Anna May's Boys' Blog

The Emond Family Gazette

2010-08-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

Trevor has decided that since we have so many blogs between the two of us, that it would be better to combine them all into one big family blog. So that is what we have done. I'm still trying to work out how to use the thing since it's not blogger, but hopefully i'll get it working good.

So continue following us go to http://www.z2ti.com/ "The Emond Family Gazette".

Anniversary Trip -- Part 4 (the end)

2010-08-23T11:18:00.001-07:00

This should be the last and final post about our trip. Aren't you glad? =)

Here I am at my favorite store in Gatlinburg. "The Bear Necessities". It has a lot of really cool Scrapbook supplies and Clothing. I picked out a few things specifically to do with this weekend.

After seeing what there was to see in the Gatlinburg area, on Friday and Saturday, we went out for breakfast on Sunday morning, and then decided to sight see on the way home. One of the places we stopped at was in Corbin, Kentucky. They have a big national park there. The view from the top was awesome! They had a nice little viewing area with some old steps and such. This of course, made for the perfect photo opportunity.

Further into the park, they have a really cool Waterfall. I have never seen a waterfall that was soo brown. But apparently this area has gotten a lot of rain lately and a lot of flooding, causing the waterfall to "get dirty". But dirty or not, it was still very pretty. So here's a few shots of "Cumberland Falls" in Corbin, Kentucky.

After leaving the falls, we traveled a bit further into the same park, to see the "Natural Bridge." This was very, very cool to see.

Trevor trying to reach out and hold up the bridge.

Us in front of "The Natural Bridge" altho you can't see the bridge very well behind us.

Thus ended our Anniversary Trip. It was an awesome time. Trevor and I spent a lot of time talking, uninterrupted by kids, on the way home. It's amazing to me, how much you can talk about, when there aren't kids around to add to the conversation. A lot of good memories were shared and looking back over the last 10 years of our marriage has been wonderful.

Anniversary Trip -- Part 3

2010-08-23T07:14:00.000-07:00

Here are a few random pictures of us and the places we ate.

Yummy...Fried Chicken from the Old Mill Resturant. It was very good.

This place was good, but not as good as the "Old Mill". This one was more classy, therefore you had a better variety of food.

We planned ahead, and took some food with us, so we wouldn't have to eat out for every meal. That worked out quite nicely. And with the cabin as well stocked as it was, we didn't have to bring plates, cups, and stuff like that.

Anniversary Trip -- Part Two

2010-08-23T05:17:00.000-07:00

Saturday Morning, we got up early and headed to Cades Cove, to bike the 11 mile loop. They close the road to cars on Wednesdays and Saturdays, until 10 am, giving the bikers a good chance to enjoy the road.

It was a bit foggy that morning, and I took the opportunity to take some great pictures of the fog over the mountains. The pictures just don't do it justice, but the sight was beautiful.

Almost there. Headed to Cades Cove.

Once we arrived at Cades Cove, there were so many people there, it was nearly impossible to find a place to park. The parking lot and even the nearby lot for the picnic area, was packed full. We ended up having to park about a mile before the loop, and had to bike from there. That part wasn't too bad tho. It was mostly downhill.

So here we are getting ready to start the bike trip.

It started off very nice. It was a bit foggy still, and the sun was behind the clouds, so it made for a beautiful ride. But about a mile into the trip, it started to rain. It wasn't too bad, at first. It was just misting a bit. But before too long, it was raining pretty good. By this point we figured we might as well just finish the loop, because we were gonna get soaked either way, so no since in going back. So on we go, up hills and down, in the rain. I was ok at first. But let me tell you, after about 5 miles, I thought I was going to die. Not only was the road very up and down, but I was now soaking wet. Even my shoes were wet all the way through. I did a lot of walking with my bike up several hills, but I finally made it to the end, and lived to tell about it.

While biking the loop, in the rain, we saw lots of wildlife and beautiful scenery. So it made the trip worth all the hard work.

We encountered a bear on the side of the road. He was looking for bugs in a log. I thought it was very cool to see one so close. While Trevor stopped to take some pictures, I walked my bike past him slowly, in hopes that he wouldn't notice me. I didn't have to worry. He was too busy looking for bugs, to take time for a soaking wet biker.

We saw a lot of turkey. Some were running across the road in front of us, and others were making their way across the open fields.

One of the old cabins along the road. There were several of these. We could have stopped at each one and looked inside, but we really wanted to be dry again, so on we went.

Some of the awesome fog on the mountains.

I loved this tree. Its so big and just sitting out the middle of an open field, all by itself.

Here I am, soaking wet, trying to make it up a big hill. Trevor thought it would be a good idea to take a picture of me, so I'd remember the trip. HA!! Believe me, I won't ever forget this trip. I didn't need a picture to remind me.

It was a good time tho. I need to bike more often, so I can take the hills better next time. After we made it to the end, all we wanted was to be dry again. It had finally stopped raining, but we were so wet, we felt like sponges.

Later that day, we headed to downtown Gatlinburg, to do some window shopping. I found a t-shirt that I decided to get as a memorial of this bike trip. It's a "Life is Good" shirt that has a bike on the front. So I bought it. I will forever remember my 10th anniversary and the bike loop, whenever I wear that shirt.

Anniversary Trip -- Part One

2010-08-22T18:49:00.001-07:00

This weekend, Trevor and I took a delayed Anniversary Trip, to Gatlinburg, TN. We were there Friday - Sunday. This was an exciting time for us. This is the first trip we have taken, without the kids. It was really nice to get away. Note to self...Next time take a fan. =) I am used to sleeping with a fan. There wasn't one at the cabin. There was an over head fan, but not a box fan, which is what I am used to. Needless to say, it was very quiet at night, there, which made it hard to fall asleep. So I really have to remember to pack the box fan, the next time we go on vacation.

The cabin we stayed in was very nice. It was very cozy and very well stocked. We didn't get to test out the fireplace, since it's summer, but if we were to ever go during the winter, the fireplace would be wonderful, I'm sure. There was a grill on the back deck, which, had we known about it, we would have used this as well. Here's a few pics of our cabin, for your viewing pleasure.

Here we are in front of our cabin.

The downstairs.

Another view of the downstairs.

This sign was hanging above the stairs. I thought it was very nice.

The Living Room, fireplace, and stairs going down.

The Kitchen

The Dining Room

The Splinter Part 2

2010-08-22T18:17:00.001-07:00

Over the last few days, Zion's foot has been slowly improving. He was still having trouble walking on it, but was keeping it medicated and soaking it a few times a day. Every time we would change the band aid, we noticed a lot of puss coming out. Thinking this was a good thing, we didn't really worry to much about it.

Tonight, when he was supposed to be taking a shower, he decided to bring us what he had managed to pull out of his foot instead. Needless to say, both Trevor and I were quite shocked. This is what was left of the splinter, that the doctor was not able to remove, without extra cutting on his foot.

So he now has a nice sized hole in the bottom of his foot, but we are all very happy and very thankful that the small log, posing as a splinter, is finally out of his foot.

The Splinter

2010-08-18T06:11:00.000-07:00

To start off, let me say this...we need a new back deck, very badly. We have been wanting to redo the deck for the last 3 years, but it just hasn't happened yet. It takes a lot of time and money, which we never seem to have enough of. So I am always telling the kids to put on shoes before they go outside. If they want to take them off when the get into the yard, that's fine...but please put on shoes when you are on the deck. We have dug out so many splinters from little feet, that you'd think they would remember.....with this in mind, I will begin my story...

Monday night, after supper, I made a quick trip to the grocery store. I didn't need a lot, so there was only a few bags to haul in. Zion was doing a project for school that required oranges, which we didn't have, so this was one of the items I picked up at the store. When I returned home, Zion ( who was very excited about doing his project) decided to help me haul in the bags. He did not bother to put on shoes, when he came outside to help me. He wasn't running...he was just walking across the back deck, helping me carry in the groceries, when suddenly he drops his bags, and starts hopping around.

"What? Did you step on something?" I asked.

"I think I may have gotten a splinter." Was his reply.

"I'm glad you didn't' have the bag with the eggs in it." Was my answer. (yes I know that wasn't the normal reaction from a mom who's kid just got a splinter, but it happens so much around here, that is wasn't really a big deal)

I picked up the disregarded bags, brought them in and made Zion sit down so I could look at his foot. By this time, he was moaning and complaining that his foot hurt pretty badly. After looking at his foot, I realized this was more serious then the normal splinter. He must have stepped pretty hard, on a chunk of wood. He had a good sized hole in his foot and I could tell there was a big piece of wood in his foot, but couldn't quite tell how much wood. I was going to just grab a needle and dig it out , like normal, but he wanted to do it. He has very sensitive feet and hates to have splinters dug out. I let him try, but new he wasn't going to get it out. So outside I go to talk to Trevor.

"Zion's got a nasty splinter in his foot, and I think we may need to dig it out. Its in pretty deep." I informed him. He had just finished mowing the grass and was picking stuff from the garden at this point.

Moving on....

45 minutes later, and much frustration on the parents and one screaming kid, we decided that the splinter just wasn't going to come out.

The next option was to take him to the doctor. Now that makes you feel stupid. "Um yes...this is Mrs. Emond. My son has a splinter in his foot and we can't get it out. Can I bring him in to see the doctor?"

Well that is exactly what we had to do. The doctor was very nice about the whole thing, and informed Zion he needed to wear shoes, which he has been told to do several times, and admited as much to the doctor. She numbed the area, and removed the splinter, in no time at all. Altho I'm not sure it was actually a splinter. I think it was more of a small log.

Zion is now splinter/log free, but still has a very sore foot. The area is a bit swollen, and he can't put any pressure on it, so he just hobbles around the house, but gets where he needs to go. He can't wear a shoe on that foot either, so if he goes outside, he has to just make sure its covered. We have to keep it medicated, soak it 3 times a day and make sure the swelling goes down. Hopefully he'll be back to normal in few days.

Happy Anniversary

2010-08-12T05:54:00.000-07:00

10 years ago, I made the biggest change in my life, that I would never, ever regret. 10 years ago today, I became a wife. It has been a wonderful 10 years, and I can't imagine living my life with a better person. God has truly blessed me with the best man in the entire world. My life has been one big happy adventure. Part of me can hardly believe its been 10 years, while the other part of me feels like we've been together forever....and in a since I guess we have. We were meant to be together, therefore we were together in the beginning of time, came together on earth 10 years ago, and will go back into Eternity, when we leave this earth. What an awesome thought!

I believe Bro. Branham said it best:

THE.KINSMAN.REDEEMER_ JEFF.IN V-6 N-8 SUNDAY_ 60-1002
And when a man loves a woman and marries her because she's just pretty, there'll be an end to that. But when a man finds a woman that he loves, he don't know why, but he loves her... And she finds the man that she loves, no matter what he looks like... He loves her. She loves him. That's an eternal mate in glory. They'll... Death nor nothing else can ever separate them. Because they are from eternity, and they stepped out into space of time, and will return back to eternity. Eternity has dropped down in a body called time, then it goes right back up into eternity again. It cannot perish.

Happy 10th Anniversary Sweetheart!! I love you more now, then ever before!!

