Praise!

Our 'new-to-us' Honda Odyssey. WHOO HOO! 

Gettin' Cold!

Getting cold 'round these here parts...Will it snow? Maybe even a White Christmas? I won't hold my breath! 

Do We Look Alike?

Do we look alike? Henry thought so. 

Flipping Out

Last night, Henry and I sat down with the kids to kinda put our feet down about behavior lately. We are all in desperate need of more prayer and bible study time. Henry and I have both been kinda stressed but I think that Henry is probably stressed because I've been in a pretty cranky mood lately.

I'm not sure what it is.....other than it being a spiritual issue. I'm not in a Bible study right now and I'm really not doing much 'quiet time' on my own. It's pathetic that I need the accountability of a Bible study but it appears that is the case. Otherwise, I stay up entirely too late (just ordered more Mannatonin to try to correct that again, though) and just plop right in bed without reading my bible. I'll get into some reading during the day some but it's definitely not anything of much meat. My phone is ringing constantly or a kid is needing me for something. As much as I hate to admit it, I am just not reading my Bible lately.

So, after this meeting last night where Henry and I told the kids we were going to do better and how we expected them to help do better, I flipped out.

It started at Walmart -- kinda -- well the flipping out didn't start, but the pressure started building. All I have to say is "Walmart" on a December afternoon and I think the rest can be figured out. I wanted so badly to get in and out of ther quickly. But there are WAY too many distractions for kids right now and every step was, "Momma, look at this." "Momma, what's this?" "Momma, can we get this?" Or "Momma, didn't you say we needed one of these?" ARGH!

Then, in a rush at home (getting ready for a Mannatech meeting), Rocky locked He-Man in his bedroom by himself. He-Man was fine until he heard us trying to get in. Then he started getting upset. ARGH! And Rocky was warned about this LAST NIGHT!

THEN.....just a few minutes AFTER the locked door incident....I'm draining the noodles for spaghetti and SPLAT....the noodles ended up in the sink.

THAT is when I flipped out.

I told Henry I was leaving. Of course, it was time to leave anyway but I know the way it sounded was like I was leaving 'for good' or something.... It was one of those things where I just HAD to get out of the house.

I was so frustrated. I didn't care what Henry ended up doing with supper, just as long as I didn't have to do anything with it. I was done! (He did fine, by the way. Made some more noodles and served it up......just a little later than was originally planned).

I spent my whole car ride to the meeting in prayer. My biggest issue was that I did not want the Evil One to use this incident for his purposes. I prayed that God would please protect my children, Henry and me from harm because of my sin. I prayed in Jesus' name and I prayed for forgiveness. I sang praises to God knowing that it was for THESE REASONS that I needed Jesus...I'm such a sinner.

And thankfully, meeting went extremely well. It was our first official training meeting and the turnout and substance was really good. God blessed it even though I didn't deserve it.

Isn't God's mercy overwhelming?

Sweet Home Alabama

The Cuddlers. Look at all 4 boys in my bed (Andy's there, too so look closely). I just give them a little nudge so I can squeeze in with them. The bed isn't this full EVERY night but I will say I have learned to not take up as much room as I used to. These days will be gone too soon so I will cherish them now. Night, night! Time to go see how many I need to nudge over tonight! 

Rocky gets his dancing moves from his Daddy! 

Indie and I took a self-portrait during the Bama/Miss St game last week. Sure wish our smiles were as big during a Bama game THIS week....sigh....Roll Tide anyway.... 

Lucy

Since I've been sharing a few pictures of Andy lately, I thought I'd also post one of our sweet, 11.5 year old Lucy. She's still a cutie! And what a Good Dog she is :) 

Sleepy

So sleepy.

Very sleep-deprived.

And I've done it to myself.

I have too much to do and not enough time to do it. I need a personal assistant. Seriously, I do. In fact, if any of you would like to apply for the job let me know. I'm very seriously wanting to hire someone ASAP. I need someone who can run errands, answer phone calls, return phone calls, answer emails, light housekeeping....pretty much anything I need help with. Someone who could help me once a week would be great.

