This Scripture Changed My Life

"Don't make friends with someone who easily gets angry. Don't spend time with someone who has a bad temper. If you do, you may learn to be like him. Then you will be in real danger." Proverbs 22:24-35

I know we know this. We've heard it a million times. Seriously think about it though. You are who you hang around. I had written previously thinking about this topic. Something God had put on my heart. I read this scripture today again and since I really applied this scripture to my life, I've seen such incredible changes in my life. Towards God, towards my elders, towards my good friends I had once looked up to. Even towards life in general. Words do matter. Who you hang around does matter. Charles said that he's seen such a big change in me since I applied this scripture awhile back. I used to distance myself to people. Questioning everything to the point of becoming just downright cynical. Eventually, so much life felt drained out of me. Pick your friends wisely. Do they encourage you when you are down? When you are astray in your actions, do they direct you back to His word? Do they speak well of others or are they always putting people down or reminding you of mistakes? Really, really think about it. Honesty is a good thing if a friend has a purpose of caring about your soul. I pray that God will help me to lift a friend in a time of need. Not just help them complain. But to have a purpose in bringing them back to Him.

Why Am I Baking Like We're a Family of 3?

You think I would get this after so much cooking but I haven't. Well, I really like to bake more than I like to cook. baking comes very easy to me. Cooking doesn't. I can cook, but goodness gracious, I never remember things. I always have to reference back to recipes. So anyway, I really like to bake bread. The problem is that as soon as I take it out of the oven, it's consumed by my herd. Okay, I know I don't have that many kids. At least it's my little herd. One day I was visiting a blog of one of those supermoms and I noticed she had like 5 loaves baking at a time. Oh duh.... why didn't I think of that? My husband went out that very day and bought me another loaf pan. I actually need more than two but I'm just so happy he did that for me. He probably did it because he would like more than one slice of Banana Nut Bread sometimes. Oh, that picture of Ivy holding the heart is cool. We were having so much fun playing with the "Jigglers" I made that we had to take pics. We made all kinds of cool shapes before we ate them. We had a person shape too and the kids thought it was great that they could eat the arms, legs, and then the head off. Ha ha! Crazy people.

The Day They Kicked God Out Of The Schools

This Is Why I Luv Blogging

Seriously, look how neat it is to look back in previous years to see how much has changed. I've blogged for 3 years now. I used to always, every month, look back exactly one year to see what was happening. How much just one year changes!

So here is JUNE 2008!!!! Just click on link. :D

Yeah, Come On Over!

Do you ever find it actually easier to invite a kid over that is a friend? My kids can get bored with each other and bicker at times. As soon as I have a little friend come over, now they are all buddies and their day is made. Roger came by (my husband's best friend) one night with his son. They were all gonna leave to go study somewhere. I begged him to let me keep Michael because I knew that my kids would love me for it and also that they would all have so much fun playing together. Plus, Michael has all sisters so he probably loved playing with the boys. He's a good kid too and doesn't destroy things so I can totally trust him to just play and have fun. They all played with guns and swords till like midnight that night. I NEVER let my kids stay up like that but, what the heck, we don't have buddies over that often. Ummm, don't be scared of that picture of Chaz on the top. He's just posing for the picture. LOL They kept wanting me to retake the picture to see who can look tough. Of course Ivy came running in and just wanted to stand there and look cute. Oh, just for the record. That is not a TV behind them. That is their game monitor! LOL. Today the neighbor kids knocked on the door. I said "yeah, come on in!" My kids were happy playing for a couple of hours. My neighbor was happy. All is good. :D

What Is That???!

One night we didn't have anything planned. Charles asked, "so what do you want to do?" I said, "let's have an ice cream/game night!" So he went to the store and bought 3 different gallons of ice cream and toppings while I set up Junior Pictionary. We had just bought it so we hadn't showed the kids how to play it yet. We set up two teams with three people on each team. Charles and I each had to have one little kid and one big kid on their team so he got Kyle, who's five, for the little kid and I got Ivy who's three. Ashley was sleeping by then. I knew it'd be interesting when it came to be Ivy's turn to draw. It was so funny because Ivy had a card that told her to draw a stop sign so Charles (in the picture) is explaining to her how to draw it. When Ivy started drawing, we were yelling out anything from a flower to a dinosaur. She was trying to draw a car next to a stop sign. When we didn't get it right, she started to cry. She couldn't get why we didn't see what she was drawing. LOL!

Thank You For The Help, Lord!

