Like I said before, we went on an 8 hour trip to my cousin's wedding. Being on the road for that long with 6 girls packed tight in a car, you know there will be lots of 3 things...eating, laughing, and whining. Luckily, we did more of the first two and not a ton of the last. I wanted to share one little story of something that happened while driving, but in order for you to really appreciate the story, I have to give you some background stories, so get ready!
I do not know if this happens to everyone and it just traumatizes me, or if this happens to me unusually often. For some reason, I have strange encounters with animals on the road quite often. Weird, I know! Let me tell you about them...one encounter happened while driving at night to my grandma's house. It was dark, and POURING down rain. I'm telling you, the rain was blinding, so I decided to pull over and let the rain pass over us. As I pulled on the shoulder, I saw something white through the blinding rain. What was it? A DUCK!!! Yes, a duck, and it was "ducking" (I crack myself up) its head into its feathers. I scream. And I ran over the duck...by ran over it, I mean that my car straddled it...the duck lived...I screamed and then laughed hysterically. Another time, I was driving with several friends in the car. It was dark. As I drove down a hill, I saw something in the road. I screamed, and screamed and screamed. I don't think my friends knew what I was screaming about. We drove over the victim animal, then I heard a thump thump. He was a goner. I screamed and screamed, then laughed hysterically.
A different time, I was driving late at night by myself back to Falls Creek camp. I saw something, so I slowed down. It was a good thing I slowed down because here came an animal (I can't remember if it was a raccoon or a possum) crossing the road, and guess what was behind it??? Little babies! Such a sweet and tender moment...I laughed hysterically and then screamed at the thought that I saved the lives of a family that night, even if it was the family of raccoons or possums.
Another time, I was driving either by myself or with Bethany. We saw a cat in the middle of the road. I didn't see it in time...thump thump. I looked in the rear view mirror, and I saw that poor cat...only half of his legs worked. He drug the other half. It was so sad, but I screamed, then laughed hysterically. I don't know why I laugh at such sad things.
I ran into a bird one time. I screamed and then laughed hysterically.
I saw a hawk drop a mouse from the sky, straddled the mouse and saved his life. I closed my eyes, screamed, and laughed hysterically.
These are only the times I remember. These are very traumatic times in my life.
Well, it happened again on the road to Texas. We were driving in broad daylight, when I see a squirrel in the road. The little guy really reminded me of those commercials when the squirrel pops out in front of the car and causes the accident on purpose. He kind of came out on the road, and kept going back and forth on the road, leaving me screaming, "oh no! oh no!"
When I saw that he was going to stay in the road, I ducked my head, put my hands over my head (as if the thing was really going to come up and hit me in the face!) and screamed, closing my eyes tightly. Did I tell you I was driving? Yes I was! Why in the world do I always close my eyes and scream and then laugh? I don't know, but it is true. And by the way, there was no thump. Mr. Squirrel lived to see the evening, unless he was hit by a different driver, but I don't want to think of that!
Autumn and I spent a lot of our miles on the way to Texas laughing SO hard at me covering my head because of that squirrel! I glad his life was saved!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Aunt Ida
Like I said in the previous post, I will post pictures from my cousin Marci's wedding soon, but here is a little story from the weekend. The girls have dreamed about being flower girls in a wedding, so they were thrilled when Marci asked them to be apart of her special day. They loved every second of the wedding. They adored all of the bridesmaids and watched their every move...they LOVED watching Marci, and just liked spending time with family and friends, and new friends. The girls make friends pretty quickly with people, and everyone there was so sweet to pay attention and play and talk to them.
One of the family members we got to meet is Aunt Ida. Aunt Ida is (follow me here) my mom's sister's husband's sister. So she is my uncle's sister. We are not related to Aunt Ida, and I don't remember ever meeting her before the wedding, but we have heard about her for years. It's not like there are big stories or anything about her, but I just remember hearing things like, "we went to see Aunt Ida. or Aunt Ida might be coming." Things like that. So, knowing that Aunt Ida and her husband Fred were going to be at the wedding, I was pretty interested to finally meet her and see if she is like I have imagined her to be. I know I probably sound creepy sometimes when I tell the thoughts that are inside my head. I guess I just hope that some of you have the same type of thoughts and maybe I'm not so crazy!
Anyway...that was a wierd sidetrack...
