Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from Jason's Parents and us: Jason, Tify, Cayleb, Noah and Sarah Rose!!

Darkness

Why is it that I feel the closest to God when it's dark outside? I can pray for hours, meditate on his words and find the simplest answers to questions in the middle of the night! But as soon as I see the sun rising, I feel this close bond fading away a little and things begin to not make as much sense anymore?? Is it that we allow the sun to compete with the Son?? We take the physical warmth and let it overtake the emotional warmth, we take the physical light that our eyes see and let it overtake the spiritual light? And somehow we even let the majesty and beauty of the sun diminish the value of THE SON on our minds for the time being??

A great realization.....

I have realized something great these past few days. I have discovered something amazing. Now that I can understand it, it has opened a whole new way of thinking for me. I think, how silly am I that I didn’t figure this out before. It all began as I was thinking about Christianity in the Country.

Really, it’s not just a religion, it’s a “label.” And there isn’t just one label, there are several and it’s very basically, stereotyping. You see a large percentage of Americans in general consider themselves to be “Christian” then there are they types that call themselves “Born-Again Christians.” There are also countless other names that define these label even more. Mostly it’s distinguishing between the different types of churches themselves. Some would say “I’m a Baptist” or “I am Lutheran” or “I’m a Multi Denominational.” These labels don’t really matter that much to the world around us, they are just categorized in the “high strung, nuisance, preachy person” category of personality types. I try very hard to live my life as an “example” of Christ. I want people to get to know me and know that there is something different about me; I want them to wonder about it, but I don’t want it to be so obvious that I am labeled as a “fanatic.” There is definitely a place for “fanatic” Christian’s in the world. I am not trying to put them down however; I think that sometimes that approach isn’t the right one for some people. Some people can be turned off by it, and thus lost to Christ all together. One encounter, one snide remark, one judging glance can harden a persons heart forever. How is it that even some pastors can’t seem to distinguish between nudging in the right direction, and pushing someone away? They try so hard to “lay down the law” that Christ’s heart of Love is extinguished in them and they turn into a fundamentalist nag to everyone around them.

1 Timothy 1:3-7 “As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.”

I do think that Christ wants us to preach his word, I know it actually, and it’s biblical truth. Christ wants us to go throughout the world and spread his message of Love.

Romans 12:9-21 9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.^[a] Do not be conceited.

17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"^[b]says the Lord. 20On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."^[c] 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Where in there does it say to smack people upside the head with your religion?? It’s the hypocritical Christians out there that talk the talk but don’t walk the walk that are ruining the chances that the rest of us have for actually bring people to the truth about this Earth! Do us all a favor, if you want to be considered a Christian,

Luke 10:27
He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' ; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' "

So, all that said, that part really had nothing to do with what I realized the other day! I realized that Christ is the ONLY perfect person, man that has ever lived on the Earth! No, that actually isn’t what I realized, I knew that part…. what I hadn’t put together yet was that because of that fact, I CANNOT expect anyone else on the Earth to be perfect! We are not capable! When I get upset about some minimal imperfection in someone, I need to accept it as just that, no one is perfect. If I want to have a relationship with someone who will never let me down I have to have that relationship with Christ Himself. So, after all these years of perhaps “substituting” humans for that need of a perfect person in my life I have suddenly come to the realization that I was looking for perfection in the wrong place. Shame on me. I should have known. After all it is clearly written that:

1 Peter 1:18-20 (New International Version) For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

So, here’s to a new way of looking at my life and the lives of others around me. I also hope that others will grant me the same liberty. I have really always known this, and it probably sounds stupid to some, but I just hadn’t thought of it in this exact way before. That being said I am feverishly aiming towards a better relationship with Him, and I know that I will NOT be disappointed! I hope that anyone who reads this and doesn’t know Jesus yet, to think really hard about this and what He promises to do for you. It’s not just a matter of salvation, though that is the point of Him coming, it’s a matter of a life long companion, a relationship that will never let you down, His cell phone batteries are never out of juice!!

Footprints

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed He was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from His life. For each scene He noticed two sets of footprints in the sand. One belonging to Him and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of His life flashed before Him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of His life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of His life.

This really bothered Him and He questioned the LORD about it. LORD you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.

The LORD replied, my precious, precious child, I Love you and I would never leave you! During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.

