And so I'm thinking....

Hearing about that plane crash in the middle of the ocean just makes me realize how good I have it at this moment. Earlier today I was very angry at my husband for various reasons and feeling quite sorry for myself. But insomnia has it's hold on me once again and as I sit and watch the news I'm reminded of the things that others are dealing with. Suddenly my problems shrink to the size they really are and I'm reminded of the things I do have. For instance, at this moment I'm able to hold my children close to me knowing that they are safe and well. I'm also sitting in a warm, dry home (I would say clean but hey, it's Tuesday, who am I kidding hee hee!!) that has running water and electricity. And even though I'm still pretty mad at my husband, well, at least he is here with me. At this moment I think I have it pretty good.

Summer Time Bliss!

The girls daddy is done for the summer (he is a teacher) and this is always such a nice time for all of us. I love to sleep in and he lets me. (he is a morning guy) And the girls of course are just thrilled to have their daddy home all day long every day. So now the morning routine has shifted to the girls getting up with daddy and waiting for mommy to get up. Once I do then they both run and squeal down the hall, jump on the bed and we spend a little while in a big heap of snugly, giggly, happy morning moments. And all the while of course their daddy is entertaining us with the girls toys. He has quite the active imagination. I should tape it and put it on YouTube. It's pretty funny!
I'm so thankful for family. We are simple and live on the edge of what most would consider "poor" I suppose. We could qualify for food stamps though I wouldn't since I know how to budget, make healthy food that's low cost and don't want to add to America's economy problem. I'm learning how to make my kids clothes, my own clothes and I really enjoy refurbishing old furniture. I try to make our home look nice, clean and inviting but at the same time it's just not important for us to be rich in money. I want to teach my girls the importants of being rich in love and family values as well as good honest Christian values. Isn't that what America was all about back in the day? Some how we have lost some of this. I wish we as a nation could get it back. I think we all would be so much happier for it.

Yummy Granola Recipe

Do you like granola but hate the price? Me to! Well here is a great easy recipe that makes a huge batch. The most expensive ingredient you will have to buy are the nuts.

16 cups oatmeal (quick oats)
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
1 2/3 tsp salt
2 2/3 cups coconut shredded
2 cups pecans finely chopped
2 2/3 Tbs vanilla
2 cups oil
1/2 cup water

Mix all together in bowl, spread evenly on baking pan and bake at 250 for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (I do it for 2 hours)

I usually double the brown sugar to make it sweeter. You of course can tweek this how ever you like to make it fit your tastes. But it makes a lot and it's pretty easy. It just takes time of course. Hope you like it. Enjoy!! ;)

Where I'm at now

When ever we go through a crisis I believe we all go through different phases, denial, anger, bartering, grief and acceptance. I have gone through just about all of these and now I'm in the acceptance stage. I'm so glad I'm here now. For awhile I was in the anger stage and that wasn't a good place at all. Unfortunately I didn't handle myself very well either which I'm not very proud of. Thank goodness we have a great big God who loves to forgive. Though I'm still going through some grief and sorrow and know that I will for awhile, I'm also to the place where I'm able to accept the situation for what it is. And I'm thankful for this because now I'm able to truly surrender. I know that I'm not in control and that it's not my will but His. This has been a long journey and one that has nearly driven me right to the edge of insanity. I'm not saying I'm completely stress free. Oh hardly! I have so much to do and it is hard not knowing where we are headed to or how our life will end up in the next 3 weeks after we have to leave the home we are living in now. But it is nice to know that God is the one spinning this world after all and He does have something planned out for us. He really does.

Making the best of our unmowed yard!

So we haven't mowed are yard. It looks bad. But to the girls it's so pretty. They just love all the "pretty yellow flowers!" I get buckets of them picked for me every day. And honestly, it makes them happy so hey, why not!! With are situation the way it is are yard care is the last thing I really care about.

Chemical Plant Explosion in our town

We had a pretty scary event happen in our town the other night. At about 8:00p.m. I thought one of our girls fell out of there bed, at least that is what the noise I heard sounded like. My husband checked on them and came back saying they were both sound asleep. We were both pretty confused b/c we both really did hear something and yet nothing in the house was wrong. A few min. later we heard sirens driving by so we knew something had happened. Here is the link and info as to all that took place.( Click on my title Chemical Plant Explosion ) There is even a video to watch that is pretty unbelievable. Just so glad everyone is safe and no one is hurt. So glad no one was at work. My friend's husband works at this plant so we are both so happy this took place at night!



UPDATE: Evacuated residents allowed home

COLUMBUS, Wis. (AP) -- A fire at a chemical plant just outside Columbus has almost burned itself out.

Dodge County Sheriff's spokeswoman Molly Soblewski initially said the fire had gone out by 4 p.m. But she now says there are still flames in a corner of the plant.

Sheriff Todd Nehls says he went into the building around mid-afternoon with firefighters. They found flames 6 inches to 8 inches high in places.

A warehouse storing chemicals at Columbus Chemical Industries caught fire Monday night. A series of explosions forced firefighters to withdraw and let the fire burn.

Emergency workers evacuated about 140 homes Monday and closed roads around the plant. They had allowed everyone back in their homes and reopned the roads by about 4 p.m.

The crunch is starting to get heavy!

As I look over my previous posts I see how optimistic I was when I first heard about my husbands job loss. But here we are over 3 weeks later closer to the due date when we will be out of a job, pay check, health insurance, and a house. Here we are without any word or any job opening of any kind and my faith is crumbling day by day. I try so hard to believe that God truly is in control but this silence is so very hard. I feel as if I'm going through the angry phase now and I feel like my 4 year old, all angry and temperamental. I want to kick and scream like she does ha ha! Every day I am having to apologize for my lack of faith as well as my disrespect and anger for not getting my way. Oh how I wish I were a patient woman, a woman after Gods own heart. But I'm not. At all!! I have so much work that needs to be done on my heart. Thank goodness He does not ever give up on us. I'm so grateful for that!

Processing

So I guess this is a sequel to my last post. After sitting down and talking with her, well, as much as you can with a 4 year old and letting her sit in her room for awhile I spent some time with her making cards. She seemed ok, very chatty and perky. After awhile she floated into the living room and noticed another little gift her daddy had given to me last night. (he is giving me gifts to help de-stress me!) There is a little plant sitting in front of the window. I could tell she was bothered by this so I sat and watched her for a minuet. She then looked at me and told me "a cow was going to come and eat my new plant today!" Oh boy!! I could see that she was still feeling aggressive so I calmly told her that if she felt bad by the plant daddy gave me it was ok and safe to talk to me about it. Not 2 minutes later she came up to me and told me that she felt bad and left out b/c daddy didn't give her a gift to. I told her that it was normal to feel bad and jealous when someone gets something we don't. It happens. I told her that I understood that feeling. I told her I wanted her to do something for me. I wanted her to look around and see if she could find anything her daddy and given her. She did, and as she did she started getting all excited. I then asked her why daddy got those things for her. She said it was b/c he loves her. Yep! He sure does! I told her next time she starts to feel bad and starts to feel jealous to start thinking about all the things she has and what that means to her. And of course to come and talk with me about it. I'm hoping this will help her. She is only 4 so who knows how much she is able to really process, but kids really are pretty smart! Sheesh, parenting sure is tough!! And I've just started!!!