This is a breast cancer prayer...

Disney World...here we come!!!

Well...as of 5 am Thursday morning we are OFF!!! I have spent a better part of today packing. Ick! I HATE packing for 4 little ones and 2 big ones...and for an airplane nonetheless! ICK...ICK...ICK!!!! Wish us luck!!! We are very excited...but as a mommy...I am a bit nervous. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!! See you when we get home!!!!!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

What is this world coming to????

Oh my goodness! As my buddy Yoda would put it:

"This believe, you will not!"

So, I am walking by the closed bathroom door this morning, and I get this whiff of...something. It wasn't bad...it was just a LOT of whatever it was. The door opens, and it is my 9 year old son, Cam standing there. When the door opened, the smell over took me. Almost like instant headache. It was then that I realized what it was...I was smelling cologne! I said, "Cam...did you just put COLOGNE on?" To which he replied rather sheepishly, "Yeah...so?" I said, "Did you take a BATH in it?" He said, "NO! MOM!!!" I said, "No really Cam...the cologne itself smells good...but you only need ONE squirt...no more...and wait a minute...where did you get cologne...and WHY are you wearing it??" Apperently he traded one of his Bakugan's for a bottle of cologne. WIERD!!! I asked him WHY he was wearing it...he said, it repels people. He said he wants to repel the girls. RIGHT!!! Do ANY of you believe that???? Can you believe that my 9 year old is wearing COLOGNE! THEN...before he left for hockey tonight, he put some more on!!!!!!! What is GOING ON?????? Do I need to have "THE" talk with him already?????????

He FINALLY got a deer!

Jeff finally got his deer! After a couple of months of no luck, he had some luck on Saturday. He had been Archery hunting for the last couple of months. He had great luck archery hunting last year...but not so much this year. He went out though, the first day of rifle season, which was Saturday and got his deer! Whew! In the past, we have taken them in and gotten them butchered. This year he wanted to try it all himself. I have been in cadaver labs, and I have seen a lot of disgusting things...but some how I lost my appetite for deer meat after watching him do everything that needed to be done. He butchered in the garage...but then he brought all the meat in to grind it, etc. My kitchen was an absolute, bloody mess! I told him...one deer a year is ALL he gets to do by himself! ICK!

Pigs have flown!!!

Good golly miss Molly,

I filled my Denali,

For half the cost,

My mind is lost!

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??!?!!? I am SOOO excited!! It takes SO little to excite me!! Normally it takes OVER $100 to fill my tank...can you believe it??? Well...today, with my Super Saver coupon, I got it at $1.67 a gallon and it went from absolutely dry to absolutely full and my grand total??? $48.25!!!!! I ALMOST wet my pants!!!!!!!!!

DISNEY WORLD

So, mom called me Tuesday and asked me to look up prices for Disney World. I thought she had lost her mind. She wanted to take all of us and my sisters family to Disney World...and even more surprising, she wanted to do it over this Thanksgiving holiday. So...I started looking...but it is hard to find anything for 13 people. The airlines will only let you input 4 at a time, and I wanted to make sure I got us all on the same flight. So, I gave up and called a travel agent. In two more hours we had our flights booked and hotel and van reservations made. So...we are going to Disney World the 27th through the 1st! My mom is quite the little spur of the moment type of gal apparently! She never used to be...but apparently she is now! We used to plan our vacations a year in advance! So...this is a little weird for me! Anyway, I don't have any idea where to go or what to do when we get there. We only plan on staying one day at Magical Kingdom, because my mom wants to go to the beach one other day...and we thought maybe Sea World another day?? Any suggestions?? Mom paid for the flights and the hotel and vans...but we have to pay for our food and our park entrances....any suggestions for freebies would be great too!!!! SOOOO EXCITED!!!

