's ideas and plans? Do you share your ideas with him in a humble way?

Love does not act unbecomingly ~ Do you put on your best behavior for your husband? This means no pouting, yelling, or silent treatment to get your way.

Loves does not seek its own ~ Do you want your husband's best? Do you seek to please him and make him happy?

Love does not provoke ~ Do you act gently with your husband? Do you allow him his opinions and support them, even if you disagree with them? Do you honor him?

Love does not take into account a wrong suffered ~ Do you hold onto grudges or do you forgive quickly and easily as Christ forgave you?

Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth!

Love bears all things ~ All those habits that you don't like of his and that annoy you, you bear them, because you love him. You put up with his in-laws, friends, and the toilet seat up, because you love him.

Love believes all things ~ You believe the best about him. You know he has faults, but you choose to dwell on his good qualities, because you know everyone has faults and because you love him.

Love hopes all things ~ You hope for the best in him. You praise him even when he isn't worthy of praise, because you love him.

Love endures all things ~ You stay married to him until death do you part. You keep your vows through the good times and the bad, because you love him.

Love never fails ~ Even when you don't "feel" like you love him, you love him because you base your love on a decision and a commitment, not on a feeling.

Random Thought Thursday

** Soooo, I realized today I never posted my weekly goal sheet on here. I did fill it out at home, but since my Monday was chaotic with the child-refusing-to-do-school-work episode I totally forgot to come back on and post my to-do list. OH WELL!

** It's been a good week ever since then. I've exercised a bunch of times. On Tuesday night I went to this BootCamp class with my friend and OH.MY.WORD it literally kicked my butt. I could hardly catch my breath and my every muscle and limb were screaming in pain! I've been sore ever since! Today, even though I was sore, I still did some weight training and cardio at home. I'm still working on making it a habit when it's not really something I enjoy doing.

** On Tuesday BOTH girls lost teeth! It was so funny. Our younger daughter has lost the exact same amount of teeth as her big sis. And every time one gets a loose tooth, so does the other! So Joy had this super loose tooth on Tuesday during school and we thought for sure it would come out - then, the next thing we knew Hope's tooth came out first! Later that night before bed Joy was wiggling hers a bunch hoping to help it out and it popped right out! So once again, they are caught up to each other with how many they have lost! They like to keep the tooth fairy busy around here ...

** I did some research this week about right-brained learners. I am pretty sure from things I've read that one of my girls learns and thinks more along these lines - which could be why she gets easily frustrated when we do school time. So I found a couple good books online at Amazon and ordered them. I've sort of committed myself to choosing the library over purchasing books this year - BUT, in this case, these are valuable tools that I will use and refer to for years to come so I think it was wise to get my own copies. I know it might sound nerdy, but I can't WAIT to devour these books and see what I can learn to help my little girl out! I love books and anything schoolish!

** This weekend my girlfriends and I are going to a scrapbook weekend ... we drive to a hotel about an hour away, stay there, scrap all day and night, eat yummy meals and share fun treats and come home feeling refreshed and hopefully with LOTS of pages made! I haven't scrapbooked since waaaay back in the summer so this is way overdue!

** What else? I got my hair cut today. SO glad. It hadn't been cut since the first week in September and was getting sooo shaggy. I am learning that when it's long enough to squeeze into a ponytail that is ALL I ever do with it - but when I keep it short and sassy {yes I did just say that! LOL} that I actually FIX it and take care of it. So short it is.

** The only thing that makes me sad about being away this weekend is missing my girls play in their basketball games. :( I know it's great to get away and I definitely welcome the break - and they have a BLAST with Grandparents and Daddy while I'm gone - but I'm sad to miss those games!

** I have been a reading fool lately. Already finished 2 novels this month and trying to read some other stuff for personal growth too. I love to read! Too many books, too little time!

OK, that's all ... had my tea, heading to bed soon ... Have a great weekend friends!

We're melting ....

And I'm NOT just talking about the snow outside!

Today was a rough day. It started out good. In fact, after I had my quiet time I logged on the computer and checked FB and a very sweet friend sent me a message saying 'not sure why, but the Lord brought you to mind today and just wanted to tell you I'm praying for you.' Awww, I was so touched. I jokingly messaged her back and said it was probably because I've had such a lack of discipline with my exercise and eating well lately!

