Good night sleep tight.

I rested most of the day. After I went to therapy I just did the dishes and some laundry and just took it easy. My sweet husband checked on me and brought me the heating pad a few times. He is so loving and kind. He is watching a movie in his office.
I need to go to CRS (children's rehab) on Friday. I'll do the financial and it will be finished. I look forward to that not hanging over me. I'll miss my beloved because he will start up the overtime again. He is so wonderful in his presence. A lot of men pursue wealth at the loss of their families my beloved works everyday never tardy or absent frivolously. He is such a generous provider. I love how he has his family the priority not the dollar. I know that God is our provider. I think I have taken a lot upon myself that I need to trust God more for. It is that balance of responsibility. The thing over the jacket really took so m of my steam away. I worked on it and it was not acceptable due to the culture. I do miss home schooling my kids a lot. I think my days are sorta lonely. That makes me think of the gift of loneliness is reaching out. I need to get myself into the Word more and find fellowship in the loving manual of my days.
We received a nice invitation for a Valentines evening out. I am looking forward to it. We also will be doing some hockey lessons that I found out about for free. There is another party (a going away party) for a young couple that I have known the wife from her infancy. They are leaving to spend a year in Germany.
My neck is sore and so sitting here at the computer is uncomfortable. The doctors office has not received any news on the MRI. That could be a good thing?
My sweet children found me asleep on the sofa at 7:30 p.m.. I got loving hugs and cuddles. Daddy man did story time. I spent my evening watching (flipping channels in boredom) T.V. Wow I do not miss T.V. We do not have cable so I just watch whatever is on. The shows are so bad and dark of murders and lies and just yuck! That was the first evening I watched in a very long time.
My head hurts so I'll close for now.
I hope all of you have a wonderful nights sleep.
~Donetta

A New Day

Today is a new day.
Full of promise and full of life
When I see my husbands eye in few moments
When I hand him his lunch...
I will remember...
This is a NEW DAY.

When I see my Son walking in with his blanket
I will remember this is a new day.
As I crack his eggs
and pack his lunch...
As my Daughter enters and shares her morning hugs
This is a NEW DAY.

Today as I see all that is undone
as my hands tend to dirty dishes
as I turn the knob on the washing machine...
as I pass by the mirror it shows me my face
I will smile and remember
This is a New Day.

I will remember my needs are met
My skills are useful
but that is not who I am.
I will remember I am so much more than the skill I employ.
It is in the inner beauty that I am adorned.
Within my heart relationship is born.

It is not in all that I have known
nor in all that I might need to do...
It is not in those numbers or that tossed aside pattern
I've sewn.Or in that meal plan to practice
It is not in that tackle that my worth might be found...
Today I will remember who I am.

A Day

Well good evening...

I hope all of you had a good day and full of all the beauty around you. I had some things occur today that were interesting (at least to me). The therapist that I worked with last time, quit on 12-21 He was working with me in the last days of being there. I am wondering about his heart and if he is well. I think back now at the atmosphere of the place being so oppressive to the others when the boss guy is there. He is so somber and introverted. I think that they may have had a falling out. He just quit and left that day after 11 years of working there just short of being partner.
So today I prayed for the boss guy for his soul. It was a little stressful being there.
My car needed emission's testing so I got that done and went to do the MRI. It went well just sore and tired from it.
Hubby is over at a neighbors fixing her rain gutter. It had fallen off. She is a Sister in Christ and a elder single woman. Beloved is happy , really happy to do it for her.

The Kids played out front, so I went out to keep an eye on them

Dash was playing on his skate board

Dove on the roller skates (she did not fall here)
Daddy man threw out the safety gear when he cleaned the bedrooms.
It is so hard to keep up on all the things for the kids and to get them to put it away properly. Sometimes it is frustrating trying to just supply their needs and manage the "stuff". I really do not like seeing them without the elbow and knee pads. I should of had them put their helmets on.
Trisha over at "Photo Daughter of the King" told me about a free program to get the kids 4 hockey lessons. I was able to get them registered. They have it at several rinks in the city.
The Kids are very excited about it.

MILove is out of the hospital. She is still pretty ill though so I would appreciate your prayers.

Good Morning

Moon lit Morn here
I captured the day with prayer.
As I awoke to the electric ocean wave, he hit the snooze button.
My dream flashed memory of an old friend Lynn
Captured her essence as I spoke to him
His presence...
I have not spoken to Lynn sense Dash was first home 6 years ago or a bit more,
but I felt her.
I asked him to hold her.
Last night while in the shower
He entered the room and he spoke...
"the sandwich...Hun that you make me ...I really appreciate it "...He said
"I really look forward to it each day and the bag of chips go so perfectly with it."

