My finished drapes

I finally took pictures of the drapes I sewed last weekend. I made matching ones for both the living and dinning rooms. My goal here is to have the two rooms somewhat blend together as you walk through from one to the other.

Living room

Dinning Room

I still need to sew a center section in the dinning room, a piece that will only come down about 2 feet. They were out of my material, so I have to wait until they get more in.

I also have my wall of babies put back up. The wall color was supposed to be a bit more orangish but it turned out a little pinker than I had anticipated. ;-)

It is coming together nicely!

Giving up control

There is a great entry over at The Maxwells Family Blog that talks about the blessings they received after having had there vasectomy reversed. It is a real testimony to how we block the blessings of The Lord. Let me make it clear that we never block His will....He will just give those blessings that could have been ours to another family to raise for His Glory!

We have a similar testimony, yet we never went through with the surgery. After our 3rd child was born we believed what everyone had to say and that was that we had a big enough family and should "do the right thing" by calling it quits. Rob agreed and I went along with his decision. After Rob realized that I wasn't completely convinced he backed out of the surgery. (I have always wanted a big family, that was not a dream of Robs) doesn't the Lord have a great sense of humor! So we had 3 more children after that with the sixth being a girl. So what most thought was that we finally had our girl and surly we were done. I think even Rob felt that way!

I still was not convinced, but told Rob to do what he had to do. Once again he went to the DR for the initial visit only to not go through with it. As you know I am now about 2 months away from having our 7th child. :-) I am not sure what the future holds. I know in my heart that we should allow the Lord to control this area of our lives and that he will end it when he sees fit. I will be honest and say that my flesh gets ahold of me from time to time as I think about the fact that I could have another 7-11 children if I continued on my every other year delivery schedule ;-)

All I know is this...there is nothing in this world that could have replaced the joy that my last 3 almost 4 children have brought me. I cant imagine life without them....some might say I never would have known what I was missing....but a mother always knows. There is a longing there for a reason. Will a day ever come that I am free from that longing? I don't know. I have been telling myself that if this is a girl, perhaps I will be content and our family will be complete. I look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store.

"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate" (Psalms 127:3-5).

Have you ever picked this verse apart and "really" read it? Here is the verse with the Strongs concordanc reference numbers. Look it up, it is eye opening to say the least. If you dont have a Strongs concordance one of my favorite bible tools is E-Sword.

Psa 127:3 Lo,2009 children1121 are a heritage5159 of the LORD:3068 and the fruit6529 of the womb990 is his reward.7939
Psa 127:4 As arrows2671 are in the hand3027 of a mighty1368 man; so3651 are children1121 of the youth.5271
Psa 127:5 Happy835 is the man1397 that834 hath (853) his quiver827 full4390 of4480 them: they shall not3808 be ashamed,954 but3588 they shall speak1696 with854 the enemies341 in the gate.8179

It is finished!

Well, it came to a head today and it is now finished. The ties are severed. Yes, I am sad that things are the way they are and not the way I wish they were. She will tell all I'm sure, that I am a horrible person who tried little. But I know the truth! I gave all that I could give and even some that I couldnt emotionaly afford to give, yet it would have never been enough. Then as my children were drug into this, the camels back was broken and all had to end.

I am sure that I will not see her again in this life...this breaks my heart, but the refief my spirit feels now that she is gone is tremendous.

Ladies if you have a mother who truly loves you, hold it dear.....count it as a precious gift.

The word on the street is......

I was throwing together a quick batch of sugar cookies this morning. My 6 year old came in and asked what I was doing, I told him "making cookies"

So he runs off and yells to everyone that I was making cookies. Then my 11 year old comes in the kitchen and says "so, the word on the hallways is that you are making cookies."

Where do they come up with this stuff? Needless to say I was laughing outloud at that one.

Kids are a BLAST!

Tools for school

Someone asked that I tell about our school bins, so I thought I would do a quick post on the tools we use to make things a bit more organized.

These bins have made life SOOO much easier, they have been the best investment so far in my arsenal of organizational purchases!



I purchased them at Lakeshore Learning Materials . They are built to last and come with plastic file folders that have also revolutionized school around here. As the boys were young I always pulled everything out for them in the morning and told them what they needed to get done that day, as they have gotten older this was becoming time consuming and I wanted a way for them to be more "in charge" of their work. So now we have this:

Every Sunday I get all there work together and print out there lesson plan sheet for the week and stick it all in their ToDo folder. They are in charge of pulling it out of their bin by 9:00am and getting started. Then when the work is completed it goes into the completed file and is put back in their bin. On Sunday while I'm preparring for school I empty out their completed file and place it in their three ring binder:

Some other benefits of the bins is that it is all there for them, no more searching through the school shelf to find so and so's math workbook, while trying to keep the other books from toppling over ;-)

They each have their own color which I will need to improvise on as other children are added to the mix!

One other thing I will throw in there (not school related) but at Lakeshore Learning they have a wonderful bathroom product for those of us with many children! Check it out HERE They also have one for 12 children. I LOVE this! Its a bit pricy but their products are made to last! Not to mention all the other things they have that "I" would love to have!

Alright back to sewing my drapes for the living and dinning rooms.

Have a BLESSED day!

Another B-day passed

We have had a fun two days. We had family night on the 31st where we went and ate dinner at CiCi's. It was kids eat free night!! Where else can you feed a family of 8 for 12.00. I love that part! Then we stopped at Blockbuster on the way home and picked up Over The Hedge to watch later in the evening. All in all it was a good night.

