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Friday, 20 November 2009

So if you pop onto Xanga and are shocked to find a pink background on your blog because you've totally forgotten what your site looks like, has it been too long? I'm thinking I may as well give up Xanga if I can't keep it up, so here's one more attempt. And I might get around to changing my theme while I'm at it. But then again, if I wait another week, I can change it to Christmas. Can't believe it's almost that time already.
Where do I start? If you don't like randomness and lots of pictures, you can stop now cuz I have no idea where this post is headed. One of the main things in our life right now is our plans to build a store. Steve has been dreaming of having a bulk food store & deli for years, and finally got me totally on board. We had decided we won't do anything til we get our house paid off, and that happened in October. I figured we'd wait a while after that, but after much prayer and asking other people for advice, this seemed like the right time to go ahead with it, so that's what we're doing! We went to PA in October and visited several stores on our way and some while we were there. Got lots of good ideas! We've had so much rain this fall it was kinda hard to get started, but several weeks ago we broke ground and Mervin & Steve have spent many nights (and occasionally days) working out there. And Aaron's out there helping them tonight. The store will be on our property, which is very handy for us. For some reason, all my pictures from the first night are blurry, but here's one anyhow.

And a few pics from the couple of times they worked during the day.
Steve rented this Bobcat for a week and had WAY too much fun with it.

And the kids have had WAY too much fun playing in all the mud, dirt & gravel out there.

Cody taking it all in.

The boys got to have some fun with Daddy.

Another big thing last month was an Italian dinner 4 of us couples did for the ministers. Original plans were to do it outside on Levi's patio, but the weather wasn't cooperating, so we kept it inside. One nice thing was that the decor was easier this way. Here are a few pics from that evening.
The table. Denise did a great job, and I wish my pictures would do justice to how nice she fixed it up.

The ministers and their wives

The cooks

The waiters

After dinner we got them to play the dating game (I think it's also called the newlywed game). Good times!

And can't forget Denise with her black tie mousse cake - she was looking forward to it all day long!

Anyhow, we had a great evening and I hope they did, too. Lots of laughter and fellowship.
The very next day was Lexi's birthday. I feel rather old admitting that I have a child in the double digits. But she was so excited about turning 10 that I couldn't help but be excited too. She had her friends over Saturday afternoon for a party.

It didn't suit Grandpas to come over that day so we celebrated again after church Sunday evening.

And today was Trevor's birthday. He could hardly sleep last night he was so excited. And he had quite the party - seemed to last all day long. He had 5 of his friends over this morning and for lunch - the moms came for lunch too. And Kyle got to stay til school was out. Then we did Thanksgiving plates at the school this afternoon and brought Logan home with us. Logan was here til just before Grandpas, Dave, Monica & Dakota came. We had cake & ice cream with them. Trevor had lots of fun and got a lot of things he had been wishing for. For his cake he wanted a race track. We had looked at ideas on the internet and I saw some really neat ones, but when he saw one with orange ramps, no other cake would do. It's not exactly like the picture we saw, but he was pleased and I guess that's what counts.
Making the cake - they had fun licking out the bowl.

This expression is so typical Cody I had to include it.

Celebrating with his friends

He is also the proud owner of real boots at last, thanks to Uncle Dave. Cody likes them, too.

Somehow Grandma knew exactly what he wanted - aren't grandmas the best?

Showing off some of his loot.

And I promise I'll quit now with a few random shots
Audrey with her beloved kitties

Trevor & Cody enjoying the LOVELY weather we've had.

Cody loves to help me in the kitchen - I think we were making pancakes here. His stirring gets a little wild if left unsupervised.

Thursday, 25 June 2009

So I'm trying to house clean the kitchen & living room and the children find a way to turn it into play (no pun intended). When I asked Lexi to take down the curtains yesterday, she thought they would be perfect for a stage and she & Audrey rigged this up.

So I sat on a little chair and watched them act out Cinderella. VERY entertaining, and I could barely keep the giggles on the inside when I saw the mean stepsister appear on stage.

Lexi was Cinderella

And now we're at the ball. Enter Prince Charming, then Cinderella arrives and they dance as the mean step-mother looks on.

Cinderella tries on the slipper

And they all lived happily ever after.
Later they were hanging out underneath the air conditioner when I took the vent off the cold air return to clean it. Lexi was hoping upon hope that this would turn into a secret passageway of some sorts (she reads too many mysteries), but since that wasn't the case, a clubhouse was next best.

Friday, 29 May 2009

So much for the promised lengthy post. I soon decided no one wants to read month-old news, and to be completely honest, I just plain plumb didn't feel like posting. I write all kinds of xanga posts in my head, but that's as far as they usually get. But here are some pictures from yesterday - how's that for recent news?
This is how our office looked yesterday morning.

And this is how it looked last night.

After many times of hearing, "Isn't there a way we could keep this office organized better?" I started thinking this would be a great b-day gift for Steve. His birthday was last Friday, but Jason wasn't able to do the bookcases & shelf til yesterday. Jason did all our cabinets and the built-in desk when we built this house 5 years ago, and we had thought about doing the bookcases then but decided not to spend the money. So I was happy that Jason agreed to put these in for us even though he doesn't live around here anymore. My biggest fear about doing it now was that Steve would be upset since we don't quite have the house paid off, but he's thrilled with it. And best of all, we surprised him. The kids knew about it and they did a great job of keeping a secret! Steve kept asking about his gift, and I thought he might have figured it out and was just acting dumb. We were all eagerly waiting yesterday when he came home from work, and had fun watching his mouth drop open. He was totally surprised. I still have some organizing and cleaning to do in there, and then the thing is to keep it that way. I think I might even enjoy paying bills since I have room to spread out on the desk.
Happy weekend to everyone! Til later.....

