I can't sleep!

I think I am going to go nuts! I have lived on very little sleep for almost 16 years now....that would be about half way through my first pregnancy until the present. I occasionally get 8 hours but usually 5 - 6 is about it. This past year starting a business...oh I mean ministry!! :) The ministry is awesome but there is so much work on the business end of things to be done....constantly.... and I am on overload. Between schooling my babies..normal house stuff...personal bills and now the ministry stuff...my brain is full ALL the time. I have averaged 5 hours sleep this year. I require more, I want more but I can't seem to get it all done.

Well now I have a bigger issue that started about 4 weeks ago...I can't sleep!!! I have never had trouble going to sleep once I finally get there but now all of the sudden I can't fall asleep. When my head hits the pillow, as tired as I may be...my brain turns on and I begin to think about all that I didn't get done...all my hopes and aspirations....new curriculum for home school....what is for dinner the next day...what my future grandchildren might look like....you name it...I think about it!!!! It's not just a matter of keeping a pad by the bed and writing stuff down...I literally can't shut my thinking off. And what is worse....after I fall asleep I do not stay asleep...maybe 2 hours if it is a good night and then I am awake tossing and turning. I am averaging about 3 hours a night!!!

I have cut out all caffeine but my morning coffee. I have taken Tylenol PM. I have tried warm baths and hot tea. Soothing music. Lots and lots of praying. NOTHING!!! I took a prescription sleeping pill from an unnamed source :) for a few nights just so I wouldn't completely fall apart. I do not want to start that if I can help it. I am 42 but I went through early menopause...is this what life is like when you are post menopausal???

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I sure hope that all of you had a wonderful day! We had a blast! Every year we enjoy the church service at our amazing church...First Baptist Woodstock and then we head over to my moms house with my family and Erics family and other friends. My mom makes the meat and we all bring the side items. We had a feast! This year we had 60 people....yes you read that right! Actually it was 62. We hid 1200 eggs and played relay type races. It was great fun!

Thumb Sucking

Lindsey had a passie......easy to take away with a bribe to trade it in for a toy at Walmart. Marshall handed me his passie's when he was 20 months and proclaimed that he was a big boy. Emily....somewhat harder.....she reluctantly traded them in for a toy and then cried for several nights wanting to take the toy back! But this soon passed. Benjamin....never took a passie...AAHHH so easy!


Then came Luke....Oh the baby????!!!!! No passie.....he found his thumb on day 2 and we all thought it was the cutest thing we had ever seen....and we continued to think that for some time. Oh but the habit!!! He is 6 now! We first tried the Thumb stuff...it didn't do anything...then we moved to the more serious stuff...it is also a paint on solution....this stuff is aweful and it stays around for days........ after many hand washings! I even tried to put red pepper in the solution....I know it sounds awful...but it didn't work!

He only sucks his thumb at night....during the night...so it is not intentional...just habitual. I have tried putting a glove on him but he gets it off in his sleep? I really don't care all that much except his teeth are paying the price!

Any suggestions??

Fruit on the tree

Do you react to the behavior of your kids? I sure do ...but I know better....and yet I find myself still struggling with my reaction! The behavior that we see in our children is just the "fruit on the tree" that indicates a heart problem. So many times we as parents "fix" the bad behavior but we never get to the heart of the matter. It takes a lot more time and effort to work on a heart matter so we just react to the behavior. I do know that changing behavior will not bring the long term results that I so desperately want for my children. My children will conform because they do not want to be in trouble but they will not understand that when they disobey or have a rotten attitude...it breaks their fellowship with the Lord and that He wants an intimate walk with them. Do you struggle with "Fruit on the Tree"?

Boys

Boys are really from another planet! They do the most amazing things! I remember reading in James Dobson's book..."Bringing up Boys" that if you ask a boy why he did whatever it is he did his answer will be, "I don't know" Boys react and then think later ....if they think at all. I love my boys very much...they make me laugh so much.....they make me crazy....and I am sure I will not ever fully understand them! I do know this....the same part of them that makes them do the most ridiculous things and not think about why.....is the same part of them that is willing to go to war and defend our country! For that I am grateful!

Hello

Oh my goodness.....every day I think "today I will get to blog," but it doesn't seem to happen! Between schooling 5 kids and ministry stuff and now taxes...it is all kicking my butt! I desperately need to sit down and make out a new schedule for myself! I work much better on a detailed schedule. Things changed around here after the first of the year and my old one doesn't work and I can tell you flying by the seat of my pants is a recipe for failure! I hope that you have a great day!

Want and Need

I have been sooooo busy the past few weeks! have not been a very good blogger. My husband and I have a 501c3 nonprofit ministry and we have been crazy busy trying to get everything ready for taxes and statements...UUUGGG.... definitely the part about the ministry that I do not like!!! I am praying that the Lord will bless us to the point that we can hire someone wonderful in to do all that stuff!!! :) We still are not finished but it is coming together!!

We had some friends over for the Superbowl the other night and we had a wonderful time! One of the ladies said...."I don't know how you do all this in such a small space...you need a bigger place" She is really sweet and a great friend...but her comment was one that many have said or thought. There are 7 of us in a relatively small home....1400 square feet....would I like to have a bigger place...YES am I satisfied where I am...YES. Do I "need" a bigger place..NO. We have so blurred the lines between what we need and what we want. The Lord promised to take care of our needs...and He certainly has done that and abundantly!! He also gives us our wants and desires. But we should understand the difference. We should teach this to our children.

Kids are growing up with such a sense of entitlement. They do not understand the difference and who can really blame them...most of their parents do not know the difference either. We need to get a hold of this idea. Given the economical times we are in.....it would be very easy to become bitter and dissatisfied if we perceive that our "needs" are not being met when in reality most of those things are our"wants" Love those babies!