4 more days...

I am so ready for Christmas....have I said that already? I am not sure why, but I am getting hyper even earlier this year. I was bouncing off the walls this morning, so Dwayne sent me into town. Now that I am back home, I will finish up a little cleaning and then move on to baking. With a house full of people coming on Sunday, and an upcoming week of traveling, I will need lots of food around. So...oven...watch out...here I come...

5 days to go....and a cold passed on...

I am getting so excited about Christmas. I am ready to enjoy Christmas morning with my family. I am not sure if I have ever wrote about my excitement once Christmas is upon us. I can't sleep at all Christmas Eve night. I am worse than most kids. I have the coffee machine programed to start making coffee around 6am, because that is the only way Dwayne will let me get up so early. When I have waited as long as possible, Dwayne will finally let me go around and wake up all our children. I have always woke up our kids. I even got my babies out of bed when when it was their first Christmas. On a few occasions the kids have already been awake when I go in to let them know they can come out to open gifts, but rarely. I am usually exhausted by the end of day, but it is all worth it. I am very excited about the kids gifts this year. I am not sure who is counting the days down more...me or the kiddos...lol.

I feel so sorry for my poor hubby. He has now officially caught my cold. The poor guy is constantly wiping his nose. I am trying to be extra nice to him, since it is still fresh in my mind how miserable I was. I did finally tell him that I bet I was not nearly as sick as I acted like I was, I really knew I was acting like a baby. He is actually handling the cold TONS better than I did.

6 more days...are you ready?

Is Christmas shopping ever really done? It seemed like every time Dwayne and I would decide to go and do all of our Christmas shopping, something would happen and it just would not get finished. But I do believe we are almost done. Today, I will be running into town to pick up the last few items and we are done! Then all I will have to focus on is Christmas cooking, but that is the really fun part. Oh...and I still need to wrap all the gifts....whew, that will take a long time.

In the end, I am just really looking forward to the time we will have with family and friends. Now that the formalities of presents are done and pretty much ready, I can really look forward to just being with our families and friends. That is really the best part about Christmas. Honestly, I am really lucky, I only had a few days of stressing over if I would get my stuff bought in time or not. Most of the time I was not really worried about it. I am just glad that we are down to the fun part....just being home and enjoying all that God has given us!

Merry Christmas!!!

Snow Day!

This is what I left on Saturday night when I headed in to volunteer for Saturday Night Service. My hubby went out to look at the kiddo's snowmen and then he stayed to have a little fun. They even had a little fun throwing snowballs at my van as I pulled out of the driveway. I must say it is really too bad that church was canceled on Sunday(although I know it was best for everyone)because the message was really good, Tonya did a great job singing during offering and the new soundboard is going to be wonderful once we get all the kinks worked out.

Colds are horrible!!!

I don't get sick very often, not sure why...I am not the healthiest person, I don't eat really healthy foods, I don't exercise, I don't take vitamins (Dwayne does all that), but even still...I don't get sick that often. Until this week. I have come down with a nasty cold and I have been acting like a big baby (You can just ask Dwayne, he will definitely agree). I have really gotten through the worst of it, now I am just down to the stuffy nose. I never knew so much snot could come out of your nose AND there would still be enough left behind to drive you crazy. I am really hoping to finish this up soon, but I guess I better go buy stock in Puffs tissues....

OH...and you all might want to stay far away from me...I would not wish this cold on anyone!

Friends and Fun!

The Pfohls came over on Monday just to hang out with us. Jeff and I beat Mindy and Dwayne at euchre while the kids had fun playing. Joey discovered that my pans were great fun to play with and Sari was his personal photographer. With the kid's room being all clean it was more fun to play in them. It is just nice to enjoy an evening with friends!

Rooms are done!!!

We have gotten everything moved into all the rooms now. We have kept the rooms clean, for now, which is amazing. And we have even decorated our Christmas tree, finally.

Dora and Tobi's room all finished.

Sari's room all finished. Her room took some muscles to get all her stuff brought in. Brighton and I were very tired.

And last, but not least, Dwayne and I's room all done. For the most part I have kept my side of the room clean, well...at least clean for me...lol.

Dwayne still needs to work on his office area. His next big project is a new desk for himself.

On the phone...

