Piano Lessons

It feels so nice to be connected to everyone again. ;0)  It's kind of scary to realize how dependent I am on the internet.
I hope everyone is doing well.  I am surviving....catching up on laundry.  I'm not sure how I got so behind.  In order to stay caught up I need to do one load a day.  I don't know what happened, but I have about 4 loads of laundry that need to go through the cycle of wash/dry/fold/put away.  I'm not complaining.  I'm happy to have a washer and dryer.  It's little things that I keep looking at, wondering if I will have them when we move to the mission field.  We won't have a dishwasher...we will have 5 dishwashers. lol  Sorry, I couldn't help it. Corny, I know.  I guess we will just have to all pitch in and wash everything by hand.  Not  big deal.  I find the kitchen stays neater when I wash dishes by hand anyway.  You can tell when I am home alone(children are sleeping) and my beloved is out, because I tend to be very chatty. ;0)
I hope you don't mind the chattiness.

The house we are renting has a beautiful piano.  I know I have expressed how I have always dreamed about playing the piano since I was little.  I would love to take lessons, but I don't know how I would be able to squeeze it into our schedule.  I think what makes it harder is having to drive somewhere, and the amount of time it would take for a few of us to take lessons, etc.   Anyway, Micah has a desire to learn as well.  Does anyone know of a child friendly program that I can use for him?  I am debating whether to start him on lessons now, or just wait until we move.  I do have a keyboard that I would like to take with us, and hopefully be able to use to take lessons over there.


Excuse my beloved there.  He does have an office in the house....I'm not sure how he works amidst the noise  music . ;0)

I recently purchased a homeschool edition of Learn & Master Piano.  It has enough DVD's for supposedly 2 years worth of lessons.  I am only up to Lesson 1, and I already learned about chords, which is so exciting.  It makes you feel like you are actually playing the piano, even though it's only a couple of chords. lol ;0)  It's good like for Kayla and I, but too much for Micah.

 I would like to at least start teaching Micah the notes on the staff, etc.  However, I am not sure if I would cause him more confusion or not.

I also purchased the Guitar version of the program above for my beloved.  I wouldn't mind learning the guitar as well.    I don't know if I am putting off the inevitable.   If not I will have to bite the bullet and make time in our schedules to drive somewhere to take lessons.
Any advice from you experienced piano players?

Hellllooooo!!!!

Just stopping by to say hello.  It turns out there was something wrong with the internet card itself.  They sent me out a replacement card today, and it will take 1 to 2 business days.  Miss you all.  My beloved is on his way out to a meeting with his boss who just flew in, and then he has his Monday night basketball game. ;0)  So depending on the time, I will just try to post from his laptop.   If not, see you in one to two business days. ;0)

Internet Issues

We sort of live out in the country. There is no DSL or cable internet out here. It was either dial up or an internet plug in card, with a limited amount of bandwidth. I went with the internet card. However I received a letter stating there was a glitch with the card, to go to their website and download a new driver to fix it. I tried it and it didn't work. Turns out that was only for regular PC's. They said they are still working on a Mac solution, which is what I have. So I should be up and running by tomorrow or during the weekend. Sorry this is short, but it's a pain typing from my phone. ;o)

Recap on Parenting Woes....A Very Chatty Post...probably TMI ;0)

The last post I wrote on this brought about some interesting comments.  Thank you to those of you that did comment. 

From what I gathered, how your mother's were, as far as being organized or not, directly affected how you are now as an adult.  My mother always kept the house immaculate.  You could eat off of the floor. Literally!! We lived in an apartment in the projects in Spanish Harlem.  We lived on the 20th floor.  The building was icky, the elevator was ickier. ;0)  However, you walked into the apartment, and it felt like you were in a mini palace. Everything was spotless. We had tile floors.  Every certain amount of weeks she would wax the tiles.  She would wax me into a corner. lol  I couldn't move until everything was dry.  Thankfully that corner most of the time was a sofa.  I had many a drawer flipped over onto the bed or floor because everything wasn't folded neat enough.  I would have to refold everything. My blouses had to be folded like a department stores folds theirs.

I don't think I am as bad as my mother.  However, I was discussing this with my beloved last week, after my post, and he thinks I am a little OCD as well.  He said when we met at 16 I was really bad.  He said my bedroom was not normal.  I had little dividers for my underclothes, etc.  Anyway, I think having children has loosened me up a little. ;0)  I see a lot of myself in Kayla. 

Growing up I was an only child.  My sister and brother weren't born until I was 10 and 12 respectively.  My sister was spoiled rotten.   The only chores she had growing up was dishes every certain amount of days. My sister now struggles with keeping things clean.     

