Simplify

So I have been working on different ways to organize and think that I am starting to get a handle on it- maybe:) I have just finished the playroom, well almost I still have some of the manipulative toys that I am not quite sure what to do with because the kids are constantly dumping them out. I got rid of a ton of toys, it was sad to see some go but things need to go. With four kids there just is such an accumulation of toys and junk and the paper.....oh the paper! I don't know what to do about the paper but there is constantly paper everyway. They cut it, they color it, they glue it, and they leave it all over the floor! It drives me crazy! If anyone has any suggestions about how to elliminate the paper mess besides taking the paper away all together(which i have thought about:) jk) I finally weeded through the kids books and got rid of a bunch. I am feeling a little bit more organized but I am still having issues planning meals and getting the other household chores as organized. I am trying to stick to my list but always feel like I'm in a whirlwind and never know where to start. I don't know if the kids constant interuptions or the long list but things never seem to get completely done:) Anyways if anyone has any suggestions on meal planning or organization that would be awesome:):) I just want to declutter and simplify and meals that I can plan ahead(like crockpot meals) Thanks for reading!

Summertime:)

Summer has flown by and school starts in a week:) I am excited and ready. We have already started a few days a week. We remodeled our bathroom and I love the new one. Things have been busy as always. We have been making our own juice, freezing sweet corn, making butter & cheese. We haven't finished our sewing projects but I guess we will eventually. I just finished painting the school room and rearranging it. I love the new look and so far the set up to:) It is always exciting to start a new school year- new books, new concepts and just an over all fresh start.
We were able to see a couple of new movies this summer and get together with a few friends. The kids had a blast at the splash pad with Melissa, Ashley, Amanda & Clarrisa and we also had a great time with Jamie at the pool. Thein's lake was great with the Molitor's. We wish we had been able to make it to Brenda's more:( Overall it was great:)
I started taking classes for homeopathy. They are wonderful and we have seen some amazing results within our family. I am very excited about all the wonderful people that I have met and all the wonderful things that God has given us to make our families and friends healthier!!!
Well I have a lot more that I want to blog about since it has been so long but I guess it will have to wait for another day- time to have dinner with the in-laws:)

Marriage on the Rocks

I have two friends that are having marriage problems and at this point I'm not sure what to tell her anymore. The first couple have been married for 2 yrs and their problem is the mother-in-law. She is crazy and I know her outside of their marriage and I can attest that this lady needs some serious help, medication or something. Like I said B & L have been married for 2 yrs but L's mom is the one with the issues. L's entire family live in fear of his mom and the problem is that he is not standing up to her. He is allowing her to control his marriage and I don't understand why? I know Nick would never do that, so giving her advice is hard because I just can't imagine being in the situation. I have told her to tell L her needs to grow up and relize he has his own family and his mom can't control him but the guy lives in udder fear of his mom. What do you tell someone and seriously how can a person go about having someone with these types of issues commited because the lady won't go in on her own. I have no idea what to tell her but she doesn't what to see her marriage fall apart, they have been trying to get pregnant for over 1 1/2 yrs(they lost their first one when she was 10 wks and have been trying since) and this whole situation has just brought another level of fear, stress and distance between them. I feel horrible and I have been talking to B alot lately about the situation because she has no one else to talk to. I talked to Nick about it and asked him what to do when a person tells you that they are not afraid of death because they currently feel like they are living in hell on earth. He did know either :( So I am up for any words of wisdom that I can share with her and any prayers that you can give her.
Prayers are needed!

Busy days!

Things are busy already and spring has only just begun. We are working on finishing our school year by the end of May! I can't wait to be done this year. I think that winter has been way to long and I am ready for spring. I can't wait to work on my flowers and finish planting the grass. I am ready for summer camping trips and visiting with family and friends. Nick's softball season offically began last night and our volleyball season should be starting in a couple of weeks as well. The girls have been begging to have a bonfire so hopefully that will be just around the corner as well.

We have been grilling alot and the kids are on the trampoline all the time.

Rebecca started speech a couple of months ago and she has been doing great. We have notice lots of improvements but I know that it will still be a while before we are done with that:)

Not only does Charlotte have glasses but now Anne and Rebecca do as well! We thought that since Charlotte's eyes were so bad that we had better just check the others and sure enough they need them as well. They are all far-sighted and hopefully Anne and Rebecca's will be corrective but only time will tell.

