Ant Ice Cream Anyone?!

My funny story from the weekend: 

 A couple of weeks ago, when we returned from North Carolina, I noticed ants in our pantry. I cleaned everything out, and after a few days, it seemed like the problem was home. However, yesterday afternoon, Wyatt asked for some ice cream. I scooped him up a bowl, and he asked if we had any "sauce". I replied that I thought there was some in the pantry. So, he poured some on his ice cream by himself. Then Garett and Chandler both asked for ice cream as well. So, I dished it up, and asked if they wanted carmel sauce on it. They said yes, so I poured it on their ice cream. (I'm a mom...I don't look too closely...just eat it!) However, upon closer examination,  Garett realized that the carmel sauce had little floating specs in it. Yeap, it was ants! Gross! So, I dumped out the ice cream, and threw away the sauce. Then I remembered that Wyatt had taken his ice cream outside. So, I called him in and asked where his ice cream bowl was at. He brought it to me...empty! I asked where the ice cream was, to which he replied, "I ate it, mom!" I asked if he had noticed anything in the sauce, and he said "yeah, it looked like it had sprinkles in it!" Oh gross, my child just ate ant enhanced carmel sauce! Oh well, we've seen no ill effects. 

 

Friday, September 5, 2014

Yes, it's quiet here tonight, and it's not because the kids are outside or sleeping. :) A friend from church, who already has four boys, offered to take our four boys for the night! I'm thankful that Star invited us to dinner, sat and visited with me for a bit, and kept the four boys overnight! Travis became a leech when it was time for me to go, and I thought about bringing him home with me. However, Star just hung on to him and told me to go...so I did. I felt kinda bad about leaving him there, but I felt much better after Star told me that he quit crying about 30 seconds after I left. 

The rest of the day has been busy too.  My mother in law and brother in law arrived today from North Carolina. They brought some things up for my brother in laws apartment and a few things for us too. When we arrived home from school, I told Chandler that Grandma had been at our house. He asked me how I knew that. I replied, "well, this laundry wasn't folded when we left for school!" My mother in law, Carla, always helps with laundry when she's here. I do a fairly decent job at keeping the clothes clean, but folding them is not my forte!! Usually, I have at least one basket that needs folding, but honestly, it's probably closer to two or three that need folding! 

The boys had a great time with their uncles, playing nerf gun wars, soccer, and "helping" them unload stuff. :) However, it also meant that naptime didn't happen, so I was a little worried about how the boys would do tonight for the overnight stay at their friends house. Wyatt kept asking me when I was learning, so I guess he'll be fine. We do have some work to do on our table manners. Since we had dinner at their house as well, the boys had the opportunity to sit at the table and practice their manners. I think this was the first meal this summer that they ate with company at the table. (Our table isn't big enough, so usually they eat outside) I don't think they we terrible, but we could do with some polishing up in that area. (I'll add it to the list of things I need to work on!) :) 

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Well, The Lord knew that I needed the other children to be away last night as Emma slept terrible! She somehow woke up from her nap with a runny nose, and I think maybe her ears were hurting last night. She was awake screaming from one to three am., and all I could think about was how thankful I was that the boys were not home! It was a long night, but it would have been much longer if the boys had been awakened from her screaming! She finally fell asleep around 3...in our bed!! She was up at six, so we didn't sleep in at this house! I fed her breakfast, tidied up the house at bit, and then left for Oshkosh. 

I was going to do some shopping for a bridal shower in the afternoon. After vacuuming out the car, I picked up my dear friend, Jenna. It was such a delight to spend most of the day with her! We are such good friends, and yet such polar opposites in a lot of areas! :) We found a gift for the shower, we had lunch together, and went to a friends surprise birthday party. One of our friends was having a surprise 30th birthday party, and it was a lot of fun to be involved in the surprising of her. Autumn has become such a dear friend, and we share lots and lots of laughs. I know it was a rough day for her since she had attended the funeral of a co worker in the morning, but I'm thankful that God allowed her day to be brightened by the party. 

Jenna and I didn't stay long at the surprise party. Next, I picked up the boys from the Carpenters, where they had slept over night. I then went to my parents house to drop off the boys, so I could attend the shower. (I am so glad that most of my days are spent with the boys. I miss them so much when I'm not around them!) It was a quiet ride to my parents house, since the boys were tired! They had a great time with their friends, and is thankful for friends that are willing to have eight boys in the house! :) 

After dropping the boys off at my parents house, Jenna and I headed to the shower. The boys love to go to Nana and Papa's house, and my dad was having a baptismal today. He had filled the baptismal a tank from the old church building and put it in the back yard. The boys thought it made a great swimming pool! :)

The bridal shower was beautiful! It was outside, a gorgeous day, and a great time. Jenna and I didn't stay long since I hadn't spent much time with the boys today, and I wanted to get homes to them. After dropping Jenna off at her home, I headed back to pick up the kids. My mom had fed them supper, given them baths, and the kids were tired! We came home, visited with Grandma for a little bit, had Bible time, snack (we do a lot of eating here!) and bedtime. None of the boys protested about going to bed. :)

Sunday, September 7,2014

I'm so thankful that I'm raising thoughtful children! Emma shared her cold with me, and I really don't feel that great. If Roger was here, I probably would have stayed home. However, I knew if I went to church, at least some one would watch the kids and teach them. :) Since Emma still had a runny nose and contestion, I put her in the nursery to make sure all the others kids could share her germs! I'm kidding!!! I kept Emma with me, of course, which meant I didn't get to hear the service. :( My friend watched her for part of the morning service, since Chandler became a member today. Chandler was very excited about becoming a member, and I'm thankful for his eagerness to love God. He did fairly well about thanking Mrs. Scherzer for the gift, but he did get his hands confused and forgot which hand he was supposed to shake with. :) I'm really wanting to teach the boys to shake hands firmly, look the person in the eye, and be respectful. (I think guys with weak hand shakes need to take hand shaking lessons!!) I did have to fight tears this morning, as I wish Roger could have been here. 

