The boys did not sleep well last night...so let's hope they do better tonight!
Joy Dare for yesterday - 3 things entwined - I'm having a hard time remembering yesterday...see what I come up with....
Our lives are entwined with others' lives. Our choices affect others. Others' choices affect us.
Roses. For some reason "entwined" brought "roses" to my mind...not sure why. Our rose bushes are sprouting out nicely and I'm looking forward to that summer beauty.
Ivy. Love how ivy twines around things...
And today....3 gifts of His promise...and my brain is just not functioning well tonight....
coffee and a friend (sister-in-law, actually) this morning.
phone call from Randy
sweet sleep which I plan to get here very shortly. :-)
We have an exciting weekend coming up....tell you about it Sunday or Monday! :-)
I've been seeing a lot about "pinterest". It looks interesting, fascinating. And I understand it's great (after you understand it). So far I'm a hold-out. Do I really want to spend more time on the computer? Should I even be spending more time on the computer? Would I ever bother to do anything with any of that anyway? I have clicked on things my friends "pin" that show up on facebook. And it's fun and cute and interesting. But so far, the time I spend with blogs, email, facebook, and news just seems to be probably more then enough internet time...
So, do any of you do pinterest? Do you actually use any of the recipes or ideas that you pin? Or is it all for "some day in the future"? Do you enjoy it? Does it eat up lots of time (like all the other computer related things are prone to do)? Just curious.....after all, I held out from facebook until the year I had that infant who stayed up until 11 or so every night and I had read all my favorite books again and needed something new to do...perhaps I'll eventually give in and start "pinning"....
Joy Dare for today:
3 gifts redeemed. Well, these may not all fit that topic....but we'll start there.
coupons. Although I admit that I frequently forget to redeem them. My friend at
http://couponcuttingmom.com/ is much better at this than I am!
My life. Christ redeemed my life from death by His death (and subsequent resurrection) on the cross. I no longer need to fear death, because He has promised me that I will live forever with Him.
I'm not really in the mood to blog...not sure why...but I will at least blog and catch up on the joy dare...if I can find my paper.
Recently my youngest 2 boys have been crankier then normal and not sleeping as well. This typically means ear infections. However, since Micah has been on 6 antibiotics and 1 round of ear drops since November...I've kind of given up on that route and am just trying to keep his pain manageable until we see the ENT next month. He is eating pretty well though and that's usually a good sign.
It's colder today...more like March is supposed to be. :-)
Tonight I went to Parent-Teacher Fellowship at school. My sweet girl from church babysat so I went all alone. I enjoyed the peace since in addition to 2 being fussier, Zach's behavioral issues have been a bit more pronounced as well...not horrible, but he's definitely more keyed up. And I picked up Autumn from school today with another migraine. I'm really thinking they are probably allergy related since she's had so many of them since it warmed up and things started producing pollen. It's really bad around here that way since everything is blooming simultaneously...gorgeously beautiful, but tough on allergy sufferers.
I've been doing more babysitting recently...comes in spells....
Joy Dare - March 23 (Friday) - 3 gifts found in women today
My friend (whom I babysat for) - who always encourages me and makes me laugh
My neighbor (our 2 youngest and her 2 are close in age) - so blessed to commiserate with her. :-) Our youngest are both dealing with chronic ear infections. All the boys love to play together and go back and forth between our houses. Such a blessing....
My sister (whom I talk with almost daily, and often more then once a day) - we're 7 years apart but have become good friends now that we're grown. We both have 3 children not in school....although I have the additional 3 in school.
March 24 (Saturday) - 3 gifts spoken - well, since this is several days later, and I can't remember, how about 3 random gifts:
this is actually from Friday, but Friday night we gathered with friends of friends to celebrate the adoption of a beautiful little girl.
Saturday night Randy & I got a night out. Our friends babysat. We enjoyed Mexican food (Plaza Azteca for my local readers).
a coupon for a free 60-day membership to BJ's. Not sure if it's worth the money to buy one, but we enjoyed browsing (& buying) there after our supper...and nice to buy in sizes that fit our family nicely. :-)
March 25 (Sunday) - A gift sung, written, painted
singing hymns and worship songs at church...always (or nearly always) moves me.
the words of the one hymn which immediately dated it to pre-electricity....thanking God for fire...not something most of us think of anymore...although I am very thankful for our woodstove fire...but many of us no longer heat or cook with fire...but you know what, I am thankful for the warmth of fire...even today in this modern age.
