Winter and Beauty

This was going to be the worst Christmas ever--I just knew it! I cried and basically threw an adult fit. I hated that it had been months since the hurricane hit, and we were still living on concrete floors with holes in the laundry-room ceiling. I had been depressed the first few weeks after we came home, but I had eventually grown accustomed to sweeping bland concrete and pulling bits of sheetrock that were stuck near the wall out and trashing them. I was learning why people with dirt floors bothered to sweep. I was proud of myself for growing in this area, and then Thanksgiving was over.
Suddenly Christmas was not a dream in the distance, but sat right at our door. I knew for the first time since the hurricane, that it was too late to have a brand new floor in and walls newly painted before Christmas. I usually have no problem thanking God for the little things, but I am ashamed to say, I told God exactly what I felt. Letting it all out felt good, and after it was over I knew God loved me anyway and that all children complain sometimes. Then I began to thank God even though I didn't feel like it. Thank you Lord that my children are healthy, and thank you that my husband has a good job and loves his family, and on it went, getting easier all the time. I still hated it, but I knew I must except that Christmas this year would be on a concrete floor.
It took us a long time to even go buy our tree--we usually buy it right after Thanksgiving. Then, all we did was pull out the ornaments so the children would have a decorated tree. It was nothing like a normal Christmas, where I'm known to decorate even my dining room table and put a nativity in the bathroom. Not this year. But almost every night, I sat up late staring at the tree and crying. Why did this Christmas have to be this way? Then I asked God, "Please, God, I really need a good Christmas". And the miraculous happened. It Snowed in Houston!!!!!!
It was Dec 10. That night, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God loved me! All those Christmases as a child, growing up where it snows, He knew what I missed. It was the best Christmas gift I could have gotten. God gave me a Christmas present. I can imagine that lots of people felt this way! Thank you Jesus. I've always known that Christmas was not supposed to be about decorations or presents, but I most the time get so wrapped up in it that I forget. This year, I was so depressed, that I wasn't thinking much about it being perfect, and God poured out His love on us.
The day before Christmas, the children went shopping with Daddy for some last minute things. The living room was a wreck, because I hadn't cared to clean it up and presents were still unwrapped. But, a peace fell on me as I was alone in the house. I got up, turned on some Christmas music and busied myself. Christmas might not be decorative, I told myself, but the least I could do was make the room look tidy. So, I spent the better part of that day, organizing, picking up, cleaning, sweeping our concrete floor, spreading out a red sheet, and setting the presents out nicely. That day, I really experienced what Christmas was about. It's about Love.


Snow Day, Dec 11:

If you can imagine, this next picture (with them wearing short sleeves) was Christmas day:
Early Christmas morning:

Later that Evening:

What our living room looked like Christmas morning:

If you would like to see more pictures of our Christmas, you can visit my daughter's blog at www.abbyshowandtell.blogspot.com .

We had a really great birthday party this year. The weather was beautiful, and outside was the perfect place for us to hold it. Usually we have the birthday parties at our house, but because Nana and Papa's house wasn't damaged in the storm, they graciously held the party at their house. We had a blast!

We've never spent a whole lot of money on birthday parties, but this year we were considering a party at Jumping Jungle. We asked Abigail if she would rather us spend money on a big party at Jumping Jungle or if she wanted a big present this year. She chose the big present. I only spent about $40.00 total on the party, buying the decorations and party favors at the Dollar Tree and making the cake ourselves. We usually don't have the money for a huge present, but this year we used the reimbersment from our insurance for groceries lost, and bought a big present with it. It took me a long time to sale shop for the amount of groceries lost, but I knew I could build it up again and she wouldn't have another chance for such a glorious birthday present that her Daddy was especially keen on buying for her. What a Dad!!!!

Here's my homemade creation:

And here is her BIG surprise!

We sang Happy Birthday and blue out the candle. She loved all of her presents that our guest graciously brought. She was excited about each of them!

The children loved the party and had great fun, but even the adults and teens enjoyed the family fun!

After the party the fun continued. We took a full day off to open and enjoy each present and to go to McDs for lunch. Her favorite present (that you can play with indoors) was her Butterfly Barbie!

