It's that time of year again!

For colds and coughs that is. Yesterday, I had to take time off work because Little Buck was sick. He was running a low grade fever and had a runny nose. I stayed home so I could make sure he took his medicine and drank lots of water. Today he woke up with a horrible cough. I felt so bad. I wanted to take today off too but was unable. I sent him off to Papa's house with some tea bags and honey. Bug-a-boo has strict instructions to make sure he drinks some hot tea with honey today plus lots of water. Medicine at noon! When we got to Papa's house he had to show him how his cough sounded. Poor little guy! I gave him extra kisses and hugs to last the day with instructions to call if need be.

Although, I stayed home to watch after Little Buck yesterday I did get much need work done. The break away from my normal schedule was great! I loved being home and getting stuff done. While Little Buck rested and watched movies, Bug-a-boo and I cleaned the living and dining rooms. I also wanted to get to the kitchen as well but didn't get that far. It needs a good ole scrub down. I'm planning on Saturday for that if nothing comes up. That will make a full day of hard work scheduled but it all needs done. With all the cleaning yesterday that we got done I still have a long list of things that need done before winter. I just need to see who can help do what. Without planting a garden this year, we are relying on the farmers market. I have to make sure I plan that into my schedule for Saturday. I need to buy some apples and butternut squash to can or freeze for the winter.

Next Tuesday is Hubby's 38th birthday! I started making his card yesterday. It's a first for me. I have never made cards or any of that sort of thing before although I love crafts. This is something new for me. Now I just need to finish that up and find that special gift for him. I think instead of a cake I may bake him a deep dish apple pie. I'll need to add Vanilla Ice cream to the shopping list this week.

Praises for today...

• Little Buck didn't have a high fever this morning
• The living and dining room are clean
• Bug-a-boo's willingness to help
• A boss that understands when I need time off for sick kids

Prayer for today...

• Little Buck to get better
• The rest of the family to stay healthy
• Scheduling to work out
• Hubby back to get better soon
• Cold weather to hold off a few more weeks

Hope you all have a blessed day!

Heavy Heart...wasted time

I have such a heavy heart this morning. I have many prayer requests that I have lifted up to My Father. I never thought being a daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, cousin, sister in law, daughter in law, friend, receptionist, school teacher, co worker and homemaker (and the list goes on) could be so hard. I have been really struggling in the past few months with what I am suppose to be doing. Life is so very hard. It is so hard to know what you want to do but knowing that is not what God wants for you. So here is where I'm at right now. I'm married to the love of my life, we have 2 beautiful children. I work full time (35-40 hours a week) for a Christian Landscape Company 20 miles from home. Hubby works there too! I home school both kids. Our daughter is in forth grade and our son is in K5. Life is great, Right?? Not so fast Junior. Here is the problem...my schedule... I have hardly enough time to get the housework done and spend time with the kids other than school time.

My Schedule

6 am...get up and shower

6:20... wake DD

6:25...Dress for work

6:30...wake hubby and DS

6:40...help DS get dressed

6:45...breakfast for all (cereal)

6:55... make lunches for hubby and I

7:05...get school stuff around for kids

7:15... on the road to drop kids off at my parents and drive to work

7:55... Devotions at work with co workers

8:10...start my day at work

12:15... Lunch

12:45...back to work

4:30...pick kids up

(4:45...run around in town if needed)

5:00...Home- look at mail

5:10...Start dinner

5:45...Sit down to dinner and talk with family

6:45...clean up dinner dishes (soak in sink)

7:00...school with kids (what they didn't get done at Grandma and papa's)

7:45...dishes

8:00...Read to kids

8:20...Ready kids for bed

8:30...kids in bed

8:45...ready myself for bed

9:00...watch TV with Hubby

9:30...Reading (devotions and prayer)

10:00...BED

To look at my schedule it don't look to bad. I really just want more time in a day. I know there is some open time here and there. In those cases I am either helping the kids do work or picking up the house. DD does all the laundry for us and that is a BIG help. I still fold it and we both put it away. At work I have a lot of "wasted time". I think this is what is waying so heavy on my heart lately. I feel like I could be more productive than I am. I do use this time to pray and read. I do a lot of research on the Internet for school and this is also time I use to check my email and read blogs.

My husband use to be an over the road truck driver. After much prayer God blessed him with this job working at the same company with me. This is great! We have worked here together for about a year. God is good! DH said he is "getting the itch" to drive again. UGH! God has been working on him I believe in this area. He told me yesterday he was having "flash backs" of him sitting in a rest area and truck stops in the mid west and west coast talking on the phone with me. I don't think it's Gods will for him to be back in the truck again. I pray for clarity there.

Boy just writing my feeling down has made me feel a bit better. Thanks for reading my feeling for today!

Praying for...

• clarity for DH
• Peace, wisdom and clarity for me
• Understanding
• wood for the winter
• school to go smoothly
• patience
• our pastor and his wife
• our deacons and their wives
• Life Adventure club (starts on the 25th)
• work to be done on time

Praises...

• wonderful neighbors willing to give of their garden
• Parents giving from their garden
• pay raise (unexpected)
• parent's who are willing to watch our children
• Wonderful church family
• safety in our travels everyday

Hope you all have a Blessed day!

