Things have been flowing right along at our house this week. We did have my nephew over for dinner on Monday night, and it was a blast. The kids love having him over, and playing Wii is usually what happens after dinner. It was a great night.
We went to playgroup on Tuesday, and we've started meeting in a local park now that it's warmer. It was great. This park, which I've never been to before, is huge. It has a play area, a baseball field, a huge grassy hill the kids can climb and run down, and a very long walking sidewalk around the whole park. The kids had a blast, and I got to have a nice walk with friends. We are all looking forward to next week. I also cut the guys hair on Tuesday night, and that went o.k. except my clippers broke after Paulie's hair, but before I got Paul's done. That was a bummer. I ran out and got a new set. We still had some money left from the stimulus check, and it's something we use every 6 weeks or so. It was a definite need and investment.
We finally made it to church on Wednesday night! I am so happy about that because we have been trying to go for months. First it was just plain laziness, then we really wanted to go and things kept coming up on Wednesday's that made us have to skip it. Well, this Wednesday did get a bit crazy, but we pushed through it and went and we were blessed. The worship was great, and the teaching was just what I needed to hear. We will be making this a regular thing, and I'm blessed by that. The kids did better than the last Wednesday we went to (which was about 6 months ago when we first started going to this church), but it still wasn't great. Paulie's class was o.k., and besides possibly getting into some boyish mischief, he did fine. Sarah, well, it's a work in progress. She's still making friends, and most of her friends are from the homeschool group, and they don't always go to church at the same times we do. So though some girls will say hi to her, no one includes her in their conversations or the things they are doing. But she truly seems to be o.k. with it, I think it bothers me more than her. She likes the teaching, and says she's fine with going, so go she will. She knows it's completely up to her, and she can come sit with us anytime she wants. I guess it will just continue to take time. But all in all, we were glad we went.
Last night was woman's bible study, and it went well. There was more fellowship after the study this time, and that was a blessing. I got to talk to one of the ladies about the ministries we are stepping up for, and the ones I'm praying about. Though I still don't have friendships that I can just pick up the phone and call these ladies for prayer and encouragement, the friendships are growing. I think we forget how long it truly takes to build friendships, and its not anything we think of until we move to a completely new area. And what's hard is that so many people already have their friends, and don't feel a need to reach out to anyone new. The problem with that is, the new people don't always have any friends, and can't make any if no one wants new friends. I find that a lot out here. People have lived out here their whole lives. They have friendships they've had for years, if not from childhood. And though they are always kind, the deep, bonding type friendships don't easily happen, because they already have them and don't realize that so many woman don't have them. I realize now I was like that in Illinois. I always welcomed new women, included them in things, stuff like that. But I never felt the need to truly get to know them or try to really be in their lives and let them in mine. I had my close friends that I opened up with, and didn't feel the need for more. What I didn't think of was them. That the fact that they were new meant they probably didn't have lots of close friends and could use someone like that in their lives. So I pray that through all of this I will learn and remember that when I see a new woman in the church to not just say hi and include her in things, but to be opened to developing a close friendship with her. She just might be in the position I'm in right now. OK, not sure where that came from, but it's on my heart with what we are going through now. It's not like we have started going to a new church and still have old friends. All our old friends are in Illinois, and we have to start over completely new out here. It's been hard at times and a struggle. But the Lord is faithful to bring people into all of our lives. I pray that the friendships He wants to go deeper grow that way.
Well you are now caught up with our week. If the weather stays clear we will work on the yard this weekend. Our landlord came and turned on the automated sprinkler system, so the grass is growing even quicker now. We bought a lawn mower, but now we have to clean up the yard from the former tenants then mow the lawn and get it looking neat. But it's been windy and wet the past few days, but I think tomorrow is suppose to be in the mid 60's and sunny, so hopefully we'll get it done. We might have my nephew over for dinner tonight, and Paul does his first ushering in church this Saturday night, so we have to get to church early. So it's looking like another busy weekend. I hope you all have a blessed day and weekend.
Oh, our laptop has been sent to Gateway and they should have it by today or tomorrow. So we'll see what happens. I just keep praying they don't find anything else wrong with it, and that it's the cheapest possible fix. I'll let you know what we hear.
My goodness, we had a busy weekend. It was great though, we got a lot accomplished and had some great family time together.
