my little drummer boy

Feeling Defeated and Then Winning

It's been that kind of week for me. Things have just been piling up and leaving me with a very discouraging feeling. It's more a feeling of defeat. Like I was drowning in life and unable to catch my breath. Most days I was close to tears just thinking about how tired I was.

I got sick for the first time in years and that wore me down. That was about 4 weeks ago and I'm still not over it. But, when you're a mom you don't have time to get sick. And if you do get sick there's no time to recover.

I was seeking support from a friend a few days ago. Every once in a while I need reassurance that I'm not the only mom that goes through this. The very next day Aaron called my mom and asked her to pick a time when she would be able to take all 4 kids so I could get some rest. He knew that I would never ask for help on my own so he did it for me. My mom took the kids yesterday and had them over night. I slept for 9 hours straight before I woke on my own. I tried remembering the last time I got to sleep with out seeing at least every other hour in the night. I couldn't. I feel like a new mom. Just getting one night of good sleep has done wonders for me mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I think I finally got my footing and won!

Wordless Wednesday

Cutest little football player EVER!

Colbie Grace!!

The wait is over. My newest niece joined the world Friday, November 26th. She is such a tiny thing weighing in at 5.13 lbs. She is SO CUTE!! Check her out...

To be Thankful!

There are so many things I am thankful for. And because today is Thanksgiving I'm going to list some things on my list.

I'll start with the obvious...my relationship with Jesus Christ!
My husband
my kids
my mom and dad
my brothers and the women they married
my 11 nieces and nephews(and the niece and nephew we're waiting on)
my church and the awesome friends I've made there
the health of my family
the roof over my head and the vehicle in our driveway
the wisdom to handle our finances so we can live debt free
the 2 little girls we sponsor
the fact that I know I am not perfect but there is ALWAYS room for improvement

The list seems so short. But if I were to go on it would take me until next year to finish ;)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Catching Up

Seems like forever since I've been on here. I think this is the busiest I've ever been. The last post was dated Nov. 3rd. The night before Ethan and I made a trip to the ER for what I was sure was a dislocated finger. Umm, no. It was broken. Clean through right above his growth-plate. It was his pinkie on his left hand. Yep! You guessed it. He's a lefty. That was Tuesday. On wed. afternoon I took him to see an ortho doc. After he saw the xray I was informed that Ethan would need to come back Friday(the 5th) for non-invasive surgery to set his finger. So Friday we were up bright and early to be in the office at 6. Ethan was taken back at 7:10 and the doc came to talk to me at 7:30. We had to wait a little for Ethan to wake up but we were home by 9 and eating donuts. We made it through the weekend with a splint on his hand and were scheduled to go back for a post- procedure check-up on Wed. I was under the impression that Ethan would get a better splint that he would wear for the next 2 weeks. Again, I was mistaken. We left with his hand in a cast. One that he gets to wear until Dec. 2nd. I was told that his finger was healing so well they didn't want anything to effect the process. So we get to go back next Thursday and maybe we'll come home with out the cast.

And on top of all that I came down with a small case of bronchitis. I've been sleeping on the couch for more than a week because of the coughing. Weird thing is that I've been sleeping really well ;) So I'm on cough meds with codeine and an antibiotic. This has been a pretty good day so maybe I'll sleep in my own bed tonight.

And Thanksgiving is just 3 days away. AND it's Aaron's birthday. 2 big things all wrapped up in one day. Well 2 days if you count going to my parents on Friday.

I'm waiting for my sis-in-law to call and tell me she's bringing me her two kids because she's in labor with their 3rd. Then we have Christmas. And between our 2 families it takes a week to celebrate. I've invited a Chinese exchange teacher to spend Christmas with us if she doesn't go home. So that should be interesting and VERY educational. And Tim and Nicole are having their 4th baby in Feb.

Wonder if I can add anything else.

Wordless Wednesday

And a child shall lead them!

So today is the day to vote. I hope you exercised your right to do so. Anyway...I had to take the littles with me this morning in order for me to get my voting done. As Katie is asking me where we are going I'm trying to explain to her what it means to vote. Our conversation went something like this....

K-where are we going?

Me- I need to go vote.

K-What's that?

Me- to vote means you get to say who you want to be in charge. Who you want to be the leader. I need to make sure that I let people know who I want to lead us.

