Nursemaid's Elbow, Kidney Stones and other stuff

Life around here has been CRAZY!!!

When you've got these type people living at your house there is a certain amount of angst and drama:
Well, at least at our house that seems to be the way it is - I sure hope we're not the only ones that experience the sometimes draining aspects of raising teens!! And with four of them living here, well...... (and yes my son will probably never forgive me for posting this picture - but since he thinks blogs are for weird people - and I'm weird - he may never notice :0)!!!)

And then there are the small people living here - little whirlwinds that create messes where ever they go!!! This little sweetie got her arm dislocated this week (big sister was rescuing her from being plowed over by some fire doors at school and swooped her from danger a bit too fast!!). Poor baby - it involved a trip to the ER to have it taken care of. A lot of tears appeared both for sweetie and me!!!

A couple of days later after dealing with more teenaged angst and drama (well...discipline issues really) my dear hubby doubled over and announced he needed an immediate trip to the ER due to extreme pain (can't be still kind of pain) - the result - a kidney stone!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!
The laundry pile is OUT OF CONTROL!!!!

But blessings happen in the midst of craziness - my lovely sister gave me this beautiful blue and white plate she found at a thrift store!!! What an amazing find!!! And she shared it with me - what a sweet sister I have!!! I adore transfer ware, especially blue and white!! The scene on this plate is so sweet and calm - little sheep, a tiny church steeple in the background and a rustic wagon!! I love it!! It gave me so much cheer in the midst of chaos!!!To keep myself from going crazy - which really, is a distinct possibility - I have been trying to keep up with my handwork. There is a major need for new dishcloths here so that has been the direction of my creating - these colors are just yummy!!!

My hubby is fine now and sweet Es is also better - but my anxious heart is struggling!! When things seem to get out of hand (And two trips to the ER in a week - plus all the other stuff seems out of hand to me!!!!) fear and anxiety stalk me. I hate it. I know it's not how God wants me to live. I am daily, hourly and by the minute hanging on to God's mercy and grace!! He is good!!! And I am blessed to have the creator of the stars listen to my pleas for peace!!!

Out to Play

Enjoying warm sunshine seems to be something enjoyed by many creatures!!

Little girls:
Big girls:

Medium girls:

And this creature that I almost stepped on in our backyard yesterday!!! :
And yes my son is wearing it around his neck!!! Amazingly enough, this beautiful creature was greeted with joy (after my initial shriek of alarm that caused my husband to drop his hammer and come to see what all the noise was about!!!)

The snake is well known to us and loved by us. Her name is Delilah and Daniel has raised her from the time she was the size of a small earthworm.

Over a year ago she escaped her glass home and we never saw her again - much to our dismay - some of which had to do with the idea of coming across a large snake unexpectedly (like at the bottom of my bed when I jump in for the night) or smelling her from some unfound corner after she met her demise. Ewww!!!

Anyway we never found her and we sadly assumed she was dead - after all a snake raised on non-living (okay - dead and frozen) mice can't really go hunting for herself right?

Wrong!!! There she was - sunning herself in the back yard - perfectly healthy and bigger!!!

She was gently caught and put back into her glass home - for I am not keen on that kind of surprise again!! Us Western Washington natives are not at all used to coming across large colorful reptiles unexpectedly - and I hope to keep it that way!!

Welcome home prodigal snake - I am happy you are home - and I like you very much - IN your glass house. Please stay there!!!!

And yes, I do keep little mice in the freezer - the things we do for our kids!!!

Blessings,
Christine

Twenty Two Years

Twenty two years ago today at 2:00 in the afternoon Wayne and I began our journey together as husband and wife. It is official today - I have lived with this man more than half my life!!!

To say our life together has been perfect would not be truth - we have been impatient with each other, we have hurt each other, we've said and done things we shouldn't. But still, we have grown together, build each other up, encouraged each other and been there for each other.

It has been clear to us that God brought us together and has been the driving force in our marriage. It was our hope 22 years ago that people would see Him in us and it is still our hope that our marriage would be a testimony of His love!!!
April 16, 1988 I walked down the aisle and said "I Do" and twenty two years and eight children later I say "I Do, I Do, I Do"!!!!!

Thank you God, for 22 years with the wonderful man you blessed me with and Thank you Wayne for all these years of blessing!!!

Happy weekend - Wayne and I are celebrating!!!

Learning to Sing

No, I am not taking voice lessons - although if you were to stand next to me at church during worship you might think it was a good idea :0)!!! I was reading My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers the other day and this captured my heart:

"Neither will I in any wise forsake thee." Sometimes it is not difficulty that makes me think God will forsake me, but drudgery. There is no Hill Difficulty to climb, no vision given, nothing wonderful or beautiful, just the commonplace day in and day out - can I hear God's say-so in these things?
We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing, that He is preparing and fitting us for some extraordinary thing by and bye, but as we go on in grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, in the present minute. If we have God's say-so behind us, the most amazing strength comes, and we learn to sing in the ordinary days and ways.

