Just Our Thoughts

No, not here, but over here:

I plan to enter, how 'bout you???

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

My life has been crazy lately and yet not really. I don't really understand it, actually. It seems as if I have no time for anything. I'm not blogging like I usually do, but that might not be a bad thing; for a while there I was blogging A LOT!

So settle in with your coffee (or other beverage of choice) and have a visit. You can read about our dates this week here.

I haven't had time to read this week. I've been busy preparing for Simply Sensational Divas Review Launch Party. At this point we have about 20 giveaways and 10 or more products / books being reviewed throughout the month of August. I am only doing part of the work required to get this party off the ground and I am feeling a little overwhelmed, but so very excited. Please stop by and check us out, enter some giveaways and share some linky love.


This coming week is pretty empty so far. I mean, it never takes long to fill up, but there is nothing written on the calendar so far. That's a good thing. I need to catch up on some housework and some sleep. I don't wanna get what DH has. He's so sick. And up until today, he's been doing the laundry for me. I need to get back on that. Next week is the start of a new month so Flylady starts in Zone 1 again. Zone 1 is the entrance and porch area. It needs my attention, badly! Oh, and I need to start the new month of Regina Leed's One Year to an Organized Life. I need to find a focus for the month and post about that as well as recap last month. (Did I have a focus last month? I don't feel like I focused on ANYTHING last month!!)

You'd think that by now, we'd have a good routine going. J's been off work now for 7 months. Well, I guess we do have a good routine going, but it is very very different than (or seems different than) most people's routine. Maybe I just need to get comfortable in this routine. Doing that means to me that DH will then get a job and I'll have to get used to and comfortable with a new routine again! We go to bed so late (between 12 and 2 AM) and we get up so late (between 8 and 11 AM). It seems the day is shot before it gets going, but we do make the best of our long evenings (sun is still shining at 10 PM) when we are feeling well by doing gardening in the cool of the evening.






















Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Ok, Ms Christi over at My Chick Flick hosts Date Night. Here's my post:

My DH does the grocery shopping. Every week he goes through the flyer and circles the deals and the things that we need. Then he goes to the store and gets the groceries. I don't. I mean, sometimes we all go, but for the most part this is the job that DH has taken on.

And I love that.

I love that he thinks of things that would make the rest of us smile. Chocolate one time. Ice cream bars another. Fresh fruit - strawberries and cherries. This week he brought me carnations! They are so pretty. He doesn't buy me flowers very often, at my request. Seriously, I love flowers but cut flowers die quicker than I can kill them, so I'd rather he buy me a live plant. But every once in a while, it is nice that he comes home with a bunch of carnations. (And trust me, they are expensive in our little town, because I've considered purchasing them for myself a time or two and didn't because of the price.)

Now, that wasn't really a date night but I thought, "hey, if that's all I get this week, at least I know he was thinking of me."

Wednesday morning he says to me, "Hey, why don't you get a sitter and we'll go for supper tonight?" So I found a sitter and was looking forward to a quiet evening with my man, talking and just being together. Well, as it turns out the new firetruck arrived at the fire hall just as we were getting ready to go! I was kinda bummed. I thought, great, I get to hang out with fire fighters (and if you've read here long, you know I love my fire fighter family, but I wanted a night with J) and look at a fire truck. I wasn't bummed long. J was so very excited; like a kid at Christmas over this new fire truck. All the fire fighters were! And I can't really blame them; it's a nice truck!

So then we all went to the Legion for Wing Night! J and I had never been to Wing Night, but apparently that's the thing to do in our little town on Wednesday nights. There are a lot of people there. We had a great visit, laughing and talking with the others. We dawdled over our meal, even staying later than the others to visit with a mother and grown son that came in late. I enjoyed my date night that culminated in J rushing home from the fire hall (after dropping me off at home to relieve the babysitters) to rescue me from a possible intruder! (My knight in a rusty suburban!) But that's another post, maybe.

Thursday morning Grandma Irene came and kept the five children so we could go out for lunch. We went to Shorty's. It wasn't a great date though; J's so sick. He says that his WHOLE body hurts - fingers, toes, soles of his feet, his scalp, back, gut. Everything. It was good to get out with just J though for a bit.

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Our summer fun this year has been swimming. We have never owned a pool of any size and never really thought about ever buying one. But we've have the kiddie splash pools and such things. This year DH decided that we needed a bigger pool; he saw one on sale. So we put the money out for it.

