Time is getting short

Time keeps getting shorter. I keep looking at the calendar the the days keep slipping away. Until this week it felt like our move date would never come. Now it feels like it's coming too quickly. Ugh!

I have been doing tons of laundry so I can pack it away. I need to pack up my kitchen, but can't decide what to pack. This is the part of packing I don't really like. I can be very organized ..... until it gets really close and then I have a hard time knowing WHAT to pack and when. It's more a product of stress than anything else. I consider myself to be a pretty well organized person. And then the stress hits and messes that all up!

Now I need to pack up the office supplies. I want everything to be packed up by the time everyone shows up to load the moving truck. I have been involved in helping people move, in the past, where they had not packed anything at all. Talk about crazy. I just couldn't wrap my head around that. And I was a teenager then. I found that we get a lot more help when we have everything packed in boxes and ready to go when the crew arrives. It makes life so much more simple .... for everyone!

So, today we will spend getting rid of all the trash that is leftover from the previous owner. He left lot of junk. Every year we have taken loads to the dump. Today will be our last one. Dealing with another person's trash is no fun at all. I am hoping to leave the house in much better condition than when we moved in. Floors will be vacuumed, cupboards will be wiped out, bathrooms will be clean, and the garage will be swept.

Even though I'm excited and thrilled about our move .... I am nervous. Starting over can be a little scary sometimes. The questions roll through my mind .... will I find a dear close friend in the new area .... will I be able to find my way around quickly .... will my children make friends quickly and feel at home .... I guess we will find out soon!

Todd's not done yet!

Yesterday we were given some very disappointing news. Todd needs one more class to graduate. He hung his head and sighed. He's been working so hard to get his degree and now it seems there's a road block on every side. It shouldn't be this hard, but he transferred schools several times. He sent an appeal to MO Western last week and we prayed hard that it would be approved. Yesterday we found out that is was denied. He has to take yet another class. Our prayers did not fall on deaf ears! Heavenly Father sees the bigger picture and knows what we truly need. If the appeal had not been denied we wouldn't have heard about another waiver he could get.

Todd works for the Air Force. He's in the Air National Guard. Currently he is working in HR and does not enjoy it. That doesn't even begin to describe how unhappy he is in his job. I'm being nice. They were very kind when the man came back from Washington, D.C. and took his old position back, Todd's job in CE. Instead of getting rid of Todd they found him a new position. THAT was a WONDERFUL blessing! Especially in this economy! I have reminded Todd and myself of that several times. We are truly blessed.

He got a new job in Jefferson City, still with the Air Force, working with the Partnership Program with Panama. He will be utilizing his Spanish daily, which he LOVES to do. Okay, love isn't a strong enough word either. He gets giddy when he uses his Spanish skills. He's like a little boy in a candy shop!

The new job is an Officer's position and is funded by the Army. They don't usually let enlisted hold an officer's position. There is a waiver for that!! So, we are waiting on the waiver.

Once he has his degree he can go to Officer's school (AMS - Academy of Military Science) and then he will be an officer and can hold the position.

The new waiver we found out about yesterday would allow him to be an officer without a degree, with conditions that he finish his degree within a certain amount of time. We are praying HARD that the waivers are signed!!

I just got a call from Todd!!! His new Commander is willing to sign the degree waiver!!!!!! Hallelujah!! Prayers are being answered!!

When Heavenly Father closes a door....he truly does open a window! I mentioned to Todd yesterday that maybe we needed this trial so that we could find the new waiver. There is always a reason, we just can't always understand it a the time.

The new and last class he is looking into will possibly be August through October of this year and AMS in January 2011. Please continue sending up your prayers in our behalf! We appreciate all the love and support!

Home Schooling

This topic has been floating around in my mind for the past couple of days. I have a handful of friends who Home School their children successfully. They are amazing women, wives, mothers and many other things too! Their ability to teach their children daily in addition to the normal everyday tasks is inspiring.

There are those individuals out there who think that a child who is home schooled will come out socially awkward. I think it's just the opposite. A lot of times these kids come out more well rounded and more intelligent. If you haven't noticed, there are kids in every public school who are socially awkward. I don't think it has anything to do with whether or not a child sent to public school or is home schooled at all.