So... in case you wondered, this is what Dwayne looks like on the phone. Kind of reminds me of my inbound telemarketing days... Only I looked way more professional.

Done...with one room....

Check it out...the girl's room is done...for now. I do have about 2 more items that need to go into the room, but for the most part they are all moved in and they are loving it. I am taking a break during the day today to scrapbook for awhile, but I will be working on Sari's room more tonight. She has a lot of things that we have to move in from the garage. It has been really nice to get all the rooms redone like this. I really love walking into my new bedroom. I told Dwayne it is like having a whole new wing on the house. The really nice thing is my laundry room, for once I will not freeze this winter trying to do the laundry.

Here is what I have to work on tonight...















See...still lots to do, but this is the last room to be done before Christmas. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

A work still in progress...

Ok, I have gotten started on the girl's room. I moved a few things in yesterday and I should be able to finish it today. Here is what the new room is looking like, then below is what the old room is looking like...

So...as you can plainly see...I have my work cut out for me today!!!!

Christmas Walk

We had a good time out at the Christmas walk last night. Everyone was bundled up, not that it was really that cold. I think my kids were all very hyper last night despite the fact that they had to hang out with their parents. It helps having friends that have to hang out with their parents as well...and then when both sets of parents get together...that makes the night even more fun!!! I must say, when the Clouses and the Lotts all get together,
we are one big group walking around...lol.

A work in progress....

Oh my goodness! I really should clean more often. This is after working on and off all day on my old room... there is still this huge mess! Now granted, I was doing laundry and watching an 10 month old and two 4 year olds, but still....you think I could have gotten more done. Ok...seriously, I will have to get it done today or my kids will start making fun of me...like they really need any new reasons to tease me...lol.

Oh...Christmas tree....

We found our perfect tree! It is a little shorter than usual. About the same height as the kids and I, but it is a really pretty tree. Of course, after we picked out the tree and the kids knew we were going to get it, they started calling it a Hanukkah bush. I kept telling them it was a Christmas tree...then it just turned into a game to see who could bug mommy...lol. It is finally in our living room, we have not had time to decorate it yet.

Another great thing about this weekend is that Dwayne and I moved into our new bedroom. Now Dwayne has moved all of his stuff, but since I am such a pack rat, I only have....ummmm...maybe about 1/4 of my stuff in there. I will be finishing that up today and then...hopefully, I will start on moving all the little girl's stuff into their new room. Although, that might take some time too, because my girl's follow in their mommy's footsteps and they are pack rats too.

My new camera...for my birthday.

Check out my new camera. Now the funny thing is I used my old camera to take a picture of my new one. I am very excited to have this new camera. I will now have 12x optical zoom. Also, it has 8.1 mega pixels, but I really wanted the zoom. Of course, it is a Kodak camera. I really love the options on these cameras and the easiness of use. Also, it is really cool that I can take videos that have sound. All the cameras in our house are Kodak, which make all the downloading and picture storing really easy.

I also got some new shirts and a much wanted 8 cup glass measuring cup. My mom gave me her old and well seasoned iron skillet that I had been asking for yesterday and a new iron cornbread pan, so that was really cool. I love cast iron dishes. Dwayne always makes fun me because I get excited when I look at the new cast iron dishes at different stores, but come on....they are sooooo cool!

I was just pointing out to Dwayne this morning, that I was 18 when my mom turned 35. It really doesn't seem that long ago. Maybe some day, one of my daughters will remember being 14 when her mom turned 35. The really good thing is...I don't feel even a bit old yet...notice I said yet...lol.

The day before Thanksgiving...

I am really looking forward to this day. I am watching Claudia, who is the same age as Tobi and I have babysat her since she was 6 weeks old, so she and Tobi get along really well and they will spend the day playing, not asking tons of questions. So, all this to say...I am going to start baking today. I will start on my rolls first thing this morning. I am making tons for Dwayne's family tomorrow and then we are having dinner with friends on Friday night, so I will be making enough for that night as well. Then, I will move onto pie crusts, cookies and whatever else I think of. I just love this time of year.

Of course, this also means I will have to start in on my Christmas projects as well. I some ideas in my mind that I will want to get done before Christmas (I can't say what they are because little eyes might look here), but I will be very busy up to Christmas again this year. I must say though, my attitude towards Christmas is changing, I really like the idea of a slower, enjoyable season and not the hurried, let me buy you everything you ever wanted season. I know there are things my kids want, but really their lists have been really quite small this year, well, except for Tobi, who wants everything pink and princess like as possible.

