10/25/11

Holiday Cards for Heroes

(For some reason, I am having Trouble with blogger.  I have tried, unsuccessfully, to write and post this several times.  I have no idea what the deal is..  So, here we go again.)


I have seen several blogs mention making cards for the elderly in nursing homes, sick kids or families and for those serving abroad.  So I googled cards for the military.  I found out that the Red Cross has a program that collects and distributes mail to those that may not be able to otherwise be reached.  (Hopefully my link works, but if it doesn't, just go to the Red Cross site and look under the Make a Difference tab.)

http://www.redcross.org/holidaymail

Instead of cards, I will be making postcards.  I can't wait to get started!  Hopefully, I can bring a little bit of 'home' to a soldier serving on foreign soil.


I found another site, http://www.give2thetroops.org/ that sends care packages to the troops.  I have to admit that seeing the things these brave souls miss brought tears to my eyes.  I never thought about sending them DVD's or CD's before, but sure, they need entertainment, too!  If you use the Programs tab, you will see that there are several opportunities to donate.  They have specific deadlines for specific holidays.

10/6/11

Wow. I've been gone a long time!

I just realized that I haven't been blogging. Oops. I do write in my journal as often as I can, so at least I am putting my thoughts down somewhere.

I'd like to say that a lot has happened since I last saw you.. But, in so many ways, things are still the same. Sigh.

My current 'dilemma' happens to be my oldest step-son. He is eleven and in the sixth grade. I thought he was doing pretty well, but it turns out that he isn't, he just wasn't giving me all the information I needed. Until today. I had a little chat with his homeroom teacher and she showed me his grades so far. The first few were encouraging: An A, B- and C+ that was 'almost a B!'. Then we got to the reading and math grades. D- and F. What?!! I was shocked! He has never brought home grades like that! He is, for the most part, an A student. Sure, there are a few Bs thrown in there from time to time, but like I said, mostly As. These two letters threw me for a loop. She showed me the break-down of the last few weeks. Both subjects have two things in common for my son: He doesn't turn the homework in. Yep. That would do it. We had this same problem last year, but I truly thought we were past this. The real bummer, for him anyway, is that we had fun plans for Saturday and now he doesn't get to participate. He will be there, on site, but will not be able to partake in any of the fun. It sure seems like a pattern with my boys. We make plans that gets them really pumped up. Then, like clockwork, they do (or don't do) something that interferes and at least one of us has to rearrange our lives because they get into trouble and can't go. Well, my husband and I both decided that this time, we are not just staying home because he failed to turn in his assignments. He is going with us, but he will be sitting on the sidelines while he watches his brothers have fun. He will be doing math work while they are laughing and playing. Unfortunately, since he obviously didn't learn from last year.



Author's note, 10/25/11: Aaron is doing better in Math.  He shows signs of 'wanting' to succeed in Reading, however, he is so far behind with his logs, I'm not sure what his end grade will be.  I continue to be frustrated with his lack of motivation and organization.  Time will tell if he has learned anything or if he will be grounded for the rest of his life.

1/5/11

Colossians 3:20

One of the devotions I read to the boys tonight was Colossians 3:20: "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord." We had a pretty good discussion about what it means to obey, what everything really is and how it could please God. There was a little blurb about obeying pleasing the parent and God, but also that it does the child a huge favor. I asked them what they thought that meant. One of the things we talked about was maybe being able to play a video game if he cleaned up when he was told to instead of whining and fighting about it for an hour then being denied an activity afterward. I saw the shine in their eyes while they processed that, as if I could hear them saying, you mean, if I just DO IT then we can get to the fun faster?? Well, YES! That is exactly what I have been telling you for months! It is all about how it is said. I don't know who said it first, but they were right: Presentation is everything!

My Dog Penny

My dog makes me laugh. We bought her a dog bed. Do you think she uses it?? No. She doesn't. She finds any available shirt, blanket or random piece of material, works her magic and makes her own dog bed. Sometimes it frustrates me, like when the material she lays on is freshly laundered clothes. Ugh. I love my dog.



















