Day# No title

Journal writing 

One big wrestling match after another today! 

She looks so excited about math! 

I am surely hoping that April showers will bring May flowers! Today we woke up to a very dreary day outside, which makes motivation very low on the totem pole. Last week was “spring break” technically, but it was not a wildly exciting week. Regardless we did have food to eat, clothes to wear, and a house to live in-much to be thankful for in our lives!

Our school will continue remote learning until May 29, which will then be our last day of school. I’ll be honest, I cried last week when I heard that school was continuing until May 29th. Granted it is still two weeks earlier than we are scheduled to be done, but I am just weary. I told Roger that I am just trying to keep this boat floating! I’m not into steering or paddling but rather just trying to keep the boat floating! Our children are enjoying all the outdoor time, family time, and relaxed time, but I know that they are all missing going to actual school. We all miss our teachers (having mom teach is NOT the same thing!) our friends, and the activities of school life. Regardless, we are taking one day at a time- along much of our nation! Our confidence is not in mankind but in the power of God!

Emma did not read every day last week, and I was surprised at how much harder that made school for her today. I am seeing the importance of having her stick with her reading over the summer months. We have two children that really do not enjoy reading, so it is sometimes a struggle to keep everyone doing what needs to get done. They love to have me read-a-loud to them, but several of our children really struggle to find something that they enjoy reading on their own. We put one foot in front of the other, and I try not to focus on one thing at a time.

Emma, Wyatt and Travis had the opportunity to talk to a few of their classmates today via Facebook messenger. Emma was very excited to see Lucy, and Wyatt and Travis enjoyed a few minutes speaking with Abel. It was probably Claire and I that were the most excited to see each other, and we interrupted our children’s conversations several times to talk to each other! When you haven’t seen someone for five weeks, it’s so good to “see” them again! Claire is a good friend, and I am thankful for her. We look forward to the day when we can work together on school events again, which may not be until next year. However, that being said, I do have a specific prayer request. Will you pray with us that the restrictions on our gatherings in our state will be lifted enough that we will be able to come together for some type of year end gathering? I feel that some type of picnic or fellowship would help us all get some closure to the school year before we break off into summer break. It’s a big prayer request!

What are you resting in today? Resting in mankind is foolishness. Resting in technology is unwise. Resting in the reporting of the “experts” or “media” will certainly not provide rest. Our rest, our hope, our confidence is in God and God alone! I’ve been reading through the Psalms- again, and I am always reminded of how often David calls out to the Lord to rescue him. We cannot let our emotions run wild and crazy, but rather trust in God and His Word. He is faithful.

Roger had to work today, and we are thankful that his job still has work. Today was non-flyable, but Roger still did a lot of paperwork and other odd jobs that needed to get done. We are thankful that Roger is still working. We really just have so much to be thankful for as we have a home, heat, food, clothes, and all the things that we need.

Maine News: Our stay-at-home or safer-at-home mandate is set to expire on Thursday. However, our governor announced today that she is expecting to extend that mandate. I’ll be honest- I do not agree with this decision as I see so many, many hurting businesses that may not be able to get through this if our state does not ease up on some of these restrictions soon. Now, clearly, I am not in charge and I am not an expert. And I work very hard at keeping my opinion off of social media. However, you choose to read this post tonight, so this is free! :) As a child of God, I absolutely believe that every single life is precious in the eyes of God. And we have 51 deaths in our states as of today. I would like to point out that the majority of these deaths occurred in older people, which are still precious and valuable people. However...it wasn’t that long ago that these exact people that are now touting that every life is valuable and precious and these that think we should keep the state in lockdown are the same people that were proclaiming that we should legalize the euthanasia of those that are critically ill. Oh, and clearly if you want an abortion then that  life is not valuable (insert sarcasm here!) You can’t have it both ways! Either we value all lives...all the time...or not all lives are valuable! And while I absolutely believe that we should value all lives, we also have to consider many other factors in this war on Coronavirus. Okay, I’m getting off this rabbit trail. I do have an opinion that runs much deeper and stronger than what was posted here, but I’m getting off track. We have 1,023 cases of Coronavirus in our state. We have 51 total deaths. And we have 423 active cases in our state. (And we have 1.3 million people that live in our state.)