The yellow walls of the kitchen...love that choice of paint color and Randy's hard work 3 1/2 years ago to paint them!
March 26 (Monday) - 3 gifts almost gone.
the Reeses Peanut Butter eggs...which are almost gone.
the blessing of education and godly teachers...and the school year which is down to 8 weeks left...
the lives of my family and friends...not that it is almost gone, but that we never know when it will be totally gone. One of my brother-in-law's best friends died suddenly Friday. He was around 41 or so. In the Bible, God (through various writers) shows us that our lives are like a flower, here today, gone tomorrow, like a vapor, vanishing, brief. We may go through excruciating trials which seem to last forever. But this life is finite. And we really don't know (unless we are facing a diagnosis of death being eminent) when our live is "almost gone"....
This is one of our family's favorite songs...I heard a version of it shortly after we heard about Randy's brother's friends...I know it actually refers to the second coming of Christ...but it says "I'm going home with Jesus, in the twinkling of an eye....I may not know the moment, and I may not know the day, but I know that I'll be leaving..." And I thought...that's certainly true....all of a sudden, it's all over...and those left behind are plunged into grief...
Anyway...tomorrow's schedule...fold laundry, take Zach to OT, stop at the office supply store for labels, straighten up the house....
and I hear a little boy in the hall (he's supposed to be in bed where I tucked him in half an hour ago...)
Anyway. It wasn't quite as warm today as forecasted since it stayed overcast longer...but still mild for March around here. This morning I babysat my niece. My mom stopped in with Donuts from Akron Shop-Rite (Weiser's, that is)....the best! After school we went to the park with my friend and her kids (2 of her kids are biological siblings of 3 of my kids). Then we went to Wendy's for supper. I went through the drive-thru (and really ticked off the lady behind me....guess she thought getting food for 8 at the drive-thru was excessive?!) We took the food to my brother's house and ate with my sister-in-law and nephew...and then looked at their animals. They have goats and chickens. And the one goat had triplets yesterday....adorable, and so tiny. They are pygmy goats or something small like that. Then we even tackled going to Walmart. Probably not the best time of day to do so, but we survived.
Now I need to go tuck that little boy in again, put away the Walmart stuff, clean up, and such...or maybe it will wait until tomorrow (other then the little boy...he needs immediate attention). :-)
Joy Dare for today - 3 gifts found in His word (The Bible):
Zephaniah 3:17 - "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Now, I know this is referring to Israel (the country & people)....but I believe it also applies to followers of Christ today.
1 Corinthians 15:14, 19, 20 - "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is useless and so is your faith..... if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more then all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead..." - the gift of the resurrection of Christ...
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 - "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows." The gift of both suffering and comfort. I admit, I'm happy to receive the latter, but prefer not to receive the suffering...but God's word says that suffering is also a gift from God. I don't pretend to understand it...but in my limited experience, it's been true....
So I removed the 2 buttons I had added...and presto, my page was back to normal. What's up with that?!
I guess I'll have to try again.....
Alright...the one was no problem, but the 2nd one, every time I added it everything changed...so I added it at the bottom and then it worked fine...not sure what's up with that? Oh well...all worked out....
We had a lovely day again today, more overcast and slightly cooler, but lovely nonetheless. I played "P-I-G" with Josiah and a neighbor tonight...I was the first one out, but that may have been partly because of my perpetually sore shoulder and partly from the 4-year-old who was hanging on my arm...or because the boys are 12 instead of old like me. :-)
I've been loving having the neighbor kids hanging out in our yard. Yesterday I counted 16 at one point (including ours). Some days, of course, it's just us. I love the kids....
Mark's doing great with his speech. He is now starting to add the beginning sound of a word to his vowels. And tonight he even said a 2 syllable word!
Zach's therapy is going well for now...we may be able to switch back to just one therapist in a couple of months...we'll see....he's doing so much better at controlling himself...
Autumn & Janae went with their cousins tonight to their church Easter evening (kind of a VBS about Easter instead of an egg hunt).
Randy was home today for awhile....always nice. :-)
Tomorrow's plans: laundry, babysitting, visiting with some of the boys' biological siblings....
