Saturday, November 15, 2008

The end of the rainbow.

Today, saturday, we normally have soccer games but because of the rain they were cancelled. Instead we went to a model airplane show (my dad flies model planes) to benefit toys for tots.

Surprisingly the weather started out fine...warm and partly cloudy. All of a sudden we saw dark clouds moving in. We brought umbrellas so we were not worried. We had a few stray showers off and on and then we had a nice little downpour for about 20 minutes. After the clouds moved out we looked out over the field and saw a rainbow forming.

This was no ordinary rainbow. I have never in my life seen such a rainbow. It was right in the middle of the field, low to the ground and so close if i had run about 1/4 mile into the field I could have touched it. I have never seen the end of a rainbow, much less BOTH ends. End to end a perfectly formed rainbow.


What a symbol of God's glorious creation. What a wonderful reminder of the beauty and blessings that can come after a storm. As I think about the storms that I have come through and the ones I am currently in, I am reminded that God has always left a rainbow in its wake and will continue to do so as long as I trust in him.

Ahhh... the things kids say!

Sometimes my kids just tickle me with the things they say and two of them came up today so i thought i would share. I am compiling a list of cute things or words that the children have said through the years for my website but these were just too cute.

We were driving in the car today and William and his sister Caity were having a conversation about something. I could not hear all they were talking about but all of a sudden I heard, in a quiet voice (unusual for William), "hey Caity...did you know that boys are made of dog tails and girls are made of sugary things?" I just about died it was so cute.

Elijah has a thing about shoes. When he is tired he likes to take them off when he is in his car seat. He says "mommy shoes off please" and I take his shoes off. Then he says "mommy socks off please" and I take his socks off. Then he says "mommy feet off please." Every time he says that I just crack up. the first time he said, he could not understand why his feet did not come off. Now he knows it is a joke, it it still cracks me up.

Friday, November 14, 2008

They grow up so fast!!

For those of you who do not have children, it may be impossible to understand the immense feelings that come with having children. Those of you who have precious little ones will understand exactly how I feel. The joys are so numerous I can not even begin to count and they come everyday. There are also those times I feel so sad. Sad because maybe they are growing up and not needing me quite as much, sad because they are having problems with schoolwork and they are getting frustrated because they just don't get it, sad that one of them is having problems with a friend who is not being kind and maybe sad because they are being disciplined and learning a difficult lesson. But behind any of these emotions is love and it helps me understand (at least partly) the joys and sadness that God feels when he looks at us.

We had the pleasure of going camping a few weeks ago. It was FREEZING!! In the 30s at night, but we had fun. The kids had a blast running around in the woods and I had a great time snuggling with them in the tent and reading a couple of books. It was a great time to experience the beauty of God's creation together. We even got to take a field trip to Kerr Damn (ever the mind set of a homeschooler=). We even got to see a fox and a skunk that came up to our campfire the last night we were there.

As far as the growing and progressing...when you have this many children, keeping up with all the changes is difficult and so many things have happened recently I can not even remember them all (sadly) but here are a few recent changes...

Caity is progressing very quickly in gymnastics and is well on her way to getting to level 4 and becoming able to compete. I am so proud of her...she is becoming quite a young lady. My little Isabella can finally reach the pedals on her bike!!! A milstone for her. She has also finally passed 25 pounds and can wear even some size 3 jeans...yea, we love that force feeding!! She is growing up to be such a young lady. Elijah an Elsie are both potty training (Elijah much more than Elise...quite a surprise to me) and are even off of sippy cups. I think this makes me the saddest because they are really making the transition from baby to "kid". At least mine all still like to snuggle me (well, except William but I guess he doesn't count since he may be autistic). I do not know what I am going to do when one of them says "no mom I do not want to kiss you"...I think I might cry=(


Man I love my kids! Thank you Lord for blessing me!!