One Cup of Chaos at a time

I love you Grandpa.

2011-12-06T19:26:00.001-05:00

I have so much to say but not enough time. This past week has been a very trying week. We've had a lot going on with day to day family stuff and little additional stressors here and there. But last Tuesday my grandpa was put into hospice care. My dad flew out to Nebraska and was able to spend his last days with him. Grandpa left this earthly world on Monday December 5th. I am so thankful that I will be able to see him again, but it is still hard. I hadn't seen him in years and I had not made as much of an effort on my part to build our relationship. I had never taken my kids to Nebraska to meet him either. It sucks. I've dealt with a lot of guilt over the past week. I am happy that he isn't in pain anymore.

That helps.

I love you Grandpa. Forever and always.

I love Fall

2011-11-02T07:05:00.000-05:00

I love the crisp mornings of Fall. I love the beautiful reds, oranges, yellows, and browns of Fall. I love the crisp smell in the air. I love waking early in the morning, sitting outside with my coffee and smelling fireplaces warming homes. I love the kids playing in leaves. I love sitting in our hot tub in the evenings and allowing the hot water to soothe my day's frustrations away. I love the smell of apple cider, pumpkin muffins, chili, and corn bread on any given day.

I love snuggles with my babies after they have woken up or played outside and need to get warm. I love having coffee (decaf) in the cool evenings with my 7 year old and listening to him share his heart. I love seeing my mums in bloom in my flower beds. I do not love seeing only half of my mums because the other half has been defeated by a runaway basketball. I love watching football games---even if my Colts aren't doing too hot this season. I love throwing a football around with my boys and watching my kids play games of basketball in the driveway. I love watching the beautiful Egrets and the Blue Herons fly into the marsh and fish for their breakfast.

I love seeing that this list could last forever, but I must end it so that I can get ready for school and teach the ones I LOVE the most! Have a fantastic day!

The Love & Respect Experience

2011-11-01T19:32:00.000-05:00

I was very excited to get Dr. Emerson Eggerichs book, The Love & Respect Experience in the mail this past week. It is a 52 week devotional. The front of the book says, "A Husband-Friendly Devotional that Wives Truly Love" and I couldn't say it any better myself. My husband and I have been talking about finding a devotional for the two of us and this really seems to fit what we have needed.

The design of the book is to not make the husband or wife uncomfortable at all. Dr. Eggerichs suggests reading a chapter a week. In that week you are to meditate on it and allow God to speak to your heart. In some cases it may be difficult to talk about much more and that's alright. As you feel comfortable, you should share with your spouse---as a woman, I know I'll probably do more sharing than my husband.

Some may look at a title such as The Love & Respect Experience and be turned off due to the name, but there is so much to learn from this book! The Bible tells us that men are to love their wives and in return wives are to respect their husbands. That has been lost in our culture today. If a husband loves his wife as Christ loves the church then the wife *should* have no problem respecting her husband.

I know in our marriage, there are times when respecting my man is a little difficult, but in the end it's worth it. There are so many great insights in this book and for couples that want to grow closer to the Lord and closer to one another then pick up this book!!! And while you are at it, buy one for another couple.

This book was sent to me free of charge from BookSneeze in exchange for an honest review.

My babes

2011-10-25T13:09:00.002-05:00

I've decided that as much as I love the banner picture of my babes, it's time to update it with a new one....Considering this pic is about 3 years old. I can't believe that they are all so big now. Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday they were running around my feet and we were starting our family.

When Brad and I got married, Haeley was 4, Jasmine was 3, and Gabe was 2!!! Justin and Benjamin weren't even on the horizon. And now, Haeley is 13, Jasmine is 12, Gabe is 11, Justin is 7, and Benjamin is 6! As crazy as it may sound, I miss the days of diapers, bottles, middle of the night feedings, and cranky teething babes. I miss the sweet feel of a babe sleeping on my chest. I miss the times of simply staring into my baby's face and declaring my love for them. Now, when I stare at their face they think I'm crazy and they leave before I'm able to profess my deep undying love for them. :)

But I love the conversations I get to have with my babes now. I love Haeley and I talking and growing closer as Mom and daughter. I love seeing their personalities blossom. I love seeing them victorious over previous struggles. I love their creativity and seeing them love on one another. I love listening to them pray and seeing them learn more about the Lord. I love seeing them not only learn about the Lord, but putting their faith in Him too.

It's a good life and I don't want to take my babes for granted for one more day. I want to cherish each moment that I have with them. The good moments and the ugly ones too.

The Roller Coaster Begins Again

2011-10-24T21:20:00.001-05:00

I think I've mentioned that Brad's job situation has not been great and he's been pursuing other options. A couple of weeks ago we received a job offer. Brad and I had discussed this job in length and he accepted the job. Golly it was a hard decision. But I know it was the right one and so much has been revealed to me in the past couple days that has further confirmed that it was definitely the right decision.

We closed on our house here January 29th of this past year. It was quite the adventure us moving from IN to VA. Brad was in VA and the kids and I were in IN until our house was ready to be put on the market. The kids and I have been back in VA for about a year now. We all moved in with Mom and Dad for about 3ish months until we closed on our house and were ready to move in. We gutted the living room and kitchen and made it beautiful. We took the carport and turned it into a great garage. We replaced the wood around our hot tub and were able to get it up and running.

And now all of that will be for another family.

Brad's new job is in Richmond. He will be commuting for awhile and spending some of the time at my aunt's house. I'm very thankful for Aunt E opening up her home and taking him in for this period of time. In the meantime, we get to put a new roof on our house, put some new windows on and make the big decision---Do we rent or sell?

We love our house and selling would absolutely break our hearts, but we need to be together as a family. And we need a down payment for another house. So...here we go again. Decisions that are hard, separations that are harder and circumstances that sometimes seem so insurmountable that it makes my head spin. And yet through all of this, it doesn't take too much to cheer me up. One of the very best cheer ups.......This:

Without a doubt this face, those little eyes, those arms that wrap so tightly around my neck, and that sweet little boy can cheer me up in an instant. My babies will help me get through this time. We will hold tightly to each other once more. We will grow closer as a family and we will start over in a new place again.

School minus my school room

2011-10-21T17:45:00.002-05:00

This year has not been my traditional schooling year. With having my nieces here I have to be a bit more scheduled and disciplined in my school day. We stay in our schoolroom and every one is at there designated spot. It is very much like your classroom setting. This week I've had some sickies in my house and due to that we have not had school at my house. I got my SIL set up with everything she needed and let her do all but Monday on her own.

As much as like having them over I really enjoyed just schooling my kids. We did school in the living room---not our school room!!! We stayed in our jammies. We did school on the couch. We didn't start until 10 some mornings--11 on others. And Thursday we didn't do school at all! I had a bunch of errands I had to get done and by the time I got home at 3:30 I was POOPED! Today was so much fun. Typically my girls are in a completely different room than we are and I have to run back and forth between everyone. But today, we were all in the living room and dining room and I could see everyone without needing to go upstairs and through 2 other rooms to get to them.

We sat on the couches and lounged around a bit, but we got our work done. I loved our day. I loved getting to sit around and not be confined to our schoolroom. Next week we will go back to the day to day routine. I pray that we are able to easily go back to the routine and that I am able to enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed my past week (minus the sickies).

A Funny for you

2011-10-20T19:55:00.004-05:00

'Nuff Said.

But....I tried this on my children. The older three responded and ran outside laughing. Justin stood there staring at me like I was crazy. He had on only underwear and didn't understand what a "Fire Drill" was all about. I tried being serious and I said, "JUSTIN! It's a FIRE DRILL!!! You have to go outside RIGHT NOW!" He looked down and said, "But I only have on underwear..?" I said, "That's why you should always have on clothes, you never know when we will have to have a fire drill." Then he realized I was just being silly and tried to actually run outside in his underwear.

Kitty Kitty

2011-10-19T09:08:00.002-05:00

This here is "Kitty Kitty". She has adopted our house. I think a can of tuna and a piece of bacon may have helped her come to the conclusion that she likes it here though. :) She is a sweet little thing. The kids are in love and if I'm honest I like her quite a bit too. She's been here since Friday and has shown no desire to leave. She staked her claim Friday night when another cat came in the yard and she chased that cat away. Last night Brad and I went to the store and she was perched on the roof of the garage. From what I can tell, she's not going anywhere. Every morning she is at the back door or in one of the windows crying.

This morning she was crying at the door in the rain. It was pitiful. Brad told me to call the Humane Society and see what they charge to have her spayed. ;-) Tomorrow she has an appointment at the vet at Petsmart so that we can have her checked out before investing a ton of money in her. She really is the sweetest thing. AND, where I initially thought Gabe was allergic to her, that doesn't seem to be the case. I guess that's a good thing, right?? So...I need some help. "Kitty Kitty" needs a better name. Everyone throw me some names so we can make a decision!! :)

Stop and smell the Roses

2011-10-13T11:49:00.000-05:00

The past couple weeks have been CRAZY! It's been a good crazy, but crazy nonetheless. :) Monday I had my 5 kiddos and my 2 nieces to homeschool by my lonesome. Usually my SIL is here and she is a lifesaver because she's pretty much taken over the 2nd grade. But Monday she was in Roanoke with our MIL. And if you know anything about it me you know that I don't let seemingly impossible tasks keep me down. That's how I found myself going ahead and starting school at 8:30 Monday morning.

By about 10ish I was ready to pull my hair out. It was all me and everyone needed me at the same time. I gave everyone something to do and decided to take a little breather. As I was walking around my house I saw one single solitary rose on our rose bush. I went over and inhaled the most beautiful scent I think I ever have in my life. I was instantly calmed downed and refreshed.

I look at how many times I run, run, run and do not take the time to stop and "smell the roses". How often I ignore the beauty that God has placed right before me. He knows the little things that help me get through the tough times and He lovingly places them before me and waits to see if I'm paying enough attention to Him. I know I have a terrible habit of trying to do it all on my own without going to Him to help me through it.

E-Women Lynchburg

2011-10-13T08:04:00.001-05:00

This past weekend, Melissa and I had our much awaited Women's Conference. We drove to Roanoke to visit with our MIL a little before we headed back out to the conference. I've been to Beth Moore Conferences before and the Indiana SBCV has put on several conferences and I was expecting something like one of those. That was *not* what I experienced at this conference.

The theme this year is Everlasting Hope and this year's verses were taken from Isaiah 40:28-31. "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble fall; but those who HOPE IN THE LORD WILL RENEW THEIR STRENGTH. THEY WILL SOAR ON WINGS LIKE EAGLES; THEY WILL RUN AND NOT GROW WEARY, THEY WILL WALK AND NOT BE FAINT." (Pardon the caps, but those parts really spoke to me.)

We had speakers and music that put this tender heart through the wringer. :) We had stories of complete tragedy and then the hope in the Lord that brought healing. Julie Clinton was the conference host. Our speakers were: Carol Kent, Lysa TerKeurst, Donna VanLiere, Jennifer Rothschild, and Sarah Palin. Each of this women has had something/s tragic happen in their life that has made them sit back and evaluate where their Faith lies. Carol Kent talked to us about James 1:2 (which is one of my all time favorite verses) and gave me quite a bit to think about. Gosh, I wish I could get into what all of these speakers said, but it would take forever. :)

I'll try over the next couple weeks to share what each of them shared that made me think. :) :) I think the biggest thing that I left the conference with was knowing that I have not been putting the Lord first in my life. I've gotten upset and irritated with the way things are going in my life and I have allowed myself to distance myself from my personal walk. I still go to church, and sing songs of worship...but I've not wanted to really talk with Him because I'm mad. Mad might be too strong of a word. I think the better word is heartbroken. I'm heartbroken because of where it looks like our lives are headed. (More on that later.)

Please join us in prayer that in this season of our life that we would allow the Lord to be glorified. And please pray that I would desire to seek the Lord daily. Thanks.

Family Visitors

2011-10-03T21:17:00.000-05:00

We've had another busy week, but it has been wonderful!

My sis-in-law, Erin, and my two nephews, Joshua and Daniel are here visiting. It was a surprise for Momma. She didn't know that they were coming and we pulled it off beautifully. She was surprised and really stunned.

Joshua and Daniel have warmed up to me and I have been in heaven having them here with me. Tomorrow they will be going to my Momma's for a couple days. I will miss them so much. This has been such an amazing time. Joshua is 3 and I had not met him until this past Thursday. And Daniel is 10 months so this too has been my first tim with them. Joshua is all boy! He has killed me no less than 100 times over the past couple days with his guns. Then he has a special gun that pulls the bullet back out. However, he doesn't always use that gun---sometimes I'm left to just lay there on the floor waiting. Then he erupts into a fit of giggles.

Daniel is one of the happiest babies I have ever had the pleasure of being around. He truly only cries when he is tired, hungry, or needing a diaper change. He loves his Momma and playing the back and forth game. He doesn't crawl as much as he does a scooty-crawl like thing across the floor. And this baby EATS! He and Joshua both love Salt & Vinegar chips. If Daniel sees them he will fuss until he gets to have one. I love it.

I am so thankful and blessed for the time that Erin and I have had together. She is a wonderful Mommy and she loves my brother so much. And, my brother, he adores his wife. I know that he is not here, but he calls her constantly because he misses her. He loves his kids and his wife. He's a good Daddy and husband. For that I am soo thankful. Erin and I have really gotten to know each other a bit better and I am enjoying her company. We stayed up until 2 AM last night. We were both DRAGGING this morning, but I think it was worth it. I'll get some pictures up here soon, but for now I'm going to bed!

G'nite!

Visit with Sarah

2011-10-01T00:13:00.000-05:00

This past weekend and the early part of the week one of my dearest friends came out to visit. I've mentioned Sarah before and there are really no words to explain just how special she is to me and my family! I didn't tell the boys that they were coming. All the boys knew was that we were going to have a guest of sorts. They didn't know how many or anything!! Chad had a conference in Virginia Beach and they came a couple days early. I cherish the time that we were able to spend together. Things didn't go exactly as planned, but we made it work. Tuesday we were going to go down to the beach and visit them in the hotel and we were going to swim there also. That morning we awoke to find that our power company had taken more out of our account than they were supposed to and we were left with next to nothing in the bank. I spent the morning trying to get our finances squared away and by 12:30 we still hadn't left. I grabbed the kids and we ran to the the bank where I pleaded my case. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to take care of everything as needed but I knew I needed to try. Thankfully we were able to get money from another account transferred to our local account and that is all well and good now. In the process of all this, I didn't think to grab the kids swimsuits and towels. I didn't want to waste anymore time---I just wanted to get the beach to see Sarah and the boys. I knew my kids would be perfectly content to play in the sand and wether or not they got to go in the water was not as important. The hotel was beautiful and the pools inside were amazing!!! After going through I was glad had forgotten our suits and towels because it just wouldn't have been right. There was a sign posted next to the pool that said, "For registered hotel guests only". We were not a registered guest. And I know it may sound silly, but I don't want to show my kids it's okay to break the rules just to have fun. We were able to talk about that on the way home too---after seeing the pools they were disappointed that we didn't bring our suits, but they understood. For that I am thankful!

Happy 9th Anniversary

2011-09-30T23:28:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again. The time I get to be all sappy and tell about how much I love my husband. :)Sometimes I still can't believe that we have actually been married for 9 years. I know I've said it before, but Brad is such a tremendous blessing to me. Even though my initial plans for the night were changed around Brad and I still managed to have a good evening. I made dinner for he and I and we ate it in somewhat of the candlelight. :) After we got the kiddos to bed we went out for some time in the hot tub. The mosquitos were AWFUL and I spent most of my time trying to hide from them. We had a nice 2-3 minute downpour and that helped cool the evening off some. More than anything, I truly enjoyed spending time with my man.I love the time we get to spend together and the wife that I have grown into over the past 9 years. Nine years ago I remember being so excited to finally be Mrs. Smith! I remember the first couple days feeling so nervous and anxious. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to be the wife and mother that I had just pledged to be. Here we are 9 years later and somedays I'm still not sure if I will be able to be that wife and mother---but I'm trying my best and having fun with it all the same. I am incredibly blessed with my life. It's been 9 years and I can't wait to see what the next 9 and more bring! Like I told Brad, having him by my side is all I'll need.

