Just some fun fishing shots.

Jordan being silly. A bird of prey we saw driving through the park. And then of course our little Angel basking in the sun. Taking in all the sights and smells of fishing.

You can take the guns away from boys, but then they'll just make them. My kids are all boy. They love to play. They don't even need toys generally, they just make something up. On Friday, which I didn't get any pictures of, Austin made a "mini golf" maze out of the fire wood, and used a long branch for a club, and they found a softball that they used for the golf ball. It was a great use of imagination.

Look at the toasty marshmallows. (don't look at the dirty hands)

Its that time of year again!

Look what we did. The boys were on Spring break the week of March 26, and it was beautiful, so on my days off we went camping. It was alot of fun. Jordan and I set everything up. I was off on Thursday and Friday, Rob packed the van for us, we headed out and camped--me and 3 boys on Thursday, then Rob took a 1/2 day from work and came out around lunchtime on Friday. I had to work the weekend, so Rob and the boys stayed the night without me on Friday. It was a great time. I enjoyed the time with the boys. We rented a movie to watch on the portable DVD player on Thursday night, I wasn't real keen on being out alone, and letting everyone know it. So we hit the tent fairly early and watched a movie, cuddled up and went to sleep. I took the boys fishing on Friday. They had a great time. Oh, we did it all on Thursday. We even made a fire, and had smores after we ate. I am so glad I took them, I almsot didn't because it did get a wee bit chilly in the night. We just all stayed tight in our sleeping bags, and it was fine. The days were beautiful.

Boy talk

The other day Zach looked very seriouslly at me very matter of factly and said.
"Mom, when I get big I hope God lets me be a millionare."
When I asked him why, I don't think I was quit ready for the response, in fact it just melted my heart. This is what he told me.
"Because, I can build an orphange, and buy all the kids toys to play with, and be nice to them." I was so shocked, I was just about in tears. I told him that was a wonderful plan, and hoped it would happen someday.

I'll tell you what, just when I least expect it, my kids come up with something like that.

I thank God that all my boys have some much compassion for the hurting in this world. I know that all of them will grow up and be a help to many people.

Yucky post turned good

I started to blog a yucky blog, in my mind it was coming. It was all about how I can't handle the life I'm living. My children are a mess, I'm a mess, I started to wonder why in the world I have my children, I felt I was not doing a good job with them this evening.

Then I clicked onto Heather's Blog, and I hear the song, It Is Well. (thank you Heather, for the music, you know sometimes I just turn the volume off, because my house is so confusing, but not tonight the volume was on) Uhh! I thought to myself, or let me resart that, the Holy Spirit put my heart in check. It is well, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well with my soul. I had to say a quit repentance prayer, and then I need to apologize to my family. Wow, I'm just thankful that the Holy Spirit is still working in my life. I love moments like this. Not, the grippy bad part, but the part where I still feel the Holy Spirit at work in my life.

Well, that is all for now. I just wanted to say that for today. I've really got some good things from today to share at a later time. My husband and I are needing to talk about some things before it gets too late.

Pizza anyone?!

I made this fun pizza for treats for the boys Wednesday Night Bible Study class.

It is just this:

*Rice crispy treat crust

*frosting--tinted for sauce

*gummy savers--red for pepperoni and cut up *green for green peppers

*Chocolate covered peanuts--sausage

*Sweedish fish--anchovies

*chocolate sprinkles--seasoning

*white icing squeezed from baggie--cheese

The kids think this is pretty cool. Just thought I'd share my creation.

I sit here almost in tears!

Yesterday at work we were all talking. Lisa, one of my co-workers was a manager at McDonalds, and is a very personable (is that a word?) person. Well, she was sharing how she learned in management training with McDonalds, that a good manager would know at least 3 personal things about each employee. Well, she asked me what I know about the people we were working with that day. Then she said, "here I'll tell you what I kow about you." Fine, I thought.
**Your husband used to be a Pastor
**Your had 2 different church buildings while he pastored.
**You have 3 boys.
**You are a good management person
**You are good at the office work
**Your kids are very important to you

She went on and on. They were all good things really. It was nice to hear some encouraging words. Then, later in the day I was thinking about what she'd said, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. She did not mention that she could see Christ in my life, or anything to that effect. It made me sad. It is my prayer that I can show Christ to my co workers, and I'm not doing a very good job of it.

