Day 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

Wow!  I have gotten behind in my reporting.  I am still on board with my challenge, just haven't had time to document.  On Day 10 (Saturday) I did not exercise but I ate good. I also drank the second Plexus Slim.  Then on Day 11 (Sunday) I exercised on my trampoline....plus ate good.  On Day 12 (Monday) I walked 1 mile on the treadmill and drank the last Plexus Slim and ate well.  On Day 13 (yesterday) I exercised on the trampoline and ate good.  Today I did not exercise, but I did eat good.

I have lost 5 pounds since when I started this only 14 days ago.  It is hard though.  My target area is my "baby fat."  I feel like this will  probably be the last to go, so I have to keep working hard to get to my goal.  I think that I have trimmed up a little around my waist, but it hasn't burned much belly fat yet.  I want to BURN it all off!!! 

My favorite time to walk is in the mornings before I eat breakfast, because I feel like I am burning fat instead of food that I have consumed that day.  Exercising in the mornings also encourages me to make good food choices all day so that I don't ruin my hard work!  :)

Day 9

This was my first day to try the Plexus Slim.  So before breakfast I walked a mile on my treadmill and then I made the drink.  After drinking it, I waited 30 minutes and then had a fruit smoothie for breakfast.  Maybe I will show you how I make that for fun one day! :) 
     I made good food choices today, only eating one spoon of ice cream after dinner.  :)  When I weighed this morning I was down 4 pounds from when I started nine days ago! 



A friend and I purchased this 7-day supply together and split the price.  This stuff is crazy expensive, in my opinion, and I do not plan to use it all the time.  I am just hoping that it will give me a boost in results to keep me moving forward.  :)  Also, my doctor advised me NOT to take the accelerator because I have high blood pressure.



So, I am just adding this drink to my plan for these three days....unless of course I lose TONS of weight in the next three days and I find a rich beneficiary to buy this for me monthly! ha!



The directions say to take it once or twice a day, 30 minutes before any meal.  Pour Plexus Slim powder into a 12-17 ounce glass/bottle of water, stir/shake and drink.  I decided to take it before my breakfast.



Victoria took my picture!  :)  It surprisingly tasted really good and was easy to drink.  I really don't understand how it is going to help me lose unwanted weight because it is an addition to a meal, not a meal supplement.  Oh well, we will see!

Day 8

I did not walk today, like usual, but the kids and I swam at a neighbor's pool all morning.   I swam laps and then hung out in the deep end....that is great exercise! :)  My arms and legs were exhausted later!  Tomorrow I am going to try a new shake called Plexus Slim.  I checked with my doctor to make sure it was safe before trying it.  It is supposed to be all natural and help in weight loss......we shall see.  :)  I will explain more about it later.

Day 6 and Day 7

On Day 6 I walked my 1.5 mile and ate fairly good.  I did eat a bowl of ice cream after dinner!

On Day 7 I did not exercise, but I ate well.  The only sweets I ate was one chocolate chip cookie from McDonald's.  And I must admit, that cookie was GOOD!  I have been trying to avoid all pasta and bread.

My mindset:  EAT LESS....BURN MORE.  If I can follow that, my body will be forced to slim down. 

Day 4 and Day 5

Day 4 was Sunday.  I had a terrible headache the night before, so I did not exercise on Sunday.  And since I got very sick with the headache I had to be careful not to get dehydrated.  So, the healthy eating went out the window for Sunday.  I ate whatever I could keep in my stomach and drank tons of fluid!

Day 5 was today.  I was still a little shaky from being sick, so I didn't get up this morning and push myself.  But I ate well today and then walked my 1.5 mile this evening after dinner.  Yeah!  I feel great....and so glad that I am no longer sick!   I am down 3 pounds from when I started this five days ago!!!  Seeing a change is very encouraging!  My main goal is to be healthier physically and mentally, but I know the scale is one indicator that the hard work is paying off!! 

