Telling People About Jesus

On Saturday, I got up at seven by myself and I met with my dad for breakfast.  I don't get a chance to get out much so I thought I'd ask to meet him.  After we finished eating I asked him if I could go with him to the church outreach.  I hadn't gone in awhile because I wasn't sure if I could keep up while using my double strollers and having all the little ones.  This time I was by myself since Charles was at home with the kids.  After we got there, there was sooo many people that showed up to pass out flyers and tell people about Jesus.  We grabbed our flyers and 3 more people to go with us in our car and meet up with the group at a certain location.  After witnessing for awhile, I notice my friend Deborah, who is 13 having such an open witness with people.  She was using The Way Of The Master technique.  I asked her to remind me about it.  I didn't try it right away but we were there for a couple of hours just going door to door telling people about Jesus.  I was so excited because it had been so long for me!  I love going to church 3 times a week and Bible Study on Fridays, but telling people about Jesus OUTSIDE the four walls of the church was the best thing I have done since I don't know when.  Some people will never set foot in a church.  You could be their only opportunity to hear about Christ.  So, later that day, after I went back home to my family, we left again to the store.  I got out of my van with more flyers and tickets to give out for a drama that was going to be that night.  It was a drama from the previous post I just wrote "Twice Dead."  A true story.  At a grocery store I began to share the gospel with people.  This time I used The Way Of The Master and I was shocked at the openness I was getting with people.  So today after church I went to two more different stores and had the same opportunities.  Wow.  Why would I not want to share Jesus with people who are lost???  It's be like knowing that a bridge is out ahead.  Me, standing there, waving people past with a smile on my face knowing that death is ahead.  Not giving a warning.  Not a care.  Same thing.  Anyway, to my Christian friends, I want to share this with you.  This is an amazing video of Ray Comfort talking a teen about Jesus.  This is the same thing I did and was suprised at how many were open and listened.

Twice Dead

We have an evangelist this week.  His name is Roman Gutierrez.  He has quite a story!  They did a drama last night about his life and it's amazing he's alive.  He's been shot in the back of the head, stabbed twice, part of his ribs blown off, his arm severed.  He died twice, once for 5 minutes and another for 6 minutes.  He said his mom used to party and leave him locked in a closet with no food or water.  One time she even left town for 4 days with him locked in a closet. He had no food or water and of course no restroom.  He was only 6 years old in a dark closet, screaming.  So he grew up in San Antonio, Texas with gangs.  He grew up with so much hate.  While waiting for his father to come get him for the weekend, he gets a phone call that his dad was found dead with a needle still in his arm.  By eleven he started shooting up and had his first tatoo.  I found the book online!  It's his story.  You'd just be amazed and you can even buy it as low as $6.54.  Not trying to advertise just to get you to buy a book.  This is an amazing testimony of how is was delivered and I can tell you that it wasn't through rehab or through doctors!  Anyway, he is preaching for us every night through Thursday.  I'm just so excited and Saturday we passed out flyers door to door to invite people.  I had an excellent time.  I will share with you tomorrow about it!

Too Many Kids?

Listening today to Mark Gungor while I was cleaning was refreshing to hear. Here's the topic.

"Mark and Debbie talk about handling a friend that is having an affair with a married man and what to say to a family member that thinks you have too many kids. Mark addresses a challenge to his statement that ‘Jesus is enough.’ An e-mail asks about how to work on ‘us’ after all the serious problems in their marriage."

The part I would love for you to hear is the portion about having kids.  He talks about how people nowadays see it as such an inconvienance.  CLICK HERE to listen!  To go straight to that topic, just push slider to 00:9:50.  Actually, the letter that is sent to Mark Gungor sounded a lot like one I could send in.  I've had family make these comments.  It used to hurt but now I realize that people just have their own treasure.  My children are my treasures. 

Sunday Rest

Sunday is always such a beautiful day and of course always spent in God's house.  :)  In between church we love to have picnics and play at the park.  At least that's one of our favorites.  Usually my kids' buddies like to come along too so this day we took twins. 

"Okay, which one of you is Isaac and which one Isaias?" 

I'm always asking that question.  They are identical. Both really, really great boys and they get along great with my kids.  They are usually at our house or our kids are at theirs.  I'm so proud of my kids really getting out and making some friends.  At their last school, my kids made some less than desirable friends and they picked up on some bad things.  Being that they're homeschooled, then tend to just have kids from church.  Now that I have six kids, what's a few more on a Sunday afternoon???  LOL.  How do you guys like to spend your Sundays?

My Castle

We used to move around at least once a year. We were never happy where we went because we were always renting.  I didn't really care to own.  I loved not having to worry about repairs and such.  I just realized we've been in our home for 3 years next month.  Wow!  Also, I've been blogging for 4 years!  Double wow.  Time has flown!  I'm still in love with my home.  It's my castle.  I love the big, big backyard where kids can be kids. I never had that before renting.  Now, I so wish we had invested earlier in a home.  Young and dumb!  I can't wait to have chickens again and a vegetable garden.  Whooo! 

Today we went to the gym.  My mom had baby Caleb at her house and so we headed to the gym ourselves.  Usually I like to burn 1,000 calories doing cardio but today my legs hurt.  Poopie.  I only burned half of that.  Tomorrow, it'll be different.  I really want to check out the spin class.  You know, I've always loved the gym since I was a little girl.  My mom had us girls in cheerleading when we were little (when it was innocent) and once we got to cheerlead for The Suns during half time.  I remember these big guys running around and a big stadium.  I didn't really care though and I didn't notice as much all the people.  We just went out and had fun.  My mom pulled us out though we it wasn't so innocent anymore.  I'm glad for that.  She's a good mommy. 

We got a new BIG dog.  So now we have TWO great danes.  Both so gentle and sweet.  It'll be tough though in the sense of twice the poop. Okay, twice the Dinosaur doo.  Great Danes are such great dogs. 

Introducing Asperger Blog

Hi!  I know some already know about this blog but I have another blog that I am writing.  I started only a little while back but I wish I had started sooner. Meet Chaz is about my oldest son Chaz.  If you guys know any other Asperger blogs out there, please let me know!  I would love to follow so I can learn more. 

I Almost Finished Lunch!

