There are no words......

.....to describe the amount of pride I feel when I look at this picture.

Happy Sunday!

Friends and Fun

Last night, we decided to go to homecoming at Eric's high school. Not so much because he is all sentimental and all, but because that is where the Ensfield's were. The Ensfield's are our kids second family. They keep our kids for us whenever we have meetings or nights out, trips to Austin, or 7 day cruises..... Yep, 7 days! We love them a whole bunch.

Sarah E.
me and Nancy E. She is going to help me redo the kitchen. I love her so much!
Ben and Emma E.

Today we took the kids to Putter's Paradise as a reward for finishing their chore charts. This is a new thing, but it seems to be working well for us. After that I worked ALL afternoon on switching out clothes for the winter time. It's really not a fun job to do, but necessary. It really didn't help that I was listening to the Horns get beat on Eric's computer either. I didn't get to see the game because they were showing the Wisconsin/Michigan State game. I was totally bummed out about that. I was really trying to be content though.....really. :)

Watch out for those rocks, Ben!
I thought that this was going to be the hardest hole......
I was wrong.
Family Fun

The Untitled Post...oh, well, I guess it has a title now

I've moved on to a new principle in my daily devotional book. Hang on to your hats, this is a big one! Principle #3 is.......the power of a good attitude.

"Say it isn't so!" Oh but it is, my friend, it is. Why is contentment such a struggle? Hmm?
Do everything without complaining or arguing. - Phil 2:14 Yep, it's right there in the Bible. I guess this means I have some MORE work to do. The christian walk is work....downright hard work too! I got up from this study with a changed attitude. I told myself, "This is it, no more whining!" I was a girl with a new attitude........

Then I opened the back door to let the dog out. Staring me in the face was this. Our pool is supposed to be4 ft deep. We had a leak in the hose and this is what it has looked like for about 6 weeks. I know, it's sad.




"Dear Lord, we have to get that pool cleaned and put away for the winter. That is going to be so much work. I really don't want to do that, Lord. That water is probably really nasty by now. Gross. I wonder how many mosquitoes are going to be homeless after we get that done?" My new attitude lasted all of like two minutes. Good job, Darlene! Way to go!
It's a good thing that we serve a forgiving God, or I would be in a heap of hurt. What's good is that I get to start over with a new attitude again and hopefully it will last longer than two minutes!
The passage for today's lesson is Philippians 4. I've read it and I'm going to read it again because this is an area that I really need to work on....obviously! Contentment, it's tough.

Just a little side note, if you look at the picture of the yard, you will notice a green slide. Yeah, I tripped over that thing, not once but twice, while I was mowing yesterday. It was a "get up and make sure nobody saw that" moment. I have never been accused of being graceful! In my own defense, I was listening to my Ipod, so I was a little distracted!

On a different note, yesterday was my last day to have sweet little Maggie. The weather here has been in the low 70's which is perfect for a walk. I needed to deliver a box to my mom's daycare, so I loaded up the girls and we were off. This house just isn't big enough for the two of them, we needed out! I have figured out that Cassidy just doesn't want to share me with anyone that is not normally here.

Fall..... My Top 20 Reasons Why I Love It!

I think it might finally be here. In honor of this wonderful season, I am listing my favorites things about fall.

1. Football
2. The smell of burning leaves.
3. Gold Canyon Candle Co. scent - Autumn Walk. I've been waiting all summer to break this one out!
4. Cooler temps.
5. Football
6. Sweatshirts
7. Jeans!!
8. This one is kinda weird - running in pants and not shorts.
9. Colorful leaves on the trees
10. Football
11. Hayrides
12. Pumpkins, which leads me to...
13. Pumpkin pie! (with whipped cream, the real kind!)
14. Thanksgiving
15. Candy corn
16. oh, did I mention Football?
17. Turkey, in various forms. ie: sandwiches, salad, roasted, baked, fried
18. Hot Chocolate
19. Encounter Revival Ministries (they alway come in the fall)
20. Last but not least.......FOOTBALL!!!!


What do you love about fall?

Casting All Your Cares on Him

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. - I Peter 5:7

I was going to have a Wordless Wednesday today, but after doing my quiet time, I decided to write a little something about that. Today's lesson was on worry and casting our cares on Him. We all have our own unique list of things that prompt us to worry. Some may be finances (that's a big one), our children's safety, or what others think of us. Some of us may worry about all of these plus some! Sometimes we can feel as if we are drowning in the imaginary oceans we create with our persistent worrying.(The last sentences is right from the book The Power of a Positive Mom.)
I have lead myself to believe that I am not much of a worry wart. After doing today's lesson, I think a little differently. How can you be human and not worry sometimes, especially as a mom? This doesn't make it right or okay. The Bible says in Phil 4:6-7 that we are to "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Faith and worry(or fear) are complete opposites. When we are living in worry and fear, we cannot be living in faith. What this means is that we are basically saying that we don't think that God is going to come through for us, so we are going to concern ourselves with the problem. I would rather have faith than fear. In Hebrews 11:6 it says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God."