Family night

Normally our Wednesdays were reserved for Awanas at church...but this year, we have hockey Tuesday nights, Thursday nights, and Friday nights and games every Saturday. That meant that we would only have one night at home if we also went to Awanas on Wednesday. We thought that was too much...so, we decided not to do Awanas this year....instead, Mondays we catch up on things...homework, studying, reading, cleaning, auto work, shopping, whatever needs to be done. Then on Wednesday night we turn off the TV and we have family night. We have a nice, home cooked meal, I make sure homework and piano practice is done BEFORE dad gets home, then we do something different...but together. When we have a sickie in the family, we do turn the TV back on and watch a family movie, snuggle and eat popcorn...I will admit that. But, when everyone is healthy, the TV is off. We typically play board games. Usually each kiddo gets to pick their game. So, basically we play a minimum of 3 games in the evening. But the last two weeks have been more active. Last week we played hide and go seek in the house, in the dark! That was fun...except, whoever was lucky enough to get Major (mom or dad), would always get found because Major can't keep a secret! The kids learned really fast that all they have to do is say, "Major", throughout the house and he starts to grunt...then it is easy to follow the grunt to find Major and mom or dad! Booger! We had a lot of fun...even some scary moments!!! BUT FUN!! Then, last night we told the kids, with the help of Nana and Papa, that we are going to Disney World over Thanksgiving break! They were SOOOO excited! So, in honor of that, we played Disney Charades. I put together some cards with Disney characters or movies on them, and we split into teams and went for it! What fun! Except...another except...it was tough to have MaKenna on your team (we took turns with her on our teams), because it didn't matter WHAT the word or phrase was...she just danced like a ballerina and ran around in circles. That's it! She had Monster's, Inc., and all she did was dance around in circles!! WHO IS GOING TO GUESS MONSTER'S, INC., WITH DANCING AROUND IN CIRCLES?!?! It was fun though! Jake had a bit of a problem with his reading. He got Pocahontas once...he thought it said "Ghost Hunters"...don't ask...I honestly have no idea. So, he acted out a hunter. Needless to say, we did not get Pocahontas out of that. Then we did just plain words. It was Jake's turn. He started pointing at his crotch area and I started getting concerned that someone wrote something obscene. I looked at Jeff and he looked just as concerned. We asked him what it said when none of us guessed....nobody said anything except bladder...and he said, it said, "Wetting"...he was trying to show us wetting pants or something. Well...I looked at the card...it ACTUALLY said WEDDING...not WETTING!! :-) We got a good laugh out of that. Oh...and a good laugh out of Jeff trying to be Winnie the Pooh...that you had to have seen in person. I almost wet my pants it was so funny! So...Wednesday night family nights are incredible! Thank you to Kim McAndrews for suggesting them!!!!

The Fabulous Five

My kids and balls. They LOVE balls...always have. We have so many balls at our house, I don't know what to do with them all. Here is a picture of MaKenna and the ball she found behind the curtain. Below that is a picture of Major crawling around with the ball he found back there too!

Then there is the five of us. Jeff had a coaching clinic he had to go to, and we had paid a non-refundable fee to keep our session, so we had to go, we'll do family pictures when we are in Orlando for Thanksgiving...oh...did I say Orlando??? You'll have to wait for later posts to find out!...We did these pictures last...as you can see...Major was D-O-N-E, DONE!

The Fantastic Four

Here are the Fantastic Four...don't worry...Cam has gotten his hair cut since these pictures...he had this big "flop" on the side of his head throughout all the pictures. Ugh...I don't remember it being there when we left the house! The last picture could have been great, but Jake was complaining that the light was too bright so he is squinting. Addie kept saying, "Well don't look in the light, look at me...", but he kept screaming. Oh well...what can you do....it captures their personalities!

MaKenna's 4 year old pictures

MaKenna had a tough morning. First of all...it was a Saturday morning and it was 8 am. That right there tells the story. Secondly...she had been suffering with terribly dry and blotchy skin due to her "oat" allergy and the changing of the seasons....so, these pictures didn't turn out as spectacular as I hoped...BUT...the STILL turned out as beautiful as my baby girl!! So...first post...her pictures...well...a few of them...the next couple posts I will show you the ones that Addie did of all four kids...and even a couple with mom! Addie Gengenbach is who did the pictures. She did a great job. She gets on the floor...she lays down...she gets on ladders...she is wonderful. She charges per session and then gives you the CD with the rights to print whatever, whenever. Very sweet girl too. Her and her family go to our church and have for years. The picture at the bottom...the one that MaKenna is on a horse...Jeff made that horse. That is what is so special about that picture. He actually made it for Cam when Cam was only a year old...but each of the kids has passed it down. He can make more if you are interested!!! :-)

The Mom Song

You guys have to go to this YouTube video and listen to this song. So true. After the last few days like I have had...it is nice to hear a song like this. Luckily it is on the Go Fish CD that the kids love to listen to in the car, so I get to hear it quite often! :-)

Go Fish, The Mom Song

I love this song!

This is a TobyMac song. Love it! I have it on my audio player at the bottom of the page.

Man I wanna tell ya'll something.

Man I'm not gonna let these material thing's, get in my way, ya'll.

