The Seven Sevens

So I am finally responding to my tag...sorry Becky :-( I'm a bit slow lately.

Seven things I hope to do before I die:
1. See all of my children believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and walk in Him.
2. Grow again in Jesus myself... (Soon Lord! It seems like it's been winter for at least a year)
3. Write letters of affirmation to all of my kids, for them to read after I am gone
4. Completely organize my home and develop better, more orderly habits
5. Hold my grandchildren (and help to train them Lord?)
6. Develop the habit of writing everyday; and write a book :-)
7. Learn to play the piano well enough to play hymns effortlessly

Seven things I cannot do:
1. Throw a grenade (or throw at all for that matter :-) - just ask the drill seargent who spotted me as I threw my one (and only) live grenade. He refused to let me throw the second one due to the amount of dirt which landed on us after my first throw. And Lord knows how I practiced every day in the field.)
2. Tap dance (yet I would LOVE to learn)
3. Grow flowers from seed in my yard (I apparently need a greenhouse)
4. Fly an airplane
5. Fix my computer or printer (Nate found a dead moth in our printer and David swears he saw the dead moth fly in :-) )
6. Go to bed on time...here I sit at 10:28, rubbing my tired eyes! Lord, have mercy!
7. Leave any Death by Chocolate from Bennigans on my plate (it must be THE most delicious thing on the planet)... is there a Bennigan's in St. Louis? I think I will go back to Iowa just to get a slice.

Seven things that attract me to my spouse: (significant other, best friend)
1. The grace which characterizes his behavior (he's like the Lord Jesus, I tell him, full of grace and truth)
2. His keen intelligence
3. His gorgeous green eyes, with their own unique orange spot
4. His marvelously sculpted chin
5. His hands (their warmth and strength)
6. His excitement when he tells me about a new idea
7. His joviality and sense of humor

Seven things I say often:
1. Really?
2. Oh, my goodness!
3. I see.
4. You did it!
5. Mommy is doing this because it's the best thing for YOU.
6. That's fantastic!
7. I know what you mean.

Seven books or book series I love:
1. The Holy Bible
2. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House Series
3. The Zion Chronicles by Bodie and Brock Thoene
4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
5. The Mark of the Lion Series by Francine Rivers
6. On Writing Well by William Zinser
7. To Train Up a Child by Michael and Debbie Pearl

Seven movies I do watch over and over again: (I'll update if I think of more)
...rarely do I watch a movie, let alone watch one over and over, so this is hard...
1. Luther (I actually saw this movie 3 times and loved it each time)
2. The Jesus Movie starring Brian Deacon (I've seen it at least 3 times)
3. Mary Poppins
4. Lord of the Rings
5. most Star Trek movies (Nathan and I really like The Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock...etc)
6. Mr. Bean's Christmas Special (actually a thirty minute show) - this is so funny that I laugh so hard I cry...EVERY YEAR!
7.

Seven people I want to join in this Seven Sevens:
If you are reading this post, and have a blog or a way to respond on the Internet, then consider yourself tagged! Please comment so I know to come and read your responses. This is the kind of tag I like :-).

The Baby....

Is a boy! We found out yesterday for sure, though I was pretty sure based on how my body reacted with Josh and David. It is much more fun to be pregnant with girls - at least for me. Please pray for us though, for the placenta is very low (partially covering the cervix). Hopefully it will move before this baby is born!

Okay, I've learned my lesson. Don't ever title a blog post "Today" and then cease writing for so long! It is so annoying to see my site from time to time with the same fresh, outdated word jumping out at you.

Since last I wrote we have filled our garage, downstairs, apartment and storage areas with furniture and boxes of stuff from Grandma's huge house in Washington. It has been a "boxy" adventure to say the least, and we are very thankful that there won't be any more semi-truck size moving trucks backing down our driveway. The children have enjoyed bits and pieces of Grandma as she sneaks in and out to give hugs, fold laundry or bring us more stuff. For the most part she has been unpacking and organizing in her little apartment. Benjamin has commandeered the downstairs areas (except for Nathan's office) and has his sleeping area sectioned off with 8 foot bookshelves. I think he is concerned that the little ones will "invade" :-) but I am keeping them mostly upstairs.

I have discovered that there are natural planning times during my year. August, December & April seem to be the times when I need to plan the most. However, planning to plan seems to be the thing I have lacked the foresight to do consistently! Being able to concentrate on planning is hugely dependent on children who can be self-occupied for chunks of time without interrupting. Mine do pretty well when I plan something for them, but this is not my strong point...planning. Or planning to plan. Or planning to plan to plan. Ok, now I'm dizzy. So, now I am reading through Candy's The Home Management Binder: The Housewife's Best Friend and working on actually finishing my own binder, which has lain hopefully in my cupboard for awhile now. I am having a lot of fun with it :-)

Sigh. Now if I can just get it finished.

Thanks to those of you who have inquired as to my absence from the blogdom. If feels nice to be missed :-). Hopefully I can get back into the habit of writing often again.