The Scherr Family

Christmas 2010 Scherr Family

2010-12-28T18:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2010 Scherr Family

Needed Reprieve

2010-10-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

Isn't he precious?!? He melts my heart.

This weekend was a much needed reprieve from a busy, hectic week!

Preston left town Friday after work so that made me a single mom for a busy but fun Saturday. Kids sports are in full swing and we started the day with Will's soccer game. He absolutely loves playing and is so fun to watch. He has such joy in his face the whole time he's playing, such a nice change to the competitive sports the older kids play now. Then it was off to Jake's football game and it was tough to watch by myself. I was a nervous wreck the whole time. I did not like being there without P, it seemed like all the pressure was on me for some strange reason. They ended up winning and everything was fine. Praise the Lord!

I've spent the evening organizing all of my Thirty-One stuff so I can get a few parties started. I'm really excited about all of this--which is way out of my box.

I can't wait for tomorrow. Sunday's are my favorite day of the week!

Below are a few pics from this weekend and last of the kids playing football, volleyball, and soccer.

Sad...

2010-10-05T17:55:00.000-07:00

The last several months have been a whirlwind. I got on the computer tonight for the first time in a long time, (who needs computers when I can do almost anything from my phone!), and clicked on over here to my little family blog. I'm sad when I think back because I've lost almost a year of memories being recorded. It's made me realize why I blog, I do it for me so I can have this virtual scrapbook-it's a bonus that our family gets to visit too. I seldom take pictures because I don't do anything with them, unless I post them. So now that I've lost 8 months documenting my precious babies' lives, I am committed more than ever to start back again, because I don't ever want a day to come where I can't remember what they were like as little kids. Before I know it, they will be grown and moved away.

I NEED Spring!

2010-02-16T17:36:00.000-08:00

I can't take it anymore! I don't like winter, that is for sure. I need warmth, and sunshine, and playing outside!

And I'm coming to realize March is right around the corner. Thank goodness. It's been a long winter. Am I the only one who is feeling this way?

Moving on...
We have been having so much fun lately. Lauren's basketball is in full swing (actually close to being over) and the boy's have actually not been up to too terribly much. It's been nice not having a ton of places to run the kids to.

It's been so long, I need to let go of the way past and just zone in on the recent past. This weekend we had so much fun. Friday, Preston and I enjoyed a night double dating with our friends Matt and Erin. We went to eat dinner at the Wharf and then to watch Valentine's Day. We had a little bit of a wait at dinner so we walked into the movie when the previews started and we had to sit on the front row. The positive was we had plenty of leg room. ha! I made everyone rush through dinner so we wouldn't be late to the movie and if I hear Preston tell one more person that he ordered an awesome steak, he just wishes he had a chance to actually taste it, I might lose it! He is such a turkey! Then on Sunday the church kept the kids so parents could go out on a date night and we had so much fun going to dinner just the two of us. We don't often get the chance to go out so when we go out twice in one weekend, we really didn't know what to do with ourselves!

Monday was a bad weather day so I didn't have to work and so Will and I spent the day together. We went to get our car washed and oil changed and it took over an hour and a half. He behaved so well. There were a couple of times when he wanted to get down and play in the toy room, which I don't allow because they are so germy. Anyway, the few times he started to misbehave I would ask him if I needed to take him to the bathroom for a spanking. I said it to him another time when I guess he saw someone was in the bathroom and he said I couldn't take him in there. So I told him I would take him outside to do it. That's when he told me I couldn't. He told me if I took him outside to spank him, then people would see, then I would get in trouble! Where in the world does he come up with this stuff?? He's a turkey too.

And now I think we're caught up. Well maybe not caught up but now I'm up to date. I have great hopes that I might start taking pictures of my kids again and can get some up here too. With that, it's time for me to bathe some children.

Another Year Gone!

2009-12-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we are sitting here on the last day of 2009. I can remember my parents always saying just wait you'll see how time flies by. I couldn't imagine that ever being the case. Here I am now 30 years old, and each day goes my so fast I could probably get whiplash.

2009 had some pretty major life changing happenings. Preston got his master license and now owns his own business. It was such a difficult thing for him and I was so proud of him when he did it. It has changed every aspect of our life and I am so thankful for it.

The other very important change was our church. P and I had always gone to my childhood church and we definitely felt God calling us elsewhere. It was really an amazing thing. I am very much a shy, introvert and the thought of going somewhere completely foreign seems ludicrous. But it was such a strong urge that we just had to do it. It is the best decision of my life. We started visiting a church over the summer and fell in love with everything. We also joined a small group and jumped in feet first. I am so thankful I listened to what God was telling me. We became members a couple of months ago and it was the best change ever!

The hope of a new year is always refreshing. The thought of leaving 2009 in the past and getting a fresh, new start is exciting.

"This is what the Lord says-he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,
Forget the the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:16, 18-19

I have been thinking about what I want for this new year. OF COURSE, I have the same obvious resolution I have every year. I want to eat better and work out more. I want to make better choices when cooking and grocery shopping. P and I have already talked about it and we are starting tomorrow! I am giving myself this one last day to finish of the yummy chocolate sheet cake I made. ha!
I want to be a better wife. I need to be so much more deliberate in giving P undivided attention. I get so bogged down in the craziness of our daily life that I tend to neglect him since he's old enough to take care of himself.
I wake up every morning with the desire to be the best mommy in the whole world and I know I fail miserably everyday! It will always be my goal to be a better mommy. I want to show each one of my kids just how unbelievably special each one of them are and what a magnificent gift they are to both of us.
But other than the obvious, I want to focus this year at being better on the inside. I want this year to be a year of growth. I want to grow in my relationship with God and spend very deliberate time in His word and getting to know Him better. I know he desires a close relationship with me and I have allowed myself to stay too busy for this. With that I want to share His love. We spent a little time before the holidays helping a family with our CLG group. This family is in desperate need and it felt so good to help out a little. But I don't only want to help during the holidays. I want my kids to experience daily what it's like to show God's love. I want share the many blessings we've been given.
So with that said, I'm saying good-bye to 2009 and hello 2010!

What are your resolutions for the new year?

Lazy

2009-12-30T07:43:00.000-08:00

I am the definition of lazy right now.

We had the most wonderful Christmas with family and friends and it has all come to an end. It was a little sad. And now I have done absolutely nothing for 2 days.

Decorations are coming down today and house needs to be cleaned. I must go to the grocery store because I think I'm having slight withdrawals from my regular morning Diet Dr.Pepper that's been missing for two days.

The kids have really enjoyed their time off and all of their loot from Christmas. I'll try to get pictures up soon from Christmas day.

And now I'm off to actually get out of this bed and possibly out of my pajamas since that didn't happen yesterday :).

Leftovers

2009-11-30T18:13:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot to post a few pics from Thanksgiving. The kids really enjoyed the rope swing near the lake at Aunt Kaye's and Uncle Darrell's house. This is the kids before we left. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Now it's time to prepare out hearts for the birth of our Savior.

Sneak Peak

2009-11-30T18:04:00.000-08:00

I had a little photo session with the kids to try to get something for Christmas cards. I am such a wanna-be photographer, with no talent! These won't be gracing the front of our cards this year, but it's a sneak peak of what's to come. The first one is so cute of Will. He put his hands in his pocket like his brother.

LOVE

2009-11-30T18:00:00.000-08:00

I love, love, love baby eyelashes! So sweet.

Too Much Fun!

2009-11-23T14:43:00.000-08:00

We woke up Saturday morning and surprised the kids with a little day trip to San Antonio and took them to Fiesta Texas. We took this motor home to drive down there and it was so much fun! This is the way to travel. We went with some friends of ours and there were 11 of us in there and we fit perfect.

Here is Will at the table watching a movie.
Lauren and Kaitlyn on the top bed checking it all out.
Jacob in the back bedroom getting settled in to watch another movie.
He is way too cool to look directly at the camera!
Lauren posing!
Will in his regular picture pose. ( I realized this is how most of his pictures are!)
Most of the clan.
Will on his first ride.
A rare picture of Preston.
Lauren, Will, and Kaitlyn. They're teaching Will to raise his arms on the rides. :)
And here is Will on a roller coaster. (Note to self: You get very sick if you're riding a roller coaster and looking through a camera lens, no matter how babyish the ride!)
He said it was the "rules" to put your hands in the air.
I love this picture. Pure joy.
We're on the big swing here. (Another bad idea to go round and round looking through the camera!) I can remember going on this as a little girl and I think I screamed so bad I made them stop the ride and get me off. ha!
This ride was awful! My legs were shaking so bad I could barely get off. I did the only thing a good mom would do and encouraged my son to go on it after me.
Not sure about this look. They were a little tired of the camera by now.
Hilarious!!!! Preston made himself so sick on this ride he got it spinning so fast.
I think he's a perfect fit in that bumper car. What do you think?
And finally after the last ride of the evening.
We had so much fun. We bought season passes and cannot wait to go back. The park was practically empty and we were able to walk up to every ride and have literally no wait. We will never do another park in the summer again. Perfect weather only added to the fantastic day.

Genesis 1:31

2009-11-22T19:24:00.000-08:00

Will has been working so hard in his new Sunday School class. This is what he has been saying all day so I had to post it to share.

We've had a fantastic weekend that I'm working on sharing, but it is taking much longer than expected to upload all of the pictures so maybe that will be tomorrow's goal. Plus I have 5 thankful posts to catch up on!

Little Elves

2009-11-18T18:04:00.000-08:00

Look at my #17!

2009-11-17T17:17:00.000-08:00

Lauren

Today I am thankful for my daughter Lauren. She is an amazing child. She is smart, compassionate, loving, respectful, responsible, and a long list of more. She is everything I could have hoped for in a daughter. God has given me an amazing blessing with her. Today she did a pretty surprising thing. Lauren has never really had a haircut. She's had maybe two trims done by me and maybe 2 trims elsewhere. Other than that, she's always had really long hair. She had started asking a while back if she could cut it much shorter. I don't think we were ready for that! Her daddy loves her long hair and pretty much refused any conversation about it. But...I worked on him a little bit the last few weeks. We had to realize her hair wasn't what defined her, it was just that, hair! It would definitely grow back if she wants it to and really it's no big deal. So today when I got my hair done, so did she. And she cut it off! But there's a bit of a silver lining. Not only does she look so precious with her new style, she is donating her hair to an organization called Locks of Love. We did a little bit of research and this organization provides hair pieces for financially disadvantaged children with hair loss from any medical diagnosis. Tomorrow I will mail off her 10"+ braid so it can be made into a hair piece for another child. She was so excited to be able to do this. I chronicled the whole process in the pics above. It was a big moment, but she just loves her new haircut. She can't wait to wake up in the morning so she can fix it.
So during this Thanksgiving season, I am so thankful for Lauren. She has a heart bigger than Texas and she glows everywhere she goes. She is such a huge blessing to our family. She is the perfect match for her brothers and is a wonderful member of this family.

I've Got Some Catching Up to Do!

2009-11-16T14:24:00.000-08:00

#13 Family Nights

I am so thankful for the nights when we can just stay home and be a family together without rushing around all over the place, always in a hurry, and always apart. Friday night was the perfect night. We were all home together and even played Wahoo together! It was so fun, except the fact that the boys won. :) I know the days of the kids all being home and actually wanting to be there are going to be few in few between in a few years so I am so very thankful that we can make these memories now.

#14 Football

Crazy I know. But I am so thankful for football for Jacob. When you have children and you get to see their passion, it is so much fun. Right now that passion is football. Saturday Jacob had his end of season Super Bowl game and his team was the #1 seed. They actually lost 12-14, but it was a great game. We all had so much fun cheering Jacob on this season. I am actually thankful that we started him last year because he loves it so much.

