I don’t know what happened to me yesterday. Suddenly I was completely overwhelmed with the MANY things I have to do over the next six weeks or so. Between room mom duties for Jesse’s class, the impending foster children’s arrival, getting myself, my family, and my house ready for the holidays, and the HUGE task of making a new 2010 nursery rotation for church…I’m just about to lose my mind, wet my pants, pull my hair out, a little stressed. On top of all of that, this is what I came home to last night:

That is not me! I’m the girl who cleans WHILE I cook. I HATE going to bed with a dirty kitchen, or dirty ANYTHING for that matter! My house smells like…yuckiness. I can’t put my finger on the smell, but I don’t like it. Would you like to know what gave me a ‘silver lining moment’?

This:

My lonely, clean, Christmas dish towel. Yes, I already have a few Christmas things out and this dish towel just might have saved me from a total meltdown last night.

Needless to say, after taking Jess to school this morning, I came right home and tackled that pile of dirty dishes. It only took me about ten minutes to clean up the whole kitchen. Now I feel much better (except for the dish-pan-hands), it’s given me a jump start to the other things I need to do around the house, and I learned my lesson from over-planning yesterday!

I don’t think we have anything planned for the weekend, and I’m looking forward to making my weekend to-do list and getting lots of things accomplished. My office, in particular, is in desperate need of sprucing up. My school items have gotten terribly disorganized, I’m way behind on my filing, and there are plenty of things in the office that simply DON’T belong there!

Okay, I think that’s enough for one post.

Have a great Tuesday! OH MY GOSH, I almost forgot to mention, MY BEST FRIEND IS DELIVERING HER TWINS TOMORROW!!! I can’t wait!!! Josh is going to work early and coming home at lunch so I can go be with Ashley at the hospital. PICTURES, PICTURES, PICTURES! Please pray for Ashley tomorrow. Both babies are head down and she’s praying for a vaginal delivery with no complications and two healthy babies! Not too much to ask from a BIG GOD!

Love ya’ll!

~audrey

Thanks a lot. Now I’m mildly obsessed with Picnik and my husband had to pry my fingers from the mouse on Friday so I would make supper. lol!

I will say, while I was playing with my pictures, my hubby and the boys were waist deep in a hole they dug out back. They made tunnels and bridges and “mountains” for their hotwheels. I took a few pics. I love having boys and watching Josh transform back into a little boy when they do stuff like this together. So sweet.

Josh had his car parked at the top of this ‘cliff’ and he said, “Hey boys, tell Mommy what this place is.” The boys replied, “that’s where you park your car and kiss your wife!” HAHAHA! Some things never change. But at least he emphasized WIFE. 🙂

Jesse was definitely in his own little world, making engine noises, talking to his car, and occasionally getting ‘stuck on the dirt road.’

It’s so fun seeing the world through their eyes.

Happy Monday everyone! Let’s get stuff done today! Set that kitchen timer and start tackling some projects. Get the house back in order from the weekend…I know mine needs it!!

~audrey

I LOVE, love, love pictures. I’m certainly not a “photographer”, but I love taking pictures of my friends and family and mildly editing them, usually on Picasa 3. I know that my best friend, who IS a professional photograher, has used Picnik in the past to create Christmas card graphics, do minor editing, etc, but I had never checked it out for myself.

My sweet blogger friend from Chatting at the Sky had a before and after picture that she had edited on Picnik and challenged us to try it out for ourselves.  The picture I chose is of my sweet little niece.

Before:

After:

Pretty awesome huh?  The best part is, I did this using the FREE version!  Check it out!

~audrey

We are all stewards. Some of us are good stewards, some not so good. Most people think of stewardship in terms of money, but it can really be applied to much more than that. I learned a lot about myself when our family did our one week fast from television and computer. I was absolutely amazed at how productive I was that week. I went from one thing to the next without even thinking about it and rarely did I stop, sit, and do nothing like I would have if I’d had the TV on. It showed me that I am regularly a bad steward of my time at home.

