Happy Birthday Dad

Today is my dad's birthday. He turned 55 today! I know he feels really old, but, okay there's no but he is old. LOL! Seriously though he's the same dad, I don't see to much of a differnce. I'm really glad he's my dad, I can't imagine it being another. This is one of the only pictures I had of my dad, but its a good one.

Holiday Party

Mario and I went to a holiday party our friends had saturday night. We had so much fun. I am pretty sure I have never seen Mario that laid back and enjoying himself and the people around him. Usually he's begging me to leave. I had to remind him for an hour and a half that we had to get our kids. It was awsome to see him having such a good time. They had a white elephant gift exchange, that was a lot of fun. The only downside to this party was I learned my body doesn't like vodka. I'm a very responsible drinker. I'll drink two maybe three if I'm not buzzin' on it. So, that night I had two appletini's I made a third and decided after two sips I really didn't want it. I never felt tipsy or remotely drunk, but I had a horrible hangover! It must have really dehydrated me, by the end of the night my stomach hurt, I had cold chills, and the worst headache ever. It was like having the flu. I couldn't believe it. Well ones thing for sure I'm never touching vodka again, my body didn't like it one bit. Stick to what you know, thats a good rule. Christmas was fun this year, lots of fun parties and plays, but I'm sure glad it's over. I'm really tired. Now to get ready for Jan. Tons of birthdays. Mario Jr.-4th, Ian-16th, Kalin-21st, mom-8th, Kelly-14th, Gabriel-7th, April and Rayelle-3rd, and Theren-23rd[i think] anyway tons of birthdays!

Merry Christmas

We had lots of fun. The kids woke us up at stupid o clock[6:30], we shook it off and headed to the living room. We let them one by one take turns opening their gifts. That way I could get pictures and enjoy the moment with each of them. Ian was the funniest. Each one he oppened he was so excited. "LARRYBOY, YEAH!" "DRUMS!!"[insert scream here] He was completely excited. They were all so cute and so thankful. Kalin was pretty pissed off they woke her up that early. she sleeps 'til 9. She wasn't excited unil hours after opening her gifts. Mario got a remote control helicopter. Best money I've ever spent. All I hear is the hum of it flying by. Oh, yeah and I hear drums all day. Do you ever have that moment as a parent when you get all excited to get them what they asked for, and then after the first day you think "what was I thinking?" now I have to hear ba-boom, ba-boom, all freakin' day! LOL! O, well their only kids once. One day I won't hear anything like that and probably think it's to quiet. After we opened presents we went out to eat with my parents, so nobody had to cook and clean. After that we went to mario's parents and gave them their gift. We had a wonderful Christmas, I hope all of you had the same!

The Day of the Party

Well, today was the day, and it was great fun. Lots of candy and cookies and popcorn. Plus I made peppermint cocoa and while the kids drank it I told them the story of the Candy Cane. The cocoa was delicious, plus my mom bought lots of pizza for everyone. After that we palyed a couple of games. The first one was make your teammate into a christmas tree. The second one we tied balloons to their ankles, they had to try to pop everyone else's balloon while trying to keep their's safe. It was great! After that the kids made candy cane candles, which came out really cute. The have to choose someone to give it to. I'm excited to see who they pick. Everyone had a lot of fun.When it was over everyone got a goodie bag to take home. Leah put them together they were so cute. Thankyou to Mom, Sherri, Leah, and Kelly for all your help. It was a great party! We'll have to do this again next year. By the way I will post pictures later on when I get them.

Christmas Party

I am planning a christmas party for my children and thier homeschooled friends. Since they are not in school they don't get to have parties and such like other children. So, I decided to have a party this year. It is going to be Candy Cane theme. I will be telling them the story of the candy cane. We will be having peppermint cocoa, they will make peppermint cookies, and a candy cane candle. After they make the candle they have to pick someone to give it to. It can't just be grandma or eachother, we want them to pick a neighbor or someone from church, a random person to bless. We want them to see that Christmas is more about giving than getting. Attached to the bow on the candle will be a little poem about the candy cane. We will also be palying two great games. It should be a lot of fun. Their will be 17 kids at this party! It's going to be great. I will post pictures when I get them. Oh, I forgot, the party is tomorrow.

