How much can I squeeze into one day......

or one post for that matter???

Since I can't carry down the dirty clothes that seem to pile up daily, this guy has been helping out extra these days....

that and lifting groceries, filling up the gas tank, lifting girls into grocery carts, crawling into the attic to get out baby items, even tying my shoes etc...Things that I can't do right now with this big ol' belly!

I'm glad to have him around!

This week he even put the crib together while Daddy was at work!

The kids were in a spelling bee, they did pretty good but nerves got the best of them.

Faith ended up taking 2nd in her grade level.






I mentioned I went to Texas, where my sweet friend spent some time teaching me to sew! Here's my first skirt! Simple but cute:)





Faith, Finley and the new baby have one to match!





The new baby does have a name now......





We have decided on



Fallon!





Still working on a middle name:)









The boys graduated! Austin 6th grade and Landen Kindergarten!









We had a little ceremony in our classroom and invited family over to attend. Landen sang a song and we talked about all he has accomplished this year. I had one requirement for him to get his graduation certificate. It was to tie his own shoe!






With Aunties help, he has mastered tying his own shoe and is now moving onto 1st grade!
Now, he can tie my shoes for the remainder of my pregnancy:)


Here's his song.....




Faith and Landen's birthdays are next week so I threw their parties into the graduation fun!






Landen informed me he wanted a baseball cake 20 min before guests were to arrive so I threw together this baseball cake....






don't judge:)






Then when I placed it in front of him, he said, "No, Mom I wanted a whole baseball field!"







He looks happy enough though, right? Especially because he had some chocolate cake too! (as you can see)







My baby boy is so big!!!!!





It's been a challenging year, but so thankful for the special time God has allowed me to have with this little booger!





At the homeschool fair the kids competed in some track and field events.







Austin didn't take home a ribbon for the spelling bee so he was determined to blow everyone away in running. He's very competitive....and very fast!

Landen tried his best too, he ran so fast he lost his shoe! ha!

then kicked them both off and did the long jump.

Baseball just ended..thank God! ( did I just type that out loud?)

It was fun watching my boys play but having a husband who coaches and boys on different teams with different days of practice and games....lets just say, I really don't like living at the field all week...and I really don't like the bathrooms at the field....it's hard being pregnant and holding it, ya know!;)

Landen's team only lost one game and Austin's team ended up taking 4th in playoffs!

Back to the graduation.....here's Austin giving his speech. He had one last assignment and that was to write a speech and give it in front of family. He wanted to do a speech "gettysburg style."

We all giggled when he came out dressed as his favorite president and enjoyed listening to his speech.

He's so smart, yet still a goofy innocent little kid.

Just the way I like it, I wouldn't have it any other way!

He got an A+ and graduated 6th grade! He is moving onto 9th grade but still 7th socially.

He wants to graduate high school early and start college courses early.

Here's his speech......it's hard to hear in the middle because my sister couldn't keep her kids quiet. Just kidding, Brianna! We had a lot of little ones in a small room;)





some more grad pictures.......

We are excited to be taking a break from school and enjoying some summer fun!

We are busy getting ready for baby Fallon......

I can't wait to add her to the bunch!

I wonder what she will be like??? Who she will look like???

Oh, how could I end a post without this picture of Faith!

She turns the big 1-0 this month!

I am so blessed by her! She is amazing!!!!!

Soon there will be 10 cousins! 5 girls and 5 boys:)
(not counting my husbands side)

makes throwing a birthday party easy:)
instant party!!!!

This month for me is bittersweet as my baby boy is turning 6 and graduated from K, then my oldest graduating 6th grade, Faith turning double digits, and enjoying last kicks from baby Fallon.......Time if flying by!

I'm really trying not to blink;)

I just got back from an amazing time in Texas with some blog friends:)
I felt like I got back from a retreat, all pumped and encouraged....I'll post some pictures and talk about that later.
I just had to share about a phone call I got. I seem to always be the friend that gets called when one of my friends finds out their pregnant. It's funny, I have the privilege of knowing before the family most of the time. Maybe because my friends KNOW that I will be thrilled at the announcement of a new baby!
The mother tells me the great news that she is having another baby. She wants someone to rejoice with her, but she is too scared to tell her parents or in-laws etc. They are likely to either throw a fit or ask, "do you know what causes that?"