Then last night at church we were continuing our video series from John Piper about fighting for joy. Well, he said something that was so awesome, and it is my prayer now. May we be like a tree with fruit that is so sweet that people would want to pick it and "taste and see" how sweet Christ is for themselves. (Okay, that was a poor rendering of that quote, but I hope you get what it means.)

Well, I must go to bed now. It is late and I have work in the am, and company coming in for the weekend.

The Holy Sprit: The ignored and misunderstood person of the Trinity.

Here is one of the many thoughts I got out of this weekend at church. Our Winter Theological Study was the Holy Spirit: The ingnored and Misunderstood Person of the Trinity.

Sometimes we forget that the Holy Spirit is the gift, not the gift giver. That was a great reminder for me.

I will try and elaborate more about the weekend later.

My poor Zach is sick

On Feb. 5th we took Zach to the doctor, and they gave him an antibiotic for strep. Actually, they offered to do the throat culture if we wanted, but my husband took him and he can't stand the thought of that, much less have to sit with Zach while it gets done, and also Zach seems to get strep about once a year, so the Dr. just treated him for it. His throat "looked like hamburger" the doctor said (isn't that a great mental picture). He then told Rob, if he doesn't get better in about 2 days bring him back and we'll do a test for Mono. Well, he seemed better. Then he started complaining about a tummy ache. I thought these few thoughts, 1-he is just hungry because he is not eating good, then 2-the antibiotic can sometimes give you a belly ache. Then, he was finished taking the antibiotic, and still complaining of the achey tummy. We took him back to the doctor last Monday, they did the test for Mono and it was positive. Poor kid, has had Mono this whole time and I didn't even know it. I felt awful. The doctor reassured us that we were not horrible for not taking him in again. He wasn't running a fever or anything. He just wasn't himself yet, nor is he still. He is still really tired, so he goes to bed early, and his tummy hurts sometimes. She told us to give him tylenol for the pain/uncomforableness and his body would work this out. So, he knows that he has to eat good, and get lots of rest. She said just be real aware of the complaints that he gives us. I guess in kids it is not uncommon for the spleen to become enlarged and fall down from its normal home, behind the ribs, and that can be dangerous when they are playing or anything. Zach's stomach felt fine she said. We were also told that he was not contagious unless he still had a fever, so we are past that. I guess that Mono is going around here right now.

I really am begining to wonder if the other 2 boys have this also. They have some of the same symptoms. We were told it was a virus, no meds will help, just have to build up their immune systems.

I am just praying that Rob and I don't come down with this. I think it is much harder on adults than children.

My schedule

I just want to share with you my crazy life schedule, starting with sometime last week.

Monday I worked the evening, and was supposed to work Tuesday evening. Therefore, I budgeted my time, chores and errands accordingly. Well, Monday night, a girl from work called in and wasn't going to make it to work at all that week, she was going to have surgery on Friday, and her surgeon took her off work. Okay, so I worked Tuesday day instead of evening. Sounds good right? Wrong. See, I planned my days according to my schedule. Well, the things I didnt' get done on Monday, because I was going to do them Tues, they didn't get done.

Then I was scheduled to work 8-3 Wed, and of course because this poor girl was sick, I then had to go in at 6 am. The thing she was scheduled to do on Wednesday, only her and I know how to do it, so I did it. That made me work from 6a-3p. Thursday was Austin's field trip, so I ended up staying home from church on Wed, because the house was an absolute disaster, and I knew I wouldn't be home on Thursday, and Friday I went to be with my friend before her surgery, then to the gorcery, then home to get food prepared for church that evening.

Our church had a Winter Theological Study this weekend. Church on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I also had to work this weekend. So Friday I prepared my food for both Friday and Saturday's pitch in at church. We went to the study on Friday, got home, went to bed, got up for work, worked until 2:30, left for church at 3:15, got home about 11pm, went to bed, got up for work on Sun., went to church and then back to work to finish my duties. I got home yesterday evening about 6, ate pizza with my boys, just sat and relaxed with them.

