When life gives you lemons...

This past week, two different friends brought me bags of lemons. The kids begged to make lemonade, so we did!
After making a few pitchers of lemonade, lemonade slushies and tazo passion tea lemonade, I had a huge bowl of lemon peels and didn't want to just toss them. Good thing I have pinterest :) After finding a recipe that looked good, I made a huge batch of lemon sugar scrub and put it in jelly jars with cute fabric and made some labels.
I love creating and this was so easy! I'd you want a jar of lemon sugar scrub, let me know, I'd love to share :)

My epiphanies...

I'm just like every other woman.
I want my life to be picture perfect.
I am "type A." I'm a procrastinator. (Those 2 characteristics don't always go well together.)
My life is a "little" crazy.
My life is NOT picture perfect.
I hate doing laundry.
We are clothes hogs.
I have a lot of laundry to do.
Sometimes, if things can't be "just right", I'd rather not do them at all.
I am a child of God.
God doesn't care if my life is picture perfect.
God made me just the way I am.
My friends love me for who I am, craziness and all.
Life is best shared with those you love.

So, with all that said...
I guess one of my pitfalls with blogging, is that I want it perfect. I want my pictures edited, I carefully think about what I'm writing in my posts and worry more about what others think, than the importance of documenting our life for my kids to enjoy later on. I read others blogs and compare myself and end up feeling like a loser mom for not doing more, being this or that...You know the feeling, like after spending too much time on Pinterest or Instagram or looking at "The Pioneer Woman"  Or am I the only one that does this??

After talking with many moms, I realized we ALL struggle with some of this. Life isn't perfect, NOONE has it all together.  I was reminded of this after sitting at our homeschool park day the other day and talking for a long time. The thing is, the world would like us to believe that we can achieve perfection and that we aren't good enough unless it is perfect, but that simply isn't true. God has given each of us a different set of circumstances and abilities. God didn't design me to be a "pinterest" worthy crafter, a "perfect" mom, a gourmet chef,  a crossfit champion, an award winning photographer, or the do it all homeschooler. God made me, ME.  God doesn't need me to be perfect at anything. I do enjoy doing crafts, cooking, working out, taking pictures and homeschooling, but those things aren't what give me value, those are all extras. My value comes from Him. If I am finding joy in Him daily, my joy will be complete!

However imperfect my life is, it is beautiful. I am blessed!

So, it's okay to blog about the little things, for life not to be perfect and I need to be reminded of this daily!

I'm back...

I've been composing blog posts in my mind for the last year and a half, since I actually posted a real post...(I know it's ridiculous how long it's been) but I'm back with some great epiphanies and want you to know big things are happening!!! Changes are coming to the Oates household, please bear with me as I attempt to blog again and would love for you to share this journey, called life, with me.

Wesley's doing...

Last night James was Mr. Mom, as I had a migraine. The kids asked for hot cocoa, so he decided to make them real hot cocoa on the stove. They all stood around and helped pour the ingredients in the pan. Grace used a stool to climb onto the counter to get the cocoa from the cupboard and apparently Wesley watched her.
Wesley came to me today with cocoa on his pants and hands and said "I didn't do anything" Really? I went into the kitchen and found the lid for the cocoa on the floor and some cocoa spilt on the tile, not too bad though, i vacuumed it up with the dustbuster. The stool was pushed up to the counter and the cupboard open, so that explained how he got it. I asked him where the container was and he answered with a shrug of his shoulders. I looked around the kitchen, but didn't find it, until lunchtime...
This is a picture of the kid drawer. It is filled with kid plates and plastic cups, but also lots of cocoa. Thank you Wesley, that drawer needed to be vacuumed out and washed and all the dishes had been put away dirty, so I was needing to wash them all again anyway ;)
That little man is trouble!!! Happy Monday!

