Star-struck

Last night I saw Kris Allen at the grocery store.

I was totally star-struck.  He and his wife were looking at steaks.  I tried to act natural.  He didn't recognize me.  Weird, huh?

Granted, I had on a plaid ball cap, not a stitch of make-up or jewelry and we've never met, but still.

It was cool seeing a famous person at the store at 5:30pm on a Friday night.  Wanna know the funny thing?

After I got my groceries loaded, I caught a glimpse of myself in the car reflection and died.  Earlier that day I had gotten a new necklace in the mail that I'd ordered.  A fancy necklace.  I put it on to see what it looked like (ya know, with my hot pink t-shirt, denim shorts and Old Navy flip-flops).  Aaaaand, I FORGOT to take it off.

Yeeeeeep, I wore my fancy necklace with my bum-out clothes to go grocery shopping, ran into Kris Allen, and never even knew I was blinging till it as time to go home.

Poolside

May is quite possibly one of my favorite months of the year.  School lets out.  The lightening bugs light up the tree line at night.  The sunsets seem more brilliant.  Eating dinner on the patio seems like the right thing to do.  I don't know.  I just love the month of May.

You know what else happens in May?  The pool opens.

We don't buy a lot of extra stuff around here.  When my kids want a new toy, we go to Targe', play with the toy in the box for about 10 minutes and then head home.

What?  Don't Hate.  Haters gonna hate.  (Thank you Duck Dynasty)



This is our second summer to put up a pool.  It is the best thing we do all year.  They are $279 at Wal-Mart and provide hours and hours of fun.  This year we had a yard sale to raise our pool money.

The sale was a big flop but we got a pool anyway. 

Poolside dining.  Not your run of the meal Country Club chicken strips and fry meal.  Ramen.  Poolside. 

And an unexpected visit from cousins makes it even more fun.  Late nights, late mornings, the smell of sunscreen, eating outside, it's all good.

The Gift Of Inspiration

This week in our Ministry Of Motherhood study we talked about The Gift Of Inspiration.  Have you ever been inspired?  I know for me, all it takes is seeing one picture of a sparkling clean sink, and I am inspired to go clean mine.  Inspiration, both in word and picture, is a powerful thing.

It can be a simple next step.  Pointing their little hearts and minds towards God.  Telling them they are a great artist but not stopping there.  Saying, "I wonder how God is going to use your talent to bring Him Glory."

One thing God asks of us is to subdue the earth.  This is a picture of making your area of influence flourish.  Cultivating the ground around you.  The definition is a picture of bringing under control and I imagine adding beauty to the world around you.

When we point our children to God, we are inspiring a sense of purpose in them.  One question I've been pondering after reading this section of the book is a big one.  Do we really understand the significance of our lives?  That God has chosen us, you, me, specifically for His work.  We are His chosen vessels.  When we begin to realize this, the next phase is helping our children realize that they too are God's chosen vessels.

My favorite part of this section was Chapter 7.  The day when the household was a chaotic mess.  So much work to be done and the mundane duties of life were lacking luster.  A quick glance out the window took the breath away, and in an instant mother and daughter were running across a field to enjoy the beauty of a sky lit on fire with a sunset.

"Come, Look!"  Two words we need to add to our vocabulary.

"Come, Look!"  Two words that can trigger us putting down the work of our hands to go admire the work of theirs.

Stopping to look at the beauty puts a heart at peace.

"More important, we were at peace-no longer caught up in the irritating, mundane world but soothed by that God-given reminder of the Lord's power and presence."  MOM pg 81

"This act of directing their eyes and ears beyond the mundane to the wonders of God's work is one of the most important ways I can give my children the gift of inspiration."  MOM pg. 81

This week set a goal of saying, "Come Look!"  at least once a day.

HUGE YARD SALE

We are having a HUGE 4 family yard sale today at my house from 8am-1pm.

Lots of furniture, decor and cute stuff.

Swing by if you're out!!!

The Gift Of Grace

Source

My question has changed. 

For years, my main question has been, "What is the best way to train these boys? To discipline them so they will choose to do right."

We are on Week 2 of our Ministry Of Motherhood study.  You know what the biggest thing I took away from our discussion last night was?

My children are not perfect.  And, they are never going to be.  It was a good reminder for my perfectionist self.  Grace can be extended in love.

It is so easy to get in training mode.  The pattern where most of the words that come out of our mouths are correcting, rebuking and training.  How about speaking encouraging words for a change?  It is surprising how speaking nice words can turn the atmosphere around.

