The Fabulous Florida Vacation

Ok well these pictures are only a BRIEF glimpse of our trip. We had so much fun. We had a wonderful Mother's Day and Dan had a nice birthday on the drive there. (not exactly my dream b-day but he enjoyed it.) Aunt Patty and Uncle Max had a nice dinner ready for us when we got there and then got us all settled in at the condo. We only got to see Andy for dinner, he left the next morning for his first assignment in the Army at Fort Bliss. So on Sunday he drove right back the way we came from; he made much better time! Then we had a wonderfully relaxing Mother's day. The kiddos had pink eye so we couldn't go to church but we were treated to another delicious meal prepared by Aunt Patty. Everyone should have someone like Aunt Patty in thier lives! She made so much effort to let this be a relaxing time for me. She was so incredibly thoughtful! Aunt Patty and I have a few things in common. We share a birthday, and for Mother's day we picked out the EXACT same card for each other! Too funny! Great minds think alike, right? Anyway, it was a wonderful time and soon I will have the rest of the pictures up. These are only the first couple of days. I forgot to take my camera to the Naval Aviation Museum so I bought one there and those pics will be here soon. Here's the first installment.

Here we are taking a car break at the Mighty Mississippi River.
One of the many sand castles.
This sand castle in particular didn't last long....can you guess who got their hands into it?

The culprit

This is what Judson thought of missing his nap for the sunny, sandy beach.
Here he is moments before he decided he hated the sand. The shell hunters.The girls *LOVED* their cousins. Fred was so great with them. Every time he showed up they brought him books to read. He was so sweet to the girls! See that blue out the window? That's the ocean....It was such a beautiful place. You could see water from almost every window.A very quick lunch at the zoo before the train left. Yummy picnic!

This was one of the coolest things we did...there were many. The Zoo train.

Here are all the women. Aunt Patty is so much fun! She is such a gracious hostess!

I think there were some hippos in that water behind Elise. I was more interested in her.

Madame Butterfly

My Monkey girls

A trip with Daddy to hunt for shells.

We are going on a shell hunt....we are going to find some big ones!

We ended up doing a lot of this....it was much needed.

And you can't forget the bridge! They got a few hands in. It doesn't feel like a visit with the Kattners if the cards don't come out at least once. One of these days I will learn to play. It was so great to see everyone. Chris and Fred came over several afternoons to hang out with us. They are great guys. It was nice to catch up.

There are more pictures to come........

The Preschool Choir Concert

Micah, Trent, Drew, Makenzie, FaithLyn, Elise, Jack

I love this time of year for several reasons. The Choir concerts are one of those reasons. Last night we got to watch FaithLyn and Elise sing in front of all the church goers and family members. They were SOO cute. Now granted I am partial but still, they were pretty stinkin' cute!

The little boy is Elise's best friend Jack. He's pretty sweet.

One more VBS training class under my belt and I am glad to say I used my past experience to ensure a better one this time. I didn't have as much time last night about an hour. That was just enough time to do all the games. It was fast paced and no one had time to get bored. I knew what I was doing (even though I hadn't even glanced at my material since the last class) and I felt much more confident. I have one more conference this weekend. Then it will be time to gear up for our Florida vacation!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!

Summer ALREADY!

I wish you could hear the song he was singing!

How can you not smile when you see those two?
Judson is giving his Dad some pointers.
Sweet girl!
Our mini BBQ during lunch. It 's been really beautiful in the mornings and up in the 90's by afternoon as high as 96 already! I guess we are in for a hot one! Too bad I forgot to take pictures of our first afternoon sprinkler party!
This was a corner in my room from the VBS training conference. My next one is Monday. I have WAY less time to decorate so this may be it....and it's about as creative as I get.

Catch Up

Whoo! Is it Tuesday already? Man have we been busy. Most of last week was spent preparing and decorating for a VBS training class I taught for the association. That happened Saturday. The kids stayed home with one of their favorite babysitters all day.