This cartoon isn't completely off the mark, right? LOL.  My husband told me the only time I sit down is when I use the restroom.  Well, that is from having so much energy all the time!  Sometimes I don't sit down when I eat either but lately I've been trying to remind myself to.  A good way to assure that is have everyone eat in the formal dining area and then I HAVE to sit down.

Sunday was an excellent day in church.  I read 1 Corinthians 5 and it finally made sense to me about some things.  It's a pretty straightforward chapter in the Bible.  I love straight forward teaching that really digs deep. 

I have to mention that Switched On Schoolhouse is working out fantastic for Chaz!  He is loving his bible course he is taking.  I always want to sit with him while he is studying because I'm fascinated by some of the stuff he is learning. I already know the books of the bible by heart but gee... I never thought of Adam and Eve as the first farmers.  Good point.  See, I always knew farming was the way to go.  What am I doing in the city?  Sigh.  So, anway, that program is working out much better than I thought and Chaz is enjoying it himself. That is excellent for learning for sure.  What he was doing before was so boring that we would both fall out of our chair practically from falling asleep. It was also very unorganized and after I got administration to admit it, I knew it was time to switch.  SOS cost some but it's even more worth it if you have little ones underneath them that will be able to use that grade in the next few years coming up.

Walking With God

There is no longer any grass in the yard because of winter and I don't want to plant any winter grass so the kids are finding their own things to do around the yard.  On this day they were looking for buried treasure.  Ryan found a really old canteen.  It does look old!  Well, anyway, that was treasure to them.  The yard looks so barren now but that'll soon be fixed since we are relocating our vegetable garden and putting it in more visable places.  Soon chickens will also be around but NOT near my garden this time. 

Last night I couldn't go to church and I was so sad that I just sat in my living room for a sec and cried.  I love church.  I love praising God and I love hearing more about Him.  After awhile I grabbed my bible, the kids and the study book  I  asked them to each sit on a cushion of the couch as if we are sitting on chairs at church.  I asked them to show me how quiet they could be.  6 little ones under the age of 9 is not easy but it's possible.  I told them that we all have some obedience issues we need to work on.  I told them that we were going to study some things about God in our study book (Growing with Jesus).  We learned about jealousy and how it affects others and how it affects our own heart.  We also learned a little more about who Jesus is.  We sang our own worship songs and did prayer requests.  My heart had been heavy because each child has their own area of weakness.  Their own need.  Their own walk with God is different for each one and they are in different places.  Chaz truly loves to be close to God and he prays and reads the bible.  Ryan is just not there yet.  Often he asks me why God doesn't answer his prayers.  I asked him yesterday what kinds of things he was praying for.  He told me about toys he wants or he'll ask God to make something magically appear.  I had to sit and explain it a little better to him but he takes it like, "Well, God isn't that powerful then."  So I've been praying for Ryan in this area.  Chaz and Ryan are 8 and 9 so they are thinking more about deeper issues than their younger siblings.  Parenting can be complicated.  I care about their souls of course.  In the end, after we all talked and prayed, I felt much better knowing that at least we had bible study together. I have to be stronger and I have to work harder to be a good example to my children in my faith and walk with God.  I'm glad the kids see me praying and reading my bible everyday because that's one way to show that it's more than just talk out of my lips. We need that personal walk with Him.  It's another reason why I'm so pleased with Switched On Schoolhouse when it comes to our homeschooling.  I absolutely love that no matter what they are studying, somehow the bible is put into it.  I really love the bible course they are taking!!  Chaz is learning so much and I just started Ryan on it last night even though he wasn't going to start it till 3rd grade.

I love this picutre out my front window of the clouds.  What beautiful days we have been having! 

Someday...

God,

Some days I'm full of energy.
Other days my mind is tired.
Some days I'm proud of what I've accomplished.
Other days I wonder where to begin.
Some days I think my heart is so clean
Other days I'm shocked by my own thoughts
Some days I love life
Other days I wonder when You're finally coming back.
Some days I wish I could have fifty babies
Other days I wonder what the heck I did to myself
Some days I devour your Word and hold it dear
Other days I have to fight my flesh just to pick it up
Some days I feel like supermom
Other days I feel so inadequate
Some days I love homeschooling
Other days I just want that yellow bus to pull up
Some days I get excited to make friends again
Other days I shrink back in fear from past hurts
Some days I feel like I could even love my worst enemy
Other days I find it hard to forgive even my spouse
Some days I am thankful for Your forgiveness
Other days I'm in awe of Your grace.
Some days You hold me in comfort
Other days You correct me out of love
Some day I get to see You
Some day ...

Not Enough For Caleb

Caleb is now 4 months old.  He has been fussing a lot at night.  I wasn't sure if it's tummy but I started to finally realize that he wasn't getting enough milk nursing.  He certainly wasn't having enough wet diapers.  Finally, during Sunday School at church, I drove to the store to get him some formula.  I felt so bad about it.  I'm not a staunch nursing mom it's just that I do believe it's some great stuff!  Plus, formula soooo nasty tasting.  Bleh.  I gave my church nursery the bottle and they said Caleb chugged it and wanted more.  NOW, he's exploding in his diapers!  LOL.  Not trying to gross you out but that is a good sign.  He's in the 25th percentile so now he should finally gain some weight.  He's also sleeping better at night so I'm getting some rest too.

Ryan just loves, loves, loves to hold Caleb.  Ryan is homeschooling here while holding his baby brother.  Caleb thinks it's pretty great too!

Ryan climbed into the crib with Caleb to read to him and hold him.  I love Ryan's soft heart. He said he wants a lot of kids some day.  Some lucky girl gets to have Ryan some day!  For now, I'm his main lady.  :D  Thank goodness.  I still got these little guys for a decade or so. 

Anyhow!  It's been pretty warm here.  So much so that my kids have been having a blast making mud pies in the back yard and just making a mess in general!  Letting the kids go mud crazy makes a big job for me when its cleanup time but who cares?  They are having tons of fun and using their imagination.  I love how they are playing together making up stories together.

Potty Busters

I'm such a (sniff) proud mother right now.  My kids.  My smart...smarty, oh, so smart kids.  Put pullups on their head and decided to play super heroes with them.  Wow.  I mean.  Could I get any more prouder than the last post of my daughter going for the cactus or hanging over the railing?  I know guys.  Now just in case any of my friends wish their kids were as mature as mine, I assure you that my kid's behavior came with a lot of hard work on my part.  I may not put diapers on my head but I do take pride in dancing on my bed or jumping on the trampoline with my kids while singing a silly song. 











