CANT WAIT

Been Reading this series and can't wait to see the movie.!.

Cousins and more Cousins

We are hanging out with cousins!! Hannah and Bethany are here for a week with the girls and are having fun doing all kinds of kid things together. And all my sisters are here visiting! Can you believe all at once two years in a row? Heather got a good pic of the whole lot of them(minus one,miss you colton)!

What I might Find in my Washing Machine

This is just a sampling of the things I have found while doing laundry. I have a kid who is notorious for not emptying pockets. In the past the pile has been three times the size in the span of a week. I wanted to document that but the hubby threw it out before I could take a picture because it's garbage you know. Maybe to him, but to me it is part of my daily life. Something I have dread but something I have also come to terms with. I have been able to come to look at it as one of those passing childhood things I will someday miss. It has also become a lesson in teaching someone something they don't feel they need to learn. First you bring it to their attention and then you reprimand when it happens again, and then you discipline and they do the laundry themselves and clean out all the pockets of all the pants in the house when it happens again and again. If they want to learn the lesson they will, or maybe the natural consequences of the lipstick and gum on thier stuff (or the anger of the others who were affected by it) will help them to learn this. In our case none of these worked or so I thought. Maybe it was all these things put together with time, because it is getting better. It has been a while since I have had a pile on my machine. The pile in this picture reminded me of the past couple months and how maybe the absence of the pile is a good sign. A sign that there has been a little learning going on over the last couple years. Maybe it just takes a while to sink in. Maybe there is something that happened that I don't even know about that caused the learning to take place. Or, it could be that the past things we have done to teach her are actually sinking in and mean something. WOOOOHOOO-either way I am praising God for listening to my prayers and working in my kids own personal lives to cause them to grow in many different ways. If we strive in teaching them about him and his ways He will fill in the gaps and their knowledge will be complete.(This doesn't just apply to laundry by the way!!)

Change is in the Air

Another season of life is coming. It has been a struggle for me on the bad days and a lot to keep me busy on the good days. It will be a good thing but I am noticing it is harder and harder to deal with change when I used to love it, to thrive on the excitement and newness of it all. I guess as we get older or maybe as we get satisfied with life we don't want things to be different. But I think God allows this change to keep us dependent on him. And boy have I been in need of him lately. Our good friends will be moving far far away. To a land across the sea. This after our other close friends moved across the country and then some of our family moved out of state. These are all people I would see or talk to once a day, sometimes more. This is going to be a great adjustment for me, my current habits will be changing. We are also moving. After being here for about 7 or 8 months we will be moving. We will have a new front porch to view the world from.
God is shaking things up. But not only things, ME!! I am not handling all this too well. I have been having a lot of talks with God about this inability to cope. I know there are times and seasons for things in our lives and I see them taking new forms in our lives. God has always provided and been there for me. This is what He reminded me of the other day. I need to have no doubt that He will be there for me as I am sad, frustrated and feeling sorry for myself. He is on my side. For me and NOT against me. So I will wait, wait to see what He has in store. Wait to hear what He wants me to do and learn from this time of upheaval and this season of change. Lead on Lord, I will follow. I will lean not on my own understanding.

FUNNY FACES

The kids had fun making faces for me while waiting for everyone to get out of the locker rooms at swimming. Some were hilarious, so I had to share.

2 weeks of swim fun

The girls got to do swimming lessons with off campus. This was the first time we have done the kind that are daily for 2 weeks straight. It was really good, they improved a lot in that short time. Can't wait to do it again!!They also loved hanging with their friends. We got to ride in the big bouncy zimmer van and listened to a couple books on cd as we traveled. (books:Ben and me and The City of Ember)

More crowning pics

Mariah, Glory and Rebekah

Natalie, Glory and Hosanna

The princess and the proud

PRINCESS HAIRDO

Here is Glory's Honor Star Crowning. The honor stars have worked so hard to earn this by reading the whole new testament, completing 3 years of stars (over 27 bible units), memorizing scripture, keeping a prayer journal, and writing an essay. What an awesome thing God has provided that Rebekah could crown her sister. He will use it for their relationship with God and each other to grow even more special.

This is Rebekah and Mariah getting their awards for completing Friends club which is the group after Stars. I am so proud of them, they completed 2 years of work in one year and learned a lot about their relationship with God in a new way. Yes that is Rebekah in the black and white. She is becoming quite the beautiful young lady. Made me a little teary to see her looking so grown up. Her and Glory asked my friend Yvonne and her daughter Brooke to do their hair for the crowning. They were so excited to feel so special and pampered!!. Rebekah went for the straight look and Glory got an updo. They did a great job!! (next best thing to a salon visit)THANKS guys!

This is the Japanese style play that the girls did in their off campus drama club. They performed it for all the other classes. It was soooo cute and funny. The kids did a great job. When I get video I will post their parts. Rebekah is in the purple(she was a theif with an allergy) and Glory is in the pink plaid(she was the Asst. Director and a stage hand) Note the fabric, look familiar? Those are the costumes I made for the play.

HAPPY HAPPY

This has to be the cutest mug EVER!!!!! I have to say thanks to my nephew for giving it up! He generously gave it to me in trade for some snacks and sodas!!! I had my coffee in it and was just looking at it and it made me smile, thought I would share it with you all so you could enjoy the happy feelings it brings too!!

sewing!!

Here is a part from my journal about making the costumes.

Boy, are these costumes gonna be crazy!! I didn't realize the time it would take to get them cut out. now that mom helped me get the pattern made(had to make our own from the sample the teacher gave me cuz the pattern was not right)I thought it would go faster. but the cutting out is taking the longest. I now have help!!! yea!! My friend Susan is going to help me sew. She is such a life saver. I was going to have other parents help but the timing isn't working out, so here we go!!!!

oh the fabrics are for a play the girls are doing in their offcampus school drama club. I will be sewing some of the costumes. 12 to be exact.



We have been looking for dresses for the honor star crowning. here is bekas, she will be crowning a couple girls this year, including her sister. I will post the video from the crowning later.

WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO

Here are the girls in the play they did at the end of May, it was called the little mermaid. They practiced every night for 1 week with the missoula childrens theatre who were in town hosted by evergreen childrens theater and it was amazing to see how professional it all turned out to be. they learn so much from these workshops.