Day Three hundred and thirty-seven

Apple Picking!!

Trees full of Apples.

Ruby and Zoe picking the one's

close to the ground.

Teamwork!

Grace and Addie's friend, Abby,

climbed to get the one's way

out of reach.

Who knew monkey's climbed in

apple trees.

Our bounty!

Thank you so much Farabee family for sharing your apple crop with us and all of the other

MOPS momma's today.

Day Three hundred and thirty-six

It's 8:54pm and I'm ready for bed. Guess I'm getting old. Either that or I really need to put myself to bed a lot earlier. Maybe just maybe I will go to bed soon. Oh, wait my girls are still up. No school tomorrow and there's the first of 2 sleepovers going on downstairs.

Fun times at the Harmon house!

Day Three hundred and thirty-five

Wordless Wednesday~~

"Teacher" Addie & "Student" Ruby

**Addie was helping her with letter recognition

and printing by using our Scrabble Jr. game pieces.

Ruby made an "Oscar the Grouch"

for our garbage can.

And an "Elmo" for Zoe's door.

Day Three hundred and thirty-four

Thankful Tuesday~~

"And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful." Colossians 3:15

I'm thankful for:

• The beautiful weather.
• Fun dinner coversation. My favorite question, Who is your favorite princess? My favorite answer was Zoe's. She said, "Mommy!" Love that girl!
• 3 excellent reports from the parent/teacher conferences this afternoon.
• A chocolate ice cream sandwich after the girls go to bed.
• The possibility that 1 month from today Chris could be home!!!!
• Knowng even if it takes a bit longer, God will stay faithful and get me through.
• Friends who "get" my sense of humor, and even find me funny.....sometimes.
• Christian radio stations.
• Free Adventures in Odyssey downloads!
• My hubby! He is my one and only!

Day Three hundred and thirty-three

According to my handy dandy calendar it's Family Day. And who better to spend Family Day with than with part of my second family, the Diva's. What started out as one invite to dinner one night, grew into a weekly get together, and finally blossomed into a handful of Diva's enjoying a home cooked meal together. I want to make sure that ALL my Diva's know they are always welcome.

I love having these beautiful women in my home. The feelings of belonging, camaraderie, understanding, and care abound whenever we are together. It doesn't matter that we didn't really know each other 12 months ago. It doesn't matter that we are all different ages or that some of us have kids and some don't. We click. I don't know what I would do without these amazing women. They are always the first one's to offer a helping hand, a listening ear, arms to hug each other, and an offer to come to their house to hang out with them. They make me laugh. They have my back and accept me just the way I am. Beside's Elyzabeth makes yummy burrito's and loves to laugh, Kendra knows how to boogie and get me out of my shell, Jilly is hilarious and sarastic (just like I love it!), Jobeth is sweet and can surprise you with her outgoing side, and Nicole doesn't take things too seriously and is so comfortable to be around when we are together.

I am blessed. Love you Diva's!!!

Day Three hunded and thirty-two

in-ten-tion:(noun), an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result.

No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he'd only had good intentions; he had money as well. Margaret Thatcher
One lives with so many bad deeds on one's conscience and some good intentions in one's heart.
John Dewey

Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.
Peter Drucker


Intentions. I have so many intentions. My days are filled with good intentions. So many I never follow up on.

• Spend time in the Word and pray daily. Instead, I wake up and only say "Thank you for a new day and thank you for getting me through yesterday."
• Encourage my girls to spend time with God and have family devotions. Instead, all I get done is prayers at bedtime.
• Know everything about the girl's day. Their up's, their down's and keep track of ALL of their homework. Instead, the afternoon and evening gets away from me and all I know about their homework is what they tell me is due.
• Don't lose my temper. Instead, I find myself getting frustrated and yelling more then holding it together.
• Organize the girl's closets. Instead, I just get the dirty laundry cleaned and folded.
• Put all the folded laundry away. Instead, I make the big girls put away their own clothes while the little 2 and I pick out outfits straight from the couch.
• Make a healthy dinner. Instead, I can barely make myself cook. Every day starts with wonderful ideas swimming around in my head. And 4x out of 7 what I cook is last minute copies of what we had the week before.
• Dust and vacuum at least 1x every 2 weeks. Uhmmm, where is my vacuum?
• Clean off the kitchen counters. Instead, I just make a few more piles and pretend it's not so bad.
• Hug my kids and tell them I love them. Instead. No wait. I DO this one!!!!
• Get 4 girls and myself up and ready to leave the house by 7:20 to get to school on time. Check on this one too!
• Go to bed thankful. I'm usually thankful that the day is over, but that counts right?
• End the day with as many kids alive that I started with. Now I'm just making stuff up so I can have more to check off.

