Stormy Conversations

Tonight we had a pretty good thunder and lightning storm. Most of the time these storms are later at night, so our kids miss out. We never talk about thunder and lightning, frankly because we have the biggest chicken of kids, so I never want to give them more information than needed :) Well Matt gets home (I was giving Chloe a shower) and Harper, Carly, and Finley were at the back glass door looking out. They informed Matt that it was blinking outside. No fears, they just thought it was cool that it was blinking. Well, then the power goes out. They were all assigned different rooms to clean, therefore, we had children spread out all over the house and we were trying to collect them all through all the loud screaming. Finley was in the furthest room and by the time I got a flashlight and got down there she was really loud! She was fine as soon as she could get out of the room and she made sure her necklace was still on!! Chloe would not stop crying, but the lights were only off for a few minutes and she calmed down. So we sat down for our Bible story, and we just so happened to be at Daniel and the lions den. After reading it, we discussed what we should do when we are scared and worried. That we can pray and God will hear us and protect us. They were really excited about that option!! So we were having a great conversation and somehow Harper's accident came up. I can't believe how much Carly and Chloe still remember from 2 years ago! We got alot of information tonight about what actually happened. The girls said that they brought the rope up in the tree house and Chloe was holding it up for them to go under. Carly went once and ducked under the rope and then Harper went down but didn't duck. They said it just wrapped around his neck and they wanted to help him. They couldn't go down the ladder, so they tried to pull the rope but he just screamed. They said they just couldn't do anything to get him off the slide. Poor things! They tried to help him, but they were stuck in the house with no option! So we talked about it all and how thankful we are for God to help us in a time of need. So all in all, a little black out stemmed some great conversations!

A little of this and that

Finley's new favorite spot. If I can't find her, I know to look in the play kitchen for her. She just sits in the cabinet and pokes her little head out and smiles at me.
This girl is attached to her Daddy at the hip! He comes home from work to do some vacuuming, and she has to hold his hand while she vacuums. So cute!!!

These two crack me up. Yes they are outside playing and all their toys are in the one little tree we have in the front yard! They sure do know how to entertain themselves.

Finley has to wear her hat when she rides her horse.

And here she is dressed to impress. A dress must be worn with beads at all times! She is such a girly girl - but I don't expect anything less from all these little ladies!

Harper Goes to the Dentist

On the 16th, Harper went to the dentist for the first time. He was a little nervous and told me that he was going to cry. Of course, I straightened out his way of thinking and told him he could watch the girls before he went. We practiced the night before so he knew what to expect. When we got there, he was excited!
And of course he picked the blue sunglasses to wear! He was so brave and sat very still. The hygentist couldn't get over how good he was.

He followed every direction to a T and when she left to get the dentist, he just laid there with his mouth wide open. I had to tell him to close it! He is such a big 3 year old, sometimes I forget that he is still so little, but he sure does act like a big boy! I love this boy!

100

Today, February 25th, my grandma turns 100!! I have never known someone who has actually lived that long, but my grandma has done it!! When I was little, I wanted to grow up to be 100, but now that seems like a long life :) I can't imagine being that old - I mean, I am having a little difficulty on the big 30 this year! She had 6 kids - Mary Alice, Peggy, Betsy, Alberta, Ella May, and Stanley (my Dad). She has 20 grandkids (I think - I will check on this), Channing will be her 49th Great Grandchild, and 2 great great grandkids. That's alot of people! She lived through both World Wars and the Great Depression. Those just seem so long ago that it doesn't seem real that she could possibly live through that. She saw the first TV, spaceship, and was born not too many years after the Wright Brothers' first flight!! I am not a history buff by any means, these are just some of the major history events that are amazing to me to know she lived through them. Well, Happy Birthday Grandma!
I had this picture made into a card for her - Hallmark had only 1 card to choose from for 100, so I figured she would get a bunch of those :)

Oh, the Comments

I love being pregnant. I love feeling my little baby do some crazy gymnastic flips in my belly and I love sharing it all with my kiddos and hubby. I love feeling the girls gently rub my stomach and the baby responding with lots of kicks. I love Finley kissing the baby and all the joy that this member already brings into our family. Yes, being pregnant is fun, but this time around and these last 2 months have been difficult to say the least. And of course with my ever growing body, the increase of comments sky rockets! This has been my latest favorite comment, "You look tired." Well, thank you! I have slept in a recliner for the past 2 months, I have a tube coming out of my back and I take care of 4 kids all day long, so thank you for the affirmation that I look tired, I needed to hear that! Or I like, "When are you due?" followed by my response, which their response is, "Man, are you sure it's not twins again?" Thank you for highlighting that I am extremely large. I didn't realize how big I was, so thanks for pointing that out for me! I know people have absolutely no idea what their words really sound like, so I don't let it get to me. There are those that do know how to speak to a pregnant lady, and to them I am greatly appreciative. Those kind words of how great you look (even if they are just being nice) means alot when you feel like you have been dragged behind a bus. And on days like today when it is 70 plus degrees out and all you want to do is put on a cute little t-shirt and play with your kids at the park, but in reality, you take your kids to the park wearing a grungy t-shirt because it is the longest one you have and still doesn't cover your entire belly, stand and watch your kids play, because the thought of getting up into that play set sounds torturous, and then come back home with blood all over it because your 18 month old busted her lip and your shoulder is where she finds her comfort. Ah, the joys of pregnancy - come on 40 weeks!!!!

(disclaimer.... this post was started at 11pm, in which I fell asleep in the middle of writing, so it may be a little jumbled and emotional, but hey, I will claim the "I'm entitled to feel this way" card!)

Crazy Love

Matt and I finished reading an awesome book this past week called Crazy Love, by Francis Chan. It was very impactful to say the least. If the Holy Spirit doesn't get you while reading it, you must not have read the whole thing!! As we started to read, immediately we felt like selling everything we owned and living out of a single wide trailer! But towards the end, I realized what the book was really telling me. Crazy love inspires you not to be a lukewarm christian, but rather live life on this planet embracing each day as it comes and living it like Jesus would. Yes, some are called to go to other countries to share the gospel, some are called into ministry, and then there are people like me, whom I had to sit back and really think what my calling really is. My children. I have been given 5 sinful lives. 5 people that live with me that do not know Jesus Christ and are perfect sinners like the rest of us. Who else is supposed to teach them? I have embarked on this homeschooling journey this year and I have to say, that I have learned a lot! This is my calling right now. I am to raise these children to know the Lord and to show them how to live a Jesus centered life. Does that mean that I will never be able to go share the gospel? Absolutely not! I need to do it daily to these children and to the children of our church that I spend a lot of time with. I have full intentions of taking all our children with us on a family mission trip once they are all big enough to understand everything. So, yes at first while reading this book, I wanted to move mountains, but I am going to have to start off with my 5 mountains here at home! Deuteronomy 6:5-9 Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

So now we are faced with our house decision. Do we sell or do we go? Do we buy the house that has all the space we would like at the price we need? We have decided to take our faith in the Lord and know that He has been preparing us for this journey all along. We know that we will be taken care of and that having some more space will allow me to work with these children as they get bigger and I have to teach more of them! We feel this is God's calling for our family so we are taking our giant leap of faith!! Please pray for us as we begin this journey and for the strength that we need!