I am so very glad that we did! The children have been in the water every day since we bought it. A couple of the warmer days, I've been in too. I'm surprised that DH hasn't been in at all since it was his idea and I thought he was buying it for him to use too.

At first I was a little frustrated with the water in and out of the house and the towels being used once and tossed on the floor. I decided that my anger wasn't going to make a difference, so we came up with a solution; there is a room at the top of the stairs that has a railing that they can hang their wet stuff on to reuse it later in the day. And the wet floor, well, it dries.

I am thankful for DH's decision to buy the pool and for my decision not to be frustrated by the extra mess.

(Click on the button to go to Spiritually Unequal Marriage for more thankfulness.)


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

I woke up late.

I drank coffee.

I mowed the yard with Baby R on my back.

I collected all that cut grass and spread it in the garden.

I drank coffee and water.

I hugged my kids.

I said a prayer for Baby Stellan and hugged my Baby R. (From what I can gather, Baby R and Stellan were born 2 days apart in October.)

My dh told me to hire a sitter because he wanted to take me out for supper, so I hired a sitter (well, two actually; a pair of sisters comes).

We had wings at the Legion with some of the other fire fighters.

I got to see the new fire truck that just arrived today and will be in service by Sunday night!

I ate way too many wings and I want more; how sad is that!

I cleaned up the toy area in our living room.

I twittered.

I blogged.

I used the phone.



Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

I love finding other Canadians in the blogging world!

Life Without Plastic - a Canadian company, I want their stainless steel tableware and juice jug. I need to explore it more!

Glimpse Reviews - Canadian Moms Bringing You Great Canadian Products.

Canadian Giveaways - She is still pretty new, but she's good! She's got lots of giveaways listed.

And a health related link:

Oil Pulling at Earth Clinic - Gonna try it; can't hurt.


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

It gets me every time. I always have tears in my eyes through the whole thing. It is a Christmas one; I love Christmas and I love kids; maybe that's why. It's the episode where the 4077th is hosting

Korean orphans to a party in the mess tent while attending a seriously wounded soldier in the operating room. Maj. Charles Winchester becomes the Christmas turkey when he refuses to chip into a party with the large supply of goodies he received from home. Meanwhile, B.J. refuses to let a seriously wounded soldier die on Christmas Day.

I wouldn't be able to nail down one part of that episode that "gets me"; there are too many but some of them include:

• the husband and father in B.J. that won't let that man die
• the kind and gentle side of Charles Winchester that we don't often see
• the manly man in Clinger that allows Winchester to know that he knows and keeps Winchester's dignity intact
• the four pieces of fudge given to the four tending to the dying soldier

We ended up watching that episode twice today and I cried both times. And no, I'm not pregnant! (Even though M is still telling people I am! Don't believe her!)


Source: The Supply Tent

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

It is very important to clean you computer screen. And I've found that it is very hard to get the inside of my screen. (No, I'm not having a "blonde moment"!) Trust me here.

http://www.raincitystory.com/flash/screenclean.swf


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

This is currently Little W's favorite song. He loves to sing it over and over.

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Everything should transfer without a problem, but the address to get here now is:

http://www.justourthoughts.com

I lost the blogspot.com!

Enjoy your visit.

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

YouTube - JK Wedding Entrance Dance

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Well, come on in and have a seat.

My book list hasn't changed much from last week. Actually, it hasn't changed at all. I'm still plugging away, but will be moving on to How Cleaning My Room Changed My Life (a children's book) in the very near future (next week).



Check out my Date Night post for a recap on our week and what I hope to do this coming week.

Not much to say today; I'm sick and I'm tired and I'd rather be in bed. But life as a SAHM, doesn't always allow for that. So I'm off to start the morning coffee and get my morning routine done. I'm hoping that doing a few little things will help me to feel better and face the day with a smile. Even though I can't breath through my nose. I do not like summer colds!

Tomorrow is going to be a fun day! It's going to be really warm and the fire departments in our immediate area are getting together at the river for a big barbecue. I love how family orientated our departments are. My kids are going to have a blast. I just need to feel better. Maybe I should have some milk, because W would say, "Milk feel you better, Mommy. Yep."

Unfortunately though we had to choose between two activities (fire department wins hands down). The community is having a teddy bear picnic with games and face painting and lunch provided. We really like attending those community activities too, but we can't do it all.


