Keith and Kristyn Getty

If you have never heard of these guys you are missing out. I got their CD a while ago and fell in love with their music. They are modern day hymn writers. I have never heard music that was so moving. The words are just so amazing. We went to their concert tonight at a local church near our home. It was awesome and it was free. I have never been to any church service of any kind that glorified God more. You probably have heard many of their songs and not realized that it was their music. God has definitely given them a gift to share with others. Please check them out and get some of their music. You will not be disappointed. And if they ever come in concert near you, GO! It is worth it.

Spilt Milk

Did you all know that a gallon of milk spilt on a driveway takes about 30 minutes to spray off with a hose? From now on I am going to take the milk in from the van. Oh yeah, and you can't clean up a milk spill in the driveway with all of the dish towels that you own. Boys can do a lot of damage in the time it takes a mom to put two children down for naps. Just thought you all might want to know those little facts about a $3.60 gallon of milk spilt on the driveway. I am now down one gallon of milk and two loads of laundry, but hey, the driveway is real clean.

The Dance

I love my new ipod that Carl got me for mother's day. My sister recently gave me an old set of speakers for it. The kids love it because we have been listening to Paws and Tales and Jonathan Park on it. I usually play music or an episode while I am fixing dinner. I came downstairs this afternoon to fix dinner and the house was a mess. We had to leave for church soon so I was flustered. Ever get that way ladies? I cannot stand for my house to be a mess. I know, it is something I am working on. The kids had drawing paper all over the place and markers and crayons too. I should have been happy with all the pictures they tried to show me. All I saw was a mess. The Lord caused something to happen that kind of put things in perspective. I was putting the hot dogs on to cook (yes I know hot dogs for dinner is not the healthiest.) I had just finished cutting up some fruit (see I did include something good for them to eat.) I had put some music on more to drown out the chaos than anything. It was country music (yes I know but it was Randy Travis so it was not all that bad.) I was kind of dancing around the kitchen when it happened. Daniel came over to me and looked up with his beautiful blue eyes. "Dance with me Mommy." My heart melted. I picked him up and held him close and we danced around the kitchen. His little head was tucked into my neck and he was hanging on with his little arms wrapped around my neck. I closed my eyes and savored the moment. What if I had been too busy or preoccupied and had missed this precious moment? As we twirled around he lifted his head up and yelled for all his sibling. "Look at me dancing with Mommy." In my own mind I knew that this small act had made him feel loved and accepted. As the song ended and I put him down he ran off to play with the rest of the kids. They were in the process of chasing each other with light sabers. A tear rolled down my cheek and I grieved for all the missed opportunities with each child. I remember all the times I told them I was too busy or made them feel unimportant by my actions or words. I made a commitment right there to let go of my pride in the fact that the house always has to be clean. Who cares if it is a mess right now? One day there will be no children to make it a mess. My relationship with my kids is more important that any thing or possession. Especially in a big family kids tend to feel left out. I need to make a concerted effort to make each child feel loved and accepted and special. I want my children to remember the times I twirled them around the kitchen. Not that my house was clean all the time. I want to pass on to them traditions of dances, special plates, and mommy and me time. I can make each meal and event of our lives special. It all starts with me and my attitude. So from this day forth I intend to dance more and clean less (and yes, Baptists do dance!)

