Oh boy....

It has been a week....make mine a double, please!

There will be days like this...

Yeah, Mr. Pumpkin, I kinda felt like that when my day started.

But, you know what? I am making the decision now, to face the day with God before I face the challenges of my day.

God's mercies are new every morning.

What is tomorrow morning going to bring you, Mr. Pumpkin?

I know! A new view, 'cause I need to chuck ya into the woods! :)

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust." Psalm 91:1-2

More words

I heard on the radio that today is a day to lighten up and laugh. Leave it to me to not remember the exact words used or the actual title - but, anyway, thought this story was cute and it made me laugh! May you be able to find joy today and laugh with friends and family!

A husband looking through the paper came upon a study that said women use more words than men.

It read, "Men use about 15,000 words per day, but women use 30,000."

Excited to prove to his wife that he had been right all along when he accused her of talking too much, he showed her the study results.

The wife thought for a while, then finally she said to her husband, "It's because we have to repeat everything we say."

The husband said, "What?"

Happy Birthday Jill!!

I'm doing something a little different today, for a friend. You see, today is Jill's 40th birthday. And, I'm allowing her hubby, Doug, to hijack my blog today!! Jill is a wonderful blogger friend and I'm thrilled to help her hubby with his request!!

Jill, I hope you have a terrific day today!!!! Wishing you God's richest blessings today and in the year ahead ~ Leigh Ann

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Birthday’s can be difficult. Milestone birthday’s can be devastating. To some more so than others, but to most people…they really seem to matter, to an extent, anyway. (How’s that for covering both sides of the fence?)

That is most people, except my wife Jill @ Who Could Ask for Anything More. Today is her 40th birthday and my co-conspirators I call BFOJ’s (Blogging Friends of Jill’s) have allowed me the distinct honor of being a guest columnist.

My hope is that wherever my wife goes within her circle of BFOJ’s today, she will see this message and know how much she means to me, not to mention how much the BFOJ’s think of her for letting a grizzled hack like me hijack their fantastic and very personal blogs.

Rather than do the traditional acronym exercise (J = Jazzy!) or the “40 Things I Love About My Wife” entry, I thought I would share the four most wonderful things about Jill -- the things that make me love her more every day.

She loves my older kids - Not everyone who marries into a new family will connect with the entire crew, but Jill never missed a beat. With my older kids, she accepted them and loved them – at first simply because they were my kids – and now because of who they are. She treats them with kindness, respect, gives them guidance on chores and other responsibilities, but is very respectful of their mom and never tries to “mother” them. She educated herself about Bay’s food allergies and is very cognizant of his limitations when planning and preparing meals. Rarely a day goes by that she doesn’t make a special version of our family meal just for him. Many times Jill has invited Kendra to come along to the salon to get their nails done. At 11 years of age, Kendra has always gravitating to older girls and more mature activities and this is a special way for them to spend time together.

She loves my parents - I can’t say I was ever really “close” to my folks in the sense that I sought them out for advice about life. So I wasn’t sure how that dynamic would play into my relationship with Jill. She has such a kind heart for that generation and quickly threw her arms around my folks and loved them unconditionally. Since we first met, my Mom has passed away and my Dad has endured a mountain of health issues. Through it all, Jill has been a steady, loving partner. In fact, on the occasions when my Dad visits, we have to make some alterations to the house to accommodate him, his wheelchair, his walker and his personal needs. Jill not only goes with the flow of the décor disruption, but lovingly plans meals that my soon-to-be 82-year-old father doesn’t get as often as he would like. It’s amazing how a simple plate of fried eggs and bacon can light up a proud man. My favorite time of our visits is in the evenings. Jill typically beats me home from work and when Dad is in town, they have usually already cracked open a new bottle of wine. Dad isn’t afraid to ask for service and Jill takes great pleasure in keeping his glass full. It is a precious time.

Her patience - Full disclosure: patience is not my strong suit. In fact, it is probably my greatest weakness and barrier to volumes of peace and happiness. That said, I find myself much more patient in the last four years in so many areas of my life (hmm…coincidence?). If you look up the word PATIENCE in the dictionary, you see a picture of Jill. Despite the chaotic nature of our house, I have rarely seen her react with desperation. In fact, I just see her continuing to raise the bar. As my patience has improved, she get even MORE patience. Her thoughtfulness and patience with Adam is uncanny…not that all mothers’ don’t have that nurturing gene…but even after a solid 10 minutes of whining about something that I find unintelligible…Jill merely says (for the umpteenth time)…”Adam, use words to tell Mom what you want.” She is amazing.