How do I take my intentions and turn them into actions? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?


 

Day Three hundred and thirty-one

I'm looking forward to the awesome feeling of knowing that all 4 girls are tucked sweetly in bed and my hubby is waiting to cuddle me on the couch instead of my laptop. 34 more days until I have someone else to talk to besides myself at bedtime~~sometimes I get a little lippy. I can't wait!

Day Three hundred and thirty

"...the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin." 1 John 1:7b

This is the verse that led to the discussion, that led to prayer, that ended with Ruby asking Jesus to live in her heart. What a privilege it was for me to be the one to say that prayer with her. I'm so thankful God got my attention this morning as I was helping her memorize her Bible verse for school. One of my biggest prayers for my girls is that they would come to the Lord at an early age and walk with Him all their days thereafter. My mother's heart is bursting at the seams.

Day Three hundred and twenty-nine

Indian Village~~In addition to bug projects, Addie's 4th grade class has been studying Native American culture. The class divided up into different parts of a tribe. Hunting and Gathering, cooking, childcare, communication, weapon making, tepee making, etc. They all wore costumes and had several tepee's set up to look like a little village. Each group gave an oral presentation about what they do. It was so much fun!

The Village.

Singing.

Addie and her group during their presentation.

*Hailey and Olivia were introducing the

childcare and communication group.

My pretty girl.

"Daddy" wanted to get in the picture too.

Addie and "Daddy"

Rey, "Daddy" and Addie

Day Three hundred and twenty-eight

Wordless Wednesday~~Addie, "The Grasshopper Whisperer", is working on a bug project for school and these are some of the photos she will be using for it.

The test subject.

Catching her "willing" volunteers.

Gotcha!

Getting the grasshopper ready on

the starting line. How far will he jump?

Measuring the grasshopper.

One of her grasshoppers jumped

over 15 feet!

Some of her results.

Addie and 4 of her grasshoppers posing for a picture.

Day Three hundred and twenty-seven

Thankful Tuesday~~

"always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:20

I am thankful for:

• The concert Zoe gave me in the van after we dropped the girls off at school.
• My Hy-Vee because they price match!
• Catching grasshoppers with Addie.
• Laughter at dinner.
• Fried chicken and mashed potatoes & gravy for dinner.
• Tuesday dinner dates with Elyzabeth....even though she takes over the remote control and starts DVRing shows to watch the next time she comes over. :)
• All of the pictures Ruby draws and hand delivers to me with a hug. She is getting so creative in what she is choosing to draw.
• Seeing 4 smiling faces in my rearview mirror instead of hearing fighting.
• Making "Welcome Chris" plans.
• All my Diva's!!

Day three hundred and twenty-six

Not too bad of a day. I got laundry done, cleaned out the refrigerator, made smart food choices (for once), had fun helping Addie with her bug project experiment, paid bills (some of ours and some of dad's) and only cried for a little bit while doing it, and the best of all~~had a pretty peaceful night with the girls. No fighting, no bad attitudes and no yelling at each other. :)

Day Three hundred and twenty-five

Parenting is not for sissy's. It feels like the more I try to understand my daughters the more complicated they get. When will I learn to go to my knees before I try and figure out things out on my own? I want prayer to be my first instinct. My go-to action. I don't just want to ask for wisdom and guidance on how to handle discipline but I want to cover them in prayer so they would grow up to be mighty women of God. Etnernal vs. "the now"

My prayer for my girls~~I will insert their names. I posted this a long time ago and needed to remind myself.

