Life on Courtney Lane.....

A Nursery Rhyme for You......

2012-01-30T15:11:00.000-08:00

One Little, Two Little, Three Little Sanchezes.

Four Little, Five Little, Six Little Sanchezes.

Seven Little, Eight Little, Nine Little Sanchezes.

TEN Little Sanchezes in September!

How to Lose That Baby Weight

2012-01-20T17:10:00.000-08:00

Since this is the time of year for resolutions, and many are weight loss, I thought I would share some ideas about what has helped me get that baby weight off, especially this last time when I was at my heaviest. I was above a weight where I said I would never go.

Well, I went and I had to come back fast. I had 50 pounds to lose.

I should also put in a disclaimer that I am not an expert, a nutritionist or a doctor, but I have gained and lost weight NINE times for NINE babies, so that does possibly give me a tiny bit of street cred.

Losing weight is not really easy for me. I do have a love for the chocolate baked good that is contrary to any weight loss effort, but I really just have to make up my mind that I want to lose this weight and that it will take some sacrifice. Losing weight and feeling better definitely at least compares to the satisfaction of eating a double chocolate brownie. And, I do indulge myself once in a while, because really who can give up a double chocolate brownie for good?

So, here are my top ten for losing that baby weight. Or whatever weight for that matter.

1. Count Calories

You HAVE to count calories. You can exercise out the wazoo, but if you are taking in more calories than you are burning you WON’T lose weight. Look online or get a calorie counting book and find out how many calories are in what you are eating. If you make recipes for dinner you can break it down and find out how many calories are in each ingredient, add it up and divide it by number of servings.

Then, write down EVERY calorie you eat in a day for a week. You may be surprised at the number of calories you are eating.

For ME, I can maintain my weight at about 2500 calories a day. But, if I want to lose weight, I need to keep it at 1800.

After you find out how many calories you are eating in a week, you know where you need to start. If you’ve been gaining, you need to cut by about 500 and try that for the next week. Keep experimenting until you get to your calorie burn. I wouldn’t go under 1500 though. Your body needs calories just to function properly.

2. Exercise and Weight Lifting

You can lose weight just by counting calories, but let’s face it. Not exercising will not make you any healthier. To be fit and to feel good you need to work out for 30 minutes at least three times a week. Also, muscle burns calories at rest. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn without doing any extra work! Lifting weights is important, but you don’t even have to go to a gym. Just go buy about six free weights-2, 5 and 10 pounds (2 of each) and you’re set.

This is the routine I try to do four times a week:

2-3 minutes stretching
10 minutes stair stepping (on the stair in front of my kitchen)
100 calf raises
100 side lying leg lifts
200 reps with arm weights (I do these in sets of 12’s and 20’s, bicep curls, forward punches, bench press etc.)
250 crunches (100 regular, 50 reverse, 100 laterals)
2 minutes stretching (I don’t really like stretching.)

This isn’t anything special, just what I came up with that works for me. I didn't start off with that many reps, but I started out slower and worked up.

3.Protein

Protein helped me so much this last weight loss. Protein is essential for muscle repair and long term energy. I like whey instead of soy and my favorite brand is Muscle Milk. I buy the chocolate powder so I can make bars and shakes. You really can add chocolate powder to anything you make that is chocolate, like pudding for instance.

In my experience you can go above your recommended 2-3 servings a day and still lose weight. I wouldn’t go crazy, but I certainly could have 4 a day and be fine- and feel full.

Chocolate Banana Smoothies

1 scoop protein powder
1 cup milk
½ cup plain vanilla non fat yogurt
2 T. peanut butter
3 T. ground flax seed
1 banana

Blend thoroughly in the blender. Enjoy! ( I love these for breakfast. You can add more or less of each ingredient or other fruit or whatever you prefer).

No Bake Chocolate Protein Bars

2 cups creamy peanut butter

1 1/4 cups honey

2 1/4 cups chocolate protein powder

3 cups instant oatmeal

Microwave peanut butter and honey in a bowl for about a minute. Mix oatmeal and powder in a separate bowl. Fold peanut butter mixture into the oatmeal mixture until well blended. Pour into a 9 x 13 pan. Keep refrigerated. Makes 28 bars- 225 calories per serving.

I got this recipe from Arbonne, but Muscle Milk powder works well. Keep in mind that not all protein powder works well for this recipe. Also, you can use brown puffed rice in place of the oatmeal. I would have one of these as a late afternoon snack or for breakfast with some fruit and a cup of milk.

4. Eat Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are good for you! Really, these should make up the bulk of your diet. They are an excellent source of fiber, vitamins and minerals. You don’t always have to eat them raw, but don’t soak them in butter and salt either. Plain vegetables are fairly low in calories, so you can eat a lot of them.

5. Carbs

Carbs make me put on weight like nobody’s business. But….do not eliminate all carbs. Just make sure the ones you are eating are WHOLE GRAIN (whole wheat bread, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, etc.) Do not (unless it is a once in a while treat) eat refined white flour and sugar. It will work against you.

Trust me.

My family will eat whole wheat bread, but not pasta. So, if we have spaghetti, I just boil a separate pot of water for my whole grain noodles. Easy.
Keep your carbs whole grain and no more than 3 servings a day. Actually aim for 2 servings.

6. Don't Eat After Dinner

If you have dinner at a fairly normal hour, like 6 pm, then don't eat after dinner. You really want to stop eating at least 4 hours before bedtime. I know it is a temptation to eat before bed, but you really just have to make a choice. Do you want to lose weight or eat? When you are losing weight a flat out fact is that sometime you will be hungry. You will. You just have to make up your mind that eating is going to set you back and you will have to work extra hard to make up for it.

7. Weigh Yourself Daily

Some people say not to weight yourself, but go by how you feel and how your clothes fit. Yeah, Yeah. I need to see results fast to keep myself motivated. And, if the weight is not decreasing then I need to remind myself not to have that extra serving of dinner, because I went over my calorie burn twice this week.

I also only weigh myself in the morning. That’s when you weigh the least.

8. Do Not Skip Any Meals

Some people suggest having 6 smaller meals a day than 3 larger ones. I don’t like to eat that frequently, so I do 3 larger meals. I’ve got 9 kids and a husband to feed, and I don’t want to be cooking or eating all day. Whatever is best for you, just do NOT skip any meals, especially breakfast. When you skip a meal, you are fasting and it changes the way your body metabolizes to a slower pace.

9. Be Realistic

Don’t think you are going to lose thirty pounds in a month. It probably will not happen. Make realistic goals and deadlines for yourself, so you can stick to it and adjust when necessary. Hang in there! If you give in and indulge one day, put it in the past and move on with a fresh start the next day. About twice a week, I just eat my “maintain” amount of calories to give myself a little break.

10. Reward Yourself

About twice a week I have a chocolate treat. It helps keep me motivated and allows me to resist temptation when I know that I can have a treat that week. It also helps to choose a lower calorie version like a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich instead of a regular one.

AND, an additional note that I forgot to mention...

Drink water. WATER, WATER, WATER. Not coffe, tea, juice or soda. WATER, and 64 ounces of it every day.

A Very Post-Christmas Assessment

2011-12-30T16:17:00.000-08:00

Well, I had a lot of lofty plans for this Christmas, but since I still don't know whether I am coming or going since our Chicago trip, those plans just went down the drain like half sudsy dishwater.

But, I did manage to salvage two activities and an evening with Ralphie and the Red Ryder BB gun. Never fear. We did not shoot our eye out.

We used graham crackers, icing, gum drops and marshmellows and made an edible nativity. We went through the story piece by piece and made each as we talked about it. The gum drops were the people and the marshmellows were the sheep.

We could have used miniature candy canes for the shepherd's crook and coconut tinted with yellow food coloring for the manger hay, however that would have required a fair amount of preplanning on my part.

Yeah.....

It looks like I gave the baby a butter knife with icing. What kind of mother am I?

We also read the Grinch while the kids colored ornaments. I cut out a Christmas tree from posterboard, they pasted them on and accented with glitter glue.

These activities, Friends, were a stretch for me since I typically avoid disastrous opportunities like the plague.

There was a moment when all the graham crackers spilled out and I thought I might have to step out and breathe into a paper sack, but we gathered them up quickly and pressed on.

We got a new Christmas tree this year, with new ornaments, since all but three of our old ornaments had been broken. We went with blue, which I admit was out of my color scheme comfort zone, but I love how it turned out.

Although after two weeks of rearranging the ornaments higher and higher, the poor tree needed to go into its Rubbermaid home for 11 months of rest.

Why do kids always pick off the wiggle eyes?

Baby Jesus vanished for a few days, but turned up on Christmas morning under the Christmas tree. Exactly as it should be!

2011-12-24T14:49:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday the kids did their annual Christmas program.

Timothy is in the back with the white shirt, Brooke is one row down and over in purple and Bethany is in the far right corner with the red and white striped sweater. My neice Emma is next to Bethany and my niece Dadriana (short, blond hair)and nephew Nolan are in the front row.

Since we had been coming off of a week of rounds one and two of stomach virus and round one of sinus cold, this guy wasn't feeling well.

Can you feel the pitifulness?

These pictures are from about 3 Sundays ago when our church does it's Hanging of the Greens program.

Narrators tell the story of Jesus and the significance of the decorations while the kids bring them all out and decorate the church.

The babies and toddlers bring presents out to put under the tree. Look at Travis in his red turtleneck. He's all ready to go up on stage with his present. And Bailey, in her blue and white dress.

Of course, when it was time to put the presents on stage, they clung to and hid behind my legs and did NOT want to put their presents on stage. Of course.

The kids also did a song from the program from last Sunday after the Hanging of the Green. Thomas was part of this song with his white vest. So cute!

Christmas Party Outtakes

2011-12-23T14:42:00.000-08:00

David and I had several Christmas parties to go to this year.

Taking a picture is always so difficult.

The man will not just take a simple picture.

I don't know what to do with him.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra!

2011-12-22T14:24:00.000-08:00

I had been wanting to take Tyler to Trans-Siberian Orchestra for several years now. He really likes them and I knew he'd have a blast.

So, when Money Saving Queen had a giveaway-enter your favorite Christmas Recipe for a chance to win 4 tickets- you know I entered.

AND I WON!

David couldn't go since he'd been out sick all week and couldn't take another day off :(. Brittany didn't really want to go (what is wrong with that girl?), so I took Tyler, Timothy and my nephew, Devin. I think Devin thought it was going to be Boston Pops Orchestra or something.

Boy, was he surprised.

It. Was. Awesome.

Cassandra had all the other kids over at her house. She said she's taking me to the casino. LOL.

What recipe, you ask, did I enter?

Green Beans Almondine

1 pkg. frozen (or fresh) green beans, cooked
1 small onion chopped
1 small packaged sliced almonds
2 T. butter

Saute the onion in the butter in a small saucepan until the onion is tender. Add the almonds and cook just til they are toasted.

Pour over your green beans and stir.

This is so much easier than Green Bean Casserole (and better I think).

Monday Musings: Christmas 2011

2011-12-19T11:56:00.000-08:00

As I was reading aloud a book for our unit study on Canada, I read through their average seasonal temperatures.

Me: "It's 37 degrees........Celsius..........."

Thomas (bursting out in song): "In ex celsius Daaaaaay-ooooo....."

Last night for our church's Christmas party we watched Charlie Brown Christmas. Well, I did't really watch it since I took the two little kids to the nursery. Afterward, I asked Thomas if they watched Charlie Brown.

He said, "Yeah, but I didn't really get it."

I guess Charlie Brown is too complex.

2011-12-10T12:12:00.000-08:00

Well, it is never a dull moment around here.

In addition to all but one of us getting a stomach virus this week, and in addition to it being David's birthday on Thursday, Bailey banged her head on the table and got a nice cut on her forehead.

I guess Bailey really wanted her Dad's birthday to be memorable. As David was getting ready to go to his second job I said, "Uh, I think we need to go to the emergency room!" As you can see from her shirt, she was covered in blood and chocolate icing.

We went to the same children's hospital that Bailey was in last year when she had RSV/pneumonia. They were awesome! They used that surgical glue and we were in and out of there in less than an hour!

Daddy bought her soda, so she was happy.

Wow, that surgical glue is amazing. SO, SO much less traumatic than when Brittany had busted her head and had to get five stitches about 11 or 12 years ago.

I also had to take three children in for shots on Wednesday, attempted to do school work, tried to catch up on laundry from the puke fest and take children to Christmas choir practice, and by the way, I just started coaching girls' cheerleading for Upward basketball.

But, I get to relax tonight and tomorrow night at the Christmas parties for David's two jobs. This December's scheduled is just packed solid, but, except for the puking we are enjoying it.

And, I guess also except for the shots and the bleeding.

And, the excess laundry.

Just keeping it real.

Chicago Vacation: Part 5

2011-12-09T08:53:00.000-08:00

And still more sight seeing!

We drove over to Navy Pier. Lake Michigan is so huge that it really looks like the ocean, but it's not.

This ferris wheel is modeled after the very first ferris wheel designed in 1893 for the World's Columbian Expo in Chicago.

This is the Chicago skyline- looking from Navy Pier.

Anything is art these days.

This is the Chicago River which has been known to be dyed green for St. Patrick's Day.

This is the Michigan Avenue Bridge across the Chicago River.

Can you imagine parking here?

This is South Wacker Drive with Willis Tower in the middle.

We left Chicago late afternoon on Monday, and headed to Schaumburg to the big Woodfield Mall. Everyone got walking (and a little more shopping) out of their system so we could head back to Tulsa.

I really wanted to try to work out stopping in St. Louis on the way back, but it was going to be dark no matter what. So, we got a picture of the arch by the Mississippi as we passed by.

