Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Sweet Beat



Here was Lydia's pic yesterday...


And her little eyes were staying, "pick me up mommy...please! I know you just carried me up 4 flights of stairs, but I still want to be held."


And believe it or not she was looking around my belly...LOL... Brian keeps telling me I look chubby and not pregnant...haha, but looking down I'm starting to see the baby pooch.


Yes, you have read right... we are pregnant!!
9 weeks to be exact!!
We are very excited!
And Wednesday we were able to hear...
Baby's heart beat
and see Baby moving on the ultrasound.


Such a sweet, sweet sound!!!

I'm hoping to share some personal thoughts soon... after taking care of the kids and hubby, getting a bit of housework done, finishing our science for the day and HOPEFULLY getting a little nap... just a few minutes of complete rest:)

(sorry about the picture. First, it's a picture of a picture, THEN blogger has decided that it needs to be flipped vertically??? Anyway, after a few tries to get around blogger, I still can't fix it... sorry.)

WW- Explanation Later:)



I'll explain later why I wanted to share this blurry picture today!

But for now... just take in those BIG brown eyes that are used to communicate without words. What do you think they are saying here???

You can see More Wordless Wednesday at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom.

Monday, September 28, 2009

OK,ok... now Break it UP!!

While at the Street fair with the whole crew we realized we had a "little pair"... ok, seriously they are both 5!!! And my kids really treat Andrea's crew like cousins... they know eachother's houses, toys and interests. They ask to visit with one another:) But the hand holding caught us a little off-guard...

At this stage... Anna won't think twice to also hold a girl friend's hand or one of her siblings! So we could relax a bit at this innocent sign of friendship. And enjoy the fact that they have friend their age to be pals with:)

It was still funny and cute. I thought it was interesting to even see them chatting as they walked along. And other people made plenty of "they're so cute" and "awe, look at them" comments.
















Gotta love the little brother!!! He jumped right in to get a piece of his sister's attention, I think he'll be a good one to go on dates with his older sister when that time comes... long time...LOL!!
And just a warning, if we start getting calls for Anna from little boys... they will have her Daddy to contend with first:) LOL

I heart faces - Blue

The photo challenge this week is BLUE at I {heart} faces.

As soon as I read the challenge I thought of my favorite picture of Hannah Grace. I love the crispness, her little face and I am amazed at how "grown" she looked at just 2 months:) And of course she's a precious little girl pulling off a blue outfit.

The Release

We had three busy butterflies by Staurday morning... since Thursday we had been sticking flowers (with sugar water drops) and slices of oranges in the habitat to feed the butterflies. But none of us had seen the butterflies actually eat...

So we decided to release them sooner rather than waiting any longer. At first the kids wnated to keep them... as expected. When we gave them the scenerio of being stuck in a cage versus flying in the sky, they agreed that we should release them:)

So Saturday morning before breakfast and still in our PJs, we went outside to release them:)
We gave Christopher the job of sticking in his hand to wave the butterflies out... a job he eagerly agreed to do:)
As each flew away we watched it fly up into the sky! The butterflies were gone within seconds. It would have been neat to have a few that stayed nearby to eat and play in our huge Lantana bush... but they didn't:(

One did stay on one of our window eves for a little bit. We think Christopher must have touched his wings, but he flew up there and was gone later when we checked.
I know the kids really enjoyed the project. I think it's great to hear my 2 yr old talk about how the little caterpillars turned into chrysalises and then came out as butterflies.... I'm sure she could have gotten it from a book, but how amazing it was to see it happening right in front of us.
Here are links back through our journey:

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Fun at the Street Fair

After a "perfect" Saturday morning, sleeping in a bit while the kids watched PBSKids, then making muffins with my Lydia, and eating breakfast together...

We headed to a local street fair and met up Andrea and her crew:) The kids had a great time climbing over all the fire trucks (new and vintage), eating hot dogs and then playing on the inflatable slide!!


Here's a fun pic of our crew:)
We finished the afternoon out with some grocery stops, new library books and NAPS!!! A very simple dinner, baths and then bedtime.... a very relaxing and fun family Saturday:)

Friday, September 25, 2009

79 cents ...

