Connecting

Again, it’s been a while and this post will probably be short. Depends on how long our newborn decides to sleep this time around. :-)  

When I look back, my pregnancy seems to have gone very quickly but I do remember the long days of discomfort and feeling like a whale. The newborn days are passing quickly but some nights they seem to be dragging on forever. I can’t believe our little I is already 17 days new.

During the long nights, you’ll find me on my phone wondering around my google reader app and different blogs. I’m searching. Searching for community and connections during this lonely time in the middle of the night. It’s so helpful to know and be reminded that these days will pass ever so fast and I will actually miss them. It’s also helpful to know that I’m not alone in this journey of newbornhood. I’m thankful for the vast world wide web and all bloggers that share so willingly and openly.

Do you have a favorite blog that encourages you? What tips might you have for a mom of 3 boys?

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Fruit of the Spirit

God has been working on my heart, very diligently. He is trying to teach my stubborn heart and mind. This particular lesson is about gentleness. Gentleness in my voice, in the way I move about my day, and in how I treat family members.

I think, for many of us, we can treat strangers better then our own family a lot of the time. At least, that is my experience. Those that I live with on a daily basis get the worst end of the deal. I’ve known and have felt that this should surely not be the case. My family should get my best. The thing is, that is difficult for me.

I never saw gentleness modeled in my immediate family while growing up. I grew up in a house full of yelling, negativity and many put downs. I was never good enough. While I try, of my own power, to be gentle, it only lasts for a very short time. Then, I fall back on what is familiar and “normal” for me. The thing is, I don’t want this normal for my little family. I have never wanted this to be normal for my family.

God has been working tirelessly on me for several years now. After all this time, it’s starting to sink in. Gentleness. Softness. Quietness. These are the desires of my heart for my family. Discipline can be, and should be, done with a gentle quiet tone that is firm yet full of love.

I am thankful for a God that chases and never gives up. He wants this for me. He wants this for my family. I know I can’t do this for myself but He can in me. Oh how thankful I am!

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Not faithful to blogging

That’s right. The title is correct. I’m not a faithful blogger. I’ve wanted to be, even dreamed of being a faithful blogger but it has yet to happen. I’ve even set up schedules on my daily calendar of topics and fun things to share. Alas, it doesn’t happen as I hope and plan. Life gets in the way. Something about raising 2 active boys and fitting in crafting whereever I can along with other life demands.

This is a good outlet though and I do plan on sticking around. I think I have 1, maybe 2 readers – lol. It’s all good though because I didn’t start blogging to be world famous or anything of the sort. I enjoy a good blog post and wanted to try and do the same, or at least just share about life in my little corner of the world.

I have news to share but want to keep that for another post. I need to take some quiet time and write without distraction.

Meanwhile, I’ve been back at working on quilt tops for the foster care system. I’ll be sharing a lot more on that in the very near future also. The big thing is, I’m back to crafting! It feels so amazingly good!!

We’ve been enjoying some fantastic weather here too. I need to download pictures from the camera to share of my crazy boys and all the fun we’ve been having.

Have you been having wonderful early spring weather? How have you been enjoying it? Anything crafty going on in your house? I hope you’ll share!!

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Coming back

Back in the swing of things around here and it feels good! :-D I’ve started getting my house back in order. We’ve been living at bare minimum care for the last few months. I started with my kitchen yesterday. I’m going to finish it today and work on the homeschool area next.

I got back to sewing too! I finished the queen sized quilt top. YAY! Now I have to sandwich it, quilt it and bind it. WOOHOO! In the mean time, I have planned out 4 foster quilt tops. That was a lot of fun to do. I hope to being cutting one top today. We shall see how the day goes.

I’m eager to get back to scrapbooking. I’ll probably dive into that tomorrow night as Saturday nights are the usual night that I scrap. YAY!

Otherwise I’m enjoying the fine (rather unusual) weather with the boys. I’m also truly enjoying being back to “normal”. YAY!!

Oh, and the pregnancy is progressing well. We find out if this little one is a boy or girl on April 9th.

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On the upswing!

I’m thankful to say that it seems my morning sickness (all day sickness) seems to be on the way out. This is a very good thing. I’m thinking I can get back to living. Now all I have to do is recover my house from the choas that has been created in the last 3 weeks of me doing the very bare minimum. This will take time because I still don’t have all the energy in the world. I am not complaining though. These are simply the realities of this pregnancy.

