Waiting

Grrrrrr.
As I sit here I am waiting for time to pass. Our student ministry is having a movie on the lawn at a friends house tonight. So.....I am waiting for night. Because you can't have an outside movie while it is dark :-X

Barron has gotten in this horrible habit over the past months of being super impatient. It drives everyone in the house crazy. Part of the insanity is because he can't tell time. So every 5 minutes he asks,"How much time now?" Which is totally not cool when you are doing something at 8:30 at night. He wakes up asking, "How much time NOW?". The other part I can't decide if it is personality or gender.

Right now we are waiting on:
Movie on the lawn
Breakfast (tomorrow)
Vacation Bible School
The Beach
Church
Play time at the pool
Bedtime
Booktime
Bath time
the Library
Snack (at any point I will give in)
Tv time
Kindergarten
Vegetables to grow
his socks to be washed
PE in the fall
play date at friend's house

and the list goes on and on.......


But truth be told..... A patient one I am not. (Yes, I hear it in a Yoda voice in my head.)
And deep down inside, I am just like Barron. I just keep it all inside. So I guess that answers my question about why he is the way he is.


PS. This blog had no purpose except to give me something to do while I wait :-)


~LL

Out of My Mind

The book I am currently reading is called "Out of My Mind." It isn't very often that I read a book that isn't a christian title (mainly because I work in a christian bookstore :-). But this one was brought to my attention by a sweet lady who owns a children's bookstore here in town. It is filed under juvenile fiction, which is just perfect for my reading level :-)
While we are wondering around this great little bookstore, I began chatting with the owner. We talked for a while and then she says," let me read you something" and this is what she read to me....

Words
I'm surrounded by thousands of words. Maybe millions.

Cathedral, Mayonnaise, Pomegranate.
Mississippi. Neapolitan. Hippopotamus.
Silky. Terrifying. Iridescent.
Tickle. Sneeze. Wish. Worry.

Words have always swirled around me like snowflakes-each one delicate and different,each one melting untouched in my hands.
Deep within me, words pile up in huge drifts. Mountains of phrases and sentences and connected ideas. Clever expressions. Jokes. Love songs.
From the time I was really little-maybe just a few months old-words were like sweet, liquid gifts, and I drank them like lemonade. I could almost taste them. They made my jumbled thoughts and feelings have substance. My parents have always blanketed me with conversation. They chattered and babbled. They verbalized and vocalized. My father sang to me. My mother whispered strength into my ear.
Every word my parents ever spoke to me or about me I absorbed and kept and remembered. All of them.
I have no idea how I untangled the complicated process of words and thought, but it happened quickly and naturally. By the time I was two, all my memories hadwords, and all my words had meanings.
But only in my head.
I have never spoken one single word. I am almost eleven years old.

_______

Funny how I am surrounded by books constantly. I listen to sermons, read blogs, see tweets and facebook that constantly talk about books and authors. But God set that day up perfectly for me to walk into that bookstore and have that conversation with the owner. Since that day God has put a number of things in my path that deal with children with special needs. I am not sure what He is doing with all of this, but I don't believe in coincidences. Maybe He is calling me out, or maybe He is just softening my heart. Because I feel like my heart has been hardened my misunderstanding of families and children with special needs. Yesterday we were at the doctors office and there was a little boy with down syndrome. I felt myself smile at him differently than before. With more understanding.

Anyway.....all of that to say. "Out of My Mind" is a book worth reading. I refused to pay shelf price so I borrowed mine from the library :-) (Just don't tell the sweet little lady who read Ch.1 to me in her book store.)

That little children's song: He's still working on me....to make me what I ought to be...... is running through my head. God is so good and I am so thankful that He's isn't finished with me yet.


~LL

Been a while

I am forcing myself to sit down and finally blog. It feels like it has been forever since I sat and wrote anything other than some silly review. I guess I haven't felt the huge urge to write because of how life has been lately. I feel like we are on a freight train. Not one of those slow moving, never gonna get anywhere, my load is so heavy I can't hardly move freight trains. But one of those holy crap, hold on for your life, speeding furiously down the track, hope no ones is crossing, the load is heavy but totally worth it, this ride is amazing freight trains.
Since I don't even know where to begin I think I will make a list. A list of things that I am encouraged by or grateful for. Hope you enjoy it and on some level it catches you up on our life.

