{ one word }

 [I saw this on someone's blog the beginning of the month but for some reason never posted it...so I'm doing it now.]


one word: encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. explain why you’re choosing that word. now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?

2010: BUSY
I feel like this year was a blur due to being so busy. It seems like I am constantly rushing from one thing to the next and missing out on the little moments along the way. I hate the running. rushing. stressing. I want to take time to smell the roses and not just photograph them to look at them later. This past week, I am embarrassed to say that we have played more games as a family as we had all year combined. Granted, they got some new fun games, but really, it was just a matter of us taking time to do it instead of blowing the kids off because we are "too busy" to sit and play for an hour.

2011: ORGANIZED
I know I could be less busy if I were more organized. So my prayer for 2011 is for organization. I need to be better at prioritizing to get things knocked out in a timely manor and not waste time doing and redoing. I need to organize my schedule, business, family, home, meals, even my time with God......so basically my entire life. I hope to look back at the end of 2011 and see some changes that have stuck and new habits that have formed. Please feel free to send me suggestions that work for you......or a secretary, maid and cook if you have a spare of any of those ;)

How about you? What are your words? Link me up in the comments so I can see...and we can keep each other accountable in 2011.

It really is the thought that counts

{thought-ful. adj. showing consideration for others}

 
We cut our gift giving way back this year...which makes you have to put more thought into things. Big Daddy spent 2 weeks in IL in December and I took the kids to AL for 10 days during that time. We had already finished the shopping for the kids before we went our separate ways and were just doing stockings for each other. I was so surprised when I opened this necklace on Christmas morning. He found it when he was shopping in Bloomington and it is so thoughtful. I love it!

 

 

It is so cute that I'll even overlook the fact that it is a Nikon camera in there ;o) OK, truthfully, the whole thing is only about an inch wide so I hadn't even noticed until I blew up the picture. But really, this meant so much to me because I can tell he really put thought into it. Thank you, honey, for being so thoughtful. I love you!

Wordless Wednesday: Snaps from Christmas morning

Here's a story...

...of a lovely lady. Who will not likely be mom of the year anytime soon!

Today went so much better than yesterday. I think God knows how much you can handle and cuts you some slack when you are teetering on the edge. Know what I mean? Yesterday, I was teetering. Today, was bliss in comparison. The kids knocked out school before lunch with minimal complaints. After lunch,we were reading a Kids Discover magazine together about moon exploration and it was talking about a show from 1959 called Men Into Space. They wanted to see if we could find that online...but I didn't. I did, however, find a site that has all the Brady Bunch episodes on it. I'd understand if you are questioning my searching skillz about now but really, it was a logical path...that I can't currently remember. Anyway, I am not feeling great today so we all snuggled up on the couch, in front of the fire, and watched Season 1, Episodes 1 through 10. Oh My Goodness. How embarrassing! I can't believe we sat there that long. First, Princess P doesn't like to watch TV really and rarely sits through even a 30 minute show. I dozed on and off and woke up to it being dark outside and the Brady boys taking the Brady girls on their first camping trip.  Haha -  that was a good episode ;o) Captain C was playing his DS most of the time...but he's lying if he says he didn't watch it.

Even worse? Big Daddy got home about 6:30. We ate. And the three kiddos are back on the couch watching......episode 11. Craziness, I tell you. We might need a Brady intervention...or might have a GREAT bribe in place for tomorrow's school work to be done quickly again. Hmmm...

Glad for a "new morning"

Yesterday, I wanted to start blogging again but really didn't want to remember that day. We started school back yesterday, which was possibly pushing it to try to start 2 days after Christmas, but we needed to get our days in since we went on vacation recently.  It took a certain someone until 7pm to finish yesterday. That included 5 hours to do ONE PAGE of math. Yep. It was quite a day around here. Lots of prayer and a little bit of yelling and we survived the day...barely. Today, I woke up about 9 and that same someone had already done his math, reading, and speech homework....before I even woke up!  WOOHOO. The other two have also been busting out their work. Looking to be a much better day. Hopefully I'll be back to blog this afternoon after we get everything finished up.

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, 

for his compassions never fail. 

