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We've had demolished bathrooms and contractors in and out of our house for over a month.  It's getting pretty old!  We finally got a second toilet back in and that's been wonderful.  I'm still missing my bathroom though!  We're in the basement and those middle of the night treks up the stairs get old.  I'll be so thrilled when it's all done!  The flooring is so much nicer!  It really lightens up the basement bathroom.  The contractor keeps turning in new bids to the property manager who in turn contacts the owner for approval.  He's trying very hard to find and repair the leak from the upstairs bathtub.  Every time he fixes a leak another one seems to sprout.  He told the property manager that it's likely going to need new tile and a new tub to remedy all of the leaks.  She will have to convince the owner to pay for that and then the additional work can commence.   The joys of living in a 60 yr. old home that hasn't been updated for 60 years!  I told dh that we won't be surprised when we buy a home and run into these types of problems.  We'll make sure we're ready before we buy.

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I'm a bzz agent and I received four coupons for a free hamburger.  We chose Sunday to redeem them since dh had it off.  He normally works Sunday afternoons so this was a rare treat.  The nearest Chili's is about 2 miles from our house so we loaded up the stroller and walked over there.  We were able to get a seat right away in spite of our large group.  Then we ordered.  Dh and dd ordered the southern smokehouse  burger.  I ordered the triple the cheese burger and ds ordered the jalepeno smokehouse burger.  Each order came with a serving of seasoned fries and a dipping sauce.  One was an ancho bbq sauce and the other was a jalapeno ranch.  The ranch was the hands down favorite but the bbq sauce wasn't bad.  The burgers are huge.  Not even ds (age 13, bottomless pit) finished his.  We all ate our leftovers for supper.  If dh and I went there on a date we could split one and both be satisfied.  The bacon is really thick and very flavorful.  The burgers were cooked perfectly and the cheese was really good.  It's not a cheap place to eat and the children's menu isn't great but we're adding it to our date night list.  I hadn't been to Chili's since I was in college and I was pleasantly surprised.  Btw, if anyone's interested in becoming a bzzagent and getting freebies to rate just check out their site: www.bzzagent.com 

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Just after dd's birthday we had a three week round of gastroenteritis go through our house.  Everyone's been well for about a week and a half now but I've been in a slump.  Just as Helen was sleeping without throwing up every few hours daylight savings time started and I'm just starting to recover!  I got a lot accomplished today and I'm thrilled.  I did 4 loads of laundry (I'll fold them and put them all away tomorrow), I got the dining room clean (including sweeping the carpet since the vacuum is broken), I delegated cleaning both bathrooms and the living room so they're clean now too.  I also finished dd's skirt.  It came out really nice!  It's a simple, black a-line skirt with a back zipper closure.  Tomorrow I'm going to have her put the skirt on along with her matching blouse so I can take pictures.  The blouse was my first attempt at a full bust adjustment.  I'm very pleased with how well it turned out.  She's actually wearing it in her birthday pictures but she doesn't have it buttoned up so the fit doesn't show up.  Tomorrow's agenda: laundry folding, movie watching and maybe a little more sewing. 

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This is in participation with Finding JOY in the Morning's book drawing for "I Love You More" which you can participate with here too!  Drawing entries due by Wednesday, November 28, 2007.  Come join!

If my children asked, "How much do you love me?"  I'd answer, "I love you more then chocolate."

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As a Christian woman and wife I've heard the term "helpmeet" and read the related scripture many times.  All these years I never really understood what it meant.  In recent days I've been reading some blog entries and discovered some new things that I pray the Lord will use in my life.  I always believed that the term meant "helper" and implied a role similar to a secretary, personal assistant or other type of similar role.  That's not the picture God's word is portraying here.  It turns out that the same Hebrew phrase is used in several places to describe God's help to mankind.  God is certainly not a secretary or assistant!  It really means that my role in my husbands life is to strengthen him with my help when he is struggling.  It is to complement his weaknesses with my strengths as he strengthens my weaknesses with his strengths.  I don't think I've done that very well in our almost 15 yrs. of marriage.  I think I've done it on occasion but not regularly.  I have determined to dig into God's word some more and examine what it says about my role as wife to my husband.  I tend to be bitter and unforgiving of weakness in my husband.  I'm also inclined towards stubborness!  I believe that God's word and the Holy Spirit can root out those things that take away from my ability to be a "suitable helpmeet".  I would challenge others to dig deep and explore the things in God's word that have eluded your understanding.  God will reveal truths to you if you will listen!

