One of Only a Very Few Deep Thoughts I Will Have This Year

**Okay, I am giving up on putting in the Company Girls Coffee thingy...I can't figure it out, I really need an inhouse techy**

Anyway...that night as I got ready for bed and was going over the events of the day, I thought about that discussion. Isn't that how we so often are in our spiritual walk. God gives us a blessing and we just want more. Thank you for my house...but I really wish it was bigger or nicer or in a better location. My church is great...but the music could be better or the S.S. more fun. I love my husband...but I wish he would listen more, help more, be home more. You get the picture. I never seem to be happy, I always expect just a little more. I twist around His promises and then get put out that He isn't following through. I forget that it isn't all about me.

I often pray very specifically thinking only how something will impact me and feel let down, forgotten, disappointed when my "shopping list" is denied. So, I have really tried to watch my attitude since then, tried to think about the consequences...and it is interesting. This week, we have been under winter weather advisories. Monday evening, the speculation about whether or not school would be cancelled began. I must admit...I wanted school to be cancelled. I wanted to stay home, to sleep late, to take it easy. I so wanted to pray, to actually pray, for a snow day. And then I got on Facebook. I read several entries about how badly people needed to work, needed their kids to go to school, etc. All of a sudden, it wasn't about me. For the first time, in a very long time, I could see the big picture and stop focusing on my little world. Sometimes God says no to me because He is saying yes to someone else. It isn't because I am not important, it isn't because He doesn't care. He does care. He cares enough to tell me no. He sees so far beyond my understanding...and I am so glad. Parenting my four is hard enough...imagine parenting 6 billion or so!

And so, I am sharing with you...because I think sometimes we all feel let down. Sometimes we all wonder if He is really listening or if He really cares. Sometimes we all mix up our expectations with His promises and end up feeling denied, ignored or forgotten. And somehow, it brings me such peace to know that maybe my blessing comes in giving up a blessing for someone else.

By the way, we ended up with not one, but two snow days. Yee-haw!

Snow Day

10 minutes-The amount of time I spent trying to coax children out of bed this morning.

30 seconds-The amount of time it took to get the children to get out of bed as soon as I said, "snow!"

5 minutes-The time it took the children to prepare and eat breakfast so they could go out!

15 minutes-The time it took to find snow worthy clothing to wear out.

1 minute-The time it took to begin making snow angels!

10 minutes-The amount it time it took to decide to start trying to slide down the hill on a garbage can lid.

5 seconds-The amount of time it took to figure out that wasn't going to happen!

15 minutes-The amount of time it took Tigercub to figure out he didn't like his first snow!

10 minutes-The amount of time it took to get him to stop screaming after coming inside!

30 minutes-of sheer joy as the big kids played in the snow to their hearts' content!

5 minutes-to peel off cold, wet clothes and start drinking hot chocolate!

Forever-The memories of a hard to come by day in the snow in TN!

What I Learned This Week

Jo-Lynne at Musings of a Housewife is starting a new carnival this week about what you learned over the week. I really hadn't planned on doing this. Because, well that takes a lot of thought and internal searching and I have been trying to do as little as possible of that lately.

However, I am also rather desperate for things to blog about so the need to blog overrides laziness!

So what have I learned this week?

I have learned, through Facebook, that it is incredibly hard to come up with 25 random facts about myself and that I am essentially a very boring person!

I have learned that I LOVE the fact that our school superintendent is from Florida and will cancel school at the mere mention of snow, ice, or even really cold temps. As a result, we are sitting home today (no tutorial) in perfectly fine weather, enjoying a free day and celebrating Tigerfan's birthday!

On a more serious note, I am learning about significance. It is something I have struggled with most of my adult life. Strangely, I was fine with anonymity when I was young. And I actually don't want a lot of attention now. I just want to feel like I have meaning. Like I have accomplished something great! And if I am honest, I want others to notice how great I am (for what, I am not sure). It is why I get down when only 5 people have read my blog in one day or when I think I write something really funny and no one comments. It is why I am scared to say anything in Bible study because if I think it is profound and someone disagrees, I would be mortified. It is why it is so hard for me to embrace the love and acceptance I am freely offered in Christ because I haven't done anything to earn it...so how can He even really notice me. I am struggling to learn, right now, that it is nothing I have done or will ever do that makes God love me. There is no accomplish good enough to earn His acceptance and no mistake bad enough to exclude me. I don't understand how He can create a huge universe and still know my name. But I know He does. I don't understand how I can do so little and be loved so much, but I know I am. So, I am significant. Not because of astounding beauty or great accomplishments or even my stellar wit and writing ability. I am significant because I am His. And that is enough!