I'm trying to get somewhere.

I'm trying to get somewhere, Thats real and pure and true and eternal.

Father God, I am clay in your hands,

Help me to stay that way through all life's demands,

'Cause they chip and they nag and they pull at me,

And every little thing I make up my mind to be,

Like I'm gonna be a daddy whose in the mix,

And I'm gonna be a husband who stays legit,

And I pray that I'm an artist who rises above,

The road that is wide and filled with self love,

Everything that I see draws me,

Though it's only in You that I can truly see that its a feast for the eyes-

a low blow to purpose.

And I'm a little kid at a three ring circus.

I don't want to gain the whole world, and lose my soul,

Don't wanna walk away, let me hear the people say.

The paparazzi flashes, and that they think that it's you,

But they don't know that who you are is not what you do,

True, we get it twisted when we peak at the charts,

before we part from the start, Where's your heart?

You a pimp, hustler? Tell me what's your title,

America has no more stars, now we call them idols, You sit idle,

While we teach prosperity, The first thing to prosper should be inside of me.

We're free... Not because of 22's on the range, But Christ came in range,

we said yes now we changed, Not the same, even though I made a fall,

Since I got that call, no more Saul, now I'm Paul.

I don't want to gain the whole world, and lose my soul,

Don't wanna walk away, let me hear the people say.

How do I sense the tide that's rising?

De-sensitizing me from living in light of eternity,

How do I sense the tide that's rising?

It's hypnotizing me from living in light of eternity,

Lord what we gon do,We're relying on you,

all eyes are on you Lord, all eyes are on you, all eyes are on you Jesus.

Lord forgive us when we get consumed by the things of this world,

That fight for our love, and our passion, As our eyes are open wide and on you.

Grant us the privilege of your world view, And may your kingdom be,

what wakes us up, and lays us down.

Don't hate me...after all, it's only my opinion....and my blog....

Okay...at the risk of losing some very important friendships, I have to have my two cents worth. I pray that I lose no friendships, but...this is my blog...so I am going to voice my opinion. I am entitled to my opinion as are all of you....Barack Obama is, as my friend Robyn puts it, a wolf in sheeps clothing...which is also how the bible puts it. I honestly can't see how any Christian could vote for that man. I understand that the election is over, but I am tired of being afraid of what other people might think if I voice my opinion. And...don't get me wrong...if you voted for Obama, I still love you, but you have been sadly misinformed on many issues.

First...if you voted for Obama...you must be for abortion, or at least pro-choice, and be okay with partial birth abortion. This is a direct violation of God's law. Another direct violation of God's law is the fact that if you voted for Obama you also must be okay with gay marriage...because he supports that too. He also supports teaching homosexuality in schools. Since we are on education...he also opposes allowing parents to put their children in the school of their choice.

Obama also apparently wants us to continue giving our money to countries over seas for our oil. That makes us dependent on them. I don't know about you...but I don't want to be dependent on them...nor do I like spending a ton of my and my husbands hard earned money on gasoline so that I can line mid eastern pockets.

Finally...redistributing the wealth...and healthcare. Oh my. This is a big one too. Basically, us hard workers will get to work even harder to pay for OTHER peoples insurance. For those who are in great need due to unforeseen circumstances...fine...I can see helping them until they get back on their feet. But...this makes it TOO easy for people to be lazy. Once again, us middle class folks will suffer exponentially.

There is more...but I need to get off of my soap box. I can't believe that a Christian nation would elect this man...who also has been called the Messiah to Muslims by the Arab World. Obama supporters what have you done? Like I said in my post a few days ago...one day they will see the error in their ways. Did you know that on Good Morning America they interviewed 3 people who voted for Obama. They interviewed them seperately, but asked the same questions. The first question...."So if you voted for Obama, then you must be against abortion." They said, "OH ABSOLUTELY." The other two questions were similar in that they were McCain supported issues. The point?? These people voted for a man because of who he is...not what he stands for or believes in. They didn't even know the issues. That is plain ignorance and very sad.

When all goes to hell...don't come running to the Republicans...we tried to tell you.

I gotta stop now...Jeff says I am getting way to heated...and he is right...after all, God knows all and God allows all, so He allowed this to happen and I can't change it...but I can certainly pray for the administration and those of us who will suffer from it.

Again...no matter your stand...I love you all dearly...I just had to have my moment, which I should have had prior to the election...I just think that politics should be kept as a personal thing, but I had to get it off my chest now that we are all doomed.

