When's The Lunch Break?

I could seriously use one of those 1 hour lunch breaks from my working days! Actually, I would settle for a 30 minute lunch break right about now.

I told you about our house selling but let me fill you in between the lines. I feel like I have neglected everyone :-)

Last Tuesday the kids and I traveled to Carthage, MO for my dentist appointment and to pick up a little friend who was coming to visit for 8 days. At my dentist appointment I found out that I get my braces off THIS WED! Which worked out great because that is when Miss Gracie needs to go home.

Fun time has been had by all during Gracie's visit.

Tuesday night after we got home from Carthage we headed to McDonald's for their family night because there was a second showing of the house. It was a fun time. The kids enjoyed $1.49 happy meals, and one free RED BOX rental each (which we have yet to redeem) plus FREE ice cream cones they got to make themselves! We have never taken advantage of of the Family night at McDonald's and my kids NEVER get happy meals so everyone was real happy :-)



Our other days have included, swimming, grocery shopping, playing outside and at the park, a couple of picnics, and lots of imagination (which I love)


This was when the girls worked for the pet shelter.


On Friday we added another kiddo to the bunch, Brittany. She stayed with us from Friday to Sunday. The kids got along real well and we had a fun time. I will admit adding two more 7 year old girls to the bunch seemed a little insane at times inside of our 1,300 square feet house but we made it ok. Most of you know we are all about a bigger family but 5 to 7 overnight is a little adjustment.

Now, during all of that I had realtor's calling left and right to show our house. They always sounded so nice like "hello, we will be coming to show your house in 30 min" or in one case 10 minutes. But what they were really saying was, "hello... please take all of the children out of the pool, wake up the baby and SCRAM!!" "oh, and be sure the house is spic-n-span." It did however, sell within three days so that was a blessing and now the chaos of showing it is over and we did remain joyful through it all. But like I said in a prior post we still do not know what we are going to do, where we are going to live, etc. That's fine though.

Sunday was my birthday :-) Yippee! The kids made me some pretty pictures and Daniel MADE me a bench for our kitchen table. We woke up early that morning, Daniel cooked cereal for me and the kids then we did presents and he went to the Church.

Being the dork that I am I took some cutie pie pictures of the kids before church. (well, 4 of the kids, Judah was in the van already.)



Afterwards we had a big BBQ at church, which was a lot of fun. Then we enjoyed some R&R at home. That night our neighbor, Brittany's mom, had a little cook out for my birthday; that was so nice of her!

After all the kiddos went to bed last night Daniel and I started going through all of our stuff to minimize for the move. I am pretty sure we have decided to sell 90% of our belongings but I will keep you updated on our madness as it progresses ;-)

Today I spent the morning in the garage sorting through attic things while the kids rode bikes and stuff. Judah played so sweetly in his play pen:



This afternoon we had to run into Springfield to take some books to Redeemed (love that place). We also got a load of free stuff from various places because of some certificates from the girls Library Summer Reading Program. I Love free stuff!

Then we stopped by BRAUMS to redeem some free ice cream vouchers that were going to expire today. Baths when we got home and now we are enjoying some nice quiet time.


Only in the 21st century...


Love it...

Man, reading back over this post it almost seems like a ton of complaining. I am very thankful for everything, please know that :-) It just seems like a lot because it's a huge update!

I hope you're having as much fun as we are!


Night, Night!

Let Me Count the Ways I Love You

I told you One reason why I love this man but I thought I would give ya another.

He says things like this on the drive home from grocery shopping at Aldi's with 5 kids...

He holds my hand and asks: "Do you like hangin' out with me?" I reply "yes" (with a smile) he says "me too, you're like my best friend or something" Then he gives me a gangster handshake and I kiss his cheek.

Aside from my God, who is my rock and foundation, Daniel is by far my very best friend. I love him in so many different ways. He loves God and stands for God's truth.

I love it that a marriage founded on sin and darkness can be made whole by our Creator. We are so blessed.

P.S This is the biggest fish he has ever caught.

We Just Should Have Seen It Comming

You know that feeling like something just isn't right? Welcome to the Gibson's life for the past year. I can't explain why we always have these little feelings and they turn out right, but they just do.

For those of you who don't know we listed our house to sell with a Realtor. It sold. In three days. (actually one day but we agreed on the price on the third day). Please pray for our family, we are in a great state of confusion. It is however a peaceful confusion. We have no idea what we are doing, where we are moving, where we are going to live, but we are totally ok with that. I freaked out the first day, I went through a little bit of sadness, but I am ok now and totally trusting in God to do with us what he wants. We don't have to understand it, we just have to trust it.

Thanks for your prayers.

I'll keep ya updated with our chaos as much as I can. We close on July 24th. We will be gone from the 13th-20th of July for Sr. High Conference week. So, we have a lot to do in little time. hmmm, seems like we've been here a time or two before! :-)

Great Resource!

Everyone with little ones four/five and up...

I posted a great resource on our learning blog. You can click below to check it out. It's a real neat little book.

Click HERE to see.

Have a good day!

Big Sisters Are Often So Helpful

This is what it looks like when your big sister loads your toothpaste for ya!


Thanks Jordan for always being mommas little helper ;-)

A Restful Day

This only makes our case against too many toys better:




Daddy found a beetle outside before he left for church and brought it inside for the kids :o)

Thanks Dad!

Today was a nice day of rest in the Gibson home. Daniel and I started off the day at 6:00am by hitting the snooze until 6:17am then we were up and taking showers. Ok, he slept a little more and I showered :o) That's my man for ya! He's pooped.

So, out of the shower for me and out of the bed for him. He got into the shower and I finished getting ready. Then our cute little Judah Bear woke up; I went and got him out of bed then he and Daniel hung out while I headed to the kitchen to start breakfast.

The girls were still asleep so I just served Daniel and Judah pancakes, fresh strawberries, and OJ, they got to have a man breakfast :o) Then the girls started to wake up and come to the kitchen, dragon breath and all, ha! So pancakes all around, OJ and strawberries. Judah ate THREE pancakes!! That is more than what I ate! He and dad finished breakfast first so dad took Judah to get him ready for church, then he had to go so the kids and I cleaned up.

On Daniel's way out he found our little morning toy (see video above) the kids got a kick out of that! Then they were off to do their morning checklist and I started some brownies in the oven for Sunday school It was 7:40.

8:36 Kids ready, mom ready, things packed, brownies ready, time to go!

Daniel had a meeting after church and another at 1:00 so between the meetings we ran out for some lunch. Afterwards, we came home, Judah napped, the girls worked on their picture albums, Daniel and I talked... I love our talks.

After Judah woke up we all ran into town for a few groceries; then came home, played a little bit more, ate dinner and headed to the church to drop Daniel off for his 6:00 shift at the fireworks stand. The kids and I came home and played outside. They all helped clean out the pool and then helped get it all dirty again :-) The weather was amazing! I just love watching my little ones run around growing up together, I am blessed.

And of course... I have pictures for you :-)

Alli (7) being chased by Jordan (4) (yes, that is typically the way it goes :-)

Jordan nailing Alli with the water.

This is Jordan asking me a secret "Do you want me to get her" she asked.
Compliments to Alli for this picture.

Yes, a random picture of me reading a book, again compliments to alli :o) I hope the shirt doesn't offend anyone but I figured the few lady friends/family who read this wouldn't be too offended by my tank top. I am typically a modest dresser outside of my privacy fence. :o)

I wonder if you need a few more of these :0) to know that I'm a happy person! It was a nice day.

The McDonalds Man Has a Story Too, Ya Know

Daniel had a meeting after church and another one at 1:00 so between meetings we ran to McDonalds to get some food. Now, typically we wouldn't have subjected ourselves to McDonalds but if you would have seen that wait to get to the other side of town you would have hung a left into that parking lot too! Anyway... I ran inside to get some to go food while the family stayed inside the van.

I walk up to the McDonalds man, his name was Ryan. I say "Hello, I would like...." he takes my order and then my money. I say to him... "so are you having a good day today?" Ryan looks at me real weird, scopes out my finger for a wedding band (which I did have on) and replies, "yea, I'm having a pretty good day" (read wow I cannot believe someone actually cares) Then I proceeded to tell him if I worked there all of the beeping would drive me insane! and he said "yea, it does."

I then walked away to fill our drinks, then came back to wait for our food. Ryan wasn't busy; which was weird because that place was like a circus! So I asked him, "how many people have asked you how your day was going today?" he stopped and thought... "3" he replied... "and that includes you." Then he gave me a little smile. And I said "Well, I am really sorry about that..." I continued "well, I hope more people take time to ask you and I hope you have a wonderful day! " he said "thanks" (the kind of thanks that sounds confident) Then I got my food and started to leave and he said, "hey, see ya later."

I thought that was real sad. Especially since I am almost positive at least 85% of the people he had served that day had been people on their way to or from the church...

We really need to care about people more often.

And That's What Makes Her...

her.



"Mommy, when is a bird going to land on my finger?" "Sweetie, birds don't usually land on our fingers"

"Well, then why do they for Mary Poppins?"

Daniel Moves Out...

Caught ya with that title, huh!

Most of you who read this, I'm sure, know my husband is a 'Youth Minister'. (I don't really like that title since all Christ followers are called to be ministers and some people think the title means Daniel is set apart or "more special" but he is a teacher of God's word and he works for the church in that position, so that is what we will say) That is probably a post for another day. :-)

ANYWAY...

Being the YM at our church requires his residency to be moved here for the next two weeks:


No, it really isn't that bad. Last year however, seemed like a wreck because we had just moved here and Daniel had no idea what he was doing; not to mention we had a really bad firework representative. This year Daniel was able to plan ahead and seek out other options. He found a GREAT guy to go with. He also has one year of it under his belt and a team of great students and parents ready to help so I think this year will be a lot better.


But no matter how good the Firework guy is or how good Daniel plans, he will be gone a lot for the next two weeks. We kicked it off today by taking him lunch and helping out, it was a lot of fun. Daniel took a break and we all ate lunch together:


Then I stuck around to try and help with the set up process. My dear husband who is usually not a control freak what so ever... (that's usually me) was totally freaking out with control issues so I thought it only healthy for me and the kiddos leave because I think he didn't appreciate my little jokes ;-)

I have no idea who in the world took this picture but here is my friend Kendra and I setting up some stuff: (I am so glad I can call Kendra friend.)


Yep, that is me on the right. I was obviously not planning on being in any pictures, I looked totally trashy but that's ok because we had fun making fun of Daniel :o)

We are really lucky to have this fundraiser for the students and they all do a good job working at it. If it weren't for this fundraiser most of the students families couldn't afford to send their kids to camp, especially families with multiple students. This way each student is able to work 3 or 4 shifts and they have a big portion paid for.

I plan to get a lot of stuff done around the house while Daniel is gone for the next two weeks so that will be nice. (We have a sick obsession with each other... when we are apart we actually get stuff done! :-) Hey, it could be a lot worse.

Discovery

He discovered the switch...




... and I captured it all. I thank God that I did.

I know it seems so simple but one day he will walk by that switch, flip it on and keep on walking; never thinking a thing about it.

It is the simple things in life that we need to spend more time thinking about. Why do so many people let the little things steal their Joy? So many times the enemy tries to fill our minds with evil thoughts. Often times we dwell on such negative things that we forget to find the simple Joys that fill our days.

I am so glad that God has given me the opportunity to behold his glory each day. My eyes can see his creation, my hands can touch and guide my little children, my ears can hear their calls. My lips can kiss my husband goodbye each day, and thank the Lord, kiss him 'welcome home' so far each day. My mind is well and I can worship my God all day long, my voice is strong and I can sing praises to Him, my legs can stand and I can dance for joy in my living room. There are so many reasons to be glad.

I am so thankful that the Joy of the Lord is my strength! I pray I am always able to stop and discover my joys like Judah discovered that switch. I do not want to be someone who gets so wrapped up in the little distractions of life that I forget to REJOICE!

Help!

This is the little aloe plant we bought at the local farmer's market a couple of weeks ago:


"Give it a little water once a week and it will do the rest" the lady said, ..."they grow real fast and get real big" We're thinking, great! By this time next year we will have little sprouts. So we give her our 3 bucks and went on our merry little way.


But, here is our little aloe baby now:


We followed her directions to the T but have had (obviously) negative results... any suggestions?

Our Favorite Man... King Daddy

Well, I just know you are dying to know what we did for Father's Day right...ha! I think I get way too much of a kick out of this blogging thing. I love reading over our days.

Anyway, better late than never.

King Daddy, He is just a man, I know...but he is our favorite daddy, that's for sure :-)

For that one special Sunday a year we try to make it all about him. But this year I thought "hmmm, I never treat Daniel for a nice night on the town " (If and when we ever go on a date it usually ends up being "girly") So I thought I would take him out on a Daddy date this year and kick off fathers day on Saturday night. I hired a babysitter, and didn't tell him anything about it. Which was real funny because when she came to the door he was like "hello, can I help you" (she was a new girl, so he didn't know her.) Anyway, we had already ate dinner because I didn't want him to know anything was up, and I just wanted to save money... he, he :-) so we went for chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant we both like and then went to the chepo movies and saw 10,000 BC, a total man movie. Let me rephrase that... a total Daniel movie.

(that paragraph is so full of grammatical errors! sorry, but I am not going to fix that tonight.)

Anyway, on to the actual Father's Day...
Daniel usually leaves before us on Sunday morning so he can get to the church early. So we woke up early and made Daddy breakfast; nothing special just an egg, sausage and cheese skillet but it is one of his favorite simple meals. Actually, now that I think about it, we eat breakfast together every morning, except when Daniel has a meeting, but not every morning comes complete with presents :-) So anyway, Alli cooked the sausage, I cooked the eggs and Jordan got out the fruit.

Of course, being the dork that I am... I took pictures.







We ate breakfast, Daddy opened his gifts, read his cards, then we cleaned up and finished getting ready for church. Dan left at around 8:00.

We had a meeting right after church so we packed a pb&j lunch for the kids to eat while we sat in the "sanctuary" and had the meeting. After the meeting we came home and everyone rested. That night Daddy grilled; seems unfair I know but he got to use the new grill toys he got for Father's Day.

And again, being the dork that I am... I took pictures :-)

Yummy grilled chicken, corn, and roasted potatoes.


One special thing that Daniel wanted was banana pudding. So I called my MIL and found out how she made the good 'ol banana pudding that Dan had as a kid. She kindly gave me the recipe and it turned out great!

another picture :-)



And this is what it looked like at my feet while I took the picture. I will have to post about this on a different day. But yes, this is the typical life right now... Judah is very clingy lately.


We ended the night watching the NBA Finals of course! I am not typically a basketball fan (or any sports for that matter) but the playoffs I enjoy. That is one of my favorite pastimes with Daniel. The playoffs and March madness are the only times that he watches b-ball so I sit and enjoy it with him the best I can.

That's it for this year. Usually we have watermelon outside and play in the water. But this year we had a real bad hail storm, so no outdoor fun for us :-(

I am so blessed that our children have such a wonderful dad to spend father's day with and I am blessed to have such a great husband. I never would have thought our days would be so happy together; they weren't always that way. I am so thankful our life on the outside of these walls is the same on the inside; it wasn't always like that either. God is good. Yes, he is so Good.

This Is My Dad

This is my Dad.

I only had seven official Father's Days with him when I was little, which I don't remember a single one of them?? (I should ask him what they were like.) He and my mom were divorced when I was six. He was gone for a real long time (13 years) but he tries to be there now. My kiddos love him, he treats me and Daniel with respect and checks in on us every once and a while. I don't know what else to expect since this is all I've had but I am joyful to have that and choose to except it, forgive, and be thankful instead of bitter.

So far so good. :-)


Happy Fathers Day Dad.

ahem, did you see that cutie pie Judah in that picture? He is so big now.

A Day for a Picnic

Wednesday night Daniel and I had an all night thing at the church so we packed up the kids and headed to Mt. Vernon, MO to drop them off with some friends for the night. But before we headed out of town we had a nice little picnic in the front yard.

Why eat inside at the table when you can grab a sheet, head outside, and make memories?


The kids got the sheet ready for us... crafty little boogers huh? It was real windy that day.