 I wanted to clarify a little better what I meant by my previous post.  Britney does do her share of things.  I have mentioned before how I have broken down the house into zones.  Each child each has a zone that they are responsible for.  I have one too. ;0)  After breakfast we "hit" our zones.  After our zones are done, we then go into school.  It makes it much easier for this OCD momma to have a peaceful mind in order to focus on school.   I guess what I am trying to accomplish with Britney is a change of heart.  

This is a perfect example.  Today everyone worked on their zone.  Micah's zone is the school room.  We have a chest in there that holds all of our games.  We also have a really tall bookshelf that holds a lot of our books.  Over the weekend that room got...very used. ;0) 

Kayla was done with her zone, and went in and started organizing the pillows on the sofa in Micah's zone. 

(Just in case you're wondering, we put sheets on these sofas.  The school room leads out to the "park" in the back.  The boys are constantly coming in with all sorts of critters.  At least I tried to get sheets that match. lol)

 Elijah finished his zone...

and he went into the school room and helped Micah organize all the pieces to a game that fell behind the game chest. 

 After I finished in the kitchen I went into the school room and organized some school books that were on the floor.  Britney finished her zone....and she went upstairs to read. lol  

I can't really complain, as she did what she was told.  She even did it cheerfully. 

She scrubbed the table down.

She swept

 I guess what I want for her to do is to look around and see if anything else might need to be done without being told, just like everyone else.  I don't want to constantly have to tell her what to do.  I don't remember at what age that should stop.  

Then the big ole soft side of me wants to say, "well, her reasoning and logic really stink."  We are doing some therapy activities to help her think through things a little better.  We use a book called Think It Say It.  She has to look at a picture, and then I ask her all sorts of questions related to that picture.  When we first started, she would look at the picture of a little boy in the kitchen, and his bowl of food is on the floor.  I would ask her, "what is the little boys' problem?"  She would come up with the most interesting of answers.  She would be completely serious.  I would have to look at the picture again, to make sure I wasn't missing something.  

Well, I'm rambling now. I guess I'm a little chatty because the children are asleep and my beloved is playing basketball with some of the men/youth from church. ;0)  (I have been trying to blog the night before and just schedule them to post in the morning.)

Prayer Journal Add Ons/Women's Ministry

I added two things to  my prayer journal; one not so important, and the other made a huge difference.

The first one is a little pocket that I made.  I just constructed it out of card stock.  I added a little flap on it, and used a piece of velcro to close it.  I also used a piece of velcro to attach it to the back inside cover of the binder.  I am in the process of putting some of my homemade stickers in there. So I can detach the entire pocket, open up the flap and take my stickers out.  Remember this post and this one.  I figured maybe I could put a sticker next to answered prayer?  I'm not sure yet.   I know this doesn't look like it's on the back cover, but I did the lazy thing and I took the picture with the laptop, instead of going upstairs to get the camera.  Bad, I know.

Now this add on I am excited about.  I was having a hard time with my prayer journal.  It still wasn't working exactly the way I wanted it to.  For example, a friend from our old church asked requested prayer for a math test that she was going to take.  The test was to be taken on Tuesday.  I pray for friends and family on Thursdays, according to my little tabs.  Obviously I wasn't going to wait until Thursday to pray for her, she needed prayer on Tuesday.  I was stuck as far as where to write the prayer request.  I didn't want to write it under "friends and family" and then forget to pray for her.  I also didn't want to write it under my beloved's section, which is who I pray for on Tuesdays.  So here is what I did.  I found dividers for days 1-31.  They didn't have 8.5 X 5.5 dividers, so I had to cut them down.  I will say had I known that they don't make all these nice little doo dads for 8.5 X 5.5 binders, I probably would have made my prayer binder the regular 8.5 X 11 size.  I know it looks backwards.  I think it's because I took the picture with the computer.  Sorry.  It makes me a little dizzy just looking at it.  lol  So now if someone asks me for prayer, I can write it under whatever day it is.  In the morning, I can look under the regular day tab(Monday through Sunday) and then I can look under the numbered tab to see what I am supposed to pray for.

