A few more irresistable shots

This picture cracked me up so I had to post it.

And in this one, Tim was telling Brittany she was going to get fat from all the cake and candy...she doesn't look like she believes him.

And something happened to the scarecrow's eyes.

Happy Halloween!

Once again we had a wonderful time at our friend's house for Halloween.  The kids looked so cute and the weather was perfect!

We had an angel, dressed in white, so beautiful, a shining light

Something scary, a corpse bride...she will ALWAYS be by your side.

A cute little witch to cast a spell, but she's so sweet you could never tell

Something clumsy to scare your crows...she even has a big red nose.

Riding Hood with a cape so red...from the big bad wolf she fled.

And then a flapper, lean and tall...she certainly isn't small

 

The cutest puppy and Fireman Sam...

And here they are all together again

 

Happy Birthday Brittany!

"Dance like nobody's watching; love like you've never been hurt. Sing like nobody's listening; live like it's heaven on earth." -- Mark Twain

A young girl once stood in the dark night with her arms open wide and prayed for something to make her life worth living. She was lonely and depressed and felt like she had nothing. Her family was far away, her friends were very few, and she spent her life seeking love in places where she shouldn't.
First a wonderful knight in shining armor came and swept this young girl off her feet. He saved her from this dark hole she was falling into and he promised to marry her and love her baby.

Then along came this beautiful miracle. A tiny baby girl so beautiful, vibrant, and a pure joy to all who met her. Her smile melted even the coldest of hearts and her gentle spirit drew everyone to her.

She was born after a full 21 hours of labor. She was tiny, only 7 pounds 1 ounce, but the joy she brought was immense. The girl and her knight named the baby Brittany Joy because she was pure joy in a bundle of blankets. She smiled at them and they melted. They knew that she was the answer to their prayers.

In fact this little bundle of joy had a special power that made everyone do whatever she wanted when she flashed that beautiful smile! She wrapped everyone around her little finger very quickly. As she grew she never stopped bringing that wonderful joy to the girl, her knight and their families.

Her smile could light up the darkest day and it hardly ever left her face. She was the answer to the prayer that the young girl had prayed that dark lonely night. She was the heart of the young girl, an amazing miracle brought to her by God to make life worth living.

The young girl and the knight and their beautiful princess were very happy together and Brittany Joy grew to be a beautiful young lady. The young girl (who is now a woman) and her wonderful knight (who is still as handsome as ever) never stopped thanking God for answering that prayer or for the joy brought to them by that little bundle from God!!

Happy 14th birthday Brittany Joy! I could never have lived without you, my love!!! You have never stopped bringing joy to me and to all those around you! You have a beautiful spirit, you are caring and giving and a wonderful part of my life!

The first time I held you
I cried a tear
A tear that slid down my cheek
and landed on your heart
That tear was joy
and that's what you became
My joy!
Each and every day that passes
I think of that day
your big brown eyes
your tiny fingers
my heart exploding with emotion
I can never explain to you
How happy I was to hold you
to love you
to be your Mother!

(reposted from a few years ago!)

A blast from the past

This picture is one I ran across going through some boxes downstairs.  That is me (and I must be less than 2 cause my brother isn't in the picture) and my Mom and Dad. 

Jack-o-Lantern Carving time again

Brittany's Jack-o-lantern is "Raymond".

Gabby's is named "Mothman"

Kassie's is "Henry"

Bela's is "Jack"

Dani's is "Pokey"

This is our fourth Halloween posted on this website.  To view previous pumpkin carvings click the year...2006, 2005, 2004

Finally an update!

This week I found my children playing a new game "Human Operation"  I was a little worried when I heard them say it until I found them doing this...

I got my hair cut.  The kids really like it.  Brittany even fixed it so she could take a couple pictures.

 

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The week in pictures

Since I am in no mood to write, I will leave you with pictures from this week.

And a doggy in a bunny cage!  He is so mischievous!

Oh and Kassie answered the question for all ages, How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie pop?

