The Appointment In Which Everything Went South

So for the last week or so I've been nursing sicklings. You might remember that we had to get check ups for our home study in the middle of FLU SEASON!!

And like I told you, I decided to make the kids wait in the car until it was their turn. So I go out to get the next three kids and my shoe caught the edge of the place where they extended the parking lot and forgot to make it level with the rest.

Well.

Right in the middle of the parking lot during FLU SEASON I went crashing to the ground in a most ungraceful way right in front of my horrified children.  And since they just finished CPR training, they rushed out of the van with the first aid kit in hand.  All except one who ran to track down my shoe that had flown off.  It was all very nice of them and they didn't even laugh.  Except Meg.  She thought the whole episode was hilarious when I texted her the picture of my skinned up knees.  And that just confirms that she IS my baby even if she looks only like her daddy.

There is really nothing funnier than watching somebody fall.  A friend of mine fell this week too.  She was walking out of the gas station with 2 drinks in her hands, tripped over the curb, WIPED OUT, and the drinks went flying under the car.  I can't even tell you how disappointed I am that I missed it!

Anyway.

My kids have been sick ever since.  And since we are crazy weird about sickness spreading we had the first sick kid move out to the garage.  This was mighty good news for him since we have a whole room built onto the back of the garage with heat, air, a big comfy couch, and all manner of games and books.  He even had his own bathroom.  He pretty much spent 2 days watching movies, reading books, eating snacks, and wishing he could be sick more often.

But it didn't work.  And soon his little brothers had it too.  They are not quite old enough to be trusted with garage privileges yet, so the whole house has been subjected to lots and lots of coughing with some fever and snotty noses.  And just when they were starting to get over it, their sister caught it.

So there's been lots of orange juice, naps, oreganol and cough syrup.  And one of the worst parts is that we've missed everything fun since the Appointment In Which Everything Went South.  No church. No piano. No football. No school.

And since round 2 is just beginning, I'm thinking the garage is looking pretty comfy!

Mad Bees And Swirly Designs

~The weather warmed up this weekend and I was oh so happy to see some sunshine.  I've been waiting on a day like this to check the bees.  It's been cold so there has not been any activity from either hive and I was anxious to check their food supply.  Since it was sunny and warm I was certain I'd see activity and since I have top feeders and wouldn't have to actually open the hive, I considered not suiting up.  And I certainly wasn't going to go to the trouble of lighting the smoker.  I changed my mind and suited up and took about 3 gallons of syrup out.  But I was surprised to see no activity again.  And when I popped the lid the feeder was still full.

I had this sick feeling that I was going to open the hive and find them dead.  But as soon as I pushed the feeder to the side they let me know real quick that they were just fine!  And they were none too happy with me nosing around!  I've never been so glad to have my bee suit on!  They were attacking my veil and in a terrible mood.

The next hive does not have a feeder because they have a full honey super.  I peeked in and found them in a good mood with lots of food.  It appears both hives are doing just fine with only the brood box full of honey.

And while it was warm I also put everyone to work cleaning out old frames.  This needed to be done but I was a bit scared to just jump in fearing I'd break something.....plus not really understanding the best way to go about it.  But it was super easy and fun and we had a bunch of them knocked out in no time at all.

~ Our friends at Immanuel were needing a worship leader while their main guy was out having surgery.  So for 2 weeks now we've been loving some IBC time.   This kid is one of our faves from our youth group.

  Remember Spirograph?  I loved that thing when I was a kid and made all sorts of swirly designs with colored pens.  Well I bought Mally a cheap version at the dollar section of Target and they have barely left it alone since.  It was way harder than I remember and took us a good long time and a lot of paper to figure it out.  I think it might have something to do with the  $1.00 price tag.  

~  Yesterday we had physicals for our home study. Our doctor's office was very gracious and agreed to see seven of us in one day. But do you know how I hated stepping foot in that office during flu season!? And it didn't help that a lady in the waiting room was coughing up a lung then sneezed out a huge snot that was hanging from her nose!! My boys thought this was HILARIOUS!! The nurse asked the lady to wear a mask while I said, "Load Up!" And made my kids wait in the car until it was their turn.

By next week the other 3 of us will have had their physicals and that will be done. References are turned in, we are CPR certified, PRIDE training wraps up this weekend, and FBI fingerprints are next week.   Moving right along!

Goodbye Gram

This week we said goodbye to our sweet Gram.

