As we journey together “let us think of ways to motivate one another in acts of love and good works”(Hebrews 10:24 NLT)

Hi all! Have you ever been told, “you look like death warmed over?”

Well last week i FELT like death warmed over! We spent last Saturday out and about shopping and so on. We had stopped somewhere for a quick bite to eat. We got home and I was tired a laid down for only a few minutes, did some laundry and finished the cushions for our wicker furniture. Hubby made an incredible dinner which I scarfed down and went back to hand stitching the cushions closed after I stuffed the full of fluff! Then we moved upstairs to bed.

I woke up Sunday morning feeling absolutely horrible. My stomach was a mess. Was it the fast food? I remembered telling hubby it tasted a little off. I hopped into the shower to get ready for church (it was mothers day after all.). By the end of my shower i had gotten soooo overheated I got sick. I took my temp…normal. My stomach still hurt…and i mean hurt……so now the big question…church or no church.

Church…..i had to teach Sunday School! The reasons to not miss church far outweighed staying home. After all it was just something I had eaten …..right?

Well i was miserable all through church, i missed my husbands sermon, and i tried to focus on things at hand but I most definitely fell short! So after everyone had left hubby and I headed home and I was sent directly to bed….passing up the pizza spread hubby had promised and prepared for the young’ins….

I stayed in bed all day Sunday, Monday rolled around and felt still worse. Hubby was up at 6 sending two munchkins off to school. I could barely get up to go to the bathroom which was growing far too frequent. I couldn’t keep anything down for more than a few minutes….this went on for three whole days.

Monday night early Tuesday morning he awoke to our almost 8 year old son standing my our bed. “I’m sick”, were his only words. Pretty much the rest of the week is one large hazy blur as my head vibrated with sounds of daily life downstairs going on without me and Tornado. Thankfully tornado never got as bad as i had. And neither did weasel when he joined us on Thursday morning early.

People called to check on me but phone calls were short as my head just shook under its dehydrated state and I found myself in a quandary. I found myself with a head spinning due to the inability to keep food or drink down, and i would sit up to drink and my head would spin as i drank , i would get sea sick and then try to lay down quick enough before i got sick from the room moving. I couldn’t win.

Thankfully there is this magic stuff called gatorade and by Thursday i was able to drink enough to allow me to stay upright for short stints. By Friday I was eating Pizza and i was able to celebrate hubby’s birthday with our family on Saturday.

Yeah my mothers day may not have been the ideal and no neither was the entire week after that but in all of the sickness my house didn’t fall apart, everyone was taken care of and fed well, i was taken care of, i was able to rest as much as i needed, and i was encouraged to do so. Those in and of the,selves made last week the best mothers day a mom could ask for. I am so blessed to have such a competent caring hubby and such caring children!

I look forward to being back this week with you call!

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My dearest R—–
Today marks a truly special milestone. From right now 6 am I woke a very happy young lady, matter of fact I hardly slept the night before in such anticipation. This day 10 years ago I was blessed beyond measure! I had two amazing milestones. We graduated college together and then what seemed like an eternity later i walked down the aisle in a white gown and become your bride.

Oh how blessed I am dear to call you my husband. The trials that are thrown our way have done nothing but make us stronger. Thank you for encouraging me to step out and try new things and to push myself above and beyond what I one thought possible.

Thank you for embracing who I am and loving both for it and in spite of it!

I am so proud of you as you have grown into an even stronger man of God. I marvel at your abilities and you strength. I love watching you interact with our children and I love spying on you as you work, whether in your office or in the yard or in the playroom cuddling with our children.

You make me smile like no other person has ever made me do so before.

There have been some very rough times but my dear you can always know I will fight for us. We will fight together as the team God has created in us. It is with you alone I wish to grow old with and share my joys and my sufferings.

You complete me.

Thank you for being confident in me and trusting me. Thank you for your gentleness and kindness, your sweetness and your playfulness, thank you for being faithful.

I love you more each and everyday and I count it such a blessing to have been your wife for the last 10 years…..a decade devoted to you and our children. I wouldn’t change it for the world and I hope to have many more decades to come.

I love you so much,
Happy Anniversary my dear husband
Love always,
Mary

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…….a month we celebrate the birth of our youngest child.
……..is a time of growing warmth and sunshine (at least here in NY).
….. Is a month we generally remember the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior.
AND…
…….BEGINNING this year we want to share and make the world more aware of the growing number of children with …..

1 in 88 children have autism.
1 in 54 boys have autism.
And only 4% of children with autism will be able to function and hold down a job as an adult.

(Stats taken from the Autism Speaks website)

Those statistics are mind blowing! And as a parent of a son in this group….i don’t like it. It was hard to come to the realization that We may have to provide care for him through his adult life. Let’s be honest all of us want our children to grow and succeed.

