Disney Desperate Housewives

Can you relate? Let's see, I think I can identify with at least 3 of them :-)

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my wedding anniversary, I married my high school sweetheart, Sean 16 years ago-we started dating on Valentine's Day in 1986! I have been cleaning out my garage & had a garage sale today and I came across a box of letters that I had written to Sean when he was at Navy boot camp. I pulled some of them out & found some poems that Sean had written to me & thought I would share what a wonderful writer he is....

"Thinking of You"

Days have passed

And the time closes near
Until that special moment.

When you are right here.

With me at last

We'll have a ball

Getting back together

and doing it all.

Touching & embracing

A never ending bond
A Special type of love to which

I have grown so fond.

A brand new day

As bright as can be

Nothing but true love

Will we both see.

You know-It's special
When nothing stand in the way

Of two young people

With loving words to say.

The strongest link

In miles and miles of chain

Has kept us together

To meet once again.

Until that moment

When that time finally arrives
I'll be here-thinking of you
Heart beating & still alive.

The love in living is being with you.

Sean

"To Misti With Love"

Years ago I met a beautiful girl

With hair of blonde & eyes so blue.

I knew as days did pass it was certain

Our love would soon grow true.

She was uniquely special

In her own little way

Loving & caring

Kind words she did say.

In her heart and

In her soul

Nothing impure

Could ever flow.

A gift from God

Given all to me

So that each new day

I would have beauty to see.

Never again will I find another

With these qualities-Oh so fine

This is why I'm so lucky

That this girl is still all mine.

I'm the lucky one....

Marriage Monday-Honor Post 7.16.07

My hubby and I had a very long weekend cleaning out our garage. And we actually got through the weekend without screaming and yelling at each other the entire time-I think maybe we had a few words early on but we managed to get a lot accomplished! We still have a ways to go but we managed to get a great start on the project. We will be celebrating our 16 year anniversary on July 20th and we have accumulated so much stuff over the years and we have never had a garage sale to get rid of things that we no longer use. We had a garage sale 9 years ago when we moved from a bigger home back into our first home & sold furniture that wouldn't fit back into the house. But that's all! Each time we moved, we just stuffed everything into the shed, attic and garage! So I'm thankful that we managed to get through most of this project without screaming and yelling at each other this weekend!

Goals that I'm working on to honor my husband:

Not thinking negative thoughts or saying negative things about him in front of my children-doing good. Every once in a way I catch myself getting ready to say something but instead, I pray or think about something else.

Last week started out really well & I got my quiet time in but by Tuesday after having a house full of kids (8) and staying up until 3:30 am, I didn't get my quiet time in. This week, I still have some big projects but I should be able to get my quiet time in sometime!

Hope everyone had a great week last week, I'm looking forward to getting a lot of things accomplished and goals meet! Check for my updated on July 20th-our anniversary-I will have some pictures of the last 16 years posted!

Check out Fruit in Season, for more information about this challenge.

SMART Habit Saturday

I am joining in again...I had joined in on this adventure at the first of the year. Then I didn't blog for about 2 no 4 months. Now that I'm in the blogging habit again, I decided to join in and start working on developing good habits with The Lazy Organizer. Here is the original link from the Lazy Organizer about the challenge.

I am going to start with three new habits/goals for this week:

1. Making bed each morning.

2. Cleaning toilet each morning and wiping down the bathroom vanity.

3. Working out each day.

There....that's a start!

I'm adding the following two items:

4. Quiet time each day-spend time with the Lord and in my Prayer Journal.

5. Date night or quality time each week with my honey!

Marriage Monday-Honor My Husband Challenge

My goals for this week (July 2-8th) are:

1. To pray daily for my husband by working through "Power of a Praying Wife. Prayer is the ultimate love language.

2. Continue to be respectful of him, even when he isn't around.

3. To find time to start incorporating a date night into our routine. Friday would be a great time to start since it's his birthday.

4. Allow Sean to be the head of the household so I can be the heart. (from Power of a Praying Wife)

"Let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband." Ephesians 5:33

Check out what other wives are doing to honor their husbands.

Sidewalk Chalk Picture

Yesterday, we celebrated SJH's birthday at the park. I had taken sidewalk chalk & given mini sidewalk chalk as part of the goodie bags. Here is a picture of the items in the goodie bags. Cute, aren't they? I purchased the birthday favors from Birthday in a Box-Party called Daisy Smiles, check them out! Their party themes are adorable!