Gram came into our lives about 9 years ago and I just don't know how we lived without her before that.  She was always ready to listen to a little Tagg rattle on and on about whatever.  That's one of the things my kids loved about her most.  She was interested in them and made them feel special by her attention.

Mally especially loved talking to Gram and has had a harder time with the fact that she is gone.   Tonight she just started crying spontaneously about Gram.  And I understand.  So I asked Meg if she was up for one more sister to sleepover since the other 2 were going over.  Spending the night with Meg is a big deal and sure to make her feel a little better.   Gram loved Mallory and some of her last words were about her.

Christmas was especially wonderful this year because Gram was feeling so great.  And I think all my kids mentioned to me that they felt like they got to spend a lot of time with her this year.  It was one of my favorite parts of the TX visit.  Gram had me unpack her chest and showed me lots of quilts.  Some of them she made, some she didn't, and one that was so ugly she didn't know why it was even in there.  We looked at her jewelry and she taught me the difference between real crystal and pretty glass.

One of my favorite things about Gram was her sense of humor.  She had a quick wit and a fast come back.  Hilarious!

I am so proud of my parents for taking such good care of Gram on the good days and the bad.  They are a great example to me.

And I am especially grateful for a loving God that sent His Son to make a way for eternal life.  Someday there will be a great reunion in heaven and I can't wait to find my Gram!

PRIDE Training

You guys.  I know this might be terribly boring but I do want to chronicle this part of our lives since it's probably going to be a significant part of our 2015.  So I want to talk out this whole business of opening our home for foster care.

Friday night the resource worker came by and it was just the easiest thing.  She was very laid back and easy to like.  We did some paperwork together and went over our finances.  Then she did a walk through of the house looking in rooms and closets.  She wasn't looking closely, didn't go through anything, didn't even really go through drawers.  I think she was mostly checking to make sure we lived in a normalish way.   We asked some questions and she gave us a list of some things to work on.    There was nothing to it.  That is called the IHC (in home consultation).

Then the training.

This weekend was our big weekend of training, otherwise known as PRIDE.  I forgot what all the letters of PRIDE stand for but it has something to do with parents and foster care and resources and something like that.

It's in the book somewhere.  And the book....MERCY!!  It's gigantic.

Saturday started at 9am in a room over filled with tables and people.  Apparently it's the biggest class in a long time and that just makes me smile all over.  Our friends, the M family were there but since we got there at different times we didn't get to sit together.   I was thinking later how it was a good thing so that we had the chance to get to know new people.

There was lots of talking, flipping through the book, little videos, and projects with your table mates. There were some long and boring sessions but discussion and projects kept it mostly interesting.  They also switched out trainers at different sessions and that was helpful to hear someone else's teaching.

We broke for lunch and got to spend some time with our friends.  Then back to the room for 5 more hours.  Saturday's training was 9-7.  We got out a little early though.

Sunday morning was cold and even a little icy.  Honey was leading worship at IBC so we were already in town for the 1:00 session.  We both enjoyed Sunday's training a little more and felt like we learned quite a bit.  Again it went to almost 7pm.

We had lots to talk over on the way home.  And we were SOOO happy to get home to our kiddos after being gone all weekend long.   Of course we called and checked in along the way and I was so proud of how well they did on their own.  The big kids made it fun for the youngers with nerf battles, blanket forts, and laps around the house.   And get this...the house was clean when we got home.  I KNOW!

I've decided that January is the perfect time to do something like this since the weather was cold and we weren't sitting inside for 16 hours on a beautiful weekend.

We skip a weekend and do it all again in 2 weeks.  In the meantime we have a big packet of things to do.  Lots of personal questions to answer, documents to find, copies to make.  We need to be finger printed and CPR certified.  It's quite a thing.

According to the measurements of our bedrooms and the number and ages of our kids, we can potentially be licensed for 2 babies under 2 years old.  I'm guessing we will stick to one at a time unless it's a very close sibling group.

And though we still have a very long road ahead of us, I feel like getting 1/2 of the training behind us is a big step.

And Now It Can Officially Start

Meg's birthday was a bunch of fun.
Honey and I got to have lunch with her at work because she only gets 30 min. And it reminds me of when elementary kids have their mommies and daddies come to their school and eat lunch in the cafeteria with them and their friends. I know from my Awana peeps that it's the Big Deal.  We got to meet her friends and see her office and even see a real Super Bowl ticket from 2 years ago. It was all kinds of fun and I wish I could do it every single week.

