4am

Let me just tell you I am exhausted. I can not sleep more than 3 hours in a row and that is not enough to curb the tiredness. I even took my newly prescribed higher doae of sleeping pills and still woke up at 3am. I eventually gave up and came downstairs and logged on the computer. Amazingly one of my college roommates was on and we bantered back and forth for a bit. She also was having trouble sleeping. I slept fairly well when John was home but not now. Not sure if it cause I now shoulder all the household responsibilities or what. The brain just will not shut down at night. This morning I eventually made some hot tea and toast and crawled back in bed with a book. I read half of the book (FAITHFUL PARENTS, FAITHFUL KIDS)before getting sleepy again. It was very good and I see it being a help as we raise our kids. I finally fell back asleep about 8am for an hour. Thankfully the littles slept in too. I tried to nap when the littles did today but neither ever fell asleep. Now we are attempting to get them down but neither appears to be tired. Sometimes I think kids should come with a standby or off button or even preprogrammed to sleep from 9-6.

Brownies

Yesterday evening Kendra invited her friend Valerie over to spend a couple hours hanging out. They decided to make brownies while I was attempting egg rolls with the rest of the cabbage. I had to do something with it and did not have all the ingredients for coleslaw. Well you should have seen the kitchen when they were done. I attempted to take a picture of that but the camera batteries had died. Let me just say they let the littles help..........and after putting the pan in the oven. Allowed everyone to dig into the bowl. Dani was not happy with using a spoon so she used her hands. Zoe decided that looked like fun and so chocolate fingerprints appeared all over my tablecloth, kitchen chairs, etc. and they left the garage door open while I was at the door talking with a neighbor and the house filled up with those pesky flies. I probably have a hundred in the kitchen as I write and I have already been on an attack mission earlier this morning. The brownies were great and the girls did a decent job in cleaning up. We just need to sweep and mop the floor now (that is partly because the girls pulled the brownies out this am and decided to help themselves but forgot the plate or a napkin.) I have brownie crumbs trailing on the floor. wherever they went..... and I still need to wash the tablecloth. It never ends...............sigh.

Treasure

Zoe and I were the first to recognize God had turned the lights on today. So we slowly crept downstairs in the attempts to let the other kiddos sleep without disturbing them. She of course then asked to watch Dora......so we did together. Dora's adventures today took her through a jungle, then through a (draw)bridge and then to treasure island. Zoe immediately wondered what could be in the treasure box and we started naming things. Toys, chocolate, jewelry, and then she surprised me and said Dani Raybus (she meant Travis). How that warmed my heart!!! To think my 3 year old thinks her little sister is a treasure. AWWWWWWW. I, of course quickly confirmed that yes she is! as are you and Kendra too. That was so sweet Zo-Zo you are a great big sister.
Then Dora's adventures began.............I missed the jungle scene as my youngest treasure heard the theme songs for Dora and wanted up out of her crib now also. Diaper change and sippy stopped me from getting back for that scene. However, when they arrived at the bridge it told them that there is only one way through it. (Sound vaguely familiar to anyone?) John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life:no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." then Dora and her crew were warned of the foggy fog with the words "when you are in the middle of it -it is hard to see where you are going" and then of the rocky rocks "be careful you do not crash your vessel into them". (LESSON They needed to steer their path around them) finally they arrived at their destination and were appreciative of the help they had received along the way. I like it when I can pull a lesson out of a show to point my kids in the way Christ would have them to go. I just wish it were as easy when we are older.

All this reminded me of truly how much my daughters are treasures...gifts from God..............but honestly I have only been entrusted to their care. Kind of like the Matthew 25:14-20 story about the talents. I want them to grow in their knowledge and love of the Lord our God to help when these foggy and rocky times come (as they will). I want them to share this love with others in order to reach the lost. It is really more like preparing them to be gifts back onto God. Pleasing and a treasure onto Him.

name

What Jerriann Means

You are fair, honest, and logical. You are a natural leader, and people respect you. You never give up, and you will succeed... even if it takes you a hundred tries. You are rational enough to see every part of a problem. You are great at giving other people advice. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

cabbage

I remember growing up and my Mom did not often make cabbage. I remember having it once a year with the annual Corned Beef and Cabbage meal on St Patty's Day. I hated it. It made me gag and the thought of it still does. Well recently I started making more meals with it since I bought several fruit and veggie Angel Food boxes this month. Tonight we created a new meal again and once again it was YUMMY and healthy.
here is what we did.

Put a cup of broth in a big fry pan.
added ham. I had purchased a small ham steak and we cut this into bite sized pieces.
We shredded cabbage about a half a head and threw this in there to wilt
cut up three apples into bite size pieces and threw them in there too
put one heaping tablespoon of chives in there
sprinkled the whole thing generously with cinnamon and allowed all this to hang out in the pan while we made some long grain rice.

We served this concoction over the rice. Everyone ate the whole bowl of food put before them. Except me but that is normal. I remember the days when I not only finished off mine, went back for seconds and then finished off Kendra's. So glad that I am no longer able to do so. Now Kendra finishes off mine...when I let her. I feel much better being half the person I used to be. We added some orange segments to the plate in order to add some color and just because the Littles love them. A one dish meal that the kiddos claim as a keeper. So glad we gave cabbage another try.

वे लव थे बाच

We love the beach is my title in the Korean language. We have had such a blast this weekend. Attached are some more pics from our final day at the beach before the hurricanes hits here. It is expected to reach our area on Friday. They (yes multiple and back to back) are expected to hit right where we were this weekend. Not sure when and if we will get back there before it gets too cold. I know we are in Southern Ga and it is still nice at Christmas but the water does get too cold and seriously after being here for awhile.......anything below 82 feels cold when the ocean winds blow. I remember the days in Chicago where I felt it was short weather when it hit 70..now to me that feels like sweatshirt weather still. I have quickly become a southern gal when it comes to the weather. attached are more pics...................back to a normal routine tomorrow.

Serving God

On Sunday we had a family Bible Study about Joshua and how he was so concerned that after he died the Israelites would turn from serving God and start worshiping other idols/Gods. One of our exercises was to come up with ways to serve God this week. Many things named/listed fell into the serving others category. I, then needed to explain that although sometimes serving others does also serve God we need to be careful with that and not look to others for praise or appreciation. If his message is not being spread in some way shape or form it is not beneficial to the kingdom of God and then a waste of our time and efforts. If our true intentions are to serve God, we should only seek his approval and guidance not people. In thinking back over our study I was convicted. Many times, my serving has started out with right intentions and motives but I have hung on...... after I should have passed the torch on to someone else. The inability to let go and let God handle something he started is very difficult at times for me. I was able to use this in the education of my kiddos and to help them see that no one is perfect and we always have to strive to obey..............and I was able to confirm that no it is not always easy but always worth it. Striving daily to be a living testimony to my kids. Always finding more work to be done within myself................ it's a never ending process!!!!!!