Lauren's 1st Cheer & Dance Recital....

A few weeks ago Lauren went to cheer camp. They did tumbling, cheer, and dance. At the end of the week they did a recital for us. It was so cute. Lauren hated the dancing part but I thought it was cute anyways. She's the one with the braids, who is messing with them the whole time. She loved the tumbling and cheer but the dance she said she was no interested in at all. Although she loves to watch "So you think you can Dance" and she might want to do that one day. She said it was just too embarrassing. She was so nervous but she did a good job! She's enjoying the cheering though. So I guess she'll be our Cheer Leader girl. Big surprise, I know... He he he... Drama Queens and cheer go hand in hand. On a side note, how long has it been since you heard "Hey Mickey"? Love it!

Boy's are from Mars...

Okay! Really I think, at least my boys are from Mars. I just can't seem to figure them out. Lately they are in to dressing up. I mean they will even invent costumes if necessary. But last Friday we stopped at a garage sale and found these two costumes. You would have thought they had died and gone to heaven. They will even sleep in them. NOT joking! In fact, I have to force them to take them off to be washed. Yuck! I guess this is just a boy thing. I don't know, or maybe mine are just imaginative. They just love it! If they don't have a costume to put on then they will dress up like cowboys or something. It's so silly. But I will admit it's pretty cute to see Spiderman sitting at the table eating lunch or reading a book. He he he....

She's Gonna Blow....

Okay Girls.... This is a must read for all mommies! I won this book last year at a women's bible study but never even took one look at it. I just put it on a shelf and there it sat. Well, lately I've just felt like I'm gonna lose my mind. Ya know the days you feel like you just are going to seriously run away and never come back or the day you might seriously hurt one of your children. I think we all have those days! Anyways, I came across this book and thought well what the heck, the title seemed to grab my attention since that's exactly how I felt. So I've been reading it and OMG. It's the best book. She relates us moms to volcano's, Mount Momma, getting ready to blow. And how right she is. It's really a great read. She explains the different types of eruptions and the danger and effects they leave on our kids. It really has shed light on me as a mother and how much more I need to be in prayer about it and my children. I'm going to share a little bit of it with you. It really hit home and made me stop dead in my tracks....

"God is kind, slow to anger, merciful, gracious, righteous, abounding in loving kindness, a stronghold, a shield, protector, a defender of the weak, perfect, sure, pure, true, gracious, strong and good. Will my children be able to believe the truths about God as a result of their earthly mother's life and behavior? As mother's, we are the living, breathing, "in your face" examples of Christ to our children. Only as we ground our life in the solid bedrock of God's truth do we have any hope of turning fiery Mount Momma into something beautiful, nurturing, and inspiring."

Wow! Does that touch your heart like it did mine? It broke mine to be quite honest. Knowing that I've failed at it miserably. I think I forget that we as parents are the main picture of God to our children. How I act is a direct portrait of what they think God is like. That's pretty scary actually. God has Blessed us with such wonderful gifts and He wants us to enjoy them and for them to enjoy us too. I know how busy you all are, I'm just as busy. But if you can find time at all you must read this book. It's a fun book too. She's quite witty. You can find it at any Christian ("Lifeway":) Bookstore,I'm sure. I'm thankful for a God who's gracious, kind and forgiving for all the mistakes I've made and will make as a mom. But I know that He's continually working in me, daily, to help me be the best mom I can be. Thank You Jesus! I love you guys and I just wanted to share this little tidbit. Sometimes we just need a little boost to return the joy back into being a MOM! It is a the greatest privilege ever!

Bryan's 7th Birthday!!!!

Today is Bryan's 7th Birthday! We have just had little birthdays all week. Thursday we had cupcakes and he opened a few presents with his cousin. Then this morning we had some more cake and opened the other gifts. He's had a good Birthday. He had asked for a Spiderman suit, he loves dressing up, so we got him that and a Game Boy with some games. So I haven't heard a word from him since. Ha! So he's in hog heaven. I don't expect him to move from that spot all day. He's a game nerd. I swear they just suck him in. He completly tunes everything out and is completley focused on his games. It's insane. Anyways! Here's a few shots of him. Have a good one....

Wordless Wednesday.....

The View.....

The older I get the more I enjoy the world God has given us to admire. Sometimes it's just breath taking. These are some of the views from our trip. I'm sure I didn't do them justice but I wanted to share them anyways! :)

This is the Prayer Garden at Glorieta. It's absolutely Breath taking...

View of White Sands from the mountains.

This was taken in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Can you find the mountain they call the "Sleeping Lady?"

More vacation shots....

Landon & Mommy at white sands. This was the only moment he was actually out of the car. He was so not impressed. So he and daddy stayed the car where he took a nap.

Lava Rock, in Carzozo, New Mexico

This was actually very cool to see. We had never seen lava. There were miles and miles of it. It was interesting. I didn't know how pretty it could be. You wouldn't think of lava as pretty but I thought it was.

Big Texan Steak House

Cadillac Ranch

Playin in a creek up in the mountains

Freezing...... They didn't last but just a few minutes and resorted to throwing rocks in the creek instead. he he he....

White Sands

I love this shot... It wasn't perfect but her face is priceless.

We're Home....

We made it home... We are back from our family vacation. We had a great time but sure was glad to get home. We were gone eleven days and the last few were hard. Landon had, had enough and it's crazy being stuck in the car with six kids. I thought I might loose my mind. I seriously considered drugs. Ha! For me and them... Anyways, we first went through Amarillo, Texas and had a great time. We took the kids by the Big Texan and then out to Cadillac Ranch. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a bunch of Cadillac cars buried in the ground and you can come and spray paint them. The kids thought that was way cool. Then we headed into Glorieta, New Mexico. It was absolutely beautiful. Perfect weather the whole week. Like 70's weather. We went up into the mountains and played in the creek one day then we took a trip into Santa Fe one day. It was nice there too. Then we headed on to my grand parents home in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Lot's a trips down memory lane. I loved it. I hadn't been there since I was a kid so I had a great time. We stopped by some lava rocks, went by White sands, and went to the space museum there as well. The kids really enjoyed all of them. Over all we had a great time. Although, Landon was ready to be home about three days ago. He was worn out. I took tons of pictures, like 200. So I'll post more later. I sure missed keeping up with all of you guys. I can't wait to read every one's blog and catch up.

Glorieta, New Mexico

White Sands, New Mexico

Space Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico

Big Texan in Amarillo, Texas

Cadillac Ranch just outside Amarillo