My Frugal Blessing!

Some of you may know that we bought a computer in December, since mine was from 2001, and had crashed. It was on it's last legs, and died the last week of November. So, I was sans computer while we waited and researched what to do.

We ended up buying a laptop from Dell. It has a large hardrive, and a ton of memory. I love the fact that it's a laptop, and that I am not stuck in one place all day. I can take it into the family room, and surf while dh watches TV, I can take it upstairs with me into the playroom, I can even take it to Panera Bread if I want! lol! So what does this have to do with my frugal blessing? Well, certainly not that laptop as it was expensive! (But it IS a blessing).

My frugal blessings arrived this week, in the form of two gift cards to Dell in the amount of $140. This was from two of the add ons we purchased with the computer. Now, many of you also know I have been wanting to get a new digital camera. Mine is my dad's and very old. While I am happy to have a camera to use at all...the color quality was not accurate on this camera, and simple functions such as deleting photos took forever. So, I'm now able to purchase the camera I want at Dell with the two gift cards! I called dh and told him right away! What a blessing!

Medieval Times!

We had an absolutely enchanting experience last night! We got to the "castle" and checked in, and then waited in line to enter. As we were waiting for dh to come back from parking the car, we saw the "Sold Out" sign go up in the ticket window. I had a feeling it was going to be a good performance.

As soon as you walk through the castle's entrance, you are taken back in time into another world. You receive a crown to cheer for your knight..... which is from your area of the country. But they don't just hand you the crown, and usher you over for a picture. No it's "My Lord, your crown, My Lady your crown, please step forward." We milled in the courtyard, filled with many tempting shops... ie: souvenirs. If young children were in your company....you were lucky to get out with your life! We did end up getting two swords, for the boys, and my husband bought me a lighted rose, just for chivalry.... (and because he is impulsive). LOL! The master of ceremonies announced that we may enter the banquet hall, and called us to enter by the color of our crowns. Each color represented a knight, who as I mentioned before, we were to cheer for. The colors of each knight were green, blue, red, yellow, black and white, and red and yellow. Our knight was the red and yellow knight and we were located in the middle of the banquet hall.

The banquet hall was set up as an arena, and I truly don't believe there was a bad seat in the house. You sat at long banquet tables with chairs facing out to the middle of the sand covered center, so that you could view all the action. We met our serving "wench", otherwise known as waitress, and the evening began. While the knights were being introduced, our first course was vegetable soup served with a piece of garlic bread. No utensils in the house...this is the middle ages, and you eat with your hands. Soup was in a pewter bowl with a handle, and you drank it. My boys were sooo funny...they must have been starved, as I chuckled so much as they proclaimed "This is the best soup ever...... Mom you gotta make this soup!" lol!

Throughout the entire dinner there was some type of entertainment going on. A horse trainer, taking his horse through fancy moves...a falconer with it's falcon flying overhead, knights on horses etc. The dinner was served piece meal, the next course was a chicken. Delicious. We had to help pull it apart for the boys or they never would have eaten...they were so intent on the entertainment. Next a spare rib and a potato...all eaten of course with our hands. Messy for sure, but when in Rome....or the Middle Ages.... well you know..... Again my boys could not help proclaiming this was the best dinner ever! (Makes a mom think after the fact, geez what am I feeding them? Oh yeah, Hamburger Helper. The castle wins hands down on that one. lol.)

The jousting and sword fights happened sometime in the middle of the feast. I wish I could have captured the faces of my two young sons! Eyes wide as saucers.... cheering our knight to victory! The banquet hall was filled with noise as each group cheered and yelled! When at one point our knight fell to the ground, injured by a blow from his opponent, ds2 yelled "Get up! Get up!" He was so "into it"!! Lol! Our knight was not the winner in the end.... the victory deservedly went to the blue knight that day. As our serving waitress (I really hate to call her a wench) was removing our dinner, she asked ds2 if he was finished. Always my exuberant over the top child, he said patting his tummy, "Oh yes, I think after this I am so full!" She laughed as she took his plate, and then he said to her, "And thank you for this wonderful dinner!" Which brought a look of surprise to her face! (Makes a mom proud!)

