Ten on the 10th

Ten on Ten: Take a photo every hour for ten consecutive hours on the tenth of each month. Document a day of your life and find beauty among the ordinary moments.

7:00 am - nebulizer treatment for her cough

8:00 am - unloading the dishwasher

9:00 am - cup of hot tea and lenten devotional

10:00 am - spelling test

11:00 am - phone call with denise working out a plan for annual trip to bass lake

12:00 {noon} - grammar lesson with landon

1:00 pm - taking morgan to gymnastics

2:00 pm - working on blog post

3:00 pm - vacuuming 

4:00 pm - pediatricians office waiting for mauryn to get checked out

5:00 pm - prepping dinner... broccoli cheese soup

Egg Salad and Lent

I ate an egg salad sandwich for lunch today. 

{i know you were all dying to know what i had for lunch today}

For many years I was guaranteed an egg salad sandwich every Wednesday night during the Lenten season. Up until five years ago when we moved to Idaho, every church we had ever attended offered a Wednesday night service during Lent {with a soup/sandwich dinner before hand hence my guaranteed egg salad sandwich}.  It was a time to gather mid week and reflect on the season. It was a time to focus on the sacrifice Jesus made for us. 

I have really missed having those services each week during Lent.  

Last year was the first year I ever gave something up for Lent.  Although it was a challenge at times I have felt prompted this year for the Lenten season to be something more than just giving something up.

I didn't really have a clear picture of what this Lenten season would look like for me.  The kids were going to do a daily bible reading and activity through Significant Sacrifice.  They loved it last year and were excited to do it again.  Yesterday they put together their paper chain for the next 40+ days and worked through their first activity.

We also started a book called Amon's Adventure.  As I was reading through the introduction of the book, something struck me.

The introduction started with the phrase "rend your heart". 
 I could not get that phrase off of my mind.  

What does it mean to rend?  I didn't know so I looked it up in the dictionary.  It means to tear apart, split, or divide.  

"Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord you God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love."  Joel 2:13

I need to rend my heart.  

I have not given God my whole heart. I have rarely felt worthy of what He has to offer.  Even though I KNOW this is a lie, I haven't felt the truth of it in a long time.   There is a difference between believing something in your head and feeling it in your heart.  I have given lies and negative thoughts a grip on my life. They have become an idol to worship. The lies have become my truth.  

I have been on a journey to eat healthy and get back in shape. It has been a struggle. I think the struggle comes from not being fully heart healthy.  I am still allowing the negative thoughts to rule my life.  They are a joy stealer.  As determined as I am in focusing on finding joy, I want to feel the joy in the depth of my soul.

I am rendering my heart by replacing lies with truth from His word.  

In a sense I am giving up something for Lent. I am giving up the lies.  They will die and the new truth will live in my heart.

** i am giving up fountain soda for lent and i am going on an spending fast, buying only necessities with a few exceptions that have been budgeted for such as landon's birthday/party and activities surrounding my nieces visit in a week and a half {yeah!}

Finding Joy - Week 9

The joys:

* mauryn snuggling with morgan while she does her school work

* landon in his favorite work spot... on the floor usually laying on his pillow pet

* learning about egypt and making landon into a mummy.  their laughter and delight was contagious

* this sassy little girl brings our family so much joy

* a chocolate covered face

 

* i mentioned in my joys a few weeks ago how mauryn's four year old speak brings me so much joy.  i completely forgot to include my favorite of her words.  she has a notebook she "writes" in and carries everywhere. it is her diary but she calls it her diarrhea. ha!

* mauryn came down with a cough which for her means regular neb treatments.  her cough allowed us a sunday morning full of snuggles and punky brewster episodes. loved this quiet morning with my little spitfire.

* waking up to snow on monday morning.  

* due to the snow and some families being sick our homeschool co op was cancelled.  we got a SNOW DAY!  playing in the snow, movies, games, and reading. a much needed day of doing nothing.

* on monday night we celebrated landon and our neighbor Amiah's birthday with their "family" birthday dinner.  we tried out a new to us restaurant in Boise {more on this fun place later}.

* introducing morgan, who loves ALL things mint, to mcdonalds shamrock shake.  

* finding these cute ottoman's on sale at target for the girls' room.  i love the color and that they have storage.  even though i love their bright colors and how they match to polka dots on the walls, i am not sure if i am going to keep them hence the tags still attached to them.

* mauryn's kids sure love the new ottoman's

* mauryn the little mother is sure to take care of all her kids.  she spends her days rocking, feeding, nurturing, snuggling, and loving her dolls and stuffed animals

* two of my favorite blog friends shared their cardboard testimonies this week. so proud of their courage and love their hearts.  janelle is sharing her story this week on her blog.  grab your kleenex. i know it has been tugging on my heart strings.