So I awake knowing that it matters
All that I do,
and who I am.
Moon lit morning as I step outside to feed the dog.
That utter thrill as he excitedly waits for the chime of the bowl as his kibbles hit steel.
Paused as I looked up to see that moonlit morning before me.
I pull all of the morning haul of of cold storage
Place it upon the counter top towel and begin to prepare those lunches.

Returning after breakfasts have been served
Safety pin in the pants that fall off the waist.
5 minutes to count down and so I close
To school for the children
To Physical therapy for me
Bye..........

Hello My Friends

I guess I have not been very wordy for a few days...
You ever have times when you just think that you reveled too much? When I shared about my dead friend I opened and exposed an event that was so very tender and now well...I feel tender.
My usual upbeat mood has been somewhat somber for this last week or so. I am struggling with the idea that you all just must think I am so crazy (that is the lie that the enemy of my heart keeps telling me). I am not however, I am a woman of clay (so to speak) yet I feel sorta cracked. It took me a long time to ever open up about what I went through all those many years ago. I opened up to strangers and exposed a very challenging time in the struggle known as my life.

The big thing was that I linked the blogs.
I got all a jitter over it.

Now I might really be judged!
Instead of reaching out, I just sorta pulled away.

The week was very busy and they just fly past the days like a blur. The kids had the day off today. So we had a play date at a friends house. It was so peaceful and a delight to be with her, Trisha is over at "Photo Daughter of the King". Our kids are matched where her two are almost two years separated she has a 12 and a 5, I have a 10 and a 6 3/4. The girls are the older and our boys the younger. They all played so wonderfully together. It was so nice just to sit and rest over a cup of tea with her. We each prayed our sons into our homes. Her and I both had a desire for a son. My friend sent us home with a big box of clothing for Dove. That was so sweet of her. She seemed thrilled to get rid of another box, she has been unpacking her new home they recently moved into.
I am have an MRI in the afternoon tomorrow for my neck. It really is paining me. Finding it a niusence I am just getting by with it for now. I have tried ignoring (thinking it is just stress) it for several weeks to no avail. I hate having pain it is such an annoyance to me. Slows me down and that is just not OK with me. Any way Mrs. Stubborn (me) got an appointment for it and the process begins to have some investigation into it. I think I must sound like a bleeding heart. So I did not want to post about it. There goes my days 3x's a week now for therapy on it. I am very grateful to be able to get the help with it yet it is just one thing after another. I guess I have more to learn on this circle.
You know the old "don't assume" thing because it makes an *** out of you and me. :)
Some times I falter and assume things with expectations for rejection. I pull away first so then it wont hurt so much if I am rejected. Old ways die hard.

My MILove is inpatient at a hospital. I am concerned about her health.

I did not get the meal plan up last night. I still need to get it accomplished. The muscle relaxers the doctor gave me cause me to fall asleep on the spot if I rest my head a moment.
Things are looking up around here. I am relieved of the heavy pressure to get clothing made in a hurry. I know that God was now telling me "too much" I have just been trying to do too much! "Do not do so much" His message to me. I was requiring way more out of myself than I needed too.
A line from an old song rings in my mind.

"The leader of the band is old, and his eyes are growing dim...
but his blood runs through my instrument.
It took me years to understand..."

Words.....a cool E-mail I recieved

DORMITORY: When you rearrange the letters: DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN: When you rearrange the letters: BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER: When you rearrange the letters: MOON STARER

DESPERATION: When you rearrange the letters: A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES: When you rearrange the letters: THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH: When you rearrange the letters: HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE: When you rearrange the letters: HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES: When you rearrange the letters: CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY: When you rearrange the letters: IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS: When you rearrange the letters: LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS: When you rearrange the letters: ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

A DECIMAL POINT: When you rearrange the letters: IM A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES: When you rearrange the letters: THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO: When you rearrange the letters: TWELVE PLUS ONE



Yep! Someone with waaaaaaaaaaay too much time on their hands!

He Had a Dream

Good Morning!

A new week begins with a holiday of Martin Luther King Jr.

Biography

Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family.

In 1954, Martin Luther King accepted the pastoral of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.

In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, "l Have a Dream", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.

At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.

Car is back in the garage

I got my garage back!!!
Happily sung to the tune of na na na na na na :)
January 20th the Christmas decorations are back up in the attic!

Sunday Smiles

Our weekend has been full of dance, we purchased the High School Musical #1 for Dove.

So she performed her dance with her Daddy Man

Then we had the "dogie scuffle" while Dash showed us submarine (box) battle

We Had the breathing treatments that are followed by the mania that the medications induce. Little man Dash was just speeding all day!

We all attacked the house. The kids need training on home management and chores. It is easier in many ways just to do it myself, but I must equip them for the future. That is my big task.

