Courage, Confidence, Character

Have I really been gone two months?

2009-05-01T20:44:00.003-05:00

Time flies when you are so busy.

We are making so much progress in speech therapy, and working so hard I haven't had time to breathe.

Many things have changed around here and so many new happenings...

First up was my mid-life crisis... what is it about the spring time that brings on the melancholy, and then the crisis.. I think I have actually had a couple crisis' in my mid-life so I should be used to it by now!

Oh the things I have been missing. Lets just sum up this time in my life as Mommies gone wild. Tammy has been along for the ride and so far it has been fun.

Recently, I realized I have had a crisis of FAITH. Where that came from I am unsure. Even with everything I have been thru in my life, I never had a problem with my Faith. When Brandy died my faith never wavered, if anything it got stronger. I am still working thru this and trying to restore what I have lost. Pray for me.

We are finally realizing our dream of being debt free. This month we will pay off the last of our consumer credit. Next month will pay off the truck and then we are down to mortgage and monthly bills!! YAY!

I now have a trainer and I am working out 3X a week. I think I might die. But it has been great and I am starting to feel better. Lets just hope I can keep it up.

That pretty much sums up the last two months... nothing exciting, nothing strange, just life in general.

Sunday Morning Outside My Window...

2009-03-02T14:53:00.006-06:00

"He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,'

and to the rain shower, '

Be a mighty downpour.' So that all men he

has made may know his work,

he stops every man from his labor."

Job 37:6-7

"Turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it." Psalm 34:14

2009-02-22T18:06:00.005-06:00

I have been scarce lately because we have been dealing with some issues.

Let's just say that we have been the recipent of some unkind behavior. I have been trying to counsel DD on how to deal with this other girl, but to no avail. Sometimes dyslexic children do not know how to deal with social situations such as this. She tends to lash out at the person who is inflicting the misery.

What makes this worse is the parent of the other girl, doesn't see the behavior. How do I handle this? I have tried to be reasonable, but, when I defend my girl I am told it is her fault anyway. I am the first to admit that she is no angel, but she is not the instigator. We have been in misery for days.

Sadly, we must see this person on a near daily basis. Oh, it makes me so angry. I am trying to ignore the smug looks and the whispered comments between daughter and mom. My blood is boiling by the time it is all over and I find it hard to control my temper. REALLY HARD.

I am at a loss....

We have to go thru this again tomorrow....

So, I turn to scripture and pour my heart out to God..

"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." Psalm 55:22

"For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give and account on the day of judgement for every careless word they have spoken. For by the words you will be aquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." Matthew 12:34-37

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates event to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight." Hebrews 4:12-13

"They repay me evil for good and leave my soul forlorn. Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting. When my prayers returned to me unanswered,
I went about mourning as though for my friend or brother. I bowed my head in grief as though weeping for my mother. But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee; attackers gathered against me when I was unaware. They slandered me without ceasing." Psalm 35:12-15

"Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart. They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways. You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.
Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands. I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me. How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees." Psalm 119:1-12

Heavenly Father, help me to turn away from this anger, Lord give me the quite gentle spirit to deal with strife. Father God, give me the words to say and the wisdom to handle whatever situation we encounter. Lord look kindly upon those hurting us and give us the mercy to look kindly upon them also. Father, I know that you will protect us thru all things and will walk beside us on the sand, even, carry us through this valley of darkness and lead us toward the light that salvation brings. Give us character and confidence to deal with our attackers. Help us to show your light, your love, and help us to live as you would have your children to live in this world.

Amen

Considering the Sparrow...

2009-02-01T21:02:00.015-06:00

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Matthew 6:26-27

This week has been a blur...

We went to the Circus on Thursday night. We had fun and went out to have a sit down meal as a family. It had been awhile since we went to a nice (not fast food) restaurant. We were celebrating our 4% paycut! Yes, cut. The economy has finally hit home here. But, what can you do? Nothing. So we celebrated, the fact we have a job and a home that is almost paid for and cars that are paid for and life is good. We have each other and our health insurance... thats all that matters.

