I know I shouldn't post this, but it is just too cute. Whenever he goes poo on the potty he needs a magazine to read. In this case it's "Southern Living." He just turned two 12-26-04 and I haven't changed a poopy diaper in weeks! WooHoo!

Linkworthy

as my friend Cheri would say. Read her ramblings for the day and be blessed. For those of you that have your children in public school you may want to check out We are Family and their pledge. I found this information at Molly's site. Check out Molly on a daily basis for some thought provoking articles.

Ice Ice Baby...

I was in the middle of posting last night when we lost power for the second time that day! We've had a wicked ice storm for Atlanta. It's been kind of fun being cooped up in the house and figuring out what we can eat that doesn't require cooking. Our home is 100% electric, so when it goes out...we are roughing it;) We built a fire and Olaf put together a new entertainment center. It looks pretty nice for pressboard. Our old entertainment center only fits a 19 inch TV, so when we got our bigger TV (a few months back) we had to set the TV on an end table. Losing power... more later.

OK, power was flickering and I wanted to post at least that. It isn't flickering anymore. So I'll continue.

Back to the weekend. We ate Pop Tarts without toasting them, saltine crackers with butter, pretzels with dip...my children were loving it! Then the power came on long enough for me to fix supper. RATS! We put the children to bed around 8 pm and lost power again about 10:30 pm. I'm not sure what time it came back on but I would guess somewhere around 1:00 am. We have this really cool lantern that we bought for Y2K. It's called an Aladdin Lamp and puts out the same light as a 60 watt bulb. So, there was my fun weekend.

Camille is watching "Little Women" behind me. I love that book and movie. She is watching the updated version with Susan Sarandon (pray for her) and Winona Rider (pray for her too!) Camille has been reading a lot this weekend since there was no TV to watch! She read Jessica's First Prayer. What a lovely book! I highly recommend it no matter your age. It's a great book to read aloud to your family.

OK, I need to run. Josiah is a mess and I need to clean him up!

Mickey got iced!

Update

My friend Chantell just called. The results of her biopsy were good. They said the cyst is benign and to come back in three months for a follow up ultrasound. Praise God for that good news. On another breast cancer note, another friend of mine who is going through breast cancer treatment right now called me to see if I would make her family a meal next Friday. She starts chemo again on Tuesday. She has four children and homeschools as well. I hate cancer. I really do! I know nothing comes our way that isn't filtered through the providential hands of the Father, but I still hate cancer. Chantell was telling me today about her friend Tim that was just diagnosed with cancer all over his body and has 6 months to live at best. He has a two year old son and his wife is due in April with a baby girl. I am so thankful...so thankful...that we are healthy.

My house is a wreck. I'm not quite sure how it got this way either!:)

This morning I happened to glance up at the calendar that we use to keep track of Caleb's seizure meds. He gets his meds twice a day and we check it off on the calendar. Once in the morning and once at night. Anyway, I notice that there was no check for this morning. So, I call Olaf at work and ask him if he forgot Caleb's meds today. Well it's all a blur. Caleb gets meds twice a day, everyday, and one day just runs into the next. Olaf said he didn't think he gave Caleb's meds to him. So, I loaded up the children and go to Caleb's school (which is about 20 miles one way) to give him his medicine before he falls down and flops for everyone!:) I haven't had a phone call yet, so being late on the meds must not have hurt him this time. He'll probably wait until tonight to have his seizure. We are supposed to get freezing rain and the ambulance won't be able to come. Cynical Misty...

Tante Babel just called. That is Olaf's aunt in Germany. She speaks English fairly well and told me that she wants to come out to visit us in August. That will be a lot of fun. She smokes like a chimney, so she'll have to endure the heat when she wants to smoke. She also is not a Christian and thinks we're in a cult! LOL! Germany is rather pagan, so being a born again Christian is nonsensical to her. I have never met her so I think it would be a lot of fun. Maybe Olaf's brother and sil could come down for a few days as well. That would be great. They think we're crazy too and they live in Queens!:) If you're reading this Ducky, we love you!

Oh, and I started my period today. My hormones should level out in the next day or two and I can be civil again.

Off to clean. Or at least tidy up. Clean is a hard word!:)

A close up of my little dog eating. If you notice there is another little dog behind him. She didn't want her food on the floor for some reason.

This is Joisah eating his cereal like a dog this morning. You can tell he's my fourth child. Whatever works!:)

So sad!

I was reading my MOMYS list (Mother of Many Young Siblings) and someone posted a link to this. The only station I let my children watch is PBS. I know they have a liberal agenda, but most of their children's programming is pretty good in my opinion. I just like the fact that there are no commercials on PBS. I guess we will just have to limit TV time to videos only.

Tonight is Bible Study. The chapter was called "Worry is like a Rocking Chair." It keeps you busy, but you don't go anywhere.

