Big Exciting News....

At least for me!

Later this week, I will be heading over to the far far way land where my oldest, soon to be married daughter now resides.

I get to spend 4 lovely days in her presence...

and I am soooooooooooo excited!!!!!!!

Growing Up is Hard to Do...

Growing up is hard to do...

Finding your voice.

Finding your attitude adjustment.....

Once again...

Finding your attitude adjustment...

But when you get it right.

There is nothing better!

Being a Man...

Letting little boys do the hard things...

The things that could possibly lead to scrapes, bruises or broken bones is hard for a momma.

At least it is hard for this momma.

I believe that the previous generation has raised some very fine men...

but also some very soft men.

I want my son to be strong, tough and willing to get in there and try something new because he believes in himself...

because... just maybe... his momma believes in him.

I want him to climb, stretch, reach, get dirty, tear apart (because he needs to learn to put together)...

I don't want him to be afraid of grease or what is lurking under the hood of a car... or in the utility room.

I want his wife to feel the sense of security that I feel because my husband can fix anything...

I want my son to have that confidence that comes from having gotten into the mix and realizing that it isn't so scary...

He can do what he sets his mind to.

This is a difficult thing for many mommies...

I am one of them.

It stretches me as a mom every time I look outside and see him up in a tree or tearing apart a toy... just because he wanted to see how it worked.

I know, however, that in the end...

My son will be thankful that I wasn't afraid to let him be a man.

And, someday, his wife will thank me as well...

Embellishing...

When Galen (my soon to be son-in-law (son)) saw the photo of Miranda with Nate from a couple of days ago...

He said, "That girl needs to eat some meat!  She looks like a holocaust survivor."

Do her arms look meatier in this photo, Galen?

She really does eat...

She is just nearly 10 feet tall...

Well, I may be embellishing that a little bit... but she is very tall!

Love...

For those of you who don't know this already...

My daughter and her beloved are getting married in about 6 weeks.

They went out with a good family friend... who just happens to be an amazing professional photographer for some engagement photos.

We have now been tempted with the first photo.

LOVE....

Love has no desire but to fulfill itself.

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.

 ~Kahlil Gibran

Stealing a Kiss...

Stealing a kiss...

...can be so much fun!

Weird...

From the mouth of one of my babes...

"Mom, I'm glad you're weird... not normal. You'd be a boring mom is you were normal."

Now Do You Understand...

The picture is for me...

It makes me feel better when I see someone laughing...

You see, yesterday I went to get the girls birth certificates and found that someone had removed them from their appointed location (that I have kept them safely in for 22 years)...

And now, they can not be located.

I spent several hours tearing the house apart trying to find them.

Gone.

Completely.  Gone.

So...

Now I get to figure out how much it is going to cost us to replace all of these...

YIKES!

Now do you understand why I need the smily picture?

p.s.  After about a total of 7 hours of searching, a complete night of praying, and finally feeling like we would have to spend a fortune to replace all of them... I just found them in  a location that had been checked by 3 people at least 10 times!  They are now under lock and key!

I Fear...

that all of these pictures taken a week or so ago are giving you a false idea of our weather...

We had a couple of semi warm days...
in which the kids dressed in the summery clothes...
because they are sick of their cold weather clothes...

But the reality is that it snowed 2 days ago...
just a little... but it was snow...
and the temperature today is going to have to fight whole heartedly to make it out of the 40's...

This has been the longest wait for warm weather that I can remember!

Sydnee...

A Barefoot Beauty...

Coming Back For More...

You may not be able to tell from the poorly taken picture...

But these two are fighting to the death...

Raider shakes you back and forth until you think your arms and brain may have permanent damage.

In the end...

He sometimes lets you win.

...and even if he doesn't...

He will give you a big sloppy kiss to keep you coming back for more.

Lily

The warmer days bring out the energy...

Non stop...

Go, go go...

Stay active...

Keep moving...

One more girl has discovered the pole around here...

You'd think frisbee throwing would come naturally to us...

I think maybe this skill kicks in later.

The Great Outdoors...

Nate isn't used to the great outdoors...

Around this house...

He will get used to it.

He may even... eventually... let his knees touch the grass!

The Pits...

I laughed so hard today.

I haven't laughed this hard in a long time.

My 10 year old daughter asked, "Mom, what does bloody L mean on Harry Potter?".......

I kind of ignored the question the first time because lots of kids were asking questions and standing around trying to get their breakfast...

So, like any good kid in a big family...

She asked again..

"Mom, What does bloody L mean on Harry Potter?"

I said, "It means bloody hell."  

and then proceeded to break down and laugh myself silly when I looked at all the kids faces........

Then my lovely 16 year old decided to jump in on the fun and said, "That's a lie from the pits of L!"

I may never stop laughing!

I Won't Mention...

What does summer look like at our house?

Tons of these...

all over the back yard!

Yes, I know it isn't summer... Yet...

But, we have actually had a tiny bit of a warm up the last few days...

I won't mention the snowflakes I saw in the forecast for this weekend, though...

Absolutely Exhausted...

The newest adventure seems to be tree climbing.

I know, I know...

Broken legs, arms, etc...

And with this bunch...

We just might end up with one of those.