Kyle is ready to fight crime.  At least to find out who wet their pants.

Ivy will look back on this one day.  I assure you.  My blog will still be around and I will remind her of this.  I will tell her how proud of am and that she came from good stock!

Science Center

We took Chaz's friend with us to the Science Center and stayed for for 5 hours.  I LOVE learning stuff too so we all had fun there. 

I liked how this was blowing Ivy's hair back.  She was learning how to "fly a plane".  Man, this place is so cool.  It has four floors to experiment with all kinds of stuff.

This locomotive was so neat to see in the history area.  I wanted so badly to go inside and really look at all the history of what people used and stuff.

Check this out!  LOL!  As I'm taking the picture, I didn't see what Ashley, my two year old, was reaching for.  I caught her in the act!  After the fact. I did find out she touched it but thankfully got no pokes.

Chaz got to help out with exploring the digestive system.  Of course it all went to poop in the end. It was pretty darn cool so have it all explained and shown how our system works.  It was funny because toward the end he said, "So, what happens right when its passes through?" Something to that effect.  None of wanted to say it out loud.  So he said "Poop!"  Then named the other words for it.  Umm....yeah.

Chaz riding the bike on a tight rope way above me by the second floor.  Was so cool!  I would to have loved to try it.

This had us laughing and laughing!  Even funnier was what I noticed after I took the picture.  Ivy hanging on the railing.  It's not dangrous, it just looks like something my kids would do.  Going for a cactus or hanging upside on a railing.  You know, one time my first born touched a cactus at about that age long ago.  I told him, "Now Chaz, don't tough that cactus." Well, that was a mistake to say because of course he had to go ahead and try it.  His whole hand had sticklers in it. Whatever you call it.  They were so numerous.  I finally asked a nurse and she said to give him as warm a bath as possible and just let him play for a long time. His pores would open up and the sticklers would just fall out.  Totally worked.

Chaz's friend Seth on a bed of nails.

Beautiful, Dreamy, Rainy Day

I wish I could have rested more today. Maybe I should have. It doesn't rain here very often. When it does, we all think it's so neat it's hard not to keep looking out the windows. Heck, when it rains here, some schools even shut down. No joke. Being I homeschool, well, my school was open for the day. It was also my husband's night out with his friend so we were going to be alone tonight. Around the time it was to get dark, our power went out. I had just enough light peeking in that I quickly gathered the few candles I had and one flashlight. The kids were scared once it got really dark. We left a couple of windows open to hear the rain and there was a tornado warning. Well, the wind slammed our bedroom doors shut and it would make the kids scream. They kept opening the doors back put to have them only get slammed again. Finally, I shut the windows. When the power went back on, I very quickly turned on every light in the house. I hate the dark and I rarely have our lights off in the house unless we are gone. Anyway, I thought it was so beautiful outside and I knew our flowers just drank it up.

I love checking the mail every day but being that I'm barefoot everyday, I ran out quickly here to check my mail in the rain.  You can't see the rain in the picture.  Only in the puddles which I so wanted to splash in.

Yesterday wasn't rainy at all but all my kids had conspired and did something naughty yesterday so they were grounded from the backyard today.  I know, torturing not just them but also myself.  My kids will play outside for hours!  Well, with how windy it was today with heavy rains, it turned out that I wouldn't have let them out their anyway but they didn't know that.  They were begging me to go out and I reminded them that they were grounded.

As you can see in pic above, I never got around to finishing the girls' paint in their room.  If you look closely, it'll be Disney's Tinkerbell color green.  I'm actually wanting to finish it badly but we weren't sure exactly what we were going to do.  I think I'll keep it. 

Moms with ADD

Aaahhh!  I'm so excited I stumbled onto this book, Moms with ADD, at the library!  I've known for quite awhile I have ADD and I definitely know from looking back at my childhood.  However, it can be really hard at home trying to be organized.  Whoo.  I AM TELLING YOU.  The sad part is that many moms with ADD are accused of being lazy. That is not true at all!  I work harder but not smarter.  I'll work my butt off all day and still not have that perfect house.  Here is a part in the beginning of the book that is like reading about myself.

• It's hard to be a mom with ADD

....in some cases, girls are hyperactive.  As children, they're seen as "tomboys, and as women, theyre perceived as highly energetic or manic.... (Whoo, ain't that the truth).

It's also true that women with ADD share traits that can sometimes make it hard to function optimally, especially when you also hold the role of mother.  Traits such as distractibility, disorganization, impulsivity, and the already mentioned inattentiveness don't seem useful when you are trying to rear one or more children in our non-ADD world.  In this world, you're supposed to color inside the lines, go slow, and eat all your vegetables-among various other expected standard behaviors.  It's hard to be someone seen mostly as a person who forgets everything, is off on her own planet, or is foolishly impulsive and sometimes just plain silly.  The name calling can be tough; ditsy, absent-minded, space cadet, or worse- crazy or lazy. I know this intellectually and I also know it personally, as do most of my readers. 

A lot of that is so true.  Women can sometimes not understand what its like for an ADD person to function.  HOWEVER!  I personally see ADD as a gift in some ways.  ADD women are good at juggling many tasks.  I have high amounts of energy and my mind goes a million miles per hour it seems.  James Dobson said that with some help, ADD moms could really use it to their benefit and BOY do I believe that.  I think it's actually been a gift to me and I'm glad I have it.  Most of the time.  Other times it can be hard.  I may have a lot of energy, but as I said before, I work harder.  Not always smarter.  I've had family (not my mom. Need to clarify) in the past look down on me for this.  They are both perfectionists and you can be sure they keep everything perfect.  It's so awesome for them.  However, I can do the same thing IF, and a big IF, I sacrifice time with those I love.  Some people, housekeeping comes so naturally (not saying they don't work hard), they have time for all the other stuff.  Not with ADD.  ADD people can be extremely forgetful and has a very hard time finishing tasks.  There was a time in my life where I let people pressure me into being that perfect housewise.  I look back now and I feel so sad how much I put it above my boys at the time.  Wish I could go back and just cuddle them more and cherish that time with them.  I cannot have it all.  I have to say that the fact I can sit through a 45 minute sermon at church is just a miracle in of itself.  You should see how fast people tell me I chew gum or shake my leg.  I don't know I'm doing it. Sometimes I feel like standing up and dancing and then sitting back down.  I drive myself nuts I tell ya. 

