Target is not the only place people shop

I feel like I never know about the "good stuff." I always have to figure out what is cool, or trendy, or the best this or that from my "in the know" friends. I had never heard of Anthropology until a year and half ago. My friends' kids have the coolest clothes from places I've never heard of. Basically, I feel like if it isn't at Target I don't know it's out there!

Williams Sonoma is another one. Never heard of it until about 2 years ago. Never been in one until 2 days ago.

My precious FLOCK not only provided my children with Christmas gifts - they included a $75 gift card to the GAP to get a gift for Jason and $75 card to Williams Sonoma for a gift for me. We got Jason a great shirt and jeans a few days before Christmas with his card but have a harder time getting down to Williams Sonoma for me (not exactly the place you want to take 7 kids). But finally I found time to go this past Saturday. Seeing as a Dutch Oven was $200 over my gift card budget, these are the treasures I ended up with...

I am so in love with everything I got!!! First you have to notice the ladle. I LOVE this ladle. I think it is a little odd that I wanted this ladle so much but I did. Who needs a $25 ladle?? No one. But who WANTS this $25 ladle? This girl!!

A friend of mine has this ladle (she got it with a gift card too!) and every time I use it I feel so happy. It is super heavy. For whatever reason it just is one of those luxury items that you can buy when you have a gift card that put a smile on your face. I have used every day - including the day I bought it. :)

This thing is another favorite...

I don't know what it is supposed to be but I am using it for making the 9 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I make almost every day! My parents have something like it and when I used it at their house I loved how it made lunch prep so fast. I am super excited about it.

Then I got 2 kitchen towels. I always wish I has some cute Anthropologie dish towels but I think these are pretty great...

Finally, I got these containers...

In the almost 14 years we have been married I have bought two of those thousand piece tupperware sets that have containers in every size imaginable. Somehow they have all disappeared. I guess they go wherever our spoons go and the kids socks. Anyway - I have been wanting some good pieces - not the kind that get scratchy and then get stained with red sauce and then look awful forever. These are pretty cool and will get me started.

I am so thankful for the gift card that has helped me broaden my horizons. Isn't it great? Fun treats can make even little tasks more fun.

My Sweet Girls

I've been a bit in a funk about blogging. Every day I think - you need to go do that post about your girls so you can blog about other stuff and somehow I never end up doing it. But finally! Here I am - ready to write just a little about my sweet girls.

My darling Ally who turned 9 last month...

From the time she was an infant we have called her "Peach." It has somehow seemed very fitting as she too is so naturally sweet. I love this girl like crazy. Ally probably is the most unselfish child I have ever known. Don't get me wrong - she has her moments - but all in all this girl thinks of others all the time. She would give up a brand new toy to someone who mentioned they loved it. She loves to write letters to her friends and give them gifts (and by gifts I mean little trinkets she already owns, that sometimes might be odd, but she loves them nevertheless). Just today she asked me if we could go to Barnes and Noble to use all the money she has to get a gift card for her Daddy for Valentines Day. Isn't that precious?!

She has a mothering instinct that is in full force. And not a "I can tell you what to do" sort of way but in a gentle, loving, nurturing sort of way. If ever I need help with Piper I will call Ally. Not only because she will do it well but because she will love doing it. Actually, every morning after Piper gets in bed with me and gets her snuggles in she will ask me to call Sissy (Ally). When we have friends over that have young children Ally will gladly play with them and help them find activities they will enjoy. A friend told me recently that her 3 year old considers Ally her best friend.

When one of my kids is having a bad day or a hard time Ally will stop what she's doing and trying to help them. If someone wants a buddy to go play outside with them and no one wants to go, Ally will go.

Her front teeth are finally growing in after a year of not having them (they were kicked out in a trampoline accident last October!!). She doesn't like when her hair gets long. She loves to draw and to take pictures. Her favorite things to eat are fruit and bacon. When she grows up she wants to be a teacher and a mommy.

My darling Madison who turned 12 last month...

12 years ago this girl made me a mommy. I love her desperately. When she was little we called her "Sweet Pea" but now it usually is dropped to "Sweets." This girls is AMAZING!! She too is amazingly selfless but in a way different than her sister. I do not think Madison would give a new gift she had received to a friend that mentioned they loved it. But she would, in a heart beat, sell that item and send the money to the mission field. I have never met a child more focused on missions and wanting to make a difference in the kingdom of God. She is counting down the days till she can go to Africa. She basically does send every penny she gets to either World Vision or Samaritan's Purse. She is the one who gets the others to do things like extra chores to raise money for Haiti.

