Kids = laughs

Well, I just needed to posted this funny little experience we had today. I was a waiting a phone call from a family member coming to visit from out of province. I was working in the kitchen with my older daughter when the phone rang. The problem was we were unable to find the phone. We could here it but couldn't find the silly thing. I, being a great finder, found the phone, but you could never guess where! In the potato bag, yes, you heard right. The phone was in the potato bag. The funniest part was that no one seemed to put it there. Funny how that happens, isn't it? Good thing that Mom's take the course, "Finding things,101"

Spanking or No Spanking ?

I was reading a blog and found this quote about spanking our children and some of the effects that can come from it.

"Researchers at Columbia University looked at 88 corporal punishment studies and found a definite connection between spanking and 10 negative outcomes, including damaged parent-child relationships, increased potential for aggression, lying, cheating, bullying and depression, as well as a greater chance that the spanked child will physically abuse his or her own children.'

Armin Brott, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Weekend Blessings

What a wonderful weekend I had. On Saturday morning my family and I went to Nova Scotia to attend a church Conference which was very uplifting and inspiring. We also had a little Seminary Graduation for those youth who had completed the assigned work for the year and for some the whole program. It is a youth program to help them learn the scriptures. I was very proud of my daughter as she has worked hard and did all that was required. She received her certificate. That is two years down for her and two more to go. It is a four year program. We had a nice dinner afterwards and a family dance. I love to dance and at times was the only person up there so I took my baby with me. She loved the music. It was great.
On Sunday we went to Church in Halifax with Cory. Wow, I sure am proud of him. It is amazing how I can have such great kiddos. He is doing wonderful and is doing good getting ready for his mission. He is also heeding other counsel given to him by his leaders. His obedience is a blessing to his mother, that is for sure. I drove all weekend as we needed to take two cars. I was so proud of myself, as I don't usually drive so much. Rob usually takes care of that. But this weekend I did it. Over all, I just had a great weekend. The weather was really nice too. This was great as we were also out on a ferry twice. I hope I can continue with all these good feelings for the rest of the week.

Be Careful, Very, Very Careful

My last post was on our voices and finding them. I just thought I better attach this warning with it. The warning is that sometimes when you use your voice you may wish that you had lost it. Our voices can sometimes get us into big trouble. Trouble that can hurt others and ourselves. I really have experienced this recently. I have spent a long time biting my lip and recently wanted to stop. Well, lets just say I picked the wrong time to stop biting my lip and start running off at the mouth. Please always remember to be respectful when speaking to others. If you can't be respectful, learn from my lesson and bite the lip. I guess another lesson taught to me. To speak is a good thing but only when you can be respectful.

Voices

What a beautiful day I have today. The temperatures are nice and the sun is out and shining beautifully. When I awoke this morning at 6:00am, the sun was out and I could hear the birds singing. Now that is my way of waking up. Today I thought I would like to blog about our voice. I have been thinking about my voice lately. The tone I use, who I have been talking to, what I have been talking about, and of course when to speak and when not to. This last part is the one that has been throwing me lately. When I was younger, my mother told me that, I should be a lawyer as I had the mouth for it. I was very opinionated as a child and loved the chance to debate. I truly thought that I was right and loved the opportunity to show the other person the light, so to speak. I somehow had great confidence in my knowledge and abilities. Somehow over the years, I have lost a lot of the confidence and in turn seemed to have lost a lot of my voice also. It is interesting how they seem to go hand in hand. Now to have an opinion takes a lot of energy and time and to actually be willing to discuss it at length seems exhausting, so often I don't bother. I seem to let things go, or not see them through as I would have in the past. I think that there must be a middle ground in this problem. I am working to find it, not to far either way. Voices can be interesting, educating and even beautiful. I am looking for mind.

Chocolate cake for my Kiddos

Today I had a great day. I accomplished a lot and am very happy with my results; however the best part of the day was the chocolate cake. I wanted to make a chocolate cake for after school snack time today. The cake turned out tasty but it stuck terribly to the pan. Arrg! Of course that fact did not have any effect on my little ones. They don't really care as long as they can eat the cake. Today my 7th kiddo asked me,
"Why did you make a cake?"
I said," I made you a cake because I love you."
" But why," he asked again.
I said," I made you a cake because I thought you might like one."
His reply," And I very, very do!"
I so love my kiddos. They are so cute and indeed a wonderful blessing to me.

Husband's Career Path

The big change that I was talking about last week was about my husband changing accounting firms. He has been hired by another firm. He starts in two weeks. He has found a better fit, one might say. This new firm, sounds so much more like his style and he is getting excited to start. He just has a few little jobs to finish at his current firm before moving on. I wish my sweetie best of luck and would like to tell his new firm how lucky they are to have him. He is truly a great worker and very good at what he does. Changes, Changes, always changes!!!