Day 3

Today I did not exercise.  After the ESL training, I was exhausted.  :)  But I did eat better today than I did yesterday!  I still snacked some during the training, but made better choices.  For breakfast I had an egg, toast, one piece of bacon, and coffee.  For lunch I had a chick-fil-a sandwich, chips, and a cookie with unsweetened tea.  Then I snacked on peanut butter crackers and apples with caramel.  For dinner I ate two slices of pizza (my family loves pizza)  and a bowl of cereal (random, I know).  For a bedtime snack I ate a yogurt and a piece of bread with butter.

Day 2

This morning I walked 1.5 miles, then had a fruit smoothie for breakfast.  For lunch I ate one hard-shell taco from Taco Bell, a small piece of leftover chicken with rice and corn, and unsweet tea.  Tonight I went to an ESL training that started at 2:00 and ended at 9:00.  So, I did BAD.....let's see, I ate two mall muffins, two small cookies, and a pack of peanut butter crackers throughout the night.  And for supper I had chicken from Whole Hog, beans, and a roll PLUS a coke.  Oh my, sugar, sugar, sugar!!  I knew I was doing bad as I ate this stuff, but I didn't pack any snacks that were healthy and I needed the sugar to keep me awake during the training.  I realize that making good food choices requires planning ahead for situations that are not part our the normal routine.

I will have the training all day tomorrow (8:00-5:00) so I will probably take tomorrow off from walking but hopefully will make better food choices!! :) 

30 Day Challenge

     Whenever I get serious about exercising, getting healthy, losing weight, I always seem to turn to my blog for accountability.  Not sure how a blog keeps me accountable, but none the less, I am taking a 30 day challenge and plan to record it here.  I have 30 days (more or less) before I leave for our family vacation at the beach.  30 days is enough time to create a habit, 30 days is enough time to lose 5 pounds, 30 days is enough time to tone and shape.  So, this is the challenge that I have given myself:  Exercise everyday and eat healthy....and then see what happens!!  I know that if I stick with it I will see the results that I want!  I have two exercise choices that I love.....walking on my treadmill and my exercise trampoline DVD routine.  I plan to log my exercise here as well as eating and weight loss (in numbers lost, not totals!!!)
So here goes:

DAY 1:  I walked 1.5 miles this morning then had a fruit shake for breakfast.  I ate pizza for lunch (not so great, I know) and then ate chicken covered with beans and cheese, rice, and corn for supper.  I am about to have some yogurt for my bedtime snack (probably not the best, but less sugary than some of the things I eat at bedtime sometimes).  I drank some water, but I could do more.  I will try to drink more tomorrow.

I am actually looking forward to getting up in the morning to walk.  The secret is that I have to go to bed at night in order to get up, but  I love staying up late hanging out with my husband.  We will watch TV, EAT, and talk.  That has to change.....and Robert has agreed to help me.  Last night he moved to the kitchen to eat his UNHEALTHY bedtime snack and watch the news, so that I could go ahead and go to bed.  I was asleep by 10:30 and rested by 7:00.  In fact I woke up at 5:50 when he was leaving for work.....I had no idea that it was actually light outside at 5:30.  Who knew?  Definitely not me this summer! ha!  I have to be in bed by 11:00 for my plan to work, so I gotta go! 

God is better than a cold drink of water!

