prayer

We pray with our kids before bed. But usually Dad or I am doing the praying. When I ask Brennan to pray, he will usually tell me, "I don't know what to pray for." Even though I tell him the same things each time, or I ask him what Daddy and I have been praying about, he still has difficulty.

I heard about the 5 finger method several years ago, but found it again today as I was prepping for Bible study tomorrow. I haven't used it yet with Bren but am excited to give it a try. Hopefully this will help him pray without promptings from me. Let me know if any of you give this a try at your house or already implement this method.

The THUMB is nearest you. So begin praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember.

The next finger is you POINTING FINGER. Pray for those who teach, instruct, or heal. This could include your pastor, church leaders, teachers, and doctors. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction.

The next finger is your TALLEST FINGER. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God's guidance.

The fourth finger is our RING FINGER. Surprisingly to many, it is our weakest finger, as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. The need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.

And lastly comes our LITTLE FINGER- the smallest finger of all which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs should be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

I hate winter

Our mailbox is almost buried-I took this picture on Thursday. On Friday we got another 4 inches, and tomorrow we are to get another 4+ inches again. We are 2 inches away from having the 3rd snowiest winter IN HISTORY! It just keeps coming and doesn't ever melt! And I am sooooooooooooooooooooooo sick of it all...

Friday morning

Alright- I must get busy in a little bit here, but I'm just basking in the quiet of the morning. I love that time right after I get back from dropping the boys off at school. I usually get my breakfast (always a cappuccino with coconut creme creamer and usually a granola bar or banana) and sit down at the computer to check messages, FB, etc. In order to not waste my whole morning, I often look at the computer clock as soon as I sit down and give myself a time limit- usually 15 or 20 minutes. And although I lack in self control in many areas of my life, this method is actually effective! Today, since I didn't get called to sub- again- I have MANY things that need to be accomplished, and it's one of those days where I'm not even sure where to begin. I need to give the house a thorough cleaning. I mean tubs scrubbed, etc. I have piles of laundry to attend to. I have Grace work that should be accomplished. I want to finish uploading the rest of 2009 pics to Shutterfly and then back them up on CDs before erasing my memory card, I am doing an appreciation for our children's workers on Sunday AM and I have several things to accomplish for that, I need to study and prepare for ladies' Bible study on Tues, I am taking treats to small group Sunday eve. so I could prepare a few things today for that, and I have some errands I need to run. (Chas and Debbi- your scrapbooks will be mailed out today, so expect them in a couple of days : ) And as I do every weekend, I dream of just being able to sit down in my scrappin' room and create. It's been even harder to do that lately because my scrappin' desk is now Gary's CPA study center, so if he's not at work, he's at that desk! And there's really not room for the both of us down there!

My back has really been bothering me lately. Since Christmas my low back has been achy. Two weeks ago, it was really hurting, and when I got up from the couch to answer the door, I almost passed out from pain. I have been going to the chiro for the last two weeks, and I can see improvement, but it's still not 100%. Mornings are the worst. I didn't work out for a week, and I HATE that. I was really into a good routine there, and I don't want this back thing to mess that all up. I was feeling good last night, so I went and had a good workout. I am not to do any incline on the treadmill (which is my cardio of choice- I hate the elliptical for some reason) so it takes SO much longer to burn calories on no incline. I didn't realize how much that could make a difference. Hopefully I will continue to feel good enough to keep up my exercising. I lost 3 pounds last month and lost a couple of inches around my waist, so I was very happy with that! Every day is a battle to make right choices, but I will get up each morning ready to fight it!

Last night Bradley and I went to a meeting at school to prepare for high school. AHHH!!!!! I don't think I'm ready for this! We were given LOADs of information concerning classes and schedules and then expected to write out his 4 year plan of what classes he would take! Now, I agree with planning. I love planning and organizing, but these are huge decisions, and some just can't be made right now! He doesn't even know what he wants to do with the rest of his life! And I would bet many 14 year olds are the same way. So trying to understand credit hours, requirements, prerequisites, AP classes, college credit, college entrance requirements, etc. was a bit overwhelming. Thankfully the freshman year has less electives to choose from and more required classes, so at least we have that one figured out. I think I'm going to need to sit one on one with a guidance counselor to ask more specific questions concerning Bradley's needs. Being an ELP student, we want to have him take more challenging classes and track for college credits during his high school years, etc. but I also don't want to overwhelm him and bury him either. Wisdom! I need wisdom! And I know this plan can be changed, and will be changed many times before we're done, so I know it's not set in stone. What I know is that I have a lot to learn about the whole process!

