A Good Morning

Do you ever have one of those mornings where all seems right with the world. It's like getting all green lights when you are in a hurry. That is the type of morning the LORD has given me. I started my day with 6am coffee with a dear friend before we went for a nice power walk. Power may be overstating it a bit. At best, I may have worked off the overdose of french vanilla creamer I conditioned my coffee with. What I needed most out of our coffee time is exactly what I got...a big laugh. She told me a story that caused me to have one of those laughs that goes on and on until you cry. Oh my I haven't laugh that hard in a long while

If that wasn't enough, when I came in after our walk, everybody was still asleep (Tom had left for work)! Oh yeah. It was off to the bedroom to spend some quiet time with the LORD! I only got 5 minutes of His Word but it was exactly what I needed...I have come to expect that from Him- who am I that He would be mindful of me but He is.

In the picture, you can see my day got even sweeter from there. I was in Trey's room when they woke up all sleepy eyed and hair a mess. Wil is NOT affectionate but I do get 5 minutes where he just wants to get awake in mommy's arms and then he is good for the day, Maggie, on the other hand, will suck her fingers and lay on me all day, and Trey...well he hasn't a choice! I know I can talk a mile about my kiddos but it is the glory work the LORD has chosen for me and I praise Him for it. The great thing about blogs is you get to be....well....kind of self-centered if you will. By that I mean what you write is what you want to write.

Then God just about overdid it when Marinda sent me an email to say she knew of a woman who had a little tykes playground thingy (excuse my wording from here on out...I am working on borrowed time....it is just about naptime and that is usually when my day can turn ugly. Anywho it was awesome and would be perfect for my kids and it was c-h-e-a-p in price that is. At this point I was singing and dancing until I checked my email. "It sold" was all it said and that was all I needed to read before I forgot all about my wonderful morning. Isn't that just like us to forget so easily the blessings of the LORD. Remember how the Israelites were after God had delivered them from slavery, parted the Red Sea for them, provided for them food, and not to mention just knowing they were His chosen people. I can read that sometimes and think how could they be so ungrateful, until God says "hold up and check yourself. You too forget where I brought you from and what I have so graciously given you." I may not have a Little Tykes playground but I have a sweet Savior who showers me with an undeserved blessed life!

One On One Playtime

Susanna Wesley. Have you ever heard of her? She was the mother of Charles (famous Christian Theologian) and John Wesley (wrote Hark the Herald Angels Sing and leader in the Methodist Movement among other things). Anyway I am sure you are familiar at least with their names. Back to Susanna. When I became pregnant with Trey (our third), we were taken aback. Wil and Mags being 2 and 3 yrs old at the time, I freaked a bit. My great friend Kathy brought me a book (knowing how a book always makes me feel better) and that book was about Susanna Wesley. She had 19 children in her lifetime. She was a devoted mother and her mission became to see her children know the LORD and serve the LORD. It was a very inspiring book and literally made my spirit rejoice over my pregnancy. Susanna being the diligent woman she was set time aside each week to spend one on one with each of her children. Now she didn't have 19 children living in her home at the time of this vow. It was more like 7 I believe. Nonetheless reading this sacrifice inspired me to make the same kind of commitment with my own children.

At the time of my commitment, it was rather easy. I did what I wanted with them. A little ball with Wil here and a little snuggle time with my Mags-E girl there. However over the past few months I have seen a shift in Mags and Wil and a little glitch in my system. When Trey come along I slacked a little on the one on one time and tried to just play with Wil and Maggie simultaneously. Uh new plan momma. Maggie no longer wants to chase Wil's stray baseballs or run for his rebounds. She wants to play pretend and Wil wants to eat, sleep, drink any sport and as you can tell in the picture, tennis is his new favorite.

Ok who gets totally exhausted playing pretend? I for one am horrible at pretend but I do the best I can and my baby girl can pretend to be Dora or Ariel or momma all night long without effort. She is so funny. When I mess up and call her Maggie during our pretend time, she'll say "who's Maggie?" Whoa I am getting way off subject here. Sorry.

My point is playing with them one on one has become something that I have to work hard at. But more and more I see the importance in it. Granted I do put too much pressure on myself to play with them because I realize it is a very healthy thing to have them play with each other and on their own but when I spend alone time with them #1- they shine #2 - I get to know their personality and their talents; their strengths; their hearts and the list goes on. Sometimes when I am with them I think of Steven Curtis Chapman's song Cinderella: "so i'll dance [play] with Cinderella [or the prince] while they are still in my arms.....cuz the clock will strike midnight and they'll be gone."

