Thanksgiving 2014

We always have Thanksgiving the Saturday before Thanksgiving Day at my Mom and Dad's house. So Saturday morning we gathered all our stuff together and headed up that way. We hadn't been to their house since Easter and my kids were so ready to get there. 

We got there around 1 and my kids played with some of their cousins. 

Several hours later everyone started arriving and kids were everywhere. I have 6 siblings and those siblings plus spouses and their own kids adds up real fast. 

It was finally time to eat and the last thing was to pull the turkeys out of the oven. They were so heavy Mom needed some help. Dad and Maynard to the rescue!!!

We headed out to the garage to eat. All the insults started as they do every year. If you cook something new then most likely you will get slammed. It's the one time of year we all get together and insult one another and it's ok. Ha ha

This child loves a good turkey leg!!  Titus loves home cooked meals and he literally had to be made to quit eating. 

After dinner and dessert, the kids started raiding Mamaw and Papaw's closets. They wanted to put on a pilgrim play. 

This pilgrim has sass. 

They tried to put a play together, but there were too many chiefs and not enough Indians. 

By the time we got this group picture the boys had ditched their costumes. 

Titus got to stay all night with his cousin Jack and he was so excited. He got to stay all night without Josiah going with him and he felt like big stuff. Kamden ended up staying with Josiah at Mamaw's house so it all worked out. Except for Amelia. She wanted to go somewhere too, but was just happy to be there with Mamaw's dog Tanner. 

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Thanksgiving Day!!!!

We all knew that this was going to be a hard day. It would be the first Thanksgiving Day without my mother in law. 

She didn't hardly cook much anymore and this was always one day of the year that she would cook and we would spend the whole day with her. 

We walked in to her house yesterday and there her chair set at the table, but she wasn't in it. No one said anything and we all gathered around the table to get ready to say the blessing. Maynard was asked to pray by his older brother. Maynard began to pray and just got a few words out when he began to sob. The room scattered like crazy. It was really sad. We all got our composures and then everyone enjoyed a good meal. 

The family sat around and shared childhood memories. 

It was good to be with family and keep the memories alive about my mother in law. 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. 

Fish Tales

Every year LCA has their Thanksgiving program. My boys look forward to it every year. 

Kindergarten always has their own special thing they do so this was Titus' first time to be in the actual program. To say he was really excited would be an understatement. Before the program  started he literally was shaking with excitement. I had a hard time corralling him and was thankful to pass him on to his teachers. 

We had dinner first before the program. 

Of course later we were told that Josiah had took the special exit along with the elders and handicap people. He wasn't a bit remorseful, but very excited that he was in the front of the line. Titus figured he would take care of the situation and go tell the principal on him. Ha ha. Sorry. If you cross Titus he will go straight to the authorities and rat you out. Blood kin or not. 

After dinner we all gathered in the sanctuary and the program began. 

The kindergarten class did their part and it was only 3 boys, but they were adorable. 

Then the high school class sang and the girls did a song in sign language. 

After the program they took a group picture and I seen this picture on Instagram later that night. I noticed someone very familiar in the picture. Someone who thinks she is a teenager. 

Now it was time for Fish Tales. It was a cute play about various stories in the bible about fish and how Jesus wants us to be Fishers of men. 

There was a song where the boys played a gazoo.  Titus was stoked about that. At the beginning of play practice he was a little worried about learning how to play a gazoo in only 3 weeks. Ha ha. He loved to brag that he had a speaking part in the play and Josiah didn't. Here's his speaking part:

http://youtu.be/qjWbAJuAi48

Hey!  It may have been one word, but by George it was a speaking part. 

Josiah's part in the play was he was in a mariachi band as the trumpet player. These guys were hilarious. They had everyone rolling. 

Here's Josiah's part even though I caught only the end of it and you couldn't hear the trumpet for all of the clapping. 

http://youtu.be/Shwd5laFY_M

I love that my boys get into acting like me and Maynard both always did. I always want them to have confidence to be able to have parts in plays in front of big crowds.

I didn't get a good picture of Titus because I literally couldn't keep him still long enough to get a good picture. He was all over the place. 

Oh, one thing I wanted to add. The tables were all decorated in the gym and it looked so nice. In the middle of each table was a little tree with leaves on them that each student had written what they were thankful for. 

I just had to find my boy's leaves. 

Somehow I knew food was going to be on Josiah's leaf. I was just glad he added other things as well. 

Titus is thankful for the World. 

Not what I was expecting. Lol

However, I am sure he meant the "world" as in the universe we live in and not the "world" as in non believers. Ha ha

It was a super cute program with a good message. 

And next year if there is a vacant spot needing a princess pilgrim, then Amelia would gladly fill that spot. 

You try to get her out of those sparkly boots!!!  Go ahead. I dare ya!!

 

A proud Mommy moment

We live in a world full of negativity. I am probably the worst. I'm pretty much a Debbie Downer. I always see the worst instead of the good. I really hate that about myself and maybe one day I can change. 

