So not there yet.....

As I was driving Daria to her piano lessons this morning, I was listening to a radio station that plays a lot of praise music. I've been waiting for days for them to play a song that I have just been needing to hear again, so I've been listening to that station faithfully any time I am in the van.

This morning, as we were driving, I had the volume down low as Daria and I were conversing. During a quiet point of the conversation, I thought that I heard a Christmas song. I turned it up, and sure enough it was a Christmas song. Okay...I thought....one Christmas song, I can handle that. Then a couple of minutes later....they were playing another. What????

Today is Halloween. We still have Thanksgiving to conquer before I really feel like Christmas season is here. This is just ridiculous. I am so not ready for the Christmas season. Can't we celebrate being Thankful first????

Wow.

Repeat of Last Friday

Here it is 7:15 on a Friday morning. My kids don't have school. We have an insanely long day filled with way too many activities....and candy....and my boys have been up since 7:00. They are in their rooms at least....but they are up and feisty. I was hoping they would sleep longer today so that we wouldn't kill each other.

Here is our day:

9:00: Daria's piano lesson
10:20-11:40: Parent/Teacher Conferences (they'll have to entertain themselves while I visit with teachers)
2:00-4:00: Halloween Party at a Friends House (The Kids)/Decorating for Trunk or Treat (Me)
4:30 to 6:00: Back to church to finish Trunk or Treat set up
6:00 to 8:30: TRUNK OR TREAT!!
8:30 to Whenever-We're-Done: Cleanup for Trunk or Treat

Long day. Potential for a lot of stress and nasty words. Yesterday afternoon/evening was not pretty. Kids and Mom were crabby. I am not sure I can handle a repeat of yesterday.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for:

• Caden receiving a Character Award for the month of October. So proud.

• For the opportunity to help at the Harvest Festival at the kids' school today. It was a lot of fun.
  

• For my friend, Julie, who is also our church secretary. Her help and support in so many ways has been a blessing to me.
  

Short, sweet and to the point. Have a happy and thankful Thursday.

Clinging to Promises

Trusting God and His timing is difficult sometimes. Especially when something is pressing so hard on my heart and mind that I almost feel like I can't breathe sometimes. I'm not very good at this "hope deferred" business....or at least glimmers of hope that get squashed by incoming doubts. Makes me so weary.

My precious Luke has stretched my faith probably more than any other event in my life. He has also increased my joy as well, too. Right now, he is stretching my faith. God has given me some promises for Luke and I am clinging to them with all that I'm worth. I'm trusting that God will do His thing in His time.....but I'd sure wish that He would hurry along.

Shortly after Luke was born, God gave me this verse for Luke:

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

Because of this verse, I truly believe that God has great things in mind for Luke someday. I am so glad that I've got a front row seat to see what He's gonna do.

Even though that is a wonderful promise, full of hope, Luke hasn't quite obtained the fullness of that verse. Right now, there is an issue that I'm really having to use every ounce of faith I have in order to keep myself together. As my heart has been struggling with it, God gave me another promise.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest, if we do not give up." Galations 6:9

Do not give up. (sigh) It isn't a promise for a quick response. I must persevere. But I sure am looking forward to the harvest.

To God will be the Glory.

I love Mondays.

I never thought that I would get to a point where I would proclaim that I love Mondays. Oh...but right now.....I absolutely adore Mondays. In particular....I love Monday mornings!

Monday mornings are my only "free" morning of my entire week. The kids have gone back to school after a busy weekend. The house is quiet. I can eat my breakfast without interruptions. I can check my email and read the paper. I don't even have any places that I have to go to or people I need to see, unless I want to. Monday mornings can be so peaceful. I really love them.

Today, I have taken time to read the paper, check my Facebook account, send some emails, and listen to Awesome God like two dozen times. I feel like I could almost take on the world! Now, I am going to go out there and tackle some errands for Trunk or Treat night while I have no little beggars to mess up my plans. (Gotta love the little monkeys!)

Have I mentioned that I love Monday mornings?

Why is it?

Why is it on the days we have obligations and must get up early, I have to shake my kids, drag them out of bed, and prop them in the corner to get them dressed?

BUT......

On the days where we have no obligations and they can sleep in as late as they want, they wake up at the same time as the other days? Not only that...but they are UP and playing and yelling and having a great time?