Blogger is doing strange things to my blog. I added a couple of buttons to the sidebar, and and presto, my blog posts are missing/in the sidebar. Not sure if they are that way for everyone or just me...anyway.
Joy Dare for yesterday (20th) - 3 gifts that made you laugh:
Micah
Mark
Mia (our cousin's daughter)
And today (21st) - a gift salty, a gift sweet, a gift just right
salted peanuts
Milk Chocolate with Almonds
Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs (which I probably have mentioned before)
I'm rather sleepy...last night my sleep kept getting interrupted...so I'm not sure how well I'll be thinking to do this.
Friday, March 16: 3 hard eucharisteos.
I always have a hard time with this one...hard times that looking back were gifts from God....but 3 other gifts:
great neighbors (who are hoping their house sells so they can move) with boys the ages of my 2 youngest (I will miss them!)
another lovely spring day
tulips poking through the dirt
Saturday, March 17: a gift turned, a gift folded, a gift hung
Not sure about these suggestions either, how about:
a lovely loaf of Irish Soda Bread (minus the raisins which I couldn't find when baking)
the joy of making the loaf...I do enjoy kneading bread dough.
having kids (ours, neighbors, friends) running around in our backyard playing games.
Sunday, March 18: 3 gifts red
Well, I'm sure I saw something red...but I like these gifts:
Chicken & Waffles
Fire in the Fire Pit
time to read a good book.
Monday, March 19: 3 gifts eaten
leftover cheeseburger soup with leftover Irish Soda Bread...delicious
French Bread Pizza (an easy supper so we can spend more time outside)
Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs....my favorite (secular) part of Easter. :-)
And I need to go start waffles for lunch (Chicken & Waffles is the menu). Anyway. I stayed home from church this morning because Zach woke up and immediately "got sick". He's been dealing with some sinus or allergy issues and was quite exhausted so I think his body was just kind of worn out. After laying around, he and the little boys are outside playing...totally back to himself. But he snuggled on my lap with his blanket this morning...what a breakthrough!
Last night we had our traditional "celebrate St. Patrick's day" supper...this year we had cheeseburger soup, Irish Soda Bread, Green Punch, Green Jello Salad, and Peppermint Patty Brownies. but I forgot to take photos...
I'll need to catch-up on the Joy Dare later or tomorrow...gotta go heat the waffle iron...
It's another warm day, although slightly cooler then yesterday...perfect!
Spring flowers are blooming nicely.
Today's Joy Dare: 3 gifts given away....hugs, encouragement, love....although I doubt if I give as much of these as I want to/should....
Sleepy again....seems time changes are tougher now that I'm older...or else it's the next item...
Micah still is not sleeping well...seems like the antibiotic is not helping this time...
Several weeks ago I made up a menu chart for 3 weeks worth of meals. I really enjoyed that...the kids didn't have to ask what we're having, they can just look...so this week (week #3) I'm working on a meal schedule for the next 3 weeks. For me it's good to do it for several weeks at a time, because it does take a block of time, so I might as well do a bunch while I'm thinking about food. It also really helps me stay focused and not have the "it's 4:30 and I need to make supper" problem.
It seems like the kids are having a harder time napping right now with the nice weather...
It is lovely here in the northeast. I think we just skipped to May! Since I'm sure it will get cooler again, right now we are enjoying this gorgeous weather (my favorite...sunny, 70s, no humidity, cool nights). Love it! We are spending lots of time outside. The kids are wearing shorts and tee-shirts and going barefooted. There are bugs around as well...guess it will be buggier this year since it was a mild/wet winter.
Joy Dare for today...3 gifts found in silence...really...I'm not sure, how often do I get silence???
the gift of thought. It's easier [for me] to think and focus when it's silent.
rest. My body feels more at rest when it is silent.
Little sounds...when it is quiet, I hear little sounds that I usually miss, the chirp of a bird or insect, the hum of the highway farther away, the sound of the breeze in the trees.
My house is clean. There are pork chops in the crock pot for supper. The little boys are resting (although we're having trouble being "quiet"). It is peaceful. I am more at rest when everything is orderly. Of course, if I look out the window the order disappears...bikes and toys and scooters and riding toys are scattered everywhere, showing the evidence of a morning spent out of doors...