It's 1000!  Yes the child had that much patience!

Call it intuition

Bela asked to sleep in our room last night for some reason.  We usually let her sleep in there when she asks because she is getting scared at night and it is comforting to be near Mom and Dad.  She hasn't asked for quite awhile, but last night she did.  I said yes and so she set up her little bed on the floor and went to sleep.  Sometime later, David and I were still sitting in the living room and all the kids were sleeping.  We heard a big bang in the bedroom.  The bunkbed that Bela usually sleeps on the bottom of, collapsed. 

I was so thankful that I had said yes to her sleeping in our room!

Wonderful Birthday Party

The day turned out excellent.  The weather was perfect and the animals were so fun.  The party was hosted by Pony to Go, which ended up being an excellent choice.

We ended up with a pony and a miniature horse and a ton of other animals. 

We had some face painting.

When I told the lady about losing our bunny last week.  She just gave us one, he is soooo sweet and we are loving him!

Even the girl's friend Erin really loved this bunny.  He is so sweet and calm when you hold him!

Simba likes the new bunny too.

The bunny is so calm when he is being held that the kids can really do anything to him.

Everyone said that the bunny looked like Peter Rabbit, so his name is Peter (I hope is it a boy)!

We also had two other additions to the family.

Firebelly and Fireball

They are firebellied toads.  They live 10-20 years, they will probably outlive ALL our other pets.

I wanted to get a picture of their bellies, they weren't too cooperative about that :)

For lots more pictures view this album.

Happy Birthday Isabela

Tomorrow is Bela's big birthday bash, it was supposed to be just a petting zoo with a llama, but the lady called today and asked if she could bring the pony instead of the llama because she couldn't fit both on the truck and she has a pony party right after us that needs the pony.  So we got a pony party for a discount!  Many pictures to follow tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Bela darling.

8 years ago, at 11:00 pm I started feeling the labor pains. I had so many false labors that I didn't believe it was real so I waited till 6:45am to call my midwife. She was concerned that I hadn't called her sooner and asked me to come into the Birth Center (in Copperas Cove, Texas) to have my first dose of antibiotic as I had tested positive for Group Beta Strep during pregnancy and we didn't want to pass it to the baby. I came in and had an IV and I was dilated to 3. They gave me a choice to either go home or stay there and I chose to go home and try to rest.

As I lay in bed at home, I had a hard time believing that this was really it. She was actually being born on her due date (and it was a Thursday too which meant no ER). I listened to the sounds in the house. The kids were running around playing with our friends who had come to celebrate our new arrival (when she got there) I could hear the phone ringing and the sounds of the doorbell now and then, and we even had a guy come to fix the dishwasher. David brought me a donut, which ended up sitting there until the next day because I was so nauseous that I couldn't keep anything down. I lay there until noon when I started spotting and I knew it was time to go.

By the time we got back to the birth center I was already dilated to 7 and it was about 12:45 pm. By then I knew that it was going to happen so I laid back to enjoy the ride and a beautiful ride it was. My labor was intense, but the contractions weren't very regular. The midwives were joking with me because in between contractions I was just talking away and you would have never known I was in labor. The contractions were strong, but hardly long enough to do anything and they kept telling me that we would never get this baby out at this rate, but slowly she came. I alternated between walking, lying down, crouching and sitting. Eventually the midwives started readying themselves for this baby to arrive. They put me in a warm tub, but I couldn't sit in there very long, so I got out and went back to the bed. David sat in the bed behind me with his arms around me. The contractions were coming very regular now and very strong. I didn't want to push, but I had to. The kids and our friends and my Uncle Zane were all gathered in a room in the birth center, watching movies and having a pizza party. They were eagerly awaiting their new baby sister who would soon make her way into the world.

