I wanna be Laura Ingalls "Wilder"

Dreams can take my thoughts away, each and every day...
I long to live off the land just like Laura did, to bake and can and mend my clothes and enjoy a hearth with a fire. I want a home nestled away from the hustle, bustle and noise. Now I am a busy person, but I don't want the distraction of someone's else's noise!

I long and desire deep within me to have a home with land, where my kids can dig, explore and learn by trial and error and not worry about property value and landscaping. Ah the reality of living in a subdivision where most of the choices are made for you. I remember building our home and wanting a taupe color and that wasn't allowed because our neighbor already picked that color and they wouldn't build two houses the same color that close together...Yes, I am serious!

The more I think about the times we live in I have determined one thing...I want to be Laura Ingalls only WILDER! I can be the Laura Ingalls that blogs on my (non-existent to date) laptop in the kitchen while I am baking. I will be the "Laura" that dances to Michael Jackson while she spray paints some restored freecycle item in the garage on a warm day. I will have a garden with enough corn to can for the winter, make my own popcorn, maybe an apple tree to supply enough homemade cider, a salsa garden because that is truly a staple in our diet for about 6 months out of the year. I will have a shabby chic decorated house in the middle of nowhere and able to relax and breathe knowing that that is how God intended for us to live. Do you ever read in Little House on the Prairie that the kids come late to dinner because they were at football practice until 7:45? Do you ever hear about Royal's frustration about not owning an ipod? Or Almanzo's disappointment that he can't go to the indoor waterpark with all of his friends for his birthday party. When I think about it in those terms it is honestly laughable what our society has turned into in some ways. Where are the simpler things in life? I want them back! The trust and respect in a parent because they are the parent, that is it, enough said! I want the peaceful, traditional, simpler life back!

I remain determined and prayerful that God will give me the desire of my heart. To be tucked away and able to live a simpler life. It is amazing how I am not searching but in devotionals, books and even testimonies of ladies at church have all been with the same common theme the past 8 months...a house with land that was desired and finally given. Whether this is a time of strengthening my faith or that the "evidence of things not seen" is about to reveal itself, I remain faithful and believing that one day my dream will come true!

What are you dreaming for in your life? Don't forget to dream!
"The difference between vision and daydreams is the belief that it can happen"

One thing I realized a few years ago in a seminar was that as we get older, we get caught up in working, routine and we lose our focus of what we want to achieve for ourselves. So my husband and I made a list, we want to go to Egypt to see the pyramids, we want to go to Israel, many things we wanted lined up together...except for living out of the city, which doesn't take much in WI, you can live 15 minutes from the mall and be out in a field here! God changed my husband's heart, I didn't have to do it, I actually just believed he would change his mind and sure enough, in the past few months my husband actually admitted that the more he thinks about it, the more he wants out of our neighborhood too...we have such a great heavenly Father! :)

Now it is your turn. What are you believing for? What do you desire and dream about?

Have a great Friday!

Ahh...something fresh!

Fresh start...New month...almost a new year...cleaner blog layout...
Now I need to catch back up! How are my followers? Have you enjoyed the past few months transition from the freedom of summer (or possibly kids driving you crazy) to the scheduled days of school/home-school, sports, Scouts and everything else your kids do at this time of year?

Our school year has been going much better this year. My kids are happier and more in tune to me and to each other. My husband is more supportive than ever and starting to understand what our days consist of and taking part in pieces of things that he didn't before. Yes, improvements have been vast the past few months.

Granted, I still have paper piles that I don't show you pictures of, a basement that seems to laugh at me because every time I get it organized there seems to be a change in our life that adds more piles, boxes, and clutter to take it all away...
Drums, a puppy and her kennel, home school room, pantry for stockpiling, laundry, pillows, a workbench, snow tires...ah the list is vast and my time to clean it is short. Maybe one day I will hold a contest and the winner gets to come and spend a weekend with me cleaning out my basement...hey I live in WI...sometimes if it snows enough and people get cabin fever they will do ANYTHING to get out of the house! :)

I will work on getting on here more often I have missed blogging and the blogging world, but I needed a mental break since everything else seemed to be taking up my time and energy.