Clotheslines

2010-08-11T05:21:00.000-07:00

I found Glorianna downstairs trying to make a clothesline for her baby doll clothes. She had a rope strung from the stair railing, to the laundry room door, to the family room door. Needless to say it was very hard to go anywhere downstairs without getting tangled up in her clothesline. So I talked her into moving it. It is now upstairs in the livingroom, strung between two kitchen chairs. I only have 1 clothespin (yes just 1) and I have no idea where it came from, so she came up with a way to hang her clothes, all on her own. I think she did quit well. I have seen pictures of me as a kid, doing the same thing. She definatly takes after her mother. I may have to string Glorianna a line outside, so she can acutally wash her doll clothes and then hang them to dry. She'd probably have a ball.

The Joys of Motherhood

2010-08-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

If a picture is worth a thousand words...then mine sure have a lot to say.

Aren't they absolutly adorable?

Yet Another Difference Between Boys and Girls

2010-08-05T05:44:00.000-07:00

It truly amazes me to discover, day by day, the wonderful way God had created us. He designed boys a certain way and He designed girls a certain way. No one has to teach boys to be rough, play cars, dig in the dirt, dissect worms....it just comes naturally.

I have never taught Glorianna to be a homemaker. It just seems to come naturally to her. Sure she seems me cooking and cleaning, but so do my boys. And my boys never show interest in housework. In fact, chores to them is just that...CHORES. Chores to Glorianna, on the other hand, seem to be a fun thing to do. A natural part of her every day life. She is going to be a wonderful wife and mother some day. Until that time comes, she has become a wonderful little helper to me.

God's design is truly amazing and he had given me a wonderful family, for which I am truly thankful.

Canning

2010-07-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

My fingers hurt. Snapping beans and canning is hard work. Especially a whole sink full of beans. It took me a total of 6 hours to clean, snap and can these green beans. But now that it's over with, I think it was worth it. We got a few from our garden, but not enough to can, so I just froze those. These were given to me and after seeing how many there were, I figured I'd better can this batch.

I did have a little help for part of the time. She's good at snapping beans.

I used Quart sized jars this time, instead of the Pint.

On to tomatoes. These are from our garden. Normally I just puree them and make sauce, but I thought I'd can a jar and see what happened.

My supplies.

Canned Tomatoes.

Now that those are finished, I need to move on to zucchini, basil and cilantro.

31 years ago....

2010-07-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

31 years ago (as of yesterday...sorry this post is a day late) , the Lord allowed the most wonderful man to be born into this world, and saved him just for me. I love you sweetheart!!

Yesterday was Trevor's birthday. He didn't really want a party this year, so we just had a couple friends over to help us celebrate. I made Trevor a "hunting cake" and the kids helped me decorate it. Can you see the "hunter" hiding in the tree?

Getting ready to blow out the candles. No I didn't put 31 candles on the cake. I don't have that many candles. I just did 3 in one corner and 1 in the other. It worked nicely.

I wonder what he wished for.

After cake and icecream, we enjoyed a nice game of "Settlers of Catan" , with a couple of friends.

It was a very nice way to celebrate the birth of my sweetie.

Happy Birthday Trevor!!

Louisville Science Museum

2010-07-08T12:32:00.001-07:00

Today we took a field trip over to Louisville and visited the Science Museum. One of the kids' favorite parts is the huge mirror at the entryway. I don't know why it's so much fun, but they all love it.

Zion loves to make music with this thing. It's very cool. Touch one hand on one tube and one hand on the other to give it the sound. A very high pitched musical sound. The more you move your hands around the more music it makes.

Riah and Glorianna build a tower and then try to knock it down with the "earthquake" vibrator buttons.

Zion in a bubble. Another favorite.

Visiting Ancient Egypt and seeing the mummies was also very cool. While there you had to figure out if the mummy was a boy or girl, buy looking at different bone structures.

I want one of these around my entire house. I think it would be just awesome! This thing moves around the entire room, carrying different items.

Zion tries to turn the lights on by "running" the train like gears. This is a bit hard, but he managed.

This thing was cool. It has several sliding cards that showed bone, veins, muscles and cool stuff like that.

Riah in a bubble.

"Hi Kids." This Skeleton told you all about the different bones in your body.

Riah goes shopping at Baby Bear's Mini Mart. This area was very cool. It told you the difference between good food and bad food and "every once in a while" food as well as "every day" food.

After leaving the Science Museum, we headed over to Fraizer National Arms Museum, to watch a reenactment of "Treasure Island." Upon arriving, we discovered that the skit had been canceled because of the heat. Apparently this particular skit is performed on the rooftop because they use real powder guns. So I guess I understand them not wanting to act in the heat.

We still got to see a really cool sword demonstration (which was awesome) as well as another very short reenactment about a girl pirate (it was ok.) But at least it wasn't a total wasted trip. Hopefully it cools down some, soon, so we can still see "treasure island".

The 4th of July

2010-07-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

Jeffersonville had their yearly Independance Day Parade, on Saturday, the 3rd, this year. So we packed up the kids and headed over. Zion had a friend spend the night with him on Friday night, so we had one extra kid for the parade. It was a lot of fun and as also, the kids came home with a bag full of candy.

Here is Glorianna enjoying the parade.

We ended up meeting up with Steve, Jennifer and Savannah, so they sat with us to enjoy the parade. Here's the whole gang...or at least most of them...

Azariah didn't like the loud trucks. So he plugged his ears every time they passed.

The boys were very excited to see the Schimpff's car drive by.

This is one of mom's neighbors. I've known here for years. She owns the yardshop on Spring Street.

Zion goes fishing

2010-07-05T19:34:00.001-07:00

Zion has his grampa's fishing blood. He loves to fish! So a few days before Zion's birthday, my dad took Zion fishing. Zion had a blast. He told me all about it when he got home. He caught several nice fish, which we had for supper later that day. He really enjoyed eating the fish he caught, and thought it was pretty funny when I thanked him for bringing home the meat.

Here's some pictures of his special day.

Zion's Birthday Trip

2010-07-05T19:05:00.001-07:00

A little late in coming, but better late then never...

Since Zion's birthday fell on Wednesday this year, and his party wasn't going to be until a few days later, I wanted to do something special for him. So i took the kids to the Zoo, and let them go thru the new Dino walk. They loved it.

Here they are looking at one of the huge dinos.

Growling like a Dino...

Playing with the mechanical dino.

Digging for Dino bones.

Later, in a different part of the zoo, a lady was talking to kids about Elephant tusks and the importance of keeping elephants safe. Instead of killing the elephants for the tusks, to make things out of, they can now use a certain kind of nut that looks almost identical to ivory, when its opened up. Now a lot of people use these nuts instead of the elephants tusks.

"ahh...this mist feels soo good!"

Silly kids!

Over all, Zion said he had a wonderful birthday. Happy birthday to my big 9 year old!

And We Think Kids Don't Notice...

2010-07-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

I had an interresting conversation with Zion this morning , on the way to Hobby Lobby, and thought it worthy of a blogpost. So here goes:

Zion: "Mom. Why is Hobby Lobby so much quieter then all the other stores?"

Mom: "Well, Zion. Hobby Lobby is Christian Owned. Which means it's owned by Christian people, so they only play Christian music, whereas the other stores that aren't Christian owned, like to play loud music. Understand?"

Zion: "Yeah." Then he pauses for a few minutes and says, "but the Christian bookstore is Christian owned and they play loud music."

He's rather observant for a 9 year old. Wouldn't you agree?

Zion

2010-06-30T05:44:00.000-07:00

9 years ago today, the Lord gave me a very important job...Motherhood. It has been a wonderful experience for me, and even tho it has been hard at times, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Happy Birthday to my wonderful little boy! I love you Zion!!!

Blowing out the candle on his special birthday waffle.

Zion on the day he was born. We could tell on that first day that he had a very clever and wonderful personality.

Zion today on his 9th birthday.

New Camera

2010-06-28T06:08:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally broke down and bought ourselves a new camera. After several cheap camera's, it nice to finally have one that take great inside and outside pictures. I have been testing it out on the kids, so here ya go.

Azariah

Zion

Glorianna

Warning....this new camera is awesome! This could very highly result in the over abundance of pictures on my blog postings, from now on.

Things we've been doing ....

2010-06-18T11:56:00.001-07:00

The last few months have been busy. The school year is coming to an end, which means .....vacation!!! Yeah!! Hopefully my blogging will pick back up again after that. I'm slacking a bit. Sorry folks.

So...what have we been doing that has kept us so busy??

Well, the boys, as you know, were in Soccer this Spring. So that took up a good portion of our time. That is over for the season, and will start up again come Fall. Glorianna will be joining them for the next season. They are all very excited, but at the same time are glad they get the summer off, so they don't have to play in the hot sun.

Trevor was such a sweetheart, and decided it was finally time to remodel the bathroom. Needless to say, with only one bathroom, this was going to have to be done as quickly as possible. So over Memorial Day weekend, being he had an extra day off of work, he set out to destroy our nasty ugly tub/shower, and create a wonderfully new and beautiful one. My dad came over to help out with the plumbing, but my wonderfully, sweet, computer techie husband, did most of the work himself. I'm so proud!

Ok folks....here is a before picture. Yes, we lived with the hideously ugly yellow tub/shower for 5 years. Not only was it ugly...(I have no idea what the builders were thinking when they built this in the first place, but then again....it was the 70's.)...but it was also very stained up (yes i know it looks dirty, but i cleaned it...i promise)...the faucet leaked and one handle was broken off, which meant we had to turn it on with a pair of pliers. That's always fun.

SO....Before....

And After!!!

Isn't that much better?? I love it!! And I'm loving the new faucet. Only one knob!! Yeah!! Easy to use and it doesn't leak!!

We still have to redo the rest of the bathroom, but as I said before...we only have one bathroom, so the rest will have to wait a bit longer. It will all get completed, one slow step at a time.

Other things we've been doing....

Swimming...

Grilling out a lot...

Swimming some more...

Marrying people....

OK...back up....Yes you read that right. Trevor had the honor of performing his very first wedding ceremony. This lovely couple you see below asked Trevor to marry them. The fact that he can actually do that, seemed a bit strange at first, but now I find it awesome!

It was quite an honor and he did very well. The wedding was beautiful. Congrats Jeremiah and Christine!!

I've also been trying to find cute and creative ways to fix Glorianna's hair. Her hair is finally growing, even tho its still very thin and baby fine, but I'm thankful its growing. She doesn't much care for her hair to be fixed. Most of the time, she'd rather just wear it "fly away". I started playing with her hair one day while she was eating, and came up with this nifty do. I thought it turned out really cute. I can add a bow for a dressier look, too. She doesn't seem to mind this style, so I think I've found a winner.

...and we swam some more...

Well...now you know why we've been so busy lately. Awesome state of busy-ness, isn't it?

Persistence

2010-06-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

It all starts with a watermelon....

We have a watermelon sitting on the floor of the kitchen. The boys see it and want to eat it...Thus starts my story....

Mommy: "No boys. Not today. That's for tomorrow."

Zion: "What's going on tomorrow?"

Mommy: "We're going on to "so and so's" house for lunch and bringing the watermelon with us. So we can't eat it today."

Boys together. "Oh man."

But they understand the need to wait, and that's the end of it....

