Cows, Pirates and Water Guns...OH MY!!

Remember when I said I love to be busy? I take it back! LOL This weekend has been so busy I haven't had time to think straight. Friday was the twins 4th birthday and our trip to the dairy farm. I think between 2 cameras (mine and my sister-in-laws) almost 500 pictures were taken. Yes...you read that right! It went very well. Everyone behaved well, there was no fighting and we even had great customer service! When we were getting our wrist bands the boys told the lady it was their birthday. She told them that if they got to see a baby cow born today then they were to come and tell her. My first thought was maybe they would get to pet it or something cool like that, nothing big... man was I wrong. We DID get to see a baby be born! It was an amazing thing to experience! So, of course the boys were like we have to tell "that" lady. We walk all the way back to the front, and its a long walk, and get hit by a TON of school kids coming...3 buses full. William politely tells her that the boys have something to tell her (during a break of checking in all those kids). She then hands them a stuffed cow that has a birth certificate and all. By the way...anyone can adpot one of those cows for $15...and she just GAVE each of the twins one!! What a blessing!! They were SO surprised and thanked her over and over! It was a fun filled day! Full of a bus tour to see the cow farm, eating lunch (including their amazing ice cream), getting to see a baby cow born and playing on some of the wonderful outside things they have for kids. We also had a nice lady that helped the boys wash their hands in the bathroom while I was using it. And one of the staff helped Weston when he fell and got hurt! What a blessing! I'm having a hard time deciding what pictures of the 500 to post so I'm sure you'll see more in my other post, but here's a few!

So like I said in my last post the boys birthday was a small gathering and I must say it was nice. We had a hard time getting them to agree on the same cake and then when they agreed Weston didn't understand that they were getting ONE cake to share and threw a fit because he wanted that cake. Once we finally worked it out I would have to say that they made a great choice! I would love to be one of those moms that make the cake and go all out, but I'll leave that to you creative and more talented moms. :) It was a beautiful day so we got to spend some time out side and put those water guns to use! LOL I will let the pictures explain the rest!

YES!!! Those are more water guns!! Just to clarify, those are not the ones that we bought at the store the other day...they got more!! So along with the triple slip-n-slide and about 8 water guns total we are set! Do I hear water fight?? Thats exactly what happened today. I was standing at the back door when all of sudden Isaac starts shooting through the screen door, needless to say I was the one standing there! LOL Oh yeah, can you tell that we had a pirate theme? It was great!

I almost forgot. Masons piano recital went amazingly well!! He did fantastic! I was so proud of him! He didn't mess up and got to play it through twice. He even bowed, which he was really nervous about. I am working on getting the video up and I had my mother in law take the pictures so I will dedicate a whole post to that when I get everything worked out. Did I mention I am SO proud of him! haha

It was a very eventful weekend!! Now I leave you with some of my new favorite sleeping pictures! ENJOY!! :)

Lots to come later

So we have had a very eventful weekend already and its just the afternoon of Saturday. We made a trip to Fair Oaks Dairy Farm for the twins birthday yesterday and I have lots of pictures and things to tell you all, including some more good customer service! Today we are having their birthday party! Loads of fun!! The boys asked about Jacob coming, but I knew that you guys had pink eye going around and I didn't want to bug ya. So we'll have to get together later. They were really sad that none of thier "friends" were coming. There are alot of our family members out of town so it will just be a small gathering, but I am looking forward to that.

Today is also Masons first piano recital!! He has only been playing for a little over 3 months and I can't believe that he's ready for something like this. I'm going to video record and see if I can figure out how to post his performance on here.

Gotta run! Lots to do and very, very busy! Remember when I said I love to be busy? I'm starting to rethink that. LOL :)

Random Thoughts

The past few days have been very busy. For those of you that don't know...I love to be busy!! Especially during this season of my life.




The kids and I thought we would go and pick strawberries today...I guess we thought wrong. We get there, mind you that the twins had been up very early and I was doing everything to keep them awake, and they were closed! Nothing and no one was there. Apparently the
srawberries weren't ready to be picked yet and we have to wait until next week...maybe. If anyone wants to join me on my venture I'd love it! I'll make sure I call first this time though. :) Oh,
the minute I told Weston and Isaac that they were closed I turned around and they were asleep!



