Housework...where do you stand?

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men ... It is the Lord Christ you are serving." ~ Colossians 3:23-24

Lets be honest! I am not a very good housewife. Meaning I HATE cleaning. I don't mind doing the yard work. I don't particularly like it, but I would rather be outside doing the yard than inside doing the dishes. I have always "tried" to keep the house clean for one main reason: So I don't get in trouble when DJ gets home! Who's with me? There are also reasons like unexpected guest, cleanliness, etc. But the main reason was for DJ.

I have been reminded lately of the verse in Colossians. As a stay-at-home mom and wife my duty is to take care of the house, kids, meals, etc. The list could go on and on. Why is it my duty? Well because my husband works and brings home the "bacon". (Technically I bring the bacon home since I do the grocery shopping, yet another thing to add to the list. Ha!) But you know what I mean. This is the stereotype of all housewives and stay-at-home moms. Right?

But lately I have been gaining a new prospective on my "job". I am not working for DJ, unexpected guest, my kids or even for myself! I am working for the Lord! He has given us all we have. Our house, car, clothes, food, money and jobs. And it is my job to take care of HIS possessions. They are only on loan! So, housecleaning just got a new meaning. Now I am not perfect, and I loose tract of what I am suppose to do daily. But I am trying. And now not so DJ won't be mad, but so Christ wont be mad! If he showed up at my front do to "check up" on my duties, how would I hold up to His inspection? (Please don't come right now, Lord. I'm not ready; I'm blogging!)

Well, lets be serious! He commanded us to do EVERYTHING whole heartedly! Even folding socks! There will be times when I fail! A lot of times, I'm sure. But if my attitude and heart are in the right place and I do my best, then I know I've lived up to the verse and Christ expectations!

His last day at Walgreens!

I can't believe this day has come. Can you tell I'm excited! Dj's last day as pharmacist at Walgreens has come. Tomorrow he will start at Cantrell Drug Company. Unfortunately we haven't had a chance to celebrate because he has been at the store all day. Required by law he has to do a pill count on his last day as manager at his current store. He had to work the early shift this morning so he wasn't able to start his count until after his shift ended. But don't worry, we will celebrate soon. Maybe dinner sometime this week, just the two of us.

On another note Trey and I met some friends at the park this morning. We played, visited and then had lunch. It was great weather and a perfect start to the day! Below are some pictures of Trey. I forgot to get pictures of our friends. :( I must do better with picture taking. What good is a blog without the cute photos! Oh well, next time!

A lesson in guns

DJ went to our Sunday School's first guys skeet shoot today. When he came home he needed to clean the gun before storing it away. I got a lesson on how to take it apart, clean it, and then put it together. Not that I am planning on using the gun anytime soon. It was just a good way to spend time together! And I got to learn a new thing.

Taken apart and ready to clean

Putting it back together

All done!

Hannah was outside with us and the whole time she was planning her first hunting trip with daddy. She informed us that she would like her own gun and that it must be pink! I am not too trilled with the idea, but I suppose when she is old enough (and more mature) that it would be a good bonding time with daddy!

As always, Lexi was right beside us!

After cleaning the gun, we all went for a walk around the neighborhood. The kids were a little crabby, but eventually had a good walk. Lexi is working on her girlish figure. Hopefully all the exercise she is not used to will help her weight issues!

Now I know how my parents felt!

When I was in high school I remember getting a flat tire. It was a bad flat too! It was at night and I had no idea how to change a flat tire. So I did what most teenage daughters do and I called my dad. He wasn't too happy but he came and changed my tire and the next day replaced it. What a sweet dad! I also remember when I was in elementary school, not sure what year, I got real sick. I don't remember what I had but it was bad enough that I slept on a pallet in my parents room. My mom I am sure kept an watchful eye on me all night and I slept in their room for about a week. A mom's job never ends!

Today has brought back these memories because I had to help my brother with his flat tire and both my kids have some kind of illness that has me worried as any mom would be! Lets start with the kids.

Hannah woke up yesterday with a bark-like cough and when she inhaled she made this awful sound like she was gasping for air. She even said she couldn't breath! Scared me to death. I took her to the doctor thinking she had croup, but it turned out to just be a bad cough. The breathing problems were probably due to mucus buildup in her throat. She was acting much better by the time we made it to the doctor. She has had a cough off and on and now has a hoarse voice, but hasn't ran a fever at all. So she isn't contagious but just sounds like she has a cold. Still, I'm a worried mom!

Trey has had a stomach bug the beginning of the week. He woke up vomiting Tuesday. But by the afternoon was completely fine. Again no fever! However today he has developed a killer diaper rash. He has very sensitive skin down there. So one loose bowl will tear him up.  He gets like this every couple of months or so.  He is currently in my bed awaiting bed time. He walks very careful and says "I hurt". It breaks my heart because there is not much I can do but keep him clean and dry. I am ready for potty training! I just need him to be ready too.

