I LOVE the fall!

gotta LOVE a baby that will sleep anywhere!
My boy loved the chickens and ducks
Khloe with a pink haired jeweled bottom pony, YES it had jewels glued to it's rear end!
Me and 2 out of 3
Daddy and baby girl..can I get a big AAHHHHHH
the cutest PIG in a bed of bunnies
Daddy and his 3 amigos
There are few things I love in life more than the changing of seasons. The obvious people in my life but as far as things in my life I LOVE seasons and my favorite is fall. Mostly because with seasons come change, some thing stay the same but the old and new come together new beginnings and endings. I love the fall breeze pushing the hot sun making for cooler weather. I love the colors of fall changing leaves, the smells the beginning of holiday season my second favorite time of year! I love fall so much I got married in the fall, I wanted to name our daughters Autumn but in the end chose Bible names :)

The movie You've Got Mail describes fall for me perfectly. I forget the exact wording but watch the movie its a great one! Fall means outside with out sweating, raking leaves and playing in them, NO bugs, cool breeze, color, cool morning walks, riding bikes, football, basketball, school, pumpkin patches and pumpkin bread and the pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks!! Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas! Love, love, love the fall!

Here are a few pictures of me and the family (yes Kyan came!!! Even though his face was buried in the phone checking Viking football scores the ENTIRE time...he WAS there!!) at out first fall festival Brushcreek benefiting Ten Challenge of Oklahoma! me and the 3 amigos had a BLAST, ok Daddy too!!!

My girls are gorgeous and my boy is too!!!!

I am often taken off guard by the beauty of my children. Sometimes I turn and glance and I just can't imagine a more beautiful sight. The light in their eyes, the mystery in their smile and the innocence written all over their faces. I am sure most parents feel this way, but I am truly amazed at what wonderful little creations they are. Part of me, part of my husband and part all on their own. Each one is so unique created like a snowflake no one ever the same. Each one just as they should be the way God created them, beautifully and wonderfully made! I am a blessed Mama of 3!My heart is so full!

Pillowcase Race!

There are so many games I played as a kid. One of my favorites was the pillowcase race. My sisters and I would get in our pillowcases starting at the top of the stairs and down we would go, one bump at a time until we reached the bottom. We would stuff our toes into the corners and race. Laugh and fall get up laugh some more and fall some more. I decided to teach my two older children this game and low and behold they laughed and fell, got up and laughed and fell some more. Great fun!!!

Catching up with Khloe's birthday!!!!

The animal care center she had to have and has played with every day since. She knows what she likes!
Birthday girl
mani/pedi, magazine and coffee...life is good, no GREAT!
first Starbucks "coffee"
ready to hit the town
watering hole she so desperately wanted

6!
opening presents
Pia all dressed up
Daddy taking his girl to eat
She really dressed us all
the CAKE!

So my little girl turned 6!!!! I wrote a little something on her birthday refer back but I never did get around to her cake, dinner and birthday festivities. Tradition in our house says on your birthday you pick what you want to do and more importantly what you want to EAT! Always a cupcake for breakfast but the rest of the day is YOURS!

My little darling picked a fruit feast for lunch a favorite we picked up on from her Aunt Lindsay and her four amazing rug rats. It consists of every kind of fruit we have in the house, cheese, rolls etc... it's her favorite a true "fruititarian" at heart!

She then requested a girls date with me! How lucky am I that she still picks me to hang out with on her most special day! She wanted to in her words again swing by Starbucks and get a coffee, so we did, then run into Target to pick a toy, we did...then a relaxing mani/pedi with the 2 of us and our coffee! It was fabulous!!! I almost felt like it was MY birthday! I tell you my heart is FULL.

Next she wanted everyone to get "fancy" and go to dinner at her favorite restaurant Pei Wei NOT take out. She loves to get dressed up but don't we all come on...every now and then?! This little girl does anyway every chance she gets. She told us all what to wear, me a long strapless black dress, her Daddy a suit and tie, her brother a "church outfit" with his hair slick her words and her baby sister the wedding dress Mimi bought her hehehehe(its a fancy white easter dress)

So in typical fashion on her birthday we all made her wishes come true. We topped off dinner with an amazing cake from Sweet Mama bakery. She got exactly what she wanted (thanks Mimi and Daddy) for the presents a Playmobile safari set and all in all it was a fantastic birthday! A few snap shots of her perfect day!!

