Ho hum.

How on earth is it April 29th already?!?!?!?!? I can NOT believe time has flown by so quickly. This past Sunday we were blessed immensely by a lady in our church, Terri. She is wonderful and is giving Jasmine riding lessons. It is amazing because it’s not just about learning how to ride the horse but learning how to handle the horse. Dollar, the horse, was a little wound up when we got there, but Jasmine was able to learn so much so quickly. Dollar’s back was bothering him so Terri used the English Saddle for Jasmine to ride and she did AWESOME! Jasmine had such control over dollar that it was crazy. She really impressed both me and Terri.

We are working on the master bath. It’s only taken 10 months, but that is still quicker than some projects that we have started. ;-) I’ll post some pictures of before and after once we get it done. We are tiling tonight and the jacuzzi tub will be delivered tomorrow. Brad and I are having some difficulties seeing eye to eye on the wall tile for the tub/shower and for the vanities. Ugh. I know we will figure it out soon, but until then....

Today the girls are doing the associational drill for Bible drill. I am so proud of them! They are learning so much scripture that it is crazy! They can get to the books of the Bible in no time at all and they enjoy what they are learning. This year, Jasmine did better at our church drill than she did at state last year!!! We have state drill on Saturday and then we are going to do another church drill during service one Sunday in May.

I think I have our curriculum for next year picked out. Now it’s just a matter of putting it all together and getting it ordered. I’m so excited for the kids---3 weeks and we are DONE!!!! I know they are super excited too!!! Alrighty, off I go...until next time!!!

So I said...hey....what's going on?? :)

I said, Hey...What’s going on???? :D

It’s been quite a whirlwind lately. God is up to something in our family and I’m anxious to see what it is! This past Sunday we had the privilege of voting in a new pastor for our church, The Church at Avon. It was a very exciting time for our church. Our new pastor and his wife have 3 boys and God has really blessed our church with this family.

As of today, we have ONE month left of school! ALL of us are ready for school to be over for the year. I have decided that we are going to do a little switch-a-roo next year. We are sticking with the Alpha Omega Publishers, but changing the curriculum. We’ve been using Switched-on-Schoolhouse, but next year we will use a combination of Horizons and Lifepacs. Haeley and Jasmine will use the Lifepacs exclusively. Gabe and Justin will use a combo of Horizons and Lifepacs. I’m excited for the change. Switched-on-Schoolhouse is a wonderful program, but just not the right fit for our family. We only have one computer for school and Haeley, Jasmine, and Gabe all have to cycle through the computer throughout the day. I look forward to sitting down at the table next year with all the kids and doing things as a family. I look forward to the time to help and teach the kids more in that aspect. I do not however look forward to grading and the record keeping. Ugh. Oh well, that’s all a part of it, right?

We’ve had our share of bonfires this spring. The yard is getting cleaned up rather nicely and the kids are loving their hot dog roasts, and s’mores. Any ideas on what else we can roast??? I’m OVER hot dogs. I love sitting by my man out at the fire. I love getting to talk with him and hearing nature’s nightlife. The only downside to spring being here has been the allergies. I really think Justin is fighting some serious allergies. It’s been going on for a good 2 weeks now and he is just miserable. I hate it for him. I’ve had a bit of a spring cold. We have allergy testing scheduled for Justin in May. Then a week later we have Gabe’s testing too. I know that it is going to be a very difficult thing to watch and do, but I pray that we get some answers for these little guys. I’m pretty confident we have some food allergies---rather, food sensitivities with these two. Time will tell.

Since my last post, I still have maintained a healthy relationship with Facebook. It’s still there and I still visit it on occasion, but it is not the time hogger that it was in the past. I can’t believe that a month ago we were in Costa Rica. If I could go back and do things over again, Costa Rica would still happen. Brad and I had such an amazing time and the Lord really used that time to speak to the two of us on our relationship with each other and Him. My time in the Word has been stronger since we have been back from Costa Rica and my desire to be in the Word has been stronger. All I know was that while in Costa Rica God worked a mighty wonder in my life with Him and my family. I find myself truly appreciating most moments now. I do love being Mom. I love where God has placed me and I desire to serve Him better.

Thank you Lord for my family. Thank you for your wisdom. I thank you for blessing Brad and I with our trip. I do not ever want to forget all that you taught me in that time. I thank you for re-aligning my priorities and for drawing me closer to You. Lord I thank you for our friends and our church family. I pray your hand of blessing on this time of transition and I pray for an understanding heart from the current church of our new pastor. I love you Lord. Amen.

Facing Facebook

So, it’s no secret that I have had an addiction of sorts to Facebook. When I first signed up for it I was not quite sure what it was and I didn’t do much with it. Then I discovered the joy and fun of Facebook. And the more time I spent on Facebook, the more I was getting hooked on it. I enjoyed hooking up with old friends and keeping tabs on my family. I enjoyed looking at everyone’s pictures and seeing how they were doing in their lives. Then I got introduced to the games. First it was Bejeweled Blitz. Then Farkle and FarmTown. Soon after that it was Restaurant City, Cafe World, and FarmVille. Even with the similarities of the games they were so different in many different aspects. I was never playing more than three at the same time ( I know that still is a lot ) and I would talk with my other gaming friends about the differences and so forth. I would find myself seeing at all hours of the day what my friends were doing on FB and I would have to go check it out. I found myself spending more time on FB than I would like to admit. There were days when I was embarrassed at the amount of time I spent there, but it was my escape when the kids were frustrating me. It was my little escape from life. However, my escape from life began taking over my life.

This was not entirely clear to me until just recently. Brad and I enjoyed a glorious nine day vacation in Costa Rica with our good friends, Steve and Lettie. While in Costa Rica I received that escape from life that I had so desperately been seeking through my time on FB. And I also received something else. And amazing epiphany from my Lord! I do not need the games on FB. I do not need FB. I need one thing and one thing only---Him. While I seeked my escape from the games on FB, the status updates, and the pictures I missed out on the big picture. My escape needs to be in prayer and in the Word. Not the words of others’ status updates. Don’t get me wrong, FB is not the problem. I was the problem. I was allowing FB to take priority over too many things. My house suffered, I would be willing to say my kids suffered, my relationship with Brad suffered, but most importantly, my relationship with my Lord and Savior suffered. Upon this realization I promptly turned off the applications on FB that I had been using. I don’t need them.

When I started FB’ing I quit blogging. I love blogging. I love writing stories of my kids and my family. I love having that collection of thoughts to go back to and read over on those days when yesterday seems so far away. So, as I write this I know in my heart that while I will stay on FB and keep up with people, but my focus, my concern will not be there. My focus is on the prize. I will press on in life towards a more intimate relationship with my Lord. I desire to be closer to the Lord, closer to my man, and closer to my children. I pray that as I embark on this change (even if it seems silly to some of you) in my life that on the tempting days I will put that temptation at the foot of the cross.

Love to all!