7 Men on My Roof

Yep that's right. There are 7 men on my roof and it is really loud in here and will be all day. Why you ask? Because we had a terrible roof leak for a very long time and it has ruined our back room. It's also a beautiful much warmer day and I'm thankful that these men do not have to freeze while they are up there. What I am most thankful about is that all of these men are our friends. They all volunteered immediately when they heard that we had this need and have reminded us multiple times since then that they wanted to help. So, they all got here around 7:oo a.m. and went straight to work, while I was preparing their breakfast. As soon as they were done eating they headed right back up there. I am so thankful to have people in our lives that love us for who we are. That don't get mad or offended about little things or even big ones. They just realize we are human and that we will make mistakes. We understand that they are too. That is what makes a good friendship. What makes it even better is when those friendships are rooted in the Lord. These are all godly men, who are striving to learn more about the Father and do His will. I'm proud to call them and their families our friends and I'm more thankful than I could ever show them.

Have a great weekend!

Busy Week (Just Rambling)

This week has been totally crazy. I worked 9 hours Monday, 8 hours Tuesday, and 3 hours today. It's honestly been so crazy that I can't even remember what else I did on Monday besides helping the kids with school. Tuesday I also went to Wal-Mart and prepared and served a meal for out men's ministry. Today was really nuts. I paid bills, did our taxes, planned my co-op class (we start back tomorrow), worked, helped with schoolwork, cooked supper (with a little help) and went to church. Tomorrow is co-op and dance and I will have to work again either tomorrow or Friday. It's a blessing though. The money will help pay for my new embroidery machine (If I truly talk myself into that kind of splurge) and then it will help us get the remainder of our debt paid off, some repairs done to the house and our 3 - 6 months of expenses saved (gotta love Dave Ramsey).

We will be paying off a good chunk of debt next month and all we will have left is the mortgage and the van. Patrick and some guys will be putting a roof on the back of the house this weekend, we will then work to repair the back room and redo the laundry room, which will double as a craft room and pantry. It's 12'x13' which is too much space to use it only as a laundry room. The next big project will be central heat and air (WooHoo). It will probably be a year or so before we can get that project done. Anyway, God always sends what we need and He knows what we need before we need it. We were doing fine without my job, but the extra money is accelerating many of the things we were already working on.

I'm certainly thankful and slowly but surely I am figuring out how to manage my time and get all of my other responsibilities accomplished. The laptop has helped so much already. I am working at the kitchen table now, so I'm there with the kids while they are getting their schoolwork done. It also helps me to make sure they are getting all of their chores done properly and today they hung out at the table with me for a lot of the day. They just got new markers, so there are many new masterpieces at our house.

Mason is suddenly eating us out of house and home. I'm talking teenage boy eating here. I may even have to adjust the grocery budget. I really wasn't expecting that this soon. Guess my little boy really is growing up. Seems crazy we are going to have eleven and seven year olds this year. In 11 more years (the amount of time I have had my girls) all of my children will be grown. Totally bizarre. Can't even wrap my head around it. I think of all I still have to teach them and things I want to do with them and I feel like I'm running out of time.

The kids and I started learning about the fruits of the Spirit today. They already know what the verse says, but we are digging into the meanings of each one and what the Word says about them. We learned a lot about love today and had some really good discussion. They were surprised to find out that Jesus says that loving your neighbor is as important as loving God. It was pretty eye opening to them. We also learned about how loving means covering offenses. I talked to them about not being easily offended and loving others enough to accept that they have faults and will sometimes do or say hurtful things, but we must love them anyway. Honestly, I think I needed reminding of that as well. I usually am not easily offended but once in a while I go through phases where things bother me more than others.

Since I've had my children I have found myself taking plenty of my own medicine. Many a time I have been teaching them something and felt the Lord nudging my spirit, causing me to ask myself if I was living that example before them and many times the answer has been no. I'm so imperfect. So much more flawed than I want to be. I want to be the perfect Christian, wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend and I fail in so many ways. I just pray that the Lord and all those around me know my heart and see my desire to grow and change and become all God wants me to be. Pray for me please and I'll be praying for you guys.

Blessings!

Simplifying My Life

My hubby and I have been discussing ways to make things run more smoothly around here now that I am working from home. While the list is long, one thing that we could do wasn't difficult, just costly. I have been scanning the adds for a month or so now and have pretty much figured out what the best deal was. Well, yesterday I opened my paper and in the ads I found a better deal on a good product than I have seen in a while. So, after church we went shopping and I am the proud new owner of this:

We got a fabulous deal on an Acer computer. I was unsure about the brand, but I talked to my boss and this is what they are using in the offices at the gym and the processor that it uses is the same one that Compaqs use. I'm really excited. It's going to make things much easier and make me feel more a part of my family. I have been feeling very isolated in my bedroom while I was working. So, it will be nice to park myself at the kitchen table and be near all of the action. Patrick was super sweet and came home and set it all up for me and fixed my wireless network. So, I'm up and running. There is also another big bonus. I have been looking at this:





It is an embroidery machine that has to be hooked up to a computer. The benefit to that is the machine cost much less than one with an on board computer. I actually looked at it when I bought the machine that I have now, but since I only had a desktop computer I decided not to do it, because I didn't want to have to set my sewing machine up right next to my home office. So, I bought a used machine that has been really nice and I absolutely love it, but it just isn't capable of doing all that I want it to do. I'm learning more about it and shopping around and it is very possible that I will be moving up in the embroidery world in the next several months. You know me though, gotta find a great deal first!

Wondering.....

I'm just wondering how all the Christians that voted for our new president feel about one of his first moves while in office. How does a Christian justify voting for a president that would immediately come into office and lift a ban on funding international groups that support and give out abortion information. You can read about it HERE.

I'm afraid to find out what is coming next. Lord help us.

She's Here...in all her chubby glory!!!

My Newest Niece!

Talan Amaze Baty

10 lbs. 6 oz.

20 "

January 12, 2008 2:35 a.m.

That's right boys and girls, she weighed almost 10 1/2 lbs. After a very long day of trying to deliver what the doctor thought was an average or a little above average size baby, they finally had to do a c-section and quickly discovered why my sister-in-law could not deliver that baby. She is CHUNKY! Cute as she can be, about 2 lbs. bigger than the next biggest baby in the nursery. We are all MADLY in love with her!!!

I Am Soooo Excited......

MY NEW PRINTER : HP 6480

Not very long ago I was at a friends store. She was doing some printing and I noticed some of the features that were on her printer. I realized how much time something like that would save me. Patrick and I talked about it and I began to look for one that would do some of the same things. We had 2 printers set up. The one on the computer that I use the most is fast, but does not copy, scan or fax. The one on the older, slower computer, is in an armoire, so the printer is below the keyboard. It prints, copies and scans, but is very slow and kind of old, we've had it for 7 yrs. or more. Well, I found the printer I wanted and started watching the sales. The original price was $199 and the best sale price I could find was $149. Well if you know me, you know I am a penny-pincher, so as much as I wanted the printer, I just couldn't release myself to spend that much money. In the meantime I get this job working from home and the need for a better printer greatly increases. Anyway, I received a Christmas gift that was something I pretty much already have and was able to return it to an office supply store that carried this printer , so I took it back and it was $70, soooooo for $80 I got my printer (Since I will be using it so much more now that I am working, I did opt to buy the protection plan)!!! I am super excited. It has tons of features, but my two favorites are an automatic document feeder and automatic 2-sided prints. WooHoo! The 2-sided print thing is already saving me tons of time and headache. Just wanted to share my excitement!!!