Fingerprint Friday

Convicted by a two year old.
A little history:
Since Brookelynn was a baby
and until this day
when I want the kids to stand up in the bathtub
so I can wash their little tooshies
I sing the first few lines of the hymn
Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus.
Early this week
I was busy doing...something.
Who knows what really.
I was just "busy."

The little boys were eating breakfast.
Jobie kept saying: Mommy!
I recall that now in the back of my mind.
But at the time it didn't register.
Then he said: Stand up for Jesus!
Without looking up I said: What?
He said: Stand up for Jesus!
Me (very frustrated): Jobie, why are you saying that?
Jobie: STAND UP FOR JESUS!
At which point I realized he was just asking for help.
Wanting me to pour more cereal for him.

And...I was convicted.
I always get so irritated
when the kids ask me for help with something.
What I'm doing is surely more important!
But that is so very wrong.
They are my kids.
I am their mom.
My job is to care for them.
And most importantly
be an example of Christ to them.

So, this week, when my kids have called for me.
Before I reply,
I remind myself:
Stand up for Jesus!

Mark 9:36 & 37
He took a little child and had him stand among them.
Taking him in his arms, he said to them,
"Whoever welcomes one of these little children
in my name welcomes me;
and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me
but the one who sent me."

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

Silly Me

I thought I had my afternoon all planned out.
Finish playing a game with Ezzie.
Post on the blog.
Make supper.

How quickly things change.
Right before school was out,
my sister-in-law called.
She was tied-up at work.
Could I please watch my nephews and niece?
Plus an additional boy who usually catches a ride with them.
Sure.
No problem.

Then I thought:
What will I feed them?
My standby:
chocolate chip cookies.
So I start mixing the dough.

Meanwhile Brookie makes it home.
Then Jake with a friend.
A few minutes later I look up to find
another of Jake's friends walking through our backdoor.
Then my nephew and his friend.
Then my mom drops off my niece and nephew.

Jake and his friends go outside.
Only to come back in with 2 more friends.
I now have 12 kids in my house.

My recipe made 55 cookies.
Here's what's left.
I guess they liked them.
The top rack of my dishwasher is now full.
With my classy assortment of cups.
I even managed to get supper going.
Then they all started leaving.
Even Jake left for the evening.
And I was left with 3.

And they played.

Quietly.

Ideas Please

I need help.
And this is really critical.
I don't know what to put in this.
Don't want a candle.
Got plenty of those. Don't want anything expensive.
Cheap would be great.
Not like in magazines
where they show you the "bargain" version
and it's still 100 times more than
I would pay for something.

By cheap I mean under $10.

Free would be superb.

(I love the outlet cover sitting on the window sill.

Doing a lot of good there.

I don't even use that outlet.

So, not sure why the plug thingy is out.

Hmmm.

Maybe that explains the little boys staticky hair lately.)

I've got orange decorative balls.
Tired of those.
For Christmas I had ball ornaments.
Tired of round.

I'm boring.
And bored.
And I'm begging for ideas.
Please, please, please.
Somebody help this poor decorationally challenged girl.

So Funny

At least I think it is.

We like commercials in our house.
My guy is in marketing after all.
I saw the shortened version of this one
during the Olympics one day.
It made me laugh.

We need laughs on dreary Mondays.
Well, I know I sure do.

Fingerprint Friday

I really dislike cleaning our bathrooms.
I can feel myself frowning as I do it.

As I was cleaning today,
I began praying for my family.
I prayed for Ryan as I washed the white sink that
has little whiskers peppering it.
And the mirror with water splatters covering it.
Thanking God for how hard he works for us.
I prayed for my boys as I scrubbed the toilets
and cloroxed the pee splatters all around and on the toilet.
Is it that hard to actually hit the bowl?
These boys are not that far off the ground.
Their accuracy is not good.
I'll spare you a picture.
Thanking God that they are healthy and active.

I prayed for the little boys as I was bending over the tub.
Thanking God that they are such good friends,
even as I could hear them fighting in the other room.

I prayed for my girl as I put the brushes and hair bands away.
Thanking God for her talents.
And by the end of my cleaning,
I found myself humming praise songs to God.
Amazing.
Who knew you could find fingerprints of God
in the bathroom?

I Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always;
pray continually;
give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

Shameless Plug

These sweet girls are having a taco sale this Saturday.
They are raising money to help pay for tournament fees.
If you live in or around our great little town
you know how good taco sales are here.

And, if you are unfortunate enough to have never experienced one,

well...you should.

They are completely and absolutely yummy! If you don't live nearby,

you will be missing out.

I'm sorry.

I'll shed some tears for you.

