Aunt Bethany

Happy Birthday Aunt Bethany!!!!!!!!!! So sorry that I am posting this at the very end of your birthday, but at least it is ON your birthday! Bethany is a great and wonderful aunt to the girls. In honor of her birthday, I am telling a story involving the girls at her house. When we lived in the same town, she would pick them up at a moment's notice, keep them while we ran errands, whatever we need. That is a little more difficult because she lives an hour away, but we are so thankful it is only an hour, and not 500 million hours away! Right before school started, Bethany offered to have ALL FOUR girls spend the night at one time! I don't know what Jarrod was thinking! The girls of course LOVE to spend the night at her house. They love watching as much tv as they want to, fishing with Jarrod, eating homemade ice cream (at 10:00 at night) and whatever else they do while they there! They actually spent 2 nights there, so that was double the fun!
There was a smoke alarm in the room where the girls slept, which totally freaked S out. S is SCARED TO DEATH of fires. I mean, this girl will sometimes just start worrying that our house is burning down, which kind of freaks us out because we think maybe she knows something we don't, but so far it hasn't burnt down. So we go through our fire escape plan often and have fire drills in our house. We have even waited until they just fall asleep then set off the fire alarm and practice getting out. Practicing seems to make S feel better.
Anyway, back to Bethany's house....S sees the alarm and and asks Bethany what that was cause it looks different than ours. Bethany told her it was a fire alarm........oh dear........you did NOT just call that a fire alarm. That of course did not go over well with S....she worried. Bethany prayed with her, tried to comfort her, and so on. Well, at 4:30 in the morning, S was still worried about that fire alarm!
The next night, Bethany changed her terminology and called it a smoke alarm. She went over the fire escape plan and prayed, and bedtime went MUCH smoother. So, lessons learned:
1. it is called a smoke alarm not a fire alarm, to S anyway
2. have a fire escape plan
3. don't worry about it..........they are at Bethany's....she can handle it!

We love you Bethany! Hope your birthday was wonderfully great!

Birthday Celebration

I love birthday celebrations. We always celebrated a lot growing up, and the tradition has continued. Now, it doesn't take much to make a party. I mean, come on, you can pass out carrots, but if you say its a party and make it fun, it can be the best party EVER! So yesterday was my 31st birthday, and we had a day FULL of celebrations, and no, we didn't have a carrot party!
The day started with our birthday tradition...the whole family (except the birthday girl) wakes up early and fixes breakfast and decorates the kitchen/hall/birthday person's door. So I woke up and got to break through a maze of streamers just to get to the bathroom! We had a lovely breakfast of eggs, bacon, great coffee for EVERYONE (sorry teachers) oh, except for Autumn cause she can't have caffeine, and a great rendition of the happy birthday song! I got my birthday present way early....it was my underwater camera. And the girls enrolled me to a cake decorating class!
I got a couple of early morning birthday texts from Becky and Pam, took everyone to school, got a call from my dad and Bethany, worked for the morning, got flowers from Bethany, Jarrod and B. I came home for lunch and checked the mail, and I was so happy to only find "fun" mail! There was no junk, no bills, just some birthday cards, thank you notes, and birth announcement! That was a good surprise!
Then I got on the computer and got on facebook and found that I had 64 notifications! I love getting notifications on facebook! It's like opening a present every time! I read every sweet birthday note from my friends (and they kept popping up all day! I love that!). I got a couple more birthday texts and calls from friends, enjoyed my tarimasu crepe that Autumn got me (my favorite), and a nice little nap before going to get the girls from school.
We came home, got ready and loaded up to go to a nearby time to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants to meet Bethany, Jarrod, and B to eat. We love this place and go there fairly often. It has good food, plus it is a good meeting spot, not too far from Bethany and the fam. People at Mexican restaurants always notice the girls...well, actually, wherever we go, we are pretty noticeable because we are kind of a circus....anyway, Mexican places really notice them cause the girls are Mexican and they try to talk Spanish to them and so on. Anyway, we go in, say hello, and sit down and order our drinks. A loves to talk to people and spout out random information to people in about 10 seconds after meeting them. She looks at the waiter and spouts out that it is my birthday...no big deal. I was not worried about this at all because of all of the many times we have been to this place (and on my birthday before) we have NEVER seen them do any kind of embarrassing things for birthdays. Some places come out singing and so on, but not this place......or so I thought!
We got our dinner and were enjoying eating, when all of the sudden we hear whistling...LOUD whistling! Hear come like 10 waiters (they are all men, no women) and they are whistling so loud that I thought at first it might be a fire alarm. They surrounded me, put a sombrero on my head, and start singing something to me in Spanish! All I could think is...why have we never ever ever seen them do this to ANYONE else! During their grand song, they start swaying me back and forth, then they come out with a sopapilla with whipped cream on top. Oh wow...how great! I am now thinking this is worth the embarrassment! But then something happened that I have NEVER seen at a restaurant.......they shoved that whipped cream sopapilla in my face! Yes they did! I could not believe it! I am sure that my eyes about bugged out of my head because I was so shocked! I mean, I have gotten many pies in my face at VBS, but never expected this in a restaurant! It didn't go on my hair or anything...just my face!
Autumn, in the midst of all of the birthday chaos, grabbed my camera and started shooting. My camera is on manual, so she was frantically trying to get pictures, but there are no windows in the place, which is terrible lighting for pictures, and I never use the flash, so it was a little tricky getting it all done. So she got pictures, although the lighting isn't the greatest. In her hurried effort to get pictures and capture the moment, she totally missed the moment. When we were talking about it later, she kept saying, oh I missed that cause I was trying to get a picture!
At the very end of the song and at the moment that they shoved that treat in my face, B got scared and started crying. Jarrod picked him up and B just clung to him.....he didn't want anything to do with me! It immediately brought back a memory of when I was 4 or 5 I think. My dad had dressed up like a woman (it was for something for church, not something he just did for fun, just so you know). Tracye was babysitting us girls and I guess brought us to the church and dad came out with my mother's dress on, and I just clung to Tracye. I wouldn't even go to my mother until my dad was all the way looking like himself again. That is what this reminded me of. B was scared, I was getting the cream off of my face, and Autumn was still trying to take pictures! It really was funny!
Finally, he came to me, we hugged, and I assured him that it was done and those men were all gone! We sat down to finish our dinner, and I look across the table at A. She slouched down in her chair, leaned against her uncle Jarrod, looking so sick to her stomach, and she said, "I'm sorry I told them it was your birthday!
Oh. My. Goodness....I laughed so hard! SO FUNNY! We finished dinner, went to walmart, then to braums to get some ice cream to go, and came home and I got a couple more calls from friends and family! It was a great birthday!!!
I keep forgetting and I upload my pictures backwards....this is right before we left. The car can bring hours of entertainment....it is like a fun house mirror!

