A first for me

Kalysa was running around the house the other day looking like a little orphan...pretty dress on, no shoes or socks and her unbrushed hair going WILD...when Monty stopped her and told her to hop up in the hot seat. He grabbed a hair brush and the spray bottle of water and brushed her hair for her. Monty has brushed the girls hair a few times but only when it was absolutely mandatory because they were in school and I was at work. Being a man that shaves his head anytime it starts to get enough hair for the teeth of a comb to go through, he just does not have much experience with brushing hair. Especially long hair that hangs almost down to your behind, but he tackled Kalysa's flowing locks and actually enjoyed it.

This is more proof positive that she is a TOTAL daddy's girl...see that little smile on her face? This is the same child that screams out in pain each day we sit down to do hair BEFORE I ever touch the brush to her head. When daddy was doing it....not a single whimper!


Monty had so much fun with Kalysa that he called Keslee to the hot seat next. Her super curly locks were a little more of a challenge for him but he got it brushed and even put a pony tail in for her.

After Keslee's salon experience with dad, I was in the hot seat. Monty has never brushed my hair before. As a matter of fact, besides one hair dresser that cut my hair a few times in high school, no man has ever brushed my hair. I have always been the one doing other people's hair. I always loved to do my sister's hair when we were young. I had a friend in high school that had me come to her house every morning before school so that I could fix her hair. I have always done my children's hair. I have always cut Kenyon's hair. I have always cut my own hair. When I was in jr. high I went to school early to have a friend french braid my hair because she was the only one I knew that could do it at the time but besides that my mom and me are the only ones I really ever remember doing much to my hair. As I sat in the hot seat letting my husband brush my hair I realized...I like it! It is so relaxing to have someone else brush your hair. I just leaned back and closed my eyes and enjoyed the whole experience hoping it would not end to soon. Now I just have to figure out a way to get daddy's salon to open more often because I think I need a weekly appointment!!

Up a mountain...on a hill...whatever

Keslee: Mom, what are we supposed to talk about on the hill?

Me: ?????

Keslee: You know mom, we are supposed to go up on a hill and then talk about Jesus.

Me: "Go Tell it on the Mountain"?

Keslee: YES! So it is a mountain!? (walk off happily singing Go tell it on the MOUNTAIN)

Christmas Blessings!

I trust you all had a wonderful Christmas!! I sure hope everyone spent some time to reflect on the reason we celebrate each year and did not get too wrapped up with food, presents and fun. Thank the Lord for sending his son as a precious newborn baby, born to the virgin Mary, to save us all. Of course the celebration of the birth of Jesus also involves the food, presents and fun with family which is just one more thing for us to thank the Lord for!

Thank you Lord for providing the desires of our hearts. This year has been a rough one financially for many Americans. Being a one income family(with supplements from the paper route) for just under 3 years, we are still in somewhat of an adjustment and learning period. We have tried a few different ways to budget the money to really find what works best for our family. Some ways have worked better than others and Monty and I have grown tremendously during the trying times. Unfortunately, the way we had been trying for the first half of the year was not one of the better working ways which really made me wonder if there would be any Christmas presents this year. The Lord used this year to really show Monty and I many things about ourselves and each other that no other situation would have been able to teach us. God has also brought us through it all with a stronger marriage, a better financial outlook for the new year and provided for all of our needs and many of the wants throughout. Thank you Lord for the trials meant for our good and your glory. He is Awesome!!

We live in central Oklahoma. The part of Oklahoma that is normally skipped when it comes to serious snow fall. I grew up in the panhandle of Texas. A part of Texas that is NOT normally skipped when it comes to snow and I have great memories of days of play in a snow filled yard. We do get snow just about every year but it is not usually a large amount and doesn't last more than a day or two. Actually, many Oklahoma snow days consist of watching it snow in the morning and then watching it all melt in the afternoon. Well this Christmas eve the Lord sent us snow. REAL SNOW! LASTING SNOW! Thank you Lord for the SNOW! It came in the form of a blizzard and the visibility was really limited while it fell.

But that did not stop the last minute shoppers from hitting the Wal-mart before they closed. Mom and I got some Christmas tip money from paper route customers (Praise the Lord), so I had to stop in and pick up a few items for Christmas dinner.

