Happy 4th

Me and the kids (+ Yohana) went to the beach today. Got there by 9 left by 1...it was a beautiful day. Tonight we walked down our little dirt road to our neighbor's on the river and watched the downtown fireworks from their dock. I made the kids listen to Ella Jenkins We are America's children all day long in the car...torture for the oldest but amusing none the less. Stewart reminded me that we should return the cd to the library tomorrow with all of our other materials we took out the car. HA! it was getting to him too...probably because I was singing Happy Birthday America. Josh spent the morning working for the couple we rent from and got to have bar-b-que brought down from North Carolina for lunch....he isn't spoiled in the least. Tomorrow I plan on dragging them all back to the beach after church...we're half way there, might as well pack a lunch and go the rest of the way to a lovely afternoon! Hope you had a beautiful 4th celebrating this freedom God has granted our country.

Gone

Tomorrow I will go to my second funeral this summer. The first one was for one of my mother's friends who was a epitome of a Southern Lady. Funny, the next one is for a very Southern Gentleman. Both of them had a very gentle and slow way with words but were not slow thinking in the least. Even though they both professed a personal Christian Faith, it still saddens my heart to know that both of them are gone. I told myself during the first one that it was a celebration of her life...and I will try to do that tomorrow.

Hanging from a cliff

Here's another frustrating thing....you get your hair whacked off and everyone says, Wow, great hair cut...how am I supposed to say Thank You to that? Especially when I keep finding random long hairs. We had a Sunday School Teachers meeting yesterday and then church today and it was awkward to say the least.
Josh's dad and step-mom came in for a visit Thursday and left yesterday morning and I've been trying to read Inkspell so there's the reason I never got back to ya'll about the thorn in my flesh.

Okay here it is...
Two weeks ago it was mentioned in the sermon that we should try to befriend those of a lower economic status than ourselves. I almost stood up and offered everyone my token friendship. And then I thought...how patronizing. Knowing the person who gave the message, I'm sure he had the purest intentions but it has bothered me nonetheless. His point was that maybe we'd be more content with what we have if we were around people who had less. He pointed out how much the average house size has increased since the late 50's.
So here's the problem...I'm feeling like I need to stop spending time with everyone I know because they all have more than I do and I am way more content when I hermit myself away and don't see, hear, or know what other people are spending their money on. And if I follow this silly logic to its end then I wouldn't dare seek out someone who had less than me because then they would see what I have and not be content.
Then the my frustrations invariably turns to getting rid of all we have and moving to a third world country. Yeah, and then I find out in church this morning that a small group of people went to Haiti. How many years have we been talking about that...and how many people in our church knows our desire for that and we heard nothing about it before hand. Not that it would have mattered because we don't have a few thousand on hand to fly down there like they do. Oh, bitterness leave my soul because God knows what we have and what we are supposed to be doing and obviously it is to sit right here in our little rented house with one car shopping at Goodwill. And the Good Lord knew before the world was created who would be our family and friends and obviously he knows what he's doing and I need to be doing more trusting and less hanging on.
I don't know what I was thinking when I thought about posting this but there it is....
(sidenote...turns out Josh did know about the Haiti trip but we didn't have our passports...filled out my application last night....AND the cruises we took were entirely paid for by my dad with only a little money spent on souvenirs )

My heart may fail

Psalm 73:26

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
I was going to post about something I've been frustrated about since the sermon preached two Sundays ago but that will have to wait.
This afternoon I went to get my hair trimmed.
Trimmed, evened up, shaped
At no point did I say HACK
Yes
AND...
it isn't even symmetrically whacked!@
I am fearful that if I go back tomorrow to get it evened out that I will return bald.
Why can't ANY franchise hair cutter understand the term "leave the length"?
That's all I have to say about being frustrated for today... maybe more tomorrow.

Frustrated

They were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the Word in Asia. --Acts 16:6
Do you think they were frustrated?

This past year I have two books in my car to read when I have a waiting moment. A biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer was the first and the second book was A Slow and Certain Light Elisabeth Elliot.

Out of all the Elisabeth Elliot books I have read, this one may be the best. I started reading it again but then got sidetracked by the Inkheart books. However...one of the themes of God's guidance seemed relevant tonight as I felt frustrated.

