When the checklist gets off

Um, okay. Deep breaths. Today, I didn't get the cleaning done! :( I know you think no big deal, but it is. To me. So, I will try to get it done tonight. Sweet Ben is actually folding the laundry as we speak. We laughed at the quantity of clothing tonight! The blessing- ALLLLLL of those little shirts and pants! Miss matched socks galore. All due to the blessing of a full quiver!

I have been experiencing ADD cleaning. You know what I am talking about unless you are a super woman and seriously organized. But for the vast majority of us-this occurs during the times we need to have our cleaning done ASAP. ADD cleaning results when too many returned Christmas cards that you have no addresses for pile on your calendar, cardboard boxes that Christmas gifts were shipped in became a fort, a garage that is beginning to look like it needs a yellow caution sign around it, and the Christmas baking done on Tuesday didn't get cleaned up last night all needs to be tended to BEFORE you can EVEN BEGIN CLEANING-please say AMEN so I know I am NOT alone!
So, I did get the garage cleaned out today. I didn't clean the house; not yet anyway. If all else fails, we'll eat Christmas Brunch in the garage. Hugs and caffeine as we await SATURDAY!

Tis The Season

Hi Gals! Well we are on the Count down to Christmas aren't we? I can't believe how quickly it has come! This is my favorite time of year. Isn't it amazing that the Son of Heaven came and put on skin-wow! Emanuel-God with us! I was so fortunate to share this with a third grade class this year with a friend of mine, Jennifer! WE had a BLAST!!!! Talk about getting into the Christmas spirit! Going into a secular school and sharing the history Christmas is breathtaking! Their faces are priceless, their hearts are truly beautiful, their souls-hungry for truth. Aren't we all! Whether you know Jesus or not, we all hunger for Truth. Jennifer and I really were the ones that were blessed as we shared-a reminder of WHY we celebrate Christmas! I think the point I came away with was Emanuel-God with us!

My mom treated me to a weekend away and we had a soul spa-a Deeper Still conference in Birmingham. One of my brother's friends got us a ticket and boy was it great! The three speakers were Kay Arthur (she still blows my socks off), Priscilla Shirer(the chic has it going on), and Beth Moore (need I say more...no pun intended-lol). The week before we left, mom gave me the Michael W. Smith cd- A New Hallelujah. Check out the song Deep In Love With You. Beautiful. Now you girls go grab that thing put it on your iPod and tell me thank you later. You will have your own little praise time; I promise!

Now, here are some of my steps to a sane Christmas.

It begins today.

1. Bake ONLY 3 different goodies. Mine happen to be: sugar cookies, Muddy Buddies (not overly Christmas like, but who doesn't LOVE this stuff?), and Buck Eyes.

Sugar cookie is from a mix and the boys will decorate.

Muddy Buddies-easy. The boys can shake the bag!

Buckeyes-I remember these as a favorite "goody" that came our way at Christmas. The boys can roll these little chocolate gems.

2. While baking, I will run laundry. House will be messy and that is OKAY!!!!! My only goal for today is baking and washing clothes.

Wednesday:

1. Cleaning house. Boys have Christmas decorations to make, so they will work on this while I clean. We'll see how it pans out. :)

2. Weds. night I will do the Christmas Cooking grocery run. Maybe. I am getting older you know, so I might exert all the energy I have cleaning. Grocery may have to be pushed to Thursday.

Thursday:

1. Iron-MAYBE

2. Paint ornaments with the boys. We bought the plastic, clear balls from Michaels and some cute ribbon and paint. I will let you know what we come out with! I am a craft gal that doesn't have a plan, just throw some supplies out and let the kiddos go at it! They usually do better than I would have anyway!

3. Grocery-I am TRULY A WALMART gal. Sorry you Publix fans, I tried. I really did. I watched my receipts and I save about $25.00 at least(actually that is a generous figure) at Walmart. I will tell you I DO NOT get my meat at Wally World. I like Sam's or our friends Suzanne and Jeorge for organic meats. You really HAVE to try their homemade jams! I ordered jams for stocking stuffers for family this year.

Friday:

Sip coffee, enjoy family (my brother Brad is coming and we are sooooo excited!), and prep food for a fun and hopefully tasty Christmas morning brunch with all of our family-except we will miss Aunt Brooke and Uncle Daniel, but they will be enjoying time with her sweet family.

Saturday:

Rejoice with family about Jesus' Birthday-I surely need a Savior!

Sunday:

We'll be on the Big Jet in the sky on our way to see Daddy George, and our FABULOUS cousins! We can't wait!

