Yay!

Yay! I'm so excited that I just have to share this with all of you.  I just received notice in my email from Arbonne that I have succeeded in completing my goals for my second and third month on the Strong Start program and that I will be receiving my rewards soon.  I am so excited!  I also calculated my earnings this morning and I have hit my goals to make District Manager this month! Just have to say that I LOVE Arbonne and working with this company is so much fun.  If you are interested in learning how you can earn an income with Arbonne, let me know, I would love to talk to you about it.

Tuesday's Tip - Refrigerator Pickles

I haven't tried these yet, but I plan to very soon.  They sound so good and so simple that I just had to pass this on to you.  Let me know if you try these and what you think. Here's the link, Refrigerator Pickles.  Enjoy!

New School Year

Today we started back to school.  It has been kind of a crazy day.  Getting back on track with school and chores and such has taken more adjustment than I expected.  Not only that but my house is still a bit unorganized due to moving things into the house from a storage barn in our backyard to a smaller, cheaper storage unit down the road. We are still dodging boxes and working around chaos, but little by little our house will get put back in order. I would have waited to start school but we had already put off starting last week due to the  dining room being so full you couldn't even get to the table. I didn't want to keep putting it off when we needed to get started.

So, here we are, school year 2012-2013.  I have kids in 11th, 9th, 7th, 5th, 3rd, and 1st grades. Two little guys not in school yet and a baby due in April.  Should be an interesting year :)

Selfish Desires

"If you want to be miserable, all you have to do is be selfish."  Joyce Meyers

Saw this today and I thought, "how true."  It is a sad truth that the most miserable people I know are also the most selfish and they tend to make everyone else around them miserable, too.

Lately, I have been really trying to focus in on why my children, and I myself, do the things we do to others.  Do I hurt those I love because of my selfish desires or do I become selfless in order to bless those I love.  When my children come to me with conflict I now try to get to the heart of the situation and find out why they did what they did.  Most of the time, it boils down to a selfish heart.  I find that the most difficult days in my house come from selfish desires.  When everyone is being selfish no one is being Christ like.  My desire for me and my family is to be Christ like.  Christ was the most selfless person to ever walk the face of this Earth.  He had a meek and quiet spirit, because He realized this life was not about Him but about us.  He didn't entertain himself with selfish desires all the while mistreating those He came to serve. He served. Not for recognition, but because He loved.  That is what I hope to be like and what I hope and pray I can instill in my family.

Thanks for letting me step up on my soap box today.  Have a blessed weekend.

Bountiful Blessings

The last two Arbonne presentations I have done I have come away with garden goodies.  It appears some have had more luck with their gardens than I have.  At one party I came away with Roma tomatoes straight off the vine and the other I was given okra and green peppers picked the day before.  So tonight I will be making a chicken casserole, and our side dishes will be fried okra, corn, carrots and fresh sliced tomato.

What kind of fresh veggies have you had this summer?  Did they come from your garden or sent as a blessing from someone else's bounty?

Front Yard Campout

Last night we camped out in our front yard.  My oldest daughter, Christiana, loves to take video and then make movies.  So here is a little movie she made of our adventure last night. She totally caught our family's personalities.  Enjoy :)

Good News

Exciting news!  Just found out this weekend that we are expecting again!  Looks like I will be due around April 20th.  Of course those of you who know how my pregnancies know that means that this baby will arrive something more like the 27th or later.  And, as always, one of my first questions to my caregiver will be, "Is there one or two in there?" You see, my Mom is an identical twin and my Dad's brother and sister are fraternal twins so both of my grandmothers had twins.  I find it amazing that I have had eight children and no twins so far.  We shall see...

I'm feeling great. Really tired and loving naptime and having just a little nausea in the morning. I've also found that I show much earlier with these last couple of pregnancies. I'll try to take plenty of pictures to share with you.

Looking forward to sharing this special time with all of you.

"Children are a gift from the Lord; the are a reward from Him."  Psalm 127:3

Garden Update

I haven't written anything about my garden lately, so I figured it was time for an update.  I have been able to harvest some tomatoes, cucumbers, banana peppers, green peppers and green beans.  Due to the long span with no rain here in TN, I haven't produced as much as I had hoped.  I've been able to harvest enough to enjoy but not enough to can.  I was really hoping to can green beans, pickles, and tomatoes this year, but that's not going to happen.  Oh well, I am very thankful for what I have gotten.  Nothing like enjoying fresh veggies straight from your garden.