After reading a biography about George Muller she was convinced that there was no reason why we shouldn't sell our house and everything we own to give to missions. She kept saying "Don't you believe God will provide for us if we do that?!" She has such a grasp on investing in eternity. She might start saving money for a doll or jewelery but it will never last - it always ends up with a missions organization. She will also ask me questions like "If we aren't supposed to care what other people think of us why do you put on makeup and shave your legs?" :) She receives the Voice of the Martyrs publication for kids and the day it arrives is her favorite. She often uses her computer time to go to Kids of Courage or Samaritans Purse. She is currently trying to raise money to sponsor a little girl from Zimbabwe.

She is mothering too - but more in the "I can run a house and tell everyone what to do" sort of way. She loves to cook and has done our entire meal more than once. She likes to watch cooking shows and cake decorating shows with me. She can get everything on my grocery list - I send her to the back half of the store while I cover the front. She loves school and creative writing. She hates fruits and vegetables. Her favorite dinner is chicken and rice or steak. She loves the Duggars. She wants to be a missionary to Zimbabwe when she grows up.

Happy birthday my Sweet Girls. May you grow in the Lord and know that you are LOVED!!!

The Girl's Birthday Party

Ally's birthday was last week and Madison's is this week. I will do a post about each of them in the days to come. Yesterday we had a joint birthday party. It was a costume party. The girls had their hearts set on being Asian princesses. We are studying Asia this month and I loved that they were excited about it. Because of that I decided to go with an Asian theme for decor etc..

My friend, Andrea, taught me how to make these amazing tissue paper"'flowers." I originally saw them online used in an Asian themed party. I love them!!

On the counter there is a homemade cherry blossom branch. It was made with a branch from my back yard, hot glue and pink tissue paper...

Asian parasols topped the cupcakes...

Brightly colored to-go boxes held the party favors...

Each box had a paper fan, a pencil sharpened, a little parasol, chopsticks, and a decorated fortune cookie that each child made during the party...

The birthday princesses! Allyson - just turned 9...Madison - days away from being 12!!!

Even though she looks a little like an Asian showgirl I think she is so beautiful!!

Ally borrowed a real Korean Hombok from some friends of ours and another friend got Madison's dress somewhere in OKC's Asian district for us...

I did say it was a costume party - here is the rest of the crew (I do not know why I didn't just take a picture of them all together to post - here there are one at a time)...

Pip the ladybug...

Colson the handy man...

Tyson the football player (making the meanest face he can)...

Carson as Luke Skywalker (I was going to tease about how pale he looks but bless his heart, he comes by that one naturally)...

And Wilson the fireman...

Party guests included.....

A brilliant author...

Linus from the Peanuts gang...

A butterfly and a princess...

A bunny, colonial girl, and Davy Crockett...

A fashion designer and a movie star (the indian princess was missing)...

A Twister game and a snow princess...

Another princess, a knight, and a doctor...

And the mysterious birthday girls...

The kids danced and danced and danced. While they were doing that I had them come over in groups to dip fortune cookies in chocolate and then in sprinkles...

After that I pulled out a game from my youthquest days called "House Party." Basically, to go with the "costume" theme this game has "guests" have to act like something until the "host" can figure out what they are. I was about to explain it further but then figured I'd spare you details. the kids LOVED it. They were so cute and some of them really good at it. They wanted to play it over and over and over. Finally, I had to stop them so we could do cake and ice cream before they got picked up!

Ally blowing out her candles (the wig finally ditched)...

Madison blows out hers...

Enjoying treats with our sweet friends...

Opening presents while the parents arrive. Man, they got the best gifts! My friends are great b-day party gift picker-outers!!

They let friends know only a few days before the party that if they had not purchased a gift yet they could give cash instead as a gift to Haiti instead. They got $30!! They have been working extra chores for days now trying to raise money for Samaritan's Purse's Haiti relief efforts.

This was one of the best birthday parties we have had and I think it was the least expensive too! We had so much fun. I HEART these girls so, so, much!! They are so precious. I will gush my love for them in future posts.

New Years Eve

We had such a fun New Years Eve. I totally stole this idea from my friend Rachel. She is Miss Amazing "I do awesome stuff with my kids all the time" Idea Girl. We originally were going to have friends over but they got sick. My kids kinda didn't know what to think about doing New Year's Eve without having anyone over. Madison kept saying "Can't we PLEASE email all Continental Kids (our co-op) and see if ANYONE wants to come over??" But we ended up having a wonderful time together as a family.

