6 Years!!

So a while back I realized that Ashlyn's 6th Birthday was quickly approaching. So I told her that I didn't want her to grow up too fast and that I wanted her to just stay 5 for a while longer. Then I asked her if she would do that for me? Well in all her innocent sweetness she looked me dead in the eye and said "Mommy I would but I just don't know how!". Well I couldn't help but smile knowing that she was willing to prolong a Birthday (every kids dream) just to please me. Well she is right she cannot stop her growing older and neither can I. Against my will my little girl celebrated her 6th Birthday today!! I mean I love that she is growing up but what happened to that little tiny baby that I thought would break at any moment cause she was so little. Or what about that little pudgy toddler that would hug you so hard your head would wanna explode. I know that she is only 6 but I am going to blink and my little girl will be 16!!

I do need to brag on her for a moment though. My 6 year old daughter can read. She can write her name in CURSIVE!! She can almost tie her shoes. She is working ahead of her class in kindergarten cause she is so far ahead!! She amazes us daily with her knowledge of God and her spirituality. Ashlyn, you are an amazing young girl and we love you so very very much!! You make us so proud with your schoolwork and especially your faith. You are a huge source of joy in our lives and we thank God daily for your existence. Keep growing up girl cause we know you are going to do amazing things for God one day and we cannot wait to see what He has in store for you!

Bye, Bye Baby!!

Whelp, it is official, my baby girl has hit toddler hood! Yesterday was Hope's second birthday!! She has grown so much over the last year! She amazes us daily with all that she knows and can do! We are so thankful to God for blessing this family with her! Even though we did not know how much she would complete us! She is a testament to how God knows what is best for us even if we do not!

We are in the process of moving and having Thanksgiving week and we have 11 kids right now (more on this in a later blog) so we just had a little bit of cake and ice cream to celebrate Hope's Birthday but we are planning a joint party in 2 weeks with big sister Ashlyn whose birthday is December 10. So I will post a couple pictures of my big two year old at her small little party here at the house with just us!

Hope blowing out her candles!

Hope with her big birthday grin!!

Wooo....ELMO!!

Hope opens her new zebra bouncy toy!!



She loves to bounce all day!!



Hope, I am so thankful that you are my daughter. You so complete our family and I could not imagine our lives without you in it! We are so proud of all that you amaze us with and how smart you are! You are a precious little girl and we love you so dearly!! Happy 2nd Birthday Hope Katherine!!

Boys will be Boys!

Well I am somewhat of a blog slacker! I don't really post very often. Anyhow this happened a while back but I have to share! Josh likes to take our camera sometimes when we don't realize it and take weirdo pictures or videos that we will find later. So one day Bri and I were at a staff meeting and this is what was on our camera when we got home! I don't think it needs any words!! CRAZY BOYS!

I peed!!

So most of you know that my youngest daughter Hope is very different then the rest. She is VERY strong willed and stubborn and likes it her way or nothing! So this morning at 6:30 I heared from her room..."Mommy!" So like any other day I put on my glasses, got outta bed and went to get my girl. It was no suprise that I went into her room and she was all smiles, she is a happy girl in the morning! This time though to my suprise not only did she stand up and smile at me but she said very happily "I PEED!". So me thinking what in the world...why is she telling me this looked down and saw that she had taken her diaper off and proceeded to pee all over her crib! Well thinking that this was pretty funny I put her on the end of Ashlyn's bed so that I could pull the sheets off and then give her a bath. Well as I was pulling the sheets off her crib I heard a grunt and then looked over and she was pooping on Ashlyns bed!! So I hurriedly grabbed her and put her back on her wet sheets which were now on the floor ( I was definatly giving her a bath anyway!). I grabbed Ashlyns comforter and threw it on the floor with the rest of the messy laundry. So then I finally give her a bath and clean her up really good, wrap her in a towel and stand her on the bathmat. So what do you think my crazy girl did...yup you guessed it she peed all over the bathmat!! By this point I am not amuzed and I told her that it is NOT OK to potty all over the house!! However like most moms I am now looking back and am laughing! So I wanted to share with you the craziness of my baby girl! Here is a picture of her so that you can have an updated look of the culprit!

Happy 13th Birthday Josh!!