M being silly.

I really like this picture....I like the lines and the colors in it. It is A playing outside the restaurant.

Some of the girls went inside and were entertaining B who was outside.

S and B.

Love this picture of A!

That orange background with her dress looks great!

Playing outside the restaurant.

Autumn, me, Bethany.............LOVE this one!

I really like this picture!

A friend told me to be sure to turn the camera and make sure I was in some pictures.....so I did. Love my little guy!

I like these next few.....me and the gang!

I really really like this one.....his little hands and fingers.......they don't stay little for long!

This is after the big song......he finally came to me.

Clinging to his daddy......a little traumatized!

Me and the big huge sombrero.

This is after they shoved it in my face! You can see the whipped cream on my shirt!

Sweet Prayer

I love to hear my girls pray. It is just the sweetest thing ever, and I love to hear their perspective when they pray. I learn a lot from them when it comes to prayer. I love the way they just talk to the Lord and tell Him about their life....I need to be more like that. I love it that they just ask him for things with faith that yes, he will answer them! For example, S once prayed for our friend....she prayed that someone bring dinner to his house. Later that evening I checked with that friend to see if the prayer was answered....wouldn't you know that "randomly" someone DID bring dinner to their house! I love it that they are persistent. I love it that they love the Lord and they express that to Him.

Our church is about to start revival meetings next week, so this month we have been having prayer times in different people's homes each week. The girls haven't made it to all of them, but they did go the other night. I was just a little bit nervous that they might not sit still during the prayer, or they might throw a fit, or something. While we sat and waited for everyone to get there, the girls talked to everyone about school and such. Then we started to pray. There was no order, just left open to whoever wanted to pray. The girls were still for the most part. A kept looking up at us and mouthing to us that she wanted to pray. We nodded our approval, but when one person got done praying, she just couldn't get the courage to jump in and someone else would pray. This cycle went on.....then it was silence.....the leader asked if there was anyone else.....A raised her hand.....but everyone still had their eyes closed, no one saw her. Autumn gave her a little nudge and this sweet little 6 year old began to pray out loud in this group of adults. Very courageous! And her prayer.....so sweet! She prayed for sick people to get better, she prayed that people would come to know the Lord, and she prayed that our church would quit going down and get God. A few tears trickled down my face, but I held back the waterfall that so badly wanted to come out! After she prayed, H prayed as well. She prayed a very mature and sweet prayer as well. So proud of my girls! SO PROUD!!!!!

Thank you Lord for their examples! Thank you Lord that you shine so brightly through them!

proud moment

Our girls have come a long ways in so many areas. They have progressed so much. However, it is very hard to see this progression most days when one child has a bad attitude and another is crying about absolutely nothing! It is hard to see progress when it is so gradual, but then there are those moments when they make the right choice, when they have compassion on others, or just act grown up. Well, let's just say that this has been a week where it is very hard to see the progress. Going back to school just wears them out, and we all know that we do not act our best when we are worn out and tired. Getting new teachers and new rules also means that especially our two youngest will test the rules and push the teachers. Needless to say, I am worn out. Luckily, we have wonderful teachers that are consistent, so hopefully it won't take too long before they realize the rules won't change no matter how much they push.

Anyway, the Lord knew exactly what I needed today. My friend Susie has a little girl A's age and last year she took A to her house on Wednesday afternoons to play and brought her to church that night. It was great for A. Our girls don't get a lot of time without their sisters, so this special attention was very good for A. Since school started again, the Wed. afternoon plan was on again. Susie picks A and S up everyday and transports them to Autumn's school, so today S was the only one that got out....A got to stay with Susie. As you can imagine, this was SO exciting for one girl, and SO NOT exciting for the other. We knew we would have one unhappy camper, but we all felt this setup is so good for A that it is worth a "little" fuss. So we prepared S yesterday that she would not get to go, hoping to diffuse the situation. Well, the preparation did no good. S put her best pouty face on and here came the tears. Susie later told me that while I was dealing with the fit, A looked up at her with her tender, compassionate brown eyes and said that she would go home if S really wanted to go that bad.
WOW!!! Going to Susie's house on Wednesdays is not taken lightly by A, so giving that up is a HUGE sacrifice! WOW!!!!!! Yes, this was a VERY proud moment. Thank you Lord for speaking to my girls. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for not giving up on us. Thank you that you keep teaching us. Thank you for the greatest sacrifice ever.....the sacrifice of your son!

And just so you know, A did get to go to Susie's house, S did not....we stuck to our guns and did what we thought was best for her. Also, thank you Susie for taking A each Wed. and for pointing out her sweet moment to me today!

more white water

I know you are probably wondering what in the WORLD I could say more about white water. I know......really, I am a bit surprised that I have so much to say about it too, but I do. Bethany, I started to write the story of the cleaning lady, but it just came out as griping, so I didn't. Anyway, this is funny and short. S still says her "K's" like a "T". So instead of Cookie, she says Tootie. It is really cute, although I do realize we should get her help because while it is cute in kindergarten, it won't be so cute at high school (or stool) graduation! But at white water, this little speech thing was more humbling than cute. When we were done swimming and headed out, S wasn't thrilled. She wanted to go to the kitty pool. So, she starts screaming, "I want to go to the kitty pool! I want to go to the kitty pool!" Now say that like S would say it. Yep, pretty embarrassing!

growing up

I don't know why the white water trip story is so long and why I have so much to talk about from swimming, but I had a lot of realizations at white water.....there was a lot of growing up!

