The Power of God

This is Kirsten's journal entry with a prompt for our first classes with our homeschool group, ETCH.

It started out like any other day in Mr. Mcgregor's garden. But then something very strange happened. The scarecrow blinked once. He blinked a second time. He coughed.....

Then He stood up, off of the cross and walked away. Mr. Mcgregor felt a strange tug at his heart to follow the scarecrow. And as the scarecrow walked into the forest He began to change, He wore a white robe and sandals on His feet. Then His face began to change He had white hair and a glowing light shined around around Him. Mr. Mcgregor was amazed that this scarecrow had become a man. He was astonished and then afraid, and began to tremble. What evil magic is this he thought, what has this world coming to. the man said "it is no evil it is the power of God. And I have come to help you. For you have not been a righteous man and God has a plan for you and everyone on this earth". I must go but you must be a better man Mr. Mcgregor said "who are You to judge me like this", beginning to grow angry. "I am the Son of God, I came to help you". Mr. Mcgregor grew white"how how can You be Jesus? There's no proof". Jesus said"look at My hands and My feet'. Mr. Mcgregor looked there were holes in each one both hands and feet. Mr. Mcgregor dropped to his knees,"leave me Lord for I am a sinful man". Jesus said"I can forgive your sins child if you believe". And while Mr. Mcgregor began to cry" I do Lord I do", and when he looked up Jesus was gone. Mr. Mcgregor stood up and walked back to the garden. When he got there the scarecrow was back on the cross of sticks. Mr. Mcgregor ran to his house, his wife noticing something wrong asked" what's wrong honey". He said" I've seen the Lord and we must change"."Why? Mrs. Mcgregor asked we're fine just the way we are. Mr. Mcgregor frowned and said" we must change". So the Mcgregor family changed and became the most God fearing people in the forest. THE END

p.s. Peter rabbit saw the whole thing and hopped home to change his family and became the most God fearing rabbit family ever.

By Kirsten Derr, Age 12, 10/11/13

Crazy Busy Part 5

The next week we had the first VBS. The one they go to every year and they always look forward to it so much! Keegan missed the first two days though bc he was still getting over being sick! The week after that was the second VBS. Kirsten got to go to that one. I went to the Healthy Living Institute while they were in VBS. It was also a busy month of Glenn training. We had well-visits to attend in July and I had an eye appt. Glenn started his field training. I decided to declare the school year finished and take Aug off to try and get the house under control. Cayden turned 7. Then Sept came and brought with it the start of a new school year and the start of our new-improved schedule. Now are days are filled with school and park days and trying to fit in time to go work out. We have a pumpkin patch field trip coming up. Things still feel somewhat crazy, we are still adjusting to Glenn's changing schedule and looking forward to a more permanent one. I meant to type this entry a while ago! lol, well, at least I am typing it now, right? Meme and Papa's trailer is here, they have their new address and power. Now the new mailboxes need put up, water and a/c need installed and furniture moved in! Chris went over and "Papa-sat" today so Meme and Mama could go shopping. He enjoys spending time with his Papa Marty and helping out. Chris even made them lunch, balogna sandwiches! :) I don't think this is going to be a very long post, this time. I shall try to talk to you again very soon.