     Do you ever start to feel like you can't handle the responsibilities that God has given you anymore?  Or that you just need about a three second break from your life to get a breath of fresh air and then you would be fine.  But then three seconds never come, so you just keep pushing on....trying to survive from day to day.
     I will be the first to admit that I do not handle stress well.  I don't know if some people are just equipped to handle stress better or if that is a learned skill, but when things start getting crazy, my inner balance gets, well......wacky!  :)  This is the state that I have found myself in lately.  I have tried to pull myself out of the funk, but have been unsuccessful.  And with the summer looming ahead, I see three long months of four kids looking to me for structure, entertainment, guidance, nurturing, etc.  I have got to get my act together.
    So, my best efforts of willing my spirit renewed was just not getting it done.  I was frustrated.....I wanted my mojo back so bad, but I couldn't find it. Finally I decided that perhaps my slacking off of my daily Bible reading might have something to do with my desire to find a hole and be left alone! 
     In the past two years Robert and I have read through numerous books of the Bible together and then have ventured our separate ways, reading one chapter of a certain book per day.  Reluctantly, I must admit that I had never read the Bible this way.  In the past I have always read the Bible along with a certain Bible study or devotional.  So, that means that I would read a certain number of verses and then read someone else's commentary about those verses and then decide what God was trying to tell me through the verses.  Reading the books of the Bible, chapter by chapter, takes a different approach.  Any particular chapter is usually not very long in itself....it takes only a few minutes to read it through once.  So, then it leaves time to reread and take my time to meditate on just what God is speaking to me about through those verses.  God has opened my eyes to understand many things that I did not understand before...as well as have many new questions.
   My life is exhausting, metaphorically, is causes extreme thirst. :)  So, why do I drift away from Him when He is the only thing that can quench my thirst?  It is cliché but true, the Bible is living water....it is fresh water.....or in other words, a breath of fresh air in our lives.  God renews us through the reading of HIS words.   He has called me to walk the path I am on in life right now....a wife, a mom of four, homeschool teacher, ministry leader, etc., but He NEVER called me to walk this path without Him!!!! 
     In order to help me get back on track, Robert has agreed to read James with me the next few days.....you know James only has 5 chapters, so it is a good place to start.  :)  Last night we read James 1....wow, God gave me just what I needed.....my thirst was getting quenched.  Tonight I read James 2 and I already feel like I have spent a week on a beautiful island with just me and the hubby!  :)  I feel my mojo coming back.....isn't God cool?  He truly is all that we need.  Why do I allow myself to get busy with life and forget what matters most?
     If you are feeling empty and/or thirsty today.......pick up your Bible, pick out a book (I would probably chose New Testament to start out) and start with chapter 1!  And be sure to have a journal handy to write down what He teaches you and any prayers that you have.  God will surely take you on an exciting ride! 

The Faith of a Child

     Tonight we observed the Lord's Supper at church.  As the bread and juice were being passed, I was quietly explaining to my sons that they stood for Jesus' body and His blood that He shed for us.  I just happened to be holding my youngest son in my arms and my thoughts drifted to the fact that this son that I held was given to me by God.  If someone were to ask me, "How do you personally know that God exists and that He is good?"  I could point to my second son and daughter.  As I held him and thought of the bond that we have, nothing can explain it except that it is from God.  You see, I did not birth my son.  Actually I did not even meet him or know that he existed until he was almost three years old.  But our God is amazing. And when I hold my son, I have no doubt that God has entrusted this amazing little person to me to love and raise in equal amounts to the children that I bore.  I love him so much.  And the fact that I could possibly love him that much proves to me that my God is real and that my God is good.
     On the flip side of that, as I was explaining to them about the symbolism of the bread and juice, I commented that Jesus died on the cross for each of us, because He loves us.  It was immediately apparent that my six year old couldn't completely grasp that concept yet, but for my five year old, it was different.  I wasn't telling him anything that he didn't already know.  There was no doubt in his mind that Jesus loves him and that God is good.  I have heard many times that a person grows closest to God during trials and times of need.  I know that when I am going through trying times of my own, that is usually when I can feel God's presence the most.  Undoubtedly there have been times in his life already that he has needed God and God has shown himself faithful.  Perhaps when he did not have an earthly father who would love and protect him, his Heavenly Father stepped in and filled the gap personally.  What I know for sure is that he knows that God exists because he has seen Him and His goodness in his own life.  If people were equipped with faith meters, his would shoot out the top!  I don't even know how to explain his faith in words; I just know that his faith and his understanding of God's love is beyond his years. 
     And as for my six year old, I trust that the time will come when he will understand how much God loves him, as well.  For now, he is still safely nestled inside the bubble of love and protection that we, his parents, have provided since birth.  He has yet to see or experience the uglies of the fallen world that we live in.  But I trust that when the time comes that He needs God's love and protection first-hand, He will also find our God faithful and good.

