Blue Ash Air Show

Here are some pictures from our weekend. Last week I really pushed the kids in school. They did great and got a lot of work done. We rewarded them Saturday with a trip to the Blue Ash Air show. We have been to this before, but it has been several years. They have a lot of stuff for kids, a great air show, and kids 12 and under are FREE! The show was opened with three sky divers. One jumped with an American flag. It was the largest flag ever used in a jump. It was 5,000 square feet. What a beautiful sight!


Stunt plane
The Lima Lima Flight team

One of the planes from the Firebirds team
A plane from WWII
These guys were amazing

Olivia enjoying her bottle more then the show!
They had a lot of "bouncy" toy that the kids had a great time playing in.

Labor Day and Yard Sale

I know that Labor Day is a distant memory to most of you, but I know that my nieces and nephews are just dying to be published on my blog:-) so I am posting pictures of our Labor Day weekend.
My sister and her family, and my Dad came for the weekend, and brothers, came for Saturday. We had a great time. It was wonderful to have everyone together.
Saturday morning my bil Rob went to a yard sale, so of course the girls had to go with him. They had great fun. After lunch, all the guys took all the kids(11 kids~ages 5-19) to the park. (Thanks Rob) My sister, sister-in-law, and myself had a nice time sitting on the deck visiting. After the guys got back with the kids, they went and played golf. Hmm~do you think that's way they volunteered to take the to the park? While they were golfing, I came inside and most of the kids were playing video games of some kind. It was quiet a scene. Brittany was the only one not playing. She had gotten a hand held sewing machine at a yard sale that morning. She decided to make some clothes for her doll.
I have been to my sister's many, many, times. It was great to have them here, and take my turn at entertaining them.
Click on the picture below for pics of the weekend

Labor Day

All of our company left on Monday and I started focusing on getting the meal together for Oscar Johnson's funeral on Wednesday. They told us to plan for 150 people. This was my first big thing since becoming courtesy committee chairman. They ladies from my church are great. They pitched in and really helped and there was plenty of food. Oscar will be greatly missed. I am glad that I could be a small part to help the family during this time.

I had been planning on having a yard sale Saturday with some other families at our church parking lot. So Thursday I turned my focus to getting that together. I had known all summer that I wanted to have one sometime, so thankfully I had a lot of stuff already together. We had a pretty good turnout and I did pretty good. Most of what didn't sell went to Goodwill, so I felt like it was successful.
On a sad note, my girls thought that they had outgrown their kitchen set. They decided to sell it and get a desk for their room. It was another reminder that they are growing up. I wanted to shed a few tears but I didn't. A good friend bought it so it kind of feels like it stayed in the family.
Click on the picture below for more pics of the yard sale.

yard sale

This week I have been "recovering" from last week. We usually try to go to National Quartet Convention one night. This year I just did not feel like making the trip and getting home at 2:00 am, so we signed up to see watch it on our computer. It cost 59.95 and you get the whole week. It was cheaper than going and we get to see a lot more of it. We have really been enjoying it. We just got done watching the Singing News Fan Awards.

I guess that catches you up on our lives. I hope I don't go so long with out updating again~ it takes to long to do a post when I do!

911~MAY WE NEVER FORGET

Has that fateful day become a distant memory? Have we gone back to our "normal" lives as though nothing ever happened? Do we just pause one day out of the year to remember? My thoughts and prayers are with those whose lives were change forever and life will never again be "normal".
Click here for a great post by Linda

With school starting and babysitting a 15 month old who has found the freedom of walking, I have not been blogging near as much. So here is a quick update of our life.

Babies~

The kids were doing school, and I asked Brittany to keep and eye on the babies while a took a quick bathroom break. This is what I found when I got back. She had put each one in a laundry basket with pillows and toys, and they were happily playing. Brittany and Charlie are both a big help with the babies. They make my life easier, they enjoy it, and they are learning a lot about taking care of babies for when they become mommies.

Brittany, Terry, and Olivia

Olivia's Swing~

Tim hung a swing for Olivia and she really enjoys it.

She even likes to sleep in it.

The Moving Wall~

The Moving Wall is a half size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It travels around the country, giving people who have never been to Washington D.C. an opportunity to honor those who gave their lives. The wall was at a park near us last week, so we took they kids to see it. I am so thankful to the men and women who are willing to serve our great country to protect our freedom. You can go here for a schedule to see if the Wall will be near you.

The fifty state flags on the walkway leading to the Wall.
Our kids with the Kentucky State Flag
Remembering
Our kids at the Wall

My sister and family are coming tonight for the weekend, and the rest of my family is coming tomorrow for the day. I am really looking forward to everyone being together. It will be the first time since Christmas that we have all been together at the same time. Hopefully I will have lots of good picks next week. ~~Now I have to go get busy to get ready for them.

HAVE A GREAT LABOR DAY!!