It seems a lot of my plans lately have been frustrated or have not gone as I planed. .....
Not that I'm some great planner or rely heavily on my plans but if I get around to making a plan it is a little frustrating to have it fall apart.

My last post about my summer routine....fell to pieces. Stewart got bored going to the Y and swimming while John-Thomas was in Piano camp

I tried to make plans for us to see a free summer movie today with friends but they fell apart and my exercise plans for tomorrow are crumbling in light of scheduling piano camp and piano lessons for the kids.

Elise was supposed to start K12 next year and do public virtual school like the rest of the family but I got a call yesterday saying the crazy Florida Legislature changed the rules in May and she is no longer eligible. What do I do now. But John-Thomas is now #3 on the waiting list to get into Landon.
Even though I am frustrated that there is no consistency to my life in the least, I know God is in control and is directing our steps.
We still got to see the O'Donells on Saturday even though our plans went helter skelter. There's something to be very thankful about.
Tomorrow I'll post something else I'm frustrated about...that has been gnawing at me for a week and a half. Can't wait can you?

Routine

As soon as I start a routine and become established in it....the waves come and crash into my lovely castle made of sand. For the last couple of months, I have had very little routine but not this month!
We are off to a rip roaring start...well kind of. Every morning me and the kids are at the Y not later than 9:30 and by 11 we are at a pool (it is a neighborhood pool that is almost always empty...how wonderful is that?Thanks to a Wonderful friend)
We come home, eat lunch and then I fool around on the computer and do dishes and then make dinner. Very Simple. Haven't done too much cleaning and haven't hit a thrift store in almost a month.
Soooo, yesterday Elise, Emmett and I hit 3 thrift stores and made some great finds at every one.
First stop was the Humane Society....$5 ice skates for Emmett
$10 J & G Meakin Renaissance Creamer and Sugar
(do you remember I broke the knobby thing off a the very same creamer a while back...if I labeled my posts correctly then here would be a nice little link back to that post...but I digress)
$1 platter with a red transfer pattern
Also got some other odds and ends, tapestry needs, balloons etc...random right?
Then we stopped at Hubbard House Thrift and picked up some shoes and ball cap for Elise and shirt for me...$2 total
Then we stopped at THE Thrift Store and we got Bloco...it was a box of foam shapes that you join togeather. Most of the pieces had never even been punch out and all the pieces were there...the reciept was in the box and it was origionally $27....never would have paid that much...we paid $1.95!
Today it was Clean, Clean, Clean. Another thing that has been missing from my routine.
Cleaned the top of the fridge and behind it.
Wiped down All my pantry shelves and organized them.
With the help of the boys, all the book shelves in their room were straightened and sorted back right. (all non-fiction together/classics/comic books) and took off the shelf all the books Emmett has read and set them aside for Elise. Also tidied up Elise's shelves.
I have a whole box of stuff to donate to a rummage sale our innercity mission group is having next weekend.
Now its off to a Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Dinner....which....truth be told ....Josh and I don't feel the need to be appreciated BUT, one must make the appearance. Why can't we just be the hermits we want to be? Nothing's routine really is it?

Monday ?

Finished the The Sisters Grimm: Everafter War by Micheal Buckley on Sunday. It was 7th in the series and I must say that it dragged until the last two chapters. I almost quit reading it several times. Did you see Pirates of the Caribbean 2? Do you remember how it had plenty of action but no substance until the last scene and then it declared "To be continued!" UGGGG That is exactly what happened. I have loved all the books before and this one was a little frustrating. Oh, well...as Josh would say...That's about right.
What else did I want to tell you....
Oh, I know....it is a diet/fitness website I heard about from one of the people featured on a Good Morning America weight loss segment. Spark People is free and will give you a menu and fitness plan. You can enter in what you ate for the day and how you exercised and it will tell you how you can do better tomorrow. That is...of course...if you spend the time logging in your food and activity. :( This is a good thing though, and I am on the second phase of it and am hoping that it will help me live more consistently. I have already committed to exercising 5 days a week (last week it was 6 days). Did I mention it was free? I have always wanted to do Weight Watchers but knew we could never afford it and the gym. I need the gym, plus the kids get to use it. So anyway, I keep meaning to tell you and today I finally remembered.
I don't think so...except I need some serious intervention right now because Stewart and John-Thomas made brownies and I smell their doneness. Should I not remind them the timer went off and let them burn...rendering them uneatable?