I had Brennan's conference this week, and he is also doing well. His teacher was very pleased with where he is at and his progress in these last few months. I am so grateful for each of the boys and the talents, qualities, and abilities God has given each of them. They are SO different from one another that I sometimes marvel at how they could have come from the same two people! But I love that- we are each "fearfully and wonderfully made!"

Bradley is playing in basketball tournaments this next month. He had his first one last weekend, and the boys won it! They went 3-0 on the day! They were so excited because this is the first tournament they have won (and he plays tournament ball every year!). Tomorrow we head out again to tourney #2 and hopefully we'll have good results as well. While Brad and I are there, Dad and Brennan will be taking Bren's Hawkeye car (pictures to come later) and racing in the AWANA Grand Prix at our church.

Well I'll quit rambling- must get to my to-do list. I'll sign off with some tournament pics from last week!

I love this pic! I love the pure excitement on Bradley's face just touching

that tropy!

playing "dollie"

Oreo has always had an affinity for dolls. Of course, being in a house full of boys we did not realize this until several years ago when my niece Anna came to stay for the week. She had packed her barbies and he found them in her suitcase and had a hey day with that gorgeous Barbie hair. It's something about the hair that he loves. Mind you, Anna was maybe 5 or 6 at the time, and when she spotted Oreo violently biting and ripping at the hair and tossing the barbie to and fro, she was horrified. We had to pack the barbies back in her suitcase and zip it completely closed because he was on a mission to find them and "play." When he even got wind of a hair sticking out of the suitcase he'd pull on that until he ripped it right off the doll. So, being the good fur mommy I am, I promptly bought him his own barbie doll at a garage sale, looking for the longest haired one I could find.
Well, the newness of the barbie soon wore off and it sat untouched (thankfully I only spent 25 cents on it!).
Well this doll appeared at our house some time ago. I think it might even be an American Girl doll??? I have asked several people and it has not been claimed, so I stuck it in the back of the closet with the toys and games.

So one evening we were sitting at the dining room table eating dinner, when Brennan exclaimed, "Look what Oreo has!" The closet door must have been unlatched. He had gotten in that closet, found this doll in the back, and was dragging it down the hallway by the hair! (and this is not a light doll!). As we laughed hysterically, he had a little love session with his newest find! I think that head of hair ranked right up there with a freshly opened bag of catnip! He was in heaven!

Great odds means you're a sure winner!

Alrighty! Debbie (don't know if I spelled that right??) and Just us Three- since you are my only commenters (besides Mari, but Mari doesn't scrapbook!) you both win! I happen to have two of the primary scrapbooks and I will send those out to you this week if you want to e-mail me your snail mail address- gkbbhydorn@msn.com


Thanks for playing along. I plan to have some other giveways in the future- not all scrapbook related for those of you who aren't scrappers- and your chances are looking pretty good at winning!


It's been a fun day today. Bradley had a tournament in Ogden and the boys played hard, won all three games, and won 1st place! The first two games were nail biters and came down to the last minute! They were thrilled with their medals and trophy. Gary had to stay home and study all day, however we got a call last night that we would have to show the house around 12:30 and since Bradley and I were out the door by 6:45 AM, Gary spent most of the morning cleaning. His first CPA test is Feb. 19, so those of you who are praying for him, keep that date on your calendar if you could. He is stressed because he hasn't gotten as much study time in as he needs.
Tomorrow I am doing a training at church for some children's ministry workers so preparation for that has kept me busy this week. It will be nice when tomorrow afternoon is here. I'm going to put together a nice spread of fattening foods and we're gonna chill as a family and watch the Colts win the Superbowl!!!! Bradley is a huge Colts fan and has been for years, and I like 'em too. Dallas Clark is a good ol' Iowa boy! GO COLTS!!

a little Valentine idea for your husband

I came across this yesterday and thought it was so cute! I am planning on doing this for Gary (so Gary, if you read this before Valentine's Day, don't open the link!!!!) and thought some of you might want to download it too!


http://jeannewinters.blogspot.com/2010/02/udaman-valentine-chocolate-wrapper.html


Today and tomorrow left for the giveaway- leave a comment on my last post if you want to be in the drawing!

Happy Friday!

It's time for my first giveaway!

As you probably know (if you've read much of my blog) I love surfing and reading other blogs in my free time. It has been fun to see various friends and family begin blogging in the last few years. I have more scrapbooking blogs bookmarked and in Google Reader than I can count, and for my job at church as a children's ministry assistant, I have several ministry related blogs that I regularly visit. I lurk a lot, but don't often leave a comment. I need to get better about that. I love the ability to be able to share ideas, photos, and life with friends and complete strangers of like mind.

