Daily news post

Today was a busy day. I've been reading my Young Living Essential Oils guidebook. I love it so much, but sometimes I have to put it down and step back because I get so excited about all the wonderful things that I can help my family with, with essential oils.

I have so many "success stories" of my own with these oils that I get almost giddy when learning more. I'm sure I'm not alone on that. "Talking oils" is a favorite pastime of many of my friends, as well as myself. We even had a gentleman come to the house to give us a quote for siding, found out he was a friend of one of my uplines, and we ended up talking much more about the oils than the siding. Lol!

Btw, if you are interested in using these oils you can contact me at mielkemail dot gmail dot com. 

In other news, we are getting much closer to being done with the house.
I'm mentally and emotionally exhausted by this remodel, to be honest.
I had NO idea it would take over 3 years to complete.
It's going to be amazing when it's done though.
Our plan for now is to finish everything this summer. The girls and I are all going to live in our 5th wheel camper, in GALVESTON (Eeek!), while my hubby stays here and gets everything finished. Hopefully, with us, and out stuff out, the project will go much smoother and faster.

Have you ever remodeled? Got any tips? Leave a comment!

Have a beautiful day!

Well, we've been in our house for about 5 months now. It is certainly a work in progress. I guess that's how it goes with old houses. This one isn't really that old (build in 1968), but it was never taken care of very well. It needs a lot of work. A. Lot.
Tomorrow we will hopefully finish sanding down all the paneling, and priming so that we can paint. I will post pictures of the process.
In the mean time I am trying to prepare for my oldest daughter's birthday party. Not the easiest task when your house is 'tore up from the floor up'. I can handle it though. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.
We just got back yesterday from a dance convention in Bastrop, TX. My oldest did her first solo for the first time. I was so proud of her. She looked so beautiful and grown up on stage. I love to watch my children perform. Sometimes, (ok most of the time) when I get the dance bill, and I'm running around trying to arrange my schedule around dance, and going crazy trying to bedazzle this and that, I just want to give up and buy myself some nice furniture instead. But, when I see them perform it's suddenly all worth it.

That's my girl!

What do I want for my daughters?

During the interview with our daughters' new school they asked me a question that really got me thinking?

"What do you want for your daughters when they grow up?"

My first thought was "Every good thing that is possible." But it's so much more intricate than that. I realized that while I think about their future often, and think about what I want for them I have never clearly defined it. I haven't made a clearly defined goal of what I need to teach them, and set up for them so that they can reach those goals, or at least to give them the best possible opportunity.

"What do I want for my daughters?"

1. I want them to be strong enough to stand up to the world for what they believe in. 

2. I want them to choose freedom over security.

3. I want them to have the education and training to do whatever career path they choose. 

4. I want them to know that being a wife/ mother/ homemaker is a valid career path. That it's not weak to want to be all the wonderful things that only a woman can be.

5. I want them to have the confidence, emotional & financial security, and fortitude to WAIT for the right man to come to them.

6. I want them to work hard for their goals. 

7. I want them to be neat and organized in their life and in their mind.

8. I want them to be happy.

9. I want them to be physically fit.

10. I want them to know that God is always there for them and so am I.

These are the things I want for my daughters. These are the reasons I am a mom.

Compromises

I'm beginning to really like middle ground. Middle ground is relaxing. I'm liking compromise.

Lately, I've had to make a lot of compromises, and, I'm OK with that. 

I've been homeschooling for about 4 years now. Originally the idea to homeschool was my husband's. My first reaction was, "You're kidding, right?"

Turns out, he wasn't kidding. Homeschooling had been wonderful and hard. The truth is, it has been one of the hardest things I have ever done, but also one of the most rewarding. One of the best feelings in the world is teaching your child something and then watching them excel at it. Another side benefit of homeschooling is that the teacher (you) gets to learn right along with the kiddos. I really enjoyed that part. 

