I hit the ground this morning with my feet running. I was up by 5:15am., and I had a lot to accomplish! Because I was in Florida last weekend, I missed my turn for the teen breakfast. So I had teen breakfast, snack for Children's church, and then I realized that we also had college snack after church tonight! Thankfully, I had made the coffee cake for teen breakfast last night, Roger cut cheese and plated the crackers, and I put the Children's church snack in little baggies...we had cheese and crackers for snack. :)
We arrived a tad late for church, unusual for us...but it was Roger's first Sunday back home. :) I was feeling a tad frazzled when we arrived just thinking about children's church, kids to Sunday School classes, and meeting with someone about the upcoming ladies retreat this weekend. However, my friend, Gretchen, had remembered that I would be there this Sunday...and she brought me coffee!! Yes!
It was great to have Roger back to help with Children's Church, and I enjoy serving alongside of him. Our Children's Church is right next to the kitchen, so I had left the snack for Children's church in the kitchen. While Mrs. Mitchell was teaching the verse, I went to get the snack. As I snapped on the light to the kitchen, a big, healthy, large, mouse scurried across the counter! I couldn't help it....I screamed! It was a huge disruption to our class, and amazingly enough the mouse just sat there! Roger came, found a bowl, and snapped it over the mouse as he was trying to scamper off the counter! Gross! (I have a phobia about mice-ever since Wyatt was a baby, but that's another story :) I let Roger tend to the mouse while we tried to get the attention back in the classroom. :) oh well, I guess Children's Church was exciting today!
After church we did a few errands to get ready for the college snack after the evening service. We did go home and have a few moments of quiet time before it was time to go to Sunday night church. I've been busy working on a thousands different things for the ladies retreat this weekend. We have thirty three ladies signed up, and my goal is that thirty two ladies will come back refreshed and encouraged...I don't hold that hope for myself. :) (And I'm fine with that actually, I get refreshed through other avenues, and I really, really desire and pray that this overnight stay is a HUGE encouragement to all the ladies!)
It was a later bedtime for us with having college snack after church, but we did have a lot of fun with them. We played pictionary, ate tamales, chips and dip, and cookies, so there's nothing to complain about there! :)
Monday, November 10, 2014
How did it get to be Monday again?! Wyatt does not like Mondays and neither do I! We had our share of battles in school today, and I might have lost a battle or two, but I won the war! We finished school, completed the tasks, and it was time to go home...hallelujah! It's been cold the last two mornings with a light snow dusting on the ground. Because of that, we spent the hour before school started finding everyone's complete winter wear. Garett found a pair of snow pants and they fit him; however, they happened to be mine! :) Garett has two winter coats neither of which zip up! The boots we bought in Alaska almost two winters ago have been passed down to the next child in line, and the boots are holding up well! (I miss that place!)
I ended up taking the little ones home while my mom finished up with the older boys. The little boys played outside for nearly two hours after we arrived home. Sometimes they amaze me by how well they get along! When the older two arrived home, we had lunch and Emma took a nap. The older boys helped me finish cleaning the basement so that we could throw in wood. Roger was working with his old boss today, but by the time he arrived home, we were ready to throw in wood. I fixed Roger lunch, we drank coffee, talked, and then we gathered up all the boys and headed outside for family fun. (I remember as a kid whenever my dad talked about "family fun", it usually meant a work project. I've become the same way!) The boys were actually really good helpers, which is a change from just a few short years ago! We have a few boys that need a little more instruction to stick with the job, but we did complete the task. It's nice to have the basement full of wood. We don't have enough to make it through the winter, but hopefully Roger can get in some wood cutting days with my dad. We often cut in the summer, but with Roger gone all summer that just didn't happen. But that's okay, life goes on.
I squeezed in three miles before supper, which was a gourmet meal of sausage, eggs, and fruit! (And it was yummy!) Chandler actually cooked the sausage, and he did a great job. Travis and Roger did the scrambled eggs, and we only had to fish out a few shells! :)
My dad has a nursing home service tomorrow, so the boys will be going along to sing and say a Bible verse. I had bought a simple Thanksgiving craft project, and it was supposed to make 24 turkeys. However, that was only if you had children that could read the directions! We didn't get 24, but hopefully enough for every Grandpa or Grandma in the nursing home tomorrow. The boys had fun making them, and Travis and Wyatt really worked hard on them. I had to remind myself to keep my mouth shut. This project was not about perfectionism but on being a blessing to someone else.
Speaking of blessings, I mentioned that on Saturday night we did something together as a family to be a blessing to someone else. We took the boys with us on the errand. We stressed that they couldn't tell the family that we did --- for them, but it was a surprise! Well, I found out yesterday that Wyatt can't keep a secret (which I probably a good thing, actually!) So, I asked him why he told one of the family members that we had given them a surprise. To which he replied, "I don't know! He's my friend, not family!" I think he was a little confused! Oh well, next time we will have to come up with a different plan!
