introspection continued

You have the most amazing epiphanies at three in the morning while you are covered in vomit whilst attempting to calm down a very sick two year old.
This is what I was meant to do. This is the task I am doing for the Kingdom of God. There is no one else who can soothe the children that the Lord has given me in the way I can. Who else would be willing to cherish and tenderly care for TWO sick children, who like to take turns interrupting mommy's sleep with pitiful cries and lots of messes. Who else would strip their bed clothing, wash and change them and rock them back to sleep? It is the small things that add up to powerful memories.
My challenge is to do all with a cheerful heart. I didn't succeed too well, especially during nap time when I tried to catch a few winks to catch up....and got disturbed and woken up 5 times in 1 hour. This is my cross to bear, it is also one of the greatest rewards.
The boys are both feeling much better. The first night was the worst...I had no idea so much could come out of such little bodies...from both ends no less. The second night I prepped ahead, both boys beds were double-made with waterproof layers in between, I had spare jammies, diapers and towels laid out in the bathroom, and the washer filled up with sudsy water just waiting to go (it is loud on the filling and I didn't want to disturb anyone). It came in handy, but luckily we only had one up with tummy troubles that night.
I am quite contented, now that the worst is over. This is my Mission field. My Calling. Now if I can just keep eternity's values in view and not get all caught up in the grouchies.

introspection

There was a time in my life when I was desperate to do something of great significance for the Kingdom of God. I longed to make an eternal impact, to leave a mark, so to speak. As I pondered my future I had opposing thoughts. The first was how can I serve the lord if I do not have a Husband? The second, how can I serve Him if I do? The apostle Paul lets young ladies know, that before they are married they are single-hearted in their devotion to God. (1 Corinthians 7:34 (New International Version) An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband.) A married woman lives divided, attempting to please her husband and her Lord.
I can say this is absolutely true! The single years I had after I recommitted my life to God, and before I met my husband, were a time of rapid spiritual growth. I experienced a freedom to go wherever I was needed and served Him at various Youth camps.

After Garrett and I married, I found that my spiritual growth changed. For a time, I felt it had stopped, but hindsight puts it in a clearer light. Marriage has been a crucible for me. I don't like introspection, in fact, I can be quite fearful of it. However, when I was young I prayed that the Lord bring any circumstance into my life to mold me into the woman He wants me to be. Tough prayer. Lately I have been confronted with some very uncomfortable facts about myself. I have learned that, indeed, I am not perfect. sometimes, I am not even "not too bad" the Lord has revealed to me many aspects of my character that are not good. I am attempting to remedy them now. I am sure that life will bring them to the forefront time and time again. I am learning to welcome adversity. with every new trial, i am strengthened, and refined a bit more. Eventually I hope to be a woman of great faith, who is able to tackle any problem with a peaceful spirit. so, today I say, Bring it on Lord!

Almost done...

Ha! nearly "done" with my Living room project! I decided to wait on the floral arrangements and will be taking picutures as soon as my DH gets the camping gear out of here!

Pillow covers

I finally did it! I am down to the last few items on my to do list for the living room. Just the other day I woke up at 5 am, and, after stumbling about in a muddled cloud while attempting to fix a cup of coffee I realized how quiet it was in the house. It was just perfect to do some sewing. All of my previous attempts to do so while the boys are awake simply ended int frustration and tears--from all of us! So the entire project took roughly and hour and fifteen minutes, and that includes the time to rummage about and find my materials and set up. I did not clean up. In fact, I still have not. I probably should as J. is fascinated with the sewing machine and will not stay away. So here are the pictures. I don't have a pattern, in fact I don't even measure half the time. I just kind of eyeball it. so far it has worked for me. I also did a set of matching curtain tie-backs but didn't take pictures of the process.

Here is the before shot. As you can see, the pillow is fraying and does not actually match the couch. When we bought it at the thrift store it appeared to be a lovely tan with green undertones. When we got it home it had changed into this red-brown color that doesn't quite go.

Here I am, hard at work on the kitchen floor in my pj's and robe, as you can see the kids have been playing here and I still have not cleaned up--just so you know I am NOT perfect! (note: I just realized that this pic is actually of me working on the tiebacks, but I don't know how to re-arrange things so I will just pretend it goes here)

This is how I cut the cloth: I folded it over into thirds, laid the pillow on top, and cut the edges so they fit around. Note the perfect straight lines ;)

This is just to show that it will, indeed fit. I am creating a pillow-sham type covering, with overlapping fabric in the back instead of zippers or buttons--which are beyond my ability at such an early hour.

Sewing. I used a total of 4 pins to hold the overlap together. I really really hate pinning even if it does make things easier. Note the entirely spotless work area...not! I'm working on keeping the table cleared off, but for now it's my only work area.

Here is the cover, half on, the other half comes around and will overlap it a bit.

Ta da! all on, and it fits just perfectly! The other is just the same (I had 2 pillows, but only took pictures of the first one.)

Here it is, on the couch. I must say it looks much better. I will, eventually, put some embroidery on it, but for now I need to finish unpacking the house, and finish up crocheting a baby blanket for a very pregnant friend.

Pies, babies and dinner

The boys are happily playing duplos together on the floor, and I am equally happy in ignoring a large pile of clean laundry to write this.