So instead we did a trip to Chick Fil-a for lunch. Then to Big Lots to try to find a new cushion for our swing, but we walked out with water guns and a gigantic plastic golf club and ball! Seriously...don't ask. LOL We then just ventured home to hang out and play. It was a major let down of a day. Ya know, the kind when your all excited and have your whole day planned out and nothing goes right? Yeah...it was that kind of day. But while at home I see this "thing" fly by outside and I'm wondering what in the world was that. I couldn't however say that because I was on the phone, but I did get up to look and this is what I saw.

Now...we've seen geese in our yards and on our roofs, but never a duck. It looks like one that would be from the park or something.

Tomorrow is the twins birthday...the BIG 4!!! I seriously can't believe how fast they are growing up. We are planning a trip to the dairy farm, IF the weather holds out. I'm hoping for a fun filled adventure of a day. To be followed with their party on Saturday...AFTER Masons very first piano recital! And somewhere in between all this madness I have to find time to clean the house.

So I'll leave you with a few pictures from today and another sleeping picture.

Weston all hot and wet from the water guns!

Isaac beggin to have his picture taken too!

The neighborhood kids tend to migrate towards our house for some reason and this is a few of them playing on the trampoline. They were also begging me to take their picure too.

And now...the picture everyones been waiting for. Just kidding! But I can't help but take pictures of the boys sleeping. :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!! I will certainly try!

Hmmm...

So I have been thinking about a post for a while now and I've been debating posting it. One, because it requires transparency and two, because I wondered if anyone else ever noticed or ever had this problem. When P. Randy talked about it today I could identify and I wondered how many others could. I was thinking how many times I have been asked "How are you?" and I just answer with fine or good or even sometimes great, even when I know that its not the truth. Granted not everyone who asks you that question really wants to know. I mean come on, the lady at the checkout probably doesn't want you to tell her your about how whiney your kids have been, how stressed to the max you are and start crying because your having a bad day. I do, however, think we take the question so lightly when asking it and come to think of it, especially when answering it. I also think when asked we need to really evaluate how we really are feeling and not be embarrased to just say I feel lousy. Now don't get me wrong, I am the first one to just throw "I'm fine" out there and move on, but whats wrong with just saying you know I'm having a bad day, week or even a season. So I challenge all of you that next time someone asks you that (other than the lady at the checkout..lol) that you really think about it before you answer. :)



Now please understand that I am talking to myself here. It has to do with this whole transparency thing for me. :) So be careful when asking me that question because you just may hear whether you want to or not. Haha!!



I also wanted to post some pictures! We have been quite busy this weekend, but its been a good busy! The weather has been so off and on that I haven't had a chance to get my garden planted so I was hoping to get it done this weekend. I know its late, but hopefully it will be okay. I am so proud of it this year!! I'm really not trying to sound all full of myself, its just that last year was my trial run and consisted of not many plants and was outlined in chicken wire and stakes to keep it up. It wasn't very attractive at all, but it worked and was cheap. So I was hoping to make it more appealing this year since its on the side of my house and you can see it from the road. I'm happy to say I think I was successful!! While not many of the plants are up and it doesn't look very gardenish (haha) yet, I think it turned out pretty good.

I am also happy to report that my garage has finally been cleaned out!! WOO HOO!! Sorry Jessica! I was completely embarrased the other day. However on the flip side it gave us a little motivation. It was one of those dreaded jobs that needed to be done, but you just don't want to do. Am I the only one that has those? Haha We (me and my husband) tend to be the ones to keep stuff "just in case". Well...not any more! It was a job that needed to be done (which, granted, you can't set a ton of trash out to the curb when its downpouring) and finally got done!

I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the weekend! I'm off to do more dreaded chores that just need to be done! :)

I Panicked!

So I figured it was time to finally sit down and officially order the curriculum for next year that I had picked out a while ago. If only it were that easy. :) As I went through my wish list and looked over everything again that I had picked out (I should have never done that), I started to second guess myself and whether I really believed that the material I had chosen was at the right level for Mason. I was so confident before, maybe a little too confident. I am in panic mode now because it can take up to 3 weeks for the material to come in and if I don't like it and want to send it back then there's another couple weeks. Did I mention that I am in full force PANIC MODE!!