And you say "what about Trey?" and I say breakfast, lunch, and dinner Trey is as close to momma as one can get [get what I'm sayin]? And if you see him out one day without a face, its because I kissed it off!!

My Wilson's 5th Birthday

5 years ago on August 19, 2003 at 1:01pm. I was introduced to the true meaning of unconditional love. My son Wilson Collis Archer came into this world. There are so many things that I adore about this boy: his sensitive heart, his tight relationship with his daddy, his smile, his loyalty, his athletic ability, his sweetness, the way he loves his sister and wants to protect her, how good he is with Trey, his big blue eyes, his serious personality and on and on. I told him the other day how his growing up makes momma kind of sad. To me he said, "it's o.k. momma i'll still be your baby" Thank you Wil for knowing exactly what your momma needed to hear.

We had a family party for Wilson. Here is a video of the candle ceremony and some more pictures!! We had a great time eating cake, opening presents, and playing drive-way tennis.

Little Hearts For His Glory

Today was our first day of school at home. We began our kindergarten curriculum with Wil [and Maggie kind of plays along] though she is not at all far behind big brother. We are hoping to use the same curriculum with them as long as we home school.

Tom took me to breakfast early this morning which started me off on a happy note. I got home and fed them breakfast, watched Handy Manny, did chores, and then began. We started off with Bible/Devotions. From the get-go Wil asked "how many pages do we have to read?". Yikes thought Misty. Somewhere in the devotion we got on the subject of Heaven and how we get to Heaven. This is a conversation we've had hundreds of times but this time Wil starts to cry. My theory is that he is starting to process all the little things we've taught him and its a bit confusing to him.

First he asked me "Do I have to die on the cross?"

Squaring this one away he says "I don't want to believe in Jesus because I don't want to go to Heaven because I want to stay here with you"

The conversation continues and I know that I could have done a much better job than I did. Hopefully God spoke through my clumsy words. In the moment, I felt like I needed to get him to a point of complete understanding. Afterwards I realized he is 5 yrs and the big picture will come but it will take many more of these moments. For now my kids need only to know how very much Jesus loves them!! I myself am one to want immediate answers from the LORD but HE knows just how much or how little my finite mind needs to know. He knows the big plan. My part is to seek Him for the details.

Our school day got progressively better. I enjoy watching them learn. It can be a real hoot too! Here are some pics of our day.

Praise and Worship Time: They love to groove to Steve Green's Hide em' In Your Heart cd (introduced to me by Mrs Dana Hewitt). Green's cds are scripture set to catchy music.

Storytime: Adventures of Reddy Fox

Check out Wil's footwear. One of my reasons for homeschooling: anything goes in fashion

Phonics: This was my favorite part and Wil's too. He concentrates better when he sucks his thumb...I'm tryin' I really am (to rid this habit)

This was our day! All I can ask is that my efforts were pleasing to the LORD!

What A Day!

