Monday Meanderings - Sept. 19

I usually do get this written out on Sunday evenings, but sometimes it takes me awhile to get it posted to Blogger! Sorry if I'm not a very good host for you to link up with!!

Bible Study... Finish Week 2 lessons of No Other Gods

Memory Verse...  2 Corinthians 3:18
"And we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the spirit."

Husband Encouragement...
♥ Tell him how much I appreciate him watching the kids lately and encourage him to have time for himself also.

♥ Tidy the home.

Train Them Up...
* Gah, just need to be a better EXAMPLE for them!!

* Practice AWANA verses diligently.

Personal Goals...
* Start a new book. Compile reading list.

* Workout 3x this week. (Excited my shows are coming back! Watching these while on the treadmill will be super motivation!)

New Habit of the Month...  {september} Turn OFF Facebook alerts on my phone.

MUST Do... 

* Write letter to Grandma!!

* Make a meal for a friend. scheduled for next week
* Make walk route and map for Saturday's MOPS walk.

* Start re-organizing clothes bins in basement now that a few of them are half-empty and I need more bins available!

* Round up some new jeans for Eli.  Somewhere??  This is when I hate that we are so rural!

Zone(s)... outgrown clothes

Menu - cleaning out cupboards and freezer stuff!

FUN THINGS!
* Play date at the park Tuesday.

* Bible study Thursday.

* MOPS Mom-Walk Saturday morning.

* Family photos Saturday afternoon.

* Girls night Saturday night.

3 things I'm thankful for today...

1. A free day schedule. I have plenty of time to spontaneously get together with friends or take the kids to the park. So thankful I'm able to stay home so we can do things like this!

2. BEAUTIFUL beautiful weather!  I love love love it!

3. We found a new place to get the rest of our windows done, fairly inexpensively!

Monday Meanderings - Sept. 12

Bible Study... Week 2 lessons of No Other Gods

Memory Verse...  2 Corinthians 3:18
"And we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the spirit."

Husband Encouragement...
♥ Get up EARLY to make him a breakfast before work.

♥ Tidy the home.

Train Them Up...
* Practice AWANA verses diligently.

* Start doing school activities with Hannah on MWF.

Personal Goals...
* Order a new bra.

* Get up to run in the a.m.

New Habit of the Month...  {september} Turn OFF Facebook alerts on my phone.

MUST Do...
* MOPS stuff -- everything's set up and ready to go! Tomorrow will be putting everything back AWAY again.
* Write letter to Grandma.

* Make a meal for a friend.
* Set up an account online so I can keep track of Eli's lunch money balance.

Zone(s)... outgrown clothes

Menu - TBD

M - hamburgers, suddenly salad, strawberries
T - ravioli, salad
W - fish sticks, broccoli
Th - TBD
F - TBD
S - birthday party invite
Su - TBD

FUN THINGS!
* Maybe a movie tonight with friends?

* First MOPS meeting of the year tomorrow!  Excited to see what kind of group we'll have this year!

* Thursday is an early out for Eli.

* Saturday we're headed to a birthday party!

3 things I'm thankful for today...

1. My hubby. He's good.  =)

2. BEAUTIFUL weather!  I love love love it! I love the quiet evenings with windows open instead of A.C.'s blasting!

3. Friends.  So thankful.

Friday Finds

This morning Hannah, Carter, and I wandered into the local thrift store. And for $10 I found for the kids...

4 small square scarves (I wanted to collect a few for dancing with)

3 action figure type guys (I don't know who they're of, I just love them for imagination play)

3 beaded bracelets

1 little girls pearl necklace

1 bead necklace

3 skirts (Hannah is waaay into skirts right now, so 2 for this year and 1 for next year)

1 tambourine
1 adorable small pink plaid coin purse, perfect for holding lipstick or something

Fun, fun!!!  The tambourine was an especially timely find because I'm doing something with instruments for next week's Moppet lesson!  =)  And in fact, Carter's the one who pulled it out as he was digging in a toy bin I otherwise wouldn't have gone through.  Yay for thrift stores!  Happy Friday everyone!

{Part 2} Conquering your idol.