As I have expressed before Mason has had some difficulties this year. There are some things that he mastered quite well, some things that he didn't grasp at all and some things that I think got a little lost because of the pace they moved. As I started looking over the books that I had chosen I started to wonder if they were too advanced. I'm really hesitant now. I don't want to overwhelm him with material that is too hard, but I also don't want to bore him with stuff he already knows. Don't get me wrong, I will definitely be reviewing with him in the beginning, but I don't want to redo everything he did in this past year.

So I will probably spend the next few days...or weeks...going over everything...again! Probably to just end up ordering what I had originally picked out. Go figure!

On a completely different note I have been praying about the tile I got at the H2H Retreat. I'm not very good at expressing myself without coming off wrong, but I'm going to try so please bare with me. My tile said Holy, and frankly I didn't have the slightest clue why I would have gotten that tile. So I started to really think and pray about it and until recently I was still sure that I had gotten the wrong one. I'm starting to realize that, in my time of struggle and even when I'm not struggling, I need to focus on how Holy God is. It is through Him that relationships can be restored! It is through Him that we can find comfort! It is through Him that we can grow and become more like Christ!

Someone recently brought the verse Matthew 17:20 to my attention again. I'm not good at quoting scripture so please forgive me. But it talks about having faith as small as a mustard seed and being able to move a mountain. If it only takes that small amount, then imagine what we/I could do with more! I have known this verse for a long time, but at this point in my life it meant something very different. Not only do I think I have lost sight of how Holy God is, but I think I have lost my faith in this troubling time for me. I have lost my faith in what he can do and I have lost my faith in what I can accomplish through Him. Someone also recently told me that I can't do it, but God can!!! I needed to be reminded of that.

So in this time of struggle for me I am going to remember the verse I tell the boys everyday...."I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

While this time is really hard for me and I am really struggling...it never hurts to go back to the basics!! :)


WOW!! Hows that for transparency! I bet your saying to yourself, is this really April typing this...it sure is! I can't believe I just typed all that!


By the way...I'm so uncomfortable with this post that I have been back to edit it 4 times now after posting it! Seriously!

Transparency

So I was talking to Renay yesterday and telling her that I haven't posted in a while because I'm going through a ton right now and I'm not sure what to post about. I also told her that I'm not ready to be that transparent to post about my struggles. Which in return she told me that I might as well join in with everyone else. I comend (sp?) those of you that are! You have no idea how much that helps me to read about your transparency.

I'm not sure I'm ready to be completely transparent. Saying this much is hard enough, but I'm stepping out...a very small step! But a step nonetheless.

I really can't believe I'm doing this, but here goes! So I'll just start with saying...I'm struggling, really struggling! Thats about as transparent as I can be and is really hard for me to even say that. But that is also where I'm going to end. Sorry.

So I ask for prayers, lots of prayers! Wow...I can't believe it, I just asked for something! That's something else I'm not real good at.

So on a good note...summer is almost here!! Even though the weather doesn't seem like it. I am so excited for Mason to be at home and for us to enjoy this summer. Please remind me of that when I'm saying I wish he was back in school! LOL No, seriously, I am really excited! We are about to venture on a new journey and I can't wait!!

Sorry about the gloomy post! Hopefully I will have something more fun and exciting next time! :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed week!

Eagle Fair

So, this was Masons last chance to participate in the Eagle Fit at school! We will still be able to go to the fair and enjoy it though. I really thought that as the school year winded down that I would start to panic and worry if I was really doing whats right. Sure I'm nervous, but I can honestly say that there is no panic and I am so very excited about our new journey.




Today at lunch he brought up that five more days and he would be a 3rd grader! Then he said no I won't because I'm being homeschooled. I explained to him that he is still a 3rd grader and will do all the other things that 3rd graders do, only he gets the added bonus of doing it at home with mom! I was really worried that he would set into panic mode at the end of the year as well. I was so wrong. He is so excited!! In fact, Isaac was listening to our conversation and asked what homeschooling was and when I started to tell him Mason jumped in and explained how cool it was! Way to go big brother!!



So every year the have a rock climbing wall and every year Mason attempts it. This year he did amazing! I was so proud of his persistence and dedication. I forgot my camera, but I managed to snag some pictures with my camera on my phone. They are not the best quality, but it definitely did the job.

We had so much fun! Oh, by the way, I made Mason take off his glasses so he wouldn't break them. No wonder he couldn't find some of the rocks to hold onto! LOL

So I can't end this post without giving HUGE props to my friend Renay! I'm sure she'll post about it, but she ran in the 5k and did an amazing job!!! I am so proud of you! WAY TO GO!!

