Happy Mother's Day Weekend

So I feel this need to update my blog bc I haven't written in, oh, say, forever, well, at least a month and I have no idea what to write about. Hmmm.....do I just wait till I have some awesome inspiration, or do I just write something so all my adoring fans (yea, right! lol) aren't waiting on pins and needles for my next post? I guess I will tell you some about our weekend. I'll start with Friday. I took the babies to story time at the Knowledge Nook. They learned about animals, sang Old McDonald with animal puppets and made an animal necklace. Then we headed to Dairy Queen for lunch and to meet some friends for park day. We love friend time! :) They even got to enjoy an ice cream, yea for kid's meals! Sat morn I finally got my winter clothes put away and my summer ones out! Yea, Everyone's clothes are finally done! (Well, everyone's I am responsible for! Glenn takes care of his own!) Now someone just needs to take the barrels out to the shed. :) Then after lunch we headed to Texarkana so Kirsten and I could attend Ladies Night Out at my sister's church. Kirsten was so excited to get to be in the fashion show and Keegan was so excited to see his cousin Bubba. A fun time was had by all! I even got to be the event photographer! Yea, me! Someday I am going to have a better camera! I have one in mind but I don't have the money. Some people would say I shouldn't admit that on a public blog but the truth is the truth and that is why I don't have a more professional camera. I do not want to sound ungrateful, I love and enjoy my current camera and get some excellent pics with it. Afterwards mom and I headed to Kohl's to take advantage of a sale and buy Kirsten some necessities. When we got back to my sisters house I had the worst headache in years. I haven't had a migraine since I was healed of them when I was 18 but that is most definitely what this felt like!! Took something for the pain, my sis got me a cool cloth for my head and I tried to sleep. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!! Kirsten gave me some Bath and Body Works lotions she had bought for me with her own $, such a sweet girl! Glenn showed me a picture of a necklace he had bought me but still hasn't come in the mail yet. They say it is on its way! :) The boys, of course, had to be reminded to tell me Happy Mother's Day! lol I still had a slight tinge of a headache but I was functional and thankful for that! Church was good, although the diaper bag got left at my sis's house and Glenn had to go back and get it in the middle of service bc Kayson decided that would be an appropriate time to need a change! I got two roses and handmade necklaces. We also took some family pics at the homemade photo booth that they left up from Ladies Night. My daddy had been in the Metroplex helping my grandparents all weekend and surprised my mama by showing up for lunch at my sis's house with the trailer on hooked to his truck so he could haul my mama's van home and she wouldn't have to drive! Yep, that's how we roll! :) After lunch we all headed back to our property, even my sis and her fam came out for a few hours. The cousins got to play outside, the adults (minus my mama) had fun playing Golf (the card game). Glenn won, sure seems wrong that one of the mamas didn't win considering it was our day and all! lol :) Then came Monday. I was sooooo sick Monday. My tummy hurt so bad, I didn't even make it out of bed! So glad Kirsten is old enough to turn on TV and make sandwiches for lunch! So glad my mama is right next door and can be called when needed! I didn't make it to Chris's game that night but was told he got to play the whole game bc some boys were missing, I am sad the boys had to miss but glad Chris got to play so much and sad bc I missed it. By Tuesday I was feeling a lot better but still not fully well. I am glad that is past! Today the babies enjoyed a visit from their Uncle Kelly! They love him so much! :) Now I sit here holding my finally sleeping baby. I should be going to bed but I sit here watching the radar, praying that these storms dissipate as I type this left-handed bc he is laying on my right arm!

last week was certainly an adventure!

Sun. - Easter - We were camping,woke up to storms! We opened baskets, made resurrection rolls, got ready for church, took family pics, went to church, went to lunch at this horrible place! We tried this new place and the service was horrible 'cept this one lady was real nice, they were out of everything, the meat was full of fat, they actually served us 2 pieces that had so much fat you couldn't eat it at all, disgusting! Afterwards, it had stopped raining and the sun was shining so back to the campsite we went for our family egg hunts, 2 of them! My sis brought a chocolate cake with peeps on it for desert, yum! :) Then while we were sitting there the air got all yellowy hazy and you could just see the pollen in the air, the cars were yellower than I have seen them all season and they had just been cleaned by the rain! We even saw a puff of pollen coming out of tree. There was even pollen in our hair. Then it was time to head home. Once we go to Noonday we started seeing several big branches and even trees down everywhere. Must have been quite a storm that came through while we were gone! Get home with everyone in desperate need of baths cause of the pollen only to discover that the power had been out earlier and we have no water! After the guys get the water back on Glenn had to run the water for awhile to get all the dirt out and ready for baths. We got everyone clean and in bed, HAPPY EASTER! :)

