Going from crazy to insane. That is how it feels during November around here. Being of a phlegmatic personality (laid back and preferring a slower pace) it gets a little rough, but the nature of the busyness makes it all worth the exhaustion.

The first week of the month may have been my favorite. Caleb (my nephew) graduated from Marine boot camp and got to come home on leave for a few days. The kids and I were able to make the trip up to my sister's to see him. Then he rode home with us and attended youth with Jeff. I'm so proud of him and my niece Alex, who just became an Airman as well. However, I'm still having a hard time with them being so far away. I miss them like crazy! Isn't he a handsome Marine?




Jeff and I were invited to be a part of a couple of youth retreats coming up in February and March. Jeff will be doing a "talk" at the boys retreat in Feb., and I get to do one in March with the girls. We spent a Saturday at training one weekend. The best part is this is taking place in our home town at the church where both of us went when we were younger. Its always fun to go back 'home' and see childhood friends and acquaintances. It may not seem like much, but it is where we grew up and started our lives together.


A week ago, Thursday, my handsome baby boy turned SIX! I'm a little baffled as to how this has happened. Despite his intelligence and large vocabulary, I still tend to think of him as a little guy. I don't have any actual pics of his day. Sadly, I have to admit it was a pretty rough day. Caity was exhausted and we all felt it. Thursdays have turned into our hard days of running too many errands in town. I'm working on getting that fixed. His 'party' turned out great! He chose Shogun's in Fayetteville. When I told him we could only have two friends come, he was cool with that. I was cool with getting sushi and having all their leftovers. Ha! He is really growing into a great boy. He definitely has a love language of physical touch, but I won't complain. I love all his hugs and kisses...even the ones meant to keep him out of trouble. 


The next morning we packed up early and dispersed the kiddos so that Jeff and I could go with the youth to the Arkansas District Youth Convention. I think it was one of the best ones in several years. The speaker was interesting yet challenged the kids to live passionately for God with out being overly emotional. I had some great discussion Friday night with the high school girls. Of course we also had a whole lot of fun. We shopped, ate, shopped, ate, went to service, ate some more, slept a little, ate, went to service, ate, shopped, went to Starbucks and ate again. Seriously, I thought I was going to die from eating. I'm pretty sure that isn't good. Oh well, the weekend was incredible!! I love these teenagers!!

I forgot to mention I was almost carried off by a giant gorilla. It was quite frightening, if you can't tell by the picture. We found some of our Warren crew while we were there. That seriously made our night. Love them so much!!

 

Normally Christina helps with worship, but this years she got to be with us the whole time. I'm going to admit to my selfishness and say, that made this trip that much better. I'm not going to lie though. The worship wasn't quite the same. This girl can SING!

 

This week has been spent enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday. We aren't finished yet. One more meal full of dressing and desserts with our extra "family" tomorrow. Our husbands refer to us as the sisters because so many have mistakenly thought we were. I love these ladies!! Great times will follow.

 

It may be crazy busy. It may be verging on insanity, but when life is this full I am reminded that its a blessing. None of this busyness is a negative stress...well working the football games can be at times. Ha! Notice I didn't talk about those. Yeah, I'm going to try to put them out of my mind until next August. They are a blessing as well. Otherwise there would be a lot of kids, including mine, who would have a hard time coming up with money for Church camp and other important events.

 

Now to bring on the Christmas season....also known around here as Bowl Season..... Yippee!!

A little slow...

What happened to reviving the Blog??? Well, reality, and me being technologically challenged. We have a desk top that isn't hooked up to the wireless we snag from the parents. (why pay for it when theirs works just fine, right? Ha!) Anyway, this has hindered my time for actually blogging. Add to that the fact that my children carried off and misplaced the battery charger for the camera. As much as they love seeing their faces on here, you'd think they'd help me out a little. However, my husband just pointed out a very simple, obvious fact. I can blog from my iPad. Duh!!! Hello, my name is Mandee and I've recently joined the new millenium. Yay! Now blogging will be all kinds of convenient. Be ready. Here is a pic of my knight in shining armor just because he made my night and besides, what's a blog without a pic?

Soccer, Sickness, and Stories

Soccer season is upon us. It only last two months, but it is very time consuming when all four play. I feel like we have a new home away from home, but they sure are cute out there kicking the ball around!

Edana's shot is a bit blurry. Sadly, I haven't seen the boys play yet. Aidan missed his last game due to sickness, and I've had to coach or run kids other places during Declan's. I will get to see a little of his tonight. Pictures will follow! Edana's
is very good! Rileigh's team may need a new coach... I forgot how hard it is to get little girls to play nice with each other. She is doing great though. I'm noticing improvement with each game. I have a few others who are learning and improving as well. That is always fun to watch!