We get passes to White Water every year. We love it. We didn't get to go a whole lot this year, but we did swim a lot at other places. We went today, probably for the last time this summer. We had a great time, but it was kind of sad. But, for you to understand why it made me sad, you need a little glimpse into our previous trips to white water or other pools.

The first summer with kids, we had M and another girl in our home. M was 6 and did great in the water. She wore her life jacket in the deep ends, but wanted it off in the shallow ends. If she was afraid, she wanted to be by herself. Yep, this feisty fireball wanted no one touching her if she was nervous. Having no one touch her gave her a sense of control and security. We had a great time at any pool we went to, and she naturally learned to swim. She swam with her life jacket, and when possible, she just gradually and naturally learned to swim. Before we knew it, she was a pro. Actually, we were with our friends at a hotel pool, and we wanted a picture of them all jumping into the pool together, but we couldn't get the picture fast enough, so we had them jump in, swim to the side, get out, and jump back in. After they had done this a couple of times, we realized that M was SWIMMING all by herself over and over in the DEEP end! And that was it....off she went.

The next summer we had M, H and A with us. H was very similar to M except that she did NOT want to keep her life jacket on. Every chance she got, that jacket was off and she was trying her best to swim. She, like M, just gradually and naturally became a swimmer. H is a quiet girl, but she is definitely determined and strong willed. She follows the rules, for the most part, so we weren't to nervous with her.

A, on the other hand, did NOT like the water. I am not just talking about kind of not having a great time. I am talking screaming and climbing up our legs afraid of the water that barely covers her TOES in the beach entry pool! Oh my!!!!!! We were thinking that if we just held her , she would be just fine, so we went straight to the lazy river and tried holding her in it.....surely that would work! Umm.....NOPE. That did not work. She clung so hard to us that it hurt. She was very afraid. We finally figured out what worked best......we put a small floaty ring around her waist, she sat on a bigger floaty ring, and then sat on an inflated boat. We held on to that boat as well. She STILL did not feel safe. She did float down the lazy river in it, but her face was tense and strained, not relaxed. I would not say she had fun, but she eventually tolerated it. Really, what kid cries when you announce, "We are going to white water today!"? We tried. We tried hard. She acted like that every time we went to a pool. We figured that the next year would be better.

Well, the next year we had S too. A was NOT better about the water, well, not really. S took after A, not H and M. S did NOT enjoy the water either. So, gradually and eventually, they took baby steps. They would just sit on the stairs at hotel pools, and we would just put on those life jackets and floaties and more floaties and take them in the deep end and endure the grunting, groaning, screaming, crying and clawing. Hmmm.....and I wonder why people don't want to go to white water with us......sounds so pleasant! Just kidding!

Fast forward to this year........we went to White Water, and while there have been gradual steps and small victories in the pool adventures, it just kind of hit both Autumn and I all at once. It just seemed like one day we had to force them into water covered in flotation devices, then the next day they were just swimming away!

Yes, folks, our babies swim! Let me tell you about our day at white water with our 4 grown up children. They put on sunscreen. Let me rephrase that.....they put on their OWN sunscreen. They have kind of been doing that for a while, but it just seemed so grown up on this particular trip. We went directly in the wave pool. No whining, no grumbling or crying about how deep it was. There was no crying about sharks in the pool (yes, that has been an issue in the past). They just happily got on their life jackets and splashed on into that pool right to the deep end. The two big girls went out with little floatie rings and hung onto them, then swam around and came back to the rings.

We got out of the wave pool, and they wanted to go to the big huge tower of slides. Yes, they have all gone down these slides before, but this time seemed different because they ALL wanted to go and we didn't have to talk anyone into it or bribe anyone to go on it! The two big girls decided they would go down the big huge straight down slide. I don't even or haven't ever gone down that slide! We asked if they were really really really sure like a hundred times, and they said they were, so off we went up the huge tower. The two little girls and myself got a tube and went down the twisty slides, and the two big girls and Autumn went down the slide of death (that's what I call it, not them....and I only call it that in my head not to them, just so you know). I was just sure M would have to come walking down the stairs because she chickened out of it, but nope. They all three came down with smiles on and loved it!

We then headed over to the lilly pads. If you do not know what this is, it is big lilly pads that float in the water and are attached to a rope from the bottom. It requires a lot of balance to get across those pads, and there is a rope above you to help pull yourself across. My first memory of the lilly pads was from when I was a little girl. My mother and my aunt Nancy were DETERMINED to get across those things. It seems like we stayed for hours while they tried time and time again to get across, falling in the water every time. It could be that they fell because they were laughing so hard! I remember my mom being so amazed at all the little kids who could get across, but these two grown women couldn't. So I had two things in my mind with the lilly pads: 1-grown women should never try because I remember feeling so sorry for them when they kept falling off. 2- they are pretty much impossible to cross.

M and H have been able to cross those lilly pads since we first started bringing them. It was a struggle at first, but they are so determined, that even if they were just barely hanging on, and it took forever, they did NOT let go. They made it to the end. Every time they cross those silly lilly pads, I think about how proud and amazed my would have been! I know it is silly, but I do think of that every time! So this time A wanted to try. Really? Yep, she wanted to try. Let me tell you that she is just as determined as the oldest two and she crossed those lilly pads! Watch out world because these girls WILL do what they set out to do!

