BOK TOWER ADVENTURES

On May 8, 2015 the kiddos and I took the day off from school and had an impromptu filed trip.  Our destination, Bok Tower Gardens here in town.  Robert and I have lived here for 18 years and I can count on one hand how many times we have ventured into the gardens, (actually Robert has NEVER been and he's lived here his whole life!), and I decided that it was time for the kiddos and I to branch out.  The plus side was that this was a FREE field trip for us!  And we had a great day!

Entering the gardens.

My adorable crew!

The singing tower.

We didn't get to explore as much as I would have liked, mainly because it was hot and the kiddos were all STARVING and insisted that we eat as soon as humanely possible.  In other words, it was lunch time!  HA!  We did manage to feed the fish in the koi pond, do some garden exploring, and get down to run some in the beautifully manicured grass!

Feeding the fish.

There were some BIG koi there!

In spite of the visit being shorter than I cared for, we had a GREAT time!  The gardens were lovely, even though many paths were under construction.  The smell of the fresh flowers and trees were heavenly.  I am hoping that I can talk Robert into coming with me, just the two of us soon.  I think it would make for a lovely date local for us!

I MADE A BIG MISTAKE

I know that this will come as a huge surprise to everyone but I am far from perfect.  As a matter of fact I make mistakes a lot.  This past week, I have made a big mistake and it is affecting us in a major way.

My wonderful husband has been very gracious to me in my mistake, he always extends grace to me and I appreciate it more than words can express.  BUT, I still messed up and I'm heartbroken over it.  Last night I wanted to try to stay awake and figure out a way to fix my problem.  The reality is that I don't know how to fix the problem and sitting up worrying about it was accomplishing nothing.  So, I did the only thing that I could do, I opened my Bible.

Yesterday afternoon I had the privilege of listening to Dr. David Jeremiah in his message on worry from Turning Point Ministries.  He is currently going over his Signs of Life study and yesterday's message was about worry.  The passage I kept going back to last night as I purposed NOT to worry.  

As I pondered what Dr. Jeremiah said and applied it to my own life, I was able to sleep and actually woke up refreshed this morning.  I chose not to worry about my mistake but to humbly confess it and ask God to have His way in the situation.  More than that, I am choosing to follow Him in all things and purpose to not worry today.  We will find a solution and I need to be mindful of the problem, but I know that God will give us His wisdom, His guidance, and His grace to take care of the problem.  

We are still in the predicament that I caused.  To be honest I don't see a way out of it right now.  In spite of my desire to worry and try to take control of this situation, I think that I need to learn to let God have His way in this more than I need to worry.  And, if you are so inclined, we'd appreciate prayers as we navigate this big mistake that I made.  

MOTHER'S DAY 2015

This past Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day in a very low key manner.  I knew that the celebration of me would be non existent that I day, in fact I asked for it to be that way.  My reason, it was my E-Man's 8th birthday and I wanted the focus to be on him and not on me.  It was a lovely day, and I got what I really wanted, a nap and was surprised with a lot more.

The morning started off in the normal way.  Robert and I bustled around trying to get all five kiddos up and dressed. It's funny to me that it never fails, no matter how many times I lay out clothes for Sunday morning, something disappears in the night.  Be it the baby's socks or someone's shoes there is always a rush to get things done.  This Sunday morning was no exception.  But we were able to get some Mother's Day photos in our Sunday best!

A silly picture to start the morning off right!

A serious everyone stand up and smile picture to make the morning complete.

After church we came home and enjoyed a wonderful meal and celebration with the birthday boy (more to come about him after his party this weekend).  That's when I purposed to get the little one's to lay down.  Of course they wouldn't sleep so Daddy offered to take them and I napped.  It was comical to wake up and find the chocolate cake smeared everywhere.  It seems Daddy fell asleep and Jacob the Destroyer struck.  Seriously, I'm still finding chocolate in places and it's been almost a week!  UGH!  It was at this time that I got the best compliment I've ever been given from my sweet husband.

