SIGNED!!

Praise our heavenly Father! Mike received and signed the offer letter today!!!! He should be starting June 1...just a couple of weeks away!!

becoming a reality

On February 16 of this year, Mike was offered a new job within his company via a verbal offer. Well, today, almost 3 months later, it is becoming a reality!!

Parked in our driveway is the previous account manager/sales representative's car for Mike to start using for customer visits!!

And, in the third bay of our garage, are TONS of files that were unloaded from the trunk of that car.

EXCITING!!!

Yet, I'm still praying fervently for protection over the offer...he should SIGN an actual offer letter this week!!

Thank You, Father for taking such good care of our family!

a happy Mother's Day with green smoothies

Well, today started out rough. I walked out of my bedroom at 5 minutes before 6am (I have to be at church at 7:30am), and Caden was already screaming in his crib. Oh, the frustration. I was excited to start breakfast, applesauce bread (which was YUMMY), and then sit at the Lord's feet for a few minutes. Yeah, that didn't happen. Instead, I mixed the ingredients for the bread with a screaming 2-year-old at my feet.

The day definitely got better (except for our computer crashing...I'm using the boys'). When I got home from church, the boys and Mike gave me my gifts! Before the computer crashed, Nate and Kyle both made me cards on the computer with 5 reasons why they love me, pictures of themselves, and pictures of tulips...my favorite flower!! It was really sweet! Mike got me an awesome card and a Passion '06 worship cd. It is AWESOME!!

Then, Mike told the boys to go get my other gift out of his closet.

They got me what I asked for, this...
so that I can make green smoothies!!!! So, for dinner tonight, we had popcorn chicken (which Mike made and was AWESOME!), mashed potatoes, and smoothies. The kids LOVED them and wanted more!

Here is what I put in our smoothies tonight:

1 cup chopped carrots
2 handfuls of fresh spinach
2 apples, cored and chopped a little (I left the peel on)
2-3 tbsp orange juice concentrate (canned freezer kind)
2 bananas
10 strawberries
1 cup crushed ice (our refrigerator crushes ice)
1/2 water

Blend, blend, blend!!!!

Like I said, they were really YUMMY and so good for you!! And since my new blender has a dispenser, it just made it even more fun to fill up the cups mess-free!

So, my dear blogger-readers, I hope you had a wonderful day celebrating your mom and being celebrated if you are a mom! We have a tough job! But, because it is tough, it causes me turn to my heavenly Father for strength, wisdom, and guidance!

Oh, and between the revealing of the blender and the actual usage of the blender, I took a LONG, LONG nap ;)

Menu, May 10-15

So, I already overspent last week...we were JUST SO OUT OF EVERYTHING!! The good thing is that we didn't actually eat everything as planned last week, so I don't need much this week at the store! Plus, I need to use the rest of my grocery budget this week to shop for camping next weekend!!

I don't have enough time to add links this week, but if you want to know how to make something, check out last week's menu. I put links on most of the items on that menu!

Sunday, May 10
Applesauce bread, fruit
fish, rice, salad
Popcorn chicken, biscuits, salad
PREP: Prep oatmeal, make tortillas

Monday, May 11
START CROCKPOT
Soaked oatmeal, fruit
Quesadillas, carrots
Chicken taco soup in crockpot, salad, tortillas

Tuesday, May 12
Eggs, toast, fruit
Ian’s pre-school lunch…sandwiches, carrots, pretzels
SMALL GROUP…spaghetti, salad

Wednesday, May 13
START CROCKPOT
Cereal and fruit
Creamy Mac and cheese, carrots
Whole chx in crockpot, veggies, potatoes

Thursday, May 14
iMom @ CFA
sandwiches, fruit, carrots
chicken quesadillas, salad
PREP: prep oatmeal

Friday, May 15
Soaked oatmeal, fruit
Sandwiches, fruit, carrots
CAMPING

God will supply

Right now, I am clinging to scriptures such as these:

Paul writes in Philippians 4...

10But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity.

11Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

12I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

13I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

14Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

15You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone;

16for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs.

17 Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.

18But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.