A Fun Outing

Yesterday we took the kids to the Christmas parade in downtown Conroe. When I say we I mean me and Kelly. Neither one of us ever has our husband around when we would like. I was pretty proud of us. We got all the kids to line up in a staight line and walk through downtown to where we would be standing. Nobody ran in the street or disobeyed in any way. We looked like a school walking through the city. The kids had a lot of fun watching the different floats, and marching bands. They made out like bandits, a ton of candy. And they all managed to eat it all before it was over. So, back to the car, in a straight line we go, everyone was well behaved, all 11! Then off to the holiday in the park. We stood in line about 15 min. to let each kid go down the pretend snowhill. They weren't to impressed, they all had a blast rolling down the hill on the other side. Even Kalin got a kick out of running down and walking all the way back up. We didn't stay for any other activities, the lines were way to long and we were getting tired. So, we came home and had peanut butter and honey sandwhiches and funion chips, I know weird combo, thats what I had in the pantry that would feed 13 people. Anyway it was a lot of fun! We have a lot more Christmas activities before Christmas I may fall over by the time it's over.

My Christmas Dance

I really do not care much for Christmas music, okay I hate it. Every year when KSBJ starts playing I've got all my cd's ready to go, or some other station I would normally not litsen to, because the kids repeat everything. This year our church is putting on a Christmas play, and I am dancing in it. Well, it's been a bit a of a rollercoaster. The dance and the dancers have been changed 3 times, now I'm solo, and I have 1 week to put this together. To top it off I don't like Christmas music so I'm dreading doing this. Well the past week all I've wanted to litsen to is Christmas music, granted their are still a few songs I can't stand, but most of them are bringing me to tears. Yep, you heard me right, TO TEARS! I have this overwhelming gratitude in my heart for GOD, our creator, for sending his son to save my soul, all of our souls. The Jars of Clay version of "Little Drummer Boy" made me cry today. To think that our King would smile at us for such a simple gift amazes me! Their's a new song this year that says, "What other King has stepped down from his throne, what other God has poured out his love for me, only one." That made me feel very humble, and thankful, I don't know if I can quite explain how I feel. So, now I feel as though I can dance this dance in true worship, and not thinking, "another stupid Christmas song." Isn't God good! He changes and melts our hearts even when we have not asked. He knows what we need, as any good Father would!How I love him so!

SNOW

It snowed today!!!!!! In Conroe, Texas!!! It was Awsome! Now granted it wasn't like the snow in Ohio, but it was most definately snow. The kids were so excited. We were all running around laughing and freezing our butts off! I swear I was like a little kid, Kelly pulled up and I was jumping up and down screaming "IT'S SNOWING" She was laughing at me. Anyway, we all stayed outside as long as we could. Now when you look outside the roofs are white and the branches of the trees. The best part of this is my son Mario prayed that it would snow. His faith was strengthened today! He truly believes God answered his prayer. I believe that to, it's just like our God to do something so loving to remind us I am listening. What an awsome day!

Kelly

Out at my mom's for a bar-b-que.

After I posted the happy birthday to Joy, I started to think about how much I love Kelly. She's more than just my sister-in-law, she is my sister! If you notice when I speak about her I say my sister. She has been their with me through thick and thin. We've had our battles with eachother and our best times. I can't imagine my life without her. Our lives are so much alike we seem to lean on eachother as much as we can. When I'm sad and need a good laugh I call her, when I need to bitch and moan about something I call her! It's okay because the same is for her. I've also watched us grow in our walks with the Lord together. I guess what I'm trying to say to you Kelly is, I love you and I thankyou, for being you!

Happy Birthday Joy!

Today is Kelly's mom's birthday. I'm not sure how old she is, she would probably rather us not know! Anyway, she is a precious lady. She recently lost her husband and has moved in with Kelly and Tray. I know the holidays can be hard when you go through something like this, but I pray you have a wonderful birthday filled with joy and laughter. You are a blessing to us all!

Joy, No Depression

Okay, so I've had my breakdown as I do every year, and I'm getting over it. We figured out the finanaces and I'm going shopping this weekend! I'm getting excited about the littlt things that make Christmas so great. Like, stringing popcorn and cranberries, making cookies and crafts, and hanging out to play games. It's great! And the older they get the more fun it gets. Just letting everyone know I'm good everything is fine as it always is. I swear I just may learn one day GOD IS BIGGER! That's what happens when your a goober!HA!HA!

Family Pictures

I wanted to share some of my family pictures with all of you. I know I put a lot, but there were so many good ones. I hope you like them as much as we do.

Emiy looking beautiful!
Mario looks so handsome here. My little boy is growing up.
Ian. What a beautiful smile!
This is my favorite picture of Kalin.
Isn't this precious, daddy's little girl.
The whole family
Mario striking he's GQ pose. LOL!
Elijah being spiderman.
This a great picture of the girls.
Maya looks super happy here.
LOVE this picture. My man and my little men.
I like this picture. Mario looks like he's in love with me.LOL! I know he is!
Pretty Awsome family.
This picture is really cool.