#15 My Bible

I am so thankful today for my Bible. In church yesterday we had a missionary from Turkey preach and he told us about their life in the middle east. He is a convert from Muslim to Christianity. The absolute passion for the Lord was invigorating. He spoke of some of the things that happen to Christians over there. Especially those leaving the Muslim faith. He was brutally tortured and the things he went through was horrific. He loves the Lord and puts himself in dangerous situations just to spread the word. How convicting for me who lives in this free country and hardly speaks about him at work! How ashamed am I! Even finding a Bible over there is a somewhat underground process. And just to think I'm having a hard time deciding on the color of a new one I am wanting. I am so thankful I am able to walk into most bookstores and buy a Bible, even more I am so thankful I live in a country where I don't have to be afraid to read that Bible.

#16

Heat

Today I am thankful for my heaters. This is probably one of few mornings I had to use the heater this fall. But further, I had to use it all day. I am so thankful I have that option. I am becoming enlightened to some situations where that's not the case for some people. I can't imagine being a mother and not being able to provide heat and warmth for my children. I have so much to be thankful for and the things I should be the most thankful for are probably the things I take for granted the most!

#12

2009-11-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

Veterans

I know I am a day late for some reason, but none-the-less, I am very thankful for veterans. The incredible sacrifice these men and women make daily is monumental. I know I could never be that person. To know people give up their family for months at a time in order for us to have freedom is sometimes unimaginable. I am thankful for veterans past or present, young or old, serving or retired. Thank you to all the vets and their families for putting your life on the line so I may enjoy the freedoms of a free country.

#11

2009-11-11T14:03:00.000-08:00

Work.

I know, I know...If you know me well you're probably thinking What?

The stress and pressure I feel teaching these little 8 and 9 year olds at times feels unbearable to me. But with that said, I am thankful for my job.
I realize in the economic times that our country is in, I am very lucky to have a stable job. There are thousands of people out there in dire straights who would do just about anything for a paycheck. It's hard to sit back and feel sorry for myself that I'm stressed about my job when others are stressed because they have no job. This holiday season, I am so very thankful that I have a job to be stressed about.

#10

2009-11-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

Grants...or something like them.

I knew when I graduated I had heard something about once you have been teaching for 5 years at a Title 1 school then you could send in this document and it could help pay towards your student loans. I am one of many students who graduate from college with a substantial amount of debt. I realize now I might not have been real wise in some of my decisions, but in my defense I was recently married, new baby who had medical issues, had a full time job and went to school full time. The last thing I was worried about was how much money I was going to owe back after I graduated college. Anywho...I recently sent off this document and I got a letter the other day stating that they were going to pay $5000.00 off of my student loans! Can you believe it??? I was a bit skeptical before I did it, but it really happened. Amazing. I am so thankful for this program. What a tremendous relief it is to have that much money just disappear overnight. Now I might actually have them paid off before my first one goes to college! ha!

#9

2009-11-09T17:59:00.000-08:00

Tonight I am thankful for clean sheets. I know, how moving right? Maybe not deep, but true. I love crawling into a bed at night with fresh, clean linens! It creates such a peaceful environment that helps me sleep so well. I cannot wait to go to bed tonight so I can experience just that!

#7 and #8

2009-11-08T13:43:00.000-08:00

Saturday we were just swamped with things to do and just enjoying spending time with Preston that I didn't have time to post what I was thankful for yesterday. So I will post both today.

#7
Date Nights.
I am so thankful for the few and far between date nights. Being able to spend alone time with my husband without the distraction of kids is priceless. I'd like to think that I am able to give him the attention he needs even when the kids are around, but it is next to impossible to really focus on what he is talking to me about when their is chaos going on all around us. Preston and I don't go out very often, so when we do it is so special. I'm sure there are many people who aren't in the position to go out without their kids because of sitter costs or maybe not knowing someone you really trust to watch you kids. That brings me to my next thankful post. I am so thankful for my sister.

#8
My sister (and her family)
One of the most important things that I am thankful for is my sister. Not only her, but the relationship I have with her. We are the best of friends. She is my closest confidant and biggest supporter. She would do anything for me. Growing up I couldn't have imagined being so close. It's funny how you can grow up together and spend those few years completely at odds with each other and then just one day it's like you wake up and truly see each other for who you are. I would not be who I am today if it weren't for her love and support. I look up to her and love the woman she has become. There are times when I am a little sad that Lauren won't have a sister to grow up and be best friends with the way Amy and I are. But, we have raised our kids together and they all act just like siblings so I can only hope that Lauren can have a similar relationship with her cousins. I am so thankful that we get to raise our kids together.

#6

2009-11-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

My Husband.
I don't even know where to begin...
I am so incredibly thankful for my husband. When I think back to how it all began, (during our 8th grade year) I am baffled to see how far we've come. I know when we got married pretty much fresh out of high school we had some pretty big skeptics. (Personally I don't think I would be so thrilled it it were one of my kids, ha!) Together we have been in the depths of despair and over the top in love. But through it all my husband loved me. During the times when I was probably pretty unlovable, he loved me. Even today, after nearly eleven years of marriage, I know he loves me more today than he did yesterday! How amazing is that. I am so thankful to be his wife.
He is the hardest worker I know. If there is something to be done, he does it. The man won't even take his shoes off in the house, because "what if I have to do something!". His work ethic floors me and his morals won't be compromised. I am exhausted just thinking about what he has done this past week. And even with his tired, exhausted body (he hasn't slept for 2 days!) he still wants to take me out tonight.
I know I don't deserve him, I can only hope that I show and tell him each day how much I love him. Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for blessing me with him.

#5

2009-11-05T18:11:00.000-08:00

Teachers.
Today I am thankful for my kid's awesome teachers. It is the best feeling as a mom to send your kids off to school and have them actually look forward to going. It is because of their teachers that care so much for them that makes this happen. There has been a year when this wasn't the case and it was so stressful on all of us. This school year has been the easiest yet for both of the big kids. We are truly blessed to have encountered such wonderful people to influence my children on a daily basis.

Speaking of Thanksgiving...

2009-11-04T18:09:00.000-08:00

I just posted before about how crazy it is that it is already November. I like looking back at what we were doing this time last year. One of the main reasons I blog is because it's like a virtual scrapbook. Anyhow, I looked at November and saw where I (attempted to) posted each day about something that I am thankful for. There are so many blessings that have been bestowed upon my family. The least I could do is identify something each day. So, even though it is the fourth of the month, I'm going to start right now. And I'll list 4 things to make up for each day of the month I missed.

1. I am so very thankful for our neighborhood. Just coming off the heels of our block party, we are surrounded by so many wonderful people. Almost all have children around the same age as our kids and like things in common. It allows us to raise our kids in an environment that is safe and gives them some other freedoms they might not have in a conventional in-town neighborhood. For that I am very grateful.

2. Monday came time for me to say good-bye to Preston again, for another week long trip to San Antonio. It just killed me to have to say good-bye to him. I just cried and cried. No matter how difficult it is for me to say good-bye, I don't ever want that to overshadow the incredible blessing that God has given us. He has allowed my husband to pursue a career he's dreamt of his entire life growing up. He is living out his dream of owning his own company. I am so thankful for this. My husband is a different man that he was when he was working for an employer. The work ethic and morals he has wouldn't allow him to be happy with some of the past jobs he's had. Now it is his turn to use his talents to bring honor and glory to God, and I know he does this every single day!

3. Little arms=big hugs. I am so very thankful for 6 little arms. (some littler than others) I love it when my babies run up and put their little arms around me and hug me so tight. It's the best feeling. Even if no words were spoken, I would know just how much they love me, (and I them) just by that one act.

4. My friends. Today, I am so thankful for my friends. They (you) are my supporters and confidants. You lift me up when I'm down, and lasso me in when I need to be reminded of where I come from. On days like today, when work has hit a peek of stressness (is that even a word?), it's my friends who pulled me through and made it all okay. I don't even want to think of where I would be without each of these special relationships. I can only hope and pray that I can be a friend to everyone I encounter and form lasting relationships that are meaningful.

Nothing Into Something

2009-11-04T17:14:00.000-08:00

So we hardly do anything for Halloween in our house. I've decided it's a total waste of money to buy costumes and such. (except for the endless bags of candy I bought!) So we had really decided we weren't going to do anything this year. Then at the last minute Preston accepted an invitation to take the kids on a hayride through one of the neighborhoods on town and trick-or-treat Friday evening. I quick thought and had the kids wear their dirt bike jerseys and go as riders. Clever I know. We wound up with so much candy I filled three bowls! And it was the good stuff too. No Child's Play mix in any bags. ha!ha! Then our street did have a little block party at our neighbor's barn and did a little trunk-or-treating. I ended up being great fun, and the best part was I didn't have to buy any candy because I just took the stuff we got the night before. Some people had little games to play and I think the kids had a good time. You can see it in their faces in the pics below.

Preston has been working out of town. This is his second week to be gone. It is so hard to do this stuff on my own. I don't know how military spouses and single parents do it. I'm exhausted. He only has two more weeks and the job will be over. I can't wait. We are incredibly grateful for the business and jobs that he has, but it is tough to take when we are apart for so long. Please pray he makes it home safely and is safe at work. He works at night and is supposed to sleep during the day, but he cannot get his schedule down. He is up all day too. It's tough enough but working electricity is very dangerous.
November has snuck up on us and now it's time to think Thanksgiving and Christmas. My favorite holidays. I think we are doing Thanksgiving a bit different this year so that is going to be a change, but it's a good thing. And I heard today there is something like 40 shopping days left til Christmas. How can that be?????

2009-10-29T16:10:00.000-07:00

Now,

that's

better!

Fall?

2009-10-14T16:21:00.000-07:00

I thought it was supposed to be fall? We even had a teaser week. Sunday was downright cold, and today....96 degrees! I am tired of sweating! I am really hoping the cooler weather makes it's way back to our parts because I need it.
I have had the hardest time getting things done around the house, and by the time I had, I was totally crazy by it. Then it hit me. I have a chores chart posted inside that pantry for the big kids to do each day they get home and after they do homework. I actually have started making them do their part and guess what. Harmony! I am a nice mommy again, and the kids have taken to it nicely. (it might have something to do with the potential to make money each week, but I'd like to think they just do it because they are superb kids) Our nights and now even our mornings have gone so smoothly and we're all getting to bed on time. What a thought!
Last Friday I was getting ready to have a girl's night with my small group and P was taking the kids to the football game. Jacob decided to park the golf cart before they left. He decided to do a little trick that Daddy has been working on where they speed into the garage and then turn the wheel and slide into place. I'm thinking Jacob needs a little more practicing since he drove it through the wall. No kidding. Thankfully it didn't go through the brick, but straight through everything else. I'll need to get a picture of that. P couldn't get mad, because Lauren was right on his heels going "He learned it from you DAD! He probably learned it from YOU!" I had to walk away before they all saw me laugh. What do you do???

Who IS This Child?

2009-09-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

So I finally had to get out and do something today. I have been so sick for daaays. I am really tired of being sick, but then again I'm just really tired. I don't even know what I had, I just know I don't want it again, nor do I want anyone in my family to get it. I still don't feel 100% but I am going back to the land of the living tomorrow and going to work.

Preston also had to leave town Monday on top of it all, and thankfully I've had wonderful help from our family. Back to doing something today. Jacob has school pictures tomorrow and he deperately needed a haircut or face a long life of ridicule at his fro-boy hair do eteranlized forever in print. ha! I was like a mad woman looking for a place that could do it quick and Will has been saying for quite sometime (picture it: holding his bangs all the way back), "Mom I want my hair like this!". I really like his hair long, but if he's asking I might as well let him have a little bit of what he wants now, because when he's thirteen he might be asking for a different color and that will be out of the question! I'm trying to be a little flexible in my parenting :) Anyway I let him cut it and he is so cute. In person he looks a lot younger, but after I looked at his pictures he actually look older. You be the judge.

I'm praying for everyone to stay well. There are so many sick people I know and many of them actually have the Swine Flu!

How He Loves Us

2009-09-22T18:03:00.001-07:00

I absolutely love this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWgeUrD4MHI

I've listened to it over and over on my ipod the last couple of weeks and they sang it in church on Sunday. It's one of those songs that really resonates inside of you. It forces you to take a step back and really think how much He really does loves us. I don't think about God being jealous for me, but he is. He wants to be in everything I do, every day, and how disappointing I must be to him when I go through most days without even acknowledging him whatsoever.

