Random Picture Challenge 7.0

11th folder

or

September 2007

11th picture

This photo is in my 11th folder, photo #11. This is a picture of Alex yelling OOOOOOOOO-U as the kicker kicks off at the OU at Iowa State football game..My brother and his family came up to visit us in Nebraska, and then we all drove over to Ames, Iowa to watch our Sooners play. Despite the fact the game was pretty boring, it was a really fun day. The boys were so excited because we were able to sit close to the field and they could hear the crunch from each tackle. They even went down to the wall at the end of the game and the players came over and gave all the kids a high five as they exited the field!

To join in on the random fun visit Brittany at 4 Little Men and Girly Twins.

Kids say the darndest things and some pics of what we've been up to.

First....A kids say the darndest things moment...

Today as we were getting ready to leave the carpool line, Nick was lolli-gagging around, trying to avoid getting into his booster seat to put his seatbelt on ......I looked in the rear view mirror and asked him to hurry and get buckled up before we got moving out of the school parking lot....Nathan (the little worry wart that he is)...yelled back at him..."Ya, Nick, you better get your seatbelt on or the policeman is gonna arrest you and put you in jail.....

Nick, with a smirk on his face as if to say, you dont' know what you are talking about little boy, quipped back with the comment, "Duh, Nathan, don't you mean Juvi?...Ya know, dude, that's where kids go to jail, so obviously you don't know what you are talking about..... Psh...

Ummm, Really? So who's been telling him about "Juvi"?

Ok and now a few photos of what we've been up to lately...

Here are Nick and Nathan during the JAM (Jesus and Me) program...they sang two songs...one during the Offertory and then one during the Holy Moses musical...They were so cute singing and doing all the "moves".....I love how they are holding hands in this photo!

Here is Alex during the Holy Moses musical...the first to fifth graders led the worship service last Sunday...they did a wonderful job telling the story of Moses....Alex had a one line speaking part and was #5 of the 10 Commandments...

Alex's February project for school....we had to make something patriotic....we are all about pipe cleaners. I love his eye peaking through...cracks me up!

Here is Nick at his first "dance"...The kindergarten class learned a slow dance complete with spins and bows...it was the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Alex and Nick playing basketball...the season ended last weekend...the boys had a blast. And....that's some of the things we have been up to the last month or so........ We've been busy, but having so much fun.....

Word Filled Wednesday

Psalms 127:3

Children are a heritage from the Lord,

offspring a reward from Him.

I'm not even sure what we're looking at here....but it says "baby"...

so I guess that's what it is! :)

The first photo of "Little Peanut"

To see more "Word-Filled Wednesday" visit here.

i ♥ faces~ Black and White

This week's theme is B&W....so here is a photo of my beautiful little Nicky...at the park on one of the first days of Spring last year.

...and here is me and Nater Potater about 6 weeks before I gave birth to Brian..... hmmm it is feeling eerily familiar now!

Click on the buttons above to go see many more inspiring photos in Black and White at i ♥ faces

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama....You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not buy hair clippers this week so I could start cutting the boys hair on my own....though if I had, I sure wouldn't have used my unsuspecting three year old as my guinea pig.....and because I didn't use him as my guinea pig, his hair did not keep getting shorter and shorter, ahem, and SHORTER....until he looked like a bald little old man. I also didn't allow him to "shave" with his toothbrush.

I didn't cut all the boys hair this week...but if I had they might look something like this......

I have not had any trouble hiding the fact that I am pregnant from the whole world y/k cause I am such a good "secret keeper"...and I did not finally "out" myself on Saturday....

Not a single person made a comment about whether or not I was hoping for a girl....

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The pregnancy was not a COMPLETE shock to me and I am not the least bit overwhelmed at the thought of 5 kids...ummm boys.... 8 and under....or even better when they all get to be teenagers!

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I have not completely run out of BOY names.....and would just hate it if you all gave me some suggestions...

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I am not wondering what is going to happen to all the trees that are budding out if we have a freeze before spring...what's wrong with these trees? why are the so confused?

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I am not going to go take a nap right now while Brian is asleep....cause I'm not tired, nauseated, or having constant headaches from these lovely pregnancy hormones!

See y'all next week!

Liz

Do you notice anything.....

new on my blog????

HMMMMMMM?

