Just a few new things...

First, I'll start with the funny Annie story. Annie is aware that she may be attending King's Academy next year for first grade if she is accepted. She has been mulling this over apparently and one day last week told me that she was a little nervous about changing schools. I asked her why and she said, "because I won't have any friends in my class." I said, "Annie, you always make friends very quickly and I think you will do just fine." She left it at that. The following Wednesday when I picked her up at school she was so excited. She said, "Mom, you were right! I do make friends really fast! There was this big girl on the playground today and she said, 'do you want to be my friend' and I told her yes and Mom, her name was Anna." (Annie speaks in one extremely long run on sentence from 7am-dark.) I told her that I was so glad she had made a new friend and asked how old Anna was and she replied, "Like, 7 or something. Probably in high school, Mom." Wow!!

Mornings at the Anderson house: We are not morning people. Each of us has some sort of funk that we wake up in and some days are worse than others. What I mean by funk....

Mark - hates the alarm clock (or should I say clocks). He uses the regular radio/alarm which switches to the "wake the dead" beeping after you hit the snooze x number of times too many; then the cell phone alarm commences and don't get me started on how horrific that one is but together they get the job done.

Me - I too hate to wake up and procrastinate crawling out of a warm bed and walking on the cold bathroom tile. I don't particularly like to talk to anyone first thing in the morning. Annie once said, "Mom, how come you never smile at me in the morning? All you ever say is how was your sleep?" Talk about maternal guilt! I'm working on this - I have started smiling more in the mornings. (Clarification: This is only the first 10 minutes or so and then I'm fine. I don't feed them breakfast while acting like the Grinch.)

Annie - Very, very difficult to wake up. Rolls over to the other side. Says things like, "I'm tired. I want to go back to sleep." But once you actually succeed in getting her on her feet she's a breeze.

Ella - The enigma. Wakes up in a great mood - at first. Hops right out of bed, smile on face, good morning everyone and then it hits. "I want to wear a dress." "Ella, I don't have a play dress for you to wear today." "But I WANT to wear a DRESS." And so the tone is set for the day.

On a serious note. I have learned something very valuable recently and wanted to share it with all of you. I have noticed that the days when I miss my quiet time are so much different than the days when I don't. It's amazing really because everything in my day seems exactly the same on the outside. The girls may still test my patience, laundry may be a mile high, hours in the car going to and from school may still be endless but something is different. I handle things differently and have a different attitude towards my children and others.

**Tangent alert** A few weeks ago, I was in the car on a Monday morning (the roughest day of my week) and a song came on the radio. In those few moments, God revealed to me that He alone is my strength. That no amount of sleep would compare to his strength to help me through my day. I was so overcome with that truth. How simple and yet so difficult sometimes to just give everything over to Him and let Him uphold us.

Anyway, I have really been trying to be more consistent with my time with the Lord but last week was just crazy. I convinced myself to sleep just a little longer and I would be more rested and able to cope with the days ahead. Wrong-o. Just the opposite happened. I was snippy with Mark and the kids and not in any way the Proverbs 31 wife that I have been studying lately. Those days when I skip that precious time I feel like I stand all day long on a ledge, teetering and about to fall overboard. Sin knocks at the door constantly and I am not as able to keep my eyes on Jesus. Please pray for me this week as I let the Lord be my strength, and consistently spend time with Him and in His word. My family most appreciates it.