If you are interested in coming or ordering,

let me know.

I'll get all the details to you.

Nearly 1/4 of the 624 tacos we are making

are already spoken for.

I wasn't kidding.

These things are good.

Disappointment

A few weeks ago
there was an Alco insert in our local paper.
In that insert
was a coupon for $2 off a case of pepsi throwback.

Ryan was quite excited.
He cut the coupon out.
He never cuts coupons out.

As soon as supper was over
he and Brookie headed out
to make the big purchase.

Sadly, Alco had nothing.
The worker dude there was apparently no help.
They went to 4 different places.
And managed to find these at a gas station.
Ryan let the kids each have a little of the pepsi.
They were sure they could taste a difference.
It is made with REAL sugar.

Which makes me wonder...
Why is pop not made with real sugar anymore?
I'm not up on all that health stuff.
As if pop is healthy anyway.
That much I know.

He kept the mountain dew for himself.
Took it to work.
Just to make sure no one sneaked a sip.
Hog.

So Far...

today
Unloaded the dishwasher.
Reloaded it with breakfast dishes.
Hand washed some dishes.

Picked up the family room.
Which included 8 pairs of shoes.
And too many Valentine's too count.
Swept the floors.

Changed a stinky, snotty nosed little boy with a fever.

Gathered all the dirty laundry scattered throughout the house.
Two--going on three--loads of laundry.
Folded a load of towels that have been in the dryer for days.
Forgot all about them.
I was going to have the kids fold them.
Shoot!

Refereed a fight between the boys.
Then heard them yelling at each other 5 minutes later:
"Yea! You're my friend!"

Discovered that the boys got a hold of my camera.
And took 76 pictures like this:
And this:
And now...
I did all of the above so I wouldn't feel guilty
when I sat down to watch curling.
I don't even understand it.
Not at all.
But it fascinates me anyway.

Right now USA is loosing to Germany 3-4.
No idea how they get points.
Just like watching the "rocks" sliding on the ice.
I think the announcers just said they weigh 42 pounds.
Huh!

A commercial came on with Beyonce on it.
My boys, who were busy playing,
immediately looked up and watched the entire thing.
Wow!
It starts early.

I'm going to google curling and learn more about it.
Ezra keeps asking me questions I can't answer.
I'm tired of sounding stupid.

Yep

I really do love him.
Happy Valentine's Day!

To my one and only.

Fingerprint Friday

John 15:12
My command is this:
Love each other as I have loved you.

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

Thursday Random

Storytime.
Valentine's party.
We contributed juice boxes.
And gave out pre-made valentines.
Gotta love my creativity.

I got no pictures of the party.
But did get a few of a house
another mom and I made for our kids.
Very important to get pictures of that.
We clearly are constructionally challenged.
It's not square at all.
Sad.
I won't tell you what her husband does.
But he would be appalled at this.

Pet peeve:

When people call it Valentime's Day.

Really?

I'm sure there's things I say incorrectly too.

But...Valentime's Day?

This is my favorite kid's book.

I laugh EVERY time I read it to the kids.

I wrote the alphabet in big and little letters for Ezra today.
I would explain each one as I wrote.
He kept saying: Ohhh.
And: Ahhh.
And: Uh-huh.Isn't my penmanship fantastic?
I'm a lefty.
See how my letter slant to the left?
We had penmanship class when I went to school.
I would get points taken off because my letters slanted left.
Is that right?
Still bugs me to this day.

My creativity knows no bounds.
Here's Brookelynn and Jake's Valentines.

Mounds and mounds of Fun Dips.

Mmmmm.
Mounds...those sound good.
Or Almond Joy.
Here's what they need to do:
Combine Mounds and Almond Joy.
Dark Chocolate and the almond together.
Makes sense to me.

Dreaming

Longing for the day we can go from this.
To this.

Valentine Filling

Or any other time you want
a super yummy cream filling recipe.
4 T. butter
1/4 c. shortening
2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 -1/2 tsp. raspberry extract

In a medium bowl, mix butter and shortening at low speed, gradually beat in powdered sugar and extracts until blended.

Oh, and I also added a drop of red food coloring.
I put mine in between two pizzelle cookies.
And called them sandwich cookies.
I had nine kids at my house the day I made these.
7 of them boys.
They didn't even complain about the pink filling.
I think they each had three sandwiches.
Must have been good.
I think next time I'll try rolling the pizzelles.
And pipe the cream filling in the middle.
My mouth is watering thinking about it.
This stuff was good.
Down to the last lick in the bowl.

More White

This was Ryan's mom's bed growing up.
It's been in our garage just waiting.
Last week I finally pulled it out.
And painted it.So cute.
Amazing how something can be transformed
with a little paint.