Dennis Swanberg was funny last night. The audience was very old though. I think I was one of the youngest people there. It made it easy to get out before everyone else:) "Run, Jeannie, run! They can't keep up with us!" Old people crack me up because they just don't care anymore. They stood in the little narrow aisle ways and talked and talked while the rest of us wanted to get out of the auditorium. I finally blew past them and left Jeannie in the dust.

I haven't heard from my friend Chantell about her biopsy. I have left three messages for her, but she hasn't returned my phone call yet. When I hear any news I will update.

Blessings!

Please pray for my friend Chantell today. She is having an aspiration and biopsy done on a suspicious mass in her breast. It was caught during a routine mammogram and is 3 cm. You'd think with it being that large she could feel it, but she says she can't. I am hoping that it has to do with breastfeeding. She didn't fess up to the doctors that she ocassionally nurses her almost three year old child because she was embarrassed. So, I'm praying for it to be milk when they aspirate!:)

Tonight I am going to go see Dennis Swanberg. My wonderful husband allowed me to purchase two tickets and I am going to take Jeannie. My original plan was to take Chantell, but she is a single mom and a pharmacist, and just couldn't juggle the schedule.

I am premenstrual. I really do not like feeling this way. I get very hormonal and just want to be by myself (which is impossible!) I think if I could go live in a cave somewhere, I'd consider it.

Does anyone know why I can't change the background on this webpage? When I preview it, it shows up fine, but then when I republish the blog, it disappears. Anyone? All I know about html is what I have learned through online tutorials. Since this is a premade template from blogger, I am just learning by trial and error!

Oh, what do I make for supper this evening? It's choir day, so that will leave me feeling rushed this afternoon. I didn't take the roast out of the freezer for the crockpot. Oh, I know! Captain Crunch!:) Are you reading this Goose? It's cereal for supper. But you're used to that already.

Enough already. I need to go see if any of you have updated your blogs!:)

Weight Loss

You can check out my weight loss blog here!

It's cold outside! I am not looking forward to riding lessons today. We leave the house around 9:20 ish and her lesson starts at 10:00. I guess the littles and I will sit in the van the entire time. I better dress Cami up warmly though. She is going to freeze.

I went grocery shopping yesterday. I bought so much junk food. I guess because it was on sale and I had coupons for it. I can resist most of it, but poor Olaf has no self control. Do you know that my husband eats a piece of chocolate every morning before he eats anything else? He thinks I'm gross for eating pizza for breakfast, but the first thing in his mouth is chocolate. I am amazed at all the food and cleaning stuff and toiletries that we have in this house! I stockpile when something is really cheap, so we have nine tubes of toothpaste under our bathroom counter. We have just as many bottles of shampoo and conditioner. I have four or five huge containers of laundry detergent. It's so nice to spend less than I used to and get so much more.

I weigh in this evening. I have not stayed within points at all this week. I also did not exercise. I hope I didn't gain. I plan on fasting today. I just want to have the Lord help me with self control. What better way to practice self control than fast? God is faithful and He has really been the center of my weight loss effort. I want my eating habits to glorify Him. I do not want to be gluttoneous. The Lord's Table was a good Bible Study about that. I didn't get all the way through it, but it did give me a new perspective on food. It's a free online study if anyone wants to do it.

I just read a great post by Molly Go check it out!

Blessings!

17 years ago today...

a young boy (19) and a young girl (20) were married at Outpost Wedding Chapel, Hesperia, CA. A few friends from the Air Force were there in their jeans and T-shirts. No family attended. My roommate in the dorm was my maid of honor (where she is today I have no idea) and a friend from the shop I worked in gave me away (ditto on where he is today). Olaf's best man was a friend from base (again, no clue where he is today). It was a sunny day. High of about 70. After we got married (no blood work required) we went back to the dorm room and spent the first week of our marriage living in separate rooms! LOL! We couldn't move into our apartment until February 1st. We never had a honeymoon. I didn't wear a wedding gown. My wedding ring is humble and doesn't even fit me anymore. (I weighed 135 and I am 5'9") But, we were married before the Lord. Even though we were not believers, God had a greater plan. Ten months into our marriage, when both of us wanted nothing more than a divorce, God intervened. He saved both of us and gave us new lives. Now 17 years later, I cannot imagine my life without my husband. Just think...in a few more years I will have been married half of my life. We have grown up together. Now we are growing old together. Nothing is better than spending this lifetime with your best friend and knowing that you'll have eternity together as well.

We're going out...

Tonight Olaf is taking me out for our anniversary. Our anniversary is actually tomorrow, but we are going out for dinner tonight. We'll probably go to the Christian Bookstore and look around. Our friend Melissa is coming over with her 14 year old daughter to watch the children for us.

So far my horrible eating habits this week haven't caught up with me. They will though. I got on the scale this morning and was surprised to see I had not gained. I was afraid to get on it. We'll see what the WW scale says on Monday.

Off to clean. I don't want her coming over to this mess:) More later...

Oh my!

Check this out

Late night!