In the final battle, between the rogue red knight and the blue knight, they brought out coffee and dessert. Dessert was an apple pastry..... A couple next to us who was enjoying some cake for a birthday, offered a piece to the boys. Could the evening get any better? Ds1 who is my sweet child, (as in would never pass up a sweet treat), thanked her profusely and wished her a happy birthday! lol! We ended the evening with a finale cheering all the knights and their squires. Dh said, it was an awesome evening, one he enjoyed as much as the boys! Ds1 said, That was AWESOME! I thought I was going to be bored!! lol! I laughed thinking how anyone could be bored during that evening of entertainment. All in all a fantastic time! Just watching my son's eyes shine in wonder was worth every penny!

For The Appointed Time....

This morning the boys had a piano lesson. It is by far my most peaceful time of the week, hands down. I sit in the piano teacher's living room, next to a pot bellied stove, curled up on her soft rocking recliner, and study God's Word. Sometimes I will write my lesson plans for the following week, but today I couldn't wait to get to my Bible study.

I am working through a Bible study by Priscilla Shirer entitled, "Discerning the Voice of God." It certainly seems appropriate for right now in our lives. With so many decisions and thoughts floating around my head concerning our adoption it really causes me to question... Especially with the wait for a referral being so long, I begin to ask, "Lord is this really your plan? Are we even on the right path? Because it's taking SO long!" As I was studying this morning I came upon this verse that encouraged me:

Habakkuk 2:3 The vision is yet for the appointed time....Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay.

It really gave me pause to think of four things:

1. The vision is for an appointed time. This leading that God gave us, is planned ahead by Him. He is in control of the time, and he has even appointed that time. Even though we don't know when that will be...He does.
   
   
2. Though it tarries, wait for it... It is going to seem slow to us.... God's time is not our time!How often do I want to rush out and speed things up myself? But God says, wait.
   
   
3. It will certainly come. There isn't a doubt here... it will certainly come. God doesn't bring us somewhere to leave it half undone. He will finish it until completion.
   
   
4. It will not delay. This part of the verse almost seems in complete opposition to the earlier words..."though it tarries". But in God's timing it is not delayed. He is in control of each piece of the puzzle, the time frame, and every detail of our adoption. On His timeline...he is right ontime. I have to remember that it is His timeline. :-)

Some more random thoughts....

No updates on the adoption arena.... I am so hoping at least someone gets some news from our agency about either a referral or court dates... Please let it be this week!

On the home front, I have some random thoughts going on:

• I'm so proud of my ds1 and his hard work in Math. he has just done phenomenally and is about to finish level Gamma and move onto Delta in our math curriculum. He really knows his multiplication well. And I'm not just talking facts, I'm talking for example: 5497 x 3875 = 21,300,875. No calculator at all. He really was struggling with this a few weeks back, and so we stopped moving forward and just reviewed, and practiced these for almost 2 weeks. That hard work has really paid off, and I am thrilled for him! He has learned what makes a number prime or composite and can name them if you ask. He is quite ready to move onto division.
  
  
• Not to be outdone, his younger brother is getting ready to start multiplication himself in two weeks. He too has worked very hard on his subtraction and addition (5 digits). We also stopped moving forward with him, and reviewed and practiced these kinds of problems over and over. 54,126 - 38,659 = 15,467. Lots of regrouping and keeping place value straight...it's hard for an 8 year old!
  
  
• Finally, we began studying Medieval Times today. I like this sooo much better than Ancient History. I myself find this period of time interesting, so consequently am finding it much more fun to teach. We will be making a huge castle out of refrigerator boxes, and some more fun projects over the coming weeks. This weekend we will be heading to the dining experience called none other than Medieval Times. It will give them an idea of what a meal was like in that time period, and they have jousting etc. It should be really awesome! I think it will be a highlight in our studies this semester.

If you read my other blog you know we are still on the hunt for a car/truck. It is much harder than I imagined to steer clear of a large car payment. But we are still looking a trying our best to be wise in our decision making process.....

Mother/Son Fun Night....

This evening at church we had the first ever Mother/Son fun night! I was quite frankly a little apprehensive about going, because well.... our Children's Pastor loves fun games with any kind of "gunk". The messier the better... Picture Nickelodeon with their slime. The only thing we were told to bring were flashlights, and I assumed that was for flashlight tag. I'm not exactly a girly girl, yet an evening of flashlight tag and slime (with the possibility of it landing in my hair) didn't really appeal to me. lol!

