Monday, Monday, Monday

Monday, Monday, Monday!!!!! Our normal Monday is a morning of cleaning and studying for AWANA after lunch. With having church on Sunday and AWANA on Monday nights we do not do school. This really works well for us. With today being President's Day there is NO AWANA. We did manage to get some cleaning done, but we have relaxed some of the day. With a family of all girls life can be interesting and CRAZY!! You will find what I mean in the next few paragraphs.

 Today has DEFINITELY been Monday! My day started with a child deciding that smacking and kicking her sister was good behavior. After an hour and a half in her room and some talking and discipline she finally realized that it was not her sister's fault for her trouble. Wrong choices were the reason she was alone! Before she was able to move on with her day I required her to apologize to me and the sister she was mean to. A little bit later I got a message regarding another daughter and her friend. I am NOT a mother that takes these things lightly. I am trying to train my girls to be kind to everyone! After taking care of that issue and pointing out where she was wrong it was time to make some lunch!

Today's lunch was baked beans with hot dogs. During lunch all 5 were fussing and arguing with each other. After lunch all of them had to go to their beds! Imagine my frustration when even after sending to bed that the arguing CONTINUED! I love my girls deeply but there are days that I just want to HIDE! The 2 younger ones are the only 2 to share a bed, and they were SCREAMING at each other. The oldest saved the day by asking the 4 yr old to go in her room! During the hour of rest I managed to watch Cupcake Wars and enjoy some cuddle time with the baby! My niece lied down on the couch and fell asleep even though the chaos was going on.

Everything is calm right now and I am enjoying the together time that we are having watching Worst Cooks in America! All of the housework is not complete, but some days making sure my girls are orderly is more important than a clean house. We are getting ready to start the Christian Charm Course and I can't wait to see how it helps my girls to behave more like ladies. I am excited about learning with them because if we are all honest with ourselves we will admit we NEED it too!

Every day is new and I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings! School day tomorrow and a new blog post! Hopefully it will be full of GLOWING reports on how well they got along and worked together. Cleaning needs to be done still so I am going to corral my girls and get them busy again! Daddy will be home soon :-)

Below you will see pictures of our completed bedrooms! Friday night Rob and I got Elizabeth's bunk bed exchanged and put together! I love the difference in my kids' tastes and am thankful that I have a husband who doesn't mind them expressing their style! I threw a pic of my new bedding in too!

Valentine's Day

I love to have parties!! Yesterday we had a party with the other families that Home School in out church. It was an Italian lunch with LOTS of desserts!! I am so thankful for all of the other Moms that helped make our party a success!

Last night Rob and I sat together and watched Biggest Loser. I know how romantic! LOL, it was nice sitting together without kids in the room! When you have been married as long as we have you don't need flowers and candy!! Just a little bit of quality time is great for me! Please enjoy the pictures below!

One last note: MAKE SURE YOU READ THE ENTIRE CARD BEFORE PURCHASING IT!! I found the perfect card for my husband, but neglected to read the final message on the last part. Imagine my HORROR when I read it entirely yesterday to find a swear word!! I took my pen and crossed it out, but I was so stinking embarrassed!! Thankfully my husband knows me well!!!

Sundays

Today was my first Sunday home with Priscilla. We are now home until spring. She was diagnosed with RSV on Tuesday. With her asthma it settles into her chest and stays there. We finished her round of Prednisolone this morning and I am praying that she keeps clearing up. Rob and I will be trading services depending on what he is needing to do. Today was a nice quiet day where I was able to accomplish many things!! After everyone else left for church, I put dinner in the oven, washed breakfast dishes and started lunch. Then I got Priscilla a bath, and rocked her to sleep. While she was sleeping I sewed Hannah 2 pairs of culottes and finished dinner up AND got to enjoy my meal with everyone before she woke up!

Tonight I am enjoying some time with Elizabeth, Emily and Priscilla! We are watching some movies on Netflix, and sis is LOVING that Hannah can't be the boss over the tv tonight! I do not enjoy missing church but I do know that is what is best for Princess P right now. We need to keep her from getting sick again so this is what we need to do. I am thankful that I have a Bible that I can read and the internet where I can watch previous services. Know that I am praying for all of my friends at church and for the services that I am unable to attend. God is so good to me and I know that I am blessed to have a wonderful church family.

I reached a small goal!

