Family Friday (or so I thought....)

Written Thursday night before......
Well, I am starting this Thursday night, but as you can see I am excited about tomorrow (or today) depending on your view.

We are going to have our first official Family Friday - which is also Hans' Celebrate day! yeah! 3 2 for 1

We are going to have a family devotion tonight led by Robert about heroes of the Bible. DInner will be pizza with Hans assisting and choosing the toppings. (so no mushrooms tonight :() For dessert we will have microwave S'Mores. I picked the S'mores because part of our family devotion is a marshmallow fight during the obstacle course - okay doesn't that just scream FUN? I think so - and I know my boys will think so!

Also our day has opened up because we were going to go see a theater show tomorrow but have changed our minds so we have an open schedule! We have a bit of school to get done which will be quick and then we are off for a fun family day! I can't wait!

Written Friday afternoon - after......
FAST FORWARD TO NOW!!!

Okay, so I had such grand plans and hopes for this day. That came to a screeching halt this morning and has not gotten much better until, well I will save that for the end....

My big plans for a fun day with the kids - started with them all in trouble -up at 5:15 - all 4- and then proceeding to wrestle, jump and just be crazy until I yelled. Again, and again. SO then we attempted some school (really just needed to do a little to finish for the week) and then I thought maybe it will get better. No it did not. Today it was Hans cutting his brother (somewhat intentionally) with a piece of broken glass (from a broken frame) he found in their room. This is following the knife chasing incident (we won't get into that) and the many others.
Then he was outside playing with a dowel rod (from the craft closet) ...... and it goes on and on. So we cancelled family fun day, postponed family night (since a friend reminded me this family fun night thing is not a given and bad attitudes can lose that privilege) so we are a not fun family today. Young Luke got into trouble too for taking brown sugar in a measuring cup outside to play with - go figure! Then Hans was throwing rocks at the back door.

Robert asked me if I completely lost control today and I explained that I have not had control all day! I did find a precious note from Hans telling me he was sorry and he loved me. SO I do have the attention of his heart, I just wish he had a conscience to listen to!

Okay - so the good - I mean GREAT - news?? Kristen is having a precious baby girl- and no vasa previa - no anything bad!! YEAH!! THis is great news and we are so excited I almost forgot about our un-fun family day! I could really cry I am just so excited!

Anyway, hope your day is better than mine! I am still blessed and thankful, just tired!

Thankful Thursday

Yes, today I am thankful. I am thankful we live in a country where the people decide our leader. I am thankful for the people who voted for the first time in their lives - because lots of people have died for that priveledge. I am thankful that I can pray every day for our President elect and pray for our country. And lastly I am thankful for a God who is so big he can bless our country through our future president and he could even change his heart! (Not really the last of my thankfulness, but for now....)

I have been working on my dear daughter trying to convince her this new outfit is super cute and that she needs to wear it if she plans to stay here much longer! :) So this morning I bribed her with a bath and we got some very cute pics in her Thanksgiving outfit....

Well, since I am thankful today, I may just keep going. I am thankful I only have to wait one more day to find out Kristen's baby is a ______. We are praying it is a girl, but will be thankful for a healthy baby either way! I am not sure I could wait much longer, well I know I could but who wants to?

We have PE this morning, so we are getting some math done before we leave. The princess gets to go play at her favorite friends house while we are doing PE - Ava! Yeah! Ava is the only one home while her brother is in school, so the girls just play like little girls and they both love it. She is always so excited to go and has such a good time! I cannot wait to drop her off! The boys love PE - we are doign soccer with Hans and Chewie, and Luke is in the nursery but still has lots of fun!

I really am thankful this morning, I am not trying to be thankful. Yesterday I had a hard time staying positive, but really, who is in charge? Our creator and he loves us. This too shall pass! I am grateful for these kids that God has graciously given me for a season, and I really cherish the time we have together to watch them grow and learn. I love that God is in their hearts and they are each learning to love him in their way. What a gift that is!

