October Blessings

What can I say about October? It was so full and God has been constantly teaching us. We have had so many blessings. So thankful to be able to share some with you!

1. Spending some quality play time with Reuben
2. Getting all needed school work finished with a late start
3. Figuring out how to roast broccoli and cauliflower without a recipe
   
4. Cheap balanced dinner
5. Sleeping until 9
6. Getting good work done with the middle boys
7. Homemade pizza for lunch
8. Redeem Marriage
9. Good reminder of Truth
10. Meeting Stephanie- fellow scarf wearer
11. Getting school work finished
12. Learning how to deal with growing kids
13. Helping Becca with her paper
14. Making it through a Saturday without Jim
15. God teaching me in every moment
16. Learning about the 3rd Commandment
17. Being sobered
18. Napping along with the kids
    
19. Finishing The Accidental Feminist
20. Starting the next classic
21. Time to write a little
22. God working in weird ways
23. Great dentist appointments
24. Grocery store as a family
25. Learning to eat better for cheaper
26. Getting emails written
27. Homemade granola
28. God working
29. Sleep
30. Getting lead inspection completed
31. Heart to heart with Jim
32. Prayer walking
    
33. Kids growing in friendship
34. Time to hang out with CG
35. Milk increasing
36. Great day at co-op
37. Gleaning from those with older kids
38. Encouraging those younger
39. Interactive class
40. Never ending pasta bowl
41. Good date evening
42. Growing together
43. Reuben singing "A Bushel and A Peck" and giving Gabriel hugs
    
44. Talking to Brit and sharing with each other
45. Uploading pictures
46. Inspiration
47. Kids napping
48. More clothes organized
49. Girls movie night
50. Getting to know Brittany and Heather better
51. Going through more clothes
52. Finishing picture upload
53. Cherry soda and dark chocolate
54. Getting some needed cleaning done
55. Over half-way through clothes
56. Going to the seminary to meet Jim for lunch
    
57. Writing group
58. Time with Jim
59. Talking about murder
60. God working in my heart
61. Connecting on a deeper level with Jim
62. Fun family afternoon
63. Growing in enjoying being together
64. Grace to make it through a Monday with a sick child and Jim at work
65. Getting through group school time
66. Continuing to learn myself
67. Teaching Lillian about not letting a schedule control us
68. Everyone going to CG
69. Showering
    
70. Learning to let go of a perfect day
71. Knowing God is always in control
72. Learning as a family what is truly important
73. Getting coffee with Jim
74. Sara coming over to help and hang out
75. Getting Bible time done
76. Naps for everyone
77. Getting laundry finished
78. Potatoes for dinner
    
79. Restful evening
80. Bed at 10:30
81. God healing my stomach
82. Time to pray alone
83. Feeling more rested
84. Washing my hair
85. Purging some
86. Movie and logic problems
87. Sleeping in
88. Girls lunch date with Mom, Becca and Lillian
89. Neo doing well at home
    
90. Family Shopping trip to Kohl's and the Mall
91. Mom getting us new clothes
92. Dedicating Nehemiah to the Lord
93. All 6 kids making it through the entire church service
94. Being together as a family
95. Lunch at Olive Garden
96. Nice family afternoon
97. Left overs
98. God speaking to the depths of my heart
    
99. Being reminded of how blessed I really am
100. Going to playgroup
101. Talking about school stuff
102. School work
103. Walking with Lillian
104. Running into Shannon
105. Good CG time of catching up and encouragement
106. Seeking advice from those older
107. Being surrounded by others who seek to honor God
108. Bucca di Bepos
109. Running into Chad and Ginger
110. God revealing more of my heart
111. School time as a family
     
112. Time to talk things through with Jim
113. Learning to seek together what God is wanting for us and our family
114. Time to reflect
115. Heart for the Nations
116. Hearing from friends overseas
117. Relaxing evening
118. Singing with Reuben
119. Kids playing together
120. Talking through more scheduling adjustments and making plans
     
