Half a Dozen Vosses

Our Beloved Nanuk

2012-01-25T09:09:00.002-06:00

On August 21, 1998, a litter of Siberian Husky puppies was born in Texas. Little did I know, how much one of the females in that litter would play such a big part in our lives.

Jeremy's birthday is October 2. For his birthday, 13 years ago, he decided he wanted a puppy. I was going to go to the pound and get him a cute puppy. My first dog was a "pound puppy" and was a great dog! But before I had a chance to go to the pound, he found a litter of Siberian Husky puppies and bought one. He said he has always wanted a Siberian Husky and wanted to name her Nanuk (pronounced nan-nook).

Jeremy's roommate went with Jeremy and bought one of Nanuk's brothers. He named him Akala. (pronounced ah-kah-la). Akala is on the left and Nanuk is on the right. They were the BEST of friends!

If you have never had to house break a puppy, you may not know how it is done. At night, Nanuk and Akala would sleep in this wooden box. In the morning, Jeremy would let them outside to go to the bathroom. A dog will not go to the bathroom where it sleeps.

Nanuk (right) and Akala (left) were inseparable! They looked alot alike, too. Nanuk had a little bit more black under her eyes than Akala. Nanuk also had more pink on her nose than Akala. In the winter months, her pink nose became more pink and turned more black in the spring and summer months.

Nanuk on the left and Akala on the right.

Jeremy had a friend who had a chocolate lab puppy, named Tendry. Her landlord was building a new fence and Tendry needed a place to live for a little while. So, Jeremy said she could live with Nanuk and Akala for awhile. Nanuk wasn't too fond of that. But she dealt with it. I honestly think Tendry was the reason Nanuk grew to hate Labs! When she was older, she could just look out the window and see a Lab outside and her fur would stand up!

Nanuk (with her head up), Akala (behind her), and Tendry (in the back) all curled up to stay warm.

Jeremy and I went to visit his parents one weekend, where they lived south of Houston. We took Nanuk with us. Jeremy's dad had a small pond out back with goldfish in it. Nanuk liked to stand in the pond and watch them.

Jeremy loving Nanuk. Nanuk was the best Siberian Husky. She put up with so much. She would let us do just about anything to her.

"Rub my belly!"

Shortly after Jeremy and I got married, Jeremy's roommate (who owned Akala) was going to move to another town and live in an apartment, so Akala came to live with us and Nanuk. One day, I looked out the window and saw Nanuk and Akala like this...

If you don't know, Siberian Huskies are very prey oriented when it comes to other small animals. But they are the friendliest dogs towards humans. They say if you want a watch dog, don't get a Siberian Husky because they will show the robber the goods. Anyway, I looked up in the tree to see what they were so interested in. It was a squirrel. I watched for a little while. The squirrel was trapped! If it came down the tree, Nanuk and Akala would end its life. If it tried to get away on the nearby telephone wire, a blue jay dive bombed it. I watched this scene for a few minutes because it was quite humorous. But then I had mercy on the squirrel and brought Nanuk and Akala inside so the poor squirrel could escape.

Nanuk had this toy that she LOVED! But the problem with having a brother, is that he wanted to play with it, too. I guess Nanuk had had enough one day and she decided to tear up her toy and destroy it so much that Akala could no longer play with it. It was pretty funny that a dog would do something like that! She made the ultimate sacrifice.

This was one of our trips to see Grandma and Grandpa, aka Jeremy's parents. It was about a 7-8 hour drive. Nanuk was so good to take what little space Mocha left her.

One summer, Jeremy and I and some friends spent alot of weekends rock climbing. We got this pack for Nanuk to wear so she could help us carry our climbing equipment. We thought we'd test it out with our friend's Basset Hound puppy, Bubba. Nanuk loved other dogs, EXCEPT Labs! So, she didn't mind carrying around little Bubba.

Nanuk chillin' with our friend's Rottweiler puppy, Bear.

It's funny, or rather interesting, where a dog decides to lay. Nanuk liked the curtains. Please note, these curtains came with our house and we did eventually buy more modern ones.

One of the weekends that we went rock climbing, we took Nanuk and Mocha. After all, we did buy Nanuk a pack so she could help us carry our climbing equipment. Nanuk and Mocha were just watching us, enjoying being outdoors.

We had taken the actual pack off Nanuk, and the saddle part of the pack was still on her here. Nanuk was a good "helper" going down the narrow trail, but coming back up, her pack bumped up against something and got caught. This scared her, so Jeremy ended up carrying her up the trail. No biggie, just a 50 lb Siberian Husky, plus about 25 lbs of climbing equipment.

One Christmas, we got the dogs a rawhide bucket of chews. Nanuk had claimed the bucket as hers. I guess with three other Siberian Huskies around, you gotta stake your claim.

Nanuk was a beautiful Siberian Husky! She had the typical markings that Siberian Huskies have.

Another picture that shows off her beauty! She was a model, not only in looks but personality. Nanuk had the best temperment. She was very patient. She was very well behaved.

Loved her expression! She was very gentle. But she had a way of looking up with only her eyes, which could be intimidating if you didn't know her and know that she was harmless.

Laying on her mat, with a rope chew. It seemed that if she knew you were trying to take her picture, she would look at you, even if she was really tired.

I thought this picture was kinda funny. It looks kind of creepy with Nanuk "sneaking" up on Cyu (pronounced "Kie-you"), but she wasn't sneaking at all. She loved him. She was just checking out what he was doing in the elephant ear plants.

Another beautiful picture of Nanuk. This was a perfect pose. Do you know what she was doing? We had our Siberian Huskies trained to not come out into the garage. Garages typically have chemicals in them and other stuff that is harmful to dogs. Our garage was typical. Our Siberian Huskies knew they weren't supposed to come out in the garage. So, we could go out there and leave the door open and they would not follow. They would just wait.

We live in Texas. If you don't know, it doesn't snow very often in Texas. The part of Texas that we live in, usually gets snow about once a year. Nanuk was born in Texas. She only knew what little snow we got. I LOVED capturing pictures of our Siberian Huskies in the snow! Mocha is the red Siberian Husky and Nanuk is the black one.

This is one of my FAVORITE pictures of Nanuk! Beautiful AND in the snow!

I thought it was cool that you could see the snowflakes on her fur. And as I said before, her nose is more pink, because it is winter.

It appears that Nanuk was stuck, but that is not the case. She fell asleep like this!

Our Siberian Huskies were our children before we had human children. We took Nanuk and Cyu to see Santa...

And in February, we took Nanuk and Cyu to the Fur Ball. This is an annual event for dogs and their owners, benefiting Rescue the Animals. We always chose Nanuk and Cyu, out of our four Siberian Huskies because they were the two that were the best behaved. Mocha had been abused or neglected before we got her and was scared of people she didn't know, especially men. Tymbre was, well, we will just say "too energetic".

Nanuk was our Alpha female. In the dog world, there is an Alpha male and an Alpha female. We had three females and one male. Cyu was our only male, so there wasn't really any competing for the Alpha male position. Plus, I don't really think Cyu cared. Nanuk is eating and Cyu is waiting his turn, laying as close to the food as he can, without Nanuk fussing at him.

Nanuk had this bone she was chewing on. Tymbre wanted it...but she knew better than to try to take it from Nanuk...so she laid very close...and Nanuk just kind of ignored her.

Tymbre laid there for quite some time, waiting as patiently as she could for Nanuk to tire of the bone. But she just couldn't stand it any longer and got really brave! I LOVE Nanuk's expression looking at Tymbre, trying to get the bone!

I don't remember exactly how Tymbre got the bone, but she did. Perhaps, Nanuk, being the sweet dog she was, finally just let Tymbre have the bone. Nanuk was probably tired of chewing on it and didn't figure it was worth fussing at Tymbre for.

I thought it funny that Nanuk fell asleep with her tongue sticking out.

Nanuk was the most patient dog! She would let us do pretty much anything to her and wouldn't complain. We dressed her in a camouflage shirt sometimes. I am guessing from this picture that she wasn't too happy about it. She didn't want to look at the camera.

Wearing ear warmers that I put on her. She also doesn't look very thrilled, but she didn't do anything about it. She just laid there and wore it until I took it off.

Another picture to show Nanuk's patience. I dumped a basket of clean towels on her. Once again, she just laid there. She was such a good dog with the best temperament!

Nanuk wearing a Santa hat. She may not have looked happy about it, but she wore it.

We found this sun hat at our house. The lady who lived there before us must have left it. But it seemed to fit on Nanuk's head. I can thank that lady for this wonderful picture of Nanuk. I love Nanuk's disgusted expression!

One Thanksgiving, Nanuk seemed to be paying alot of attention to what was going on. She watched as we carved the turkey. This picture was captured at just the right moment. This is one of the funniest pictures!

If you don't know alot about Siberian Huskies, they curl up in a ball and tuck their nose under their tail to keep it warm. Nanuk was probably not cold, since she was inside, but this is what it looks like.

I know there are ALOT of pictures in this post, but Nanuk was such a beautiful Siberian Husky. Believe it or not, I did weed out some of the pictures. It was really hard to eliminate some of them. Here are a few more pictures to enjoy...

This one was one of Jeremy's favorites. She was laying in the sunshine from the window and it made her black fur look gray. Really cool!

Peeking over the back of the couch with her beautiful blue eyes...

For the past several months, Nanuk has had a hard time walking. She was 13 years old. Siberian Huskies typically live 10 - 12 years. They love to dig holes and sometimes they lay in them. If you have never seen a hole dug by a Siberian Husky, they can be pretty deep. Nanuk seemed to get stuck in them quite frequently. She just didn't have enough strength to get out of the hole. I don't know if she had arthritis or if she possibly had hip dysplasia. Regardless of the reason, she could barely walk. She never complained about it. She just tried her hardest to get to her food bowl or her water bowl. For months, I said that we needed to put her down because of this. Also, she had an infection on her ear, which eventually spread to the foot that she scratched it with. However, each time I mentioned putting her to sleep, I said that I didn't want to be the one to do it because of how hard it was with Mocha. I didn't want to go through that again. I kept telling Jeremy that he would have to be the one to do it. However, he was not doing it. Finally, I laid down the law and told Jeremy he had to do it. Nanuk had suffered enough. She needed to go home, to Heaven and be with Mocha and Cyu.

On Tuesday, December 13, 2012, we put Nanuk out of her misery. She is missed, but I feel good about this decision because it was obvious that she was suffering. She was old. She had lived her life. We needed to set her free.

We are not trying to find another dog to replace Nanuk. It would be tough to find another dog, let alone a Siberian Husky, exactly like Nanuk. We do still have one of our four Siberian Huskies left. I joked that it was going to be a "fight" between Nanuk and Tymbre to be the one to outlive the other one. We had to end the "fight" and let Tymbre win so Nanuk wouldn't suffer anymore. Sorry, Nanuk, but you will always be a winner in my book.

Too Cute!

2012-01-06T18:26:00.000-06:00

Rilian is one cute kid! One cold day, we were leaving and as he was about to walk out the door, he put this hat on. I had to take a picture because he is just adorable! I didn't say anything to him about putting a hat on. He just did it. And we live in Texas, so it doesn't get that cold, that often, to wear hats all the time. I guess he just felt like wearing it.

We got this red hat for Finn when he was about Rilian's age. He looks about as cute as Finn did in it.

I went back to look at my pictures to see if Rilian and Finn looked alike wearing the red hat. This is Rilian.

This is Finn. Granny was helping him put ear phones in so he could listen to the iPod.

I see resemblances but, to me, they don't look identical. What do you think? Would you have known they were two different children?

Santa Claus and Jingle Bells

2012-01-03T09:53:00.000-06:00

We took the kids to the annual Christmas Parade downtown a few weeks ago. After the parade, Santa has a spot that he sits in one of the bank buildings downtown. This year, Mrs. Claus happened to come along with Santa!

When we got home from the parade, we had a little visitor. The Elf on the Shelf came to visit us this year. If you don't know anything about The Elf on the Shelf, he is a little magical elf that likes to play hide and seek with you. He watches you during the day and each night when you are asleep, he flies back to the North Pole to tell Santa all the good things AND all the bad things you have done that day. Your family chooses a name for him. Our children decided to name him Jingle Bells. Then on Christmas Eve, he goes back to the North Pole with Santa. But you must know, there is one rule. You cannot touch him or he will lose his magical power and not return!

I took a picture each day of where we found Jingle Bells. The first morning, he was sitting on one of the lizards that we have hanging on our wall.

Jingle Bells then decided to sit on top of a sombrero we have hanging on our wall.

The day that Jingle Bells sat on the sombrero, I was making dinner and Finn said, "Where is Jingle Bells?" He had already found him that day and when he looked later, Jingle Bells wasn't up on the sombrero. I came to look and sure enough, he wasn't sitting on the sombrero. I kind of worried, but found that he fell. I had to think quickly, because, remember if we touch Jingle Bells, he would lose his magic and not come back and then he wouldn't be able to report to Santa each day. Being the clever mom and quick thinker that I am, I quickly thought about what you do when a baby bird falls out of its nest. If you touch it, its mother will smell you on it and abandon it, or so I've been told. So, I thought, "I know! I will get a towel and use that to pick Jingle Bells up and put him back on the sombrero." I did just that! As I touched him with the towel, and not my hand, I told the kids that they shouldn't ever do this. They agreed. Then I sat Jingle Bells back up on the sombrero as best I could using the towel. I just left the towel up there. I didn't want to risk touching him! When Jeremy came home, he wondered why a towel was up with Jingle Bells, so I explained that he fell. He said he would have used tongs. Oh well, maybe next time.

Jingle Bells got a container out of Piper's room and placed it in the fireplace. He didn't want to get the ashes on his nice outfit. It took the kids a little longer to find him this morning.

He sat on the light fixture...

The first Sunday in December, Piper dressed in this nice Christmas dress. I told her she looked like Jingle Bells.

That same Sunday, Jingle Bells rode to church with us...I had to tone down my driving a little...Wouldn't want Santa to put me on his naughty list ;)

Sitting on the water cooler....

And on the kid's shower curtain rod...

The next morning, Jingle Bells built a house out of the kid's blocks in the playroom. It took them a really long time to find him that day!

Hiding behind the Texas Star hanging on our wall...

Jingle Bells played Wii one morning before we woke up. He almost beat my high score!

Yes, I do realize we still have our Halloween buckets out and it was almost Christmas. We do have four children, which means we get ALOT of candy at Halloween. But if we didn't still have it out, where would Jingle Bells have hid that day?

Jingle Bells got brave one day, or maybe he was testing the kids. I'm not sure what made him decide to sit on the floor and hug the table leg. Before this, he had been up pretty high, to where they couldn't touch him. But sitting on the floor, was pretty risky!

And of course, being the curious kids they are, Rilian touched him! Finn and Piper were just so upset that RILIAN TOUCHED JINGLE BELLS! I'm not sure if Rilian quite understood the consequences of what he did, but he found out the next morning. Jingle Bells left this note...

It was tied around the same table leg that he was hugging the day before.

It took the kids awhile to find the note. But Piper was so upset when she found it, she cried. I felt really bad. I didn't think she would take it so hard. So, at school that day, she wrote this note to Jingle Bells.

And this was her journal entry that day at school. It's a pretty good picture, if you ask me.

Piper also wrote Jeremy and I this note. I guess she decided to write it on the same paper as some of her spelling words. I felt relieved knowing she didn't cry at school about Jingle Bells.

The kids were happy when Jingle Bells was well enough to come back the next day!

This was the note he had wrapped around a bag of candy.

Here is a close up of what the medicine/candy looked like.

Hanging upside down in the blinds...

Jingle Bells got one of Piper's Barbie's coats and hid in the fridge. It took the kids a long time to find him this morning. Seven thought that Jingle Bells made the coat. He didn't realize that it was one of Piper's Barbie's coats. Rilian was actually scared to get his cup out of the fridge because it was right beside Jingle Bells. He was afraid he would make Jingle Bells sick again if he touched him.

One of these things is not like the others...

Sitting in some coffee cups on the kitchen counter...

Jingle Bells removed the angel off the top of the tree and sat in her place...

Sitting in a stocking...

He made a swing in the kitchen...

Sitting by the printer....

Where's Waldo? aka Jingle Bells...

The morning of Christmas Eve was the last morning that Jingle Bells would be with us. He was a little ornery this morning. He took a pair of each of the kid's underwear and strung them on a string and hung upside down on it. The kids thought it was funny.

On Christmas morning, Jingle Bells left this note, by the fireplace, with a bag full of the candy that he left the morning he came back after being touched.

Did your family have an Elf this year?

Book Review: Heaven is for Real, for kids

2011-12-26T09:24:00.000-06:00

I had heard good reviews about the book, Heaven is for Real. When I saw that I could receive a copy of Heaven is for Real, for kids, I was excited to receive it and read it to give it a review.

Heaven is for Real, for kids, as told by Colton Burpo to his parents, Todd & Sonja Burpo, is a good book to read to your kids to help them understand what it is like in heaven. This book is written in a way that is easy for kids to understand. It is beautifully illustrated with vivid and colorful pictures of what Colton saw when he was in heaven. Heaven is for Real, for kids would be a good book to read to your children when they become more curious as to what it will be like in heaven. There are also scriptures to go along with what Colton describes that he saw when he was in heaven.

At the end of the book, there are questions that your children may have after reading Heaven is for Real, for kids. If you don't know the answers to the questions you children may have, these questions would be a good place to start.

Perhaps you have a loved-one, or a close friend who may be nearing death. This would be a good book to read to your children to help them understand what it will be like for their loved-one or close friend when they die. I think it would help to ease any fears your child had about their loved-one or close friend dying.

I have not read the other version of the book, Heaven is for Real (the one written on an adult level). But after reading Heaven is for Real, for kids, I am excited to read it!

Disclaimer: I received this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers to review. I was not required to give any positive feedback. All the opinions expressed are my own.

While We Wait...

2011-12-23T13:39:00.000-06:00

Jeremy has a cousin that lives about 3 hours away and he just happens to be a dentist. He is awesome in that he does all our dental work for us...for free! And on top of that, he often takes us out to lunch afterwards. We are very thankful for Dr. Payne and his generosity!

Last month, we had to pay another visit to Dr. Payne, to finish up Jeremy's root canal. Piper and Finn were still in school, so we took Seven and Rilian with us. What do a 4 year old and a 2 year old do in the waiting room when they are done playing with the toys? They crawl under the chairs and look out the window, of course!

When Jeremy was done with his root canal and got out of the chair, Seven decided it looked like a slide...

Oh, the things kids think up!

Being Thankful for Your Spouse

2011-12-19T13:32:00.000-06:00

With Thanksgiving just past us and Christmas nearing VERY soon, I thought it fitting to talk about being thankful for your husband. I am thankful for the 12 years I have been married to Jeremy.

It is so easy to complain about your husband to other people. "My husband does this..." "My husband never helps with this..." And so on. I am not going to give you examples of what I don't like about my husband, or the things he doesn't do or anything like that. For one, that would be demeaning to him. And two, I said I was going to talk about being thankful.

Some things that I am thankful for are:
When Piper, my first child, and Finn, my second child were born, I didn't change a diaper for at least the first week! How many husbands are willing to jump in and take charge like that? I had c-sections and Jeremy knew I was in alot of pain, so he was just trying to help out...What a good husband! Although, I do have to add that Jeremy should have given me a little warning before I changed Finn's diaper for the first time...that kid was born without a bum! It looked so odd to me. I mean, he literally had no cheeks! There was just a hole. I was very surprised and said something to Jeremy afterwards about him giving me some sort of a warning. Finn did eventually grow some cheeks. There's still not much to him. He eats like a horse, but is really skinny. I would love to have his metabolism. I say he is a skeleton with skin.

Another thankful thing: When Rilian was born, I did not put gas in our car until he was 8 weeks old. Jeremy just always took care of it.

And: Jeremy loves to cook. So, he makes our kid's birthday cakes and LOVES to do it! I have never had a desire to cook. I only cook out of necessity. And if I have to follow a recipe with lots of ingredients or instructions, that is just too much effort and I will find something else to make. In fact, when I was younger, I said I would marry someone who can cook, well, that is exactly what I did!

One more example: Thursday night when I got home from running, Jeremy had just cleaned up Finn's puke. Finn tried to throw up in the trash can in the bathroom, but missed. Then he tried to throw up in the toilet, but the lid was down and he didn't realize it, so when he threw up, it made a big mess in the bathroom. Jeremy said, "Finn then looked at him and said, 'It's throw up.'" Poor kid was out of it. I am very thankful that Jeremy cleaned up the nasty mess! I'm pretty sure there are some husbands who would have left if for their wife to clean up when she got home.

Now before you go and think my husband is better than yours, he does have his flaws, as does everybody. A friend of mine, Tonya, shared a story with me the other day...She said she used to work with a girl whose husband was always sending her flowers and he seemed so nice and caring. Tonya said she later found out that the reason he was doing all that was because he was having an affair. So, things are not always what they seem. You may think someone else's husband seems better than yours for whatever reason. But there are things that you do not see or know. I am not saying that every case is the same. I am just saying be thankful for what kind of a husband you have. Someone always has it worse than you.

The next time you think about complaining about your husband to your friends, stop yourself and remind yourself of what he does that you are thankful for. Today when your husband comes home from work, tell him something you are thankful for about him. You never know what good may come of it...later :)

Thanksgiving

2011-12-17T16:17:00.000-06:00

I always look forward to Thanksgiving because that means my family and my brother's family get together. Our kids LOVE each other! It is always fun to see them play together.

We had Thanksgiving at my mom's house. The kids love playing on the trampoline and love when Papa Bud jumps with them. He didn't happen to be jumping with them in these pictures. I think he was inside helping Nanny with the turkey.

I think it's cool to capture them mid-jump, in the air.

When they were done jumping on the trampoline, they moved over to the swing-set. It's a good thing Nanny has a big enough swing set for her 7 grandchildren!

Piper, Mabrie, and Allie all swung together.

Finn and Seven did their own swinging.

Then Rilian decided to join the girls.

Kaden had his own swing, inside, where it was warm.

Granny Joyce made these cute turkeys for the kids to enjoy.

Allie, Mabrie, and Piper were waiting for their turn to swing ;)

I bet not too many grandparents have a "white swing". That is what my kids call the hammock. It is just one big white swing to them...no relaxing going on there...ALL play! Finn is trying to climb in and Seven and Rilian are trying to climb out.

The white swing often poses a challenge to get on AND stay on!

We were able to capture a good picture of all 7 cousins. My four kids and my brother's three kids. My brother and I blessed our parents with 6 grandchildren in 4 years. This past July, my sister-in-law had Kaden and brought the total grandchildren to 7!

I thought this was such a cute picture of Jeremy tickling Rilian.

But Jeremy wasn't just tickling Rilian. Rilian and Jeremy like to play a game called "Whose boy are you?" Jeremy asks Rilian, "Whose boy are you?" Rilian will answer, "I'm Mama's boy." Then Jeremy tickles him. Jeremy asks again, "Whose boy are you?" Rilian will get tickled until he finally answers, "I'm Daddy's boy." It's cute and so are his giggles!

Rilian, Finn, Mabrie, and Allie were enjoying the turkeys that Granny Joyce made.

Seven decided to be a loner and eat his turkey on the slide...all by himself.

The inevitable time came when we had to say goodbye to my brother's family, so they could travel back home. My dad came into town to have Thanksgiving dinner with us and we all went over to Granny Joyce's for dinner.

Book Review: When God Created My Toes

2011-12-12T14:04:00.001-06:00

When God Created My Toes, by Dandi Daley Mackall, is a sweet, easy-to-read children's book.

"When God created my toes,

did He make them wiggle?

Did He know I'd giggle?

Did He have to hold His nose,

When God created my toes?"

When God Created My Toes, allows children to imagine what it was like when God created them. This book goes from the toes all the way to the head, asking silly rhyming questions about what God may have done when creating us. It also has cute, silly illustrations to go along with the story. The illustrator, David Hohn, was just as creative as the author, Dandi Daley Mackall, was.

My kids loved this book. They laughed each time we read it. They want to read it over and over again!

Waterbrook Multnomah gave me this book for free for the purpose of this review. I was not required to say anything positive about the book.

Finally Getting Pierced Ears!

2011-12-09T10:01:00.000-06:00

Piper has been asking for about four years now if she could get her ears pierced. When she first started asking, her youngest brother was crawling about and he put EVERYTHING in his mouth. I didn't want to risk him finding one of her earrings on the floor and putting it in his mouth. When she started asking again, she had another baby brother to deal with, that would have also put her earrings in her mouth if he found them on the floor. Well, now Piper's youngest brother will be three years old in February. I am not so worried about him putting things in his mouth and swallowing them. Could it still happen? Yes, but I would worry less about it being a three-year-old swallowing it than a crawling baby swallowing it.

A few weeks ago, we decided to let Piper get her ears pierced. I think this was one of the happiest days of her life! We went to Claire's. They gave her a black teddy bear named, Clairie, to squeeze while she was getting her ears pierced. Look how tight she is squeezing the bear!

I tried to get a close-up to show you what cute earrings she picked out, but I guess I didn't get close enough for a clear view. If you want a better picture, you can go here, and look at the Blue Zircon Crystal Daisy. That is the one she chose. She had to get a pair that she really liked, since she will not be able to change them for six weeks.

Now, for those of you who are not faint at heart, if you want to feel like you were there with us and watch Piper get her ears pierced, you can watch this video.

Claire's gave Piper this cute bag to carry her cleaning solution home in.

I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive about letting Piper get her ears pierced. She is supposed to leave them in for six whole weeks and clean them three times a day. I was kind of worried she would take them out for some reason or other and then her ears would close. I have to brag on her and say that she still has them in her ears. We are about halfway through the six week healing period now. Only about three more weeks to go!

Life is Never Dull

2011-12-06T14:02:00.000-06:00

If you know my kids or have spent any amount of time with any of them, you know that they are quite the entertainment!

We were at my mom's house one day, and I heard Seven calling my name. I looked and this is what I saw...

I have no idea what goes on in their precious little heads at times.

Seven is one funny four-year-old! He is the funniest four-year-old that I know. I'm not just saying that because he is my four-year-old. He honestly is very funny!

Little Witches

2011-11-29T15:57:00.000-06:00

I thought I had finished my "Halloween" posts, but looking back to see what the next blog post should be, I found these pictures...

The kids were at Granny's house one day, in October, and she had gotten them each a witch hat. Here is Seven with his hat, and of course, a witch wouldn't be complete without a broom.

Piper and Finn look like they were mixing up their witch's brew.

And we can't forget about little Rilian...He also had a broom and a hat, just like his brothers and sister.

I have a story that I must include in this post. It kinda goes with the theme...

Piper had come home from school one day with some Halloween jokes. She was reading them aloud. She said, "What do you call a witch that lives on the beach?" Seven exclaims, "Bitch!" Wow! I am not sure exactly where he heard that word. I do not use that word. I must admit though that we don't sensor the movies they watch sometimes. Sometimes you don't really realize how bad a movie is until let your children watch it. I told him that wasn't a nice word. Plus, Seven is a sponge. He only had to have heard it one time and it was logged in his little sponge of a brain. If you don't know the real answer to the joke, it is "A Sandwich."

Book Review: Night Night Blessings

2011-11-24T09:24:00.000-06:00

Night Night Blessings, by Amy Parker is a cute children's book about a child at bedtime. She is remembering everything about her day and thanking God for each thing. This would be a good book to read to your child or children as you are putting them to bed at night. Night Night Blessings is a good book to help your child remember all the blessings they have in their life and to remember to thank God for them.

I think it is interesting what things children think of to be thankful for. Sometimes it is so simple, such as their puppy that gives them kisses. They often think of things we, as adults, take for granted. In Night Night Blessings, the little girl thanks God for exactly what a child would think to be thankful for.

Night Night Blessings also has cute illustrations to go along with the story. It is a simple book. If you have young children who can read, they will be able to read it, also.

I would recommend this book for anyone who has young children.

Disclaimer: I received this book from Thomas Nelson to review for free. I was not required to give any positive feedback. All the opinions expressed are my own.

Trick or Treat!

2011-11-19T22:30:00.000-06:00

This year for Halloween, we had Bumblebee (the yellow transformer), a pretty ballerina, an adorable cow, and Optimus Prime (the blue transformer).

I'm not exactly sure what Piper was doing here, but I had to include the picture because I thought it was kinda funny.

Then we have the silly pose picture...Rilian was trying to do what Piper was doing.

Seven and Finn wanted a fighting picture. Although, I think both Bumblebee and Optimus Prime are good transformers and friends.

Another silly picture...and Rilian trying to do what his big brothers were doing with their hands.

Pretty ballerina doing a pirouette.

Optimus Prime ready to take on the world!

Finn wanted a picture taken by himself, too.

Rilian was too cute! And when we went on our annual Halloween hayride, the hay sticking to his costume only enhanced it!

Now the sillies come back...Once again, I do not know what Piper was doing. I guess Miss Ballerina, turned hip hop.

Care Bear Stare! Oh, wait...wrong character. I'm not up to date on my Transformer schooling, but I guess that circle on Bumblebee does something.

Seven's mask turned into a shield.

Nanny came for a visit. My mom's costume was pretty funny, and if you know her, it is very fitting. She tends to get hurt somehow.

Our Jack 'O Lantern

2011-11-12T17:35:00.000-06:00

I don't know about your Jack 'O Lantern, but the face of our Jack 'O Lantern had four parts...right eye, left eye, nose, and mouth. Since we have four children, we let them each pick which part of the face they wanted to design.

Once they knew what part they were going to design, we let them decide what shape it should be.

The kids are always fascinated by what is inside the pumpkin!

If you don't know, both Jeremy and I don't care to get our hands messy. So, when the kids wanted to take the insides out of the pumpkin, we were more than happy to let them dig in! Finn kind of takes after us and wanted to use a spoon. And I love how Rilian seems like he just doesn't know what to think!

Digging in...

Everyone gets a turn...

Ewwww!!! Pumpkin guts! I love the look on Rilian's face. He pretty much had this look the whole time. He just didn't know what to think of all the fun.

Piper and Finn love to watch inside the pumpkin as Jeremy carves the face.

Two different shaped eyes, picked by two different children. A diamond and a square.

Then a triangle nose, picked by another child.

And the mouth designed by the fourth child designer.

And of course we have to take pictures by our Jack 'O Lantern.

After the "serious" picture, we get to do a silly picture. Funny how Finn didn't change much.

The kids have started wanting individual pictures. Piper decided she wanted to kiss the pumpkin for her picture.

Sweet Finn...

Seven with his arm around the pumpkin.

Rilian saw Piper kiss the pumpkin, so he also wanted to kiss the pumpkin in his picture.

Then Piper decided to smile for a picture with our Jack 'O Lantern.

Finn wanted me to take a picture with him karate chopping the Jack 'O Lantern.

A few years ago, Granny Joyce found a cool light that changes colors to put in our Jack 'O Lantern. Take a look!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-01T19:12:00.000-05:00

Every child needs a pumpkin to decorate in October for Halloween. Where can you find pumpkins? At the pumpkin patch, of course! We went to the pumpkin patch one Saturday and I was very pleased at how well my kids cooperated with me taking their pictures!

There were alot of good photo opportunities that day.

I love how photogenic Finn is! I didn't realize that Seven was in the background crawling around on the pumpkins until I posted this picture. Oh well!

What's a day with our family without some silly pictures? Piper chose this pose.

Piper chose to be off in the bushes for this one. I'm not sure what is going on with the boys...

I think the silly pictures bring out each of my children's personalities.

Rilian found a pumpkin to hold. I guess Finn decided he found a pumpkin to pose by too.

Piper wanted me to take this picture of her. So I am sharing it with you.

Seven is alot like Piper at times. He decided he needed to pose for his own picture, too.

Rilian found another pumpkin to hold.

Piper saw this wagon and wanted her picture taken while she sat on it. Most likely, if she is anything like me (which she is), she won't always want her picture taken as she gets older, so when she asked for me to take her picture, I did!

Seven saw Piper getting her picture taken again and he (again) decided he wanted his picture taken. Funny how he didn't smile. Interesting spot he chose.

After we were finished taking pictures and went on a hayride, it was time for the kids to pick out a small pumpkin to take home and decorate. Finn doesn't look too thrilled, but here is his pumpkin.

Piper decided she didn't want to pick out a pumpkin. So, she just posed for another picture. Love that girl!

Looks like Rilian saw how Finn showed me his pumpkin and did the same thing.

After carefully surveying all the pumpkins, Seven finally found THE one.

I turned around after taking the picture of Seven and saw this...

I took that to mean that Finn was done and we went home.

The kids decorated their pumpkins that night. Finn decorated both sides. This is one side.

And this is the other side of his pumpkin.

Piper proudly showing off the face she drew on her little pumpkin. Wait, didn't she say she didn't want a pumpkin when we were at the pumpkin patch? I decided to pick out one for her in case she changed her mind. Good thing I thought ahead :)

This is actually the pumpkin I picked out for Piper, but Rilian willingly traded with her when she didn't want this one and wanted the one he picked out. What a sweet little brother!

Last, but not least, Seven and his pumpkin.

Book Review: Expresso For Your Spirit

2011-10-29T15:13:00.004-05:00

Espresso for your Spirit, Hope and Humor for Pooped Out Parents, by Pam Vredevelt, was a good read. This book includes several stories from Pam's life about raising her children. Pam tells stories about good times and bad times. While reading Pam's stories, you realize you aren't the only one going through what you are going through. Parenting isn't always easy.

Each chapter ends with a page of either an encouraging word, a scripture, or a funny short story to make you laugh. This is a book that you could read whenever you have time. Most chapters are short, so that you can get a small "pick me up" as you go about your busy day. This book does not offer to solve your problems. It was written to provide encouragement for parents who need it, which is every parent at one point or another.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is a parent and are busy like I am. I have four young children. Even if you only have one child or are pregnant with your first and haven't quite experienced parenthood yet, this would be a good encouraging book to read. Always remember, you are not alone and someone has been through exactly what you are going through as a parent right now.

I received this ebook from Waterbrook Multnumah for free. I was in no way asked to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own.

The Joys of Having Older Siblings

2011-10-24T14:20:00.000-05:00

Being the "baby" of the family often has its perks. But there are times, when being the youngest child in the family is not fun. Take Rilian here, for example...He has three older siblings. One sister and two brothers.

One evening, Piper, Finn, Seven, and Rilian were all playing out back. We have a swimming pool and I leave it up to Jeremy to take care of it. You know, putting chemicals in it and making sure it is clear and clean. Well, he tries to keep up with it, but sometimes it gets forgotten about. You're probably going to think this is gross, but this one particular evening, the pool was in some really sad shape. There was scum in it...Piper, Finn, and Seven decided to take the scum out of the pool and they found the "perfect" place to put it...

From the expression on Rilian's face, I don't think he agreed with his sibling's thoughts on where the scum should be relocated to.

Now for another example...

One evening, Finn, Seven, and Rilian were playing in Rilian's room. They usually don't play in there, but I didn't think too much of it. Then Rilian came out crying. I looked him over, made sure he wasn't bleeding, gave him a hug, and told him he was ok. He obviously was pretty upset about whatever happened in his room because he cried for a very long time about it. I just figured he was really tired, because he didn't get a very long nap that day.

That night as I was brushing his teeth, I noticed his cheek was a little pink AND it was a little swollen. Then I thought to myself, "No wonder he cried so much about it!" I asked him what happened. He said, "Seven punched me." I didn't know whether to believe him or not, because he blames alot of things on Seven, even when Seven is innocent.

In order to find out exactly what happened in his room, we sat Piper, Finn, Seven, and Rilian down and asked each one of them what happened. Well, Piper lucked out because she wasn't even in the room when it happened. Seven didn't admit to knowing what happened. Finn said Rilian fell off his bed and hit the floor. The next morning, Rilian said that he hit Seven's head. So, I don't know exactly what happened, but from what I gather, the boys were jumping on Rilian's bed and Rilian jumped off and his cheek hit Seven's head. Who's idea was it to jump off the bed? I don't know. But, once again, Rilian, being the youngest sibling, got the short end of the stick.

The next morning, his eye was swollen shut a little. And his face was starting to bruise. He really didn't want me to take his picture, so this is the best I could get.

Since he wasn't really cooperating first thing in the morning, I tried later on in the day to get a better picture. You can see how much it was swollen.

I called the doctor to see if they needed to look at it. With the swelling being so close to his eye, we were worried they might need to drain it or do something about it. We also wondered if his cheekbone might be fractured. The doctor said not to bring him in, just give him Tylenol and keep an eye on it.

Around dinner time, the swelling had gone down, but the bruising was getting worse.

It happened on a Wednesday or Thursday night. I started to count days to see when it MIGHT start to get better. I thought it MIGHT start to get better on Sunday. Great...we will be going to church on Sunday. What will his teachers think? As a parent, when things like this happen, you worry about someone calling Child Protective Services on you, thinking you beat your child. I wasn't too worried, I have worked for Child Protective Services before, so I know alot about the process. But the thought did cross my mind, just like any other parent.

Later on that same night, the bruising was worse and was starting to spread.

The next morning, the bruising got darker. Rilian looks so pitiful in most of these pictures because he never wanted me to take a picture of how horrible his eye looked.

While brushing his teeth, while getting ready for bed that night, I thought maybe he would cooperate and not have a pitiful look on his face. So, I took another picture. The bruising was darker yet.

The next morning, the bruising was darker and starting to spread more. But hey, look! He is smiling!

Four days after the initial injury, Rilian's eye started to slowly get better. The bruising was still pretty dark, but around the edges, it was starting to turn yellow. A good sign!

I think it took about a week and a half or close to two weeks for it to completely heal. Poor little fellow!

West Texas Fair

2011-10-20T14:44:00.002-05:00

Last month the West Texas Fair and Rodeo came to town, starting with this parade. The fair offers different discounts on different days. We decided to go on Tuesday, which was $2 ride night. This means that every ride only cost $2 to ride. Normally, they can cost up to $5 each to ride. With four children, we decided this would be the best night for us to go. Our kids love to ride the rides. By going on a cheaper ride night, they would have the opportunity to ride several rides. Plus, the kids had fair tickets from school and a friend of mine gave Jeremy and I tickets to get in. Score!

Jeremy saw this ride and thought it looked fun. I think it was called Hurricane. Jeremy, Piper, and Finn are in "car" 1. The "car" goes around in a circle while the arms that hold the "car" go up and down.

After Piper and Finn got off the Hurricane, Jeremy and I knew they were not ready for Six Flags yet. They both were terrified! I wish I had taken a picture of Piper when she got off, her face was blank and pretty pale. I think she might have gotten a little bit of motion sickness.

Next up was a "Fun House". Seven really liked this one last year and was really excited to do it again this year.

This is towards the end of the "Fun House". They end by coming down a slide. Much more fun and enjoyable than the Hurricane, if you ask Piper and Finn.

Rilian is still pretty short on the height charts. We finally found a ride he could ride! Watch Finn. He was cracking me up! He looks like a rag doll being thrown, with his arms all floppy.

Not only do my kids enjoy the rides at the fair, but they also love going to the petting zoo and feeding the animals. Well, we are still working on Rilian. He may not love them as much as his older siblings do. There were several donkeys that apparently were VERY hungry! You can tell that they really wanted the food!

In the donkey pen was also a cute baby donkey.

Jeremy even got in on the feeding action.

Rilian wasn't too sure about some of the animals. He was more than happy to hand Jeremy some of his food to feed the animals with.

Piper and Finn feeding a llama.

Seven was amazed by this huge tortoise.

The emu was definitely one of the animals Rilian did NOT want to feed. Look at the expression on his face. I can understand though, emus are kinda creepy looking.

These little goats were really cute. They looked like baby goats, but they were full grown. I don't remember what they were called, though.

I guess Finn and Piper thought this donkey didn't need food, so they pet it instead.

Rilian kept saying, "I don't like that one." Apparently, the goats are not a favorite either.

Rilian tries again, to feed an animal. I thought he had gotten brave when I saw him trying to feed the white horse. I just couldn't figure out why the horse couldn't get the food. There as a sign in the way! Poor horse was trying SO hard to get the food.

Do you like how Rilian backs away when the hungry donkey realizes there is a little boy with food?

On Thursday, it was Cantastic night at the fair. This means that you can take 6 empty Coke cans to get into the fair. Sounds pretty easy, huh? Jeremy and I decided to go on Thursday and have a date. We got in for free, thanks to Jeremy's love of Coke! It was pretty easy to come up with 12 Coke cans. We enjoyed eating dinner at the fair and looking at exhibits.

A REAL Salon Visit

2011-10-09T19:38:00.000-05:00

Jeremy and I watched the movie "Tangled". If you haven't seen it, SPOILER ALERT...Rapunzel cuts her hair at the end. Jeremy thought I should cut my hair like that. I thought about it and thought about it AND thought about it. I had never had my hair cut that short before. I thought I'd give it a try, knowing that it will always grow back. So, I took took the plunge a couple of months ago and did it! When I came home with my new haircut, Piper decided she wanted her hair cut like that. She had just had her hair cut not too long before that, so I told her when it was time to cut her hair again, we would get it cut like that. Also, Piper kept telling me she wanted bangs. Piper has a history of taking matters into her own hands, a.k.a. cutting her own hair. I didn't want to wait too much longer, fearing she would do it again. Plus, my hair needed a trim. So I made an appointment and we went to a salon here in town. Piper has been to Cool Cuts before, but this salon was a REAL salon, a salon that adults go to.

Piper's hair wasn't that long, but you can see the length that it was, as our stylist friend is starting to cut it.

A view from the back.

Piper's bangs were sectioned off in preparation to be cut. I didn't really want her to get bangs, but as I have said before, it is her hair AND it will grow back. It is now a few weeks later and Piper has decided to grow her bangs back out :)

Making the bangs the correct length.

Piper's hair was all cut and it is now time to style it.

The finished and styled product...Look! It's Rapunzel, with bangs!

Like I said, I also got mine trimmed and of course, you can't get a trim and not get your hair styled. So, here were are together. Like mother, like daughter.

Book Review: Hermie, A Common Caterpillar

2011-10-01T15:33:00.000-05:00

Hermie, a Common Caterpillar is written by Max Lucado. It is about a caterpillar who is just a common caterpillar. He keeps asking God why he is just a common caterpillar. God reminds Hermie that He isn't finished with him yet. At the end of this story, we find out God's plan for Hermie. But, you will have to read the story in order to find out what it is.

Hermie, a Common Caterpillar was very colorfully illustrated. My kids loved all the beautiful pictures of the caterpillars and other bugs. This particular version of Hermie, a Common Caterpillar was a Level Two Reader. It was made for a child who is in the beginning stages of reading. My daughter enjoyed reading it on her own. In fact, she has read it several times and enjoyed it just as much each time.

I would recommend this book. It is a good book to remind us that we can talk to God when we are bothered by things we cannot do. Hermie, a Common Caterpillar also is a good book to read to remind us that God isn't finished with us. He is still working on us and has a plan for our lives. This book reminds us that we need to be patient with God and that God's timing may not be our timing. Hermie, a Common Caterpillar is also a book to remind us that prayer works and God DOES answer prayers.

I received this book from BookSneeze for free to review. I was not required to say anything positive about the book. All the opinions I expressed were my own.

West Texas Fair & Rodeo Parade

2011-09-27T21:21:00.000-05:00

My family lives in West Texas. If you have ever met a Texan, you know how prideful they are of their state. In the town we live in, we have a parade in September to celebrate West Texas. This parade signifies the start of the West Texas Fair and Rodeo, in my mind. (I will blog about the fair soon.) But since the parade comes before we go to the fair, this post comes first.

My kids like going to parades, so I took this opportunity to take them to the parade. Jeremy was out of town, so I am very thankful that my mom could come with me and my four kids to the parade. Rilian, Finn, and Seven chose front row seating (on the street) for the parade.

Piper decided she wanted to sit in the balcony (the bed of a friend's truck) to watch the parade.

What exactly is the West Texas Fair and Rodeo Parade? It consists of more than enough entries. If you ask me, this parade is the longest parade in history. But if you sit there and watch the entire 1 hour and 30 minutes, you will see horses...several times.

Tractors...several times.

And several different marching bands, from around the area.

After all, what else is there in west Texas besides horses, tractors, and marching bands?

Rilian really liked the marching bands.

They Are Watching...

2011-09-21T14:26:00.003-05:00

I attend MOPS locally. I have attended faithfully for the past three years and have decided to join the steering committee this year, which starts my fourth year of MOPS. My friend, Lauren, and I have the role of hospitality. What does that mean? We are in charge of making sure there is food at every meeting. We welcome new moms, (moms that are attending MOPS for the first time) with a small gift. We also hand out gifts to newly expecting moms. Lauren and I also get to plan an occasional night out for MOPS.

Before our first meeting, Kristi, our MOPS coordinator, asked me if I would give a marriage/love tip occasionally. I am not an expert on this subject, but I have really enjoyed reading Shannon Ethridge's Blog. I have heard her speak a few times and have really enjoyed it. If you ever get the chance to hear her speak, TAKE IT! Because I have shared some of Shannon's tips and advice, Kristi thought I might like to give a marriage/love tip to MOPS. I accepted the "challenge" and here is what I told MOPS at the first meeting...

Believe it or not, your kids watch you even when you think they aren't...

One night a couple of years ago, my mother-in-law (Joyce) was watching my kids for me. She told me the following story when I came to pick them up. She said she heard Piper (who was around 5 years old at the time) say to Finn (who was around 4 years old at the time), "No, Finn! The Mom is supposed to be on top!" As my mother-in-law told me this, my mind started racing, thinking, "What in the world? What have my children seen my husband and I doing?" I don't know if I had a shocked expression on my face or not, but I was relieved when Joyce told me what she saw Piper and Finn reenacting. My husband has a bad back and he lays on the floor and has me walk on his back in hopes that I can relieve some of the pain. Hence, the "mommy on top" statement.

Now my daughter is 7 years old. She is starting to ask questions about all kinds of things in life. She is pretty random about it at times, too. One day, she said to me, "I know that you and Daddy play games in your bed at night. I saw you." I tried to remain calm and not look surprised at her statement. I calmly replied, "What kind of games?" She said, "On your iPhone." I said, "Yep."

As you can tell, my children are very observant. I had no idea that Piper had seen me playing games on my iPhone at night in my bed. If you have children, I am sure your children are just as observant. My 4 year old son, Seven, is seriously a sponge! And he has a memory like an elephant! They are watching...

As a parent, you should be intentional about what you let your kids see, not what you keep from them, but what you show them. The following story, written by Terrica Smith, is an excellent example:

Secrets to a Happy Marriage

February 23rd, 2010

by Terrica Smith

A few years ago Josh and I were strolling thru the mall hand-in-hand when a little elderly man shuffled towards us, cane in hand. I was concerned for a moment that he didn't see us and began to ease out of his way, until he reached out a hand and warm smile to stop us, "Excuse me there, young man!"

We slowed. "Yes, sir?" my good mannered, southern boy responded.

"You two married?" The bluntness of his question shocked us both momentarily. I got the distinct impression we had a "talkin' to" coming our way. I glanced around nervously, racking my brain. What in the world did we DO?

"Um...yes, sir?" Josh offered, more a question than an answer.

The old man stared silently for a moment at our still intertwined hands, then smiled up at us, eyes twinkling. "My wife, she was my best friend in the whole world. I loved her all my life. Gracious, I still love her." He chuckled quietly to himself.

He had our attention, but neither of us knew where he was going or whether to respond.

"She was beautiful, really, my best friend. I miss her every day." He paused, staring at the floor.

I resisted reaching for him, this complete stranger, wrapping him in my arms like a beloved grandfather I'd known all my life.

He looked up suddenly serious, shuffling closer, pointing emphatically as he spoke, "Now you listen to me, you hear. Do you know, I held my wife's hand every day. That's what you do, you hold hands. You have to touch. That's how you love. If you want to be in love all your life, don't ever stop holdin' hands." He slouched back slightly, eyes twinkling, beaming as if he'd just entrusted us with the secret to life.

I grinned slowly ear to ear. I had just fallen in love with the old man. I was tempted to drag him to the nearest bench begging to hear his life story.

"Thank you," I whispered with absolute sincerity, awestruck by his simple, violent wisdom.

With a knowing smile, he patted Josh firmly on the shoulder and shuffled away.

We turned to watch him. "Wow," Josh breathed, breaking his silence.

"Yeah," I responded, shaking my head in disbelief, "what a treasure."

"What?" he asked. "The old man or what he said?"

I turned to him, squeezing his hand, "Both. Absolutely both."

Holding hands may seem an insignificant 'secret', but don't underestimate the power of such a simple, profoundly intimate act. When you take your spouses' hand you're communicating, "I'm with you. We're in this together. I want to be here."

It's a simple practice in safeguarding your marriage as well, as you're communicating to the rest of the world, "I'm with him." (Don't even try, suckers!)

The above article by Terrica was originally posted at http://www.sexuallyconfidentwife.com/blog/2010/02/secrets-to-a-happy-marriage/. If you would like to read more from Terrica, please visit http://www.terricajoy.com/, where she writes about love, art, travel, and food.

Sometimes as a parent with young children it is hard to hold your husband's hand because you have to hold your children's hand so they don't run off. I completely understand this! I have FOUR children! Try to make the effort to intentionally hold your husband's hand every chance you get. Perhaps, you get the chance to go out on a date with your husband, hold his hand.

Piper's Giving Heart

2011-09-16T08:52:00.000-05:00

Piper wore a pretty dress to school one day. Of course, she had to wear nice dress shoes to go with it. This meant that she had to take tennis shoes to change into for P.E. class. No big deal. When I went to pick Piper up from school she was wearing her pretty dress and her Nike tennis shoes. Perhaps she didn't have enough time after P.E. class to change her shoes. Or maybe she just didn't feel like putting her dress shoes back on. I didn't think too much of it. This is Piper we are talking about and I cannot understand why she chooses to wear what she chooses to wear sometimes.

When we got home, Piper says, "I gave my shoes to my friend because she was just dying to have them." I was almost in shock. I knew I had to respond, but how? I wasn't quite sure how to respond.

What would you have done if your daughter gave away these shoes?

Piper hadn't really done anything bad. Was it wrong for her to give away a pair of shoes? It was just a material item.

After I got over the initial shock, I told Piper that it was very nice to give away her shoes. But next time, she needs to ask Mommy or Daddy if she can give them away. She can tell her friend that she needs to ask her Mommy or Daddy before she gives whatever away that her friends want.

Through the years, I have come to realize that Piper's love language is gifts. She was showing her friend how much she likes her by giving her a pair of shoes.

I told Piper that if her friend gives her shoes back, to bring them home. When Piper got home from school the next day, I asked her if her friend gave her shoes back. She said, "No, she was wearing them at school." I just had to laugh!

What would you have done?

Rilian's Furry Friend

2011-09-13T14:25:00.000-05:00

One day, this little Chihuahua was found outside our house near the street. It had a two different tags on it, with two different phone numbers. I called the first one and no one answered. So, I called the second one. Here is how the conversation went when the lady answered the phone...

ME: I found your dog.

LADY: No, I'm not missing a dog.

ME: Well, it has your phone number on its tag.

LADY: I don't know how you could have my dog. We have lots of dogs and they are all here...What does it look like?

ME: It's a Chihuahua.

LADY: What color is it?

ME: Well, what color Chihuahua are you missing? (I did not want to give this lady someone else's dog. We have lost a dog before and know what it is like to never see them again.)

LADY: Is it black?

Then I hear her talking to another lady in the background. They are talking about not missing a dog and all of them are there at their house. The lady I am talking to is telling another lady in the background that I am saying I have their dog.

By now I am getting a little annoyed with this lady. Seriously? THIS dog that I am holding in my hands, has HER number on it...the number that I just dialed and she just answered.

ME: If this isn't your dog, then why does her tag have your number on it?

LADY: It's not mine. I am not missing any dogs.

Then I hung up the phone.

I was really annoyed now. Seriously?!? Why would the tag have her phone number if the dog isn't hers? How could she not know that she was missing a dog? When we lost one of our Siberian Huskies, we were greatly saddened. It was like losing a child! Maybe she had so many dogs that she couldn't keep up with them and really did not realize that one was missing.

So, what did I do? I called the pound. I just thought I'd let them sort out the mess. While I was waiting on the pound to come get this Chihuahua, I put it out in the backyard. I didn't know if it was house broken. Plus, I did not know anything about the dog, so I really didn't want it in my house. Our fence has places where a Chihuahua could escape, so I tied it up. Rilian really liked the Chihuahua and wanted to walk it, so I let him. First, he bent down to pet it.

Then she layed down in the cool dirt.

Here is a video of Rilian walking his furry friend.

Then it was time for Rilian to take a nap. I left a bowl of water outside for the Chihuahua while she waited on the pound to come get her.

When the man arrived from the pound, he told me he thought they had had her before. If that is the case, they would scan her and find out where her microchip says she lives.

Well, turns out, later on that afternoon, my neighbor across the street came knocking on my door asking if I had seen a little dog earlier that day. I told him I called the phone number on her tag and they said she did not belong to them, so I called the pound. I told him if I see her again, I will know where she belongs. Apparently, the Chihuahua belongs to him and his family and they did not put their phone number her tags. Needless to say, after he walked back across the street to his house, he went to the pound to get his dog.

So, pet owners....PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, put YOUR contact information on your pet's tag! I don't want to have to talk to anymore "dumb" people when I find your pet.

Book Review: Love You More

2011-09-08T10:56:00.002-05:00

Love You More by Jennifer Grant, is a story of a mother of three young children, who feels a call from God to adopt a fourth child. In this story, Jennifer tells about the things she goes through while waiting to bring her baby girl home from Guatemala. She also tells about what trials a family may face when adopting an interracial child. Jennifer not only tells about what trials and judgement she faced when adopting a Guatemalan child, but she also tells about what great joy she had when she was finally able to bring her daughter home.

I really enjoyed reading this book. If you are planning to adopt a child, I would definitely recommend this book. Jennifer did not gloss over anything. She told it like it was. The positive and the negative. I knew a little about the adoption process before reading this book, but I can say I know alot more about the adoption process and what a family goes through when adopting a child. Even if you aren't considering adoption, I would still recommend this book. It is a good read.

Disclaimer: I received this book from Booksneeze for free to review. I was not required to say anything positive about this book. The above opinion is all my own.

One More Step Closer to Being All Grown Up

2011-09-05T15:19:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, we put a twin bed in Rilian's room. He wasn't technically sleeping in a crib anymore. It was still his crib, but we had taken the side off, so it was more like a bed. He was so excited to have a big boy bed. He could hardly sit still. That's why his leg is blurry.

Then we tucked him in for the night.

Rilian has always loved to sleep with tons of things. He has remained faithful to his orange kitty, seen laying on the edge of his new bed. But this night he decided to take binoculars and a little green dragon to bed with him, too.

And now Rilian is one more step closer to being all grown up.

Piper's Little Sister

2011-08-30T22:35:00.002-05:00

Piper, my seven-year-old daughter, often tells me she wants a sister. She has three younger brothers. I often reply that God only gave her brothers. One day, one of her brothers must have done something to really make her mad that day. She kept on and on about how much she wanted a sister. So, I finally told her that I can't have anymore babies. She asked why I couldn't have anymore babies. I told her that I had a surgery that made my body not able to have anymore babies. I told her four babies is enough for me. I don't know how much she totally understood all that, but I answered her question. She mostly wishes she had a sister when she gets upset with her brothers. She has told me, at times, that her brothers are mean. I told Piper that sisters can be mean, too.

On another occasion that Seven, Piper's four-year-old brother, happened to make Piper mad, she wrote a letter to her friend's mom. Piper wrote in the letter that she would trade Seven for her friend (who is a girl). And Seven would live with that family now. It might have been a nice thought to Piper, but Piper's friend's mom wasn't falling for it.

Now, I don't want you to think that Piper and her brothers never get along. Alot of the time, they play with each other really well and get along great. But everyone has their days.

In our house, we have some dress-up clothes. We have mostly dresses as dress-up clothes. This doesn't quite make sense since we only have one girl and THREE boys. I'm not sure what's going on with that. Anyway, the boys really don't mind playing dress-up with Piper in "her" dress-up clothes. It is quite comical to see my three boys (ages 6, 4, and 2 1/2) wearing a dress-up dress.

The past week or so, Piper has really enjoyed dressing up Rilian, her 2 1/2 year old brother. And he just lets her! This is what she came up with the other day. He wouldn't look at the camera at first. Maybe he could read my mind that I was going to put it on my blog and he would be embarrassed about it when he got older...

I at least got him to look up some.

I apologize for the quality of the pictures. They were taken in a darker room and with my phone. But hey, I still got a picture. What would we do without today's awesome technology?

Perhaps, this is Piper's way of getting a "little sister".

And if you were expecting my post to be about us expecting...well, like I said before, I have been fixed. I cannot have anymore babies. Unless God says we are having another baby, we are not. I should really be careful how many times I say that. I have said it several times. I sure wouldn't want God to get any ideas. He does have quite the sense of humor!

Book Review: Life, In Spite of Me

2011-08-27T16:32:00.002-05:00

Life, In Spite of Me, Extraordinary Hope After a Fatal Choice by Kristen Jane Anderson was a book I had a hard time putting down. When I first picked it up to read, I was hooked.

Life, In Spite of Me, is Kristen's story. Everyone has a story to tell. There were alot of things that had happened in Kristen's life, from death of a family member, rape, and a friend's suicide. All these things and thoughts she held inside and did not talk to anyone about them. She started partying and going out with friends and stopped caring about school.

One night Kristen decided to end her life. When she was seventeen and felt she could not live it anymore, she laid down on the train tracks and was run over by 33 train cars which severed her legs off. After her failed attempt at suicide, she began to realize that God had a plan for keeping her alive. She shouldn't have lived, but she did.

This inspirational story tells about her struggles with that decision she made and how she learns to live again, after that nightmare of a night. From going to rehab and psych wards, Kristen slowly rediscovers a will to live and what she feels is God's plan for her life now. If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression, this would be a good book to read. If you don't know anyone who is struggling with depression, it would still be a good read. I highly recommend this very inspirational story!

You can read more about Kristen here.

Disclosure: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

My 1st Grader and My 2nd Grader

2011-08-25T11:08:00.000-05:00

Piper and Finn's first day of school was this past Monday. Finn is now in 1st grade and Piper is in 2nd grade. They were both glad to be going back to school to see all their friends again!

