100

Well, from what I’ve seen, it is a blog tradition to type 100 things about yourself when you reach 100 blog posts.  So, since I always like to follow the crowd, ha, here I go!  These are in no particular order, I am just adding to the list as I think of something since I know if I sat down to type them all at once I would never think of anything to say!  It is probably supposed to be things that people don’t know about me, but since I’m pretty sure my readers are all family, you already know all these things!  And, I am sure that it is supposed to be 100 quick things.  Mine will not be.  I am a rambler.  Maybe that should be number one!  So, get some caffeine to keep yourself awake and read away!

1.  I love to blog.  I wish I had more time to blog!

2.  I don’t watch much TV.

3.  When I do watch TV, the volume must be on an even number.  I will even have it too loud or too low just to have an even number.  Don’t even think about watching with the volume 21, just don’t do it!

4.  As of July 6, 2010, Todd and I have been married 19 years.

5.  One show I do watch occasionally is Say Yes To The Dress.  I love wedding dresses.  But, even after nineteen years and many dresses seen since, I still love my wedding dress and would choose it over and over again.  I guess that is why it was “the” dress for me.

6.  In another life I would love to be a wedding planner or wedding dress designer, or even a wedding dress salesperson.  I love everything about weddings.

7.  My parents and Todd’s parents were all in school together at Oklahoma Christian at the same time.

8.  Oklahoma Christian is where Todd and I met.

9.  On our first date, we determined that our mom’s both made spaghetti a lot on Wednesday nights.  This was in between him tying and untying his shoes no less that 620 times.  I decided then and there that he was the one for me since I could feed him spaghetti and he could teach our kids to tie their shoes.  Just kidding.

10.  Todd and I dated about six months, then we were engaged, then we married ten months later.

11.  I have two brothers, Todd has two brothers.  I love having sister-in-laws.  No offense guys!

12.  Todd and I have moved sixteen times.  You read that right.  Moved sixteen.  Married nineteen.  Yes, it is as bad as it sounds.

13.  If you count Edmond and Yukon as part of OKC and Nixa as part of Springfield, we’ve only actually live four different places in all those moves.  I don’t know what this means, except that I wish some of those moves would have been to some fun, exotic places!

14.  I could totally live in downtown Chicago or NYC.

15.  I think I have been to eleven major league baseball games.  Have I mentioned I don’t care for baseball?  Or hot dogs?  I do like apple pie though.  Why don’t they sell apple pie at baseball games?

16.  I love to sew.  I love to embroider.  I’m so excited I have a daughter to sew for.  At least until she tells me to stop, which will probably be pretty soon.

17.  Everyone told me that girls are easier to potty train than boys.  Guess what, they are NOT!

18.  I wish all the time I was ten years younger so I could have more kids.  I really would like more kids.

19.  I am a terrible decorator.  This worked out well when we were renting most places we lived.  I had the excuse that we would be moving on soon.  When we buy a house, that excuse doesn’t really fly.

20.  I wish I had the nerve to have a whimsical, colorful fun home.  Right now my whimsicalness sits at two chairs.

21.  I have four of the sweetest kids I know.  Ok, I’m a little biased.  But, I love them!

22.  Kellen started Kindergarten in Tulsa and was in school until November of that year, then we moved.  We’ve homeschooled ever since.

23.  At this point, I can’t imagine not homeschooling.  I don’t know what the future holds, but I’ve gotten very spoiled having so much time with my kids.

24.  You don’t have to read very many of my posts to guess what my grades in English were.    But, I continue to write them anyway. 

25.  I can’t stand to scrapbook.  My perfectionism gets me too freaked out about the whole process.  So, I blog.  I am printing my blog so I can put it up for my kids to have someday.  They may not care, but it makes me feel better.  At least they’ll have a little notebook to put next to their spouses 65 professionally done scrapbooks of their lives.

26.  I have a tendency to be sarcastic.

27.  My parents will be married 49 years this year.  Todd’s parents have been married 48 years.  For these marriages I am so thankful.

28.  At our rehearsal dinner, Clay said he knew Todd and I would stay married because we are the two most stubborn people he knows.  He was right.  Sometimes it takes pure stubbornness to make it work.  Or maybe the stubbornness makes the work.  I don’t know.  But, we’re still here.