Overall, we had a fantastic time. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on this much needed vacation. My husband was an awesome driver in Chicago. Whenever he drives and gets aggrivated I tease him about his "inner Chicago" coming out. (Because seriously, Chicago drivers are ruthless.) But, on this trip, even in Chicago traffic, he kept his cool.

Chicago Vacation: Part 4

2011-12-08T08:05:00.000-08:00

The second choice on everyone's list (after the Field Museum) was to head to the Water Tower Place. It's a seven store mall on Michigan Avenue. It's also next to the water supply that put out the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

After we drove around forever trying to find somewhere to park our 15 passenger van (oddly enough, there are plenty of parking garages in Chicago, but with clearances of only 6 or 7 feet.) we finally found a great spot on the side of the road at a meter.

Have I mentioned that it was COLD?

I don't know why this picture turned out so dark. I've got to get a new camera.

The reason they wanted to go to the Water Tower Place is because that is where the American Girl Place is!

We had never been to an American Girl Place before, and it was very exciting. I started liking the American Girls back when they used to be mainly history based and we used Molly to study WW2 back when Brittany was in first grade. Now, they have strayed quite a bit from the beginning, but are still fun none the less.

The Place was quite impressive. In addition to anything and everything you could possibly need for your American Girl, there was also a salon, restaurant, and Main Street.

Here we stopped on Main Street for a sweet treat.

The boys were much more excited about the Lego Store!

Timothy is our big Lego fan. I think he wanted everything in the store.

It may also have been a possibility that I snuck into the Godiva chocolate store. Maybe.

Chicago Vacation: Part 3

2011-12-07T07:19:00.000-08:00

Monday morning we headed back into the city to do some sight seeing! This is the skyline driving in. It was a cloudy, cold day, but thankfully it wasn't raining.

That big, black tower in the middle is the Willis Tower. It used to be the Sears Tower and for a long time,the tallest building in the world. It is 110 stories. But, now it's only the tallest building in the United States.

It is the building where you can visit the skydeck- the clear glass ledge where you are basically suspended over the city and you can see far below you.

Yeah. Um, thanks, but I. don't. think. so.

I'll just look from down here.

Here we are driving onto Michigan Avenue. The "Magnificent Mile". I would liken it to the "Rodeo Drive" of California. (I've never been to Rodeo Drive, but that's what I would liken it to.)

It has all the expensive stores, restaurants, banks and exchanges and more expensive stores.

This is Grant Park. It is the oldest section of Michigan Avenue. Most of Michigan Avenue used to be residential and was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1871.

This is the Chicago Art Institute. David took me here right after we started dating, on my first trip to Chicago in 1994. This weekend was actually the 17th anniversary of that first trip!

This is the skyline heading back into Chicago. We took a little detour to drive along Lake Shore Drive to look at Lake Michigan and then turned around and headed back in. The black building in front is the Hancock Center.

The Drake Hotel.

This is Lake Michigan. I wanted to get better pictures, but we decided not to stop and get out because is was COLD. About 9 years ago, when Bethany was a baby, we took a trip up there and stayed with some friends closer to the Wisconsin border. Brittany, Tyler and Timothy got their feet wet in Lake Michigan, but it really was too cold to go swimming then. That was in JULY. I can only imagine in November.

This is Moody Bible Institute. David actually considered applying here to get his Masters, but decided against it.

We were teasing Timothy about his name being on that pub, since he always sings Tim Hawkin's "I don't drink beer." That light blue building in the upper right corner is Trump Tower.

Wouldn't it be kind of cool to live in one of these buildings on Lake Michigan near all the hustle and bustle of downtown Chicago and Michigan Avenue? I believe Oprah's apartment is in Water Tower Place and was on the market for over a million dollars.

Maybe for a brief while, but I still want my land out in the country.

It appears someone hijacked my camera.

Chicago Vacation: Part 2

2011-12-05T06:26:00.000-08:00

Sunday we went to the Chicago Field Museum. We gave the kids a list of choices of things they wanted to do and the first choice on everyone's list was the Field Museum. (I mean, who wouldn't want to go to a museum with a big poster of chocolate on the side!)

The museum was really quite large, and the architecture was very cool.

This is Sue, the world's largest T Rex skeleton. I expected it to be bigger, but I guess if it had skin on and it was running toward you, it would seem pretty scary.

A little bit of evolution, of course, but we do what we always do in that case and ignore it, and go with the fact that the Bible says that God created everything in seven days.

These are the lions of Tsavo. A very interesting and frightening story, indeed. In the late 1800's, workers in Kenya were constructing a railway. Two lions stalked around the campsight and over the course of nine months, killed and ate I believe 140 workers! A movie was made about this, The Ghost and the Darkness. The two lions were finally killed and then eventually sold to the Field Museum. They were in very poor condition (I think it said they had been turned into rugs!), but were able to be reconstructed and still have the original skulls.

The museum had an amazing display on Ancient Egypt. I have always been fascinated by Ancient Egypt. It is one of my absulute favorite periods in history. Maybe because it's just so different (and bizarre) from what we know today. You started off in a pyramid recreation, which took you downstairs to a huge collection of artifacts, mummies, even a boat. Here is Timothy on an Egyptian bed.

I was really surprised at how many mummies they had. And, at how many of them were children. They even had an infant mummy. It really just brought a well of sadness over me. Those were somebody's children. Even 4000 years ago, mamas still loved their babies. It made me thankful for my healthy children.

The museum had an awesome area for kids. Here are some of them gathering corn at the Pueblo village (there was even a small Pueblo house).

The kids had fun in the sound proof music room.

We were at the museum for about four hours, but I honestly could've stayed all day if I were by myself!

This is Soldier Field where the Chicago Bears play football. It's across the street from the museum.

The wind coming off of Lake Michigan was C.O.L.D.

Then it was off to Portillo's for some Italian Beef. What is Italian Beef? You say you've never heard of it?

Well, it is only deliciousness on a bun.

It must be a somewhat localized thing, because we've been all over the country and never seen it outside of Illinois. It's basically a shaved roast beef, marinated in some sort of broth and seasonings, slapped on a bun (that gets soggy from the broth) with peppers on top.

This isn't a picture of my actual sandwich because I wolfed that baby down before I could even think about getting my camera, but my it looked exactly like this.

The kids got Chicago style hot dogs, but since they are not adventurous, they opted to leave the Chicago off the top. (I think they all were switched at birth.)

Finally, we headed back over to Grandma and Grandpa's for goodbyes, since we were leaving the next evening and Grandpa had doctor's appointments.

Chicago Vacation: Part 1

2011-12-01T20:04:00.000-08:00

We just got back from a little vacation to Chicago! We had been planning it for about two months. We left about 9:30 on Thursday evening. It took us about 15 hours to get there, because we stopped for a nap in Springfield, Illinois.

And, the fact that we went through Kansas.

We borrowed a GPS that was programmed to avoid toll roads. So, David puts in the destination and the next thing we know we are headed to Kansas.

Well, we had never been to Kansas so we just decided to go with it.

I can't believe that I agreed to even drive at night because I had sworn that I would never drive at night again after we went to Illinois about six years ago.

David and his brother had put in some fog lights on our van, because it can get quite foggy through the mountains in Tennessee (this is when we lived in South Carolina). They must have gotten confused with the wiring, because as we were careening down the interstate at night, the lights kept spontaneously going off and on. And then staying off.

Yes, that really happened. I said then and there we would NEVER drive at night again.

But, this time other than an unfortunate bunny hit and run, and some motion sickness, everything went fine.

Anyway, David grew up in the Chicago suburbs. It had been a long time since we'd seen his extended family and an even longer time since we'd been into the city. We were all really excited about getting to take this trip.

We passed quite a few windmill farms. I had never actually seen one up close. It is amazing how the windmills even turn, but I guess the engineers know what they're doing.

We discovered that Travis really does not like car trips. So, thankfully, since we travelled at night he mostly was doing this.

One of his rare happy moments.

After we pulled into town, we stopped at El Famous Burrito. I think it really should have been called "In-famous" Burrito, because it was totally huge.

This is only half of the burrito. Tyler couldn't eat all of his so he gave some to Thomas. He is holding only a third of it. But, it was delicious.

Next, we stopped in to see David's grandparents. This is David's Aunt Anita and Uncle Jess, David's Dad's siblings.

David and his Grandma.

David, me, the kids and Grandpa and Grandma.

Aunt Anita got pizza for us that night. We went back to the room and were pretty much ready for bed by that point. It was a beautiful sunny day.

The next day, Saturday, we drove up to Rockford to visit David's parents' graves. That was the first time I had been there in sixteen years. David's mom died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1995-the day after Christmas. Our wedding day back in February of that year was the last time either of us saw her alive, because they had come down to Alabama for the wedding (David was already stationed in Hawaii) and we left for the Smoky Mountains for our honeymoon. They drove back to Illinois that next day.

David's dad passed away from cancer on New Year's Day in 2007. Yes, our family apparently likes to make the holidays memorable. (My grandfather who I was very close to died three days before David's mom). I wasn't able to go to his Dad's funeral because David was in the airport in Charlotte for a business trip when he got the call that his dad had died. He switched flights to head up north, but the kids and I had to stay behind.

We also went to see Joann, who David's dad had remarried. Then, headed back toward Chicago to visit David's aunt and cousins.

It was a really cold and rainy day on Saturday, but we had a really good visit with family that we hadn't seen in a long while.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T16:36:00.001-08:00

Tristan saw these Thanksgiving Rice Krispy treats and wanted to try to make them. The kids had fun. I just had to step back and let them do it.

I really don't like anything with mess and you know I had to bite my tongue with all the licking the kids were doing. (Why do kids lick so much?) And they were NOT perfect, but that's okay, because the kids had fun making them and that's what's important, right?

A few more turkeys.

Homeschool Science Resources

2011-11-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

A few cute things from the National Watermelon Promotion Board

A cell size and scale

We are using the Chemistry Program from Flexbooks CK-12 Curriculum. It is an online textbook (although they can be downloaded). It is a secular curriuculum, so you might want to beware for subjects like Biology. Brittany is enjoying it. It isn't boring or "hard on the eyes". There are also links to various science information and experiments throughout the chapters. I've been pretty impressed.

Here are a series of Youtube videos for Chemistry done by The Home Scientist.

Try Science Bob for some experiments or science fair project ideas.

We did a science experiment last week that worked fairly well and was VERY easy. (My kind of experiment.)

You need some of these........

Then you go into a very dark room and eat them. Try chewing with your mouth open and you should be able to see some faint sparks.

Go here to find out why. (FYI, I believe this will also work with pliers instead of teeth.)

There's a tarantula in my garage.

2011-11-17T22:07:00.000-08:00

Our washer and dryer are in the garage here which is good and bad. It's good because I don't have to look at the mountains of laundry accumulating in there. It's bad because I can't see the mountains of laundry accumulating in there.

I still do about three loads of laundry a day. But, if there are days where I am out doing errands or something and I can't get to it that day....well, then there's double the laundry for the next day. And, if I can't get to it the next day....you get the picture.

I was sorting the laundry into baskets and had just picked up the last handful when suddenly I saw it at the edge of the step.

Clearly a tarantula.

No this isn't a picture of the actual one in my garage, because I was not about to run get the camera. I did what any normal person would do. I screamed, I cried and jumped up on the washing machine.

Well, I didn't really jump up on the washing machine, or cry, but I did scream.

Then, I opened the side door to the garage and with a long piece of cardboard tried to scoot that thing out the door. It, however, didn't go out the door. It went behind my shelving unit. Behind my shelving unit!

The next day I was straightening up in our used-to-be-office-but-has-no-heat-or-air-vents-and-is-now-just-for-storage-room and what do I see?

What is this? Arachnophobia?

At least the black widow was dead. It probably saw the tarantula and died of heart failure.

Shake, Rattle and Roll!

2011-11-06T20:12:00.000-08:00

Well, who says Oklahoma can't have an earthquake?

Or two?

We had two major earthquakes on Saturday. One happened around 2am which I totally slept through. About the only thing waking me up these days is Travis. Still.

David and Timothy were up watching a movie and they felt it. It was a 4. something.

Then, around 10:30 that evening I heard the windows rattle and thought, "That's a really strong wind!" But it didn't stop, it just kept getting louder and the floor and walls shook. It lasted about 30 seconds I think. I did feel one really small aftershock just a few minutes later.

Thankfully, no one was hurt and no damage was done that we can tell. It was the largest earthquake on record here and I believe they determined it was a 5.6.

That was the third major earthquake we've noticed since we've been in Tulsa. The first happened at this same time last year. It happened in the morning and I was still in bed, but had just woken up. The bed shook and I thought one of the kids had crawled into bed with me, but there was no one there. I thought that was really weird, so I got up and Brittany was in the living room. She was freaking out, "Did you feel that earthquake! It was an EARTHQUAKE!"

They are a little scary, but pretty neat. Praise God we didn't have a massive one and no one was killed, like in so many places lately. We were definately very fortunate!

It's an AVON E-Party!!

2011-11-02T10:57:00.000-07:00

Need Stocking Stuffers?

Consider Avon!

I'm hosting an Avon E-Party for my sister in law, Cassandra Opperman! She's a new Avon consultant, hair stylest and homeschooler!

There are so many fabulous finds at Avon and shipping is FREE-that means right to your door- with any order of $30 or more!

This E-Party will run from today (Nov. 2) through December 10th. I've already placed my order. Don't wait!

Go to Cassandra's Avon site through this link, click on "eparty" and place your order. Don't forget to put STUFFSTOCKINGS all in capital letters in the code at checkout!

Monday Musings

2011-10-31T06:07:00.000-07:00

Bailey

"Mama, I got a boo boo. You put a rubber band on it?"

The Oklahoma Aquarium

2011-10-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we headed to the Oklahoma Aquarium.