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Book Review: Voices of the Faithful by Beth Moore

I was so excited when this book showed up on Book Sneeze as an available book to review. This is a compilation of daily devotions written by missionaries around the world. Each day of the year has a short, one page devotion written by a different missionary. Beth Moore writes an introduction to each month, which has a different theme, such as God's Character, Compassion, or Contentment. As the cover says, they really are inspirational stories and each day includes scripture and a prayer.
This book arrived a couple of weeks ago and I was waiting to review it until I used it for a while so I could give an honest review. I decided to read it with the kids too and I find myself looking forward to it each day. It is very well written, easy to read, and applicable, even to those of us living our comfortable lives in the US. I love that the kids are hearing about people out spreading Jesus' love to the nations - this is one thing each day that none of them have complained about doing. We also like to talk about their locations every day (they are listed at the end of each page). Maybe this will spark an interest in them to go into mission work. If nothing else, it reminds us that we can share God's love every day, right where we are, and that we need to be in daily prayer for those that are putting their lives on the line to get the Message to the ends of the earth.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Birthday, Terrific T!!

I can't upload my real pictures right now but here are a few phone pics from our lunch out with his cousin/bff.

Wordless Wednesday: Watching TV with a friend

dreams....are weird

I woke up at some point during the night with Princess P asking if she could go back to bed. She was snuggled up between me and Big Daddy. Ummm...sure...I didn't even know she was there!! Big Daddy laughed (and continued to poke fun in an email this morning) and we sent her back up to bed. Then I woke up at 7:30 with a horrible dream that left me wide awake and praying HUGE walls of protection around each of our kids. I don't understand why we dream the things we do. I used to think we would dream about what we were last thinking about before we fell asleep but don't think that is the case. There has to be another explanation considering I woke up from anesthesia one time asking for Steve from Blues Clues...thankfully the nurse, and Big Daddy had a sense of humor when she got him from the waiting room and realized he wasn't Steve!

So, are dreams a prompt to pray? To teach? To change the future? I have no idea. I chose this morning to talk long and hard with the kids about safety in parking lots...and maybe it will prevent something horrible from happening in real life. Who knows? Maybe my crazy dream was a merely a warning to lay off the Nyquil ;)

Oddly, P came down this morning about 8:15 and asked if I was calling her or it was just in her dream. I wasn't calling her...but had been in MY dream earlier. Hmmm.....

Got soap?

When I was putting him to bed last night, Terrific T asked me if we could get some more soap for their bathroom. Ummm...sure...I didn't know it was empty. I took the container and told him I would refill it. He came down a little later asking WHEN I was going to refill it. Well, Mr. Impatient, I planned on doing it...sometime. He wanted me to do it right then so he didn't have to come downstairs to pee during the night. I told him it would be okay if he didn't wash his hand until morning. His response? "I would rather pee in my pants than not be able to wash my hands!"

Ok, where is the logic there? I mean really, he's almost 8....and a boy. I'm a tad bit concerned with that response.

I told him to take the one from the downstairs bathroom and I would refill this later. He was ok with that and I am thankful he didn't have to pee in his pants last night.

*shakes head*

Blog slacker...

I am doing a "Thankful" post every day this month on my photo blog. That, and the insane amount of photos I have been editing this month for work, have greatly cut into my free time. Tonight, I am almost caught up again from a 14 family party on Saturday and am going to hit the hay before midnight. WooHoo. Tomorrow and Friday are family days at our casa and I can't wait to get to relax with my family that I have been neglecting lately.

I'll be back....

Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

Or so the saying goes. Last night, I counted my chickens too early...and was disappointed. I worked all day and was pooped last night. I went to be at 9:45 and even bragged to Big Daddy that I was going to fall asleep by 10 and sleep 'til 7...getting 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Oh I was going to be so rested this morning. *cluck, cluck, cluck*

Hello, 1am. I am awoken by a sound. If you are like me, when a sound wakes you up, you freeze.....and wait for it to happen again so you can figure out what it was. Maybe I am alone here and you blissfully go back to sleep. Anyway, this "wake up sound" sounded a little like someone puking...so I froze and waited. Didn't hear it again, but did hear a flush. Then about 5 minutes later, another flush. UGH. Then Terrifis T coming in telling me he did, indeed, just puke and then ran in to do it again in our bathroom. Bummer :( He wasn't warm or anything, just throwing up. All the boys ate the same thing last night and they were ok...so not sure what the problem was. He does this about every 6 months (used to be every 3-4 months)...throws up overnight and then is fine after that. And no one else ever gets it when it is like this. So odd!

