Phone post

So, it's official! I am the worst blogger ever! I always have good intentions and it just never happens. However, last night when I couldn't sleep, I found the key! The key to increasing my posts!! It's the blogger app for my phone!!! Yep! There is an app for that! In fact I'm using it now!! Writing a blog post from my phone!! I'm sure I will blog more! So here's to more blogging in 2013!

Bring it On!

Well, my classes have officially begun.  The past week has been one of great emotion.  I started the week by receiving books and printing notes and syllabuses.  I became very overwhelmed by the step I had taken.  I began to doubt myself and my abilities and truthfully wondered what in the world I had gotten myself into.  I looked at the papers I am going to have to write and realized it has been almost 10 years since I have used APA.  I thought about how smart my husband is and how he will be reading all my discussion answers and 2 of papers and grading them.  I thought about all the things that are going to get in the way of me studying.  However, in His amazing ways, God reminded me over and over that He is in control and He has called me to do this during this time in my life and He will sustain me and give me what I need to bring glory to His name.

Tonight, I posted my first 2 discussion question answers on my class page and it felt good.  God showed up!  He helped me recall all that I had learned through the video lectures and reading I have done the past couple days and it felt good.  I felt smart!! I know that He allowed me to have to tonight to remind me, again, that He's got this!  As long as I follow His plan and work hard what is assigned, His name will be glorified!!  SO, BRING IT ON!!  Bring on the papers, discussion questions, and massive amounts of reading!!  I got this!!  Cause I have GOD on my side!!

I also can not end this post without saying that I have the best husband in the world.  He is excited with me and for me during this time and he has been nothing but encouraging to me.  He told me the other day that is he was glad he had an opportunity to "pay me back" for the years I supported him during school.  God has definitely used him during this past week in more ways than he knows.

like feet of deer

Lately I feel like I have been running around with my head cut off.  I seem to have forgotten which way I am going, and what needs done.  Our schedule this month has been anything but normal.  When the month of April is over, we will have celebrated Princess T's 6th birthday, been out of town as a family two times, seen daddy go out of town 2 times, and Professor and I have had a getaway.  On top of this, my sweet grandma's stress fracture still has not completely healed and so I have been taking her to all her appointments AND (in case that was not enough) my mom had knee replacement surgery (unfortunately I have not been as much help as I would have liked to be - but I have tried very heard to do whatever I can whenever I can).  Needless to say I am starring the last week of April in the face and have no clue how I got here or where the beginning part went.  My house is a disaster, the kids are behind in school (not by much, but still not exactly where I would like to be at this point).  I feel behind in every area of my life and so say I am discouraged about it would be a understatement.  


This morning, I woke up with a horrible headache, which led to me leaving church immediately following LifeGroup and sleeping the whole afternoon.  I feel better (sort of) but worse at the same time.  See, God is moving big time at our church and this morning in Worship HE WAS THERE!!!!!  AND I MISSED IT!!!!  I missed seeing HIM at work!!  Stupid sinuses!!!  I think I might have to cut them out!  On top of that I am awake at 2:45 am, with no hope of sleep anytime soon.  So even though I needed that nap this afternoon, there were consequences!!  


As I laid in bed trying to sleep my mind kept thinking about what had happened at church this morning and how God has placed our family at Colonial Heights for a reason and how thankful I am that HE chose us to be a part of HIS work at CH.  I am not worthy of it all.  I am totally undeserving of it.  In fact, sometimes I think God must be crazy when He looks at me and still chooses to love me and use me to complete His plans here on earth.  I mean, I can't even keep it together when life gets crazy!!  


There are few times when I have felt that God was keeping me awake for a reason and tonight is one.  See, after all these thoughts, I had another one.  In craziness of April, I had neglected the most important thing.  I had decided to be in control and totally pushed God out of His place in my life.  Right there in bed God just comforted me and told me He forgave me but it needed to change.  He wants His place back.  So, I got out of bed and came to the couch.  I began reading in the New Testament (mainly because I am behind on the reading plan our church is doing) and in my head I just kept thinking about Habakkuk.  See, earlier this week, the kids and I learned about Habakkuk and his role in Biblical History and while learning about him I realized I had maybe only read his book once and probably needed to read it again (of course because we are busy I didn't).  So, I flipped over to Habakkuk and began to read.  


Before I say anything else, you need to know. Habakkuk lived in a horrible time. He lived around the time King Josiah was reigning and right before Babylon took over Judah.  People all around him were evil and choosing not to follow Christ.  God was about to allow Babylon to take over Judah as punishment for their disobedience.


