The things I say as a mother.....

The Man was complaining again about showers.  It was a shower or facing discipline from Mom and then Dad the next day.  So he complied.  But complied all too quickly.  In and out of the shower in less than 5 minutes.
He exclaimed, "My hair is wet!" 
Hockey Player confirmed it.
I asked, "But did you use soap?" 
The Man. "NOOOOOoooooooo," he whined.  "I don't like soap.  It hurts my eyes."
Mom, "It doesn't hurt your eyes to use it on your body."
The Man, "I DON'T LIKE SOAP!"
Knowing how this is going to go down, I jumped on the first thought that came to mind.  I don't really want to encourage his precociousness but we are talking the need for soap here.  I have to choose between encouraging his flair for all things Manly and SOAP!  I chose Soap.
Mom, "But if you don't use soap, you won't get all the ladies. Ladies don't like a funky smelling Man.  You won't have all the ladies anymore." 
Silence
The Man, "Fine, I will use SOAP!"
Little while later, 
"Hi momma, smell my hair" 
Mom, "MMmmm smells good and manly."
"I used soap."
Good JOB!  Thank you.

Now to find the bathing incentive for his brother.....

When I Grow Up...

and get married and become a dad.
Those were the words I heard come out of "The Man's" mouth the other day.
I had to shake the shock and finishing listening to what he was going to do...

When I grow up and get married and become a dad I am not going to Sparks and Awana.  I am going to stay at home. 

Silence from Mom.  He was trying to make a point. 
Then I said, "I am sorry, I will be very disappointed in the man you have become if you do that."

Silence.

Why would he say this?  He loves Sparks.  He loves Awana. 

He has recently discovered a favorite show is going to be on tv on Wednesdays.

I quietly told Big O Daddy O about this conversation in the car.  He chuckled and he told me why.

I guess "The Man" has been making his case to Dad recently when he couldn't win me over.  I had told him, I wasn't willing to lock him in the closet and I had given my word to serve at Awana.  I was going to keep my word.

So as he is making his case to Dad he tells Big O Daddy O,

"I have to watch it on Wednesday! It is a new episode!  Then it will be a re-run and I HATE re-runs!"

There you have it.  When he grows up and becomes a dad he will never probably watch tv because he will only get to watch the re-runs. 

Good Bye to my 6 Square Foot Wireless Router.

So we have this mammoth desktop computer.  You know the kind, I know you do.  The ones before laptops!  Not only is there a big hard drive, but there is this huge monitor.  I am talking anciently huge.  It covers 2/3 of the counter's width.  Not one of those thin flat screens.  Too frugal here to upgrade between the desktop generation and the laptop generation.  The only use it has been getting is we plug the wireless router into it.  Really!!!  Six square feet of valuable counter space has been occupied by what you could call "our wireless router."  Ridiculous.  But it has been my "procrastination project" this month. 
Yep, it has taken a month to do the following. 
Back up all the files I want onto my external hard drive that is smaller than my wallet.  (Actually took me less than 1/2 hour.)
Convince hubby to wipe the hard drive. That took some reminding.   Then it took some, "How long is it going to take?"  Then he walked over to the beast and started the process.
It did its job while we worked on other things.
Finally, tonight I looked online at Goodwill Industries.
Hubby sent me an email a month or two before this project was started.  The email informed us that Goodwill accepts Computers, etc. 
Hence my motivation to start this project.
But hubby questioned my memory.  Since I had deleted the email, I need to get online and research. 
Less than 5 minutes later, I had searched and located our area's Goodwill websites and found my answer.
Not only that, I discovered this page.  It is a Value Guide for items being donated.  I knew there was something out there.  But I have always done a guestimate.  LOoking at the values, I think I have been under-valueing our belongings.  Good to know for the future. 
And tomorrow...I hope we make a trip to Goodwill. 
Then I can say, MISSION COMPLETED.

Counting to 260..............

246.  Stairs to climb and being able to climb them
247.  Being able to attend worship services
248.  Sunshine filled days
249.  Fried Chicken
250.  Relaxing Sunday afternoons with the In-Laws
251.  Knowing in my heart, Easter was for me and you
252.  Taking the time to understand, to search out the reasons
253.  Chatting with my niece
254.  Seeing my husband, his brother and dad all sitting out on the porch...enjoying the evening and the sunset
255.  Time to breathe
256.  Time to reconnect with my sister in law
257.   Parrots sitting on a backyard fence!!
258.   Crockpots, Dishwashers, Washing machines and dryers
259.  A bruised but otherwise okay Little Princess. 
260.  Watching Steel Magnolias and laughing with Granny, Little Princess and care takers.

Joy is found in.....