I don't really know the point of this post other than if you haven't heard this song, you should. And to know that He is jealous for you. Oh how He loves us.

Have a terrific week.

Seriously! I Need Your Help!

2009-09-14T19:12:00.001-07:00

I need every one's help with this.

A little background...my youngest who is 3 has the hardest time with going to sleep. I know I did it all wrong and for what I thought were the right reasons, but we let him sleep with us in our bed. We then tried to graduate up and at least lay with him in our bed or on the couch until he fell asleep and then move him to his bed. And finally, several weeks ago we had success. He went to bed all by himself in his own room. He would get up immediately and ask to go to the restroom but would always go right back in there where I would tuck him in and then very promptly fall asleep. It was pure bliss. And now, starting last night, he lays in bed and screams. He won't get up, just cry. He cries for me, his dad, pretty much anyone that he thinks might rescue him. Well last night I caved and at almost 11:00 I went in as took him from his bed and put him in bed with me. Justifying it to myself I reasoned with my 3 year old and told him it's "only this one time". And guess where we are tonight? More cries. I don't know what to do. Do I let him cry it our--he is very stubborn!? Do I lay with him on the couch? Or completely cave in and let him sleep in my bed again? They are only little for so long and one day very soon he will want nothing to do with me, but I also know he needs good rest in his own bed. So could you please help me and give me your opinion. I have a poll on the right. I have a feeling this is going to be our new bedtime routine for a while.

It's Raining, It's Pouring, The Old Man Will is Snoring!

2009-09-11T11:59:00.000-07:00

I stayed home with Will today because he went to the dentist to get some cavities filled. Since he had cavities on his front two teeth they were going to have to use nitrous on him. When we got there they gave him some medicine to drink that would make him relax a little. I don't know what it is about my kids, but it always takes a little longer to sedate them than usual! So we waited, and waited...finally he relaxed enough to go in. Overall it went well and didn't take long, but when they started on the front two, we saved those for last, he was DONE! He was strapped down so he started fighting it and crying, then his gums were bleeding. I was ready to scoop him up! After he was done they had us wait in the 'toy room' so he could get his bearings a little and he was not happy. He was mad at everything. On our way home, he was convinced he had lost a tooth. About thirty minutes after we got home, he came to me a told me he didn't want pop-tarts for breakfast, he wanted oatmeal! And last of his funny things, when I told him it was nap time, he threw a fit because he had already taken a nap. "Don't you 'member momma? I came in your room after I woke up." Not sure what he was talking about there, but I too had to convince him again that he indeed had not already taken a nap. And that is where he is. Peacefully sleeping away in his bed. I hope he sleeps all that medicine off and wakes up feeling fantastic and forgets the whole thing!

Preston just left on a hunting trip for the entire weekend so I'm flying solo. I hate it when he is gone. And it's supposed to continue to rain the rest of today and tomorrow. We might just stay in bed all day and do nothing at all! But it definitely feels more like fall...or maybe it's that pumpkin spice candle I'm burning. ha! Either way I'm ready for it.

(Yep! It's pouring as I ~~speak~~ type! Thank God for the rain!

Introducing Our Newest Family Member...

2009-09-08T18:35:00.001-07:00

Everyone, meet Benji. Isn't he precious. He and his two brothers were left on the doorstep to one of our barracks over the weekend. And if you know my story, you know I haven't turned down an animal yet that gets left at our school. It's sort of an ongoing joke in the office. ha! I took him and dropped him off at the vet to be checked out and given his shots and flea treatments and we will pick him up tomorrow after school. The kids fell in love with him instantly. The cannot wait til he comes home to stay. Will is a little unsure, but I'm sure he'll get used to having a dog.

On a side note, Will is a rockstar on his bike. He starts and stops and completely rides without training wheels. It is so funny to watch him because he seems so little but he talks about it nonstop and wants to be out there all the time. We really have to watch him now because he is fast down the driveway and he'll be on his way to his cousins house if I'm not careful!

Book Club

2009-09-07T17:13:00.000-07:00

I bought this book today. It is the one Angie Smith is doing as a sort of web based book club called The Bloom Book Club. It sounds very interesting and I can't wait to see the discussions as they unfold. Anyone else reading this book too?

Two Wheel Master

2009-09-07T15:40:00.000-07:00

This morning Preston and Will decided to take his training wheels off his bike and try two ride it with only two wheels. I was a little nervous and skeptical, he just barely turned 3 two months ago. But he was determined to do it. (He thinks if he can do it he gets a dirt bike...not sure who would have given him that idea but I have my suspicions!) So I ran ahead of the two of them trying to capture it in pictures and he actually did it! He has since practiced all afternoon in the garage so he could show his brother and sister when they got home from school. So cute.

Will working with his dad to take off the training wheels!

The long ride down the driveway...

Daddy helping just a little 'til he feels comfortable...And look! He did it all by himself. And, I might add, he hasn't fallen yet! He's getting so big :(

A Post in Pictures

2009-09-07T07:08:00.000-07:00

I was looking back at my last few posts and I can't believe I don't have any pictures in them! So I got out my camera yesterday and realized I haven't taken any since Will's birthday in June! I am a bad mother.

Yesterday the big kids decided they wanted to ride their dirtbikes in the pasture. Let me preface by saying Lauren once said that she wanted to start riding too, so we obliged and got her all the necessary gear and I swear she has put it on maybe 4 times. One of those times being the day it arrived in the box! It takes her literally at least 30 minutes to get all 'suited' up. And I think she wears it appriximately 10 minutes before she is ready to take it off, which in turns takes another 20 minutes at least to get it all off and hung back up. Ugghh! I can't really blame her though because it all looks so hot and you get all sweaty, and us girls don't want any part of all that. As you can see from her pictures though, she is pretty darn cute in it.

I threw one in there of Jacob for good measure.

These pictures are from Will's birthday party. He turned 3. Sniff...sniff.
We rented a huge blow up slip and slide and the kids had a blast on it. The adults threatened to get on too, but we never did. I wish I had. Since the big kids had school today, Preston went into work for one job, then we'll be able to have the rest of the day today with just will. What's on the agenda?? I'm glad you asked because Preston has told Will that they are going to take his training wheels off his bike and let him try to learn to ride without training wheels. I feel the sudden need to run to town and stock up on Band-Aids. Just maybe I'll remember to take the camera out with us to try and capture this momentous occasion. ;)

Bored, for a Change

2009-09-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

Today has been so nice. We had nothing we had to do. Everything we did was because we wanted to, when we wanted to. So nice. I need these days to kind of regroup. Lauren and I cleaned the house, and P and Jacob worked on the yard for the morning. Then we went to town for haircuts and grocery shopping. I even cooked a home-cooked meal and bathed the kids. Like I said, this has been a great day. And, I get two more just like it!

Maybe I'm For Real This Time...

2009-09-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

I know I've said it before, but this was THE longest I've been without posting. And it was even summer!!! The days go by so fast and in a blur I can't even make sense of it. But... I know I have a responsibilty to grandparents ;) to keep this thing updated so I am back in business.

School has started and we're already off to a roaring start. Gymnastics, football, it's all coming back to me now. (That's a Celine Dion song for those who care, ha!) Anyway. I think we took our last trip for a while. Jake had his last race in Nocona and we had a lot of fun. We rented another camper and stayed at the track. Preston's mom and brother and sister came and we had a blast hanging out and cooking on the grill. It was much better than even I had anticipated. We are definitely ready for a break.

The kids love their teachers and are actually enjoying going to school. That is such a relief when your kids WANT to go instead of the begging and pleading to not make them. Will even seems to be enjoying school now. That makes my heart so much better. I want nothing more than to be able to stay home with him, but I can actually handle dropping him off knowing he wants to be there. He has also graduated and become so big because...he is completely in his bed now at night, and he falls asleep in there all on his own! You have no idea what a difference that makes. I actually have time to talk to my husband! I didn't know what I was missing, he's actually a great guy ;) ha!

Maybe I'll come back again tomorrow for another update.

The Dress

2009-07-24T11:01:00.001-07:00

I know it's poor quality, but it's the best I could get. This week over at Kelly's Korner we are showing our wedding dress. I loved my dress. I was the first one I saw in the store and tried on, and ended up being THE one. I can remember going in weekly just to try it on. I couldn't wait to wear it on my wedding day. It was beaded and fitted at the top, and a full skirt with train. I felt like a princess in such a big dress. I had so much fun at our wedding. I tease Preston all the time that I want to get married again, I just want to marry him each time. ha! He doesn't get it. For my birthday my mom took my dress, which 10 years later was still hanging in her closet, to be protected and boxed up so I could keep it for my daughter. I was so excited, and so was Lauren. We'll see what she thinks about that in about 20 years when it's her turn to be looking for a dress. She'll probably say thanks, but no thanks! Next week is the wedding party. How much fun. I then have a week to get my scanner working so I can scan those pics in too, hopefully with better quality than this.

Overwhelmed

2009-07-23T17:34:00.000-07:00

Not with life, with blogging. I haven't written in so long, I don't even know where to begin...

We have had a wonderful summer so far. It is sadly almost at an end, but I am so thankful for it. We have spent July doing all kinds of things. Jake had another race in Lubbock two weekends ago. We went to the Science museum while we were there and had so much fun. We were even able to watch an African Safari 3-d show on the omni theater. That was fun too, but Preston and I left feeling pretty sick. It was a little too 3-d for us! Then last weekend we left Thursday night to go camping with 4 other couples at Lake Amistad. It was a blast. I am now on the search to buy our own camper. We rented one, and all fell in love. We spent every day on the lake and it was so relaxing. We had 16 kids between all of us and they all did so well together and had a blast too. I hope we will do that every year. That lake is awesome compared to this lake. You could see so far down it was crazy. I am the only one who got sunburned. And it is bad. My lips are even blistered and burned. I look gross with all the peeling brown skin and the white skin left underneath. Luckily it's been a little cooler these past few days and I can wear shirts with sleeves without having a heat stroke. I am really hoping we can do at least one more trip before I go back to work in two weeks. I am trying to talk P into taking us all to San Antonio and going to Fiesta Texas. The kids would have a blast. We would need to go next weekend though so that might not happen. Anyway, that is a brief overview of our whereabouts since my last post.

BlogHop

2009-07-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

Today is a Blog Hop at Kelly's Korner and I decided to join in! It is of a favorite picture. I chose this one. Now although I have 3 kids, a part of me is feeling guilty I chose a picture of only 1. With that said, anyone with three children knows that is is incredibly difficult to get one where all three of them are cooperating. The last one I have of them together is a year old this month! I love Will's eyes in this picture. His are the bluest of all of our children and we still can't get over the fast that we have 3 blue-eyed kids when Preston and I both are brown eyed.

Feels Good to Be Home

2009-06-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

We are finally home from our vacations! We had a great time. We spent a week on the lake in Oklahoma and couldn't get enough of it. We spent our days lounging and on the boat tubing. The kids had a blast. We hardly saw Jacob at all. He was on another boat fishing with P's aunt and uncle. One afternoon they caught something like 40 fish. Jake was in heaven. He even helped his uncle prep them to be cooked for dinner. After the success of that fishing excursion, Jacob pretty much stayed on the dock fishing.

We left the lake Friday morning to head back to Tulsa, but not without a little drama first. We left the lake house as it started to rain and we went down a super steep hill followed with another incredibly steep hill to go back up and over. We went down and started back up...when all of the sudden we started spinning out and slid back down the hill. The weight of our boat and the steep incline were not a combination my car was ready to take on. I will admit I started really freaking out. We tried to go back up again and yet again slid back down. As we slid down the boat would try to jack-knife which was making matters worse. I got out of the car with Jacob to run down the street to try and get Preston's mom and Preston let the car go all the way back down. After some brief discussion we decided the only thing we could try was for Preston to go as far back as he could and just floor the car to try to get as much momentum as possible to get up and over. I stayed back and just watched and it worked! Praise God, because the rain was really starting to come down now, and there was no way we were getting out of there if it turned into mud!

