I Am Yours!

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Turn off my music on the blog and up your sound, this is so beautiful!

Clogging... MUD

This is Lexi and Michaela(SP?) she is the kids' friend who is also in clogging with Lexi.



Their song is called, "MUD" so they went with a farmer theme!



Not sure how I am going to do their hair for recital yet?



Michaela in her costume too!

Lex's Tumbling Costume

The tumbling costumes aren't as exciting but cute all the same! They are doing the song Yackety Sax... it is kinda like Yackety Yack only a bit different.

In full costume... Mighty Movers...

This is the costume they will be wearing for the song, "Sugar Sugar" for Tap.



They have two forms of this costume the other one is for the song, "When I Grow Up"
It has a hat with faux fur and white gloves. That is for the Ballet part.



Man I am not gonna let this girl wear makeup regularly until she is 30!



You should see all the girls in their costumes all together! So adorable! Hannah was really nervous when we were taking the professional pics.

Getting ready for Dance Pics

Please ignore the weight I have put on and look at the beautiful lil girls in the pics!



They sat so still while I curled and curled and curled!



Hannah's hair was so hard to curl! Wouldn't hold!



Man we are going to have to beat those boys off with a stick, aren't we? WOW!



To come... pics of them in their complete costumes!

We have a BRAIN on our hands (bragging rights)!

OK I am not bragging just to brag because he's my child. I would post this had it been any 19mo child I know! Today I was giving Ethan some string cheese and I was tearing it apart b/c he can't really maneuver it himself. I was counting the pieces as I put it down on the tray for him and I had to pause at 8 because some was stuck together and then all the sudden out of the mouth of a 19mo baby came the word "nine" plain as day! I about passed out! What he can't have just said that!?!?!?!?! I was floored. I had no idea how much that boy was really soaking in! Everyday these kids amaze me with something new! WOW way to go Ethan!

Dance Recitals and Pictures Coming Up!

The whole theme for the Recital is "When I Grow Up". They have pics on this Sunday and Recital is May 30th. YAY! I am nervous for them and excited all at the same time. Lex and Hannah are both in Mighty Movers class which is 2 fold (tap and ballet), the song for ballet is "When I Grow Up" for tap, it's "Sugar Sugar". Alexis' song for Clogging is called "Mud" they will be wearing overalls with patches that match their shirts. Then for pre-tumbling the song is "Yaketty Sax" they are wearing a red leotard. I will post pics of the girls in their dance costumes once I take them.

Enjoying SPRING!

Well I am in my HOT kitchen baking cookies... and I was standing there with the windows open and listening to a weed eater and a lawn mower in the background! Plus every once in a while I would get a whiff of the fresh cut grass over the baking cookie smell! YAY it is finally SPRING!

Advice for mom's!

Just a lil' advice for all you mom's and grandmom's too actually! Don't get on your 7 yo son's(or grandson's) bike and try to ride it in a grassy area that has a lot of holes and such in the ground! It could possibly cause a very painful/embarrassing situation! Trust me I learned this from experience!

We Had Our Youth Rally This Past Weekend!

Well we had our youth rally and had 47 ppl there. It was good. William Pope was the speaker for it and we had the old middle school gym for afterwards. The "men" played b-ball(I say it that way cause they let Mark play some too). They played 3 games!

I had games for the lil' kids and it was a lot of fun! I did loose my voice though. I am finally kinda recovering from it. I slept from 8pm till 7am the next morning. We played the clothes pin game and had a scavenger hunt. We also played the cottonball on a spoon race. We had a small ducky pond that actually turned into the lil' kids just playing with the ducks. I brought the kids' fold out house and bus. We had a bean bag toss for a few of the littlest ones. All in all it went pretty good. I had a hard time because I could have really used a helper. But maybe next year we can plan that part better.

FOOD was awesome as always. We had chili dogs or you could have it seperate! YUMMY! And way too many cookies. LOL

Thanks to all of you who gave me ideas for games and such!

Bike-a-Thon

Mark and Alexis are in a Bike-a-thon to earn money for their school! We are looking for sponsors. They ride their bikes at our state park here near town. The money goes directly to the school. It will help them provide a quality education for our children. I know they are planning on building a new building in the next 2 years as funding is available. So what ever $ that is earned will be well used. And is much needed! Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

If you would like to sponor them please leave a comment as to how I can reach you either an e-mail address or something and I will contact you with our address so you can mail a check.

Another Cowboy in our Midst

I don't honestly understand why but all our kids love cowboy hats and boots! Plus Mark loves country music everytime he hears it?!?!?! Neither JR or I like it, in a matter of fact we both really DON'T like it at all!



To each his own I guess. Still a fun photo to share!

Pinewood Derby!

This is pics of Mark's Pinewood derby for cubscouts!



He did great!



Mark placed 4th!



I know he had fun though!

Hannah's first real hair cut!