Then yesterday (Nov 1st) Devon turned 11. We always make birthdays a big deal around here. Lots of presents and decorations. I let Devon put up streamer paper all around the house early in the day and we decorated the house with banners and balloons. Then He opened two of his toys...because its a long time to wait until 7 in the evening to get presents and cake.

When dad got home from work we had cake and opened presents and had a great time! I cant believe my baby is getting so old. He is a great kiddo!

Happy Birthday Devon!!

Mind Numbing Work

I am finding that I cant be in all the places I need to be in order to protect my children in their own home. Last night I was not feeling well so I was on the couch with my feet up, but trying to keep an ear open to everything that was being said by Margaret (my mother) to the kids.

Apparently I was not doing a good enough job, because my just turned 7 year old came up to me and started asking me about the devil. Of course I knew exactly what had happened. I asked him a few starting questions like well what did she tell you. He proceeded to tell me what she told him, which some of it was disturbingly not true. Apparently they were talking about his school and how much he liked it and when she thought that the cost was clear...she asked "so do you know who the devil is?"

I asked him if she mentioned Jesus, he said no, just the devil. Am I the only one who finds this a bit odd? She did this before with Devon and scared the life out of him telling him that the devil can enter into people and possess them. I think she has an unhealthy obsession with Mr Lucifer and that she is trying to plant that in the kids when ever she sees I'm not listening.

I am not opposed to talking about the devil, but the context was weird and out of place. Her relegious beliefs do not line up with Rob and I's beliefs. Yet I cant seem to get her to stop talking to them about this stuff. Perhaps I just need to sit down with her this evening and let her know that if this doesnt stop she will have to leave before the two weeks is up.

Sigh

On another note is it just me or is Halloween completely flooding the airwaves and shopping arenas this year. For those of you who celebrate...I have no qwams (eat some candy for me) but for those of us who do not...you cant get away from it this year. Even my kids are so excited that today is Halloween...even though they know nothing comes of it for them....isnt that odd. They were walking around yesterday saying trick or treat to each other.

The Father has shown me over the past few days that we must buckle down and do more to protect our childrens minds and hearts and eyes and souls. TV needs to be a thing of the past, but in a house full of 6 fellas thats no mole hill.

Oh, Amish country.....please hold a spot for me!

Eve is going to start school without me so I guess I had better get moving LOL

Thank Goodness its Monday!

I made it through the weekend....barely. I guess it wasnt so bad. I handled myself pretty well on the outside, but still struggling on the inside. There were many situations that she (my mother) pushed buttons, but I tried to just shrug it off. Only 12 more days to go!! She is working "right now" so I have all day to find rest and peace.

We kept ourselves busy this weekend with sheet rocking, texturing and painting. It is starting to look really good. The color I picked for the dinning room seems a bit bold, but its growing on me. Once I buy the material for the drapes and get them sewn and put up it will tie it all together.

I feel like this day will drag on forever, its 8:45am yet it seems like it should be 10 by now. I guess I should enjoy the extra time in my day!!

Everyone have a great week!

Pictures of the weekend

Eve loves shoes!

The boys on the trampoline...yes, there is no net and they can jump with more than just one at a time. LOL

If you look closely you will see even more evidence of my Willy Nilly parenting style...yep one at the top and one on his way up. If we lived on a deserted island tree climbing for food would not be an issue.

Jordan is such a great big brother!

Real Beauty?

I found a link of a short film over at Give her the fruit of her hands Are you ladies ready for a pick-me-up? What we "see" presented to us by the media is truly a farce! Yes there are those woman who are just really beautiful.....they are you and me. We may not fit the worlds image and to that I say AMEN! Enjoy this film...show it to your children and your husband, so that they to can see that the things of this world are not as they seem! Outer beauty is a fading illusion. Inner beauty shines through us. I ask you to go one step further, for those of you who really put alot of stock in your lipstick and hair gel...put it away for one week!

www.campaignforrealbeauty.com

Update and Thanks!

I wanted to thank those of you who have been praying for me...please continue! I feel a measure of peace although I am fighting the anxiety. She will be here this evening after she gets off work. Wow, just writing that makes my heart race. Isnt that weird! I have been in some down right bad places in my life but never have I ever felt the way she makes me feel.

After some thought on Thursday morning, I asked the lord to make it very clear to me that I was supposed to let her stay here, if I heard nothing I was calling her up that evening and telling her I had reconsidered and just could not allow her to come.
I called my dh later that day after feeling very led to not allow her back and told him of my plans. He told me that we have to let her for two weeks, but no longer, simply because it is the right thing to do. So there it was *darnet* The Lord speaking to me through my dh that this was His will.

After quite a bit of sikeing (sp) myself up I realized a few things. There must be ground rules and boundaries.

The first being that she has ONLY 2 weeks and not one day longer, and beyond that, this will be her last time to stay here.

Secondly, she tends to spurt out the most hateful things (and feels its OK because the Bible says the tounge cannot be controled ???*what* ) Therefor for my safety spiritualy and mentally (and her physical safety LOL) She is not to say anything that is not uplifting and edifying to me. If she has a legitament complaint she is to hold her tongue and talk with Rob when he gets home and then he can talk with me.

Lastly, and this is the biggy and maybe a little harsh, but none the less important. She is not allowed alone with any of my oldest three children. After what she did to poor Devon I just can not allow it!

I am not making any special arrangments for her like I did last time, my life will go on as it needs to. Please PRAY! I will need it....she is a powerful adversary. The thing I struggle with the most is trying not to believe her lies. I know they are not true but it is still hard.

Everyone have a blessed weekend!

I know theres a reason for all this!?!

So if you have been reading this blog for the past 6 months or so you know what I have gone through with my mother who stayed with us for a few months earlier in the summer. I had thought she had moved back to Alabama when she left here, but she infact had stayed in Greenville.

She has come over about three times in the past few months and visited for about 20 minutes each time. I was uncomfortable around her, but figured she just needed to see a familiar face from time to time, so I let her come.

Well she showed up last night unannounced with "a favor" to ask. I knew she was either going to ask for money or to stay here again. In fact, the later is what she wanted. Part of me was shocked that she would ask after all that had happened. Then I realized she was about to have a laps in jobs and realized she was not going to be able to pay for her room she currently resides in.

I stood there silent for a moment and then said I will ask Rob when he gets home from work. She says "oh well, do you think he might object?" I said "I dont know what he will say" I guess I really was hoping that he would say "honey I saw how this affected you last time and I wont allow it to happen again, therefor she will not be able to stay here" That is what I wanted him to say, but I guess the reality is that I knew he would leave it up to me. The problem is that I am not emotionaly stable in this area, nor with her. She is the polar opposite of me and in a way toxic to me, if that makes any sense?

I really should have told her I would call her tomorrow with an answer but after talking with Rob on the phone I told her that was fine *shacking head* am I insane? Have I forgotten all the things she did to me and my family the last two times she has stayed here?

I think there is something in me that wants to help anyone who needs it, yet another part of me who thinks that turning my mother away is a sin in some way. Would God ever forgive me for something like that? Would He be ashamed of me if I told her no?
I know that there must be something He is trying to show me through this situation. But what is it? If she were a drug addict or some unexceptable thing would that be easier? She is only mentally unstable....but I think that is worse. I keep reminding myself of how she drug Devon into the middle of it last time. How low and awful that was of her. Will it be different this time? Probably not!

I guess what it all boils down to is that I would stand in front of oncoming traffic if that is what The Lord in heaven needed me to do. Yes, her being near me is like standing infront of oncoming traffic. You know that you are in an unsafe place...and you just pray that you can make it through the next hour without getting side swiped or flattened.

So, I am praying that He would show me what His will is in this by the end of today!
She will be here Friday after work unless I call her and tell her I've decided to not allow her here after all. Please pray with me that The Father will make His will completely obvious to me. That I can see through my hurt with an eternal perpective.

***Sigh***

Cute Game

I thought this was cute and I'm shocked I am the only one with my name in the whole US of A. Well with the exception of my lovely daughter who apparently is not on the radar yet.

HowManyOfMe.com

There is: 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Boy or Girl ?!?

I get asked a lot if I think its one over the other. I hesitate to answer, well, because I have been no good at guessing in the past LOL!

We had an ultrasound with the first 4 and of course found out of their gender before they entered this world. The last two we have been surprised. I guess I figured it would be easier to do a homebirth if I was working toward a goal "unwrapping the surprise."

I did not think Eve was a girl at all. Although others had pointed out to me that I was a bit sicker with that pregnancy. There are other things that were different just in the way I carried her. She was easier to carry. My back didn't hurt. Also no back labor (praise The Lord) With the boys toward the last few months they always felt so low, as if they would fall out at any moment. But I really took no stock in those things as I was only a mom to "boys" LOL and could surely only bring forth from my womb, those with much testosterone!

So what do I think this one is? I am really leaning toward another girl. I have had a very similar pregnancy this time as with Eve. No back pain, more sickness, baby is not low. Although there is that part of me that does not want to get my hopes up, and wants to stay down here in reality where I have a bad "girl" track record. In all honesty I would love another boy, but, I will say it out loud.......... my hope is for a girl!

Either way of course I just pray that this little one is nit together perfectly! I pray that everything is in its proper place, working and functioning in its proper fashion. I pray that the heart and brain and all other organs are where they where intended to be, and that every cell of this baby is acting as The Father wills it so. When you have an "un-tested" homebirth that is the biggest prayer.

I do have the boy name picked out already (it was our boy name for #6) its Lucas Madech. Girl names are hard for me, I'm not sure why, but if its a girl her name will be Ava Rose. I love the name Rose, and thought that Eve and Ava would be a cute fit.

So what have you noticed about your pregnancies? Have you been able to tell what you were carrying just by symptoms and differences in your pregnancy? What have been the major differences for you carrying different genders?

Bad Blogger... why do you spite me so?

I posted yesterday but blogger wasnt really in the mood to publish my post. It seems to be really difficult and time consuming (or wasting) lately to post. Wonder what the problem is? Oh well!

Today is Friday and around here that means deep cleaning, no school work and a fun jaunt to the park. We enjoy our Fridays! We turn the radio up and get to work. The house is usually done by 11:30 then its lunch and park.

The weather has gotten a bit chilly here. It was 36 this morning, but should warm up to the low 70's by mid day. My dear Rob had the flu on Wednesday and stayed home from work. Recovery was super quick, he was better by the next day! Thankfully he didnt share. Its pretty rare that we share things around here. I guess we have good immune systems! Thank The Lord!

I on the other hand must be getting a second round of the pregnancy yuks. I have never done this before, so I am a bit perplexed. I had about a good month of feeling great and now not so much. I am still taking my vitamins and orderd some raspberry tea and iron boosting herbs from Precious Arrows. So hopefully I can get to feeling better.

Have any of you ever expereinced a second helping of prego sickness. Did you determine the cause. I have heard that pregnancies with multiples tends to lend itself to more sickness, but I am measuring right on track so that is very unlikely. Oh well, this to shall pass!

If blogger feels up to it here are some more cute pictures of my youngest two, playing and being cute.

Thats the prettiest flower I have ever seen!
I cant believe she has gotten so big. She is saying new words every day. Yesterday she heard us say money in school and she kept saying it all day. When Rob got home, Miss Eve shared her newly learned word with daddy, he determined it is way to early for that word. LOL

Her favorite word is daddy, she just like to here herself say it. But if you ask her to say mommy she will smile at you and say NO!

Elijah and Eve going over the plan that will get them in the pond with the turtles!

An Eternal Perspective

"As we teach our children and lay a foundation of truth that will hold strong throughout their lives, they must hear, as Jesus disciples did, of the reality of eternity. Jesus said that this world is passing away, that we will live with Him in His kingdom for eternity, but also that eternity starts right now as we establish his spiritual kingdom in our hearts and learn to live with an eternal perspective.

How inportant is it that we give our children this perspective as we seek to lay the foundations of their lives. Jesus said; "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness"(Mathew6:33). We are to strain for heaven, to put our treasures there, and this means we must hold this world loosely.

If we teach our children through our actions or instruction, even subtly, that being succesfull in this world is some how a measure of their importance and succes, then we will miss the point of all the Lords teaching. We are given one chance to live on this earth, and the true measure of our success will be our faith, our faithfullness, and our obediance.

As I seek to teach my children all the biblical truths they will need to be equipped for life and also try and model for them a life of faith, eternal truth must always be the foundation of their understanding. If they can keep eternity before their eyes, they will be able to live in hope no matter what happens to them in this life.

And rest assured something always happens! Happiness, after all, is elusive in this life. It is a sure thing that all the people that our children love will die. All the material things they own will disintegrate. All the status that they achieve will pass away.

But Christ and His kingdom will never pass away. He will be with us always. With this knowledge as the foundation of faith, our children will never lose hope and will never fail, because they have a future, "an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven" for them (1peter 1:4)"
The ministry of motherhood

As I read this section of the chapter I began to ask myself have I done a good job in teaching my children of their eternal heritage? Yes they know that Heaven awaits them, but do they know why, do they know the details, the legacy, the real reason for this life? I think I have alot of work to do in this area, and a gazzilion other areas ;-)

Howdy Folks...

.....Welcome to the State Fair of Texas! I am just now getting around to posting pictures of the fair. The kids had a blast! We spent way to much money, ate way to much food...hey, sounds just like last year!

Jordan sliding down the huge slide

Eve's first fair game. She actually one a medium size toy!

My little cows Seth and Ethan

Elijah and Ethan riding in the coffee...thats what Elijah calls it...to cute!

Eve sharing her corn dog with momy.

The Stucker Bunch!

Games, Games and more Games!

Devon and I looking at the very first Dr Pepper bottles and cans!

Random thoughts

I am still waiting on the pictures from the MOMYS gathering from the MOMY who took them. She is supposed to email them to me sometime this week. So when she does I will post them. I couldn't believe I forgot my camera. That was the one thing I kept telling myself to grab. I guess I need to stick my old camera in my car and leave it there, for days I am forgetful.

Today we will be cleaning the house doing laundry and I need to take the car in and vacuum it out and wash it. Run a few errands and get ready for Thursday. We are going to the State Fair of Texas tomorrow. That is always a lot of fun. Hopefully by going during the week it wont be as crowded as last year.

I have been feeling fantastic lately. I have soooo much energy! So I am really trying to get as many projects done around the house, which is why I haven't been posting daily lately.

I did receive the Fall Teach Magazine a few days ago. I have to be honest and say that I have been waiting to post about it for a while now because I wanted to be able to say something good. I had received and read two prior magazines but for whatever reason could not connect with the articles. BUT this last issue was fantastic. There were articles that were inspiring, encouraging one that made me cry and another that I read to my husband and his words were simply "WOW"

Needless to say I was very impressed with the magazine this time around! A few of my favorite articles were these:

Angels in the Alley: This was an eye opening article, a true story, author not named. It is really neat to read things like this to bring back that strong understanding that if we belong to The Father we are protected, unless He sees fit otherwise. I truly think that this has happened to me many times throughout my life and I just never knew it! Great article!

Organized Chaos: This was an article that basically encouraged me to just keep going. That I was on the right track. To keep it up on a daily basis and it will be easier to manage. Here's an excerpt:

"First you must learn to live life AWARE. Many moms seem to just shuffle through their days unaware of what they could or should be doing to make things run more efficiently in their home. The Bible says that we should take captive every thought (11 Corinthians 10:5). I go one step further and say that we should take captive every moment. Don't let your life just randomly fly by. Be aware of the needs of the individuals living in your home. Be aware of what it takes to make your home run. Be aware of schedules and appointments. Be aware of preparing for the future as best you can. Begin to live life aware instead of drifting through life, hoping things will just work out." .....Be intentional about your life. Don't leave your life or the lives of your precious family to chance. Get intentional about how you live your life, how you run your home, and how you make sure things get done. This involves a shift in thinking and does not lend itself to laziness. It enables your family to reach into the cabinet and find food or toiletries. When you live intentionally , you weigh the cost of every scheduling decision and maximize your time at every turn.

This was a very convicting article for me. I am not a sloth, but I am not as consistent and deliberate as I know I need to be.

Oh Father please give me all that I need, to be all that I need to be!

Swinging on the back porch: This was written by a mom to 14 dc. This article made me cry. The precept is that "We have this moment, today!" She talks about a particular day where her children, 7 at the time where all little and playing in the back yard while she swang on the porch swing. How that moment was so special! I have had those moments, they are glorious! And I realize that they go so quickly. Here is the excerpt that made me cry ;-)

"I remember so clearly one warm sunny day in May. I had seven children at the time, one just two weeks old. The kids were outside playing in the sprinklers, laughing and making up games. God spoke so clearly to my heart that day saying, "Cherish this day. Bask in this moment" I did and I still do now! Today three of those little boys are married, two have children of their own, and one of those boys is in heaven, which makes that memory even more precious to me. "

There is a song by Doug Oldham that says this:

We have this moment to hold in our hands,

and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand.

Yesterdays gone, and tomorrow may never come,

but we have this moment today!

There were many more articles that were lovely to read. You can find this magazine at TEACHmagazine.com

Vision Forum Contest!

For those of you who enjoy Vision Forum there is a contest being held over at Life In A Shoe
You have the chance at winning over 700 dollars in Vision Forum products. All you must do is guess the amount of products they will have in their NEW catalog that is coming out in a few weeks. You have until Oct. 13th to enter!

Enough beds to bunk a small army!

As I promised here are the pictures o fthe finished triple bunks we built last week. There are two identical triples in the boys room.





We moved the double bunk into the spare kids room, which in about 6 months when the new baby is ready to move into the nursery will become the "girls" room. Never thought I would have one of those. LOL




Lord willing in a few years we will have the 3rd floor completed and at that point it will become the boys room. It is about 1500 square feet up there, just one big room. Then we can move the girls room into the big room where the boys are now, where we hope there will be "at least" one more girl to share it with Eve.

I will post more later about the MOMYS gathering, it was a lot of fun! And my ticker baby has moved over to the next square!!! How exciting! Soon I will have a little bundle of heaven to hold! For now though its off to school the little bundles of heaven I already have!

Have a blessed week!

Still at it over here!

I thought I would post real quick. Its the Thursday before the MOMYS gathering here in town. I am excited to get to meet some other local MOMYS face to face ;-)

I have been busily readying my house for Tina, Skip and their children who will be staying here on Friday night. It will be nice to actually fellowship with them in person and get to know them a bit more. I admire Tina and appreciate the time she invests in MOMYS.

I will post pictures of all the ladies and children who are here tomorrow. As for now I am off to finish cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, ect. ect.

Have A Blessed Day!

Its been a while!

I have been so busy working around the house this past week. There is something great about being at the end of your 2nd trimester. You get all this wonderful energy. I got a wild hair last Tuesday and have been at it ever sense.

I decided that it was time to do something with the kitchen. We really have been ignoring it because one of these days we are taring that aweful addition off of the house and rebuilding a (matching) two story addition, complete with new kitchen. The problem is, that is another two years down the road at this point!

There is also that little incident we had a while back where the kitchen caught on fire, that has been very apparent every sense. So I got to work and my kitchen went from this:

To This:


Yes, we are still missing a cabinet door somewhere in the garage, need to get out there and find it. But it has been really nice having it look half way decent again. The whole kitchen got a fresh coat of paint and I sewed curtains for all the lower cabinets and windows. Everything is fresh and clean.

I am now building 2 sets of triple bunkbeds for the boys room. I will post pictures of that when we are finished, hopefully on Wed.

Perspective

You know its amazing how our perspective is the key to life, no matter what season or trial of life we are in. Can you imagine not being fretful, discouraged, angry ect. with anything in your life.

One common complaint with moms to many is that the work is never done and its a thankless job. This is all very true. Some moms even to just one or two children are so negative and really feel robbed of their "life" due to having had children. What a shame!

Our joy in life and our success as mothers is that we get our perspective straight and no matter how much the advesary tries to make you think otherwise; you KNOW the truth!

The truth that the very next breath that you take is not promised to you, it is a gift. The truth that parents loose children everyday and will never touch their soft faces again on this earth. The truth that every moment that your children and yourself are healthy is a gift that out ways all the rest. Every moment that we have our children at home with us, making messes, and needing their diaper changed is priceless. Why do some parents miss this? They cant wait for the child to be out of diapers, next they cant wait until the child starts school and on and on!

If you had no legs and one day were told that you were receiving the gift of legs for only 24 hours. The only exception is that you must continue to dig a trench the entire time you have your legs. Would you say, "you know what that seems like a lot of work, I think I'll pass on that."
I dought it! You would gratefully dig that trench the whole time, enjoying the legs you are standing on.

You will probably wiggle your toes and bend your knees taking in all the wonderful sensations that you had never known. You will enjoy the ache from having been standing so long. You will soak up and embrace ALL that 24 hrs has in store. The good and the hard and count it all as absolutely wonderful!

Sometimes we get lost in the precious gifts of The Father only to count them as sorrow. We must change our perspective. If you were to leave this earth today would your children know that they were the joy of your life.

Which leads me to my next thought for the day. Children will be more enjoyable if they are trained to act correctly and be a functioning, helpful part of the family. No one likes to be around unruly, disrespectful kids; not even the parents of those kids. Train your children well and they will be a blessing and a joy to you! And realize that one day even though it seems so far off in the distance; that your house will be empty. No more sticky little baby faces to kiss when ever your heart desires. No more shoes to pick up off the floor. Laundry will cease to exist, and you will be in the fall and winter of your life. Enjoy the spring and the summer for those are the seasons that your life's memories are made!

Busy Weekend!