We make it into the next town a few moles out when the storm gets really nasty. We are following Preston's mom and she pulls into a convenient store. As we're pulling in lightening strikes an electrical pole and sparks fly causing the other side of the street to go black. We run into the store now soaking wet. As we try to get caught up on the approaching weather, the tornado sirens start to go off!! I couldn't even believe it. We huddled in the back where the bathrooms were and waited for them to go off. Once they did we decided to eat lunch there and wait the storm out. After about an hour it has cleared up enough to start driving home again. We did not actually see any tornadoes but they were said to have been close. Crazy huh?

I couldn't wait to come home Sunday because that meant we were going to get to see Erin's baby. He was born while we were out of town and he was sick and it just killed me not to be there for Erin and Matt. The good news is baby Rylan came home today! He is the cutest thing ever. You can visit her blog to see Rylan yourself here.

And now we're back to our normal lives. I'll admit yesterday, I did nothing. I told myself I could have that day to recover. I think I stayed in bed until 12:00, awake of course, but in bed none the less.

Today, however, I was up at 7:30 and made the kids pancakes for breakfast so that we could go to town and watch a movie. The kids enjoyed it and we ran into some other friends there too so it made it even better.

Now I think we are all caught up. I am definitely ready for life to be a little normal for a while. :)

Welcome to Our...bathroom?!

2009-06-13T12:50:00.000-07:00

Hello all! :)

I'm happy to show you our bathrooms today. We have three bathrooms in our house. And so we will start off with our ~~guest bath~~ boys' bathroom. Let me stop here and say something. For anyone out there building a house, DO NOT have your son/sons bathroom double as the guest bathroom. Worst idea I've ever had. For obvious reasons. Okay so here is the boys' bathroom. I love their bathroom. The colors and everything are not kiddies really, just nice. I'm standing in the tub for this picture and again it's a little dark (I have got to read the directions on my camera!)
This is the view from the hallway.
Now the following pictures are of the master bath. I love our bathroom. It is perfect for the two of us. This picture is from our bedroom looking in to the bathroom. As you can see the tub is right in the middle of the wall.

I'm spoiled and have my tv mounted right above the tub so I can lay in the bath and watch my shows or I like having it on in the morning when I get ready.

This picture is if you were standing in front of my closet door. This is why I love our bathroom. It has split sinks and behind each sink is our own closets. So this means in the morning when we are getting ready we aren't all in each others way. The best. So this is Preston's side and beside his sink is the shower.
My sink is on the other side of the door. My vanity is a little bigger than his...naturally :).
Then right next to my vanity is the small room that has the toilet. The worst mistake we made while building was not making that room with a pocket door so you could close the toilet away and not have to see all the time, but oh well everyone has one right?
Now on to my favorite bathroom in the house. It comes in close to being my favorite room in the house. It is Lauren's own bathroom. When we were looking for plans to build our house this is one of the reasons we were sold on this floor plan. Her room has an attached bathroom. Her room also has a walk-in closet. This is what made it perfect to be a girl's room. Anyway, this is the view of her bathroom from her bedroom.

When you go in her bathroom door and close the door, her shower is right behind it. She does only have a stand-up shower, which I would have preferred the boys' to have the stand-up shower and her have the bathtub, but that entailed a lot of small changes in the floor plan which in turn means more money, so I left well enough alone.This is her bow holder by her sink. I don't know how much longer she is going to allow me to be putting bows in her hair, but I'm going to keep doing it as long as she lets me :) The rest of her bows are in her cabinet so this isn't even all of them. He coach at school calls her "Pinkie" because she always has a pink bow/ribbon in her hair. ha!
These are her cabinets and dirty clothes hamper opposite her shower.
And of course her toilet. The vase on the back of her toilet has all of the loose ribbons I tie in her hair.

And for my favorite part. I love the wall above her vanity. I glued roses all on the wall and around the lights and mirror. I love the way it looks and it goes perfectly with he room/bedroom. It is just so feminine. A definite when you have two brothers ;). I also painted this scripture on her wall. I know how difficult it is for a young girl to grow up in this world where every female in the media in portrayed to be thin and exceptionally beautiful. My Lauren is beautiful, but I don't want her to think she has to compare herself to others. Hence this scripture from Psalm. It is Psalm 45:11 The king is enthralled with your beauty; honor him, for he is your Lord. I hope that she remembers that as she gets ready every morning , and know it is Him who matters when getting ready for the day.

And that's it. Thank you for taking the time to visit our house. We loved showing you our bathrooms.

One Down, One to Go!

2009-06-06T16:48:00.000-07:00

Vacations that is.

We just got back from two days at Schlitterbahn. It was so much fun. I'm sad I don't have any pictures to show for it. We spent the entire time in the water and my camera is not water friendly. The first day we spent mainly at the first park and just introduced ourselves to the fun yet to be had. Preston and I have been together once in high school, and the kids have never been. That made it all the more fun.

Not one of the kids was afraid of any of the rides. In fact they rode every single one of them, including Will. I say every ride, except the Sky something. Jacob really wanted to do that, but it was something like 250 ft of free falling then flying out over the wave pool. They tried hard to talk me into letting him go, but I just couldn't do it. Am I the only person who actually thinks about people falling out of those things? It makes me shiver thinking about it again.

Anyway. Back to the fun stuff. Preston and I would actually "argue" over who would get to go down the ride with Will. He made it so fun. He is almost three, but he would giggle like a baby all the way through the ride. It made the trip for Preston and me. Seeing the kids experience so much fun for the first time was worth every penny!

So on to trip number two. We got home this afternoon, I'm doing laundry and repacking now for this week. We are going up to Tulsa to spend some time with Preston's family. We will be staying at a lake house on Grand Lake. So we will be boating for the whole entire week. We can't wait! This trip I will definitely have pictures from though.

If I can put a plug in for a product (for all 4 readers ha!) I bought this.

It is the best sunscreen EVER! We were out in full sun from 10:00-8:00 and I put this on the whole family a couple of times and we don't even have so much as a tan. I couldn't believe it. I was a little nervous at first because it is so light and non-greasy it was hard to tell it was even on us. So anyone out there looking for good sunscreen, this is definitely worth the money.

So now we're off to the looonng road trip ahead of us. See you next week!

Show Us Where You Live Work

2009-06-05T06:27:00.000-07:00

Welcome again! This is our office. Not a big space, but gets the job done.

These are the doors leading into the office. They are open most of the time, the room isn't very big.
This is the view standing in the doorway. I have a view of the front lawn when I'm in here. I did that so I can see the kids playing in the front if I need to. Also I can watch for when P gets home. I try not to be on the computer once he's off work. You can see the board where I hand some pictures plus the kids work. I think it's overflowing a bit, don't you? My computers on the left, and Preston's laptop for work is under my Beth Moore book and Bible.

This picture is from right in front of the window. The back side of the desk. Down there I have my basket with my sewing machine hidden under some zebra cloth and out printer is on another small table. I don't necessarily like this set up, just out of ideas/energy to do anything about it. On the other wall are some of P's plans for work and some still on the floor. They're everywhere! I guess that's a good sign for business though. Then he has his work calendar for scheduling then our family calendar for events. I have to write things down or I'll forget it all!
This last picture is on the wall opposite the calendars. This table is a hand-me-down from my mother-in-law. I love it. I can't decide though if I want to paint it black. That was my original plan, but now I'm not so sure. What do you guys think? I bought that "Believe" frame at Hobby Lobby and got the cross frame as a present. The desk could definitely use some attention, I have several boxes hidden underneath it I need to go through.
Thanks for touring our office today. Hope you enjoyed it. See you next week.

Look What the Kids Caught

2009-06-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

The big kids went fishing with Poppy this last Saturday while I had my last work day. Look what they caught! Jacob caught 2 but only one was a keeper, and Lauren caught 1. I'm not sure what she was thinking in this picture. I can only imagine.

Productive

2009-06-02T07:18:00.000-07:00

Contrary to popular belief, I did not spend my first day off work sitting around...I was actually quite productive. I totally cleaned out the kids rooms. I even took most of Will's toys and gave them away. He hasn't played with most of them in quite some time. So I took advantage of the new space in his room and moved some things around. If you remember from my tour post, his room used to look like this

Now is looks like this. Every time I take a picture from the hallway it turns out dark, even with the flash on, but I think you get the idea.
I also focused a lot of attention on Jacob's room. He was excluded from the tour post because his version of clean and my version are two different things. This is my version. I even took the photos my sister-in-law took of him in his dirt bike gear and framed them and hung them by his bed.

He was so appreciative when he saw them. He stared at them forever and then came and just laid his head on my shoulder and said thanks. It was priceless.
So today's agenda is cleaning the kitchen and my bedroom/bathroom. Then mop the whole house. I always procrastinate that part. I am GOING to do it today though. Then I can focus on getting ready for Schlitterbahn later this week.

"School's Out For Summer!"

2009-05-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one who can't get that song out of my mind????

It's official. I get to enjoy the next 2 months with my very own children. We are going to go to Schlitterbahn at the end of this coming week, then head to Tulsa for the entire week next Sunday. We are very much looking forward to some rest and relaxation.

Better Late than Never

2009-05-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a day late for the Home Tour over at Kelly's blog. This last week proved to be a bit more exhausting than I had anticipated. Being a teacher and mom to school-age kids the last week of school goes by in a whirlwind.

So without any further delay...ha! Here is my kid's rooms. You will notice though that one room is missing. That of our oldest Jacob. He's nine, and of course has free will, therefore his version and my version of clean seem to be two totally different things. So he will not be joining us on this tour...maybe another day :).

We'll start with Lauren's room. As you can see we love pink. It's everywhere. She also loves "Fancy Nancy" anything. She has different things all over her room that are "Fancy Nancy"

This is the view from her nightstand side of her bed. It's of her desk where her tv is (they can only watch movies in their room during rest time, there is no cable) and her dresser.

This is the view looking into her room from the hallway. I have no idea why it came out so dark. I took several pictures and they all came out the same. So sorry.

This is Will's bedroom. He sleep in a toddler bed. None of my other kids had a toddler bed. They went from crib to big bed with rails, but I'm not ready for my last baby to be in a big boy bed. Maybe next year. Although his crib looked just like this bed so it fit in to the same spot perfectly.

This is from the opposite side of the room. He loves basketball and got his own goal for Christmas.

This angle is from his bed. I'm a little embarrassed over the stain in the doorway, and even more embarrassed to admit that I have no idea what on earth it could be. Just ignore it. ha!

So that's it folks. (well except for the other kids room that I am choosing not to include in the tour) Next weeks is home office and I am going to be on time for that one!

Joining In

2009-05-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

So I decided that today I would join in on the fun at Kelly's blog on her tour of homes. This week is dining rooms. I must say, there isn't a lot to ours, but I still love it. We don't have a formal dining room so this is off our kitchen.

Welcome to our dining room.

This is a clip board that is painted that says "Look What I Did". It has three clips on it so there is one spot for each child to showcase something they are proud of from school.
This is in the corner lookin out from the dining room. As you can see it is right off the kitchen and living room.
And last I love my wall stickers that say Give Thanks. It is a constant reminder to us to give thanks to God for everything we have.

Thanks for stopping by. See you next week.