Then we went on to the yellow slide. This isn't the tallest slide, but it is enclosed, and you do not go down it with a tube. You go down this slide on your own and end up in the deep end....yes the dreaded deep end. Earlier this year, we decided to all go on it, instead of one of us staying with the little girls. They were kind of excited, but VERY scared. And they did have on life jackets, so we weren't expecting them to swim by themselves in the deep end. While standing in line, we got a million questions, as well as very wide eyes. When we got to the top, Autumn went first, then M, then H.....then S. She was scared, but she went. Then A........the lifeguard looked at me and gave me the head nod. I then proceeded to sit A in the blasting water and shove her down the slide.....easy right? Ummmm......not so much. She wouldn't sit. I lifted her up, but she put her feet down to stand instead of sit. With everyone behind me getting a little irritated, I had to do something. So I lifted her little screaming self up, kicked her feet out from under her, and sat her down in a hurry before she could get back up. All that was left was to shove her down, but oh man, she latched on to the bar above the slide. So what do I do? After I kicked her feet out from under her, I scraped one hand off, then the other as she screamed like crazy, then shoved her on down! The lifeguard looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and said, "Oh she'll like it, don't worry!" I went down the slide and caught up with the rest of the family where A informed that the slide was "so cool" and she will go back next time! That is when I brought out the lecture about trust. "You just have to trust us A. Sometimes we know things you don't and we want what is best for you. You just need to trust us." In that split second, I thought about how true that statement is with our heavenly father and us. A did not appreciate my profound thoughts in the middle of white water and only cared about getting to the next thing.

This time, however, the "yellow slide" experience was much different. We said we were going on the yellow slide, everyone got out of the pool and came, we got in line, everyone went down the slide on their own, and a good time was had by all. Wow they are so grown up!

The last thing we did was the lazy river. It was almost closing time, so there wasn't a lot of people at all in the lazy river. After we were in it for a while, Autumn and I talked about how different this experience was. Autumn and I had all of the floaties and we were being lazy on them in the lazy river. The girls (all of them can touch in the lazy river) were ahead of us being "dolphins" in the water. All four of them were "diving" in and out of the water, swimming and having a great time. On one hand, it was so fun to not have to watch them as closely and to relax a little and to not have to hold them. On the other hand, it was so sad to see how much they are growing up! How does this go so fast?

One of those days

Well, since I can't post the pictures I from the first day of school, I will tell you about the other day. It was just one of those days where things just weren't going as planned. I know you have had those days. It was one of those days for us. We headed out about noon or so and headed to the big city to get some errands done. Of course this doesn't sound like fun to the girls, so we talk to them, prepare them.......well, really we bribed them! Yes, we told them if they were good, we were sure to get a treat before returning home! Off we went. We had some specific things that needed to be done. Let me tell you, that one particular errand, we have been trying to do for a long time, and it involves a lot of waiting. We went to a place the other day (with 4 girls) and waited over an hour and a half just to find out they did not do what we needed to do....we had to go to a different office. We were so happy that on this particular day we would finally get this task done and checked off of our list.
We arrive at the parking garage, find our parking spot, and get out of the vehicle. Ummmm......problem........we do not have the right papers. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? No.....no papers. That means we have to try a DIFFERENT time! While I can laugh at this problem now, it was NOT funny to me at the time. In fact, I was not a very nice person for just a little bit. I did not act very nice at all. So we keep driving.
Autumn had the idea to go to a hospital, since we were nearby, to visit a person we know. Well, I guess we don't have anything else to do, so let's go! So we went to the hospital, and as we were going in the parking garage, there were no spaces, so we had to keep going up. Remember, I was in a bad mood, so this really irritated me. However, my children found great joy each time we went up the little hill to the next level. Why do we buy passes to amusement parks when we could just go to parking garages? So we went to the very top of the garage. That's right....we passed up a ton of spaces just to go to the top. We got to ride the elevator, go through the tunnel, ride another elevator, find the information desk (which also had really fun displays), ride another elevator, find our friend, then ride all of the elevators back again. THEN, we got to go DOWN the parking garage. While I got a little car sick and dizzy from it all, the girls had a blast! Ok Trinity, CALM DOWN and enjoy the moment. I don't think God could have spoken it clearer. It seemed that no matter how stinky my attitude got, the girls found joy in the things I thought were irritating.
Next stop.....to the mall to pick up my contacts. Check. That didn't take very long at all. And by the time we got there, my attitude was MUCH better....you might have even considered me a little fun by this time! And just guess what the eye place in the mall was next to.....an escalator! So guess what we did? Yep....we rode it up, then back down. The girls wanted to just walk around the mall, so we did! And in our walk around the mall, we rode every escalator and elevator. We got a treat and went to the other stores for the day.
So, the lesson I learned............RELAX......don't stress out over things that don't really matter.....enjoy the moment.......and........ride some elevators.......they might make you a little sick, but the six of us sure had fun!

Just so you know......

I have tried to post pictures for the last two nights. I don't know why it isn't uploading the pictures. I will have pictures up soon....promise! And for the record......this is the shortest post EVER!!!!!

First Day of school

Yay that my pictures uploaded! We had a great first day of school. We found their backpacks at Children's Place on sale for $8.50 each.....quite the good sale AND they had FOUR different styles! The girls got GREAT teachers and we are really excited about the year.
I can't believe how much they are growing! S is in kindergarten this year! M was in kindergarten when we got her, then repeated kindergarten the next year....I can't believe the last one is in kindergarten now! It is fun to look back and see how far they have come and how much they have grown up. Actually, it's therapeutic to look back...sometimes it is hard to see how far they have come if we just focus on the problems in front of us. So I like to look back every once in a while, and times like this where there is a lot of tradition is a good time for that.

The girls did great getting up early and getting ready. No whining. No fights. No fits. THAT is why I love the first day of school! They were all nervous, or more excited. M was nervous about 4th grade math out of a book, H was nervous/excited to see all of her friends, A was nervous that she would get in trouble and get a ticket, and she was also nervous that someone would be allergic to something, and S wasn't really nervous, she was just excited because she heard that her teacher gives out gum!

