Wordless Wednesday-self portrait

She got me!

At lunch today, the kids started getting a little silly. Landon started the "magic tricks". He put his fork under the table and said "I will now pull a fork out from under the table! Ta-da!"

That was followed by the other three making their food or drinks "disappear".

Dakota said, "Oh, I've got one! I need a hat!" She ran back to her room and got her Mickey Mouse ears she got from Disney World,

(hers were my favorite)

put them over her cup, and said, "I will now take a drink from this cup without touching the hat."

I said, "Yeah, right."

She climbed under the table and made slurping sounds like she was drinking through a straw. "Ta-da!"

I laughed and told her she was goofy.

She said, "No, really. Look in the cup."

I said, "I know you already drank it all before you put the hat on it."

She said, "I refilled it. Look in the cup."

I picked up the hat and, sure enough, she had refilled it.

Before I could say anything, she smiled, picked up the cup, and took a drink.

Yep, she got me!

Miscellany Monday

1. Last week went by really fast! Cheyenne even made a comment about it last night. Hope this week slows down a little. I've got a lot of work to do before next Tuesday.

2. We are officially starting school next Tuesday. I still haven't ordered those math workbooks, but it's on my to-do list for today.

3. I'm trying to figure out our routine/schedule. My main problem is keeping Landon and Sierra busy when they aren't working with me. I bought some cool games at Ross a couple of weeks ago that they can play by themselves. I'm thinking I'll stock up on some puzzles at Dollar Tree this week, too. If you have any other ideas, please share. Landon, especially, needs to keep his hands busy.

4. This weekend is the Third Day concert. I can't wait!

5. Cheyenne is watching "Say Yes to the Dress." Here's the comment I just heard from a mother-of-the-bride, "I just pictured her getting married for the first time in a white dress." Really? I just can't imagine going into my daughter's wedding thinking that it wasn't going to last. I think that's really sad.

6. My heart is broken today for a friend and her family. She was recently diagnosed with cancer that has been very rapidly spreading. The doctors have just made the decision to put her on "comfort care" meaning that they aren't going to do anything to try to treat the cancer, just make her as comfortable as possible. I'm praying that she will have peace in her heart and comfort in her body as long as she is still with us here on Earth.

Slim Down Sunday

I'm linking up this week with April at Heartfelt Homeschooling for Slim Down Sunday.

Goal: I am starting with a short-term goal to lose 24 pounds by my next diabetic check-up in November. Last week when I went to the doctor, I had gained about 12 pounds. I plan to lose what I had gained plus another 12. That's only 8 pounds a month. I can do this!

Pounds Lost (Week 1): So far, I have lost about 3 pounds. Not a bad start!

How it Went This Week: This week went pretty well. I had gotten into a bad habit lately and I've been able to overcome it this whole week. When I went into the gas station to get my Diet Pepsi fix, I was giving in to the temptation to also pick up a snack. Most of the time, I wasn't even hungry. I have made it for a little over a week without one. Yea!

What’s my Plan for next Week: I'm going to continue to add in more salads, etc and cut down portion sizes and between meal snacks. I'm also going to drink more water. My goal is to take baby steps that I can maintain.

Thankful Thursday

So many things to be thankful for this week. Here are just a few:

1. I am thankful for a husband who is willing to work VERY long hours to allow me to stay home with my kids. He started around 5 this morning and just a few minutes ago (around 10:30) sent me a text to let me know he was on his way.

2. I am thankful that we have grandmas close by to help out with the kids. This evening, I dropped 3 of them off with Grandma Debbie so I could pick up some more medicine for Landon. It was great to not have to drag a sick kid into the store with me!

3. I am thankful that my kids are getting old enough to help with more things around the house. While I was getting dinner ready, the girls cleared, washed, and set the table for dinner. After dinner, they cleared and washed the table. Then, they helped clean up Landon's room since we have someone coming over to do some repairs on the house tomorrow.

4. I am thankful that Landon's fever came down before he went to bed. I expect to be up with him sometime to give more medicine tonight, but it was nice to see him feeling a little better.

5. I am thankful that I generally have pretty healthy kids.

6.I am thankful that God has led us to an amazing new church! I can see Him working in so many ways. I am thankful to get to be a small part of it.

I could go on forever, but it's late and I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open. Think I'll do some reading while I wait for the sheets to dry (had to get rid of my little sickie's germs after he spent the day in my bed) then call it a night.

What are you thankful for today?

"...the most awesome and weirdest thing..."