K-Oh. Well, then, I want...(a pause as she thinks)...CHLOE!!!

I was cracking up! Chloe is her 4 yr old cousin and her very good buddy. And then I thought about the verse in Isaiah about the lion laying down with the lamb and that a child shall lead them. Not that the verse has anything to do with voting or the outcome. I just thought it was funny. Katie sure knew what she wanted!

Crazy Hair Day

This week is dug awareness week at school. Today's theme is...Use your head, don't do drugs. The boys wanted me to 'paint' their hair. I didn't have any hair paint and didn't want to go out and buy any. This is what we came up with.

A bit drastic, I know. But, he needed a hair cut anyway ;)

Ethan did his own hair. I just added the hairspray.

As if I needed anything else to do...

We are now the proud owners of a 30 gallon fish tank and 10 fish. We also went out last Saturday and bought 5 bunnies. Well, if we're gonna do we might as well do it right, huh? We already had all the cages and feeding supplies from our last adventure and that's the expensive part of getting rabbits. I would like to introduce you to...


Robin
















Robert














Shortcake














Tink














Remmington
















We haven't even had these hoppers a week yet but the kids have loved handling them. The first thing Katie will ask when she gets up in the morning is if she can hold her bunny(Shortcake, Remmington, Tink). It's hard to tell her no but she's not real reliable with the bunnies just yet. She'll learn =) The boys will bring one in and watch a show with it sitting on their lap. Ethan got peed on the other day, so funny! Anywho, it was my idea to get a rabbit. Bu tonce we got out there Aaron just couldn't leave the others. And we might be gettign another from the same place in a few weeks. We'll see.






These are JUST pets but we will be breeding to sell. If anyone is interested in an Easter bunny let me know.

Nursery Rhymes

So, I know it's been a while. I've been busy. There's something about having 4 kids that keeps you on your toes =) Now on to the subject at hand...



Have you ever really paid much attention to nursery rhymes? I hadn't until I had kids and someone gave us a book of nursery rhymes when Evan came along. Some are ok and some are even kinda cute. But there are others that are down right creepy! I shall give examples ;)



The Queen of Hearts


The queen of hearts
she made some tarts,
all on a summers day.
The Knave of hearts,
he stole the tarts,
and took them clean away.
The King of hearts
called for the tarts,
and BEAT the Knave full sore.
The Knave of hearts
brought back the tarts,
and vowed he'd steal no more.

What was that?? A lesson about stealing!

Here's a classic you all know.

Rock-a-bye Baby

Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree top.
When the wind blows the cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall.
And down will come baby, cradle and all.

Horrible! Singing about a baby falling from a tree!?

And last but not least. This is the one that really caught my attention.

Goosey Goosey Gander

Goosey Goosey Gander, whither shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs and in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old man who would not say his prayers,
I took him by the left leg and threw him down the stairs.

What were these people thinking when they wrote these so called nursery rhymes? These are just a few of the ones I found. I won't subject you to all of them. I'm waiting on the Christian Mother Goose book from my mom. I'm ready to start reading sweet sing-song story's to my kids again. Before oyu know it they'll all be too big and not want to listen to that.

And now I shall finish getting things together for our Fall Break camping trip. That's right! Aaron and I are taking Ethan and Levi camping while Katie and Evan hang out with my parents for 3 days. I AM SO EXCITED!!! I shall post pictures and tell you all about it sometime next week =) Until then....

One Year

Today is Evan's birthday!! Can't believe it's been a year already. I have had so much fun with him an dthe big kids LOVE him. They beg to get him out of bed in the mornings or after his nap so they can play with him. Makes me smile =)

Because I wasn't blogging a year ago I'll tell his birth story today.

I woke at 1 in the morning because I couldn't sleep. I was getting a drink of water and the first contraction hit. It wasn't bad but I knew it was the real deal. I got pen and paper and laid on the couch ready to keep track of how far apart they were. My contractions stayed 8-10 minutes apart until about 10:30. In that time I did laundry, took Ethan to school, boiled and deboned a chicken, and made sure the house was picked up. Aaron's mom got to the house about 12:30 and we were checked in an hour later. When my doc checked me at 2:00 I was at 4 cn. and 80% effaced. She came back and checked me at 4:30( I was asking for stadol) and I was at 6 cn. and 100%. I got the stadol and was asking for my doc to come back at 5:00 because I WAS HAVING A BABY! The nurses did a great job of helping me control my breathing so I wouldn't push. Because it was a Friday I told my doctor I would try to deliver so she could be home in time for dinner.

