Mid August Update

Back to school
Flylady
Calvary Girl
Reading
Weekend Fun
Politics
Back to work
Extracurricular Activities
Prayer Requests

Back to school:
As of last Thursday, Hannah was in the seventh spot on the waiting list for the charter school. The open house is this evening. They're doing something so neat I thought- they're having a hot dog dinner / back to school "celebration". It starts at 4pm, you arrive at the gym and get your classroom assignment, they'll then also give you your dinner tickets and you can either go eat first or go see the classroom first and meet your teacher. This also includes a tour of the school. They are also offering free family portraits as well. This will be SO nice, I don't think we've had a family portrait done since Hannah was born! I mentioned making an appointment at Olan Mills a few weeks ago but it was a bust, so this will be great.

The office lady said to check with them tonight to find out Hannah's status, and I will be calling tomorrow afternoon as well. PRAY HARD we know something by tomorrow, because the traditional public school's open house is tomorrow night. I prefer not to even have to go there if we can avoid it. I fear it would cause some confusion for Hannah, although she does have a strong understanding of what is going on. She has become very peaceful about the change being made, which is an answer to prayer as well. I just hate taking her to the schools saying "this is where you might be going...", the limbo is murder on me! ;o) But they did say, Wednesday, on the first day, they will do a physical head count in each classroom and if a child is not present, they automatically lose their enrollment in the school. So it might be that she doesn't start on Wednesday, but we get a call that afternoon saying to bring her on Thursday. The traditional school doesn't start until Monday so I will be very thankful for that call on Wednesday if not by Tuesday afternoon or before.

Flylady:
I signed back up for the flylady list week before last, but haven't gotten very far. We ended up with my BIL spending the week with us (last week) so I got a bit of nothing done except shopping and FINALLY my mother's day pedicure while he babysat for me, LOL! This is the BIL that lives with MIL and Jackson will go there and spend a week with them playing video games and whatnot. The kids enjoyed having him here but he got a dose of "my life" and I had to giggle when he said "I don't know how you do it every day!" cause he rarely experiences the two of them together.

So back to flylady, I'm hearing some groans from some who avoid her because of either the emails or the shoe thing. Well, I set a separate account to receive the emails, for one. But I was impressed with the "welcome" files that basically walks you through the first month of adding new things to your routine. So while I should be on day 10, I'm still working on Day 3 ;o) But I love the flexibility that is there now that wasn't before. I really believe in the long run this is going to make a difference for our family ... this time ;o)

Calvary Girl:
Calvary Girl Devotions is up and running!
Be sure to go and subscribe today so you won't miss a thing!

Reading:
I just finished A Vengeful Spirit by Lizzy Armentrout. Lemme tell ya, this book is GREAT- definitely worth ordering TODAY! You won't be let down, I'm waiting on the second one now, and I have never read these kinds of books before! LOL!! Don't just take my word for it, read the first three chapters for yourself :p

So, after reading my first mystery novel, I'm now starting a book more like what I'm used to reading, the more "soul searching" type books. This next one is Love as a Way of Life, by Gary Chapman. I won a copy of it from Apples of Gold Ministries through a drawing Sisterlisa had last month- yay! Love free books *g* I've already read two of the love languages books, so I'm looking forward to reading another one of Dr. Chapman's books. I'll let you know what I think of it when I'm done ;o)

I'm so excited about my bible reading. My new years resolution was to read it in a year. After January, I fell off the wagon. I started back on my plan at www.christianity.com last month, and have been playing "catch up", but you know? I know "catch up" sounds so .... not that good- out of duty, so to speak. But I NEED this extra reading!

This has been such a rough year for us, I'm having no problem sitting in the Word for an hour a day! I've found my niche, too. I'm using the audio option at www.biblegateway.com, and am listening as a read along, so it's double the blessing. It's amazing to me how much more I'm getting from the OT readings from listening while I read. If anyone has any questions on how to maneuver these sites, please don't hesitate to leave a comment or email me!

IMO this is proof that if you want to find the Lord and spend time with Him, it's possible to do so away from groups of people, bible studies and books about the bible. Just plain ol' bible reading, like someone I know says- it's the "Nike version of Christianity: JUST DO IT!!". Right there, in front of you, at the computer, just you and God. Sometimes we just make things so much more difficult than it needs to be. Get up before the kids are awake and DO IT! :o)

Weekend Fun:
Well, since we had BIL all week, you would think he would be ready to be without kids ;) But MIL wanted to have the kids the weekend before school started, so she got them (with BIL) on Friday night, and is bringing them home today. So what did J and I do? We went fishing!! Saturday morning we went out to breakfast to a place we take the kids, but we got to sit in a two seater booth! woo-hooo! LOL Then we went to visit my aunt that broke her knee and has been bedbound for four weeks. She has two more weeks and will be getting a brace and can return to church, PTL J called his (other, oldest) brother to see if he wanted to meet us at his spot and he was happy to get together for an evening of fishing.

