Over the River and through the Woods....

Well I am still running behind on my updates but I wanted to throw a few in and list some more of the reasons that I am Thankful really quick before Morgan wakes up.

After a long football season we lost our second playoff game. Our team played really hard all season long and could use the time off. Hunter played great as always but needs to work on keeping his head in the game and not letting the refs coach him...or attempt to. The Ref told Hunter he was playing too aggressively and was too rough...It's football, much to my dismay it is supposed to be rough! His hard work payed off as he has been invited to play All Stars. It is an honor for him and a great opportunity to play at a more competitive level. I wanted so badly to be sick of football, but watching Hunter put his whole heart into something right in front of me and the rest of the world was a beautiful thing. It isn't something you physically get to see all the time from your children. He loves it, therefore I love it! He is truly such a funny and challenging kid. Since he is so tall and looks like a young man, people seem to forget that he is still a very insecure little boy who gets his feelings hurt very easily by the people he looks up to. Other peoples words bring him down way faster than I can build his confidence back up. It is really frustrating. Why can't people just see his heart and not him physically when they talk to him? Why do they say things without considering how deeply they will effect him?

On to smaller people...Morgan had her first banana in her cereal on Saturday. She hasn't been eating that much, only a table spoon or so. I though smashing a banana in there would help...basically it just gave me more funny faces to laugh at. I do think she enjoyed eating with me at the table though instead of just watching me shovel my breakfast in. She is really enjoying her bouncy horse. She starts bouncing as soon as you put her in it, unless she is hungry or just wants mommy...then nothing else works (Except Auntie B). She is still trying to crawl. She can get all over the place on her own, but it is still by using her hands like suction cups on the wooden floors. She is a VERY happy baby.

I Am Thankful For:
Wes's job
That Wes will be home this week
Ironed Sheets
AGAIN my children and their smiling faces
Moments with Hunter where he still acts like a child
Bouncy Horses
My time making candles and having girl time with B
My friends
Cameras

So now we are off to my Mom's...I am singing over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go!

Joystealers...

Are there people in your life who constantly steal your joy? There are in mine. In church we are told to separate ourselves from them. What do we do if we can't? What if we are related or joined in some other way and have no choice? What if they never hear a darn word you say so talking it out doesn't matter? I was trying to sleep but couldn't because I was too angry with SJ. I was laying there praying begging God to take the anger away and give me wisdom for the right words to say. Instead, I was reminded to be thankful. So here I am, making a Thankful List to make me feel better and hopefully sleep a little before Little Miss Thang wakes up bright and early to eat AGAIN.

• I Am Thankful For God's grace and forgiveness
• My wonderfully patient & handsome husband, Wes
• My son, he is the best son I could have ever imagined
• My daughter, she lights up all of our days
• That my parents are alive and my children know them
• Family-the good, the bad, and the ugly
• My home
• The abundance of food that we are blessed with
• Red, our dog & Speedy Fred, our turtle
• The clothes in my closet (even if they are way too small now)
• America
• The men and women that fight for our freedom
• That I am healthy that my children are safe and healthy
• For sunshine
• For quiet moments at 2:30 am when no one is awake but me and I can think clearly again
• My friends old and new
• That gas prices went down
• For the smell of fall
• That I can see and read
• That I am finally getting started on making candles (it only took me what.... 4 years?)
• That I am surrounded by God's "artwork" everyday

When I logged on I found http://southbreezefarm.blogspot.com/2008/10/thankful-month.html and was even more inspired and blessed. Thank you!

A few updates: Hunter broke his finger in a scrimmage and had to have a hard cast put on so that the chipped piece could reattach itself. He was/is still able to play in the playoffs. The Coach has to wrap and pad though. We made it another week in the playoffs and Hunter was chosen to play on an all star football team. He is such a trooper. We are very proud of him.

Wes is still working in Pueblo. We miss him and can't wait until we are all together again. We have no idea where God wants us but we pray about it together as a family daily. We all know we just want to be together as a family as soon as possible.

