One Thousand Hours In a Day

I love it when I can look back at my day and list so many wonderful things I have accomplished.

I woke this morning to my sweet hubby making pancakes for breakfast. It was so quiet in the house; I was just certain the kids were still in bed. But nope, they were in the school room (school room!! how wonderful is that?) making dresses for their dolls out of some scrap fabric. Man, I'll wake up to that rather than hurrying children off to school any day :-)

After breakfast and morning chores we headed out for some errands. During our errand runs we stopped by my friend Cindy's house to return some things she let us borrow. I was able to have a nice little conversation with her and set a dinner date for our families, that was so nice.

After Cindy's house we went to the hardware store in search of canning jars. We were in luck! I have had a hard time finding those little guys. All the places I have tried have been out of them. We must all have the same idea, yummy, fresh, homemade foods for winter =) (and I guess we are all having that idea a little late)

We then continued to do a few other little errands that would totally bore you; so I will not bother you with the details of our adventures of the grocery store, post office, church, etc.

During our errands it came a big storm, hail included. So home we went for a warm fire and homemade chili for lunch, ate by the fire of course :-)

After lunch Judah took his nap, Alli and Daniel made a mail box for the girls room while Jordan and I made and canned applesauce.

And of course, I have pictures for you...





It was very yummy if I do say so myself; naturally sweet and "cinnamonly" delicious.

The kids seemed to enjoy it as well.


They are so good to me, I am always harassing them for pictures, and they never seem to mind. Judah is so use to it that he instantly says cheeeeeese when am just holding the camera in my hand. The only bad thing about that is, it's hard to get those "natural" pictures.

During my canning I was also cooking two large crock pots full of homemade chili, plain hamburger meat and taco meat to freeze for yummy winter meals. It was a busy day in the Gibson kitchen. But the fruits of our labor will be wonderful on the nights dinner is all ready for us in the deep freeze.

While I was cooking Daniel was busy doing lots of honey doos =) One major thing was fixing the fan in the upstairs floor/downstairs ceiling. Now the heat from the AWESOME fireplace downstairs will be pulled up stairs. Right now it is 77 in our home and we have no gas furnace running. How blessed are we to be able to save all that money this winter season. God is so wonderful, he always helps us be such good stewards. Starting Monday Daniel and I are going on a rotation of waking up during the night to throw a few more logs on the fire.

For dinner I made some yummy steak nachos. Easy, healthy, and yummy.

Much later we had a house full of youth kids and a parent who stopped by after some trick or treat fun. It's nice having the house full of people again, especially when they leave candy for you. They are so stinkin' generous. :-)

What Have We Been Up To?

Well, I know Nana is a very special lady but man, her birthday has to end sometime... sorry Nana. :-(

Here is a peek into what we have been up to lately.


Building fires in our new fireplace...



Playing dress up...



Cooking waffles for breakfast again in our waffle maker... (which has been in storage):



Decorating our new house...

before:

after:



And of course, we have been being silly...




Yep! You guessed it, we have had our "Exodus" from the basement. ;-)


Updates to come; but as for now, it is off to bed... in our bed.

Oh, absence does make the heart grow fonder.

A Birthday Wish

Today is our Nana's birthday =)


A picture of Nana I do not have on this computer, which is sad I know! But a beautiful purple flower would describe her just perfect, I think.

She has many names; Mom, Mar, Marilynn and Nana. She is a beautiful wife, mother, mother-in-law (to me) and a wonderful Nana to our children.

She is the first one I call with all my cooking questions.

We love you Mar! Happy Birthday!

Sisters

Can you believe this is what I get to do each day?




and just think... taking pictures of silly little girls is only a small portion of it!


They fill my days with such joy, I am blessed.

How Lucky Am I?

Very.

Can you believe I am sneaking a post before 10:30 pm or later? Well, Daniel is gone with the kids to a Freshman, Ozark vs. Nixa football game and I am here with one hour to spare before the last night of our Created to be His Helpmeet book/bible study.

I have missed more nights than I have attended I think =( I am so glad to be able to go tonight. When Daniel told me today there was a game that some of the youth students were playing in, I thought "oh no, I can't cancel AGAIN" but then he said "so, can the kids and I eat a little early so we can make it by 5:30?" I said well, "we're in luck! Dinner is already started", it was 12:30.