I ♥ Faces~Wonder

This week's theme is "Wonder"

When I scrapbooked this page of Nathan peeking into the fishtank at our local science museum, I actually wrote the word "Wonder" on my page......so what better entry than this one?

To see more WONDERful photos visit I♥Faces....

Random Picture Challenge 6.0

January 2007

or

13th picture folder

3rd picture

I had to go with 13th picture folder, 3rd photo, because my new computer doesn't go back to Jan. 2007.

This is Nick on a field trip to Schramm Park and Aquarium in Omaha in May of 2008. He and his daddy went on the field trip together and had a great time exploring....Here he is being an elk, or moose, or some kind of horned animal!

To participate in the Random Picture Challenge visit Brittany at 4 Little Men and Girly Twins!

Holy Tornado Batman

**UPDATE..there have been at least 8 people killed in the town of Lone Grove which is south of Oklahoma City....and that town is totally devestated...

Here are a couple of pics from our stay in the closet during the tornadoes in Oklahoma today. These photos were taken just before the electricity went out..Despite how unhappy you might think they look in these photos, they were MUCH less happy when we were sitting in the closet in the dark! I was gonna try to get a better photo, but I figured we better duck and cover instead....What I won't do for a photo op! HA!
I also wore a cute little white bicycle helmet...Well, wore it, is a bit of an exxageration..... Actually, it just kinda sat on the top of my head (it's Nick's helmet---Give me a break~It was all I could find in the rush to take shelter. I am quite certain it would have saved me from a head injury had I needed it to, Ahem)........At least I spared you photos of me...:) Yep, you're welcome.

It's a darn good thing the tornado didn't hit our house. My dad and brother wouldn't stop calling me to let me know the tornado was headed our way and to ask me if we were in the closet...Uh, ya, I would be if you would QUIT CALLING ME! :)....And I, the brilliant woman that I am, kept getting out of the closet to answer the phone~! We don't have a cordless phone (I have a little issue with forgetting to put the phone on the charger~and so we have decided to only use corded phones at our house, ya know in order to have a phone that actually works.) Apparently they do not know that. They are so sweet~always looking out for me! (and to be fair I asked them to call when I needed to take shelter~they were just doing their job :)

Seriously though, this was the closest I have been to actually being hit by a tornado. At least six houses have been reported to be completely destroyed in the neighborhood just north of us (a little less than a mile) and at least one injury has been reported (so far). I am sure dawn will show even more destruction..Alex's school is north of our house and was also in the path of the tornado. (but praise God was not hit).. His school was on lock down so I couldn't go get him until all the storms were over. Nick was in school as well, (different school) but I was able to retrieve him after the first tornado came through (only after a short stay in the girl's bathroom with a Kindergarten and First Grade class while the second storm blew threw~visualize baby in bathroom crawling on floor~that was really fun, let me tell ya!) But after that, we merrily found our way home through the dozens of police cars, ambulances and firetrucks headed to the neighborhood north of us!

Needless to say, it was very scary...

This Mama Hen wanted all her little chickens under my wing and not scattered all over town. On top of all that Prince Charming is out of town until tomorrow! Our power went off in the middle of the tornado and stayed off for 4 hours or so. We are pretty much back to normal now..

If you have a moment, please shoot up a little prayer for the tornado victims (the neighborhood affected goes to Alex's school and he has several friends that live there...and I know his teacher lives in that neighborhood too)...Also, give praise for the apparent lack of casualties from today's tornadoes...

I know there were businesses affected as well (which of course is not good during these economic times)...as well as other destruction all over the OKC metro area. Prayers for all of those people too!

Thanks!

Hope your day was less exciting than mine! :)

Liz

I ♥ Faces --Silly.

This week's theme is "SILLY"....I have such an abundance of silly photos...it's kind of unbelievable...but this is one of my favorites of all time....Didn't I tell you in this "Not Me Monday" post that Nathan is hilarious?
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Head on over to I ♥ Faces to enjoy some more Silly Face photos!

To fully "get" this photo you have to know a little background. This was taken last winter right after baby Brian was born. We were living in Nebraska and it had snowed (AGAIN) and the boys wanted to play outside. I let Alex and Nick go play in the snow, but it was too deep for Nathan to walk around by himself, and obviously I couldn't go out there with him. Sooooo, Nathan decided he would get dressed to go out all by himself. He was REALLY mad at me for not letting him go outside in his "snow outfit", so I didn't get a lot of smiles in this photo session! (PLUS he was in his weird smile phase at the time) :) Here's a couple more....y/k just for your enjoyment! The shoes are Alex's basketball shoes--obviously a little big...Nathan DOES have clothes of his own, he just has never liked to wear them! As many commented after this post...it's a good thing he has brothers and not sisters if he is going to wear his siblings clothes and shoes!

