So little time, so just to sum things up in our world these days!

This just about sums up the Jman these days! He likes football! He love to be the wide receiving and he likes that it is rough! 

This just sums of Skeeter Girl!  She likes things that are not particularly toys like this gardening bag!  She has it all packed up for today's world. She has her pistol and some rocks.  What else could a girl need?  She was meant for brothers.  She is a tom boy!

This is my middle.  He loves all his pets and they love him.

Oh the joy of Cay!

 

This little doll never stops smiling. He lives for fishing.  He always has a gun...no longer calls them "a bun."  He eats quite adventurously.  He loves animals.  He brings me JOY.  He makes me laugh.  He thinks the strangest things are sooooo funny.  He plays by himself a lot.   He is in love with ONE girl and really thinks she is perfect and that he is going to marry her.  He always has a hat on at home: coon skin, camo, ball cap, cowboy hat.  He adores his daddy.  He says "Thanks for taking us ....."  He can swim like a fish, dive, do flips, and go to the bottom of 9 ft. at barely 4.  He keeps us in stitches.  The other day he and big bro were talking about their "balls" for some reason. Sister said she had those too and he said, "No, you have a pouch."  I THOUGHT I WOULD FALL OUT OF THE CAR.  You are growing up too fast and I can't wait to spend our last year together at home.

Millie and Cay

What other cat would allow this?

First summer swim 2012

Loves to fish at the creek with his minnow trap and nets.

He loves his pups.  Can you tell?

You've got a Friend....

 Today we were riding to a park and Je-Je was lamenting that no friends were meeting us there to play.  I said, "Now that really hurts our feelings Je-je."  Cay chimes in without missing a beat, "you've got a friend sitting right behind you." 

I LOVED IT!  Amen!  They did go and make friends with EACH OTHER!!  I was amazed at how empty the park was and then I went by a karate studio (there was seriously nowhere to park) that was all packed out and had a realization that most kids are totally "programmed" after school. I am glad we just played together today. 

Our last spring babies came and we ended up with 5 boys and 5 girls.

Mr. Bo

Jeb and Copper

Jonas made a fun swing at the creek!

my happy boy

I was SO SORE AFTER THIS...I am getting old.

Uncle Jacob finally got up the nerve to trust our Wal-mart rope.

LOVES TO FISH!

These kids are living to fish!  They caught 51 minnows the other night while I was grading papers-wow!

sleeping in the big girl bed!  She is growing up fast!  Her pink and purple butterfly bedding is now in there and she is loving the freedom and the purple sheets!

 Seems like so many sad things are going on around us in the world.  I was reading Habakkuk this week and the prophet really has some complicated and tough questions for God.  I was glad to be in the company of someone asking questions...but I liked his final thoughts on God's answers:

Habakkuk 3

New International Version (NIV)

Habakkuk’s Prayer

3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.^[a]

² Lord, I have heard of your fame;
    I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.
Repeat them in our day,
    in our time make them known;
    in wrath remember mercy.

³ God came from Teman,
    the Holy One from Mount Paran.^[b]
His glory covered the heavens
    and his praise filled the earth.
⁴ His splendor was like the sunrise;
    rays flashed from his hand,
    where his power was hidden.
⁵ Plague went before him;
    pestilence followed his steps.
⁶ He stood, and shook the earth;
    he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled
    and the age-old hills collapsed —
    but he marches on forever.
⁷ I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
    the dwellings of Midian in anguish.

⁸ Were you angry with the rivers, Lord?
    Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea
    when you rode your horses
    and your chariots to victory?
⁹ You uncovered your bow,
    you called for many arrows.
You split the earth with rivers;
¹⁰     the mountains saw you and writhed.
Torrents of water swept by;
    the deep roared
    and lifted its waves on high.

¹¹ Sun and moon stood still in the heavens
    at the glint of your flying arrows,
    at the lightning of your flashing spear.
¹² In wrath you strode through the earth
    and in anger you threshed the nations.
¹³ You came out to deliver your people,
    to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,
    you stripped him from head to foot.
¹⁴ With his own spear you pierced his head
    when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
gloating as though about to devour
    the wretched who were in hiding.
¹⁵ You trampled the sea with your horses,
    churning the great waters.