On Saturday morning Paul went to the men's bible study at our church. He really enjoys going, and it gives me time to be lazy on Saturday mornings until he gets home. Once he got home, we were on the run. We went to a used appliance store first and found the perfect dryer for us. It was exactly what I wanted and $50 less than what we budgeted, thank you Lord. It had literally just gotten to the store, so the owner wanted to check it over, clean it up (though it was very clean) and asked us to come back in an hour or so to pick it up.
So we headed off to the thrift store. I love our thrift store out here because it helps troubled youths, it's the only thrift store we'll shop in. We found great cloths. We all got some shirts, and the kids shorts and pj. We don't do real pj's we just find comfortable shirts and shorts and wear those to bed. It was great, some of the cloths were only $1.00. We got tons of cloths without spending tons of money.
We went back and picked up the dryer and headed home for lunch. My nephew was coming over in the afternoon, so we left the dryer on the pickup until he got there. By the time we were done with lunch, Danny was due, so the kids and I went to Wal-mart and did some shoes, socks & misc. shopping while Paul waited at home for him.
While we are in the middle of the kids trying on shoes Paul calls and says the cord to the dryer isn't the same as the plug we have!!! What, isn't there only one type of plug for a dryer? Apparently not. It's 2:45 and the appliance store closes at 3:00. Paul and Dan hop in his truck and try to get there in time. The store is closed, but one guy was still there and gave Paul the right cord for the dryer. Paul asks how much and he says, "Oh, just take it and either bring back the other cord or you can pay $5.00 whenever." Oh, my he is trusting. Of course Paul has never changed a cord on a dryer, but our nephew has. What a praise that Danny knew how to change it out. By the time I got home shopping, I could use my new dryer. And it seems to dry better, so I think it should help with our electric bill.
We went to church Saturday night and then after church went and picked up a lawn mower from the store. We are finally in spring, and today we have capri's and shorts on. We also got the ball rolling on getting the laptop fixed. I am waiting for the box to arrive to ship it back to Gateway. I guess I'll really be excited when I have a working laptop in front of me.
Sunday was an extremely lazy day, and we enjoyed it immensely, especially because it will probably be out last for a long while. I've said before how we go to church on Saturday nights, we'll Paul and I have been praying and we are going to step up and serve at our church, and that probably means serving on Sundays. This is a huge step for us, and not one we take lightly. With out past issues and problems with the other church, we have been very cautious but we feel the Lord has been telling us its time to serve. Neither of us feel called to the children's ministry, but there are so many other areas to serve in our church. Paul is stepping up to serve in the usher ministry and I'm not exactly sure yet what I'm going to do. I will be stepping up to help behind the scenes with this years VBS and I'm stepping up in our homeschool group. I have some other areas I'm praying about, but I'm just not sure. Sarah is also praying about stepping up and being a helper in the younger kids class. So even though I'll get my laptop back, I'm still not sure how much more I'll be on. I'm nervous but excited. We've always enjoyed serving, and besides being burned so badly before, it was always a blessing. I'll let you know how it all turns out.
Sunday night my nephew showed up unexpectedly. He had broken up with his girlfriend and is was a bad break up. He was so sad and hurting, and his mom (my sister) lives over an hour away. He just needed to talk and get his mind off of it, so he came by here. We were so glad he did. We talked a bit, and then did other things to get his mind off of it. He played video games with the kids, and we all pigged out on some sweets. We wanted him to spend the night, but he chose to go home. I think I'll ask him over for dinner today. He doesn't know the Lord, and that is most important, and what we are praying for. But, oh, to be 21 and hurt by your first 'love' hurts so bad. I'm so glad we live so close to him, it was a great night.
Well, that's about it for now. I have some running around to do, and we need to finish up school. I pray you all have a blessed day. Thanks for being so faithful to check on me and read my sporadic entries.
We got our money from the government today! I'm quite excited about that. I've already looked at prices for push lawn mowers, and used dryers. I found one place that sells used appliances, and we'll probably go there, but I wanted to wait for Paul to get home. Most of the money is 'gone' already, but Paul keeps saying we are going to get the laptop fixed. I still don't want to get my hopes up. Right now we're trying to decide if we should send it back to Gateway and pay them to fix it, or take it to the local computer repair shop in town and have them fix it. Sending it to Gateway would be the best, but you know what's holding me back? Lack of patience, if we do get it fixed I want it now. Isn't that bad or what? You know what it's like, you are fine without 'it' (whatever it is), but as soon as you know you'll get it soon it's so hard to wait. But I do think the best thing to do is send it back to Gateway. They'll send the proper packaging material to us and everything. So once we sit down tonight and go through our list of needs I'll know for sure. We have to pay before we send it out, so once I start the order it will be official. I'll let you know what we decide.