Wow. Last week was a REALLY long and stressful week for me, and it took only three lines to tell about it. Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

( I am by no means a bad public speaker. I have a certain amount of skill. I know not to chew gum, I know how to gauge my audience, I know not to fill the silence with umms and likes, I know not to dig in my pockets.....I was a speech minor in college. My knowledge of public speaking probably helps me hold hte attention and respect of my audience but it does not help me captivate them. I wasn't as well prepared as I should have been. I got caught up in trying to follow the lesson plan instead of just going with the flow. I have never been very good at detatching myself from THE PLAN. Oh well, I did portray my passion and my excitement. There are just some things we are supposed to be good at because we used to be good at them. I put a lot of pressure on myself to live up to who I was. The truth is, I would make a WAY better teacher now than I would have right after college. I am MUCH more compassionate and that ain't saying much! But it is so hard to let myself change or to see who I was melt into and be enhanced by who I am now. Anyone know where I am coming from? )




Yesterday we spent most of the day back at church. Monday mornings are my Ladies Bible Study days and then last night we had Outreach/visitation.

Today, FaithLyn and I went to the elementary school for her Kindergarten screening. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't want to be "that" mom. You know, the one crying and blubbering and taking pictures of every move your kid makes. I wish I had a picture now, even though we will have other firsts there soon. I didn't get teary-eyed but I know that day is coming too.

My laundry is piled high all over the house, everyone is scrounging for clean underwear and I'm trying real hard to care enough to do some laundry.

I have two more VBS training conferences. Then we have a week of vacation! SO if you don't hear from me I am knee deep in something.......could be VBS.........could be laundry.........could be the guilt of all the things going undone around here.........could be anything!

New Look Here at Hidden in our Hearts!

Thanks to EidsonCrew for the great link to some really cute templates! These are SUPER easy to upload and you don't lose any of your widgets! That's exactly what I needed. And I have been looking and looking for some fresh new template to add to our home here. Hope you like it. If it's hard to read or you have any suggestions let me know!

Practically Perfect in Every Way Weekend

The Stuff of Every Day

I always find it hard to fight off the sludge after effects of a productive week. No matter what the productivity is there is some other area of life that is pushed aside for the sake of progress. And once again I find myself struggling to wade my way through the stuff of everyday.

And slowly but surely we are making progress. We all have clean underwear for the next day, as long as you don't mind digging through all the other clean clothes on the couch. So much for my neat new laundry room!

We all have clean sheets on our beds....ummm, well what they don't know won't hurt them, right?

We are having dinner tonight....chicken parmesan and for a special treat we might even taste the batch of cinnamon rolls rising on the stove.

Then we all sit and watch "the singing show" and try to make some progress on Mt. Clean Laundry.

Most of the floors got clean today. I even worked on those week old orange mystery baby food spit up stains in the carpet.

The bathrooms will have to wait for another day.

It's time to enjoy my family. Why do all the every day stuff if I miss the point? The point and what all that everyday stuff is all about is enjoying the blessings that mean the most to me. I have 5 of them. 4 little ones and one big one that helped me dream up the other 4.

I felt the discontentment rising up in my today and God was so gracious to remind me of all my abundant blessings! I have only to look around and see how good my Creator and Provider has been to me. I was too focused on the details to see the Hugeness of His Goodness.

A Little Corner or Order

I worked on these yesterday. And at least now I have all my information organized so it is no longer just floating around in my head.
Here's the newly decorated Laundry room. Well, I really only put up a few decorations and got a laundry organizer. But I haven't had mountains of laundry since I did it and I don't mind keeping the launry door open any more.
There's still more I would like to do but for now it sure does feel nice.

Next I want to install a shelf over the sink between the wall and the cabinets. Then I have to figure out an ironing station. Any ideas are welcome!

An Organized Mind

I want one.

Instead I have about 5 major projects floating around in my head in various stages of beginning. And these projects are all "other" projects. Meaning they are not things that have anything to do with being a Mom. Though I find it refreshing to need to use my professional mind once in a while, I am remembering that practice only "once in a while" does not make perfect. It always takes me a lot longer to get going when I only do things once in a while.

