Something always gets left undone

So I discovered that I am not completely SUPERWOMAN! I would like to be but its just not possible. I went to the dr for bloodwork right before our christmas event because migraines were spiking as well as my seizures. I had been so good to not have many at all and so I was a little concerned. The bloodwork came back that my thyroid has finally leveled out after months of playing with dosages. I am thankful for that, however she still wanted to see me this week. Let me just say that shes not too happy with me, I kind of new that before I went in. She said I needed to eat better, sleep lots more and not work so darn hard. I can tell you I have had the busiest two months ever in my life and there is one way anyone in the world would know if they walked through my front doors- THE HOUSE! I will admit that when I told the dr the house was dirty so I wasn't working all that hard she wasn't very amused. LOL! Oh my goodness I am in shock and awe over how bad it truly is. I don't think laundry has been folded and put up in a few weeks, there is more that needs to still be washed. The kids haven't done very good at helping with dishes, the bathroom and other areas so it looks like a tornado came through. I think it will take all of Christmas break to clean it back up. What is worse is I have no energy to even start it today! In fact I am so exhausted and still dealing with these headaches that I am taking the kids to a movie just to get a way from it all and spend some much needed time with them. Isn't it funny when something is so out of control you just don't even know where to begin? That is about how I feel today. I am thankful that my husband is back in a couple of days from an unexpected trip to Ohio for work because I think it is going to take all 5 of us to fix the mess we have all let build up. On a positive note I am so excited that my business is thriving. I have 14 orders scheduled for the month of January. I will probably have to start some of them this coming week but to have orders so far ahead is the Lords grace in our lives. I rarely have even one order in January and now I have so many I need to actually keep a schedule! I think the most important thing as we wind up 2013 is to get organized as a family. Jakob graduates in 6 months and is then off to college. While I know he is ready I feel like I miss so many opportunities with him and the other two, time goes my much to quickly. I am thinking we are going to start 2014 with going out of town somehow even if for one night. We all need to reconnect after such a busy end to this year.

Projects

Jakob always outdoes himself. He had to read a regular book for English class, along with an all AP/Honors load and then read an outside book- he chose the Divine Comedy- not just one of the books he had to read all three. He was cutting it a little close for my comfort and was up till 3 am finishing this project but it turned out amazing. He had to choose so many representations off a rubric sheet and them lay them in layers on a specific sized poster board. I hope he gets a good grade on it, he worked really hard.

Mekenzei, Zekaryah and I took the other afternoon off to get pictures for her geometry project. Her and her dad had done some over the weekend but I think he must have been tired from Hometown Christmas because they didn't work out when she tried to do the math. I am a little more patient with all these projects so we just started all over.

You had to use a mirror and back up to the point that you could see your object in the mirror.

you had to measure the distance from the edge of the mirror on the outside to the object and then the edge of the mirror on the inside to yourself. Which required some help :-)

you also had to measure the height of your objects. This can prove to be challenging! Thank goodness measuring tapes have lots of height/length to them.

This is probably my favorite of all the photos. We still had so much other homework to do and she knew it would take a long time to creatively put this all onto paper and into a booklet. She was thankful to be done. I was thankful for the amazing weather. I now have some great photos too.

We did learn something with this project, that is, if the sign or object is on a slant, hill, ditch the math doesn't work out, esp with a mirror because then the object is skewed.
Usually I am great at taking pictures of all their work, esp when it takes hours to accomplish something. Sadly with all my orders I was too busy to get photos of this finished project, the science project and a couple of others that she finished up. I am thankful for this two week break from school. We all need some REST!

Secret Santa

MeKenzei got her history teacher for her secret santa this year. Sometimes Secret Santas can be challenging but we were provided some great ideas. We would have never pulled it off without the help of one of Jakob's history teachers that I am friends with, for that I am grateful. For revel day we had this clever idea that MeKenzei would wear a life size version of her bears scarf as well as a Baylor sweatshirt to school. 

