So,I was reading this message board the other day,just a mom one where people talk about parenting,pregnancy,homeschooling,etc. Anyway,someone posed a question:

How do moms,who do all of these fun,interesting things with their kids,have time to take pictures of it,and then blog about it??

I concur. I would love the answer to that.

Friends,this is just where I'm at right now. I am a busy mom. The girls and I are doing all kinds of things...but that's just it. We are doing things,and I want to be involved while we're doing it,not standing on the sidelines snapping pics,and coming up with a fun way to display it all. It stinks,because this blog has been my baby for a long time. I used to really enjoy writing,and of course I love to talk about my kids! However,I think the time has come for me to shut down the old blog for a bit.

See,if you are a blog reader,like me,then you know that there are very few successful mom blogs that aren't used as advertisements of some sort. For instance,I have no ads on my blog. I might make some money if I did,but it's never been about that to me. There have been times when I have thought that maybe if I treat blogging more like a job,then I might have more success.

My blog is small,and my readers are few. I'm OK with that,but it also hasn't spurred me on to keep up to date,because I know that most of the people reading this know everything anyway.

If I was going to be serious about this,I would need to have someone design something cute for my blog (which costs money),and then be serious and intentional about topics,scheduling.

I guess I just don't have it in me right now.

I'm really enjoying reading my Bible,and I spend most of my free time doing that. I started with the goal to read the Bible in a year,but now,my goal is to do it in 6 months. I am also working on some personal Bible study. The Lord is doing some work in my heart right now,and I'm hoping to weed out the good things in my life for the BEST things. If you've read Radical by David Platt,you know what I'm talking about.

I know this post is all over the place,but I feel it's time to say good-bye for a bit. I am going to leave the blog up,because I want to go back and print some important pages off,but as of today,I'm on a permanent blogging break.

Thank you so much for supporting and encouraging my little venture. :)

Hapy Easter!

My first blog post on my new laptop.

I very begrudgingly had to buy one when my old one pooped out on me.

I bought my first laptop 4 years ago,and I've had so many issues. The first one,I took out of the box and it was defective and had to be taken back immediately. The second one lasted a short time,and then when Erik was deployed (time 2),I had to take it back for an exchange after it went out on me within 45 days of getting it. Then,the day I brought Matilda home from the hospital,the motherboard and hard drive went out,and it was gone for 2 weeks. Then,right before Erik came home (time 3),I had to have the motherboard and hard drive replaced AGAIN. They literally gave the computer back to me the day the warranty ran out. So,the other day I took it back in thinking I might just need a new cord,but it was the motherboard issue again. I was not paying to fix it again,so Erik told me to buy a new one. My old one was an HP,and the new one is an ASUS. I am very thankful we were able to purchase a new one,but I was a little disappointed because I had 1000 dollars set aside to get the girls bunk-beds,and buy an elliptical.


Obviously,that will be on hold for a while!

In other news,I am back to weight loss again. When I came back from my mom's house,the first weigh in I saw was 150.4. That is flat out embarrassing, approximately 15 pounds gained. It happens so fast,I am not kidding!! Last week,I just focused on getting back into my eating "routine",and then this week,I have been counting calories. Because I'm not exercising,I'm keeping it around 1200. I'm having success with eating lean meats like chicken and fish during the week,and not eating red meats. I've also upped my vegetable intake. I want to get back to 137,which was my original goal,and it totally attainable as long as I exhibit self control.

Also,we've had a critter outbreak at the house,which is no surprise to me. I knew based on the terrain in these parts,that we would see some critters. Last week,there was a snake on the back porch. We were eating dinner,and I looked out the back window and it was crawling on the chair. Ew. Also,there were 2 wasp nests on my front porch,one on the opening on the air conditioning vent. Also,the kitchen sink is clogged up,the back yard badly needs a mow (and um,I'm not doing it,snakes and all),and Erik's truck leaked a HUGE amount of oil onto our driveway (we're in a rental). So,needless to say,things fall apart when daddy leaves. It always happens. Thank goodness this isn't a year long deployment,and he will be home shortly. His honey-do list is waiting on the fridge.

:)

Oops.

Has it really been a month since I posted?