Still looking for a bedspread for her.
We can't seem to find what we're looking for.
There are times I wished I sewed.
But not enough to do anything about it.

The kids' rooms are slowly getting done.
They are moved in.
But there's still much work to do.
We have some rugs on the floor.
Until we get carpet.
There are no baseboards.
No closet system.
No ceiling.

But there is paint on the walls.
And they are glad to have their own space.

Fingerprint Friday

My girl is beautiful on the outside.
And becoming more and more beautiful on the inside.
One of my favorite fingerprints
is watching the LORD work in my children.

I Samuel 16:7
The LORD does not look at the things that man looks at.
Man looks at the outward appearance,
but the LORD looks at the heart.

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

Girl2Girl

There have been an insane amount of attempted abductions
in our quiet, little town lately.

About two years ago, a father
and his then 14 year old daughter
developed a video/program called Girl2Girl.
They are third and fourth generation martial artists.
And very good.
We've wanted Brookelynn to take the seminar.
It's just never worked out before.
Due to the craziness going on
they offered their seminar free to all students of our district.
Usually it's just offered to girls,
but one of the attempted abductions happened to a boy,
so they opened it up to boys also.

Jake did not want to go.
I made him.
I wasn't going to make him participate.
Just wanted him to watch.
But then we saw one of his friends (in the green).
He decided it wouldn't be so bad afterall.
Chris and Jenna did a great job.
It was entertaining.
And very informative.
They taught them ways to avoid being a target at all.
Which I really liked.
They taught them to be LOUD if they are ever approached by a stranger.
That shouldn't be difficult for my kids.
They taught them what to do if they were grabbed.
Either from in front or behind.
There were lots of demonstrations.
And lots of practicing.
And our kids loved it.
And learned.
Thanks to Chris and Jenna.
And all the area businesses that sponsored this event.

Brookelynn especially has been nervous lately.
I think she feels a little more confident now.

A Whim

I'm painting a bed for Brookelynn.
That has absolutely nothing to do with this post.
Other than the fact that I had
white paint open this morning to work on it.

My pillars, that lead from the kitchen to the family room,
have been bothering me for a long time.
They are rough.
And nearly impossible to clean.
Those Mr. Clean sponge things just disintegrate.
As do paper towels.
Regular towels/rags just catch on them
and leave fuzzies all over.

There's a spiral of fingerprints on one.
This is where Jobie learned to walk up and down stairs.
Just two steps.
A great, fairly safe way to learn.
And this is apparently where Jobie learned to color with green.

I got to thinking while painting the bed,

Why not paint the pillars, too?

So, I did.

No more fingerprints.

A little sad actually.

But I know new ones will magically reappear soon.

No more green crayon.

That one is not so sad.
Hard to tell from the pics.

But they look so much better.

Yea for whims!

New Use for the Banana

What is with my kids' hair?
First Jake the other day.
Now this:
Brookelynn and her friends were daring one another
to do odd things.
Like chew on someone else's sock.
A sock that had been
on a middle schooler's stinky foot all day.
The boys completed the dare.
They got to give Brookie a new hairdo as their reward.

Wow!
It's sure to be the new look for prom this year.

Weekend in Review

Brookelynn and Jake could not go to sleep Thursday night.
They were convinced they would not have school Friday.
Sadly, they did.
Ryan, however got to stay home.
They were very jealous.

Ryan and the little boys shoveled snow.

The snow was not heavy,

so the boys were able to get big scopes.

Ezra was a pretty good help.

Jobe tended to dump his wherever Ryan had last shoveled.

As seems to be the trend for moms,

I took pictures from the front door.

After basketball and soccer games Saturday,

Ryan took the little boys, Brookie and a friend sledding.

(Jakie was bowling with a friend.)

I came for a little.

Then went grocery shopping by myself...

Ahhh.

We enjoyed plenty of family time.

Friday was supper at my brothers.

Saturday supper at my parents.

And Sunday dinner at Ryan's parents.

Ryan, with much sorrow, watched the retirement announcement

of his favorite NFL player, Kurt Warner.

And we watched two movies.

Ryan and I watched Seven Pounds.

To put it in Ryan's words: That was heavy.

It was.

Don't know that I need to see it again.

But not wishing that I hadn't seen it, either.

We all watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Ezra has his face buried in my arm much of the last half.

Jobie fell asleep on my lap.

I hated it.

It was weird.

And gross.

Food lying everywhere.

People with food stains all over them.

Odd.

Our weekend.

Minus the fights.

Poopy diapers.

Spills.

Lost shoes.

And general chaos that is our family.