Technical Difficulties

Sorry to interupt our regurlary scheduled blogging but we are experiencing some technical difficulties, mainly we have no clue how to use our Mac. So currently I will not be able to resume blogging until these problems are taken care of. Basically some one's got to teach me how to use this thing. Thank you.

Message from
Blog Owner
AKA Livin' Life, Illterate Computer Woman

Happy Belated Birthday HandsFreeHeart

There was a YouTube gliche and like 6 of these videos were sent to my blog so I appologize if you saw them all ealier. But this is for my dear friend HandsFreeHeart. One of my favorite Beatles songs although I am not a big Beatles fan. Just remember "Here Comes the SON"

When I Turn 100 by Rocker

"Hi ! My name is Ethan and I am 100 years old! I had 10 kids. I was an artist and I was famous. I love kids. I go to church. I have 60 pets. A long time ago when it was my birthday and I was turning 10, I got a pet lizard. I remember when I left him at home. He got out of his tank and he got into a lot of trouble."


Written and drawn by my beloved Rocker age 8. I love the whole 10 kids thing and that he is hinting for a pet lizard for his 10th birthday. It just better not get out!

Playgrounds Are Dangerous

Playgrounds are a dangerous place. Kids could get hurt by falling off equipment or getting their hair caught in the chains of the swings. They are also dangerous because I am there. You see my tract record with playgrounds isn't that good. When Drama King was 3 I accidentally flung him off a tire swing. He told me he wanted to go faster I just forgot to check if he was holding on. He did look like Superman flying across the wood chip covered ground. I also spun a friends kid so fast on a tire swing they puked.

So now you are getting the picture the danger lies more with me than with the equipment. The list could go on. We have a first aid kit in the back of the van just for playground outings. Sad, I know. Well the saga continues with the most recent episode. I was out with the boys on a sunny not so cold day recently. Some other mothers had brought their little ones out. I mean little. They had to be between 1 & 3 only. This particular park had a great playground for the bigger kids and beside it was equipment for younger ones. Our family rule is when others are there you stick to the older section and watch out for little ones. Then the age old rule don't go up the slides applies too. Basically the boys are good at following these and being careful of others but hey also rip around playing tag or just exploring. Well these moms were letting the little guys climb all over the older section. I was quite surprised since some of the things were really high. They just plopped them up there and said "Oh look how cute you are." Then the kid would start crying for the fear of falling to it's death.

I tried to sit down a little and watch. The boys like to climb. No biggy. They climb on the outside of the tunnels but never get in kids way or become rude. I was getting the evil eye from the other moms. Finally one of the mothers stepped in front of the boys to stop them. She then began to yell at them for playing too rough on a playground. I might be quiet in most situations but you get in between my kids and I and my New Jersey side pops out. I walked over to them trying to keep my cool. After she finished her dissertation I commented "You have a problem with my kids!" The woman was clearly taken back and responded with "Excuse me." So I answered again. She then told me her issues and tried to defend her position. Well it officially became WWF Smack Down Mom Style. No punches were thrown but I let her have a piece of my mind. I politely but strongly told her what I thought. So now I feel awful. Did I step the line or did I do the right thing? I didn't curse or yell just told her my three point list of why she better back off. Then she and her little entourage left 5 minutes later. No threats but just not backing down. I know many of you still have little ones and I thought of that later. I remember those days but honestly I stuck to the age appropriate playgrounds. So here's the deal, you get to comment. Do you agree with my actions, wish I could have handled it better or will never invite me to the playground with you and your children.

I don't want to shame the Lord for my actions and I want to be an example of Christ so I really feel I blew it.

Today Is A Good Day

Today is a good day! I hesitated posting this after reading Classic Mama's post, On Fire's post and Natalie's comments to Classic Mama, but things are better. I have started cutting out some of the foods the doctors are restricting from my diet and I can notice a big difference. The only draw back is no more coffee. That has been hard.

