They Grow Up Too Fast

I was looking at pics yesterday of when Katie was born and of course she was tiny, but David and Kyra were so little. Kyra was laughing at how she was holding Katie and she said "Oh Mom, I didn't even know how to hold her then." Wow--I can't believe how fast they are growing up. I keep telling myself to enjoy every minute but I can't help but be a little sad that they are not so "little" anymore. Rody often blesses the kids by picking them up, holding them and praying specifically over them. I had to laugh the other day as Kyra's legs hung past Rody's knees. She is at that hard somewhere between a young lady and still a little girl.

Biology in the Front Yard

At our home we are blessed with a great tree in our front yard. It is great for climbing. Great for shade. Great for birds to raise their babies. Well a really strong storm blew through on Thursday morning and knocked two nests out of the trees. We counted a total of 5 eggs/birds that perished in the storm. After coming home from the book fair on Saturday, we found the neighborhood kids in the tree "rescuing" some more baby birds. The nest was about to fall so Rody helped relocate it (without touching any birds of course) and then the children proceeded the brainstorm as to what to feed them b/c they had concluded the mother was dead from the storm...I am convinced she was scared of 10+ pairs of hands around her babies. Anyway, after much deliberation, it was determined oranges would be best. No I didn't take the opportunity to have them research what would be best...I told them to try to find worms under Kimmy's water bowl to which Kyra replied.."Mom, the momma birds chews it up before giving it to them.." So I asked...who will be willing to do that? She about gagged and threw up. Oh well...oranges it is.

More Tree Pics

Answer to Prayer

I write to you this morning to the sounds of rain dropping off my roof, thunder, an occasional flash of lightning and wind chimes blowing. This is a total answer to prayer. All day yesterday it looked as if it could rain. I told Katie on the way to church to pray for rain. So she did and I said katie pray that God would let it rain all night. "Word (Lord) wet it wain all morning" and guess what ... it sprinkled last night and then has rained good since about 3am this morning and it is supposed to rain through the morning. Kyra said "Mom, God wouldn't ignore that cute prayer from a cute girl"....Nope He didn't. i reminded the kids that God loves Katie and all of them b/c He created them.

We had a great "educational" talk as we were having a thunderstorm last night and learned about what causes lightning & thunder. here are pics of the rainbow at sunset...and you can see Kyra's hands. I loved that. She reminded us the bow is a promise from the Lord. Aren't His promises sweet and sustaining.

Weekend Update

What a great weekend...I had no "to do lists" which of course I will regret Monday. We spent the day together yesterday preparing and feeding college students at the BSM...then hanging out last night and playing touch football with the neighborhood kids in the street. That was a hoot watching Katie play in the game and all of us doing our best not to run over her. This morning Rody and I attended the Homeschool curriculum fair and found some good books...of course books are both of our weaknesses and now I'm trying to determine where I can put another book shelf. :-) Then a nice afternoon of visiting with Elise, our college student friend who watches teh kids and a walk with Johnna...who is feeling somewhat better.
To top the day off...my great-niece was born this morning and mom and baby are doing well.

I Can't Take It...

One of the goodies from Easter were those extremely sour pieces of candy. Me being the "sick sense of humor" person that I am thought it would be funny to see if the two little ones would "take the bait". Being the candy lovers that they are...no problem. Katie didn't make near the funny face I thought she would, but David. Well he was well worth it. It was so funny. I loved his facial expressions. Of course he left the candy in until it finally got sweet.

Isn't this like so much of life that we experience. At the time it is bitter and sour, but if we persevere and hang in there we eventually get to the sweet part.

Understanding

I am so thankful God has blessed me with children. Besides allowing me to feel the most overwhelming and amazing love for a human being....they make me laugh and keep things light. I have lost my voice and this is quite an enigma to the kids, especially David. So after returning from running errands with dad this morning (which is a whole other post itself) David promptly asks "Have you found it yet?" "Found what baby," I whisper. "Your voice," he says. I love it!! Like it was something I misplaced. No wonder Jesus said "Unless you become like one of these (children) you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven."

Oh a cute Katie word...while ordering at a drive through she was telling her dad "Roll down my winnow." :-)

I LOVE them!!!

Preparation

Last week I attended a funeral for a sweet lady in our church. Typically I don't like to attend funerals and with the kids normally am not able to make funerals. But you know...they always make me think. Think about the end of my life and when it is all said and done...what will I have done. What kind of mom will I have been? What kind of wife, daughter, sister and friend have I been? Did I make a mark and point them to Christ? Did my life exhibit love and joy that comes only from a deep abiding relationship with the Lord?