Mon. - I decided we were going to focus on math for school this day. I realize Cayden has an eye doc appt this morning and think it would be a good opportunity to run by the Hope's closets while in town. Mama keeps Kayson, Keegan and Kirsten to help with the little ones and I head to into town with Cayden and Chris. After waiting 2 hours at the eye doc we leave with good news, Cayden does not have to patch for the next 6 months and if his eyes stay even he won't have to patch again! YES!! Then on to the first Hope's Closet where I found some nice long shorts for Kirsten. Then we went to Chick-Fil-A to celebrate The eye appt. Then the other Hope's Closet where I found some nice brand new looking Old Navy jeans for Chris! PTL! Last thing for the day was get Chris to his baseball practice.

Tues. - We worked on Bible in the morning and reading in the afternoon. I was on the phone with my sis that afternoon and realized that my house seemed hot which seemed strange bc the a/c was on so I check the vents and it feels like heat coming out! UGH! Then storms are coming in but Chris still has a game. It surprisingly didn't start storming till after his game. His team won! :) He was so excited!

Wed. - Such a rainy/stormy day but an exciting one. Our 100th day of school this year! So many activities we did involving 100. Had lots of fun! :)

Thurs. - We worked on science and some LA for school. Glenn was coming home sore most of this week from police academy. When he got home this night I was just getting up from a nap and I was like is my shirt wet? Uh oh! Yep, the bed was leaking! Guess we're sleeping at Mama's tonight!

Fri. - More math! I hadn't been sleeping well this week, feeling stressed, forgot to use my lavender oil to help me sleep. My mind was swirling from everything this week, a/c and bed still broken, what's it all going to cost, Glenn needs a new vehicle. Spent the day at Mama's. Then it's early evening and Oh No! Here is Kirsten's friend and her mama to pick Kirsten up to spend the night!! I had totally completely forgot! We get her packed and out the door to have a great time. She is excited! (This is the only friend Kirsten gets to spend the night with, they've known each other since kindergarten.) The rest of us are at Mama's another night!

Sat. - We start the day with Glenn and daddy fixing the bed, looking at the a/c, calling the a/c guy and putting the sprinklers in the garden while I am going through Chris' clothes only to discover that Chris needs more shorts! Then the guys help me plant my rose plant that the babies gave me for Valentine's day that I had been wanting to get in the ground. Then they decide to look at the dryer which had been making this horrible squeaking noise and catching the clothes, leaving marks and holes on some. They get ahold of our appliance guy who gets them the right parts and woohoo our dryer is fixed!! We decide to head into Longview. We pick up Kirsten, then drive around to look at SUVs till dark. Then we head to Target to look for a carseat for Kayson and a highback booster for Keegan. They were out of the carseat we wanted, I think bc it was the cheapest so Glenn had to go back a few days later to get it but we did find a nice booster for Keegan and some cheap shorts for Chris. While Glenn sat in the van with the boys, Kirsten and I ran into Walmart for some groceries for the week. We head home with the knowledge that we will be missing church to wait for the a/c guy which also means one more night at Mama's. $$$ later the a/c was fixed, then Glenn bought one of the SUVs we had seen and a new week was started!! Yep, last week was certainly an adventure! I think I am tired just typing it! Whew!

