Good Morning Girls & Contest Giveaway

Check this out- I SO need this in my life!  I'm run down in my homeschooling and mothering!  Think I have a chance of winning?  I hope so! http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/2012/11/giveaway-one-momheart-conference-ticket/

Where have I been?

Wow, I haven't blogged in FOREVER!  I doubt anyone will even see this or read it, it's been THAT long. And to think I used to blog all the time.  I don't even know where to begin...

• Hannah turned TWELVE in March.  Hard to believe that next year she will be a teenager.  She's supposed to get four teeth pulled here soon and then get braces.  She loves all things French & Paris.
• Josiah turned double digits in May- 10.  Where has that time gone?  I hug him and he seems so tall and grown to me now.  
• Also in May we found out we got orders and were going to PCS to Colorado- Buckley AFB in Aurora!  We were super excited, although I was also a bit sad because I LOVE Iowa.  We had to put our house up for sale and now we're doing a short sale on it.  Really hoping it all goes through soon...just waiting on the bank.  Always a waiting game with them.
• June found us saying good-byes and packing up and leaving.  It was difficult.  It still is difficult.  We arrived in Colorado the last day of the month.  It was breathtakingly beautiful to see the mountains!  We found a nice rental just 2 miles from the base.  The house is huge.  Neighborhood is nothing like what our old one was though, and I miss our neighbors.  Still shopping for a church, I miss our church.  I miss my friends.  I miss Iowa.
• July found Naomi turning ONE.  Where did that year go???  It found my father-in-law showing up for a visit a wee bit earlier than anticipated and helping us get this house (a rental) up to par.  It found Naomi braving step after step after step and walking all over the house.  It found us exploring our new state, meeting family & new friends.  It's been a VERY tough move and I haven't exactly been the best sport about everything...Jesus forgive me.

I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for us here.  I remember a couple of years ago being given a desire to move to Colorado.  I had never been here before, yet the desire became stronger and stronger.  The Lord totally opened the door and a job was open for Zach to apply for and God totally moved and sent us here.  I said all along I believe He has something "big" in store for us here in regards to serving Him.  Lo and behold, the Movie Massacre shooting happened just 5 miles down the road from us only 3 weeks after moving here.  Really shakes you to the core and gets you thinking about what He wants you to do to work for Him and His kingdom.

Things you just can't say on facebook

Do you ever just wanna put it out there but can't?  Ugh!  All I can say right now is that I am SO TIRED of pretending everything is fine.  Fact is, it's really not.  And I'm tired of being treated the way I am.  Just tired of it all.

The Abster

Boy, does Abby crack me up these days.  She just talks so much.  She seems so grown up for her days, probably because of her older siblings!  She sure can carry on a conversation and while others may not understand her I sure can.  She says youth group like "boops poop" and it cracks me up every single time.  Then she just has the cutest little smile and giggles.  I've just been enjoying her these past couple of days.  That's saying a lot because lately I've had a difficult time enjoying my kids and I've prayed about this, that I'd begin enjoying them again.  Even if it is one by one!  I don't always enjoy her, of course...with her fits and fits.  She sure knows how to throw a fit like the best of them...from watching her sibs.  I can see when she stomps off how she's so much like one of her brothers.  Or how she says certain things how she sounds like one or the other too.  I guess she learns from the "best of them" right?  Haha.  


So tonight on the way home from Bible study I sat in the back with Abby & Naomi because Naomi wasn't feeling well.  Abby must have loved it and she talked my ear off...guess it pays to have her older sister at "boops poop" so she doesn't monopolize the conversation!  Abby sure took advantage of that time to talk!  I can't remember everything we talked about but it was fun and I sure enjoyed it.  When I began to say something to her about her birthday and how it's in August she got really excited.  You see, her friend from church has a baby sister named August.  She was quite confused.  I told her Gabe & I also have birthdays in August.  But she sure didn't understand it.  She was pumping her fists in the air and saying, "Yay!  I like August!"  lol  Earlier today I was going over the books of the Bible with the kids and she was saying them right along with us.  So cute.  When we go over Bible verses she has to be right there with us saying verses also.  I love that!  Hannah asked her what Ava and her talk about and she says, "Mmm, dresses and people."  Then she hesitated and said, "And Jesus."  Crack.  Me.  Up.


She always wants to do her school too...which is hard because I seldom do.  I should.  When I give the kids a spelling test she gets her pad of paper and pencil and says, "Now what?"  So I shout out letters or numbers for her to write and she scribbles something on her paper!  My girl is growing up way too fast.  Why oh why do they have to grow so fast?


Oh and fast fact- she LOVES to wear dresses.  Thankfully there are times when mostly Hannah (never myself) can talk her into wearing pants.  Oh and she also really loves to stick her hands down her pants.  Gross, gross, gross.  I feel like her hands always stink, even when we wash them!  And the other day Hannah told me there was POOP on the wall by Abby's bed...from digging in her pants that she pooped in.  Ugh!  Three year olds are SO cute as they grow and learn but they can also be so nasty!

Why do babies grow so fast?