It is offically spring at the farm. Nick is working lots and lots of hours lately. I know that last week was only 4 1/2 days and he still had like 62 hours in. Thankfully he is still home everyday for lunch and usually he comes home for supper if its going to be really late. It is a blessing to have him so close and even thought the hours are long sometimes the kids still see Daddy everyday(which was not the case with previous jobs).

I have been on a sewing kick! I have made library bags for all the girls and matching dresses as well. I have about 15 more yards to cut and sew. The kids love them and I have lots of fun making them. My living room in turn has turned into a sewing room but thats ok.

Charlotte makes her First Communion on Sunday! She is so excited and she's my first so I am so excited for her. Her wonderful and talented Aunt Angela made her dress and it is beautiful! I will be posting pictures soon!

The girls are also excited that we are going to see High School Musical the play at the Paramount on Friday night with their cousins. I am excited to, a little long over due girls night out! It will just be me, Charlotte and Anne!

There is so much more but I will be saving it for next time!
God bless,
Amanda

Frustrated

So this past weekend a friend of mine had her bridal/bachelorette party. I am a personal attendant and she has been a good friend for a long time, though we have grown apart a bit because I have kids and different priorities in life. So I knew that this was not going to be my scene but I felt I should go and not be 'to good for everyone else.' So I went and for starters I was the only one not informed of the baseball theme, so I was not wearing a jersey or baseball shirt like the rest. I was ok with this. Then throughout the night I was the photographer but was only asked to be in the one group picture that the bus driver took. Feeling a little left out but ok with it. I wasn't really into it. Drinking to get drunk, seeing married women all over men they didn't know just because they are drunk, and a soon to be bride/wife, doing thing that are just not appropriate(to put it nicely). I just don't understand what is so great about these bachelorette/last night single parties. The things that they do I wouldn't do even if I weren't married. I just don't understand why anyone would want to go out like this if they truly had found the man/woman of their dreams that God intended them to be with. It really just doesn't make any sense.
But on another note, the topper of my night was that after the fact I now have friends and certain relatives that think that I'm depressed because I didn't partake in the nights events! It was bad enough that I felt left out at times but the fact that I decided to sit back and have conversations with people that I ran into that night made me depressed! I was and needless to say still am a little upset over it but I guess whatever. It's not my scene, never has been and never will be. So thanks for letting me vent because it has really been bothering me:) Hope you have a blessed holy week!

'In the Motherhood' not so much..

So I have been meaning to blog about this for over a week but haven't sat down to do it yet so here I go:)

So there is this new show that's called 'In the Motherhood', my friend told me about it and said it looked funny so I dvr'd it and was able to watch it last week. Well let's just say it was horrible. All it did was talk about the inconvienence of motherhood and I'm not sure what happened to the husband but all that she talked about was dating and sleeping with the guy because it was date number 3. I couldn't even finish it. It was definitely nothing to do about motherhood. It was horrible and I would not recomend it:(

Snow, snow, snow!

The snow, so beautiful snow....it is so pretty outside, even though I would love green grass and flowers, I have to say that as I shoveled off the trampoline it was really beautiful with the snow everywhere sticking to the trees. Our dog Jack loves running in the snow and he had a blast. I think the kids are going to head out and make snowmen today which will be nice because they are dying to get outside. So just a note even though the weather kinda sucks, it sure is beautiful:)

Food for thought:)

THE (SCIENTIFIC) DEATH OF JESUS

At the age of 33, Jesus was condemned to the death penalty.

That was then the 'worst' death. Only the worst criminals could die like Jesus.And with Jesus things were worse, because not all the criminals condemned to death could receive nails on their hands and feet.

Of course, nails... Big nails! Each was 15 x 20 cm long, with a point of 6 cm. Another point was sharp.

The nails were carved into the pulses, and not into the palms, as we are used to hear. In the pulse, there's a tendon which extends to the shoulder, and when the nails were being hammered, that tendon broke, obliging Jesus to reinforce all the muscles of his back, so that he could breath as He was losing all the air from his lungs.

In this way, He was forced to support Himself onto the nail carved into his feet, which was bigger than those carved into his pulses, for both feet were carved together. And, as his feet could not endure for a long time without tearing, Jesus was forced to alternate that 'cycle' so that He could breath.

