I'll just let you know...

I am boring.
I have nothing exciting to share. And heaven forbid I actually take a picture with my camera. So I don't even having anything to show you!
I have been working hard to get my 16 observation hours done. Should finish up tomorrow.
British Lit is a butt kicker. I read Frankenstein this weekend. Took my test. I have to write 1600 a week on a discussion board. And have a 1000 word paper over a poem due on Friday. Have I started that yet. Oh no!
Leland and Jordan left for church camp this week. They come home Wednesday. Thursday we leave for Fuller Family Fun. I'm not feeling very fun this year. I'm not sure I'm going. I know there's always got to be a pooper in the party. I'm not really a camping lake girl. So the thought of heading the the lake to camp for 4 days is not really something I'm looking forward to. We'll see how much of that paper I get done.
Well I have some poems calling my name. Who knew British lit meant hours of reading poetry. Didn't anyone write books back then?
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that I'm gonna take a picture tomorrow and actually post it! Don't everyone get too excited about this now:)

Where have I been? Because I guess I really like that title:)

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Here's some places I have visited. Not recently unfortunately. I wish I could load the family up in a camper and just spend the summer driving from place to place. No plan... just drive... stop and check out the sights.. and drive some more. Wouldn't that be fun? Well that's not whats happening here!
Last week Makayla was at camp and Hannah and Jordan had me running then to different day camps.
This week Hannah was at camp and I started school. Jordan went to VBS every morning. So it was another week of running. $4 a gallon gas is killing me! If I could ever get some time I plan on checking into a different car. But I can't get mine parked long enough to figure out what I want.
It has rained buckets lately. It's been kind of weird. I'm trying to enjoy it because when its the middle of August I'll be gripping about not having any rain!
I did some observing in a classroom today. It makes me excited to someday have my own room. It's almost like a tease though. Here let me dangle this in front of your face for a semester... then*rip* it's gone and I still have 3 more semester to go. But I'm enjoying it while I can!
Ok that's what up here.... British lit... running kids... buying gas... fixing dinner... cleaning house... doing homework.... setting at ball games.... watching some volleyball.... you know just life.

Where have you been??????

Oh I mean where have I been. Well we finished up the school year. And remember the flooded basement? Well it's now painted and looks something like this now. This picture is to shame my parents into cleaning up the last of the mess:)
The movie room.... we have already broken this in. There is a screen that comes down and a projector on the ceiling. It is fun to watch the movies on the "big screen".

And we moved the craft room downstairs. And dad's office is now upstairs.
So maybe it doesn't look like much.... but it was a lot of moving around. I painted a basements, an office, and the living room. I'll take pictures of the living room when we get it done. There are some TALL ceilings in that room!

Hannah is now in 7th grade. Can you believe it? I can't were does time go?
Jordan is now a 5th grader. Here he is with his 2 teachers. One taught the morning and one taught the afternoon. It was a great set-up for both teachers. They both got to stay home half the day with their babies.

And then there is my Sophomore. Oh how this breaks my heart and is totally exciting at the same time!

Jordan was pitcher for an inning last night. He had 2 strike outs and and got a runner out at home. Makes my heart happy to see him playing this game. You know I'm a sucker for a kid in a baseball uniform. He also hit his first home run last night. I guess having a baseball game or practice every night will make you a better player. Makayla is a church camp this week. I'm hoping that she will come home ready to make a commitment for God. This has been a prayer for so many years.

Hannah has volleyball camp this week. And Jordan has baseball camp. So I have spent my afternoons in the car. I stopped by the library and picked up a good book to read while I'm waiting.

I start school on Monday:( I did not have a long enough break!!!!! Oh well... I'll be that much closer right?

Later!

Just a little Jordan love.....

This post is an ode to Jordan. Jordan had several games this weekend and Cougar Olympics at school on Friday. So I loaded up on pictures of Jordan. Of course Makayla nabbed my camera a couple of times. I can not believe the pictures she takes. I'm not sure what is so fascinating about tongues to her. I added a picture of the girls too. They were scaring me this weekend. They actually got along. It was really throwing me off. It was nice but it made me wonder what they were up to.

Tell me this is not a cute kid. Man he makes me smile:)
They make me smile too. Especially when I'm not wondering what they are up to!

When it rains is pours...

or on the brighter side...

the sun will come out tomorrow:) Well it has rained and rained for days...there have even been a couple of tornadoes. So maybe a little flooding was inevitable. But after living in a house for 11 years years and never having the basement flood you would think that is something you could count on right? No, Thursday morning mom woke up to a flooded basement. Not just a little water either. We are talking gallons and gallons and gallons and gallons and gallons.. well you get the idea. So we spent Thursday and Friday cleaning that up. This will be a work in progress. I will never again tell my mom the day before a huge rain storm that I would have time pretty some to paint the basement. I was not picturing emptying the stupid thing first.