Miss Morgan is babbling up a storm. She doesn't much care for cereal when I try to feed her. She does better for Wes and Hunter. She must know I have the good stuff. She is still trying to crawl. Her rear is up and rocking and she does get all over the place. She sticks her hands to the wood floor like suction cups and slides to her desired spot (normally under the coffee table). She smiles all the time and melts Hunter's heart. I am constantly saying, "Leave your sister alone and do your homework!" He is so in love with her. Again, my heart is happy and I am so proud.

Clearing the Clutter...

“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (NLT)

I haven't blogged on a few days and I feel behind. A lot has happened and I have read some great devotionals that have given me great inspiration, but then I let it get all jumbled and didn't have a clear direction in what to write about...So I will make this even longer than usual and write about it all.
I have been saying that I wanted to clear the clutter in my home for a long long long time. I have even thought about opening a business helping others to clear their clutter and get organized. You just feel better when things are in their place and you can find what your actually looking for. I start but never finish. There are too many readily available excuses; Morgan was fussy, I was tired from not sleeping well, I was too busy blogging. You get the idea. I have a clear goal that this MUST be done. I can help others by donating the items that clutter our home, make things from them, and even make some extra money selling others. I am pushing myself to spend at least a half hour a day decluttering something.

Well lets take this one step further. I have been trying to declutter my heart as well for years and have just not been able to finish. I get going on a good healthy path, I think I am doing good and then it creeps in...insecurities caused by others words, painful memories of people in my life who lied to me or who continue to lie about me, let me down, hurt me emotionally, physically, and spiritually. The lingering thoughts invade my day over and over. I figure this is much like the way a drug addicts desire to use creeps in over and over even when they claim to have "recovered". The thoughts are like a cancer, they make me feel ill and invade every area of my life. As a Christian, how can I still be holding on? Isn't it supposed to go away once you forgive the person? I have openly given this to God, why does my heart keep taking it back? Whatever the reason, I am not giving up. If I let the people and painful circumstances in my life hurt me over and over, they win! I am just too stubborn to let that happen. I am not going to let them steal my joy anymore. I am not silly & naive. I know that a smell or something I see can jolt me to a standstill and bring those thoughts to mind, but I don't have to let it effect me. I know that it is Satan, trying to rob me and my family of the peace that God desires for us, and distance me from God.

Not only does this "clutter" distance me from God, but it tries to infect my marriage as well. Wesley has been so wonderful with me. No matter how insecure I get, he is still there, consistent, steady, and strong. He loves me just as I am, on days I am whole and even those that I am broken. God truly blessed me when he brought us together. But Wes can't "fix" what is broken. That is not what love does. He didn't break me, but he loves me in spite of and through my imperfections. That is love. I am loved and I love him.

While praying about this the other day, I asked God to heal me, that I am broken, and needed him to touch my heart. In my mind as I prayed I could see God's love and forgiveness pouring in my heart and filling in the cracks and broken pieces. It was beautiful. It is beautiful.

Some of what inspired me was reading this devotional:

http://proverbs31devotions.blogspot.com/2008/11/clean-house-and-clean-heart.html

More to come! I haven't even scratched the surface.

• We had a great weekend with Wes.
• Morgan, two crawls forward and one crawl back
• Hunter and his hamstring

I will be posting family pictures soon. Hunter played a good game after recovering from a pulled hamstring.

Daddy's Coming Home!!!

Daddy will be here this weekend! I have missed him so much and can't wait to see him. He gives the best hugs. He is my best friend and I love it when he is home. Morgan has been saying "A, dadadadada" over and over. Know she doesn't know what she is saying, but I still love it for Wes. She has such a personality and has made me laugh quite a bit lately. I put her on the carpet in her room and she tries to swim. She lays there with her big belly on the floor, arms and legs just a swimming, and looks up frustrated after a while because she hasn't made any progress. I laughed out loud which made her get mad and cry. It was so cute. Speaking of her cry, it has changed. It isn't so high pitch and is a lot more pathetic. It just breaks your heart. Hunter actually got tears when he heard it the first time. He loves his baby sister so much. I have to tell him leave her alone all the time because he wants to play with her when she is already happy and content.