So, he and I are staying home today and I let P sleep in too because last night, when I told her it was church tomorrow, she started whining that she didn't want to go. This morning, she just woke up while I was writing this and asked where Daddy and C were. I told her church and she started bawling that she didn't get to go with them. I can't win here! So thanks to hulu, Terrific T is watching "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" in my bed and P is whining that she missed church but getting sucked into the movie too. I'm going to listen to last week's service today, since we were in the nursery all day last Sunday and missed it. It is a great series right now and I don't want to miss out...I'll have to get the CD again for today.

But on a good note (this is for you, Miss Anon, who LOVES to hear about my bargains!!).....I found a cute dress for P for her Christmas program and choir performance on ebay this weekend. I found another dress by the same seller that I liked too, just for a normal dress but forgot to bid on them before they closed - I really need a secretary for these important things! The lady relisted and I emailed her and asked if she would end them early for me so I didn't have to wait another week. She did and I won them both. I went to pay and had received a Big Fat Payment from ebates into my paypal account this week so the two dressed ended up only costing me $3.03 total. Have I mentioned how happy a bargain makes me?  :o) I hope they fit!

Open Letter Friday - Dear Cleaning Fairy

Dear Cleaning Fairy,
     I sure hope you don't expect to get paid for the work you are not doing lately. As a business owner myself, I know that this is not the way to get and keep business so you better get your act together and start doing things right. Until they invent a self cleaning house (yes, I've read the book...it didn't work for me), I'm going to expect you to show up every morning at 8 9 and get started. And if you happen to see the dish fairy and laundry fairy, please throw them in your bag and bring them with you. The more the merrier!
See you soon,
Les

Wordless Wednesday: Homeschool Recess

As you can see, we clearly don't homeschool in our pjs ;)

If ignorance is bliss....

...then I met the happiest person ever last week.  Unfortunately, she presented herself as a grumpy old lady so it was hard to see. It made me wonder what others really think of people who educate their children at home. She clearly had a incorrect picture of our life so I thought I would clear up a few things. I know she will not read this, but I will feel better if I can clear up just a few misconceptions for others.

1 - It would appear that some people (**cough** see the above mentioned grumpy old woman), think that homeschoolers "do school in our jammies" so save SOO much money on school clothes that it is ok to rip us of on other things. While it might be true that we stay in our jammies some days (admit it, you do too!), we do venture out of our house occasionally and people freak out when the family shows up in matching footed jammies. Therefore we do, in fact, still have to buy (or knit) our kids new denim jumpers each year, which costs money.

2 - Contrary to popular beliefs, our kids do have a social life. They are active in sports, church, and the community. We don't hog tie them in a cave and we do even encourage our kids have friends. If you think otherwise, it might be that we don't want them to be friends with your kids......hmmm.......moving on.

3 - We are not all homeschooling for religious reasons. While I LOVE that I get to teach a Biblical world view of things and teach the kids how God really is in everything, that was not our main reason for choosing to educate our children at home. We, personally, pulled ours out to give them a BETTER education overall.  We choose to not waste time teaching something they already know, and to instead spend more time digging into new things. We have no idea what God has planned for their futures so we are doing our best to prepare them for whatever path they end up taking. Religion aside, if we were not giving our kids the best possible education and didn't believe that we are preparing them to be contributing members of society, we would quit tomorrow. Imagine all I could get done without three kiddos around all day long.

4 - We don't think that homeschooling is the right choice for everyone or look down on others for not doing it. Honest. If you are annoyed that we homeschool, maybe you have some guilt you need to deal with and quit trying to put it on me. I am so thankful that we have choices to do what we believe is best for our children.  When I was younger, I went to public school for 5 years, was homeschooled for 5 years and attended Christian schools for 2 years before attending and graduating from a private university and proceeding to teach in the public school system for 3 years. Phew. I think there is a time and place for everything and again, I am glad we have choices. I'll respect yours if you respect mine. Heck, I'll respect yours even if you don't respect mine...I'm just nice like that ;o)

Do you have any burning questions about people who educate their children at home that you would like to ask? Bring it on. I'll gladly give you my .02 on it ;o) Hate to have too many people running around being blissful ;o)

Please vote for my mom :)

My  mom entered a model contest to win $500 for the pregnancy resource center where she volunteers. They are hurting for money right now and she really wants to help them out. It would be so cool if she could win. You can vote 10 times a day...every day. If you can, would you mind clicking "vote" for my mom? Her ID # is 262 and she is the top entry right now...but the contest has a long way to go so we need to keep her in the lead. Thanks!!! Click here to enter and then enter ID 262 :o)

Good luck, Mom!!

Kinda random...

