Weekly Goals July 29, 2013

Weekly goals for 7-22-13

1) Pick up a few treats for Matt's belated birthday celebration with his friends.  Check.  Matthew had a great time with friends when I took them to see the movie "Turbo."  I gave myself a small pat on the shoulder for getting the b-day party done before his next birthday.  When I told him that I would have owed him 2 birthday parties, he said "No, mom.  Only one.  I can miss a birthday party, it's okay."  Very sweet, but I don't think he knows what he's talking about. 

Or, maybe he does...

 2) Water plant, every day.  4 out of 7 days.  I only did one of these days and the other days I got Matthew to do it for me.  Needless to say, my plant is still very sad.

 3) Make Laundry Soap.  Check.  I made it before I left for work Tuesday morning and my husband put it in to the gallon containers after it had cooled.

4) Enlist the help of my family to straighten up the house for the friends we have coming to visit.  Check.  The house was not spotless but I wasn't horribly embarrassed.  I figured they were coming to see us and not our house anyway.

5) Go to the library.  I never found time.  :-(

Weekly goals for 7-29-13

1) Have my husband take the boys to the library.
2) Sort through Liam's clothes.  Replace all the 2T shirts and pajamas with 4T shirts and pajamas.

We're going to be moving starting in about 4 weeks.  It's to a small town just south of where we live now, about a 20 minute drive.  I've been putting off making plans until things were official and I got word this week that it's as official as we're going to get until we sign the-- home purchased/it's officially yours/your prayers have been answered --papers.

Now, I need a plan.  A loose, flexible, don't flip out on me plan.  So, here's where I'll start:

Organize and pack the following areas-

1) Coat Closet
2) Entertainment Center
3) The Table Where We Sort Our Mail
4) Laundry Room
5) Den

I'm going to be working 60-70 hours this week (60 definitely, the additional 10 depends on home visits).  I'm going to take 15 minutes here, 20 minutes there and 5 minutes somewhere else and just see what I can get done.

 I refuse to stress out...  I will remain calm...  I will not buckle under pressure.

ABOVE ALL ELSE, Read my devotion every day.

Trying To Do It All

About a month ago, my husband approached me about going to a baseball game with our church.  I was so happy that he was taking initiative to be a part of our new to us church, I jumped at the chance.  Plus, the game was on his birthday.  Birthdays for the children in our home = awesome.  Birthdays in our home for the adults = just another day.  This made the game plan even better!

We purchased tickets and my husband even took the day off. 

As the event grew closer, I wondered how awesome this event was going to be.

 I've been waking up at 5:00 a.m. and working 10 1/2 hour days.  Needless to say, I'm kind of weary.

Sitting and watching something has never been an easy skill for my seven year old... unless it's something he chooses and it involves a screen.

They have a wonderful park, splash pad and bouncy houses at the stadium... but I'll be the one who takes them.  No relaxing for me.

The evening for the game came.  I packed a blanket in case it got chilly and umbrellas because it was raining.  I had cash for the bouncy houses and snacks.  We ate dinner before we went so we didn't spend this week's grocery money at the ball park. 

Should have been great...

Except that it poured down rain at times...

Except that I had worked all day and was tired...

Except that the boys had only seen me for about an hour total each day and our relationships were off balance...

Except my seven year old was hanging on me, pulling on me, squeezing me and stepping on me...

Except my husband, who deserved to relax on his birthday and watch the game, didn't really pay attention to what his family needed (I had to yell to him that Liam, 2 1/2, was LICKING the seat in front of him)...

Except it was too cold to play on the splash pad...

I took the boys to the park for a couple of innings, we got a snack and sat huddled at the top of the steps because it was pouring down rain.

Then we left.  4 innings into the game, we left.  I was not having fun.  I was so tired that I couldn't even fake my involvement, an interest, or love and patience for my children.  So, we left.

Tears flowed down my face on the ride home as I listened to my two boys cry that they wanted to go back to the ball game. 

Tears for my husband's very memorable birthday. 