You ever have one of THOSE Mornings

Okay, Carl has been gone two weeks and one day. Only six days to go. Today was melt down day. I knew it was coming. I saw the warning signs. I tried to ignore it but it finally happened. Absolute sheer utter chaos all day long. I woke up late to begin with. Not a good start to a Sunday morning. I got my hair cut Friday so today was the first day I actually had to fix it. It was not so bad. I forgot to get out the kids clothes last night and that is not a good thing when you have six kids. Everyone was up lat last night. My fault entirely. I don't sleep well when Carl is gone so the four older ones ended up in my room last night for a popcorn movie night. That is why I keep stepping on popcorn kernels in my bedroom. Note to self, VACUUM master bedroom tomorrow. Well back to this morning. William was the first one up and he was a bear. I mean a full fledged, got up on the wrong side of the bed kind a bear. The pants I picked out for him were too short. Note to self, buy William some new pants. He finally found a pair that fit (Hallelujah) and he was ready, except for shoes (more about that later). Esther was next. She hated her dress even if did not have ties, which she REALLY hates. It is hard for girls in car seats if they have ties in the back. Note to Tara, buy dresses with no ties or CUT THEM OFF. I finally convinced her that her dress was good and then she put on her shoes. She had on a black dress and came out with white sandals that were too big. Note to self, HIDE all shoes that are too big. I told her to go put on her black shoes and then the melt down occurred. For twenty minutes she screamed at me about her shoes. They were a little too small but I could not find any other shoes for her to wear. Alex and Nathan were the last ones up and they continues in the manner of the bear. Alex at least liked his shirt I picked out for him. Thank you Lord for small miracles. I sent Nathan out of my room to get dressed. I got Daniel up and dressed, nursed and dressed Sam and headed downstairs. I was short on time so I decided to have the kids put cereal in a baggie for breakfast. Note to self, buy more cereal (Nathan dumped the cheerios last night and of course everyone wanted, you guessed it, CHEERIOS.) By the way don't you hate that feeling when you walk in the kitchen and you hear a crunch, especially when you have not put on your church shoes yet? Anyway, on my way downstairs to fix breakfast and rush out the door I discovered Alex sitting in his room, not dressed, and Nathan in his bed, SOUND ASLEEP. Not to self, buy an alarm clock for the boys room, a loud one. After not so calmly telling them to GET DRESSED I headed downstairs and got "breakfast" ready. I knew Esther and Daniel had shoes on because I had done it myself. Sam goes around with no socks on at this point so I knew I was okay there. William still did not have his shoes on so I sent him upstairs to find them and get me some diapers for the diaper bag. Note to self, buy more diapers. After five minutes I ran upstairs to tell them I was headed out to the van. Alex was putting his shoes on and guess what, Nathan was STILL ASLEEP. Do you know that moms are to big to fit under the bottom bunk. They will always hit their head. Note to self, buy Tylenol. William still had not found his other shoe. (Mom, You mean I actually have to lift up things to find my shoe. It just won't jump up and throw itself into my arms.) I walked out to the van and put Sam and Daniel into their car seat (thank goodness for five pint restraints that kids can't get out of.) At least two of them were ready to go. As I walked back into the house to get my three oldest children I heard Esther begin the Sunday morning "I can't get my car seat buckled because of my dress" blues. Oh the joys of little girls and their dresses. Alex was heading out to the car (Woo Hoo) and Nathan had his pants on (progress!) William was still standing in the middle of the loft with his one shoe. Note to self, clean loft. I walked into Esther room and low and behold the first thing I spotted was WILLIAM's missing shoe. I walked back out to the loft and gave him one of those "I can't believe you just put me through that"looks. I gave him his shoes only to discover that he had set the first down and could not remember where he put it. So here I am with one shoe in my hand, four children in the van, and Nathan completely dressed except for his shirt buttoned. I buttoned Nathan's shirt and told William to find his shoe or he was going to church shoeless. Note to self, buy lots of Tylenol. The missing shoe was found and all six children were in their seats. On the way out of the neighborhood William and Nathan reminded me that they did not get a baggie of cereal. TOO BAD!!!! I stopped at Wendy's and got breakfast for myself (no, I did not buy any for my children.) I pulled into the church parking lot and told the older ones to go to Sunday school. Miracles of Miracles, we were right on time. I love that my husband set my clock ten minutes fast. Thanks sweetie. Note to self, set clock to twenty minutes fast. I dropped the baby off at nursery after feeding him his baby food. Esther refused to go to Sunday School so she sat out while fed Sam. I told her that she could go to Sunday School or sit with me with her hands on her head. I sent her into to Sunday School ten minutes late with three has browns as a bribe. (Yes, I am not ashamed to say that I bribe my children.) As I stared up the church hallway to finally eat my cold, congealed bacon, egg and cheese biscuit and blueberry muffin (the hash browns had gone the way of sneaky little hands and the tea was sucked down by my darling three year old) I realized that I was pushing the stroller and there was no one in it. As I walked past the nursery check in station for the fortieth time the nursery coordinator just laughed. I parked my stroller and found a nice arm chair in the lobby to crash into. I ate my "breakfast" and opened up my Bible. It fell open to James 1. "Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." God is so good to give us only what we can handle and only that which will build our faith. Satan tried to get me down this morning but I got all the kids to church on time (some with shoes on the wrong feet but at least they all had shoes on.) As I sat there praying I just gave thanks that the Lord has blessed me with these six children. Out of all the moms in the world God knew that the best place for them would be with Carl and myself. On mornings like this we have two choice, cry and fall into despair or laugh knowing that this too shall pass. There will come a day when all the kids will be able to pick out their own clothes and get dressed on time (including shoes that fit and are on the right feet) without any reminding from me. Time goes by fast and I need to cherish every moment of each of their lives (including mornings like this.) Thank you Lord for my six blessings that teach me so much every day. My mom used to say that I was not very patient and that God would send something in my life to teach it to me. Well, God has a sense of humor because I got sent six "somethings" to teach me patience every day. Note to self, give my mom a big hug next time I see her. Mornings like this one don't occur every Sunday but when they do I am thankful for nap times, Dr. Pepper, and G.I. Joe movies that keep three boys occupied while I rest upstairs. Oh and one More thing I had nursery this morning during the service. The two year old class. God definitely has a sense of humor. Note to self, ask Tana to not schedule me for nursery while Carl is away. More about THIS day in a later post.

You Know You Are A Homeschooler When ...

You know you are a homeschooler and also a mother of boys when you take out the trash and find a snake and instead of screaming you run inside and grab a camera and all the kids. It becomes an instant school lesson. Carl's comment when I told him we found a snake in the backyard was "Did you catch it?" I am not quite there yet but maybe someday. Nah!!!! I like my pillowcases snake free.

How Cute is This

No, my child is not neglected. He is at that stage where he is moving from two naps a day to one nap. Sometimes he just gets too tired. I put him in his high chair with some cheerios while I got lunch for the other kids. This is what I found when I looked over to check on him. Poor guy. He never woke up even when I took him upstairs to put him in his crib.

My Favorite Picture

I was looking through some old photos today. I have been trying to copy them from my mom. We recently lost all ours when my hard drive crashed (boo hoo). I found a picture that Carl and I have agreed is our favorite picture of Esther. I found it on Carl's laptop. For some reason some pictures were downloaded onto it before the hard drive crashed on the desktop. It is great to know we did not lose every pitcure. Lesson learned - always have a hard copy of pictures either on cd, print, or an external hard drive. Twenty years of poetry and most of our recent pictures were lost.