Finn is a gamer. He LOVES video games and computer games. So, this is the backpack he picked out for school. It is just perfect for him!

Finn's teacher this year, for 1st grade, is Mrs. Landers. We have a friend who comes and reads to Mrs. Landers' class each week. We are excited for Finn, and our friend.

Piper posing for her first day of 2nd grade.

She was like Seven and didn't want to take off her backpack either.

Piper was excited to find out that Mrs. Poorman is her 2nd grade teacher. I think she was a little disappointed when she found out her friend, Gustavo, isn't in her class this year. But her other buddy, Jazz (Jasreal), is in her class. Piper and Gustavo say they are going to date in high school, but they are just friends now. Then after college, they plan to get married. We shall see :)

I managed to hold it together this year. No tears streamed down my face. Not one single tear escaped my tear ducts. I didn't have to fight the tears too hard, just a little. Not even on Seven's first day of preschool. I'll admit I did have to fight the tears a little harder on Seven's first day of preschool, but I still managed to hold them in...I must be growing up...

Seven's First Day of Pre K!

2011-08-23T13:24:00.002-05:00

It was hard for me to believe in April that Seven turned 4 years old. What happens after you turn 4 years old? You get to go to preschool! Seven was SO exited to go to his first day of preschool last Wednesday! We went backpack shopping and he found just the one he wanted. I think that made him even more excited to start school. I marked his first day of preschool on his calendar, to help him know when he would finally go to school. Each night as he marked off that day, he would count down the days until his first day of school!

Then, the morning FINALLY came when he got to go to his first day of school, last Wednesday! He was beyond excited. He wanted to eat breakfast with his backpack on, but I told him we could put it on after he was done eating.

Here is Seven right before we walked out the door to leave for preschool.

I wanted to get a picture of him with his backpack, but he didn't want to take it off. So, this is what I got.

Seven and Mrs. Cook, his preschool teacher. He also has a teacher's aid in his classroom, Mrs. Lassiter.

Seven found a fire station to play with in his classroom as I was saying goodbye.

For those of you who know Seven, you know what a fun kid he is! He is so full of life. He loves to joke around. He doesn't know a stranger. I would LOVE to be a fly on the wall in his class! He is one funny kid!

A few days before he started school, I jokingly asked him if he was going to have to go see the principal. He said that he was gonna be good so he wouldn't have to. When I picked him up from school on his first day, I asked him how his day was. The first thing he said was, "I didn't have to go see the principal." I guess he remembered our conversation a few days earlier. He doesn't forget anything! The next day when I picked him up he told me the principal came to his room. He said no one was in trouble, she was coming to see the whole class so they would know who she was. I love that kid!

Mohawk Boys

2011-08-19T08:28:00.000-05:00

Finn has had a mohawk off and on since the summer that he was 2 years old. Unfortunately, preschool came and he was very sad when we had to cut it off for school. Jeremy had one that year, too, and decided he would cut his off when we cut off Finn's. It made Finn a little happier. Then summer came and Finn got his mohawk again!

About a week and a half ago, Jeremy decided to give Seven and Rilian a mohawk, too. This was their first mohawk. We hadn't given them one before because Rilian's hair was so blonde and fine, we didn't know how it would look. Rilian's hair got a little thicker and Jeremy decided to give it a try. Same with Seven, we didn't know how he would look with a mohawk. However, his hair wasn't as light and is actually pretty thick. Turns out, they look awesome!

What's more fun than a "funny" picture? I like how Finn crossed his eyes. I guess Rilian wasn't sure what to do, so he was looking to Daddy for some ideas.

The dreaded "cut off your mohawk because school starts the next day" day came. Seven started preschool this past Wednesday. Finn won't start school until Monday. But to make things easier, Jeremy just cut all the mohawks off at the same time. Seven and Rilian have never had shaved heads before. Good thing hair grows back. I just hope Rilian's hair grows back blonde...

Finn's head looks like a skunk after we shaved his mohawk off. He has a tan line where his mohawk was. Pretty funny. I can only imagine what Seven and Rilian's heads would look like had they had their mohawks all summer, like Finn, because their skin tans very easily. There was a shadow from the camera, but the "skunk line" was even on his forehead a little.

Remember our trip to Marathon, TX? I'm sure you haven't forgotten the lovely picture of the traumatic rock throwing incident. Well, that rock that Rilian threw, left a nice scar on Seven's head. Hopefully when his hair grows back, you will never know it is there. Speaking of not knowing it's there, Seven has a big freckle on his head. He thought it was neat because he didn't know it was there until we gave him a mohawk.

Seven wasn't disappointed at all when we had to shave off his mohawk for school. He was just excited to go to school! We'll see what happens at the end of summer next year. Will he be just as excited to have his mohawk shaved off so he can go to school?

Marathon, Texas

2011-08-16T08:08:00.000-05:00

Texas is a huge state with tons of tiny towns scattered throughout. A few weeks ago, we went to Marathon, Texas. Why on earth did we go there? Jeremy's grandma died in June and she wanted to be buried in Marathon, where she was raised. Her sister was also buried there. Grandmother wanted to be buried next to her sister. So, for her birthday in July, the family took her ashes to Marathon and buried her.

My kids were like movie stars. Everyone wanted to take their pictures. Well, they are pretty darn cute, aren't they?

My boys like to play in the dirt. Marathon is pretty much all dirt. They also like to throw stones. What boy doesn't? Seven and Rilian found some rocks to throw. Not stones, but ROCKS! Well, Seven's head just happened to be in the pathway of the rock that Rilian had just thrown and BAM!

I was watching them and saw it happen. Seven started screaming and then I saw blood running down his face. There was ALOT of blood, so I quickly passed him on to Jeremy for Jeremy to doctor him up. When there is more than a little blood, I would rather Jeremy take care of them. Seven was fine. No concussions or anything. Just blood. A little while later in the day, it must have came back open because I noticed the sweat on Seven's face had a red tint to it. I wiped it up and that was that.

We had lots of wonderful food there to eat. That's usually what people do at funerals, right? Rilian was enjoying this cupcake and telling me he was eating it like certain animals. And he even ate it like Harold and the Purple Crayon.

Piper found this window at the place we were staying and wanted her picture taken by it. She said it was like the window in Rapunzel's tower, from the movie Tangled.

The kids had fun with their cousin, Benjamin, as they always do. They LOVE him! I think it's funny how Finn is looking at Piper in this picture.

Marathon is so small, that I guess they don't care if you dig your own hole in the family plot in the cemetery and bury your own relative. So, that is exactly what happened. Uncle Matt and Uncle Danny went earlier in the day and dug the hole for Grandmother. Then in the evening, when it was cooler, the family went to put Grandmother to rest beside her sister. Piper, Finn, Seven, and Rilian all got a turn at putting dirt on her. At one point, Finn had to get his flip flop out of the hole...it fell off and fell down into the hole.

This is what you will see if you go to visit Grandmother now. She was a loving, Christian, patient, and wonderful lady that loved desserts and scrabble. I didn't get to know her as well as some of the other family members, but I loved hearing their memories of her.

Grandmother had five children. From left to right: Matt Enright, Joyce Voss, Bonnie Roggendorff, and Danny Enright. Glen Enright wasn't able to make it to the funeral.

My family had packed everything up into our vehicle and were saying the last goodbyes to the family, when the Sheriff drove into the place we were staying. His siren came on and he rolled down his window. He said this dog was his wife's dog and he causes more trouble! He said his wife went out of town and left the dog with him. The dog likes to turn on the lights and siren in the sheriff truck. He said he can't leave the dog at home because he will tear things up. The sheriff said one day, he left the dog in the truck and walked across the street to get some pizza. When he came back, all the lights were on and the siren was going. The dog had turned it all on. We just laughed as the sheriff told us about his wife's dog.

So, if you happen to make your way down to Marathon, Texas, and you think the sheriff is pulling you over, it may just be his wife's dog having a little fun!

Book Review: Thunder Dog

2011-08-12T22:18:00.000-05:00

Wow! Talk about a great book! I had a really hard time putting it down when I picked it up to read. Thunder Dog: The True Story of A Blind Man, His Guide Dog & the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero, by Michael Hingson, with Suzy Flory is a book that I highly recommend!

I have not read any other books about what happened on 9/11, so I found it really interesting to read about the events through someone's "eyes" that was actually in one of the Twin Towers when it was hit by the plane on that fateful day. Michael worked in Tower 1 and went to work that day not knowing what life changing events were about to happen shortly after he arrived for work. Roselle was his guide dog at the time. She did an amazing job helping him get out of the tower alive. Don't freak out that I spoiled the book now, how else would he be able to write it, if he didn't make it out alive? I loved how Michael and Roselle worked as a team. I loved hearing Michael tell how he and Roselle were able to encourage each other as well as being concerned for each other. What a wonderful relationship they have!

Not only does Michael share what he and Roselle went through on September 11, but he also shares other stories about himself in this book. He was born blind. He has overcome many "obstacles" in his life. I think his parents played a major part in what a wonderful and amazing person he is today. I won't tell you how they played a role, I can't give away the whole book.

So, rush to the place you buy books and pick up your copy of Thunder Dog right now. What are you waiting for? You will not regret it!

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze book reviewer program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Ouch!

2011-08-07T22:23:00.003-05:00

For those of you who follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook, you most likely have already seen this picture...a few weeks ago. (Because I pretty much stay behind on my blogging).

This is Piper's hand. Do you see all those little specks on it? Do you know what they are? Splinters! Yes, they are ALL splinters! I roughly guessed there are about 30 in her hand, but you can count them if you really feel like it. You have to look real close to see some of them.

Piper is very creative. Her mind does not think like most of our minds think. I am not exactly sure how she got all these splinters in her hand. But her creative mind seems to have gotten her in alot of pain this time. From what she told me, she was trying to get out of the pool. How did she get all of these splinters when trying to get out of the pool? I bet you are wondering what kind of pool we have. It is a normal swimming pool with a normal ladder. But it is really close to part of our WOODEN fence. Hmmm....Your guess is as good as mine...

Apparently, she chose not to use the ladder and it wasn't such a bright idea. Have you ever had a good idea go wrong?

Tree Branch House

2011-08-03T15:15:00.000-05:00

Jeremy's dad (Dadabe) has a pecan tree that needed some of the branches trimmed so they wouldn't rub on the roof anymore. Jeremy got the honor of cutting off the branches. Dadabe then threw them off the roof and into the backyard. The kids thought it was cool and decided it was their house. Seven's in there too, but his face is hidden behind some leaves. You can see his swimsuit though. I'm not sure what Finn was doing, but Rilian was saying "cheese."

More branches added...

Rilian in the house...

Seven, with more branches added.

Rilian peeking out, with even more branches added.

Here is what their tree branch house looked like when they decided there were enough branches on it.

Seven decided he was going to climb it.

Finn's 6th Birthday Party

2011-07-28T16:48:00.000-05:00

My sweet Finn turned six years old on July 7, 2011. Six! He will be in 1st grade when school starts in August.

When it drew closer to time to plan Finn's Birthday party, we asked him what kind of party he wanted. He said he wanted a pool party. Ok, that's easy. We have a pool in the backyard. Finn said he wanted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles plates for his party. I asked Finn what kind of plates he wanted if I couldn't find Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He replied, "Just pick something." That's one of the things I love about Finn. He is so easy going and easy to please. He cares more about others. Well, I wasn't able to find Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles plates in the little bit of time I had left to get them...I am a procrastinator. So, I got him the next best thing...Batman!

Jeremy is the official cake maker in our family. And he does a VERY good job. I am VERY thankful he can do it and that he enjoys doing it. Jeremy asked Finn what kind of cake he wanted. Finn said, "A red alligator with a brown piece of candy for the nose, because I want to eat the nose."

