randomness

we love our old lite brites we have
we just need more pegs to go with them

teaching Gabe about Star Wars

he is already eating a storm trooper

one of the reasons Odin loves homeschooling 

is this little man

this little guy loves Scrabble

and is getting so big

it makes me sad to think he will be in Kindergarten next year

just want to keep him here with me
I don't know if I have patience to homeschool all of them yet.
this mommas going one at a time

love these big blessings of how good God is 

I love glittter messes

it seems to show up everywhere even after your done cleaning up

love Olivia's drawing

I love watching my husband cut the grass
his job is being taken over my 2 of his sons that want to split the job
they love cutting grass

This girl cracks me up

We are so blessed

Life is a gift

 today embrace Jesus, he will keep you going wherever you are, whatever your struggles he is with you.

Happy Father's Day

 

You've stood by us, 

taken care of us

loved us unconditionally,

 protected us 

and you are an awesome Godly leader.

 

 

thank you for all these wonderful blessings

 I am so thankful you are their father!

Happy 10th Birthday Odin!

First kid in double digits

oh boy time is flying
and it makes this momma sad
and it even makes you sad
You wish you could stay young forever 

you are such a great kid
a little parental at times
you love taking care of Gabe and all little kiddos that come through our door
you are kind, loving and sweet
you rocked at Homeschooling this year
your favorite subjects are History and Science
you loved Albert Einstein

you have a heart for God which is the most important thing
your heart breaks for the less fortunate
I love to see how God puts things on your heart and you listen and ask
waiting for what you should do next

 

your passion to live in a bigger city to live closer to the homeless 
to do more and to serve
waiting for the Lord to direct your steps

Every elderly person and baby  is cute to you
you love love love your Lego's 
and books

your truly sensitive and I love it
I love how you cry weekly for others and pray for them

You have a love for little people
you always get second chances
you can never ask to many questions

Lone Ranger birthday cake
homemade cards which you love to read
 

had a camp out in the backyard with the tent from Auntie Annie

We love you dearly Odin
 
Happy Birthday!

crazy tough week

 

this little man tested my patience last week

 

 

He started with a fever on Tuesday which continued all the way until Friday

IT pretty much never broke from 103-104

I kept alternating Tylenol and Ibuprofen but the darn thing wasn't moving

oh to say he was crabby was an understatement

he was getting up every hour all night every night 

I took him into the Dr. on Thursday because he seemed to be doing worse 

they gave him some medicine to use for the weekend in case he gets an ear infection

he had some congestion and fluid in his lungs

and just wasn't in the mood to eat much all week

then I noticed the fever was gone fast by Friday

but his body was covered in a rash  

all over like big red welts everywhere

his face and along his neck  looked swollen 

so we waited it out until yesterday

he was getting up the last 3 night now about every 10 minutes and just CRABBY!

still not eating much and just irritable even with Tylenol

so after church I took him to the walk in clinic 

he has a horse voice too which the kiddos thought was so cute along with his polka dot body

by this time I was about to take a nap at the Dr.s office I was so tired and crabby with the other kiddos and Dave of course

I have never been so tired before

the Dr. diagnosed him with Roseola

I have always heard of it but never knew what it was

he fit the definition to a T

so we just have to let it run it's course he said

so praying for a healthy man and some sleep...

 

 

 

I'm Back....

Back from my bloggy break

life is wild and crazy as usual just how I like it!!

I cannot wait until my kiddos are done with public school

I sure miss them all day long

Looking forward to the day when I teach all of them
I will be adding Jonah next year and he is super excited and he has been waiting patiently

The kiddos are done on the 11th of June

and Odin will be done a few days after I 'm sure
We will be doing some schooling during the summer though for all the kiddos
We have all agreed on some great things
more on that later  We have

 lots of fun things lined up for summer

which includes a lot of camping at our State Parks

This is our favorite thing to do in the summer

I do not like the heat at all

I am a 60's kind of temperature lady
state park camping is so cheap and easy
we have so many fun times together as a family camping
Oh I can smell the campfires and toasted marshmallows already
I love the cold mornings too..
the kiddos like to read on the porch in the morning
 Gabe is doing good just trying to master the sleep thing again.
He was doing so good there for awhile and lately he has been up every hour
I think because of his teeth
he's getting a 3rd
 and he is getting so much bigger and wants to go if only his legs and arms helped him!
The kiddos love this stage

Dave has been busy at work as always and I cannot wait to be able to read more books and do more writing once school is done.

playing headbands before school in the morning
 

thanks for your support, friendship and prayers!

taking a break

 

I have to say...my posts have been few and far between

Odin and I have been cranking out the schooling so I can get done when the other kiddos are done

so not much time for writing, reading books and taking pictures

this is how we roll lately

 

 

me teaching Language Arts

 

 

and Gabe is taking it all in...

Keep praying for Gabe to sleep...he is still getting up every hour and a half and loves the blanket smothered in his face to sleep

which makes this momma very nervous

 

 

loving this life right now

we are so blessed

thank you for following and for the prayers

I love you guys dearly

I will be back the first week of June ...

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all those wonderful mommies out there

I am truly thankful for mine...