7

2009-05-21T14:35:00.001-07:00

My little Lauren had a birthday yesterday. She turned 7! I can't believe it. She has lost the "little" girl look and is growing up. She is going to be in the second grade next year! It's so cliche, but where has the time gone. I feel sometimes like we live in such a whirlwind that I blink and before I know it a year has passed. I have got to find a way to slow the time down. I don't know what I'll do when my kids hit double digits, or worse...teenagers! YIKES! I guess I'll settle for 7. ha! Here are some pictures of her on her birthday. She got her very own Pandora bracelet. She proceeded to tell us that for everyday she is good in school she can get a new charm...um..I don't think so. But she did get 2 more charms for gifts and she loves them. She also got the cutest electric pink scooter. It's a Razor Pocket Mod. I'm in love with it, and so is she. She looks so cute riding on it. Her party is tomorrow at the bowling alley. Wish me luck ;)

I'm Baaack

2009-05-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

It's been over 4 weeks since I last posted. That's the longest I've been away since the beginning. I know, I'm sure many of you have missed me terribly. ha! So much has happened I don't even know where to begin.
P's business is crazy good and we are so blessed. But I hardly see him anymore. It's worth it though, he his so happy and doing what he has always wanted to do. I get to be his secretary. It's proven to be a little more than I bargained for, and the pay isn't really good (cuz it's free!) but maybe someday in the far off future it won't be ;). He hates it when I say that. I'm out for the summer in just two weeks so maybe I can get a little more organized in that time. Speaking of being off work for the summer I can't wait. We are taking the kids to Schlitterbahn the week after we get out. They are so excited. Lauren comes home and tells me the stories she's written in her journal about going--they don't get out much. Then the day after we get back we are going to Oklahoma for a week to spend time with P's family at Grand Lake. It is always a ton of fun and the kids have a blast.
Lauren turns 7 on Wednesday. Where has the time gone? We've told her every morning that we are just going to skip the birthday so she can stay 6 and that really gets her mad. It's pretty fun. She asked to have her party at the bowling alley. Ewww! That's all I'm going to say about that. Then we leave Saturday morning for Jacob's last MX race in this series. If he is in the top 15 in points he will be invited to the East meets West race. He's 7th right now. He loves it.
During my blogging hiatus, I turned thirty. I spelled the number out because it didn't seem quite as bad as looking at the actual numbers. I can't believe I've left the 20's. I seriously don't feel over 21. My family threw me an incredible surprise party. That was a feat in it of itself, because I know everything. But I didn't know this. It was themed Rachael Ray, since I love her and love to cook. We had a great time. Lots more has happened, just will spare you the boredom since you've probably stopped reading at this point :) I will take post some pictures next post just to keep the fam happy.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

The Lord Has Risen!
It has been a fantastic Holy Week. It ended today with a great day of church and family. Jacob sang in church again for Maundy Thursday and it was such a nice program. It was at a different church than our own and since I had to take Will to nursery in a strange place I let Lauren stay with him. It has been a long time since Preston and I have sat on a pew together and been able to fully focus on the sermon.

Yesterday we had two soccer games and Preston spent the day working on Jacob's dirt bike to get it ready for the next race. His first race was a real bummer. We drove last Friday to Abilene where he ended up being the only rider in his class. He was able to race against other classes, but he was guaranteed two trophies since he of course would place first. He is so proud of those things. Preston and I get so tickled all the time because he dusts them daily. The mean the world to him :). We left on Saturday to go to the big race in Lubbock. It was beyond miserable. The wind and dust left you completely filth and nasty and any other really bad descriptive words you can think of. It was BAD. He raced the first race and place somewhere around 13th out of 20. I was really proud. It was his first major race and the track was huge. The next three races proved a bit more challenging. In fact his bike broke all three times and he wasn't able to finish any of the other races. We were all a little frustrated, but had a lot of fun together. And even better, we stayed at a hotel and I did not get all grossed out. I behaved very well. I even slept under the sheets. ha! His next race is in Odessa this coming weekend and we are hoping for a much better outcome.

There has been so much going on in our life that is amazing and wonderful. I am so far behind on updates I don't even know where to begin. But I do know that God is so good. He always provides and he had blessed us immensely. We are so grateful. With that, I hope you all have had a wonderful Easter and were able to reflect on why this day is so very important to Christians. There is no greater gift than the one we were given this day.

A Few Pictures

2009-04-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

Psalm 126:3

2009-04-02T05:56:00.000-07:00

"The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."

2009-03-25T17:53:00.000-07:00

So wow, it's been a while. Things are crazy busy for some reason, and now that it stays lighter longer it's hard to come inside before eight o'clock. Anyone else feel that way? Warmer weather makes you want to stay outside and enjoy it. I love spring! I love the way everything turns from looking completely dead, to brilliantly green in a few short days. We had a great spring break last week and enjoyed the whole week all five of us together. We did go to Tulsa on Wednesday and we had to take Preston's truck. It's a 4-door (whatever they call that), but whew!, that was a lot of togetherness. The kids nearly drove each other crazy, and almost took me with them. We're used to traveling in my car where at least they can sit with a seat between them. But, I hit a deer the week before last, big time. So my car was in the shop being repaired. This is the second deer I hit this school year. One of the perks of living in the country. That brings me to another story. My car was ready on Sunday so we picked it up on the way into town. Preston went in on Tuesday to pay our bill and to our surprise they told us that someone had called in and paid it in full over the phone and they couldn't tell us who! Can you believe that? This was an expensive bill and someone (we still don't know who) paid it for us. What an incredible blessing. Just in case the anonymous payer is reading this, thank you so much, what an incredible gift.
Preston and I went to The Melting Pot when we were in Tulsa for a late anniversary date. (We were married ten years on the 13th). While in Tulsa, Preston's mom offered to keep the kids so we could go out. It was sooooo nice. We sat in "Lover's Lane" and were off completely secluded from everyone. The food was delicious and I had so much fun being able to just focus on us for once. I am so blessed to be married to this man.
My heart is so broken over the sudden change in Stellan's health. If you click on the button at the top you can read about Stellan, and MckMama. I have followed her blog since he was sick in utero at 20 weeks. He needs everyone praying on his behalf.
I know this is all over the place. The drawbacks of not posting in a long time. If you're still reading, thanks for keeping up. And for the finale, more pictures. Just random shots that were on my camera I haven't posted yet.

He was so tired here. I love how sweet he is with is hands up by his head.

Still in the hammock. Although now he's learned to swing it.

Jacob is in this huge tree at the park. He can climb anything I tell ya. Then, he just jumps out!

Jake and Will. So cute.

She is so precious.

"Little Rider"

Look What I Found

2009-03-15T09:01:00.000-07:00

Look who I found after a few minutes searching where a quiet 2-year old could be. You guessed it! Will is in that same ingenious hammock that his big brother created during this post. He is also playing with his brother's PSP which he is not allowed to have. That would explain the moments of peace and quiet I experienced right before I became concerned what he was up to. He is such a turkey.

March??

2009-03-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

I am so far behind, this is my first March post and the month is half way over. Oh well. Now that I have a week off of work I might have some time this week to actually post something worthy of reading. ha! We have been super busy lately. I am hoping to get caught up on some things I've neglected lately like some serious deep cleaning. I also want to take the kids pictures in their Easter outfits. We plan on going out of town towards the end of week to Oklahoma. The kids are super excited and so are we. It will be so nice to get away. I also want to do more reading. These books I've been reading are so addicting and I can't put them down. I just finished The Shack. It was for our book club and I was a little nervous about reading it. I had heard from people they either loved it or hated it. I started it and couldn't put it down. I loved it. Have any of you read it? What are your thoughts on it? I can't wait til our group meets so we can talk about it.

Will had an ear infection at the beginning of the week and seems to be doing better already. Then towards the end of the week Preston and Jacob got some kind of stomach bug. YUCK!! Thankfully Lauren, Will, and I have stayed clear of that. Rounding out this week was Preston and my anniversary. We have been married for 10 years. Mind boggling. Everyone says it, but I really do love him more today than I did that day and I would have never thought that possible. We have come through so much and I love what we have. God truly blessed me when He gave me Preston. We weren't able to do anything yet to celebrate since he was sick, but maybe one night this week we can sneak away.

I hope all of you have a terrific and safe spring break. I'll post pictures soon for all of you family members who care ;)

Jacob, aka Survivorman

2009-02-28T07:35:00.000-08:00

Last night was movie night in our house and I let J pick the show this week. His choice? Survivorman. He loves this show and Man v. Wild. We suffered through it. I put the kids to bed pretty early because L had an early basketball game. So...this morning I was making the rounds waking all the kids up when I went in Jake's room and didn't see him on his top bunk, or his bottom bunk. However, I did see this blanket hanging from the slats of the top bunk and felt it and guess what. He was tucked away peacefully sleeping in a cocoon. At least I can rest assure that he could successfully make a hammock from his blankets and slats should he ever get into any kind of trouble and need to "survive" ha! ha!

Pics from the Park

2009-02-26T14:23:00.000-08:00

Last night before church I took the kids to the park. They have so much fun there, but my goodness wearing high heels in a pit of wood chips makes for a difficult time chasing three wild kids. ha! But I think the kids really had fun. We had stopped at Chick-Fil-A before to pick up dinner and it was out lucky day because they were out of kid toys and instead they were giving the kids free ice cream!! Okay so I wasn't all that excited at first when I heard it and almost told them not to worry about it (really, a 2 year old w/ ice cream in the car? not a good idea) anyway what kind of mom would I be if I had said no? A bad one! So we made it all the way to the park to eat them and what did they do? I handed each one their bowl and spoon and we made our way up the sidewalk where the walked by the trashcan and quickly threw them away. No kidding. After the park we went to church where Jacob was singing for the Ash Wednesday service and he did so good. I was a proud momma. He takes his singing very seriously. He is still talking about how he didn't have a solo! Poor kid, he has no idea he has our genes which carries not a single note in tune. We just smile and say maybe next time.

Today has been so warm and I love it. News says it's going to be colder for the weekend. GO figure.

Pony Party

2009-02-22T14:36:00.001-08:00

Here are a couple pics from a birthday party today. They had a pony there for rides. Lauren of course couldn't get enough and Will really didn't want to, but did it anyway. I think he ended up having fun though. Jacob wasn't interested.

Low Key Friday Night

2009-02-20T17:58:00.000-08:00

We had a really low key night tonight. We have been running around like crazy the last couple of weeks so it was nice to spend an evening at home. Preston met me at the gym after work and we worked out for a while. The kids love the nursery so it is so nice to be able to take them and not worry. Then I took Will to get his hair cut. This doesn't happen very often. Since he had so many problems with his ears and surgeries, dr appts, shots, he does not like to have his head/ears touched by anyone. I usually do it, but really my "equipment" consists of kitchen scissors and a clipper set from 10 years ago. I had him really excited before hand and he grabbed about 5 suckers from the front, but once they called him back, he screamed. The whole time. It was messy. The poor girl I'm sure gave the quickest cut of her life but it turned out great. He's bound to be a few pounds lighter. So we made pizza when we go home for the kids, popped popcorn and after baths they watched Space Chimps.Tomorrow is the parade for the rodeo and we have to wake up super early because P and I are judges for all of the float entries. It is supposed to be so cold, I am not looking forward to freezing out in the wind for hours. The kids always have a good time though so it's worth it.

Jake went to his follow up appt for his back and was cleared for all normal activity. He is so excited. They say he isn't at any more risk than the next person for re-injuring the vertebrae so that is really good news.

Control

2009-02-11T19:11:00.001-08:00

I have been struggling a bit lately. I am a major control freak! I know it-I can admit it. But it is causing me a lot of problems lately. I have recently become aware that I am NOT the one in control (well not really just figured out, but just acknowledged). I have been under a great deal of stress lately. It's a whole culmination of things that I won't even begin to list here. But none of it is in my control. Really trying to come to grips with this has been a little overwhelming. At the same time though, I know deep down who is in control. The more time I spend in my devotional, the more time I want my God to take over my life. And I've got to tell you the past couple of days have been refreshing. I deal with the things I can control, and the rest I leave God to handle. I am trying to be more patient so I can listen to what He wants me to do instead of just acting on what I think I should do. And that's it. Just though I would share what's on my heart tonight.

My Momma

2009-02-09T19:02:00.000-08:00

Not too long a go I wrote a post for my mom for her birthday. And a couple of posts ago I told you she had an infection. The infection is in her bone at her ankle. They think it might have been caused by a stress fracture at some time, but are not completely certain how it could have started. So tonight I would ask that you really lift her up in prayer. She had an appointment with her dr and he scheduled her this afternoon to have a port put in. You know, it's that thing they put under your skin on your chest so they don't have to poke you all the time to administer meds. She went in around 1 and they didn't even sedate her. She was awake. She said it hurt really bad. She is still in a lot of pain on her neck around where it was placed. Poor thing. So her treatment schedule goes something like this. Everyday for the next six weeks she goes to the hyper-baric chamber place and spends 2 hours in there. While in there, they will administer IV antibiotics through her port. She will also be in a boot on her foot. So with all that said, could you please pray for her. She needs for this infection to be completely healed by the end of this treatment.
Thank you.