Please continue to pray for our state and our nation. I do believe that God is at work, and we need to pray and fast while we wait. Take heart in the promises of God tonight.

Day # 40 (Unplanned Haircuts)

Haircut! Just a big chunk right out of the side! 

Can you believe that this is day #40?! Ahhh!! And we are all still alive and breathing, and I still love my kids!

Today felt like a spring day! Hooray! The sun was shining, a little bit of wind, but lots of sun. Spring has a specific smell in my opinion, and it smelled like spring today. We spent most of the day outside. During this season of quarantine, the boys have spent hours and hours outside! They have grown both physically and mentally over these past few weeks. I’m hoping that they will look back on these weeks of quarantine as a time when they created good memories, and their faith grew. God is still faithful regardless of how my fears want to squelch my faith. God is unchangeable in all of this. I’m also hoping that their clothes will last until the thrift stores open back up! Wyatt and Travis are back to being about the same size, and Chandler has grown several inches in the last month. He is now as tall as I am (not a huge accomplishment, but still!)

We hiked for several miles this afternoon while Roger was working. Garett and I did trash in the morning, and then the boys worked on their bike trail. Since they got all the lumber from the neighbor yesterday, they spent some time today cutting up the lumber and putting it over the really, muddy spots on their trails. Seems like a lot of work to me, but hey! They were motivated to do it, and the yelling was minimal!

We hiked at a preserve this afternoon that had multiple trails all over the property. It was interesting to follow the kids as they hiked around. At each intersection of the trail, a different child picked which way to go. Wyatt was the first to realize that we had backtracked over the trail due to the directions that were picked. I was waiting to see which child would pick up on that first. It didn’t matter as we didn’t really have any plans or a particular direction, so we just wandered all over.

Emma cut her hair today. Ugh! Oh well! She cut her doll’s hair first, and then cut her own hair. I’m not too bothered by it actually, as it’s just not something that needs to bother me right now. Clearly, I gave her firm instructions to never do that again, but Chandler told her “It looks terrible. But since we aren’t going anywhere right now, I guess it doesn’t matter how you look!” Trust a brother to tell you how it really is!

Maine news...we’ve reached over 1000 cases of Coronavirus, but we still have more recovered than have the illness. It seems like that would be the good news in the media, but I always feel like I have to completely read through the news articles to find the news about the recoveries. Maybe that’s why I don’t keep up with the news more...truth seems to be hard to find these days, and there is so much that is negative and depressing. That’s not what I want my mind to be focused on. I want my mind to be focused on the truths of God’s Word, and the promises that He gives to His children.

Very thankful for these five!

Worst enemies and best friends! 

Lots of laughter and exercise 

                                                                     Blessed

Almost, Almost Done!!

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22

A week ago we found ourselves enjoying warm, sunny, June-temp weather. This week we are experiencing much cooler temperatures, rain, and a bit of a lack of sunshine! Oh well!! We have seven days left of school, and these are the crazy days! There are numerous field trips and events happening with the five kids in school! We are looking forward to being done with the school year and on to summer vacation!

Last Wednesday we headed out to Matinicus Island to mow grass again. With the beautiful warm weather last week, the grass grew quickly! Roger was working that day, so I picked up the kids from school. We headed out to the airport, had to wait a bit, and then loaded up for another family fun event. Growing up I often remember my dad saying that “we are going to have family fun night tonight”. All three of us girls would inwardly groan as we knew that really meant - work!! However, those memories and events did teach us about hard work and working together. The boys weren’t terribly excited about mowing grass again, but their enthusiasm picked up when some friends on the Island brought them watermelon and cookies! Kim and Gary live out on the island, and Gary is the one who fixed the riding lawnmower. He also came down to the runway to help Roger get it started. While it still felt like it took us a while to complete the job, it did go a bit smoother and quicker since the grass was shorter and the riding lawnmower was working. The mosquitoes were out in force, but we survived and the job was done!

