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My husband and I have been watching the series Elementary. It's a modern take on Sherlock Holmes. It does a great job of combinding humor and crime, and we've been really enjoying it. 

In the show, Sherlock is a recovering drug addict. He has already been through rehab, and now has a sponsor and goes to meetings. 

Watching the show this evening, I was struck by something. Sherlock sends a text message to his sponsor. It simply says, "I'm struggling, meet me here." It shows his sponsor reading it, and immediately leaving to meet him. 

Wow! What if we treated Christianity this way?? 

What if we each had a mentor, and if applicable, were a mentor ourselves, and we had relationships with them like this. 

How do you think this would affect our walks with God, our relationships, our world? 

I think the results would be tremendous. 

I've read so many articles bashing the church. Some people will find fault in anything, but in some cases, the church (Christians) need to do a better job. 

I recently joined a new church, and the pastor there likes to talk about "living life together."

That's what people need. To live life together. They need 

And by recovery, I mean the human nature of sin. We all sin. We all struggle daily. Will it be so dramatic that we will need to text someone to come meet with us right away all the time? No. But we need to know that we have each other's backs. In essence we need "a person" 

                           

(I see this all the time. Grey's Anatomy?) 

And maybe it's more than just one person. But I hope you get the idea. Life is too short to not make time for what's most important. 

As Christians, our walk with God should be our number one priority. 

Can we not then make time to REALLY live life with our fellow believers. 

Do you have what it takes to get in the trenches with someone, and pray over them, dig into scripture with them, and fight the good fight with them?? 

Do you need someone to get in the trenches with you and pray over you, dig into scripture with you, and fight the good fight with you?? 

Let's open our homes, our lives and our hearts. The next time someone tells you of a problem they are having, don't just tell them you'll pray for them, do it then and there with them! 

For some reason, I've been thinking a lot about the early churches. Can you imagine what life was like for them? I think they clung to each other as they began living their new faith. 

They had worship in people's homes, they ate together, they REALLY did life together. Look at Paul's letters. He knew these people. 

What if that's what God is calling us to do? I'd ask you to pray about this with me. 

If there are no mentor/discipleship relationships in your church, talk to your pastor about it. 

What about a small group? Think outside the box on what God may be wanting you to do. I know I will be. 

Pee and Poop

Here's some things for you to ponder this Christmas season.

What would you say keeps you the most busy. Want to know mine??

Pee and Poop 

Why do you buy scentsy/candles/air fresheners?? Do you have a pathological fear that your house smells like something you've gone nose blind to a LONG time ago?? Mine?

Pee and Poop

What are you covered in the majority of the time?? Is it flower scented perfume? Mine? You've guessed it...

PEE AND POOP! 

Bear is potty trained.... Thank the good Lord! Bunkin..... He's getting there. I started to potty train him last year.... When I was GINORMOUS with Ren (yeah it was Roo before but since Bunkin started calling her Rentar, like Reptar off Rugrats, that nickname has unfortunately for her stuck lol).

There I was, dilated, swollen everywhere, and wondering when I'd ever see my feet again, but goneflabit, I WASN'T going to have 3 in disposable things. Yeah....  Who was I kidding. Fast forward a year, and we are finally making great progress with Bunkin.

Then there's Boo.  Oh Boo. I've jumped on the train wagon of trying to get her potty trained earlier than the boys, because according to....  Idk people.... girls are easier to potty train than boys.

Some days are good. Some days are bad horrendous. Like the time I was getting her dressed and she decided to run into our dining room and stand on my padded dining chair and pee.
Or when I'm walking around thinking pleasant thoughts and I step in a pee puddle and drench my socks and the bottoms of my pants.
Or the numerous times I hear "Mom, Boo peed on the floor!"

Then of course there's sweet baby Ren. I wouldn't mind changing her diapers at all if I wasn't already so sick of poo. I'll admit the thought has crossed my mind of holding her over a toilet too.

You'll miss this time, they say. It goes by so fast they say. Well THEY have never had Bear on the potty doing number 2, while you're showering off Boo in the tub because she had an accident, and Bunkin couldn't wait for Bear to get done on the only potty in the house so he pees on the floor, and all the while Ren is crying in the background.

Yeah, you can't make this stuff up people.

My husband recently started a new job. Right now is their crazy busy season, so he's gone from home for 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. By the time he gets home at 7:15 p.m I look like this.

And that's on a good day ;)

(Disclaimer: I love my children dearly. Just keeping it real and hoping to give you a smile :) )

There is Beauty

If we are friends in Facebook, you'll already know that I was involved in a car accident 3 weeks ago.
A driver pulled out in front of me and I hit them going 55 mph. I have a possible fractured foot (there's been differing opinions), ligament damage in my foot, deep knee bruising, a mild concussion, whip lash, and my hips are out of alignment.
Our van was totaled and dealing with the insurance company has been a nightmare. You would think that when an accident wasn't your fault that they wouldn't jip you out of money, but I've found that's not the case.