I am working on the details to host another giveaway very soon! Keep your eyes out for recent posts, I think the giveaway will only last a week!

Can you believe it is already November?

What is on your mind? I am anxious to hear!

Sabatical or Missing in Action?

Goodness Gracious! It has almost been a month since I have posted? How crazy is that?
I have a brief moment to update you in the midst of my 6 year old trying to mop the floor for the 3rd time and really needing to sit down and go over parts of a sewing machine with my 11 year old...

I just wanted to get a new post out. To let you all know that I am O.K.! It has been a rough few weeks without my grandma around to call and pray with, laugh and appreciate her presence! I was blessed that my dad doesn't have the sentiment for many of Grandma's things that I do, so he pretty much gave me the "pick of the litter" as we went through her things. Now I am not a material person by any means, but there was something so soothing about owning her Ukrainian designed apron, her handmade quilt that could easily be worth a couple thousand dollars it is amazing! Not to mention just simple things like a pair of satin gloves, I took both a short white pair and a long black elegant cinched pair that I picture decorating with them and being proud that they were actually worn by my grandma. I have also been using her well worn Bible daily with the kids to do devotions and it seems more efficient, more meaningful like she is there with us.

Homeschooling is going so much better this year. We devised a new schedule this year...

Monday: Home Ec day where we learn about laundry, dishes, sewing, baking, gardening, grocery lists, budgetting, and anything else I can make fall in that category.

Tuesday-Thursday: Regular school days of math, English, Reading, History, Phonics for the little one, and more.

Friday: Field Trip Day! This is my big one this year, to do more "field work" and get out of the house every week to learn doing hands on methods.

Last week we hit Old World Wisconsin and had an absolute blast! We learned a ton, took some fabulous pictures, made memories and of course got a year long membership so we can go back soon! I loved everything there! I even got tearful going through the German descendants houses to see how the old style was because that is what my husband came from and I long to give him pieces of his heritage to build him up about who he is. I texted him while I was there that it was powerful and hitting me about his heritage (and mine by the way) and he texted me back about how tearful it made him that he had someone that cared!

Which takes me to the last thing I want to mention...ladies, build up your husbands! They need someone to help lift their arms when they are too tired to pray, someone to encourage them and like it says in "Wild At Heart" tell them they "have what it takes"! I never regret taking those moments to share with my husband what he means to me and our family and reminding him of how amazing he has been.

I will work on getting some pictures posted soon. For now, Happy Fall!
I am a bit behind on getting my fall things out, but based off of whose schedule I am not sure! ;)

Have a fabulous day! I have missed writing and hearing from my followers!!!

In His Wings

It is with great sorrow that I share the news I received yesterday...
My grandmother of 91 passed away. She was the one person in the world that I was the closest to and it is such a deep loss for me. While I work on rejoicing for her freedom and celebrating her arrival in the kingdom, I deal with great pain inside of knowing I will no longer be able to call her for small talk, prayer or just simply to remind her that although I moved 500 miles away, she was still my closest friend.

I was so blessed to have her in my life and the impact she had on me and my relationship with God. I know it was her prayers that eventually returned me to the path that SHE had been the major one teaching me on my whole life.

Her life as I reflect on it has taught me several lessons:

Can people say you are so amazing that they can have fun just with you and a bucket of chicken? Seriously, she could be so entertaining, joyous, fun and bubble over with the simplest things.

Do you exude love? As the saying goes, a moth to a flame. I look at the various people in my life and my grandma was 91 and not able to really leave the house anymore, getting around was tough on her, yet numerous people dropped by her house often with subs, buckets of chicken and longing to just simply be in her house and be around her. When I thought about that I realized she completely had God's Love down and it attracted people.

Are you flexible? She was so relaxed about things, she never let outward appearance, stigmas, or other things change her. She was amazingly grounded in relaxation and going with the flow and never taking it to heart when things didn't happen that she might have hoped would.