Then we played and waited for Dad to come driving down the street home from work. Typically Wednesdays are one of those days where we kiss him goodbye in the morning and don't see him until late that night but this Wednesday was special because we had to take the kids and go get stuff for the activity that night.

This is Judah learning how to listen without being chased down...

I said: Judah, come here.

Judah stopped...


and Judah thought. Honestly! He just starred across the street frozen, choosing to obey or not.



Judah come here, I said once more...




OK! Yippee! "To obey, or not to obey, that is the question" (for this little 15 mo old anyway) Which I was real glad that he chose to obey because I was able to get this totally cutie pie picture when he got done running to me!

So of course after his cute little pose, we broke out into a picture taking frenzy. For the sake of space and your precious time, I'll only share a couple.

Cutie Pie Jordi...


Alli & I...
Then they scattered to play.

Alli reading ...

(yes, reading is considered play in our house; those crazy kids... ;-) )

Jordan on the skateboard...

Judah thought we should go for a swim :-) ....


Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of the actual picnic eating time :-( I guess you already know what a sub sandwich looks like though right? Well, that is what we ate.

Then more cute pictures.

Judah tried to steal the ball from the neighbors fence...

His sweet sister Jordan went and got his own ball...


He was very happy.

Then they went for a scooter ride.

Ooohh, look closely, there is Jordi's sub sandwich in her hand. ;-)

It was a fun lunch!

Oldy and Moldy

One reason why I love this man...


He says things like:

"Baby, when you're oldy and moldy I will push you in your wheel chair."

Yep, a little old lady was in a wheel chair today at Walmart and after Daniel saw her he used that great pick up line on me and I was hooked all over again. Weird, I know, but I love him.

Starting the Day

I love it when the day starts out right.

Some of you may be the "sleep in, get up with the kids" type, but time and time again my life proves that this momma up first makes for a much better day!

Monday night I went to bed at 7:30 (never happens) but I had been very under the weather that day so I tucked Judah into his bed and didn't stop there. I walked straight into our room climbed in and didn't get out until Mr. Alarm told me to @ 5:30am Tuesday morning. Up and at 'em! Shower, dressed ;-), hair fixed, quiet time, study time, cleaning time, kiddos up, breakfast done, everyone sitting and eating. ahhh, I sit back to enjoy my cup of OJ when I glance up at the calender... Ahh! Judah has a dr apt at 9:20! Ok, everyone eat up, we have to get a move on. This is the reason I hate to plan doctor's visits so far in advance, I always forget them. I had already planned for a busy day but I didn't plan for an hour long dr. visit in there so I had to do some adjusting.

8:50 doing good. Everyone ready to go, kitchen cleaned up, kids have books in hand for a busy day in the van. List in had of items to do today, off we go.

Stop one. Dr. Stacey's office. We love our doctor. She is the best! Our favorite nurse, Tracy was out on vacation so we were sad about that. Nice little check up, all is well Praise the Lord. We are on our way.

Stop two. The book store, Redeemed; I love going there (obviously since they almost know us by name). It's great, we take books in, we get more. We pay nothing. love it, love it, love it! Actually yesterday we walked out with $30 cash too, that was even better. Along with our $30 cash, Alli had picked out a new "chapter book", I found the new testament on CD for in the van (a really cool one), a little picture book for Jordan, some flash cards and other misc. items. Yep, good times, good times.

Stop three. The consignment store across the street. Love it too! Took in old swimming suits, walked out with new, didn't pay a dime.

Stop four. Lunch. Typically we always pack a lunch and eat at a park, at the Y if we are on our way to PE, we have even carried our picnic basket into the mall food court when I needed to make a return to Old Navy one day. BUT yesterday, the thought of eating out sounded like a nice treat not to mention, easier.

It's wasn't.

