100 Thingsabout ME (maybe)

I saw this here and had to try it!  Go check out Di's list.
Deep breath…..okay, here goes.

100 Things about ME and My family

  1. I love Jesus (easy one to start with!)
  2. So does my hubbie.
  3. I wish I could sing like Carrie at church.
  4. I wish I could sing PERIOD.
  5. My husband can sing.
  6. I can paint.  walls and in watercolor.
  7. I haven't painted (watercolor) since number one son was born.
  8. I've painted lots of walls though.
  9. I'm an introvert.
  10. I like people but in small doses and in small groups.
  11. I don't do parties.  Never have.  Never will.
  12. The friends I have I love a lot.
  13. I like deep friendships.
  14. I hate small talk.
  15. I'll take a group deep just to see how they react.
  16. Inside I'm giggling.
  17. I love horses.
  18. I rode growing up and owned a thoroughbred.
  19. My sister had a horse two.
  20. I had one brother and one sister.
  21. Until I found my birth parents.
  22. I was adopted.
  23. I now have 2 sisters and 4 brothers.
  24. And of course and extra mom and dad.
  25. Finding my birthparents was an experience of a lifetime.
  26. One orchestrated by God and God alone.
  27. My birthbrother Jeff lived with us for a year.
  28. He's still somewhere in the south…location unknown.
  29. All of my siblings but one welcomed me with open arms.
  30. And it's okay that one did not. 
  31. I knew both of my great grandparents.
  32. Those memories are some of the most special of my life.
  33. Being a mom is harder than I thought.
  34. God's teaching me to be unselfish.
  35. And kind
  36. And softspoken
  37. And kindhearted
  38. And wise.
  39. My sin in my kids is the hardest to see.
  40. And it irritates me the most.
  41. I have four children
  42. One is a girl.  She's two.
  43. She is such a gift from God.
  44. One reason is because I never thought I'd be okay having a girl.
  45. Second is because she is SO different than my boys.
  46. My first born is my most challenging child.
  47. Until you put my second born and third born in a room together.  YIKES!
  48. I love chocolate.
  49. I'm eating fruits and veggies right now. 
  50. Did I say I love chocolate?
  51. I used to sneak out of the house at night to roll yards when I was a kid.
  52. I'd sneak my brother out too so I wasn't the only one, if caught, who'd get in trouble.
  53. It was a lot of fun.
  54. We rarely got caught.
  55. My brother went to Nashville Auto Diesel School and now sells furniture.
  56. My sister went to school to cut hair and is now a hairdresser and darn good one.
  57. My sister freaks if a bug touches her. 
  58. She's also easy to “get”.  My hubbie loves trying.
  59. I dated frogs.
  60. I married a prince.
  61. I take such pleasure in simple things now. 
  62. Like killing all the fish we buy.
  63. And adopting stray cats.
  64. I like sleeping with my dog when my husband's gone.
  65. Most of my kids end up in the bed or on the floor too.
  66. I love yellow roses.  I dislike red ones.
  67. I like things out of the ordinary.  Especially people.
  68. I love the way wysteria smells as it blooms.
  69. I wear a size 12 shoe.
  70. I'm six foot two inches tall.
  71. I've modeled.
  72. I've played basket ball.
  73. My husband wants to buy a Jeep.
  74. I want to sell the truck first.
  75. My best friend's name is Andrea.
  76. She's like a spiritual mom too.
  77. God has blessed us with a beautiful house.
  78. And 4 healthy children.
  79. My husband had grown to me and past me spiritually since marriage.
  80. He hubbie is really handsome.
  81. My first born looks just like him.
  82. Can I loose 39 lbs before bathing suit time?
  83. Did I say I love chocolate.
  84. And did I mention the fish…..can't keep thsoe guys alive!!!
  85. I'm only a second year homeschool mom.
  86. I still haven't decided about next year
  87. I'm falling asleep and will have to finish this in the AM.
  88. I love coffee.
  89. I need coffee
  90. BADLY
  91. I still have my girl scout badges.
  92. I still have my letter jacket.
  93. My kids love popsicles.
  94. All my kids have biblical names.
  95. God told me my first child would be a boy.
  96. God speaks to me through dreams.
  97. I don't like incompetent people.
  98. My little girl asks to swing about a million times a day.
  99. I sleep in a king size bed with my hubbie.
  100. We sleep with a fan on full blast.


Too much for one day?????

After my 6 mile long comment at kindredspiritMom's blog I decided just to copy and post here.  So here was my day……on top of my hormones, I set out to conquer the world today without even knowing it.  I have worn myself slap out.