After all that fun I had finals to study for. I turned this huge stack of books back in today:) One more final tomorrow at 9am and then this semester will be over! Remember to listen for the scream!

Everyone is still trying to wrap our minds around the changes in our lives. I am looking forward to some time to really sort things out without deadlines hanging over my head. I'm sure I'll get some thinking done while I'm painting that basement this week.

Well off to baseball practice. Somethings in life have not changed. Thanks goodness! ps the sun is really pretty today!

Change...

Oh how I struggle against change. I'm not really sure there are many people who like things to change. Sure I like painting rooms, moving things around, buying new furniture. But I can hardly bear the thought of selling this little house that we out grew 5 years ago.
So when I woke up this morning and got ready for church I never expected life to change. But isn't that how life works. It is just full of surprises.
Mom asked me today if I wanted to know the future. I told her no I liked the feeling of being hit by a Mack truck on a regular basis. Makes me feel alive.
I'm not sure what God has in store. I'm not sure where He wants us. I'm not sure I'm ready to be a grown up.
As of June 8th my dad is without a job and we are without a church. My dad says we will keep moving forward. And I have no doubt we will. We don't know how to do anything else.
I have never gone to church without my parents. Sure we have visited churches before. But my dad has been my minister since I was 10. And maybe he will be again. I just don't have a clue what God has in store for him. I have been so surprised by the last couple of year I would not even begin to pretend that I can figure out what His plan is.
So we will move forward....I'm not sure where we are going or what we will find there but we will keep moving forward.

Where the heck have I been?

Jumping through hoops!
Here's the list of projects that I have been working on this week:
A music program for my music class. Actions, speaking part, the whole bit. Plus a test!
A movement box for PE- making up games... blah, blah, blah, blah, blah
Children's lit: I had 6 books to read and write papers on. DONE!!!!! That makes a total of 45 books for the semester. And a performance for child lit. Ok I won't lie (there's Makayla's line again) I'm not done with this yet. But I'm REALLY close:)
Teach a physics lesson- again I won't lie. My group did a really good job... like 99% good job:)
A poster and activities for 8 young authors for the Young Author Conference. Which is where I'll be spending my day tomorrow:(
This was on top of the normal work. So when I typed it out it really didn't seem like that much. But as I've been working on it... well it seemed like I would never get done.
So I have one more physics test, turn all these projects in, and then finals.
On Tues the 13th at about 10am listen close because you will hear me screaming for joy! I made it... they didn't kill me!!!!!
Ok I know I'm posting with no pictures again. And really that is the biggest reason I haven't posted in a while. I'm a slacker and I haven't even had my camera out. But there is this really cute 10 year old boy who lives at my house and he plays baseball now. Like everyday apparently. So I'll be sure to get some picture of this cute kid this weekend.
Later!

Just how big is God?

Just wondering...
Is God bigger than a stressed out mom?
Is he bigger than a messy house?
Is he bigger than a 12 year old who is addicted to her cell phone?
Is he bigger that a teenage crush?
Is he bigger than $30,000?
Is he bigger than 2 people who can't communicate?
Is he bigger than a building that need to sell?
Is he bigger than hurt feelings?
Is he bigger than the feeling of being overwhelmed?
Is he bigger than a car that needs repairs?
Is he bigger than bad choices we make in our lives?
Is he bigger than children who refuse to turn their lives over to Him?
Just how big is He?
I sure He is bigger than all these things and more...
Now the question is...
How do you be patient and wait for the creator of the universe, the judge of good and evil, the Savior of my soul to work it all out?.............................
Just a little something to think about....

I'm not gonna lie...

Makayla likes to say that right before she spews forth some great little morsel of truth. So here I go... I'm not gonna lie... life is messy. There I said it. Lie is just messed up some times. I could go into detail and tell you all the things that aren't fun right now but I have about 3 readers right now and I don't want you to stop reading. So I'm sure I'll be calling you to crying later this week. I will whine a little about having another sinus infection. I have been miserable. I wish I could get on here and sing "Oh what a beautiful morning. Oh what a beautiful day. I've got a beautiful feeling everythings going me way." But like I said... I'm not gonna lie.
We once had a potter come to church. While he was throwing the clay he was talking to us. He talked about the clay resisting the potters hand. When the clay was resisting, the potter would have to work the clay some more. He would throw the clay and smack it until the clay was moldable. I'm not gonna lie... I am stubborn. I've got to figure out a way to be more moldable. So the potter can stop smacking me around:)
Jordan is looking very handsome this morning don't you think? He got an over due hair cut last night! He is such a boy. He didn't see anything wrong with this hairdo. Makayla and I spent the weekend doing this. This was her last tournament for the season. She has a month off and then we are back at it. I'm not sure I'm going to make it for 3 more years of high school. We had a good time this weekend. It was good to get away. Anyone up for running away with me? I'm thinking a beach, a couple of good books, and a cabana boy who keeps the diet Pepsi coming! Anyone ready to go?

