Resolutions

I have been so encouraged by the women I have met (well, cybermet) through women at home, that I have decided to put some thought into New Year Resolutions. I have never made resolutions before. This is kind of fun.

Physical:I will be 30 pounds lighter by the end of the year. I would like to be able to run in a one mile fun run by Labor Day. I want to eat healthier.

Spiritual:I'd like to spend more time in personal prayer. I want to pray with my husband on a daily basis. I want to read through the Bible. I want to pray with my children more.

Marital:I want to get to know Olaf more intimately. (Not in *that* way) He's not an easy guy to know. We've been married almost 17 years and there are still deep secrets in him...I just know it!:)

Mama:Less force, more love. Less perfection, more hugs.

Homeschool:Relax! I want to not care what day I should be on. I want to focus on the eternal, not the academics. I want my focus to be on the reason we chose to homeschool in the first place, not worrying if my third grader can do long division. I can't even do long division without a calculator.

Well, there ya have it. I will probably add some as they come to me. I need to refer back to this post from time to time to see how I'm doing.

Josiah woke up this morning and said his belly hurt. I gave him his chocolate milk which he promptly vomited all over me, the carpet, and my Longaberger throw. He proceeded to empty his stomach twice more in the next hour. Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared. He has been fine since 8:30 am. PRAISE GOD! That was one quick virus. He really didn't eat anything yesterday or I might have said it was something he ate. Since it started right upon waking, that tends to make me think it was a virus of some sort. He must have picked it up at the doctor yesterday or Publix. Good to know it's relatively short just in case it makes the rounds.

I haven't exercised because I think it will make me start coughing. I'm on the verge of sickness and once I start coughing, I don't stop. I really need to get out and do something though. Olaf may pick up a treadmill tomorrow that my friend is giving to me. She is going to call me back and let me know if tomorrow will work for her. She offered it to me because she never uses it. It was her Grandmother's, but Grandma had an accident on it and they won't give it back to her. Grandma used to walk on the treadmill in her bra and walking shorts. She said she got too hot to wear a shirt. Mind you, this is one spunky 83 year old woman! Well, somehow she slipped, the treadmill threw her off, she hit her head and blacked out. She called 911 when she came to and the paramedics arrived to find a half dressed old woman. She broke a rib or two I think as well. Since then she has told my friend that her worse fear is dying in the shower. She says, "It was bad enough being half dressed when the ambulance came. I feel sorry for them if they find me naked." This woman is just the sweetest thing. She is very classy and dresses to a T. Always has her make-up on. Likes to shop at Talbots and William Sonoma. But, she is very humble and giving. Very gentle and gracious. I really enjoy talking to her when I get the chance.

Happy New Year if I don't post before January 1st!

Homeschool Digest

I cannot communicate through written word well. You can tell that by reading my blog. My thought process is analytical. I am a math and science kind of girl. Not creative at all. I have lost a good friend due to my inability to write effectively. That is how poorly I communicate via the written word. So, I am really in awe of those people that can emote in words on a page. If you click the links in the sidebar to some of those blogs that I read....WOW! Go ahead! Try Dana or Stacy or Cheri. I'm amazed. Back to my point (you see how good I am?) Homeschool Digest is a magazine that I take time to read. The editor, Skeet Savage, wrote a great article called "The Truth Will Set You Free." It is about the Biblical standard of truth and not being deceived into believeing that the Word of God can be twisted to mean anything at all-or merely ignored altogether. But what hit me was this paragraph, "Hard hearts and hard heads seem to reside within the same bodies. The surest protection against being carried away and enslaved by the merciless bondage of deception--including self-deception--is to maintain a humble and contrite spirit whereby the Holy Spirit is able to deliver you from the isolating chains that are formed by the deceitfulness of satan's lies, and from the cold, dark prison of false belief and wrong assumptions." It was convicting to me because I'm the one with the hard head and the prideful heart. I have deceived MYSELF into wrong thinking. No one else deceived me. Just plain ole me. Humility is what I desire. I just suck at it!:) Saying I'm sorry to a friend is so easy. Saying I'm sorry to my husband is SO hard. Humbling myself before a stranger, piece of cake. Humbling myself before my children, much harder. Gulp! Pray for me. Pax Christi.