I've dealt with depression for years, and I normally keep it in check by remaining active and exercising. You can't do that when your foot is non weight bearing.
I took up writing more of my sequel to my first book, "Beneath the African Sky", and reading lots. Then my chiropractor told me that watching TV and those things are the worst things to do with a concussion, so I sat twiddling my thumbs day after day.

3 weeks in I was feeling really badly. I asked for prayer, because I knew I really needed it.
You know what?? It worked!

The evening after I asked for prayer, I felt like God took a veil off my eyes. I was feeding Roo upstairs and the rest of my little family were in the basement playing.
All of a sudden I felt beauty all around me. Roo was laying softly at my chest, birds were singing outside, a squirrel was eating corn in our tree, two little boys were riding their bikes down the side walk out our window, and pails of laughter were coming up from the basement.

It's hard to explain, but I felt as though I were seeing things the way God sees them. I welled up in tears as I realized the wonderful things that God has given me, and that every moment with my family is laced with beauty. I just have to look and see it.

God has always taken care of me, and he will continue to do so. I knew such peace as his presence settled over me. He knows the accident wasn't my fault, he knows my heart, and he'll sustain me.

My family came bounding up the stairs dressed in silly hats and scarves, with a drum and guitar in hand, and they put on a veggie tales "rock show" for me. They just wanted to make Mommy laugh.

And I did.

I pray that you too will see beauty in your life. Instead of being excited for the next big event in your life, wake up excited to see your children's smiles. Appreciate the amazing smell of a flower. Dwell on a sunset. Enjoy the warmth of embrace from your spouse.

This is the way we were meant to be living.

Big Exciting Changes!!!!

It's been a while.... at least six weeks. You want to know how I know??
I'm holding 6 week old Miss Roo on my lap. :) Her nickname for the blog doesn't start with a "B" like the others, but it fits her and I couldn't resist Boo and Roo!

I couldn't ask for better siblings for Roo. They love her so much. Boo will even try to offer her pacifier to her if she's crying, which in my book is the biggest sacrifice anyone could ever make ;) Boo is very attached to her pacey (something we're working on :) )

Our little family is complete and we couldn't be happier or feel more blessed with the beautiful children God has given us. 

Life with 4 children under 4 is... something else!! lol. I am NEVER bored to say the least. I'll do a post about a day in the life pretty soon, but onto other news. :)

WE'RE MOVING!!!! 

Four months have come and gone since we've moved in with my parents. We have been able to take care of the majority of our debt, and we couldn't be more grateful. 

The week Roo was born, we felt strongly led to start looking into a house to rent. We were very drawn to a certain town because of location to my husbands job, and pricing. 

The first house we went to look at we really liked. It was a 3 bedroom, 1 bath for a great price. The landlord told us that 15 other people were also interested in the house, and to fill out the application ASAP if we were interested. 

We did with little hope because of our still low credit scores and not any references. (The place we rented at before, the landlord tried to take advantage of us when we left. He charged us for things we'd already paid, and even had burnt out light bulbs on the list. We didn't pay his outlandish requests, and we knew he wouldn't give us a good reference because of that.)

The landlord called the next day and told us that all he needed was a reference and that it could even be someone that we went to church with. If we gave him one, we could have our choice between that house, and another house that him and his wife thought we would like better!!!! 

We were blown away!! We went and looked at the other house, and liked it even more than the first. 

It's a 3 bedroom, 1 bath as well. It has a big flat back yard (the other house's yard was sloped) and a full basement with tons of built in storage, a mud sink, and even a pencil sharpener!! Can we say PERFECT for homeschooling?? :)

We obviously chose the later, and we move in this weekend!!! :)

We were already feeling like God was outdoing himself for us (not that that's possible ;) ) when my husband got offered a job with a different elevator company. He will be getting a nice pay raise, and guess where his route is going to be?? The town we're moving to and surrounding areas!!

He will no longer have a 4 hour commute to and from work each day. This will mean more time with family, more sleep, and more money. 

Only recently did we start praying for a closer, better paying job, and God blessed us with exactly that!

We're so excited about our families future and to see what else God has in store for us. :)

Pregnant Momma at the Movies

The new year has come and gone. I always have a sense of excitement when it comes to starting a new year. It feels like a fresh start to me. I always evaluate my life, and see what God wants to change or keep the same. I then go out and by a new planner, (for some reason I love planners, notebooks, pens.... I always have. My heart always starts racing when I go down that particular aisle in the store. I'll just chalk it up to being a writer..... ;) ) and write down the things that I want to change. I suppose most people would consider them New Years Resolutions.

My new found sense of hope and excitement died fairly quickly this year. In one word... reality hit. I woke up one morning to one child acting sick with a bad cold, and have been staring at a week and a half of sickness ever since.

These have been my days...

                     They wanted to sit together and watch a movie. Yes, this is how they really looked all week. 

