Snow!!!

We got a beautiful snowfall this week.  I love the snow.  It reminds me of when my family lived in New Mexico when I was younger.  We lived in a few different places in NM, but I have distinct memories of all those places during the wintery snow days.  Texas doesn't recieve as much snow, so every time it does come, it's something you have to take advantage of.  We were in Burleson when the snow came.  We ended up getting a generous 8 inches.  The kids couldn't wait to get outside and get in the snow.  It was still snowing big fluffy flakes as they ran around making tracks.  It's a joy to me to watch them play and have so much fun.

Iris threw the first snow ball...at Lily.  Lily was game for a fight.  Rosalie and Jasmine had fun throwing, just not getting hit.  Every time a snow ball tagged them, they came crying to me.  I just brushed the snow off and sent them back to the fight.  It didn't last long to say the least.  Lily and Iris probably could have tossed snow at each other all day, but the other two and their tears put an end to that.

Of course you can't play in the snow without building a snowman.  He ended up faceless though.  The kids didn't mind.  They were just proud of their snowman that Daddy helped them build.  Even after we went inside, the kids kept checking on him to make sure he was still out there.  After a number of peeks though the blinds, I finally convinced the kids that he wasn't going to walk away.  He did, however, grow a bit taller due to the falling snow.

Not knowing when I'd get another chance to do this, I snapped a picture of Jamie and I together for a change.  We take a lot of pictures, we just rarely get to be in the pictures at the same time.  So, here's my other half :) 

Sorry I've been gone for so long...

I haven't updated my blog in so long, let's see if I can remember what to do...

I don't know where to begin, and would probably leave out a bunch of stuff if I tried to recap.  So, detailed stories will have to be saved for another time.  I have some pictures I want to post though. 

These first three pictures are some of the kiddos that Jamie took.  They were playing at the park when we were staying in Mansfield, Louisiana.

Here is one of the kids on Christmas morning.

These next two are so cute.  We'd gone to Bass Pro.  Iris had fallen asleep on the drive back.  I carried her inside and told her to go to bed.  She didn't make it that far.  She climbed up into the seat at the table, curled up and fell back asleep.  All the kids were allowed to pick a hat from our trip to the store.  As you can see, Iris still had hers on.

And this last set of pictures are when we took advantage of the warmer weather this week, and played at the park in Burleson.  It's sweet to watch all the kids run around and play together. 

Oh, all my babies are so precious!

Just a rant, but with a happy ending...

Some days are really hard on me...my patience gets tested to the limits.  Today was one of those days.  I had to be at work early this morning, which meant getting all the kids up and out the door when we typically wouldn't have had to.  Work went just fine, and I even got out of there a little earlier than I'd thought.  I was dragging though, so came directly home to just chill on the couch as the kids watched a movie.  Then, up and out the door again hoping to get some grocery shopping done.  But after I got into town, I had to turn right back around to help my brother return a truck that he'd borrowed while his was in the shop.  Okay, got him where he needed to go, and then headed to Walmart again.  As soon as I got in the store, Jamie called me.  I couldn't talk and shop and keep my eyes on 5 kids at the same time (I like to call myself SuperMom, but it just wasn't gonna happen this time).  I pass the phone to the girls so they could talk to their dad.  I start browsing some of the clearance racks when we see a close friend of ours.  So, I get rid of Jamie on the phone, and chat with our friend for a bit.  After that, as now the kids are getting restless, I go back to my browsing.  Levi decides he's done sitting in the basket.  He starts whining, and I give him my purse to hold to pacify him...but that lasts for maybe 2 minutes.  He wants up.  I don't like to give into fits that my kids throw.  Of course, that's pretty much impossible to prevent when you are in public.  You wouldn't believe the stares I get anyway because I have all my kids with me.  I mean, come on, I can't be the only person in this town with 5 kids, right?  But you'd think I was by the stares I receive.  I try, and almost always, succeed in having my kids behave themselves, especially when we're in a public place.  Lily's heard this phrase a million times from me, "We're not the only ones here.  You need to be respectful to others."  I feel like that's part of my job in raising my kids.  Anyway, Levi was crying, and not getting his way, so he turned up the volume.  I give in...for one reason, and only one reason...because I was trying to be respectful of others.  I know other people don't want to listen to my child cry, but come on, do they really have to glare at me???  They don't just glare at me, but then move their eyes to each one of my kids:  Lily biting her nails, Jasmine messing with an item on the shelf, Rosalie playing hopscotch on the tiles, and Iris singing very loudly, plus Levi crying.  I'm told often by strangers, "You're brave."  "You've got your hands full."  "Are you the baby-sitter?"  "Are they all yours?"  You can imagine what I'd like to say to them, but my dad raised me better than that, and I just smile and give a polite response and go about my way.  I happen to view ALL of my kids as they are: an absolute blessing!  I'm sorry for those that see them any other way.  I find great joy in being their mom...the good times and the trying times.  I ended up cutting my shopping trip short.  We didn't even make it to the grocery side but to get some laundry detergent.  And Levi knew he'd got his way.  As we walked away from the checker, Levi stopped his fit, and was just fine.  I didn't want that because it means I'll have a repeat from him the next time we go to the store.  At home he knows when I put him in his play-pen or in his crib, he's going to stay there until I get him out.  He starts fussing sometimes, but knows I'm not going to give-in to him at the house.  The girls all learned this too.  That's why we don't have issues at bedtime, dinner time, or whatever.  They know when we say something, we mean it.  I wish others believed the same.  If they did, they wouldn't judge me as a bad parent because I'm not bending over backwards to please my child.

