Catching Up

The kids bathroom....I have no idea why these pics are sideways:)

The hall bathroom.

Last night Dave was saying how the last two weeks had been a blur to him. That's been about how long its been since I've blogged. Dave had two weeks out of school/one week off from the church. So what did we do? We did lots of little projects around the house. Dave tiled both upstairs bathrooms with a little direction from Ricky and Jason(thank you guys). He did a great job. Little did we know the tiling would not be our biggest problem. Putting the potties back on was extremely hard and quite yucky. We put the potties on and took them off...repeat...repeat...and never could get the wax rings to seal the potties in place. I definitely know more about the bottom of a toilet than I ever wanted to know!! We finally called a plumber...and it was worth every penny. Also putting the doors back on was harder than expected. We had to cut the doors off because the tile made the floor higher (I use the term "we" loosely, I did not really help with that). Dave, being the perfectionist that he is not only cut the doors off, but sanded, primed, and repainted them. We (again, using the term loosely) got finished with that project on Saturday afternoon.

Life at our house is as busy as ever. Abby has an ear ache at the moment. I took her to the doctor this morning. The other two have had bad coughs for a while. Sometimes it's hard to decide whether or not to take them to the doctor when they aren't running fevers. Our doctor tells me use your judgement, when you feel uncomfortable treating them, then bring them in. I just tend to second guess myself alot of times.

My Kid's Market trip was a big success. I got lots of great things for the kids. They were very pleased with their new clothes and Dave was pleased with me for staying within my budget. Kim and I had a great time as usual.

Spring Break

We decided to take a break from school this week. Dave is out of school and has also taken off from the church. We are getting some chores done around the house. We are planning to put tile in both our upstairs bathrooms. Dave pulled the flooring up in the girls bathroom and the wood was quite yucky! The kids soak the floor every time they take a bath, so it wasn't a big surprise that the wood was rotten. Today it rained so we were stuck in the house all day. We are ready to get out of the house. We are hoping to do some yard work tomorrow. We have big plans for our backyard. We are going to burn some rotted out cross ties in the back yard to help get the yard ready to be leveled. I'm ready to get some of these projects done. I'm thankful for the week off too. We desperately needed a break from that little schoolroom. Even though we will still be together everyday, its different than when I'm teacher mama. This week I can just be mama.....well maybe not..... I guess I'm always teacher and mama. Sorry if that made no sense. Today Dave also stained the rails on the staircase. He has had a productive day.....as for me, I rested alot today:) It rained all day and I could not seem to get motivated. I did some dishes, laundry and kept things picked up......but nothing productive like painting or the like. Tonight my sister Lori and her little boy are spending the night with us. Dave and Lori are involved in a serious game of Super Mario. I hope to put the kids to bed soon and watch a movie.

Girl Time

Twice a year, in the spring and the fall, Kim and I have planned, scheduled, written in stone Girl Time! We talk about it for months with anticipation. We get all of our kids clothes tagged, on hangers and ready for consignment. We usually load the van in the wee morning hour and head off to Kids Market. We eat junk food all night until time to stand in line to get our #. Two weeks later its time to SHOP!!! This is a really fun day. We have our routine.....leave at lunch, go to Olive Garden (Kim will inevitably order Alfredo, she is a creature of habit:) We go to the gas station to pick up waters and diet coke, and go take our place in line to shop! We usually start at 3 or 4 and finish up around midnight. We have the best time. On the way home we stop by Krispy Kreme and just hope the HOT NOW sign is on! We take these home to our families for breakfast the next morning......we eat a few too! When our kids are older and we no longer need to shop at Kids Market, I wonder what our new scheduled Girl Time will be? Who knows but I'm sure it will be fun! This year we have extended the time and decided to leave in time to catch a late movie......Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Snow Day

This our pitiful snowman. Our gloves were just getting wet which made it hard to roll the snow.

Dave was ruthless with the snowballs!

My toothless snow angel. I had to take her back in for a bogan and some gloves!

Yes that is Samuel with a purple glove. We were short on gloves this morning!

Charlie is Abby's sidekick. He liked playing in the snow. Abby got up ready to go out and play.

Mine and Abby's hand prints on the van.

I was so excited that it snowed today. I kept getting up during the night checking to see if we had any snow. We didn't. I was so sad. But James Span kept saying it was coming to East Alabama.....and when it finally arrived, it was beautiful. We played out in the snow for a while, built a fire, roasted marshmallows, ate chili, and took a nap. What more could you ask for on a snow day.

Next weekend the forecast is sunny and 70. You gotta love this Alabama weather!

my three

Alicia took these pictures of our family on Friday. I think she did a great job. These are two of my favorites.....I really love these kids! Don't they look like are having fun. Can't you hear their giggles. I wish I could bottle it to have forever.

New Pictures

Priorities

Below is an excerpt from the book Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. This comes from the chapter Lies women believe about priorities. This was great timing for me to read this. I don't know about you, but I find myself trying to do it all. Trying to be superwoman. This chapter was great for me, especially this:

LIE: A career outside the home is more fulfilling than being a wife and mother.

TRUTH: 1 Timothy 5:9-10 There is no higher calling than that of a wife and mother

Genesis 2:24 3:20 God uniquely designed woman to be a bearer and nurturer of life.

Titus 2 :4-5 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 There is no greater measure of a womans worth or success than the extent to which she serves as the heart of her home.

Genesis 2:18 God's plan is that a woman's primary attention and efforts should go to her children and her husband.

"Life: What a beautiful choice" These women have chosen life by bearing children, and they are also choosing life everyday.....



*with every meal they prepare

*with everyload of dirty clothes they wash

*with every trip they make to the grocery store, to school, to the dentist, to piano lessons, to soccer practice, or to the shoe store

*with every scraped knee they bandage

*with every encouraging word they speak

*with every night hour they spend rocking a sick or scared child

*with every dispute they arbitrate

*with every moment they spend building legos, coloring, helping with math problems, reading a Bible story, or listening to a husband or child describe his day

*with every moment they spend interceding for the spiritual growth and protection of their family.


I love that! I feel I must say I do not think this is saying women cannot work outside of their homes. We just must keep our primary focus on our homes, our husbands and our children. I hope this is as much of an encouragement to you as it was to me.