Getty Up Cowboy...Justus' 1st Birthday Party...

It was a cowboy theme. Note the western wear on Daddy and Justus. Justus' overalls had cowboy boots on his bottom. Here are the simple decorations- streamers and a few things hanging from the ceiling.
Our kids love horses and Disney's Toy Story. So... for the center piece we have Chloe's toy horse, Chloe's doll horse's saddle, Woody's lantern, and a pair of Justus' cowboy boots.
Over here we have another pair of Justus' boots, another toy horse, the picture of Justus with his foot on the table and the cake.
I used cowboy hats for serving trays. Thank you, Emily, for the hats.
I even had an outhouse sign on the bathroom door. I had other signs hanging around the house too.
Justus wondered what we were all doing during the Happy Birthday song.
He tried to get into the big cake. Then we gave him his own little cake. He was very slow in the beginning.He started to get the hang of it.Then he just dove into it.He had fun! He was covered.
Thank you Granny and Papaw, Nana and Papa, Grandmama and Gary, Kennedy Bunch, Johnson Bunch, and Reynolds Bunch for the presents. I am having fun playing with my big boy toys.

Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside My Window...A beautiful sunny fall day! A little breeze too.
I am thinking...Boy! Do I have a lot to do, but I need some rest. This past weekend wore me out.
I am thankful for...the wonderful time of fellowship we had this weekend with our friends, family, and church.
From the kitchen...a sink full of dishes waiting on me. Pancakes for breakfast. Rally's cheeseburger and fries (they have the best fries at Rally's) for lunch. Taco crescents for dinner.
I am wearing... brown plaid skirt, white shirt w/ brown sweater vest
I am creating...nothing this week
I am going...to pick the girls up from school this afternoon and get busy on chores
I am reading...the KJV Bible- I Thessalonians, How to Raise a Gentleman by Kay West, Boys and Girls Who Became Great Missionaries by John Mueller
I am hoping...to get a few things done, but mostly to get a little rest. I need to be refreshed and reenergized.
I am hearing...quiet-boys are taking a nap
Around the house...lots to clean up after the two parties we had this weekend- birthday party & church fall party
One of my favorite things...hot chocolate with peppermint- I am going to make some tonight
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... Tues-take Chloe to piano lessons, Wed-mid week church service (I have nursery duty this week), Fri- volleyball game and Aaron is going to a men's conference in Indianapolis, Sat- bus visitation, Sun- church (I am teaching children's service this week.) Just the normal weekly stuff is on the planner. I hope to have an uneventful, restful week.
Here is picture thought I am sharing...

I have so many pictures to choose from this week b/c of the parties. I decided to post this one of Justus b/c I am going to post the parties later on today. Aaron and I took the boys to the park (girls were at school) and he enjoyed swinging on Daddy's lap.

Blogging ladies- I encourage you to do this weekly blog. It is fun. It allows us to get to know each other even better. It also makes you think. It is done each Monday.

Good Morning to all (or afternoon or evening-depending on when you are stopping by)! I am soon to be out the door for a busy day of running around. With the cost of gas hitting this home hard, I am trying to cram all errands into one day. We already drive 78 miles each day taking the kids to and from school, so each trip into the closest town with a Wal-Mart is a gas gulper.

Justus' birthday party is tomorrow. If anyone coming plans to eat something I had better get a few more things. I have some unused items to return to the store for our church. I have to pick up pictures at JCPenney's. (They do an excellent job of portraits if anyone is planning family pics. They have great coupon's too! Look for them in catalog's. $3.99 sheets and $8.99 packages- big packages-both with no sitting fee.) I have to pick up Granny's present for Justus from the Wal-mart site-to-store area. Get kids from school, start making party decorations,... Anyway, the list goes on and on.

Just letting you know about the day. We have youth rally tonight with bowling afterwards. Justus' party tomorrow- cowboy theme. Check in Sunday afternoon. Hopefully I will have had time to post again by then.

It's a Lovely Day...

Hello everyone! Today is expected/predicted to be an uneventful day, but a great day. I am enjoying it so far. I am at home tending to my motherly and wifely duties- playing with baby, cooking, cleaning, organizing, and laundry. Days like this are my favorite. I enjoy just being at home doing those every day things more than going, going, going. I look forward to my days like this!

Tomorrow will be a different story. It is already packed with errands and places to be. I will have to hit the ground running tomorrow. So... I am going to soak up today in preparation for tomorrow.

By the way, it is absolutely gorgeous here today. The air is crisp and breezy. The leaves are already turning shades of yellow, red, and orange. I LOVE it!! I am gathering things together, hoping that the kids and I can make a homemade scarecrow this year when the leaves fall. We usually buy one of those $6.00 ones at Wal-mart. Why? I don't know. Convenience, I guess. But not this year. We are going to do it the old-fashioned country way.

What's Up Doc?

I expected today's well child check up at the doctor's office to be a normal visit. It wasn't. We got some wonderful news today, and we got some terrible news today. I will start with the terrible first, so that I can end on a good note.


Justus had his 12 month check-up. He is 28 inches long(short for his age). He is 21.5 pounds(normal for his age). He is developmentally right on track in most areas and a little advanced in some. He had his lead levels tested today. This is the bad news. They want lead levels to be no higher than 3. His level was 34! Yes, that was 34! My jaw dropped. We ended up having to go to the hospital to have more detailed and specific blood work done. We will get the results early next week. They also tested Asher. His level was 9. We are all going to be tested. After Justus' results come in. The doctor will decide if we need to be treated with medicine. We hope that we are catching early enough so that the kids are not harmed.