The snow fell ALL day on Christmas eve and all the highways were closed. That meant the newspaper truck could not get our papers to us...NO PAPER ROUTE ON CHRISTMAS EVE. Once again-Thank You Lord!

This is the street in front of our house on Christmas morning. Since the highways were still closed, my sister and brother did not get to come down from Tulsa but we were still able to go across town to spend the day with dad and grandma. That evening my mom, stepdad, my little brother and sister, and a few friends came over for some more gift exchanges and good food. Thank you God for providing safety, friends and family to enjoy it with.

This angel looks out our front window each Christmas.

The dogs were finally staying in their dog house but I had mercy on them and let them stay in the garage at night. Thank you Lord for warmth.

We had snow drifts in the back yard as much as 27 inches tall! I LOVE IT!!! :)

We were even visited by a very mysterious Christmas angel. I found this in the back yard on Christmas morning and I had not let the kids play outside yet. You don't think someone had snuck out without my knowledge to enjoy the snow, do ya??

Being rather short on funds around Christmas time creates a need to get creative when it comes to meaningful gifts. Guess what....PAINT IS CHEAP! Especially if you only need 2 quarts for the small 1/2 bathroom that has been dubbed "daddy's bathroom" since we bought this house.

If you happened upon my blog right before Christmas, you would know that I really believed that I had found the perfect present for my wonderful husband.

The gift that has so much love and meaning that it brings ya to tears (if you are a woman of course, my husband is not a cryer!)

The kids were as excited as I was for daddy to see it. They had spent 3 days knowing this secret and had not given one single little hint to Monty!! I was so proud of my little secret keepers:)

Monty LOVED it!! I was right! He said if he would have been a women, he would have cried! He was in total shock at what I had done in our home with him not having a single clue that anything had taken place. I had locked the laundry room doors and he thought there were just unwrapped presents in there so he did not try to look.

He may never leave the bathroom again! No seriously---Monty LOVES LOVES LOVES the Dallas Cowboys!!! I got him good this year! Thank you Lord for the my husband!!

Kenyon had a few special gifts as well. My mom got him his first BB gun!

Of course daddy had to try it out!!

We found a few cans in the trash to set up as targets and the shoot out began! Kenyon is actually quite good. He hit the cans several times!! I even hit it once!

Daddy worked with Keslee on her aim. Although she did not hit a target, the shootin was fun!

He also got his first bow and arrow this year. I may just have a hunter on my hand at this rate. WHAAAA! My baby boy is growing up!! Thank you dear Lord for choosing me to raise these children!

Of course you never grow up too much to enjoy a good snowball fight....

with your uncle!!! Thank you Lord God for love and laughter!

He gives us Mercy, Grace and Salvation but still loves us more and chooses to provide daily blessings as well! That is my Amazing God! Thank you Lord!

HeHeHeHeHe!!!

I have a secret!! HeHeHeHe! A secret that I am keeping from my husband!!!! HeHeHeHe!! I am so excited and can't wait till Christmas!!! HeHe! I really think I did it this year!!! I think I may have got him the PERFECT thing this year!!! I have a surprise for him that I don't think he would EVER guess in a million years and it will be something he is going to TOTALLY LOVE!!! HeHeHe!! I don't know if I can make it another 2 days before I reveal it to him!!! I want to tell you all sooo bad but I am afraid it might getted leaked back to Monty. The kids have each been threatened to within an inch of their lives and NO CHRISTMAS if they let it slip!! HeHeHeHe!! I will be sure to post some pictures for you as soon as I can. HeHeHeHe! This is soooo fun!!! I just LOVE surprises!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS YALL!!

TEA for Christmas

'Twas the week before Christmas,
when Congress met,
So eager they were,
to pile on the debt;
They knew it was wrong,
deep down in their core,
But golly gee whiz,
they must spend,
spend some more;
With constituents distracted by holiday cheer,
Why, this was their chance, to spend more this year;
So the politicians huddled,
they plotted,
they planned,
$1 trillion, $2 trillion, how much could they scam?
And that’s when it happened,
Reid and Pelosi stood up,
“What’s another $2 trillion, the voters are chumps!”
They raised the debt ceiling with nary a care,
And once that was done, they didn’t stop there;
More rapid than eagles,
agendas were set,
They whistled and shouted,
“No, we’re not done yet!”
“On health care, on taxes, on Carbon Cap-and-Trade,
“We’ll say it’s the rich, but everyone pays!”
“And for those who oppose us,” Reid and Pelosi insist,
“One call to the White House, you’re on the enemies list!”
And so they proceeded with their devilish plans,
Big government to all, constituents be damned.