This was our second trip there. We went last summer also.

The younger kids had free tickets from the Tulsa Library's summer reading program.

The kids are letting shrimp walk on their hand. They look much better when they are battered and deep fried. (The shrimp, not the kids.)

Travis was being his usual grumpy self, but he did have a few moments when he liked looking at the fish.

The Aquarium has several shallow pools where you can touch various creatures like sea cucumbers and star fish.

and sharks!

and sting rays!

Virtual Brooke feeding the sharks.

You are now entering the shark tunnel.......

Shark Bait!

An unfortunate casualty.

2011-10-25T18:22:00.000-07:00

So, imagine my surprise when a huge box was delivered to our door today. The kids were like, "Oh my goodness, Mom! What did you order?!?"

Well......I didn't order anything. I won a year supply of Pretzel Crisps from a contest I entered! (That I really don't remember entering, so it was an extra fun surprise when it showed up!)

The kids have decided that they don't really care for the Jalapeno Jack, but the Chipotle Cheddar and Buffalo Wing are mighty yummy!

Field Trip to the Tulsa Zoo

2011-10-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

It was time to take a little field trip over to the zoo. The kids had free tickets from the library summer reading program and our internet company happened to send us two free admissions with our last bill so that = free trip to the zoo!

Now, we did love our dear Riverbanks Zoo back in Columbia. It really is one of the nicest zoos I've been to.

Tulsa Zoo has a lot more acreage than Riverbanks, but it really is more spead out, so there may even be fewer animal exhibits.

Tulsa Zoo has several buildings that are basically a living history type musuem with lots of hands on activites. Unfortunately, our two favorite buildings were closed for repairs.

At Riverbanks, you have to eat your lunch outside the gate, but at Tulsa Zoo you can bring your lunch inside and sit at one of the many picnic tables or the big playground in the center.

Neither zoo has a surviving polar bear.

Strike a pose.

So, I would say, we will give equal amount of fondness to both zoos.

Last Saturday evening we headed back to the zoo for a wedding. A wedding at the Zoo?? Yes, it actually was quite nice and we even got to ride the train 4 times.

We were the last ones to leave. The kids could've ridden the train til midnight, I'm sure.

A Bunch Of MONKEYS!

/div>

Tulsa State Fair

2011-10-11T17:51:00.000-07:00

Whew! We have been so busy with getting school started and going on field trips, going to weddings, couponing and everything else that I just haven't had time to blog. I've said many times in the past few weeks, "Maybe I'll get to it this evening."

So, finally "this evening" is here!

Last Friday we went to the Tulsa State Fair. We hadn't been to a fair in about ten years. I got student discount tickets so we all got in for $16. Hooray!

We decided not to ride any rides, but we did have a lot of fun!

We saw and petted LOTS of animals....

"Okay. Take a left at the funnel cakes and turn right at the ferris wheel...."

Learning how to saddle a horse. This may come in handy if we get land one day!

I just realized this is a very "Tristan-heavy" post.

He must be photogenic.

One of my friends says he looks like a Duggar.

We also had lots of yummy food. This is a fried Snickers bar. It went nicely with the funnel cake, corn dog, hamburger, deep-fried-loaded bacon dog, roasted corn, fresh squeezed lemonade, maple nut fudge and shave ice.

Tums, anyone?

Reeces Rainbow

2011-10-01T09:31:00.000-07:00

Jen over at Filling the House With Blessings is on a mission to adopt three adorable boys from Europe. As you know, adoption is very costly. She needs your help to bring these three little blessings home. Please prayerfully consider giving a donation to make that possible.

Grab This!

Is Blogger giving anyone else trouble?

2011-09-01T05:48:00.000-07:00

Blogger will not let me comment on anyone's blog-for about a week now. It tells me even when I am signed in that I am not authorized to view this page. Is anyone else having this problem? Is there a way to make it stop doing that?

Although, I guess if you are having the same problem you can't comment and let me know.

Arrgh!

Monday Musings

2011-08-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

I was explaining to Brittany the two most important things I needed to do the next day. "Okay, tomorrow I mainly need to catch up on laundry, and work on getting school stuff organized so I can help your aunt next week....."

Tristan says, "Oh, mom, that's gross! Ketchup on laundry?"

Book Signing with Author Kathryn Lasky

2011-08-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to a book signing at the Tulsa County/City Library with author, Kathryn Lasky. She was being presented with the Anne V. Zarrow award.

This is NOT Kathry Lasky. This is a librarian holding an owl. Kathry Lasky is the author of the Guardians of Ga'hoole book series.

Awaiting Mrs. Lasky......I swapped a few kids with my sister in law. I took my nephew Devin and she kept the four youngest kids for me.

We had to wait in line for about an hour for the book signing. They had these really cute and tasty owl shortbread cookies and punch. We all wolfed them down before I got pictures.

The girls with their new iphones. (Shh! Don't tell the girls but they are really just cardboard cutouts of a library app advertisement.)

My kids aren't really into the Ga'hoole books, but one of Brittany's favorite books is one she wrote from the Royal Diaries Collection, Elizabeth I.

So, she had her sign that copy. Bethany and Brooke had her sign another of the Royal Diary Books and Devin had a Ga' hoole book to have signed.

I turned the flash off when I went to take the girls' picture and could NOT get it focused. And, we had to move on. Oh well.

Now, of course, I can't do anything without some sort of fiasco. The signing was at the library downtown. I hadn't been to the library downtown and, you know, parking is always somewhat difficult DOWNTOWN. (I have the sudden urge to break out into a chorus with Rick Moranis while a giant, man eating plant looms nearby.)

I couldn't find the parking area for the library, so we drove around for about fifteen minutes looking for it. I was following the signs, but, I couldn't find it because it was hidden down a one way street and I guess I just didn't go that way.

So, I went and parked at OSU Medical Center where I knew I could park, and not get towed. But, the only problem is that it is FOUR blocks away from the library.

We started walking and the street divided and I got turned around and called David saying, "And remind me why I though this was a good idea?"

And he said, "You KNOW that is not really a good part of town."

I said, "Hold on, I'll call you back." I saw the Double Tree Hotel (which is very nice indeed) and the lady said that we were half way there.

We huffed and puffed on the two more blocks (remember it has been the summer of Hades here in Tulsa) so I'm sure it was at least a hundred degrees, and we made it to the library. But, we needed to go around the building and downstairs to get in, which we did, and lo and behold, the correct entrance was right next to the parking area that we had been looking for.

Knowing that it probably wasn't going to be a good idea to walk all the kids back over to the van at 9:30 at night though DOWNTOWN, I called David again to see if he would just come and pick me up and drive me back to my van, then I could drive back over and park in the right area.

And, I had a blister.

So, my knight in a shiny white van came and saved me.

The end.

The Escape

2011-08-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

Bye, Mom. Now that I can walk, I'm leaving.

Wow. It looks big out there.

Oh, well. I've got my popsicle. What more does a kid need?

Back to School the Thrifty Way!

2011-08-22T20:21:00.001-07:00

I'm really excited at all the school supplies I've gotten, so I just had to blog about it. I've been diligently going to my office supply stores and buying their deals every week for about the last five weeks and it has really paid off. Literally.

Here's a big picture of what I have. (Keep in mind I have six kids that are in 1st thru 11th grades and two preschoolers.)

Here's what's in the picture:

30 pronged folders

10 vinyl pronged folders

3 3-ring binders

24 spiral notebooks

9 packs of notebook paper

2 packs of computer paper

25 bottles of glue

32 glue sticks

2 packs of colored pencils

11 packs of crayons

7 dry erase markers

8 highlighters

9 sharpies

72 pencils

3 pencil sharpeners

6 pencil cases

92 erasers

75 pens

1 pad sticky notes

2 packs card stock

1 sample of label stickies

1 pack paper clips

1 pack rubber bands

5 rulers

2 tote bags

and

a partridge in a pear tree

Now, you know all of that will last us at least the first week. Maybe two.

Seriously, I only need to get 3 more pencil cases and probably one more pack of computer paper, but that's about it. I had some construction paper and an primary paper pad for Tristan (first grade) left over from last year.

Now the big thrill for me is how much I actually spent. I've been going once a week for the last five weeks or so to my favorite office supply stores....

Office Depot

and

Staples......

who also both had teacher appreciation days with special breakfasts, give aways and totebags filled with goodies. They are so nice to include homeschoolers.

Well, I spent a total of about $30 for all of it. I just estimated and so I didn't figure it down to the exact penny.

I'm really excited about the cardstock. It came from Michael's and is on sale through Saturday BOGO for a penny. They also offer a 15% teacher discount, so I got both packs of paper for $3.67 or so, when one pack is normally $3.99- even at Walmart.

I'm not sure how much longer these stores will have their school supplies on sale, but I know Office Depot will still have penny deals until Saturday and Staples until Wednesday. They usually have a limit, and Staples usually has a required mininum $5 purchase, but you can easily purchase a rebated item and get most of the $5 back.

Monday Musings

2011-08-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

Bailey is two and a half. Whenever I catch her in the act of doing something she shouldn't be doing, she says, "Nevermind, Mom!"

The other day I found a toy and just asked out loud, "Whose is this?" Bailey said, "Actually, it's Thomas' toy.

Tyler was cooking up some left over sausage the other day. Bailey smelled it and came into the kitchen. She was standing up on her tippy toes trying to see on the stove.

She said, "I can't get it, Mom."

I said, "You can't get what?"

She said, "The hot diggy dogs!"

Just Ramblin'

2011-08-20T17:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been one of those weeks.

Since I basically just started my school planning this week, I am a little behind. Normally this is my favorite part, but for some reason this year I am dreading it.

Maybe it's because I've just been so busy lately and now I'm just flat out tired.

Maybe it's because it's been the Sahara Desert here in Tulsa. I don't know.

My sister in law just found out she is able to homeschool her kids. She (and I) are so excited! So, this week I've also been helping her figure out how to get started.

Then, of course since I am running behind in my school planning and need to use all my time wisely, I picked her and the kids up and went to the park yesterday. I didn't get one single thing planned yesterday.

Then, today I cleaned out my closet. And, took the kids to the store. I didn't get one single thing planned today.

Why not waste time doing other things when you are on a time constraint, I always say. I like to make things difficult on myself.

Speaking of difficult, last night I accidently sent my sister in law a text that was CLEARLY meant for my husband.

I will apparently never live this one down.

This morning I absolutely freaked out and thought that I hadn't paid a bill yesterday. I paid the bill, and I don't know why I thought I didn't. I guess I like to freak out for no reason.

This evening I wanted to get some scrapbook paper at the craft store. I had seen in the ad it was on sale for buy-one-get-one-for-a-penny. I went to the register and she said it was the wrong brand that was on sale. So, I go back to the rack, stand in line again with the correct brand, but it is still ringing up regular price. Hmmm.

Neither one of us can figure this out.

Why is it not ringing up for a penny?

Because the sale starts tomorrow. That's why.

I think-no, I KNOW- I need a vacation.

A Baptism!

2011-08-14T12:33:00.000-07:00

Brooke was baptized yesterday. She wanted to show that she had accepted Jesus as her personal Savior. We are so very proud of her!

Brooke is in the gray shirt. There were a LOT of kids that got baptized.

Brooke with Brittany. Do they look related or what?

Happy Birthday Timothy!

2011-08-11T17:03:00.000-07:00

Happy 11th Birthday, Timothy!

Seriously. Where does the time go?

Women Active for Christ Banquet

2011-08-09T07:39:00.001-07:00

Last Tuesday our church hosted the Tulsa area Women Active for Christ banquet. There was a committee of about six of us that put it all together. There were almost a hundred women attending. This was my first experience with banquet planning, but it all went off without one single hitch.

We had a VERY limited budget to work with, and I had to do decorations for the dinner and a gift basket for the giveaway at the end.

This is the basket I put together. I LOVE doing gift baskets. I found the watering can 75% off at JoAnn Fabric and lots of little goodies to go inside at Michael's.

Purple is the Women Active for Christ's official color and the theme for the banquet was "Shine! Will you be a jewel in unusual settings?"

So, I found some sparkle ribbon, tuille, jewels and sequins and we all went to town "sparkle-izing" the church cafe.

Very simple, yet elegant and, thanks to some coupons and bargain shopping we came just under our budget.

One of the committee gals, who also happens to be our pastor's wife, was able to get a ton of materials donated and we made these cute, cute bracelets for all the attendees.

We had Zio's (Italian) cater for dinner and the men's group served all the women. I meant to get pictures of this, but Brittany had taken my camera upstairs with here while she helped with childcare. The men were decked out as waiters in black pants and white shirts.

Some of them even donned foreign accents for the evening.

And, they CLEANED UP THE ENTIRE CAFE AFTERWARDS!

I KNOW!

After dinner, the Passion players (our church's drama team, that Brittany is part of) put on a hilarious skit, we had some good worship music and a message by a precious older woman from our church.

It was a LOT of work, but everything turned out wonderfully!

Happy First Birthday, Travis!

2011-08-08T11:32:00.000-07:00

Somebody had a first birthday!

It was this little guy!

What am I supposed to do with this?

I know, I'll put my thumb in it.

Okay, Brittany. That does it. Cake Fight!

A Rant, A Rave and a Bloggy Overhaul

2011-08-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

Well, if you had told me back in February when it was TEN DEGREES BELOW ZERO that in August it would be ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN DEGREES, you could have broken off an icicle outside my window and knocked me over with it.

It is too hot to do anything right now.

I have never looked more forward to October as I do right now.

So, I have neglected braving the heat and hanging out the laundry to do a little bloggy redo. Or maybe it's an updo. With a little color and some highlights.