Mini-cation

2009-02-09T15:11:00.000-08:00

So I had mentioned that P and I were going out of town together...with no kids. Well we got home around 8ish last night and I was glad to be home.
I can remember as a child loving to go on a trip just so you could stay in a hotel. I don't know exactly what has happened to me as a grown up, but I loathe hotels. The mere thought of what is lurking in the carpet, or worse, the sheets just sends chills up my spine. So let me rewind a bit and say that of course if you know P then you know he is c-h-e-a-p in every sense of the word. Everything is a waste of money where he is concerned. He actually thinks the grocery store should cost no more than $30 a week for our family of 5! Anyway, he heard from a buddy that using Hotwire was really cool. So last month when we went to Dallas we used it for the first time and were pleasantly surprised to see that our hotel was actually very nice and I think we got it for around fifty bucks. I still did not undress and slept completely clothed with socks on and on my pillow so as not to touch any part of the hotel linens. Okay, so fast-forward to present day. P had a class in Odessa and we thought what a perfect time for a quick getaway just the two up us. He'd be in a class all Sat and Sun so I would have all of this time to myself to read and shop or whatever fits my fancy. Last week we got on Hotwire and the most stars you could get were a 3 which was okay because in Dallas the really nice place we stayed in was a 3 also. I was okay with that. Let's stop here and say that a 3 in Dallas is most definitely much different than a 3 in Odessa. I really wanted to take pictures, but in all honesty you would say it wasn't half bad. But... if I had a smell-o-camera, now that would do it justice. The smell was ugghh. It was almost unbearable. After lunch on Saturday we checked in for the first time and well, I was really sad I had no other errands to run. So he dropped me off and I sat very cautiously on the recliner (I know, bad choice, it was fabric and had a suspicious stain, but it was the lesser of two evils here). And I didn't move. I read for the next 5 hours and the only interruption I had was the 9 trains that went flying by during this time. Needless to say, yes I am ashamed to admit it, but I made Preston take me out to dinner-for a really long time-so I could have a few drinks before I had to go back and sleep in that bed. I had come prepared though and brought my own sheets. They were only a twin size, so Preston had to sleep on the others. He is so gross it totally doesn't bother him and he even pulled them up to his nose and inhaled BIGGG time! Ewwww!
But I survived. And although I'm sure it would take a few days before anything started to significantly eat away at my skin, I think I got out of their pretty much unscathed. Oh and for the sheets, I left them there. There is no way I was bringing them back to the house.

What to Say...

2009-02-05T17:42:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a while and really have not a lot to say, but I feel the need to or I might lose my reader. Here is my life summed up:

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of Vickie's death. It's going to be a tough day. Dad is taking off, but we could really use prayers. I'll take the kids to her grave after school tomorrow and they can leave her a card. I can't believe it's been a year.
Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and I very badly would like to do something special (because he would never expect it) for my husband, but what?
I have fallen behind on my devotional, but I am going to make it! I will do it!
I have started working out...again...love it.
The kids are doing wonderfully. Lauren had a sinus infection/ear infection but you would never know it. I only took her to the dr because her cough was keeping everyone awake at night. She is such a trooper.
Preston and I are going out of town this weekend, with no kids. Whatever will I do with my self (Preston will be in a class all day both days.) I hope to read a lot.
Work stinks. It's so stressful this time of year. No one is happy, including myself.
My mom has had a swollen ankle for a couple of months and come to find out she has bone infection. YIKES! She needs a lot of prayer. She will find out more about treatment the beginning of the week. On a funny note, the nurse told mom the last man that has this infection only lost two toes!?! What? Why on earth would you tell that to a patient. Mom being the trooper she is just said "Okay".
I have taken no pictures of the kids in weeks. It's bad when my two year old tells me to "go get your camera".
Will got a peanut butter jar out of the pantry yesterday morning (after he was dressed and ready to go to school) and proceeded to stick his fist in it and lick off the peanut butter. I really needed my camera then, but time left me without.
Harper's going home! Yea! It drives Preston crazy that I follow blogs and keep up with them the way I do, but come on, it's become a necessity. Praise God for her story.
That's it. Absolutely nothing worth posting an entire post about. If I could only ask for your prayers for my dad this weekend and for my mom and her treatment I would greatly appreciate it.

I hope to have something worth devoting an entire post soon, and maybe even with some pics.

One More Thing

2009-01-27T17:23:00.001-08:00

Look what is sharing our pastures with us. Too bad we don't have a head shot, but any way you look at it, this puppy (well, bobcat) it's BIG! Preston's going to try to call it, we'll see if he can get it. I'm a little afraid for my small children. This wasn't too terribly late at night either. I'm sure he's more scared of us than we are of it but this does explain why all of our kittens have disappeared. So sad.

Look What I Got

2009-01-27T16:28:00.000-08:00

So my precious friend Ashley gave me an award...for my blog. Funny I didn't think anybody read this thing! ha! Go figure! I am a little late getting it out, sorry Ashley, better late than never right?

Along with the award, there is a set of questions to answer. Each question can only have a one-word answer. This should be interesting, I'm not sure I can do it but here's to tryin'...

1. Where is your cell phone? dresser
2. Where is your significant other? kitchen
3. Your hair color? today?brown
4. Your mother? perfect
5. Your father? comforting
6. Your favorite thing? chocolate
7. Your dream last night? lice (don't ask)
8. Your goal? several
9. The room you are in? office
10. Your hobby? blogging
11. Your fear? failing
12. Where do you want to be in six years? right here
13. Where were you last night? gym;target
14. What you are not? warm
15. One of your wish list items? nothing-really
16. Where you grew up? San Angelo
17. The last thing you did? worked out
18. What you are wearing? gym clothes
19. Your TV? ESPN (tennis)
20. Your pet? lotta cats
21. Your computer? old!
22. Your mood? fantastic
23. Missing someone? friends
24. Your car? Armada
25. Something you are not wearing? jewelry
26. Favorite story? karen.kingsbury's.redemption.series. (me too Thanks Ash)
27. Your Summer? off
28. Love someone? completely
29. Your favorite color? PINK
30. When was the last time you laughed? Will
31. Last time you cried? yesterday

So there,
I pass this award along to:
Erin

Home Office

2009-01-19T14:50:00.000-08:00

This is the reason it's not necessarily a good idea to try to work from home...but you've got to love it. Isnt' it sweet? He loves his daddy.

Basketball Player!!!

2009-01-10T13:49:00.000-08:00

Lauren had her first basketball game today. Preston is working out of town so I had to take all of the kids myself. It was really fun. For those of you who don't really know Lauren, she is only concerned with everyone else. She would never "steal" the ball, or run after some one who had the ball. She is the sweetest thing, and although sweet really isn't in the description of basketball, it makes for a very entertaining game. She would skip sideways down the court with he arms up to guard, and had the biggest grin on her face. She spent most of her time at half-court cheering on her teammates. I caught he a couple of times jumping up and clapping for her team as they were shooting baskets (she was in the game at this time). She told me afterwards that she was "sweatin' but had a lot of fun". I guess that's what it's all about. I don't look for her to have the most steals or the most points, but for goodness sakes she will definitely have the biggest smile!

As you know from this post, Will LOVES basketball. It has always been a little confusing since how up to today, no one has played basketball around us. We've never taken him to any games nor have we watched any on television. So we have always thought it to be super funny that he likes it so much. I had to get a few pics of him showing off his skills this morning. He would bounce the ball real fast and very serious. I should have taken video instead of pics but it's all I could do.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

2009-01-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today is my mom's birthday. Let me tell you a little bit about her. She is such an amazing woman. She loves the Lord and loves her family. She has taught me so much about being not only a good mother, but a good person. She would do anything for anybody. And she does. She spends her days filled with helping other people. There isn't a day that goes by that she doesn't call me. She is always asking "what can I do for you?". She has probably taken more days off to take care of my sick children than I have. No matter what life has thrown her way she never lets it stop her. She has Multiple Sclerosis, and has had it as long as I can even remember. She is an inspiration to everyone. She has never let that get in her way. My children L-O-V-E her. It is so amazing to see that relationship unfold right before my eyes. I am pretty sure Will would go and live with her today and never look back (probably because you bought him that bear, you know which one I'm talking about mom, the one with the dreidl, ha!) Anyway, she is so special to me and I thank God everyday to have given me to her. I can't imagine my life any other way. I love you mom. Happy Birhtday!

Tunnel Fun!

2009-01-01T16:57:00.000-08:00

These Pics go with the Previous Post

2009-01-01T16:43:00.000-08:00

Lauren's First Hunt

2009-01-01T13:35:00.000-08:00

Lauren is getting to go deer hunting with her daddy today for the first time. I am having a real problem with it though. Although I want her to know that she is capable of doing anything, ugh...why would she WANT to do that? I know she just loves to spend time with her daddy and she knows this is something he and Jacob do together often. So I guess if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. So as I was gettting her all decked out in her camo, (Jacob was very concerned with the shirt she had on earlier today, it had glitter on the letters and that would definitley scare away any deer), I was still working on deterring her from going. I have tried to make it as morbid as possible. In my mind all I can think about is the Disney movie Bambi. I will not eat deer meat to this day because of that show I watched as a child. Anyway, when I was getting Lauren dressed I told her what to expect and I said "You know it's like in the movie Bambi when they shot that Bambi's mother right?" and she turned and looked up at me and said "Mom, you know Bambi is just a movie right, it's make believe?". Humph! What do I say to that? Honey wait, I need to get your picture! So now it's just me and the baby at home while the rest of the clan is out catching us some dinner! jk

Happy New Year Everyone!!

2009-01-01T08:47:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year. We went over to some friends house and left around nine and came home to play Wii. I'm thinking we fell asleep around 11:00 on the couches and we woke up around 2:00 a.m. We are a bundle of fun around this house! I have made the resolution this year to not make any resolutions. Not in that sense any way. I always fail, so this year I am just striving to be better. To be better with our finances, and with my dedication to my Lord and his Word. Those two things are very much on my heart and have been for some time, so this is the year to make the difference...that's not a resolution right?, just a dedication.

Anyway, this is going to be a fantastic year. We started out 2008 being a difficlut year for my family for the diagnosis and sudden death of my step-mother and this year I pray will be different. So here's to you and your family for the begining of a fantastic new year. CHEERS!

A Few New Toys

2008-12-30T16:35:00.000-08:00

Will absolutely loves his new toys from Christmas. It has been so nice to have weather that has allowed the kids to play outside.

And there is nothing like Will's favorite toy... that would be Lauren's new doll house. Isn't that cute!

Pray

2008-12-29T16:18:00.000-08:00

I know most of you follow MckMama's blog, but Stellan has become very sick. Plese pray for him and his doctors. He is in ICU and from what I read is being sedated and hooked up to a ventilator.

What Today has in Store

2008-12-29T14:38:00.001-08:00

Laundry...
Dishes...

and, Wii!

I'm not sure if you have noticed, but I got a new, fantastically, fabulous camera for Christmas and I LOVE it. So I have taken a ton of pics.

A Week in Pictures

2008-12-29T13:06:00.000-08:00

2008-12-23T19:12:00.000-08:00

If you'll recall this post you would remember me telling you about Jacob's accident on his dirt bike. He went back for his six-week follow up last week and they did more x-rays. From the dr's initial perspective it looked as though the two vertebrae were stable but he wants him to wear his back brace for 6 more weeks. Jacob was very devastated to hear he needed to continue wearing it, but like I've tried to say all along, we need to be thankful the injury wasn't more serious. So that brings us to today when I was shopping at Wal-Mart and I got a phone call from the clinic. It was his neurologist who said they just got the official radiology report in and it did indicate that there was a loss of volume in those 2 vertebrae.This translates to them not being stable. He said to have Jacob wear his brace faithfully and even more than he had before. I would consider this a definite setback in his healing. We go back to his dr at the end of January for more x-rays. I need to petition any/everyone to please pray that God heals him fully. From what I have heard it doesn't look like there could be any serious reprocutions with these fractures later on, they did say that it would take years to regain the height in those vertebrae, but we definitely need them to be stable. So again, please pray for complete healing of these two fractures and for Jacob's patience and understanding in the recovery process. As you can remember when you were nine, a week seems like a month, so wearing this for another 6 weeks seems like an eternity to him. Thanks you for taking this matter into your heart and praying for my son.

