Right Brain living in a left brain world.

I had such high hope for the day. Get up early, get dressed, have my quiet time, prepare breakfast, wake-up the kids, and start their day. Well, it all was going great right up to the wake up early part! I don't remember hearing my alarm, and at 8:00 I heard children playing in the living room, so much for a quiet start to the morning. My attitude stinks, and I am extremely frustrated. I have been reminded often of my huge flaw! I am a perfectionist. Not like my friend Jenny. She is a good perfectionist. She sees a problem, comes up with a good plan, and then carries it out smoothly and ALL WITH A SMILE AND A SWEET SPIRIT! It is amazing! Not so much with me, I want everything to go smoothly, and if it doesn't, I want to just do nothing-----for example, kids can't find chart folders, laundry needs to be folded---not on my morning chore chart----we need to eat breakfast, and school should have started one hour ago, none of these things have taken place so I am ready to put my pj's back on and call it a day! How crazy it that! I don't usally make list cuz I end up very frustrated when my list gets out of order, but if I don't make list and charts--my whole world is CHAOS----Can'tHaveAnyoneOverSyndrome. So where is the happy middle ground.. Do people actually live in a place where list help with direction but don't consume? Can you actually make a list and adjust it? It seems to me that I can either 1. Make a list, be a mad woman and make sure everthing is done in order, and have very unhappy children and a stinky day. OR 2. Don't make a list, don't get much accomplished, and end my day very frustrated that nothing got done today! Neither are very appealing! For my friends that seem to be naturally organized, be thankful. It is not easy for a right brain girl to live in a left brain world. There is a constant battle going on---One side is list consumed and the Other side is playing with a lady bug. Things are behind, kids are hungry, house is calling, laundry is lurking, floors need to be vaccumed, school needs to be done and mom is BLOGING!!! Makes perfect sense. Love you and I hope you have a great day! Ooooooh look a butterfly!

A lesson RE-LEARNED (maybe)

Hello again! Well yesterday carried into the night and early morning and today. Today I made one huge mistake! I forgot to pray without ceasing! Today, there was more fighting, frustration, complaining and less productivity! Ashley began throwing up about 11:30 last night, and it lasted until about 8:00am. By this point she was dry-heaving. It was awful! She is such a trooper! She cried alittle, but mostly just wanted to lay around. about 12:00 she started feeling better. But after naps we were back to laying around. It's about 8:00 now and she seems fine. I was so thankful to have the laundry caught up, if this would have happened yesterday I would have just cried. I am alittle tired, but my house is mostly cleaned. Tommorrow we will be able to finish for sure! I am so excited. About an hour ago I was thinking, what was different, why didn't today go as smoothly as yesterday? That's when it hit me like a ton of bricks as I was fussing at Joshua for not really listening, paying attention and following my direction, when the Holy Spirit covicted me of the same crime. I just stopped mid-sentence. How often God has brought me to this same intersection? Atleast a dozen times (this week) and each time I react much like Josh-------completely stunned that I am here again! But God's forgiveness runs deeper than my sin, and His grace last longer than my willfullness. I am so thankful. Josh almost always instantly repents, and turn and trys to do right, I wish I could say the same, but today I tried to be like him. I repented, and turned, fewer things got done, but I think over-all God is pleased when we are obiedent to Him even if our house is not spot-less.

Can I get an Amen?