I was reading 4 Little Men and Girly Twins and someone did a guest post a few days ago, asking readers for monetary help for Brittany and her family (the blogger of 4 Little Men…).  Her story is heart wrenching, but I was shocked at the number of people who chose to leave cruel and hideous comments.  People accused her of wasting her money on fancy, expensive clothing for children (which they didn’t realize had either been given to them for free or purchased at a thrift store) and spending too much money on groceries so her family could eat organically (when in reality, they haven’t eaten organically in months).  But the bottom line is, it’s none of their business.  No one was forced to donate money to her family.  Brittany and her husband did not choose, nor did they expect, to be unemployed with six children to clothe and feed.  People even made comments like, “you should think about these kinds of situations before you choose to bring six children into the world!”  That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard.  When you are in a situation like they are in currently, it really doesn’t matter if you have one child or seven children.  No money is no money.  It only takes an extra dollar to feed six children  rice and beans. 

I know without a doubt that the Lord is going to provide for this family.  God’s word says we reap what we sow, but that doesn’t mean every hard time is the result of bad choices.  Often, it is a test of faith, and we are given the opportunity to stay focused on our Ultimate Provider, or on our current, fleeting circumstances.

The bottom line is, we ALL go through seasons of being in need at some point in our lives.  Whether it is a need for money, love, relationship, mercy; it’s all the same to God.  He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.  What is too big for Him!?  His mercies are new every single morning.  Each morning we’re given a new opportunity to be good stewards of our money, our time, our words, our talents. 

Next time you find yourself saying, “there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done!”, stop and think about exactly how you spend every day.  Could you get up an  hour earlier?  Could you cut out a few TV shows?  Could you skip blogging for a few days **ouch!**?  There are always areas we could squeeze a little tighter or sacrifice a little more.  I want to challenge you to be aware of your stewardship.  God loves a cheerful giver and that doesn’t just apply to money!  Take note of how much more you are blessed with time, resources, money, etc when you purpose to be a good steward in everything that He has already blessed you with.

I couldn’t resist posting this little picture. As moms, aren’t we frequently joking about our lack of sanity or mental stability? 🙂 This is for you! Haha!

Happy Friday!!!

~audrey

I have a quick moment to blog since we skipped school yesterday and Joshua is now sitting at the table doing two days worth of math and handwriting, niether of which require my help. 🙂

Would you like to know WHY we skipped school yesterday? Well, the first reason is because I had to go to the doctor in the morning and have some blood work done to figure out why I’ve been feeling so crumby lately. After we spent a whopping TWO HOURS at the doctor’s office, we drove through Chick-fil-A. As we sat in the car eating our chicken biscuits, my cell phone rang…IT WAS THE FOSTER AGENCY!! I almost choked on my chicken! I think I was still coughing when I answered the phone! She informed me that she had a possible placement for us. Possible?? I don’t want possible, I want definite. It was a six year old girl and a seven year old boy that have been in foster care with our agency for a year already. There has been some sort of break down within the current foster family and the children were likely going to be removed from this home and come to ours. I was assured the removal had nothing to do with the children. I was overcome with excitement. FINALLY! They’re finally coming!! I ran the rest of my errands and rushed home to begin cleaning. There was a meeting scheduled for 2:00pm with everyone involved in the case with these two children. A decision would be made from there. I was assured a phone call by 3:00pm.

I cleaned frantically. Top to bottom. Side to side. Bathrooms. Bedrooms. Laundry. The van. Even the garage got a little sprucing! 3:00pm came and went with no phone call. I finally picked up the phone at 3:45 and called the agency. Apparently the meeting lasted longer than expected and the final decision was to leave the children where they are for now. They forgot to call us back. My heart sunk. I was told that these children will likely still be moved from their current foster home in the near future and if we don’t have a placement by then, they will come to our house. I won’t be holding my breath on that one.

Although I was terribly disappointed, I still trust that God knows what is best for our family. The catch to that situation was, the seven year old boy was going to be in my boys’ bedroom with them (in his own bed of course). When I received that news, I prayed that if it was meant to be, it would work out and if not, then it wouldn’t. I trust the Lord to keep my children safe throughout our fostering journey and we will take every measure imaginable to do the same. That said, we’re still playing the never ending game of “Hurry Up and Wait.”

This picture was taken at the beginning of the summer. I love it because it captures a glimpse of how much fun we had this past summer. The boys played so well together, it was the first summer since Owen has been ‘independant’ and playing with his brothers like a big boy. We had a blast spending our days by the pool and long weekends at my parents’ house in Greenwood. I look forward to having Jesse at home during his holiday breaks. We’ve really missed having him at home with us. He is looking forward to homeschooling with us again next year. This year has done him very well already. He’s almost half way finished!

SOOOOOooo, THAT is why we have two days worth of school work to do today.