Time Sharing

     I have a great aunt who is 93 years old.  She has lived a long, full, happy life.  She was married to a wonderful Christian man for over 50 years.  They truly were two halves of one whole.  They loved each other and took care of each other up until he passed away ten years ago.  They had only one daughter who was their pride and joy.  Then they had three granddaughters who also became their pride and joy.  Even though they lived in separate states, they were completely involved with everything their granddaughters did.
     Not only was her family important to her, but they were always very involved in their church and community....everyone spoke well of them.
     Now she no longer lives in the town that she called home for so long....the house the she and her husband built together had to be sold.  Hardly anything is left of them in the town that they once swelled in.  Now, at 93, almost everyone that she knows has passed on.  She is alone.  She lives in the neighboring state close to her daughter now, who checks on her often.
     She is 93.  She says that she prays everyday that God would take her home.  She knows that her life has been blessed.  She has more to live for on the other side now than on this side.  She is ready.  But still God holds her here. 
     It makes me wonder why God does the things that He does.  I think of the young child who passed away after choking on an every day food.  I think of the teenager that passed away in a car accident.  I think of the mother who left behind two young children by falling through the attic.  Oh my, what those families wouldn't give for one more day with their loved ones.  Why does God allow some, who so desperately want to go, stay behind and instead take some that were not done living?  It seems unfair.  Each day that we are given on earth is so precious.  I do not blame my aunt for other deaths.  Or accuse her of stealing their time.  She has no control....it just makes me wonder.
     I have no doubt that if given the chance, my aunt would gladly deposit some of her time into someone else's account.  She is tired.  She is a Christian who knows that death is not the end, only the beginning.  The truth is that no one has control over the time of our death...no matter how much we exercise, eat healthy, don't smoke, etc.  Indeed, the way that God decides how long our time will be is a mystery to me.  So, I guess I shouldn't wonder and I shouldn't second guess.  And I certainly am glad that my aunt has been blessed with a long life.  I just think that when I get to heaven, I might pass on my "time sharing" idea to the Big Man (that is......whenever my time comes).

Dear Journal

Dear Journal,
As I read back over entries from my childhood journal, I realized that I still feel like that same person.  I can remember thinking back then that me at thirty would be some foreign stranger, an adult with little in common with the child. 
I wonder if twenty years from now I will look back on these entries and feel the same way.  I wonder if I will still feel like the same person as I am now, only see more wrinkles when I look in the mirror!  :)  I love you, 50 year old, Ellen.  Don't get depressed and feel "old."  Live life to the fullest---think of Lisa Brewer.  You are only as old as you feel and act--young will shine through your eyes and smile.  Being happy--that comes from a walk with God.  I hope and pray that life don't beat me down. 
I have experienced some heartache in life the past twenty years and have not allowed it to define who I am.  I pray that whatever the next twenty years holds, I will be able to see my life through God's eyes.  BE BEAUTIFUL--inside and out.

Boot Camp

I haven't posted to this blog in at least 3 months, because I have been posting to a private blog.  My husband and I are in the process of adopting two children through the foster care system.  Since we got the kids, our personal life has had to be documented a little more personally.  :)  We are blessed to have a strong support system who loved our two new ones even before we knew them and are still praying for them, so the private blog has enabled us to keep them informed of what and how things are going here.  :)  Until all four of my children are legally mine, I want to be very careful to protect them.

So, our family has grown by two...that makes four kids, two adults, one dog, and a turtle.  :)  Doubling the amount of kids in the house has doubled the amount of activity.  But strangely, the added activity has been a positive change.  Once our adoption is finalized I'm not sure if I will move back to blogging regularly here or keep up the new blog and perhaps make it public.  But for now and I am going to keep them separate.

