WARNING: DETOUR!!!!

Aren't detours annoying?  Like if there is a bridge out, and you can see where you need to go, but you have to go 3 miles out of your way to get there.  You can get lost, you know, if you don't carefully follow the signs.  And sometimes, even if you do follow the signs, you still don't end up where you ought to be.

Well, I have had a detour.  I had a simple, outpatient procedure planned for Tuesday morning, February 14.  I know, "who plans a procedure for Valentine's Day??"  Well, it was the week Dallas was off work, so we were off school and I didn't have to worry about having him take a day off or anything.  Except that every medical procedure comes with risks.  Between my family history and Murphy's Law (Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong... or something like that.)  Something went wrong.  Two additional surgeries and 7 days in the hospital!  I think I was even slightly addicted to my  pain drug for a couple of days there!  I have been home for three days now, and I am just not feeling as well as I think I should, and my doctor agrees.  One's body just takes a while sometimes to get over the sting of surgery.

Today I slept... A LOT.  And I hope it helps because tomorrow I will actually be home with my children!  I miss them.  I miss our "normal" {Tongue-in-cheek}. I miss helping them and snuggling them on my lap.  I missed Joe's birthday!!  I miss reading to them and being able to actually stay awake to finish the chapter!  I don't miss cooking.  {Thank you, church family!!!}

I feel as if I got a little lost on this detour.  I am not very faithful to read my bible and pray, but I had been working on it before this happened.  Dallas and I had got into the routine of having family devotions before school each morning, but we've been distracted {to say the least}.  I wanted to read the Gideon bible in the hospital room, but had double vision from all the drugs.  {2 IV's, 3 pumps; 4 bags of antibiotic, plus saline, nutrients, potassium, and pain}  My emotions had shut down through it all, and I didn't feel like talking. {What???? I know!!}  I never questioned God, though.  I knew He was in control.  I knew it didn't do any good to ask "Why?"  I was able to lie there and trust that He knew what He was doing, and asked Him to teach us what He wanted us to learn.  It still may take us a while to figure that out, as long as we learn!

Kitchen Tips & Tricks #2: The Pizza Cutter

The pizza cutter.  It isn't just for pizza anymore!

I use my pizza cutter almost every day.  Sometimes even several times per day!  Yes, it works great for pizza.  But when you have to cut up food for 3 kids, the old fashioned knife and fork have got to go!  So I use the pizza cutter!

For French toast and pancakes.  (By the way, peanut butter goes GREAT with French toast!)

For quesedillas, burritos, and enchilladas.

The pizza cutter.  It isn't just for pizza anymore!

Corah: My hero!

My daughter Corah is my hero. I tell her that often.  Every time she does something that I never could have done.  Not at her age, not at my age, not at any age could I have done it!

She can play the piano... IN FRONT OF PEOPLE!!!!  Wow!  I never could do that.  I tried. (And cried.)  She can even memorize the music and play it by heart!  I never could do that.  She is awesome!

She is a wonderful singer.  She has a beautiful voice and has already done a couple of duets for church.  I did that... but not at age 12!!!

Her latest thing was the Acts Academy drama.  She didn't have the lead, but she had a pretty major role.  And was fabulous!  She was even the FIRST person to speak in the play!  (That made my sooo nervous!)  And Corah was nervous, too... but she did great!

Isn't she darling with her flowers from her sister, Jordyn?

Here she is with her good friend, Kelli.  In the play they were best friends, "Betty Lou" (Corah) and "Bernadine" (Kelli).  It was a 50's play so they wore circle skirts and ponytails.

Corah with her special little sisters, Mary (back) and Leah.

*Sigh* My hero.

Kitchen Tips & Tricks #1: "How to clean up a kitchen"

I have never done a series on my blog, but I have been mulling one over in my mind for a while.

I also wanted to try to "link up" to my friend Esther's blog for her "Hearts for Home Thursdays". So click the button and link up with us!

 

When I was first married to my husband {and his three children} I barely knew how to cook.  I wasn't at all good in the kitchen. I hated trying to figure out what was for supper because I didn't know about meal planning.  I hated even more to clean up after a meal!  I always remember my Mom being "done" with her day after supper. {I have been known to still be cleaning up from supper at 11p.m.!}  She washed the few dishes that she, Dad & I messed up in our meal then went to the livingroom to sit and watch T.V. or have family Bible reading or whatever.  Since it was just the three of us, she didn't really need my help or ask for it.  I didn't have a problem with it then... but I never developed the habits or skills it takes to run a kitchen efficiently.  So I had to learn everything the hard way!  The more children we had, the harder it got, too.  Now that I am no longer breastfeeding every three hours, changing diapers every two hours or holding a fussy baby while trying to do... everything, I am finding that I have more time to think about ways to make my life easier and even help my home look nicer.  {Maybe its because I am getting more sleep, too?!}  I thought I might share some of these "tips & tricks" just in case it might benefit someone else as well.

First, I had to develop a plan for myself to follow for clean up.  I had to know where to start in order to make it go faster and more efficiently.  So here's my plan:

1. Put away all the clean stuff. 

(or else where will the dirty stuff go?)

2. Load up the dirty stuff.

(Whether sink or dishwasher...)

3. Clear and wash the table

(For us "wash" the table means changing the tablecloth)

4. Wash pot, pans and dishes too large for the dishwasher.

5. Wash the stove and counters.

6.  Clear away clutter

7. Sweep the floor.

The other thing is to ask the kids to help out with some of these jobs so I am not up until 11:00 still cleaning up supper {and lunch, and breakfast....}  If the job is big on a particular evening, I will declare, "No one leaves the kitchen until all the work is done!"   This helps me to complete the kitchen clean-up before I have to move on to bath, story & bedtime for little ones.

I guess I am a little slower than most women, but I really needed direction to know where to start.  Once I have a starting point,  I can get the job done quickly.  I keep this list on a sticky note on the window over the sink {so I can't lose it, ha-ha!}.  

I have found that I actually enjoy being in my kitchen and am more prepared for the next meal when I follow this simple plan! {THREE times a day, not saving it for evening.} I was tired of spending too much time doing something that shouldn't take more than 1/2 hour or so, then not having time to read  and pray with my kids before bedtime.  I don't want to miss the fun part of being a mom because I am too disorganized to get past the yucky part!

God Bless!

Judy

Faith Comes by Hearing

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Romans 10:17

Every time I have heard this verse, I associated it with Salvation.  I had never considered that this is how I will grow in my faith!  But that is what our Sunday school teacher said yesterday.  My faith comes {grows} by the Word of God, too!  I have learned that because I do not pray often, depending on the Lord the way I should, my faith is just, well... small.  I am fearful.  My thoughts wander to places they shouldn't.  I try so desperately to do everything on my own.

I have got to be the most pathetic of Christians because I actually read my Bible so infrequently.  I have been very convicted about this lately.  I am trying to get up earlier in the morning and have my own devotions.  Then Dallas leads family devotions after breakfast. Then we have "history" in the afternoon in which we are reading Genesis and {supposed to be} studying ancient Egypt.  It is a pretty tall order to follow, and there are some days when none of it happens.  But I have to thank God every time any of it happens, because it is only by HIS grace. In my flesh, it would never happen at all.  In Dallas' flesh, it would never happen, either!

My faith come by hearing... sermons about God's Word, but most importantly, "by the Word of God"!