And life goes on...

I have been busy reading all my comments :) and not taken the time to post. Thank you for all the kind, complimentary things written about me. The next time you see me I'm going to look different because my ego is inflated and you thought it was weight gain (shame on you)

Things I've been up to lately. 1. had to get groceries with all 3 kids yesterday. I'm spoiled because I usually can leave them with David. 2. I'm reading "Fighting for Dear Life" by David Gibbs (the story about Terri Schiavo) which leads me to 3. I'm in competition with a friend. We are to walk 2 mi. a day or 10 mi. a week. We check in on Sundays. I read during my warm up and cool down or anytime I can breathe without having to think about it :) Well she got behind (she only has 4 kids 4yrs. and under) The last I talked to her she is going to try and double up and give me a run for my money. We have one more week of reporting and then the final week is up for grabs. The prize is free babysitting! I MUST win. 4. Over the weekend we went to a Farmers Market with friends and got some fun pics but it was crowded so the priority was keeping track of children. 5. I'm counting down the days until David and I get to officially celebrate our Anniversary by going on a date without the kids. My dear friend Ronda (hopefully she remembers ha) has offered to babysit for us. When I mention to my kids about them going to the Englands I have to hold my ears from their excitement. 6. We got to meet the Keeps, missionary family to the Philippians, Sunday night. Great family and really neat to hear about their work and heart for the Filipinos.

Here are the pics from the farmers market

Waterman Farm Market 2007

Fresh cut Fall flowers

Ever have a friend that you can't out do? The other day I had the van so I went to help out a friend for a couple hrs. I offered to do things for her that I hate doing around here, like mop the floor, iron or wash walls. Somehow it sounded like fun to do them at her house. She opted to go to the grocery store while I watched her children. We had a lively time. She picked up flowers for her table while she was out and thought I would enjoy some too. Thought I would share them with you.

Okay, Okay People...

I created a monster with that last post. Who knew that just being real would bring out the ire in people. I was greatly misunderstood by Anonymous too :) Thank you to all that wrote and were positive. Here's the deal...Sarah (with an H) Brooke has pictures hung all over the living room plus what you saw on the fridge. I guess if I was trying to squelch her creativity then I wouldn't have let her do that. Seriously people you can't keep every paper! I keep samples of her work. The offensive Ugh remark in the post was because I'm still cleaning up from this creative binge :) This blog world has been a fun thing for me so hopefully anonymous will get a life and name that they are proud of enough to include with their remarks.

My Reality...

Sarah Brooke has been busy painting. David brought home scrap paper from the surveying office and it has brought out the artist in her. Ugh! Now all you Mothers out there that caution us to enjoy the moments, treasure them, capture them, were you talking about such things as this display on my fridge? Somehow when you are in the stage of life I'm in with my" little treasures" it is very difficult to imagine that this will ever seem like a beautiful thing to me. If you can't tell , I'm raising a pack rat that won't get rid of anything that she has spent time creating. By nature I don't see the value in my own handy work so I'm wondering where she has inherited this trait from. I'm trying to help her enjoy the creative process and then let it go (as in never to see or find again). The other day she painted a picture for every child in her class and then asked me to help her as she spelled out their names on each one. She proudly passed out her abstact pieces of art the next day during the segmant of class where the teacher asks for any announcements. She skipped home having made a successful delivery of her treasures. Until this stage is over I will keep all the misc. fridge art holders (magnets) and tell myself I will miss this one day.

What a difference a week can make...

Last Thursday the kids had an early release day from school. We decided to treat them to a trip to the zoo. It was a scorcher of a day. The temperature was in the 90's. The high today is 60 degrees. The enchanted mill (fountain play area) was the favorite spot. The fountains come up sporadically so the element of surprise is part of the fun. David and I tried to cool off on a park bench in the shade. I sliced apples for our snack and lugged drinks around for my little munchkins.

October 4, 2007 Afternoon at the zoo

It was really fun just being together as a family. Towards the end of our time I was commenting how nice it was to be about the only ones at the zoo. When we were leaving I asked the lady when the zoo closed and it was 30 min. prior. No wonder we were the only ones around. oh me!

October 4, 2007 Afternoon at the zoo II

Happy Anniversary to Me ...la la la la

Sixteen years ago today I married this handsome, young man. He was and still is my very best friend and the one that I prefer to hang out with. We were engaged for a year and that was necessary for me to 1. decide what I even wanted for the wedding (I was a bit young) 2. we dated long distance (I lived in Kansas and his family in Indiana). We met when his parents came to Pastor my home church in Tulsa, Okla. Less than a year later my family moved to Kansas for work and David's parents took a pastorate in Greenfield, IN. We flew back and forth to see one another and kept the spark alive :) We "dated" for 5 whole years before he married me at age 19. So very young but I really do believe God put us together and I'm very happy with God's choice. I remember driving off after we were married and reveling in the fact that I didn't have to say good bye to him anymore. The photo (below) is a picture of this framed picture in our bedroom. It is the best I could do since our digital camera is only 2 yrs. old and I don't have a scanner. The colors for the wedding were black and like an emerald green. My Mother made my dress which this picture doesn't do it justice and my sister-in-law Rachel made the bouquet. It had tiny little lights in it. David's Dad married us and my Dad gave me away :) He said that wasn't easy. I didn't have a clue then but now that I have children I can only imagine.

I will close this post with an unusual song that we had sung that day but I love it still.
"THE SHIPS ARE BURNING" by Steve and Annie Chapman
We made this journey
We sailed here together
We made a promise
We'd stay here forever and when we reached the shore
We kissed the ground
You took my hand and we turned around And we smiled
While we watched the flames light up the night

Cause' the ships were burning, There'll be no turning back for you and me
Whatever we find here, We've made it clear
This is where we'll always be, On this island of pleasure
There'll be some danger ,And we might think about returning
But we both know we won't go
That's why the ships are burning.

Too many lovers are keeping their ships anchored in the bay
And one by lonely one we've seen them sail away
But when we reached the shore
We kissed the ground
You took my hand and we turned around and we smiled
While we watched the flames Light up the night.

Lesson on Curls and more CURLS

This is how you get

This look