Now that I've said that.  I am happy I have so much energy.  If having ADD means I can handle juggling so many things at once, even though not perfectly, have so much energy, can have supercharge moments to get things done, can handle having so many kids, then..well, I guess it's not so bad after all!

Are there any other moms out there that relate?

Making More Messes To Clean

It was one of those days when the kids were bored and they asked if they could break out the paints. Washable paints that is. So I said, "ummmm....awwww....well, sure." I knew what I was getting myself into with all the cleaning. After they got bored of that they turned their painting on each other and decided to have some fun. Being it's washable and since I check the tag on my kids that they are too, I let them go for it. Man, they were busy for hours!   Chaz and Ryan pose with Ashley.  They weren't done with her here but they were proud of their work so far.

My model below (Ivy) will show you how to properly sit still for a face painting.

Kyle actually was to have a lot more to do on him.  The unfortunate part was when it all started to dry, crack, and peel.  Then it got itchy.  For now they are just having a blast.  It's OBVIOUS where we live it's not cold.  This day it was in the 80's.

Chaz put a lot of concentration on making Ashley up.  I'm telling you, I'm so happy for these paints and it washed off everything.  Their clothes washed off great.  Your kids will go nuts doing this.  They were careful too not to get it in the eyes. 

My other model below will show you expert drawings that you could also try on your next victim..er... model.

With 6 kids at home all day and everyday, finding something for them to do outside of homeschooling is great.  Of course I take them places to get them out and learn.  Like field trips and stuff.  The other day we visited the local science museum and stayed for 5 hours!  Phew.  It was so fun.  We also visit the library every Tuesday.  Anyhow, here was art 101.  Haha.  It was a neat day and they seriously were out there till sunset playing with the paints.  After all the baths and tub cleaning (which wasn't too bad), they were all worn out.  I made sure to take their pics so they felt like all their hard work could be looked at later.  :D  By the way.  My kids are involved in an awesome school for homeschooled kids.  It's only once a week but they go for the whole day and get all their extra curricular stuff.  Next year I am going to switch their days to Monday so I can pick which classes they take.  Actually, they'll get to pick.  I'm hoping one of them is band because my grew up learning 5 different instruments and I just love music.  I really think the chess class will be good for Chaz.  I'm hoping Ryan will take drama.  He's the drama king and loves to act.  He's good at it too.  They are begging me for karate but I'm not sure I'm ready for them to be able to kick each other's butt any more than they do already.

Lemons

Heh heh, the nerd in me just had to share this joke:

A woman applying for a job in a Florida lemon grove seemed to be far too qualified for the job.


The foreman frowned and said, "I have to ask you this; have you had any actual experience in picking lemons?"

She replied: "I've been divorced three times and I voted for Obama."

Family Game And Sugar Night!

When we do a game night it always means major sugar too! We loaded up on ice cream cones, cookies, ice cream punch drink, etc. We get loaded in a good sort of way! Haha. It is just sooooo cute playing pictionary with the kids. Especially the little ones! It was Ivy's turn to draw something so she got her paper and pencil. This is what happened once we started the timer.

Mommy: "Ready....go."

Ryan: "Is it a box?"

Ivy: "Noooo...it's a flag!"

This is what happened once we started the timer.


Mommy: "Ready....go."

Ryan: "Is it a box?"

Ivy: "Noooo...it's a flag!"
OOPS! She told us the answer. LOL. Haha. She's four years old so it's fun watching her draw. She cries when we can't figure out what she is drawing.

Here is Ivy's alligator!  We couldn't guess it and she was so bummed that we didn't see that this was an alligator.  So, so, so, so cute.

Yummy punch thingy we put together.  Ginger Ale, red punch, and vanilla ice cream.  We just drank this gone!

Sometimes my kids are weird, but hey, they belong in this family!  Look at Ryan's tooth (the last picture) that is coming in!  He looks like snaggle tooth.

Pictionary is one of our all time favorite gaves because the little kids can play and it can be so funny.  This time we played blue eyes against green eyes.  Green eyes won which was Kyle, Chaz, and Charles.  Ashley, my two year old, is blue eyes so soon we will be able to add her to my team.  Now we have to figure out what color Caleb's eyes will be.  He's only 3 months old.  LOL.

At The Zoo With Family

My sister and her family came down to visit for only 3 weeks from South Africa. We tried to cram in some time with them being they had so many people to visit and conferences to attend. We love, love, love the zoo! So we all met there for my sis' birthday and had so much fun running around. If anything, the zoo is a place where kids can be crazy and run their energy off! LOL.

Caleb, above, riding with me.  :D

My nephews in the red shirt with my own kids and my sister on the right.

This was so funny how he was hanging out here over the edge.  LOL.

My sister taking picture. ^

Such a beautiful picture! ^

My own boys with their cousin in red shirt and other cousin on far right. 

Kerrie, you're not the only one that takes a rest in the stroller!  Ha ha!

My Brother-In-Law Guest Preaches

This is Dan. My brother-in-law who has a church in South Africa. They are down here for a brief visit before going back up. He was guest preaching at our church.

Ivy (below) is giving me the eyes while I'm adjusting my camera.  I turned the setting onto Museum so there would be no flash or sounds.  So I snuck some pictures in of Ivy.  Hence the pics below.

Ivy below is sneaking into my lotion and she thinks I don't notice.

Kyle is my 6 year old sweetheart.  My husband didn't really know I was taking these pictures.  Sorry for goofing off, Hon.  I couldn't help it.

The Dark Circus

A play put on by my church.  It was great!  The parts I understood was that these two girls get tricked into checking out whats supposed to be a fun circus and it ends up showing the traps of life.

The message at the end and the most important of all. It doesn't matter what our sins our. The cross is what saves our soul. Not an idol, relidious works, or even Mary. But Jesus who died on the cross for our sins. I loved, loved, loved this picture I caught since it was hard to take pics without a flash.

These two pics above show how a father is enticed to sacrifice everything dear to him in order to climb the ladder of success.  Sacrificing his family for power and money.  That's why you see the people under the ladder.  Wow!