     It's hard work keeping up with these kids!

I laughed, hard.  He's right!  It is hard work keeping up with all these kiddos.  Yet they are also the ones that make my life so amazing.  Take, for example, my gift.  Everything was planned by Maggie.  She made the entire gift just from listening to what I have been saying about organizing the house.  I was given a beautiful tray, a lovely glass jar, some make-up ( including some samples of Organic Cow girl Dirt, but more on that later), and some beautiful earrings.  

I'm really enjoying this natural ~ organic makeup, but more about that later!

I LOVE the tear drop shape to these earnings!

My new tray and jar.  I think it's cute how Maggie wrapped the jar in burlap and the Cowgirl Dirt makeup came in the little burlap bag.

My Sunday morning selfie AFTER church showcasing the makeup still going strong!

All of the gifts were chosen for me because of something that she had heard me say I wanted to use, try, or she thought I would like.  It was a Mother's Day gift worth cherishing, I am so grateful that Maggie took the time to hear me when she heard me chatting.  I felt so special!  More than that, it was a perfect Mother's Day.  We celebrated the kiddos, I napped, and I was abundantly blessed by my daughter and husband with a gift that means so much.

I am not a perfect mom.  More often than not I fail, at every turn.  It is easy to make life seem perfect in blog posts, choosing only to highlight the pretty and not the "real" of a life with five kids.  In spite of not being perfect, I have children who love me and think of me as the Proverbs 31 Woman.  I am abundantly blessed by God as He allows me to walk this path of being my kiddos Mama.  I pray that everything I do brings glory to Him and helps prepare my children for His purpose in their lives.  Mother's Day was special because of the family that I have.  I am so glad that they are mine!

OUR HEALTH MATTERS!

Lately Robert and I have really been looking seriously at what we eat and he effects that chemicals have on our bodies.  I have been carefully reading product labels, pricing items, and reading up on what Organic -vs- non GMO and all the many different products mean.  I have been watching our grocery bill climb higher and higher as we switch more and more of our food to organic.  And as the bills climb higher, I have been asking if it is really worth it.  

I got my answer, and it was YES, it is really worth it.  My answer came from Facebook, a post from Robyn O'Brien showing what the Swedish Environmental Research Institute discovered about the chemicals in our bodies from the food that we eat.  This blog post is worth reading and the video linked in it is really worth watching.  The information that the video contains really cemented that we are doing the right thing eating organic.

So, in the end we will eat organic.  We will adjust our food budget accordingly.  We will purpose to eat as healthy as possible.  Why?  Simply because, in the grand scheme of things, the health of my family matters more than anything. 

SERVE ONE ANOTHER ~ A Beautiful Thing

Our pastor has started a new sermon series for our Sunday worship at First Baptist detailing what it takes to have a "Choice Marriage".   This past Sunday the message was based on Ephesians 5 and Mark 10, specifically Mark 10:45, and what it takes to serve one another in our homes and our marriages.  He challenged us to memorize Mark 10:45 and make it a central verse for our marriages.  He also challenged us to look for five to seven ways to serve your spouse through out the week.  I must admit, I have enjoyed this challenge immensely.

Firstly, let me confess that I have never thought of using Bible verses to play a central role in my marriage.  I pray for my husband daily.  I have prayed Scriptures over my husband, my favorite verses are found in Psalms for this.  BUT, I have never thought of finding verses and saying THIS applies to my marriage.  After Sunday morning, now I am thinking of what verses are good for our marriage.  I love the idea of serving one another in our marriage because Christ came to serve us.  I love that marriages are made up of daily choices to actively love and serve one another.  More than that I am amazed to see that God has His design for marriage and active all encompassing love shown through these acts of service.  Mark 10:45 is the perfect example of this.  I am grateful for the challenge that Pastor Scott issued and that this is the verse that we are now using to remind ourselves of what marriage service and love really is.

