this is my latest layout that i did for a circle journal on what i love about being a girl. this was a fun one! 

drew and deacon at chuck e. cheese 

our 10 year old!!! 

Time to Celebrate!

today is drew's birthday! and what a day he has had! he got to do whatever he wanted today and so we went to chuck e. cheese, then he went off on a big bike adventure with his dad and they had a blast! we are so blessed to have this child in our lives, he is the sweetest boy. his heart is so big and he loves his siblings so much! today at chuck e. cheese he got to play all the video games he wanted. when he ran out of tokens he came to me to ask for more. i was holding on to one last token which i had been saving for myself to play skiball(love that game) but i gave it to him 'cause it's his birthday and all ya know...there was a video game he wanted to go play. instead of going off to play it, he decides to hang out with deacon a bit. deacon is afraid of mostly everything at chuck e. cheese, and won't ride anything but the carousel. the next thing i know, deacon is on the carousel going for a ride. i ask drew where deacon got the token to ride the carousel, and he replied, "i gave him mine". it was so sweet! but that's the kind of boy drew is and he does things like that all of the time. i can't believe he is 10 already! double digits!!!!! he is growing up to be so responsible, i know he won't give us any problems as a teenager, but it still scares me. it's just a whole new playing field...i don't even want to think about it- so i won't! i will just thank God for the 10 years He has blessed us with, and enjoy the boy with the big heart and beautiful smile...

Time to Eat

we are starting solids. carter hates this rice cereal mess! he won't eat it! now what? i always start the babies out with rice cereal...none of them had a reaction like this to it. sure, they made yucky faces, but once they got the hang of it, there was no going back! carter won't let me feed him, he turns his head,he grabs the spoon, he just won't eat it. oh well, let's see what happens tomorrow...

i was so happy to scrap something today! it's a simple layout, but it's something...an idea just popped into my head, with a little help from tonight's inspiration at sbb. i was not even supposed to be there, but dinner plans fell through and so i attended the crop and i am glad i did. anyway, i had to get a 6 month layout of carter going...he is growing so fast! he is 7 months now and so smart! i keep underestimating how smart he is because he is just a baby ya know? when it is time for bed, as soon as we get to the door of his bedroom he arches his back and starts freaking out cause he knows where he is ending up- in bed! lol! he is getting up on his knees and trying to crawl, oh Lord help! i am not ready for him to go mobile yet! lol! but he sure is! 

Time to Let Go

okay, i gave in! i hired someone to come clean my house. jay had been on me for months to hire someone, but i wouldn't. i said i could keep up with the kids, homeschooling, laundry, cooking, and the cleaning myself. i just kept telling myself that i could do it all and that i didn't need anyone's help. well, now i have come to the realization that i do need help. i can not do it all. so she came in and cleaned for 4 hours straight. she was able to get to the things that i just could not, and i felt bad about it at first...why couldn't i do that? but then it hit me. when she is here, to clean is her job, it's her only focus and she can do it with little to no distractions. that is not true for me. i can only get bits and pieces done at a time and then the room is only clean for 5 mins afterwards! i didn't know how to act, knowing she was coming so i was running around the house trying to clean, so she could do that very thing! everything looked so nice when she finished, it was so freeing to have every room in the house clean all at the same time! very relaxing to me, and the children were pleased also. so i think this will continue bi-weekly for a while...we'll see how it goes!

Time to Reflect

i have had quite some time to think about all he had to say on our date and have come to the conclusion that i might be spending a little too much time on the internet. (notice i did not say computer) since then, i have been trying to limit my internet time and it has paid off so far...i got three layouts uploaded this week! i have gotten more schoolwork done with the kids (i don't know if they think that's a good thing) and i have done a lot more laundry. oh! and i even got to watch 7 episodes of the first season of ALIAS! now that's a show for ya- i'd never seen it and wanted to see what all of the hype was about so i rented it and wow!!! where was this show before we nixed cable????

the track meet this past weekend was brutal, we had very high winds (about 40mph, but felt like 80!), and so it was cold! my poor babies were running out there in that mess wearing those thin suits and no sleeves! but that didn't stop them, they ran like maniacs anyway. jay video taped and i took lots of pics for the scrapbook, though they will probably never make it there since i have the hardest time making layouts dealing with sports. this photo of devyn goofing in front of the camera during a break more than likely will end up in a layout. this is her personality all summed up in one photo!

being goofy for the camera 

Time To Be Alone

Over the weekend Jay and I went on a date. I couldn't remember the last time we'd gone on one or had some "alone time" together so, I hired a sitter and got set for our date. I get into the car, so happy to be getting this time away with my husband, a time that would bring us closer together. As soon as we pull out of the driveway he says to me, "I think you are spending too much time on the computer, the house is falling apart...." I slowly turn to look at him and his lips were still moving, but I can't hear a thing. All I could think about was the future of the rest of this night. This can't end well, how do I respond to this??? My intimate, quiet, "alone time" with my husband has ended before it even began because I feel an arguement coming on. I ask him, "and you thought this was a good time to bring this up now because? His answer? "Because we are alone. It's the perfect time to talk about this."

Perfect example of how differently men and women think.

yikes! it's 12:45am! and the night is still probably young for my friend helen, but i am sooooo going to bed right now! see ya gurlfriend! :) 

trying to clean the house a little, of course i can never get it completely spotless, but trying to give the elusion that 8 people don't live here is getting harder all the time! after i get off the computer, vacuum another room, fold another set of laundry, go pick up camryn from enrichment, and bake a cake maybe, just maybe i can have a moment to be outside and enjoy this beautiful day today. the sun is shining, there is a slight breeze and i would just love to be a part of this glorious day that the LORD has made. sitting on the patio, sipping lemonade (pink), or a glass of lemon-iced tea (sweetened) taking in some fresh air...sigh...we all know that the closest i am going to get to that is stopping by starbucks to get a passionfruit tea lemonade on the way to picking up camryn with the window rolled down in the van for fresh air!!! lol!

Time for Scrapping...

not! i haven't had as much time as i would looooove to devote to my digi scrapping. things like homeschooling, laundry, and oh! CHILDREN call for my constant attention lately lol! especially since deacon has pretty much decided that he is ready for potty training and thinks he can take himself to the bathroom whenever he feels like it(he was found putting his clothes in the toilet the other day)...sigh...he also has decided that he can leave the house whenever he wants, unlocking the doors and just walking out! needless to say that computer time is not easy to come by since i need to keep 2 eyes on him!! lol!
i took almost 200 pictures yesterday. can you believe that? i just figured out how to use the b/w function on my camera that i have had for almost a year! once i started i couldn't stop. poor kids...mostly carter. i just took pics until he had enough and got mad. i just love b/w photos, they just look clearer and timeless- kinda hard to explain; i could see a color photo and like it, but i could see the same photo in b/w and get lost in it! just love 'em! now to find the time to scrap them...

baby don't cry... 

hooray spring is here!! 

Time For Blogging

ok. so now i'm a blogger. hopefully i will have the time to keep this up as i think this will be fun and addicting.
i hope to make this a place to give a glimpse into my my little world. the day to day of living in a large family, homeschooling, and my digiscrapping passion will be the main focus of my entries, so get ready...here i blog!!