My sweet helper~

This sweet girl often helps me more than I even realize. Something that I want to remember about her during this time is the way that I notice she serves her family and her friends. I noticed her at the lake numerous times counting heads in the water and then she would go gather towels for everyone to have when they got out of the water. She also would go inside the house and gather water for everyone. She used a plate for a "tray" to carry the cups of water on and then she would make her rounds passing it out to all of the adults and then to the kids. She is such a sweetheart:)

Gettin' DiRty~

Love these two girlies~

ADventUrOus~

Waiting for Daddy to return. He's been gone over the latter part of the week and is coming home shortly. All have missed him very much. There was one sweet little 4-year old boy who got teary-eyed when he realized Daddy would be gone for a few days and since then has asked numerous times throughout the day, "When will Daddy be back?"

The lake just wasn't the same without him and this little boy is watching out the window for the red truck to pull in the driveway.

I must say I can't wait to see him myself;)

You think she's havin' fun?

Family~

That's what this past weekend was all about. It has been awhile since we have all been together. The time was good and the kiddos had fun. 12 kids, six years old and younger makes any family event exciting...no dull moments here!

10 month "Baby Doda."

It seems that almost every morning one of the older kiddos pushes up a chair next to the high chair to talk to the baby. They take turns throughout the morning making her laugh and having fun with her. This morning as I sat down in my chair to enjoy breakfast I saw her looking "thru" the chair at me and thought these made great pictures.

Father's Day Past

I thought I would share some pictures from yesterday. The kiddos helped me make Greg a special breakfast and Cailtyn made him about 10 cards to give to him. He loved them all:)

Greg amazes me with how well he interacts with kids and how much he shows them that he loves them. When Mother's Day comes I am ready for a day of rest... a break from the normal routine. The way Greg celebrates Father's Day is being with the kids...playing with them and making them run and laugh. They all had a blast and I managed to capture some pics from the day.

Greg and I were reminiscing about when we first found out we were going to be parents. A lot has changed since then but I am so incredibly thankful that through it all the Lord has chosen to draw us closer to Him and closer to each other. Greg has taught me more than he will ever know. He has an amazing way of interacting with the kids and with others around him. His character is full of wisdom, discernment and loyalty. He speaks truth and has shown amazing grace as well. I am so thankful to have such an incredible man in my life.

He gives me exactly what I need...

This week has been ridiculously busy. It's been good though, I am not trying to complain. I have a few extra projects going on...some are fun, some are not. All stretch me in a way.
I have had a late night every night this week and most of last week...I am wondering when I am going to crash:) His strength has been perfect despite all of the events pulling me in every direction. It always is.
Yesterday was a day that could go down as just plain crazy.

It started out pretty much the same as any other and the kids had an excellent attitude from the start. We sang in the car on the way to take Caitlyn to school...good memories.

I pulled up to Ladonna's house pretty the same way I had over the course of the school year...right in front of the house at the end of the driveway. As a mother of 4 there is always the dilemma of what to do with all of the kids when you face needing to leave the car for a minute. I did what I do almost every time I quickly need to ask Ladonna a question or drop something off. I asked Cailtyn to go get Aunt Nonnie and watched for her to come to the door. When I saw her in the doorway I quickly got out knowing that during our short conversation I would also face the mental challenge of keeping a close watch on the car and the rest of the kids. I always face the fact that with Micah being a boy his mischievousness can easily get the best of him. He could climb out of his car seat and experiment with the keys or the many cool car gadgets. I tell him every time I leave to stay in his seat and thankfully I have one sweet little obedient boy. There is just always that "what if laying on the back of my mind." Therefore I remain mentally alert ready to take action to sprint to the kiddos if need be. This was my thought process yesterday as I approached Ladonna with a question. The conversation was short and my eyes and ears alert to my kiddos. I noticed a woman jogging by and thought nothing of it. Shortly after she passed I returned to my car.
It was then that she confronted me.
She yelled at me.
She called me names.
She called me a "terrible mom" who "needed to think a little more with my head!"
She said what I just did was "just plain stupid."
She saw my "other kid" in the car she said. And I made a stupid mistake for leaving him there.
She only referred to seeing one other, I guess not knowing that in reality there was 3.
Obviously not realizing the dilemma that I face as I step out to drop off one child.
She made me mad. Furious.
My blood was boiling and I quickly responded to her in anger.
She had no idea how alert I am forced to stay to my kids and how exhausting it can be. She had no idea.
I didn't yell but I was firm.
I didn't choose my words wisely.
I reacted in my flesh, burning with anger.
How dare she say those things to me?
As I got in my car all I could hear was her voice yelling at me: "I am going to turn you in! Your a terrible mom!"
Wow.
I sped off furious.
My heart needed to calm.
So I went before the Lord, realizing that I had failed this test, miserably.
I reacted without the Spirit guiding my words.
I prayed and read the Word. It is amazing how His Words can calm a storm.


That was the beginning of the day.
The rest of the day was filled with projects, things to get done.
Greg and I were looking forward to a great evening with some good friends.
He has been busy.
I have been busy.
Life has been crazy.
We were ready for a good evening with friends. we were looking forward to it.
He had to go pick up his Grandma at the airport in the afternoon, only to find her flight delayed, he wouldn't make it back for dinner.
Around dinner time I got a call that his Grandma had an accident.
He would need to take her to get stitches.
He didn't return until after 1 in the morning.
I enjoyed the company of our friends and they helped me tremendously. (Thanks Holly and Micah!)