I’m not saying our son won’t grow up to be amazing but as parents we had to come to terms with this sooner or later! We are grateful that he talks (he didn’t until age 3). We are also thankful that he is potty trained. It’s the simple things in life that I at times have taken for granted.

So. Thank You to all of the doctors, researchers, and not for profit organizations that helps families like ours! You really do make a difference in our kids lives and in our family’s lives!

Next year we will join the thousands of others in the light it up Blue campaign through the month of April. Will you consider joining us as well?
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Have you ever had to sit out in the “vestibule” with a cranky child? Maybe for some other reason? Has it happened frequently? How do you feel? Do you feel left out? Frustrated that everyone else gets to participate? Maybe you feel alone, but yet when someone volunteers to help out you kindly say no?

Well i have a confession to make…I’ve been there! It was a frustration that I couldn’t be a part of worship. But this past Sunday as I started to enter the auditorium with my 5 year old son, and he put on his brakes and said “please mommy no”. My heart sank! I didn’t even make it in this time. We took our place on the pew under the coat rack and I said to him…”can’t you please try? Daddy said if you tried you could put the offering in the plate”. To which he replied” but mommy there’s too many people and it’s too loud”. “All i could muster was an “ok we will sit here.” I gave him a little squeeze and listened to the music playing in the next room. As I sat there watching him finger his little tiny toys he would interject his observations on life…..he would make me giggle and then all of sudden he chimed in “i like this song”.

In that very moment I realized something…..i was worshipping along with everyone else. I may not have been sitting in the same room, i was not even singing the songs with my mouth. I was listening though. I listened to the music, the prayers, and in those quite moments with my son I praised the Lord. I praised Him for two things…..
1. My son is learning to communicate what overwhelms him. It wasn’t all that long ago that my son would have screamed whined, made awful noises, hide his face, fidget, and try to run away.
2. That in those moments when my son seems most distant, and that he is absorbed in examining life’s little oddities, like bubbles in a glass of water. He is listening to the faith based surroundings…like a simple song being played and sung in the next room.

My heart leapt for joy. I knew that at that moment I will not live the “normal life”. But it is the life God has for me. Will it ever change it may or it may not but for now, I will worship with my little boy in the Narthex!

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Some women love shoes….clothes….knick knacks……art.
Some people call them fetiches.
Some people call them Collections.
I call them….things.

I have a thing for…..
Matter of fact there are three.
PJ’s (the softer and comfier….the better)
Bags…not necessarily purses ( i really have to be careful when 31 gifts is involved)
AND…..
NOTEBOOKS.

I am a writer for Pete’s sake! That is a lot of how I organize our lives as a Family. I have notebooks for nearly everything. My husband often asks how I can keep them all straight. My answer is…”i just can!”

My absolute favorite notebook is the white three ring binder that has a clear plastic cover that i can insert my own custom cover.
Way back in high school/college that consisted of a clipart laden printout but today has morphed into what I truly like. My style. Distressed. Old looking. Pretty. It’s unique.

My hope is to complete a set of these to house our home organization. I have mostly completed our kitchen one.

It consists of my creativity and free printables! And one of those white three ring binders!

This is my cover.
Paper ink, stickers ink, glue, colored pencils and a blending pen. The old paper look is hand done by me in literally under a minute!

But as much as I love being creative i also love being organized and knowing what I have!

So that led me to search out some options in keeping a kitchen inventory….and I just adore what I found.

You can find inventory printables
Www.couponsnob.com

I have inventory sheets for my pantry, freezer, and household items.

In this notebook i also have my menus for the year. Yes year. I am in the process of taking notes and adding new recipes which i will change at the end of this year. This is huge for us because their are just some nights where i am exhausted on so many levels and this takes the thinking out of it!

My hope in the next few months is to implement some freezer cooking as well i have started collecting recipes for things i already make that are “freezer friendly”. Which will in the end become a part of our freezer inventory!

One of the other things that i have started again is making our own mixes.
There are some fantastic recipes floating around out there to help you make healthier choices for your family.

And lastly i have what I call a hospitality calendar. It helps us keep track of all of our events that we have people over for. We TRY to have everyone from our church over for dinner in a year, two open house, a deacon’s Christmas Party, a New Year’s Eve game night night and anything else that might happen
. It helps me not to repeat meals either!

I also have a small sized 3 ring binder that houses the dietary needs of everyone that comes into our home. If so and so is gluten free then that’s in the smaller notebook under their name. If so and so doesn’t like pickled herring…..then that’s there too….(not that I would EVER serve that…ewww!)

My next notebook in the works is my garden notebook! Hopefully in the next couple of weeks i will be able to share that with you all as well!
Hopefully i have sparked some inspiration in you!
Happy creating, organizing, and planning!
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