We just got internet hooked up at the house and since it would be considered "bad mothering" to have spent copious amounts of time leaving the children home alone to go to the library or the bookstore to use the free wifi, well, I finally am able to get my blog updated.

The two reasons I started this blog were to be able to document our lives, since I can barely remember what I did yesterday, much less last year. I don't want to forget all the things we've done and cute things the kids say.

I also started this blog to share homeschool information with others. And, as busy as I've been this summer, I can hardly wait to start school again so that things can settle down a bit. (Even though I haven't even started planning yet. I'm usually done by now.)

So......now that the blog is under control again, I can move on to other things like deciding what we'll wear to church tomorrow since I neglected the laundry.

Happy Birthday Brittany and Devin!

2011-07-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

Next Thursday Brittany will be 16! and my nephew Devin will be 13. They share a birthday, so Cassandra and I thought we'd do a joint birthday party at the church gym and invite the youth group.

Here's Katie, Michelle and Victoria

Callie and my niece Dadraina

David said, "Smile boys, you know this is going on my wife's blog." Where would he get an idea like that?

Hayden and Bethany

Travis

I took a lot of pictures, and they turned out okay, but I didn't get any really great ones. Maybe it was just the lighting in the gym.

The first casualty of the evening. He hadn't been there five minutes when Dylan and Tristan collided. Dylan got this HUGE goose egg, and Tristan didn't get a scratch.

Everyone raiding the food table. We served three kinds of sandwiches: Italian, Ham and Swiss, and Turkey with Pepper Jack, chips, pretzels and carrots.

My niece Emma

No, Justin Bieber was not invited to the party. This is Michelle's brother, Matt!

Timothy

Tristan and Nolan

Brother Chris eating a sandwich.

David, Youth Pastor Rob in green, Austin and Victoria

Bethany and Bailey

A game of Jungle Pong

Bailey enjoyed running around playing ball with the younger kids.

Brittany and Mackensie

Me playing ball with Dadriana

Cassandra and Travis

Everybody say "Fruitbasket turnover!"

Callie explaining the rules to fruitbasket turnover.

Half Rock band and Half Captain America (since Brittany is obsessed with Captain America right now.)

I hope we don't set off the smoke alarm!

"Come on, Brittany. At least wear the hat while we sing to you!"

Devin apparently letting Brittany do all the work!

Time to open gifts.

Cassandra and Marlo (Youth pastor Rob's wife handing out cake.)

Overall, it was a great evening. I know Brittany and Devin had a good time.

Why does it have to be so hot in Tulsa?

2011-07-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

It has been averaging 105 everyday for at least three weeks now. And, it is still forecasted through next week. Was it this hot last summer? Maybe I don't remember because I was about thirteen months pregnant, sitting in front of the air conditioner addicted to Simply lemonade then.

In addition to trying to avoid heat stroke, I've had so many big projects to get done. I got homeschool finished and gave the last of the assignments for those stragglers to finish up, taught a group of 30 women for an evening, got 2 kids ready for a week long missions trip, got 5 kids ready for two different church camps and scooted preschoolers along at Pandamania Vacation Bible School.

I am currently planning four birthday parties (although two of them are together), writing a book, thinking about needing to start planning for next homeschool year, planning decorations for a church banquet and making sure the kids are doing their summer reading club.

And of course, there is the taking care of nine children who do like to eat and wear clean clothes.

Why do I always go into summer thinking, "Oh, we won't have much to do. We'll just sit around and watch movies and stuff and take it easy for a change."

And then summer actually happens.

And then I snap back into 105 degree reality.

BUT....

I am enjoying every minute of it.

2011-07-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

In case anyone thought it didn't really exist.........

Click here to read my very first blog post. My friend Angie called it my "little hometown road in the hills". I love it!

Friends, Fireworks and the Fourth

2011-07-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

We had such a busy, but fun day on Sunday. Our friends, The Stouts, were passing through Tulsa on a big cross country trip and spent the morning with us. We first met them about 11 years ago, some of the first friends we met when we moved to Columbia. Brittany and Hannah became fast friends at age five. There birthdays are exactly one week apart. We hadn't seen them since we moved to Tulsa last year.

Bethany, Hannah, Brittany and Katie

And what do you do when you haven't seen your friends in a year and a half? Flat-iron each other's hair, of course!

It's always been a tradition for the girls to go to each other's birthdays. They've only missed maybe 2 or 3 years together since they were five. Well, I knew something was telling me to make a pound cake last night and I'm glad I did. Laura Lynn said, "We should've picked up a cake and we could've done their birthdays together." And I said, "Well, I've got a pound cake and candles! We got to continue the tradition with the girls having a mini-birthday together.

Don't we look like a lively bunch?

Laura Lynn giving a homeschool geography lesson on the states they'd gone through so far.

Travis more interested in the legos.

Laura Lynn and me.

The two David S's. Better known as "Your David" and "My David".

One last pic before they headed back to South Carolina.

Last night we went to celebrate the Fourth of July out in the country. It was HOT, but right before the fireworks a nice cold front came in and cooled us off.

Every year a nice couple from our church invites everyone out to their ranch for a cookout and fireworks. The whole church donates money for the fireworks and it was a great show.

We all had a great time. Bailey and Travis LOVED the fireworks. Bailey got to do a sparkler by herself for the first time and David pulled his hamstring playing ultimate frisbee.

I had the four youngest kids over by myself to do the sparklers and I just didn't know how it was going to go with four children under the age of six and three flaming swords, but much to my relief, no one set themselves or anyone else on fire.

So, today we are going to just hang out around the house since David has the whole day off. And there may be laundry in my future since my husband only had a kitchen hand towel to dry off with after his shower last night.

Summer Fun

2011-06-30T09:12:00.000-07:00

Since it has been so hot here this week (it was 106 on Tuesday!) the little kids played in the pool in the morning while it was a frigid 83 degrees.

Travis crawled out of the pool and on his hands and feet crawled all around the yard. He was having so much fun! I know he'll be walking very soon.

Today, Brittany and Tyler went with Cassandra to the water park, Timothy, Bethany and Brooke are at camp and David was off today so he took Tristan and Thomas to do some errands. So........I only have Bailey and Travis. And one of them is asleep right now. So quiet around here.

We all scream for Ice Cream!

2011-06-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Last Saturdy we went to Blue Bell's Taste of Summer. How can you not pass up all-you-can-eat-ice cream?

Look! It's All You Can Eat Round 1!

Arrgh, Matey! Don't take my ice cream!

Round 2 of All You Can Eat.

Ice Cream Round 3.

Hey David! Let's go sign up for the ice cream eating competition!

Ice Cream with friends round 4.

A fire truck tour.

That what so cool!

Off to Camp

2011-06-27T18:23:00.001-07:00

Timothy, Bethany and Brooke left for church camp today. They had the chance to go last year and had a great time. They were so excited to get to go again.

The whole crazy bunch will be back on Friday.

Happy Birthday to Me

2011-06-24T09:59:00.001-07:00

My sneaky daughter and sister in law surprised me with a birthday party!

They had decked out a spot at the park in balloons......

Brought snacks and cake......

And lots of friends!

Spoiled me rotten!

God's Heart for Mothers Part 4

2011-06-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

4. Mothering is.….at the heart of God.

Every tear you shed over your children, every sticky face you wash, every diaper you change, every load of laundry you do is worth it to Him. Mothering is service to God You are emulating, Jesus the one who came here to serve.

Colossians 3: 17
“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

When my husband was in the Marine Corps, my friend had a neighbor with 2 small children around the ages of 5 and 2. She had decided to go to nursing school. She said something that really struck me. “I’m just ready for the kids to grow up and go to school so I can get on with my life.”

We are not perfect, even as mothers, but Jesus forgives all sins and restores us. If you’ve made mistakes with your children, it is never too late to humble yourself before God. Ask forgiveness for your sin and start fresh with a heart for God. Ask your children to forgive you. All you need to raise your children is a heart sold out for God.

You have to put God first or every area of your life will suffer, especially mothering. I know sometimes that’s hard. I know what it’s like to have small children and be busy. When my children were 7, 5, 2, 7 months and I was 4 months pregnant, my husband got deployed with the National Guard for a year. I can’t count how many times someone has said to me, “You must be so patient” or “I could never have that many kids, I just don’t have the patience.” God doesn’t require patience, he just requires faith.

When you pour your all into God he can pour Himself out through you into the lives of your children.

If you spend time with God and in His Word, those fruits, patience, kindness, gentleness will come.

In the morning or even at night read a passage , it doesn’t have to be long, and you can pray and meditate on it while cooking, folding laundry or driving. I’m really just speaking to mothers with very small children here, because children are so needy then, and it’s hard to find time. If you don’t have small children and it’s hard to find time to spend in God’s word then you really need to reevaluate your priorities.

Jesus meets people where they are: He met the woman at the well right there when she was doing her chores. He gave her the Living Water. You can meet with Jesus when you are washing dishes, folding laundry, changing diapers, or driving. Even when you are reading and teaching scripture to your children, especially then.

Commit scripture to memory and you can pray and meditate on that scripture anytime. You can memorize verses for every letter of the alphabet . Sing Christian music and hymns with your children and you have a chance to worship together. So those are just various simple ways to find time for God.

I really enjoy my children. Now I am so humbled and grateful that in spite of myself God chose to bless me in this way. I like what Luke writes in his gospel about when the angel tells Zacharias that Elizabeth will have a child (we know that child as John the Baptist). He says, “And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.”

My children truly are a blessing to me. I think of that young mom who just wanted “to get on with her life” and what joy and gladness she missed out on with her children.

Our children really can be a blessing to us.

Prov. 31:28
“Her children rise up and bless her.”

Her children should rise up and call her blessed.

I like what the Matthew Henry commentary says about this verse.

“If her children are dutiful and respectful to her they then give her the reward she has earned she reaps the benefit of all the care she has taken of them. Her own works will bring her praise.”

My children are always making me laugh. And I tell them over and over, “I’m not laughing at you, but I appreciate you making me laugh.” So, I have to share with you some things Thomas, my 4 year old asked me the other night. He didn’t want to go to bed, so I told him to lie down beside me while I was nursing Travis, so he laid down and about 30 seconds later he rolled over and said…….

If my eyeballs just pop out will I be able to see?
If we eat ants would that be disgusting? Would we have ant breath?
Is Tony Ironman’s suit real?
When I turn 16 do I have to get married?
If 5 little ducks went outside and over the hill without asking would their mom and dad have to go find them?

I just want to encourage you to seek the Lord’s will for your life. I also want to encourage you to see your own children as blessings. Don’t just wait for your children to grow up so you can “get on with your life”. And, don’t be like the man Christian mentioned on Sunday night that got to heaven only to see a room full of gifts that God would have given to him, only he didn’t allow himself to receive them.

I want to leave you with this verse.

Psalm 1: 1-3
“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers,
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night
And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water
Which yields fruit in its season,
And its leaf does not wither,
And in whatever he does he prospers.

Psalm 1:1-3 (Practical Application)
“Oh the joys of the mother who does not follow Cosmopolitan and Glamour
Or stands in the path of daytime TV
Nor sits in the seat of feminists
But her delight is in the laws of the Lord
And she thinks about Him day and night
And she will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water
Which yields fruit in its season
Her leaves will not wither
And in her mothering she will prosper.”

Made in His image
Obedient to God
Teacher
Helper Suitable
Every woman
Ruler over creation

God's Heart for Mothers Part 3

2011-06-21T13:29:00.000-07:00

3. Mothering is ….. God’s assignment.

Some mothers complain and ask “Doesn’t being a mother takes away my identity? The answer is no. I don’t think so. I am more compassionate, creative, giving and less self centered. I am more aware of the world, more involved and I learn more in general. Maybe I don’t have time to “do” things that I used to “do”, but doing things isn’t who I am. Being a mother is who I am. It is who God designed me to be. Women will do different things at different times in their lives but who you are will spill over into everything you do. So the question really is: Is our focus on ourselves or on God? What does God have in store for you?

A woman from a church we used to attend about ten years ago had three children. I wasn’t very close to this woman but we were in a group talking at a potluck or something and the topic came up about life with small children and going back to work. I don’t remember all of what she said, but one thing did stick with me, and it made me sad. She said, “After I had to watch Barney for the 100th time, I knew I had to get out of there. “ I just thought what message did that send her to her children? That they weren’t important enough? That they were wasting her time? What is that teaching the younger women of the church? To be discontent in their circumstances. This woman’s 18 year old son was in a terrible state of rebellion and her 16 year old daughter had just found out she was pregnant.

Remember, Satan hates you and he hates your children. And unfortunately he has quite a following even among believers.

Lies from Satan:
-You can’t fulfill your dreams.
-You are “stuck” at home.
-You can’t keep up with the times.
-You can’t have a real ministry.
-You can’t stay alive intellectually because you’re just going to be watching Barney all day.

Would Lois and Eunice have believed those lies when they were raising Timothy. Would Moses’s mother; Elizabeth with John the Baptist? What if Mary the mother of Jesus response had been, “No God, I can’t carry the Savior of the world because that would seriously interfere with my ‘me time’”?

How you treat your children is the framework for their learning how to treat their children. Are you setting up a framework for a Godly legacy? Are you taking your assignment seriously? If you weren’t raised in a Godly home, stop that cycle right now. Start your Godly legacy today with your own children.
Children are not young forever. How are they going to remember you? Are you living out for your children a good, Godly role model, no matter what their age? Children are not just things we dress up, change their diapers, then kick out to the culture as soon as they turn 18. We have to invest in them, love them, teach them, train them. Your children are your primary disciples. It is our children that will carry on God’s word through the generations, but they can’t do that if we are not teaching them.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all might.
And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart;
And you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.”

Children will ask questions. If you don’t teach your children God’s word, they will learn something from someone. Satan is right there to teach them if you won’t.

