My Great Provider

Do you know that God is an great provider? I mean a crazy, super awesome provider who knows our every need.  Every time that I start to forget that or stop feeling his care, God provides an awesome over the top reminder of how great of a provider he is.

Since this summer when we took a Marriage and Money class, Josh and I have been working hard on not only our relationship but on our finances as well. It has been fun and a LOT of hard work. We started cutting expenses, keeping a strict budget, and paying off debts. I won't lie; it hasn't been very fun cutting cable, not getting the I-phone I have been eying for months (tear), and refraining from my Starbucks strawberries and cream on the way home from work. However, we are determined to stick with it. And this is where that awesome God comes in.

As we have been saving every cent to pay off bills, God has shown me just how much he is not only walking with us, but carrying us through this process.... though an unexpected gift, refund on an overpayment, and the list goes on.  That God of mine is just awesome. He has even strengthened Josh and my relationship. We have grown closer together through this process: communicating, caring, and loving each other as we really are, with both our faults and strengths.

So all this to say, Thanks God, you never fail to amaze me. :)

Fall preview!

Grace painting her pumpkin red...

Fall has definitely arrived! While I am sad to see summer go and am dreading winter with all my being, I do enjoy fall. I like to be able to take walks outside with the kids without applying layers of sunscreen and hats, not having to use our air conditioning, and all the fun activities that we can do in fall. To commemorate the beginning of fall the girls and I did a few fun fall activities. We went to my sister, Marian's house and the girls picked small pumpkins. We then painted them at Nana Cheryl's house. They loved it! :) While I can't say all the pumpkin's turned out super cute, I can say that we all had a lot of fun!

Kay busy painting.

Aunt Marian & Grace- "say cheese!"

Kay, Grace, Katie, Caleb, and Jack acting like animals at Yates Cider Mill! :)

We also already made it to Yates Cider Mill. I having new places to meet friends for the season. Katie, Jack and Luke met us there and we were all able to eat some yummy donuts and cider. The kids loved seeing the goats, running down the path, playing red light green light, throwing things in the river. Definitely had good conversations and fun! :)

Jack and Grace peeking through the bridge.

Jack and Kay climbing up the rail.

Nana Cheryl and Kay busy painting their pumpkins.

Papa John's store

Every time we go to visit Josh's family the girls instantly jump to, "I want to go to Papa John's store and see Papa John, and Nana, and Carson, and get some mac n' cheese, and chicken, and ice cream and candy.... ". This list goes on for at least a minute. Below is a glimpse at our trip this weekend to Papa John's store.

What a cozy bed Kay has found.....

.....under a cigarette display!

Aww.... Grace found a bed too.. under the cash register!

Nothing like eating and riding ;)

YAY! I LOVE food!

Hmm... How high can I climb this pole?

Do I have a hitchhiker?

But I don't wanna leave Papa John's store!

Cincy Cousins!

Rolling down the hill, playing with bugs, and playing games with Josh.

Josh had a conference in Cincinnati this week, and since his aunt and cousins live in the area, the kids and I decided to tag along for the trip.  We stayed at Josh's cousins house. She has two daughters, ages 6 and 2. The girls had a blast together. Kayleigh and Grace were in heaven with an entire house of new girlie toys to play with and a swing set outside.

Grace, Callie, and Caleb playing with worms.

Caleb and Callie rocking on the front porch.

Caleb and Callie were continually cracking each other up as they tossed food over the side of their seats, played peak a boo through the window, and rocked on the chairs on the front porch together. It was fun to see Caleb interact with someone around his own age.

Caleb and Callie playing with a puzzle.

Keelin, Grace, and Kayleigh loved spending the day together. They slept in sleeping bags in Keelin's room. Hours into 'bedtime' you could hear their giggles echoing down the stairs. It makes me smile thinking of how much fun Marian and I had as kids staying up half the night talking and laughing with each other and cousins. Keelin has been showing off her new reading skills as she read the girls books at bed each night. The girls love to be read to, so it is not tough convincing them to be an attentive audience. Oh and they just adored the hours of playing with Barbies, dolls, and Disney princesses. :) It was a little girls' dream.

Keelin reading to Kay (l) and Grace (r).

It makes me sad that the girls don't have cousins that live around us that are their own age. They have so much fun when we have weekends with their cousins. It is good to have this opportunity to have fun and visit now though! :)

Lions and tigers and bears, Oh my!

Caleb wonders, "um girls, you know that's not real?"
 

Awww, Kay loves you beary much! 

Today Kathryn and I took the kids to the zoo. It was actually really fun. The weather was perfect for pants and a light jacket, there were hardly any people there (a great thing about 11am on a Thursday), and everyone was excited to be there! Enjoy our day at the zoo told through pictures. :)

Grace- "... he is big...."

Yeah, family photo op- fail!

Kayleigh (l) and Grace (r)  decided they would prefer to NOT hug this bear. In their words, "He is not white. He is a dirty bear. He needs a bath."

Who can resist this face?

Kay and the seal try to make a connection.

Who were we kidding trying to get a photo with 4 kids?!

A guy kept feeding the peacocks popcorn.... yeah, I said no when he offered it to my kids after!

 

Watching the giraffe eat. Kay was our official directions girl with the map.

Awww.. what a pretty smile! :)

Lots of races today-- great idea with 3 kid & 1 stroller

Caleb thinks, "Wait for me!"

This is his "who who" face.

Love times a million my picture with my little man!

Hmmm. mom, when is it my turn to feed the giraffe?

This concludes our day at the zoo. Hope you enjoyed it because we certainly did!