Little did I know ....

Fast forward a couple hours. During school time we ended up with one girl in meltdown mode today. Crying, refusing to do school work, carrying on for HOURS.

Now, a lot of times I don't talk about the struggles of homeschooling. Many days homeschooling is a JOY, but I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that we have some REALLY hard days too.

There are a few reasons why I don't talk about the bad days much.

First, we ALL have bad days, and who really wants them documented for all the world to see? I mean, I'd much rather my kids remember the great things about their childhoods and not have to read about their every bad behavior on my blog.

Second, I sometimes feel like I'm throwing my kids under the bus when I complain or talk negatively about them. They're old enough now to know what I say or read what I write and just like I would never bad talk my hubby on here, I don't think it's fair to bad talk my kids either. I think it would shame them and make them feel bad and that's certainly not the intent of my blog.

Third, there are so many nay-sayers when it comes to homeschooling. Sure I've thought about calling up the school and sticking my kids on the bus at times - but in general this is a path that we believe the Lord has led us to take. So even though we have bad days and many times I might question what we're doing - it doesn't mean I'm giving up on homeschooling!

Anyhow ... the thing about homeschooling your kids is that you constantly question yourself. When they struggle with school you worry and you wonder if you're doing the right thing, if you chose the right curriculum, if you just don't have the ability to teach them. It all comes down on YOU.

I cried about it today. Sat right there on her bed with her and we both cried. It's hard. It's frustrating. I want to help her, I want to make school fun, I want to make life easy for her ... but having an EASY life isn't always part of God's plan.

Later tonight we had some time to talk and snuggle. I explained to her that life IS hard sometimes. We have to do things we don't want to do. We have to struggle through things in order to learn and grow and be stretched. We had a great talk. I'm so thankful that tomorrow is a new day.


And so thankful that the Lord KNEW how my day would go and placed my name on my friend's mind ... that HE cares so much for little ol' me and goes before me and orders my days is simply amazing! {And of course, thankful for wonderful, praying friends!}

Pinterest

I've had a couple people ask me about Pinterest; what is it, how does it work, what's so great about it, etc. So I thought today I'd give a little tutorial and share what I like about it.

{Advance warning: I'm not the best at tutorials or explaining things so hopefully I won't lose you!}


What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard. {huh, say what?!} =)

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. To get started, request an invite.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK, first things first, you have to either be invited to the party, or request an invite ... why? I have no idea. It's a public site after all ... but hey, whatever. So if you haven't been invited and want to be, let me know and I'll invite you {I need your email address}. But otherwise you can go on there and request an invite ... though I have heard that doing it that way can sometimes take longer - again, no idea why.

So, what is a pinboard? Well, I like to think of it as a large online bulletin board that is separated into all kinds of categories. When you get on there, you'll see what I mean. On your 'page' with your boards they look like blocks on a large bulletin board.

Once you've been invited the first thing you'll want to do is to install the 'pin it' button on your computer. Pinterest gives very easy instructions on how to do this so don't panic! Also, if you can add it to the top of your toolbar it makes things so much easier when you're browsing the web and want to quickly 'pin' things.

Next, set up your pinboards. They start you off with a few already, but you're not bound to them at all. The ones they start you with might be 'My style', 'For the Home', 'Favorite Recipes', etc ... but you can change the titles of those if you want or you can create new boards.

So far I have 26 boards and I have seen people with as many as 37 - so I'm not sure if there is any limit but so far I've not run into one. You will probably find that as you get into it you will find yourself adding new boards all the time. Example: at Christmastime I wanted ideas for our Elf on the Shelf and I was running into so many good ideas so I decided to just create a pin board dedicated just to Elf on the Shelf ideas. It's all up to you - you choose the boards, you choose what you add to them.

Now the fun part! Start pinning stuff! There are two main ways to do this.

First: Find friends. In fact, if I remember correctly, when I first got started Pinterest sort of found friends for me - they linked with my Facebook account and found other friends {that I already know} and showed me which of my friends were already using Pinterest. Once you've found your friends, you can 'follow' them. I guess it's sort of like your friend list on FB. Pinterest also gave me a few 'friends' that were just random people I didn't know ... I ended up removing them because I wasn't interested in following people I didn't know. But that's something you can do later.

