and the winner is……………. August 27, 2008

anticipation was building all day on monday, would it be the trumpet, would it be the saxophone… what would happen….

Josh anxiously went to school, saying to me all morning, “Mama – TODAY is the day…”  He gets home in the afternoon and calls me and says………………

“I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT….. the TRUMPET!!!!”  he was overjoyed!!!! 

I spoke briefly with Mr. Reedy his band teacher, giving me some pointers on a used instrument and so on.  He also said that Josh shows quiet a lot of promise on the trumpet and he was impressed (must be all that hot air he blows —gets that from his dad i’m sure!! ha ha ha – KIDDING)  and for a 6th grader, he has alot of potential on it.   For a second i wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince me to let Josh stay in band or just tell me… but it was nice to hear none the less…what parent wants to hear “well, to be honest your child has no musical ability, actually no ability at all…” I mean really, its pads the ego to hear that your child has some tallent….

So now the search is on for an instrument.  We are on a limited budget and i’m finding out that trumpets aren’t cheap… pawn shops and used music stores here we come…. I was advised against Ebay only because it’s better to touch the instrument before purchasing rather than going in blind… SO if any of you wise people out there have an idea, please please share it….

anyway, i have a happy boy…and our ears will soon be blessed with the lovely music of sir Josh and his trumpet… I can’t wait.

 

 

Only one life… August 25, 2008

Abbie came up to me this morning in the kitchen and said…”mama, it just feels like time is going too fast..”  The impact of that statement was like a comet from the heavens flying down on my head… because at 9 years old, for her to feel that way…wow…

It seems that time has a way of slipping through your fingers more like water than even sand…so quickly that you literally don’t have time to turn around before another year has passed, and you have wasted so much time you almost feel guilty.. this made me start thinking about how i’m spending my time, what am I doing to ensure that my time isn’t in vain.  So then i read my sis in law Jen’s blog and i see that we are having simular thoughts on this lovely August day…  She too sees just how quickly life is passing.  It’s not that I ignorantly thought I was the only one, but the timing is ironic.

I thought about last week, what i did, or better yet, what I didn’t do!  Did I spend enough time with Tony, did I pay enough attention to each of the kids respectivly or did I waste away my time selfishly.    The clock is ever moving, it never stops, tick tick tick, and time…. you can’t get that back.. am i using what i am being given ever day to best of my ability??  I think of the dishes in the sink, and the laundry piling up and how the floors need to be vaccumed…and wonder do I too often put those things above the important things?  I’m not saying I should neglect my housework, but if Abbie wants to sit down and snuggle up with a book, shouldn’t i choose that over dawn dishsoap and dishpan hands?? Or if Tony wants to sit and talk, don’t I owe him my attention over NCIS? (which is hard because I LOVE that show…)  Josh is in middle school and reminds me almost daily he’s going to be driving soon, and going into the military after college…and as far away as it seems, its ever too close.  Abbie was telling Tony the other day that he had some grey hair and as hard as it is to admit, we ARE getting older… and with this age comes wisdom but it also comes with an awesome responsibility of not wasting my life…

 

there is a song that Abbie sings, it’s called Only One Life…the chorus says this:

Only one life, how soon it shall pass

Only what’s done for Christ will last

Only one chance to do His will, so give to Jesus all your days

It’s the only life that pays,  if you recall, you have but one life….

how the grinch stole a blogpost… August 22, 2008

 Being happy where ever God puts you!

Thomas Watson

We glorify God, by being contented in that state in which Providence has placed us. We give God the glory of his wisdom, when we rest satisfied with what he carves out to us. Thus Paul glorified God. The Lord cast him into as great variety of conditions as any man, ‘in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft’ (2 Cor. 11:23) yet he had learned to be content. Paul could sail either in a storm or a calm; he could be anything that God would have him; he could either want or abound (Phil 4:13). A good Christian argues thus: It is God that has put me in this condition; he could have raised me higher, if he pleased, but that might have been a snare to me: he has done it in wisdom and love; therefore I will sit down satisfied with my condition. Surely this glorifies God much; God counts himself much honoured by such a Christian. Here, says God, is one after mine own heart; let me do what I will with him, I hear no murmuring, he is content. This shows abundance of grace. When grace is crowning, it is not so much to be content; but when grace is conflicting with inconveniences, then to be content is a glorious thing indeed. For one to be content when he is in heaven is no wonder; but to be content under the cross is like a Christian. This man must needs bring glory to God; for he shows to all the world, that though he has little meal in his barrel, yet he has enough in God to make him content: he says, as David, ‘The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance; the lines are fallen to me in pleasant places’ (Ps. 16:5).