Then Haley came for dinner and our sweet R family was here. It was loud and busy and much fun-ness. We just love our girl.

But now that her bday is over its time to get back to living our normal joyful life and put away all the cookies and maybe even pull out the carrots again.

I woke up feeling like we all needed to reset. Since none of my kids came with a real reset button we did the next best thing. CLEAN HOUSE. Nothing says new beginnings like a sparkling potty.

But first we needed to do a bit of chore re-org. Our old chore system was tired and not working effectively and soooo 2014.  A change was in order.

Except for some weekend/evening kitchen work, our teenagers are not doing chores. They are gone too much and too busy to be able to help much right now. So I gave them a good momma speech about making their beds and cleaning up after themselves. Leaving no mess no matter how small. If you do it now you won't have to do it later.... Blah blah blah.

Then I moved to the youngers. And for the first time in a while I reassigned buddies. Jes (12) and Nate (10) are buddies. And Josh (13), Mally (9), and Z (7) are a 3 buddy team.

Everyone starts with their own chores then moves along to help their buddy and have their buddy check their work.

Here's the new chore schedule...

Josh - chickens, back porch, vacuum every afternoon, project room and bar
Jess - Parlor, dining room with Nate
Nate - Dining room with Jess, boys' bath, dog poop with Zeke
Mally - living room, yard pick up, girls wing
Zeke - bathroom trashes, sweep hall, laundry room and laundry bathroom, dog poop

Everyone makes their beds and cleans their own rooms.  They fold their own laundry and put it away. COW has kitchen work.

I also took away music and talking privileges during chore times.  At least until we are moving along quickly and diligently with good work ethic.

The day was a success.  We ended with a clean house, a happy momma, and a trip to the library.
I'm thinking this new system is going to work nicely.

Four Days Into 2015

I never really feel like the holidays are over until after Meg's birthday on the 6th.  And I've kinda noticed that it takes awhile for everybody else to jump back into the swing of things too.  People are still on vacation, school is still out, no evening services at church, and the stores are still crowded.

2015 started out just perfect.  Meg and Ethan spent the night NY Eve and everybody stayed up late eating food, watching movies, playing xbox, and having nerf battles.  Everybody but me because SLEEP!!

Then the next morning Ethan and Christian left for a big backpacking trip and Meg stayed all day until bedtime and we just stayed in our pjs and were lazy.  It was a perfect start.

A couple of days earlier we got the great news that Christian and Haley are officially an item.  Is that how you even say that anymore?  Hanging out?  Going With?  Dating?  Well however you say it, he got permission from Haley's dad to spend some time together and get to know her better.  She is precious and we are all looking forward to getting to know her better.

On Friday the DCFS lady called to set up an appointment for this Friday to do the initial walk through of our house to start our home study.  So I immediately texted Dana because OH MY WORD and PANIC!  I had gotten it into my head that they might skip us since classes start Saturday and nobody had called.  But that's not the case.  So we are busy doing some of the last minute things that we hadn't gotten around to yet.

Yesterday Meg and I spent the whole day shopping and eating.  We always shop on her birthday and it's something I look forward to every year.  We hit 7 stores and barely bought anything.  It was a ton of fun.

And today my mom and grandmother are coming!!  Grandmother hasn't been here since we moved into this house and I'm super excited!

Some New Goals For The New Year

We are getting ready to say good-bye to another year.  In our family, 2014 has been a sweet year of goodness.  It's been a year of memories and fun and growing and doing new things.  Our one big sadness was losing our sweet dog Joey.

Today we are getting ready for a fun New Year's Eve.  We will clean the house, run a couple of errands, and cook up some great food.  We'll play games and watch movies and stay up late and just have a fun night being together.  Meg and Ethan will join us and might even spend the night.

And then tomorrow will start brand new.  A new start to a new year.  And I just love new starts.  Maybe that's why I don't hate Mondays.

Like I told you, I've been working on my New Year's goals.  Here's what I came up with....

1. Read the New Testament with my kids.  I'll have them read the chapter alone and come prepared to share 1 thing that they wrote that stuck out to them.  A sentence. A question. A thought.
We will read it together and discuss it at the morning meeting and pick out a memory verse for the week.

2.  My friend and I are starting a Bible study for our youth girls in January.  I want to give this adequate attention and not just my leftovers.