So this weekend we had all our family in and it was great. The deepest cleaning I USED to do was when my mother or mother-in-law were coming. Now I don't worry about it. I try to knock the dust off and clean the toliet. But preparation...I prepare for those things. I was reading in 1 Peter 1 this morning and I loved v 7 "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ...." I want that. I want my faith to be found unto praise and honour when my Savior returns...not to the praise and honor of men but that I prepare my life that the only true judge that matters...that my life and faith would be praising and honoring unto Him.

Best Easter Ever

What a blessed day!! Celebrating the resurrection and knowing we serve a RISEN Savior is enough in and of itself...getting to celebrate that with friends and family is even better. BUT watching your firstborn go into the baptismal waters as a picture of what Christ did through us in His death, burial and resurrection made it the perfect day! Kyra Lynn, we are so proud of you and so excited that you have given your life to Jesus and declared Him Lord. We pray you will love His Word, obey it and follow and serve Him all the days of your life.

Cutest Mom in the World

No not me...I had to share this with you so you can laugh as hard as I did. This is my mom and her buddies. i know I should have waited until AFTER she visits this weekend, but I couldn't help it. that's my mom in the middle....

What Can They Do...

In our home, as soon as a child shows interest (and even after they have lost interest) they are encouraged to help out. This is Katie's new chore at our home. She loves to unload the basket with the silverware. And she will usually ask with every piece "What's this?" I will help her distinguish between big spoon and little spoon but typically answer back with "What is it?" To which she will reply "Fork" and put it away. It is a great help to me and giving her "her place" in our family. She and David also fight over helping cook. She typically prefers to help with the salad which means I have to chop twice as many veggies b/c she picks them all out and eats them. :-) And if you do come eat with us...I make them wash their hands before tehy pick out the veggies. LOL!!!

Funny Mom

Do you ever do things that make you realize that you are "weird"? Well I do...two little 7 years olds had a whirlwind of activity and fun this weekend. Friday night we planned to take our kids and neighbor skating only to find out the skating rink didn't open for another hour. So we went bowling...which was a load of fun. Katie would throw her ball (and yes she had to do by self) and 30 minutes later it would make it down the lane usually knocking down 8 to 9 pins and thus carrying the high score for a while until Rody & Macy got warmed up.

Then on Saturday the Burnetts took Kyra to go skating and play laser tag. She ran in and got all dolled up and it was just one of those a-ha moments when you look at your kids and they look so grown up. I know she was just going skating with the neighbors but God gave me a quick glance at how quickly the time is flying and that preparation for this young woman is so important. I thought she looked beautiful and so grown up!! What a blessing they are.

Why We Do What We Do.....

Do you ever stop and ask yourself "Why do we do that?" So many things we do have become tradition to us and so we never question why we do things a certain way. I am a sheep. I will admit it. But praise the Lord I married a man who questions EVERYTHING and that has rubbed off on me. So now when we do something over and over I ask...why? And is this good? It is the best way to do it? I received this newsletter this morning from one of the companies I purchase homeschool material from (and yes they offered 20% off after I purchased D's math book 3 days ago--just my luck). Anyway, take a look at it.
http://www.aophomeschooling.com/blog/homeschool-view/the-truth-about-easter-traditions/?utm_source=hsview200904&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=enews&[email protected]

No 'Ploblem"

As I was trying to convince Katie to let me put her hair in pig tails for church she looked at me with hands on her hips and said "Mom, it's no ploblem." :-) I died laughing...No ploblem.

Perfect Monday

Monday was just an all around great day...and yes it is Wed and I am just now getting to blog about it. After a great morning of quiet time with the Lord, school went great, I got a ton of work done and then we took advantage of the pretty weather and enjoyed the park with the kids ... topped of the day with pizza. Here are some pics of us enjoying the park and several more posts that follow....

A Beautiful Young Lady

Kyra is usually going so fast that I cannot get good pics of her. The other day I was able to get some really good pictures of her. It is so amazing to watch her grow and develop into the lady the Lord wants her to be. She is such a little helper and momma and I am so thankful for her. She has such a heart for the lost as she went with her daddy to visitation and is just floored that everyone does not accept Jesus as their Lord.

Growing

You know sometimes something happens that truly shows you how much your kids are growing. The other day we went to the park and there are these hanging things that David has ALWAYS loved to play on. Well before he used to have to jump off the platform and try to catch them...now he can just reach out and hold on to them. Wow...it seems as if he has grown a foot in the last year. And he is going to go ahead and start Kindergarten. After much pleading and the Wal-Mart book not being a "REAL" math book we have ordered his math books. I'm hoping ot work with him through the summer as he has a lot of this down and then maybe start with Saxon 1st grade in the fall. We'll see.

Swinging

One of Katie's favorite things is swinging...here she is in motion. And yes we are finally growing some hair. She is such a fun little girl who is full of life and has everyone in our family wrapped around her finger. I love to watch her run to her sister when she needs sympathy or wants to play or just hug and love on David.