Bible study was good last night and we're finally getting some spring weather again. We have to go grocery shopping tonight, plus dryer and mower shopping, though that might wait until sometime this weekend, I'm not sure. I know we have to get some clothes too, plus take our old washer (from the fall when it broke) and the old dryer (if we get a new one) to the garbage dump. Plus, we're having a friend over on Sunday, probably, to watch some basketball. It's Paul's friend and they really like watching it together. So I guess it's a bit of a busy weekend.
Well, Paul just called, and he got off of work early and he's on his way home. So I need to get going, he's taking us out to dinner.
Yes, it's been a long time since I've blogged, sorry. Things are going well, but truthfully, I just don't always feel like blogging, and without the laptop, those feelings are even stronger now. But here is an entry.
So, what's happened this past week? Hmmmm I had a good bible study last week. I am always blessed to be there, and the Lord shows me something new all the time. This past weekend was a great family time, though we didn't 'do' a whole lot. Sarah's new bike had a flat tire, and it took a while to try and get it fixed. We tried two different inner tubes that broke then we just tried to patch it. The patch worked for a while, but then it was flat by Monday. So we got a new inner tube yesterday at an actual bike store, and Paul will work on it this week sometime. Sarah is a bit bummed, but she's using Paul's bike, so at least she has something to ride. Just no family rides for a while.
We are ready to start working on the yard and different things around the house, but the weather isn't always cooperating. We are having more warm days than cold, so that's good. But the wind has been horrible, so we aren't getting much done. I'm not sure we'll do a garden this year anyway. Neither of us are real garden people, and I don't like starting things from seeds and plants get expensive. So, we might just skip it this year, which is fine with me. But we do have some cleaning that needs to be done, plus find a used lawn mower soon.
We are waiting for that government check, and though we can't get a lot of 'fun' stuff, we do have needs that will be met with it. Paul's truck is in the shop today trying to figure out the heating problem he's had all winter. So we have to wait to see what that's going to cost, to know how much we'll have left (if any) from the government money. We are really praying it's not going to be much to get it fixed. But we also need to get a used push lawn mower and a used dryer. So though I do think we'll be able to find those things used and at a good price, it's still more money out of our amount. But like Paul and I keep saying, it's better these things are breaking now, before the money is gone, then after we spent it all. So after those main things, we have some cloths and shoes to buy, and if there is enough left, get the laptop fixed. That would be great, but I'm not putting lots of hope into it. There truly are other things that need to be done first, so we'll just have to see how it all plays out. I do know, if it doesn't get fixed with this round of money, it won't be fixed for probably a year or so. Unless the government wants to give us more money.
We had our homeschool playgroup yesterday, and it was great. I really look forward to the time the moms and I have to chat about life. I got to talk with one of the moms afterward about an issue we've been dealing with in our schooling. Paul and I having been talking and praying about it, and it was just so nice to open up to another homeschool mom. She was so encouraging, and gave us some good ideas. I was completely blessed after that. We also went to the library (after forgetting our books and having to cross town to home to get the books then cross back to the library ), but the kids really wanted to go. We had a good time, got quite a few books, and made it home in time to walk in the house with dad. That felt really weird, almost like we were both working again.
So I guess that is a condensed update of what has been happening in our lives this past week. We have church tonight that we are hoping to make, and I have bible study tomorrow night. The Lord is awesome, and has been showing me so much in this time away from blogland and the computer. I pray you are all having a blessed week.
OK, so lame title, but I'm running out of ideas. I don't want to keep using 'My Ramblings',
I've been having a good week. I'm still mulling over all the Lord showed me at the conference over the weekend. And He's been showing me some new things through that too this week. Not always fun when going through it, but I see the Lord in it all. So I'm a bit tired this week, lots of emotional things, and that always makes me physically tired.