On the shopping front, things have been ok. I went last Sunday and scored the Walgreens deals with my gift card. I managed to get a lot of stuff for around 25.00, no out of pocket purchase! YAY! I got:

Froot loops
Rice Krispies
puffs plus tissues
two boxes sandwich bags
two wax paper rolls
Northern tissue
two dove deordorants
two crest toothpastes
the big bottle of Listerine

for a total of 23.99 my savings were 22.42 with coupons, sales and wag. coupons! Not too sure on the math but I think that would be 48%.

I also went to Winn Dixie because they had the canned veggies on sale 20/10.00 a steal!
I had set aside about 150.00 to really restock the pantry because is was BARE! I won''t detail all I bought but, I did not give the cashier my reward card until the end, so , I could see the total before and after. It was 211.46 before coupons and sales and 150.96 afterwards! I think that might be 29% savings. Yay!!

I took my Grandmother to the Cardiologist this Thursday and spent around 2 1/2 hours in the waiting room. I have never understood how doctors office visits can get so behind. We took a visit to the Lab and then will have to go back Monday and Tuesday due to a test being run. On the good note it is nothing serious and just a precaution.

We stopped by Food Smart (used to be Western) on the way home. They had their cheese on sale for 1.69 - that is the cheapest I have seen in awhile so I grabbed a couple of bags and probably will grab a few more this Monday.

Saturday was spent working on my grandparents greenhouse and Sunday was spent doing NOTHING. This week proves to be a long one for me... I have two doctors visits, three days of swim practice, two Girl Scout Leaders meetings, and a ton of errands to run. I know that by the end of this week I will be beat.

On a much better note, I am keeping up with my Beth Moore study on Esther. All I can say is that is was another awesome week. Beth really makes you think, Esther is a wonderful role model for Christian women. She had discernment, she was gracious and had a lovely demeanor. The girl had manners. What a wonderful goal, to be like Esther.

Tuesday....

2009-01-27T19:44:00.008-06:00

Today was awesome, I am so enjoying this 70 degree weather.

I also went to bible study again today and it was SO GOOD! Beth Moore just really knows how to speak to you. She really gets down to the nitty gritty and tells it like it is.

One thing that she talked about today that really struck me was that you cannot divorce your history from your future. As you move forward in Christ you must always be mindful of where you have been. One way she described it is that your future and your history both have the same root.. the SAME root. To think that pit of sin leads to my future, my redemption, my savior! Doesn't that just blow your mind?

I told you it was gonna be good!

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to PROSPER you, and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a FUTURE.

Jeremiah 29:11

Let's just say that we made it thru the day...

2009-01-22T20:16:00.003-06:00

Well, we made it thru the day. That's all I have really to say. I guess one of the blessings of dyslexia is that most kids seem to be a couple years behind socially/emotionally. DD really took things in stride.

Praying for His blessing, His wisdom and mercy.

My soul finds rest in God alone: My salvation comes from Him. - Psalms 62:1

Sickees and 1628...

2009-01-21T21:50:00.003-06:00

We are sickees today. I am so bummed that we missed both swim practice and reading class. There was nothing to help it though.

The highlight today was that we began watching Colonial House from PBS. It is a 2003 reality series where they take families and singles to an authentic colonial village and they must live there for 4 months. We watched the first disk and plan to send off for the next one from netflix (Netflix is awesome for homeschooling mommies!). I searched out this program because we are studying colonial times, but Millie just doesn't seem to absorb it very well. We have been to the American Village in Montevallo so she gets the whole pilgrim - Mayflower topic, but never really clued in to what happens after Jamestown. So maybe this will help her assimilate. Fingers crossed.

The picture above is from the American Village program on the first Thanksgiving.

I did start Bible study on Tuesday, it was so great to be back with the Ladies! Our little group has grown so much. I was happy to see each one, but most of all happy to see Beth Moore on the t.v. OH Beth, how I have missed you. I need your words and encouragement. We are doing Beth's new study on Esther: Its tough being a woman. It is gonna be good.

Here's praying that we are well tomorrow as we have a funeral that I must attend. I need to be there to offer my condolences...

Right Now...

2009-01-17T22:43:00.007-06:00

Right now:

I am really in a foul mood.

I should really be asleep.

I am wishing that we could make it to Church tomorrow, but I have a nasty illness goin' on.