Tommy and Misty Archer hardly ever have what one might call a "crazy" day. We just aren't busy people. We love the simple life or we are boring...take your pick. This day was very much an exception. Not being accustomed to business, I made a serious to do list Friday night.
Even with the precious to-do list, my day didn't start off well.
Trey woke up at 6:15am after I had had a late, but fun Friday night (Thanks Escues for a fun time although I did have nightmares about falling down a flight of medal spiral stairs). then I threw a breaker trying to plug up my treadmill. I couldn't fix it so I had to call my heroic husband to walk me through the whole breaker thing, then Trey wouldn't nap (that alone brings me to tears). Our favorite Veggies, Bob and Larry were suppose to meet us @ Lifeway at 11am (can you believe we have a Lifeway--YES!!) Momma worked her punctual magic and we were there at 10 till 11 camera in hand.
When Bob and Larry walked in, you would have thought Elvis had just entered the building. Kids young and old were screaming and fainting....hysteria I'm tellin ya. Mags was getting frustrated cuz Larry wouldn't talk back and once Wil hugged Larry so hard that Larry almost fell and cleared 20 or 30 people with his bigness. Finally and I do mean finally after all the tearful goodbyes we left the Veggies but then Wil wanted to wait on Saraya. To that I said, "Unless Saraya is going to be dressed as a big cucumber or a red tomato were out of here!" In 2007 we took the kids to Branson to Celebration City where Bob and Larry were suppose to put on a show. For 2 months prior to our trip, the talk was always on Bob and Larry. Tom and me were so excited to take our Veggie Tale- loving kids to see the show. We hyped it up in a big way!! 2 months later we walk into the theatre anxiously waiting the "show" to start. I'm not lying when I say 2 young girls walk out and did a sad sad skit and sang some veggie tale songs. The last 5 minutes of the show Bob and Larry come out and stood letting the parents and kids come up for a quick photo shoot-sad sad sad for Wil and Mags--mad mad mad for momma and daddy. The Lifeway appearance was much better. It also helped that we had no expectations.
Our next stop was Craighead Forrest Park to our first CHE (homeschooling group) outing...a picnic. We ate BBQ, got a little acquainted with some of the people (we are newcomers), and then the kids played their little hearts out! I had a lot of fun. Thanks again, Rachel, for taking care of me.
We headed home very tired. Everyone got a nap except me (yes i want sympathy) and then we were off to our friend Ross's birthday party. Did you know that Ross Taylor and Wil was born on the same day? Wil is actually a few hours older but Ross wears a size 12 or13shoe and Wil wears a 9 on a good day. There was swimming and talking and a wonderful blue cake. You should be able to see it in the picture. I'm just thankful that Wil finally got to go to a male birthday party because Wil is surrounded by girls and he will stand toe to toe with anyone who tries to mess with any one of his precious female friends, but it was nice to see him hang with the boys.
Ross opened his presents. He got some cool presents...ones that I have never heard of. Tell me. Am I the only one who has never heard of I-Dogs or Webkins. Apparently they are the newest craze. I have got to get with it. But now the only thing I'm gonna get is in bed!!

Dollar$ & Sen$e

The Archer home is presently undergoing some fun (no really it has been fun) changes in our financial dealings. It all started a couple months ago when I asked Tom if we should have some sort of college fund for the kids. It is so easy to not think that far ahead but the reality is we will have 3 kids graduate in a 4 year period. Wil and Maggie (unless she quits school and elopes...oh my I shouldn't joke about such a thing) will graduate one year apart and Trey will be a couple years behind Mags. WOW...my sentiments exactly!!

God is so cool! After our conversation about college funds, Dave Ramsey come on the radio one night while Tom was driving home. We had both heard a lot about Dave Ramsey. My sister is die hard Ramsey, some of our good friends, the Kingstons, teach his program at their church, and a lady from Tom's work uses his plan. Much of his principles are common sense...in Mr Ramsey's own words...he teaches what God and grandma would tell ya. Tommy got the book and read it in a matter of 2 or 3 weeks. As he would read, he would share the principles or the "baby steps" we would need to take. I gotta say my husband makes me feel so secure financially and in many other ways. I'm sorry but sometimes you just gotta praise your man!

Tommy is a blessed man because I'm not a spender or a shopper. I am very frugal so when he pitched the idea of going full throttle with Dave's plan, I excitedly agreed. Since we have more or less lived conservatively in our spending we haven't had to make drastic changes but one cool thing we have implemented is a budget. This budget includes everything from haircuts to lawn care to groceries to clothes. And you may think that sounds like a drag but contrary to that it is freeing, liberating even. We are now debt free except our house (which Ramsey calls debt free)!!

We are now working on saving up 3 to 6 months worth of income. This step could take a while or maybe when the promise land arrives (that is what we call tax refund time) we could finish it out. Who knows? The budget allows us to track our money very efficiently. Organization and planning really gets my blood flowin...I know I'm such a nerd. But it is fun to work as a team on this. Ramsey's plan has given us the means to be better stewards of God's money. Ramsey's book is called The Total Money Makeover and Ramsey's material is called Financial Peace University. And here is a betcha- didn't- know- this fact. Jeremy and Amanda Escue (the new and beloved Crossroadians) have actually taught Ramsey's material. Its good stuff.

On a somewhat different note, I have been trying to find ways to save. In this quest I ran across some interesting information today. Raise your hand if you are a Target (the store) fan. Here is some cool info about their markdowns:

1. Mon- kids clothes and electronics are marked down

2. Tues- women's clothes, domestics

3. Wed- men's clothes, toys, health and beauty

4. Thur- Lingerie, shoes, housewares

5. Fri- cosmetics, automotive

6. if its marked down to 30-50%, come back in two weeks to see if its marked down further

7. if the last digit of the clearance price is a 4, it is the final mark down (so if you need it and think it'll go down more, it won't if its last digit is 4)

8. Full price ends in 9

9. Target is known to send the items that don't sale on clearance to the Goodwill store. I think Jonesboro's Goodwill is on Highland.

