Philippians 4:8

At my mom's group at church we have a time of scripture meditation. This week's verse was Psalm 139:23-24---Search me O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Rather than meditate on that (rebellious) I saw Philippian 4:8 on the bag of the girl sitting in front of me. Usually when dealing with anxieties you can stop at "If anything is true..." So that is what I did and this is what I wrote. (FYI: my anxiety is in light of not having maternity insurance. This is not something we talk about but it is real and it is where we are.)

Phil 4:8
I have many anxieties on me. There is no room for anxiety if I am trusting whole heartedly in Jesus. For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans for a hope and a future. I don't know how we are going to pay for this baby. What is true? 1) I can pay what I can pay. The rest will be on a credit card. 2) It costs a significant amount. 3) We are getting a significant discount by paying cash. 4) We are having another baby. 5) I allow the strain of how to pay for it overshadow the joy she will bring. 6) I rob God the joy of this blessing. 7) I give Satan the pleasure of victory. 8) I stop this now!
Thank you Lord for the truth.

a big day

Streed is 2 weeks from being 7 years old and he lost his first tooth. He has been talking about it being loose for a few weeks now. Chip was home this morning. He and Streed decided it was time for it to come out now. It was quick and painless because it was super loose. I think it feels better now that it is out than it has felt the past few days.

Happy Monday

Ella took this picture last month. She occasionally hijacks my camera and ends up with some good shots. The pic is representative of what I am about to do. Nate is at preschool and the other two are at their co-op. This is my first Monday ever to have a day to myself at home. I am about to eat breakfast in silence. Then I will begin cleaning and straightening to music. I am looking fwd to this day. From what I figure, I will only have this luxury until mid-December when they are all out of school. By the time they all go back will be be in major baby prep-mode. So, here's to three months of Mondays where Mama can relax and regroup for the start of another busy week!

States and Capitals

For the past five weeks of school we have been "learning" and memorizing the states and capitals. So far we have learned the New England states, the Mid-Atlantic states, and the Southern states. In college, Chip and I (and Uncle Nick) had Economics together. Our teacher always gave extra credit on tests. It was always 5 questions. It was always the US states and capitals. I never really learned that in school apparently. And, during that whole semester, it never occured to me to study them and earn easy points on each test. Maybe knowledge of the the above scenario should have prepared me for the below conversation I had with Streed just this week, 5 weeks into school.

Me watching news.
Me: Streed come here and see this.
Me: Look, Harrisburg, PA is flooding.
Streed: Is that in America?
PAUSE
Me: (handled well) WHAT? WHAT HAVE WE BEEN STUDYING? THE US CAPITALS. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. YES, ITS IN AMERICA.

Baby girl is 5!

Ella turned 5 this week. Jill said it seems like she has been 5 for a while. That is probably true. She is rather grown up in some ways for her age. We celebrated for a few days. Some friends came over for dinner and presents a week early becaue they would be out of town the next week. They brought kitchen items to go with the kitchen we bought her. She was sad at first when she opened their present because we had not given her our gift yet. But Chip quickly brought it in from the garage and ALL THE KIDS were thrilled!


We had her real party the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Poor planning on my party but I was planning around big brother's baseball schedule and wanted the party close to her actual bday. It was a sweet small party but with big fun! The big hit was Chip making shaved ice for everyone. (He helps out a friend at a shave ice stand ocassionally and brought some of the equipment home).
Originally the party was going to be at a pool. The weather was questionable so we changed it to our house. After shave ice, slip-n-slide, playing in the hose, eating and gifts, we all headed to the pool anyway and finished up there with cupcakes. She had a blast which is really the point!


And because we have out of town friends and family, she also has enjoyed receiving mailed presents and cards for a week. In the mail she got a Cinderella barbie, a necklace, a Crayola set, fun kitchen accesories and some money.

another girl

So we found out we are having another girl! This brought mixed reviews from all those attending the ultrasound. Nate quickly said, "I wanted a boy! We already have a girl!" Ella was thrilled! Streed had said all along that he wanted it to be a girl but once he found out it was he was a little disappointed. They are all on board now I think. Not that it matters what they think or what they wanted. I really could have gone either way. I wanted Ella to have a sister but would have enjoyed her being my little friend too. The baby looks healthy. She does not move a lot. In the ultrasound she had one hand behind her head and one leg tucked under her body. We almost did not find out the sex because of how she was laying. I hope she stays laid back after she exits the womb. Mama is tired!

truth

I know I should update. And I will. The truth is, I prefer the comfy chair in Chip's office, which means his computer, which means no pictures. So, when I post, which may be tonight, just know that I am sacrificing by sitting in a hard kitchen chair at my 5 year old laptop that I cannot move because there is no battery life and it must stay plugged in at all costs!