I was sooo tickled about my quick Harris Teeter trip I had to share:) The reason for the trip was cereal and to use a $3 Catalina coupon I had received a week or so ago that was to expire... I couldn't just let $3 slip away.

So here's what I got for 79 cents!!!


I'll give the details just to inspire those who who may still have those Catalina's to use:) The deals were also decent:)
Total - regularly 4.65, on sale for 2.50 - .75Q (doubled) = $1
Raisin Bran Crunch - reg. 3.99, BOGO each was $2 - $2 off 2 boxs Q = $2 for both, $1 each
Poptarts - reg. 2.19, on sale for $2 - .55Q(doubled) = .90
Reese Cups - reg .95, BOGO - one BOGO Q - .55Q (doubled) = 3 for FREE
**Then I had my $3 off any purchase Catalina coupon:)

The regularly priced total would have been $17.66... but I walked out with my bag paying only 79 cents.... less than 1 regularly priced Reeses cup:) And I got some much needed cereal for my crew... and GOOD, yummy, kid-loving, named brand, almost healthy cereal:)



I should confess that I haven't been keeping up with the sales or my coupon binder like I should be. I did save over $45 at the last harris Teeter triple event... which was nice (especially since I cam home stocked with pasta...LOL)! But I'm thinking that I really need to start making more time to check the sales and match coupons.... it just saves us money!



Let me mention these deals really quick.... Food Lion has a great deal on Tyson Chicken nuggets!! They are on sale for 4.99 but then there is a FLIP for $2 off and then a $1 manufacturers coupon, comes to 1.99 a bag:) These are a STAPLE at our house with our food allergies, picky eating kids:)



Another deal is from Toys R US... they are having a Birthday Sale (ending Sat, Sept 26th!!!) and have many items buy2 get one free:) Southern Savers has printable coupon links for many of the toys also... you can purchase both toys with coupons and get the 3rd free.... sounds like a great time to get some Christmas/Birhtday shopping done:) Get details here.



Check out more Hooked on Friday at Hooked on Houses:)

Emerge....

This evening when Andrea's crew came over we noticed one of the chrysalises was shaking... this is a defense they have, so I just thought one of the kids had bumped the table or new sounds in the house.... but there was something else going on....

It was cool that all the kids got to enjoy seeing the butterfly!!! Andrea's crew enjoyed it just as much as mine.... she might have caterpillars in her houe before long...LOL

Sorry about the quality of the photo.... I working under strange conditions and angles. And I'm hoping to get pictures of the actual emerging... they do it FAST!!! So maybe we'll be watching them closely!!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Skipping Through My Pics

The other day when I got my "sweet" picture of the Eastern Black Swallowtail, there was also a little Skipper... from what I know... those are a smaller type of butterfly or moth. I think they are funny, because they NEVER stay in one spot, they just "skip" from one blossom to the next.

Although the skipper was brown and not very pretty, I did try to be fair and take a picture. But I didn't think I got anything....


Until today, Anna and I were finishing some paperwork from a little project she did and I took pictures of. We were flipping through the pictures so she could recall what we did at each step:) Anyway, we came across one of my Skipper picture attempts....

We were soo excited!! And I decided to post it so further declare my "nature nerdom"... LOL
ANd I just tried to look him to see what his name is:) Anyway, he might be a butterfly... a Painted Lady???? That would be funny b/c the chyrsalisis we have will be Painted Ladys in a couple of days:)

I am just amazed at the details that the camera caught... he really looks like he's looking at us:) And amazed at the details that God gave this little bug!!! His creation just continues to amaze me:)

Hey Look....

All the kids have enjoyed climbing all over our homeschool table, as well slowly clean it up and get it ready to be used.... still a lot of work to be done. But it will be GREAT when it's finished and we'll be able to use it for YEARS because it's soo sturdy:)


Yesterday morning as I was sorting through school supplies for the day, Christopher comes in to climb. He flips over on the middle bar. Hanging upside down he calls out,


"Hey Look, I'm a chrysalis!"

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Guess the Flower!

Well I've already shown myself to be a "nature nerd" with my butterfly post this week:) So why not continue it:)

Actually, I was really surprised when the ladies at church told me what flowers they had decorated with! So I wanted to share:)












Guess......I'll post the answer as a comment:)

WW- Bathtime Buddies





Nothing like bath time with a buddy and some free shaving cream!!!