But once in a while is all I am willing to commit to right now, I have more pressing matters to take care of at home on a regular basis.

I am also remembering that I do not like to be in charge. I like responsibility, I like control, but ultimate control and responsibility; pass, none for me, thank you very much! (perhaps what I mean is I do not like to be in ultimate control when OTHERS are involved because my chances for successful ultimate control are put in jeopardy by those that I am in charge of. I guess it boils down to failure and my fear of it.)

SO instead of getting my mind organized or climbing the dish mountain growing from my sink I am sitting here at my computer penning something about my situation that will not really help my situation. Maybe this can be the first step to getting my mind organized. But right now I have so many thoughts, ideas, lists of 'to dos' floating around in my head that they keep randomly bumping into each other causing confusion. This morning when I went to pick up FL from Preschool I looked in the mirror on the way out and my cheeks were actually flushed from all the project thought.

I have got to get it together. Now don't you turn away and "tsk, tsk" me for being so involved or for complaining about it. I really am not trying to complain. I just need a little time to give all the brain matter a chance to settle a bit so I can put it all in order. Some of my projects won't be getting under way for a few more months some need immediate attention and others just need to be put on the calendar. But it usually works that they all get stirred up in my mind at the same time.

Ok, I took just a moment to write down all the projects. There that feels better. Now I need to go get my calendar and get them all penciled in. Now then. My head is not so fluttery. I think I can move on with my day. Thanks. Sometimes I just need someone to talk things out with and well, the 2 yr. old won't sit still long enough and the 4 and 5 yr. olds, they just don't care much. They would rather I read them a book.

If you will excuse me, I have some work to do!

An Organized Heart

My heart often flip flops between desiring order and chaos. The chaotic times send my heart trembling back, head hanging low, crying out in desperation for order. Then when a livable amount of order is established that same heart recklessly and with full abandon runs screaming wildly into chaos.

Right now, I just want some regularity. My baby is almost 8 months. This is usually when it starts to set in........THE CHANGE. I can feel the tremors and desperation setting in. It's probably because I have just been surviving for so long and now mere survival is no longer enough. We need to thrive. And I can not thrive in chaos, why should I expect my children to?

It has taken me a LONG time to admit that I am not a spontaneous free-spirit. I never really thought I was but having to admit that I am power-driven and control-hungry......well that just isn't as flattering, now is it? Thankfully, having an organized home and heart doesn't have to be about power or control. That's probably why it's so hard for me to accomplish.

There are so many things that I want to do and be as a Wife and Mom. If I just float through each day reacting to the immediate then all of those ideals that I have for my family wash away with the laundry and dishes. I am no longer satisfied with just making it through the day. Yet there are days that I must be satisfied with survival. What I have learned is that I will never accomplish anything with out a plan.

If being a wife and mother and keeper of the home is my job; I need to take it seriously. For me that means making a plan and making plans starts with making goals. Once the goals are established then I form my plan of action and that plan of action usually ends up being a schedule. I always tell myself I hate schedules. I don't like to feel tied down. But really I am just scared of failure. What if I can't do it. What if I realize how poorly I am equipped to do this thing that will shape four little people into who they will be.......Or what if I get tied to the schedule and forget about the people it is supposed to benefit?
I am breaking out in a cold sweat just thinking of it. But then from deep within a warm comforting peace starts to calm me from the inside out. It's not my job to ensure success in my children. It is not my job to be a successful Mom. Don't get me wrong I want to be a great Mom, and I want to produce God-followers, but the results of motherhood can't be measured in success and failure.

Happy Easter!

Trip to Nana & Papa's

A little birthday cookie cake
Papa was initiating Judson into his club, the HeMan Woman Haters

Fortunately, it didn't stick.......yet.

Everyone got to do things that Mommy wouldn't normally allow!