Now that I've recognized that Facebook is something of an idol to me, I thought I could just set rules for myself, BE more self-controlled, and conquer this battle on my own.  I'm a list-writer, goal-setter, rule-maker, and I want to be able to do this on my own. 

But the truth is, I can't. 

Seems so silly, really.  I can't get over how something as simple as a social network can really be that dominating over my life. And I hate saying that out loud, but at the same time I'm going to be honest with myself and you.

When it comes to confronting idols, we need a greater Help.  Ask God to take this from you and rely on HIM.

"Having freedom from our idols begins by recognizing our own powerlessness against them. Apart from the power of Christ, we are unable to extricate ourselves from their hold. This is good news if we can accept the truth of our own weakness while accepting the gift of His strength. He will do it." - Kelly Minter, No Other Gods

2 Corinthians 1:9 This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

And by the way, I do still have "rules" for myself I still haven't yet committed to following:

* Computer checks only in the morning, nap time, and after kids are bed.

* No checking on my phone while watching a movie with Kevin. Avoid temptation by plugging in my phone in another room instead of leaving my phone sit right next to me on the couch.

But this time, I'm not relying on my own power, I'm relying on God's power to take this from me.

Father, you know my heart and my desires. The need to be there for everyone. To tell them they matter. It is a gift. But take from me the constant "need to know" feeling. Help me to desire the things YOU want for me. Help me to have self-control and wisdom over my time, that all I do would honor you. Amen.

Good and bad.

*sigh* It's been an exhausting weekend.  Good and then bad. Good and then bad.  

The good. The kids and I got to play with friends Saturday morning.

The bad. I kept Eli up from nap because that's what we do now and he CRASHED the entire second half of the day with melt down after melt down. {may need to still do naps on the weekend?}

The good. I got to visit with a friend Saturday evening. And my special music at church went well Sunday morning.

The bad. Eli was so rotten during church I had to take him out for the second half of church, along with Carter and we "did church" via the speakers. And he practiced how to just sit in a flippin' chair.

The good.  I ordered a nap for EVERYONE Sunday afternoon.

The bad.  Hannah was the one messing around, disturbed and woke Carter early. And then SHE spent the next 45 minutes bawling because I made her nap somewhere else.

The good. Because everyone DID nap we had a pleasant visit with the in-laws Sunday evening.

The bad. Because everyone napped, they {Eli and Hannah} took forever to go to bed that night because they wouldn't stop messing around. And I ended up having to sit IN THE ROOM until they were mostly asleep.

The good. It was a BEAUTIFUL day today!!  Cool and sunny!

The bad. The sun made it really hard to do my photoshoot this morning. I'm just not that good to know how to work with it.

The good. We got some good pictures anyway. I think. {coming soon}

The good. My parents, the kids, and I had a picnic and played at the park after my photoshoot.

The good. All three kids napped on the drive back to Nebraska. 

The good. I didn't get too sleepy while driving in the afternoon.

The good. Kevin was up and showered already when we got home.

The good. I get to sleep in my own bed tonight.

The good. It's supposed to beautiful weather all week!!!  Sunny and 70s!!!!

Once again, reminds me of the video I posted HERE.  =)

Convicted. {Part 1}

This week I started reading our ladies Bible study book,  No Other Gods: Confronting Our Modern-Day Idols by Kelly Winter. And boy, it's not taking long to feel convicted of an area of sin I was already aware of to begin with.  And if that wasn't enough, everywhere I turn, I see it again.  I just went over to favorite photographer Tara Whitney's blog to check out some family photos and get inspiration before doing a photoshoot for a friend tomorrow, and there it was again, as she shares:

"It's just all too easy. It's too easy to get sucked in, caring about things I don't need to be caring about. It's too easy for me to avoid the things that are truly important to me with stupid time sucks.... But I find myself spending too much time reading the words of a lot of people I don't know, and some that I don't even like. Because it's so easy to do. Because there are things to procrastinate. Or there are people who I know that read them, and so I think I need to as well, in order to keep up. I mean, hey, I don't want to miss out.  WHAT IF I MISS SOMETHING REALLY GREAT?!"