Evan William came into the world at 5:12 p.m. He weighed in at 7.4 pounds and was 19.5 in. long. He was perfect. And I mean PERFECT! That boy got a 9 and 10 on his apgars.

He has been making me smile every day since then. He came home a very fiesty little guy and would get so mad that at 2 weeks was rolling himself over. He rolled over officially at 10 weeks. Crawled at 5.5 months. Took his first step a week before he hit 9 months.and is marking his first birthday almost running. He's a little on the short side so he looks funny walking around. He brings me joy every day and I don't know what I would do with out him.

Happy Birthday, Evan!! You make my heart happy and I love you so much it hurts.

It's just a plant...I think I'll be ok

For those that know me, you know I LOVE plants and color. I could totally blow our budget on landscaping. Well, last night while I was bathing Katie Levi came in and informed me that Ethan had 'broke' my tree. The 'tree' he was referring to is one of my newer crate-myrtles in the back yard. I have one really big one that must have been planted not long after the house was built in 1960. And I planted 4 more along one of our side fences in the back.



So I told Ethan to come with me and before I looked at the damage done I wanted him to tell me what happened. I wanted an explanation before I got upset(I have lost count on the number of times I haev told the boys to stay away from my plants.) I was hoping that knowng why my plant was destroyed would ease the hurt when I saw how bad it was. Levi said it was laying on the ground =(



Ethan said that Levi told him to fall on it. I started getting irritated. I thought my almost 7 yr old was smarter than that. Maybe the reason I got irritated is because he IS smarter than that! When I got to the back yard this is what I saw....

















I didn't do anything to Ethan. I just told him how sad I was and that I was dissapointed in him and now he needed to go shower and get ready for bed. It was 6:15.


There is still some of the plant that survived so I don't think I'll have to replace it. I just keep telling myself...It's just a plant, it's just a plant. My kids are alive and healthy. It's just a plant!!

It still makes me sad.

Wordless Wednesday

The questions of a 5 year old

While making dinner Levi asks what we're having.

I tell him,"steak, mashed potatoes and green beens."

He then asks..."what kind of green beens?"

Are you kidding me? How many kinds are there? OH! how I love my kids. They make me laugh so often =)

Kidism

Ethan! Guess what?? I farted in your face!!

-Levi, age 5 =)

Wordless Wednesday

Labor of Love

The sermon at church yesterday was great. It was just what I needed to hear. The topic...Labor of Love. Our pastor brought up 3 questions I need to think about.



1. How do I feel about my work?

2. Is it a labor of love?

3. Do I sense God's pleasure when I'm working?



Because I do not have an out-of-home job that I go to and clock in, my work is my family. So I have been asking myself for the past 24 hours how I feel about it. Well, to answer question #1...I love my 'work'. I wouldn't want to do anything else with my life, ever.



Question #2...I believe being a mommy is a labor of love. It's not easy being a parent. Right now I'm in a place in my parenting where I have a 6 year old who 'knows everything', a 5 year old who THINKS he can do whatever big brother does, a 3 year old who assumes she was made to complete the world and an almost 1 year old who has 4 teeth coming in and has forgotten that I need sleep to function properly. However, in all of this growing up that my children are doing I still strive to put a smile on their faces anytime I can during the day. I sometimes feel like less of a mother when I can't do what they want even if it means they would be 'spoiled' by it. It's not easy correcting my kids. Not they're hard to discipline but that I don't like doing it. But what mother does?



Question #3...There are days when I don't feel God's pleasure AT ALL. It makes my heart hurt to write that out. But if I'm going to be real about all of this then I can't pretend that I don't have days that I'm embarrassed about my behaviour towards my children. What can I say? I'm a work in progress. My desire is to be the kind of mom that my mom was to me. She will say different but I honestly can't remember her ever yelling at me. And I can remember ONE time that she told me to shut-up(and she apologized before she said it). She says she remembers feeling a lot like I do now. And that makes me feel much better. I know there is hope for a great outcome. For me and my kids. Every day I work at being that parent that doesn't raise her voice to her kids. I strive to be a mom with a peaceful, quiet spirit. I want my children to WANT to bring friends home and I want their friends to want to come over. I think God finds pleasure in my willingness to become the best mommy I can be. To learn from my mistakes and take steps forward in bettering myself.