Bloggy Award!

I am in a bit of a blogging crisis with a million ideas, but nothing complete to write about and even less that would actually be interesting! I am working on some ideas, but until then I wanted to show you my award I just received from The Mother Load. I LOVE her blog, probably because I can relate to her so much. It is funny and honest and a great read! She has also become one of those "real life" friends I have never actually met, but hope to someday! Anyway, thanks bunches for the award!




This award is officially called The Love Ya Award, and here's why:


"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and befriends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”



I would like to pass this award along to:



CJ, The Purple Diva



Happy Mommy



Growin' With It



Four Little Penguins



This and That



P.S. He Loves You



Adopted As His Own

Okay, I totally know this is only seven, not eight, but in staying with the rules, I wanted to find people who I really connect with and who I actually interact with and these are all I could think of...there are a lot of other great bloggers out there that I read, but don't necessarily...get a response from, if ya know what I mean, so...I'll stick with these sweet bloggers, please go check them out!

And have a great Monday!

Six Years Ago Today....

On a cold, icy morning...a morning when schools had been cancelled do to ice and cold, a VERY pregnant, but not yet ripe me got up at 4:00 a.m. to "use the facilities". I was 35 weeks along, totally unprepared. We had no carseat, no baby book, the baby bed had no bedding. And yet, on that cold morning...my water broke.



Stunned, I woke up Tigerfan and we made our way through the icy streets to the hospital. We called grandpartents, dropped off kids and laughed about how shocked and unprepared we were. We laughed as the hospital had to readmit me do to a mistake in the paper work. We laughed when the on call Dr. couldn't figure out how to use the ultra sound machine. But we stopped laughing when they told us the baby appeared to be about 4 pounds and the reality of just how early this was hit!



They decided to go ahead and deliver and began "the drip" Things progressed quickly and by early afternoon, we had a 5 lb 9 oz baby girl who was tiny but healthy as could be!



She was released from the hospital just two days later with instructions to make sure I woke her up every two hours to eat. I totally did. Except at night. Because she was sleeping almost 6 hours and you DON'T wake up a baby who is practically sleeping through the night. Unless she is 5 weeks early. Because, you see, she was sleeping because she had jaundice. Very bad, only I didn't know she was the color of my husband's winter coat until I took her in to the Dr. and got in trouble. For not waking her up every two hours. She then spent the next two or three days in this:

The billibed. After a week of daily pokes to her foot, she got a clean bill of health and has been going non-stop ever since!

I am so grateful for my little girl. Someone to shop with, to play hair and make-up with, to play with me while the boys go hunting. A sweet girl to hug my neck every morning and cuddle with me in bed every night. Someone to play dolls and kitchen with. Someone to bake coookies with. Someone who will help me dress well when I am old. A little angel that calms the storm of loud, rowdy boys. A little Dancer. A Princess.

Happy Birthday, Dancer!

I love you!

A Letter

My Dear Bloggy Friends and Family,

You may have noticed I haven't been around much lately. That would be due to a brief, unplanned blog break brought on by life!

On a positive note, I have been doing pretty well on my goals for the year. I am learning to be a bit more organized around the house and have even gotten back into doing my House Blessing on Mondays! Now, as for zone cleaning, forget about it, it ain't happening. However, I have discovered a wonderful source of housecleaning energy all bottled up in an eleven year old body. It seems a certain Football fan thinks he deserves an allowance. I am good with that but am of the belief that he needs to actually DO something to earn the allowance. He fought a valiant fight trying to convince me that all that hard work in the morning is worth some dough. I was unmovable in my belief that he really shouldn't be paid for getting dressed and brushing his teeth! Okay, he does make his bed and bring down laundry as well, but seriously. He has now decided that good ole hard work might be worth doing for some greenbacks, so now he wanders around the house in his spare time BEGGING for jobs. Of course, I did have to have a little economics lesson about 15 min. of light housework not being worth $5, but we are getting there. My baseboards might actually get wiped down this year!