Crazy Day. yes.
It could have been worse.
Sometimes it is challenging to keep things in perspective.
But after a day like yesterday I am reminded once again that He always gives me exactly what I need, moment by moment to draw closer to Him.

He is all that I need.

And for Him I will be grateful

Workin' hard~

I know I posted quite a bit yesterday but I didn't want to leave these out:

Last night Micah quickly finished his dinner and informed me in a very big boy kinda voice: "Hey Mom, after I eat I have a lot more work to do outside. It's gonna be hard but I need to finish my work before I go to bed."

He was so very serious.

His "work" consisted of making what you see in the pictures above. It was almost the length of the porch but I am still trying to figure out the purpose of it. It seems as if they used it for blocking off one side of the porch to ride their bikes...I guess it was used for traffic control because every now and then if there was a lot of action going on Micah would open part of it up to allow the traffic to flow from side to side. He had fun acting as the "traffic controller" for the evening. He was also very gracious in sharing his master development with his 2 sisters who also had big dreams for their little building experiment.

Last night when Greg and I had a chance to talk I told him about the evening and their little work project. He laughed and said he needed to get Micah focused on a fun building project such as making a birdhouse...or a bird feeder:) I think that would be a grand idea;)

Baby's first "basgetti!" (or spaghetti as most call it)

I love the way our kids say spaghetti around here. That is what was served for dinner tonight. They all enjoy it so much and they even get excited about eating dinner when we have it. Dakota enjoyed her first spaghetti meal tonight and everyone was so excited for her it made me laugh. (Or as Caitlyn put it, "I am so SO excited!") So here are a few pics of her first very messy meal. Notice the shirt is off? I didn't even bother with a bib. I think she's pretty cute even when her face is filthy;)

Water Baby~

Catching up~

Where should I even begin? These past couple of weeks have been rather crazy, but good. Summertime is here but it will be a busy summer for our family. I cherish the moments that we get to spend together. Greg has been spending the last couple of weeks studying for an exam and I could not be more proud of him. He is amazing to me. I know it must be hard for him to balance his time out well and pour into his wife and his kids. He does an excellent job. Last week at the peak of a crazy schedule he mentioned that he would love to go play basketball. I encouraged him to go because I knew he needed a break from the routine and load of the week. Shortly after we had that conversation I saw him preparing all of the kids for swimming. Confused I went out to question when he was planning to leave for bball. Being the super dad that he is, he wanted to spend time with the kids and spent the evening in the pool. It was a lot of fun. It was also the first time this summer that we got to enjoy the pool as a family.

I finally was able to capture Dakota in the pool. I am so glad that she really enjoys the water!
She has officially begun to throw fits. She reminds me a lot of Cailtyn in this way. I think she understands A LOT and is ready for some minor discipline. I think I said in an earlier post that we are working on the word "No." Since then she has begun to scream when she knows that she cannot get her own way. Yes, she is young and she doesn't talk much but her understanding is great. It makes for some complicated discipline but I have done this before and try to remind myself that consistency is the key.
She no longer wants to sit still for anything, including a diaper change so I am also reminded of how hard it is to capture this age on film. She wants to get the camera every time I pull it out.

The older 3 have spent hours in the pool this week and have enjoyed the company of their friends. I want to continue to cherish these days that I have with them. I would not trade them for anything else in the world. At church over the weekend I had a few people ask me why I am not involved in MOPS or some other type of organization. When I answer these questions I almost want to laugh. I have nothing against MOPS or the many Bible studies or women's groups out there. In the past I have tried to squeeze them into my schedule but now that I have 4 little kiddos my schedule is full just from keeping up with them and keeping up with the house. I feel completely fulfilled with the time I get to spend with them and the time it takes to keep up with the house. I am meant to be here during this season of my life and I could not be more grateful. I am also so grateful for the friends and family that I have that understand the focus I have for my husband and my kids.

This week I have also been spending a lot of time in prayer for our country. With the elections coming up in the fall I feel as if every day until that time counts. Sometimes I feel my mind flooding with thoughts and prayers, especially late at night or early morning when I have some quiet time. I feel something stirring in my heart and I sense change coming for us as believers. I could be completely wrong and it could just be my pessimistic attitude seeping through but I truly feel that sometime during my lifetime we as believers and followers of Christ will face persecution here in America. The signs of the times are very clear. For the first time as I read through some New Testament scripture about the ends times and part of Revelation I felt a sense of excitement. In the past I have often processed this information with a little bit of fear in my heart, especially since I have had kids and what it means for them. But last night and this morning as I read and prayed I got excited. The Bible is clear that we will suffer for the sake of Christ, and many around the globe are already suffering and dying for HIS name. The joy came in knowing that whatever lies ahead brings me and my family one step closer to eternity. I long for that day and feel a sense of urgency for it to come. There is nothing for me to fear because HE WILL ALWAYS REIGN and as the David Crowder song goes, "WE WIN!"

Kinda makes me get excited.

May His Name be forever praised~