* warm spring like days for biking, playing, reconnecting with neighbors, playing with chalk, and enjoying fresh air

What a Difference a Day Makes

Yesterday:

* light morning rain

* mild spring-like weather

*afternoon skies clear

* kids riding bikes and scooters

* playing with no need for jackets

* baseball practice in the yard

* pictures created with sidewalk chalk

Today:

* woke to pouring rain which turned to big, wet, flakes of snow

* sidewalk chalk pictures fading/melting under the snow

* jackets, hats, mittens, snowpants, boots needed

* friend over to enjoy the fresh snow

* creating sculptures in the snow

* playing on the snow covered swing set

* sliding down the slide into piles of snow

* catching snowflakes on tongues

* enjoying a surprise spring snowfall

GoodBye/Hello {giveaway winner}

good bye 14 year old washer and dryer.

good bye days of kicking and pounding on the washer to get it to run

good bye running the dryer at least twice to get clothes dry

good bye water and energy wasters

hello beauties

hello large capacity

hello working washer and dryer

hello to the ease of washing/drying clothes

hello water and energy savers

as excited as i was to get my new washer and dryer {the kids even put celebrate on our school calendar}, i did not expect to need them on their first afternoon in our house.

i was out running errands with landon and mauryn after we took morgan to gymnastics. we had just finished our costco run and were in target to pick up a birthday gift.  i don't usually get the kids a snack in target but it was getting late so we picked up some popcorn and started in the store.

we had been in target maybe 15 minutes and were in the toy aisle to pick out the birthday gift. all of a sudden landon starts to cry.  i turned around and he looks at me wide eyed and says he is going to throw up.

g.r.e.a.t. in the middle of target.  i was thankful that i had got the kids popcorn as that bag became his sick bag. we hurry to the front of the store to clean landon up and wouldn't you know today of all days we run into two families as we are scurrying out the store with my sick child.

even though i was caught up on laundry, it gave me a reason to break in the new machines.

Now on to the winner of the giveaway:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

14

Timestamp: 2011-03-04 02:35:59 UTC

#14 is Brandi!  

Congratulations!  Email me your information and I will pass it on to Amy who will be contacting you about your prize.

If you are in love with the Thirty-One bags and found a bag you NEED to have Amy has put a link up on her side bar.  Go to my events, click on my name, and shop away.

VROOM! VROOM!

Do your counters or cupboards ever look like this?  Spilled mint candies or

cinnamon and sugar?

Or are your floors ever covered with cereal that then gets crushed under little feet?

These messes used to cause my heart to sink... ugh! Especially the crushed cereal or cinnamon and sugar... what a pain to clean up.

That is until the day I met the VROOM!

Once I saw how it worked, I knew my monthly blow money would be set aside for this lovely life changing invention.

This handy little vacuum cleaner sits under our kitchen sink and taps into our central vacuum system.

You just pull the cord and the vacuum will easily suck up these little spills.

 Within a matter of minutes there is a clean counter top, cupboard, or floor.

 No more hauling a big hose from the closet into the kitchen area to clean up the little messes.  No more hose just sitting out in the kitchen for those just in case moments which happen daily with little children in the house.  

Thank you VROOM for keeping my kitchen clean and stopping my heart from sinking at every little spill.  

Finding Joy - Week 8

The joys:

* handprints on mirrors and spilled milk.  even though they can cause my neat side to feel anxious the time will be here when i no longer have fingerprints or milk to clean up.  trying hard to find joy and live in the moment/stage.


* mother/daughter weekend to coeur d'alene {post coming but sneak peak with some joys}

* shopping with morgan's friends and their moms

 * tween girls giggling, swimming, competing, cheering, encouraging, memory making
* moms who get up early to "bedazzle" our gymnasts - sparkly eyes,

 fancy hair, and very excited girls.

* lunch on the lake

  * a coach who likes to have fun and let's the girls deck him out in beard and hat... thanks coach eduard for playing along!

 * finding a local diner {thank you app on the iphone} which had the best burgers and shakes... yum!
*meeting olympic gymnast mohini bhardwaj... she is tiny but so sweet and cute

 * signs on hotel doors for girls encouraging them for the meet

 * ice cream social boat cruise with olympic gymnasts

 * flowers in hair... every girls needs flowers in their hair.  my big girls new favorites!

* coming home... leaving cold and snow to sun and warmer weather 

* friends who are willing to love on my littles while morgan and i were out of town and lance was at work

* cute blankets on clearance at target. i love snuggly blankets.  i picked up a few extras to embellish and give as gifts.

* if you read my blog you know i have a slight addiction to love fountain soda.  this week i tried diet dr.pepper cherry and it was actually pretty tasty.  it will not replace fully loaded fountain soda but it is a good other choice as i am trying to cut down on my fully loaded soda.

* starburst jelly beans... love.

What were your joys this week?