Next: Find pins {ideas} ON Pinterest. Once you are linked with some friends, you will start seeing all the stuff that THEY pin. If you click on the red 'Pinterest' at the top of the page you will see all the recent pins that your friends have pinned. You will see across the top of the page 'Pinners you Follow', 'Everything', 'Popular' and 'Gifts'. So if you want to see the pins of your friends, click the first option, if you want to see everything that people are pinning, click that, if you want to see just the popular items, click that, or of course you could click on gifts.

{I'll talk about another way to find things and pin things in a bit, but for now I need to explain how to pin, what to pin, etc}

So, now you see the things your friends are pinning - what do you do now? Let's say you see that your friend Kim pinned a breakfast casserole and you think that it looks like something you might like to try. If you hover over the picture of the item, near the top you will see a couple options: REPIN, LIKE or COMMENT. If you'd like to 'repin' it to one of YOUR pinboards, click on repin, when you do, a little box will pop up - you'll need to choose which pinboard you want to add it to {this is where you can also add new pinboards, go to the list of pinboards and there is an option to 'create new board' at the bottom of the list}, then leave some kind of comment about it {you could leave the other person's comment, or make your own - something to help you remember what the thing is and/or why you pinned it}, then click the red 'pin' button at the bottom.

There you go, you have successfully pinned an item to your pinboard!

You can also use those 'comment' and 'like' buttons to leave comments to other pinners or show that you like items {much like Facebook}. I'll be honest, I don't do a a whole lot of commenting or liking items, I do mostly pinning.

How else can you pin things? Well basically anything you find on the web can be pinned. So let's say you are reading a blog one day and they have this great inspirational quote that you love and just want to remember - here's what you do. While you are ON that web page, click your 'pin it' button {that you have already installed to your toolbar, remember?} Pinterest needs a photo in order to work, so when you click pin it you will see a bunch of pictures from that web page show up - you need to choose which picture you want to use to help you remember why you wanted to save that web link. Sometimes there is just no good photo on the page and you can use the Pinterest logo in place of a picture. Click on the picture you want, and follow the same process as you did above with choosing which board to add it to, and giving it a description {if the picture isn't real obvious than make sure how you describe it will help you remember why you pinned it.}

OK, have I lost you yet?? Are you bored to tears with all my words? Just hang in there, we're almost done! And I PROMISE that even though this seems long and wordy, once you see it and DO it, it's SO simple and easy to catch on to.

What do I love about it?

* IDEAS, IDEAS, IDEAS!! As you all know, I'm a crafty girl. But even if you aren't you can have pinboards in ANY kind of category you want! I have boards with books I love, ideas for Christmas, ideas of how I'd like to decorate my home, crafty things, inspiration for health and fitness, etc ...

* I have found Pinterest to be so inspirational! I have found and tried several new to me recipes, more than I've ever tried with all my cookbooks at home! I have found inspirational quotes and encouragement. I have found some great fitness and nutrition websites with loads of great exercises and tips. I have found homemade cleaners. I have found crafty ideas and tutorials. There is just SO much to see and PIN that it's awesome!

* I love that I keep everything in ONE place! It's like an organizing junkie's dream! I used to use my favorites list to save EVERY website I wanted to come back to - the problem was, I would save a web page to my favorites list and then forget why I saved it. Or the list was so long and I could never really find stuff when I was looking for it. There was no organization to it! Pinterest takes care of all that - everything is categorized and stays right there on my boards until I need it. So I'm looking for that recipe I saw a few weeks ago - I simply go back to my 'recipes to try' board and find it again. Easy peasy! Love that!

Now, even though Pinterest is somewhat of a 'dream board' in many ways, I've tried for the most part to only pin reasonable things. For example: I've seen some absolutely stunningly gorgeous photos of homes and kitchens and such like that on there - but I have to think to myself 'am I really ever going to have a house like that? Am I ever really going to build that amazing in-ground pool with the rocks and waterfalls around it and waterslides flowing into the pool?' Probably not. Would it be nice? SURE! But pinning too much of those types of things simply leads my heart to a place of DISCONTENTMENT - which is something I've struggled with and been working through for years.