Jeremy is in the process of making a tree house for the kids. Finn's friends had fun playing in it.

Right now, we just have the floor down, but they didn't care. They still wanted to play on it.

Time for cake!

But first, we have to sing to the birthday boy!

Everyone enjoyed the cake...

Pool fun...

I had people at the party ask what is that pink thing on the ladder. It is Piper's inner tube deflated. For some reason, she decided it needed to be placed there.

I love how the water being splashed out looks!

To give you an example of how sweet Finn is, this is his friend Jericho. Remember how Finn was specific about how Jeremy was to make his alligator cake? Well, Finn didn't end up eating the nose, that he specifically requested. Jericho wanted the nose, so Finn let him eat it. He is such a sweet kid!

Book Review: Love & War, Find Your Way to Something Beautiful in Your Marriage

2011-07-26T09:26:00.000-05:00

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

John and Stasi Eldredge do a good job at stressing how important God and prayer are in your marriage. They wrote this book together. As they tell different stories of things that happened in their marriage, you get to see it from John's point of view AND from Stasi's point of view.

Every marriage has struggles. John and Stasi share some of the struggles they have faced in their marriage. They both were "broken" as they went into their marriage. This has caused some problems, but they have been able to work through it, with God. If you believe in prayer and that prayer can fix things, you may want to read this book.

My Kids Like The Black Eyed Peas

2011-07-23T21:57:00.000-05:00

We had on some music one night and the song that came on was "I've Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas. Finn decided to honor us by doing some of his awesome dance moves.

Then Rilian, being the little brother, decided he wanted to dance just like Finn.

This is gonna be some helpful blackmail footage when they get older! :)

While The Big Kids Are Away, The Little One Will Play

2011-07-22T15:02:00.000-05:00

Anyone who has kids knows that summer time means Vacation Bible School or VBS! Most parents look forward to this "free babysitting." Rilian, our youngest, is 2 years old. This means we don't get to take advantage of the "free babysitting" with him. This means we get to spend some Mommy, Daddy, and Rilian time together! Rilian gets to be an only child...he gets to enjoy being "spoiled."

Piper, Finn, and Seven attended two different VBS this summer. The first one was at Granny's church. One night after Jeremy and I took Piper, Finn, and Seven to VBS, we (and Rilian) went to eat at TaMolly's. Rilian was so good! I guess he didn't have the influence of his siblings. Not to say that they are all evil, but he can be a little toot on his own. However, this particular night, he was demon-free.

Jeremy ordered fajitas. Jeremy was making the tortilla warmer "talk" to Rilian and he thought it was so funny! He couldn't stop laughing! He tried to cover his mouth, in hopes of stopping the laughter.

This week, Piper, Finn, and Seven attended VBS at Finn's kindergarten teacher's church. The building where alot of their children's ministry happens is pretty cool. It is decorated with an ocean theme. Anytime we go there, the kids like to look at the fish in the salt water fish tank.

I tried to get Rilian to look at me, but he was too excited with the music that was playing for VBS. He was starting to dance!

One of the nights that Piper, Finn, and Seven attended this VBS, we met up with a good friend that we hadn't seen in awhile and she suggested we go to Nikki's Swirl Shoppe. If you have never been to one, I suggest finding the nearest one to you and going to it. It is yummy! Here's how it works...you get a bowl. Then you decide what flavor and how much frozen yogurt you want. You can choose as many or as few flavors as you want to put in the bowl. You can also sample any of the flavors to see if that is the flavor for you. Then you decide what add-ins you want. Take it up and put in on the scale and get out your wallet to pay. Voila! It's that simple.

I'm not sure what they put in their frozen yogurt, because it had some sort of effect on Rilian...

In case you are worried now, the frozen yogurt didn't stop him from being able to walk. He was just being silly and pretending.

How many of you take advantage of the "free babysitting" otherwise known as Vacation Bible School?

What Happens When Mommy's Not Home?

2011-07-14T16:34:00.000-05:00

I was painting Piper's nails one night when Jeremy decided he would make dinner that night. He started to make it and realized he needed a missing ingredient in order to finish. So, I stopped painting Piper's nails and went to the store. The closest store is less than 5 minutes from our house. I told Piper I would finish her nails as soon as I came back.

When I got back, I saw that Rilian had decided to paint his fingernails on his own.

AND his toenails, all by himself.

Not too bad for his first time and for being a two year old. Although, I don't plan on letting him paint his nails regularly.

Wanna see what else can happen when Daddy is in charge and Mommy is not at home? Click here.

2 Moms and 8 Kids...ages 7 and under!

2011-07-12T23:07:00.000-05:00

The church we now attend sends their elementary kids to a camp near Ruidoso, NM. Jeremy decided to be a counselor at this camp. Since we have some good friends who work and live at this camp, I decided I would go with our four kids and stay with them. Connor is the activities director. Kaylee and Connor have four kids. They had four kids in four years, just like we did.

I thought I would just follow the charter buses in our vehicle. That way, if something should happen along this 7 hour drive, they could stop and help me. I was a little nervous taking my four children all by myself on such a drive. If they were older, it might not be so bad. Piper is the oldest. She just turned 7 years old in May. Rilian is the youngest. He is almost 2 1/2 years old.

The campers were supposedly leaving the church at 7am. So, I woke up my kids at 6:30am. This is earlier than they get up for school! Jeremy called me at about 6:50am and said that he didn't really pay attention to the schedule, but they weren't going to leave the church until 9am. I thought about it for a little while. I knew there was no way I could go back to sleep now that my kids were awake. So, I decided I would just start driving without the rest of the group. I knew that if something should go wrong along the way, at least they would be a couple of hours behind me. The trip was uneventful. Everything went well. I made the drive without any problems, with my four children. Coming home was just as good. I was very glad!

Combine my four children and Kaylee's four children and what do you have? EIGHT kids, ages 7 years old to 6 months old. There were 7 boys and 1 girl. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. It actually wasn't bad at all. They all got along really well. If any of the children ever had a problem, it was with their siblings.

Since we would be staying in Kaylee and Connor's house, my children and I would be sleeping in one room. We decided the kids needed sleeping bags. So we took them to Target and let them pick some out. Piper, Seven, and Rilian all picked this orange fox.

The tail is the zipper. There was also a pink bunny and a brown bear to choose from. Finn picked a plain red sleeping bag, so he could tell his apart from the other's.

Who would have thought that there really were Sasquatch in Ruidoso, NM? ;) We were sitting outside one day while our 8 children played and I saw this sign posted on a telephone pole behind me. I couldn't resist capturing the picture!

We took the kids to play in the river one day. They said it was cold at first. I did not get in, so I can't tell you one way or the other. But is sure was beautiful! Finn and Piper are exploring here.

Seven and Piper exploring.

Trip, Finn, and Thatcher exploring. Trip and Thatcher are my friend's older two children.

Piper wondering off on her own.

Rilian didn't want to get in at first, because he said it was cold.

I tried to get a good picture of Rilian, but he wasn't very cooperative during this shot.

My friend, Kaylee's, third son, Truett. Otherwise, known as True True.

Kaylee and Townsend in the river. He is 6 months old. She was blessed with four boys! They call him Towns for short. I love her son's names!

Rilian and Thatcher had fun throwing rocks into the river.

He finally decided it wasn't too cold to get in.

Sweet Finn, in the river...

And Seven, in the river...

Precious Piper, in the river...

On a different day, we took the kids to the playground at the Smokey the Bear Historical Park. It was a pretty cool park. Check out Rilian's climbing skills!

It was a good week. Kaylee and I are already looking forward to next year!

Hair

2011-07-10T22:03:00.000-05:00

I have three sons. They all have the same dad. How can they be so different? Take for instance their hair color. They all got a hair cut on the same day. Take a look at their hair...

From top to bottom, it is Seven's hair, Rilian's hair, and Finn's hair. Amazing, huh?

They all started out with dark hair. This is Finn at 12 days old...dark hair.

And at a year, his hair is still dark. It doesn't look as dark on the sides, because it is cut shorter than the top.

Finn's hair hasn't really changed color. It is still dark. Another interesting thing about Finn, is that if you look back at his pictures, his face has stayed the same. All through the ages. We definitely will be able to tell his pictures growing up!

Seven was born with dark hair. You can see what it looked like at 8 days old, while napping on Daddy's chest.

When his baby hair fell out and his new hair started to grow in, it grew in alot lighter. This is what is looked like when he was one year old.

It got even lighter. By two years old, he as a definite blonde.

Now his hair has gotten darker. Not quite as dark as when he was born. I would label it as a dirty blonde. It also has some curls, if we let it grow a little. It mostly looks like "bed head". It is kind of funny, but he can pull it off with his personality.

Rilian was born with dark red hair.

At a year old, it was lighter.

And was starting to get some lighter colored curls in the back.

A few months before Rilian turned two years old, he had alot of curls! They were huge curls!

And his hair was really blonde!

He is still a cotton top today, but has much shorter hair. You can read about the drastic hair cut here, if you want to.

I don't know what will become of Rilian's bleach blonde hair as he grows older.

I find it very interesting that three children, from the same mom and the same dad, have such different hair. They all have their own personalities, as well. But that would be a whole other blog post!

A Trip to Sam's Club

2011-07-05T15:59:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been to Sam's Club on Saturday when they have samples? Our kids LOVE eating "lunch" at Sam's.

If you haven't ever had the privilege of going to the store with any of my children, take a look at what you are missing out on...

Don't you wish you were at Sam's with us that day?

Book Review: A Reluctant Queen, The Love Story of Esther

2011-07-02T21:36:00.000-05:00

I am a book reviewer for Booksneeze/Thomas Nelson. They sent me "A Reluctant Queen, The Love Story of Esther", to review for free. If you like free books, check them out!

I saw this book and thought I would give it a try. I wasn't sure if I would like it or not. To be honest, I'm sure I have read Esther in the Bible, but I could not really retell the story if you asked me. It was very interesting to hear the story of Esther through Joan Wolf.

Joan Wolf wrote "A Reluctant Queen" it as a love story. She went into more detail about Esther and all she went through than the Bible did. All the characters of the story seemed to come alive. It was very easy to feel as if you were there with Esther. Joan did a beautiful job of describing what the characters were wearing and what the Palace looked like. She did an excellent job of describing what Esther must have felt while going from just a Jewish girl to becoming the queen and actually falling in love with the king.

"A Reluctant Queen", by Joan Wolf, was a book I had a hard time putting down. I didn't want to stop reading it. I would recommend this book to anyone who is or is not familiar with the story of Esther.

Angels

2011-07-02T10:56:00.000-05:00

If you ever hear my kids talking about going to see the angels, they are referring to Jacob's Dream at Abilene Christian University. They love to "go see the angels".

I think it is mostly because they love to climb on the rocks and hope that I let them play in the pool of water. I don't think they really care too much about seeing the actual sculpted angels.

At the beginning of summer, I was trying to think of things to keep my four children busy with. Piper and Finn are used to being in school. Seven and Rilian are used to being at home. Combine them all when school is out and they have to get used to being around each other so much. I decided to take them to see the angels. While they were climbing on the rocks and stairs, I thought it would be a great photo opportunity.

I am glad that they cooperated and let me take their pictures.

Seven climbed up to this spot and said, "Mama, take my picture."

Rilian didn't quite make it up as high as Seven did. But he wanted me to take his picture.

Rilian was being tempted to get in the very inviting looking pool of water.

Finn climbed up and stood here so I could take his picture.

He is so photogenic!

I thought I had taken some pictures of Piper as well, that day. But this is the only picture I found of her. This is the pool of water that they always hope I let them get in.

Sometimes I let them walk on the steps and ledge in the water. But they usually end up deeper than what I originally told them. So, this day, I only allowed them to sit with their feet in the water. Well, that just wasn't working...the water was so inviting...one thing led to another...and I decided we should go home before they were soaked!

I love my little angels! Looking at the pictures, why would you think they weren't angels?