As for me, I went to Wal-Mart yesterday to get groceries and stuff to make yummy meals for Wes. It was a good trip. Morgan hung out in her sling and I stayed under budget. Most of my favorite staples were on sale so I stocked up. Here is a few shots of my almost full pantry now. I laughed when I looked at it and realized that I really stock up on the things that we eat more often. Notice two of each on the carb shelf. Cans I buy four at a time normally. Compulsive? Nah, just prepared.

Looking at this I obviously have favorites. I almost always buy the same things when I go to the store. When you are grown you will remember, but to get you started here is a list of things we always had. I guess there are certain things each person feels that they have to have in the pantry. Here is a list of my favorite things:

• Campbell's (in this order-Cream of Mushroom, Tomato, Cream of Chicken, Chicken and Rice, and Chicken and Noodle of course)
• Stove Top Stuffing
• Del Monte Cut Green Beans, Whole Kernel Corn, Stewed & Diced Tomatoes & Peaches (not the off brands)
• Wal-Mart Brand Mandarin Oranges, Apple Sauce, Maraschino Cherries & Pear Slices
• Dole Pineapple both slices and chunks
• Wolf Chili, no bean
• Starkist Tuna in water not oil
• Chunk White Chicken Wal-mart (most brands will do)
• Velveeta shells and cheese
• Lipton Rice
• Minute Rice or Uncle Ben's Boil in the Bag Rice
• Kraft Mac n Cheese
• Shake and Bake
• Wal-Mart Italian Bread Crumbs
• Bisquick
• Betty Crocker Pineapple Upside Down Cake mix
• French's Onions
• Kraft Dressings-Tomato Basil Vinaigrette, Catalina, Zesty Italian, misc others
• Hidden Vally Ranch dressing and seasoning packetts
• Pepperidge Farm Seasoned Croutons
• Pasta (whole wheat pene, thin spaghetti, egg noodles, elbow noodles, rotini, and then misc others)
• Jiffy Peanut Butter, creamy
• Welch's Grape Jelly
• Lowery's Seasoning Salt
• Sugar
• Pillsbury Flower
• Hellman's Mayo
• Heinz Ketsup
• Frenches Mustard
• Lipton Tea
• Mrs. Baird's White Honey Wheat Bread
• Daisy Sour Cream
• Yoplait Yogurt
• Crisco Sticks
• Anything Pillsbury or Betty Crocker is usually yummy and fattening.
• Also must haves: olive oil, hamburger meat, frozen boneless chicken breast, 2% milk, eggs, butter, tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce

I feel like I have forgotten something. I hope this list makes you feel at home one day when you do have a place of your own. You can make most of the recipes we eat on a regular basis from this. Of course, in no time at all you will find new yummy things and have a special list all of your own.

You can call me Flower if you want to....

Our Halloween was Spooktacular! Corney I know, but I couldn't help myself. We spent the evening at a team mates home and neighborhood trick or treating by hayride (although there was no hay so trailer ride?). What a great way to tag along with your kids with out being exhausted! Hunter chose a nostalgic (and inexpensive) ghost costume and Morgan was a flower. As usual, we had a wonderful time with B's family.

Hunter's team played a great game Saturday. They lost, but not for lack of effort. I am so proud of the athlete he is becoming. For so long, it has been easy for him and has just come natural, now he is having to make an effort and learn new things and is making us so proud. His coach called me today and let me know that Hunter is the most complimented and talked about player in all of our league. Can you imagine how proud I am as a parent right now? Good job Hunter Bear!!! Keep giving 110% in all things and you will always feel like a winner. We are all so proud of you. Your a great athlete, student and big brother. We love you so much!!!