I have also discovered the single best discipline system ever implemented in this house! Thank you CJ! It involves beans and rice. Yes folks, beans and rice! Each child gets his or her own designated cup that becomes the holder of the sacred beans! 1 bean is awarded for all sorts of things like using good manners or using first time obedience! If I catch one doing something kind or helpful without being asked, it is worth 5, oh yes, you heard me right, 5! On the other hand, if I have to repeat a request or the kids are being argumentative or irritating, they have to put a piece of rice in their cup. At the end of the day, we pour out the cups, take out one bean for every piece of rice they have, and they are awarded one M&M, one Reese's Pieces or one penny for every bean remaining. People...it is AMAZING!!! You would think I was offering little gold nuggets (which I totally would if I had them because I am all about bribing!)! I have never been told yes, Mam so much in all my life. And they will practically kill each other to do something nice. And, when they start arguing, the simple phrase..."go put a piece of rice in your cup!" will silence the argument INSTANTLY! Oh, I know, eventually the novelty will wear off. Eventually, they will tire of M&M's and figure out it takes a lot of pennies to be able to buy something. But maybe, by that time we will have established some good habits that will stay with them. If not, I am considering purchasing a nice padded room (whether for them or me I haven't yet decided).

Anyway, I am still around, and probably lurking on your blog. I will try to be a better little blogger, although Facebook totally is cutting into prime blogging time...have I told you how amazing Facebook is? Hopefully life will slow down enough for me to figure out what happened so I can figure out if you would be interested so I can figure out if I should write about it. Until then...I need material people! Send me your meme's, your ideas, the burning questions on your mind!

Sincerely,
The Little Blogger that Was

Ladies Love a Country Man

Okay, this is one of those posts that no one else will be that interested in but me. But it is a cute story that I want to remember, so bear with me.

Tigerfan and I have listened to some country music in our day! I mean, I worked in a music store through H.S. AND we lived in Nashville. Back in the day, we knew a song or two. However, kids, life, etc. have changed that and now we listen to XM kids or Disney radio or Toby Mac...our music is all kid driven.

This Christmas, my SIL introduced F.B. to the world of country music when she began bluetoothing songs from her phone into his new phone he got for Christmas (that is a whole other post!)

Now, he walks around the house playing his 30 second increments of songs saying, "Momma, do you know who sings this?" Which, incidentally brings back horrible childhood memories of a game my little sister used to torture me with...but I won't go there!

Anyway, he has a new found love and appreciation for all things country music!

Yesterday, when we got into the car after tutorial, he asked me if I knew any country songs. I said that I knew LOTS of country songs (although truth be told, at that moment I couldn't think of a single one except "There's a Tear in my Beer" and I wasn't about to start THAT discussion) but that they were all older songs he probably wouldn't know and I wasn't really that familiar with today's country music. He then began playing with his phone. In a minute he said..."Hey mom, is (insert song name) by Rascal Flatts country music? I answered that it was.

His response, "Cool, can I call Froggy 104 and request they play it?"

It seems that on Tuesday, one of his friends put the number of the local country station in his contacts list on his phone and told him you could call in and request songs. They tried it out and he heard his own voice over the airwaves...and now...he is drunk with power! Where will this lead next?

She's Growing Up!

Tonight, as the boys were leaving for ball practice, Dancer was helping me make cookies. On a side note, we were making what is lovingly called in our house "dog poop cookies". I so wish I were kidding right now, but...well, there is A LOT of testosterone in the Tigerden. You probably know these as Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies or No Bake Cookies, but every time we make them, they end up looking like, well, piles of dog poop, and when you have this many boys under one roof, and the name is gross, it is gonna stick!

Anyway, we were making cookies and it got to a point where Dancer was no longer interested in helping because there was heat involved. She wandered into the living room where the boys had left the T.V. on. About a whopping two minutes later she came running back to the kitchen where the following conversation took place:

Dancer-"Momma, I wish you could see this show it is HIL-A-RI-OUS!

Me-"What is it?"

Dancer-" I don't know, but I have watched like half of it and it is like SO COOL!"

She figured out all this in two minutes! Where has my baby girl gone?