3.  Read Prayer Coach again.  I loved this book and I want to take it slow and practice the things it teaches.

4.  Finish our home study.  Take our PRIDE training classes. And open our home for foster care.

5.  If New Fire gets off the ground this year, I will be responsible for concessions.  My kiddos and I will work on this together and I need to get them practicing on counting change.

6.  Be more consistent with my kids' music lessons.  Jes is our piano player and LOVES his lessons with Ms. Susie.  I pay Jesse $2 a lesson to teach his siblings.  It's good for him to learn to teach, good for them to be able to take instruction from their brother, and it saves us $128 a month by not paying for "real" lessons.

7.  Read aloud to my kids more.  I used to be super consistent with this but as they have gotten older and busier it tends to be low hanging fruit.  I want to guard our afternoon time, be more selective about afternoon friend visits, and more faithful to set the table for tea.

So that's it!  Did you have a great 2014?  Are you looking forward to a new start in 2015?  Do you have some New Year's goals?

Cleaning Out

My good friend Dana moved away and gave us a set of bunk beds.  Our boys were happy to replace their squeaky metal ones.

But then.  

As it turns out, when you get new beds you have to take the other beds out.  And EWWWWW.....why did they keep all that junk under there!?  Y'all, it was bad.  So Laney and I went to work with a trash bag, vacuum, and magic eraser.  

After a few minutes it looked worlds better.  But I couldn't bring in new beds to only one clean spot in the room.  No.  So we grabbed more trash bags while Honey kept the boys occupied in the living room.  We went through the closet, drawers, behind the dressers, shoes, shelves, and under the other beds,   When we were done hours later, the room looked fantastic!  

See?

I was thrilled not only with how great it looked, but also because we got rid of so much junk that it would nearly be impossible for it to get that messy again.  I know with 3 boys sharing this space it won't ever be spotless, but it is wonderful for now.

The thing I wasn't expecting was how happy the boys were.  They kept thanking me over and over!

I should've stopped there.  But I was on a roll.

And so was Laney.  She rallied her sisters together and did the same thing to their room the next day. Bags and bags kept coming out and now it is beautiful.

Meanwhile I got to work on some closets and linen storage, games, and books.  I've made huge messes along the way and started too many things at once.  Add to that some after-Christmas mess and holiday laziness and by the end of the day the house looked worse than when I started.  I'm thinking of just camping in the boys' room until somebody cleans it all up.  

All because of a new set of bunk beds.  It's all Dana's fault.  

Starting Over And Starting New

Did you have a wonderful Christmas?

We took our tree down last night (boo!) and now it feels like it's time to go back to real life.  It was a wonderful Christmas season and one of the best days that I can remember.  I might say that about every Christmas though.  All my kids were home all day long, we had friends over in the evening, and we ended the day with full bellies, a wrecked house, and happy hearts.  It was perfect.

But now the tree is packed up, the house is beginning to recover (meaning we can see the floor), and vacation is almost over.  It is time to focus on ending the year strong and looking forward to a new start for 2015.

Do you have goals and plans for the new year?  Being a list maker by nature, I have many goals and plans all carefully written out in a few different notebooks.  You fellow journalers will understand.   And I'm sorry to say that I will probably bore you to death with the list in a future post.

Today started as a big deal.  I FINISHED MY BIBLE!!
Genesis to Revelation.
Done.

This is the fourth time I've read my Bible cover-to-cover.  I've done it a different way each time.  I know a lot of folks like to read it in year's time but I'm way too slow for that.  This last time, I didn't even attached a goal of a target time to finish.  I just started and read and kept going.  And it took me a good long time but I'm ok with that.

If you are working on your New Year's goals, I hope you will consider a daily Bible reading.  It doesn't have to be a huge lofty read-the-whole-entire-Book-in-only-a-year goal.  It can be small.  Simple.  Slow.

It can be a devotional reading.  A Bible study.  A few minutes.  Some quiet time.  Get to know the Bible.  Get to know God.  A few lines written in a notebook to help you process your thoughts.  Maybe a new notebook.  A  new pen.

Because it's not a race.  And it's not a spiritual or intellectual contest.  It's a learning time.  And it can be slow.  It's ok.  But the point is to start.  And the big deal is to keep going.  Even if it's small.

It is so awesome to have a friend to do this with you.  Do you have someone in mind?  It doesn't hurt to ask.

This year I will start over.  My friend, Kim, sent me a New Testament plan that I'm eager to jump into.  There are all sorts of reading plans out there.  All sorts of wonderful books to guide you along and help you process what you read.

