I know, I am a few days late.  It is really the 3rd day of the New Year.  I have had my nieces all week so it has been extremely busy around here.  We took the girls home yesterday.  Today is really the start of the New Year for us.  Today Angel goes back to work for the first time since he was hospitalized Thanksgiving week.  Anna starts schooling again for the first time since then also.   I need to totally get back on track in so many areas.  One area that I need to work on is blogging again.  I miss the blogging world.  I have been vlogging a bit on YouTube in the past 6 months.  I have decided that I can't hide anymore.  Life is too short for me to be hiding away and not letting anyone know the real me.  This is an area I am going to be working on this year.  I have other fears but I just don't feel comfortable overcoming them yet.  Let's just start here.. lol. 

I hope to put up some holiday pictures and or videos in the next few days.  Going to take some time to get back in the swing of things. 

I will leave you with this video. 

Once a week we try to get together with good friends.  This week Anna wanted to make cupcakes for snacks for everyone.  We also made mummy dogs for lunch.  Yum!

Yesterday was really a rush.. I spent time in the morning cleaning and doing dishes.  I admit I enjoyed the later quiet time since Anna stayed up with daddy the night before, watching Anime.  However, we had alot of school to cover.  I just found out my friend Steph and her children would be coming the following day..  which means pretty much a lax schooling day.  So I got her up and spent the entire day pushing her to work.  Of course, this was the day she was going to totally be uncooperative.  Oh my word!  She and Ethan fought over everything!  I managed to record little bits of our day that wasn't so umm.. chaotic.   I really would like to try and include alot more visuals to the blog.  I have been way behind in finding the time to write. 

Last Friday evening, Annaleah got all dressed up for the festivities at the local ice rink.  Daddy took her and I hung out at Walmart for 3 hours.. shopping slowly, checking prices.. alone.  Most of you are probably like.. seriously?? There was no way I was going to hang out for 3 hours at the ice rink!  It is freezing cold!    The donut video amazed me because 1. Anna never eats anything that fast.. 2. she doesn't even like anything but powdered donuts.

I just got done reading my Proverbs 31 Devotion.

It definitely hit me this morning.  The verse of the day is..

 ²⁰And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.

1 Chronicles 28:20 (King James Version)

Some of the examples today where..

Are you worried about your ability to be a good mother? Do the work.

Are you struggling with debt and financial issues? Do the work.

Do you want to eat healthier, commit to regular exercise or lose weight? Do the work.

Ok.. yes.. I struggle with each of these daily!  I worry about my ability to homeschool and feel like a failure most days.  I get all irritated and anxiety builds fast.  Finances are never ending.. just never gets easier in that area.  My health??  I have been so frustrated with that, I have just stuck it on the back burner.  It isn't helping me when I shove it aside.  It is only getting worse! 

Make no mistake: sometimes the work will be hard. Note that our verse today didn't say "Lay around and hope things get better." The challenge we face is not in focusing on how hard the work is, but in seeking the God who has promised to show up as we work. We offer our best efforts and trust that He will multiply them. We will see Him supply the words, the resources, the energy, the time, the patience, the grace we need. But first we must do the work. Just like the priests had to first step into the water before the Jordan could part in Joshua 3:15-16, so we must begin working before we can see the solution appear.

What work do you need to start doing—or keep doing—no matter how discouraged or disheartened you feel? I pray that you will see Him at work on your behalf today as you do the work He has called you to do. Do the work, and He will be with you.

As I copy this and re-read, I also realize something else.  How often do I ask the Lord for guidance in these areas?  I pray when others are hurting, when others have needs or requests, but I rarely pray for my struggles.  Somehow I think that maybe I don't deserve the help?  I know that sounds foolish but it is something I struggle with daily.  I tend to be alot harder on myself.  It gets me nowhere.  So those are areas I need desperately to work on.  I guess I should start with prayer and then do the work that needs to be done. 

All italics are copied from the Proverbs 31 Devotions.

I am behind in everything.. seriously everything!  I haven't been blogging, I am struggling with keeping the house in shape, schooling, and just your typical day to day stuff.  Exercise and healthy eating have been thrown out the window.  I don't understand what the problem is here. 