Our home was built in the early 1900's. It is probably something in our house that we have got to find. We know that it isn't paint or the walls. The interior of the house was redone in the 80's. We aren't sure about our plumbing. We could have some type of lead piping. We are going to have a plumber check it out. We hope that it is not the piping. That will cost quite a bundle-- that we don't have --to correct. Hopefully it is something that can be easily fixed. If not, we hope that we can get the money we will need to get it fixed. God has always provided for us in the past when we didn't know where it could possibly come from. He can do it again.


The good news is that Asher's hearing is now perfect. Asher had his surgery in July. We had a hearing test in August. The test showed only about a 1% improvement. We went today to see what other steps we needed to take to get him hearing. Our pediatrician did a small hearing test in the office. The results showed that Asher had perfect hearing. He then sent us to a specialist to have his hearing more specifically tested. He wanted to see if it was just a fluke. The audiologist couldn't believe it. He passed all of the tests with flying colors. The same tests that he failed a month and a half ago. They had no explanation for it. I do- God did it! Many people have been praying for his hearing.


Now we are going to go through the steps to get him back in speech therapy. Since he can hear now, therapy should actually work and help this time. Our insurance will not cover any more of the cost for therapy. We are going to go through our public school system. Our dr. said that once a child is 3 years old, the school system is required to give them therapy whether they will be attending school there or not. Hopefully we won't have to much of a hastle getting him enrolled. Hopefully they can get his speech development caught up to his age. Hopefully we will be able to better understand him and communicate with him soon. I know that he has been so frustrated at not being able to talk to us. Praise the Lord he can now hear and should be talking clearly soon!


-----------------------------------------------------------

Last night we went to the high school girls' first home volleyball game. Abbie, our socialite, was immediately surrounded with friends. Asher had one friend that he played with in the bleachers next to us. Justus was so busy trying to not miss anything. Chloe---this little boy, Levi, followed her around the entire time. He is in the 3rd grade. I snapped a picture of them in the hallway. Chloe brought a whole bunch of stickers to the game. He kept asking her for stickers. This brought back memories for Aaron. It scared him a little. The first time he talked to me he asked me for my stickers. I was scrapbooking in the activity center. He still has those stickers.





Chloe, Levi, and Justus.

A Heart For Christ

Psalm 103 (just a few verses) "BLESS the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;...He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniqities. ... Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul."


Has the Lord ever put so many things on your heart and in your mind at the same time that you begin working on overload? That is where I am today. He has placed many ideas, tasks, and people on my mind. My mind has been jumping all over the place. I am thankful though. It is a comforting feeling when you know something is from the Lord or someone is placed in your path by the Lord. It is always nice to realize "He wants to use me!" Of course we know this in our minds, but sometimes we have to realize this in our hearts.

I know for myself too often I end up going about my daily Christian life in a robot mode, because it is a routine. I have lots of Bible knowledge. I know most of the answers to the questions. I can give counsel. However, it becomes such a routine, such a habit that I don't stop and realize how the Lord wants to use me, work through me, and work on me each day. It needs to be HIM doing it all through me, not me doing it own my own. I don't want to take my relationship with the Lord for granted. I don't want to take my responsibilities from the Lord for granted. I don't want to take what he Has allowed me to learn and what He has shown me for granted. I want to take the time to stop and really consider what new things the Lord has for me each day and realize how amazing He is and be appreciative that He does want to use a sinner like me.

I believe God wants to show us new things each day, but we sometimes put on our "I already know this or I have read this many times before" mindset when we study our Bibles, listen to the preacher's message, have Bible discussions with others, teach our children, counsel with others, etc... Those of us who are from a Christian home, have been to Bible college, in the ministry, or very active in our church are more guilty of this. We know most things in our MINDS, but that hinders us from getting it into our HEARTS.

I want to be careful what I pass on to my children. I want them to get it into their hearts as well as their minds. I don't want to pass on knowledge. I don't want to pass on a routine. I want to pass on a HEART's desire.

Simple Woman's Daybook Weekly Thought

Outside My Window...The sun is peeking out behind the clouds. I love the fall mornings!

I am thinking...I have found tons of helpful Christian woman sites and blogs this morning.

I am thankful for...the beautiful weather we are having--I am so thankful that it is fall! It is my FAVORITE season. I love all of the colors and the crispness in the air. It is so nice to be outside during this time.

From the kitchen...sounds of the dishwasher - cold cereal for breakfast, soup for lunch, and probably manwich for dinner -I need to go the grocery store

I am wearing... navy blue Nike shirt and khaki culottes

I am creating...the feeling of fall around the house, birthday stuff for Justus' party

I am going...to pick the girls up from school this afternoon

I am reading...the KJV Bible, How to Raise a Gentleman by Kay West, Boys and Girls Who Became Great Missionaries by John Mueller

I am hoping...to get a lot accomplished around the house today

I am hearing...the boys playing

Around the house...LAUNDRY-- I am behind due to my surgery and pain afterwards

One of my favorite things...I'll repeat again---The Fall Season

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... take Chloe to piano lessons, go grocery shopping, 1st home volleyball game -Tuesday, the boys have a doctors appointment and attend church -Wednesday, Teen Youth Rally - Friday, Justus' birthday party -Saturday, Church Fall bonfire service and hayride -Sunday night

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

BOYS WILL BE BOYS-- I was working outside, and they kept making faces at me through the screen door. I couldn't believe even little Justus got involved. The shirtless boy is our neighbor, Cameron. He comes over to play pretty much every day.

Happy Birthday Justus!!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY JUSTUS AARON

Justus then.....

and Justus now.......

Justus enjoying his birthday breakfast at IHOP. He sat like this most of the time while eating.
Justus sitting in his very own red rocking chair from Grandmama. Each of the kids have one that they received from her on their first birthdays. The PARTY will be next weekend. More pics then.