But lately, homeschooling hasn't been the joy that it once was. It's only been hard. With a infant to care for, and so much moving around, I feel like I haven't been able to give my older two girl's education the attention it deserves. Especially my middle girl. H- my oldest is more self motivated, but C isn't. She needs me to constantly work with her, and I unfortunately cannot make that, and all the other things I'm responsible for, happen, as of right now. 

And this is where the middle ground comes in. The compromise. My husband and I were pretty adamant that we didn't want to send the girls to public school for many and various reasons, but I didn't feel confident that I could provide their education with my very best attention at this time. However, by God's grace we found a wonderful little private school that teaches in the classical way (classical education is the way we have been teaching). They will start their new school this coming year. I am so relieved and happy that their education will be getting all the attention it deserves and we don't have to put them in public school. (I am NOT denigrating those who put there children in public school. It is just not what is best for our family.)

Another compromise that we have recently come to, is to buy a home while we are waiting for ours to be built. Originally we had planned for it to be built about 2 years ago, but because of a series of events we still are not ready to build. (Did you know that if you pay all of your bills off they call you a "deadbeat" in the credit world? I love Dave Ramsey; he changed our lives and financial future, but now we have zero credit. How stupid is that? Pay your bills off, banks hate you, Don't pay your bills, banks love you? Dumb.) So we have decided to purchase a home that meets our needs, and wait on the Lord's timing to build our dream home. We put an offer in on a house that does what we need it to, and will be a comfortable place for our children to grow and play. (We don't know if we got it yet. I hope we do, but if not I'm sure it's for a reason.) The home we put an offer in on needs a little TLC (oh thank the Lord for  projects! Finally! It is so hard for me to be a renter because I can't do anything to make our home better.) but of course, that is what I love to do. So, if we do get the house I will be updating with before and after pictures hopefully. 

None of these compromises has actually gone into effect yet, but just thinking about them takes a weight off my shoulders.

Anniversary's and New Beginnings

January 15th marked my 12th wedding anniversary to the love of my life. We actually have quite and interesting story. We met when we were in Jr. High. He liked me, but I already had a boyfriend, so he dated "went out with" my best friend. (We were so stupid!) We flirted, but it came to nothing at the time. Fast forward to my freshman year of highschool. We had our lunch hour together and he had just gotten out of football practice. He was wearing a very dorky vest that showed off his muscles to great affect. I was smitten (at least with his muscles at that time.) So of course I did what any self respecting, highschool, teenage girl would do in this situation. I made fun of him. He took it well, and not too long after we began dating. Besides his muscles, his self assuredness was what attracted me most about him. I had never met anyone who cared less about what others thought about him. I was always worried about what people thought of me, so his attitude was like a breath of fresh air to me. Well, flash forward again, through a lot of  hormones, stupid decisions, and disregarding everything my parents had tried to teach me, I was pregnant with our first daughter. Yep. Pregnant. At 15 years old. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
We didn't tell anyone at first (read: for 6 months) that I was pregnant. At that time I worked out for about 6 hours a day so I was in fantastic shape, and was able to hide the pregnancy. During this time we racked our brains trying to figure out what to do. Nothing was ever really plausible. Finally, it got to the point that we had to tell our families. Let me tell you, that was NOT fun. Through it all, we stayed together. We really did love eachother. As much as two stupid kids can love eachother. We decided to get married (probably not the smartest thing to do) and our parents allowed us to do that. So, at the ripe old age of 16, we got married. It was hell for the first 6 years. I'm not going to lie. We were so young and had no idea what marriage truly meant. Not to mention, we were married, with a child, living with the responsibilities of adults, but with the stigma of being children. We nearly broke up many times, but after being separated long enough to grow up a bit, we realized that, shockingly, we were meant for each other after all. There was a lot of give and take, a lot of forgiveness, and a LOT of Bible doctrine, but we made it work. And, I can now say that I know what it's like to be happily married. God is good.

Me and my hubby a few years ago on Thanksgiving.