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Okay, so dates seem to be few and far between right now. And that's okay; I've come to expect that a little with five little ones roaming around here. It's not a sitter issue; it's not a money issue even; it's a planning issue I think. There are ways that we could have a date without spending money or even getting a sitter. But we just fail to plan.

When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Who said that? Do you know? I guess I could do an internet search for it. . . . . . Didn't find anything. Oh well.

Any who, back to planning a date. So, I'm going to plan one. And this is my plan.

Find a sitter. Check!
Get dressed up like I did today.
Go out for coffee and dessert with my guy at our local sandwich shoppe.
That's it. That's all I need.

I'll tell you all about it in my next Date Night post!

So early next week, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday, that's the plan. Grandma Irene has offered to come watch the kids for a couple of hours.




We spent the afternoon and evening at Grandma Irene and Grandpa Ted's on Tuesday. It was a wonderful break that we all needed I think. It was a beautiful summer day; not too hot but certainly not cold. The kids pushed each other on the swing set; W got to play with tractors and see the pigs and cows that he had been begging to go see. J helped in the barn in exchange for 2 pair of much needed pants! Remember this post?? We had supper together and she and I played a game of Scrabble. We hadn't been out to visit this lovely couple for way too long.

I love how Grandpa Ted calls us "Brother" and "Sister". He is a dear man of God, who loves music and sings the old hymns all the time.

Grandma Irene raised five children. (Well, they both did, but you know what I mean.) She knows the stresses and the joys. When I told her about some of the things J and I had been discussing and dealing with she was so matter of fact and ready to jump in to help. Now, Grandma Irene is getting on in years and she does not jump much any more but she sure would love to. She said, "Just call, if you need help. If I can't come right then, I'll send someone else, that I trust. You know," she said, "You can't just get anyone to help; I'd send someone who I know would be a help." I told her, "You know what, if you can't come right then, you can pray, and that will help as much."

Tuesday was such a blessing. And today was a lot of fun.

Today, I spent most of the day away from the computer and with the kids. Well, the afternoon and evening anyway. It was great. J left in the late morning to work on the seats for our bus (retrofitting (is that the right word) van seats to work in the bus) and called asking me to bring something to him. Since I was planning on going out anyway, I thought it was as good a time as any. The kids were so excited! So we ran some errands, had a picnic at the gazebo just down the block and came home.

It was so very hot. When we got home, Baby R was sleeping in the stroller so I left her there in the shade. I told the girls to get changed and I stripped W down. He has (make that HAD) a resistance to the pool. He did not want to get in, but I carried him and held him and stayed right by him. Well, I think I'm going to have trouble keeping him out now! He loves it! And has made so much progress already! I am so excited! When Baby R woke, I even put her in with us for a little bit. We served supper outside because the house was so hot still. The kids got back in the pool for their "bath" and then off to bed. The house is cooling down and it is quiet. Tomorrow is another day to have more fun.

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

I stumbled across Robin's blog and she is hosting a party for all of those bloggers not going to BlogHer in Chicago. (That would be me!) So I thought I'd join the party!

I am LaDonna, wife to J, mom to five here, one gone on ahead of us. I blog about mostly just life around here. I do memes but I'm not regular with them usually. I'm mostly here to have fun, to learn a little, and share what I've learned.

Why not join the party? Cuz if you are reading this, chances are you're not at BlogHer either!

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Being a stay at home mom, I find it easy to get into a rut and the rut seems that much deeper when DH is home all the time too! And as you know, if you read here regularly, I've been down and we've been having some intense conversations (dh and I). Well, the conversation - the open communication - is getting us somewhere. We are working out the issues and it is so exciting. That's not such a simple thing; communication can be hard.

The simple things I'm talking about that have got me feeling more chipper this morning, dispite having a summer cold, are:

new haircut - this was part of my issue, but I'm working with it after checking out this post.
hair done, with "mud" and the whole bit
makeup - more than just mascara
jewelry - the necklace I'm wearing (a gift from Christy, from SmartMom) I haven't really ever wore because it always seemed the wrong length if I used the clasp. So I tied a knot in it and it works!!!! (Think outside the box)
nice sandals - I love my Earth Spirit Shoes from Wal-Mart! Cheap and comfy!

Two other fine ladies joined me on this "mission" today. Check out Stephanie and Christi too (links coming soon)! Well, don't check them out (unless you are their significant other, but I don't think their significant others read my blog)! But check out the girls' blog posts.