I’m holding on to the fact that TOMORROW IS FRIDAY and the boys are spending the night at my in-laws’.

~audrey

Yesterday I was wandering around our local Sam’s Club, mostly on a mission for a jumbo package of toilet paper, but my stroll was liesurely as I took in all the Christmas decor and the smell of food samples around every corner. I don’t buy home decor very often; it simply isn’t in the budget. However, I found a bargain I could not pass up. I mean, if I hadn’t gotten this item right then, I would have had nightmares for sure. LOL! 🙂 I’m pretty picky when it comes to things like wreaths, that will be displayed on the outside of my house for all to see. It’s kind of like a hair cut; one of the first things people notice. I can think of several occasions when I’ve driven through a neighborhood, or even stood on someone’s door step waiting for them to answer and thought, …”What in the world were they thinking?”…”Yikes, it looks like the easter bunny puked on a small bush and these people hung it on their door!”…Yes, it isn’t always pretty.

Wreaths are expensive any way you buy them. They can be pricey to make yourself and they’re ALWAYS pricey to buy, especially the really beautiful ones. So imagine my shock when I saw this wreath. Go ahead, take a good look and then guess the price. 🙂

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* TWENTY DOLLARS!!!! $19.99!!!
And the bonus: it came with it’s own bronze hanger for the door!

I figure I’ll dress it up with a few ornaments and a big bow for Christmas. 🙂 I’ll be taking care of this one for many years to come. Fortunately, there isn’t any particular time during the day when the sun is really beating on my front door, so hopefully the berries won’t fade.

Have you found any great bargains recently? I haven’t. That’s why this one was SO exciting!! 🙂

~audrey

Someone please get this Halloween candy OUT OF MY HOUSE!! Every morning I’m faced with this big yellow bowl of chocolate and I think I’m going to die of candy poisoning (or grow to the size of a small house) if it doesn’t disappear QUICK! I think I’ll give the boys until Friday to enjoy their new found wealth, in the form of solidified high fructose corn syrup, and then it’s to the trash it goes!

On another note entirely, I had to go shopping today for the dreaded items like cleaning products, paper towels, toilet paper…the things you can’t live without, don’t have to shop for very often, and cost a fortune! I’ve been in the mood for lemon scented Pinesol (I know, I know, WHO craves cleaning products?!? I DO!!) I was excited to get home with my lemon Pinesol, but I knew I didn’t have time to mop my entire kitchen. I got a phone call from a dear friend whom I haven’t spoken with in at least a month and we quickly got lost in conversation. As the call progressed, I finished putting all of my shopping items away and decided to fill the sink with water and Pinesol. 🙂 Ah, true love.

Without thinking much about it, I pulled out a rag, soaked it in the Pinesol water and wiped my counters down. Next thing you know, I was wiping the sink, the stove, the oven door, the refrigerator door, and top cabinets…then suddenly, I was flat on my butt on the kitchen floor wiping down every single cabinet door in my kitchen. No lie, by the time I hung up the phone, my kitchen not only smelled spectacular, but was spic and span!! I couldn’t believe I actually did it all while talking on the phone! And the best part is, I didn’t really even think about it, except an occasional fleeting thought like, “oh gross, I can’t believe I let the cabinets get this dirty!”

Those seem to be my most productive times; when I have a free moment and I “just decide” to get something done. Usually it’s between commercial breaks, while I’m on the phone, or waiting for water to boil. Whatever the opportunity may be, take advantage and get a few extra things done around the house. It doesn’t have to be cleaning; it can be ANYTHING. Write that thank-you note you keep forgetting to write. Pay that bill that MUST get in the mail by Friday. Pull all of the books on your bookshelf to the edge of the shelf (you’ll be amazed how much neater and more organized your shelves look, plus it cuts down on dusting!!). Think about this little challenge tomorrow. What are you going to try to get accomplished mindlessly? Make a habit of doing something productive everytime you’re on the phone or every other commercial break in the evening. It’s amazing the things that can get done with just five minutes here and ten minutes there.

Good luck!

~audrey

Now that I’ve been sitting at the computer for an hour and a half checking emails, editing weekend pictures, and catching up on my favorite blogs, I’m going to do a ‘quickie post’ and get off of this beast so I can actually do something productive today…like teach my first grader!!