What I really like about this as well, is that let's say today is November 1st, and I filled in a couple of things that needed to be prayed for.  When it rolls back around to the 1st of the next month, December, I can see what prayers have or haven't been answered. I am so excited to see on a monthly/daily basis what prayers the Lord has graciously answered.
   Now, on to the Women's Ministry portion of my title.  The Women's Ministry in my church is fairly new.  From what I understand it has only been off of the ground for a year, maybe two.  It is under a new leader(Cheri).   She asked my beloved and I to pray, to see in what direction the ministry should go.  My beloved thought it would be a good idea for the women to just start praying.  Start a small women's group who get together and pray.  As we pray, the Lord will guide, as far as what else to do.  So as of right now it's only Cheri and I. lol ;0)  Not a very large group, huh?  She asked me to pray, to see who else the Lord impresses upon our hearts to ask.  Our first prayer meeting will be this Thursday evening.  No one from church reads my blog, so I guess I can share on here. ;0)   I thought it would be a neat idea for each of us to have our own prayer journal.  I already have mine, and this weekend I was able to make one for Cheri.  I guess depending on who else will join us on such short notice, I might have to make 1 or 2 more.   Do you think that's being too pushy?  I don't want to force what works for me, on someone else.  I don't want them to feel obligated to use it and bring it to the prayer group.  Should I just give one to everyone, or offer one to everyone?  I thought it might be a nice gift.  Yes?  No?
     Do you have any neat Women's Ministry ideas that I can possibly share with her.  I know I probably won't be at this church too much longer, but I figured while I am here I might as well fellowship with others. ;0)
p.s. Penny and Elizabeth, I'm hoping to return your emails today.  Sorry it has taken me so long.

A Beautiful Song

This song almost forces you to picture yourself in the scene. Absolutely beautiful!! For those of you on Facebook with me, sorry for the repeat.

Parenting Woes

If I wasn't so comfy,  I would get up to take pictures right now.  I can guarantee you that if I got up and found the girls,  Kayla is cleaning up something, and Britney is sitting somewhere reading.

Yes, this is the post that I mentioned the other day.  This is one of the many areas, I am sure, that I am failing in as a parent. *sigh*

I wasn't going to mention any names, but I figured, ahhh, by the time they get older, and possibly find my blog and read this post, it will be something that has been corrected, and not a big deal. lol  Plus, Jesus will be here by then. lol ;0)  Kayla and Britney are the....I know I am dating myself here, but they are the odd couple.  Yes, yes, I'm 36. ;0)  Kayla has all of her things immaculately organized, and Britney is a slob.  There is no other way to say it.
 
I don't know how this has happened.  The only thing I can think of is that because of everything Britney has gone through, seizures, speech issues, etc. I have been very layed back when it comes to teaching her how to fit in, as far as helping around the house, like the rest of the family.  She has absolutely no desire, nothing, nada, zilch, zip to help clean, out of her own free will.  When given direction on performing a chore, it's as if the sky is falling.  The first thing she will say is, "but mom, it's too hard."  Then I will say, "No, it's not.  Look, this is how you can do it."  Then she will say, "but mom, it's going to take forever."  Then of course I go into how it's not going to take forever, that that's an exaggeration, and how exaggeration is a form of lying...blah, blah, blah.  I don't mind if she says, it feels like it will take forever.  I am not going to control how she is feeling, but it sort of gets under my when she says it WILL take forever. lol  It's a pet peeve of mine, I know.
    Anyway, she is now 11 age wise,  8 1/2 -9 comprehension wise, and I need to fix this now, before she gets any older.  Her husband is going to return her to me if I don't take care of this now. lol ;0)  I don't know where to start?  Yes, by sheer force and consequence, I can make her do it, but I want her heart to change.  I want her to do it because she wants to, not because if she doesn't, her books will be taken away.
     Kayla will not sit down and do anything enjoyable until everything is neat and tidy.  She also does that to a fault.  There comes a point every day, where my beloved and I have to shut her down and say, "No more cleaning, go do something for you.  Go relax."
     How did I mess this up so badly?  They are at complete extremes.  Someone help me please?  Anyone been there, done that?  Any Titus 2 advice?  Do I give Britney a simple instruction, if you don't do this, here is the consequence, and just pray for a heart change?  She knows she is messy.  The other day I went into her room to help her pick out some clothes for church.  She quickly got up and stood guard in front of her closet and said, "Oh, don't look in there.  I have to clean my closet."
     So this isn't a cheery post on how I am failing in an area, and what I am doing about it.  lol  I guess I am still in the planning stages of redeeming myself.  Help.......

Taking My Own Advice

     I reread my last post, and took my own advice. lol  I completely forgot that the Lord had been laying someone on my heart very heavily the last few weeks.  I was impressed that she was struggling with something.  I emailed her the evening that I wrote the post.  Sure enough she responded.  God is so good.  My free time went into emailing her back.  It also didn't help that I fell asleep at 8:30 last night. lol  I normally write my posts in the evening once the children are in bed, so I completely dropped the ball on that one.
     I will finish writing the half written post I already have, and post that before we go to our small group meeting at church this evening.
     I hope you are all having a great day in Him.
     I will respond to some of your emails and comments this evening when we get home...I hope. lol ;0)