Monday, May 26, 2014

Happy Memorial Day!

All ready to head to the parade….
 We got there early enough that Daddy and the twins played a little catch before the parade started...
 Elli looked beautiful!
 Weston"s first Memorial day parade...
 …he loved it!!!
 Jay, Ray, and Elli waited to see their brothers...
 …there they are...
 …there they go...
 The cuter you look, the more candy you get…the hat contained a good portion of candy by the end of the parade...
 Happy Memorial Day!!

Thursday, May 22, 2014

2 months old already….

…and such a charmer!!!



Thursday, May 15, 2014

Jason and Reagan...

Who said Identical Twins have to be identical?
The older they get, the more pronounced their differences become :)


Sunday, May 11, 2014

It has been six weeks since we brought home our sweet little Weston.  We have had our challenges in getting used to the newest member of our family…but there hasn't been a challenge big enough to keep me from thinking about how blessed I am to get to do what I do every day.  The funny thing is that I haven't always felt this way...  

Early on in my Mothering career I looked for work and babysitters outside my home.  I have a college degree and I was well qualified for every job I applied for...Thank God I prayed about it and left it up to God to either open or close doors for me.  Needless to say, he closed every door.  At the time it was a little frustrating…ok, a lot frustrating…but as I continued to pray about it I knew where God wanted me…in my home.  

It wasn't always easy…it still isn't always easy…but then God isn't Glorified in the easy…God is Glorified in the challenges…in the difficultly…and it is in our rising to the occasion…or in our rising out of the ashes :)…that we become a Testimony to the Living God...

2Corinthians 4:8-11…
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.  For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.

I have learned a lot since having my first baby...

Mothering is a Full-time job…
it doesn't stop for a busy schedule, a deep sleep, or a mom in labor with baby #7 :)…a mother is on call 24/7…just like the FBI :)…

Mothering is full of surprises…
you have to be able to roll with the punches…or the punches will roll over you….

Mothering is a Long-term investment…
what you put into your children isn't always noticeable right away…but if you are faithful to invest, you will definitely see a return…

Mothering can be messy…
there are times when you will wear more spit-up and food than perfume...and times when you will wear more tears than make-up…

That is why…

Mothering has to be Jesus centered…

Mothering is not for the faint-hearted…
as emotional as we mothers can get…there are times when we have to hold it together for our children.  There have been so many times where my strength of heart has been the foundation of my children's strength of heart…my Faith and Courage in a tough situation has been my children's Faith and Courage in that tough situation.  Mothering requires an inner strength at times that is only God-given….

Mothering is not for the weak minded….
we mothers are the guardians of our homes and our children.  We are living in a day and age where our children are being pulled into this world from every direction and it takes a God-given wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and discernment to step in and guide our children along the right path….

Mothering is not for the Spiritually depleted…
you cannot get to church with an empty tank of gas…and….you cannot get to God with an empty spirit…don't fill up after you run out of gas, fill up before and be prepared!!  By reading my Bible, and fasting and praying regularly, I am able to go the distance when I need to….

Mothering is a God-given Ministry…
it is a calling to sculpt…build…and mold…not just the behaviors…but the minds and the hearts of the children God has entrusted to our care…and the plans and goals for the Masterpiece you are working to create have to be handed down by the Master…

Proverbs 22:6…
Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.


I thank God for the career He has given me...and for the children He has given me to Mother…
And now…for your Mother's Day listening pleasure…




Friday, May 9, 2014

Brandon…and Weston :)

It's been a long time since I updated you all on my eldest blessing :)
Brandon is finishing up his first year of classes at the US Air Force Academy and is now getting ready for his first of 2 summer training sessions.  
Brandon is really excited about his first training session…
I am not as excited about the training, but I am excited for Brandon :)  
What is Brandon's first training session you ask…Jump Training!  
The name of the course is AM 490…you can read about the course HERE
but here is a brief summary…

In his book, “The Spirit of St. Louis,” Charles Lindbergh admits that he wasn’t completely sold on the idea when contemplating his first parachute attempt, “The thought of crawling out onto the struts and wires hundreds of feet above the earth, and then giving up even that tenuous hold of safety and of substance, left me a feeling of anticipation mixed with dread, of confidence restrained by caution, of courage salted through with fear,” he wrote.
Lindbergh isn’t alone in this feeling. Tell someone to hop into a plane, head up to 5,000 feet and then jump out of it for the first time all by himself or herself and most people would look at you like you’re crazy.
Not so at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. Here, a few hundred cadets line up each year to take a turn.
The cadets don’t jump out of a plane right away, though. First, they complete nearly 40 hours of ground training, where they learn the ins and outs of parachuting — everything from when to pull the cord and how to properly land, to how to respond to in-air emergency situations.
The course, now in its 50th year and officially called AM-490, is a few weeks of repetitive, pound-it-into-their-heads training that is so for a reason: The course is the only known jump school where students perform their first jump all by themselves.

I will let you all know how he does…hopefully we will get some pictures :)  He has to get a GoPro!!

Don't think for a second, though, that Brandon is all work and no play…
This past weekend Brandon participated in a Spartan Race.  For those of you who have never heard of a Spartan Race…it is a series of obstacle races of varying distance and difficulty…they range in distance from 1 mile to a marathon...
and they are MUDDY!!!!
Here is Brandon before the race…notice the light colored shirt :)
Tough guy got his racing band…You have to be serious before you go jump in mud :)
 He went to the Race with some friends from his Bible Study group.  This is their signature on one of the walls in the race...
 And after the race…notice the color of the t-shirt…and the smile on his face…obviously my eldest enjoys the mud :)
And now for my youngest blessing…
Joshua has been busy taking lots of pictures…
 The twins and Elli wanted in on the action...
Trevor…where are you?

Friday, May 2, 2014

Is that wavy hair I see?

Weston enjoyed his bath this morning...
 I really think it may be possible that this little guy is going to have wavy hair...
I didn't even have a chance to comb his hair before it was dry…look at those waves!!
What a cutie!!