Or so I thought...

10:30 am - Glorianna : "ooooohhhhhh. A lemon!! I want some!"

Mommy: "That's not a lemon, Glorianna. That's a watermelon."

Glorianna: "Can I have some?"

Mommy: "No, that's for tomorrow." (at this point, I proceed to explain the whole story again, sense she missed it the first time around)

She pouted a few seconds and then ran off into the other room. Thinking the matter settled, I went upstairs to do my ironing.

10:35 am - I heard a drawer open. Yes, I can tell when a kitchen drawer is being opened even from the other room.

I go downstairs, only to discover Glorianna is trying to cut the watermelon with a butter knife. (this is why all my sharp knives are put high up in the cupboard where kids can't reach them)

Mommy: "Stop, Glorianna. You can't do that. I told you, the watermelon's for tomorrow."

Glorianna: "But I want some now..."

Mommy: "No Glorianna. We have to wait until tomorrow."

At this point, I realize she is determined to have some watermelon, no matter what the costs. The solution? I took the watermelon outside, put it in the front seat of the van and locked the doors.

I'll spare you the quotes of her continued protests, which went from "I want to eat some now" to "I want to go over to "so and so's" house now."

Moving on...

10:37 am - I went back upstairs to continue on with my ironing, while trying to ignore the winy protests of a 4 year old.

This is where it gets interesting...

(keep in mind that my bedroom is directly across the hall from Glorianna's room. I am ironing and can still see her bed just fine)

10:39 am - "I wanna go noooow." (whimper, whimper)
"No Glorianna. We aren't going today. We're going tomorrow."
"But I wanna go now." (whimper, wine, whimper)
"Glorianna, go to your room and lay down on your bed until you stop crying."
(I sent her off to do so, with a swat on the behind)

10:40 am - I choose to ignore the winy, whimpers from the bedroom across the hall.

The next several minutes sound like this...

Remember record players? I do, and I'm not that old, so I know my faithful readers have to remember them. Well, remember the annoying sound they make when a record gets stuck?

Ok...well with that in mind, do this for the next 5 minutes. You may not think 5 minutes is very long, until you try this yourself. Trust me...it seems like an eternity.

"I wanna go now." click "I wanna go now." click "I wanna go now" click....

I'm sure you get the idea...

10:45 am -broken record stops. I lift my eyes from the shirt I am ironing only to realize that she sees me watching her and starts up again.

"I wanna go now." click "I wanna go now" click...

10:46 am - I continue on with my ironing.

10:47 am - silence

10:48 am - "I want something tasty and juicy."

Ahh...she tries a new approach.

Mommy: "How about an apple?"

Glorianna: "No...I want watermelon."

Mommy: "No Glorianna. You have to wait until tomorrow. That's the end of it."

silence....

10:50 am - A quiet little voice asks, "Mommy?"

"Yes, Glorianna?"

"Will you play domino's with me?"

She's how old??

2010-06-02T17:27:00.000-07:00

I think my daughter must truly be an adult trapped in a 4 year old body. She's way to smart to be only 4. I'm not talking "knowing her ABC's and writing her name" kind of smart. I'm talking "wit" and "making mommy eat her words" kind of smart.

Example:

I've been playing around with the kids a lot lately and telling them to stop growing up. They need to stay little. Of course they all think this is funny and explain to me how impossible that is. That doesn't stop me from saying it anyway.

So there I was, one weekday afternoon, rocking Glorianna in the rocking chair.

Mommy : "Don't grow up Glorianna. I want you to be my baby forever."

Glorianna laughs. "I'm not a baby."

Mommy : "But I want you to be a baby. So I can rock you and cuddle you. If you grow up, I won't have a baby anymore."

More giggling from Glorianna.

.......

A few days later, while Glorianna is supposed to be eating her supper...

Mommy : "Glorianna. You need to eat. Your foods getting cold."

Glorianna : "I want you to feed me."

Mommy : "You're a big girl. You can feed yourself."

Glorianna (just as serious as can be) : "But I can't be a big girl and feed myself. You want me to be a baby."

..............

She's how old again?? How did she even come up with that kind of "witty" reply?

Sigh....

Zion's Gears

2010-05-24T07:03:00.001-07:00

Zion loves gears. There isn't much else I can say about that. He just decided one day, that gears were cool, and now anything pertaining to that subject, he's all over it. Knowing this, I was quite happy to find this wonderful construction set thing, that involved gears, at a yardsale. When I brought it home, and he saw it, he actually jumped up and down, cheering. I think I scored some "coolest mom ever" points for that one.

According to the box, this is an "Imaginarium Mega Marble Mania". It has over 430 peices, Motorized Gears, Hot Translucent colors, Comes with a power lifter and 10 Marbles. (How's that for advertising?)

So anyway...here's some pictures of Zion putting it together.

Day One...

Day Two...

Day Three...competion!

He didn't work on this for 3 solid days...it was more like 2-3 hours per day, for 3 days, but he would have put it all together in one day, if he'd had enough "free time".

Glorianna's Garden

2010-05-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

One of the presents that Glorianna got for her birthday, was a mini sunflower garden. She wanted to plant it right away, so when the party was over, that is just what we did. She put the dirt in the pots, the seed in the dirt, watered them and decorated her "markers".

That was only a week ago. Here is what they look like today. I've never seen flowers grow so fast. She's very excited. We will have to transplate them to the outdoors, very soon.

She also got her own gardening gloves and shovel. She's been using those, and digging up a storm. I think I have just found my helper for the "big" garden this year.

Azariah's Birthday Party

2010-05-15T17:35:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated the birth of Azariah with a Knight Themed Party. Some of the kids came dressed in their Royal Knight Clothing, and some just came as they were. Either way, they all had a blast.

We had to lock Zion up for awhile...he just wouldn't behave.

This game was a lot of fun. Each "Knight" chose a "Horse" and had to race across the yard, slay the mighty (stuffed) dragon, and rescue the princess (Glorianna's baby doll) who was locked in a tower (my laundry basket).

The whole gang after we locked up the birthday boy.

After we let Azariah out of the "stocks", the rest of the boys took turns locking each other up. This turned out to be quite funny.

I have known for a while now that I'm not very good at decorating cakes. I keep hopeing it will happen one day, but so far it hasn't. This being said, I tried my hand at a 3-D Castle cake for Azariah's party. It flopped. Big time! I wont go into details, you 'll just have to trust me. So there I was with no cake for soon to be party. I threw together a homemade cake which turned out good, but really small. So my wonderful husband rescued me and ran to the store to get a small store bought cake to go with it.

The store bought one that I decorated with toys and cartoon cut outs. I think the dragon is pretty cute. =)

This is the cake that I made and then decorated.

Blowing out the candles...or at least trying too. The wind kept blowing them out for him. We gave up after 6-7 tries. He enjoyed it anyway.

Opening the presents. He recieved some very nice gifts. Thanks so much to everyone who came and helped make Azariah's day a special one.

Pirates!!!

2010-05-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

Today was the grand opening of the new Pirate Exhibit at the Frazier Arms Museum, so we all headed over there this evening to check it out. Since this fell on Azariah's birthday, as well, he was quite excited about going.

Upon arriving, each of us received our very own eye patch and a gold coin. Or at least, everyone but me...I chose not to take any. I prefer to keep both my eyes.

There was lots of hands on activities for the kids, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Glorianna wanted to color the girl pirate, while the boys checked out some pirate coins, and parts from the ship. (I didn't get a picture of the boys, for some reason....sorry....)

All of the kids got to make their very own parrot which then attached itself to their shoulders for the rest of the evening. Glorianna's even stayed attached when she fell asleep on the way home. I removed it and it now resides on the piano bench.

Here is Azariah, showing off his new pet parrot who he named "Squawky".

Glorianna and her Parrot, who doesn't have a name at the moment.

Argggg!!! Pirates!!!!

More Pirates!!! These guys put on a short, but funny, show.

Zion gets his treasure map and starts following the tracks.

Captain Glorianna takes us all for a sale across the Seven Seas!

Where they keep the prisoners. I tried to get the boys to put their heads thru so i could take their pictures, but they wouldn't do it. I guess they were afraid I would leave them there.

The cannons!! "Fire away!!"

The Treasure!! But not the treasure the kids were looking for. When the kids reached the end of their treasure hunt, they each recieved a chocolate gold coin, which quickly disappeared.

"Grrrr... I done tied me a knot...."

....until next time me harties....Arggg!!!

Happy Birthday Azariah!!

2010-05-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

My baby boy turned 7 today. He's such a cutie!! He got to open his present from us, this morning and I gave him a special "birthday cinnamon roll" compelete with a candle for him to blow out. He will have his party tomorrow, so today was just a little bit special, but he enjoyed it.

Happy Birthday Azariah!!! I love you!!

Happy Birthday Glorianna!!!

2010-05-10T16:34:00.001-07:00

My baby girl turned 4 years old today. Where has the time gone? It doesn't seem possible that its been 4 years since the Lord blessed me with the cute little bundle of joy. There are so many wonderful things I love about being a mommy. And there are just as many wonderful things I love about my baby girl.

Today was also her birthday party. She had several friends over and we had a Princess Party. What a fun time it was.

Opening presents.

Showing off her new birthday outfit, that a friend of mine made. Thanks Ashley!! It's adorable.

The best part? It spins!!!

Each little princess got to make their own princess crown. This was a bit hit.

After making their crowns and dressing in their princess outfits, they all went outside for some bouncing fun on the trampoline.

The whole group.

Glorianna with all her wonderful presents.

I love her cake!! A friends daughter made it, and i think she did an awesome job. Thanks so much Megan!!!

Blowing out the candles.

Back outside for some fun in the sandbox.

It has been a wonderful day! Thanks so much to everyone who made this day special for Glorianna. She loves all of her presents and had a wonderful time playing with all her friends.

Pioneer Weekend

2010-05-09T12:33:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend, Bro James and Sis Alice, hosted a "Pioneer Campout". Eveyone (or those who chose to) showed up in their western or pioneer clothing, and planned for a weekend of camping, food, fellowship, and fun. Bro James and Sis Alice had lots of games for the kids as well as the adults that provided not only fun, but loads of learning experiences as well.

Glorianna and Zion decide to "hold us up" on the way to the campsite.

Glorianna got to make her very own "hankercheif" doll, on which she drew the face, all by herself.

Next she learned how to grind corn and make flatbread the old fashioned way.

Here I am, sporting my "western garb" since I didn't have anything "pioneer".

Zion and Azariah learn to shoot a bow.

Then they learned to shoot a rifle. If they were able to shoot a bullseye, 5 times in a row, they won $5.oo. They came close, but not close enough. Overall they did awesome!

Later, Zion enjoys the wonderful western food. Ham, Beans, Corn, and potatos.

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T11:51:00.001-07:00

Trevor made me a very nice Steak Dinner today, then I spent the rest of the day relaxing while he cleaned the house for me. Thanks Sweetie!!

The Wonderful Gifts the Lord has blessed me with.

Homeschool Spelling B

2010-05-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

The homeschool group put on a Spelling B today. All the kids worked very hard preparing and did a fablous job. There were grades 1st - 8th competing.

Zion goofs off before the contest starts.

