Autumn Morning

There are so many beautiful things in nature if we take the time to see them.  One of my favorite is the sun rising in the morning on the changing Autumn leaves.  The leaves glow with the light of the sun and it is breath taking.  I love to sit on my deck in the morning with my cup of coffee and watch the leaves as the sun rises, it is one of those things that helps me see God in my day.  I know that no person is capable of such beauty and only He can create it.
Take some time today to see His beauty around you.

Flexibility

The lessons I have been learning this past few months have all had to do with flexibility.  Very few things have been going as I planned them to, so I have had to be flexible with a positive attitude to the changes. I really should know by now that God's plans for me are hardly ever the plans I have for myself.  He has plans for me that are so much better than I could ever imagine, I just have to remember that growth means that I will not be in my comfort zone so I need to be flexible and try see what He is trying to teach me.

Through flexibility my faith has grown - less money means staying home more weekends and going to church., Through flexibility my family has gotten closer - being home more means more time going for walks, playing in the backyard, going to the beach.
Through flexibility I have made some new friends - we have had time to have people over for dinner and get to know them better.
Through flexibility my business has been successful - I have adjusted my business outline to be able to take a family that I really enjoyed meeting and I think will be fun to have in my program.
Through flexibility my life has become a little bit quieter and I am so much happier.

Missing Mom

My mom passed away last year in a sudden accident and even though it has been over a year I still have moments of feeling great loss.  I know she is in a better place with her brother, mother and father as well as friends of her childhood.  I know that she is happier than she has ever been here.  Still I really miss her.  I am so thankful that I made the effort over the past 10 years to be her friend as well as her daughter.  I have many cherished memories of simple things we did together as mother/daughter/friends.  When we disagreed on something we made sure that we weren't upset with each other, we tried to understand the other view point and respected each others opinions.  I can't express how thankful I am for that simple respect on both our parts.  Since my mother's death was so sudden I was not ready to let her go so after my mother's funeral my sister and I went through her beautiful garden (that she cherished and worked very hard on) and dug up several of her flowers and plants.  I brought mine home and planted a memorial garden to my Mom.  It looks beautiful this year.  I know my mom would be happy to see such a garden at my house.  I know she would be thankful that my sister and I took the time to care for her flowers and let them continue to show their beauty at our homes.  I smile every time I look at the garden, and I think of mom.  I miss you Mom, but I feel like I still have a part of you here with me.

Life Skills

I was sick this week and my house still ran smoothly.  I am so thankful that I have been teaching my girls life skills since they were toddlers.  Krista and Nicole ran the house very smoothly with only a few re-directions from me. The laundry got done, the dishes got done, the meals were cooked (with help from Dan), the house stayed clean, the pets were taken care of, the garbage was taken out and the groceries were put away when they arrived.  I wonder how many homes would come to a complete halt if mom got sick for a week?  I believe that our children can do so much more than we give them credit for, and they feel like they are an important part of the team when they are given chores and held accountable to do them.  This to many in our society is outrageous, but what is the long term goal you are looking for in your child?  Do you want your 18 year old to be successfully living on their own or do you want them living with you and depending on you until they get married?  If you would like them to be successful & self-sufficient and are not sure where to start I recommend the book "Life Skills for Kids" by Christine Field and "How Much is Enough" a book about overindulgence by Jean Illsley Clark.

Neighborly Hat

Today five of my neighbors gathered for a fun morning of water play for the kids. It was nice to get everyone out and together again after the long long long winter. Afterwards I was thinking "what keeps us from spending time with our neighbors?". Sometimes it is our schedules, our children's schedules and lack of effort. What ever it is keeping you From your neighbors, it may also be keeping you from some special treasures. I forgot how nice it is to share memories and new experiences with my neighbors. I am very blessed to have wonderful Christian neighbors. We may not always see eye to eye on everything, but we all agree on the important things...Christ and family. Today we were sharing our anniversary milestones, 20 years, 25 years and 50 years. What a great marriage support group, most of us married our high school sweet hearts and college sweet hearts. I love my neighborhood, and though I don't let them know enough I love them also.

So many friends so little time

Why is it,  that it is so hard to make time for dinner with friends?  I have some wonderful friends that I want to spend time with, yet I don't seem to ever get to spend the time I want with them.  Days, weeks, months and even years go by without that talked about dinner.  There are emails and a few phone calls, but with friends like I have I want more.  There are a few friends that live close by and our schedules work well together so I get to spend time with them.  I am so thankful for that time, but what about all the other treasured friends?  When will I get to spend time with you?  Let's get a date on the calendar...e-mail me with what dates work for you and lets get something on the calendar.

Tendinitis

I planned a really fun first week of summer break and Nicole took full advantage of it.  Monday we had Games2U come, Tuesday we played Badminton & Volleyball, Wednesday was Movie Day,  Thursday we had the Water Slide up and Friday was building forts in the woods and making bows from branches and sticks for our bow and arrow contest.  Last night Nicole could barely walk so I put on my Medic Hat and it looks like she has Tendinitis.  Hmmm we have "Back to the 50's" today and she can't walk.  Well I will just put on my Engineers Hat and make that wagon as comfortable and functional as it needs to be for her to spend a day in it checking out all the awesome cars at the fairgrounds.  I will need to remember to pack my Fun Hat for the day.

Book Club

I have always wanted to be in a book club, but I have never found or made time to make it happen.  I know that this is entirely my fault and I have no one to blame.  Today I was just tickled when my girls and their friends asked me to be apart of their new book club.  Okay so they didn't really ask me to be in it, but they did ask me to buy them all a copy of Ted Dekker's "Circle Trilogy" graphic novel.  I have read the un-graphic novel and loved the series, so of course I am going to dip into my budget to assist them all in creating a book club...that I can be apart in. I know that I will have to take a back seat to the discussion and only add some insight here and there, but I am looking forward to it.   It is so refreshing to see kids with an interest in books instead of obsessed with electronics.

Hats

It doesn't matter if you are a working mom, a stay at home mom or a home schooling mom...you wear many hats throughout the day.  The trick is to figure out what hat to wear and when.  Some moms think that I have a good balance of when and where to wear my hats but I am just like the rest of the moms out there struggling to find the right hat at the right time...and right now I need to find my Invisible Bubble hat so I can have some ME time :)