Habakkuk starts out his book asking God why in the world God would allow him to see such horrible things.  God comforts him and tells him to be patient, that in time it would end and things would get better.  (Please keep in mind this my paraphrase - for specific wording you can read Habakkuk in your Bible).  By the end of Habakkuk, he is choosing the trust God and he acknowledges that God is all powerful and can do whatever He wants.  Then he writes these verses at the very end....


Though the fig tree does not bud 
   and there are no grapes on the vines, 
though the olive crop fails 
   and the fields produce no food, 
though there are no sheep in the pen 
   and no cattle in the stalls, 
yet I will rejoice in the LORD, 
   I will be joyful in God my Savior.

 The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
   He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
   He enables me to tread on the heights.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

WOW!!!  Did God know what I needed or what?!?!  Isn't He amazing.  He could have led me to read verses about bad things that happen when you disobey, but instead He reminded that He is Sovereign and that if I allow Him to be my strength, He will not only give it to me but He will allow me to step in confidence (like the feet of a deer) and He will lead me to the heights (my high places).  God is so good!  


Thanks for reading my incredibly long post.  I pray that it was an encouragement to you today (or whenever you read it). 

Times Like This....

The Princess has a very hard personality.  None of us in this house understand her!  She does what she wants when she wants and truthfully rarely cares what the consequences are.  However, there are times (that are becoming closer and closer together the older she gets) when I can take a deep breath because I am reminded that God is working in her life, no matter what I see on a daily basis.  This video is of one of those times.  It was taken at Professor's parents' house over Easter weekend.

New Beginnings

Nine years ago I was faced with a big decision.  Professor and I had just moved to Texas.  We were both in school and both working multiple jobs.  It was a very trying time in our marriage and life.  On top of this we found out some very excited, yet scary news, we were going to be parents!  Yes, in January of 2003, only 2 weeks after moving, I found out I was pregnant with Wild Man.  Well as you can imagine, this changed everything!  One big thing it did was to make us painfully aware of the fact that we could not afford or manage both us being in school, with several jobs, and a new born.  So, one of us had to take a break from school.  Since we had moved to Texas for Professor's schooling, and since I was the mom and most of the newborn duties would fall on me, I made the very difficult decision to take a break from school.  Those who were close to me then know how hard it was.  I had never once before then even considered not finishing college.  It never crossed my mind.  In fact, I looked down on those who didn't.  I never understood why people wouldn't go to college if they could.  So, this felt like defeat to me.  I felt like a failure.  I lost some friends (who really in all honesty were not friends) because of my decision.  I had mean things said to me and lots of people began to judge me and look down on me, as I had to so many people.  It suddenly became my mission to finish school at some point just to prove people wrong.  So that I could look at the people who had said, "you will never go back" and say, "I told you so!  Look at me!"

As the years went by and began to really love being a mom and the role God had given me the need to go back to college began to grow faint.  I still had people tell me that it was a bad decision to quit and that would never finish.  However, the older I got and the more in love with God I fell, the need to made people happy or prove them wrong grew weaker and weaker.  Suddenly I found myself in a great place. I was doing things God wanted me to do, not the world.  So, I made another decision.  I decided that if and when I went to back to school, it would be in God's time, for God's glory!  And, if that meant I never went back, then I was okay with that.  Being in the center of God's plan for my life became priority.  I did not care what the world said about me and my education.  After all, I was not going to stand before them when I died!  

As many of you know over the past few years God has been working in amazing ways in my life and one thing He has called me to do is teach my kids at home.  Many of you would be surprised to know that in the state of Mississippi you do not have to have a college degree to to do this.  This was right up my alley.  I love teaching and now I was able to do something I loved and didn't need a college degree!! God is good.  

However, during my research of homeschooling I learned that many states are requiring a degree.  I am sure that MS will be the last one but it became apparent to me that eventually this might be an issue.  About 2 years ago, I began to pray about this.  I wanted to go when it was God's time, not mine, but my heart begin to ache to finish my degree so that if one day MS did make it a law, I would still have the ability to homeschool my children.  

Well after 2 years of prayer God has made it clear that it is time!  I am going back to school!  Not because I want to prove people wrong, but because I want to bring glory to the name of GOD and He has made it clear that I need to do this in order to fulfill what HE has in store for our family in the future.  

I will be completing my degree 100% online.  This will still give me the freedom to homeschool and be the wife and mom God has called me to be.  I will be changing my major from Elementary Education to a Bachelor of Science in Business Management.  Right now I am still in the application process but if all goes well I will begin either at the end of April or in June at the latest.  

I am very excited and can not wait to see how God uses this next phase of my life for HIS glory!!

