Happy 6th Birthday Preston!!

Wow!! How does life carry me along so swiftly! How do I allow such "major" milestones to come and go like another something to check off? My son Preston turned 6 years old...when did he get to be six years old?? I feel like I have missed about five years of his life and they are completely over!! Must review pictures...must enjoy him being a little boy and still wanting "Mama" when life hurts. Oh dear...

His 6th birthday was celebrated first with cousins from Minnesota and his Aunt Theresa (my sister) and Uncle Malcolm and soon to follow with several emails/phonecalls. What a joy and blessing! Thank You, Lord! I am hoping the sweetness of that day just might get the Oatmans to think of moving closer to us!! Warroad, Minnesota (Canadian boarder) just doesn't have much to offer but boy o' boy we would love to be closer to all of them!!

We then had more celebration with a few friends over to decorate cupcakes (yes, Susan, my floors have yet to be cleaned!!) and enjoy the afternoon playing Wii -- Batman and Star Wars . I'm not so sure anything else would have been as much fun. I know Preston felt super special and that is all that needed to happen on this particular day. Big thanks to Blake, Sarah, Mary Beth, Sydney and Mrs. Susan!! Biggest thanks to Jesus!!

So...he turned six and a few days later lost his first tooth. We had quite a week! And to top it all off the tooth fairy was running late...how does a parent sooth a six year old that just lost his first tooth that the tooth fairy just must be running late? Acckkk!!! He handled it like a champ!!

Plan "B"

Kids really are hysterical!! Like today, Brooke comes to me shaking her head with a comb stuck at the roots of the top of her head. She said she was trying to curl her hair...oh dear! Daddy to the rescue...should have gotten a picture! Thankfully, we saved most of the hair but the comb was destroyed in the process of removing it from the glitches of her roots!! :)

Anyway, it really is funny after the fact...my point...we had some friends over last week that played outdoors for a good part of the day and really wanted to run through the sprinkler but I was unconvinced it was really warm enough for that. After a few moments of silence, they returned with "Plan B"! Since they were not able to play in the sprinklers, could we "use the bath tub as a pool and play with swimsuits on?"!! It really seemed harmless and actually a push on me to get my bathroom floors cleaned -- fully aware that much water would be left on the floor. They were tickled when the answer was positive. Cracks me up!! As an adult person, how much fun is THAT?? Girls went first. Then the boys...good plan since the boys definately left a bigger puddle than the girls. THANK YOU, GIRLS!! :)

This Rollercoaster LIfe

Wow! Such an amazing past week or so. Rollercoaster-like. Friends hurting from miscarriages, children having surgeries, friends/family preparing for marriage, family pets dying, babies being born, simple heart hurts from missing mom/dad. Financially pulling resources together to move forward with missions planning. Then the even simpler events that bring such joy and sadness, i.e., going to the zoo, playing at the park, pictures in Texas blue bonnets, playing Wii with a good friend, falling on a bike and scraping knees or just simply being so tired you fall over and knock your head on the corner of a chair. Seriously, how does one move forward without knowing God is in control? ...giving God the glory and praise for new life? We must trust Him with our most precious pieces of life!! I have witnessed amazing strength and bravery. Thank you, Jesus, that You are who you are and give me strength during the rollercoaster days of life and joy in the morning to sing praises for the bountiful blessing!

Christmas Fun at Gammie & Papa's

What a most enjoyable afternoon!! Helping Gammie and Papa decorate their Christmas tree with GG and then dancing in the living room!! We even got Gammie and Papa to do some polka for us! I am very thankful for these memories, my children, my in-laws and Jesus' precious love!

IT'S SNOWING!!! IT'S SNOWING!!!

What a delightful surprize this morning!! I opened up Facebook just before 7:00 a.m. and a friend had noted "IT IS SNOWING!!"...I thought, "What?" Looked out my window and, sure enough, IT'S SNOWING!! I immediately called my mother-in-law and woke her to share (sorry, Martha...I'm sure you were just laying there awake, right??) the good news!! So sad, Shelby has slept through it all but is battling a bit of congestion so needs the rest. This was funny...Parker ate out the cherry tomato eye and left our snowman in "tears"!!!

Four Pumpkins at the Flower Mound Pumpkin Farm

Four children, bounce houses, hayrides, pumpkins everywhere and all characters of wood cut-outs to pose with that you can imagine makes for a very fun day! (I haven't figured out how to arrange my pictures on this blog yet...I will get there.) The pictures tell the story but not in order -- The pumpkins were painted after we got home! Gammie Martha came with and was a big help as there were mobs of children everywhere! We brought a picnic lunch to eat but think the bees maybe ate more of it than we did...brought about many mixed expressions from each of us but Gammie was calm as a cucumber...not me! I was standing eating my sandwich...I'm not to hip on bugs!...period. We bought our pumpkins, headed home and were entertained yet more by dancing children in the living room and then painting the pumpkins that needed a face. As you can see, only one got a face and the others look as if they are..well, ...smushed. We need to work on this!

The sweetest, smartest classroom EVER!!

What a privilege for me!! I get to teach four of the most intelligent, fun, kind, cute-as-a-button, laugh-inspiring, thought-provoking children EVER!! Our front room is a sort of classroom that gets pretty loud on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. As you can see in the picture, it was Shelby's turn to hold the flags for our pledges...always a highlight for that sweet little one!! I believe this picture will be cherished over the years. We get to have school in whatever we chose to wear, find a comfy spot and test our brains a bit. I know I have said it before and still feel the same...I AM A BLESSED WOMAN!!