Scenes of Autumn Around Our House

AUTUMN ARRIVES

Yesterday we went to the pumpkin farm to get pumpkins!! When we got home we ate breakfast for dinner. Then we had our first pumpkin pie of the season! It was sooo yummy! I love the fall! I forgot to take the camera when we went, so this picture is from our front steps.

Real Mothers...

Real Mothers don't eat quiche; they don't have time to make it.
Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox.
Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids.
Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn't come out of carpets.
Real Mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.
Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?' and get their answer when a little voice says,

'Because I love you best.'

Real Mothers know that a child 's growth is not measured by height or years or grade...
It is marked by the progression of Mama to Mom to Mother...

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!
8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!
12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.
14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.
16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.
18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!
25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it.
35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.
45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?
65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.


The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

Feeling Better

I am still not 100% myself, but I am doing much better. Yesterday, my doctor gave me a better pain medicine. I think this is going to work and help me bounce back. I was able to do some laundry yesterday, and hopefully I will get a few more things done today. I am going to take it slowly. I do have to go get the kids from school today and take Chloe to piano. That drive may be enough to fill my activity level for the day, since school is about 20 miles away. I am not really suppose to drive with my medicine. However, it doesn't seem to make me loopy, so I should be okay.

Last night a lady from our church offered to bring us a meal tonight. What a wonderful blessing. I am very thankful for the help and thoughtfulness. Isn't it wonderful how God meets our needs before we even know what they are? Aaron talked to his insurance boss after that. He has to work in Ft. Wayne today, which is about 1 1/2 hours away. He will not be home until later, so he wouldn't be here to help me with dinner. Now it is just being brought to us, and I don't have to worry about it at all!!!

I am expecting all to be well with me soon. My next posts should be about the kids and our normal lives. Justus will be one this Saturday! We are having his party on October 4th. This weekend was already filled with other events for our family and friends. I can't believe how the year has gone by so quickly. He has really changed a lot during this last month or so. I think his being able to walk did it.

Surgery and Birthday

My surgery is over, but I can't really say that it was successful. I had my DNC to get out the placenta. The doctor also had to correct something with my cervix that was not put back together correctly after having Justus, so I have several stitches also. The endometral ablation was not done. The hospital had two machines that are used for the procedure and neither of them would work, so I have to have another surgery in the near future to get that done and take care of my other problems. I am in quite a bit of pain. I was not prepared for that. I thought I might be a little uncomfortable, but it is more than that. It must be from whatever they did for my cervix or from trying out two different machines. I don't know, but I am ready for it to be over. I don't think it is from the DNC, b/c others who have had one didn't mention much pain afterwards. Or maybe I am just a SUPER WIMP! I know I don't have much pain tolerance, but I would say this is worse than I felt after having any of my children. When I think I can get up and do something, I do. Then a little bit afterwards I regret moving around so much.

Pray for me to fill better soon. Me being down for too long will start making things really pile up around here. Then ,as many of you know-especially my family and former college roomates, the piles will start to drive me crazy. Then I will be frustrated at all of the mess and at everyone who made any of it-- including myself.

I turned 31 yesterday. Thank you to everyone for my birthday gifts. I spent my day laying down on the couch and in the bed. I watched lots of movies and slept.

My Surgery

Pic: The kids and I a few hours after Justus was born.

Okay, surgery day is approaching. It is tomorrow at 12:30. The time has been changed 3 times this week, but my doctor assured me today that this will be the time. I have had to rearrange the kids and where they are going and when they are going there 2 times. I have got all 4 kids going to a different house. Chloe and Abbie will both be going home from school with friends and spending the night. Asher and Justus are both going to homes of ladies from our church and Aaron will pick them up sometime after I get home.





For those of you whom I have not told and have been asking my surgery has to do with my mommy parts. I will be very discreet and try to explain a little of what is going on. I have been having some difficulties since April. I went to the doctor. I have grown a placenta but no baby has ever formed. My body has been trying to flush it out. I have basically been having a really long miscarriage. I had a miscarriage the month before I got pregnant with Justus. So...within a 15 to 16 month time frame I had 2 failed pregnancies. I am going to have a DNC and something called an endometral uterine ablation. It is an alternative to a hysterectomy. I will not be able to get pregnant again after having this surgery. This is best for my health also. As most of you know each pregnancy has been very difficult on me. I have more problems with my own health after each one. Aaron and I had already made the decision not to have anymore on our own before finding this out. We are very happy and thankful for the 4 healthy children that we have.





Both of these surgeries are outpatient. I will be at the hospital for a few hours afterwards, and then I will be able to come home. I will be down for a little while after that, but at least I will be at home. Thank you for all of your thoughts, notes, and prayers.

Justus with a Pacifier?

You all know that none of my kids have ever had a pacifier. Look what Justus found and has had in his mouth today. It was left at our house by mistake.

Life As Usual

Hey everyone! Nothing new or really exciting going on around here. We are just busy with life as usual.

We had good services on Sunday. I taught children's church. We had an indoor picnic. I sat the kids on old table cloths on the floor in the fellowship hall. I gave them something to drink and a snack while I taught the lesson. The lesson was on children coming to see Jesus and all that Jesus can do for even a child and how Jesus wants to hear from them. I also taught them several different events and miracles in the Bible that involved children. The kids loved it! I will have to do it again, maybe two or three times a year that way it won't be too often.--- I mean the picnic not the lesson.