You can see More Wordless Wednesday at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom.

Help us with our Butterfly Search:) Link up pictures/blogs of butterflies that you have seen in your area:)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Butterfly Help:)

Since we are eagerly waiting for our caterpillars to emerge as butterflies at the end of the week, we decided to talk about butterflies as our Science this week:)

As we ventured into the yard this morning we found more butterflies in our garden.....

Here is an Eastern Black Swallowtail!!!


Anyway, as I tried to snap a picture of our winged vistor... it got me thinking of asking you all about the butterflies that you have spotted, taken pictures of or even blogged about:) Then as we see what you have found, we'll look up that type of butterfly and enhance or butterfly knowledge this week:)


So, here we go:) Share the names of the butterflies that you have spotted (as a comment), or pictures (fullovnrg (at) hotmail (dot) com) or blogs (using the McLinky)!!!

Perfect Placement... Anna's Math

One of the benefits of homeschooling is having "perfect" materials for my children. I want them to be challenged and not overwhelmed. I want them to enjoy their studies but still be getting solid information..... LOL... to have everything perfect is NON- EXISTENT... yes, even when we can pick out our own books and curriculum.

My "struggle" has been with Anna's math. Last year we followed no set curriculum. We worked through a list of skills she should have for kindergarten and then we used a transition k/1 math workbook I found to fill in the gaps and get her ready for 1st grade math.


This year we started with Saxon's 1st grade math..... it was soo easy and boring. I felt bad giving her the worksheets with tasks that she could have completed ages ago (in fact sometimes she lets Christopher "help" her and he can do it too). When she complained about coloring towers all the time, I broke out the stamps and let her stamp her towers... just to keep the peace!(notice he got a little stamp crazy and over-stamped)


Anna has been adding single digit numbers on her fingers and now from memory for a while now and so I was discouraged that Saxon didn't start with those types of tasks. But I LOVED that Saxon included making graphs and drawing out word problems... very early in the curriculum... and so I hated to "ditch" those GREAT tasks.


After asking around and being almost convinced I needed to find some other curriculum that fit Anna better, I saw a GREAT thing.... Anna and I were working on sorting and finding sorting rules with her stuff animals (see great, fun activities in the lessons). I took a step back and saw a little girl that was ENJOYING her Math work.

She loves doing her math (most days) and she is still learning. Sure, I could skip 20+ lessons to where she starts to add. Or we can enjoy the fun activities that are giving us the foundation for addition! And better establish the fun in learning and doing it together..... I think those things are WAY more important than pushing her to be 3 weeks ahead!

LOL... but what do I know? I've only been homeschooling an elementary-schooler for a month!

Monday, September 21, 2009

MR Mom

This week I have been pulled in to serve our county's judical branch as a juror. I don't know much except where and when to show up. And that my whole week has had to remain free to complete my obligation and service... although I realize (and hoping) that I might only be there one day.

IN Everything.... Give Thanks, right?

I am very thankful that Brian has stepped up to the plate to care for our little tykes while I'll be gone and his job that gives him the felxibility to work from home. I'm thankful I cooked extra last week to put meals away in the freezer for some meals this week. And for a church friend watching the kids later this morning while Brian participates in a funeral for family of a church member.

I can't talk about jury duty without going into the role of a Stay-at-home, homeschooling MOM. I feel like people can come in and keep my kids.... while I really appreciate them, it's not the same. I don't even want to think of how behind we will be at the end of the week with our schooling! Or how messy my house will be! Or how much of our daily routine will have to be retrained! The reality is ..... that taking a Stay-At-Home, homeschooling mom away from the home is not as easy as mom walking out the door (at least not in our house)!!

Sure, Brian will be taking care of the kids and doing what he can. But he doesn't have the week off of work... he still has all the responsibilities that keep him busy during the week. The funeral on MOnday, a sweet church member in the hospital recovering from major surgery, Bible Studies, visits, etc!!

He will be carrying a lot more of the daily burden this week than I will be. And I"m sure he'll be "burning the midnight oil" trying to get his lists of tasks completed regardless of how many games of Candyland he plays, little bottoms he cleans or dishes he washes during the day!!! I know he can handle it and I know we will all have to work together to give him some "work time" in the evening when I return home.