Zion spells the word "giraffe" correctly. He made it a good way into it and then missed the word "hopeless." He forgot the "e".

The 3 finalist. Matthew L. won 1st place and recieved $25. Bethany L. won 2nd place and $20. Christian L. won 3rd place and $15.

First Water Play of the Season

2010-05-06T16:15:00.001-07:00

Just some random pics of the kids playing in the water. Its been warm enough for normal water play, the last few days, but not swimming, so the kids took advantage of it, and this is what i found them doing after I sent them outside to "just go play...its nice out."

Glorianna is hiding...

Zion just got soaked by Riah...

"Ah-Ha!!"

Azariah and Glorianna take cover.

Oil Painting

2010-05-04T04:39:00.000-07:00

I was asked to post pictures of my oil paintings, for my faithful followers who aren't on facebook. So here you go.

"Fall" - This is the very first painting I have ever done. It was very enjoyable. This started my love for oil painting. I have this one hanging in my livingroom.

"Sunset" - My second attempt was a bit more challenging. But I made it thru with a lot of pray and some professional advice/help. I was quite happy with the turnout. I gave this one to my parents for Christmas.

"7 Mountain Peaks" - Painting #3. I started this one on my own, a few months back. It was my first attempt without any help. I ended up running into a bit of trouble and had to stop. I ended up finally finishing it this past weekend at the scrapbook retreat I was on. Yes I know...painting at a scrapbook retreat? But that is what happened. There were several girls there who had also discovered a love of oil painting as well as one very good "teacher" and with their help and advice I was able to finish this one. I'm quite happy with this one as well. Once it's dry I will probably frame it.

"Uluru in Australia" - Painting #4. Yet another one I started on my own and ended up finishing at the retreat. Trevor requested this one. He saw the picture in a book we have about Australia and loved it, so he wanted me to paint it. It didn't turn out as good as I hoped, but I think its keepable.

"Beach Scene" - Painting #5. This completes my collection so far. After painting several mountains, I wanted to do something bright and cheerful. So thus the creation of my beach scene.

I now have 3 wet oil paints downstairs, drying, on my sewing table. I have no idea where I am going to put them all once they dry completely. I am now a girl of way to many hobbies. I think its time to do some construction on the house and create myself a "art studio" / "craft room" with 3 tables in it. One for Painting, one for Sewing and one for Scrapbooking. Awww...the dream room.

Creation Musuem

2010-04-26T07:03:00.001-07:00

After the Soccer games on Saturday, we headed up to the Creation Museum. We hadn't been in a while and they have a few new things we wanted to see.

The boys wanted to stay in their soccer uniforms, so we just made them change their shoes and then we were off.

Here they are on the "jumpy bridge". They love this bridge. Their next favorite is the "swinging bridge" but it was under construction , so they couldn't get on it this time.

Here I am posing next to the tulips. These flowers are gorgeous. Makes me want to plant a whole bunch in my front yard.

Beautiful Peacock. This guy was strutting all over the places and shaking his feathers. He is sooo pretty. The picture just doesn't do him justice.

Lamas. These guys had some really cool looking hair.

My and my baby girl.

Just me.

I tried to get some pictures of the kids, but you know how kids can be. This is the best one and they're still making faces.

Me and my sweetie.

Kids posing with the big T-Rex.

The boys "fighting" the baby T-Rex.

I'm not sure what kind of flowers these are. They weren't labeled. I thought maybe Dogwood, but they are on a bush and not a tree, so I'm not sure. But they are very pretty.

Little blue frog. Isn't he cute?

The kids took turns making "rubbings".

What a clever way to make a "toddler" crayon. Melt down some old crayon pieces and put them in an old deodorant container. Brilliant!!

"No daddy...I don't want to get any closer."

Riah was a little braver.

Trevor and his buddy, Paul.

I love these pillars.

Riding on top of a Triceratops.

While there, we saw the "Snakes Alive" Show. This guys raised most of his snakes from babies and none of them were poisonous, thank goodness.

A baby Alligator.

A Gecko.

A bearded Dragon.

And then my camera died. So I don't have anymore pictures. Trevor has some on facebook that he took with his phone if you want to see those.

Soccer Part Two

2010-04-26T06:52:00.001-07:00

Azariah won his third game! Yeah Riah!! For some reason, I don't have any pictures of that game. I don't know why. But anyway...here is Riah and Glorianna after Riah's game, waiting for Zion's game to start.

Zion plays "Goalie". He loves playing this position. He'd stay here the whole game if he could.

"RUN ZION!!! GET THAT BALL!!"

Zion's team lost again. But according to Zion, this was the best game so far. They only lost by 1 point and they had a lot of great plays! Good Job Guys!

Soccer Part One

2010-04-26T06:41:00.001-07:00

Trevor and I have really been wanting the boys to do some kind of sport. We tried t-ball and baseball for 3 years. Blah. The kids didn't really enjoy it and the scheduling was horrible. So last year we didn't sign the boys up for anything.

This year we decided to try Soccer. So far it's been great. The boys are learning to run hard but still having fun at the same time. The scheduling is awesome! Both boys practice at the same time on Thursdays, at the same area, and both have games on Saturday. That we can handle! There is no concession stand working, no picture shoots, no major advertising like in soccer and the kids are having a blast! I think this will be our future sport. Glorianna is even showing a big interest in wanting to play, so we may sign her up come fall.

This being said, here's a few pics of Riah's second game. We missed the first game because we were out of town, so Riah didn't get his uniform right away.

Here he is playing "Goalie".

Game over...kids getting ready to shake hands with the other team. Riah's team won! Yeah!!

This is Zion's team getting ready for their end of the game line up. He's the second in line. His team didn't win. But they still had lots of fun.

Good Times at the Park

2010-04-19T16:46:00.001-07:00

Today was absolutly beautiful outside, so we headed over to the park for some fun. Ducks are always a favorite, so we stopped by their neck of the park and paid them a visit.

Next we headed over to the playground where the kids had a ball, climbing on everything in sight.

"Help...mom....put the camera down and help me!!" HA! She didn't really say that, but Im sure by the look on her face, she was thinking it.

Azariah made it almost all the way across.

After playing for a bit, we headed over to the shelter for a homeschool craft. We are making "log cabins".

The window.

We had to attach the roof at home. The glue just didn't dry fast enough at the park, for us to finish it there.

We wrote our names and date so we'd remember this for a long time.

Next we added mud to the house to fill in the cracks. This worked ok...not as well as I hoped. We ended up just using the mud as paint and covered the whole house.

It's finished.

Update on Glorianna

2010-04-12T12:14:00.000-07:00

Just a little update on Glorianna. She is doing much better. She had her stitches out on Friday and now just has a few red spots from where the stitches were. The doctor said those spots should go away fairly quickly and there shouldn't be too much scarring. We're very thankful to the Lord that everything turned out so well. We know it could have been much worse.

Vacation Part 5 - Easter and Sunset

2010-04-06T08:13:00.001-07:00

This is Trevor preaching on Saturday Night. What an awesome service. The Lord really came down into our midst. Many people rededicated their lives to the Lord and some of the young people gave their lives to the Lord. Praise the Name of the Lord!!

Easter Sunday Morning. This isn't a very good picture. The sun was just too bright. =) I was hoping to try again later for a family picture, but forgot. So this is the best one out of the 3 I did get.

--------------------------

Monday we all got up early and headed up to Sunset Mountain. Wow! That's all I can think of, to say. I don't really know what I expected, but it wasn't what I saw.

I had seen pictures of Sunset before, but to actually experience it for myself is just priceless.

This is the rock that Bro. Branham and Bro. Joseph stood on when the pillar of fire "lite up the rock". I have seen pictures of that as well and its just awesome.

Trevor and the boys in front of that rock.

The whole family.

I had a wonderful thing happen to me while I there. We all just sat or stood around for a while, talking and listening quietly to the sounds around us. All of a sudden a little whirlwind comes out of no where and starts moving all around the area where we were at. I just stood perfectly still and watched. I had never seen a whirlwind before so I was mesmerized. It twirled around and moved towards me, bumps my skirt and foot then goes on past and disappears. I actually felt it hit my foot. Considering I had on tennis shoes, this is amazing to me. Words can't even describe the feeling I had at that moment. I was in awe.

----------------------------------

After returning from Sunset, we went out for supper at a little resturant called "Pinnacle Peak". It was done up very cute, to resimble an old western town. The food was very good and the boys finally got to see a shoot out. There was a comedy gunfight in the town part of the resturant and the boys had a blast watching it. I missed it tho because of the loud noises scaring Glorianna, but I still had a great time.

Vacation Part 4 - Sabino Hike

2010-04-06T07:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday was just awesome! We went to Sabino, to do some hiking. A Brother from the local church, went with us, and pointed out all the places where Brother Branham had been. For those of you who dont like scenery pictures, you might want to skip this blogpost. =)

This rock was pointed out by the tram driver. I thought it was pretty cool looking. She said its the 3 peaks, or sometimes known as Snoopy. It really does look like Snoopy laying on his back. Or so I think so anyway.

This is our tour guide, Bro. Johnny Green.

Eagle Rock. Trevor tried several times to point out the Eagle, but I still can't see it. I know which rock is Eagle Rock, but I just can't see how it looks like an eagle. I dont know why. I'm hoping it comes to me later. But anyway...here it is , just the same.

This is the spot where the word "Eagle" was written in the side of a huge rock. Sadly, the word is no longer there. It's said that tourist have chipped peaces of it away, over the years, for souvenirs. Bro. Johnny had visited this spot many times and actually saw the word and took a a picture of it. So he held it up to the spot for us to see.

This rock is just awesome!! This is right above where "Eagle" is written and right below "Eagle Rock".

Just some shots of God's beautiful creation.

This picture was taken from the top of "Sword Rock". This is the spot where Bro. Branham was standing when the sword came down into his hand.

Cooling our feet in the stream at the end of the hike. That water was COLD!

I hope this next picture don't bother you too much . But its part of what happened on our trip. It seemed the Devil was trying every way he could to break down our Spirits and Faith. He started off by letting us miss the first flight out. Then a few other things happened while we were here. Nathan and Rebekah B. went with us on this trip and the Devil was after them too. Little Phillip fell into a swimming pool and had to be fished out. He is perfectly fine, thank the Lord and suffered no side effects. All 3 of my kids broke out in a rash from the local cotton wood trees. Trevor cracked his knee on a huge rock while hiking, and limped around for a couple of days. But the worse that happened was to Glorianna. While we were hiking in Sabino, she fell and smacked her head on a sharp rock. I picked her up and started to pray for her. She had a nasty gash. I could see the bone. But the Lord answered prayer and the bleeding stopped almost instantly. Being on the top of a mountain, we had to just make due with what we had. One of the mom's with us , on the hike, had some baby wipes and bandaids. So this was our first aid, until we reached bottom. We debated on whether or not to take her to the local Immediate Care or just to treat her on our own. I was mostly worried about scarring. After reaching the car, we finally decieded to just take her in and get a doctors opinion. He said that stitches would scare less then just using liquid bandage. So stitiches is what we chose. She now has 5 stitches in her forhead.

This is a picture of the gash.

But all is well. She is doing excellent. And the Devil lost. Even tho this accident happened on the same day Trevor was going to preach, he failed to prevent that from happening. We had wonderful services and the Lord visited us on more then one occasion.