Ok, so I'm off. I've got lots of yard saling to do tomorrow! Maybe I'll see some of you out.

Seriously!

I can't believe that I have that many readers. And I know some of you didn't comment, shame on you. :) Just kidding! I really appreciate all the comments I get! It really does mean so much to me that you guys take the time to read my blog. I love you all!

So this is a short and lame post, but one more thing before I end it. lol

On Wednesday when William was picking up the twins from class at church they told him to wait because Isaac had asked to say the prayer! WOW!! When I asked him what he said he actually remembered! He prayed and thanked God for Jesus, his church and the animal crackers. How cute! He was so excited!! It was definitely a proud mommy moment!

Ok..night all!

Who are my readers?

So I am a little curious as to who I am talking to when I'm writing these blogs. I really appreciate all the comments that I get from all of you!! I feel very humbled that you even take the time to read my posts. This blogging thing is getting out of control...lol. There are so many people doing this now which is great!! I LOVE IT!!!

I would love it if you would post a comment on here letting me know that your one of my readers! :)

Have a wonderful night everyone!!

Where to begin?

Ok, so its been a week since my last post and I know I need to post again, but honestly I'm not sure what to post. My mind is going 90 mph and in over 100 different directions! Seriously, I'm not kidding. I was helping my sister today and couldn't even seem to focus. A part of me just wants to update on whats going on in the family, but theres really not much. Thens theres the part of me that can't stop thinking about our vacation coming up and school being out for Mason. The other part of me wants to tell you all how and in what way I was truely touched by the womans retreat this weekend, but kinda feel like thats too transparent for me and I'm not ready yet. It has encouraged me to write my story though! I know I was supposed to do that long time ago, but I didn't.

So maybe I'll just share a little about all of it.

I truely feel blessed to be a mother! I am amazed at how fast the boys are growing up. They are all true individuals, even the twins. I feel blessed to be their mother! Wait...did I already say that?!

I think I am more ready for school to be out more than Mason. It has been just as much work for me as it has been for him. We are all exhausted and are in need of a break. I know that your probably thinking to yourselves that its nothing compared to what I'll experience next year...and your probably right. But am I ready for a break, as is Mason. We are taking our first family vacation ever this summer and we are all so excited! It will be a fun and interesting journey. It will be a time for us to bond together again and just enjoy being a family! We are praying that we embrace what God has for our family.

Now...on to the retreat. Where to start. Im not sure. I guess I will start by telling you all, I cant believe I'm saying this, but I really didnt want to go. With my past experiences I just had a negative attitude about it and I feel very uncomfortable around people I dont know. I will however follow up by saying...WOW!!! I was so glad that I went!! God ordered my steps and I was there for a reason. Everything that happened, everyone I talked to, everyone that I stepped out of my comfort zone to approach....God had placed there for a reason. I am not one to reach out, not one to approach, not one to cry and generally feel very uncomfortable in any situation. God really stretched me this weekend. I am still thinking and praying about where to go from here because I'm not real sure.

Ok, so thats about as transparent as I can get. That was seriously a stretch for me. So if you see me and I dont talk or seem very quiet please know that I am not trying to avoid or be rude. I just have a hard time stepping out of my box. I am, however, going to try and change that!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mothers Day and has a wonderful and blessed week!!

Desks, Dogs and Swings

Ok..so I know your wondering what that means. So here goes!

We made out like bandits on our garage sale finds! For those of you that dont know I am a HUGE garage sale junky! We have been looking for a desk for the living room to put my old computer on for the boys. They have a lot of games that aren't compatible with my new computer, so therefore they haven't been able to use them. We saw one for $10 but I didnt want to spend that much. I know, it doesnt sound like alot but when you only took a little to spend its a lot. So we decided to wait and if it was there later and we hadnt found anything else then we would buy it. We had actually forgotten about it, but by no coincidence ended up back on that street before we left. Any to make a long boring story short...we ended up getting the desk for $6!!!! Yeah you heard me right! We were so excited!