On Thursday Roger continued on with his ten day work streak, while Emma and I worked on some  things for VBS, shopped for hot lunch, and I worked on some music lesson plans for our last music  class that would be on Monday. These are some long days for Roger, but he is helping to train a few new pilots. And once school lets out, we are going to try to coordinate some summer family events    for our family. Roger is working long and hard now so that we can hopefully take some days as a family after Vacation Bible School. This event for our church will take place a little over a week after school gets out. I’ve been doing some of the leg work to help coordinate workers, decorations, places to have the classes, etc. VBS is never a quick and easy event, but I do enjoy the opportunity to prepare and plan for things like this. I felt a little bit like I was back in my college days as I prepared a mission statement, teaching ideas, and other such papers for our meeting. I did wonder after college if I would use my degree in church and Childrens ministries, but I was thankful this week for that degree. I find it hard to know if I’m doing a good job if Roger isn’t around to give me feedback, but I just continue to pray, prepare and plan to the best that I know how. I majored in college in church and Childrens ministries because I felt that those were important and needed areas in our churches. I still firmly believe that having a Vacation Bible School, a Sunday school for kids, and other such ministries are necessary and important. I don’t want to become complacent in a ministry just because I’ve done it for a long time or it’s tradition for a church. I want to be excited and vibrant about it because there are little souls out there that also need Jesus. I recently read an article stating the important of reaching children between the ages of four and fourteen. The article was stating that it’s in these basic children’s years that their view of God, basic theology, and major spiritual decisions are made. We cannot sacrifice reaching children during these vital years because we become complacent or settled in the fact “I guess we should do VBS because it’s what we’ve always done”. No! Be excited and intentional in reaching these souls for eternity! Okay, I’ll get off that horse now!

Anyways, on Friday I helped with yet another hot lunch. I think we are up to our 35 or 36 hot lunch of this school year. I’m kinda ready for a break on this too!  The mom that usually helps me with hot lunch wasn’t feeling well, and the other lady that helped us earlier in the year has hurt her arm. That left just myself for making French toast, doing potatoes, and making smoothies! I knew that I couldn’t manage all that, so I asked Allison to help me!  I know that Fridays are a busy day for her in    the church office, but she agreed to come make the smoothies. Google to the rescue! I always just  dump in some stuff to make a smoothie, but we needed to make a bunch of them. Claire had brought    us her blender, and that was a huge help!  This lunch was a bit of a hodgepodge as we try to clean out   our freezer. We had frozen some fruit from an earlier lunch, and it was Allison’s job to make it taste delicious! She succeeded! We had some happy children are hot lunch and the smoothies were a hit! Hooray!

Honestly, last week was long and hard for me. Roger was working a lot, I’ve been battling a lot of headaches, and it was a bit discouraging. Someone commented to me after school on Friday something that they thought I should have my children change. I’m not saying that I shouldn’t make my children change in the area that they were demanding (oh, I mean suggesting) however, sometimes there are just more gracious ways that somethings can be said. It put a damper on my day, and after already being tired from a long week, I just wanted to go home and mope about it. But that’s not a very good example to our children, it’s not the right response, and that wouldn’t fix anything, would it?! Instead, I took my children home, made supper, and thanked the Lord that the week was coming to a close!

Sunday had Roger working again, but this stretch is almost over. We have been doing the opening for  Sunday school for the last few months now, but it’s a lot different when Roger isnt there. It went fine, I think, but I miss him. After church, three of the boys went home with the Pastor and his family. Chandler had a headache so he came home with me. He’s been struggling with headaches again lately, so we’ve been back to having him drink a lot more water and take some melatonin to help him fall asleep easier at night. He and Emma did very well together all afternoon and I was able to finish up all the papers for the VBS meeting before church. I also made a rhubarb dessert for Roger, brownies for my music classes tomorrow, and one of the desserts for the eighth grade graduation on Monday night. Roger didn’t make it to church, but he called me just as we were leaving church. It was nice to have him home before it was bedtime for the kids.

