Traveling in under two weeks to... Bogota, Columbia...!!!

Matt and I always talked about how the fact that we home-school, could give us a great opportunity to be able to travel with our kids and take their work along... well... We are finally doing it!  We are taking the family to Bogota, Columbia to visit Matt's brother Nate and his wife Lindsey and their two boys, Isaiah & Jeremiah!  We leave on November 27th and come home on December 8th, 2013! 

The particular place would not normally be my first place to go (or my second, third, or fourth!), but God has been opening the door and things have been falling into place!  

How?  

1. We have been paying off/down debts this year like never before!

2. We have seen God's blessing with the business!

3. Our passport applications went smoothly and the passports arrived in two weeks!

4. I was able to take all the kids and get check-ups and shots... and it went smoothly, with minimal problems.

5. The ticket prices dropped to almost half what we expected them to cost!

So there you have it... crazy huh?

I hope to update this more often... although past performance indicates utter failure in consistency! LOL!

Just a little rambling...

Last Post was in June... talking about how fast time flies... Funny, since we just entered August!  July was a blur. Wiping butts, feeding kids, Dustin turned 3!... but otherwise nothing really has changed.

But I will try to think of some of the highlights...

I had a Yard Sale in June with Amanda again.
I turned 34.
We went to a really fun Picnic at the Yoders.
We went to Charlie's Birthday party (turned 6!) and learned that Rachel is expecting again!!
I did a Color Run (5k) on the 28th of July with Esther and Phoebe.
I took the kids to two, Yes, 2 VBS's in a row.  First to TVBA where my folks attend and second week to CBFC Sinking Spring.  The kids enjoyed it very much!
Harlan turned 6 months and Lexi turned 3 months and I got to take their pictures. 
Van just cut his 11th tooth and I'm pretty sure number 12 isn't far behind.  He's been grouchy and his gums are bruised looking.  :(
I've gotten to chat with Woda several times and it reminds me how much I miss her and wish I could visit Nebraska again!
We are making really good process pulling ourselves out of debt!
Van is now almost standing, and is beginning to walk with the help of the walker thing.
Dustin still has a very bad temper and I have to correct him almost daily.
Matt re-did the back yard giving us a patio for the fire pit and more lawn!

Tomorrow I'm going to the beach with Amanda!
So good night!!
~Me

I'm amazed at how fast time can fly!!

How does time pass so quickly? My baby was 9months old about a week ago. He is now completely on bottles because of the 8 teeth that have stormed in. He smiles a lot but is also very needy and likes to be held. sometimes I honestly wonder if I will survive these children. But then I think of my mom and am convinced it can be done ! Just this past week I actually figured out how to fix my own washing machine. I never would have seen myself doing that. Necessity really does breed ingenuity and creativity. It also gives us the strength that we never know will have. I'm convinced everyday that that is what God is talking about when he says he will give us the strength we need for each task he gives us.

This blog is being dictated by my voice to text on my phone, so if this blog seems a little weird or messed up its because I've got a little one on my lap pulling my hair and another one whining about wanting to push the buttons on my phone. The girls have disappeared upstairs to get their PJ's on but I can only imagine that means they are playing somewhere.

So until next time when I get a chance to blog and write about my crazy life this is it for now.

Every time I sit down to Blog...

Something pulls me away!  

Nurse the baby
Someone is poopy!
Break up that fight
Help Kitkat get focused on her school
Wow, that is a lot of mail to sort.
Oh yeah, I need to pay those bills.
Did I start dinner yet?
switch the laundry...
Oh! The baby is crying again...
Why? Someone is crawling on top of him!
Mom! Come look what I made!
How did the living room get so trashed!
Who said you could take chips in the living room?
You are hungry because you didn't want to eat lunch when everyone else was.

Even now I've got a 2 year old crawling up behind me on my desk chair to show me a Mickey Mouse Pez dispenser that he has told me is hot lava.  What??

They say I will miss this someday.  I believe I really will... but until then, I will dream of having a little break.  
A girls night out.  
A date with my man.  
A few minutes to use the bathroom without someone pounding down the door.  
A lunch NOT interrupted by a poopy kid demanding to be changed. 
A chance to read more than just three verses of my Bible before I have already lost my temper at one of the kids.

Sigh... that same crazy 2 year old is now sitting behind me on the floor crying at the top of his lungs because he's been fighting with his older sister...

Oh well.  My time here is done.  I have kids to deal with.  :)

I love this crazy life... even if it is slowly driving me insane.  :)

Short but Sweet...

This post is simply to share that I'm thankful to finally be getting over being sick.  Almost immediately after starting this blog, my whole family got sick, and then the next week I got sick. I got the sickest of all too.  Finally went to the doctor and got some antibiotics (something I almost never do) and am happy to say that it helped and I'm on my way to being better!  I still have a cough, but I'm just now in the "get my house back under control" stage.  So I hope to post more very soon. But for now, the family is sleeping, and I must go get some sleep as well. 

Live, Laugh, Love...

I love the saying... Live well, Laugh often, Love much.

I was talking to my sister (yes, I know, I have a lot of sisters...lol)

I was sharing that there are two things I try to remember thru every situation.

1. "This too shall pass"... Everything I'm going thru will pass.  

Every sickness, every crying baby, every fight... eventually that part of my life passes and becomes a memory.  So I need to try not to get so caught up in the moment that I can't see past it.

2. My life is so little compared to the massiveness of the universe.  

I'm only a very, very, very small person in a very, very, very big world. 

There are so many bigger problems than the one I'm dealing with at whatever state I'm in.  

So again... I need to keep my focus right and remember that there is a much bigger thing at work.

However... I matter to God!  

He cares about me thru every little trial, every heartache, every joy, every small accomplishment.  

I matter to God!  Amazing to think about!

So I end this b/c I need to get some sleep!

But there is just a little snip-it of what's been going thru my brain today!

Blogging... Reinstated...

Sooo.... everyone else is doing it right?  I've wanted to start blogging again. But I'm just not as ambitious as most of the people I surround myself with. I have incredible people in my life!  Most of whom are way more motivated than me.  

I do have a lot of "stuff" rolling around in this brain of mine.  Perhaps if I start verbalizing it, it might get a little more organized?  Here's hoping!  LOL

I have nothing "specific" that this blog will focus on.  It's going to be a scrapbook of sorts containing pieces of my brain... put to paper (or type I guess).

So here's to starting a Blog again!

:)