For Halloween, Penny was a Fairy Princess. On the way to town to Trick-or-Treat, I noticed this red feather boa I had in the van. I put it on her. Doesn't it make her look like a lion or something?? She cracks me up.

Whenever I get the camera out to take her picture, she spazzes out! She thinks the red-eye reduction light is a toy! She will paw at the ground for it, lick the air, nip at my hand to get the camera. We may have used the laser pointer one too many times, I think! She just loves it though. She goes crazy, running this way and that, up the hall and back. Oh, it is so funny. That is how she is now with the camera.

Paul likes to buy her sweaters. It is so cute and funny to have my six foot tall, muscled man buy this little dog sweaters. I don't think she likes them much, other than the warmth they provide. Without a sweater on, she just shivers and shakes. It's like a mini earthquake coursing through her body. It is funny and disturbing at the same time.

1/4/11

The Book of Daniel

Whenever I see or hear the name Daniel, I automatically start singing Elton John. I don't know why that is, but I just picked my new Bible study guide up and went into "Daniel my brother..". Sorry God. I hope you understand.

~

When I first starting attending the Chapel's women's ministry Bible studies, I never thought I would be a facilitator. Never in a million years did I think I would get up in front of a group and pretend to think that I knew anything there was to know about the Bible or what God has to say about how we live our lives. I still call myself a Baby Christian and I have been a true, self-confessed, holding Jesus in my heart girl for at the last four years.

I do love to make people laugh, though. It helps to break the ice when a new member is introduced to the group or if something awkward comes up in discussion. I tend to see myself as comic relief in those times. Hopefully, I am not being inappropriate. I also hope that God sees my true motives and that He is pleased with me.

I was first asked to lead a study during the Fall session. We had a book listed as available but without a leader listed, no one knew that it was a real class they could sign up for. I had been looking at the posting, Googling the book title, pondering, praying, thinking that maybe I could lead this one. It wasn't too long after that that I was asked to lead. I was still very unsure of myself, but agreed to put in some quality prayer time with the Lord to determine if this was something He wanted me to do or not. I guess He did because I ended up leading the Beth Moore study of David to a group of eight women.

For this Baby Christian, that was the right size! I became close to all of those women. I call all of them friends, something I might not have been able to do if I hadn't decided to let God lead me there.

When the Winter study options came out, I knew immediately that I wanted to do the Daniel study by Beth Moore. I signed up and paid for my book, carrying it proudly through the halls of the church. I went home and started reading through it. I sent a prayer heaven-ward telling Him that if He was willing, so was I, and to just have one of the ladies in charge ask me to lead. She called the next morning.

Study starts on the 11th. I hope that I am prepared for this one because the class size will most likely be in the teens and up. That makes me quiver a little inside, but I know that if God wants me have that many, that is exactly how many I should have, no matter how many quivers I have. That is Him working in me, right??

1/2/11

Time Check!

I know what time it is - 12:12 - but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get my blog to post the actual time of my posts... without saying that I live in Toronto or something. Baarrgghhh! Okay. That was not a word. I will have to get over that. Eventually.

1/1/11

kids and their .. "sick"

and their moms who have to pull a late-nighter to wash the bedding...

Sigh.

Here I sit, at 11:55 p.m. I thought I was ready for bed. I walked through the house, turning the lights off, let the dog out and back in, and see that Aaron's bedding is in the tub because he threw up all over it. The washing machine was full of other dirty laundry, so rather than put the "sick" on the floor, it was put in the tub. Let me reassure you, I would rather have it that way. Unless it is 8:55 a.m. on a Sunday morning and I am trying to dash in and out of the shower to leave the house at 9:10 to make it to the 9:45 service... All I really want to do is throw the blanket and nasty pillows outside to deal with tomorrow sometime. But I can't do that because I have a pesky cat and a curious puppy that would find the bedding rather inviting. Eww. So. Here I sit, at 11:59 p.m., waiting on the washer to do its thing so I can rotate the newly washed laundry to the dryer and start another load of wash.

Sigh.

A mother's work is never done. Especially when their child gets sick while they sleep.

Sigh.

**

This is my rather rude return to blogging. If I have any readers at this point, please accept my sincere, heart-felt apologies. Everyone else is in bed or I would vent to them.