Kudos to our Mr MOM this week!!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Hooked on Caterpillars

This week we had our new Science project in the mail:)

Grammie purchased a butterfly set for Anna for her Birthday in May.... finally, we will be home and focused enough to enjoy watching the transformation. So we were sooo excited that the caterpillars were in the mail today.





When we broke into the shipping box we found a little "cup". Everything that the caterpillars will need for the next 1-2 weeks is in the cup. In fact we are told NOT to open the cup and expose the caterpillar to bacteria, germ, from our environment!! The kids and I poured over the directions.... and we waited for the little caterpillars to move:)

It's a little sad that they stay in the cup, just because I thought it would be fun to measure the caterpillar every couple of days!

Here is a peek into the cup. The caterpillars did start moving around as fresh air got into the container. They have been making a "web"... kind of makes it hard to see in, but that is the type of caterpillars they are... Painted Ladys.




So we've been watching them all week. They seemed a little bigger to me, and my thoughts were confirmed when they started attaching themselves to the roof of the cup... one even looks like his chrysalis has "hardened".




So this week we have been Hooked on watching our caterpillars:) Even through their gross little container... wish it was a little more cleaner...yuck! BUT... I do LOVE the fact that my kids ENJOY the simple things in life.... they have really enjoyed watching and checking on their caterpillars and were soo excited to see them start forming their chrysalis!! And I can't imagine their excitement when we see one of the butterflies emerge:)

Check out some cleaner and more crafty projects at Hooked on Fridays at Hooked on Houses.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Throwback Thursday verse and AWANA-lovers

Anna's AWANA verse last week and this week was John 3:16.... I remember teaching that verse to her and making a video of her reciting it....

This was from Feb '08... Anna was 3 months shy of her 4th birthday:) She sounds sooo little:)


And then we make a video of her reciting/practicing it again before AWANA last night!


I am just amazed at the little difference. How she pronounces words, how young she looks, sweet memories:)

BTW.... Anna is my AWANA- girl!!! She LOVES AWANA and loves to tell people she is in AWANA!! Everytime we're in the car she wants to practice her AWANA club song, she wrote out her verse to give to her teacher (cute!) and we practiced her verse at least EVERYDAY this last week (sometimes a couple of different times throughout the day). She loves her teacher and is looking forward this week to inviting another neighborhood friend!

While dropping them off last night, I was really questioning my decision to participate (I left BOTH younger kids in their classes fussing and screaming)! But I was soo thankful to be greeted with happy, AWANA-loving little kids.....

I think it's a great and safe opportunity for my kiddies to be exposed to other children and teachers that they can learn from. I appreciate the teachers and leadership that really try to keep discipline positive and help the kids to understand more about God and His Word:)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

WW - Quick Pics of our Schooling Morning

Everyone at work...
at scattered times of course (no need to drive Momma bonkers)



And when the assignments are finished...
there is plenty of time for some cutting up!!


You can see More Wordless Wednesday at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Just Going to Blame it on "Mommy Brain"

The kids and I had a fun outing today (gotta get that socializing in...LOL).

We participated in our local library's reading time. I think this is a GREAT resource for our family. I love the different stories, extras that they teach with and finger rhymes. And even having the opportunity to sit with my kids and participate with them. Showing them how to pay attention and encouraging them to sing/play along:)

Chris had a pretty challenging morning (I think he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed!!). But about halfway through he started doing the actions along with the group... so I was pleased!! Lydia just SAT in my lap... she can be soo shy sometimes:) She came out of her shell some after and then she was wide open at the park:)

Yes, the park!! We did venture over to the park with a few brave souls:) It's almost fall but today was HOT:) So we ate our lunches in the shade and played until the water ran out and the kids were all sweaty:)

Walking to the van I couldn't find my keys... I searched the cooler bag a few times. That's about when Jenn saw the keys in the driver's seat in my locked van!!! Yes.... I sure did LOCK the keys in my van:)

I made a few calls (good thing I didn't lock my cell in the van) and soon we saw the patrol car pull up:) It took him a little longer than I thought but he got the door unlocked and we were on our way.

