motherof9

not REALLY gone, just not as able to log on to the computer…

hubby has a vacation from school for a whole week, so we are gonna try to get things done around the house.

i will try to check up you guys every once in a while  — but don’t freak out if i seem kinda quiet over here.

Find joy even in little things and your heart will be lighter — look at God’s amazing creation and marvel while thanking Him for beauty all around us, including our own bodies! 

Buy good food, eat only healthy food, exercise daily, and love those around you in spite of themselves.  ;D

have a great LONG weekend!!!

my hubby surprised me by showing up last night instead of coming home today!!!! another one i can add to my list — HE LOVES ME and shows it!! what an awesome guy.

Anyway, also need to focus on the good in my kids — you know, kids are gross! they take up all your time AND they get on your last nerve you had left??!!   BUT, they love me, they obey me (sometimes i have to beat them….. JUST JOKING!!!) we have worked on training them when they are little — makes it soooooo much easier when they are older — but that is another story/blog….

each one knows how to make me laugh — each with his/her own distinct personality!

i could go on and on.

That is what i am taking from buddyslim and the relationships around me — focusing on the good — there is enough bad around, but why let the devil get first place?? he has come to lie, kill and destroy — Jesus comes to give LIFE and gives it ABUNDANTLY!!!! 

ok, sorry, didn’t mean to preach again, actually don’t have much time b/c hubby needs to get up and start his work on the computer.

love you all and praying for your peace today!

Dan and all 9 kids

i realized that i have been being more harsh towards my husband. 

Not good for ANY relationship but especially not good for the one closest to you!!

I decided to start listing the things that remind me of his love or that makes my love for him grow stronger — I will add to this list whenever something special happens .     THEN when things are “tough”  i will look at this list and remember — he is a good man.  These are kinda lame, but it is a start!! 

My Great Husband 

1.   He tells me he loves me.

2.   He hugs/touches me a lot.

3.   He surprised me with flowers and chocolates.

4.   He works hard to support us.

5.   He comes home every night — doesn’t go “out” with buddies.  

6.   He keeps the yard neat.

7.   He initiates reading the Bible with the family.

8.   He reads to the kids at night.

9.   He stops studying to “talk” to me.

10.  He tells me I am more important to him than school or work.

Hubby left to back for his last week of clinicals down south last night — luckily it is only one more week.

we  had a great weekend –  a few ups and downs but overall fantastic. 

3 of our boys got baptized on Sunday — it is so wonderful watching them take the steps of faith that they CHOSE!  i can’t even force my children to follow the One True God — He called them and they responded in faith and now wanted to tell everyone Who they chose by getting baptized — it was a very teary Sunday.

After church went out to eat with our Pastor and his wife to talk about things on our hearts for the youth in our church and community…. it was a blessed time of fellowship — we have the type of pastor that you can actually talk to and feel like he is also a friend — he is REAL, doesn’t try to act like he is perfect — just forgiven like the rest of us. We had a great time.

But, now hubby is gone again….. need to get the kids going on their school work and chores… then off to the mall for my daughter — and my son wants to look at swords…. boys are so much fun!

Do well, eat well, and THINK good things!!

he’s been gone for three weeks — we did see him a few wks ago while moving our son back to college…. but it has been hard without him!  Ok, yes, i can “live” without him, but i can’t “LIVE” without him!!

know what i mean?? 

so, yesterday we had a great soccer practice — lots of running and sprints — i do it with the boys so they can’t complain as much (if an old woman can do it, they just laugh and keep running)  my legs are sore but its a good sore….

the bad thing is, soccer is only 2 days a week, i need to do something the other days — at the very least  ONE other day.

on another good note, i drank tons of water – 2 gatorade type drinks and 1 large water bottle just at practice, plus more water when i got home and before leaving…. i need to keep that up, it made me feel good with lots of energy.

Quote sitting on my desk this morning…..    “It doesn’t take a dictionary to learn the language of love.”   Barbara Johnson Splashes of Joy

Jesus says it this way ….. “And they will know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another…”

I would NEVER “push” my beliefs on another person, BUT, if you are searching for the answer — I have it!!!!  and i can’t help but share it.

sheesh, i think all i ate yesterday was JUNK!! i got too hot and then couldn’t eat, then ate several cookies, coffee, tater tots…. monkey bread (yummy but the only nutrition in it is cinnamon, coconut, and almonds….{{sigh}})

ok, so ONLY good food today!!!  i planned meals yesterday but felt “weird” all day and had a hard time functioning…. hopefully just a fluke — i already feel more energetic this AM.

soccer practice this afternoon — MUST bring more cold water for all of us (boys AND me) and praying for clouds to shade us — perhaps a little breeze would be nice too….

better get started on my day…. DO GOOD!!!!

“Uphold my steps in Your paths, that my footsteps may not slip.” Psalm 17:5 NKJV

quote from Barbara Johnson Daily Splashes of Joy

howdy all….  my first soccer practices went well…..

First, 3 little 5-6 year old girls…. too funny.  girls are just so darn cute! they are side-tracked so easily at this age so teaching them how to do an instep kick and sticking with the task is hilarious…. “Watch me! I can do a back bend!”  “I need to go tell my mom something”  “You know a girl at my school said…..”