I was hoping for a sleep-in kind of day today. No such luck.

Taking a Moment to be Thankful

I feel like I can breathe. The load of the week has come and gone....and I can breathe. Must mean that it is time to be thankful....for God is good.

This week, I am thankful for:

• The beautiful, glorious, heavenly, fabulous, gorgeous.....fall weather we have had this week. Even though it has still been chilly at soccer practice, it has still been so glorious to sit there with beautiful, blue skies overhead. The forecast looks like we should end soccer season with beautiful weather.
  

• Speaking of soccer.....OUTDOOR SOCCER SEASON FINISHES THIS WEEKEND!! No more 8 practices a week. No more 4 soccer games a week. No more sitting in the cold and rain...though rain hasn't been too much of a factor this season. Woo hoo. No more packing dinners because we get home too late. We might actually get to have dinners like a real family now. Praying that our schedule will now become more bearable....breathing room at least.
  

• My Moms In Touch friends. I am so thankful for them. How can I even begin to express how thankful I am for them? They stand with me through the best of times and the worst of times. When I feel like I can no longer pray, I know that they are there praying for me. They remind me of God's faithfulness when I forget. They are such a blessing in my life. I'm not sure that I could survive without their faithful presence in my life.
  

• My beautifully painted house. Just to look around at the beautiful new colors in my house has spoken peace to me this week. Beauty seems to do that.
  

• For Luke's teacher. For her confidence, for her patience, for her wisdom and direction. She has a faith that fills my heart with joy. She is another blessing in my life.
  

Home Improvements: A Blessing

Soccer season is quickly winding itself down. Even though there is talk of indoor soccer, I think that the heat of the last two months is dwindling. This is the last week of outdoor practice. And I am so thankful!!

I have been so weary with our schedule these last couple of months. I have been fluctuating between feeling like I am conquering the world....all the way to feeling like I was being crushed by the weight of the world. (If I could only be consistent!! Curses.) So many times I have felt like I have taken two steps forward....just to be knocked down one. This week, my socks got blessed off....and soccer season is winding down.

Chuggin' to the finish line!! Yee haw!

So, enough about soccer getting finished up. On to the blessing. Part of the nagging-ness of the last couple of months has been my desire to get on with my Home Improvement Projects. A huge part of my life has felt "undone" due to these desire. That....and the fact that I hadn't moved all of my furniture back in place after we did our floors back in September. Well....can I just testify that my mom is a dynamo....and she blessed my socks off!

When I learned that Mom and Dad were coming for a visit this weekend, I was hopeful that, with a little help, I might get started on my painting project. I cannot even begin to tell you how many weekends I had hoped to get started...only to have our steamroller-life come barreling through. I figured that once I got started, I could keep the moment up and slowly work my way through my daunting project. Well....not only did my project get started....it is almost finished.

My mom worked hard. And I mean hard. We started at 6:00 A.M. on Friday morning. We were at Home Depot before they even opened their doors. (Crazy Women...the Paint Guy said!) Mom painted all day....I tried to prep and clean things amidst numerous trips to the school to pick up kids from their field trips. Then, she still had the energy to work most of the day Saturday, too. Saturday was soccer day....so I wasn't any help at all. But when the last soccer game was over, most of my house was painted....and it feels so good.

When I stop and think back over the many hours that Mom put into my house this weekend, and I think about our schedule, I think it would have taken me months, and I mean months, to get done what Mom got done this weekend. So anything that I say here doesn't even begin to cover the enormity of the blessing that my Mom gave me this weekend. Words cannot even begin to suffice. Impossible.

So, with no better words, here are a couple of "Before" pictures:



And now for the "After" Pictures:

**Drum Roll**

Thank you, Mom. You have blessed me royally. I love you.

Mind-boggling

Today I have been blown away at the competition that is happening in the world of U10 Soccer. (Under 10 soccer) Personally, I have been looking forward to the outdoor soccer season ending. I'm burned-out big time on the go, go, go-ness of our schedule. I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel....maybe.

Tonight, though, I have been wondering if, in reality, our soccer life is kicking into high gear. Withing 36 minutes of each other, we had 3 calls recruiting Daria to play on their indoor soccer team for the winter. They were all from the same team!!! With the fun of caller-i.d., I know the exact times of each call.