I have been frustrated to find myself in conversations with others who very vocally condemn and degrade those who choose Home Schooling. Sometimes they have the gall to say these things, unknowingly, in front of my dear Home Schooling friends. I cringe inwardly when people talk down about a choice that others have made. It frustrates me and I wish I could bring their attention to the fact that they have just said something offensive and hurtful.

While I agree that we all have our opinions I also feel that we need to be careful about how we share them. I have very strong opinions about many things, but I try very hard to say them in a kind manner. Now, I am not perfect at it, and can say that I have offended my fair share of people, but I work on it constantly.

I had once thought I would home school my children. I was very certain that they would NOT attend public school. I had very strong opinions about sending them to such vile places and refused to think that I would do otherwise. Then a dear friend asked me, in the most kind and loving manner, if I had prayed about my decision to home school. I had not. I didn't think I needed to.

I pray about every major decision in my life, why wouldn't I think to pray about whether or not to home school my children? I took some time to ponder and pray and was blessed with a very clear answer.

All of my children have been attending public school. I've found that I don't have the temperament to handle home schooling. Sending my kids to school has been a blessing. Two of my children have needed extra help or special services to help them along. If they had been at home, I wouldn't have been able to give them that.

To all the successful Home Schooling Mom's out there, I salute you! You are amazing.

Who we are

Today I am so proud of my children. I'm proud of the people they are. There are times when I think I want to strangle my children...don't we all! Most of the time I enjoy them. Today I feel extraordinarily blessed to have them.

There are times that I am disappointed in the way my children choose to act. I know they have been taught better. But most of the time I am pleased with them. Today I am grateful that they are so creative, funny, happy and full of life. I'm grateful that for the most part they are respectful towards others, they are kind and considerate.

A large part of why they are the people they are is due to our beliefs: Our knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father who cares for us, and blesses us daily. Our knowledge of a Savior who died for us, so we can repent and be clean and return to live with our Father again one day. A knowledge of the purpose of this life and why we are here.

Our beliefs help to shape us, and mold us into the people we are meant to become. I can thank my wonderful parents for giving me a firm foundation to build upon. It has truly shaped and molded me into the person I am today.

Vaccinations

I just received a bunch of emails from the local Autism support group. There are a few moms who are looking for doctors who will administer the MMR vaccine in separate shots. In some of the replies, of course, there are articles attached talking about how safe the vaccines are. I wanted to share my opinion with these Moms but realized that I have really strong opinions on this subject and do not want to offend any of them. So, I decided to blog about it! Here are my thoughts:

I think whether immunizations are safe is up to interpretation. They are safe for many people, but not everything is safe for every person. People are allergic to medications that others can take with no problems at all. My son has an intolerance to wheat, gluten, dairy, and casein. I can tolerate them just fine, but he will become sick.

Many doctors say that the immunizations do not cause Autism, but there is also a lot of evidence that suggests that it might be a trigger that causes the symptoms to come out. From what I understand, those who have Autism are genetically predisposed for it. That means that anything can trigger it. For my son, it was falling 7 feet and hitting his head. For some of my friends, it was the immunizations. I have one such friend who's son started having seizures the day he got his first MMR shot. Coincidence...I think not.

I have been blessed with a fabulous MD who fully supports not vaccinating my children. I have one with Autism and one with ADHD and even he feels that it wouldn't be safe for them. He highly recommended that I do not get them immunized until later in life.

The way my doctor explained it was that the dose in the shot is even more than what a normal adult would need. That's a huge amount for a tiny body. They give these to babies...in a cocktail of 2-4 different ones. No wonder our children end up with fevers and such afterwards. Now, I know some children don't have any problem at all. But that doesn't mean that others won't have problems.