So..on to the dog part. We have an Italian Greyhound named Zeke and he is a wonderful part of our family. Well, last Friday morning at a little after 12am I heard a noise and it sounded like our dog, but he wasnt barking so I just laid there for a minute and thought maybe Mason kicked him or something. He sleeps under Masons blankets at night. I heard the whine again and thought I'd probably ought to get up and check on them. I walked in the bedroom to find Zeke on the floor with the blanket and Mason with no blanket. Sounds cute right? NO! The dogs foot had gotten tangled up in a hole that was apparently in the blanket. Through waking Mason up and trying to cut the blanket off (but cutting the dogs foot instead) and then trying to calm Zeke down so we could bandage him up...it was a rough night! We were up for quite a while, but he's fine and we all made it through it! :) So last night I went in to check on Mason and make sure he was covered up (my nightly routine with the kids before I go to bed) and this is what I found!:)

Apparently he doesn't feel the need to be all the way under the blankets anymore! I don't blame him! By the way..we threw that blanket away!

Now to the swing part. We all know how exhausting pushing our kids on the swings are and how we cant wait until they learn how to pump their legs! Well, maybe Im the only one, but I couldnt wait. I am happy to report that Isaac has learned to swing all by himself!!!! I hear him yelling outside.."Mom, Im going really high!" I was so proud of him! Its one of the moments that makes me realize how fast they are growing up. Isaac then told Weston that he would teach him to do it. So, being the proud mommy I am I had to take pictures and remember this day!!

Isaac going SO HIGH!!!

Here's Isaac teaching Weston how to do it. He was trying so hard and almost has it!

I just wanted to thank everyone for their comments and tell you that my day has gotten better! :) The twins and I are getting to go on the field trip and everything else turned out fine as well. I hope that my venting post didnt come across mean. That was not my intention at all. It was also not my intention to make his teacher look bad. She is a wonderful person and has a great heart! I, like Emily, never thought that I would be venturing on this journey. But it is what we feel God wants us to do. No one ever said that it would be easy, but it sure will be alot of fun!!

The program went off well and all the kids did a wonderful job! Before we left Mason was getting dressed and came to me with his shirt unbuttoned and said "Hey mom, can I go like this?" He is such the comical character. Im sure it doesnt sound very funny, but it was at the time.

Ok...Im off for now. Tomorrow Im going to yard sales to hopefully find some good deals! Wish me luck! :)

My Turn

Ok so its my day to have a bad day! I really need to vent! I recently emailed Masons teacher to inform her about our decision to home school. I am now regreting my decision. I feel like everything I said got turned into a negative.

I brought up finally having a support group and it got thrown down by saying that not all people have the right focus.

Mason was also so excited that me and the twins would be able to join him on the field trip coming up and I get told that they're pretty sure they are not going to let siblings go.

I also expressed my excitement about having everything planned out, my box all done, involving Mason and his excitement; and it got thrown down by saying theres alot to deal with when your teaching at home.

She then proceeds to tell me that Mason is making himself invisible and not asking questions. He has never asked questions!! We have been battling that all year long. This is not a new issue.

When the kids do something wrong they have to walk laps. Mason has been doing laps alot lately because of skipped sections that he doesnt do. Understandably so with the ADD and Dyslexia. Im not making excuses but you have to stay on top of children like this. They really dont do it on purpose. Anyway, she says he doesnt understand why hes walking that he just tells her that he does so he doesnt have to deal with her. Thats is COMPLETELY wrong! He does understand! I feel like she just called my son clueless.

She also said that shes glad hes excited but that she hopes Mason will see the seriousness of school. I believe that he will! I also want him to realize that school can be fun too! He doesnt see that now and I think at home he will. I may be wrong but it doesnt all have to be so serious. Does it?

Ok..dont get me wrong..I have always loved his teacher! I really have. I've been on the opposite end of this so I know how hard it is. BUT...I'm asking myself this. If this is how I feel as an adult after talking with her....how does he feel?! Mason has always been a positive reinforcement kinda kid. I think all kids need positive reinforcement. And if hes getting all this negative like I just got no wonder hes shutting down.

Now I dont want you all to think Im bashing his school because thats not what Im doing. If it wasnt for him being there in the beginning I truely believe he would be much worse academic and behavior wise. We were put there for a reason. It truely is a wonderful school! But I truely feel that every child is an individual and their needs are different.

Ok so now I'm rambling so I guess Id better end this. :)

Thanks for letting me vent!

Bt the way, Emily and Renay.....I was that close!!