"Teach me Your decrees, O Lord; I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding and I will obey Your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart. Make me walk along the path of Your commands, for that is where my happiness is found. Give me an eagerness for Your laws rather than a love for money! Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through Your word. Reassure me of Your promise, made to those who fear You. Help me abandon my shameful ways; for Your regulations are good. I long to obey Your commandments! Renew my life with Your goodness." Ps. 119:33-40

Day Three hundred and twenty-four

"Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again—my Savior and my God!" Ps. 42:11

I can't think of a better way (at least without Chris home) to end a crummy day then to say my prayers, grab my book, and go to bed. Tomorrow will be better, right? I mean tomorrow WILL be better. Looking forward to worshipping and hearing the Word of God.

Day Three hundred and twenty-three

A day's worth of friends.

• A text from a faithful friend.
• Coffee with my book-loving friend.
• Reading a book about my fictional friends.
• New afterschool school friends.
• Cheering for my alma mater's high school football team while sitting with the "rival high school team's" friends.
• Seeing Addie and her Best Friend Forever, Leah, light up when they saw each other again tonight.

Day Three hundred and twenty-two

43 days. I can do 43 more days. Right? It's so close but just out of reach. I can almost touch the normalcy that is coming our way. Until then, I will get up each morning with thankfulness on my lips, try to live out each day to honor God, and go to bed rejoicing over 1 more day down.

"Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in all He promises and faithful in all He does."
Ps. 145:13

Day Three hundred and twenty-one

Wordless Wednesday~~This afternoon, while we were at Papa and Grammy's, I gave Grace the camera and told to go out and have fun. Some of her shots were pretty creative. I love the self-portraits.

Papa and Addie

Papa's bug collection

Grace's shadow

Grace and Ruby

Day Three hundred and twenty

Thankful Tuesday~~

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor 15:57

I'm Thankful for:

• Iced Coffee with a shot of caramel.
• Papa, Nana and ice cream dessert night at our house.
• Stacy, my "iron sharpens iron" friend.
• Taco Tuesday at Casa Harmon with Elyzabeth.
• Lunch with my sister-in-law and my 2 nephews.
• Facebook messaging~~it's like I'm right there with my Diva's as we all post messages one right after another.
• Laughing about silly little things.
• Books that stretch my faith.
• Seed's Family Worship Cd's.
• Listening to Zoe sing "Crushed" or in her words, the "Yeah, Yeah" song.

Day Three hundred and nineteen

Have you ever had so much on your mind but had nothing to say? That's what going on with me today. So with that said, I'm off to read the next Francine Rivers book in the series, Mark of the Lion. Night.

Day Three hundred and eighteen

A Day of Remembrance and Honor.

I don't have eloquent words to express the thoughts and feelings felt by me and so many others today. All I can say is Thank You. Thank you to the men and women who gave their lives to save others. Not all of you wore a uniform but your actions were worthy of hero status. Thank you to those who are defending our country today because of what took place that day. Thank you to those who are living out your commitment to serve our country and protect those here at home. Thank you for putting duty above self.

I don't know how I would have responded if I were right in the midst of it. Would I have only thought of myself or would I have stopped to make sure others knew the way out? Or would fear have paralyzed me? I can see a correlation between my response in the tragedy of 9-11 and the sharing of my faith. Do I want to know God and have a relationship with Him because I want to have the peace that comes from knowing Him and have eternal life? Have I accepted Him into my heart because I'm afraid of the eternal consequences of not doing so? Or do I pour myself into a relationship with Jesus Christ and give Him all of me so that I can be full of His love and turn around and lead others to Him?

To be honest, I can't say with 100% certainty that I know exactly how I would have responded or would respond if I faced it today. Nor can I say that I use my relationship with the Saviour to share openly and freely to those who are lost. It's so much easier to talk to those who already know the truth. What kind of a Christian am I? Surely not one who is living out my commitment regardless of consequence. Lord help me.

Day Three hundred and seventeen

Rescue~~by Jared Anderson

You are the source of life,
And I can't be left behind.
No one else will do,
And I will take hold of You.

I need You Jesus,
To come to my rescue.
Where else can I go?
There's no other name by
Which I am saved.
Capture me with grace,
I will follow You.

