Truly Thankful

I love Thanksgiving. Love the food, love the family, love that there are no gifts to buy. Every year it always seems so easy to think of all the things I am thankful for. I am so, so thankful for the GIFTS in my life.
This year I am thinking a lot of what I am thankful for. We are unemployed - again. The unknown ahead of us- again. Knowing that God will provide and hoping it will be soon - again. And yet I am thankful. I am so thankful this year for the GIVER. He, in his sovereign love and pursuit of His own glory holds us in His hands. We feel His grip more closely when we are afraid and unsure. Our trials chase us to Him and the lack of financial stability forces us to rest in His provision. And so for that, I am thankful.
I urge all of you to be thankful today. Be thankful for the good and wonderful and for the bad and painful. It is all part of His plan. It is all because He loves us. it is all to make us like Jesus - the ULTIMATE gift.
Happy Thanksgiving!

"In all things give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." I Thess 5:18

Daddy Daughter Date Night

Last week Jason and the girls participated in our church's "Daddy Daughter Date." The dads take their daughters out for dinner and then meet at the church for dessert. This year they had a magic show that the girls could not stop talking about.

These girls sure do love their daddy. They both had made a painting for him and Madison wrote the most precious letter (I wish I had it with me so I could share an excerpt - but I don't. I'm pretty sure one of the things it said was that he is astonishingly generous).

Like father like daughter...

I love their precious relationships. When I see Jason's great love for his daughters (and his sons) I am reminded of the heavenly Father's great love for me. How amazing to think His love for us far exceeds any earthly parental love. It hardly seems possible.

Grandparents Visit and a Creepy Carol

Jason's parents came for a visit. It's always fun to have the status quo pushed to the side to have company. We went on a field trip to an aquarium last Thursday and while we were driving back Jason was picking them up from the airport. The kids were so excited.

Grandpa and Pip...
On Friday we went to see A Christmas Carol. This was the choice not because it was a kids movie that had just opened but because my oldest 4 are in a production of A Christmas Carol right now (Madison is Scrooge!). So we were very excited to get to go to the theater.
Can I please now tell you that this movie is VERY SCARY!!! I can't believe my kids all made it through. It is definitely for older kids and even then might be preferred to be done when it comes out on dvd as opposed to in the theater. Over dinner the kids were talking about how creepy it was and Carson said "I don't blame you for taking us, mommy, but it was really creepy!" I keep thinking they are going to have lots of bad dreams (like when my parents took us to see Gremlins when I was in 4th grade!) but so far so good. They have also enjoyed playing "Marley" where one of them is the ghost of Marley and chases around the other ones. Nice.

On a sweeter note - we went to feed the ducks and play at the park...

Cole had prepared a presentation on Canadian Geese for school (that he didn't get to present because he was sick) and he was so excited to see the geese at the pond. He was calling to them from the edge...

Pipster is a slide fanatic. She goes nutso for a good slide...

My handsome boy - who later was crawling on the OUTSIDE of the equipment on the very top (like that big kid that youre so annoyed with for setting a bad example for all the little kids). I was proud of him for being brave but quickly had him get down. Right after both Cole and Will thought they'd try it too. Sigh...

Grandma helping her sweetie climb the ladder...

The twins having some discussion about the digging toy. I know its not a good picture but the interaction between them was precious and I wanted a shot of it...

Ty is finally brave enough to try and do the monkey bars all the way...

...he is, unfortunately, having issues with not buttoning his pants and so this is what I saw most of the day...

Wilson is starting to look a little like Eddie Munster with his hair growing in - I just can't decide what to do. I don't think I want them to ALWAYS have buzz cuts so I am trying to let all the boys have some hair - but man - they are looking ROUGH right now!

The girls liked pretending they were gymnasts - but bless their hearts, they got their grace and flexibility from me so that will have to remain something they dream about! I also think they look NOTHING alike. You would never guess they were sisters...

What's a visit with grandparents without a trip to the Golden Arches...

Here we all are in front of the playhouse Jason and his dad had been working on (that is for another post)...

The 5 days went by fast. Hopefully we can have a fall visit from Wayne and Debbie every year. I love for my kids to get to make special memories with their grandparents. I don't know if any other kids on the planet have as loving of grandparents as mine do. What a blessing!

Reformation Celebration!!

Oh what fun!! The Woodards took a step through the looking glass to celebrate Reformation Day.
Madison was sweet Alice. She is in this stage right now of smiling without showing her teeth because she doesn't like them. :(

Carson was perfectly suited as the Mad Hatter.