My kids have always been rambunctious and on the hyper side. But the truth is.....they enjoy life. The smallest and most simplest things of life excites them. Guess what?  I love it!!  I wouldn't have it any other way. (Most of the time, ha ha)

I have had several people come up to me lately and tell me how well behaved and well mannered my children are. Of course, I know that's not true all the time, but it sure felt good to be told that. 

I know I'm not the perfect parent and far from it. My children should be getting disciplined for something, but instead I'm laughing at them. That is my #1 fault as a parent. I can't help it. Anyway, that had nothing to do with my post, but it just came pouring out. Maybe one day my kids will look back and read my blog and see just how proud their Mom was of them. They are good kids, smart kids, and so loveable. 

I wanted to share a proud Mommy moment with you all that just happened yesterday. 

Yesterday morning as we were getting ready to leave the house I heard a dog barking outside. At first I thought it was our dog, but then realized that it was a bark I wasn't familiar with. I opened the front door to see this:

Maybe you think that's a cute dog, but I don't. That same dog has been in our yard before and chased Titus in the yard with a deep throat growl like he was gonna eat him up. The owner came right after that to pick it up. I asked him if the dog would bite and he said, "Well, only if you scare her."  That's all I needed to know. The dog bites. I've read about Pit Bulls and they can really hurt a person. 

So this was probably about 6 months ago and we hadn't seen the dog since. 

Until yesterday morning. 

How in the world was we gonna get passed this dog that was at my front porch to get to school?

The kids were upset and scared. Amelia began to cry and freak out. Of course she has reason to because she got attacked by a stray dog last year in our yard. She has a fear of big dogs now. I don't blame her. I was scared too, but didn't let them know. 

It finally came time to where we had to leave for school or we were gonna be late. The dog had finally wandered over to the swingset so we decided to make a run for it. The boys were to go to one side of the van and Amelia would go on my side and I would help her in. We were getting ready to go out and Amelia was trying to stop crying. She said, "Isaiah 43:5. Fear not for I am with thee."  She kept repeating it. I thought my heart would melt. I picked up a bible to turn to Isaiah 43:5 to see if she was right and she was!!!  I was amazed. Not only did she have the verse memorized and also where it is found, she knew how to use the scripture in her daily life. 

We all ran to the van and the dog did chase us. For some reason it was after Titus again. It would get right up to him, but then take a step back. I really feel like The Lord protected us that morning. I drove up to the neighbor's house and let them know they needed to go get their dog before it hurt my kids. 

So how does a 4 year old memorize scriptures?

She learned it in her pre-school curriculum. We spent $200 or so on the Abeka K-4 DVD homeschool curriculum for her. At first I felt like I had wasted my money because she wasn't getting it. She failed her first test and seemed to be clueless about everything. I was so frustrated. Then the last few weeks she just started catching on. It's finally clicked in her brain. She may not be completely on the other student's level in the class, but she's getting there. She has gone from not knowing how to write her name to not only writing her name, but also writing in cursive. She's learning her letters and how to sound out blends. Her favorite class is numbers. She thinks that is a lot of fun. When we first got started she hated her Bible class. That worried me because her brothers are all about Bible class. However, now she loves Bible  class. She can tell you bible stories and include every detail. She can quote the Lords Prayer, knows the Pledge of Allegiance, can sing The Star Bangled banner, and so much more. 

They learn a new bible verse every week. I didn't really think she was memorizing though, but she proved me wrong yesterday. 

So if she never learns how to read this year as a four year old, I'm ok with that. As much as she has learned already and knowing that she has verses memorized, makes the money we spent well worth it already. 

So if you're in a scary situation do what Amelia did. Quote Isaiah 43:5. "Fear not for I am with thee!" 

Replacing the sparkly pink boots

You see. I have this little girl who is attached to a pair of pink sparkly boots. 

This past summer I bought her a pair of sparkly pink flip flops and she finally agreed to trade. 

She never bonded with those flip flops. Which was actually a good thing because they didn't hold up very long. 

She got her boots for Christmas in 2012. It was love at first sight. I am not even joking. She wore those boots with every outfit. If I made her wear dress shoes to church she would have her boots in the car ready for a quick change. Sometimes she was quicker than me and just wore them to church anyway before I could catch her. 

They've been through the washer many times and each time never gets any easier. 

She's always scared they will tear up or lose some of their "Sprinkles". 

If you have sat near Amelia for any amount of time then you know that these shoes have started to smell. She doesn't like wearing socks with them and they have begun to reek. 

I figured this winter they would surely be too small. I pulled them out of her closet and went to put them in the yardsale pile when she quickly grabbed them and put them on. 

"They still fit, Mom!"

So Amelia has been wearing them for her 3rd winter. 

My mom came to visit and said let's go look for Amelia some more boots. Of course there's not too many options around here to shop at, but we ended up at Shoe Show. 

Immediately this child went straight to these gawdy boots. 

She fell in love. I personally said they were ugly and hideous. I even posted this picture on my Instagram and was completely shot down. Everyone thought they were cute. 

I decided to wait on the boots because I thought I might just find her the exact same pink sparkly pair later on. Plus the boots were $25 and well, I'm a tightwad. 

I figured she had forgotten all about those boots. But.... She hadn't, apparently. She ratted me out to a visitor at church. 