So I am going to start by making a list.  All the things I need to be better at..

• waking up in the morning to do bible study (not getting up and watching youtube videos)
• Schooling on time
• Organizing school materials so everything can be found and used in a timely manner. (Too much time is spent looking for things)
• Preparing some type of preschool activity for Ethan so that he has something to do instead of talking to Anna during school.
• Having meals planned ahead of time and actually cooking them.
• Cleaning up before bed!  After dinner would be best! (Instead of doing this in the morning.)
• Washing and putting away one load of clothes a day. (Instead of being overwhelmed on the weekend)
• Blogging before reading everyone else’s blog.. ( I get lost once I start reading)
• Going to bed at a reasonable time (3am is not a reasonable time when you need to wake up at 5:30am)

So there you have it.. if I follow these simple steps.. maybe life would be a bit easier? 

Is there anything I missed?  Hmm..

My mom is visiting this week.  We picked her up Tuesday evening.  Before we left I did feed the family soup and sandwiches.  However, by the time we got there.. hubby was hungry and craving chinese.  We headed to a new place in Smithfield, RI.   Now, really full we finally headed home. 

I tried to hurry and get Anna into bed.  It was 10 when we walked in.  It was midnight when she finally went to bed.  Hubby had told me to let her stay up a bit.  I just knew tomorrow wouldn't go well. Anna woke up before 8am.. so that was a huge plus.. however no work actually got done.  She never finished the one page of math that she was behind with.  Things were just so hectic with stories from Mimi, Ethan coming and wanting her attention as well.  Fights over who would sit next to her.  Ethan gave lots of hugs.  I gave lots of demands to finish the page. 

I finally gave up and we all headed outside for a bit.. after Anna rode her bike I tried to get her to do a bit of school out there but she was distracted once again.

A few days ago, Ethan was riding his Little Tykes car in the cul-de-sac and discovered water in the back.  He yelled out.. "Daddy, there are germs in my car!"  After closer inspection, Justine said they were tadpoles and Anna had started keeping her eye on them.  So when Ethan decided to ride his car, Anna had to save them so she scooped them all carefully into a bucket.  She showed them to me.  Now I am not good at trying to figure out what they are.. so I go along with it.. maybe they are tadpoles.  But then daddy comes out and takes a look.  They were not tadpoles.. they were mosquito larvae.  This brought huge tears to Anna as daddy demanded she dump them immediately.  We all felt bad but we really don't need more mosquitoes.  It was a very sad moment for her.

So instead of school papers.. we ended up on the computer, learning the difference between tadpoles and mosquito larvae.  That is still school, right.. lol.  Although I would still be happier if she finished at least her math.  sigh..

She ended the evening with a 2.5 hour game of Life.  Anna was the banker and I did my best to get her to figure out all change and payments.. So there was another good lesson she was able to apply.  I guess this would be called 'unschooling'..However, today she will do her lessons!

Mom and I also ended the evening listening to Mark Lowry on YouTube..  I loved watching him with Bill Gaither but here is the one that really cracked us up last night..

I tend to think of that song every single time I take a shower.  Ever since I married Angel, and moved to CT.  We  have had low water pressure.  Taking a shower felt like you were in the rain.  drip drip drip.  I think I shared here (maybe not) that 2 weeks ago, they were draining our hydrants and putting in a new water main.  We were left with brown water.  Thankfully, we thougth ahead and filled every container we could.  After they finished however, 2 days later.. our cul-de-sac was filled with water and it didn’t rain.  Our pipes busted.  Trucks were brought in and Ethan enjoyed spending the day watching big trucks dig up our cul-de-sac.   

We found out that when they had worked on the main pipes they routed it to another town. The pipe busted because the water pressure is significantly higher now and the pipes couldn't handle it.  So when I finally took a shower.. I still expected the low drip of the water.  Well, that isn't the case anymore!  I was sooo excited.. I called Angel in to feel the water while I was in the shower.  Whoo hoo.. it was awesome!