Last week, three out of four kids were sick in a span of two days. We decided that a fun learning trip was needed after being stuck in the house. Where did we head? The NWA mall of course! Edana kept track of the time that elapsed in each store. Aidan measured the distance, in steps, between stores. Declan checked price tags and figured out the change that would be needed, and Rileigh searched for shapes.

After all that learning application, we had a whole lot of fun! The play area at the mall has been a long time favorite...especially in the middle of the day on a week day. We were the only ones there of course.

Despite all the sickness and playing around, we still managed to stay on track with our lessons and earn our first 6 week break. We kicked off our week off last night with a "publishing party."  A friend who taught 5th grade for many years gave me this idea last year when I was having a hard time getting Edana to write. 

Both of the oldest two had narration for their first units, so we put her idea to use. It was great! See how proud they are?

Edana wrote a short story about a brother and sister who enter a world where everything is made of candy. (It was such a great idea that Declan wanted to hear more).

Aidan wrote and illustrated a silly story about two clowns who work at a circus. They both did a wonderful job!

Revival of the Bloggist?

Where on earth have I been?? Oh yes, this is where...

Okay...that may be a little vague.

 

However, its true. Most of my days are spent at home or church. This fall it would be appropriate to the soccer fields, but that will only last a couple of months. Thank you, Jesus!

 

I realized that I've been busy taking care of everything else that I've totally let this go. Some may think that is no big deal. I am taking care of all the good things, and this is just a blog, right? Not really. This blog is important for several reasons. It is an interactive diary of sorts, a record, of my family's growth. It is a place to share all the stuff that won't fit on facebook, and its an opportunity for me to develop my writing. Therefore, I am intent on rekindling my blogging passion.

 

 

Its been two years since I blogged last. As you can imagine the kids have grown a ton! Even the pic on my header is out dated. We'll have to get around to family pictures soon, I hope. Who knows, we may even have them done for Christmas photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edana is at that, "don't blink or you'll end up with a teenager" stage, complete with new hair.

 

Declan had to write three sentences about himself the other day. They were, "I have a good imagination. I am smart. I play a lot!" That is a pretty great summary of himself.

 

 

 My Aidan Jeffery, is so big. He will be 8 in a week and two days. He is already tall enough that he comes just above my shoulder.

 

Miss Thang! AKA Rileigh Cait has grown the most noticeably as she was only two when we moved back to NWA.

 

Jeff and I are long finished growing. I have shrunk quite a bit, but hopefully not in height! All our growing now will be spiritually or muscle growth. I'm planning on both!

 

We've added a few members to the family. Thankfully, I didn't have to give birth to them! Meet Wemmick (anyone know where his name came from). He is Edana's dog, and sometimes mistakenly thinks he has me for a back-up. I will honestly tell you our relationship is one sided. The lounging felines are Luke (on the left) and Cinnamon AKA Cinna (on the right). Luke is Aidan's cat. Thus the name. I voted for Toothless, but he had to have a StarWars name. Cinna is, well, we think he belongs to Bailey. I'm not sure that Shawn knows that, so he lives here. He has picked Rileigh and I as his girls. Until recently we thought he was a she. Then we realized she had boy parts. Surprise! Guess we didn't look closely enough. Ha!

 

  To say life is goo would be an understatement. To say it is full would be likewise. We are thoroughly enjoying this new stage. The kids are somewhat independent, yet they need us in new ways. Its great to be able to really discuss the Bible with them along with many other just day to day things. Its also pretty great to take a nap with Rileigh while the others quietly entertain themselves. This girl loves a good nap!





A Different Kind of Blog

Hope this peaks some interest! Jeff and I have started a new blog. No, we're not replacing this one. This new blog is intended as a launching pad for an up and coming ministry God has given us a vision for. I won't rewrite everything that is already on there, but I will ask you to please check it out. Look for it at t2mentoring.blogspot.com We are very excited about what God is showing us and leading us to do. Please join us in this new endeavor by keeping up with it and commenting. We're looking forward to blogging with you in both places! See you there!