WARNING, WARNING PMS!

Oh boy! I am either crazy or having a major PMS day. It might be a little of both. The littlest things are really making me angry today.

Josiah woke up and said his ear hurts. Olaf is going to come home early and take him to the ENT to see if it's an infection. Everyone here is congested, but no fever. Josiah sounds like a sleestack from Land of the Lost. Remember that show? That was my favorite show on Saturday mornings. The Kroft Supershow had Shazam and Isis, Electro-Woman and Dyna Girl, and Dr. Shrinker as well as Land of the Lost. And while I'm reminiscing (it take my mind off PMS) how about Electric Company? Heyy you Guyyys! Who could forget H.R. Pufnstuf? Or the Bugaloos? Ok, I'm done!:)

No one did my meme. I'm a loser!:)

It's a meme

I just found out what a meme was thanks to Cheri. A meme is like that thing I did a couple of days ago where you answer questions about yourself, or you ponder things you normally wouldn't. I stole this one from Cheri's site, who stole it from another site. You get the idea! So, here's the Meme... It requires YOUR help so please take the time to do it for me. You can leave your post in the comment section at the bottom of this post.

A) First, recommend to me:

1. a movie.
2. a book.
3. a musical artist, song, or album.

B) Ask me three questions. Ask me anything you want.

C) Now go to your blog (if you have one), copy and paste this, and allow everyone to ask you the same.


Charity's questions to me are:

1. If you had a motto, what would it be?

Realistically: Get outta my way! What I want it to be: Open the eyes of my heart, Lord.

2. What are your best qualities, and what would Olaf say are your best qualities?

Thoughtful, giving, and intelligent. Olaf would say, giving (although he'd hate to do it) and my administration skills.

3. How has God blessed only you that you are singularly thankful for?

My salvation. My husband. Bearing children.

School

I need to get busy with school today. We are "behind" according to the State of Georgia, so I need to do school this week to try and catch up a bit. I have to test her this year and Tammy Pitts told me about a standardized test that I can administer at home. I am going to do that instead of making her go through the other tests that our homeschool group gives. The website is http://hewitthomeschooling.com/test/tmain.asp

Caleb is home until next week. He has a loose tooth and it is driving him nuts. It's not quite loose enough to pull, but I'm about ready to pull it anyway!

The house is still strewn with Christmas toys. I need to clean it up. I look at it and I get overwhelmed though. Olaf went back to work today, but he has Friday off. I'm glad it's a short week for him.

I am thinking about taking Camille to The American Girl Place in Chicago for her birthday. It would be expensive though, so I am not real sure it will happen. Camille and I are trying to save every penny that we can pilfer from other funds (ie any grocery cash leftover from the week, riding lessons that got canceled etc). So far we have about $60 saved. It's a start:) www.americangirl.com

Aravis is sitting in my lap wanting me to love on her. She is nudging my hands as I type this and making me misspell a lot of words. The backspace key is my friend.

Have a blessed day. I am not going to Weight Watchers this evening. I know I gained and don't want to face the music:) I'll go next week.

Happy Birthday Josiah!

Our big boy is two today. We just had birthday cake, but alas, I forgot to take a digital picture before we cut it! It was adorable though. I took a picture after it was half eaten... you'll see it below. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG BOY! Mama loves you so much!

Half eaten Thomas cake. You can still tell what a wonderful job my friend Stacy does. If you live locally, she does this for a living. Her cakes are very reasonable and taste wonderful.

Yummy! Thomas the Tank Engine cake! And it's chocolate too...

Josiah is TWO! He is eating his cake.