We had a simple birthday party at the park, they play some on the swings & slides, & played with the sidewalk chalk. I grilled hamburgers & hot dogs. SJH opened her presents, shared her blended markers set with her party guest & we had cupcakes and strawberry shortcake! Very relaxing & enjoyable party!

Last night the girls opened up their goodie bags and created some drawings on the front sidewalk. They were really proud of their sidewalk drawings! The drawing is two people, labeled Sean & Misti and going down the stairs are hearts and it says: Sean loves Misti Loves Sean.

I guess the PDA is noticeable! My girls are writing on the sidewalk about how much we love each other!

Total Mom Makeover-Week One-The Starter Mom

I purchased a book by Hannah Keeley called "Total Mom Makeover:The Six-Week Plan to Completely Transform Your Home, Health, Family, and Life" a couple of months ago. I decided to spend my summer working through the book. The Introduction had me hooked:

"I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I walked by with a basket full of laundry fresh out of the dryer. My hair was pulled back in the same scrunchie that I had worn to bed. My face, pale & washed out, had not seen a dab of makeup since last Sunday, and the drab gray sweatshirt that I wore only accentuated the fact that I still had twenty-five pounds to lose. But who has time to shower and dress when you have a house to clean and three kids to look after? And even if I did have time, what was the point?"

WOW, could I relate! I feel that way most days with four children, volunteer activities, a part-time job, etc. etc. What was the point? However, I am worth the effort!

So, now I'm on a Total Mom journey....what is a Total Mom? Keeley describes a total mom as "a woman who is changing the face of homemaking and motherhood. Caring for her home & family is not something she does on the side. It is a priority for her, and she loves what she does. She is smart, energetic, powerful, confident, balanced, and sexy. She doesn't sit around and wait for things to happen. She makes things happen!"

Each week is broken down into a Total Mom Needs Pyramid. Each day, I will read out of the book, do some exercises in a journal, and put what I have learned into practice.

Here is a breakdown of what I can expect to accomplish each week:

Week One: The Starter Mom-tear down that faulty pyramid, acquire tools to construct a better life, learn how to develop a vision, make every motion & moment count, how to speak my way to success & develop a winning attitude.

Week Two: The Basic Mom-begin meeting basic needs & build foundation for growth. Learn how to eliminate toxins from my diet, clutter from my home & (this might change my website rating form G to something else!) boredom from my sex life. As well as develop my own inner fashionista and learn key strategies to increase my energy level! Week 2 will be exciting!

Week Three: The Secure Mom-free myself from the fear & uncertainty that tomorrow holds and establish a sense of security in my life. Plug up the leaks in my wallet and work exercise into my daily routine. And develop methods to manage my temper as well as my housekeeping responsibilities.

Week Four: The Nurtured Mom-work on love & relationship needs. Be nurtured not only through relationships with friends and family but through my relationship with myself. Make mealtime special & create a nurturing home. Develop key strategies to make my marriage work.

Week Five: The Confident Mom-will focus on meeting need for personal esteem & competence in all areas of my life. Learn to trust my inner voice & pursue my destiny. Develop muscles in my body and organization throughout my home. Learn beauty secrets that will boost my confidence as well as appearance.

Week Six: The Total Mom-Move on to living the Total Mom life. Fine-tune those attitude skills & experience life to the fullest. Love to meet your children's' basic needs as well as my own personal need for solitude. Develop techniques to help keep up with the life that I created.

Should be an exciting journey. I hope to share my journal with you on my blog & share insights to my discoveries!

Thursday Thirteen #12 (13 Ways To Honor My Husband)

I am participating in the Honor Your Husband 30-Day Challenge-so I thought it would be fitting to incorporate ways to honor him into my Thursday Thirteen and come up with 13 Ways to Honor/Show My Husband, Sean, how much I love him over the next 30 days. Our wedding anniversary is July 20th so all of this romance will lead up to a great 16 Year Anniversary!

1. Pray for him and our marriage EVERY day. Pray for him throughout the day. He travels 30 minutes each way on the Highway to and from work, pray for his safety while on the road so he can provide for his family. Pray that the Lord blesses him with wisdom, knowledge and good health each and every day.





2. Create a warm and welcoming home. By greeting him as he walks through the door with hugs and kisses. That everything is tidy and in it's place.