Colossians 3:23,24 says this...Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ Jesus you are serving.

I MUST remember this!!

And lastly...pastor shared a quote that I love and want to share with all you mommy's.

It's not the kind of work you do but how much love you put into it that matters...Mother Theresa

No matter what kind of work you do or how you feel about your parenting, just make it a labor of love and your kids will feel it.

A monkey wrench and the 30 Day Shred

I had a plan for getting in better shape. That plan was to let the boys ride their bikes to school. By letting them do this I would be forced to either run to keep up or ride my bike while pulling Katie and Evan in the bike trailer. Either way I would be getting in 4 miles a day. We were off to a great start. I ran Friday and it felt great. I ran Monday to drop the boys off and decided I would ride when it was time to pick up. I did. When I got to the school I noticed that there was only ONE silver bike. We had 2. Someone (in their time of need) had come along and stolen Ethan's bike! I was hacked, to say the least. So with only one bike I now had to tote Levi, Katie and Evan home in the bike trailer. Good thing I only had to go a mile. HEAVY!! We have been trying to find him a used bike but have had no luck. I would walk them but Ethan walks at his own pace and it would take us 45 minutes to get there. So now that someone has thrown a costly monkey wrench into my plans I need a plan B. Plan B is to start the 30 Day Shred TODAY. Works out ok since this is the first day of the month. I'm hoping to make is thru all 30 days this time. I guess only time will tell. I will add plan A back in the mix when Ethan has another bike. That should be sometime this week. We're on our bikes so much that I don't think we could go much longer with him not having one. So, here's to my monkey wrench and the 30 Day Shred!

I've just learned something new about myself!

I'm part 'neat freak'.

I hosted a baby shower last night. In preparation for this event I went a wee bit crazy with the cleaning. I even scrubbed the siding on my front porch. Anyway, I have found over the past few days that if you put in lots of hard work to clean your house really well you want to keep it that way. I like my clean house. We've done a little rearranging of things and it has opened up our living space quit a bit. If the dish washer is done running I empty it so I can have it available for dirty ones. Who knew this little act would be so helpful in keeping a clean kitchen? What a difference it makes in my attitude when I can go to bed knowing I won't wake up to dishes in my sink. I have even been able to keep up with the laundry. Don't ask me how because I have no idea. Maybe it has something to do with Ethan and Levi being at school every day. Whatever it is I'm glad I have discovered this part of me. I have been able to enjoy my HOME even more. And Aaron is more relaxed after he gets home from work. So now we'll see how long this will last ;)

another school year

Ethan started back to school on Monday. He had a great day! He didn't even want me to walk him in. I wouldn't have but I had a parent meeting with Levi's teacher. Levi started on Wednesday. It started out as a great day. The boys rode their bikes to school while I attempted to keep up with the jogger. We saw Ethan off to his class and got Levi settled in his and I left. I had plans to go out with my mom that morning so I hustled back to the house, a mile away from the school, to get ready. We got the littles loaded and were on our way down the road when my phone rang. The school had called Aaron and told him that Levi was sick. WHAT?!? I was about 5 minutes from the school so I got there pretty quick. Levi had indeed gotten sick. Twice. So, on his first day of school Levi had to come home after only 1.5 hours. Today was MUCH better. He was begging to go to school. He made it all day and is excited about tomorrow.

The 'bigs'

my little athlete

Ethan and his 'bestie', Kysan.

Levi's first day

such a big boy =)

waiting for his teacher

who knew he was 1.5 hours from getting sick=(

this boy LOVES to color!

And we can't forget Katie. She goes to the weekday preschool at our church on Thursdays. This is her first day. Isn't she super cute!?!?

Wordless Wednesday

A bust...