Ramblings from Pity Party Central

2011-09-26T17:20:00.000-05:00

:WARNING: Pity Party begins now.It's been quite a while since I have posted and I'm not sure exactly why. Wait, I take that back. I am sure why. School has started, I'm homeschooling my 5 kids and my 2 nieces. We are under so much stress right now. Brad's job is not too stellar right now and that has put a lot on us. There is the possibility of another move. I know...really? Another??? We have not even been in our house a year and I HATE to think that we may have to move. I hate it. BUT it's the reality right now. I finally sat down with the kids and told them. I wanted them to have time to get used to the idea instead of "Hey guys, guess what?! We are moving AGAIN!!!!" They took the possibility very well. I'm proud of them. I explained that moving is not what Brad and I want but it may be what is necessary. Ouch. It hurts just to type that out. This afternoon I have felt slightly depressed. And I know the many reasons for that one...One of my closest and dearest friends and her family came out for a visit. Sarah's husband has a conference in Virginia Beach and they came early so we could all have a visit. My heart has just soared the past couple days having them all here. Sarah and I stayed up WAY too late Saturday night talking about everything under the sun. We talked about our kiddos, homeschooling, our husbands (good stuff there), and the way we have been able to see the Lord working in our lives. I so enjoyed our short time we've had so far. We watched the Colts and Steelers game last night and loved seeing the Colts rally enough to almost win the game. They left for VA Beach this afternoon and then I was left alone with my thoughts. Well, not quite alone...I've got five kids here...but you know what I mean. I was able to think for a little while and it's got me in a bit of a funky place. My desire is to be in the will of the Lord. I desire to follow Him and His plan for my life. I desire for my kids to see me live my life for the Lord. I do not desire to move. But I will try and desire that if we feel that is where the Lord is leading us. Even as I type this out I just want to cry. I'm so tired. My mind is weary from worrying about what lies ahead. I do not want to move away from our family. My heart grieves when I think of that. I do not want to move away from our church. I have come to love and adore our church. But one thing I have noticed---I have not jumped in and gotten involved like I thought I would have by now. I have been keeping to myself a bit more than usual and I've been reluctant to let myself get too attached. I want to. I want to get involved and sing in the choir. I love singing and I miss it. And I want a puppy. Brad's not on board with us getting a puppy right now. I understand with everything that is going on he doesn't want to add that to the list. I think I miss having a baby in the house and I want something small to nurture, love on, and cuddle with. My boys don't just come and cuddle with me anymore. If they do it's typically because they want something. ;-) I'm just a jumble of emotions. I think it's time to make a cup of coffee, turn up the Praise music and try and get myself out of this funk. Thanks for listening/reading my pitifulness! :)...........and in all this, I almost forgot my anniversary is in 2 days!

Surfing Babies

2011-06-29T09:59:00.004-05:00

The kids have been dying to learn to surf for the longest time. Since we've moved back to VA they have been BEGGING Brad to teach them. I have a little of an ulterior motive to this though---Learning to surf=P.E. YAY! We can count all of our surfing days as school days. Okay, so really---I won't count them, but it is a little on the tempting side. :D

Last Saturday we had a bit of a leisurely morning until Brad said, "The surf is up! Let's take the kids!" And the whirlwind of preparations began. We got the kids ready only to discover that Jasmine's bathing suit was MIA. After everyone else was ready, Brad dropped Jasmine and I off at Kohls while he and the rest of the kiddos went and grabbed lunch. Jas and I were in Kohls and done within 15 minutes. I found her two tops and a pair of shorts and a new top for me!

Then it was onto Sandbridge beach where the real fun began. To say that the kids had a blast would be a bit of an understatement. They were thrilled. And they did wonderfully. Justin has no fear to begin with and this was in his element. Brad got him ready to go and out they went. Justin would ride a wave in and then jump back on the board and paddle out to Brad. He did this just about all day. We had 3 boards and for the most part there was someone on a board at all times. Justin got up on both feet, but never let go of the board. Jasmine got up on both feet and tried standing before she bit the dust. Haeley also got up on both feet but bit the dust before she could actually stand. Gabe tried a couple of times to stand, but he preferred to just get used to riding the waves in on his belly. Benjamin tried one time and the wave worked him over good. After that he was done with surfing---for now at least.

I even went out and tried my hand at it again. I need to work on my upper body strength before I will be successful at all. I took almost 400 pictures, but I will not subject you to all of them. Here is a sampling of my babies and their first time surfing.

All I Need

2011-06-28T09:23:00.003-05:00

Where my heart is right now...

Let's get this baby back up and running!

2011-06-22T10:19:00.003-05:00

I am slowly trying to bring this blog up to date with all my postings from my other...it's gonna take a couple days, but I will get it done! :D I've got a couple funny posts coming up in the next couple days. I'll try to get them up ASAP.

10 Things I like about my house

2011-02-11T16:01:00.001-05:00

-Our retro intercom system
-My new pretty floor in our kitchen
-The view---it’s gorgeous
-Having a couch in my bedroom
-Double vanities in our bathroom :)
-Our sweet closet
-The gas fireplace in the yet-to-be decided room
-How close it is to family
-The pretty hardwood floors
-Falling asleep at night looking at the stars through our sky lights

Working like a dog

2011-02-06T16:00:00.001-05:00

Here’s the rundown from the past week:

-Closed on our house here
-Have NOT closed on our house in IN (supposed to be Valentine’s Day now)
-Have unpacked one PackRat completely
-Gutted the kitchen
-Old floor up in the kitchen
-New floor going down in the kitchen
-Drove over 120 miles in one day
-Started living in our house
-Had our first birthday party in the house
-Jasmine is 12!

...so much more going on, it’s been crazy!

Gabe stayed at my folks house Friday night and last night too. Last night Uncle Mickey took Haeley home, Uncle Luke and Aunt Melissa took Jasmine and Benjamin and we have Justin. Justin would not do well as an only child! He does NOT like playing by himself or not having someone else with him. He was a great helper for Brad last night with the floor. Then the two of them got ready for bed and watched part of “UP!” in our room. He is LOVING the one on one.

Off I go....I think a little JT has his first tooth that’s about to get pulled! All my IN friends, stay warm and safe!!!

Proud Homeowners

2011-01-28T15:57:00.000-05:00

We are now the proud owners of 2 homes! Prayerfully in less than an hour, that will change to 1 home. :)

I came to work with Brad this morning (I’m in his office typing this now) and played around until our final walk through this morning. The walk through went great!! We even pulled up some of the carpet in the dining room and bedrooms and if the bit of hardwood we saw underneath is any indication of the rest of the floors we will be happy campers! What we can see looks great and there stands the chance that it will not need to be re-finished! We’ll know more on that tonight.

While at the walk through, we got a call from our realtor’s office in Indiana letting us know that we are closing on our house out there after all! The closing was scheduled for 3 but has been pushed back to 4. We are very thankful to have it close today! After the walk through our wonderful realtor, Bob Smith, took us to lunch at Smokey Bones. We had good food, conversation, and company. I really enjoyed it. Then it was on to the closing.

My goodness....the closing. :) It was definitely more than we bargained for, but in a very good way! Brad signed all the papers and I sat there admiring my strong husband as he signed page after page. ;-) Our attorney that was present for the closing gave Brad and I a lot to think about and has started us in the process of getting our will done. That was a very sobering time. I do not like to think about the “what ifs” of life. I know that we need to have all of that in order so that if anything ever happens our kids will be taken cared of. I still don’t like it.

We did have a lot of laughs in that closing though. I was not present when we bought our house in Indiana; I was tying up the loose ends out here. It was a wee bit of a different experience---but fun and very exciting too! I’m anxious to get in the house and get things moving!!!

I am so thankful for how the Lord has blessed us today! If I don’t get back up on here this weekend, have a FANTASTIC weekend!!!!

This Boy

2011-01-16T15:52:00.000-05:00

I love when I’m able to really see the hearts of my kids, and this week I was able to do just that. Justin had a quite the load of cash from his birthday and it has been burning a hole in his pocket. He’d spent a little here and there, but still had $40 left. I needed to pick up some things from Target and decided to have some “one-on-one” time with my boy so I took him along.

We picked up the things I needed and he asked if we could go look at the toys because he had brought his birthday money. I agreed and away to the Lego aisle we went! There was this Lego Star Wars set and a Lego City set that he wanted, but the 2 of them together totaled up to more money than he had. He decided on the Lego Star Wars because it had 8 Droids in it....Then he wanted to look down ALL the aisles to see if there was anything else that he may want.

And I agreed.

We hadn’t been looking very long when he saw a Mater car set that was $15 dollars and he wanted to get it for Benjamin! I said that was very sweet and he put it in the cart. Then he found a Star Wars action figure that he wanted too, but he wasn’t going to have enough to get both of them. He thought about it for a moment and said, “So, I won’t have enough to get both of these?” I told him ‘no.’ He says, “Okay.”

And then he put the Star Wars action figure back. He wanted to get something for his little brother. Then he was scouring the aisles to see if he could find something for Gabe too. He wound up back at the action figure because he said Gabe would really like it. But he still wouldn’t have enough for all of them. I went ahead and told him that I would cover the extra $2. He was so happy.

My heart was so touched by his selflessness. He could have very easily spent all the money on himself, but he chose not to. He chose to include his brothers too. He said that he wants to be able to get more money and get something for Haeley, Jasmine, Matthew, and Cullin too. We pulled up to the house and he says:

“Mommy, do you know why I like getting stuff for other people too? I like it because it really makes me feel good. Giving other people stuff makes me really feel good inside.”

Be still my heart.

What a day

2011-01-16T15:41:00.000-05:00

We went to a new church today and both Brad and I really did like it. Our Sunday School class was great and service was really good too. There was only one downfall for me. All the kids, Benjamin and Justin included sit in service with us. Only preschool age and younger have a children’s church type program. I’ll have to plan a little for Sunday mornings and bring some activities for them.

After church we drove to the new house to see how long it would take us to get to church, and to our delight it was only about 20 minutes! We went to Brad’s brother’s house from there and enjoyed lunch and football! I love getting to see our family like we’ve been doing. I didn’t realize just how much I missed it while we were in Indiana. It’s good to be back with the family.

We were all happy to see the Jets win the game! Now, let’s hope they beat the Steelers next weekend and the Packers beat the Bears! :D Looks like we have a good Superbowl game brewing!

Another week of school

2011-01-15T15:39:00.001-05:00

We’ve got another week of school down. I have the grade book completely set up and I have all tests and work graded from this past week!! This weekend I will set up some more lesson plans and figure out some crafts to do with the kids over the next week. Justin said that he really wants to do some crafts, so I’ll have to see what I can come up with.

I am anxious for the close of our houses! The picture above will be the new school room. The older kiddos will sit at the counter and then I will have my little table for Justin and Benjamin. I have so many plans for that room---and the whole house for that matter. I am so thankful for being here at Mom and Dad’s but I’m looking forward to getting our stuff out of storage and settling back into our routine.

It’s now officially 13 days till closing on our house in VA. The official day for us to close in IN is the 31st, but we may close early if everything can be pulled together. I would LOVE to close early. Brad and I are already planning the new kitchen. We have a rough floor plan mocked up and have been cabinet and countertop shopping. We still have to figure all of that out, but it’s neat getting to design my kitchen. :D :D

We are going to try out some a new church this Sunday and we are hopeful that we will find our new church soon! I pray you have a great weekend!!!!

Spinning my wheels

2011-01-11T15:38:00.000-05:00

Ever felt like your stuck in mud and just spinning your wheels trying to get out?? Here lately, that is how I’ve been feeling with homeschool. I’m having such a hard time staying on track and getting everything done on a daily basis as needed. We get our stuff done, but I have no daily schedule and it’s so easy to get off track!!

I know that is solely my own fault. I am the one who has to set the schedule but more than set it, I have to keep to it!!! The days I’m tired and not wanting to do school at the “set” time I need to push through and keep going. I want to make that schedule and keep with it. So, it will be my goal over the next several days to wake up, spend some time with the Lord, get ready, and get my kids up and ready so we can start the same time each day. I know the kids do so much better on a schedule, and truth be told, so do I....so why is it so hard to stick to it when I know it’s the best thing??? Ugh... me and my rhetorical questions. :-)

My Granny

2011-01-10T15:35:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have never had the privilege of meeting Granny, I will now introduce you to her. This here is Annie Capps and she is my great grandmother. She is one of the most incredible women on the planet. To say that my life has been blessed by Granny would be an understatement. Granny will be 90 this March.

I claim that she will still be with us, because right now I can’t bear the thought of her not being with us. But right now, Granny is in the hospital and we are awaiting tests to see what’s wrong with her. I got to visit with her today and I’m very thankful for that. She slept most of the time, but I was optimistic because she recognized me and knew who I was. I don’t know what the future holds, but what I do know is that Granny is sick. My heart is so troubled because we just got back from Indiana and we have to make up for lost time.

But I don’t want to be sad right now. I want to think of all the good times with Granny. Growing up we spent so much time at Grandma’s house. Just about every Sunday we were at Grandma’s for Sunday lunch with the whole family. During the summers, we would go over and swim and make massive peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And egg sandwiches. Granny would make a mean egg sandwich.

She came to Japan to visit us when I was a child. I remember going to the airport and picking up Grandma, Granddaddy Leo, and Granny. We had so much fun while they were visiting. We showed them all the sights and I loved the time with just them. We went to Kamakura to see the Big Buddha and fed the squirrels from our hands. We went to visit a temple too. I was so happy having them visiting us. It meant so much.

Then we moved back from Japan and actually lived with my grandma and Granny for a short time. Granny would do anything for anyone. If you had a need, she did everything in her power to meet it. She would give you the shirt off of her back if need be---that IS the woman that she has modeled for me and all of us. You never heard her speak an unkind word about anyone. She is amazing. I love her with all my heart and I am praying that the Lord would perform a miracle and let us have her a little longer.

Take some time and let those close to you know how much you care about them. If you are holding a grudge, let it go. Life is too short to hold on to things that won’t last into eternity.

Granny, I love you.

Too much to do and not enough time

2010-12-21T15:34:00.000-05:00

It is December 21st. Christmas is in 4 days, Christmas Eve is in 3, Homeschool Christmas party in 2, and Haeley’s birthday is in 1 day. One day and I will have a teenager. I’m not done Christmas shopping or even birthday shopping for that matter. I don’t know how I’m going to get it all done. I am so stressed....

Last night I went shopping with my sister, Jenn. We had a god time just the two of us hanging out and talking. I love the time I get to spend with my family. Jenn and I went to Charming Charlie’s and I got several things for Haeley and Jasmine. I was going to give them to Haeley for Christmas, but I think it will wind up being more for her birthday unless I can find something today that screams “Haeley”.

We’ve not heard anything on our new house yet. I’m anxious to hear something and frustrated that we haven’t. I know in time we will hear something, but “in time” is taking a lot longer that I would like. We’ve not heard anything on the inspections for our house in Indiana yet either. Once we get a time for the inspection, I will be able to get a friend over there to get the water turned on and run for a while to get the “yuck” smell out. In today’s market though, I’m sooo thankful for a contract on our house.

How I've missed this

2010-12-19T15:31:00.000-05:00

This past week Justin turned 7. I have no earthly idea how that is possible---just yesterday he was 1, right? He rang in his 7th birthday with breakfast in bed cooked by his Papa. He had bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, a banana, and chocolate milk. He was so excited! Later he and I ran some errands and got some yakisboa for supper and then we went and ordered Justin’s cake. He had a football cake---it was supposed to be Colts, but it wasn’t. boo. It was still yummy and he really liked it.

This weekend we had Smith family Christmas at Brad’s brother, Mickey’s house. We have been having a blast! I have missed these get-togethers so much! We had a massive spread of food and family from all over here. There has been so much laughter and fun all around! Last night we stayed up until 1 something playing Apples to Apples. It was my first time playing the game and to say it was fun would be a bit of an understatement. If you’ve not played before you must play!!

In better news....we are a couple days away from a ratified contract on the house that we have an offer on. AND, in BETTER news, we have a contract on our house in Indiana!!!!! The inspection on that house should be sometime this week, maybe next. Here’s to a good inspection!

---and now I’m going to leave and watch the last quarter of the Colts and Jags. GO COLTS!!

I'm alive

2010-12-04T15:29:00.000-05:00

...but just barely alive. Life over the past almost 2 months has been a bit of a roller coaster. We went to VA the middle of October and we stayed for 2 weeks. Over the course of those 2 weeks we looked at many houses. Many, many houses. And it was in that time that we found one that we liked. It was a beautiful home, but small. I was a little skeptical over the size of the house, but I fell in love with the kitchen and the possibilities of how we could make the house work for us.

After putting our offer in, it took a while to hear from the bank and then we played the wait and see game. We had the inspections done and wound up walking away from the house because the septic system was messed up. I was heartbroken. I knew in my head it was the right thing to do, but my heart had a hard time catching up.