29.  This may be a list of 29 things.  I don’t think I can think of 100 things to write about myself!  I will need at least one more, I can’t end on an odd number.

30.  Todd and I have only had one pet.  Well, we had some fish when we were first married, but then we moved, and well, they didn’t make it.  Abby was our one and only.  The sweetest little daschund .  She was not supposed to be a miniature, but she never got over 9 pounds.  We had her sixteen years.  She moved and moved with us and never seemed to be bothered by it.  She was bothered when we had babies.  She was bothered when we tried to get a second dog for her to play with.  Needless to say that friendship didn’t last long and we found a good home for the new dog.  But, moving didn’t bother her. 

31.  I would have loved to have named Callie Abby but everyone thought it would be too weird.

32.  I am a nervous wreck about having a daughter.  I have no idea what I am doing!

33.  I love pink.

34.  Lucky for Todd we had a girl.  This last moved I changed the color of our bedroom from pink and white blue and white.

35.  Todd always said he wanted three boys and a girl.  That’s what he got. :)

36.  The boys were born in Oklahoma City.  Callie was born in Iowa.

37.  All of our kids names had to have double letters, to go with our last name that has double letters.  Daddy’s idea.

38.  If you look in the right baby name books, all of our kids names are Irish.

39.  Even if we had more kids we could only have about four more since by the time you take out all the baby names that don’t have double letters and are not Irish, you are only left with four.

40.  I love to buy shoes.  It’s not fun to buy shoes for myself anymore since I have to start with comfortable and work my way down.  So, I buy shoes for Callie.  :)

41.  If I won the lottery the first thing I would do would be hire someone to clean my house, regularly.  I am so over cleaning.

42.  I love to fly.  In airplanes that is.

43.  I love to travel.  The second thing I would do if I won the lottery is buy a bunch of airline tickets to all kinds of places.

44.  I spent six weeks in Europe in between my junior and senior years of college.  Loved it!  I was part of a mission group with Let’s Start Talking.  We spent five weeks working with a church in the Netherlands and a week traveling.  One of the best times of my life.  I would love to take my kids there.

45.  Sam’s will not allow employees to take more than a week of vacation at a time.  So, even though Todd has four weeks vacation, it doesn’t do us much good when it comes to traveling great distances.  Unless I go by myself, which I have been known to do!

46.  Tulips are my favorite flower.  I would love to visit the Netherlands when the tulips are in full bloom, except that I am scared it would be too commercialized and then I would be disappointed. 

47.  I am not a fan of Disney.  So, a trip to Disneyworld if about last on my list.  That probably makes me un-American.  Oh well. 

48.  The commercialization of things drives me nuts.  Why does EVERYTHING have to have a sponsor?  I know, because someone has to pay for all the “stuff” that people enjoy, but it is all just too much these days.

49.  I have a terrible memory and that makes me sad.  I wish I could remember every little detail of my kids lives, but I can’t.  Bits and pieces jump out to me every once in a while, but that is about it.

50.  I will not ever win the lottery because I don’t buy lottery tickets.  But, it’s a nice thing to think about sometimes!

51.  I think my second dream job would be to design children’s wear.  I don’t know if anyone would buy it, but it would be fun.

52.  In sixth grade, we had to make a poster titled something like “About Me”.  In the part where we were supposed to draw a picture about what we wanted to be when we grew up I drew me feeding a baby in a high chair.  Being a mama is all I ever wanted to do.  So, I guess my actual dream job is coming true!  Of course now I realize being a mama is way more than one job!

53.  In sixth grade I rode a bus to another school to be in a gifted and talented class.  We were a mixture of kids from all over town that got to be in the most wonderful class with the most wonderful teacher.  I know, how did this happen?  What can I say, I can take tests!

54.  I pretty much didn’t like school except for sixth grade.  I was so very shy that any thing other than sitting at my desk doing schoolwork was torture.  I even volunteered to wash dishes in the school cafeteria so that I wouldn’t have to go to recess.  Should I even admit that?  I guess it doesn’t hurt for people to know I have been weird all my life!

