wooden crafts (pic.s)

The boys were gaven wooden craft sets recently . Here is Clayton making his. Lots of little pieces.

Here are the finished products!! A lion, a monkey, and a lobster. Alot of work but they were so happy with thier accomplishment.

I like the lobster! They could have painted them, but haven't yet.

Here are Natahn and Clayton proadly showing thier work!!!

Here is Nathan working on his.

summer goals

I know the summer is half way over ( although it doesn't feel like it here Texas :), but I still have a bunch of goals i would like too accomplish.



Decluutter - This is my biggest goal. I want to major declutter, down size on number of things that just seemed to find there way under foot constanly! And organize. Early in the summer we built some really good shelevs in the kids room and that has helped so much in organizing thier toys, story books, and school books. But theres still many other areas that could use a good dose of declutter and and organizing. Lkie for instance, don't step foot in my room!! :)



Daily Excerise - This is really a major one too! I feel i have gotten so lazy in the excerise department, and gotten so fat around the belly department!!! So need to do somthing serisouly! I had hope that walking around in my garden would do the trick, but it don't seem too. :)

And this heat has not made me feel like walking down our road. I have though a few times recently went for a 2 mile bike ride. So i am hoping to keep that up atleast everyone other night.
I don't know how that is for working down a belly though!?
My goal is to iether walk or bike aleast a mile daily.


Daily Bible Reading- another biggy on my list!! Actually this one is at the very top!! I have been so neglectful in this area. I have beeen reading to the children in thier bible book daily, either morning or eveing. But my own reading has not been happening at all. I would like very much do be reading daily, but it sure takes effort and seems really like you just have to set time aside for that, or it don't happen. Maybe I will plan on getting up at 6:oo, while the house is still nice and quite, and read. Then chores , commputer time, and get breakfast.



Planning Menus- This is one of my very low points. Like very low, like most of the time i do not know what we are going to eat for that meal till just an hour or two before hand!! :)
So that means it has to be somthing quick, beacuse i don't have much time left to work with!
And also very often i will start a meal say like speghiti and then find i do not have any noooles!!
I know that would not happen if i had planned ahead.

I would so love to beable to plan a menu for a week, aleast just suppers, and then shop and having everything i need for those meals. So i will defianlly work hard on that goal.

Going Off Caffine- Actaully it would be going off coffee biengs that is the only form of caffine i have. I don't do any soda drinks.
and I don't even mean going off coffee 100% but just cutting back. I have did very well on that so far already. Both my husband and I descided to cut back on coffee and even missed 2 whole weeks this past month! But now we are just having some on the weekends.
No really reason for cutting back coffe except just felt it wasn't somthing that was best for our bodies on regular baises and was somthing we could certainly live with out. Actually we were both feeling rather tired and sluggish with drinking a few cups of coffee every day.

So i plan to continue to keep that up. Of course in the summmer with the heat you hardly desire a cup of coffee anyway.


Well thats my goals .
I will update preodiaclally on how i am doing with them.

controlling additueds & reactions

"Mommy he's making me mad!" or, "I only hit him because he mad me mad".

I hear these comments all to often at my house. And it usually comes most often from my middle son.
I know others do have the ability to make us mad. But I feel its alot the persons own fault that they get mad in the first place.
So i often reply back to this comment, " your making your self mad. If you don't want to get mad, then don't get mad!" ( I also tell him to walk off from a sisuation)

Now i know which ever of the brothers that were iritating him was in the wrong, but i also feel he should control how he reacts to what they do.
For we can not control what others say or do to us , we can only control how we let it effect us.

The bothers obviously get some enjoyment out of his reaction, so if he didn't let it bother him, they wouldn't have no fun, and they would quit what ever it was they were doing. ( i also discipline them for that of course)

It seems a very hard thing to do, but i feel its very importian for life to control how we let different things effects us. And to learn that as a child is so much easier I think.

Self control in many areas has been something that has been very impotrian issue to me to teach my children.

The more self control we have the less problems we will run in to in life. And I feel we get that strength only in God. And the stronger we are in the Lord the stronger we are in all areas.

( let me know what you think of this post, and how you handle these kind of sisuations. )

she's three

Some special little girl just turned 3 today!

This day 3 years ago was my very first home birth, and my very first girl!!