I hope you will let me know if you decide to take the plunge this year and make daily Bible reading a habit.   I also hope you will share with me all you are learning and how God is working in your life.

Isaiah 55:11English Standard Version (ESV)

11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Three Things

One~ My Tigers pulled off ANOTHER state championship Friday night!  It was a nerve wracking last minute win and we couldn't be more proud.  Smackover played a good game they should be mighty proud of.  It was their first state game since 1949 and they showed up strong.  BUT it just wasn't quite enough to beat our boys!  I'm especially happy for our seniors who will now sport TWO state rings.  And like a friend said on Facebook..."You don't buy them state rings at Walmart boys!"

Two~ Our bed broke recently and we have spent some weeks just dealing with it until Honey had time to fix it.  This weekend he took everything out from under it and got to work.  And WOW!  Let me just say that cleaning out from under your bed once in a great while is a good idea so you don't get stuck with this....

Three~ This time of year makes for happy mail days.... Christmas cards!!!  But this week it was extra special.  I love getting a letter from our sponsor child in Ethiopia.  This week I got 2 in one day!!  A regular letter plus a Christmas card that he wrote.  He always draws a picture of his house and a flower.  His family are farmers and our sponsorship helps them to raise food for themselves and to sell as well as pay for his school expenses.  He asked us to pray for his family's health and the health of his cattle.  Precious!  If you are interested in child sponsorship, there are lots of great organizations out there.  The one we are part of is Food For The Hungry.  Contact them and bless a family!

Charleston Vs. Booneville

Friday was our big game against Booneville.  The weather was supposed to be rainy and in fact, it had been raining all week.  So when I had the kids reserve our seats I had them also cover it with plastic trash bags.  

The game started at 7.  Gates opened at 5:15.  And even though I had our seats reserved, I decided it was a good idea to get there shortly after the gates opened.  

I was armed with a new Tiger shirt thanks to my mom and my sparkly tiger paw earrings.  BUT as we were pulling out of the driveway I remembered I forgot my earrings!  And I just decided to risk it and go anyway.  

Now there is nothing I love more than a great Tiger football game.  But great in my opinion means that you score in the first 5 minutes and continue that trajectory and mercy rule the game.

That's not how it went.  

We scored right away.  Good start.  But then it went south from there.  Incomplete pass after incomplete pass and we were losing at the half.  We caught up in the 3rd quarter (whew!) and it pretty much stayed like that for most of the ball game.  

Finally FINALLY we scored with about 3 minutes left in the game.  And OH the relief!  But 2 1/2 minutes in a final play off game is forever.  Anything can happen.  

But we squeaked by with a 21-14 victory!!!   Which is a good thing since my forgotten earrings would've made me personally responsible for the loss.  

So Friday night we are headed to Little Rock AGAIN!!  And we couldn't be more happy.  

My Christmas Reading List

I finished all my other books just in time for Christmas reading!

Here's my list this year.....

First this.


I read it every year.  It has short readings and puts a very practical spin on Christmas worship.  Sometimes I start this early just to put me in the Christmas spirit.

I love me a good Max book. 

This one isn't exactly "Christmas" but it's very much Jesus. I'm half way through and I look forward to digging into it every chance I get.

I've read A Christmas Carol lots of times and I absolutely love it.  Dickens is wonderful.  I've never read this collection of Christmas stories.  

I adore this very old book.  I hit a garage sale many years ago and found this beautiful collection of all Dickens.  Very old.  Not cared for.  Dirty with cocoons even!  Obviously stuck in some body's attic and forgotten about for years.  I got the whole set for $25.  There are 25 books in all and I consider them a treasure.  I'm looking forward to starting this in a couple of days. 

This is our Advent book we've been doing for over 20 years.  

When you open it up, there are 24 little books inside.  You read one every night and then hang them on the tree with the gold thread.  It would be considered historical fiction as some of the little books have a lot of artistic license thrown in. However, it's a good little tale of Jesus and we just talk about the real parts and also the parts that might be added in.   Think Veggie Tales.  

Now this has nothing to do with anything.  I got it at Aldi for $.99 and it's just fun. 

It has 24 tiny doors with a chocolate behind each one.  No story.  No words.  Just fun!
We have loved it all.  It's already December 5 and I feel like the month is flying by.  We are going to miss Christmas and I'm trying to squeeze every bit of fun out of it that I can!

Menuing This Week

It's been awhile since we talked food hasn't it?  