A couple of weeks ago, we were driving to church and my finger started hurting really badly and then I had a huge purple bruise on it...the under side of my pointer finger, right at the jointor been. I figured I must have hit it somewhere or been stung and not known it?? Last week, same thing on my under side of my middle finger and I still blew it off figuring I must have hit it and not known. Yesterday, I was teaching a class for our homeschool group and the same thing happened on my thumb WHILE I was standing up there teaching. I know I didn't hit it. Big Daddy said that it sounded like a blood vessel burst. I looked it up and that sounds exactly like what it is doing. It hurts almost like a bee sting or something - a sharp small pain that aches for a bit and then an ugly bruise pops up. Googling "blood vessel burst fingers" brought up several pages of people that have this happen and doctors don't know why. It is really odd. I emailed my mom and sisters and my mom said that it happens to her too but she also assumed she was hitting it and just not remembering. Weird, huh?

Has this happened to you? Have you talked to a dr about it? I will discuss it at my next check up but unless it gets worse, I'll not make a separate appt for it, probably. I need to research it some more too but thought I'd throw it into the blog world to see if anyone else deals with this that I know.

Book Review: Dining with Joy By Rachel Hauck

Joy Ballard is a small town girl that agrees to help her dying father out by taking over his cooking show for him after he passed away. She is an awesome host that everyone loves, but she is hiding a big secret...She can't even boil water. Dining with Joy follows Joy through some big changes in her personal and professional life as she figures out who SHE wants to be, not who her father, producer, mother, or boyfriend want her to be.

Dining with Joy is a fun, easy read that kept me up until midnight last night to finish. Even though Joy brings on her problems herself by the lies she has told, you still want to pull for her and hate to see her hurting. I thought this book was well written and enjoyable to read. I think it would make a cute movie and would love to see a sequel written to keep up with her and her family.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Open Letter Friday - Dear Redbox

Dear Redbox,
Just wanted to say that I love you. For just $1.09, the kids are happy and quiet for the next hour and a half. Therefore, the hubby and I are happy. Sometimes it is a good thing to be a cheap and easy date ;) Happy Friday!
Love,
me

Open Letter Friday - Dear Body

A blogger I follow started this idea and I thought I'd play along with her. Feel free to play along too. I bet you will feel better when you get it off your chest. And please link me up so I don't miss your post!

Dear body,
While I appreciate all the years of service you have provided, and acknowledge that you and I have been inseparable over the years, I do wish to file a formal complaint today. For starters, I would greatly appreciate you not hanging on to every single calorie I enjoy. Remember the good ol' days when we could pig out and stay thin? Let's work like that again. I don't pig out anymore, yet I am not staying thin! What gives, body?  Also, I realize we aren't 18 25 32 anymore, but we aren't 80 either, so waking up with aches and pains is unacceptable. I'm serious here. I'm not going to stand for this much longer. Oh, and these gray hairs and wrinkles...they must stop immediately. I am not ready to be old. I'm putting my foot down! You have been good to me, body, don't fail me now!
Hugs and Kisses,
Me

PS.  A good night's sleep (without the help of Melatonin or Nyquil) would also be fabulous....in case you were wondering ;)

Wordless Wednesday: "I have a hairy chest."

linking up with Angry Julie

Owie!

The kiddos were out back cutting on some wood tonight when Princess P starts screaming. I know I have talked about her "false alarm" screaming before but this was definitely a hurt scream. I ran out and she is holding her finger and Captain C is leading her in telling her, and me, that she is ok. It was a small cut, less than an inch...but it was DEEP. I have never felt woozie with an injury before but I about passed out tonight. I don't know what it was about that little, gaping cut but it makes me gag to think about it...did I mention it was deep? Oh my. So we get it doctored up and decide that we don't need stitches, then get P distracted talking about her day. Big Daddy mentioned her tetanus and I couldn't remember if that was the one I skipped last time so called the dr to check. While I am telling the nurse what happened, P says, "It's ok. It wasn't a chain saw, just a hand saw." Phew, thanks honey.