Now onto confession number two.  Robert and I have already been looking for little things to do for each other to serve one another daily.  Why?  It's the little things that make a marriage.  I can give you two examples of what I do for Robert.  I make his coffee nightly so he can have a fresh, hot cup of coffee waiting on him when he wakes up.  

Why is this a big deal?  I HATE the smell of coffee. Literally, I despise coffee.  I don't like the smell of the grounds, the smell of it brewing, and don't get me started on the taste.  BUT, my husband LOVES having a big pot of coffee waiting on him when he gets up at 5:30 for his day of work.  So every night when I clean the kitchen, I put coffee on and set the timer for at least 15 minutes before he is to wake up.  He gets up to the smell of coffee and he knows that I was thinking of him the night before.  

Another little thing that I do is I try to learn to cook things that he likes.  Most people think that I am a decent cook, and I have learned a lot over the years, but I am NOT the cook that Robert is.  Robert is the one that can cook everything from scratch.  I am still learning.  Robert is the one who grew up in the kitchen, me, well let's just say my Mom's favorite meal is still take out menu's!    In spite of my lack of culinary skills, I do try to make things that I know are pleasing to my husband.  More than that, I purpose to plan our meals so that when he comes in from work, supper is being served.  I also like to make things that I know he enjoys.  Like this morning, I made his "kool-aid".

In my attempt to maintain a healthier lifestyle, I knew that traditional Kool-Aid had to go.  BUT, this was something that Robert grew up enjoying, so I researched and found a healthy alternative.  Robert LOVES to drink this healthy "kool-aid".  The recipe is super simple (I'll share it below), the house smells incredible as the Tazo tea steeps, but more than that, Robert knows how much I love him because I choose to make this for him and the children.  Literally this morning he was super excited that I was making him his "kool-aid".

Now, I know that I have gone on and on about all the things that I do for Robert.  But, I want you to know that he serves me in a lot of little ways too.  He will run by the bread store for me so I don't have to make a special trip.  He will let me sleep in knowing that I am not a morning person by nature.  He knows, even in his sleep, that I need him to hold me at night when I tap his shoulder.  He gladly cooks on the days that life is too chaotic and stressful for me to have his meal ready on time.  He willingly comes in from working, often a 10-14 hour day, and sweeps the floors for me because he knows I can't stand the sand and crumbs.  He compliments me on cleaning the house even though it looks like a bomb has exploded.  When I ask him how he can even tell I cleaned his answer is usually:  "Because the toys and books are in a different spot."

All of these things, and maybe more than 100 more happen on a daily basis.  Not because we are prefect, as our "discussion" last night can show.  Rather these things happen because we are purposing to have a marriage where we put each other first, where we seek to show each other the love of Christ daily, and we purpose to show our children what love is.  Love is dying to one's self daily.  Love is an active choice.  Love is working hard, even when you don't feel like it, simply because you WANT to serve one another.

Thank you Pastor Scott for this timely reminder this past Sunday.  Thank you for the challenge of a collection of verses for our marriage.  More than this, thank you to my husband of 17, almost 18, years for his continual acts of service, unfailing devotion, and unending love to me.  It is a joy for me to find ways to serve him, simply because it's what makes our love story unique and beautiful.  We  choose to love each and choose to stay in love with each other by serving one another.  These constant acts of service is what makes our messy, chaotic, stressful, amazing, beautiful, and Christ centered marriage a truly beautiful thing.

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NATURAL KOOL-AID

1 Tazo Iced Passion Tea Bag

1/2 Cup Organic Sugar

2 TBSP  Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (with the Mother.  I like Bragg's Brand the best)

In a small sauce pan bring water to a boil, turn the burner off, and add the tea bag allowing  it to steep for at least 5 minutes.  Enjoy the smells coming from the kitchen, believe me, it is heavenly!  In a 2 quart pitcher pour the sugar, hot tea, and vinegar.  Add water to fill the pitcher to the top, stir well, and enjoy over a tall glass of ice.  You can thank me now for this amazingly refreshing summer drink recipe! HA!