Winter is my favorite cooking season because there are no restrictions.  You can eat cold food or hot food.  No worries about using the oven and heating up the kitchen.  You can use the oven, the crock pots, and the microwave all at the same time if you want.  Freedom!!

I just planned out our menu for the next 2 weeks.  I do it twice a month because that's when my husband gets paid.  I do 2 big grocery trips a month and just pick up little things in between.  

This yellow folder holds all the recipes I need to make for 2 weeks.  It's all in one place and I don't have to figure out which cookbook, website, Pinterest pin, or newspaper cut out I'm looking for.  

So first, I have to empty the last recipes I used and file them back into the cookbooks.  My cookbooks are the 3 ring binders on the table. 

I make a big mess on the table and the whole thing takes about 30 minutes or so from start to finish.  

But that 30 minutes saves me a bunch of time during the week.  

Next I get a blank piece of paper for my "think sheet".  

I look at my calendar for the upcoming weeks to see what special events are coming up that will require special foods or different planning.  

As you can see, I divide this up into 4 sections.  

Dinners:  How many regular dinners will I need to make?

Saturdays: If we have busy Saturdays (depending on what ball season it is) I plan simple dinners.

If we have Saturdays at home, I can plan more complicated stuff.  

Dates: Date night every week.  Special food + kid friendly fun food

Others: Extra stuff I'll make for snacks,  

Then I get busy deciding what goes where.  Every week we have pizza so that is 2 dinner slots.  Pizza night coordinates with whatever day I need to make bread for the week.  I use the dough to make 3 large pizzas and 3 loaves of bread.  

My parents gave us a deer (thanks Dad and Nana!) so I'm planning a lot of recipes around that.  

Sometimes I take special requests.  Usually not.  

I don't plan breakfast, lunch, or regular snacks.  Breakfast is oatmeal, granola, or muffins.  Lunch is leftovers or soup or beans.  Snacks is usually fruit, cheese, peanut butter crackers, or homemade something from the oven,

I have a master grocery list that I keep by my think sheet to circle whatever I am going to need for each dinner.  

Then all the recipes go into the yellow folder and I'm all set for 2 weeks of not thinking about it again! 

I love reading over every body's weekly menus so here's mine for 2 weeks....

Dinners - 

pizza (x2) 

TG dinner after Thanksgiving

Tuna Melts with veggies and dip

Taco Salads

Baked Ziti with salad and garlic bread

Molly's chicken with mashed potatoes, salad

Sloppy joes with potato salad

Fried Rice

Hobos with salad

Saturdays -

Baked Potato Casserole with summer salad and peas

Cheesy Beefy Rice casserole with broccoli

Dates - 

Steak and fries

Worcestershire chicken, fries, broccoli 

Others - 

pumpkin bread

blueberry muffins

cheese ball and crackers

candied pecans

coconut bars

protein bars

bean dip 

Playing With Her Boys

Please excuse the crummy iPhone pix with a pitiful photographer and just use your imagination.... 

See the little girl in the aqua blue shirt?  And though you can't really see her, I can assure you she is ADORABLE! 

 My sweet Mallory.

She's a feisty sweetheart born in the middle of a bunch of boys.  And while the boys love their sister, sometimes I worry that there isn't much common ground.  They play sports.  She reads and plays Barbies.  They burp and fart and laugh.  She rolls her pretty brown eyes and goes to look for her kitty.   

But lately I've noticed the boys going out of their way to include her.... and her being willing to play. 

She runs in to tell me how many touchdowns she scored and the "amazing interception". 

And when I looked out to see her playing Monkey In The Middle with Dad and the boys,  my heart just smiled all over. 

Our Texas Trip Part 2

Remember I said the boys were all about catching things and killing stuff at Nana's?  Here's what I'm talking about....

And I'm thinking this might be my new favorite picture of all time.  Somebody on FB commented that she loved this picture and everything it represents.  I get it.  Me too.  There is so much of God's goodness displayed in this one picture.

Did you see Lady underneath?  She's not to be left out of anything that goes on at her farm.  

That smile! 

This guy is a serious fisherman.  He fishes almost every day.  

BEAST!

Ever since hunting season opened Joshua's been coming home from football telling me about his friends that are hunting.  And OH!  how he wanted to go!!  

This was his chance.  He went hunting the first morning with Nana but they didn't get anything.  The next morning he went hunting with Grandpa and came home with  THIS...

So happy!!  Grandpa was the one who actually shot it but Joshua was excited to be part of the experience for the first time.  He also got to shoot one of Grandpa's big guns.  