Facebook.  It sucks me in like nobody's business.  I'm a person with great compassion.  I CARE about you, I really truly care. I want to know your woes so I can encourage you with kind words. I don't care if you're my best friend, someone I know from the past, or someone I just met, I still CARE.  If you have a question, I want to answer. If you share a blessing, I want to rejoice with you. If you share something funny, I want to laugh with you.  If you need prayer, I will pray.  I want you to know I'm there with you, no matter what journey you're on.  You're not alone. You matter.  And I care.  And I want you to know it.

And so. I compulsively check for updates at least hourly all throughout the day. And during high times--mornings and evenings--it's even more so.  It's on my mind always. YOU'RE on my mind. When we're in the car. When I'm watching a movie with my hubby. When I'm sitting waiting for the school bus.  

I don't know if it's because I stay home all day and virtually see no one except my own children and I'm CRAVING that social outlet. I don't know if it's because I'm bored. I don't really know.

I just know how I AM. And I know it's consuming me, stealing my thoughts, my time, my day.

You see, it's not Facebook itself.  All the reasons stated above of why I like it are actually a good thing.  It's just the need to find balance, to maintain self-control that leaves me struggling.  

Kelly Winter writes, "Most of us think of an idol as a statue of wood, stone, or metal worshiped by pagan people... In biblical terms, it is something other than God that we set our hearts on (Luke 12:29), that motivates us (1 Cor. 4:5), that masters and rules us (Ps. 119:133), or that we trust, fear, or serve. (Isa. 42:17; Matt. 6:24; Luke 12:4-5)"  She also includes a definition that says, "It may well come in the form of an overattachment to something that is, in itself, perfectly good."  And as John Calvin put it, "The evil in our desire typically does not lie in what we want, but that we want it too much."

So there it is. My idol. Facebook.  It seems sooo ridiculous.  But for me, that's what it is. Really.  

Part 2 I'll share what I'm going to do about it, and how to establish and carry out limits for myself.

But for today, I'll just ask, What is your idol?

Design Dreaming: Playroom

Alright, ever since our bathroom remodel and walling up what used to be the old playroom closet I've been wanting to get the playroom painted.  There's still a patch where we added the new portion of the wall, and it really does actually NEED paint on it.  I've been brainstorming and browsing design ideas.  Wanting to keep the layout mostly the same since it works well for us, I'm mostly needing to add in color, in hopes of adding fun flare to the room and bring it to life!  

We currently have red, lime green, and navy blue storage bins on our white shelves.  So here are some of my inspiration pictures that would coordinate well...

I don't know if this is actually the SAME room and thus the same wall color but at a different angle aka different lighting, but I like the slightly lighter color green better.

We already have a wall of frames for kids art (might paint them white??), and I really do want to find a really large world map for our other full wall, so I want to keep the walls solid color.  Thinking of letting the kids add hand prints to their art wall.

Now for curtains.  We have one BIG window and one small window.  Here are some of the ideas I've been looking at...

If the curtains are mostly open, the print would be smashed and the stripes would look better than the polka dot. Or you could go with just a valance and mini blinds.

OR I could get one of the large striped curtain and SEW it into 2 valances.  Although eventually I'd like BOTH--striped curtains AND a solid color valance. Oh dear, now I'm thinking of all kinds of options...

Belt shopping

Alright ladies, I found this cute dress for $6 at the thrift store a couple weeks ago.

I'm trying to be more of a dress-wearer and I can't wait to wear it, BUT I'm looking for a red belt to go with it!  Like these:

Fashion is soo not my forte, so tell me what you think! Different color? No belt? Hate the dress altogether?? And while we're at it, what kind of shoe would you wear with this dress?  A regular high-heel, flats, or knee-tall boots?

Emily, this is your thing, so help me out here!!!


Other Inspiration: (will post links here as I continue to browse around)
Dress with cardigan and boots.

Monday Meanderings - Aug 29

How can it be Monday AGAIN already?? It was a busy week, a fun weekend, and it all just flew by!!  There's no time to have some lazy days and recoop, nope, it's the school year, time to just GO AGAIN! Still getting used to all of that!

Bible Study... No Other Gods, Finish at least three of this week's study lessons.

Memory Verse...  Colossians 3:15
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."

