HEART BROKEN

It's done.  She is gone.  It's pouring rain.  I can't stop crying.
Goodbye my Tinky Belle. You were the sweetest cat in the world.  I will miss you terribly.  I hope you know how much you were loved and will always be loved.

FOREVER

Today's quote from Princess:  "Mommy, I want to keep you FOREVER."  

Yes, she melts my heart.  

Rescue Hero

Elvis was a hero today! He was outside playing & saw our cat Sassy was playing with something. He got closer & saw it was a baby chickadee! He scared our cat away & then scooped up the poor, frightened bird. He then put it in his sweatshirt & brought it inside to show me.

Elvis made a little, soft pouch for his baby chickadee.

Scared but still alive!

Later they set it free & it hopped and flew off.
I am very proud of him! He is such a gentle soul.

Awwww........

Can't you feel the love?

The expression on Princess' face cracks me up too.

Who Has God Put On Your Heart Today?

I apologize for falling behind in my posts. Frankly, I have not felt up to it lately. I've been dealing with some tough stuff & am trying to fight off depression. That added to already feeling overwhelmed & the crummy, dreary weather it's a heavy load. Those of you that have had true depression understand how hard of a struggle it is to fight it. It is a powerful thing & not just a simple thing of mind over matter as some think. It bothers me when people lightly shrug it off thinking of it as a weakness in others. Anyone that has experienced it knows it is anything but. Thankfully with God's strength, my prayer warriors & my dearest friend Megan I am keeping my head above water.

I post this about myself & my struggles not for pity or attention but rather to knock on the door to your heart. Is there someone in your life that you have seen struggling lately? Maybe they aren't pouring out their hearts but are guarding them close. But you know they are not themselves & guess something is going on. Reach out to them. Give them a hug. A word of encouragement. Maybe even a helping hand. God wants us to be there for each other. To love one another. We were not meant to be islands. And we are not meant to be judge & jury. Meet that person where they are & lift them up. You will be amazed how much it means to them & how it can change their entire outlook. A bonus is how it makes you feel in return. When we focus on others instead of ourselves it brings joy to us too. God blesses us for it. So think of who you can help today. Who has God put on your heart?

"A new commandment I give to you that you love one another. Just as I have loved you you are to love one another. By this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35

"Therefore let us stop passing judgement on one another. Instead make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way." Romans 14:1

"Therefore encourage one another & build each other up." 1Th. 5:11

Mama's Ornaments

Every year I get each of our children a special Christmas ornament. Some years I paint them & other years I buy them with no preparations needed. This year I chose to buy wooden ones from Michael's and paint them. I am actually holed up in my room working on this now! Lol!

Here they are! I've had them for a few weeks but have either had no time or been too sick to work on them. So Christmas Eve Day it is!
Their were only 4 different designs so we chose the same design for the boys.

Here is Princess's. The paint is still wet & I'm no Picasso but it's the love that counts. =0)

Now onto painting the other 4!

Rope Beds & Helping Each Other

We made rope beds to go with our straw ticks. The kids were surprised to learn how beds were made in Colonial times. Of course ours were models using materials we had around the house. =0) The kids understood the difference between what materials were really used & what we were using for our models.

Cutting out the cardboard for the frame.

We used cereal boxes.

Measuring it to size.

Here he is measuring to see how long to cut the "rope".

We experimented a little on how to "tie" the rope to the frame. Since we were using cardboard & yarn we couldn't use nails, pegs or tie it on like they would with the real beds. We tried using tacks but the cardboard wasn't thick enough. I thought of tape but I didn't like that idea. We decided to use the stapler. Kind of like nails right?

After measuring & cutting both the frame & yarn we stapled the first round. Then it was time to do the cross rope. The kids learned that weaving it helped to make it stronger.

Weaving

They also learned that if the yarn/rope was pulled tight it would hold the straw tick better.

Finished!

Elvis' looks a little different than Bugsy's because his was the first we worked on. Therefore his was kind of the "experiment" one. Lol! But it all came out well & everyone was happy.

Boo with her rope bed.

I adore this photo.

This was a precious moment as well.

It warms my heart when they freely help each other.

Math & Silly Bands

Toddlers crack me up. She had fun for quite a time in this box.

Even though some days are rough I wouldn't trade homeschooling for anything. I love capturing all these different moments of learning, teaching, sharing & playing.

A Very Special Day

This is what greeted me soon after I woke up this morning. Breakfast in bed served to me by my loving husband & 5 precious children! Today is our 16th wedding anniversary & Dave took the day off as a surprise. How wonderful to have him home! We spent some time at home and then splurged on a movie & a late lunch. It was a great day & so nice spending time with my husband.

I'm feeling nostalgic today and thought I'd share a couple of photos. These aren't the best quality as they are a photo of a photo. But I wanted to share them anyway.

Walking down the aisle...........
After we cut the cake we shared a special kiss.
This is one of my very favorite photos of us together.

I feel extremely blessed. God gave me my husband & best friend all wrapped into one. We have gone through so much together and have only grown stronger for it all. I love him with all my heart & pray we have many, many more years together.