After church, we had lunch with Grandma, Uncle Mark, Aunt Allison, Uncle Dale, and Uncle David. I'm always a little leary of going to lunch after church in Sunday since the kids are tired. Emma fell asleep on the way to the restaurant, but the kids did okay. Wyatt scared himself by choking on his soda, but other than that, it wasn't too bad. :) Emma promptly fell sleep in the truck in the way home, and Travis wasn't far behind. The older three boys talked about the Legos that their uncles had given them all the way home. (Dale and David graciously gave the boys some legos from when they were young). Upon arriving home, Emma did go back to sleep in her bed, but Travis was not convinced. Therefore it was Legos to play with, paperwork for the ladies meeting for me, and no more napping! :(

We left for church early, since I had a meeting to discuss our upcoming ladies meeting at church. The boys didn't mind since they got to play for a bit. :) I missed the evening service as well, since I had kept Emma out of the nursery. The older boys sat with some friends (and their friends parents!) I kept Emma, Wyatt and Travis with me. We worked a little on sitting quietly, and thankfully God provided me with a sweet friend to visit with during the service. (I don't recommend skipping church to fellowship, but God graciously blessed my heart by the encouragement of a friend)

After church, I practiced a special music song with some ladies, and realized that it's been a long time since I've sang! I'm going to have to find time to work on my part! :) But the fellowship was sweet, and we had lots of laughs! 

Roger and I are missing life together. He's been flying late at night, I've not been sleeping well, and it makes both of us more emotional. I'm convinced that the devil uses tiredness as a sure fire way to discourage me! Wyatt exploded into tears this week over missing his daddy, and I know exactly how he feels. (However, when I start crying, it just makes everything harder for the boys.)

Please continue to pray for Roger. He only has a few lessons left before the big test for his instrument rating. We also are praying about a job (I really want to stay where we are...so we need a BIG miracle!)

Please pray that I can catch up on my Bible reading. I've been trying to stay with the church reading schedule on reading through the Bible in a year, but I'm currently about four days behind. I need to catch up but finding time seems to elude me!!!

Monday, September 8, 2014

Today Emma turned thirteen months old. Now where did that time go?! It was a busy day as we started off our fourth week of school. Wyatt finished up a little early, and he got to go with papa to cut grass. He was very excited to go with Papa by himself! I left the older two boys at school with Nana, and Emma and I went to pick up milk, since we always seem to be out! When we picked up Travis from school, he teacher mentioned that he had a rough day. Apparently, he would cry off and on and say that he  missed mommy. :( However, when he got in the truck, he chatted all the way home about school, and he told me he was tired! (Naptime ahead!)

When we got home, my dad was arriving with his lawn mower to cut grass...thanks, Dad! Wyatt and Travis managed to "help" Papa. My mom arrived home with the older boys, and we all had lunch together. Then my dad mentioned that he was going to gather up scrap iron and maybe the boys would want to help! Oh, they immediately headed out to the garage to see what scrap they could find. I had to tell Chandler to go find his own metal...my cookie sheets were not going to the scrap yard!! Oh, and he did! He found some old rusty wheelbarrow that was back in the brush pile, and convinced his brothers to help him drag it out! My dad offered to take the boys along to his house to collect the rest of the scrap. I let the older three boys go, but Travis stayed home for a nap. I know he was tired as he never even protested about it!

I was supposed to have my plasma appointment today, but I was tempted to change it again. However Travis and Emma woke up before it was time to leave for plasma, so I took them along to the appointment. I don't particularly enjoy donating plasma, but I do like the little bit of extra money it provides. :)

After plasma, we headed to my parents to pick up the older boys. My mom said that they ate everything! She cooked up two pans of fried potatoes (from the garden), corn on the cob, apples, cucumbers, and ham and cheese sandwiches! And yes, they still had snack before bed!! I put on a movie for a few minutes for the boys, but they only made it about twenty minutes before I turned it off. Too much arguing, whiny children, and crying Emma did not make for a happy movie experience! Instead we waded through our verses for the Kings Kids program on Wednesday night, prayed, brushed teeth and went to bed...yay!

 Nothing last for forever right? Except eternity...and maybe this summer of separation! I'm tired, I need more sleep, I critized on off the boys for being whiny, and I'm not doing much better at the moment! On the bright side, Roger will be home for the weekend in nine days..."I think I can do it!" :) I'm thankful that God never has a bad attitude, never withholds his Grace from me, and He is always waiting to hear my prayers! 

This is my dad...next to my Roger, he is one of my favorite people. He has been so helpful this summer in cutting grass, taking the boys with him places, helping me keep up with trash, and a gazilllion other things...I'm blessed!