Who's Idea Was This?

Oh my goodness gracious! I'm sure there'll be a day I look back on this season and laugh, but it's not today.

4 kids with chicken pox. Hum, it sounded like a good idea to get it over with at once. The problem is that they have them all at once. Lots of itching. Lots of crying. Mayfee Boy is a mess of bumps. I can not make him feel better. So I lied in his bed with him tonight praying for him and telling him not to scratch. My poor baby.

Buying a house in Colorado? It did sound like a good idea. I'm wondering if we're the fools in Scripture that didn't count the cost before he started to build. I'm sure it's some sort of blind spot, but of course I can't see it. Who knows. There's gotta be a lesson in it somewhere.

So here's what I've been pondering today.....this world stinks. There is no way to get around it. Sickness, poverty, addiction, pain, loneliness, mice. How could anyone bear it who thinks there is nothing else? Praise God that He is our Living Hope that will never perish! Praise God that there is an eternal home for us with no sickness, no pain, no heartache of any kind, and no mice!!

Hey Look!

#1 put that video on *my* blog! Ain't she smart? Scroll down a bit and it's on the left. Really, you gotta watch the whole thing.

3 more down with chicken pox! It'll be good to get this done at once. So I named them my "little chickens", the family room is the "coupe" (is that how you spell that?), and Lane is Momma Hen since she is also recovering now. Lots of spotting with the pink stuff, oatmeal baths, and grape juice (my mil's Korean remedy). They are isolated to the family room and away from Baby Z. The only ones allowed to touch him are the ones that have already had it. He is isolated to the "nursery"...my room.

Lane had chicken duty, the rest of us worked. It's all still a mess but it's getting done. It feels good to put in such a hard day of work.

Tomorrow we're giving a party for the chickens.

UNbelievable!!

In the past 24 hours my son has killed 13 mice in the garage!! THIRTEEN! Where in the world are these things coming from? He set traps and they were going off as fast as he could set them. With so many in there you would think I would've seen one, but no. Thank you Lord. It is proof that the Lord will not give you more than you can handle.

House hunting woes

Honey made an offer on 2 foreclosures. The banks rejected them both. There is nothing else right now.

He's looked at rentals...apts, duplexes, condos, houses, whatever. Lots of money. The ones that allow dogs have a restriction list that includes chows. Joey looks NOTHING in the world like a chow but has the purple tongue so that includes him. Somewhere down the line in some ancient ancestor dog there was a chow.

No idea what to do or where we'll go. It is hard to not be discouraged.

One thing is for sure. God knows the perfect place for us and will show us at the right time. In my flesh, I want to know where it is NOW. But He is telling us to wait. So wait we must. I know it'll be good.

You Gotta See This

Watch the video at the bottom of my daughter's blog. WOW!

www.mt-thoughts.blogspot.com

Watch the whole thing.

Winn Dixie

Winn Dixie is the name we've given the stray dog in our neighborhood. She's been here a long time...probably around 3 months. The dog catcher is out every week trying to get her but she always gets away. She's very scared and won't come anywhere near you and will even run if you speak to her from a distance.

She's a nursing mom and has lost her puppies somewhere. Our neighborhood feels sorry for her. She's thin, she's hot, she's hungry and thirsty, she has no place to go. Recently I found her in my garage with her head in Joey's dog food bag. Now we open the garage for her every morning and set water next to the bag. She helps herself while the kids watch her from the window.

We were concerned that after we move, she may have no other place to eat. But, I saw the dog catcher out again last week and stopped to talk to him. He told me that lots of neighbors are feeding her now. That's good. He also told me that they have lots of volunteers that want to socialize dogs like her so that she can finally be adopted.

I hope she gets a home soon.

I was cleaning out the freezer in the garage yesterday. My daughter came out to ask me a question when she suddenly stops in her tracks and yelps "I saw a mouse! And he ran right toward YOU!"

ME???!!! I decided the freezer was clean enough.

My son comes out to find him. He reports to me that he thinks he can shoot them. (Catch the plural?) He goes out with his BB gun and returns later with his first kill. He got him! Much rejoicing from Momma!! My son was happy...then sad. He was sad that he killed him.

I remember running over a squirrel once and how horrible I felt. I'm glad he didn't rejoice in the sport of killing or even take satisfaction in it. He called his dad right away. He also, had a similar experience to relate to him.

So we told him we were proud of him on two accounts. 1) For doing the job that needed to be done, and 2) not taking glory in taking the life of something else.

I'm so glad to move to CO and leave the mice here. And everyone knows that there are NO mice in Colorado....right?

Here We Go Again!

Round 2 of CHICKEN POX!!