I am crossing lumberjack off of all of their lists of possible future professions. I don't think I can handle a real injury!

thank you, swagbucks

It truly makes me happy to get a bargain. I am slightly obsessed with finding the best deal on things, which sometimes paralyzes me where I don't buy anything (which I'm sure Big Daddy appreciates). Tricky T has been wanting to learn to play piano. I figure that I can teach him the basics to make sure it is something that does interest him, and then he can take lessons for real. I have been searching for the perfect keyboard for months (I don't want a real piano unless he gets serious). We have talked to several people, who are so helpful, but I just can't commit to one without making sure I have checked every corner of the earth for a better deal on the perfect one. My friend is letting us borrow hers for a bit to make sure T even likes playing, so next up was the books. I knew what I wanted but again, I wanted to find a deal. Well...I just got a deal! I bought them on amazon.com and they happened to be buy 3 get 1 free right now and free shipping on $25. It came to $26 for the 4 books so I got the free shipping. Then they adjusted for the free book, making it $20. Then I had $15 in swagbucks that I used, making it $5 shipped for 4 books. I am a happy chic right now!

This was my first time to cash in any swagbucks...for real, folks, that is the easiest money ever! DO IT! I'm going to keep building it up for Christmas. I always search things through swagbucks instead of google and get points everyday for that. Super easy!

Open Letter Friday (on Saturday)- Dear xxx-xxx-xxxx

A blogger I follow started this idea a few weeks back, and I thought I'd play along with her. Feel free to play along too. I bet you will feel better when you get it off your chest. And please link me up so I don't miss your post!

Dear xxx-xxx-xxxx,
I am going to assume that you desperately need to talk to me, since you call 44 times a day. I respect that. However, I am a busy lady so if you really need to talk to me, you are going to need to a) not call early or late....nothing to do with being busy, that just ticks me off and I don't answer....or b) leave a message! I ask very nicely on the machine, and I mean it. Believe it or not, I don't always have time to answer the phone, and normally don't answer if it doesn't have a name on there. So please...leave.a.message...or just leave.me.alone.
Much love,
Leslie

(I wrote this yesterday and I guess I forgot to post it! oops.)

2 little monkeys...

Please, don't anyone tell my kids that it is Fall Break for public schools this week. We are still having school so I can use the days off later, when I am swamped with work. They are working so well this week...even if they aren't sitting in a desk!

Shortly after this, Terrific T told me his leopard Webkinz had been "excommunicated from Webkinz World". I do love homeschooling!

Wordless Wednesday: Hot Chocolate on a Cool Morning

{Pretend there are no words in this post. This is, after all, Wordless Wednesday ;) But I have to share that a sweet, sweet friend surprised me with this awesome mug. It makes my day better when I use it! xoxo}

Book Review: Heaven is for Real By Todd Burpo

This is the amazing, true story of a little boy's glimpse into heaven during a very scary and life-threatening surgery when he is almost 4 years old.  As time passes, he begins sharing little bits about his time in heaven with his family, including things that happened before he was even born. He matter-of-factly shares things about Jesus, angels, people who have passed away before him, and even the devil that amazes his parents and will amaze you. 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it. It was a very easy read (I read it in a night) and fascinating to me to hear, from a child, what heaven is like. Our family had the privilege of hearing Don Piper speak last year and my children have been interested in hearing more about heaven. They are upstairs reading this book together right now! Thank you for sharing Colton's story and a little piece of heaven with us.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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end of official review

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Now for the personal stuff...I signed up with booksneeze.com a few months ago after seeing it on someone's blog (I don't remember who or I would give you props here). I looked that day and didn't see any books that interested me and forgot about it. For some reason (haha...), I checked the site one day last week and there was one book there. When I refreshed the page later in the day, this book had been added. It definitely interested me so I requested it. It was waiting in my mailbox yesterday when we got home from CC. I started a few chapters while the kids and friends played out front. Last night, I got in bed and couldn't stop reading it. A few chapters in, when Colton is really sick, their family spent the night at a friend's house in CO. That friend was one of my college roommates parents! How crazy that I "happened" to pick that book that day and then know someone in the true story. I love how God works.

little this...little that

Princess P got up today and asked if she could "wear a long sleeve skirt" to CC. Sure, sweetie. Some things I just don't have the heart to correct her on. This was too cute to correct..."thumb toe" for big toe is another that I might never correct.

We are learning about planets for the next few weeks at CC. Tricky T, in particular, has been obsessed with planets for the past few years. Big Daddy thought it was funny to teach why he giggles every time he gets to the 7th planet in line. Even P knows and thinks it is so funny. Thankfully, I didn't know it was planet day before we went or I might have shown up after science and missed out on a cool experiment. So, I just sucked it up and prayed that some kids weren't getting an anatomy lesson from my 7 year old. I only heard T showing P a card with all the planets on it and asking her where Uranus is. I think we have a few more weeks of planets and then we are in the clear. If we don't get kicked out of CC first ;)

Captain C walked in while Big Daddy had the news on the other night. While Big Daddy was trying to find the remote and turn it off, they told about a lady who "stole a donut from a truck, urinated in public, and was soliciting sex." Captain C said, "WOW....I can't believe she stole a donut from someone's truck!!" HAHA...you can see what is "unacceptable" in his book!

