Thankful 30: Part 1

#1 God's Word

# 2 Sharpies and Moleskins

# 3 The Freedom to Homeschool

# 4 Smart, Healthy, Loving and Hilarious Boys

# 5 A Devoted, Sacrificing, and Supportive Husband

#6 abundance

# 7 turtles

# 8 cappuccino

# 9 fun money

My plate is too small.

I have a lot going on right now. Homeschooling, of course, I'm taking physics (not recommended) and world history, we are  preparing for an international move (and we aren't sure where we are going but we are leaving Mexico), hub's job change, Bible study, my poor husband was sick all weekend, we are celebrating Nikolas' fifth birthday, ugh, there must be more.

I have been very overwhelmed with a lot of anxiety and emotions. I have been turning to food and have gained a few pounds back. I know God has it all figured out and I know He will provide for our family. If I didn't know that I would be in a padded room. Sometimes I am really close to that but then I step back and I give it to God. I can feel my shoulders lift and it feels good. I wish I could stop taking it back though.

Hubs' Birthday

My husband is a huge Angels Baseball fan, so I ordered some Angels birthday supplies to celebrate. The baseball cake is the top half of the Big Top Cupcake silicon pan. I used this amazing chocolate cake recipe and the "stitches" are those sour straw things. I am so blessed to celebrate this man's birthday every year!

Happy 36th Birthday!

Perfect plates and napkins!

This is part of his collection on the wall, I added the pendant banner.

A special dinner out at this cool ComicX place.

The Good Wife's Guide

The Good Wife's Guide, Embracing Your Role as a Help Meet is outstanding! I would've paid a lot more for this book. It was simple and straight forward and very biblical. This is not for the worldly woman but for the Christian woman that wants to do what is right. This was such a great book for me. It was exactly what I needed right now. I was feeling overwhelmed by my home and needing to take care of everything. This was a new and refreshing perspective. It was enlightening and educational. The book also includes how-to guides and inspiration. Darlene from Time-Warp Wife is a gifted writer and encourager and I highly recommend this book. It is also available in print now.

5-5-5: Week 4 and 5

I totally forgot to post last week! It was a bit crazy around here, I don't think I was home all day for any day. I know that is most people's regular schedule but we are usually home all the time.
Looking back to week 1, I fell off the train a bit this week. I will be back to focusing on healthy eating and drinking more water
Week 2 was tough for me. I feel like my to-do list is never ending and it really overwhelms me. I am going to start a six list, which is list of six things that must get done each day.
Week 3 was a challenge to read the Bible before you read ANYthing else. And I am proud to say that I did it every day and am definitely going to continue doing this. If I don't have anything else to read, I read a daily Proverb (31 Proverbs for 31 days of the month) and then I read the devotion from Jesus Calling, which is I highly recommend.
Week 4 was clearing your mind of something. I did use the computer (facebook) less and I tried to read more. I am reading Raising Real Men, which is an awesome book for parents of boys. It has changed the way I think about a lot of things and I can see changes in our family and I'm not even half way through the book yet! And like I said I am reading a Proverb a day and Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence. I am trying not to think/worry/dwell/focus on all the junk. When I think of something troubling I really try to just give it to God and let Him deal with it.
And now for week 5's challenge... Work. eww. Just kidding! Courtney asks if the people in our home would call us an eager-beaver? um... no. Not me. I avoid work at all costs. And let me tell you that I avoid it all. Laundry, dishes, floors (!). I would rather read or hang out with my kids or do just about anything. But these are my responsibilities and I know they need to be done. {side note: Courtney also talked about this but next week Good Morning Girls is starting a 14 week study on Proverbs. You can get the book from Courtney's blog Women Living Well and the reading plan on Good Morning Girls. If you need an accountability group, just leave me a comment and I can add you to my Facebook group or you can start your own, they even made a leader's guide! That starts Monday and goes through mid-August.}
Back to the challenge, to work with eager hands for God's glory. Doing the work around my home is no fun but doing it for God's glory changes the reason and my heart to want to do it all, for my family and for my God.  My plan this week is to get caught up on this chaos in my house, all for the glory of God! Please pray for me!
If you missed it:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3

31 Day Fall Challenge

I loved doing this challenge last fall and I will be doing it again this year. It is simple things you can do to make your home a haven. Go visit Courtney at WomenLivingWell to learn more!

Great e-Book on Sale!

I just got this e-book and am loving it so far! You can really personalize your cleaning schedule. I will be working on mine and hopefully posting it next week! but the exciting part is this great e-book is on sale!
Click here to read about the special and get the coupon code! Have you read it? Do you have a cleaning schedule? Is your house clean? I'd love yo hear how you keep up with your home, let me know!

Click here to visit I Dream of Clean.

A Quote that every person needs to hear

Don't let people’s compliments go to your head and don’t let their criticisms go to your heart. The degree to which you do either of these things, is to the degree to which you’ll be ruled by what other people think of you.-Lysa TerKeurst

A Wonderful Day

Have a wonderful and safe 4th of July! Please remember those troops and families living all over the world. God bless them!

Also, Happy Anniversary to the best husband God could have ever given me; my best friend, supporter (in so many ways), amazing father and, well, I'll stop there because this is a family program. I love you hubs!

My Husband...

Do these guys look excited to make pizza or what?

"Fresh" real mozzarella.

Best pizza ever!

Sorry but I just have to brag on my husband for a short minute. He works hard and travels a lot. He loves us and takes such good care of us. AND HE COOKS! From scratch! Fresh pizza dough (from Emeril), fresh sauce and fresh (from the store), real mozzarella. It was really yummy and it was so nice to enjoy a meal without making it.

Reshaping It All!

I am joining in this challenge and I think you should check it out, too! Go! NOW!

Christmas 2010

It is a little late but I thought I'd share a few pictures from Christmas.

25 Day Praise Plan

Courtney over at Women Living Well (my #1 fave blog) has started an awesome marriage challenge! I really want to honor my husband. He does so much for our family, making huge sacrifices for our benefit. So, Courtney, I accept your challenge! I look forward to  praising, encouraging, inspiring, admiring, building up, thanking and appreciating my wonderful husband.

Philippians 2:3-4 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."(NIV)

"When you touch your husband's deepest need something good almost always happens!"
~ Dr. Emerson Eggerich


Here is a great devotional from Nancy Leigh DeMoss, if you want to really focus on encouraging your husband during the Valentine season.

Gingerbread House-ing

We got this kit at Costco. It was my first time ever making one. Hubs is very proud of his icicles. I put the tree together and you probably can't tell but it was in about 10 pieces before I brought it back from the dead. It turned out pretty cute. next year, we'll skip the kit and maybe just use graham crackers.