Real Life

Real Life-- I know often bloggers are accused of only painting Pretty Pictures of their homes/lives/children......

Well yesterday was NOT a pretty day... for me... I had woken up WITH my children far too many days (4)-- I REALLY MUST MUST MUST have my 1-2 hours of QUIET in the morning- to spend time in the WORD and be FILLED UP....and then to have some time to do other planning (school plans, menu plans, etc) and yes-- to be honest a good 30 minutes on line would be great too....

So after having a really really rough emotional day-- yesterday I gathered my feet under me the best I could-- and just PUSHED thru as much as possible, knowing the NEXT morning I *WOULD* wake up EARLY (5am) and have *MY* time........ and ahhhhh it felt so good!!

Also for me-- I am a "type A" person (not sure i even know what that means) but I am a PLANNER and ORGANIZER to the extreme.... (some days it makes it hard with so many toddlers, but somedays I am thankful for it with so many toddlers)..... so this morning after my WONDERFUL refreshing time in the Word and hearing HIM speak-- HE IS IN CONTROL. and He will give me the strength to get thru the day...

It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he enables me to stand on the heights.
He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
Psalm 18:32-34

So today was a *MUCH* better day----

GAPS is going well-- and this pot of soup made me chuckle-- it is like day 3-- and I ran out of refrigerator room so I put it in the crockpot and I just keep adding different things to it-- tonight I added some more rabbit and some mixed frozen vegetables... and wha-la-- DINNER was served... Gotta love that!

These 2 handy dandy little lists helped our day-- GREATLY!!
(on the left a weekly to do list-- including what is done each day of the week for ZONE work, school work and homestead chores) (the one on the right is MY version of a MOTH chart-- with each of us and certain time frames I need to *TRY* to stick too--)

I am happy to report-- I did NOT act like a drill sargent today with these-- we all did VERY well-- NOT everything was done-- but ENOUGH-- we were busy-- and still had time for FUN-- outside and even some game time with the older 2. (Don't play Pictionary with them-- sheww weee-- no really it was SO funny we laughed and laughed--- can u beleive they didn't know I was so fun(nny)?

And it feels good to go to bed-- with a happy heart (in all of us) -- even BATHED toddlers-- and a house that looks "acceptable"- (would it pass a white glove test, or a mil test? NO WAY) but it is visitor ready....

Stephen was SOOO happy he had his name on the chore chart this time-- I mean the boy was walking on cloud 9-- TOO funny-- his jobs-- feed the cat (w/ Zachary's help) & clean the porch toys up and to help Rebekah do the livingroom (in honesty though-- the big boys REALLY helped with the livingroom...the little ones were TIRED and ready for SLEEP!

So this was my attempt at keeping it real-- life is real-- sorry no pictures from yesterday-- I was in no shape to snap pictures of chaos!! But I am just thankful the Lord doesn't leave me there---- it was a WAKE UP CALL-- to COME back to HIM-- Come back to those early morning times with Him.

The Early Morning