55.  I can’t draw to save my life.  I wish I could.  I wish I was an artist and super-creative.  But, I’m not, I’ve learned to deal.  I’m glad my kids are creative in spite of me!

56.  I was deathly afraid of the dark growing up.  I have outgrown it, a little.

57.  Easter is my favorite holiday.  Three reasons:  Jesus, new clothes and the beginning of spring!

58.  Fall is my next favorite.  The temperatures are just right and even though I would not care if I ever watched another football game on TV, the thought of a high school game with a marching band just makes me happy.

59.  Next would be summer.  I love the freedom.  Don’t love the heat.

60.  I really could live someplace that didn’t have a winter.  I despise being cold and despise snow.  My Iowa friends can attest to this, since I complained the entire time I lived there.  Sorry about that!

61.  I also love to buy socks.  I can’t stand to wear socks, but love to buy them.

62.  I once took a sack with 102 pairs of socks to Goodwill.  In my defense, there were a lot of little baby socks.  My boys never really wore them since they were spring babies, but apparently I couldn’t resist buying them!

63.  I was born in October.  During the OU/Texas football game.  I think that was an omen.

64.  We have four OU football season tickets that we never use.  Don’t worry, we sell them, but it would be more fun to use them!

65.  My parents live in the same house that I grew up in.

66.  Todd’s parents live in the same house he grew up in.

67.  Our kids don’t know where they live.

68.  In the third grade I got chicken pox and glasses all in the same week.  Not a good week.

69.  I have a college degree in Physical Education.  I never wanted to be a teacher, I wanted to work in fitness or physical therapy.

70.  My first job was at Presbyterian Hospital in the Oklahoma City Center For Athletes.  I know what you are thinking, right up my alley.  It was a semi-fun job that only lasted nine months because we moved.

71.  My next job was for an eye doctor.  I decided then that I wanted to work in the optometric field.  That lasted seven months.  Then we moved.  Can you see a pattern here. 

72.  I have a terrible time making decisions.  Big decisions, little decisions, it doesn’t really matter.

73.  We were married six years before we had Kellen.  We wanted to be “ready” before we had kids.  Of course we soon found out you are never ready.

74.  We would have loved to have our kids close together, but God did not have that planned for us.  I think I will trust His judgment.

75.  I really, really try to trust God and His plan for my life.  It is not easy.  I’m a tad controlling.  I would have never laid my life out like this.

76.  I have a pretty good life, so luckily someone else is making the plans!

77.  I don’t remember when Clay was born, I was only 22 months old.

78.  I remember every detail about the day Ryan was born.  I was seven.  While I was initially a little sad he was not a sister, I got over it very quickly.

79.  I am now very glad he was not a sister.  There are some advantages to being the only girl.

80.  Ryan had long curly hair as a toddler, so I curled it and fixed it for him.  The next best thing to having a sister.

81.  People always thought Clay and I were twins.  He was tall, I was short, and we were dressed alike a lot.

82.  I sort of bossed them around a lot.  Sorry about that.

83.  Clay and Ryan both work in public education.  I do not.

84.  Clay and Ryan both live in Oklahoma.  I do not.

85.  Todd still says we will end up in Oklahoma City some day, for good.  I’m beginning to think that is not in the plans.

86.  If we could, we would move back to the first little house we bought in the Village.  We LOVED that house, still do.  Of course, we have added two more kids since then, so it might not really work out.  But, that was the best house.

87.  The second house we owned was in Iowa.  We loved the space.  I loved the laundry chute and laundry room. 

88.  The house in Iowa was supposed to be a work in progress while we lived there.  But, we didn’t live there long enough.  So, it became a major stress to get it done and sell it. 

89.  Todd never saw the finished product.  I wish he could have.  It turned out really cute.

90.  Thank the Lord we sold it in three weeks.  I couldn’t take that house anymore!

91.  The third house we have owned is the house we are in now.  It is new.  Or was new.  We’ve used it now.

92.  It is sooo boring.  Maybe if we built it ourselves, it would not be boring.  But since we just bought it this way, boring.  It is boring because I’m afraid to touch anything.  Something about having an old house makes me think I can fix that, make it look better.  Here, it’s hard to change anything since it is new.  I don’t know if I ever want a new house again.  But, I’ve learned to never say never.