This world has nothing for me,
I will follow You.
This world has nothing for me,
I will follow You.


Tonight, at church, this song really spoke to my soul. God has been my source of hope, my help, my strength and my rescuer. Thank you for Your faithfulness Heavenly Father.  

Day Three hundred and sixteen

Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm addicted to getting overly into the books I am reading.

I find myself thinking about the characters in the book like they are real people. For example, this morning during my prayer time (in the shower no less), I almost started to ask God to not let "Hadassah" die. She is a character from the book "A Voice in the Wind" by Francine Rivers. Hey, Stacy, can you say "Ironic"?

For many years, Stacy has been trying to convince me to read a Francine Rivers book. I flat-out refused. To be totally honest, I didn't think a Christian fiction writer could be anything but sappy, predictable and dare I say it, boring. Then another friend, Krista, started telling me how much she loved the book and how it impacted her. So now I had 2 good friends endorsing the same book. I decided I would give it a try. As much as I hate to admit it, I was wrong. This may be the only time that I am glad I was wrong.

I know I will not do a good job at reviewing this book for you so bare with me. Rivers does an amazing job at bringing a story to life. She describes sounds, smells, and atmosphere so vividly you feel like you are right there. I love the way she weaves God's Word into the story without forcing it. She doesn't add them to make the book more "Christian".

The book I'm reading now takes place about 70 years after the resurrection of Christ and during a war between the Jews and the Romans. Hadassah is a young Jewish girl taken as a slave to serve in a roman household. Her father had an amazing encounter with Jesus and taught his daughter the teachings from both Jesus and the Old Testament. She hid those words in her heart and reflects on them throughout the book. 

There is so much more to this book then just Hadassah. None of it sappy, predictable or boring. You should read it. There's my book review. Now if you will excuse me, I have some friends to check in on.

Day Three hundred and fifteen

50 DAYS!!!! Can you believe it? So much has happened in the 315 days that Chris has been gone. One thing has stayed the same; God's faithfulness continues to surprise and amaze me. As these next 50 days crawl by, I pray that I will continue to look to my Heavenly Father to fulfill my needs, build me up, and give me strength. I don't want the days to pass by without making sure I have learned all that He has wanted to teach me. This journey has not occured for naught. We will come out stronger at the end.

Here's a little look back at my post from December 16, 2010, Day Fifty http://loveinnumbers.blogspot.com/2010/12/day-fifty.html 

Here's Love In Num8er5' last interview of the daughter's Harmon. Grace sat down with Addie to find out a little more about her. This is what she discovered.

Name: Addie Joy Christine
Age: 9

What do you want to be when you grow up? A baker.

What do you really want to try? Skiing

Where would you want to go on a vacation? Hawaii

What is your favorite scent? Sweetpea

What is your favorite song? "Headphones" by Britt Nicole

What would you buy if you had $1000.00? A bakery

Do you have any nicknames? Yes, AddieJoyJoy, Aggie, & A.J.

What is your favorite color? Purple

What scares you? Snakes

What is your favorite season? Spring

What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

Do you have a favorite princess? Jasmine

Who would you give $1000.00 to? Grace (I'm going to assume Addie was being threatened when she answered this one. heehee)

What do you think could make God laugh? Dancing panda's playing tennis.

Who from the Bible would you want to be? David

What words hurt you? I hate you.

If your house was on fire and you could save 1 thing, what would it be? My Daddy blankie

Who is your favorite teacher? Mrs. Tietz

What's your favorite drink? Kool-aid (Mom disclaimer!! She gets kool-aid approx 1x a year)

What are your favorite foods? Chinese food and chips

What is your favorite animal? Turtle

Who is your favorite Superhero? Jesus

What is your favorite movie? Homeward Bound

Do you have a hobby? Baking

How many kids to your want and what gender? 2. A boy and a girl.

Do you pick your nose? Yes. Never.

Day Three hundred and fourteen

Wordless Wednesday~~

ReyAnna, Kennedy and Grace working on

a craft.

Ruby concentrating on her butterfly.

Grace put a fettdoe (feather) in Zoe's hair.