100th school day activities 2013

We started the day by walking in place 100 steps, then read Psalm 100. We moved on to a breakfast of oranges, toast and just 100 cereals each. Then I had each child pick up and put away 20 items for a total of 100 items picked up. Kayson's 20, however, consisted of picking up small toys from the Easter hunt and putting them back in his baggie and it was shortly redumped! :-/ Then we read Psalm 119:100, which prompted a brief discussion on what precepts were. Kirsten was sharing the recliner with Keegan when Kayson crawled in her lap and she got the idea that they could rock 100 times, so in climbed Chris and Cayden and they all rocked 100 times! On to writing 100 in shaving cream, then the boys played in it before cleaning it all up, they were even sliding in it bc we did it on the floor, which elicited a lot of be carefuls from me! Cayden had shaving cream from head to toe! :) Handed them all papers and told them to write their names as many times as they could in 100 seconds. I watched the clock. Kirsten wrote hers 25 times, Chris 29, Cayden 7 and started an eighth, Keegan said he wrote his 6 (lol, he just drew a picture, really) and we counted 5 scribbles on Kayson's page. :) Then came 100 jumping jacks, you should of seen us trying to do them and count and stay together! Lunch consisted of mac and cheese, Spam and 100 sunflower kernals each. After lunch we made people 100s. First Cayden was the 1, Kirsten and Kayson made 1 zero, Chris and Keegan the other. Second, Cayden was 1, Kirsten and Chris by themselves were the two zeros. Third, Chris was the 1, while Cayden and Keegan were the zeros. Then we put 100 paperclips together and saw how far they stretched and I made them into a 100. That was neat. Now they are stretched atop our schoolhouse shelf. Then we counted to 100 by 2s, 5s, 10s, 20s, and 25s. Then we counted and lined up 100 pennies. Then I got 100 kisses, 20 from each child! :-* At this point the next few activities were quiet ones and it was rest time so we gathered on our (mama and Daddy's) big bed and listened to the 100th song on my itouch. I had everyone close their eyes and lay very still for 100 seconds. :) long enough for Kayson to fall asleep for his nap! Then we looked at the first 100 photos on the ipad, my itouch and iphone for a total of 300 pics. That was fun bc some of the pics were from around 2 years ago! We got up after that, except a still sleeping Kayson and picked up 100 more items. Then it was time for the 100 lego build. I handed each child a gal baggie with 100 legos and told them to build something. They worked really hard on that! :) Came up with some great and very creative things. Kirsten made a playground, complete with a working swing and armed security! Chris made an inventor's house and could tell me in detail what each invention did. Cayden and Keegan did not use all their legos but they still worked very hard! Kayson sure had fun checking everything out after his nap! Even slid his fingers down Kirsten's slide! He wanted to move Keegan's closer to the others and was so careful picking it up and walking with it, not sure I knew he could be that careful! lol Our last 100 day activity was snack, a vienna sausage for a one and 2 potato chips for zeros. They liked that! lol I think the day was a fun, successful day and I am worn out! We did a lot!

My Snow

Big huge flakes falling
falling fast
white flakes
from the sky
cold flakes
fluffy flakes
wonderful wet flakes
in my mouth
on my nose
so wonderful to behold!

3-7-08

Yesterday was a full moon!