It's late. I just got home from the Homeschool Tea. My stomach is upset. I drank two cups of decaf with cream, ate a piece of cheesecake and 2 chocolate cookies. Blech. I feel like I'm going to barf. I ended up helping out and not really listening to the speaker. I was in charge of making the coffee. 150 women, ONE 12 cup coffee pot. What was the organizer of this event thinking?!?!?! She said that last year they didn't have a lot of coffee drinkers. Well buddy, this year the entire room wanted coffee. I was brewing pot after pot after pot. We finally caught up with the demands:)

I cleaned the clutter on the kitchen counter today! I decided to have a down day from the computer. It is a time waster for me. I need, absolutely need, to read all of your blogs when I'm on this thing. I can't help myself. It's addicting for me. I can totally relate to a heroin addict. So, I decided (well, God decided) that I needed a computer free day. Today was that day. It took me forever to clear that clutter due to the interruptions from my blessings, but it is done. My husband walked in the kitchen and said, "Oh girlfriend! You've been workin' today!" I also got the sheets washed and supper made. Camille did math, language arts and reading. She started parentheses problems today. Like 8+ (9 X 6) - 7 = I don't remember doing things like this in the third grade? Do you? She will be adding and subtracting fractions in the next few weeks. I KNOW I didn't do THAT in the third grade. Now if I could just get her to write legibly. LOL!

OK I really need to get to bed. It's late and I have make-up to take off.

I received this photo in an e-mail a long time ago. I have no idea who these children are, but isn't this hilarious?

Time to update

Today was choir and I just have to brag a minute on Camille. When she was leaving choir they were handing out suckers to the students as they exited. Camille asked if she could have a sucker for her little brother and sister and the girl told her no. So she politely said, "Then I won't get one either." How sweet is that? I am so proud of her. She was "thinking more highly of others than herself." I love to actually see the fruit of our labor! ;)

I have done absolutely nothing today. Well, it seems that way. I did do laundry and dishes, so I guess that is something. Josiah is really tired. On choir days he misses his nap.

Tomorrow night I am going to a Homeschool Tea where the guest speaker will be Cindy Rushton. Most of the ladies from our Bible Study are going. It should be a nice time out for us homeschooling moms! I hope to be refreshed in the Lord and renewed in my enthusiasm for training my children's hearts. It's from 6:30-9:00 pm. WooHoo! Three whole hours including drive time.

I read my chapter in "Calm My Anxious Heart." It was a good one. One quote from the book really hit home. "Quiet tension is not trust. It is simply compressed anxiety." I can look good on the outside, but be horribly anxious on the inside. No one can see it though. I look more spiritual that way. I highly recommend this book. Even if you don't have an "anxiety" problem. It's really a great Bible Study.

OK, husband is home. I need to go and give him some lovin'!

It's Early

Caleb just got on the bus and I was going to go back to bed. I decided to blog instead. I guess I want to get my "to do" list down somewhere. First of all, Camille needs to get school accomplished. I need to vacuum and clear clutter. I know I'll vacuum today, I doubt I'll clear any clutter. It's overwhelming clutter. The kind only a husband, with no emotional attachment to the clutter, can clear. So Olaf, for our anniversary, I want you to clear the clutter! (He did that for my birthday!) Maybe I can get him to do it on Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Canada Day:) I'm sure I can find a holiday every month.

It's really cold here. We went from the 70's last week to freezing our tushies off. I'm glad it's finally cold, because hey, it's January. It's supposed to be cold. But the huge change in temperature is what got me.

I downloaded AOL IM. If you want to add me to your buddy list my screen name is lebbaal. Leb is "heart" ba'al is "husband." (in Hebrew) It is translated in Prov 31 "heart of her husband." I didn't come up with that on my own. My best friend helped me.

OK, I need my coffee since I am not going back to bed. I need to pray. I won't have much time before everyone is up and running, but I need to none-the-less. Have a great day in the Lord.

I updated the weight loss blog

OK... go check it out here.

Holiday!

Olaf is home today thanks to Martin Luther King Day. He took all of the children this morning to Camille's riding lesson so I could stay home and pray. It was so nice praying uninterrupted for more than 5 minutes. Cheri has been reading a few books on prayer and posting some great things on her blog. I have been convicted through her reading:) I talk a lot about prayer, read a lot about prayer, know I should pray more, but don't spend nearly enough time actually praying.

We all just got back from the Baby Superstore. We bought a new booster seat for Grace. Josiah is getting Grace's old carseat. This was all prompted by the fact that Josiah cannot sleep in his current carseat very well. It is designed in such a way that his head cannot lay back. It hangs forward when he sleeps and is very uncomfortable. It was less expensive to buy Grace the new booster and give Josiah the old carseat. Grace is really excited about having a new booster seat. She's cute.

I weigh in tonight. Check back this evening to see how I did. I did not exercise once this week. My friend Becky has started a new way of eating started by Dr. McDougall. You can find some information here.

I need to run. Josiah is going crazy behind me. Check back this evening!