Which brings me today.  I had things to say and things to record that honestly are just about me.  It isn't about what our family is doing.  It isn't about how all the kids are doing.  It's just about what is going on inside my head (scary, believe me) and I wanted a place to put those thoughts and experiences down.  That is why I created this blog in the first place, so I came back to visit my old friend today.  Perhaps this will be a new trend.  All the self-reflection will happen here and my family "scrapbook" will happen on our private blog.  (By the way, if you are someone that I know in "real" life and you would like to be invited to my private blog, just shoot me an email.  I would love to invite you.)

I started boot camp this morning at my local gym.  The class that I am taking is for one month on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 5:15-6:16.  I have only sigend up for one month.  It will be a huge accomplishment if I stick with this and make it through one month.  Then we will consider any repeats.  In fact, a friend commented that she started the boot camp a few months ago and when she fell off the bandwagon about 1/2 way through the month, her husband got mad and told her that she was wasting money and she really needed to get herself out of bed and follow through...."we are not quitters" I believe was his motto!  :)  That made me laugh.  "Oh," I told her, "my husband doesn't even expect that I'll get up the first morning.  He'll be shocked if I actually make it a month!!!"  I guess low expectations have their perks! 

To be honest, I was scared last night as I thought about what I was going to face this morning.  I have never been to a boot camp and I have not been exercising/training/preparing myself for this at all.  I spontaneously signed up for this on Monday after another friend suggested it while eating lunch on Sunday.  Would I be so embarrassed that I will want to disappear?!  Will I be able to finish the workout?  I had no idea.

The same friend that told me about her husband, explained to me that boot camp reminded her of 7th grade Basketball practice all over again...line drills, push ups, running, weight training, sit-ups, etc.  I actually remember 7th grade Basketball practice and what I remember most about it is that when I couldn't do something, I would stop trying.  Whenever I wanted to quit, I would start making jokes, try to be funny, and try to entertain.  I have a smart whit when I put my mind to it, so it would come to save me from humiliation.  I was not a serious athlete and I would rather save-face then really dig down and try hard.  You run the risk of looking really stupid if you try and fail, I thought.  I'd rather not try at all.

My body was about to be put to the test...will my coping mechanism kick in and will I feel the urge to giggle and make jokes at my own expense.  I did not know.  Coming in a few minutes late resulted in me not getting in the beginner's group.  I had to step up to the group that had completed at least one month of training.  As we started out a sweet girl took me under her wing and showed me the exercises in each station.  You move quickly from station to station...only staying 2 minutes (I think) in each station.  The farther I got, the more I realized that no matter how hard it got, I wasn't going to quit.  Sure my body might stop for a moment to rest, but it always knew that it would start up again.  The weird thing is it never even wanted to stop.  As I was stepping up on the bleachers and alternating kicking my legs, I realized something.  I am no longer that girl in the 7th grade who only cares about saving-face.  Life has happened between then and now.....and luckily, I am the better for it. 

Where my body lacks in stamina and ability, my will power and determination have made up for it.  Stamina will come, you just have to give it time.  Inward strength is built out of circumstances in our life that are, most often, beyond our control.  These are the moments that I find myself on my face before my God.  These are the moments that I realize that since I apparantly have no control over this world, I am clinging to the faith, hope, and truth that in fact, my God does.  It is in these moments that my Bible reading becomes more than a ritual...it becomes a lifeline to God where I feel His presence and experience His comfort.  So, I thought about the recent events in my life that have caused my spiritual heart to exercise, grow, even break, all the while building stamina.  My physical exertion today was allowing me to compare my physical strengh to my inward strength, and it made me realize that inwardly, I am stronger than I think.  And if I am willing to stick with this program, I just might give my body the chance to try and catch up, at least a little, with my spirit.