I am thinking about blogging on my incredible deals from the after christmas sale at Academy Sports.

I am looking forward to Tuesday Morning Bible Study. I have missed the Ladies the last few months.

I am thankful for so many things.

I have about 45 things on my to do list and no time to do 'em.

I have 212 snapfish credits and around 600 pictures to print.

I am exactly 5 years behind in my Christmas Scrapbook. Only 1 year in DDs.

I am done whinning.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

2009-01-15T19:02:00.003-06:00

Can I just say we never get cold weather like we are having right now. We live in what I guess would be the deep south. Not quite the tropical weather of Florida, but a climate all its own. Humid is the word I am struggling for. Today our high was in the low 30's and tomorrow if we get about freezing we are doing good.

Tomorrow morning we are expecting 10 degree weather... the really bad news is we have swim practice at 7:30. That should be FUN!

Reading Class

2009-01-14T22:05:00.002-06:00

Today was a great day! We had a wonderful session with Mr. R. DD was attentive and tried her best. I just have to brag on how far she has come.

Right now we are working on Consonant blends and long vowels. The reading is starting to come together.

It is so satisifying to have our hardwork pay off.

Savings Round-up

2009-01-14T21:16:00.005-06:00

Well, it has been a few days since I have blogged. Things have been so busy.

We took advantage of so many Walgreens Sales this past weekend. There were two trips on Saturday including a prescription transfer $25 gift card and one trip on Monday and then Allen went back on Tuesday to transfer another prescription and got another $25 gift card. We are saving that one for this weeks sales!

So we took advantage of the awesome vitamin sale they were having. We all have a 3 month supply now. They had the Viactiv listed as 3.00 off with the 60 count being 5.49 then a 3.00 easysaver coupon combined with a 1.00 paper coupon and total being 1.49! Not bad for an 8.49 vitamin! I only had one 1.00 coupon so I had to settle for 2.49 vitamins for the rest of the boxes... I checked the hang tag on Monday and the 3.00 off Viactiv is good till the 31st of Jan.

We also got 4 cans of Oust for .60 cents. I got the 25% more cans so I really got a good deal. They were on sale BOGO at 3.79 I had two BOGO coupons which I used to get them for .15 cents each.

I did not add up the receipts, but I am pretty sure that I saved around 60% off retail.

Winn Dixie had a transferred prescription coupon for a $25.00 gift card and we were able to get it also, so, for this week my gift card earnings are $75.00. With out of pocket prescription costs at 33.00 for three scripts. Not bad. Target had one last week that is good till the end of the month and we are saving it to use at Winn Dixie on the next prescription that needs to be filled. With Allen on 5 meds and me on one it helps out tremendously!

2009-01-01T15:11:00.011-06:00

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2009!

There are so many great expectations and hope filled for this new year. Let's all pray for God's blessing on our country and his Grace to weather whatever storms may come. Wishing you all a safe, healthy and wonderful blessed New Year.

Images : hubpages.com/hub/vintage-new-years-clip-art

Recipe for Ham pot pie

2008-12-30T09:57:00.003-06:00

I did not get a picture of this, but I will try to get pictures of the others.

First let me say that I am a self-taught southern cook. We live in the deep south and I have spent years teaching myself to cook. Trial and error.

Ham pot pie is essentially chicken pot pie just change the meat and the cream style soup flavor and you can any kind of pot pie. We also do turkey, beef and sometimes just veggie.

This is how we are using up our leftover holiday ham.

1 cup cubed ham (cooked)
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can or cup of mixed veggies (frozen makes it a little more soupy) precook fresh
dash salt and pepper
1 refrigerated pie crust

Mix ham, soup and veggies in bowl. Add salt and pepper. Put in deep dish pie plate or round casserole. Cover top with pie crust, cut two slits for steam. Cook 350 until crust is golden brown.

That's it. You could use two crusts one for top and bottom, however that makes it more expensive.

2008-12-29T23:40:00.004-06:00

Here is my first ever Menu Plan Monday..

We plan evening meals but not breakfast or lunch - they just happen. I find that it helps to plan out the evening meal because if I wait till 4 in the afternoon to think about it, I will just give in and order pizza or just serve cereal. This gives me direction for the day.