---

Carolyn Carty, 1963

Obama Rant

I recently received a Gadget that was supposed to be a “tax calculator” for Barak Obama….. It said I would be getting a check if I voted him into office. I ran through their little calculator and was amazed at their supposed figures. Hmm, let’s see. Our country is in the biggest financial downfall since the great depression, our national debt is higher than it has ever been and they want to bribe me with money that could be paying down our countries debt. I understand the concept of incentive checks and stimulating the economy with it, but, hey it didn’t work last time, are we really going to throw away more of our countries money so that people can go pamper themselves again?? How about passing out checks to families willing to pay down their accrued debt instead of flaunting it in peoples faces as they go out and buy a new “toy.” Sarcasm ahead-Lets make the people actually trying to stay out of debt feel even worse about telling their kids that they can’t afford extracurricular activities yet again because they are trying to stay financially wise and not go screw up their credit score! So, here we are trying to be good stewards of our money and other peoples kids are bragging about going to the mall and having a shopping spree for those new trendy clothes, or that hot new electronic game! Instead of stimulating the economy, our country is bound and determined to push people into more and more debt. Lets take out another loan against our house, it’s okay, the government will bail us out if we can’t make the payments! Sure we don’t even make $4000 a month to cover that new higher interest only loan payment, but we can just skate along until it hits us and then bail and leave mortgage companies to foot the bill. Better yet, how about not helping those mortgage companies that are failing right now because they encouraged Joe Shmoe to take that “new and improved, top-notch, best in the business loan!” Let’s let them figure out how to pay for that house, the one that they encouraged those unsuspecting, clue-less mortgage patrons to buy that was WAY out of their price range!

Sure, this guy is full of hope and he’s making all these claims that he’s just going to re-allocate government funds, and that the country won’t be going into more debt to do this whole stimulus/rebate check thingy. But even the blindest person, has to admit, that if there is debt, even a re-allocation of funds, isn’t a good excuse to go buy that new car. Wake up people! There is a difference between need and want. I NEED groceries, but I don’t need that new toy just because I want it. What happened to saving these fun purchases for holidays and rainy days! Why is it that our nation is so impatient, that they can’t even wait for Christmas anymore!? We need to STOP! DROP! and ROLL!! We are on fire here and if we don’t start paying some of our money for attention, we are going to BURN! This country has ADHD!!

Signing off,

Tifany

Noah's Birthday

Noah is official 8 years old now!!! Here are a few pictures.....

We had a great day and I think he did too :)

Ice Skating Pictures

Here is a photo Blog of the kids first practice... We actually didn't go prepared to skate, as you can tell by their attire, but it was taking Mom way too long to fill out all those papers!! They had so much fun, despite being a bit chilly. But really once you get skating the layers peel off anyways!

Charity Ann She did really well!!!

Cayleb and Charity Ann....

Wacky Hair Noah :) He loved it!!

This one was through the glass, sorry. But can you tell he LOVED being "back on the ice??!!"

Noah and Charity Ann stuck together most of the time :) Cayleb was way to quick for them.... this time! :)

Signing off, Tifany

Ice Skating

So I asked Charity Ann this morning what she wanted to do for an extra curricular activity this year. We had been talking about some dance lessons. I mentioned to her that she could try ice skating since she could take a class at the same time as Cayleb's learn to skate class. She was really excited! She didn't know that that was even an option. I hadn't really thought about it much before this morning, but woke up with a sort of tada moment thinking, Wow, wouldn't it be easier on me if she wanted to try ice skating, instead of dance, then I would only be carting them to one place a few times a week, rather than 2 several times a week! So, I asked, and then Noah heard from her that she was going to be ice skating and he got this left out look and I asked him if he wanted to and he said Yes!! So Then I decided I better take in the contract form from Blaine Home Connections so that they could start that paper work and we could get our lessons paid for out of our stipend. When we got there at 10:15 this morning the "Home School Skate" had just started and the lady was like, we'll they can skate today as their first practice if you want? And of course the kids all said yes, even though they were in T-Shirts and a few even had shorts on! They looked pretty cute out there on the ice in their shorts, t-shirts and skates! :) I got a few pictures but will get more later. Their first class is Friday with a 3 hour practice session afterwards. They are very excited to go back, and this time Cayleb can actually take his skates with him so that he doesn't have to borrow the stinky ones. We may have to work towards purchasing skates for the other two if they are going to stick with it.

Cayleb is learning how to skate so that he can play Hockey, so he's just glad to be back on the ice :)

I am just glad that I won't be going to 2 different places 4-5 times a week!! B'Ham is getting more and more expensive to get to these days, though I did get Diesel today for under $4 a gal. I haven't been able to do that for almost a year I think!! It was a nickel away from $5 for way to long!!

Right now was are playing catch-up on the school we "missed" this morning. My extra kiddos aren't here today since today is Zoie's Birthday and her Mom was able to take the day off and treat her to some fun! We are just relaxing, and enjoying the quiet while Sarah Rose gets her nap. We have AWANA tonight so that will be plenty loud to make up for the peace right now!

Gotta Go.