As most of yall kow the 23rd was Seths 7th Birthday as well as Rob and I's 11th Anniversary, So it was a busy day Saturday. We had to take the dog in for shots at 9:00 then Chuckie Cheese at 11:00. The boys had a blast, they always do at C.C.

After The birthday party we went home and watched disk 2 of the second season if lost. Yep, thats how I do it. I wait until the season comes out on dvd and then watch it without commercials. That is really the only series I ever wanted to watch yet never seemed to catch it when it was on TV.

Then we went to my sisters Saturday evening and watched the Ultimate Fighting Championship fights. Yes I live in a house full of testosterone, this is part of the requirements.

Today Rob had jury summons and luckily was not picked. It was a 2 week trial and his employers would not have been to happy about that. So he is home mowing and weed eating and all that fun stuff.

For those of you MOMYS readers. I am so excited about the Greenville MOMYS get together. Tina told me last night that she will be attending, due to the fact that she will be in town for the Big Sandy Family Camp. I will get to visit with her Thursday as well, as she is staying over at my home. So if you live anywhere near Greenville, please join us it will be so nice to meet and edify one another.

Everyone have a blessed and glorious week!

Website Design Contest

If you are like me and have no HTML skills what-so-ever, yet long to have a pretty blog; I wanted to let you in on a contest. Visit BlueBird Blogs and enter to when a completely FREE new web design! Entries will be taken until the 22nd so dont delay. You can also see her gallery of wonderful...momy-esk blog designs.

A few questions answered

I thought I would answer a few questions that I tend to be long winded when answering.;-)


Letisha asked "did you homebirth with the boys? What are your labors like? Besides PAINFUL AND JOYOUS!"

My first 4 boys were delivered in the hospital. I was never happy with the outcome of each birth, except of course for my precious babies. I felt like a circus attraction with everyone looking on waiting for me to spit fire. Along with that I felt like so much was done that was unnecessary. My labors are quite short. The first one was about 6 hours and I pushed 3 times, after being told I would be pushing for at least an hour. I remember thinking after his birth..."man, that was easy what was all the fuss about?" haha. For those of you who would like to hit me for saying that ;-) Yes, I had an epidural and had no idea what real pain was!

With my 5th son we planned to have a home birth unassisted. His birth was wild, and the more I look back on it, it was a blessing. The Father knew that I needed for it to happen fast. I had my first contraction and had a baby in my hands 30 min. later. It was fast and spontaneous. My body took over and I was just along for the ride!

My Eve was pretty quick as well. It was about 3 hours from first contraction until she was in my arms. That was an intense labor. All mine have been very quick and painful. I watch moms having babies and they are in obvious pain but are controlled. I am screaming like I am being flogged. The best way I can explain the intensity of my labors is it feels like I am being pulled apart. It is hard, but worth every moment! I would love to have a longer labor with less intensity! Its amazing what us moms are willing to go through to receive The Fathers precious gifts!

Also asked "You got a much sooner start than I did. Did you know Rob in high school?"

I wish my life had been that normal! LOL I had moved out of my dads house when I was 14 and got a job and an apartment and started my life. Rob and I met while we were working as Vet Tech's in an animal hospital. I was 18. He was 23. We dated for a year and where married in 1995. I was 3 weeks away from being 20 when we had our first son! We have been blessed every other year sense then with a new baby! We will be celebrating our 11th anniversary in 2 days!

Boys, Babies and Circus Tents

Don't you love children. They are so free to do what they feel. They have no apprehensions just live life. My 5 year old was out side with me when the mail man came yesterday. He ran up to the mail man (who happened to not be our usual carrier) and gave him a big ole hug. I knew what he was up to as soon as I saw him start running. In my mind I'm thinking oh no, what is this guy going to think? I said, as he grabbed ahold of his leg and squeezed "I'm sorry he is a huger" Wondering what the man was going to say. Usually the comments range from oh, well that was sweet or thank you, sometimes blank stares follow Ethans hugs. YES, he hugs everybody! The checkout people at the grocery store get the most, but what the mail carrier said was so precious "He looked at me and smiled and said you know I needed a hug today!" How blessed my heart was. The Father showed me that this is how we are supposed to show love to others. Not by running up to them and hugging and kissing their leg, but by not questioning or deciding to show love to someone on the basis of how we think their reaction will be. Children truly are angels from heaven!

I thought I would post a picture of my boys as they don't seem to get much air time, sense Eve came on the set ;-) So here's my little men!



I can't believe I am half way through with this pregnancy! I can't wait to meet my new little one. She/He has been moving around for a few weeks now. This past week I have been able to feel the kicks from the outside. ;-) Such a great time. I am not so huge that I am miserable and the morning sickness is gone! But I am getting big!



And I cant leave yall without a picture of my latest dress for Eve. I know enough already ;-) This one I sewed on Sunday and Devon my oldest said, "Mom, it looks like a circus tent!" I said "well I'm glad you like it because I will be starting yours next." LOL....I have to admit it is a bit busy.

Timber

Well it was a good weekend around here. I took the kids swimming on Saturday which wore all of us out. Then on Sunday we were forced to lounge around due to the rain outside...ALL day!
I am not complaining though because we really need the rain here.

I am complaining just a bit about what the wind and rain produced. We have six 45ft or so Sycamore trees that surround our home. They provide shade but mostly are just the messiest trees I have ever encountered. They loose their leaves year round and bark in the summer and round fuzzy balls in the spring. Just constantly messy! Yet they are our trees and we like the shade. Unfortunately we are one less tree today.