Jesus endured that reality over 3 hours.
Yes, over 3 hours! Long time, isn't it? A few minutes before He died, Jesus was not bleeding anymore.
He was simply pouring water from his cuts and holes.

When we imagine Him injured, we only picture Him with injuries, but it is not enough; His wounds were true holes, made into his body.

He had no more blood to bleed, He only poured water.
Human body is composed by near 3.5 liters of blood (for an adult).

Jesus poured out all 3.5 liters of his blood; He had three nails hammered into his members; a crown of thorns on his head and, beyond that, a Roman soldier who shoved a spear into his side.

All this without mentioning the humiliation He passed after carrying his own cross for almost 2 km, while the crowd spat on his face and threw stones (the cross was almost 30 kg of weight, only for its higher part, where his hands were nailed).

Jesus had to pass all this experience, so that you can have free access to God.
So that your sins could be 'washed' away. All of them, with no exception! Don't ignore this situation. HE DIED FOR YOU!.

Spring then winter~craziness!

Aaahhh! I don't know about the rest of you but I am ready for warm summer to be here. I can be patient but the thought of snow, ....again..... is enough to drive the kids and me a little crazy. We had a very productive weekend of cleaning, laundry and yard work...I didn't get to the painting:( Now I just want to be outside and open the house and let the kids run!!!.......but I can't because our yard is a huge mess of mudd and bits of snow and some leftover leaves from the fall not to mention the rain and possible snow this weekend:-(

Now that I got that out of my mind, I want to say that despite this, I am so very greatful and I'm not really compaining because I know spring will be here and the grass will grow and flowers will bloom and all will be just fine. This may not be the case for many people north of us as they prepare for flooding. It just reminds me of how blessed we are, that all though winter may seem like it is going on forever, it will be over. I will continue to pray for those people, that no one gets hurt and everyone stays safe. Pray that the levys do there job and keep the people and their homes safe from the Red River.

Happy Spring & God Bless!

Spring is here!

So Nick has to work this weekend and I am going to do some spring cleaning and painting. The 3 older girls are sharing a room which needs to be painted and cleaned badly and the baby's room is only half painted. The dressers needed to be cleaned and organized. So much to do, so little time. We are trying to sell some stuff on craig's list and there are people coming by tomorrow to hopefully buy it and get it out of our garage!

I am excited for spring and am ready for the warm weather. I want to open the house, get everything cleaned and organize(wishful thinking right:))

Well anyways, lets hope that I still have this ambition in the morning!

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the beautiful weather!

Glasses for my little girl

Today we went to get "Charlotte's" eyes checked just because she's been having headaches and switching words and numbers around. Well maybe we should have brought her in sooner because her eyes were pretty bad according to the eye doctor. She was very excited to get her glasses but also a little nervous about how she would look. Well needless to say she looks adorable(if I may say so myself:)) And she is taking to it very well! It looks like we will have a few more eye doctor appointments coming up because of how bad her eyes are so hopefully all goes well and I guess we will be getting the other girl's eyes checked a little sooner:)

Our sacrifice~good deeds jar

We started a sacrifice~good deeds jar for lent(we got it from www.holyheroes.com Lenten Adventures). Anyways everytime the kids make a sacrifice or do a good deed they get to put a bean in the jar and then on Easter they become jelly beans. I just can't believe how well the kids are cleaning up, taking turns, sharing and letting their sisters go first. They just can't seem to wait to put a bean in the jar and I was just amazed at how well they have been doing. Now this doesn't by any means eliminate the whining or the rest but for the most part things have been noticably better here and I just thought that I would share:) May God bless!

p.s. our day is going much better after our hour of tears and prayers:)

Crazy dayz!

Why is it that on the days that you feel so organized and have your meals all planned out that the rest of the day just seems like a chaotic mess. I had lunch and upper in the crockpots(the only way I cook lately), the breakfast dishes done and kitchen cleaned up. We started school and then the whining started. Why, why oh why does a perfectly good morning have to go south so quickly with whining? I stopped school and said it was time for the rosary, I put the baby to bed and had everyone sit down and pray:) It definetly helped how our morning was going but I guess it goes to show that no matter how planned you have your day(which by the way I never really do because I'm not that organized) that sometimes you need a time out for God*

