Mama Pad Giveaway Winner!

Good morning everyone!

The winner of the Mama Pad giveaway is......drum roll please....

Simply Merry!

I just sent you an email! Congrats!!

Mama pad giveaway!

Hey everyone!

Sorry it's been so long since I'm blogged last! So much as been going on leaving me absolutely exhausted...as you'll see as you read on :)

Around the 10th or 11th of March, we went for a family walk on the board walk here in town and my 4 year old daughter (the one who did NOT want another brother or sister!) turns around and randomly says "Mommy! I want another baby!" I just looked up at my husband, laughed, and kept on walking!


Well, on Saturday the 20th I went to use the restroom and randomly got this feeling to take a pregnancy test! I went to grab a cheap one because my period should have been showing up any day and I didn't want to waste an expensive one on a "negative" well, I was washing my hands and just casually looked over and saw TWO lines! TWO! Ahh!

So of course, like any human being, I took another test lol I was SO excited! My heart was beating SO fast out of excitement and out of nervousness (4 kids is A LOT!)! So as I walked into the living room, I asked my husband if he was sitting down, and he was. So I proceeded to walk in with the two tests. I put them down on the end table next to him and reassured him that I was not pulling a joke (lol). His jaw dropped! He is excited too! Yay! The whole morning, I think we both we numb to the idea, but its starting to become more and more real! As we were talking about the pregnancy, I reminded my husband about what our daughter said about wanting another baby. I wonder if God was preparing her heart! RIGHT after I said that to him, I asked her if she still wanted another baby (she didn't know I was pregnant yet) and she said:

"YES Mama!! TWO babies!!"

I'm really glad I was sitting down for that! lol So, on wednesday (7th) we will have our first ultra sound and see how many babies there is! :)

Onto a different subject! For the past 6 months or so, af (aunt flo) decided to make it's return and I had decided that since I use cloth diapers on my kids, I should use cloth on myself also for aunt flo. While researching why I wanted to use cloth, I was reading testimonials of how cloth pads made womens periods shorter, less cramps, not as heavy as a flow, less infections, etc! So I decided to give it a try! Once I started using cloth pads, my periods shortened for 7 days to 3 days tops! I didn't have any cramps at all- I use to have to take Midol as often as I could to not be bent over in pain! So after seeing how well these pads worked for me, I built a huge stash of them! About 80% of my stash is from a WAHM called Pink Lemonade. Her pads are so nice and soft. They actually make me not mind when "that" time of the month comes along! 

For those of you who are not familiar with mama cloth (cloth pads), you wear them just like you would a disposable pad, and when it's time to change the pad, you put the pad in a wet bag. Once you need to wash your pads, you wash them in the washing machine and dry them like your clothes! I personally do a rinse cycle (to get everything off), then a full wash with detergent, then an extra rinse to get all the soap out. 

Pink Lemonade makes BEAUTIFUL mama cloth perfect for making you feel special during "that" time of the month! She was so gracious to offer up ONE mama pad to one of my readers! It is a 9" day pad with organic bamboo velour topped and fleece on the back (for waterproofing). 

I forgot to get a picture up of the pad that she is offering. I will try to do that tomorrow when the sun is out again. Here is a picture of one of her pads though so you can see what you'll be getting:

To enter this AWESOME giveaway:

Mandatory- Be a follower of my blog and leave me a comment telling me so with your email address in it also!

Extra entries- Please leave separate posts for each entry!

-Visit Pink Lemonade's store and tell me something else that she makes!

-Blog about this giveaway and post a link to your blog entry (so I can verify that you indeed blogged about it) 

I will end this giveaway on April 16th with random.org 

Thanks for reading! 

Doing the dishes with God...

Lately, I've noticed a small trend going on in my life...the more I get in the Word of God the less I like myself, the more "ugly" I see in myself. It's been quite frustrating to be honest with you. I was hoping that by getting in His Word and spending time with Him that I would become nicer, more well rounded, a wonderful housekeeper and helpmeet and just overall a better person. It's been quite the opposite though. I find myself being meaner, short tempered, lazy, and the list goes on. 

Tonight while doing the dishes, all the kids were in bed, Jason was doing school work, the tv was off. It was silent (besides the noise of the dishes clanking together). I found myself thinking of a situation that just occurred that was making my heart upset and irritated. After a few minutes of thinking about it, I decided to make a switch of thoughts- to hand those thoughts over to the Lords b/c it's not mind to dwell on, it's not good to dwell on those things that make you angry and upset. So as I was talking with God about the situation I also mentioned to Him my concern of how I've been acting and how I thought it was completely contrary to what I was hoping would happen by spending time in His Word.