Depression instead of Joy

Every year we seem to go through the same song and dance. We get really depressed instead of joyful. It is really hard to get all the kids their presents. We usually barely get them just days before Christmas. Somebody doesn't get what they've asked for. This year we have one gift for Kalin and 21 days to go. Anyway, I've had to repent of a bad additude. I know God is the giver of all good gifts. He will make a way somehow. He always does. So, I am praying this year I trade in my depression in for joy.
On the upside of things our roof got fixed this week!! Yeah!! No more rain in the house, no more smell of mildew. I'm starting to put the house back in order, I got my room back. My stress level should come way down.

Pockets

Have you ever noticed pockets are really important to little boys. It's almost as importanat as a purse is for us. Everything they deem special goes in the pocket. Like when we went camping Ian filled his pockets with those little bitty rocks you walk on. Their were a least a hundred of them. We all went to the zoo Friday, by the way the zoo was free and everyone in the Houston area showed up! Anyway, yesterday, Elijah goes around and finds everyone's ticket and tells them he will keep them safe in his pocket. Little boys and pockets they go together like peas and carrots. I've found countless items when I'm doing laundry. Just to name a few, rocks, gum [that made me mad], crayons, play-doh, any toy that will fit, and my favorite worms. "Take the worm outside Elijah, he doesn't want to live in your pocket" " But, momma that's wormy my pet, I love him." " You can visit him outside" "Oooookaay."
He so didn't want to get rid of that worm but he knew I would eventually freak out. Boys and pockets I swear you almost cringe every time you have to wash thier pants.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. I hope you all had a wonderful day with family and friends. We had a really good time out at my Grandpa's. I always enjoy seeing my family, afterall some of them I only see once a year. It's wild looking around at everyone's kids they all grow up so fast. It seems like yesterday me and my cousins were the little kids running around. Time sure does fly.

Aaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

Today I have my brothers kids, well all but one. Mercy had to go to the hospital last night for taking her Grandma's blood pressure medicine. Anyway, that leaves me my six, their 4, and the neighbor kid that pratically lives with me. So eleven in all. They all decided to take branches and boards they found, I'm not sure where excatly, they took all these items and more and built a club house around the swingset. No big deal they used their imagination and it kept them busy for a good while. Plus it looked sturdy enough there was no need for me to intervine. Pick and choose your battles I always say. So later on they take rocks and sticks and make a pretty impresive pretend campfire. I go out and look at their completed project and praise them for a good job. I come back inside to change out my laundry and I hear Emily say, [ she's really loud when she talks] " I'll find my dad's lighter so we can roast marshmellows!" Aaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!
Hold 'em up. I run towards my very ambitious children and tell them don't even think about it. Once I calmed down I explained how at the campground they use firepits, and we don't have one, you'll burn down the neighborhood and we'll be on the news. LOL! Another successful day keeping everyone alive especially my neighborhood! Aaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!! Crap I just realized I bet you anything their going to try to build a firepit. I better go find out before it's to late! Woosh!

Family Pictures

Yesterday we had family pictures taken. We've only done this once and it was at Wal-Mart, and we only had 2 kids, so it's been a very long time. A friend of ours at our church does beautiful photography, so we decided it's about time we do this. Let me tell you it is not an easy task getting 6 kids and a husband ready for pictures. Maya was dressed in a really cute outfit she got chili on her shirt, but it wasn't to bad so decided to not change her[ Joyelle can photoshop anything thats off] So overall my three older kids were okay. Ian was hard because he didn't like any of the shirts I picked out for him. We finally agreed on one and he looked very handsome. Elijah had to change three times due to food he kept sneaking our wetting his pants. Kalin I changed about five times because she has grown so quickly her wardrobe has gotten smaller and smaller. I finally settled on a dress and dressshoes that were a little to big, hopefully no one will be able to tell. She looked cute overall. I had a moment where I wanted to cry. It's been a long time since I've been able to go buy any of them nice clothes with nice matching shoes. They wear tennis shoes or sandals with everything.
Big Mario was the hardest one. He won't buy himself clothes. One because he's picky and gets frustrated easily, and two because he feels guilty if he can't buy the kids anything. So yesterday he was all peed off because he didn't like his options. Finally at 4:00, we were supposed to be there at 4 he chose a shirt. So, to top off our circus of getting ready I look outside and it's SPRINKLING!! But, we went anyway, it didn't rain and the sun came back out. The kids had a great time taking their pictures. Maya and Emily constantly wanted to pose like little supermodels. Elijah was always making a silly face or posing like spiderman. Kalin was completely distracted by the fountain. She kept saying,"look water!" Oh, by the way we went to Crighton Ridge park. It was beautiful. It has a lake with a fountain in the middle. It also has rocks with little waterfalls coming out. I'm excited to see how they all come out.
I hate myself in pictures, hopefully it's not to bad. Joyelle was trying to make the kids smile by being really goofy, she suceded except for Kalin she was to distracted. She made me laugh more than the kids I think. Anyway, it ended up being a great day.