19And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Paul is telling the Philippians that just as they have provided for his needs and his ministry, God will also supply for their needs!

I love that!

God will provide, and I will be content. I mean, for real, Paul who was majorly persecuted and actually did know what true hunger was, could say he was CONTENT! Shouldn't I be able to say the same, when in reality, I have SO much?

So, if you're wondering what has prompted this type of blog, our oven broke...or so we thought.

On Sunday, before I left to run an errand, I put dinner in the oven. A little while later, Mike called me to ask if I had ever seen "e2 f3" on the oven display followed by it shutting itself off. Well, no, I have never seen that.

Well, today I had a repair man come to fix our oven, which is a Whirlpool Gold top of the line that came with the house TWO years ago. The service call costs $75 for the first hour and then it just starts adding up after that...wonderful :( Wouldn't you know that the error message DID NOT make its appearance and the oven worked like it should?? So, while gritting my teeth, I write my check for $75 and send the super-talkative and a little richer oven repair man on his way.

URRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Then, I started crying. That's right, crying like a baby...a mad, upset, disappointed baby.

I mean, why?? Honestly, it kind of makes me wonder what in the world God is doing. I mean, we are trying SO hard to be diligent with making very wise decisions with what God has given us. We definitely don't have a line for "have a repair man come and then not fix anything...$75" in our budget. God knows that. And, as my incredible husband pointed out, at least we didn't have to pay $75 plus the cost of a part. But, STILL....urrrrgggghhhh!

Okay, I'm done.

I know that God is BIG and awesome and an incredible provider. I am thankful, so very thankful for His provision. I am very, very, very undeserving of God's love and mercy and grace and INTEREST in little, broken, falling apart me.

He LOVES me.

And I LOVE Him.

a movie with the boys

After this morning, I spent some time praying over my boys and my family while I was taking a meal to a lovely family who just had a little baby boy! Anyway, I decided to just spend some time with the boys tonight! We didn't go to prayer service at church...we just hung out at home. Mike actually had to go into work for month end stuff...he left around 7pm and it's 10:38 and he isn't home yet! I will be SO EXCITED when he has transitioned into his new job.

Anyway, the boys are REALLY into Chronicles of Narnia right now because my awesome sister-in-law Maria bought them the Focus on the Family Radio Theater version while she was here in March. They LOVE it!! It is awesome...instead of just reading the books, they have different actors acting the parts. It is very well done.
So, I requested movie The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from the library and we picked it up yesterday. Tonight was the perfect night for a movie!!

Well, Caden was dressed like this...
Now, look closely...those are Kyle's shorts, and Caden put them on all by himself! He has his waist through one of the leg holes and the waist band of the shorts and the other leg hole are hanging down...HILARIOUS!! Notice the big boy underwear? Well, don't get too excited because not too long after this picture he had an accident!

And the boys looked like this on the couch...

Notice Nate disappeared UNDER the blanket because of a scary part!

Well, the movie ended around 9:30, and then guess what?? We had ICE CREAM!!! Then, I read one chapter to them from The Magician's Nephew, which is chronologically the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series.

It was a fun night! I love that Nate pointed out to me numerous times how the movie is like the Bible. He really is a great kid!

I love my boys! I look forward to watching God work in each of their lives.

two worlds collide

Today, two of my roles collided in a bad way....Worship Leader Margo and Mommy Margo.

Well, I wish I could say I handled it gracefully, but I so did not.

Because it was my last Sunday to help out at New Hope, all six of us made the trip to Mannford. Mike and the boys had never gone with me before to this church. Since I always have told the people there that I would bring them some day, today had to be the day.

Everything was fine until Sunday School and church actually started. The boys really didn't want to go into class, and then there wasn't children's church. It was just a little crazy. On top of this, they all sat on the FRONT row less than 2 feet from me and the piano. It was just so hard for me to play, sing, and WORSHIP.

You see, usually, my drives to Mannford are just me and God...praying, worshiping, and listening to an awesome sermon on my iPod (the one that was stolen.) So the service is usually just bathed in prayer by the time I drive the 45 minutes there, and I am feeling so ready to lead others into worship. Then, the services go well and God really speaks to me through Pastor Manuel's message. I leave REFRESHED and RENEWED and BLESSED.

