Label your light!

We haven't been doing much of anything around here.  My husband says to stop whining...things could be worse...I know.  We went through this last year when the kids traded having chicken pox for a month...we have had visitors, traveled, sick kids, and I have been without a car during the day 2 1/2 weeks...soon to be 3.  Hopefully things will return to normal.....soon.  We have been getting a lot done at home these past few weeks...and I have had a lot of think time...probably way too much think time.  I have a "being bold" struggle going on right now....I would like to be bold in a family situation...no one (except for Sean and I) sees or cares to admit that anything is wrong...Sean has been told that it isn't his business...um....when a believer is FORNICATING...yes it is our business....anyways... sorry for the boldness....it has been eating away at me....I came across this little devotion today as I was reading...I am going to copy it word for word...(from Mom's Devotional Bible-- NIV version).

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 You face a choice in life:  You can either eliminate the truth or illuminate it.  If you want to light the way to the Lord Jesus Christ for others, you can begin by evaluating the light you shine.  What kind of light are you?

Are you a candle?  Do you light the room about you, but are you vulnerable to other influences that might snuff out your flame?


Are you a floodlight?  Do you shine so strongly in people's eyes that they are blinded rather than enabled to see?


Are you a flashlight?  Do you click on only in emergencies?


Are you a chandelier?  Do you shine with beauty and make those around you look better?


What kind of light are you and how can you shine for Jesus Christ more effectively in your world?

Tis the season for yummy goodness!

We have a potluck at church every Sunday and my husband crowned me (7 years ago) as being the director of desserts.  This was before my days of having 4 kids...actually I believe we had zero kids at the time.  I would try fun different dessert recipe, however things have gone down hill since then, since I mostly resort to boxed brownies or cupcakes.   I am usually not motivated on Saturday night to cook new things...I barely feel like getting dinner on the table for our family...thank goodness for the local bar that has yummy pizza and Chinese up the road!

Anyways, my girls were away this weekend and my boys are pretty low maintenance and after cleaning out our shelf that holds our baking goodies...
                   I realized we have a lifetime supply of sprinkles and chocolate bark....

So here is what I came up with to bring for our potluck....total yummy goodness!

Rice crispy treats...dipped in chocolate bark topped with sprinkles!

and rice crispy peanut butter balls

These are made with 1 jar of 7 oz marshmallow cream, 1 cup of creamy (not the low fat kind) of peanut butter-- melted together.  Then add in 1 1/2 -2 cups of rice crispies.  Form into balls.  Let set...and dip in chocolate bark.   I added pretzels for a little extra pizzazz! 

I have a MILLION recipes that I want to try with the kids this month....can't wait for my girls to get home and start baking away!!

**** Additional note....I created this post before I brought them to church....everything flew off of the plate as fast as you could count to well maybe 1000...the batch of peanut butter balls only made 20...I could have made them smaller I guess, but will probably double the recipe next time....everyone was asking for the recipe for these!.....so.....so.....yummy!

Truth in the Tinsel: Our December activity!

This year we are working through the Truth in the Tinsel activity pack.  It features 24 activities that the kids can work on throughout the month of December.  There is a little bible story and ornament craft for each day.  If you have been reading my blog since the beginning you can read my thoughts on Christmas:  here.  I truly don't believe that Christ was born in the winter...nor December...and really bummed that Christmas lands on a pagan day honoring the god Saturn...but Thanksgiving's day is wrong too...so I guess we can't get them all right. 

Anyways, my friend Erin at http://homewiththeboys.net was advertising for this activity and we thought we would give it a try.

This activity does require a little extra work to get started...and if you are doing all of the activities, you need to make sure that your craft cabinet is fully stocked.  I started making a list of things I needed to get at the craft store, but after going through our craft area, I realized we are pretty much stocked and ready to go.  I will be improvising just a bit...but I think we will live!  

We only do school 4 times a week...and I do not plan on doing any activities on the weekends...so we are doing 2-3 activities per day.  Sometimes we will even have to do 4.  I can't wait until we complete this unit pack!!  The girls are excited too!

Here are some pictures of us getting ready to go!

Instead of printing out all of the templates, I had the girls make little pictures for each day.  You can kind of see on my laptop what the little pictures that we were supposed to print out look like.  The girls did a really good job making these.