Back in Indy for a week, the girls and I got the house ‘ready’ for the move. We didn’t finish everything we needed to and that prompted another trip back for Brad and I over Thanksgiving...I’ll get to that later. My girlfriend, Sarah, would not have us leave without giving us a proper going away party first---and that she did! We had a blast. That week before I left will truly be a treasured week because of the time we were able to spend together. So, we had a fantastic party and some friends that we hadn’t seen in a while came too. It was really special. The girls wound up spending the night there and I picked Brad up from the airport by myself that evening. The next day was an emotional day of packing and cleaning.

Sarah, Chad, Dani, and Philip all came over and helped us. It was so hard pulling away from the house, but we knew we had another trip on the horizon in two weeks so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. We made it to VA with our Beverly Hillbilly trailer and got things going. Brad and I kept our bed out of storage and set it up on Mom and Dad’s sunroom. It’s nice getting to sleep in our own bed at night.

So the house hunting started again and we found a house right before Thanksgiving that we decided to put an offer in on. We had already looked at the house and I had said “no” from the beginning and I can see now why. Two days before Thanksgiving we put an offer in on the house and for “some” reason it was not received as of this past Monday. Our realtor went ahead and resubmitted the offer Monday afternoon and then we got a call on Tuesday....the bank that owns the house dropped the price of the house 58K!!!! We withdrew our offer and resubmitted at the new price! AND....drum roll....we were given a counter offer that we have accepted and should have a ratified contract Monday-ish. YAY! Then we will have 7 days to do the inspections and get everything going. BTW, I know the “some” reason, was God orchestrating all of this.

I’m very excited. And in other good news. We had 4 showings on our house this past week. Two of the showings came back with positive feedback. Prayerfully we will have more of an idea of what will happen this coming week.

Yesterday was Brad’s birthday. My man is 35. Brad’s little brother Luke’s birthday is today. Yes, their birthdays are a day apart. Luke and Melissa came up to VA and we went out to dinner and then we walked over to the mall and just had fun. Dinner was ‘okay’. We went to a Brazilian Steakhouse in Norfolk, and it was NOTHING compared to the one in Indy. But, the company was great and that made it all worthwhile. I did secretively let our waitress know it was Brad and Luke’s birthdays and they came out with cake at the end and embarrassed the dog mess out of the two of them! It was great.

Tomorrow we are going to check out a church near where our new house may be...I am prayerful that our hunt for a new church is not a long drawn out process....Have a great Sunday!!!

And the house is on the market!

2010-10-12T15:26:00.001-05:00

What a busy two weeks. I keep sitting down to post on here and I get side tracked and stop. Let’s see. On Monday the 4th the house officially went on the market. I am excited and so super sad at the same time! We have done sooo much to it and I’m thrilled that it is ‘ready’.

Today we got new carpet installed in the bedrooms, hallway, stairs, living room, and school room. It looks *amazing*. While the carpet was going in I got a phone call to show the house at 6:15 this evening!!! I immediately started stressing and feeling sick to my stomach. The girls were here with me and the boys were at a friends house. We busted our behinds getting the house ready. Bug, Jazzer, and I were EXHAUSTED by the time we were done and although it wasn’t “perfect” it was pretty darn close. I picked the boys up, then grabbed the girls and we went to a friend’s for dinner while the house was showing. Here’s to hoping it “showed” well!!!

Tomorrow pictures will be taken of the house and hopefully we will get some offers coming in. The Lord really has blessed us with this house and I will miss it greatly. I will miss my friends even more though. I can’t imagine not having this amazing people in my day to day life anymore.

Our Anniversary

2010-09-28T15:17:00.000-05:00

I really have the best kids and husband. I’m so blessed by my family. :) I awoke to a breakfast prepared by my kiddos. I had gone to the store the day before and got frozen waffles, french toast, muffins, coffee cake, and bacon. I figured the kids could decide what to bring. Little did I know, they were planning on bringing me all of those!!! AND a cup of coffee! I discovered that my kids do not know that when something is frozen you have to hit the frozen setting on the toaster or it won’t cook all the way through. Hrmf. I did eat the bacon, coffee cake, and some of the others. French toast that is not heated all the way through is just plain nasty!! I loved their thoughtfulness and although I was awake the whole time they were downstairs preparing my breakfast, I pretended to be asleep when they came in my room. Jasmine made me the sweetest card too!

Then.....I went downstairs to find my “spa” awaiting me. I had a mini-pedicure. Haely and J.T. washed my feet and then all five of them painted two toenails each. After my toenails dried, I was treated to an 8 minute massage. Gabe and J.T. were over the massage pretty early on, but my other 3 darlings kept with it. It was a definite treat!

After my spa, it was my turn to treat the kids. :) We went to the bank and traded our change jar in for cash---we had $63! Then we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and games. I was the reigning champ on the highest amount of tickets collected. I traded my 150 tickets in for 5 mini tootsie roll lollipops, and 5 tootsie rolls. The kids had fun and to tell the truth, so did I! It’s fun getting to be a kid again.

We got home and later in the evening, I had a package arrive from my husband. He sent me chocolate dipped apples and strawberries. I was so excited to open it up. My excitement dropped when I opened the box only to see the chocolate was melted and it looked like someone had just thrown this all over the place. It was disappointing. I’m not one to call customer service and complain, but in this case I did---it paid off too! Tomorrow I should have another box arriving. I hope this one turns out better. Brad comes home for a long weekend Thursday night---we should be able to enjoy the fruit together.

Happy Anniversary Baby

2010-09-28T15:14:00.000-05:00

Bradley. My Love. Next to Jesus, you and you alone are the best thing that has happened to me. Thank you for calling me that fateful April Saturday. Thank you for taking me in all my faults and loving me just the same. Thank you for this journey you are taking me on. Eight years ago I pledged my heart to you and you will always be the keeper of my love. We have a beautiful family and I am blessed and honored to be called your wife. We’ve got something special Baby. I love you.

So Long Ago...

2010-09-26T15:12:00.000-05:00

Where has the time gone. This picture was taken in April of 2004. J.T. was about 4 1/2 months old and such a cutie! He’s still a cutie, but no longer so little. He will be SEVEN in December and I can’t figure out where the time has gone. He wants an electric guitar for his birthday. He also wants an acoustic guitar and drums. He is having this dream of having his own band and playing everything! He has set up paint cans and a couple bongo type drums that we have and he sits there and jams. Prince Charming told him he can get an electric guitar for his birthday. Oh me.

And I think to myself

2010-09-25T20:44:00.001-05:00

...What a wonderful world...

Okay, maybe not a wonderful world necessarily, but definitely a wonderful day. We got up this morning and I made a hasty decision---it’s our last fall in Indiana, so we are making the best of it. In 25 minutes I had the kids and myself ready (coffee included) and we headed out to the parade for the Heritage Festival.

The parade started at 10, we got there around 10:15 which wasn’t bad because we went to the end of the parade and got to see everything. Once we got there, I realized I forgot bags for the candy. The kids were wearing hoodies and decided that the pockets would work for their candy---and they did for about 10 minutes. After their pockets were full they started shoving candy in their hoods. Thankfully, a man came by with some plastic bags and the kids were able to empty their pockets and hoods into the bags. :)

I am such an emotional fool lately and today was no different. The parade started with a bunch of motorcyclists. They had their flags flying high and the lead guy had Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” playing. Being the military brat that I am, that song ALWAYS gets to me. ALWAYS. It didn’t help that right after the motorcyclists, the WWII Veterans came through. For the next 10 minutes I cried. It was a combination of the song, the Vets, and knowing this was our last Fall here.

This has been our home for 6 years. We have grown as a family so much in these six years and I really do love it here. I do. I love the quaintness. I love how close everything is to us. I love living in the country and feeling an incredible safeness. I love our church. I love our friends. And I’m going to miss this terribly. As our house is nearing completion, the reality is really setting in...my husband has not been on a prolonged business trip. We are moving. I am elated that we are going to be back with our family, but I’m devastated because we are leaving our life here. :(

In making the best of today, I spent the day out with the kids. We went to the heritage festival and they had a blast. I too had a blast because I got to hang out with my girlfriend, Dani, and watch our kids play together. I had a blast watching the kids play with the animals and get excited to go play at the park. I had a blast going to Target and watching this woman’s face turn in somewhat disgust as she commented (rather sarcastically) to me, “Don’t you think you need another boy?” I was getting slushies for all the kids and they were waiting for their cups. I laughed and then said, “Oh, those kids. It’s not that big of a deal, they aren’t all mine. Only five of them are mine.” There were only 6 kids waiting. :D :D Yes, I have five kids. I love them and they are mine. AND I will claim them as mine---well most days I will.

I’ll close today with something that was very encouraging to me. J.T. was trying my patience tonight and I was ready to lose it. Today, I got in the mail my book God’s Promises For Women of Faith. I’m already enjoying it and gaining “wisdom” from it. I turned to the part titled, “God walks with women through impatience.” There were 8 verses that were given. They all spoke directly to my heart. Exodus 33:14 “He said, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’” Then Isaiah 40:31 “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

Immediately, I stopped and prayed. I have not been waiting on the Lord. My strength has not been renewed and I am very weary. BUT the Lord is so good. He loves me so much to convict me when I stray. I love His gentle leading back to Him. Lord Father, please forgive me for not looking to You. I will wait on You.

Making Memories

2010-09-25T20:42:00.000-05:00

Life is flying by and I find myself seeing all the days blurring together right now. Paint, pack, survive...that’s my life. I know I will look back someday and our time in Indiana will be nothing more than a memory. It is so bittersweet.

I’m excited about moving, but I’m so scared at the same time! We have to start over. We have to find a new home, church, friends, grocery stores...all of it. I feel so conflicted for my kids because they are going to have to leave their friends here---but they will get to make new friends, so that’s good right? I have a handful of friends that I have really kept in touch with since we moved, but truly it’s just a handful. I’m going to have to branch out and help my kids in making these new relationships because it’s not as easy as them making them in school. Their friends will eventually be a memory. I pray mine are not. I pray that I maintain my friendships here, because these ladies are great and I cannot imagine what my life would be without them!

Tonight I was sitting outside on my porch looking out at the moon and realizing that the same moon I was gazing upon, Brad could see in Virginia too. It was time for bed and I called all the kids outside, grabbed a blanket and we climbed onto the roof, laid back and gazed at the sky. We saw planes far up in the sky, a helicopter flew overhead, the stars were twinkling, and the moon was nothing short of gorgeous. The kids could not believe I was letting them up on the roof for this and it hit me---they will remember this. This is a memory that they will take with them for a long time. I want more of those memories with my kids and hopefully we’ll make some more tomorrow night and I’ll have pictures to accompany it---that is if I can find the charger for my camera battery.

I’m going to make it a mission to make memories with my kids. What will you do to make some memories??

Einstein

2010-09-21T20:40:00.000-05:00

Benjamin loves having his hair go all crazy. He says, “I want to be Einstein!” I do not think he has a clue who Albert Einstein actually is, but he still wants to be like him. His older siblings have told him that Einstein was a smart guy with crazy hair and that’s all Boo needs to hear. He’s a character.

Last night he came to me and said, “Mommy? Are there Target’s in Virginia?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Well, do they have Lego Space Police and Lego Road Racer sets??” I said, “Yes.” He said, “SO, I can get LEGO SETS IN VIRGINIA TOO????????” I said, “Yes, you can.” He said, “Oh good Mommy. I still want Legos when we move to Virginia.”

That kid cracks me up! He constantly has us laughing and is just a pure joy in this family.

A Daddy and his boys

2010-09-19T20:36:00.000-05:00

These four men (3 little ones) have my heart in the palms of their hands. With one word they can lift me up and encourage me and with another word, they can crush my heart like a cheerio on the kitchen floor. These little men are learning from their daddy how to treat women and how to be a Godly husband. I couldn’t have asked for anything better than Brad.

He is an amazing Godly husband and father. He may joke with our boys and drive me up a wall, but he showers them with love and affection. He is their favorite person. Their eyes light up and their attitudes change when they know Daddy is coming home. They don’t just love him, but they truly adore him. And, they truly miss him. Today Bubba was reading a book and Prince Charming was resting in our bed. J.T. came in and sat next to Prince Charming. My heart broke as I heard my little boy talking to his daddy. He says, “Daddy, I just want to help do something on the house so we can all be together again....Do you want me to clean up the living room? I just want to help so we can be together.” He misses his Daddy so much and at this point he is willing to do whatever he has to so that we can be together.

J.T. was his shadow as they worked yesterday and today. He and Bubba got to go and pick up the trailer with Daddy and they ate it up! It didn’t matter that they would be in the truck riding around for several hours, they were thrilled to be with their Daddy. This morning, I asked Boo if he wanted to go to church or stay home with Daddy. Without skipping a beat he says, “I want to stay with Daddy.” That’s huge because this boy LOVES church! His little heart though misses Daddy and he knew that Daddy had to go back to VA today. :(

I am so thankful for the relationship that Prince Charming shares with his boys. He didn’t have a very good father relationship growing up, but looking at how he is with our kids you would never know that. He rocks. The kids think so too. There is nothing that Daddy cannot do and nothing that Daddy would not do for his kids. He is my Prince Charming and I love him. :D

L-O-V-E

2010-09-13T20:33:00.001-05:00

I love this picture. And I love my man. Love him. And I miss him terribly. He really is such an amazing man. I’m not just saying that either, I feel it so deeply. I can hardly believe that in 2 weeks we will celebrate our 8 year anniversary. 8 years. It has been 8 full years. 8 years of milestones, sadness, and joy. I was trying to remember what we have done on all our anniversaries and this is what I’ve come up with:

Year 1- Dinner at Steinhibler’s in Virginia Beach. I was 6 1/2 months pregnant with J.T. We went here on our first date too. :)

Year 2- Prince Charming surprised me and planned our anniversary. We went to this little town a couple hours away and went horseback riding. It meant the world that he did that for us.

Year 3- Steak dinner at home to replicate the first date...and then we had a mini celebration at Cold Stone’s with Boo who was just a wee one at 1 1/2 months old!

Year 4- ummm....I’ll remember and update this year later

Year 5- We got overnight sitters for the kids and went to St. Elmo’s for dinner then we got a hotel room downtown.

Year 6- guess I gotta update this one later too

Year 7- Night in with yummy dessert and sparkling grape juice

What does year 8 hold?? Hopefully it will hold an offer or contract on our house so we can be together as a family again. I love you Schnookems! :)

This Boy

2010-09-06T20:29:00.000-05:00

J.T. is my little nut job. I love him so much for his craziness! He has a mind that never quits working and an adventurous spirit like none other! When he sets his mind to something he goes for it full throttle. He is showing his caring and sweet side more and more often, but we do still have our outbursts of anger.

Tonight we were at a friend’s house for cook out. They have an outside cat, Oliver. J.T. loves Oliver. He played over there earlier this week and became obsessed with this cat. He wanted to go back the next day so he could play with the cat again. So tonight the kids (all 10 of them) spotted Oliver. J.T. started going towards Oliver and then Oliver darted and went in the crawl space of the neighbors house. J.T. was not going to be stopped and followed into the crawl space after this cat! I hollered at him to come out and a couple seconds later he emerged. Victorious. He had Oliver in his arms.

About 20 minutes after that one of the kids came in upset because J.T. wasn’t sharing. I was confused because I didn’t know what he wasn’t sharing. Any guesses? Yep, he was not sharing Oliver. He was sitting up in the play set with Oliver in his arms just loving all over this cat. J.T. was in heaven. We wound up telling the kids that they had to let Oliver go and just leave him be for a bit. My boy is desperate for a cat.

I desperately want to get him a cat. Unfortunately, his aunt and one of his cousins are terribly allergic to cats. =( Any ideas?? I certainly could use some.

Quick Recap

2010-08-27T22:36:00.000-05:00

It’s been a whirlwind of a week! Brad comes home tonight and I couldn’t be happier!! I miss my man so much! Thankfully because things have been so busy, this week has flown by! UNFORTUNATELY, it flew so quickly I was not able to accomplish everything on my “to do” list. Here was the list of the week:

Stain upper deck of master bedroom

Fill in hole at well pump

Scrape overspray off lower windows

Pack up first floor

Paint trim off master bedroom and lower windows

Plan next year’s schedule...ugh....