Spoiled

Oh everyone was spoiled this year. I got the cutest cherry apron from Gooseberry Patch. It's a half apron that ties around your waist and has cherries all over it. So 50's! I also got a pair of slippers from Lands End, some all weather mocs from Lands End, a cap for when I walk/run in the cold weather, a bundt pan (my very first one!) and a pocket calendar. The children got a ton of things. We got them 5 presents each, which is two more than we normally get them. Then Uncle Scott and Aunt Frances sent them three presents each. Then Opa and Grandma each gave them one gift. They were reeling with excitement. Tomorrow we will sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and open stocking stuffers. It will be our nice meal and our time of devotion to the Lord. We used to do a birthday cake for Jesus, but since JoJo's birthday is the 26th, we just sing. I have eaten WAY too much rugalach but it is SO yummy. Olaf enjoyed his steak tartar and he isn't complaining of a stomach ache yet. I don't know how long it takes for e coli or salmonella to set in though;) I bought Olaf this cool kit called "Dirty Old Coins" from Vision Forum. They are ancient coins from about 1500 years ago that you clean up. There is a disc that lists all the coins from that period with their value so you can see what you have found after cleaning. I also got him a pocket watch. He has wanted one for years. He also got pj bottoms from Old Navy and a travel mug. Well, I have a lot to do. The house is a mess. Wrapping paper and toys are everywhere. I'll write tomorrow sometime. God Bless.

Josiah loves his BIG Barney!

Grace got a bumblebee costume and she loves it. It has a stinger on the rear and she runs around stinging all of us.

Still fat, but getting there. Have a blessed ChrisTmas.

Caleb won't sit still long enough for a photo.

My dear husband.

Josiah riding his horsie! Well, it's actually Grace's horsie, but he loves it!

Camille got a Barbie!

Gracie got a Barbie!

LOOK AT MY BLINKIES!


Becky, from Joyful Mother Designs, made them for me. Check out her blinkies and signature tags! Very cute.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. We open our presents on Christmas Eve night and then do stockings Christmas morning. The children are excited. Uncle Scott and Aunt Frances sent the children three presents each this year. They also sent a most delicious gift basket from www.chelseamarketbaskets.com Oh my goodness! The rugelach is to DIE for. Here is a description of our basket:

Hamper holds a 1-lb gift box of Grandma’s Rugelach; a 13-oz presentation box of Leonidas chocolates; 6-oz shortbread and a 2-pack of Oaties both from Shortbread House of Edinburgh; 8-oz pistachios; 8-oz dried fruit; and 8-oz cranberry nut mix.

So, if you read this Scott and Frances...thank you so much! Your generosity is much appreciated. Of course, weight watchers went out the window this week!:) I mean, how often do you get a gourmet gift basket?

Another Christmas Eve tradition in our house is the Christmas Eve dinner. We buy cold cuts (which includes steak tartar for Olaf) and eat them with rolls and crusty bread. I guess it's a German thing. Olaf loves it though. It's the one time a year that he gets to eat raw meat mixed with raw egg. Oh yummy! I will take some digital pics tomorrow night of the children and post them here. Christmas dinner will be turkey and stuffing. Just like Thanksgiving. Olaf will be the chef again. It turns out better that way!:)

My friend, Stacy, is making Josiah's birthday cake. She is doing Thomas the Tank Engine. Josiah loves Thomas. I ask him how old he is going to be on his birthday and he says "Thomas two." You see, we went to Party City to buy Thomas plates for his cake and he associated Thomas with being two. He is really cute. Grace has started to call Josiah like a southerner would. I can't spell it phonetically, but she says Jo-sah instead of saying the "iah" part of his name. It cracks me up! "C'mon Jo-sah! Let's go play."

Tonight at Publix I found our favorite German wine. I didn't know they had it there. It's called spatlese and it's a sweet white wine. Very tasty. I don't know what wine goes with what food, but the older I get the more I enjoy having wine with my meal every now and again. Especially if it's a nice meal like Thanksgiving or a tender steak. I should learn more about it.

It has gotten cold again today. It started out warm this morning and has gotten progressively colder throughout the day. I wish it would snow for Christmas. What are the chances of that? Snow on Christmas in Atlanta? Hmmm... Not very good.

Please comment or tag me so I know you've been here. Mary, you are so good about it! Thank you! Christmas Blessings to all of you!