Well, here I am, a little drowsy, but awake.  I’ve been struggling with my little resolution that I made in my first blog post, but I’ve managed to get up earlier a few days last week and this morning. I think 7:30 is just right. I can spend some time studying, and get a few other things done, and then get the kids up about 8, although they aren’t up yet this morning. I’m enjoying the quiet too much, but I definately need to get them up by 8:30 or my 3 year old will be extremely difficult trying to get him to take a nap later. 

Studying God’s word and prayer time in the morning is a must. It definately helps get my mind on track and really helps me to get through the day. This morning I was going over our lesson for the adult class on Sunday evenings and guess what it’s about- Study. We’ve been hearing alot about that lately in the preaching too.  I think God knows what we need!  Anyway, I know I tend to underestimate studying the Word, but I know that the times that I’ve made it a priority and spent time doing it every day, my life has  been much easier.  God gave us his word for a reason. It’s not just a good book to read every now and then. It has to be our life. It is our instruction book for how to live our life.

Well, I’ve got to get the kids up and the baby is waking up, so I’ve got to go for now!

Just wanted to say that I did survive Christmas this year. I know I haven’t been on here since earlier last week and I didn’t want anyone to think that I suffered fatal wounds from all the Christmas preparation. Christmas Eve almost did me in and I seriously thought I should just sit down and quit! But, thank the Lord, because I know He helped me through, even though I complained the whole day and even had a few meltdowns. The cookies got made, and placed in thier proper bags along with the candles and other things, and the bags made it safely to thier Christmas recipients that evening. We had a fun, relaxing time with my husbands side of the family and the kids got to play with thier cousins while the baby got passed around so I got a nice break! I gave up on trying to wrap presents untill we got to my parents house and my mom and I were up untill 4am. She had some wrapping to do too, so I wasn’t alone! Christmas day was so nice and relaxing. The kids played with thier new toys they had recieved that morning while I helped my mom get ready for dinner and took care of the baby. We had lots of fun with the family that evening and then everyone slept in late Saturday morning. Overall, it was a very good Christmas and everyone really enjoyed the cookies and candles I made, so I think I’ll be doing that again next Christmas, and maybe think of some other things to add to it.
I hope everyone had a wonderfull Christmas and have a happy, safe New Year!

I really feel like I’m running a marathon this year to get ready for Christmas. Part of me would just like to sit down and quit, but obviously I would regret it if I did!  I had decided to make Christmas presents this year instead of buying them, at least for those outside our immediate family. And, somebody tell me, why does it seem like you can never buy enough presents for your kids? We’ve got plenty of presents for them, but everytime I go to the store, I feel like I’ve got to pick up one more thing. I have been restraining myself though, but my goodness, can you imagine if we had a larger budget for Christmas!  Though, I think next year things are going to have to change in the present department. Our oldest boy has a birthday in November, and then the second ones birthday is in December and our youngest is in September, so this year the two oldest have been having presents trickling in even after thier birthdays and they just think that they need more, more, more!  It’s the same with candy around Halloween time. Now we don’t celebrate halloween, but they still get candy from family and friends, and for a month afterwards they are constantly asking if they can have some candy!! 

Anyway, so I’ve got my work cut out for me this week, although I’m feeling at peace about it.  I need to make some candles and cookies to give as gifts, and then wrap presents, make a chinese dish for Christmas eve, and make my moms present. I’m making her a photo album of the boys from birth till now. She doesn’t have a computer so I know she won’t read this and find out about it..LOL  I think I’m going to do the same for my mother-in-law too. Oh and today we need to put up our Christmas tree!  I did get our other decorations up on Saturday, so that was a relief. I just love putting up our lighted houses! I bought one house every year since my husband and I got married so now I have 10 houses. Well we’ve only been married 9 years, but I bought a couple at a time one year.

Well, I’ve got work to do, so here I go!

Ok, I feel like I’ve been in one big stress ball all week (don’t ask how I came up with the term “stress ball”,, I don’t know). I haven’t been able to get up early except for about 2 days this week because either baby keeps me up late or one of the other boys wakes me up in the middle of the night or both! I’ve had a truck load of candles to get done. Trying to think about Christmas presents,, thinking about decorating, which I haven’t had time to do yet,,, the birthday party on Monday where my house was all nice and clean and now it is on the verge of disaster again already! Kids fighting continuously, probably feeling my stress. Aghhhhh! Yesterday I had had it up to here(holding hand aproximately at forhead level) and probably yelled at the boys way too much, plus I had a huge headache that felt like my head was going to explode…

Oh yeah, and today I have to get some more candles done and take them to the store that I have a display at, and then I have to go work for my brother for a couple hours at his espresso stand at 5:00. I’ll have to take baby with me so I’m a bit concerned about that, but he said it would only be for a couple hours, so hopefully baby will sleep the whole time!

The upside is that I do feel a bit better today. I set my alarm for 7am, but of course certain children did not think I should get any sleep last night, so I ended up resetting it for 8am and I did pull myself out of bed. I started a batch of candle wax melting and then sat down and had some prayer and study time. Kids are still asleep at the moment, although I do need to wake them before 10am,, I take that back, my 3 year old just got up and is now sitting on my lap (-:

So hopefully my next post will be more  pleasant, but I just had to vent a little! (-: