I crawled up onto Leeann's bed tonight to snuggle and chat with her since we've been running around crazy all week due to Vacation Bible School. I asked her what she's been learning about and she told me all about Peter denying Jesus and how after their nice meal together some mean men took Jesus and hung him on the cross where he died for our sins. So we spent a few minutes talking about what it means to sin, and why God doesn't like it when we sin.
We also talked a bit about death, what happens when we die, and what happened to Mee Maw when she died.
I asked her if she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart and ask him to forgive her of her sins. She said yes through her alligator tears (she was still very emotional from our talk about death). Rob was tucking Titus in under his covers in the bed beneath her so I leaned over and told him that Leeann wanted to ask Jesus into her heart.
He leaned over her bed and we all talked for a few more minutes about what it means to ask Jesus into her heart. We also talked a little more about death as she was asking us who would take care of her and Titus if we both died while they were still young. Finally she closed her eyes and folded her hands on her chest and prayed something to the effect of (with a little bit of help from me). "Jesus, please come live in my heart. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please forgive me for my sins. Amen."
Then she gave me a great big hug and I prayed for her, and snuggled her a few minutes more. I asked her if she wanted to tell anyone that she just asked Jesus into her heart and she said, "Mommy, can I call Aunt Shelly to tell her?" So, she called Aunt Shelly and Uncle Chuck and let them know that she'd just asked Jesus into her heart. She was so giggly and smiley! I was too!
It's a great feeling as a mommy, getting to see your precious child make that decision for herself. I look forward to watching her grow in God's grace and beauty in the years to come as her faith in Jesus Christ continues to grow!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
The Fair
We went to the County Fair on free fair day. It was a lot of fun. Suzy and the boys went with us. You should see us all walking in a line together. 3 adults with 7 kids 7 and under. It's a hoot!
Leeann loved milking the cow in the children's play area. She did it over and over again.
Titus and my nephew Logan (and Weston and brother Logan too) spent the majority of their time running on and through the various bounce houses. 
This is Titus going through the castle. He didn't want to go through the tube so Suzy, Rob and I were trying to coax him through from the outside. Every time the other kiddos would run through they'd try to get him to follow him but he wouldn't go. Finally, Weston got him to sneak through the outside of the tube.
And this is sweet baby Landon who is quickly turning from a baby to a boy. Crazy!
Quite possibly the best part of the whole fair though is when we walked by some teenage girls milking a cow. All 7 kids stared in amazement at this process and they offered to let the kids help! This is cousin Logan.
Leeann thought milking the fake cow was fun... she loved this!
It took Titus a minute to get the hang of it, but he got some good squirts of her!
Titus was pretty serious about his work here. He had to pump the water out of the hose to get the ducks to float down the gutter.
And here Titus is hand-feeding the animals. He was quite brave!Counsins
We went up to Washington a few weeks ago to celebrate Rob's dad's 60th Birthday. I can't post any pictures from the party because they almost all have Hope and Logan in them, and we aren't allowed to post their pictures. We do, however have a couple of cute ones of my kids with their cousins.
This is Leeann with Ashly and Amanda. They are so good with her, and they are so sweet to share all of the polly pockets and littlest pet shop toys with Leeann. She adores them both!
This is Josh playing StarWars with Titus. He lets the littler kids chase him, pounce on him and stab him with light sabers. What a good cousin!SonRock Kid's Camp!
Today we officially kicked-off SonRock Kid's Camp, this year's Vacation Bible School. It was a blast with 140 wild and crazy kiddos running around like the delightfully fun, wildly chaotic creatures of God that they are!
But, it was HOT. Like, 100+ degrees hot, with the temperatures rising. HOT. REALLY HOT. I'm hot. Did I mention that it's hot?
In other news, I have lots of fun things that I've taken pictures of that I need to blog about, like the Fair, the pool and a trip to The AC Gilbert House last week. But, come to think of it I still have to blog pictures of Leeann's fourth Birthday and this last Christmas too. I have the best of intentions... but don't hold your breath!