I fear my little blog is just slowly dying out. I don't seem to have anything interesting to chat about!

Erik left last month go to to school,and it turned out to be much harder than he expected. We prayed fervently that the Lord would supply him with knowledge and focus to get through the class,and wow,have we been blessed. Erik has done amazingly well while he's there. Typically,classroom work is not his forte,and there was a lot of bookwork. He passed all of his exams (the Army has turned the promotions schools into college courses,so it's not really job specific anymore.) He also really excelled in the Land Navigation part of the course. Just a small brag,but he found all 7 land points he was given in 1 hour,16 minutes. You have 3 hours to do it,and he was the fastest in his entire class. I'm really proud of him for working so hard. He will be home right before Easter,and we will be so glad to have him HOME!

A few days after he left,the kids and I went to North Carolina to hang with the family. We had a great time,as usual. I got to meet my "little" nephew Brady. Although, at 4 months and 20 pounds,he's not that little. He is a the cutest baby monster ever,though. He wasn't sure if he wanted to love Aunt Lindsay,but I think he came around after a few visits. It's so neat to see my brother as a dad. He and Elcin are great parents,and I'm so thankful that our children will have cousins to grow with. We,or rather I,ate quite a lot of yumminess while we were there,and had quite the shock on the scale when I got home. I was supposed to be losing weight,not gaining it! Darn. Oh well,a great time was had by all!

While I was home,i got hooked on The Hunger Games. I read books 1 and 2,but I'm holding off on 3 as long as I can. I'm hoping Erik and I will get a movie date soon so I can see it. I have been praying that the Lord will provide a trsutworthy babysitter for us, so I'm waiting patiently on that. I would like to have more time with Erik, sans kids.

The little girls are doing well. We've had to get back on behavior training since we got home,since they always get a little spoiled by the grandparents. :) Julianna is struggling with talking back,or arguing. It could even be something simple,like if I ask her to pick something up and throw it away,she wants to talk about it. So,I've revved up on making sure she responds with "yes,mommy" at ALL times. Matilda is ....2,so you can pretty much imagine what correction she needs. I've also been training her to say yes,mommy,and then I usually help her do whatever I asked her to do,to help her learn to be obedient. For instance,if I ask her to put her shoes away,I will instruct her,make her say yes,mommy,and then walk with her to the shoe basket so she will follow-through. And I am trying very hard to praise both girls for all good behavior I catch! I was watching the Duggars' one night,and Michelle was saying they try to praise their children 10 times more than they correct them. You know I love the Duggars, I've gotten more than one useful idea from watching their show over the years.

And,that's all for now!

Just another cute picture of Julianna standing in front if the 10 commandements. She did most of the writing,but I helped some. I love this sweet gal!

Sorry for the lack of posting on the ole blog recently!

We have been pretty busy this week,so I haven't had a lot of time to update.

Matilda is potty trained,though. So,yay for that!! She is doing very well,even staying dry during naptime most days. I haven't night trained her yet,but she's a young 2,so it might be a while before her bladder is mature enough to go all night without peeing.

Erik is heading off to school Sunday morning,and we have been really busy trying to get him prepared to go. He had a huge list of things to do,and I've been trying to help him get it all done.

We are heading to N.C. next week! Yay. I am so ready for a little break from Alabama.

The kids and I got some kind of sickness this week. At first,I was thinking it was just allergies (we did see daffodils blooming the other day,in FEB...) However,after a few days,it seemed like something else. I took Tillie in after 4 days of soaring fevers,and she had a double ear infection,and suspected respiratory infection. I have an appointment today,because I feel like I have a sinus infection. It might just be allergies,though. Julianna seems to have gotten rid of it after only a day or two.

Anyway,that's what we've got going on. Posting might be sparse for the next little bit!

Picture

Just a picture of Julianna making an Egyptian collar for schoolwork. We were studying Joseph,whose brothers sent him to be a slave in Egypt. Have I mentioned how much I love homeschooling? It's so much fun. We're in week 5 of our curriculum ( I have a new schedule to slow things down some,since we were moving through it too fast.) One more week,and then we'll have our first mini-break of 2 weeks while we go home to visit family. We won't be completely school free,though. We will be lots and lots of reading,and playing on readingeggs.com.