Sorry I don't have more pictures.  I find myself just enjoying the harvest and forgettig to take pictures.  Here are a couple of pics of some ripe tomatoes on the vine before I picked them :)

Thank You

Sunday I was given a Texas Roadhouse gift bag from an anonymous person with gift cards, BBQ sauce, T-shirt and cap.  I would just love to say "Thank You" to whoever you are.  I am looking forward to a date night out with my hubby.

Tuesday's Tip-Freezing Onions

Today's tip is something I haven't tried yet but everytime I see it I tell myself I just have to try it.  It's such a great idea and so simple.  I thought maybe some of you would like it, Freezing Onions and Herbs.  If you try it or have tried it let me know what you think.

Big Brother

Josiah is a good big brother. Kyle and Joshua 

enjoyed having him push them on the swings.

Just Curious...

Just curoius, how many of you have used the Ant Bait and the Fruit Fly Bait? Have you found them to be successful in ridding your home of pesky bugs? Let me know, I LOVE your feedback :)

Raising Leaders

Lately, I've been doing a lot of searching into how to train up my children to be Christian leaders. The more I look into what it takes the more I realize that a great part of raising good leaders is being a good leader. Now I realize that some of you may be thinking that not every child is a leader and I agree, but every person can influence others, whether good or bad and if my children grow up to be parents they will be leaders. So what is the best way to teach them to lead their households in a Godly manner? Well there are many things, and what I mention here are just a few of the things needed to successfully teach them.

First, I must model the type of person that I want my children to grow up to be like. I can not demand something from my children that I am not willing to model. To teach my children the fruits of the spirit I must practice them myself. Self control, patience and kindness are fruits that I really focus on teaching in my home, so these must be my focus as well.

Handling conflict is another thing a leader needs to learn how to handle appropriately.  I received some great input from a Sunday School class I'm leading taught by Tommy Nelson on the Song of Solomon. It is good advice for couples as well as parents.  I will share his list of things you should never do while in conflict with your spouse and see if you notice, like me, how much this relates to parents as well. The notes in ( ) are mine.
1. Never raise your voice in your home.
2. Never embarrass your mate in public. (or your child)
3. Never quarrel before the children. (or before siblings)
4. Never use the kids to win an argument.
5. Never talk about your spouse outside of your marriage. (always be careful who you share things with)
6. Never use sex to win. (n/a)
7. Never touch in anger. (Never, never, never!!!)
8. Never call names.
9. Never get historical and call into account a wrong suffered.
10. Never stomp out. (that's what I would expect from a 7 year old girl, not an adult)
11. Never freeze your mate out. (or your child)
12. Never use the in-laws. (n/a)
13.Never reason in the face of pain. (don't discount your child's feelings because they are a child, they have     feelings too)
14. Never let the sun go down on your wrath and give the devil an opportunity.
15. Never reverse an argument.
16. Never fail to listen to your mate. (or your child.  Always be willing to listen to wise counsel even if it comes from your child)
17. Never harden yourself toward your spouse. (or child)

Maybe I'll continue more on this topic another time.  I like to keep my posts short, because I want you to read them.  This is something I feel really passionate about and there's more to share, but for now I'll stop here.  Hope this has been helpful and I pray that we are all open to improving  ourselves by taking wise counsel.  I know that being a mother has made me a better person, I pray the same is true for you. Blessings :)

The Nerdys

Friday night our church had a Nerdy Burger Bash to raise funds for a couple in our church heading to Belize for some missions work.  Everyone was encouraged to dress the part for a costume contest and make it all the more fun.  So, we did.  Our whole family participated by dressing up as nerds.  It was so much fun.  That night, instead of the Merli's we were the Nerdy's.

 My silly husband and two kids on 

our way to the Nerdy Burger Bash.

 Josiah won the costume contest that night!

 The whole family all decked out.

Another shot of the whole family.  I love the 

personalities of each person in this picture :)

Peaches! Yum!

He was enjoying the peach so much that he barely came up for air while eating. I don't think I ever saw someone enjoy a peach as much as he enjoyed this one :)

Trip to the Dress Shop

So Monday when I went to the dress shop I had Christiana and Joshua with me.  As those of you who are on my B 4 U Ask page on Facebook saw, Joshua kept himself occupied by dancing and making faces in a mirror.

Well, Christiana shared some pictures with me (after we left) that she had taken of Joshua that kept her occupied while I searched the racks...

h

Christiana said he would say "Nana, I don't like this,"  and I can totally see the whole scenario play out in my head just by looking at these pictures.  I can't help but feel sorry for him and then laugh because it's just too funny to me.  

I suppose that's what you get when you have two girls and six boys and the girls are the first and third children in the family.  They don't have little sisters to dress up... :)