Now, a confessional. We are Dave Ramsey fans. We are not overboard, but thankfully, he has helped us shape our finances very early on in our marriage. I am not sure, but I don't think I am doing my best in this area. Is that weak or what? Okay, I am sure I am not doing my best. We are hitting the envelopes again next week. I really love the envelope system. From what I hear you can do it online, but if you know me well, you know it's a stretch for me to download pictures. :) So, I am actually excited to have the envelopes going again. It is called Financial Peace for a reason.

Now, girl go get yourself that cd or download A New Hallelujah and get going. I am off to start the laundry mountain. I think I need to be secured by bungee cords in order to do this! LOL!

Get your Christmas lights plugged in, turn your music up, and by all means, dance a little as you do your work!

Recipe for Extraordinary Ohio Buckeyes:

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup margarine

1 3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 cups semisweet, milk chocolate chips

Toothpicks for dipping

Line cookie sheets with wax paper and set aside. Mix peanut butter and butter until creamy. Add sugar a little at a time. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll peanut butter mixture into 1-inch balls. Place on wax paper and freeze for 30 minutes or until firm. In microwave-safe dish, melt chocolate chips in microwave on high for about 30 seconds. Stir. Repeat until chips are melted. Do not scorch. Insert toothpicks into frozen peanut butter balls and dip balls in chocolate. Let cool on wax paper. Store in cool place. Makes about 100 buckeyes.

I am Here!

Hello my friends! We have been in a busy place in our lives. Do you know about that? I bet you do. So, if you are a bit busy-here is a hug from me to you. {{{{}}}}} Take a deep breath, go get a warm blanket, cup of tea or coffee, and don't read here any more. Go get your Bible. That's right. Let's get our eyes on Jesus. I am going to do that right now. I miss you all! Leave me a note. I'll be back to posting in a few days.

The 22nd

Today is a special day for these two. Our David is 4 and my Daddy George is 88. There is 84 years between these two fellas, but man do I love them both!!!!! I am so thankful that they share the same birthday!

David,

What a joy you are to all that meet you! You are full of energy and wit. You love K-3 and dance around as you get ready to go to Preschool. Your smile is contagious and your laugh warms my heart. Daddy, Benjamin, Luke, and I are praying that you will know what it means to put your trust in Jesus an early age. You often ask me where God is. I smile as I tell you He is all around. You look for Him as I tell you this and I know soon, you will see Him too. You have a warm heart that loves others. Daddy and I pray that you will love Him with your whole heart! We love you so much! We are so proud of you. Happy 4th Birthday!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Alarm

This morning I set off our alarm. :)

It is so loud, but I like to play a game with myself.

First, you have to know, that I would have loved to have been in the FBI.

Undercover. So, when I set the alarm off, I like to see how calm I can be while I get it turned off. I guess somehow in my mind proving I would have been a great undercover agent.

You know the alarm is loud, really loud. It BLARES loudly in my ear. I just lock my eyes on that keypad and tune out the noise. I am good at tuning out noise. I live with three loud boys.

In order for me to blog about something, I wanted to think how that experience relates to life.

I came up with the world as the alarm and God as my keypad. If I focus on Him and tune out the noise of the world, I am focused and intent on my purpose. What if I took my eyes off of the keypad and tried to enter my code without looking? The alarm would get louder and the chance for me to become frazzled would occur. As long as I focus where I need to and keep my purpose clear, I can with GREAT accuracy disarm my alarm. If I take time to dilly dally and allow my ears to pierce and my mind to panic about what the code is or if I will remember my password when the security company calls I will inevitably get distracted, lose time, and begin punching in the wrong thing. I can't think about a security password for a phone call that hasn't happened yet. I just have to disarm immediately and handle the step I'm on before jumping to the next one.

God desires our gaze to be fixed on Him. He wants my soul, my very innermost parts to rest quietly in Him. He wants me in the midst of BLARING noise to remain stedfast and quiet. To be steady and purposeful-to handle only the step He has brought me to.

May our day be quiet-in the midst of the BLARING noise of the world.

9

Happy 9th Anniversary Ben.

I love you!

The Supplies are Done

Yesterday, something exciting happened.

We got our school supplies!!!!!!!!

We hit Walmart and The Pencil Box.

Everything on the list is in stock right now. Rollback prices. Good deal on the budget.

I was VERY excited with what we spent for two children at the Big School.

They are very excited.

It's beginning to smell like freshly sharpened pencils and BRAND new crayons.

I am getting so excited for school to start for me too. I love this part of the summer when we still have summer, but are excitedly anticipating a new year. New beginnings.