Sad situation

So I have been out of the loop for a couple of weeks. Alot has been on my mind and prayers are needed for a family that we know from church. Two weeks ago a man we know commited suicide. This family sat in the crying room with us every week when both our families only had 2 kids. Never in a million years would have I imagined that this man, who seemed to have it all would take his own life. He was loosing his wife and job and I guess he couldn't take it anymore and killed himself leaving behind a wife and 4 small children(the oldest is six and the youngest are twins who are 2). This situation has left me in a whirl wind of thought and initial emotions. I just can not imagine the state of mind that you would have to be in to take your life for starters and then to leave your children without a father. It was just hard for me to think about because I can't imagine what that would be like and how it is going to effect those kids. It really is just so sad. He just couldn't have been in his right mind and I will keep him and his family in my prayers and hope you will too. Thanks for listening(or reading) and God bless!

Well today has been a complete turn around here. Everyone is back to their normal self. No more temps. As of around noon yesterday, Zo broke hers!! I am in the process of cleaning and disinfecting everything, fun fun. I do love a clean house, to bad it does not happen more often. We amazingly accomplished a lot today. I guess enough days of not getting anything done makes you really want to kick it in the butt and get everything done. I am still trying to figure out a way to keep everything in the toy room organized so that when I go in there it doesn't always look like a hurricane has hit. If you have any suggestions I would greatly appreciate them. As for now, its off to finishing the laundry before the kids wake up from nap:) Enjoy the sun, or least I am here! God bless!

Well we still have a sick baby here. Her temp went up last night and we had to go in for blood work and xrays today......good news all is well. She just has a cold that is hanging on. It has been a couple of hours less sleep the last few nights but I feel better knowing that nothing is really wrong. As far as school we are totally slacking this week. Hopefully we can play catch up tomorrow and get ready for a couple of birthday parties this weekend. You've got to love those days were you some how are able to get 3 math lessons, 2 history, 3 phonics, 2 science and 5 writing done in one day and wonder how other days seems to take forever. Well God bless and have a good rest of the day!

I have to say I'm very excited, I can nurse the baby again!! Just had to write that- Thanks and God bless!

Well I had my labs done again today and my levels are going down which is good because that's a sign that my tube will not rupture. They should be down to zero again by Friday or Monday. Thank you Lord for your blessings! God bless, Amanda

New SpringWidget

Get this widget!

I absolutely love this picture and had to post it(thanks Melissa). As some of you may or may not know, we were expecting(we found out later, twins) and lost one of the babies on January 25th and the other on February 9th. My doctor said that there was most likely something wrong with the first baby(genetically? I think) and then we found out through blood work and ultrasound that the second was an ectopic and was in my left tube. Our options were few: laparoscopic surgery, D & C, or a shot of methotrexate. Methotrexate was the safest with the best results and no effect on future fertility, so that is what we chose. This stops the cells from dividing so that the tube doesn't burst. It has been a very emotional couple of weeks with lots of prayers from family and friends, thank you so much. We know that everything happens for a reason and that God has a plan. And whatever that plan maybe we will continue to trust in Him and all He has given us. I thank God everyday for the four beautiful babies that God has given to us. Going through this has shown me so much and made me realize things that I did not understand. The moment I found out I started to plan things. Things for the upcoming school year, for the summer, the car seat arrangement, everything. Our life changed and now I just feel a loss that I didn't before understand. I think that through this I have a different compassion for those who have lost a child at any stage because your life truly does change the moment that you hear the words or read the little stick and know that you are pregnant. Well with that and the tears that I now have, I just want to say thank you again to all that were praying for us and the baby(ies). We know that they are in heaven and the short time they were with us taught us so much. God bless, Amanda

Well I haven't been on here in a while because life has been busy but I needed a place to write and get ideas, so I'm back, so to speak. I love reading others blogs and getting ideas from others. As you know we homeschool, which I love but have recently wondered how people do it when they have so many little ones? Where do they find balance? Do they ever feel like they aren't giving the younger ones the attention that they need. I constantly feel like I am telling them not now because I have to do school with Emily. Emily is in 2nd grade, Sydney is in preschool, Hailey is turning 3 and Zoey is one today! I constantly feel like I am telling them to go play or watch a movie and sometimes feel like I am not doing the one thing that I intended to do by staying home with them and that is be with them and play with them. I don't know maybe I am just being paranoid but sometimes I wonder how others do it. Any suggestions would be great:) Thanks!!

God bless!
Amanda