So, I put on my very bravest face, and off I went with a show of outward enthusiasm! When we arrived, we got to fellowship with friends for an hour or so while eating pizza. Then it was on to the gym area, where they had many colorful foam balls lined up on the floor, with a large area that was taped off. The balls weren't soft and fluffy foam, but hard enough to throw, though they wouldn't hurt. Yes, we moms were in for a treat... War Ball! When our Pastor told all the boys to get on one side of the room, and the moms on the other... well you should have heard the ROAR from the crowd! Those boys looked ready to go for the kill... lol! And some of the moms did too... lol! I used to be much more competitive in this area, but I was content to lay back and watch and wait. It was hilarious to watch a few of the moms who were way into it! They did well too! I wouldn't say there was an actual winning team, but a good time was had by all.

Then back to the main area of the building for another game. The moms had to line up in two lines, and race to see whose team could finish first in a sort of relay race. Nothing was actually being relayed, but the whole line had to do a task and once you finished you went to the end of the line.... when your whole line completed the task, that team won. What was the task? Oh, just dig in a container of dirt, and pull out a Night crawler, grab a hook and bait it on there good and tight. All the boys where in glee to be able to watch their moms bait a worm. Actually the first lady on our team was hysterical. I was cracking up, as she really couldn't stand to touch the thing, and it was l-o-n-g and squirming everywhere. I did very well, as I used to fish as a kid, and so worms really don't bother me that much. (My boys were impressed). I noticed that some mom's who homeschool looked about ready to dissect them! lol!

Then it was on to flashlight tag. My ds2 was all about mom during this game...where should we hide? What's the best place? And I just let him take the lead and tell us where and when we should go anywhere. He had a blast! My ds1 was content to just hang with all his friends... and I kept hearing them call his name all evening. He was my social butterfly. Hiding for flashlight tag was a lot of fun, although I confess at the end I could have stayed hidden for a long time. I was on the floor, in the nursery, behind a crib and a rocking chair, sitting against a wall, in the quiet dark...and no one was looking in there for me. It was a good thing my son was there, or they may have had to wake me in the morning! :-)

We ended the night with some more fellowship time, and then off for home we went. I thoroughly had a good time, and thanked our Pastor for all the hard work he put into organizing it. It was well timed and ran smoothly, and I think everyone had a blast! I brought my camera but the dumb battery died! I hope that some others moms can send me extra photos... as it's definitely one for the memory books!

It's Snowing!!

Since moving further South from Pennsylvania, almost two years ago, we haven't had the opportunity to see much snow. Like hardly any at all...maybe 1-3 inches last year. We were chuckling that year, because school's were closed and everyone was home for that snowfall. lol! The reason we chuckle is up north we could have 6-8 inches of snow, and school's would be cancelled, but work would not. And when we used to live in the Hudson Valley of New York, well you could probably add another 6 inches before things were cancelled. Yes, I know that in those two states they are equipped to handle clearing the roads of that snow. (And they have the equipment and the budget for snow removal supplies). I wonder what one uses to clear an inch? Probably good old mother nature. :-) One thing I noticed is that, the further north you go is directly proportionate to how well they plow the roads. Seriously. In NY, they were amazing! We had two 15 inch snowfalls with two weeks separating them...and those roads were so clear! I bet as you go into states further north they are even better. lol!

I have several memories of the snow back in PA. We lived on a huge hill, which was so NOT fun to drive. Our driveway was downhill, (like way downhill) so getting back up to get out for work was a mess. We couldn't park on the street or risk getting hit by the snowplows. When we were first married dh was in the National Guard, and he would drive to Pittsburgh once a month for his weekend training. He really wanted to stay with his old guard unit even though we lived 4 hours away! So, he was away that weekend, and driving back that Sunday in a snowstorm. I remember him calling me from a rest stop and me telling him that further south of where he was located, was blizzard conditions. It was snowing where he was, but not that bad yet. I was so nervous for him to get home safely, and he was at least 2 hours away. My neighbor's girls came over to keep me company while I waited, and I remember being on the edge of my seat most of the time. He didn't have a cellphone, so I couldn't get a hold of him. Finally after several hours...I see a person walking up our hill....it was unplowed, and undriveable. There he was trudging up in his army uniform. He got to the house, and got a huge hug from me! He told me he had to park the car down at the horse farm (close to where we lived), because it wouldn't have made it up the hill. At the time he drove a black Dodge Stealth, and when we went to get the car the next day...we couldn't find it! It was buried in one of the hugest snows on record in PA.....well by that, and the snowplows! lol!