The entire top 20 feet of the tree came crashing to the ground!

Here is the top of the tree laying in the EMPTY field beside our house!

The only damage was to a few pickets of our fence. Rob and the neighbors are cutting it off here.

The real miracle here is that if it would have fallen into our home it would have caused a bunch of damage. Rob usually parks his car right were the tree fell, but on that day parked it in the other drive way. It missed my car by 2 feet. Lastly but MOST important is that my children were not playing in the field when it happened! The Lord is more than GOOD!

And the good news is Rob is going to build me a table that seats 12 out of the huge trunk that still remains and needs to be cut down.

Bad mommy...bad!

I had to share this as it had me rolling this morning. Eve received a doll stroller through free-cycle yesterday and there is a little doll that came with it. As I said in my earlier post we have been busily cleaning the house this morning. So she has been keeping herself busy pushing the little baby in its stroller all morning.



There have been a couple of times where the baby has not cooperated and either fallen out or just not acted right for what ever reason ;-) So I have had to stop and help her situate the baby in the stroller. Eves virtues at this stage in the game do not include patience.

So I am cleaning the dining room and I see her come happily trotting out of the kitchen, then I see her pushing an empty stroller. I don't know what it is but I always know what my children have done. I guess its a weird mommy thing. So I had an idea of where the baby was. And I was right! I walked in to the kitchen and came upon this awful scene.



I didn't realize this was an option. Think of the possibilities!

Mommyhood according to Eve: If baby is misbehaving just throw it in the kitchen trash for a bit and go on about your business. She is still pushing an empty stroller around. Silly Girl!

I am posting at the crack of dawn today

Its about 7:15 this morning. It has been cool enough in the mornings that I need to put on a sweater to come downstairs. We also have not had to turn on the air units until around 3:00 in the afternoon. This will be a big help in next months electric bill!

In a few months it will be so chilly in here. I'm not fond of being "cold" but I suppose it helps me to enjoy the "hot" more when it comes.

I spent about 4 hours yesterday cleaning out the library. We call it the library because one day it will be just that. Rob is going to build shelves from floor to ceiling all around the room. I have always wanted one of those libraries you see in old houses with the step ladder that slides across the top. The ceilings are about 10 feet tall, so I will need something to get up there. It is the room where we do our school work and art work and office work, so there is always a lot of accumulation of stuff. I was going to upload pictures but my cameras batteries are dead so I'll try and get some up later today.

Today is Friday. YAY! Its deep clean day here. We have no school work on Fridays. But lots of cleaning work. The boys are all still in their assigned zones, BUT they must deeply clean everything. After we have the house sparkling clean we will head off to the park for some much needed play time. (incentive)

Everyone have a blessed, safe weekend and a joyous, full of the spirit Sabbath Rest!

Ramblings of Yesterday

I finished another dress for Eve yesterday. Remember the material I bought on the clearance table? This is the material that was 1.00 a yard So the dress cost me 1.50. I love the fabric pattern. It will match her blue eyes...and who doesn't love roses? I am kinda getting the hang of the button holes, although they still are not as perfect as I would like them to be. I realized my sewing machine (that was given to me free so I'm not complaining) does not have a built in button hole setting....so I have to free hand it, YIKES!

Devon is real big on taking trash and creating "stuff" out of it. I had a great idea to create a notebook for him. It will in include a picture of the creation with a descriptive paragraph above to tell all about what he made. I wish I would have thought of this earlier. I thin kit will be fun for him to look back on when he is older and see the things he made as a boy. The creation that spurred this on was his Sonic Grappling hook. Yes he named it...isnt that cute? Its hard to see in the pictures but the hook (a paper clip and rubber band) is pulled back and released which then will allow his action figures to climb up tall things. LOL




I also wanted to share a great "TO DO list" over at Tianys blog. I really enjoyed reading this list during my quite time last night. Oh how much work I have left to do. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could wake up just complete. Never again raise your voice, talk down to, be sarcastic, think wrongly of anything or anyone again. To be filled with ALL the fruits of the spirit. To glow as you go through your day, while letting nothing distract you or worry you. I loved these particular versus as I read through it:

In II Tim. 2:22 we are told to flee the evil desires of youth and to pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. II Cor. 7:1 tells us to purify ourselves from all that contaminates our body and spirit. We are to clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus, (Rom. 13:14) and live a life worthy of our calling. (Eph. 4:1) We are to live as children of light and to find out what pleases our Lord. (Eph. 5:8, 10)

Can you imagine what it is like to clothe yourself with Jesus Christ. To put him on like a dress...pull him over your head and down around you until He is covering your body. What a visual that is for me. As followers of Christ how often are we walking around completely naked? I got to thinking about what I could do to clothe myself in Him and it all boils down to one thing. Keep Him close to me all day. Read the scriptures, pray without stopping, always be thinking how would The Father want me to handle this and trust in Him to help me carry out those tasks.

Oh...so much work to be done!

I-Q tests?

So I took a real I-Q test today just for the sake of wasting time. Because I have so much of it LOL and here are my results:

Congratulations, Audrey!Your IQ score is 115

This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others. Your Intellectual Type is Insightful Linguist. This means you are highly intelligent and have the natural fluency of a writer and the visual and spatial strengths of an artist. Those skills contribute to your creative and expressive mind. And that's just some of what we know about you from your test results.