Husband Encouragement...
♥ He's off this week but has several things he wants to get done. So I will give him the freedom to do that instead of demanding for his time and attention.

Train Them Up...
* Have snack and a game already set up for Eli when he gets home from school.
* Some lessons on self-control maybe?

Personal Goals...
* Run 3x this week, outside if possible. I'm actually getting back into this!
* Order belt to go with my new dress.
* Possibly order one or two new bras now that my size has stabled out and currently only one bra fits!

New Habit of the Month...  {AUGUST} New school routine.

MUST Do...
* MOPS stuff -- print activity packets (so I can staple them this weekend at my parents house with their fancy stapler), print placemats, call bowling alley, mail letters
* Write letter to Grandma.
* Practice French horn, playing a special music this Sunday at my parent's church.
* Set up an account online so I can keep track of Eli's lunch money balance.
* Unpack car.
* Return book to Jess since I'm done reading it!

Zone(s)... outgrown clothes

Menu - TBD

M -
T -
W -
Th -
F - Iowa
S - Iowa
Su - Iowa

FUN THINGS!
* Well, I can't find my pocket calendar at the moment so I hope I'm not forgetting something I might have going on, but I'm pretty sure the only thing this week is going home next weekend to take photos for a friend!

3 things I'm thankful for today...

1.  A really really great weekend visiting my college friends!  I try to get everyone together about this time every year, and this year we decided to go camping! It was soo much fun!

2. Gorgeous weather.  It's amaaaazing!  Which is nice because it's probably going to rain the next 3 days!

3. Safe travels. Not something to take for granted. The roads are a scary place!

Monday Meanderings - Aug 22

Bible Study... Look through new Bible study book.

Memory Verse...  Colossians 3:15

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."

Husband Encouragement...

♥ Send him pics of our day via text. Sometimes I'm pretty exhausted by the time he gets home from work, and he only sees the snappy mommy.  So I've been trying to send him fun pics of the kids during the day. When we're playing at the park or painting or whatever. Shows that things are going well at home.

♥ Dessert.

Train Them Up...
* School routine has been going very well.  When Eli gets home from school he's REALLY been wanting to play board games or Uno.  If the little ones are sleeping, we can play. But often times they're just getting up when Eli gets home and games are one of those "when Carter's sleeping" activities. It might be nice if I sometimes plan something specific to do with Eli when he gets home. Lets him know I was looking forward to that time with him.

* Thinking about letting them have "do-overs" instead of always doing a spanking or time-out?? Would help us PRACTICE that good behavior we're going for.

Personal Goals...
* Run 1x this week, outside if possible.
* Print August workout calendar (even though yes, I know the month is almost over already)

* Start reading "my" new book, Heaven Is For Real.

* Order belt to go with my new dress.

* Possibly order one or two new bras now that my size has stabled out and currently only one bra fits!

New Habit of the Month...  {AUGUST} New school routine.

MUST Do...
* Mail remainder of Moppet letters out. (just one or two more I think)

* Write letter to Grandma.

* Send thank you note.

* Order photo books before coupon expires Wednesday.

* Call campground!!

Zone(s)... outgrown clothes

Menu - might shuffle the days around this week, but here are the meals

M - spinach pizza, grapes

T - lemon pepper chicken, salad

W - Chow Mein

Th - pork tenderloin, rice, veggies

F - Iowa

S - Iowa

Su - REST

Dessert of the week: red velvet cake roll (need to remember to make this earlier in the week since we'll be gone the weekend)

FUN THINGS! 

* Hannah's first day of preschool Tuesday!!  So excited for her!  Going to go walking with a friend during this time so I can stay in town.

* Uppercase Living party at a friend's house Tuesday evening.  Not sure I'll be able to order anything but I'm just excited to go fellowship!  

* Headed to Iowa this weekend for our annual gathering with my really good college friends! I decided last year that just a picnic was NOT enough time with everyone, so this year we're going to try camping, kids too!  SOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3 things I'm thankful for today...

1. Eli's doing so well with the school routine. Sounds like he's making friends!
2. Time with family over the weekend! Once again, I just LOVE living close to family!
3. Photo book sale on Shutterfly!