¹⁶ I heard and my heart pounded,
    my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
    and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
    to come on the nation invading us.
¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

¹⁹ The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    he enables me to tread on the heights.

Mrs. Butterfly and Caleb's wife

I know I said it in another blog, but C is always telling stories about his fake school and his fake teacher, Mrs. Butterfly, to compete with Jeb's school stories!

Caleb told me to come back to his room after I tucked him in b/c in a whisper, "he needed to tell me a secret." He told me in hushed tones right in my ear, "today at school I sat next to a girl and she kissed me. I tried to run away and tell Mrs. Butterfly, but she did it anyway."

I laughed so hard and explained that NO girls should be kissing him except me. I went to tell Jeb and he got a kick out of that.

Jeb told me today that two kids are together in his class and she said that she was going to kiss him, which I am sure is where tonight's Mrs. Butterfly story came from.

I hope when he has true stories to tell that he stops the made up ones! I am thinking that maybe he isn't going to be a job site-r after all...he may be a budding journalist the way he carries his notebooks around doodling things and scribbling on paper and telling stories!

The pics:
This is Cay picking berries and Cay with his "girlfriend". Keep in mind she is 3 years older, and does not agree to the arrangement, but he is not giving up. He says he is going to marry her. He says she is his favorite person to play with so that is sweet. They play Mommy and Daddy during small group and it is funny to hear about. They have horses and Jeb is their dog and Laci is their daughter. While we were picking berries he did ask her to marry him....well, actually, he said, "I am going to marry you." Who knows? Maybe he will. I won't complain.

Ollis Strikes Again...

Ollis Strikes Again...

Caleb and Jeb have discovered the movie "Old Yeller" and while Jeb likes it...Caleb is mildly obsessed with it. He embodies the character of Ollis with all his ideas and shenanigans he gets into around the farm. He is an independent spirit and a free-thinker for sure!

Today I thought that since it was so frigid and windy and Cay wanted to "play outside", "let Sarah in", and "ride my bike" that I thought I would back out the van and let them play in the garage while I cook supper. Oh boy! I went out there once and Ollis had her tucked in her bed again.(He recently took Sarah to his room and put her "night -night" by force. I busted her out.)Then, I went back out and he had come up with his solution to me not letting Sarah in b/c she stunk. He had that poor dog in the sink in ice cold water lathered up with hand soap. Sadly, she was just sitting there shivering...I took her and cleaned her and dried her off. She is now clean and smelling like Bath and Body.

This boy has dug up plants, been lost on the farm, befriended a rooster, pushes around Great Pyrenees dogs three times his size and goats with giant horns as well, rides horses alone (or desires to), and is obsessed with mastering my salad spinner...I just never know what he will be into next. Most of our doors have his "signature" on them and if he gets near scissors--watch out! He loves guns, "buns" dogs, and tools and has announced that he wants a "real tractor" and "chicks" for his next birthday. He prays every night "thank you Dod for de shop." He thinks that the shop is a wonderland. He has strong opinons about WHO he likes and dislikes and he is often up before 6am wreaking havoc around our home!

This is sticky. Kyler's new pet...and Ollis can't quite figure out if he likes reptiles.

Jeb is six now and I can't believe how kind, compassionate, smart, loving, and snuggly he is! I am also so proud that he has asked Jesus to come into his life. We are praying about when to do a Baptism b/c we want him to remember it and he HATES for people to look at him! He is a walking Bible encyclopedia and I just hope that the rest of his life he can apply all the wisdom from God's word like he already is. Jeb--you are our dream come true--we adore you.