It just didn't happen today. Today, I left FRAZZLED, EXHAUSTED, and EMOTIONALLY SPENT. I just wanted to cry.

So, what have I learned today? I have learned that my ministry as a mom needs to be first. Not that I can't serve in other areas, but I need to minister to my children while serving in other areas. Today, I just felt like they were in my way...how horrible is that? I could have just rolled with it instead of getting a little angry with them...after all, they are still very young and were in a totally new place with all new people.

God has given me these 4 amazing sons to lavish in His love. That is so my heart's desire...just to love on them and enjoy them and serve them and minister to them. I never, ever want them to feel like they are in my way. They are truly blessings, gifts, rewards from my Heavenly Father.

these were taken a couple of weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon drive, Lake Oologah

Father, help me to remember that my boys are a blessing, a gift and reward from You. I praise You for your grace and forgiveness. Help me to love on my boys today...to enjoy them, to laugh with them, to play with them, to serve them, to point them to You in all that I do. Thank you for Nate, Kyle, Ian, and Caden.

around the house

Caden is potty-training. He is doing extremely well!! Yippee!! We even ran to the bank, post office, library, recycling, Wal-mart, and Target, and he didn't have any accidents! How exciting!

I am going to throw a party when he is COMPLETELY trained because I have been changing diapers for over 7 consecutive years. At one time, I had three in diapers!!!! I am SO EXCITED!!

Let's see...also, it has been thunder storming and raining like CRAZY here! I guess a house in our neighborhood got struck by lightning this morning...that's crazy.

Oh, and I found out last night that the church in Mannford where I have been "supplying" (filling in because they don't have a worship leader) just hired someone. So, tomorrow is my last drive over to Mannford to lead at New Hope.

AND, the boys are fighting like crazy again. It's amazing. They just yell at each other a lot. Because of all the rain, I can't just send them out to play. It's driving me nuts.

I so desire to have a peaceful, joyful, loving home. So, that is what I am going to diligently praying about...that God will just give me wisdom in how to make our home more peaceful.

Finally, I overspent grocery shopping, but I am just going to divide the next 3 weeks with my remaining budget for the month. I was SO out of things, so it will work out!

Weekly Menu, May 2-9

Last month, I ran out of my grocery budget 2 1/2 weeks into the month. Since Mike only gets paid the last day of each month, that made for a definite mustard month. This month, I am determined for that NOT to happen again!

So, I am going to divide my money into 4 grocery envelopes, one per week, versus one for the entire month. Then, I will NOT pull out the next envelope until said time.

Another change I am going to make is to start planning our breakfasts and lunches...I really, really think that will help!!

Oh Lord, please give me discipline in this! Help me to be a better planner and steward of the money You have given us!!

Saturday, May 2
Soaked oatmeal, fruit
leftovers
chicken quesadillas, salad

Sunday, May 3
cereal and fruit
Salmon Patties, veggies, salad
Stacked Chicken Enchiladas (x2), salad

Monday, May 4
applesauce bread, bananas
LUNCH WITH MOM :)
Popcorn chicken, potatoes, veggies

Tuesday, May 5
eggs and toast
Creamy Mac and Cheese, carrots
fish, mashed sweet potatoes, salad
PREP for tomorrow: soak oatmeal, soak rice for Wed. and Friday

Wednesday, May 6
Soaked oatmeal, fruit
"lunchables", fruit, carrots (ham and cheese crackers)
whole chx in crockpot, veggies, rice

Thursday, May 7
iMom at CFA that's next week...cereal and fruit
sandwiches, fruit, veggies
Small group....Spaghetti, salad
PREP for tomorrow: soak oatmeal

Friday, May 8
Soaked oatmeal, fruit
"lunchables" and sandwiches
easy pizza, salad before Lydia's wedding!!

Saturday, May 9
pancakes, fruit
leftovers
Spicy Beans over rice, salad

Okay, I can do this!!!