David got his school bag yesterday. We had to review the way to hold it. Not around your neck. It's a bag that goes over your shoulder. :)

We went to Fairhope, AL this weekend. We stayed at the Grand Hotel.

I got a massage. Shhhhhhh.

We went out on a catamaran in the bay.

Rode bikes.

Ate.

Swam.

And of course, shopped.

Pictures will follow.

Now, we're off to work in my room at school. :)

Enjoy your Tuesday.

By the way. I am doing flylady cleaning. I'll fill you in on how that's going later. Let's just say, I have flown, flapped, and flopped, but all in all, I like it. Check it out here.

To Clarify

In my last post, you may or may not have seen that it was I that missed out when the gal came by my house. Thus, leaving me with lukewarm mop water and the feeling of lukewarm faith.

I know that God can work in any person's life with or without me. He is far bigger than I am! However, I was so saddened that I passed up the opportunity to get to know this girl a little bit better. YES, the lesson was completely for me. I had prayed that morning that God would direct my day and surely in His providential plan, the doorbell rang at the appointed time. It was I, that all too quickly shut the door. She didn't see Him in me that day, that is my regret.

Dear Door To Door Book Sales Woman,

Yesterday I prayed that God would direct my day.

Then, I filled up my mop bucket.

I also got the laundry going and had a momentary lull of noise.

Then, you rang my doorbell.

It was not good timing. My hot, soapy water was waiting. My kids were actually quiet. And you were at my door.

I quickly told you I wasn't interested in what you had. I didn't explain to you gently I had not budgeted to buy your books or allow you the courtesy to do your job. I abruptly stopped you before you got to start. My soapy water was waiting. You were interrupting my day. The one I asked God to direct. True as it may be, I didn't need your books. But perhaps, you needed to see Jesus in our home yesterday. I don't say that to make me sound like I am what you needed, but my Redeemer is. We all need Him.

So, I am sorry. I am sorry that I missed an opportunity to be patient with you while you were visiting the country I love. I am sorry that you didn't see a difference in the way our family lives because of WHAT JESUS has done in our hearts.

I am thankful that your salvation (if you aren't saved) doesn't depend on my actions and what I did or didn't do. I am thankful that the Lord will work in your heart at the appointed time, but I do regret that I missed an opportunity.

My soapy water was luke warm by then anyway.

Pray for Hannah Grace

Please continue to lift up Hannah Grace. They just had a princess party for her. She is truly a princess. You can follow more of their story here.

Abbeville

Do you ever find it difficult to have peaceful faith? There are situations and seasons that fly into our lives uninvited and catch us off guard. The difficult times produce growth in my faith. However, the day to day circumstances can often be the biggest hang up for me. Not to say I soar victoriously through the "big" trials of life-oh no. I just mean that today, out of the blue I was slammed into a spiral of inner-conflict that did not remain so inner (I should say). Just ask my dear sweet husband. :)

I know that my peace comes from the Lord. He is my Rock, my Hiding Place, and the gentle whisper I hear in the morning breeze. He is peace to me. I sense it early in the morning on my back porch while I talk with Him or in my "special" room where it is quiet and cozy for even a few moments. I just wish I would savor the peacefulness and gentleness that hovers in those moments of quiet throughout the day. How quickly I can become unravelled. How fast my temper or fears will grip me. I wish I would call upon my Shepherd with more haste so as not to let the one whom is seeking my destruction like a hungry lion a moment of temporary victory.

It shined

David and Luke were playing in the playroom. Then, Ben and I heard THE scream. If you are a parent, you know the sound of THE scream. It is a sound like no other. The volume, the emotion, the pitch-all bundled together to create THE scream. It pierces your ears and tears apart your heart. You hear it only occasionally, but you know THE scream means business. Real business. It marks disaster and reverberates in your mind. It echos through your ears and freezes time.

The two boys were playing dog. David was the dog and Luke was the master. Luke found a bungee cord with a plastic hook that looked just like a leash. Somehow, it snapped David in the face. Directly under his eye and it split open. Thus-THE scream was sounded and we met him on the steps. Luke was as calm as possible and took good care to tell us what happened. How thankful we were to find out that his eyeball was not damaged and that he only needed strips to piece the skin back together. I still can hear it-THE scream.

A call to pray

Today has met me with difficult news.

Hannah Grace, whom we have prayed would be healed, found out that the tumor is back in her brain along with several spots.

Somehow in this dark place, God is whispering to them His presence. My heart is heavy and I would ask each of you to pray. Please.

Life Lately

We have enjoyed heading here to pick blackberries lately. Ben's parents own a farm in Abbeville.