The kids are out, the sun is out and I am out of dirty laundry to wash. I was able to get up at 5am this morning and start back into my time with the Lord. I also started working out again. As some one who struggles with a past of depression exercising really helps me. Even if I take the whole time to just stretch. I have read various studies that show exercise and stretching reduces stress, anxiety and depression. I have to agree. I spent yesterday sulking about but then was convicted by the Lord to end the pity party and move on. I have to be very vigilant and cautious. I am prone to melancholy moods or depression so I most keep vigilant and keep my focus on God. My Knight tells me often I remind him of David in the Bible where his soul would become downcast, but he would speak truth into his spirit. I am not a perky, bubbly personality so I need to keep my emotions in check with the Lord instead of letting them dictate my behavior.

So today I can feel at ease and in peace in the midst of a lot of stuff going on in my life. I guess that's what it all comes down to, being in a place of rest while everything else shakes. Since things are quiet here anyone having a rough day can just stop by. I don't mind sharing this peace. :)

My Inner Hermit

Warning: This post is gut honest and raw!

Being sick brings out the worst in you. You can only sleep or think and to me both can be excruciating. Sleeping is not fun when all you want to do is get up and move or do something. Just getting out of the house would be nice. Thinking is bad for me also because it makes me face thoughts and fears that I can usually push down through my daily activities. So with these past couple of days so much has been thrust to the forefront of my mind.

My biggest fear is the rejection of man. I long for friendship and gatherings but at the same time retreat from everything because of the fear that I may be rejected. Thus I have an inner hermit. This part of my heart would love to live in a cave some where away from people and pain. Just me, my family and God. I know it doesn't work this way but it nags at me constantly.

To reach out to others is extremely difficult. Yes I love helping others. If you need something I will be there. I would give my life for other people but I cannot take from others. I don't mean wisdom or discipline. I have put myself under the authority of some wonderful Christian men and women who have the right to pour into my life or guide my footsteps but I speak of others hearts. To get close to someone would mean pain. It would mean they could see into my life and have the ability to accept or reject what they see.

When my Knight had his accident so many people offered to help. I accepted food and the occasional help with the prompting from my husband but I turned down so many. It was too hard. Were they honestly offering or would I be disappointed? To many people in my past disappointed me. To go through that again would just shatter my heart. So what do I do? Do I sit in my home fearful of those wonderful individuals the Lord has led into my life or do I embrace them?

Each step I take to reaching out and asking for their hand is a mighty leap. Blogging has been a safe way for me to interact. I write and if anyone feels like it they can respond. No rejection. But I want to go beyond my safety zone. How can I accomplish the purposes of God when fear stands at my door?What am I passing on to my children?

So I end with two questions... "How do you become a friend?" "What does friendship look like?"
I need to break free from this bondage but I also need to learn because in all honesty I was never taught these vital life lessons. So I head to the Father with His abounding love to ask for help. Here's to learning new things, breaking off chains and walking into new freedoms.

Technological Miracle

The Lord did it! We have been in need of a new computer now for some time. Right now we are struggling to keep our 12 year old laptop up and running. It crashes frequently and all the IT people we have talked with refuse to work on out dated laptops. So we have been praying. We wanted to pay down debt this year and investing in a brand new computer was not really in our budget. So here's what the Lord did...

I month or two ago friends of ours heard about our computer problem. They had this Mac given to them that they don't use so they asked us if we wanted to have it. My husband jumped at it but I was reluctant. Our laptop was given to us 10 years ago so I was actually looking forward to purchasing something I wanted and not someone's choice. It took a good month or two before they could get it too us. It is a big tower thingy (yes I know very technical term). My heart kind of doubted again, how could this be the Lord. We have been praying specifically for a MacPro laptop and now we have this. We plugged it in trying to figure out what year it was and exactly what model. We discovered it is a MacPro. To be exact a G4 Mac. To my husband and I that really meant nothing. So we hauled it to church to our good friend the computer expert (I should say one of the many computer expert's at church) who began to drool over this device. My husband and Jon talked until church began while I set up for Preschool. Then my husband bound into the room exclaiming "Guess what? Well you will never guess so I will tell you. That computer is really fast and really expensive. Jon can't believe someone just gave it to us. They could have sold it for lots of money even if it is a couple of years old. This things amazing!" The conversation continued this way throughout church service which posed problems here and there since we were both supposed to be teaching 5 year olds the meaning of Palm Sunday and not discussing which OSX system this computer ran on.

