I'm Back

I am going to try blogging again but with a more straight forward format this time. Instead of writing my trademark 10 page stories, I'm going to try to just give quick little updates in several categories. This will help minimize the time it takes for me to post and it will give me a snap-shot of my life at that moment for posterity sake. So here it goes:)

What I'm Learning: I've finally figured out that if I stay on top of little things, they don't grow into big things. This has translated into my house staying "clean" for two weeks straight- a first, for sure!!!

What I'm Reading: "18 & Counting". Reading it for the second time. It's just such a sweet and straight forward book that teaches, inspires and encourages. I'm also reading Jeremiah 42-43. Great lessons in these two chapters.

What I'm Listening to: Kari Jobe. One of the girls won her CD and I am officially hooked! It's so refreshing to hear a singer who is just worshipping with a sweet authenticity. I have grown tired of the worldliness and grunge sound in Christian music so I'm being blessed by Kari's music.

What I'm Eating: Our favorite treat lately is a smoothy made with frozen bananas, natural peanut butter, and almond milk (vanilla is best). There's no recipe- just adjust it to taste:)

What I'm Looking Forward To: We start back to school on Monday.

What I'm Laughing About: We took a recent trip to Six Flags that turned out to be a doozy! Without telling the long story, all I will say is that we were there for two hours before we even started doing anything. Ah, precious memories!!!

What I'm Working On: I'm trying to improve my tone with the children. Learning to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.

What I'm Thankful For: Holding Emmie's hand. At 16 months, her hand is so tiny and trusting.

What I'm doing for a Workout: I've started training for the Spacecoast marathon again so I'm building up my mileage. Last week's long run was 11 miles. I've just started week three of an 18 week program.

What I'm Excited About: We got 11 chickens! We've had farm fresh eggs for the past 3 days. What fun!

What's been working for us: This week I sponsored a poster contest among the children. They each got a 1/4 sheet of poster board and had to design a poster that instructs and informs on proper dental hygiene. I was looking online to buy one to put on the back of the bathroom door and decided instead to have the children design their own. The top 2 winners get theirs hung up in the bathroom,. Everyone gets a new toothbrush, mouthwash, and floss. The kids are very excited about the contest. It's been fun but I don't want to have to judge!

What I'm Praying About: Ah, my heart is heavy for many personal concerns but I can share that I'm praying wholeheartedly for the heart of one of my children.