My Guide for Great 2011!

Have you ever had one of those weeks where nothing seemed to go right?  Well, that's how this past week went for me.  It just seemed everything was out of sorts, from the kids, to finances, to school, you name it and it was crazy!  I tried to figure out what was the problem and several things came to mind....for one I was not taking care of myself like I should. Not just physically but spiritually too.  I haven't been reading my Bible like I should or praying ( besides the 10 min thank you God for our day).  I have been worrying about things I cannot change and not focusing on the many blessings I have in my life.  I have been trying to fix everything myself instead of trusting my life completely to God.   This epiphany really hit me today when I read an email from my mother-in-love ( yes, I LOVE HER dearly).  Here is what it said:

A GUIDE FOR A GREAT LIFE

 *Health:*

 1. Drink plenty of water.
 2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
 3. Eat more foods that grow ON trees and plants and eat less food that is
     manufactured IN plants..
 4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
 5. Make time to pray.
 6. Play more games
 7. Read more books than you did in 2010 .
 8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
 9. Sleep at least 7 hours.
 10.Take a 10-30 minute walk daily.  And while you walk, smile.

 *Personality:*

 11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey
      is all about.
 12. Don't have negative thoughts on things you cannot control. Instead
      invest your energy in the positive present moment.
 13. Don't over do.  Keep your limits.
 14. Don't take yourself so seriously.  No one else does.
 15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
 16. Dream more while you are awake.
 17. Envy is a waste of time.  You already have all you need.
 18. Forget issues of the past.  Don't remind your partner of his/her
      mistakes in the past, that will ruin your present happiness.
 19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.  Don't hate others.
 20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
 21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
 22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.  Problems are
      simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away but the lessons you
      learn will last a lifetime.
 23. Smile and laugh more.
 24. You don't have to win every argument.  Agree to disagree...

 *Society:*

 25. Call your family often.
 26. Each day give something good to others.
 27. Forgive everyone for everything.
 28. Spend time with people over the age of 70, and under the age of 6.
 29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
 30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
 31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.  Your friends will.
       Stay in touch.

 *Life:*

 32. Do the right thing!
 33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful.
 34. GOD heals.
 35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
 36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up.
 37. The best is yet to come...
 38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.


WOW, isn't that great!!!  So after reading this I decided to print it out and post it on my refrigerator.This is going to be my Guide for 2011!!  I'm going to try my best to live life to the fullest everyday and do everything on this list.  Will I succeed everyday, probably not, but it is goal I am going to strive for!!  


Here's to a BLESSED 2011!!!


Michelle

Pinewood Derby....

Ethan had his third pinewood derby last week!  He was so excited that his daddy was here to see him...it was actually the first one that he wasn't deployed or on TDY!  We honestly didn't know how he was going to do this year.  This was just a super busy month for Josh at work and he only had a day and a half to build the car from scratch.  You know what, Ethan won second place in his group & won Best Super Hero Car!!  Not too bad!  Here are some pics from the event... (thanks to my friend Melissa for the great photos, she's a professional photographer.....mine are the not so great ones..lol)

Getting Ready to Race

Isn't He Handsome

Rachel, Little Rachel, and Trey

 The Cars are Ready to Go

The Awards

Ethan Getting Ready to Race His Car

Setting the Cars Up

And Their Off!!

 The Boys were SO Excited!

 Hanging Out

Judging Best Looking, etc.

Ethan Won Second Place for His Group ( not bad for building it in a day and a half)

Until Next Year!!

It's the Little Things that Matter :)

Ok, so this week has been one of the longest weeks I've had in a while!!  It seemed like nothing went right.   We were stuck on base for 6 days because of a mix up with our vehicle tags, kids were cranky, homeschool lessons just didn't go right, Josh worked really late almost every night, and that's just to name a few.  So today I was just a little emotionally worn out.  I had casually written Josh an email around lunchtime that went like this " I could use a REALLY, REALLY big ice cold COKE right now to drink. " Now, Josh knows when I say that I've had a really hard day....it happens to be what I want when I'm stressed or emotionally drained.  I honestly didn't think anything about it the rest of the day. So when my wonderful husband walked in the door...I went to greet him like I normally do and there he was smiling, looking at me with those gorgeous eyes and in his hand was a 1 Liter ICE COLD COKE for me!!!!  Now others that might not be a big deal, but to me it was heaven :)  It's the little things in life that make me happy!