I need someone who won't judge me and who has the energy to keep up with this crazy family.

This month is entirely too crammed. Please help.

Dress-Up Day

We don't celebrate Halloween. However we have done "Fall Festivals" at church in the past. This year we celebrated "Dress-Up Day". Rocky dressed up like "Woody" from Toy Story (sorry I didn't attach the picture - it needs to be rotated and I didn't feel like uploading my picture-editing software). The girls were treated to a makeover at Libby Lu (www.clublibbylu.com) Aren't they gorgeous? He-Man didn't dress up today. He'll have his turn in years to come. Oh, and as an added bonus to today's festivities, I took the girls to see "Shark Tale". Ugh...even though it was a pretty entertaining movie, I thought it was DEFINITELY a Hollywood propoganda thing. (Accept the Shark as-is even though he chooses to do things sharks weren't created to do.) It's definitely not a G movie (rated PG I believe) even though there was nothing particularly foul about it. Just had subject matter (gambling, mafia) that was a little over my kids' heads. Some of it was kinda funny, though. 

Two Sides Of The Coin

Thanks to Willena for posting this on her blog....

Two Sides to the Coin
As Christians, for all of the negative things we have to say to ourselves, God has a positive answer for it:

We say: "It's impossible."
God's Word says: The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. (Luke 18:27)

We say: "I'm too tired."God's Word says: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

We say: "Nobody really loves me."God's Word says: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

We say: "I can't go on."God's Word says: My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. (ll Corinthians 12:9)

We say: "I can't do it."God's Word says: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:13)

We say: "I can't figure things out."God's Word says: Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine ow understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

We say: "I'm not able."God's Word says: And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. (ll Corinthians 9:8)

We say: "It's not worth it."God's Word says: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

We say: "I can't manage."God's Word says: My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

We say: "I'm afraid."God's Word says: For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (II Timothy 1:7)

We say: "I'm always worried and frustrated."God's Word says: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. (l Peter 5:7)

We say: "I'm not smart enough."God's Word says: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. (Prov. 1:7)

We say: "I can't forgive myself."God's Word says: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Before The Poof

Andy with his new 'do'. He is a Bichon Frise but before we could do the Bichon style, we had to just shave him and start from scratch. This is one really awesome dog! We love him! 

Meet The Prince

Prince Andrew von Avondale the way he looked when we brought him home. 

Our Very Own??

The girls were SO excited to meet their "very own pet". 

Getting To Know You!

Andy playing with He-Man on his first night HOME :) 

Jen's Pool

Summer 2002 by Jen. She has been so awesome to include my kids in her photo collections. Her pics always turn out really great! Just wanted to share a few here. 

Spring 2002 by Jen 

Jen Took This Last Year

December 2003 by Jen 

He-Man Flexes His Muscle

He-Man finding the one he wanted to take home. He ended up with a hand-held pumpkin from the gift shop. It's really a shame I can't share the sound effects from this picture. 

Fall Field Trip

GJo went with us on Indie's field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. It was fun but let me just say that the owners of that thing are making a KILLING! $15.50 per kid for a couple of hayride things and pony rides and petting zoo and bouncey toys. Not to mention concessions.....wow. 

Louie the Lizard

Louie was fun but now he's gone. No, he's not dead (that we know of) but he is gone. I told Ray she could keep him to take to school but she's not going back until Tuesday. I told her he might die before then if she kept him cooped up in his little aquarium. She was almost OK with that.

Bless her heart. She really wanted him to stay alive for school but the possibility of him dying really made her very sad. So sad, in fact, that she cried about it. She said, "I'm so worried about him. I know he's not our pet but can you please pray for him?"

As she climbed into bed she asked, "Will you check on him one more time?"