Random Picture Challenge-my first

Brittany over at 4 Little Men and Girly Twins holds a carnival every Saturday called Random Picture Challenge. She chooses a folder and photo number and then everyone posts that photo on their blog...



This week it is March 2008 5th from the end...and here is my photo.


The boys find their Easter baskets on Easter morning and can't wait to show us! This was at our house in Nebraska...

An Amazing Thing

Matthew 5:14-16
14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven


An amazing thing happened to me yesterday. Amazing and heartwarming and tear-jerking.


I finally made it to my Wednesday morning bible study yesterday. I missed the first two sessions because of illness (you all probably remember the diarrhea incidents) and then Nick's minor surgery. I and about 15 other girls are doing the study "Keepers of the Home". Along with the study we are reading the book, "A Woman After God's Own Heart." I was really enjoying the homework, and now that I have gone to class it's even better.......We are new to this church and I am so happy to be able to get to know these wonderful women.


OK, so back to my point...the amazing thing that happened to me....


I actually got there early yesterday (about 15 minutes) which is completely and utterly unlike me...I had taken a shower and even curled my hair. AND I had make-up on to boot!...hold the applause, I know I'm incredible.....(this part is amazing, but not the actual amazing part of the story).

A couple of the other girls and I were chit-chatting and making small talk and somehow got on the topic of our kids. I said something ( I don't even remember what it was), and one of the girls looked straight into my face, and said, "OH! You are the mom with the 4 boys!!!" I said, "Uhhhh Ya?" with a sheepish smile, (secretly wondering which one of my boys tackled, knocked down or punched her kid)....and then she said, "You don't know me, and this will sound really weird, but your boys have changed my life." To that I said, Really?, How? (Still a little worried.)

She told me that she was in church the day Brian was baptized. If you watched this video, you will remember that Alex was standing in front of me while I was holding Brian. Brian kept grabbing Alex's head and trying to look at him and kiss him. Meanwhile, Alex just stood there so nicely taking the abuse with a sweet little grin on his face (you could just see the love on Alex's face---he is absolutely crazy about his baby Brian). Then, after the minister poured the water on Brian's head and proclaimed him to be baptized, he walked Brian through the church to meet his new church family. Nathan started crying and was very visibly distraught. He was terrified that our minister was taking off with his baby brother. It took everything we had to console him and keep him from running down the minister and tackling him to the ground to save his "baby". Finally, the two returned and Nick practically ran over all of us to give Brian a hug.

My new friend was watching this whole scenario take place.

She told me that she has one daughter. Her daughter has Cystic Fibrosis. She and her husband had decided that they would not have any more children and that they would focus solely on this child and do everything they could to save her life. She said after watching all of the events of the baptism, she and her husband left church, got into their car and she just started bawling. She told her husband that she wanted for her daughter what my boys have. That day they started trying to have another baby.

I didn't know how to react at the time. It shocked me so much I wasn't sure what to say. What an amazing thing to impact someone else's life in such a profound way.....Hearing her say that the way my boys love each other changed her life, will be a moment I will forever cherish...And on top of all that, it was something I really needed to hear that day.

Isn't God amazing? All of the things that had to come together to make these events possible are mind boggling. Moments like this help to remind me that people are watching us, as Christians, all the time. They see the big and little things; Like how we love each other, care for each other, and how we teach our children to love one another. Even when we don't know it, Other Christians and non-Christians see how we live our lives and how we act. The way we are perceived may have a direct influence on whether or not someone seeks to know God. To purely and without condemnation live out our Christian walk seems to me like the first step in bringing others to know Jesus..................Because you never know when a little thing like three big brothers loving their "baby" can change someone's life.

AND that, my friends, is An Amazing Thing!

Matthew 5:14-16
14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven

♥Liz

Blogstyle Iron Chef--Chili Challenge

Heidi over at Sacred and Profane has come up with a great idea....if you have ever watched the Food Network, there is a show called Iron Chef, or Iron Chef America. Two chefs compete to see who can come up with the best recipes from a certain ingredient given to them.