Happy Birthday Princess!

My word! 6 years has gone by way too fast and my baby girl is no longer a baby!  Sometimes my heart hurts when I think about how fast time is flying!  Princess T entered the world at 7:05 am on April 4, 2006, weighing 7 lbs 6 oz AND she was 4 weeks early!!!  She wanted us to know who was in charge from the beginning!

I have no words to describe how much I love this girl. She is a very challenging child sometimes, but when she is in a good mood she is so fun!  She is at such a fun stage in her life right now.  She has learned to read, which has opened up a whole new world for her!  She loves using big words and pronouncing each word with lots of drama. She lives in her little world where fairies are real and animals talk to each other and to her.  She loves being a "mommy" to her babies and truthfully could careless what her room looks like.  She loves being around people and being the center of attention.  But, the thing I love most about her, is her love for the Lord.  She LOVES learning about God and how He wants her live.  She loves praying and has such a sensitive heart for people who are hurting, even if she doesn't know them.  She loves being at church and reading her Bible.

As I type this birthday post to my princess, I filled with joy and thankfulness for the years I have had with her.  I pray that I have many more years with her and that she will continue to grow into the girl God wants her to be.

Happy Birthday my sweet Princess!!  You are my favorite 6 year old!!!

Gonna Make A Shirt

So, on Friday, Wild Man was playing outside and in the process some how fell and landed in such a way that his knee hit his eye.  He has now been sporting a lovely black eye since and of course everyone wants to know about it (even random people in stores that don't know him), especially his friends and teachers at church.  By the end of the day yesterday he was so tired of people asking him what happened. He is definitely not like the Princess in that area.  He really gets somewhat tired of attention.  Anyway, by the end of the day he was really worn out from telling the story and he was telling Professor and I about his frustration.  These were his exact words (please imagine a 8 yr boy saying this as dramatically as possible)....

"I am so tired of people asking me about my eye!  I am gonna buy a shirt and get our neighbor (he said her name) to monogram on it - 'I hit my eye with my knee!  Please quit asking!'  AND I am gonna put it on the front and back so that everyone can see it, whether they are in front of me or behind me!"

I seriously laughed so hard!  I love his little mind.  And, I somewhat understand his frustration.  However as a mom I love that there are so many people who care about my Wild Man!

On a side note the funniest story we got was from a guy who was working at Hobby Lobby today....He said, "I got lots of black eyes when I was kid...AND I even got some in my 20s!" ......LOL!!!  Not sure I would be sharing that as openly as he was....LOL!!

New Venture

Well, as many of you know I love being a stay at home.  I really do.  There are some days that I might say different, but deep down I get true joy from being with my children.  That being said, one of the things I gave up to do this was spending money.  Last year when Princess T's hair got so long and she began to truly enjoy wearing bows, I decided to learn how to make them (because cute bows are not cheap).  What I discovered was not only could I do it but I LOVED doing it!  It was a crafty outlet for me.  I have played around with the idea of making bows to sale for a while, but never really felt like it was the right time.  Then, this past week I got a crafting nook!!  Its small and in the laundry room, but its perfect!!  As I was organizing my ribbon I realized that once I make one bow out of it, I really have nothing else to do with it, so I figured it was time.  That's right, another venture for me!!  My goal is to sale as people need the bows (customizing it to match outfits), but also to make from what I have to try to sale that way.  I have created a blog to showcase what I have made and am able to do, as well as what I have available for immediate purchase.  The name of my blog is Ribbon Head!  Please take a minute and click on the icon below and visit my crafty site.  You don't have to buy anything but I would appreciate it if you would spread the word.  If you have a blog and wouldn't mind putting my "button" on your blog, please let me know.

Growing Pains

Okay I have a confession....Sometimes when I am driving around town running errands or getting my children from one place to another my mind goes back to when I was in high school.  I think because I grew up driving on these streets, it is so easy for my mind to go back to when I was first driving on them.  I think about life then and what I was like.  I think about the friends I had then and responsibilities (or lack of them) that I had then.  Then, at some point I begin to question why I am driving a minivan and who the kids are that are in the back.  All this goes through my mind in no more than a minute (funny how the mind works) and then one of those precious children says, "Mommy!" and I snap back into reality.  I am no longer 16 and I am not headed to meet my friends at the movie or at Mazzio's after church.  I remember that I am 30 and that I am a mom and that I am most likely headed to the grocery store.  However, I love my life now.  I would not change it for the world! Well, I might change one thing....