Written by a contributor to the Oklahoma City Tea party

Not Me Monday

I have enjoyed several other mother's blogs about Not Me Monday. It is really encouraging to see that things do NOT happen in all of our lives that are not always ideal. I have never before participated but after today thought I may just need to jump on this band wagon.

So yesterday we had our Christmas program at church. One of the little shepherds did not want to sit still during the practice and was removed from the stage to sit on the front pew. When I was asked to lead the cast members to the fellowship hall for cookies and milk, I most certainly DID NOT forget that little boy was sitting on that pew. I did NOT leave him sitting there alone until all the other kids were finished with their cookies before I realized he was missing. The play was a success anyway and the kids did a great job.

Today I did NOT wake up with a sore throat so bad that I could barely talk because we all know that mama's can NOT get sick. I sure did NOT almost use a whole roll of toilet paper blowing my nose all day and I really did NOT take some antibiotics prescribed to my grandma. Everyone knows that you do NOT take other peoples prescriptions.

Kenyon and Jacinta got their school work done and it went pretty well. After they finished I did NOT set the girls down at the computer to play some math games and count it as their school day. While they were doing that, I sure did NOT go lay down and I did NOT fall asleep. I really did NOT sleep for about 4 hours. That would waste a whole afternoon that I could use to get lots of things accomplished. Although I was feeling better, my kids were NOT starving by the time I got up. Since the kids did NOT only have a sandwich for supper (I always cook full gourmet homemade meals) last night, I thought I better cook tonight. My family did NOT finally eat supper after 8:00 eerrr 9:00 eerrr 10:00 pm. That is craziness and way to late to be having supper!! While I was cooking, I did NOT set a 3 pound can of macaroni noodles on top of a canister after I opened it and it did NOT get knocked off the counter when Keslee was putting the dishes up. I mean, that would just be silly. I always put stuff away when I am finished using them so accidents like that won't happen.



I tell ya, I most certainly did NOT have Kalysa pick those noodles up and put them in a strainer in order to sift the dirt out that they may have gathered from the floor. First of all, my floor is always clean and we would never use food that has fallen on the floor anyway. Keslee did NOT run to her room crying because she made such a huge mess. We never stress over messes in this house and my kids never cry over spilled milk. I did NOT then ask my husband to finish putting the dishes away for her. He had just got home from a full days work so I would never expect him to do a household chore that I could easily do while I am right there cooking dinner anyway. When dinner finally was done , my kids did NOT have to eat in the living room because the school books were still all over the table from this afternoon.

We always put our school supplies back all nice and neat on the bookcase where they belong just as soon as we are finished with them. I am so glad that I do NOT have days that I feel compelled to promise my kids that I will be a better mama tomorrow as I tuck them into bed.

I did NOT wait so long to post this not me MONDAY that it is actually Tuesday now.

I think this may be the perfect time to enjoy a cup of hot tea! Thankfully I won a few different kinds from Amy and I got them in the mail just a few days ago (ain't she sweet!!). Well I sure would NOT make a cup of tea now and then go to bed while those school books are still on the table. Those books are sure NOT gonna still be there in the morning!!

So busy!!

Wow! It have been a very bad blogger! This time of year is just sooo busy, I haven't been able to find the time. Here is a brief update of what's been going on....

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. We went to my grandma's house. She had a broken hand and needed my help in the kitchen. I made a large part of the dinner (including the apple pie above) but she did the meat. My dad, his brother and wife, his other brother, grandma and the 5 of us spent the day together. The kids spent the day catching up on cartoons-we don't have cable and dad does so they were very excited to get to watch a little bit of Nickelodeon. The men watched some tv and it surprisingly did not consist entirely of football. Us ladies cooked, cleaned, talked, looked at pictures, and watched my grandma's wedding video. It was a very peaceful and relaxed day. Grandma even let the girls play with a few of her dolls which really made their day!! (Grandma collects dolls and NOBODY touches her dolls!!)