I have woman's bible study tonight, and I'm looking forward to that. It's so the Lord, our study this week is about God's love, exactly what we learned about over the weekend. I love when the Lord puts things together like that. So it's truly been a growing in God's love kind of week. It will be nice to be with my friends again. I am so blessed that the Lord is bringing different ladies into my life. And it's nice that I look forward to our times together. I haven't had that in a long time. Thank you Lord.
Plus I have to share what He showed me this morning. Now, I've 'heard' this for years, my whole Christian life, but it never really sank in until this morning. The bible is the Lord's love letter to me, and I read it to get to know Him. Deep down, I've always viewed it as a 'to do and not to do' list. You know, I need to learn how to act, be, do, I need to learn how to look like a 'Christian'. It truly had turned into reading the Bible just so I knew what to do next, and that the Lord was a task master. In my head I knew that wasn't true. I mean, I've been a Christian for quite a few years, and the Lord is love, right? Of course, I knew that, but it never got into my heart, until this morning. The Lord showed me the Bible truly is a love letter from Him to me and that I read it to get to know Him more. Will I 'change' and start 'doing' things differently, yes, I guess so, but that's not the reason I'm reading it. I'm going to read it to find out more about my Lord and the love of my life. I'm going to try to go into it with an attitude of Him wanting to show Himself to me. It won't be a 'natural' thing for me, by any means. But the Lord is my Lord, and He is my strength and He'll continue to get me through these 'task master' thoughts and realize His love for me. Thank you Lord for never giving up on me.
OK, on to other things going on with us. School has been going better. Attitudes are changing, learning is happening, and seat work is getting done (yes, we are a seat work family and like it ). Though we are flowing nicely, we are still looking forward to summer break. We 'should' school into the 2nd week of June because of the medical issues and the move. But I think we'll probably stop at the end of May like usual. I still, at times, feel rushed. There was never a real free time when we first moved in. So it will be nice to have a few months this summer. We'll start up again in early August.
I'm working on crocheted bookmarks still. I'm making one for Paul now, and I want to make some for some friends of mine. I really like this pattern, and I have fun with it. I just have to find a better 'tail' to make. You know the part the hangs outside the book. Anyway, I don't like the way they say to make it, I want to find another way, then add that tail to this bookmark.
So that's what we've been doing lately. I made more cinnamon rolls this week, and tried making lemon bars, though they didn't really turn out. Well, Paul and Sarah really like them, I don't eat much with lemon so I haven't tried them. But I do know how they are suppose to look, and mine are brown. Yep, the lemon/egg part overcooked bad. I was going to just throw it out, but I know my hubby, and he likes to try everything I make. So I saved them and him and Sarah really like them. I will try them again sometime and try to make them right.
I'm throwing together a non-dairy pizza tonight. We've had to cut way back on dairy, which believe me, for me is so very hard. I use to have cheese in everything, with milk to drink. Not anymore. The Lord is faithful, and He's given me some creativity with changing meals (especially since pretty much all my meals had dairy in it). Plus, He's taken away my desire for it, really. I feel so much better, and less congested. I never knew I was congested until I got away from dairy, anyway. So I'm making some pizza dough in the bread maker, it makes two pizzas. I have some chicken breasts cooking in the crock-pot all day in chicken broth. I'll put some salsa on the pizza dough then cut up the chicken and put that on too. On one of them I'll put some green onions too. There is still a part of me that is crying out for cheese on top of it, but I won't do it. We don't even have cheese in the house anymore, so it's not an option. I do hope it turns out, but either way, I know my hubby, he'll eat it.
Oh, my where do I start? My weekend was so blessed and such a time of growth and fellowship. Let's see if I can do it justice in writing about it.
We had a nice dinner with my mom on Friday night, and then her and me headed off for the conference. Our church is literally about a two to three minute drive from our house, so we were there pretty quick. We got there early because we like to sit toward the front. If I sit too far in back I get distracted with the movement and such of people, I do better up front. We got a nice new book bag, bible study notebook, pen with a highlighter, a small devotional, and some candy mints. I got to introduce her to all of my friends, and they were all very nice to her. I had my friends from my bible study praying for how my mom and I would be together (just like I asked you ladies).