She makes our house a home - Imagine buying your first home together…and it’s already 27 years old. Granted it was in good structural shape, but the majority of the décor was stuck in the 70’s. Over the past two years, Jill has developed a beautiful vision of how our house should look…how it should become a home. We started with dark wood throughout and some of the most exciting beige paint you could imagine. We’ve progressed to vibrant colors, amazing window treatments and bright open spaces. The original kitchen was hideous, but is now a show place. The powder room was engulfed in mind-altering striped wallpaper but now looks like a museum exhibit. She goes bits and pieces forward as time and budget allows and every step of the way she is filling the gaps of her master plan. We’ve both said that this home is the first, last and only one we will ever buy and we joke that our next stop is either the Retirement Home or the Funeral Home. We want a home in which we can build family traditions and memories and one that the kids will want to bring THEIR kids to. We want to grow old right here. Together.

There are obviously many more things that make Jill the woman to whom I have given my heart and want to give my life. She is the woman I dreamed of marrying. She is sweet, but tough, Honest and direct. Kind and loving. She gives without request or expectation. She nurtures with care and patience. She loves unconditionally.


Truly…I am blessed. Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.

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I'm honored to be a BFOJ and help wish her a wonderful birthday!! Stop by her blog and wish her a happy birthday!!

My desk

The other day, my sweet hubby told me he has conceded the desk to me.


A few days ago, I came across an Internet advice column that told me how to eliminate the paperwork clutter on my desk.

GREAT! So I printed out the five pages of how-to instructions and placed them on top of the rest of the stuff on my desk.....








...now I can't find them.




But, hey, what's this? I have found someone to help - yes, that is what I need, a helper.




Oh wait, there he goes...

Well, maybe another day then...its so hard to find good help these days! But, at least the desk is mine, right? ;-)

Where are you looking?

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:12-13

It is well with my soul

Thank you all so much for your kind comments on my last post.

As I think of my friend and her family, I was reminded of this hymn and the story behind it. If you know the story, or if you've never heard the full story, I'd love for you to watch and be strengthened by it.

The life of faith means trusting in God completely. We can live our lives in hope without fear, for we know God controls the future and we rest secure in him.

heavy heart

I'm still here...for anyone who may have stopped by to look for me.

This week, one of my best friend's is dealing with the very unexpected death of her mother.

My heart is so heavy for Tanya, her dad and two younger siblings. Tanya is my age, with a great husband and 4 young children.

What makes it harder to bear is that this family had to lay a daughter to rest less than 3 years ago.

And a son 12 years ago.

My dear friend has buried two siblings and will be burying her mother this week.

WHY?

Why so much to one family?

As I spoke to my friend this morning, God placed a portion of this scripture on my heart to share with her and I'll share it here.

Isaiah 55

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Here it is again, but from The Message.

Isaiah 55:8-11

"I don't think the way you think. The way you work isn't the way I work." God's Decree. "For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.Just as rain and snow descend from the skies and don't go back until they've watered the earth, Doing their work of making things grow and blossom, producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry, So will the words that come out of my mouth not come back empty-handed.They'll do the work I sent them to do, they'll complete the assignment I gave them.

May you each take the opportunity to hold your loved ones close this week and tell them you love them.

More Treats

2007 Cast of characters...

The message...

Treats from the past

2006 - Quintin was a soccer player (with an orange hunting hat :)) and Elle was a Little Roar! heehee - Colin was still a 'bellybean' at this point!

Our Sunday School class did a 50s dress up party many years ago. It wasn't during the Fall, but I'm guessing in Spring, since T is wearing his glasses (gotta love spring allergies).Here's some friends I had to include!!

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And last, but not least - this one totally cracks me up for many reasons. First, because T agreed to do it with me and secondly, because my friend A is standing right next to me and she is dressed as an Amish woman! LOL


Yep, that's us! Momma and Poppa Roar in their finest! If you ever need a costume idea - don't say I didn't give you one!!!!


I will post another picture later when we get back from co-op and get the finishing touches done for tonight's fun! I hope you enjoyed our blast from the past today!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Mary is hosting TTT, head on over to her site to read more!

It is always amazing to me what kids pick up without you even knowing it, such is the case with our Tiny Talk this week.

I work with Quintin on memorizing Bible verses. Elle is always in the room when we practice and it shouldn't have come as a surprise the other night when she could finish it. We were all in the truck having run some errands and I was getting Quintin to say his for his dad. Something got my attention and I didn't finish saying the reference scripture and a little voice from the back finished it for me. I then went through the verse with Elle and she had almost all of it! T and I were both shocked - and proud of her. Quintin was excited for her too.

So, the next morning I taped them both with my camera. You'll hear a few hoots and hollers in the background from Colin, but I think its pretty clear overall, I hope at least!!

Life's simple pleasures...

...are as different as the people treasuring them.

~Momma Roar

The Colors of Fall

Kelli is hosting Show & Tell today, please head over to her site to see more.


I really enjoy Fall and all the colors the come along with it. I thought you might enjoy seeing the colors around our house today.






The browns.....


The reds...

Even some black...

Oh, did you think I meant our trees? Sorry, here you go!

Have a great weekend! Thanks for hosting Show & Tell Kelli!

Today

Taken from: The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall

Wordless Wednesday

To see more, visit the Wordless Wednesday site.

Tiny Talk

Mary is hosting Tiny Talk Tuesday, and here is what our tiny ones had to say this week.

