Valentine's Eve

     I guess in all the snowy and blowy weather this week I managed to procrastinated in the making of Valentines for my children to take to school. Emily, my beloved blonde pre-teen, was blessed with her momma's need to be creative and the boring boxed set of Valentines you casually pick up at the Dollar General will not satisfy. We must have foam.....foam sheet valentine hearts....all adorned with lavish puffy, shiny, and googly stickers, glittery glue, lovely jewels..........(you should see my bar right now.. I need a picture of the carnage). Spencer's earlier comment regarding the "volcanic eruption" that has occurred in my kitchen was...."do you think they went a little overboard?" Well.... probably. Not only that, I am in charge of the party, and I decided in some incredibly insane moment that I was going to make "homemade suckers" --- what a SUCKER I am....really?? In all the madness tonight I was trying to make suckers, get baths, and chase the dogs that got out of the yard. They decided it would be hilarious to run a muck around the cul-de-sac in the mud and slush to add to the excitement of the evening) I was also somehow trying tp get a men's size 13 shoebox to resemble a lovely adorned valentine box-- wrapped in paper for Hayden--so he could bring home all the "sugery" wares brought forth during this lovely love filled holiday!! WHO decided there needed to be a day dedicated to love anyhow?? Aren't we supposed to LOVE always??
     The Lord calls us to Love first and foremost as He loved us. Isn't that the hardest thing to do sometimes? When your feet are aching from wearing rediculous black heeled boots to church on a Sunday morning in the icy slush and having to trapse up and down 800 flights of stairs all over everywhere in creation (that you FBC!!) to deliver your children to their appropriate departments.......... making candy LOLLYPOPS for a bunch of hormonal 10 year olds does not top my list of LOVELY activities for a relaxing Sunday evening. This WAS the day that the LORD hath made for REST anyhow! (Who am I kidding!) OK, enough sarcasm, God knows my heart on this!! :) This was all my own doing. I should have just bought a $3 bag of blow pops and called it good. Oh NO, not me......that would never do!! I have to go overboard on everything I do for my beautiful little darlings. Spencer looks at me in complete awe of my rediculous-ness at least once a day (most days..more!!) All in all, we must love. (even if we DON'T feel like it!) God loved us so much that HE sent his ONE and ONLY to die on that beautiful cross for us. This was TRUE love......Everlasting Love.......Amazing Love!! Is it possible that on this over choco-fied, over goosh-ified, over advertised holiday of Cupid and his clan we could LOVE just as Jesus loved us?????? I dare you.....be like Him. Feel HIS love overwhelming your heart with gladness and joy. We are His first love and HE is mine. This for all my beloved....To all of you with LOVE---Agape LOVE--- on this Valentine's Day Eve 2011. Blessings and good night................

Snow....snow...snow days......

     I am not so sure about these snow days........on one hand..I love NO schedule, HOWEVER, the utter chaos that foreshadows what lurks just around the corner for summer break scares me. Completely scares me to death!!!! Oh and BTW, this blog will most likely be totally grammatically incorrect as I like to write in run on sentences for some strange reason (maybe this is how my feeble mind works...in run on sentences!!.) Today, was a good day over all. We sold one of many many things at the shop we need to sell. It amazes me how much you gather over the course of the years. And for us, that doubles because we have a business to deal with as well. God teaches us specifically NOT to gather things on earth...."where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal"...but somehow, we gather...and gather..and gather...lots of things. (Hence why shows like "Hoarders" and "Animal Hoarders" are so popular!!
     My dear friend Kristen and I discuss this phenom most days. We discuss how we seem to go through and disperse our things, like used clothing items and toys, to everyone we know each season that passes by. But still.....the neverending "Rocky Mountain" of clothing items worn and made dirty (and sometimes not so dirty--if you know what I mean) still seems insurmountable each day. I find this problem to be more of an issues during the winter months. The persistant layers of clothing, lost socks, gloves, hats, scarves......all the adornment of winter....causes me an immense amout of stress each day. The thing I find most interesting is that in the cold months, the children love to bundle up, tromp through the snow, get all wet and muddy.....and then drag all the snow from the outer reaches of the universe BACK into my house. It seems interesting to me that the snowy glop somehow ends up all over the front entry, carpet, bathroom, bedroom, walls, couch.....Then the little darlings slip into another ensemble of warm freshly washed winter wear and sip a warm cup of cocoa by the fireside. The most intriguing thing I have discovered about this whole scenario is that It always seems that in a matter of minutes..they are faunching at the bit to go outside again and the endless process of outside, wet, cold...inside warm, fresh clothes, and cocoa begins yet again. And BY THE WAY....I hate socks. They are evil....they hide from you one day only to appear weeks later in some strange and foreign land you would never expect them to be. It makes me crazy. I wish there was a contraption similar to a microwave that you could just put your dirty socks in....press a button....wait a few minutes..and presto!!! Fresh, clean, beautiful, white socks!! And I cannot tell you the number of days I have send a kiddo to school with "dirty socks" or socks that were not quite the correct size---ya know, when the heel-a-ma-bobbers are pooching out over the back of the shoes. It is a losing battle. If anyone can solve this mystery, they will be worth millions. Too bad it couldn't be me!!! :)  Well, after watching the movie "Wall Street" over the last three days or so (I can rarely ever get to watch a movie all in one day) I am looking for some bright new and fabulous ideas as to how I can make millions and not have to work our business so hard.  The sock thing might just be the ticket to my "fortune". My joy in life is to give, and help others, and love like Christ has taught us to love.......and with that...I must head on to see how much bath water has flooded the floor in the bathroom, try to clean up the insurmountable messes Linny causes me, and referee the endless number of arguments over video games, legos, TV, trucks.....the boys have on a regular basis. Somedays, I wonder if it will be the boys or me ending up in a padded room first!!

and around the "Mulberry Bush" we go.......continuing the never ending circle of life!!!! Blessings!!

And the journey begins...

You may ask.....why the Mulberry Bush? and why are we going around and around and round it?  Well, many years ago when we were still living in our "first" home on Mulberry Street in Enid America, I vowed someday that I would write a book about our crazy crazy life. I guess writing a blog is a start! With now 5...yes that would be five...1..2..3..4..5....blessed young children to raise and a business to run, our life NEVER ever lacks excitement. Our Lord has been good to us, and he provides all our needs. (even when I think that I personally have it all under control....He gently--or sometimes not so gently--reminds me that I am NOT in control. And so this journey begins..........I am going to give this blog thing a try. I just pray that the amusing and amazing times that come our way will make you smile...or be glad you don't live in our house!!! Either way, "God is good, all the time..." and I can't wait to tell you HOW good HE is to us!!!