So, anyway it is snowing here!!!! Apparently we are expected to get between 1 and 3 inches... which probably means 1 inch. :-) However, it's absolutely beautiful!!! I just turned on my landscape lights and the shrubs and trees are covered in a winter wonderland. I see pictures happening tomorrow! (As long as it doesn't turn to rain). If there is even an inch on the ground we will have a fun day tomorrow! It's so rare that we see snow these days, that it is deserving of a holiday! I have hot chocolate and marshmallows just waiting in the pantry! Here's a picture of the boys with hot chocolate after playing in the snow last year.

Pediatrician Update and misc....

We met with our pediatrician and it was a good meeting! We mainly wanted to ask about what he looks for on the return from Russia and any advice he has in general. It is good to know he does a full blood work up to check again for HIV, Hep TB etc. He has seen over 200 families in his practice, who have adopted from all over the globe. He himself has adopted 4 from Russia.... (my correction, as I originally thought it was 5, but another adoption was stateside). I asked about parasites, and he said you will typically see blow out diapers with that...and he will request a sample to test. He said it's usually giardia? (sp?) and I knew that to be true from so many adoptive parents blogs that I read whose children come home with that. He was totally knowledgeable in that area, and really all areas..... the only thing that I think I'm not 100% comfortable with is using him as our IA doctor. I would still rather get a specialist who deals with IA all of the time, and who is available whenever we need medicals or photos reviewed. So, we will still be looking for an International Adoption Doctor. If anyone has a recommendation of who they have used or who they know is good....please pass it along! I know I had one sent to me months ago, but that was on our old computer that crashed...so I'll need any info again! Our agency recommends Vanderbilt, and I was also wondering if anyone has had experience with them. Please feel free to email me if you'd like from the email link on our blog page.


In other news the boys got haircuts after the appointment...(badly needed) and then we went to Walgreens for some huge savings! I stocked up on cleaning supplies that they had Buy One Get one free, plus some Glade Scented Products. Now before I post this and the picture, let me say that I am also getting ready to start a new blog... just on all our savings deals. This one is for family and the adoption, and I'm cluttering it up with all this stuff....but you'll have to bear with me while I figure out a name and get clip art for the blog. It's taking me awhile to do that as I mentioned I am so not "techy". lol! So here are the deals: Photo and all.. I bought $83.xx in regular priced items...after my coupons and store sales......I spent out of pocket (OOP) $23.xx I also received a $3.00 off coupon on my next order at Walgreens! Pretty cool! I am really proud of myself. I found out about the bogo deals from Jeannie's blog. Thanks Jeannie!

Exhausted....

Today was a tiring day.... I was up early and was out the door by 10am (not my best time, but I dawdled over coffee and the net). Anyway, I went out to a few used bookstores, looking for some curriculum. I am seriously thinking of switching things up a bit next year to make learning more hands on for the boys. But more on that another day. I found very little of what I was looking for, just some multiplication and division flash cards. I did find 2 books named The First 1000 Words, and My First 500 Words. I got this idea from Carey who is also adopting from Russia. GREAT idea to help us communicate with our children by pointing to pictures and saying words...so they understand. Although they are not Usborne books, I only paid $1.00 each for them.

Then it was home for a healthy stir fry lunch, and then off to Upwards basketball. Both boys played very well, and Chris coached well too. (Assistant coach). I saw Jeannie at the game and we talked about what else? Saving money! lol! It was great to see her, such a surprise! While I was watching the game I was writing out my two week menu for the 2nd time...yes that's right....2nd time. After spending a good deal of time making up that menu, I lost it. I actually think I left it on the counter or in the cart at CVS. Bummer! That thing was so difficult to put together (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinners). I have learned a lesson and will be typing it and saving it from now on. I was lost without it! What do I cook, what should I thaw? etc. etc. etc.