Friday, 24 April 2009

Don't you just love when you start reading a book and it feels like it was written for you personally? My mom stopped in last Saturday and gave me a book - "Tender Mercy for a Mother's Soul" by Angela Thomas. She was like you have to read this book, and I'm thinking, yeah there are lots of books I need to read but when will I ever find the time. But we make time for the things that are important to us, don't we? I started reading on Sunday and I knew Mom was right, I did need to read this book. And I'm going to have to read it several times to soak in all the things I'm learning from it. I've been on survival mode alone for so long, and I'm seeing there is a better way, and it is possible to grow in Christ, even in the busyness of being a mom.
A couple of excerpts:
This book is about caring for your soul in the season of motherhood. That's right - caring for your soul. Most of us haven't really thought about it lately, but the ache in your heart that will not go away is your soul crying out for attention. I know it sounds impossible. I know that your life is incredibly busy. I know that your children are the busiest children ever born. But it is imperative that we stop and find Jesus in all of this.
We cannot impart what we do not possess. If I am not crazy in love with Jesus, then how can I expect that my children ever will be?
Mothering is about giving. We give at every level of emotional, mental, and physical engery. We give until there is nothing left..... But to give and give without being replenished is to eventually become barren & dry. I have struggled mightily with my spiritual life since becoming a mother. Inconsistency gives way to frustration, and eventually the whole effort can seem hopeless. But this, my sisters, is the place where we must summon every ounce of courage we have left. This is the battle we must fight.....We must pray Psalm 23 for ourselves and ask the Lord to come and restore our souls......We cannot possibly love as we ought from the dryness of a barren desert.
We are designed to function poorly, to feel overwhelmed and alone apart from our relationship with Jesus. We are made to be lost without God. If you look to yourself or some worldly effort to fill your soul, then you are left empty because your soul was formed as God's dweling place.......There is depth to your soul, perhaps more than you can see right now. God wants to unveil so much more....Doing is not being. Surviving is not truly living. Your soul must be protected, attended to, and cared for.
Motherhood is an incredibly complicated endeavor. It has made us into remarkable women.....We are excellent at getting it all done, at least for a season. But somehow, in the scramble of details and production, we begin to expect that impressive accomplishment will fill our souls. When it doesn't, we turn to the people who are closest to us and desperately charge them with the assignment. Little by little, over the years, we can unwittingly turn our eyes from our Savior to ourselves, our circumstances, and our families. The changes are subtle, the turning is ever so slight, and years can go by before we recognize that the distance from us to God has become a canyon. When we have not stayed with God, when we do not abide in His presence daily, then we wander recklessly through life, holding our cup out to anyone and anything, doing bigger and better tricks, hoping that one of them, or some mysterious combination of all of them, will fill the empty place. Our season of motherhood can be radically transformed if we will bring the empty cup of our souls and hold it out to the life-giving water of Jesus. His presence is like a huge cup of java for the soul.
When my soul began to wake up, I realized that the way back to God was through prayer. I began praying intently for refreshment from God, and I encourage you to begin seeking our Father through prayer.....Pray until He comes. God always, always comes.
There is so much more I could share from the book, but I need to move along. If you feel like you are just surviving instead of LIVING, I recommend this book - it has been a tremendous blessing to me already!
P.S. Expect to see a lengthy post in the near future - we have been going & doing a LOT the last couple months.

Wednesday, 18 February 2009

First Signs of Spring

Steve took this picture with his phone yesterday - yeah for the bluebonnets!

I am so ready for spring - green trees, green grass, flowers, warm weather - bring it on!!!!! It even feels like spring today - beautiful sunshine and my clothelines are full of laundry flapping in the breeze - love that feeling! In other news, life keeps going full-speed around here, kiddos keep growing, never a dull moment, etc. This week is a bit more relaxed though and I'm enjoying it to the max. And once again I will just share some random pics to give an update on our lives.
Last month we had a 60th birthday celebration for this special lady.

She was a very good sport about it and hopefully she enjoyed it as much as we did. And now I know that it is possible to fit all the church ladies in my house - I think they were all here except for about 4 of them, and we could have squeezed them in somewhere.
The last weekend in January Steve & I took a business trip/belated anniversary getaway. Moved a building from Oklahoma to Arkansas then took the rest of the weekend off.

What a wonderful weekend - so refreshing and you come home wanting to be a mom again.
A couple weeks ago we went to PA to help this acouple celebrate their wedding day.

Jason is Steve's younger brother and they're only 15 months apart. It was very special to be there. A lovely day! Didn't take any pictures of this, but we also went in to Ohio Sunday evening and got to go see where my mom & dad are living for the winter. All my siblings were there except for Monica. It was short and sweet, but so glad I got to see Yvonne again cuz I don't know if I'll make it out to California before they go to Brazil.
Cody "helping" with the laundry as he loves to do.

Enjoying a sunny day outside last week

Lexi showing off some of the chocolate-dipped strawberries she did for our Valentines supper Sat. night

Another picture from Sat. night. They were both sacked out after a battle of the wills (Daddy won, btw)

And we are all missing this lovely aunt/sister who is over in Asia for a month.

Next week she'll be taking care of some children in Thailand, and as you can tell, she has lots of experience. Miss you Monica, and hope you're having a wonderful time over there!
I finally signed up on Facebook cuz Monica said it would be a good way to keep up with her while she's gone. It's still a bit confusing but I'm seeing why it can become addictive. As if I need one more thing to do online. Oh well. I've always said one reason I am not as good a housekeeper as my Mom is because I have internet access. It might also be a lack of discipline??
And that's all for now folks. Take care til next time!