Here are the bags... There is a bag with a little rhyming poem I wrote to be opened/read every hour leading up to midnight. First of all, you should know, we set all the clocks in the house AHEAD one hour! That way, not only do the kids still get in bed a little earlier but we get to "bring in the new year" with the East coast which means we can watch the ball drop in NYC. No one caught on but this might be the last year we can pull that off. :)

Everyone if holding up "10" fingers...
An example of the little poems - this is from the 12:00 bag - which we open a little early...

6:00 - fun paper plates, napkins and umbrella straws in the bag and the note revealed we were having pizza for dinner...

7:00 - puzzles in the bag and the note revealed it would be a boys vs. girls race to get them put together first...

The boys won!

8:00 - Wii game in the bag - we all played and had a little tournament...

Pip is already getting sleepy and cuddled up with me to watch the Wii playing...

9:00 Catch Phrase in the bag - we played as a family. Lots of fun!

Still showing signs of sleepiness, Pip is holding her ear and trying to cuddle with Sissy...

10:00 - A movie! We all cuddled up on the couch and watch Battle for Terra (Pip went to bed shortly after the movie started.)

11:00- Bowls and spoons and toppings in the bag - note says to pause the movie and make ice cream sundaes!

at 11:15 the movie was over and we had a time of praise and worship. We sang and talked about our resolutions as a family - how we could honor the Lord better in 2010. I wanted to get a picture of Jason praying with the kids but they saw me get the camera out and so the little smirks and perfectly folded hands are certainly for the camera...

Oh yeah - the twins fell asleep right before the movie ended...

11:55 the 12:00 bag is opened and has noise marker horns and party poppers. We watched the ball drop and then ran outside to blow the horns and do the poppers so we wouldn't wake Piper up. :)

Happy New Year one and all. May we all grow closer to the Savior and seek to advance His Kingdom in these next 365 days. Let's not waste our lives and make the most of even the most mundane things we do on a daily basis. I long to be a wife and mother who glorifies God in every minute I am awake. If only I could be mindful of Him every minute. Just like the bags - perhaps I need something to pull my attention back to Christ every hour on the hour. Not a bad idea. Maybe a fruit of the Spirit to focus in every hour? A name or attribute of God? Sadly, I need something tangible like that to keep me from getting too caught up in my own self and responsibilities. Perhaps this year will be different. Oh Lord, make it so!!!

Pictures from Christmas

It seems like it would just take too long to write all about our Christmas. So I'm opting to go with photos and comments.

This is Christmas Eve - Pip really loved snuggling with her Uncle Joby while he was here...

On Christmas Eve the kids opened a gift from Nana and Papa. Guns for the boys (which the were really wanting)...

Here is what Pip would do every time the boys would say stick em up...

The girls with their sweet treats in their new pj's...
On Christmas morning the first gift opened was Piper's kitchen from our flock. She kept saying in the sweetest little delighted voice "It's mine kitchen!!!"

Flock got all the kids cool art stuff...

Cole and his new Kinnex...

Tyson with Little Einstein toys (shocker)...

Wilson's new punching bag...

All the kids got new coats and hats and scarves...

Carson built something with his Kinnex immediately...

Ally got a baby and baby gear - exactly what she wanted...

We got record snowfall here and Carson took advantage of his new coat...

Madison and her new Webkinz, "Pepper."

Just a cute pic of Pip on our way to PF Changs - a Christmas tradition...

The boys playing with their awesome racetrack from Grandma and Grandpa...

We played Catch Phrase with the kids - which they thought was super fun - but the best was Wii boxing with the grown ups. We were EXHAUSTED from trying so hard to punch like crazy. It was really funny. Here and Jack and Joby going at it...

Uncle Jack couldn't get in Christmas Eve due to weather but he finally got here Christmas night. On his last day here he took the kids out for lunch and for frozen yogurt...

I wish I had gotten a picture of my Grandparents who also came and spent 2 days with us. It was a wonderful Christmas. SO many lessons about the body of Christ and God's great love were learned. I am so thankful for my precious family - and this guy is my favorite gift of all...

My FLOCK rocks!

This was our tree a few days before Christmas...
... not a single present. We knew going into Christmas that the kids' only gifts would be from other family members.

Here is our tree after our Flock sent us out to dinner a few days before Christmas...

For some reason you can't tell how there are piles of gifts - under, beside, and around the tree and spilling over behind the couch. There were at least 40 gifts under there!!!!! And a huge bag full of stocking stufferes left in our bedroom to be used on Christmas Eve!

