Random thoughts....

Have you ever vacuumed up a shoe? I have. Yesterday I was thorougly cleaning Miah's bedroom, I was giving 100% to the task, I was focused. I spotted something pink, it looked just like the dried up pink playdough that was mixed in the carpet, so I moved the vacuum toward the tiny pink object, and just as it was being sucked up, I saw it. A tiny little doll shoe. The size of half a dime. I gasped! What do I do? I truly felt bad. Will she notice it is missing? Do I tell her or wait till she is looking for it? I decided to empty the vacuum dust into the trash and try to find the shoe. Long story short, no shoe found.

I have a few of my own little ways of "Going Green". These help the planet, and they help save money! Some are just weird.
1. I cut my fabric softner in half and only use 1/2 a sheet per load.
2. I hang dry lots of my laundry, to use the dryer less, save electricity.
3. When buying produce in grocery stores, I try not to use those produce plastic bags if I only have one pepper or 2 cucumbers, etc. And if only buying a few items I don't bag my stuff.
4. I only do dishes like once a day, and if the plate from breakfast doesn't look really dirty I use it for lunch, and maybe dinner too, and same with glasses and silverware.
5. I keep off lights as much as possible and I unplug little things like toasters and blenders when not using them.
6. I turn the water off when I am brushing my teeth.
7. I reuse plastic baggies a lot.
8. I don't use papertowel at all. I use cloth rags.
9. I tell my kids to wear their clothes more than once, if it is not dirty looking or smelly.
Cameron gets the whole process.
Jalen was trained to put clothes in the laundry basket every time he takes them off. So now I am trying to teach him to look at it and decide if it is dirty or not, but I have now been noticing that he puts everything back into his dresser. So he went from everything going to the laundry, even if he wore it for 2 hours, to now everything goes to the dresser to be worn for weeks on end. Kids are funny.
Miah saw Pajamas in the laundry and she said "what are those doing there?" I said "they must be dirty," she said "Pajama's don't get dirty." Which I remember telling her quite awhile ago, that Pajama's go back into the drawer cause they don't ususally get dirty when your sleeping, but she understood it as NEVER WASH PAJAMAS.

Cameron loaded the dishwasher and put soap in and ran the dishwasher all on his own today. I was very greatful.

Yesterday, Miah begged for me to let her help do dishes, so we did them together and she sang "Oh, I love helping Mommy, oh I love helping Mommy......oh I love helping mommy..." on and on she sang. It was priceless.

Tomorrow I get to go shopping with a great friend for about 4 hours! Can you say WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited just thinking about it!

I love how Miah says "Mama"

Cameron has been asking a lot of questions about Heaven. I have been praying that God will give him dreams of what heaven will be like, so he can tell me about it!

I have much to be thankful for:
1. Justin and I both have jobs.
2. All five of us are healthy.
3. Our bills are paid.
4. We have a warm, nice home.
5. Our kids love each other (most of the time)
6. My vacuum is fixed............because at this very moment I have mud tracked all across the living room, that I will now go take care of.

Friday night plans....
Reading with the boys, dinner - scrambled eggs and potatoes, and maybe a bath for Miah (she keeps itching her butt).:)

Question of the day

If you knew that everything you prayed for today would be answered, would you pray differently?

Psalm 127:1-3

If God doesn't build the house,
the builders only build shacks.
If God doesn't guard the city,
the night watchman might as well nap.
It's useless to rise early and go to bed late,
and work your worried fingers to the bone.
Don't you know he enjoys
giving rest to those he loves?
Don't you see that children are God's best gift?
the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?

This-n-that about Jalen

Jalen just told me, "Mom, even if I don't have any friends, I'll still be happy, because I have you. I'll always have you."

Today at his valentines party, he loudly told everyone, "My mom is here, my mom is here!"

He tried to hug me the whole time I was in his classroom, but I kept reminding him to play the games with the other kids.

Jalen loves to make people laugh. If he gets alittle reaction the first time he says something, he will say it again and again and get louder each time. He loves attention! He loves laughter!

Jalen has a great teacher! She has a huge job and some how she stays on top of everything!

I have recently discoverd his ability to really focus for a length of time. It is so neat! He does well focusing if there are no distractions. The other day, he sat at the table quietly, by himself, and put a 100 piece puzzle together. It took about an hour. He was so proud of himself.

Jalen recieved his bag full of Valentines from his classmates today. There were 22 Valentines and only 2 people included candy with there Valentine. (Our school has a NO CANDY policy). So in the van, before we were even home, Jalen said "Here Miah the sucker is for you, and here Cameron the chocolate thing is for you." (This is an interesting thing about Jalen, He does not usually share very well, BUT he loves to give! He will give things away very easily and he does it with a cheerful heart, but when it comes to sharing something that he sees as HIS, he's not into it!)

Jalen has lots of energy! I mean LOTS!!!!

Jalen recieved the honor of being STUDENT OF THE MONTH this month! Today I took his picture next to the big bulletin board at school.

Jalen is such a cool kid, I am so thankful for him and blessed daily by his love and kindness.

