This week's plan

is to finish separating the blogs and get back to a routine. How great that will be! No, really. I need the routine to help me accomplish everything that needs doing. We're getting busier and busier here. Next week, I'll be at science camp with my son for three days. Ugh. Ick. I am not the type to go looking for critters in the woods. So not my thing.

So, here goes the plan.

Today - start moving entries over to the appropriate blogs and adding some more
Tuesday - finish the moving
Wednesday - SNS - resume our study, plus post lots of playscape pictures. You'll find out why soon! I'll have the same post on all three blogs. Plus, I'll post what's planned on the other two blogs.

I have to go do some cleaning today. We've had quite a bit of rain and since our ground is already completely saturated from the winter, we had a little moisture in the lower level of our home again. Just a little though. We're trying to dry it up before the rains start back up tonight and tomorrow. Talk to you later!

I'm ticked and I don't care who knows it!

If you ask for a person's opinion, then don't be mad when you get it! We are living in a time when people's feelings get hurt at the slightest things. Come on! Get a grip. Personally, I think it's a symptom of how self-centered people are. Just because you feel a certain way DOESN'T mean everyone else must feel that way too. Whatever happened to agreeing to disagreeing? This culture of being afraid to speak your mind has got to stop. I just love how the tags of "diversity" and "acceptance" apply only if you agree with the people using them.

I'd like to stand up and applaud Miss California. She stood by her faith and her beliefs. Kudos to you. I pray that you continue being bold. Don't back down. There are many people standing by you.

I'd like to say that I'm glad I've never read anything that Hilton Perez (or is it Perez Hilton?) ever wrote. And the only way I know about it is that the "news" media keeps talking to him like he's a real journalist. He's not. He's a hate-filled person who comes across as a bully. He needs his mouth washed out with soap. I will pray for him as well. I pray that he sees there is a better way to make a living than to denigrate people.

The news broadcasts now sound like the tabloid TV shows did when they first came out. Seriously. What happened to the days of reporting the news and letting people make up their own minds about the story? This dumbing down of America has got to stop. I don't need anyone to tell me how to think. I'm fully capable of doing that for myself.

And while we're at it, where are all the "women's" groups? You know, the ones that complain at the least little thing. Are you not outraged that this man used such filth to describe Miss California? When did the C word become acceptable? My son asked me what it meant. I told him it meant daily washing out of his mouth with soap and grounded until he was married. How in God's green earth did this man get away with calling Miss California that and having it reported all over the world?

Enough ranting now. I'm going to go do something constructive now. I just wanted to comment on this. I really need to go back to my news fast.

Please Help!

I've entered a competition for a small business grant from Intuit. Please go to

http://community.intuit.com/contests/bVxSpalPur3QVhacfA8pyY

and vote for my essay! I'd love to at least make it to the next round. Thanks!

Changes are a comin'

So, if anyone ever looks at my profile, they'll notice a couple new blogs. Just hold tight! There's new content coming to all three blogs. I'm building up entries before the official launching. Here's how it will break down.

Here - Bible Study
Chele's confessions of the domestically challenged - homemaking and living with food allergies
Blue Water Scentsations - The biz, upcoming products, and related items.

I have to run! Things are crazy today. Crazier than normal. I have so much to get done, including making an appointment to see the dentist since I'm having trouble with a filling. It hurts!

Missing everyone

I have missed updating my blog this week. We had some activites come up that really threw our schedule in a tizzy. Fortunately, I have a slower schedule for the next week. Ok, maybe not slower, but at least in the house and not running around crazy. One thing I started this week was running the concession stand at Katelyn's home soccer games. It has been fun. Tuesday was spent setting it up and selling for the first game. It was cold and rainy, and we only made around $10. lol But yesterday was a beautiful day, and we did much better.

There are a lot of changes coming up in my life. I don't know how things will shake out, but I am taking the time this weekend to evaluate every activity, including this blog, to see where it fits. We're also going to put together our bedroom FINALLY! We had three floods between October and February and we need to get moving on fixing everything. Please pray for wisdom in all we are doing. I really need those prayers.

Well, I better get moving. I have quite a few things to get done. I need to put together my to do lists from the past week and get moving on it. lol

Happy Easter! The Lord is Risen!

It's Easter! What a wonderful day. Our Lord is risen! So many people think that this is about eggs, chocolate, and bunnies. But that isn't it at all. That's what the world wants you think - take Jesus out and insert chocolate. I have nothing against chocolate, but I don't put my faith in it.

Easter is about relationship. Our relationship with God. He gave His Son to us so that we could have relationship with Him all over again. God loves us so much that He gave a part of Himself to bring us back to Him! How can we not love Him back at least a fraction of the love He has for us? There are four words that came to mind when I was praying about what to write this morning. I'm just going to put the words and the verses for your reading and thought. Enjoy your families today, and reach out to those who don't yet know the true meaning of Easter. Happy Easter!

Hope:

Romans 15:11-13 (New International Version)
11And again,
"Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and sing praises to him, all you peoples."
12And again, Isaiah says,
"The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
the Gentiles will hope in him."

13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Faith

Romans 1:16-18 (New International Version)

16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
17For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written:
"The righteous will live by faith."

Praise

Psalm 117:1-2 (New International Version)

1 Praise the LORD, all you nations;
extol him, all you peoples.
2 For great is his love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the LORD.

Sacrifice

Hebrews 10:1-10 (New International Version)

Christ's Sacrifice Once for All
1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.
2If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.
3But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins,
4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, O God.' "
8First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made).
9Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second.
10And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Getting back into the swing of things

So, this is going to be another short entry. My menu for the week, and my to do list for today. I'll report back tomorrow and see how I'm doing with it.