We then put the little pictures on our calendar.  Each day the girls will choose a number and this number will determine what ornament they will make.

The girls plugged away at the first two ornaments.  The first section of the bible we read was Isaiah 9:2-7.  It was a great passage to remind us who is the light of the world...the Prince of Peace...the Almighty!!  Jesus Christ!!

Jocelyn worked on a little candle.  We made this with tissue paper and then took it into our dark bathroom...talked about how the world was once dark...but then we turned on a flashlight and demonstrated how when Jesus was born...we was now the light for the world!

Katelyn worked on a little crown ornament....for our King of Kings!

Here is what our first two ornaments looked like:

Once the ornaments were dry, we hung them on a little line that I hung up in the kids' schoolroom/playroom.

Stay tuned for more of our little activities!  So much fun!

This activity has been linked up to:

My little guy and his alphabet!

I sometimes get so busy with my girls' school work and forget about my little guy Easton.  Good thing he can talk...because he reminds me every day that we have to do school with him...we haven't done much...except work on his letters.  I hope he continues his enthusiasm for learning when we get into more complicated things.  I really, really hope he is like his daddy...who is a walking encyclopedia...seriously.  Love them both! 

Anyways, for some odd reason I was holding my phone while we were working on his letters and he asked me to take a video so he could see himself...so here is our best shot!  He loves watching my videos on my phone...and calling people...sorry if you have been one of those lucky recipients (Reece, Megan, Angie, and others that I haven't noticed::))

Isn't he cute?  I think so:)  Weston was trying to help...so that is why I was throwing the cards at him in the end:)  Enjoy!

and as I was getting ready to publish this...I remembered I had my sweet Katelyn on video when she was that age!

***I am sure only my parents care about this post, but I thought I would post anyways***

Perfectly Imperfect.

What we DON’T do defines us as much as what we DO do.

 Do you ever have this overwhelming pressure that you are doing everything wrong and everyone else seems to be doing it all right?  In the world of facebook, blogs, pinterest, and technology in general, it is hard to get wrapped up in what others are doing…doesn’t it seem like other people have it altogether and have all their dots on their i’s and all of their t’s crossed?   After reading this post at:  Simple Mom.

I decided to write a similar post about what I don’t do…..

I don’t:

• Garden.  I tried.  I would like to try again…but hate pulling weeds…it hurts my hands (even with gloves).  I forgot about our garden after a while…and I don’t like fresh vegetables very well.
• Eat organically.  I try to get in and out of the store….fast.  I don’t have time to look at labels or even find the organic section…or go to a special store that sells it. 
• Exercise.  I would like to.  I am worried that my back will go out again.  My goal is to start back on our bike…soon. 
• Let my kids stay up past 8:00pm when we are home.  Sometime that is the first moment of silence I have had all day.  I start the countdown at approximately 6:30pm…sometimes sooner.
• Stay in touch with my close friends very well. 
• Know how to decorate very well…despite having sold Uppercase Living…a home decoration….my husband is way better at that than me.
• Coupon.  I tried.  It was too much work.
• Read to my kids if it is past their bedtime.
• Bathe my kids every day….unless they are really smelly or we have gone swimming.  3 times a week will do.
• Enjoy catering to idle people who have arms and legs that are fully functioning. 
• Read my Bible as often as I should.
• Have live plants in our house. I forget to water them...and they die.
• Like having a dog.  Maybe if we had a fenced in yard...I would like it...not sure.  
• Appreciate when people give me a guilt trip for having 4 kids...we wanted to have at least 4 kids...what am I supposed to do...return one to the hospital?
• Make my kids get dressed every day.  It just creates more laundry for me to do.
• Do laundry every day.  I only do it twice a week…unless there is an emergency.
• Wash my towels after every bath…shouldn’t you be clean after you get out of the bath?
• Care if our kids get dirty...unless they are in church clothes or we are going somewhere.  Living where we live...I have accepted our kids will get dirty...because they are simply that...kids, and they like dirt.
• Make my kids eat their meals if they don’t like it.  They can starve….they won’t die.
• Take criticism very well from people that haven’t been in my shoes.
• Put myself before others.  I would rather cook a meal for another family, than for my own.
• Make lesson plans or keep a planner. I keep everything in my head.  I should probably start writing things down.  I try…but always forget about the list or thing that I wrote down…somewhere.
• Talk on the phone very often.  I like to chat with friends...but feel bad for calling thinking I might be interrupting something.
• Vaccinate my kids…one of these days we probably will, but I truly fear that they could suffer a severe reaction when they are young…like I did….but my mom was smart enough to stop.
• Show enough appreciation for my parents.
• Mop our floors…but maybe once or twice a month….Actually I haven’t in a few months…(I hope my husband doesn’t see this…I kept forgetting to buy the spray at the store….but finally remembered…so I will get to that one of these days).
• Buy my kids new clothes….except if I can get a good deal at an outlet mall.  Consignment stores and garage sales work for me.
• Make my kids make their beds every day.
• Dust enough.  It drives my husband crazy….sorry hon.  I do my best.
• Take vitamins.  I have tried…but always forget…maybe they have a vitamin that helps with forgetfulness…Oh wait…I would probably forget to take them.
• Shower everyday when my husband is out of town…and we don’t plan on going anywhere.
• Update my kids’ baby books like I should.  Not even sure I have started on my 1 year olds yet.
• Write thank you cards enough.
• Compliment my children enough.
• Care if my kids play sports or not. I am leaning for the latter.   
• Overly sanitize our kids (and myself).  We need to build up our immune system some how. 
• Freak out if our kids pick up something and eat it off of the floor. 
• Leave the house everyday….sometimes only once or twice a week…except for church.  We get more done that way.
• Appreciate when people tell me I don't discipline our kids enough (or the right way).
• Dust for cobwebs...unless my husband mentions them...sorry honey.
• Vacuum unless we have company coming over....my husband is really good at it...why waste his special talent?
• Wake up before my kids….ever.
• Keep up with the latest trends…I am a bit behind…I don’t hit the malls or shop at clothing stores very often.   I actually really don’t care about keeping up with what is in style.
• Get what people do during the day/night…when they don’t work…have kids to care for…and are perfectly capable and able to work---even a simple part time job...or volunteer work.  
• Think I would ever go back to teaching in a public school setting....even if I had to re-enter the working world.  I think I would go back to school to become a labor and delivery nurse or become a certified midwife.
• Regret going to college….I needed something to do before I got married and had kids…but am not going to push my kids to go if they don’t want or need to go.  It is a complete waste of time and money for the most part unless you need a certificate to practice something.
• Have a lot of close friends….and I am ok with that. 

Gosh I have a lot of don’ts on my list….so do I do anything?

I try to take care of my family to the best of my ability.  As overwhelming as some days are…I wouldn’t trade a single minute of my life for someone else who seems to have it altogether.

Weston is 1 years old!

My sweet little baby boy is 1 today!  Boy has this year flown by fast!  He is so precious to us and couldn't imagine our lives any other way!  We can't wait to see him grow up and see where the Lord leads him to go in his life!  I can't wait to watch our boys bond with each other in brotherhood.

We enjoyed cake and ice cream for his birthday!  Oooops...forgot to buy him a present...:(  so no opening present pictures except for at a little family party that Sean's family threw for the kids back in September ! 

Some milestones for our little guy--

• He is a full time walker now...man how that makes him seem a lot older.  
• He is eating people food pretty much full time as well and I have almost weaned him from formula-- yeah!!
• He only has 2 teeth.  He is probably following in Jocelyn's footsteps in the tooth department.   She had only 4 teeth when she turned 2. 
• He can say a few words such as more, night night, mama, dada, and something for dog.
• He likes to fight with his brother.  
• He gets mad when another kid are hogging me...and fights them off in any way that he can.
• I think his favorite person (besides me) is Sean and my dad.  He does not like my mom yet...or really very many other people.  
• Jocelyn is his best friend right now.
• He likes to hand out raspberries on my tummy...he thinks it is just about the funniest thing.
• He like to play in the dog water and eat dog food.

               Happy birthday to our sweet little guy!

My 11 lb baby boy!!

Opening present at a birthday party back in September!

I made him a cake with a train on it!

Not sure about this hat thing...all of our other kids wore this hat for their first birthday!

Ready to eat cake and ice cream!

Enjoyed every single bite!

The good, the bad, and the ugly of black Thursday/Friday!

