the back door

these were actually from last summer...but i love them too much and just saw them on my computer. i have to share. hubby took them....gotta love these moments.

most of you out there know that mapboy has some interesting traits. well, one of his sensory anxiety issues is dealing with things not going exactly right. messes is one of those. on our stop at wall drug we had lunch. his issue with cheese ruled out the already made and sliced cardboard pizza, but chili dogs he was willing to try. he loves chili and not too fond of hot dogs, but with chili on them why not. so we bought the chili dog and they were huge! in fact, hubby ate his with his fork and knife. but mapboy had a serious meltdown. and once he starts he keeps going and going. so here we are sitting in the restaurant. all of us eating. and mapboy talking about the mess and how he can't hold it all together. we showed him how hubby was eating but he wanted nothing to do with that. it was hot dog and you eat it in a bun with your hands. but it wasn't working so he was mess, physically and emotionally. we got a kick out of it. okay, i was a little bothered and frustrated, but st...

.....he is most definitely my studly hubby!! i love this man. he is so great to me and to the kids! he has a rough time lately - trying to sort out his calling right now, but i couldnt' be more proud to be his wife... just needing to brag a little on him...

last night princess went to bed without any crying!! not a sound.....we prayed, sang Joshua 1:9 and went to bed!!! this morning she ran in my room and asked if she could put a sticker on her happy bedtime chart! we have progress!!!!!!!!!! i'm so thankful

last night was one of those rare nights! all you ladies know...the one where you and a girlfriend head out, alone, with no curfew!!! well, she told her hubby she'd call if we were later than 1:30 am!! anyways...this is a recap of our evening. and yes, for 2 grown women in their 30's with 7 kids among them, we were well...frankly, quite giddy, silly, out there, and quite possibly a little immature. just a little!! but it was all fun!!! 6:30 - friend picks me up and we head out of town. 6:40 - my cell phone rings - weird person that asked my name close to 15 times before hanging up. 7:00 - pull into shopping area. the pressure is on to pick a place to eat. so like all grown adults we write 3 places down on paper and draw. didn't like the 1st so decided to do 2/3. settled at logans. 7:00 my cell phone rings again. hubby this time. we laugh. answer his question and we go in to eat. 7:05 - waitress seats us my cell phone rings again - another wrong number. i get wis...

so if you follow this at all, you will know that i've talked a lot recently about my family experiencing change. today the journey began.... hubby quit his job, effective august 1. like as in 2 weeks! wowzers huh!! now most of you are probably assuming i'm going to follow this with what the new job is, but well, there isn't one! funny....i'm sure some people think this is absolutely crazy. we think it is absolutely right. and from those we've talked with they agree. there is a sense of fear and worry, i mean, i work and make a little, but we kinda need more than that. but the call to obey is far greater. and the joy and peace in that obedience is even greater. i don't know what the next several months will look like. different than what i expected a few months ago for sure. hubby and i will get to spend all sorts of time together. he'll be looking for different opportunities, the kiddos will be in school all day, and i'll be working from home and at home...

so several weeks ago mapboy turned 8. it was quite the adventure. we celebrated in mankato minnesota. we ate dinner alone in the hotel restaurant at about 9:00 and swam in the old holidome pool. but hey....we did just spend 12 days enjoying the wild west. anyways - he didn't seem to think that was quite enough so we had a little party. it was thrown together pretty quickly but he didn't care. he picked out his cake and since this is my favorite part of their birthdays i was thrilled. of course, we also needed to have some presents. he made out pretty good. my parents had not gotten him anything yet and working his party into their already busy day so they gave him money and then later took him shopping. he is quite the shopper and came home with quite the load. while all are enjoyed, the slip and slide was enjoyed by all of us on sunday. especially hubby!! he was like a little kid again....not bad for being almost 40!!! and since pictures are a whole new world to me on blogging...