I loved that home birth! So far its been my only one, but I certainly would hope for more in the futuer.
Nothing like being in your own home and doing your own thing. Nothing connected to you, no strangers around, no unwanted medications, no needles.
Your own bed, yet you don't have to be stuck in bed.
You can walk around, get in the tub, get on your hand and kneees, anything!!
It certainly was a beutifull experience.
And she was born with less than 5 hours of labour, my fastest yet!


After 3 boys I wondered if I even would have a girl!
And my Mom never gave me much hope. After my 3rd son was born and it was not my girl as i so hope he would be, she saids, " Well you have 3 more boys to go before you have your girl."
Thats the way it was for her. She had 6 boys before having her first girl, then another boy then me!!

But luckily for me my first girl came only after 3 boys, and now I have my second one already too!

Well Sweet birthday girl I am so glad for the 3 wonderful years wev'e had with you so far, and hope for many more.
Your a really joy to us all!!
Praising the Lord He gave us you, Sarah!!

I smile...

I am out shopping and some one sees me with my children around me.
And they ask, " Are these ALL yours?"

I smile, and proadly reply, " Yep there ALL mine." ( but i think to my self, i only have 5, i mean I'm just getting started)


I'm out at another store another time and some one sees me with my crew and comment, " My you must have your hands full!"

I just smile. (Thinking to my self, yes, i have my hands full but not the way they think. My hands are full of God's blesssings, and so very full of Love and joy!!)


Then at yet another place a lady goes, " one, two, three, four, five, oh my gooodness!! I only had 2, and i was pulling my hair out!"

I smile. ( i'm thinking , i guess she must of did somthing wrong, because i still have a good head full of hair!)

Just recently my husband and i were out at a restraunt eating with our children. An elderly came comes by our table, and pauses to enjoy the baby and talks to the others.

Then she looks at my husband and I and saids, " you all are so blessed!"

We look at our children and both smile and say, "yes , we sure are!!"

That was so refreshing to hear that, so different than the normal commments i hear.

And that really makes me SMILE!!

I messed up again

So I did it again.
I was busy this morning running around here getting ready to head out the door. Just came out of the shower , went to put dirty clothes in the babsket in the laundry room.
And there i find in the basket a couple of hubby's shorts that I had told my oldest son to put in the washing machine earlier.

I holler at him , " What are these shorts doing in the basket? I told you to put them in the wash. Now its finished . And that was my last load for the day!"
He responds,"I didn't hear you, I thought i was to put them in the basket."
Then I'm like, "Well if you didn't hear me you shold have ask what I ment."

This conversation was going on with me in the luandry room.
So i come out of there and looked at him.
And there he is sitting in the arm chair looking so sad about his mistake. In his arms is baby Anna.
He was taking care of Anna for me while I was showring and getting ready to go.

Not once did I tell him how wonderful he was to take care of Anna while I showered. Nor did I tell him how thankful I was for him being such a big boy and a big help to me.

No instead I got on to him about what he didn't do, and what he should have done.

Boy I felt bad. There he was sitting there so nice taking care of baby sister.

When i relaized my mistake I told him how bad i felt over how i had just behaved.
I told him he was so special to help me like that. And that sure he made a mistake. But the shorts could wait for another load another day.

I let him know how often both my self and daddy tend to see the things they don't do, or what they should have know to do, or what they did wrong . And over look all the many great things they do do, and the many areas they help in .

I have descided from now on for every negative thing i say I plan to say 2 positive things.

And I plan to encourage more,
affirm more,
compilment more,
smile more,
laugh more,
hug more,
and up lift more!!

More is good, right?!

hot or cold ?

I talked to my mom yesterday who lives in nothern Alberta.

We were talking abut stuff , and then I said, "well its been cooler here this week because of our rainy weather we've had, infact to day feels so nice that that we have spent alot time outside and we didn't even put on the A/C."

She said, " well its been really warm here today".

So then I was curious of what her tempatuer was there. So she goes and checks and cames back to tell me it was 80F.

So then i go and check our temp. And told her it was 79.8F.

We both had to laugh over that. Almost excatly the same temp , yet i thought it was cool and she thought it was hot!