Last Wednesday night, Daniel got off earlier than usual(you know, he only worked 12 hours instead of 14-15), so the three youngest stayed home with him while I took Dakota to youth group at church. Adult services are canceled this month so they can work on remodeling another building that the church has purchased for a second campus, (It's going to be awesome!) so I had the very rare opportunity to spend nearly two whole hours by myself (I couldn't believe it either). I loaded up a bunch of our school stuff that I needed to work on,dropped Dakota off at church, and grabbed a back table at Arby's (not the best place to work on school stuff, but the library closes early around here). It was so nice to be able to work on planning without being interrupted or feeling guilty that the kids were sitting in front of the TV (I'm sure that's what they were doing, but I wasn't there to see so I didn't have to feel guilty).

When I picked Dakota up, the first thing she said to me was. "I just did the most awesome and weirdest thing I've ever done!"

At the beginning of youth group each week, they have an ice breaker before service starts. She's told me about a couple of them-Rock, Paper, Scissors championship and a game they call Ninja. Sometimes they do something a little messier. Last week was one of those times. Of course, Dakota got picked to play (remind me to tell you about the time she played the Spaghetti O's game) . Her job was to sit still and "try not to get anything in your eyes" (the youth pastor's words) while her blindfolded partner sprayed frosting on her face and then stuck animal crackers on it. Apparently she's pretty good at her job because they won by getting the most animal crackers to stick. Ha!

Dakota was so pumped when I picked her up! She talked non-stop at 100mph all the way home. We stopped on the way at the gas station (my favorite-the one where they have diet pepsi in the fountain) for a drink. When Dakota saw our favorite gas station lady (seriously, my kids LOVE this lady) I thought Dakota was going to break right through the van door to get out. She said "I've got to tell B. about Realife tonight and invite her to come to church with us!"

They stood and talked while I got my drink. It was so much fun to hear Dakota talking so passionately about our church (the word awesome was used several times) and to hear her inviting someone to come with her, especially an ADULT! Unfortunately, B. has to work on Sundays and couldn't come with us, but I'm sure that Dakota's enthusiasm is something that she will never forget.

I'm so proud of Dakota! She is amazing! I love that she really doesn't care what people are saying or doing. She does her own thing. I love sitting next to her in church and watching how passionately she worships without worrying about what anyone thinks. She inspires me to be more like that.

I can't wait to see where her life takes her. I know it will be somewhere amazing!

Wordless Wednesday-My little guy is sick today.

So glad that's daddy's pillow and not mine! Ha!

Linking up with some Tuesday Hops!

I'm linking up today with the Sometimes It's OK To Be A Follower Tuesday hop and the TOS Review Crew hop. I can't wait to hop around and find some new blogs to follow!

Welcome new blogging friends. I'm a mom to 4 getting ready to begin our second year of homeschooling. Please check out some of my other posts and leave a comment to let me know you were here!

I think it's about time for school to start around here.

I sent the kids to clean their rooms this afternoon. They usually end up discovering toys they had forgotten about and do more playing than cleaning. That doesn't really bother me, though, because the house gets really quiet for 30 minutes or so and it gets them away from the TV and computer.

Dakota and Landon were finished first. Sierra usually takes forever because she makes a game out of everything and she likes to take everything out of her drawers and toy boxes to "organize" it. I wasn't expecting her anytime soon. After the first two were finished and had come out, Cheyenne was still in her room. I was beginning to think she had fallen asleep when she came out and said she had something to show me.

She made me close my eyes and led me to her room to show me this:

She made it with post-it notes she got for her birthday (I knew they were a good idea!). Cool, huh?

Here's a closer picture

Can you see the numbers? It's a calendar! I asked her what she was going to do at the end of the month when the dates would be different. She said "I wrote the numbers with a pencil so I can erase them." Not sure how well that will work out, but I was impressed that she had thought that through.

She was pretty proud of it

Miscellany Monday

1. I have become an e-bay addict! I've been buying curriculum the past few weeks and have saved over $150 so far. There are a few things that I will have to buy new, but it's nice to be able to save where I can.

2. Since Daniel's days off are Thursday and Friday right now, we have been having "Friday Funday". It's nice to have a day set aside to have fun together.

3. This week for Friday Funday, we made a spur-of-the-moment trip out of town. We shopped for laptops at Best Buy, found some good stuff at Dollar Tree, bought some fun school games at Ross, tried out Cherry Berry for the first time, bought the girls some new dresses at Sears, and had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. It was a pretty fun day!