Back to Aunt Ida...
So I saw Aunt Ida and her husband Fred come into the rehearsal dinner, although I never formally met them. They were very nice looking. Aunt Ida was very proper looking. She smiled at us, but I could tell right away that she was not going to be the type to get on the floor and play with the kids. She was very nice, but she just seemed to not be a "kid" person. She probably warms up to kids after a while, and I know my girls can be a bit overwhelming with their big personalities and just the fact that there are four of them. So we really did not visit with aunt Ida at the rehearsal dinner.
However, at the reception, the opportunity arrived...there were two tables for the bride's family to sit, and our table filled up, so we sent H and M to sit at the other table.
Now, follow me here, even if it gets confusing. Picture this with me. At the round table, from left to right was:
Fred, Aunt Ida, M, H, and then somewhere was my cousin Scott and his wife Katie.
Well, something happened...not sure exactly what...but M and H spilled M's. I saw that they spilled, and Scott and Katie and aunt Ida were cleaning the mess quickly, which was nice. The mess got cleaned up, and I went to the bathroom. Guess who was in the bathroom...aunt Ida! So I started telling her how thankful I was that she helped the girls clean up...then I noticed that she was cleaning her skirt off. Then I realized what happened...the girls didn't just spill their tea, but they spilled their tea ON aunt Ida!!! I apologized several times in the bathroom, and she sweetly smiled and told me she thought it would rinse out just fine.
As I walked back into the reception, I was thankful that our one accident for the evening wasn't too bad. That was my mistake. There wasn't just one accident of the evening.
You see, when aunt Ida came back from the restroom, she did a little switch-a-roo with the seating. Now the order was: Scott, Katie, M, H, Ida, Fred
So poor wet aunt Ida thought she would be smart and move to sit by the other girl, H. Well, pretty soon, the commotion at the other table caught my attention. Another drink was down and flowing all over....you guessed it...aunt Ida! Are you kidding me? Really? POOR SWEET AUNT IDA!!! I could NOT believe it!
So we got everything cleaned up, brought H to our table, and then noticed that aunt Ida had not only scooched over, but had also put Fred in between herself and the girls. Poor Ida! Well, a little later in the evening, Scott was walking back to his seat, carrying his water with him, when all of a sudden, something tripped him, and his water spilled just a bit. Aunt Ida was sitting right beside where he tripped, and all I could think was, "PLEASE DO NOT LET IT SPILL ON AUNT IDA!!!"
Well, good thing people, because it did NOT spill on aunt Ida, but we sure had a good laugh imagining that it did!
I'm sure that was a wedding that aunt Ida will never forget!
One of the family members we got to meet is Aunt Ida. Aunt Ida is (follow me here) my mom's sister's husband's sister. So she is my uncle's sister. We are not related to Aunt Ida, and I don't remember ever meeting her before the wedding, but we have heard about her for years. It's not like there are big stories or anything about her, but I just remember hearing things like, "we went to see Aunt Ida. or Aunt Ida might be coming." Things like that. So, knowing that Aunt Ida and her husband Fred were going to be at the wedding, I was pretty interested to finally meet her and see if she is like I have imagined her to be. I know I probably sound creepy sometimes when I tell the thoughts that are inside my head. I guess I just hope that some of you have the same type of thoughts and maybe I'm not so crazy!
Anyway...that was a wierd sidetrack...
Back to Aunt Ida...
So I saw Aunt Ida and her husband Fred come into the rehearsal dinner, although I never formally met them. They were very nice looking. Aunt Ida was very proper looking. She smiled at us, but I could tell right away that she was not going to be the type to get on the floor and play with the kids. She was very nice, but she just seemed to not be a "kid" person. She probably warms up to kids after a while, and I know my girls can be a bit overwhelming with their big personalities and just the fact that there are four of them. So we really did not visit with aunt Ida at the rehearsal dinner.
However, at the reception, the opportunity arrived...there were two tables for the bride's family to sit, and our table filled up, so we sent H and M to sit at the other table.
Now, follow me here, even if it gets confusing. Picture this with me. At the round table, from left to right was:
Fred, Aunt Ida, M, H, and then somewhere was my cousin Scott and his wife Katie.