Why is there such an aversion to the prospect of life?
Of course, once the little baby comes, all the grandparents will love the baby. Who can resist a sweet baby? But why do they, all the other ill-wishers, (and believe me there are many) put up every opposition at the contemplation of the child being born? Why have we assimilated the anti-child philosophy of this world? Or the 1-2 child per family.... Are we so easily squeezed into the molds of this world?
I can expect this attitude from those who don't acknowledge God, but it causes my heart to ache when I find it is the attitude of those who own the name of the Lord.
So, if your pregnant and what someone to rejoice with you, just call me up! I will be sure to scream and holler with excitement!

First of all, Happy Mother's Day to all my friends out there!

I am getting a little Mother's Day break and thought I'd pop in to say hi!

This blog is such an outlet amidst the lovely chaos that surrounds me:)

It's nice to visit with you and read your comments...

I know my posts are pretty irregular lately, I just desire to never neglect my husband or children in order for me to post. These days seem so busy it's hard to fit blogging time in too.

So thanks for still checking in with us once in awhile:)

I know it's Mother's Day and I'm still posting on Easter, oh well.....

Here's the kids on Easter Sunday. I always make sure to stop and get a quick picture of the kids because I know if I wait until after church I will forget and everyone will be a mess by then.

What a slacker Mom I was this year...

No matching outfits!!!!!

My older three were thanking God I didn't torture them in trying to make everyone matchy matchy..

I just made sure everyone had their hair combed, teeth brushed and some what well groomed:)

They each picked a flower from the backyard to decorate the cross at church...

It was so cute to see all the little kids walking into church with their little flowers excited to put them up on the cross.

So, I'm 6 months (already)...look about 16 months :0

Not a big surprise to me. I always gain more than the average 20-30lbs they say you should gain. I had my doctors appointment a couple days ago and everything with the baby is looking great! She's growing healthy and cooking up nice in there:)

My doctor seems more worried about me getting my tubes tied than anything else. It's almost ridiculous how much both the nurse practitioner and my doctor push it. I've told them over and over that my husband if anything will be the one to get a vasectomy. They insist I get my tubes tied so that they know for sure I don't get pregnant again. I am waiting to see how my scar tissue is on delivery day before making any decisions.

The nurse told me that she just treated a lady last week that is pregnant with triplet boys after her husband had a vasectomy, when they tried to encourage her to have her tubes tied with her last c-section. I just looked at the nurse with a smile and said, "wow, what a blessing!"

I mean really, God must have wanted that lady to have 3 more boys! ha!

She looked at me like I was crazy then changed the subject and had to remind me about how much weight I gained in the last month...

I so wanted to tell her it was because I just got back from this amazing cruise and ate all this wonderful food.

Really though I have no idea how I gain so much. I'm really trying not to focus on myself. Yes, take care of myself and have a healthy pregnancy but not worry so much. The enemy sure likes to attack me in this area and steal my joy by focusing on my "looks" and I'm not going to allow that!

Why do I have to be so vain?!

My husband still makes me feel beautiful...so that's all that matters, right?:)

My Mom and sisters took the kids for us for the night a couple weeks ago. We went out on a date and enjoyed some alone time.

We are still trying to decide on an "F" name for our new daughter.

Our problem is agreeing on a name.

So at dinner, The Macaroni Grill where you can write on table clothes we listed a few "F" names and then our waitress gave us her opinion. Then she told other waitresses and busboys to come by and give their vote too. It made for a fun date.

Our waitress thought it was so cute we were out to dinner trying to come up with our new baby daughters name. She went on and on about how neat it is to be a Mommy and how much fun girls are...you should of seen the look on her face when I said, "this will be my 4th little girl!" She said, "Wow, really!" Then I went on to tell her that I had two boys as well.