As we were headed out the door for soccer practice, at 4:53 p.m., we received the first call. It was a mom of one of the players....feeling out our interest and whether it would be okay if the coach could call us. I sort of left it open as a possibility for us. Since we were literally in the van on the way to soccer practice when she called, we missed the next 2 calls. At 5:01 p.m., we get the second call...from the coach himself. He chose not to leave a message. At 5:29 p.m., the team mom calls us to chat with us about the team. She left a message, so I returned her call this evening just to let her know we were thinking about it.

I find this hot pursuit to be absolute craziness!! Part of me is loving the attention that she is getting. I am amazed at the interest!! Personally, I think Daria is an awesome player. I guess it does my heart good to see that others agree! But the other part of me thinks that this is just lunacy....pure lunacy. Do these people really understand what they're doing????

The other part of the craziness, is that Daria's assistant coach has been advocating to get Daria on the elite U10 team here in town. In fact, he has arranged to have her and another girl (his daughter) practice with this team to see what the coach thinks. That happens tomorrow night and I'm kind of curious to see how that develops out. From the discussions that I have had with this assistant coach, it sounds like he has been advocating for Daria pretty hard. I find that absolutely stunning.

I think I am mostly amazed about it because she is nine years old. I never pictured her soccer world being this competitive at this early of an age. But then again, I never imagined that she would be as good as she is at nine years old!! Whatever happened to carefree childhoods and playing a game for the sheer joy of it? So far, I don't see her getting burned out on it. She seems to soak up any opportunity that she can.

Guess I will have to report back in the next few days or so. Her current coach hasn't asked me anything about whether Daria is going to play with this team during the winter. That is interesting.

This all just blows my mind.

Quandry of the Day

Is it possible to be grateful for, and resentful of, something at the same time?


I sure hope so. Otherwise, I am a total lost cookie.

High of 75

Just a little bit ago, I just got done writing a post about being grateful. Sometimes when I am struggling to keep it all together, I have to force myself to be grateful to remind myself of the blessings in my life. It is way too easy for me to get focused on "Life-with-a-capital-L" and find myself drowning in darkness. In fact, as I went to pick up my kids, I was just about in tears as Life-with-a-capital-L started taunting me. Satan must have kicked into overtime as I wrote my grateful post.

Then I come home and decide to take a moment to browse stuff on the internet. I should have been, as I should be now, dashing around trying to get stuff done before we dash out the door for soccer. For some reason, I decided I would check out my niece's blog. I love how God lays in your lap just what you need, right when you need it. Lyss wrote her blog almost a week ago....but it was just right for me today.

Lyss was writing about how she wanted to her life to be. With her being quite a bit younger, and more hip, she was talking about a song that I didn't know. But I loved the words. It is "High of 75" by Reliant K. The words are great. It talks about life being like a perfect sunny day.....high of 75...because of God's work in our lives. I think I am going to have to buy that song. Then she said something really good she said: " I've decided things'll start lookin up if i just decided to make it that way, go back to my optimistic self, and choose to be happy with the way things are."

Good thing for her Auntie to hear today.

Thanks, Lyss....for letting God speak through you...to me. Love you.

Grateful

Well, we are closing in on the halfway mark of October. 8 games remain in our outdoor soccer season. In that regard, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes, though, it is in the final stretch that things seem to be difficult. I can definitely tell that I'm a little worn around the edges with our schedule....and life in general.

I must admit, though, there has been good that has come out of the craziness in our schedules. The big thing is that I've discovered a homework routine that works for us. I was hopeful that that would occur. I've also learned that I can handle more than I thought that I was capable of. Granted, I haven't been the happiest with my load....but I'm proud of myself!! Giving myself a big ol' pat on the back right now.

Yet, today, when I am weary....when I look around my house and see all the stuff that has been neglected for longer than it should be...I need to take note of these things. The things yet to do seem insurmountable.....but I need to take a look behind at the things that I have done. And be grateful.

Today, as I pulled into my driveway after running an errand, I was reminded of another thing that I have been so grateful for. My home. This past week, a house in the Portland area literally slid down the hill....with the homeowner inside. Thankfully, she survived. But her house....and another house that was hit, are destroyed. Along with them, several other homes are listed as unsafe.