Okay, have you ever had one of those days where you just can't take it anymore? Remember lying is a sin. Well I had one of those days that started on Sunday and was still going strong this morning as I stumbled to the bath room cuz my room was cluttered with clothes that were tossed in there so the EMT wouldn't call DCS on Sunday when they came to help with an asthma issue with Emily. Anyway, I was done, today was the day! My house was getting cleaned! The problem------four kids, three really messy bedrooms, one messy living room, two messy bathrooms, and one semi messy kitchen and ONE ME! But because God is who He is and He loves me, He poured out GRACE, GRACE, GOD'S GRACE! If you've never experienced this you are missing something special! He allowed me to COMPLETELY clean the kids room and mostly clean our bedroom. I have an almost cleaned living room and kitchen and bathroom. We're getting there, not here yet but all this occured while my four kids played without much fighting. This was not a perfect day but it was a day filled with God's grace, cuz He is all He claims to be. He is AWESOME! Anyway I hope you all atleast one time get a glimpse of what I am talking about!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME

Okay, admittedly some of the things that occured this morning could have been avoided, but then my blog wouldn't be quite as amusing. First I started my day not feeling great and tired, cuz I am having some trouble sleeping still...anyway...I had a ton of things to get done today. So before I left, I called a sweet friend and asked her to pray for me when she thought of me, today. The words patience and kindness may have been used. So I loaded the trash and off we went. I got to the dump and almost fell into the dumpster cuz my shoes were wet and I slipped, twisting my back. So I grateful whisper a prayer for my safety and head out for my next stop. I told the kids we could get breakfast at Sonic so I pulled in and Jacob said I'm not hungry, I tried to explain this was breakfast and we would not be eating lunch until late, still he said I'm not hungry. So, I said ok, are you fee..........too late, he started throwing up all over the place. So jumped out of the van and ran around to open his door and get him out of the van, okay it was more of a hobble, hobble, limp, limp really fast, but his door was locked. So I did somthing that shocked the snot out of me. I pitched a fit, I stomped my foot and grunted very loud right in the middle of Sonic's parking lot for all to see , wearing a christian t-shirt, I pitched a fit , and went back to unlock the door and come back to finally help Jacob. By now he has finished throwing up and is very pale and wanting to go to sleep. And IT BEGINS TO SNOW!!! So I sat Jacob back in his seat, drove to Dollar General and went inside, I asked the lady if I could please get so clothes and clean him up and then I would pay for the items, she said that would be fine. So I went back to the clothes, Geuss what! They are over acheivers and have already put the spring clothes out. Not a long sleeve shirt or pair of pants could be found So I found a sweat shirt that wouldn't fall off of him, it wason a talbe at the front of the store and was 70% off and had to scrap the throw up off his pants, that were made of the slippery material so it didn't soak him. After that the kids and I go back to the van, they all got in a turned on the heater while I cleaned the van. Did I mention it was snowing. Anyway, Everyone got buckled and off we went to out next stop, Wal-Mart. After two hours at Wal-Mart and wanting to smak someone I said, grab some cheeze-it, and we are leaving. I had a list, I went prepared, I had a goal and I was completely DEFEATED! I never looked at the list, I went down the same isle five time, and I couldn't for the life of me tell you what my goals were. All I know is now I am home, I am in my jammies and I am taking a nap as soon as I am finished. So the van is officially broken in and is smelling a little less like a girl, but I can tell you that the little wipes that you can buy really work for quick messy clean ups! So I hope you are having a good day, and hopefully this will make you laugh, cuz now that I am home it's beginning to be a tadpole funny! Please don't feel sorry for me, it's funny! Life happens, somedays you just have more life than engery and this just happened to be one of those day! So for the rest of the day, I will snuggle with my kids, let them eat spaghetti in the living room while we watch a movie together. I will play blocks and cars, and color and work on puzzles. I have officially left grumpy, fit pitching mom were she belongs............out in the cold! Enjoy your day!