Okay, now for the happy ending...although my trip to the store was very frustrating and embarrassing, I wouldn't have any other "job" in the world.  It's not the easiest job, but can come with the most rewards if you work hard at it.  Nothing gives me more joy than being a mom.  On the way home, I was thinking about how the evening would end.  I needed to do something to turn it around.  ***DEEP BREATH IN***  I decided to stop and rent a movie, pick up dinner since I didn't buy any groceries, and spend the evening enjoying my kids.  First thing they said when we got home (even though they knew I was still upset) was, "Thanks for getting us a movie, Mom.  Sorry we didn't act good at the store."  We hung out in the living room, ate dinner picnic-style, and watched a movie together.  Then off to bed for my 5 happy little ones. 

I'm reminded that even though I know I'm doing a good job, I too will have days like today.  But I believe so much in the importance of one's attitude.  Your attitude can change any situation.  You can choose the ending.  I want my kids to grow up feeling loved.  I feel like they already do.  I'm very blessed and fortunate to get to stay home and take care of my family.  I couldn't imagine working a job that took me away from them.  So, I guess I will happily look forward to my next "pull-my-hair-out" trip to the store with my kids...(yes, I do plan to take all of them so people can gawk and stare at my family). 

Oh, and I want to include the picture I took Monday evening.  I was just coming in from the east side of Dallas making my way home.  Beautiful work of God's hand...

Toothless and Halloween 2009

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but a lot has gone on.  Not getting into all of it, Jamie is working again, and things are looking up.  I've been in awe of God's provision while he was out of work.  He's always been faithful to provide.  Thank you to our friends and family who continued to keep us in your prayers and loved us when we really needed it.

I have another little one losing her teeth.  Jasmine woke up one morning excitingly announcing that she had a loose tooth.  That evening at dinner, it was clear to me that the tooth had probably been loose for a few days and needed to come out.  So I did what my dad used to do for us...I grabbed the dental floss, and tied it under the tooth, and cut the nerve.  Jasmine was squirming and whining with her eyes closed as I held her tooth in my hand.  I told her, "I'm done.  Here's your tooth.  See, that didn't hurt, did it?"  She was very surprised, and said, "No, it didn't hurt!  I lost a tooth!"  We don't do the tooth fairy thing at my house.  I give the kids a dollar, and they get to keep their tooth.  Below is a picture of Jasmine with her tooth and "compensation."

If you've read my blog before, you know that we don't do anything for Halloween.  This year was no different then the previous years for me.  Of course, the kids notice Halloween is creeping with the items popping up at the stores and tv shows being geared for the holiday.  I'd promised the kids that I'd get them a treat, and they could wear some of their dress up clothes that day, but that's all I'd planned.  One day we had to run to Walmart for Jamie to get something.  Just he ran into the store as the rest of us sat in the suburban.  He returned with a pumpkin.  The kids were so excited.  I told him if he wanted to carve that with the kids that it would be his project.  A couple of days later, I went ahead and picked up two more pumpkins so they could all experience pumpkin carving.  Jamie told me he'd never carved a pumpkin before.  He cut a hole in the top of each one, and I got the girls started on cleaning out the insides.  But Jamie so conveniently disappeared for this part.  Because the girls couldn't get everything out (they were literally taking out each seed individually), I ended up getting stuck with cleaning 3 pumpkins.  Then Jamie magically showed back up.  He told the girls that he'd do a cat...and he did a really good job on it.  I then drew a silly face on the next pumpkin, and Lily & Jasmine drew the face on the last pumpkin.  Lily wanted eyelashes on her pumpkin, so I cut some out of felt for her.  I don't know why, but she said it looked like a bride to her.  So, I grabbed some scraps out of my craft supplies, and made (a very pathetic looking) veil for their pumpkin.  Then I had to make a bow tie for the other pumpkin...