I think that I have some work to do in the area of worry. Pleasing God is going to be far more rewarding than fearing what I cannot control.

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
- I John 5:14-15

This & That & 6,400,000 Calories

Last night, after supper, the kids did the dishes.... and I didn't have to redo them! What a blessing this was for me. They were trying to surprise me, but I knew what they were up to. I was so proud of them. I love my kiddos!
Speaking of last night, did anyone watch The Bachelor? He is from Austin. I think I might be hooked this season. I already have my favorites!

I try to do some kind of pre-school with Cassidy every week. Last Friday, we did the number 1. When Eric came home for lunch, we talked about what we did that morning. When Eric asked Cassidy what number we did, she replied with "monkey". Last time I checked, monkey was not a number, therefore I think I have a little more work to do!

Cassidy, coloring the number "monkey"?

One of my best friends, Tasha, and her husband are cruisin' the Carribean this week. I am watching their little girl, Maggie, while they are gone. Well, during the day anyway. She is staying with her grandma for the rest of the time. Anyway, she and Cassidy have kept me hoppin'! What one doesn't think of, the other one will. One word will describe them- Ornery! Take a look below to see what I mean!

Tonight we all went to the school to open up many, many boxes of candy. All three of the kids helped stack the smaller boxes as Eric and I unpacked them. The person that did this before me developed a wonderful system and it really didn't take too long (2 hours), but I have to say that I was sweating before it was all over. Now on Friday I have to deliver all of the smaller boxes to each classroom....that might take some time! They are labeled with each seller and divided into classrooms, so it's all good. I paid the kids with a candy bar....I'm all for cheap labor. :)

Just thought you might want to know what 20,000 candy bars looks like. Did you know that there are approximately 6,400,000 calories in 20,000 candy bars? Yep, it's true. Now don't you feel just a little smarter for knowing that?

All of the boxes that we opened
All of the boxes that still need to be opened!
That's me, sticking labels on all of the boxes. All those years of keeping a sticker album paid off. Who knew?!

Oh man, I'm one of those people

So, I'm driving home from taking Ethan to Children's Choir practice and "Your Name" by PCD comes on the radio. As I start to sing I think back to Friday and ponder the thought of how annoying I must have been to the poor people around me when I sang, like, EVERY song! Poor stranger in my bubble.... No wonder he elbowed me in the head! I am so sad to admit that I am that person that sings along, even when it's not a "sing along" song.
I am so sure that you all feel so blessed to get that little glimpse into my life.



This is going to be one busy week for me. Tomorrow morning at 9, 20,000 candy bars will be delivered to the kids school. So guess what I will be doing for the rest of the week? Putting together 500 cases of 40 candy bars -- Yipee!! Okay, I'm done complaining because after all, I volunteered for this. (I was having a weak moment)



We are excited in this house because Saturday the Texas Longhorns football game is going to be on ABC, which means we can finally watch one of their games and not just their score on the ESPN scroll thingy. Yes I know, great technological termage - is that even a word?
Anyway, much love to my blogging buddies, and remember......

Hook'em Horns!

Phillips, Craig and Dean and the stranger in my "bubble"

me with Randy Phillips

We had such a wonderful time last night at the Phillips, Craig and Dean concert. It was the best concert that I have been to, probably ever. The worship experience was amazing. Not to mention being able to see Randy again. I'm so proud to call him family.

I did have a man sitting next to me that was TOTALLY invading my personal bubble. Eric and I were sitting there and these 3 people squeeeeezed their way into the pew. I just don't enjoy sitting hip to hip with a complete stranger, I just don't. His elbow knocked me in the head at least once. Geesh! (I'm rolling my eyes right here)

That's my shoulder and his shoulder. Now, don't you think he's in my space? Can I get an amen? Only a true blogger would take a picture like this!

I'll just say it was worth it to be able to sing praises to the King of Kings.
I hope that everyone has a blessed Sunday.

Warning - this post contains the word b*tt... twice

There is just nothing going on around here today, which after yesterday it's probably a good thing. I have decided to make this Fun Friday on my blog! I was looking at a magazine that I got in the mail today and couldn't help but laugh at these boxer's. Now, I try to teach my kids not to say "b*tt when talking about that part of their being, therefore I try not to use it, but I am making an exception for today.

Notice the repeating of the word in the next one. I hope that this word doesn't break any family friendly blog rules. I guess it's not really a BAD word, it just doesn't sound very nice.