Dear God. From T.

Terrific T was throwing a bit of a fit today over having to do math. I told him he could throw his fit downstairs but not to come back up (where C and P were doing school), until he was done. A few minutes later, Wondermutt comes in with a napkin hanging out of her collar. It said, "Mom. Can you please help me?" Nice. If I thought he really needed any help, I would have...but he didn't...and I didn't. He then started throwing paper airplanes up the stairs with the same plea. So hard to not just go help him...but again, he really didn't need any help so I stayed strong. No idea where he gets his stubbornness from ;) I came downstairs about 20 minutes later and he was done (and had made 100% on it) and showed me a note. He said when I wouldn't come help, he wrote a note to God instead...and He helped! His note said:

"To God. From {Terrific T}. I pray to you, Lord God. Please hear my prayer. Please Lord God, please help me do my math. Please Lord God and every other school thing too. Please Lord God. Thank you for Jesus. Amen."

I'm not going to lie, that brought a tear or two to my eyes. I'm so glad my kids know Who to turn to when they need help....even when their parents don't think they need help.

Open Letter Friday - Dear Kids

A blogger I follow started this idea a few weeks back, and today, when I was having my shower interrupted for the umpteenth time, I thought I'd play along with her. Feel free to play along too. I bet you will feel better when you get it off your chest. And please link me up so I don't miss your post!

So here is my first open letter....

Dear precious, beautiful children of mine,
     I love you more than life itself and would do absolutely anything humanly possible for you, which is evident by the sports practices and games we sit through, movies we watch with you, annoying friends of yours that we put up with, minivan I drive, etc, etc. etc. I love you so so much! Remember that. Now, here's the dealio, unless you are experiencing a life threatening emergency (ie. fire or blood), I don't need you to visit me every time I am in the shower. Think "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and give me that 10 minutes a day every other day. Seriously, guys, what do you expect me to do when I am mid-rinse and you come in yelling that your brother is a meanie? And is it really necessary to tell me, again while I am IN the shower, that you are hungry? I am not Kramer and I'm not hiding all the good food in the shower. Go find something....or better yet, go do what I told you to do before I jumped in and I promise you won't starve before I get out. Guys, work with me here...surely it is not too much to ask to have a nice peaceful shower in the morning (or afternoon, depending on the day!).
Hugs and kisses,
Mom

Who needs cable?

I picked up some headbands at the store today and Princess P is apparently very easily entertained!

 

 ...VERY easily entertained!

Confession time...

Nothing puts me to sleep quite like listening to one of the kids read. It is brutal! I need to record them to play at night when I am having trouble nodding off. Terrific T used to ask if I wanted him to read to me when I would be trying to nap and I swear I never made it past the first two pages. If it is school, I try to be the one reading, so the kids don't get smarter than me ;) However, today Captain C was finishing up reading a book on Shakespeare to us. [side note for my homeschool friends: It is cheaper through the Usborne site but I couldn't get it to link directly to it. This whole series is awesome. We have read several for school already this year and have a few more to go. I wish I had bought them all!] Anyway, while C was reading, T and I laid on the couch in the school room to listen and I woke up when C asked if he could go play on the computer. Oops. Totally missed the last chapter and apparently I wasn't the only one ;o)

Wordless Wednesday: Some light reading

jr high

I'll be honest, Jr. High isn't exactly my favorite age. I haven't even loved Captain C being 10 and he isn't in there yet. It is such an in between age really. Not quite a kid but not quite a teen. [Ironically, Big Daddy and I met in a youth group. We were both out of college and my sister and her hubby were teaching in the youth group with Big Daddy and his roommate. My sis invited me to come...and sorta set us up. We met at a youth workers dinner, started dating 3 weeks later, got engaged about 2 months later and married 5 months later. That was over 13 years ago.] So when Big Daddy approached me about helping teach jr high on Sunday evenings, I wasn't too keen on the idea. But then it started to grow on me...a little. I know he loves youth and I wanted to be supportive of him, and to not be serving separately so much (he works with youth on Wed nights and I work with the children). So tonight, I ventured back into the youth department and guess what? I liked it. It is definitely different than the 2 year old class we teach on Sunday mornings but I think I am going to enjoy it. I am not teaching, just hanging out with the girls while another lady teaches (she did great!)....and even played the first game of kickball I have played in a long time. It was fun. I am looking forward to getting to know these great girls and watching God transform them into the young ladies He wants them to be.

