Wordless Wednesday

Blessings, Serra

The Gentleness Challenge

   Good Morning, I hope this new day finds you in good spirits.  Yesterday I mentioned that for the new  year I am going to be a more gentle mother to my children.  I hate to admit this, but I am very quick to anger and I yell a lot.  Sadly it doesn't take much to make the mean mommy come out.  And as soon as the ugly and hateful words are said, I immediately feel terribly guilty and want to crawl under a rock.  Most of the time I can feel it about to explode yet I do nothing it to prevent it.  It's definitely the #1 thing I hate about myself. 

   Our children are gifts from GOD and how dare I treat my sweet babies like this...  I can't remember the first time I 'lost it'.  But I'm sure it was over something silly or trivial.  My kids have done the normal, naughty things like draw and write on the walls, hit each other, call each other names, etc...  I can honestly say that I have truly wonderful kids and they have never deserved to witness my anger. 

  I am sharing this with you because I am linking up with http://www.womenlivingwell.org/ and joining the Gentleness Challenge.  During the month of January we are humbly embarking 'on a Gentleness Challenge for mommy’s everywhere who struggle with raising their voices to their children, scowling, speaking in rapid fire foolish words or lecturing in anger.' 

   Please visit www.womenlivingwell.org and read the first post.  Grab the button and link it to your blog and please share the challenge with your mommy friends.  As Courtney has written, 'Let’s focus this January on dealing gently with our children. Touch them gently, use their names gently, use your words gently, slow down and be loving, kind, and gracious.'



Lord, give me the eyes to see you in my children,
your heart to love them and your gentleness to help them grow.

Give me your wisdom to guide them,
and your strength when I need to let them go.
Amen

Blessings, Serra

Happy New Year!!

   Hello Everyone... I apologize for the lack of posts since October, but it got chaotic quick with all the holidays and birthdays.  My oldest is 9!!  How'd that happen??  Hope the holidays were wonderful for you.
   I don't know about you but I am glad 2011 is over.  Even though we were blessed with our 'surprise' baby, Zachary, the past year was very stressful and full of tears, strife and quite a test to my patience and faith.  Our financial situation changed drastically and I don't see an end in sight anytime soon.  But I'm trying to be hopeful that everything will work out one way or another.  It's been another reminder to myself that I don't have as much control as I'd like to think I do and that I need to 'let go and let GOD'. 
   That being said, I'm not going to make resolutions for 2012.  I'm going to get back to the old Serra and be who I was always meant to be.  A faithful daughter of Christ, a loving and patient wife and mother and the creative and crafty woman I've always been.  I'm going to give myself the 'me time' I've always deserved, give my husband the wife/ husband time he deserves and to my children, the gentle and kind mother they deserve.  We as mothers and wives shouldn't have to try at these, they should be second nature. 
  2012 started off just fine.  The baby has been sick so I had to stay home with him.  The hubs took the 2 oldest girls to Sunday School & he taught the 3rd grade class.  The rest of the day was spent as a family, just hanging out, playing games and enjoying each other's company.  Today the kids & I went to an indoor play area and they ran themselves slap-out playing for 2 1/2 hours.  Tomorrow will be spent cleaning the bedrooms and playroom, making room for their new stuff and rehoming long ignored older toys and lovies. 
   I have a feeling this is going to be a year of change, maybe good, maybe not.  But I need to be prepared and know that God is always with me.  May this year be full of wonderful blessings to you.

~Serra

They grow too fast

 Yesterday my baby boy, Zachary, turned 4 months old.  He's my 5th child so you'd think I'd know what to expect.  Everything felt brand new, even childbirth. The only things I feel like I'm a pro at are breastfeeding and how to function on very little, sometimes no, sleep.  But I wouldn't trade any of it for anything, I absolutely LOVE being a mom. 

Zachary 10 days old

Zachary today

 Zachary is cooing, rolling over and is just the smiliest little boy.  We are so blessed to have him.

'Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.' -1 Timothy 2:15     

~Serra

   Happy Monday!!  Did everyone have a fun weekend? We sure did. We spent some time with some very special friends, ate A LOT of great food and watched some scary movies. 
  On the menu was chili and homemade chicken noodle soup, cornbread and pumpkin cornbread and multiple appetizers and finger foods.  I made the pumpkin cornbread and I think it was a hit.  I got the recipe from here http://sugarcooking.blogspot.com/2011/08/pumpkin-cornbread.html
  

As my kids have gotten older, I've found I can experiment more with different foods and 99% of the time, they'll eat it. If they don't eat all of it, they'll at least try it.  Even my husband has been more willing to try new recipes.  Is your family open to new and different recipes or do you find yourself cooking the same recipes each week?  Are you looking for new ideas? I highly recommend Pinterest and Allrecipes.com .   I have a dare for my readers, find a new recipe, make it and post about it here.  Good Luck and Happy Cooking!!!

'And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord'  Deuteronomy 8:3     

~Serra

It's been rough around here the last few months and today is a particularly bad day. I'm having trouble putting together a good post, so I thought I'd share some of the things I tell myself when I am feeling overwhelmed.

God never gives us more than we can handle -from my mother

But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." -Matthew 19:26

But they who wait upon the Lord will get new strength. They will rise up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weak. -Isaiah 40:31

And at the end of the day, I remind myself that things could be worse. I could have a child with a terminal illness, our house could be damaged by a natural disaster or I could lose my faith. In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells us "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you."

Always remember, when you feel you can go no further, God is there to pick you up and carry you. You are never alone.

Blessings, Serra

Gratituesday

  Please forgive me for not posting. Zachary became ill over the weekend & was diagnosed with bronchiolitis. Bronchiolitis can be caused by RSV ( Respiratory syncytial virus ), which he was tested for and thankfully was negative.  He's on an oral version of Albuterol, and it makes him VERY grumpy, which equals very little sleep for him and myself. 
   And even after all this, I realize I have things to be grateful for: of course my family, but also for a wonderful pediatrician whom my children LOVE and who always takes the extra time to talk with me, for scientists who create medications to help heal our children and for a loving God who blessed these doctors and scientists with knowledge to help others.
   Probably one of the worst things about being a mom is the helplessness you feel when you have a sick baby or child and after giving them all the medications you can, all you can do is love on them and nothing seems to work.  I'm grateful for a God that gives me the strength and endurance to deal with sick children, to remain patient when I think I'm going to lose it, to function on no sleep and to do it all with a loving heart. 
   What are you grateful for? Please visit Heavenly Homemakers to see the stories of others.





'More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope'  Romans 5:3-4

~Serra

Give Thanks

   I am thankful for a trip to the pumpkin patch with my family, a tractor ride, picking pumpkins, a picnic lunch, playing with friends, a trip to the grocery store, watching the kids play outside, catch up on my newest favorite t.v.  show "The  Big Bang Theory", a wonderful dinner all cooked by my hubs, 2 movies with the family and finally watching all my sweet babies fall asleep. I keep telling myself to enjoy these moments, they are fleeting.  In one month my oldest child, my 1st daughter, will be 9. It's really hard to believe that 9 years can go by so fast. Remember to be thankful for your children all the time, especially when they are little. 

'Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.'

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Now go give your babies a kiss, even the hubs and say a little prayer of thanks. 



   ~Serra       

Even mommies get ouchies

   Please forgive me for not posting yesterday.  Tuesday afternoon I slipped in the wet grass and put my hands out to catch myself and managed to scrape & bruise my knee, hurt my right side and hurt my right hand, especially my pinkie finger.  It's not broken, but its extremely sore and my hand is bruised.  I wasn't able to use it much yesterday, but today is much better. (I promise to post an extra day to get my 31 posts in)
   The reason I fell was because I was running to help Wyatt who was hurt and in the end, I was hurt worse than him.  Wyatt cried because he felt it was his fault I was hurt. I explained that God makes mommies tough so we can handle anything.  In case you're wondering, he's fine, he's just so tough. 

Can you see the discoloration on and under my pinkie?

   In the past 7 months a lot has happened in our family, both good and bad.  And when I stop and think about what I've learned, I realize that not have only am I strong physically, I am strong emotionally and spiritually.  And when I feel like I have nothing left to give, God is with me ALWAYS. 

“The woman is weak, but the mother is strong.” - Korean proverb

One more thing I've learned is that it's ok to cry.  Sometimes a really good cry is what we need.

   ~Serra







I am so grateful she's mine

   My friend Tonia, visit her at My Little Life , challenged me to post here daily for 31 days. I've been brainstorming about how I should proceed. Should I do a series, plan something each day or just see where I feel led???  I've decided that in order to stay true to the chaos that is my blessed life, there should be no rhyme or reason. Variety is the spice of life...