New School Year, New School

For some reason, I have completely gotten out of the habit of blogging...I think I will blame facebook. ;)

So much has gone on over the summer, I won't try to catch up. I think that, instead, I will just start new. That has what this summer has been about anyway: Starting anew in an old place. Its been a wonderful summer with a wonderful return to our old home, our old friends, and our old church! However, we are not returning to my 'old school' Nope, on Thursday I sent my two oldest children off to attend school at my old rival school. I've made jokes about it, but i never realized that it would really feel so strange taking them to Prairie Grove for open house. As we neared the football field, I was sure one of my former coaches was going to jump out and ask what in the world I was doing. Although, one of them is now the high school principal. I think he would at least approve of my change. My husband was blessed with a wonderful opportunity and. given the choice, I would have picked Prairie Grove. It is a wonderful school! I'm so excited for this year. The kids are very happy about their teachers as well.

Edana Rois, 7 years old, started the 2nd grade! I knew she'd be fine when we walked in her teachers room and it was decorated in zebra strips and she had pictures of her animals around the room. Declan. 3yrs old, is going to Growing God's Kingdom. This has to be one of the best preschools ever. Definitely the best in NWA!

Jeff's first day too! I am hoping he will blog about his new job and classroom soon. He is super excited about his great coworkers and the team atmosphere he has experienced in PG.

Last, but most definitely not least...Aidan Jeffrey, 5 yrs, started Kindergarten!! Doesn't seem like he should be that old, but I'm sure that is how all of the other parents were feeling as well. His teacher seemed just right for him. I'm praying he does wonderful and learns quickly. (I'm pretty confident that he will.) He has already decided to be a tiger through and through...mostly because his favorite color is yellow. He did experience a little culture shock though. Thursday night at dinner he told us with great astonishment, "do you know, there are no Hispanic kids in my class." "really?" I asked, not really surprised. "was everyone white?" "yes!" he said with an expression that could only be describe as flabbergasted. Then Edana chimed in to say, "my class looked like when they used to send people with different skin colors to different schools." Prairie Grove lacks a little in the diversity area...however, we just have to go up the road a ways and Fayetteville has more diversity in a few blocks than most of the whole state has. Thankfully our church has a little diversity (mostly Hispanic) to share. I'd hate my kids to grow up without any. I want them to feel that its just normal for all races and walks of life to be able to come together and worship as one. That is, after all, how God intended it, and heaven will be that way!

Overall, the transition has gone very smooth. We are so blessed. God opened this door and has supplied all of the needs along the way. We do miss the church family in Warren. We had a wonderful group of teens that we were blessed to lead for a short time. We will be sure to make special trips to see everyone. Jeff's hoping that will be in the fall, so that he combine a little hunting with said trip. haha. Maybe we'll be able to pull that off, but one thing is certain, we'll be heading south before too long. I love that with each new venture God presents us, our spiritual family grows!

A little piece of my heart

As I checked my facebook this morning I noticed a linked that Dane Hall and posted. It was about Haiti and Convoy of Hope, so I had to take a look. It was a great article. I was peirced with the imagery of his words. The final sentence states, "After all, the street is no place for a little princess with a broken leg." How frightening to think of. Thank goodness, she has a father determined to keep them alive and safe. Then my mind began to wander. What if that was one of my little princesses? As seems to be the path my mind takes most often lately, I began to think of all the little princesses right here in our own country that will spend the night on the streets. Sadly, many of them don't have a father to look out for them, or a family to cling to in the cold night. Sadly, many of them don't know where they will get their next meal, or if they will be abused before the day is over. Their stories are horrific, yet we forget they exist. Why? Because we have learned in life, that homeless people are nasty old men who are either druggies or alcoholics. The truth is, there is a large number of women, broke, unemployed, under educated, alone, and desperate with childern that they can't care for. The truth is, they are in your own hometown. Yes, I'd imagine that even Hermitage, AR has some. Maybe in a small town they are more likely to have someone take them in, but they are still without a home of their own. As you can tell, my heart is very burdened on this subject. I'm not sure what God is wanting to show me or how he is wanting to use me, but I know He is messing with my schema again. No, we're not planning to pack up anytime soon...unless God tells us to do so. ;) In the future, however, I think He will be sending us somewhere to work with these kind of people. For the present, I think he is wanting us to work with the ones right here in Bradley County. "How?" is my only question. As I pray for a vision for the place God has put me, I ask a favor of my readers. Please, let God open your eyes to the needs in your own community, and then, ask him for a vision of your own. Maybe you are blessed with an income that allows you to give or an education that allows you to help or a heart of compassion that allows you to love the unloveable. (read Romans 12:4-9) Whatever the case, He needs you to be useable and He created you to be useable as well.