4. Daniel and I are going to see Tim Hawkins at the end of next month. I am so excited! I first heard of him when someone posted a youtube video on facebook. I think the kids and I have watched almost every youtube video of him there is. The kids are bummed that we're not taking them. The last time we spent the night away from home without the kids was when I was in the hospital, but I don't think that really counts...

5. Labor Day weekend, we get to go see Third Day at the Tuskahoma Labor Day festival! I missed Casting Crowns last year when I was admitted to the hospital, so I'm pretty excited to be able to go this year. It's going to be awesome!

6. Two weeks from tomorrow, we will begin our new school year. I think I'd better get the rest of our books ordered!

Wordless Wednesday-Summer Spectacular Inflatables Party

Movie night!

Movie night is one of our family's favorite things to do together. We get into our pjs, pop up a bunch of popcorn, throw a quilt down on the floor and curl up in front of the TV. Once the kids have eaten their fill of popcorn, they usually end up with their pillows and blankets, too. It's a nice way to end the day.

This afternoon, we went into town to run errands and buy groceries. After our trip to the post office, library, Wal-Mart, and the gas station I was not really in the mood to go home and cook dinner. When I found out that Daniel was going to be working late and wouldn't be home for dinner, it was settled. It was definitely going to be a movie night!

We decided on Princess Diaries (the first one) for tonight. The girls had seen the second one, but not the first, so they were excited. Landon wasn't thrilled but decided to watch anyway. It didn't take long before he was enjoying it too.

About 10 minutes before the end of the movie, he asked me how much longer it would be. I told him it was just a few minutes so he could go on to bed if he wanted. He said he wanted to watch the end, but didn't quite make it.

We almost lost Cheyenne too. Five more minutes and she would've been out.

Sierra, on the other hand, was still wide awake. She's my night owl. She'd rather stay up late and get up around 9 or 10. Definitely my child.
Goodnight blogging friends! I'm off to tuck kids into bed and then tuck myself into bed. We've got a lot of library books to read tomorrow!

A peek into our day today

Nothing special going on around here today. We're just having fun enjoying the end of our summer break. We'll be officially starting our new school year in only three weeks! If you had stopped by around lunchtime, here's what you would have seen.

Landon got this farm set for his birthday last month. It has tons of little tiny pieces and I really didn't think it would last very long before they were all lost. Surprisingly, they have been really good about picking it all up and putting it back in the box when they are finished. It comes out about once a week and is good for about 2 hours of fun!

We had a tv and video game "fast" for a while this morning after breakfast. I let them turn it back on around noon. I'm trying to ease them back into the school schedule where the tv is off most of the day except a little while at lunch time.

Cheyenne has decided that it's her official job to cook lunch for us everyday. She's getting better at it and most days she doesn't really need my help. All I have to do is set the table. She does the rest.

After lunch, the kids cleaned up the kitchen! It's kind of nice to have "big" kids sometimes (although it makes me sad to think that I don't have ANY little ones anymore).

I love having pictures of everyday things. Holidays and vacations are fun, but these are memories I like the best. Just our day to day times of being together.

And now, the outtakes. :)

I'm going to be in so much trouble for those someday! Ha!

A New Name

I've been playing around with changing my blog's name for a while. It started as just a way for me to share our lives with family and friends who lived far away but now I'm feeling led to make it something more than that. I want my blog to be an encouragement to others to take time to make memories with their kids. We have our kids for such a short time and it goes by way to fast. We need to make it a priority to enjoy our time with them while we can, even if that means we may have to make some sacrifices to make it happen.

The inspiration for my blog's new name comes from this song

She spins and she sways to whatever song plays,
Without a care in the world.
And I'm sitting here wearing the weight of the world on my shoulders.
It's been a long day and there's still work to do,
She's pulling at me saying "Dad I need you!
There's a ball at the castle and I've been invited and I need to practice my dancin'"
"Oh please, daddy, please!"

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone.

She says he's a nice guy and I'd be impressed
She wants to know if I approve of the dress
She says, "Dad the prom is just one week away
And I need to practice my dancin'
"Oh please, daddy , please!"

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone

But she came home today with a ring on her hand
Just glowin' and tellin' us all they had planned
She says, "Dad the wedding's still six months away but I need to practice my dancin'
"Oh please, daddy , please!"

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone

(Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com)

So, have you taken the time to "dance" with your kids today? You'll be glad you did!