Crying Tonight

A terrible thing happened today. We lost one of our cats. Romeo, our most snugly, lovey, patient, sweet tempered cat died suddenly. We still don't know what happened. This afternoon our next door neighbor called saying a cat was lying in her flower bed and she thought it might be one of ours. She told me he had been lying there for a few hours and hadn't moved. Sweet Pea & I rushed right over to find Romeo lying on the ground unable to move and barely breathing. Sweet Pea picked him up wrapping him in an old, soft towel. He tried to meow but he barely made a sound. He didn't move a muscle and seemed paralyzed. We took him home and placed him in the laundry room. He still didn't move. Not even his head to look at us. He had his mouth opened to breathe and we could see he was struggling. I called the vet and then packed up all the kids & put towels in a laundry basket. Sweet Pea placed Romeo inside the basket and we drove to the vet. They had us wait until I finally went up and told them Romeo was gasping for air. At that point the receptionist took him straight back. A little while later the doctor came out and discussed doing bloodwork & x-rays. She was very concerned about him. She said he was severely dehydrated and there was no reflex reaction when she tested his back legs. I wasn't sure what to do. She said if he was treated most likely he would need to be kept overnight & they closed at 7 so I'd need to take him to an emergency vet. My head was spinning. I frantically tried to get a hold of Dave but he was en route to pick up our other cats at the vet across town, (they were getting fixed), and then home. The doctor offered for me to have a bit of time to think. We were allowed to go into an exam room. I had all 5 children with me. They brought Romeo in the room with us. He was still in his basket. We talked to him and watched him. Suddenly about 5 minutes later I could tell he stopped breathing. I looked into his eyes and they had a glazed look. It's hard to explain but they looked lifeless. Crying I went out and told the receptionist I thought he had passed. She got a nurse right away and she took him in the back. The kids & I cried. Sweet Pea was sobbing. The doctor finally came back and confirmed our fears. Romeo had passed away. She said she thought he had waited until we were with him again before he let go. I think he wanted to be with us. He was such a loving cat. I know with all my heart he was trying to come home to us when his body gave out and he collapsed in the neighbors yard. Dave finally arrived and we all started crying again. We took Romeo home and buried him in the back yard. I can't sleep tonight thinking of him cold and alone in the ground. It's breaking my heart. Bugsy was crying as we all were when we buried him. He was so afraid Romeo would be cold and kept asking if he could put a blanket on him. We helped him spread one of the towels from Romeo's basket on his grave. It made me cry all over again.

Poor Romeo was only a year and a half old. I remember staying up almost all night watching him and his siblings be born. He was the firstborn of Tinkerbelle. He was the most patient & loving cat I have ever met. I can't believe he is gone. I can't sleep tonight. I keep thinking of him & wishing he was here. I miss you so much already, Romeo. I pray you are in Heaven.

This is Romeo with Luci. He loved to snuggle with her. He had such patience with her antics and never snapped at her when she'd play with him or bite his tail. They were true pals. You can see on his face what a sweet kitty he was.

Special Celebration

This month we had little Princess dedicated to the Lord. This has always been an important tradition & celebration for Dave and I. It means that we are promising that we will raise our child(ren) to follow the Lord. We promise to teach them about Jesus & the Bible. We also promise to guide them to their own relationship with Jesus and to grow in their relationship. Doing this before others holds us accountable to this promise. It also is a time where our church family also promises to help teach & guide our child(ren) in the ways of Jesus. It is a very, very special time to us. This was Princess's turn and though we are in a new church it was still extremely special. What made it even more so was that her dedication happened on Mother's Day. I loved that this happened. I wish our families & close friends could have been with us to celebrate this special day and witness her dedication but it was not to be this time. But we did have all of our children with us and that made it precious.


There were 15 families dedicating their children on Mother's Day evening. We all stood in a line in front of the stage & waited for our names to be called.



Princess cried through almost the entire dedication. I decided to see the humor in it. It was either that or cry, right? Lol.

Praying for our precious child & her future.

Our oldest & our youngest.

Mama & Her Chicks on Mother's Day

It's hard to get 5 children to all look at the camera & smile at once. Lol.

My darling youngest child.

Mama & Princess

Proud Parents

Thank you, Lord for the privilege of raising & loving this precious priceless little girl.

Valentine's Day Dinner

For Valentines Day this year we did something different and went to the Train Expo. It wasn't full of hearts or very romantic but it WAS lots of fun. The kids were determined to do something more hearts & flowers the next day. When they found out about Dave & my plans to have dinner they immediately wanted to help set up for it. I had approached Dave on Friday with an idea to have a Valentine's dinner for the two of us at home. We do not have a babysitter here yet and with our schedule lately it's hard to squeeze in a date night anyway. Plus to be honest it is an extra cost. We instead got take out from Olive Garden, one of our favorites, and Dave and the kids picked up a Chocolate Silk Pie at the grocery store. It ended up being a wonderful night.


The kids went shopping with Dave. In addition to the pie Dave surprised me with beautiful flowers and candy. The kids helped set the table using our good china to make things extra special.



All the kids wanted to take on a role to make our night special & fun. The boys were dubbed "The Cooks". Don't you just love the eccentric look of Elvis?

My Favorite!

Chicken Parmesan. It makes me hungry just looking at it.

Dave's Favorite

Tour of Italy

I loved how Dave and most of the kids all dressed up for our night.

During our meal we had our waitresses come when we rang the bell. Soft music played in the background and we had time to talk and just be together.

Chocolate Silk Pie

This is melt in your mouth delicious!

We called the kids in to share in our special dessert.

Yummy!

Don't you love the serious look on his face?

(Don't worry it's only Pepsi.)

Our Loving Waitstaff

After our meal Sweet Pea had a little dance time with Sky.

My beautiful flowers & delicious chocolates.

Bugs wanted to pose with "the heart" as he called it.

Dave said he carried it all through the store, in the van & into the house.

I asked him to smile for the camera and I got this goofy face. LOL!

My special valentines from the kids, candy & flowers.

Another Valentine from Sweet Pea.

Daddy was very suprised & pleased with all his Valentines..

Even though our celebration was different from the norm this year it was very special. I love the memories that were made and how much our kids enjoyed joining in to make our date night extra special. That truly touched my heart.