The last one, I thought, is very fitting to those of us in this blogging world. Even though I don't know some of you personally, I still consider you friends.

Some days are better than others

This was just one of those days. Have you seen Daddy Daycare? Well, unfortunately I had a moment today that closely resembled the scene in that movie where Eddie Murphy opens the bathroom door to , well, nastiness. The little girl that I watch is 100% potty trained - finally. The routine here is that she says "I have to go potty" and then she takes off towards the bathroom. When she is done she will say "Dar-ween, I done". At this point I will go in and help her with the clean up. Today, well I'm not really sure what exactly happened, but let's just say that a bath was involved as well as the scraping of the shoe soles, rubber gloves and the washing machine. It was bad. And all of that was after the dog decided to throw up on the chair...twice. Frankly, I can't tell you which was worse. So in order to brighten my thoughts about this day, I am going to list 5 things that have happened that I am thankful for.

1. I remembered to put the lid on the vanilla, thus saving the mess when the cord of my mixer knocked it over.
2. Suzi's back !!
3. My hubby - he helped me clean up the bathroom mess AND fixed the back door.
4. I've been able to do my quiet time more than twice this week! I am making a valient effort to do this every day.
5. being able to stay home and raise our children.

Kazoo For Sale

I told about a show we went to last weekend in a post a couple days ago. We had a good time, but at the end everyone received a kazoo. Not the kind that wears out either, unfortunately. So we're walking in the parking lot at church last night and what do I hear in my ear? That's right, Eric and his green kazoo. I did manage to swat it just right and it went flying, but even that didn't harm it. I told him I was going to sale it and I think I saw a tear well up. Seriously, he is worse than the kids when it comes to toys! I told him to take it to the PCD concert tomorrow night and maybe they would let him play back-up. He responded with "Okay, I can practice on the way!" Yeah, don't think so. With no kids in the van, I am looking forward to the silence. Besides that, I'm fairly certain that Randy would politely say "No, but Thank You".

So below is the kazoo that's for sale... well, not really, but it might accidentally on purpose get lost or something.

BEWARE!!!

I have had fun with Kylah today. I don't get to watch her much since her mom got a new job that allows her to go with her. She is a good baby. I can safely say that she DOES NOT remember Eric. It is amazing to me that even though she is blind, she still knew every time that he was in the room with her. I kinda felt bad for him because she used to love him as much as she did me. Now she cries when he is even remotely close to her.

She loves to listen to music!

Cassidy was a little jealous. She really didn't like sharing me with Kylah.

Prayer

So, this is the extent of our evening. Ben is reading the library notice from school to me and I am watching Rachel Ray. Oh, never mind, he decided it wasn't as exciting as he thought. You know, things just don't happen much around here.

I guess that I will write about my quiet time. I am doing the devotional book called "The Power of a Positive Mom", and today's lesson was on prayer. I think that I am going to hover on this chapter for this week because it is so full of scripture that don't want to overlook. One of the sections that I got the most out of was the one on praying specifically for your kids. The author lists several items to pray about specifically. Here are a few of them.
Pray that:
1. They will come to know Christ and serve Him (Romans 10:9-11)
2. They will recognize evil and hate it. (Psalms 97:10)
3. They will be kind and forgiving to others. (Eph. 4:32
4. They will have the courage to stand up for what is right. (Joshua 1:7)
5. They will have respect for authority. (Rom.13:1)

6. Pray for their future spouse. (2 Cor. 6:14-17)
7. Pray for a hedge of protection around them. (Hosea 2:6)

Even though we know that the Lord knows our every need (Matt 6:8), we pray because he tells us to bring all our request to him.

If you know me well (Tasha) you know that just about everything I think of or talk about will bring me to a song, which I will usually start to sing... no matter who's around. So here is the song that this lesson brought me to:

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.
What a priviledge to carry, everything to God in prayer.
Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear.
All because we do not carry everthing to God in prayer.

I Think I Have Blogger's Block

I have blogger's block. We just haven't done very many blog-worthy things lately. Our family did go to The Family Arts Festival this weekend. Our town has this event once a year and it is kinda fun. This year we made sand art, decorated banks to put our change in for the United Way, the kids got their faces painted and we saw a show called "Kazoobie". The show was the most fun for the kids and for the adults. There was lots of audience participation and, well, I got to do "The Twist" with lots of other "kool adults" on stage. At the end of the show all of the kids (and adults) got a Kazoo. We're not talkin' any old Kazoo either. These are good ones... and loud....especially when 4 kids (my husband is included) are playing them in the closed up van.
All in all it was a fun day. The temperature was around 67-68---- Yeah Fall!!!