I was told by the visitor that Amelia walked up to her and said, "I like your boots. I wanted a pair of boots too, but my mommy said they were ugly."

That's when I knew that Amelia had already bonded with those ugly boots. She wasn't going to forget about them. I thought I would keep an eye on them to see if they went on sale and maybe buy them for Christmas. 

The very next week we went to the Vendors Mall because Titus had birthday money to spend. 

We had almost walked through every aisle when a pair of sparkly boots was spotted. 

I told Amelia to pray if she wanted them boots to be her size. 

I picked them up and she put them on as fast as she could. 

Just a size or two too big. We can make it work. 

The best part was they were only $3.49. That beats paying $25 any day. I thought at first they were the exact same pair of boots. Then I compared them to the picture I had taken at shoe show and noticed some difference. This pair of boots was trimmed in purple and had ribbon ties in the back. 

I just thought it was neat to find the almost same pair of boots that she fell in love with at the vendors mall. 

I know it sounds crazy, but maybe just maybe Jesus wanted Amelia to have them purple sparkly boots!!!!  Doesn't the bible say He will give us the desires of our hearts?!?!

Titus turns 7

"How many days until my Birthday, Mom?"

"Now how many days?"

"Now how many days?"

"Now how many days?"

Let's just say I was as happy as a Titus was for his Birthday to actually get here. 

His Birthday was Thursday, October 30. It just so happened that school was closed that Thursday and Friday. I thought that was pretty cool, but of course he would have rather went to school.  

They decided to celebrate his birthday at school on Wednesday. I asked him what he wanted to bring and he said iced cookies. He's talking about those Lofthouse sugar cookies with cake icing on them. So I took him to Krogers that night before and let him pick them out. He was really excited. 

He enjoyed his special day at school. 

Thursday morning he was up bright and early. After all, this was the day he had waited so long for. 

I fixed a big breakfast which is a treat around here. 

Titus volunteered to pray for the food. He tried to eat, but said he didn't feel good. I

He kept asking for his presents and I wanted to wait until Maynard got home before he opened them, but it was more than a little body can handle. I got the ok by Maynard so I told him he could go ahead and open them. 

He was slightly excited. 

We got him a basketball and a football. He was thrilled. 

When we asked him what he wanted for his birthday he would say "Nike Air Jordans."  Maynard began looking on Ebay and we soon realized that Nike Air Jordan's just meant high top tennis shoes to him. He ended up finding 2 pair and one was actually Nike air Jordan's. We won the bid and got a great deal on both pairs. Only problem was they were gonna be delivered after his birthday. Titus was really excited about receiving the shoes, but I wanted to him to have something to open on his birthday so that's why I got the basketball and football. 

So when you give the "Bday Boy" a basketball and a football, he will ask to go to the park to play ball. It was a beautiful day with just a little chill to the air so we went to play ball. Titus was already coughing and his asthma was bothering him. I hated to tell him no so I figured a little while wouldn't  hurt. 

They played awhile and then he was complaining he couldn't breathe good. Before you know it I looked over and seen this. 

They drug blankets, I hadn't unpacked from camping, out of the van and were all layed out. Titus felt rotten. So I asked him where he wanted to eat at. He has been begging to try a new restaraunt here in town out called Bojangles. So it was no surprise to me when he said, "Bojangles."

You probably noticed the thumbs down in the picture. They didn't like it all. Poor kid!  He has looked forward to eating there for awhile and when he got to eat there on his bday he hated it. 

We left there and went to another park to play. I set up obstacle courses for them and they raced each other. Then we swung for awhile. Titus couldn't believe I could swing as high as he could. (I wouldn't admit that it was making me dizzy). 

We went and picked up Titus bday cake and then we went home to get dressed for church. After church a few of us went to McDonalds to eat and then have Bday cake. Titus finally perked up when he realized it was time for bday cake. 

He had asked for a civil war drummer boy cake. 

Poor kid. His asthma and cough was so bad he had a hard time blowing out his candles. Amelia actually helped out much to his dismay so we had to relight them. 

The next day was Halloween and the kids were excited about going to the Party Palace with First Pentecostal. They do this every year for kids to have an alternative for Halloween. They get to play on the inflatables and get pizza and candy. It helps them not feel left out because we don't celebrate Halloween. 

Titus also received his shoes in the mail that day. 

He was so proud of them. Even at the party palace he was afraid to put them in the shoe locker. I had to hold them and promise not to set them down. 

He took them off, put them on, took them off......... He still had a hard time breathing and kept coming to find me every few minutes. 

He went to the dr this week and had an ear infection and bronchitis. Poor little guy had to be sick on his birthday. He's on steriods and breathing treatments and if you have read my posts any amount of time than you know that steriods make him crazy hyper. I sent this text to his teacher the night before he went to school on steriods. 

So the next day I asked her how he did? She seemed a little frazzled and said he did jump off a few tables and desktops during the day. She said she didn't give him any demerits, but the next day would be different. I couldn't help but laugh when I told her that he would be on the medicine for 4 more days. Ha ha

We got the birthdays over with until January and now it's time to concentrate on Christmas!!!!!