They had a guest speaker, a pastor's wife from a Calvary Chapel in Texas (Calvary Chapel is the church we go to). I had heard she was very sweet and loving, but wow, I couldn't have even imagined. My mom and I were just sitting in our chairs, chatting waiting for things to start and she came right up to us, having never met us before, gave us a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Stared right into our eyes and said hello. I'm not doing it justice, but the love she showed and the acceptance of us was such a blessing. It still brings tears to my eyes. She chatted with us for a few minutes, then went and said hi to other ladies. The conference started and we had such a blessed time in worship.
The topic of the conference was God's love for us, and believe me, I needed to hear every word of it. The first night she was talking about Jesus in a way of us wanting to show Him off like we do a new boyfriend or husband. It was so very sweet, and such a great visual way she described it. The Lord had started to show me months ago that my walk with Him wasn't out of my love for Him, but out of obligation. I read the Word because I was a Christian, and I was 'suppose' to. I prayed because I was a Christian and I was 'suppose' to. Things like that. Well, after the great teaching on God's love, I knew I needed to go up and have some prayer with the ladies that were available for prayer. The issue was, my mom was there. And it's always been a kind of attitude that you don't need to go up for prayer and make things 'public'. I will tell you ladies, I was physically shaking, I was so nervous. I knew, I mean KNEW, the Lord wanted me to go up for prayer, but I kept thinking "What will mom think?" And will she want me to tell her since I told someone else (she doesn't like friends knowing more about me than her). But I also knew the Lord wanted me to go up for two reasons. I needed to make what He has been showing me 'public' in the sense of getting it out to someone else and having prayer over it. And I needed to get past this fear of what my mom thinks. So, shakingly, I stepped past my mom, out into the aisle and went up for prayer. The prayer with the woman up front was so very sweet, and I felt such a weight off of me after that prayer time. Things were fine with my mom and me when I got back to my seat, and she never gave me a 'look' or asked any questions.
We had a great time of fellowship after Friday evening's session, with some desserts they had prepared for us. We also went to the bookstore our church has, and my mom bought me a couple of new books. I always like new books. We also got to talk one on one with the conference teacher after most ladies had left. It was such a blessed time and she encouraged me greatly. Plus I met the pastor & assistant pastor's wives that night too. Then I went home and shared all of it with Paul.
Saturday morning was an early one, and surprisingly my family was up before I left to say goodbye. This time I met my mom at the church, and I got there before her. They had some different breads out for us to munch on. Plus we had met up with one of my friends on Friday night, and she sat with us on Saturday morning. Again, a nice time of fellowship before the conference. The two sessions that day were so great and encouraging, I can't even put it into words. We had a blessed communion time, and truly, I sat and cried for such a long time. I'm not sure why I cried, just a cleansing I guess, but I cried and cried. It was so good and refreshing.
After the whole conference ended, my mom and I were sitting there just chatting a bit. I brought up some of the things the Lord was showing me (that I 'knew' she might have issues with) and how I need to not worry what others will think (not saying her but included the word family). She agreed with me completely!! Yes, I was shocked (though I didn't show it ) but completely blessed at the same time. Though at that point even if she didn't agree with me, it wouldn't have changed anything. The Lord had brought me through some things by then, and her agreeing with me or not, wasn't going to affect me anymore.
Mom decided to stay one more night and hear the teacher's husband speak at church. So we all went out to lunch. Then my nephew, who just moved up to our town, stopped by, and Paul and him did some work on his car. Mom and me went out and did some shopping then she went back to her hotel and rested. We all met up at church that night, and had a blessed evening. I got to introduce my family to the speaker and she just kept encouraging me with all the words she said. Plus we met her husband, who is a great teacher. So all in all it was a great weekend.
I know this entry is so very long already, and I didn't do the conference justice. But just know that the Lord touched me in such a mighty way there, and I am so very blessed I went. Thank you for the prayers. I'm sure I will talk about it more off and on throughout the week. But now it's time to get caught up on all of your blogs. Thanks for sticking through this long entry.
I figured I better get an entry out now, because I know I won't be near a computer to blog until Sunday at the earliest. First, the rest of our week.