Prayer Wall

This is our updated version of our Prayer Wall. It's much bigger this year since I received more Christmas cards. Every year we take our Christmas cards sent to us and we cut out the pictures (after Christmas) and put them on this board. We always use it for prayer time at night with the kids so they have a visual of who they are praying for. It's pretty neat and the kids like picking people who they want to pray for that night. I never knew what to do with the card after Christmas so this was such a neat way to use them all year long!

The picture below is another wall of my family. Some of are of my kids and then my other nieces and nephews and one of my sisters. I keep this also in the kids room since my kids don't get to see their cousins very often. One of my sisters lives in South Africa and we only see them ever two years for a short visit.

So, This Is Chaz

So, this is Chaz in the red shirt (above).  He is nine.

Chaz is homeschooled but he goes to a class once a week to do the extras such as music, PE, computer, etc.  The thing is that Chaz has Asperger Syndrome. He's a very difficult child for me and for his teachers.  I got a call today that he hit a kid.  Chaz very much acts very, very immature for his age.  How you would expect a four year old to act at times.  He has his good moments though.  Like when he's sleeping.  No, just kidding!  He does have his good times.  For the most part though he will get the whole family going.  The thing about Aspergers is that they can't keep their hands to themself.  They don't understand personal body space.  They don't always understand that if you want to make a friend that, no, you don't go up and hit them and say hello.  You just say hello.  Looking at the two last pictures I realized that you can see what I'm talking about.  He's constantly touching someone.  How you see him there, he is always at home.  I feel bad that he doesn't have any friends.  Thankfully, he has 5 other siblings because they put up with him and play with him.  He frustrates them an awful lot but they forgive him often.  I'm so baffled at times how to help Chaz.  Sometimes he tries my patience but I have to always remind myself that although he is different and very difficult, he is very precious to me and he does have a good Chaz of being successful and having good relationships.  Hopefully, as he grows older he'll mature more and learn how to respect other people and their feelings. They don't have much empathy but I sure have to help him learn it.  I love this kid like crazy.  If only I had all the answers.

Be Careful Little Ears What You Hear

Like some people might, kinda, in a way know... I'm a book worm.  I love to learn and I love to study about certain topics.  The one thing I do regret though is reading so many child raising theories.  I think it can really mess with your brain.  From now on, I'm picking a book from my favorite and most respected author and following his plan.  He's Godly, he speaks from the bible and quotes from it often, he has stood strong and unwavering all these years, faithful to his wife, and raised two great kids.  No more "shopping around" for different ideas on raising kids.  Can make your brain do twirlies after awhile.  I used to feel so strong in what I believed as far as having a method of raising children.  Now, I feel like everything is gray. Never just black and white, at least some of the time.  I think also it's from listening to too many people that tell me what I'm doing wrong and how it needs to be done.  Don't take me wrong though.  I totally believe in watching your elders and learning from those you respect.  From now on though, I'm gonna have to let a good amount of opinions roll off my back and take it careful where I do receive it.  I actually like some criticism.  Even if it's done in a harsh way but not viscious.  I think its a sad day when we can't ever let anyone tell us how they really feel or how we may have offended them.  It's so easy to take the defense.  My pastor's wife told me once that sometimes, just sometimes when we hear something negative about ourself, we should stop and think if there can be any truth to it.  Since she told me that, I can't tell you how much it's helped me to grow.  Gosh, I have so much more growing to do it's outta this world but I want to keep my heart open to learn.  I must be careful though which ones I learn from and let soak in.  Some are just vicious though.  Don't worry, when someone comes up to me and yells at me, I don't karate chop them.  I'm a lady and a Christian.  I don't cuss them out.  I don't tell them to go back where they came from.  I just smile and tell them that Jesus loves them.  :)  Besides, I have much more construction on my own life to do.  The only time it should ever stop is when I die.  Then my gravestone will read.  "End of Construction".  For now, I'll keep my hard hat on. 

The Woman Who Can't Forget

Click here to order if after reading this post you would like to buy The Woman Who Can't Forget!  It's quite a neat book.  It's even crazier how I found it. I'm a bookworm to the core and sometimes you can even find me reading and walking through a store.  I can only do that alone of course when I'm without my kids.  Otherwise I'd lose them all.  Anyhow....

The Woman Who Can't Forget is about an extraordinary story of living with the most remarkable memory known to science.  This lady can remember everything from the time she was fourteen.  Before that it was more selective.  If you even give her a specific date, she can tell you what day of the week it was one and what she did that day or what was in the news that she saw.  She can remember in detail even how she felt, smells, emotions, fears.  Like someone playing a video tape and watching their past.  She sees it all like it was just yesterday.  That can be a good thing or a bad thing.  She said it is terribly distracting for her because something will trigger her memory and she'll have all these memories flood her mind.  One time she walked into a house where she smelled baked potatoes cooking. Instantly she had a memory of when she was two years old and her mom was doing the same thing and what day it was.  It's just incredible how she can accurately give you dates of things that happened and all the details for that day.  She says that people around her in her life don't argue with her about certain things.  Like what was said because she accurately remembers converstaions.  Her husband probably thinks that is interesting.  Ha. Anyhow, I could talk forever about it but it's because I find it fascinating. 

So, here is what I've gleaned from this book so far.  She talks about memory scientifically speaking.  She talks about different things about our memory. One of them is how people can make up false memories for us.  Or tell you something over and over till you believe it.  Like suggesting memories to you.  You can actually start to believe it.  Its why you don't give suggestions to a child who is in a trial for obvious reasons.  Like "did Mr. Bob do such and such to you?"  You don't suggest an idea to them because they will start to believe it.  Well, think about how this works with the people you grew up with or hung around.  If you are always told you are stupid.  That you always were this or that.  You start to believe what you hear.  We tend to exaggerate our pasts sometimes too.  Or our significance in a room.  We think that if we volunteer with a group of people, we have the most significance in helping.  Our brain can go many ways.  We can build up our memories (add to) in our mind and it becomes truth to us.  Well, that never happens with this lady because she remembers everything exactly as they happened.  Good and bad.  I've had people, and still do, in my life that spoke so much negative into my life that I tend to believe it.  As if it were truth.  Never mind that 80% of people I know speak positive.  For some reason I take the insults of the smaller percentage of people and take it as truth.  "You'll never be a good mother. You'll never be a good wife, etc."  Why do I take it as truth when in fact it's garbage?  GARBAGE.  Of course we all have stuff we have to work on.  We learn things.  I usually learn them them the hard way.  Well, at least I learn.  I'm open to correction.  To teaching.  I'd be an idiot to not take criticism sometimes and see if maybe there is any truth to it.  Maybe it's a crock when someone tells me I talk too much and don't listen.  Then again, could it be true?  Could  I learn to listen more?  That was an example. But if someone in your past spoke negative into your life, don't take it as truth.  Don't let someone pin something on you.  I may not be the most organized supermommy their is.  But I love my kids like crazy and I'll do anything to help them live their life to the fullest and learn to live their life in Christ.  This book helped me to realize I was letting people put thoughts into my head that were false.  To not take them as truth.  I don't need to stoop down to the bar they set for me.  I refuse to become that person. 