Menu for the week:

Tonight - sweet potato burritos and salad
Tomorrow - leftovers (the burrito recipe makes a boatload and it's just John and me until Sunday night)
Saturday - grilled veggie salad
Sunday - Easter dinner - take spinach salad and cake
Monday - Oriental Chicken Salad
Tuesday - Pot pie
Wednesday - leftovers
Thursday - Fried Rice

And here's the to do list. I'm going to just try to get the most done that I can. After all, I have no kids at home until Sunday, and it's time to bust it out! I got my planner done yesterday, except the addresses. So, I have all the dates in there that I have obligations. I have a couple more to add, as I set them up. If I get time today, I'll come back and tell you about the goings on. Big surprises there for everyone.

To do -
Grocery list and shopping
30 min on the Wii Fit
Finish my Eventlister stuff (can't give details yet)
Find a vet for the puppy. I'm so not doing the whole going into heat thing.
Craig's list (can't give details yet)
Finish scheduling the meetings (are you tired of me saying I can't give details yet? lol)
Dishes
Laundry
Start eggplant and pepper seeds
Make 5 calls to businesses about wholesale
Finish production schedule
Do today's production
Finish packaging SCM stuff
Bible Study
Run off next week's chore schedules
Email rest of soccer parents about Snack Shack schedule
Letter to 5th Grade parents about carnival
Ask John to figure out how to get emails going through Outlook so they are all in one place
Check back with Project F.A.R.M. and 5 Minute Moms about emails sent week before last

I actually have about 50 more things on my to do list, but I'll spread that out over the next few days. Some of this stuff takes 5 minutes, some will take more. But, I want to get as much of it done as possible. I can't afford not to. If I don't get myself, my house, and my business together, I'm going to just lose it! lol Seriously, I know what God wants me to do, and I can't with the disorganization and malaise in my life. Plus, if I don't get sales up for the biz, I'm going to have to get a job. That will affect so many different things I'm involved with that it would really pull me out of God's will for the work I'm doing at school, and the other stuff we have planned.

Talk to you all later! Have a great day. I'll try to get back today if I have the time.

My get up and go...

Got up and went. lol

Seriously, the kids are on vacation and not here for the week. We had a power outage. I had my long put off allergy testing, John had to take the laptop back to work, so we're on one computer now, and I've just generally felt like not doing anything. After all, it's spring break, right?

Spring break is now half over, and I still have so much to accomplish. So, I better get myself in gear and moving. Not sleeping last night didn't help either. The good thing is that I'll be sleepy tonight. Hopefully this week, I'll be able to get back to the blog again and post more. But, I need to seriously get some stuff done. Maybe I'll post my list to be more accountable. We'll see. Sorry this is so short, but I have got to make that list and finish it by Saturday Night.

What a day!

Yesterday was report card day and conferences with the children's teachers. They are both on the honor roll! YEAH! And then conferences hit. I knew that my disorganization was affecting the kids, but Michael is extremely disorganized also. So, we're going to work on that together. Katelyn is doing much better with getting work in, but we have to work on her testing. She's still hiding things from us, bad grades and so forth. I'm not sure how to change that. We've told her that if she's having trouble, we'll help her and she won't be punished. Yet she still hides things. We'll keep working on it with her. Both children have projects to work on this spring break for school.

I have a rant though. I met with the principal today about several things. I volunteered for yet another thing. When will I add the word 'NO!' to my vocabulary? lol Seriously, I don't mind. I'm organizing the Snack Shack for home games. I can do that no problem. While we were there, we discussed cell phones in school. Now, Katelyn was caught (by us) getting text messages during school time. One even had test answers. I know Katelyn wasn't cheating, at least that time. She had been home sick for the past few days and wasn't in school that day. Since she was deleting her history on the phone, we had no way to see what else was going on. She is not allowed to delete that anymore. She also no longer takes her phone to school. Her friends at school were still sending text messages, so I had her tell them we had her phone and would be turning them into school if they kept it up. Katelyn lost her cell phone for two weeks, and now must leave it at home where we can see it during school hours and at bedtime. I spoke with the principal about this, and I was floored.

We spend a lot of money to send Katelyn and Michael to a private Christian school. Parents and students sign a statement of faith and agree to uphold the rules. Of course, since the school has a no cell phone policy, I thought that it was a few kids trying to skirt the rules. We're talking high schoolers here. Evidently, not only is it a widespread problem, but some parents openly flaunt the rules. Students are allowed to have cell phones turned off in their lockers. It's not happening. They are taking them to class and texting. Some students' parents are the ones sending them text messages throughout the day! Have they lost their minds?! When we found out about Katelyn getting text messages, we took the phone away and made sure it wouldn't happen again. We'd never text or call her during class. We value our integrity, her education, and our money to much to waste any of them by doing such a bonehead thing. Some parents are upset that the school is upholding their rules and punishing students who get caught. I just don't get it. The school has really been struggling with this, and has decided to send a letter home to the parents. I just hope that it does some good.

Things are moving along with our lives. There are so many plans in the works, and I love it all! I'll be back to post more later on today. I have to get some stuff done now and the kids only have a half day. Then, we have appointments and Katelyn has a game. So, until later! Be blessed. I'll let you know what we're doing for family devotion this weekend, and update you on a few things. God is good!

And the winner is...

JMom! Yeah! Congratulations on winning the Blue Water Scentsations Tropical Escape basket. I'll send you an email with the details of receiving your basket. Thank you for entering our contest.

We'll do another giveaway in a few months. Keep reading for more information!