We love our bragging privileges:)

My sisters even watched the kids for me the next day.



I went shopping for the baby and got a few things. It was such a nice day and I was so amazed at how many things I can get done. I felt like I could conquer the world when I woke up. ha!







I'm glad my kids were

entertainment for them as well. Here's a video I was sent while out shopping. LOL!

a pic from our dinner

We are still undecided on her name. So, if you have any suggestions on cute "F" names let me know:)

I spent Mother's Day weekend down by the beach. My paradise. Carlsbad. with my loves.......

Happy Mother's Day!

Faith gets baptized on Good Friday!

My Montage 4/13/11 at OneTrueMedia.com

Yesterday Farrah turned 4! Faith and I had fun making crafts and decorating her party. Farrah enjoyed her day sipping tea (apple juice), looking for fairies, dancing silly and giggling with girlfriends! Happy 4th Birthday Farrah Reese. Stop growing up so fast!!!!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A Fun Mom? She Thinks So.....

The other day while doing my hair, Faith was in the bathroom watching me. She was waiting her turn to use the curling iron. She's into doing her own hair now. I figure it's time since I will have 3 other little girls to get ready:) It's still hard because I want to dress her and do her hair the way I want to;)

Anyway, while doing my hair she out of the blue looked at me and said, "Mom, I can't wait to be a Mommy. You look like your having so much fun being our Mom." I think that was the best compliment I have even been given! I'm not always the nicest Mom and I'm sure glad she can see past all the stress that comes from raising kids:)

I just looked at her and said, "I love being a Mommy, I'm having the time of my life raising all you kids!"

I'm sure her comment had something to do with the tricks I played on them for April Fools:)

We had a picnic and I brought out Kool Aid. A rare treat.

The kids were excited......

Who wants Kool Aid?????

After a sip they all just looked at me like ewwwwwww...

Even Finley got mad and spit it out. haha

It was just water with red food coloring:)

I also stuffed the boys shoes with tissue so it was hard for them to get on in the morning.

My favorite trick was this...

Lately, every morning after Daddy leaves for work the kids crawl into bed with me and we watch a little cartoons and snuggle before we have to get up. This morning I got up early and went downstairs. I stuffed the blankets with pillows and stuck a little piece of blond hair out of the blankets. (I cut myself bangs again) They all came in bed and thought I was sleeping until Austin tried to wake me up and realized I wasn't there! Hahaha....

Don't think the kids didn't try teaming up against me with little tricks...

Landen kept going all week thinking he could play tricks on me. I had to let him know that it's only one day a year! April Fools doesn't last the whole month of April... It's now April 11th and he's still saying, "April Fools!"

Time to move onto Easter..........

I love how excited he looks in this picture.

"He is not here, for he has Risen!"

Landen's bible verse this week.

We went on an Easter egg hunt with a new homeschool group...

Finley had her big brother to help her....

They found lots of eggs.....

Farrah has been doing a lot of the same work Landen does...she loves to learn! Landen, not so much...he's just going to be a sign twirler he said. Lord help me!

After the kids said their memory verses they nailed them to a cross...

After months of hard work Landen and Faith performed in their musical!

Once Upon A Time Shop!

Landen looking cute as a little orphan boy....

Faith "Emma" singing her heart out!

The cast!

Each cast member did head shots all smiling and looking cute. As I looked on the board for my kids..........I see this:

Yep, that's my little sign twirler. *sigh!

We had a couple of hot days so these little ones enjoyed their new mini pool... (gosh, I miss our"real" pool!) Come this Aug. when I'm a big sweaty swollen blimp, I'm really going to miss it! I might just have to plop myself in here and pray nobody can see me!!!

Austin worked on his kiddie pool garden....It's doing good so far, but not sure how it will work out???

We had Great Grandma over and surprised her with a birthday party.

The 3 princesses...

This is my husbands grandma. Isn't she cute?

The Grandparents and Auntie came out to watch Landen and Faith perform.

Proud parents with their two stars after their 3rd performance that day!

We threw a little party for our 2 favorite cast members.....

They love the stage!