Picking up my shoes, socks, dishes, anything else when I am getting up because it saves time and makes for easier clean up. I still won't leave my shoes laying around or dishes in the living room because I remember her words and how much sense it makes.

Be adventurous! We got her out on a pontoon boat just last summer, it was her first time on one and she said for a year it was the best memory she ever had. She got to see the kids jump out and swim, watch all of us drive the boat, see how we deal with all our kids as parents and more than anything, be a huge part of things since she couldn't get around to places to do things.

I could add so much more but it is still difficult for me as I have waves of sadness. The biggest things I want to share with you is if you feel the urge to do something, it is quite possible that it is God urging you. I prayed for him to prepare me for a year for her death because I knew that I wouldn't deal with it well. Even with a year of dreams, choking up each time she answered the phone and as we said goodbye, I was still not fully prepared, but I can say that God did as I asked and worked on me to think about things, prepare my mind for it. I am so thankful that this summer I just felt the urge to make it a priority to come to KC and spend a full weekend with her. The weekend that worked just happened to be her 91st birthday, we took her to the outdoor sculpture museum in her wheelchair, we bought her jumbo cupcakes from Costco...that I teased her and said it is your 1st and 91st that you get a smashcake and smear it on your face...and she played along surprisingly and did it! Would any of us be willing to get past our looks and smash a cupcake in our face and laugh at ourselves? I thank God for that memory and for the fact that I knew to be obedient. Because in fact, that was the last time I saw her, she didn't make it to my next trip just two months later for Labor Day weekend.

I woke up yesterday with sadness from a dream that my grandma had died and I quickly pushed it out of my head not wanting to feel that pain. It was a few hours later my dad called to let me know that she was gone and he had just come to visit her and found her. We drove to KC yesterday just 3 hours after we found out. It was tough to pack and figure things out, especially with the waves of sadness hitting hard but God provided the time and the grace to be here and help. My dad was an only child as am I, I knew he needed me and thankfully so did my wonderful husband who said "we can't just sit here, we are going!" I am currently in KC planning the visitation and funeral with my dad. Treasure your life, God's comfort and urgency. It can be the best thing you ever do!

Planning, Planning, Planning..

Okay, so we planned things to plant around the house and got that done.
We planned our bedroom and got that done.
We planned our school year at home and that is underway.

Now I get to work on my favorite plan every year...our anniversary!
It isn't until October 26th, but this year I have the itch...
we always go somewhere, usually a B&B about 1-3 hours away for the weekend. This is our main time together as a couple so I refuse to feel guilt about the money we spend simply because I am a deal shopper plus we don't get chances for dates often throughout the year at all! (Is it really a date when someone watches the kids so you can go to dinner and then Christmas shopping for THE KIDS?)

SO, here is my agenda...I begged, pleaded, sold a few of the kids and was able to convince my girlfriend to take 2 kids and 2 dogs for the weekend we want to get away, towards the end of October. Yippee! (By the way, none of the begging and pleading happened, it was all in the beauty of a text message and I got a YES!) I love having a great friend!

My agenda, as hard as it is to focus on teaching when I can't wait to get away with my husband, is to find the place! I am leaning in a few directions...I have always wanted to go somewhere like Cape Cod in the fall, but I also wonder about how cold it will be. Plus, in checking flights it looks like it is a little more than I would like to spend. I am leaning towards Williamsburg, VA, Savannah, GA, maybe somewhere in SC. If you know of some place reasonably priced with great atmosphere, please share!

Who has some gorgeous ideas for late fall of things to do just for the two of us? We typically stay at a nice B&B so we can be served food in the morning, but that isn't necessary, we enjoy getting out to unique shops, having a nice dinner out each night and typically we find a bakery to get naughty calorie stuffed pastries to eat way later than we should in our room! ;)

I would love some ideas! Help me out as I am getting anxious to plan!!!
I would love to say I will meet you if you are in the area, but the truth is that with flying and only having a weekend, I might send you a postcard from town but you know you only have so much time to enjoy a lack of schedule and snuggle time with your husband! ;)

Have a great day!