STOP IT TONYA! Sorry! I am stopping...the angel on my shoulder is telling me to stop...and just pray.

Love you all!

T

Raking the leaves

Our house has about 8 trees to contend with during the fall season! They are BEAUTIFUL trees in the spring, summer and fall...but boy...when they lose their leaves...they are pretty ugly...and pretty messy!! What a pain! I have to admit...I ran out of yard bags, so I tried to mulch the leaves...it didn't go so well. I still have about 3 piles out there...and the wind keeps blowing more and more leaves, so I just gave up. The kids sure did enjoy it though! The last few days have been in the 70's, so we used those beautiful days to do some yard work. Here is MaKenna making LEAF angels!
Major was fascinated by the leaves. It took him awhile before he would move though!

MaKenna was so thrilled about making piles and jumping in them! It was adorable!

Here is Major...still not sure if he should move or not!

MaKenna got a kick out of burying her brother! He didn't like it so much though.

Painting and Walking!

We have been very busy lately...but not too busy to paint!! MaKenna LOVES to paint. So one day we got all the paints out and I thought I would try it with Major too. Wow...that was more work than I remember it being with the other boys...then I remember that maybe they were a bit older than Major when they started playing with paint!

In this picture, Major is just trying to figure out what that stuff is.... This picture was taken early on...before it started going in his mouth...before it was all over him....

But...on ward we go!! Major LOVES anything that can help him get around. He has this shopping cart in our basement...as you can see, he "shops" all over with it. Upstairs he has two little pushy toys...but he still chooses to use the stools we have in the kitchen and bathrooms. I don't know why those are more enticing then his toys. It boggles my mind! Anyway, Tuesday at Bible Study, in front of me, my dad and Kim McAndrews, Major took his first steps!!!! Three of them to be exact!!! He hasn't done it again since....but it won't belong now!!! I am not sure if I am ready!!!

No hockey mom in office...

I am very bummed....not only because there will be no hockey mom in office...but because we are all in trouble now. Things are going to get messy...mark my words. Granted...I don't know your views...and everyone is entitled to their own, but this is MY blog, so I can say what I darn well want to say and the people who voted for Obama will some day see the error in their ways. It is time for people to start looking at the issues, the character of who will be leading our country. I know that nothing could be done...this is how God planned it...but it is going to be a rocky 4 years. I am so flabbergasted, I don't even know what to say. Ugh. Is it too late to move my family to Canada?

Halloween

What a fun day we had!! I was the Head Room Parent for Cam's 4th grade class so my day was jam packed with preparation. Jeff stayed home to help out with that and to see the boys' school parade...so that was incredibly helpful! We got to school and got everything ready...then we helped get the kids dressed. Then they all went on a school wide parade of costumes. After they got back we had lots of games and crafts for them to do...and of course, an OVERABUNDANCE of snacks!!! The picture below is Cam's class. Cam and MaKenna are in the bottom right hand corner! Cam is the green faced alien...MaKenna, the Mermaid! Jeff made his mask for him. He wanted to be an alien, but we can never find a costume that he likes. So, we used a black "Scream" robe for him, and then Jeff made the mask out of chicken wire and plaster! Very creative! Cam got a lot of comments on it. Jake had a great time at his classroom party too. Jeff and I did split our time so we could see his party as well. Once we all got home from school, we made a quick dinner and got ready again! The doorbell started ringing as early as 5:30. We headed to my mom's first. Here is MaKenna on our way out.Here is the whole gang...minus mom. We have a Zebra, a something or other, a mermaid, an alien, and an army guy as he called it.Here is the zebra getting crazy at mom and dad's house!Then it was off to trick or treat in our neighborhood for the first time! We moved into this house a year ago October 31st! So, the kids didn't get to trick or treat in our new neighborhood. They went to my sisters neighborhood last year. So...Friday marked a fun trick or treating night, AND our 1 year anniversary in this house!!Here is daddy and MaKenna coming up the sidewalk.... We got so much candy, we don't know what to do with it. We trick or treated from 7 to 9. Then, as tradition has it, we all sit in a circle, go through the bags and take out the things that MaKenna and Cam are allergic to...those things go into mommy and daddy's bags! :-) Mostly daddy's...because I don't like peanuts anyway! Then we all watched Jake separate his candy like he had a movie theatre stand! Last thing for the night...Goosebumps was on...I tried to get the kids to watch "Halloween" with me...but they wouldn't...(KIDDING), so Goosebumps it was!!
Happy Halloween!!!