This is a hard blow to our ego! To be content with whatever God wants to do with us, where ever He puts us, what ever is happening to us but what a truth. I must trust Him to do what is best in my life! I must not complain. I must be happy with Him and what He is doing!

 

 

 

 

**** personal note  — This is from a dear friend of ours webpage  he is a tremendous man of God.  This post of his really hit me hard, as I am often too quick to complain and not slow enough to simply be content with where I am, not only physically but spiritually, emotionally, and any other “ally” that I might forget, I hope this blesses you as much as it did me.  I know this isn’t my normal post, but sometimes ya gotta keep people on their toes…

up’n at’m August 20, 2008

I feel like a Drill Sergeant in the mornings getting the troops up…it makes me laugh, some days are much better than others, like this morning… Abbie is usually the one that doesn’t like getting up (shocker there) she is like her daddy, not a morning person… So this morning I tiptoe in and WHAM turn on the light (told you i’m a Drill Sergeant…) she squints, groans and rolls over…YEP she is SO her daddy – y’all can say what you will, she may look more like me, but she is HIM made over…

But then, something amazing happens, she pops out of bed…..without being told a second time… WOW. Something I’ve not see very often from this tween girl of mine… then it hits me… OF COURSE – she’s going home with her BFF after school and she knows if she doesn’t get up with a lovely attitude, there is no Emily.  So i’ve decided that Becky (mom #2) must take Abbie home daily to help my morning routine out better… HA HA..

Tony’s been a huge blessing this week, playing Mr Mom and staying home with Josh while I went to work…. Thanx babe, I appreciate you!!!  what a blessing that was!! Josh was SNOTTY and coughing his head off and couldn’t go to school on Monday, so the boys stayed home…Tony got a relaxing day off and Josh got some better.  He is still re-cooping, but he’s going to make it i’m sure…

Things are rolling at our house, Josh is learning the art of having his own house key, and the intricate  workings of middle school… Today they TOUCHED an instrument in band. This is apparently a HUGE deal…. Now i have no idea if they simply laid a finger on it or – and I really hope it wasn’t this – tried to play each on to see what they preferred…the thought of him pressing his lips against a reed that someone else has makes my skin crawl…boy am I glad we got that meningococcal vaccine.. ha ha  So he calls me up after school just elated, MOM I FOUND MY TRUE INSTRUMENT…(i love the way he speaks)  he was so happy…he’s found the trumpet – which was my choice for him so i’m tickled, but we was torn between that and the saxophone.  So now I have to either rent a trumpet from the school or find someone that has one to let him borrow or sell me VERY CHEAP.. or locate a sponser.. ha ha…or set Josh on the corner with a tin cup…..alm’s – alm’sfor the poor…   And Abbie is falling in love with 4th grade…

as for me…. I uncovered my desk at work, to only cover it back up again.. but making headway.  We cooked for 130 people last night at church – that was YUMMY and i love you all that helped me….  to my Spanish church ladies, you are my heroes, to Kim and Janet, I love you both so much, even though Janet can’t clean chicken…i’ll keep her around!!

I’m taking a <<breath>>…so much to say and so little time…

ta -ta for now…

Home, home on the range August 14, 2008

WOW – we’re back in the saddle again, alright!!  Life is in full swing again, with the kids at home, school back, working again…I tell ya, take 3 days off and you feel like you’ve missed out on so much at work, it’s piling up, laundry to be done at home, grass to be mowed, kids to tend to, Tony to care for, and the dog…well, she’s doing just fine… So, kids are home, parents are visiting (YEA!!!) and life is almost, kinda sorta, nearly back to normal, if there is such a thing

 

Saturday, we took the family to Cloudland Canyon, a state park about 45 mins away.  We packed up all sorts of yummy snacks in the cooler, threw in a blanket and took off. My mom and dad joined us, so we had a great crew.  The canyon itself is breathtaking, it was beautiful. 

The only downside, well, two really, was the waterfall wasn’t falling because of the drought we’re in, and lack of rain, there isn’t any water…here is a picture of what waterfall i was able to get….It only stood 3 inches tall and was going over a very small rock…but hey, it is water falling…….and on my little camera phone, it appears to be enormous!!!

 

 

 

 

 

that was a bit of a bummer.. the other downside, was actually the upside of the hike…GOING BACK UP…WOW i don’t think I remember the last time i’ve climbed that many stairs…. it was well over 500…. we stopped counting after our legs became numb.  We were thanking God for the benches…..

 

                                                                                                       The park was beautiful…we enjoyed ourselves very much, amidst the stairs and steep walkways….  We enjoyed our day together…  I hope to have more pictures and more stories soon……