Picture overload!

All kinds of pictures for the family :)

At the library. Oh my, the cheeks!!

Haulin' tomatoes for Mama :)

Rhys!!

His first spelling test was a couple weeks ago. He aced it!

Tickling daddy's back. Such a sweet boy. 

I had braided Anna's hair when it was wet and she LOVED what happened when it was dry and she unbraided it. She wanted me to take a picture and send it to Papa. 

We kept Jeremy's kids for a few days. It was fun. Chaotic, but fun!

We had to take 2 vehicles to church! Rhys zonked out on the way home. 

Oh my. Uncle Elry, Aunt Carol, and Sarah sent the kids these Duck Dynasty dolls...that talk. My favorite? Phil's line: women with whiskers...it's a bummer. 

Demolition derby!! The kids have so much fun on these and Isaac has become a pretty good driver!

Anna fashioned some clothes for her tiny doll using some sticky tack! She also made some "toys"...I was impressed with how well she did!

I guess they're ready for Christmas?? Actually, I think they had been watching a Christmas  movie. 

Found this fascinating creature in the driveway. 

Art class! Binga is teaching via Skype to our little co-op class on Fridays. The kids were SO proud of their paintings!! They'll be adding trees this week. 

They're starting to get along a *little* better!

Jeremy and Alisha treated me to a delicious steak dinner Sunday. And Alisha and the girls made chocolate covered strawberries. We had to teach Rhys about the finer things in life ;)

Practicing his sketching he learned about in art a few weeks ago. 

Isaac's sketching. I asked him to smile. This is what I got. 

Motherhood is Tough

Today was a hard day. 

I had to physically restrain my compassionate, passionate, tender-hearted (and deceivingly strong) daughter twice. She didn't like the dentist yesterday. She'll have to be sedated for a routine cleaning after today. 

I had to listen to that same precious girl scream, "I hate you!!!" to several people, including myself, who were just doing what's best for her. That's never even come close to coming out of her mouth before today. I just wanted to go back in there and tell them, "That's not my Anna. She's never said those kinds of things, ever! She's the sweetest little girl you'll ever meet." 

I had to deal with her anger and disrespect for the better part of the day. And quite frankly, a part of me couldn't blame her. But the other part was horrified at what I saw my daughter turning into-a hardened heart. 

My heart broke a million times, first over her repeatedly making sure I knew she hated me. And questioning if she would ever forgive me or understand why I had to do it. Then it broke some more when she told me she didn't think God wanted her to be my daughter anymore because she was being so hateful and she wasn't the perfect daughter. She's 8...why would she think she needs to be perfect?! Have I given her that impression? Is there something wrong with her? There was more than once today that I felt like a complete and utter  failure as a mother. 

I read a couple weeks ago a quote saying that the kids who need the most love, ask for it in the most unloving ways. Maybe I should have just loved on her instead of sending her to her room when she kept telling me she hated me, even after she had calmed down. Maybe I should have done everything differently. 

But you know what? At the end of the day, I did what I thought was best. I prayed for Jesus to be present and calm my baby girl over and over. I don't know why that didn't happen. I prayed for grace and patience. And I pray that she will very soon understand, at least in part. I know one day when she's a mom, she will understand in whole. 

This mother thing? It's hard. Really hard. But you know else? God is there. He never sleeps. As one mom said, "He works the night shift." He loves Anna even more than I do.

So tonight, I go to bed emotionally & physically exhausted, knowing that His mercies are new every morning. 

Pictures for the Grandparents :)

Just some random pictures to make up my lack of posting to the grandparents ;)

 She is a book worm! If I can't find her, she's holed up somewhere frowning the "Papa frown" reading a book!

 Rhys and strollers! She loves them, whether they're for dolls or not, she'll take a ride! :)

 She's ready for school!

 He's relaxed, I would say!

 Enjoying a nice, cool, fall evening with a fire outside at Jeremy's. I'm loving the cool evening weather! Just wish the days would stay a little cooler, too.

 Having fun at Warrior Fest in the bouncy house!