Well, As you can see we had a great time with Nana and Papa. Everyone learned lots of useful things from Papa. Judson got some really good Manly time with his Papa. They were laughing and talking the whole time. Every time Papa would come in the house from working or outside Judson would look for him and talk/scream to get his Papa's attention. By the end of our time together they had each other pretty well trained.

We are sure glad to have Daddy home safe and sound. There was only one trip to the ER and it had nothing to do with Skiing, only a few stitches required and all is well. It was a successful trip and I think Dan is grateful it is OVER! I have a feeling there will not be another ski trip planned for a few years.

Hope you all are enjoying your last days of Spring Break. Happy Good Friday that leads to the most important holiday of all......Easter! Many Blessings as you reflect on the goodness of our God who gave so much to reconcile us all to himself!

SPRING BREAK 2008!

Dan is off to Colorado to ski with the Youth Group and we are off to the Panhandle to see Nana and Papa!!

Enjoy your week if you get one!

Are YOU Springing Forward?

I didn't spring. I flopped and stumbled and am still yawning my way through the first week of this dreaded time change! The kids are tired and irritable, I am tired and irritable. Remind me again why we do this? Is it for economic reasons? IS THERE A REASON?! There sure better be a good one!

Good, now I've got that off my chest.......

Hope you all are adjusting well!

Just some Pictures

Our Livingroom campout

Bath time!
Sweet 4 yr old Haircut

I Had Forgotten What a Clean Bathroom Felt Like

That is of course until yesterday. I finally did it. I CLEANED MY BATHROOM! I won't divulge how long it's been since this happened last because well, let's face it, it's just too embarassing! This morning I awoke to a tidy home and it seemed like the sun was shining brighter!

The whole day progressed like a dream. I was even able to keep the momentum going and got all the floors cleaned as well. This is the first time since we moved into this house 11 months ago that my WHOLE house is clean without company coming!

Now I know that most of you moms out there already know this because you keep your house clean, but humor me anyway, ok? The attitude of the whole family is more stable when my home is clean and in order. It is like a machine. When well oiled and cared for it works well. When the house is in disrepair, the family soon follows suit. I know that children crave routine. Once they get a taste of it they are hooked! Perhaps it is the control they feel that lends a comfort to them. They may not be IN control but knowing what's going to happen next gives them a sense of control or at least expectation and awareness.

As for myself, I can think again. I can think about things I have committed to do with out an overwhelming sense of dread. I am no longer stuck underneath a mountain of filth that I am responsible for cleaning. It is always so hard for me to dig myself out when I let things pile up. I spend days, weeks, and sometimes months dreading the huge task, all the while watching it morph in size by the minute!

When I finally do gain the courage to battle the monster I have created I am always encouraged by how much more quickly it is usually resolved than I anticipated. Then I am free to look back and figure out how to keep myself from doing the same thing again. At the moment I am trying to figure out how to organize and mainstream my laundry room and ironing. Well, let's face it I don't iron. But I would like to take on this chore and defeat it! Unfortunately I usually like the planning and organizing much more than the follow through. For now we are just going to focus on the positives!

I have book checked out from the church library called Frugal Luxuries : Simple Pleasures to Enhance Your Life and Comfort Your Soul by Tracey McBride.
I got sucked in by the chapter on laundry. So now I am wracking my brain to come up with some solutions to get my laundry room organized. Right now we have laundry baskets in each room. So the clothes stay hidden from view and I have to sort and transport them to the laundry room. I need a sorting system IN the laundry room. I want to just go buy one but that wouldn't take any creativity now would it? Any ideas for something that would not be an eye sore?

Just in Case you were Wondering.....

Olivia is in BIG GIRL training. Yup, that's right, IT IS POTTY TRAINING TIME around here. So if you were wondering where I have been, well, back and forth between the potty and the washing machine!

Today she went potty at church! Woohoo! That is the first time she went potty somewhere other than home. That's big stuff to us potty trainers! She is getting the hang of it, slowly but surely.

