No planning = insanity for mom.

I love my children. Really.

But, when school is out for even a day, it's chaos.

My six year old son needs structure. He needs lots of attention. And when there are five other children vying for that attention, things can go downhill fast. Like when I woke up this morning, and came into the dining room, the first thing I saw was said six year old knee deep in paper scraps and staples. He was making a "turkey" for Thanksgiving. I was not a happy mom. And when I told him we needed to clean up before we could get anything else done (like go anywhere or even breath)he got mad and basically threw a big fit.

Just a side note: Don't ever pray for patience. God will willingly give you every chance He can to practice patience.

So, long story short, he spent several minutes of his first half hour out of bed back in his room in time out.

Not a great start to the day. Where am I going with this? Organization is the key to a happy mom. On those days when you know there is no school (or for homeschooling families on those days when you don't hold school), plan ahead!! What did I do the night before I knew there would be no school? I went to the scrap book store and worked on my scrapbooks. When I came home, did I clean up the kitchen and dining room so we would have a fresh start to the day? No, I dumped my stuff on the dining room table, and went to my room and watched tv. Sloth, anyone?

I am definitely paying for it today. We spent the first hours out of bed cleaning up. Now the house is clean, but I don't feel like doing anything but crawling back in bed! If I had cleaned as I went last night, this morning would have run so much more smoothly.

Important points to remember:
plan ahead!
clean as you go.
if you don't want anyone messing with your scrapbooking stuff, put it away.
don't pray for patience.

God Bless, and Happy Thanksgiving! I'm going to go plan my grocery shopping and cooking now.

Let's talk about sin, baby!

Ok, I have to say that I am a sinner. Duh, right?

Well, I have been thinking about this since it started getting colder that lent is coming (I know, I know, it's not even Advent yet, but still), and I am getting closer to that time when I try to give up something for God.

Which brings me to sin. I am a good person, but very sinful! My daughter learned an acronym to help her remember the 7 deadly sins at school.

EGGSLAP.

Envy
Greed
Gluttony
Sloth
Lust
Anger
Pride

As I think every night before I go to bed, and review my day, several of these seem to pop up over and over again.

Envy. Greed. Gluttony. Sloth. Anger.

I am envious of those that have more than me, or nicer houses than me or nicer clothes, or skinnier bodies.

I am greedy with my food, my money, my time.

I eat to excess much of the time.

I would much rather sit on the couch and watch tv or a movie, or work on my scrapbooks or knit and crochet than just about anything.

I always rise to anger before I think about the situation.

So I urge you to go over your EGGSLAP list every night. When you come across those sins that seem to repeat and repeat, pray about them. I find myself realizing that I can avoid those sins much easier if I'm aware of them.

Now, Lent. I plan on giving up soda, and fast food. I am recording this here, for posterity, because I know that if I have it written down, I am so much more likely to follow through. I hope that by giving up these two things, I will be able to start to get a handle on my gluttony and greed, at least.

Pray for me!