Ragtag Mama

Okay so I somewhat stole my title from Perry Noble the pastor of New Springs church in South Carolina. He usually does  a Sunday night reflections after preaching all day. I learned a lot this weekend at church. For those of you who attend the Vineyard on Sunday mornings this is a little bit of a spoiler for you so you may want to wait till after church to read but if you don’t care well then read on.

First off, I am always a fan of worship. I love that I get to sing my heart out to God and connect with him on a different level. My eyes are usually welled up with tears the whole time and I usually have to close my eyes to keep them from running all over the place. It is the part of the week where I probably feel the closest to God.  While singing tonight a few words popped out at me, Wisdom, Love, Trust, and Obey. God has all of these and calls us to have them.

I have been struggling a little bit with Ephriam moving on past Preschool next year (you can learn more here if you didn’t get an e-mail). Not that I won’t continue to do what is best for him, it just stirs up emotions that come with having a kids that has extra needs. He will be fine and so will I as long as I remember that God has given me great wisdom to take care of him and that God has greater wisdom then do I. God LOVES Ephriam more then I do and will take care of him. I have to trust that God knows how to lead us in the right direction and get Ephriam what he needs. I need to obey God’s plan for Ephriam and of course for me too.

Another word that keeps coming up lately is FREE. We are getting ready to start a new series at church called Free. I am also started reading Beth Moore’s book called “Breaking Free”. Not to mention that in Chris’ and I daily Bible reading we are reading Exodus about Moses FREEing the people from Egypt. So while I am WAITING this year I must all be FREE.

We also watched a clip from the movie RUDY. I of course thought of Ephriam. (yep if you haven’t guessed it yet that little boy has been on my mind A LOT lately).  I look at how hard Rudy worked in order to obtain a few seconds on the field and a life long dream. We also watch the internet clips for the 17 year old who had autism play the last 4:19 of a high school basketball. I can only think about how hard he worked in order to get there. Ephriam works hard too, everyday, mastering skills that to most people come easy. I am sure that Ephriam will not only get his few seconds or 4:19 but a lifetime of rewards.

Lastly, I am pretty sure that God told me that I need to start my work to stop the slave trade and help out prostitutes  here in Cincinnati. I am going to do what he told me to do and go from there. I will let you know how it turns out. It will probably be a long process. We will see what will happen.  I am still not sure where my skill as a nurse fall in this either but I am sure God is preparing me for a big ordeal. So here we go.

In the end of all of this as Dave Workman says “Who knows how God might move you.”

What is God showing you at Church?

Or at least I thought that it was going to be. Sunday was great by going to church and then spending the rest of the day at home. Chris and I enjoyed having our nephew Luke over. I was a little worried since it would be his first time at our house with out his  Mom and Dad but he did great.  Monday started out with a band getting the kids to school and going back an hour or so later to pick them up. Then on to the eye doctors for Kendra where we found out that her vision had changed and she has a stigmatism in both eyes. So a new pair of lenses in her glasses for her. Then on to speech therapy for Ephriam where he did awesome. I can’t believe how much he has changed and how hard he is working. I just know that one day we will be able to have a whole conversation with him. Then we went on to McDonald’s for lunch since it was already after one in the afternoon. The kids ate well and then it was time to head home. Kendra fell asleep on the way home but didn’t sleep after we got back and neither did Ephriam. Not that I expect that Ephriam to nap anymore, I mean he is five and all.  Then we had dinner and played in the basement.  On Tuesday I took the kids to school and then went to the grocery store, came back and put the groceries away, picked the kids up from school, napped and then cooked waffles for dinner.  Then the kids and I played by pretending to be different animals as we went around the house. Ephriam usually picked either a polar bear or a butterfly. Kendra picked all sorts of thing. I changed it up and would do a new animal that we didn’t do yet. Then I settle the kids down with Go, Diego, Go and an apple for a snack. Today so far has been the usual cleaning spree. I think that the kitchen looks great and am glad to have it under control. I will be working on getting the living room picked up so that I can do the same for it tomorrow. Tonight will be making heart shaped finger puppets with the kids. Kendra has been asking to do a project so I thought that since Chris will be having his small group bible study that the kids would love this. I am just hoping that through the weekend we can keep my house looking as good as it does now. We will see though.