He is still smiling. 

Isn't my dad's place pretty? 

And the camper was the icing on the cake. 

Last night was the first night that they didn't sleep in it since we got it.  And that's only because their dad said it was time to pack it up.  

Back at home the big kids were studying, cleaning, and watching movies at the other grandma's.  They still had no idea about the camper and the younger kids thought it was fun to know something they didn't.  

We came home to a big dinner in the works, a spotless house, and happy kids with a big new toy. 

Thank you to my family for such a great time! I can't wait until Christmas!!

Our Texas Trip Part 1

So y'all.

We have had a fantastic vacation week.  I can't even tell you.  But I will try.

First of all, we bought an AWESOME camper on Craigslist!!
Merry Christmas to us!!

We've had a dream of taking our kids camping again.  We used to camp quite a bit with our pop-up camper and little kids.  At first it was a blast.  

But then. 

God blessed our family with lots of babies at the same time.  Camping vacation turned into a ton of work trying to keep the babies from eating rocks and falling into the fire.  It was too hard and we decided it wasn't the right season for camping.  We sold the camper and raised our babies without campfire dangers.  

And now.  

Our babies are big.  And the season is right.  We found a camper in Texas that looked promising and it was an hour from my parents'.  Perfect!  And even though it was an early present, we wanted there to be an element of surprise.  So we secretly packed up the kids' stuff for a couple of days and covered it all with blankets in the back of the van.  

We told them we were going to do something fun but they couldn't ask questions.  

Our older kids were hugely helpful with this and even packed some good entertainment for the road. They weren't able to go because of school/work and we only told them we were visiting G'ma/G'pa.  They knew nothing of the camper.  

We hit the road early and gave them clever clues every 30 minutes.  They started to catch on when we crossed the TX border.  But when we pulled into a stranger's drive way, they knew there was more to the trip than a grandparents visit.  

The camper was just as it was described in the listing.  Just what we were looking for!  We paid the man, packed it up, and headed to see our family.  We told the kids everything and they were super excited.   

Texas is always a good time.  Mike and the boys slept in the camper at Grandpa's while Mallory and I stayed at Grandma's.  And because there is so much to show and tell, this post will focus on the visit at Grandma's....

Lots of western shows with PawPaw.

Visting with Grandma and Aunt Jodie

Snuggles with Great Grandma

At one point, we made a trip to Dollar General.  After looking through the sales, we headed to the toys. Grandmother and I pushed all the buttons of the noisy toys like we used to do when I was little.  I tell you, this lady will NOT act her age! ;)  She's a lot of fun to shop with.

But when she wanted to buy the dancing reindeer that sang about a cold beer, I had to put my foot down.

Meanwhile at Grandpa and Nana's, the boys were catching stuff and killing stuff and breaking in the camper.  Stay tuned for the details.....

On A Thursday

So I woke up this morning so full of hope because the temperature was supposed to be above 50 degrees outside.  And after a week of the super freeze, 50 sounded like weather that would be glorious.  Also, I did not have to take anybody to school or work until 10:00 so that also meant I could stay in my pajamas a little bit longer.  It's the little things. 

For the past 3 weeks my 5 younger kids have been studying for a spelling bee.  A real live spelling bee that has competition and a prize attached to it.  But it's not only spelling, but definitions too.  And now we are down to the last day.  The spelling bee is TOMORROW!  So I narrowed school down to math, Bible, and spelling.  And then more spelling.  And when you're done with all that, go quiz your brother on his spelling and then study your spelling words a couple more times.  I'm just a teeny bit nervous. 

After I took Lane to work and checked math and gave some spelling quizzes and pulled out a pot of soup that nobody likes and they refuse to eat, I took Joshua to our church's noonday service.  That sounds all fancy but it's not.  It's more like a middle of the week Bible study with friends and a big lunch.  It's something we look forward to all week and a privilege of being COW. 

After lunch, I dropped Joshua off at football and swung by Dana's garage sale only to find that she wasn't there.  So I helped myself to her green candlesticks and left her a text.  Meanwhile, back at home, my kids were working on their extra chore and hoping that someone would accidentally knock that pot of soup into the sink.  By accident of course. 

I got supper started (creamy chicken and rice) and folded 3 loads of laundry while chatting with my sister-in-law.  We covered all sorts of topics including Christmas presents, Dad's health, our son's cars, her sick puppy, and who I need to vote for in the upcoming election.  I was able to squeeze all that in before Josh came home from football and we had to make the trek into town for his ortho appt. 