Gifts from Grandma's House!

My children have a habit of coming home with things from my mom and dad's house, some good and some bad. Last month they came home with really cute outfits (good) and a goldfish that died in less than a week (bad). During this week's adventure the kids came home with a purse full of rocks (that they proceeded to dump in a dirty pile on the carpet) and ..... a frog in a box. A real frog... yep, hopping and everything. Grandpa and Grandma took the kids frog hunting this afternoon. They had a blast! I heard about their adventure the entire ride home. One frog made it home, the other 'went to sleep' and needed to go back to his pond (yeah,the frog croaked with too much love and affection!). So in the meantime, I am waiting for daddy to come home so he can deal with how to take care of our new pet frog.

Grace and Kay admiring their frog in the box.

Kay's rock collection.

 It makes me think of all the things we did as kids and how many of those activities I now do with my kids. It cracks me up as even tonight, we got home, ate dinner, and then had a movie and popcorn night. When I was younger, we would do movie and popcorn nights all the time. We grew up singing on the top of our lungs to every song that came on the radio (mostly oldies), we would read books non-stop, we would dance and sing as we cleaned up the house, we would spend hours playing barbies and riding bikes. It makes me happy to see my kids now doing many of those same things. :)

Grace enjoying her popcorn.

Kay, engrossed in the movie.

Book Club... Cleaning Frenzy! :)

 Once a month my book club meets and discusses a book, well really more like discusses life, with a book on the side. I love every minute of laughter, sharing stories, and food. We have fun and I have grown to love the fellowship and trust that has developed among us.


This month it was my turn to host. I actually really like hosting things. I love having a clean house (or a reason for my family to clean house), I love using my china, and cooking. Well, I love all of it until my over-ambitious, neat freak, perfectionistic side comes out.  I swear I get this from my mother who made us clean the house from top to bottom every time anyone came over (not that I am complaining since I actually love the excuse to clean!).

In any case, it never fails that about half way through my cleaning (with three kids under my feet and making messes of everything), I have a mini breakdown. Today that breakdown came as I had just cleaned the kitchen, went to change Caleb, and came back to see the girls with play-doh covering the table, themselves, and floor.  Ahhh.. . the joys of motherhood. :/ Needless to say, I did not clean up the play-doh mess, I could not bring myself to clean up an area that I had just finished cleaning. So what did I do? I left it for Josh to clean up. ;) Hey, what can I say, it was either that or a melt down. I chose Josh. :)

I have to say that I do love and appreciate the end result after chucking toys down the stairs, scraping food off the floor, and stuffing cabinets full of books, I am left with a neat and tidy house that brings back memories of what it used look like.  So below are a few pictures of what I wish my house looked like everyday...well, minus the toys in the corners, basketball hoop, and little people chairs. Then again they do add a nice splash of color and fun (and who wouldn't want a basketball net in their living room?!) ;)

Boogs... the life of a 3 year old

Grace,- "Hey mom, do you want to see my big boog?" very proud of her booger that she is putting in my face to show me.
Me- "Oh yeah, it's a big one," with feigned enthustiasm. "Why don't you grab a tissue from the bathroom and throw it away."
Grace- "Okay mom." Continues by instead running over to Kay yelling, "Hey Kay, look at this BIG boog."
Kay- With real excitement, "WOW, that is a big boog!"
Me, from across the room- "Grace, go get a tissue and throw your booger away." Meanwhile I decide it's a perfect picture op and run to get my camera. As I get there ....
Grace- "Mmmm... mom, I like to eat boogers."
Me- "Where is the booger?", as I hold up the camera to take a picture.

Grace, showing me the boog in her teeth.

Grace- "Right in my teeth, mom," smiling and pointing to show me the supposed booger she just ate. (See picture above).

Kayleigh proudly showing me her booger.

Kay examining her booger.

Kay immediately pipes up, "Here mom, I have a booger too!"
She actually does have a booger to show me on her finger for the picture.  (see Kay picture).
 Kay, "mmm, tasty..."
Me- "Nooo, don't eat it!"  Tooo late.

Meanwhile, Lois and Josh are cracking up hysterically in the background.

What can I say, clearly they think boogers are tasty treats. Belch! :/

Making Noah's Ark

Kay (l) and Grace (r) painting the rainbow over their ark.

Grace working on her rainbow.

Kay adds a ton of water to her brush.

Grace's final product while doing fishy lips!

Kay's final project. Those pesky animals wouldn't stay put.

Kay giving her bees stripes.

A day in the life of  ABC Jesus Loves Me -ABC Jesus Loves Me - 3 year- Week 5

For 3-pre homeschool this week, the girls are learning about Noah's ark, the letter B, number 3, and the letters of their names (along with a ton of other things). It has been quite fun. We have had two art projects this week. They painted yellow bees and then used a marker to make their black marks. The girls also made a project tonight where they painted, cut, and glued paper and plates to make a rainbow/ ark. The girls were so proud of their work and it turned out pretty cute. All evening they have been taking their mini Belle, Sleeping Beauty, etc. on ark rides.

Overall I have loved teaching them. It is challenging at time fitting everything in when I am tired from work, or just have things outside the house. Our week is just so full.  While most times they are engaged and wanting to learn more, there are still definitely times when they are crabby or just want to be ornery.  It is then that I just need to take a deep breathe and step away. It is so had sometimes to not let them get under my skin. I have to constantly remind myself that I am the adult and they are the children. They need me to lead by example acceptable behavior. While they may be having a mini tantrum, it does not mean that I can have one too! ;)  But gracious, a tantrum every once in a while sounds so appealing.