Thanks!

  Thank all of you ladies who took time to encourage me yesterday and today.  I can tell at least someone was praying for me.  Even though I didn't sleep well or long last night, my overwheming fatigue is gone today, and I haven't once felt like crying so far!  Of course, I haven't been faced with someone asking me to go somewhere today either.  : )  I have been able to spend a peaceful day at home, and Lord willing I will tomorrow, too. 

   To answer a few of the questions brought up quickly:  No, I don't exercise enough or go outside enough.  I always notice a big difference if I go outside even for a few minutes, so it baffles me why I never think to take the time to do that enough.  We do eat a pretty healthy diet.  It is not perfect by any means, but we make our own bread (most of the time--it slides when the schedule gets so busy), I buy a good bit of organic, although not as much as I'd like.  I drink oj in the morning, and pretty much water the rest of the time.  I occasionally have decaf tea, and sometimes a tiny bit of Coke, but not daily.  We don't usually eat too many sweets or junk food.  We take loads of whole food vitamins and herbs.  I wish I could come up with casseroles and dinners that didn't have so many noodles, and things my family would actually eat. It seems like everything has pasta and tomato sauce.  I like both, but would like to get away from so many things with pasta. 

    Actually my husband has volunteered to take the little ones somewhere every so often for the afternoon.  He'll gladly do it if I ask him to.  There just hasn't been much time.  I have to decide not to feel guilty for not going to do fun things with them--hiking, etc, especially since that's something I'd like to do, too.  Our Bible study Tues. night and reading your comments have helped me realize how much I do out of guilt.  I am really going to work on that. 

   It has been a pretty quiet day around here.  Marissa worked on making a play on the computer for a while, Daniella and I played a board game, I did some housework, I read for a little while, and Briana played with Marissa and Daniella up in their room for about 2 hours this afternoon. 

   I'm very excited for James.  He was finally able to buy a "new" truck this afternoon.  His was a 1992, much too small for his work, and running on prayers--literally for a few years now.  He would pray every morning when he got in that it would make it to the job sites. He's replaced almost every part in that thing, including the engine.  You'd think it would have run like new.  It finally gave it up earlier this week.  What was funny is that he was only 100 yards from our driveway, but it just died and wouldn't go anywhere.  We had to call AAA to come tow it up the road to our yard.  God blessed him with some extra work this year, and we have been putting all of that into savings so that we could pay cash for a truck.  A subcontractor of his is going to buy the old truck for $1500, hopefully this weekend.  Thankfully, it lasted until we had enough cash to pay for the new one. 

Marissa creating a play.  The list in front of her are words she asks us how to spell for her to use in the dialogue.

Daniella playing Herd Your Horses with Mama.

James and "Behemoth". 

I hope all of you ladies have a blessed weekend.  Thank you again, and please continue to pray for me to hear God's direction.

I love you all in the Lord!

Being Real

Well, everyone is saying make sure you are real on your blog.  So, this is what's real in my life right now.  I am miserable, totally miserable.  Physically, emotionally, mentally miserable.  So there it is.  I have had meltdown after meltdown over the past 3 or 4 weeks. 

   My physical is mostly absolute exhaustion, which I can't seem to get out of.  It is a symptom of me running too much.  Not this year, but in the past, I have had all the tests run-thyroid, etc.  There seems to be nothing "wrong" with me.  It seems as though my body just can't handle running around.  Emotionally I can't seem to handle running around either.  Am I a freak?!  I hear all these other homeschool moms getting together, running here and there, and they don't spend days trying to recooperate.  Why does only maybe one day a week seem to be my limit? 

   Even before the last few weeks of physical exhaustion set in, I was struggling.  I need prayer that I can enjoy homeschooling my children again.  I love my children to pieces, I have no desire or thoughts what-so-ever of them going to a school, but I am absolutely tired of sitting down teaching.  It's very selfish.  I know there are people who have been doing this much longer than I have.  I wanted (and want) this 2nd set of children.  God blessed us with them.  So, why am I being so selfish to not want to sit down and give them that time right now.  Does anyone else ever go through this?  I read posts of moms saying their kids were all gone for a day or a few hours and how they missed them so much the whole time and they couldn't wait until they got home.  Here I am LOVING every minute of the Wednesday nights when I had the house to myself for 2 hours, and that not being long enough.  And, hating the fact that I won't have that time this summer.  Now don't get me wrong.  When Briana is gone for camp for 2 weeks, I will miss her terribly.  Even Ashley being gone for a week will be very hard.  It's just feeling that need for some long, quiet time here and there. 