The Daddy Man decided to take on the training task with the bedrooms on Saturday. He and Dash worked on Dash's room. It was so amazing how Daddy Man hung in there. I was busy with the house hold chores and just resting a bit.

Dove wanted to do her room by herself, with no help. She is growing up.
I took a long nap.
I had to go to the doctors on Friday because of this terrible pain in my neck. I am on some muscle relaxers and anti inflammatory. I'll be starting therapy on Monday. This thing in my neck has been going on for months and I just could not stand the pain of it any more. I have just been trying to ignore it. I assume it is just stress.The doctor is concerned of my spinal involvement and has ordered an MRI on my neck to make sure it is not a disc. It is probably just stress thats why I have just been assuming thats all it is.

Dad and Dove finished their "Battleship " game from the night before.

Beloved and I loosened up the budget and we had Chinese food take out last night.
He just did not want me cooking. That is so sweet of him.
Yes of course we watched another two episodes of the Walton's. :)
Dove and I cuddled on the couch.
Beloved and I stayed up very late talking about some things that have been on my mind. We slept in very late and the kids had tended their needs well.

I am hemming pants for Dove (every pair is at least three inches to long. We were able to get her some nice pants Friday night. I was so frustrated that three of the pair I made her shrunk up, my own fault I should of washed the fabric first.
I am trying to get used to my new glasses they prove to be a challenge. Tipping my head back and forth to see to type and to read the screen, and that with a sore neck.
Mother in love is very ill, she has pneumonia. Please keep her in your prayers.

Dove decided to be "Sponge Bob" for the day

We are putting in that new door that we got off the curb last month. It is just like new. I will need to paint it to match the house.
My Husband has been doing a lot around the house this weekend. It is so nice to see some things accomplished. He has no overtime for another week to do the CRS financial qualifications.

The new door was 1/4 inch to wide so we stripped the hinges and kick plate and knobs off of it. We can not make use of the new door itself...bummer

The kids have been earning money for chores all week.

We use the tally on the big board to do simple math and keep charge of the earnings. They have been very highly motivated all week. The toys up on the refriderator had a real drawing effect

They did it!
Dash earned his Lego kit

And Dove earned her fusible bead kit. She needed white, yellow and black.
It came with a great idea book too.

We had a hot dog for them lunch rice and beans for me.
Watched two Walton's episodes and now we are all of doing our own things.
I am hemming Doves pants, Hubby is working on the door hardware.
Dove is on the computer and Dash is free play with Lego's.
I finally got the photo's all down loaded and I need to go put the orniments away. We are hoping a guy friend might come to help Beloved put the bins back up in the attic.

Photo Hunt *important*

Teaching kids how...to do chores.

Letting go and letting out, taking up and taking it all in

We have always had the good fortune to receive beautiful hand me downs for the kids.
Coming home from Russia, I will always remember a woman who had heard of Dash's adoption and had collected clothing from her friends and brought them to me at church one day.
I did not even know the woman. When we adopted Dash God Told me to trust him for his needs. We had been laid off of our 25 year career when the plant shut down and we were so afraid to bring him into that, we just were not sure how we were going to do it.
I have watched God provide for these kids.
I have been really trying to do all the sewing and clothing creation.
Yesterday after work beloved told me to go ahead and take the money out of savings to go buy the children some new clothing. I have tried so hard to avoid this and make all I can and get all the things I am able to from thrift shops and such. I have always shopped clearance (still do). I did not realize how much pressure I had placed upon myself.
So Dash must have a coat, if I were to go to get the fabric just for him and sew it up there is no way I can meet the need of warm gear for the next days needs. I had to let my self off the hook and go buy clothing. I had so much fun.
Seeing myself at Sears I went there and found several wonderful deals for the kids.
40-70% off. I could not even make it for that.
This was the very first time I have ever taken the children clothing shopping.
I took them one by one, first Dash, so he could have one on one time. We had a meal togeather and just "tied strings of the heart". Then I brought him home.
I left shortly with Dove and had alone time with her, it was a little too rushed though, she made her own choices. I have to go out again to get a coat for her. I want to do it when we are not rushed so I can "tie heart strings" with her too.

I have given them the things I have found while out searching clearance racks , but never before had they gotten to go to the store with me and choose what they wanted.
They were very frugal and thoughtful of their purchases.
Very appreciative too.

Dove got to have a High School Musical set, she was so excited. She has NEVER complained over what I have provided her. She is so happy almost to tears of gratitude. It was so touching to experience her response.
Dove is very petite so I had to cut off the sleeves and pant legs three inches this morning.
She leaned on me and just leaned in close for several moments... She was so moved by it. I found pants for Dove for under $7 pair (tactile will not be a problem) ya!
I am humbled and so very grateful to have made this investment into there hearts. I think if they would of been shopping all along they would not have the grateful hearts they do.
I love the character I am witnessing in them.

