Time Together

Tonight I had some treasured time alone with my little guy. He was so excited and told the rest of the family, "Mom and I are going on a bike ride together. We are going to have Mommy/Trenton time." Isn't that the sweetest?! (He did add that anyone was welcome to join us, which I thought was sensitive and compassionate.)

He rode his bike and I walked behind him around the neighborhood. He had such a good time. He would stop every once in a while and wait for me to catch up with him. He even held my hand for a short time, showing me that he could ride with one hand. He also made sure I was doing okay and tried to ride slower so I could keep up. :)

Being that he is my only boy, I find his personality and mannerisms fascinating. He wants to protect his momma and sisters, he loves to solve problems, he displays his muscles by carrying whatever needs to be carried, he slays the dragons (ants and spiders) and hugs me when I need it. Amazing. God has created him wonderfully.

Psalm 139: 14 "I praise You for {Trenton} is fearfully and wonderfully made, Your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

My girls are special too, just sayin'.

Busy Summer Days

I've been absent from blogging--mostly having busy summer days, but also little bit of 'writer's block'. I have things I want to say but can't quite get the words formed and typed.

Here's a brief run-down of our summer since I last posted:

Marissa had a friend here for a week from Michigan--it was a great week of reconnecting between long time friends. I loved to hear their giggling and chatting. I made this welcome basket for Sarah. I'd talked about this basket here in this post...and I love the outcome.


My cousin and his wife visited for a few days. Before they came, we prayed that we would be good hosts and that we would have good conversation. God answered our prayers and our visit was delightful.

We celebrated two birthdays~mine and Trenton's. Good family times.

I've been reading some books from our church library:
The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancy
Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments by Kara Durbin

And one I purchased:
That's My Son: How Moms can Influence Boys to Become Men of Character by Rick Johnson

All three good books that I hope to comment on in upcoming posts.

I'm also trying to prepare for this upcoming school year for the girls and trying to come up with creative ideas for the 4 year old boy. :)

I mentioned my friend Kristin in a previous post, please pray for her and her family as they go through the loss of sweet Joanna Claire.

Lastly, I've had something for the last 3 days that I think might have been food poisoning. I'm not for sure, but I've been in pain and haven't felt well. I hope I'm getting over it and just slowly recovering.

Pulling the Weeds and Fixing the Stinkies

So many common tasks in life bring out hidden attitudes or problems in my life. I'm not sure if you've ever noticed this phenomenon or not. I'll give you a gardening example and then to close, I'll tell you how I fix the stinkies. Seeing how it's summer and we planted a little garden, I've been tending to it. Tasks like pulling weeds, staking up tomato plants, and thinning lettuce plants have been part of my gardening. As I'm performing these tasks, I often think how much they relate to my own life. Pulling weeds = weeding out bad attitudes and habits, staking plants = asking for help and accountability with problem areas and thinning plants = removing some of the even good things in order for the best things to flourish.

Weeds, I've observed, can be surface roots and evasive ground cover or they can be deep rooted and tall. Either way, they need to be pulled and sometimes dug up. Weeds in my life are the same way. Some are more surface and don't take too much effort to pull them out of my life and get back on track. Others are rooted deep and take much more time and effort to pull/dig out.

Staking the tomato plants helps them to not fall over making the tomatoes all mushy and rotten. My friends who pray for me and lift me up certainly help me not to fall over damaging the hard work I've put into my character and life.

Lastly, thinning plants may seem like a sad thing--pulling up a perfectly good plant--why would someone do that? Well, if the plants are growing too closely together, none of them will grow well. Same with me, I may be doing lots of good things, but if it's too much, none of my activities will be done well. Reminds me of a quote I heard a long time ago: "Say no to the good, so that you can say yes to the best." This lesson is a bit harder to learn than saying no to the bad...that's actually easier for me; it's more cut and dry. Thinning the good is a practice in my life that requires leaning on the Lord for guidance and trusting my hunny's advice and wisdom.

As promised here's how I fixed the stinkies--what stinkies you ask? Well you know how after so many washings and dryings clothes and towels take on a smell of their own? This smell is much different than the Tide you opened and sniffed in the aisle of Wal*mart and it's certainly NOT a smell you want to sniff as you dry off from a shower. After much trial and error, I've started using white vinegar in my rinse cycle and WAALAA! stinkies gone. (insert smile here). Again, not sure about you, but after I found this little trick, then I needed to remember to actually put the vinegar in during the rinse cycle. My solution: fill the handy-dandy Downy ball with the miracle liquid and toss it in the washer after the clothes.

Now if only fixing the stinkies in my heart were as easy...

Go to We are That Family for more Works for Me Wednesday tips and hints.

It is possible

Before we came to my grandma's house this time, I wondered if it was possible for me to come here and not partake in the yummy grandma treats she always has. When I was growing up, we lived right up the lane from my grandparents, so visits to their home was commonplace. In fact, when I was very young, my dad, my older sister and I lived with my grandparents (and aunt) for several years. I consider their home my home and they wouldn't want it any other way.

My grandma is the typical sweet doting grandma. She loves to get food that we love to eat--sweets and otherwise. Ham sandwiches, doritos and pickles were my favorite lunch components...topped off with Chips-A-Hoy cookies for dessert. Seriously, my mouth is watering just writing about it.

So, now that I'm not doing sugar or flour I wondered how in the world I would stay away from all the fun foods. Would it even be possible? Little Hershey candy bars in baskets, M&M's in little bowls, pop in the fridge...hmm...it's not going to be easy. For the sake of my health and well being, I needed to stay true to my goals. The first night went well. I think I was too tired to do anything other than get unpacked and go to bed. The next morning my plan was to not even eat the first bite of cookie or candy. I stuck to my regular routine and I made it through the day (without even feeling deprived!) Yesterday was day 2 and still going strong. I did have one small scoop of ice cream after supper, but that was it. I've also walked every day and tried to stay active. It's not too hard with the weather super nice and the run of the farm!

It is possible; with the 3 weeks of no sugar/flour under my belt, the prayers of faithful friends and God's strength and my self control; it is possible. Yahoo!