What now?!?!

We were at the dentist. It was a long wait. M fell asleep and was an angel. Sam sat still for 2.5 hours, just a miracle. The hygienist asked if the baby got red hair too. I replied after a split second pause "we're adopting him, he has blonde hair, I have the whole spectrum of hair color." She smiled and walked away. I stood there in awe of what just popped out of my mouth. I have never said that before. I use foster care to open conversation. Yet, "we're adopting him" came pouring out of my mouth. Truly that is one of my hearts deepest desires. To add sweet M into our family. Oh for the day when "we're adopting him" is the truth!

If you had told me...

3 years ago what my life would be like, I would have laughed at you.
*That we would be a Foster-to-adopt family
*A Southern Baptist church member, heck a church member at all
*A member of a Bible Study
*That I would have spoke multiple times in front a about 100 people.
*That I would have done a skit in front of about 100 people.
*That I would have taken the lead on getting 25 women to a Christian event.
*Have 2 of my 3 boys baptized.
*Have a husband that is the leader of the Men's Ministry.
*That I would be excited to read the Bible and journal every morning.
*That I would be blogging about all these wonderful changes in our lives. Life is pretty amazing!

10 Little Piggies.

Baby Toes. That is all.

With (Book Review for Booksneeze)

With is the simple title on a very in depth book by Skye Jerhani. Using four prepositions Jerhani describes four 'postures' most people use as a relationship with God. Under, over, from and for. Each section is very detailed. It would be very easy to find out which category you fall in to.

Life Under God seeks to find control and blessings by following all of Gods commands and rules to the letter. If you follow all the rules, you will be blessed.

Life Over God, God has not bearing on one's daily life. You are above Him, you find the principles of life and live by them alone.

Life From God, is a "What has He done for me lately?" lifestyle. Religion is a means to an end, to get what you want and then move on.

Life For God, is a very easy trap that a lot of Christians fall into. Living a life of significance a life for God. While this posture seems like a good one, it still misses the point of living a life with God.

The book closes with four more sections. Life With God, Life With Faith, Life With Hope, and Life With Love.

At the end of the book is a fairly large Appendix section with question both for an individual and a group. It would be a book worth doing for a Bible Study.

The books is very well written with a lot of real life examples and simple drawings to illustrate the point. At times, I did find it a little wordy, but overall it was a great book that I would recommend.

*I was given this book free for review by BookSneeze and not reimburse in any financial way.

Baby Loves

I have a very happy baby. He's probably the happiest baby I've met. His smile lights up a room. However, he is teething. At first it wasn't bad, but today he's been a grumpy grump. I peeked at his gums, bright red and large. I can see the teeth, not just feel them. I think they will break through full grown. He doesn't want to play, bounce or roll around. He wants mama to hold him. So in my lap he sits being covered in kisses and hugs. I want him to feel better soon, but I sure do love baby loves!

Three Day Weekends.

Our "camping shed" was falling apart. "We can save it." says my handy hubby. This is what follows within an hour:

All the junk out and no floor or back wall.

Within 24 hours:

Hopefully by tomorrow it will be finished. He's pretty awesome!

Also for the treasure hunter in me, the boys found these things under the floor boards. We're not sure why they would have built the shed over top of them, but...:

A random coffee mug.

A binder full of Navy Protocol from 1992 and a baggie of receipts from a cross country trip in 92-93. Very odd.

Also, as the kicker, while helping. I was bit by one of these:

A wheel bug, assassin bug, or kissing bug, all the same.

 The real bug is in a jar just in case I go into anaphylactic shock, which can happen. Geez!

Things I've learn for the next time.

The next time a storm may be anywhere close to me, I have learned:

*We are not on the hospital grid as I previously thought. Day 6 with no power proves that.
*Start stockpiling paper plates, plastic utensils and cups, napkins.
*Can goods do not make a meal, buy more peanut butter and jelly.
*More bottled water.
*Invest in a few more fans, if it had been any hotter this week, we would have been in serious trouble.
*Have no hopes of the power being restored. It's easier that way when they change the date on you.
*The library has wi-fi!
*School can be done in a power outage, but you're too tired to do it.
*Rent lots of movies and thank God for a generator!
*Your laundry pile will start to smell really bad around day 5.
*You will be doing laundry for days when the power decides to return.
*The generator is your friend, treat it kindly.

Things I've learned from Day 6 of no power:

*I don't need to look at facebook every 10 minutes.
*The blog world will be there when I return.
*I really don't watch much tv, I guess I keep it on in the background. I haven't missed anything.
*I have been ignoring my husband in the evening, that is changing TODAY.
*I really have missed reading.
*I love the friends I've met online, but I really don't need to check on their every move during the day.
*My boys are pretty resourceful when given the chance.
*I can restart a whole house on a generator and pour the gas and flip the breakers and start the gas grill, I just prefer not to.
*I sleep much better when I'm reading and not online.
*The bed should be for my husband and I, not the computer or the TV.
*I have plenty of time to actually have the quiet time I crave if I don't get online.

The main things I've come away with is this: I'm spend too much time online and it stops now. I love blogging and as an outlet it's fine. It's the facebook time and the email time that is ending. I've spent 4 days on the front porch with my drink, my bible and my study book for about 30-45 minutes. The kids are fine on their own. (I do keep the door open to listen for the baby) My world has been calmer and more peaceful. Facebook can generate opinions I don't need to know about, gossip I could care less about, and generally takes up too much of my time. I enjoy meeting new people and keeping up with old friends, but the amount of time I spend online is staggering now that I've been without it. Also, I've realized that I've been neglecting my husband at night. When he gets home I say hello and jump back on the computer. There's no excuse for that. We've had a great week eating outside and just talking, especially at night. Our fall schedule is about to get crazy and it's nice to know that we'll have more time if I just stay off the computer. So there, lesson learned. All that said, I'd really like my power back on now!!!!