Monday was a crazy day....and I knew it would be! It was my last music class for the year, and I wanted to do something fun with my classes. So I brought in treats, we played games, and we praised the Lord for some of the things He had done in music class over the past year. I’ve enjoyed this year of teaching music classes. I’ve been challenged, encouraged, motivated to learn and grow in music, and I hope be a blessing to these students. It was a lot of hard work, and I’m happy to have a break. I may be returning to that in the fall, we will see what God does. After music classes, I picked up Emma. Then we went home and I made a blueberry pie and an Oreo cheesecake for the graduation tonight. About four weeks ago, it was brought to Allison’s attention that there is generally a meal for the graduates, their families, teachers and staff, and classmates before the graduation. Allison had asked if I would be willing to help with the dinner. Well, yes! And my schedule didn’t look busy at the time! We planned a baked potato bar, with ham, salad, and pies for dessert. The weather was rainy on Monday, which worked out because Roger was done with work early. I had sent Allison a text saying I thought we both were a bit crazy! She replied that she was busy taking flowers from her sister-in-laws yard for the table centerpieces in the rain!! Yes, crazy! We didn’t have as many people as we had anticipated, but that’s okay because my kids had baked potatoes for lunch all this week!!

I had been asked last week if I would play the piano for the graduation. I was happy to help with music, except I wasn’t familiar with the songs picked out. I purchased music for the songs, spent hours practicing and listening to you tube videos...but there are many variations of the same song!    The song was one that is generally led with a guitar and a lead singer of which I had neither. It’s one thing to play the music as originally written and at the tempo originally written in, but it’s another  thing entirely when the audience has heard it differently on the radio! Truthfully, it was a bit discouraging and disheartening, but maybe someday I’ll get better at the delivery from the piano. I guess I’ll just keep working at that!

I went on a field trip on Tuesday  and another field trip on Wednesday. With five kids in schools, there are lots of field trips to go on! My sister, Hannah,watched Emma on Tuesday so I could go on the field trip. Emma was happy to spend the day with her, and after school we headed up to Hannah’s house for supper. Due to the rainy weather, Roger was able to come with us to Hannah and Josh’s house, so that was special for us. The boys have missed Roger, so it was good to have some time with him.

Today Roger had off of work!! Hooray! We were able to get in a long walk together after dropping the kids off at school. Roger headed home to get some things done while I went on a field trip with Travis’s class. He went to Home Depot, and those kids had a great time! You wouldn’t think that the Home Depot would be that exciting but the kindergarten and first graders loved it! They got to do a craft, tour the store, have a snack, and it was fun. I’m pretty sure that the kids will all go home and  report to their parents about the dog poop that was in the aisle! We were on our tour, when the smell of dog poop grew really strong! Someone’s dog had made a mess in the aisle, and it will create a  memory for sure! The snack that the store prepared for the students was delicious, and it far exceeded my expectations. They gave the kids juice, goldfish, granola bars, and lots of fresh fruit. I am thankful  that I had the opportunity to go on this field trip with Travis. It’s been a busy and full week, but God has been so faithful and gracious to me.

We are trying to enjoy these last few crazy days of school. The boys are delighted with all the fun activities that are happening, and it’s fun to see them excited. Emma has been learning in school the verse that states “a friend loveth  at all times”. Travis was annoying her this past week and she told him “Mrs. Robertson’s (her teacher) Bible says that a friend loveth at all times. Is that not in your Bible, Travis?” It’s been interesting as she has been learning Bible verses! I sure do love these kids!

  

  

 Field Trip Fun! Travis and Abel 

 

Beautiful Weather, Small Struggles, Life!

