Queenies Little Kingdom

I've always had hang-ups!  I'm weird like that.  I find something I love and just run with it!  Lately, I've come across a few things that make my heart go pitter-patter.  Since it's Friday and I'm 4 days away from FINALLY seeing my hubby in the flesh…..I felt like sharing my latest obsessions was only fair.  Cause you know, happy stuff!!

Hannah and Kaylee!  Oh MY GOSH!  It's like I know these two ding-dongs!

WATCH THIS VIDEO!!

Who else can change the way they talk?  I got this talent down pat, girls!

HGTV'S Fixer Upper!!   Oh how I'm loving Chip and Joanna!  They are amazing!  I love every single thing about them.  They are talented, loving and so on target with style!

Fixer Upper is filmed in TEXAS!! 

Best statement, ever!

I read a story this morning by a mom who went to the beach (and wore a bikini) and was harrassed by 3 young adults for looking like a mom of 5 would look in a swimsuit.  Her story hit home for me because…..my days of rockin' a bikini are long gone.  But my heart still remembers being skinny and toned!  People don't realize the power they have to edify others.

Say NO to hurting people with your jeers & sneers, people!

UHHHHH-DICTED!!!  I'm a mile and a half away from Meijer who has a kickin' sushi sale every Wednesday!  It could get ugly if I miss out on a mid-week yumfest!

I'm dying to buy some booties!  I've been searching high & low for the perfect pair.  Last week, I decided to get on-line and just buy some.  After typing in Women's Booties into the search engine…..the booties that popped up weren't quite what I wanted to spend my money on!

I cannot stand to feel slimy or sticky from lotions!  It is disgusting!  However, since I am a dry desert of a woman….I have to have a moisturizer or else I look like an ashtray!  This delicious smelling stuff has magical powers!  Not only does it spray on easily…it looks gorgeous too!  People, go buy this stuff!

If you've seen me lately…..you have witnessed the messy knot on top of my head.  I love having long hair again and pulling it up out of the way is the easiest way to look somewhat presentable WHEN THE FRIZZY hair weather attacks!

Don't laugh, but….

I might be the only woman on this earth who HAS NOT had a pedi!  Ever!  My hubby….is the king of foot care (for me, anyway).  I've never had to file or massage my own feet.  He is my own personal pedi man.  Only, he does NOT paint toes.  Which is okay!  So, since he's been gone for 3 weeks….I have become obssessed with getting a pedi!

I swear.  I'm doing it!

I'm trying to save money!  And I'm trying to help my kids do the same.  It is so hard to NOT drive through Starbucks or grab fast food!  I love having a savings account and I know if my kids would just build theirs up….they would too!

I need these!  I am still searching for the perfect curtains for my bedroom.  In the meantime, I've decided my living room and my sunroom all need new curtains as well.  Plus….Ally's room.  I am obssessed with finishing my house!

I can't go much longer…..FOOTBALL!!!!  It's camp days here in Indy and I am over the moon!!  Almost there….just a couple more weeks!!!!

I'm easily swayed to love something.  I can't help it!  Just ask my friends with babies.  I'm currently counting on two of my hubby's co-workers babies to be my little boyfriends!  (They) have no clue what happens to the mama heart when her babes all grow up!  It's like my body has a baby magnet inside…..I'm drawn to hold them!

Enough about my weird issues.  I hope your Friday is amazing!

Amen!  Now, I gotta run.  I've got booties to buy!  Happy Friday, guys!

I've tried NOT to complain or fret over the fact that my hubby is a thousand miles away and isn't coming home for several more weeks.  I think I've done a jam up job of acting like everything is "normal" and okay!  But in my heart…….MY WORLD IS UPSIDE DOWN!

I've tried everything to keep my brain occupied.  I've painted the master bedroom & the bathroom.

I've managed to break something on the mower, just trying TO CRANK THE SUCKER!  I've successfully mowed, twice!  Which is a huge reminder that my hubby is gone because when he mows, it looks marvelous!

Clearly, a C+ job!

I've shopped.  A lot.  As in, shopped like I'm trying to blow a vast family fortune!  Ahh, lucky for me.  I haven't bought…..like I have a vast family fortune! 

Tried on cute shoes.  Didn't buy.  Couldn't justify blowing $50 on a sweet shoe just because I was lonely.

I went down to the pool one day, saw a young teen boy flip off a mom after he almost beat up her little boy.  After the situation calmed down, I found myself sick.  Sick to the point that I thought I was having some sort of diabetic spell or something.  I got on my bike to come home and THANK THE LORD it was all downhill because I couldn't even peddle my bike to make it home!