I didn't get to go on my trip to Austin. It was too good to be true! The flights from Dallas to Austin were over-booked and I would have been stuck in Dallas. For those that don't know, Aaron works for American Airlines. That means we get to fly at no cost to us. That also means there is a chance we won't get on the flight we want due to there being so many paying passengers. And that is what happened to me. The first time I try to fly in 7 years and I don't even make it past security. It's kinda funny how things work out, though. My sitter was about 20 minutes late. No big deal...I had asked her the day before if she could be at the house 20 minutes early. So I get to the airport with just enough time to get through security and to my gate and Aaron calls. He's looking at the flights on the computer and they look HORRIBLE. Not only is my flight over-sold but the flights before mine were over-sold. So people were going to be getting bumped off flights for the rest of the day. So, I came back to my kids bearing fun things like water balloons, punch balls and popsicles. we had a good day despite me feeling sorry for myself.

Aaron was so good to me all weekend. He tried his very best to make up for it. He suggested that I go stay the night at my moms. He "gave me Saturday off". A dad can't really do that if the mom is at the house. The kids, more often than not, will always come to Mommy when they need or want something. So I left =) I went shopping. For me. And I came home with purchased items. For me. And then we all loaded up in the truck and went on a road trip.

We visited Natural Falls State Park. The main water fall was dry but the dripping springs was going strong. We had a lot of fun. So I guess my weekend wasn't a bust after all.

There was a nice little koi pond/garden area that would have made for some nice photos if it wasn't so bright and blazing hot out.

The dripping springs.

Me and my crew

Aaron picked out this insanely steep walkway that led down to the dried up river bed. And what goes down has to come up =)

The kids played on the playground

And we all got in a little horse shoes. Notice what I'm wearing?? Not real easy to maneuver a double stroller with 2 kids on gravel while wearing flip flops. At least Aaron pushed it back up that hill.

My baby E and his baby blues.

Ethan was a big boy and threw that horse shoe the entire length.

My squeeze strutting his stuff.

And little Levi =)

Ethan had to take some pics. I think he did pretty good.

FED UP!!

I can take it NO LONGER!!! I have got to get this last bit of baby weight off of me. I've been uncaring for far too long but that has now changed. I WILL succeed in this goal of mine.

Aaron is very happy with my body as it is. Although I think he would like it no matter what. He likes the curves and softness that I've acquired in this journey of becoming a mom to four. I do like the curves, I do NOT like the softness. So I've made up my mind to do something about it.

I was sitting up, all by myself, last night and got to thinking about why I haven't lost any more weight. It's because I workout so I can eat. But I think my eating has overpowered my exercise. I started a food/exercise journal today. My plan is to see how well I can keep this up 1 week at a time. I have a goal I'd like to reach by Christmas. I am not going to share my starting weight or how much I'd like to lose. I'm really just putting this on here so those that see me at in real life can ask how I'm doing and help keep me accountable. I do not want to fail. I will NOT!

Monumental Occasion

This coming Friday, the 13th, I will do something I've never done before. I will fly, by my lonesome. I will switch planes at an airport I've never been to. AND I will stay over night BY MYSELF. That's right, folks. I am going on a trip...kid free! I haven't done this in 6.5 years. Yes, I've been without the kids over night but not me in another state. I am so excited, but a little nervous at the same time. The kids will be fine. It's Aaron I'm worried about =) He hasn't had the kids for this amount of time, EVER. I know he can handle it but it overwhelmes me most days. I sure hope they're nice to him.

Aaron has 'given me permission' to fly to Austin to visit my cousin. She has "plans" for us. This scares me a little because she is unarried and without kids. AND a few years younger than me. I'm going to assume that there will not be a 10 o'clock bedtime. What worries me the most is Saturday morning. I've agreed to participate in a cardio class she teaches. I sure hope I can walk next Sunday ;) I'm looking forward to some time away but I know I'm going to miss the kids. The monsters that they are! Maybe I could take Evan. He's the only lap child I have now. Or maybe I'll just stick to the original plan and go alone. And have some girl time to shop and eat and maybe get something peirced.

Anyway, be watching for pictures from my trip. There will be some crazy fun being had!

Self Portraits

This is what happens when my 6 year old and 5 year old get a hold of my camera.

Another Dedication

Evan has been doubly dedicated. First time at our home church by our pastor. Second time at my dad's church by my dad. All my kids have been doubly dedicated and I think it's great. How many kids can say that their grandpa was the pastor that dedicated them to the Lord? And I'm a bit of a daddy's girl so it has special meaning for me as well. Anyway...here are some pictures. ENJOY!