Tears of joy and other things

Today was the first day of the 2011-2012 school year. Streed is entering 1st grade and Ella is doing another year of K-4 since her bday is in September. However, I put her in the K-4 class at CommCentral so that she could get accustomed to it this year before starting Kindergarten next year. The selling feature for this decision was that her teacher this year would be her music teacher from her preschool last year. We just love Mrs. Karen and she loves Ella. Because Ella does not do so well in new environments I figured it would really help her to get used to a new school already knowing her teacher. Ella has not gone to Sunday School in probably 8 months because she does not know anyone. She attends church with Chip and Me. I am fine with this I just want her to grow in this area. As soon as I signed her up for this class I began praying for God to put a girl in her class that she would see at BLOOM (formerly Mom's N More that I attend at our church on Tuesdays) as well as church on Sundays. She has been really excited about starting school especially since her pink L.L Bean back pack arrived and we filled it with school supplies. She was a trooper getting ready this morning and heading into school. The change happened when we actually made it to her doorway. She immediately turned her head into my belly and said she wanted to be with me. We got love from her teacher and walked back outside to get her nap mat out of the van. When we got back to the classroom she entered in and we put all of her things against the wall under her name.
Then we began looking around the room at all of her classmates. She started saying, "That girl goes to my church...that boy Barrett goes to my church...I have seen that girl at church..." I was immediately overwhelmed (and am even now as I type) of God's faithfulness to my simple but important prayer. A friend saw me tearing up. She thought it was because Ella was sad. I explained to her what God had done! I tried to tell Ella but I got choked up. I did not want to make matters worse by my crying so I had to get it together. I kept asking myself if I was crying because I did not expect God to answer or that I was so grateful that He did. Maybe some of both but I think it was more that I truly felt His love for me and for Ella.

Streed walked in like a rock star. He has several friends in his class from last year so he was excited to be back with them.

I love our co-op. I love that I am able to stay home with my kids. It is a sacrifice both financially and mentally, emotionally etc but for us it is so worth it. I love that Chip can read the Old Testament to the kids at night while saying words like "donkeys and asses" and they do not giggle, because they have not been exposed to that yet. I do not know how long we will be a homeschool family but for now it is for us. I would not have it any other way.


"Captain Crab" (that's what his shirt says) stayed with me. We played a little, laughed a little, met a friend to play a little, but mostly I was able to get some stuff done. He will start preschool after Labor Day so the next few Mondays it is just me and Nate Nate. After that, I have every Monday to myself from 9-2. I have not had this since I had kids. Hallelujah!!!

Sweet Sissy

For years now Ella's hair, although gorgeous, has been a thorn in my side. It could be gorgeous with a daily shower, deep conditioning, thorough brushing etc. Seeing as I don't do that to my own hair daily, it wasn't happening to hers either. Therefore it would have a constant matted mess in the back. She refused to have it in a pony tail which did not help matters either. After playing for 3 hours on an inflatable water slide at a birthday party Chip and I decided it was time to tackle the issue at hand. Sunday after church we did our deep conditioning ritual and brushed out all of the tangles, including the severely matted area. She and I headed outside with scissors and went to work. What was left was an adorable little short hair cut that I did not think she could pull off. In some ways she looks older and in some ways I feel as though I have my baby sissy back. I have not seen her hair this short since she was 2 years old. Here are some before and after shots. She could not stop smiling all day yesterday!

new additions

I bought two chairs this week for $30 a piece. They are great chairs, very southern with cane backs. All I have to do is change the fabric on the seat cushions. And I think to save money I am just going to use leftover fabric from my couch. They make my den look so much better. All we had until now was couch seating. I may paint them one day but for now they look fine how they are. They can be totally changed up for years to come!