BEWARE! ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

Lately I've been having a nervous breakdown over my house, so my mom has been coming out the past couple of days to help me organize. she even bought me some totes, and a shoerack. My shoerack looks like you've just entered a deapartment store, it's great! Anyways, it's really hard to get all your daily chores done when you homeschool, plus make time to hang out with them, and cook meals. So as you can imagine organizing is almost impoossible. I've been taking it one room and closet at a time. All I have left now is my laundry room. Heaven help me thats a scary room! So, today was awsome, we go to clean under my kids beds and found the most ridiculous items. It was so funny we couldn't stop laughing. Here's a list of items we found:
1. rocks
2.asphalt[I don't know, don't ask]
3.old pizza [gross!]
4.dry pinto beans [incase they get hungry]
5.leaves [ for shade,duh!]
6. toys and clothes
Like I said enter at your own risk. Who knows whats going on in their little worlds. One things for sure, they keep me laughing!

woops!

Jennifer pointed out I forgot Elijah's picture. I thought I put it up? Anyway here he is!

Camping Pictures

Here they are, as promised. April got some really good ones.

Fun Times!!

This is the only picture I have of Mario. We didn't see him much. I guess he's getting to cool for mom and dad.

What a silly girl!

Maya's favorite way to swing.

Kalin all clean! It didn't last long.

She is so brave. Notice where Mario's head is. The ladder goes up even farther than that. It has to be a good 7 feet. she would go all the way up and slide down. I was so nervous at first but I should have known better she's been doing this kind of stuff since she was 15 months old.

I'm sure he's explaining something he did here. LOL!

Maya put herself to bed that night at 7:oo pm!

Marshmellows are the best! Emily had 3 and 4 at a time.

I love this picture!

Kalin was a mess most of the time.

Remembering God's Promise

I'm taking a class at church about prophecy and resonsibility. It's really good. He's teaching us how to test the spirit if it's God, us our evil. Also don't take what the prophet says just because he's the prophet make sure it lines up with the word of God. Then there are times when God speaks something to you about your future, it needs to be confirmed by others that yes this is what God said. Anyway, I'm probably getting confusing. So, last night when the class was over I started thinking about when I wsa 15 I had been praying for hours this one paticular day. I specifically heard God say I would be getting married young and I would know he was the one God had picked for me because when my father walked me down the aisle, my Heavenly Father would be giving me away to that man. I never told anyone about this and just wondered how I would know. Fast forward to the night of our Rehearsal Dinner we were practicing walking down the aisle and where everyone would stand. When we were done Debbie Nelsen came over to me and said there was a glow around me and my dad, she saw Jesus giving me away not my dad! She said he's the right one. I was in shock God had just fulfilled his promise. I married Mario the next day with great joy. Our fisrt 5 years of marriage were really hard, we almost seperated a few times, but I have always carried that night with me. I knew things were going to get better for us God has good plans. I'm glad I held on, these last 5 years have been really good he is the husband I always dreamed of having and he's a great dad. I look forward to our future. We've had other words spoken over us some have been confirmed and will come to pass in his timing.

Rice and Syrup, A Bad Combination!

This morning started out okay. Mario went to work, and the kids one by one got in my lap for lovies, as they do every morning. So, I made breakfast and decided to come in here to check my bank account and my e-mail. About ten minutes later Kalin comes in and climbs in my lap covered in syrup! Aaa, gross! So now I'm sicky and she's most definately sticky! Now we're headed to the bathtime and I hear Ian say"their's a hole in it." If ever you hear theirs a hole in it, that can't be good. So, I leave Kalin go back to find Ian running with my bag of rice trying to stop the flow. I take the bag from him to find out he's holding it upside down. Incase you didn't catch that, UPSIDE DOWN! So now I have rice and syrup all over my kitchen and half of my living room. In the midst of sweeping up the rice, I see there is black crayon on my kitchen floor, to which I reply, "you've got to be kidding me!' Well, we cleaned it all up and gave Kalin a bath. My sweet children Mario and Maya who had nothing to do with the crayon incident scrubbed it off the floor. To make this story golden while I'm writing this Mario came in here to notify me that Emily brought a snail in the house, and put in all kinds of toys and now they are slimy! Sure laugh it up, it's funny when it's not you. Okay I laugh to after a few drinks!HA!HA!

