My Testimony

In church the other night, Pastor Kenn was speaking on Acts 22. This is where Paul shares his testimony. Pastor Kenn posed the question that if we were to have to stand up that night and share our testimony, would we be able to do it? It is kind of neat to hear about people who are older who got saved later on in life and they can remember everything about that life changing event. I wish I could remember everything about the day that I became saved and that it was such a profound experience that my life changed dramatically upon receiving the Grace of God with eternal salvation. But, I don't. I do remember that I was in VBS and I was sitting in a circle of chairs. And for the life of me I can't remember her name who lead me through the prayer, but I am sure my Mom remembers her name once I describe her, so I will add her name later. I was young, very young I do know that. I remember having such a secure feeling after that. That no matter what I did, I would be forgiven. So I could make my mistakes, pray for forgiveness, and continue on. But was that what it is all about? No way! I would say that being a born again Christian really didn't take any meaning to me until about 3 years ago. Then what in the world had I been doing for all those years? Well, riding the coattails of being a Christian of course! There was by no means any way someone would look at me and think, "Man, there is something different in her." On the contrary. I made many bad choices and there was no reflection of Jesus in my life. Why was the change only 3 years ago? It all finally clicked. What the point of being a follower of Jesus Christ was all about. What the point of all the Bible stories were. I am so thankful that this click happened while I am a stay at home Mom. Being new at something it doesn't take much for you to get knocked over! I am able to focus more and try to build a better foundation. Do I struggle? Daily. It is very hard to keep a Christ centered mind. It is hard to make time to read my Bible and to pray (and not to just pray words, but a meaningful prayer that is a conversation between me and God). But, I am aware of all my faults and how I am such a failure. It is fun to teach the kids as I am learning. I don't want to tell them Bible stories, I want them to know the point of each story and how to be a servant. There are so many teachable moments in a day to illustrate how to be more like Jesus. It is amazing to me how I have tried to rid myself of outside influences so that I can be totally focused on my walk and Satan just invades in another area! I am undeserving of God's amazing grace, but yet it was given to me, therefore it is my job to share that love to others. So there you have it. My testimony.

How is school?

We are in full swing of school and we are staying very busy! Each day we have to get ourselves moving so that we can get all our school work done. I figured I would post our day since everyone asks how it is going:
7:00 - girls are getting up and I shower
7:30 - Harper is getting up and I get breakfast ready
8:00 - breakfast
8-9 - I clean kitchen, do dishes, laundry, or any other household chore - I also get all the kids clothes out and toothbrushes and they get ready for the day.
9 - 9:30 - We start with calendar (Finley is in her cage by now and she watches a sing along video)
9:30 - 10:30 - Finley is taking a nap and we do school work - usually math and some type of project - I usually give Harper his own game or project to do during this time
10:30 - 11 - we finish up with our work and Harper goes and plays with Finley
11 - 11:30 - break to play and I get lunch ready
11:30 - lunch
(if we need to run out during the day, we leave after lunch and are out until 1:30)
11:30 - 12:30 - eat and clean up and play
12:30 - 1:30 Play time - this is when I do lots of Finley time
1:30 - 3:30 - naps for Harper and Finley (Harper sometimes goes to bed earlier depending on his level of happiness) - the girls and I then do reading time. I read with one while the other is doing some type of reading activity - game or computer game and then we switch
3:30 - 5:30 play time
5:30 - dinner
6:30 - showers or family play time
7:30 - bed for Finley and big kids go to my room for a story and prayers
8:00 - big kids are in bed

That is our day in a nut shell. Now it is ALWAYS subject to change! You never know when there is that random vomit that needs to be cleaned or when my eyes can no longer stay open and I let them stop and take a break. We also go outside and do things but that is always weather dependent when we go!!! And that is our schedule!

Field Trip

This week at Mommy school we went on a field trip to the Hemby Bridge Fire Department. We have been doing community helpers, so a trip to the fire station was a must. The girls were internally excited as usual, but Harper was beside himself. He asked the fire men all sorts of questions and was so interested. He was loving it!

Harper and Carly got into the fire truck, but Chloe opted out. She is always more hesitant than these 2, but that is just her personality.
Before we left they took a group shot on an engine. We sure did enjoy our field trip!

Matthews Alive

Yesterday we decided to take the kids to the Matthews Alive Parade and Festival. We got there about 10 minutes before it started and sat right down in the shade on a hill and had a great spot. The weather was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!! It was so relaxing and the kids loved seeing the bands, cheerleaders, and fire/police men. After the parade we walked down through the craft tents and then through the ride section. The kids all wanted to go on a ride, but it was getting hot, the lines were really long since everyone was there because the parade was just over, and we were running into lunch time. So, I told them they had the afternoon to decide which ride they wanted to go on and we would come back. They were not allowed to choose the carousel or any of the baby rides. They could choose from the swings or the helicopters. (I am not wasting my money on them staying low to the ground and going in a circle!)