93.  I know I am blessed to have this home, don’t get me wrong.  I am thankful for it every day.  Just bored with it. 

94.  Or maybe I’m bored because I’m not pregnant or packing.  Or pregnant and packing.

95.  I wish I knew the Bible better.  You’d think by going to church my whole life and taking Bible classes in college I would know it better.  But I am finally realizing that you have to actually study it, not just sit and listen about it.

96.  I desperately want my kids to know the Bible.  So, we start our homeschool day with Bible and I am learning right along with them.  It’s the best part of our day.

97.  I love my kids.  I can’t even describe how much I love these four people in my life.

98.  I love my husband.  I am so thankful for him.  He has put up with a lot from me and is still here.

99.  I love God.  I am so thankful to Him for blessing me beyond what I deserve.

100.  I love you for actually reading to the end!  Ha!  Unless your like me and you read the end of the book first to see if you actually want to mess with reading the whole thing.  If that is the case, don’t bother going back to read the list.  It will be ten minutes of your life you’ll never get back!

Our Typical Day

Ha!  I decided to take part in Kelly’s Korner Show Us Your Life/Your Typical Day.  I wish we had a typical day, oh how I wish.  But, it is not to be.  I have four kids and a husband that works retail, so luckily I am flexible!  And really, I don’t really know if I want a typical day.  I like unpredictable, spur-of-the moment days. A good thing with Todd’s unpredictable hours!  The problem with this is that there are things that do have to be done on a typical day: cooking, cleaning, laundry, schoolwork…the list could go on and on.  So, we have our set things, then try to just have fun in between. 

We go to church Sundays and Wednesdays.  We are so happy about our church here.  It is a growing church with 350 or so members and lots of kids!  And counting us, there are four home school families that I know of.  That is such a blessing for the kids.  It’s always nice to not be the only ones!  And, we have friends with similar schedules, even better!

Since moving to Nixa we have joined a home school co-op.  In all our years homeschooling we have not ever joined a co-op.  The funny thing is that before we moved to Iowa, we were talking to the leaders about joining this co-op.  Then we came back to this area and were still able to to join.  It has been such a blessing.  The kids loove it!  Well, I know Kellen and Garrett do.  Gannon does on most days and as long as Callie has Play-Doh time in her class, she is happy!  The boys participate in all types of classes from science to art to P.E..   We do this on Tuesday afternoons.

On Thursday afternoons the boys go to home school P.E. at the YMCA.  They love that too!  Some friends from church and co-op recently joined so I have been walking with their mom while the boys play.  So I enjoy getting in shape and chatting!

In between all of this we live our lives.  We have our schedule for chores, school etc.  If we stick to those, things go pretty good!  But, we have been known to drop everything and go play, redecorate a room, visit family, you name it!  This is one reason I so love homeschooling.  The flexibility was not on our list when we first started this journey.  But it so is now!  I can’t imagine living by someone else’s calendar.  I guess we live a little by Sam’s Club calendar if we want Daddy to join us, but he doesn’t always get to join us, and he’s fine with that.  I know this life is not for everyone.  I have many friends that would panic if they didn’t have more of a routine, but I panic if I don’t have some time to be flexible!

So, a typical day?  We don’t have those, even by my standards!  The only typical is that we are flexible and always together.  Sounds like the perfect day to me!

You can find other peoples "typical days" here:

http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/2010/03/show-us-your-life-what-is-your-typical.html

It's always fun to see what others are up to!

In A Pickle

Long time no post! Again...