It keeps blowing me away to look at the life of Jesus.  So many times, when he could have slammed his fist down, ruling with a hard hand, he doesn't.  He chooses the way of Grace.  Extending kindness to one who does not deserve it.  No payback.  No fist pounding.

The gift of grace.  I wandered when parenting took such a sharp turn towards harshness.  I see it in my own life.  Just a couple of days ago, my 4 year old grabbed my leg while I was holding a cup of cream coffee.  My first response was one of anger and a mean tone.  My first response was to lash out at him.  That is not Jesus.  That is my flesh, plain and simple.  I apologized to the little dude. 

"Words are powerful; the Bible is full of that message.  The whole universe came into being because God spoke the words."  pg 41, Ministry of Motherhood

I have a new question I am asking.

How can I love these boys well? 

And because if one question is good, a handful are better, here's what else I am pondering. 

How can I extend a motherly touch that will bless them? 

Will I be willing to be available to talk with them?  The temptation is to feel like all the Lego and Spy Gear chatter is meaningless.  If I choose to believe that I am a fool.

After spending a week looking at the example of Grace found in Jesus, one thing is certain.  If I am going to model Jesus' example it will mean I extend kindness to those who do not deserve it, and I will love them and serve them.

Toilet, Tub & Towel Tuesday

I'm just gonna cut to the chase. I wasn't doing diddly squat on Kitchen Tuesdays. Seeing as how I don't make my own yogurt or sprout my own grains, I finally figured out an entire day devoted to the kitchen was equaling a day off of housework for me.  Sure I had grand visions of roasting chickens, making broth, yada yada yada, but at the end of the day it was still usually me serving up Ramen noodles for lunch and a taco salad for dinner.

I've been thinking I should try Toilet, Tub and Towel Tuesdays for awhile.  But I didn't want to commit, ya know?  It's hard to get pumped about for real cleaning the bathroom on a regular basis.  I've become a big fan of the Windex the sink and toilet right before company comes method.

Today I bit the bullet.  I set the time for 30 minutes to see how long it really takes me to clean the bathrooms.  I know how long it takes me but setting the timer is exciting so I can re-remember that it doesn't take me 17 hours.  We have a pretty big master bathroom.  I'm not going to talk about what I swept up here on national television, but believe you me, it was gross.  Shower shoe worthy.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

It took 20 minutes to clean the master bathroom and get it swept and mopped. We have a stand up shower in our Master Bath. The easiest way I have found to clean that shower is to clean it while I'm in there. With shampoo and a wash cloth.  It works.  The other little bath you see in the pictures, I can get that cleaned in under 10 minutes.  So, we'll see.  Toilet, Tub and Towel Tuesday may be a keeper. 

True or False

There's gonna be a McDonald's in heaven? 

Did Noah part the Red Sea or God?

Was it made out of cheeseburgers?

The next one's a little too gross to post on the el bloggo...

God likes to listen to White Flag by Chris Tomlin?

Does God have jazz or jam music in heaven?

Does God have guitar heroes in heaven?

Does God have charity up in heaven?

(the above are questions I overheard my big boys pondering out loud during quiet time)

And now for my list...

When I walk through the door from walking and pop 5 cream puffs in my mouth the calories don't count?

I get to go out to dinner with my Bible Study ladies tonight and I am so excited I just about can't see straight?

I'm keeping an eye out for what kind of natural learning goes on under my roof and was surprised when the boys looked up and found where Papua New Guinea is on the globe?

Every afternoon we shut phones off and have quiet time and I re-put my pj's back on, that is unless of course I never got out of them in the first place?

Duck Dynasty is our families new favorite show?

If you guessed TRUE for my list then you got em' all right.  It's quiet time around these parts right now, and we're coming off a fantastic morning and a fantastic weekend.  Friday evening we grilled and had some of our best friends over and the girls won at cards.  That kind of victory is always sweet and I try to be very humble about our wins, ahem, not.

Saturday we spent the day with Shane's family.  It was such a fun day! We ate great food, my brother-in-law grilled the best dang Tequila Lime Chicken you ever tasted (it was a Kroger brand marinade and so great!) we got to visit, let the cousins run wild and play and we were introduced to Duck Dynasty.

Sunday church was so good.  There is nothing like worshipping together with church family.  We got to eat Mexican food for lunch, which was followed by a nice long nap.  Last night we sat on the patio, the kids played, I read, then we ordered pizza and watched Duck Dynasty.  Yes I am obsessed and thank you for asking. We went for Marble Slab with Nana, Papa and Mamaw and topped it all off with couch bed night and lots of snuggles.