I had my first black Friday experience 6 years ago when we were visiting family in Missouri.  Sean's aunt, my brother-in-law, and I woke up early, drove out to Wal-mart, watched many people freeze outside the store, watched the doors opened and cut the line....ok....I don't think the cutting in line was my idea...but it was really fun shopping.  We got some good bargains and we had a really good time helping each other out and checking off our lists together.  I have always wanted to go back out on a black Friday, but there has always been something preventing me like having a baby or traveling and not having child care.  This year we were home and we actually had a few things on our "would be nice to have" lists that Wal-mart had advertised.  So I had a plan...go to our small town Wal-mart store...that no one typically goes to and get a little shopping done.  Sean and I have visited this Wal-mart a few different years on black Friday and the store is always dead and their door busters are all just sitting there.  Boy was I in for a shock this year...and so were the employees.  I got there about 15 minutes prior to the 10pm deals....there was no where to park except for on the grass and there were no shopping carts left.  I walked in and thought to myself...what am I doing here?  Where did all these people come from?  Why are there so MANY KIDS RUNNING AROUND?  Isn't it past their bedtime?  Apparently some kids stay up until 1 am shopping with their families.  Anyways, I hung out at the cash registers for a few minutes and snagged a cart from an older lady.  She didn't speak English and probably was thinking why this crazy lady "me" was helping her load her goods onto the check out counter.  (There were other people doing the same thing...so I had to act fast).

Some things on my list were a new crockpot....my lid on my spare one conveniently broke earlier in the day.  They had them advertised for under $10!!  The kids always like getting new jammies...who can beat $4.47.  I needed to get a few gifts for some gift exchanges and birthdays coming up....Easton is going to be thrilled when March rolls around to see what deal I snagged up.  We also wanted to get new dual DVD players for our car...ours broke this summer and they had a really good deal $40 below any other deals out there.  The not so thrilling part of the evening was that my deals that I had marked in the ad where on sale 2 hours apart.  I was thinking that this would be the longest two hours of my life...in Wal-mart out of all places.  I would probably end up sick in the end just being in there crammed with so many people and kids running around...I got a little grocery shopping done...maneuvered around all of the lines for people waiting for their golden ticket for some great TV deals...found some really cozy slippers for each of the kids for a few bucks...found a nice little fleece for me for $4.00...picked up a few other gift for the kids and nieces/nephews.  Then I decided to stroll over where the dual DVD players where going to be unveiled.  I had 30 minutes before those would be on sale.  I had a bit more grocery shopping to get done (can you believe no one was grocery shopping...the aisles were empty...crazy people), but instead I decided to plant myself in the little swarm waiting for the crates to be opened.  People literally had their hands on items waiting to grab them and go.  There were maybe 30 or DVD players available.   I was for sure going to get one since there were only 8 of us waiting for them.  I visited with some people around me...watched a few kids attempt to pilfer through my cart...and then the moment of chaos began...ok...wasn't super chaotic because in the end there were quiet a few DVD players left...and pretty much every other crate had items still on them.  (except for the larger TV's).  I picked up an extra dual DVD player-- duh we have 4 kids...so in the end I got 4 DVD players for $30 each!  Pretty proud of myself.  Then I snagged a GPS for the car...having a few second thoughts about that one...so we will see if I keep it.  I just thought it would be handy for going on vacations...but my husband reminded me we have GPS's on our iPads and iPhones...ooops.  I finished up my grocery shopping, waited in line for 10 minutes to check out and was home and in bed by 1am.  Feeling pretty excited about my good deals I snagged up.

Other things I noticed about black Thursday/Friday:
---Even though stores such as Toy's-R-Us advertise their items don't go on sale until 9pm...according to what time zone?  Well apparently 6:30pm our time zone is someones 9pm...I got some great deals for my nieces and nephews for over 50% off and FREE shipping! Went back online this morning and my awesome deals...sold out!!!
---As stated earlier that some people are really crazy for bringing their kids out with them....I still can't believe it.
---Apparently more people are willing to stay up late, than to wake-up early for good deals.
---Garbage cans make good shopping carts...I did not try it, but saw several people who did.
---Wish I had some brave friends that would come out with me to go shopping.  It is really a lot of fun....despite the crowds.

What good deals did you snag up?