Routine

I love mornings! It's another day to be blessed for another chance to live and breath! Every morning it is my goal to get up and spend some quiet time in the Word with God before the boys get up. It usually entails me creeping through the house, even though, most days, my kids sense my being awake as soon as my feet hit the floor. I try ever so quietly to make some coffee, open some windows, turn on some instrumental praise music and open my Bible. My morning study has been Beth Moores updated  study of David. It's about having a heart like His! I'm only a few weeks in, but it's great! I love anything Beth Moore does. She's so refreshing and encouraging.

My other favorite part of my morning is watching our pooch man stare at his best "friends" out the window. He whines, goes from window to window, jumps, scratches, barks, really anything he can do to try to get their attention. As if he's expecting them to come right up to the window for a conversation! He just doesn't get why I won't let him out! Sorry Buddster! 

Craftiness

That title so does not describe me! I spent about 2 hours at the local Hobby Lobby yesterday picking up some baskets for the boys homeschool stuff (I'll blog this later...super fun idea!) and some stuff for our "Chores" jars. We are going to be implementing a new chore system to hopefully streamline our day and help us to end our days happy and joyful and not trying to catch up on chores that didn't get done throughout the day. So I had pulled together a few ideas from different blogs about how they do chores with thier kids. One of my favorites was these adorable chores jars for each kid that you would put craft sticks in. Each craft stick has a different chore on it. Every morning mom takes out and divvies up the chores to be done for each day. As each child completes each chore from their jar, they put it back into the main "chore" jar. So at the end of the day their jars should be empty! Easy peasy right!? The only thing is that I wanted to own this thing. I'm seriously not crafty by any stretch of the imagination, so I used some of their tutorials to get creative!

I picked out a different print of scrap book paper for each kid with a plain colored paper to add for their names. I even picked up one for myself! Now all I need is to get some more cans! Whoops! Didn't think that one through all the way, since we don't eat much from cans anymore! Here are the ones I picked for the boys...Football for BP...Pirates for LP...and planes, trains, and automobiles for J. 

I created our own chores myself and printed them on solid colored paper. I'll have one color for each room in the house and one color for chores they will do daily! 

Mod Podge...oh my new friend! :) I still have a lot to learn about you, but how at 30 years old is this the first time I have every used you! There are quite a few bumps and bubbles in my mod podging, but, hey, this uncreative girl is just happy she has found it! 

Along with the chores we will be implementing an allowance program. They will be getting $1 a week. They will be putting 50% in a "spending" jar, 25% in a "savings" jar and 25% in a "Giving Back To Jesus" jar. It's not exactly the 10% Jesus asks for, but I figure it's just easier right now to do the percentages this way. My kids love to give back so I'm sure they wouldn't mind they are giving more! The deal is that if they don't get their chores done they will have withdrawals taken from their "Spending" and "Savings" jars. We're hoping this cuts back on some complaining with certain tasks! 

See the bubble in the "Chores" jar! ;) 

January...Seriously?!

The last time I posted was January? Wow! For a while I tried to capture our moments in just a pen journal. My goal was to journal every night. My goal was that it would let my mind relax at night getting everything out on paper. Well, it did seem to work, but me sticking to anything like that is unheard of! It lasted a few weeks, now I'm not sure I even know where the notebook is. I just get so caught up in remembering every little detail and having an account for people to read it in the future. I just don't want to forget everything myself! Seriously though...does it matter? 

I'm reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan for our small group at church, and eye opening is all I can say, and I'm only 2 chapters in. The first chapter was about the vastness and most amazing God that I serve. One of the questions it asked during our group discussion was what would you say to God if you were standing at his throne? I would say nothing, probably melt into a heaping sob and fall on my face before him. I mean seriously...

 "...and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were 24 other thrones, and seated on them were 24 elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their head. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the 7 spirits of God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were 4 living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had the face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under it's wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

            " Holy, holy, holy is The Lord God Almighty, who was and is, and is to come." 

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: "You are worthy our Lord and God, To receive glory and honor and power for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

                       Revelation 4:2b-11

I'm in awe and wonder at the amazing majesty of my maker! 

Back to the "does it matter?" Today I was reading chapter 2, and it was talking about how out lives are but a vapor. It gave the example of being an extra in a movie. How silly if you were in the movie for 2.5 seconds and all you could see was the back of your head, but you rented out the local theater and invited all your friends and family. No one would probably even care. The movie isn't about you. 

Throughout history God has used ordinary people for what....for their own glory? No, God has used people throughout the Bible to bring glory to His name. How can I live my life for myself? It's not about me, it's about God! 

 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, od it all for the glory of God." 1Corinthians  10:31

My life is just a 2.5 second clip in the wonderful creation of God. It's not about making sure that I note every little thing I do every day. Keeping strict tabs on 8 calendars of every thing my kids have accomplished. I'm going to start letting go of myself and living my life for my glory and start living to bring glory to Him. My cameo appearance in life will be worth something for my Savior! 

Some days you just need to

I decided to forgo the majority of our schooling today for some quality time together at the zoo! It wasn't all a loss though! We are studying goats and farms this week so as long as we stopped to visit the petting zoo it qualified for school in my opinion! :) The weather was great today and from what I hear we're in for quite a cool down in a few days, so we needed to take advantage of the beautiful day we were blessed with. They needed the fresh air and freedom to run too, and this mama needed some time to rejuvenate. If you can do that while keeping track of 3 boys! It was nice, however, to stand back and watch them as they explored the world around them on their own. It's also nice to stand back and watch them interact with each other on a day when they "like" each other! ;)  I ended up surprising them with a 3D IMax movie, which was a little terrifying (Monsters of the Seas) even for me. 3D movies always make me sick to my stomach, dizzy and when 30 ft prehistoric fish are coming at my face with jaws open I'll be the first to jump through the roof! I was surprised that my little fella fell asleep during the movie, 3D glasses on and all! Yet another favorite part of my day, snuggling him close while he slept in my arms not a worry in the world. My boys were silly, fun, obedient, loving and pleasant to be with today! Prayer works and obedience is key! ;) Today was a nice reminder that it's okay, and should be mandatory, to take breaks from our school days to relish in our time with each other!!