Then this afternoon my brother, Matt, and his wife come over. They stayed for most of the afternoon and then we were getting ready to leave to go to my nephew's birthday party and Matt's tire is flat. It is 4:30 and most places were closing. He doesn't have a spare tire and so we had to put his car up on a block so we can exchange the tire tomorrow. Correction...I have to exchange the tire tomorrow. He doesn't really have much money to spare right now, so I offered to help him out. Used tires are pretty cheap and work just fine in a pinch! I also helped him change the tire, but he did all the grunt work. I just supervised! :)

Parenting is great! I wouldn't change a thing. And I love my brother like a son and would do anything for him, including getting him a new "used" tire!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday. He turned 54 (I think)! We had a little get together at his house with all my siblings. There was my dad and step-mom, my oldest brother Brandon and his wife Shawna and their three sons, Austin, Brandon P. and Aaron. Then there was my kids, Hannah and Trey and our niece Iva, and DJ and myself. Also attending was my younger brothers, Matt and Taylor. Matt's wife Elizabeth (pregnant with child) was also there. Then the neighbor came over with her son as well. (If you lost count by now it is 10 adults and 7 kids.) So really the little get together was actually a big get together!

I always enjoy getting together with the family. We can be dis-functional at times and are almost always loud but we are family and I love it! My dad does too. I think he enjoys having us over more than he does presents and a big fuss. You should see us at Christmas too! Then you have to add my step brother Sean and his wife and two kids to the count! Ha! One big happy family!

The kids all played together, chasing each other and getting into trouble as only cousins can get into! I love seeing them play together. It brings back memories of when I used to play with my cousins at my Grandmother's house. So sweet! I hope they are able to stay close throughout life.

The weather was perfect for back porch sitting. So we all stayed outside. Towards dusk though it started cooling off. Hannah has her first hoarse voice as a result of the cooler night air. Since she has never lost her voice before she was sort of confused. We were asking her random questions to see how she was talking and I told her to talk normal. I thought she might be faking it. In response she blurted out in her hoarsy voice as loud as she could, "I can't, it isn't working right." So cute. We all started laughing so hard. She was so frustrated though. I think she working on her first "school" cold.  I figure it is only a matter of time before she comes home with some germs and gets sick as a result. Hopefully we can avoid any major illnesses though!

Weekend Sleepover and Fun

Iva stayed with us this weekend. The kids had a great time. On Saturday morning I like to make breakfast for the family but this Saturday we had to take Cindy, DJ's mom, to the airport and DJ had to go to work. So we just had cereal and pop tarts.
Side note: Cindy is going to Iowa to help her mom move back home from the nursing home. This is a HUGE blessing. We didn't think she would get to go back home, but she has done so well in recovery that she is able to take care of herself with minimal help! Now our prayer is that God will heal her from the cancer and the prognosis the doctors gave her. (Which is not a very good one!)

Back to our Saturday: Iva had a birthday party to go to and so I took my kids to my dad's house and then took Iva to her friends party. Saturday evening after DJ got home, we all took a nap and then after waking took a walk around the neighborhood. It was so beautiful outside. The weather was perfect.

Sunday we all went to church. This was Iva's first time to sit in Big Church with us. It went much better than I thought it would! Pretty much the weekend was a lazy weekend. Just how I like it. After going and going all week it is nice to relax on the weekend. God knew what he was doing when he made the 7th day a day of rest!! This was also DJ's last Sunday to work!!! So exciting to know he will have a normal schedule starting next Saturday! His official last day is the 10th, but he will not have another "scheduled" weekend at his new job. He might have to go in some Saturdays if there is a lot of work to do, but hopefully that will not be every Saturday.



Trey, Iva and Hannah

The girls love to play dress up. They will put on just about anything and make an adventure out of it. Including raiding DJ's closet and getting into his shirts and shoes! Trey just wanted to be apart of the picture too!

TGIF

Yeah, it is Friday! I love this day. It means I get to sleep in tomorrow. Even though I probably wont due to the new routine my body has adopted due to Hannah going to school! Today was a pretty calm day. Trey and I spent our morning vacuuming the living room and kitchen area after we picked it up. I was pretty productive with the house cleaning this morning. We also got a visit from the Orkin man. He came out to treat the house for insects and most importantly fire ants. Well the fire ants aren't in the house but rather in the yard. Just a couple of weeks ago we found out Hannah is allergic to fire ant bites. Her ankle, toes and hand swelled up pretty good after getting bit. This was the second time it had happened and so we put two and two together. No more fire ant bites for her! The rest of the day I was completely lazy! It was great! Tonight we went out to dinner with DJ's parents to celebrate Dennis's (his dad) birthday. I brought Iva home with us because she is going to spend the weekend with us. Her mom is lucky enough to get to go to Dallas to see not only the Hogs play tomorrow but also the Cowboys on Sunday! Below are some pictures from dinner.

Dennis, Cindy, Iva (hiding her head), Hannah, Trey and DJ at Applebee's

DJ's parents, Dennis and Cindy

So this last picture is just something I have to rant on for a minute! I went to high school at Bryant. For the ones who don't know Benton and Bryant are BIG rivals. We live in the Benton school district now, where Hannah is currently attending school. This is kind of a bummer for me. I never thought I would have to support the Panthers in any way, but here I am a panther mom! I am slowly getting over this transgression! Ha! Hannah is helping though. She wants to do a day cheer camp with the high school cheerleaders. After the day camp she will get to preform at the Benton football game. So I will go, happily, to support her and in some small way support the Benton football team. OK, now I am done ranting. (I am not quite as enthusiastic as the sign is, but I will eventually get there!) :)