Janae went back to school today (allowable after 24 hours on eye drops). Micah's antibiotics don't seem to be working as well this time...maybe it's because it's round 5 for the winter and the 2nd round with this specific one? Mark was cranky this morning....
Yesterday and today have been lovely. We've been spending a lot of time out doors. I am also rather sleepy. Micah's still not sleeping well. I did take him to the doctor again yesterday. Now on antibiotics round #5 for the winter. Hopefully he will sleep better tonight. The time change is also affecting us all...but not to bad so far.
Janae has pink eye.
Joy Dare for March 12
a gift in wind - the gentle spring breeze
a gift in water - showers to water the spring flowers
a gift in white - crocus blossoms (and also in purple and gold)
For today - 3 gifts round
balls (for the kids to play)
the center of a daffodil
sleep..no wait, that's not round...um...to sleepy to think. :-) The wheels of bikes and scooters.
I'm waiting for Randy to get home from his men's retreat. Glad he had the opportunity. But glad I'll soon have a few hours with him before he goes back to work.
The neighbor blessed us with a bunch of toy cars (matchbox etc.) so the littlest 2 are enjoying them. And big sister Autumn is playing with them...love seeing my kids interact!
Joy Dare for yesterday - 3 gifts in Christ
I think I answered this before...what today:
*peace
*joy
*contentment
Joy Dare for today - 3 gifts read
*John 1:1-18 (Holy Bible) - our text for the message this morning. So appreciated it. And you can hear it yourself at www.gehmanmennonitechurch.org....speaking of which, our church is hosting some workshops the next 3 weekends...one on stress/business, one on blended families, one on caregiving. They are free and open to the public. There's a link to that at the church website as well. Registration is appreciated, but not required. Oh yes, and they serve a (free) light supper beforehand and provide (free) child care.
*"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" from above passage. So glad that Christ (the Word) became one of us.
*"The true Light that gives light to all things had come in to the world" Glad Christ brought light into this (spiritually) dark world.
the beautiful olive wood nativity (Joseph, Mary, Jesus...all connected) that my friend gave me one year for Christmas.
And the olive wood ornament she gave me another year.
A creek bed...carved into the land...love to look at the twists and turns...why did it go this way and that?
This weekend Randy is away on a Men's Retreat with some other men from our church. So I'm afraid my days are going to seem more like week days, although all the kids will be home....
This Sunday is "Charter Day" here in PA. Lots of historical places have free admission from 12-4. I'd love to go...but doubt I will. After all, I do want to be here when Randy gets home...we have limited enough time together to miss more then necessary.
I forgot to mention this, but on Wednesday I had a Scentsy Party. I love the Scentsy warmers. The wax has a low melt temp so if the kids put their fingers in it (yes, they've pretty much stopped now) it doesn't burn them. My party is still open for a few more days so if you're a Scentsy fan, feel free to order at the link. https://tiffproven.scentsy.us/Home
Oh yes, my very, very favorite Scentsy product is the Scentsy Buddies (and now baby buddies). They are these adorable stuffed animals that you put a scent pak inside so they smell good. Scent is a wonderful attachment/bonding agent and so having a scented stuffed animal can be a "lovey" and bonding agent in one. :-)
Joy Dare for yesterday - March 7
3 gifts in the kitchen:
~dishwasher
~refrigerator
~stove/oven
...and so on and so forth....
Today's Dare - 3 gifts LOUD
~a young boy's ingenuity...turning a hamper upside down and banging on it with pencils to drum to his favorite songs..."Boundless Love" and "Kind Jesus" and "I Recall" and "Roll On".
~Those songs (and others) being blared very LOUDLY....love that he is listening songs that fill him with God's love.
~basketball hitting the backboard. Well...this isn't terribly loud...not like screams of anger or anything like that...but we were playing basketball, me and that young boy, and he was giggling and laughing...priceless! Love to hear my kids laugh!
Gorgeous, gorgeous day today...cloudy now (front is moving in I guess), but still warm! Soaking it up...hopefully I will take time for a "real" blog post later tonight. For now, I need to corral the kids, get them to clean up the yard, make supper (me, not them), then clean-up, do homework (we do it after supper to give them a break from school/sitting), and do piano lessons....
This morning I went to the discount grocery store and stopped at another store to buy seeds for our garden. I also bought a peony plant and some stargazer lillies for our flower beds. We planted those this afternoon...to cold to plant the garden yet, but now we're prepared!