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character, hope.   Romans 5:3-4

These verses have come to mean so much to me lately as I cling to God's promises and I can almost feel these things being formed inside of me.  So, this morning I kept on kicking.  I kicked for all the hard work we have done lately in grafting the two amazing children that God gave us into our family, I kicked for the personal health issues that I have faced lately, I kicked for my 84 year old grandfather (who was my last grandparent) who took his own life in order to move on to the next, I kicked because through it all I know that my God has never left me.  My strength comes from a place inside and from a hope that no hour of physical exertion can squash.

Was I the only one walking iinstead of running at times?  Yes.  May I still quit?  Yeh, maybe.  But today I realized something...although my physical heart is currently lacking in strength and stamina, my spiritual heart is stronger than it has ever been.  And isn't that the heart that really matters anyway?  God works in mysterious ways.

Clothes War III

Today I feel the need to be transparent.  I feel the need to confess.  I know that my confession will make some judge, but others will be comforted by the fact that everyone has their hidden issues.  There is a war raging in my house today and I am determined to come up victorious!  :)  With two more people in the house, comes two more people worth of clothes.  Add a busy schedule to that and the result is that if you at least have clean clothes....you are winning the battle.  But today I plan to win the war......all those clean clothes are going down......or is that up (in their drawers)!! 

Here is my confession:  for the past few weeks I have had several tubs of clean clothes at the end of my bed.  In the mornings after I make my bed, I dump the piles on the bed and we stir around to find what people are looking for.  As clothes get washed, they just get added to the pile.  I usually make a mental note to do some folding that day "when I get a chance."  At about 10:00 each night, when I can barely keep my eyes open anymore, I rake all the clothes off the bed back into the baskets and hope for better luck tomorrow in the folding department.  There it is.  The truth is out. 

But today will be different.  Today I have on my fighting shoes.  When I made the bed this morning and dumped the piles, I told them that this would be the day of their defeat!  :) 

Just in case you thought I was exaggerating; here is documented proof!  ;) 

Well, I must go now.   As you can see, I have work to do!

Thanksgiving

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
                                                            1 Thessalonians 5:18

Wow, there is so much in this one short verse.  I taught a children's lesson last week about this verse, and as often happens, God ended up teaching me!!  This verse is encouraging and comforting to me, because it gives instruction to each Christian about God's plan for our lives.  Maybe you are a college student struggling with a career choice.  Maybe you are a woman struggling with infertility.  Maybe you are a senior adult struggling with what God would have you do after retirement.   No matter what God's specific plan is for each of our lives, this verse says that there is one thing that we can all be sure is in God's will for our lives.......to give thanks in all circumstances.  So, whether we know God's specific plan for our lives at this moment or not, we can be actively living in His will.  Whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, we should give thanks. 

This brings up some tough questions, though.  We all know that it is easy to give thanks in the good circumstances, but what about the hard times that we all find ourselves in sometimes.  What about that woman that is struggling with infertility?  Or what about a widow that is alone during the holidays, remembering times past?  What about a mother that has just unexpectedly lost a child in a random accident?  Do they have to give thanks in these circumstances as well?

This is the really cool part that gets me excited!!  You see, it is the last three words in this verse that are the secret ingredient, if you will.  When tough times come, we as Christians, can have hope and are able to be grateful, because we are in Christ Jesus.  We know from experience that God can be trusted and even when our hearts might be breaking, we can still have faith in His love and have hope for our lives in Christ Jesus.  And oh, what a testimony it is to the people around us when they see a Christian giving thanks during a horrific circumstance.  Of course, God doesn't say that we have to give thanks for the circumstance, only to give thanks during it!  :)  There are specific Christians in my own life that immediately come to mind when I think of someone who gave thanks during a tough circumstance.  This causes unbelievers to do a double take and consider the power of this person we call, Christ Jesus.  That is what it's all about.

So, this Thanksgiving season, no matter what circumstances you are in, I encourage you to give thanks and to have hope.  Remember, if you are a Christian, you have an unmatchable power inside of you just waiting to be tapped into.  If you are not a Christian, maybe this is the day that God has chosen to invite you to accept him into your life.