So as I was browsing through my blog I realized I have NO pictures of baby N on here!  That is just unreal.  I feel like a failure or something.  Just shows how much Facebook has really taken over...I barely blog at all.  But still...she is 7 months old and this is the first picture?  I'm praying I just missed one somewhere in there!  She is such a sweet baby.  I've been trying to feed her baby food now and she loves to help hold the spoon.  She really likes squash and tonight was eating some and would say, "Num."  It was so sweet.  She still barely rolls over and prefers to sit up.  She'll probably never crawl!  Oh well, I am honestly content letting her not do that stuff...they're only little so long, ya know?  The past 7 months has already flown by.  

Did I really just blog TWO days in a row?  What's up with that!?!?  Go me!

Torn

I'm so torn about moving.  In a sense I really look forward to being at a base again (hopefully) and I actually look forward to living in base housing.  Call me weird.  I just am tired of us owning our own home and don't really want to buy again until we can settle down somewhere.  I see all these neat ideas on Pinterest and I think, "Boy when we move I want to do that."  I could do it in this house, I suppose, but it just makes more sense to wait to do some things until we move.  I am just ready for some changes in decor and stuff, ya know?  It gets tiring having the same old things!

In another sense I dread moving.  I LOVE being somewhere where I run to the store and I see someone I know.  I remember first moving here (or anywhere for that matter) and you are at the store or wherever and you see nobody you know...you feel so alone, so new!  Pretty much everywhere I go nowadays I see somebody I know.  I run to Target and I ALWAYS see somebody I know.  The cashiers at Fareway are familiar to me (and oh so friendly).  I swear the people at that store are the friendliest I've ever met at a store, although Hy-Vee ranks up there too, I just don't go there as often.  At the Valentine's party with our homeschool group the other day it was so nice to keep hearing, "Hi Jamie!"  I was reminiscing on the way home from the party about my first meeting with that group back when we first moved here.  I knew one person- the "president" of the group.  I remember feeling so alone and unwelcome, not knowing a soul.  I came home SO discouraged, really not sure I wanted to join that group.  Here I am three and a half years later and even though we don't do a whole lot with the group I have made some great friends through it.  I have finally found a "real" salon with an awesome stylist.  She is super sweet and I'm so thankful to have somebody take the time to make my hair what I want it and not just give me a cut.  I love walking into the gas station and having the cashier recognize me and chat away.  More importantly we are meeting more and more people at church.  After almost 3 years I finally feel at home there.  Do I really want to "throw" that away?  I know how hard it is to find a Bible believing/preaching church.  Then it takes awhile (for us) to jump in and feel like we're part of the "family"...am I ready to move on?  Of course it's not my decision, is it?  It's all up to God, of course.

Zach applied to a job at Buckley AFB near Denver.  I would LOVE to move there.  For a couple of years now I keep saying how much I want to go to Colorado.  I have no idea why I have this desire.  I've never been there.  Part of me is praying he gets it.  Another part of me wants to be "stuck" in Iowa because that would be a good thing too.  Although, being in Iowa for a longer period of time also has some downfalls...our house is "too small" for us and way far from Zach's work.  I wouldn't want to move out of our current town because it is home and I love it, its close to our center of friends, church, etc.  Then again, if we moved to the north end of town he'd be that much closer to work...but we'd have to rent cuz this girl doesn't wanna buy again for about 7 years!

So much to think about.  I am SO thankful for how the Lord has blessed us here in Iowa.  It hasn't all been peachy, of course.  Lots of trials.  But I choose to look beyond those and see the blessings here.  I'm so thankful for each of those blessings.

Happy New Year

It's hard to believe another year has come and gone!  I cannot believe how little I blog anymore.  I always intend to, but life doesn't afford me a lot of time to blog these days, what with 5 kiddos and all.  How do I sum up 2011?  A growing experience for sure.  I had to grow out of my comfort zone to learn to ask for and accept help.  I learned I *can* parent on my own, with my spouse deployed (although I know I'm never really on my "own").  I am so thankful, beyond words, for the people who stepped in to bless our family this year in so many countless ways.  And just when I thought it couldn't get any better we were blessed with many Christmas gifts unexpectedly.  What a huge blessing.  God is so good to us.  He blessed us with a precious baby girl.  He brought my husband home safely.  We're healthy.  We have food, a warm home and clothes.  God is good.  I really cannot complain, can I?  Who am I to be ungrateful?  Speaking of baby girl, how is it she's already almost 6 months old?  About 3 days ago she finally rolled from her back to her belly.  She's been rolling from belly to back for probably 2 months now.  She has her two bottom front teeth.  She sits up pretty well, though I wouldn't leave her unassisted yet.  She's a mama's girl for sure.  She certainly doesn't sleep well at night like she did back in the beginning.  But, can I complain?  No.  I am blessed with the chance to be her mommy!  I have so many friends who'd give anything to have a baby so I really can't and shouldn't complain.  I wonder what 2012 has in store for us.  Will we get orders?  As much as I do love it here, I think I am honestly ready to move.  I want to live on base again.  I am tired of owning our home, a home that we outgrew the minute we moved in!  But, I am thankful we have a home, a roof over our heads, nonetheless.  So, to sum up 2011, it wasn't always easy, what with Zach gone for 7 months of the year, having a baby with him gone, not just any baby but baby number 5, and all the other obstacles, I am thankful for it all because each experience makes me and shapes me into who I am and I pray that I will grow from it and attempt to be who God wants me to be.