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In an online discussion a few weeks ago, my minority view on baptism came up and I was asked to explain what scriptures lead me to my conclusions.  In response, I spent many hours pouring over my concordance, my Bible and some other materials and I came up with this.  In all of it's "glory", here is why I believe what I believe.

Baptism is mentioned 120 times in the book of Acts. Each of the 9 major conversion stories in the book of Acts culminates in baptism as the immediate faith response. Here are the scripture references for four of those accounts: Acts 8:35-38, Acts 10, Acts 16:11-15, Acts 16:31-34. In Matt. 3:13-17.  Baptism is the first act of Jesus' ministry. The great commission (Matt. 28:18-19) is the only command given in the name of the entire Godhead. The great commission commands us to baptize everyone who is made a disciple.
Baptism is for:
*forgiveness and  remission of sins:Acts 2:38, 22:16
*the place where we're united with Christ: Gal. 3:26, Col. 2:12, Rom. 6:1-11
*gives us membership in the Church: 1 Cor. 12:13
*allows us to inherit the kingdom of God:John 3:5

Paul said:
*we're baptized into Christ: Gal. 3:27
*we're baptized into his death: Rom. 6:3-6
*baptized into one body: 1 Cor. 12:13

The Gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Our response to the Gospel is our death, burial and resurrection and portrayed in Christian baptism.

Baptism is:
*commanded: Matt.28:18-19, Acts 2:38
*practiced: Acts 2:41, et. al
*connected with salvation: 1 Peter 3:21

Also see: Romans 2: 25-29,10:9; Acts 18:26

Many who disagree with me refer to the thief on the cross. Let me tell you what my understanding of that. The thief was still under the old covenant. Just as the many believers listed in Hebrews 11 were saved by faith in the coming Messiah and His death, burial and resurrection, so too was this man saved by that same faith.

One member of my "brand" of Christianity (we're technically not a denomination) suggests to those who disagree with him to just get out a concordance and read every scripture reference on baptism and prayerfully consider them all. He believes that if God's word isn't going to convince someone, he certainly won't be able to.  After reading all of this, you still might disagree with my conclusions but it's obviously not a belief that I've adopted without searching God's word for my answers. :)

Finally, here are three interesting links. Two are for a two part series on the history of baptism. The last one is a wonderful, grace filled column that put into words how I feel about un-immersed believers. The author says things I've always felt and could never articulate.
The history of baptism, part 1, from Paul to Luther
The history of baptism, part 2, The 16th Century origin of faith only salvation

'Not the Only Christians'

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My plan for today was to clean the living room and dining room in the morning and have the kids do school in the afternoon while I cleaned the fridge.  Well... the living room took longer then I expected so I went ahead and got started cleaning out the fridge and got help from my oldest two dc.  I only got half done though as dh came home and needed food.   On the bright side I discovered that the glass shelves can be completely dissasembled for thorough cleaning.  Those shelves haven't been that clean since we moved in two years ago :)!   I will finish it tomorrow afternoon while the baby is asleep.  I think that I can have the kids doing school at the table while I work on that.   Hopefully, my oldest and I will also be able to tackle my sewing area tomorrow.  It's a disaster area at the moment but I have great plans!  I was blessed with a ton of really nice, large pieces of fabric and also a bar height dining room table.  The table has leaves that are integrated into the table so I can make it bigger for large projects and shrink it back down to save space.  My current cutting "table" is a chalkboard face down on top of my fabric bins.  That means I have to disturb my projects to get into my bins, what a pain!  If the table is still too low for cutting I'm going to get a set of bed-risers to raise it up higher.  Then I can work at the proper height and save wear and tear on my back and shoulders.

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If you read my previous post you know about the contest I entered.  I actually won.  I had a horrible day today so that was a nice treat.  It should be interesting working with an otoscope.  I'm quite intrigued by the whole thing.

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Compounders of P&M Dermasalve are giving away a Dr.MomOtoscope . Click Here for details.