Plus groceries on the counter...

All from our wonderful flock!!!!

And it has not been just our flock that has provided so generously for us. Other flocks, family members and friends, and even people who remain anonymous gave or mailed gifts of cash or slipped them secretly into my purse. It has truly humbled us. We are overjoyed at this outpouring of love but we are no longer surprised to find that God moves in the hearts of His people to abundantly bless us. I really think this has been the best Christmas ever. The lessons that our kids (and Jason and I!!!) have learned are priceless.

Thanks you flock, thank you family and friends, thank you Lord Jesus!!

Bah Humbug!

My oldest 4 were in a production of A Christmas Carol. It was terrific! Madison was Scrooge. It was SO much work for her and as much as she loves it I think she's quite relieved for it to finally be over. This girl is amazing. I am so impressed with her ability to memorize and her ability to act! She has so, so, so much to work on and she was so teachable and able to implement anything needed. I was so proud of my kids. Can I just say that they are so stinkin' talented.

Carson was Fred (Scrooge's nephew) and I just have to say that I think this kids is one of the most natural child actors I have ever seen. Is there a future in big time acting for him? No way - his momma says "over my dead body." You should have heard his and Madison's accents!

My sweet Ally - she started as a narrator but then also played the creepy Spirit of Christmas Yet To Come. She played both roles so well. She had one of my favorite lines in the whole play "What happens to a man who is rich in gold and poor in everything else... when he dies...?"

And Colson makes his stage debut!! He was PRECIOUS!!! He played two characters - one of which was a gruff character named Old Joe. The entire time Old Joe was on stage he had a great gruff voice but the BIGGEST smile, complete with two dimples. I loved every second of it.

The sweetest girls ever as The Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come...

Great job Kiddos. And may God bless you, every one! :)

Pippi turns 2!

On December 5th my sweet little Piper turned 2. My how the time flies.
Here she is helping mommy make her birthday cupcakes...

I know this picture looks posed - but I am just really that cheesey in real life...
My dear sweet friend, Rachel, gave Pip this outfit to wear for her birthday. Isn't it just precious! When Pip looked in the mirror after I got her dressed she was amazed. I think she was in love with her reflection! She was even giving herself kisses!The cupcakes - on their stand - with an old dress up tutu around the bottom...

Pip loves a photo shoot...

She kept turning around and hugging the wall - weird...

Hands on hips - this is one of her toddlers and tiaras moves...

Getting birthday wishes from Grandma on the phone...

We love this little Pip - she lights up our lives!!

Blowing out her candles - I love the face on her best little buddy, Jude...

YUM-O!!

I don't know if it's that I am getting older (well, I am definitely getting older) or that she is the baby of such a large family but there is just something so special about this little girl. Every time I look at her I just think "Man, I love her SO much!" And I'm not the only one. The whole family is pretty enamoured with her. She is almost always the center of attention.

She still cuddles in bed with me every morning and lets me kiss her from head to toe every night. She says "Sank you Mommy" at ever meal when I give her her plate. When any of us tell her we love her she replies in this super cute high pitched voice "I luz you too Buba (or fill in the blank)!" No matter how many times the kids keep saying they love her she will still reply back with as much enthusiasm as the first time. When I tell her it is time to get out of the bath she always says "No ma'am please." so I sit with her until she's pruny. She loves to dance. She thinks she can run with the big kids - no matter what they are doing. She is starting to lose her baby talk and pronouncing words correctly (this kinda hurts my heart but I'm trying to not stop it - don't want a 4 year old who still says "Can I have a glass of milp?").

Happy Birthday Sweet Pip - I love you with all my heart!

Continental Kids Christmas!

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is here. I never remember feeling like these two holidays we SO close together until recent years. As soon as we got back from Louisiana it was time for our Continental Kids Christmas party (co-op)! What a fun time we had! Here's everyone all dressed up for the party (a BIG shout out to my friend Sunny who dressed us for the night since I didn't have nice holiday clothes for some of my crew). Don't we look smashing?!

Madison

Carson

Ally

Colson

Wilson

Ty

Piper

All of my kids have the bestest buddies ever in this group.

Lucy and Josie loving on their daddy.

The silliest boys ever - Carson and Mitchell.

The whole crew. I love these kids like crazy!