It's a funny thing, which I know most of you will relate... I never have just one hour during the day. But to be honest, I don't really ever want it either. I enjoy my little ones and my big one I might add. =) I will take one hour with that big guy any day!

But what can I say? I have one hour today. And think I will be crazy and file my nails ; the laundry will just have to wait!

Ok, Ok, Back to Positive Thinking

Now that the children are medicated, I've had more than 1.5 hours of sleep, and the fire from my eyeballs has subsided... I think I have now come to my senses and can be cheerful. =) Sorry you had to endure the negativity!

There were actually things other than sad news, sick people, and homesickness during our trip to Tennessee. Some really great things did take place and your prayers were not in vain. To say it was a bad week really isn't fair. So, I thought I would share those good things with you.

Everything really started the day before we even left. It started in the kitchen, which you know... I love!

You see... we knew this trip was coming a few weeks before but we weren't for sure we were going to be able to go. In the end our church was very generous and allowed us the time off and we were blessed with a beautiful place to stay for completely free. So we planned to just share cooking with the other team members while there to avoid eating out that way we could afford eating away from home for one week.

But there is still that loooong drive and fast food and convenience stores can break you. So... that is how it started in the kitchen, cooking food for the road. Plus baking two apple pies I had promised to deliver before we left.

Normally the kids are hands on with the cooking, but this day I had much to do and little time to get it done so I gave them fun little things to do instead of having them help cook. Jordan did help a lot with the pies but I didn't snap any pictures except for the finished product. =(


Jordan had lots of fun "cooking" with water


And what 19 month old doesn't love a sink full of water, bubbles, and dishes?? I know my Judah loves it!



Alli was setting the basement up to be a restaurant so they could all play together down there. I never made it down to take any pictures of them in action... I know, I know, what is up with me lately?


That day our friend Cindy dropped by Daniel's work to drop off some things we had asked to borrow for our road trip. But little did we know she had a travel pack FULL of wonderful goodies for our trip! There was something for everyone, even mom and dad. That little (actually big) travel pack was a survival tool for us, the kids LOVED it so much and Daniel and I were very blessed with our "adult part" too!



Then, that night we had Youth Group. At the end as everyone was going home I had a student come up to me and handed me an envelope. Enclosed was $30 (almost all in 1's). She said "I went to the craft fair last week and played my violin for people walking around." she continued: "I placed a sign next to my case about you guys and what you are doing and this is the money I made from tips." CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?


Do you know what I did next? Yep, I totally cried.

God used two totally different people that day to bless us in such unexpected ways. He is so amazing. Not to mention, they are so amazing for showing love to us the way they did, in faith.

We left out at 3am Thursday morning sleeping on and off (me, not Daniel ;-) Once finally awake to stay I was able to cast my eyes on the beauty of God's creation in this part of the country.



Oh wait! I can't forget to show off these pics...





Yes, this is Daniel taking pictures of himself (while driving) as I slept. He totally cracks me up.

Finally around 12:30 we crossed into TN.


Below is downtown Nashville...


As I mentioned in the prior post, the kids and I got sick shortly after the trip kicked off. But below are a few pictures of the things we were able to take part in before getting sick.

A tour of the land...



the town...





and the beauty...


We didn't think about taking pictures of all us together when we first arrived, that is something you typically do towards the end. But since we left 4 days early and during the middle of the night at that, we never did get any group pictures :-( We're totally bummed about that.

And there it is, kind of in a nut shell I guess? We were really blessed to be able to go down there and we're glad we did. It helped us understand there is lots to do there but we are not there yet for some reason, we are here and we need to continue life here to the fullest! Investing in people and building relationships... living like we will be here forever until he takes us away.

What Do You Think About Music on a Blog?

Well, you voted and the results are in.

1% of you prefer no music.

45% of you like music.

54% of you could care less.

So, I guess it depends on what I prefer.

And wouldn't you know? I'm still deciding. =)

And The Diagnosis Is...

Strep (a.k.a Streptococcus) times 3.

Yep, three kids three diagnosis of Strep. It's a first folks, it's a first.

But I must say, Strep seems like a walk in the park compared to MUMPS so we are thankful!

Thanks for all of your concern and prayers, we appreciate it!

It's Been a Long Time

You know it's bad when you get an email from your mother in law asking why haven't you updated... :-) Sorry Marilynn!!

It has just been a terrible past week. If you are a common reader on our little updates you will know that complaining is not typical of us however, it has been a bad week.

