Getting to know you

The questions..
1. Would you rather bungee jump or sky dive?
2. When using a public restroom to you squat over the seat or sit?
3. Favorite flower?
4. Pedicure or manicure?
5. How many siblings do you have?
6. Do you pee in the shower? (gasp!)
7. Bikini, tankini, or one piece?
8. Where do you hate to shop at, but go there anyway?

1. Bungee jump for sure. I wouldn't be brave enough for skydiving

2. Squat-- when I have to. I always do the seat covers if they are available or line it with toilet paper. I do that for my little girls too. Yuck! I have been told you can get STD's from public bathrooms. I don't know if that is true or not but I'm not risking it.

3. Bright Gerber Daisies

4. Pedicure for sure. They feel so good.

5. 4 by birth- 6 by marriage so 10 total

6. No- Yuck! That is sooooo disgusting!

7. In this body- a one peice with shorts and a shirt over top

8. The grocery store-- Kind of have to

some really good thoughts

Sunday Thoughts

I saw this on another blog (thanks Linda) and thought it was so good and so true.

SATAN'S MEETING


Satan called a worldwide convention of demons.

In his opening address he said,"We can't keep Christians from going to church."

"We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth...."

"We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with Their SAVIOR."

"Once they gain that connection with JESUS, our power over them is Broken."

"So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their
time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship With JESUS CHRIST.."

"This is what I want you to do," said the devil:"Distract them from gaining hold of their SAVIOR and maintaining that Vital connection throughout their day!"

"How shall we do this?" his demons shouted.

"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable Schemes to occupy their minds," he answered......

"Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow."

"Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty Lifestyles."

"Keep them from spending time with their children."

"As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from The pressures of work!"

"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice."

"Entice them to play the radio or I-Pod whenever they drive."

"To Keep the TV, DVDs, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see To it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music Constantly."

"This will jam their minds and break that union with CHRIST."

"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers."

"Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day.""Invade their driving moments with billboards."

"Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and Every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services And false hopes."

"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and they'll Become dissatisfied with their wives. "

"Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night."

"Give them headaches too! "

"If they don't give their husbands the love they need, they will begin to Look elsewhere."

"That will fragment their families quickly!"

"Give them Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their children the Real meaning of Christmas."

"Give them an Easter bunny so they won't talk about HIS resurrection And power over sin and death..."

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive."

"Have them return from their recreation exhausted."

"Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on GOD'S creation.Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead."

"Keep them busy, busy, busy!"

"And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and Small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences."

"Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek Power from JESUS."

"Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health And family for the good of the cause."

"It will work!""It will work!" It was quite a plan!

The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busier & more rushed, going here & there.

Having little time for their GOD or their families.Having no time to tell others about the power of JESUS to change lives.

I guess the question is, has the devil been successful in his schemes?

You be the judge!!!!!

Does "BUSY" mean: B-eing U-nder S-atan's Yoke?

Ok- I'm done playing for the day. Time to move on to games, or so I am told.

2 girls

These two little girls of mine are just too precious! They truly do love each other and are so great about showing it. I am so grateful that God saw fit to give me two little girls when Joel and I were thinking we would only be good at parenting boys. :-) I would be lost without them. I am also equally as grateful to now experience what it is like to have a son. I pray all 3 of my kids will grow up loving one another and stay very close even in adulthood. There is just nothing like family!

more...

Just some more...

expirimenting

I need a vertical collage to match that of the girls so I am working on making one. It doesn't look too bad does it?

Father and Son

I love this photo Danie captured of Joel and Kenan

Funday

Ok- I am going to do a new blog carnival- for no other reason than I thought it would be fun. The host of this does it on Sundays, Yeah I know- I found it a day late and a dollar short but I still thought it would be fun. So- from now on I will link to her on Sundays and do this getting to know you post. Feel free to join along...

The questions..
1. How often do you wash/change your sheets?
2. When is your birthday?
3. Have you ever met a bloggy friend in real life?
4. Brad Pitt or George Clooney?
5. If you could change one thing about your body what would it be?
6. How often do you wash your hair?
7. Do you have pets?
8. How many social networks do you belong to..if you had to give up one, what would it be?

1. Not often enough- I try for once a month. .. I know gross- but I hate doing sheets and we go to bed clean so how dirty can they get? Ok- Don't answer that, I'd rather not know. :-)

2. March 25 1983

3. Yes I have, MckMama aka Jennifer, and several of her followers including her sister Hilary who is such an awesome person.

4.Brad Pitt for sure

5. My weight

6. Every day, It's necessary unless I want to look like a greaser

7. Do kids count?

8. I only belong to blogger and facebook- I already did the my space thing and quit and tweeter but I never do them- I don't see the point. I already do status updates on facebook. I just don't have the time to do them all so I have kept my two favorite.