Weekend Getaway

2008-12-23T06:21:00.000-08:00

Preston and I left town Saturday morning to go to Dallas. We had to go up there to pick up some furniture that Lauren is getting for Christmas. We took this opportunity to go somewhere...together....alone, which never happens. We had a great time. Sometimes it is nice to just be. We had no timelines, nowhere to be. We could just do whatever we wanted. While we were waiting to make sure we could pick up her furniture from the warehouse, we looked around at other furniture and fell in love with a living room set. We sat on it for a while and then did it. We bought it! I love it. It is fantastic. So that will be my Christmas for some years to come I'm sure. Then we went to lunch before picking it up. Once we squeezed it all in the trailer (we were only expecting to pickup bedroom furniture so we took the small trailer) we had the rest of the time to do what we wanted. We stayed in Grapevine most of the time and did some shopping but it was BUSY!! I had gone on Hotwire.com for the first time to book our room. If you know me well, you know I am a complete germ-aphobe when it comes to hotels. I have been known to make reservations and pull up only to keep on driving because I wouldn't feel safe putting my luggage on the floor. Anyways, I was a little nervous about what I had just done and it is totally non-refundable, but we pulled up and it was great. I was shocked. I paid $44 for this hotel and it was fantastic. The lord was watching over me for sure. So we slept in and went to breakfast and came home slowly. When we travel with kids, we try to get home fast to minimize the car time for them, so it was nice to take our time. Then we put the living room all together and I haven't left it since. With roaring fires and cold days, we have hung out and just played. But today I need to venture out to do some shopping for Preston. I have no idea what to do for him. He is hard. Wish me luck. ;)

2008-12-14T19:54:00.000-08:00

I'm typing this post with my poor, sick baby in my arms. Why is it that they get sick over the weekend when you can't take them to the dr? I hate being in a dilemma about what to do when one of my children are sick. Am I the only one? Do I take them to school and see if they can make it, or take off during a really bad time at work? I know what my heart tells me to do, it just isn't always possible. Anyway I have a few more hours to pray for complete healing by morning.

On another note, this month has already been SUPER busy. Whether it's Christmas programs, work parties, meetings, I feel like there has been no time to really prepare for the birth of our Lord and Savior. I've tried to stay diligent in prayer in preparing my heart, but it's not just my heart that needs to be prepared. I have to make sure that our children really understand the meaning of this time of year. Too often they ask "how many more days until Santa comes?", instead of "how many more days until we celebrate the birth of Jesus?". It is so difficult to live in a society that doesn't necessarily reflect what I believe in. To some degree I blame them for commercializing such an important event in the lives of Christians. I'm just as guilty though. I can easily get sucked into this whirlpool as well. Such a struggle. I can say that I have an incredible ache to know Jesus better. I have been listening to my Christmas CD, the new Faith Hill one, and it talks to my soul. If you get a chance to listen to it you should.

On yet another note...I have been reading the book The Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. MckMama talked about it on her blog, and it is really good. With some of our best friends going through a very shocking divorce, I am compelled to do whatever it takes to make my own marriage not only survive, but also incredibly successful.

If I can possibly ask for more prayers, could you please pray for Will, that he is just simply suffering from a cold and nothing more serious, and that no one else gets it. I really need to make it through this week at work. Things are a little stressful right now.

For Pete's Sake!

2008-12-03T17:58:00.000-08:00

So last night when I got home I was going throught the mail (it took a minute since it was over 2 weeks since I last checked it!) and while I was sorting through it Lauren and Will were looking at the tree. That's when Will took and ornament and threw it and it naturally broke. So then Lauren was helping Will sweep it up when she rested the broom on the wall, which somehow slid down and knocked my clock off the wall, which then flew into my precious nativity set. You can imagine the heap on my concrete floors and nothing could be salvaged. :( My nativity set now consists of baby Jesus, Joseph and some livestock! So I got over that eventually... and this morning I set off to go to school, 15 minutes late!, and got half way down the road and realized my car wasn't driving right and sounded a little deep. I turned around and came back home, only to realize my tire was so flat I was driving on the rim. Preston took it to Discount Tire and they said on that tire the valve stem was leaking which caused the flat, but my other tires only had 5 lbs and 10 lbs of pressure! Craziness! And tonight I think the baby might be getting sick. He was up all night coughing-to the point of throwing up. It's only gotten worse today. Bummer.

On another note, my first born is turning 9 tomorrow! Unbelievable. More on him tomorrow.

Commercials

2008-12-01T18:34:00.000-08:00

As I posted my last post I heard a commercial that said "Shake your money maker, shake it, shake it hard" This is on ABC family where my kids are watching a Christmas movie. Am I the only one who has a problem with these types of commercials? I hate the television!
*now I was typing this and it said "the sexiest night on television...."! I am done typing I need to monitor what my kids are watching.

2008-12-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

I can't believe today is December 1st. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had family in and made the rounds to other family and really enjoyed our time together. Preston tried to stay home as much as he could the entire time I was off. I got so spoiled. It was really hard to go back to work today and not be together. Anyway, Friday morning my sister and I went shopping like we always do and had a ball. I love doing that. This is the first year, though, when we were actually one of "those" parents who had to get the hot item. I didn't think we would ever be that. My children only get three wrapped presents besides the one Santa gift, so we try to make them all special and something they really want. I also made Lauren some super cute skirts on Friday. I can't wait to take her picture in them. I think I will make those for our Christmas cards. I am a little behind though if I haven't even taken the picture for the card, much less ordered them. Oh well, if you get your card after Christmas just know I love you and am a little time-challenged. ;) The kids made a gingerbread house with their aunt one afternoon and I meant to take pictures of it. I still haven't and I think Will has eaten about every piece of candy off the roof top by now. That stinker! He is so mischieveous, but oh so sweet. If I can ever get these cookies made that Lauren and I have been trying to make for the past two days I will be sure to post pictures of them, they are a labor of love most certainly, or an obsession by now. I am determined to make them work! Jacob's birhtday is on Thursday. I cannot believe it. He will be NINE years old. Is that even possible? Wow I was young ;) This post is all over the place isn't it. I hadn't thought it through really and when blogger actually let me on, I jumped at the opportunity to write something! ha! If you have read my other posts then you know what I am talking about. I am so technologically-challenged. (is that a word?)

Diligence Pays Off (sp?)

2008-11-24T17:58:00.000-08:00

Notice the guilty look he has in this picture...

and the not-so-guilty look he has in this picture!

So.....this is what happened while I was blogging my last post. Guess I won't be getting those after he goes to sleep. Luckily they were just a stocking stuffer!

(Please excuse the dirty, pumpkin cheesecake covered face he has, he hasn't made it to the bath yet either.)

Lost Count

2008-11-24T17:05:00.000-08:00

I lost count of how many days behind in "Thankful" posts I am, my computer is driving me crazy and will never let me on to post. Anyway, I am so happy to be off this week. I almost finished my shopping this morning, and this afternoon I put up the tree. The kids all helped me put on the ornaments and everytime I would hand them a different one to hang, they would say "Oh, I remember this one." Then Jacob told me that putting up the Christmas tree "brings back a lot of memories". It was really precious. Will is currently picking off all of the ornaments, well at least the breakable ones. This is going to be the fun year for Will. He loves the lights.

He found one of his presents and has walked around with it in the box for most of the day. I don't feel like fighting him on it so I'll take it away when he is sleeping and hope he forgets by morning! I have a few things more to do before Thursday, but other than that I am ready. I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! (just in case I can't get back on before then to blog)

We bought Will this dinosaur for one of his presents. It looks so cute, I can't wait until he opens it!

** I think he just opened his present from its box :( Guess I should have fought harder.

Health

2008-11-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

Health. I am thankful for our health. Will had his 6-month post-op appointment this afternoon with his ENT. It went fantastic. His ears are completely clear, his ear drums are normal, and there is absolutely no scarring. CAN you believe that. My baby who suffered severe infections for over 12 months of his life has absolutely no scarring. Amazing. We have "graduated" as the doctor put it from his care. Praise God!
I was very sad to hear this last week about a family we know that has been battling cancer for a few years now. They just received word that it has spread and really are left with few option in his care. Their kids go to the same daycare as Will and this morning as I was dropping Will off at the breakfast table I overheard the teacher asking their little boy how his daddy was doing. As most kids would, he very casually said"good" and got up from the table to put his cup away. But before he turned around he said "I'm going to try to be strong though". I almost didn't make it out of the daycare before I started crying. I sobbed the entire way to work. I had to call Preston to tell him and really thank God for our health. The person I am talking about is not much older than us, so no one is in the clear. My heart his very sad for this family. My wounds are still very raw from Vickie. It's hard for me to even imagine having to go through that with my spouse. Please pray for this family. The need all the prayers they can get.

Missed a Day

2008-11-11T15:01:00.000-08:00

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday, I knew that would happen. But I still spent time being thankful for something. I know I have blogged a lot in the past about my work and not wanting to do it. That is only because I desire strongly to stay at home with my children, to be with Will more, as well as be more of a fixture in my older kid's school. But I am very thankful for my job. It allows me to be home when the bus drops off the big kids. I have most holidays off and get weeks off for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Better yet, I get the entire summer to stay at home with my children. If I HAD to have a job, I would want mine. I realize there are people all over the world who are desperate to have a job, let alone one that allowed as much time for family as teaching does. So for that I am thankful.

I am also very thankful for my co-workers. This week is especially stressful due to district benchmarks. Because we are now departmentalized and I teach reading, which in third grade is THE most important subject, I really feel the pressure. But, everyday I go to work and am surrounded by caring supportive people who would bend over backwards to help me. I love where I work and who I work with. I wouldn't change it for anything!

And on Veteran's Day, I feel it only appropriate I post on how thankful I am to live in this wonderful country. I am eternally thankful to each and every soldier who has risked their lives so we can enjoy these freedoms. I complain because I don't get to spend all day with my children, but our soldiers miss out on months and in some cases even a year of their families lives. They miss births, birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgivings, Christmas's, and so much more. So on this Veteran's Day, I am thankful to each and every person who has ever represented out country in such a way!

Small Group

2008-11-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

As I am finally putting my kids to bed and cleaning up from dinner, I am thinking about how thankful I am for our small group. It is a couples bible study that we started a few weeks back. It is based on the Fireproof movie. We were asked to join in with some couples that we "knew" but didn't really "know". The first few times were a little akward. Knowing how shy Preston and I both are and being in a group where you really open up about marriage, and our marriage nontheless, to say that we were intimidated at first would be an understatement. This week was our turn to lead it. The pressure was on. Not only did I need to prepare dinner for these five other families, but we had to lead the discussion. You would think being a teacher would ease those anxieties, but I'm here to tell you teaching in front of eight year olds is a walk in the park versus teaching in front of your peers. Well, it went off without a hitch. I am so grateful that we have had this opportunity to grow in our marriage and really turn the focus to a Christ-centered relationship. I know we have always desired it, but really living it resulted in half-hearted trying and ending in frustration. The most important thing I'm learning is to stay in the Word. The minute you drift away from the Word, you get sucked into society and that is NOT where we want to be. We have come to realize that society is not marriage-friendly. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the "me" frame of mind. My husband has become the most amazing person and is learning and growing every day, I fall in love with him more and more every minute. He wanted a tangible way to show me how much he appreciated me and bought be a Pandora's bracelet. He made it with the kids initials and another bead that represents strength, faith, and love. It was such a wonderful surprise!