Ignore list and go to the pool :)

Of my list, I got the stain done, filled in the hole, packed up 1/2 the first floor, and scraped a couple windows. I did add a couple things to the original list and with the help of some friends got Justin and Benjamin’s room painted. We painted it 6 years ago and it was blue and orange. Not just blue and orange, but Florida Gator blue and orange. They loved it, but it was not very “seller friendly” so it is now a pretty cream with a slight yellow tint. I like it and that will be the color of Gabe’s room too. Actually, if I have enough of the blue that’s already in Gabe’s room I may just repaint the same color. Who knows...

I think I have given myself some gray hairs trying to plan next year (Guess I’ll just have to go get the hair done right??). I’m overwhelmed with figuring out exactly how to break up the Lifepacs. If anyone has experience, PLEASE PLEASE let me know. The kids are getting a little excited about school starting. I need to get busy because the plan is to start the day after Labor Day. Hopefully we will be a little further along on the house too and I can focus on schooling the kids and not so much on getting the house done. I was stressing last week about what I was going to do if I got a call to show the house while we were in the middle of school. I was really up in arms trying to make a plan and then I took a deep breathe and realized it’s going to be okay!! If I get a call, I’ll pack the kids up and head to the library or if it’s nice to the park.

I’ll post pictures later of all my projects in my “House Progress” album. :) But for now, it’s time to load more stuff in the canisters, pack some more and scrape windows. My man will be home in less than 8 hours!!!!!!!!! YAY!

Allergies! BOO!

2010-08-23T22:35:00.000-05:00

Gabe’s inhaler is his best friend right now. His allergies have kicked in and the poor guy is having such a hard time! I had to tell him to quit talking the other night because his voice sounded so hoarse because of his allergies. He’s coughing, sneezing, and rubbing his eyes constantly. He’s on Singulair once a day and his inhaler as needed. However, it’s taken quite a bit of learning on his part for using his inhaler. He’s just had a hard time grasping how to breathe when inhaling it. He’s definitely gotten better about it though. I’m prayerful that once in VA his issues will decrease. Granted, when we moved here his asthma seemed to go away and things seemed okay until the past several years.

I had to learn to forgive myself with the little guy. We couldn’t figure out what was going on with him a couple years ago. He would come home from school and immediately lay down on the couch. I would make him get up to eat dinner and then he would go back to the couch. I took him to the doctor and we did some blood work and found that his histamine level was increased, but we didn’t know why and to what. He went on Zyrtex daily for a while and then it seemed to get better.

Till Spring hit. Then it came back again. This past Spring has been an extremely hard one on my kids. I took Justin in to get allergy tested and that didn’t turn out to well. He freaked out and I wasn’t strong enough to hold him so they could do the testing. The following week I took Gabe in to get his done. i was so proud of him. It hurt and I know it did, but he was a real trooper. :) We found out that day that he is allergic to a whole slew of things! The list includes: indoor and outdoor mold, dust mites, ragweed, an assortment of trees, and 4 different grasses. I’m not sure where my paper is that tells me exactly what trees and grasses he’s allergic too and that’s not really important right now. Right now I just want to see him healthy! I want him to not have to take his inhaler just to be comfortable. I want him to enjoy going outside and playing and not being so wiped because he doesn’t feel good after. But until this season passes I guess we just plod along and deal with it. This too shall pass!!!

Our Weekend

2010-08-22T22:34:00.000-05:00

Brad got home Friday night and I must say all was right in the world again! My children were genuinely happy and joyful that night. We came home, popped some popcorn, pulled out the bean bag chairs, put on “Astro Boy”, and enjoyed the evening. Benjamin and Justin alternated sitting on Brad’s lap and loving their Daddy time. I looked over and found both Benjamin and Justin sound asleep on their Daddy’s lap. It was a moment that I know Brad just cherished. He misses his kids so much and he loved how much they were clinging to him. I loved sitting back and watching them all with their Daddy. Be still my heart!

Saturday morning I ran to Hilligoss bakery for some donuts, Starbucks for me, and the bank. I got home and we started working on the house. Some friends from church came over and helped paint and get some other stuff done. We got the PackRat canisters packed up some more, scraped paint off windows and some other stuff that is escaping me at the moment.

I went to church this morning to teach our Sunday School class and planned on leaving and coming home, but then I stayed through our morning worship and it was nothing short of amazing. Honestly I would say the morning worship was some of the *best* we have ever had. My soul was completely blessed!! I was further blessed this afternoon when listening to our Pastor’s sermon. Take a listen, you will be blessed too! I so love our church!!!!

This afternoon we spent some quality family time at the Greenwood Park Mall. We had to go and get Benjamin’s Build-a-Bear. He wanted a Polar Bear, but they didn’t have any so he settled on a black bear with a Batman costume. He named his bear Bat Bear---very appropriate if you ask me. :) Bat Bear is cute just like my Boo Bear! There was this hurricane simulator device in the mall that Brad and the kids went in and had fun having the wind blowing crazy at them. Then they had this bungee trampoline that the kids thoroughly enjoyed jumping on. Justin got really high and made me sick because he looked so small all up in the air!! He loved it! Benjamin got a little scared, but then loved it too. Gabe was going crazy and I think he really liked how weightless it made him feel. He said his legs felt wobbly when he got off of it. Jasmine’s hair was going crazy on it and her frog legs were all over. Haeley liked it alright, but I think she’s “too cool” for that now. She will be 13 in December. :)

We then went and got ice cream and then it was time to take Brad to the airport. =( I loved the time that we got to spend together having fun as a family! It has been a long time coming. Every weekend we have spent it working on the house and it was wonderful just enjoying being together and being a family. I am so thankful for my family! So thankful! Brad made it to VA safely and we are only 5 days away from him being back. I put some pictures up on the “My Albums” page. Check ‘em out and comment. Any lurkers out there? Comment and let me know you are reading. :) :) :)

PARTY!

2010-08-18T22:32:00.000-05:00

Today was the first day back to school for Avon students and we had a blast not going back to school! We met at “our” pool at 11 and the festivities began! We had a blast! There were luau decorations, yummy food, music, good friends, and of course the water. The kids sang “Happy not yet back to school day to us......” before they ate their cupcakes and we celebrated at not being in school yet when we heard the buses going by. We took tons of pictures and once I get those sorted I will post them. :) :) Here are a couple though. :) Enjoy

My heart

2010-08-17T22:30:00.000-05:00

We still are not ready to list our house on the market, but the Lord knows when we are going to move and who is going to buy this house. He has the details all worked out and I can’t worry about them, I just need to wait upon Him. Waiting upon Him is terribly hard. I’m so ready for our family to all be together again. I’ve got Brad coming home the next 3 weekends and prayerfully we will be ready to list the house at the end of that time. I’ve found several houses in VA that I really like but I’m not getting too excited about them. I know the perfect house for us is out there.

I ordered bean bag chairs for the kids the other day. I only ordered 3 because I’m stupid and thought they would be okay sharing them. Tonight I ordered 2 more. I hate admitting my moron moments. I could give several more, but I have a little pride.

The past two-ish weeks have been pretty eventful. I started feeling a little odd about 2 weeks ago and blew it off. My stomach just wasn’t right and I equated it to stress. By last Sunday night I was in some terrible pain. I wound up going to the doctor on Monday and after a CT scan I was diagnosed with diverticulits. I was put on 2 antibiotics and vicodin. By Tuesday night I was able to go off the vicodin and I was starting to feel normal again. My energy is still not back completely, but it’s getting there. My church was wonderful in coming to my aid. Some friends took the kids Monday night and kept them over night. I was able to sleep quite nicely. Then Tuesday started our meals. My kids and I have been very well fed and I feel very blessed to have these amazing people around us.

During this whole ordeal it was Benjamin’s birthday and I felt *awful* that I was laid up and not able to do anything for him. One of the couples at church that brought us dinner brought an ice cream cake for Benjamin. It was the sweetest thing. I was very grateful for that. :) I don’t have any good pictures though because I has misplaced my charger for my camera and had to use my iPhone. :( BUT, in good news I found the charger today!!! Just in time for our.....PARTY!!!

No, not for Benjamin (yet). My girlfriend Sarah and I are having a “It’s NOT back to school day” party tomorrow! We’re doing a Luau theme and the kids are going to get to kick back and relax when all the other kids from Avon are starting back to school. HA! Homeschool ROCKS! :) :) Speaking of homeschool. I decided on AOP’s Lifepacs and Horizons curriculum. I’m so excited for this year to start (BUT not till September). I’m going to do a geography unit study also with the kids. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do just yet, but I’m thinking one of GeoMatter’s products. I had ordered Galloping the Globe a couple years ago and loved it, but I was doing too many other things and I couldn’t get into it as much as I wanted. I really think I’m going to go back to that or Cantering the Country.

I know that the next couple weeks are going to continue to be challenging, but I’m so thankful for being able to put my trust in the Lord. I want to get back to updating this more often. I will really try to do better, especially when school starts after LABOR DAY!!!!!! WHOO HOO!!!!

The Baby

2010-06-15T22:29:00.000-05:00

I don’t know what it is about my baby, but he can always melt my heart! Benjamin is definitely the baby of the family and I’m not ashamed to admit it! He is a lot like Jasmine in temperament and he has such a tender heart. Typically he strives for nothing more than everyone to be at peace. He doesn’t like fighting and his heart is gravely wounded when his brothers make fun of him. He loves his brothers and sisters. He’s always thinking. Always. I remember when he was really little and he would take his cars and line them all up in a row. He would get so upset when I would turn one of the cars in a different direction. They had to be just as he had put them. As a baby he was always happy. Benjamin seldom cried. He loved being cuddled and loved on and he still does.

Benjamin will do and or say things that just warm my heart! And then other times he makes me shake my head and laugh out loud. The other day I told him that I loved him. He replied, “I love you too Mommy!.....Mommy, you’re the queen of my heart! AND Jesus lives in my heart!” Oh how my heart swelled. My sweet little boy.

Progress

2010-06-13T22:27:00.000-05:00

The house is coming along thanks to some WONDERFUL friends whom have made themselves available to help out. We had an amazing work day here along with Gabe’s birthday party. Kill 2 birds with one stone. :) The dining room is undergoing its transformation and it looks FABULOUS! The kitchen should be ready to paint before too long. We still have a lot to do, but getting this projects knocked out one at at time is such an encouragement. HUGE shout out to Chad and Sarah for coming! And thank you Chad again for fixing my vacuum and using my AMAZING truck to pull the wimpy Texas truck out of the mud. :)

Shout out to Adri and Art and all the help that you were and for getting your wimpy truck stuck in the mud so my AMAZING truck could pull it out. :)

Love you guys!

My Boy turns 10!

2010-06-13T22:26:00.000-05:00

He made it. There were many days I wondered if my sweet little boy would make it to 10, but this picture is proof that he made it! I’m a bit wiser for getting him to 10 and though some days I thought that giving him away was a good idea, I am so blessed to have Gabe as my son. I love him with every fiber of my being and so greatly enjoy seeing the man that he is growing into. It is my desire that as Gabe grows and matures that he would continue to pursue a relationship with the Lord.

I’m thankful to the Lord for the incredible privilege He has placed upon me in my life and role as a mom. So many days I feel like I’m failing my kids, but I pray that through my mistakes they may see Jesus in me. I do not want them to think of my as perfect, because they need to know and see the real me. Gabe has been getting himself into some trouble lately and I have had it with the sneakiness. This past week I lost my cool and yelled at him and did not respond in an appropriate manner. A good friend listened to me complain and then called me on the carpet on my behavior! He said, “What a great opportunity for you to grow and learn. I know this is hard, but you are equipped to handle this. You can do this, but you have to be stronger than that. I realize that is easier said than done. But it is possible. I hope you have asked for his forgiveness. In his eyes he can see a justification fro a wrong behavior based on anger over a circumstance. You don’t want to reinforce that. You can do this, Moe, you sure can.” I read that and was a little stunned at the words I was reading because I was so intent on holding onto my anger that I was not allowing the situation to resolve itself. I did go to Gabe and apologize and my anger instantly dissipated. I am so thankful that the Lord used Richard to speak to my heart!!! I needed to hear those very words.

Gabe, I love you!!!! Happy Birthday, I’m so blessed to have you!!!!!!!!

Love to all!

Update

2010-06-13T22:24:00.000-05:00

I keep trying to update this and every time I do, my words escape me. Here's the rundown of the past couple weeks.

5/19 Brad accepted the position to go in Chesapeake, VA. We then started informing our friends and family of our future endeavor. As to be expected, it was met with joy and sadness. And to be honest that was felt all the way around. We are so close to having this house "done" and we won't be able to really enjoy it. =( I hate thinking of that because it truly makes me so sad. I hate leaving our church. I hate leaving our house and land. I hate leaving our friends. But I love moving back to family. I love the family holidays that will happen. I love that my man will be able to surf more frequently. I love being able to take my kids to the beach. I love the rich history in Virginia. I love not having Indiana winters!! I love my husband having a job where he will be happy….That's a whole lot of love and hate going on, huh? =) The Lord is good and faithful and will see us through this transition time.

5/23 We had a wonderful church service and afterwards our good friend, Chad, came over and helped Brad grout the bathroom. Justin and Andrew (Chad and Sarah's son) had a blast playing in the creek and having a mud fight with each other. They were FILTHY afterwards and I used the water hose to rinse/wash them off. We went over to the Richardson's for dinner and had a wonderful night of fellowship with them. It was such a nice night.

Memorial Day weekend was spent working on the house. I got teary eyed on Saturday as Pack Rat came and dropped off the canisters so we can pack. Then my good friend, Cindy, came over and helped me stain doors and trim for the house. I was so thankful for the time we got to spend together gabbing and just enjoying each other's company. We were tired Sunday after church and decided naps were in order! ;-) Then it was out to split wood and load it in the wood shed thing. Monday we had another group of friends from church come over and help us some more. Art was wonderful and really helped get a lot of stuff mudded and packed. Adri helped me get things packed up and we got to run to Lowe's to pick up some more materials. We decided that it would really be a shame to not go and get coffee while we were out too. And then we had another pitstop at Big Lots---it was the grand opening. I did a wee bit of damage in there, but it was all good stuff. I got really teary eyed as I started taking pictures off the walls. I think the realization hit again at that point. God keeps hitting me at different times with this move. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not so good. Some other friends came over and they took ownership over our fish and live rock. We'll have to start a new salt water tank once we get settled back in VA.

6/1 Our realtor came over and did a walk through on the house. Oh. My. Word. Brad and I were a bit depressed at all the work that still needs to be done. I did get the pleasure of doing the happy dance on a couple areas that Debbie said needed changed because I told Brad these things needed to be done when we were doing them originally. However, there is still a lot of work. A lot. A lot. A lot.

6/3-6/5 For the past several weeks I had been noticing that when i would turn on the kitchen faucet the water would surge. I was worried about our well and mentioned it to Brad but he didn't seem to concerned. That night I made sausage gravy, biscuits, and eggs for dinner. Right after I started to serve up the kids I went to turn the water on and there was NO WATER!!!!! NONE! NADA! That started our well adventure. Long story short…several WONDERFUL friends came over and helped dig a big hole, then another friend helped pull the well pump out and replace it. The help of our friends saved us $2600! Thank you guys!!!

6/6 My man left for VA and I had a very emotional day. Very emotional. Church was an experience that I will never forget. It was Pastor John's last Sunday preaching as our interim pastor. We usually do the Lord's Supper on Sunday night, but we changed things up a little and had it during Sunday morning service. What an experience in so many ways! Pastor John served each family individually. We walked to the front of the church and he prayed over us and served us. It was an incredibly sweet time. I cried my eyes out as he prayed for us---so many emotions! We were up there as family, but missing my husband, one of the keys to this family!!! I don't think I've experienced something quite so intimate like that.

After church I took the kids out to eat some Mexican and it was just okay. Then we came home for a little bit before heading to a friends house for a birthday party. I love times of fellowship! We had some wonderful food and just a good time. We got home and I got the kids to bed and started my first sleepless night. :(

I'm sure so much more has happened as I write this, but I'm going to close it out for now and I'll update more soon. ;) :)

Love to all!

This Boy

2010-06-06T22:37:00.000-05:00

Justin is my little nut job. I love him so much for his craziness! He has a mind that never quits working and an adventurous spirit like none other! When he sets his mind to something he goes for it full throttle. He is showing his caring and sweet side more and more often, but we do still have our outbursts of anger.

