We Bought an RV!!

Yep, that's right we have a travel trailer.  It has been a grueling process searching for one.  The main issue is the same with any used item you buy-TRUST.  Who can you trust to be honest?  I would find trailers we loved at good prices only to look up reviews for the dealer and find horror story after horror story.  Very discouraging.

But here is the one God led us to:

It is a 2000 Jayco Eagle 31 ft.

 A guy at our church had given us the contact info of a dealer he recommended( trust worthy, strong Christian values).  I contacted the dealer and told him what we were looking for and he emailed me back with in a week saying he had one we might be interested in.

After looking at pics we really weren't impressed and felt it was over priced.  One of the main issues was it only had 2 bunks.  We weren't totally against 2 bunks but only because most 2 bunkers are cheaper.  Our boys end up sleeping together each night so they could share a pull out if need be.

Anyway, we had 2 more TT that we REALLY liked that we were researching and praying about.  One was perfect(2002 Ducthmen).  Tons of room at 38' and almost everything on our wish list.  But could we pull such a monster?  In the end we felt it would be too difficult for us being such newbies.  I was sad. =(  I loved that one.

Then the other unit was much newer and only 30'(2008 Mackenzie). Quad bunks.  But we discovered some problems and it just didn't feel right to any of us.  Our prayer was that God would make it clear if it was the one for us or not.  And he did. Nope.

So I pulled up the pics of the Jayco again to pray about it with an open heart.  At this same time the dealer emailed that he wanted to help us out and came down quite a bit on the price.  So we went to look at it.  The 1st look wasn't perfect( dealers truck got stuck in the snow so couldn't hook up the electric in the TT which meant the slide was in).  But even so, we felt pretty certain that this was OUR trailer.  But, as always we prayed about it and set up a time to look at it when it was all hooked up.

Then we bought it on the spot!

It's so nice to be able to TRUST a salesman.  Peace of mind is worth so much.

And we are going to have the double bunks converted into triple bunks and we are able to move the master bed over to allow room for Little Miss and her play yard.  This was another trust thing with God.  We had no idea where Little Miss would fit and then it suddenly hit me right before we were to look at the TT again.  And sure enough, it's an easy enough adjustment!

I will be redoing the interior too.  Think 'beach cottage'.  Whites, blues, aquas and corals.  I'll be painting all the cabinetry white and painting walls, redoing curtains, recovering the couch and dinette- the works.  Lot's of before and after pics to come!!

An older model was perfect for us because we can make it ours and personalize it.  =)

It will stay at the dealer's for a few more weeks and then it will sit at our house and I will get started redecorating and getting some organizational items and maybe even move some stuff in.

SO EXCITED!!!!

Our next step is getting a new to us vehicle.  We are looking at Chevy 3500 15 passenger vans.  We have found some great prices so we need to sell our vehicle to put towards it.  A lot to pray about.

We don't want to run ahead of God.  We try to let him do his thing in his time and not force things to happen before they are suppose to ;)

We also have an open house this Sunday.  Please be in prayer that it goes well.  It feels like a lot of pieces are falling into place now.  Maybe that means it's finally time to sell our home too.  A little bitter sweet I admit. I cry when I think how Little Miss will never remember this house =(  Some great memories here.

There are also things happening with our campground ministry too( performing worship music and showing our Pastor's taped messages every week).  I will save that for another post as this one has run long as is.

I have about 10 posts in the works, so stay with me people!  Things are happening!

Many Blessings,

The Mama

Are You the One?

I have learned that God rarely calls the equipped but equips the called.

 There have been so many times in my life when I was like Moses and said,

"Really God? 

Me?  

I have no idea what I am doing 

and there are so many others more qualified to do what you are asking."

  It often never makes sense to me and there is a laundry list of reasons it is down right crazy and why I should run in the opposite direction.  I would be missing a few of my children if I had relied only on my human reasoning and not trusted God though.  What blessings I would have missed out on if I had went with the plan I had laid out for myself.  My heart hurts to imagine the voids in our lives.

So I ask this of you: Look through this list with an open heart.  Listen for God's prompting.  If He moves you to do something, no matter how crazy it seems, dive in head first.

I would in a heart beat, but after much prayer, God says it isn't the right time for us given the other plans He has set forth in our lives at the moment.  I hope one day again it will be though.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Many Blessings,

The Mama

My Appliances have Caught a Deadly Virus

Apparently appliances can share deadly germs with each other because what started as a one sick appliance has turned into a full blown epidemic in our home.

It started with the washer this week.  Our expensive LG Steam front loader.  It stopped spinning.  With water in it.  That was interesting trying to figure out how to drain it so we could get the clothes out.  Your instinct is to open the door.  Don't do  that.  It causes a mess.

