REFRESHING!!!!

2 weeks ago I was blessed with the opportunity to go to a Mom's Conference in Dallas. A dear friend got me a scholarship to attend and what a WONDERFUL time it was!! I went with 5 friends but met up with a few more down there. We had so much FUN and had time to be renewed in our calling as mothers. Here's the gang...

Our friend Tiffany does this convention every year. Her love for it is what spurred the rest of us to want to join. She knew all the best places to eat and shop. She even prepared the awesome little gift bags for each of us!!!
Inside were goodies to enjoy during the conference complete with a "friendship" cup that had scripture on it, a straw and a diet coke to fill it! How thoughtful she is!!

Sally Clarkson was fantastic (It was her Wholeheart Conference). We each had our own hotel room so that we could spend time alone reading, praying, and reflecting on what we were being challenged with. that alone time was precious to me and so appreciated.

We also had so much FUN together. I love these women so much. They made me laugh so hard at one point - I don't know if I've even laughed as hard as I did that night. We are also so cool - we do stuff like pretend we are smoking bread sticks. Jealous?

Another highlight was how Andrea decided to keep her diet coke cooled. Shed filled up were water goblet with ice water that was on the table and plopped her bottle in. It was really that funny - but one of the looks she got was. Next to the glass is her treat bag of chocolates (from Tiffany) that turned out to be the LOUDEST plastic bag ever to open during a quiet session. It made us all giggle like we were children.

Charming Charlies - Awesome! Find one near you. Alica has always has such good fashion sense...

Taking a rest while everyone else finished shopping at Anthropologie...

This was my view while sitting on the couch in Anthropologie. I thought it was beautiful and looked like it would made a good picture or magazine cover...

My ENORMOUS bowl of soup at Central Market - weird...

We packed out the SUV by the time we left - much shopping!! So fun!!

Can't even put into words the blessing this trip was to me. It was good for my body, my heart, and my soul.

Valentines and my painted sweetheart

Our Valentine party is tomorrow. The kids are pretty pumped and to be honest, so am I. If I can just get all the planning squared away then I will be able to enjoy it. The party is my responsibility this year.
We started getting our Valentines made last week. Woo hoo - look at you - so on the ball! Right? Well, we only did them because normally we would be stressing the day before to get everything done! But not this year - I'm on top of it. Last night I let the kids make their bags. I say "let them" because normally I "help them" which means - I try to do it because I want it to look a certain way. What a nut! They do such a great job on their own. They love their bags and I think they are awesome! I got out different color bags, stickers, paper, markers, ribbons, and glue and let them go to town.

Madison and Ally's...

Carson and Cole (I love how they both chose brown bags and blue stuff yet still made them so sweet)...
Wilson and Tyson's (love the Happy Vallintims Day at the bottom of Tyson's)....
I even let Pip get crafty. Everything on here she wanted - she even put all the hearts on...

Last week we finished out adorable Valentines that we will be handing out. Now remember - we have 27 kids to pass Valentines to and I have 7 kids. Imagine trying to have each of them make 27?! So, the twins did theirs jointly and Pip didn't do any. I got these great ideas online. SO fun!

Madison and Ally each made 27 treats out of match boxes. They decorated the box and then filled them with M&M's..

Carson and Cole each made 20 of these little guys (I decided they could give their siblings a plain Hershey Kiss b/c I was tired of gluing felt hats!)...

And the twins just attached hearts to clothespins and filled bags with candy - and the super cute Valentine Peeps...

I'm also making lunch for the mommies to have at the party. I think for my fruit salad I'm going to cut the strawberries like this...

Do they look like hearts or little bustiers?? Hahaha!

SO - while I was getting so organized in the kitchen for tomorrow the kids were all playing in their rooms with a flash light. They were having quite a good time and I just assumed Piper was with them. That is until Madison says "OHH NO PIPER!!! UMMM - Daddy! I think this is one for YOU!!!"

Now first of all, can we talk about what that means... this one is for daddy? Why do you think that is? Well, full disclosure here... Mommy can be a little high strung and mommy tends to lose her temper way more than daddy. It was a little fun to us that she said that but truly sad to me to think my kids know to go to daddy with a big mess b/c mommy might get too upset. Oh to be free from my sin!!

Anyways - I was completely composed the entire time we dealt with this...

Piper decided paint her toe nails...

and her fingernails...

and the floor, the counter, the cabinets, the shower door, and the bathtub. She was pretty proud of herself. So instead of getting all the kids clothes picked out for the next day and lined up in the hallway, Jason and I got Pip in the bath and I scrubbed all surfaces while he scrubbed her. Even after i finished there was still lots to go on her!! So I joined in. She was very cooperative even when she was saying "ow" because we were scrubbing too hard.

This is just so classic. This is what my life is like all the time. Always trying to be on top of everything and always realizing that no one can be on top of everything. It is still all the fun in the world. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Sitting here now I am completely exhausted! A day full of paper hearts - all over the floor, M&M's - also on the floor and in the creases of my kids mouths, 48 cupcakes and 48 sugar cookies, temper tantrums, Charlie and Lola, burning dinner, flashlight chaos, party prep and nail polish clean up... It's my life - and I love it (and am so thankful for my Valentine who shares it all with me).

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.