After 8am yoga for almost 2 hours, where my instructor tried to get the front of my thighs, my belly button and a couple of coconuts flat onto a wall for some type of strange/strange torture yoga pose (I couldn't do it. my thighs were killing me.).  THEN I left the chinese torture chamber feeling alive and refreshed (much to my amazement), ran to Stuffmart for all those fruits and veggies I'm eating and came home to help my friend Melinda finish painting our boys room. We're turning the upstairs loft into their room. Three coats of paint on one wall, two on all the rest.  A quick shower and off to pick up # 1 son from school. 

Then I drop off the carpool kids, hit the paint store ONE MORE time.  And back home to move two rooms of furniture up the steps and then down the steps. My office had so grown to the size of an overstuffed potato.  I've accumulated so much junk in my office!!

By this time all of my children are about to kill one another they are so hungry so it's time to cook dinner!  Hubbie cleans the kitchen, which he does very well I might add and we straighten up the new room (my husbands idea NOT MINE). Thankfully he's the one who toted the bus load of office stuff down the stairs while I hooked up the computer

Finally all the kids are down but the boys are making so much racket in their NEW room I think the paint fumes have warped their brains.

My lower back is killing me and I'm ready to fall asleep while my hubbie watches me type. Oh well…off to read blogs.  I need a  margarita and a heating pad!!!
 
julie


Surprise

Our Little Angel
I could just eat her she's so sweet!!!

My hubbie walked in the door tonight as a huge surprise.  He wasn't supposed to be home until tomorrow.  Yea!!!

We're sitting here watching American Idol and I'm reading blogs. 

I did fairly well today eating my fruits and veggies but I really need to get to the grocery store tomorrow to stock up.  We're out of milk and eggs too.  (See, if I had a cow and some chickens this would never happen.)

We got a little school work done today.  I'm still trying to decide about curriculum for next year.  There are just too many choices. 

Well, going to spend some time with my hubbie.
Until tomorrow…..
Bury yourself in HIM!
Julie


Tuesday….

I need to look back over my blogs and see if Tuesday is my “muck” day.  I feel as if I'm having a lot of them lately.  Today I just wanted to crawl in a hole and sleep.  Someone feed me chocolate!!

I've done well on the diet.  Today wasn't as good but overall I'm doing well.  I need to go for some of that yummy asparagus tomorrow.  Mmmm, I didn't know what I was missing as a child.  I've even braved brocolli twice.  I hate that stuff. 

Hubbie's gone.  Oldest son took photos of his baptism to school today.  Too cool!!!!!  My middle and youngest son are still struggling getting along.  They are like oil and vinegar. 

Tomorrow I'm going shopping with a friend.  Hopefully it will be much needed rest and time away. 

Thursday will be painting and yoga.  And hopefully Friday we'll be able to move the guys up in the loft to their new room…YEA.
The bathroom was completed yesterday.  We have running water.  I was so excited.

I'm bushed.  See you tomorrow.  I'm hitting the hay.
IN HIM
julie


I need to ask for help…

I need help with a couple of things that need prayer:

  1. Whether to homeschool my oldest next year or send him back to Montessori School
  2. An affordable wheat grinder.  I want to make my own bread.
  3. The strength to eat just fruits and veggies for the next 6 weeks in order to feel better and loose weight.  Wisdom in my vitamin regimen.

Thanks so much for those prayer warriors out there.  I'll keep you informed.  If you haven't read the Butterfly Resurrection Story I posted a day or two ago.  Keep scrolling down.  It's worth the read.

IN HIM
julie


Resurrection

Okay, get this.
We're on our way out of Ingles (local grocery store) today and there is this butterfly lying right outside the automatic doors on the ground.  He appears very dead.  But all the kids notice him and so I pick him up to bring him home thinking I'll pin him on some foam board or something and we can start an insect collection. 

By the time we get to the car my oldest son is talking about how God can bring it back to life if He wants to.  And I began explaining how it may not be God's will to bring him back to life but if he wanted to pray for that he could.

So as I'm loading the groceries into the car he's just “apraying” away.  I had set the butterfly in the front seat and all the kids are huddled around watching it.  So I'm thinking “Oh God….please show yourself to my son.”  You know, one of those “I sure hope this works.” prayers.

As I sat down behind the wheel of the car the butterfly's legs start moving.  By the time we get home his wings are slowly moving up and down.  So I tell oldest son to keep praying and set him gently on the flowers.  About 10 minutes later my son comes running inside with the butterfly in his hands and the thing jumps out of his hands and flies all around the kitchen.  Alive as alive can be. 

So after catching the thing again.  This time it was much more difficult!  I take it outside to gently place it back on a flower but it flies from my hands happy and alive and flutters off into the spring air.