Wow!! When I am sweeping the floor for the third time today, cleaning bathrooms, making lunch, correcting spelling papers, changing diapers, giving history lessons, doing laundry and all the other ordinary things I do God is glorifying Himself. I don't have to have a dramatic testimony or an amazing story!!

I have been thinking about this devotional so much lately - I am "learning to sing in the ordinary days and ways"!!

By the way, if you own this book and want to read the whole devotional it is the June 4th page (yes, I always read these out of order - don't know why - I just do :0)!!!)

Blessings,

Christine

Spring Cleaning 101

I was asked by my friend Becky over at Holiday in the Sun for some tips on how I get stuff done - time management she called it.

Hmmm - this is the thing - I don't have any answers for Becky!!! Honestly - some days I can really buckle down and get a goal completed and others I just fly from one thing to another like a dizzy bumblebee!! Some days the little ones are very needy and it seems like nothing on my list gets checked off except getting out of bed (and some of those days I kinda wish I didn't have too :0)!!!) - and then there are days that they are all happily doing something on their own and I get my listed completed and then some. But most of the time I have big ideas and then I have to trim my goals to fit real life!!

Spring break was last week and I really had plans to Spring clean my whole house - but reality set in and I got about half of it done - the rest was tidied and decluttered by the end of the weekend. So really even though I didn't reach my goal I am satisfied with what I did get done!!!

I started by treating myself to some pretty smelling cleaners. Normally I don't buy this kind of stuff - instead making a lot of my own - but I knew I would be inspired to keep going with the pretty, clean scent filling the house - I even treated myself to some ironing spray - a real luxury!!

Then I started moving around furniture and taking off slip covers and taking down valances and generally making a bigger mess!!
Then I started taking things off the walls and taking every thing off my little tables: And got busy washing walls and shining my pictures, washing my pretties, polishing furniture, washing and ironing valances, slipcovers and throws, shining windows!! Phew!!!

I gave the kids jobs to do and believe it or not - most of the time they thought it was fun!! When it got to hard too keep them happy I sent them outside to play or set them up with a game in their room.

Then the fun part: putting it all back together - everything smelling so nice and pretty and sparkly clean!! I even cleaned my light fixtures so at nighttime everything still looks brighter!!


All in all - it worked out pretty well. I didn't get the whole house - really, that was kinda a silly goal considering the small people that need lots of care still - but I made a very nice dent in the Spring cleaning!!

So that's it - my plan for getting stuff done - just setting my mind and doing it :0) - nothing fancy - no charts or day planners or anything. And if the truth be known - I probably missed something important while I was washing walls - but I had fun doing what I did!!!

Blessings,
Christine

He is Risen Indeed!!!

I am late to post something about Easter - but the wonderful thing about being a Christian is that the celebration of Christ's Resurrection is something we can celebrate everyday!!! His saving grace isn't just a one time thing but something we experience with every breath we take!!!

The gift of His forgiveness is not experienced one day a year on a holiday called Easter but is received every evening when we review our day and repent of our sin! He gives us grace every time we breathe a prayer throughout the day!! What an amazing, glorious thing - to have a relationship that close with the Creator of the world and His Son!!!

He is Risen!!! He is Risen indeed!!!

The younger half of the kids all in their Easter finery - not liking the picture taking hubs was doing - we had a few moments of sunshine - and their eyes were not used to it after a long period of rain!!

We are on Spring break and I am spending the week spring cleaning the house. Washing walls, windows and linens, plumping cushions, polishing furniture, taking ashes from the fireplace and removing clutter after a winter indoors. What a refreshing way to start the long days of spring and summer!!!

Blessings!!

Christine

April 1st!!

I haven't blogged much lately. We've been ever so busy!! Life has been so good - but a whirlwind just the same!!

While we are busy with all our children - one in particular has been using much of our spare time. He is at the stage of life where there are a ton of activities and momentous changes in his life. Today is that young man's birthday. Daniel is 18 years old today. All those years ago when I called my friends and family to let them know he had arrived they all laughed and said "April Fool's!!"

He has been anything but a fool, though!! He is a wise, Godly young man with a passion to share Jesus. We are so proud of him. Our time has been busy because this young man is graduating high school in a few short weeks and that has required many meeting with our homeschool co-op. Big changes!! Daniel has also needed counsel and guidance to make it to Eagle Scout!! Yay!!! He did it!!! Our family now boasts 2 Eagle Scouts - what an accomplishment these boys have done!!!

Anyway, I'm rambling - but I wanted to say Happy Birthday Daniel!!! We are so proud of you and I know God has great plans for you!!!