I will say, I really love Thanksgiving. It is a fantastic day just to get together with family, enjoy some good food, and enjoy chatting with each other. All in all, it is my favorite holiday.

Happy "the day before" Thanksgiving!

A wonderfully busy weekend!

It was a wonderfully busy weekend. Friday night, Dwayne and I went out to Vera Mae's in Muncie with Matt and Patty Clouse. That is a very NICE place to eat, but we needed to get home at a decent time, because I had to be up bright and early on Saturday morning to work for Angel Food. Even though I have to wake up at 5:30am to make it down to the church by 6:00am to count food, I would not miss a Saturday! I love being there, I love talking with people and just basically helping out where needed. I think everyone should be ordering Angel Food. It is only $25 for tons of food and the church's pantry gets a free order after so many are ordered...SO, not only are you doing something nice for yourself, you are helping others. December has my kids absolutely favorite special, 10lbs of chicken tenders for only $16.00. I also wake up Brighton and Dora to go and work with me, they love helping out and you can tell that people are really getting use to seeing them there. Dora wears her roller skate barbie shoes and everyone just waits to see if she is going to fall down or not. She is getting much better at wearing them.

Dwayne came by and picked up Dora to take her and Tobi into Muncie to hang out with their grandma, so Brighton and I headed home. Brighton, Sari and I then did a quick clean up of the living room and kitchen and then just chilled until Dwayne got back home. Right now my kids are very much into the Full House tv shows, thanks to Kim Cunningham, who keeps them well stocked. Dwayne got home and we all started working on Dwayne and I's new bedroom. I got up into the attic area and helped lay insulation. That was hard work, but still really fun, then we moved on to drywall. The room is really starting to take shape. Sari is very anxious to help as much as she can, because the sooner this room gets done the sooner she can move two little sisters out of her room.

After helping Dwayne out in the room, I cleaned up and headed over to church to work A/V for Saturday night church. I love Saturday night church. It is really my refreshing time. Everyone seems so much more laid back and the music is just awesome. Bruce picks out the very best songs and I just love listening to the worship team. PK does a great job on the sermon, it is just a wonderful night. If you have not tried Saturday night church yet...you should!

Sunday brought more work on the new room, but my wonderful hubby took the whole family out for a wonderful lunch, a little grocery shopping (for Thanksgiving...yea!) and then back home. Then Sari and I were off to youth group. Youth group is always great, but this night we headed off to do a little surprise serving. The kids had a great time and I enjoyed listening to all the chatter going on in my van as I drove around. Then it was back home, putting kiddos to bed and then....my favorite, watching a movie with my hubby before bed.

I thank God for such wonderfully busy weekends. I feel so blessed to have a wonderful family to spend time with and to work with, blessed to have wonderful friends to hang out with, and blessed to have a wonderful church to belong to, be part of, and to volunteer in. WONDERFUL!

And yes...I do know I used wonderful way too many times...lol.

2 verses down...16 to go.

Dora and I sat down and began our memorizing Monday night. We memorized the first two verses of John 1. We started working on the next 5 verses, but we got distracted by some other passages. Dora recognized some other passages she wanted to read such as the feeding of the 5000 and Jesus turning water into wine. We took turns reading to each other until it was bed time. And then last night, Dora asked to borrow my bible, she can't find hers, to read for just a little bit. It is so nice to see her taking the time without be told or asked to read on her own. It looks like I could learn from her...lol.

A New Challenge!

At youth last night, Pastor James issued a new challenge to all the teens. Can you read and memorize John 1:1-18 by Christmas? I mean come on, just 18 verses by Christmas? I have many '80s songs memorized, I have the lines to many movies memorized...including the Holy Grail, so surely I can memorize 18 verses from the word of God. I am planning to take that challenge and I really hope I can do it. I am a little ashamed to say I never seem to take the time to memorize scripture. I have always wanted to, but just never made the effort. It will be interesting to see if the kids out do me on this. Wish me luck on this...and have you ever memorized any scripture?

HOME!!!