How would you finish this sentence? "Joy is found in...."
How would you define joy? 
Somewhere in the midst of the past fall, I found the sparkle in my being and heart had become quite dingy in the turmoil and trials of life.  My faith had not weakened.  It was still there.  But there was a heaviness on me.  A lot was and is still going on.  Holidays, homeschool, children, housework, meals, ailing family members and the list goes on.  Just the normal day to day stuff can be hard to get done.  Grocery shopping and laundry and chauffering the children to activities. 
I was still finding things to laugh about. 
But it was at a superficial level and not lifting my spirits any. 
As I started to read, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are  by Ann Voskamp I was challenged to start counting.  I printed out the monthly guides.  The guides were almost like a scavenger hunt...find three yellow things, 3 ugly-beautiful things, 3 things before noon.
Sometimes I didn't read the day's challenge until the evening and I had to spend some time remembering the events of the day.  Some days would pass and I hadn't written anything done.  But I would have to sit and reflect on the past few days.  That was okay.  Cause the more I had to reflect and think, the more I focused on the blessings in my life.  I am blessed.  I am even blessed in the ugly, hence the ugly beautiful things of life.  I have always prayed God would use whatever it was I was going through good or bad.  But especially the bad.  Cause if I have to walk the hard, I want there to be a reason..  I want God to be able to use it for His Glory. But hard stuff is hard and if I focus just on how hard it is, I lose sight of all the good around.  I lose my sparkle.  So as I sit and reflect on my blessings and/or my gifts I change my focus.  As I go back over my journal, to post on my blog, I am reminded by these mental snapshots of the good in my life.  I remember the moments I felt a little hug from God.  You know those little unexpected things/moments, where only a Heavenly Father, who knows all, could have orchestrated something so beautifully and well-timed that blesses you so and makes life just so much sweeter. 
I know my Joy comes from the Lord.  But I have learned I must seek Joy.  I need to chase Joy.  I must look for it in everything.  But not only must I find it, acknowledge it, I need to receive it.  In receiving it, I must acknowledge the Giver of all good things.  When you receive joy and acknowledge the gift that it is, it is impossible to not say Thank You to the source of your Joy. 
With the sparkle back in my eye, I can say
My Joy comes from the Lord.
and
The Joy of the Lord is my strength. 

I would love it if you would join me in counting.  Counting the gifts of the Lord.  Moments He brings just for You.  To Bless You and to Love You.  If you are counting, let me know and leave a comment. 


There are affiliate links in this article.

Rain, Rain, and more Rain

We have had 4 straight days of rain.  What a blessing it was to finally receive the moisture the earth do desperately needs here.  But when you are one of my kiddos, a spring rain shower with no lightening means lots of fun to be had.  With great care and a plastic bag over my camera, these two headed out to play in the rain. 

 Not snow, not hail....pear tree blossoms ~  Kansas Spring Snow

Counting to 245......

231.  The Man's giggles
232.  Orthodontists
233.  Rain
234. Daffodils
235.  Tulips all lined up
236.  Compassionate daughters
237.  Impromptu crochet lessons
238.  Golfing dogs
239.  Younger brothers coming together to clean for mom
240.  Piles to Donate
241.  Days free of all appointments
242.  Evenings at home
243.  Watching the robins collect nesting materials with the children.
244.  Sunshine after 4 days of rain
245.  Hearing my children say thank you with a prompting

Health Insurance motivators to be healthy!

So our health insurance is looking out for their bottom line, I realize that.
They do have some power motivating tools out there though to get their patrons healthy.
For instance, I just completed an assessment and 3 "counseling" sessions online. 
What do I get out of these services...
Well I will receive $50 to apply to future medical expenses.  That is the equivalent to two office co-pays.  With my crew, that won't be hard to use up. LOL.  But hey, every little bit helps. 

But on the other hand, I have been frustrated with the lack of free time around here for just "me time". 
I mean, seriously, "ME time",  I might get 2 minutes in the car while I wait for a child to come out to the car.  I might get to go to the bathroom uninterrupted.  If I start to clean, well, I might get to be alone as the kids try to slip off and escape my notice.  When I had to list how much time I spend on the computer.  I didn't want to admit it.  I am not using the computer solely for recreation.  Lately, I have been listing a lot of items on Ebay.  Trying to get as much done before we start school back up.
Therefore, I am sitting and typing.  But as I have these encouraging comments and suggestions rolling through my head, I did some math. 
I have 15 stairs between the mainfloor and the basement.  If I have to run downstairs to weigh every auction, I can increase my activity.  If I do 20 auctions in a day, that is like 300 stairs.  Not bad.  Best part, and Dara you will like this, I don't get all sweaty.  I can't stand to get sweaty!  My hair wilts.  I feel slimy and gross.  If I get sweaty, then I have to shower and get ready for the day all over again.  That is more time away from the things I gotta do....
So I will run up and down the stairs for every auction.  I won't ask my kids to do it for me.  Cause, I need to get up and get moving some more.