What a beautiful week of fall weather we enjoyed this week! We spent lots of time outside after school working in the yard, cleaning and playing and getting ready for the colder weather as it will be coming!

Monday was spent teaching music classes, helping to supervise lunch duty, and a few errands in the afternoon. Emma and I went to visit one of the elderly ladies in our church. She doesn’t get out much, and my friend, Allison, had mentioned that this particular lady was lonely. I don’t know her very well, but it was good for Emma and I to visit her. We didn’t stay very long, just about half and hour, but the lady seemed like she certainly enjoyed the visit. Truth be told, I don’t feel like I “have time” to visit with people, but if ministry is about touching people’s lives for eternity than I firmly believe that each believer has a responsibility to “make time” for visiting with others. My dad is one of the best people I know about making time to invest in others so I grew up with a great example of that. It’s also important to me that our children see us make the time to invest in other people’s lives be it by having them over for dinner, visiting them in their home, making a blessings basket, or just simply trying to meet some of the needs of those around us. Hmm...that was a bit of a rabbit trail, but oh well!

The boys also had soccer practice on Monday afternoon, so that made for a bit of a long day.  However, it so nice to be outside just playing with the other children during this week of beautiful weather. Tuesday  morning was spent visiting with another mama and her little ones. Roger was  working so after dropping off the boys at school Emma and I headed to a play date. It was a good   morning spent enjoying Bethany’s company and watching the little ones play. We didn’t stay very  long as I needed to get home. Emma and I puttered around the house the rest of the day working on    laundry and getting out clothes for the colder weather.

The boys were very excited about school on Wednesday, well at least the older two were excited! Their teacher had a field trip planned for Wednesday morning, and the boys were looking forward to it. Roger had the day off today, so he was able to join the boys on their field trip. The class went to a Transportation Museum in our area. The class has been studying about Orville and Wilbur Wright, so one of the volunteers at the museum spent some time discussing them. Then another volunteer showed the class around the museum. I don’t think the volunteers see a whole lot of action/people at the museum, and this particular guide was a bit lengthy with his words. However, the class did a good job of paying attention and trying to participate. This particular guide also seemed to have a very small personal space bubble and he didn’t mind being in other people’s space. It was actual a bit humorous as he would ask the kids a question and be standing about eight inches from their noses. It gave me a laugh and it’s a memory from the field trip. The kids seemed to have a good time, but of course they would, after all it was a morning spent outside the classroom! After returning the boys to School and picking up Emma, we decided to take a walk on one of the local trails. It’s been such unseasonable warm weather that we have been soaking it up as much as possible. We had a good walk together and then returned to the school. We had brought two vehicles into School that morning so that one of us could stay for soccer practice while the other went home. I took Emma and Travis home with me to prepare supper and get ready for the next day, while Roger waited for the boys to finish practice. Travis must’ve had a rough day as he was a basket case on the way home. The day  before he had spent some time after school cleaning out the truck. He had done a great job, and Emma had dropped some trash on the floor by the time Wednesday afternoon came around. I could  not grasp why Travis was having such a meltdown over a few pieces of trash that could be easily fixed, but eventually I realized that this was actually just the straw that broke the camels back. He realized today that he wasn’t getting very good grades in class and that he wasn’t on the same reading pages as the rest of the class. (It’s not something I’ve been hiding from him, I just haven’t felt the    need to remind him that he is struggling in school.) And also he wasn’t chosen to help with anything special for his class chapel on Friday, and he didn’t understand his Bible verse, and the truck was a mess, and he didn’t really like School! Oh dear! That was a long list of struggles for a small boy!  After sorting through many of his struggles and listening, he moved on with his afternoon. He spent much of the afternoon out in the back yard just playing in the sandbox and playing with his farm  stuff. My heart hurts for this little boy, but I know that God understands Travis’s feelings and  emotions far better than I do. I’m just trying to be a mama that encourages him, listens to him, and points him to Jesus.