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Well pooh!  I tried out the new (to us) VCR today and it doesn't work.  I'll have dh take it and the receipt back and exchange it for a couple of new shirts for him.  I plugged it in at the store and it turned on but it ate a video and wouldn't give it back.  I got out my trusty screw driver and took it apart to get our video back.  I don't think I put it back together correctly but since it was already broken the store would have just trashed it anyway.  Note to everyone!  Please don't donate your broken stuff to your local thrift store.  All your doing is increasing their garbage bill and inconveniencing other people.  Just toss it in the trash or give it to someone who can fix it.  I had to plug the old, broken one back in as it's the only way we have to connect the dvd player and get tv reception.  We'll try again another time.  Meanwhile all of our videos will continue to gather dust.

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I took my oldest and youngest dds to Savers today for their %50 off everything sale.  They have them on most federal holidays.  I spent just over $40 which seems like a lot for this very thrifty mama!  How'd we do?  With $40 we got: 

For the family: a VCR since our old one is broken

For oldest dd: a skirt, a pair of khaki chinos, a pair of black cargo pants, a cute t-shirt, a bowling type shirt, a pair of pajama pants and a snazzy hat

For oldest ds: 2 pairs of pajama pants, 1 solid blue short sleeve dress shirt and 1 print short sleeve dress shirt.

For middle dd: a pair of thermal underwear type pajamas in pink and blue stripes and a storage case for her Barbies

for youngest ds: a Fisher Price little people trash truck (complete with sound effects) and a pair of nice fleece pajamas

for youngest dd: a stuffed Junior Asparagus and a bib.

for Mom: a wallet, a pair of navy blue chinos and a pretty pink diaper bag.

 

 

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I'm running way behind on my gift construction!  I think that my gifts will be arriving late.  I comfort myslelf with the knowledge that late gifts extend the fun of Christmas a few more days!  Since all of my recipients will have plenty of gifts without mine I am trying really hard to not stress!  I was planning on finishing up my nephew's gift today but then I remembered that I'm going to the chiropractor today.  This will be my first visit with one.  It's free so I figured I'd give it a try.  With a 27 pound weight loss and a fairly new excersice routine, my body is changing and I'm achy quite often.  My dh sees Dr. Rice and is very happy with his care.  As a bonus they're also friends.  I hope it goes well!

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I got a strange package today.  It was from my grandparents in MI, which isn't the strange part, lol.  Inside the small box were two ziploc baggies.  One had cowboys and Indians, a knight and a hot wheel.  the second baggie had little cows, horses and a post it note that said, "For Judith."  That was all that was in the box.  No note, no explanation.  My son, Matthew claimed them and now they're safely ensconced in his bedroom.  He was excited by the surprise. 

I worked on getting more of Sarah's birthday dress cut out.  I have all of the pinafore pieces cut out and some of the dress.  I cut out the top part of the dress on Sunday but realized this afternoon that the fabric isn't going to work.   The pinafore fabric is red and white plaid with white daisies on it.  I was using an unbleached muslin (an ecru color) for the dress.  Major clashing, lol!  I dug out some white muslin and I'll get it washed and pressed tonight.  It should only take me about an hour to finish cutting out the pieces once I have that done.   I hope it doesn't take me long to sew it up!  Her birthday is on the 22nd and I have other stuff to do in preparation for Thanksgiving. 

I also did three loads of laundry today.  My next project is getting it all folded and put away.

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Elections are over for another year and the results are disappointing but not surprising.  Some surveys indicated that 1 out of every 4 "values" voters were planning on staying home from the polls.  If we don't vote then who is making the decisions for us??   Thanks to sweeping changes in legislatures all over the USA, our right to homeschool our children is at risk.  The NEA and state teacher's unions poured millions of dollars into this election to help defeat pro-family and pro homeschooling candidates and it worked.  We'd better start taking our responsibilities seriously.  It's past time to work hard and pray harder for revival in this nation.  CO is still reeling from the revelations of now fired Pastor Haggard.  Focus on the Family gets calls every day from pastors who are addicted to pornography.  Perhaps it's time to stop worrying over the immorality in the world and start dealing with it in the Church. 

