Luv'N Lambert Life

A blog about living with Epilepsy, IBHS, Homeschooling and so much more

A Lot of Thinking {Thoughts from Me}

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Lately, as I’ve been cleaning, I have been doing a LOT of thinking.  Thinking about life and my wonderful children, God’s many blessings to me, where I’ve been and where I want to go.  Thinking about how far I have come in my life and about all it’s various changes.  They say you can not see God’s hand while He’s working.  It’s only when looking back that you truly see He was there all the time.

As I was redoing the boy’s room, unpacking my son’s various belongings and putting them in their proper places, many memories came back to me.  I found the stuffed dog that my daughter recently pointed out was with me in the hospital through both hers and my sons births.  Winston’s first birthday candle, reminding me of him falling asleep while eating his cake with his hands by his side (yes I’m talking face-first! LOL)  So many memories we have made over the years.
It’s hard to believe how far I have come in my life.  11 years ago I was preparing to marry a man I knew was wrong for me.  When we are young we think we know it all, despite fair warnings from all those we love.  I’m thankful for that mistake, since it lead to the birth of my two oldest babies and I could not imagine life without those two to keep me going. 
Three years ago, I met my ex-fiance and once again thought things were perfect though I knew better.  Sometimes it takes a huge mistake to make you grow up, but from that bad experience came my beautiful Laycie, and for that I am also thankful.
God was with me all along.  He was leading me forward and my children, too, as they came into the world.  He has given me such gorgeous and smart children.  He lead me to homeschool them, to teach them to be strong and semi-independant, and most of all loving, even when they are testing one another.  For that I am also thankful.  My babies are the best in my book.
I look back, I see how different I am from that girl who walked acrossed her parents backyard almost 11 years ago, the one who thought she knew it all.  I now know just how niave and childish I was.  Somedays she peaks through but now she’s an older and wiser girl, who cherishes her days with her little loves, their sweet smells, their joyous laughter.  I know it won’t last long. 
In 10 years, my son will be a grown man, living his own life.  That thought terrifies me at time, brings tears into my heart and my eyes like nothing else can.  I pray he is all that God intended for him to be.  Two years after that my girl will be old enough to go off on her own too and I will miss her sweet songs and strong personality desperately.  I will have only memories of my sweet babies to cherish.  This is something I do not look forward to but I know I cannot prevent.  I pray for them daily and I know, I KNOW God will lead and guide them just as He has done for me. 
I’m in a new life now.  I’m cherishing the years I have left with those beautiful babies and I realize the ones I’ve let past can never return.  I look forward to my days with them, listening to their stories, their laughter and even their arguing.  I look forward to growing with them, watching them learn and enjoy their own lives.  I’m thankful to be able to educate them at home, to teach them more than just independant studies but also teach them Life’s many lessons in our own home.  I get the good moments and the bad but most of all I get more memories to carry me on than I could ever feel blessed to ask for.
At this moment, this is the happiest I can remember feeling since I was a child, for my three gorgeous loves are the true meaning of Life and they truly are gifts straight from Heaven of which I can never be thankful enough.

Boys Room Done {July 28, 2010}

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I’m happy to announce that my boy’s room is now finished.  I do have a few things to do in there, like reduce the amount of cars they own and rid of half-bodied Transformers that have slipped through my trash radar but overall it is done.

It took three days of work but it was well worth it all.  I still have to find their mattress pads for each of their beds and wash their comforters to finish making up their beds but all the rest is finished.

Toy bins
These Pennants were passed down from my Mom.
Winston’s bunk with his animal collection and purple sheet (fav color).
The TV zone
These three cubbies were passed down from Grami to the boys.  They were used with baskets for storage by her but now are sitting on top of the dresser to hold the boy’s personal items/collections.
A shot of the stuff inside the cubbies.
I’ve had this picture forever but it never really went with Winston’s old bedroom theme (Cowboys).  It fits perfectly with the new sports theme.
This is a before… note the ruffled edge.
Without ruffles.  A less feminine curtain for the boys.
The curtains hanging above the play table.  Win’s X-men collection is hanging on both sides of the windows and more stuffed things top the windows.  A baseball rug brings the sports theme down to the floor.
The kids love the new made-over room.  It only took a few minutes for the girls to tear it out for Win.    
Next I’m going to work on the classroom/dining room and get things set up for us to begin school work again.  I think the rest of the house has become a huge disaster but they always say things look worse before they look better.  We are hoping to be able to purchase a storage building to place on our property within the next month since there is not nearly enough space for things in the house.  I look forward to that purchase but for now I’m managing to declutter and put things in their place slowly.  It’s a never-ending process but I’m finding it fun to work through.
Til next time…

Too Much to Do

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I’m still busy working on the house.  This week I have been working on the boys bedroom.

Yesterday I had the kids completely strip the room of all the toys and junk they have accummalated in there in the past few months.  Then I vaccuumed and scrubbed everything that was left in there.  I also moved the furniture around and created more play space by re-organizing it all. 

The kids love the new room, which right now is still vacant of toys and possessions.  The rest of the week will be spent going through the boys things and organizing them throughout their room. 

I think in the end it’s going to a lot nicer for them and they are going to enjoy playing in there even more than before.

Update and a Thought {July 14, 2010}

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Update and a Thought…

I’ve been extremely busy lately re-organizing the house and doing a late-summer cleaning.  Plus kids, a terrible two-dler, working on Saturdays and keeping up with the day to day, hasn’t left much time for fun stuff and online.  Good news is that it’s all getting done and bad news is that I’m still no where near the end of the tunnel (HELP! I can’t find the light! LOL). 