Lovely Sunny Day again! The boys have been outside most of the morning driving their trucks in the dirt. I'm not used to having this much uninterrupted time! I baked some muffins and cleaned up the kitchen and made coffee. This afternoon Zach has his session with Miss Laura (attachment/trauma therapist).
Today's Joy Dare:
a gift bent - ??? trees bending in the wind remind me to bend with the winds of change that come into my life.
a gift broken - ??? something breaks around here frequently, but nothing comes to mind...so, how about something else for the gift....the gift of music. Music can lift my mood and spirit when it is down and bent and broken.
a gift beautiful - this sunny day...so welcome after the dreary January and February days
I spent part of this afternoon being rather stressed. We want Micah seen by an ENT because of his frequent ear infections. We had switched PPOs within our insurance the beginning of the year. This resulted in us not being able to see ENT that we used for Mark's adenoid surgery. I get very frustrated with working within the healthcare system. I don't know what the answers are...but it is frustrating. With our 3 boys, they have insurance through the state that we kept when we finalized the adoption..that is now the secondary insurance. The big issue today was that no one within 50 miles took both insurances, they either took one or the other. Very frustrating! Unfortunately, when I deal with these situations I tend to get "upset" (not angry, yelling, just very tearful). It's very hard to navigate the phone calls and figure things out when you're crying (don't want to be, no reason to, just my personal reaction). Thankfully my wonderful husband bailed me out and took care of figuring it all out. He's much better at that...and doesn't cry on the phone with the insurance people. :-)
The end result is...that if we want to, we could see the ENT we saw with Mark, but it would be out of network and we would need to pay (not a real big deal, because of high deductibles). But, the secondary insurance which does work with that office would not cover it because the bills need to run through a primary insurance provider first. I have a friend at MOPS who has been highly recommending her ENT to me for years now. I have always been "not interested" because of the distance (30 miles away instead of 8). However, this ENT is covered by our primary insurance (although not by the secondary...but the secondary said they would cover as "out of network"). So, I think tomorrow I will probably call this ENT and arrange for the referral to go to her. It is all working out lovely...but with a bit of added stress. Of course, I have learned some more about our health insurance!
On the upside, this ENT is about half way to my friend's house...maybe I'll be able to coordinate a visit to see her new baby with one of Micah's appointments. :-)
Tonight the boys and I read books. They are starting to sit very nicely to read. And Zach will sit for as long as I am willing to read...amazing to think how far he's come!
It's a beautiful sunny day. Chilly. But supposed to be in the 60s later this week.
I picked up Autumn at school again today with a headache...guess we should see a doctor...the headaches are getting more frequent. Although perhaps it's a sinus/seasonal allergy issue....
Joy Dare - March 3 (Saturday) - 3 gifts wore
my shirt
my sweatshirt
my jeans
Joy Dare - March 4 (Sunday) - 3 gifts hard to give thanks for
lack of energy
fatigue
stink bugs
Joy Dare - March 5 (Monday...today!) - 3 gifts found - alright, I am deviating from this category and just listing some gifts from the weekend.
a lovely chocolate cake with peanut butter icing.
Saturday evening we gathered with Randy's extended family (around 100 people since some were missing). Family is a blessing...no family is perfect of course, but having family to be with is certainly a blessing.
a lovely morning today to do laundry and not have lots of other things that need completed.
Definitely "in like a lamb" mild, somewhat sunny...is what I thought anyway. I went out with the boys this morning and froze! The sun, deceiving me into thinking it was warm, was pleasant, but it was still chilly. And that sun was elusive, in and out of the clouds.
I've been checking for the March Joy Dare...and finally found and printed it today...Funny how after 2 months of doing it, I missed it for the day that I didn't have it.
March 1 - 3 gifts at 3 p.m.
(1) Josiah, (2) Autumn, and (3) Janae - bursting off the bus and through the door shortly after 3.
Today - March 2 - 3 gifts green
(1) daffodils, peeking through the dirt
(2) crocuses, not only peeking through the dirt but blooming in beautiful purple and gold and white
(3) The tablecloth on my kitchen table, easy to wipe vinyl, protecting the beautiful wood from receiving more dents and dings and marks then it already has.
And now, time to put the young boys to bed for naps/quiet time and time to tackle the ever present bookwork and bills...