     I am praying that God will help me move my own desires out of the way, and restore my desire to serve and teach my girls.  I also need to pray to know how to balance my life.  I don't know how to be everything I feel like I need to be, and not collapse.  I feel as though I am failing my family.  Not to mention the fact that I'm sure they are sick and tired of seeing me spontaneously burst into tears all day. 

   Am I alone in this? 

UPDATE 4/4/13~ How crazy to read this almost 7 years later, and know that 6 years after this was written, I was diagnosed finally with Lyme Disease, which is what was, and still is, causing this crisis. 

  

Jr. Miss

My daughter, Briana, was in the Jr. Miss Program this past weekend.  Jr. Miss is not a beauty contest, but is based on Judges Interview, scholastic, talent, physical fitness, and poise.  It was a great experience for her.  She did say, though, that she had a lot more fun at the practices than she did at the actual program.  It was a small group, none of them close friends, but they spent a lot of time together last week, and had a great time.  And, even though she was not "the winner", she did great.  I was so proud of her, for many reasons, but for her on-stage question, especially.  The theme of this year's program was "being a star".  When asked if she was one of Hollywood's leading ladies, what her advice to young girls would be, she responded that she would advise them to guard their hearts, minds, and bodies.  To not feel like they have to date every boy that comes along, and especially not to date so young.  To wait until they were more mature and could make wiser decisions.  Ashley saw the mouth of a young girl in front of us literally drop open, incredulous that someone could say such a thing.  Briana also made bold statements in her judges interview concerning Intelligent Design, and evolution not being taught as fact in the schools.  I am proud of her and her strong stand for purity and what is right in every area.  Here are a few pictures from the program. 

This is their opening number.  Briana is contestant #3.  Hey, Maria. That's her "clubbing" shirt!  : )

Don't you wish you could do that??!!  This is the physical fitness routine.  Briana is in center.

The physical fitness routine is a grueling 5 1/2 minutes of continuous jogging, kicks, jumps, push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks, etc.  No stops.  The girl in front is doing a different part. 

    

Marissa introduced her big sister's talent.

 

Briana sang and kind of dramatized the song " I Could Have Danced All Night" from "My Fair Lady". 

Poise

They're Baaaaaack!

Tourist season is underway in the Smoky Mountains.   Not in full swing yet, but they are definitely back.  For those of you who live in a tourist area, you can relate.  Now this is not a griping post--just the facts and written with humor.  With the exception of the holidays, you run along your merry little way Nov.- March.  Then you start noticing it, mostly on weekends.  They start creeping in on you when you're not even looking, and before you know it, they have you surrounded.  By the time July hits, plan to stay at home. 
   My 2 favorite bumper stickers are
"I'm local, and I'm LATE."    And, "If it's tourist season, why can't we shoot them?"
   Now don't get me wrong.  I know my place.  If it weren't for those 10 million people trying to crowd into our little county, stopping traffic, running you over, smogging up the air, and standing in the middle of the aisle at WalMart, our income would be drastically reduced, if we could live here at all.  Those tourists are what keep the economy here strong.  Without them, there would not be as many people moving in here, and therefore the housing market would not be strong, and my contractor husband would not have business. 
   But, I have to confess, it is difficult to appreciate that when you are trying to shop and Dad and the kids (the tourist ones) are standing in the middle of the grocery isle talking on their walkie talkies to Mom, who is wandering around the deli section, and they're trying to decide if they need 12 or 14 bags of chips.  Multiply that by about 50 families or more, just in the grocery section, and shopping becomes a tedious affair.  Not to mention the families that make you wonder why on earth they go on vacation together.  They're all screaming and fighting with each other in the middle of the store.  Then, of course, you have to get it all into your car, then sit through 4 cycles of the red light because they have ignored the signs and blocked the intersection. 
    If you happen to be traveling the same direction they are, watch out.  You must remember that tourists always have the right-of-way, no matter where they are, and no matter how many lanes of traffic they have to fly across without looking.  By golly, they want to go play putt-putt there, and they can't be bothered with going to the next turn around and coming back. 
    You also have the ones who know they are providing your income and expect to be catered to the extreme because of it.  Sometime I'll share the "funnies" of owning a chalet business. 
    The bright side is that we have met some really nice people along the way, we live in a beautiful area where we can enjoy rivers, waterfalls, hiking, and views, and we have lots of fun amusements that we can go to if we want.  And, my husband has a job.   It certainly gives you lot of practice at becoming more patient, being merciful, and gracious.  And, I also have to remember that come August or whatever month, *I* will be the tourist in someone else's hometown, clogging up their grocery isle.  Living in a tourist town makes me very aware of my presence as a tourist, and this family will try to be one of those who leaves a pleasant impression of tourists wherever they visit.