I pray that you are able to find many things to be thankful today too! Even healthy kids after a couple YUCKY days! Or cool weather after what seems like a long hot summer! Or seeing family in the weeks to come for Thanksgiving. We are blessed, can you count the ways?

Lastly, here is a quote Kristen shared with me today:

Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.

Corrie ten Boom

Amen!!

Quality Time Assignment

Assignment: My family and I rarely do anything apart from each other. We don’t really have quality time together because all our time is together. We feel like the more special moments are when we have dinner together or when we worship God together. For this assignment, tell how you and your family spend QUALITY time together.

How do we spend quality time?
What a challenge – to find the time and then carve it out so that nothing bumps it out. We love to camp as a family – to get away from the tv, the phone, and of course the computer. It seems we all get along so well while out camping or hiking or even fishing at the crack of dawn. (I would not know this part first hand, I am usually still sleeping or trying, but I have heard good things about the early fishing!)

We also like to read together. The role of reader, while still falls mostly with Robert or me, it starting to shift to my two bigger boys - they are starting to ask if they can read to everyone this time. I love that – what a gift for them to give all of us –a story read by them!
As for the kids and I – we spend our quality time doing school – I know that sounds cliché but I have found when I ignore the house and just focus on the school part of our day we just get along and have a great time. I love our school time! The kids seem to soak in the attention even though it is not so much one on one - but one to four. But either way we all seem blessed by our school time! I am just thankful to have privilege to do just that!

One more quality time things we do it Celebrate Days - we do this each month on the day of your birth (12th every month for me) and during/after dinner we all share something we enjoy about that person and we usually have dessert that day (a treat in our home). The kids LIVE for their day! They love to do this and are always tracking who is next and so on! Anyway we really enjoy this and it is good quality time for our family encouraging one another!

Memory Verse :
Let no one despise or think less of you because of your youth, but be an example (pattern) for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.
Till I come, devote yourself to [public and private] reading, to exhortation (preaching and personal appeals), and to teaching and instilling doctrine. 1 Timothy 4:12-13 (Amplified Bible)

It's been a while

Well sorry we have been off-blogging for a couple days - busy days of course! Is there anyone whose days are not busy? I cannot imagine!

On Friday we did get to make it to Flag Football again! The boys loved it and the little ones and I hung out in the stands and watched. It was great weather for being October 31st - and it was a nice afternoon! Watching my youngest two play football on the sidelines was hysterical! The would take turns holding the ball so the other could kick it - football style!

Then we trekked out that night to First Baptist Mansfield to their Fall Festival and played lots of games and bounced and left with way too much candy! Upon returning to our neighborhood we quickly realized the power was out so we made a few stops on the way home (since there is not much you can do in the dark at home) and got a little more candy! After we got home, the power came right back on, so the kids went to bed and Robert and I watched The Happening - I expected scary and it was not - too bad.

Our weekend was great too - I had a friend "drag" me along on a crazy adventure on Saturday! And it was a great day! We went out to the Half-Price Book teacher give-away! Yes give-away! Not sale! You get in line at some crazyhour (7am) [understand we had about a 45 minute drive] and you wait for about 2 hours - 9am. Then they hand you 2 boxes and let you race inside to get as many books as you can (and want). It was a bit insane, but I got some great books and lots of them!!

After that we made it to Target before all the costumes were gone and got one for each of my kiddo for Christmas! And some other stuff too - of course! Then we were treated to some time at North Park Mall - and had a great lunch at Maggianos. It was just a fun girl day!

What a blessings girl-friends are! They are just such a source of encouragement for me - even those far away! I just feel so blessed to have a great group of ladies that I call friends. You should never take those ladies forgranted if you have them in your life! It is another way that God shows his love to us with physical arms and hugs! Not to mention the wisdom they share with us!

Sunday was spent in church - and Robert played his last game of softball this season - and they did not win the playoffs - but they were glad to have played in the playoffs! I think!

Yesterday was our field trip day with our homeschool group and we went out to the Dallas National Cemetery! It was so fun - the boys loved it! And we learned lots about the process and who gets to be burried there. I told Robert that is my choice - to be buried there. Anyway it was a great field trip with some great weather too!!