Yesterday the kids went to school. I went to the doctor and the hospital to have my bloodwork and pre-op stuff done for my surgery that will be this Friday. While at the doctor's office Justus tripped and hit his head on the corner of the step that goes up to the patient's table. He got a big gash and blood was getting all over. He was SCREAMING!! I don't blame him. He hit it hard. I was glad that we were at a doctor's office. They cleaned him up, fixed him up, and put a cold pack on it. It doesn't look so bad now. However, yesterday was his picture day. Soo... his pictures have a gash on his forehead. We are capturing the memory! We were still in town at lunch time. Justus was sound asleep and not waking up, so I got to eat outside at Panera Bread with him asleep in the stroller. It was quite peaceful. It was sunny. There was a little breeze. I ate my soup and salad and read a magazine. It was great!! (For some reason as I was typing that I just heard and pictured in my mind Tony the Tiger from Kellog's saying that.)

Today I am Cinderella!! I have lots of household chores to do- mostly laundry. It is cold (60), dark, and rainy outside. It will be quiet at home this morning with just Justus and I, but if it is still rainy this afternoon it will be wild. The kids will be stuck inside. After being at school all day, they need to get rid of energy. Outside is the best place for that.

Aaron's 31st Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Aaron. He turned 31 today. (Yeah-I know- the picture of me to the left looks pretty rough. I look super tired and my hair is crazy. What is that poof thing up there? Aaron looks cute though) Last night we celebrated with a few friends and their kids. We had a good time of fellowship, food, and fun. We ate Aaron's favorite meal, mexican food- tacos, burritos, and nachos with queso dip. We had ice cream cake for dessert. Instead of putting the traditional Happy Birthday on his cake, I put Congrats Karma #1 in the FF League. Hyles Karma is the name of his team in the fantasy football league. His league is the preacher boy league. Yes, it includes preachers- mostly all pastors or youth pastors in our area. It is a long story on why he picked that name. Anyway, he was #1 in the league this week, so I knew he and the others would get a kick out of that being on the cake. Doug Keppell was at the party last night. He and Aaron play against each other this week, so I thought I would rub it in a little for him too. The kids played with each other and entertained themselves. We did make an attempt at getting them all to lay down to watch a movie, but that didn't last very long. We adults played a game of Balderdash. The girls beat the boys!! Brittain Johnson had the most points overall. I came in second. We had a wonderful time! Now, I am looking forward to going to Emily's mafia party and looking forward to hosting our fall party! Who knows- maybe I am glad to have these activities more than the others. Remember though-- I mostly have conversations with children and play games with children. I may be starving for some meaningful adult times. If so, that's okay!

Our plans to go with our neighbors to the park were cancelled today due to the rain. Still pray for us and our relationship and witness to them.

Look below for pics of last night. I have some cute ones of the kids.

My Affectionate Boys

The boys are my loving, huggy, kissy children. Yes, the boys. NO, not the girls. Justus has been giving lots of hugs today. Here is a pic of Asher hugging Justus when he was brand new, and Justus hugging Asher yesterday. Now that he can walk around, he hugs more. I guess it is because he isn't looking at everyone's feet and knees anymore. He is right at hug height.

Lovely Days- Busy Days- Fall Days

All is well around here. We are enjoying the beautiful Fall weather we are getting right now!!! I LOVE the Fall weather!!! It has been around 68 for the past 5 days. This kind of weather is refreshing. It makes me just want to be outside as much as possible. It is not too hot. It is not too cold. The colors that will soon be arriving are my favorite. I really enjoy decorating for the fall too. I do just fall stuff towards the end of September. Then in November I throw in the Pilgrims and Indians for Thanksgiving. I have actually come to enjoy seeing all of the corn being harvested in the fall. (When we first moved to Indiana my thoughts were more of is there anything else to look at around here other than corn.) I love the foods of fall. We have a couple of ladies in our church who love to make pumpkin breads, carrot breads, zucchini breads, etc... We always are given a few loaves. I also love the holiday season that is already surrounding us everywhere. However, it is a little bit crazy to see Wal-Mart already covered with Christmas decorations. We have birthdays this month- three in our house. In October we are hosting at our house a fall party for several of the other young pastors and youth pastors and their families. Right now we mostly just see them at the youth rallies and church camps we all attend with our youth groups. We thought it would be nice to get together when we are not working, when we can be more focused on fellowshipping and really getting to know each other. I am looking forward to it. I am already scouting out the dollar store for cute fall items, so I can start making small gift baskets to give away to each family.

Saturday is Aaron's 31st birthday. Tomorrow we are have two couples and their kids over for a small party. Saturday we are going to a state park about an hour away with our neighbors and their kids. Our children are together most of the day when they get out of school. We have to drag them inside to eat dinner and drag them inside again at dark.( I remember those days. I occasionally miss the times when all I had to worry about was how long I would get to play.) This family is a deep rooted Catholic family. The kids also go to a Catholic school. This is the first time we adults are really spending any time together other than small talk on the sidewalk. Pray for us to be the right witness to them. Of course we want to share the truth of God's Word with them, but we need to know God's timing and how He would have us deal with this. In small areas we have already have had to deal with a few of the differences and falsehoods with our own children. I think it would be easier to deal with our kids becoming friends with a family who does not attend or rarely attends church than the situation we have now. We know that God has put them in our lives or rather us in their lives for a reason. Pray that we can be a light to the truth for them.

We are super busy every weekend. Our next available Saturday is the first Saturday in November. Well, I do have October 11th, but I am pretty sure I am going to squeeze in a garage sale that weekend. Aaron will be away at a Men's retreat though, so it will be me tackling it alone with the kids. Wow! The weekdays are normally packed. They still are, and there are a few added school things. It is busy. It is fun!! But... it is also exhausting at times. Other than piano for Chloe, most of these things that make us busy are responsibilities Aaron and I have committed to. I don't even want to think about what it will be like when the kids are older and have their own practices, ball games, etc...