So the day starts out as any other, It's a typical, tired, Monday morning feeling but I drag myself out of bed. The childrens wake up and we are doing our morning Bible and my sis calls me asking what time my appt is and I'm like OH NO!!! I had totally forgot I needed to be in Marshall by 930 and it was already 9! We hang up, I tell the kids to get dressed, QUICK, QUICK, QUICK!! Kirsten puts cheerios in bags for breakfast, we load into the van and get there by 935! WHEW, we made it! :) I realize that Keegan wore Chris's shoes. (insert eye roll) They are TOO big! THAT BOY! lol We meet my mom and sis at Burke's and I buy Keegan a cheap pair of flip flops (even though he has plenty at home!) bc we are not going straight home! Then we go by Big Lots and then on to McDonalds for lunch. Can I just say, I get really aggravated when they haven't changed to toy display to the correct toys. The kids thought they were getting Transformers and Hello Kitty and instead got Power Rangers and Victorious! They were disappointed. :( If you haven't had time to change it to the new toys at least put a sign on it or tell everyone as they order, it's really not that hard! Then we went to Hope's Closet. Found Kirsten some pants bc she just outgrew hers and the boys found a cool Speed Racer helmet for $1! Then enters strangeness! So I meet this other homeschool mom while Kirsten is trying on her pants and her daughters were trying on clothes too and we start to talk. She mentions a Christian homeschool group and also meeting a group of people at a church, she almost talks like a Christian so I have no reason to think different of her so when she mentioned this other group, I mentioned that we did not go to that group bc they have been known to have witches (as Christians, we believe there are things we must shield our children from). Well, her whole demeanor changed! She started to walk of and said somewhat under her breath, "well, pagans are alright too!" As I stood there in shock, she walked to the back of the store, all the way around to the other side and then up to the front to checkout and leave immediately! I wanted to cry, I was so upset that I so recklessly offended someone without the chance to apologize, however, the more I think on it, I am not sure I could have said anything to make it right bc there is not a way we could be friends or our children could truly be friends as things stand. AAAHHH... On to Wal-mart where my daddy stopped to say hi to everyone on his way home from work. Then we headed home while Mom and Bridge stayed in Marshall. While I am driving on Noonday here comes my daddy FLYING and I think OH MY! Someone just got hit!! Then my phone rings, it's daddy, someone hit Mama and Bridge and the kids, I'm turning around and headed back into Marshall, praying the whole way!! Thank God everyone was alright! PTL!! They are sore today but they are ok! That was scary. Kirsten stayed with them as they headed to the ER to get checked to be with her cousins and help. I brought my boys home, I didn't think 4 boys would be a help at the ER! It was hard not to go be with them but I knew I needed to just take care of my boys. I took the boys on a walk, I was trying to keep us somewhat busy to keep my mind off of not being at the hospital with everyone. Then Honey is headed home but has a headache. :( I decided easy Nachos (yep, cheese from a can!) for dinner. The boys gobbled it up! :) The wind was also CRAZY! Chris even had a hard time going to sleep bc he kept hearing the wind! Finally everyone is released from ER, Kirsten is home, everyone's in bed and as I am reflecting on the day and the crazy things that happened I realize, IT'S A FULL MOON!!

10 things I am thankful for...

1) School - So thankful for homeschooling. I love having my babies home and watching them learn new things. I love knowing just what they are being taught each day and knowing that they get a Biblical perspective.

2) Water aerobics - I don't go as often as I should but I am thankful for a fun way to exercise.

3) Food

4) A home! I know it's not always as clean as some think it should be but I am so very grateful for it. We have plenty of room.

5) My family - Glenn, Kirsten, Chris, Cayden, Keegan and Kayson.

6) Transportation - my van (Midnight) and Glenn's truck (that it is is still running!)

7) Great friends!

8) LOVE! :)

9) The Bible!

10) Holy Spirit! His guidance and comfort is amazing.

Prayers for my babies

looking through an old journal, I found some prayers I had written for the babies.

12/15/04 - Father, please make Kirsten and Chris wise. Make their hearts open to my/your instruction that they might gain more wisdom. Help me teach them what it means to fear the Lord. Help them to develop a deep and growing relationship w/ your Son, Jesus Christ. In His name AMEN. Protect their minds.

12/16/04 - Father God, Guard your babies from believing that wisdom comes from anywhere but You. You are the possessor of all wisdom and understanding. Help them rely on the Holy Spirit for enlightenment. Help them to fear only You, Lord God. Don't them rely on their own capabilities but on You, Father. Strengthen them to resist evil.

12/17/04 - Father God, Make Kirsten and Chris' ears hear wisdom. Let their ears block out bad words and mean comments. Let them hear peace and love. I want them to know and recognize your voice. Lean their hearts towards Godly understanding. May they heed the promptings of the Holy Spirit. In Christ's name, Amen.

1/10/05 - Father, I pray for Kirsten and Chris' lives to be full of love. Please let truth be written on their hearts. Open their eyes to other's needs. Let them always show kindness. Bless them w/ favor and good reps in the sight of God and man.

1/11/05 - Keep Kirsten and Chris' heart pure, Father. Don't let bitterness into their lives. Help them to live in love. In Jesus sweet and Holy name, AMEN.

1/13/05 - help the babies to have clean hands and pure hearts. Let them love You above everything. Help them be able to discern what is true and what is false. Keep their mouths pure and their intentions Godly. Thanx for all your promises with faithful fulfillment. I love You, Lord.

1/18/05 - Father, help the babies walk in your path. Let them find delight in obedience to your word and follow you all the days of their lives. AMEN

These prayers still abide in my mind and they now include three more babies. I did not realize then just how relevant some of these prayers would be for our circumstances. I do pray that each of my babies would know truth by the revealing of the Holy Spirit.