Crazy Busy Part 4

Fri, June 7th, Glenn had to work, I wasn’t feeling the greatest so I slept in (actually I didn’t start feeling all that much better till sometime the next week!). Kayson was still sick and my other two littles were in Texarkana with my sis so I was missing them! We got the call that Kayson’s x-ray came back clear, PTL! The clinic said go ahead and finish the antibiotic, which we did but later realized that what he had was a virus and the antibiotic didn’t even help. I could say more about this but I think since that is not the point of this post, I will refrain. ☺ We still needed to pack for Edinburg! Then I get a call from my sis that Keegan is not feeling well, very low or no fever, upset tummy but she says go ahead and go on to the funeral, he’ll be fine. So we finish packing, say goodbye to Kayson (he was staying with my mom) and head out. We stopped at Brookshire’s before leaving town to get a few more newspapers bc Honey getting commissioned was in it, with a pic of me pinning him! ☺ While we were there, we discover one of the kittens rode all the way they under our van!!! We finally caught it and called my daddy who met us halfway to take it home! It’s a good thing we stopped there before we got too far! We headed on our way once again, made a stop for dinner and kept going. Around midnight we made it to Houston and decided to find a hotel but soon discovered there was a Bible Bowl and a baseball tournament that weekend and all the hotels were full. On we went. You should have heard our silliness, we were so tired and the olders were having me ask Siri all kinds of questions! lol! After Houston we found a hotel and crashed for a few hours! Whew! Sat, June 8th, Up early to finish our travels to make it in time for the 2 o clock funeral. Was so thankful for free breakfast at the hotel before we hit the road. Sometime Glenn remembers he left his funeral clothes hanging in our closet! Oh NO! So we found a Burke’s outlet and stopped in there. Everyone got something, it was a fun stop and on we went. The further south we got almost made us feel like we had entered another country. ☺ We kept seeing cars being towed, some behind mini vans, some were pulling more than one car at a time. We passed the checkpoint on the other side that we would have to make it through on the way home, I was like, Honey are you sure we are still in Texas? lol. We sure were seeing some pretty scenery, too. Then we couldn’t find the church and we had to call them for directions, then we had to stop and change clothes and we barely made it there but we made it! It was so sweet, Uncle Henry was so special! It was good to see family, especially since we had missed the reunion this year. On the way to the graveside I called to check on Keegan and my sis said he was not doing well at all, had thrown up, was running a low temp, wouldn’t get out of bed, wasn’t drinking, I didn’t know what to do, we couldn’t get back, we were about 13 hrs away! That was so hard! We decided she would call after hours care and call me back. My parent’s were headed that way too for Sun. I told them to call Glenn’s phone, it was on vibrate, bc I was leaving mine in the van and we went to the graveside. I had to step far away from everyone though when the call came, I HATED to take a call during something so sacred, if it had been for any other reason I never would have! I was so worried someone would think I didn’t care or was being rude! I was also so worried about Keegan and so heartbroken that I was so far, and we had forgot to leave ins info with my sis or a medical release! After care nurse said to watch him for dehydration and that it was just (JUST!?! Yea, right!) a virus. Back to the graveside, where we could smell Uncle Henry’s favorite Burger King cooking. Afterwards Uncle Henry’s little great-grand daughter was collecting flowers from the arrangements and then came up to Chris and wanted him to dance with her and held his has hand and announced this was her prince! It was sooooo cute and he was so sweet about it all, walking her to her car and everything! Afterwards we all went to eat at the Burger King. Also found out that one family member who had already headed home and went through the check point witnessed a trunk load of illegals getting caught. Kirsten was like oh, cool, maybe we’ll see something like that and I was thinking no thank you! lol. Then we visited with more family, ate at IHOP before getting back to the hotel late. Sun, June 9th, Keegan had perked up some when Papaw (my daddy) got to my sis’s house and he was finally keeping some Gatorade down. My parent’s weren’t going to be back to the property till late that evening so we knew we didn’t have to rush home, still had a LONG drive, though! We took the olders to a big McDonald’s close to the hotel they had seen and asked to go to for breakfast. It was a really nice one, with a big play area and nice big booths, real long, we could’ve fit our whole family at one! We stopped by a fruit stand we passed. Made it through the border patrol checkpoint without any interesting happenings. We decided to stop in Corpus Christi for a walk on the beach, my idea, I knew we couldn’t stay long but I just wanted to feel the sand and waves, even if only for a little while! We went by a souvenir shop first and got some surprises for the littles and then the wonderful walk on the beach! I just LOVE the beach! I have went back to those few brief minutes many times since then! I can almost hear the waves and feel the sand as I type. So beautiful! Then lunch at Subway before getting back on the road and wouldn’t you know it was right next to a marble slab and Honey was like you got the beach, I get to get ice cream! lol. Then he told the olders they could get anything they wanted! That might’ve been the first time they have ever heard those words! They really had a big weekend! ☺ As we were sitting outside eating our ice cream we notice a storm rolling in so we finish up and get on our way. It was my turn to drive, the GPS got me kinda confused and then we saw a stand selling beef jerky and stopped for Glenn to get some, by this time the storm was almost upon us! I got through it though! Then right before Houston we switched drivers again bc I was NOT driving through there! On we went. Somewhere along the way we switched drivers again and I drove the rest of the way home. We got home around 10:30 or so, shortly after my parents had arrived home with the littles! It was so good to see them and that the two youngest were ok for myself! They were both still running fevers (high ones now) but they were so glad to see us and us, them! Keegan was at least up some and eating and holding things down so I know he was ok even with the fever and Kayson was fine as long as he had motrin in him, it was just so good to hold him! At this point I was pretty sure I would never ever ever let them out of my site ever again!!! It was a long full weekend, with good and bad but most definitely one we will not forget! Next post will conclude our crazy busy series of postings.