121. Meeting with Dawn
122. International food at SBTS
123. Growth in Becca
124. Great sermon on Sabbath
125. J and L coming to church with us
126. Taking a nap!
127. Kids reading together
128. Bean bag
129. Pics of Sam
     
130. Talking to my parents
131. Family play time
132. Shortened school schedule! Much better
133. Quick and cheaper grocery run
134. The kids playing well together
135. Sam praying and saying Scripture
136. Book club
137. Sisters in the Lord
138. Rainy day
     
139. Kids working well together to learn
140. Jamey teaching his siblings different things
141. Great discussion at CG
142. Getting to co-op mostly on time
143. Timely note
144. Seeing God work
145. Heart to heart
146. Jim getting half a paper written
147. Good Panera
148. Finishing The Age of Innocence
149. Jim leaving me a heartfelt note
150. Sam volunteering to pray, praying and saying Romans 10:9 with me
151. Good school morning
     
152. Productive afternoon
153. Reading half of The Comedy of Errors
154. Dancing
155. Washing my hair
156. Good doctors appointments
157. Healthy kids
158. Free food from Friends
159. Becca being OK
160. Getting budget and schedules complete
161. Finishing The Comedy of Errors in 2 days
162. Lillian and Sam dancing together
163. Reuben reading to Nehemiah
164. More stuff from friends
     
165. Movies
166. Sam turning 18 months
167. Neo almost sitting up
168. Watching some of the World Series with Jamey and Lillian
169. God always working
170. Mac and Cheese
     

October Evaluation

Due to circumstances this past year, I'm not really changing my goals. Some will go that are not top priority, but I'm keeping the ones that fit with the overarching goal of having a God-centered life and the things I see Him leading me to right now. So thus far this is how it goes:

Spiritual

• Spend at least 10 minutes praying daily- Yes, I'm working more directed prayer into my day
• Spend at least 10 minutes reading and reflecting on the Bible daily- Yes! 
• Memorize verses with the kids - We have already memorized 8 verses together
• Memorize Scripture- Doing this with the kids in school time

Marriage

• Go out for a date once a week- Yes
• Go on a night away once this year- Yes we went away for our anniversary!
• Read 3 books together this year- Did not read any this month
• Discuss plan weekly on Sunday Saturday afternoon- We are discussing plans but still need improvement on consistency and sticking to our plans as much as it depends on us

Kids

• Spend 30 minutes of one on one time with each child every week- We have had great improvement on this in the last week, still have a lot of growing, but at least we are progressing :)
• Go to playgroup each Tuesday- With starting school we have missed a couple as needed
• Write in individual journals at least 3 times this year- Up to date for the year. Should reach this goal next month
• Finish Jamey's 1st year Scrapbook- Need to go through pictures with Jim so this is on hold currently

Homemaking

• Keep up with cleaning schedule- Cleaning has gone by the wayside again. Trying to find a good balance in our day
• Keep up with my calendar- Status quo, still need improvement here
• Being fully present when with my family- Getting better at this but always room for improvement

Ministry

• Continue sending out Prayer List- Yes

Personal

• Read a book a month for myself- This month I read "The Accidental Feminist". "The Age of Innocence" and "The Comedy of Errors" (review to come on the last one)
• Journal 5 days a week- Yes! God has really been giving me opportunity to do this in the morning
• Write (books) 3 days a week- I have written down some ideas for my nonfiction book I'm working on, but no actual writing 
• Edit novel to prepare for publishing and research publishing options- No additional work on this during the month
• Finish Rosetta Stone Russian level 1 - Have not worked on this
• Continue to meet once a month with writing group- YES! Loved meeting with these Sisters this month. Such a great time
• Blog 3 days a week- Got a couple book reviews written

Health

• Go to water aerobics once a week- Started back to find out that our instructor was moving and they are going to begin charging for classes so only did this half the month and this will be no more
• Maintain weight until birth- Did well with this, still gained some but far better than other pregnancies
• Lose weight after giving birth- Just maintained this month, need a plan for this, but other things are taking priority

Where did October go? This month has flown by! We had a busy month with school, illness, co-op, church, and just life in general. We have spent a lot of time this month trying to figure out what life needs to look like. We're still struggling to figure this out and praying regularly for clarity. When I finally get a moment to breathe and write, I hope to blog some of the things that we have been learning and working through the last couple of months. God is constantly at work in our home and I am so thankful I am His.