I thought this was pretty cool to know. This is not 100% applicable to every store but after thinking on some of my purchases, I think it is for Jonesboro's. Its worth looking into.

Now why did I blog about this. If I were you, and I needed a new financial plan....Ramsey's philosophies are very doable and Ramsey is a Christian and his method reflects that. Everyone I know has had some sort of financial dilemma which is the very reason money is something Jesus spoke on many times in the New Testament. This may not be of any interest to anybody but it interested me and its my blog so sorry. I wanna say one more thing. Nevermind I've said enough

Family Fun

I am a fool for Archer family night. Every member of the family gets a turn picking what they want to do on Friday nights. We can't take credit for this of course. We just followed suit behind the Moix's. It's o.k. to steal a great idea as long as you make it your own right? It was Wil's turn this night and putt putt was his pick. O.k I've tried to hold back for the past 5 years but now I can contain it no longer. My son dominates. What does he dominate? All things sports. Before I continue, the LORD gets all the credit....well HIM and a proud daddy. He got none of his talent from momma. Its all Archer [tell me if i'm wrong but the Archer brothers glory days are starting to fade...what is up with all the injuries boys?] !! Well I have to say my own 3 brothers were pretty dominate themselves but that trait missed me [and Maggie...you'll see why] by a mile. Picture it! It was hole 2, Lil Archer steps up with putter in hand, he looks, he gets his stance, clears the mechanism, and you got HOLE IN ONE. And you maybe thinking whoopee...read on my friend. Please know my bragging is all in fun of course!!

The proud golfer. And from here on out he was Mr Golf Pro or so he thought. He was handing out pointers left and right.

a few holes later....The Archenater strikes again! Hole N One baby. At this point he has a little strut in his step if you know what I mean uncle Mike. Now on to Maggie.

This is what she thought of putt putt. I'm not kidding when I say out of 18 holes, she participated in 2 of them. She totally entertained herself by talking to the fake animals and pulling her dress over her head while she played with her belly button. See she is talented too.

Seconds later and I do mean seconds. She fell off this horse and landed right on her face. Poor girl.

and then there's my perfect one. He says, " you fools can go sweat in the hot sun if you want but I like it here where my mammaw spoils me rotten and jumps when I say jump" I love you baby boy and before long you'll join us.

I have no idea what I've done to this layout. I can hear Dana laughing right now!!

Thank You Chapman Family

This was not the blog entry that I intended on making. As I sat down at my computer, Larry King Live came on with the Chapman family. As you probably know, Steven Curtis Chapman's 5 yr old daughter was run over in the family driveway by her 17 year old brother.
They seemed very nervous (probably cuz of the fear of their faith being raked over the coals by Mr King). He asked some hard questions...ones that I could never ask and wonder if they should be asked like "how did the accident happen?" and then asking Will (the older brother) "could this have been prevented?" Talking to Larry King from where I sat on the other side of the television set I said "What are you thinking asking those insensitive questions?" But the Chapman's answered them politely and with such courage. And I am telling you as they sat in that interview [and it is still going on as I sit here...I'm typing this between commercials] I could sense the LORD's arms around them as they spoke each word. God did not send them through this fire alone. He is soooo obviously right along side them. The Chapman family is enduring the greatest fear of many families. I keep thinking "they are taking one for the team" and what I mean by that is that watching them deal with this strengthens my faith, it causes praise in my heart, it causes me to be overcome with compassion, it reminds of the uncertainity of life, it reminds me to number my days, andI know that multitudes of people feel the same way. I have never met the Chapman's and Ive never even been to one of his concerts but they feel like family to me as I watch them enduring this tragedy for God's glory. I wish my memory could retain all the AMAZING GOD GLORIFYING comments the Chapman's spoke. One thing Mary Beth (the mom) said at the very end: "in the darkest moments when they had went as far down as they could go, maybe not even had landed on their feet" she said "the foundation in those moments was still solid". That foundation is Jesus Christ crucified who left us with hope. He will never leave us or forsake us.