This week goes something like this. Today, I worked the evening. Which was good I was able to clean the house, and get laundry done. Tuesday Austin and I go to Indy for "Coping Cat", and then I work the evening. (I messed my schedule up this week, so I have an extra evening in there) Wednesday I work 6a-3p, and then church. Thursday I work the evening, and then Friday I work the morning, and get off at 2pm. YEAH!!!!! I am off this weekend. I am so looking forward to the weekend. I think I'm going to try and get a sitter for the boys on Friday and go on a date with my hubby.

Does anyone see why the lack of posting lately. I just can't keep up with everything. I do read others blogs, and sometimes comment, but most days I just don't have time to blog myself.

Well, I hope you all have a blessed week.

Field trip pictures

A few more pictures. I am so glad I was able to go on the field trip with Austin. I haven't been able to go on many with him, and I promised this one. I was a LONG bus ride. 2 hours each way, but we had a good time. He is such a funny little guy. He was so sweet, he had $$ to spend at the gift shop. Well, he bought a key chain and a marble carved dog, then he wanted to buy for his brothers. So we picked pencils, then he kept shopping, he was wanting to purchase something for our neighbors. I thought it was pretty sweet, and he picked an Indiana Magnet for the fridge. We haven't yet given it to them, but I'm sure they will enjoy the thought. They could be great grandparents to my kids, and they are so very kind. I was touched by Austin's thoughtfullness.

More field trip pictures

A few more pictures of the field trip. The window is at the top of the state house. It is absolutely beautiful. Austin is sitting at the desk of a State Representitive.

Visit to the State House

I went on a field trip with Austin on Thursday. It is was alot of fun, and very interesting. We visited the State House in Indianapolis, and then to the State Museum. Austin and I hung back from the group we were with, because he enjoys reading the information and really looking at things. Of course I couldn't speed him up. I had some mental notes, that I was going to post with these pictures, but guess what, I've slept since then.

Before the Throne of God above.

We bought this cd this weekend while at the Christian Bookstore. It was one of those perk buys, I think we paid $4.00 for it. Wow, was it worth it. It is pretty much like every other Selah Cd, (which is good) however, there is an AWESOME song on it. It was kind of comical when we listened to it, because Rob went crazy. He has been trying to find this song for sometime, of course he didn't know the name or the artist when he heard it on the radio. So, needless to say, he was pretty excited about this purchase.

The song is, Before the Throne of God Above. The words are below.

Before The Throne of God Above Words and Music by Vikki Cook, Charitie Bancroft

Before the throne of God above

I have a strong and perfect plea.

A great high Priest whose Name is Love

Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on His hands,

My name is written on His heart.

I know that while in heaven He stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair

And tells me of the guilt within,

Upward I look and see Him there

Who made an end of all my sin.

Because the sinless Savior died

My sinful soul is counted free.

For God the just is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,

My perfect spotless righteousness,

The great unchangeable I AM,

King of glory and of grace,

One in Himself I cannot die.

My soul is purchased by His blood,

My life is hid with Christ on high,

With Christ my Savior and my God!

© 1997 PDI Worship (ASCAP) (Adm. by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music) All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission. International Copyright Secured.

The words of this song absolutey say it all. For God my debt is satisfied, because of Christ. I can really go on and on about this. My heart, my soul lept inside me when I heard the words of this song, it ministered to my spirit so very much. Because of the perfect sacrifice that Christ made, my debt is satisfied, no longer counted against me. My life truly is his with Christ on high.

That is all I can say for now, I must go to work. Have a blessed day. If anyone can, please find this song, listen to this song and think of the words.

Look at these beautiful nails. My sister did them for me on Saturday. It was quit costly, $10.00 was it. I have NEVER had my nails done, ever. It was quit an experience. I am finally getting used to them today. Rob even liked them. He was teasing me about becoming a "high maintenance women".

