Guess what, GUESS WHAT?

I have something SO exciting for you today!

Have you ever wished you could get more organized? Get the kids to do their chores without griping? Plan meals for a whole week?

Well, today is YOUR day!

My sweet friend over at Magnificent Manager is having SALE!

Did you hear me?

A SALE!

And right before Christmas, too.
Can you believe it?

You could get your sister-in-law a chore chart, your mother-in-law a photo frame, your cousin a meal planner, just THINK of the possibilities.

But it gets better, my friends!

Because I have connections!

My sweet friend is so kind as to let me do a
GIVEAWAY!
WOO HOO!

Here's the prize - are you ready?

A $20 Credit towards your purchase!

How cool is that?

That makes it basically FREE to BUY SOMETHING.

Wow.

So here's what you do:

Go to her site: http://www.magnificentmanager.com/ and look things over.
Decide what your favorite thing is.

Then come back here and leave me a comment telling me all about it and what you would use it for or who you would give it to.

Because I am SO not picking out gifts for MY family this year - you're going to do it for me!

On December 1st, I'll use our friendly random number generator to pick one of you for $20 of free product.

Woo hoo!

If there is something you want to order, go ahead and do it SOON - because quantities on her sale products are limited - if you win, she'll give you the credit after the drawing.

Please pass a link to this post on to your friends so they can join in.

And hurry!

Good Choices

This morning I headed to Sam's with my two youngest for some pre-Thanksgiving shopping. Wanted to beat the crowd.

Lately we've been going to Sam's a lot. Cheaper milk. Which is huge when you use five or six gallons per week.

The kids love Sam's. Big boxes of Nilla Wafers and Cheez-its. Not to mention corn dogs and chicken nuggets. It doesn't get any better! And every now and then we actually BUY them.

So there we are strolling through, trying not to forget anything on my somewhat vague list that I scribbled on the back of a post-it containing phone messages. I'm some kind of organized these days, let me tell you.

As we usually do, I asked Daughter (#7) if she wanted to call Grandmother and see if they needed anything. I'm there anyway. When there are only two of you (she and my dad) it's not really worth the extra trip. Unless they are having US over for dinner, of course.

While fighting off Little Dude (they were both sitting in the front of the cart), who loves phones, she managed to ask Grandmother what she needed and relayed to me, "Strawberries, blueberries and butter," in between yelling, "NO, NO!" to her brother.

We picked up an extra of each and after checking out, headed by my parents house to drop them off.

As we turned on to their street (Daughter talking non-stop all the way, of course), I heard her say, "Mom, Grandmother makes good choices."

Hmmmm. "Good choices about what, Punkin?" I replied - my mind elsewhere, but intrigued.

"Strawberries, blueberries and butter. You can put butter on a tortilla or bread or make cookies with it. And strawberries and blueberries are good."

"You're right." I said. "She does make good choices."

And one of these days, when Daughter is a little bit older, she'll realize that she was right about her Grandmother.

I pray I'll be the same kind of mother to my children and as wonderful a grandmother as she is. We are blessed.

The Glad Game

Once again, I'm home from church with a sickie.

Seems to be my fate as a mother.

Not that I'm complaining. The quiet is nice. Although it's only quiet because he's REALLY sick.

Any ideas for getting vomit out of carpet?

OK. Enough of that. You get the general idea.

So how about a round of the Glad Game, Polyanna style?

~ I'm glad that so far I only have one child that has thrown up.

~ I'm glad that the Coach's team won WEEK TWO of the state playoffs last night. Woo Hoo!

~ I'm glad that we have a family birthday party tonight. Hopefully both of our birthday kiddos can stay well and attend.

~ I'm glad I have an awesome chili recipe that I'm making to take for dinner. Yum!

~ I'm glad that we only have 1 1/2 days of school this week before Thanksgiving break.

~ I'm glad that the Coach's brother and sister-in-law and kids are coming for Thanksgiving.

~ I'm glad that I have a big washer, lots of bleach and Lysol. (sorry, I was determined not to go there)

~ I'm glad I made Puppy Chow and Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins (one loaf of bread = 12 muffins) this weekend.

~ I'm glad the kids ate it all so I didn't have to.

~ I'm glad that I made THIS for my s-i-l's birthday. Isn't it great?

A cute basket, some Christmas tea towels, a recipe and ingredients. Now she can make some Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread, too!

~ I'm glad the Coach's football practice on Thanksgiving Day is in the morning.

~ I'm glad the Week 3 Playoff Game in on Saturday afternoon instead of night - Brrrrr.

~ I'm glad that I have a warm house, plenty of hot chocolate and cider, clean clothes, a somewhat clean house, hot showers, fun kids and the most amazing husband ever in the history of the world. In spite of the stomach virus.

Sorry. Got carried away.

Happy Sunday! Enjoy time with family this week. And eat an extra piece of pie for me, OK?

The Good and the Bad

Although we've been extremely busy, lately, I've certainly had a lot of things running through my mind. The death of my granddad, the time with family, the very full schedule, the Coach's team in the playoffs. It's a lot to take in.

I can't articulate much of that well, yet, but there is something that has really stood out to me. Starting with this verse from Ecclesiastes:

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Notice how all of those examples are contrasts?