...And our finished product was a Goofy Groom...a Blinking Bride...and their Kitty.

I'd already bought the kids more than enough candy.  I didn't plan to take them trick or treating at all.  But Jamie had talked to my dad early that day, and my dad invited us over for dinner. Jamie decided we could take the girls to the houses on my parents street.  I pulled out some costumes from earlier years, and we managed to get them dressed up.  I didn't dress Levi, though.  But I did manage to get a shot of him enjoying a Kit Kat that I'd gave him...

And here's my attempts to get pictures of the girls in their costumes.  I wanted to take the pictures outside, but that ended up being a bad idea.  One of the neighbor's kids was outside playing with his basket ball.  He noticed the girls and was hollering at them from across the street, "Hey! Are you going trick or treating?  Where are you going?"  I couldn't get all of them to look my direction...until the last picture in which you can tell they were ready to be done with pictures.

We made our way to my parents house, and took the girls down their street to trick or treat.  I was a bit disappointed because there was only about a dozen houses handing out candy.  The girls didn't mind though...they didn't know what to expect. 

When we got back to my parents house, we ate dinner, and then the girls got to help their grandma hand out candy to other trick-or-treaters.  They had so much fun.  And their grandma had a little pumpkin for each of them and a pez dispenser.  They kept saying, "This is the best Halloween ever!"  I'm glad that it all feel into place like it did.  It was a lot better than what I'd had planned.  I'll end this with a few pics of Levi with his pumpkin, and the jack-o-lanterns that the kids grandparents had carved.

Lots to report...

I'll start with the most recent. Thursday, Iris turned 3. She was so excited. I'd told her a few weeks ago that her birthday was coming, and her response was, "It is!?! I'm gonna be free {three}, and I'm gonna have a burger with cheese and pickles!" I said, "You want me to make you cheese burgers?" She said, "Yeah! With pickles!" She doesn't like pickles. In fact, when we get a happy meal, she always tells me, "Mom, I said NO PICKLES!" But having another birthday...getting so big and going to be three...she decided she was ready to eat pickles on her burgers like her older sisters.

Her and I made the trip to the store. She got to pick out her presents. She probably pushed every button and knob within her view (thankfully she's not taller, or we would have been there a lot longer that we were). She'd decided on a few items, when of course nature called. We made our way across the store to the bathroom. On the way back to the toys, we walked through the shoe department. She said, "Oh, I want shoes too." So, we looked and she spotted the cutest red boots. We found her size, and she couldn't wait to get home to wear them. We also picked out a few outfits to match her new red boots.

Here's Iris in one of her new outfits with her red boots.

Here's Iris enjoying her cheese burger...minus the pickles. She asked for a slice of pickle while I was putting her burger together, and was quickly reminded that she doesn't like pickles. So much for that...

Iris got to pick out her candles. They were shaped like cupcakes. And she also got to help decorate her cake.

Here she is blowing out her candles...

...and here she is taking off the candles and licking the frosting off them.

We couldn't feed the cake fast enough to Levi. I don't think he even chewed it between bites. Look at how wide he's opening his mouth!

Here's Iris showing some of the items she got for her birthday.

She's so cute. I guess I should have cleaned the frosting off her mouth before taking pictures, but it's still a sweet pic of my baby girl.

On a different note, Jamie's been home a lot lately. Work has really slowed down. I'm faithful that God will provide a job soon. He's been so good to us, and His provision is more than we can ever imagine. I've been going though so much, but am reminded daily of how big God is and how He's always faithful to work things out. I'm thankful and embrace these times because I come out of them with more faith, understanding, and a knowledge of God.

My sister, Jessica, was able to come visit us last month. Her time here was way too short. I wish she lived closer. She's one of my best friends, and time spent with her is always wonderful. The kids had so much fun having her here too. It was nice that they had their energy focused toward her (I got a bit of a break). Here's a few pictures of her visit with us. There's so many more that I wanted to post, but I've limited to some of the best.

Me, Jessica, James and Ashley

Ashley and Jessica with Levi

James and Jessica

Jessica managed to get a cute pic with almost all of my kiddos

Jasmine, Iris (so funny), and Rosalie

Jessica and Lily

Jessica with our dad

Jessica and I

Jessica, Me, our dad, and James

Okay, the next two pictures are of a "rug" that my step mom, Janee', painted on their back patio. Another beautiful creation by her. This one, of course, is so special to me. It has all my my kids foot prints. Iris and Levi alternate in the black, and then Lily, Jasmine, and Rosalie's prints alternate in the red.

And to finish this post, here's a picture of my guys. Levi and Jamie playing the piano. Levi just loves the piano. He really focuses on hitting the keys...not just banging his hands on them to make noise.