Oh My Word.

How could I possibly have gone this long with out a post?!?! Well, life, that's how. lol

Tons of stuff has happened since the last post. We took a 2 week vacation to Missouri to visit family. It was nice. I think next year we are goin to bring our camping gear and camp for however long we are there and just have people come visit us. lol Much easier and much less stressfull. :)

School has started for the boys. They are all doing well. Griffin is in 1st grade, Lucas is in 5th grade and David is a SENIOR!!!

We got a dog. A HUGE dog. lol He's a Great Pyrenees/Anatolina Shepherd mix. We all love him. He's 3 months old and weighs just over 30lbs right now. He's a big boy. :) The house trainin is going well. We have gradually increased his roaming space and so far so good. He has learned a few commands. He will go into his crate if you tell him "crate". He also sits, lays down and will give you his paw.

Cub Scouts starts back up again soon. We have our first pack meeting of the year on Monday night, actually. Griffin and Lucas are excited about that. :) There is a camping weekend in a couple of weeks. I think Dave and the boys are going to go. We can't bring the dog and we can't leave him alone overnight so I will probably be staying home. It would be a great time to get some crafts done. :)

Well, that's pretty much it. Not really exciting, but we like our life that way. :)

Praying Mantis

I was out checking the progress on the garden today and found this.

Pretty cool, huh? He was just hanging out on the jalapeno plant. I only saw him because I was looking to see how many blossoms I had on it.

Nature

This is our first Spring/Summer in Texas and I put a couple of hanging baskets on the back porch. One of them must have been particularly attractive to the robins in the neighborhood, so they built a nest in it.

When we checked the nest one day, we found this.

The next time we checked, it looked like this.

So, today we check again and we saw this.

See the little hole where the baby's hatching? How cool is that?

I'll be sure to keep you all updated on the hatching progress. :)

From My Home Friday

So, I've decided to do the From My Home Friday's from Michele's Blog. This week she is using Laine's letter "Grumbling Causes Stumbling".

What a profound letter. I know that I struggle with grumbling myself. It's a tough one to get a handle on. It's so easy to slip into the grumbling mindset. As women, we tend to surround ourselves with like minded individuals. Those that we have something in common with. Those we feel a bond with. We get together for bible studies, coffee mornings, play groups, bunco, etc. We all have a great time. We set aside our precious time for these "girls nights". We share our lives, our hopes, our dreams. We lean on each other for support. We support those we can. We become friends and strengthen our bonds. Then it happens. We have people that are complaining about their husbands, children, jobs, parents, friends, etc., on a regular basis. I'm not talking about the occasional "I'm having a hard time with my kids." or "My husband is on my last nerve." vents. I'm talking about the constant complaining. The "no one does anything right" evenings. Everyone gets caught up in it and before you know it, has become a giant grumbling session.

Something that has started as a wonderful time of fellowship, has turned into something else. Something sinister, something depressing. It's no longer fun. It's just all around a negative experience. That negativity begins to spread into our home lives. It taints our families. It spreads into our spiritual lives and taints our relationship with God. Instead of being content in God's plan for us and in God's timing, we never find the joy in His plans. The peace that comes with knowing He has us covered. We loose sight of our Godly heritage, the legacy God has left for us. Our roles as children of The King.

It is so easy to fall into this trap. It's human nature. We have a desire to feel like we belong, and sometimes we don't consider the costs. I have fallen into this trap more than once. I would love to say I'm over it, but I'm not. Sometimes it sneaks up on me, then the reality hits me like a semi truck. I'm doing it again. However, I am blessed. I know that my Saviour will forgive me. I know that He will truly forget what I have done and how I have fallen away. I know that He will remind me of all the positives, and help me overcome the negative attitude. He will once again be my bright shinning star, the center of my life, the only one I should ever feel the need to belong to. He is my source, my hope, my everything, and keeping the focus on him and not on the grumbling draws me closer to Him and His wonderful plans for me.

Revolution Money Exchange

So, I got an email from a friend about the Revolution Money Exchange site. It's a lot like paypal. Anyway, the email talks about getting $25 just for signing up, so I figured why not. Everyone likes free money, right? LOL So, I signed up. They also have a referral program. For each person you refer, you get $10 (up to $500). So, if you think you might want to sign up, please use the link below. Then pass it on to your friends. :)

Menu Plan Monday

I found a great blog for people, like me, that need a little help getting it together. :) On Monday's this blog has Menu Plan Monday. I thought I would participate.

Monday

Beans, rice, and cornbread.

I cook the beans in the crockpot to make things easier and to keep the house cooler. I may skip the cornbread if no one is really interested, just to keep the house cooler. I really don't want to have to turn the AC on yet. :)

Tuesday

Teriyaki Chicken, rice, broccoli, salad.

My family doesn't mind eating rice two dinners in a row, but yours might.

Wednesday

Fried rice, made with Tuesday's leftovers.

Ok, now this might be pushing it on how many times I can feed them rice in a row. LOL

Thursday

Alice Springs Chicken, broccoli cheese casserole, brussels sprouts, salad.

I may skip the broccoli cheese casserole, because it contains rice. LOL I really should have put a bit more thought into this, huh?