Tears because I wasn't capable of doing it all.

 

Caterpillar Update

When I went to bed last night, both caterpillars were happily munching on the milkweed.  This morning, Friendship was still munching away but Baby's munching hole was the same size.  I gently touched Baby and found that he was no longer alive.

A moment of panic washed over me.  Matt's caterpillar had died.  Had this milkweed been sprayed with a chemical and killed it?  No, because Friendship was still busy eating.  Then I wondered if leaving them both on the same milkweed leaf had been a mistake.  It was a big leaf, but I don't know how territorial caterpillars are with their leaf.  Friendship might have murdered Baby.  Not very friendly and just a little ironic. (If this is the case.)

Ahh... 7:00 a.m. drama in the Daly Household. 

Matt decided he wanted to give Baby a proper burial and we decided that we'll have to go out caterpillar hunting this weekend.  This time, I'm getting an extra milkweed plant.

Bye-bye, Baby.  :-(

Baby the monarch butterfly caterpillar.
Hatched, 7-22-13  -  Died, 7-25-13
"He was a munchin' kind of fellow that brought children joy."

Monarch Butterfly Caterpillars

Every summer, the boys and I hunt for caterpillars.  Usually, we have to ask my sister to help because she and her three children have a knack when it comes to finding them.  This year, we were able to find some on our own.  Meet Friendship and Baby.  Friendship we found and Baby came later as an added surprise.

Friendship is the larger caterpillar and Baby is the smaller one.
Liam (2 1/2 yrs. old) named Friendship and Matthew (7 yrs. old) named baby.
7-22-13

Friendship
7-24-13

Baby
7-24-13

The Woman Who Fears the Lord #6

The Woman Who Fears the Lord

 

A Study of Proverbs 31

Verse 15

"She gets up while it is still dark;

she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls."

It's a good thing that this verse is about a woman who lived in the biblical days because if she was my next door neighbor, I think I would strongly dislike her.  Can you just imagine having a cup of coffee with her? 

Picture me, in my robe, my hair all crazy, no make up and toothpicks holding my eyes open.  Across from me is my neighbor.  She's telling me about how she got up at 5:00 a.m. to make her hubby breakfast before he went to work.  (I'm sure she was dressed, had her hair all done and makeup on.  She sounds like that kind of gal.)  Then, her nanny arrived, along with the gardener, her personal trainer, and her maid.  They all ate the delicious breakfast that she had prepared as she reviewed the day's agenda with them.  As they scattered off to do their various jobs, her children woke up.  Bleary eyed, the children sat down at the table and chatted about the plans for day and what a wonderful breakfast their mom had made them. 

This would be the first and only time I would have had coffee with this neighbor.  She can just stay home and drink her own coffee.  It probably tastes better than mine, anyway.

I need to refocus...

What can a woman from the 21st century learn from this verse?

The woman from Proverbs 31 got up while it was still dark to make food for her family and their servants.  Considering there was no electricity and everything had to be made from scratch, it's no wonder she got up before the sun!  It would take all morning to make enough food to feed everyone for the whole day.

With the invention of convenience food, crock pots and appliances we don't really have to worry about getting up before the crack of dawn.  Do we?

Does that mean this verse doesn't pertain to us?  No, I think it still does.

Convenience food is not the healthiest choice.  Preparing food from scratch is much better for you.  I would love to get to the point where I grind my own flour, grow all my own veggies and have my children fetch the eggs from the henhouse.  (I'm laughing at myself and the mental images this gives me.)  As a family, we are slowly moving towards doing more and more things from scratch.  Snail's pace slow, but at least we're moving.

For me, dinner is the meal that takes planning and more preparation.  Defrost the chicken, put the roast and potatoes in the crock pot, have all the ingredients needed for the casserole, start the bread machine before I leave, etc.  Sometimes, I have to get up 20 minutes earlier so that dinner time will run smoothly.  (Well, more smoothly.  When you have two boys, a husband and two cats, you can't expect miracles.) 

