They grow up so fast!

I am not saying being a mom is easy but sometimes it is really tough. I feel really confident when they are little(most of the time). Now Caleb and Mason are getting into their teen years and things get complicated. I thank God that they are good boys and that they look out for each other. It just hit me this year that I have 4 years to prepare Caleb for life on his own. That is crazy... I just started letting him go further than the block and only with his brother. Yes he has gone camping with scouts, Church camp and to friends to stay the night etc. But always with adult supervision and supervision I trusted and knew. He has a good head on his shoulders and I am very proud of him, but only 4 years are you kidding me!!! I guess these last four years are just as important as the first 4... they learn so much so fast! I just a month Caleb graduated 8th grade, got a job and is preparing to take his drivers permit test!!! I just feel like every decision from here on out effects his life greatly. We are pretty sure that we are going to switch school and send him to a larger private Catholic high school so that he has more choices in classes and more extra curricular opportunities. We want to give him the best start in life we can. God has blessed us so much! I thank Him everyday for the blessings we have and continue to have. I pray that we make the right choices for our kids and that our kids look to Him for the right path in life. I just never thought that I would be this effected by this stage in life. I just do not want to mess it up!

Moved again!

Yes we have moved again. Since you read in my last blog that Rob lost his job in Indiana and quickly found another one, we knew it was only temporary. We move here to North Dakota in February and LOVE IT! The first couple months were rough living in a one bedroom apartment with 5 kids. But we were blessed to have a roof over our heads! Many people are living in their cars and RVs here. there is an oil boom and housing is expensive and hard to come by. The one bedroom was just down the road from the kids school so they got to walk everyday, which we all liked. We have sinced moved into a 3 bedroom plus Condo and love it! Alayna hase her own room and the little boys have a toy room and an office that they use for their room. their is an upstairs living room and downstairs family room (with a fireplace for those cold North Dakota winters) The kids love having their own space, but even tonight they are all in their big brothers room watching a movie together! y The town has a great rec center that we love. We have taken to the sport of raquetball and enjoy swimming in the indoor waterpark. Caleb enjoys the rock wall and both boys like shooting hoops with their dad. We live close enough now that the big boys can walk their by themselves. The little boys like the indoor playground too. Since moving here we have gone to see Medora which is only 30 min away and beautiful! the bison are so close you can almost touch them. We have tried to make camping plans, but everytime we try it rains or like this weekend it not only rained but is 40 degrees! We will go a few time this summer though! We have met a couple great families here already and they have girls... Alayna has had quite a few sleepovers already! They are great Christian families and we love it. We also love the little Christian school the kids are going to. They are starting a high school next year, so Caleb gets to continue there which he loves. They all have made frinds pretty quickly which is nice. We love it here. Because of the oil boom it really feels like the land of opportunity. There are jobs galore here. I started watching kids at home again, because the need is so great. Caleb is getting a job this summer to save for a car, because at 14 they can get a liscence in ND! We are really enjoying ourselves here and plan to stay for a long while... at least for us anyway... lol

Life's Changes

Well here we are... Rob lost his job almost 2 weeks ago. Something about circulation numbers need to go up Blah... blah... blah... The newspaper industry needs to change because the world is changing. Circulation numbers are not going to go up... why pay and read the paper version when you have internet!!!! Especially when they take your circulation manager away. Who cares that you spent the last year rebuilding bridges in the community that the last Publisher spent 5 years burning. ANd those brides bring in advertising. OK enough venting, we knew that the newspaper industry needed to change and if the company wasn't willing to make the changes our family was going to have to. We were just expecting it on our terms not theirs. We do not know where God wants our lives to go from here? We are praying and waiting praying and waiting. Rob is filling out apps, sending resumes and having meetings to find a job. But everything is so unsure and I do not do well with that. just give me a plan any plan... OK God really instead I know you are teaching me patience. Some lessons are just not fun learning! I know that God has always provided for our family and will continue to do so. WE are just praying and waiting to see where God wants us next. It could be here which is fine with us. Just pray along with us, so that we are truly doing his will and not our own.
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Vacation

I just spent the most amazing week with my family. We went to my aunts cabin in MI to just relax and that is what we did. No deadlines, meetings or kids activities. We tend to live a pretty fast paced life that it was nice to have a relaxing vacation. We did some boating, tubing, swimming and fishing! We chatted, ate and played games. I was really looking to this vacation and it totally lived up to my expectations. We got to spend some great time with my family and the cousins got to play with each other all week... with really no big fights or problems. Noah bite his lip a few times and one time almost all the way through, but he is fine. I look forward to many more vacations just like this one.

