Slightly on the Grouchy side

Sometimes I pray for miracles. Like with our house in Tennessee. I knew it would take a miracle to sell it before we moved since we didn't really get a realtor and we only had 2 months. The biggest blessing was that we accepted the offer the same day we had Maxwell. It truly was a MIRACLE. I'm so grateful that was a miracle Heavenly Father had in store for us.

And then this week I prayed for a miracle that the offer we were putting on a house would be accepted. We made the best offer we could on an already well-priced and nice foreclosure home and though it was totally a long-shot, I still got my hopes up. That would have been a huge miracle too - only it didn't happen. It must not have been meant to be. Sigh... Alas...

So - it's a curious thing - prayer, faith, life circumstances, and trying to figure out what decisions are best and why things happen the way they do. I'm sure something else with work out with buying a house (well - it better!) but mortality sure has some interesting twists and turns.

Some days finances get the better of me and I feel discouraged about our situation, but then I think of all the things I could do to improve that situation by prioritizing purchases and shopping smart and BEING HUMBLE by expecting less in material things! I feel so blessed and think that sometimes I'm really spoiled and just need to buck up and deal with the reality we are in.Lately I've thought alot about EXPECTATIONS and what a difference that makes. If I expect my kids to have a long QUIET time, and they do it... I am pleased. If they aren't quiet and come begging for food or something else, I am disappointed. But if I just expect that they'll need something and don't expect quiet, then I would just go on with my day and not be disappointed. And on, and on, and on with life stuff and expectations.

So yeah - today is not our best day thus far. It's been a collage of children screaming war at each other and scaring the baby for half the day, children disobeying and then screaming at their mother (completely unacceptable) for the other half of the day, children spending the other half of the day in their rooms, and then hopefully children going to bed really, really, really, really early. How many halves did we have there? The parenting technique I'm working on is how to keep the Spirit in our home while disciplining. Hmmmm... Moving Onward...Things I am grateful for this week:
Bleach to sanitize burp rags and white dish cloths
Disposable diapers (can't imagine cleaning poopy cloth diapers)
Squishy Maxwell smiles
Hugs from Abe
Hannah's deep brown eyes
Max's snuggles
Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine, and more sunshine
Hot water to take a nice shower
The smell of fresh grapefruit
Sweet baby Maxwell
The taste of yummy pineapple (have you tried Dole's Canned Pineapple Gold? - much yummier than normal canned)
Jimmy cleaning out the front room of brown boxes so we can actually enjoy and sit.
Quiet alone free time running errands
Scented Oil Air Freshner plugins
My boy jeans. (To solve 'Step 2' dilemma of ridding myself of maternity clothes, I found Mossimo boy jeans at Target. They were on clearance for $12 and $6. I could select the waist size and length so it seems a perfect solution for my muffin top problem.)
Did I mention I'm glad for Max? yep - he's my bright joy this week.