March Madness

It has definitely felt like a month of madness, for us so far this month. It's the 21st, so I figured I had better post for the month, since the rest of the month will be really, really crazy!

This month we have really been blessed in so many ways! James re-enlisted for 6 more years, in the Army. At first we were supposed to get a 14,000 bonus, but it ended up that someone didn't know what they were talking about and it was actually less...so we got 11,000. We were both really disappointed but very happy to get something, at least. We actually only got 7,000 and most of the rest we will get back at tax time.

We were also blessed by getting the house we wanted to rent! You can see pictures, if you haven't already, on my last post. We are very excited about it and the landlady even said she will have a barn put up for us, if we want. We will be getting the garden in as soon as we get moved in. It is top priority for us. We will save money if we can have lots of fresh veggies. We are also planning on doing major berry picking and fishing, to fill the freezer! :)

It's been very cold and rainy, but the snow IS melting and it won't be long before the driveway is clear. I am positive that there will still be snow when James gets here. There is still a lot out there! We had one nice day this week, where it was about 52 degrees or so! It was really nice and I opened the doors to let the house air out, which I love doing.

The kids are doing so well! Zane is taking off in his reading, Abbie is learning letter sounds, and Sheldon finally said two sentences. He is so late in talking and it is so frustrating! It was so cute to finally hear a sentence from him! :) They were, "Uh-oh Mommy", and "Uh, Uh...Uh, Doggie" (he was telling the dog, no). Very, very basic, but when you have boys who talk late, it is a joy to finally hear something!!!!! :)

We cut Abbie's hair to about jaw-length. It is really cute and she will love it for the summer! A few days afterward she cut her bangs really bad though! I had to straighten them out and they are so short, but have grown a lot in a week!

I have just been packing here at the house and trying to sort, give-away, and take things to the thrift shop. I have this table that is full of odds and ends...it is so frustrating when I am really organized! :[ I have just been throwing little things that I am finding on that table, and it is driving me a bit crazy! :)

I am just ready to be done with this season in my life! We have 18 more days until James is home and I just want to have a normal life again for awhile! God has been so good, and even though there have been some bumps in the road this year, He has taken care of us, blessed us, grown us, satisfied our longing hearts and given us fresh bursts of energy and refreshment and just DONE everything! :) I don't think James nor I give much credit to ourselves for having done so well this year! ;)

I need to upload some pictures on here, of recent stuff...I have no idea what is on my camera right now! :) I will be so happy when I have high speed internet, and can upload faster! Way...faster ! :)

*Pause and reflect time*

Has God been teaching me anything this month? Have I slowed down to hear His voice? How can I encourage someone reading this? I want my posts to be worthwhile....

I have tried to slow down to hear God's voice, but not enough! I am still reading His word, daily but my prayer life is still not doing well. Will it ever? I hope so. It is actually a bit better, but not enough...

What God has REALLY been laying on my heart lately, is to respect my husband more than I do. God wants me to stop assuming things about my husband. He wants me to have a few seconds of quiet to assess my attitude before I speak to my husband about something. Especially during an argument, or more importantly, at the beginning of one. I am so disrespectful when I get mad, or hurt....I just hate that. I am going to work harder on it, for him and for God. I love my husband and there is no excuse for blowing things out of proportion, even when I am hurt.

Well, I will end here! I hope you are all having a marvelous spring, preparing for your gardens and doing your spring cleaning! :) I am looking forward to all of those things, myself! :) God Bless!

Pictures of our New Rental....

I really, really, really like this house and the yard! It has 4 fenced acres for Hope, which I am very excited about, also! There are no pictures of the horse area...

I so do not deserve such a beautiful home! :) Take a look! :) The pictures I wanted first ended up being last, but I don't have time to fix it!

One of the other 3 bedrooms...they all look similar to this one...

The master bedroom

Master bathroom

Master Bathroom

Living Room

View of kitchen from livingroom...

Close up, of kitchen and island...

Dining area off of kitchen...

I think the Laundry room/Mudroom is through that door in the Diningroom
leading to the garage...

The backyard with fire pit and in-ground hot tub...there is a sliding door there
on the end of the house, from the master bedroom, to outside! :)

Another view of the backyard...

There is plenty of room to park our camper here, beside that low privacy fence.

The front yard with some low-maintenance landscaping started...

The front/side view of the house...it is 2200 square feet...4 bedrooms...and built in 2005.
There are trees all around it and not many houses around...the house is in Roy, WA which is a little south of Fort Lewis, WA...out in the country! :)

~ 20 Things I Want To Do Before I Die ~

*Originally from my Facebook*

This is a personal list I have been wanting to write down for future reference, but anyone is welcome to use this idea in their notes!

These are not in order of importance...


#1 Visit Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, especially the USS Arizona!

#2 Go to Ireland...my dad is almost full Irish, and I would really love to go someday!

#3 Visit the common European places that everyone gets to go see...Spain, France, England, Italy, etc...just general sight-seeing.

#4 Go on a cruise

#5 Become Debt Free

#6 Tithe 10% on a regular basis

#7 Compete in Cross-Country Jumping again....obviously not with my horse, as she is 20 years old, but maybe after James retires from the Army..

#8 Buy brand new furniture...especially a bedroom suite, Livingroom set and a china cabinet

#9 Complete my fine China set

#10 Go on a missions trip to a third world country

#11 See one or more people truly come to Christ because I witnessed to them, and God worked through me!