1. For God to love me enough.... to never stop.
2. For our family to work so well together to accomplish all of our million tasks without killing one another.
3. For a husband to love and honor.
4. For a husband who treats me the same.
5. For Lifepoint. Who accepted a vision from God and chases it in everything they do.
6. For the number of true friends I have to shrink but for those friendships to deepen.
7. For children who love me despite my parenting skills.
8. For my garden that makes me feel at home (even though it won't produce :-)
9. For my bible study ladies who make me laugh ...and laugh...and laugh
10. For my health because it could be worse :-)
11. For my baggage. Because with each passing year it gets lighter, but still heavy enough to force humility.
12. For Mellow-Yellow. Because it just makes me happy.
13. Marshmallows do too :-)
14. For my job. Though I HATE to go off and work, I am thankful for the people I meet, and the stories they tell that change my life.
15. For worship music. Because it is there...in music....that I feel the closest to God. (Even though I can't carry a tune :-)
16. For thunderstorms. Because they are peaceful and powerful at the same time. Just like God.
17. For fiction books that take me somewhere that I may never go or have already been. But always take me away.
18. For aloe. Because as I sit here and type the laptop is burning my legs on my sunburn. (Welcome to Summer)
19. For coke icee.....need I say more?
20. For date night. Because time out with my best friend is the best time ever.
21. For the beach. AHHHHH vacation. It's coming.....soon.
22. For blogs. Because the give us windows into the lives of people we normally would never meet.
23. For Hell's Kitchen. Because somewhere... deep down...there is a little Gordon Ramsay in us all. (ok maybe just in me ;-)
24.For Homeschooling. Because I only get 18 years to really invest. I am so thankful I get to spend it investing in all 4 of them.
25. For a hubby that enables/encourages me on our home school adventure.
26. Lastly.....for flip flops. Because I was born to be barefoot, so flip flops are the next best thing.

All of that to say. Life is good and busy. Hopefully the list will either catch you up a little or just make you laugh. But either way, it's a blog and now I am up-to-date.


~LL

Book Winner

And the winner is..............





Kate.





Thanks to all you who commented. Kate I know you will love it :-)


~LL

Fun Stuff

This week I received some fun goodies to review. The fact that this is post number 2 about random "stuff" ought to give you a pretty good glimpse into our crazy little life. From standing beside my hubby in ministry, to homeschooling 4, growing in Christ,reading tons, shopping when I can, and trying to live green. It all gives me PLENTY of things to write about. Reviews of products can be pretty boring to read so I will try to keep you entertained :-)


This time I got to pick out 4 things from the wonderful online stores of CSN.

#1 My children would call it a "A big huge bouncy ball" . I would call it "Mom is always gonna fuss when the kids get it out ball". But it is really a Yoga Direct Yoga Balance/Fitness Ball. One of my favorite things to do at the gym is the stability ball. I have had one in the past but.....to be honest I really didn't know how to use it. Now I do :-) and I love it. (When the kids aren't bouncing it down to hall ways and off the ceiling.grrrrrrrr)

#2 My little princess daughter would say they are called ...."If you put them under your shirt mom they look like boobs. But mom, I can't say that because that would be inappropriate. Right?" balls. I would call them Soft Weighted Toning Balls and they go great with my stability ball. But I keep them hidden in the closet until time to workout with them because the kids behave like they are at Chuck E Cheese when I bring them out.

#3 This one is a little random. I felt a little guilty to pick only stuff for me so I pick out something for school too. They are Basic sight word flash cards. I am so excited for school next year. We will be starting Kindergarten with the youngest two and it will be things like these flash cards that will make it easier and fun to learn to read.

#4 This one is even more random. I am not sure what to even say about it. Except that I love it and I needed one. In fact everyone needs at least one. I had a big one and it just didn't work for everything so this one fits perfectly..... it's a Calphalon slotted spoon. ( I told you it was random :-)

These wonderful gifts arrived from a great online company called CSN. They have 200+ websites to shop from. To name a few www.allchildrensfurniture.com www.csnbaby.com, www.cookware.com, www.allmodern.com
Basically anything you could need or want..... as you can tell by the things that I got.
kids bedding....cookware.....baby stuff....they have a site for everything. The support has been great and they are all very friendly. So next time you don't want to drag the kiddos out or you feel like shopping online is the easier way to go.....check them out :-)


Hope you enjoyed the review and the craziness from my life. Have a great weekend!!!


~LL

PS Don't forget the book giveaway next Thursday. GO leave a comment on the post Book Give Away