Thursday was spent working on a variety of projects with Roger. He had the day off so we spent some time clearing out stuff that needs to be taken to the dump. It was a productive day of hard work, but we both felt like we accomplished some much needed chores. We took several trips to the dump, and got rid of a lot more stuff than we would’ve had the kids been around. And so far, none of them have mentioned that anything is missing. In the afternoon, before picking up the boys, Emma and I went to visit Mrs. Welch. She is a local pastors wife, and a friend of ours. I try to visit at least once a month, but sometimes time gets away from me. We enjoyed a good afternoon talking about many topics. After school we took the boys on a hike. One of the big cruise ships was in the bay today, so we hiked out to one of the lighthouse perches to see if we could get a better glimpse. We didn’t get to see the cruise ship...we could not see it at all actually. However we had a good time hiking, finding sea glass, and enjoy8ng a beautiful afternoon. When we returned to the truck, we realized that although Roger had locked the vehicle, one of the doors as left wide open! Thankfully, nothing was missing, but it was certainly  a reminder to be a bit more careful! Thursday was also the day that I prepped for hot lunch and made haddock chowder. Roger was given haddock at work, so I made a chowder with it. It must’ve been good because everyone had two helpings. I didn’t bother to mention that the broth was puréed cauliflower and cottage cheese, and those “potatoes” were actually radishes! No need to mention anything about the nutritional value to them, but I certainly took great delight in their lavish reviews of the chowder!

  

 

Friday is always a long day. No matter how prepared I try to be, or how much I try to plan out the days it’s still just a long day. Hot lunch today was meatballs, garlic bread, noodles and sauce, salad, and cookies. I brought my nesco for the meatballs, and my crockpot for the sauce. Pastor Mark has been lighting the stove for me on Fridays as I’ve become a bit intimidated by it since I almost lit my  hair on fire a few weeks ago. Overall hot lunch has been going very smoothly this year. We are staying in budget, the kids and staff are enjoying it, and it’s becoming part of the Friday routine. After cleaning up from lunch, Emma and I took lunch out to Roger, picked up another gallon of milk (something we do often!) and returned to the school. I spent some time in the afternoon working with the older class on some of the music for the Christmas program. That thing (the Christmas program) lurks in the back of my mind on a daily basis, and I find myself thinking about it often. I’m glad for the opportunity, but I’ll breathe a sigh of relief after December 8th! After school, two of the boys had piano lessons so the rest of us just waited and played outside in the beautiful sunshine. We do need some rain though, so that is a prayer request also. It was a long day, but a good day. We were all thankful for come home, eat supper, and watch a movie together. Well, Roger and Emma fell asleep during the movie, and I ended up working on a grocery list, but it’s nice to be home all together without any plans.

Saturday dawned as another beautiful day here in Maine. Roger and the boys gathered up things in the yard to put away, and then Garett and Roger had the opportunity to go fly together for a bit. Flying is Garett’s all-time favorite thing to do, and I’m thankful that the opportunity presented itself. After their flying adventures, we met up at a fall fastival at one of the local churches. How things have changed in a year! A year ago, we were still adapting and adjusting and trying to make friends, and this year we attended the fall festival at another church with the opportunity to see many of our  friends from School. We didn’t stay real long as Saturday’s tend to fly by. Roger took the kids home, while I went now grocery shopping...by myself! Hooray! I certainly don’t mind taking them with me, but it’s soemthing that I can think better about when I go by myself. This week the kids will be having plenty of yogurt in their lunch boxes as that was on sale!

We spent Saturday evening taking a hike up Beech Hill. The Philbrook’s invited us to climb up the hill with them. So we both packed up sandwiches and kids, and we enjoyed a beautiful hike in this gorgeous fall weather. The evening was a good mix of fun, exercise, fellowship, and enjoying God’s creation. I’m thankful for these opportunities and we need to make these informal outings happen more often...but life is busy!

 

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!