James - Almost 7

So this "little" guy is almost 7.  In 8 days to be exact.  Yes, that's like almost double digits.  Although it doesn't make me feel as old as saying I worked at Starbucks in the late 90s. THAT makes me feel old.

It's the gift giving season and I get to take some time to focus on each of my children. James has significantly progressed in his speech, although he is very uninspired to do his spelling, reading, language homework. When he has the freedom to make up his own stories, or posters then he's very enthusiastic.  His teacher this year is not the warm & fuzzy kind so Alex and I are having a few more conferences.

Anyways, James is still into legos. He is a mastermind of building and his mind is geared towards putting things together. So this year we're advancing to the next stage of legos, the boxes that are $40-$60.  He still loves to draw, make up games, do crafts and boss his brother and sister around.  He now rides his bike with no training wheels, although he won't use a bike that is bigger and better suited for his height. 

Like his dad, he prefers khakis and polos.  He's very sensitive to textures so I don't shop without him. 

We have a Wii and he plays it sometimes when there's free time.  He likes to play Donkey Kong and Super Mario Brothers. 

And yes, it cracks him up to make silly faces for the camera.  He is definately growing up by leaps and bounds and I just want to squish him in a box to make it stop.

Love my Little Man

1000 Truths

One of my new cherished spots has been sitting at our kitchenette in the morning and having none or maybe just 1 little monster sitting next to me. It's a lot less quiet when there's more than just me, but sometimes it lends its way to a nice dialogue. 

So on a beautiful cloudy morning, I had this conversation with James.

James to me: Mom, why isn't the sun out?
Me: James, the sun is always out.  Just because we can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there.  Sometimes we just can't see the sun, but it's always there. 

I'm tearing up as I write this because as I said those few sentences, this is what I heard in my heart :
The Son is always there.  Even when I can't see Him, He is always there. 

Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Content with cloudy, rainy days?  Content with the effects of the recession on our household?  Content with a Budget????

Jeremiah 29:11-12

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

 

...Or Content that My God will never leave me.  That My God has a plan of good for me.  So I will hold on till I receive my blessing and be content that the Son is there, even when I can't see Him. 

I am going to try to commit to keep a log of 1000 truths.  It is sort of like the 1000 gifts/blessings book that most of us have read.  But I want to be reminded of and even try to look more fervently for the biblical and Godly truths that surround me even in the hard places of life. 

This is #1.  My God will never leave Me.
This is #2.  My God has a plan to prosper me, Not harm me.

Used Grounds

So, reading the last post I did  IN FEBRUARY makes me giggle.  Have I stuck with making clothes for me and Olivia? Um...No.  I've made her a few things, but that yoga skirt and other dresses I tried to make for myself failed miserably.  However, I did learn something...sometimes it's better to just wait for sales and let someone else make it.  This body isn't as forgiving as it was before children.  

But I did start running today.  Only 2 miles in the gym, but it's a start.  I might start training for a 1/2 marathon in December so I thought I should get started. 

Here's what's new with me: Inspired by a friend, I now make my own facial scrub. And let me brag about it, it's very cost effective, smells good and makes my skin look and feel incredible!  Wanna know the secret????  Coffee Grounds.  Yup!  This might not work for you if you don't like coffee or don't like the smell of it, but I do, on both counts.  So I make my pot of coffee in my French press. Enjoy the cups of coffee and then strain the water out, or you could keep a container for leftover coffee in the fridge for cold coffee. I keep the grinds in a tupperware in the fridge and then I mix some with coconut oil.  Olive oil would work too.  This by itself would work great.  I, however, add some of my essential oils to it to get some cleansing action. I add a drop of lavender (for soothing) and some thieves (for anti-bacterial).  After I wash it off, I follow up with my soap which gets the oil residue off.  But this works great as a body scrub too.  Just make sure that the coffee is ground coarse so you don't tear up your pores. 

I hope this little trick finds you the same greatness that it does me.  :)

Still here...

I'm still here but here's what I'm not:
*Not Running
*Not motivated to cook
*Not motivated to clean

Here's what I am doing:
*Reading the Hunger Games
*Making Strawberry Jam
*Planning my clothing for the rest of this year to include making all my clothes for Olivia and me...

This is what I'm really excited about.  I was wondering if I could make it through the rest of the year with only buying minimal clothes.  I can make skirts for me and Olivia and not need to go shopping. I'd like to buy her some t-shirts so I can put fun pictures on them, but making girl skirts are so easy! I"m collecting my virtual library of sewing blogs and I have plenty to look at! As for me,  I found an easy yoga skirt pattern that would be perfect for this summer.  Now onto some homemade shirts for me and it will be a stress free summer!

Olivia Marie Holdgate

Our sweet little baby girl! Although this 2 1/2 year old isn't so baby anymore.  She's mostly into size 3's if the 2 is cut small.  She wears size 7 and loves pink.  Purple is a close second. She loves skirts, dresses and shoes.  Still not crazy about tights or footed Pj's. 
She is into princesses, ponies, and baby dolls!!  She is constantly carrying around a baby doll on her hip, talking to her, feeding her, making  her go potty, pushing her in a stroller. 
She also got into those Littlest Pet Shop toys, squinkies and zoobles while at her cousins house. 
As much as this little one enjoys the girl stuff, she is pretty tough and holds her own with her brothers. 

Ryan Francis Holdgate

My Sweet Ryan.  One of the sweetest boys yet so passionate, energetic and sometimes, my parenting nemesis.  He is the most photogenic and it's a lot of fun hearing the stories he makes up.  One of my favorite things that he does is a mish mash of songs.  He'll combine Jesus Loves Me, with the Itsy Bitsy spider and Hello Mr Turkey, all into one song.

Ryan is built very athletic and reminds me of a soccer player.  We put him in soccer this fall, but he wasn't very interested. 

He loves superheros, especially spiderman.  He loves to dress up in a cape, or his spiderman outfit or any other costume he can find. 

He wears a size 4 but can still wear some size 3 pants.  He LOVES pajamas!!! 

He's just starting to get into legos, but still has a hard time following the directions, but he's getting there. 

Great is Thy Faithfulness!

This is the song that came to mind today:

The Steadfast Love of the Lord never ceases
His mercies shall never come to an end
They are new every morning
New every morning
Great is thy Faithfulness O Lord!
Great is thy Faithfulness!

How have you seen God's faithfulness lately?