Recently, we had a Lemonade Stand in front of Bellamia. The boys worked so hard in spite of the heat to raise money for a church in Haiti.



We actually flagged cars down on Westgate. A humbling experience, if you've never tried it before. :)

There were a few "sample" cups for the workers. :)

Luke and Amanda were flagging here. She was a cheerleader in high school, a helpful skill for times such as this.

Benjamin and Joseph also had a lemonade stand in front of our house for Haiti.

They worked for a couple of hours. Diligently and selflessly.

With treats like frozen yogurt to help the day feel cooler.

This is a picture of brotherly love. They may have been wrestling immediately after the shot, but here is a glimpse of their hearts.

Luke and my dad are playing golf. Dad is an awesome golfer and is giving Luke lessons. Thanks Dad! We love you.

We'll Be Here Friday Night!

I would love for you to join us!

Gaucho Farms

Meet George and Suzanne-again. They are good friends of ours. You may remember our day at their farm with the lambs. I am proud to say they are participating in the Poplar Head Farmers Market. I hope you get a chance this weekend to go by and visit their award winning booth!








Here is information about what will be found this weekend at the Gaucho Farms booth!


Our Mix-n-Match Vegetable Baskets were a big hit, so we’ll be offering those again this week.
Choose whatever you’d like from our selection of pesticide and herbicide-free vegetables grown from organic seed. The idea is that you can have a better assortment of the items you like best. Pile as much as you can in the basket for only $3. Be sure to wedge in a bunch of fresh herbs, too.

As the garden peaks, we’ll have a good selection including:
Three varieties of squash,
Three varieties of snap beans,
Three varieties of peppers, including pesticide-free bell peppers!
Eggplant,
Cucumbers,
Okra!

Free Bush Scallop (Pattypan) Squash Recipes
These little round squash are a delicious summer squash. They are really great stuffed – similar to a stuffed pepper. Pick some up this week, along with a free recipe card with three great recipes.

Baked Goods – We’ll have samples!
Super-healthy Banana/Blueberry Nut Bread – no white flour in this one, and sweetened with honey and raw sugar
Pineapple Sage Poundcake – moist and satisfying with the refreshing flavor of pineapple
Dark-Chocolate Brownies

Jams and Jellies
Did you know that we pick and can the same day? That’s why our jams and jellies taste so fresh and flavorful.
We’re adding super fresh Very Blueberry Jam to our Just Peachy Jam, Strawberry Jams and Pepper Jelly.
Add a cellophane bag and a little raffia, and our jams and jellies make a great gift.

Meats and Poultry – Order Soon to Guarantee Availability
We’ve had great response to our 100% grass-fed beef and lamb and pastured poultry.
I hope some of you have had an opportunity to try it! Those who have ordered chickens can pick them up this Saturday or next Saturday at the market.

Many of you have mentioned that you plan to order bulk beef, lamb, or holiday turkeys.
I just want to let you know that we have 3 steers left for this season. We have 8 lambs left. The next opportunity for bulk beef won’t be until December or January. And the next opportunity for lamb will be next September. We ordered a total of 50 turkeys for Thanksgiving and 25 for Christmas. We expect to have some losses as turkey poults are challenging to get started.

If you are interested in bulk beef, lamb or turkey, we encourage you to order soon, as orders will be filled first-come, first-serve.

Heirloom Tomato Plants
It’s not too late to plant some heirloom tomato plants in a large container or in your garden. These old-variety tomatoes like Brandywine, Cherokee Purple and Abraham Lincoln won’t disappoint when it comes to flavor. This week buy 2 for $6 or 4 for $10.

We appreciate your support so much, and please feel free to call with any questions.
Best regards,
Suzanne Wright Sanchez
Gaucho Farms
Slocomb, AL
334-886-9736

A thought for today...

andi.

"Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee."

St. Augustine

Sundays and Adventures

I know if you are a parent, you will understand when I say, " Often, training a child in church is exhausting." YOU know what I mean!!!! We are bringing David into big church and it is going okay. Not great, but okay. It isn't just my three year old that tries me, but my older ones too. But I know there is a promise; God's word does not return void. We are commanded to train up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We love worship. We love involving our children in worship. THEY just don't always love it. Not yet. So until then, boys, mama and daddy are doing our best to love you and teach you to worship, not to be perfect, but to worship. It isn't about being perfect, 'cause I am certainly not that in the pew myself(I may not be wiggling, talking or drawing on my brother), but I have sin issues. I just hope for you to experience true worship. The reverence, the beauty, the freedom to be who you are and come before the Lord of all and worship.