Harper and Finley watching the parade together. This boy adores this girl!
And they chose.......the helicopters!! We went back that night and spent $9 for them to ride this one ride! But it was nice and cool and no one was in line so they just walked right onto the ride. They were prepared and excited to go on a big kid ride (of course they all decided they would ride together - power in numbers)! They loved it and had a lot of fun! We were looking at the prices of the tickets and on Friday night they had a arm band you could buy for $15 and you would get unlimited rides. Sounds like a deal right? I sat there for a minute, looked at Matt and said, "Do you realize that in a couple years that would cost us $75 to take our kids to a little rinky dink fair?!" Absurd. So we are setting the standard low now! I told them we had a lot of fun. They got to ride 1 ride and the next fair we go to they can pick 1 ride to go on. That way they always know they only get to choose 1 ride! So sad to have to do that to them, but fair rides are ridiculously priced and I would much rather buy them a Carowinds pass or take them to Disney World again vs. flushing money at a fair. They completely understood, were grateful for their ride, and are looking forward to the next festival!

And every year we go and they always want their picture taken at this train. So for the scrapbook sake - here it is!

Happy 1st Birthday Finley!

Our baby is 1!!!! This has been such a great year with our Finley addition! She is such a sweet, funny, and loving girl. There is so much love for this sweet angel! She brightens my day with her cute smile! She loves balloons, balls, dogs, cats, and dancing. Her favorite words are all done, watermelon (ma mel), Mama, Dada, Per (Harper - she hasn't figured out the girls names yet), Pa (Grandpa), Ma (Grandma), Ma-Ma (more) - that is all I can think of right now. She has perfected the pterodactyl scream as well (this rather annoys me). We love our funny Fifi! Her brother and sisters smother her with love. I put her to bed at 7:30 and the girls go in the room around 8 after their story and I love going in there to tuck her in because she will stand up in her bed and just start giving kisses. All you see is this big brown fuzz rise up from the bed and smack her lips - super cute. She doesn't walk and probably won't for a while! She'll move and walk holding onto stuff, but won't free stand. The girls woke up this morning and said, "Finley is 1 now - can she walk?!" They have been wanting to go to the beach and I told them we didn't want to go until she could walk - we may have to break this and just take them! Here are some pictures from her little birthday party. We didn't feel like doing too much this year, because everyone was busy getting back into the swing of things with school and stuff, so it was a low key one at home (which was quite nice not having to pack party items and lug them around)!

Finley absolutely loved her balloons! She wouldn't let go of them! I had to pry them away and of course she let me know that she didn't like it!
All my sweet babies

The little ladies - I love girls in pink!

Present time is quite fun with 4 little kids! Everyone wanted to help teach Fifi how to open her presents.

Finley had her own special cake and I made her party hat to match.

She did not like her hat!! But she hates anyone messing with her hair so the hat stayed on just for this picture!

She didn't even have a chance at the candle because of all the "help" she received! We sang Happy Birthday and the candle was out in a split second.

She barely touched her cake, but then again I didn't give her too much time to dig in. She took a couple bites and then I just fed it to her - I hate messes!

And don't forget all the help she always gets!! Here are all 3 of the big kids feeding her! Doesn't she look thrilled!

Ok - the cake! So Matt got several treats/cakes for his birthday. One of which was an entire sheet cake from his work that no one touched. We had so much other stuff to eat that I stuck it in the deep freezer. Well, I decided to get this cake out of the freezer by giving to the party guests!!! He he!! Hey, it was both sets of grandparents and my sister there, so I didn't think they would care one bit. So I made out on the cake thing!! I wish I could have made a cake, but waste not, want not!!! I scraped off Matt's name and attempted to write Finley's. It worked! And here is the birthday girl today - her real birthday! We love you Finley Claire!

Funny

Sometimes our conversations are just so funny around here. It is hard for me to document all the funny things they say, but today was funny. Here goes:

Carly: I see a plane! It is big because it is low.
Matt: Where do you think it is going?
Harper: To Heaven!!!

First Day of Mommy School

Yesterday, August 16th, was the official first day of Mommy School! Carly and Chloe were so excited! I had to dress them up and take lots of pictures, hey I'm missing out on all the school stuff, so I have to make things special for them and myself! The best room Dad ever helped me get the house in tip top shape the night before so we could get going and start our day off right. We got alot done and they had lots of fun. I even got 3 loads of laundry washed, dried, and folded. All in all, the day was great and we are excited about our upcoming year.

They sported their backpacks around so it felt like a real first day of school.

The excitement was just bubbling up inside!

Yes, I made them go outside, walk down the driveway and turn around and come back. They had to do it 2 times - once for me to video and once for me to take pictures. They thought it was funny.

These are their Schultuetes. I remember my Mom telling me about these from when she was little in Germany. She got one in preschool. They are cones filled with treats and school supplies (theirs were filled with cookies and pencils) that are given to kids at the start of the school year. I told them how to say it and they sound so cute saying it - and correctly! These were a big hit with them. They talked about them all day. That night we took them to the pool to burn off some energy because they were pumped all day. I let them choose treats from them to take with them. Very exciting! I told them that it was going to be gym class - Harper asked if I was Jim?

Here is Harper working on his colors while the girls were doing some work. He liked doing school too. He kept very busy!

And here are the scholars hard at work. They love their school room and quite frankly I love teaching them. I loved helping Chloe write her numbers and in the middle of them, she just gave me a kiss and told me she loves me. Now, I'm sorry, I wouldn't want to have missed that for the world!