Tif

Marvelous Monday :)

Yeah, I know I have used that one before, I think..... so lets see what else can we come up with for Monday....
Madd
Moody
Magnificent
Mischievous
Macho
Money
Mooselicious
Marockin
Hmmm..... Okay, I guess we'll go with magnificent this time :)

Yesterday was great. I decided to throw our schedule out the window, and instead created a lot more detailed assignment sheets for each of the kids. That way they could decide what they wanted to work on, yet still have the ability to see what they need to do. So it was fun for them to get those choices, and they could go at whatever pace they wanted to. This was a big plus for the big kids, as they didn't have to wait for me to finish up things with the younger ones before they moved on. Some got done pretty early and had free time, others worked until lunch and a few had just a little to do after lunch. We did spelling together after lunch and also our Konos fun stuff about the Music and Sound experiments unit that we are working on. I felt mush more relaxed about it, not feeling like I was holding anyone back, or pushing anyone ahead either. And it let me work with a few at a time on Math, because the most I got working on Math at one time was 4 and it was all the younger ones.

Six has been an adventure so far, but I am enjoying it and will keep it up :)

Life in general

Hello!!

I'm getting ready for another busy week. We are starting our 4th week of Homeschooling and are going strong. Last week we had a few slow days for kiddos to catch up on lost sleep and some had dentist appointments, but other than that we have been trying our best to have fun. I hope that we continue to have fun as we continue to get more and more done each day. I am hoping that we get our Math-U-See in soon, so that the kids who are waiting to start their books can start soon. In the meantime, they are having fun helping the other kids with theirs, as well as continuing to work on telling time. I am so thankful that Jesus is my strength because I know that none of this would be happening or working without Him as my strength. Some may think that that seems weak, but to me, it's my strength and courage.



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Now playing: Chris Daughtry - What About Now
via FoxyTunes

Why Jesus?

A good friend of mine who has very recently become a believer has had a lot of questions, as is normal!! I had this response for her latest round about why Jesus had to die for us, and Why we have to have eternal death for our sins among a few others.... I really hope that she does not mind me posting this response. I really would like some feedback positive or negative regarding my accuracy and things I could say better or things that you liked about what I have said......

Simple answer: Because the wages of sin is eternal death (not literal death on Earth, but it separates us from Him in eternity), we deserve death in God's eyes when we sin against Him. Jesus died in our place, for our sins, so that we could have life (eternal life.)

My answer: In the old Testament times people sacrificed perfect animals to "atone" for their sins, or to try to balance them out on a sin vs.. "please forgive me" scale. We all Sin, and God knows that we can't help it, it's our nature and he made us with free will so that we would have the choice between sinning and doing what he really wants us to do. All He really wants is for us to realize our sin, and admit it to Him and then ask for forgiveness. It's a lot like being parents, we all want our kids to grow up happy and healthy and to have good lives, but when they do something that makes us upset, i.e.: breaking a safety rule or being destructive, they make us sad and all we really want for them is to admit what they did was wrong, learn to not do it again, and then move on with their lives, right? The big thing is we want them to know that what they did was wrong. God has similar rules for us. If you want to look back at the basic 10 commandments, they are all pretty much safety and do not abuse rules.... And when we do something that goes against those teachings, God wants us to realize it, admit to Him that we were wrong and tell Him that we won't do it again. Right, just like a parent! God had profits prophecy the First coming of Jesus. He knew that the old ways of "sacrificing animals" was not going to work for long.... He knew that they only way to get our attention back to Him was to do the most drastic, horrific, and unbelievable thing that a parent could ever do. Imagine the feelings he had to have gone through as the creator of that master plan!!!! But He did it because He loves us and He wanted us to find Him again!! Jesus was His perfect Lamb, and though it seems very savage and horrifying, He knew that the only way to get His peoples attention again was to be willing to sacrifice His son in the most excruciating death possible. You are probably thinking, why do we have to have death as the wage for sin? God is perfection, and we are not. God is perfect!! We are His creation, but we cannot stand before Him unless we have been washed clean of our sins. In the old testament they sacrificed animals to atone or compensate for their sins, After Jesus, the "New Testament" was created and died for us, it became possible for us to spend eternity with God if we only accept His Son into our hearts as our personal savior. This means admitting that we have sinned against God, Asking Him for forgiveness, Accepting that Jesus has already paid the price for our sins, and lastly accepting Gods Eternal Grace to clean us of our sins. No one can enter the presence of God with out Jesus standing by their side to "vouch" for them. I other words, we need to have the "Jesus stamp" on our hands to get in the gate :) Another way to think about it is Jesus was willing to take the call to die for us. God asked Him to do it and He accepted. God didn't make him do it, he wanted to!! And, since Jesus is God, it tells us that God was willing to Die for us to redeem us of our sins!!! We do have to take responsibility for our own sins, anyone who does this has accepted Jesus as the Son of God. Any one who hasn't admitted their sins to God, hasn't. And, Jesus can only save the people that have been willing to accept Him for who he was. They have to accept the gift that he is offering. If they don't accept the gift, then he has no choice but to turn away when it is their time to approach God. It truly is a gift, too, we don't have to do ANYTHING but take it and move on. Just as any parents dream is for their children to grow up to respect them and know that they did their best for them, that is God's dream too. But a child that grows apart from Him, mocks Him their whole life, turns away when He calls them and isn't willing to accept Him dying for them, can't be a true child of God. They have to be turned away. We have our whole life to figure this out no matter how long or short.... our life is our 1,000,000,000 chances to get it right. And if we can't figure it out by then.....we won't.