First Day of School

Today we started our fifth year of home schooling. It has been a great, terrifying, wonderful, frustrating, rewarding journey. I know that other home school moms know what I am talking about. I am not one that thinks that everyone should home school, it is just what we have decided to do. Thankfully our kids enjoy it. I have to confess, sometimes the idea of them going to school, and having a little break from them, sounds really good. But overall I am thankful for this extra time that I have to mold them.
One of the great benefits of home schooling is that I did not have to send my little guy off today. Yes, my baby started kindergarten. He was still sleepy when I went to wake him up, but excited that the big day was finally here.

Ready to get started.



Intently listening to his teacher.

Brittany, Walter, and Charlie were also excited to get started on a new year. Last year we started using the Bob Jones HomeSat. The kids really enjoyed it, and did well. With having four kids in four different grades this works out good for me, because I feel confident they are getting everything that they need.

Charlie~4th grade and Brittany~6th grade
Walter~5th grade.

AHH~Life is Good

Last night we were all able to go out as a family for the first time in 12 days!!! Tuesday I took Chris to the doctor . He had a very bad ear infection. When I got home, Charlie said that her stomach hurt. She was sick Tuesday and Wednesday. I got sick on Wednesday. The doctor said that we did not have the same thing as Walter, so no staying in for a week YEA. Every one is feeling better and Walter was able to go to Coney Island with his friend Trey. The rest of us went to Deweys Pizza then picked up Walter. I was so excited to get out of the house that I did not think about taking the camera for pictures. When we came home we had game time playing Uno Spin. Great fun was had by all. The last game lasted so long that we just wanted anyone to win!!

Tonight Tim helped his parents power wash their deck and clean out their shed. He found a favorite childhood toy. His Hot Wheel track. This thing is over 30 years old. He brought it home and cleaned it up. He had fun playing with it and sharing the joy he had as a boy with his kids. I had to get some pictures of the memories in the making. AHH~ Life is good.

Pictures

Recently Sams Club had a company come in and take pictures. Since it has been a while since I had the kids pictures taken I decided to give it try. The worst part for me when getting the kids pictures taken is picking out the clothes. These people supplied the clothes! I have wanted to do the kids pictures like this for a long time. I thought that they turned out pretty good.

Walter

Chris

Charlie

Brittany

This Too Shall Pass~I Just Hope I Still Have My Right Mind When It Does

It all started last Sunday morning at 6:30. Walter came to our door and said that his stomach was hurting. He had a fever so I gave him some medicine and he went back to sleep. He got up a 8:00 and acted much better. That did not last long. He became a very sick boy. He slept most of the day. By 6:30 Monday morning, we decided to take him to the emergency room. It turns out that he was infected with Shigella. We have no idea where he got it from. There are usually only 25 reported cases in our area a year.I will spare you all the nasty details, you can go to the link if you are interested. They had to send a culture off to be tested. He could not start his antibiotic until they had the test results. Since this is a highly contagious, he has to be on the antibiotic for five days and have a clear test before he is considered clear. He got his medicine Tuesday night, and Thursday we found out that it was the wrong one. The Insurance did not want to pay for the new one. After we went around with them and the doctor on Friday, we decided to go ahead and pay the $116.00 for the prescription so he could get started on his five days. If the insurance decides to pay, the drug store will give us a refund.
Added to this was my fear that the rest of my family would also become infected. I went to the store and stocked up on groceries, cleaned house, did up the laundry, and prayed that Tim and I would not both get sick at the same time. I also became a fanatic about the kids washing their hands. We bought hand sanitizer, and we use it before we do just about anything. I have also been going through a lot of Lysol. I was so afraid that if the rest of us got it one at a time, I would be stuck in this house for a month!! So far, Tim is the only one who has gotten sick. He does not have all of the symptoms so his doctor does not think he has the same thing.
Another stress factor was that this week was VBS. It was really hard for me to see him not being able to go. I think he handled it better then I did. We had the Bakers this year, so Walter was able to watch Hope Sound Bible Church's VBS on archives. It was the same as ours. He learned the Bible verses and got prizes.
Looking back on this week it does not seem as bad as it did while going through it. There were times this week when I wanted to sit down and post about what was happening, but I was afraid that it would start me to crying. This is so not like me. I usually handle things better then that. I was able to go to VBS a couple of nights with the other kids. One of the songs that they sang, talked about Jesus walking on the water of life's troubled sea.
"Though the winds about me blow and the waves around me roll, in the shallow of his hand I am safely in His plan. It's a comfort just to know I am under his control in the midst of it all".
Keep us in your prayers that the rest of us stay well!!

Thankful

This week has been a crazy week. (More on that in the next post). It has been easy to look on the negative, but as I was reading some blogs tonight I began to remember how much I have to be thankful for. So here is a short list~

1. God's unfailing love for me
2. God's Word
3. Tim
4. My kids
5. Family
6. Friends
7. Cool house in this hot weather
8. Health~doctors~medicines
9. Humor
10. My house

HEEEELP