Camping

We love to camp. Every year in November our church goes on a camping trip. We always have a lot of fun. This year The Stauffer's and the Jones's were on our site, I really enjoyed having them there. One of the best things about this trip is most of our kids are now old enough to jump on their bikes and go play with their friends. It's great! I told Mario next year I'm not even buying food I'm just going to send them all to different site, someones bound to feed them! LOL! Okay I'm kidding, but honestly it's really cool because we all do share what we bring. During Sunday morning while making breakfast Elijah and Terhen disappeared, they are both three. We found them way at the other end of the park. We wooped them and fed them breakfast. I would say that's a pretty typical day! HA!HA! Anyways, worship is awsome when your camping. Being outside completely relaxed, I love it. I wish it was like that more often. Saturday night after worship a big group of our friends came over to our site. We all had so much fun hanging out. Ranger Rick wasn't to pleased with us, he kept telling us to be quiet. We all felt like six year olds, "Don't make me come back here", it was great!! As we we were leaving we were talking about how much we love these people, they are more like family than just friends. A lot them have been with us through the bad times and the good times. It makes me sad to think there could be day we might have to say goodbye. My friend April and I were looking back on the very first camping trip in 2005. That's where we truly met and after that starting hanging out. The four of us would get together and play cards. Today she is one of my best friends. She has been there through the really bad times and the really good ones to . I treasure her friendship. That being said, let us not take for granted what God has given to us. I know sometimes church can suck with the clicks and crap that may go on, but when we get past all that and see what church is truly meant for, it's a beautiful thing. I pray that all of you reading this are blessed with awsome friendships and the church you attend has a real vision of community of being there for one another. I wish I had pictures April took them all. She may put them on her blog.

Dad?

During our camping trip Kalin started calling Mario dad. He's devastated, what happened to daddy. Man she's getting bigger so fast. It's starting to freak us out.

My Birthday

Today is my birthday. I am 28 today. I feel like I should be well over 30. My husband had a complete breakdown when turned 30! I'm just ready to finally arive. When you have as many kids as I do nosy people in public that you don't even know want to know how old you are. When you answer 20 something they give you this look like you should be committed! LOL! Well anyway, we are not doing anything special. We are going camping with our church and that is always a lot of fun, and always on my birthday. My sister, Kelly is making me a upside down pineapple cake! My absolute favorite!
We will be leaving early in the morning to go camping. I have a lot to do today!

Potty Training Again

I hate potty training! It's the one thing as a mom I could totally do without. I've trained five kids on my own, no help from dad, and it's exhausting and gross! Did I mention exhausting? So now Kalin is 21 months and wanting to go to the potty. What? Come on kid wait until your two or so. Not that I enjoy changing diapers but come on I've got enough on my plate. Four of my six kids I homeschool. Elijah is three, so I spend a little time teaching him, plus I still have to remind him to go potty. He will not poop in his pants, but if his distracted or has friends over he will wet his pants. Plus all the house work and mountains of laundry that never go away. So, I had this great plan when school was on break for the summer I would devote myself to potty training Kalin. Well she's all grosed out by poop in her pants all of the sudden. When she pees she takes off her diaper and gets a new one. So, last week I went to the store and bought her a potty chair and pull-ups. She's peed in her potty only twice, but she totally understands what to do. As soon as she pees she says "oh,oh, I have to potty and takes off her pull-up, which by that point it's to late. But she's definately a step ahead of where I would have expected her to be. Anyway, today, I was cleaning up after lunch and I hear "oh, aaaaa,oh,aaaaa, gross" I look over to see Kalin taking off her pull-up while she's pooping! She's completely mortified and trying to get it away from her. So it's all over my floor and now all over her feet to which she is screaming,"no,no gross" she runs in the bathroom and sits on her potty, and gets poop all over the seat but not a drop in the potty. Now I have to bath her, scrub the carpet, and clean her chair, When it's all over she points at her chair and says,"gross, mama!', I said, "i know baby tell mama next time." "okay mama" And then she spent the next twenty minutes dancing and singing, she felt great after that bath. Like I said I hate potty training!

Canada?

Well, here we are , my heart is breaking for our country. For the past year my husband has been saying, " If Obama wins we're moving to Canada!" So last night when the winner was announced, I told Mario, "pack your bags baby, we're moving to Canada", to which he replied,"aw, shit!" I'm really shocked that so many people are so blinded. Here's my personal thought, Obama reminds me so much of Hitler. Hitler came on the scene after an economical crisis, promising hope and change for a better tomorrow. Nobody knew his true intent. We know nothing about this man. We don't know what his true heart's intent is. All we can do now is pray that God moves mightily, and gives him wisdom throughout his presidency. And I pray for all of us, that we have wisdom, and know when to stand. God will lead his children through.

