Change

Today I went shopping to buy a birthday present for my mom and oldest sister. My oldest sister told me not to buy her anything because then she'd feel bad about not paying me to babysit. I told her that one day she will babysit my kids for free so she shouldn't feel bad. She said "True, but still..." I couldn't not get her something for her birthday!!!

I went shopping at Walmart and they are having some pretty amazing back to school sales:
Crayola Crayons 24 ct for 50 cents
Spiral Notebooks for 17 cents
Filler Paper 150 sheets for 88 cents
Plastic Prong Folders for 50 cents
Paper folders for 25 cents
Glue sticks for 25 cents
The list goes on...

I bought a few notebooks, but I will probably need to go buy a few of everything on the Kinder school supply list since there are always a few kids who don't bring school supplies.

After dinner, we watched G.I. Joe Retaliation. Manny got it all ready and I walked over to the couch to find this...

A tupperware full of ice cream with two spoons and a box of cookies. I laughed!! 

The ice cream is in a tupperware because the tub it was in broke. We didn't realize it was broken which is probably why it was on sale for 99 cents. Psh! A half gallon of butterfinger ice cream for 99 cents!?! Who can say no to that??

G.I. Joe Retaliation was a pretty good movie. *Spoiler Alert* Channing Tatum gets killed off right near the beginning. What I find humorous is that his character's name is Duke which is his character's name in the movie She's the Man. 

After the movie, we went to Lowe's because Manny needed a bolt to fix the strut on his truck. I was also looking for something for my next project :-) (Lowe's didn't have what I needed, but Home Depot did. Luckily both places give military discount. I take Manny with me places just to use his discount. HAHA! Totally kidding.) 

Ok so I saw this picture and I asked Manny what was wrong with it. He couldn't figure it out...

Which side of the gate is the mom on?? Manny said that is the norm nowadays. Parents don't watch their kids. How sad! This company that makes the gates is encouraging locking your child in a room so the parent can do whatever. Manny said "Those used to be for dogs, now they're for children." Hahahaha!

Alright well insight for the night from Exodus 17... The Israelites were fighting the Amalekites and as long as Moses held his hands up in the air, the Israelites would start winning, but when his arms and staff went down, the Israelites would start losing. This shows that as long as we keep praying, God's power will keep working and flowing through us. But when we stop praying, that's when things get bad because God's power has stopped flowing through us. We've stopped letting Him work through us. People, that is when it gets dangerous and scary. Don't stop praying!!! Let God use you! He wants to :-)

Hope

Today I went over to my sister's house and I drive past a local elementary school on the way. It was quite depressing to see all the cars in the parking lot... NOOOOO!!!! I am not ready for school to start.

I returned the fourth season of Friends (I am trying to watch all ten seasons before summer is over) to my sister and we went to Hobby Lobby. She needed to buy a picture frame and I needed some velcro. This year I plan on velcroing my kids' name tags to the tables. This will make rearranging table seating 
so much easier and it won't leave a huge sticky spot like tape does. I will post pictures of that once it is all set up in my classroom.

Last night I used this app called Sleep Time. It keeps track of your sleep patterns such as how often you were awake, in a light sleep, or in a deep sleep. I found it quite intriguing. Just as a glimpse, I will post my measurements from last night. (I use my iPod not my iPhone so it doesn't drain my phone's battery).

As you can see, out of my nine hours of sleep, only about half was deep sleep or REM which is when you're in your most relaxed state. I can't wait to use this app again tonight. This is interesting data. This app has an alarm that is supposed to wake you up at the most optimal time. You can set your alarm, but it might wake you before your alarm because you will feel more rested. It's cool though :-)

Tonight my husband requested that I make him a smoothie for breakfast tomorrow. I enjoy using our awesome wedding present. It's a Ninja!!

The first smoothie I made with it tasted exactly like the Banana Berry smoothie at McDonald's. The second time I made a smoothie it tasted like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a cup. Not sure how this time turned out, but yum!!!

I adore these cups my best friend gave us as a wedding present. Perfect for smoothies!!!

As a final thought for today... This morning I was reading in Exodus and one verse really stuck out to me... 

Exodus 15:26 He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you."

God doesn't want anyone to suffer. He longs for everyone to be healthy and whole (that doesn't mean you won't ever get sick, but there is hope when you do). God says He will heal us if we obey Him, but beyond that, He sent Jesus to die for us and by HIS stripes we are healed. We do not have to live with any type of pain--physical, mental, spiritual, etc. God is reaching out saying "Ask me to heal you and I will!!!" He is ready and willing. Are you ready? Are you willing to ask? Step out in faith.