Then after 2 hours of basketball, I came home to cook a dinner.... Chinese Chicken Salad for the family. After dinner I just looked around and around. I mentioned that my pantry was out of control. A complete mess, and I couldn't find anything. Plus having stocked up on so many items recently at the grocery store, I had cans and cereal boxes everywhere. Plus the dishes from lunch and dinner, and well just a BIG OL' MESS! So as tired as I was, it was time to "just do it", as the Nike slogan goes. Dishes washed, everything cleared out of the pantry and the laundry area. Do you know that I had 8 cans of cream of chicken soup? 8 cans!! I hardly even use that stuff! lol! Oh, and do you know what else I found??? I had just emailed my homeschool group to see if they knew anyone who sold tupperware. I wanted to buy those cereral storers so I could consolidate some of the boxes of cereal I got. I found 3 Tupperware Cereal Storers...the large ones! lol! I was gonna buy one on ebay... or contact a local rep to get them new. I'm so glad I didn't!

So, the pantry is organized. In the laundry area (which had recently become the junk area), we pulled quite a bit of stuff for our yard sale. Please don't look in my dining room, as that was the temporary spot for all yard sale items we found. The table is covered...and I'll have to clean it up before we actually entertain guests again. :-) I feel better about my whole organization of the kitchen, and I can look in the pantry and tell what I am low on, and what I need to buy in bulk. Let's just say Cream of Chicken soup isn't one of them. :-)

Here are some pictures of the mess that was my kitchen. I can promise you that it is usually clutter free, (neat freak here). I'll post after pictures tomorrow of the pantry and kitchen and how much better they look. It feels like a Tackle it Tuesday today...even though it's Saturday! I'm ready to lay down and read a good book... I don't even want to think about the coupons or the CVS flyer that is coming tomorrow. :-)

Traveler IQ Challenge...

I found this game on another adoptive couples blog... and thought that my homeschool friends would enjoy taking this challenge... no looking at maps on the wall though! lol! Click on the link below:

Travelers IQ Challenge

Editing to add: My husband will be teaching geography from now on.... he got to level 9!! Are there really that many levels? Maybe he was reading 6 upside down. lol! I on the other hand had to work very hard to get to level 6. (As in try over and over again)....Like Rachel, I had several, "You do know this is earth right?" lol!

A good friend to make you smile....

I just got off the phone with a good friend who is currently living in China. She was my neighbor, prayer partner and mentor when my boys were babies.... :-) I haven't actually spoken to her by phone in almost a year, as we usually communicate via email. So, what an awesome surprise to hear her voice on the telephone! We yaked for several hours broaching numerous subjects. Ie: hair color and highlights, cooking, saving money, children, adoption, school, family (both immediate and extended), jobs, prayer requests and much more.... we laughed and shared for over two hours! It just brought a smile to my face tonight realizing that no matter the physical distance between us, the friendship that God blessed us with, remains the same.

Some more bullet points from my life....

• We had a great official week back at school with the boys. I was surprised by how much history and science they remembered.... and this is Ancient History! We begin World History II next week. I'm actually planning on skipping ahead a few weeks to cover Knights and Castles. Medieval Times the restaurant/entertainment venue had Kids Free coupons in a circular recently, so this will cap off this study very nicely. I am also amazed at my first son's spelling improvement....he really has had a "click" happen, as he is spelling much better both orally and in his creative writing.
  
  
• The boys started piano lessons today, and I think they will be very happy. There teacher is so sweet, and patient. They knew a lot of musiac theory from recorder class....I can't wait to see how they progress as the year goes on.
  
  
• We are taking down our Christmas tree finally.... it is looking tired and a bit bedraggled. It was time. So, my living room should be back in order soon, and all the Christmas stuff put away in the attic.
  
  
• However, just as one area gets in order another turns to chaos. We are beginning now to get prepared for a yard sale in the spring, where all sales will go toward our adoption. A friend jut donated some stuff for that today, and we will begin to set up several places in our house as working areas, to price things and get them ready. We plan on asking for donations from our Sunday school classes and church, so we can add to what we have. Anyone want to come help in the spring? :-) I'm really hoping that maybe my mom and dad can come help... I haven't broached it with them yet, it all will depend on their schedule.
  

I guess that's all for now.... I have been starting posts and half writing them, and saving them as drafts... some deeper thoughts to ponder, and yet they never flow to paper (or in this case keyboard). They seem to remain just a jumble of thoughts. When I untangle one or two I'll post them.

Fresh Baked bread, Homemade soup, and other things....