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Saturday night I did the stupidest thing.  I stayed up all night long.  I was playing Perfect World with Angel.  Anna and Ethan were in bed.. When we realized it was 5am .. he went to bed.  I didn't bother.  Instead I spent the morning cleaning.. working through some piles, Anna's laundry, etc.  The house is in really bad shape.  Ethan woke at 8:30,  I woke up David so he could get a shower.  Angel took him to work and got back before 10:30 and the game playing began again.  By about 3pm I couldn't do it anymore.  I was so sick of being on the computer.  I had also been getting up here and there and attacking Anna's room.  I was also starting to pass out at the computer.. lol.  In the middle of a fight.. LOL.  Thankfully I woke before I got killed..

Ethan left at 4:30.  I sat with Angel and just thought.. forget this!  and went to bed.  for one hour.  sigh..  
Angel was supposed to make Thai.. that didn't happen.  We ate peanut butter and jelly.  I decided to watch some comedians on you tube.  Brian Regan was pretty funny.  Watched some Eureka with Angel then he took his second nap.. ( He took one after lunch)  I finished up the room with Anna.. looks so  much better right now.  Put her in at 10:30 and I went to bed.  woke at 6:15 but managed to sleep again til 7. 

Of course I am now sick.  Runny nose.. ugh.  What in the world was I thinking???   I am so not young anymore.

Ethan comes today at 10 - 5:30.  Tomorrow evening we pick up my mom for the week.  I am hoping to get Anna's curtain up (with Angel's help), and her floor washed.  Going to have her do 2 pages for school and maybe we can finally cover her journal.  I am trying to be better and less strict.  Last year I made her work through Monday holidays.  Because it messed up our schedule during the week.  She will do 1 page of math and one daily gram.  We have steaks for the grill and Angel wants me to make some onion rings.. Ethan’s favorite! 

Enjoy the day today! 

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It's official!  School started today.  I am not ready but hey..we did it anyways.  Not too bad so far.  My main problem right now is mostly evenings.  Hubby likes to spend time either playing Perfect World (hey, if you can't beat em, join em. right?) together or watch a movie, or show.  Last night that meant I went to bed at midnight.  I was able to get up at 5:30am like planned but that will be hard to continue at this rate.  I really need to be firm about this I guess.  If Anna is in bed by 9 - 9:30.. that gives us plenty of time.  I would like to be in bed by at least 11. 

Last week we were told our water was going to turn brown.  So we prepared ourselves by filling everything we possibly could with water.  Turned out we only had brown water the first day.  They had predicted the work to last 4 days. However, today they are pulling apart our cul-de-sac.  Apparently we have a broken pipe somewhere.. So not thinking.. I put laundry in washer, pour on detergent and then discover we have no water.. sigh.  Very thankful we still have all the jugs for drinking and washing up. 

This evening we are all heading out to see Meadow.  I should be back with lots of pictures.   

We decided we needed to spend some time just relaxing at the library.  There is a nice park nearby and we could also spend some time there.  What was interesting to me was the girls went through, picked some movies to check out and then they were ready to go.

Imagine their surprise when I told them we were staying.  It was as if I just told them we were spending the day locked up in a room with nothing in it.

This really saddened me.  I loved the library growing up.  It has so much more to offer than movies and a few books.  I was determined to show them.  We headed off to the kids section and I browsed thru some books.  I grabbed a book on horses, cats, optical illusions, and some hidden pictures.. We sat and just browsed thru the pictures .. checking to see if we could see whatever wash hidden in them.  Anna loves animal so she was checking out that book.. She is also really good with the 3D optical illusions. Kate finally showed some interest in some of the books as well as some coloring pics that were set up on the table. 

I left them for a bit to check something out in the adult section.  When I came back Anna was having a Librarian help her search for more books on optical illusions.  They also had a board game area for the kids to play.  We didn’t get to go there though.. Not if they still wanted to go the the park.  I actually  had to tell them it was time to go.  They were finally having a good time. 

Here is a video of them at the park.

A few (ok..more than a few) pics..

The girls got hungry so we walked over to the local market and grabbed a few fruits to snack on while waiting for hubby. 

He decided we should go out for chinese..

We ended the evening with Ice cream from Dairy Queen..

I think Kate is getting tired of me taking pictures.. LOL