Its all in what your use to. I didn't realy feel cool though, but it was cooler than what it had been here in our part of Texas. And it felt nice.

I always aks my mom the temp there when we talk. This spring when i would ask her, it was usually almost always 20 degrees cooler than ours. And i would so envy that! Because here we hardly got a spring, it went straight to summer.

I read a joke on Texas of our 4 seasons here, and i think it is so true. It said the 4 seasons were, almost summer, summer, still summer, and christmas.
I totoally agree!!

Summer so far (pics)

Here is some pic.s of our summer happenings so far. This one above is of our trip to Lukin Zoo. Here the kids and I are in front of the train we had a ride in. They all loved that. Baby Anna is in the sling.
Anna 5 months. She really growing and so sweet!! I am surprised she has her fingers in her mouth here, because it is usually her toes!!Tree house pictures!! The boys added the roof and walls just recently. They were so happy with the results. Except its not water proof!! Daddy will have to help put on some tin.

Here they are goofing off with hand bands and feathers!! The head bands are made from the elastic of thier worn out underware. Thier very own creation!!!

Well i had good luck posting these pictuers. I am sooo happy!! Now i will try my luck at some more.

pictures coming soon

I tried today to post pictuers of recent happenings here but was unable to. I don't even try on my commputer any more, because it's so very slow. So i have been using my brothers lap-top with wirless high speed to put on pictues, but had trouble with that as well.

I was pretty discouraged, because i have never had trouble like this before. But when i have time again and get up the courage to try it again i will be posting pictuers.

Heres what the upcoming pic.s wil be about.

My husband helped the boys to make a tree fort last fall, but was just a plat-form between the trees, no roof or walls. Well just recently the boys got busy and put on walls and a roof. Looks great and they had lots of fun doing it. So pic.s of this.

They finished it up so they could sleep up there. But haven't yet, although they had started the night there a few times now. Then one would descide to come in and then soon another till all 3 were back in and in thier beds!! Good thing though the last night they attempted to sleep there a few nights ago that they came in. It rained really hard in the night, and it was soaked up there!! They need a tin roof i guess!


Also rececnly the boys were given wooden crafts sets and i took pic.s of them biulding them and thier finshed product. Preety neat. They are little wodden animals, made by little spapes of wood all put together. Sorry i am not good at explaing. You will just have to see the pictuers when i get them on here.

Then i just have pictuers of summer happings .

I absolutly love taking pictuers of my sweet kids! But i tend to get way to many.
I am desperatly needing to take a trip to wal-mart to get a whole bunch printed off and in to my alblum.

At this very moment I am enjoying my little sweet Anna laying on a blanket on the floor by my feet!! Shes rolling around, cooking and smiling at me!! Oh i love it!!

She keeps getting bigger and stornger and sweeter by the day!! I will have to post pictuers of her too!!

So hoping it will work soon for me to get pictuers on here. Just keep checking back.



Well its not been so hot here this week, because we've had a few rainy days, and that always helps things to cool down some. So i am happy for that. Although it is still very humid.

Oh well i better call it a night here. My sweetie is now going form cooing to fussing!! So got to tuck her in bed!!

blogging mama's

I have came across some amazing and wonderful moms and thier blogs recently! I am so glad they are there and that I found them!

What encouragment, inspirationn, and wonderful ideas they give me, and with out even knowing it!!

They inspire me to keep at my blogging.

Somtimes the days are buys, theres house work to be doing, but then i think of how much i love the blogs i read and think that there just may by chanch be moms out there that love mine as well and are waiting to see what i will post next.

So it spurs me on. and keeps me going.

I want to give what i recieve. Alittle bit of encouragemnt, lots of God's light, and a little of what works for me.

Thats what mamas blogs are all about.
Its about sharing what we know, what we do, what we've experineced, what we like, what we love, what we think, our passions, our desires, our love for our husbands and children, our love for God, and so much more.

We love it and we have a passion to share.

So i just want to say to all of you wonderful blogging mommys out there, PLEASE keep up your wonderful work! Your blogs are being read, they'er being loved, and are very much apperciated!!

I know your busy; schooling, cooking, cleaning, tending babies, tending hubby, and yet you give us a little of your day, alittle of your time,
to share with us,
and you let us in side your home for us to see what your doing,
and to learn from you .
You share your heart, your joys, your feelings.
Your faith.