Tidbits

Pic is of Caleb who is 3 months old. 

I FINALLY got to order my son his Switched On Schoolhouse program for third grade.  I'm really happy about that and Chaz is really gonna love me for putting him to work. Ha. 

This week I am watching my friend's daughter and I don't really call it babysitting because she's 12 or 13. I can't remember.  But, she's a great girl, good attitude, and is around helping with the little ones.  I don't really ask for her help but she just automatically does it.  She is so sweet.  Her parents are out of town for a church coneference. 

Tomorrow I start back up at the gym.  I always aim to burn at least 1,000 calories at the minimum and I go at least 4 times a week.  I read recently that obese people have to be at the gym for at least 1 1/2 every day to keep their weight off.  Since I don't really put on weight fast and I need to lose, I figure it's a good rule of thumb for me to do right now.  Especially if I'm really wanting to lose some weight.  Gosh, when I was a teen, I was so skinny that I drank those shakes that they give cancer patients to put on weight.  It never worked for me.  Now it's different after having six kids.  :P

This week I have been doing laundry like a crazy lady.  I'm very backed up so I'm doing at least 5 loads a day which isn't very much.  I've been up as late as 3am folding and putting it all away.  My kids have a TON of clothes!  I mean, I'm picky so they are all really nice. Kyle has at least 80 shirts alone.  He's only six years old.  The girls' closet is packed to the brim. I can't even fit all the boys' pants into their drawers.  It's just crazy.  They are totally blessed, I'm telling you.

It's 12:30am and I'm finally done putting away clothes.  I'm so, so, so tired.  Hope you guys all have a great week!

Silence of the Elevators

The paternoster lift was first developed in 1884 and there are a few still being used today. The system consists of a continuous chain of cabins moving at a slow speed without stopping - when you reach your floor you ’simply’ step off the lift while it’s still moving. Even if you miss your floor and get to the top of the chain the cabin will stay vertical and lift you over the top where you will start to descend on the other side.

Why is it that we can't talk in the elevator? I'm just wondering.  I've been paying more attention and actually trying out things on the elevator.  Today was kids eat free at Ikea so guess where we went?  My kids LOVE Ikea.  Well, it has a big elevator and as we are all waiting for it, everyone around us was talking. As soon as we all stepped into it and the door closed, it got silent.  I mean really quite.  I looked around me to see what the expressions were on people's faces.  I noticed that people are looking at each other but as soon as they are caught, they put their eyes down.  I smile at them but not a squeak out of them. Today I tried laughing out loud at something to maybe get someone to ask what was funny.  Not sure what I could have made up at the moment but maybe it could have been something like "Oh nothing, I just love all you guys and want to share my infectious joy with you.  Lets all group hug."  Not really.  So I tried saying a line to Charles so maybe we could get into a conversation.  I couldn't even get Charles to really respond.  Just a "hmph....yeah."  I just want to start singing out loud like "We go together like rhamalamalama,dinky da dinky dong!"  It goes something like that.  Not sure.  I would love to be an elevator person that is hired to go up and down with everyone.  Just to brighten their day.  Ask them how they are doing.  SOMETHING.  My goodness people.  Next time I will ask someone how their day is.  Maybe I'll start telling them about Jesus and how much He loves them.  Or maybe compliment someone on an outfit they're wearing and ask them which thrift store they got it from.  Just kidding.  I bet that would get them talking though.

 “which floor sir?”…”um, the bathroom please.”

The Truth About....

Birth control pills. 

Warning: Please do not continue to read if this is not a subject you like to talk about.  Many women get offended about this.  I've had some people who are curious about it and so I'm just reporting the facts.  I know I just talked about birth control pills the other day jokingly in my post but this is something that I found out about 7 years ago.

If you want to know..... read on.

Several years ago I was talking to my sister-in-law about the pill in general.  She told me that she doesn't believe in it but didn't want to tell me why.  I'm a super curious person so I just had to know.  She warned me that once she told me, it could change my beliefs about it so I had to be sure I wanted to know.  OF COURSE I want to know.  Basically, chemicals like the pill, IUD, Depo-Provera cause abortions really early on in the pregnancy.  If you are like me and you believe life begans at conceptions then this can really hurt your conscience.  My sister-in-law gave me the actual medical report on it. I read it completely and I was extremely shocked to say the least.  I then asked my doctor, and I really had to probe her, and she confirmed it was true.  I have never touched it since.

Well, I'm scared to just have one baby after another even though I believe the bible that children are an inheritance from the Lord.  I'm a chicken pants.  If I were a super mommy, believe me, I would have 20 kids.  I love them like crazy.  Nothing, nothing in this world could replace the treasures God gave me.  Not a career....nothing.  Having said that, I had 3 boys at the time and I was quite hesitant about trying for a girl.  Well now that I no longer believed in the pill, I started to look for other forms of birth control.  The older pills that were more powerful allowed you to ovulate up to 10% of the time.  They rid of that because it was too harmful to women.  The new mini pill that is popular allows you to ovulate 50% of the time but aborts baby early on so you don't carry baby.  Yikes!  So I began to look for other ways. This is what I found:

Breakthrough Ovulation Estimates for other "Birth Control" Methods:

1) Norplant has breakthrough ovulation 50-65% of the time.

2) Depo-Provera has breakthrough ovulation 40-60% of the time.

3) The IUD has breakthrough ovulation 100% of the time. (What???  Wow!)

4) With over 17 million American women using the Pill and other chemical abortifacients, it is estimated that breakthough ovulation and pregnany occurs so often . . . that between 7 to 12 million newly conceived children are killed by chemical abortions in the womb each year. And most of these women never even knew they were pregnant.