We have traveled over 1500 miles in the past week (to TN and back) for hopes of a great time of growing with the team and spending some time in the city, getting familiar with it, possibly meeting people, etc. Well, the trip started off with an all nighter, we were not all packed after church last Wed night and were planned to leave at 3am, sigh...

Well, we weren't close to being ready so Daniel stayed up real late and I stayed up the whole night (he had to get some sleep to drive). But that can be typical so we didn't think too much about it. We arrived around 2pm that day and were able to spend a great deal of time in the city until the kiddos had, had enough of the van ;-)

Well, normally I go on and on about everything in great detail but right now I am just not in the blogging mood. (sorry for the negativity...) maybe it's the fever??

Long story short on our second full day we received a phone call from several dear friends of ours concerning a terrible thing that had happened back in Carthage, MO. One of our past youth group students grandparents were found not alive in their home Sunday morning. It is a very, very sad thing. It has affected so many different people whom we are close with. I have no idea what that must be like for those dear people, I just can't imagine. I know I am dealing with sorrow, anger, and just aching inside because I wish I could be there closer to them.

Secondly, that day we noticed Judah had big golf ball like sized lumps under his ears. Then that night Jordan woke up with a very high fever and throwing up blood and mucus (sorry for the visual) then I came down sick with a high fever, chills, etc. It was just miserable. On top of all that, I missed the people here in Ozark so much, it was just a sad thing.

Well, after all of that we decided to pack up and head home early. We wern't suppose to head home until Saturday morning but we headed home this morning at 1 am. That was a nice drive home. For some reason we all felt a little better, a little bit more joyful, and had some energy. It was like a race for home.

While we were away we realized how much we miss, Life.

Our life has been on hold for so long now and we are ready for things to be back to normal. I told Daniel this morning, I miss having fun at home. I miss turning the radio up real loud and chasing the kids around the house. I miss our smell when we come home, I miss Daniel and I watching a movie on the couch after the kids go to sleep. I miss having people over to our house. I miss our house being a place of ministry, a place where people can come and go as they wish; stay as long as they need and come back soon. Daniel said, "yea, I miss that too." We are hungry for that fellowship again. So, while the kids were still asleep, and the morning sun was peeking over the hills we brainstormed all the great things we need to start doing again. Please don't get me wrong... the Simpson's have been so WONDERFUL in allowing us to stay here and they are a blast to be with.

You might have read our update from a few weeks ago entitled I Have Been a Bad Blogger well, in that update I announced the news that we would be exiting "the basement" :-) on or before November 15th. When we told the Simpson's that they said "No, you stay... as long as you need". They said there is no reason for moving from here until you make the move to TN, no need to move twice." (They are so amazing). So before our trip we had decided to go ahead and spend the holidays at the Simpson's and hold off on finding a place. BUT on that drive home we realized, we have to quit putting life on hold. There are so many people and so many relationships we have placed on the back burner and that is not being a good Christian. We were built for relationships. God can move us whenever he wants to, wherever he wants to, but for now we need to make the best of where we are.

So, when we pulled in the driveway after only two stops on the 12 hour drive, we unloaded the stuff, ate some lunch, checked some Craigslist listings for houses in the area and then... boom! Everyone went down hill. Jordan and my fevers went up again, Judah started crying terribly, and even Alli started running a fever. So, everyone went for naps.

I was so excited to go to church tonight to hear one of the students teach and surprise everyone that we came home early but due to fevers the kids and I had to stay home. Daniel was able to go and he said the student did a real good job.

Now to close, while talking to someone at church tonight about the golf ball sized lumps under Judah's ears she mentioned the possibility of MUMPS!!! Daniel looked it up online and found this (click on it to see) That is EXACTLY what Judah looks like. I just don't know what is going on right now but the Gibson's are having a hard time finding our little joy this week.

Please pray for us, and more importantly pray for our friends who lost two dear people with the title of daughter, son, sister, brother, mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, and friend. And pray for them to figure out why this happened and who did it that way the family can have closure. We will be traveling there on Friday for the funeral.

Lastly, when we first started Our Glorious Days it was strictly used for our little family updates. But lately ministry has been so intertwined with our little family updates that it has trickled into the posts. But I am going to refrain from listing ministry details since that can be so controversial for some reason.

Welp, that is all for tonight, keep our sick kiddos in your prayers if you don't mind, especially Judah. He is not in the typical age range for Mumps, so hopefully it is just swollen lymph nodes.