I am home, it is so good to be home. Dora knocked me over hugging me, all my kids seemed excited to see, that is always good. Everyone should feel really sorry for James and Tonya, because they brought me home from Indy and I was extremely chatty...I know that is really hard for everyone to believe, but I think I really talked their ears off. And if anyone knows me...they know I can talk...lol.

I was feeling really good this morning when I woke up my kids. Sari told me that she was so glad that I was home, then she followed that by...because I am all out of clean jeans. Talk about being brought back down to earth. That is ok, I love taking care of my family...even if it is doing the laundry.

I met some new people on this trip, which was very fun. First off, we rode to the conference with some old friends of James, including his youth pastor. I enjoyed meeting all of them and a few others that were riding along as well. I enjoyed many good discussions, although I am a little disappointed that I did get any good info that I could tease James about later...maybe next year if we hang out with them again. On Saturday night the youth director at IYM took all of us from his area out to dinner. When we were waiting to go in, a young lady came over and said her dinner plans got canceled and wondered if she could possibly join us. I wish I had that kind of forwardness. We said yes and so I spent the whole dinner chatting with her. After that, I ran into her many more times through out the conference and just before we left I gave her my email, so we can keep in touch.

I think I will be spending the next few days just trying to get all caught up on my housework and laundry. Welcome home to me...

A Good Time!

Ok, tonight is my last night at my conference. It has been a wonderful time, but I am ready to head home. I have enjoyed many seminars and general sessions. I am learning so many cool things. I got to walk around the exhibit hall with James and we were able to discuss some interesting ideas as we looked at booths. It means so much to me to come here and learn new things and to be encouraged as a parent that we can really make a difference in our kids lives. I have taken the time every night to enjoy the late night options, which included a night of illusion, comedy and tonight skits.

Everything has been great, but it so wierd staying in a hotel room all by myself. I really never do much all alone and I have never stayed in a hotel room all alone. I am tired though, I stay up very late and I naturally wake up early in the morning. I am really starting to see how hard it is on my husband when he goes away on business trips. I have been enivious of him, thinking he was so lucky to have all that alone time in his room at night, but it is not as much fun as I thought. Of course, Dwayne is learning what it is like to be home with kids and no spouse. It can be a little lonely as well. It is really good to see how the other side lives sometimes. I get to go home tomorrow and I will be ready!

A cool new day!

It is a wonderful looking new day. It is the first official day of my conference. I am downstairs in the lobby of the hotel...the only nerdy girl in the lobby on her laptop...and I am waiting for my lazy leader to get up and get going. I guess I am a little early, our first seminar doesn't start until 10am and it is only 8:30am, but I am excited. I actually woke up around 5:30am this morning already thinking about what my seminars will be like this morning. So after saying good bye to my hubby, who I got to see after being away from him for about 4 days, I set up to check out the web to keep me busy. I then thought that I should probably check in with my fearless leader and see what the plan was for the day, so I called him up...yeah...woke him up is more like it. I hate waking people up, it seems like no matter when I call, I always call at the bad times. Oh well...he should be down here in about an hour, so it gives me time to type up a quick post and then go get an awesome Starbucks coffee...there is a Starbucks right here in the hotel...I will be so spoiled by Monday.

Tomorrow I leave for 5 days to a youth conference. I will not be taking any kids or my husband with me, although I will get to see my husband at least Thursday night, but he has already been gone for 3 days and I really want to see him. The main point though is...I have never left my family totally on my own since I got married. I have pretty much always had someone with me. I have gone to cub scout camp with my son, even though he pretended I wasn't there, we still went together. Sari is at all the youth activities I attend. It just feels really weird to be able to go and not worry about what someone else in my family needs...I just get to go learn and enjoy myself. Now, of course, I am fretting tons before I leave that my house is not in order, or that I have not done everything I could to make the weekend go as smoothly as possible for my kiddos and hubby. Dwayne keeps telling me that he is perfectly able to take care of the kids and himself...I do have my doubts, but for the most part, I am sure they will be fine...Right? No, seriously they will be fine...they will be fine.

One thing I do enjoy about going away is coming home. Anytime I leave Dwayne home with some of the kiddos he seems to have a greater appreciation for me when I get home. I think for at least 4 days or so, I can do no wrong. I love it. It is always a good feeling to come home to.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

A whole inch!