Of course. So when I went out to see him, I thought I had found a dead lizard clinging to the top edge of the plastic cage. I opened the top and asked Henry to come inspect. Turns out he WAS breathing but very slowly. It was a chilly night and the bottom of his domicile had gotten pretty damp from the water the kids put in his little non-spill-proof dish. I think he climbed to the top to get as far away from the water as possible. I know he had to be freezing.

Then I wondered....does this lizard have the ability to slow down his breathing and heart rate to stay warm? Was he really fine after all?

We left the lid off his cage and when Ray checked on him this morning, he was still hanging on the edge where I had left him. Surely he wasn't well.

Ray was excited but I wanted her to understand that he might not be doing so good. She left the cage open and when she checked on him right before leaving for church, he had crawled his way to the bricks.

Was he moving more because he was warming up a little bit?

He was gone when we came home.

Poor Ray. She REALLY wanted him to be OK.

She cried again. "I'm afraid I'll never know what it feels like to have my own pet."

Good grief!! Talk about tugging at my heart strings. And I'm not easily swayed in these matters. I want to be a "too bad, so sad" kind of parent when it comes to wanting something that just isn't practical. Or at the very least I will explain something-to-death about why we can't have another pet.

But would you believe what we did today? We took the kids to the pet store and began looking for pet options. Ray is to do a little bit of research about what pet would be best for our family. She will report the pros and cons of 3 different pets. Well, at least that's what we've asked her to do but even Henry and I are swaying away from the idea of gerbils, hermit crabs, and ferrets. Believe it or not, Henry and I have actually had the idea of a small dog pop into our crazy heads. I even looked online to see what kind of animals were at the shelter.

Are we insane or what?

Of course, the kids have begun to get their hopes up for a dog. We're so dumb.

I don't know what we'll end up doing. I'm sure this is either the beginning of a big lesson for all of us (kids for realizing that parents can be cruel and us for being so stupid as to act like this was a remote possibility when it wasn't) or it's the prelude to a new adventure with a puppy. We'll keep you posted.

Gosh, we're nuts.

They Never Cease

My children amaze me all the time.

Rocky came running inside, "Daddy, Momma! We need a bowl for Ray to put the lizard in!"

Yes, my darling, sweet little Ray is a lizard-wrangler.

The big kids are on the porch right now building an ecosystem for their new creature. Poor fella. Hope he's had a good life because it's likely to end today.

And speaking of kids....

Teething has become a nuisance again. He-Man had a really nice stretch of just enjoying his mouthful of biters but now he's growing 2 more. This causes him to want to nurse alllll the time. He wakes crying if he's detatched but if he's latched on, he's fine for the course of the evening.

And during the day, all he wants to do is sit in my lap and nurse. He'll have stretches of wanting to get down and play but many times he wants to nurse for just a little bit. The precious thing is that he is very appreciative. Yesterday evening we were outside enjoying this gorgeous weather and he needed to stop playing to nurse a little while. When he was done he covered me up and said, "Done. Thank you, Momma" and then gave a wonderful little grin over his shoulder as he walked away.

Lord, please help me remember THAT instead of the seemingly constant nagging. Lord, also help me remember that these days are so short and that it won't be long before he's running away from me to catch lizards and chase girls.

Lord, I also pray for a really great sale on digital cameras the weekend of October 29 so Henry can finally go get his birthday gift for us all to enjoy :)

Row, Row, Row

A few more pictures from the beach. 

Messy But Makes A Point

Not the greatest 'do' but shows how short Indie's hair is now. We love it :) You can also see she's missing a few teeth! 

With Lou-Lou

He-Man with Aunt Lou Lou. 

Where's Your License?

The girls go for their first drive! It was no surprise to us that Indie zipped around pretty fast and Ray kept one foot on the brakes at all time. 

Beach Silliness

I LOL on this one :) 

Bubbles On The Balcony

Rocky enjoyed playing bubbles on the walkway of the condo. It was VERY windy through there. You can see the large amounts of construction in the background. We were in a really new area of PC with lots of new buildings going up all around. We were actually the very first guests in the condo we used. It was so nice and new! 

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Vroom!

Vroom!