isnt' much of a princess these days!! it started a little on vacation. this i'm scared routine at night. but since we have been home going to bed is a complete nightmare! she has often had bad dreams and we have to go in and try to wake her up. they are horrible but happen randomly and then disappear for awhile. now, we just can't get her to go to sleep. the minute i mention going to bed she starts crying, telling me she is scare, and on and on. so we pray, we pray for good dreams and no scary thoughts. then i go to tuck mapboy in and the crying begins. it has drug out for over 2 hours some nights. i confess, i'm not a patient momma at bedtime. or very compassionate. when it is bedtime it is bedtime around here. part of me thinks she is just using this to keep me coming up, but i think deep inside something has her scared. she visibally shakes and cries huge tears. last night, i put my foot down. this was enough. we had prayed enough. she screamed - i m...

so i changed up my music a little bit! i have to give credit to my friend for the 2nd song. she has it on her site and i go there just to listen. i love this kind of music. so i stole it from her!! sorry sweet friend... anyways...the first one is an old favorite sung by one of my favorite idols - jason castro. sorry - he was just too cute with those eyes and humble spirit. i don't think fame is what he is cut out for and maybe that is why i liked him even more! anyways - fun song for sure! so what is the real reason - frankly, i'm tired of living in contemplation. it has been my mindset for way too long. we are going through a lot around here, but i have decided to celebrate in it. i keep hearing God tell me that everything is okay. that He wants us to watch Him do more than we dreamed. so after spending most of the day yesterday asking him if i was truly hearing Him or just what i want to hear, i felt like i was scolded for asking. so i'm trusting in what I k...

we all have them don't we? ours started out really not so bad...everyone slept in a little. we had a late breakfast. kiddos cleaned their bedrooms, well, i might add, and played while i cleaned house. for whatever reason cleaning my house today put me in a bad mood and i can't get out of it. now...to be honest i shouldn't call it a bad mood. maybe more of a "i've had it" kind of mood. i realized while i was cleaning that we have a lot of junk. just odd toys we have that i find around the house. stacks of things sitting around - hubby is saying amen to that! clutter - i'm not in to knick-knacks! anyways - i want to gut it all and start over. i did talk the kids into sending a few more games to the garage sale closet. but i want to take a giant trash can and throw it out! i want to organize. i want to have money to buy all sorts of cute organization things and have fun! but alas....not in my near future. i decided to get out of the house to get...

princess: MOM!!!!!! me: (jumping out of bed because princess has been scared to tears every night since we have gotten home from vacation and won't go to sleep or stay asleep!) what???? what's wrong???? princess: umm...can i watch tv all day tomorrow? me: we'll talk about it in the morning - go back to sleep. princess: okay

so i guess my fingers are no longer so good at typing after a long vacation either... here is the correct vacation blog address enjoy...i did not pick the music by the way!!

hubby has the vacation blog started....check it out! as for me...i'm S L O W L Y getting back into the groove around here. i can hardly get up in the morning. i guess i'm still on mountain time even though i'm going to bed on indiana time! but reality is sinking back in and we are back in full swing!! here are a few highlights/insights i have from our trip: mapboy really can talk the entire time he is awake - about everything and anything! i have had more than enough fast food for the rest of my life! moose were supposed to be everywhere - except whenever i was around! the west is incredible! driving alt 14 through the big horns is not for the faint at heart! cows really do just roam around - free range was a new concept to me the air is clean in the mountains - it was so obvious. we really did drive a long ways little house on the prairie was so worth my trip! princess doesn't like to hike - she told us that often yellowstone has a smell to it i'd go back - alon...

...in indiana! that song was sung by 3 of us last night at about 7:30 as we crossed the border. princess was too busy whining about something, we stopped caring at that point. our version sounded about as good as i'm sure we were about returning! we had a great trip out west. i would move in a heart beat - even though i was sure i wouldn't like it out there! i look forward to giving you all the recap over the next few days. there are many things to share and lots of pictures. hubby is planning to set up a blog for just the pictures so i'll give you all the link when that is done. we drove over 4000 miles and survived. we visited 7 states, lots of parks, saw fireworks with 30.000 people at mt. rushmore, saw so many animals like bear, deer, antelope, buffalo, jack rabbits, only 1 snake, elk, a bald eagle in the wild, lots of reptiles and sadly only 1 moose. i'll save that story for later! we hiked some, found every starbucks between here and there, convinced map...