The picture is of a cute little potato I had in my potato bag. It was the perfect little heart shape. I made it into a twice baked potato for Aaron.

Asher Sleeping

I just posted these precious pictures of the kids peacefully sleeping. Then tonight as I am walking up the stairs this is what I found. At first my thoughts were "Oh my goodness, what is wrong with him. He must have passed out." He was fine- just sound asleep. I do not know what he was doing- probably waiting on me to bring him a "night night cup." We are trying to break him from this habit.

Just ignore the yucky wall papered wall behind him. We are painting it soon. Paint is in the garage. It is on the to do list.

Dream Land

We had a very good time at the youth rally on Friday night. Ted Inman from Heartland Baptist College preached about laying it all on the field for the Lord like a star player does to win the game for his team. Afterwards we had a one-pitch softball tournament. We combined our teens with another church to make a team. We came in 6th place out of 15 teams. That's not so bad. Overall everyone had a great time. However, it was a very late night. I brought the boys home around 11:00. Aaron and the girls did not get home until 2:30. The kids slept VERY late on Saturday. The girls and Asher got up around 11:30. Justus got up around 9:00.

Justus still sleeps without a favorite toy. The other three must have their toys in order to sleep. Asher is hugging his Clifford. Abbie has her baby, Justus. Chloe has her horse, Nordice

Our Every Day Lives & Preacher Kenny Baldwin

We have been busy this week, but not with anything really interesting - just our every day lives. We have been busy doing things at home and at church.

At home all is the same, and all is well. Abbie and Asher are still enjoying school. Asher cries on the days he doesn't get to go. If he continues to do this, we will probably go ahead and send him 5 days instead of 3. If the boy loves school, I want to encourage it. Chloe still could do without school, but she has brought home all A's- and most are A+'s- this week. The picture is of a few of her papers. Abbie has been riding her "two wheeler" as she calls it. She is so proud to not have training wheels anymore. Chloe still won't ride without training wheels, so this makes Abbie even prouder. Justus is perfecting his walking skills. He grins from ear to ear everytime he makes it across the room.

At church all is well also. Yesterday Aaron and I spent a few hours cleaning up his office. It is finally presentable again. His desk and papers and books and just stuff were all getting out of control. We cleaned out and refilled a filing cabinet and cleaned off and refilled the bookshelves. The top of his desk can be seen again. We also had to do the not so enjoyable part of being the pastor and pastor's wife- deal with people problems of not being nice to one another and not respecting one another. Yes, there are many many rewarding things to the ministry, but there are some ugly things too. After much prayer, some counsel from another pastor's wife, talking to the people involved, and making a few responsibility changes at church things are okay. We had good services last night. We are now preparing and rounding up our teens for the first youth rally of this school year. It is Friday. We are having a softball tournament afterwards. It should be fun. The first rally is usually exciting.

Tonight we are going with some of our friends, who are all pastor's and pastor's wives, to hear Kenny Baldwin preach. He is speaking at another independent baptist church in our area. For those of you who don't know, Kenny Baldwin is an excellent and dynamic black preacher who God is using to reach all types of people. Seriously, how many black preachers do you know who frequently are invited to predominantly white independent baptist churches? I only know of two- this man and his father. We were first made aware of him when were at Crown. Then we had him in to preach at one of our Central Indiana Youth Rallies. We are excited to get the oppportunity to hear him preach again.

Spending Time With the Family on Labor Day

We had a very good day today. We went to Richard's and Tonya's (Aaron's aunt and uncle). They live in Indianapolis. The majority of Aaron's family gathered there today. Every year on Labor Day they have squirrel that Richard has hunted. - NO! I do not eat the squirrel myself! They all say that it tastes like chicken. I say give me chicken instead. - Anyway, the kids all played and fished outside. Asher caught three fish. Chloe caught two fish. Abbie caught one fish. I bated a live worm on the hook without making any squealing noises. Abbie also started riding a bike without training wheels today. She just jumped on and did it by herself. The adults all played a game called Mafia. It is too hard to explain on a post, but it is basically a game of brains and bluffing. If you are a good liar or actor, you can do well. It is sort of like a twist between the games Balderdash and Clue. You have to fool or convince people about who you really are or are not instead of writing down a convincing but untrue definition, etc... It was a great game, because everyone could play at the same time. We all had fun, and even a few who are usually very quiet spoke up a little. Everyone liked it so much Emily is now planning to have a Mafia party at her house. It is always nice to get together with family. It is even better when everyone leaves looking forward to when we get to do it again.

Look down below for pics of the kids' fish and a few others.

Justus' New Dinner Table

Justus has found the cats' bowl. He obviously likes the food, because he keeps going back. Yes, he does actually eat it every time.

The 1st Day of School!!

It is finally here- the first day of school! It was actually yesterday, but I had no time to post it yesterday. Chloe started 2nd grade. It is the same old same old with her. She is not a fan of school. She excells in school, but does not like to go. She liked getting new horse supplies, but I think that she was only excited to finally get to use them. When she got in the van after school, I asked how she liked it. She said it was okay, but she had to do school work and has a spelling test on Friday.

Abigail was suppose to start Kindergarten today, but her teacher was unexpectedly admitted in the hospital. Her blood pressure got too high after having a recent surgery on her foot. Abigail loves school! She is a social bug, and she likes to learn how to do the things that her sister can do. Sooo.. Abbie was very upset that she wasn't getting to go to school. Her good friend Savannah was upset also. Savannah's parents are both teachers at the school, so she was going to have to sit in the office all day. When I got to the school and saw her sitting there, I brought her home with me, so she and Abbie could play. What kid wants to sit in the school office all day? Then they were both happy about not having school. They had a good time playing without any brothers or sisters to bug them. Abbie did start today. Her teacher is still out. She will have a sub for the 1st week. The picture above with all of the kids is from today. The pictures below will explain themselves.

