I never claimed to be patient...

I know this summer has been a little crazy with people in and out and weather being uncommonly pleasant but somehow there are several of you that missed we are expecting baby #4 at the end of the year. No we are not crazy and yes Jeremy thinks he has now figured out how this happens :) I am currently 17 weeks present and I'm in full consignment time mode. Well with going through clothes, seeing what I have what I will need, and the possibility of getting rid of some I just could not wait the 2 more weeks until my scheduled ultrasound with my doctor. Well and the fact that EVERYONE pregnant but me seemed to know what they were having the suspense was killing me. I put out a request on Facebook for a hook up and what do you know...I got the hook up! Jeremy, myself and the girls went tonight and found out we are expecting a BOY!!! Yes my friends our team is now evened out. We couldn't be happier. No names are on the table yet but I welcome suggestions.

The Great Debate

***First of all I want to be very clear that this is not directed towards anyone. This is a topic that God has passionately laid on my heart and I feel lead to share***

It's hard to believe that we are a mere 3 weeks from the beginning of school but I, for one, can't wait. It's interesting though to hear the conversations that emerge the closer we get to that first day. "Where do your kids go to school?" "What teacher did they get?" and then the subsequent ansers that follow. I have, however, been a little overly surprised to the number of Christians who answer the first question with "we've decided to home school." Again I'm in no way judging anyone for the decision they make for their family but my heart gets a little heavy each time I hear that answer.

Let me give you a little background. I was not raised in a Christian home and only after I had graduated high school did I accept Jesus as my personal Savior. I can tell you though that looking back it is very evident to me that I had specific people I went to school with praying for my salvation. Maybe that's why I'm partial the way I am but please consider this. If we have taken our kids to church, or at least taught them about Jesus, since they were born, we have instilled in them the love for others as Jesus loved us, we teach forgiveness as Jesus forgives us...then why are we then "hiding" our kids in our house and not allowing them to be the light of Jesus in our schools? I know that in public schools today (well really all schools) there is an increase in the negativity that our kids hear...kids cussing, bad home lives, bad attitudes, etc. (more than likely a result of not knowing Jesus) as well as the kids having "busy" work. Yes I know that in home schooling you can get as much work done in 1-2 hours that takes 7-8 in a classroom but are you missing the "extras" the kids are learning...patience, building on friendships, authority other than parents, rules, dealing with differences, etc. For years I've received emails about how we've taken God out of our schools by not allowing prayer but I think even more so we're taking God out of our schools by taking our kids out of school.

I know this is a tough decision to make as a parent; that every child and situation is different but I ask that before you ultimately make a decision also consider the impact, or lack thereof, it may have in the life of another child.

Crunching numbers

Just a quick post but I'm curious who you use for phone/internet/TV service. Honestly I think what these people are charging in highway robbery. I hate spending over $100 a month on this stuff so if anyone knows a better deal please let me know!

Let Summer begin!!

To me tomorrow officially kicks off summer. It's June 1 and the first day of VBS. While at the beach I realized that I can live without the computer and that I wanted to spend more time with the kids. So from now until school starts back on August 5, at least, I'm taking a cyber vacation. Ok well sort of. I'm logging off Facebook, blogs, MySpace (which I rarely got to now) but I will be checking my money saving sites for all the coupon goodies to be had. I mean hey this momma's got to save some money! So just know that I'm not MIA but taking a break. If you need me or would like to hang out call or text me...I'll be playing it old school this summer! Have a great summer!!!

In case you're not on Facebook...

umm, HEATHER, rumors are true and we are expecting baby #4 in late December. For those of you who have known us for any length of time you know that we always said that we would like 4 and for them to all be 18 months apart (yes I know you think we're crazy) however after Carleigh being a little head strong and then having Harrison we thought we were done. Ok let me re-phrase that...Jeremy WAS DONE!! :) However as you know it only takes once and God had other plans for us. Now that it has sunk in a little we are excited but nervous all at the same time. I ask that you been in prayer with us that this too is a healthy pregnancy. I show no symptoms to be worried about, but I just feel like we're playing Russian Roulette. We went to the doctor today and she confirmed that everything looked GREAT and that there is only 1 but to think God would allow us to have 4 healthy beautiful children completely blows me away.

Now to answer all the gilie questions...I'm 8 1/2 weeks along. I feel great (I praise Jesus that He allows me to have easy pregnancies) except first thing in the morning before I eat or if I've gone a little too long without eating...(I'm not a snacker). My actual due date is January 4 however I have never made it to my due date so myself and my doctor are fully expecting a December baby. Do we want a boy? We just want healthy! I would love to have another little boy so Harrison could have a little brother but healthy is more important than gender. Are we done? Pretty sure Jeremy will be making an appointment in the next 6 months! :)

Florida 2009

We had a really good time on our trip to Florida, although we would have preferred the weather to be a bit better. We got there late Friday night so we went straight to bed and then got up Saturday had breakfast and headed to the beach. This was the first time the kids had been to the beach and surprisingly they all did really well. Gracie was more hesitant than the rest but Carleigh and Harrison loved it. While we were there we also took the kids to go play Putt-Putt for the first time, primarily because the day we went it never got to 70 degrees. Here are some pictures from our trip..I hope you enjoy them!

Harrison's 1st Birthday

I am so glad that I am finally able to post pictures from Harrison's special day. We celebrated at our house with just family and even though the day wasn't as pretty as I was hoping it still turned out to be a great party. As you can see I'm not an event organizer but we had the necessities...food, drinks, cake, ice cream, and balloons!






thank you to everyone who came!