New Accomplishments: The StudMan

Ok, so some of you might not agree that this counts as actual sitting up on his own but it's good enough for me!! He can sit for about 30 seconds before tumping over. He gets pretty excited to do such a big boy thing. He is starting to try and get those knees underneath him too. Right now he can wiggle himself around pretty good.

We are still just so thankful that he is off that medicine. It seems to have been really stunting his development. He is doing great now and is SOOO much more fun to be around!

Be My Valentine

So I am a little behind in posting this but life doesn't stop for the blog, now does it?

Here is FaithLyn and her friend Layni at the preschool party

Here she is with her booty. They really do it up for these parties!
This was a great Valentine's Day! Dan and I made the girls some coupons. We had to get creative this year and I think it may become a tradition. I found some coupon templates on the Family Fun website and then filled them in. Each girl got an Ice cream date, Donut Date with Dad, and Movie Night with Mom. Then they all got one for us all to enjoy together; A real treasure, Treasure Hunt; Afternoon at the Park of your Choice; and Living Room Camp Out
We have one donut date to go and tonight Olivia and I will have our movie night after all the other kids go to bed. It has been lots of fun.

We also spent V-day morning making cards for Daddy and a cookie cake. Then Dan and I took advantage of the parent's night out at church and caught a movie. It was a great day! We really enjoyed all of the activities.


You are probably wondering about the following picture. Well, We are SOO proud of FaithLyn. During our family worship we have been working on memorizing the books of the New Testament. She got them all with out help on Tuesday. We rewarded her with a new game! I wish I had it on video but our camcorder is on the blink. Anyway, the joy in her face at accomplishing the goal set before her was priceless! We played a quick game yesterday before church.

We are so proud of her! Elise is almost there! She is working hard at getting all of those books down all by herself! Next we are moving on to the Ten Commandments. I want them to know the basis for where so much of our discipline standards are created.

A Birthday Party!

The Guests: Aunt Angie and Cousin Luke (Papa got sick so Nana and Papa couldn't come)

The birthday girl

The gifts

The yummy cake

The Excitement!

The aftermath!

Happy Birthday, Elise!

I can't believe she's FOUR years old!

Our Trip

Well, I don't have nearly as many good pictures as I would have liked. I believe my illness had a serious affect on my ability to take good pictures. The girls had so much fun meeting some of their cousins. They hit it off pretty well! FaithLyn and Rachel Elizabeth were like two peas in a pod. Here James is showing my girls what it is like to live in the desert. It was so sad to leave our new found friends.
Everyone chipped in to have a special birthday party for all the Feb. birthdays. Uncle Chuck, Aunt Ellen, and Elise. It was so sweet for Elise.
She got to open a few early birthday gifts.
James and Shelley even brought a pinata! It was so much fun!
The bridge lovers even got in some good card time!

I wish I had a good picture of everyone. Alas...I only have the memories. It was so wonderful to be surrounded by family that is like minded and Christ-centered. Everyone was so thoughtful and loving. There are so many people that I didn't get pictures of! Rats!

My God Is So Big, So Strong and So Mighty

We made it back safely from New Braunfels. It was a wonderful time of remembering and celebrating Grandpa Ramsey. I will have a proper update full of pictures and fun stories as soon as I get them on the computer.



Today I just wanted to share a few of the ways that God has been meeting our needs.

Can I just say that if you doubt that God cares for the details in your life, then keep reading!! I have LOTS of proof that that is just not true!

Elise is having a birthday on Saturday. Dan and I have been talking about what to get her. Today was the day for me to go shopping with out her so I loaded up StudMan and we were off. I had a few ideas; a doll house, a baby doll, anything imagination play.... I also had a $ amount. I knew it was unlikely that I would find a doll house for the given amount. But I went and looked anyway. I couldn't find anything remotely close to anything we thought she might like. I was sad, discouraged, and running out of time. I didn't have time to run all over town and shop at thrift stores. My time is WAY more precious than money right now. Dan and I were on the phone brainstorming ideas and I looked down some random row and saw clearance items. I turned in and to my delight was THE doll house. It was marked down $25. To the EXACT price we had agreed to spend. Now tell me God doesn't care about the details!!! It was the only doll house and the only thing at the right price. My God is SOOO GOOD!