Ally really wanted to be the Cheshire Cat. I couldn't really make her look that "Cheshire-ish" but she loved just being a black cat. She is so precious.

The Queen of Hearts!! This little dictator rules our house sometimes and definitely my heart. :)

Here she is saying "Off... head!!"

Colson is the rabbit late for his very important date.

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dee because no one wanted to be Tweedle Dum. :)

This isn't for the sake of their character - they are like this all the time!!

Every year we celebrate the Reformation. Oct. 31 is often called Reformation Day because Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis up on Oct. 31 1517. Thus preserving the truth of salvation by grace alone through faith. We rejoice in how God has protected His church.

We had 5 other families over to celebrate with us. It was so much fun.

Here are the Lees - the Statue of Liberty and a pilot...

The Tracy crew - Police officer, nurse, clown, fairy, and doctor...

This was so terribly creative. The Kents were all weather related. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, lightning, little Miss Sunshine, and a weather balloonist.

The Markmillers - the hobbit, Dorothy, and soccer player...and the sweet Caldwell girls - a ladybug, a butterfly, and a puppy...

This was before all the food -our fall spread was DE-LICIOUS!

We played games - this is the "eat the donut of the string without using your hands" relay game. Even Piper and little Lydia played. Piper was SO excited to run back to her team when they were all cheering so loudly! It was my favorite part of the night.

We had a little lesson on the reformation and watched a clip from "Luther" which really made me want to watch it again.

The we had a praise and worship time. It was delightful to worship with out friends and hear all the kids singing and participating. What a fun night!!

Oh - and my hilarious husband put this sign out front. Since we are in full party mode we turn out the front lights and don't answer the door...

Mary Poppins.... Practically Perfect

Practically perfect, in every way... (lyrics from a song in Mary Poppins: the musical). We took a trip to Dallas last week to see the show and enjoy Dallas. We had been planning on going to see the show for a long time and even bought the tickets months ago. I was so glad we had already purchased the tickets because it is one of those things that I just know had we waited until the last week or so we would have decided that it wasn't the best way to spend our money with things being a little uncertain for our financial future. But they were purchased! We had to go! :)

Not only did we go, but 4 other families from our small group went as well! What fun!!! Dallas was a mad house! We picked (unknowingly) the weekend of the Texas OU game (which is evidently a BIG deal) and it was also the state fair. It was very hard to find hotel rooms but we all managed to get rooms in this snazzy little Hilton in Southlake. It was quite the amazing little community we were in. There were all sorts of shops and things to do within walking distance.


We walked around our fist night there and hung out in Barnes and Noble and went to eat. The next day we did a little shopping. (Angela - I got to go into Anthropologie for the first time and Jason surprised me with a gift card!!!)

Then it was off to American Girl Place for the girls and the Galleria for the boys (turned out the Galleria was not much fun for little boys but AG was awesome for the girls)


We ate lunch at the Bistro.

Piper loved this brightly striped booth - had to snap a few pictures...

We raced home from AG and got ready for the play. Jason hung out at the hotel with the twins and Piper and another dad with a little one. Here we are sipping our tea and being very British before the play...

There was crazy traffic to compete with but my friend, Andrea, has this amazing GPS that routes you away from the traffic. It was pretty exciting to get there.

I LOVE this ladies...

Here are all the kids...

It really was practically perfect. The play was great. Burt walked up the side of the stage and upside down across it! It was so cool. Mary Poppins even flew out over the audience - right in front of us in the balcony and disappeared through the ceiling.

I only wish it could have been longer. We enjoyed a laid back day on Saturday, window shopping and hanging out with Joby. We still managed to beat traffic and got home in record time.
I am so thankful for my husband for such a great family trip and for my friends who provided the great company.

Best Brothers

I am often sad that I don't have any sisters. Now, while growing up I didn't mind one bit - I liked being the only girl. But now, as a grown up, I wish I had a sister! Especially when I read my blogs by Donna, Denise and Dolly (3 of 5 sisters!!). They have such awesome relationships. I love to read about it.

However... I do have the best brothers in the world!!! This past week was a great reminder of that. On Thursday, I got a box in the mail. Isn't fun to get a package when you weren't expecting it! I opened up this big box and it is from Jack. It is FILLED with makeup and hair products. FILLED!! I could hardly believe it.

I once told a friend in high school that I could swim in a pool of new makeup and be so happy. Pip actually did roll around in this a bit.

I didn't count everything but there were 86 different tubes of lipstick!!!!

How amazing is that?! It took me two days before I finally moved the "display" to my bathroom and start using it. Jack is so awesome (and a HUGE thanks to Johnny for the loot!!). Jack travels a ton and ALWAYS send my kids a postcard from where he goes. He is such a great brother and uncle.

And speaking of great brothers and uncles brings me to Joby. Once a year Joby does "Spontaneous Day" with the kids. Instead of sending them something on their birthday he does this big event with a big treat on a random day in the year. The kids love it. It is always so fun and they always score big time (lat year they got a Wii).

This past weekend Joby surprised the kids by showing up to be their babysitter on Friday night while Jason and I went out. Then he prepared an awesome photo scavenger hunt for them to do on Saturday. The boys raced against the girls. They loved it. They final destination brought both teams together at the Christian Bookstore where they each got to pick out a new Webkinz!

And if that wasn't enough, when they got home they were surprised to find 2 laptops - just for them - rigged to only access Webkinz and Microsoft Word (to type all their many stories they write). It is was so, so fun.

SO, all in all I know I am super blessed with my super brothers. Jack and Joby I love you dearly and am so thankful to be your sister!!!

A New School Year in a Homeschool Family

We didn't really stop doing school this summer - but nevertheless, there still needs to feel like a beginning of a new school year. I love it - the new books, new supplies, the feeling that you are going to be so much smarter. I know the excitement fades quickly - and that is just as true for homeschoolers but I try to keep things fun and exciting.

I have had a classroom in the past and never used it - we always schooled around the table because it was central to everything else going on in the house. In the last two years, however, it became very clear that I wanted and NEEDED a classroom. With so many kids and so much activity in the house, the ability to be a room dedicated to learning and working was vital to our success. SO all of kids are in two bedroom so that we can a classroom. We won't be able to do that forever but for now it works. Here is my classroom:

my red horseshoe table is my fav.

the view from behind the table - we use dvds with a few of our courses and so we can watch them right from the table.

(Sonja - recognize the globe?)

my timeline is around the top of the wall - I made the cards myself - we are memorizing it.

All my curriculum...
If you noticed a bit of a geography/Africa theme you'd be right. We are focusing on the 7 continents this year with our co-op. We are doing a continent each month and September was Africa. We are having so much fun learning about far away places. Our co-op had a big kick-off to start the year.

Mr friend, Rachel, made t-shirts for all the kids(they are adorable) and we took pictures of each of the kids in front of a map to put in their passports (also made by Rachel). These are the cupcakes we brought... And here's the crew! I am so excited about our school year. I am so blessed to be a part of our group. the kids enjoy learning together with their friends and can't wait for Thursdays - and I can't blame them - so do I!

OK - one last funny thing... I am making postcards for all the moms (with them on their own)to send to their kids at the beginning of each month to introduce the new continent. I don't have mad photoshopping skills but I do think these are pretty funny. The kids loved the Africa one they got this month.

Baby Butterworth

This morning Piper got a hold of the bottle of Mrs. Butterworths while I was making pancakes. Naturally, she though it was a baby and rocked it while I cooked. :)

Long Sleeves!!

Last night was the first night of the season where I got to wear long sleeves!! I love long sleeves (mostly because they hide my arms) but I really love when it starts to get cool and you wear long sleeves for the first time. It just makes me happy.

Our co-op is studying the continents this year - each month a different continent. This month was Africa. We've all been doing Africa related studies, learning where all the countries are on the continent. It's been fun. I am really looking forward to the year. Each months the moms go out for dinner. It's my favorite night of the month. We decided to eat at restaurants the coincide with our continent of that month - aren't we fun?! SO, this month we ate at the Elephant Bar.

After dinner we had dessert at the Cheesecake Factory. I know, it doesn't have anything to do with Africa but it was next door - how could we resist???

I love these ladies - tired of hearing me say that? Oh well, get used to it. :) Happy Fall!!

Meatballs!!

Last Friday night most of the families in our flock met for a spaghetti and meatball dinner at our house. Everyone brought something to contribute to the meal. I made homemade meatballs (all 115 of them thank you very much) and it was delish!

Piper loved her meatballs - she is showing the camera...

The we jumped into vans and head to...

...the movies theater to see "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs."

It was really fun. The kids loved having friends there.

We had read the book in preparation. Half way through the movie Tyson comes to my seat and says "Is this Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs? Because this is not in the book!"

I sure do love my flock. Its always a party when we are together.

(Thanks, sweet friends, for the groceries, the movies tickets, and snacks!!)