So today is the day that most parents either look to with anticipation or with total utter fear!! Today my son turned 13...yup I am officially the mother of a teenager!! Now if that does not make a girl feel old I am not sure what will!! Anyhow Josh got a few great things for his Birthday! One he got a metallic red electric guitar...well actually he got a picture of one since his is still on route. Plus he got lessons to go with it so that we can save ourselves from listening to nonsense!! Also when asked what he wanted months ago all he asked for was one of every fruit at the store. Well with grandma and grandpa being here ask and you shall receive, to Josh's surprise he received every fruit that they had! Also last week we had a party for him and brought him and his best friend to a awesome restaurant The Melting Pot. Here are some pictures of our celebrations!

Josh wanted a giant strawberry shortcake with homemade whipped cream!!

Waiting for our cheese at The Melting Pot!

Josh with all his fruit!!

Josh tasting coconut milk for the first time!!

(He didn't like it)

Well so as another year of my child's life goes by I reflect as a mother on how he has grown and where did the time go? All I can say is this, Josh you are an amazing young man. You have grown in leaps and bounds this year and are mature beyond your years! We are so proud of your decisions and all your responsibility! We are so happy that you have accepted Christ at such a young age and serve Him like you do! You are an example to many and we are so very proud to call you son!! Happy Birthday Buddy! We love you so much more then you will ever know!

She Reads!!

Well as most of you know our kids all go to a private Christian School. Which is great for us cause they are learning so much and in a Christian environment. However we sometimes wonder if it is worth it to pay $200 a month for Ashlyn to go to pre-school...I mean pre-school...we all remember pre-school...playing with blocks, taking naps, eating snacks, and maybe getting read a book or two and learning our shapes but really not much else. Well to our great surprise she came home from school one day and asked what this word said. So me knowing that they have been teaching her sounds of letters at school asked her to sound it out. So she did and read her first word!! Well kinda she already could read her name! So I tested this out and got a very easy book out for her titled Cat to see if she could read it and she could!! The whole thing and then proceeded to read another book after that! So for any of you wondering if we are crazy to pay that kind of money for pre-school my answer to you is no way!! My pre-schooler can read, she can write and she already knows some cursive (not to mention her colors, shapes and how to play with blocks)! $200 well spent : )

You can take the mama out of Michigan but you can't take the Michigan out of mama's boy!!

In March we packed up our 15 passenger van with luggage for a week, our four kids, our dog, and of course ourselves. Traveled through 7 states over two days and arrived at my best friends house in South Carolina!! Well she had a new little baby boy the end of December and he is one cute boy!! To give you a little background she lived in Michigan her whole life and went to college in SC. She moved back to Michigan when she got married and that is when I met her. Two months after we moved to NM they moved back to SC with there daughter Pheoby and now have Trey too. So now that I have babbled a ton I would love to share some pics with you of our visit but one in particular that I find amusing is the one of Trey in a Pistons jersey. Now hailing from Michigan we are of course Pistons fans....however Trey's daddy hailing from Georgia is not!! So we HAD to dress him up when his daddy was at work!! Here he is...making his big debut....L.C. Hayes III (Trey) a.k.a Trey Billups!! Hee-Hee!!

So do you see what I mean...what a cute boy!! I wanna share a few other pics with you too of our trip to SC. Enjoy!

Here is me and my best friend Sarah!!

The kids at the coolest park in the world! I love SC!!

Everyone at the zoo except for me! (I was taking the pic.)

Sarah said that the ice cream shop was right down the street so we went... and like 20 blocks later (and a bunch of statues) we found it!! Notice Pheoby kissing that guy!!

The Beginning

So here it is!! Our blog!! We have talked about this for quite sometime now and have decided to start blogging! It is a great way to keep in touch with all of the people that we love spread out all over this country! We will try to post often but no promises. Houseparenting is very time consuming! So here is the beginning of our journey here in New Mexico.

We have lived here for the last three years. First as Houseparents-in-training and then since last August as Houseparents. We are in a relief cottage at the moment which means we get different kids every week for a week or two at a time. This makes for an interesting time most of the time! Our four children love it here as there is usually no boring moments ever!! I like to have my days planned so the craziness of day to day life makes me wanna pull out my hair sometimes. However, I would not have it any other way. We truly feel like this is where God has called us for now. He has a plan for our lives and we fully intend to do it His way! We tried our way once and believe me it does not work!! So anyhow we just thought that we would share with anyone who wants to come on this ride with us! More later....
~Jennifer