After supper, my husband had to fix the washing machine too. After all, it is Monday, so of course the washing machine would break! :) I don't know what was wrong with the crazy thing, but Roger did fix it! However, when I asked him to look at the washing machine, he walks over the the laundry room first. Then he turns and says to me, "this one is the washing machine, right?" My mouth about hit the floor, while he turns red from laughing so hard. He said, "Of course I knew it was the washing machine, honey. I haven't been gone that long. I wanted to see what you would do if I acted like I didn't know, and you gave me the perfect reaction! Well, he succeeded in getting a reaction!
Because of the busy week last week, and the late night last night, it's an early bedtime around here. It's 7:30, and we have five sleeping children. I have a long list of things to do yet, but they'll wait! :)
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Happy Veterans Day! Although there was no mail delivered, there was still school today! :) Garett wanted to know why the post office got to take a break, but he didn't get one! (Well, mostly because I said so!) :)
It was a rushed morning with school. We started a little earlier than normal, we didn't take a morning break, and worked hard to get the teaching part done so that the boys could go to the nursing home service at eleven. They were so excited to hand out their happy Thanksgiving turkeys, and they sang a song for the elderly ones in the nursing home. I'm amazed at how much better they are doing with singing, wanting to serve in the nursing home, helping the people find the page in the song books, and saying hello to everyone, than they were doing a year ago. Time does march on!! Although we only had six come to the service, the activities director graciously took the boys around to some of the other rooms so that they could hand out all the turkeys. I'm happy that they had the opportunity to be a blessing.
Emma hasn't been herself today. I think she might have a slight lactose intolerance as it seems like she either throws up dairy products or she gets constipated...neither are pleasant! She sat on my lap while I played the piano at the nursing home, and then she slept during the preaching. She seems to be doing better tonight, but she did take a four hour nap!
After the nursing home service, my dad offered to take the kids to lunch at McDonalds. Of course, they were very excited about that and hungry too! We ate lunch and visited for a bit before I needed to go to an appointment. Since the appointment was at one, it didn't make sense to go home, so I just brought all the kids with me.
The appointment was at the armory, and the national guard also uses the space. However, the Nationl Guard wasn't there today, and inside is a large gym with basketball hoops and lots of space. Now please picture what is going to happen! It's cold outside, I have five active children with me, and it's a gym! What do you think is going to happen?! The appointment was actually in one of the rooms off of the gym, and it didn't appear that anyone else was there. We had an appointment at one, and we were about fifteen minutes early. The people were still on their lunch break, and there were not any signs that said, "please be quiet", "please don't play in the gym", etc. So when the boys asked if they could run in the gym, I said "sure." About five minutes into their playing, a large, overweight, lady appeared in the doorway of one of the other rooms off the gym. She didn't say anything, just glared at the kids, and slammed the door to her room. (Apparently she was happy...not!) However I just let the boys continue to play in the gym, and in fact, I played with them. At one, I was just getting ready to walk though the door for my appointment, when I heard the large, overweight lady holler at the kids, "You kids have to be quiet, I'm having class in here!" There was a multitude of wrong ways in the way she said that, but I just left that alone, told the boys to quiet down and headed through the open door for my appointment. The boys did quiet down, but apparently it wasn't enough. Because five minutes later, the large overweight lady was yelling again, "You have to stop! Thats enough playing!". At that moment, I just was very angry! I excused myself from my appointment, told the boys to sit down on the wall, and finished up the appointment. The ladies that I was having the appointment with didn't seem to mind the boys playing in the gym, but I was a tad stressed out. What I wanted to do was go over and give the lady a piece of my mind, what I wanted to do was point out that there was not a single sign that said to be quiet, what I wanted to do was to point out that it was a gym and these are kids, what I wanted to say was if you have a problem with my kids, you come talk to me, and I wanted to say a multitude of other things. However, when in doubt, just don't say anything! So I gathered up my five kids, walked out of the appointment, and told the boys that the next time someone yells at you, just say, "I'm sorry" and walk away. At some point in our lives, we all have to learn to deal with difficult people, and today was a learning day for the boys.
Funny moment of the day: Wyatt is just beginning to read, and his sentence today was, "mom will fix the mop." So he starts out reading and he reads, "mom will fix" and suddenly he stops. "Well, that's not right, mom doesn't know how to fix!" (Apparently that sentence could not be right in his mind!)
Tonight I went shopping with a friend for food for the ladies retreat this weekend. I had a great time with, Katie, but shopping for food for thirty ladies was a bit of a challenge. I don't want to end up with all this leftover food, but I also want to be sure we have enough. Our food budget is kinda tight, but I want it to be a great experience too.
Not to mention....everyone likes food! However, I think I have the meals/snacks planned that will work with those with food allergies, and be something that everyone will like. We are having a pasta bar on Friday night. I have noodles, gluten free noodles, broccoli, chicken, Alfredo sauce, marinara sauce, meatballs, cheese, olives, mushrooms, bread and salad!
I'm thankful that Roger willingly watches our kids, never complains, and is my biggest supporter in my adventures. He is such a blessing to me, and to many others.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Well today was a a roller coaster ride of emotions, duties, success, failures,and life experiences! Of course we had school first. :) I've been making Wyatt's lessons a little longer this week, so he won't have school on Friday when I'm gone to the ladies retreat. My mom will teach the older boys, but Wyatt and Emma will have daddy all to themselves for a few hours.