Anyway it has become an amazing blessing more than we could have imagined. We won't get it back until Thursday since Jon was gracious enough to clean it up and take off programs and documents that aren't ours. He is also helping us find more RAM for it whatever that means. Unfortunately when Jon and my husband start talking computers I glaze over and go some where far away. So there you have it. We did go out and purchase a new printer and monitor but even then the Lord was so faithful. Each of those were on sale drastically reduced and we also received a discount for trading in our old printer. Basically we bought a 3-in-1 HP printer for photos for $100 and a 17 inch flat screen monitor for $100. You just can't beat that! As I have been told I can now move my creativity to the computer world with this new Mac. GOD is so good. Be patient for whatever you are standing for it will come to pass.

Now to have that some faith when standing for a miracle baby girl. :)

Girls Are Mean, Boys Are Bullies

I was thinking a lot about Classic Mama's post with dealing with her daughter's friendship. I don't have the catty girl issues that most of you moms have raising girls but we are faced with a young man who is really becoming a bully. He is a "friend" of Rocker and Shaggy's. I say "friend" because now he just bosses them around. He comes from a Christian home and we know the parents, good people, but he has lately been terrorizing the boys. He is very negative towards the boys always putting them down. He manipulates the kids around him to get his way.

If the boys don't agree with him then he can turn all the kids against Shaggy and Rocker. Oh, for the day when it was acceptable for boys to get into a scrap out back. I know not very Christ like but I just hate to see this happen and it does happen right in front of me. A couple of times I have said things to this young man but unfortunately he has absolutely no respect for authority so it goes nowhere. So what do you do as a mom? I have prayed with the boys and plan to pray some more. I have given them the go ahead to stand up for what is right and not go along with him if they don't agree. But the pain is still there. Last night we talked about how it is not the young man we fight against but the principality that is operating in his life. The boys actually understand this, though it doesn't make the pain any less. I hate seeing the boys put down and discouraged by a young man that should be walking in the fullness of the Lord. He has so much potential but if left to his current ways he will cause great destruction in his own life and others around him.

I really have to be careful and seek the Lord on this issue. See I am a fighter. I have actually tangled with bullies as a young girl. I would often get into fights and beat up those bigger,older kids who were picking on younger, smaller ones. I was not a little girl you messed with. I remember taking on a 3rd grader that punched my brother when we were in 1st grade. I did actually win. That attitude and behavior followed me into high school getting me into trouble. I don't want the boys to deal with this in a physical way, I just don't quite know what to do any more. I almost think it would be easier if someone cut off my arm than see my children hurting like this.

I Was Tagged!!

I was tagged by oH mY wORD for this "What if" meme(I would like someone to tell me what the heck is a meme) So here goes....

What Ifs:

What if I could meet someone in the art world to chat with?I would love to meet John James Audobon. He was an ornithologist, naturalist, hunter & painter. He was made famous for painting and cataloging the birds of North America. I would also like to meet William Joyce an author, illustrator & filmmaker. His famous children's series is George Shrinks. I love his retro 40's setting for the story and his amazing illustrations. He also helped in the creation and design of movies like Toy Story and Meet the Robinson's.

What if I could have one wish granted for the benefit of all mankind? I would wish to see people set free from bondage's. I don't need to wish for Jesus, He's here with us and making His presence known. I would love to see others walk in their fullness and not be hindered by the bondage's of their past or lies the enemy throws at them.