My granddaddy is very sick with liver cancer and is in a lot of pain. Please pray for him. I'm sad.

You should see this mess around here. Seriously...a big MESS! Things are getting done. Packing and packing. I'm getting some more boxes tomorrow. Also, some help. Friends are coming over! FUN!!

There is a house in CO with great promise. It's a foreclosure. Honey has 4 more to look at after work tomorrow.

Joey has ear mites. I bought him a new bone. He doesn't like it, but my 3yo is crazy about it.

Chicken pox are gone!

We're taking advantage of the pool while we can. Lots of swimming going on here.

Zekey can swing on the high speed without getting scared. Oh yes, he is so brave.

Just when I thought most everything was done, I've discovered there's still much to do. Not terrible, just enough to keep it fun.

Got more boxes today.

Bought Jes a snowcone. He's COW.

Pizza night tonight.

Jes is sleeping with me.

Big work day tomorrow with 2 soccer games, Fan the Flame, and breakfast at church.

Honey looks at a lot of houses with the realtor tomorrow.

Happy Day!!

We sold the house!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Storytime is so crowded these days! It has obviously gotten more popular with the new librarian.

She read books about body parts today. The first book was about hands. She asked them about different things you do with your hands and was trying to get them to say "wave bye-bye". She asked, "What do we teach our babies to do?" Jes answered "LAUNDRY!"

No deal on the house selling. They wouldn't come back with an acceptable offer. Too bad. I think we did the right thing and now we're thinking of what to do next. In any case, I'm glad it's over. The waiting was hard!

It's good to have all my chicks back in the nest. You should hear all the noise they make "catching up" with each other! They definitely missed one another. They worked together cleaning the kitchen last night. Although they would claim to not enjoy kitchen work, I don't believe it. Every time they all work together there is so much giggling and noise you'd think they hadn't seen each other for months even though they just worked on the kitchen at lunch!

Chicken pox have been a cinch so far. The 2 that have them are just about done. No more itching and the spots are dry. They both had pretty light cases.

My mil left this morning. What a sweetheart she is to us. She is just genuinely happy to be of help. She is also anxiously waiting to hear about the house (nothing yet) and is planning on coming back next Thursday or so to help us pack/move. I hope it happens! The offer is set to expire at noon today. Since today is Sunday I was really hoping to hear from them yesterday. Oh well, today is the day...I hope. Our realtor in CO sent us a house that I LOVE (by the pix anyway). I showed it to my mil and she said that was the one b/c it has an rv parking place for her motor home!

Off to church....

Read The Fine Print

I bought crackers at Sams yesterday. I knew the box looked different, but crackers are crackers right? We were having hummus for tea yesterday and I sent LB to open the cracker box. She came back laughing with cracker box in hand. Uh oh.

Instead of the long sleeves of crackers that I was expecting, there were all these tiny 2-count packages of crackers like you get at restaurants. I looked at the box again and there in the corner , in small print, it explained the contents. Oh brother! Since most of my kids can't open their own stuff, it's going to take forever to go through these.

The boys were delighted to have their own little cracker packs. 4yo was determined to open his by himself. He has these thick tough meaty little hands and was wrestling with this little package. Nobody could help him. I told him to be careful and try not to break the crackers. "I'm not....I can do it", he says with his determined game face.

He couldn't do it. By the time he gave up, the crackers were like dust. I guess he'll have a lot of opportunity to practice though. There are 300 of them!

We Got An Offer!

Too low. We're negotiating today. Please pray for wisdom. Honey is anxious to settle for anything just to have this over with. We gotta meet in the middle somewhere.

Please pray that #1 can go to Fan The Flame. It's very important to her and I'd really like for her to be able to go. With chicken pox and moving, I just don't know. Part of their offer includes a closing date of Aug 31! Fan the Flame is Aug 25.

Working at CCU has been great. They are so generous with time. And so understanding of our situation. Today his boss said (out of the blue) that there was no reason that he couldn't work from home for a couple of weeks. WHAT? HOME!!! Oh yes! We might even be able to do a 2 week home/2week in CO until the house sells.

God is good.

It always seems like when we are at the edge of what we think we can handle, He comes right along with help. 2 weeks at home is such a help.

I'm so excited!!!

Chicken Pox

We got 'em. CT has them in CO, J-Man has them here.
The good news is that CT and Lane are coming HOME!! When she heard he was sick, my good mother-in-law decided to go get him and bring him home. It'll be good to see them and to be able to take care of my sick one.

If you want to expose your kids before school starts just let me know. I've learned that there is actually a name for that. It's called a "pox party".