Anyway, I'm just glad to know that we can opt out if we feel that it's right for our family. It's a hard decision, but I can say that out of my five children the healthiest one is the last, the one I didn't immunize at all. Lyssa has not had one immunization. She has only visited the doctor once in her 20 months. She has had a slight cold twice, but was never as sick as the boys always got at this age. It's amazing how sick Max was at a year and 2 years old. He was constantly sick and constantly had ear infections. It was horrible. We went through several different kinds of antibiotics for him in a year's time. They wanted to put tubes in, but I didn't feel it was right. I'm so glad I listened to the Spirit.

I wish I understood back then that I had many more options! Now I know.

Now they are giving the option to give the MMRV. It includes Measles, Mumps, Rubella and now the LIVE Chicken pox virus. I instantly get shivers down my spine. It isn't right for me and my family. I do know many who have prayed and know that their children need the vaccines and I support them whole heartedly. We can never make another person's decisions and we can NEVER know what will be right for another individual. It just isn't our place. I'm glad I only have to make the decisions for my family.

May the Spirit guide us in all our decisions.

Be Positive!

So many times we are too hard on ourselves. We only see those things we need to improve upon. We try each day to be more kind, more patient, more productive, more loving, more understanding. These and other qualities are noble and good, but do we neglect to see the good we do.

I remember a time when all I could see were the negative things about myself and I felt terrible. I was depressed. Todd made a good point. He told me to look back in my life and think about where I was in my teens, or early twenties. He told me not to look at how much I needed to change but how far I had come. Such wise words of wisdom. If we only focus on all the things we need to do to become perfect we would never see what our Father in Heaven sees. He sees our progress. He sees how we have changed over the years to become the wonderful person we are today. There will always be things to improve upon. That's part of life. I believe we need to take the time to see all the good we do. It will strengthen us and give us courage.

Satan does not want us to be happy and one of the ways that he brings us down is to temp us to focus on our flaws.

Remember to take the time today to think about all the good things you have done, and then make a plan to do more good.

Crazy

It seems the only time I think of something I want to blog about is when I'm busy getting other things done. I had gotten comfortable in my life here in St. Joe. I have good friends. I am familiar with the area. I can find my way around fairly well. I'd say I'm pretty happy.

Selling and buying houses at the same time can be such a pain. It has gone very well for us, thank goodness. There's a lot of paperwork and a lot of stress....worrying about whether or not the loan for the new house is going to get finished in time. I really don't relish the idea of being temporarily homeless. Sure, we have family and friends who could and probably would help us out if that happened, but it's not something I want to do.

I packed most of the house so we could show the house to perspective buyers. The house was clean and perfect all the time. Once the house sold, I didn't have to keep it perfect and it's not.

I hit the summer slump last week. I have never liked summer vacation. It's hard. I spend the whole time frustrated because the house is mess. I stay up too late trying to find a moment of kid-free time to myself to recooperate. I wake up too early to get kids onto the summer school bus. I'm so busy I can't find the time to exercise. And the cycle begins! So, Monday I got up with determination to exercise. And I did. Thank goodness because I needed the energy. Today I did the same and it turned out really good considering I spend most of my mid morning doing the budget. It's done. It looks good. I'm happy.

I have learned something about myself...a severe lack of sleep + a lack of exercising = a grouchy Mommy! Why do I allow myself to get into this summer rut each year? I know it's coming and yet I do it every time. I am determined to change this so that I can be in charge of my mood instead of my Sleep deprived, non-energetic self.

I am also happier when I make time to spend with other women. Why do I put off taking the opportunity to spend time with my friends? Good question! I get so wrapped up in what needs to get done that I neglect the part of myself that needs to get away. That has to stop!

I went to Kansas City yesterday to see Dana and the kids. We chatted and the kids played. We women need that time with other women. All women...young and old....single and married. We need to make time to spend with other women.

So, life is crazy right now...packing, cleaning, laundry, packing some more, papers to sign, emails to reply to, repairs to do, more packing, Scout camp, taking care of the family...etc., etc., etc. It will calm down again someday, but for now, it's just crazy. The countdown has begun and we inch closer and closer to closing day. We have 5 1/2 weeks until we load up the u-haul. Our last night here we'll camp out on the floor. The next morning we'll close on this house and then drive three hours to Jefferson City to close on the new house. It's exciting and scary all rolled into one. But for now...this is life. Crazy and all!