Jolene

It's been a while!

Sorry for the long vacation. I have been so busy. I didn't mean to be gone so long. Sometime life just happens. When I started this blog I didn't know just what I wanted to achive here ( I'm still not sure.) For now I'm just going to share life with you all. There has been many things on my mind as of late that I want to share. Now I just need to find the time to get them written. I will be sharing how God has blessed my family and continues to bless us each day. I want to share the many recipes I have and the deals that keep coming my way. How God has blessed my family this year with fresh produce even though we didn't plant a garden of our own.

Until next time~ Jolene

Makeover...are you kidding me???

Well DH and I have been talking about me getting my hair done. Something both of us would love to see happen. After all, I have wore my hair the same way for 9 years. Yes that's right...9 LONG years. I have had it cut here and there but never was it something I liked enough to keep. Do I like my hair the way it is now? No, not exactly. I love that I can "do" my hair in 3 minutes but I don't like the way it looks. It's too Blah looking for me. It's long (middle of my back) and wavy.

I'm wanting to get it cut above my shoulders and have a perm put in. So...I called around to price having that done because well it's been 9 years since I have had my hair done. I about fell out of my chair when I heard:

Lady: Our prices for a cut and perm start at $70

Me: Did I hear you right $70.

Lady: Yes, Start at $70.

Me: Oh start at $70. Somehow I didn't hear the start at $70. What do you mean start at?

Lady: Depends on how long your hair is.

Me: Oh well after the cut it will be above my shoulders. So how much would that cost?

Lady: I'm not sure. All I can tell ya is we start pricing at $70 then go up by 10's.

Me: Well that explains everything.

So now do I want to spend $70 + dollars to have my hair cut and a perm put in? NO way!!!
Well really I want it but not for $70 + dollars. I'm thinking I can get my hair cut for $15 then just by a home perm and have my mom put it in. It will still cost $30 or so but a lot cheaper than $70+. Do they even still make home perms???

DH says just to go do it. My thinking is...I can feed my family for a week or more for $70. How does one justify spending that kind of money on hair?

The best soup I ever made.

I love soup! I'll eat just about any kind of it. Sorry I won't touch pea soup. I'm not sure why but I just simply don't like it. YUCK! Anyway...I made the best soup the other day. I had a bunch of leftovers in the fridge that needed eaten up. It was cold outside, so it was a perfect soup day. YUMMY! To my big stock pot I added a little bit of this and a touch of that...

• cauliflower
• summer squash
• broccoli
• chicken
• ham
• potatoes
• tomatoes
• some mixed veggies (carrots, corn, peas, and green beans)
• maccaroni

I then added the chicken broth and some water. A dash of pepper and a pinch of salt. I love the way it turned out. I think from now on I will add what bit of veggies left over to a ziploc baggie and freeze for future soup days. What a way to save money and use up those lasts bits of food left on the table.

Let me count the ways!

As you all know Valentine's day is this Thursday. I thought since it's the week we celebrate love, I would share with you all the reasons I love my husband.


I love him because:

• He is a Godly man
• He loves me
• He loves our children
• He takes care of us
• He cries with me
• He snuggles with me
• He plays with the kids even when he is beat from working all day
• He helps me when I need it
• He helps teach our children school
• He has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen
• He drove 40 miles to buy me an apple pie from my favorite resturant when I was pregnant with Bug-a-boo. (Bless his heart)
• He does things for me.
• He likes to cook
• He gives me back rubs
• He blows me kisses and winks at me outside my office window when I'm having a bad day.
• He holds me when I'm down in the dumps about something
• He gives me butterfly kisses to wake me up
• He loves nature
• He loves for me to hunt with him
• He loves to work in the garden with me
• His smile
• He loves my burnt grill cheese sandwiches ( I can't make them without burning them.)
• He sings to me
• He makes me laugh

Those are just a few things that I love my husband for. I am very thankful for the man that God gave to me.

Hope you all have a great week!

Sickness, Headaches and other rambles

Sunday we stayed home from Church all day. DH was sick with a sinus infection and both kids had runny noses. We thought it was best not to go to church and pass our germs on to them. I like to share but not bad germs! We all rested up and was feeling better by Monday. DH went to work but wasn't totally 100%. Bless his heart! He is much better now. I have been battling headaches for 3 days now. I'm not sure what is causing them. It maybe my hair. I have really thick hair and it is getting long. Time for a cut!

Our weather is unbelievable lately. We are back up in the 50's today but temps are dropping. It's been raining for 2 days now and flash flood watches are up all over. I have never seen a winter like this. We had thunderstorms come through last night and the night before. I'm praying for those hit by the tornadoes.

My van has died. We are not sure what is wrong with it. Dh took it to a auto place to have it checked and they can't find anything wrong. I went to start it yesterday and there was nothing. We thought maybe the kids left one of the doors open a bit. So DH jumped it with the truck and we came to work. After work it wouldn't start again, so we jumped it agian. The guy at the place Dh had it checked said it could be a number of things but nothing was showing up on the test he ran. Dh is going to look at it today when we get home. I really hope it isn't anything costly. That would really blow the budget.

Hope you all are having a nice day!