What if I could travel anywhere in the world? I want to go were ever the Lord leads. I am ready to see the world!!!

What if I could live in a period other than the present, for 24 hours? I actually don't want to live in any time period except now. These were the days the former church and body were waiting for. We are experiencing things now that no other time could offer in the spiritual realm.

What if I could make over three areas of my body?Oh boy, this would be hard. I have a horrible self image so exchanging bodies with some one else who I see as attractive would probably be my choice. There is just too much I would have to change.

What if I could become an animal for 24 hours? A dolphin. I love the ocean and to be able to swim freely in the water, gliding along in the waves would be awesome. They can also beat up sharks so I wouldn't have to fear sharks anymore!!:)

What if I could bring someone back to life for 24 hours?
I would bring back Paul the disciple or Corrie ten Boom. Two people I admire very much who I wish I could have spent a few hours in their presence hearing their hearts and gathering so much from their wisdom.

Okay...so, now I am tagging Beautiful Grace, Holding it Together & Hands Free Heart! It's your turn!

A New Look for Easter Eggs

I can never just dye Easter eggs. We have tied dyed them, painted them, and made felt ones but never just your traditional Easter eggs. This year we continued with our non-traditional Easter egg dying traditions. We decided to combine an old favorite with a new idea. We used stickers, pantyhose and leaves. Just to let you know ahead of time these were ideas taken from Family Fun Magazine.

Step 1: Collect your supplies. Dozen eggs, dye, leaves, pantyhose, Stickers.

When collecting leaves choose small pliable ones that will lay flat to the contour of the shell. Some of the leaves the boys picked were to crunchy and fell apart or they would not bend very well.



Step 2: Mix your egg coloring. I still use traditional egg dye by using food coloring. The boys enjoy making their own color creations. I like using this as a time to teach primary colors vs secondary colors and how each color is created. It also was a good time reinforcing counting with Drama King. He had to follow steps by dropping the correct amount of color in each cup.



3 Step: Take your eggs and pantyhose. Place you stickers on your eggs or grab some small leaves.Put your egg in the pantyhose and carefully arrange your leaves around the egg inside of the stocking. After they are in place tighten the stocking by twisting it up. You can go pretty tight without cracking your eggs.




Step 4: Pick your favorite color and dip the whole thing in, egg & stocking together. We did use a spoon to hold the egg down in the dye so our fingers would not change color too. Although some how I still managed to get dyed finger tips anyway. I should have followed HandsFree Hearts tip about gloves.:)







Step 5: After your egg has time to completely change into a beautiful green, blue, red or a multitude of colors just take it out, and dry it off. If you used stickers they will just peel right off and leave a stenciled look. When you are all done almost everything can just be thrown away and you have a rainbow of Easter eggs.

So go a head and break out of your "shell" this Easter. Be daring and try something new. Don't worry it doesn't have to look perfect it just has to be fun!!!

Note to TCC: Don't worry I am still working on your quote. Technically I have until 11 pm to post it.:) You really got me thinking on this one.

Grocery Cart Vigilante

Drama King has turned into this Grocery Cart Vigilante. It never fails when we return our cart to the appropriate drop off zone he scans the parking lot for the runaway carts, those people did not return. He then bolts off gathering all shopping carts in view. Even when we get in the van and are heading out he will fuss if he sees one left out in the open. Yesterday I was in a hurry trying to get home to make a meal for a family in need when I heard from the back of the van "Mommy stop, STOP!! There is a cart not put back. Someone will smash it with their car. We have to put it back." See we just can't leave them there. So yes we pull over and push it back.

I love his attitude about wanting to do what is right, but every time? Why can't we just put ours back and feel good about that. No, we have to put every one's back. So if you ever pass by a Grocery Store Parking lot and see this crazy woman and her 5 year old son pushing carts around don't worry it's just me and Drama King.

P.S. Please put your grocery carts back for my sake!!!!!!!