It's been going good. Attitudes have been better, and the child we have been working with so hard is actually more advanced in the 'hard' area then we thought. I guess I over helped, and didn't 'push' enough. I've read so much stuff about not pushing them too hard, if they are not getting it, step back, don't do too much. Well, I think I've backed off too much, because now that the child has no choice, no help and has to figure out each thing, they are doing great. And doing work that before they 'couldn't' do and needed help. Ahhh, the sin in us, they learn how to play the game young. If I act like I don't know, mom will make it less hard. And they played the game well. But now, no more games, no more stepping back, we are pushing through. It will be a summer long event, but I believe that they will be more to grade level by the end of summer in this subject. It is a blessing to know that they are more advanced in this subject than I first realized, as it was something that was really bothering us. But now, it's getting better. Thank you Lord.
I had a great time at woman's bible study last night. We are really getting close with each other, and I'm really blessed by them all. Other than that, this week has been normal, school, laundry, cooking, not much out of the norm.
But now for this weekend. My church is having a woman's conference, which is like a woman's retreat, but we are not going away and spending the night anywhere. It's tonight and tomorrow for part of the day. My mom is coming out today and she'll be going with me. She prefers to stay at hotels instead of people's houses, so she won't be sleeping here, but we will be going together. I am really excited about this conference. It's my first it quite a few years, and since I'm not big on traveling right now, I'm glad it's just a conference and not a retreat.
The kids are looking forward to Nana coming out here and are excited to show her all the new things they have, i.e. bikes, Wii games etc... She'll have dinner with us tonight, and then tomorrow we'll all have a late lunch when the conference is over. It will be good to see her again and spend some time with her. I am a little nervous about her and me at the conference together. Nothing bad, but I tend to close up a bit when she's around. And I really want to be opened to the Lord and what He has for me tonight and tomorrow. So if you think about it could you say a prayer for me, that I would be, do, say or whatever the Lord wants me to be, do say this weekend. Regardless of my mom being there and what she might think or say. I'm blessed by my mom, and she loves the Lord, so I'm not saying she would be mean or anything. It's just an issue on my end, and I need to get through it. I believe this weekend is going to be the big step with that. I really could use your prayers.
So, that being said, you now know why I won't be near a computer after this entry. I have to finish up school, go grocery shopping and be back and ready for her to come over by 3:00 this afternoon. That gives me 3 1/2 hours from the time I'm writing this. Thankfully the kids have done great today and school is just about done. The chicken is already in the crockpot for dinner tonight, and all I have to do is finish up my grocery list. I guess I better get to it. I pray you all have a blessed weekend.
I wasn't going to put an entry out today, but I went online to find a crochet pattern and I thought I would put one out real quick. I can't believe how I have no desire to blog. I've had blog block before, not knowing what to blog. Or too busy and having no time to blog, but I've never had a time I didn't want to blog, except for now. I really have lost the desire to put entries out, though I think of all my online friends and I wonder what they are up to, and I know you wonder what I'm up to. So I'll try to put out short entries even when I don't feel like it.
Paulie had a great birthday and our monthly homeschool meeting last night was awesome. We brought Paulie's birthday cupcakes to share, and they were gone by the time the meeting was over. The principle said no school since it was Paulie's birthday, we all liked that one. So today was time to get back into the swing of things, and I will admit it wasn't the best of days. There were lots of attitudes todays and it was quite wearing on me. Paul took care of things when he got home, and things are better, but it still tired me out. Have you ever hit a point where you've helped a child with a subject so much, that you've over helped? Well we have, and now that we are making that child do more work, they are not liking it. We know this is what we need to do, and it will continue all summer, as this child is behind in this subject, but it's tiring at the beginning working on changing the attitude we allowed to grow.
I've had a hard day, one of those days you just want to cry and curl up and not do anything. But we went to homeschool playgroup (which Paul encouraged saying I needed to be around some friends ). He was right, and it was very encouraging. The ladies listened and encouraged me and reminded me that tomorrow is a new day. So we will go at it again tomorrow, and work through any and all attitudes then too. We will keep going with the Lord's strength, and He will guide us through this time. I know things will work out for His glory and our child's blessing. It's just the starting of it that's hard.
I finished my crocheted bookmark with the 'right' single crochet stitch, I don't see much of a difference. But it is nice knowing I did the stitch properly. If I get a chance I'll put pictures out someday, just not today. But now I want to start another crochet project, which I'm looking for a pattern online now. So this is going to be a short entry as I want to read a few blogs, but mainly I want to find a pattern. Have a blessed evening (or day depending on when you read this ).