At a party about 2 years ago.

The Texas bluebonnet fields a couple of years ago.

Wearing our cool 3D shades.

7 months pregnant with our last little one.

So, as I think back to all the things we have been through and the grace God has shown us during our 12 years of marriage, I am so thankful for every moment. The good the bad, the sickness and health, 'til death do us part.


On another note, my our littlest baby girl TOOK HER FIRST STEPS!! I couldn't believe it. She has been pulling herself up in her crib for several weeks now and was starting to walk around while hanging onto things a little bit, but I wasn't expecting unassisted steps for a while. However, on January 15th (also out Anniversary) she took her first two steps.
A few days before I notice that she would stand by herself for about 5 seconds (as long as she didn't notice that she was doing it) so my oldest daughter and I were playing with her and trying to get her to stand, when, all of a sudden she stands, looks at me, and takes 2 steps! We were shocked. I called my husband over and she did it several more times. I am excited, but not really ready. She's only 71/2 months old and I wasn't expecting her to become mobile so soon. She's not actually walking yet, but it's only a matter of time. My baby is growing up. *Sniffle* and *Smile*.

The littlest one on the day she was born.

3 Weeks old

7 months old

Etsy!

I finally put some things up on my etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop/BellevaliaDesigns

I only have 2 things up as of today. Between baby, homeschooling, lunch making, and cleaning it's hard to find time for anything else. Hopefully, I will be able to put a few more up tomorrow. The most time consuming thing is the pictures. It's also the most fun part (well, besides actually making the items). I would also like to do a few tutorials here on my blog in the near future.

I think Miss Lilly might be teething. She's been chewing like mad on everything she gets her hands on and she's been a bit crankier than usual. Usually she's such a happy contented baby that I know something is up when she is fussy for more than a few moments.
Lots of things are changing for my family right now. My older girls are now going to ballet 6 days a week. Yep, I said SIX days a week! Fortunately, my sweet hubby has really stepped up and is taking them most nights. It's not as though he gets nothing out of it. Its a great time for him to go to the gym or get some extra work done in peace and quiet. (Something we don't get a lot of here with 3 girls.) Also, our house plan is almost completed. Finally. There's a light at the end of the tunnel. (It's dim, but it's there.) Our lease is up April 1st on our rent house, and we are trying to decide where we will go from here. The house on our property is still at least 8 months away from completion, and while we are thankful for this home it's time to move on. We are just praying that the Lord will give us a clear path to follow.

Enjoying the Outdoors

My hubby and the kiddos all in a big old live oak tree.

One of my family's favorite things is being outdoors. We love to camp, go hiking, fish, and just play outside. The weather is finally cool enough that we can be outside for a bit, and we took full advantage of it this weekend. We went to a nearby nature preserve and spent the afternoon discovering new and wonderous lands. Ok, so it was just little clearings and scummy little ponds, but for all the fun we had, it might as well have been an enchanted meadow.

Lilly loves her Daddy, and she loves being outside.

Look at that precious smile.

All my girls.

Chlo Chlo sitting on an old horse drawn mowing machine.

Mother-In-Law's Day!

My lovely MIL

Our girl fishing trip. We caught more than any of the other charters  that were on the water that day. The other charters were all men. :)

Grandma with the girls; admiring all the fish we caught.

Dancing with Grandma.

Today is official Mother-In-Law's Day, so I thought I would write about my own wonderful MIL.  I hear some of the horror stories, but fortunately, I am very blessed that I have a MIL that I get along well with. We are a lot alike (my husband really did marry a woman just like his mom) actually. We both love to fish (she taught me how to throw a cast net), we both love to garden, and being outdoors. She is one of those people who is very attractive to others because she is so young at heart and generous (and it doesn't hurt that she's blond and gorgeous.) She's also a very loving grandmother to my children, and the mother to the love of my life. So here's to my Mother-In-Law on this most auspicious Mother-In-Law's Day, October 23, 2011. I love you.