New & Improved? Yes :D

Hello Everyone!
I've updated my blog. Trying and new look. It's the finicky graphic designer in me. Let me know if you like it or not. I've titled my blog Seven Tulips because we are a family of seven and my favorite flower is a tulip. Simple right? I've added a new closing signature to my blogs. It's gone from Live Well, to Live Well Acts 20:24 and now to Love God Love People Matthew 22:35-41. I hope you like the new look.

I've updated my format too. I just made it 20 Questions to answer. I probably won't follow this with every post but it's something to get me thinking about things. I know it can be a go to when I'm frustrated and need to focus on good things. So there you have it :)

1. How are you feeling? I'm feeling rather accomplished. Somewhat  I've still got a ton of things to do on my "job board" but getting my blog updated has been on my mind. So it's one thing that... actually wasn't on my list of things to do but it got done. 2. How is/was the weather today? Cold and rainy. It wasn't too bad but it sure wasn't my favorite kind of weather. It makes me want to be lazy and sleep the day away. 3. What happened this morning? I woke up, got the kids ready and out the door to go to their homelink classes. I actually slept in until a little after 8:45 a.m. 4. What's on your mind? Blogging and my job board. Looking at the time again... 5. What positive things happened today? I updated this here blog, refreshed our fruits for smoothie making, and saw one of my girls display responsible behavior in the dealing with stress and heightened emotions. 6. What things did you notice needed a change today? My morning routine, and my nightly "got to stay up and get this done" routine. I need a better morning routine and an earlier night routine. 7. What things in the news made you happy? Um, well... I didn't read or watch the news but my husband brought up some Egyptian biblical historical facts that were rather interesting. Joseph may have been Imhotep.  Imhotep was the first named architect who built Egypt's first pyramid. 8. What did you wear today? I wore a black t-shirt and jeans. Creative I know. 9. What did you cook today? I made green smoothies (Spinach, Banana, Grapes, and Blueberries), coffee, and Mac and cheese with sausage. Hubby cooked dinner which was Pork Tenderloin, Broccoli and mashed potato. 10. What DIY recipe have you tried today? I made deodorant spray and All Purpose Cleaner --->See Video 11. What new thing did you learn today? I learned that Homelink does a podcast, Joseph may have built the Pyramids, or at least the first one. 12. What did your kids do today? The girls went to class, my son put two shelves together for me, Little Joy was a bit fussy today since she's not feeling well and, Little Quirky One was well quirky. 13. Where did you go today? I dropped the girls off at their class, Target, & Gas station. 14. Who touched your heart today? My daughter by the way she dealt with things, and my son who put shelves together for me. 15. Any spiritual topics on your mind? Loving one another. 16. Any  new/completed Projects? Blog updated, Job board still full. 17. Any progress on projects made? Yes some. 18. Did you help anyone today? My kids. 19. Any neat online finds? Joseph may have been Imhotep.  and the DIY Deodorant spray   20. Prayer for others: Father God please let everyone Seek the Lord, proper sleep habits, good health, and wealth. In Jesus mighty name Amen.