Well, something happened...not sure exactly what...but M and H spilled M's. I saw that they spilled, and Scott and Katie and aunt Ida were cleaning the mess quickly, which was nice. The mess got cleaned up, and I went to the bathroom. Guess who was in the bathroom...aunt Ida! So I started telling her how thankful I was that she helped the girls clean up...then I noticed that she was cleaning her skirt off. Then I realized what happened...the girls didn't just spill their tea, but they spilled their tea ON aunt Ida!!! I apologized several times in the bathroom, and she sweetly smiled and told me she thought it would rinse out just fine.
As I walked back into the reception, I was thankful that our one accident for the evening wasn't too bad. That was my mistake. There wasn't just one accident of the evening.
You see, when aunt Ida came back from the restroom, she did a little switch-a-roo with the seating. Now the order was: Scott, Katie, M, H, Ida, Fred
So poor wet aunt Ida thought she would be smart and move to sit by the other girl, H. Well, pretty soon, the commotion at the other table caught my attention. Another drink was down and flowing all over....you guessed it...aunt Ida! Are you kidding me? Really? POOR SWEET AUNT IDA!!! I could NOT believe it!
So we got everything cleaned up, brought H to our table, and then noticed that aunt Ida had not only scooched over, but had also put Fred in between herself and the girls. Poor Ida! Well, a little later in the evening, Scott was walking back to his seat, carrying his water with him, when all of a sudden, something tripped him, and his water spilled just a bit. Aunt Ida was sitting right beside where he tripped, and all I could think was, "PLEASE DO NOT LET IT SPILL ON AUNT IDA!!!"
Well, good thing people, because it did NOT spill on aunt Ida, but we sure had a good laugh imagining that it did!
I'm sure that was a wedding that aunt Ida will never forget!
Welcome to Texas
I will definitely post some pictures later, but we took a 8ish hour trip to go to my cousin's wedding, which the girls were also the flower girls in. We had SO much fun, and I have lots of good stories, but I will share just one at a time! The girls all do really well traveling. They really do. We always say, "Girls, you need to go to the bathroom now, cause it's going to be a long time." Then, usually just an hour or two down the road, we stop at the bathroom...not for any of the girls, but usually for Autumn, and sometimes for me. So really, the girls are better travellers than we are in some senses!
Well, we brought TONS of snacks and game boys, Nintendo DS, and notebooks and such to keep them busy, and it did just that. On the way to the wedding, the girls were so excited that they could not sleep, so we let them play their games. Of course when we crossed the state live, we honked, because we always honk when we cross the state line. So I told the girls, "Girls, put your games on pause and everyone look up because we are about to cross into Texas. Everyone look up...we are almost in Texas! Look girls...you want to see what Texas looks like!"
Of course A immediately starts looking for cowboys, then Autumn spotted the same building the girls spotted...it was the most noticeable building around. Let me describe this building to you. It was a little building all painted white, making it very very bright. The sign in front was white with big red letters. The building had (in big HUGE letters written across the front of it) "XXX" and the big huge bright sign said "ADULT VIDEOS"
Of course.
Of course.
The girls had their pretty little faces stuck to their games, oblivious to the scenery around them, and I, me, the smart woman I am, had to make a point to draw their attention to the naughty store. Oh my! I just couldn't believe it.
WELCOME TO TEXAS GIRLS!!!
Oh, and just so you know, A did get to see her "real" cowboy. There was a man riding his horse on the shoulder of the highway. Good for A!
Well, we brought TONS of snacks and game boys, Nintendo DS, and notebooks and such to keep them busy, and it did just that. On the way to the wedding, the girls were so excited that they could not sleep, so we let them play their games. Of course when we crossed the state live, we honked, because we always honk when we cross the state line. So I told the girls, "Girls, put your games on pause and everyone look up because we are about to cross into Texas. Everyone look up...we are almost in Texas! Look girls...you want to see what Texas looks like!"
Of course A immediately starts looking for cowboys, then Autumn spotted the same building the girls spotted...it was the most noticeable building around. Let me describe this building to you. It was a little building all painted white, making it very very bright. The sign in front was white with big red letters. The building had (in big HUGE letters written across the front of it) "XXX" and the big huge bright sign said "ADULT VIDEOS"
Of course.
Of course.
The girls had their pretty little faces stuck to their games, oblivious to the scenery around them, and I, me, the smart woman I am, had to make a point to draw their attention to the naughty store. Oh my! I just couldn't believe it.
