Late night ramblings..........

Well it is getting close to midnight and I am waiting on McKenzie to get home from a babysitting job. I am too tired to do much of anything but need to stay awake, so I thought I would write a little.

We had a nice Thanksgiving at my parent's house. I am sure McKenzie will blog about it and post pictures, so I won't steal any of them! The day after Thanksgiving we stayed home and decorated the tree. Matthew really gets into Christmas decorations. We have always said that he will be a fun dad one day. I asked him if he was going to have lots of lights on his house one day and he said, "I will have so many that we won't even need lamps!" The way he has been pulling things out of the attic and putting them up I believe it! I have given up on doing it "my way". I would rather the kids have fun memories rather than a stressed out mom wanting things perfect.

Decorating the tree was wild! We have all of our ornaments in one big rubbermaid container. I have always passed out the decorations while the kids hang them up one by one. This year Malachi decided he should dig into the box too! We have many broken things now! I think we have counted almost ten Christmas ornaments and decorations that he has broken.

Malachi is our most active child thus far. He certainly keeps us on our toes (or maybe on our knees praying!) He is a very determined child. Tonight he had a penny in his mouth and when Marc told him to give it to him he swallowed it! Pediatric After Hours told me to take him to get an x-ray. Thank goodness I got the opinion of other moms and didn't waste our time or money! (Thanks Susan and Kellie!:) When we finally got him into bed he was up and down several times making sure all of the fifty toys that he sleeps with were arranged just so. Because bedtime is so hard with him, I rarely get a break! I know the Lord has made him the way he is for a reason. I do believe he will be a strong man one day, but it sure is exhausting raising him sometimes! I was cleaning off some of the pictures on our computer tonight and came across these two. This kind of sums up Malachi's personality! :>) (Oh, and I won't even talk about trying to take some Christmas pictures of the kids before leaving for church this morning! That is a whole other post!)

Well, I hear McKenzie coming in. Perfect timing! Until next time :>) .............

Myles is Two Months!

I can't believe little Myles Truth is two months old already! He has been such a blessing to our family. He is such a pleasant and content little guy. The meaning of "Myles" means soldier. The other spelling of his name is "Miles" which means merciful. We liked the spelling of "Myles" better and thought that "Soldier of Truth" was a good, strong name. However, now that we know what an easy baby he is we can certainly see God's mercy too! With everything that went on right after he was born a fussy baby when have been really hard!

Anyway, here are some pictures that I took of him on his two month birthday! Isn't he just the fattest little thing? He is so squishy and so much fun to hold!

Propped up in the sink for bath time!

See grandma, I CAN smile!!!

Getting very sleepy......................

After this picture he closed his eyes...................

What happens when you are the sixth born.........

I propped Myles up in a chair so I could "quickly" mop the floors. While in the laundry room putting the mop away I started the laundry. I was then called to the office to help Madeline with an English lesson. An hour later I remembered Myles. Poor little guy had fallen asleep! Thank goodness he is a content little guy.

Then while holding him I needed to get some laundry out of the dryer. I thought it was smart to lay him on top to carry it to the living room. He didn't think it was such a good idea!

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Busy Days.............................

Mondays are always hard. It seems like the house falls apart on the weekend and there is so much cleaning and laundry to do on Monday. School always seems to take more time on Monday too. There are days that I would love to send all of my children away! :>) No, I don't really mean it, but it does get tiring. The never ending grading of lessons, filling out lesson plan books, explaining that grammar lesson for the fiftieth time! or begging your husband for help with the upper level math! I mean it gets old! But then thinking of them NOT being with me is so sad. Having a husband that works in the public school system I hear plenty of stories that make me realize I really don't have a choice but to homeschool. I am grateful that I have the privilege to raise my children and to have them at home with me. I have heard the saying about having children, "Long days, short years." It is so true. The time is fleeting. I pray that I make the most of the time that I have with them and that one day each of our children will love the Lord with all of their hearts!

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"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between you eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:5-9

Matt working on that grammar lesson!

I can't imagine missing moments like this!

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." 3 John 4

Tears and Teeth

Mariah spent the better part of her afternoon and evening crying over this loose tooth.(Doesn't she look lovely? We told her she looked like a "hillbilly"!) When bedtime came and it was still hanging by a thread we decided we had to pull it. You would have thought we were killing her!



A much happier Mariah! She got a bowl of ice cream and is just sure she will have some money under her pillow in the morning! :>)

Happy Veterans Day

They Did Their Share

On Veteran’s Day we honorSoldiers who protect our nation.

For their service as our warriors,They deserve our admiration.
Some of them were drafted;Some were volunteers;

For some it was just yesterday;For some it’s been many years;
In the jungle or the desert,On land or on the sea,

They did whatever was assignedTo produce a victory.
Some came back; some didn’t.They defended us everywhere.

Some saw combat; some rode a desk;All of them did their share.
No matter what the duty,For low pay and little glory,

These soldiers gave up normal lives,For duties mundane and gory.
Let every veteran be honored;Don’t let politics get in the way.

Without them, freedom would have died;What they did, we can’t repay.
We owe so much to them,Who kept us safe from terror,

So when we see a uniform,Let’s say "thank you" to every wearer.

By Joanna Fuchs

Everyone loves Myles!

Daddy and Myles

Mommy and Myles on our way to church.

McKenzie and Myles in their green p.j.s!

Matthew "Bubbie" and Myles

Madeline and MylesMariah and Myles (she is our baby hog!:>)

Malachi and Myles (This is a rare photo! Malachi only holds him for a few seconds until he dumps him out and says he is finished!)

Myles is a much loved baby!!!

Kids are funny..........

Mariah is always making us laugh. What makes her so funny is that she doesn't want to be funny. She says things that she thinks make her sound big and she doesn't like for us to laugh at her.

This past spring Marc and I had a chance to take our children to meet Jimmy Carter in person. After some thought (and some discouragement from our pastor!:>) we decided it was best not to go. He explained to the children that our beliefs were different than President Carters and that it would be compromising to go. I think he must have told the older ones that he was pro-choice. I am not sure what all was said or what Mariah understood but I overheard this conversation just the other day at the breakfast table. (The kids have educational type of place mats that they like to pull out and read at breakfast. One of them has the presidents on it. On this particular morning they were looking at it.)

Mariah: "That is Jimmy Carter. We didn't get to go see him because he hates babies."

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I am reading "Farmer Boy" to her right now. She was washing dishes with McKenzie one evening and I heard this.

Mariah: "Almonzo's family was pretty good tucked in, but Laura's family was poor."

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One day discussing Christmas with Madeline:

"We will just get Christmas presents from grandma because daddy's dollars are all going to the hospital."

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Malachi was playing on the front porch with sidewalk chalk this evening. We were commenting on how sweet he was playing out there (and I was thinking of why I had never thought about doing that before!) when he came walking in with his jeans down and doing something funny with his nose. I knew he had tee teed off the porch but I asked him what he was doing with his nose. A few minutes later I took him into the bathroom to look up his nose and I saw a small piece of chalk shoved way up his nostril. I normally (and in the past have) would freak out over something like that, but the recent tradgedies have made things like this seem so minor. I plugged one nostril and told him to blow. He shot the chalk out onto the bathroom floor, bent over to pick it up and wiped it off on his shirt! He cried when I threw it away!

NEVER a dull moment! :>)

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And, because it was just too cute not to share...............................................