Crazy Busy Part 3

Mon, June 3rd, It’s a good thing I took some notes about our crazy busy-ness and what I wanted to type about to remember bc as I sit here almost 2 months after to finally write more about it, I probably would have forgot everything! lol Things still feel crazy! By the grace of God we are making it through this summer but more about all that later. I do remember the days to type about but my brief one or two word notes on an index card do help. So, here starts the next week I need to tell you about. I took Kirsten to her check up at the doc this am. They asked several times about the HPV vaccine, I kept saying no, they kept saying think about it. Well, I’ve thought about it, the answer is still NO!!! This evening officially marked the end of baseball season with awards ceremonies and an end of season party for one child. Cayden had his awards ceremony first. It was so cute and all the little ones were so excited to get their trophies. Then we hurried over to Cayden’s end of season party. On the way I checked FB on my phone and found out that Glenn’s Uncle Henry died. Kirsten cried the whole way through the party. We were all very sad. Then we had to hurry back to the ball field for Chris’s awards ceremony. He enjoyed receiving his medal. Tues, June 4th, Glenn had his state test, we were all praying hard for him! He passed with flying colors! ☺ Mama invited us to meet her for lunch at McDonald’s in Marshall but she didn’t know exactly the time so I drove in and took the kiddos to the park while waiting for her call. After lunch we stopped by Hope’s Closet. I love that place! Found some great deals. That evening Glenn took Chris to his end of season party. It was a swim party at one of his team member’s houses. Wed, June 5th, I took all the babies to their dental check ups in Tyler all by myself! I had my boys in matching Longhorns shirts. ☺ After I took them to Chick-Fil-A as a treat. That evening Mom and I with all the babies ran up to Burke’s to look for shirts for Glenn to wear under his uniform. Then we headed home to eat sandwiches from Texas Best that the men had picked up on their way home. Thurs, June 6th, The day starts out with Glenn’s commissioning. I got to pin him! I was honored. My sis and her fam even came. We went to Jack in the Box and then to Mardel’s. We had time to kill bc we needed to stay in town till my mama’s appt. I left the babies with her at Mardel’s to run Glenn some lunch. When I returned to Mardel’s, my mama said Kayson wasn’t acting like he felt well. ☹ We still had some time to kill though so we headed to Hope’s Closet, after sending Keegan and Kayson with my sis bc they were keeping them for the weekend while went to Uncle Henry’s funeral. Kayson slept in his stroller while we were in Hope’s Closet. I noticed his breathing change right before he woke up, felt his head, he was burning HOT!!! So I dropped Mama at her appt and took him to the city employee’s clinic. They sent us to the diagnostic clinic for a chest xray bc he had been congested and prescribed him some antibiotics although they said his chest, throat and ears were all clear. It was such a long day! The dryer was still broke! We also found out that my Meme and Papa got a contract on their house that evening and were one step closer to being out here with us! ☺ Next post will commence with our weekend trip to Edinburg.

