Pics my sister took...she rocks

Go here to see her new blog...
http://valerie-photography.blogspot.com/

Goodbye for now...

I've come to a decision. I'm taking a blog break - not that I've been oh so fabulous at keeping up with it...but every time I get online and read blogs, I feel both inspired and deflated all at once. I read great ideas and thought-provoking posts...I see cute ideas for decorating, cooking, crafts, thanksgiving, advent, etc...and then I log off feeling boring, unimaginative and like I'm failing somehow because I'm not like this or that. I do realize that this is a lie...but it gets me every time. As I mentioned in my previous post I'm prone toward the negative, and in this particular area it's getting the best of me. SO...I'm taking a break...I'll be back sometime soon...I'll still post pictures, but that's probably it for a while...

Thanksgiving Thoughts

I'll be honest. I'm really a "half-empty" kind of girl. In fact, several years ago where I taught we all got to do the Birkman personality profile, and the results put you into different colors...I was in the blue...meaning that when one thing goes wrong I tend to overgeneralize it...I think the example given to me was something like, "if you were to walk out to leave for work and see that you had a flat tire, your first thoughts might be something like 'oh no, I KNEW this was going to be a bad day...I wonder what else is going to go wrong...'" I remember laughing out loud because it was SO TRUE (even if I don't always SHOW that as my reaction!)

Anyway, all of this is to say that my morning got off on the wrong foot today...and all day I've been battling a headache and feeling a little frustrated in general...I've felt...just ugh...but I do know that I have much to be thankful for. My son has this incredibly sweet drooly smile...my daughter bowed her head and prayed before our meal and I got a little catch in my heart as I watched her...I laughed with my sister about silly snl skits - real laughs that make my stomach hurt...my husband has been patient with my moodiness...my parents have been gracious providers...

and really, my lord has been so good. he has filled my life with good - because he is good. i'm working on focusing on this, rather than the things that don't matter.

spiritual amnesia...

i have decided this is an affliction that i have to battle more than i'd like to admit. often, i am in church, i hear something in a song or scripture that resonates with me. it gets me thinking about how that applies to me, or perhaps it stirs some conviction in my heart, etc. i can even be moved to the point of tears during a sermon or time of worship...and then often before i even make it all the way home the amnesia strikes. the "i really need to spend some time thinking/praying/reading on that" somehow dissolves with the needs of my children, the piles of laundry, the school responsibilities (another post entirely) and the other stresses that happen to be in my personal/family life right now.

if you read the previous post you can tell that this is kind of an ongoing battle for me at the moment...who i want to be and who i am are worlds apart right now.

New photo

My sister has started to spend more time on her interests with photography...when they were in town we had our little neighbor take a family picture, which is what you see above...don't you love how cooperative lily and jude were? ah, well, at least the rest of us look good!

Help me, working moms

Okay. This post is a plea for help in time management. Whether you're a mom who works at home or out of the home, if you have small children then your time is not your own.

My current situation is that I'm teaching, I try to leave the house between 7 and 7:15 so that I can leave right after school if possible, which puts me home around 4:30ish. Usually I'm dying for an hour break but I don't have long before my kids go to bed, so I play, feed them dinner, bathe them, etc. Jude goes down at 7:30 and Lily at 8:00. Most nights I do have schoolwork that could be done, and so I have to choose between that, hang out time with Justin, alone time for myself, or trying to see a friend and maintain some kind of social life, time to pray/do bible study...you get the point. And honestly, by the time we put Lily down at 8:00 I'm so tired, I could definitely follow within the hour.

I know I'm not the only one...so how have you found ways to "do it all" that you can suggest? I want to do all things well, and I feel like I need some help to do so...

Halloween Pics

Okay friends...I've surfaced once again in blogland to put some updated pics of the kiddies out for yall to see...Halloween was fun this year...went up to a church in the neighborhood, taking along Dr. Lily and our little monkey Jude. Why are they so grown up already???