Yep, the picnic basket is the way to go. We decided on a place with a playground outside. I thought, "oh that would be a fun thing for the kids, and I can start reading a book that my friend Judi gave me forever ago." We walk through the doors and stand in the line. Those lines seem so silly, like a line to the feeding trough. But we stood anyway, our tummies were hungry. We placed our order, filled our drinks and proceeded to the playground to eat and play. I was so excited because there weren't any other kids out there, this will be peaceful I thought. Well, there were no kids out there because it was closed. :-( So I said, "ohhh it's closed." "Closed?!" my kids say. Then Alli says "oh well, good thing I brought in my chapter book!" (I love that kid) So we all sat inside, ate our mystery meat meal, and listened to Alli's story. I felt way sick afterwards but did enjoy the nice reading. I think I could have saved $11 and all that MSG and still enjoyed the reading with our picnic basket :-)

And just in case you were wondering... I started my book this morning. ;-)

Then we were off again, with lots left to do but one pooped little boy. Since he passed out on our way to return books to the library I thought a stop at the grocery store would just have to wait. So home we went.

The kids played outside while Judah slept, I had a talk on the phone with a friend and did housework.

Later that afternoon Daniel surprised us with a "Dad's home early Day!" (we love those days) so, we popped popcorn to celebrate, all sat down, enjoyed the nice outdoor breeze as it blew the curtains around, watched a little bit of a netflix that came in the mail and then we were off to church for an activity that night.

After church the kids headed to the school cupboard and started making crafts. Alli made me a sweet poem and Jordan made a little card for her friend Megan. Then off to bed they went. I spent the evening finishing up some last minute planning for tonights youth event and some last minute house work.

Well, there it is in a nut shell, our day yesterday. What was the reason for this post? ha! To remind me that if I wasn't an 'early riser mommy' my day would have been chaos when I remembered Judah's Dr. apt! I wish I knew how to do it a different way but being the control freak that I am... It just has to be that way.

School covered today: reading, arts and crafts and life skills. ha!

Here are those cute swimming suits!


Have a wonderful day!

A Few Things I Bet You Never Knew.

I bet you never knew...


Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego looked like this ...

-Jordan (4)


AND I bet you never knew...


sunflowers could be so beautiful.

Alli (7)



AND I bet you never knew...

a rock could be so cute.

Alli (7)


I am so thankful for these moments.

Thanks God That it's My Hearts Desire...

...to glorify you with my whole life.

Sometimes you just need a little reminder of why you do what you do.

I have a sweet friend. Her name is Judi. She's a youth ministers wife. Let me rephrase that... she's been a youth ministers wife for 15 years. She homeschools. Her heart is lovely. She is my sweet little gift from God.

I called my sweet friend Judi, my friend wasn't at home. She called me back, and I cried for over one hour.

I am all better now.

She reminded me why we do what we do.

.

She is What She Is.

This is what she looked like when she said...

..."mommy... how do you get a husband?"

Little Jordan. She is what she is... perfect.

She questions everything I tell her, she is not always quick to submit to authority, (kind of the same thing, I guess), she always pushes herself to the very edge, she will bug you to death, ask you a million questions a day, she is loud, and just not your typical middle child. She makes sure you don't leave her out. And I have decided that I am ok with that.

I have prayed and prayed that God would change her. Prayed that she would be quicker to obey, not question my authority so much, (yes it is more than the typical 4yo), prayed that God would make her not so clingy, prayed that she would like to do more things on her own, no longer are those my prayers. I have realized that it is only out of fear that I pray those things; I am afraid of what others might think. "What will they say..." Who cares! I would rather tame her for the rest of her childhood (which is the reason God gave me to her) rather than pray that God change something that can be so useful when she is older.

I love little Jordan. I love her sassy little attitude, I love her happy, joyful heart, I love to see her push her sweet little babies, I love to see her kiss her brother, I love it that she always wants to be by me, and I am learning to love the fact that she questions authority... she will not be a follower. (questioning without disrespect of course) She is always the first to come running when I turn the music up loud to dance for joy, she is the first smile I see each morning from our kids, she is the first to offer a lick from her ice cream :0)

My payer now is a prayer of power, not fear. I pray that God will use her to always stand for what is right when choices are presented to her. I pray that she will be a wife and mother that serves her family, loves them, laughs with them, dances with them, praises the Lord with them, and chooses joy each day. I pray that she will be a girl that loves God and others more than herself.

And until I see those fruits, I will continue to teach, train, rebuke, love, shelter, comfort, and rejoice in that sweet girl!




and as for this little guy...

He'll make a good daddy someday :0)