Yesterday my friend Susan and her children came over for the afternoon. This past summer she picked up a practically brand new bread machine at a yard sale for me for $5. (Awesome deal huh??!) I was nervous about using it for the first time, as I have never used a bread machine before.... so Susan was kind enough to come over and walk me through it. (Read: hold my hand lol!) Anyway, while we fellowshipped in the kitchen baking bread, the kids all played Wii, or various other electronic games in the house. They were outside as well, riding skateboards and setting up jump ramps. At one point, I learned later, there were 10 boys playing football in my yard... (our children and many of the neighborhood boys). Whew! Glad I didn't know how many there actually were!

Chris came home last night with a 27" TV that he bought for the exercise room for $45. It fits well and will be a big help for when I want to work out. Anyway, when he came home I had lit a fire in the firelace, and we were chilling in the family room with some classical music playing. (I don't know what it is about classical music, but it is really soothing!) It was so nice and peaceful and the kitchen smelled of just baked fresh bread. I just love pleasing him like that! Today, because I have been so careful to plan out all our meals, we had homemade chicken noodle soup for lunch with some of that leftover bread. It was delicious, and healthy and I have to say...even budget friendly! I'm looking forward to making next weeks menu plan up to see how frugal I can be, and while still being health conscious...

Last evening after the kids went to bed, we finally finished our adoptive parenting education. Huge relief, as this has been an unaccomplished task in my book for far too long! Today we both received emails that we passed the course with flying colors and all I need to do is print our our certificates as proof of that fact! Yeah! I also received a super helpful email from Becky, just encouraging me through the adoptive process. I had sent her a long vent of an email, and her response helped more than she will know. As a result of that, we spoke to our program director at our agency and feel much better in general about many things. We are 3rd in line waiting for siblings, and hopefully someone will get a referral soon, so we can move up in line. :-) We await a call from our local pediatrician (the one who adopted 5 siblings from Russia)..... we are setting up a consultation with him next week. And we have a tentative travel agency, but if anyone has any recommendations at all...please feel free to leave a comment. We still don't have an International Adoption doctor selected, but we will wait and see who our pediatrician recommends. That's all the news on the adoption front.

I'm off to peruse the new CVS flyer that Chris picked up today. That and some classical music should be a fine way to spend the afternoon!

New Look...New year...

Yes, It's a new look and a new year here. Unfortunately, I am completely non tech-savvy in regards to the computer or blogging. Chris got me the books Blogging for Dummies this Christmas, and Create your Own Web Pages for Dummies....(or something like that). I returned both of them, one was too simple having to do with the basic blogger functions, and the other was over my head. I wish there was an easy step by step tutorial, for how to create cool templates etc. on your blog.

Anyway.... so much for that rant! We called our agency today and requested to open our dossier up to include two boys. Our original request was for two sibling girls, however after praying about it over the last two weeks, we called to say either two girls or two boys...Stating our preference is twins.... (When I first wrote that, it sounded like we opened it up to accept 4 children... which many of you may have thought we lost our minds!) lol! Nope two children is our hope, preferably twins as young as possible. So, we will see what the Lord has in mind. I have to say that I have a real restlessness still about the adoption. I don't know what to attribute it too, but I just do. I know I need to pray about it first off, as God is the only one who will be able to give me a peace about everything. I know that He has everything in control in His hands....that His timing is perfect. I feel the need to pray for direction and then to completely leave everything at the foot of the cross. Tomorrow I wake up early to spend some quiet time with the Lord....

On the homefront, school is going quite well. We have started back for the second half of our year, without science or history. (These subjects, from Sonlight, begin on Monday). The boys are learning well. They are both just about two lessons from moving up in their Math curriculum....Math U See. Their Language/Reading programs are tracking and we are more than 1/2 way through! We also just started a new vocabulary book, Wordly Wise. They are catching on and retaining well. I really hope to add some critical thinking skills and Spanish this semester.... which unfortunately fall by the wayside, when other subjects take precedence. Both boys will be beginning piano next week, with lessons being taught by a homeschool mom at our church. I am thrilled to see them start this! They are both very self-motivated to begin piano...and can read music from learning the recorder. The regular schedule not only gets back to full swing at school next week, but extracurricularly as well.... AWANA starts up again at church, and Upwards basketball has practices and games. I think we will be out 3 nights a week. Which isn't too bad! Registration for our homeschool enrichment begins next week as well, where the boys learn Spanish, music, Karate and Phys Ed. lol!

So, I need to get organized and rooted in my quiet time daily with the Lord. With everything busy, and going full speed around me... it's the sure place to find peace and contentment.