All right- that's it for today. Join me on Sunday for another getting to know you.

Smiles

Why is it that as soon as you get out the baby toys- the older children decide to revert? My girls are hilarious. Seriously, they crack me up! They line up all these animals- it takes them 10 minutes, they get them all following one another with their babies next to them and they go to the great valley. After they have them all lined up in one segment- they then move them all to another spot in the living room or around the house- all on the animals trek to the great valley. I love their imaginations!

Not just any smile... Apple Smiles

My mom used to make these for me as a child and I remember thinking they were so fun. Now I get to pass that on down to my kids.

She doesn't look too smiley- you can see the sickness in her eyes. We are all still dealing with this awful crud.

A big family

I saw this the other day on MckMama's blog and thought it was cute. I agree with lots of it. I especially love large families for the homeschooling aspect. I love that the older ones help teach the younger and what a close knit family that makes.


Why Big Families Might Be Easier

by Matthew Archbold


A woman said to me recently that my five children were very well behaved. It’s one of the best things I can hear so I thanked her. Then she asked me “how do you do it with so many?”
I told her that I don’t think I’d be a very good parent of one child or two. She didn’t believe my answer but honest to goodness, I sometimes think that having many children is easier than just one.
Why big families are easier:

Patience. I never have to teach patience. My children know that I can’t drop everything for them if I have a baby in my arms.

Work Ethic. My children have learned to work because there are always chores to do in a small house packed with little messy lunatics. And they all learn quickly that sometimes they have to clean up a mess even though they didn’t make it.

Humility. My children have learned it’s not always their turn. They’ve accepted they can’t always get their way because other people have to get their way sometimes. They’ve learned that some children are better at certain things than they are.

Foreign language skills. You can learn a lot of Spanish by watching ten years of Dora the Explorer that you just can’t pick up in two. And now with the Diego spin off I’m practically fluent.

Laughter. The children have learned to laugh at the insane non sequiturs of younger siblings. They’ve learned that laughing just feels better when seven people are doing it along with you.

Competition. Do I really need to go into this? Everything is a competition in big families. The children compete over who reads faster, who drinks their milk faster, who gets to the bathroom first…etc. Everything is a competition and they’re all keeping score.

Balance. The floor of the front room of my home is a minefield of toys and childhood paraphernalia. Just walking through the room requires great skill and balance. I’m absolutely convinced my two year old will be a favorite for Gold on the balance beam in the 2016 Olympics. (She might have to lay off the cookies a little but I’ll deal with that later.)

Life isn’t fair. Sometimes you just give it to the baby because you want a little quiet. Not all the time. But sometimes.

Just say “No.” Being able to say “no” may be the most undervalued skill in this world. The need to be liked is pervasive. The need to be cool even more so. Having brothers and sisters teaches children to say “no” about 143 times a day. It’s a good skill.

Praying. They learn that nothing beats praying together as a family.

Nature/Nurture. Having many children has taught me that nature has a lot more to do with who my kids are than nurture. This is helpful, especially when your children misbehave you don’t have to feel bad about it. Just say “Stupid nature!!!” and blame your spouse’s genes.

Namecalling. You can occasionally call your child by the wrong name and still not be considered a terrible parent. They know who you mean just from your tone. Sometimes if you need something done you can call the wrong name and someone will still show up. That helps.

Spying. My children have learned that they can’t get away with anything. I have spies who look a lot like them who are willing to drop the dime on them for anything. Even at school I’ve got a child in just about every grade. If they do something I’ll hear. That keeps them nervous. And I like keeping my kids a little nervous.

Friendship. The children have many friends. They’ve got girly friends, crying friends, fun loving friends, consoling friends, and crazy friends. And they all have the same last name. And they’ll be there forever for each other. No matter what.

Love. I think my children have learned to love because there are others around them to love and who love them. I honestly can think of no better way to teach children to love than siblings.

Kenan's social

Kenan has really started smiling and making cooing noises back at you when you talk to him. Abby had spent quite awhile talking in a microphone and then having him answer her back. It was precious. I was trying to capture it but of course, he quit doing it when I turned on the camera.

lent reflection

Wow- this one was convicting. It is worth reading.

Saying I don't like change isn't strong enough, loathe it would maybe be more appropriate. Even the joyous changes like adding another member to our family is tough for me to get used to. I have always been one who likes things a certain way and done at a certain time and always consistent. I have been learning a lot of things lately, and one of them is that everything will always change. I have no control and I have to let go and just let it happen.

I found this thought today and really liked it:
"Change, I saw, is just another word for living. So instead of fighting it, what if I were to embrace it or even find a way to thank God for each change?"

Something to think about...