We have been in a pickle, a big, 5-gallon Sam's jar of pickles to be exact! Todd left on September 5 to start his new position with Sam's in Springfield. (Yeah!) We worked our hearts out before he left, our house was not finished. My mom came for a week and worked her heart out, still not done. So, September 6, the kids and I started out on our own to finishing remodeling our house. The quicker we got it done, the quicker we could list it and move on. Easier said than done. I tried to call professionals to come do the work for us, but they all said they couldn't get to it until this date or that date. It seemed like it was going to take too long to get the job done, so I figured we could get it done quicker. Do you see where this is going? First mistake. Should have just let the workers come and put my feet up somewhere. We were in over our heads. Now, let me say, we are pretty good at figuring stuff out, but when you are in a rush, there is just not time to figure out how to do things you have not ever done before. We just kept plugging along. Our realtor here is a friend from church and I think she could tell this was not going to work. So she and her husband showed up one day and started helping. Friends started keeping my kids when they could so I could work in peace. Friends showed up to paint, bring lunch, whatever they could do. Our realtor is from church, so she put the word out at church and we had people come over and use their talents to finish projects that ranged from putting up trim to cleaning my oven. The clock was still ticking but, we were making progress. We missed our daddy, but we were so busy we didn't have time to dwell on it, which was a good thing! On top of all this was planning the move to Springfield. When were we going? Where would we live? On and on. A stressful time to say the least!

But, we did it. We did it with a lot of help! I am not one who likes to ask for help. Can't stand it actually! I like to think I can do everything myself. Guess what, I can't :)! The last few weeks I have just accepted it. I went to bed every night overwhelmed with people's generosity with their time. Time is such a valuable commodity this day and age and people willingly gave it up for us. Our house looks nice. We have it listed. We have had a few showings and an open house. I just hope it will sell sometime! I know this is the winter season (we've already had snow in Iowa!), not the best time to sell a house. I think it will sell someday. It is a desirable neighborhood and a nice size house with lots of "new". That has to count for something, right?

Kellen commented a few weeks back that "this is why it is good to believe in God and go to church because your church friends help you". He is so right. Our church here has truly treated us like a family while we've been away from family. I have tried to figure out for years how to teach my kids to serve. I wondered if we should go feed the homeless, if we should go to nursing homes, on and on. While all those things are wonderful and are still things I hope we can do, there is nothing like the example we were shown the last six weeks. When you are on the receiving end of service, you know how it feels. You know how it feels to feel like there is no way this is going to work out and then people come to your rescue. I always say we have had many lessons and blessings everywhere we have lived. This has been the biggest one here. Everything we have gone through here has been worth it for my kids to learn the lessons they have learned these last six weeks. The lessons were not anything I can teach out of a book, not anything they can learn without going through it. I hope that I have also taught them how to graciously accept help and thank God for all he has done for us. I can truly say that at least for the boys, all I will ever have to say is remember how we felt in Iowa, when we had help beyond measure? They will always remember and be ready to serve. I know I will.

Easter, part one

I guess I had too much to say today and wonderful Yahoo won't let me put it all on one post, so here is part one!

Easter is my favorite holiday. I don't know if it is my favorite because it is spring, or because it is an excuse to get pretty new clothes. Or, because it brings back such good memories from when I was little. At Easter time there is not so much going on, like there is at Christmas, so I think it is easier to enjoy. Of course, here in Iowa, it is always a little anti-climactic since we can't get together with extended family. I love my family, and I try to make the best of it with our little six, but it always seems like something is missing.

Growing up we had the privilege of going to Grandma and Grandpa Lanier's every Easter. Our family would go to church then head to Grandma's. We always started with the obligatory pictures in our Easter clothes. Always over by the front door, crowded around the chair. Then we could change clothes. No changing until after pictures! Holly and I would always, always set the table and fix the drinks. Somehow Grandma always had all the food ready. I don't know how, because she was at the same church , the same time we were. I don't remember ever waiting until like three to eat. (Like my family does on holidays, even though I am cooking for just us!) I don't remember anything ever being burned, like we always have in the Foxx house. I make the same exact rolls she does, but she never had butter running all over the oven like I do, how does that happen? Burned butter smell, yum! (not really!) Anyway, we would hunt eggs forever. She always had just enough plastic eggs, and we smart enough to count them so we would know when we had found them all. There was always an egg hiding in the clothes line post. She had the best yard for egg hunts! After we were older, we would hunt eggs, then ride the golf cart around. All the cousins were there. Holly, Todd, Chad, and Lori. Luckily Lori came along later, so we always had a little one to hunt eggs with. It seemed like for years nothing changed. I guess that is the magic of childhood. I am sure to our parents things were always changing, but to us, it didn't seem that way. I miss that for our kids. We never know where we will be from one holiday to the next! I try to make it the same for us, no matter where we are or who is around. We have our own Foxx family traditions. Hopefully when my kids are grown that is what they will remember, not that we were always in a different house! We are truly blessed, I hope too that I can impress that upon them. I think we always knew when we were little how blessed we were, some things you just don't have to be told.