Ok...after trying on 3 different pairs of tights on my youngest kiddo, with the first 2 being way too small, I thought that maybe, just maybe...my youngest is growing. I mean the first 2 pairs of tights I think she just wore like...maybe last week, but now they only come to her knees? So, I make her go stand in the same spot that all of my kids have stood next to, right against a very old measuring chart. This poor chart is over 9 years old, in fact, I have even had to add paper to the top, because my older to kiddos have outgrown it. I must say it is one piece of paper I will always treasure. I love seeing how they grow. I like to see the different growing patterns. So, anyways, my younger kiddo has grown over an inch since July...since July...oh my she is growing so fast. She is so going to pass up her big sis Dora. Right now, Tobi is the at the same height Dora was at 6. Dora is my girl...she will be about my height and my build, poor girl. I am just resigned to the fact that all the rest of my kiddos will pass me up and look down on me some day. So goes life when you marry into a tall family and I wouldn't change a thing.

Day 5

As many of you know, my husband has quit his job at Ontario Systems and is now working for a company based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Now since we did not want to move and this company really wanted Dwayne to work for them, they have allowed him to work from home. We are on our official day 5 and it is going well. We are still in the middle of remodeling (and by we, I mean Dwayne, my part in the remodeling processes does not come until almost everything is done) so this all means that Dwayne is working in a partially completed room. Things will be much better once the drywall goes up, that will help block the sound a little more. Plus, I will not feel like I am bugging him when I go do laundry. It has been really nice having him home. I have been taking his coffee out to him, except for this morning because I slept in, and I like being able to check in on him. I know he has been kind of checking in on me...just to see what I do all day...so far, I am keeping busy, but I know soon he will catch me on one of my lazy days. But all in all...it is going well and I am looking forward to this new phase of our life!



Dwayne on his first day of work.

Hard to recover...

Now that I am done with all that I have been working on for over a month, I have been taking some time to recover. The only bad thing about this recovery time is that now I have to get back into the working mode. I always have to do a down mode after a period of hard work, but it is always difficult to start back to work again. One thing that helps is doing something small that makes life seem a little cleaner to me. Even if it is just the dishes and straightening up the kitchen. Usually it involves the laundry, and then the more I accomplish these small projects I am ready to head back into full domestic mom/wife mode. It will be interesting to see how my hubby will react to my methods when he is home all the time. Which, by the way, is next week. Today my way of getting back into my domestic mode was by baking. As the weather cools down...I head into my baking season, for which, my children are very happy about. Well...I guess I will finish another task before my kiddos come home and start on the dishes...

Cool video...

Ok...this is just me bragging. My hubby does a great job on videos. He made this over a year ago for a youth lesson. I just found it again and thought it would be cool to show off...

An Awesome (hot) Weekend!

We spent the weekend at Mississinewa 1812. Dwayne left Thursday evening, the kids and I left Friday around noon. We stayed until Sunday. That is way too many days without a shower, but it was so much fun we did not care. We had to keep anything modern looking covered up. Dwayne kept saying it was camping with a purpose and we Lotts love to camp. It was kind of weird being on display during the day. We had people taking pictures of us in camp, we were watched as we ate our meals and when we were just hanging out. We enjoyed going out shopping at the merchants that were set up. We were fed wonderful lunches everyday by kind women who cooked for all of us who participated.

I think that Brighton and Dora spent most of the time without shoes. Tobi just tried to stay clean the best she could, which was really hard. We meant lots of new people in our camp. There was another family there, Dave, Tammy and their son Cody. Cody is 2 1/2 and he loved hanging out with our girls. He was so much fun to play with. The best thing was that the kids had so much freedom. There were enough adults around to help keep an eye on them and they just had a great time running around. Between the 3 families we shared cooking and cleaning duties. That worked out great. Dwayne and I had to borrow stuff from the Clouse's a lot, because while we had the clothing we did not have much else, so Dwayne will be getting very busy over the next year making us some more furniture and stuff to use. I am even checking out new designs in clothing and even though I am wore out from all the sewing I have done in the last month, I am excited about starting some new outfits. I think we might look into more events to do over the year. Everyone that we camped with was so nice. We had a guy who was dressed as an indian give us cool chairs to keep, because he does not use them anymore. Patty and Matt have been doing this for lots of years and they introduced us to many new people, it was great. After this wonderful weekend we can't wait to do it again!