Crazy Busy Part 2

Fri, May 31st, GRADUATION DAY! ☺ We are so proud of our Police Officer! (who is asleep in one of mama and daddy’s recliners as I type bc he has had such a workout at work the past few days, they are doing physical training for this week and next) I was so proud that he got unanimously elected chaplain and was allowed to say a beautiful prayer at the ceremony. He was also excited to receive a hug from the Sherriff on his way through the diploma line. My parent’s came, daddy was in his uniform bc he had to come from work and go back to work after. My sis and her fam drove in all the way from Texarkana! We were so excited to have so much family to celebrate with. Bridge even let me use her camera! ☺ After we drove to Yamato’s in Tyler, a hibachi grill, for lunch. Mmmm…that was so good! Great experience. The little boys kept asking for more fire! ☺ We surprised Glenn with graduation presents. All 5 babies had actually kept quiet about getting daddy a gift! He got $ from my parents and my grandparents. Also a gift card from my sis and fam. After we left there, we headed to drop of books at a church for a used homeschool book sale the next day. I was so thankful that they allowed me to drop off my books later bc drop off was scheduled during Honey’s graduation that morning! Then we headed home to prepare for two of the boys last baseball games that evening. They played so well! Chris’ game was especially exciting. They won and Chris made the winning run!!! He has gained confidence and improved so much in just one season. He was excited to be dogpiled, lol, I however wasn’t so sure about a bunch of boys on top of my boy but he survived! ☺ That night Kirsten and the three littles spent the night with my parents bc we were leaving early to head into Tyler for the booksale and chris was going with us. Glenn was driving me in bc of threats of storms and it would give him time to study for his state test while I shopped. Sat, June 1st, Book sale day! Got up early to get to the sale in Tyler by 9. Shopped for a few hours! I always do! Found lots of great stuff, the kiddos think it’s Christmas when I get home from a booksale. lol After I shopped we still had to stay in Tyler to pick up the books that didn’t sell later in the afternoon so we went to lunch at Double Dave’s. I love that place. ☺ Then we headed over to the Scroll. No trip to Tyler is complete till you’ve went to the Scroll. lol Then it was time to get my leftover books but I sold a lot! Made almost what I spent. I think that is an excellent sale. After we got home, we unloaded the books, packed Silver back up and headed to Texarkana bc the guys were all going to a car show Sun afternoon. Sun, June 2nd, Church but Honey stayed at my sis’s house to study bc wanted to take the boys to the carshow but really needed to get some more studying in for his state test that he was taking Tues. Then we had a hurried lunch at my sis’s house and the guys left for the car show while us girls just crashed at the house. ☺ They had a good time, took lots of pics of which as I was looking through them I discovered several (ok, it was really only about three or four) pics of the same little girl in the pics Chris had taken! Oh my! He’s too young for that! lol I believe that pretty much concludes that weekend but not all of our busy-ness. Yes, there’s more! It will have to wait for the next blog post. Hopefully I will be able to get that one typed sooner than I did this one! ☺ Sorry to keep all my adoring (HA!) fans waiting for so long on pins and needles for this post.

Crazy Busy Part 1

We have been so crazy busy the past few weeks! I feel so out of touch with my mommy friends. I am missing my home time and I can tell a difference in the babies’ attitudes. We really value time to just be home. So, I thought I would share an overview of our past few weeks. I bet this takes more than one post. lol. I’ll start with the weekend of Mother’s day. We went to Texarkana for Ladies’ night out that Sat and Mother’s day that Sun. On the way home we were discussing Chris’s 11th birthday the next weekend and decided camping would be a good idea. So camping we went the weekend of the 19th. Fast forward to the next Sun and it found us in Texarkana again for my sis’s birthday! ☺ Since the next day was a holiday (memorial day) and they were going to head our way to celebrate, Kirsten spent the night with Elizabeth. Mon, May27th, Memorial day, family time, dryer dies! Tues, May 28th, I take the kiddos into town for storytime and shopping for their daddy. Yes, I braved the mall by myself with all 5! The boys actually acted like decent human beings, we found bday and graduation gifts and made it out in record time! PTL! ☺ Then we tried to get some school done and there was baseball practice. Wed, May 29th, HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY! School in am, Kayson did stick painting. Left the house for an appointment, got that done. Decided to drive through Sonic for lunch, took them forever to get our food to us and then when the kid’s meals came out they all had Wonder Woman headbands in them! Now, my boys like superheros and they don’t mind Wonder Woman, if it had been just a Wonder Woman toy they would have been fine with that but you should have heard them when they discovered the Wonder Woman headband! They did NOT want to pretend to be Wonder Woman!! lol So My mom pages Sonic back and asks for different toys for the boys and they bring them Flash headbands! Awww….the boys were much happier! ☺ However, one of the boys Wonder Woman headbands had already been opened so I thought well Kayson is too small to really notice anyways so he will just keep it. Well, he was so excited about his “woman”! He would say, “My woman” and put it on. Then he dropped it and he said, “My woman! My woman fall!” We were laughing so hard! Then we headed to The Institute for Healthy Living to tour and join. We are members for a year and excited to start going. The facility is so nice! ☺ Then we made a quick trip to Kroger, met the guys at home and headed to China King for Honey’s bday dinner. After that it was off to a baseball game! Thurs, May 30th, We had a much, much, much needed day off! I can't even remember if we even accomplished anything on this day. We just sord of crashed! And thus we conclude part one of this crazy busy-ness. More details to follow in the next post. The next post will resume with Glenn's graduation from Police Academy! :)

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!