Hurricane Ike

As you can see, it's been a while since I posted. It didn't end up being a tragedy for us, although we had family members who were hit much harder then us. We were effected, though, and it's been really hard to be patient about it all. We had roof damage, sheet-rock damage downstairs, and all of our downstairs carpet had to be ripped up. The insurance company came through for us, but we're still waiting for the money to be available. It's a lot more waiting than I anticipated. We've been wanting to move for several years now, so this might end up being a blessing in disguise for us, but we're still waiting to see how it all plays out. We really want to fix this place up to rent and move to a house with a backyard. That's our dream--a house with a back yard.

The hurricane that might head our way, turned into a manditory evacuation. We brought files, a bag of toys for each child, and pictures. That was about it, other than what we needed on hand to stay with Mamaw. Here we are, packed in the car, ready to go.

Mamaw's house is very cozy, but it was even cozier with 10 people and a dog staying in her little house. The kids thought it was great, and we all did fine.




Driving back in was surreal. There were piles of wood (looked like stacked firewood) outside of corporations, sheets hanging in trees, fences totally gone, a gas station twisted into an "x" shape, and less than 5 miles from our house we had to drive under this:

Getting even closer, it was pretty scarry. This was a house two doors down from us. Fema and their insurance both turned them down! It was surprising to me how many people I know found out their insurance was a fraud. Both of my sisters who live near me found out that even though they were sending money through their mortgage to a big name insurance, that they were not covered after all--and "Oops" was all they could say to them. Fema also turned them down, even though one of them had to have their house gutted.



This was our neighbor's shed:

This was the inside of our living room after taking out the wet, moldy carpet. The water literally blew in through cracks in the doors and windows. Our white board that stays hung on the wall next to the door was completely warped from it:



Our next door neighbor's little girl, who's Abby's best friend, lost her swingset. It was scattered out all over the field. They tried to find all the peices, but a few vital things were missing. They played on the peices until the guys hauled them off.

The kids recieved some unplanned education as we ripped out some huge peices of sheet-rock.


We kept the children upstairs for a couple of days while we took up nails and tackboard, etc. By the time we got through making the place remotely safe, they were restless and were begging to help. Sweeping and carrying cushions was about the only thing safe we could find for them to do, but for them it was a much needed break from their room.

Attack of the Kisser Mama:

Please pray for my sisters and all those effected by Hurricane Ike. I'm so ready to get back to a normal life again, whatever that means. We praise God that our insurance came through. It just seems like such a long wait for the money to actually become usable. Please pray that it will cover all that needs to be done, and that my sister's mortgage company will pay for their mistakes. You would hardly believe the amount of people that this has happened to--people paying their insurance through their mortgage company, trusting that it was reliable, and now find out their hard earned money has somehow vanished into thin air.

"First" day of Kindergarten

We've been doing school for a while now, but I had forgotten to take some first day pictures. I guess we've been doing school stuff with her so long that all the days just blend one into another, and I forget that this is her first official year of school. While I taught her to read last year, she wasn't old enough to enter school yet anyway, so we never had to keep records. We did keep some, but only for my own sake as a sentimentality. This year is the first year the records are important for other reasons than just a keepsake.

So, I dressed them up this morning, let them plant their beans (science project for this week), and take some pictures with their new backpacks. They were so cute showing off their new stuff!

This is Abby! She's going to be a big Kindergartener this year and I'm so very proud of her. She learned basic reading skills last year and can write any word that you show her legibly. She'll be doing Sonlight Core K this year and supplimenting with P 4/5 so that we won't get too far ahead in the fun read alouds. She loves to play house/kitchen and loves being outside. She's a little shy, but loves to play with the kids in her Sunday school class. We'll be moving to the Kindergarten Sunday school class this coming Sunday, and she's a little nervous about the change, but I'm sure she'll be fine when she realizes it's the same kids, just a different teacher and room.



On the left is my younger student, Abram (otherwise known as Little Bub or My Little Superman). He is a ham and a half, as can be clearly seen in this picture. He's not 'in school' yet, but we read storybooks from Sonlight P3/4 when he's in the mood to settle in a snuggle with Mama for a good book. He loves to fly around the house in his Superman cape and will be caught wearing his Superman shirt not ten minutes after I've dressed him in the morning. I have to sneak it to the washing machine when it gets dirty, lol!


Here are the children with their new backpacks. Since they don't really need backpacks, we just stuff them full of markers, crayons, spiral notebooks, coloring books, etc that they can play with whenever they want to learn on their own.

These are the children's bean plants from their Science project. Abram is almost always involved in the Science projects. He feels very left out if we don't let him--but that doesn't happen often. His bean plant is actually taller than Abby's so far, and he planted it himself. They are both very proud of their plants.