The Purple Diva and a Musing Giveaway

I have a post in mind about my wonderful weekend of cleaning up bodily fluids...it will be a must read, but before I do, I must tell you about one of my sweetest blogging friends.

If you have never been to visit CJ, the Purple Diva, you simply must go! And this week is the time to do it, because she is having a blogoversary on Jan. 17 and is having give away after giveaway to celebrate. And let me tell you, this girl KNOWS how to do a giveaway!

You will be glad you visited her site! She is so funny and always has a hilarious video or comic posted that is guaranteed to make you smile. She also posts about 27 times a day...so every time you go, there is usually something new to read!

She also could just use a little love this week. She has had a rough beginning to 2009 including being diagnosed with diabetes and being putting on meds that are wreaking havoc on her poor body! So, stop by there...here is the link...again, and give her some love! You will both be glad you did!

Thanks for reading this public service announcement!

Oh! and while I am on the subject of Giveaways, Musing of a Housewife (who, by the way led me to Purple Diva) is also having a giveaway for a WordWorld set...go check it out!

I Don't Even Want to Talk About It!!!

Today is the big Reveal for Fit Friday...And, yes, it is gonna be big. As in, I still am! This should not come as a surprise to any of you faithful Fit Friday-ers, I have struggled every step of the way! At my best, I had lost about 6 pounds, then I gained them back, then I lost 2. If you combine all those...that is an 8 pound loss!!! Pretty good. But if you look at the actual result, I have lost a mere two pounds. :(



Now, I could give a lot of excuses here, the holidays, a very sick baby, a husband who was NOT doing Fit Friday and was off work until Jan. 5. But the truth is, I ate too much junk, didn't exercise enough and became unreasonably addicted to Facebook, spending an inordinate amount of time sitting in front of a computer reconnecting with long lost friends.



I am back on the wagon now, so while I will probably not be the grand prize winner...I definitely see some good benefits. I am back to my regularly scheduled exercise agenda and I am now the proud owner of a Wiifit, so I am pretty faithfully exercising and now that most of the holiday goodies are gone, I am doing better on my diet.

Even better, Tigerfan has seen fit to start losing with me, so we are going to invest in a food scale and work together. He, by the way, has lost 4 pounds...yes, 4! How unfair is that, he has been trying for like a week! Ugh.


Anyway, I was going to bail out of the picture out of utter humiliation. But Missy our generous host did it, so at the last minute this morning, I made Tigerfan snap a picture and after a freakishly long time trying to figure out how to get a picture from my camera to my computer, I decided to own up. Please understand how much I love ya'll. This is an "untouched up" photo. I have on no make-up (I never even look at myself with no makeup) and I just finished walking on the treadmill...I promise, I will NEVER subject you to such horror again!

I really have no dignity left!

So, hope ya'll had more success...although I totally wanted to win and I hope to see you back here soon...hopefully seeing a slimmer, trimmer, healthier me!

Why?

Why does it take an hour to prepare a meal, only 15 minutes to eat and another hour to clean the mess?

Why is the toilet such an attraction to a twelve month old?

Why can older children not remember to close the bathroom door to keep the 12 month old out NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I TELL THEM!

Why is there a house full of brand new toys and yet all the baby wants to play with is the toilet the garbage and the houseplants?

Why, of all the crud on the floor, does the baby choose the poisonous poinsettia leaf to chew on?

Why did I buy a new garbage can with a lid? It is just even MORE fun to play with than the old one?

Why is my 8 year old better at the Wiifit than I am?

Why can't chocolate be a health food?

Why am I totally boring to be around until I get on the computer?

These questions plague me...I just want to know...why?

How to Know You are the Mother of Four

1. Your 12 month old grabs the chicken leg off brother's plate and begins eating it and instead of running to get it out of his hands to prevent choking, you run for the camera because it would make a really cute blog picture! (I was too late to get the picture...darn it!)

2. Instead of reprimanding your 5 year old for carrying the 12 month old down the stairs, you remind her to make sure she goes down on her bottom next time.

3. In order to lose that "baby weight", you get up at 5:00 a.m. to exercise, drink 8 glasses of water a day and eat A LOT of carrots...then reward yourself by eating about 10 pieces of chocolate. (Okay, I would do that no matter how many kids I had)

4. When vacuuming, you decide to just go around things and not move any furniture because you will move things when you deep clean in that zone...you have not deep cleaned in a zone since before child #3 was born, when you lived in a different house, and had different furniture.