You are also right about it seeming sort of "tribal" but really the tribes were not far off, their idea of God had strayed from the One True God to the idea that there must be several to have created such a beautiful world. And Sacrifices have long been our way of asking God for forgiveness. Some tribes have taken this to extremes that God never intended, i.e.: human sacrifice.

Birch Bay Konos Beginners Bash Photos!!

Sarah Rose jumping!



Noah's beautiful smile!!!



Ben say's WOW now that's a slide!!



Okay, boys..... how are we going to do this??



Mmmmmm, roasted hotdog!!



Getting the grub!



Charity Ann and Brittney, I think :)



Roasting!!



Loading up our plates :)



Happy Boys :)

Boring Blog

Just wanted to mention that I made it through another week! Whew!!

We went swimming yesterday while Jason went to Costco for me. He also gets to work today and tomorrow, first overtime in a LONG time (like 6 months or so!) Every little bit helps!

Kristy's not feeling well, I hope that she is feeling better soon!!!! You need to go to sleep at a better hour, silly.... maybe it's all these 1-2 o'clock schedules??!!

I also have been doing a little self observation. I have known since I was in the 6th grade or so that I have quite a few allergies. Most of them are ones that I really can't do anything about..... Grass, Trees, Rag Weed, Mold etc..... But I have been starting to notice a trend of headaches after I eat 2 of my food allergies Eggs and Potatoes! I was getting pretty bad headaches more and more often over the past few years.... I have been trying to narrow them down by cause so that I know how best to treat them. I know know that I get them for the obvious outdoor allergy reason, as well as by being dehydrated or waiting a little too long to eat, monthly wonders of being a woman reasons, as well as possibly food allergies. So, now that I hope that I am getting a better idea of why I get these literal pains in the neck and head, I hope that I can find good ways to treat them, not via OTC pain relievers. I have never been one to "pop pills" I hate doing that to my body. So, ultimately, I would like to find other ways to deal with them......There's not much I can do for the outdoor allergies, I won't restrict my outdoor activity unless it's smokey or while people nearby are mowing.... But I can try to take better care of myself by drinking lots of water, which I'd like to add I have been doing much better at! Eating proper meals IE: enough protein and vitamin rich veggies and whole grains has always been a goal of mine. And if I can contribute not eating my fave. baked home made french fries, and the fresh eggs that our lovely chickens lay for us..... well I will have to try :)

See, I told you it was boring!!!

A friend being refined......

I thought that perhaps my word to a friend of mine's blog might comfort someone?

Just be patient with it, time will smooth things over. But I know that patience can be torture too. Just make sure that you are putting all your trust in the one truth that you have in this life. The one that if all the mess around you just disappeared you would be held up by it. I know you know what I am talking about. God doesn't give us anything that we cannot handle, but we also have to choose not to handle the things that are too heavy. We have to put it down for a while sometimes to rest. Pray about it. Hand it over to him, give him the control and then try to sit back and listen to the quiet whispers of his presence in your life! He loves you, if nothing else makes sense, even if He doesn't make sense you have to try to have the faith to know that He is still there, even if you can't see Him or feel Him. I am praying for you, that you will find some peace within and stop tormenting yourself to be a better person. We are what God makes us and that is important to Him. I pray that He will comfort you and make you aware of His presence in your life because only He can make you pure as gold and gentle as a lamb. Refining is a terrible thing to go through, but just try to accept it and just make sure that you are refining how He wants you to :) I am Praying that His love and peace will cover you like a warm quilt on a cold winter night. That you will be able to distinguish between God's will and plans and your own Earthly ones. I am praying for you to be strong, and for wisdom for you and your family and friends. I am sorry I can't do more than that, but I did witness a miracle this week that has validated my respect for prayer and it's power.

My parents house was spared.