Monday
Ham pot pie with salad and Pistachio pudding

Tuesday
Stuffed Cabbage in the crock pot, cupcakes

Wednesday
New Years Eve Breakfast for dinner

Thursday
Oven fried pork chops, black eye peas, cabbage, cornbread and carrot cake

Friday
Little league beef stew, cornbread and carrot cake

I will be adding the recipes as we go along in the week.

Thanks for visiting.

Click here to visit Organizing Junkie for her Menu plan Monday post.

Christmas Wrap up

2008-12-29T23:27:00.008-06:00

We had a great Christmas this year. I had been under the weather but managed to rally myself to enjoy the season.. nothing like a pre-Christmas visit to the ENT.

We managed to have only four family gatherings to attend this year. By the time Saturday rolled around we were tired of the traditional holiday meal. So, when we had our holiday celebration dinner Saturday night with close friends we ordered pizza.

We enjoyed so much about this year. I would say that it might be one of our best. It was nice to catch up with old friends and family that we hadn't seen in awhile. DH was home for 5 whole days and that was awesome.

To round out the weekend, we went to the local drive in

to see Marley and Me. I will warn you right now that soft hearted people and small kids will be terribly upset at the end. We were caught off guard and floored. Everything we had read said it was a "family movie" great for the holidays.... let's just say that I was glad we did not see it on Christmas day, because we needed several tissues and a frank discussion about what happens when an animal is too sick to be saved. Even though, DD said that she still liked it and wanted to own it when it comes out.

Images : http://hubpages.com/hub/vintage-Christmas-images

2008-12-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

Our Story...

2008-12-21T20:23:00.008-06:00

My daughter has been diagnosed with moderate to severe dyslexia. This is our story:

We really didn't recognize the signs at first. There was a small speech impediment, but therapy cleared that up in just six months. And we were on our way to preschool. The real problems began in preschool. She never really got the ABC's down, but I thought nothing of it, but when she started writing her name in mirror image, I had an inkling that there might be something there that was wrong.

Kindergarten was a NIGHTMARE.

Long story short, we had a teacher who was GREEN and didn't know much about learning disabilities. It became my job to educate her and educate my child at the same time. I became a fighter, my daughter's best advocate. They hated to see me coming. After several months trying things their way, they decided that all they really needed to do was to hold her back one more year and that would fix it. Of course, I said "Umm, no I don't think that will work." They were flabbergasted that I did not agree. In fact every time I saw the principal she reminded me that it was my choice to retain her, but it was in her best interest. Finally, when it became very obvious that the system was being close minded and would not even consider testing her for THREE years, I said goodbye - we became Kindergarten drop-outs.

Many hours I spent educating myself. Devouring book after book, article after article, searching the internet, talking to doctors, foundations for learning disabilities one thing after another. Finally, a year later I heard about the Scottish Rite Foundation. They test children for Dyslexia for free. I found our local chapter in Birmingham and scheduled a test. I felt I knew what the results would be, but not the severity.

What I felt that day was strangely relief. The rest of my family felt fear. I was relieved. I questioned what I was thinking... How could anyone be relieved that their child has a severe learning disability? What was wrong with me?? Then I realized that the relief came from the fact that I knew what was wrong, it was something that I could attack, something we could work around. It was not the end of the world. Many, many other mothers would gladly trade disabilities with me.

I thanked God for dyslexia.

Yes, I thanked God. Why? Well, because he made me with a purpose and this is my purpose. I am her mother, to be her teacher. I am her mother to be her protector, her advocate, her champion, her cheerleader. God had given me a job. The most important one next to raising her, it was to teach her.

My next obstacle was finding someone to help me teach her. She needed professional help, someone trained to do what I was not and the person who will teach me to teach her. Again, I searched. Asked everyone I knew, the former teacher in Bible study, the friendly lady on a field trip, even going so far as to search out the tutor businesses in the phone book. This process also took a year, we prayed for our tutor/therapist and then we prayed some more. God answered our prayers, we found our teacher, our mentor, the person to lead us down the road.... and while the road is not always straight or even yellow brick, it is a path that many others have trod before us and sadly many more behind us.

I hope to encourage just one person, or help someone find the help they need by telling our story.

And that is why we face each day with Courage, Confidence and Character.