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I haven't really felt up to blogging lately.  It feels like my life isn't terribly interesting to most people.  I just keep plugging along through life trying to trust God and do the right thing.  Like anyone, I have struggles but I also have victories.  God is faithful even when we are faithless.  Dh is slowly gaining a reputation among Louie's customers.  Louie was so impressed with dh's work ethic that he gave him $50.  It's not much but it helps.  Everyday he earns more tips and soon, he will be doing table massages that actually pay.  I've started making new effort to sell Tupperware.  A teller at the Credit Union asked me for a catalog when I deposited my tiny check.  I will be working as an election judge on election day to bring in a little extra cash.  I finished Amanda's blouse and have started cutting the strips for quillows I'm making for Christmas.  The design uses log cabin blocks to produce a woven color effect.  I cleaned up my sewing area Sunday so that I would have space to get started on Christmas projects.  I'm going to sit and make a list and organize my projects.  I'm still working on the smocking for Sarah's birthday dress.  I think I've got the smocking figured out so it should go fairly quickly now.  School continues to progress.  I'm still a bit discouraged that we couldn't buy all of the curriculum we needed but hopefully they'll catch up on the missing subjects fairly quickly once we have what we need.  

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I won second place in the Loni's Christmas craft contest!   I'm getting a $25 gift card for bed bath and beyond or Olive Garden/Red lobster.  I'm really excited!  I can't wait to find out which one I'm going to get (the 1st prize winner gets to pick first and I get the other one).

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Club mom blogger Loni is giving away a gift card to the best Christmas craft project.  Just go to her blog http://joyinthemorning.clubmom.com/joy_in_the_morning/2006/09/contest_homemad.html

for details on the contest!  Here's a link to my gift idea for the babies in your life.

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/juditupp/186690/  It's my post about the taggy blanket.  It's a wonderful way to use up all of those bits of ribbon that are too small to use for much but too big to throw away.  Use fleece, flannel and a silky fabric for contrast.  Make them in different colors and prints.  Babies love them! 

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We're required to have an annual inspection of our house and it was today.  They're inspecting to make sure everything is in good repair and is safe, etc.  There were a few things that didn't really pass so we'll be getting several visits from the maintenence man.  We've never done it before so I wasn't sure how it would go.  It was pretty painless and I'm glad it's done.  Now I'll know what to expect next year.

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Don't get me wrong.  I appreciate the blessing of running water, indoor plumbing and the privacy a 2nd bathroom provides but I hate my shower!!  I decided I'd had enough of the scum in the shower and gave it a serious scrubbing.  It is hard to clean.  I wipe it down  but I can never get it all the way clean.   It's tiny and has lots of ridges to catch dirt and scum.  It also has lots of rubber gaskets to make it water tight, all of which attract and hold on to dirt like a magnet.  There has got to be a better design for a shower unit.  I'd really prefer a tub/shower combo but beggars can't be choosers.  I will remember this if the day ever comes that I'm remodeling a bathroom!  Phew!  It looks a lot better!   I'm glad it's done!   I've decided that the effort qualifies as a workout for today!!  I spent at least 15 minutes in a squat position scrubbing the floor.  I'm drinking my water and taking a break before I face the next chore.

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One of the amendments those of us in CO will be voting on this fall involves the minimum wage.  It puts an increase in the constitution and requires future increases tied to inflation.  I'm strongly opposed to this idea and so I decided to write a letter to the editor of our paper.  It was published!!  Here is the text of my letter for anyone who cares:

As a member of the "working poor" I would urge everyone to vote no on Amendment 42, the effort to raise the minimum wage. My family was living on minimum wage when the last increase was passed. Immediately my husband's work hours were cut and soon thereafter he lost his job and had great difficulty finding another one. Additionally, the cost of items we purchased went up to reflect the higher cost of workers.

Raising the minimum wage didn't help us then and it will hurt us now. Raising the minimum wage doesn't solve the root problems of families in poverty. It also radically devalues the wages of those, like us, who are slowly scraping their way up the wage ladder. Those who have gained raises and make just slightly more than minimum wage will, essentially, receive pay cuts if Amendment 42 is passed.

There are things that can help the working poor. They take real effort and small financial investments. Things like increasing financial aid programs, assisted housing and GED programs can help give workers the skills to earn better wages. That's real help, not a feel-good proposal designed to make politicians look good. Please vote against Amendment 42 and let's work for real solutions to poverty.