Proverbs 1:8 and 6:20 tells children “And do not forsake the teaching of your mother”.

The entire 31st Proverb about finding a Godly wife was written to a King, by his mother.

God tells us when He gives children to us they are like arrows in the hands of a warrior. God uses that war analogy in Psalm 127 because He wants children raised up to serve in His army. God aims those arrows to penetrate a lost world. Shape your children into arrows God can use.

If you have children or have ever watched children you know taking care of children can be hard work. It is hard work to be pregnant, It’s hard work to deliver a baby. It’s not called labor for nothing!

It is hard work to nurse a baby. It is hard work to raise children, and especially hard work to raise children for God. God understands the difficulties with raising children. How many times do we act like them in regards to God; we scream, have tantrums, throw fits when we don’t get our own way. It’s no irony that God calls us “His children”. It’s hard to watch children stumble , to cry, to learn a lesson the hard way. It is hard when you are in a battle with the enemy praying over your child’s soul.

But, God’s grace is sufficient.

Hebrews 4:16
“Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Being a mother can be full of screaming, crying, tantrums, dirty diapers, throwing up, scrubbing bathrooms, sticky messes, muddy footprints, washing dishes, load after load of laundry, little sleep, no time for a shower-You are down in the trenches of motherhood, overwhelmed and you think “Is this all there is? Is this all worth it?”

Yes, it is worth it, because….. Stay tuned for part 4.

God's Heart for Mothers Part 2

2011-06-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

2. Mothering is …..for all women.

God instilled in all women the longing to mother and nurture.

Let’s take a look at Hannah, the mother of Samuel….

-1 Sam. 1:4-8
“And when the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, (Elkanah is her husband) he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters;
but to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had closed her womb.
Her rival, however, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb”

(Let me point out that God emphasizes this twice-the Lord closed her womb. -God is the author of Life. He alone opens and closes the womb. Not birth control or whatever. He allows life.)

And it happened year after year, as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she would provoke her, so she wept and would not eat.
Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

Hannah’s husband could not fill the motherly longing Hannah had to have a child.

Proverbs 30:15-16
“There are three things that will not be satisfied,
Four that will not say, ‘Enough’
Sheol and the barren womb
Earth that is never satisfied with water,
And fire that never says, ‘Enough’.

Barrenness was considered a curse. Time and time again in the Old Testament God gives his blessing, and it’s to multiply their descendants; as many as the stars in the sky and the sands of the sea or the dust of the earth, or the grass of the field. But when they sinned He brought judgement usually by thinning their numbers.

Deuteronomy 28:62
“Then you shall be left few in number whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because you did not obey the Lord your God”

Leviticus 26: 21-22
“If then you act with hostility against me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins. And I will let loose among you the beasts of the field, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your cattle and reduce your number so that your roads lie deserted.”

Luke 1: 24-25
And after these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant; and she kept herself in seclusion for five months saying, ‘This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.’”

Barrenness was a disgrace. So many women today choose disgrace. Deuteronomy 7:14 says, “Thou shalt be blessed above all people.” What was the blessing that set Israel apart from everyone else? “There shall be no male or female barren among you.”

We made a choice after our second child to trust God to plan our family. And I have to be honest, it wasn’t the easiest thing to do. By the fifth child, we thought, “How many children are we really going to have?” I was only 28, so I had a lot of years left, we could have a lot of children. But it was really only my fear of allowing God to work in my life at play there.

God calls children a gift and a reward.

Psalm 127:3
“Behold, children are a gift of the Lord;
The Fruit of the womb is a reward
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;

The message Bible translation of Psalm 127:3 is “Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift? The fruit of the womb His generous legacy?”

Psalm 128: 3
“Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
Within your house
Your children like olive plants
Around your table.”

God tells us He wants to give us gifts and we say, ‘Great! God I really need a new car and a new house and a new wardrobe.’ God says, ‘No, I’m going to bless you with a baby.’ Then we think, ‘Um, I’m not sure I want that gift.’ God wants Godly offspring. Malachi scolds the nation of Israel for not bringing up Godly offspring after they returned from exile.

God has reaffirmed our choice many times. So often older couples have come up to me in a store, or where ever, when I have the children with me, and they’ll tell me I’m blessed. And many times they confess that they wished they’d had more.

What if you want children but can’t have any? We know we live in a fallen world, and sometimes God allows couples who want children not to be able to have them and vice versa. We don’t always understand God’s ways, but God always works things out for His good and His purposes. If you don’t have children, you are still a motherly role model . Remember, Eve was called mother before she even had children. Stay faithful to God, He still preserves you if you are a faithful woman with a heart for his design.

God's Heart for Mothers Part 1

2011-06-17T13:21:00.001-07:00

I had the priviledge of teaching God's word to over 30 women last week at our church. I'm posting the notes on here in four parts if anyone would like them.

In this day of throw away babies, abortions by the millions, children being raised by the culture, pets are given the equivalence of children, and often times a higher importance than children, mothers have lost their sense of responsibility and how important they really are in society.

God uses so many analogies to babies, children and mothers because they are near and dear to His heart.

Psalm 8: 2 “From the mouth of infants and nursing babes Thou hast established strength

Psalm 22:10 “Upon Thee I was cast from birth; Thou has been my God from my mother’s womb”

Psalm 131:2 “Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me.”

Isaiah 49:15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you"

It wasn’t until the last hundred years or so that having many children wasn’t the norm. With the rise of feminism, and women like Margaret Sanger (who started the first birth control clinic in the early 1900s), that viewing children as a hindrance and a burden and preventing them became the norm.

I could tell you that I had always dreamed of having children and having a large family, but that wouldn’t be true. When I was younger I never wanted to have children. At all. Because that’s the way I viewed children. Then I was not a Christian and I didn’t know what God’s design for women was.

1. Mothering is ……God’s design

Praise God, His design is so much better than anything I could have designed for myself.
Let’s take a look at the world’s very first mother Eve and God’s very first commission.

Gen. 1:28
“And God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

God blessed them (that they would have children). These were the first recorded words spoken by God to Adam and Eve.

“Be fruitful” (the Hebrew word parah) means to bear fruit, to bring forth, to increase

“To Multiply” (the Hebrew word rabah) means: to increase exceedingly, to be many, to be abundant

So when God said to be fruitful and multiply, he wanted them to increase exceedingly.

God also made Eve mother of all the living

Gen. 3:20
“Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.”

God didn’t give the responsibility of bearing children to men, He gave it to women. All women would be givers of life. Even after they sinned, (because Gen. 3:20 is after the fall) God did not take away his blessing, woman would still bring forth life in this world that was now dead with sin.

God says Women will be preserved by being mothers
1 Tim. 2:15
“But women shall be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”

Faithful women who obey God’s design for mothering will be preserved from deception and from the corruption of society and will find her greatest satisfaction in fulfilling God’s design. Note this: disobedience leads to deception, but obedience leads to blessing.

Eve’s disobedience caused sin to enter the world BUT also through a woman came the Savior of the world who was and is “The Life” itself.

John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.”

A Week of Service..............

2011-06-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

Brittany and Tyler just got back from a full week in the Smoky Mountains in Greenville, Tennessee with the youth group. They went up to help a family Bible camp clean up after tornado damage. And, let me tell you they worked! They cleared trees and brush like nobody's business. They called me Wednesday night and were just exhausted. But, I'm so glad they went. The youth took over last night's church service and told all about it.

They were such a good example of well mannered, respectful and helpful young people living for Christ that they impacted people everywhere they went. They even helped reaffirm that camp's youth leaders to stay and press on.

Brittany was part of a skit last night and she also gave a brief testimony of how the trip impacted her. It almost brought tears to my eyes. I was so proud of her.

Poor Tyler wasn't feeling well last night. He said he had a headache and felt like he was going to pass out before service was over. I took him out to the lobby and Cassandra got him some advil, and I got him something to eat. I think he was still so exhausted from the trip and hadn't eaten much. But this morning he felt so much better and was back to himself.

Saturday I was at the used curriculum sale all day. I had sorted through and priced over 20 boxes of curriculum that our church had left over from the christian school they used to run. A lot sold and we gave the money to the youth group. The rest we donated to the book benevolence that donates those who need it. They're putting together some stuff for Joplin.

I'm surprised I didn't pass out myself this weekend! Twenty boxes of books are heavy! And I'm telling you I moved that stuff around for days getting it ready. But every bit was worth it!

Saturday evening we went to a birthday party. Travis's little friend turned a year old. She is so cute.

But of course.

I didn't get one picture the entire weekend.

Empty Nest Syndrome

2011-05-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

They've all grown up and flown away. I'm not sure if I was ready. Will they come back and visit?

Monday Musings...Pancake edition

2011-05-16T15:24:00.000-07:00

When one is eating chocolate chip pancakes, how does one manage to get chocolate on the eyebrows?

I Saw a Little Birdie

2011-05-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

A mother robin apparently thinks our back door light is a good place for a home for her little ones.

Tulsa has a ridiculous amount of birds. I have never seen so many birds in one area in my life. But, these little hatchlings are too cute. They stick their little heads up with their beaks open waiting for mama to bring a nice juicy something to eat. I only saw the mama bird once on the nest and I'm pretty sure she's a robin.

A Yard Sale and Mother's Day

2011-05-10T15:14:00.000-07:00

The youth group for our church had a big yard sale on Saturday to raise money for the youth group to go on missions trips. They have a big trip coming up to Tennessee at the end of this month. They did a bake sale and car wash to go with it. They raised about $1800! I made about almost a hundred pretzels and two pound cakes.

Marsha, I hope you would be proud. (I didn't have any cute chocolate molds, so we just did sprinkles. However, they were dinosaur sprinkles.)

On Mother's Day (and for Fathers on Father's day) our church honors mother's with roses for those who are the oldest moms, youngest moms, moms who travelled the farthest that day, etc.

I keep winning the "Mom with the most children" catagory.

Who would've thought?

The kids spoiled me with some treasures from the yard sale and David took me to see Thor that afternoon, with ice cream at Braum's afterwards.

I had a blessed day.

Monday Musings

2011-05-09T12:04:00.000-07:00

Thomas shouted from the back seat, “Mom! Tristan is sinning!”

I said, “What did he do?”

Thomas replied, “He has that thing and he won’t give it to me!”

Monday Musings

2011-05-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

Bailey has such a sense of humor.

She’ll say something like, “Mom! Mom! Brittany coming! Just Joking.”
or “Mom! Mom! I drop a toy. Just joking.

She is so smart to figure out how to do that- a real little jokester.

She also has quite a sassy side to her. When I was talking to my sister in law she came up and said, “Aunt Cassandra, quite talking!”

But she is also very obedient and remorseful when she does something wrong. I said, “Bailey Caroline! That is hateful!” and she said, “Sorry Aunt Cassandra.”

A Masquerade

2011-04-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Brittany, Tyler, and my nephew Devin were invited to a masquerade birthday party a few weeks ago and I keep forgetting to post the pictures. Cassandra, my sister in law with mad hair dressing skills did an "updo" with Brittany's hair.

Stand Up, Stand Up!

2011-04-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

I was getting dressed, and when I came out of the bathroom this is what I saw.

Resurrection Day!

2011-04-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

It was not ideal Easter weather this weekend. It has been raining since I think Friday. So, we had to do the church Easter egg hunt in the gym. But the kids still found plenty of candy filled eggs. I think they probably brought home around 150. You know that was enough candy to last the ride home at least.

An Easter Coma

We did a special Passover celebration this week. I had put together a unit study to do last year, but with the move we weren’t able to get to it, so I saved it for this year. I had planned to take pictures and have this linky post with all the stuff I used, but I don’t even remember where half the stuff came from, my disk that I saved the printables on is BROKEN and I didn’t take a single picture. Nothing ever happens the way you plan.

I had downloaded a special Haggadah to read for the celebration and there were parts in Hebrew that the father would read and everyone would recite. So, David read the passage and when we are reciting, for some reason my words come out ending with “Aloha”.

David says, “Aloha?”

Clearly I need a vacation.

Guess What? Another Birthday!

2011-04-22T12:36:00.001-07:00

Brooke's 8th birthday was on Sunday and my neice Emma's birthday was on Saturday, so we had a little joint party Sunday after church. Yes, I'm just now posting it. Life is just so busy.

My niece, Dadriana

Aunt Cassandra slipped Travis a treat.

Bailey, also known as Sassy right now.

My sister in law, Cassandra

My brother in law, Craig

The girls were excited about their gifts. Emma got a doll named "Emma" and Brooke got the Mp3 player she'd beeb wanting.

Mush!

2011-04-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

We followed the Iditarod this year-it was last month and I’m just now blogging about it. Yeah, remember like two years ago we were planning on following it and then one thing after another happened and we never got to it. But now the kids are looking forward to following it every year.
The kids each chose a musher to follow and chart their race....

I chose Dee Dee Jonrowe, but Bethany’s person scratched so I let her take over following her—12th place
Brittany chose Ramey Smith—2nd Place finisher!
Tyler chose Ken Anderson –11th place
Timothy chose Peter Kaiser—8th place
Brooke chose Christi Berrington-- 29th place
Tristan chose Lance Mackey—16th place

We made dog booties…………….

(This is the best picture I could get. Does that tell you anything?)

And a celebration dinner of “Sled Dogs”, “McGrath-aroni and Cheese”, and “Idita-rods”…………….

And what better way to finish out a study of the Iditarod than to meet Gary Paulson, two time Iditarod racer and author of “Woodsong”. He came to our library to accept a Sequoyah Literary award. He spoke a little about his life and adventures and took some questions. I took all the kids and believe it or not, the little kids sat quietly for the hour he and another author were speaking. Now, granted at some point I did have to bring out the cocoa puffs and Travis only screamed once, so overall it was a success. And it only took another hour and 45 minutes of waiting in line to get his signature. By that point Brittany took some of the kids out to the van, then I had to go out to the van to settle them down, so only Bethany, Timothy and Brooke got to actually talk to him.