Funny Caleb stories...Visiting Dolly...John Deere Boys

We had a great trip to Dollywood to see the Christmas lights, ride the train, all the kiddie rides and see Santa. Dolly had a cute parade and Jeb rode his first roller coaster! The Blazing Fury had him with eyes wide open! I was proud that he was so brave still he didn't really want to go and get back in line-ha! Dolly does a great job putting Jesus back into Christmas and we saw some shows about the REAL reason for the season. We had fun with Nana Mac and Papa D getting geared up for the holiday season.

I had a good laugh when my two-year-old described his hiding place where I could not find him and it involved 2 locked doors and me picking the locks--"it was amazing momma."

Recently, we went to a local nursery and Caleb had eaten a sucker and I looked up and he was "smoking" the sucker stick. Now, it would not have been hilarious has he not held the stick between his tiny little lips and blown fake smoke out the side of his mouth like a real smoker!!!! I looked at him and he said, "What?" and proceeded to take it out and hold it between his finger and blow smoke out...YIKES>..we don't smoke, our family does not smoke...it must have been what he took in at Dollywood last Saturday--who knew he was being entertained by the smokers? I promptly took the cig/stick.

Caleb should still be a red-head I think...he still has the temper to go with it. Today at Blockbuster Caleb was on one side looking at a picture and I moved to the other side to find the M's and he announced...Mama...and despite me saying, "yes, I am right here..." He shouts out so angrily..."Mama YOU LOST ME."

He loves to make up silly things like blabbering non-sense words to songs that he does not know--he still loves music!

He loves to start goofy things like today..."beef".."beef cake" "beefaroni"...he just keeps repeating back to me calling me those things and dying laughing...he is so silly and delightful.

We have had picnic lunches about 6/10 days now and it is so fun!

We were walking in Wal-Mart and we got close to a man in boots/hat and he yells, "look momma, he's a real cowboy." As the man passed me I said, Yes, he's a real cowboy. I know that man was proud of himself. We have been loving reading Cowboy Small recently.

These boys love John Deere stuff. They were proudly posing for me in the backyard for these shots since they were all decked out! Jeb wants to wear his boots everyday and Caleb says his future career is "riding a tractor. working on a skid steer."

Cay had trouble with the time change...yuck...we have been up so stinking early. He can watch an entire "Old Yeller" viewing while I even have time to sometimes cook supper and start laundry BEFORE we take Jeb to school--so depressing. I hate winter and just about everything that comes with it--including the darkness. Oh the darkness. ..it really cramps our families outdoor style.

Still working on trusting God...saw these quotes recently...

You have trusted Him in a few things, and He has not failed you. Trust Him now for everything, and see if He does not do for you exceeding abundantly above all that you could ever have asked or thought, not according to your power or capacity, but according to His own mighty power, that will work in you all the good pleasure of His most blessed will. You find no difficulty in trusting the Lord with the management of the universe and all the outward creation, and can your case be any more complex or difficult than these, that you need to be anxious or troubled about His management of it?

What is needed for happy effectual service is simply to put your work into the Lord's hand, and leave it there. Do not take it to Him in prayer, saying, "Lord, guide me, Lord, give me wisdom, Lord, arrange for me," and then arise from your knees, and take the burden all back, and try to guide and arrange for yourself. Leave it with the Lord, and remember that what you trust to Him you must not worry over nor feel anxious about. Trust and worry cannot go together.

Party-time! "I'm TWO!"

All day long when I spoke with Cay about his upcoming party, he would reply, "I'm TWO!" It was a great time with family at his party. It was only natural to have a cell phone party b/c he LOVES phones and is always fishing in someone's pocket for a phone to enjoy. He has lots of his own phones but still loves getting everyone's ...he is especially fond of ipods, iphones and Blackberries! He got lots of old phones, old keys, and glasses (HE LOVES gadgets like those!) and was generally thrilled with all the new toys he has to stuff in his "pocks" as he says. He keeps his pockets full of keys, tools, and phones. He also enjoys trucks and Papa D brought a GIANT dump truck over. The kids had a blast watching the dump truck bed lift and honking the horn of the truck. Cay enjoyed his cake and pizza and loving Meggie! He liked the new tunnel we gave him and really had a great time at his party!