#12 Work at a library after the kids are gone....books, and quiet! Two of my favorite things! :)

#13 Do some college while my husband is in the Army and possibly get a degree of some type.

#14 Learn to knit and crochet.

#15 Finish my kids scrapbooks (birth to one year, and one year to two years)...and any others that I have in the works...

#16 Be baptized with my husband

#17 I want to live to see each of my children marry godly spouses! And I want to live to see grandchildren!

#18 I would be delighted to see my boys serve in the military, but this is totally up to them...I think it would be especially cool if my boys were 3rd generation Nightstalkers, like their daddy and both of their grandaddies...and you know, it would be cool if Abbie was a Lady Nightstalker like her momma and both of her Grandmas! :) This is probably impossible, but it WOULD be awesome! :)

#19 I want to have a marriage made in heaven, and live to be married for over 50 years! :)

#20 I want to know that I mattered, that I pleased and served God in everything I did, and with everything that I had! I want to make a difference in my kid's lives...and want them to know the Lord, and serve Him, because of mine and my husband's example to them!

I guess I better get to work....

February Update

The month of February was pretty much annoying, but we made it through! Even though it was a short month, which was nice, it was just so slow! I wish I had written a post about it a week or so ago, because now I can't remember all we did! :(

Around Valentine's my friend (Cheryl) and I went to a free showing of Fireproof, at the church where I lead AWANA. My friend is separated from her husband, and my husband is gone, and neither of us really wanted to go alone, so we went together and it was a nice evening out of the house. There was free childcare. I own the movie, but I could watch it over and over...
On Valentine's Cheryl and I, and the kids all went to a Spaghetti Dinner/Feed in benefit of the Back Country Horsemen Club here in our area. I have a friend in that club who paid my and the kid's way, so another cost-free outing. :) Valentines was annoying...it is my favorite holiday, so ....

About a week after Valentine's I was sick of arguing with my husband over the phone, the general distraction of Facebook and the internet and people calling me, or me calling people... Also, my prayer life hasn't been what I have wanted it to be, so I decided to go on a communication fast for one week.....no internet (we didn't even turn the computer on), no making phone calls (I didn't turn my phone off or anything...people still called me, but I didn't chat with them. I just got off as soon as possible), no radio, no tv..... It was really hard at first but then I had no desire to even get on the computer. My husband and I didn't even call each other. It was very needed. I was at the point that I couldn't focus and was turning everything into a fight and being generally disagreeable.

I also started preparing myself mentally for moving so I could get started packing on the first of March. We have found a rental that we really like, and are pretty sure we will get. It's really nice and I will add a link to this post... :)


We didn’t get any snow in January or February, except an occasional powdering. It was so nice not to have to shovel snow. Everyday when I go out to feed my horse, a teeny bit more of the driveway is showing, but there is still a lot of snow out there! And the temps are still cold...freezing at night and just above freezing during the day...our highest temp this spring has probably been about 40 or 41. I am getting very discouraged! :( I hate cold weather and I am so happy to be finally moving to a different part of the northwest!

We have about 37 more days until James gets home. I have already gone through all articles of clothing and sorted it all, given stuff away, and found the clothes that Sheldon will need for 2009...(out of Zane’s old things). And then yesterday I started packing all the fragiles, pictures, music and movies. Today I am doing the books and part of our schoolroom. I love moving because it gives you a chance to sort and give things away that you don’t need or want anymore!

The animals are doing well. Hope (my horse) will need her shots, coggins test, and health/traveling certificate this month (the end of March or very beginning of April). We have friends that will be moving her for us, since we gave our horsetrailer to my parents in 2008. They are good friends we have known since 1999. :)


The kids are all doing well! :) Zane is almost done with his Kindergarten this year....he has a few pages in his mathbook, 2 readers left and about 50 pages in his Phonics Book. He is excited! We will do school until the 8th of April, take a break to move and then continue around the 20th of April, and into May and a few days in June. I was hoping to be done by the time James gets home but it is not going to happen, mostly because of his Readers. I can’t push him, so that will be all we will work on finishing in May. I am looking forward to the summer break!

Abbie is doing great! She is so smart and never ceases to surprise me with what she already knows and learns from Zane. She can memorize scripture better than most of the kids I teach in Sparks and she is only a first year Cubbie! :) I am so proud of her! I need to more randomly post things, because nothing really changes month to month with the kids! It just seems I only have time to report on a monthly basis right now!

Sheldon turned two on the tenth of February and we haven’t celebrated, yet. We are planning to have a little party for him at our new house. It will probably just be a family party! Birthday parties are actually really expensive, and I tend to go overboard! Ha! Anyway, he is becoming a monster child and I am having several obedience issues. Part of me just wants to let it all slide because of the move coming up very soon and just the fact that I am so tired! I need to buckle down, though! The other two are getting annoyed with him, his screeching and his bad attitude and yelling! Just writing this down makes it a lot easier for me to come to the conclusion that I need to do something about this before it embarrasses my family! .....

Well, that is about it for now...I will try to post more whenever I want to write something (which happens a lot). I have things I want to write and then I tell myself to remember it for later, but I never do!

Anyway, sorry for the most boring post ever!................. Happy Spring you all! :)