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Well, Heidi has decided that it would be fun to do that "blogstyle"....and I totally agree. I always need inspiration to cook. Every month bloggers everywhere are challenged to post a recipe based on the ingredient or type of food Heidi decides upon. This week the category is CHILI! Then you link back to her site and she will pick three recipes at random for people to try that month and to vote on for who has the best recipe.... Doesn't that sound like fun? and delish too! So here is my recipe for chili...it came out of a book my mom made for me soon after we got married with recipes that she always made for us growing up....

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CHILI-Oklahoma Style

4 pounds ground sirloin

olive oil or butter

2 cans (6 oz each) tomato paste. thinned with water

3 cups onions, chopped (about 3 to 4 medium ones)

3/4 cup green pepper, chopped (1 medium size)

2 to 10 cloves of garlic, minced...(to taste)..I like a lot

3 T chili powder

1 T ground cumin

1 T ground oregano

1/2 tsp basil

In a 4 quart pot, cook meat in a little olive oil or butter (or a blend of the two) until no longer pink. Drain excess fat.

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Add remaining ingredients and simmer 2 to 3 hours with the lid on....Serve!

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Yum-O

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If you want to play along, visit Heidi's blog to submit your name for the contest...or just make the three recipes she will decide upon soon and vote for the one you like most!!!

Word-Filled Wednesday

HEB 1:6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the

world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."

To see more Word-Filled Wednesday...Visit Here!

I ♥ Faces --The Eyes Have It.

The Theme This Week is : They Eyes Have It.... Head on over to I ♥Faces to be inspired by all the other photos...


I love all of my kids eyes...Alex and Nathan have beautiful flecks of green, and Nick and Brian have the big brown eyes. But none have bigger eyes than baby Brian. In fact, we even took him to the doctor as a baby because we thought there was something wrong.... His eyes were (and are still) just so darn big. He opens them so wide you can see the whites of his eyes 360 degrees around...I get comments all the time about how he always looks like he is in shock! Funny Baby!

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! A blog carnival created by the incredible MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week

Here is my list for this week:

I do not think Nathan is one of the funniest little boys I have ever met...He did not give me several examples this week to confirm that fact. He was not voted unanimously by all of his cousins as the funniest cousin.. and it does not crack me up that they get together and vote on things like that.....I have not wondered what other things they vote on...

Example number one that Nathan is not hilarious:


I did not make some cherry jello jigglers the other day because they are completely void of nutritional value. But if by some chance we had the jiggily little squares of sweetness in our refrigerator, Nathan did not upon eating a jello jiggler stain the side of his forehead red. And since we didn't have any jello jigglers in our house, I did not frantically think he was bleeding...AND, When I asked him why his head was bleeding his IMMEDIATE response was not,
"My Gramma Betty pushed me into the pond with her lake shoes and I got bit by an alligator."


What? I know that can't be right because neither of his Gramma's are named Betty...
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Example number two that Nathan is not hilarious....

He has not decided that his clothes are no longer for him and has

not now decided to only wear his baby brothers clothes....

those are not under the crotch snap shirts he is wearing...
He does not think it is even cooler to wear the clothes with his winter boots on....I have not totally given in and let him wear whatever he wants....even in public :)


Example number 3 that Nathan is not hilarious:

He does not have an imaginary friend named Jackie...who he calls his "brother Jackie"...Why would the child need an imagainary brother when he has three real ones?
Jackie does not also wear baby Brian's clothes.

I was not reminded last week why I am so glad we no longer live in the frozen tundra and have days like this only once or twice a winter instead of ALL winter....The boys do not LOVE to play in the snow, and I equally as much do not HATE STRONGLY DISLIKE to clean up the mess of clothes and slush after they play in it. Oh I know they look like they are having fun.....but they have a lot of fun in the pool too and it is warm and requires much less clothing....

Here are my snow angels not getting all muddy and wet in the snow...

I did not send the boys over to my neighbors house while he was outside sledding with his kids...All the while staying in the warmth of my home with my sweet little baby.... I did not think that this was the perfect babysitting payback that he had been asking for, ya know, for all the times his kids play at my house....

Brian grunted and pointed, just begging me to go outside and play in the snow....and this is not the closest I allowed him to get to the outside...poor guy, he just wants to have fun too.

That's it for me this week.....Hope y'all have a wonderful Monday!
Liz