Thanksgiving Lunch

Today the kids and I went to Victoria's school to eat Thanksgiving lunch with her.  They had the traditional turkey and dressing meal.  Victoria didn't want to eat in the cafeteria, so she just ate her packed lunch!  :)  I personally thought the turkey and dressing looked pretty good!

This is Victoria with her friend, Reece

I am looking forward to having a memorable Thanksgiving and spending special time with family....also looking forward to some good eating!  My hubby makes a mean sweet potato casserole!  :)

Look who got glasses!!

Victoria had been complaining about not being able to see the TV without squinting and her teacher has been letting her go to the floor by the board to read things.  So, we decided her eyes needed to be tested.  Sure enough, she can not see at a distance very well.  He said anything beyond eight feet was fuzzy!  She was amazed at how clear things looked when she put on her glasses.

Here she is on Sunday with her friend, Emma.  I'm so glad that Emma had to get glasses recently also, so Victoria isn't embarrassed.  She was actually very excited about getting glasses! ;) 

Courageous

A few weeks ago Robert and I went to see the movie, Courageous.  I knew that it was a Christian movie, so when we went to the theatre, I convinced Robert to let us watch it to help support it.  He agreed!  What I didn't know was that the whole movie was about fathers being good dads.  I felt bad at first, because it appeared that I had convinced Robert to watch the movie as an "intervention."  Ha!  While we were driving home, I explained how great of a dad that I thought he was.  His response to the movie was, "Watching that movie reminds every good daddy why he does what he does and encourages others to do better."  So, either way, I would encourage any daddy to watch this movie.  It is very sweet.  If you have not seen the movie, you can view the trailer below.

As the credits were rolling after the movie, something special happened.  In the last scene of the movie one of the dads is sharing his testimony at a local church.  He asks the question, "Who will be a man of courage?"  Men in the congregation begin to stand up and say, "I will."  There in the pitch dark movie theatre, a man down front stood to his feet and said, "I will."  Then another stood and said, "I will."  Men all over the movie theatre stood and made that promise.  Oh my, what a moving and incredible impromptu moment!!  It was amazing...I definitely witnessed a special moment and I feel very blessed that the man that God gave my children has promised, "I will."

Mother of Four

I have been the mother to four blessings for two weeks now.  l remember the fear that I had those first few days.  I knew that being a mother to four kids would be different; it would require me to be different.  I knew that who I was would evolve and change; I could almost feel it happening inside of me and it terrified me a little bit.  I wondered if once the tranformation was done, would I still feel like myself?  Would I still be me?  Or would I be so different that I regretted the change and longed to go back to the way that I was.  This may sound completely ridiculus, but none the less, it was how I felt.  I can remember feeling something similiar right before I was to give birth to Carson.  How would it feel to be the mother of two instead of the mother of just one?  Would the new responsibilities and demands change me?    Would it change my relationship with the first?  Change always brings unknown.  Oh, but God is good.  And He is undoubtedly shaking His head at my worries.  "My Child, if you will trust in me, I can bless you."

And blessing me, He is.  Fortunately, I am successfully becoming the mother of four and yes, I am happy to say that I do still feel like myself.  Ha!  Is our family changing?  YES!  Is it good change?  YES!  After only two weeks, it is becoming hard to imagine our life and our family without them.  I feared that adding two more children would change me and I would not feel like myself; I am quickly realizing that now I would not know who I was if I wasn't the mother to these four.  God chose to bless our family with these four specific wonderful kids.  We were made for them and they were made for us. 

Happy Halloween!

Carson got to wear his Halloween costume to school on Monday.  He was so excited and they had a blast.  They had pizza for lunch and a fun party!  Carson sent Halloween sugar cookies as his treats for his friends.

Mrs. Tata's class (Carson is the Red Ranger)

Carson with his buddy, Carter, aka Batman

The whole group again!  So cute!

Our Beautiful Cleopatra.......Queen of the Nile  :)

Our brew!

A fun time was had by all!!