You can read more at this Pro Life website for tons of information.  So, finding this out and not really knowing what I was going to do, I became pregnant with baby number 4.  Oh man, she is so cute.  Then baby number 5 and 6.  They are so cute and such blessings from God!  I can't imagine them not being here.  There are no regrets there.  But I can tell you that although it kind of frustrated me having this information in my hands, I know it's only right to pass the information along.  I hate the idea that Satan has this kind of stronghold in our lives and even good Christians are somehow involved unintentionally.  It's not like they post it boldly in waiting rooms of pharmacies. It's not even in small print.  Just brushed under the rug.  It hurts to know I took the pill for the first few years of my marriage.  :(

From Birth Control Advocates

Lawyers from organizations that promote abortion have admitted in print and in legal briefs that these products cause abortions. A Tulane Law School Professor wrote:

...nearly all birth control devices, except the diaphragm and the condom, operate between the time of conception and implantation... (Emphasis added)

Attorney Frank Sussman argued in the U.S. Supreme Court:

...IUDs [and] low dose birth control pills...act as abortifacients

If you read this and you are now mad....

I WARNED YOU

Ran Out of Gas!

Tuesday night is always our library night and we look forward to it every week.  Once we ate dinner, we headed out.  I looked down at the gas gauge and noticed it was getting low but not too bad.  We would just get gas after we left the library because I needed to make it in time before the cafe closes there.  It's my favorite part of going there.  They have free wifi too but that's not why I go.  I go to get away into the land of books.  Not into more computer.  So on the way there I notice the van sputters a little.  I thought maybe I need to check the oil but I remembered that Charles put oil in it the day before.  I looked at the gas gauge and it was fine.  So we kept on our way driving to the library.  When we are just a few blocks away, the van sputters and stalls.  I am able to pull over in time to a side street.  We couldn't believe it.  I looked at the gas gauge. I was just hoping that there wasn't some serious van problems.  But when we tried to turn the van back on, it showed the gauge where it actually should have been.  Below the red line!  What???  No wonder we ran out of gas.  Gas gauge got stuck for some reason.  So this young guy walks right next to our van and says he has a gas can.  He lives a mile away though so Charles left with him and they walked there together.  We didn't want to wait in the van for a couple of hours so we got out of the van, held hands and prayed and walked the rest of the way to the library to get in the warm building.  I had six kids with me so I was nervous with the big street right there.  I have a couple of clutzy kids and I was scared they'd trip and fall in the street.  Sure enough, a couple trip a few times but I had them between me and the wall, away from the road.  I was freezing because dummy me wore shorts and a tshirt.  I thought I'd be going straight from warm house, to warm van, to warm library.  When we finally got inside the library, all my kids started thanking God and praising Jesus for keeping us safe.  It was so cute.  LOL.  Poor Charles walked for an hour and half in some really uncomfortable shoes and got blisters in order to get gas can and get it to the van.  It was really cold outside too.  When he finally got back to meet us at the library, it was closing.  Poor guy!  The kids and I had fun reading books together while waiting for Charles.  They have a toddler section with puzzles and toys so they can entertain themselves while you read.  It's such a calming place to be and we love, love going there.  After we got home, we went to our house alarm to punch in the code to turn alarm off.  For some reason it wouldn't work and the alarm just kept going off.  Nothing we did would work and it's really loud!  Finally we had to rip it out of the wall, no joke.  At that note, I got in a hot bath to relax and calm down after such an odd night.  Thank goodness for Charles that I wasn't alone when we ran out of gas.  There was no phone or gas station for quite a ways and I would have been trying to take six kids with me to get to one.  He's my knight for sure.  (Next time, honey, we'll just have to be more careful).  :D

Bridezilla!

I was in the bath tonight reading a magazine.  Ever in search of a birth control that is not conflicting with my comvictions, I came across an ad for one.  This is funny.  It's for YAZ it's called.  Here are some of the side effects.

• Irritability (Poor husband)
• Anger (Oh man, I bet that'll keep the guy away any day)
• Feeling anxious (why you pace sometimes)
• Fatigue (well, when you're tired you usually don't want to be with your husband.)
• Markedly depressed moods (Oh great.  Might this explain the rise in anti-anxiety/depression drugs?)
• Headaches ("Honey, not tonight.  I have a headache)
• Bloating (This explains the tight pants syndrome)
• Muscle aches (Now you don't have to work out to get this feeling)
• Changes in appetite (for the better or for worse?)

See, maybe guys this is why your wifee runs away from you.  Guys complain that they don't have enough romantic nights with their wife.  WELL, THIS COULD EXPLAIN WHY.  Here you go.  Maybe that information shouldn't be in small print.  Maybe that should be posted up in every pharmacy that sells this kind of stuff.  Do you know why birth control works so well?  Because of these symptoms right here.  I'm sure the reason birth control works so well is because, well, those kinds of symptoms would drive any two people apart.  Scary, huh?  I remember taking birth control pills way back in the day and I had all those symptoms.  I turned into a crazy lady.  Maaaaybe, this is why divorce in on the rise. YOU NEVER KNOW.  Just think about it.  A sweet fiance, looking forward to her wedding day.  She starts on this birth control stuff and all of a sudden you have a irritable, angry, anxious, overly tired, depressed, prone to headaches, weight gaining, achey, snack munching in the middle of the night, new bride.  Kind of like BANG, welcome to marriage baby.  Hmmmm.... maybe we ought to think of another route to birth control and see if possibly these rates of marriages that end before six months just might start going back down.  Annulments could go down!  "Whoa, who are you and what did you do with my wife?" kind of stuff.  Gives you something to think about.

12 Kids Christmas

Did you guys have an awesome Christmas?  Ours was smaller this year but we were happy to be able to visit with my sister and family from South Africa.  We all went to my mom's house and had a good time.  Just between Jodee and I there were 10 kids.  It was loud and fun!  Her kids are so funny and we were all laughing.  One of my nephews is good at doing impressions.  He was even immitating the Chipmunks.  Finally when my other sister showed up with her two kids, we tried to get a picture with them all together but Caleb was crying.  My mom has a condo so the dinner table was stretched all the way into her living room.  I love having a big family! 

It was hard getting pictures and any good ones we got, some kids accidentally got cut off in the frame. So here are mostly silly ones.  LOL.