Daddy Daughter Dance

What a day! First thing in the morning, Justin bought flowers for Miah. This was her first time getting flowers. She carried them around and smelled them all day. This was really one of the best days of her life. She was so excited and so happy. Justin also got her a little wrist corsage (it was so cute!), and they were off for the dance. When she arrived home at 9:30pm, (which she is normally asleep at 7pm) she was still wide awake! She loves her daddy!

3 John 1:4

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth."

Chix Vegy Joes

My mom used to make Sloppy Joes when I was a kid, and they were one of my favorites. As an adult I didn't make them for years because I thought they were too unhealthy. But a couple years ago, I had my mom's sloppy joes again and I was reminded how good they tasted, so I thought I would alter the recipe and make them for my family. This is my version of Sloppy Joes.

Recipe:

1 lb. ground chicken
1 can tomato paste (15 oz.)
1 small red pepper
1 small green pepper
1 small onion
1/2 cup water (or more for desired consistency)
2 TBLS apple cider vinegar
1-2 tsp. Honey

Seasoning Powder Mixture:
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp real salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder


Brown chicken in pan, then drain grease from chicken, and put it back into the pan on very low heat. Add tomato paste, water, vineager and honey. Stir really good and let simmer. In seperate bowl, mix seasoning, then mix into chicken. Let simmer and keep stirring. Chop up onion, green and red peppers very finely. Remove chicken from heat. Mix raw vegys into mixture really good. Serve on buns or as my kids and I do, eat with potato chips!

Recycling

Okay, I have been slow at getting into this, but little by little we are doing our part. 2 years ago I started recycling cardboard. It was easy and not messy and so that was my first step. My kids on the other hand, had learned in pre-school all about recycling and they think it is really fun!

So a month ago, I took a big step. We are now recycling everything that we can. The county gave everyone these HUGE containers and you don't have to sort anything, you just throw it all into this big thing. It is kind of fun. I keep it in the garage right near the door from my kitchen so now about 3 or 4 times a day, I toss things in. I am amazed at how much stuff can be recycled.

Now I wish I would have started years ago, but it seemed like a lot of work, which it is at first, just breaking old habits and forming new ones. But, this is definitely a good new habit. And I feel good about it!

Me summed up in a list of 25

25 random things about me.......

1. My kids are the biggest blessing in my life and the biggest challenge/responsibility. I had no idea all that parents do. Somedays I don't sit down till 8pm at night. Being a mom is great and exhausting all at the same time. Somedays I wish for a break, but then once I have about 1 hour alone, I miss them and look forward to their return.
2. I like to eat. Hate Fast Food. 90% vegetarian. Love healthy sweets!
3. I like to work-out! Running, Cycling, Weight lifting, pilates, kick-boxing, I'll try anything!
4. I like to read to my kids. And my kids love books as well.
5. I like to cook healthy, tasty, inexpensive meals for my family.
6. I like chocolate
7. I juice vegtables (carrots, kale, celery, cucumbers, red beets etc.) almost every day. I want to have a big garden someday!
8. I love the Bible. Love good Bible teaching. I listen to good teaching CD's in the van or in the kitchen.
9. I love getting older. I would never go back to my teens or twentys. Every year we learn so much, I thought I knew a lot back then, but realize now how stupid I was!
10. I have lived in Indiana for 5 years. I love it. I can not think of anywhere else I would rather live. I tell people often that I love our house/location/neighbors. It is perfect in so many ways for our family. I dream of it being bigger and having 3 acres of land around it, but otherwise I love it!!!
11. I have a dream job. I teach fitness classes 4 days a week at a health club that is 1/2 mile from our home. My classes are 1 hour long, and I can take my kids with me to work. How awesome! (When my kids are older, I plan to get into personal training)
12. I love Dave Ramsey. We believe what he says and do our best to follow it.
13. I love books! The library is my hobby. I check out about 30 books for my kids and 5-10 books for me every-other week. I love researching things and reading good fiction sometimes too.
14. I love family time. We schedule things on purpose to do as a family of 5. It builds memorys and gives us all something to look forward to.
15. I have a positive person inside, trying to get past my negative tendencies. Some weeks my negative side takes over, but I'm working on it.
16. I have the coolest husband ever. He's a great dad. He understands how to put people before things. He is committed, consistent, extremely hard working, stable, and just a huge blessing to me.
17. I am terrible at home decorating. Justin and I know what we like, it's just not what we have.
18. I am frugale. (Maybe that is why I am bad a home decorating)
19. I have been married 13 years and have never had cable television, or any tv, other than with bunny ears kind.
20. I like to make foods from scratch. I don't like processed, boxed, canned, microwaved foods.
21. I seldom ever wear make-up. If you see me in make-up, it is a very, very special day!
22. I love organizing/helping with 'special BIG events". (as long as there not at my home)
23. I love inspirational, romantic, heart warming, and thought provoking movies.
24. I love the sunshine. I like to be tan. I like to lay in the hot sun and read a book or listen to great music. (I love fun, upbeat, christian music)
25. I drive a mini-van and love it!!

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills-
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip-
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Isreal
will niether slumber nor sleep.
The Lord watches over you-
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all harm-
he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.