The Wellspring of Life

Do you ever base your day or life on how you feel? There are mornings as I am sure some of you are dealing with school back in swing, where you are tired and not motivated and ready for the routine. There are days where you feel dry, sad, tired, quiet or just hidden away or wanting to be...

God is teaching me a lot right now, most of which comes as I seek his face! Lessons in faith, lessons in how to believe and training me on the parts of scripture that can be the hardest...believing that it is already DONE! I am great at saying how I want to be closer to God, but what do I do with my free time? I heard a valuable message in my devotional that my husband read to me last night. It said your actions say what your priorities are out loud. It went on to discuss how a workaholic will find time to vacation and spend time with family when they receive a letter from the dr. that says "malignant". A parent that doesn't spend time with their children will find the time when a daughter gets with the wrong crowd to find time for her and seek counseling groups and support systems, spending weeks choosing the right things for her life. So why does it take big things to get our attention and priorities in order?

The basic answer is that it shouldn't. We get caught up in the day to day activities and need to focus on the important opportunities we are given. Our children are with us to learn, copy and understand what life is about. New statistics say majority of parents spend 4 hours watching tv a day but only 6 minutes playing with their children. As I think about it, when I was working full time I always longed for the opportunity to be home, my husband and I finally planned on getting me home to homeschool, but of course we had an agenda before we wanted to do it. Get this fixed, buy a screen door, put this in savings, etc, etc. But as we got paid, we didn't do anything about it...priorities. Why is it that I desired it so much but I didn't act upon it? I knew God wanted me home with my kids! Then he allowed for the big change, I was let go from my job. My pride hurt for almost a year! I had never been let go from a job! But I was home with my children. You know what else? Everything my husband and I wanted to accomplish before I gave my notice happened with unemployment and severance money. But why do we often feel that God picks and chooses when he will bless us? Like giving me the desire but I would be on my own to fulfill it? I longed for Abeka curriculum for my youngest son as that is what I was taught on, but I knew it was expensive...then I met a fellow homeschooler who randomly chose to bless me with almost 3 years worth of curriculum for him that is all Abeka. Does God not provide for the desires of our hearts? I have learned the lesson over and over...Trust in Him!

My youngest son recently has been falling into lying and disobeying constantly. At first I got very upset about why he was doing this and how he knew better. It took a wonderful friend to point out (in love) that he is seeking mom's attention and was looking for it in some way. The point hit home hugely in my heart. My son has been patient all summer while I have revamped things in the house and gardened (he helped some) but it wasn't much one on one time with mom and reading and doing all the things he was so used to throughout the school year. So I changed MY actions to work on his. No movie before bed with the family, we read numerous books snuggled up in my bed, it was a zillion kisses and snuggles and not paying a lot of attention to our adorable puppy and I noticed a difference. Not completely, he still lied twice last night and was disciplined for doing so, but it was a change. But his heart was getting full, he was where he needed to be without saying it.

Our children don't know how to express to us that they simply miss the little things when we get off track. Errands, home decorating, parties and outings are all great, but after a while they long for their routine bedtime, reading books throughout the day and night, knowing what is happening without needing to ask, etc. But part of our routine needs to include showing our children that we prioritize our relationship with them, our spouse and especially Jesus. We pray before meals, but I realized that Kaiden was missing our devotion time which I had let slip through the summer. His prayers were becoming routine and rehearsed and no longer sounding like prayers from his heart. Isn't it amazing how we can teach our children, but often learn the most from them? When we get stuck in a routine don't we sound rehearsed and monotonous?

My goal throughout this school year is to stay consistent with my devotion and praise time with my boys as we homeschool. To thrive on learning and enjoying this world God created so beautifully. To find joy in the smallest things up to the biggest. But especially to let the rivers of life flow through me and while we may maintain a routine, I don't want to become monotonous and praying to God like rehearsing for a play, saying the same things over and over. Give God something to work with and pursue the beauty of a relationship where he wants to know your hearts desires, hurts, quiet places and fill you full in your empty areas.

Today-Thrive!
Much Love!