Having so many to take care of can be overwhelming for moms in the cleaning department. Well, at least for me! I don't know about you supermoms out there. :D So of course we have chores systems around here. I don't want my kiddos to be any lazier than they so badly want to be (that's an understatement). I decided recently that with the huge mounds of laundry I have to do, I think the boys can fold and hang up their own clothes after I have washed them. I already have mine, Charles', linens, and the girls clothes to wash and put away. So I gave the task to Chaz and Ryan to put away all boy's clothes and, boy, Ryan went all out. He not only put the clothes away, he organized the whole closet. Notice the picture of white hangers, how the hangers being used are on the right and unused hangers on the left? Well, I color code the hangers for all my kids. Chaz and Ryan are the same size so they have always had blue hangers (as you see in picture) , Kyle has white. In the girl's room, Ivy has pink and Ashley has white. Well, Ryan went a step ahead and put all of Kyle's clothes on the right side of the closet and all the blue hangers on the left side of the closet that hold their own clothes. He spent so much time doing it and has kept it up. My goodness. At this rate, you can bet they are folding and putting away their clothes from now on! I love it! (That's what they get for doing the job so perfect). They want to do the dishes but I'm afraid because of all the glass. I might buy a whole set of plastic dishes just for lunchtime so they can be in charge of lunchtime dishes. Sometimes I see mommies that are so overwhelmed and I can understand why. I used to make the same mistake. I did all the work, and my kids just played. Once they turn 3, they get a chore. The older they get, the more resposibility they get. I made a list called "Hero Helpers". Big hint with boys. They like the "Hero" factor. I used to work my butt off trying to clean up after everyone. One day I got it. My dimmed "duh" light turned off and my "idea" light turned on. In the olden days, didn't kid help out around the farm? Or were they just chasing chickens all day? (What the heck did they do?) Maybe play and trade marbles? I don't know what down time was like for kids. I bet, they helped milk a cow, feed the chickens and collect the eggs. On and on. Girls helped out too. My kids don't have to have a lot, just take care of their own part. Once everyone took care of their part, my part was so much easier! I mean, I used to work all day long. Now, homeschooling doesn't seem so monstrous. I mean, now, I have way more time on my hands and the idea of homeschooling is actually inviting. Not just another chore. Or "more work". Before, when I homeschooled, I felt ran over because I did EVERYTHING. It was either I homeschool OR I cleaned house. One or the other. Never both in the same day. Now, I have much more time on my hands. Thank you God FOR KNOCKING ME OVER THE HEAD and making me see that kids need not be so dang lazy and make mom just do it all. The plus side.... Ryan likes to surprise me by doing extra chores. Every now and then, I'll walk into my room and my bed is made. Or Ivy's room is picked up. I'll keep fighting to trap and tackle those lazy bones that all kids tend to have. Now they are thinking about other people besides themself.

Late Fun For My 30th

Kyle was trying to make me proud here with his really nerdy smile. Ha ha...

I know my birthday was on the 14th but I didn't get a chance to get together with my sis and family. I invited a couple other friends too. :D My sisters are not affectionate, that's why I joking in that picture like I'm gonna kiss Tammy. If I did, that would be death for me. Ha! After we were done my sister Tammy took Chaz and Ivy home with her. Ivy got spoiled when they went to the mall. Tammy has two boys so I'm sure she enjoyed buying "girlie" stuff. She bought her pj's, an outfit, earrings, bracelets, girl panties, play phone, and a little purse. Ivy even slept with Tammy that night. Chaz was happy to just play games with his cousins. :D That was his dream! When Ivy came back, she just kept telling me how nice Aunt Tammy is. "She is nice. Soooooo nice, mommy".

Love For Nie

You have to read this story called "Love" (that is the link) from Nienie. This is the couple who went down in a plane crash and both survived. She tells a piece about when he rescued her from the plane. I cried because the way she tells the story and what he risked to save her. Their love for each other is amazing. They've gone through so much together and he totally takes care of her with such a loving heart. Wow. You have to read! This picture is of her before the crash. She was burned over most of her body. It's amazing they both survived. The pilot didn't.

My Little Helper

Is it just me or in the 2 weeks that I was down and out did my kids get really sloppy? It seems like they think they no longer have chores and they aren't paying attention to things they leave out. If they think it's gonna stay like this, boy are they in for a surprise! I'm getting back on my feet. I have to whip this place back into shape, get caught up on laundry, and start homeschooling by July. No more sick mommy in bed or on a couch. This is my little helper Ashley. She always, always has to be the one to put the clean silverwhere away everytime I'm unloading the dishwasher. She insists on putting it away so that's her little chore. So cute!

