Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Mom, thanks for everything. You are the best and we appreciate everything that you do for us. Thank you for keeping a smile on your face no matter what. You are a great wife, mother, example, and friend. Thank you for always being there for us! You are the very very best there is! We hope you have a great day. Thank you for all the great memories, we cant wait for more.

Lots of Love, on you birthday!

Love your 5 kiddos:

Jessica, Eric, Nicole, Ryan, Jason, (and Dad)

THANKSGIVING:

FIVE OF THE THINGS I AM MOST THANKFUL FOR.........

I can NOT believe this boy is FOUR!!!

just some of the fun times with Jason over the past year.......

just of few of the many people that LOVE him.....

his cute personality shining through.......



LOOOOOVE him!!!

Just a few of the things that have been keeping us busy....

Eric tried out cross country this year! He did amazing for his first year and as a
7th grader! - A few people had to sort of twist his arm to get him to run cross country(ALL of the boys on Eric's basketball team play football before basketball starts - and since Eric does not want to play football- they convinced him to run cross country - guess they were afraid he would be the only one not in shape if he didn't do something....)

Jessica had a GREAT VOLLEYBALL SEASON.......



last Saturday they ended the season as the DISTRICT CHAMPIONS!!! -

It was a very exciting day! (it was also the coaches birthday!)

There is A LOT of talent in this group of girls!!!



now we are on to the next thing.... Eric's AAU season started last Saturday....they had a Jamboree.

Eric played REALLY well!

Ryan, Nicole, and Jason are real troopers....and have a great time tagging along! They have made lots of good friends they get to hang out with at all of these activities!

COMMON SENSE

an email sent from my sister, Susan....

An Obituary printed in the London Times:

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can
earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.


Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his
wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA

WE LOVE YOU!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY little SISTER........

WE LOVE YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!

Ice Cream Man... are you lost???

OK, so we sort of live in the country. Well, as far as the ice cream truck goes(ya know the one that plays the real loud kid attention grabbing music)I would think we would be considered country -at least far enough out of town to miss out on the ice cream truck! - Well, think again!!! While we were outside working on the pears today - Nicole announces that she hears the ice cream truck coming. This has only happened one other time in the 15 years we have lived here and it was long enough ago that my three youngest don't remember it(it was probably long enough ago-I don't think they were born?). The only time I can even think that the little boys have even seen an ice cream truck would be at one of Eric's baseball games. Well, pretty soon we could all hear the music. But, I kept thinking to myself that it could be pretty far away and we would still be able to hear it. It kept getting closer and closer and sure enough it found us.
US, here on our little dead end street that only contains 7kiddos. My 5, and the other two being a 12 year old and a 15 year old. I explained to Nicole, Ryan, and Jason that this was a ONE TIME deal(ya know I had to give in for the whole novelty of actually having the ice cream guy come down our street)... BUT, that if/when the ice cream guy returned, we would NOT be buying his OVER-PRICED treats ever again! Jessica and I were getting a pretty good chuckle out of the whole thing. For one, you should have seen how excited Ryan and Jason were(it really was too cute), but also - "jingle bells" was one of the tunes that was coming from the poor little van(I mean come on, this isn't what I expected to see driving down the road proclaiming to be an ice cream truck!) I know we have a picture somewhere from the one and only other time an ice cream truck came down our lane - (Mary do you have that picture? I think YOU are IN the picture?) - I will have to get it and scan it so I can post it!!! FUN, FUN TIMES!

THE "PEAR" GANG

OH YEAH -

63 QUARTS OF PEARS!!!

AND, ALL DONE BEFORE IT WAS TIME TO TAKE JESSICA TO VOLLEYBALL PRACTICE AT 5:30!!!

HERE ARE MY LITTLE HELPERS FOR THE DAY! - THE LITTLE BOYS SORT OF JUST CAME AROUND WHEN THEY WERE READY FOR ANOTHER PEAR TO EAT -

-OR TO TRY OUT THE "TOOLS" -

BUT, NICOLE REALLY STUCK WITH IT! WHEN SHE WASN'T HELPING ME, SHE DID A GREAT JOB KEEPING THE LITTLE BOYS ENTERTAINED!