We each caught three in about four hours or so. I caught my first bass! It wasn't a "big" one, maybe a pound. J decided he wanted us to go back yesterday, so we got permission and went back to the pond after church yesterday and spent the evening on the pond. It's on the guy's land, WAY back off of the road. I would love to have a bunch of acres with a pond on it! (Jackson would, too, LOL!) this is also the same spot where J and his brother hunts deer during deer season too. We didn't catch much at all yesterday. I traded off hoping for the big one with a smaller hook for more frequent bites and hooked in a number of small brim and one baby bass.

J, however, of course he does things big ;o) He got a four-five pound bass, it was a biggie! Then he was dealing with getting hits on his (two) rods. We're talking, an hour of messing with it and "missing" them. FINALLY he got a hook, and we just knew he had a big catfish on the line the way the drag was pulling and the rod was bent over. After a few minutes we could see it ... it wasn't a catfish, it was a TURTLE!!! and a BIG, MAAAADDD turtle to boot! Oy was that thing hissing too! We have pics on his phone I'll post ;o) He finally broke the line and went back in the water. We really didn't want him out of the water anyway- LOL!!

If you think that is exciting, hold your horses ;) If there's ever proof prayer works ... I noticed this place had the most amount of bees at a pond I had ever seen. We were soaked in Skin So Soft so the swarms of mosquitoes were being deterred, and I had hopes that it was working for the bees. I had been swatting one away from me all afternoon, then realized the bees were yellow jackets. I thought they looked like honeybees myself, but BIL got stung on the other side of the pond the night before. It / they kept flying around me and I would just swat it / them away. About sunset, I had my BK cup with tea in it to drink and reached down for a swallow.

IMMEDIATELY I started spitting out the tea and scraping my teeth against my tongue outwards as FAST as I could- one of those yellow jackets had gotten IN MY STRAW!!! PTL- I realized what it was *somehow* right when it hit my tongue and started spitting and scraping. It's amazing to me how the Lord just puts in your head what you need to know! I saw the thing flop to the ground as it fell out of my mouth!! It took me about thirty minutes before I was sure it had not stung me and the pain was from me teeth ;o) PTL for His protection and wisdom!!

Politics:
Did anyone see the "Saddleback Showdown" last night? I'm hearing that McCain done very well. I missed it because I forgot to set the timer! But I've caught highlights (great video).
Conservatives, I do believe that there's more to Mr. McCain than what we previously thought, especially those of us from the Huckabee camp. I plan on posting an excerpt from Faith from my Fathers, his book, that I saw on a forum. I wonder why he would want that stuff private? The only reason I can think of, is humility. Did you know he has sons that are currently in the military? At least one in Iraq (best I remember?) ... WOW. Talk about invested interest.

This Obama craze is so mind boggling to me. It makes me want to scream sometimes! How can this man profess to be have a relationship with Jesus Christ, yet refuses to admit life begins at conception (video), but seeks to defend not just abortion, but murder of already born babies as a result of failed abortions? YES people, think twice before considering this man for president!!

Back to Work:
I've been praying hard. Logistically, it makes sense that while the kids are in school that I would find a PT job until at least after Christmas. We have debt that needs to be settled, and it won't get settled until there's cash flowing. Since I don't know which way J's income flows most of the time, and I have the time, it just makes sense at least through Christmas. I've been praying about applying to Gymboree, since I would get a discount on the clothes. ;o) But I have a reservation about working there, and afraid "something" happening where I would not be comfortable enough to go back and shop. It's a gut thing I can't get past for some reason. The mgr at Gloria Jeans offered to give me an application though, LOL!! I'd get all the fresh brewed coffee I wanted *g* I just don't know and I need some direction or peace about where to apply. I don't know if my gut feelings are coming from fear or what, I really need prayer concerning this.

Extracurricular Activities:
Hannah (6.5) has a new hero, and her name is Shawn Johnson (bio). I am so proud. We found Shawn back during National competition, I happened to see "Gymnastics" in the channel guide on ESPN, so I recorded it for the kids. That was when we were amazed by this little spitfire *g*
Hannah has said she wants to be like Shawn, and wants to learn gymnastics. That'll run us about $60 a month. The same gym offers Karate, which Jackson would be interested in, that would be $109 a month now that I'm looking. Yikes!! (Maybe we'll talk him into gymnastics, LOL) This isn't a final decision, yet though. It's in the long view though, we can see it, we just need to work it out.

What's for sure is soccer this year. Hannah will play on Thursday evenings. The league I want them in and plan on enrolling them soon has 6 yo's practice and play the same night. Jackson will practice some other night and play on Saturday. This is going to be fun! :o) My hope is that this will give them something to do at home together, kwim?

Oh but we aren't stopping there! They also want to do Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Sign up for those are soon, so stay tuned! ;o)

So in conclusion, our prayer requests:
* We find out before Tuesday about Hannah's school enrollment.
* We get into our new routines smoothly and the house gets on the track to being decluttered and orderly.
* Guidance for my decision as to where to apply for a job.
* Guidance and wisdom for our finances.

Who is out there?! Leave me a comment so I know you're reading!!