I think I'm going to head to bed early tonight. I was at the church yesterday with some awesome volunteers. I clocked 14 hours, but I had several volunteers show up earlier and stay even later. Tomorrow I get the distinct pleasure of having myself and all four kiddos up, dressed, fed and off to church by 8 or so. It's so worth it, but so exhausting!
But, it was HOT. Like, 100+ degrees hot, with the temperatures rising. HOT. REALLY HOT. I'm hot. Did I mention that it's hot?
In other news, I have lots of fun things that I've taken pictures of that I need to blog about, like the Fair, the pool and a trip to The AC Gilbert House last week. But, come to think of it I still have to blog pictures of Leeann's fourth Birthday and this last Christmas too. I have the best of intentions... but don't hold your breath!
I think I'm going to head to bed early tonight. I was at the church yesterday with some awesome volunteers. I clocked 14 hours, but I had several volunteers show up earlier and stay even later. Tomorrow I get the distinct pleasure of having myself and all four kiddos up, dressed, fed and off to church by 8 or so. It's so worth it, but so exhausting!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Birthday Girl!
Today we celebrated Leeann's 6th Birthday. We had a small party at Wildcat park in Corvallis (which is seriously the coolest park ever!) I didn't take very many pictures because my camera keeps giving me error messages each time I take a picture. So, hopefully these two will be enough to tide you over.
It's so hard to believe that my baby girl is 6 tomorrow. 6!
Cake Issues
My 3 tiered cake is um, having some issues... Mental Note: Don't do another tiered cake until you get some advice from someone who actually knows how to construct and frost a 3 tiered cake...
Monday, July 20, 2009
Waiting for the Cakes to Cool...
I'm up late... waiting for Leeann's cakes to cool so I can start frosting them. Tomorrow's her party!
I am quite irritated though. I like to make the cakes a day or two in advance, or at least the morning of planned decorating day to give them plenty of time to cool before decorating them. But, I've stayed out too late partying for the last couple of nights, and we had an extra long visit day in St. Helens today, so I didn't get started on the cakes until 8 something.
Then I spent an hour looking for one of my small round pans. An hour! Talk about stressed out. I looked in every cupboard, the pantry and the garage at least 3 times. It was no where to be found! Then it just showed up out of the middle of no where... in a very logical place. Well, it wasn't logical to me, but I can see how it would be logical to the Nanny, who was obviously the one who put it away after it's last use.
So now, I'm waiting for the cakes to cool. I haven't even started frosting and it's 11:30. I have the feeling it's going to be a long night! But when princess sees her castle cake in the morning, it will all be well worth it!
I am quite irritated though. I like to make the cakes a day or two in advance, or at least the morning of planned decorating day to give them plenty of time to cool before decorating them. But, I've stayed out too late partying for the last couple of nights, and we had an extra long visit day in St. Helens today, so I didn't get started on the cakes until 8 something.
Then I spent an hour looking for one of my small round pans. An hour! Talk about stressed out. I looked in every cupboard, the pantry and the garage at least 3 times. It was no where to be found! Then it just showed up out of the middle of no where... in a very logical place. Well, it wasn't logical to me, but I can see how it would be logical to the Nanny, who was obviously the one who put it away after it's last use.
So now, I'm waiting for the cakes to cool. I haven't even started frosting and it's 11:30. I have the feeling it's going to be a long night! But when princess sees her castle cake in the morning, it will all be well worth it!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Wiggle, Wiggle!
Leeann's two bottom teeth are loose, one especially. We've known they were loose for weeks, but now they're getting really loose. She had a hard time eating corn on the cob last night because her teeth hurt.
This morning she crawled up into my bed with her mouth wide open exclaiming to me that her tooth was going to fall out. It's not quite that loose, but she's obviously excited about it. In fact, it's only a little after 8 and she's already told each of us about 10 times that her tooth is going to fall out... she even asked if she could call daddy to tell him!