treasures

Big Daddy's Mamaw is about to move out of her home and is cleaning out some old things. The kids went down yesterday and they asked them if they would like any of it. Oh man. My kids love "things"....collections of anything are cool to them. They came home with some very cool collections. I usually urge them to limit their collections but I love things that have meaning or belonged to our grandparents, so I'll let them keep most of this stuff. Princess P got a few different pieces of jewelry, which I loved. She picked out 3 clip on earrings...3 different earrings. She thought they clipped on clothes so didn't take the matching pair to each. We'll have to call them and ask them to set them aside for her for our next visit ;) Today, she got ready for church and I noticed that this pin would match her outfit so we added it in. It matched perfectly :)

Captain C picked out some keychains (most of these really were generic but a few were keepers!) and pocket knives that he and T split. I think these are pretty cool. They both love pocket knives and knowing they were papaw's makes these special.

Which leaves TerrificT. Not sure if you have noticed, but T marches to his own drummer sometimes. He picked out Papaw's old glasses, various broken watches (one that works...he likes that!), and an old Gideon Bible. After Papaw passed away (before the kids were born), Big Daddy was given his suits. Each one had at least one of these little New Testaments in it. When T was little, he carried these everywhere. Kind of fitting that he got a new one. He wore out his old one from loving on it so much!

These are some very special treasures that they will cherish forever.

Wordless Wednesday: Fair Time

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so.very.tired

My schedule is way too packed these days. I honestly am not sure how I am going to survive the next week month, but am going to cling to Phil. 4:13 and believe that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That being said.....I'm tired!
Yesterday, we had to be in the next town over at 10am for C's football game, then back over there at 3:30 for an awesome birthday party, followed by a short portrait party (6 families in 2 hours). By the time I picked up dinner for the fam and was home, it was 8pm. I was pooped. I went to bed about 10 and crashed hard...until 5am, when we woke to something beeping. It sounded like an alarm clock just beep, beep, beeping constantly. Big Daddy got up and looked around and stepped outside and realized that it was coming from outside. ARGH. How rude for someone to be beeping and wake us up. We turned on the vent in the bathroom to drown out the noise and went back to sleep for 2 more hours. When we got up, it was still going strong. Seriously, what the heck? We were all getting ready for church and Big Daddy went outside to look around in the day light and comes in....you ready for this?...with the smoke detector from the motorhome! I am not even kidding. The batteries had died in that stupid thing and we could hear it beep, beep, beeping inside our house! I am praying that our neighbors happened to be out of town (I know it is a stretch that they would ALL be out of town but I am still praying that). How embarrassing (and annoying)! Why don't these things happen at 5pm and not 5am?
As soon as Amazing Race is over tonight, I'm heading back to bed. I have got to be rested for tomorrow....CC and then seeing Third Day at the fair - woohoo!

Look closely...

What do you see here?

 Totally handsome, almost 11 year old? Me too. But look closer....

FRECKLES! My boy is getting freckles. There is a small spattering of them on each side of his nose. I started noticing them this summer but today noticed that there were more. He has about 3 million to go before he catches up with me, but it is something. I assumed that you were either born with freckles or you weren't. Apparently I was wrong (sit tight, Big Daddy, I've said that before...probably). How cute is that?!?

The Faith of a Child.

I woke up with a nasty crick (that doesn't look like it is spelled right...you know what I mean though) in my back. It is right between my shoulder blades and I have no idea how I did it. I did start doing push ups and crunches again yesterday...but not enough to cause pain. And I did a photo shoot for a NASCAR team last night and was up and down a ladder a lot of times...but had a guy following me around carrying the huge ladder and holding it for me (I could get used to working with a team of peeps!). Honestly, I probably just slept wrong, but whatever reason, it HURTS today.
So Princess P was sitting on my bed with me while I was grading C's math and said "I'm sorry you have a crack in your back", gave my back a kiss, and said, "Is it better now?" Remember the days when a kiss was all it took to make things all better? I miss those days. Today wasn't one of those days :( Since it wasn't quite better with just a kiss, she then prayed for me. When she finished, she opened her eyes and said, "Now is it better?" Oh how I love the faith of a child.

