Looking back...

Looking back over 2011 makes me realize just how much God has shown himself to me this year.  So many things that have been evident, not just this year, but all along.  I think that my eyes just really began to open this year. 
I am sorry if this post seems a little scattered, I am just feeling so blessed I just don't know where to start.
I think that right now I am just grasping how blessed I am by the amount of wonderful God loving examples God has place in my direct path.  My dad has always been an amazing example of faithfulness, love, forgiveness, and patience.  I am not saying that he is perfect or that any of the people I will talk about here are because they aren't, they have all fallen and they have faults, but they do their best to put God as the center of their lives and to set an example of a life lived to serve Him.  My dad is the one who taught me how to show love, how to compromise, how to sacrifice, how to work hard, and how to be thankful.  He has taught me so much more, but I don't think that I have the words or the time to talk about all of the many things he has given me.  I have watched my dad walk through trials with an amazing faith that has left a lasting effect on my heart.  I have begun to truly learn the power of prayer from my dad. I am forever grateful that God chose him to be my daddy. 
My mom is facing something head on that she thought was bigger then her.  I am sure this has to be one of the hardest fights of her life, but she is going to win because God is giving her the strength and the grace to walk through this fire.  My mom has always been an example of acceptance and unconditional love.  There are times when I want to run away or just push the pause button because my kids are driving me CRAZY, but instead I think of the love that she showed me when I was driving her crazy.  She has been a great example of a mother's love.  I know that I am a better mom everyday because of the examples she sets for me.
My husband is a lot like my dad.  He is very hard working and would sacrifice anything for his family.  He not only works hard to financially support his family, but he works hard to be a good husband and a good father.  He walked into a ready made family and over the years we have added to that family.  Even though I came with two that were not his, you would never know it.  He loves all 4 of OUR kids.  He is my best friend and God could not have blessed me with a better man to walk through this life with.
Those are just the people that are in my everyday life.  My Uncle Bill, cousin Damian, his wife Adrienne, my cousin Cory, my father-in-law Mike, my mother-in-law Merle all teach me things  without even knowing it.  I had the pleasure of seeing my cousin Damian in his element yesterday when he performed our cousin Cory's wedding.  He not only did an amazing job, but he set a great example of a God loving man.  These people are all amazing in their own rights and when I think about them I can draw from their examples of how they live for God and I can begin to do the same.  I am so very grateful for such wonderful people.  If I had the time I would go into detail about each one of them because they are all very special to me.  Although, I think that each one would need their own blog post, lol.
Outside of this last year there are two more examples of God's amazing love that he placed in my life.  These two people I have known since I was a little girl.  One of them has had his wings and has been home with Jesus for a long time, but the memory of his example still remains in my heart and I think about him a lot.  David Smith was a wonderful man whose love for God just radiated.  I think he was an angel who walked the earth.  I can remember him stopping by randomly and he would always say that God told him to stop by and pray for me or that God put it on his heart to come see me and tell me that God loves me.  I know that I am not the only one that David, or that God had David do that for.  Whenever I am praying for a friend or thinking of someone that God has put on my heart I always think about David.  I think about what he would do to serve God's purpose.  That example has made me a little more extroverted with sharing God with my friends and praying for them.  The other person is Pam Beavers.  This woman, oh man, lol.  She has to be the most outgoing, unfearful, faithful, and God loving woman that I have had the pleasure of knowing.  I can remember riding home from church with her on Sunday afternoons and she would just randomly stop the car on the side of the road, get out and walk up to some stranger to ask them if they know Jesus.  She shared God with everybody.  I never saw her hesitate or question whether or not it was "safe" to share, she just did it.  She knew that she had God with her and she wanted everyone else to know that they could too.  Thanks to her example I have been listening a little closer to God when he talks and I have actually gone out of my comfort zone and prayed with a complete stranger. 
God has really given me so many wonderful examples through out my life. My New Years resolution is to continue to draw from these examples and use my life to serve God.  I hope to be an example of God's love for my children.

Happy 8th Birthday Ryan

8 years ago today God blessed me with the sweetest, smartest and most compassionate young man for a son.  Everyday I am blessed in some way by Ryan.  He is definitely my little buddy. 

To celebrate his birthday we had a TKD (Tae Kwon Do) party at the studio where he takes TKD.  It was the MOST amazing party.  Master Bang (pronounced Bong) and Instructor Ryu (pronounced You) are amazing people and are so incredible with the kids.  They played and interacted with the kids for the entire 2 hours.  They played dodge ball, did relay races, and played lots of other games.  Ryan got to cut his cake with a real Samurai Sword and was able to show off his board breaking skills by breaking a couple of boards. 

And of course you can't forget the birthday spankings.  Master Bang started off with hugging Ryan before he gave him his birthday woopins.  Myself, daddy and Nana all got a shot in too. :)

Ryan is obsessed with Super Mario Bros. right now so I made him a Mario cake.  He was very surprised and thrilled with his cake!  Not only was it super cute, but it was super yummy too!!!

The party was unforgettable and will definitely go down in the memory books as one of the best parties!

  

  

To top off the entire 8th birthday experience daddy woke Ryan up this morning super early to surprise him with a trip to Lego Land.  They are on their way now and I know they will have a blast!  Ryan has been wanting to go for quite some time.  I wish I could be there to see his face, but I am glad that daddy is getting to do something special with his boy.