Phases

Jeff and I will have been married for 8 years in April, and for 6 years we have been in the baby phase. Diapers, wipes, formula, bottles, baby beds, pacifiers, diaper bags, and baby food have been a constant companion. For close to a year we have been bottle and formula free. I'm not sure wipes will ever go away, but in the last few weeks we have moved from diapers to pull-ups for the last time, sold the baby bed and let Caity eat peanut butter(one of the last things we give in introducing new foods) As of today we are a pacifier free house. It wasn't so much a decision we made as a natural depletion of availability. In other words, she lost the last one last night. She isn't very happy about the transition. She loved those pacies! In order to make up for losing her pacy she decided to improvise a replacement. It is a toy ring Edana uses for playing dress up! She wasn't very happy about me trying to take it away either. She finally gave it up, but we'll have to watch her.She isn't the only one transitioning. Aidan turned five in Sept and I went to his parent teacher conf. this week. He can write his first and last name and is starting to recognize words. He works the computer as well as some adults! Last night he was looking at transformers, and Jeff thought he'd clicked the wrong thing. He said, "You need to let me help you. You're on the shopping part not the games." Aidan's reply was, "I meant to look at the ones you can buy, daddy!" Edana is really growing too. School hasn't been as great for her, but she isn't too concerned as long as it doesn't mess with her social life. (She has officially learned the frustrations of getting grounded) She thinks she is a rock start, or at least is supposed to dress like one. She has asked numerous times about dying her hair. We compromised and let her wear it pink for crazy hair day. **Note** If you ever need to color hair some crazy bright color and don't have time and/or money to buy the spray-in kind, markers are great and was out in one wash!

Declan will be three next month. He'll be starting school after his big birthday. I have to admit I'm ready. He is so energetic and smart. Life is definitely not dull with him around. If he is ever quite in means he is reading, coloring, or playing with playdough/clay. The question is, what he is coloring on or where he is sticking the clay! As I am writing he has dumped out the blue sand where the kids are doing sand art and is spreading it over the table. However, I can strap him in his seat and he'll spend hours, literally, playing play dough. I feel a little sorry for his teachers. He isn't Aidan, and I hope they aren't thinking he will be! He isn't a bad kid, he just has to be redirected ALOT! He is so excited about being able to play with Aidan and his friends during the day.

It really is official. I have no babies left. I have a little girl, two preschoolers, and a toddler. The final remnant of our baby days is the hand-me-down tandem stroller that we use everyday. I will use that thing until Dec just absolutely can not fit and his feet drag the ground! I love my big kids and am so glad we have two of each. It is the perfect family for us. I'm excited about this next stage in our life and pray we will be God focused parents that can train our children in the way(their own specific way) that they are supposed to go!

My BIG Boy

aidan's lion. not sure why he drew it sideways

My little flame (that's what Aidan means) turned five last Tuesday. I'm not sure how he got to be that old overnight. Time has flown! I believe we named him well. At times he can be the calming factor in our rambunctious clan, then he turns around and heats things up. He has become an extremely imaginative artist. The picture above is one of his many from the paint program on our computer. My favorite thing with him is to sit and watch him draw on Jeff's dry erase board. He doesn't just draw a picture. He draws a story and the whole picture comes to life. Its so much fun just to let him go at it for about 15-20 minutes. He'll have the whole lower half of Jeff's board covered from one end to the other! Here is a little picture tribute to my 5 year old!He is pretty proud of his #14 Sam Bradford jersey!

1st birthday! I believe the boys still play with that truck and car!

Aunt Shelly giving him his first haircut. 1 year old.

Christmas 2005 - 15mos. old

New year's day 2006- 15mos old

Easter 2006- 18 mos old

Summer 07- 2 years old He is Pawpaw's boy! he's going to hate this picture some day!!

A little too big for the sing, but a 2 1/2 he just didn't quite have the balance for a regular swing.

I think he was getting ready to throw that grass clod at his sister.... SUPERMAN!!! Halloween 2008- 4 years old Thanksgiving 2008- 4 yrs old 5th Birthday- practicing his end zone dance.

I wish I had pictures to show from infant to now, but I didn't have a digital camera until Aidan was two and a lot of them are on my mom's computer up north! (I've officially lived here too long if I'm referring to northwest Arkansas as up north) This is what I did find of my Big guy. I say big because he is. At nine months Aidan wore 2t clothes and was the average size of a two year old. Its slowed down a little. At age five he was only the size of a six year old. He's bigger than most of Edana's buddies at school. She only has maybe a half inch on him! He is consistently off the chart for height and at the 95th percentile in weight. He's a gentle giant though. Not as laid back as his daddy, but he loves to cuddle and take care of people/things. He is so sweet and when he looks at you with those big brown eyes you kinda forget that he could ever do anything mischievous.