Daddy walks in to wake up Elle Saturday morning.
Elle: Daddy you woke me up while I was sleeping.
Dad: Yes, I did. You can't sleep all day long.
Elle: Yes I can!

If you can, we can.
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Talking about one of his cousins who recently turned 10.
Quintin: When I turn 10, I'll be about L's age?

I didn't even want to point out that L would be 15 when he is 10, so we left it go.
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Quintin and I were doing some math work. Typically, during school time, Colin plays on the floor and Elle moves between the table and the floor. One morning, I hadn't noticed her step away from the table, until we saw her feet, only her feet, across the table. She was laying on the floor with her feet up against the table, saying "Wooooook, aaaaaaaaat myyyyyyy feeeeeeeeeeet. Do you seeeeee my feeeeeeeeeet?"

Nothing like a cute pair of toes to make you giggle!

More of Him

Diana hosts More of Him each Monday. Stop by to check it out!







I've decided to post today on "Him in my life." Here's what Diana challenges us with:

Share how God is working in your life right now. Is He telling you something or helping you through something? Do you hear His small, quiet voice? Or is He hitting you over the head with a two by four? Are you on a spiritual high? Or low? Share as you are led.

Something the Lord has been placing on my heart is my attitude with my children. Its funny, because with friends (IRL or bloggy), I can encourage and laugh and I want to make people laugh. But, when it comes to my children, I feel like I am constantly trying to get them to "calm down" or "be quiet" instead of letting them "get their sillies out!" (As children's music artist, Raffi would say). I know I am probably being hard on myself, but why is it so easy to make others laugh, but I can't encourage it with my children? It seems I have to really work to be silly with them.

The Lord has made me more aware of this and that is why the prayers at interceding for our children have taken on more of a parent perspective.

Friday, as I was exercising, I cried out that I wanted our day to be more fun and for me to be more relaxed. I had only 4 1/2 hours sleep Thursday night (stayed up too late looking at shoes online and was up at 5:30 to walk). I thought we were doomed because of my lack of rest. But, the Lord had other plans. We had a wonderful day. We got so much accomplished and had fun doing it. I thought maybe I was too delirious from the lack of sleep that I just didn't notice anything to pick about. ;-)

Yesterday afternoon, my husband was taking Quintin to a friend's birthday party. I was telling Quintin as he climbed in the truck to use manners, control himself, have fun.....so on and so on. And T jokingly says to me, "Yes, because this reflects on us."

As they pulled out, I was stopped dead in my tracks. Then I began to question my motives in saying those things to our son.

Do I want him to behave so he is safe, careful....or is it because of the reflection it has back on me, as his mom? Is it because we homeschool and there aren't any other homeschoolers our age at church?

WOW! It all hit me like a truck. Its something I really need to continue to think about and pray about.

I will continue to ask God for help, strength and wisdom in this area. So, now I'm off to relax, have fun and enjoy my children. May you find the opportunities to do that with your children today, too!

Thank you for hosting this Diana!

We had a blast!

Yesterday, I had an awesome lunch. A lunch that lasted 4 hours!


Do you recognize any of these faces?


Mary, Meg and Momma Roar - we met for lunch Saturday. Meg and Mary have been friends for a long time and I met both of them through blogging. Mary came up to see Meg after Meg had her second child - a dear sweet little boy, Liam (he was along too, but was sleeping at picture-time!) Meg and I live kinda close - so, we thought it would be a great time to get together!

What a wonderful opportunity to have lunch with these two sweet gals. Their love for the Lord shines through so much more in person and it was fun to get to know the, ahem, "other" side that doesn't come through on blogging. We had such a blast!

We ate at a little cafe and there were others seated around us with their laptops - we could've been go*gle chatting while eating - or posting about it in real time - but, that would mean we have an addiction to blogging - which we certainly do not. We aren't those *crazy* people with like 1000 blogs in their bloglines account. We aren't addicted...now, where was I?

It was such a blast and I'm so thankful it worked out to get together. Gotta give a shout-out to our hubs: A, E and T for keeping the calm on the home front while we were gone.

I had a blast - thanks for the lunch date, girls!

Show & Tell

I've been wanting to share two of our 'extra projects' that we've been doing. Quintin had a great time painting them and I think they turned out really cute.






Let's all climb aboard the Quintin Train!










We also found some inexpensive wooden kits at the local craft store. Quintin's first choice was this race car!








To see more Show & Tells, head over to Kelli's!

What fun projects have you recently done or plan to do soon with your children?

Its time for a VLOG

Edited to add: I posted my thoughts about the 'Count your blessings' post yesterday afternoon - so, you can find them below this one.

Oh, just in case you've ever wondered what a day in our house is like, here is a small glimpse!!


Colin has been pulling himself up to his knees, but yesterday, he mastered getting to his feet....kinda! And the other two crazies added in with the fun and laughter.





Notice it cuts off as the screams start?.....yes, well, this is our life! :D lol