When they came home, they were actually pretty grumpy and kind of mean. But I see it like this: Kids will fall apart where they feel the safest and pull it together when they feel like they have to. For example, most kids (hopefully most kids) act right at school, but come apart at home, but if you notice the kids who have trouble at school......it might be because that is where they feel safest, not at home. Anyway, didn't mean to put all of that out there, but I did. Back to the story....the girls pulled it together well at school, but they haven't had to do that in a while, so it really drained them and they just fell apart at home (actually on the way home!)

But when we talked to them about their day, S's highlight was that she didn't move her bone. If you move your bone in her class, it means you didn't make good choices. I'm sure we will have our share of moving the bone, but I'm also very glad it wasn't the first day!

I asked A if she learned anything at school and of course she said yes. I fully expected to hear something rather profound. Maybe a new word or something about somebody there. Oh no....this girl did learn something new........she learned that the water out of the water fountain really tasted good!

H was VERY excited that she got a Popsicle! Yep, the highlight of her day...a Popsicle! She also enjoyed telling us whose class all of her friends were in.

M took a test the first day. She wasn't thrilled because she said she didn't know a lot of the answers and doesn't think she did good on the test. But overall, she seemed to be happy. She is going to have to work really hard, but I think she will have a great year.

I know this is going to be a good school year....can't wait to see exactly what is in store. And, just so you know...A's teacher is our good friend, so she knows to expect the unexpected with her (like dead mice and stuff!)

I-love-chants....I-love-chants....I-love-chants....I.....

Yes, I LOVE chants! I make anything a chant. I wave my hands up and down with the rhythm of the chants. My kids at church know me and know how I love chants. They also know that sometimes I wait to proceed with whatever we are doing until all of them are chanting with me. Just picture this little example with me...50 kids at children's camp waiting to eat lunch when Miss Trinity comes out with a letter for one of the kids from home. What do we do? We chant. Open it....open it....open it.... and we keep chanting until everyone is chanting and then the person opens the mail. That is just one example. My kids, my church kids that is, pretty much know, and I don't have to get very far in the chant before I have a whole bunch of little voices chanting with me.....music to my ears!
My other chanting buddies.....my sister Bethany and my friend Emily. We all three LOVE to chant. I must say that Emily has come a LONG ways in her chanting abilities. Used to, she made up the craziest, non rhyming chants with no rhythm at all, however, her chants were very funny and we all got lots of laughs from them! They have come a long ways, and now she makes up great chants, most of the time. When we were getting ready for VBS, she was thinking of ways to decorate her room. She decided she would get some boxes and "make it like a horse, then paint it like a cow." Random I know. But it made a great chant and it will still pop up into my head and I will chant.... make it like a horse, paint it like a cow........make it like a horse, paint it like a cow...... Yes I do. I know that this is probably a little too far into my brain than most of you wanted to go, but I really do like chants. They really make me happy.
Saying all of this, you know my girls love chanting. We chant all of the time, and even though you probably wouldn't guess it, Autumn likes chanting too. I know she sure doesn't come across as the chanting type, but she is a really fun chanter, let me tell you. We chant at pretty much anything. We might be driving down the road, for example, and one of the girls says, "I want a drink." (That is a very whiny voice when she says I want a drink). So instead of trying to deal with the whiny girl, we just might chant, I want a drink......I want a drink.......I want a drink....... Most of the time, by the time we get done chanting, everyone is happier (because chanting does that to you) and the whininess (made up the word) is gone for the moment. That is one of the MANY times we chant. I'm sure you can all imagine some other scenarios, and I just don't want to torture you to have to read about all of the times we chant.
But...................
You do need to know about a particular chant. A was in pre-k, and we got a "yellow slip" in her folder. She moved her car that day from green to yellow. Going from green to yellow is not good. It means you did something wrong and got in trouble. Now, this wasn't the first yellow slip of the year, but if I remember right, she had been doing really good, so we were a little frustrated/disappointed to get a yellow slip. The front of the slip had the check mark by "not following directions". Well, that is very broad. Sometimes that is all that is on those slips, so then we have to go through the long process of trying to figure out exactly what happened and why did they not follow directions. Sometimes, that long process ends in calling the teacher to get the whole story. This time, however, on the back of the slip, the teacher had written something like this: A, along with several others were chanting "We want pizza" in line at the cafeteria.
Oh man, I have to admit, that I just started CRACKING up! I couldn't help it. I couldn't hold back the laughter until I wasn't around her. Nope, I just laughed really hard right there in front of her, with her big brown eyes and wrinkled eyebrows looking up at me a little confused. I could just imagine in my head all of these little kids lined up, waving their hands up and down, and chanting we want pizza at the top of their lungs. No, I couldn't hold in the laughter. So we asked her what happened. Well, the cafeteria usually had pizza on every Wednesday. But they changed the menu unexpectedly, so the kids came to school thinking it was pizza day, and they didn't get pizza. From everything we can tell, A did not start the chant and honestly, she doesn't even like pizza that much. BUT, the girl will join in any chant. Poor girl....she was very confused at why we chant at home but get in trouble at school......oops...I guess we shouldn't chant that much.
Needless to say, we had a talk that day about how shouting "we want pizza" might have hurt the cooks' feelings and that while chanting is VERY fun, you just have to chant in the appropriate times (which I needed that lesson too). But, we just had to test her and see if she would join in another chant. We started chanting things that didn't make sense like "I like dirt.....I like dirt.....I like dirt" I guess it is going to take a little more than just one talk about not joining in any chant, cause she joined right in right away!