So for me personally, I try not to allow discontentment to creep in through Pinterest. I pin things I like, clothes that I would actually see myself wearing, things for my home that I could reasonably pull off, recipes I know I would actually try, crafts that are possible to make, and on and on.

OK, I think that's all I've got for you right now! I'm sure I'm forgetting some things! If you're on Pinterest and want to share something I've failed to mention, please say so in the comments and I'll come back and add it here. I do have one question though ... how do I add the 'follow me on Pinterest' button to my blog? Anyone know?

Happy Pinteresting! =)

A Day in the Life of a Homeschooling Wife {and Mom}

Ever wonder what other Moms do all day. Or what homeschoolers do all day? Well today I decided to document our day … our WHOLE day. And lucky you, you get to see it ALL … the good, the bad, the ugly! hahaha

Here we go!

6:45 wake up, look at clock and don’t feel like getting out of my warm bed yet, try to remember what day it is and then remember that I have no reason to get up so early. Close my eyes and wake back up at …

7:30 get up, pee, let the dog out, make some coffee

7:40- 8:50 Have my quiet time, read my Bible, pray, drink my coffee, then go on the internet to check email and facebook and such.

8:50 – 9 go wake up the girls and go throw on a pair of jeans, sneakers, sweatshirt and baseball cap {no make up, no shower, no hair done --- yes this would be the ugly!}

9:05 leave the house to go pick up my curbside grocery order. return a redbox movie while I’m there, pick up and pay for groceries, realize I didn’t dress nearly warm enough as I freeze my butt off {it was 14 deg out this morning!} … I was back home by the time the car started to warm up!

9:30 get home, put away groceries, start breakfast {the girls didn’t want to eat yet cause they were waiting for groceries!} go pee again.

 

While breakfast is cooking in the oven I: make another pot of coffee, clean up kitchen and dining room so we’ll have room to do school, take some photos of stuff I want to sell. The girls are getting dressed, straightening up their rooms and playing at this point.

10:15 we sit down to eat yummy egg muffins, then brush teeth and clean up dishes

10:30 sit down for school time, grab another cup of coffee, figure out the plan for the day

We do Bible time, History, Geography, Language Arts and Math today

{our current Bible studies}

 

{we are studying the 50 states in Geography this year}

 

{in history we’re doing the Early Explorers}

During Geography J finds our current state on the map {Alabama}

H likes to write out our plan for the day …

we do some flash cards to try to review the states we’ve already gone through

The girls have these 31 totes they use to keep all their school supplies on hand.

11:30 While the girls are working on their geography and history I go online to put some books on hold at our local library {love that feature!}, then wrap up the breakfast leftovers. I contemplate a 3rd cup of coffee, but choose water instead cause I know I should. I turn up the heat … brrr, it’s so cold today!

12:15 The girls are ready to move on to Math and Language Arts. I get dinner going in the crock pot {beef pot roast}, load up the dishwasher and get it going, put some recyclables out, go pee AGAIN, blow my nose, AGAIN, wipe down the counters, answer a math question, answer a vocab question and finally sit down to help the girls for a few minutes.

12:40 when I’m sure they are doing fine I go downstairs and switch over the laundry, answer another question as I’m heading down the stairs …

fold a load of laundry, blow my nose AGAIN …

and start a new grocery list because without lists I would forget my own name!

I remind the girls to focus and do their work AGAIN.

12:55 Take a bunch of stuff out of the freezer {bread, English muffins, applesauce and ravioli}. I go pee AGAIN, get ravioli going for the girls to eat for lunch, get myself some lunch and ask daughter to feed the dog.

Around 1 ish We’re sort of all breaking for lunch at this point. I make a turkey burger and a salad for myself, the girls have ravioli and cucumbers. Bob is back after running some errands {it’s his day off} and he eats now too. I check email / facebook, etc while I eat and we’re all just chatting, taking a break.

Puppy is locked up in kitchen sometimes when she’s too wild or crazy {or when we’re eating and want to keep her out of the way}.

1:25 Back to work … hubby is trying to work on chopping this tree root, I do dictation work with H while J finishes her lunch.

Our dining table is always covered in school stuff during the day!

I grab another bottle of water, J is now doing language arts while H does her spelling test.

1:45 I pee AGAIN. Check the temp in the house, it feels so cold today but it says it’s 70 deg. J is doing language arts, H is doing her math on the computer.