I cannot believe that school starts in just a couple days though. This summer has really gone by quick! It seems like they just got out yesterday, there was so much I wanted to do with them this summer, but it seems like camps took over! They had a fun so I guess that is what matters! No to readjust our schedule back to the school year. We are trimming back a little this year. And whenever things get a little crazy I think I will just sit back and count my blessings!

This is the crew enjoying the lake

Cooking by the campfire

Garage Sales... Are they Worth it?

Garage sales... are they worth it? Some times I tend to ponder this question. Do you make very much for all the time you put in... not really! I get rid of lots more stuff and so do the kids. We always chose a large item for the family to get with our earned money. One time we got a Wii and another everyone got new bikes. This time we are going for a pool or trampoline, getting to the point where we may have to take a vote! Maybe would could get both :) Iknow that if I was just getting rid of the stuff I would not get rid of as much stuff, but making a little money always makes it worth it a little more. After we do give most of it away but there are a few items we price higher and if it sells great, but if not we may take it back into the house. We have gone through every room of the house and we have helped the kids go through their rooms. They are more willing to part with things if they know they will get a little something out of it. Neither Rob or I are keepers, that is the good thing about moving we are able to constantly purge through our stuff. In our zealous I am just hoping we are not making hoarder out of our children. Alayna is our closest one to that end of the spectrum, while Mason and Caleb see the value of getting rid of all the little stuff in return for the bigger things. I thing Alayna's is a girl thing... But Torrance made that for me ( a sheet of paper with their names on it!) So do you garage sale? How do you price items??? We tend to price on how badly we want to get rid of them! I like to make some $$ off of my kids clothes fetish. Let me know your thoughts!

Kids and Camp

WOW!! This is the summer for camp, it is exciting that there are so many fun things for the kids to do here. Caleb is going at Boy Scout camp this week and will go to Church camp the end of July. Alayna is going to a 2 night Church camp this month and is so excited to finally get to sleepover! She is also going to a Girl Scout day camp and Music day camp at Church. Mason is really getting to do some fun things this summer... Church camp over night for a week, Cub Scout day camp, Camp Invention day camp, which is a science learning camp and Artventures day camp with comedy and drama, which he loves! IT seems like every week someone is gone, which is nice for them. How do you feel about camp? Are your kids going this year? We are blessed that all scout camps were free due to great popcorn and cookie sales and the Church pays half of those camps! WE are throwing in spuratic day trips as well! Tomorrow since Rob has to go to Owensboro, KY for a meeting we are going down with him and hitting a couple museums! It is a great way to spice up the summer for the kids. Being involved in Scouts and Youth group at Church we have a few events scheduled with those activities, check out the pics! I get my little time away every Thursday at my Beth Moore Bible Study! We get to end our summer in Michigan at my aunts lake house in Grayling and might make it to Mackinaw as well. This is turning out to be a great summer... WHAT are your summer plans?

Alayna and the Girl Scouts at their lemonade stand

Mason Bike Riding with the Cub Scouts

Mason enjoying DAWGS for the first time (the 5/6 grade Youth Group)

Girl Scouts such a blessing

This year we have jumped in to so many activities with the kids. While it has been busy it has been fun as well! I got the joy of being Alayna's Daisy troop leader. It has been a blessing in so many ways. I Co-lead with an awesome lady Crystal! She has fast become one of my closest friends here in Vincennes. We work great together and continue to introduce each other to new thing... thus we now have 3 bunnies! And I will be taking her on her first outlet mall trip in about a week! God always knows exactly what I need and who to place along my journey. I have also gotten to get to know eight little girls pretty well and they are such a sweet group. So looking forward to getting to lead 6 of them again next year as brownies and will really miss 2 little girls who will still be daisys. It has been a fun year of crafts, games, field trips, service projects and cookie selling! I think Cookie selling the the best part for me. Doing booth sales I got to get to know the girls more one on one and they did an awesome job selling. We sold over 3500 boxes of cookies with just 9 girls! Two of them sold over 1100 and were regonized at a Gala 2 of 15 in our region to sell that many... we had to drive an hour to the gala if that tells you the size of our region! Can you tell I am proud of them! Our last meeting for the school year is in a couple weeks and I look forward to watching the older group bridge to Brownies and conitue to become great young women over the years to come!