Monday Musings. Or, maybe "Fat Tuesday" Musings

2011-04-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

Conversation with Brittany after a trip to the Dollar Tree….

Brittany: I found this mask. It will be perfect for the masquerade birthday party I’m invited to.
Me: Hmm. I don’t remember the Dollar Tree having masks. Oh, I bet they have them for Mardi Gras.

Conversation with Brittany continued about five hours later……

Brittany: Mom, what was that mask for? Magaradi?
Me: (Laugh hysterically for at least the next fifteen minutes, then smile that my daughter, thankfully, doesn’t know anything about Mardi Gras.)

My American Girls

2011-04-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

Bethany and Brooke made a special treat for our study of the 1900’s.
They made these Jam Flags from the Molly Cookbook ………….

They also made Eleanor Roosevelt’s favorite dessert of Angel Food Cake. We put pink strawberry clouds on top from a recipe in a book, “Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride”.

Thanks for Serving Our Country!

2011-03-30T11:43:00.000-07:00

What better way to start our study on World War 2 than to have the privilege of meeting and listening to an eyewitness? Arles Cole came to speak to homeschoolers about his experiences as a World War 2 and Pearl Harbor Survivor. He was such a nice man. He said that God spared his life so many times, because God’s purpose for him was to tell his story and give glory to God.

He was on the USS West Virginia in Pearl Harbor when it was bombed. He carried Doris Miller to safety (remember Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character in the movie?) after Doris was knocked unconscious when the bombing started. Mr. Arles went on to serve on other ships in eight more engagements before the war was over.

We used to live in Pearl Harbor housing when David was in the Marine Corps and I’ve been to the Arizona Memorial. It is quite a sobering thing to see. And now to be able to meet someone who was actually there and bring a personal aspect to the story is just such a neat thing to me. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been this excited to meet a Hollywood star.

“Showing Our Colors” is the book he wrote to share his story. He didn’t bring any of his books with him, but I ordered one from him and can’t wait to read it.

Busy is my new favorite post title

2011-03-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

I didn’t intend to stop blogging, but I just couldn’t seem to get it done. It has been so busy lately. We are pushing to get schoolwork done so we don’t have to go too far into the summer. And, it seems like there is always something else going on. Brittany and Tyler had youth group activities to be a part of for spring break (although it wasn’t really our homeschool spring break), various errands and appointments and then there are these guys who keep me so very busy.

This little guy who has gone from this

To this……………..crawling!

Timothy, Bethany, Brooke and Tristan were part of Praise Kids night at church. They were singing but I didn’t get good pictures of them. I should’ve gone down front but I didn’t want to block anyone’s view.

Bethany and Brooke

Tristan’s little face 2nd from right

Timothy on the far side in the red and white striped shirt

Another Happy Birthday

2011-03-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

Bethany turned 9 on Wednesday. She had been asking for a surprise party. Well, it doesn't really work when you expect the surprise. So, I had to figure out something she wasn't expecting. That morning Brittany made her a pancake in the shape of a B, we put a candle in it and sang to her. Then, after David got home we gave her the MP3 player she'd been wanting. Finally, that evening I secretly brought cupcakes and party favors to church.

Mrs. Laura walked Bethany out into the hallway. (It was also the other little girl, Lorelei's birthday as well.)

The kids all yelled, "Surprise!"

I think I surprised her!

Everyone had a great time. That's cousin Emma with Bethany and Brooke.

An Outing With Mom

2011-03-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

I needed to go run some errands so I took Brooke with me. We went to the Dollar Tree and Market Walmart. She was thrilled to go with my all alone, and to top it all off, she got a soda. It’s the simple things, I guess.

We passed by this giant man. He’s the Tulsa Oiler who stands I don’t know how many feet tall at the fairgrounds. He’s just a few minutes from our house.

This is also just a few miles down the road. Could their be summer fun in our future?

**Side note: My sister in law and I ate at that Panda Express the other day and it was soooo good. I love Chinese, but I never get to eat it, so we just treated ourselves to lunch after the children’s consignment sale last Saturday. The sale was at the Fairgrounds-the one with the big Oiler guy-so it was on the way home even. Like I need to justify it or something.

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

2011-03-08T14:43:00.000-08:00

We got a new van! Well, not new, but new to us. It is a fifteen passenger so we actually have extra seats for a change. This was a huge, huge blessing for us. We were able to pay cash for it-another huge blessing. We had needed a second vehicle for so long now, and thought we might have to just get a smaller vehicle and take both vehicles when we needed to all go somewhere, but thankfully we were able to get this instead. It is taking a little getting used to driving. It must be similar to driving a school bus! Ha! It’s mostly with turning and backing up, but I haven’t run over any curbs so far. We bought it from a homeschooling family with eight kids, but two of theirs are college age, so they didn’t really need such a big van anymore.
I know it looks white, but it's actually silver with gray interior.

So, I was at the DMV getting some paperwork done for it and there were five women who had just been released from prison. One woman had a teardrop tattooed near her eye. They started talking to me. I don’t think I’ve ever talked to anyone who has only been released from prison the month before, but of course, we can never have a dull moment, can we? But, you know, they were nice. And friendly. One of the ladies had been locked up for 8 and a half years. They were all getting ID cards made. They were in a “re-acclimation with the outside” program or whatever you would call it. I don’t know what they were all in for. I didn’t think it would be appropriate to ask. They originally started talking to me because they wondered what number I had and how long I had been waiting, since there was already a room full of people. (A long wait at the DMV? Nooo.) I had overheard one of the women saying she was going to start praying about staying here or going back to her hometown. So, two of the women walked outside to wait, and then I asked the woman if she was going to church somewhere. She said she was, it was a church I was familiar with. So we chatted for about the next 20 minutes. She was from New York and had been locked up for 4 and a half years. She had gotten a Bible degree while in prison. She said her life had been “messed up” but He had done something inside her that has changed her. I told her that she’s exactly who He had come to help- those who were “messed up”. And we ALL need Him. We are ALL “messed up.” I told her why we had come to Oklahoma, and how God was working in our lives. She believed that we all were brought here at this time for a reason. I told her I thought so, too. They called my number and I was able to get finished with what I needed to do, I went back over and told her I enjoyed chatting with her and I wished her the best. She said the same. I think she was encouraged. I know I was.

A Pitiful Birthday

2011-03-07T14:47:00.000-08:00

Bailey turned two on Sunday, and she was sick. This is becoming a theme with her. Although this time I don’t believe she’ll wind up in the hospital.

It’s my birthday and all I get is this pink tiara?

Monday Musings

2011-03-07T08:28:00.000-08:00

When I turned on my laptop, the little wifi button was orange. Thomas said, “I think your computer is orange because the bugs play with it at night.”

Hmmm.

Very suspicious.

Happy Birthday and "Handy Man"ny

2011-03-01T09:03:00.000-08:00

It's been such a busy week that I'm just now getting on the internet.

Last Wednesday Tristan turned 6.

Remember this guy?

We got married 16 years ago last Friday. Last year on our 15th anniversary we were driving to Oklahoma. I can't believe it's already been a year. Or 16 for that matter! We actually got married on my sister in law's birthday. My husband and I had only known each other for a few months when we got married and I had only met his family once. When I was planning the wedding nobody bothered to tell me that it was her birthday, until the day before the wedding David says, "Oh. Tomorrow is my sister's birthday." Well, she was turning 17 and not happy with it at all. But, now we laugh about it. We do laugh about it, right Cassandra? (I think she is secretly glad, because now no one can forget her birthday.)

And if he isn't already busy enough, this weekend David was busy building bunk beds for the kids.

This set will be for Tyler and Timothy. Next weekend he'll start the set for the little boys and then he'll be building a frame for ours.

Monday Musings

2011-02-28T08:26:00.000-08:00

As we were reading through “Goodnight Moon”, apparently it was a little too long for Thomas. He said, “They could’ve just said, “Goodnight everything”.
Well, that definitely would have made the book shorter.

My Saturday

2011-02-21T08:14:00.000-08:00

Sleep in til 8:30. (Well, it is Saturday.)

8:35: Make husband’s lunch. Kiss husband goodbye and tell him I am planning to spend the entire day working on a book and finishing the laundry.

8:40: Eat some cereal. Change Bailey’s diaper. Change Travis’s diaper. Nurse Travis while I watch the last 20 minutes of a movie I missed when I fell asleep the night before.

9:05 Change a load of laundry. Remind teenage daughter to be ready by 2 o’clock to leave with friend.

9:15: Attempt to get dressed, but then wonder if I could find some capris since it will be so warm today. While looking for capris, I decide to see exactly what clothes I would be able to fit into since losing the baby weight.

10:45: Finish putting all clothing back into buckets, drawers and hangers after trying everything on, reorganizing it, stopping to change Travis again, nursing Travis, entertaining Travis with an empty water bottle, getting Bailey some juice, and making sure Bailey is not trying to start her own bath in my bathtub.

10:57: Vacuum closet and bedroom floors.

11:05: Check to see if kids have done their chores, get aggravated because kids have not done any chores. Tell the kids they better be doing their chores.

11:30: Tell the kids they are going outside.

12:15: Everyone is dressed, shoes have been found, two children have been told to go back and get on socks, and everyone makes their way outside.

12:20: Everyone is starving. Make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to send outside for a “picnic” lunch.

12:25: Nurse Travis and put him down for a nap.

12:45: Come back into the living room to turn on laptop and realize that I need to move some furniture around to make it more efficient.

1:15: Finish moving furniture, wiping down table and chairs, sweeping, wiping down the wall, and mopping the floor. Visit for a few minutes with friend who is picking up teenage daughter.

1:30: Have the following conversation:

Child: “I am hot. Can I come in?”

Me: “No, the air conditioner isn’t on, the windows are open. Stay outside.”

Different child: “I want to come in and play the X Box.”

Me: “You are not turning on the X Box, the Playstation, the Nintento, the DVD player, the VCR or the Flux Capacitor. Now go outside.”

Four Year Old Child: “Well, then, what can we do?”

Me: “It has snowed 137 feet over the last month. It finally has all melted and IT IS 74 DEGREES OUTSIDE TODAY. Go outside and use a little something that we, back in the olden days, liked
to call an “imagination”.

Child: (blank stare)

1:33: Remember to change another load of laundry.

1:37: Come back to the couch and turn on the laptop.

1:41: Realize I need a pencil and paper, so I go to the desk and see that someone has rearranged my paperwork, and put some things on the desk that aren’t where they belong. Organize paperwork, proceed to put away things that were misplaced, and carry an item into the garage. Knock over bucket of cleaners that someone has left in front of the garage door. Rearrange cleaners into appropriate locations.

2:00: Sit back down on the couch and realize I still need the paper and pencil. Retrieve paper
and pencil.

2:15: Wash handful of dirt out of Bailey’s mouth. Change her diaper and lay down with her for her nap.

2:27: Return to laptop.

2:40: Attempt to reattach the legs of a plastic alien being that has been “accidentally”
dismembered.

2:42: Decide alien being should visit the garbage can.

3:25: Get Travis out of his crib and put him on a blanket in the floor with some toys.

3:31: Break up a fight over a magnet. Give up and let some children come inside to play with playdough.

3:41 Remember to change another load of laundry. Wonder who the children are in the front yard who are completely covered in mud from the 137 feet of snow that has melted.

3:45 Bailey wakes up from her nap that she CLEARLY was not ready to wake up from. Get Bailey and Travis a snack.

4:00: Clean up 75% of the snack off of the floor.

4:10: Change Bailey’s diaper and listen to Travis scream bloody murder for not getting to him first.

4:15 Change Travis. Nurse Travis.

4:30 Look at the one paragraph I’ve written so far on the laptop. Put Travis on blanket to play. Listen to 4th request to turn on X Box. Give in and turn on X Box.

5:00 Start dinner because everyone is “so starving”.

5:15-7:00 Finish dinner, feed children, give baths.

7:00-8:20 Sort and fold 7 loads of laundry, get everyone’s shoes, socks, clothes, Bibles ready for church tomorrow.

8:35: Husband arrives home, feed him dinner, talk about the day

8:40 Tell children to start getting ready for bed.

9:53 Children actually go to bed.

10:00 Save the one paragraph and turn off the laptop, go to bed and wait for Travis to wake up to nurse.

Busy, Busy Weekend Part 2 (Late) and New Busy Weekend

2011-02-20T15:09:00.000-08:00

Well, my Busy Part 2 never auto posted like I planned, so I've posted and added an update, since this weekend was busy as well.

We went back to church on last Sunday evening because the youth group planned out the entire service. They had singing, skits, and talk show interviews.

Here is Tyler taking up the offering. He's in the red sweatshirt.

Here's Brittany singing. She's in the black shirt on the left. For some reason I couldn't get a clear picture of the girls.

Here's Tyler singing with the boys. They look very enthusiastic, don't they?

Brittany was also in a skit, but I didn't get a picture. I was too busy watching it. She did a great job. It was about how sin will get you "stuck" to it, and how Jesus is the way to get "unstuck." Good stuff.

Two of the youth boys did a skit about what pickup line Adam would've used on Eve. Oh my word, was it hilarious. I don't think I'd laughed that hard in, well, at least a day or two.

Now, last night, we had a Valentine's dinner ate our church. We had the newlywed game, dinner, skits, and now I've seen everything. The pastor dressed up, and performed, as Elvis.

We all had a great time. I didn't get any pictures because I was watching everything from the tv in the nursury with the three youngest kids.

Busy, Busy Weekend Part 1

2011-02-14T14:44:00.000-08:00

Did I mention busy?