She's been walking around with her hand in her mouth trying to wiggle that little sucker out of her mouth. I can't believe my baby girl is ready to start losing her teeth. She'll be 6 next week! 6! 6? How does that happen so fast?
This morning she crawled up into my bed with her mouth wide open exclaiming to me that her tooth was going to fall out. It's not quite that loose, but she's obviously excited about it. In fact, it's only a little after 8 and she's already told each of us about 10 times that her tooth is going to fall out... she even asked if she could call daddy to tell him!
She's been walking around with her hand in her mouth trying to wiggle that little sucker out of her mouth. I can't believe my baby girl is ready to start losing her teeth. She'll be 6 next week! 6! 6? How does that happen so fast?
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Independence Day!
We had a blast this 4th of July! Toby and Eroica had Logan and Hope for the weekend, so we were able to spend the day as a family with Suzy and her boys. We spent most of the afternoon at the Cool pool then had a delicious dinner and let off fireworks at our house.
As usual, I took tons of pictures and could only narrow it down to 34 to tell the story of our day. You can hop on over to my facebook account to see them all. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/album.php?aid=29683&id=1146961460&ref=nf
You will be happy to know that this time there were no injuries, no concussions and no ambulance bills!
Monday, July 06, 2009
I'm writing a book
I'm currently writing a book whose working title is: Attack of the Ants Part II... Ughhh! They're EVERYWHERE!
Friday, July 03, 2009
The Lego Store
Our family went up to The Lego Store in the Washington Square Mall in Portland today. It was so much fun! We just spent the afternoon and evening perusing the mall. We visited the Disney Store, The Lego Store and the Cheesecake Factory. Yum-my!
The Lego Store was our reason for making the trek though, and it was worth every gallon of gas! We're just getting into legos around our house. My pastor's wife, Pam, who is an avid garage saler was sent on a mission for cheap legos this summer. She found a sweet load of them for $5 which gives us a great start to our collection. We went to The Lego Store in search of some wheels and people. We found reasonably priced wheels, but ridiculously priced people, so, we're still without people for now. Well, most legos are ridiculously priced, honestly. But, they're so much fun! And they keep the kids entertained for a long period of time. And, they'll likely play with them for the next decade +. Still, I really wish they were more reasonably priced! If there are any other avid garage salers out there... please keep a look out for us. We're happy to pay you back for them!
Anyway, we got to stuff a cup full of random legos from the pick-a-brick wall for $15. We put in all sorts of fun pieces like propellers and control panels, trees and flowers. As our cup was just about full the sales associate showed us how to stack the cup lid full of legos to get more bang for our buck. So, as we were on our way home Rob started re-packing the cup in his mind to see if we could have fit more legos in it. Now that we're home he's physically taking all of those legos and stacking them together to see how many more we could have fit. He's intermittently creating cars to drive around on the floor and the coffee table. These cars come complete with sound effects...and if you are wondering, the kids are in bed!
I have the distinct feeling that there will be many more trips to The Lego Store in our future. It was so much fun to spend some good family time together today too. It feels like it's been so long since we've had a free day to spend together as a family. I'm not sure that I could have asked for a better day with my husband and my kids. We're looking forward to tomorrow too as we spend some time with Suzy and the boys swimming, playing with sparkelers and making homemade ice cream. Ah, summer fun!
The Lego Store was our reason for making the trek though, and it was worth every gallon of gas! We're just getting into legos around our house. My pastor's wife, Pam, who is an avid garage saler was sent on a mission for cheap legos this summer. She found a sweet load of them for $5 which gives us a great start to our collection. We went to The Lego Store in search of some wheels and people. We found reasonably priced wheels, but ridiculously priced people, so, we're still without people for now. Well, most legos are ridiculously priced, honestly. But, they're so much fun! And they keep the kids entertained for a long period of time. And, they'll likely play with them for the next decade +. Still, I really wish they were more reasonably priced! If there are any other avid garage salers out there... please keep a look out for us. We're happy to pay you back for them!