Smiles,
Michelle

What a day!!

This has been one of those days that I thought would never come to an end!!  Most of you know that I am homeschooling Ethan and Rachel while we are in Idaho.  Josh and I really prayed hard over that decision and we know this is where God wants us to be at this time. Plus, we feel it is in the best interest of our children, but man days like today make it SO hard!!

First of all, Michael ( our youngest) has been cranky for the past couple of days because his 2 yr old molars are coming in.  Poor fellow just doesn't feel good and I know it's because of the teeth, but the crying all day doesn't help with the schooling.  So in between loving on him and making him feel better, I began doing lessons with Ethan.  All was going well until we hit his math lesson. For some reason I had a mental block or maybe I was just super tired ( Josh has been working late this week), but for the life of me I could not figure out how to answer the problems he had in his lesson.  They were word problems like this:

Nolan has collected 14 baseball cards, including cards from the Rangers, the Astros, and the Titans. He has 3 Astros cards. He has 5 fewer Titans cards than Rangers cards. How many of each kind of card is in Nolan's collection? 


For the life of me, I could not figure out how to get the answer.  I felt so sorry for Ethan because he was getting upset thinking that I was getting frustrated with him, when in reality I was frustrated with myself because I couldn't do this THIRD GRADE math problem.  What makes it worse is I have an Education Degree, you would think I could get it.  Thankfully, we are using an online school and Ethan actually has a live teacher that we can call to help us out.  So that's what I did!  She made me feel alot better when she said that several of the students/parents had problems with this section. 
After we finally got all that figured out it was time to take Rachel to dance.  So I loaded all the kids up in the van and headed into town.  Right after her dance I had to rush back to base to take Ethan to Boy Scouts.  As we were getting close to the base gate, I realized I had left my ID at home.  Now for those who are not military that is a big NO, NO.  You are supposed to have your ID with you all the time.  I didn't know what to do, but pray. So as we got to the gate, I rolled down the window and explained the situation to the guard.  Well, thankfully this is a small base and apparently everyone ( or so it seems) knows my husband because of our van ( we bought a conversion van over the summer). So the guard looks at me and says "Well, I recognize your vehicle...your husband is Major Craig right?   This time I will let you go, but make sure you always have your ID with you."  Again, SO thankful for our van :)  


Days like today are the days that I am so thankful I serve a God who is my strength because it's Him who helps me get through and keep my sanity :).


So now since all the kiddos are in bed, Daisy is sleeping and Josh is still not home, I think I will treat myself to a very, very, very long, hot bath!


Until next time,


Michelle

A New Year

Well after much encouragement from family and friends I decided this was going to be the year that I started a blog.  I had a family website that I had used while Josh was deployed but since his return I hardly used it, plus I got addicted to using Facebook too!  I then realized that some of my family and friends who are not on Facebook have missed all the updates and crazy happenings of our family, hince the new blog!  
Yesterday, I started putting my blog together ( still working on the layout)  and had to come up with a title.  I tried to think of something cute and creative, but nothing seemed to quite fit.  Then as I was listening to the radio I heard this song and I was like that's it......Livin' the Blessed Life!  Here are the lyrics:


 I like
Livin this kinda life,
I'm livin a blessed life.
I like
Livin kinda life,
I'm livin a blessed life.

I can speak to mountains, they will be moved.
I can speak to dreams, they will come true.
I can tell my troubles, to get away.
God gave me the power, to make my day.
I'm no longer walking, on sinking sand.
I'm just steady restin', in my Father's Hand.
I'm blessed when I come, and when i go.
Everyday I'm livin, livin in the overflow.

I'm blessed when I come,
and when I go.
Everyday I'm livin',
livin' in the overflow.


What a great song and it is exactly how I feel.  God has truly blessed me with such a wonderful life!  I have the most amazing husband, 4 beautiful & healthy children,  get to travel to different parts of the country, serve an amazing God, and have wonderful family & friends. Is it always easy, no....is it perfect, no...have we had hard times, yes....will we have more, probably so....but what I have learned through it all is that if we will just cast all our cares upon God, He will always be there to help carry us through!


So hopefully through this blog I will be able to share with you our blessed life......




Until next time,


Michelle