My weekend started off ‘so-so’. My hubby went on a men’s retreat Friday night and I was looking forward to putting the boys in bed fairly early and getting some stuff done around the house, as well as watching some chick-flicks and catching up on my magazine reading. For some reason, once the boys were in bed, I found myself feeling very lonely and somewhat frightened at the thought of sleeping alone, with my husband 30 minutes away. I know; stupid.

I finally got moving around 9:00pm and put in The Proposal. It was the third time I had seen it. I laugh out loud every time and I was needing a good laugh. When I put the movie in I decided to go ahead and start a load of laundry….then I decided to unload the dishwasher…then I grabbed a pile of papers that needed to be sorted and filed…then I grabbed Joshua’s school books and my notebook so I could do my lesson plans for the week…THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKIN’ ‘BOUT! I don’t know why it just took me a little while to get a second wind, but I finally became productive and ended up getting a LOT done while watching my movie. Unfortunately, I only ended up sleeping about two hours that night, but I had the rest of the weekend to nap and relax…yeah right.

Saturday was awesome. My dad came first thing in the morning and went with the boys and me to the fall festival at Jesse’s school.

Jesse was fascinated by the challenge of the Rock Wall. I think he attempted it five or six times before finally making it ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP and pushing that button of success which let out a loud siren noise for all the neighborhood to hear. He was SO proud. The man in charge of the rock wall said he’d never seen a five year old make it to the top…or even WANT to! I was proud too. I also informed the man that that was how Jesse lost his first tooth; repelling from his treehouse by a clothesline!!

We went home shortly after lunch and my dad headed back to Greenwood. Josh got home early in the afternoon and by 2:30 most of us were asleep. Josh, Owen, and I slept until 5:00pm and we realized we had slept through most of the local churches’ Fall Festivals. We decided we’d take the boys’ to our pastor’s house and let them trick-or-treat with their kids.

They had a blast and Josh and I enjoyed hanging out with Brian and Joy; we hadn’t spent time together in a while and it was fun catching up.

Sunday was a blur. I had to work in the infant nursery, we went to my in-laws’ for lunch, then we literally laid in bed and watched TV for about three hours while the boys napped. We ordered pizza for dinner and let the boys stay up an hour past their bedtime so they could watch a Dora movie. Why in the world do they play kids movies at 8:00pm on school nights?? I mean, why not 6:30 or 7:00?? I’ll never understand!

Overall, it was a great weekend. Now it’s Monday and almost 10:00am and I have yet to do ANYTHING. Ashley just dropped Jonathan, her two year old, off and headed to the hospital to get checked. She’s been contracting all morning and has had back pain as well. She is 36 weeks today and was already 1cm and effacing at her appointment last week. Maybe those boys will make their debut this week!! I’ll keep you posted!!

Happy Monday!!

~audrey

I bet I peaked your interest with a title like that, huh? 

Last night was my sister-in-law’s senior recital.  She is about to graduate from college with a degree in Vocal Performance (I think that’s the degree?).  We were so glad to finally make it to one of her recitals and she did an amazing job. 

Jesse was very excited, can you tell?

I spent over half the night in the foyer and outside with the boys, but all in all, everything was great.  My other sis-in-law, her husband, and their daughter, Lucy, were there as well and it was wonderful to see them. 

Beautiful Lucy. She'll be two on Thanksgiving.

 My mother-in-law did an awesome job decorating for the reception and the food was fantastic.  I swear I’ve learned more from her about cooking, baking, and being a hostess, in eight years of marriage, than all my years of watching the Food Network and HGTV; she’s awesome. 

The boys really did do a great job behaving, using their manners, and obeying when we had to reign them in.  At 9:00pm, the night was almost over.  We were all full of finger foods, tired, and ready to get on the road for our two and a half hour drive home.  I was still sitting down when Owen walked over to me and put his head in my lap with his face straight toward my stomach.  When he lifted his head, I realized he had spit his carrots out all over my shirt.  Lovely. 

This face should have been my warning for what was to come!

I stood up to wipe the cud off my shirt…just in time to dodge the puke.  Yep, that’s right, Owen puked up carrots, grapes, and chocolate, all over the floor, RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE FOOD TABLE!!  Anyone want seconds?!?  I was mortified and began piling baby wipes on top of the puke.  Luckily it wasn’t all chunky and colorful like most puke, it was mostly water with a few grape skins and shreds of carrot, so it wasn’t all that obvious what had just happened.  In fact, I was trying to make it look like we had spilled something.  The horrid look on my face probably gave away my plan, but I tried.  HAHA!  Josh had taken Owen to the bathroom to clean him up and then came out of the bathroom with a half naked child.  Yes, by this time, everyone is staring and wondering why the rednecks took their child’s clothes off at this semi-formal reception. I just smiled and said, “Oh, he just had a little too much to eat and made a mess on his shirt.” I could have added, –“if you’d like to see exactly what he ate, you can take a peek under that pile of wipes over there!”–but I didn’t.

