Class of 2008

Little Folks School Class of 2008.

The proud sisters.











Mrs. Kathy, She is the BEST!




It was a very blustery day here, like most spring days....

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!