Once I got home, I fell on the couch and hung on for dear life….praying to God I didn't croak BECAUSE NO ONE WOULD FIND ME!  Sucks to be alone, y'all!

Still don't know what the heck was wrong with me.  Blood sugar?  Hypoglycemia?  Crazy?  Malnourished?  All of the above?  Sick with love?

Done a little JOY RIDING in the Hageman's sweet G-class before it left Indiana for Texas.  Have I mentioned that I love dirt roads & cornfields?  It's my southern bloodline!

Little things, guys!

I finally found barstools!  It's only taken me forever to stumble upon this great deal and right fit for our bar.  All 3, for $33 a piece!  BOOM!  I plan to paint them.

I have been #1 dog entertainer, every. single. day.

Sometimes, she gives me a break and takes a nap.

Other times, she just makes me feel guilty and I give in and take her out.  I've let her pull me on my bike but it is risky business.  I know my neighbors are watching for the sideshow action that we really are.

Ally came to visit….. so we bought GiGi's cupcakes and ate them late at night like ain't no cupcake gonna matter at 11pm!

I've been stalked, slept on, stepped on and totally lavished with love and attention by this chick!

If I would just put her in a baby carrier attached to my body…..she would be perfectly content!  She's trying to figure out a way to JUMP all the way over to the hottub in this photo!

I've done a ton of chilling.  I even learned to watch movies on my Amazon Prime freebie site.  Wow, it's cool!

I've gone to training for the upcoming school year so I'm all ready for school to start.  I even got a raise!!  Yea, subs….get raises!  Who knew?  I reminded my hubby that I am not just sitting around…..I am making bank!  Of course, he laughed.

I've had good days.

A little makeup here & there.

I've had not so good days.

Dang mower!

I've pridefully watched flowers bloom and fall off the stems.

I've counted and re-counted all the tomato's growing on our bushes.  Only the sad truth is, they will probably be ready to pick WHILE I'M GONE TO TEXAS!!!

I realize that this long work journey is NOT all about me.  Especially, when I get messages from my man that he's reached the point of no return.  His days are long & exhausting.  Days that seem like nothing is going right and everything is broken.  One job can't be done until another is handled and the people hired to come in and do certain services are stuck because something isn't ready.  His level of stress and frustration is clearly nothing like mine.

Afterall, I don't have anyone to really answer to and if I don't get something done during my day…..no one is going to care!  He has real life business to contend with and doing it all while being far from me is doubling his pressure.  So, when I'm feeling sorry for myself….and I have been doing a lot of that!  I'm trying to remind myself that HE NEEDS ME TOO!  He needs me to be satisfied & happy.  He needs me to be occupied and joyful.  He needs me to be encouraging and prayerful.  He needs me to support him from afar and to be grateful that he works hard for me and our family!

So, wives.  When you are tempted to think solely of yourself and your wants and needs…..remember, you have a husband that has all of the same and for the most part HIS ARE EVEN DOUBLE what yours are.  Focus on ways to be positive, encouraging and patient. 

Be strong for him.

All around you & me are people that are hurting!  People that are in a deep battle with life.  It might be their own mental state, a financial disaster, a family dysfunction….work issues, health….spiritual problems.  Anything!  For them, it can only be magnified when any other of life's struggles creep in.  Coping with stress is hard enough, throw in some small or even large issues and things can get out of control!

Just today, I read a story of a murder-suicide not too far from my house.  The authorities are still investigating the tragedy so they don't know WHO SHOT WHO first.  It was a beautiful couple with 2 kids (who were in the home when it occured) and a set of in-laws were there as well.  The picture the news showed of the two revealed a beautiful woman and a sharp dressed handsome man.  Both were smiling as if they were the happiest people in the world.

Today, we know….that was not the whole story.  Somewhere behind the scenes, problems or unhappiness must have knocked one or both of them around.  The wife was a teacher at a local school.  The article asked for prayers for the students and staff of her school.  Especially with the first day of classes coming up in just a few weeks.  Tragic, for the family….friends and co-workers/students/acquaintances.

How do you know….someone is in trouble?

LISTEN — Oftentimes, when someone is struggling they talk in a way that reveals they are in pain.  Not always but many who have had an experience with suicide victims, recall conversations filled with doom or destructive language.  Be alert to talk that is laden with hopelessness.  Offer to talk it out, pray with them…and remind them how much you care about them and about what happens to them.