Well, we had a nice weekend. Rob had to work because of the snow day they had this week. He was a little tired, but we still took the boys out. Austin and Zach each got new Bibles, which was the point of our trek out. We have been reading in our family worship from the NIV. It is a little easiser for the boys to understand. Also, as Rob reminded me yesterday, it was a means of grace for us, while we were leaving our former faith. God opened our understanding to the things that we read, through that translation. Okay, back tot he Bibles, I have an NIV and an ESV, as does Rob and Jordan has an NIV. We had bought each of them and NIrV, about 2 years ago, but they've outgrown that. We have a reformation study bible which is in the NIV, at that is what we've been using during our family worship time, so we figured that everyone needed one so that we could follow along as Rob reads to us. (really something for the kids to have in their hands also) Boy, were they excited. Zach said that he wanted one with a cross on the front, and hopefully it'd be blue, guess what that is what we found. And of course, Austin is now a big boy, so he wanted an more distinguished looking Bible, and he found it. They were both tickled pink about the new Bibles.

Well, then we took them out to eat. Which we haven't done in while. They have been asking to go to a Buffet, too funny huh! Well, we did. It was a fun time. You know at a buffet, they have great ice cream. That is of course the highlight for Austin & Zach, Jordan's is the meat selection.

Yesterday we had a nice Lords day. Church was wonderful as always. We talked to Pastor Charlie and Patti (his wonderful wife) for a while after service. It was nice. We really try and not take too much of their time, they are extremely busy, but it sure was nice to talk with them.

I have much more thoughts to post, however, because of our busy day saturday, and then that day started with such a heachace, I didn't do much housework, so I need to get it done today. Can't wait. LOL!! I have piles of clean laundry everywhere that need to be fluffed, and folded an put away. I also need to cook some chicken noodles for tomorrows dinner. Have a blessed day.

Fun day sledding

New garage door!

Our insurance paid for a new garage door. See the cracks in the first door, the insulation is coming off, it was awful, cracked and wouldn't even open. Now, see the new door. BEAUTIFUL!! It opens so smoothly. We can put our cars in it, and we won't have to scrap them, we can come in from the grocery to the house, yeah! We are blessed.

Ice fishing!

I forgot to post these last weekend. Rob and the boys went ice fishing while I worked last Saturday. They had great fun, Rob took the sleds also, so the 2 little ones went sledding from the snow hills onto the ice, they said they went far that way. My husband does so much of this kind of stuff with them. They have a blast too. This ice house was Rob's as a boy, and their Grandpa gave them an ice auger this past summer, I think it belonged to Rob also, so they think they are hot stuff.

Tacos for breakfast?!

***This is what I'm watching while I am trying to nurse this migraine, and post at the same time. Austin made this one day this week, while out of school because of the snow. My two younger boys are playing some sort of game, running through the house like this. God definately gave me some creative little guys.

Okay, that is what I am eating as I post this. Crazy as it may sound.

I woke up with a terrible migraine again. I'm just about tired of this craziness. I absolutely hate waking up like this. This is my day off, my boys are at home, I should be able to enjoy the day. When I have these headaches, I go through these weird thoughts. It makes my stomach upset. It kind of makes me feel sick to my stomach, like maybe I'm hungry. So I think, "Do I eat something high in protein?" So then I try. Tacos is what I have chosen today. Then I think, "CAFFIENE!!" That is what I need. So, I then eventually take some Excedrin Migraine, which is just acetaminophen, asprin and caffiene. Well, now I've done the first 2 thoughts, food and meds, jo relief. Now my sister, bless her heart, is on her way to my house to do my nails, and is bringing me a 32oz. diet pepsi fountain drink. Well, see how it works. She lkeeps telling me to go to the doctor for this. "I know, I know, I tell her." Then she says, "Uh, how many times have you encouraged me to go to the doctor?" Again, my response is "I know, I know." Okay, I 'll give an excuse, then I guess I should go. One excuse, I just got insurance, and I didn't want to go earlier, therefore, I wouldn't have any preexisting conditions, and secondly, maybe I should go get an eye exam first. We'll see.

More snowy pictures. Today is was EXTREMELY cold. When I woke up this morning it was like 4 below zero. BRRRRRR!!!!!