Then our blender broke.  That may not seem important but we use the blender a couple times a day at least.  I make a yummy green smoothie everyday with my lunch and the kids have one for snack.  I am frequently using it for some part of supper prep too now a days.  It lost a fight against frozen bananas.  That was Weds. night.

Today our stove/oven starting acting up( the really nice convection double oven that we just got in October, which was actually the 3rd or 4th one we have had in a year).  Eventually in the middle of cooking supper it had a full on revolt and started beeping at me and wouldn't stop.  We had no choice but to leave it unplugged.

All in one week.

And after all that, while still trying to salvage dinner( which didn't happen), all the toothpicks fell on me and the floor.  Just to add insult to injury.  I still haven't picked them up.  I am refusing.  I just told the kids to watch their step if they go into the kitchen.

Then while my husband is going out to get pizza, he notices lots of water in our garage.  At first he was thinking a pipe burst, but then realized the washer decided to fill itself back up with water all on it's own.  The water was leaking out because it simply couldn't hold anymore.

Sheesh.

All of this is a mere nuisance compared to what so many others are dealing with right now.  A prayer just came across our prayer chain this week for a 10 year old who just found out they had stage 4 cancer and might not have much time left, a 4th grader had a relapse with leukemia and also a 4 month old who was headed to the children's hospital.  The baby either has a serious bone infection or cancer.

I can hardly complain about some dumb appliances.

I look at everything breaking down as great news too!  It must mean we are about to have something good happen ( I am going to assume with the house).  Otherwise, why would satan and his cohorts bother to pester and discourage us?  Quite pathetic actually.

We were also planning on using our extra income to pay off our pool liner and pump so it didn't have to come out of our equity of the house, thus having more money to travel with.  So I think those plans are trying to be thwarted too.

It's great to have confirmation that we are still on the path God wants us to be!

Many Blessings,

The Mama

P.S. Say a prayer for those 3 children I mentioned and their families.

Farm Bill to Blame for Immigration Problem, Obesity,and Insurance Woes?

Here is something to ponder:  

"For most of history, after all, the poor have typically suffered from a shortage of calories, not a surfeit. So how is it that today the people with the least amount of money to spend on food are the ones most likely to be overweight?"

I have never thought about that have you?  But it's true. 

Today's headlines were about the passage of the Farm Bill, which to most means our milk will remain cheap.  But what really IS the Farm Bill?  

Could it possibly be the smoking gun behind our immigration problems?   The culprit of our obesity epidemic and healthcare issues?

Could a government that is in the throws of trying to counter all these issues really be the one starting all of it in the first place?

Maybe, maybe not.

Here is an interesting article to check out and form your opinion:

You Are What You Grow

Feel free to leave a comment after reading the article and tell me what you think.

Many Blessings,

The Mama

Help! I'm Frozen and I Can't Get Up!

Ugh.  This has been a BRUTAL winter here in the midwest.  We have had constant snow and constant frigid temps.  There is a Level 3 Emergency today.  What does that mean?  It means the roads are drifting because of fierce winds and the wind chills will be -25 to -35 today. BOO!! Even my husband has had a few days off of work because of the weather. Boo! Just kidding ;)  We love having him home.

It makes it even worse because we thought we wouldn't be here for the winter.  We thought sure we'd be be saying "Suckers!" as we enjoyed some warmer temps down south in our RV as people up here bundled up.  The jokes on us. Our winter has been filled with thawing out frozen pipes.  But as I looked outside today I thanked God for a warm, cozy house.

So, we have just been hunkered down.  We only go out for church( though sometimes we have even had to miss that) and I also venture out to grocery shop, but not today.  I had my schedule all made up last night and perfectly planned for today...until it was a Level 3 Emergency.

So what's a girl to do that can't go out but has limited food and a house full of hungry kids and a husband?  Time to get creative =)

We are also feeling ginormous spring fever.  Which is really bad when it's only January!!  So I am thinking about trying to do something out of the ordinary today to spice things up.  Not sure what exactly.  We've cranked the heat up before to 80 and donned summer clothes and had luaus while watching some summery movies.  Not sure our furnace can handle the strain today though.

I'll have to put my thinking cap on...

I finally got my pics loaded off of my camera.  They kept getting stuck at one video.  I had to erase it eventually and they loaded fine after that.  So I will leave you with some pictures of everyone over the last few months.

Stay warm!  And if you are already in a place that is warm-I hate you.

Our stay at a local hotel right before Thanksgiving.  Snuggle Bug and Little Miss are headed down to the basketball court.

Princess showing off her balling skills.