Dora, Tobi and Cody dancing with excitement because we are finally in camp.












Dora out by the river.



















Brighton barefoot.



















Dave and Matt getting ready for the Pirate battle.
















Cody and Tobi having a tea party.



















Night time cannon fire.
















Brighton and Jeremiah's camp.



















Matt and Patty's camp.
















Just hanging out at camp.










Our tent.

















Musicians play at night around the campfire.









Dwayne in his cool garb.



















Dwayne and Tobi.










Dwayne and Tammy make "modern" peanut butter sandwiches.


















Dora, Tobi and Cody take a few moments of rest.

So mean....

I hope those who TP'd my house feel good about themselves.
My poor little 4 year old had to help me clean it up.

Quite the mess, isn't it? I hear I am not the only one sporting this new fashion for my trees, the Pinkertons were hit as well, from what I read. It was not exactly what I wanted to come home to after being gone all weekend. We only have the front yard cleaned up so far. I had lots of unpacking to do from the weekend. I will wait until my other kiddos all come home to help me get the rest of it cleaned up. I will need Dora, my little monkey, to get the toliet paper way up in the tree. Talk about a nice welcome home...

Almost Done!

Dwayne leaves tonight to get our tent all put together, the kids and I leave tomorrow for Mississinewa 1812. We are all so excited. My fingers are so sore from all the sewing I have been doing and I am looking forward to a break. But I must say, I really love sewing all this stuff. It has been really neat to see a bunch of fabric being transfered into something new. (Must be what God thinks seeing us all transformed with Him.) I must say the one thing I look forward to is seeing my living room again. My living room has been buried under material for the past month. Here is just a peek into what my family has put up with....

The floor has been covered in material. The table has been covered in material, along with my sewing machine.



After I get all this finally put away, you would think I could just live easy, but no...Dwayne has started on transforming our attached garage into our new bedroom and I will be helping out there. That is another very exciting project that I am looking forward to working on!

Just some thoughts today...

You have to love a book with the title..."Going all the Way"? I know I can't wait to read it. The cool thing is I will get a free copy for just blogging about it. It looks like all you have to do is blog about it and you get a free copy. Just go to this blog to learn more.

My sewing is coming along nicely. Have you ever noticed the more you read something the more sense it starts to make. In an earlier post I compared the bible to trying to understand pattern instructions. Well, I have put together 2 dresses and the pattern almost made sense. Of course, keep in mind I have reread the instructions many times.

Now, this causes me to think of passages in the bible that I have read and reread many times. I must say for some odd reason, the passages about Samson are some of my favorite. I cannot tell you how many times I have read through these passages, Judges 13-16, but each time I pick a little more wisdom out of it. I even did a short lesson for a Christian school chapel time once. My favorite piece of wisdom comes from Delilah trying to find out the source of Samson's strength. She keeps asking, she keeps nagging, and she keeps wearing him down until he finally tells. Now, my first thought was, "How stupid can this guy be...every time he tells her something it happens to him?" (Judges 16:6-21) But isn't this exactly what Satan will do to us? He puts the thought into our head, and if we do resist the first time, he will keep doing it...keep asking, keep nagging and keep wearing us down until we give in. But even if we do give in, which will happen if we try to fight him on our own, we can still be redeemed by God, just like Samson. (Judges 16:22-31) Samson calls out to God and ends up killing more Philistines in his death than during his life. It always is a good reminder to me that there is nothing that can separate me from God's love once I accept Him.

Wait is almost over...

I feel like a love sick teenager as I wait very anxiously for my hubby to come home. First it was, "I will be home late Saturday afternoon." Then it was, "I will be home Tuesday afternoon." Now it is, "I will be home at like 2:00am Wednesday morning." At least this last one must be true because he just called me from the Denver airport, so unless weather delays them, he is finally on his way home. Normally, his business trips don't faze me much, but he has been really worked hard on this trip and sometimes he can't even call me at night. Then, even when he does, he is so tired he can't talk long. It has been hard not being able to at least talk to him.