My list would look something like this:

Extremely sad, yet blissfully happy

Chaos, yet peace

Life is very hard, yet very good
Tired, yet energized to face the new day

Hungry all the time, yet losing weight

Dirty house, yet cleaning all of the time

Training and disciplining children, yet enjoying them so much

Grieving death, yet rejoicing in life

Stretched beyond comprehension, but experiencing new depth in our marriage

This past week we celebrated the end of my grandfather's earthly life

and the beginning of life for a new baby niece.

Death and life.

They go hand in hand.

Death is a horrible, awful thing. It's painful, sad, tragic. Even for a life well-lived, it's heartbreaking to lose someone you love. It's also unavoidable.

And if it weren't for the hope we have in Christ, it would be unbearable.

Yet. . .

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The ONLY reason we can face death and not despair is because Christ conquered death on the cross. Death is a result of sin. It's ugly, it's painful and without Jesus it means separation from Him forever.

I'm so grateful for the HOPE. That we can have VICTORY. That someday I will see my wonderful granddad, again. And our tiny baby. And my grandmother. And my grandfather I never met. And so many others who have left their earthly bodies for their heavenly home.

Tell someone today about the HOPE we have in Christ.

Our Day in Numbers

8 - Bowls of Fruitloops for breakfast

(the Coach had Raisin Bran)

7 - Early morning dentist appointments

0 - Cavities (pretty amazing, considering the Fruitloops)

6 - Kids back to school

2 - Kids home with me

9 - Quick lunches after half-day dismissal

2 - Appointments with the Pediatrician

3 - Immunizations that Little Man cried through

4 - Pairs of tights purchased for Great-Granddad's funeral on Saturday

5 - Hair cuts given (by me) - all of the men

4 - Baths taken

4 - Showers taken

10 - Should be sleeping.

I'm the last to go. . .

There just isn't time. . .

So sorry about the silence at this end. . .
it's been a little busy here at the Troops.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers, sweet notes, calls and just for loving on us.

For those of you who don't know, my Granddad died on Saturday. We will miss him very much. So grateful he's with his Saviour.

I've been working on a post to tell you about him - he was such an amazing man. But there's so much going on and my brain is somewhat foggy. It will come.

In the meantime, Have a blessed Tuesday!

Thankful Thursday

1. Thunderstorms last night.

2. Cousins to play with. I'm watching Daughter #7 and her buddy and it's quite entertaining!


3. Son (#1)'s football season is over - they finished 7-1! Yeah!

4. The Coach's Varsity team made it to the playoffs!

5. Fall Festival tonight at school. The kids are SO excited.




6. Not having to cook dinner tonight - yeah!

7. A day OUT OF SCHOOL tomorrow.

8. The Coach will be home, too!

9. More time with my Grandfather this week. Thank you for your prayers!

And last but not least, that God's will is not frustrated by the will of man. He is still on His throne. The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord. I'm resting in that.

Happy Thursday, All!

Be sure and leave me a comment and let me know what YOU are thankful for today!

Monday Randomness

Well, I've been tagged by ZimmsZoo! I haven't done this before - but it looks fun!

Seven random things.

1. Growing up I only wanted to be one thing - a mother. Thought it would be great to have fourteen boys. God had other plans, though, and my four boys keep me VERY busy! Along with the four girls, of course. I also thought I'd marry at 18. But it was three years after that when the Coach came along!

2. I attended a small private Christian school through fourth grade - when my parents took my brother (a Junior) and I out and started homeschooling. I wasn't thrilled about it. But I loved having more time to read. And travel. And I'm sure my mom wouldn't be one of my dearest friends if we hadn't had that time together.

3. I love to clean, cook and entertain. It's gotten harder with a house full of mess-makers, but I love it still. Just don't expect things to be perfect! Martha Stewart is impressive, but she doesn't have eight children and a budget, does she?

4. Never in my wildest imaginations did I dream that I would marry a teacher. A MATH teacher! Especially after being homeschooled, myself. And I don't have a college degree. He loves me, still! And can you imagine having your very OWN math tutor in-house for homework help? DIVINE!

5. I have two older brothers, both have six kids. The Coach has two sisters and seven brothers. All of them have kids for a total of 57 something cousins for our kids. FIRST cousins. We live around the corner from the Coach's parents AND his sister and her family. We live 2 1/2 miles from my parents, grandfather, grandma and the Coach's grandma.

6. We homeschooled our oldest for two years before he and daughter (#2) started attending our school. I was expecting Daughter #6 at the time. I thought putting them in school, even the very BEST school, where the Coach teaches and their Papa was headmaster, was second-best to being home. Little did I know what a blessing it would be!

7. I lived in the same house from birth until marriage. So did the Coach. Both of our parents have moved, since, though. And the Coach and I? This is our third house. We love it here - with almost all of our family VERY close by.


Well, that wasn't hard. Or particularly random. But I'd LOVE to hear YOUR randomness. So I'm tagging Lori, at Crazy Daisy, CJ, at loud but happy, Jo at Jo's Kitchen Table, and The Anderson Zoo.



In the meantime, the laundry calls! And the dishes and the dust, and the cereal that Little Man dumped on the floor while I wrote this. Off I go!

Happy Monday, All!

Pray for our nation~