Love Letter Seven:
The Book of Judges
God says, I never heal superficially. Many of My people wish I did and think I do. I don't. My plan is to change you from the inside out, to change your motives—why you do what you do—and to change your impact on people so that how you relate to others will make them thirsty for Me and will draw them to dependence on Me.When you love Me above all else, what you do will bring Me pleasure because your motives, though never pure, will be holy. And when you love others with an authenticity and passion that draws them toward Me, you will feel a little of the pleasure I feel.
Only when people look deeply into themselves will they truly repent. My people in Judges never repented. They remained in love with their own sense of well-being, with no understanding that love, real love, the love that defines Me, involves suffering the loss of well-being for the sake of another.That lack of understanding is epidemic, not only in culture but in churches today. And it is in you. You and everyone else are inclined to depend on Me for the good life of blessings and to mistake that dependence for love. You're more afraid of losing the good life than of losing (or never gaining) a close relationship with Me. You do not yet see that being with Me is your greatest blessing, no matter what else may be happening in your life

The 2 Emily's

My sweet, precious sick little Emily. She has had this horrible cough and fever thing since last Tuesday. The fever finally broke yesterday-- Yeah. Abby has had it too but a much milder version. Now Kenan, Joel and I have it. Today me and Kenan feel pretty cruddy, Kenan's cough is getting much worse and really chesty. I am watching him closely as I know RSV can go from being fine one moment to struggling to breathe in the next. Not fun. We have been praying for a mild version for him if he had to get it and that he wouldn't get a fever. So far, we have had no fever even though Abby and Emily and I both have run one. I am praying for continued protection over him. My cousin Emily came to visit us yesterday. It was so nice to see her. Emily cuddled up to her so I was able to get this picture.

My beautiful cousin getting to know Kenan

The many faces of Kenan

A little worried Happy

content

not sure

grumpy

watching mommy

tired

thinking that this is enough and he is done being photographed

I love sleeping, chubby babies

So precious!

Free Bible

I just found out- you can go here and be one of the first 5,000 to get this bible for free.

Kenan smiles.....and cries

I don't know why the 2nd movie is so dark. It looks fine on my camera.

recent pics

success for today: Getting a fussy baby sleeping in the moby wrap on my chest. The last 3 days he has been really fussy and gassy and just wants to eat and eat and eat. He started smiling. This isn't a full fledged one but I am trying to catch it

trying to get him to sleep

This is a lot of what has been going on here

trying to get gas out

awake, happy moments

I love the sleeping times

1 month old

good deal

Hey all you bargain hunters out there, I found an awesome deal.
Each month you can upload photos to hotprints.com and get a free photobook. There are lots of differnt book styles to choose from. Depending on the style you choose there are different amounts of pictures you can upload to it. It says it is high quality photo paper. I am excited to get mine. You pay no shipping either so it is totally free. Since this is the month Kenan joined our family I made a full size picture one that makes 15 photos. I can't wait to get it. I think I will do it monthly and always just choose my favorite photos for the month.

Leah- it even looks like it would work for you in Sweden or England. It had the Euro on there.

first getaway

Here is our little 1 month old baby boy. I can't believe a whole month has gone by. I feel like time is just flying. He didn't do a whole lot new in a month. I guess he learned to breathe and eat and poop all new things. Kenan had his first overnight this past weekend. He met a lot of new people too.
Here is my dad with Tucker and Emily. We saw my dad briefly and when I say briefly, I mean like 15 minutes. He was really, really busy.

Kenan was able to meet Auntie Paula and as you can tell by the smirk- he loves her. He can't wait to come and spend overnights with his cousin Tucker who is only 8 months older than he is.

Uncle Jonah got to see him again. It was pretty funny when Kenan pooped while Uncle Jonah was holding him. Jonah is afraid of spit, spit-up and poop.

Trying to get a good picture of all 4 Pearson cousins. As you can tell it wasn't very easy. Kenan was hungry and Abby just doesn't know how to smile.

Cousin Tucker meeting Kenan. He wanted to touch him. It was really cute!

My good friend Kari meeting Kenan. Now Kenan can finally know a face to the voice! :-)

My kids with Gage (Kari's little boy)

Auntie Liz meeting Kenan

He even got to get in some sleeping time with Grandpa

The kids had a blast playing with their cousins. Since Seth and Liz have moved they haven't seen them in over 6 months.

Abe and Emily paired up and in fact, Emily says she is going to marry him.

Emma and Abby are always the best playmates.

Kenan loved seeing Auntie Danie again. She always puts him to sleep. I really appreciate all Danie does for us. She is always so willing to help and just be around for me so Jonah can take Joel off. Thanks Danie- We love you!

Kenan even got to meet Great Grandma Kopkie who loved holding him as much as she could.

Thank God for family! We love every one of them. We were bummed that we didn't get to see my mom because she was sick. It didn't matter because we ended up sick anyway. My girls both have really icky coughs and fevers. We are just praying Kenan doesn't get it.