TAKE IT SERIOUSLY — So many stories of looking back after a tragedy are laced with…."I didn't think she meant it!".  If someone you know and love is depressed or talking in a way out of character, consider it real!  Life is very fragile!  I know of more than one person who took their life but really didn't mean to do it.  Sometimes, crying out for help is just what they need to get it!

BE HEALTHY  —  It's impossible to be of any help to another person if you are on shaky ground emotionally yourself.  Do the work it takes to be healthy mentally, emotionally and physically.  Don't be afraid to talk out your needs with a physician or counselor.  Also, let family know….something doesn't feel or seem quite right.  Nothing is ever too silly!

I remember when I was 18 years old, the son of my mother's best friend shot himself.  He was trying to get the attention of a girl.  He never meant to kill himself….just shake her up.  The hole his death left in his family has never grown closed.  Each of them carry the scars of his loss still…. today, thirty years later.  He was only 19.  Obviously, he was hurting.  Surely, he cried out and complained or mentioned struggling. 

Who knows what kind of pain another is suffering with?  It's up to us to pay attention!  Don't be afraid to speak up or lend an ear.  Sometimes, all another person needs….is to know SOMEONE cares and hears them!

Lord

I pray for eyes to see when someone is in need.  Let me be willing and open to loving and listening.  Give me words to encourage and a heart to show compassion.

Amen

Now that my kids are grown up and I have the ability to look back and see….just how far we've all come, I get it!  I get what God was doing with me and in my kids lives all those very important years.  While I've always been a believer that God has a plan, back when I was in the mama trenches….it was what I clinged to most.  How else can a mom to 3 under 4 hang on to her sanity believing anything but GOD HAS A PLAN?

It was there, in the hidden years that God was using me to mold my children into the people He wanted them to be…..someday.

I won't lie, I grew weary!  I fell short.  I complained and felt many days like I didn't count for anything.  Or that I was wasting who I was as a person.  Don't get me wrong, I loved being a mom.  But if you've ever been a stay-at-home mom with a bunch of kids….losing your identity is one of the biggest challenges you can face.  Those times sneak in and try to rob you, don't let it steal your joy or desire to give up being THE MOM GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO BE!

The hidden years are the most important in your children's lives.

I hear it all the time, your kids are only little for a little while!  Every time I speak to or see one of my grown kids my heart reminds my brain….."Just yesterday, you were looking down into that face!".  Our "little while" sped by at mock speed leaving me with sweet memories and thankfulness that I hung in there and did the work!

Yesterday, a friend posted a saying on Instagram about disciplining your children while they're young so you can enjoy one another when they are teenagers.  I thought about that and smiled knowing how close my kids are to one another and to their dad and me.  It was hard to stay consistent with training them to behave but doing it day in and day out paid off.  I love being around my kids and so do other people.

I didn't have the distractions that most mom's today have…..I didn't have a blog or internet to pull my attention away from my kids needs.  I was full-on, all the time!  How grateful I am for that.  I was needed and had I been buried in a cellphone or a laptop, I would've failed in many ways.  Kids don't just turn out….well-rounded humans.  It takes time, it involves sacrifice and it includes a pile of trial and error!

So, for you mama's trying to balance it all…..YOU CAN DO IT!  Don't miss out on real life training with your small (for now) children because you are wrapped up in Twitter, Facebook or Instagram!  Those things will not call you up and ask you, "Mom, how'd you do it…raising kids seems hard and boring?".  The long days of rocking cranky kids and reading the same books over & over are worth it.  Even the multiple baths each day because "someone" uses her hair as a napkin every single meal.  All of it is important to what God is doing in both of your lives!

I'm certain that for me, God was using every single moment for His Glory.  The hidden years gave me the advantage of taking life one day at a time and allowing me to speak God's love into each of my kids hearts.  I didn't have to rush or hurry or even pound it into their heads…..every day held something teachable for them and for me.

I can laugh now when I think about how long I stayed in a nightgown somedays….when at the time, I thought I was a horrible mom!  I realize our schedule was "our" schedule and we all survived!  I like who they are….and I see that in spite of my many human errors, they are amazing young adults that please God with their lives.

Why would anyone want to miss out on being a part of that?

Lord

Thank you for the hidden years of my life.  I see just how much I needed them.  I'm so grateful for the time YOU ALLOWED me to have with each of my children.  Help me to encourage other mom's to jump all the way in with the long days of raising their kids every day!

Amen