How was your October?

The Age of Innocence by Edith Warton

*Warning there will be spoilers. If you do not want to know the end, do not read.

The Age of Innocence is my 8th book in my Back to the Classics Challenge under the category of Classic by a Woman Author. I was greatly surprised by this book and honestly enjoyed it, mostly because of how thought provoking it was and the ability to identify with the three major characters. The writing style was very clear and easy to understand in spite of when it was written. I liked not having to reread every other sentence trying to figure out what was going on.

This story is such a good look at what goes on in humanity and society as a whole. You have those who expect everything to be a certain way and will move heaven and earth to make it so. Then there are those who are different and do not care they are different. And finally those who want to be different and yet seek to find that middle ground to make everyone happy. It is the conflict of the soul that is so well presented in this book and that conflict that I believe most people can identify with. Though I was not happy with some of the things that took place, it is a great book to see how humanity really is. I was thinking throughout this book and will probably continue to think and evaluate myself from interactions and thoughts shared in this book. What made it even better is that the main character did not get what he wanted in the end. The sad part is that he fell into the all common trap, fantasy is better than reality.

4 stars for this classic.

The Accidental Feminist by Courtney Reissig

My friend, Dawn, recommended this book to me and I am so thankful she did. I think everyone should read this book, and if you are a Christian, you absolutely should read this. Women, it has something for everyone. Men, I believe it would be useful for you in understanding the women in your life, especially if you are married.

This book is a very quick read, but has so much in it. Mrs. Reissig gives a brief history of feminism and explains how feminism has effected different parts of our lives as well as defining what it means to be a woman. She does an excellent job of applying the different aspects she covers to women of all stages of life. It is Biblically sound and does not give a list of dos and don'ts, but allows room for us to learn and apply the teachings to our own lives. The questions at the end of each chapter help in discerning how the topic fits into your life or has altered your thinking. I also enjoyed her writing style. My only issue was the occasional repetitiveness that I did not feel was necessary, but others might appreciate the repetition for themselves.

Again, I say, read this book!

5 stars

War and Peace

I finished my 7th book in the Back to the Classics Challenge I am doing this year! War and Peace is a book I have been wanting to read for quite some time and this challenge gave me the push to do it. This is in the category of "Very Long Classic Novel" for the challenge.

As a whole I really enjoyed reading this classic. Tolstoy is incredible at expressing the emotion and tension that exists in and among people. His style is very involved, which keeps you from wondering what is going on inside of his characters, but is mysterious enough to keep you reading to find out what will happen with his characters. You are drawn in by the lives of these people and get to the point of caring for them as if they are real. You want to know what is going to happen.

From all of this I realized that the name War and Peace really has a two-fold meaning, whether Tolstoy intended it or not. This book reflects time of war and time of peace in Russia during the early 1800s, the obvious meaning of the title. However, as you hear the inner thoughts of the characters and see what they are dealing with in their daily lives, we also experience the time of war and the time of peace in their souls and in their personal lives.

There were two downfalls for me. One being some of the war sequences that just seemed to drag on and added nothing to the story. The second was the ending. It fell off and made me wonder what the point was in ending it that way. I felt like it should have been ended a few chapters before it was.

This book was far more than I expected and I hope to read it again. I look forward to reading it with my kids and working through the thoughts and feelings as well as the history told in this book. I highly recommend it!

I would give it 4 stars.