We had Easter Meetings Friday - Sunday. Nathan B. preached on Friday, Trevor on Saturday, Nathan on Sunday Morning and Trevor on Sunday Night. They both did an excellent job and the Lord was truely in it.

God is so good to us.

Vacation part 3 - Tombstone

2010-04-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

On Friday, we all we to see the historic town of Tombstone. That was a lot of fun and the kids learned a lot about what happened in the old days.

I loved the cute little shops that were all over the place. This is probably the cutest little western town I've seen in a good long while.

We also visited "Boot Hill" while in Tombstone. I took tons of pictures, but I'll only post some of the better ones.

This is the sign hanging on the door when you first enter the giftshop.

Glorianna poses with John Wayne.

Two Cowboys and a Cowgirl.

Boot Hill is the graveyard of a lot of famous and not so famous people from the town of Tombstone. There were a lot of funny tombstones. Here are a few of them.

Family Picture outside of Boot Hill.

Visiting the O. K. Corral. They had some reinactments of the shoot out here, but we missed it. That was kind of disappointing, but we still had a blast exploring the rest of the town.

Glorianna shakes hands with a local cowboy.

"cheese"

"ewwww....stinky"

We decided to lock the boys up for a while.

Zion being "dead".

Our Western Family

We also let the kids play Minigolf in Tombstone.

Zion gets a Hole In One!!

I thought this was a cute "Coke" advertisment.

Zion is playing the banjo.

I love this sign.

Just some beautiful scenery.

Vacation Part 2 - Arrival

2010-03-31T10:12:00.000-07:00

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, this time around. Once we arrived at the airport , we took our time checking in and walking to the gate. We stopped and got the kids some food before finally reaching our gate. We still had 30 minutes to spare before boarding, so the kids kept themselves entertained pretty well.

Zion read the paper.

Glorianna drew pictures.

Azariah wrote in his journal.

Once we made in on the plane, the kids excitment was pretty obvious. They loved looking out the window and watching the take off. When they got tired of watching the clouds, they passed the time with a few things we had brought along.

My little pony...

...leapster, seek and find, drawing and movie watching. Over all the kids did very well on the trip.

We arrived in Tuscon around 9 pm (our time) meaning it was 6 pm Tuscon time. That was a hard adjustment. By the time we arrived at our place of abode, it was quite late and we all went straight to bed.

After sleeping in a bit, or at least as much as we could, not being used to the time change yet, we spent the morning doing absolutly nothing.

So far its been a wonderful trip. =)

Vacation Part 1...The Departure

2010-03-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

We started our vacation off by getting up before the sun this morning. Considering it was 3 am , the kids did really well. None of us had slept well, tho, because the kids were too excited to sleep, which in turn kept the parents awake. So here it is, 3 am with less then 4 hours of sleep....

We need to be at the airport by 5 in order to check in by 5:30. Our flight leaves at 6. The Indianapolis Airport is not 1 hour and 30 minutes away, as we thought. It is 1 hour and 50 minutes. The airport is also incredably HUGE. This being the case, we arrive at the airport parking lot at 5:15, jump on a bus that takes us to the airport doorway, rush up to the elevators, stand in line to check in , and it is now 5:38. 8 minutes PAST our cutoff time for check in. We can't get on the plane. We have to rebook. Argggg!!!

We rebook the flight for 12 hours later. Its the best they can do. So we head back home to wait.

The good news?? I got to watch the beautiful sunrise while sipping Starbucks on the way back home.

To be continued.....

Azariah the Toothless Wonder

2010-03-29T12:49:00.001-07:00

Poor kid. This now makes missing tooth # 4.

Glorianna

2010-03-08T11:40:00.001-08:00

Glorianna has finally figured out the proper way to use the scissors. So now instead of just cutting a piece of paper into thousands of tiny little pieces, she actually cuts things out now. She has also really been into "card making" lately. So that combined with her new found knowledge of scissors and glue, she has been a card making nut.

Here she is cutting out a heart.

This is the card she made for Grandma. (Sorry mom if you read this ...i still have your card. I keep forgetting to give it to you. ) It says "I love you" on the bottom.

She thought it was pretty cool to make a smiley face with the glue before sticking it on the paper.

This is the card she made for her doggy. She is telling me that the card says "I love you!!!"

She made this for daddy. She got off of the heart kick for a few days (which she was on for quite a while...everything had to have hearts on it) and just started cutting out different shapes.

She has made cards for grandma, grandpa, mommy, daddy, her doggie, her cousins, her friends and she's not done yet. I don't always remember to give the cards to the people they are supposed to go to. I'm starting to get quite a stack. I suppose I do need to give them away or else they will end up in the garbage and Glorianna will be heartbroken.

Today's theme was seahorses. I don't know what brought that on, but when she asked me to draw her a seahorse, i got smart and just printed off a few from the computer. She's such a joy and a wonder. I look forward to what each day holds. Her imagination is incredible and she always finds a way to bring a smile to my face.

Riah Soup and Mommy Glorianna

2010-02-23T07:34:00.000-08:00

Riah Soup. This game lasted quite a while. Glorianna added lots of veggies and other strange foods. Then she stirred it (see video) and tasted to see if it was done. I love the imagination of kids.

Glorianna is away from the animal phase right now and back onto the baby phase. But instead of playing with one or two babies, she's decided she likes to play with all of them. Here is she is putting all the babies to bed. Later one of her babies gets sick and she's quite concerned. (see video)

Fun in the Snow

2010-02-19T15:43:00.001-08:00

Since it was so warm out today, but we still had a lot of snow, it made for great "snowman making". So the boys and Trevor, spent some time outside building snowmen, while Glorianna plays on the snow hill.

"I'm Queen of the hill!!"

Azariah's creation.

Zion's creation.

Trevor's creation. I told him it looked like an alien.

The kids had fun posing with the "alien".

Update on Zion's Piano Playing Skills

2010-02-15T15:55:00.000-08:00

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

2010-02-15T15:47:00.000-08:00

Not that anyone is interrested in a bunch of snow pictures, but here they are anyway. This is the biggest snow we've had so far this year. This was February 15, 2010. So far a total of 7 inches.

Underneath this huge snow pile, is Trevor's car. Yes, it's true. There is a small Mazda 626, that hasn't moved from this spot since Trevor brought it home. The kids love it, tho. They use it to play king of the hill. I hope it's not a big pile of rust when winter is finally over.

Fieldtrip!!!

2010-02-05T07:57:00.000-08:00

Over New Years weekend, (yes i know the blog post is over a month old...but hey...I'm a busy person!)...we had a visit from some friends we hadn't seen in years. While they were here, we went to the National Historic Arms Museum, in Louisville. That was a lot of fun, and the kids got some "schooling" in while we were there. Ah, the beauty of Homeschooling.

At the entryway, there is this big poster board of a Norman Rockwell panting. All of the kids just had to put their heads in the hole to see what they looked like.

Glorianna

Zion

Azariah

This cool statue is also in the entryway. I tried to get a decent picture, but that is impossible with 3 non serious kids.

One of the cool things that happened today, was the Sword Fighting Demonstration. We have seen this several times already, but each time they do a different type of sword play. This one was based around the Knight era. Those guys are awesome to watch. The kids love to go to the museum just to see this. After the show, the guys let the kids try to lift the swords, as long as they held the blade down. Glorianna decided to give it a try.

At another section of the museum, there was an old timey bow in a glass case. But you could reach in and pull the bow back to see how strong you are. This was a big hit with the kids and we had to finally just drag them away. Here is Alexandra giving it a shot.

I loved this huge model boat. Awesome detail!

In the World War II area, there were several "hands on" activities for the kids. Here is Zion trying to lift one of the parachute backpacks. Trevor helps him while Jaden and Glorianna watch and wait for their turns.

One of the suits worn during WWII .

Trevor tries on the backpack.

All the kids took turns "driving" to different places in this old WWII jeep.

Azariah trying on a uniform.

"this helmet is heavy."

Mommy's Little Salad Mucher

2010-01-19T18:49:00.001-08:00

Most kids go to the fridge and ask for cold pizza...or leftover chicken...or climb the cupboards in search of junk food.

My kid...she asks for "salad". She loves lettuce and Ranch Dressing. On this particular day, she ate 4 bowls of "salad". They were small bowls, but still....that's just crazy. I finally told her she couldn't have anymore.

I guess this is a good thing?

More Christmas Pictures

2010-01-07T09:24:00.000-08:00

I realized after the last post that i had forgotten to add some pictures. It was much eaiser to just add another post, instead of trying to edit it. So here's yet another Christmas Post.

Trevor, I and the kids, opened a few presents on Christmas Eve. The kids were happy and it drug the excitement out a bit longer too.

I bought Trevor some juggling rings. He wasn't expecting these , so he was quite happy.

Trying them out in the house.
They work much better outside.

Trevor got me some weight watchers cookbooks. Thanks sweetie! I love these!! They've got some awesome recipes!

Another wonderful Yardsale find!! A bag full of ponies. Glorianna was quite happy to get these!

Christmas Part 3 (Christmas Day)

2010-01-07T08:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning. The food was ready since I baked all day the day before, so this morning I prepared the ham, threw it in the oven and filled the punch bowl.

This is what Trevor was doing Christmas Morning.

This is what I was doing Christmas Morning. Making Homemade Biscuits.

Zion volenteered to read the Christmas Story this year. He did very well. The kids all shared what they liked best about Chirstmas and what they thougth the most important part of Christmas was. They have been listening, after all. =)

After reading and prayer, I handed out the presents in an orderly fashion. I love it much better that way.

So here's a few pictures of the special day.

Dio-Transformers...Great hit...but note to self...(never buy transformers from the Dollarstore. Its better to spend the extra money and get the real thing)

I bought Trevor Wii Fit Plus. He was very excited about it as has already used it a lot. It's much better the the normal Wii Fit.

We bought the boys some more "history comic books". They love these books and were excited to get some more.

Trevor insisted on getting Glorianna a huge dog. She loves it and has named him "Floppy." She likes to drag him around by his ear and pretend he is chasing her. It's hilarious to watch.

I bought her this doll at a yardsale, then made it and her matching dresses.

The boys favorite gift was the Wii Games.

Glorianna finally got her dollhouse, which she's been wanting for a long time. Thanks Grampa Lloyd and Grandma Sherry for sending the "christmas present money". It helped get this dollhouse.

Playing the new Leapster (a present for all the kids, even if she plays it the most) and snuggling with "Floppy."

It was a wonderful day. My brothers, Amos and Samuel, My brother Isaac and his wife Sunny, and their kids, came over for Christmas lunch. Later in the afternoon, we played Bible Trivia, Message Jepordy, several games of Apples to Apples followed by a few games of Canasta. It was a blast! Isaac and Sunny came over again the next day for leftovers and another game of Apples to Apples.

Christmas Part 2 (The Food Prepping)

2010-01-05T04:15:00.001-08:00

I spent most of the day on Christmas Eve, cooking , baking and preparing the food for Christmas Dinner, which was to be held at our house. So for those of you who don't care for food posts...please skip this one.

The boys wanted to make Gingerbread cookies, but I planned for this way too late, and the stores were out of cookie cutters. So I had to make do with what i had around the house.

