Sentimental Saturday

I was going through some old pictures for a project I am working on and this one hit me hard.

Look at those chubby cheeks, those elbow dimples, those sweet little hands. 

They are growing too fast :( 

Someone make time slow down!

All in a day's work....

9am: Timer goes off, so I go in to talk to Terrific T.
Me: "Why were you in timeout?
T: "Because I called C a jerkface."

.....Fast forward 12 hours.....

9pm (late bedtime because of karate)
P: "Will you lay by me?
Me: "No. I can't get to your bed."
P: "I'll make a path for you."

So....apparently we need to work on both character training and housekeeping skills. I need more hours in the day!

Not So Wordless Wednesday: We're watching you!

Yesterday, the city came to tear up our front yard and fix a leak (that I didn't even know we had). Thankfully a neighbor had called them since we were watering the street. Nice. From the time WonderMutt announced their arrival, the kids couldn't do a lick of school and just had to sit there staring at the poor guys for over an hour. I made them stay inside and we read some of the book we are reading aloud so it wasn't a total waste of the afternoon. C got binoculars to stare a little more closely. T got a Nerf gun to protect his turf. And P yelled "The sheriff is here! Or maybe it's Obama!" when another city vehicle showed up. It was good times.

Until.....

T went to the bathroom and realized that we didn't have water. He is slightly obsessed with germs and the thought that he couldn't wash his hands after peeing about put him over the edge. He asked if he could put soap on them and spit on them to wash the soap off. He was serious. I gave him some waterless hand cleaner and he was ok.

Then the kids thought they were going to dehydrate. It freaked them out that we didn't have any water to drink...for that hour or two. They filled their cups with ice and waited for it to melt. Phew.

So thankful we survived this potential tragedy ;)

The guys came to tell me what was going on....after they had done it. They were really nice and I let the kids stay outside watching from the porch. T ran in to make a thank you note for them (he is so thoughtful). They were sweet to pass it around to each person and thank T and put it in their truck. Made his day.

And to think, if we didn't homeschool, we would have completely missed this....and come home to a pile of mud in our yard and have no idea what happened ;)

My first award.

 Wow. I am speechless. Well, not really, that would make this a pretty boring blog, huh? I am honored. Yes, that's it. Honored and surprised. I recently found a blog that I love reading called Adventurez in Childrearing. I don't remember how we even found each other but we have a lot in common...she is a Christian, wife, mom of three, loves photography, and describes herself as a "accidental homeschooler"...I love that. Anyway, she surprised me with this blog award. Thank you, thank you very much.

I am now supposed to tell you 7 things about myself...so here goes:

1 -  I don't really like thinking about ME. I would rather be sharing about other things/people so this is going to be hard (and I'm knocking one off by saying this so just six to go).

2 - I am embarrassed with how much chocolate I have eaten in the past week. Valentine's Day has not been good for my hips.

3 - I really need to get back working out again (see #2). I enjoy the feeling of having worked out, but just keep putting it off. Someone please kick me in the rear and make me get moving, please.

4 - I feel like I was a much better parent to babies than to kids, especially 11 year old kids. I would appreciate your prayers and I figure out how to train up our children in the way they should go. Parenting is HARD.

5 - Raising Hope is my new favorite show. If you haven't seen it, check it out. You won't be sorry! Mammaw kills me!

6 - I am about to start a new job (in my spare time). No really. I have applied to be the new director for our local Classical Conversations group. I have been told that I have it in the bag, barring no crazy revelations on my background check, but I'm waiting until it is official to get excited. We love CC and I am thankful to be considered for this position.

7 - I don't make my bed. Like ever. I know, I know. I also don't fold our underwear or put the toothpaste away. I just find doing things like this that don't matter and are just going to be undone to be a waste of time. In the big scheme of things, they don't matter to me and I am ok with that.

So, do you feel like you know me better now - lol?

Next, I am supposed to pass this award on to 15 newly discovered blogs...so here goes.

