Oh well

It was a good idea.
I can not believe I have already missed a day with my Bible Verse a  Day idea.
Oh well. I will chalk it up to "life with 5 kids is mind boggling"!! And each day ends up getting away from me. But in all honesty I have learned to be OK with this!!
Life is all in how you look at it.
You can look at it in a negative light. Or you can choose a positive light.
For me it was easy to find the negative and run with it.
I have learned through MUCH Error and a little trial too that my life is what I make it.
I have learned through my children to live each day like it is a new adventure.
I have learned through hardship in my marriage that marriage is a promise to God not a contract between Clay and I.
I have learned through loosing a best friend to LOVE like there is No Tomorrow.
(R.I.P. Lee miss you so much)
Life is all about what you make it.
Wow I just looked up at the title about this blog and it was supposed to be about forgetting to write a Bible verse yesterday and it so went down a completely unmarked dirt road. I do have a tendency to babble and forget my own point often!! Life is good to me that way ;)

OK so on to a Bible Verse (HA HA HA)
James 1:12 God blesses the people who patiently endure testing.

Ummm HELLO how is this not the perfect verse for parenting!!

Jan. 10, 2012

Proverbs 4
1. Hear, O sons, a fathers instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight,

I wrote this Bible verse yesterday, to be my verse for today, hit save and walked away.
This morning was MOPS. Our guest speaker was Pastor Scott Wylie. He is the Youth Pastor at our church Colonial Baptist in Cary, NC. He handed out a sheet for us to follow, as I glance down I see most if not all the verses he has written down for us are from Proverbs!! Pastor Wylie talked to us about disciplines and the different stages/levels. He shared some great concepts with us. In fact I think I will contact him about Katrina's fits and how to better handle them.

Blogs Bible verse

I came across this one just now
"A youngster's heart is filled with foolishness, but discipline will drive it away."
going to look it up in a few different versions of the Bible and see how they all translate.

OK
so in looking for another Bible on my app I ran into problems with the app. It conked. Downloaded another app and it ended up being an app that read the Bible to you. I thought how neat and it started off from the beginning.
I went to Proverbs which is where I have been reading from during "mommy time". I sat and listened and Katrina came to check out what I was listening to. I love this verse and thought I would share it
Proverbs 1:10
"My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent."

Which lead me to an idea to toss in the air with myself.
?A Bible verse a day for Jacapaka??
could I do it?
I would love to find 1 a day all about parenting, possibly marriage since they do go hand in hand.
hmmmmm

Christmas 2011

I just downloaded or is it uploaded?? Anyways all the pictures from Christmas this year were taken on mine and Clays cell phones. HA HA So needless to say they are all a bit grainy and I really dont think I will be making a photo album this year. I did however just come across this picture and even grainy I LOVE IT!!!

Funny thing about this picture is this is ROUND 2!!!
When they first came down Clay was holding Abbi and we forgot to put her in the picture!! The kids ran down and saw all their presents and were so excited to start opening, when I looked at Clay and saw Abbi. I said "OH NO!! Abbi was not in the picture!! We got to go back to the steps!!" None of the kids cried or fussed about it, it was almost like they were used to mom messing up and forgetting something (HA HA)

This year we did something new with the kids for Christmas, we spent a portion of our gift money on making "Compassion bags" for the homeless.
 In each bag:

• track card from church
• handwritten letter from Clay
• bottle of water
• juice box
• cup of apple sauce
• can of meat
• crackers
• power/energy bar
• fruit snacks
• tooth brush & paste that was donated by local dentist