Our decision to homeschool

My husband and I decided this year I would homeschool our oldest daughter. She is 6 and in first grade. From reading this blog you see ALL my grammatical errors!! I didn't graduate from college, I finished 2 years mostly for my parents sake (love you Mom and Dad). I was never a great student I did well but I had to work hard. Math and reading were always a challenge for me, I majored in social studies, I mean "SOCIAL" studies :) I NEVER thought I would move away from home and I did when I was 19. I never thought I would have babies at home, I had all 3 that way. I never thought I would run a marathon, I DID! I never thought I would covet a mini van I absolutely do and I NEVER thought I would home school!! What is it...Oh yay... never say never!

I find myself hundreds of miles from home missing my parents, sisters and extended family. Here in the midwest it is Me, my husband and our 3 children. It is hard to go at life with no support system around, no one to call to watch the kids so you can go to the Dr. or grab lunch with friends.. well babysitters but let's face it they aren't FREE and they aren't family :). No one to share in the joy of seeing your child in their first piano recital, no grandparents or cousins at birthday parties, or to share in the sadness of putting yet another pet down or just the daily woes of everyday life. I have the phone, I have Skype, I have this blog but it does take a village to raise a child and it would be great if that village consisted of my family. Unfortunately it does not.

When I say it takes a village to raise a child I mean that in these terms. The people that are in your child's life no matter what in ways start to influence, shape and mold them, whether you like it or not, thats "the village" They end up influencing things like religion, world view, self esteem all the way down to clothes, friends, sports, general attitude and everything in between. Not having my family around has changed my view of what I want my village to be, because we rely on the people in our lives for friendship and relationship. Though I have not lived near family in such a long time I have been beyond blessed with GREAT friends every where I have lived. Husbands and wives that love each other, love the Lord and love their families. God has given me family every where I have lived and for this I am most grateful. At this point in our lives I am still able to choose friends for myself and my children it won't be this way forever.

I get to choose because they are young, they are my responsibility to protect, raise and guide at this phase. Too many people in my opinion let their children make decisions that they are not ready or capable of making, or just plain shouldn't be making. It really doesn't matter if my child agrees with me at this time or not. We are making decisions about and for their lives after prayerful consideration and 100% out of love for them. I can not say that my 6 year old would do that, therefore she does not yet get a say. She is told what to do and she does it because she knows we love her first she trusts us to protect her and steer her right. We are her guide at this point. That doesn't mean we will never mess up or will never be wrong.

This is not a put down of public school or parents that send their children, I LOVE public school! My children will most likely at some point attend a public school. I have felt after prayerful consideration however that this is the avenue God is leading us down for now. We have been blessed again with a fantastic village! Some of who are homeschooler' s some who are private school kids and some who are public and where we fit into that is under homeschool because of our life right now. I would be blindly sending my daughter to school to be with people I have never met 7 hours a day at age 6. You can't tell me that their influence would not begin to take root. While most of it I am sure would be positive I do not yet feel that my daughter is ready for certain decisions at this point. So we choose our village... her village to have the home and parents as the main influence and when we are not home we are surrounded by people who will help us, pray for us and support us. You may say well that's not reality, well it is our reality right now, not forever but for now and how cool is that?!

I speak for me and my family only. I do believe it is possible to do all of this without homeschooling just not for me right now at this time in my life (my disclaimer) Children grow where they are planted and watered. I just need my little girls roots to grow a bit deeper and stronger before sending her out. Training so that when she faces influence she has the ability, strength and knowledge to handle it. Not that she and my other children will be perfect because of this (they surely will not be)but I believe the Bible and what it says. Train your child in the way they should go and when they are older they will not depart from it. That is all I am trying to do. At this point in her life she is literally still learning right and wrong. Just like a solider I am training her and with her my other children so that when the time comes and they have to stand on their own they will have the faith and knowledge of God rooted in them. Then my job will be to pray the Lord guides their steps and that they will hear His voice and obey.

I will not always be my daughters best teacher but for now I feel I can be. It excites me to think into the future, when she and my other children are able to make their own life decisions. I am excited to see how God uses them. They will mess up and they may try to pull away from where they were planted but those roots will be strong! I hope from this you understand our families decision and support us. It is all out of love for them and wanting God's best in their lives.

The BEACH

Just a few hundred pictures...I actually forgot my camera (and diapers for Pia) on this trip so these were ALL taken with my phone. Booo, but better than nothing!