The bear turned out super cute. I wasn't able to do a ragged scarf like I hoped I didn't realize I would need small scissors to cut the fabric, but I ragged the edges. When MeKenzei showed up to school she had the other teacher help her sneak the item in, then when she showed up to class a few periods later the teacher didn't get it, she was asking if anyone knew who her secret santa was. MeKenzei had to laugh as well as another student because what we thought would be very obvious wasn't. Eventually she asked why they were laughing and finally got the message. 

Choir performance Merry Christmas

Thursday Dec 12th I was so blessed to have the choirs sing that night. I was a little down in spirts over not having much help with the setup of our Cookie Express and needed an evening to remember what Christmas was all about. We had the honor of having one of our vendors come out and enjoy the concert as well. I love how the Lord introduces new people into our lives. 

I am so proud of both the younger two for joining in so many areas of High School. They had a very successful Cross Country season, they both enjoy choir and student council and they love choir. 

One aspect that I love about choir is that there are always so many God oriented songs, there are challenging pieces and they have many opportunities for the students to get involved at the level that they are able to, whether it be that choir is the one thing they want to spend time in or whether it be something that they do because they love but that they are able to  participate in other areas as well- which is what my children do.

It was a beautiful night. I wish I had not had such a busy season. I was unable to volunteer much at all to help this year. However I found time to make some beautiful placemats which a friend of mine purchased when she bid on a basket and won.

Hometown Christmas Part II

I feel like Jakob's senior year is passing us by and I am not getting time to sit back and enjoy most of it. I realized I left part of our Hometown Christmas out- the weeks of preparing. I could not have pulled the event off without my children and husband. Zekaryah and MeKenzei helped me with decorating.

It was a big chore to set up all the trees, garland and lights. I know they were not very pleased to have no one else show up to help but I am so thankful for their loving spirits and their hard work!

My husband came a few hours later after having to work that morning/afternoon. He helped get the lights plugged in and the webbing put out on the shrubs.

He also planted the Christmas tree in the ground, the sky looked amazing as we wrapped up a full day of decorating. I am so blessed to have a family that supports my efforts. It means alot to me to be part of a small community that loves the Lord and celebrates the birth of Christ. 

I forgot to mention our full day of searching for Christmas trees! I was blessed to have two friends each donate a new tree to our event and then the volunteer parents of the high school all contributed so that I could purchase a few more. I requested the historical society purchase a new one for the depot and dr wares office since they were getting rather old, so in total we had 7 new trees this year! 

We had to stop and grab a bite to eat, I know its not how he wanted to spend a day off from school but it was nice time together and I appreciated his help. We ate at a Willies Icehouse that his dad helped manage before he was born, it was a good way to connect and talk about memories we both had.

Baylor Invitation to Excellence Dinner

Jakob was invited to a dinner of Excellence. It was a nice night Friday before Thanksgiving although it was super cold so we had to stop at a Walmart on the way into Waco to purchase ourselves Jackets. I am so thankful we did that! We rented a hotel outside of town and made the best of  the weather and our very pressing schedule for the weekend.

Since Jakob can be rather picky and I think we were both super nervous we stopped at Dennys that evening after the dinner so we could grab some food. I am glad we did this because the next day the students did their thing and the parents did their own, I was bummed to not be able to spend the day touring the campus with him, but did learn alot at the various lectures I attended. I have really enjoyed getting to know this campus. The professor that we sat with that night wrote him a message letting him know that she enjoyed sitting with him and would be praying for his decision on the path the Lord had prepared for him. He has also received an invitation to apply to the Honors college there and a Christmas card. They do a great job at making sure we are attended to during the process. I love that friendly personalized attention.

23 Christmas Quilts in 40 days

This quilt was made for a principal at a local elementary school that had to retire for medical reasons. I was honored to be asked to make this quilt from their school shirts.

The Magnolia Historical Society lost two members within a months time of each other so I made two quilts one for each husband as a way to show that we loved and cared for these women very much and for their spouses during their time of sorrow.

I am thankful to the people who signed the quilts to make it even more special, they were presented in public at our Hometown Christmas event then given to the husbands at our monthly meeting.

This is the first time I have made a quilt using photo paper, I think it turned out really nice and it will be a great option for future quilt orders