We were able to make just under 50 bags. Clay also packed up a lot of his warm clothes into a bin to hand out to who ever we found. Neither Clay or myself were mentally or emotionally prepared for what we did find. I think in all honesty the kids handled it all better then Clay and myself did. The kids went head first right into it. How do I explain it all. The day we put the bags together Carly and Jacob both wanted to help. Clay added his special touch with his letter. The kids and I added our touch writing "Jesus Loves you" on all of the bags. We put them all together on Christmas Eve. On Christmas day after Abbi's morning nap we headed to downtown Raleigh. The kids were asking a bunch of questions and Clay and I had no answers. We finally just told them we had no clue, that we had never done anything like this before and we had no idea what to expect or how to answer all their questions. We drove around downtown and got a little lost but found exactly what we were looking for!! There was a large court yard common area type yard with a bunch of different church vans handing out Styrofoam plates and singing carols. Clay parked the van, got out and asked one of the distributors if it would be ok to hand out the bags we had made and got an "Of Course!! Please do!!" The kids could not get out of the van fast enough. They stood there a bit dumbfounded as did I when I first got out. Then I just held Abbi tight and walked into the crowd. Clay and Jacob carried the bins of bags and we were swarmed by the homeless. For me it was a bit unsettling just because I was mom there with 5 kids and I watch way too much crime TV shows and I was scared something would happen to my babies. I was not scared of the people, just what could happen to my children. My children had smiles on their faces and nicely handed bags out and danced around to the Christmas carols. They noticed things like the shoes on the homeless feet and our children told us "When we come back next year we need to bring shoes."
After all the bags were given out Clay went back to the van to grab his bin of clothes. This was a moment I dont think I will ever forget. A man came out of nowhere when Clay held up a pair of pants and yelled that he needed pants and made his way through the crowd. He looked like he had been homeless for quite some time. He then proceeded to ask Clay if he had any "underwear". This really hit me. Still does. Underwear is something I have always had. I have never had to go a day in my life with out any. I just take it for granted to have things like shoes, underwear, socks, clothes. Never have I not had any of these things.
We had a mom come up to us and ask if we had anything for little girls. Carly then stepped up with the 2 jackets she had grabbed from her cubbie and the few toys she had grabbed from her stash of toys and handed them to the mom.
This was definitely an experience like none other! My own kids taught me so much!
We will definitely make this a yearly tradition!

Hide & Seek

At this very moment Jacob and Carly are sitting right next to each other, both at a laptop and they are playing.........
wait for it


HIDE & SEEK!!!!

Ummmmm really??
My 4 legged children are the ones running around just like my 2 legged children usually do playing tag around the first floor steps. It is so odd to watch. The dogs are actually stopping in the same spots as my kids and pausing and turning the opposite directions. It is a bit eeerie.

Flushing $$$ Money $$$

So Katrina found a nickle and was carrying it around upstairs while I put laundry in the washer.
As I walk out of the laundry room I hear the toilet running.
I walk in there and look in it, and jiggle the handle thinking "Hmmm that's strange." but dont give it another thought. I then go into the girls room and grab Abbi who is just waking from her morning nap.
A few minutes later Katrina comes in my room.
I ask her where her money is cause I dont want it left where Abbi can get it and put it in her mouth. I am a freak about small things since Abbi's trip to the ER to get x-rays after I thought she ate a Lego.
Katrina answers me with "In the toilet"

One day this story will make me laugh!!
Right?!?!


Carly, Jacob and I went to visit Aunt Karen, Kaz and Sam this past weekend in Mt. Airy. While there Karen told us not to use the sink in Sam's bathroom because he had put something down the drain and she had not had a chance to get it out yet!!! AHHH The life as parent!! A never ending adventure!!

WOW!!

My children are AWESOME!!
Let me brag about my kids!!
I posted a bit ago about our idea for compassion bags, remember?
Anyways just this morning a Godly lady friend of mine posted about Jesus and Santa. LONG STORY short I decided that today was the day we would talk to our kids about the TRUE meaning of Christmas and how we are to be giving instead of receiving etc.....
At brunch I got out my "compassion bag" sample from MOPS and went on to tell the kids about how I wanted to do this for Christmas this year and how we were going to spend money on these bags this year instead of gifts for under the tree.
Can I tell you, I am tearing up just writing this post. My Angels on loan from God wanted to drop everything and do these bags right now!! Their hearts are so big!! We also explained to the children how we gave a portion of the gift money to a needy family on our street who may loose their home.
My fear of their being tears and anger about not receiving for themselves this year were totally unnecessary!! We have raised our kids to want to help and want to give to others!! I am so proud of Clay and myself and I am so proud of our children!!
Thank you God!!