Tonight we were at a friend’s house for cook out. They have an outside cat, Oliver. Justin loves Oliver. He played over there earlier this week and became obsessed with this cat. He wanted to go back the next day so he could play with the cat again. So tonight the kids (all 10 of them) spotted Oliver. Justin started going towards Oliver and then Oliver darted and went in the crawl space of the neighbors house. Justin was not going to be stopped and followed into the crawl space after this cat! I hollered at him to come out and a couple seconds later he emerged. Victorious. He had Oliver in his arms.

About 20 minutes after that one of the kids came in upset because Justin wasn’t sharing. I was confused because I didn’t know what he wasn’t sharing. Any guesses? Yep, he was not sharing Oliver. He was sitting up in the play set with Oliver in his arms just loving all over this cat. Justin was in heaven. We wound up telling the kids that they had to let Oliver go and just leave him be for a bit. My boy is desperate for a cat.

I desperately want to get him a cat. Unfortunately, his aunt and one of his cousins are terribly allergic to cats. =( Any ideas?? I certainly could use some.

...and the ride continues

2010-05-26T22:23:00.000-05:00

So I posted about our lovely roller coaster ride that we were experiencing and now I’m at liberty to explain this crazy ride. It’s not been a secret that Brad’s been unhappy and we’ve been looking for a new job for some time now. We’ve done a lot of looking in our area locally because we weren’t quite ready for a move. Our house has needed just a wee bit of work and as much as we missed our families, we were content where God had placed us.

A while back the company Brad used to work for in VA began pursuing him. There was a lot of back and forth. In April we made the decision that we were not going to move but stay here while Brad completed his CEM (Certified Energy Management) and Lead Certification. He’s about a year from his CEM and that would really open up doors for him. About this time we hadn’t heard anything back from the company in VA anyhow so we felt that God closed that door. Unbeknownst to us God was just waiting to open that door a little wider.

A couple weeks ago we got an email wanting to know if we were still interested in moving back east. I was very confused when Brad said ‘yes’. I thought we had decided to stay here. Brad said he thought it would be foolish to not at least see what they would offer. The first offer came in and we knew immediately that it wasn’t going to work without some tweaking. Two days later, we got another offer. It was better for the first and Brad and I met for a lunch date so we could discuss it. It was a very emotional time for me because I want to be in the Lord’s will, I miss my family, and I love where we are all at the same time!!! I wish we could pick up Hendricks County and take it to VA with us. We were having a very hard time making our decision so we opted for the best decision making process ever. The salt shaker was “go”, the pepper shaker “stay”. We then proceeded to spin our iPhones to see what the course for our life would be. Just kidding. Not really. I mean we did spin the iPhones and the salt and pepper shakers did mean “go” and “stay” but we really didn’t use that as our final decision making tool. Honest.

We prayed. I cried because I knew the answer. We were finally so close to moving back to VA but it wasn’t going to happen. Unfortunately the offer was not enough for our family of 7 to make it. It wasn’t about our extended family. It wasn’t about our church family. It was about our family of 7. We would not be able to adequately take care of us. I felt like a small part of me died when we decided we were going to stay here. It’s really weird because I do love it here. I love the peacefulness at my house. I love love LOVE my church. I cannot say enough about The Church at Avon. (I have no clue who reads, this but if you are in the Avon area and need a good church, you MUST go to The Church at Avon. Not in a couple weeks, but this week. On Sunday...be there!) But with all that I love here, my heart years to be with my family too. I feel so conflicted, because my heart breaks at not seeing my family here, but my heart soars with delight knowing that my family will be a phone call away. My kids will grow up with their aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents...the whole nine yards.

When I was a kid we moved to Japan and those 6 years were some of the best of my life. I loved every minute of it. It was the most amazing experience. We moved there when I was 9 and moved back when I was 15...duh...9+6=15. Before we moved to Japan I felt we were close with our extended family, however when we moved back it felt different. In the 6 years we were gone, the family went on...the relationships that I shared with my cousins were not the same when we came back. We had grown apart mainly because we’d grown up on 2 different continents! Facebook has been awesome since we’ve been here because I feel like we’ve definitely reconnected even with us being in Indiana. I guess what I’m trying to say is I don’t want my kids to grow up in that same fashion. I want their relationships with their extended family to be strong and solid.

Back to the job...I went on quite a rabbit trail there. Brad said no to the offer and he was told that they were not accepting ‘no’ and would get back to us on Monday. It was a LONG weekend waiting for Monday to come. Brad worked on Mother’s Day and then he also worked Saturday and Sunday of the following week. Monday he worked till midnight, Tuesday he had to go to Milwaukee. Tuesday night Brad and I were crying out to the Lord. Brad prayed for God to deliver him and honestly we had no clue how God was going to do that; we just knew He would because He is faithful and good to His people. Brad and I were blown away the next day when an offer came in at the exact amount that Brad had said we would need to make the move. We both felt an incredible peace that this was God’s answer to months and months of prayer. We accepted the job and I was so excited with how God had answered our prayer.

That excitement quickly changed to sadness as I knew the task ahead of me was telling the people here that I love dearly the news. It’s bittersweet. We knew we were in the Lord’s will when we moved here and I am at complete ease knowing we are in His will now too---it’s just hard. I’m sad that we will miss what God is going to do through Pastor Dan Wigton and his family at The Church at Avon. Pastor Dan’s first Sunday is Father’s Day. Brad starts his job on June 7th. The kids and I will be here until we sell our house. As much as I don’t want to leave our friends, I want to be reunited with my husband in VA. I’m so thankful that my man has provided and taken such good care of us.

.....as an added bonus, Brad will be able to surf in the ocean and won’t have to try surfing in the creek like the above picture. ;)

Love to all!

Gimme a break

2010-05-16T22:21:00.000-05:00

WARNING: This post may contain the heart of my pity party...

Do you remember the Kit Kat Jingle? “Gimme a break. Gimme a break. Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat Bar....You could keep it yourself but it wouldn’t be fair. That chocolate crunchy taste is loved everywhere.” Lately with the hours Brad has been working I’ve been singing that to myself. I don’t need the chocolate (although I love my chocolate) but what I do need is a break. It doesn’t even have to be anything elaborate. I simply need time for me.

I used to feel guilty about saying that I needed “me” time but not anymore. I don’t feel guilty about it. I know I need to take care of myself as I take care of my kids and house. Brad’s hours have been crazy and I have not had time for me without knowing at any minute the kids would call me back to them. Brad had to work on Mother’s Day and then had a business trip the day after. He didn’t get home until Tuesday night. The kids have missed him terribly and so have I.

We were able to have a lunch date on Friday which was fabulous, but it was also very emotional as we had a difficult decision to make. I valued that time with him but it was an afternoon laced with heartache and somewhat of a bittersweet finality all at the same time. Unfortunately, Brad had to work yesterday and again today. The kids have been getting to bed late and that always contributes to the grumpy behavior. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not making an excuse at all for them---grumpy or not they are still responsible for their behavior, however I know that if I have not made sure they get to bed at a decent time I cannot be too terribly upset when they start acting out.

Take today for example. Justin. I love that boy with every fiber of my being. I can remember with detail the nine months that I was privileged to carry him in my belly. I remember being sick with the smell of any tomato based sauce. I remember the joy of finding out I was having a son. I remember picking out his name and registering for all the “stuff” for him. It was one of the most enjoyable times of my life. Gabe will always be my first son, but Justin will always be my first born son.

I know I have made plenty of mistakes in raising my kids. I make them on a daily, heck, an hourly basis. I can only pray that through the wisdom of God I can somehow make up for those mistakes. Justin has always been my envelope pusher and I have no clue when or even if that will stop. But I love him all the same. I adore my son. I cannot imagine not having him in this family. He stole a piece of my heart the day I saw his heart beating on the ultrasound. I never knew that type of instantaneous love was possible. It breaks my heart when I see him acting out with his temper. It breaks my heart when his anger gets the best of him. It breaks my heart when I would rather put him to bed than truly deal with him because I have no fight left in me.

Justin has been overly tired the past couple days and today was no exception. He started before we even left church and I had to have Brad talk with him for a couple minutes. That seemed to help for a little bit. And then he didn’t get his way and it all hit the fan! I was able to reel him back in and I thought we would have a good rest of the day. Around 5 it really started spiraling and I knew an early bedtime was in the works. I didn’t realize how early or what was going to transpire to get us there and really that’s not what is important. What is important? His heart. Getting to his heart. Reaching his heart and showing him my heart and love for him. More importantly, showing him God’s love for him. I put my little guy to bed early tonight and he proceeded to call “MOMMY!!!!” for the next 35-40 minutes. I did go up and see what he needed but it was always the same thing...he didn’t want to go to bed and he wanted Daddy. I wanted to cry that I wanted Daddy too, but what good would it do for him to see me fall apart?

As I type this he has finally quieted down and I can only pray that he gets a good rest and tomorrow we can talk about our day and both of us learn something. I know that it’s not just me teaching him, but Justin teaching me too. James 1:19-20 says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. For man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”

I desire to live a righteous life.

Roller Coaster

2010-05-13T22:20:00.000-05:00

Anyone that’s been on a roller coaster understands the adrenaline rush that comes from that initial slow climb before the first drop. I remember this time when I went to Busch Gardens with my best friend and her dad. We were going to ride the Alpengeist and I was scared to death! Amanda sat on one side of me and her dad on the other side. As we started that climb, they began to tease me because of how scared I was. That initial climb is so slow and even though I knew what was coming was going to be exhilarating I still couldn’t keep from being somewhat scared. I was putting all of my trust in the engineers that built that massive ride to keep me safe. I was counting on that harness to stay locked and keep me from slipping out of the seat. In the end, I made it through just fine and loved every minute---except that initial climb of uncertainty. I'll never love the initial uncertainty, but that's where faith comes in right?

It's not the type of roller coaster at an amusement park I'm talking about here. It's the roller coaster of life. Sometimes I feel like I am starting up that initial climb and instead of making it to the end I wind up suspended upside down in a looptie-loop hanging on to the harness for dear life. In real life it's not the engineers I have to put my faith in but Christ. I know that He will see me through to the very end. Even if I do get stuck upside down for a while, knowing it's HIS harness that is keeping me safe is far more comforting than the thought of some engineer putting something together. I know the harness has been tested time and time again, but men sometimes fail us and Christ will never fail us.

Here lately life has been a bit of a roller coaster. There have been many times when I thought I made it to the end only to jump back on and go through the ride all over again! I wish that I could be more telling of this roller coaster ride, but as of right now "Mum's the word". I pray that Brad and I would be sensitive to His will in our lives and not our will. It's in His plan that we find perfection. I'm so thankful for His provision and the gift of discernment in our future endeavors. :)

Sleep

2010-05-03T22:19:00.000-05:00

Sleep, oh how I miss thee. This remodeling of the bathroom is going to kill me!! We’ve been staying up so late working on it and the kids do not care---they get up ever earlier than normal when I haven’t slept!!! What’s up with that???

We didn’t get too much done on the bathroom yesterday. Sundays are always busy days and yesterday was no exception. We had a lunch after church with the pastor search committee and their families and had a WONDERFUL time of fellowship with them all. Brad made the mistake of telling the kids that Golden Corral was an all you can eat ice cream place. We had a room to ourselves and as I was eating the kids snuck out and got some *major* dessert! Apparently I was craving carbs yesterday. When I got back to the table I had: salad (yay me), sweet potato, potato ‘fries’, mashed potatoes, and teriyaki chicken. It was yummy, but oh my.

After lunch we came home and chilled for a little bit before heading back to church for the Lord’s Supper. I had nursery last night so the little ones were under my control! MUAHAHAHA! Then I dropped Brad off at Lowes and went to Jimmy Johns to get dinner. Brad asked me when I dropped him off, “Do you have your check card?” Of course I had my check card. I got Jimmy Johns, ordered the subs, pulled out my wallet and found my check card was not in my wallet. ACK! I knew then my check card was at home so I went to Lowes, found Brad, admitted I was wrong, got HIS check card, then went back to Jimmy Johns.

We did find out that the price of the tile we bought on Wednesday has now dropped 34 cents. I’m going to go back to Lowes today and get a price adjustment. We should get back around $30! Today I have to finish stripping the wall paper in the bathroom (I was too tired to finish it last night). We also have a creek excursion to go on today. I promised Jasmine that we would go down to the creek so they could look for tadpoles. :) Have a happy Monday!

My Girls!

2010-05-01T22:18:00.000-05:00

I am so proud of Haeley and Jasmine!!! They have worked so hard this year learning Bible verses and the books of the Bible. They ROCKED it today! AWESOME JOB GIRLS!!!!!!! They have improved so much since last year. Their confidence is probably the biggest difference I saw. Last year they were very unsure and somewhat confused, but this year was completely different. They knew what to expect and they really prepared and have taken God’s Word and hidden it in their hearts. They are amazing and I desire to know the Bible in the ways that they have learned. What’s really cool is that they don’t just memorize verses and such, but they actually learn what the verse means and find ways to make it personal to their lives. Gabe was able to compete, but he was not confident that he could do it. Next year will be quite a year of Bible Drill. Haeley and Jasmine will be in the Youth, Gabe will be in the 4th-6th grade level, and Justin will be in the 1st-3rd grade. I still can’t believe Justin will be 1st grade!!! Where on earth does the time go?? We got some pretty good pictures at Highland Lakes too!

After Bible Drill we ran to get a birthday present for Sarah’s son, Andrew. We were going to get a terrarium for a frog, but those were so blooming expensive and then there are so many other issues with setting the tank just right. Instead of a frog, we settled on a hermit crab and now Justin wants one too. The hermit crab was HUGE and poor Benjamin got scared out of his wits over it. Benjamin had a bit of a rough day; he got car sick 3 times on the way to Highland Lakes and then was heartbroken when I told him the party was not for him, but for Justin. Justin had a blast at the party and I’m thrilled for him. He told me at bedtime tonight that he made some new friends at the party too! :) The hermit crab was a HUGE hit too. :)

After I dropped Justin at the party I headed back to Menards to pick up Brad and the rest of the kiddos. I left them there so I could drop Justin off. We picked out our bathroom vanity, countertop, faucets for the sink and tub, and all the accessories we need. WHEW! We loaded everything up, came home, unloaded it, and then I picked up the little man.

Over the past several days we have been watching season one of “Leave it to Beaver”. Justin has a new nickname. Beaver. :D There are some many similarities that it’s not even funny!!! While I make dinner the kids watch “Leave it to Beaver”. It’s become a nice ritual. I love them coming and asking to watch it.

It’s now gotten late and we have church in the morning, so away I go!!!!! I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Sunday!!!

Ho hum.

2010-04-29T22:17:00.000-05:00

How on earth is it April 29th already?!?!?!?!? I can NOT believe time has flown by so quickly. This past Sunday we were blessed immensely by a lady in our church, Terri. She is wonderful and is giving Jasmine riding lessons. It is amazing because it’s not just about learning how to ride the horse but learning how to handle the horse. Dollar, the horse, was a little wound up when we got there, but Jasmine was able to learn so much so quickly. Dollar’s back was bothering him so Terri used the English Saddle for Jasmine to ride and she did AWESOME! Jasmine had such control over dollar that it was crazy. She really impressed both me and Terri.

We are working on the master bath. It’s only taken 10 months, but that is still quicker than some projects that we have started. ;-) I’ll post some pictures of before and after once we get it done. We are tiling tonight and the jacuzzi tub will be delivered tomorrow. Brad and I are having some difficulties seeing eye to eye on the wall tile for the tub/shower and for the vanities. Ugh. I know we will figure it out soon, but until then....

Today the girls are doing the associational drill for Bible drill. I am so proud of them! They are learning so much scripture that it is crazy! They can get to the books of the Bible in no time at all and they enjoy what they are learning. This year, Jasmine did better at our church drill than she did at state last year!!! We have state drill on Saturday and then we are going to do another church drill during service one Sunday in May.

I think I have our curriculum for next year picked out. Now it’s just a matter of putting it all together and getting it ordered. I’m so excited for the kids---3 weeks and we are DONE!!!! I know they are super excited too!!! Alrighty, off I go...until next time!!!

So I said...hey....what's going on?? :)

2010-04-21T22:16:00.000-05:00

I said, Hey...What’s going on???? :D

It’s been quite a whirlwind lately. God is up to something in our family and I’m anxious to see what it is! This past Sunday we had the privilege of voting in a new pastor for our church, The Church at Avon. It was a very exciting time for our church. Our new pastor and his wife have 3 boys and God has really blessed our church with this family.