Craziness. Devastating craziness.

So, when I look at my home, with all the projects that need to be accomplished, I have to be grateful. Grateful that my home does not reside on a hillside....or next to a flooding stream....or in hurricane or earthquake territory. I suppose that any one of those natural catastrophes could happen....but they aren't terribly likely. And I am so grateful.

So, I am reminded....be grateful. Be grateful that I have a home that needs cleaned, painted, organized, and put back together. I needed to tell myself that today when my load was beginning to drag me down again. Yes. I am grateful.

Thankful Thursday

How long has it been since I've blogged?? I know that for some it hasn't been very long....but for me...it seems like it has been ages. I keep thinking I am going to take a moment and get something out. Instead, I find myself dashing to the next activity, desperately longing for a nap. Even though I long to climb into bed right now, I can't let another Thursday go by before I am thankful. There should always be time to be thankful!!

So....Today I am thankful for:

• answered prayer. We had a great MIT last Thursday....and on Friday, one of my fellow moms began to see an amazing answer to our prayers for her son. This week, she had more good news to share with us. It was so fun to rejoice with her!!

• for Tim's job. With our crazy economy, I am thankful for the consistency of his work.
  

• for my beautiful, healthy children. I love their joy. I love their sweet smiles. I love their hugs and kisses. They really brighten my day.
  

• for the sun. It seems like all too quickly winter is descending upon us. We had glimpses of sun the last couple of days. I was just soaking it in.
  

• for friends. What would I do without them?
  

And finally, I am thankful that I took the time to be thankful. It really did my heart good today.

Lightning Mc-Daria

I know that my title is totally goofy, but as I was thinking about writing this post, it was the only title that seemed to jump out at me!!! For as many soccer games as I have seen Daria play, sometimes I am amazed at how often she amazes me! Have I mentioned before how much I enjoy watching her play??? Yeah, yeah...I know. I'm the Mama and I have a right to be proud. So, there!

It was a wet, and cool, weekend in our world of soccer this weekend. I always dread heading out there when the skies are gray, the winds blustery, and the rain threatening. Days like that are meant to be spent in front of a roaring fire, wrapped in a blanket with a cup of hot tea and a good book. It is a good thing that my kids put on a good show playing soccer!! Any way, as time goes on I am learning ways to make my time in the cold, wet, and mud a little more tolerable for myself and the non-playing children.

Sunday, Daria's game was the wettest and the muddiest. We've been in worse...so I am not complaining....too much. Daria played a great game...as always. She still amazes me sometimes. To watch her put on "her moves" on another player, sometimes I am left thinking..."Where'd she learn that???" The game ended up tied, but Daria scored two goals. She was all over the field, zipping in and out of players, and seeming to trip the light fantastic. Sometimes I swear that I'll burst with pride. She's awesome, I tell you, awesome.

After the game, the girls were having a good time together. They stood around comparing mud splatters. One mom declared it was because they were running so fast. Daria brought a friend home after the game and the whole trip home they were comparing mud splatters. Who had it highest on their backs....Hey, Mom...this one looks like a face...do you see it? I'm not much of a mud fan...but the girls thought it was great fun. I was left wondering how to get mud splatters out of white uniforms? (whoever thought that was a good color to use!?!)

When we got home, I lined the girls up and took pictures of their muddy shirts and their grinning faces.

Aren't they cute??

Darkness

Well, it has arrived. Fall. I tell everyone who asks, that I really don't like Fall. Fall just means that winter is coming; and, I dread winter.

There is one redeeming thing about Fall. One thing that separates it from Winter...at least here in the Portland area. I really do love the color of the leaves. I have been amazed at how the colors have really popped in the last week. They are gorgeous. I have a few favorite roads around town that I like to drive down because the trees are stunning.

Stunning....but short lived.

Today, it feels like Winter Darkness is settling in. Rain. Gray clouds. Cold. So heavy it seems to drag my spirits just a tad. I am so not ready for winter. If we could just have beautiful, white snow to cover over the gray and reflect what little sunshine comes....it would be so much better.

I guess I should be more thankful. Guess that is what happens when I miss my weekly Thankful Thursday post. Maybe I will have to do one later. Retro style.

For now, I will dream of hot baths and cups of tea....with a good book. Its been that kind of day.