I Just Had to Laugh

The title of this post was going to be, The Good Thing About Baking Bread at 11:00 at Night is... and I was going to go into this lovely explanation of optimism as to why baking this late is good. I was going to tell you it provides me time for the important things in life, like blogging ;-) while it is baking.

But instead, I must go with the title I Just Had To Laugh because, my bread has caved in and caramelized. Which would be a first for me in the history of baking. Thus, I just have to laugh!

With the to do list I have in front of me I SHOULD consider it a blessing I don't have to take the time to slice it and package it.

It was a happy ending to a Just Laugh type of day. You know those days where if you let everything get to you, you would just go crazy? That is the type of day I had today. So when the bread caved, I smiled, grabbed the bag of potato chips, a cup of water and headed to the keyboard to share the joy with you!

Don't you feel special ;-)

But now, my lips are chapped from all the salt on the potato chips and I must go do some laundry... yep, another smile!

I've Been a Bad Blogger

Well, I must admit with all of life's changes lately, I have been a bad blogger; which actually makes me a little sad. :-( I really enjoy writing about all that's going on in our little lives but our little lives have been flying by lately.

I thought I would just stop in real quick to do some updates. :-) We all love a good update, don't we?

UPDATE 1: COMPUTER. Our computer is home and fixed AND it was all repaired for free, yipppee for a warranty that actually does it's job. Just one more reason to go with MAC! (Thank you IRS Supplemental Check) Don't worry Audrey, there is still hope for your little HP, hope he returns home to you soon :-(

UPDATE 2: SCHOOL. School is going wonderful, Jordan is doing so well on her colors, cutting and spelling. Alli is really enjoying the American Girl series and doing so well in her seat work (language, math, phonics). We have been doing a little bit of nature study but mainly just a lot of reading and writing.

UPDATE 3: DANIEL. Daniel has just finished up this semester of schoolwork, which he is very happy about. I must admit, I enjoy it when he doesn't always have his face stuck in a book. It's great because he is able to just plug along at ministry and our upcoming life adventures. :-) Aside from a little sick bug that keeps bothering him, he is truckin' along like normal. Praise be to the Lord for that. We really take "normal" for granted, don't we? Normal is such a great thing.

UPDATE 4: PRAYER REQUESTS. Please continue to pray for the Blades family as Jim battles a new diagnosis of bone cancer. Ginny is doing well, her little baby is growing bigger and bigger :-) we have had only healthy reports!

A few additions to prayer: If you wouldn't mind to pray for the Simpson's (the family we live with) they are searching for a church home after being with the same one for 18 years. Our friends the Swateks also. Both families are such servants for the Lord and will be such an asset to any gathering of believers. If you wouldn't mind to also pray for the Brown family. They are the ones we had to say goodbye to a few months back when they moved up north to NH. Landis (Brown) and Daniel became very close during his time on staff at our church. Well, he has had a hard time finding a teaching job in that area, especially since school is already in session. Living expenses are much more expensive up there. I am sure they would really appreciate your prayers for a job opening. Also, last but certainly not least, my friend Jessica and her family could really use some prayer. Her husband was involved in a car accident where the other driver died. It has been very trying for both families, as you could only imagine. There are several factors in play with that situation but if you could just pray for God's will to be done, that would be great.

UPDATE 5: OUR FAMILIES ADVENTURES. We have been doing so many fun things. I really do love fall. It has been a little different this year, not quite as calm as normal and we haven't been able to be as hospitable as we usually like to be, but that is just our season of life right now. God has us in this season for a reason so we'd better just embrace it and find joy!

UPDATE 6: THE BASEMENT. Yes, we are still in the basement. It really is amazing how hospitable the Simpson's have been to us. They are such wonderful people. AND with that said, I'm sure your next question is, when are we leaving the basement? ( I know it's mine) Well, we have settled on a date, November 15th.

UPDATE 7: WHERE ARE WE GOING? Where are we going? Ha! Well, you know how us Gibson's are... yep! We don't know where we are going yet. We know where God is calling us and we are getting prepared to go but don't know yet if we are headed that direction on that date.

UPDATE 8: With that said, WHAT IS GOD CALLING US TO?! Ha, yes, I kind of left you hangin' with that post didn't I? Well, that is on my list for tomorrow... Expect an update tomorrow (and don't forget, tomorrow goes until 11:59pm ;)