Remembering Beth

I have been linking up with Emily's Tuesday's Unwrapped for the last couple of weeks. I've gone back and forth wondering if this should be linked. I decided I'm linking it. One, it is Tuesday, and today is a very important day to me. Two, does everything linked have to be all happy? It can be bittersweet, can't it?

On May 12, 2003, my daughter Beth was born. I was 24-25 weeks pregnant, and I knew when I gave birth to her that she was already gone. I've posted about her before here. Why is the loss of a child bittersweet? Well, I think that when Jesus finds you in your pain and brings you out of the unthinkable, then yes, it becomes bittersweet. I would give anything to have Beth back, but I would not take anything for what the Lord taught me in her passing.

I wanted to post this to make sure she is remembered. I don't get by her grave site as often as I should. Honestly, I'm embarrassed at how long it's been. Fep keeps reminding me that we haven't put flowers there in a long time. I may not get by her grave as I should, but I'll never ever forget. She would have been 6 years old this year. Happy Birthday, Beth!

Elizabeth Reagan Stewart

May 12, 2003

Motivate Me Monday...

I don't usually link up with Motivate Me Monday, but this week the list maker in me just wouldn't let me miss it. Yes, I am a list maker. I love making to do lists and I love making schedules. The problem is that for the past year or so, I have a lot of trouble implementing them. I used to be able to make a schedule for the season of life I was in and seem to follow it to a "T". I just really don't know what has happened? Am I just looking back at life with "rose colored glasses" OR have I become, dare I say it, lazy in the running of my day? I'm still trying to figure that out. I will say that despite my inability as of late in keeping things running like clockwork, I still manage to get everything done on my weekly to do list. The house gets cleaned, groceries get bought, etc., etc. etc. Here are my two lists that I copied and pasted from Microsoft Word in my computer:

The Daily Schedule:
(6 AM) Morning Routine:
Coffee time & computer (30 min.)
Start laundry
Quiet Time
Shower & Dress
Wake Children
Breakfast & chores
Start School (9:30)

(12 – 12:40)Afternoon/Evening:
Lunch & Break
(1:30-2) Finish School
(2:30-3:00) School done/Chores/Free
4:15 Exercise
5:00 Fix supper and children chores
7:00 Supper, clean kitchen, final house tidy, make next day's to do's


Daily Chores: Other things for Saturday:
Super Tidy clean fridge
laundry organize? a closet, a drawer, etc.
project?

Weekly To Do's:
Change sheets, Office Work, Fep's Violin, Cleaning, Groceries, Errands

When I look at the above, it all looks so simple. I might add that I homeschool and work part-time for my husband's/our plumbing business. So when you see "office work" that's a lot more than just our personal budget and bill paying. And those are my excuses. Everyone has things in their life that keeps the extra busy. Like Sarah Mae has toddlers and a newborn right now. She's sleep deprived. So as I've said, I am really struggling with everything right now. For example, that daily schedule says that I should have gotten up at 6:00, but I didn't get up until 8:30. Tired from all that Mother's Day love. Most everything on that daily schedule will get done, it just won't flow as smoothly as I'd like because I got up late :( So, I guess I'm off to get caught up on my day! I'm feeling pretty motivated now ;)

Linked at Sarah Mae's:

Do ya think he's just a little excited?

Moose has a birthday at the end of this month, and he will turn 8 years old. I walked in his room the other day, and this is what I saw in the floor...

So, I called him in his room and had a coversation something sort of like this:

Me: Moose. Why are the clothes in your floor?

Moose: That's what I'm going to wear on my birthday.

Me: Ummmmm? Your birthday isn't until the end of the month. You still have 25 more days.

Moose: I knoooow! (excitement in his voice that it's getting closer)

Me: Okay. I guess you can leave them there.

I just hated to kill his excitement, ya know? I don't know if you noticed, but there's a white sticky note on them.....

Yep. He's just a little excited. And I have no idea how he determined that this would be THE outfit. I really wonder about that.........

Stormy

It's 4:00 in the morning, and I've been up Storm Chasing, as The Bob likes to call it. I must admit that one of my weaknesses is being too fearful of thunderstorms. Our weather radio started going off between 2:00 and 2:30 with thunderstorm and tornado warnings. Being that I have my priorities straight, I got up to check the weather online with the National Weather Service and then I visited blogland. Again, I have my priorities. I did check the track of the tornado warning first. About 3:00, my county was under a tornado warning, so I got up The Bob and the children. We have a storm cellar, and being that I am on the overly fearful side when it comes to storms, it doesn't take much to get me down there. The Bob wants to see the tornado with his own eyes before he goes to the cellar. Sure enough, The Bob went back to bed and the children and I hit the cellar. Needless to say, there was no tornado. False alarm. Here is some of the conversation snippets that we had while down there:

"Mom, look at Moose's eye. It's red. Does he have pink eye?"

"Don't touch me. You'll give me pink eye."

"(children laughing hysterically) Let's pretend....."

"Has Aunt Heathahlee ever told you the story about Uncle "M" wearing his hard hat in a hail storm?" (me giggling) And yes, Heathahlee, that still makes me giggle after all these years.

"Do you see that cockroach?" (In which I thought of Daisy and this post.)

"Where DID that cockroach go?"

