On My Friends Front Door!

Welcome to the (her last name) Home

This is not a museum.
It is a living, breathing laboratory of life.

It includes experimentation in human development, human potential, and the power of prayer, love, gratitude, acceptance and forgiveness, all the schools of knowledge we can get our hands on and wrap our minds around, and a huge leap of faith.

Please come in, breath deeply, and share of your experiences. Together we can learn, grow, and reach to new heights.

We hope all who reside here and enter in choose joy, love and gratitude as predominant forces of their life.

Life is such and incredible journey!

PLEASE HELP ME!

I'm looking for some blogging friend/stranger/family advice, since I'm too chicken to ask people whom I really know and talk to in person.

Hubby would like me to start earning a little extra money and I don't mind the thought of that. I would like some extra to spend on things like lessons for the kiddos, clothes, vacations, NOT food, gas and bills! So, here's the problem. What can I do? I have 6 children and no degree which means, What can I do that would make money and justify putting my kids in daycare? So, I'm trying to be creative and think of work from home or evening jobs. My creativity is very limited. Basically I know lots of mommy skills!


I'm not feeling sorry for myself, I'm just out of ideas. Here's what I've come up with. I have considered babysitting/preschool in my home, I can teach piano lessons, and I have a friend who is really pushing me to start selling Arbonne! I could even clean houses or businesses.


Problem: I HATE trying to sell myself to others! And I hate taking time away from my own children! I'm also afraid of focusing all my energy and attention on a project and then one day waking up and realizing that my children are grown and I missed it all.

Okay, so I'm really good at making excuses. I've lived a pretty sheltered life, since I grew up out in the country on a farm and I have live 27 out of 33 years in the same 50 miles of rural Idaho! So here's where I need your help! How have you seen things done were you currently live or have lived. You don't have to share all your secrets, but can you think of something I am missing? (When I ask other piano teachers about technics they use to get new students, they act all wierd, like I have violated some piano teacher code and basically they tell me nothing. I'm not trying to steal anything. I'm just really clueless about lots of stuff!)


So, if I went with the babysitting or piano lessons, how would you suggest that I "advertise" my skills?


Should I just focus on being a "great" mom and support my husbands work?


And do any of you know someone who has been successful in network marketing? I am a little skeptical! I love the products but not so much the selling part!

So, now I'm anxious to hear all your wonderful thoughts and ideas!

Thoughts on Inadequacy

Inadequacy is an inability to fulfill a given purpose.

Today A had an appointment with her counselor. After her session, her counselor had me come back to visit with her for a moment. She asked me how A was doing at home. I told her she was doing great. Then she asked me to tell her how A was really doing. I told her that A struggles with feeling like she is not in control of the situations around her. Her counselor smiled and said, "And who does that remind you of?" I told her that A was a perfectionist and that she hated to fail at things. Once again her counselor smiled and asked, "And does that remind you of anyone you know?" I said, "I'm afraid she thinks our family is broken." Her counselor replied, "And what do you think?"

It's hard to see myself in my children. I have fears and struggles, lots of them. But I want my children to be so much more than I am. Yet, I am teaching them to be just like me. But I don't know how to change me. I will find a way....!

I'm so thankful that I am a mother! I am so thankful that Heavenly Father loves me enough to send me little spirits that are so much stronger and better than me to help lift me up to higher ground. At this age, they love me unconditionally and they believe that I will lead them and teach them all that they must know and do to live with Him someday. As I do my best to teach my children to become all that God wants for them to become, I can only hope that along the way I, too, become all that He wants me to become.

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

My Little Drama Queen

K has gotten into the bad habit of taking a late nap. That means that she is up late. She shares a room with the other girls but since they both have school and she likes to talk and keep them up, she has ended up in my bed for the last few nights until she gets tired of talking and we all fall asleep.

So, last night she got emotional on Hubby and I and she tells us that she missed her real mom and dad. Playing along, we asked her what their names were. She said that their names were Bob and Olivia and they were much nicer than Hubby and I. We asked her why, and she told us that they used to let her watch movies when she wanted to go to bed and they let her eat ice cream, and they never kissed on the lips because she doesn't like mom's and dad's to kiss on the lips. It's disgusting! We asked her what happened to her perfect parents. She said that one day a bad guy knocked on the door and come in a shot Bob and Olivia and took her away. We asked how she came to live with us and she said, "Remember, the bad guy brought me to you." She was so silly and she made us laugh, but she didn't laugh at all. She was very serious the whole time and even cried a couple of times in her story because she missed her real parents so much.

So, do you think I have to worry about what she will say to others when she isn't around me?

Cool Tools for your blog page!

I have this coolest tool that I use on my blog. It is called sitemeter. This tool keeps track of everyone who visits my blog page. It tells me what time you got on, how long you stayed, what pages you looked at, and tons of other information about your visit. It tracks everyone from Oregon to the Philippines and everyone in between! So welcome to my blog! It really is a fun little tool and I recommend it to everyone.

Another fun tool that I use is Bloglines. This is a tool that tracks when other people post. You just enter the addresses of the blogs that you like to view. Then each time that blog is posted to, it keeps track of the new entries. So, when I get on my computer and I want to see who has new posts, I just click onto my bloglines account and then I can view your latest and greatest posts! I love it! And using bloglines has cut my computer time in half, so my family loves it also!

So, there you go! Two new tricks that I just learned! If you haven't already tried them, you should check them out! You'll probably love them as much as I do!

What's for Dinner?

My idea of exposing my children to international foods:

Beef and Bean Chimichangas

French Cut Green Beans

German Chocolate Cake














& Hot Cocoa

Nothing but the BEST for my kids!

Want to come for dinner?

(Actually, I didn't really fix this for dinner tonight. My kids did! I just told them what to fix!)

A Perfect Match

ME

You Were Born Under:

Fierce and courageous - you are the king of every situation. You pounce and attack, until others give you want you want. Daring and magnetic, you inspire others to follow your lead. And while you're wild at heart, you have some hidden soft spots. You are most compatible with a Horse or Dog.

What Year Were You Born Under?

HUBBY

You Were Born Under:

You are totally loyal, faithful, and honest. However, you don't trust others to be as ethical as you are! Straight forward and direct, you really aren't one for small talk. You are a great listener - and an agreeable companion when you're in a good mood! You are most compatible with a Tiger or Horse.

What Year Were You Born Under?

It must be true love.....

How well do you and your significant other match up with the Chinese Lunar Calendar?