I think of it as a learning experience....LOL... It's great for the kids to see policemen helping people versus just pulling them over on the side of the road for speeding or an accident. It will get them all ready to visit the police station with the homeschoolers next week:)

I guess it could be a learning experience for me as well... although I've never locked my keys in the car before (from what I can remember). But I'm just going to blame it on "mommy brain" and the 3 sweet distractions I have:)

Sorry for the lack of pictures... finally got my camera working again (battery issues) but it was also locked in the car today;)

Monday, September 14, 2009

i heart faces - Contemplative


I wish I had a prettier background and a nicer pic to share:( But I do LOVE how Hannah Grace is "studying" Christopher's face. It's like she is watching his every move:) Smart little lady:)


I can't tell you how much the kids adore their tiny cousin!!! They have done such a great job being gentle and sweet to her:) They did wake her frm a nap the other day, though!! They just wanted to check on her to see if she was sleeping yet:) And adding a little noise... of course:)

Friday, September 11, 2009

New Comforter, what do you think??

It's been a while since I shared about decorating our bedroom. Since then we did get chocolate brown curtains and decided AGAINST painting... for now. We have liked our new quilt, probably me more than Brian:)


Part of the reason is that months ago after the fuss over the new quilt, lamps and curtains, we saw a comforter set we both immediately liked... so RARE for us... I mean it took over 3 years for us to find the one we bought in February...LOL!!


Anyway, cheapo me was NOT going to pay full price for it... so since March I have been watching.... I mean stalking this set!!! Finally it got down to 60% off and MY store didn't have it... so I waited some more. One Labor Day, JCPenney was offering free shipping.... so we did it!!


Sure I could have saved an extra 15% if I purchased something at Penney's brought the receipt home, did the survey, printed off the coupon, drove back (45 minutes) to Penneys, and then returned to Penneys to pick up the set when it came in. I decided with the amount of gas and time, it would more beneficial to order it and ship it to my house (for free)....




I would love to change the frames and pictures above the lamps... any ideas? And just ignore the clutter in the corner and any dust you see:)

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Hooked on Reusable

I had a great set of cloth napkins to review from Love of Earth ( a great Etsy Mom shop)!! The napkins were there ready for us to use, but I was worried the cloth napkins were going to be more of a hassel to use. Finally, I ran out of paper and forgot to purchase more.

So we made the switch and haven't looked back:) All of us like using the cloth sooo much better than paper. I love that I'm not throwing away 15+ paper napkins a day!! In fact the kids will either reuse a pretty clean cloth napkin OR not use one at all!! I MIGHT have 6 to wash per day and they aren't any dirty after the meal either:)

I got to post my review of LOVE for Earth on SIMPLE. Brian saw me working on the review and said, "You know, I'd actually be disappointed if we switched back to paper." WOW!!! Poor guy, first I had him eating quiche, now he's drinking soymilk and using cloth napkins....LOL!!

The other switch that was easy to make was to start using Reusable Produce Bags!! Oh, I LOVE these bags!! They are soo easy to have tucked into my shopping bag ready to go. They are soo much nicer to have in the fridge... they are prettier, let the produce breathe and they keep everything together! Not to mention that they are helping me be less wasteful!!

Kara at Love for Earth also has other GREAT reusable products, like lunch bags and puppy training pads. SIMPLE is hosting an AWESOME giveaway for a $40 gift certificate to Love for Earth, only two more days to enter, this giveaway ends Saturday night!!
**Photos for this post are from Love for Earth!
Other Hooked On Friday fun can be found at Hooked On Houses:)

Socializing Homeschoolers

One of the concerns I have heard over and over about homeschooling is that kids don't have an opportunity to socialize with other kids. I guess homeschooling families can withdraw into their own little world and totally be anti-social with other people.... and there have probably been publicized families or stories that you can recall. But the reality is that if a family is in a community or church or just wants to give their kids opportunities to meet other kids, there are PLENTY of places and ways!!!

First let me share that I really think kids learn a lot of positive socialization from their parents and working together with their siblings. I strive to teach my children to be civil to each other and that has translated into their interactions with other kids. I have always been thankful for the children from our community that have made their way into our yard in the afternoons and have befriended my younger children. My kids can easily play with older and younger children! And when they aren't being shy, they will hold conversation with our church members, too!