I ran outside to take these few pictures. I really need to carry my camera so I can take pitures of some of the mounds of snow around town. The street department guys were telling me today that they'd be out around 11pm to start moving some of the snow, making the snow piles shorter so you can see beyond them. It is crazy out there. Honest.

1.) This is out my garage, back door, this is truthfully how deep the snow is. There wasn't a whole lot of drifting back there, because we have a tall fence, so that is how much snow we got. WOW!!

2.) Snow up to the mailbox. We got a "nasty gram" from the post office telling us to move more of the snow from in front of the mailbox so the mailperson could just drive up to the box. OOPS! The things you forget to take care of when you have a ton of snow in your driveway.

3) Do you see the boys igloo there. TOo funny!

4) The boys tunnel in the drift alongside the house.

5) The snow in front of the neighbors house.

They say more snow tomorrow. Hey, guess what though. My sister is coming to my house to do my nails for me. I've never had them done, and I surely don't have the extra cash to have them done, and she does hers all the time. YEAHAW!!! I'm pretty excited. Heather, I'm still unsure of the toenail thing though. It sounds absolutely wonderful, I'm just not sure I could handle it. I'm really funny about my feet.

One more snowy picture

This is the snowdrift out my side window. You really can't tell how high it is, but it is extremely high.

Some snowy pictures

Here are a few of our snowy pictures. I really didn't get many good ones, because I couldn't locate my batteries for my camera. See, they were on the charger, were they belong, and guess what they disappeared. I asked the boys, who were at my sisters house, and they said "Oh, they are in our dart guns." Well, I ask myself the silly question, "Why didn't I know that. DUH!"" Silly Mom.

At any rate we got bunches of snow. I didn't get an official number of inches from anyone so I'll go with Ms. Karen who says something like 11-12 inches. Let me just tell you it was crazy. I worked until 4 p.m. yesterday. See, I work at a gas station/convenience store, and about 3 p.m. the police came in and ordered that we close. They said we were putting lives in danger because we were open. People just can't stay home. It is crazy. THe snow plows were even stopped from plowing. The police were pulling people over, because we were under a level 3 emergency, which means, no one is to be on the roads except for emergancy vehicles, and when they'd stop someone they'd tell them they were headed to Pak-A-Sak. WEll, we closed with the intention of opening this morning at 8am. NOT!!! No one could get out of their driveways. We eventually opened at about noon. It was non stop busy too, people really just can't stand to stay at home I guess. I would have loved to be at home with my family during this, we think it is fun to be snowed in together.

Let me share a funny with you all. You know you live in a hick town when this happens. Okay, I'm the assistant manager of our store. So it was going to be the manager, myself and 1 other employee to open the store this morning. Well, we couldn't drive down my street, therefore, I was snow bound and couldn't get to work. Kendra, the manager, was able to get out of her street, and pick up the other girl, they thought they'd just pick me up also, and we'd go together. NOT!!! There was absolutey no getting down my street. Well, she couldn't get to anyone elses house either, so there fore the store would not open until I was there with them. It would have been suicide to open with just 2 people. So here goes Kendra to the police department, to ask them to have the street department plow my street so I can get to work, and guess what they did. Not much after she asked them, my street was plowed. Isn't that funny. Well, work was pretty exciting today.

The rundown on the pictures. (I plan to take more tomorrow, the piles of snow are unbelievable intown.)

#1.) The fort my kids carved out of the snow from the driveway, which my husband worked so hard at clearing (continually) so I could get in it yesterday afternoon.

#2) The sidewalk to my front door, see how deep the snow is?!

#3)The house across the street, see how high the snow is to the house. Oh, can you see the street, it is in there also. This taken from my front porch, and there really is a street in there, Honest. You can hardly tell where cars had driven yesterday. Also, this street was plowed yesterday also.

#4)The snow drift next to the house across the street, it was over the fence.

#5) That path is our sidewalk.

Tidbits from the last few days!

Well, lets see where do I begin. Last weekend I was off of work, and I so enjoyed the weekend. We did a whole lot of nothing. We did just enough, so that the house wasn't unbearable to be in. We stayed in all weekend. Zach and I lounged on the couch alot of the 2 days. It was nice. If I was sitting on the couch, he was on my lap.