I guess on the funny side of life, Ben got stuck in the trampoline springs(see below). We have always had a cover around the edge, but it started falling apart this summer, so last week I took it off. The kids are still getting used to not having a pad around the edges. We are going to replace it, but we just haven't yet. Ben covered his eyes with his sock in the picture because he was embarrassed and knew that it was going on the blog. That is the new thing around here."Here mom, take a picture of this for the blog." They just don't get how sophisticated this blogging thing is.... yeah right!

P.S. - I'm registered for Siesta Fiesta! Yipee!

Ben was embarrassed about getting stuck.
Chloe, my niece. I just threw this picture in because she's so doggone cute!

Mandisa, purple cabbage & golf?

I finally bought Mandisa's CD today. I LOVE IT!! My Favorite: Only the World. I have a feeling that I am going to know every word to that song by the end of this weekend!

Nothing out of the ordinary is happening around here this week. Next Friday we are going to a PC&D concert so, Yeah to that!! Tomorrow I don't have Cassidy, so I think that I might go and try on jeans. After reading BigMama's fashion post, I decided that I need to find some new ones! In the afternoon I have to go to the kids' school and help with a purple tasting party in Ben's class. Do you know how hard it is to find healthy purple things to eat? Our schools up here started this wellness policy this year so absolutley no sweets for birthdays OR class parties- period. Personally I think it's a little much, but whatever. (Do you sense my attitude about this subject?) Most 5 year olds won't eat purple cabbage....

I watched a DVD last week from my cousin's church about Golf and God. He talked about staying on course and avoiding the traps that this world has to offer. I think he mentioned how, just as in golf, in this life there's always going to be traps that we have to avoid in order to reach our ultimate goal as Christians. And even though the course is long and hard, we must finish it. Not just finish it, but finish it well. There was much more to it and I know that I was VERY challenged by his message. I had to ask myself, "Am I just playing the course, or am I doing my best to finish it the very best that I can?" What's so amazing about this whole thing is that the week before I watched this I had been asking myself, What am I doing to further the kingdom? Will I hear "Well done, good and faithful servant?" This will be a message that I will never forget. The Lord knows what you need to hear and when you need to hear it, for that I am truly thankful.

I've chosen to be tagged by Suzi

Suzi, over at http://fabryfamily.blogspot.com had a post about 8 random facts about her. She tagged anyone that wanted to play and, hey, I love to play! So here are the rules.

1. You have to post these rules first.
2. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog about the 8 facts and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them that they're tagged and to red your blog.

Eight Random Facts About Me:

1. I've always wanted to learn how to fly airplanes, the small ones. My dad was a pilot and loved to take us up in the little four -seater planes. It is one of my favorite memories from my childhood.

2. Before we decided that I could stay home with the kids, I was a teller supervisor at a local bank. I worked at a bank for 7 years. I would like to rejoin the banking world some day...maybe.

3. I like to give. I firmly believe that one of my God- given gifts is that of "giver". I will do just about anything for any one of my friends or family to brighten their day. Going on a missions trip some day is one of my dreams.

4. I love to travel. I have been to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and Liechtenstein. When I was 16 years old, the German Club went on an overseas trip for 16 days. I wanted to go, this is when I first joined the workforce because I had to help pay my way. It was worth every stinkin' french fry and hamburger and happy meal that I served!

5. Eric and I dated for 3 years before we got married. We were only married 6 weeks before I got pregnant. (No, it wasn't planned that way but I wouldn't change it for the world.)

6. I function the best when I am doing several things at once. I am an ultimate multi-tasker and my hands have to be busy doing something pretty much at all times!! This isn't always good because sometimes I stretch myself so thin that you could see right through me!

7. I love, love, love to scrapbook..... but because of #6, I have several half finished books. I do have a couple finished ones, but more that aren't.

8. I love to meet new friends and I love new experiences. Change can be a good thing.

I am only going to tag one person by name, and that is Tasha. Everyone else, if you want to play, consider yourselves tagged!


Love Ya,

I totally stole this from Melody

I found Melody over at kids, cakes, dishes and laundry from The Preacher's Wife blog tonight. I saw that she makes cakes, as do I. This sparked an intrest and I started reading. I didn't get too far before I found this little quiz. It's fun, try it.

You Are Strawberry Cake

Fresh, sassy, and romantic. You're a total flirt, who never would turn down a sugary treat. Occasionally you're a bit moody - but you usually stay sweet!

What Kind of Cake Are You?

Too Cute to Pass Up

This video is just so stinkin' cute that I just had to put it on here. This is the little girl that I watch, singing Happy Birthday to herself. Her birthday was yesterday.

Happy Birthday Cassidy!

Polly Pocket...Educational?

Did you know that Polly Pocket has some very educational toys that instill important values in our little girls? Yeah, me neither, but tis true.
Tis so very true.....behold, the Race to the Mall Racetrack!
Don't ALL little girls need to know how to do that?