As of today, we have ONE month left of school! ALL of us are ready for school to be over for the year. I have decided that we are going to do a little switch-a-roo next year. We are sticking with the Alpha Omega Publishers, but changing the curriculum. We’ve been using Switched-on-Schoolhouse, but next year we will use a combination of Horizons and Lifepacs. Haeley and Jasmine will use the Lifepacs exclusively. Gabe and Justin will use a combo of Horizons and Lifepacs. I’m excited for the change. Switched-on-Schoolhouse is a wonderful program, but just not the right fit for our family. We only have one computer for school and Haeley, Jasmine, and Gabe all have to cycle through the computer throughout the day. I look forward to sitting down at the table next year with all the kids and doing things as a family. I look forward to the time to help and teach the kids more in that aspect. I do not however look forward to grading and the record keeping. Ugh. Oh well, that’s all a part of it, right?

We’ve had our share of bonfires this spring. The yard is getting cleaned up rather nicely and the kids are loving their hot dog roasts, and s’mores. Any ideas on what else we can roast??? I’m OVER hot dogs. I love sitting by my man out at the fire. I love getting to talk with him and hearing nature’s nightlife. The only downside to spring being here has been the allergies. I really think Justin is fighting some serious allergies. It’s been going on for a good 2 weeks now and he is just miserable. I hate it for him. I’ve had a bit of a spring cold. We have allergy testing scheduled for Justin in May. Then a week later we have Gabe’s testing too. I know that it is going to be a very difficult thing to watch and do, but I pray that we get some answers for these little guys. I’m pretty confident we have some food allergies---rather, food sensitivities with these two. Time will tell.

Since my last post, I still have maintained a healthy relationship with Facebook. It’s still there and I still visit it on occasion, but it is not the time hogger that it was in the past. I can’t believe that a month ago we were in Costa Rica. If I could go back and do things over again, Costa Rica would still happen. Brad and I had such an amazing time and the Lord really used that time to speak to the two of us on our relationship with each other and Him. My time in the Word has been stronger since we have been back from Costa Rica and my desire to be in the Word has been stronger. All I know was that while in Costa Rica God worked a mighty wonder in my life with Him and my family. I find myself truly appreciating most moments now. I do love being Mom. I love where God has placed me and I desire to serve Him better.

Thank you Lord for my family. Thank you for your wisdom. I thank you for blessing Brad and I with our trip. I do not ever want to forget all that you taught me in that time. I thank you for re-aligning my priorities and for drawing me closer to You. Lord I thank you for our friends and our church family. I pray your hand of blessing on this time of transition and I pray for an understanding heart from the current church of our new pastor. I love you Lord. Amen.

Facing Facebook

2010-04-06T22:16:00.000-05:00

So, it’s no secret that I have had an addiction of sorts to Facebook. When I first signed up for it I was not quite sure what it was and I didn’t do much with it. Then I discovered the joy and fun of Facebook. And the more time I spent on Facebook, the more I was getting hooked on it. I enjoyed hooking up with old friends and keeping tabs on my family. I enjoyed looking at everyone’s pictures and seeing how they were doing in their lives. Then I got introduced to the games. First it was Bejeweled Blitz. Then Farkle and FarmTown. Soon after that it was Restaurant City, Cafe World, and FarmVille. Even with the similarities of the games they were so different in many different aspects. I was never playing more than three at the same time ( I know that still is a lot ) and I would talk with my other gaming friends about the differences and so forth. I would find myself seeing at all hours of the day what my friends were doing on FB and I would have to go check it out. I found myself spending more time on FB than I would like to admit. There were days when I was embarrassed at the amount of time I spent there, but it was my escape when the kids were frustrating me. It was my little escape from life. However, my escape from life began taking over my life.

This was not entirely clear to me until just recently. Brad and I enjoyed a glorious nine day vacation in Costa Rica with our good friends, Steve and Lettie. While in Costa Rica I received that escape from life that I had so desperately been seeking through my time on FB. And I also received something else. And amazing epiphany from my Lord! I do not need the games on FB. I do not need FB. I need one thing and one thing only---Him. While I seeked my escape from the games on FB, the status updates, and the pictures I missed out on the big picture. My escape needs to be in prayer and in the Word. Not the words of others’ status updates. Don’t get me wrong, FB is not the problem. I was the problem. I was allowing FB to take priority over too many things. My house suffered, I would be willing to say my kids suffered, my relationship with Brad suffered, but most importantly, my relationship with my Lord and Savior suffered. Upon this realization I promptly turned off the applications on FB that I had been using. I don’t need them.

When I started FB’ing I quit blogging. I love blogging. I love writing stories of my kids and my family. I love having that collection of thoughts to go back to and read over on those days when yesterday seems so far away. So, as I write this I know in my heart that while I will stay on FB and keep up with people, but my focus, my concern will not be there. My focus is on the prize. I will press on in life towards a more intimate relationship with my Lord. I desire to be closer to the Lord, closer to my man, and closer to my children. I pray that as I embark on this change (even if it seems silly to some of you) in my life that on the tempting days I will put that temptation at the foot of the cross.

Love to all!

2009-11-30T23:01:00.002-05:00

Tonight I had the pleasure of having a mini-date with Brad. We had a meeting to go to at 7:30, but my neighbor got here at 6:30 so we could go to dinner first. We met at Outback and Brad had already gone in and gotten us a table and ordered our food. He knows me so well!!! Coconut shrimp, diet coke, 9oz sirloin (medium rare), yummy mashed potatoes, and steamed veggies! MMMMM!!! I love me some steak! Then we headed to the Roger's house and had a wonderful time of fellowship with coffee and dessert! I needed this evening so much. I sang Natalie Grant's song "I believe" the whole way to the restaurant, to the Roger's, and home. It is such a powerful song with a great message of Christmas.

I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping! YEA! Hopefully I'll be able to finish up this week. Brad's birthday is on Thursday. I got him Wii Sports Resort. Shhhh...don't tell him! I know I'm safe posting what I got him because he never reads my blog. Maybe if he realizes I post sensitive information he will come check it out. ;-) I'm going to hit the sack. G'nite-

Creative Writing by Haeley

2009-10-09T18:40:00.002-05:00

I gave Haeley a creative writing assignment today and she did a pretty good job. There were definitely some punctuation errors, but I think she did a good job on the content. Her assignment was..."If you could visit any place in the world, where would it be? Why ould you want to visit there? What would you take with you? How would you get there and would you take anyone with you? Why or why not?" This is what she wrote:

If I could go any place in the world, I would go to Tokyo, Japan. I would visit Tokyo because not only did my mom live there , but I also love the food, houses, designs, basically everything. I also like things from Japan, such as dolls, pajamas, and other things. To get there I would fly to San Francisco, California. Then, catch a boat to Hilo, Hawaii. After that, I would catch another boat to Tokyo, Japan. To prepare I would bring: shirts (long and short), capris, pants, underwear, my flower jewelry box with my favorite jewelry, hygiene bag, and all its contents, small snacks, portable drinks, and money, as well as something to do on the way. If I could, I would bring my dad. We don't get to see him much, only on holidays and weekends. So, I would be able to spend time with him. Tokyo, Japan, here I come!!!

The part in there about her taking Brad made me smile but also made me sad. His job requires so much of his time that he hasn't had a lot of time at home lately. I pray that changes soon.

Hillsong - At the Cross - With Subtitles/Lyrics

2009-09-26T20:38:00.001-05:00

This is such a beautiful song. I love it.

I think I will post this on my bathroom door.

2009-09-23T14:36:00.002-05:00

Dear Kids,

Don’t be alarmed, the world isn’t coming to an end. I am simply taking a shower. It will take about 30 minutes and will involve soap and water. While I’m in the shower, I’d like you to remember a few things;

1. The large slab of wood between us is a door. Do not bang on the door to hear my voice. I promise that even though you can’t see me, I am on the other side. I’m not digging an escape tunnel and running for the border, no matter what I said earlier. I didn’t mean it. Honest.

2. Believe it or not, shouting "telephone!" through the closed bathroom door will not make the phone stop ringing. Answer it and take a message. Since the amazing mind-reading mom has the day off, you’ll have to write it down. Do not use your brother and the laundry marker. We can’t send him to school with telephone number-tatoos.

3. Water makes me wet, not deaf. I can still tell the difference between "nothing" and a child playing the piano with a basketball. I can also hear you tattling at the top of your lungs. I’m choosing not to answer you. Don’t call your dad at work and tell him I’m unconscious in the bathroom. He didn’t appreciate it last time. He won’t appreciate it this time, trust me.

4. No matter how much I would like it, water does not make me forgetful. I remember who you are and why you are grounded. No, you can’t go to Albert’s house to play. No you can’t go to Albert’s house to use the bathroom. If someone is in our other bathroom, you’ll just have to think dry thoughts and wait. Unless you have 4 feet and a tail, do not think of going outside to water the lawn. I know the dog does it. The neighbors don’t feel the need to call me when the dog does it.

5. Unless the house catches on fire, stay inside and keep the doors locked. Do not go outside and throw rocks at the bathroom window to get my attention.

6. Do not set the house on fire.

7. Call me if there is an emergency. Emergencies are:

Dad has fallen off the roof

Your brother/ sister is bleeding

There’s a red fire truck in front of our house

Emergencies are not:

Dad has fallen asleep on the couch

Someone on T.V. is bleeding

There’s a red pick-up truck in front of our house

One other thing: Being forced to use the last roll of toilet paper for a towel does not make me happy. It makes me sticky with little white polka dots. In the future when the tub overflows, use a mop to clean up the water instead of every towel in the house... For my sanity’s sake, lets pretend it was the tub, Okay? No, I don’t want to hear the real story....Ever.... Especially not while I’m standing in the pool of water you missed.

8. Be good. Entertain yourselves. Yes you can do both at the same time.

Try coloring, playing a game, or paying that big stack of bills on the coffee table. I’ll be out soon. Maybe.

Love, Mom

Naps?

2009-09-20T16:16:00.002-05:00

I was so stinking tired today and thought I would try and take a nap while Justin was napping. Didn't really happen. The dog was barking, the kids were screaming and I had enough! I "woke up" grumpier from my "nap" then when I attempted one in the first place!!!! Ugh! And, I still need to go to the grocery store if we want to eat for this next coming week. At least Brad is now home from work----it's been a long weekend. He had to work yesterday and today. =(

A new school year---a new blogger?

2009-09-18T17:49:00.002-05:00

Well here we are in our second year of homeschooling. There were days that I didn't think I would make it through our first. There were days that I wanted to throw aside the leading of the Lord and put the kids back in public school. I am so thankful that I have listened to Him and kept my children home and continued this journey. This past summer was full! We had a vacation to VA at the beginning, then family came back with me, then we have a month to ourselves before the vacays began again.

Haeley and Jasmine went to VA for 2 weeks with Mom and Dad and had a BLAST! Then I went and picked them up in Beckley, WV and dropped the boys off and they went to VA for 2 weeks. Brad had a business trip in TX and flew from there to Norfolk, to pick up the boys. The day all 4 of my boys got home Brad's brother and his family came for Labor Day weekend. We went to a drive in and did a lot of just hanging at the house. It was some much needed time I think. Justin and Zeke got along wonderfully!!! It truly amazed me what about 9 months of maturity has done for their relationship. Zeke, Dory, and Reese have all gotten huge and I am blessed to be their aunt. :)

The day they left we started school! We are using Switched on Schoolhouse for Haeley, Jasmine, and Gabe. Justin I am using a little of this and a little of that. Benjamin sits in on some of it, but I am not too concerned with him. The older three are doing pretty spetacular in most of their subjects. I'm really proud of them. Homeschooling Justin scares me a little. With the older three when we made the decision to homeschool they already knew how to read, write, and do basic math. With Justin it is my responsibility to teach him all of that and to be honest, it is a little overwhelming and scary! We are working on the letter "A" right now. I'll post pictures of our lap book when we finish it. My sis-in-law, Summer (Zeke's mom), has started homeschooling Zeke this year too. It's a little hard to believe that they are both in Kindergarten. It makes me sad to see how quickly they are growing.

Our church is going through some growth right now. Our pastor and his family have moved back to TN for a postion at a church there. I am very grateful for the time that they were apart of our lives. Carrie was my very first friend in IN and we went through so much together! We were pregnant at the same time and delivered with in 2 weeks of each other. Benjamin and Anna Grace had been together since they were born. I pray that the Lord works mightily in this new endeavor that they have embraced. Our church now is in the process of putting together a pastor search committee. I believe whole heartedly that the Lord has an amazing man ready to come and take over leading and shepherding this church.

I got a new camera in July that I adore. It is the Nikon D40. I love it!!!! I have wanted a DSLR for a long time and I am so thankful for my wonderful husband who bought it for me!! :) It is still my hearts desire to move back to VA in the future. I miss our family terribly and this past summer has really left my heart longing for closer distances between all of us! Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart." I pray that the Lord's will is for us to move back to our family. I love our church family and I am so thankful for all of our friends and "family" here, but there is nothing like being with your FAMILY.

Sorry I haven't updated in a long time. I will truly try to do better!!! I hope all is well for y'all!

Where I've been

2009-07-10T21:17:00.003-05:00

(I took this pic with my iPhone)

No real good excuse---just not been in the blogging mood. We were in VA for a couple weeks and then my sister in law, Melissa, and niece, Kayla, came back to IN with us for about a little over a week. When we got back we had VBS and it wore us out!!! Melissa and I were beat on a daily basis! Luke was supposed to get here on Friday of Father's Day weekend, but he surprised her and all of us and showed up a day early. It was so great getting to see family both in VA and here. I've missed it terribly!

While I was gone, Brad got bored and decided that we needed another project and he took down the wall between the spare bedroom and our bedroom. He has built us a new closet and is also expanding our bathroom. We are going to move the laundry room upstairs into our old closet. Then we are going to knock out the wall between the laundry room and library and the library closet. Once we do that we will turn the back area into the playroom and guest room. Then I *think* I'll turn the current playroom into more of my schoolroom. We have a LONG way to go to get from where we are now to where I want it to be. We'll get there.

We went on our first family canoe trip at Sugar Creek. Luke, Melissa, and Kayla were with us. It was a BLAST. Haeley and Gabe learned (finally) how to work together and were able to make it down the section of the river relatively problem free. Jas and Kay were in a canoe together and after a bit of a rocky start they got the hang of it and did wonderful! Benjamin and Justin went between Luke and Melissa's canoe and mine and Brad's. It was so pretty and we got to enjoy being on the water. I can't wait to go back. We really enjoyed ouselves, except my camera and Luke's watch met the creek. Luke couldn't find his watch and after leaving my camera in rice for 3 days I have given up on it. :( We are on the search for a new camera.

The day after Father's Day we went to the Creation Museum in KY. It was really interesting and thought provoking on many parts. There was one part of it that really shook Gabe up and he still has had nightmares and scary moments since. I know that he will get through it, but it kills me that he has so much fear. Just last night he slept with Brad and I because he was so upset...gut wrenching sobs coming from him. We prayed with him and for him. I pray that this passes.

We had a gentleman at our church go home to be with the Lord on the 26th of June. He had been battling pancreatic cancer. He passed on his wife's birthday. It was a difficult time. We had his homegoing service on Wedensday the the 1st. It was a beautiful service. Brad was a pallbearer and the kids and I sat in the back. They did really good in the service. I had all of them with me and it was a good thing at times because they helped keep me from getting real emotional. ;-) We are blessed to have known Steve.

Our 4th of July was nice and wet. It rained and rained and rained!!! The week before was so cool I was wearing jeans and (light) long sleeved shirts. I *loved* it!! We had some friends over and I made ribs and some other things---my mind is blanking on me now. :) We've had a couple pool days this week and the kids have really been in heaven. Tuesday I went with my girlfriend Sarah and her 3 boys. While we were there Sarah's middle boy Ethan (4) was teaching Benjamin how to swim with water wings on. My heart melted watching the two of them. At one point Ethan said to Benjamin, "Do you need to hold my hand?" It was so sweet. We spent almost 6 hours at the pool!! Today though Sarah backed out on me and left me to my lonesome. ;-) She wasn't feeling well so they didn't come. We had a good time today and Benjamin was even more confident in his water wing swimming! We stayed today for a good 5 hours. The kids were WORE out today. They were all in bed by 9. Haeley was falling asleep. Benjamin was asking if it was time for bed yet....they were tired.