5. You have a baby book that has been sitting on the kitchen counter for 11 months that you totally intend to write in...someday!

6. Your idea of an exciting night is hanging out with all your old buddies...on Facebook!

7. You can cook supper, give a spelling test, clean the kitchen, practice reading, and talk on the phone all at the same time, but in the midst of it the baby has gotten lost...somewhere.

8. Somehow, the more time you spend cleaning the house, the more messy the house will be. The more laundry you successfully wash, the more single socks will be strewn throughout the house. The more you run the dish washer, the fewer dishes will actually be in a cabinet. It is a freakish phenomenon, directly related to the motor skills of a certain aforementioned 12 month old.

9. You totally had more ideas about this earlier, but now it is late and you're too doggone tired to remember them (and they were funny, too, I think)...oh, well, you get the idea!

You are Lovingly Invited to Famliy Game Night

After a long day of basketball Saturday, we decided to head back to the house for a much needed evening at home. Tigerfan had been off work since Christmas Eve which meant lots of fun and running around but not a lot of home time!

We had begun the day at 8:45 with Dancer's cheer leading, killed time in town, including an oh so nutritious lunch at the Target Snack Bar, and then headed to more basketball at 1:00 and 2:00. By that time, Tigercub had had ENOUGH ALREADY!

I had purchased some pre-assembled shish kabobs from the "get rid of it quick" section at Kroger, so dinner was set, all we had to do was grill 'em up. So we headed home, salivating, ready to shower, eat and play some games!

Supper was GREAT! Although the baked potato and Texas Toast alleviated any figure flattering benefits! We all enjoyed the meal and time together and the children realized they ALL like steak...isn't that great!

Things were going very well, which is a sure pre-cursor to disaster. The big boys were showered, we just had to bathe the little ones and get ready. I had made a chocolate cake to snack on and the night was young!

Then, we decided to choose a game. It may shock you to know that NO ONE agreed on a game. We got three new games at Christmas, everyone wanted a different one. Totally fine, I solved the dilemma by choosing an old game we already had, telling everyone to stop whining or they could go to bed and to SIT DOWN AT THE TABLE BECAUSE WE ARE HAVING FUN!!!!!

Dancer began crying to be on my team. Done. Babeball boy began crying because "Daddy always yells at me!" Football boy began fussing because everyone was fussing and let's play, already! AND Tigercub just waited for the moment that the games would begin, Mommy would be sidetracked, and the REAL fun could begin!

We ate our cake. We cleaned up the chocolate explosion. The games began. Tigerfan and F.B. fussed over the score sheets. Start again. The children fussed over who would roll the die. Dancer was elected.

I had chosen Scattergories as the game of choice. The timer began. Dancer started giving me a million suggestions. None of which actually began with the proper letter. She then got very upset with me because I was not using her options. In the mean time, Tigercub, was spreading toys all over the place, digging in the garbage, unloading cabinets, and driving Tigerfan crazy!

By the end of the round, the house was a wreck, Tigercub had to be physically restrained to calm him down from his destruction extravaganza, Dancer was mad that we hadn't played HER game, F.B. was mad that he didn't get to stay up an hour later than the other kids, because we had let them stay up past bedtime, and B.B. was just certain that somehow he had been mistreated...because, he is the middle child (enough said!).

What a wonderful time together, we should really have game night more often. Anyone like to join us?

Have You Heard About This Thing Called Facebook?

I know, welcome to the 21st century. Tigerfan has been a member for awhile but I didn't pay much attention. Then people started asking me if I was on. So sweet Tigerfan started me my own email and I am on!

Oh, the addictive quality of blogging an Facebook! All of the sudden, I am back in touch with people I haven't seen in YEARS! My big sister from my sorority in college, lost friends, I know the doings of local friends I didn't even know still lived here! Too fun!

Now, somehow in the midst of all my year's goals and my ultimate goal of simplifying...I need to make time for Facebook, too.

Sleep...it's really overrated, isn't it?

By the way, Happy Mommy, and anyone else interested...if you'll comment, I'll send you an email, I would love to hook up with you on FB!