Swimming in Oct

Our school work was done,
swimming sounded like fun!
The weather was great,
the Verkaik's said come over any date! :)

I love the freedom homeschooling gives us. Only in California in October can you swim. We had finished our schoolwork and then packed lunch and got to swim for a few hours. The water was freezing, but the kids didn't mind one bit and always love to swim.
Thank you Tom and Dawn for opening your home to us.

Produce Pile

This week on Tuesday James started a juice only 30 day cleanse. I know this sounds crazy, but drastic times call for drastic measures. He would like to loose 50 to 60 lbs and felt he needed to jump start his weight loss. I found this "juice diet" from a friend who has been juicing and very sucessful at loosing weight, I sent James the link and he said he try it. The story behind the diet is actaully a documentary that is very encouraging and inspirational and there is a blog and entire community behind juicing. Joe Cross, the guy behind the diet was 100lbs over weight and had lots of medical problems and finally wanted to make some life changes. It is now 4years later and he's kept off the weight and transformed his life into a healthy lifestyle where he is advocating not only juicing, but taking back control of your life. If you want to see it, you can watch it on Netflix or visit here...http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/
So anyway, here is all the produce I bought for the first go around. I got all of this produce for right at $50. This is produce for James to juice, as well as produce for our family to eat also. I thought it was a pretty good deal!!! I'm sure juicing for 30 days will be difficult for James, but I know he can do it and will end up feeling SOOOOOO much better. If you think of it, please pray for him as he struggles through the task of weight loss and juicing for the next 26 days! Drink up! :)

Say Ya Ya Ya Yes to Vvvvv VBS!

Vacational Bible School consumed 3 weeks of our summer and I think the kids will say they were some of the best! We have been so blessed by each VBS and all the workers who dedicated many hours to make them possible. The fact that the kids get to have a blast, sing praises, make crafts and have snacks all while learning about what an awesome God we serve is priceless and better than a weeks vacation anywhere! The three oldest kids have participated in VBS programs over the summer for years, but this was Grady's first experience; he loved it!

The first VBS we were part of was in June in Rehobeth, at the Rehobeth CRC. Panda Mania! I got to lead a group and have Hope, as well as Alice Kok & Jadyn Kimm, plus 4 other little sweeties. This VBS was awesome! I served along side many others from the River as a leader, which was really cool. There were about 150 kids and each and every one of them were able to see God at work. The groups rotated thru, story time, games, crafts, snack time and a video session, each of which were well planned and exciting for the kids. Grace and Hope both really got into the worship time and often got on stage to sing and do the motions. The kids really enjoyed getting to know new kids, as well as participate in a VBS with kids from church. Wesley didn't get to participate in VBS, but got to play with other little ones and still had lots of fun.

The 2nd VBS the 4 oldest were part of was at the Packing House in Redlands, July 11-15. This VBS was huge! This one was Promise Island and the kids got to dress island style with hawaaiin skirts/shirts, leis and the girls wore a flower in their hair. The kids came home each day singing the songs and talking about the promise they had learned that day. Kids from our church and our homeschool group were all part of this VBS, so the kids enjoyed having friends with them. I was really looking forward to a week of just Wesley in the mornings, but it didn't quite turn out as planned. Wesley was an absolute wreck and was a naughty teary mess. I asked him what his problem was and he said "there's no kids. I miss Grady. We need to pick up our kids" Poor guy, he didn't know what to do with himself and I guess running errands or finishing projects with mom isn' that fun and he was miserable.

The last VBS was at Fellowship of the Pass in Beaumont and was the last week of July. We've gone to this VBS for 4 years now and every year the kids are excited to go to see friends from years past, there were also friends from our homeschool group and some friends from church too. The theme was the Big Apple and the kids learned about the big city and how God will meet us anywhere, even in a busy, big city. Wesley was better this time around and I have stuff planned so he wouldn't be bored doing "mom stuff."

We have enough VBS songs in our heads to last at least til next summer :) We are blessed!