Adopting another child

Before you call me and ask me what in the world we are thinking, just read the rest of the story please! In church today, it was announced that you could sign up to "adopt" a student for the year. You make this teen part of your family by spending time with them, taking them to dinner, going to their games, etc. I think it's a great idea and a great way to disciple and help these kids grow in the Lord. I was so excited about it, so I signed up after church. I asked the girls if they were excited to adopt a youth, and three of them answered with a yes, and one with a no. Then the questions started:
When are we getting the kid?
Where are they going to stay?
Who are we getting?
Where do they live now?
When are they coming?

Obviously, they were very confused. They thought we were getting another kid from foster care to live with us. No matter how many times I explained that we aren't having another kid come to live with us, they did not understand. They kept on asking where the kid we are getting is living now. I'm guessing that no other child in the church was confused by the adopt-a-kid program like ours were! Well, I THINK that everyone understands, but only time will tell. We find out in a couple of weeks who we get to "adopt". The girls are so excited to "adopt," even if it is just a pretend adoption!

The wrong finger

This story is not about my children, but let me tell you, this is a funny story. Since I wrote the other day about M flipping her friend off, I figured it is the best time to tell this story. Yes, I did ask permission before posting this. Before I even get to the story, I have to tell you about my friend Becky, since that is who this story is about.

For those of you who know Becky, you are already laughing. For those of you who do not know my dear friend, let me describe her a little bit. I have not met a person who does not like Becky. She is just a likable person. She is old enough to be my mother, but in some strange way, we make great friends. She laughs at everything...and I mean EVERYTHING. She creates fun wherever she goes, and is kind, loving and caring.

Now that you have a basic description of her, let me begin the hysterical Becky story. Last summer, Becky went as a sponsor to Falls Creek, a huge camp for youth. At the beginning of the week, the photographer comes by and takes a group picture, with everyone wearing their youth group's camp shirt. The photographer always does a good job coming in, getting everyone in order, taking a great group picture, and taking a goofy picture in a very short amount of time. All 120 or so kids and sponsors dressed in the same t-shirt, stand around waiting for direction, then when the photographer enters, there are a lot of directions being shouted, people trying to figure out where to go...just a lot of chaos for a moment. Well, let's just say that Becky can get a little flustered in chaos if she doesn't know exactly where she is going or what she is doing.

Some of the sponsors decided before the picture exactly what they would do for the goofy picture: they would each put on their bandanna and then hold up the "I love you" sign with their fingers. Being sure she would do exactly what they decided for the goofy picture, Becky got into place, folded her bandanna just right, and then had someone help her get her fingers just right to do the "I love you" sign, then kept her fingers just right and put them by her side for the regular picture. Everyone was in place, her fingers were just right at her side, waiting to spring up for the goofy picture. One, two, three...great picture, now do something wacky. Everyone starts putting on a hat or glasses or whatever and posing in just the right goofy pose. Becky was ready...she just had to put on that bandanna and put her "I love you" fingers up...oh yeah.....the bandanna! Oh no....she forgot the bandanna. Panic....aaaaaaaaggggggghhhhhhhh........wait wait wait.....just get this bandanna on and......
Photographer: Ok everyone.....wacky picture in one.....

Becky: Oh.....I have to get this bandanna on........

Photographer: two........

Becky: There, got the bandanna, now, how was it that I'm supposed to do my fingers? How does that sign go? ooooooo......I have to get this, is it these two fingers or that one or......

Photographer: three....

Becky: oh no, I think it is goes like this......

Photographer: click......thanks everyone

Everyone started talking about the funny thing they did, and all 120 people started to scatter. Becky however, was stuck with her mouth open, trying to rewind time.

Becky: Ummm, you gys...I didn't do the "I love you" sign. I did something bad. I did the bad sign. I tried to get the sign right, but my middle finger was the only one that came up. You guys...really...oh dear, I don't think that was good. Come back you guys.

Everyone around her patted her on the back, reassuring her that it really wasn't that bad and that surely the photographer will touch it up.

Later that week, the photographer brought in the group pictures.........yep, sure enough, there is sweet, Innocent Becky smiling............flipping everyone off!

back to school!

We are not back to school yet, (the pictures are from first day last year) but we did find out who every one's teacher is and school is just around the corner. I am SO excited! I love back to school. I love the fall. I love getting back into the school routine. I love new backpacks and school supplies, although I do not love shopping for school supplies. I love picking out the first-day-of-school outfit. I love it when everyone wakes up super extra early on the first day of school because we are all so excited.

I am very excited that we are doing something new this year at the church for the first day of school. After we all drop off our kids at school, we are going to meet at the church and eat a light breakfast and pray for our kids. My friend Susie came up with this idea and I love it. Why didn't I think of this earlier? We will pray for our kids, the teachers, the other kids, etc. I am so excited about this just because I know how powerful prayer is and I can't wait to see what God can do this year in my kids and through my kids. I am so very thankful for teachers, and specifically my girls' teachers. I will be more diligent this year in lifting them up in prayer. There have been so many teachers, whether my girls have had them in class or just been in their building, that have help to shape each of my girls. I am very thankful for each one of them!

I am also just apologizing right now to each of my girls' teachers for any flipping off, dead mice brought to school, crazy stories, or anything else. Just apologizing ahead of time.

And to my girls' teachers: If you will believe half of what they say about us, we will believe half of what they say about you!

Potty mouths

I'm sure a whole bunch of your own stories of little kid potty mouths are going through your head just from reading the title. I have witnessed or heard stories of other kids repeating bad words they have heard their parents or someone else say. I have laughed very hard every time I heard a little kid do something like that...that is until I got kids of my own.

We really are very very conservative in our speech. We grew up that way and we are bringing up our girls that way. We often get the tattling "ummmm" followed by "she said.........". The blank is usually filled in with one of the following:

• the "b" word
• the "c" word
• the "s" word
• the "f" word

Now, the "b" word is "butt"...not a curse word, but just not a word that a lady should say. The "c" word has been "crap" or "hate". I have no idea why the "c" word was hate, but it was according to one of the girls, I don't remember which one. The "s" word is either "shut up" or "stupid" and the "f" word is "fart". We reply with, "Well, that isn't a cuss word, but it isn't a word that our family chooses to say." We have had to add, "...but we don't say anything if someone in another family says one of those words and that doesn't make them a bad person, we just choose not to say them." We have had to add that to our lecture because they would "ummm" people when we were out in public! Please just let me crawl under a table and hide!

