La-La Land

Me and the kids were watching "Left Behind" the movie and Ian fell asleep. Romeo took him potty and then to bed. The whole time he was smiling off in la-la land. He called me in there and said in a whispering voice, "Mama, I need to tell you something. People died in this area. God died in this area."

Spring Break

Sometimes vacations or spring breaks need about 2 weeks recuperation after you return home. That's the case for me alright. Me and the kids went to Mema & Papa's house for a whole week. Becky (my sister's) kids were there as well because their parents had to work. While Mema was at work during the morning's, I entertained the kids.

Monday we walked up to Granny's, ate lunch (YUMMY), walked to all the pastures, walked back to Granny's, quenched our thirsts and ate some ice cream cones. We didn't get back to Mema's until 5:30 or so. Each kid had an assigned bible verse for the day that they had to memorize and put into practice that day. Ian's verse was "do everything without arguing or complaining" and as we were doing all that walking, Ian kept telling me, "I just have to complain. My legs hurt." But when he saw that we were almost to Granny's house, he said, "I changed my mind, I am not going to complain, I can do it". All day long he used that verse. For bible study time that night they had to say their verse, make up a song with the words of the verse, and tell me how they used the verse that day. Each kid did really well. After that, we acted out 3 different bible stories. I think that night it lasted for 2 hours. The kids really enjoy bible study time and look forward to it all day long.

Madisyn was trying to find a verse for me to memorize that day. If you look at Madisyn's shorts, there is a white index card stuck on her pants. I made them carry their bible verse everywhere they went and some taped it to their clothes.

Tuesday was Tucker's 8th birthday! For lunch the kids got to make their own small pizza, we played games, and cleaned Mema's house for the party. For the party we flew kites, blew bubbles, ate hamburgers & cake, and opened presents. We had a great time! Madisyn, Nia & Tucker each did a story out of the bible for bible study time.

Wednesday we went to Dickens Springs. It was such fun! We went down every path we could find. Tucker, who is not that keen on danger, told me that he was just going to stay in the car and that he wanted to go back to Mema's (he was probably scared because I pulled the truck up to the edge of a cliff - learned that from my dad). I told him that he needed to get out to explore the outdoors, to which he replied that there are great outdoors at Mema's house. But by the end of the adventure he was our leader on many of the "hidden paths". A few of the girls learned that we can't just pack everyone up and go back to Mema's house every time they needed to go to the bathroom. They learned that if you sit the right way that it won't get on your clothes. We left there and went driving in big ol' Dickens for fun stuff to do. They liked telling me which way to go on all the dirt roads. We decided, since Dickens (population 300) didn't have much to offer, that we would go to Spur (population 1000). We went to the football field where they had just had a track meet and all the equipment was still up. Madisyn decided she would try jumping hurdles and she did great on them while all the other kids ran up and down the stairs. After that we went to my aunt Joan's land where she keeps her horses and donkeys. The kids loved petting them. We went home after that and got ready for church. That was such a fun day!!!! But I was tired.

This is Adam's Dugout. The next picture was what was inside.

Thursday we went to Grandma's house where family was staying and visited for a while. We then ate lunch at the church with the family and then cruised around Spur again. Mema was with us this time. We went to feed the horses some fruit loops and then went to the football field again where Madisyn attempted to jump the hurdles. Then we went to the library and then to DQ for a treat. We took the back roads home and had a great time. Maci was in charge of the bible study story that night. She told us the story of creation and made us test on it after she finished. FUN DAY!

Notice: the one not so fond of danger didn't go to the next level.

The horse's name below is Callie and she is 28 years old. The kids were scared of her because she looked sick. She had a runny yellow boogery nose and all her bones were sicking out. I spoke with Joan and she told me that she is just old.

Friday we cleaned house, packed our bags and left for Lubbock. That night we stayed at a really great hotel and swam! Papa was a trooper! He spent 95% of the time putting Tucker and Nia on his shoulders and then they would jump off. His back was all scratched up and shoulders were beat red.

Saturday we all got up and ate breakfast and then the girls, Mema, Me & Becky (Alysia is recovering for disc replacement surgery and Romeo was working), went garage sale-ing. We had a great time. This was really the only time BREAK happened for me. While we were doing that, Papa, Kevin & Hadley swam again with the kids.

Sunday was fabulous because of church and then we headed home. It is great to be home. I had a fun, fun, fun week mixed with exhaustion, stress and lots of emotions from me and the kids.

Needless to say, I need a break after spring break.