I was experiencing some communication problems with someone that was helping me with the ladies retreat, so I was fighting some frustrations all morning. In fact by the time I came home from school, I was ready to be done. It wasn't going smoothly, I was frustrated by someone, and this seems like a ton of work! However, God had more to teach me today! I got a call from Mrs. King, the church secretary. She mentioned that the pipes had frozen at the lodge we were renting for the ladies retreat. Oh great! Thankfully, the conference center was willing to work with us, and they rearranged our housing. They gave us two large houses that were close together for the same price we would have paid for the lodge...but these would have been much more expensive to rent! So God gave us exactly what we needed. However, this meant that the housing list was wrong and I had to tell the ladies about the location change.
By the time we arrived at church for Kings Kids, I had most of the food made, meals made for Roger and the kids, the laundry done and folded (not put away!), and most of my stuff ready to go for tomorrow. My husband helped me so much today by encouraging me, working along side of me, and listening to me!
While the kids attended Kings Kids, I talked with Mrs. King. She is our former pastors wife, and she has been coordinating the ladies retreat for years. She was a special encouragement and helped me so much! She had already rearranged the housing assignments, printed up maps, and contacted a few of the ladies; I was so blessed by her organization! I passed out the maps, gathered the paper products from the church kitchen, and tried to think through everything I might possibly need. :) After church, I was talking with a few ladies in the gym when I was caught off guard by a volleyball. The volleyball hit me broadside against my head, and I felt a whip lash effect. I immediately had a headache, and tears sprung to my eyes. I am a rather emotional person, but rarely do I cry because of getting hurt; but it hurt! I'm pretty sure I'll be seeing the chiropractor after this weekend.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
I went to bed late last night, but other than a few items to pick up at the grocery store before I left, I think I'm ready for the retreat. I'm looking forward to a great time with an amazing group of women.
Wyatt ended up missing school today, since he wasn't feeling well. He seems to be exhausted...I know the feeling! :) I left him with Roger and took the other boys and Emma to school. My mom and I visited for quite a while this morning before starting school. Since Travis was at his school, and Wyatt was at home, we were able to get a lot done before I left to pick up Travis. I'm so thankful that my mom is willing to teach the boys on Friday while I'm at the retreat. I had planned on going to the grocery store before picking up Travis, but God really impressed upon my mind to take coffee to a friend. So I stopped by McDonalds, picked up coffee, and Emma and I went visiting. This friend has been a tad discouraged, and I wanted to see if I could be an encouragement to her. Sometimes we just need a listening ear and some good coffee! :) I wasn't able to stay long, but hopefully long enough to brighten her day.
After picking up Travis, I came home, packed up my clothes, gathered up all the food, and told my husband thank you. I have no doubt that Roger will do a great job with our kids, and I have no qualms about his ability to handle anything that might occur...I am blessed!
I went to Oshkosh to pick up our pastors wife, and we headed for our retreat. Of course, we did have to stop at the grocery store, get coffee, and drop off her vehicle at her house, but we were at the conference center a little after three.
The majority of the ladies won't be coming until tomorrow, but there were nine of us that came today. I am already feeling refreshed and rejuvenated by talking with these ladies. I was able to squeeze in a little run, ate a great meal, laughed a lot, played games, and visited. I'm blessed to have my pastors wife as a dear friend, and I always enjoy spending time with her. I don't think I even realized how desparetly I needed fellowship with other ladies until today. I feel relaxed and refreshed...but tomorrow night, the work begins for me. I pray that each lady will be refreshed and encouraged by a night away with lots of fun, food, and fellowship.
Friday and Saturday
I arrived home on Saturday night around six pm. I had a great time at the retreat, and I'm guessing that the twenty seven ladies that came and spent the night did also! It was a ton of work, lots of planning and coordinating, and lots of food...but it's behind me now! :) Although I'm tired, it's a good tired. I know I worked hard, shared my prayer requests with the ladies, and I now know how to pray specifically for each lady that came. There are a few things that need tweaking for next year, and a few changes I'd like to implement, but overall, I think it went well.
My husband took another child for Friday night. We have a wonderful lady in our church that is a single mom. She has never complained about not going to the ladies retreat, but I thought she would be encouraged by going. After praying about it, Roger offered to take her son so that she could go to the ladies retreat. She was completely surprised, and she said yes. :) So Roger had five boys and Emma from Friday night to Saturday afternoon, and they all did great! Roger is amazing with kids, but yet most kids respect him and enjoy spending time with him. I'm blessed to be married to a great man!
On Saturday morning, each lady shared specific requests that were on her heart. I now have a specific list of requests from each lady, and I can't wait to see how God is going to work in the next year. I certainly don't know if we will be around for me to go to the ladies retreat next year, but it is definitely one of the highlights in our church calendar.
God suprised me by allowing me to come away from the retreat feeling encouraged, refreshed, and spiritually energized (although my body is tired!). To God be the glory, great things He hath done!
No comments:
Post a Comment