Taking a Break

I am taking a break from making hair bows. I've been making them for 3 years. I enjoy it a lot, but there are a couple of factors I am taking into consideration.

First, a new law requiring lead testing on all products for children ages 13 and under is making it impossible for me to continue once it goes into effect on the 10th of Feb. There has been some work in Washington to change this law to provide an exemption for home crafters as it did for resale shops, garage sales, etc. So, I am watching what is happening there.

Secondly, there is so much going on in our lives right now that I just need to let something go. So, for the time being, it is the hair bow making.

If the exemption should come through, I'll re-examine where I am with this, but for the time being, I just want to thank all of you who have been my customers these past three years. I've really enjoyed getting to know you all. You've been wonderful!

Because He Lives,
Tonni

Lots of Snow!

...and ice.....

Overwhelmed!

I cannot begin to understand all that has been happening in my life this past week. God has been working big time, through so many people, books, music, movies, blogs, just life in general and I'm struggling to process it all.

I've been in my Bible a lot this month. I'm doing a reading plan to read the whole thing through this year. But I find myself doing several days reading at a time. For the first time in my life, I just cannot seem to get enough of God's word! It's amazing. I admit it started out with my need to finish things once I start them, but now it is just a thirst for the word of God!! I need to thank the amazing ladies in Thursday night Bible study. We are studying Romans. And the study is good. Women genuinely trying to get at what GOD is trying to teach us. We are not making excuses or trying to twist the words that fit more comfortably in our lives, we're just asking the Holy Spirit to talk to us, to teach us.

This past Wednesday, we had a community dinner at church. We do them once a month. Nothing fancy, spaghetti, salad, garlic bread. No charge, just come and meet your neighbors, make new friends,etc. There is no hard sell, no sell at all, just the opportunity for us to serve. The first month we had mainly people from the church. But each month it has grown. This past week we had 80-90 people. People who attend Grace Church, brothers and sisters from other churches in town, old friends, new friends, people new to Norwood. Very cool.

On Thursday, my friend, Erin, had a beautiful baby boy. He is so beautiful And because we are women and couldn't wait anymore, we called her at the hospital and were able to talk to her right after he was born. And we prayed with her. Gotta love cell phones that allow conference calls.

Saturday morning the whole crew went to a Community Breakfast at New Bethel Baptist, also in Norwood. Several of our church people were there and lots of other familiar faces, friends, family in the body of Christ. I couldn't help think, as I was cutting pancakes for the kids, "this is making God smile! His children coming together to break bread."

This was the beginning of my migraine. A stress migraine because even good stress is still stress. So, as I was sitting on the couch, with lots of pain medications, we through in a DVD that I got for $5. Facing the Giants. All of us watched. It was wonderful. The kids liked it so much we watched it again on Sunday evening.

Sunday. Where to start? A former student of Kevin's came to share his testimony. He was an alcoholic, homeless, watched his father die, lost the love of his life, was let go by the rest of his family. But, he found Jesus in a Taco Bell. He was approached by a woman who offered him shelter, took him to church, led him to Jesus. He spoke to us a good 90 minutes. A really good 90 minutes. Using the parable of the prodigal son. Now, if you are not Methodist, this might not seem unusual to you, but a 3 hour service is really unusual. Praise Jesus, almost everyone stayed to here this young man tell us how Jesus delivered him. I can't tell what he said in anyway to give it justice. But I will tell you that after the service, he gathered up our youth and took them into our prayer room and prayed with them for an hour. I don't know what was said behind that closed door, but I know he loved on those kids with all the love that the Holy Spirit poured out on him.

I was blessed to hear even more of the amazing things God has done for him when he braved lunch with Kevin, the three youngest kiddos and I.

And blogs. I love reading blogs. But there was one that really brought tears to my eyes today.

And so tonight, once again my head hurts. Thank you,Jesus, for overwhelming me! Thank you for this headache caused by good stress, not bad. And Lord, please, continue to overwhelm me with You !

Me and Elliana

My friend, Ada, mentioned in a comment that I have a Mini-me! Here we are together!

My Kids Make Me Laugh!

Today was the Inauguration of President Obama. I was talking to Josiah about it....

Mommy: This is a very important day in history.

Josiah: Why?