She is always there to lend a hand

whatever it may be

getting milk, eggs or butter

or last minute baking ingredients

sewing all of our knee holes until we can no longer wear the pants anymore

switching loads of laundry

serving breakfast, lunch and dinner

pouring milk

brushing hair or teeth
dropping things off at the post office

helping them get dressed or picking out clothes

picking up things on the counters and in the living room

and endless thing

helping me rearrange things in the house for a new look

rummaging with me and the kiddos

schooling Odin when I am gone

bringing them breakfast on Monday mornings

watching them for me when I have to run an errand

playing Uno with them

cleaning

picking up the kiddos from school

giving baths

going to get us ice cream

dropping library books off

 the list can go on and on
We are truly thankful for your serving heart and your unconditional love

I am so thankful to be a mommy...it has always been a dream of mine
what a blessing and love God had in mind when He gifted me my children 
as the best work of faith I will probably ever do

Gabe
6 months

this little man has only tried a few baby foods so far
he doesn't like rice cereal at all
oatmeal a no go
veggies were o k
and fruits were good
they just don't sit very good with his belly yet
he seems to want everything we eat though

so we will wait to try more
he is getting all he needs with his yummy soy formula!
He weighed in at 19lbs
and it seems that he has a large noggin
(95%)

Everyone loves doing things by him
 I like that they still argue over him all the time
I wish that happened during the night now!

 

the kiddos dispise these bibs

they want him naked all the time

 

I told them I don't have enough clothes to be changing him every day because he is sopping wet from drool

 I cannot get enough of those juicy lips!

Odin says to me the other day through some tears....(he was schooling on the floor with Gabe) "our lives would be really different without Gabe,

God really blessed us by him mom"

Sorry I have been so hit or miss lately with this blog..

I have been busy with some appointments, rummaging, schooling and life

trying to catch a nap in there as well.

 

Devotionals
all the kiddos got devotionals for Easter
Olivia had one already but the boys were sad that they didn't get one to do...
they are age appropriate and for boys or girls
they totally rock
they do these every day in the morning usually
 they are meant to be completed in a year and then you move onto the next one
you can get them at www.legacypresskids.com
They are called "God and Me"

 we have been busy getting this house ready for spring
getting out bikes and strollers and working on projects before summer
Thank you so much for all your prayers for Gabe
He has now slept 5 nights in a row and he is only get up 3 times a night
not bad for a 6 month old!
I feel like a new woman!

just coming up for air

(not complaining here...just writing and sharing my heart
and yes I would still love more kiddos)

somehow

it seems like I am constantly under water trying to come up for air and I keep getting pushed down

I know this is a season

and I am the one who usually says that.

BUT 

the baby is still not sleeping although we did have 4 good nights last week

he was only up every 2 hours.

He is back to about every hour and sometimes he even is up for an hour at a time trying to get himself back to sleep

I do miss walking outside to get some fresh air and quiet time

my quiet time now consists of having Dave take Gabe for an hour or two just so I can at least sleep 2 hours.

God never said this was going to be easy
so I continue to lean on him for strength and patience to get me through the days.

I am not a sleeping in kind of person so that puts me

 behind because it takes my precious devotional time away from my kiddos in the morning or just time to hang out and read or write
we end up doing them at night then and it all works out just fine

BUT

Change is happening here and I don't know if I like it or if I am just having a harder time adjusting to it.   
my kiddos are getting older and I have a hard time accepting that.

my days are going faster and I am running out of time to do things that I usually do

trying to pick my priorities here and what is more important.
my to do lists are quite funny

I have been trying to take a nap in the afternoon with the 2 little's which works great.

I seem to be only able to nap for about 20 minutes though.

How does that work when I am so exhausted and can barely keep my eyes open.
I have no idea...
I love these days  and I feel so blessed
I wouldn't change it for the world
love praying over Gabe every time he is up and my head is bobbing
we are so blessed
I know I will never have this time again
this winter was long 
but home school was and is so much fun
I love that Spring is here and there will soon be sand and water all over the floor 
dirt under all their nails
bandaged knees
sunscreen all day long
love being in my jammies all day and schooling Odin
my kiddos think makeup is for Sunday's only!

I realize  the basic everyday things are all about being a mother
 worn out and tired
doing things over and over again 
it actually really matters
you seem to get stronger and stronger
and braver and braver
every day is different

we are still moving forward
loving our kiddos all day
hugging them and kissing them
playing hours upon hours of Uno with them
brushing teeth
playing kickball
bike rides
washing dishes
wiping buts and noses
talking for hours about nothing
tucking them in at night
 I know I will never get this time back
we will have plenty of time to sleep and catch our breath
strength will come on this motherhood journey
and it is beautiful
 

Randomness

 

He's teaching Gabe about ninja training

I cannot get enough of my kiddos lately
and sometimes when I am really tired...everything just seems funnier to me!

Jonah decided to take the bathroom scale to school the other day for show and tell
he said he was going to weigh his teacher 
when he got home later that day he couldn't understand why people didn't want to go on the scale...
i love their innocence

Our spring mantel...
sorry about the bad picture
my nice camera is getting fixed and cleaned
and yes that is Easter thrown in there too..
a few old spray painted frames and cupcake tins and our dear red head doll Sally!

 

 this girl is getting older right before our eyes

Gabe has no idea what she is doing...he is just along for the ride

 we did find out if you have to raise your voice in this house
Gabe will automatically start crying

Love how all of the kiddos love to read and eat at the same time
except for our family dinner time

Thank you for your prayers for Gabe
he has only gotten up 4 times at night for the past 2 nights!
Praising the Lord!

We are off to do some rummaging this morning and schooling on the road
Excited for the weekend
 Dave and the boys are doing some work on the basement since we really haven't touched it since it flooded
Just trying to figure out how to organize everything again! 

Our new family picture of 7
(this was from the night that Dave won an award)

 Have a great weekend!