 

Cuddled up reading "Curious George". I think Miss Boo is in mid sneeze lol

(and in case you're wondering, different day, same Pj's for Miss Boo ;) )

 

 

 

Because they were sick, we kept them in ALL WEEK. I didn't mind at first, because my husband and I were sick too. But Monday turned to Friday evening, and I was about to loose my mind!!! Luckily my wonderful MIL said she would watch the kids so we could go out to lunch and see Star Wars Saturday.

 

The joy was real. I felt like skipping to the van. For a few hours, I was kid sick free!!!!!

 

To make sure you understand my week and level of grossness, I'll share this incident with you.  One of they days (they all run together) Bear was sitting beside of me and said,

"Mommy, what's this??" He wiped something off of my shirt and showed me.

 I took one look at it and said, "It's a booger."

"EEEWWWW. Mommy, why do you have a booger on your shirt??"

"Probably because your sister likes to wipe her head on my shirt when she snuggles me. It's not the first time it's happened. Did you know that you've all wiped your boogers on me at some point or other??"

"No!!!" He says astonished.

"Yeah. Maybe I'll start wiping my boogers on you. Would you like that??"

"NOOOO Mommy," He says laughing.

Yeah... I'm sure you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about ;)

 

 

Anyways... like I said, the joy was real. We ate at one of my favorite restaurants (Olive Garden, in case you ever feel like sending me a gift card ;) ) It was delicious and oh so quiet and calm and CLEAN!! 

 

 

                                             How Miss Boo eats Olive Garden when I look away for a moment

 

 

My dad likes Star Wars, so I grew up watching the original ones. To not see it in theaters was not even fathomable. I mean it has Harrison Ford in it!!!!

 

 

 

We get there a half an hour early, and were happy to see one person sitting in the theater.

 

Now let me be honest here. I am currently 30 weeks pregnant with our fourth little blessing. I also have a prolapsed uterus that according to my doctor, makes my pregnancies 5 times more painful than the average woman's.

 

The doctor didn't lie. I'm miserable.

My plan was to find a seat where someone wasn't sitting in front of me, and prop my feet up on the arm rests of that seat. Don't get me wrong, I was raised to treat things with respect, and I had an inner war about if it was really ok for me to do that, but in the end the pain won over.

Sitting normally for two and a half hours was going to be torture.

 

People started trickling in like mad the closer it got to the movie time. We switched our seats two different times so that no one was in front of me. (It was my husband's idea every time. He really loves me :) )

It got closer to the movie and I was in another dilemma. Being pregnant with a cold, I've been VERY thirsty. BUT I didn't want to have to visit the bathroom a million times either ;)

I decided to chance it and get a drink.

 

Can I just say, WOW!!!! Theater priced food and drink is getting even more and more ridiculous!!!

I got in line behind a couple and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, I was first in line.

The guy at my register decided that the coffee machine needed fixed, and left. I was frustrated, but determined not to leave my first in line place.

 

A few minutes later, a lady called that they were the only ones with cash registers open. 

The black old man with a cane behind me, ran to the open register while I waddled like a penguin in disbelief to stand behind the other register.

I wanted to take his cane and hit him with it. He OBVIOUSLY didn't need it.

 

The couple in front of me apparently didn't have any kids, and have plenty of money. They ordered like 7 different things off of the menu, including extra, extra, extra butter on their popcorn (his words, not mine) In order for me to order 7 different things, I would have to take out a small loan or sell a child.   

 

 

 

The black old man with the cane asked for a drink and was out of there lickedy split.

It FINALLY became my turn, and I was happy to announce to the punk boy teenager that I only wanted a drink. Surely this wouldn't take long.

 

I was wrong.

The drink machine was on the other side of the of the room, and he started his slow trek there. He stopped to chat with the other guy who was still fiddling with the coffee machine. By this time I had called his bluff. He had NO IDEA how to fix it, but sure was enjoying every moment he got away with it.

He slowly got my drink, and stopped to chat with the cute blonde girl behind the other register. Yeah, I know she's cute, but flirt on your own time, not mine!!!

 

I got my drink and waddled as fast as I could back to the theater. Luckily only commercials were playing. I sighed a big sigh of relief to see that the seat in front of me was still vacant. I refused to put my feet up until after the movie started. I wasn't going to be THAT person.

 

The silly "Silence your cell phones now please" lady came on, and I rubbed my hands in anticipation. I was going to get to put my feet up!!!!

 

 

Then who do you suppose meanders into the theater, milking his cane???? My eyes locked on him and all I could think was "Please no!!!!"

He looks around, and rubs his graying beard. It took everything within me to not put my feet up. 

He slowly makes his way to the seat right in front of me, and sits down.

 

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I secretly think this guy has it in for me. Where had he been all of the glorious minutes that he wasn't standing in line???  

 

My husband and I both have a good laughing fit. I had already told him all about the man with the cane.

 

I'll just say it was God's way of providing me more material to write about :) Hope it made you smile!