Sometimes I think it makes me look like less of a woman, mom or wife, if it looks like I miss him too much, like I just can't do it on my own. It's not that I can't do it on my own, it is that I don't want to do it on my own. Just like living my life with God in it. I have seen lives that only kind of depend on God, don't depend on Him at all, or depend on Him only every great once in awhile. I don't want that kind of life. I know that I do want to depend on Him, even when I am not totally sure how to do it, I just know I want to. And then, not only do I want to learn more about how to depend on God, I want my kids to learn it as well. I have always found it interesting that the closer you get to your spouse, the more you seem to understand God's love and the closer you get to God, the more you seem to love your spouse.

Ok, it is getting late and I feel like I am just rambling. I will try and make better sense another night. I think I am going to go and wait my 5 hours until my hubby will be home.

long weekend...or short weekend?

Oh one hand, this felt like a long weekend, but then on the other hand it went by so fast. Brighton spent Friday and Saturday at a friend's house, he even got to camp out Saturday night by a campfire, a good boy-like activity. Sari had friends over both Friday and Saturday night and they got to spend Saturday shopping. Dora and Tobi spent Saturday and Saturday night with Grandma Nancy. And me...I spent Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night at church. By the end of Sunday night...I was just plain tired. You know...the kind of tired where you know that when you finally lay down in bed it will feel so good! That is how it was for me. And on top of all this...my hubby is still out in the boonies of Nebraska. Now, I am very lucky, my kids do really well when their dad is out of town. They are very helpful around the house, the do as they are told, all in all, very good. But I am really missing my hubby all the same.

In the end, it really doesn't matter if it was a long weekend or a short weekend....today is Monday and it is time to start another busy week. As I look at how busy next weekend is for me again....I am kind of hoping for a long week...hahahaha.

Ummm...burned out...maybe not?

Ok, this has been an interesting week. My friend came over on Wednesday and told me he was burned out on re-enacting. Well, as it turned out, he was not totally burned out...just really tired of the drama. After he talked with another guy that he re-enacts with, they have decided to try some new ideas to lessen the drama. So.....we are back on for a fun filled weekend at Mississinewa 1812! Yea!!! Of course, this means I really do have to start sewing again. But I am very excited.

Totally different note...my hubby is way out in the boonies of Nebraska. What started out as a quick 3 day trip, will now stretch out to a long 6 day trip. Now, Dwayne's business trips don't really bother me much, but I am really missing him this week. I am sure he will wow the client with his awesome skills....he has some cool skills. The company brings in Dwayne when they need some fires put out. Normally, he would have lots of fun with this. He likes being able to go in and fix problems, but he was not ready for this trip and he has so much stuff here at home he wants to do.

Lastly, our church had the building to bless leadership meeting tonight. I turned in Dwayne and I's pledge card. It made me a little nervous, like I was writing the numbers wrong or something. Not only did I turn in Dwayne and I's pledge card, but I also turned in one for Sari and one for Brighton. I am proud of them for stepping up and doing their first building campaign. This is a great faith step for my kids. I can't wait to see how God blesses the church and the surrounding community.

Burned Out...

Have you ever done something until you just could not do it any more? You had so much responsibility in doing it that you just felt drained, or so much drama in it that you felt so drained you just could not bring yourself to do it any more?

I remember watching my husband struggle with this years ago when he was into paintball. We would go out to his parent's house and run paintball games almost every other weekend or more. Then there were the times we had to work on the field, work on the guns we loaned out and pick up more supplies. Dwayne worked hard to make sure there were guns for people to borrow, all they had to do was pay for their air and buy their own paintballs, but something would happen and the gun might mess up. So, Dwayne would spend most of the day fixing his loaned out guns, or other people's guns. He rarely got to play. And then there was the drama. People would expect him to reserve a gun for them and then not show up. Or they would feel that he ruined their day because the gun messed up. It ended up being so stressful on him. I was on the field a lot running games, making sure they started and ended at the right time, watching to make sure everyone played fairly, which meant I was not much help off field. There were times that new people would come in and promise to help or they would show such excitement for the game that Dwayne hoped he would feel the same way, but it finally came to a point where he was done. He was burned out...the fire was gone. I was kind of sad to see it end. I enjoyed the social aspect, but I did not have to work as hard as he did. We sold off all the equipment and ended our days in the paintball world. Every once in awhile he has twinges of wanting back in, but not enough to actually do it.