Anyway, I have noticed that my blog traffic has been way up these last few weeks, and people from all over the world are checking in. When I see these places on the Live Feed- places I've never heard of- I am so curious to know who you all are and what brings you here!

When I was out shopping a few weeks ago, I found these cute Martha Stewart scrapbooks at a great price. I love these little scrapbooks. They have a 3 ring binder and cute little pages with tabs. I have used the Gumdrop one to make scrapbooks for family after our Florida vacation last summer, and I loved how they turned out.

So, I would like to give one of these scrapbooks away and hopefully get to know some of you who are out there. Leave me a comment telling me a little bit about yourself and which scrapbook you would like if you are chosen. The cotton candy one is shades of pink and purple and the gumdrop one is primary colors. If you've never left a comment before, it's very simple. Write your comment and sign your name. When it asks you to select your profile, if you do not have a Google account, just select Anonymous and sign your name. Easy!

I will randomly draw from the comments on Saturday night. Thanks for taking the time to read about my little world!

Here is a look at the scrapbooks-

The cotton candy with pink and purple hues.

The gumdrop with primary colors.

Dear Kids...

As I was preparing for our Ladies' Bible study tomorrow, I came across this humorous letter. It fits right in with our chapter 2 of My Heart's at Home book discussing our home being a rest area. And that rest and relaxation includes busy moms!

I'm sure this is what we envision our bubble baths to be all about... candles, lots of bubbles, aromatherapy, maybe some quiet music, low lights...

but do you ever feel like they end up like this?

Dear Kids,
Don’t be alarmed, the world isn’t coming to an end. I am simply taking a bath. It will take about 30 minutes and will involve soap and water. Yes, I know how to swim. Even if I didn’t, forcing myself to drown in a half-inch of lukewarm water is more work than I’ve got energy for (which reminds me, I’m all for science projects, but the next time you want to see if Play-Doh floats, use cold water.)
Don’t panic if I’m not out right on time. I’ve heard that people don’t dissolve in water and I’d like to test the theory. While I’m in the tub, I’d like you to remember a few things. The large slab of wood between us is called a door. Do not bang to hear my voice. I promise that even though you can’t see me, I am on the other side. I’m not digging an escape tunnel and running for the border, no matter what I said awhile ago. I didn’t mean it. Honest.
There will be plenty of time later to tell me about your day. Later means at a time when I am no longer naked, wet, and contemplating bubble gum in the blow dryer. I know that you have important things to tell me. Please let one of them be that you have invented a new way to blow bubbles, not a new way to add gum to your hair.
Believe it or not, shouting “TELEPHONE” through the closed bathroom door will not make the phone stop ringing. Answer it and take a message.
Water makes me wet, not deaf. I can still tell the difference between the sound of “nothing” and the sound of a child playing the piano with a basketball. I can also hear you tattling at the top of your lungs. I am choosing not to answer you.
Don’t call your dad at work and tell him I am unconscious in the bathroom. He didn’t appreciate it last time. He won’t appreciate it this time. Trust me.
No matter how much I would like it, water does not make me forgetful. I remember who you are and why you are grounded. No, you can’t go to Shelby’s house to play. No, you can’t go to Shelby’s house to use the bathroom.
If someone is in our other bathroom, you will just have to think dry thoughts and wait. Unless you have four paws and a tail, do not think of going outside to “water” the lawn. I know the dog does it. The neighbors don’t feel the need to call me when the dog does it.
Do not set the house on fire. Call me if there is an emergency.
Emergencies are:
1. Dad has fallen off the roof.
2. Your brother and/or sister is bleeding.
3. There is a red fire truck in front of the house.
Emergencies are not:
1. Dad has fallen asleep.
2. Someone on TV is bleeding.
3. There’s a red pickup truck in front of our house.
One other thing: Being forced to use the last roll of toilet paper for a towel does not make me happy. It makes me sticky with little white polka dots. In the future, when anything in the bathroom overflows, use a mop to clean up the water instead of every towel in the house. For my sanity’s sake, let’s pretend it was the tub, OK?
No, I don’t want to hear the real story.
Ever.
Especially not while I’m standing in the pool of water you missed.
(P.S. All Play-Doh experiments are canceled.)
Be good. Entertain yourselves. Yes, you can do both at the same time. Try coloring, playing a game, or paying that stack of bills on the coffee table.
I’ll be out soon. Maybe.
Love, Mom