Haeley got her new glasses this week. Unfortunately they were the EXACT same prescription as the ones she got and lost last year. She looks very cute in them. We had the rule though---if they are not on your face they are with Mommy. We can't afford to lose these as well. Justin has been amazing Brad and I over the past several weeks. We have seen a tremendous maturing in him. He is controlling himself and making a real effort to make better choices. PRAISE GOD!!! I'm so thankful for that!!! Jasmine is Jasmine. Tonight at dinner Haeley was really excited about the new bathing suits that I got her today. We are eating and she is describing all the little details to Brad about these suits. Jasmine is sitting there eating with this "look" on her face. Next thing you know she looks at Brad and rolls her eyes as if to say, "Oh Brother...here she goes again!" Brad and I both saw it and started grinning and Jas was grinning from ear to ear too! I am so blessed by this family!!

I'll end on this....last night we were working in the garden. Brad had tilled up a section and Benjamin came out. Benjamin starts commenting about how he likes the dirt. He's walking through it and says, "I like the dirt Daddy. I like it because it's brown. I like brown things. Daddy, Daddy, poop is brown too. So, I like poop." hahahahaha....

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!!!

2009-07-04T15:11:00.001-05:00

Enjoy!

Kids Message to Daddy

2009-06-05T18:24:00.001-05:00

Enjoy it Baby!! =)

Kids Playing in the Ocean

2009-06-05T18:23:00.001-05:00

The kids loved being in the ocean!!! It was great!

Lazy Day at the Beach

2009-06-03T15:13:00.003-05:00

Oh, how I miss it here. It's amazing how much you take for granted. For years I always took the beach for granted and really didn't want to go because it was always an option. Now that we don't live near the beach I once again am mesmerized by the greatness of the ocean. It truly is amazing how God has formed everything. Amazing. The kids had an absolute blast at the beach! Benjamin even got to the point where he would go into the water without holding my hand the whole time. Justin was all over the place. Gabe was a little fish. He came to me at one point and said, "I don't like the disgusting stuff in my mouth!!" I said, "What disgusting stuff?" He said, "The water!" It made me chuckle. I told him to keep his mouth shut and he wouldn't have to worry with the disgusting stuff in his mouth! ;-) Jasmine loved being in the water and also in the sand. Haeley loved it too. (I loved it and would have loved it a little more had I not lost my drivers license.) Here are a couple pictures---I'll upload some video in a bit too.

Haeley's Message for Daddy

2009-05-31T20:22:00.005-05:00

Jasmine's Message for Daddy

2009-05-31T20:22:00.003-05:00

Gabe's Message for Daddy

2009-05-31T20:22:00.001-05:00

Justin's Message for Daddy

2009-05-31T20:20:00.001-05:00

Benjamin's Message for Daddy

2009-05-31T20:18:00.001-05:00

We love and miss you Honey!!!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

2009-05-28T14:11:00.002-05:00

We are in Virginia Beach for the next couple weeks!!! YAY! Although, I miss Brad terribly. No "yay" on that one. I love getting to visit with family, but being away from Brad is hard. The weather is beautiful! Couldn't ask for prettier days. Last night we went out with Jenn to Tijuana Flats. It was my first time eating there. It was pretty good---not what I was expecting though. I didn't realize that it was a fast food type Mexican. I have to admit, though, Los Rancheros still wins hands down on the flautas. ;-)

The kids have been doing pretty good. Unfortunately they have gotten into some sort of poison something or another...It's either poison ivy, oak, or sumac. Matthew has it really bad. He wound up in the doctor yesterday for it. His back looked like one big hive. He's got it on his belly, and face too. Gabe has it pretty bad, but not nearly as bad as Matthew. Justin's got it too (a lovely spot on his rear end), and Haeley also has it. So far, Jasmine, Cullin, and Benjamin seem to be in the clear. I pray that it stays that way! Not the way I want to spend this vacation...

Oh! When we were driving out here the fog had gotten really bad. It was dark and foggy and I was getting real nervous as I was driving. I started praying and telling God how nervous I was. I prayed that the fog would be lifted and the way made clear for us. I kid you not, the fog immediately lifted. God is so good!

Tim Hawkins - Cletus Take the Reel

2009-05-14T22:47:00.001-05:00

Tim Hawkins has become one of my new favorite comedians---he cracks me up! Check out some of his stuff. :)

So after all that...

2009-05-08T21:26:00.002-05:00

Tuesday I awoke and was really sore. I wound up going into the doctor and she said that I indeed had whiplash. My neck, shoulders, and back were really tight and hard. It was not pleasant. She prescribed some muscle relaxers but said I couldn't take them until Brad got home. I hadn't planned on taking them till he was home though. We hit CVS on our way home and got the meds and a couple other things. Once we got home we did some school and then it was time for supper so we could leave for soccer practice. Soccer was good---Justin had fun and then I needed a pick me up to get through the rest of the evening. Got my pick me up,went home, put the babies to bed, and then headed to bed myself. Wednesday was somewhat of a quieter day and Brad got home!! The girls and I got a ton of laundry folded and put away! YAY!

Thursday we laid low and had a bit of a relaxing day. I made pizzas and brownies for supper. The girls played at their friends house and Brad cut the grass. So we put the kids to bed and we were watching "Transformers". The kids had been in bed for a little over an hour. Justin came to the top of the stairs and said, "I'm scared." Brad turned the TV off and simply put his arms out for Justin. The little guy came running down the stairs and jumped into his Daddy's arms. Brad just held him ... Read Moreand let him talk about his fears. He then reassured him that everything was okay and carried him back up to his bed. I just sat there watching as my little five year old needed to feel that safety and security in his Daddy's arms. It was a special moment.

Today has been a little busy...breakfast at iHop, Target, Starbucks, home, lunch, school, laundry, kitchen clean up..supper fixing...the usual...and now it's time for bed. G'nite!

Busy Bee

2009-05-08T20:42:00.004-05:00

It has been quite a week here. Mondays are always my busy day. We start with gymnastics at 11 and then whatever errands need to be done we do that and then we have gymnastics and karate again at 6:30. This past Monday was busier than usual though. Sunday night Gabe got his fingers smashed in a door at church. By Monday morning he was still having pain and didn't have a whole lot of feeling in his fingers either. So we added a doctor appointment to the to do list. Our schedule went a little something like this:

11-Gymnastics
12-Lunch and drop off bag and VBS materials with Sarah
1:10 Doctor appointment for Gabe then home
2ish School
5 Supper
6:30 Gymnastics/Karate
7:45 Meet Pastor to give CD of sermon

All things considered it was going to be a full day. Brad also had to leave that afternoon for a business trip in VA. We got through the doctor appointment. Gabe had some blood built up underneath his index finger nail and our doctor had to burn a hole in his nail to let it drain. He instantly felt better. As we were leaving I decided that I wanted a cup of coffee. We headed towards Starby's and we were a stop light away from our pediatrician's office. We were stopped and the light turned green. Traffic was moving to the left and right of us, but our lane hadn't started moving. It was about that time I felt a jolt and the truck lurched. It took a second for it to register that we had just been rear ended. The man came up and apologize and we moved off of the road and onto the shoulder.

I immediately started shaking and getting nervous. I could feel some pain in my back, but my concern turned to the kids. Justin and Jasmine bonked heads, but besides that they were all okay. Their bellies hurt and they were all a little shook up and scared. I tried calling Brad, but his flight had just taken off. I called 911 and they went through the line of questions about the accident. They wanted to know if there were any passengers and I said, "Yes, I have my 5 children with me, but they are okay." That part didn't matter (and I'm thankful for that too). They sent a fire truck, ambulance, rescue truck, and 2 police cars. All was well with the kids and I had signed a waiver refusing medical treatment at the scene. We got squared away and the officer poked his head in the window to tell the kids he was glad he was okay. That was Justin's que...he says, "Do you think you could show us how you fire off your gun?" The officer didn't hear and wanted to know what he said. I reluctantly relayed the question. He laughed and said, "I think I might get in trouble for that....I don't think I've been asked that before." I said, "That's because you have met my kids before!"

We were able then to leave and I decided I was really going to go after that cup of coffee now! I deserved it! The bumper on the truck is dented and we have an appointment this Monday for an estimate. Once we were home I took some Motrin because I was really feeling some pain in my back. I got a hold of brad and let him know that we were all okay but told him what happened. Then we just hung out for a little bit. The kids played outside until it was time for supper. Then off to gymnastics and karate. I threw in a trip to the Christian Supply Center so I could get Chonda Pierce's new dvd "This Ain't Prettyville". Then we met our pastor and I gave him the cd and we were homeward bound. Unfortunately both the little boys fell asleep on the way and I had to carry them in the house. Ugh! I got the kids to bed and then I tried to settle down.

I was tired...and the evening just went downhill from there. From strange noises at the door and a growling dog...to seeing things...then finally drifting to sleep and awaking for an unknown reason...to little cuddle bugs visiting and not wanting to go back to sleep but talk...but to then finally find sleep only to have the husband's alarm clock awake me (and remember the husband was gone). It was a long night.

Sonshine Soccer

2009-05-04T20:10:00.003-05:00

My little man has started playing soccer. He's doing great! He loves it and this past Saturday he scored 5 goals!! I'm so proud of him. He's enjoying making new friends. It does however make our Saturday's even busier than ever. His soccer game starts at 9 and then Gabe's Karate is at 10:15. We have to drive separately and Brad leaves a little early to get Gabe to Karate.

I love watching all the little kids play. He gets right in and knows what he's doing playing the game. He gets so excited and a little embarrassed when he scores a goal. It's funny. And he keeps track of how many goals he's made. The game before last he made 2 but came close on quite a few others. He said as we were leaving, "I only got 2 goals today, but I came really close on a lot didn't I?" I love watching him progress weekly and truly enjoy himself.

Easter Pic

2009-04-17T22:29:00.006-05:00

I know that it has been almost a week since we got to celebrate our Lord's Resurrection, but I couldn't let it go by without posting a picture of the family. Church was wonderful. My friend, Debbie and I sang "I've Just Seen Jesus". I don't think we really did the song justice, but what a message and to think about that time. Can you imagine what was going through everyone's minds when they saw Jesus on the 3rd day. I can't imagine. I can't wait for the day when we can all say "I the Lord...seated on the throne...exalted...." It was not without it's excitement. Let's see Benjamin went to church with dog poo on his shoes and we didn't know until he got into his Sunday School.....I guess it had dried and then he stepped in water and it magnified it's "scent"....then he got a hole in his pants. That kid...I tell you what. We attempted a couple pictures, but with our five kids....yeah. 'Nuff said. :) So, here's one of all of us and one of just Brad and I. At the spur of the moment we had some friends come over for Easter Supper. It was really nice. The kids had a blast and Brad and I really enjoyed getting to visit with some other "adults". We had ham, sweet potato souffle, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, broccoli casserole, rolls, fruit salad, cake, tea, and coffee....Mmmm...

The little things in life

2009-04-08T14:43:00.002-05:00

It's definitely the little things in life that make me smile. Yesterday I went to buy the girls mattresses but the store was crazy and would only take credit cards and checks, not cash---and I only had cash. (Benjamin just brought me a tube of his toothpaste...) I went to another store and wasn't impressed there so I ran across the street to Lowe's. I was picking up an organizer for on top of the fridge and I checked out the clearance aisle and found a bistro table and 2 chairs sitting there. It was marked down to 200 bucks, but I talked them down to 170. :D So sitting up on the deck off mine and Brad's room is our nice little bistro set (and he doesn't know yet). He's on a business trip and due home this evening. I hope to be able and surprise him with it. It's 53 out right now and I know that it will be chilly by the time he gets home, but maybe I can have some cups of hot chocolate waiting us.

I'm sitting on the deck right now and Benjamin is with me. He brought me a present too! He was so proud of himself. He came running out on to the porch with my makeup bag. He said, "It has all that you likes!! Open it!" He's so funny. He and I were laughing at Emma because she was chasing a bag out in the yard. The little things...Let's see, the things to make me smile today:

Serenity (in case you didn't know, that's my Espresso Machine)
Haeley is so proud of her sunflower seeds that she has planted. All together I think we have 40 some sunflower sprouts.
Listening to Benjamin sing his "ABCs"---he's actually gotten better at them too!
Getting to see Justin wanting to learn and watching him try and make better choices. He's really trying to control his temper and not lash out. I'm trying to teach him that even when other kids push his buttons he has to control himself.
I love listening to Gabe and Justin beg Jasmine to draw things for them. As far as they are concerned she is the best artist that there is. (And she's pretty good if I do say so myself!)
Having a husband that loves me beyond what I deserve. He really is such an amazing man. He works so hard to provide and take care of us. I don't know what I did right to get him.
Seeing Spring start to bud--I love it! My lilies are taking over and I can't wait to see them bloom. It's gonna be so pretty!

Okay, signing off---gotta get some stuff done.

Trials...

2009-04-02T21:54:00.002-05:00

The book of James has been one of my favorite books for years. Since I heard Ginny Owens song "If you want me to" verses 2-4 have meant a lot. But then I started reading on and the whole book is full of wisdom and comfort for me. There are times when we face trials and we don't know why, but I know that if I cling to the truths that are in the Word that I will be able to push through.

James 1:2-8
2. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3. knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4. And let endurance have [its] perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6. But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7. For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8. [being] a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Another passage that I have loved for years is Proverbs 3:5-6. What an encouragement to read, " 5. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. 6. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight." I will freely admit that I do not always trust in the Lord. I put my trust in circumstances and people. All things that can and will let me down. If I place my trust in MY Lord, what a peace and comfort that will bring. It is my desire to serve the Lord more each day and to place my trust with Him. I love you Lord.

What Haeley thinks of me

2009-04-02T10:24:00.003-05:00

1. What is something Mommy always says to you? Yes and No

2. What makes Mommy happy? Um. Coffee or soda (not so much the soda)

3. What makes Mommy sad? To yell at us, because you don't like to yell at us

4. How does Mommy make you laugh? Justin

5. What did your mommy like to when she was little? You like to be pulled behind a speed boat on a tube. (SWEET!)

6. How old is Mommy? 27

7. How tall is Mommy? 5'11"

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to watch on TV? Uhhh...I don't know what it's called.

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around? Uh....go on her laptop

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? A person who know how to pull behind an awesome outfit with a hairstyle and make-up

11. What is Mommy really good at? Cartwheels and round-offs

12. What is Mommy not very good at? Yelling

13. What does Mommy do for my job? You're a cook

14. What is Mommy's favorite food? (she's scrunching her face up like a rabbit thinking) Starbucks chocolate maybe?

15. What makes you proud of Mommy? How beautiful she is

16. If Mommy was a cartoon character, who would I be? Yoshi

17. What do you and Mommy do together? Shop

18. How are you and Mommy the same? We both like short hair

19. How are you and Mommy different? Mommy doesn't want me to have short hair; I want to have short hair

20. How do you know Mommy loves you? She gives me cool things

21. What does Mommy like most about Daddy? That he's strong and handsome

22. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go? Starbucks and VA to visit your parents

What Jasmine thinks of me

2009-04-02T09:25:00.002-05:00

1. What is something Mommy always says to you? To get dressed

2. What makes Mommy happy? When I obey you

3. What makes Mommy sad? When something bad happens

4. How does Mommy make you laugh? When one of asks us like a really weird question to ask

5. What did your mommy like to when she was little? Ummm.....I don't know

6. How old is Mommy? 27

7. How tall is Mommy? Ummm....like 5 feet or something. 5' 10"

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to watch on TV? Ummm....like "Days of our Lives" and this other show (In my defense, I've not watched "Days" in weeks)

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around? Party

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? Being a good Mom and how much coffee you can drink

11. What is Mommy really good at? Being a good Mom

12. What is Mommy not very good at? Mmmm. Forgetting about coffee

13. What does Mommy do for my job? To take care of us

14. What is Mommy's favorite food? Um. Japanese food (YAY)

15. What makes you proud of Mommy? Um. The food you make

16. If Mommy was a cartoon character, who would I be? Queen Esther

17. What do you and Mommy do together? Shop

18. How are you and Mommy the same? We're both girls

19. How are you and Mommy different? Um. You're taller than me.

20. How do you know Mommy loves you? Because you say it every night and how you say it I know you mean it

21. What does Mommy like most about Daddy? Um. That he's a really really hard worker.

22. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go? Starbucks

Fun Fun Fun!!!!

2009-03-31T21:59:00.006-05:00

(Outside of DQ)

I'm sleepy, but I'll give a quick recap on the day. Brad had to go out of town and I wanted to do something fun with the kids since I get the bum rap of just being "mom" and not doing the fun stuff like Daddy does. Whatever. ;-) I decided that I was going to take the kids to see "Monsters vs. Aliens" or to Chuck E. Cheese. I really wanted to take them to the movies, but after I read this I decided it wasn't the right movie for my kids. =( I was really bummed, because I really didn't want to go to Chuck E. Cheese. I've successfully avoided it for many years. I didn't tell the kids we were going because if it looked too busy I was going to go to plan B. It didn't look too busy so away we went. I knew once I pulled into the parking lot that I was committed to going so I knew I had to really be ready. As I was pulling into the parking lot I heard Haeley saying to Jasmine, "Slap me. Slap me! I can't believe it!" Hahaha. It was so worth it.