Hey important stuff here!!!!!!

This is how much laundry a family of 5 produces in 2 days. Tuesday nigh I had all the laundry caught up. This morning I found all this ready to be done again.....
Ok here is some more important stuff... I came to realization that i change A LOT of toilet paper rolls. So on Monday I decided to save the empty one's just so I could see how many there were. Well in 4 days... 8 rolls. Just so you folks know it does take a special skill that I seem to be the only one in may house who can perform. My favorite one this week was when someone actually took the old roller off and threw it in the trash. Holy cow... my heart be still. I about fell over. But here is my favorite part.... they put the roller holder back on and set the new roll on the floor. hahahaha Hummm "I figured out how to get that hateful thing off but man it's just too hard for me to figure out how to get the next one on." HAAAA! It at least made me laugh!

I just thought this was so cute. I told you Jordan is totally into Legos right now and when they are Star Wars it's even better. He made all the sets he got for his birthday and they were all lined up in his room. It just made me all warm and fuzzy inside. Then he came home with ruined tennis shoes because he played in the creek in his good school shoes... and the warm fuzzy feeling was all gone.

Later... I'm off the learn some physics and get real smart.......

It's getting deep arund here... BEWARE!

I was just setting here thinking about how much I like to learn. I really enjoy learning new things. I like reading books about cultures that I've never experienced. I like trying new crafts. I like getting up everyday, going to school, and learning something new (I don't like homework- never have). I don't ever want to stop learning.
There are so many thing I want to learn:
how to cook- not just casseroles
how to speak Spanish
how to take better pictures
how to sew
how to use photoshop
how to control my temper
how to get along with people
how to shut my mouth
how to ride a horse
how to fly a plane (I know I'm afraid of heights but you are enclosed in a plane)
how to make a quiche- I love these things
how to line dance
how to pray like a prayer warrior

Well I have a lot to do.... see you later:)
And a picture from our spring break trip to Devil's Den... just because a post without a picture is boring.

Bad blogger bad bad blogger....

I really don't have that much to say. It feels like its the same day everyday.
school...
homework...
laundry...
practice...
cooking...
cleaning...
driving...
you all know what I'm talking about. I've been having that crazy spring itch I get. I get this feeling that starts in my toes. It wiggles its self through me until I feel like it's going to come out my fingertips or the top of my head. I need a change. I need some new scenery. I never scratch the itch. I just seem to keep myself busy with other things. But someday.... I'm going to scratch that itch. Someday when I don't have 3 kids still at home I'm gonna do something crazy... It's only 8 more years... maybe... they may never leave!
Well I just have some very random pictures.
This just proves that Makayla has some weird fascination with the sky like her mother does. It really is beautiful don't you think. We spend a lot of time hanging our heads out the car window starring at the sky. Kinda weird but it makes us happy:) This worries me. When my camera is returned I never know what will be on it. He does make her happy. But he makes me worry!

Jordan is a Lego kid. He can spend hours putting those little pieces together. And if they are Star Wars that's even better!

I was walking through my living room tonight and I just thought... hummm I really like my fireplace right now. I am not good with details. So for me to put this together is pretty amazing. I dug that window out of the trash. I think there were about 10 of them. I saw some more the other day... but Leland doesn't like the idea of me collecting anymore old doors and window. But someday I'm gonna have a bigger house and those doors and windows will be everywhere. I do have a couple of ideas that I may try here... if I can talk someone into helping me hang them..

Hello friends....

I haven't been up to anything exciting... homework... laundry... Hannah's last volleyball game... the usual stuff.... Until yesterday... and my baby turned 10. Everyone in my house is now in the double digits. I'm just not sure how I feel about that! He had a great day! We had birthday dinner and opened presents. Then he went to work playing with his new toys. Well... I'll check in later. Bye

It was a long weekend!

Day 4 and 5 of spring break was spent camping. We had a good time. The weather was perfect during the day. It was a little chilly at night. But you just snuggle up a little closer. We went to Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas. I would love to see those "hills" as Leland would call them, covered with green leaves. We hiked both days. The first day we went 3 miles and about 450 feet up.

