Wide Awake

For some odd reason, it is 4 AM, I have already been up for nearly 2 hours, and I am wide awake.   It started with the boys coming in our room because they were afraid to sleep on our floor.   Then one was thirsty.   Then we had to convince our 8 year old that he was old enough to stay in his bed.   And on and on....    Then I just continued to lay there, not being able to sleep.   Finally, I decided, if I'm going to be awake, I mind as well do something useful with my time.  So if you're reading this and for some reason you were awake during this time and needed prayer.... I was praying for you.  

While I was awake, however, I did think of some people that might specifically need prayer.   A friend of ours recently gave birth to a baby.   I was talking to her today about how he was sleeping etc.   Our conversations reminded me back to when the twins were born.   That first week was unbelievable.    I remember waking nearly every hour and a half to feed one or the other of them.   I was so tiredly trying to keep track of who I was feeding and what time.   But at 3 in the morning, I can vouch that your handwriting is not nearly as clear as you hope it would be and sometimes I would mix up babies and times and it would all be a mess.   I remember sitting in the rocking chair right next to our bed, holding a baby in my arms, feeding him, resting my head wearily against the back of the chair and close my eyes, just for a few extra seconds of sleep.   So I pray tonight for all the exhausted moms of newborn babies that are just grasping every ounce of sleep they can.  

I also thought of a friend who recently lost her husband and is battling some feelings of depression.   I pray for those who are lonely in bed tonight, that God would just bring comfort, peace and friends who can lift their spirits. 

My one son struggles a lot with fear.   Oddly enough I beginning to think this is a trait passed down hereditarily (if that's even a word) and not necessary by environment.   Regardless, I too, struggle with fear all the time.   I reminded him that God is everywhere and is the best protector.   He also is our father, and we are his children, so just like he feels comfort sleeping on mommy and daddy's floor, we can find peace and comfort in the presence of our holy Father.   I also reminded him that the word of God promises that his angels will watch over us and guard us.    So I pray for anyone else out there tonight who is feeling afraid and needs the peace of God to calm their souls.  

I was hoping by typing this post that I too would be able to find rest.   So for now, I sign off until the beautiful sun shines on this glorious day.  May God's blessings, peace, and rest be on all who read this post. 

Ciao!

Finally, a day without tears...

Well, today was the first full school day at home without any tears shed.   You can't believe how good that makes me feel!   Last week, one of the days I made the boys an assignment sheet with things they could do themselves.   That seemed to work better.   Today I just enhanced it.   I made the assignment sheet and then listed the times of what else we would be accomplishing together.   They pretty much had the whole day laid out for them and I think they liked knowing what to expect.   Also I did one of our lessons with the laptop hooked up to the projector... they loved that.   It reminded them of the Smart Boards they had at school.   My oldest asked if we could do ALL of our grammar that way.   I said I would use it when it "fit" what we were learning.   This direction requires a lot more up front planning, which is usually not my style, but it seems to be working.   Unfortunately, it ends up keeping me up late, cause it ends up being the last thing I do before I go to bed.

On other news... my daughter is getting her first school pictures done tomorrow.   My sister and her family had come up for a visit in early August and my twelve year old niece put a string wrap in my daughters hair.    It looked very cute and stayed well for over a month.   About 2 weeks ago, I cut the knot at the top to get it to loosen and hopefully fall out.  well... it never did.   So here we are the day before school pictures and I figured I needed to cut it out.   My daughter and I talked about it today and she seemed fine with it.   However, I didn't want to get to the morning and have a big drama event about it, so I just cut it out while she slept.   Hmm.... we'll see how that fairs in the morning.

My kids did not win anything at the county fair this year.   That was really a bummer.   My son entered a lego model that took a lot of time and $$ to put together.   We thought it was really good, but unfortunately someone else won.   Last year, we had two ribbons, one for first and one for third to my second son and daughter.   But no such luck this year.

Well, looking forward to another good day of school tomorrow.   Please.....