However, I am one of those crazy moms who believes you have to let kids... be... kids.

No television, video game obsessed kids around here.

Use your imagination.

Build a fort, get dirty (it washes off!), run fast and hard, climb, jump, swing, play, play, play...

and then come to bed at night absolutely exhausted!

It Can Be a Wonder...

Sometimes it's easy to see all of the ugliness around us.

We can become focused on the small things that can get in the way of seeing the beauty that is there...

if we just take the time to look...

I almost walked right past this flower...

It was laying on the old, dirty bar-b-que...

It looked lost and half dead...

I stopped for a second and took a quick photo...

And never even saw the beauty...

until I looked at the photo afterward.

People are like that sometimes...

lost, alone, half dead (on the inside or the outside).

If you just stop...

and take a second look...

from a different perspective...

You may find the beauty that you didn't know existed before.

Try it.

It can be a wonder.

The Roof...

My husband is currently sitting on the roof... pulling the remaining nails out of the contraption.

He has been up there since we walked in the door after church.

Luckilly, some friends from church stopped by and helped toss the last shingles off of the roof.

My hubby is tired and dirty...

but he loves it!

And I love him!

Only You...

Race for a Cure...

Today we are going to celebrate with a friend as she crosses the finish line of the Ogden Half Marathon.  She is racing for a cure for cancer.

I would encourage any of you who have been touched by cancer... and who of us hasn't really... to find a way to participate in these events.  If nothing else, go stand at the finish line and cheer on those who race.

Simple Rule...

We have a simple rule in this house.

Don't jump over the gate.

There is a reason it is put up... we don't want you to go somewhere else...

Boys can be sneaky...

... and sisters can be sneakier!

Boys...

Boys...

Boys encouraging spring to come...

Mom Approves!

Knockout...

Fear

That is a word that resonates in the heart of anyone with a daughter.

I have 7 daughters.

I know I am just a mother talking about her offspring...

but they are beautiful.

I have watched two of them wander through their teenage years... while I spent copious amounts of time on my knees.

Now, my 3rd daughter is there.  She doesn't seem to struggle with the same issues that the first two did, but she is a teenager all the same.

I continue to spend copious amounts of time on my knees.

This picture is of my 3 Year Old Daughter...

...on a bad hair day (actually we just hadn't fixed her hair yet)

This makes me VERY afraid.

She is a knockout!

Excuse me... I need to go spend some time on my knees..................

Our Newest Little Guy...

Nate

For the Night...

My arms feel empty.

My heart is hurting.

My faith is strong.

God is in control.

Weeping may last through the night,

but joy comes with the morning.

Psalms 30:5

Kids Day...

We recently celebrated kids day at our church.

Some of the kids participated in worship.  My two sweeties are front and center...

Look at Syd... always the showman!

Have You Ever Had A Day...

Did you ever have one of those days...

You know the ones...

When it seems like everything is going wrong.  You have tons of things to do, but it doesn't seem like you can finish anything? 

When you want to pick up a baby and cuddle them... but you keep reminding yourself that in just a few days they won't be in your arms anymore...  They belong to someone else...

... and the more you have these thoughts going around in your head, the more you want them out... and before you know it you are taking it out on the ones you love the most in the whole world.  They understand that you are struggling with grief... but that still doesn't make it right.  And then you start to pile the guilt on top of the grief...

Have you ever been in the midst of one of those days...

When someone who lives far away (but loves you just the same) thought about you...

and took the time to pray for you...

and more importantly...

took the time to listen...

took the time to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit...

... and just when you thought your day was heading into the gutter...

Your husband brings the mail in and hands you a card...

And it ends up being exactly what you needed...

... Have you ever had a day when you are reminded that God loves you right where you're at...

...and he knows exactly what you are going through...

... and in the midst of this day, He uses someone special to remind you that you will be okay...

And you believe it!

Picture To Prove It...

In case I forget that "the boyfriend" actually did attend church with grown daughter #2...

I have the picture to prove it!

Bread and Butter Pickles...

Some wonderful friends gave us a ton of cucumbers recently.

What did we do with them?

Made them into bread and butter pickles, of course.

We were finally able to test them the other night.

Oh, my!

They were heavenly!

Of course... I am a fan of bread and butter pickles.

Copycat...

This boy has become a copycat.

Every single thing his daddy does is copied.

The way daddy stands...

The way daddy talks...

The way daddy sits...

Everything...


I will try to post all week..... but please remember this is an emotional one for us... the babies will be leaving very early (thankfully it will be early in the day) on saturday the 8th.  We are sad... but we know that God is taking us through a process for... we don't yet know what.  We do have some news though.  However, I will wait to share it with you until the boys have gone.  Thanks for understanding.

Today...

Today is May Day.

But, more importantly...

Today would have been my grandmother's 86th birthday.

This woman taught me so many things.  Some of which include... baking, cooking, putting family first... but she really taught me how to make the hard choices.  She taught me how to give a task everything you've got and then a little more.  This lady was one of the hardest workers I have ever known.  She taught me how to smile even when faced with what seem like insurrmountable trials.  This woman taught me how important it is to slow down and enjoy what is right in front of you.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

We miss you!

This is a photo of my grandmother holding Miranda... 16 years ago!