The view was beautiful. Although I only saw it from a standing position. I had no desire to hang my head off the side. That was just nuts. I had to just stop watching them at this point. I don't want them to have the same fears in life that I have. They don't seem to have any fears.

The kids got cleaned up and looked so pretty for church. I gave my computer a virus this weekend too. I think it's all cleaned up now. And we are back to the grind of school and work this week. It's time to run and get the kids from school. Later!

Disclaimer...

I meant to mention before... if you ever think to yourself... hummm I feel like I've seen a page like that before somewhere. Well... you probably have. I see pages I like and then I copy them. Sometimes it's pretty much a direct copy... sometimes I change it around. It really depends on how creative I am that day. Well lately I haven't been too creative. The only problem with coping the pages is that I have no idea where I got the page from. I just right click and save the pages to my idea folder. So I have no way to say hey... I got this idea from so and so. So... if I got an idea from you and I didn't say so... well here is your thanks. Thanks for the ideas. I hope by posting them here someone (that would be the 5 people I know who read this thing and someone in Nixa who I don't know- btw way who are you in Nixa anyway?) will think hey I like that idea and they can steal it from me. Then the world will continue to keep spinning and there will be no more talk of global warming (I have no idea where the last part came from it's 1:30am and I'm having trouble with the sleeping thing again- see what happens when you mess with my schedule!). There's some double punctuation for you Christina and Chrissy. I'm sure that the English teacher in you has a hard time reading this stuff....
Later I've got to get some sleep so I can get up a pack to go camping tomorrow:)

Day 3... mood is not so great...

I don't want to scare anyone who has scrapbooked with me before but.... if you will notice I have been STAMPING on my pages. Can you believe it? The first page actually took me about 2 hours. I even STITCHED on that thing. Shocking!!! Now I hope you are setting down because I even used.... Glossy Accents. I am telling you people I have been breaking out the old school supplies.

Well the plan is to go camping tomorrow. I had these big dreams of getting the kids away... no phones.... no T.V.s... playing some games... do some hiking... but that was before I spent the past 3 days with my family. It's not sounding near as fun as it did when we were so busy we never saw each other. So I'm now doubting the idea of taking 3 kids on top of a mountain and camping for 2 nights. I might be tempted to throw one of them off the side. I might send their father with one of them.

Its the time of year that the season is changing. I have no idea why I am so affected by the change. I'm like a baby... don't mess with my schedule. I am going through the what-can-I-do-to-change-my-life mood. I am dangerously close to talking myself into selling my house and moving into a travel trailer. It would just be for a year or so until I graduate. I am tired of trying to keep up with the house. And wouldn't it be nice to decide that you want to go on a short trip so you just hook it up and off you go. No packing, you just take your whole house with you. So right now it's just an idea but it is dangerously close to forming a plan in my head. I'm just not sure if I pull it into my parent driveway where would I find the closes dumping station. Once I work out this small detail I may just put the sign in the yard. Anyone have a better idea?

Spring break day 2

Day 2: I did get some homework done and when I get done with this I hope to finish up. I had promised Makayla I would take her to the mall. She had $120 to spend. Where do these kids get there money anyway? I may have to take a loan. I hate to shop. There is nothing I like about it. I would guess it is a direct correlation to not having any spare money. Then it was a trip to the orthodontist. She is pretty happy about the new timeline. 6 months at the most. He dad got a little nervous. He thought he had until November to get them paid off. Back to that money thing.
Made some dinner. And scrapbooked one page. When it is dry I'll take a picture. It was one of those rare 2 hour layouts. I generally don't take that much time on one page. I just don't have the patience for it. I have been using scraps and stamps and paint, and stitching... all things I never took the time to do before. I went through all the stamps and pulled out those I thought I should be using and put them on the table. I am surprised how much more use they get.
My picture is of all the pages that I haven't taken the time to slip in a book yet. They are organized but now I need to take the time to actually put them in a book.

Spring break... please don't go away....

Can't spring break last forever? I am really enjoying our time to play around with nothing important to do. The kids have slept in, I took a nap, and I scrapbooked. I do have some homework that I have to get done. I think I'll do that today so I don't have it hanging over my head all week. It has rained the first two days of break but I think the end of the week will be nice. If that's the case we are going camping on Thursday and Friday. Something to get out of town.
I'm pretty happy with my pages. I pretty much used all scraps. I organized them by company. I have found myself using scraps from the pile on many of my layouts lately. Makaylas birthday page is the only page that I used new paper for. It really has fun picking out all the papers for the page of Makayla. I saw this idea on twopeas and I thought it would be fun to try.
Well, I'm going to get that homework done so I can see how many more pages I can get done!