it is well with my soul

Take up your cross and follow me

Take up your cross and follow me



I am repeating this phrase over and over to myself as I pour my heart out tonight.  I am sitting here

sobbing and getting my thoughts out on "paper". 

When Peace Like A River Attendeth My Soul

When Sorrows Like Sea Billows Roar

Whatever My Lot Thou Hast Taught Me To Say

It Is Well, It Is Well With My Soul



You know what is NOT well with my soul?  Having my babies and not having my Grandma being

here to snuggle them and love on them and dote on them.  Not being able to share this wonderful

awesome blessing from God with her.  She was my best friend growing up.  I spent summers with her

 and we would play cards from sun up to sun down.  Swing on her porch.  Go for walks.  Sip iced tea.

 Go to her garden club.  Go to her church with her while sucking on certs.  Snuggling up in her warm

soft arms.  Breathing in her wonderful Grandma smell.  Watching her soaps with her. Being pen pals

 with her.  Watching her study her bible.  Yes, I miss her tremendously.  It is NOT well with my soul

that I got cheated out of having her here with me.  But her?  She got the most awesome award.  Living

 with her Heavenly Father free of pain and worry.  Yes, that IS well with me soul.


Something else that is NOT well with my soul?  Being so far apart from my family.  My blood

family.  I vowed never to move my family across country because I hated that I lived in Michigan and

 my Grandma lived in Ohio.  And what do we do?  We move.  To Texas.  For my husband.  It kills me

 not to have my family around.  My children are growing so fast without their grandmas and grandpas

being close by to savor the little moments.  You know what IS well with my soul?  Having the means

of travel we do:  airplanes and cars.  Its the little things really.  And the time off everyone is willing to

give up to come visit or put aside time for us to visit.  That is really what is important:  making the

most of what you have.  Also...I have a great church family that I absolutely love.  And without them I

 would be truly lost. 



It is well with my soul.....Pick up your cross and follow me.


I am learning that it IS well with my soul.  And I am picking up my cross and following

 Christ...wherever HE leads me. 


And yes, everytime we sing this song at church I tear up (or flat out cry).  Just pass me a tissue and all

will be well.  With my soul.

Updated: Jar O' Lanterns End Results

For the one or two who want to see the end results of the jar o'lanterns here they are:

 

I think they turned out pretty cute and so does Kylie! 

Upside Down Day

I am planning an Upside Down Day/Night later this week. Probably Friday. Perhaps Thursday. We will see how the week goes. It should be fun. And crazy. And super duper silly!! Can't wait. And thanks to my cousin Mark and his wife Tracey I now have a camera that I can take pictures with and post. Yippie!! Stay tuned for some Gallahar Fun to show up!!

Ongoing Upgrades....

Sorry abt the pics...still under re-construction!~

What We've Been Up To

Whew! What a whirlwind the last three months have been. But I am finally getting into a schedule. Hannah's in Kindergarden and Loving It! Kylie and I are slowly getting into a schedule where we *try* to do preschool each day. She is getting better at writing her "K" and she loves to cut and paste! She is so different then Hannah when it comes to learning. At this age, Hannah was already writing her name and her attention span was quite a bit longer than Kylie's. But I think when you add two more squirming attention loving children into the mix you realize you don't always have the flexible schedule you once had. All that being said....Kylie and I are beginning to extend our preschool sessions and I find that if I plan in advance (duh!) the session goes much better!

Today we are making Jar o' Lanterns. Yes, Yes, I know its a bit early to be pulling out all the orange, green and brown paint along with gathering all the fun Fall Crafts but I can't help it! I love the seasons!!! And I didn't hear Kylie complaining. :)


First We Gathered All Our Materials

Then I asked Kylie what kind of faces she wanted on her jar o' lanters...Here is what she showed me:

I tried my best to "capture" the "Kylie Faces"

Then we got to the fun part: Painting!!

And Here are the jar o' lanterns completely painted and drying.

Finished Project Pending! Will Post Later!

As for Drew...well he was a bit fussy which made for an extremely busy morning of multi-tasking. You know, helping Kylie not cut her hair and not paint the table or her clothes or herself along with a lot of rocking, singing, talking, rocking, feeding, rocking. Ahh...life is good.