Go Get Your Grove On!!

I just wanted to say there is a happening party at 5 Minutes for Moms. It is the Ultimate Blog Party. I personally like this type of party being an introvert I don't have to worry or stress about mingling and no problems with what to wear.

So head on over to meet some new ladies and be blessed by the gathering. I am excited to connect with others.

If you are new to my humble blog Welcome! This is just a place I love to connect with my friends near and far. I mainly journal my life's crazy adventures and share my heart about my passion and love for Jesus. Feel free to meet my dear blogging buddies on my side bar titled "My Favorite "Blobs". That's an inside joke. If you are curious go here. Have a great day and check out a few of my favorite family pics on my side bar. Don't worry you have my permission to laugh out loud!!!

Finding The Time

Right now finding time for myself has been so difficult. I know that sounds selfish but I don't mean I want to be alone 24/7 and ignore everyone around me. I just want some time to do something I enjoy doing without being interrupted 20 million times. I need some down time in my week.

I love art. Sculpting, painting, drawing and weaving are ways I relax and actually meditate on the Lord. It hasn't happened in a long time and I can feel the effects. I feel stressed and cranky and just a bit out of sorts. So now I need to see how to fit in some time to unleash my creative side.

I want to be understanding to my family and husband but I also want to say "Can you just give me an hour or two?" Being a stay-at-home mom doesn't allow me any down time. With stepping into ministry I also find myself giving a lot of time and energy into the children I minister to. These kids come from really broken backgrounds so emotionally by the end of the week I am completely spent. So all this rambling on to ask if there are any of you who have mastered this down time or personal time as a mom? I would love to know some tools and techniques I could try to meet every one's needs and leave a little time to start painting and weaving again. Is it possible or am I asking for the impossible? I want to be obedient to the Lord and give to those areas of my life He has called me to. I also want to just sit in His presence and draw about His love or weave in His joy. I guess that might not make sense to most everybody but that's what I am looking for. Any suggestions?!

Wooden Trians, Planes & Automobiles

I don't typically endorse products but I thought this might be note worthy. Yesterday while I was at Michael's Craft Store looking for crafts for church Drama King and I found these cool little wooden kits. They come in all different vehicles. The best thing about it was they are only $1 each.

The Kit comes with everything you need to put your car, tank, plane, etc., together. GLUE, Paint, sandpaper, paint brush and instructions are all included. (Just a side note the paint in all three kits were kind of thick so we added some water and it worked great.)



I picked up three kits for my boys. Drama King was so excited we worked on
his all afternoon. He chose a tank. I helped a little bit making sure the right
side of the wooden pieces were glued properly, but for the most part he worked all by himself. He loved painting it and putting it together.


As you can see in the pictures I just laid down a garbage bag for
each of the boys to work on. Looking for craft projects for boys is
very hard so this was great.








Shaggy and Rocker came home from school
and finished their homework in record time. Then they jumped
right into their new projects. With Rocker and Shaggy I didn't
have to help at all they just worked quietly by themselves.
Rocker chose the race car.









Shaggy also loves tanks and army stuff so he picked the other tank. With his I added some of my own paints because he wanted more of a camouflage look.












And here are the final products. For $1 I will probably go back and pick up some more for another rainy day. I loved seeing them hard at work being creative and not asking for the TV or our old out of date Nintendo 64 (which we only own 2 games for it). It was so much fun. If you have boys who like to be creative, go to your local Michael's Store and see if you can pick these kits up. They are well worth it!!

He Read To Us

It was one of those moments being a parent when your heart soared and you realized how precious these days are with your children. Last night Shaggy, my 3rd grader, read to us during our family reading time. We spend at least 4-5 nights a week reading together as a family. In the past it has been my Knight or I reading to the children. We have read a variety of books such as...