Then 10-13 year old boys — what a difference!!  They are like energizer bunnies!!  hard to keep up with them but we had a good practice.  They try so hard to be grown up but at the same time are still just little boys! 

All my kids are great!!!  They all listened and tried to do what I said, very respectful and funny at times — it will be a GREAT year!!

It was HOT!!!!!!  we all decided we needed a LOT more water — cold water, need to stick our water bottles in the freezer half full, then fill the rest with cold water before we leave. It was really horrible needing a drink, taking a big swig and realizing the water was very warm —-yech!!!

so, new plans and more goals for Thursdays practice — pray for clouds on that day for me so i can have more energy for more exercise!!  i started getting heat exhaustion… so need to be more careful for me and all the kids out there.

have a great day today and PRAISE THE LORD, for this is the day that HE has made!!

…. but still wanted to do a little writing and reading….

kids are working hard in their books, baby is nursing and almost asleep, and then back to real work for me!!!!

my first soccer practices are today so i will definitely get in my exercise time — i like to try to run with the kids and everything — i used to (about 5 years ago) play a game i liked to call “race the old lady” and i would usually win the race and it made the boys try to run faster, by the end of the season they were beating me!!   i am afraid now, they will beat me today, but, it will make ME try to run faster!!! 

ha ha!!! i love it!!! i either sit and watch them practice OR i coach and get in exercise, so i chose coaching this year….  yay for soccer and fun exercise with my kiddos!!

k, better go for now — DO GOOD today!!!! no junk food, lots of water, and lots of vegies!

yes, i home school, so I need to focus on kids again…. this has been an awesome summer of getting priorities straight, spending much needed time to understand myself better, and making new friends.  I am NOT leaving buddyslim, i just need to LIMIT my time to  7 hours a week and not 7 hours a day!!!!

I actually took a look at my the number of hours i have in a week, what needs to be done and how much spare time i can have to spend doing other stuff…. so my number did not come arbitrarily (sp?? i love to use big words, but REALLY need to get a dictionary beside me!!!)  ;D

On the GOOD side, i am gonna start coaching soccer again!! i was in great shape when i did that — LOTS of fun running!!  the pitfall i need to watch out for, is getting so busy that i don’t feed my family right — i started buying those easy cook meals, and we all got a little sloppy…. i HAVE to make time to cook nutritious meals!

now, just some thoughts….

remember the story of the disciples in the ship - while Jesus was on the mountain praying? the storm came and they FREAKED!!!!   that is usually me….  i am trying to see it in a different light…

The story is found in Mark 6: 45 -52 — first of all, it says that Jesus SAW that they were scared!  we are NEVER alone!!! why did He wait so long to come to them???  maybe a few reasons…..  

1.  the storm (or difficulty) wasn’t as bad as they thought — they were safe, they didn’t perish.

2. Jesus waited until their “frustration” turned to “NEED” they had to realize that they couldn’t face the storm on their own — they NEEDED His strength!

3.  IN the darkest time, Jesus came to them — when things really look bleak, look around, He is there!!

4. the Scriptures say that He “acted as if He meant to pass by them.”  remember Moses asking to see God?? God told him that His glory would be too great to see. He put Moses in a cleft of a rock and “passed by” so Moses could see His “after glory” — same word here.  Jesus “passed by” so the disciples could see who He really was — He even says it “I AM!”  “take heart! stop being alarmed!”  Our GREAT God is with us!!!!

AFTER the storm, we have a better understanding of WHO God is, WHAT He is, and HOW He is our Father that loves us with an everlasting love.  We don’t get this understanding being on dry land in safety — we get this by going through a storm!

Take heart, don’t be alarmed, take what He is trying to teach you about Himself and rest in the fact that HE is there, watching you, protecting you, and LOVING you!!

have a great week and do good!

I don’t have a bunch of time but have been DYING to log in and check on everyone!  I am down to just my 6 kids and the house is quiet for the time being. 

spoke too soon, the baby is getting fussy….

anyway….

sounds like there are a lot of struggles going on again and i just saw my reminder of a verse i love

“The joy of the Lord is your strength” Nehemiah 8:10 

“Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!”  Philippians 4:4

remember, Nehemiah lived and wrote this in a terrible time — if you read the beginning of that verse it says “Then Ezra told them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him from whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord, And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold.’”  (Amplified version)

the other verse commands us to rejoice always — i usually say something like, “i have nothing in me to rejoice”  but i recently learned what “rejoice” means……  “remembering the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord”

if there was ever a time in your life that God was faithful, if there was ever a time in your life that God was good — remember that time and rejoice!!! sorrow may last for the night but joy comes in the morning!  REJOICE!!!

IF you have the joy of the Lord because you are remembering that He is faithful and good, then NO ONE can steal your joy — NO ONE can steal your strength BECAUSE HE is our strength!!!  how wonderful is that??!!!

those of you who are sorrowing — we sorrow with you. 

those of you who are weeping, we weep with you.

those of you who are weak, we are here for you, borrow from our strength

Look up for your salvation is nigh!

love you all have a great night and REJOICE!!