We would love to take a family mini vacation. So, I am going to try to plan a weekend trip for July. Ben and I have tossed around some ideas for an adventure, but would love some ideas for fun get-aways that your families have done. I can't wait to hear some of the fun places you've found! :)

Ben's Birthday Night

Not to brag, but my husband is HOT and an awesome ball player. I have a hard time typing the word softball in connection with Ben. I guess it's sort of funny that this guy doesn't play baseball, but softball. He played on our church league this spring. That was interesting to be honest. There were occasionally heated words from my end since we were trying to juggle two OTHER ball teams (Ben also helped coach one) and The Ball Field MONSTER (David). I'll be frank, I wasn't always the smiling happy wife sending her champion off for a great game of ball. The Three Musketeers, The Three Amigos, or The Three Stooges (whichever you call them) often wanted to go cheer on their Daddy, but instead of watching, they would do this:

Therefore, we limited our spectating. When I talked to the boys about running around when we were supposed to be watching the game Luke replied cooly,"You don't really mind. You must like it (running) because you take pictures of us." OOOOOOPs. My BAD!

Ben, we are proud of your ability to send the ball out of the ball field!


This little dumpling melts my heart. She wrinkles her little nose when she smiles at you and she ALWAYS seems to greet me with a smile. We were among her VERY FIRST babysitters.

This little gumdrop took a liking to David. He loved it!!!!! They rolled the ball back and forth. Precious!!!! She has just learned to walk.

There were a few dugout kisses.

A few dugout pep talks.

Followed by Molten Cake. It was a party in our mouths.

An email lesson for mom given by Ben who may be the only one with enough patience to teach her to email. No offense mom, we're just proud of you for trying. I don't think she has checked her email since it was set up and her "trial" email sent.

Happy Birthday Ben!

I love sweet little dirty boy feet! These are David's little feet.

If you live in Dothan, AL you are familiar with these bad boys. If you would like to see more of them dead than alive at your house keep reading. I don't like to contract with a pest control company. I do, however, support pest control. A friend of mine, Katherine, gave me THE RECIPE. You don't call it the roach recipe, you put emphasis on THE. :)

1/8 cup sugar

8 ounces Boric Acid (the kind you get in the pharmacy - I've only gotten two 4 oz. bottles - @ $2.50 each)

1/2 cup flour

1/2 of a small onion

1/4 c. bacon grease

Mix up a dough and use a little more bacon grease if you need to. It will be a dry powdery kind of dough that you can make little pea size balls with and stick it everywhere a roach might go or be! Especially get outside - patios, closets, garage etc. and inside get windows, doorframes, under cabinets, fireplaces, etc. Just hide it around. No more roaches!

The boys and I made a trip to the Public Library. The trips to the Library are a bit like releasing bulls in a china cabinet. Not quite that bad, but so close. HOWEVER, this trip was a great one. Benjamin and Luke are involved in summer reading for school. Benjamin is also reading for Bucks For Books. I found this book. A gem of a book if I do say so myself. A diamond in the rough (as in some of the other books). This book has been our delight since the day we brought it home. The boys and I cuddle up, partaking of a time long ago while we glean from it the lessons of cultivating little men. The book is about an orphan who goes to live at a school. It is a precious story of one less fortunate, full of moral tidbits. I am going to implement one of the ideas I read about. A notebook called a Conscience Book. A notebook with a page per week for each child. A page only that child may see, but one that has on it the behavior both good and bad for the child. One day a week(we may do it each evening), the teacher/boarding mother reviews it with the child. They will feel delight over the positive remarks and hopefully agree to focus on the areas of weakness.

Have you heard of Margaret Hillert? She writes books full of sight words. They are great for beginning readers. If you are in Dothan, these books can be found on the first shelf to your left in the Children's Library.

This is an autograph. One that my boys treasure. You may have not heard of Beth. In fact, you probably haven't. She isn't famous. Our church had the children collect autographs from the missionaries during our missions conference. I am humbled and grateful that Beth translates the Bible into other languages and helps create written print from only spoken languages. She has probably never been asked for an autograph before. Beth, thank you for being a hero to my boys, but moreover, a hero of the faith.

This is the story of boyhood. It is everything magnificently simple. It is an understood code in the heart of each boy; it is the training ground for future men.

There is something about Benjamin and Danner playing and looking up at the flag that puts a lump in my throat. It is the idea of the future of our nation, the possibilities of Godly leadership, the reverence for what is good and right; all of this, incapsulated in little hearts. To me that is awe inspiring.