"Why Do You Even Try?"

What happened to this week? It has gone by way to fast! It was not our "spring break" as it was for most people. We had a break last week when Grandma and Grandpa were here. One of the many reasons I love homeschooling...we get to make our own schedule! Anyway, it was still a quick week. We did get a lot accomplished though, so that is a good thing. I am determined to get things situated so I can have a day to sew. I have tons of fabric ready to make "stuff" for Callie, but it's hard for me to stop and sew when there are so many other things on the to do list.

We had company last night. Our youth minister from church is a huge basketball fan so he and his wife came over to watch March Madness. His wife is going to school and cuts hair, so she cut the boys hair while she was here. Can't beat that! We had a good time. It was nice to enjoy the basement. Of course Todd won't let anyone eat down there so they watched the games on the tiny TV upstairs until they had finished eating.

I have learned not to try to go overboard when having company. It stresses me out, then we don't ever have company! So, we were just doing pizza and salad. Kellen wanted to make the dessert, some kind of gooey brownie you put with ice cream. That was fine, I helped him since it involved boiling water and we've had several burns recently:( So, we got it made, I went upstairs. After about twenty minutes, I thought I could smell something burning, of course the dessert had spilled over and was burning all over the place. This is why I don't bake. I really don't like to bake. I think I don't have the patience for it. Had I stayed around the kitchen, I would have known that it was burning sooner and wouldn't have a huge mess to clean up! But I had things to do! Luckily, Todd works for Sam's and I caught him before he left so he brought home some dessert. When he walked in, he looked around the kitchen, opened the oven and said "why do you even try?" (the title of this post:)) Now, this may sound like he's not being very nice, but I know it's true. And, he was laughing. It is a fact in our house, I always burn something. We have not had a holiday without the lingering smell of burned food. Once when we were moving and looking in the paper for houses, I mentioned there was a log cabin. Todd immediately said, "no way, you would have that burned down in a week!" I could do a whole blog on things I have burned, going way back! Luckily, Todd and Kellen like burned meat because there is usually some to be had. I don't think I am a bad cook, I just really am impatient. And, in my defense, just about the time I get an oven or stove figured out, we move. Anyone that has moved a lot knows that all ovens/stoves are different. It takes a lot of trial and error to figure them out. Our oven here is ancient, like everything else we haven't ripped out. No self-cleaning feature! We happened to go range shopping last weekend, so maybe there is hope in sight. No, I am not burning food to try to get a new range. Even Todd can realize this range is on it's last leg!

Anyway, our guests were very gracious, they said they thought our house smelled good. Please! They didn't seem to mind the frigid temps since we had all the windows open. What nice friends we have!

Callie's first spaghetti dinner. She started out with her "toddler" food but thought what we had looked better! She loved it!

Callie is my big helper in the kitchen. She is always wanting to help with something. Yesterday when I was washing the salad stuff for our company, she decided she wanted to help. She went into the dining room, got a chair, pushed it into the kitchen. There is a step from our dining room to our kitchen, she knows she can't step down without holding on. So, she pushed the chair off the step, then stepped down, then pushed the chair the rest of the way. It was so funny. Then she proceeded to get set up at the sink to help. She is so smart! I had to find something for her to do after all that work so I let her put the greens in a baggie. She was so proud of herself! I am probably using up all of her usefulness too soon, about the time she can really help she'll be tired of it! Then she just messed with the water and dishes and stuff. She was done when she started trying to suck the water out the dishrags! Yuk!

Kellen's Big Day

Kellen turned twelve last Sunday, March 8. He was born on his daddy's birthday and he has always loved that. I'm not sure how much Todd loves it, as he is the one that gets the leftovers:) Not really, he always says it was his best gift ever.

Kellen had decided a few weeks ago that he wanted to be baptized on his birthday. Anyone that knows Kellen is not surprised by this, he is a man with a plan! He knew when, what he was going to wear, what he was going to take in a bag in case he needed it (comb, etc.). He is too funny, and luckily is my son because I need someone with a plan in this house!