Trying out a New Format

I think I'm going to start a new format of blogging for a season. I sat and made up my own blogging questions. Here we go.... How are you feeling? I'm feeling well. Nothing unusual. I'm thankful I don't have a headache or tense feelings. How is the weather today? The weather is beautiful. The last time I looked it was 79 degrees with a nice breeze. It's my favorite midwest weather. What happened this morning? We went to church. My son has been wanting to go to the Jr. High youth service at 9 A.M. but since we live 45 minutes away from our church it has been a challenge. I do wish the church would change the youth service from 1st to 2nd service. A lot of parents would appreciate that. Just getting kids out of the house is a work out. We made it, and we enjoyed church. Pastor Rick spoke on forgiveness  Great topic we all need. What's on your mind? Well I've got to go get my kiddos. They are still over in IL at the moment for small groups and hanging out with friends. That's a 45 minute drive I've got to make. Hmmm. What positive things happened today? We all woke up! We got to church on time, we got to have lunch with great friends, the weather is beautiful, Helaina is enjoying playing outside with daddy, Fia is taking a nap and it's only 4:26pm! What things did you notice needed a change today? My motivation to do alterations to my daughter's prom dress. I really need to focus on that. What things in the news made you happy? I haven't read or watched the news yet. What did you wear today? A dress! I wore a colorful long comfortable dress and my daughter's Toms shoes. What did you cook today? Nothing! We went out to eat and usually when we do that, I'm full. I'm not sure what's for dinner yet. Maybe Liver and Mash Potatoes. What did your kids do today? They attended church with us, went to a small group and hung out with friends. Besides that, they always make me laugh with their sense of humor. Where did you go today? To church and to have lunch with friends.I'll need to get ready to pick my older 3 up in a few minutes. Oh and we went to Menards. Any spiritual topics on your mind? Spiritual warfare. Any projects going on? I've got to shorten my daughter's prom dress, work on Pure Natural Blends things, find a power washer and listen to the CD's we bought this weekend from the Homeschool Expo. Oh and I want to make this shampoo! I'm just missing the coconut milk! Any progress on projects made? I started on the prom dress, but that was only a few stitches. I listened to a little bit of some seminar talks. Ok so that wasn't so bad. Maybe it will get better... maybe. I need to write more because now I'm thinking about the details of my day.

Knowing is Half the Battle Right?

Hello Everyone!  I hope the Spring season has arrived as a pleasant feeling for you. I definitely find it a good thing. It always reminds me of life, living, breathing, new... life! It's still cool weather but not as cold as winter. This winter season hasn't been bad for me. I'm surprised that vitamins have helped! Winter 2011 was real hard for me. I remember crying the day the Saturday we went to the Homeschool Expo because it snowed. I didn't care how beautiful the snow was, it was cold and it felt like Narnia to me. Winter 2012 not so bad. In fact I enjoyed the snow. It was beautiful and I felt very different. I wasn't depressed. I knew that Summer time was coming. I was advised to start taking vitamins. I've found that it has helped me with depression and PMS. I don't feel out of control or just crazy. I was surprised that my cycle was coming up because I didn't have to forewarn my family that it was "My Week!" Do not poke the bear! So I am taking B12 B Complex OMEGA/Fish oil w/Borage Oil or Primrose Oil Vitamin D3 Multivitamin (yes in addition to all the others listed because sometimes it's just not enough.) B8 GABA I didn't list the amounts because that's going to depend on your body's needs. I take all those separately. I was told how important sleep is. It's amazing. I have been a "night owl" because that's when I can get stuff done. I still am up pretty late but I do know how important sleep is. One thing that stood out was a doctor told me that we could be walking around suffering from malnutrition due a lack of sleep because our bodies distribute the nutrients we ate during the day throughout our bodies while we sleep.  Sleep: The average number of hours to sleep if from 8-10 hours. Make sure you have enough sleep during the night to rest your body and let proper distribution of nutrients and supplements inside your body. -http://www.growtallersos.com/ Interested? Here are a couple of  links What Happens When You Sleep? What Happens to Your Body While You're Asleep There are a ton of studies on sleep. I knew it was important but it wasn't put in a way that I could grasp it. Anyhow knowing is half of the battle right? Next up doing something about that. I am still challenged as you can see. So just because I know doesn't mean it comes easy. You know what's funny? I didn't intend to blog about sleep. So since I did, instead of talk about the Homeschool Expo this past weekend, I'm going to take my GABA and head to bed. We have church in the morning and I know our very excited Helaina is looking forward to it. Goodnight and Many Blessings to you!