Kid's Christmas Play 2009

Ivy is the one in the front with the gold dress and Kyle with the blue shirt.  Ryan is in back with orange shirt and Chaz right behind him with red shirt but he's hard to see.  Later Ryan comes out as Joseph and Chaz as one of the wisemen.  There is a great gospel message at the end!  It's always so incredibly cute seeing all the kids up there.  At one point you can see my daughter crying and holding her arms out to me.  I can't wait to see Ashley in the play next year.

Click on any of these pics to view bigger.

Above: Ivy in gold dress.

Ryan as Joseph.  He was bummed he didn't get to hold baby he said.

Chaz as wiseman in center

My goofy Kyle dancing in blue shirt. He's such a ham!

Can We Get An Award For Numerous Visits?

Chaz had gotten a red bump on his arm a month ago and it just kept growing and growing. Well, one day is started bleeding. It bled so bad Chaz started freaking out. We all were because there was blood everywhere! No joke. We couldn't even get it to stop. We went to the ER and they had to burn it and then send us to a specialist to have it removed and sent out for a biopsy. Since this family never separates for any reason, we all crammed in the little room as you can see! :) Caleb was in back of stroller and hidden to keep germs away. We have come to the ER so many times that I'm surprised we don't have some sort of an award on the wall. I don't remember what that thing is called on Chaz's arm but it's a long word. I can tell you that.

Chaz's boo boo below.  Or you can call it an ouchie.  That'after it got burned.  It bled every day and when it got bumped, it would start to bleed again really bad and soak his blankets. 

Also!  Wanted to let you know about a giveaway HP Touchscreen giveaway!

Going Rogue

Going Rogue by Sarah Palin was one of the best books I've ever read.  She really shocked me.  Media said so much garbage against her and they tried really, really hard to make her look like she didn't know anything and had no right to be running for VP.  Man, if she took the same ideas that she implemented in Alaska and did it for America, it would be awesome.  This book answers many questions that were important for me.

1.) What did she do for Alaska while Governor?
2.) What are her family values?  How well is she able to juggle politics, marriage, children, etc.?
3.) What about all the things the media spewed out about her?  What's the truth?
4.) Why did she step away from Governor after running for VP?
5.) What's her next plans?

I also enjoyed reading her history and how she came about to be in politics.  I love how down to earth she is and I really enjoyed reading her journey in running for vice president.  She even talks about finding out she's pregnant and her reaction to finding out she was going to have a down syndrome baby.  Did you know that 90% of down syndrome kids are aborted?  Media spewed so much garbage and twisted so many things about her. Sadly, but not surprising, people bought into all the lies as usual.  Another reason why I never listen to biased news media.  You can't get a true and straight story from them.  One quote she said in the book really, really touched my heart and I'd love to share it with you. 

Criticism is something we can avoid by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing. -Aristotle

I can't tell you how much that spoke to me.  Sadly, I get criticism at times because I'm married with six children.  Some people just can't imagine how I can enjoy living my life with little ones around me.  They assume because they wouldn't like it, that everyone else must feel the same way.  I got criticized for marrying at 19 years old, I got criticized for getting pregnant by the age of 20.  Then for having them so close together. Then because I had 3 kids and it's so unfair to the others.  Then I got criticized for not having the perfect kept house.  For being a Christian.  For being too much a Jesus fanatic.  For not having a TV.  For not traveling with them enough.  For not making enough money to have so many.  On and on and on.  I could just hide in my house.  Never get out or go anywhere. Never speak from my heart.  Never try to truly live my life for Christ, which by the way.... the most criticism I get is from people who say they love God.  (I once heard someone say a fanatic is someone who loves Jesus more than you. :D )  I could never share my faith because I would be worried about "pushing it in their face".  Seriously, eternity is a long time.  Can you imagine standing before God and having that explanation as to why you didn't share your faith with your mom, your brother, you cousin, your teacher, your classmate?  Because it's my personal business and I'd rather just let my light shine.  I'm so, so, so glad that Jesus ministered to many instead of sitting in his carpentry shop just letting his light shine.  I don't want to hide in a hole just because I don't want to receive criticism anymore.  Someone close to me recently told me, "why don't you stop popping out babies and go get a job?"  It was like saying, "how could you possibly find any value in God's creation?  In that little soul?  How can you possibly want children over money?  What value is that?"  Well, to me, comparing money to a child is like comparing a plastic ring to a the read thing (gold).  You just can't compare.  Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

It is better to use things and love people rather than to use people and love things.

Watch Out For This Guy!

No joke.

If I am not careful he will go make me take a warm bubble bath with a book and a candle.  Either that or he'll let me steal a delicious midday nap while he makes the kids do their chores and gets things back in order.  He'll stop everyday at the little store to buy me a drink before he comes home from work.  He'll lay the kids down every night and pray with them so I can have a break and he can spend time with them.  Imagine that!  He'll never complain to me that the house needs cleaning or that the laundry needs to be done.  He'll always point out my strengths and never point a finger at my blaring weaknesses.  He can be so darn supportive.  I just don't know what to do with him.  Ha.

Seriously though.  I think there are so many gripes we can have about our spouses but we forget to think about what they are doing right.  Sometimes I see dads that are so uninvolved or into their own things.  Heck, I can't even go to the grocery store alone!  Charles wants to be there right along with me pushing another cart.  He even makes sad faces while sitting somewhere watching a movie (like when we're in a waiting room somewhere).  If it's a happy part in a movie he'll be smiling away.  If it's sad, he'll make a sad face.  He DOESN'T believe me.  TILL NOW.  You want to see some proof?  Here's the pic below.

I Think I Can!

I started working out gain.  Not the same ol' usually workout.  I'm applying a much harsher workout on myself and I do it five days a week  verses how I used to only workout 2-3 time a week at best.  Biggest Loser said obese people have to work out at least 1 1/2 every day to keep the weight off once they get it off.  I'm not obese but I figure if I work out everyday I will have a good chance of losing some weight.  I have 17lbs to lose.  It's really annoying because I can't fit any of my clothes.  So I was excited to finally be back at the gym.  I LOVE to workout.  So last night I RAMMED my foot into one of the kitchen chairs.  My whole foot went really warm for awhile.  So now I have it wrapped and I can hardly walk on it.  NOT GOOD. So tomorrow I will be working out on the bike instead.  My foot isn't gonna take me down, darn it!  I hate having something always get in the way of working out.