As I walk back inside I think…
“Faith like that of a child”

Thank you God for showing my child (and ME) pure and simple faith.           …………..julie


Field Trip Day

Today we visited New Hope Farms and Gardens (located in Walhalla SC ((try that name on for size.)) and named for the new hope we have in Jesus Christ.  Cool huh???  You know it's gotta be good.

New Hope Farms is a working farm where we experienced the sights, sounds and smells of a family run farm.  The benefits of homesteading are evident in the vegetable garden complete with novelty crops such as broom corn, popcorn and peanuts.  Fiber animals, such at the angora goats and rabbits, give visitors an understanding into the fiber produced, spun and knitted for garments.  Along with the goats there are two HUGE saint bernards and a great white pyrenees.  The great white protects the goats.  One of the saint bernards must weigh 250 pounds (he's pictured below).

Their tour is really wonderful.  All through the tour they present the gospel.  It's wonderful the way they weave it into what they do there.  The goats are raised for their fiber.  Then it is cleaned, spun and either made into garments or just sold to others.  All of this is demonstrated by a quirky sweet woman who is not afraid of words like “poo poo” which made all the kids laugh.  The hayride around their 13 acre farm provided all kinds of interesting things to see……..plants, an organic garden, and a pond they are making into a duck sanctuary.  Enjoy the pictures.  IN HIM…Julie

This is the barn

We were guests of honor to a goat sheering.

This is the sweet lady *Ms Christianson who showed us how to spin the fiber on a spinning wheel made from recycled material.  The wheel is an old wheelchair wheel and the rest is PVC pipe.

Here is everyone watching the demonstration and feeling all the different types of fiber.  She also had something she'd made out of Saint Bernard hair.  In the cage is an angora rabbit and their “meat rabbit”.  She said rabbit taste better than chicken and is better for you.  “Oh Thumper!!!”


The angora rabbit.  Isn't she pretty?

Demonstrating the fiber after spinning.

The four year old who wasn't paying attention

Our turn at feeding the goats hay and feed.


And we got to make bird feeders from pine cones, crisco and seed.

Baby Girl


Baby Goat

Another baby goat

And ANOTHER (trying to eat the wagon)

All the babies together


One of our homeschoolers holding a baby goat.

The beginning of our tour.

The GI-NORMOUS Saint Bernard


Another DAY, Another chance to LOVE GOD

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Today was different.  Thank God!!!!
I decided I needed some time alone and went to a friend's house and sat in her back yard.  I knew she would be at work so I'd have the place to myself.  We swim there a lot in the summer and I love her place.  It's like a little piece of heaven on earth.  I had a card to write to a dear friend who delivered her baby girl, Andie, at 25 weeks.  Andie is doing well but her mommy is not.  She seems just so frazzled.  She isn't sleeping, spends 1/2 her life pumping and is in the middle of a move and a new job for her hubbie.  Talk about stress.  Andie was born at 1 lb. 13 oz.  and is up to 2 lbs.  From all I know about premmies she is doing really well.

So…..
After perusing the Christian bookstore for about an hour I set out with a fist full of cards to spend some time alone, with God, and enjoying the day.  It was beautiful today.  As I wrote I heard a cow mooing and a rooster crowing.  It was wonderfully peaceful.  Every once in a while the horses would neigh.  I could smell cut grass, flowers blooming and feel the cool breeze blowing.  The sky was bluer than blue.  Heaven on earth!!!

I just had to share.  (Pictures above)

I also had my morning Bible study this morning.  We discussed Jesus' death on the cross in the 18-19th chapter of John.  It was awesome.  I kept thinking about The Titanic and God's love for us.  I'm so thankful we have a God who chases after us, who loves us with a wild and unabandoned love.

Thank you Jesus!!!!

IN HIM
julie


A wealth of information

I don't have time to properly blog about it now but check out this website.  This is a homeschool mom of 10 and God has blessed her with much wisdom.


What to blog about today…

Well, I've had another one of those LOVELY “feel bad” days AGAIN.  I don't know if the antibiotics I'm taking for my sinus infection have me feeling all wierd or what.  So feeling bad physically evolves into feeling bad emotionally, snapping at my kids and being on overall bear in desperate need of hybernation. 

We did manage to get some school work done today however.  I'm having such an attitude and behavior problem with my 6 year old right now.  He's always been my easy one yet turning six has evolved into a “momma's nightmare”.  His attitude just stinks right now and as I pray asking God what might be going on I try to rest in that it may be a stage.  Our oldest (a whopping 7 years) has traditionally been the most difficult one but since his salvation he's a jewel to be around. 

So please pray for this less than friendly homeschool mom.  And be glad you don't live near me lest you get bitten by the grizzly bear I've become.

GRRRRRR……….
julie


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