AS FOR JESSICA AND ERIC, WELL, THEY HAD PUT OFF THEIR HOMEWORK....BUT, FROM THE LOOK ON ERIC'S FACE, I THINK MAYBE HE WOULD HAVE RATHER BEEN HELPING WITH THE PEARS???
JESSICA DID HELP WITH THE PEARS IN THE AFTERNOON.

YAY - 4 BOXES are D.O.N.E.!!!

I told myself that as soon as the kids were back in school - that I would catch up on my blogging world(it's gonna be a big job since the last time I blogged about the kiddos and our adventures was the end of MAY) anyhoo, that's what I kept telling myself all summer(to stay off the computer and BE WITH the kids) - Well, they are back in school, and do you think I have more time??? NOT YET..........BUT SOON! - thank goodness canning season doesn't last too long!

........there are more of these to tend to:



AND, this week will be an adventure just trying to get all of these done-YES, ALL OF THE BOXES HAVE PEARS IN THEM! - (forget the fact that I still have the kiddos, homework, volleyball games to attend, family to feed, laundry, etc, etc.) thank goodness that I REALLY do LOVE to can!!! (hopefully my canning partner{~my sister-in-law, Mary~} is going to make it over! I picked half of these for her! We make a good team, but it is going to be a bit tricky now that she has moved 30 minutes away, AND she has a son in 1/2 day kindergarten! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU MARY!!!







MMMMMMMMM, MMMMMMMMMMM,
HOPEFULLY THE NEXT PICTURES I POST WILL BE OF ALL THESE PEARS HANGING OUT IN QUART JARS!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLUFF!!!

Happy Birthday to one AMAZING woman!!!
WE LOVE YOU!

FIRE, FIRE, & MORE FIRE.....

My kids didn't want to go to bed - they wanted to keep an eye on the fire that John was called out to!(too bad tomorrow is the first day of school, so they HAD to go to bed!) He left around 7:20 - when I put Jason to bed around 9:00, all you could see was the red glow from behind the mountain - when I went out around 10:30 I still could not see too much of a flame from our back yard - but about 15 minutes later when I walked by the window - the whole hill was ablaze!!! - My mom and I drove down the rode a bit where we had a better view(thanks dad for "babysitting" so I could take a turn) - I took this picture around 11:41 - I wish I could have captured more of the details - but WOW! It is a BIG fire! I took the picture from the opposite side of the valley - in the picture you can sort of see three different hill peaks- it is quite spread out - and there is a pretty good breeze out tonight that I am sure is NOT helping!

our firefighters are AMAZING!!!

- THEY ARE ALL VOLUNTEERS! -

I need to go to bed, but not sure how much sleep I'll get until I know John is SAFE & off those Hills! It is pretty freaky just watching it from here, I cannot imagine what it would be like up there in the middle of it!

He called me around 11:30 - he was at the top!

FAMILY

F A M I L Y

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,
'Oh excuse me please' was my reply.

He said, 'Please excuse me too;
I wasn't watching for you.'

We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said goodbye..

But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
'Move out of the way,' I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.
I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.

While I lay awake in bed, God's still small voice came to me and said,

'While dealing with a stranger,
common courtesy you use,
but the family you love, you seem to abuse.

Go and look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door..

Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.

He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.'

By this time, I felt very small,
And now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed;
'Wake up, little one, wake up,' I said.

'Are these the flowers you picked for me?'
He smiled, 'I found 'em, out by the tree.

I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue.'

I said, 'Son , I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way.'
He said, 'Oh, Mom, that's okay.
I love you anyway.'

I said, 'Son, I love you too,
and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.'

FAMILY
Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company
that we are working for could easily replace us in
a matter of days.
But the family we left behind will feel the loss
for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more
into work than into our own family,
an unwise investment indeed,
don't you think?
So what is behind the story?

Do you know what the word FAMILY means?
FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

ooops.....

didn't mean to mislead anybody - the previous post ("just a thought") was NOT written by me!(I wish it was-cuz, YES my parents are that AMAZING) -But, It was just an email my mom sent to me and I really liked it and wanted to save it! ENJOY.........

just a thought.....