We finally got to attend one of the first group get togethers of the homeschooling group that we joined this year!! Let me explain that being a part of this group is in NO way convenient for us.... all the local meetings are 45+ minutes away; which adds almost 1.5 hrs travel time into our busy days.

But I joined because I really wanted to have a group of homeschoolers to do field trips and activities with!! And I wanted the kids to know other homeschoolers and see that there ARE tons of other kids that "do school at home with their parents." And I look forward to the conversations and encouragements from other seasoned homeschooling families.

Yesterdays meeting was very relaxed.... we met at a SONIC, introduced ourselves to some of our age-group leaders and then the kids jumped into the all the fun going on on the playground. I immediately jumped ito conversations with other moms.... some first time homeschoolers, others who had 1 or 2 children already in college after being homeschooled!! What a blessing to be surrounded by some of these sweet and encouraging families.

AND BOY did my kids play!!! We stayed at SONIC from 11:20 to 2:15, playing, talking, eating, and more playing!! I thought they'd crash in the car but they were excited to learn some of the songs for AWANA...

Yes, as if playing at a playground with other kids wasn't enough socialization for one day. Last night was our first night at AWANA at a neighboring church.... I have been soo excited about AWANA starting. I've been a little hesitant about not attending my church on Wednesdays, but the AWANA program is soo strong in biblical teaching and encouraging kids to memorize Scripture. I figured if I could use my talents and interests to serve as well as bring my kids to a GREAT program then it would be worth it.

Anyway, AWANA went soo well.... my younger two were a bit clingy (I stayed with Chris for the 1st half and Andrea said Lydia stayed by her side the whole evening) but the kids participated in the activities, heard about God and His Word and were talking about the fun they had in their classes! Sounds like a great time to me. Pictures were taken and can be found on Andrea's flickr.

So yes, my kids are homeschooled. They stay and learn with me all day. But they are definitely getting plenty of opportunities to socialize because of activities and clubs that we have purposefully decided to participate in. And I am very thankful for the opportunities we have through our homeschool group and AWANA!!

Let me also say that there are TONS of other activities that give homeschoolers opportunities to play and socialize with other kids & adults... from community sports and music programs, drama clubs/teams, church activities, job opportunities and 4H! These two are ones we have chosen to fit the needs and goals of our family right now and I'm sure we will venture into other activities as the interests of our children are identified:)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

WW: Picnic Visitors = Science Lesson


Zoomed in....

We loved looking at the fly's legs, almost clear wings and hairy body. Then we tried to think of why the fly has all those features!!!

BTW.... the flies liked my lettuce the best... LOL!

More Wordless Wednesday at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Saturday Sentences : Hope in Contentment



During a rough day, I looked at Brian and asked, "Why can I not just be content with the family I have? Why do I have such a strong desire for more children? Is it wrong to want more children?"

LOL... my poor husband having to deal with me sometimes!! I'm glad he is a sensible, wise and thoughtful husband. And that he can encourage with a honest and insightful answer!!

But I will never forget how he responded.

He looked at me with compassion. And then gently answered, "Kelly, within a heart of contentment there is room for hope."

He didn't criticize me for being upset and letting the hormones out...LOL! He didn't condemn me for still not having a grasp of what contentment really looks and feels like. But he encouraged me with that statement. And meant that I can have a quiet, content heart and still hope for more children some day.

It reminded me of another time of balancing contentment and hope: my single days. I remember finally getting to a point where I was content being single, not actively spying out good guys to date, but still hoping to get married one day. That was about when I felt the pull to attend seminary to learn more about God's Word and be able to "minister" to others biblically. Kind of funny, because just after my 2nd full week at seminary I met Brian.

And then I remember the greatest hope we can have. That is our hope in our Savior and Lord. We wish for His soon return and the peace and joy that seeing Him face to face will bring. Psalm 33:20 (NIV) "We wait in hope for the LORD; He is our help and our shield."

I'll share with you with this verse.... It too talks about hoping in the Lord's coming. But looking at their explanation of "hope" was encouraging... because clearly hope is normal, a part of faith and contentment!

Romans 8:24b,25, 28 (NIV) "But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently..... And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Thank you God, for the family You have given me and thank you for the ability to hope. I praise You that You have plans for us. Help me to wait patiently and contently for those things that are unseen.