WELCOME TO TEXAS GIRLS!!!
Oh, and just so you know, A did get to see her "real" cowboy. There was a man riding his horse on the shoulder of the highway. Good for A!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Love
I realize that it is the very last day of February and I am just now posting about Valentine's Day...sorry. Autumn I love these 4 girls...SO much. I think that is pretty obvious. Valentine's Day is kind of a funny day when you are single. People treat Valentine's day so differently...either they are so in love, or so angry that they aren't. So, as a single person, you have a choice...either you can choose to feel sorry for yourself and look at everything you don't have, OR you can choose to look at the life the Lord chose for YOU to live, and enjoy every single moment of it. Guess what I chose...yep...to enjoy ALL of the people that I love very much in my life...especially these four girls! I am thankful for this crazy life God has chosen for me! Never in a MILLION years when I was younger did I EVER think that I would end up raising four sisters with MY sister....never did I dream that. My dreams included a dreamy man, wedding, and children...but wow....God's plan is AMAZING. HIS ways are so much better than OURS!!! Thank you Lord for your plan. Thank you for your unending and unconditional love. Thank you for your grace. And thank you for leading me always.
So....what did we do for Valentine's Day??? Well...we have a few traditions. One tradition is our party in a box. My grandma, otherwise known as G-ma, has made a tradition to always send her great-grandchildren a party in a box. The girls love to receive it. It always has plates and napkins and candy. This time, it had some other fun trinkets and surprises. We love traditions. The girls' first years of life were full of instability and insecurities, that traditions are so much fun in our house...they mean so much. Knowing that G-ma ALWAYS sends a party in a box...knowing that you get a heart braid on Valentine's day, knowing that every V-day move the table to the living room and get out the nice china and have a nice dinner...those are traditions that build stability. Those are things that mean much more than just fun traditions....I LOVE them!
So...the little balloons they are holding in the picture, well those are just TONS of fun. They came in packages that looked like candy, but you do NOT open the package. No, you just pound the package, and it starts to inflate, then all of the sudden, it POPS out of the package and makes a really loud sound....and in our house, that means that 5 of us scream really loud. Can you guess who doesn't scream really loud? We really had so much fun.
I did S's heart braid for church the day before, but I did not get a picture of it...sorry S.
So....what did we do for Valentine's Day??? Well...we have a few traditions. One tradition is our party in a box. My grandma, otherwise known as G-ma, has made a tradition to always send her great-grandchildren a party in a box. The girls love to receive it. It always has plates and napkins and candy. This time, it had some other fun trinkets and surprises. We love traditions. The girls' first years of life were full of instability and insecurities, that traditions are so much fun in our house...they mean so much. Knowing that G-ma ALWAYS sends a party in a box...knowing that you get a heart braid on Valentine's day, knowing that every V-day move the table to the living room and get out the nice china and have a nice dinner...those are traditions that build stability. Those are things that mean much more than just fun traditions....I LOVE them!
So...the little balloons they are holding in the picture, well those are just TONS of fun. They came in packages that looked like candy, but you do NOT open the package. No, you just pound the package, and it starts to inflate, then all of the sudden, it POPS out of the package and makes a really loud sound....and in our house, that means that 5 of us scream really loud. Can you guess who doesn't scream really loud? We really had so much fun.
I did S's heart braid for church the day before, but I did not get a picture of it...sorry S. 
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Lately
It has been a little nutty lately at the Tinsley household...You are probably thinking...what day ISN'T nutty at the Tinsley household? You are right. My friends Kenny and Kim recently told us that our family should have its own reality show. While I think there would be some very funny moments on that show, there would also be way too many moments of me snapping at my children, getting frustrated and acting dumb...so we will just stick with the blog! I really could come up with a million reasons why I haven't posted, but I don't know why, I just haven't thought of anything to say! Anyway...all excuses aside, I haven't posted in a really long time and now February is almost over....just a few more hours... So, for your enjoyment, I hope to post several posts here. And thanks to my aunt Connie, for motivating me to write something tonight!