At exactly 2:38 pm, on October 14th, 1999 she made her entrance into this world, in the Angel Room at the birth center, as David and I cried. I could feel her coming out and the midwives took my hands so I could reach down and catch her. David reached around too and we both caught her and immediately put her on my chest where she turned her head and nursed right away. The midwife said a prayer for us as David cut the cord. then they took her to clean her up and weigh her. She weighed an astonishing 8 lbs 9 oz after a good poo (which happened while she was in her Dad's arms right before they took her). She had really dark hair and beautiful blue eyes, which never changed.

I had lost a lot of blood so I asked the midwives to clean up a little before the girls and our friends came in. When the girls came in they were so excited to see their new baby sister!

Happy birthday to my beautiful IsaBela Rose girl, named for my great great grandmother Rose Belle McKune. Bela is 8 today and I can't imagine my life without her. All my love and cuddles go out to her today as I remember this beautiful experience that she gave me!
(sorry about the pictures, they are pictures of pictures since my scanner is broken.)
This one is our whole family with the midwives in the bed that Isabela was born in.

I hold your tiny fingers, today in my grown up hand
Everything I do is for you.
You looked at me and smiled, today and my heart just had to melt
I gave my heart to you when you were born.
You climbed up in my lap today and buried your face in my chest
and I cried with you as I tried to explain why the world was so cruel.
Your dimples, your smile, your eyes sparkling bright
your intensity and everything about you
You are mine and you are me
you are my love, my life, my child, my heart

(reposted from a few years ago)

A short recap of our week

Monday, I did laundry all day long.

Wednesday, Brittany and Gabby went with their youth group to stack wood for an elderly couple.  They were gone most of the day as it was volunteer day in our town and after the volunteering there was a little celebration for all the groups that volunteered.

Thursday was the day that Roger died.  It was a long day because it was homeschool group day and I had to get groceries too, it went something like this:

7:30 start to gather all the schoolwork the kids need to spend the day at homeschool group, make sure the kids have their recorders and music sheets, homework to keep them busy when they aren't in class, pencils, erasers, scissors for Dani, flash cards, etc. and pack a lunch.

8:00 make sure the kids have all eaten breakfast and begin to clean up the breakfast mess.

8:15 run the kids around to make sure they are showered, dressed, hair fixed, socks and shoes found, vitamins taken, teeth brushed

8:30 write out my grocery list and menu for the next week

8:40 Clean up dog mess since Copper still isn't completely potty trained, take both dogs out and put them in their kennels

8:50 Just as we were getting ready to leave Gabby came in crying "Roger's dead!!!"

8:50-9:15 Bury rabbit rush kids into the car, drive (speed limit of course) to try and make it to music lessons by 9:30 a 20 minute drive.

9:40 pull into music lessons drop off Kassie and Bela for their class, leave Gabby with them to take care of them when their class is over and make sure they do homework.  I go to the store.

10:00-10:45 run through the store like a maniac trying to find everything because it is a store I don't usually go to.  Finish all the grocery shopping in 45 minutes

10:45-11:15 Run home, put away groceries, clean up Copper's cage (that dog is just sooo dumb why doesn't he get it), take dogs out to potty, let them eat and drink, put them back in cages and get back in the car for the 20 minute drive back to homeschool group.

11:15-11:35 Drive to homeschool group

11:40-12:00 lunchtime

12:10-1:10 Brittany and Gabby's class, keep Bela Dani and Kassie doing schoolwork till they come out.

1:30 home, we were supposed to pick up the library books from the house and drop them off, but I was just too tired.

 

A funeral

I buried him yesterday, but the girls finished the funeral that we never got to have yesterday because we were too busy.  They have created a lovely grave. 

The girls were pretty emotional yesterday, and it didn't help that when Bela was watching Meerkat Manor, her favorite Meerkat, Flower, died from a snake bite.  Yesterday was a nightmare for poor Bela :) 

Our Beloved Roger

Roger the Rabbit passed away last night in his sleep.  It was a shock to all of us, Gabby is taking it especially hard since it was her bunny.

He will be very missed, he was a sweet bunny and very well loved by all of us.  It breaks my heart for Gabby.

Here's to you Roger!