And here is our sweet Abby playing school after her school day is already over. She actually taught herself to write by playing school. She loves to write--takes after her Mama I guess. She puts together her own books and tells little made up stories to us. Very precious.

More Time to Read

One thing I've found lately, is time. It's amazing how keeping your house in order actually creates the illusion of more time--and I must say, I'm enjoying every minute of it! I know that there are no actual extra minutes in my day, but I have had more time to read lately than ever before. I have been in a better mood, felt far less guilty about things, and just enjoyed my life more since joining flylady. My mind is more clear, I'm more focused--wow, it's like a medicine. I LOVE what keeping a well managed home does to me. (And I'm only on about day 9).

Right now, I'm reading "At Home in Mitford" by Jan Karon. It is fabulous!! I haven't enjoyed a fiction book as much in years. I think I'm actually going to ask for a few of her books for my birthday, since the one I'm reading is borrowed. Not that I don't have plenty of books in my home to read already, but I love reading. One of my biggest dreams is to have a seperate room just for books, a library of sorts, with easy chairs and dark carpet and, maybe even a fireplace.

I also have always wanted to write a novel--actually I've already finished one, but it's not my favorite and I know it's not publishable. I dream of writing another novel, this time one I take time with and caress into worthiness. But, first, I am going to set my habit of a tidy, managable home in stone. I do not want to start something only to be side-tracked by my own slobbiness.

Routines and Planners

Okay, I have to admit, routines and planners are NOT natural for me!! I love to display them in my home, lol, but I rarely put them to good use. However, I've been following the flylady babysteps for the last week, and I have to say--My home looks AWSOME!! There are definitely places I still need to work on, but the overall look of my home is clean and tidy, and it's all thanks to a Godsend--Flylady. But her next step is to add a control journal and routine to my life. Rrrr. I love the idea, but they've never worked for me before. I do have to admit though, that I've never consistently MADE myself use one for long enough to tell whether it would work or not.

I bought a Franklin Planner a couple of months ago in a last ditch effort to get myself organized, and I maybe have one week total used. BUT, I have an entire year of blank daily planning pages staring at me--hince, my new control journal. I did not spend that much on a planner to LOOK organized!!! I need to use it, and since control journal is my next babystep, my Franky is going to get some good use--hopefully.

I will be using my Franklin as a purse, with everything in it, so that I will be forced to carry it everywhere with me. Actually, I'm already in that habit. Next, I'm going to write down a simple morning and evening routine, and put it under tab 1 in my planner. Then...huh, I'm going to actually start USING my planner. Am I a nerd or what?

So, off I go to admire and get aquainted with my Franky!

Words are Seeds

I believe that every word we speak, hear, or read is a seed. Whether or not the seed produces fruit has to do with a few things--whether it is planted (understood), watered (meditated on), etc. But I do believe that words themselves are very powerful. I want you to consider a few verses from the Bible:

Luke 8: 11--"Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God"

Matthew 4: 4--"But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'"

Matthew 12: 36-37--"But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

John 1: 1 --"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

If words are truly important, if they effect us to the degree that the Bible claims they do, than why do we toss them around so freely? And why do we allow so many words to come our direction that are useless junk?

I am ready to not only declutter my Stuff, but the Words that are around me. I am in awe, seriously, to think of how many words are around me! Thinking alone of the paper clutter of ads, envelopes, bills, and letters is overwhelming, than add to that e-mails, t.v., movies, blogs, websites, and the conversations around us. Wow! I couldn't begin to count the number of words that sit in my home alone, not to mention the words everywhere I visit.

Now don't take this and start telling people to shut up because you're not going to listen to their endless chatter anymore (although, that's very tempting). However, I am going to start a purging process of the Word Clutter around me! I want time to read words that build me and my family up, words that give us peace and joy, not that put fear in us or shame, or that give us a bad attitude!

What kind of words do you want planted in your head? Seriously!

It's really no wonder we are so depressed, stressed, and confused!! Look how many different messages we get every day--buy this, no this, no don't buy anything at all, throw out, bring in, give it a chance, give that up, give that to me....and I could go on a thousand years. Messages. Are they good, are they worthy? Are they needed?

Purge your life of the words that tear down, shame, put fear upon you, confuse you, entice you wrongly, tempt you beyond what you need, lie to you, and cause you pain, and I believe you and I will have a renewed mind!


Philippians 4: 8--"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."