My Most Dramatic Diaper Change

Ever have one of those days where nothing goes right? When everything seems to just fall and fail? Where you just can't get a thing done because other things keep happening? When things just seem to work against you? I've had a day like that today. I kind of had a feeling that it might go that way. See we've had a situation going on in our house. During the summer church camp my girls were working at a girl who will remain anonymous spoke some rather rude and racist words to my daughter. She told her she was "too black." for... I guess the rest isn't relevant to know after that wham of words. Yes we know racism is a generational root in American society, and we deal with these almost on a daily basis. It's kind of to the point of where we let things slide by us. We see it on TV, hear comments on the radio, read it in books, see it when we shop, live it and think on it. So we live in a society that saturates our roots with this thing called racism, but do we have to accept it? No. 

So we decide to speak with our pastors about it what happened to our daughter. In this meeting we brought up more than one racial incident that targeted all of our family members. - But lets rewind to this morning...

I knew we were going to have a meeting. I had it on my mind not to forget about it. It was one of those things where it just got put on the calendar because it was stored in my husband's mental calendar instead. I woke up with today's agenda in my head but the Lord forewarned me in my spirit (you know when you have *that* feeling...) that nope it's not going to work that smoothly. Pray. I went on and surely whap! Ashley feels sick. She's laying on the couch with a low grade fever. I thought ugh she was just sneezing yesterday what is going on?! Fia wakes up with the green gunky nose. Great. What do I do now? Do I go on or cancel? I pray and wait. 

Wait what? Yes. Pray. Why? This was purely an attack. A spiritual attack. Am I wacko? lol yeah sometimes! But this came to me when it all came to a head (so I thought) in 15 minutes around the 1 o'clock hour when I was supposed to get getting us all ready. All but one of my children "needed" me at one time. Fia was fussing, Helaina wanted attention, Adrian wanted something, Ashley wanted something and Angela was like a deer in headlights but was there to help. Thank God He gave me one to help! It all calmed down and Helaina and Fia were down for a nap! Doh! The meeting was at 4. We needed to be out of the door by 3, which meant we should have all been up and getting ready. Nap time!? Seriously? Yep and Ashley was still on the couch. I let them sleep. Fia woke up while I was trying to get Helaina's clothes ironed. I thought, "Oh no, but at least I don't have to deal with a cranky baby being woken up from her nap." Dig! Silver lining moment or better yet seeing God's blessings in the chaos! 

So Rich gets home and we are shortly out the door... 15 minutes late. We get there just a few minutes after 4. I thank God it's not 15 (lol ugh!). So the meeting starts, and yes ALL 7 members of our family where there. As we talk, I must say I do like talking to our Pastors, I had to step out to change Fia who had done the no. 2 and could not be ignored. Oh wait, let me add in we forgot the diaper bag in the car but Angela offered so graciously to get it for me so I can continue to talk. When I went to change her, I discovered that the wipes had fell out. Doh! Ugh annoyance but no biggie I'll use a wet paper towel.  Fia is a wiggle worm while changing her diaper so I thought ok I'll try and fix a bottle so she might settle down. I looked and saw I had forgot the organic formula. Doh! So I change her and went to empty the no. 2 in the toilet. I thought to myself... with my luck it the toilet would over flow. It did. All over the floor. I fought to get the plunger out of the container it was in as it spilled over. Good thing there was a drain there! As I fought I saw baby Fia wanted to splash in the water. OMG NO! So I sit the plunger down and go sit her back on her changing pad. As I turn around and thought what a mess! I saw the plunger container had opened! So I quickly plunged and the water went down. Whew! I step back and almost slipped. Whoops! Oh dang all this water and a splashing baby. How embarrassing! I just wanted to change her diaper. So I try my best to push the water towards the drain. It's working! I was relieved until I saw the water behind me. Ok so I continued and I just knew they were wondering what in the world!? Fia was annoyed with me because I wouldn't let her splash in it. So it was a battle in the restroom. I finally got it all cleaned up opened the door and the Helaina had to use the potty. At this point I handed Fia off to Adrian who had brought Helaina to me. He took Fia off which was a relief. Helaina took her sweet time. All the meanwhile, there was an important meeting going on! 