Well, I have just seen a friend hit this point. In a previous post, I shared about our day of re-enacting with friends. Well, my friend tried to renew his excitement for re-enacting with us coming in, but it was just not there. So, we will not be doing the 1812 Mississinewa weekend as previously planned. It was a disappointment, but honestly I felt worse for my friend, he felt so bad for all we had done to prepare for the re-enacting. After watching my husband struggle with this burned out feeling, I don't ever want to place guilt on someone else for feeling this way. The friendship means more to us than that, so we will just be finding new ways to hang out with them.

Being burned out on something can happen in so many areas. I know it happens so often in the church. We get use to seeing the same people serving in the same areas in the church and we just think that they enjoy it so much that they would never want our help, so we never even ask. But, they may be on the verge of burn out. It seems like there is so much guilt that comes with being on the verge of being burned out, like you are letting others down by not wanting to continue on in whatever area it is you are involved in. And normally you got into this area because you had a great desire to do it, but when you start feel burned out, it hurts because it also means you no longer enjoy something that at one time brought you so much joy. I often wonder if becoming burned out on something is God's way of pushing us into a time of rest and if that after we take some time to rest that we will either be able to enter back into this area or we will find a new area to give our time to. It is just a hard path to walk through...no matter what it is that you are involved in.

Day 33

Way back on Feb.12th I decided to try and read the bible in 90 days. Well, I was not very good about sticking to the 90 days, but I have continued to read through at my own pace, marking off the days as I past them. I am over 1/3 of the way there. Maybe by Feb. of next year I will get it done? Anyways, I found it interesting as Dwayne and I have been talking about the building to bless campaign that I read these verses in 2 Chronicles31:9-10 "Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the heaps; and Azariah the chief priest, from the family of Zadok, answered, 'Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of the LORD, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the LORD has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.'" It just amazes me that when we follow God and do as he says how we can be blessed.

I have been highly encouraging a young guy that Dwayne and I mentor to tithe. His money is really low, his roommates are moving out and he is barely making it. He called and was telling me how hard it was looking for him right now. I felt bad. I felt bad for telling him he had to tithe, but God won't let me tell him anything else. I know it is hard to get started on giving, but I also know if we don't give we are only hurting ourselves, not the church, not God, only ourselves. As I read through the bible, I continue to find verse after verse of when God's people follow His ways, give to Him, then they are blessed. All I can do is pray that my friend makes it through this rough time. I know God will have glory through his story when this is all done and through many people in our church as well.

On a totally different note, my 2 days of rest are up. Back to sewing for me today. I am a little excited, but also still tired. I really don't want to be sewing at the last minute again, so wish me luck as I get started. :)

A Wonerful Day!

Well, all the hard work finally paid off. I finished Dwayne's pants about 1am Sunday morning and worked on button holes on the way, but everyone had outfits to wear for our first reenactment. We went for just the day and had wonderful time. Now we can't wait until we go to Mississinewa 1812 (http://www.mississinewa1812.com/), we will do that for the whole weekend. I need to start on some warmer things for that, but after looking at all the cool clothing yesterday, I am excited to start on them. I may take a day or two before I start right into the sewing. The one funny thing about all this is that I wanted to get there in time to see the fashion show that they had going on. Well, we got there just in time and as we were hurrying down to find a seat all of us girls got called down to show off our clothing in the fashion show. I guess I must have done a good enough job. Very cool! We went with our friends the Clouses. They have been doing reenacting for a long time and are being very helpful in getting us all ready. They are even going to be letting us stay with them the weekend of Mississinewa. Just so you know, we are dressed to portray pirates of the time. Here are some more pictures of the family.

Patty C., Sara C., Sari, Matt C., Emily C. Brighton & Dora


Sari, Sara C. & Dora.
Dora


















Dwayne & Tobi


Dwayne & Cari


Brighton & Jeremiah C.


On the way home we stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel in all of our cool clothing. We got a few looks. Then it was on to home, showers and off to bed. I was so ready to go to bed without doing any sewing first. I think we are all planning on looking into more events to go to as well in the next few years. It is so nice doing this with another family. It makes the whole trip better for the kids to have friends to hang out with. Sari and Sara C. will be missing Mississinewa, because they will be off to Washington, D.C. with their class. We will really miss them.