Friday

Pasties and salad.

I am trying a recipe from Dining on a Dime. We'll see how it goes. And no, not those kind of pasties. LOL

Saturday

Kids make dinner night.

I am officially instituting a kids make dinner night this week. I have no idea what they will make, but I am sure it will be fine.

Sunday

Grilled Chicken, potato salad, salad, corn

You can find more Menu Plan Monday Posts here. http://orgjunkie.com/2008/04/menu-plan-monday-april-7th.html

Busy Day

Today was super busy for us. We had Griffin's homeschool zoo class, so I had to drive Dave to work so I could have the car. Ah the joys of being a single car household. :) So, my day started at 5:45. I woke David and Lucas up and had Lucas get dressed and got him breakfast. Then it was off to drive Dave to work. I got home, made Lucas' lunch, made sure his teeth and hair were brushed, and sent him off to school.

Next was David's turn. Now being that David is 16, he doesn't need much help from his mother, other than the occasional "isn't it almost time for you to leave?".

Then it was Griffin's turn. As soon as I reminded him it was zoo class day, he was up and getting dressed. I also reminded him that we were actually going into the zoo and having a picnic lunch with another little boy from his zoo class (and his mom, the most important part. LOL)

While Griffin was eating breakfast, I placed an online order for somethings we needed. However, as I pushed "process order" I realized the shipping address was our England address. Oops. So, i looked all over the website for a way to cancel the order, didn't find one. I tried the "live chat" with customer service and I kept getting "all available customer service representatives are busy at this time". Exactly what were all of them doing anyway?!?! I did get a hold of them by phone, eventually. The shipping address was changed and disaster avoided.

A little later than I would have liked, Griffin and I left for the zoo. They learned about food chains and food webs. They talked about carnivores, omnivores, and herbavores. It was pretty neat and Griffin had a great time, as usual.

After the zoo class, we went into the zoo. We walked around a bit, then stopped and ate lunch. Then we looked around the rest of the zoo. We spent quite a lot of time and saw everything there was to see. :)

After the zoo, we went to the park nearby. Griffin and the other little boy played, while the mom's talked. It was nice talking with another homeschool mom. It was a great day.

Depression.....

I suffer from clinical depression. I've taken meds for it in the past. I'm not taking them right now. I'll be taking them again starting tomorrow.

I figured after 6+ months of feeling like I do, it was time to get back on them. I know that there are a lot of people out there that think that taking antidepressants is something to be ashamed of. I find that a lot, actually. So much so that I normally don't share much. I just don't need the extra stress of some well meaning person telling me how I just need to suck it up, or pray more, or give it over to God, or whatever miracle cure they have for depression. I understand they are just trying to help, but if you don't suffer from depression, you just don't get it. You just don't.


Now, just to set the record straight, I'm not suicidal or homicidal. I don't think about hurting myself or anyone else. I just feel crap, unmotivated, tired, stressed, defeated, like a failure. Every day that I wake up feeling that way, I feel more like a failure. That makes me feel defeated, stressed, tired, unmotivated, crap. It's a never ending cycle. Little things become huge deals for me. Just day to day things become overwhelming. Getting dressed every day becomes a struggle. Getting a shower on a regular basis is a huge chore. Caring for my family is just not something I can do easily anymore. It really does suck. It majorly sucks. Really bad.


Like I said, if you haven't been there you just might not get it. That's fine, you don't have to get it. You don't have to understand. You don't have to have answers for me, or any other person you know that suffers from depression. You can't fix me, or them. Our problems probably have nothing to do with you. I am sure we can't tell you exactly what our issues are and how to fix them. I know that I can't pin point the exact cause of my depression. It's a lot of things and nothing at the same time. If I knew what it was, I would take care of it. Believe me, I would love to be able to fix it and I am sure that everyone who suffers would love to take care of it that easily. It's just not gonna happen. That doesn't make me stupid, weak, lazy, selfish, or not as "religious" as you. It doesn't make me less of a mother, sister, wife, friend, or Christian than you. It just makes me a human being with issues, just like you. :)

I think I have reached a decision

I *think* I have finally decided what I want to be when I grow up. Now, I understand that I am 34 and that most people my age are already "grown up". Now you readers need to understand that your age has nothing to do with being "grown up". Ask anyone I know and they'll tell ya. :)

I am going to go to school to be a nurse. It was a toss up between nursing and teaching, and nursing won. I'll be starting school this fall. If Griffin is still at home doing the homeschooling thing, I'll take night classes. If he's back in school, I'll take day classes. That'll make 4 students in our family of 5. That's a lot of students. :) I am really excited about getting back to school. It is something I have put on hold to be at home with my kiddos. Of course, my kids (and my husband) will always come first. Now that they will all be in school full time and we are living in an area with colleges and universities everywhere, the timing is perfect.

The only issue is the moolah. If the Air Force would get off their duffs and let dependents use the GI bill, all my problems will be solved. I really don't understand how all the other branches of the military have approved letting dependents use the GI bill, but the Air Force still hasn't. It just boggles my mind. :)

Anyway, nursing here I come. :)