1 - First...I have to give this to my sister at http://bonbonsandbubblebaths.blogspot.com/. I'm so proud of her for blogging and love reading about their lives since we live to far away. Check her out and leave her a comment. She is still a new blogger and you know how far some encouragement can go :)

2 - Next is my buddy Shaynaynay at http://rseme.wordpress.com/.I love her positive outlook on life and appreciate her friendship.

3 - Another of my new faves is my friend from CC who blogs at http://urbanfunnyfarm.blogspot.com/ . She is am amazing woman and mother and I can learn so much from her and her sweet family. I am thankful that God brought them to our homeschool group and look forward to getting to know them more.

4 - A blog I just added to my sidebar today, actually, is Rachel at http://www.bubblynaturecreations.com/ . She shares great ideas and is just so sweet.

5 - I'm going to cheat on this one because this isn't a "new" fave, but it is one of my fave blogs to read. Nicolle at http://boydscrazymama.blogspot.com/ is awesome. She is the BFF of a local friend of mine and so kind and generous. I feel like I know her even though we have only met in real life once.

6 - Another blog I enjoy is Jen at http://mycrazythisis.blogspot.com/ . It is fun when you have things in common with others. She has a son the exact age as P and we "met" when we were preggo together over 6 years ago.

7 - Like Jen, I "met" Michelle when we were pregnant. She just had her 3rd bundle of joy recently and is such a great mom. Check her out at http://azbowmans.blogspot.com/.

8 - This is another friend that I am glad started blogging. She is not only my friend, but my hair stylist too. If you are local and need a hair dresser, let me know and I'll hook ya up! http://adavisday.blogspot.com/

9 - Ashley is another of my fave new blogs that I follow. She is a sweet, creative, Christian mom and I love that she reads and COMMENTS on my blog. I have enjoyed getting to know her and her sweet daughter the past few months since I found her (again, I don't remember how we originally hooked up?!?!). Check her out and leave a comment and I bet she will comment back to you (comments are FUN...hint, hint, hint). http://simplemodestbeauty.blogspot.com/

10 - And last but not least, I have so enjoyed Lana's blog at http://mommieslosthermind.blogspot.com/. She is so funny and seriously crafty. I have loved seeing her projects lately.

So there ya go. 10 of my fave new blogs. This originally said to post 15 but I am changing it to 10 because I want to see my family tonight and I still need to go tell these fabo bloggers what they have won - haha.



Here are the rules for accepting the award:



1.Thank and link back to the person (or people) who awarded you this award

2.Share 7 things about yourself

3.Award 15 (or 10) recently discovered great bloggers

4.Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

Not So Wordless Wednesday: More Birthday Pics

Loves her new doll, Allison. (named after Alice-in Wonderland)

The dog was from Terrific T :)

Makeup from Captain C.

At Incredible Pizza.

Entire buffet and he picks mandarin oranges, pineapples, and a cube of blue jello. Yum.

He's just happy to get to drink pop for a change.

I'm SIX now!!!

Such a good big brother, helping her out.

Turned in all her tickets and bought a "bun bomb" (woopie cushion) and purple teeth.

Happy 6th to Princess P.

We love you so much and are thankful that God chose us to raise you.

So cute with her missing little tooth. She lost it on Sunday and was so pumped!

She wanted a "birthday outfit" and picked out these materials for it. Turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. I was a little worried about the prints but they worked out ok and the matching ribbon made for an adorable headband/bow.

Happy Birthday Princess!!

Look what I got today :o)

 Ask me why?

"Why?" you asked? Well, let me tell you why :)

Two years ago, our church teamed up with Steve Hyde to help build an orphanage in Poipet, Cambodia. The goal was for our church to raise $45,000. We don't have a very big church, really, but we do have a VERY BIG God! In just a few weeks, donations and pledges exceeded $100,000!

I took this picture of our church family last year for the dedication of the orphanage.