I have been just happy to hang out at home and not have anyplace to be. Next week I won’t just be able to take the call off and stay at home. I actually will have to float out and work. I am really not looking forward to that but I have to make a pay check too and when your PTO bank is low it is what you have to do. I am hoping that things will look better in March if not I will be on the look out for another job. If you have any suggestions where I can work night shift that would be great. I don’t want to go into work any earlier then I do now.

So that is life here. Tomorrow look for pictures of our fun with Luke.

FW

I am glad to say that this week is almost over! I am finished with my last STNA class and will be taking my test on Feb.13. I am looking forward to getting it done and over too. Then it will be complete!

Today has been a pretty normal at home day. I wish though that I could get my cleaning beyond the kitchen but that doesn’t seem to be happening. Next week it will since I will be at home a lot more.

The only thing that won’t be too routine is going to dinner at my in laws tonight. We have started back up having family dinners, which means that all of my husband family will be there for dinner. It will be great to see everyone every other week. We are taking turns making the main course and bringing side dishes. Tonight we are responsible  for cooking the kids dinner of hot dogs and mac and cheese.

Tomorrow is Ephriam’s IEP and Kindergarten transition meeting. Please keep us in your prayers as we set more goals for Ephriam to achieve.  I am sure that it will go smoothly it is just a long meeting. I am hoping to be home by 4 but we will see what happens. I will post more about him on the kid’s blog.

I will probably not have to work tomorrow night either. It will be nice to be at home with the kids. I know that Kendra is dying to have me home. Yesterday she said all day that she didn’t want me to go to school. Every time I saw her she would say “Please Mommy don’t go to school today. Stay at home with me.” I told her that we have to hang tough through the rest of the week and that next week Mommy would be home more. Still not a great answer in her book. She even cried for me at bedtime.

Well I am back to doing some more laundry and things. I am looking forward to blogging a bit more next week when things aren’t so crazy.

So how was your week? Are you ready for the weekend? I would like to hear from you.

So this is my last week of this term at school! I am so excited! I will be able to be at home more with the kids and get some more organization done around here.

Here is a run down of what my week looks like:

Monday- kids to school, grocery store, pick up kids, lunch, Speech therapy, change clothes, class, home, dinner, set up things for next day, finally bed which won’t be probably till around midnight.

Tuesday- up early for OT, take kids to school, home to do laundry, dishes, and pick up, pick the kids up from school, lunch, nap,  playtime (maybe 30 min.), dinner, work till 7a.

Wednesday- home from work, sleep, take kids to school, sleep, pick kids up, lunch, nap, go to school, home, dinner, bed.

Thursday- take kids to school, finish up laundry and house work, pick kids up, lunch, nap, 30 min playtime, dinner, work.

Friday- home from work, sleep till noon, lunch, Ephriam’s IEP and Kindergarten transition meeting, home, dinner, work.

Saturday-sleep, lunch, sleep, dinner, work nursery at church.

Sunday-church, lunch, maybe nap?, playtime with kids while my nephew gets to come over for a visit.

The following week isn’t half as busy because there is no class for me or OT! Just school for the kids and hang out time for me.  I am so looking forward to doing more of this:

Playing with the kids.

Late to getting to the kids from school already oops!

FW

Here are photos from Jan 10th when we celebrated Chris’ Mom’s Birthday and Ephriam’s Birthday together at one party:

Ephriam’s Snake cake. Didn’t turn out too bad.

Kendra and Luke. I love this picture of them it is SO cute!

Up close and personal with Kendra

The Birthday Kids.

Ephriam and his cold hard cash.

Grandma and her book.

Ephriam opening presents

UNO moo! Is a great game to learn colors with.

Grandma and more gifts.

Gotta love the Vera Bradley!

All of the kids couldn’t wait to play with Ephriam’s Castle. It is one gift he plays with A LOT!

Not to scare those of you who read my blog regularly,  but I have been tracking who is coming to my blog through Google Analyitcs.  I love to see which people visit not just from the United States but from all over the world. I love to see that people from my home town are my biggest hitters and next would be the area that I live. It is cool see where else in the world hits me up. I like too that it shows me if you got to my blog through Facebook or Twitter. So if you have a blog and are interested in knowing who all comes to your site,  I would recommend Google Analytics to you.