Outreach To The Park

Last Saturday we attended our church "Family Fun Day" which is really an outreach to reach out to people. There is live bands, drama, BBQ, fun Bouncy things, face painting. This time Charles and I were in charge of the balloons. After a few of them popping I started getting so scared with the helium machine. My gosh! I'm such a jumpy person as it is. Ha ha! Kids started really lining up and I was getting behind when Charles had to go run errands for Roger (who is in charge of the outreaches). By the time he got back, I was out of balloons but thankfully he bought more. So more kids lined up but this time I had Charles' help so we were able to keep up. It's so cute seeing the kids come up and pick out a color and wait for a balloon. Ashley patiently waited (at times) next to us in her stroller. I gave her a couple of balloons and yummy food to keep her happy. Actually, Nancy brought me some yummy food since we were so busy. Thank you, Nancy! In the end, 7 people had prayed (pastor came up though and told him there were more but I can't remember how many). That's what it's all about! Seeing souls saved for Christ. :D

Excuses For Swimming

Any reason to get together and swim is good in our weather. Even better when my sister joins us because I don't get to see her and my nephews that often. My dad brought over some yummy pizza, with my mouth hurting or not, I found a way to eat it! Ha ha! In the end my sister invited my son Ryan to stay over for a couple of days. Boy, was he in Heaven. Tammy really made his day. He said he played games, watched Spiderman, ate out at a buffet, played on a trampoline. He really like Aunt Tammy and Uncle Geoff so he was telling me about things they talked about. He was happy about not having an early bedtime. LOL. I missed him incredibly and couldn't wait to see him two days later. When he came home, I ran to hug him and hold him close for as long as he would let me. :D

I Love Fellowshipping With Friends

I love to fellowship with friends! Our friends, Ramczi and Aron, have 6 children and they invited us all over one night to swim and have yummy ribs. We brought over some snacks and corn on the cob. I couldn't really eat with them that night (which explains why I'm six months preggo and have only gained 5lbs) but we had fun talking and watching all of our kids play together. Together we have 11 kids (soon to be 12). The kids get along great and love to swim so it was a fun night for all of us. :D I wish I had been more talkative with Ramczi but I couldn't because of the pain I was having in my mouth. Darn. I feel bad about that. I'm gonna have to invite them over to my house soon to make up for it. :)

I Turned 30!

Flag Day is my birthday so Sunday was my birthday this year. I didn't do much because I'm still totally exhausted from everything that has happened the last 2 weeks. It was very hard just to wake up for church and get ready. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who popped out of bed early and got everyone ready. He wanted me to take my time. He asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday and being that I can only eat soft foods, I opted for Hometown Buffet over my favorite Chinese buffet. We went there by ourselves and had a wonderful, peaceful time. My five year old son Kyle was witnessing and telling everyone he passed about Jesus. He was giving them witnessing tracks. He does that wherever he goes. I'm so proud of him! After we ate, I just wanted to go home and sleep. I don't feel like the same person these last few weeks. I don't have much energy and I don't last awake very long. We went home and we all slept for 2 hours while the older two boys played video games. We woke up just in time to get ready for the evening service. I felt much better and more refreshed and we had a great church service that night. :D I had a nice and peaceful day. On Saturday, we are actually going to have a party for my 30th birthday just because it's an easier day and I'll be feeling much better. I can't believe I'm 30! A new chapter in my life. I pray that this chapter will be even better than the last. I made some pretty dumb decisions in my twenties. LOL. Then again, my relationship with Jesus grew so much better in my twenties. I hope to mature in the faith and grow closer to Him.

More Stitches???!

Finally, yesterday I was starting to feel better. I don't sleep well at night still from the pain but the dentist refuses to give me any more pain medicine. He basically told me "you'll get over it". Four days later and the day times have been so much better for me. I'm able to eat again, duh, which is good since I'm pregnant. Normally, my dentist said people don't take this long to heal and have all this bad stuff happen. I was just one of the lucky ones to have one thing go wrong after another. Today, I started to clean up my garage and get clothes ready to take to the laundry mat when I felt something pop. Then I could feel the soreness in my mouth. I looked in the mirror and sure enough the stitches came undone and there was a big hole there. My other side is still okay. I thought, "great, just when things were getting better". I called my mean dentist (who I will never visit again after this) and asked what I should do. He said I can come in tomorrow morning and have the stitches redone. He said he doesn't know why I'm taking so long to heal and that I must be taking Aspirin or something. I told him I'm not because I'm pregnant. I only take Tylenol. That's it. He said I can leave the wound open and just eat shakes the next few weeks or I can get stitches again. So, here I go again. Ten more shots, and more stitches. I'm so tired of this dental work (and scared). More bedtime. I think I will clean a lot tonight, as much as I can, just to make sure the house will be clean. My birthday is on Sunday but I know I'll just be at home in bed. Geesh, you think with birthing all these kids I would just be strong and not be scared about more needles. But isn't something just different about having needles in your mouth? By tomorrow I will have had 35 shots in my mouth within 2 weeks. I don't want to look at needles anymore.