Umm....then how come half the time I am putting the milk up in the cabinet and the cereal in the fridge? In all honesty I'm not even sure if the score is good, or what the average scores are. I just thought it would be fun. I am very visual. So the pictures of all the weird and odd shapes I can get in a flash. I could have gotten the full report for 12$ but I'm a tight wad. LOL

Sewing question
The pattern that I am using for the jumpers for Eve is the See and Sew (see I told you I was visual ;-) #4488 and I have another pattern that is See and Sew also where the main difference is in the collar (it is rounded instead of square) it is #B4420. I haven't used the later one yet because I figure when you have something down pat, why change it. When I get bored with sewing the other pattern, I will switch and learn the new one. They both take about 1 1/2 yards to make a dress with.

On another note, I have been feeling like crum again. Nauseous and head aches. I was feeling so good there for a while. It is so easy to stay motivated and on task when you feel good....not so much when you don't. I'm sure it will pass soon!

Also Kendra over at preschoolers and peace has had a few good posts on chores and child discipline that I thought where really insightful.

Edited: Here are the I-Q score averages I found while doing a search online.

Where will your score fall within the following ranges?
80-90 (below average)
90-110 (average intelligence)
111-121 (above average) (ooo..ooo...here I am)
122-130 (highly intelligent)
131-141 (gifted)
142+ (genius - top 1%)

LOL I dont consider myself above average by any means!!!

OK so I'm smitten by her cuteness!

Here she is wearing her new grape dress for the first time. She is very hard to take pictures of. you have to follow her around and pretend you are not taking pictures. I managed to get a few!

I'm not sure that she ever plays with actual toys.

She loves just being near her daddys stuff!

Her purple convertable!

Alright, finally! I tried a bunch of times yesterday but blogger seems to be persnickity lately. So here are my latest dresses for Eve. I am getting more creative as I go and realizing the fun things that can be added, like ruffles and ribbons. So much fun!

I went grocery shopping last night and found 2 different materials on the clearance table. I bought enough to sew two more dresses and the cost was only $4.50 I love sewing cute dresses that only cost me 2.25 each.

I realized the other day that winter is coming and I am going to have to figure out how to sew sleeves. That seems like a daunting task. We'll see how I do.

Hey Yall!

Last Saturday my DSL modem decided that it would stop functioning correctly, so I was without internet for about 5 days. It was tuff not being able to get online, but a pleasant break.

We had a barbecue on Sunday and had a great time, but the kids seemed to receive a gift of the cold virus from one of the other guests (not sure who the offender was ;-) Ethan (5) got it first then Elijah (3) then Devon (10) now today Eve is looking all puffy in the eyes and has a snotty nose. I only hope I can bypass getting it. I am swimming in Vitamin C just to make sure I'm doing all I can do to keep from it. Jordan and I usually don't get sick, even if everyone in the house is!

Yesterday I had a dentist appointment. I was scheduled for a deep clean and got it, OUCH! As I was leaving we made an appointment for me to come back in a few weeks to have an abscessed wisdom tooth pulled. She also said that I had my yearly coming up in a few months and to be able to complete that, I would need to get a note from my OB stating that I am cleared for x-rays. I explained to her that we could just push that appointment back a few months as I didn't have an OB because I labored at home. She looked at me as if I had said I had a bomb strapped to my chest and was about detonate if my demands were not met. She said "oh, well let me go talk with the dentist and I will be right back" She returned to tell me that NOW they would also need an OB note stating what anesthesia they can use for the tooth extraction in a few weeks. Sure is funny they didn't need that a few minutes earlier. I explained to her that I understood my risks and would gladly except Lidacain and would sign any waivers that they felt needed to be signed. She basically told me that I would have to be under an OB's care to walk back in the doors while pregnant. I was furious. I said fine, I guess I will carry around this infection for the next 5 months, that should be much safer for me and the baby, than a shot of Lidacain. What is wrong with people these days. Everyone is out to cover their own behinds because no one wants to take responsibility for their actions. I am guessing that I could step in front of oncoming traffic and if I survived still be able to sue the poor soul who hit me and WIN, all while having a suicide note pinned to my shirt. It really is sad and frustrating for those of us who have sense and realize our risks and except the outcome without retaliation. Ughh!

With the long weekend came much sewing. I have created a monster! I love sewing for Eve so here are the latest creations: well for what ever reason Blogger is being difficult, I will try to upload them again later today.

Well, I'm off. I need to finish the laundry for the day, bake the bread for the rest of the week, and make a shopping list were I will attempt to feed my family of 8 for 60$ this week. Wish me luck!

A new addition to the family!

Rob and I love BIG dogs. We have always wanted a mastiff, but couldn't justify spending 2,000 on a dog. I have had our name on pet finder for over a year, and when there would be an available mastiff that needed to be adopted we were notified. There was always a reason why we hadn't adopted. Either the adoption agency didn't want the animal to go to a house with small kids; or they were to far away. So I received another notice over a week ago. It was for a Boarboel Mastiff, which Rob and I had never heard of before (and we know our mastiffs ;-) So we went to look at him at the vet were he was staying, only 30 min. from our house!

He was found emaciated and covered with ticks and fleas about 2 months ago. They nursed him back to health and put weight back on him (he still needs to gain about 15 more) This dog was meant for our family. He is the most gentle and patient giant I have ever seen. Our dog Maverick played (pestered) him for the entire 3 hours he was first here and then we had to separate them so we could get some sleep.

So we introduce to you Franklin.

Yes, this is the large sofa in the main living room...the one that will seat 5-6 children...but only one Franklin. He was so heavy he was sinking in between the cushions. And yes that is drool he is dripping onto the couch cushions, Yuk!

Playing in the back yard with Maverick early this morning.