Asher started preschool (only 3 days a week). He was happily the first one out of bed yesterday and today. He is so excited to be a big boy going to school. He had a great time playing. He also said he liked counting. His class has 5 boys and 1 girl. That poor little girl!

Scroll down to see pics of each of them with their school gear and of them at their desks. There are also pics of Abbie and Savannah.

Rosemary Reynolds

Aaron's grandmother, Rosemary Reynolds, went to be with the Lord this morning. She was a loving, gentle woman. She was very thoughtful and caring. She wasn't able to do much, but she was always an encouragement to many. She faithfully sent cards to family, friends, fellow church members, and missionary families on their birthdays or just to send a note of prayer. She was not able to physically get out and be involved, but she had a ministry with her cards. She will be missed. She is now in Heaven with a perfect body, seeing the streets of gold, and the glorious face of her Savior! Wow! Just the thought is awing!

Abbie just asked me "How did GiGi get to Heaven? Did Jesus carry her through the door?" That makes me want to shout "Amen! Hallelujah! Glory! Yes Abbie Jesus carried her through the door!" The mind of a child is amazing. In her mind, she knows that the last few times she saw GiGi she was very sick and not walking around. She is literally picturing Jesus picking GiGi up and carrying her to Heaven. She then asked me if Victoria, her cousin, got to see it. GiGi has been staying at Victoria's house these last few weeks. Of course, Aaron and I then tried to explain things further to her. She is still too young to fully understand.

This picture is of her at our church's mother-daughter banquet a few years ago. She loved to wear hats and gloves and of course with a matching purse and shoes even in her older years. She always went to church this way.

Scroll down to see more pictures.

Justus is Walking!!!

Justus has wanted to be walking for quite some time now, but he just wasn't willing to let go of anyone's hand. Last night at church I stood him up, and he took six steps all by himself. Then he bent his knees and went back to crawling, but at least he didn't fall down. He went down on his own terms. He did it again later on, so it wasn't just a one time fluke. Today should be fun with his new found skill.

The pic is of him stuffing his mouth with baby cheetos. He will be 11 months old next Wednesday.

Justus is Drinking from a Sippy Cup!!!

You may be thinking, "He is almost 11 months, so what? He should be drinking from a cup." I know this, but drinking from a cup at this age is a major victory for me with my kids. The other three were using bottles exclusively up to the age of two. They did not want cups, and yes, I did not deal with the battle and make them. I let them use bottles until their 2nd birthdays, and then that night we threw them all away. Then I dealt with the battles and fits of whining and crying. Justus just kept grabbing Asher's cups with a straw, so I thought I would give him a cup. He took right to it! No battle whatsoever. So, now he only has a bottle before nap and bed. This is HUGE for me!

Family Picture Attempts

I was browsing through our family pictures. They are funny to go back and look at, most of them are bloopers. We can take ten pictures at one sitting and maybe get one. It is difficult to get kids looking and smiling at the sime time. I just posted a few of the many mess ups, because I only posted the ones that have Justus in them. If I posted all of them you would be scrolling down for quite some time. I could go all the way back to just Chloe. Look below to view.

Asher's Hearing

The picture is of Asher riding the horse at my mom and dad's.

We went to the audiologist today for another hearing test on Asher to see if the last surgery improved his hearing at all. Bad news!! It had no noticeable change. His hearing is the same. I was really disappointed. Pray that the doctors will make a decision soon on what to do about his hearing. At this age any long length of time is a big deal on his development. It can especially effect his school progress in the future, if his communication abilities are way behind.

Change of cat's name

Alright we all finally agreed on a name. We decided since he was roaming down the road when he was found, we will name him Romey. Yes, and also b/c Aaron loves to listen to Jim Rome, the sports broadcaster.

New Kitten-Needs Name

As I am typing this new post, I have a cute, tiny new kitten on my lap. Those of you who know me well know that I have a soft spot for cats. The comcast guy came over to service our internet and telephone. He stepped out of his truck with this kitten on his shoulder. I was a little surprised that he had brought his new kitten with him, so I commented on it. He then proceeded to tell me that he found the kitty left or lost on the side of the road in the country. The kitten was more than likely lost, because it has definately been fed and is very clean. Then the guy said, "Will you take him?" Of course, I wanted to say yes right away. I went inside and called Aaron. His is so sweet to me. He said if I really wanted to take it, it was fine. We do already have another kitten, so what is one more? Cats are really easy pets. The only bad thing is having to have a litter box. Two cats is all the litter box can handle though. I don't want to become the "crazy cat lady" of our neighborhood. The kids are thrilled to have another kitten. Silas, our other cat, isn't so sure yet. We do not have a name for this kitty yet. I am not sure if it is a boy or girl. I will have to have help figuring that out. I can't tell. We could name it Paul and have Paul and Silas, or we could name it Barnabas. If it is a girl those won't work. What do you guys think? Send me some suggestions.

Look below for more pics. Yes, that is a black stripe marking by his mouth not a cut.