3. His work clothes are laundered and ready to go each and everyday.





4. Keep him healthy by buying and cooking food that is good for him & our family.





5. Maintain a budget and stay with in that budget. We are basically a one income household of six. I stay at home & work from home but our main source of income comes from Sean's job. Staying within the budget is very hard for me! Sean works really hard to provide for us & the least I can do is not add pressure to him by not staying within our means and within our budget.





6. Continue to read and educate myself on our to be a better wife and mom. There a couple of books on my book shelf (ones that I haven't read or read all the way through-this would help me with my 40-before-40 list!) that I am going to pull out and read over the next 30 days: Creative Counterpart by Linda Dillow, Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George, Love & Respect by Emerson & Sarah Eggerichs, Biblical Womanhood In The Home by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Sheet Music by Dr. Kevin Leman, We Should Do This More Often by Lorille Craker and The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian.





7. Keep his schedule updated. We are a very busy family of 6 with soccer, baseball, dance, etc., etc. Helping he stay up to date on all that is going by helping him with phone calls and emails.





8. Send him "love" letters and notes via email, leaving a note in the seat of his car, etc.





9. Make a regular date night with him. Our oldest is old enough to stay at home with the other kids without having to pay for a sitter. Dates nights don't need to cost much money. Things that I'm thinking of are...taking a walk after the kids get settled, having a glass of wine on the deck before bed to going out to dinner & a movie. We are so focused on our kids and their activities that we don't take a lot of time to nourish our relationship.





10. Provide wind-down time each evening for him. Give him some time to relax after a long day at work-the days he is able to! Most of the time we are rushing out the door to go to evening activities.





11. Tell him every day how much I love him. Some days are so busy that we don't have a chance to connect on an intimate level until 10 or 11:00 pm at night. Most of the time I'm beat & go to bed without telling him how much I love him. Make sure that the last words he hears from me each evening is "I Love You." Show him how much I want and need him each day. Everyone need to know that they are wanted and needed. I need to make sure that my husband know that I WANT and NEED him each and every day. Not a day should go by that I don't tell or show him that I love him.





12. Continue to keep the lines of communication open. Keep him up-to-date with what's happening with the children & their activities as well as home maintenance, finances etc.





13. Continue to plan our future together by taking time to talk about our dreams and wishes for the future.
    

Love is a verb. We don't or can't say it enough to our love ones. Love must not only be spoken but must also be shown. What ways to you honor or show your husband how much you love them? Leave me a comment!

Honor Your Husband Challenge

I'm joining Fruit In Season for her 30 Day Challenge In Honoring Your Husband.

Scripture calls us to bring honor to our husbands. Our challenge is to:

"Choose a few small goals for yourself each week and make sure to post them. Write them on post-its and put them on your mirror, in your car and your purse, or anywhere else you'll see them. Keep a journal for the month about successes and struggles. What is hardest for you to do? What comes easily? How is your husband responding to your efforts?"

This week my goals are:

• To think before I speak. Many times I will blurt out my thoughts and that either upsets him in some way or irritates him because he thinks I'm raising my voice at him.


• Get rid of any negative thoughts about my husband especially verbalizing them out loud to my children. For example, my oldest son is training for High School Soccer tryouts, he will need to run 3 miles in 21 minutes or under on the Katy Trail in the heat in August. Yesterday was the first day out on the trail. His hamstring has been bothering him & has shinsplints when he runs. My shinsplints hurt & I only walked it! His time was 26 minutes. I was on the cellphone with Sean & he says, "That just shows you that you are all out of shape!" Yes, I'm out of shape but I hung up the phone & said, "What a jerk! I would like to see how you fair after running/walking the trail!" Yes, in front of my boys! This doesn't give my children a good impression of their father so I will work on getting rid of negative thoughts and especially verbalizing them out loud!


• Greet him each day with a hello and a kiss when he arrives home from work!

My prayer is:

"God of renewal, everywhere your Holy Spirit breathes new life into creation. As I undertake this day to bring glory to you by honoring my husband, I ask you to be present in my marriage. Guide me to know in which things I should ask forgiveness, in which things I should change, and in which things I should ask for the grace to let go. Show me new ways to respect my husband today and open my eyes to all that you have made him to be. I trust in your goodness and in the covenant my husband and I made with you and each other on our wedding day. Through Jesus Christ I pray, Amen."