Wordless Wednesday: He's all mine, girls!

I love you, Big Daddy ;o)

Blue Creek Cove - Camping

We thought we were done camping for a while because all of my Saturday's were booked with work until after Thanksgiving. This week, my party for Saturday was rescheduled so we had an unexpected free Saturday afternoon. After Captain C's football game Saturday morning (which he made 2 touchdowns...so far, he has made 2 in every game this season), we headed to Blue Creek Cove near Foyil, OK. It wasn't very busy at all and such a relaxing, perfect weekend. We brought the kids' bikes this time, knowing it was pretty empty at the campground, and they loved that. We might be doing that every time now! I promise I narrowed WAY down the picture I took but here are a few highlights of the weekend. It was so pretty last night that I was wishing I had brought my good camera...but I just can't make myself take that thing camping!

P enjoyed finding shells:

 The boys (and girls) loved skipping rocks. 

C is much better at it than I am and did it so much that his arms are sore today!

 They spent lots of time riding bikes. I received a magazine in the mail the day before we left and Big Daddy had brought the paper so we got to sit and read in the beautiful weather while they rode. It was perfect.

 Did a little tree climbing. He was scared to death here though and wanted right down!

 I love this pic of them!!

 A little playtime on the playground. P played with her imaginary friend (tough to teeter-totter with her but she still tried).

 C took this one...besides looking like we are camping, it is pretty cute ;)

 P wanted help with the monkey bars but changed her mind and wouldn't let go of C's head. He is such a trooper and a great big brother!

 Swing competition between the boys. I won't comment on who won.

 Little posers ;o)

 We had a nice hike...

 But P preferred to pick flowers and wanted to go back so we left the boys and Big Daddy to hike and we headed back to the camper to relax. 

Oh and the rule is that pets have to be on leashes...doesn't say anything about anyone holding onto the other end. Wondermutt is such a good dog - she sticks really close to us.

 

 I'm not gonna lie. We camp...but we don't necessarily rough it. We picked up a couple of redbox movies to take with us. One for the kids and one for us for after the kids went to sleep. We might have gotten some laughs from the people driving by but we didn't care. It was cheaper than the drive in and if you get really, really close to the laptop, it might even look like a big screen ;)

 While the kids were watching the movie (and Big Daddy was listening to some of the OU game), I walked across the drive to the lake and snapped this. So beautiful. This was about 2 hours before the wind picked up and we thought we might be headed to Oz.

 It is getting harder and harder to find a movie that 10 and 7 year old boys AND a 5 year old girl can agree on. P lasted about 20 minutes with the movie....

 

...then started entertaining herself. C joked that not just bugs liked the lights!

 The campfires are always a highlight of our camping. But I so wish I had taken a picture of Big Daddy trying to put it out around midnight, in the hurricane-like winds, in his undies. I was cracking up (from inside the camper). We finished our movie and went to bed and the wind was so loud through the trees. I was worried that a spark would fly out and felt a responsibility because...well...only we could prevent that forest fire. He also ran around collecting the 3 Tulsa Worlds that we had left on the picnic table with a rock on them. Hey, it wasn't windy when we went inside but picked up in a hurry!

 Ready for bed.

 We didn't blow away and got to enjoy some hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls for breakfast (again, didn't ever profess to be roughing it!). The temps dropped quite a bit overnight and we were thankful to have packed sweatshirts!

 Sadly, Big Daddy had an obligation and had to be back in time to take the youth group to an event so we packed up early and headed back. This time, I wanted to take a shot at driving Winnie. It was a blast! I am very impressed with how it handles...braking leaves some to be desired but I am glad to have done it. I drove it about 20 miles until we came to a bigger town and then pulled over and let Big Daddy drive for the hard part.

I am so glad we bought this beast. I know that the kids and I are all sitting in the house together now, but they are playing games and I am typing this. Laundry is being run and lesson plans are calling my name. I love the down time. The forced time together can't be beat. I honestly don't take the time to play frisbee with C or sit and really enjoy nature with T when we are at home. Always too busy. Or so I think. I heard a song on the radio on the way to the campground that I have heard many times but never listened to. It seemed to be more about cheating and stuff but there was a line in there that hit home. "Families never crumble in a day." I don't want our family to crumble. I want to make them a priority. I hope we get to camp a few more times before winterizing Ol' Winnie...but I also hope I can take more time for the little things while we are at home and "sooo busy".
Off to play a game with the kids...whether they want to or not ;)