Before! Long and looking thin!



In the process! Enjoying the attention of the camera! LOL



Still working!



The Happy Monkey with her new Haircut ... nice and cool, ready for summer!



All dry and a better look at how it will look!



I love it, it is so nice and cute! It fits her lighthearted personality! I think it looks so much thicker and fun! Before this I had only slightly trimmed her hair and I think only once before maybe twice!

My Latest Decorating Fun!

It was my friend's daughter's 11th birthday yesterday and we had planned on me making curtains for her but it turned into a whole new overhaul on her room!

She loves Hannah Montana and butterflies so we Incorporated both!

She was so excited as you can see by the photo of her!



Her mom and I painted the letters and frame and then I did it like a scrapbook page for the center of her name!



I made this by using a piece of wood and cloth left from the curtains, some batting, ribbon and tacks! Very simple project and it's nice for them to put clippings in or photos of their friends! I also made 4 throw pillows and a pillow case out of the curtain cloth too!



I was so excited to be part of giving this big girl a big girl room! She had blue's clue's curtains that came down right before this project!



It was so much fun!!!

The Faith of Children!

To set the scene: Hannah and her 6yo friend were playing on bar stools with their toys and sitting on them and such and Hannah was playing like the floor was water.
Friend: "How can we be standing on water? Why don't we pretend it's cement?"
Hannah: "God's lifting us!" Said in an attitude like duh can't you figure that out!

I was so touched and lifted up by this lil' scene played out in my home! Makes me feel like we are doing something right. Hope this blesses you!

Works for me!

Ok, I see many of you having tips that work for you so I thought I would post one that works wonderfully for me.

I have to give the credit for this tip to my friend's hubby. Here's the tip: Don't throw out your old blinds ladies and gents! Take the string out and keep the plastic strips.

I am not sure how many of you have posters around your homes. I have had many issues with posters not staying up trying to use that tacky stuff or tacks or tape or nails and nothing really works. You end up with a ripped poster or it never stays up. Trim the strip to the width of the poster, tape it on the 2 shorter ends. Then drive small nails through the plastic strip and poster. It holds them up there very well.

Girl's weekend!

My friend Dana and I, and our two oldest girls went to Des Moines this weekend, spent the night in a motel, went shopping, to Build-a-Bear, and to Chuck E. Cheese's! We all had a blast. We got kicked out of the hot tub, they told us at the front desk when we checked in that there wasn't a closing time on it so we went down there kinda late so there wouldn't be anyone else hopefully. I guess there was a complaint so they came and kicked us out. We weren't being that loud at all. I think I may have got after Lex once or twice but I didn't screem or anything. OH WELL! We still had a great time!

It was nice having the girl time. We try to do special things with each of our kids. They love the one-on-one time! It's good for JR and I too! I think JR was getting a bit jealous of my alone time with them lately though ;) He said to me as I left, "I can't wait to go fishing and get some time with Mark."

My Baby Girl is 4 Now!

Well yesterday Hannah turned 4! What a mile stone! I can't believe she is that old already! WOW! She is four going on 12! She talks like a 12 year old. She blows me away with the stuff she comes up with everyday! I always knew she would be a talker. I got her a shirt that says "Talking makes me happy" and it has a monkey on it! So fitting for her!

Speaking of growing up, my oldest son will be 8, May 13th! 8 YEARS OLD! WOW! He is growing up so much too! This summer will be his first year of Bible camp too! I am planning on going as a cook and helping out a lot. I can't wait!

OH, HOW THEY GROW UP SO FAST!

My Lil' Heartbreaker!

Last night Mark got home and needed to take his shower before he went to bed so I sent him up to do it. It took him quite a while, seemed to me he was dilly dalling, so I asked him what took him so long. He said he was watching the water go down the drain??? Whatever tricks your trigger?
Anyway, I gave him a big hug and noticed he had some cologne on. I told him he was to put that on in the morning b4 he went to school. He was really bummed. I asked him why he was bummed out about that. He told me, and I quote, "I wanted you to give me more kisses, mommy!" Broke my heart clear in 2 pieces! That was so absolutely adorable. To want ME to give him more kisses so he put on cologne! SWEET! That won't happen forever so I better treasure him WANTING my kisses while I have the chance! I was a basket case after that. I told him I would give him all sorts of kisses whenever he wanted them, and proceeded to kiss his whole face. I will never forget that moment as long as I live and will probably tell that story to his future wife! ;)

New Book

Well I got a new book from the conference. It is called Get Off Your Knees and Pray by Sheila Walsh. I am really looking forward to reading it b/c this has been an area in which I have struggled. I feel like I don't really connect with God and I don't really feel him answering. Maybe it's b/c my ears are turned off I am not sure. I am hoping this book will give me a bit of insight. I will let you know what I thought when I get it done. Might be a while with 4 kids I don't have much leasure reading time.