Byron Gurnee MD.

Kenton's stitches needed taken out so Byron decided he was capable of doing it.....

The Puppys - unveiled!

Alyssa is Kindergarten Bound!

Today was the big day.... Alyssa's first step toward Kindergarten. I have no idea where time has gone. It is truly unbelievable that my baby is about to start her academic adventure. I just got done telling Alyssa that she was growing up too fast and that I was insisting that she STOP growing up so fast. She looked at me and said, "So what do you want me to do? Just skip all my birthdays?!" I told her that would be a good start. She said, "Yeah, like I'm really gonna do that mom!" *sigh* I tried.

Anyways, here are some pictures of our morning...

Alyssa made friends immediately.

Speech/language screening

Eye screening

Hearing screening

Daddy's little girl

Group A

Clown #4 for our family

The final event of the day... the much anticipated bus ride!


After the registration event we went to find Kendra. Here's the happy reunion!

What does kindness look like?

Today it looked like this:

Yes, those are mint oreo cookies. Given to me by a sweet lady from our church. She came into church this AM and gave me a big hug then handed me a package of mint oreo cookies.

Now, what really touches me about this act of kindness is the fact that this lady has not been going to our church very long. I am not even sure how she knows that I love love love mint oreo cookies! This act of kindness tells me that she is listening to everything I say and trying to get to know me better! Somewhere along the line I must have told the ladies about my oreo love. I don't know. But, it feels good to be loved and to have someone desire to know me enough to pay attention to the little details!

God help me to pay attention to the "little details" of the lives around me.

We Thirst

We have had on going issues with the lack of water here at the parsonage. Actually the church has water issues....and the whole neighborhood. If we drill over 50' we have the danger of getting into brine water from all the gas wells in the area. So yesterday after all the melt of snow and all the rain...yes you guessed it we are out of water. A very strange anomally occurs when ever it is going to rain or is raining - we have less water. We ran out last night and this morning we assumed we would have plenty of water. My dear husband jumped in the shower and turned on the water, adjusted it and extra lathered up. That is when the water shut off. He spent 30 minutes waiting for more to trickle in the well while I kept flipping the pressure switch. He finally got cold and tired of waiting and used a towl to get the rest of the soap out. We always keep plenty of "other" liquids on hand in case this happens.

I long for a time when I can live in a place where I can let the water run as long as I want without worrying about it!!

And..... while we are talking about lack of water and thirst..... this song came to mind.....

"Mommy Promises"

by Julie Steigemeyer and Wilson Ong

Last December I ran across this book in Ollie's. I purchased it for my children. When I got it home and read it to my kids I was just overwhelmed by the depth and emotion of the book. Tonight I presented a copy to our mom to be from our church at her shower. I HIGHLY recommend this book to ANY mom. It can be purchased from Amazon.com.

Alyssa-isms

We do not permit our kids to leave the sanctuary once church begins. We make them all use the rest room before it starts.So tonight Alyssa keptbugging me to let her go to the restroom. I kept telling her she had to wait. She finally leaned over and told me that she couldnt wait. I knew she could so I said, "well then just wet your underwear." She got a horrified look on her face and said, "In God's House?!" I just shrugged my shoulders. She then said, "I dont think thats God's will'. These kids definitely keep me laughing!

P.S.... doesn't the picture above just go along perfectly with the subject matter of this blog entry?!!!

The Good Ole Days

I suppose I'm about to show my age by writing what I'm about to write but so be it. :-)

Today is a rainy Saturday. I happen to like rainy days. They are cozy and a bit restrictive as far as outside activities so for an adult, that means the "to do" list is a bit smaller. Even as a child I liked rainy days. But Saturday's have always been special to me.

As a child, our home ran on a pretty unchanging routine. Dad left for the barn at the same time each day and came in at the same time each day. Of course there were the occasional deviations but for the most part, our schedule was the same every day - every week - every month.

Part of this schedule was Saturday. Saturday's were always special and fun. I don't even think it was my moms intention to make them special and fun. It just kinda happened I think.

Here's how a typical Saturday would look....

8:00 AM - Dad would come into my room (after having just come in from the morning chores at the barn) and turn on my radio to the local Christian radio station and Uncle Charlie with Children's Bible Hour would be just coming on. He'd kiss me to wake me up then he would go downstairs to eat breakfast. At 8:30 the story would be over and I would go down to eat with him.

9:00 AM - We (my sister and I and mom) would start cleaning the house. It was my duty to clean my room, the bathroom and sweep the whole house (that was a big task) and dust and polish the whole house (another huge task). Once we were all done with cleaning......

11:30 AM - We "girls" headed for town. During this trip we would get groceries and any other incidentals that were needed. We would eat lunch out as well.

We would be in town til 5:00ish then we would head home in time to welcome dad in from the days work.

This happened the same way every single Saturday of my childhood. And, as insane as it may sound, I miss those days. I took for granted the time with my sister and my mom and dad. Back then I thought I would NEVER grow up and leave home.

I have a good life now as an adult but there is a longing inside to go back just for a month or two and re-live those days. I would SO treasure them more if I could re-do them. I don't know that I'd change anything just that I would enjoy them more.

Well, obviously that isn't going to happen and so far I've not even come close to establishing a "Saturday routine" that my kids can someday write about.

*sigh*

Ollies Bargain Outlet

Today I am using my blog to endorse a few products and/or places. First off is "Ollies Bargain Outlet". This is one of those stores where you just never know what you may find and if you DO find something you want, you best get it right then because it may not be there the next time you go. My favorite thing about Ollies is their book section. They have a huge selection of books and the prices are very good. Allot of great stuff for homeschooling families as well. So..... if you want to check if there is a store near you check out their site.

6+4=10

Our family increased by 4 last night. Check out Byron's blog to see how!

Only in Albion

It has always amazed me how God puts us right where we'd best fit in. Albion is a country town with country folks. I remember shortly after we moved here I went to town and left my wallet at home. i had a cart full of grocery's. The store manager came over and saw me and said, "Oh! I trust her. She's the new preachers wife. Let her take the grocery's and bring the money next time she's in town." At fair time you'll see tractors driving all over town. It's a very down to earth, relaxed community and I love it. I'm truly "at home" here.

Today while driving through town we saw this:





Shortly after a friend came into town a bit further down the street and saw this:


How cool is that?!!

Celebrating Mama's Birthday

Mama and Papa came last night for a birthday dinner to celebrate another year of life with Mama! The cake was decorated by the kids. :-)

New Friends

Kent Jeffries and Alex Fourman spent the night Sunday night and my kids thought they should have spent allot longer here. So, to the rest of the Jeffries and Fourman families.... you better come visit soon!!

Kent reading to the boys