My problem is; where do I start? How do you get your house back on track after a season of sickness or extreme busyness?

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Happy New Year!!

I’m so excited about 2012!! I love new fresh beginnings which I believe we have every single day. There is something about a whole new year though. There will be one big change for our family with the addition of a child but otherwise, I don’t know what is in store for us.

Do you do resolutions for the new year? I don’t know if I do resolutions but I have goals. I’m going to post them. I’m hoping for some accountability here. :-)

These are not in any specific order.

*Be intentional about spending time with my children
*Get my household dailies done
*Have intentional quiet time with my husband
* Mail out birthday cards on time
* Drink 8 glasses of water a day
*Complete one crafting project a week
*Have specific quiet time with God everyday
*Blog at least twice a week

I think this list is good. I have to remember that I am pregnant. My expectations can’t be too high but I think these are reachable goals.

What are you working on in this new year?

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News!!

Well there is big news around this house! The best Christmas present ever was given to our family yesterday! We found out that we are expecting an addition to our family in August sometime! WOOHOO!!!

Joshua wants a boy. He’s not so sure about a girl. Matthew doesn’t get it but we are going to prepare him like we did Joshua. We shall see how this all progresses.

I am doing well. The morning sickness is here. I am having an aversion to steak again. I did that when I was pregnant with Joshua. I have been craving Jimmy Johns sandwiches. They’ve been mighty tasty lately.

Well, must go tend to the needs of my littles. I’ll be back to share more soon, I hope!

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Oh dear me!

Well, again – there has been silence. I don’t know if I have any readers left. Even if I don’t, that’s ok. I’ll just write what’s on my mind anyway. :-)

Things haven’t been overly busy. Having 2 children under 6 years old is busy in and of itself. I’ve had church commitments also but nothing too time consuming in reality. I like to procrastinate so those things do end up consuming a lot of my thoughts though.

Christmas hasn’t felt real this year. There have been glimspes here and there. Christmas isn’t settling into my heart though. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy. My husband is home, my boys are both healthy and we are blessed beyond measure.

I finally started working on getting Christmas cards written out and prepared to mail. I’ve had a struggle with getting our photo insert done. I really need some lessons on photoshop. I thought it be easy to create a 4×6 template then drag and drop photos in. Not.so.much. LOL! Then, when I finally did succeed after my husband intervened, (So thankful for him!!), the place where I had them printed messed them up! I ordered 75 of these things and only could use 10 of them. The rest had some sort of red on them in varying degrees. Such as just the edges or all over the center. It was so odd! I have to say the photo lab was quick to respond on the phone. They’ve got my order reprinting, for free, as we speak.

Otherwise, I still need to clean the kitchen up and prepare for the Sabbath. Then, I need to start considering Christmas cookies and what I’ll actually make this year. We’ll see on that one.

How has your Christmas season been this year? If anyone is reading, I pray you are having a very fabulous Christmas season with fun plans for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

Merry Christmas!!

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Around

Yes, I am around but not as much as I’d like. We are settling back into more normal routines here in our home. It’s nice to be able to say this again. I have plans to make more of an effort to blog regularly. I will be putting goals into place and such.

Until then – I am happy and getting settled in for a nice holiday season with my whole immediate familly around me. This is very good.

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Blogging fail

Well – yes, that is what has happened. I have failed my mission of blogging for 31 days. There has been sickness of body and soul here in this house of mine. Sickness in body now for a week.

The sickness of soul has been creeping on. Why this time apart has been so much harder then the rest, I am unsure. What I am sure of is the battle. This battle is raging. The outcome is known but the battle still has to be fought for each living soul. We are in the midst of the battle. Right now, it takes all of my energy to stop fighting and start relying on the One who has fought and won. God is good and He knows the depth of this battle. He knows the cause and He has the answers. I just need to stop trying to do it on my own.

If you pray – please pray for us. Little and big souls in this house need patience, grace, mercy and above all, love.

These things have been my focus instead of blogging, instead of blog reading. I must prioritize in a special way right now.

Thank you in advance for your prayers. Thank you in advance if anyone comments.

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