Anyway, we got to stuff a cup full of random legos from the pick-a-brick wall for $15. We put in all sorts of fun pieces like propellers and control panels, trees and flowers. As our cup was just about full the sales associate showed us how to stack the cup lid full of legos to get more bang for our buck. So, as we were on our way home Rob started re-packing the cup in his mind to see if we could have fit more legos in it. Now that we're home he's physically taking all of those legos and stacking them together to see how many more we could have fit. He's intermittently creating cars to drive around on the floor and the coffee table. These cars come complete with sound effects...and if you are wondering, the kids are in bed!
I have the distinct feeling that there will be many more trips to The Lego Store in our future. It was so much fun to spend some good family time together today too. It feels like it's been so long since we've had a free day to spend together as a family. I'm not sure that I could have asked for a better day with my husband and my kids. We're looking forward to tomorrow too as we spend some time with Suzy and the boys swimming, playing with sparkelers and making homemade ice cream. Ah, summer fun!
What A Beautiful Day!
Respite=–noun
1. a delay or cessation for a time, esp. of anything distressing or trying; an interval of relief: to toil without respite.
So, I have this friend. She's a dear sweet, crazy friend who absolutely thrives on chaos. She's a left-brain, creative woman with a HUGE heart, full of gold! You've heard me talk about her on here, her name is Eroica (she does Precious Portraits). Today--she and her husband are my heroes. They've taken Hope and Logan for the weekend. They've kept them before, on our trips to Washington, so they've built quite a relationship with them.
And, since we're currently at the intersection of sick, worn-out and just plain exhausted, they've offered to take them for the long-weekend. Did I mention that it's a beautiful day?
I woke up to my kiddos snuggling in bed with me this morning, and now we're enjoying a quiet movie snuggled up on the couch together. It's so... quiet... Rob's out on a bike ride with some of his friends, and we've got nothing planned today. No appointments, no meetings, no phone calls.
There's a good chance we won't be breaking up any fights or spending any extensive time managing time-outs or tantrums. It's just so much easier with two. Any two really. It's not that Logan and Hope are always the instigators by any means. It's just that these four together (especially since they rarely have time apart), are bound to create chaos, mischief and just plain boat-loads of noise when they're together. And, without any significant periods of respite, my nerves are more easily fried... adding to the chaos.
Anyway, all that to say, after 4 months as a family of 6, we're really looking forward to some great family time this weekend! Thank you Toby and Eroica for taking such great care of our other kiddos so we can enjoy some time together. You are my favorite crazy friends!
1. a delay or cessation for a time, esp. of anything distressing or trying; an interval of relief: to toil without respite.
So, I have this friend. She's a dear sweet, crazy friend who absolutely thrives on chaos. She's a left-brain, creative woman with a HUGE heart, full of gold! You've heard me talk about her on here, her name is Eroica (she does Precious Portraits). Today--she and her husband are my heroes. They've taken Hope and Logan for the weekend. They've kept them before, on our trips to Washington, so they've built quite a relationship with them.
And, since we're currently at the intersection of sick, worn-out and just plain exhausted, they've offered to take them for the long-weekend. Did I mention that it's a beautiful day?
I woke up to my kiddos snuggling in bed with me this morning, and now we're enjoying a quiet movie snuggled up on the couch together. It's so... quiet... Rob's out on a bike ride with some of his friends, and we've got nothing planned today. No appointments, no meetings, no phone calls.
There's a good chance we won't be breaking up any fights or spending any extensive time managing time-outs or tantrums. It's just so much easier with two. Any two really. It's not that Logan and Hope are always the instigators by any means. It's just that these four together (especially since they rarely have time apart), are bound to create chaos, mischief and just plain boat-loads of noise when they're together. And, without any significant periods of respite, my nerves are more easily fried... adding to the chaos.
Anyway, all that to say, after 4 months as a family of 6, we're really looking forward to some great family time this weekend! Thank you Toby and Eroica for taking such great care of our other kiddos so we can enjoy some time together. You are my favorite crazy friends!
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