Tuesday morning I got on the scale, and what did my eyes behold?! 20 pounds GONE!! I reached a small victorious goal that I had! I was thrilled to see that I lost 3 lbs last week! Now I am working towards another 10 pounds. I set myself small realistic goals because I know if I look at a bigger picture I get discouraged when it doesn't seem to happen quick enough. My long term goal is to be at my goal weight by my birthday in August. I have 37 lbs to make it to that goal. To help me I calculated how much I needed to lose each week to hit that mark, and I found that I need to lose and average of 1.7 lbs per week! Very manageable if you look at it that way. If I do not make it I will not get depressed as long as I KNOW I worked hard to achieve my goal!

How am I working towards my goals? First and foremost I am WATCHING what I put in my mouth! I have always been one to enjoy healthier selections, but too much of a good thing is TOO MUCH! I was always a bottomless pit while growing up, the girl people hated BECAUSE I ate ANYTHING and EVERYTHING and did NOT gain weight! That all changed after I got married. I think it is true that you get comfy and don't mind gaining when you get married. I never got over 180 until pregnancy and THANKFULLY I only topped at 203 with Priscilla. Second, I am exercising with my Wii Fit, and am planning on taking walks as a family when the weather warms up. Lastly and most importantly I am getting closer to the Lord. Making sure I am building my relationship with Him and drawing closer to Him. I want my body to be the temple He wants it to be, and I know the Lord wants me to be fit and an example of good health.

These are my goals for the rest of January and all of February:
1- Average 2 lbs lost a week
2- Make healthier meals for my family
3-Lose 10 more lbs
4- Memorize 1 NEW Bible Verse every day
5- Have 5 different families to my house for dinner. This one is because I tend to close myself off to others and I know I need to reach out more to others.

Please feel free to ask me how I am doing. I will be quoting my verses to my husband. Accountability is a WONDERFUL thing so hold me accountable!!

10 Years Old!!!

                                                          I LOVE YOU HANNAH GRACE!!

Hannah singing her first solo in church!

On Jan 11, 2002, I was blessed with Hannah! I finally became a mother! What a joyous occasion!! It is amazing how women remember every detail of the day they gave birth, and I am no different. We went to the hospital at 4am to be told it wasn't time yet and to go home and walk. We lived an hour and fifteen minutes from the hospital so Rob decided to take me walking in Fort Myers! We went to Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco and then I watched him eat Bob Evans! I tried to eat a biscuit but with each bite I was sick. The last place he took me was to a "park" to walk the trails. By then it was about 2. I was ready to give up and go home. Before driving home I called the Midwife to see if they would check me before driving home. I went in and they said I needed to be admitted. Imagine my surprise when the doctor who saw me came back and said there was NO ROOM at the hospital!!! We had to drive 15 minutes to get to the other hospital. We arrived a little after 3, and the nurses wheeled me up while Rob checked me in. I was SO THANKFUL when I saw Mrs. Wills, and Theresa Wills walk in the room. (They got in there before Rob!) Rob had been in the room a matter of minutes when the nurse said I was ready to push, but TRY TO WAIT because my midwife wasn't there!! Mrs. Wills and Theresa were getting ready to leave, but I was SO scared I begged her to stay with me! My mom was still in Indianapolis, and I needed someone! Hannah was born at 4:03pm, yes, just an hour after we arrived I had my first child!

Tonight we are having her birthday bash with her closest friends! I am a very proud mama! She is a blessing to me, and I am so THANKFUL that God trusted her to me. Things are not always easy, and as we start to enter the CRAZY hormonal years, I am sure more adventures await us. I pray that God will ALWAYS give me the right words to say as I deal with situations arise!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

As we start a new year I am looking forward to changes that WILL happen! Hannah turns 10 in 9 days, Priscilla is quickly getting more mobile, and we are going to start redoing some things in the house! Today we took a peek under the carpet to find a parquet floor under it! It will need some work, but I am excited to do it.. There is paint on it, but it will be wonderful when it is done!

My main goal for 2012 is to loose ALL of my excess weight! I want to be slim and trim by my 37th birthday in August! I did gain 5 back over the holidays but that will be easy to get back off! My minor goal is to get completely organized in the house. I have done a pretty good job since we moved, but I still have some tweaking to do in my room and the basement.

I am excited to see what the new year has in store for our family! Most of our kiddos are to the age where they can start inputting things that they want to see happen too. I know God will continue to bless us as we strive to live for Him! I pray that my children grow closer to the Lord, and allow me to continue to train them to serve Him!

May God bless each of my friends and family in 2012! Draw closer to the Lord, and never forget to tell your family you love them! You never know how long you get to have them for.

Pictures!

Taking pictures is ALWAYS fun!! I took some of the girls yesterday and this is what we got! They each have their OWN personality and don't hesitate to show it! I will be posting pictures of their program from last night!