Cooking Class 101

Well we have decided to go back to homeschooling.  YAY!!  I am SO excited!  My how I have missed it.  Yesterday was the 2nd day of school and we had a cooking class.  One of the things I love about homeschooling is being able to incorporate real life situations into our lessons.  I was scheduled to bring dinner to a mops mommy who just had her baby and Skyler's best friend just got home from spending 3 days in the hospital so I also wanted to bless their family with a meal.  So instead of cooking it all myself and trying to cram in school (which is pointless right now since we are so far ahead already) I decided to recruit Ryan and Zayna and use it as a lesson.  Ryan cooked the main part of the meal.  It was a taco casserole.  He did everything, I was so proud of him.  He boiled the noodles, browned and seasoned the meat, opened and drained all the corn, beans and tomatoes and put it all together.  Zayna baked the cupcakes and made the frosting (from scratch) and then frosted them.  All I did was add a few little veggies to the salad.  It was a great day and a great lesson.  Ryan made a tripple batch of the casserole so he was able to not only feed our two friends' families, but ours as well.  They both had so much fun.  Ryan wants to cook us dinner every night now he says. LOL!!  LOVE IT!

12 Years Ago Today...

I was blessed with my second little girl.  I went into labor at 10:30 the night before and went to the hospital around 1:00 a.m.  After being monitored for a couple of hours or so the nurse said that she called my doctor and he said to go ahead and send me home because I still had at least 16 more hours of labor.  I guess she thought she could see into the future, lol.  I pleaded with her to listen to me because this wasn't my first labor and I know how my body is and it's going to take a turn and it will be a quick one.  She still insisted that I go home, so I did.  We got back home around 3:30 a.m. and Skyler's dad went back to bed.  I tried to get comfortable, but I just couldn't.  I got up to go to the bathroom just before 4:00 a.m. and when I came back I told Skyler's dad to get his shoes on because we needed to go back to the hospital, but by the time he had his shoes on it was clear we weren't going anywhere.  I asked him to call 911 and he thought I was joking at first.  Once he realized I wasn't laughing he quickly dialed 911.  Little Ms. Skyler made her arrival at 4:16 a.m.  The paramedics arrived about 15 minutes later and took us to the hospital in an ambulance.  God was definitely watching over us that day. 

Today Skyler is healthy, beautiful, funny and an absolute joy.  To this day she still does things in her own timing.  I love you baby girl.  Happy 12th birthday Sky Pie!!!

Sewing

It's been 2 years now since my good friend Rossie taught me how to sew.  We used to hang out just about every day after our kids finished their school work.  We would sew and they would play.  I miss those days!!  Rossie moved to Montana and is well on her way to becoming famous! :)  She is so intelligent and crafty and the sweetest, God loving example of a mother and wife.  Can you tell I miss her?  LOL!  Anywho, I didn't sew for almost a year because I was so sick when I was pregnant with Emily and then I didn't want to put her down after she was born.  I have been getting back into though and having lots of fun with it.  I have made several dresses and skirts for Emily and a couple of pairs of frilly pants.  The frilly pants are another creation that I learned from Rossie.  When she came back to visit for a bit she showed me some pants with ruffles at the bottom that she had made her girls and they were the CUTEST things ever!!  I have been dying to make some for Em, but my sewing machine broke, I was so bummed.  Then one day Pete's grandmother asked if I would like to have her sewing machine and I was very blessed with a very nice machine.  My husband also bought me a serger which I have yet to take out of the box because it intimidates me.  So I finally sat down and took out Pete's grandmother's machine and went to work on some "frilly pants".  They are so adorable and I can't wait to make more. 

Pants from the Goodwill - $2.50 each

Material - $2 each

 

 

 

It's been a long time...

since I have posted anything.  I have been so busy experiencing the holidays this year that I didn't take time out to document the things that we did as a family and with family.  Sometimes I get so wrapped up in just being a part of it all that I forget to step outside of it and take pictures or write memories down. :(  That and we have had two extra house guests for a month now and that has definately thrown me off!  I truly cannot wait to have my home and my family back.  I love our guests, but they are not exactly the examples I would like around for my kids nor are they good for my stress level.  House guest #1 - Pete's cousin Adam.  He lives in Montana because he cannot live here without falling into life destructing drug addictions.  He is actually doing well in Montana.  He came back for Thanksgiving and asked if he could stay until Christmas because the last two year he has spent it alone and didn't want to do that this year.  I completey understand that one!!  So of course we said yes he could stay.  Now I am ready for him to leave!  He is messy, he is an alcoholic and an ignorant, loud  and sloppy one at that.  He showers maybe every 2 to 3 days (YUCK) and he has the mouth of a sailor.  Definately different values and outlooks then my husband and I share!  Then there is house guest #2 - my brother Drew.  He has actually been on his best behavior and has been pretty good around the kids.  He watches his mouth with the occasional slip, but he is putting in his best effort.  He works long hours so he is gone most of the day.  I don't really have any complaints about him being here other than his dog is making my dog miserable and every once in a while he has a day where he is down and out about his life situation right now and he mopes around all day while he drinks.  I think my biggest issue with them both being here is the alcohol.  I don't drink and Pete has the occasional drink.  Now I am not against people have a drink or two whenever they see fit.  However I don't like the excessive drinking or the insinutation of the need to drink.  It drives me nuts!!  Not to mention that they both partake in other extra carricular activities that kind of annoy me too.  Pete's cousin is here for one more week and Drew is here until we can find him a house.  I CAN'T WAIT!!!
I have been using them as examples though for my kids of who they do not want to turn out to be like.  They are the perfect examples of what poor choices and lack of initiative will get you.  I think the biggest tole has been taken on me...on my spirit.  I have been so stressed trying to monitor what my kids are exposed to and trying to keep peace.  I am so tired and I am OVER IT!  That and of course it is playing it's part on taking a tole on my relationship with my husband.  I feel so far away from him.  We have had NO time together in months.  That's a whole other rant, but this situation definately has not helped.  Sigh...pray for me.  I need it right now.  I know this time will pass and things will be back to normal soon I just wish today was soon...