1:50 Check on laundry, restart the dryer.

2 pm H is done with her subjects, she moves on to reading time and piano practice. I’m studying up on the Civil War which I’m pretty sure will be our next unit study for History.

2:10 Pee AGAIN. Answer the phone when my brother calls and chat for a couple minutes. Water the plants in the living room. **Listen to piano being played from the other room and think how thankful I am that she didn’t quit last year because the sound is just beautiful.**

Encourage youngest to keep working to get her Language arts finished up.

2:15 Decide she will work much better if I sit with her, so we read together and she answers comprehension questions with me.

{H sneaks in to snuggle with the too-cute pup}

2:45 pee AGAIN. {I am not making this up people!} J is finishing drawing a picture for Language arts, H is reading.

3 pm J is done with school work, now she’s practicing piano. I put on my workout clothes, reach in the fridge for another water and resist the urge to dive into this with a spoon …

Instead I have a date with Jillian …

When I”m done I switch over the laundry again and bring up a load of towels.

While i was doing that J was doing her reading time and …

H was having her computer time.

3:40 I refuel with water and my FAVE Greek yogurt … and you guessed it … I pee again.

I unload and reload the dishwasher.

4pm the girls are playing wii, Bob is working on the bathroom sink, I jump in the shower real quick, get dressed, and dry my hair. Another hat, no make up and no hair fixed again.

4:30 I make some peppermint tea and J is dressed and ready for basketball practice so we head out the door …

OH, but of course, I pee before we head out …

4:34 – 4:54 driving to bball

5 – 6 pm J practices while I drink my tea and read my book. My hands are soooo dry this time of year {so glad I had my lotion in my purse and I slather some on}.

 

5:30 {at practice} I pee again.

6:20 get home. Bob and H have finished the dinner prep for us including setting a beautiful table! What a nice surprise to come home to! I pee again.

6:30 – 7 pm We have dinner {Pot roast with mushroom gravy, baked potatoes and peas}

7pm We clean up dishes/kitchen, J takes a shower, then we crash for a bit to watch Pawn Stars and I check email again.

8 pm I pee AGAIN. I’ve lost count at this point. We turn the TV off and play Apples to Apples with the girls. I WIN! woot woot!

8:45 Put the game away, the girls get ready for bed and then read for a few minutes in bed before lights out.

9 pm Tuck the girls in, sing them songs, say goodnight.

9:09 FINALLY get to sit down and RELAX, put my feet up and veg out on the internet. Hubby is watching sports, and I can browse blogs, check FB, etc.

And now … it’s 10:46, I’m logging off, getting ready for bed, going to PEE one last time for the day and then fall into bed where I will likely read a page or two before my eyes droop closed for the night.

**Ooops, one more thing, took one last picture as I looked outside and saw beautiful, white snow covering the yard … cause I know it will be melted by morning but at least I can show the picture to the girls.**

HUGE blessings of the day:

*Standing the in shower and realizing this was the first day in OVER a week that I didn’t have a pounding headache.

*Seeing that all my boogies are turning more clear and less green and knowing that I’m finally on the road to getting better.

*Seeing a GORGEOUS orangey sunset sky with pink fluffy clouds as we drove to basketball this evening.

*Sharing this amazing life with my best friend and two very sweet little girls.

It’s a busy, full, FUN life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything! I AM BLESSED!

A Weekly Plan {Jan. 16 - 22}

This will be my 3rd week following a plan for the week. As I said in my last post, the past week was kinda different since I've been sick for most of it. I'm still fighting the cold and really, really hoping I can kick it in the next day or so because I really want to get back to 'normal' {whatever that is!}

This is the weekly planning chart I use:

I did not getting dusting done this week and I only did a quick swipe of the bathroom ... but I'm OK with that. I DID call Keurig, the big thing on my list that I NEEDED to get done. And even with being sick I did manage to get quite a few things done.

SO, moving on to the coming week. I don't want to make a big to do list in case this cold lingers too much longer. So my basic goals and need to dos are: eat healthfully, exercise, get back to a good school routine with the girls and be consistent with quiet time.