The thing is, you just never know what they will say. I know I am so not alone. Every parent holds their breath a little when their kid speaks to someone, we clench our teeth when the teacher calls, and I'm sure I am not the only one that quickly covers their child's mouth when you see someone odd looking coming towards you and you see the look in their eyes that tells you they are about to make a comment or ask a question you would rather the public not hear! Well, I have two examples from our home.

When M was in the 1st grade (I can't believe she is almost in the 4th grade!), we had that call from the teacher, who is also my very good, kindred spirit friend Michele. It was only a few weeks into the school year when Michele called me. The conversation went something like this:

Michele: Trinity, M is in the Principal's office.

Me: You are kidding me, right?

Michele (seeming very stunned): No, I am not kidding.

Me: Okaaaaay (that is said with hesitancy).

Michele: Trinity, she flipped a kid off. Then she started talking really fast and rambling the story of how M wasn't happy with the girl next to her and just flipped her off. She didn't deny flipping this girl off, she said the girl made her mad.

My thought process was kind of like this:

Oh. My. Goodness. And just when I thought she was getting better! She's ruined and none of the parents are ever going to let their kids be friends with her! What am I going to do? I can't do this. She needs to go to counseling. What 1st grader flips her friends off? Does she know what that means? I have THAT child that goes around flipping everyone off! (all of those thoughts went through my head in about 2 seconds!

M came home from school, and by that time I had a chance to call Autumn Bethany and Becky, and calm down a little bit. When I asked her what flipping someone off means, she said, "it means leave me alone." Okay, I can handle that. But let's just say, little miss M definitely learned her lesson from the trip to the Principal's office that she uses her mouth, not her finger to tell people to leave her alone!

Next example, sister 4, S. She has gotten into a habit of saying "Oh my god." I hate even writing it. This is NOT a phrase we use in our home. We don't even say "oh my gosh" because it sounds like the other, and we don't want to constantly hear the fight of, "no I said gosh....no she didn't she said the other...etc." So we say, "oh my, oh dear, oh my goodness, etc." Like I said before, those are the rules we choose for our family, not saying everyone has to live by my rules. So I don't know why or where she picked it up, but she has picked it up. The first few times, she told on herself. She just came to Autumn and said, "I said a bad word, it was oh my dod." Her g's still sound like g's, so it is really funny. Of course, when a sister hears her say this, tattling is soon to follow. However, one day, M not only tattled, but also tried to give her sister a pep-talk/lecture that went kind of like this: "S, you aren't supposed to say that. You need to apologize to God (she heard Autumn tell her that). You need to say I'm sorry to God because you took his name in sane."

So, here is the rule: Do not take the Lord's name in sane!!!!!

Family roots

While at our family reunion, some of our cousins showed us this hiking trail that ended up at an amazing place at the lake. On our way, we came across this tree. It was a very unique tree. In this completely rocky place, there was a huge, massive tree. It's many roots were huge and spread out everywhere. It really made me think of our family. I mean, here is this tree in this incredibly rocky foundation. Our girls' beginning in life started out pretty rocky. I mean really, when I think about it, I begin to tear up thinking about where they would have ended up...kind of like most trees in rocky places...puny and without life. Most people who would look at the beginning of their life and see how rocky it was and think, "No way on earth could these girls survive." But they didn't just survive. They are like this tree...they are strong, showing their presence to the world and beating the odds.

Then I look at the roots of this tree and it makes me think of the many many people that have invested themselves in our family. And to find this tree at the family reunion where the girls felt so loved and felt apart of something big is no coincidence at all. Most of all, I am so amazed at how the Lord gives such grace to take us from any situation and make us apart of his family if we choose to be. It doesn't matter what your "foundation" is, he roots you so deeply in his love. I am so grateful for that love and I am so glad we found this tree. For some reason, seeing this tree just hit me with all of these thoughts. Writing about this tree makes my heart feel full of gratitude and love! I love this tree!