My House

2008-11-08T08:41:00.001-08:00

The past few nights we have been sleeping with our bedroom window open. I love waking up in my warm bed, next to my warm husband (and usually warm toddler) when the air is crisp and cool. But last night I woke up several times, I was sooo cold I couldn't even get up to add another blanket or shut the window. When the daylight came streaming through I still couldn't get up. It made me really think about all of those without a home. Even those that have homes, but the windows are broken, or no electricity to heat the house. As a teacher of a lot of low socio-economic status children, this was a hard lesson to learn. I come in contact regularly with these very people. So often I go through my day busy as ever and never even once think of those less fortunate than I. Although my husband and I are far from wealthy in a monetary sense, we are wealthy compared to most. We have a roof over our head, running water that gets hot, electricity, and food in our refrigerator. We even have enough blankets to put 3 or 4 on every bed. We ARE blessed. If I think back to the time when Preston and I first got married, I'm not sure I would have ever pictured us being where we are today. The Lord has blessed us immensely and we are truly grateful. And so for today, I am thankful for my house.

Silly Boy

2008-11-07T16:03:00.000-08:00

This is how will spent most of the morning playing. It was so funny. He said everything was "lello". I'm thinking it was more like orange, but close enough ;) Just thought I would share the funny moments in our house. Sporting his new shades!

Here is Will going "giddy up" on my legs.

On another note, Jacob's appointment went well. They did confirm the two fractured vertebrae. Because of his age surgery is not an option (thank the Lord). What we are doing is we had to go to the Rehab center for him to get fitted for a brace. It will go from directly under his armpits to his hip bones. He will have to wear it for 6 weeks and we will go back for more x-rays. If they are not healing properly, then he could have to wear it up to 3 months. Yuck! But I'm thankful that it will heal on its own.

My Children

2008-11-07T05:26:00.001-08:00

So I have started off my "thankful" list with the two components in my family that I live for. Yesterday was my husband. Today I am thankful for my children. As a little girl I can remember that is all I ever wanted to do and play with, babies. I am pretty sure I played with baby dolls even up to an age that was probably a little embarassing for little girls to play with dolls. I didn't care. I loved them. I loved the thought of one day being a mommy. And now I am. God has entrusted me with these three precious lives. What a gift. I know I am far from being a perfect mommy. I am easily frustrated by probably the simplest of things, and I know that is a work in progress for me. But for today (and everyday) I am thankful for my children. Jacob was our first-born. He was a "surprise" to say the least. But wanted more than anything!If you read this post you would have a little history as to why he is a miracle. Lauren, on the other hand was very much planned. We had so many struggles with Jacob as a baby/toddler it was a wonder we ever wanted more children. She was the complete opposite. She was very content, never fussed and actually wanted HER bed to fall asleep in! She was (is) amazing. Everyone that comes in contact with her falls in love. And finally, there is Will. He is a complete combination of our first two children. He is WILD, but in a good way. He wants to be just as big as his brother and sister. He is very loving though, much like his sister. He will immediately apologize, without a prompt, no matter the offense against someone. His conversation skills have increased so much, it is so much fun just to sit and "talk" with him. He is a man who knows what he wants and will do whatever it takes to get it.....usually win you over with charm. My list could go on and on but this is just a small snippet as to why I am so thankful for my children.

Jacob

Lauren

Will

It Did it Again!

2008-11-06T16:48:00.000-08:00

Any suggestions?...possibly a new computer ;) (jk)

Oh how I love them!

FRUSTRATED!

2008-11-06T15:12:00.000-08:00

Goodness! I have tried countless times to get on and post and always my computer says something about cookies and being disabled. Sometimes is works and sometimes it doens't. I have been more than frustrated with the whole thing. It has given me time to really read a lot of other blogs that I have really enjoyed.

The election had put me in a bit of a bad mood, but I have moved on from that. I believe God has a plan, and I also believe God can change people. I know it is my duty to pray for the leader of our country no matter who it is. So that's what I'll do, PRAY!

I cannot believe we are already in November. I can't wait to put up my Christmas tree, right after we enjoy a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner. I am thankful for sooo much. During my time off of being able to read, I found several people who are blogging everyday for something they are thankful for. Great idea. I might try that, but I'm not sure I will be able to get on my computer every day. I'll try though. For today (I do realize though that I am already off by what 6 days?) I am thankful for my husband. He is the head of our family and I rely on him for so much. No matter what has broken, he can fix it. No matter what the problem, he will listen. He is my kid's hero and I love that. He is everything I could have imagined my husband to be when I was a little girl. I am so thankful that God chose ME to be his wife.

On another note that I contemplated not even telling anyone about...I haven't worked but two days this week. This would be because my son (the oldest) had a bit of an accident on Sunday. Every Sunday after church and before our Bible study Preston takes Jacob riding. Dirt bikes. He has been riding for quite a while now and absolutely loves it. I have been so very hesitant in this department and feel like I have gradually become more understanding about this love of their's, until now. Apparantly on his last go round (nothing good comes out of "just one more time") he jumped this hill and when he landed his shocks didn't absorb the landing, but his back did. We went to bible study and had him just lay on ice on the couch and gave him some Tylenol hoping he would start to feel better. So we got home and put him in bed and come Monday morning, there was no getting him OUT of bed. He was H-U-R-T. So we took him in and had some x-rays done and what do ya know? It appears he has 2 compression fractures on his vertebrae (yes, his spine!). He went to school for about half a day Wednesday and Thursday and tomorrow we have an appointment with the neurologist. I'm not really sure what will come out of this appointment. I think they are plannning on doing a CAT scan to make sure nothing was missed on the x rays and other than that he just can't have contact for 6 weeks. They are thinking since he is young and his bones are still growing that they won't want to do surgery. That would be a big deal. So he is done with football. This too is very sad for him. His team is the number 1 team and are going to the play-offs. Oh well. I am thankful that, for the most part, he is okay. He will heal. Praise God!

Well, that sure was a long post and that didn't cover much of anything from the last few weeks. I'll spare you. Hopefully I can get back on the computer tomorrow to telll you what else I am thankful for. The list is so long, I might have to carry over to December ;)
Pray for a good report from the doc tomorrow.

P.S. Check out Bring the Rain's blog from today. Great idea!

Broken-Hearted

2008-10-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

I almost had a melt-down on my way to work today. It seems like every time a turn around I hear of some tragic event that has happened. And I am not talking about CNN and the national news (that's a tragedy in it of itself), but local news and not just to somebody in the community, but to people I know! I was so sad when I finally digested it all and was on the phone with my mom on my way to work and I couldn't help but cry. Cry out for these people who are suffering. One of my friends wrote a very good piece on one of these tragedies. You should read it. It is very true, and really helps get a handle on what is happening all around us. Please pray for our best friends whose marriage is all but over, for my friend who was attacked and assaulted in her home and for the families involved in a horrific car accident.

They're In!!

2008-10-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

2008-10-13T19:08:00.000-07:00

So my mom couldn't wait either and called Jenny at Sprinkle of Grace photography to find out about our pictures. She said they wouldn't be done until Thursday, but emailed a few for a sneak peek. I think she was a little disappointed there wasn't an abundance of great pics. I think she said she took close to 700 (?) pics that day, but come on shooting 5 kids aged 9,8,7,6,and 2 is not easy. They are next to impossible to get them all to cooperated at the right moment. I like the candid look better anyway. I'll post more after Thursday. Enjoy!

2008-10-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

So much has been going on, it's hard to put it all down on paper.

Preston and I started doing the devotional Love Dare from the movie Fireproof. I love it! It makes you be thoughtful in your actions towards your spouse. He has really gotten into the role too and it has been awesome. It is so easy for me to become consumed with my roles in everyday life as a mother, teacher, etc. that I often neglect the most important person in my life. It's easy to drift away from that Christ-centered marriage and just get into a routine. All the while I'm thinking everything is okay, but it can be so much better. I'm probably not making much sense right now. It flows better in my head. Anyway, I would encourage anyone to do the Love Dare and see what heights it can take your marriage.

Lauren had a friend spend the night on Friday and she was so precious. I love seeing Lauren with her friends. She is such a good person and has a wonderful heart. Jacob won his soccer and football games this weekend and had a great time. It keeps us so busy bit Jacob loves playing sports. Lauren and Jacob both want to start gymnastics. Maybe after Christmas. I can't take much more right now.

After church today, we took the kids to a little pumpkin patch, well it's not really a patch since they've all been picked, but I have always wanted to do their pics with the hay and pumpkins. We got there and took their pictures and let them each get this little pumpkin (I actually think they are gourds, but whatever) and as we were paying, the guy behind the register was making a sign that said "Pictures only with a $20 or more purchase!" I would say we went just in time since all we spent was $4.37.

Here are the pics from this morning.

I've cleaned house all afternoon and now we are watching football. The weekends go by way to fast. And we still haven't gotten the pictures back from last weekend. I cannot wait. The suspense is killing me. I'll post them when we

get them.

Saturday

2008-10-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a very busy day for my family. We started out with Jake's football game in the morning and a soccer game by lunch. We then took the kids to Academy to buy Will a big boy bike. He has finally mastered the art of pedaling and needed a bigger bike. He was so excited. He has brought it in the house as I am typing so he can continue to ride it. We then had the kids pictures taken late in the afternoon. I am so excited about them. I am horrible about getting their pictures taken together since there are three of them to make cooperate. These pics we around town and not formal so candid shots are what we were wanting. A whole lot less stress. After their pictures we went to the ASU football game and the kids had a blast. We went with Mommy Kate and Poppy so the kids had a great time. Here are just a few pics from yesterday. As soon as I get all of their pictures back from the photographer I will post them. I can't wait.
PS. Jake is quite the football player. He LOVES to tackle.

Pictures

2008-09-28T15:44:00.001-07:00

I haven't blogged in a while. I haven't been in the mood. Preston and I have some friends who are going through a VERY difficult time right now and I think it is seriously draining me. I would like to put out a request to please pray for this couple, that God would change their hearts. Thank you.

Here are a few pics from this weekend. Jacob started tackle football this year and he absolutely loves it. Saturday was his first game and they won. He is on defense right now. I think all he cares about is hitting someone, I don't think he even knows where the ball is most of the time.

Is it Friday Already? (just kidding)

2008-09-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

I know I keep saying it, but things are getting crazier by the day. My how I miss summer. As most probably know soccer and football have already started and this first weekend we were already to have a doubleheader in soccer. How exhausting. All the games have been canceled due to the weather we have had all week and the possible weather to come. So we have one last weekend to enjoy before it all starts. I can't believe that next week will be the 4th week of school. Crazy, huh?
Well, for all of you who have been praying for Preston's new job. It is absolutely amazing. He has been working non-stop and has no less than 3 calls a day. I cannot believe it. He never would have thought he could be so far behind at the very beginning. We are blessed. God promises to provide for us and he has. I know it is still VERY early on, but at least things are looking good. Thanks for praying for us.

I hope to have some pictures to post soon. Have a wonderful weekend.

A New Day Has Come (I think that's a song)

2008-09-02T18:35:00.000-07:00

Well, today was the day. Preston is officially unemployed...wait a second he's not unemployed, just self-employed. There is a difference, right? I'm just kidding. But really today was his last day at his old job. We are very excited about this. Please keep this new endeavor in your prayers. This is his life-long dream. I can remember him talking about running his own company since the day we got married. I am so proud of him. He is such a wonderful person, I know he will do tremendous things. He might be an electrician but his actions speak volumes for the type of man he is. He will blow the competition out of the water. Preston is so very excited, but he is definitley being taught a lesson from God. Learning to walk by faith and not by sight! That is challenging. If anybody's in the market to get some work done, you know who to call ;) lol

Jacob has become the champion of Licoln Log builders. Anyone needing a lesson on how to build and entire logging community, feel free to stop by for a session. Jacob was very proud and insisted on taking pics of his final product.

And this is what the town looks like when your baby brother kiks it! Wasn't a fun sibling moment.

The kids were so excited to have daddy home in the evening for the first time in a LONG time. We has so much fun playing soccer and football.