Zoe definitely has her own

zany personality.

Day Three hundred and thirteen

Thankful Tuesday~~

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

I'm thankful for:

• Sleeping with the windows open.
• Finally winning a Scrabble game. (I know I'm a bit lame to include this, but this is a big deal to me!)
• MOPS starting on Friday.
• God's consistency in my inconsistency.
• Romans 3:25-26
• Late night talks on the phone with a friend.
• Plumcot's~~Yumm-O!
• Trader Joe's sweet tea.
• Hoodie sweatshirts.
• My husband. He is so much more than I deserve.

Day Three hundred and twelve

There is not much I can say. It's been a rough day. A rough parenting day. So I'm going to do the only things I can do. I will keep on seeking and asking God for His guidance, His wisdom and His patience. I will keep praying for my daughters.  And even though I want to quit and bang my head against a wall, I will not give up.

I either do the above or I go crazy and take the children with me. And today that doesn't sound like that bad of a choice.

Day Three hundred and eleven

I gave Grace and Addie an assignment this evening. They had to make up questions and interview each other. So, without further ado, let's get to know Grace a little bit better.

Name: Grace Annalee Rose
Age:11

What do you what to be when you grow-up? A pediatrician who fosters shelter animals and has a restaurant with lots of rooms all with food from different countries.

Where do you want to go on vacation? Everywhere.

What have you always wanting to try? Skydiving.

What's your favorite fragrance? Vanilla and brown sugar.

What would you do with a $1000.00? Start a resturant.

What are your nicknames? Gracie Girl, Gray, G-Dog

What's your favorite color? Lime green and orange.

What's your favorite season? Spring and Fall.

What's your favorite time of day? Night.

What's your favorite holiday? Christmas and Easter.

If you were invisible who would you spy on? Mom and Dad.

How many kids do you want to have? 2 boys and 2 girls.

What would make God laugh? Evolution.

Who from the Bible would you like to be? Noah, he gets to be with animals.

If your house was on fire what would you save? My daddy doll.

Who is your favorite teacher? Mrs. B and Mrs. Smith.

What's your favorite drink? Soy milk.

What's your favorite foods? Mashed potatoes and steak--med. rare.

What's your favorite flower? Rose.

What's your favorite animal? Owls.

Who is your favorite superhero? Obi Wan Kanobi.

Who is your favorite babysitter? Esther Kelley.

Do you have a hobby? Yes, cooking.

What's your favorite movie? All Star Wars movies.

What's your favorite book? Mysterious Benedict Society.

Who is your favorite princess? Ariel, NOT Cinderella, she's annoying.

What's your favorite song? Steve Earle by Sugarland.

Do you pick your nose? Yes, I never do.

Day Three hundred and ten

What a day!

6 little girls 11 and under (my 4 + my niece+a friends little girl who was here for a few hours) 1 with a major attitude problem and hence grounded to her room for the rest of the day. Another 1 should have had a nap but I buckled under the pressure and let her stay awake & play with her friend. Plus 1 more little girl who didn't like getting woke up early from her nap to go into town. Add to this mix a mommy who lost her temper, her patience, and her mind by 9 am. Not a pretty sight to behold.

I figured since I was going into town to take my niece home, I would just go to the Saturday night service at church. Plus, as a bonus, I would get to sleep in tomorrow morning. We arrived at church. I deposited each child into their assigned children's class. I moped into the sanctuary and found my seat. The first song started playing and I just stood there. I didn't have the energy or the "want to" to enter into worship. Deciding I was thristy, I quietly slipped out. On my way back in, I felt like I was being asked if I was going to participate in worship or was I going to waste it. I answered with a quiet yes, I would engage.

Back at my seat, I began to sing and worship God. A gentle voice whispered in my thoughts, "I love you, Sarah. When you are struggling, I am there. When your day has been frustrating, I am there. When you fail and lose your temper, I am there. When you feel like you don't want to go on anymore, I am there. Even when your day is great and predictable, I am there. I love you when you feel unloveable. I love you when you worship Me. I love you when you feel like you are at the end of your rope. I love you ."