Principal's office

Just so you know, I have gone back and forth whether to write this post or not. I want to have the memory documented, and it is just a funny story, but if I just don't know if I got sent to the Principal's office I would want the details written down. So I won't tell all the details of that!
Now, just so you know, all of our kids have gotten tickets pulled, lost a gumball, got a strike, moved their car, and whatever other discipline system.....they have gotten in trouble at school for numerous things....some responsibility and some behavior things. But, I do have to say that I am glad for that. I know you are thinking....crazy woman, why are you glad your kids are in trouble? The truth is, I pray that my kids will be caught, and they know I pray that! I want them to be caught so they will be corrected. If they are never caught, they will rarely learn from the situation. So I pray that they are caught, and man are they ever. I sometimes find myself wishing I didn't pray that, but in the end, it is the best thing. The only thing they learn by getting away with something they know is wrong is how to get away with it next time. So I pray they get caught if they are doing something wrong. I want them to learn from their mistakes, not just repeat them over and over.
This brings me to a specific situation where S definitely got caught, over and over and over! Remember, she was in pre-k when all of this happened. I got a call from the teacher, which is usually not a great thing in the middle of teaching time. She told me of the problems of the morning, which left me searching my mind for ideas to help this girl know how to act right. And just to let you know, the problems weren't huge, just little disobedience over and over.....remember too, I pray that she gets caught in each of those times and the Good Lord answered that prayer! S is such a sweet girl, but she is determined and strong-willed, but not as strong-willed as the teacher! (By the way, we love her teacher dearly...we are childhood friends).
When she asked me if I thought she needed swats from the principal, I knew how serious this was. This girl will test you til the end for sure! I came to the school, took her to the van, had a good "talk" with her, and sent her back. I told her, "if you disobey again, you WILL get swats." Well, what does this say to this little darling????........it says.....disobey one more time and just see if someone will give my smiling face swats!
So she disobeyed....I get the call...I tell them to make it good so it will be the last....then I get sick to my stomach. I was irritated with her for disobeying, sad for her that she had to get swats, and selfishly, I was embarrassed that one of my kids had to go to the Principal's office.
That afternoon when I got them from school and the older girls found out about S's bad day...M cried. She was SO upset that S was the first Tinsley girl EVER to get swats from the prinicipal!
Fast forward to the next day. I was home on my day off folding laundry when I got a voicemail on my phone. It is S's teacher again telling me that they are having a rough morning, she had been in the Principal's office, and she (the teacher) just didn't know what to do. By this point, I am mad. I was mad at S for her continuing blatant disobedience, and I was at the end of my rope for what to do. I am telling you, I never folded laundry so fast. Maybe I should get worked up while doing laundry more often! I called Autumn and told her to go deal with it...I was still in my p.j.'s and just couldn't handle it.
Autumn went to the school, walked down to S's room, and knocked on the door. She was a bit thrown off to see a smiling (not shook up) teacher. The teacher was a bit surprised to see Autumn, and as Autumn looked a little further, she saw S doing what she was supposed to be doing and smiling. What in the world? Well, I got yesterday's message finally. Yep, my phone had JUST NOW sent me the message from the day before! S was doing perfectly fine...no problems! However, I had it in my head that she was in trouble that day, so after school, and all evening, every time she wanted candy or to watch TV or whatever, I would tell her no because she got in trouble. She had to remind me that she really didn't get in trouble. Then I would remember and we would all laugh at the day all over again! After that, S rarely got in trouble. Thank you Lord that she got caught and could learn from her mistakes! Thank you Lord for your grace, that whenever we do make mistakes and make bad choices, you continue to love us and teach us!

Lessons learned

I have found myself getting on to the girls a lot lately (as a crying girl lays beside me right now refusing to take a nap). They are legitimate reasons, but sometimes I feel like I neglect to see the good the girls are doing and I just focus on the things they need to work on. So, I decided to take just a minute and think about some of the things the girls do good...actually, there are many lessons I could learn from the girls if I choose to. Here are some of the lessons:

1. Lesson from sister #1-M: Stand up for the weak and for the things you believe in. Let me tell you, there is very little that can stand in this girls' way when she is determined. Thankfully, she notices those who cannot stand up for themselves and helps them. If she believes something is right, she will stand up for it. Sometimes I give up too easily, but this girl doesn't give up. Yes, this quality can drive me crazy when she and I disagree on what is right, but sadly to say, she is ending up right more and more lately!


2. Lesson from sister #2-H: Listen to people. Now, this child does not listen to directions, or she just doesn't compute directions real well, but she does listen to people. I find myself daydreaming while people are talking to me. I start thinking about the things that need to be done, or I pay attention to everyone else around me except for who is talking to me. Not H, she listens when someone is telling her about themselves or telling a story. She listens and remembers and it makes people feel good. She makes people feel important by listening to them.


3. Lesson from sister #3-A: Give compliments to people. A is SO good at this. There are many, many times when A will give someone, anyone a compliment, and it totally changes their entire demeanor. The other day we were in a store, and the clerk was just a tad grumpy. She just didn't smile. I was checking out with the girls, and Autumn was off looking at something else. Later in the car, Autumn was telling me how interesting it was that the clerk suddenly seemed to change her mood and start smiling. I told her what made the difference...it was our little 6 year old A who looked up at her and said, "You are really good at this job." I guess we all need a little encouragement from time to time, and A notices the people who usually don't get compliments and she is not afraid to speak up.


4. Lesson from sister #4-S: Smile. I know this seems like a simple lesson...well, I guess it is, but I am telling you, we all forget to smile. S smiles...a LOT. If we all smiled more, I think we would feel better, and I think other people would respond better towards us. S smiles. People notice her smile and it brightens their day. I need to remember to smile more.


5. Lessons from all sisters: Give hugs. Now I know that it is different for little girls to give hugs to people than it is for a grow woman to give a hug, but I am telling you, these girls hug people and it makes them feel important and loved. The thing is, most people will treat people differently based on money, clothes, or whatever. These girls don't. I need to learn from them.

Now, I am by no means trying to make them sound perfect because I know they aren't. (remember, I am writing these things so I will remember to see the good and not just point out the bad.) But, there are many lessons to be learned and opportunities to be taken every day. Don't miss out!

breakfast in bed

We went to a family reunion this weekend. It was wonderful! I will post pictures later, but I am just telling you it was great. The reunion was held at a guest ranch, so there was so much to do, and since our family went a day early, we had so much fun even before the family got there, and even more fun after they were there! We stayed in a little cottage, which had two small rooms with two twin beds in each room. There was a Murphy bed in the living room, one bathroom and a little kitchenette, which was not fully stocked. We brought our own breakfast stuff and some lunch things in order to save money and not eat out ever meal. So the first night, H and M decided that they wanted to make breakfast for us the next day.
They were insistent that we do not help at all so they can do this for us! Now, we are not talking pancakes and eggs, we are talking muffins in a package and heating up sausage. They got up the next morning, went QUIETLY into the little girls' room, and tried to wake them up. The little girls didn't want to get up, so they continued with the "cooking". They did everything perfectly, and woke us up SO cheerfully with our little breakfast! They even made my coffee and fixed it perfectly with cream and sugar. It was wonderfully thoughtful and so sweet! So in the few days after that great breakfast in bed when they are being rude to their sisters or me, or when they have an attitude the size of Texas, I think of that sweet breakfast and realize the CAN be sweet and they ARE sweet, they just choose not to SHOW their sweetness all the time!