There was a Fire near my parents home today. I received a phone call from my Mom as she tried to prioritize what she should take with her. It was really scary trying to think of what to tell her to take.... They were evacuated a safe distance away but my Dad and Tesha's fiance stayed behind to try to get the house as ready as possible to survive the flames. Both my grandparents and parents live on the in the same houses that I grew up in and near. A lot of emotions flooded over me thinking of the possibility that they would loose everything. I can't imagine how it must have felt actually being there. I wanted so bad to be there to help and hold and comfort them. All I could do was hang on to their words over the phone and try my best to tell them what they needed to hear. I began e-mailing, calling and posting everywhere I could for people to pray for them and their homes and for the brave firefighters that were trying to save it all. That was what I could do to busy myself. I think that I contacted half of Washington state for prayer! Flames burned completely around my grandparents house, burning through the underbrush of their orchards and eucalyptus trees; and it burned almost completely around my parents house. There really was no reason that my grandparents house is still standing. The eucalyptus grove of about 5 acres is dry and full of oily leaves..... But it was spared. I give all that credit to God, because he is Awesome. There are terrible things in this world but we have to try to find the grace within. To try to see God's hand at work, even in the most devastating of circumstances. Thankfully their homes were both spared. Others haven't been so lucky and the fire is still moving east fanned my dry September winds. I keep praying that others will be spared as well and that firefighters will have the wisdom, strength and ability to put this fire out. Please pray if you read this. Thank you.

Blessed by His grace,
Tifany

Getting Started....

So we just completed our first week of Homeschooling!! (well, it's actually the beginning of my 3rd year) We had a great week, and we got everything done that I wanted to. I decided to start off slow, keeping my expectations low so that I wouldn't get frustrated and overwhelmed by all of it.

I mentioned before that we would be having a few extra kids here to school with us, so our number has gone from 4 to 7 on weekdays from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

I also just finished completing 6 SLP's (Student Learning Plans) for them!!! Each of which is 7 full pages on my word program, complete with EALR's and all!! So gotta go for now....

A Little Less Overwhelmed...

I am feeling better today after all the events of the week. Kristy wants to be more involved with school over here so that has helped ease my worries a lot! Just knowing that someone else will be here to help me out with stuff no matter what it is has comforted me a lot. Thank you Krist-te-te :) I know that both of us are heading in the right direction and we just need to stay centered on what's important, why we are doing it and for who.......

News News News!!

OMGoodness!

Phew, Okay, I had to get that off my chest. Yesterday after much dwelling and trying to deal with my sad heart, I decided to do a huge thing. A friend of mine, who has been home schooling her children since they were school age, is going through the beginning of a separation with her husband and has had to return to work just to make ends meet. She has been torturing herself because putting her children in public school has been unavoidable yet untollerable, as I can understand. After having Cayleb home for just one year I can't imagine sending him back to a place that I know hurts him and demeans him. So, after much prayerful thought and consideration on my part I have offered to home school her children with mine until a things get straightened out in her life so that she can once again take over.

So, what does this mean for my family? Well, to start we all need to start going to bed earlier because her schedule requires her to drop off her 3 kiddos here at a bright and early 6:15. And since mine are used to getting up closer to 7 I need them to go to bed a little earlier so that I don't have crankies on my hands!! But that's not a huge deal. I am hoping that Sarah Rose can still manage to sleep in a little each morning so that I have a little time to get ready for the days. Next is the idea of having 3 extra kiddos here every day for school 5 days a week. I had already gotten myself mentally psyched for my 3, so 3 more of very similar ages doesn't seem to be a HUGE deal, though I do have a fair share of butterflies in my stomach. I think that for the most part it's just not going to be as relaxed as I was hoping it would be, at least not in the beginning because I need to develop a good routine and schedule that gets everyone where I need them when I need them there. We will need to try extra hard to stick to our schedule unless we want to go off on a tangent for a while :) It will be more like an assembly line instead of a well, I don't really have a good work for it right now.... But I am still hoping to cling to the relaxed reading time and sharing time and morning gathering time.

We will have one place to go each week, besides field trips, and that will be my kids two classes in Blaine each Tuesday. My truck will just hold the 8 of us! Hehe, Wow, I knew we needed lots of room, but lately we have been managing to fill her up quite a bit! (and I don't just mean the fuel tank!)

So, for now we are working through the preliminary set-up for what we will be doing and how to figure out what feeding the extra ones will cost us etc. So, I will leave it at that, because my brain needs to go work on something else for a while.

Jason's real Birthday!

So, Monday was the birthday date but Wednesday was his actual Birthday....

The kids picked out Pizza for Daddy's Birthday Dinner, so we made fresh pizza with Salami and Black Olives just for Daddy!! I also had been working on his cake since Monday....

Here's my secret cake design!!

Brownie crust, homemade double chocolate ice cream, homemade caramel sauce and a home made fudge topping!! A Diabetic Coma in one slice!! But, boy was it yummy!! :) He loved it!!

Just for Kristy :)

Here you go, just cause I owed you one!

The Dark Knight!

So I planned out this whole charade for Jason's Birthday this year... it got more and more complicated as the day wore on but ended up like this.....