The Bible Has It All

I'm reading the Bible aloud to everyone this afternoon. Wherever there is room on the bottom of a page, I sometimes write down important events. I'm reading in Psalms this morning and it happens to be on a page where I have written about J-Man. After I finish reading the Scripture then I read to the kids what I've written down. It says :

"May 14, 2006--#5 learns to ride a 2wheeler! What a big boy. I love you JMT. "

#5 jumps up and says "WHAT!! THAT'S in the Bible too!!"

Today.....

I went walking with Froggy b/c he was up too.

I watered the yard.

We had left over oatmeal for breakfast.

We talked to Honey on the web cam. Oh......I miss you ........

J-Man started his new math book. He liked it but said "Wow, my school is getting harder." It makes him feel like a big boy.

CT was sick this morning and went back to bed.

4yo missed school b/c he did not get his chores done in time. Lots of tears over that.
He also missed out on the privilege of setting the table for lunch b/c he was too busy trying to see how many pieces of ice he could stick to his lip at the same time.

We had left over spaghetti for lunch.

We watched part of a movie for history.

We started a new memory verse.

I did 5 loads of laundry.

During naptime I had to run errands. COW went with me. I had to register MTT's car and renew my drivers' license. I was number 66 and they were on number 42. We left, got a snow cone, went to KMart and came back. They were on number 69. Oh man! They let me go next anyway.

We tried to find notebooks at KMart for the little boys but all they had were boring colors. I will never figure out how that store stays open.

I turned in my intent form and got it notorized.

I learned what a lease option/lease purchase meant.

We had yucky stuff for dinner.

LB never finished her math.

I gave Bird a bath and spanked her bottom once.

The girls talked to Lane and CT for a long time on the phone. LB cried. We miss them.

I sent everyone to bed early b/c I'm tired.

That's it. I gotta make some muffins for tomorrow. Then it's juice in bed with Andy Griffith.

scheduling

We've outgrown our current schedule and I'm working on a new one. That new website I like is helping. I don't have all my ideas solidified yet, but here's what I'm working on....

Today is gardening day. So today we'll mow, water, blow, sweep the garage, & plant some herbs.

Tonight is feast night. We gotta come up with a better name than that. Pizza and spinach salad for dinner. I have a winner for last week's keep-your-bed/bed area-clean goal. I haven't announced it yet though. This week's goal is "mouth manners"...please, thank you, yes ma'am, etc.

New Chores:
4yo sets the table
3yo empties the trashes...except kitchen
everyone is responsible for spraying their own bathroom everyday
COW is assistant chef
buddies check each other's chores

I'm waiting for my new school books to come in. Then I'll work on school scheduling. I love school supplies even though I hardly ever have to buy them anymore. I'm gonna buy the little boys their own notebooks. They'll love it.

A New Happening

Someone is coming to look at the house today to consider renting! While this would not be our first option, it would be a way to get us to CO for awhile. It's a friend of a friend. I don't know them but they've homeschooled for several years, are former missionaries, and have 5 kids.

I'm so excited I've been up since 3am looking online at rentals in CO. I so hope this works out. This needs to come to an end.

Froggy rolled over! He's so athletic.

Crazy Car Wash

We showed the house tonight (YAY!) and had to be gone for awhile. I decided to take the little ones through the car wash again since I needed gas anyway. Oh my. I thought both car wash stalls were the same. They're not. One has brushes, one has the high powered spray. I went in the empty one which was the spray.

It started off good then got LOUD! Really really super duper loud! Froggy is screaming his head off. Bird isn't too happy either. The little boys are tag teaming Froggy to try to keep him quiet. They are plugging his ears and popping in his sucky. I had NO big kids! This had to be the longest and loudest car wash ever. I was sure it would never end and wondered if I had done something wrong and was stuck. I felt like those people on America's Funniest Home Videos that are screaming on the roller coaster ride and wanting off. The car is clean already!! Let us out!

Whatever you do DON'T pick the car wash stall on the left!

I hit a couple of garage sales this weekend. At the first one I bought 3 pairs of shoes and a hat all for $6.50. I gave the lady six dollars and started to count out the change. She said, "$6.oo is good."

Next I came across an estate sale. I had a couple of things all totaling $4.oo. I started paying the man and when I came to the last item, a crystal candy dish marked $2, he gave me a dollar back and told me that $1.00 was enough for that.

I came away excited about my good deals. As the days have passed, it keeps coming to my mind. Both of those people were so generous. I was willing to pay the full price but they discounted it without my asking. Sweet.

It has brought to light my stingy nature. I would not have even thought to do that. I am also not a big tipper. I am not generous with my time or my money. I tend to give just enough. What other areas?? Hum....something to think about. These types of revelations are not comfortable but needed. I don't want to be stingy.