Working from Home

A large family is a wonderful blessing but it does come with a few hitches, one might say. One of those hitches is income. Almost everything in this life has a price tag. Those price tags are finding their place in front of my eyes a lot lately. I have a child who is planing and working now to go on a mission for our church this fall. I would really like to help him out financially as he has such a worthy and wonderful goal. I also have numerous children who have all sorts of desires to do special things. I also have a mouth that requires much dental work. All of these things are good and not really extras. I am very grateful for all the hard work that my husband does for our family. He works hard to bring home a good income but with the size of our family, the income needs to be a little larger than it is right now. His income will be larger in a few years but we need to pay the price, as the saying goes. For now though, I have a slight problem. I really need to make some extra money. I am planning on babysitting some extra children this fall, but I really wish that I could do something else maybe. Don't get me wrong, I love children. I just think, right now with other responsibilities, this is maybe a little much. I am hoping to find a way to make money from home. With the price of gas and my two little ones still at home, this is really the only way. Wish me luck and if you know of any thing, please let me know.

Playtime on Rainy Days

Today the weather is not very nice. It is cool and wet, not very good for sandbox play. My second youngest really enjoys his outside time and could live in his sandbox. Well today I decided to take the boys to McD's for a slow, long lunch and playtime. We were there for about two hours. The boys had a great time. The second youngest even found some friends that he had met before. I almost enjoyed myself also. I met several people that I knew and enjoyed a short chat. When it came time to leave the boys were sad about leaving but didn't give me any trouble about going. I couldn't believe it. They usually give me a very hard time often filled with tears and all. As I thought about this as I drove home, the thought occurred to me that I was always rushing them. We have never spent that long there before. I think that today, the difference was that they had enough time to really have fun and get a little energy out. The little ones can now be found curled up on the couch watching Franklin the turtle for quiet time. Ah, over all not a bad day at all.

Changes

I belief the saying goes, " the only things certain in life, is death and taxes." Well, this sure seems to be true in my life. There is always something changing. Sometimes I like change as it keeps life from becoming boring. However, I find change a little stressful, even if it is a good change. I can't share the changes yet, but stay tune and I will share when I can. Sometimes in life, you go with your heart and sometimes you go with your head, but you must always take the walk with Christ at your side. I have personally found that if I partner with Jesus, I am always on the right path.

Photos

I am learning how to use photos and clip art to make my blog more eye catching. Please bear with me as I keep trying to find little bits of time to further my knowledge.

A Late Mother's Day Post

Even though Mother's day is all over for another year, I really wanted to take this opportunity to thank my husband and kids. They really made it wonderful. It actually started on Thursday and went to Sunday night, goodies along the way. I just felt wonderful. I liked and appreciated my gifts and breakfast in bed but a few things were very special to me. I really liked the fact that my 12 year old made me eggs for breakfast. He is just learning how to cook. I was really impressed. I also really enjoyed my phone call from my oldest who is living in another province right now. Oh! how I miss him. Something that may sound funny but my husband's voice or tone it was so full of love whenever he spoke to me. I just felt so loved by my whole family on Sunday. Thanks again, family. I really love being your Mom and wife.

I also had a chance to drop off a gift and spend a few moments with my own mother. She is not well and is finding life very difficult. It was nice to spend some time with her. I do get to see her often as she needs a lot of help to accomplish her daily needs. But at this point, I know to enjoy every opportunity given to me.

Happy belated Mother's Day to all mothers and future mothers.

Mommy Moment!!

I am sorry that it has been so long since I posted but I have a confession to make. I couldn't remember my password. Do you believe that I had a total mommy moment where I just totally could not remember the information that I needed to get on to my blog. I really think I need some time to take it easy.

Saving Money

I just had my daily dose of the sparrowsnest blog. The address is as follows. http://www.thesparrowsnest.typepad.com I just love Mrs.Wilt and have read her blog for a long time. This month she is doing a theme on being Frugal. I for one, can sure use this. I encourage you all, to take a minute and drop by and she what she is sharing. It is nice when you are a stay at home mom to try to save money, it is kind of like making it. Some things that I do is : make bread and other bake goods, try to limit junk food and try to combine my trips to save on gas. Who can't appreciate a little less money going into the tank of the car. Well, here is a pat on the back for everyone who saves a few pennies or more today!!!

I'm Back !!

HI, I am finally back and trying to recommit to this blog. I love the idea of writing but to make the time to do it can be the challenge. I am looking to be doing a lot of work around our house soon, I hope that I can keep up with the blog also.

I am also looking to do some soul searching. There are a few things that I need to think about and with family commitments, finding that time is very difficult for me. Do you ever think that you are just loosing yourself. It says in the Bible that if you loose yourself in serving others, you will find yourself. I guess I may missing something because I am not finding me. I still seem to be lost out in the abyss of time. I need to either find me again or reinvent me. Hey the reinventing sounds kind of neat. I wonder if I can reinvent a new body while I am at it! LOL