Embracing Imperfection

When I was a little girl, my mom liked to make breakfast food for
dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when
she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening
so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned
toast in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed!
Yet all my dad did was reach for his toast, smile at my mom and ask me
how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night,
but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that toast and
eat every bite!

When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my
mom apologize to my dad for burning the toast. And I'll never forget
what he said: “Baby, I love burned toast.”

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him
if he really liked his toast burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said,
“Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And
besides - a little burnt toast never hurt anyone!”

You know, life is full of imperfect things......and imperfect
people. I'm not the best housekeeper or cook. What I've learned over the
years is that learning to accept each other's faults - and choosing to
celebrate each other's differences - is one of the most important keys
to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.

And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take
the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the
feet of God. Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to
give you a relationship where burnt toast isn't a deal-breaker! We could
extend this to any relationship in fact - as understanding is the base
of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship!

The MONTH of May........

We started the month out with a great Mother's Day - One of my favorite things that our Elementary School sponsors is a 3rd grade Mother's Day poetry assembly.
All the 3rd grade students pick a poem(most are able to memorize it) and all the mother's who are able, get to come and listen. This year Nicole recited hers with two of her friends.
May 8th & May 10th, 2009


EACH OF THE STUDENTS GREETED THEIR MOM WITH A CORSAGE THEY MADE! THEY WERE ALL SO CUTE!


on Mother's Day, the kids gave me all kinds of fun stuff(in the picture above). Nicole kept reminding the little boys about the "deal they had made last night" - I am assuming the deal had something to do with NO FIGHTING....GET ALONG! - definitely what a mom wants!

then real quick before church - I got them all to sit for a quick picture.......
May 10, 2009


and later that day Jessica agreed to a few more pictures....


On May 12th, 2009 - we attended the NationAl Junior High School induction for Jessica!
We appreciate how well she does in school!


May 13th, 2009
The girl's and I attended the 2nd annual "Touch 1 Life" fashion show that my sister does to raise money for "Hope's Door" (a shelter for women & children). She does an amazing amount of work in order to put this on. I admire her dedication to help other people who are in such great need! It is sponsored by her studio "Studio D" and all of the sylists there (which include her husband,Victor, & her son, Britton.


May 15th, 2009 - brought us Eric's 6th grade field trip. This is an activity the little boys & I have enjoyed tagging along to. (Ryan was at Kindergarten this time and didn't get to go - boy was he bummed!)


May 16th, 2009


May 17th, 2009


May 19th, 2009


May 19th, 2009


May 19th, 2009


May 19th, 2009


May 21st, 2009


May 21st, 2009


May 22nd, 2009


May 22nd, 2009


May 23rd, 2009


May is ending with a lot of events as well - we had a VERY eventful Memorial Day weekend, and the upcoming week is FULL of activities as it is the last week of school & baseball. I will try to post about all of these events soon..........

MY FIREMAN...

We got to go watch John and the other volunteer fire fighters burn this barn down .....
the kids loved watching their dad! He is AMAZING!

CINNAMON ROLLS

Before nap today Jason asked if we could make cinnamon rolls AND no bake cookies.

I told him I would think about it

(sorta hoping he would forget about it during nap) -

well, the first words out of his mouth when he got up from nap were

"can we make cinnamon rolls?"

Well, I said "yes," and the adventure began.

My kids LOVE cinnamon rolls SO much.

As we were enjoying eating them, it reminded me of one of my favorite pictures/memories.......

This picture was taken the end of 2004.......

Ryan was caught in "snitch mode"!

the crazy thing is, they weren't even cooked yet -

they just sort of unrolled as he was chewing! It really was funny!

APRIL SHOWERS BRING FLOWERS

This was a fun week -

all on different days,

each of my kids brought me flowers of some sort -

not even realizing that the others had!

I guess they enjoy spring as much as I do!

Flowers from JessicaFlowers from Eric& Nicole

more from Nicole.....
Ryan's - arranged all by himself in a "vase" he found all by himself!

& fresh dandelions lovingly picked by Jason

SOOOOOOOOOOOO SWEET!!!!!!