I've been working a lot of overtime the last few weeks and all my planning has been thrown out the window.  We've been eating a lot of take out and scrambling to come up with meals at the last minute.  Not very Proverbs 31ish.

If I am going to use this verse to guide me to being the woman, wife and mother that God wants me to be, I will need to get back to planning and take the few extra minutes in the morning to get things rolling.

Oh, and I need some servants.

The link to the series "The Woman Who Fears the Lord"

Weekly Goals 7-22-13

Weekly Goals for 7-15-13

1) Sign boys up for summer reading and enter the books we've read so far.  Check- Matt's doing mostly chapter books, so his is a little slow going.  (He is not fluently reading yet, but I read them to him and he also listens to books on CD.)  Liam already has 10.  If I counted each book every time we read it, he would have had about 36, but I only counted each title once.
2) Return library material and get some new stuff.  Half check.  We returned the stuff but my oldest "gave up" trying to find his books on CD and I had to find them.  The consequence was no library for a week.
3) Water my hanging basket every day.  It's a little sad.  Ummm... it's still really sad.  Not dead, just sad.
4) Practice songs for Sunday's worship service.  Check
5) Relax for a little bit every day.  Even if it's only reading for 15 minutes before bed.  Check, but this ended up hurting instead of helping.  Have you ever been so tired that you don't have the energy to get up and go to bed?  Yep!  That was me last week.  Between the bus routes and home visits, it was a very long week.

Here are just a few highlights from the last week.  Forget the to-do list and enjoy your summer.

We started with one monarch butterfly caterpillar and were surprised to find another one.  Liam's is the bigger one and it's name is Friendship.  Matt's is the smaller one and it's name is Baby.

Liam at the Kennedy Pool on Saturday.

Matthew at the Kennedy Pool on Saturday.

Weekly goals for 7-22-13

1) Pick up a few treats for Matt's belated birthday celebration with his friends.
2) Water plant, every day.
3) Make Laundry Soap.
4) Enlist the help of my family to straighten up the house for the friends we have coming to visit.
5) Go to the library.

Trades of Hope Giveaway

I have a friend whose name is Annie.  Annie is a beautiful person.  I'm not just speaking about her outward beauty, but her inward beauty as well.  She is a compassionate and kind woman, always giving of her time, her resources and the delicious food she makes.  She has inspired me in so many ways and I thank God for sending her to me.

 

 

Annie spends much of her time serving others and she found an additional way to help others by becoming a Compassion Entrepreneur with "Trades Of Hope." 

Here is an excerpt from Annie's website...

"I am absolutely thrilled to finally be with a company that truly believes in giving back... What a blessing it is to stand up in front of women and know what your company believes in and know where your products are made. I lived with Mayan people for 18 years and saw with my own eyes what help can do. Since we moved here in 2007 I have been looking for something to feed my soul and I found it :). I love that we are not just helping these women. We are coming along side them and giving them an opportunity in life!" 

I took the following paragraph from the Trades of Hope website and you can find their link below.

"We work with the artisans themselves and organizations that are helping women in difficult circumstances. Some women have been rescued from sex slavery. Others are raising handicapped children alone. Some are in war torn countries and others have AIDS. These women have never had the chances we've had, yet they are just like us in so many ways. They love their families and hope and dream of a better life for them."

This is not an ordinary direct selling business.  This is a ministry that is offering HOPE to women who are in need.  Food to eat, a place to call home, medical care and education. 

You can help this ministry through prayer, ordering products from them, hosting a home party or by becoming a Compassion Entrepreneur.

Trades of Hope is holding a drawing for this scarf.  To enter, visit their website, browse through the unique and exceptional items and read more about their mission and story.  Then comment on this post what you like about Trades of Hope, how you are going to get involved or what your favorite product is.

The giveaway ends on July 31, 2013 at 11:59:59 p.m.

For more information,

contact Annie Michele Payne
e-mail: tradesofhopeam@gmail.com
phone: 574.229.4820
website:  mytradesofhope.com/anniemichele




http://www.mytradesofhope.com/home.aspx