Of course the kids were ready to put the tree up as soon as the Thanksgiving dishes were done. Mama, on the other hand, would have been happy to wait a week or more!! They convinced daddy to get all the decorations down from the attic and since Monty drug them all down, he also got to be in charge of putting them together.

Kenyon was his faithful assistant and the 2 men got down to business and got the tree up. Of course you could not see the living room floor for a day or TWO, there is an extension cord running up the back of the tree because the lights were put on in a way that did not leave the cord available near the bottom of the tree to plug in and there were tree limbs left over at the end that I am positive go in there somewhere but hey.....


The tree is up and no one is the wiser. Once we got the decorations on, it is the prettiest tree ever and I am so proud of my 2 guys for taking charge.

We had another cousin's birthday party and this time it was at an ice skating rink. None of my kids had ever ice skated before and they had a blast. I am sure you noticed my new (blurry) picture at the top. When I tried taking action shots they were too dark so I had to use the night flash which did not do so great with the movements but I like it anyway.

The rink provided "walkers" for the beginners. The girls utilized those things most of the day but there were more beginners than there were walkers so they had to take turns.

Kenyon picked it up pretty quick and he was off like a flash not to be seen again except in a blur as he skated by saying "hi mom!" for most of the day. The best part of the entire day was when both girls had to give their walkers to waiting children and still did not have the confidence (or the balance) to make it around the rink of their own so.....

big brother came to the rescue and held their hands and skated them all over. I sooooo love moments like that!!! To have them fuss and fight so often at home. For Kenyon, who is all boy and loves anything that makes noise and a crying sister is noise so anyway to pick on them and make them scream out or cry is his favorite past time most days, to be so loving and gentle when his little sisters needed him....well it just brings a tear to this mama's eye. I'm gonna get all choked up and mushy now so I guess that is all the update for now. Enjoy this busy season but don't let the busy overshadow your family or the reason for the season. :)

Does this ever happen to you?

Ever have one of those nights when you wonder if the preacher is EVER gonna finish the sermon and your eyes are getting heavier and heavier and your head keeps bobbing to the side and it is taking everything you have to keep your focus on the preacher and concentrate on the verse he is preaching about until you just can't hang on any longer........

If so, Keslee and Kalysa know just how ya feel!!!

More Hieroglyphics

Our next lesson in hieroglyphs called for us to make up our own pictures to represent words and write a sentence. Kenyon and Jacinta thought this was an impossible task until I showed them an example of just how easy it could be. They did not even need a key to determine what I was saying....

I love you.
You love pizza.

That was simple enough and they jumped right in to make their own.


Kenyon wrote "I hate school". That is ok. To hate it so much, he sure jumped into this project quick and didn't even have to think long about what to draw. He hates school so much that 3 nights last week I noticed his bedroom light on way after bedtime and found him working ahead on school (once on math, twice on language)-but anyway.....I will let him keep believing that I still believe that, for now. He was done with this picture before anyone else and then moved on to do another one. Granted, the second one said about the same thing but he went back to the chart in our book and drew each letter out.



Jacinta made a key to her words using paint but decided to go with markers for the sentence because they are so much easier to control.




I thought she did a great job. In case you can't read her key-I have two awesome best friends named Kaylie and Lizi.

The girls missed out on the paint the first time and sure did not want to miss out again. They wanted to know exactly what we were making and why. I went over the chart in the book with them and explained that these pictures were how the Egyptians wrote things down. They immediately got their own paper and got started as well.





Keslee decided to write her name using the key in the book. I thought she did a fabulous job considering she had to draw a lion for the L.


Kalysa did not get into the "ancient language" as much and decided to just paint a picture of mama with a heart.

I just really LOVE homeschooling!!!

Be thankful!