Aaron's Hospital Stay

I love my husband more now than the day I married him. I thank the Lord for him everyday. He works so hard to provide for us and care for us. The kids and I need him. It is eye opening and nothing less than terrifying when he is only 30 and spending the night in the hospital to have his heart checked out. This weekend Aaron just didn't feel well at all. He was having terrible headaches. Then by Monday morning he was experiencing some chest pains. He went into the emergency room early that afternoon. His blood pressure was high, and he normally has fine blood pressure. They did several blood tests, heart monitoring, x-rays, etc... His dad and grandfather both had early heart problems. I am pretty sure Aaron said his dad's first heart attack was at age 39. Therefore, with the family history the hospital was taken extra precautions. He was admitted for the night. The next morning he had to take a stress test. This was the one that lasts about three hours. He had to run and get his heart rate up to certain levels. He had a dye put through his body to see if there were any blocked arteries. They also took several pictures of his heart and arteries. All of those tests came back good. Praise the Lord he was not having any heart problems. We are relieved and so thankful. He was released Tuesday around 4:00p.m. All said and done, we still are not sure what is going on with him. He has to follow up with the doctor. He has to check out his gall bladder. According to the doc it can sometimes feel like heart and chest pain. The pics are of the kids waiting on Tuesday for Daddy to be released. We waited a long time for the test results so we entertained ourselves with Old Maid, Go Fish, and Crazy Eights. Justus got tired of the few toys in the diaper bag, so I just let him have my purse. He loved that. There are all kinds of goodies in there. There are a couple of more pics below.


Happy Birthday Corey!!

Chloe's 7th Birthday August 6, 2008

Chloe is 7. She thinks she is really a big kid now. We did many things to celebrate.

The night before we went to Greenfield, which is just outside of Indy, and stayed in a hotel with an indoor pool. We got there early, so we had the pool all to ourselves for a couple of hours. The kids loved it. There are pictures of them in the pool below, so be sure to check them out. Then we went out to eat and came back to the hotel to play games. We all had fun spending time together. The kids got along pretty well the whole time also. That is amazing enough when we are all in one room together for a long period of time.

The next day, Chloe's birthday, the girls and I, Grandmama, Corey and her girls, Tanya and Victoria all went to a tea house and had lunch. It was a beautiful tea house. The kind little girls and women both ooh and ahh over. The little ones all had chicken fingers. It doesn't matter if you take them to McDonald's, a steak house, or a tea house they always want chicken fingers. We adults all had this amazing chicken velvet soup, or "satin chicken" as Emily called it. We told her at least she had a fabric in the name, so then she called it corduroy chicken soup. She always gives us something to laugh at. We also had sandwiches. Only Emily had tea. Most everybody had lemonade or a coke.

After the tea party Chloe went with Grandmama for the day. Corey took all of the other girls to her house to swim. Yes, she is crazy sometimes! Then Hannah came to Grandmama's that night to spend the night with Chloe. Abigail stayed the night at Corey's with Elizabeth. Then last night they all stayed with Corey. I told you she is crazy sometimes. She had 7 little girls.

Overall, Chloe had a wonderful birthday. Thank you for all of the cards and gifts that were given to her. Look down below for more pics.

Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN

The girls and I returned last night from Holiday World. It was in Santa Claus, Indiana. This is the town in America that gets most of the letters written to Santa. The post office gets volunteers each year, and they actually respond to each and every letter. We went with Aaron's mom, his sister and family, plus a few others. We had a wonderful time. Holiday World was an excellent park for the family. The park's sections are each named after a different holiday. It is very clean! They also have unlimited free pepsi products. They have these little buildings with doors that say "in" and some that say "out". You go in and serve yourself a pepsi product of your choice. Mine always being Dr. Pepper of course. I also rode what is voted the #1 wooden roller coaster in the world, The Voyage. I am a roller coaster lover. I will wait forever for the front, and then I will wait forever to ride again in the back. I rode in the middle of this one, b/c that was what was available. It was the absolute scariest roller coaster I have ever been on in my entire life. I was so glad when it was over, and I did not even consider riding in the front or the back of this one. We stayed in a cabin that was on Christmas Lake. The cabins were called Santa's Cottages. They were very nice and relaxing. The back decks were right on the water. Each cabin came with a bucket of fish food to feed the fish. That was great. The kids thought that was the best part. There were also a few turtles who came over to dine. We will definately return to the park and the cabins again as soon as we can. I hope Christmas time. The town has an 11 mile light display, and each neighborhood has its own Christmas theme. I really hope to talk Aaron into it. Look below to see more pics from our trip.

Asher Is Finally In Undies!!!

I almost forgot to add a very important event around here. Yeah!! Asher is finally wearing undies. He has been a pain to potty-train. He is 3 and 1/2, so it is about time. I am not saying we are completely accident free, but at least we are finally out of pull-ups. We have been buying diapers and wipes in this house for 7 straight years. That is a bunch of poopy and pee-pee. Now, we have Justus to train. Of course that won't be for a couple of years though.

House is Finished, Abigail Gets Baptized, Ladies' Conference, Family Reunion

Let's see. The house is finished. It looks great. It is not the green color we were hoping for. It looks more gray, but it is still much better than the paint chipped and dirty white we had before. I added bigger pics of it below.

Abigail was baptized yesterday! I read down the blogs and realized that I never posted when she asked Jesus into her heart. We have been talking to her about salvation for quite some while now, but she never seemed to fully understand. She always told us ,"I am not a sinner." Then the last weekend in June she finally understood, and she brought it up herself. I was cleaning the house, and she came to me and said, "I am a sinner. I do bad things. I want to go to heaven." We talked for a while, and she prayed and asked Jesus into her heart. It is a joy and excitement that is hard to explain when your own little ones ask Jesus into their hearts. So, she was baptized yesterday. I tried to get pics, but my camera stopped working during her baptism. There was another person taking some, so I am going to see if they have any of Abbie.