I got Dash a light weight jacket for $4. and a Lego star wars shirt too (he loved it!)

A new coat a field jacket on reduced price at Dillard for $30. it is beautiful.
Heavy and warm. I was able to get him new pants at $10. a pair too. He will be able to put them on himself (fine Motor).
He is so happy and is warm! I have a lighter load.
Not stress in the morning of wondering what they will wear and if they will lock frumpy or not.
I am not under all the pressure to get the pants sewn for Dash and the shirts for Dove.
I can sew now for fun for them and not necessity so much.
I do however have pants to cut off and to hem for Dove:)

To late to blog much

Full day

A ladies day here from 10 am to 2:30 Had a great time cillin with a great lady rolling a ball of yarn as she unraveled a sweater she had to repair and made two of my Pay It Forwards

These have a lot of work in them, They still needed a little tweaking.

Went to get the kids at 2:35had an extra (friend of dove's) in tow
Breathing treatments for Dash (who is like a mad man on speed) the medications side effcts also have him Jeckel and Hyde all over the place
Then Hubby walked in said hi and as he was stepping toward me to kiss me the door bell rang (did not get the kiss)
Parent came for kid who did not want to leave for anything!
Parent and kid left
Then said hi to hubs hubs said go take dash and buy him a coat and anything else he needs. I took him to the mall and had some good Mom and Son time to heal his heart. Took him out to supper too.,(Dove stayed to do homework) left at 5 got home at 7:30

walked in the door to request for possible child care at 6 am.
Then walked right out the door with Dove and took her back to the same store at the same mall (got amazing clothing deals for both kids) walked across mall 4X! Left mall at 9pm (huge exception to be out late Dove has never even been out that late in her life)
Then went to Wal-Mart NO COAT to be found.
Got home at 9:45
Returned the call... no childcare in the a.m.? I think but possibility I'll have a kid on my door step at 6am!
it is now 10:30 Woww milked that day for all it was worth.

Good night all

Hear Ye!

Shawna over at Scamps Place has launched a new site...go check her out!

Introducing Teen Lit Review



When it comes to what is acceptable entertainment for our children, there are many places to turn for information. With movies, you have a rating to guide you and reviews you can read with detailed information about the movie and their content. With video games, there are also ratings and places online to get reviews and content details. There are even Christian websites that give these reviews and details from a family-friendly perspective.

However, with books, it is difficult to find a review from a Christian perspective. There are no “ratings” on a book. Book jackets don’t go into much detail. Reading is something all parents encourage, and many of us have children who read A LOT! But, just what are they reading?

We are pleased to announce a new blog - Teen Lit Review, a place where you can find detailed Christian-centered book reviews for all genres of 'tween and teen books. Our goal is to be a helpmate to parents in finding suitable books for their teens. All recommendations are solely the opinions of our reviewers. When in doubt of a book's appropriateness, we encourage you to read the book yourself.

We welcome your comments, feedback on our reviews, and suggestions of books for review.

Please visit Teen Lit Review and let us know what you think! We have a drawing you can enter for a great read for your teenager!

Please feel free to pass this info along through blog posts and/or taking the above button for your sidebars. Please let me know if you need the code for the button. Thanks!!

Thankful Thursday

It is a very cold Desert morning here.
I just now finished Dash's coat!
Perfectly imperfect. I was a bit frustrated to realize yesterday that I had inverted the front panels. I was too far in. I appreciate that Dash did not even notice and he likes it. I made this up out of remnants I found. It turned out cute. I had to cut out the surged seam it textually bothered Dash. Sensory integration stuff can cause many an extra efforts to finish a task.
I know I can buy a soft fuzzy thread to serge with, but alas the old 1957 Phaff wins out again. It is just always the best bet for me.
I am glad that I have it.
My Children are grateful to me for the things that I sew for them. It really is wonderful that they know no in appropriate shame over home sewn clothing.

Well so much for that.
I just got back from taking them to school and He REFUSES to ware it! He said it looks babyish. So I tried to force the issue he sat cold in the car sick. Frustrated I made him put it on only to find him outside cold with it stuffed in his pack. I told him to go inside I looked around and I think I see his point. Remember when we were kids and the torment. I think I understand him. I am bummed all that work and a sad kid who feels bad over it on my account I'm sure. Oh the days of home schooling. I sometimes wish I were able to do that but alas our 6 year olds have to act 12 in order not to be tormented by others.

I am thankful that I have eyes to see his heart and help him through this maze. My poor baby to be in such a fix. Not wanting to hurt me or be humiliated at school.