Little Miss hanging ornaments.

Little Miss pulled the computer on her little lap.  I took a pic and then told her no.

Bubba and Sissy with their annual Gingerbread Houses made of graham crackers and whatever left over candy and sprinkles we have in the house.

Snuggle Bug and his house.

The Hubby, Snuggle Bug and me at the Circus on Friday.  This was one of Snuggle Bug's Christmas presents.  Each child got an "Experience" this year along with a couple other gifts.  

Here I am doing my yoga in the morning ;)

Many Blessings,

The Mama

P.S.  We didn't have any showings in December being the holidays and then we had a couple showings right after the New Year. Now with freezing temps no one is doing much of anything of course.  So we just sit tight and wait for the right buyer! We are going to an RV/Camp show this weekend though, so that will be exciting =)

A Gift that will Save a Life ( or two)

I have so many posts to write up but wanted to quick put this one on here.  As you all know, our Princess is from the Philippines.  We traveled 3 years ago to Manila to bring her home.  They say she smelled like death.  She was a mere 12 lbs at the age of 3.  I will give you a minute to let that fully sink in.  She was decaying.  Some said there was no hope for her, she would surely die.  Her hair was falling out, her cheeks sunk in, eyes protuberant-she had no muscles to even walk anymore.

But one lady gave Princess a chance. Even though all the effort of trying to nurse Princess back to life might be for naught, she tried anyhow.

That was the Director of Princess's orphanage, Charity.

Gentle Hands, Inc. is the only orphanage in the Philippines that will take in sick children.  Praise God for that otherwise our Princess would 100% not have lived to see her 4th bday.  They have taken in children who they knew didn't have long left on this earth. Children who they knew that the money they spent on trying to save them or easing their pain would be futile, but they wanted that child to die knowing they were loved and cared for.

So with that in mind, please visit their site right now and see if you can help.  You will find that a US dollar goes far in the Philippines.

Gentle Hands Christmas Gift Packs

I am constantly reminded in life of the goats and the sheep:

      “When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

      “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’

      “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’

       “Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’

     “Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’

      “He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’  Matthew 25:31-45

Oh Lord, I pray I am never considered a goat!   Help me to quit rushing from place to place and being so focused on my own agenda.  Open my eyes to all those around me who are in need.  

Many Blessings,

The Mama

Hunger Games Catching Fire Movie Review

Just got back from seeing Catching Fire! 

 Bubba and Sissy finally talked me into letting them read the series this year and wanted to see the new movie also.  I was nervous because there are several places in the book where it says things like 'she swore out loud' or 'he cursed'.

Would they actually say it in the movie?

And then there is the fact that there are a couple more sensual scenes, no love making but some nudity.

Would they show that?

The Hubby and I really looked at the PG 13 rating to see why it was given that rating.  Among the reason it listed, "a suggestive scene" and "language".  We watched several different trailers and were relieved to see that in the one scene Finnick was covered up by way more than a net like it said in the book.  That gave me hope that the rest of the movie would be on the safe side.

So we decided to take the plunge and let them come with us to the premiere. I was very nervous. I was prepared to have to walk out with them if it was too bad.  

Here is my Family Movie Review:

Language : S word, D word, H word and SOB.  The last two were at the very end of the movie.   There was one time when a character 'said' the F word but it was bleeped because it was part of the interview the capital was putting in.  So in essence the capital bleeped it.  

Sex: One female character does undress but you only see this from the shoulders up and it is actually a really funny scene not a sexual one. Finnick is shirtless at one point but you can't even see his belly button because of some costume around his waist. There is some kissing.  Let's say there was less sexual-ness in the movie than there was in the book.  I was so relieved!

Violence:  Well it IS the Hunger Games.  But it isn't too bad.  Not much blood and gore. I don't want to say anymore because I don't want to give anything away.  

Book Compared to Movie: After the 1st movie I swore I wouldn't see the 2nd one.  I thought they did a poor job of encompassing what the Hunger Games were really like.  I felt like Peeta's character was totally miscast and he came out looking like a complete weakling.  But after seeing the previews for Catching Fire and knowing that they had a new director I decided to see it.  So glad I did!! It really captured the emotions this time.  I don't know whether Josh Hutchinson( who plays Peeta) understood the character better this time or if it was in the writing/directing, but Peeta finally seemed like Peeta from the book( Praise God!)-strong, in control, a caretaker.  And Peeta and Katniss actually had some chemistry this time around. They did a great job of sticking pretty close to the book.  We were very pleased.  

So it was a good night.  My mom watched Snuggle Bug, Little Miss and Princess at our house while we were our.  Big shout out to her!!  Thanks mom!

Many Blessings,

The Mama