And you know what?  He gets his braces off in TWO WEEKS!!! 
That is all kinds of exciting. 

Nate came with us because he wanted to do some Christmas shopping and he actually knew what he wanted to buy and had money in hand.  Bonus!   But first we pulled into Savers because Joshua needed football pants, and Nate and Z needed winter pants too.  11 pair for $36.  Plus the entire trip took 15 minutes included the time in the dressing room.  15 minutes.  Because boys are all about getting it done when it comes to shopping.  

We made it home before dark.  Dinner ready.  And all my people home except Lane who was (and still is) at work.  We ended the day with boys playing xbox football with their dad while I played and lost an exciting game of Clue to Mally and Zeke.  Then I read a chapter of their Thanksgiving book before bed.  And just when I thought they were not paying attention, Mally set the record straight by telling me they were not called Pilgrims.  They were actually 2 groups and they called themselves Strangers and Separatists. 

So I actually ended my day with a 2nd grade history lesson.

A Heavy Heart

I woke up this morning to read about the Jewish worshipers who were killed in the Jerusalem synagogue.

Oh Lord Jesus!  Please come quickly!!

The last thing on my mind on a Sunday morning is whether or not I will be gunned down in church.  I live in a country where I don't have to worry about such things.  I have unlimited freedom in almost every area of my life.

And yet, I take it for granted every. single. day.

I have ease and comfort on every side and more free time than any generation before me.  And I'm squandering it.   I spend my time being mad at stupid stuff, setting worthless junk before my eyes, serving myself, saying mean things, and not loving God's people like I should.

I am part of the over-fed, unconcerned, North American white church that is filling itself up with self love, tearing down our own pastors, and delighting in airing our opinions on Facebook instead of loving each other and seeking the face of God.  And while we fight over worship styles, carpet colors, and money, Muslims are taking over the world while we watch people race into hell.

My mind is full.  And sad.  And I'm looking for change.

Instead, I should take full advantage of all this time and convenience and freedom to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling.  Living a holier life, studying, praying, and loving His people.

And while I certainly can't change the world, I can do better in my own house.  In my own life, in my kids' lives, and (Lord willing) in other kids' lives soon too.  I want to set an example and teach my children to guard their eyes, NOT celebrate evil, learn to forgive and love, and share our faith openly.

Today I've been praying for Israel, for America, and for my own little piece of the earth.   There is a day of judgement approaching.  This won't go on forever.  And I want to be found to be an approved workman that is not ashamed.  

Billy Graham says, "Where there is life, there is hope.  The Spirit of God is knocking faithfully at the door.  If we repent, mend our ways, throw off our sins, we can yet be used of God to bring healing and help to a dying civilization."

Snow flakes

It's freezing outside!  So I decided to pull out a Christmas craft I saw on Pinterest. 

We planned to do this while Nana was here but we ran out of time.  And today turned out to be perfect for hot chocolate, movies, and snow flake craft. 

  

 

Working so hard!

 

 Glue

 

 

 Glitter

 

 

Popsicle sticks and lots of sparkly

 

Ta Da!!

 

Our tree will be extra fancy this year!

6 Good Things

#1.  Seeing my bees warm makes me happy.  I am planning to go one bale higher on each side and squeeze one in the front.  At $5/bale this would not be affordable for a big apiary unless you did your own hay, but for me this year....I'm loving it.

#2.  We went shoebox shopping with Meg. Then some shopping around town.

We hit the big Savers sale but guess what I got?  Pretty much nothing.  And it's all because every single thing I picked up was vetoed by the girls...

No Mom, you can't wear that. 

Put that back Mom. 

That looks like something a witch would wear. 

That looks like banana pudding. 

Ummm No mom.  

Who invited them anyway!?  :-) 

But I saw these hilarious pictures.   My grandmother used to have these when I was little.  I guess they were popular back in the day.  But now....who would ever?!  

#3.  We had some marshmallows in the freezer left over from the summer.  I bought some rice crispies and made rice crispie treats.  My kids said I was their favorite mother.  

#4. Cold days = a little more xbox time.

#5.  Cheap shaving cream makes bath time perfect.  And makes for a nice smelling bathroom too! 

#6.  Nana came!!  And we had the best time shopping, eating, talking, watching movies, and just being together.  She let Josh drive her car and he is still smiling!