I hate that my kids are growing so fast!!  I feel like every time I blink they grow another inch! When Wild Man was born, I remember every mom I knew at the time telling me to enjoy because it flies by!  I remember thinking, "I just want to sleep!  How am I supposed to enjoy it?"  I did enjoy those days for the most part and every one of those moms was right.  It flies!  AND, it seems like every year goes faster.  The kids grow faster.  They learn more and can do more on their own.  Sometimes, I just sit and watch them. I watch them play with each other and with the kids our neighborhood.  I watch them do their school and realize I have two incredibly smart children. I watch them laugh and I laugh with them as much as I can. I know they think I am crazy, but I want to remember these days when they are no longer living in my house.  I want to look back (like I do when I think about their baby days) and have no regrets at all!  I also know that it is my job to teach them to follow Christ and to do whatever He asks.  So, that means one day they will leave.  Thats just the way God wants it.  But until then, I am thankful for everyday I have with them.  I am thankful that God has blessed our family in such amazing ways and has allowed me to stay home with them.  I am thankful that I have a husband, mom, dad, mother in law, father in law, sister in law, brother in law, grandmother, aunts, uncles, and tons of friends who love me for who I am and support our family's decision to give up things this world tells us we need so that I can enjoy these days with my kids, even if it hurts my heart to see them grow. It's a good hurt.  It's the kind of hurt that only leaves growth when its gone.

Isn't that impressing?

My little princess makes me smile so much!!  She has her times where she makes me mad and completely frustrated, but overall she makes me smile.  I love the age she is at right now. She will be six in a few weeks, which is impossible to believe!  She is very independent, but also very dependent at the same time. She can do a lot on her own (and prefers to most times), however, she will curl up in my lap in a heartbeat just to remind me that she does still need me! She loves playing basketball, but would much rather be getting all dolled up and pretending she is a mom to her babies.  She loves using big words, even when she doesn't know what they mean!  For example, when she does or says something that she considers amazing or really smart she will ask us, "Isn't that impressing that I can do that?" She has also learned to read and is trying to figure out why some words sound so different than how they are spelled.  Here is one of my favorite examples....

Princess T: You know mommy, when you spell Ma-Ma it really looks like you are saying Mama.  I think we need to say Maw Maw.  How do you spell that mommy?
Me:  How do you think it's spelled?  (trying to get her sound out words as much as possible)
Princess T: (after saying it a few times..) I think it is spelled M-A-L-L M-A-L-L!

Oh how I love my Princess and her little mind!!  I thank God every day for giving her to me!!

The Dentist

So, I took the kids to the dentist today...for the FIRST time!!  And for another first....Wild Man was the difficult one.  He just does not like new things.  He hates the unknown!!  I guess this is my fault since I am just now taking him, and he is 8.  He didn't mind them cleaning his teeth or even poking at them.  What he hated was having his teeth x-rayed.  You know when they put those things in your mouth and make you bite down, but you feel like they are paper cutting the roof of your mouth....that's what he hated!  To be honest I don't blame him either.  However, he didn't have to be pain about it!  Seriously!!  I felt so bad for the little dental hygienist girl.  She was so sweet, but I could tell she was a little annoyed with his stubbornness, and really not happy when the dentist told her she needed another x-ray done on his teeth.  All in all, it wasn't too bad.  He has 2 cavities that we have to go back and have filled, but for never being to the dentist, I say that's good.  Princess T did fabulous!!  She was extremely cooperative and has NO cavities!!!

We are still alive! I promise!!

I realize that I have just left this blog hanging.  I am sure there are only a few of you that even still read it, but for those who do, we are still alive!

I have had several friends ask me recently where we are in the adoption process, so I thought I would take a minute and just explain where we are and how God is working in our lives.  We still believe that God has called us to adopt 100%.  We in no way doubt that at all!  However, we have really been just in the waiting processes.  We know that God has put us here to wait on Him because we are not patient people.  :)  He needed us to make the first step and just say yes and then be ready for when He said go.  So that is where we are.  Waiting for Him to say go!  What we know for sure is that when it happens it will happen fast and it will happen in a way that in not conventional. What we do not know is age or sex.  We are staying open to what He has for us.  Boy or Girl.  Newborn or Teenager.  I know I have shared this before, but I thought I would share it again.  Please do not stop praying for us.  We know He is in control, but sometimes it is hard to wait.  We have had several friends recently who have brought children home through adoption and because our heart is pulled that way it is hard to see them and not wonder when it will be our turn.  BUT, we KNOW God is in control.  HIS timing is PERFECT!!  So, that is where we are.  Waiting.  Thank you in advance for your prayers.

I will try my hardest to keep this blog going from this point on.  :)