I went to a Ladies' Conference at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Indianapolis(the church Aaron grew up in) this past Friday night and Saturday morning. The theme was Cooking School: Ingredients For Life. It was excellent. I learned a lot about how to be a better wife, mother, and pastor's wife to the people of our church. They are also so creative in their decorating. I got bunches of ideas for my own ladies' meetings and banquets. I have been to 5 of their conferences now, I think this was the best one yet. In my own devotions this past weekend also I read a verse in Galatians where Paul was asking do we seek to please men or God. He then goes on to say if we are seeking to please men then we are no longer the servants of Christ, but of men. I needed that. I know that too often I am so worried about pleasing the people around me, and I need to just make sure I am pleasing Christ in what and how I do.

We also had a family reunion on Aaron's side this weekend. It was good to see everyone and meet people that we didn't even know. There was a good turnout. The kids - and boy was there a ton of them- played together like they had always known each other. They had a great time .

The Unfinished Paint Job

Our house still isn't finished being painted due to the rain. Praise the Lord for the rain though. It has really cooled down the temperature. When it is finished I will post a few pics.

Kidney Stones Plague Us Again

The unsuspecting man woke up with an excruciating pain....Aaron passed a few kidney stones this past Saturday and Sunday. He woke up around 3:00 Sunday morning with a dull pain in his left side. He then woke me up and told me that he thought he had kidney stones again. I quickly got up and took him to the emergency room. In October when I had them, I waited to long to go to the hospital, and by the time we got there it was so painful I was curled up in a ball on the waiting room floor. I didn't want Aaron to have to be like that. They took him back fairly quickly and immediately gave him and i.v. with two strong pain meds. This eased the pain, and he was able to sleep. He received a scan that confirmed he was passing kidney stones. He was sent home around 7:00 with meds and a strainer to catch the stones. Before we got home he passed two more. Kidney stones are awful!! They are the worst pain I have ever experience. Yes, even over child birth.

This was Sunday morning, so the pastor of our church didn't make it to church that day. (The pastor being Aaron.) That was a first. What do you do when the pastor can't show up and you find out the morning of services? The deacons had to tag team the day. We assume that it went well. No one has said otherwise. He did make it to church that evening. He even had choir practice before and did a wedding afterwards. He definately took a licking and kept on ticking. I could not have done that.

While we were on vacation we had our house painted on the outside. It is still not finished yet due to the rain. The painter is hoping to be completed by Friday. We also had our wood floors refinished in the foyer and office. They look amazing. I can't believe this beautiful wood was covered by carpet. I am so excited and eager to get the other floors and stairs done now. We hope to save the money and have it done in the late fall, but before we host Thanksgiving. Since the girls are at Nana's and Papa's we are getting lots of things done inside the house too. In the last five days we have painted 3 rooms and rearranged the furniture in 2. We painted the office this great deep reddish-brown color called paprika. Mom is planning on painting her kitchen this color, and I loved it when she showed it to me. So... we bought the paint on the way home and painted after Asher's surgery. Thanks mom for picking a wonderful color. It looks soooo good. Then we painted the foyer a beautiful golden color called bungalow gold. It looks awesome next to the paprika. They are both rich fall colors. Then we painted the girls room purple. They having been asking for it since when moved in. They miss their purple room from the other house. It is a surprise for them to return home to.

Asher's surgery

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for Asher. His surgery went very well this past Friday. The doctor took his adnoids out and drilled the small holes in each ear. He did not put another set of tubes in. He said that there was not a lot of fluid sitting on the ears, so he hopes this will take care of the problems. We did have to stay an extra hour of recovery because Asher would not drink anything. We couldn't leave until he drank 6 ounces. I sat on his bed with a juice box and just kept sticking it in his mouth. Obviously he drank it because we are at home. Asher was funny before the surgery. He was laughing and giggling with us, but everytime he heard the door open he would play like he was asleep. He would not talk to the nurses or doctors. Then when they left he would go back to playing. He feels pretty good now. He hurts more at night. He is waking up quite a bit crying. I don't know if it is how he is sleeping on his pillows or what. He also crys when he has to have his hair washed. The ears are still pretty sensitive. He loves his medicine. He says that it tastes yummy. We go back for another appointment on August 7th. They will check to see that all is healing well and schedule another hearing test to see if the surgery has been successful at improving his hearing.

Okay! I am finally catching a moment to give a little update on what has been going on with us. We took a vacation to Tennessee for the 4th of July. Yeah! Thank you Lord that we were able to go and no one got sick this time and there were no hospital visits ( that seems to be our habit when we go ). We did absolutely nothing the first couple of days which was wonderful. We haven't done that since I don't know when. We had a bar-b-que with Mom, Dad, Bo, Amanda, and all of the kids on the 4th. That evening we sat in the yard and watched all of the fireworks being shot on the mountain tops. It was beautiful. Bo and Aaron also put on a show of fireworks. On Saturday Mom kept all of the kids and Aaron and I were able to go out for a few hours by ourselves. We haven't done that since Justus was born. We went to eat and then shopped at the outlet malls for the girls' school clothes. Sure, that is not too exciting, but it was just the being able to spend some time together that mattered. We also took the kids to a petting zoo and Black Bear Jamboree during the week. Abbie was scared of most of the animals at the petting zoo. They all had a good time at the Black Bear Jamboree. The girls got on the stage and sang with all of the other kids. Abbie and Asher danced all through the show. They were hilarious and enough entertainment themselves. We also rented a boat and went out on Douglas Lake. Abbie was terrified for the first 50 minutes. She would not let me move away from her. She eventually eased up and started having a good time once she realized it was not scary. The mountains from the lake were gorgeous. We will definately go out again next time. The girls stayed there with Nana and Papa for a few extra days. We miss the girls a lot, but it has been a breeze around the house having only the boys. We are rested and ready to get back to church and get going again.