Happy New Year!

2010 was an awesome year. We are so blessed. I know I neglected this blog for the past couple of months but I started the year strong and wanted to at least have an ending post. I'm not sure what I will do next year for this blog....I hate to quit it but am considering "merging" it with my other blog. I don't want to lose the photo part of it but am often conflicted on which blog to post something on so I don't end up posting it anywhere. I'll sleep on it...but am leaning towards the merge ;)
For now, I hope you all have a wonderful evening and a very blessed 2011 and enjoy my final Notes from 2010!!

Happy Birthday, T!

We were out of town for the past two weeks which happened to fall over Tricky T's birthday. His cousins gave him a "surprise party" and since this pic included a note, I'm adding it here, even though it is a few days late :)

I blurred out his name at the bottom but this was just after we walked into the surprise. He was one happy birthday boy! :)

Oops.

I thought of things to post all week that I was thankful for but never took any pictures so never posted. Oops. I did so well for 21 days :( Oh well. I'm thankful for GRACE - God's and yours ;) No looking back...I'm moving on.

So, I thought I'd post this cute picture that Tricky T drew yesterday during church. For some reason, he likes to stay with us in service sometimes instead of going to Kid Church. He is really good in there so it isn't a problem and honestly, I like them being in service with us sometimes so it doesn't bother me. Anyway, I thought this was cute that he drew on the back of the sermon notes so scanned it so I don't lose it.

"I'll stand with arms high and heart abandoned. In awe of the one who gave it all."

11-21-10....bed...and seeds!

No picture again today. But I am going to bed before 11 and am thankful for that. Today was an amazing day at church. God is so good....MANY "seeds" were planted by our church family today. Super cool!

But now I must sleep or I will be worthless tomorrow.

I just didn't want to miss a day of being thankful.

11-20-10....Papa Johns

Today, after photographing 9 families in 4 hours, I was pooped. I was thankful that today is customer appreciation day at Papa Johns so we could go pick up some cheap pizza for dinner. The best part is that no one complained about what we were eating for a change!

I should have taken a picture of the pizza but, did I mention how tired I am? This will have to do....snagged it off their site ;o)

11-19-99 to 11-19-10......Captain C!!!

Today is C's 11th birthday and I am so thankful for him. Our lives were forever changed the day he came into it. He is smart, funny, kind, and just a great kid that I am honored that God trusted us to be his parents. We love him so much! Happy Birthday, C. We are praying for a great year for you!

11-18-10.....family time!

Today, we headed out early and spent the day in Branson. It was such a great day. Besides being a little chilly, we couldn't have asked for a better day together. I am thankful for times like these.

11-17-10....garage

This afternoon, in about an hour, the temperature dropped what seemed like 20* and it started raining. It was YUCKY out. It made me so thankful for our garage that is nice and warm and dry. In an ideal world, we could fit both vehicles in there...but we can't, so I am also thankful that Big Daddy doesn't complain when he is out there scraping his car off all winter and letting me and the kids have the garage. Love you, honey!!

11-16-10......technology

Today, as the kids were doing their memory work online, I was feeling thankful for technology.

I know that I couldn't do as well teaching them without the internet for resources. My business would be totally different without technology. Also, without technology, it would be a lot harder to live so far from my family. Thankfully we can skype, email, facebook, call, and send pictures and videos all the time to stay connected. While I do long for a simpler way of life, I am not ready to give up the technology that we are so spoiled by.

11-15-10......fire

We came home today from a day of CC to a cold house. Finally! I have been dying to start a fire but trying to be patient since Big Daddy has been working so hard this summer to stock up enough firewood for the winter. Last year it was so cold for so long that we ran out and had to go cut in the snow! I don't want that to happen again...but had to make our first fire. I love, love, love fires and am so thankful that we had this fireplace insert put in last year. It makes starting the fire so easy and makes watching it so much safer since the doors stay closed.

11-14-10.....siblings

Mine and my kids :)

Tricky T got sick in the night last night so Princess P and I stayed home with him this morning from church. He is feeling ok now so they are upstairs playing. They spent hours this week playing made up games. I love watching them play together. Captain C is getting "too old" to play with dinosaurs for hours with them, but does play other things with them and I love when he will read with them or help them with things they can't do. It is so great to have siblings to lean on, play with and just enjoy. Here are some pics from this morning of these two playing and one of my and my sisters from our trip to Branson together in May.

My sisters are two of my best friends. Even though they live 11 long hours away, we talk most days and see each other as often as we can. I love you girls (and we need to take a better pic when I see you again SOON!!!)

11-13-10.....work!

Today, I am thankful for work. Big Daddy's and mine. When Big D was laid off from his job of 12 years, we didn't know what we would do but he is SO much happier with his new company and God was so gracious to us during those 7 months he was out of work in '08-'09. Enter my biz....WOW. I am so glad that I didn't dig my heals in like I wanted to when my business started in 2006. My plan was to wait until this year to begin a business but had I stuck with my plan and not given in to God's plan, we would have been struggling when Big D was out of work, and when he took a job making way less than he was before. God knew. Praise Him! I am so thankful that I am able to not just help provide for our family, but really enjoy doing it. I love meeting all the great families and visiting new places. I love when something I have in my head comes through in print (like below). And I love being a part of people preserving their memories...that moment in time is forever frozen, while time whizzes on around us. So, while both of us are working all day today, I am choosing to be thankful! I am also thankful that his parents are willing to keep the kids on days like today when our schedules overlap. Such a blessing!!

11-12-10......childishness

Yes, I said it. And am putting it here as a reminder for days when I am not feeling thankful for it. Sure, in the past hour that we have been up, I have had to re-cut a grapefruit that a certain someone cut sideways (Have you tried to cut one the wrong way? It doesn't work. That same someone shut his hand in the quesadilla maker a couple of days ago. Maybe he should be banned from the kitchen for a bit?!?), peeled pink jeans off a certain someone else that tried to squeeze into them just one more time and got stuck, and been asked, by a third little someone's hand puppet, to help him with math, but I wouldn't trade this life for anything. Someday, I might not have to Clorox wipe off the bathroom counter before taking a picture for my blog, but I probably won't have anything to blog about then anyway. I certainly don't think that in a few years, I will be greeted by this when I go to the bathroom in the morning.

So today I am thankful for childishness....they are growing up too quickly!

11-11-10....freedom!

Today is Veteran's Day and we are so appreciative of all those that have and are serving us in the US military. We can sleep safely at night because of YOU. Thank you and God bless you and your family for your huge sacrifice.

[the boys are wearing their grandfather's jackets from his days in the Army]

11-10-10......quiet

Today was a rough day at the E Ranch. One of those days that I just wanted to escape for a few minutes of peace and quiet. On the way home from church tonight, I saw this cool sky and thought that today, I am choosing to be thankful for the few minutes of silence that I got (while showering, but still)...and will get once the sweet kiddos crash ;o)

[side note: the kids learned the phases of the moon this week so think this is a cool picture...finally, I've impressed them!]

11-9-10....weather

WOW. What a beautiful week we have had here in OK. Sure, the wind is sweeping down the plains...but I can deal with that if these temps stay like this for a while. I love it. Ask me again in a few months and you might get a different answer, but today, I am thankful for the WEATHER!


We grabbed our whiteboard and headed out back for some of our school work too until the wind tried to blow us away.

11-8-10.....CC

Today I am thankful for Classical Conversations, more specifically, our CC community.

When Big Daddy and I decided to pull Captain C out of the public school system 4 years ago, we weren't sure how long we were going to keep him home, but knew we needed to do it for the time being. I was pretty much winging it with him, and then Tricky T. We were very eclectic in our curriculum choices...changing it up as we went. It was going well, but once we started CC, we realized what we had been missing. First, we fell in love with the classical way of teaching. It just makes sense to us. But in the process, we fell in love with our CC group. It is such a unique group of like-minded people who truly want "to know God and make him known". We are thankful for the way they have pushed us to be better homeschoolers, befriended us and our children, and just become such a huge part of our lives that I can't imagine homeschooling without them. Thanks, CC!!

Today was "silly hair day" at CC. Aren't they cute?

 

Princess P has a "bowhawk" in case you couldn't tell ;)

11-7-10.....church

Today, I am thankful for our church. I can say that even after spending about 9 hours there today.... 3 teaching 2 year olds, 2 studying the Word with junior hi gals, and about 4 deep cleaning the nursery with the preschool team ;o) They really are our family and I can't imagine serving and growing with any other group of people. A missionary from Cambodia wrote an awesome blog post about our church that I think sums it up nicely. Check it out here, and if you are local and need a church home, give us a try. We aren't perfect, but perfect people don't need Jesus, right? ;o)

11-6-10....truck

Today I am thankful for Big Daddy's new truck :) He has needed a new car for quite a while but we so hate to spend money that we kept just praying it wouldn't break down on him and kept putting it off. With the addition of our wood burning fireplace insert last fall, he has been collection wood every chance he gets to keep us stocked up for the winter. That is hard to do in a Protege or the van...so he has to borrow his dad's truck, which he hates doing. We have been looking for a while for just the right truck at the right price (we are pay cash kinda people and not going to finance a vehicle) and finally found it. WooHoo. He is SO happy and I love that he is so proud of it :) He bought it Thursday night and today has taken all the recycling to the recycling center (that was LONG overdue), loaded up some stuff for Goodwill and is on his way to pick up a rick or two of wood. Love it. Praying it lasts many, many years!

11-5-10....home

Today, I am thankful for our HOME.  This it the third house we have owned since we got married (I didn't realize it at the time, but Big Daddy bought us our first house on our 2nd date....he lived in it for 6 months until we got married though!) and I have loved parts of each of them. We had one child at each house too...ok, not AT the house b/c they don't give epidurals at your house, but we brought each baby home to a different house. This is the longest we have stayed in a house and it honestly would be hard to leave at this point. When Big Daddy was out of work for 7 months, it crossed my mind that we might have to move in order to find work and I am so thankful that God met all our needs, above and beyond what we expected, and that fear didn't become reality. I do know that our HOME is different than our house though. And what I love about our HOME is that it is a safe place where we can all be ourselves. I hope our kids have great memories of our HOME when they grow up.

11-4-10.....unconditional love

After I became a parent, I had a greater understanding of God's unconditional love. As God's children, we mess up....a lot....and yet He still loves us completely, just like I still love my children completely, even when they mess up.

Today, I am thankful for the unconditional love of my Father in heaven and of my children. As a parent, I also mess up...a lot...and yet they still love me unconditionally too. I am so thankful for that.

11-3-10.....homeschooling

Today, I am thankful that I have the privilege of homeschooling my kiddos. When I was getting my teaching degree, I never dreamed that I would be using that to teach my own kids instead of teaching in a school system. I am so thankful that I am able to be home with them every day, teaching them and learning with them. I love seeing the light come on when they "get it" and even like figuring out different ways to teach them when they don't quite get it the first time. I also am thankful that we have the right to homeschool our kids.

Here they are in our school room working hard this afternoon. Oh and Captain C does have a desk. I am actually sitting at it taking the picture....although I think he prefers the couch or his bed to his desk most days ;)

11-2-10....democracy

Today, I am thankful for democracy. I am thankful that we, the people, have a say in how our great country is run. I am also thankful that when things don't go our way in a vote, there is always the next vote to try to make things right (2012, anyone?). If you haven't made it out yet, there's still a few more hours.  Remember, if you don't vote, you forfeit the right to complain about how it turns out.

11-1-10.....fun

A fellow photo blogger mentioned that she is posting one thing she is thankful for every day this month and I thought that sounded like a great idea. This is going to be the busiest month for me in a long time and it will be nice to take a moment each day to count my blessings. I am sure these little characters will show up throughout the month but I figured I'd start the month off with them right off the bat.

Today, I am thankful for fun! Like I mentioned, I am super-dee-dooper (Yikes! That makes me sound like Barney?) busy and it was so much FUN last night to watch these three enjoying themselves. I love them so much and enjoying stopping and just having fun with them.

A minute in the life of P

Yep, you ARE boo-tiful:

total fake laugh:

CHEESE!:

rock star?:

honestly, I have no idea:

cutie patootie:

now THAT is a real laugh!:

Fun Friday Foto - Portrait w/ Character

She's a character, alright ;)

Fun Friday Foto - Boss' Day

Working for myself, I was feeling kinda jipped on the whole Boss' Day thing. Until I remembered that as a Christian, I don't actually just work for myself, do I?

the best medicine

Tricky T has been having a lot of trouble wanting to do school lately. He doesn't have trouble with the actual work, just with stopping playing to DO the work. Today has been a great day though. He has done everything I have asked him, and no tears were shed! (Thank the Lord for small miracles!)

"You can't laugh and be mad. You can't laugh and worry, because stress, worry, and laughter are not compatible. Laughter is low-calorie, caffeine-free, no sodium, no preservatives or additives [or Red 40!]. It's 100% natural and one size fits all. Laughter truly is God's gift. You can get high on laughter but never OD. Laughter is contagious; once it starts, little can be done to stop it. Laughter never felt bad, committed a crime, started a war, or broke up a relationship. Laughter is shared by the giver and receiver. Laughter costs nothing and is not taxable." - Pat Willhoit

PS. Apparently T thinks it is funny for a plane to go down. Not sure why he drew that on his "laugh" page ;)

Flashback Wednesday

Ok, I made that up. But I was looking at our Fair pics this year and found one that "matched" last year's pics.

Last year:

This year:

Same: Concert after dark at the fair
Different: Last year, we saw Mercy Me, this year it was Third Day. (both were awesome, btw)
Same: T and P are wearing the same sweatshirts (T is on the ground in this year's pic but you can see his hood).
Different: CAPTAIN C! Good night, Nellie. He has grown this year! Yikes!!