My friend Rachel was party planner extraordinaire! She had crafts from different continents set up and fun treats on the table. After our AMAZING comfort foods pot luck dinner we sand carols and then she had a playlist of Christmas music from around the world for the kids to dance to. And let me tell you, for a group of homeschool kids these guys really love to boogie!! (I will say that most of them do dance like they are homeschooled but bless their hearts - so do I)

I really love how the big kids love to include the little ones - none of these four sets of kids are siblings - just sweet friends...

Eliza and Katie Beth..

Ally and Lydia...

J.C. and Daniel...

Clara and Pip...

Madison and Abigail (Abigail is actually quite the ballerina)...

Blurry but sweet - Ginger and Emma...

Every time I look at this picture I love these sweet girls more! It's nutso how much I love them... Hannah, Annabelle, Ally, Clara and Lily.

Maddy and Mitchell - brother and sister - being funny...

The parents got in on the action too. Daddy and his "sweets."

Clara and her daddy (besides being great at cutting a rug with his daughters, John graciously served all the kids at the food table. SO thoughtful!)

Two of my great loves...

My baby love...

The coolest part of the night was this... During our party planning we decided to fore go hiring live musicians and instead encourage our kids to raise money for Water is Life. This is an AMAZING missions organization that brings clean water to people who do not have it. They make these water straws that people can wear around their neck and use in any water. Like, they can stick it in gross dirty pond water and get clean water in their mouths. It is amazing. The kids were given the task to save their change and do jobs to try and raise money to buy water straws. We collected just over $700 that night!! The kids are so excited about what they did. the organization is going to allow the kids to decorate all the straws they are able to pay for before sending them to Africa. You can check out what these water straws are at http://www.waterislife.com/ It really is amazing. How can we tell people that Jesus is the living water when they have no water at all? All of our families have decided to keep raising money for this wonderful missions origination.When Madison and Carson overheard me say that we were not going to hire a musician so that we could give to Water is Life they thought that maybe they could work on a song to sing for the group. They are so precious. They closed out the night by leading in Jesus Messiah. By the end everyone had joined in singing with them and some of the children even stood to their feet and raised their hands in worship. It was absolutely beautiful. The true meaning of Christmas.

Here's a video - pay no attention to the cute toddler that starts getting into things behind the singers or her handsome daddy that comes to get her. :)

(trying to get videos to post - they are not working - check back later)

Thanksgiving in Lousiana

We had so much fun visiting my parents in Monroe and celebrating Thanksgiving together with them and Joby. We drove to Dallas where we met Joby and had half the kids get in his car so we weren't double buckled for the entire 8 hours. My mom makes the most DE-LISH thanksgiving meal - I can't imagine eating anything else. We had a delightful laid back Thanksgiving day.

Pip LOVES her boots...

She LOVES her daddy like crazy cakes!

And she thinks I'm pretty awesome too...

All the kids sure do love Uncle Joby! Uncle Jack was in Spain for Thanksgiving but he will be with us for Christmas.

I will have to have Jason fix the lighting in this one in photoshop. Don't may parents look great? my mom is GORGEOUS!

Nana took us to a Christmas tree farm. It was super duper fun. In the fall it is a fully functioning pumpkin patch so it had lots of fun fall stuff.
We spent the afternoon there and even watched the sun set...

Pip and Nana on the hay ride. They did a ride just for our family - they were so so nice there...

They had huge tree swings...

Playing in the hay tunnels...

They had this train thing that the kids rode - they filled up the whole thing!

OK - this is my current obsession. I WANT ONE OF THESE IN MY BACKYARD. Jason thinks I'm a little nuts but I'm researching online. It is this adorable water play thing with water pumps and pipes that send little rubber duckies swimming to the other pool. I really want to recreate it b/c I think it would be hours and hours of fun. It certainly had all 7 of mine very excited and involved in playing the day we were there.

Back on the hay ride...

Papa also took all the kids out on his boat to look for alligators - which they saw!! I can't believe we didn't send a camera to get pictures.

On Saturday we went to the ULM game. My kids are the BIGGEST ULM fans ever. Despite the fact that the coaching staff was fired the day after the game, my kids have promised to be true blue War Hawk fans for life. :) (Pray for my dad to find a new job... oh and Jason!)

Madison can wear my shoes now - for the game I let her wear a pair of my boots. She is growing up so fast that it makes me sick!

Tailgating...

yet another picture of Pip

The drive home was just awful!The traffic was redonkulous but we made the best of it. 9 Woodards in a van for 11 hours. We made up new games and sang songs in a round and tried to keep everyone from getting on each other's nerves. it worked for the most part. It was great trip. I have so much to be thankful for.