We have talked a lot about baptism. I printed off a list of scriptures for us to review called the safety chain. It was a great list that made me feel better knowing we tried to cover all the bases. Of course, he knew all the answers. I was actually surprised a little bit, I guess you never realize what they are soaking up.

The big day came and it was a rainy, dreary day weather wise. But we were excited. He had even been able to surprise Grandma and Grandpa, which made his day. They had hardly gotten off the airplane before he said "guess what I am doing Sunday?". They were thrilled that they had picked this time to come. It was nice to have them here. I was worried about myself, I had been crying for two weeks! Every time I thought about it the tears would come. But, anyone that knows me, would be proud to know I hardly needed a Kleenex when the actual time came! I guess I had gotten it all out of my system the weeks before! The thing that got me the most was that as he started down the aisle, the sun came out. No joke, I even heard the people around me talking about it. The sun came out and was out until about the time to leave the building. I couldn't believe it. That is something I will never forget. I don't know how I feel about physical signs from God, but if there are signs in this age, this was one. I know that Kellen will always be a light for God where ever he goes. I really hope I don't mess him up because I think God has big plans for him!

Todd baptized him which made it even more special. He told the congregation that it was Kellen's birthday and that now he had something even more important to celebrate every year on March 8th. Todd did a really good job. He is such a good public speaker, I am always surprised for some reason. We don't see that side of him at home, which I guess is a good thing! Gannon did want to know why daddy didn't go in the water since "it was birthday too".

It was a wonderful day. We have a small congregation, they all seem to love our kids and were all so excited for Kellen and made him feel very special. Our good friends Laura, Josh, Ryan and Emily came after their church, in the rain, to witness Kellen's baptism. Thank you!! Nothing touches a mama more than to know that their kids are loved.

Todd baptizing Kellen. Everyone came up afterwards saying they wanted to run up and take the flowers down so we could actually see Kellen. Oh well, we all know he was in there!

Our preacher Lance Love, Kellen and Todd after the baptism.


All the kids coming up to congratulate Kellen.


Garrett hugging Kellen and their friend.

Kellen and mama.

Family picture. Todd, Gannon, Garrett, Kellen, Mama, Callie


Grandpa, Kellen, and Grandma


Nothing at all to do with the baptism, or Kellen's big day, but I couldn't resist the picture of Callie and her BFF Emily. They must have called each other to see what they should wear to church that day!

Happy Thursday!

Not anything special about today, but we all slept and the people with colds seem to be getting better, not worse. So, Happy Thursday!

The boys had an Old Testament feast last night in their Bible class. Kellen was King David, Garrett was young David. (Just in case you couldn't figure it out by the wonderful costumes!)

Gannon thought he and Callie should be in the picture as well:)

Callie and daddy. It is a little disgusting how much she likes him! Either that or she knows who pays for the shoes!=)

Callie working hard on some sort of woodworking project. I think we will have to go shoe shopping now, she doesn't have any steel-toed boots!

The following will be categorized under TMI, or Too Much Information, so don't read the rest! Unless you've ever been a mom, then you will be unfazed. I am trying to add Gannon comments when I can because there is nothing like a conversation with a four-your-old boy, and I am almost done with four-year-old boys. (sniff, sniff) To put this in kiddo words, when Gannon goes, well, number two should we say, he still calls me for assistance (wiping). I told him a few weeks ago I thought he could probably handle this job and he looked at me with a shocked look on his face and said "no way, that's gross!". I said "yes, yes it is".

The following will be categorized under PSA, or Public Service Announcement. On a serious note, we have three friends of friends that have lost children in the past week. One was an eleven-year-old boy and one a twelve-year-old boy, both to flu related illness. Both were too quick to even realize what was happening. So, WASH YOUR HANDS! Around here, the sicknesses are just beginning. One school system that has 800 or so kids, had 400 out on Monday with illness. It is scary to think about what could happen so fast. We have to trust in God that he will take care of us, but I think he expects us to do our part. So, wash your hands, eat healthy and get your rest. OK, enough preaching. Have a safe and healthy day!