They had lots of fun making cowboy boots, sheriff badges, the Alamo and cutting out their own little men. Glorianna and Trevor even joined in.

My traditional Christmas Wreath.

Trevor wanted peppermint cookies, so we crushed some candy canes, made the normal sugar cookie and then added the crushed mint to the top. Very good.

A little decor...

The punch bowl is decorated and ready to be filled.

All set up and ready for Christmas Morning! We have cookies, punch fixin's, candy, a nut mixtures and the wreath ready to be eaten.

Christmas Part 1

2009-12-28T06:24:00.001-08:00

This is the beginning of a serious of "Christmas Posts". We were able to spread out Christmas this year, so it seemed to last a while and was a lot of fun.

My parents were planning on taking a small vacation over Christmas weekend, so on the Friday before, we spend the afternoon at their house and had Christmas with them. It consisted of my parents, my brothers, (David, Amos and Samuel) my brother Isaac, his wife, Sunny and their kids, Isabele, Ava and Ella and last but not least....us.

My mom made scarves for all the grand kids. The boys got "Daniel Boone" scarves. They were made of some very soft wool and leather material. The girls got "sparkly" scarves made from a very soft and sparkly yarn.

(Left to Right) Zion, Ella, Azariah, Glorianna, Ava and Isabele

My kiddos

Out of Isaac and Sunny's 3 girls, Ella (the youngest) is the only one really into baby dolls. So I bought her one with a passy. She loved it. And since she still takes a passy, herself, she was very happy to have a baby with one.

My brother, Isaac, in his natural habitat.

My parents bought the boys "A Barrel of Monkeys". This is the first time they had ever played it, and really had fun trying to see who could catch the most monkeys.

Glorianna waits patiently for more presents.

Webkins toys for all the kids.

My kids also recieved some "Narnia" toys, which they were very happy to get. They love the movie and now have the toys to go with it.

A Knight Suit!!

I painted "Sunset Mountian" and had it framed for my parents.

After leaving my parents house, we stopped by "the square" in Charlestown to see the lights. They are timed to music. Very very cool. The favorite part was the "talking snowmen". The snowmen told corny jokes and got into a snowball fight. This was all done with lights. I must say, I was quite impressed.

Ice Skating

2009-12-24T13:07:00.001-08:00

Over the weekend of December 19th through December 23rd, we had the privilege of hosting 2 very special friends. Marie R. from South Carolina and Alyssa W. from Australia.

Saturday evening, several people from church headed over to Iceland, in Louisville, to go iceskating and we decided to tag along. Alyssa had never been ice skating before, so this was quite the adventure for her, but she did well.

Here's some pictures of the event. (excuse the bad photography. The camera doesn't take well through glass or with motion)

This was also Zion's first time skating, as well as Azariah's. They both did good. Zion was actually able to skate alone , in the middle of the rink without too many mishaps. Azariah fell a few times and mostly stayed near the edge.

Trevor carried Glorianna around a few laps, but she didn't care for it too much. She said he was going to fast. I chose to stay outside the rink and take pictures, babysit purses and the kids when they weren't skating. Wasn't that nice of me?

Alyssa, Marie and Azariah bravely make their way around. Marie , who had some past experience skating, helped both Azariah and Alyssa quite a lot. Thanks Marie!! You are a true friend!

The First Snow of the Season

2009-12-07T06:02:00.000-08:00

This morning started off in the usual way. I got up early, took my shower, had my coffee, read my Bible, caught up on emails and such. Ahhh, the quietness of the early morning...

About 30 minutes later, Zion comes stumbling down the stairs in his usual "half asleep, half awake, I don't do mornings," self. He sluggishly walks over the the door in the kitchen and opens the blinds. "It snowed!!!" Rings his now fully awake voice.

About that time Azariah comes down stairs. "Riah! Look! It snowed!!"

This then started the very excited, "we can' t wait to get our chores done, and go outside", conversation.

A few minutes later, child number 3 wakes up. She's her usual groggy, grumpy self until she too sees the snow. Suddendly she's this wide awake, happy, excited, wonderful kid.

After breakfast and chores, that were done in a blur of fast movements (why can't they always get done that way?) , the kids bundled up and headed outside to play in the snow. I decided that school could be postponed this morning , since the snow will probably be gone by this afternoon anyway. Why not let them enjoy the first snowfall of the season?

So that's my morning and it's only 9:00.

Here's a few pictures of the kids outside. Enjoy...I'm now off to do my own chores and prepare for this afternoons schooling.

Zion makes a snowball...

SMACK!!

Azariah decides to try...SMACK!

Jumping on the half frozen, snowy trampoline.

Fall Playing and Sausage Stuffin'

2009-12-02T06:55:00.001-08:00

The last few months have been super, crazy busy. But we have survived. Just getting behind in my blogging. So here's a quick recap of the last few months.

My little princess has decided she likes her hair in pig tales. Yeah! I'm thankful she finally has hair i can fix. =)

Trevor uses our garden as a place to dump the leaves from the yard. The kids decided to take advantage of it and have a little fun.

Burying Zion.

"Help!"

Trevor has been wanting to make deer/beef sausage, so one day last week he bought the stuff to do so. The kids had fun helping him turn the crank on the grinder while Trevor stuffed the meat.

We had lots of "meat sticks" when he was done. Then he did some "brats". I just forgot to take a picture of those.

Kids can be so funny...

2009-10-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks, I've been trying to keep track of the funny things my kids have been saying. It's usually always good for a laugh. And sometimes it makes me so proud. So I thought i'd share a few with my fellow readers.

(A converstaion between Zion and Riah while on the way to church)

I don't know what started the converstation, but Trevor looks at me and says, "I think they are talking about Heaven." So i turned my kid ears on and began to listen.

Zion says, "There won't be any computers in Heaven. Or Wii's."

Riah says, "And there probably won't be any electricity in Heaven."

Zion says, "No...cause Jesus will be the light. "

Riah says, "yeah."

Zion says, "and He'll be very bright. But not blinding bright. Just a nice bright that will light up everything."

Riah says, "Brighter then the sun."

(and then we arrived at church and the conversation ended.)

---------------------

Trevor always tries to have devotions with the boys before bed. Sometimes I sit in on it and other times I don't. (depends on Glorianna) During this particialar discussion, I was glad I did.

Trevor is asking the boys, "Who came first...Noah or Abraham?"

Zion says, "Noah."

Trevor asks, "Who came first...Moses or Joseph?"

one of the boys (i don't remember who) said, "Moses."

Trevor asks, "Who came first...John the Baptist or Jesus?"

Riah says, "Jesus."

I said, "Are you sure?" to which Riah replys, "Yeah...cause Jesus just always was."

Needless to say, neither Trevor nor I could say that he was wrong when he put it that way.

-----------------

This morning , Glorianna comes running up the stairs looking for me.

"Mommy!" she yells.

"Hey Glorianna. What's wrong?" I ask.

She hands me a piece of paper that she has drawn a picture on and says, "The turtle is stuck in the page and he's crying. He needs a bottle."

I said, "Well, give him a bottle. "

She says, "I can't. He's mad at me."

"Why?" I ask.

"Cause he's stuck in the page. Can you jump in the page and save him?"

So then I say, "Well, why don't you skidoo into the page and save him?"

"Ok" she says. Then she takes her paper downstairs and trys to jump into it.

Pumpkin Painting

2009-10-07T06:28:00.000-07:00

After our trip to hubers a few weeks ago, the kids have been wanting to decorate their pumpkins. We finally got around to it last Saturday. I drew a face on Riah's and he painted it. He wanted a pirate pumpkin.

Zion didn't want me to draw a face on his. He wanted to do it on his own. I have know idea what this is supposed to be.

Glorianna just wanted to make her's "pretty". So she used a lot of different colors and just painted the whole pumpkin.

The finished product. Each of the kids posed with their masterpieces.

Argggg.....

Cutie Pie...

And here we have them all lined up...the one with glasses is mine. =)

Scrapbook Retreat

2009-09-28T06:12:00.000-07:00

Well...it's that time of year once again. The leaves are changing color, the air is getting cooler and that means it's time for another...

SCRAPBOOK RETREAT

This year's retreat was just as much fun as last year's retreat. There was lots of good food and lots of great fellowship with the other sisters.

The covered bridge welcomed us as we entered Wooded Glenn.

One of the beautiful barns.

The Main Building. This is where we spent most of our time. We had a huge room set up just for us to scrapbook in. We went downstairs to eat and upstairs for snacks and games if we wanted a change in scenery or just for a break.

The whole gang...minus Jennifer R. She was taking the picture.

Sis. Kathy P. joined us this year and brought her painting things. She did such a wonderful job on this one. She even taught a few of us scrapbookers how to paint. That was very cool. I may have found a new hobby. =)

Some of the beautiful "sitting" areas.

I love this corner shelf. I may have to get one for my house.

The whole gang again...this time minus Jeanene L.

A few of our finished scrapbook pages. We decided to vote on the best one. It was a very hard decision, since they were all very unique...but Emily F. ended up winning with the most votes. Sis. Sharon S. doesn't scrapbook, so she entered her cute little booties and matching hat that she made. =)

My painting. Believe it or not this is the very first oil painting I have ever done. Not bad for my first time. I was planning on saving this and giving it to Trevor for Christmas...but I was so excited about it that I just couldn't wait to show it to him. He was very impressed.

Over all , it was an awesome weekend. I'm already saving up my pennies for next years retreat.

Princess Glorianna

2009-09-17T11:32:00.000-07:00

This is how Glorianna looks most of the time. She thinks she's a princess. Sometimes its rather annoying. Expecially when she dont want to wear any dress or skirt unless it twirls. Trevor has tried to convence her that she's a princess on the inside so it dont matter if her skirt twirls or not, but I dont think she gets it. =)

This picture was taken back during the summer. She decided she had to have a princess had one day and I didn't have much to go with. So i took an old cereal box, some scrap lace and scrap material, and there you have it.

She's not looking at the camera because she's looking at herself in the mirror. She's such a girl!!

Southern Baking Bug

2009-08-21T15:07:00.000-07:00

I've been bitten by the "Southern Baking Bug".

Monday: White Bread...I also made "Angel Biscuits" but forgot to take a picture of them.

Wednesday: Chocolate Zucchanie Cake

Friday: "Buttermilk Waffles"

These are all made from scratch...no box mixes this week. Yummy!!! And yes...this stuff was all make within a week.

I also organized my cookbook corner. Isn't it cute...I think i need a few more cookbooks tho...what do you think?

So i bought myself a new cookbook...i was introduced to this one while in South Carolina. I love it. Its got tons of awesome recipes in it.

Its a good thing i've been getting up early every morning and faithfully exercising. Otherwise all this cooking and baking would really be a bad thing. But so far, so good.

Anniversary Dinner

2009-08-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

Since our Anniversary fell on a Wednesday this year, we post poned our "date". On Thursday night, we headed out with Red Lobster on the brain. We didn't make it there...We were about 2 minutes away and Trevor asks..."How about Olive Garden instead?" I didn't mind...hadn't eaten there in a good looooong while. So Olive Garden it was...and am I forever greatful to Trevor for changing his mind. Olive Garden was THE place to be. The food was oh so good. There was so much , tho, that i got to have the leftovers for lunch today. It was still oh so good.