 The boys got some lego Mario Brothers cars. Let's just say that Isaac really likes his car!

 We celebrated the first day of autumn by playing baseball in the backyard!

 Daddy got a little carried away, determined to hit a wiffle ball over the fence. You can imagine what happened when he connected with the ball....I got slammed in the head with it!!!

 It's blurry, but it's too funny not to post. Anna got nervous with how aggressive Daddy was being so she decided to don some protection!

 A trip to the library and we discovered they have a new kids-only computer! Isaac had no idea what he was doing, but he was taking it seriously!

I found Jacob teaching Isaac how to write his cursive letters one day. Too cute!!

Ranch Rodeo

A couple weeks ago, Healing Hearts Ranch put on a ranch rodeo to raise money for the ranch. It was a smashing success...or I should say God greatly blessed Scott and everyone at the Ranch. Admission was $1 and there were dozens of items auctioned off, both by silent auction and by live auction. The crowd numbered over 600 and there were 10 (I think) teams competing from all over the state. When it was all said and done, over $20,000 was raised!!!!! Wow! I'm excited to see where God is taking them. They touch so many lives every day. 

My whole family was able to make it. The cousins had so much fun playing together and watching the competition. If you've never been to a ranch rodeo, you should go the next time you have a chance. All of the events are based on what happens on a real, working ranch. Ranch rodeos are actually where today's rodeos started from. Some examples of the events included doctoring, trailer loading, and roping. It was fun to watch the teams compete!

Papa, giving a DOUBLE shoulder ride to Anna and Isaac! Crazy man.

 This was supposed to be a picture to show the arena but evidently I aimed a little too low! Ha. I don't even know who those boys are!

Even better was getting to hang out with the Dashiells at the rodeo! Stacey and I are kindred-spirit country girls, feeling the most at home at things like ranch rodeos (while our city-boy husbands feel quite out of place! Lol).

 This little cowboy was SO excited for the rodeo! I had to wake him up from a nap to go, and he was happy as could be when he found out we were headed to the rodeo. He insisted on finding his cowboy hat! :)

 The cousins had a lot of fun watching and playing together. The older boys disappeared for most of the evening, playing ball with other kids and playing in the dirt. The girls, especially Anna, were pretty well riveted to the action in the arena.

 Anna now has another goal in life...to become the little cowgirl that rides out into the arena before and after the rodeo carrying the American flag! 

 Not to be left behind, Isaac took his turn climbing the fence to watch the action up close.

We brought Anna's chaps and vest to share for pictures. Toward the end of the rodeo, she couldn't wait any longer to put them on. She leaned up against the fence and said, "Mom, take my picture!" 

It was a very fun night for everyone. The teams did great, the kids had fun, and we raised a lot of money for an awesome organization that is pursuing God's will and glorifying Him in what they do. I'd call that a smashing success!

Tea for Two...or Seven

Anna requested a tea party for her birthday. Somehow the summer completely disappeared on us with no real birthday parties for either Anna or Jacob. Finally, things settled down enough (as settled as they ever seem to get!) to schedule a tea party! 

Leah got to spend a few days with us so she could be here for the tea party!! So all three girls had fun getting things ready.

Anna decided she wanted everyone to dress up in play clothes for the party. Great Grandma Mary loaned us her beautiful lace table cloth. We used Great-great Grandma Anna's silver tea service and Great Grandma J's rose tea pot. I have a nice collection of tea cups from over the years so we had plenty. And the best part was that Binga came!! And she brought a beautiful bouquet and a single rose for each girl. So sweet. (I just realized I didn't take a picture of the tea chest with the tea service set up!)

 

We had a fruit tray with strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, and pineapple, made-from-scratch blueberry muffins, carrot sticks, and cucumber slices. And for dessert we had cupcakes and angel food cake. 

After "tea" the girls decided they wanted to play musical chairs!! The princess gowns came off, so to speak! ;)

It was a lot of fun! The girls played together for a couple of hours until I delivered them home. Thanks, girls, for making Anna's first tea party such a fun time!