What Happen When You've Been Sick for 2 Days...

and you try to cook supper for your family? Well, I cooked a sippy cup instead of the chicken!


I was in the other room, thinking "hmmm... something must be on that eye burner," so I walk in the kitchen to check the chicken and lo and behold I had turned on the wrong eye! Smoke, toxic smoke, from the toxic plastic has already filled the kitchen. I turn off that eye and open the windows and back door in the kitchen. My throat is sensitive since I've had strep this week and I have to get a cloth to cover my mouth.

The kids are amazed that there's 'fire' in the house but want to make sure that the 'fire' stays in the kitchen. After all the smoke clears and things start to calm down Emmie asked me why I burned the cup and I told her that I didn't mean to. A few minutes later she came up to me and asked me if I was mad at the cup!

Time Management

Time Management. We all have the same amount of time during the day but there are some days that I feel that maybe I only had about 22 (or even 12) hours that day. Know what I mean?

I already posted earlier about Ellerie being almost a year old. I am so glad that she was 4 months old when we started school last September because I usually start to feel normal again when the newborn is around 4 months old (it has been that way every time). Starting school forced me into a loose and flexible schedule which was good for us, making sure that we accomplished all of the necessary 'schooling' for each child. But I still had a small baby that had to be fed, as well as others that liked to eat too. So I noticed that the housework was the thing that always took a back seat.

In the last few months, I've realized how I would like to be more 'organized' in the area of house cleaning/house work. I love organization and I love to be organized but sometimes it takes extra time to get organized and that can be hard to come by.

Christina recently wrote a post about laundry that made me say 'yes'! She shared how it has helped her to do at least 1 load of laundry a day instead of waiting and trying to do it all at once. I have found that when I do at least 1 load a day, it is harder for me to get behind on the laundry too (unless Momma gets sick, like I have been for the past 2 days). I don't have a real laundry room, just a laundry closet so that place can get pretty cluttered if I get behind. So in my attempt to become more organized around the home I have decided to stick to this plan of doing a little bit of laundry each day.

Interestingly enough, Jessica has also been posting her tips on how to get things done in the home. Read through her entries about that. The one that stuck out the most to me was having a certain day of the week for certain chores. I used to have a system like this, but I don't know what happened... oh yeah... Ellerie happened! With 4 little ones around, the likelihood of cleaning everything in one day is 'not very likely'. It is much more 'doable' to only have 1 or 2 chores that need to be done on a given day. So now I am going to work on my weekly chore chart and try to get that going as well.

I like learning and being reminded of all of these good tips from you wives and mothers who 'have been there' and who 'are there'! Keep 'em coming!

9 months old already

Well, by the time I have gotten around to posting this, she's really almost 10 months old. In just 2 short months, we will be having her first birthday. Wow! This year has flown by so fast.

Running Update

The running is still going good. I have been consistently running 4 miles about 3 times a week. (Trust me, I'm not saying this to brag ... just to say that miracles still happen!) Twice a week I am doing some cardio on the elliptical and some strength training. It has been encouraging to do this with Brian, knowing there is a goal in site (the 10K in April). The hard part is getting up at 5:45 am 4 days a week (I try to do one of my runs on Saturday so I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn).

A funny thing happened on my run this past Saturday. I was getting close to my 1-mile marker and I saw an old man/woman (not sure at this point) up ahead with a big stick in their hand. For some reason this person seemed a little suspicious, maybe it was the stick, or the fact that they were messing with the utility pole beside the street (plus I watch too much Dateline and have an active imagination). So I figured that since this person seemed pretty small, and I wasn't totally exhausted at this point in the run, that I could "take 'em" if they tried anything fishy.

As I approached the person and began to pass, I said "hey". They old woman jumped, screamed and almost knocked my head off with that big stick of hers! The first thought that ran through my mind was "young mother of 4 killed by old woman with stick." But the stick didn't hit me and the old woman apologized for being so jumpy! I told her that was fine, I understood, no problem - (just be careful with that stick)! Needless to say, that got my adrenaline going and I had a little more pep in my step for the rest of the run.

I was telling Brian this story when I got home and Emmie (my 5-year old) was listening (as she always does) to every detail. After I finished she said, "Mommy, an old lady was going to knock your head off with a stick?" Before I could try to explain to her that it was a 'figure of speech', she said "Well, that's wierd!"

The Inheritance of the Children of God

"If there were no afflictions and difficulties and troubles and pain, our fallen hearts would fall ever more deeply in love with the comforts and securities and pleasures of this world instead of falling more deeply in love with our inheritance beyond this world, namely, God himself. Suffering is appointed for us in this life as a great mercy to keep us from loving this world more than we should and to make us rely on God ..." (Piper)

Read the rest of the sermon here.

New Baby

Kim should be having her baby today! Her daughter Hannah is blogging some updates so check them out here!

Family

Our family of 6 went out to lunch together recently. It really isn't that big a deal for us to go out to eat. In fact, the baby fell asleep on the way so she just stayed in the car seat. Our kids usually behave and we all enjoy our time together.

While walking to our table, we ran into some people we know. We greeted one another and then a person at that table said, "wow, you just ... you just have so much 'stuff'!" Now, I don't think we had too much stuff with us. The baby was in the car seat, but she's not stuff. And I had a diaper bag on my shoulder (which isn't much bigger than my purse) and it had a little 'stuff' in it. But that's it. The rest of our 'stuff' was just us - just people. But I think that's what they were saying.

I have been thinking about that statement alot today. Yes, if you look at children from a certain perspective, it can seem like alot of 'stuff' - alot of diapers, alot of feeding, alot of cleaning, alot of laundry, alot less sleep, alot of inconveniences.

BUT if you look at children from a biblical perspective, they are blessings!! (Psalm 127:3 - Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,the fruit of the womb a reward.) There are alot of blessings that come with children: alot of hugs to give and receive, alot of kisses and cuddles, alot of praise as they progress and learn, alot of conversation, alot of unconditional love, alot of opportunities to share Christ's love. I could go on and on about this but I'll keep it short. We are so thankful for our children! Yes, there are hard days but overall they bring so much joy to this family. I am thankful for that reminder this week!

Running Update

Friday before last I ran my first 4 mile run - and I was able to do it go the entire distance without stopping! I was so excited!



Last week I ran 3 miles on Monday, 3 1/2 on Wednesday and 4 more again on Friday morning. The runs have been good. My body feels good while I am doing it - the hard part right now is the COLD! Last Monday morning the temperature was 12 degrees so I waited to run after Brian got home, when it had 'warmed' up to about 30 degrees. Last Friday morning was about 19 degrees - the coldest it has been during an outside run of mine and man oh man it was cold. I have some warm running tights that I borrowed from Kim, which I wore under another pair of pants. I layered shirts and a sweatshirt. I knew I would probably lose the gloves and sweatshirt after the first mile, like I usually do, but those first few minutes are so chilly!

I am from South Georgia and I feel cold all the way in my bones! I think the reason I start to feel good after I have been going about a mile is that everything in my body is FROZEN - so then I don't feel the cold anymore. Those first few minutes, I always start telling myself how crazy this is - especially when I could be in my nice, warm bed ... BUT I have to keep going because we are officially signed up for this 10K on April 5! Some days, it's been hard to keep warm during the day, I think because my bones are still thawing! I am longing for a little bit warmer weather, not hot, just above 25 in the morning, but until then, I guess I'll just bundle up!

This week I ran 4 again this morning. I am going to try 4 a couple more times this week, trying to improve my time. If you have any suggestions for helping me improve my speed, please let me know!!