Wow, where do I start? We have had such a jam packed, fun filled, family time weekend, I'm bummed that it's coming to an end. I've had so much fun, and the weather has been so beautiful that I truly had no desire to put this entry out. Yes, even Paul was shocked. But I do like my new slideshow program, and getting pictures ready is so much quicker, so I figured since that went so quick, I would go ahead and post it.
On Friday the kids again were riding their bikes, the only problem, Sarah's bike got a flat tire. She pumped it up, and within minutes it was flat again. She has an old, used bike, and though I'm not the bike person (Paul is), I didn't think the tires could be fixed. So I let her use my bike until dad got home. The verdict, can't fix them, and with the age of the bike, it was better to get her a new one. Again, the Lord had blessed us with some extra finances so this was a possibility. We were all wanting to go on a family bike ride now that Paulie knows how to ride his bike. But Paul's bikes were old racing bikes that needed lots of work. So with this extra money we decided new bikes were on the list.
That started our Saturday. After Paul got back from men's bible study, and of course the kids were outside riding bikes we decided to head to Wal-mart and look for bikes for Sarah and Paul. We were definitely getting Sarah one, and if we could find a good deal, we would get Paul on too. When we got there we immediately found a bike for Sarah on sale. We looked at a few more but realized the sale bike would work the best. That left enough money for us to look for a bike for Paul. We found a really nice one, and after getting a new tire pump and a couple of other things we headed home. Both bikes needed their tires inflated a bit more, so with our new tire pump Paul started working. Only the tire pump broke after one bike. Paul runs back to Wal-mart exchanges it for another one, and comes home to try again. This time after one tire it breaks. So we used our old one and finished with the tires, and I would go exchange and get a different brand next time. We also got the attachment so we could blow up the basketball, soccer ball and other balls in the garage.
After that was all done we went on our first family bike ride, ever. I don't have pictures of it, of course, but it was great. I had a smile on my face the whole time. We went through neighborhoods, for probably about 2 miles. We all just had so much fun. The kids loved it, and it was great getting outside together. Oh, I guess this is a good time to mention, we've been in the 50's and 60's all weekend. Perfect outdoor weather.
Paul grilled dinner for us on Saturday, then church Saturday night. Church was so great, the Lord again used the pastor's message and the worship and it touched me greatly. It was also great to see some friends. We all got to bed late that night and slept in on Sunday.
Again the kids were out riding bikes early. At this point, well actually on Saturday we had to start using sun block. The kids started to get quite red out in the sun. I baked Paulie's cupcakes, then we headed to the restaurant Paulie picked for his birthday lunch. It was a buffet and we were stuffed at the end. When we got home we frosted and put sprinkles on Paulie's cupcakes, then sang happy birthday and Paulie opened his gifts. Obviously he got his bike from us, some money from Grandma and a new Wii game, Endless Ocean, from Nana and Grandpa. Endless Ocean is so great, it teaches them all about Coral Reefs, fish, the ocean, lots of things. Paulie is having a great time with it.
We went for another family bike ride this afternoon. Truly, we had to. I was sore from the ride yesterday and my muscles needed to be used again. And I don't care what people say, riding a stationary bike and a real bike are not the same. I was so much more sore and tired after a real bike ride, and I try and ride my stationary bike about 4 days a week. It was no where near the same. But it was great no matter what.
So now we are in for the night, all cleaned up and playing Paulie's new Wii game. He has one more present to open tomorrow morning, on his actual birthday. We are all worn out and tired, but blessed. The Lord is so awesome, and His blessings are so great. Here is a quick slideshow of our weekend.
I spent most of the day in the kitchen, and I'll be going back in a bit to make dinner rolls. The family was missing my homemade snacks we've had around the house the past few weeks, so I had to do some baking today. I made cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip pan cookies, muffins and the dough for the dinner rolls is in the bread maker right now. I've never made these dinner rolls before, I'll let you know how it goes. Sarah had quite a bit of 'home ec' today, helping me out in the kitchen.
The kids are outside right now riding their bikes (like Paulie would be doing anything else ). Paulie was having such a hard time getting through the day. Plus, when we woke up there was a dusting of snow on the ground. So at first it didn't look like there would be much bike riding today. But by this afternoon it's partly sunny and around 40. So outside they ran to enjoy the weather and ride on their bikes. We are suppose to get up to the 60's in a couple of days. I so hope that the weather man is right, the first 60's of the season, it would be great.