The Final Chapter

Well Ladies, I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our family. It's a van. White with medium gray interior, front and rear air and heat, all windows and doors are in working condition, and I/We are so excited! Three prayers were answered by this transaction, 1. We got a much needed van. 2. Stephanie got rid of a much unneeded van. 3. She got a car that she loves, from my brother who just happen to mention to me for the first time ever today that he wanted to sell his car, which happened to be a car Stephanie liked! God perfect plan for three individuals that waited on Him instead of running ahead, a task that I do all to often. I had such peace that God was in control and while I wasn't sure how He was going to work this out I knew He would. So the next time you see me driving I'll be in our van, with the windows down wind blowing through my hair, smiling and waving...........unless of course it's 30 degrees (and I'll know cuz my van will tell me so HEE HEE HEE) then we will be using the defroster and heater! Thank you for each prayer you said, and for each time you offered or actually gave us a ride to somewhere. I completely understand the kind of people Paul must have been talking to when he said "I thank God upon ever remembrance of you". I bet they looked, talked, and walked alot like my wonderful circle of friends. I am so blessed by you and I thank God each time I remember you!
I hope you have a wonderful day!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the only bad thing about our van is that it SMELLS LIKE A GIRL! But I am going to try very hard not to complain about that.

The Adventure Continues

We test drove so more vans yesterday. We went to Covington Pike to a dealership, which shall remain nameless cuz I don't know how to spell it. Anyway, we test drove two different vans.
The first one was a 2003, something for $3800------so what's wrong with it, well aside for the fact ath I am sitting here blogging at 4 am cuz I still can't breeve fru my nose from the smoke smell that the "covers all smoke smell" spray, that was still in the van, failed to cover and the cigarette butts that were all the floor beside the seats in the very back and the burn wholes in the seats and the little plastic things that kept falling off when my mother in law touched them and the trash that was in the back of this "really clean van" and oh yeah,when ever we stopped we began to smell a burning smell and one more thing the oil was milky, and it had over 140 miles, not much.
So we move on the a 2005 Ford Windstar $4995, whats wrong with it.........well, the inside was very clean and I was able to breath much better (sidebar---the lady that rode with us in both vans, who kept saying how impressed she was with the first vans ride and couldn't seem to see my eyes swelling shut and mouth breathing cuz nose has completely stopped working says, wow, this one is really nice on the inside---what does she know, I think between sneezes, she said that about the first one too.) Anyway it had lots of cool things about it ,but all of which were automatic things that tend to break on us very quickly, but Tim seemed very concerned about the fact that it had no oil on the dip stick but lots of oil on the motor, ummmmmm not sure why. Oil in the motor, oil on the motor---one little letter off, why must he make a big deal about such little things? But what a great price as long as it doesn't BLOW UP BEFORE WE GET HOME! Is it bad thing when both vans you drive gets moved to the back of the lot to be "moved" instead of sold? Ok, well that only happened to the first one, the second one had just been traded in and they hadn't had a chance to even clean it so they were going to do some checking on Monday and call us back.
Last but not least, we met a very sweet young lady that used to go to our church at Burger King to test drvie her van, that apparently a 20 doesn't need. She apoligizes about the mess, grass in the front on the floor, but she had been moiving all day and didn't have chance to clean it out. She does a walk around showing us all the "problems" tow tiny dents on back hatch and one medium dent on side of bumper, and her hub caps fell off so she didn't buy new ones. She handed me a stack of maintance papers to look over while Tim drove, shame on her the oil should have been changed last month. The only complaint came from Josh, and I quote: "If we buy this van will it still smeeell like a girl?" Explanation: She had an air freashner that smelled like flowers, good heaven! Absolutely not! If we buy this van it will all to soon smell like french fries and chicken nuggets! We'll be sure to get rid of any nice ordors that might linger! What a boy! So I'm not sure, but I am leaning towards the one that is NOT GOING TO MAKE MY EYES SWELL SHUT, AND THAT HAS THE OIL IN THE RIGHT PLACE AND THAT SMELLS LIKE A GIRL! But we might have to think about it for awhile longer. Just one quick question.....How do you think our van would sell if we advetised something like.........1988 Ford Aerostar Van. 250+K miles, engine needs tender loving care, inside mostly clean, runs sometimes, and when it does run it beats walking in the snow barefoot up a hill carrying something heavy. OR Great charater building van for sale? I'm not sure which one would help it sell faster!