A Short Recap-

I left him 4 notes around the house with information about where he could find me (The kids and I were not home!) and what to do etc..... Eventually he made it over to my friend Kristy's house where I had dropped off the kids so that we could actually have a real DATE!! And then we headed off..... I took him to Bob's Burgers and Brews (Superb Hamburgers and JoJo's) for a nice relaxing but informal dinner. Then we headed off to get our tickets for the movie that we had both been waiting forever to go see!! Batman has always been his favorite.... that was my first Christmas Present to him a LONG LONG LONG time ago..... 4 VHS tapes of the 4 Batman movies that were out at the time (Michael Keaton will always hold a special place as Batman in my heart, Val Kilmer Sucked and Clooney didn't do much better, this new guy is good though!!) So we went and got our tickets, but because we were taking our time, we missed the 7:30 showing and had to wait til 9:50!!! OMGoodness I was trying to hard to stay awake!! But I made it and the movie was great and we got to walk around the mall together for a few hours just talking and dreaming. We got popcorn and a soda to share and had stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few theater boxes of sweets to *sneak in* Come on, I'm not going to pay $4.00 for a box of candy that is $1 in the store!! Hehe!! The evening turned out perfect and he had a great time and so did I!!

A Second look at the Seattle Science Center.... and other good news :)

We had Sarah Rose's Post Op. appointment today in Seattle, so for the 3rd time this summer we drove down for a day in Seattle. We began bright and early leaving here a little after 8 and got down there a little after 10 (the science center doesn't open till 10, so we were right on time) We spent our time walking around the areas that we didn't get to spend much time on last time and ended with the 3D Ocean Wonders IMAX Film which was great!! We then headed out to Children's Hospital eating our packed lunch on the way and got there just in time :) The appt. went great and she doesn't have any more follow-ups thankfully cause the gas down there and back each time has been killing us!! But we made it, and she is all healed up and won't even remember what happened a few years from now probably :) Here are a few pictures from the Science Center....

Charity Ann, Noah and Cayleb

Me!!! You actually get one of Me, thanks to Jason :)

Sarah Rose :)

And last but not least, the Birthday Boy (this was the day before his Birthday!)

To my two 8-8-08 babies!!

Congratulations to Cheryl Ann Clark who delivered Jacob Daniel Clark this morning at 7:20 a.m. or so!!! And To Maria McDowell who had a C-Section this morning and delivered Taryn Avery McDowell at 8:08 a.m. Congratulations again and good job girls!!

Garden Snakes and the Wiggles

Yesterday I caught a little garden snake (garter snake if you want to get technical) and took it in to the kids. They loved it and immediately began begging to hold it so we went out side and they took turns. I was really amazed that they weren't even a little bit squemish. I guess they get that from me :) Though Daddy's caught them some cool stuff too! (like a newt, which are native up here) Kristy's girls were over here so they got to participate in show and tell as well...... Here are some pictures.

Cayleb held him first..... and yes, those are his fingernails.... sorry :)

Noah holding it next.....

Brittney.....

Kourtney......

Charity Ann even held the little guy :)

They were all very gentle and kept taking turns for a few more minutes, then Mom told them to catch and release! A little while later they caught their own! Good Job guys. We love God's creatures great and small :)

Marvelous Monday!

Between the yard sale, and two baseball games, we all had a great weekend. Saturday was the Yard Sale, not impressive in the way of sales goes, but lots of fun since I got to spend the WHOLE morning with my friend Kristy almost interruption free!! After the yard sale we had clean-up and then we were off to Jason's Annual Company BBQ which the held at the "Bells" stadium in B'ham. The food was decent, though this time they didn't have a vegetarian option.... So it was chips and potato salad for me. THe kids had a blast playing the games that they set up and just being around all the other kids! Sunday was relaxing for the most part for the kids and I. I worked on planning for school. And the kdis played outside most of the day. Jason, however, had lots of exciting fun going to Seattle with his Uncle, cousin and his cousins BIL to watch a Mariners game. They sat in the front row right behind 3rd base, which I hear is a great spot to sit, but I wouldn't know! They had a blast!! Last night I TOLD Kristy to bring the girls over here for a sleep over so that she and her hubby Jim could finish packing/cleaning and getting ready for moving today. So far the girls have been GREAT!! And the kids are having a blast with them here. I told Jim when I went and picked up bikes this afternoon that they were more than welcome to stay another night so that they could have another morning to organize before the munchkins came home for the first time :) I don't know if she will let them, however, because I know that she is prolly FREAKING out about the girls being a burden or something silly like that!!! So, if you happen to read this Kristy, they are FINE!!! Hehe :) Well, toodles for now. Gotta go watch kiddos!!