 So after a rough night with the baby, grocery shopping with my favorite 5 year old, and a great dinner cooked by the hubs, I was finally able to sit down and collect my thoughts.  Then this beautiful girl caught my attention

   I absolutely love this kid to pieces.  I love how she loses herself in a book, how she likes to sing at the top of her lungs & doesn't care what other may think.  She loves to help in the kitchen and is the best big sister to her siblings. I thank GOD for my children everyday, but especially her. (They were some complications during her birth and she was dangerously close to being a stillborn.) 
 What are you grateful for? I know what you're going to say, my spouse, jobs, family, kids... But what specifically? 

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward."

Psalm 127:3

Remember to be thankful for your children, they grow up too fast.

   ~Serra  



I love my friends

   Sorry I've been MIA lately.  We've been so busy w/ our homeschooling, soccer, church and our everyday life, I've hardly had time for a good night's rest.  Come to think of it, I haven't had one of those in almost 9 years.  Anywoo...

   I recently reconnected with a very dear friend and she invited me over for a scrapbook night.  I didn't get a chance to get anything together but I knew once I got over there, she'd have something for me to do.  And OMG she made the best banana pudding EVA!!!  I'm hoping next time we get together she makes her AWESOME mac 'n' cheese.  (HINT HINT Tonia)

   She's throwing a baby shower for a friend and was working on the decorations. She was trying to make some rosettes and it was so much fun.  Please check out her page to see her beautiful creations.

   On a personal note, I know as mommies we get busy and forget to do things for ourselves, BUT one thing we must remember is that a good friend is hard to find.  A friend you can talk to about ANYTHING, who always seems to know just what to say and loves your kids as much as her own.  Even if you have to lock yourself in the bathroom (which i do, often), please call a friend.  Say hi, catch up, invite her over, a true friend will look over your c.h.a.o.s. (can't have anyone over syndrome).  Even as grown-ups we need friends; girlfriends, besties, buddies, pals, whatever you call her (or him).  How do you know if she's a good friend?  Even after being out of touch for months, you can pick up just where you left off...

"Cherish the friend who tells you a harsh truth, wanting ten times more to tell you a loving lie."
-Robert Brault

   ~Serra

TGIF

Is anyone else looking forward to this weekend as much as me?  My hubs has started a a new job and needs some new clothes so we get to do a little shopping tomorrow.  Sunday is church and the first day of the new sunday school year.  I love Sundays, definitely the highlight of my week. And to end the holiday weekend, we'll be having a cook-out with some very dear friends of ours.

  This was a rough week at our house.  We took a break from schoolwork because I wanted to clean, purge and  organize all of our bedrooms.  Guess how much I got done... Absolutely nothing!!  The baby has been eating A LOT and very often this week so I'm assuming he's going through a growth spurt. Also my 5yo, whom I love dearly, has been a terror this week.  He's been hitting & kicking his sisters, he's been back-talking me and being flat out rude.  He throws whatever is in his reach and has even thrown things at people. I'm praying this is just a phase, a very short phase. 

 Thankfully my week ended on an awesome note.  My MOPS group has started back for the 2011-2012 year!!  If you are a mom and you need a support group, I highly recommend MOPS.  I started going back in 2005 and it was such a sanity saver. I've met some wonderful women, many have become great friends of mine.  Wyatt's Godmother,Sheri, is a MOPS friend.  Visit http://www.mops.org for more info. 

  Here are some random photos from our week

 I hope to start posting daily. If you like what you read, please share my blog with your friends. I wish you all a fun-filled weekend.

Blessings, Serra

God doesn't want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold, loving and sensible. 2 Timothy 1:7

Wordless Wednesday

Blessings, Serra

Happy Sunday

Happy Sunday! Today was a very special day for our family.  Our baby boy, Zachary was baptized this morning.  I did remember to bring our camera, but a friend took photos for us and as soon as I get them, I'll be sure to share them here.  I did get some pictures of him in his baptismal outfit once we came home.  I'm trying my hand at photography. These photos are very amateur, but I'm going to enter one into a photo challenge at www.iheartfaces.com.  The theme is 'white'.  The main color should be white and include the face of a person.  Here's my entry:

Today was a wonderful reminder of how GOD has blessed our family.  I read this saying somewhere recently and with all our family has been going through, it's become a mantra for me, "We may not have what we want, but GOD gives what we need".  Hope your sunday was just as beautiful.  ~Serra

A lot can happen in a year

As you can see from the date of my last post,it's been almost a year since my last post. A lot has happened since then, a new baby, jobs changing, young daughters growing into tweens, a son becoming a 5 year old and a toddling daughter becoming a preschooler. Let's not forget all the fun of homeschooling, church, traveling, laundry, cooking, cleaning, paying bills, and the list goes on.
My plan with this blog is to share with you the joys of having a large family, including homeschooling, cooking and shopping on a budget, my loves of sewing and crafting,a revived love of photography and the craziness that is my life.
Times have been tough for us, but I have a feeling things will be getting much better. I just need to remind myself to have faith and GOD will take care of us.

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

Love, Serra

P.S. In the picture are my grandparents and 9 of their 13 great-grandbabies. the brunette kids are mine and the blondes are my niece and nephews.

Getting Ready for Autumn- Take 2

My apologies for my links not working. I'm new at blogging, so please bear with me.

Sorry it's been 5 days since my last post. We've been playing catch up on our school work and enjoying the holiday weekend.

I've been visiting all my favorite sewing and craft blogs and apparently everyone is getting ready for the Fall season but me. I don't do much decorating, maybe some mums on the front porch, and that's about it. But what I do love about Fall is the weather cooling and the thought of wearing soft, comfy sweaters with my favorite jeans and a pair of great boots. According to quite a few of my fave fashion blogs, cowboy boots are in. Now cowboy boots are not really my thing but I've decided to see if I can find the perfect "Serra' pair. I start to google cowboy boots and one site I found was www.become.com It was so easy to navigate and it had so many options. I ended up wish listing items like these Totes® Leather Boots in Gray for $49.99 @ http://www.become.com/totes-boots?&start=21&num=20 I know they aren't cowboy boots, but don't they look so comfy and warm?

As I'm seeing all the lovely boots, I'm reminded of what follows Fall, Winter. And again, I LOVE cool, even cold weather, but I hate what is doos to my hands. They get dry and cracked no matter what products I use and worst of all my arthritis kicks in to high gear. So at www.become.com, I search 'arthritis gloves' and I find this http://health-and-beauty.become.com/arthritis-gloves Who knew these existed? I sure didn't, but you better believe I'll be asking for these http://www.parentgiving.com/shop/index.php?productID=1536 for Christmas. I'm not even 30 and I have arthritis in my hands and it stinks. I do A LOT with my hands, and since my arthritis will never go away, I should do whatever I can to make it bearable.

So are you ready for Fall? What do you enjoy most about it?

I LOVE COUPONS!!!

So Thursday is the day I get my grocery list together. I visit my many coupon blogs and match my coupons with what i need or what i can get for free. So after breakfast, I sit kids 3 & 4 in front of clifford the dog and sit at the table with kids 1 & 2 to start our school day. After school, I let the big kids take a break from school and sit down my with my trusty laptop and start hunting for my coupons. I go to print them and what does my computer say, "you need to install the coupon printer". SAY WHAT?!?!?! So I download the printer, does it work? Of course not. It says my web browser is not compatible, well why not? It has been for months, so now i'm wondering if the coupon sites changed something overnight. So I download Firefox, hoping that will work. Nope, nothing. So now I feel like I'm going through withdrawl and really aggravated. Thank goodness we don't need much in groceries and what I do need that aren't coupons for, so I guess I'll be visiting Wally World tomorrow, not my favorite place. Any fellow coupon lovers out there?

And on a totally different note, my very sweet 2 year old baby girl has decided after almost a week of potty training, and going all by herself, that she isn't interested in the potty. I'm hoping this won't last long and she'll find her musical potty interesting again, very, very soon. The thought of not buying diapers or pull-ups is such a beautiful one. Anywoo, just another day in this beautifully chaotic life.

Welcome to the Chaos

Hello Everyone and WELCOME to my blog. I've been pondering starting a blog for a while and finally thought, "What the hey, why not?" I am totally green at this, so this will definitely be a learning experience for us all. I hope to share lots of sewing and crafts projects, as well as great book reviews and anything else that helps get me throught this wonderfully chaotic life. Here's a little something to show my followers why my heart beats.


Serra