Ahh... a meeting. Yeah I get it. lol! Spiritual warfare again? Sure was! What warfare?? Well in Ephesians 6:12
it says,  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Yeah buddy! That had been going on all day to discourage me from going to the meeting, and then during the meeting.  Our pastors were so gracious and nice. Fia was busy up until we left. After the meeting it all went well. Fia didn't get hungry and we made it to the store before she got fussy! Hmmm.... strange isn't it?

So funny when stressful chaos hits we know the spiritual forces of evil are hard at work. We are in the midst of a battle. Give in or fight. Today awkward as I was, I fought and prayed through it. The meeting was good. God prevailed. I can even laugh at the most dramatic diaper change I've ever done was. 

lol... God IS Good!

Traveling Home and Back

Hello everybody Well I started the 4 weeks organization project and basically felt off the tracks completely. Not because I gave up but because a few things that happened. The first was we had to go to Texas for my uncle's funeral. When we got back we just really had to take some time to get back into the swing of things. Traveling with our family of seven which included a toddler, baby and teens wasn't easy. We did enjoy our road trip though. The drive down is 12 hours but with stops and such it was longer. The kids appreciated the stretch your legs stops. It's amusing traveling with our family. Oh boy do we get the looks. I guess people may wonder just how many people are getting out of that car?? What sort of mixed up family is that? Are they ALL yours? Yada yada we sure have a good laugh at how the stares happen. The photo of Angela above is of her making fun of the stares we got in McDonald's. They also appreciated their sleep. When they went to sleep I got excited and started talking to Rich while I should have went to sleep. I saw it as quality time with him. We enjoyed seeing our family, but not on such a sad occasion. A lot of people were saddened by my uncle's passing. This visit was the first time my family got to see baby Fia and Helaina. We were asked if we would consider moving back to TX. Well after seeing my kids be around family, if the Lord gives us an opportunistic job opening then we'll sure take it. We shall see!  The kids didn't want to leave which always makes it hard.  After a few more photos of the hotel to post for the TripAdvisor.com review we checked out and loaded in the car. It was my time to drive first, so I dressed comfortable with my yoga pants that have never seen a yoga class, comfy t-shirt and finished off with my infamous socks and flip flops.Before I put the pedal to the metal we had to make a stop at  Whole Foods. While we sat in the car waiting for Rich to come out, I got at text message from a friend who works at the Cowboys Stadium telling me she was at the stadium. Seeing as how we were right down the road we didn't pass up the chance to see our friend. We walked and took photos. We enjoyed our short visit, as usual with her we always have a lot of laughs and a good time. Wished it could have been longer but we needed to get on the road.   We arrived at home around 2 AM. I remember walking into the house thinking, "Oh wow space! I missed this!" We stayed at a Residence Inn in TX. It was good but I really appreciated being home.  Any how we all came in and finished off sleeping. I missed bible study that morning and it was my turn to bring snacks. Thankfully our friends understood the situation. Fia and Helaina had runny noses and coughs too so that alone would have me stay home. My husband, my hero, the man went to work that same day. #likeaboss! It took us a bit of time to get back to our regular things after the events above. So as you can see I haven't been following the 4 weeks organization schedule exactly but it does not mean that I have forgotten and have not been organizing. The latest thing I organized was our clear bin of electronic wires and "stuff". We throw all of the misc electronic wires and do-dads in this one bin and it all gets mixed up. We don't know what belongs to what so I decided to make it neat. I ran out of twisty ties so I used clear tape. I labeled our plugged in appliances at the surge protector. It makes the search for which wire goes where much easier. The mess of wires                                                                            How I'm organizing them  In the bin  It's a lot easier to look through and pick up one wire instead of a tangled mess. One of these days I'll get those twisty ties. My DIY Page Tab: So with all the links I've gotten "homemade DIY wanna be organizing" brain overload! I think I need to slow down. So to help with this, I've made a place to store links of sites that have great recipes, DIY, organizing, sewing projects etc that I will try eventually or that I have tried. It can be found on my DIY page. This way it helps me keep track of all the cool things people have posted online. I'll also give my thoughts on it. Taking this down a notch will lead me into my next blog post...