Sarah Rose's Surgery

Bright and early, well almost bright, we left for Seattle yesterday morning. It's about a 2 hour drive from here to Seattle Children's Hospital and our check in for pre-op was scheduled for 6:45 a.m. I arranged the day before (well, actually several weeks before, but finalized the details yesterday) to have the boys stay with our neighbor over night so that we could leave and not have to drop them off at 4 in the morning :) So yesterday around 4:20 a.m. Jason, the girls and I left for our day. The drive was uneventful, nice, though the girls didn't sleep very much. We got to the hospital at 6:25 and got them dressed in the car. Check-in was easy this time, there aren't nearly the amount of people waiting that early in the morning! And then before we knew it we were being taken back. Hallway after hallway winding this way and then when were completely lost we were given a room. A Big glass sliding door on one side, frosted glass walls on either side of us and a wall with instruments, gauges and cabinets at the back. There was a pretty inviting reclining chair in the middle of the room and a few extra chairs so we settled in and got comfortable. Next was the onslaught of anesthesiologists, doctors, nurses all with their list of questions for us. But they were all VERY nice and comforting. And then I was given my scrubs so that I could escort Sarah Rose back to the operating room and hold her while they put her to sleep. We got to go back a little after eight in the morning and I held her while they told her a little about the mask and how it was strawberry flavored, and then before I knew it she was relaxing down onto the table :( Time for Mommy to go :(. Then I just went back and waited with Daddy and big sister Charity Ann. They told us the surgery would be about 30 minutes plus about 30 minutes for her to wake up from anesthesia, so that left us with an approximate time of 9:20 ish..... I was pointed to the beverage counter where I found lots of teas, hot coffee, apple cider and cocoa. I fixed us each something warm and then looked through the snack drawers and found some cheese and crackers and grahams for Charity Ann. As you probably guessed it was no food or drinks for Sarah Rose after Dinner time, so we didn't even breach the subject while she was with us and now Charity Ann was getting hungry. So we had our coffee/cocoa/apple cider and crackers and waited. After about 30 minutes we were called on by Dr. Freidrich and were told that she did wonderfully and that we could expect her in about a half an hour or so. So we watched the little TV in our room patiently until we saw her being carried down the hall towards us :) There she was, groggy and concerned about this woman that was holding her, but otherwise our Sarah Rose.... Perfect. She was given to Mommy and that's when she started crying, I am sure that she was wondering what the heck just happen to her, why she was feeling that way, and why Mom had left her with this strange though very nice nurse. So we rocked and whispered and she calmed down and napped for a few minutes. Daddy and Charity Ann decided to go for a walk so that she could rest for a little while and he made some phone calls. I just held her and tried to keep her comfy and gave her juice and Popsicles. Every once in a while she would start crying again which they told me she was probably just reacting to the anesthetic. And then after about a half an hour we got Daddy to come back, she started smiling like her usual self and we began the check out process. Amazingly it didn't take very long and we were heading out of the hospital doors at about 10:30!! I called a few people as we were driving away and then we settled in for our ride home which both of the girls slept most of the way home! Jason had taken the whole day off so when we got home we called the neighbor, told her that the boys could come home any time and thank you very much for watching them and that we were going to all go rest and watch a movie! So that's what we did, after some lunch. I think that we made it through both Black Stallion movies before dinnertime. Since then we have just been sure to keep on top of her Tylenol w/codeine and she has been pretty much unaffected by the whole ordeal. She has to keep her bandages on for 2 days, so that means I will take them off prolly after nap (or right before) on Thursday and we are just supposed to keep band aids on for a few more days after that. She has a post-op appt. on August 12th, and after that I think that we can just put this whole thing behind us :) Really it's been pretty straight forward and to the point. I am glad that it's over and we can stop wondering about it. All we will have is a story to tell and maybe two very small incision scars. :) So, all that said, here are a few pictures from this morning so that Sarah Rose can show off her bandages :)

Sarah Rose and her bandages

Mom, this is me Smiling!

Left hand

Right Hand

Sarah Rose

Update on Sarah Rose, the Big Girl!! She's not wearing pullup's or diapers AT ALL!! Not during nap, not at night!! Mommy has a few to spare for those emergency times, (fellow mommies will know what I mean by that!) but other than that, Jason and I have so far averted buying any Pull-up's or Diapers for this little one for ever! I bought Diapers in May! And still have over half a box sitting on a shelf in her room....... Size 3's anyone?? Hehe :) July 7th was the official potty training success day, the first day we tried, and NO ACCIDENTS what-so-ever on the FIRST day! Mind you, she's not yet 2 1/2! I am so proud of her and she is growing up so fast :(!!! Mommy is Pouting!!!!

Okay, sorry :)

So, if you happen to like reading my blog, and I think there are a few of you, you might want to go and check back through the last few weeks because I added some pictures to some of the boring blogs that I posted for July :) Finally had some time to work on it for a few minutes!

