Huzzah! Quick Takes up on time!
-1- Ooph, what a week! had a cold for last 6 days, the kids seem unusually difficult and whiny, my patience with them is so gone, I’ve been super tired every day, the house has been a disaster and of course we have a have a birthday party here on the weekend! It’s no wonder I feel I’m not getting enough sleep when the baby goes back to sleep for a few hours after I get up, every single morning. Even he’s not getting enough sleep in the night.
I’ve been trying and fighting my hardest to still do work, to respond with love instead of yelling, and to remember that this too shall pass, but it’s been wearing me so thin. Along with the post about discipline and being less tired, I also made a speical youtube praise playlist, that is only uplifting songs, because. I. NEEDED. it.
Actually, half way through the day on Wednesday things started turning around, I felt a little better, I suddenly had energy and I was even feeling cheerful! I had been working hard to change my attitude, but I still don’t know if it was really me, or if once I was finally willing to change God stepped in. Either way, the party and even the house are in good shape for being ready this weekend 🙂
-2- Here’s part of the problem; I stopped resting!!! I quickly put a time of rest away from the pc in my routine right after lunch – and then never did it! I’ve had a rough week and today is no different on the resting thing, I’m going to try to make this a priority on the routine next week. Or just to make the routine a priority next week…
-3- While I was desperate and searching for uplifting praise music, I stumbled on this amazing awesome christian music cd: It’s a musical journey through the bible from the point of view of different characters like Adam and Eve, Moses, Joshua, Daniel, David.,Mary, the disciples, Paul… http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/lyrics/new/track.asp?track_id=15447
“Nichole Nordeman is my favorite lyricist of all time and having watched Bernie Herms’ amazing talents develop over the years, I knew he was the perfect writing partner for Nichole. I was thrilled when they both accepted my invitation to write THE STORY. We then put together a list of artists we wanted to sing on the project and were thrilled when they agreed to be part of THE STORY.”
Lyrically, Nordeman wrote the songs from a first-person perspective using timeless biblical stories providing a completely new context into how God’s story of love and redemption intersects with our story of brokenness and failures resulting in a new story of hope and rescue. “I think for me one of the goals was to be able to listen to these songs and feel more connected to these people that walked before us and learned lessons that we’re still learning,” explains Nordeman. “There’s such a tendency to turn them into superheroes and have these big, takeaway, moral-of-the-story moments. For me it was all about the humanity. These were broken people who were desperate and needed God. They were just like us. I really believe that, and I think sometimes forget.”
Just check out some of the Lyrics
Good- (Adam and Eve)
Can You hear us cry?
Wishing we could turn back time
To feel Your breath when branches move
Take one more sunset walk with You
Must each tomorrow hold
Such brokenness untold?
Can’t imagine how You could
See all of me and say it’s good
Broken Praise (Job)
But who am I
To make demands
Of the God of Abraham?
And who are You that You would choose
To answer me with mercy new
How many more will wander past
To find me sitting in this ash
Will you hold me? Will you stay?
So I can raise this broken praise to You
But You were the One who filled my cup
And You were the One who let it spill
So blessed be your Holy name if you never fill it up again
If this is where my story ends, just give me one more breathe to say
Hallelujah
What Love Sees (Jesus)
Tell me your story
Show me your wounds
And I’ll show you what Love sees
When Love looks at you
Hand me the pieces
Broken and bruised
And I’ll show you what Love sees
When Love sees you
This is How Love Wins (Thief)
Only one of us deserves this cross
A suffering that should belong to me
Deep within this man I hang beside
Is the place where shame and grace collide
And it’s beautiful agony
That He believes it’s not too late for me
This is how Love wins, every single time
Climbing high upon a tree where someone else should die
This is how Love heals, the deepest part of you
Letting Himself bleed into the middle of your wounds
This is what Love says, standing at the door
You don’t have to be who you’ve been before
Silenced by His voice, death can’t speak again
This is how Love wins
I found all the songs on you tube, but I would happily buy the cd, or the accompanying dvd with video footage. Can’t wait to listen through it next Easter!
-4- It’s official, the baby crawls as of last Friday. He’s still about a week shy of 6 months! It’s a little crazy on one hand, but on the other hand this tiny littler person exploring about the room is just so darn cute! – months and sits up, not quite 6 months. And now 5 days later he also sits up. I already said he’d crawl before he could sit up – and that he would be crawling at the birthday party!
Lookout, next comes walking, and I except that will be rather early too. I’ve already seen him leaning up on small soft objects and even kneeling… He also enjoys being put in a stand up position and while he can’t grab the couch etc to hold himself up yet, he doesn’t need THAT much support either.
On the big kid front, I’ve been having a problem with them trying to wander from our yard lately, especially since we opened up the deck with the new back steps. We don’t have a formal gate on it yet, so they are no longer fully contained. It’s not that I don’t check on them often, but they don’t stay put like they used to and by the time I register the definite quiet they are down to the very edge of the driveway if not a couple houses away! However, I think I’ve figured out a trick to make them hang around – the promise of a treat they want. The backyard is where they get most of their treats because it keeps them happy there longer (as I enjoy a little quiet) and also because it’s less messy. I observed this phenomenon yesterday when they were happy to go outside to get a popsicle. Sure enough, although they could easily have run away they hung around – right on the deck by the door in anticipation, and I had about an hour of quiet (with interruptions) to tidy up the house a bit more and open up some CARS toys that came in the mail in preparation for the party.
-5- Mummy LOLs
http://catholicexchange.com/exercises-for-pregnant-people/
Announcment: Toddler Conference!
http://honesttoddler.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/press-release/
-6- In surfing or googling something, I stumbled on this great site full of phtography aarticles, including a wealth of hard earned experience: The photography tips that 96 photographers wish they wouldve learned sooner. This article is full of good tips: how to use flash effectively, exposure compensation, what to look for in a tripod, when you need to buy new gear, and probably my pesonal favorite: A $25 reflector will do more to improve your photography than a $2000 portrait lens.
Other helpful articles:
21 things you can do today to change your photography forever
What you didn’t know about depth of field
Canon vs Nikon
-7- DH has the day off today so I can go out and run some errands. I want to stop in at the church with a form to up our monthly donation. We ended up at a different church one Sunday where that was the topic and it really spoke to me. The speaker challenged us to increase out gift by just 1% of our (which is about 300%) for the next year, and said if God did not give us more peace, more joy etc that she would personally refund the difference, lol. I’ve been wishing that WE as in our household could give a bit more, but I was sad to see that I/we were giving LESS than even 1%. So I talked about it with DH and he agreed we could do the increase by 1%. Considering he’s not religious, I’m pleased as punch that he said yes 🙂
I’m also going to get the last of my party supplies and we can have the house decently clean – without being swamped Sat morning. Last year I found I was still finishing tidying the last room when my guests started arriving, and I missed out on spending some time with them as a result. Not this year! I’ve also asked a good friend to bring her camera and take pictures for me, so I can be more present to my guests. I’m sure I will take some pictures too, but I’m hoping this will help me to focus less on the pictures and more on the people and being in the moment.
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