I love baking. I really truly love it. My mother taught me how with the help of a Vintage Betty Crocker cookbook. It had the most amazing section just on cakes, I think i have baked--and ate every one of them. We both share the sentiment that box mixes are cheating. Such good memories. Our oven has been broken for over a year now, and it has been AGONY. Then again, I have lost alot of weight. So, I guess it all evens out.

My Sister in Law and I spent Wednesday together and we baked pies. It felt soooo good to cut the butter into the flour, and to roll out the crust once again. She had never made one before and I had a great deal of fun in showing her how...and also remembering again how it is I do it too! She made the most wonderful peach pie, in fact, I think it was the best ever. Seriously. I made and apple, as it is Garrett's favorite. He loved it. But, now we are back on our diet after a few weeks off and alas, my menu plans and baking did not reflect this change.

brb baby crying

sorry about that, I had to soothe S. who can't bear my being on the PC with him on the other side of the gate as well as explain to J. that cookie monster's feet are too tiny to put shoes on, we settled for socks.

Looks like I have to cut this short...here is my update on getting the Front room cleaned out:

All i have left is the decorator items, hanging curtains, sewing tie-backs and pillow covers and making a flower arrangement.



Today's menu:

Irish Oatmeal with milk, fresh peaches

Bean and cheese Quesadillas, Guacamole

"Lazy Lasagna" (done in crock pot-see previous wailing about oven) green salad and zucchini

"Before" pictures

Alright, I just spent the last 45 mins searching for these images on my PC, and managed to re-arrange and save them and get them posted. I'm tired now. Here are the "before" shots.
They are quite old, but this is generally what my living room looked like prior to our packing fiasco.

I will post the new ones when I finish up this project, hopefully by the end of the week. So far I have accomplished:

Financial Paperwork

Meal plans

grocery shopping

dusting

Unpacked 3 boxes

cleared book shelf and shelved books

Sigh, don't think ill ever finish!

What I indended

What I intended to do this morning was rise early and start my day by blogging. Well, I did wind up rising early...Garrett woke up at 4:30 and decided to stay up for the day so he has been puttering about the house cleaning up and organizing...I love it when he gets in these moods. I got up an hour later, and now about 45 mins after that my mind is finally awake enough to perform simple tasks.

What I intend to do in a day is not, often, what happens. I am learning to just go with the flow. I am also adopting a trick my mother taught me, to add the items I did do to my "to do" list and then check them off. That way I can see what I did, and not what I didn't do. So, let's ponder the day shall we. Hmm.... My priority right now is to finish up cleaning and unpacking the living room (yes, I still haven't done that yet) so here is my first "to-do" list. This will not all get done today, but I need to have a reference list of what needs to be done in here.

Financial paperwork (it takes a long time to work out our ever-changing budget)
Meal plans
Grocery shopping
bag up goodwill stuff
Dust
wash mini blinds
hang mini blinds
hang curtains
sew pillow covers
sew curtain tie-backs
make seasonal flower arrangement
Hang pictures
organize cd's
find a new home for toolbox
move rocking chair
clean out file cabinet
take pictures of cleaned rooms for home tour.

Whew I am tired already! I am going to see if I can find the "before" pictures I once took so I can post them with the "after" pics later! Will update you soon!

5 years

It has been Five years since Garrett and I married, and over 2 years since we have had any sort of vacation with out the children. So, I finally did it, we left the babies with the grandparents and took off for the day to San Francisco. One of our all time favorite day trips is wandering about the city on foot. This time we decided to stay overnight, so I booked us a room at the "Queen Anne Hotel" in Pacific Heights. It was amazing! There are a few pictures scattered throughout this blog of various bits of the hotel

The exterior

One of the main reasons we decided to stay there was the decor. Both of us enjoy old, expensive things! The service was exceptional and we really enjoyed our suite, which had a fireplace and a lovely canopy bed, which we thought was older at first, but it turned out to be a very nice reproduction. We decided that someday when we have our "dream home" we'll get one (as there is no way to fit it into our current bedroom!)

The Lobby area

We wandered about the area on Friday afternoon and had a late lunch of Pizza, at a fantastic little place--One huge slice of pizza and a soda for only $3! I had a chicken and grilled onion pizza with a chipotle-marinara sauce, it was much better than expected and I think I will try and re-create it in my own kitchen sometime.

The Lounge

We rose early, hoping to catch the breakfast, and found we were too early, so we took another walk, and wound up at Lafayette Park, we sat on a bench and watched the fog dissipate over the bay. I have never been in The City so early, and was pleasantly surprised at how quiet it was. I could definitely live there, at least part time! Breakfast was much the same as in any other hotel, except for the room of course! It was fantastic, the wall coverings actually had Velvet embossed motifs.

The staircase

We spent the rest of the morning travelling to and from Pier 39. We were in search of a very specific music box, but alas! the store could not make a "custom" piece, so we will try again online. I had such a wonderful time re-connecting with Garrett, it was almost a relief to know that we could still have fun with one another, that we still had a great deal of things in common other than the kids. We would like to do these little trips more frequently, maybe take in an Opera next time. The last five years have been some of the most adventurous...I would not trade a single day of it for anything in this world.

So today I am back to my usual non-routine. Snuggling babies and cooking breakfast, packing lunches and sending my Hubby off to work. I need to get going, as I have been neglecting my to-do list in order to update you!