While I was cleaning up earlier, going through the monstrosity of stuff I’ve accumulated (with my dear Mom’s help) over the past 31 years (and let’s not forget to add the kids’ over-abundance of possessions that are never played with), I had a lot of thoughts.  For one, why do I keep all of these things?  And why do I feel guilty to get rid of a simple ugly doll just because my Mom gave it to me at a time when she didn’t have a lot of money to give me anything?  Why do I feel sad to toss Grandpa’s old steel cup that I never once saw him drink out of?  These are just things, material possessions, not the persons or memories themselves.

Then I began to consider even more stuff.  Like why do we teach our children the same things that we have been taught from birth.  We come into the world with nothing but a Mother and possibly a Father who hopefully loves us more than life itself.  We have no possessions.  We are naked and as basic as we can be.  It’s then that we are taught to want and need and that we begin to crave these unnecessary things in life. 

We are taught we should grow, we should walk, talk, play.  We are taught we should need a Barbie because Sally has one, or a bike because Joe peddles his like a mad fool.  We should attend schools with 1000’s of other children and spend our days with them, until we come home to a Mom who has a great meal cooked waiting on Dad to come in from work.  And we should want a similar life, with a nice home, a car, dog or cat, and beautifully well-behaved children.  The American Life.  Our life’s goal is to grow into a very old person, with a loving family and something to show for our time here. 

Truly, life doesn’t work that way at all.  Many children don’t have that home-cooked meal from Mom, or a Dad who works hard to provide that  meal.  Some don’t have a Barbie or bike or that cool new Zhui Zhui pet.  They’re home may not even be there in the morning.  And life can be taken away in a flash.  Tomorrow is not promised, only this moment we are in. 

So my thought is, why do we teach our children to want and need the American Life?  Why not teach them instead to live in the day, in the moment and to love and appreciate what they have in this instant in life?  The Now.  Life is short, and God is calling each of us every day.  I, for one, want my children to be ready to live in the Love and Light of the Lord.  To hear His will and be guided by Him and to want all the treasures of Heaven, for they will be there before we know it, in the blink of an eye, when He calls us all home.

Till next time… Dana

Home Re-Vamp

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That’s right… we are in the middle of a full-home makeover.  It’s going a little bit slower than I wish but in the end it’s all going to be more than worth it.  It’s a spring clean/remodel in the middle of July.  Who could ask for more???

Thus far I have:
     A new closet install in the girls’ room.
     Changed around the furniture in the girls’ room, as well as added a new (to us) dresser (Emmalee’s).
     Decluttered in the girls room and many other areas of our house. (Still working on this one.)
     Re-organized in the girls room, though I’m still working on this too.
     Emptied the “junk drawers”, which have now become the kitchen utensil drawers. 
     Cleaned out and organized the laundry room.
     Moved the freezer into the dining/classroom. (Magnet zone for the kids now)
     Cleaned out (meaning completely washed out) said freezer and re-inserted food.
     Moved the trashcan to where the freezer used to be.
     Cleaned out and re-organized the family heirloom glass cabinet. (aka the “good” dishes)
     Gone through 80% of my storage trailer (which soon has to be emptied and returned to it’s owner).

Still to go:
     I need to empty our pots and pan cabinet and figure out where to store those items.  (Getting a dishwasher soon!)
     Clean out under the sink storage and re-organize.
     Finish up in the girls’ room.
     Re-organize the spice cabinet.
     And soooo much more!

This is only a start.  Once the dishwasher is installed, I will decide whether or not to paint the kitchen cabinets (thinking black to match the appliances).  I also have to paint the girls’ room and their bathroom in the future, and finish the boys’ bathroom (we have three bathrooms in our home).

Lot’s to do but at least it’s keeping me busy.  Till next time!

Happy 4th of July {2010}

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It’s been a while since I’ve made a post.  I’ve been extremely busy living the life. 😉

The littles are doing great.  They’ve had their summer vacation aka Vacation Bible School week away with their Aunt.  We’ve been swimming and playing our hearts out (when we can).  Last weekend was our 4th of July get-together and it was one busy weekend.  Still don’t have the pics uploaded. I’m on a new laptop (whoo-hoo!) and haven’t taken the time to upload the necessary software because I’ve had so much else to do.

Last Friday we went to a sweet little neighborhood cookout in the neighborhood of our good friends.  They had grilled a goat and some chicken.  The goat was interesting and surprisingly not bad at all.  It was my first time trying that dish!  We hung out there, with kids in tow, until well after midnight – watched fireworks, chatted up a storm and made stronger bonds with our good friends.  It was a lot of fun and we cannot wait to do it all over again sometime soon.

On Saturday, we did a bunch of stuff around our house to get ready for our 4th bash. 

Sunday – the Fourth – the BIG day… We hung out at home until it was time to head over to our Party Zone.  Guests started arriving around 2pm.  By three the party was in full swing.  There was a small pool for the little ones, complete with water guns and a slip-n-slide too.  We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, with chips and homemade mac-n-cheese.  Sweet tea, Pepsi and Mountain Dew’s to drink.  It was great… family and friends really enjoyed themselves (at least we hope they did!).  We finished our day with a small array of fireworks, which the kids really loved!  Overall it was a terrific day and the climax to a wonderful weekend.

We hope that all of our friends had a safe and happy 4th of July themselves!  God bless each of you.