We got up on a Saturday morning and leisurely got ready to go to the big city to do some shopping and get the girls' flower dresses sized (thanks Aunt Deborah!!) Let's just say it was one of "those" mornings. It wasn't a bad morning, but a morning where we really shouldn't have let the youngest two girls out of our sight. First thing, Autumn came through and saw S and A together, and A immediately ran off. S stood and looked at Autumn with a sly grin and said something like, "She's just going back there.....she's not feeding the dogs."
Right....like we are going to believe that one. If S looks at us with a mischievous grin and tells us that A isn't doing something, it probably means she is doing something. And what is so wrong with A feeding the dogs???
Well......
That is S's chore. Yes, little miss S knows exactly how to get her older sister to do her chore for her.....which brought us the opportunity to once again discuss what the word manipulation means!
A little later in the morning (while still getting ready for the day) Autumn once again walks in to S with a little red something on her face...
"S...did you lick the icing from the bottle?"
"No....why?"
"S...tell me the truth, did you eat the icing?"
We got up on a Saturday morning and leisurely got ready to go to the big city to do some shopping and get the girls' flower dresses sized (thanks Aunt Deborah!!) Let's just say it was one of "those" mornings. It wasn't a bad morning, but a morning where we really shouldn't have let the youngest two girls out of our sight. First thing, Autumn came through and saw S and A together, and A immediately ran off. S stood and looked at Autumn with a sly grin and said something like, "She's just going back there.....she's not feeding the dogs."
Right....like we are going to believe that one. If S looks at us with a mischievous grin and tells us that A isn't doing something, it probably means she is doing something. And what is so wrong with A feeding the dogs???
Well......
That is S's chore. Yes, little miss S knows exactly how to get her older sister to do her chore for her.....which brought us the opportunity to once again discuss what the word manipulation means!
A little later in the morning (while still getting ready for the day) Autumn once again walks in to S with a little red something on her face...
"S...did you lick the icing from the bottle?""No....why?"
"S...tell me the truth, did you eat the icing?""No...."
OBVIOUSLY she did not look in the mirror and obviously she thinks we are pretty clueless. Aaagghhh...it is SO frustrating when you KNOW that your child did wrong, when you KNOW that all they need to do is to admit it, ask for forgiveness, and move on. It is SO frustrating...and yet, when I say this out loud, I realize something....that is EXACTLY how our heavenly Father, God, must feel about us. How many times do we try and hide things from the Lord, knowing that he created us, knows everything about us, and knows everything....that He is waiting with open arms, wanting to help us learn from our mistakes, and the only thing keeping us from getting past our mistake, is our own selves....yes...thank you S for this lesson...And Lord, please let me be more like you. Give me patience, wisdom, and grace!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Snow Pictures (more)
I keep forgetting and uploading them backwards, so they are out of order, but I really don't feel like doing it again, so here they are. The ones at the bottom are from the first day, and the ones with the big snow flakes are from the second day. H and M didn't want to go outside with us on the second day, so they stayed in and watched us play. I think they later wished that they were out there with us! We had a great time!
The dog came and "attacked" us and wanted in the fun!
Catching snow on her tongue.
mmmm....
Of course there has to be a couple of cartwheels!
The Guymon hat was my dad's hat from when we lived there. It is now a treasured hat and a favorite when we go out in the cold. I LOVE A's mismatched outfit! Very funny...love this girl!
Hudson had to catch some snow on his tongue too!
The picture below was RIGHT before the picture above! And the one above it was right after that. Yes, from smiling to crying in about 5 seconds!
The dog came and "attacked" us and wanted in the fun!
Catching snow on her tongue.
mmmm....
Of course there has to be a couple of cartwheels!
The Guymon hat was my dad's hat from when we lived there. It is now a treasured hat and a favorite when we go out in the cold. I LOVE A's mismatched outfit! Very funny...love this girl!
Hudson had to catch some snow on his tongue too!
The picture below was RIGHT before the picture above! And the one above it was right after that. Yes, from smiling to crying in about 5 seconds!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Snow Pictures (a few anyway)
We were totally snowed in last week from Monday to Monday. Well, we got out of the house on Saturday and went to town, but we didn't have church on Sunday and then went back to school on Monday. And guess what??? As I sit and write this, we are gearing up for another heavy snow...we will see what this one brings. We have had the best time staying in. It really has been fun. So...we did get out in the yard and played several times. I have TONS of pictures! TONS. So, I will post a few at a time and just see how far I get!
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