Tagged

I am supposed to post 6 new things about myself.  I'm not sure if I know 6 new things about myself!  Let's see...

1.  I grew up in Mississippi.  We moved to Tennessee 16 years ago. 

2.  I have one sister who lives on the opposite side of Tenn.  Come to think of it, most things about us are opposite!  : )

3.  When we went to Guatemala to adopt our 2 girls are the only 2 times I have ever been on an airplane. 

4.  I like to visit new places.  The last new place we went was a trip to Philadelphia, P.A. and Cape May, N.J.  I also like to revisit places, especially the beach.  I love to camp (in our pop-up, complete with toilet and shower--I've grown too old for tents and bathhouses in the middle of the night!)  I, especially like to camp in state parks in the off time when the campgrounds are almost empty. 

5.  I like to read, and when I'm in a good book, I usually end up neglecting everything else.

6.  When I was much younger, I spent a lot of time hiking, backpacking, river canoeing (even canoed over a small waterfall), waterskiing, etc.  Now, I'm much more into walks, sitting on the dock or beach looking at the water, collecting seashells, leisurely bike rides, and sitting by the campfire. 

So there are 6 very random things about myself.  Odd what pops into your mind when you're trying to come up with these things.  The 7th one I thought of was how much I hate mud.  Go figure!

Have a blessed day. 

Used Curriculum

Sagerats is having a contest to help promote The HSB County Fair where you can sell and buy used curriculum, EVEN teacher edition's/guide's/answer key's, with no host percentage fees!

I think selling on HSB is a great idea.  Check it out.

I Bought Myself An American Girl Book

...and I might even let my children use it.  It is really cool, and would be great for scrapbooking, making cards, or even just letting your kids make some really neat pictures.  It's called paper punch art.  You can see it here.  Now I may be behind the times--I usually am--but I think this is so neat.  The book comes with 4 punches, which a lot of crafty people may already have, but the book has really cool ideas.  Along with a standard hole punch, it shows you how to use these 4 punches to create flowers, insects, animals, people, even a ferris wheel, and lots more.  As soon as I showed Marissa last night, she thought it was so cool, and immediately sat down and made a card (for me!).  I think this is going to be so fun to use in my scrapbooking.  Now if I could just find time to scrapbook more often.
    Speaking of time---spring is always such a hectic season.  Our older 2 girls are involved in music and ballet, and those come along with recitals and competitions.  I love to watch them perform, but everyone else--including church and the homeschool group-- have all of their end-of-the-year performances, award ceremonies, picnics, field days, and on and on.  I also have 2 children with spring birthdays just 3 weeks apart.  I have to concentrate very hard on not being overwhelmed at all that we "have" to do.  We have something every weekend except one between now and the first of July.  Some weekends have multiple things, plus there is a lot of running during the week. One of my lifesavers in this is Ashley. She is a great help by running to a lot of these places for me.  Briana is also going to be in the Jr. Miss Program this month.  It's based on scholastic, judges' interview, talent, physical fitness, and poise.  We have been busy, busy getting ready for that.  She has been hoping to do this since she was a little girl, so I'm glad she is getting the chance. 
    As much as I have loved watching them perform, I am thankful that so far, besides AWANA, the younger two are mostly interested in family things like camping, picnics, going to the park, and some homeschool field trips.  We would like for them to take some music lessons at some point, but they aren't ready for that yet. 
   There are lots of "interesting" things going on around here, but that is enough for now.  Suffice to say--there is never a dull moment at our house.  Hope everyone has a blessed week! 
   Be sure to say "hi" when you stop by!