Archive - March, 2005

Reclaiming My Home

By on March 31, 2005 in Home, homemaking 22

It happened. Last Friday I had had enough!!! At one time I had a neat, organized, immaculate home and then I had children!!! Those of you who knew me 7 years ago can attest to this. After my children came, I did my best to keep up the ‘ready for a showing’ persona, as if my house were for sale. When the third and especially the fourth child came along, I gave up!!! During the summer, when everyone is at home all day, I go into a vegatative state when it comes to keeping up with the house. Seriously, I just stare blankly, expressionless, I shut down, it’s just too much! I go catatonic! So, you’re waiting on pins and needles, wondering what happened Friday. I reclaimed my home from my children!!! I carried out every toy, I mean EVERY toy, and put them in my garage!!!!

I feel like a re-birth in my life has occurred!!! It’s been days since I looked at my house and felt like crying. I feel like I have some space of my own!!! I suddenly care about my home again! I’ve spent my week cleaning and organizing. I can’t explain to you how good it feels!

Now before you go thinking that I have gone, ‘mommy dearest’, let me tell you my children are not traumatized! Jessica is the only one that seems to care. I let her go pick out two or three things and she plays contentedly and then takes them back out to the garage when she’s finished. Lydia is perfectly happy having her stuffed cat collection neatly placed on her bed.

To top it off, we are doing a TV fast this week, too. The girls receive a medal at the next Reading Nite Out, if we go without the TV for a week. I haven’t heard a cartoon for days now….awwwwwwwww. Peace and quiet.

My children read books, play school, play hide and go seek, play outside, listen to music, dance……… Why didn’t I do this a long time ago? I’ve come to the conclusion that they have too much!!! So….what do I do with it all? How much is enough? Should I bring the stuff back?

Oh no!!!!!!!!Garage sale season is coming. Can I resist all the great deals on great toys? I must!!!!

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling snow before it stops snowing.

Butt Prints In The Sand

By on March 30, 2005 in Faith 10

One night, I had a wondrous dream;
One set of footprints there was seen.
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.
But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, “What have we here?”
“Those prints are large and round and neat,
But, Lord, they are too big for feet.”
“My child,” He said in somber tones.
“For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait.
You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of-faith you would not know.
So I got tired and fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt,
Because in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand.”

My Life In Pictures

By on March 28, 2005 in Celebrations, family, friendship, Home, kiddos 6

I’m excited to announce the debut of my Percolations Photo Gallery!

If you would like to leave comments on photos, then register for an account. It’s quick and free! I suggest you use the same name for your ‘username’ and ‘real name’.To leave comments, use the drop down list next to the image of your choice.

Start clicking away on the photos to go into the different albums and to enlarge the pictures. Enjoy!!

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.” ~Nelson Mandella

the alabaster box

By on March 23, 2005 in Faith 10

This has been heavy on my heart since the middle of last night. I feel impressed to share it on my blog. I typed this out this morning as soon as I woke up.

I am so glad to be a woman. I think as women we are blessed, because we grasp the romance of God easier than our male counterparts. There is a divine romance, that when understood, can touch us deeply. One of my male friends said he just can’t see himself in a gown, which causes me to giggle, because it is a ridiculous picture! Yet, the church is called the bride of Christ and we are the church.

I love the story of Mary and the alabaster box in Luke chapter 7:36-50. She came to Jesus full of passion for the One who loves her. The men in the room wanted to throw cold water on her passion, but Jesus quieted them. She was a sinful woman, but she came, bringing the good, bad and downright ugly parts of her. She brought her alabaster box full of very expensive perfume and broke it and poured it on the feet of Jesus, cleaning his feet with her hair and tears and kissing His feet relentlessly. She understood the romance. Of course, I am not talking about sexual feelings but all the other feelings that come with an intimate love relationship. She poured out everything that was important to her, everything of value, all of her hurts, all of her longings. She had been searching for the One who loved her and she had finally found the right feet!

There is a song that I love that captures this moment in such a beautiful way. As I listen, it makes me long to reach out and feel the feet of Jesus. It makes me wish for long hair like this Mary, to wipe His feet with.

Although we might not be able to physically touch Jesus’ feet as Mary did, and we probably don’t own extremely expensive perfume, we too, have our own alabaster boxes full of everything of value to us. In it are our gifts, our broken hearts, our pain, our joy, our desire to be loved as only He can love us. He is worthy and He is the safest place to lay it all down and He won’t allow man to get in the way!

My Aunt Marilyn posted her favorite scripture under my “Who Am I” page. It is John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Despite what the world may think, Jesus IS reality.

I want to share this song with you. Take a moment to quiet yourself and listen. Who knows, maybe you will have an encounter with the One who loves YOU!

Click HERE. If you have a dial up connection this download may take a while, it is a long song, but it’s soooooooo worth it through to the end.

Beauty Matters

By on March 22, 2005 in Faith 30

As women, we are bombarded daily with the world’s value of beauty. Let’s face it, it STINKS!! It’s a lot of pressure. I admit I have female schitzophrenia. I hate how the Victoria’s Secret models look, but I wish I looked like that!! I’m sick of “trendy”, yet, I want to be trendy. I’m not going to say , “I’m a Christian woman and inner beauty is all that matters.” Embracing our outward beauty is important. We are created in God’s image – we are fearfully and wonderfully made. The problem is our fallen world cannot value beauty as God created it. This leaves us longing for more…

Here is an excerpt from an excellent book that I have read several times, Fresh Brewed Life by Nicole Johnson.