There is a verse in Luke that goes like this (I don't have my Bible in front of me so I don't have the reference) "A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, for with the measure you use it will be measured to you". I am asking the Lord to help me with this this week and to show me opportunities to be generous.

What is one more??

People say that a lot to me. And I always say, "One more is a lot more."

Now I can say "One less is a lot less." CT and Lane add so much to the day. They have such a spice to contribute to the family. Now that they are away, the family is missing something....like a recipe that just doesn't taste right.

One more is much more and one less is much less. Everyone is needed to make the family just right.

New Night

I have a new favorite website. www.largefamilylogistics.net
I've been exploring it and found some new ideas to try. Here's my first one:

Feast Night
Saturday night with a big dinner, table cloth, candles, cloth napkins, good manners, and....dessert! So today we're working around the house and outside. Tonight we'll have tacos for our feast night. I've invited some friends to join us and they're bringing dessert. I'm going to try spinach tortillas in my bread machine. During the feast, you give out a goal for the week for everyone to shoot for. Whoever does the best at it gets to pick dessert for the next feast night. This week's goal is to keep your bed/bed area the cleanest. I'm going to work on it myself, I need to be a good example. Everyone is looking forward to tonight and it has put a new spring in our step for the work of the day.

Check out the site. Even if you don't have an army sized family, there's lots of ideas that would work for any sized family.

Things are SO different with Lane and CT gone. I'm ready for them to come home! The family seems so small! There's only 7 kids and we only had to run the dishwasher twice today. That's just not right.

A big day for my 6yo. He announced, "Momma, I'm so happy! I brushed my teeth three times today and flushed the potty 1 time!" Hey, with boys around flushing the pot even once is a great accomplishment. We have a book about germs that they all like. It mentions flushing so now they are more interested. Even so, the girls bathroom is always dirtier than the boys. Go figure.

Poor Jes. He crashed on his bike. He screamed a fit so I knew he was ok. He had a pretty good scrape that looked a lot worse than it was. He told his sister, "my blood came out!"

Mr. Coffman had another dinner offer. I'm glad people are taking care of him. We talked awhile on the phone and he asked the kids to keep on watering for him. I miss Mrs. Coffman. She was so precious.

I can NOT get out of bed! What in the world? Baby Z gets up around 5:30am so I get him up, feed him, and put him back to bed. This is the time of the morning that I need to put on my tennis shoes and leave the house. But instead I think "the house is soooo quiet, my baby is so soft and warm beside me, and I can just lay here with him for a little while". Next thing I know, there's a boy in my room asking if he can get up and I find I've been asleep for the whole walk time. I gotta get UP!

My cute little Bullfrog can grab his toes. He's such a delightful little man! Big smiles, lots of slobbery chins, and big meaty hands like Jes. He loves taking baths with me and sleeping in Daddy's spot. He's supporting himself better and can ride on my hip easier. My baby is getting too big!! snif...

Such fun fun fun at friends' house today. Yesterday was such a loooong boring day and it was good to do something different. We picked her garden and brought home loads of veggies. Tomorrow I'll spend the day putting them away. I wish I had a pressure canner. Maybe I'll get one after the move. Of course I'll need to plant my garden first.

Before we left for CO, it wasn't too hot. We played outside a lot. Now it is a different story. The time really drags on after about 4pm. I guess b/c that's when Honey should be home. But speaking of home....he's in CO now with Lane and CT. We miss them lots.

They have a 3v3 tournament this weekend. 3v3 is CT's favorite. It is so fun to watch. This will be his first 3v3 with his CO team. Honey is his coach and it looks to be a good weekend for them.

I'm busy picking and ordering school books for the new year. It's a job I like.

Tomorrow I'm inviting Mr. Coffman over for dinner. I hope he comes, it's pizza night! I'll make a spinach pizza crust...yummo!

Trouble Leaving Home

Honey's flight was supposed to leave around 5pm last night. It kept getting delayed. He didn't actually leave until closer to 8pm. His dad works for the airline so he can fly standby if there is room. He only got to DFW and there were no open flights to Denver. He's stuck. Thankfully his parents live close by so he has a place to stay. We're still not sure how he's going to get back. Last night he was talking about renting a car and driving or maybe waiting and driving up Thursday with his mom and Lane and CT. Since he was supposed to go to work today, this delay is eating up vacation time.

I am thankful for the month we had together and praying that the Lord will get him back home safely and quickly.

So vacation is over and today is back to work. No more sleeping in. Back to school. I haven't exercised in over 3 weeks...I think it's time!