They were so excited and then frustrated that we had to wait in line for a couple minutes and not get into it all right away. This was Benjamin's first trip to CEC. We had pizza and lemonade for dinner and then away to the machines!!! Haeley came in with 150 tickets, Benjamin had 110, Gabe had 86, Justin 81, and Jasmine had 69. They got their prizes and then I was done with CEC!!! As I was driving home, I wanted to add a final touch to our fun....Mmmm....Dairy Queen. The kids thought we were going to a furniture store! The rain had let up and it was in the 50s, so I thought we would go to the window and eat our ice cream out at the tables. Unfortunately, the wind was BITTER cold and we lasted all of 5 minutes...that was from the time we ordered, got our ice cream, and made it back to the truck! The kids had so much fun and I LOVED getting to spend that time with them.

And the BEST part of my day...Justin. He had an AWESOME day. Seriously, awesome. He displayed such compassion towards his sister when he accidentally hurt her. He really was concerned that she was okay and apologized and asked for forgiveness without an attitude. Then a little later, he was supposed to be picking up his toys out of the foyer and I asked him if he had done it yet. He said, "No Ma'am. I'll do it right now." And he did it! He didn't talk back today or give me a hard time! I'm so proud of him! OH! And last night at gymnastics he got his first "rip". In other words, he got his first blister from doing the bars. It has ripped away and is now healing nicely. He is so proud of it too, he's been showing it off to everyone that will look. ;-) Okay, I'm going to put some pictures on here and go to bed!

(These are of Justin being very dramatic with his 'rip'.)

What Gabe thinks of me

2009-03-28T19:19:00.002-05:00

Here are Gabe's answers

1. What is something Mommy always says to you? Umm. No when I ask you to play Gamecube.

2. What makes Mommy happy? When I obey

3. What makes Mommy sad? When I die

4. How does Mommy make you laugh? When I do stuff funny to you

5. What did your mommy like to when she was little? Read books

6. How old is Mommy? 26 I think

7. How tall is Mommy? 54 feet

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to watch on TV? NBC news. I mean, NBC

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around? Be on your laptop

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? Cause your best the Mom in the whole wide world

11. What is Mommy really good at? Being the best Mom in the world

12. What is Mommy not very good at? Nothing

13. What does Mommy do for my job? Love us to death

14. What is Mommy's favorite food? Coffee (Me, that's not a food, that's a drink) Gabe: China food, Chinese food

15. What makes you proud of Mommy? When you say we can play Wii

16. If Mommy was a cartoon character, who would I be? I think you would be Daisy (Mario Kart)

17. What do you and Mommy do together? Play Wii together

18. How are you and Mommy the same? Our hearts

19. How are you and Mommy different? That you have a big bottom (He gets no dessert for a year!)

20. How do you know Mommy loves you? Cause you always like pray with me and you love me to death

21. What does Mommy like most about Daddy? That he's crazy.

22. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go? Starbucks

What Justin thinks of me

2009-03-27T12:44:00.001-05:00

This is what Justin thinks of me...I'll post the other kids' responses over the next couple days.

1. What is something Mommy always says to you? Tells me to um...umm...umm...mmm..do your ABCs

2. What makes Mommy happy? When there's something that you don't tell me to do and I do it.

3. What makes Mommy sad? When I bite

4. How does Mommy make you laugh? When I um..the day when we were kinda fighting a little, like play fighting playing and you kept on tripping me and I was laughing.

5. What did your mommy like to when she was little? Ummm..I don't know.

6. How old is Mommy? 4

7. How tall is Mommy? 6 feet (I'm 5'4")

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to watch on TV? The news

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around? Cry.

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? I don't know.

11. What is Mommy really good at? Wii on Mario Kary cause of how much stuff you got

12. What is Mommy not very good at? Going on a race against God

13. What does Mommy do for my job? To give us kids healthy stuff

14. What is Mommy's favorite food? Ice cream (It's not)

15. What makes you proud of Mommy? When I'm cleaning my room and you just come in and help me.

16. If Mommy was a cartoon character, who would I be? Peach (Mario Kart)

17. What do you and Mommy do together? Play Wii sometimes and watch movies

18. How are you and Mommy the same? Cause we have the same type pants

19. How are you and Mommy different? Cause you're bigger than me and I'm littler than you

20. How do you know Mommy loves you? Cause when I say, "Could I have a snack?" You don't let me have it right now because you don't want me to get sick.

21. What does Mommy like most about Daddy? Cause he goes to work to get us money so I can buy my own toys.

22. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go? Starbucks, because you need coffee to live!

Slacker Alert

2009-03-26T09:47:00.003-05:00

I'm such a slacker. I will freely admit it. I've not posted on here in over a week! What's wrong with me?!?!? Last Friday the girls and I went to see Natalie Grant, Chris Sligh, and Meredith Andrews in concert. Oh. my. word. It was INCREDIBLE!!!! We were about 4 rows from the stage. Got some great pics! Meredith Andrews has got such a beautiful voice and a heart for the Lord--and she's from NC. =) I've already bought her CD. Chris Sligh is fantastic. Seriously. He is a trip and then some. The girls got a kick out of him. They didn't leave singing any of his "serious" songs...they left singing, "Rock stars need money...they can't live on bologna sandwiches..." He really has a great voice and is an awesome songwriter too. Now onto my favorite.

Natalie Grant.

Oh. My. Word.

I know that I'm gushing here, but she so deserves it! I love Natalie Grant. Love her. Jenn introduced me to her years ago. She has such a beautiful voice. She's a very real person. I've been to concerts before where the performers where just that---performers. But that's not how it was at this concert. Natalie came out before each set and introduced the artists. She shared from her heart and shared some about her journey. We had to leave a little early because Haeley was tired and her ears were hurting. I went out with Haeley and then I got Jas and we all stayed in the back for the rest of the show. What I didn't realize was when we left it wasn't over. She did an encore and sang, "In Christ Alone". I was disappointed when I found out we missed it. Oh well, can't do anything about that now.

More later...gotta run.

Giveaway---not mine, but Ains'

2009-03-16T15:14:00.003-05:00

Okay, take a trip to Chattahoochee Mama for a great giveaway! Surf Sweets has decided to give a package of sweets to a lucky Chattahoochee Mama reader. Surf Sweets are a tasty organic candy! Head on over to Ains' site and enter to win! Good luck!

Praises and Prayer!

2009-03-15T22:19:00.002-05:00

I totally believe in the power or prayer. I believe that it was nothing but God's mighty hand that brought the many praises from today. At church this morning we had a new family join. There were 3 kids and the parents. I love it when we have new families, but the bigger blessing was having the opportunity to sit in with the 2 older kids (11 and 16ish) and assist Cindy in leading them down the Roman Road. These kids were so open and honest and really desiring to have that relationship with Christ. As all 4 of us held hands we prayed and both of these precious kids prayed to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior! What an amazing start to our Sunday!!!! Our Lord is so good. He continued to reign down showers of blessings today. Our pastor went and visited baby Colten and his family up at the hospital this afternoon. Baby Colten does NOT need surgery!!! He will have to stay in the hospital for about a week yet, but Praise God he doesn't have to have surgery!

And another praise...I think Justin is finally starting to get ahold of his emotions and handle himself better. We don't seem to be having as many outbursts and when we do have them he is getting quicker to apologize and make things right with everyone. This afternoon on the way to church he got mouthy and told me "Oh Whatever!" He was really snotty about how he was talking. I said, "Justin do you need to say something to me?" He said, "Yeah." I said, "Okay...are you going to say you're sorry?" He says, "No." I said, "Okay, then I'm going to pull over and wait until you have calmed down and are ready to apologize. When you are ready you let me know." So we pulled over into a parking lot and waited. We had plenty of time to spare and I was completely prepared to stay there as long as it took. I think we sat there for about 5 minutes...then I heard, "I'm sorry Mommy for talking ugly to you. Do you forgive me?" Of course I told him yes and then that I loved him. Some days are better than others with him and I'm praising God for the little victories that we are having with Justin. Okay...going to bed now...g'nite.

Still need prayers

2009-03-14T19:10:00.002-05:00

Okay, I just got word. Baby Colten has been transferred to another hospital and is going to have surgery Monday. He has some sort of blockage in his nose. Please continue to pray.

Prayers...

2009-03-14T14:45:00.003-05:00

I'll keep this short and blog more later, but I'm asking everyone that reads this to lift up a friend of mine, Angie and her family. Angie was pregnant and due April 10, but she had the baby last night. It was a really fast delivery and the baby is not breathing real well. He's in an oxygen thing (I know, I'm so technical) to help him breathe. Please lift this family. Thanks. I'll update as soon as I can.

The Front Bathroom

2009-03-05T12:28:00.003-05:00

Okay, so we still have to put the door on the bathroom and I need to paint the mirror, but you can get and idea of how it looks. :)

Don't you just love the toilet? ;-)

What a morning!

2009-03-04T13:09:00.003-05:00

My oh my. We managed to get quite a bit accomplished this morning. I awoke to find that we didn't have enough breakfast for everyone. I had cereal for two...we fed the little boys and then everyone got dressed and we headed out the door. I hit the healthy Dunkin Donuts for the kids and then we ran to Starby's for me! From there we went to Plainfield and hit a couple stores. I got new shoes for Haeley, Jasmine, Gabriel, and Benjamin at Stride Rite. Gabe was wearing shoes that were 2 sizes too small and Haeley's were right about the same. We found out that Benjamin's right foot is 1/2 a size larger than his left. He's now in an 11W. Jasmine's foot is 1/2 a size larger than Haeley's. I was lucky to be able to get them shoes from Stride Rite because they are on the end of the children's shoes and can wear both children's or women's. Haeley, Jas, and Gabe's shoes were all clearanced and then an extra 25% off. Benjamin's were just on sale. Thankfully, Justin didn't need new shoes yet!!! YAY!

Next we hit Children's Place so I could get the kids a new pair of jeans. They were 2 for $28 which isn't too bad nor is it too good...Unfortunately we didn't get ANYTHING in Children's Place because apparently they don't sell slim sizes anymore. I know that I have bought slims from in there, but they said the only place to get the slims or huskys are online. Bummer. I decided we would check out Old Navy...so down the strip we went. I found jeans for Haeley, Jasmine, Gabe, and Justin. Benjamin doesn't need any he's got a ton of pants. I did find a tank top and a short sleeved cardigan for me though! Whoo hoo!!!

Away we went for haircuts and a carwash. We got Benjamin and Justin's hair cut and they look mighty handsome. Justin has been begging to get his haircut and he was thrilled to get his hair cut. Benjamin did wonderful! I was a little concerned that Benjamin was not going to do well, because he doesn't usually like people messing with his hair. When we went in he said, "I want to sit in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!" Justin picked the "digger" looking vehicle and he did great as well. Justin always does great getting his hair done though. Then we headed to Mike's Car Wash and got the truck washed and cleaned out and away we went home. So now, it's 1:30 and I'm pooped, but I've got a ton I have to get done on the house today. Which means I'm going to get off here and get busy!

Love Languages

2009-03-04T07:20:00.002-05:00

I decided yesterday after another day of me practically pulling my hair out with the sibling rivalry (I put Gabe and Justin in a time out from each other that lasted for a good 5 hours) that I would browse my "Five Love Languages for Kids" book. Oh how I'm glad that I did. I gave all the kids (except Benjamin) the assessment to see what their love language was. It was interesting and enlightening all at the same time! We've been having problems with Justin and his anger for quite some time now and there was a whole chapter devoted to "Love and Anger". I sat out in the garage with Brad last night as he worked on the engine for the Comet and I read the chapter aloud. The book had A LOT to say and it opened mine and Brad's eyes up a bunch on dealing with Justin. I'm hoping that the sleepover will help to alleviate some of the tension that has been building up between the kids.

Justin's primary love language is quality time so I sat down with him yesterday and we played Go Fish and then Memory. And let me tell you---that kid has got a MEMORY on him!!! My word! It was a little embarrassing for me as my 5 year old was kicking my tail on memory. He's good. He loved it though. After we were done, my sweet Haeley wanted to know if Justin wanted to play with her and he ate it up! I loved watching them play together and get along. As the evening went on though, I was noticing a little bit of a sadness in Gabe. I pulled him on the couch and we talked about the day and the way the boys had been talking to each other. He and Justin were missing each other and they apologized for the way they were treating one another. After that, all was well in the Smith household. We then had 5 little "puppies"...they were acting out the parts of the "Buddies" from "Space Buddies" and all the other "Buddy" movies. I love my babies!

A little crazy? Maybe.

2009-03-04T07:02:00.001-05:00

Last night I thought it would be fun to let the kids have a sleepover in Gabe's room. Yes, all 5 of them in Gabe's room. Gabe's got a big lot bed with a full size bed on top and a twin pullout on the bottom. So Gabe and Justin claimed the top, Haeley claimed the pullout, Benjamin claimed the futon between the loft and the closet, and Jas took the floor between the pullout and wall. It was going really well until Justin said he was going to throw up. So out of the bed he came and into the bathroom. He didn't throw up, but Brad told him that he couldn't go get back in bed with Gabe because he didn't want him to throw up on any of his siblings. I completely get that, but the little guy was so upset!! So he came into our room where I held him in my arms and rubbed his belly until he fell asleep in my arms. What a precious moment that was for me!!! My little boy may be 5, but he'll still cuddle with his Mama. Here are some pictures of us getting everyone situated...

And then here they all are in the morning sleeping soundly. Justin wound up in our bed. ;)

My boys

2009-03-03T09:49:00.004-05:00

You're as pretty as....

2009-03-03T09:41:00.002-05:00

I love my kiddos. And I love the things that they say to me. Sometimes I scratch my head after and give a little, "Eh?" Last night I had one of those moments. I was in the school room/dining room writing on the board when Justin came in. Here's the conversation:

Justin: Mommy?

Me: Yes?

Justin: You're as pretty as a toilet.

Me: What???

Justin: (laughing) You're as pretty as a toilet.

I then go into the kitchen and tell Brad that Justin told me I was as pretty as a toilet. He started laughing. And I mean laughing. Then the conversation goes like this:

Brad: Benjamin, tell Mommy what I told you to tell her.

Benjamin: MOMMY! You're as pretty as a toooilet!

Brad is then laughing pretty hard and he says, "I told them to say that you were as pretty as a TULIP!!!!"

So there you have it folks. I'm as pretty as a tulip....or as my boys would say...a toilet. Lucky me. :)

Me and my girls

2009-02-27T07:38:00.002-05:00

Some of our fun the other day

2009-02-27T07:31:00.002-05:00

Thankful Thursday

2009-02-26T14:37:00.003-05:00

1. Guy Penrod's soothing voice =)

2. My Savior and the promise of eternity

3. Brad---I could write a list of all of the reasons I love him. He's my knight.

4. Haeley and Jasmine and their helpful hearts

5. Gabe and his prayers

6. Justin and his early morning cuddles

7. Benjamin's sweet smile and "I love you"

8. The guys at TirePlus--they fixed the leak in my tire and were fast and great! And it was still covered under our road hazard plan thing---so free!!!

9. A Beka Academy--It's great. 'Nuff said.

10. My house and truck that has 4 good tires now. :)

I'll be honest here---it shouldn't be too difficult to really think of 10 things that I'm thankful for, but today, it was. It's been one of those days and I'm sure that I could have composed an "Un-thankful Thursday" list in a matter of seconds! And to blog about it now my send me into tears...so maybe later. I hope y'all are having a great and "thankful thursday"!

BEAUTIFUL DAY!

2009-02-25T13:59:00.002-05:00

It is absolutely gorgeous outside!!! The kids and I ran a couple errands this morning and then on the way home I took a detour and we went to the park. They ran, slid, and swung for a solid hour. We stopped at McDonald's (yum?) on the way home and I let them have a picnic in the playroom. I'm getting ready to take them outside and I will have my camera in tow (I'm kicking myself for not having it this am) so I can post some more pictures of my "babies". I know that they aren't really babies anymore, but I can dream right?

So check back later I'll have some pictures. We are going to go on a nature walk and see if we can find any animal tracks. :)