• The Chronicle's of Narnia
• The Quest by Rick Joyner
• The Hardy Boys
• Bible Stories for Kids
• Beyond the Veil
• The Boxcar Children

Our list varies from genre to genre but it is what the Holy Spirit had laid on our hearts to share with the boys at that particular time. It has been a really enjoyable experience and they ask to have family story night often.

Last night we were continuing the David & Karen Mains series The Tales of the Kingdom. It is a great series if anyone is interested. We had to purchase them online through an out-of-publish book dealer because they are no longer being published. Well Shaggy asked if he could read to us. He is a great reader we just never thought about that before. So my husband and I relinquished the book to him. He began to read and I was just filled with warmth and love. It was awesome to see him full of pride (pride in a good sense) pouring into each chapter as his two brothers and parents listened intently. As I glanced around the room I realized this is what being a mom or dad is all about, seeing your children achieve and walk into their callings. Yes reading a book isn't all of Shaggy's calling but it gave me an amazing glimpse of watching your children succeed and achieve in the things of the Kingdom. He read from his heart not out of duty. I could hear the Lord speaking to me about how this moment reflected their spiritual lives we have been calling into existence.

We have been praying so much for the boys to see their destinies fulfilled even at their current ages of 5,8 & 9 years old. Now the boys have been experiencing prophetic dreams, they have had words of knowledge and a great desire to see healing's. They are seeing angels and speaking truth into our lives and those at their school. Last night was a moment I will remember forever. I glimpse of how we are called to see our children walk in even greater power and anointing.

I don't care if they achieve more than I did or will do, I want my ceiling to be their floor.

Daily Devotions: What Does That Mean?

What does daily devotions mean to you? What does it look like? I have struggled with daily devotions and time with the Lord just because of the word "Devotions". Growing up in an environment of dead religion I hated when people talked or mentioned daily devotions. My family was in and out of churches until I was 12 or 13 and then we never went back to church. They got involved in many different weird cult like groups and God became this abstract, distant and dead belief. Those around me continued with their "devotions" and I began to hate that word.

I have battled in the past years with the way I viewed who God is, what He does and how He works. By the ultimate grace of our Lord many of those skewed pictures and beliefs have been laid low and replaced with His true realities. One that I have still had to deal with is "devotions". I have been getting up at 5am to get in His presence, to spend time with Him in whatever way He leads. It has been an amazing time that starts my day off on the right foot, but I still deal with "I am doing this right? I am just doing a routine or is this the real thing?". I kind of argued with my husband about reading to the boys in the morning. I know it sounds stupid, but it was something I was struggling with. He has been reading to the boys every morning from a Chronological Daily Bible. I cringed when he started. I was just filled with fear and flashbacks of my past experiences with daily devo's. I actually fought him on this issue. Thankfully he listened to the Holy Spirit and not me. I was so afraid we were going to turn the boys off to the Word and quiet time with the Lord that I didn't want them to read any more.

The Lord began to show me how the boys really enjoyed this time with their dad and with the Lord. Yes, they squirm in their seats and fiddle with objects around the room, but they always have such deep thoughts and questions afterwards. The Lord showed me it is about the heart not the routine. Where was my heart when I was spending time with Him? Was it just a process for me or was I really enjoying the time I had with the Lord? A weight has been lifted off me because of this revelation. The Father even told me I could just call it my quiet time with Him instead of devotions. In years past my experience with devotions was so excruciating to me because it was just an empty process or routine. It was not filled with life or love. Now I have an experiential encounter with the Lord every morning. I am still learning how to do this. Sometimes I pray, sometimes I worship Him by just giving Him glory over and over again. Sometimes it's a combination of the Word, praise and prayer. So I ask you guys what does devotions mean to you? What does it look like? How do you like to spend time with the Father?. I am excited now to spend time with the Lord and not feel the sting of my past experiences with dead religion and daily devotions.

It's funny to me how I got hung up on a word. One word hindered me from experiencing the Lord. How many other "words" are holding me back from experiencing more of Him? I don't know but I am going to start finding that out.