This summer we have the opportunity to go visit that orphanage and help give the 70ish orphans that are living there, and hundreds of local children, an awesome VBS and show them how much God loves them. They are telling us to expect around 500 children....it is going to be amazing. We will also get to help do renovations to the elementary school by the orphanage and just help serve in anyway we can while we are there.

When I heard about our church going, I thought that was great that they are going again. Good for them. Then the karate team that C is a part of was planning to go also. Big Daddy and I thought that it would be a great thing for C to get to experience and decided to look into me taking him. We started praying and getting excited about it. Then I talked to our pastor and learned that they are not allowing children under 16 to go. Bummer. I was disappointed but really, if it isn't safe for him, we wouldn't want him to go and were glad to find out before we put any more time and energy into it. I moved on to other things but it kept being on my mind. The bottom line was, if I was willing to go with C, why wasn't I willing to go without him??? So we started praying and talking about just me going, and I'm excited to say that I will be joining about 20 other people from our church on this mission trip this summer!

Now for a couple of requests:

• It seems that Cambodia and Thailand are sort of at odds right now. Prayers for peace and safety and for an end to all the conflict would be appreciated.
• It will be very hard for me to leave my family/country for 9 days. The kids will be very well cared for between Big Daddy, both sets of grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins...but it is always hard to leave my family. Also, a couple of my kiddos are a little attached to me and I would greatly appreciate prayers for their little hearts to be excited and not anxious as they prepare for our time apart.
• I would also like to ask for prayers specifically for the team going. I know that Satan is going to begin (continue) throwing all kinds of junk at each of us to try to interfere with us spreading God's love to the sweet children and families in Cambodia. Please pray for us as we prepare for this great adventure.
• And lastly, each of us is having to raise $2200 by April 15th for this trip. I am not one to ask for money....I hate it....but I'm asking for money ;) If you feel led to make a tax-deductible donation to help offset the cost of this trip for me, I would be so grateful. I know that times are still tough for a lot of us so please, don't feel any pressure! However, if you would like to help out, you can send me a check, written to Freedom Church, or do it online at www.freedom-church.com. There is a button on the left hand side that is for "online giving". You can specify which fund the donation is to go to, select "other" and put in "Cambodia Donation for Leslie". 

Thank you all so much for both your prayers and financial support for this exciting mission.

Can't beat technology...

....unless it is slow.

Which it isn't tonight ;)

We are watching the Superbowl in the living room and the kids are emailing me from the office and running in, trying to beat the email to me. Cracking me up.  My inbox is flooded so I started having them email Big Daddy at work....will be a nice surprise tomorrow ;) I'll copy and paste a few of my faves...

Here is one from P, as told to C:

mom i love you. are we having cc the next day? look for a note i'm going to send you one. thats all. well... wait, you're putting that? let me see... huh... wait... love [Princess P]. thats all. i'm not sure what you are writing? read it all to me when you're done. you have a spot on your teeth... just when you are brushing your teeth let me help LA LA LA!!!!!

I believe the "LA LA LA LA" was C getting tired of her chattering. LOL!

I just checked my "sent" folder on my email and found this one that Big Daddy will get tomorrow at work:

you rock!!! dad! i love you dad!!! state farm rocks too but you rock!!! more dad no offense dad but god is better than you and state farm but i still love you . love [Terrific T] 



Man, I love these kids.

Crabbies and Rotel dip have been eaten. Now to make some homemade pizza and watch the Packers and the team they are playing ;)

Have a great night, guys!

Image of Forgiveness

Today, our pastor taught us about 5 images of forgiveness. During the message, T drew his own Image of Forgiveness. I guess he just needed one...he crossed out the "s" and drew this....

I had him explain it to me after church and added in his comments for you here...

I love it!!

And for those of you that are not local, we are still alive and kicking, and buried under plenty of beautiful snow. I'll have more to say about that later, but I'm busy fattening myself up for spring.