Kyle's Kindergarten Graduation

Isn't this so cute? I think it's funny how they do Kindergarten graduations. Maybe to show them what's ahead if they finish? Is it because the first year is so hard, compared to playing at home with mommy all day, that they need a pat on the back? Remember their first day to school? They used to be able to wake up at home at whatever time. Eat breakfast, play all day, be with mommy. Then they are put in school with a schedule, more rules, different life style. These days they are in school all day. (I prefer half day Kindergarten). I had a headstart graduation so I have pictures of that. :D This is a cute picture. Had to share. They even had a ceremony and everything with the kids and parents cheering them on. I wish I could have been there!

Stitches and More Medicine

These past eleven days have been really hard in so many ways. Getting my wisdom teeth pulled is something I would have never thought could cause so many problems. I appreciate my hubby more and more seeing him take care of me patiently along with taking care of the kids. I know it's been tough on him. Most of the time, I'm just in bed. When I stated in my blog that I went in to the dentist and had that packing done, it turned out to only be temporary. By the next day, the pain returned and I was back in bed with Vicodin. I had to wait through the weekend for Monday to graciously and finally come. Right away I called the dentist and mercifully was able to come in. The dentist told me I had a really, really bad case of two dry sockets where bone is exposed. When he told me he had to irritate the gum area again and cause it to bleed, I cried. I was so tired of pain. He told me I had to get some shots and I warned him it would take a lot to numb me. Finally, after the tenth shot, I was numb enough to work on. He scraped the gums in both sides where the wisdom teeth had been pulled. Inside of it. Then he put dissolvable foam in there and then stitches up the holes on both sides. He warned me that when the novacaine wears off, I would be hurting so he gave me another perscription. I drove home and stupidly took Tylenol/Codeine which never worked for me before. Charles had to take me and the kids with him to an appointment (for a job he's getting) since he couldn't leave me alone with the kids. The pain was worsening beyond belief. We sat in the car for an hour and I just cried and cried. Finally he took me to the pharmacy and they told him I could not take any Vicodin for another hour since I had taken the Codeine. I lost it and just cried. An hour felt like forever. He bought me a Yogurt Parfait from McDonald's in hopes that I would be able to eat that since I hadn't eaten for a day. (Man, that was good). We waited in the Walgreens parking lot for the prescription to be filled for another hour. As soon as it was time, I took my pill. Charles had to get a physical right away but I begged and begged him to take me home and just lock me in a room with all the kids so I wouldn't have to sit up anymore in the van. Thankfully, the kids did well and I passed out on and off. Ashley was usually climbing on me so I would get woken up constantly (she's so cute though). The vicodin only takes away maybe half the pain. I still can't talk but the dentist said this should solve the problem for good. Thank God! My hubby's home from his physical and he laid me down in my bed. What happened to me can happen to anyone who gets their teeth pulled. I know several who had this happen. It's just that mine has dragged on so long and gotten worse and worse before the issue was solved. I can't wait to be over all this. I just told Charles how grateful I am for him. He's taken care of me graciously and with patience for awhile now. I don't know what I would have done without him. When I'm all better, happy Virginia will be back blogging. :) For now, I hope sleeps claims me so I won't feel the pain.

Sneaking Up On The Girls

I heard Ivy singing in the bathroom so I went to go see what is going on in there. Ivy is sitting on top of the counter USING her brother's toothbrush to clean her pants. Ashley came walking in (carrying her daddy's sock with her pants falling down) flushing the toilet over and over. So cute!!! I warned Chaz about his toothbrush when he got home from school.

Fireproof Movie

Click here to view ful video playlist
This is a great movie on marriage that we saw at church. They had this in the theatres. When you are finished, they have the other parts to watch all the way to the end. Great movie that will bring you to tears.

My Dentist Fixed Me

My Dentist fixed me! Last minute, before the weekend came, I checked to see if maybe I needed packing done where my wisdom teeth were pulled. Turns out I needed it badly and I had exposed bone where it was supposed to me healing. On top of it, an infection was there. Good thing I went to the ER two days ago because they gave me antibiotics just in case that was happening. After they put medicated packing in, I felt 80% better. Yes! Ahhhh.... no more complaining from me guys. :D

More Birthday Party Fun

My friend Ramczi has 6 kids and she was celebrating two of her daughter's birthdays at a park with a splash pad. Several families from church were invited so it was a great time of fellowshipping and playing with the kids. I love, love, love the pictures of Charles with the girls. He pushed them on the swings for awhile. The boys were usually off playing with their buddies and having a blast. As you can see, my daughter Ashley was still healing from her black eye. She had fell in the bathroom when I was trying to help her get ready for a bath. I felt so bad! I almost edited the photo to not show the black eye in all these last week of pictures but I decided to keep it authentic. This is a journal about daily life! So, there's her sweet little face with a black eye that is finally healing nicely. :P