Election Day

I'm super nervous about tomorrow. The big vote day. All I can do is pray. I'm truly curious to see who will be leading our country next. I can only imagine the outcome if Obama wins this race. My husband says were moving to Canada!LOL! But no matter the outcome the Bible does say God thrones and dethrones. The man who is supposed to be in this position will be in it, no matter what any of us thinks. Plus God is much mightier than any president, and will provide our needs and our protection. Let us pray for our nation and the man put in charge. We are not to speak wrongly of our kings[presidents] the Word tells us so. God bless us all and may his hand guide us through these crazy times.

woops, I forgot

I forgot to tag someone for the picture photo tag. Here's how it works, find an old picture, post it and tell us about it. When you are done tag someone else. I am tagging
Jennifer Clark
April Stauffer
Have Fun!!

More Pictures!

Sorry, I couldn't stop scanning. So, I'm going to share these pictures with all of you whether you all like it or not! LOL!!

Ian at 14 months. What a cutie! And our only blondie.

Emily at nine months. She was a gorgeous baby with all that wavy, black hair!

Kalin's first birthday. She's so cute.

Mario and Tray last Thanksgiving.

This is my brother! I love him a whole lot!

This is all of five of them, Kalin was asleep. Maya had fractured her arm during some silly dance she made up.

Photo Tag! Your It!

Okay here's my photo of choice. This picture was taken shortly after we brought Elijah home from the hospital. He was almost a month old. He was born at 37 weeks, and was really sick. His intestines were not working right. So he could not eat for weeks and was on all kinds of meds. A baby with N.E.C usually gets surgery, but we were truly blessed and God healed our baby boy! I love this picture because Mario looks like he is so proud to be his big brother.

Good Food

I absolutey love the cookbook Deceptively Delicious. I spent two hours in the kitchen today steaming carrots, spinach, beets, red pepper, and cauliflower, and then I pureed it all. Jessica Seinfield has wonderful recipes, where you sneak in the good nutritiuos food so your kids will eat it and like it. So far we've had two meals and they were truly delicious! We are making a drastic change in what we eat as a family, and I'm very excited about it! I definately want them to like it and not spend every night screaming, "eat your vegetables!" Plus Ian was totally excited about this whole process. He said,"Thats awsome mom. I'll say look theres no weird vegetables on my plate, and you'll laugh and say yes there are." That boy cracks me up.
New recipes are always fun, especially ones that are good for you!

Our Boys

A friend of mine pointed out there are no pictures of my boys yet. So I found one of my favorites. They are a year younger in this photo. They were playing dress up in Grandpa's shirts. They are all completely different in their personalities. Mario has a servants heart. He is a complete sweetheart, he will make a good husdand someday. Ian is our little comedian, he is guarenteed to catch you off guard and make you life. He's also very smart. Elijah is quiet unless he's mad. He has a very gentle spirit, he can get his feelings hurt easy. He will love you with his whole heart. So there they are my very handsome and loving boys.

My Bathroom Drama

So, I was reading my friend's blog about bathroom drama and how kids and husbands won't leave you alone when it's your turn for a shower. So true. Everytime I take a shower someones on the other side of the door saying things like:
"I need a drink"
" He hit me"
"she looked at me funny"
"I need in there, I have to go to the bathroom", by the way we have two bathrooms! So this can go on and on. Anyways, a couple of days ago Ian had me crackin'up laughing, here's our conversation. O, first I hear bang, bang, kick.kick,kick.
ME: "what do you want?"
Ian: " I can't put my stupid sock on!"
Me: "Tell dad to help you."
Ian: " I can't 'cause dad will tell me to put on my new socks, and I don't want to put on my new stupid socks I want to wear my old stupid socks!"
Me: "Are we a bit frustrated Ian?"
Ian: "No, I just can't put on my stupid sock."
So this is how things usually go around here when it's mom's turn to take a shower. Drama!Drama!Drama!