So here we are in our matching t-shirts, that Trevor bought, on our special date night.

9 years ago today...

2009-08-12T09:37:00.000-07:00

Trevor and I said , "I do". Its been a wonderful and fun filled 9 years. Thanks sweetie for everything !! I love you!! Happy Anniversary!

South Carolina Trip

2009-08-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

Trevor and Nathan had been planning a trip to North Carolina, to go to some Preacher Meetings and Breakfast, for quite a while. At first I didn't really think much of it...just brushed it off as another preaching trip. The closer it got to the day of their departure, the more I got to asking questions about what they would be doing, where'd they be, how long they'd be gone and stuff like that.

On Monday, Aug. 3rd, Trevor and I were talking about the trip and he mentioned that it was a possibility that he and Nate would stay over till Sunday instead of Saturday, so they could pay a visit to Bro Luke's church in South Carolina, since they'd be so close. (they were leaving on Thursday, the 6th, and planning on coming back on Sat, the 8th...now maybe Sunday, the 9th) This got to me thinking...

Marie lives in South Carolina. I haven't seen her since Easter. I've never been to South Carolina and it would be soo cool to go visit some friends and also go to church at Bro Luke's. So my brain got to thinking...sometimes that means trouble for me...so i tried to think of a way to approach my crazy idea without causing problems for Trevor and Nate's trip.

So needless to say, I thought about this until Tuesday and then figured I'd better tell my crazy idea to Trevor. When he got home from work, I slowly but surely told him my thoughts on the matter....I want to go to South Carolina and visit with Marie. Was it possible to follow Trevor and Nate part way there and continue the rest of the way alone. You have to understand something, to make this story more interesting...I hate driving alone...anywhere...I very seldom go to Louisville alone...the interstate scares me...

Trevor knowing this "fear" of mine was very, very concerned about how this would all actually work out. To shorten this much growing story...after much discussion with Trevor, an email and phone call to Marie, and very detailed directions from google maps, it was decided that since Trevor and Nate had to make a detour to pick up an Organ from his uncle, that it would be much smarter and easier for me to just head to Marie's house straight from our house...without following them.

WOW!!! Am I crazy??? Can I really do this?? Well, by this point I was soo excited about actually going, that I didn't really think about the 7 -8 hour drive ahead, on the interstate, with 3 kids...alone. I just set the plans to go, packed a suitcase, packed a cooler with drinks and snacks for us to eat along the way...and headed out Thursday morning at the same time as Trevor and Nathan.

I followed them for about an hour , then we split ways...they went their way...i went mine. All in all the trip up was very easy, relaxed and problem free. The Lord even lifted the very heavy fog, shortly after Trevor and I went our separate ways. I made excellent time...had very few stops and the kids were awesome!

This being said...here's a few pics of the adventure...

We arrived at Marie's house on Thursday and just hung out for the afternoon. On Friday, we packed us all up into my van and drove 2 hours to visit Marie's sister, Sharon, in Georgia. Our good friend and Sharon's sister in law, Monica, met us there as well and us 4 ladies plus a total of 10 kids spent the day visiting, cooking and having an all around good time.

Lucas, Glorianna and Zoe played blocks and giggled when they towers got knocked over.

Zion and Azariah were very excited about getting to see their "favorite" buddy, Zach.
Being Silly

Glorianna and her buddy Renee.

The whole gang...minus the 3 mommies.

On Saturday, back at Marie's house, the boys had a lesson in baking. Marie made homemade hamburger and hot dog buns, which the boys helped to cut out and shape.

When the baking lesson was over, Marie's dad, Bro. Bill, gave the boys a lesson in woodworking.

Even tho it was "very loud", the boys had a blast watching and helping create things from wood.

Zion learns to stain the wood before making a boat.

The finished products...2 airplanes and a boat. Thanks Bro. Bill!!

Trevor and Nate left their destination in North Carolina, on Saturday morning, and met up with us on Saturday afternoon. We had homemade pizza, which was awesome...i now need to get Marie's recipe for this as well as the Lasagna recipe that her mom made the night before. Awesome food!!!

Anyway...After lunch, Trevor and Nate took the kids to see a nearby waterfall, (Isaqueena Falls) while Marie and I went shopping. It was the only "girl" time I was able to have, so I took advantage of it. I found some great deals and had a wonderful time.

Azariah takes a rest along the trail.

Glorianna the little explorer.

"Cheese!!!"

Saturday evening, Marie's sister, Rebecca, and Ben and Sharon joined us for supper. We grilled out, enjoyed Marie's cheesecake (which i did get the recipe for...yeah!!) and had fun fellow shipping.

Sunday morning we dined on more wonderful food. I must say...those biscuits were the best I've ever tasted...I will be buying that cookbook very very soon.

After breakfast, we all headed out the door to church. Bro Luke did an excellent job. I truly enjoyed myself. We were planning on leaving for home, after the morning service, but when Bro Luke asked Trevor if he wanted to preach the evening service, our plans suddenly changed. We headed out to eat with our hosts and then fellow shipped for a bit until the evening service. Nate headed back home after lunch and was not able to stick around for the evening service. So Trevor would be driving back home with me the next day.

Trevor preached on "Revelation Brings Power". It was awesome! It really got us all thinking and doing some deep soul searching.

Monday morning, we packed up and headed home. On the way, I got to enjoy the wonderful scenery I didn't' really get to see much of on the way up, since i was driving. But since this time I had Trevor with me, I looked out the window in awe. God's beautiful creation. Makes me want to move down south. Believe me...Trevor and I even talked about it. Its soo peaceful and beautiful there.

This is "Table Rock".

The beautiful hills. This was taken thru the window of the moving van, so it does not do the hills justice.

This is one of the rest areas we stopped at on the way home. I thought it was so cute.

The drive home was not as easy as the drive up. Thankfully I had Trevor with me to help out. We got stuck in traffic twice...the first time was only for about 20 minutes...the second time was about an hour or more. It was horrible. Construction the whole way home. But Trevor and i got to spend a lot of time talking about each others trip and our highlights of the trip. When i got to0 tired to drive, we pulled over to take potty breaks and get some food. We were at a nearby Starbucks, so I finished up my gift card. I must say , this made the rest of the trip rather interesting. Once that frapachino kicked in...i got the giggles. I don't know what came over me...but Trevor was being silly and I couldn't help myself. It sure make the rest of the trip interesting.

About an hour from home, we hit a nasty storm. The rain was soo thick we could barely see over the end of the van. But the Lord brought us home safely and this was what we saw as we got off the exit right before our house...

A very beautiful full "double" rainbow. God is good. I really wish my camera could have captured the beauty of it.

So there you have it...my daring adventure that was absolutely a blast. Trevor is still trying to figure out what happened to his wife. I think he believes an alien took over my body.

Very Late Birthday Pictures

2009-06-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

I know i have updated in a while...but there's a reason. Our camera broke. So now we have none. Any events we go to now we either have to borrow a camera or have someone take pics for us, then forward them to us. We're hoping to get a camera again really soon, but Trevor doesn't want just your average camera...so we have to save up for a nice one.

This being said....here's some pictures from Riah's birthday party. We chose not to give him an actual party this year. Instead we told him he could have one friend over and then we'd take him to the Indy Children's museum instead. He was fine with that. As it turned out...the one friend he wanted to invite , just happened to be having a few boys over to his house for a sleepover. So his mom told us to just move Riah's party to their house. Very last minute decision but it all worked out.

Here's a few pictures of the event.

Riah is very excited about his present from Daddy...so is Zion...

This is why...

Trying the new gun outside...

Opening his other presents.
Mommy is the more practical one. This is what i got him...with matching pants...yes i made it. Don't laugh. I''m not a very good artist.

Isn't his cake cute?

Blowing out the candles.

Cutting the cake with his present from Jon. (shakes head) It is only allowed out with mommy or daddy supervising.

This would have been the boy's very first sleepover. Unfortunally it didn't last. The boys were brought home at 2 a.m. Oh well...we tried. At least we know to wait a while before the next one.

(see Trevor's blog for pictures from the Indy Trip)

Zoo Trip

2009-05-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a bunch of mom's got together and we all went to the zoo. Our Zoo has a new "splash park" which is awesome on a hot day. Yesterday was very hot. I took the boys in their swim clothes so i wouldn't have to change them. Then took an extra set for changeing before getting into the van. It worked quite nicely.

Most of the animals were sleeping in the shade or gone because of construction being done, but we still got to see a few and the kids had a ball. This was Glorianna's first trip to the zoo so she was very excited.

Getting ready to go in. The sun was in the kids eyes, so this isn't the best picture.

Waiting for the rest of our group outside of the entrance.

Glorianna's favorite animal at the zoo...thanks to "Barney Goes to the Zoo." She even sang the elephant song the rest of the day.

The Ghosts of Madagascar.

Glorianna liked the Rhino's too.

This one looks like it had 2 heads.

Some really cool eagles.

All the giraffe's were inside for feeding time, so we really got to see them close up. It was rather cool. Glorianna didn't like being so close, and the boys were afraid they were going to get spit on...

...by this guy, so we didnt' stick around for long.

I could not get this bird to turn around for nothing...so i just got a picture of his pretty tail.

The "Splash Park" area. Giant Pirate Ship that sprays lots of water.

By pulling the ropes, water sprayed out of the tops and sides of these boxes.

There was a toddler area that had very small water spouts coming up out of the ground. Glorianna took a few minutes to actually get wet, but once she did, she had fun.

mommy's day and birthday pictures

2009-05-11T12:46:00.000-07:00

Since we both shared our special day....I had Trevor take some pics of us. Here's a few of the good ones. I wont tell you how many we actually took. =)

Happy Birthday Glorianna!!

2009-05-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

Today I shared Mother's Day with Glorianna. My baby girl turned 3 years old today. After church we went over to my mom's and had a small party with just the family. It was very nice and relaxing.

Having a tea party with Grandpa.

I let her open one of her presents before church this morn, so she's hopefully sit still in church and play with her doll. Well, she ended up falling asleep preservice and sleeping all thru sunday school. So we didnt' even get to take her up front for her birthday. Oh well. We'll just take her up next week when we take Riah up for his. (he'll be 6 on thursday).

Grandma let Riah have his presents, from her, today, a few days early. He was very happy about that. He got the Indian Jones whip he's been wanting since Christmas, and some army men.

Blowing out the candles on the cake.

Yumm!!

Fell asleep in the way home. With her feet propped up on the back of mommies seat.

Easter 2009

2009-04-19T13:26:00.001-07:00

Easter this year was a lot of fun! We got to see lots of Believers from all over the world and also had the privilege of entertaining several of them at our home. We had a family of 6 from Georgia, a sister from South Carolina and a Brother from Finland staying with us. Quite a crowd, but lots of fun and fellow shipping made it worth it.

Easter activities this year were held and the old Kmart building, in Clarksville, instead of the Voice of God. It was really nice. There was lots of room and lots of activities for the kids. Zion's favorite activity was the obstacle course.

