Book Reviews!

Ok I know you all love to know what I am reading these days. Well I found a new Author I really like. Karen Witemeyer I actually began with her book Head in the Clouds

I really loved this book. It is set in Texas and not just Texas but in the area of Texas where I grew up. I found myself relating to the main character in her quest to find a husband. It reminded me a lot of how I was in my later teen years helping God a long in his direction for my life instead of following God's leading.

My next book was A Tailor Made Bride

An equally good book although I related better to the characters in Head in the Clouds. Still well worth the read! So if you are looking for something new, something romantic and wholesome check them out!

Life outside:

Just some new pictures from my journeys outside.

Sanity is crafting

Sanity is time spent crafting...

This is my new craft room. For soaps, for cards, for everything that keeps me sane!

Fits and more fits: A lesson learned

One thing is for sure Kerith is a fighter. The Lord continues to use her in my life to give me spiritual examples of my own more "grown up" attitude. Yesterday I put her and Micah down for a nap, well tried to, lately though they seem to want to fight me and fight me. Micah will complain for a minute or two and eventually get out of his bed and I will have to put him back and we will repeat this process for 15 minutes until finally he realizes I am serious about my position. Kerith on the other hand, well first she will be quiet then get out of bed and sneak her way into her brother's room, of course making me put her back but she fights and fights, kicking and screaming fighting, yelling for Daddy to come rescue her because I am a mean Mommy. She will finally get to a point where she doesn't open the door to come out but will throw her fit right next to it to make sure we hear her. Like we couldn't hear her she is like the loudest kid EVER even when she is happy. So in my hour of tending to my twins who didn't want to take a nap I was begging God for something sort of relief. I mean I do have three other kids to tend to. Nothing came although during my prayer God pointed out that I often act like Kerith when it comes to his plan for my life. What's that Lord? I fight him kicking and screaming because I think my way is better. I'll yell I don't want to forgive people who have hurt me. I want what she has, a nice car, a size six body. AH. I want, I want, I want. When we were going through our infertility I desperately wanted just one child and he gave me Aj and took him back to heaven after a few short weeks. Him time, his purpose for my life. I am now a Mom to five living children and one in heaven after dealing with infertility, after hearing the doctor say I would always need medical help in order to have a family, God chose to give me twins without any medical help and another blessing after that how is that for God's way over the doctors or for that matter my own? Yeah I am a lot like Kerith in my walk with the Lord. I fight him over my wants and desires when really I should surrender all to him after all hasn't he shown me time and again his way is always better?

Peaches!

We were able to brave the heat this past Monday and pick some peaches! This is one of the kids favorite things to do in the Summer, ok mine as well.

Quote for the Soul

" remember, don’t let people’s compliments go to your head and don’t let their criticisms go to your heart. The degree to which you do either of these things, is to the degree to which you’ll be ruled by what other people think of you." Lysa Terkeurst

Such a powerful quote it needed it's own post.

This and That

I'm down 1.5 lbs. Can I get a YAY!?

Micah broke into my craft room this morning and dumped out all my glitter and embossing powders :( he now has glitter all over his feet and my craft is in an unusual color of blue and black. Not an overly huge deal except for the fact that Eric worked his booty off moving all my crafts into the spare room down stairs so I could have my own personal space and now I have to clean it up. Oh and I seriously love my husband for allowing me to have a room solely devoted to my crafts. He even bought me a six foot craft table so I didn't have to keep working on the little 4 ft card table. I love him. *GUSH*


We harvested our first slicing tomato last night. All I can say is YUM! I promptly added some pepper and ate it. Nothing beats fresh tomatoes. Nothing.

I am going to need some cheerleaders...

We are almost done with week one of operation healthy Carissa. I am on a 1700-1900 calorie diet along with Eric. Working on clean eating and exercise. My goal is be be active at least 20 minutes a day and burn at least 200 calories. Seems easy enough right? Like many things it is always easier said than done, although it does help to have a garden where you can pick fresh veggies every day. The exercise is where I struggle and struggle A LOT! I don't enjoy exercise unless it is in the form of swimming or basketball and I really STRUGGLE with it when I am SO tired because I have slept all night. So if I ever come to mind say a prayer. Change is hard and I won't lie I hate change.

Reveal Wonder Mop

We decided as a family to see if we could find an alternative to the pricey refills Swiffer Mops bring to our family, so we purchased a Reveal Mop made by Rubbermaid. I should know as a former Tupperware consultant that anything rubbermaid will lead to disappointment but I had hoped to save money. Sadly the reveal mop is not meant for my family of 7. It is is hard to maneuver, the bottle that holds the cleaner falls out over and over again making your mop job take twice as long, and the spray feature doesn't cover a lot of space. In my opinion it is much more for people who don't have high traffic areas or hardwoods. So my search will continue and I will take the mop back. I had high hopes.

PS. I do not get paid anything for my product reviews, no free products or checks in the mail. Just an honest opinion from a Mom of five.

Today's visitor

I get a kick out of living in farm country there is always a new bug that I haven't seen.
This bug visited us today. Right on the front door.

quick google search led me to find it's a moth. I must say compared to the brown moths I am used to seeing this is by far the coolest moth in the moth family(sorry I am not a bug guru)

God's creations are amazing things!

Crazy Week-Texas recap part 1

I have never had jet lag before but man this week has been rough trying to get back on schedule. The twins slept on a mattress at my Parents and now they don't want to sleep in their cribs anymore SO we are getting closer to having all four in one room. Crazy right?

What I learned on the drive down to Texas:
Titus IS NOT a good traveler. He cried much of the time. Eric and I did survive, barely.
If Kerith is not TIGHTLY buckled into her carseat she will climb out.
Kerith and Micah like to unbuckle the carseat in the third row. We found this out when we were almost in an accident.
ALWAYS and I repeat ALWAYS make a hotel reservation PRIOR to arrival. It is MUCH MUCH to stressful to travel with five kids without some sort of plan in place. (Ask me how I know)
Ice Cream can calm down any situation even when it is 8:30 and there is no room in the Inn's.
When chaos occurs sometimes you just have to laugh it off.
Southern Hospitality is THE BEST!
Southerners are MUCH MUCH more friendly to my large family than people in the midwest. It is just a fact.
and last but not least Whataburger still makes a slammin' good burger!

Happy Birthday America!

Contentment...Really?

It's Friday. I use to live for Friday's. The weekend, time off, sleeping in, oh the bliss. Now every day starts with whining and coffee. Must not forget coffee. I bet you think I am speaking of my childrens whining but really I am referring to my own. God has been working on my heart lately in regard to whining and comparing. Comparing equals whining in my world. I want turns into I need and then turns into gotta have it now, and when it doesn't happen I become bitter and angry. Some people say the grass is always greener on the other side, a wise person said the grass is always greener where you nourish it. I am guilty of overlooking my own blessings when I see God has blessed someone else. Do you do this as well? I believe we all have a time or two, for myself it seems to be more often than not and I really desire to work on changing. I think 1 Timothy 6:6-7 says it so well.

6.Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. ⁷ After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it.

True godliness with contentment. I need to grasp this and pound it into my heart. I've got a long way to go. Praise the Lord he isn't finished with me yet!