New Clothes

God has always provided clothes for our kids, which is an awesome blessing! Buying clothes is probably the hardest thing to do. It's not easy buying new wardrobes for six kids. Since Kalin was born I have bought her one outfit. She has boxes of clothes up to age four. My girls were in desperate need of pants, especially now that the cooler weather is coming. Plus we are going camping with our church Nov.6-9. They truly need long warm pants for this occasion. Well today my sister showed up with a ton of really nice clothes for my girls, especially pants!! A neighbor of hers gave her a bunch of girl clothes. She of course did not need size 6 so hallelujah we've got clothes! The bad part of this story is I totally have to repent. I've been whining and complaining for about 2 weeks now. Every time I have this huge pity party God completely blesses us beyond what we usually need. I should know by now God will take good care of his children. Maybe next time instead of complaining at God about what we need I will thank Him for what I know He will do.
Matthew 6:25-34

The Renissance Festival

Well, we're getting ready for the Renassaince Festival. Three more days to go. My three older children are very excited, my three younger are staying with Grandma, they're also excited! If's always fun at Grandma's. There is lots of candy, fun games, and LarryBoy! Ian and Elijah love larryboy, and pretty much any VeggieTales. So Grandma keeps full stock. Kalin has just started to realize how great Grandmaland truly is. When we pull up in the driveway she screams, "PaPa", yeah she knows whats coming, lots of candy and attention. The only downfall is I get to bring them home after all of that. oh, well I know their loved and they love it.
So, back to the Renissance Festival, the kids are siked. They've been learning about the people then, and the time they all went through. They all entered the coloring contest, and wrote short story's for the essay contest. My sister Kelly and her three boys will also be joining us. She homeschools as well. They also are wearing the costumes. Mario is a pirate, Maya is a princess, and Emily is a queen, yours truly ran out of money, for a costume so I'm trying to throw together a gypsy type costume. Anyway, i hope it's alot of fun. I will post pictures of our fieltrip hopefully this weekend.

Where did my baby go?

This is my youngest, my baby. Where did the time go? It seems like yesterday she was a newborn baby. The more kids you have the quicker the days and months seem to fly by. Kalin is 21mo. old today. She is talking really good, sometimes to good. She's also learning to say things I would rather not hear, like "go away, butthead!" Yes, my cute little curly headed girl says, no screams butthead. You can thank Ian and Elijah for that one. But she is also very cute and very funny. She loves to sing and dance. She is a total daddy's girl, and she is completely spoiled by her siblings. I thank God for her a lot. She was a blessing I was not looking for, but I am so glad I got.

My Girls

Okay, I finally figured out how to put pictures on here. Anyway, this picture was taken last year, when the girls told us everything. A couple months later their birthdays had come around, so we dressed them up as princesses and got their pictures taken. Afterwards we let them pick the restaraunt of their choice. They had a blast and felt beautiful and important all night. By the way Maya is on the right and Emily is on the left. They have both made so much progress and are shining more everyday!

Kalin and me on mother's day

My Emily

Those of you who know our family well, know that our girls went through a terrible time a couple of years ago. A young man did things to them that no little girl should ever go through, but sadly many do. They both went through counseling and have made huge improvements. Maya has been the stronger one in all of this. She has found healing in God at such a young age. She sings praise non stop and loves with her whole heart. Emily has had a much tougher road. When everything first happened she wet her pants a lot, after seeing her councelor she stopped doing so. She was the one who would scream out in her sleep for someone to get her. She slept with us for a good while. She does not trust very easily, especially men. Worst of all what breaks my heart the most is she became very timid and quiet, which is not like her at all. We have been praying over her alot and letting her talk about everything as much as she needs to. So, here comes the good part of this story. Recently I have seen an awome change in her. She has been a bit more bold. Sometimes she's a bit to sassy but I welcome it to a degree. She's letting Grandpa and other men in her life hug her again!
Two nights ago I took her to the store to pick out a princess dress, we're taking our kids to the Renissance Festival for the "school days", anyway I let her sit in front with me. She rolled down her window, cranked up the music and sang to at the top of her lungs. We had so much fun together we used our fists for microphones and pointed and winked at eachother. It was AWSOME!! She was totally laid back and was herself. Also she's been telling jokes and holding her head up high. It is so good to see my Emily again. I feel like I can take a deep breath once again. By the way it's been 20 months since everything was exposed. It's been a long hard road, and I know it"s not over, but now I'm starting to believe their going to be okay when the become adults. I'm so excited to see the true Emily again. She is a beautiful, awsome little girl!