I had just shared with my dear friend Rachel about how lately I have been really battling Satan as I lay in my bed at night. My mind takes me to horrible places....like what if this happens to my kids or my husband. It has kept me up several nights in the past few weeks. The only thing that gives my peace [great peace] is the LORD God almighty, the Sovereign One. He gives and takes away but His love is unfailing!!! And like Mr Chapman's new song says "we are Yours God" And as for Misty Archer, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Daddy's Barbershop

Being a stay at home mom I'm always looking for ways to save and I'm frugal...thats a nice way of saying I'm cheap. Wil's hair was starting to get out of control. In order to save money I talked Wil into letting Tommy cut it. Let me just say that Wil is fearful of anything sharp, loud, or odd looking around his head. Tom's clippers are all 3 of those things. Here Wil looks happy even excited right. Well it only gets worse.

My sweet clueless boy.

Here we go....

It was over before it began.

He is so done being brave. I would be too if I had a tablespoon of hair in my mouth

Here is the finished product. If you know a good barber in town let me know. I'm scared if we try to attempt this again Wil might run away from home!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Do you wanna hear my odd analogy of many marriages today? O.k. you asked for it. Marriage is like a wonderful buffet filled with fresh fruit, mouth watering steaks, and scrumptious desserts. Marriage is full of beautiful blessings. The problem is that men and women spend years with each other only feeding off the salad part of the buffet. We miss out on the blessings that God offers within the marriage relationship. Marriage is the greatest blessing in my life. And the more Tom and I seek the LORD on our roles and the more we learn about each other's needs, the sweeter it gets! It isn't something that happens without sincere effort. If you think it'll just happen, don't hold your breath.

Tommy listens to a Christian radio program everyday called http://www.familylife.com/ and I too enjoy it when I can. This week Dr.Emerson Eggerichs was on the program. He wrote the book Love And Respect. The subject was respecting you husband. Before you tune me out ladies, let me say it was very insightful. Honestly I thought I was doing pretty good in respecting my man. After listening to this, I found that respecting Tommy meant more than what I thought. Respect is a need a man has....let me say it again...a need...a need a man has apart from his performance. Ashamedly I admit sometimes I would think men just need to stop being so insecure and whiny. The thing is women have the need to feel loved apart from our performance right? Its a crazy cycle. Without love, women react w/o respect and without respect, men react without love. So who is going to make the first move. It was an awesome program. I really urge you women and men (it talked about men playing their part too) to listen to it. The link is http://www.familylife.com/site/c.dnJHKLNnFoG/b.3876235/k.8398/Advanced_Search.htm
Here are a few helpful things I learned:
1. men aren't a group of insecure whiners...respect is a God given need for our hubbies
2. we can't disrespect our men in order to motivate them to be loving
3. a man needs to be respected apart from his performance
4. no husband has loving affection toward a woman who he thinks despises him as a human being
5. my man [Tommy]doesn't like the motherly finger that treats him like a 5 yr old
I know that the few women that read my blog knows what respect means to your man but pass it on to a uninformed wife you know. I hope this blog doesn't sound preachy because this message of respecting my man I needed to hear. I burned the program on cds so if you wanna borrow them, they are yours. I'm out.

Make The Day Count

A year ago this piece of artwork would have sent my blood to a boil. Today it just slightly elevates me blood pressure. This is permanent marker on a brand new kitchen table chair. My Maggie is notorious for this sort of behavior. I'm not sure if she just wants to see how far she can go with me or if she really saw no harm in it. The last guess is highly doubtful don't you think. Maggie may be a lot of things but clueless is not one of them. Can I get an amen?? I won't get into the specifics on how I handled this little situation but I will say it involved a little wooden spoon we at the Archer household call "Mr Woody".

My verse this summer is Psalm 90:12 which is Number your days aright so that you may gain a heart of wisdom. Mags making her mark like this is unacceptable obviously but me going off on her without reserve is unacceptable as well. I want to make my days count with them. If I would have reacted without self-control, our whole morning would have been shot.

Our days are numbered. I want to make mine count. We are never guaranteed another day with those we love. My dear friend Melissa Meeker taught me so much. There were so many times throughout my day when I would think of her and be reminded first of the awesome strength that God gives and second how often my eternal perspective becomes blurred.

I started to leave that marker on that chair as a reminder. Who am I fooling. No I didn't. A picture of it worked just fine. And to all you anal moms like me who are asking themselves the important question. I got the marker off with Mr Clean's Magic Eraser but don't use it to wipe off your child's face--duh!!!!