Mommy: Because this is the first time EVER that there has been a black President of the United States.

Josiah: I know he's black. Look, he's on t.v. I can see he's black!

*After a pause

Josiah: I think I'll be the first blond president!

(how do you answer that???)

The girls were in a wedding this weekend. A beautiful, dignified affair....until my girls are there anyway. When I walked into the sanctuary for the rehearsal, the girls were on as only my girls can be. Charis and Ella were acting out a scene from Scooby Doo, Where's My Mummy? Because that is what you do when you have a platform and an audience. They were pretending to swim in sand because Scooby and Shaggy do when they see a mirage. This went on for a while when Risi rolled over on to her back and hollered:

"Jesus, help me!!!!"

Ah, the perils of being a PK! Or is it the perils of being a PK's mother????

A Beautiful Family Bonding Experience

What is it that just brings your family together? You know, where no one is on the phone, on the computer. No one is fighting. The whole family comes together for some quality time. Those momement are few and far between here. With 5 kids, someone is always talking or doing something!

But the past couple of Sundays, we've had a whole hour of peace. A time when we gather to enjoy the same thing. Are you wondering what our secret is? Okay, because I love you, I'll share it with you. Our local ABC station has started airing reruns of this wholesome, family show:

No nothing brings a family together like watching people try to cross the Big Balls or run the Dreadmill as they duck a huge wrecking ball or swim in a huge vat of foam! Yes, nothing brings a family like laughing at the pain of people dumb enough to actually go on this show!!

I Was On the News This Week....

Wanna know why? Check this out!!!! I even have a link!!
(Disclaimer...I did not make the bow pictured!!)

Heeeeeeeeeeere's Tonni!

And some more!

Some Pictures

My sister and I had a wonderful friend do some pictures this fall. These were taken by Cindy Tucker. I haven't posted them until now because they were Christmas presents for our parents. So, over the next few days, I'll be sharing some of them with you! There are almost 400 of them, but I'll just show you some of my favorites....

A Reminder

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Romans 8:28-30

Meal Plan Monday

Here's what the Jobes are eating this week. It's not terribly exciting because I am trying to use only what I have on hand and NOT go to the grocery.

Monday:
Lunch:Ramen noodles (4 of my 5 kids would eat these everyday and they are cheap), crackers
Dinner: Pork chops, baked potatoes, veggies

Tuesday:
lunch: grilled cheese, tomato soup
dinner: potato soup, corn muffins (Jiffy mix, I stock up when they are super cheap)

Wednesday:
lunch: mac & cheese, carrots, dip
dinner: pasta w/pesto& broccoli, corn muffins

Thursday:
lunch: PB&J, pretzels, applesauce
dinner: grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes, veggies

Friday:
lunch: pasta w/ shredded cheddar
dinner: chicken nuggets w/ fries (kids only, K&T at rehearsal dinner)

Saturday:
lunch: chicken lunch meat, cheese, crackers, applesauce
dinner: Wedding.

For other meal plans check out Organized Junkie!

An Amazing Blessing

Last night, my Bible study took the night off from 'studying' to pray for one of our own. Our dear friend, Linda, has been really sick for a couple of months. She is waiting for a study to open up for her for a new medication. Her immune system is compromised. She runs a fever most of the time. She is exhausted.

When she asked for prayer, we were so blessed! A few of the ladies had to beg off. They were worried because they were sick or had been exposed to germs and didn't want to take the chance of carrying germs to Linda.

We met up at church and piled into Tracy's car. When we got to Linda's, we spent some time meeting her 2 birds, cat, and dog and catching up with each other.

And then we started to pray. All holding hand. Prayers for Linda's physical, mental, and spiritual health. Heart felt prayers from a group of people who love Jesus and love Linda.

Then I read some Bible versus about annoining with oil. Exodus 30:22-25, Hebrews 1:9, and James 5:13-16. Then we laid hands on Linda. We prayed and annointed her with oil. I felt that the Spirit was right there in our midst. Absolutely palpable.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow......