Saturday was Thomas's 4th birthday, but we celebrated on Friday afternoon since David works all day on Saturdays. We did our favorite Pin the Tail on the donkey, hot potato, and a scavenger hunt for clues to the presents. He had fun.

Saturday we did some sleepover kid swaps with the cousins. My sister in law's four kids are affectionately refered to as "the cousins" and vice versa with our kids. Auntie Cassandra took Bailey for the night and I think she got the short end of the stick. That girl was up til past midnight screaming her head off. Poor, poor Auntie. Bailey, I don't think you're going to get invited back. Ha!

Sunday was an exciting day. Two of our kids got baptized!! They wanted to get baptized for three reasons.

1. To show they have given their lives to Jesus Christ, their Lord and Savior.

2. To show obedience to God's command to believe and be baptized.

3. To demonstrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus as they are lowered into the water and raised up.

Here are Tiimothy and Bethany. We are so proud of them.

David's uncle Jess came up from Muskogee to see the baptism. Afterwards we went to Braum's for lunch with the cousins. They all had fun.

Including Travis who got to eat his first french fry.

Wildlife in Oklahoma

2011-02-11T11:43:00.000-08:00

Oklahoma is home to a vast array of wildlife. Some different than we've seen back in South Carolina.

Some we've seen so far are on various occasions are........

bald eagle,

bobcat, and

skunk.

I even managed to capture a few rare specimens on film.

Wilflife, indeed.

Travis Clarke

2011-02-09T15:55:00.000-08:00

This is Travis Clarke. Also, affectionately known as Trav, Travey and Pumpkin Bun. This is what Travis looks like 25 percent of the time.

This is what Travis looks like 75 percent of the time.

oh, but we love him............

Monday Musings from Oklahoma: Bug Edition

2011-02-07T11:41:00.000-08:00

Overheard as 3 year old Thomas is trying to kill a bug……..

“Die, you bug!”

“Take that, you bug!”

(Crash, bang, bash, crash….)

“Mom, that bug wouldn’t let me kill it.”

Five year old Tristan gives us an entymology lesson.

“Oh, that wasn’t a wasp. It was actually a yellow black jacket.”

Tulsa Winter aka Will we ever be able to leave our house again?

2011-02-06T11:14:00.000-08:00

Ah. They warned us.

But we didn't believe them.

Now we do.

My goodness, I have never seen so much snow in my life.

These are pictures from the five inches of snow from two weeks ago.

This is from the 14 inches we received last Tuesday.

I didn't get any pictures from the extra three inches two days after that.

And there is expected to be another 6-10 inches tomorrow.

David went to mail our rent check on Friday since the postman wasn't coming and he got stuck three times.

Well, I don't know if I can wait til spring. Did that groundhog see his shadow or not?

Whataburger! Whatanexperience!

2011-02-04T15:39:00.000-08:00

We finally made it to Whataburger! for lunch. It was definitely an experience I would like to repeat. I love me a good burger and fries. I had heard of this place before and knew it was kind of an icon. I’m not sure how the name came to be. Perhaps a more Colonel Sanders minded person, shocked at the idea of a restaurant with beef, exclaimed, “What? A burger?”. Or perhaps, a beef connoisseur , amazed at the mound of pickle, onion, lettuce, and ketchup on a perfectly seasoned patty exclaimed, “What a burger!”. Whatever the origin, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

My Whataburger, whatafries and whatasprite.

My husband had whatasourexpression so I didn’t take his picture. It was similar to this one. Love you honey!

Courtney's Tulsa Top Ten

2011-02-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

10. The people are very, very friendly.

9. The people don’t know how to drive.

8. There is always road construction.

7. There are lots of oil derricks.

6. The city of Tulsa is laid out on an almost perfect grid.

5. Most street names are numbers or names of other places in the USA

4. Oklahoma is rich in Native American history and it is politically correct to say “Indian”.

3. Mardel is my new favorite store.

2. Braum’s has some gooood ice cream. From what I’ve been told, that is.

1. I live within an hour and a half from the Duggars, The Pioneer Woman and the real town of Wakita from the movie Twister. I honestly don’t know what to do with myself.

Some Common Terns Heard in Oklahoma

2011-02-02T12:04:00.000-08:00

“Deal” as in “What’s that switch for? Oh, it’s a little deal that turns the light on and off.”

“Toll Road” as in “You throw money in this little bucket and we let you drive on our road.”

“Casino” as in a little thing called ‘gambling’.

“Quick Trip” as in “If you don’t stop for gas here, you can take a Quick Trip to the next corner where there is always another one.”

“Sooner” as in “The sooner the Sooner football season starts the better.”

A New Start Part 4

2011-02-01T11:38:00.000-08:00

September 2010

We moved in the house on September 17th, a Friday, which was a week after we signed the lease. When I picked up the keys from her that morning she said, “We’ve bug bombed five times, but we can’t seem to get them all. We called an exterminator to come in on Tuesday, but in the mean time, if you see one just spray it.” And handed me some Raid.

Um, pardon me?

The house was crawling with bugs. The five oldest kids and I came prepared to clean after we picked up the keys. But, mostly I just stood and looked around with despair. If I see ‘a’ bug? How about hundreds. David was working the two jobs by this point, 7-4 at the full time job and 8-midnight at the second, with ten hours on Saturdays as well. I was sitting in the living room alone at midnight in the only chair we had brought and I was having a major emotional breakdown. I was waiting to call David, because I knew his shift was about to end. I told him I thought I had made a terrible decision about this house. Did he know all the bugs that were here? What were we going to do? I can’t even begin to describe how upset I was. But, David always knows what to say. He told me that everything would be okay, and that I did a great job finding us a house. We would just take it one step at a time. I don’t know what I would do without him.

We made it through that weekend, and on Monday they had the new furnace installed. It was still about 95 degrees out and we had the air conditioner off all day, so they could install it. That afternoon around five, they let us know that they couldn’t seem to get the air conditioner back on, and they would have to come back tomorrow.

Um, pardon me? Again.

We now had no air conditioning in 95 degree weather in a house crawling with bugs. Lord, would this ever end?

But, wait. Oh, yes. There’s more.

They couldn’t get the air fixed on Tuesday either. They didn’t get the air on until Friday- a week in 95 degree heat. And bugs.

But wait. Oh, yes. There’s still more.

Tuesday night, the toilets started backing up into the bathtubs. The lovely folks who rented the place before us were obviously wonderful tenants. Not only did they leave us all their bugs, but they left roots in the sewer pipes as well. Apparently you’re supposed to flush rock salt down toilets for two weeks in October to keep roots from growing into the sewer line, and they did not. I have never heard of such a thing in my life, but you better believe from now on, I will be a salt flushing fool.

And then there were the mice. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

Now it is four months later, January 2011. With a fresh coat of paint, and the bugs dwindled waaaay down, and the mice gone we are definitely making the house work. We even have a school room-very exciting. I’m no longer on the verge of an emotional breakdown every minute. My default is set to happy.

I share all of this because I went down a long, hard road and made it to the light at the end. I know there are many who are in circumstances far, far more difficult than I can imagine. There were so many times that I knew all the answers, everything that Christians say in tough times. “God is good.” “God still loves you.” “God is still there and he cares.” But, honestly, I didn’t want to hear any of it. I couldn’t understand why God would bless us with so many children, yet not gives us the means to take care of them. I felt like God let me down. And I couldn’t seem to get over that.

I’m being honest here.

God spoke to me recently and said, “Courtney, I am good, I do still love you, I am still there and I do care. That’s why I gave you all these children. I promised you I would when you trusted me. But, because of this fallen, sinful world I can’t promise you it will always be comfortable.”

I still don’t know why we needed to go through all we did. I may never know until I can ask Him in person. I do know that He has blessed us. He was blessing us all the time with gifts and encouragement from friends and sometimes even total strangers. Even though conditions weren’t my idea of perfect, He did provide us with all that we needed. I also know that even as much as I love my children and want to provide for them, He loves them more. And, most importantly, he has promised us eternal life if we trust him. He always keeps his promises.

Life for us still isn’t perfect, but in this world, it will never be. David is still working a lot of hours for a little money. We don’t have the means to purchase a house and land like we wanted. And sometimes, it seems like it’s one little thing after another. But, we are happy. We are enjoying our children, enjoying each other and starting over.

Monday Musings

2011-01-31T11:49:00.000-08:00

Three year old Thomas looks at me and says, “I saw myself in your glass eye.”

Translation: I saw myself in your eye glasses.

A New Start Part 3

2011-01-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

August 2010

Right before Travis was born on August 5th, things sort of fell apart and we wouldn’t be able to stay in the apartment as long as we had thought. We would actually need to be out by the August 20th-about two weeks later. We had no idea what we were going to do. David had just gotten an interview set up for the next week for a full time job, but still at that point, was no guarantee of a job. David’s part time job still wasn’t enough for us to come up with a deposit and rent for a house, not to mention we still couldn’t find anywhere to rent, yet. We drove ALL over Tulsa and the surrounding areas and couldn’t find anything that was big enough, in our price range, and okay for 11 people to live there.

So, I came home from giving birth, kept Travis on bili lights for the next two days, then took the next week and a half to pack up our temporary belongings to move them to a second storage unit, since most of our other things were still in a storage unit in the town that we were originally going to live in 45 minutes away.

I promise this really is the uncomplicated version.

At church the Wednesday evening before the Friday that we had to be out of the apartment, a friend asked me how we were. I told her I was feeling a little overwhelmed. We needed to be out of the apartment in a day and a half and we still didn’t know what we were going to do. She looked at her husband, then looked at me. Then, looked at her husband, then looked at me. “You are going to come stay with us while you figure out what to do.”

This was an older couple with grown kids and grandchildren. I’m not so sure she really knew what she was asking. LOL But, they had a travel trailer and an extra bedroom they were willing to share with us. The following week David was offered the full time position he interviewed for, but we still had to wait to save up the money for rent and deposit.

The one thing that I had begged and pleaded to not have to do in this whole ordeal was to not have to live or even stay briefly with anyone else. I had been there and done that ten years ago. (That is completely another story for another day, but it lasted for three months.) And now, here I was ten years later, and had to do it twice. I was getting to the point again where I was upset easily. Although, that could have been in part from all the hormones from just having given birth. We found a four bedroom house that was the right price, but the real estate agent decided not to return our calls even after he agreed to show us the house. We found a four bedroom double wide, but they wanted ten percent down to finance. We found a three bedroom house in a great location and price, but someone who had seen the house the day before decided to rent. Where was the place that God had for us? Did he have a place for us?

The evening that the lady called to tell me that the house had been rented by the guy from the day before, was the end for me. I reverted back to that same feeling of sadness and dread. I so did not want to go back there. I had already been through so many months of despair and I didn’t know why God was taking me back down that road again. And so soon after I thought I had come through it.

I had a list of the last five possible houses that I still had to call. If one of these didn’t work out, I didn’t know if we’d ever find a place to live. I had already told David I wasn’t sure if I even had the emotionally stability to talk to anyone on the phone. But, he was working so much he just didn’t have time. So, I had to put on my big girl pants, suck it up, and get it done. The first house I called was four bedrooms, 2300 square feet and had a garage. She said she didn’t have a problem with such a large family and was even planning to show it to someone the next day, but said she’d show it to us first. I couldn’t imagine it not working out. This was perfect!

The next morning I met her at the house. David had to work, but we agreed that if she would take our offer, we could go ahead and give her half the deposit then and the rest the following week. I have to admit that when I walked into the house, I was a bit taken back. The entire time she showed me through that house, I was praying “Oh, Lord, please do not make us have to live here.” I had to lower my standards. A lot.

She said, “So, what do you think?”

I wanted to say no, but maybe it was the Lord, or maybe it was my fear of not finding anything else that forced me to say, “We’ll take it.”

Travis's birth story

2011-01-27T15:27:00.000-08:00

As I have said before, my due date came and went. It was so hot, I about fainted when I saw the van thermometer said 107. I was addicted, I mean addicted to lemonade over the summer. This was my first due date in the summer in ten years. I was due on Thursday, July 29th, and on Tuesday, August 3rd, I went in for a non-stress test. You know we never find out the baby’s gender ahead of time, and we must’ve forgotten to inform the ultrasound tech about this. After looking around the screen for a minute she said, “So, you’re having a boy?”

And we were all, “Um. We don’t know?”

And she was all, “Oh! Um, well, uh, it could be the cord.”

And we were all, “Riiiight.”

And she said, “Nuts. I did that last week, too. Sorry.”

We said, “No problem.” I had a 4D ultrasound at around 7 months and we suspected it was a boy when we saw the cute little “Sanchez boy mouth”. Well, that and the fact that the baby’s kidneys were enlarged a bit, which is a common issue with boys- and one that usually resolves on it’s own as it did in our case.

The baby was doing fine, but my blood pressure had been up a bit, so the doctor decided that I should come in to be induced on Thursday, exactly one week late. David had to work during the day, so we agreed to schedule our coming in for around 6:00 that evening. This would be my 8th VBAC.

I thought for a while after we moved to Oklahoma, that I may not be able to have a VBAC. Apparently most doctors’ insurance carriers in this area will not cover the liability for VBAC delivery. They just automatically schedule repeat sections. So, what do you do with a person like me who has 1 section and then 7 VBACs in their history? Well, I don’t believe there are too many people like me. And, I was NOT about to schedule a c-section. I mean, really? Thankfully, I found a doctor that could deliver me. And, not only could he deliver me, he is a Christian homeschooling father of five. Woohoo. Jackpot.
Not only was he encouraging in the “many children” realm, but prayed for me as well.