Friday morning, we got up early and headed out. We stood in line, starting at about 8am, and waited for the doors to open at about 9am. Thankfully the Lord held off the rain, until after we were all inside. Once we were in, I took the kids to do their different activities and Trevor went to stand in the LOOOOONG line to purchase some new items. We got the new Bible (absolutely awesome) the Memorabilia box of some of Bro Branhams things and the new children's book "The Footsteps of the Prophet." My favorite thing in the box was the triangle shaped piece of the floor from Bro Branhams den. The very same floor that the Angel of the Lord stood upon, when he visited with Bro Branham. It was worth the 2 hours that Trevor had to stand in line. =)

The whole family on Saturday.

Glorianna had lots of fun playing in the "toddler area". Her favorite thing to do , of course, was jumping in the big blow up jumpy castle. Here she is hanging with cousin, Ava, and friend, Amelia.

Friday, the kids ages 6-12 got to travel to "Congo". On Saturday, they opened it up for everyone, so we got to go in as well. That was loads of fun and really cool. Here we are waiting our turn to get our passports in order to enter the Congo.

A big scary guard with a big scary gun. He had to check out passports and ask us why we were there.

Another scary guard.

Giving the Message to a "Native". He was very happy to receive the Word any way he could get it.

The kids all had their passports stamped as they left the Congo.

In another area of the building was some of the things that belonged to Bro Branham.

His gun, "Blondie".

His Den Room with the Elk (with 42 inch horns) and Silver tip Grizzly.

Bro Branham's bedroom. This is the bed he was on when he had the vision of being taken beyond the curtain of time and looked back and saw his body laying on the bed.

There was also some displays of different countries and the VGR Representatives from there as well. Here is Azariah visiting "Russia".

Visiting "India"

Visiting "China". The testimony involving getting the Message to China is absolutely amazing. I was truly blessed, listening to the Brother Speak.

Azariah visits Venezuela and his good friend, Bro. Ceaser.

Enjoying some good food on Friday.

(that is a straw in Zion's mouth)...boys will be boys...

The Kiddos

2009-03-25T10:05:00.000-07:00

Glorianna's pigtailes

2009-03-20T10:53:00.001-07:00

Glorianna's finally getting enough hair to actually do something with. My favorite on her is pigtails. So here's a few pics of those. I just need to get some matching bows now.

Enjoying the outdoors

2009-03-20T10:39:00.001-07:00

We've been having beautiful weather lately. So we've been spending the afternoons outside. I've also been using the opertunity to try and take some decent pics of the kids.

Glorianna loves this tree. Its just the right size for her to practice her climbing skills.

I need to loose weight

2009-03-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

Well...its official...i need to loose weight! I worked so hard on this skirt and was hopeing to make a dress for Glorianna to match. But sadly...when i put it on after it was finished...its too small. WAAAAA!!! So ...i either need to loose some weight in the next couple of weeks or i need to sell the skirt. So until then...its for sale if anyone is interrested. I have enough material to make a matching daughter skirt or dress .

sigh...

They Still Make Sewing Machines

2009-03-04T06:59:00.001-08:00

My shop has been moved from my house to a booth at Traderbakers in Jeffersonville. Booth #887. I'm sharing it with another lady from church so there is a good mix of stuff. "Expressions By Shelia" (she makes floral arrangments, wreaths and other stuff) and my stuff from "They Still Make Sewing Machines Boutique".

Come one over and check it out. I'm sure you'll find something you just can't live without.

Azariah

2009-02-17T14:59:00.000-08:00

Azariah is growing up on me. He lost his very first baby tooth yesterday. He's not even 6 yet. Zion was well over 6 when he lost his first one.

Sigh...I'm getting old...

Success!!

2009-02-11T05:32:00.001-08:00

After trying and giving up, numerous times over the past 6 months, Glorianna is finally potty trained.

I have been trying, but not very hard, to get her out of diapers before she turned 3. It seemed that everytime I have tried, she just wasn't ready and after a few days I gave up. Well, last week I tried once again and something finally clicked in Glorianna's head. She actually went several times on her own and even did #2 in the potty all by herself, which was the biggest challenge. Sunday was her first "outing" in big girl underwear and she only had one accident. So she's doing very well. And then to put the finishing touches on...she actually woke us up this morn at around 530 and said she had to go potty. She went and then went back to bed. I think its save to say she's officially pottytrained. We can probably even put her to bed in underwear and she'll wake up dry.

SUCCESS!!!!

2 more Easter Dresses

2009-02-03T11:02:00.001-08:00

I've gotten 2 more Easter Dresses finished for Glorianna. I guess I should just say they are her new Spring Dresses, but I was hoping she could wear them for the first time Easter weekend. So we'll see what happens.

I made a matching headscarf for this one and also made me a skirt to match this dress.

I made a hat to match this dress. Trevor actually picked out the material for this dress. He saw the orange polka dot and fell in love with it. Yes he actually had fun in a fabric store. =)

Zion Playing the Piano

2009-01-23T07:13:00.000-08:00

Zion has been taking lessons for about a year and a half...need I say more? =)

Why I'm Crazy...

2009-01-23T07:08:00.000-08:00

Just imagine all this going on at the same time....
VERY LOUDLY...

"Go Tell Aunt Rhody...."

"WEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!"

Talking puzzle that says, "Quack, Mooooo, Ruff, Cook-a-doodle-doo...etc"

Mom and Daughter Dresses

2009-01-21T09:50:00.000-08:00

Im posting this on my normal blog instead of my sewing blog because this is my new sewing idea. I've been wanting to make some dresses for Glorianna and some skirts for me to match. Low and behold I discoverd that we do indead have a Joann's Fabric Store just across the river! What an awesome discovery. They were having a 50% off sale and I stocked up on fabric. So now i have enough to begin my Easter sewing in which me and Glorianna will match. Now I just hope i can talk Trevor into getting some matching clothes for him and the boys. =) We could all wear the same colors. =) Ok...so that's going a bit overboard...but i still think it would be cute.

Anyway...here's project #1 done and out of the way....the pics aren't very good, but it will give you the general idea. I'm hoping to get a picture of us wearing them soon. But I realize that most of these outfits are geared more towards spring, so i may have to wait a bit.

In other news.....I've been slowly redoing the theme in Glorianna's bedroom. I was tired of the butterfly's and very girly stuff that i've had in there for the last 3 years.

My brother and sis-in-law got their girls bunk beds, so they sold the bedroom set they had to me. =) I love it. It matches Glorianna room perfectly. My only problem was that I was wanting to do her room in Raggedy Ann and do away with the green/purple butterfly's i had in there, without having to repaint, if possible. I already had a few Raggedy Ann dolls of my own to start off with and then I was able to find the huge ones on the bed for a really good deal off of Craigslist. So with a little more searching, i found some Raggedy Ann Material that had a light green background. I threw together a small pillow and a ribbon holder with that material and low and behold....her room is looking great and i wont have to repaint after all. Now all that's left to do is make some curtains. I'm planning on getting some more of that same material for the curtains, so once that's finished the room will be done. I've never redecorated a room so quickly in my life. =) The bedspread was one leftover from when Trevor and I redid our room. We used to have that bedspread on our bed (which is a queen and Glorianna's is a double). But because of that i wont have to get a dustruffle. The colors in that bedspread are blue, cream and red. So it goes plenty well with the theme I was wanting.

Once I get the curtains done I'll post a pic of those too. For now, here a bit of what i've gotten done so far. Glorianna now has the best looking room in the house.

Lady NaNa of Sellers...

2009-01-13T05:46:00.001-08:00

Lady Nana resides in the town of Sellers and loves to fight the evil dragon who lives in the nearby cave. When she's not off defending the village and saving her brothers....

...she is at home baking cinnamon rolls....

and constructing new things with her dad...

...............

Just my attempt at some humor....

The cinnamon rolls were homemade by me. My very first ones. They were very yummy but didn't last very long. I am glad tho, that they were such a big hit.

My parents bought the boys Kennex for Christmas. This set makes a roller coaster and a ferris wheel. Zion did very well at putting most of it together and Trevor just had to tweek it here and there to make it work like it was supposed to. I videoed the first attempt, but this was before it had batteries, so you'll have to use your imagination.

Texas Trip Part 2

2009-01-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

We spent a lot of time in Texas, just hanging out. The perfect kind of vacation. No schedules, and no where we had to be. It made the trip very enjoyable but it also made it hard to leave. A few of the not so scheduled things we did....

Sword fighting in the back yard...(yes those are pool noodles) They later used those same pool noodles as cannons to defend the tree fort/pirate ship.

The kids got to eat popcorn while watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (in their pj's). Ah to be a kid again. Listening to them laugh was the best part of all.

Scrabble and Boggle were both fun, but of course playing against Anna is a guaranteed lose.

Joe's youngest daughtet, Addie, apparently thinks Trevor is very cuddly. She would crawl over to him and just smile at him till he picked her up. Then she'd lay her head down on his shoulder. Much to Glorianna's dismay...(she's such a daddy's girl and can get very jealous).

Christmas morn, the boys recited Luke chapter 2 versus 1-21a. (see Trevor's blog for videos) and the kids all talked about what Christmas is really about. After which they wanted to open presents....sigh....sometimes you just can't win...

(Glorianna, Azariah, Zion, Hope and Tori)

After the scripture reading and such, I helped Anna pass out the presents and watched the kids' faces light up as they discovered their new treasures.

The boys got to see their very first 3D movie. That was quite the experience. I had never seen a 3D movie either so I had to borrow the kids glasses a few times to see what it was like. Very, very cool.

Just to prove to everyone that Joe and Anna live in the middle of nowhere, Trevor had his picture taken at the geographic center of Texas.

At the risk of boring all of our faithful readers, I'll skip telling you about most of the trip. Other then the Alamo and the things mentioned above, the rest of the trip was pretty laid back. Good food, good friends, good fellowship...what more could you want?

We headed for home on Friday (the day after Christmas) and are now safely home. All in all it was a very pleasant trip.

Glorianna's Kitchen & The Alamo

2009-01-02T06:05:00.000-08:00

I bought this kitchen for Glorianna, at a yard sale, back during the summer. She didn't play with it much when it was downstairs , so i moved it up to the living room. Since then she has started to play with it more and more. She now loves to spend time cooking food for mommy, daddy and her babies. I also made her an apron for pretend play and she loves it. So add that to her up-cycled country dress i made her and she's the perfect little country mommy...with the exception of the shades. =)

In other news....

We went to Texas to visit some friends over Christmas break. That was lots of fun. Spending time with our good friends, Joe and Anna, was wonderful. While there, we got to visit the Alamo and eat at a wonderful BBQ place. Yummy...such good food. The Alamo was nice, except for the fact that you weren't allowed to take pictures. It's become a "shrine" of sorts, so picture taking and hats are not allowed. Yes you heard me right...you have to remove your hat and turn off your cameras and phones before entering. Even so, it was very nice to see and the boys got a lesson is our country's big Alamo event. Azariah was a little disappointed that Davey Crockett (or the reenactment of him) wasn't around, but he still enjoyed it.

So here we are outside of the entrance of the Alamo, where picture taking is still allowed.

**It will take quite a while to fill you all in on our trip, so be patient and between the two of us, Trevor and I should be able to get it all blogged.

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(for all you ladies who have hunter husbands...check out my latest creation on my sewing blog)