On our menu for the week:

Breakfasts ~ Apple Pie Oatmeal, Mini Egg Muffins, and Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal muffins

Lunches ~ Corn Dog Muffins, Chunky Potato Soup, Sandwiches, and Ravioli

Dinners ~ Chicken Parmesan Casserole, Beef Pot Roast w/ Baked Potatoes, Pasta w/ Meat sauce, and maybe a couple other easy meals that I haven't decided on yet.

This week I also have TWO Blessings Unlimited parties coming up and I am VERY excited to do those!

I do have some other goals that I hope to get to. I have a bunch of stuff that needs to go to Goodwill, I need to order pictures for an upcoming scrapbook weekend and I {eventually} need to get around to painting the hall and the doors and trim again. But until I'm feeling 100% I don't want to be too ambitious!

OH! And tomorrow morning I am beginning the online Bible study over at Good Morning Girls. {There is a button over on the right}. I am excited to dig into God's Word and hope this will help keep me accountable to be more consistent.

Hope you all have a WONDERFUL week!

Our Week

It's been a weird week around here. I've been battling a head cold all week and instead of it getting better day by day it actually got a bit worse each day. So basically it wasn't the most productive of weeks as far as school goes, but we did manage to squeeze in math and language arts almost every day. Oh well, hopefully next week all will be back to normal!

The first 3 days of the week my hubs was away on a ski trip with his buddies. The girls and I had fun though. We did some school work, rented some movies, did a little shopping {since they both had some gift cards from Christmas} and also did a bunch of relaxing since this cold has brought daily pounding headaches with it. :/

Here is my beautiful firstborn ... she has an interesting sense of style lately that is truly unique. The past week or so she puts as many hair clips as she can find in her hair each day. It's kinda cute ... right?


And her little sis, working hard on her Language Arts ~ not her fave subject at ALL ... in fact many days this subject brings about tears. But what can you do, you have to learn the stuff!

Last week I made almost 50 new fabric flowers in some gorgeous colors! And I finally got my Etsy shop up and running ... SO fun and SO exciting ... I love to craft ... this year I vow to do it more.

I broke my 'no spend' January this week to 'splurge' on these magazine files and pretty file folders - found them at the Dollar Spot at Target and honestly, just couldn't say no. I justified the purchase though because my plan is to simplify and organize this year, so these tools will help aid with that. In fact, I spent a couple hours organizing some paperwork and binders this week and am LOVING how they all came together. {will have to share in another post}.

I drank a LOT of tea this week ... nothing makes me feel better like the way tea does. I rarely take meds for colds, but tea ... yes please!

Ahhhh..... I love it when she settles in for a nap ... she's such a good pup {when she's SLEEPING!}

We babysat our friend's daughter twice this week - let's just say that babysitting a feisty 3 year old when you have a cold is interesting. I'm so, so, so thankful for my big girls who played with her and entertained her with 'bobbleheads' for HOURS this week. And all 3 of them absolutely LOVED it.

My daughter spied this gorgeous bright red bird from the window the other day. Love this splash of color in the bleak wintertime!

We also did lots of playdoh this week. I'm so glad the girls got new, fresh, soft playdoh for Christmas. I got smart and threw down a cheap, plastic tablecloth so when they were all done I could just roll it up and throw it out!

After not having much appetite all week I caved and made a yummy treat late Friday afternoon ... Grands biscuits {red. fat} with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon - mmmmmm, yeah this was good. I hope the scale won't reflect that choice too badly this week!

Both girls did awesome in their Basketball games on Saturday. Joy made 2 baskets for her team ... {she's the one in blue}

And Hope made 4 baskets for her team. It was a great day and they are learning so much already. {she's number 21}

Then, this afternoon we hosted another one of our Balcony Girls lessons. It's been a LOOOOOONG time since we last met {the fall and holidays were so busy for us} but we had such a GOOD time together! Our lesson was on Unity and working together.

I just LOVE this group of girls!

So I guess all in all it's been a pretty good week. I sometimes feel like a failure on weeks when we don't accomplish a lot of school work ... but I see that we still had a pretty good week and much to be thankful for. I also DID finally cross off 'Call Keurig' from my TO DO list {which has been on my list to do for OVER a month now} and am SO excited to say that they have agreed to replace my brewer with a brand new one for FREE! I cannot wait!

Hope each of you has a quiet, peaceful Sunday. =)