We watched the Super Bowl. GO COLTS! It was quit interesting, because we grew up in the Chicagoland area, so Rob and I both grew up in houses that were Bears fans. We have never really followed sports at all. Well, the bank that we use offered a Colts Kids Savings account. We opened them, and each time the Colts won a game, they each recieved a $5.00 certificate to put in their bank account, so now can you see why we say GO COLTS. Well, then of course we are now Hoosiers, and all my boys were born in Indiana, and they are Colts Fans. It was fun to watch the game with them. We really were getting quit excited about it. It was quit comical.

Zach got sick this weekend. He ended up waking up in the night Saturday with a fever, and sore throat. Rob stayed home from church with him, since I stayed home on Wednesday. I had planned on going into work on Monday for a short time, getting my paperwork done and then coming home to be with Zach. I had decided to leave Jordan home for a little while, and then just take him late. Well, you'll never believe this. I had 2 people call in sick that day. I ended up working from 6am-10pm on Monday. It was awful. I was not very happy, nor did I prented to be. Zach was okay, and then Jordan didn't end up missing too much school, because of the weather they had a 2 hour delay, actually all week they've been on a 2 hour delay. Well, Rob took Zach to the doctor, and he had strep throat. UGH!!!! On Tuesday I switched my schedule so I could work in the evening when Rob was home. SO I went in at 3pm. It wasn't so bad really, until........one of my 3rd shift people came in sick. She didn't try to call in, she DID show up and was awful sick, so I ended up letting her go home and I worked her shift. so again, I worked from 3pm-8am. It wasn't so bad, until the next day. The boys had a 2 hour delay and I didn't get enough sleep, so I was a little grouchy. Well, alot grouchy.

We were leaving to go to church and our car wouldn't start. We didn't want to drive the van, since it is older, and we didn't want to get stuck that far from home. Well, no big deal, we'll just jump the battery, right?! Not! The hood latch was frozen. Okay, it wasn't funny then, but it sure is funny now. So, we had to push the car into the garage--that the garage door is about to fall apart--and try to get the hood to defrost. Okay, we ended up getting a new battery for the car. No big deal. Oh yeah, we had sent Jordan to start the car, and he thought he started it but didn't, so he had the lights, the radio and heater on but the car wasn't started, therefore, it zapped the battery, since it is sooooo very cold here.

Thursday, Jordan and Zach had dentist appointments. Now hear me say this, we are so blessed to have such a wonderful caring dentist. He is so concerned about kids teeth, that $$$$ don't matter much to him. He has done so very much for us, and not charged us, just to help the kids. He put a porcelain crown on Jordan's front tooth yesterday, and I'm sure the insurance will not pay for it, and he didn't charge us. He put braces on Jordan's front teeth a couple of years ago, with no charge to us. This is what he told me last time we were there, after he told me all that Austin is going to need done to his teeth in the next few years, "Now, the funding you have will not pay for this stuff, but when I have parents who are willing to make the trip here every week or 2 weeks, and do what I ask them to do, the cost doesn't matter to me." WOW!!! I thanked him and told him I sure appreciated all he has done, and was blessed to have him as a dentist for my boys.

More from Thursday. When we left the dentist, Jordan was a mess. His hands were trembling, like they do when he is nervous or overwhelmed about something. I talked to him and said, "relax Jordan, your hands are shaking." I know Mom, my nerves are shot, that is just too much to do in one day. Poor kid. I said "we are just a mess aren't we Jordan?" "Yeah, Mom, but that is okay we are a good family." Now that was all I needed to hear from him. See, I tend to be harder on him than the other boys, and he still loves me and thinks we are a good family.

Then, Austin and I went to the Dollar store for somethings, and we are walking up to the store, out of the blue he says. "I'm glad I have good parents." Wasn't that sweet?

Well, today, I've done a few chores, and then took Rob lunch and now I'm at home to do a whole lot of nothing. Just some laundry and clean bathrooms. YEAHAW!!!!

Have a blessed weekend.