Isabella is turning 3!

Precious Bella is going to have a birthday soon! She is such a joy to us all! She (and her brother and sisters) adds SO much sunshine to our lives! She is so funny and has the most adorable voice. Derrick is always making her say, "Girl" because it is too cute when it comes out as "Gorilla." "I'm NOT a silly gorilla (girl)!" Or maybe it sounds more like "Gorla" but we tease her and say gorilla. She says she's going to have a blue birthday with a Stawberry Shortcake cake.

Isabella is super laid-back and never did go through the "terrible twos!" When she grows up some of the things I will miss most about her are her "chocolate blankie" (it's pink and brown, fuzzy on one side and silky on the other and she cannot go on without it), the way she sucks her pointer finger when she's holding it, her big chocolate eyes, her precious voice, her affection that has grown so much lately, the way she drags her blankie to the breakfast table, how she (gently) grabs me by my face to get my attention, the way she talks when she's playing with her dollhouse dolls, the sound of her sucking her finger in the back of the car, her cute baby face that is a mixture of us all (Bay looks like D, Sam looks like me, & Bel is a mixture of the two of them), her praying (she has a VERY hearty, "Amen!"), her big smile with a little crook up top from sucking her calloused finger, her riding her little scooter, her riding on the back of the tricycle backwards while her brother or sister drives, the way she loves to sit and read books, her doing her "schoolwork" (scribbling on a coloring book), her asking for her back to be scratched and to be tucked in "snug as a bug in a rug" in her bed, the way she will sometimes put herself down for a nap if she's tired (that's not normal, right?), the way she licks all the icing off a donut and leaves the rest or butter off a roll..., the certain laugh she gets when she gets excited about something, I could go on and on...Derrick calls her a little jewel. And she is.

Quote from C.H. Spurgeon

"You cannot expect God to listen to you if you will not listen to Him; and when you ask of God, you must not imagine that He will give to you what you ask of Him if you do not give to Him what He asks of you." C. H. Spurgeon.

A Schedule

While I was cleaning I actually saw a sticker stuck to the kitchen chair under Bella's highchair that said, "Wow!" I thought to myself, "Yeah, that's what I was just thinking." Actually, I can't say if "Yuck!" or "Wow!" was my first thought. Dried milk and crumbs waiting to be scrubbed... I had taken her chair off to clean it. Right now I am working on coming up with a schedule so that I can just do the next thing when I can't even think straight. Things like cleaning the high chair, the car out, refrigerator, laundry, lesson plans for school, my closet!!!...I could go on and on. I heard that having a schedule helps a lot when you are having a rough day and it helps you not to waste time. A friend said that if she is having a hard day she just does the next thing and even though she doesn't feel so great she can still say something like, "But, wow! Atleast my dishes are done!" I already have a rough schedule but I'm talking about a detailed one. It takes me a long time at the grocery store even when I don't have the kids with me but I made a menu and list of things I needed and got out of Target with 46 items in less than 25 minutes the other night. That is really good for me! I'm the kind of person that has to smell everything (like soap, shampoo...)and think everything through and have gotten in a bad habit of going without much of a list and just get whatever recipes are already in my head. I even saved money the other night when I saw I could use some of the same ingredients in another meal that I ended up putting on my menu. People often ask what its like having 4 children. I often say, "Easier than having 3 and being pregnant." It is nice to have my energy back. Nonetheless, no matter how many children I've had having a schedule and being organized when I have stuck to it has always helped. Also, the more children we've had I think the more we've tried to "step it up" in training them whether it be a discipline issue or training them to help out around the house because you know you just have to! Thankfully, Derrick has been good to train them with cleaning because it seems so much easier and faster to just do it on my own. But, the training may be hard at first but the blessings of it come later. Anyway, I'm really trying to come up with a schedule to help me balance my time and not waste any time. I have a lot of hope. Now, if I could only find the TIME to sit and make a schedule that I can attempt to follow... ;)

Jim Cymbale writes, “God is attracted to weakness. He can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need Him.”

I am quoting this from Stacie (afirefighterswife.blogspot.com). I do not get very far in my own strength and I know He wants us in a place where we are dependent fully on Him and not our talents, ability, or anything else. I get frustrated that I still have so much "me" in me if you know what I mean! It is when we come humbly before Him that He liberally pours out His grace. It is nothing but His grace that I am able to homeschool our precious blessings or hold my tongue for very long...All the things I struggle with & all my weaknesses should cause me to look to Him all the more. How often I forget or simply don't seek His guidance throughout the day. And then I wonder in awe at the chaos I have created. We need it every day, every hour, every second...

"Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:2-3

"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2Corinthians 12:10