Where has the time gone?

I was looking at the date on my last post and realized with a shock how long it has been. I think the last couple months have blown by in a flurry of fall leaves. =)

We saw Mom and Dad and the girls off to Mozambique (for 6 months until Priscilla's wedding), and then I immediately dived into prepping all my Duds for Doodlebugs stuff. While doing that I caught the sewing bug and decided I could save alot of money if I made/repurposed a whole bunch of the kids clothes. That produced a whole lot of mess and great results. (I am hoping to post pics of it all.) We squeezed in a weekend trip to Ed's folks and I also got to spend an awesome couple of days with one of my best friends shopping and sewing. ( Hoping to post pics of that too.) I have attempted to do a certain amount of schooling and while we have had a few good solid weeks , I hate to confess that, alot of the time, the demands of the moment have over-ruled my attempts. I try not to let it overwhelm me when I consider how much of the year we have left and how much of it will be spent NOT doing school.

Maybe one day I will get it all figured out.....

Monday, we had a joint birthday party for the girls--complete with outdoor hotdog roast. The weather was absolutely perfect for it. Then the last couple days, when everything was finally slowing down and I was going to get back on that wagon.... I get sick. Flu I guess, I just know I felt miserable. I'm hoping that I'm on the mend now. I think the Lord lets me get sick ever once in a while just to keep me empathetic with my babies when they are sick. Otherwise I'm saying "suck it up and quit whining". =) (Maybe I'm exaggerating just a bit, but that does happen to be a tendency. Especially when everyone is crying. =)

What next?

Well, I'm planning on catching up with a cousin I haven't seen in forever on Monday. Seriously, probably 10 years. Soooo excited about that. And after that, we have a couple school field trips planned for next Friday.

So what has the Lord been teaching me lately?

Well, I think He is always trying to teach me many things but I'm such a slow learner. Seems I keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Like forgetting to prioritize and letting my whims dictate what happens at any given time.

But a couple of verses the Lord has brought to my attention lately are in 1Peter where I'm attempting to continue to memorize.

1 Peter 4:9 &10 " Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath recieved the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE company and doing for others, but occasionally I get frustrated when some of my carefully laid plans get "rearranged". And this was a good reminder to, even in my heart, be thankful and gracious with every bump that comes along.

The good, the bad, and the muddy

The Good: On a whim I ran to Goodwill today to see if I could find Ed some much needed jeans. And what do you know...I found 4 pairs of like new jeans for $5 each. 2 Lees, 1 Levis and 1 Perry Ellis. Soooo happy!

The Bad: I went to the Lil Butcher Shoppe (also on a whim..I guess I was having a whimsical day. lol) to buy meat today. BIG mistake. I got home and started cooking the ground meat, about 5 lbs. worth, and it smelled so bad. But I went ahead and seasoned it and thought it would be fine. I had planned taco salad for lunch and lasagna for tomorrow. I took one bite of my salad and almost gagged. It was awful!!!! Everyone else thought it tasted ok (as in, palatable), but I truly couldn't handle it, and I'm NOT a picky eater. I finally figured out they must have ground up liver with that batch. Ugh, gross! Won't make that mistake again. So I had to go buy some more ground meat at IGA before it closed this evening. I ended up freezing the other stuff for Ed to take to work. His idea, not mine...I was going to give it to the dog. =/

The Muddy: When I got home from shopping this afternoon, I see 4 little mud bugs in the back yard having a hey day. They had turned on the hose and had a small pond going on. Match box cars and mudpies. I was fine with it all except Alyssa was playing in her nicer clothes. (sigh) Thankfully it all came out in the wash and we are good to go again. =)

So that was my day... and a rather nice one if I do say so myself. And the very best part of it is my honey is home from work again and will be off for 4 whole days. Summer overtime has come to an end and I'm so happy. It was a blessing while it lasted, but I sure have missed having my husband around. =)

Updates on the kiddoes

I decided it was time to post some school pics and just a quick update on what each of the kids is doing.

Aaron just turned 10 in July and he is my scientist, brainiac, let-me-tell-you-about-my-latest-idea, child. He loves to invent, and when he isn't inventing he's reading. He is getting to be quite responsible and is such a help around the house and with Asher. He is such a good big brother...he will take him and change him and play with him. His job is cleaning the bathroom and taking out the trash, and laundry.
Lela is about to be 9 in Oct. And I have really been noticing lately how fast she is growing up. Of course, she has always been my responsible one (even before Aaron ever was) but has gotten more so. I have to always remind myself to not put too much on her and Aaron and to spread the responsibilities to the little ones too. Her job is keeping the beds made and room clean in the bedroom. And laundry. She too loves to read and has recently discovered the prequels to the Little House books..."The Caroline Years"...and is really enjoying them. She loves to design clothes and can't wait for school to start. (We were waiting until Sept. so we actually have about a week left.)

Alyssa is my third, and quite possibly my biggest, book worm. If you can't find her she is on her bed with her nose in a book. Or she is cutting out paper dolls. This child loves to cut stuff out...and it makes the biggest mess, but her attention to detail is pretty amazing. She will turn 8 right after Lela turns 9. Though there is only 13 months between them sometimes I think it seems like a couple years. Ironically, Alyssa has just gone through a growth spurt and has passed Lela up in height, but she is still very much younger in her actions. She is such a contradiction of noticing every little detail and yet being completely oblivious to obvious things. She is very thorough in her work but does tend to take forever....but we are working on that. Her job is to unload the dishwasher and put all the dishes away as well as help with laundry. (EVERYBODY has to help with laundry.=) She is anxious to start school too.

Isaac is 6 and he will be starting first grade. He is so excited. Although he can read basic 3 letter words and is good with knowing his phonics he hasn't had a whole lot of practice reading bigger words and books so we will be focusing on that alot. He can memorize ANYTHING and quotes it at any given time. Sometimes to my great embarrassment, if it happens to be lines from movies. He enjoys jokes and pretending to be cartoon characters. He is learning responsibility with feeding the dog and cleaning off the table.
Levi is 4 now, and in this picture looks so innocent. But he is really a little rascal. haha. He keeps us in stitches with his antics and comments! Everything from sword fighting and a fake british accent to pretending he is Buzz Lightyear or Woody. =) He is so ready to be in "thchool" that I'm going to let him be in pre-school this year. We'll see how much we get done. hmmm.
Ky is about to turn 3 in two weeks. She thinks she was born grown and tries to boss or "mommy" all the others. her jobs involve helping put away laundry and picking up the toys and shoes and books with Levi, as well as other random errands. She is extremely helpful and good at getting what she is sent for, but I have my hands full trying to keep track of where she is and what she is doing. Lots of training going on here. She thinks she is a beautician because she gives herself a haircut about every 6 months or so. I finally had it long enough to all go back in her pony tail when she snipped it again. So I gave her a little chin bob. Here is the picture with her hair cut.

I think it looks pretty cute and is staying out of her face (and food) much better. =)

And HERE is Asher. He is 9 months on Sun. and he just spent the last several weeks cutting 4 teeth. He is our little doll man and is getting so mobile. He pull up on everything now and is all over the place if I ever let him out of the playpen. He is still such a jolly baby and loves to jabber and imitate sounds and faces. He has learned how to clap his hands too and says "yay, yay".