Most people go through Chris’ blog to get to my blog and I am cool with that. I love that he and I can be a team together and send people to each other sites.  I need to get on the ball with the kids’ blog to let people know what is up with them. I have been too busy dealing with them at home or looking things up for them on the internet. Like, Chris and I are looking at going to Disney World with them in Dec 2011 and have been looking to see what the cost would look like for us. I will get there don’t worry kiddos.

The only thing that I haven’t liked is when I have changed my theme on wordpress it messes Google Analytics up. I think however my husband has now fixed it so that that won’t happen.

So how about you. Do you used Google Analytics or anything else to track visitors to your site? I would be interested to hear from you.

The basement is finished. The furniture has been found from under the mountain of things. Now it is time to get everything back to where it belongs and/or find a home for it. We are also getting rid of more stuff. We are giving all of it away. Things that we used at one time that we now are not. Getting rid of some baby things that we have. Getting rid of toys that are no longer played with or won’t be played with again.

I know that we started this last year and we thought that we were close do having it done when the basement flooded. However now that we have moved things around we still feel like we have a lot more to get rid of.

Tonight while Chris was watching 24 I removed almost everything that didn’t belong in our bedroom. There are still somethings to go but because the kids are in bed and I don’t want to wake them,  but there is a box waiting to go out. Sure there is still a lot more to go out but it is a start. I can’t wait till EVERYTHING has a home.

So this week since I don’t have  to work till the end of the week, I am starting to take back my house. I am slowly working on it and know that it will take Chris and I long time to get there but we will.

If you have any tips on making this process easier or organizational thing that are cheap but work well let me know. I would love to hear from you.

All of them. Mondays that is are manic. I run the kids to school, back home to regroup after the weekend, pick the kids up from school, home for lunch, then to speech therapy, then back home for about 45 minutes, then off again to school and finally home for school to head almost straight to bed. I am looking forward to the end of this term because I will then things will slow down after therapy. I won’t have to run off to class again on Mondays. I am sure too that both my kids will enjoy me being home more too.  I am just taking a self defense karate type class on Wednesdays. I will be home every night to tuck my kids in on nights when I am not working. Hopefully too I will be able to get them to poop in the potty. This seems to be difficult for them lately. Well I need to get going because I need to finish getting ready for the rest of the mania.

FW

That is my hope for this week. The past few weeks have been unpredictable so I am looking forward to having more routine weeks ahead. This past week Chris worked from home twice and the kids didn’t have school for the last 2 days of the week. This week I hope that our only change is getting ready to do Christmas with my mom, dad, brother and future sister-in-law and going to a wedding. Other than that is should be more routine.

Tonight we are having Chris’ family over to celebrate Ephriam and Chris’ mom’s birthdays. We have a great menu planned and it is always fun to get together with everyone. We will miss Chris’ sister and her family as they won’t be able to join us. This also gives us the opportunity to show of Chris’ hard work in the basement. We are hoping to spend most of our time down there when we have gatherings. We will probably come upstairs to eat dinner at the table but it will be nice to just have the extra space again.

I am still in shock that my first born is FIVE! He is growing up so much before my very eyes. He is growing more and more independent of me everyday. He is doing more and more things on his own. I can’t wait to watch him grow more and more everyday. He works so hard to do certain things that sooner or later will be routine things for him. God has shown me a lot of things through him and I am sure I will learn more and more. Happy Belated Birthday my lil’ man.

FW

So I was finally able to pick a new theme for my blog. I know that some people aren’t going to like that the background is dark with white letters but I really love the rainbow.  I love how colorful it is. I also like that it has a tree in it to remind me of my word Growth from last year.

My next step is to get some pictures up. I know I know I keep saying that, but really I have to be at home and have almost nothing else to do in order to get the pictures up. Since my kids were home an extra hour today my time to do things without them home has been limited. Chris is also working from home today so that the carpet can be install in the basement so that I can drop off and pick up the kids from school and still have someone here.

Part of me is hoping for a call off tonight from work. I would love to stay at home and get something done. Mostly because by 5pm today my carpet in the basement will be done being installed! I am hoping that by Sunday we will have a lest some seating unburied from the pile of heap. We will see though.

For now I need to go get the kids from school. I am sure they will be excited about being able to come downstairs now too.