Discover the Secret

There is no beauty in makeup. Expensive clothes will not make you beautiful. The secret lies in being an alive, awake woman with something to offer the world. Namely, yourself. Beauty is less about your face and more about the light in your eyes. Less about the length of your legs, more about the bounce in your step. Real beauty is being a viable, vital human being. As you participate in your life with a warm smile and a generous spirit, you are beautiful.

All my life I thought beauty was what I looked like. Now I understand it’s so much more that that. Beauty cannot be separated into its component parts. It is a package of things that reveal someone’s beauty, not one thing. Someone may have thick, shiny hair, but having lovely hair doesn’t necessarily make one beautiful.

Living a fresh-brewed life will bring out the beauty in you because it is uncovering you. It is revealing more of the authentic you that is beautiful. Fresh-brewed life helps us find the reason to wear happy colors, or sets us free to wear black, without it being a statement. Color becomes very important to us. Because life is a living, breathing work of art. We are painting as we go. What shades reveal most clearly who you are? Never forget you have magnficent hues at your disposal. Discover them, and finger paint all over your life! Be a masterpiece. Drink in life. Laugh too loud. Compliment others constantly.

Cultivate beauty all around you. Plant a garden. Embrace beauty wherever you find it–in the fall leaves, in the spring flowers. This will help you embrace it in yourself. When you appreciate a sunset or your child’s clay candlestick or a beautiful piece of music, you are saying yes to beauty. You are saying yes to God.

The most beautiful make-up of a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy. ~Yves St. Laurent

Happy 25th birthday, mary!!! hehe

By on March 21, 2005 in Celebrations, Faith, friendship 5

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30

yummy Oatmeal Cookies

By on March 20, 2005 in Comfort Food 3

I just can’t get over these cookies. . . This is my favorite cookie recipe, for the moment. It’s yummylicous, especially with coffee. They have a nice spicy flavor and aroma. They remind me of what little girls are made of…sugar and spice and everything nice!

Dad’s Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 teaspoons ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups quick cooking oats

——————————————————————————–

Cream first three ingredients until fluffy, add eggs and vanilla. Mix all dry ingredients into butter mixture. Stir in oats. Let dough stand at room temperature for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheets. Flatten cookies slightly and bake for 10 minutes. Do not overbake.
Take cookies from the oven when still puffy and edges are just beginning to brown. Let cookies cool a minute or two on cookie sheets before removing. Cool completely on racks. They are fragile and difficult to remove from the cookie sheets when they are still warm, so work gently.

I have experimented with the measurements on the cinnamon, all spice and cloves and have found that 1-1/2 tsp. makes it spicy to my liking. I don’t always let the dough sit either.

I’m quite ashamed – ’tis mighty rude
To eat so much – but all’s so good. ~ Leona Odle Dickey

Girls nite out!

By on March 19, 2005 in friendship, Home 9

Last night, my girls night out group got together for a group therapy session. For women, the best form of therapy is sitting around a table with other females gorging ourselves on good food and laughing so hard our stomachs hurt and we’re running off to the bathroom before we pee our pants!

We got the official group tour of JoEllen’s new home. It’s beautiful and mega big! Congratulations, JoEllen, you deserve it! We especially liked trying out JoEllen’s sleep number bed. The general consensus was John’s side, number 20, was too soft but JoEllen’s side was perfect.

The Dancing Tarts posted this great song on their blog! I dedicate it to my girls night out group! Nothing satifies a group of women like good food! Here’s to you JoEllen, Brandi, Karen, Amber, Mary, Karen and Tracy! Click HERE!

STAY is a charming word in a friends vocabulary.

Kenmore Krazy

By on March 17, 2005 in Home, homemaking, kiddos 26

Well, it finally happened! I am the proud owner of a matching, like “new”, Kenmore washer and dryer set!! This is my first matching set! (I guess I could count my harvest gold ones I used as a newlywed.)

My old washer was maxed out with four pair of blue jeans. Maybe this will help to cut back on my 14 plus loads of wash I do each week. I think I could fit all four of my kids in my new washing machine! Hmmm, that may help cut back on bath time, too. . .

Like with everything else in her life, the first thing Anjelia did when she saw the new set was walk up and lick the dryer. I wonder what information she gathers from doing that?

The obvious and fair solution to the housework problem is to let men do the housework for, say, the next six thousand years, to even things up. The trouble is that men, over the years, have developed an inflated notion of the importance of everything they do, so that before long they would turn housework into just as much of a charade as business is now. They would hire secretaries and buy computers and fly off to housework conferences in Bermuda, but they’d never clean anything. ~Dave Barry

The tooth fairy

By on March 14, 2005 in Celebrations, Home, kiddos 18

Our five year old, Jessica, has had a loose tooth for some time now. Over the weekend it was driving her absolutely crazy. She was becoming quite grumpy and every couple of minutes she would let out a frustrated grunt.

When I picked her up at school today, she was so excited! She had finally lost that tooth. It happened during lunch. She was eating an orange and she thought it was a seed until she stuck her tongue on her tooth, but it was gone! Her music teacher gave her a little pink box to bring it home in.

After dinner, James took her to the store to pick out some ice cream to celebrate. She chose vanilla ice cream bars with chocolate coating, yummy.

A few months ago I bought a tooth fairy box. It’s a little wooden box with a lid. The inside is drilled out with a bit the size of quarters. She put the tooth in it and put it under her pillow. Now it’s just watch and wait. Will the tooth fairy come?

Vanished

She came in last night
And vanished away…
With the tooth I pulled
Out yesterday

If I could follow,
I bet I’d spy
A mountain of teeth that
Would reach the sky!

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