Thursday morning I woke up not feeling very well, and by early afternoon had a fever over 103. David came home on his lunch break maybe around 2, and I guess I must have looked pretty bad, because he went back and told them he needed to leave early. We headed out to the hospital around 4:00. They gave me Tylenol for the fever. The baby was very tachycardic with heartbeats nearing 200 beats per minute. My fever lowered down to around 101, (Travis’s heart rate lowered as well) so they decided to go ahead with the IV antibiotics, which I needed for the group B strep.

They gave me two IVs.

One in each arm.

What kind of prison torture hospital gives two IVs? I hate getting the IV. It is definitely the worst part about giving birth, and this time I had to have a “back up” IV.

Whatever.

After the first round of antibiotics, they started the pitocin. I was dilated maybe to a 3 or 4 at this point. I was having mild contractions, but they really didn’t feel any stronger than my normal Braxton Hicks.

Pitocin and I have a love/hate relationship. I love that it forces my babies to arrive so that they aren’t setting up extended stay residence in my uterus. I hate that it makes my belly feel like someone is stabbing me with a red hot poker iron. So, I am of course again faced with the epidural dilemma.

To get it or not to get it.

If I get the epidural, I most assuredly will begin throwing up and then will have lower extremities deader than the tree trunks snapped over by last year’s tornado. In addition to the fact that usually it doesn’t take on one side, so one side is numb and the other isn’t. I decided that I would just go as long as I could, and then reevaluate. Shortly before 9 pm, I decided that I just couldn’t do the pitocin/hot poker thing any longer and I would just go ahead and get the epidural. I told the anesthesiologist that the epidurals never take on one side, so he said he’d make extra sure that he got the needle in the middle. Well, he did. And the epidural really hurt. But, it did get numb on both sides. This time, they gave me a little button that I could use to control how much epidural I was getting. I thought that maybe if I didn’t increase the dosage, then I wouldn’t get nauseous. The epidural basically took away the "hot poker" feeling, but not much else. The nurse decided to go ahead and check me. I was at a 7.

Less than ten minutes later I felt a LOT of pressure and my water broke. I said, “David! The baby’s coming, go get the nurse.” My water has never broken on its on except for during the actual delivery. The nurse rushed back in and said, “It’s the water, and the head’s right there. Go on and get the doctor.” After about two pushes later, we had a Travis Clarke. All 9 pounds, 10 ounces and 22 inches of him.

I think I made a good call with the epidural. Travis was born about 15 minutes after I got it. It didn’t make me nauseous and I could still feel my legs, so I was able to get up and walk to the bathroom BY MYSELF.

The never really figured out what had caused my fever, but I had the antibiotics so whatever it was would have gotten knocked out anyway.

A New Start Part 2

2011-01-26T15:15:00.000-08:00

April and May 2010

Two more kids had birthdays in April. Brooke turned 7 and had a party with her cousin whose birthday is the day before hers. Tyler turned 13. David continued to look for a part time job, but couldn’t get set hours. There were a couple of possibilities for him to move into a department head position or something similar, but it just didn’t work out. But, he did get Associate of the Month. (And to brag on my husband a little, he got it again in October. Twice in six months!)

We still continued to make the best of our living situation. David’s sister and her husband received a settlement they were waiting on, and were able to move out to a rental house in May. They were stuck in their old lease until October, so we stayed behind in the apartment and worked out an arrangement for the rent. That would give us until October for David to find a better paying full time job, or work out his hours so he could find a second job.

Summer of 2010

My depression was finally starting to fade. I could talk about things without bursting into tears. We found sort of a normal for us, even though we knew staying in the apartment was only temporary. In June I had all four nieces and nephews during the day since David’s sister and brother in law were both working. I think it was good since they all had gone so long without ever really seeing their cousins.

The kids played in the splash pads that are all over Tulsa. The oldest five kids got to go to Bible camp. We had a Little-House-on-the-Prairie-athon. We took walks over the Arkansas River. We also visited the Aquarium and the Zoo. We found a really cool playground on Route 66 that was in the form of an old western town.

In July, we went to a BBQ and fireworks. We volunteered for VBS. Brittany went on her first missions trip to Oklahoma City. They helped out at a day center for the homeless, and got to see Tim Hawkins.

We went to a cement plant where the kids found a fossil. They also had lots of fun activities like mining for chocolate chips and a tour of the plant.

And, of course, the biggest event of the summer was the arrival of this little guy.

A New Start Part 1

2011-01-25T15:10:00.000-08:00

It has been forever since I’ve been able to blog and I really have missed it every second. But now that our lives are more stable I can finally pick back up where I left off. What’s that? You want to have a moment by moment commentary from the last nine months since I blogged? Well, I will spare you from the long and mostly complicated details, but I will give you a summary of our lives since last February when we departed South Carolina bound for Oklahoma.

February and March 2010

We said our last goodbyes to our friends, finished packing up our truck and set out. We had to leave some stuff behind. I guess it’s hard to squeeze 12 years of your life into a 24 foot Uhaul. We stopped in to see my family in Alabama and spend the night there. On our 15th Wedding anniversary we started the 12 hour drive to Oklahoma. To make a long story short, we were going to live in a relative’s house, but their house was under renovation. When we arrived we realized it was simply not safe for the kids and that arrangement wouldn’t work out. This house was in a town about 45 minutes from Tulsa and the town didn’t have a store that David could transfer his job to, so now here we were with no job, no house and no money.

David’s sister offered for us to stay with them in their apartment in Tulsa for the weekend until we could figure out what to do. That Monday some of the kids started getting sick with some crazy high fever, coughing thing. The following Friday, Bailey got it and by Sunday she was in the hospital with RSV/Pneumonia. Welcome to Oklahoma.

You would think that I would be bitter about how things were disintegrating for us. And, oh let me tell you, I was. Things had really been going downhill steadily since David came back from guarding the detainees in Cuba back at the end of 2003. He was gone for a year with the National Guard, but he was really gone for the next two years as well from PTSD. I kept joking that I was still waiting on my husband to come back from Cuba. He finally started getting back to normal in 2005. In 2006, he got hired on with an investment firm. And we all know how that ended. We had been struggling financially through two years of trying to make that job work and one more year of unemployment. So, to say we were burdened emotionally and finacially and leaving South Carolina with a heavy heart was an understatement. I knew God was still there, but did he forget about us? Was he making an example out of us? Was all of this somehow our fault because we don’t know how to manage our money (Dave Ramsey I’m talking to you!) Why would God give us all these kids and then pull the blanket out from under us? Well…………

We realized that this starting over thing was much harder than just starting out to begin with. But, some things worked out in our favor. David’s supervisor from the old store had decided to keep David in the system, so when we realized that our stay in Tulsa was going to be more permanent, he went to a store about a block from where we were staying with David’s sister, and transferred there. The store manager really liked him and gave him 40 hours every week even though he only transferred into a part time position. But unfortunately 40 hours a week making a little more than minimum wage does not cut it. David looked for a part time job, but he didn’t have set hours, so that proved to be difficult. David’s sister and brother in law were both jobless at that point as well so we decided to pool our resources and try to make it work. But, yeah, 16 people in one household. Well. Enough said.

Two of our girls celebrated their birthdays that month. Bailey turned one and Bethany turned eight.

We started attending a Free Will Baptist church in the area. I really didn’t want to. Mainly because I felt let down by God. And because I couldn’t talk about our situation without crying. I really didn’t have much to say that was positive. I know I had been in a depression that started the summer of 2009. I remember talking with David and saying, “I just want to be happy again.” I know we have joy in the Lord. But, the circumstances just wore me down. I just wanted my mood to naturally default to “happy” like it used to, not “sadness” like it had been. Life by that point was just so hard.

Monday Musings from Oklahoma: Christmas Edition

2011-01-24T11:44:00.000-08:00

Three year old Thomas gives us a new rendition of the old Christmas favorite, ‘Have a Holly Jolly Christmas’.

“Ho, Ho, the mystery toe up where you can see…….”

(I wonder if Scooby ever solved that one.)

2010-12-27T15:53:00.000-08:00

I am posting this from my very own laptop that my husband got me for Christmas! Now all I need is internet at the house and I can actually blog again. Blogging- if I even remember how! And keeping in touch with my friends who probably only faintly recognize my name now LOL! Hopefully we'll have internet soon!

There is a baby, really!

2010-08-10T11:17:00.000-07:00

Travis Clarke was born on Thursday, Aug. 5.

He was 9 pounds, 10 ounces and 22 inches long. He has jaundice so we are having to do the bili lights this week, and we had to stay an extra day in the hospital, but otherwise, we're doing well.

I'm just snagging a brief moment of time to update. I hope I'll be able to post a birth story and pics soon!

A Quick Update

2010-06-23T10:25:00.001-07:00

I had a Level 2 ultrasound yesterday to check on the placenta and kidney issues. Everything was good news. The placenta is fine and the babies kidneys are a 6 (maybe centemeters? I don't know what the number is for) and anything below a 7 in the 3rd trimester is considered to be fine with no follow up necessary. Yay!

So, we are just hot and tired, but with no complications til July, er, August most likely.

I haven't vanished!

2010-06-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

I'm really still do exist. We haven't had internet for a while now, so I have to head out to the library to get online, which is fine, but the little time I have to get on there I have to use planning homeschool. Not blogging. :(

And, the digital camera died last week, so no pictures.

I feel totally lost without the internet. Isn't that funny? What did we do before internet? I guess it wouldn't be so bad if everything wasn't centered around it now.

Anyway, we are doing mostly well. David is still looking for a better paying job, and we are still looking for permanent housing. And, I can't believe it, but the baby is due in just six weeks. I haven't been due in the summer in ten years, and it is HOT here in Tulsa.

My placenta was a little on the low side, not total previa, but still low. Also, the baby's kidneys are a bit enlarged (just a bit) and so my doctor wants me to see a specialist next week for a more in depth ultrasound. My oldest son had enlarged ureters (carries urine to the bladder) when he was in utero, and everything was just fine by the time he was born, so I think all will be fine this time. This condition is very common in boys, so maybe Bailey will be having a little brother?

We'll find out in six weeks. Or if tradition holds, it will be more like eight.

It's a twister, Auntie Em!

2010-05-13T13:59:00.000-07:00

We have now experienced our very first Oklahoma tornado, although it was with very little excitement (thankfully!) About 5 am, there was enough thunder to wake me up- it's generally very hard to wake me up- and rain pelting against the window. Then, the power flicked off for just a few seconds. So, of course, I looked out the window and the wind is going crazy. Shortly after it all settled down into just a regular light rain.

Then, I heard the tornado sirens off in the distance. I though it was odd to just hear them after all the "storm", but whatever.

I read on the local news website that there had been confirmed an F2 in a nearby small city and they were pretty sure it was the same that did damage when it came through Tulsa.

Well, we can now rule out that mobile home we were looking into...........

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T19:40:00.000-07:00

This morning Brittany cooked some waffles, hash browns and bacon for breakfast, and it was so good. That girl can cook some bacon!

At church all the moms were honored with a teacup/candle and devotional booklet and the pastor did a little fun thing before the sermon. He bought roses and went through a checklist. I got a rose for the "expecting" catagory that he did first, and if you had already gotten a rose in one catagory, you couldn't raise your hand for another catagory. But, if I had been able to raise my hand again, then I would've gotten another for most children, most relatives in church that day, and youngest child in church. Ha!

My sweet sister in law got me a Chili's gift certificate along with some pretty flowers and a cake this morning. So this afternoon, David and I went out to Chili's. I hadn't been to Chili's in probably years, but my burger was so good! And, they gave me a chocolate covered strawberry for Mother's Day.

This mama was spoiled. :)

Baby Bump Number Nine

2010-05-08T08:14:00.000-07:00

Kimberly over at Raising Olives thought it was about time to show off those baby bumps again!

Here is Baby Bump Number Nine at 28 weeks and 2 days.

And for the "inside" scoop.....

Can you see the little pug nose and poochy lips and chin?
(Sorry these are so blurry. My scanner wouldn't work-rrrrggg!- so I took pictures of them.)

Karate kick

The wave (I know it looks like 6 fingers, but there are only 5.)

I had my glucose test on Monday and I passed. My blood pressure had been up in the 130's over something at my last visits, so I was getting concerned, but thankfully, it was back down to the low 100's this time.

I was having the most difficult time finding a doctor here in Tulsa. I found just one midwife who was part of a practice- I can't do a private midwife right now- and she told me she couldn't deliver me as a vbac. It would have to be a repeat c-section. And, as a matter of fact, there were only a handful of doctors in the area whose insurance would let them deliver a vbac. It was too much of a liability so the doctors' insurances would not cover them. Are you kidding me? After 7 vbacs they would have me have another c-section. Seriously?

So, this midwife, who I really liked, gave me the name of one doctor who still could deliver vbac. I had an appointment with this doctor last week and was totally pleased. He's a Christian, homeschooling dad of five, who prayed with me at the end of my appointment! He is actually in family medicine and has a focus on mother/baby care. He is into natural childbirth and no birth control and actually was excited that this was my ninth. I totally like this guy! Finally!

My placenta may be a little low, (previa), but the ultrasound tech said she'd seen lower. So, I guess they'll keep an eye on things from here on out. Wouldn't that be ironic if I had previa and had to have a c-section anyway? Let's just hope not. Otherwise, little wee one number nine is healthy.

Yum! Yum!

2010-05-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

Awww, Mom, can't you just give me a little bite?

Sshhhh. Don't tell anyone it was cake batter ice cream!

Swingin'

2010-05-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

Belated Pictures from Easter

2010-04-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

I didn't get these pictures up after Easter, but here are just a few- better late than never. Aunt Cassandra spoiled us with baskets of goodies, then we had an egg hunt after church and then it was home to grill out. A very fun day to celebrate our risen Savior! I might be biased, but this is one good looking bunch!