Thank you blogging mommys. I am so greateful your there!!

somtimes i wish....

...that i could cook a meal and it would last a month!!

or that i could sweep the floor and it would stay clean the rest of the day! ( only one day, is that to much to ask?)

somtimes i wish money grew on trees, and pennies were the seeds!

or that i recieved wages for all the different roles i play , chef, nurse, school treacher, laundry lady, ect, ect...

somtimes i wish my kids came with remotes, so i could turn them off or down when they get to noisy!

or that i could keep in tip-top shape with just the house work i do and running after little ones.

and i wish that piece of yummy chocalote cake i just grabed would make me shed pounds! :)

i wish i could type realy fast, instead of one key at a time ( this is no joke, this is excatly what i do!)

i wish i was always so patient and quiet as others see me. But i try hard, i really do!!!

somtimes i wish my chickens would feed them selves ,or better yet, butcher them selevs and jump in my freezer!!

i wish there were no boarders and we could just live and work where ever we wanted, namely in Canada!

somtimes i wish it weren't so hot,
or better yet i wish that i didn't complain!

But mostly i just wish that there was more hours in a day!!

I'm soooo hot!!

....no, actually i'm cool right now, because i'm in the house with the wonderful A/C and fans going!! :)
But i was out side and I was hot! And not the "oooh, what a hot mama" kind iether, but the sweaty kind of hot!! and I didn't like it.

But I am in Texas and so i got to get use to it. But i've been here nealy 11 years now, and i'm still not.

But you know the temp is not really hot ,its the humidity that makes it feel so bad. Right now the temp is reading 90F , and the humidity is 56%. I had never kept track of the humidty before and never realized how much it effects the weather and how we feel. But it really seems too.

This morning the temp was 70F and humidity 99%. But it had been rainy the day before so thats probaly the reason why it was so humid this monring. That wasn't the norm. It sure makes you stuffy and sticky feeling soon.

On our hottest day a over a week ago it was 101F, the humidity was 63%. Where the there is next to know humidity that temp does feel that bad at all.

Its on days like this that I start missing home very much! Home in Northern Alberta! My mom and Dad you are so lucky!!

Well this one hot mama is signing out!!!
( this post was just to complain about the heat)

God's correction (part 2)

Here is some more verses on God's correction or chastiesment that I have been reading.

"Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law." Psalm 94:12


" As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." Rev. 3:19

" But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemed with the world." 1 Corn. 11:32

'If ye endure chastenting , God dealtheth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the farther chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastiement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Hebrews 12 7-8

" For they verliy for a few days chastened us after thier own pleasure ; but he for our profit , that we might be partakers of his holiness." Hebrew 12:10

"My son , depise not the chastening of the Lord: niether be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth ;even as a farther the son in whom he delighteth." Proverbs 3: 11-12

" Behold , happy is the man whom God correcteth : therefore depise not thou the chastenting of the Almighty. Job 5: 17

"And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as children, My son, depise not thou the chastenting of the Lord, nor faint when thuo art rebuked of Him. Hebrew 12:5


I think its so neat that God corrects his children just like we as parents correct our children. He does it because He loves us so much and wants us to become more like Him.

Any of your thoughts or comments on this subject would be very welcomed.

God's correction

I have been reading just recently in my Bible Promise Book, the section under God's Correction.
And I find it intresting that God corrects or chastens those He loves, like a farther corrects his son.
Then I wonder what form ,or what God's correction looks like?

I know I have heard peolpe ask somtimes and I have wondered that my self,"why does bad things happen to good people?"

Could that be God's correction I wonder?

Of course "good pepole" to us may not be God's children nessarily, so that may be another reason why bad things happen. ( but I won't go there)

There is many veres that talk about his correction . It seems the goal is to bring his children closer to him, for our spirituall growth, and keep us on the right path.

I will share a couple verse here and make another post on this later with more.

"For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth: even as a farther the son in whom he delighteth." Proverbs 3: 12


" Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that , as a man chastenth his son, so the Lord thy God chatenth thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him." Deuteronomy 8: 5-6


"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth , and scourgeth every son whom he recievieth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons: for what son is he whom the farther chasteneth not?" Hebrews 12: 6-7