Just want to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving!
Hope you enjoy this day That God Made,
and you spend it with friends and family That God Gave You,
eating lots of good food That God Provided.
Remember to Thank Him for all He has done throughout this year and all He will continue to do in the new year. Enjoy His presence.
Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hieroglyphs

In our studies on Ancient Egypt, we have been learning about their languages. Any time Kenyon or Jacinta complain about having to do any writing, I now just have to remind them that they could be doing it all in hieroglyphs where every letter or sound was a picture and there were over 700 pictures used. That should make us all a little more thankful for our 26 letter alphabet, even with all of it's confusing and complicated rules. To have a small taste of the Egyptians written language, they each had to write their names. We used this chart from our book Ancient Egypt as a guide.

The writings we saw pictured in the book all were written from top to bottom instead of left to right like we are accustomed to. This is K*E*N*Y*O*N.

The chart does not show a picture for the letter J or the letter S. Since J and H make the same sounds in several languages, we decided Jacinta would use and H and then use and S for the C. J(H)*A*C(S)*I*N*T*A. She was really nervous about having to draw birds for the letter A, especially when I pointed out that she had 2 A's in her name, but I thought she did great. She did, however, discover one of the problems I am sure the Egyptian's encountered often-having the space to write the complete word. She made her first A way to big but was able to salvage the picture by scaling down for the remaining letters.

Writer in the Making

As you may have read before, Kenyon and Jacinta have several writing assignments this year. Up to this point, they have not been all that excited about that. I am convinced that they will develop a love of writing. They are already doing better and beginning to enjoy letting their own creativity flow. We have a great time making up and talking about the stories. We laugh and giggle as we each add our own silly parts to each new story. Now Kenyon and Jacinta are working on getting those thoughts onto paper, keeping their thoughts going to create a whole story instead of just a sentence or two.
This week I gave Keslee and Kalysa their own spiral notebooks just for school. I have written math problems and memory verses and personal information for them to copy. They were so excited to have their own spiral. Keslee finished all the pages I had prepared for her and then asked if she could write a story. I set her down with a word list from one of her workbooks and she wrote her first, and second story.

Her story: Once a girl was lost in the woods with no trees with Bananas. What would she do? All a suddenly she found a bus stop. All a sudden a people. WHAT?

I loved it! She explained that being in the woods with no trees with bananas meant that she had no food. Of course, what would a girl do with no bananas? Good thing she found that bus stop full of people! Keslee then decided to write her second story. Since the first one was so serious she decided to go a little silly with this one.

2nd story: Once a boy and a girl was home picking their nose. Only the boy. Then their mom came.

She makes me laugh. In case you missed it, the boy is the only one picking his nose, a girl would never do that. She had so much fun writing her stories and even more fun reading them and explaining everything that she is not yet able to put into words on paper. I am so thankful that she was not in public school long enough to get the love of learning sucked out of her. It is so wonderful to see my little girls have so much joy even in "school time." I am so saddened by the fact that my son no longer has that same joy. We have our moments when he is having so much fun learning that he forgets we are doing school. I wish our days were filled with more of those moments for him. I pray that I did not keep him "institutionalized" to long for us to get that back for him. I will do whatever I can to ensure that my girls do not loose it and that my son will someday find it again.

I love homeschooling!!

Christmas presents in the making????

My friend, Paul....

who also has a paper route and is the brother of a friend from church, stopped by our house the other night with a treat for the kids(his niece and nephews were here also). He had been to some garage sales and bought himself 2 bunnies.


They were the cutes, softest things ever and the kids were THRILLED that he brought them by.

Of course they all wanted one. He was not even sure if he had bought males or females but upon closer inspection discover he had one of each. He promised the kids they could have a baby if he ended up with any.

After we learned the sexes, they needed some names. It ended up to be Romeo and Juliet. This is Juliet with Kenyon. Romeo has a gorgeous big fluff of hair right on top of his head and more color than Juliet

The kids carried them and brushed them and-although I did not catch it-I later learned they also dressed them up in doll clothes. They were so gentle and sweet. I jokingly told Monty that Paul had gotten the kids a rabbit and he was actually ok with it. He always accuses me of trying to make this place a zoo but I guess since Jasmine (the guinea pig) has passed on and Jefferson (the Tom cat) has disappeared he would be ok with a new pet. It is a good thing since Paul just let me know that Romeo and Juliet heard the kid's requests and have now started working on that ;) .