Okay here is the post with progress pictures of the yard, and I don't have one of the two trees, but you still get the picture :)

Charity Ann's second 6th Birthday :)

Here are a few pictures from her party on Saturday.
The kids spent the entire afternoon playing outside on the trampoline, the slides (which were a HUGE hit) and in the spa :) I think that she had fun, Hehe!!

On Wednesday, her actual Birthday, she got a Disney Princess Sleeping Beauty Pony that's the perfect size for barbie's to ride on from Cayleb, Noah and Sarah Rose. Mommy and Daddy got her a Mariposa Barbie and a "Barbie: The Magic of Pegasus" DVD. She also can't forget that Nana and Pop's got her and her siblings the super cool Airplane Teeter Totter from Costco!! She also got some fun money from Grandma Eques and her buddy Dylan.

On Saturday she got the Disney Princess Cinderella Pony from her friend Lily; a "Topple" game from her friend Maggie; and Barbie Camera and a beach Barbie from her friends Thomas, Marcus, and Cyrus; and a Barbie Mustang Car from her friends Kourtney and Brittney!! She had such a great time playing with everyone and it was a blast for the rest of us as well. I LOVE ENTERTAINING!! I made her another cake, an experiment of brownie crust, strawberry ice cream filling and a fudge topping. IT'S DELICIOUS!!! I still have a few pieces in the freezer that I am hoarding!! Hehe :)

Is Summer Half Full or Half Empty ??

That is the Question! I know that some people out there DREAD the summer home with their kids. I know that some people have to deal with Childcare issues all summer long, and can't wait for school to begin again. But I, on the other hand, don't have either of those problems. I've been spending the summer enjoying my kiddos for the most part. There are always going to be those times that they infuriate me, but for the most part, we have been having a lovely summer :) We had lots of visits from family fairly early on, all around the 4th of July. And then I had a Surprise Baby Shower that I planned for a good friend of mine, which turned out phenomenal

After that adventure ends I am hoping to be able to help my friend Kristy move her and her family across town (closer to us!). Not that our town is huge or anything (pop is less than 3,000 year rounders I would guess.) Our town isn't really set up like a typical town, with a general downtown area, though the area down by the water is generally the most populated, it's more like little islands of sub divisions divided by farms, people with acreage like us, and wetland areas that can not be developed. It's really nice, because even though we are all clustered around the beautiful bay, we all have our own space, some more than others, but really, even the subdivisions have only a short brisk walk to some sort of open space or water. Sorry, I know that I have digressed. Part of the "move" is a smallish yard sale that we are going to have here, because they are moving into a substantially smaller home so they need to purge a little extra stuff and I always have a collection going on of things I would usually just donate to the local "A.R.C." That is planned for this Saturday, so hopefully we will get good yard sale weather and will sell all of our crap stuff. Hehee :)

We also got the second installment of our "swingset" built. And, yeah, I talked myself and Jason and the kids out of the Costco one, even though is it a great playset. But, here's the cool part, we have a 20 foot double slide (for racing) going down the side of one of our hills, right off to the side of where the actual swing set is going to be built!! I am going to go take a picture and post it on here in a few minutes, but I have to go move laundry around :) Okay, here you go :)

So here is the grass almost full grown, I am so excited it looks so BEAUTIFUL out my back windows now, no more garbage, piles of blackberry brambles, fallen trees etc. Look back to May's posts to find some in progress pictures and see the change!!

Another back yard shot. You might be able to find a blog in May with Progress shots where these two trees can be located. It is really an amazing difference!

The Slide!!

Who Hoo!!

You can see how big it is compared to Cayleb! and Sarah Rose!!


Cayleb :)


Cayleb and Sarah Rose getting ready to race :)


Cayleb ready to race :)


Sarah Rose still getting ready to race :) I had to catch her, so I don't have a slide shot, sorry!

Cayleb going down the slide! Usually he's got his arms above his head in roller coaster stance!

So, either way, the answer to the question for me is the summer is still half full, though I see it disappearing ever hour of every day, which only gets us closer to the new school year that I am anticipating greatly!! I think that I need to start making some lists of materials and library books that we are going to need for the first several weeks, so that I feel "prepared." I know that for the most part, however, I am not going to be able to prepare myself for the adventure beyond that :)

Happy Birthday Charity Ann!!

Happy Birthday Charity Ann!!

She had a wonderful Birthday with us this year, and we have planned a small party for her on Saturday with some of her friends :)

Ahhhhh!!! A Barbie?? You got me a Barbie!!!!

Mmmmm, if it wasn't for that barbie, this would be my favorite part!!

Daddy and Sissy watching Charity Ann open her Pony :)

Ponies are my FAVORITE!!!

Happy Birthday to Me :)

Happy Birthday Tify!!
My wonderful neighbor surprised me with a Chocolate Cake for my Birthday!! Yummy!!! She's so sweet :)