I’ve been busy…

very, very busy.  So sorry that I have not posted in a while, but, well, it’s the holiday season.  I’m also in the process of starting up a business, making gifts, crafting for charity, haha…simplifying our lives….haha, and other…er…pressing things.

The kids are cute, and I might post pictures of them soon.  I might not though, as this is an open blog.  We will see.

In other news, I will be reading through my bible if I ever find the time outside of normal devotions.  I really like this idea:

http://www.momstoolbox.com/blog/bible-in-90-days-reading-schedule/

Please forgive my blog for not wanting to post links properly.

Have you read through your bibles?  I always get bogged down in Numbers, and Leviticus.  Let’s see if I can overcome this.

What are you doing this holiday season?

Then Sings my Soul (book review)

This was not what I expected…but then again I didn’t read the product description.  This is a compilation on hymns, and the background of either the author of the hymn or something significant in the past of the hymn that brings new meaning to it.  In some cases it is a hymn that may never have been famous, and thus would have been lost to all of us.  In other cases it’s about a hymn that did not thrive at first, only to be tweaked by a new individual that makes it into the most beautiful masterpiece known to Christians of the time.  The sheet music and lyrics are printed on the left of the book, and the descriptions on the right.  A wonderful set up in my opinion.
It starts out boring!  I opened the book took one look at the first couple of hymns, and tossed it on the entertainment center.
Later I came back to it, and “muscled” through the first couple hymns until I found something familiar to me.  I sang the hymn to entertain my girls, then I read on.  Lo and behold I enjoyed it!  Digging in to the hymn first really opens doors, and unveils understanding in this book!  On the flip side, knowing a little of the history about the hymns makes singing them more enjoyable as well.
Now let me be clear.  These aren’t stuffy hymns with no meaning.  Many of them are hymns that we have all grown up singing, and loving through the years like, “Silent Night,” “O Come All Ye Faithful,” and the like.  If understanding hymns doesn’t appeal to you, then having all your favorite Christmas songs in one book should!
I would highly suggest this book to anyone who has ever been moved by a hymn, or any singers out there like myself that like to have the sheet music for what they are singing.  A good read for those stolen moments between chores or errands.  Sure to inspire you to sing (or at least think about it).

Another of those glorious days

…you know the days where you discover that your clever 1 year old has taken a bite (or two) out of every apple in the half-bushel box, and you shrug your shoulders. They’re perfect for applesauce!

When the dinner burns just a little, and you describe it as “pan seared” to your wonderful husband. (Who, might I add, eats it with a smile…not that I’ve ever done this or anything..).

Where you delight in the discovery of the television remote, even though it was at the bottom of a toy box, which has now been spread from one corner of the living room…all the way to the bookcase in the kitchen. (Yes, our bookcase is in our kitchen. It works rather nicely there).

The day when you walk into the living room, after rolling up the brand new roll of toilet paper that was un-rolled in the bathroom, to discover all of your cloth diapers in a pile…but delight when your three year old joyfully exclaims that she is “folding them into triangles.” This is especially delightful if you had spent a week trying to teach her what a triangle was, and were about to give up.

It’s another one of those glorious days, when you choose to be joyful, and live in God’s glory. One of those wonderful days, when you don’t let the worries drag you, and those around you, down. There aren’t enough of these days in many moms of littles lives, but I continually strive for them. They are such blessings when I allow them to happen.

May your days be blessed and may your littles know how to fold the laundry after they dump it on the floor!

Sage Advice From the Great-Gramp

Or maybe not so sage, but I’d like to think that I’m not the only person living in the dark on this. I’d also like to think I am not the only mom with littles that allows food to dry on her kitchen floor from time to time, but I digress.

My Grandfather-in-law and Aunt-in-law have graciously made a trip out here to Utah to visit us. We have known about this visit for about a month, and I have been planning the best weekend I could…in my free time…which I don’t really have. You see, I had visions of home-cooked food in my sparkling kitchen. Beautiful candles lit, exuding a lovely aroma, and a well kept, (i.e. everything in it’s place Better Homes and Gardens “well kept”), house through and through.

Insert reality check here, please. I have three, three and under. One is still nursing at that. What I wanted was not possible. Either way we settled for picked up and swept with minimal dishes. My floor has dried on food that I could not figure out how to clean without employing a butter knife, and scraping it up.

Gramp to the rescue! My GF-I-L told me this evening that if I placed a wet (not damp, but not quite dripping), towel over the offending spots, that it would come right up with minimal effort. Makes since right? I mean why didn’t I think of that? It worked. So well in fact that even though I am up at 1AM, and need to be out the door by 8:30AM for church, I’m giddy with joy!

Yes, you read that right, I’m giddy over my mostly clean kitchen floor! Haha, I’ll take the victories as they come, thank you!

Do any of you have tricks or tips that work for your busy households? I’d love to hear them!

Until next time, God Bless!

Spending Time with God Alone

As I said in my last post, I’ve been taking time to refresh myself in the Word of God. It sounds wonderful, easy even, but anyone with three 3 and under knows better. Finding time without littles is nearly impossible. My oldest two go to bed at 9 PM, and my youngest…nurses until 3 AM. In the morning around 8 AM, my oldest girls wake me up.

I have found lately that even when I skimp on sleep so I can read my bible, and pray, I am renewed. If it has been a hectic day, or there has been a lot of stress on me, I ask that the Lord wash it away. He has been faithful, renewing me, and strengthening me each day.

I dream of someday being able to wake up to spend time with God, my bible, prayer journal, and a cup of coffee. That is how I imagine the ideal morning starts. How about you?

What do you do to be refreshed in God? Do you set aside time for Him? If so, what time works best in your household?

Long time no post!

I promise that I did not drop off the face of the planet. Things around here have been a bit more than I was equipped to manage in addition to writing a blog. No more! This blog is getting a face-lift. While the background might stay the same for now, I will be making regular posts. Every single day.

The focus will be as it always was intended: My journey to attempting to be a Titus 2 woman. I want more young women to join me on this journey, and to share they’re experiences here. I am 23, and was never taught these skills. There are days where I completely flounder. There are days that I question my sanity, and feel like I desperately need a break! I need to remember however that these feelings are fleeting:

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” -Jeremiah 17:9

This is simply a season in my life. I will not always have only little babies and two in diapers! I will not always be drowning in 2 loads of laundry! This children will grow, and how they grow so fast!

While I have been gone, I have taken the time necessary to reflect on my life. To start renewing myself in God and pouring His word into me each chance that I have gotten. Even between loads of dirty cloth diapers, burnt coffee, terrible knitting and sewing left undone, I have taken the time to look for His beauty in my life. My children are the greatest blessing, and yet I allowed myself to be tricked into thinking that more children would be a curse!

Ladies, do not allow Satan to prey on your weaknesses as I did! Be strong, pray, read the word of God, be diligent and love your little ones with an abandon you never thought you had time for. It’s not always easy, but it is well worth the effort!

A Beautiful Givaway

It isn’t hosted here. You will need to head on over to A Wise Woman Builds Her Home to enter to win a gorgeous apron from Marie-Madeline Studio.

I look forward to seeing you there.