As those words were reaching deep within my heart, my shoulders began to relax. Like a huge weight had been lifted off. I took a deep breath in and exhaled all my frustration. Each song that was sung reflected the love God has for me and I was renewed.

All of this because I said yes. It wasn't even a BIG yes, but a small, reluctant yes.

Did the rest of my night go just peachy because of my decision? No. And yes. My attitude changed, which lead to me to be open with a good friend, which then lead to an ice cream outing after church. But once we got in the van to go home, the sour milk hit the fan. Crying, fighting and gnashing of teeth ensued.

Lesson: being open and obedient to God doesn't always end in the happy ending you expect. God's main mission tonight was to remind me of His unconditional and unfailing love. He accomplished His goal and I am blessed because of it.

What do you need to say "yes" to?

Day Three hundred and nine

Tonight, I am blessed to have my niece, ReyAnna, here for a sleepover. Grace and Addie thought it would be fun to interview her for the blog.

Interview with ReyAnna:

Name: ReyAnna May
Age: 10

What is your favorite color? Lime green

Do you have a favorite number? Yes, 21. Why? Because when I was 9 I found a homework paper in my locker that said "21.1", so I decided that 21 would be my favorite number because I didn't have one.

Do you play any instruments? Yes, violin, guitar and learning to play the saxophone.

What's your favorite animal? Chinchilla.

What's your favorite subject in school? Math and Science.

What would you like to do when you grow up? A chef.

What's your favorite food? Pepperoni Pizza

Favorite fruit? Strawberries.

Favorite dessert? Cookies and cream shake.

What's the WORST tasting food you have ever eaten? Brussel sprouts.

When you grow up and get married how many kids would you like? None.

If you had $1000 what would you do with it? I would buy a chinchilla farm.

What is something you like about yourself? I'm a good painter/artist and I'm good at being Grace's twin.

Where would you like to go on vacation? Hawaii, because it sounds really cool.

If you could be any fruit what would you be and why? A peach because I like how they feel and they're fuzzy.

If you had 4 eyes where would yo put the other 2? In the back of my head so I could see people sneaking up on me.

If you could change your name what would you change it to? Bobbina, after my monkey Bob.

If you choose a superpower what would you choose? Mind reading, so I can tell what people are always thinking.

What is your favorite holiday and why? Christmas because I get to see all my family.

What is something I don't know about you? I'm afraid of rollercoasters.

How much money does a new house cost? $100,345.00

How much money does a new car cost? $700.00

Day Three hundred and eight

Interview with RubyDoo~~

What's your name? Ruby Ann Catherine

How old are you? 5

When is your birthday? April 19th. It's a good day to be born because I was growing up. That's why I'm 5.

What would you like to be when you grow up? A cooker. I would cook my mommy's favorite food. Taco's, spaghetti and nachos.

What's your favorite food? Mac 'n cheese and steak

Favorite Fruit? Cherries

Favorite Dessert? Candy. Starbursts.

What's your least favorite food? Green beans

What's your favorite book? All my Fancy Nancy books.

What's your favorite TV show? Blue's Clue's and Barbie Fairytopia (a movie)

Who is your best friend at school? Grace Ruby, because I have a sister name is Grace. We like to play housekeeping, but we can't anymore because we didn't clean it up.

What's your favorite part of Kindergarten? Playing with the little jumpy froggy toys and praying with my class for my daddy.

Do you have a favorite smell? Flowers

Where would you like to go on vacation? Rocket Fizz (a candy store), to a hotel and to Schlitterbahn when I grow up.

What's your favorite color? Purple, cause I don't like pink anymore so I just changed.

Do you want kids when you grow up and get married? Yes, 6. Half boys and half girls. I like the name Sarah for a girl and Jackson for a boy.

If you had $1000.00 what would you do with it? Buy lipgloss.

What games do you like to play? Uno and Pictureka. I good at them.

What's your favorite color of nail polish? Purple

What's your favorite color of lip gloss? The changing color kind.

Shorts or Dress? Dress

What's your favorite number? 14. 16 too.

How much money do you think a new house cost? 100 quarters.

How about a new car? 8 pennies.

**Be sure to stayed tuned for interviews with the other girls in the next couple of days.**