May Farm Playdate

2011-06-28T15:12:00.000-05:00

For those of you who were at the May Farm Playdate, you can see how far behind I am in my blogging... For those of you who weren't there, well, I am behind. Better late than never, though, right?

My kids always love going to May Farm. It is a farm that is about 15 to 20 minutes away. May, is the owner of the farm, and she has lots of farm animals for the kids to pet and feed. And what is a trip to May Farm without one of her wild and crazy "hay" rides?

Seven has no fear. He fed any animal that he could.

Rilian on the other hand, was "cautious" around the animals and wasn't too sure about feeding some of them. But he did find this little lamb that he felt comfortable enough around to feed. This lamb was named Easter, because it was born on Easter.

You can see how "cautious" Rilian is about feeding the animals...he didn't want to get too close. But he did want to feed the donkey.

May has a section where you can sit and hold an animal. Seven held a guinea pig. It was hot that day, though, and the guinea pig was feeling the heat and didn't really enjoy being held.

I was proud of Rilian for holding the guinea pig too, seeing how he wasn't too sure about the bigger animals. You can really see the guinea pig trying to get away now. It was hot.

Rilian stayed brave for a little while longer and wanted to hold a rabbit. The rabbit was hot also and wasn't too interested in being held either. Rilian did a good job at trying to keep ahold of it so it couldn't get away.

Like most farms, May Farm has cats. This cat decided it was gonna lay on the table and join us for lunch.

After lunch, it was horse riding time. Seven rode first.

After seeing Seven ride the horse, Rilian decided he wanted to ride, too. But he wanted Seven to ride with him. Seven was sweet and held on to Rilian so he wouldn't fall off.

Piper's 7th Birthday Partay!

2011-06-24T22:44:00.000-05:00

On May 18, Piper turned 7 years old! My baby girl is 7 years old!!! Time sure does fly! Piper will be starting 2nd grade in the fall.

Piper decided she wanted a dog themed birthday party. Jeremy got to use his mad cake making skills. He let her pick three dogs that he would make on cupcakes.

She chose a Chiuaua.

An Old English Sheepdog.

And a Collie. When it came time to pick which cupcake the kids wanted, Finn said he wanted the one with a beard...this one.

Jeremy got even more creative and made dog treats. Well, they aren't exactly dog treats. They are peanut butter cookies shaped like dog treats.

Piper wanted to have a slip-n-slide party. We thought it would be fun to get the one with three lanes.

It even came with small inflatable looking kick boards, so they could race.

There was a small "pool" at the end. It was really more like an area where water collected.

Lots of splashing happened...

It was a big hit. They had a blast!

Time to sing to the birthday girl...

Apparently, Gustavo was very excited that it was Piper's birthday. She tells me they are going to date in high school. It is funny to hear their "plan".

Since the kids were all wet from playing on the slip-n-slide, we put a blanket out and they had a picnic with their dog cupcakes.

Time to open presents...

Rilian was very interested in this present of Piper's. She got some of the Littlest Pet Shop stuff. She plays with it alot and Rilian joins right in. It is funny, he calls it "Shopping Shop," instead of Littlest Pet Shop.

After Piper opened all her presents, we turned the slip-n-slide back on. It was making quite a mess in our backyard and Rilian was enjoying the mess!

I love discovering a picture where I have caught my child in a jump, mid-air.

It was interesting to watch Rilian. Notice how he doesn't walk ON the grass, he stays in the puddles. He's a funny kid!

Happy Birthday Piper! I am so thankful that God trusted me to take care of you 7 years ago! You came into this world 4 weeks early. You have never been behind. You have always been ahead of the game.

It has been a wild and crazy ride, so far...I don't imagine it will be any less wild and crazy as you continue to grow up. You are unique. You are very creative! I like how you like to do things your own way. If there is a table or chair or what have you, in the way of your destination, you don't go around. You choose to go over, or under. You like a challenge. I am excited to continue to watch you grow up. Right now, you say you want to be a police woman...so you can have a German Shepherd. We shall see if you change your mind. Whatever you chose to do, you will be great at it! I love you Piper!

Piper's New Doo

2011-06-21T08:08:00.000-05:00

Piper had been asking to get her haircut for several months. She wanted it cut short like her cousin, Mabrie. Mabrie's hair is cute on her. It is above her shoulders. I REALLY did not want to have Piper's hair cut this short. She was three years old before she really had a good head of hair. And it was so pretty and long.

I am not exactly sure why Piper decided to make this face when I took the picture of her beautiful long hair. I guess it is because she is my daughter. When I was younger, my mom liked to take pictures of me. I didn't want to get my picture taken that often, so I made faces in the pictures. Apparently what they say is true, you reap what you sow.

In the past, Piper has taken matters into her own hands. Translation = she cut her own hair without permission. I didn't want to keep putting off getting her hair cut in fear that she might take matters into her own hands again! I figured I had put off getting her hair cut long enough. I told Piper that on her birthday we would go to Cool Cuts and get her hair cut. She was so excited!

At Cool Cuts, the child who is getting their hair cut can pick a movie to watch while they get their hair cut. Piper picked Tangled. How fitting.

Say good-bye to Piper's long hair!

Piper's locks on the floor... We thought about donating it to Locks of Love, but her hair wasn't quite long enough.

After the cut is the styling...

And now I present my 7 year old with her big girl hair cut!

Like I said earlier, I REALLY did not want to cut her hair this short. But I came to the conclusion that it is her hair. AND it will grow back. Piper is growing up and we may not always agree on things. Hair length is miniscule in the grand scheme of things. It is time to let my baby girl grow up and start making some of her own decisions. I can't keep her a baby forever...And she does look really cute with her new doo!

What Will Granny Think of Next?

2011-06-20T07:44:00.000-05:00

I used to have a job at a local company that allowed me to work at home. I worked 20 hours a week. Jeremy's mom works half a days on Fridays and would pick up Seven and Rilian when she got off work. Then when Piper and Finn got out of school, she would pick them up and take them to her house. She did this so I could finish the rest of my hours for the week. I no longer have this job, but Jeremy's mom graciously continues to keep the kids for me on Friday afternoons. I am very grateful for this! I told her she didn't have to keep doing this, but she said, "When Jeremy was younger, I just wished someone would take him for 30 minutes so I could have a break. So, I am happy to do it for you."

One Friday afternoon, I went to Granny's house for something and she said I had to see something. This is what she showed me...

Seven and Rilian were sleeping in boxes! I thought it was funny. But as I watched their still bodies laying there, it was also kind of creepy. It looked like they were in coffins.

Now when the kids spend the night at Granny's or take a nap at Granny's, they each have a box to sleep in. This is usually the order for their boxes.

A little closer view of Piper and Finn...

And Rilian with his kitty...

It's funny because if the kids are at Joyce's and they get tired, they start to ask for their boxes.

I love Joyce's creativity. You never know what she will come up with next! And I mean that in a good way.

The Unforgettable Storm

2011-06-10T15:39:00.000-05:00

Easter was on a Sunday. Do you know what I look forward to on Sundays? A nap! I live for Sunday afternoon naps. I was awoken from my beloved nap by hail. Yes, hail! It was hailing...alot! It was the size of golf balls. Some parts of town got baseball size and even softball size. I am glad we didn't get any that big. This is our backyard, as the hail continues to fall. You can see steam coming up from the ground.

And the front yard. It just covered the ground. It knocked leaves off the trees. The green you see on the ground is leaves, not grass. There is a daycare by my kid's school and all the leaves were knocked off the bushes. It looked really weird. If you look to the street, you can see it covering the street, too.

Here's a close up...it hailed for at least two hours straight! There was also rain. Pouring rain!

It was really loud! I opened the windows to let the cool air come in and we actually had to raise our voices to hear each other talk! Rilian just sat there watching it.

The town we live in does not have a drainage system for the rain. Well, it does, but the drainage system is the streets. That means when it rains, the streets flood. The part of town we live in has some streets close to our house that are major drainage systems. Certain streets become rivers. The water flows pretty fast and even comes above the curbs. No worries, though. As soon as the rain stops, it isn't long before the rivers turn back into streets again. But if it rains alot or for a long time, this can cause a problem.

Jeremy has a side job of repairing iPhones. Alot of people have had cracked or shattered glass on their iPhones and Jeremy fixes them. There have been other things that he has fixed on them, too, but the most common repair is to replace the front glass. He had one that he had just fixed and the owner of it lived near Dallas, but was in town visiting a friend. He was leaving that day to go home, so we needed to get the iPhone to him. We got in the van and navigated around the rivers or flooded streets, whatever you want to call them, as best as we could. It took alot of detours. One of the main streets by our house majorly floods and has a very strong current. A van sits up a little higher than a car, but not as high as a truck or SUV. We found a place to cross this major street that the water was a little lower than it was in a different intersection. There was no way around this street. We had to cross it in order to get to our friend's house. There were a couple of other majorly flooded intersections we had to cross, too. We almost didn't make it through one. We made it to our friend's street. I looked up in the sky and saw a rainbow. I like how the water drops on the windshield look.

In the above picture you can see a glimpse of how the streets flood, but this is nothing compared to other parts of town. We were driving along and passed a van that was on the side of the road and looked like it had just been pulled out of some water. Just as Jeremy made that comment, we were in water...and it was too deep...and our van died. Apparently, that street dipped down and made the water laying there too deep to pass through. You can barely see headlights in the distance in the picture...that is where it happened.

I started calling our friends to see if they could come help us. If we would have opened our doors, water would have come in. To be honest, I don't know how Jeremy got out of the van because I was calling our friends and listening to the comments the kids were making. I didn't really pay attention, I just realized Jeremy was out in the water. It was halfway up his thighs. I asked him later how he got out. He said he climbed out the window. Finn and Seven thought it was fun. They said we were in a pond. Piper was scared at first. I started thinking about how cold the water would be and that I would have to carry them through it. The kids were all wearing rain boots, but if they had gotten in that deep of water, their rain boots would have been pointless. Then a good samaritan in a truck stopped to help us. He hooked a tow strap up to the van. But it kept slipping off every time he tried to drive to pull us out of the water. Finally, he and Jeremy gave up on pulling the van out of the water. So, Jeremy, the good samaritan, and the lady that was with the good samaritan pushed the van to a nearby parking lot that was on a little higher and dry ground, while I steered. Jeremy tried to start the van once...no luck. Because of a previous vehicle drowning experience, Jeremy knew not to keep trying to start the van. About 8 years ago, Jeremy accidentally drowned our 4Runner. I won't go into detail, it's kind of a long story. But the town we live in, had been getting rain for several days and was flooding, literally flooding. And he misjudged the depth of the water and well, the rest is history. I think he might be getting a reputation now. ;)

Since our friends lived less than a mile from where our van drowned, we just walked the rest of the way to their house. The rain had stopped for the time being. The kids were in their rain boots, so we told them they could splash as much as they wanted to on the way to our friend's house. By the time we got there, their boots were filled with water from all the splashing. Seven and Rilian each fell at least once amongst all the splashing on our walk to our friend's house. It also started to rain again, a little.

When we arrived at our friend's house, we went into the backyard and this was the scene...I just thought we were going to dry ground.

Oh well, at least the kids had a blast! I think it's funny that there are plastic Easter Eggs floating in the water.

Salem was pushing her "baby", Piper, in the baby stroller...too funny! And Seven takes a rain boot full of water and dumps it on them.

Are you wondering the outcome of our vehicle? It didn't make it...it served it's time...

We now have to do some vehicle shopping. I was so against getting a van in the first place. I drove a Jeep Wrangler...I could not go from a Jeep Wrangler to a minivan. Those were my thoughts when we were about to have our fourth baby. But financially, buying the minivan we did, was the best decision for us at the time. When the insurance company totaled our minivan, I begged Jeremy, "You made me drive a minivan for two years! Now can I get an SUV?!? If you don't like it, you can drown it, too." We shall see...