Now, here is an embarrassing yet funny thing I realized last night. OK, you know the bookmark I made that I'm giving Paulie, right? Here's a picture of it.
I used variegated thread, so it's hard to see each exact stitch, but the first and last row and the edging is mainly single crochets. I think I mentioned that I picked up some books at the library about crocheting and cross-stitching. I'm looking through the books, trying to find some designs and such. I look at the 'how to's' on making a single crochet stitch. I read it and re-read it, not really believing what I saw. I've been doing the single crochet stitch wrong this whole time. So I call my mom to see if I was reading it right. She agrees that yes, I have been doing the stitch wrong (with a little chuckle in her voice ). I'm not even sure how long I've been doing it wrong. I'm sure at one point in time I was doing it right, but not for a long time. I even remember when I was showing Sarah a crochet design recently I was showing her the single crochet stitch. She asked me if that was the right way to do it, and I said yes. See, my aunt, her great-aunt, taught her how to crochet, so she knew what I was doing it wrong. But since mom said it was right, she believed me. The funny thing is, the bookmark actually looks good with my made-up stitch in it. I'm sure somewhere the stitch is called something, though I have yet to find if the stitch I made up was a real stitch. So around here we are calling it the JoAnn stitch.
I had to share an embarrassing moment with you all. I am starting another bookmark, which I had planned to do before I found out I was doing the stitch wrong. I actually want one for myself, but this time I'm doing the stitch 'right'. I want to see what the difference between the two bookmarks are. If I can show the difference in a picture I will.
So that's been my day and I have woman's bible study tonight. I'll take a baking break tomorrow, then bake Paulie's cupcakes on Saturday. I hope you are all having a great and blessed day.
This blog is so I can share my journey with the Lord, my journey as a wife and mother, and my journey as a homeschool mom. I pray that you will see the Lord in my life through happy and sad times, and that this blog glorifies the Lord.
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That was a bummer. I ran out and got a new set. We still had some money left from the stimulus check, and it's something we use every 6 weeks or so. It was a definite need and investment.
I am so happy about that because we have been trying to go for months. First it was just plain laziness, then we really wanted to go and things kept coming up on Wednesday's that made us have to skip it. Well, this Wednesday did get a bit crazy, but we pushed through it and went and we were blessed. The worship was great, and the teaching was just what I needed to hear. We will be making this a regular thing, and I'm blessed by that. The kids did better than the last Wednesday we went to (which was about 6 months ago when we first started going to this church), but it still wasn't great. Paulie's class was o.k., and besides possibly getting into some boyish mischief, he did fine. Sarah, well, it's a work in progress. She's still making friends, and most of her friends are from the homeschool group, and they don't always go to church at the same times we do. So though some girls will say hi to her, no one includes her in their conversations or the things they are doing. 
What, isn't there only one type of plug for a dryer? Apparently not. It's 2:45 and the appliance store closes at 3:00. Paul and Dan hop in his truck and try to get there in time. The store is closed, but one guy was still there and gave Paul the right cord for the dryer. Paul asks how much and he says, "Oh, just take it and either bring back the other cord or you can pay $5.00 whenever." Oh, my he is trusting. Of course Paul has never changed a cord on a dryer, but our nephew has. What a praise that Danny knew how to change it out. By the time I got home shopping, I could use my new dryer. And it seems to dry better, so I think it should help with our electric bill. 
We also got the ball rolling on getting the laptop fixed. I am waiting for the box to arrive to ship it back to Gateway. I guess I'll really be excited when I have a working laptop in front of me. 
Isn't that bad or what? You know what it's like, you are fine without 'it' (whatever it is), but as soon as you know you'll get it soon it's so hard to wait. But I do think the best thing to do is send it back to Gateway. They'll send the proper packaging material to us and everything. So once we sit down tonight and go through our list of needs I'll know for sure. We have to pay before we send it out, so once I start the order it will be official. I'll let you know what we decide.
I will try them again sometime and try to make them right.
We also got to talk one on one with the conference teacher after most ladies had left. It was such a blessed time and she encouraged me greatly. Plus I met the pastor & assistant pastor's wives that night too. Then I went home and shared all of it with Paul.
But it was great no matter what.