The big day: more than the Rehearsal Dinner

This week has been avery long week. God has been dealing with me so much. The other day I stumbled onto a youtube video, about a girl's prophetic dream. I say stumbled God probably led me there, anyway she had a dream about going to a Rehearsal Dinner for her friends wedding. She was joyful and happy, at some point she dropped off the bridesmaids at the bride's house and went home. Realizing she missed the wedding she was sobbing and wailing and crying out. She said her wailings were unconsolible. They were unearthly and sounded demonic. She said she kept trying to tell herself "well at least I was a part of what was to come" But that was stupid because she had missed the most important day. So after saying this she said God gave her the interpertation. This dream is about the church. So many people are content with just being a part of the Rehearsal Dinner, they have walked from the intimacy with Jesus. They think they are going to the wedding but in reality it is not the truth. JESUS IS COMING BACK FOR A BRIDE NOT A WHORE!! When she said this I just started to bawl. Have Iwalked away from the intimacy with Jesus? Am I playing the part of a whore? I always seem to have an excuse, I'm tired, the kids, the house, a movie. I think it finally sunk in, God has woken me up, that this isn't a story we've heard all of our lives, this is reality. He is coming back for his bride, the signs are everywhere. We need to be so close to him. Let us not walk away from the intimacy, but let us be more intimate with our King.
I keep hearing this song in my heart.
I'm coming back to the heart of worship It's all about you Jesus. I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it for it's all about you Jesus.
Lord forgive us for all the times we are selfish. It's all about you and your kingdom, may we be your vessels for your Glory.Amen.

I have to say I am completely overwhelmed with my house lately. Ever since hurricane IKE my house has been completely out of order. A tree fell on our roof over the master bedroom. The room and the closets smell like mildew, so we had to move our bed and everything in the closets out into another room. Everything is so disorganized!! On top of that my day is so full that sometimes we fall behind on cleaning up. With this size of a family I can clean the night before and the house be clean when I go to bed and the very next it looks like I haven't cleaned in weeks. I feel like screaming at the top of my lungs. I feel like I will never be on top of things. Mario is always telling me I handle things better than I think. He's very encouraging, but when you look around and every room is a disaster you just want to sit down and cry.
By the way our roof will get fixed it's just a matter of time. So I guess I'll take a deep breath and start all over so I can do this again tomorrow. URGH!!

The Scissor Mystery

My brother and his wife came over tonight, they have 5 kids, so when we are together there are 11 crazy kids in all. I don't know what goes on in their little heads, but when they get together something crazy always seems to happen. Also the "i don't know" kid seems to always show up. He's invisible you know. Whenever we ask who did this? or who did that? It's always idon'tknow. So , tonight after my brother and his family leave, I look over at Elijah {my 3 yr. old} and his shirt has a huge cut in it. So here's our conversation:
ME: Elijah why did you cut your shirt?
ELIJAH: What? I didn't cut my shirt.
ME: Then who did Elijah.
ELIJAH: It was LoLo[my brother's 3 yr. old]
ME: Why did she have the scissors, you know you both aren't alowed to have scissors.
ELIJAH: She didn't mom, they fell down from the ceiling and she caught them, and then they cut my shirt!
ME: Is that so Elijah
ELIJAH: Yes mom she caught them, mom, she did!!!
ME: Okay Elijah I'm tired go to bed.

Well at least that idon't know kid didn't show up. But I gotta say LoLo's got one great catch at three!

"MY BOOBIES!"

So, I have to share this really funny story with all of you. My youngest child Kalin was a breastfed baby. My husband [who has the weirdest since of humor], ever since she was little has told her "get off the boob Kalin.'" Now I know other family's say mammas milk or something nicer I'm sure but not my husband. So as you can imagine when Kalin got a little bigger and could talk when she wanted to eat she would climb up in my lap and say "mom, my boob." Then it became a huge game between daddy and kalin, He would say"my boobies!" kalin would crack up laughing and scream as loud as she could, "no daddy, my boobies!" Fast forward to present day, I weaned Kalin 3 months ago, and when she's tired or upset she wants to get in my lap and put her hand down my shirt. She's not trying to eat, she just wants to put her hand near "her boob"lol. So I've been trying to teach her to stop that. So last night she was exhausted and trying to maul me once more so Mario came over put his hand over the top of my shirt and proceeded to say, "no,no Kalin those are my boobies." And of course Kalin responded"NO DADDY, MY BOOBIES!" I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. When everything settled down I asked her "Kalin, where are your boobies?" She pointed at her own, so we are making some progress afterall.

New to blogging

Hello to all that read this. I am new to blogging. I enjoy reading other people's blogs. It's nice to keep up with loved ones and even people we do not know on their journey through life. A lot of times their blogs can be very encouraging that your not the only one going through certain circumstances. Other times they make you laugh or touch your heart. I'm excited to share my family's funny, crazy, and important moments. We are a big family. God has blessed with six beautiful children. My oldest Mario is 8, Maya is 7, Emily is 6, Ian is 4, Elijah is 3, And Kalin is 20mo. We are a homeschooling family. I absolutely love teaching my children at home. [I'm sorry I do not have pictures, I will be getting a digital camera soon. ]As you can imagine we have days that are wonderful and days where you feel as though everyone will break down and cry. But in the end I would not trade my life with anyone else. I am richly blessed and filled with joy. God is good, and he gives extrodinarly good gifts! I will write more later, it is time to go to church.