We also recently got our cash reward on our credit card. It paid for all of the gas for our recent trip to see family. We even have a few dollars left over. My God knew whe hadn't budgetted for that extra expence, but he got us there!

We have also received several money gifts over the past few days. We will be able to go out for Valentine's Day!

The biggest surprise came tonight at church. We are having our winter bible study. It's kind of like a revival with meals and a speaker afterwards but a lot less hellfire and brimstone. We are studying Romans. Anyway, I was digging in my purse for a pen and I come across some trash. I pull out a piece of notebook paper folded up. Then I see my name. I open it up to see what it is because I don't remember having a note in my purse. Before I can read the note I see the wad of bills that the note was cloaking! The note was, of course, anonymous. But this was the good anonymous; the get your reward in heaven anonymous. Not the this is what I really think of you but don't have the guts to put my name on it anonymous.

I can 't say it enough. My God is SO GOOD. He can meet our needs. He always has. It is hard to have faith when you can't see how things will work out. But it wouldn't be faith any other way! Believe me, this is one area that God doesn't mind us testing him in! I dare you to trust him to meet your needs. Go to him for everything. Even the things that you think won't matter. He listens and He cares! He is ever so faithful!

Sick again

*UPDATE:
Dan went to the doctor today and got some meds. He has bronchitis. He's feeling lots better today but not well enough to go to work. Dan NEVER misses work so that should tell you how bad he feels! But he is on the mend. Elise is running a low grade fever but she's eating again! That's a plus. FaithLyn is doing great! Looks like we will be making our trip to New Braunfels after all. That is, unless I come down with something in the next 24 hours. Thanks for your prayers!



Half of the clan is down for the count. Dan is really sick. High fever, chills, body aches and a deep cough. He doesn't even have the energy to get out of bed. Elise has a stomach bug and FaithLyn has a mysterious fever. Olivia had the fever last week and Judson has been a little fussy, too.

Dan 's Grandpa passed away and the funeral is this Friday. If you feel so inclined please lift up a prayer that we will all be well and able to attend.

Walking to the Mailbox

I love the immediacy of email. I can email my sister several times a day and feel like she is involved in my everyday. That's great! But there is just something magical about receiving snail mail. I can hold it and see the thought that was put in to it. I can keep it or throw it away. I can get my window shopping fix by just looking through the many sale flyers that come my way.

One of my favorite times of the day is when I hear the mail truck pull up to our house and my heart starts to do a little dance. I start to wonder, "Will there be bills today? What about a magazine? I wonder if it will just be junk?" I usually try not to hope for personal mail. It just doesn't come that often. But when I get out to the mailbox and open that little black door I am, for a moment, a child again.

Then there are the days that I hear the mail truck pull up and stop the motor. That is even more exciting! That means we have a package that is too big to fit in the mail box! He walks it up to the door and knocks. I usually make myself wait at least until he is back in his mail truck before I run out and grab it.

Yesterday's trip to the mailbox didn't disappoint! I wasn't expecting anything. No bills, no magazines, I wasn't sure there would be anything. But the moment I opened that cold metal door my heart skipped a beat. Not one but TWO cards! It's not Elise's birthday for at least two more weeks so who could these be for? One was addressed to me from a new friend here in town and one was to our family from someone special. Two personal cards sent with thought and love. I practically floated the rest of the day!

Dan dropped by in the middle of the afternoon which hardly ever happens and those two encouraging notes turned his whole afternoon around!

Something that seems so simple made a huge impact on our family. It made me even more determined not to lose the art of letter writing. It's such a small thing, but there is just something about the hand written word that speaks so much louder than the keyboard.

I hope you can enjoy your mail collecting today!