Women of Faith weekend

Well I was so looking forward to this past weekend. The conference was great. Max Lucado was there. It was a lot of fun.

BUT... I ended up getting really sick. I still am kinda now. I got the FLU! Friday night I ended up passing out back at the motel room at about 3am! Not a fun weekend at all. I really don't feel like eating anything. I had called JR to let him know what was going on only to find out Mark and Lex had puked as well! G....RATE! We have stains on our carpet now (any clues as to how to get them up?) I hope this doesn't go clear through our family! I hate it when we are all sick... Man I can't wait for winter weather to be over!!!

Other then being sick though the conference was really good. It was nice to spend some time with friends I don't get to see much. I laughed and cried all in the same breath, on several occasions. LOL. I was convicted and encouraged as well.

Honor to the troops!

THE FINAL
INSPECTION


The Marine stood and faced God,

Which must always come to pass.

He hoped his shoes were shining,

Just as brightly as his brass.

'Step forward now, Marine,

How shall I deal with you?

Have you always turned the other cheek?

To My Church have you been true?'



The soldier squared his shoulders and said,

'No, Lord, I guess I ain't.

Because those of us who carry guns,

Can't always be a saint.



I've had to work most Sundays,

And at times my talk was tough.

And sometimes I've been violent,

Because the world is awfully rough.



But, I never took a penny,

That wasn't mine to keep...

Though I worked a lot of overtime,

When the bills got just too steep.



And I never passed a cry for help,

Though at times I shook with fear.

And sometimes, God, forgive me,

I've wept unmanly tears.



I know I don't deserve a place,

Among the people here.

They never wanted me around,

Except to calm their fears



If you've a place for me here, Lord,

It needn't be so grand.

I never expected or had too much,

But if you don't, I'll understand.



There was a silence all around the throne,

Where the saints had often trod.

As the Marine waited quietly,

For the judgment of his God.



'Step forward now, you Marine,

You've borne your burdens well.

Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,

You've done your time in Hell.'



~Author Unknown~


It's the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us the freedom of the press.

It's the Soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us the freedom of speech.

It's the Soldier, not the politicians
That ensures our right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

It's the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag.

I am going to the Women of Faith confrence this weekend!

I am really looking forward to an early birthday present this weekend. One of my friends bought my ticket for the Women of Faith confrence in Omaha! I am looking forward to going and getting a break from the kids, too. It will be nice to get away and spend time with some women and have a good time too. Also to lift my spirits and get encouraged spiritually as well. The topic is Infinate Grace! I am so excited!

Making Green GAK! For St. Patty's Day!

You mix 2 liquids and get a solid! Crazy huh? But we all had a blast with it!



Well most of us did... she didn't like the mixing process! AT ALL!


Even Ethan got in on the fun!


Once it was made the kids were all giggles!


Even Hannah liked playing with it. I think more then all the rest really! I gave them cups...when you put it in the cup and make a flat thing that covers the top of it then make a fist and punch it down it "farts" as the kids called it! They were laughing (ok we all were) so hard we couldn't even breathe!


So I thought I would share the recipe:

GAK

8 OZ of Elmer's Glue (can be generic)
3/4 c Hot water

Mix these 2 together in one container until glue and water are one liquid!

Then:

2 tsp Borax soap
1/2 c Hot water

Mix these 2 in seperate container until it looks like water again! All soap must be dissolved!

Then:

Mix both substances together using hands to mix do it like you would kneed braed almost and vwala... you have 2 liquids making a SOLID! and very happy kids!!!

Happy St. Patty's Day! (yesterday)

Oh did we have a great St. Patty's day! We did all sorts of green things! This was our dinner! Green Chicken Alfredo and Peas!





Green Water and Kool-Aid!


We all wore green too!


Plus we had green eggs and Sausage sandwiches for lunch!


We also had a green scavenger hunt for the kids...it was team "Wild Monkey" which consisted of Mark and Hannah and team "Tall Blondie" which had Michala and Lex on it.

Still Cleaning up for our ICE STORM this Winter!

There were several branches on the roof of our garage and we needed to get them down so JR climbed up there and got them down.



We did some raking and burning on Sunday afternoon! It was a blast! Finally nice enough to be outside in JACKETS and doing yard work! YAY!


The kids helped me move the leaf piles back to the burn pile so daddy could burn it!

More pics of Spring Break fun...

Spring Break!

Our Pizza Ranch has now added on a new video game room and they have Air Hockey and we all love to play it. So every now and then we take the kids there for Lunch and play games for a while. They use there piggy banks so it is whatever they want to spend they can. Usually about $2 or so each and they are all ready to go. It is good family fun!



Funny thing is Mark beat both me and JR in Air Hockey and we were both really trying!


Ethan got in on the action too. He was in the seat "driving" and going "vroom, vroom"!!! It was so cute!


We all had fun.


We try to go about once a month or so.

Baby Eating a SALAD!

Ever seen a baby eat this?



Like this?


Plate after endless plate!!!


Looks like we have yet another Ranch Boy on our hands!


He ended up eating 5 Plates of SALAD!


Enough to make a MAMA proud!

Moving a building!

We were in Des Moines for the Natural Living Expo and JR happened to see in the paper the past week that on that Saturday when we would be there they were going to move a 3 story apartment building up the street like 2 blocks. So we decided it would be fun to see and show the kids. So we went. It was amazing. They wanted to move it because it was a historic building and they were going to be building a new business where it was.



It was amazing to see how they did it.


There were ppl everywhere watching a taking pics!


Lots of security too. For safety!


I really didn't think I would find something like this interesting but it really was!


I was floored that this lil truck was pulling this huge building! BTW, It took all day!

Alexis "Babywearing" Hannah

They begged and begged to do this...I didn't think she could actually carry her sister but she did it! YAY Lex!

Ethan loves to babywear!

Ethan even gets in on the babywearing action!

He will bring me a baby and sling and say "ON"

He is too cute!

Like mommy, like son!

Teaching him well!

Any women would love a babywearing Daddy...I know I do!

A Painting Day

All had fun....



Mommy was just the Go-fer


Ethan got in on the fun too!


Even a bit of paint got in some HAIR!


Even Daddy had fun! Never changes...still drawing cities!

Our Valentine's Date with the Church Family

We went to O'Hana's for our Valentines date and with the whole Church. It was a lot of fun. We had a blast.



We had planned for a few more then were there but we all had a blast and were stuffed when we left.


If you ever get a chance to do something like this try it.

Our lil Helper

Ethan wants to get right in there with the rest of us and do what we do. He sees mommy, daddy, and kids doing this so why can't he? LOL! We had went up stairs for a minute and come down and found Ethan "putting away the dishes"!



He has figured out how to get the dishwasher open and loves to "HELP"!