As I stood there loading the dishwasher and washing the pots and pans, the Lord revealed my heart to me. He revealed that I was wanting to change things on my own- I was wanting to make myself be a better mom, I was wanting to make myself a better wife, a better housekeeper, a better EVERYTHING- but all my efforts are nothing... NOTHING...if the Lord isn't the One doing it in me, and the more I spend time in His Word, the more I'm going to see the "ugly" in me, but I need to hand it over to the Lord for HIM to do His Work in me.

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags..." 

Isaiah 64:6

Ultimately- it's not about me- it's about HIM. It's about what HE is working in my life- not about what I'm trying to make come to pass. It's for HIS glory!

"...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." 

Philippians 1:6 

I am nothing without Him. Thank You Jesus that you're working in my life, that You are consuming who I am, to work things out for Your glory.

Thank You for doing the dishes with me...

Raw Honey giveaway winner!

Thank you for everyone who entered!

Random.org picked comment #3 which is Courtney from Fancy Farms!

Keep your eyes open for more giveaways! I plan on doing a wet bag giveaway and more items from Tropical Traditions!

Thanks for reading!!

Sabbath-Rest- Obedience to God's Word!

"It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience......There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience." Hebrews 4: 6, 9-11

This morning as I was reading their Hebrews, I believe that the Lord really pointed this scripture out to me. As I set out on my journey to become a Godly homemaker, wife and mother, it seems like my "job" is everyday, it's constant. There's always things that need to be done whether it be the dishes, laundry, cooking, etc. There's always a job that needs to be done. I'm still a work at home mom too with sewing my wet bags and the time I get the most done is on the weekends when Jason is home and I can sew. Today I was feeling challenged though, to not doing any sewing today. To step away from the dishes today. To not do any laundry, but instead, be obedient to the Word of God- to enter His "sabbath-rest".

Here I am though, thinking about the pile of dishes that I had left in the kitchen from last night- I was really tired last night with a headache- so I just left them there. So, for now on, I'm going to try to plan ahead. For me, that means that I'm going to make sure everything is done on saturday. The dishes will be done that evening and put away, so all I have to do on my sabbath-rest is to rinse of the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. I will have the living room cleaned the night before, so it's not a huge job on the sabbath-rest to clean up. I will make sure on saturday that Jason has clothing to wear for work on monday. I will take a rest from my sewing.

It will require a diligence on my part on saturday to make sure things get done, but I really feel that if I'm obedient to God's word and I take a day of rest like HE has commanded, then all the rest of the days of the week, He is going to give me the strength and the energy I need to get everything else done. It's so easy in life to get burned out- especially if you're not taking a day of rest. So, here on out, that is my goal! To obey God is this area of my life!

Will you join me?

Tropical Traditions Raw Honey!

Just recently we had the honor of reviewing Tropical Traditions Raw Honey! I have never before had raw honey and was kind of skeptical, especially since I'm not a big honey fan, but once I read up on the nutritional value of raw honey, I was won over!

 

Raw honey has shown to help with illnesses, upset stomachs, cuts and abrasions! It's amazing that the pure, natural product that God gave us can be so amazing for us!  Since this honey isn't subject to the heating and filtering process like processed honey is, this honey still contains the live yeasts and enzymes. Raw honey also does not drip, it a thick cream kind of texture.

My husband absolutely LOVES this stuff! He's a huge honey fan to start with, but he said he will never view processed honey the same! He said that it's not as sweet as the processed honey, but that "it's just perfect"! He loves using it to put on his toast, pancakes, and waffles. I've used it to put in our homemade granola bars. Yum!! It's just great to know that you're consuming something that's absolutely natural and wonderful for your body!

Tropical Traditions offered this to me to review, but I am in no way obligated to post anything about it, this is my own free will! I'm almost 100% positive we'll be going back for more! 

Tropical Traditions has also offered to let me do a giveaway for a free jaw of raw honey to one of my readers! What you have to do is this:

Manditory Entries:

1. Be a follower of my blog (for one entry)

2. Subscribe to Tropical Traditions newsletter for another entry:  http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/subscribe_for_special_sales.cfm

Optional Extra Entries: 

3. Post a comment here saying what you would do with it (make sure you include your email addy) (for one entry)

4. Post on your twitter, facebook or blog account telling people about this giveaway-please include a link to the giveaway and show me the link on where you shared about the giveaway  for another entry! 

I will choose a winner on March 5th 2010 and 9pm!

Praying for your government!

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." 2 Timothy 2:1-2

I read this the other day in my devotional and forgot that I read that chapter and read it again this morning, and each time this scripture popped out at me! Whether you are democratic or republican,  whether you love our president or dislike our president-- it is to the up most importance that you PRAY for them! They do not have all the answers and they need Godly direction! They need the Spirit of the Lord to rest over them as they make decisions that will lead and direct the country that we live in. It is SO SO SO important that we pray for Godly administration! That He would expose any lies or anything hidden!

You get where I'm going! Irregardless of your politic stance, if you live in this country and believe in God, you need to be praying for the administration of our country- the Bible says so!

That's all for now!