About a week ago, Pete called me up out of the blue and offered to keep the kids if Ed and I wanted to go out somewhere. Well, we had been trying to plan one but were having a hard time trying to figure when we could get a babysitter. ( I'm pretty picky about who I leave them with and I hate to ask family too much...) So anyway, needless to say we took him up on the offer. (He is such a sweet brother... Holly would have helped but she was at work.) I decided to take Asher along as I didn't want to rush back and I figured he would be hungry if I didn't ( he is eating some solid foods now but still nurses pretty often). So he came with us and it was still fun. He is just one child and he isn't running around yet. =) Well, we took our time and enjoyed ourselves, and the minute we walked in the door Asher starts bouncing up and down and squealing and laughing like he hadn't seen the kids in forever! I couldn't believe it. Then we realized he has probably never been alone with us with out the kids that he can remember. It was adorable! He was soooo excited to see his brothers and sisters again. =)

Anyway...I have tons more to tell but that will have to wait. This was just about the kids!

FREE, Please Take....It's Works!

This was the sign attached to my most recent answer to prayer.

We have been needing a second refrigerator for some time now and have looked for a good second hand one off and on in the paper. But as is many times the case, when we had the money we couldn't find one, and when we found one we didn't have the money. I finally just decided to pray about it and leave it with the Lord. (Why am I so slow to think of doing that FIRST?)

Well Saturday afternoon we pulled out of the drive to go over to Mom's and a few houses down we see this huge fridge sitting on the side of the road with that sign taped to it. So Ed backed up, got out and we started rolling it across the street to our house. In a few minutes the man who put it there came out and he got his dolly and helped Ed put it under the carport. It all happened so fast that it took a few minutes to sink in, but I was getting goose bumps when I realized the Lord had answered my prayer in a way I had never imagined!!!

I spent alot of the day yesterday getting it all clean and Ed and Aaron made me a nice platform for it to sit on. While I was working on the fridge, I was composing my blog post in my head....How I would tell the story, what the title would be, etc. Then when I was thinking about the title, I thought of the sign taped to the front... and that was when it hit me. You know, that is the sign God has taped to His help all the time. "FREE, Please take. It Works." Ed preached Sunday night and his message was taken from Psalm 121 and was on how God is our Helper. On the fact that He is always there to take care of every need we have or will ever have and how he should be the first One we go to for help, etc. ( I can't preach it as good as he did. =) So, anyway, I already had all that in the back of my mind too. But it is sooo humbling when you realize that the God of the Universe cares enough about you and your problems and needs and wants to personally take care of them...and then to leave you a note to let you know it was HIM and HE loves you!

I'm crying now so I have to quit typing, but I'm still Praising HIM!

Mondays

Mondays are always busy, and today was no exception. On days like these I go for a quick and painless breakfast like milkshake. Blend, pour, drink, done. EXCEPT for.....when I get up to answer the door and Levi spills his entire cup all over the table. That was all I had made so I give him my cup and start to mop up the mess, and what does he do but spill that one all over the floor. Seriously?

It took an entire roll of paper towels to get it up and then I still had to mop and wipe it down with a rag. (I don't own enough towels to try to clean it with a regular ones. haha) Forget milkshake for Levi, he got a glass of milk and a peanut butter sandwich. ( He did manage to not spill the milk.)

Then on to my Bible study with Scilla. I'm loving it more all the time.

Follow that up with some very fast cleaning. Cause I had gotten a call from a very special friend that they would be stopping by for a visit! Super excited! The kids did a good job helping with clean-up...as long as I kept them away from the books. hahaha. They were excited to see their friends too.

Then I got to kick back and just visit. It's funny...Brit and I were talking about how different things are in the real life of everyday compared to the false impressions we give off when we are at church or when company comes over. At those times we are the smiling patient Mommy who sits and cuddles her babies and has a spotless house and clean, well-dressed children, with food ready to serve at a moments notice. When we all know the "real" scenario looks more like..."Isaac, you pick that up right now and if everything is done you sit on the couch and DON'T MOVE". "Everybody, we are eating our leftover pizza in the kitchen so we don't mess anything up...and Kyla, is that your third or fourth clean outfit today?"

Yep...'fraid so. =)

Anyway, all in all it was a great day!!! Thank you, Ben, Brit and babies for coming to see us!

Gotta scoot and go change my bed from where Ky wet it in nap...yeah that was probably the fifth change.