I know it looks like he's about to puke again, but he was just coughing. 🙂

We gave him a clean shirt in the car and headed home.  Thankfully, all of the boys slept the whole way and we made it home without hitting any deer or getting pulled over by the 246 policemen we passed on those back roads.  Unfortunately, Owen had a fever when we got home.  We’ll see how he’s doing this morning (he’s still asleep right now). 

I cannot believe it will be NOVEMBER in two days!!  This year has FLOWN by!

Have a great weekend!

~audrey

This just happens to be the title of the tenth chapter in my absolute favorite “marriage” book of all time, “Created To Be His Helpmeet.”  I was thinking about this title as I watched 18 Kids and Counting the other night.  As much as people like to make fun of the Duggars (the family from Arkansas with 18 children and one on the way), there really isn’t anything legitimate to criticize.  Most of all, I’m encouraged and inspired by the parents.  Michelle Duggar spoke a little the other night on what their goals are in their parenting.  She purposes to continually smile at her children.  She and her husband have committed to speaking calmly with love, not just to one another, but to their children as well.  Their reactions define them and that is clear in the fruit of their children.  Their children speak kindly to one another and it is obvious that speaking with soft words comes naturally in that family. 

Practice makes permanent.

A few years ago, my washing machine was over-flowing into my kitchen and I had a friend over.  As I heard the water pouring out from the dining room, I ran into the garage, jumped up on top of the washing machine, turned it off, and continued on with our conversation as I cleaned up the mess.  My friend said, “I don’t understand how you are so calm.  Nothing bothers you.”  I wish that were true, but I am thankful she saw that in me that day.  The thing is, I’ve learned through trial and error over the years, life is just too short to get all worked up about things you can’t control.  Just the other night, I was trying to carry too many things in one hand and Joshua’s plastic cup of water slipped out of my hand and splashed water ALL over the kitchen floor and cabinets and broke the cup completely in half.  I just died laughing!!  It was like something out of a funny movie, in slow motion as we watched that cup hit the floor, bust in half, and water bathed half the kitchen.  Joshua helped me wipe some of it up and I looked at him and said, “Well, thats a relief, now we don’t have to wipe these cabinets down next week!”  He just smiled.  I don’t want my kids growing up with the fear of making a little boo-boo like spilling their drink or breaking something by accident.  I love my father dearly and we’re still very close, but he had a bit of a temper when I was a child.  My brother and I would run for the hills in fear of Daddy’s wrath if we made a stupid mistake like spilling our drink or breaking something. 

Do I look at my children’s accidents or misbehavior as “interruptions” or as “opportunities” to train them?  This is the same in marriage and everday life.  Our reactions define us.  How we think about our circumstances always determines how well we react to them.  Also, what we fill or hearts and minds with will determine what comes out of our mouths when we are squeezed.

Lately, I’ve been trying to consciously keep a smile on my face, even when I don’t feel like it… ESPECIALLY when I don’t feel like it.  It’s amazing how your attitude changes when you have a smile on your face.  You can’t help it.  When my five year old is whining and I can’t get him to quit and he feels like he “can’t help it”, I try to make him smile.  If I can get him to crack a smile, the whining magically disappears.

So, think before you react today.  Try to keep a smile on your face and speak with love on your lips.  If you tend to raise your voice when you’re squeeze, *ahem*, like me, then purpose to speak softly today, no matter what!  Note how the people around you react.  When I speak calmly, with love, to my children, they tend to respond in the same manner.  It’s a miracle!!

🙂

It’s Thankful Thursday, so remind yourself throughout the day, of all the many things for which you are thankful!  (that sentence originally ended with “…things you are thankful for!” but a friend reminded me in a blog post the other day that you are not suppose to end a sentence with a preposition.  If I weren’t homeschooling my children, I would have had NO IDEA that “for” is a preposition, but I do know now, so I changed that sentence for Kristy!  Thanks for keeping me on my toes!!)

Haha!

~audrey