"(yelling)It's behind my head!" It's been a while since we've been in the storm cellar, and it needs to be cleaned. My first thought at entering the cellar was if the tornado didn't get us the spiders would.....

And finally.......

"Can we go yet?"

Yeah. I think the cockroach did them in. So, now that I'm good and awake, I'm off to bed.

Did someone mention giveaway?

I have nothing to give. I'm cheap that way. But I can direct you to people who are having giveaways:

Heathahlee, who just happen to be my best buddy, is giving away a tassel. A BIRD tassel. Love the birds. She's celebrating her blogiversary. So, give her some comment love and get your chance to win. What shows love in blog world more than leaving someone a comment? Enter here.You only have today left to enter!

Missy at Southern Queen Bee. Another tassel and she's celebrating her ability to take over her sister's blog. Enter here.

Kimba at A Soft Place to Land. Amazing dishes. Not a whole set, but just a piece, I think. Anyway, they're really cute. Enter here.

Star Wars + Legos = Spelling Test

I've mentioned as of late that I'm so ready for this school year to be done! At this point, it doesn't take much to humor or amuse me. We use A Reason for Spelling for our spelling curriculum, and at the end of the week, we play a little game where you move from start and hopefully end up at the finish line after spelling each word correctly. On Friday, Moose and I were sitting down to play our little spelling game, and I said, "Moose, you need to get a pencil or color or something to mark off your spaces." Then I see this....

"Spell the word right and no one gets hurt."

He had it under control. Because really, what says spelling test more than a Star Wars Legos Action Figure???

This post is linked at:

Emily's Tuesdays Unwrapped

Bird Nerds...

I follow a lot of home decor blogs that have bird theme attached to them. Nester is huge on this. Even her blog name is birdy. But this post is not about home decor. It's about my family's love for REAL birds. We like to go...BIRD WATCHING. I think it to be a lost art in today's high tech society. Now. You've got to get those pictures of Jane Hathaway from The Beverly Hillbillies out of your head. We're not that nerdy. We look like this.... It started with Fep in the 4th grade. We homeschool and last year A Beka's 4th grade science had a bird study mixed in. Fep loved it. So between that and the encouragement of fellow bird nerd Aunt Heathahlee, Fep was destined to become a young bird nerd. I think she can just about out identify her Aunt Heathahlee. She can also track sounds, knows much more than I do, and is constantly trying to get picturesof her fine feathered friends.

People and friends, other than Heathahlee, don't understand our love for one of God's little beauties. When is the last time you stopped to admire them?

Summer Tanager (not to be confused with a cardinal)...

(taken by me at our house)

Painted Bunting...
(taken by Fep's bird friend, Mr. Jeff)

Rose Breasted Grossbeak...

(taken by Heathahlee, aka The Bird Whisperer)

There are so many other birds. So many. Grab your binoculars and get out there and enjoy these beautiful little creations.

My Sister's Wedding

I don't know why I'm posting this picture other than to confirm that my sister and I look nothing alike. Nothing. Anyway, my sister's big day was Saturday the 25th. This is a second marriage for both her and her new hubby. My sister was completely devastated when her first husband left her, so I am most grateful that the Lord has healed her heart and that she has been able to trust it to another again. Here are a small sampling of pictures of the big, big day....oh, and just so you'll know my sister has two boys (twins) and one daughter, her new hub has one son and one daugther. They stood with their parents at the wedding.

Girls get ready...

Boys get ready...

The wedding begins...

The wedding ends...

And a new family is created :)

No Security Blanket Needed

I'm here!! I made my flight from Memphis to Phoenix today. I've mentioned I hate flying, right? Not only do I hate flying, but I hate going across the country and leaving my family behind. The Bob and the children stayed in good ole Mississippi as we just couldn't afford to fly everybody out. So, not only did I have to fly which I already don't like, but I had to fly a-l-o-n-e. For those who read this and might not know me, I do not like to leave my nest. Ask Heathahlee. When we went to Nashville recently, I made her drive the whole entire time we were there. I just hate not knowing where I'm going in a strange and foreign land.

As I've been getting ready to go the last couple of days, I've been thinking how I hated I wouldn't have The Bob with me on this trip. He's who I lean on at times like this, and he calms me. He's a great security blanket. And I've felt like a little kid having to go off alone, so I reeeeeeeally wanted my security blanket. This morning I was almost ready to walk out the door, and I thought I'd have a quick conversation with God. So I prayed for safety, and protection, and all that good stuff. And then I said, "And Lord, help me be a big girl." And at that time the Holy Spirit reminded me that I didn't have to be a big girl. He was my Father and I was his child. He would hold my hand. So with that, out the door I went. When I was waiting on the plane for take off, I was still a bit anxious, so I thought I'd get out a devotional that I've been going through the past year. I read my little daily devotion, and a few minutes later I looked up the additional scripture that went with the devotion. It was Philippians 4:4-8. I'll quote what completely calmed me, and has had me cool as a cucumber ever since. "...The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." And with that I was reminded that he was, indeed, holding my hand just as He had promised. With the Father holding my hand, I didn't need anything else and Peace was mine.

{This post is linked at Emily's Tuesdays Unwrapped }

Also, don't miss Daisy's first ever giveaway. If you don't know about it, scroll just a smidge to the previous post.

Quickly....

Popping in quickly to say that Daisy at Laurel Wreath is having her first ever give away. Go see her. Come on. You know you love a give away :)