Works for Me Wednesday

I can't even begin to explain the sock situation in our household. 7 pairs of feet. 14 feet. I've struggled with socks since our oldest was born 9 1/2 years ago. It has gotten worse with every child. There are socks everywhere, under beds, in the couch. In toy boxes (?). None of them pairs.
Then, I got an idea. (Shocking!) Whenever anyone takes off socks, they roll them into a sock ball, You know, you put the socks together and fold them in half using one of the socks. The benefits are tremendous. No longer do the kids only find one sock after they take off their socks and then decide to go outside. Because the socks are rolled together! Before, they'd take them off and drop them where ever all over the house. (Honestly, how can one sock be in the upstairs bathroom and the other in the kitchen? How do you do that?)

The socks go into the laundry like this. When I do the laundry, I just separate them and throw them in! Both socks from one pair in the same load of laundry. I didn't know it was possible! So now, when I fold the laundry, socks are matched up!!

I know this may sound silly to others, but I cannot even begin to imagine how much time I have spent hunting socks in my life time!!

I admit, I have just recently implemented this strategy, and it does involve a bit of encouraging (translate: nagging) for the kids to follow through with this, but it has made my mornings much more pleasant!!

Meal Planning!

Last night, Kevin and I looked at our expenditure for 2008. We are doing okay. We figured out we spent less on groceries per month in 2008 than we did in 2007. Pretty good, but I'ld like to cut it waaaaay, back so I am starting to really plan meals. This week's goal is to cook only what I have in the house. No extra grocery trips. I was blessed to find I had a lot of meat in the house. I need a ton of protein because of my surgery. (thank you, Erin! You rock!)

So, here is what the Jobe clan is eating this week.

Monday:
Lunch: Ramen noodles, crackers, peaches
Dinner: London broil, corn, potatoes

Tuesday:
Lunch: Grilled cheese, tomato soup
Dinner: left overs (chicken and noodles, beef and noodles, broccoli)

Wednesday:
Lunch: Macaroni & cheese, carrots and dip
Dinner: Pasta bake, corn muffins.

Thursday:
Lunch: Chicken noodle soup, applesauce, crackers
Dinner: Hamburgers, chicken nuggets, fries or veggie

Friday
Lunch: PBJ, pretzels, applesauce
Dinner Grilled chicken, rice, and broccoli

Saturday
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Pizza and salad at church event

4 Princess Bows

As many of you know, I started making hair bows for my girls a while back and lots of you liked them! (you liked them, you really liked them!!) Anyway, I am in the process of updating my site and adding some new things.

As of the beginning of 2009-that's today!-all of the profit from hair bows will go directly to fund missions to Cub@! The money I make will go to either help fund our transportation to Cub@ or to buy needed supplies for our brothers and sisters at El Salvador Church.

I will, of course, continue to offer Dawn's amazing tutus and Melissa's exquisite jewelry but I don't make those and make no money from them. I still encourage you to check them out, but I wanted you to know that that money does not go to Cub@ missions.

I really hope that you will check out 4 Princess Bows and take a look around. If you don't see what you are looking for, contact me through the site. I can probably make or find what you are looking for.

My Man

Kevin was messing around in the kitchen yesterday, at least I thought he was messing around.

When I went to go see what was going on I saw this!

And then I saw this! He scrubbed the stove clean AND cleaned behind it for me! (I'll spare you the picture of the mess under the stove.) Don't I have a great guy? Not to mention a much cleaner kitchen!

Thankful Thursday

I have so much to be thankful for. I seem to always mention my kids and hubby, all of whom I am crazy about! (In case you haven't noticed by now.) I also tend to mention my family, which is wonderful! No in-law issues here. But God has also blessed me with some amazing friends. Amazing women who are always there (or here?) for me. So today, I am going to tell you about an amazing friend of mine. Those of you who know her, see if you can guess who it is.

This woman has been blessed with a servant's heart. She loves to serve at church, her friends, her family, and yes, even total strangers. Sometimes we will meet for breakfast way too early in the morning, just so we can hang out and talk and share. I can tell this gal ANYTHING and know it goes no further. She listens to me rant and rave and doesn't bat an eye when I come back later to apologize. She just accepts me in all of my humaness.

She is an inspiration in her desire to know the Word of God. She is so open about what she doesn't know that it allows the rest of us to be just as honest.

She is a mom of two, caretaker for many more, and yet always has time to talk when I call. She's an amazing listener.

She is a gorgeous lady, inside and out and I am blessed to know her and call her friend!