Try it. Get dressed up, just because! I did!


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

I found this blog; not sure how, but this post caught my attention. I don't wanna get wrapped up in comments but comments are so nice to get. So I gobbled up Stephanie's post called 7 Reasons I DIDN'T Leave A Comment. Stephanie is the author of Metropolitan Mama. I plan on reading more of her posts as well as some of her favorite blogs (you can find the list here).




Another week gone in One Year to an Organized Life

This week and next in Regina Leeds book are about collecting, sorting and storing (in albums or otherwise) our photographs, both digital and "hard copy". She is right in saying that this process is actually an emotional one, more so (or as much as) a physical one. I'm not ready to tackle this at this point. I do know where all my photos are - on my computer, in a couple boxes, in a drawer here at my desk. And they are somewhat organized; mostly in albums. I have no where to display the albums and so they stay in the boxes.



Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

I haven't really promoted my website very much; I don't do a lot with it, but this morning I did make a blog post over there. Here's the link: http://www.freewebs.com/allthingsbirthchoices/apps/blog/show/1406925-the-rights-of-a-pregnant-patient

I hope that will get you there.

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

I've been wanting to read The Shack for some time now; I don't have a copy and haven't looked for it at my library. But the other day I was going through Brimful Curiosities list of Full to the Brim - Kids Book Giveaway List. I found in there a giveaway of two copies of The Shack. Random Musings of my Life is giving away 2 copies of this book. She has a number of ways to gain an entry and one of those ways to is to send people her way. So, go enter to try win a copy for yourself; and tell her I sent you. :) It's a win-win situation.


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

I'm so excited I just had to share these pictures! J has been working so hard with a tractor borrowed from a friend. Enjoy! I know we will be enjoying the yard in no time at all. He's no where near done! But I didn't realize how un-level the yard was until he started digging! It's gonna be great. The cement pad is where the new fire pit is going to go.







Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Baby R has been miserable for a few days now. Then today I see that her gums are so very swollen and sore and red. Poor baby. I went searching for help and suggestions. A friend linked me to this site. I hope this helps someone else too.

17 Suggestions for helping baby cope


Cutting a New Tooth: Tips Helping Baby

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I have found this really cool game set that I am entering to win. Find it here at Trying to Stay Calm. A very friendly blog with lots of reviews and giveaways.

It's a Bucket Blast - 15 games in one neat carrying case. See it here at Amazon.


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

I love books and I love coffee; I even love books and coffee together. Here's what I've been reading:

I finished If Mama Don't Laugh, It Ain't Funny. I am still working through Who's the Blonde with dh. And I started two new ones: Healthy Child Whole Child and Inside My Heart. I am loving them both. Healthy Child Whole Child is my kind of doctoring; I can't wait to get into it more. Inside My Heart is on my mp3 player and I've listened to Chapter 1 and 2 twice because I needed the message badly.



My husband (and I've bragged about this before) is learning and growing and becoming the man God wants him to be. I want to take back what I've said. Okay, no, not really! I just realized that when he learns and grows and develops and becomes more like Christ, that my dh and my God both require me to learn and grow and develop too!!! And it's hard work! I've come to realize that I'm not who I should be nor do I really want to be who I am. I want to be better. I am not more spiritual than J is, I'm just at a different point, working on different things. And yet our learning and growing is working together to make us a better relationship with each other and with God and with our community. I am actually very excited about these changes and growth in both of us. But it is hard work.



Robin McGraw in her book, Inside My Heart, talks about making choices and to live with purpose and passion. I once felt like that; I lost it and had started to give control to whomever else. I was not consciously making decisions for the best of me and my family and what God would want for us. I was just floating down the river, so to speak. I don't want to do that. I want to live with purpose and passion. Robin McGraw talks about how she always wanted to be a wife and mother; that is me too, I never really dreamed of being anything else. I only took the post-secondary education I did take because I hadn't got married yet. I am re-finding my passion and my purpose; I am going to start again to do my best at my chosen profession. I am going to be J's helper, J's wife.

I was reading some blogs this week and every other one it seemed spoke on the topics J and I have been discussing (and sometimes fighting about) the last couple of weeks. Over and over again, I read things I believed to be true, things I want to put back into practice, things I've known all along that I needed to do. I want to be the best housekeeper I can; I want to be the best wife and the best mother. I want to keep learning and growing and doing better.

Join us for coffee at Home Sanctuary.


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,