Independence Day...

Our 4th of July was wonderful! The more kids we have, the more fun holidays are (no worries, we are stopping with six!). Our day consisted of work and play...
in the sandbox...

preparing food...
swimming in the pool...
painting on the house...
our traditional supper: grilled chicken, potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, dipped strawberries, watermelon, and homemade ice cream...(the belly is getting big!)

Later, we went to a local stadium for an awesome fireworks display! They were fabulous and made us so proud to be Americans!



May God bless America!!!

Update on us: Last July we put our house on the market. We have recently taken it off due to various circumstances. The renter of our little guest house in the backyard has recently moved out and we are transforming that space into a studio where I can teach piano again. (I have done that before out of the house, but it became increasingly difficult with the children in the home.) We are planning that I will teach a couple of hours a day, while the little ones are sleeping and hopefully, they will not even notice that I am gone! Being with the kids all day (as I school at home) allows me to be away from them for a couple of hours without missing out on their lives. We are praying that God blesses this and gives us wisdom to balance the things in our lives.

We would certainly appreciate your prayers as well!

Montana Fun...(Part 2)

The second part of our trip to Montana was slow in coming, but here it is! Here the kids got to feed a calf a bottle of formula that Gramps mixed up...the mother had died. Jayce is especially fond of all things "little" and loved this whole process.

Making a cake for two very special one-year-olds! The toddlers got to help while the babies were sleeping and the big kids were at VBS at the church.
Jay took his stirring seriously!
Yum! Yum! Licking chocolate on Nana's white tablecloth!!

The Birthday Party! Here is proud cousin Drew with the celebrities!
We were brave and went to town to eat at Pizza Hut before the party.
All the nine grandchildren that were there! Graham and Grant! They were so laid back and casual about the celebration! At one point, Graham began to take cake off of Grant's high chair. Krystal remarked that he has reasons for being the bigger of the two!!
Tucker enjoying it all!

Lauren is set up here to do some face-painting. Graham...
Krystal and all her little ones...
Grant...

Tucker's ride on the horseLauren and Rambo, her favorite horse
Preston's first ride on the horse...he loved it!
Drew and Lauren...Drew's allergies held off a little while so he could ride.

Saying "good-byes" to our sweet family and heading home to see Robb! We are grateful for our time together!

Montana Fun...(Part 1)

Last week, I packed the kids up and we took off for Montana for a few days to see my parents and to also see my sis, Krystal, and her kids. They were visiting from Pennsylvania and it was such a joy to be together for a few crazy days! With my 5 children and her 4, we definitely had a housefull! They were moments of quiet, but only if naps were taking place!! Between all of the child rearing going on, we managed to fit in some other things as well! Krystal and Jeff have the cutest little twin boys who turned one while she was in Montana. Here they (Grant and Graham) are with Preston...
Jay, Becca and Jayce...

Preston was very interested in all the "toys"...

Quite a darling handfull! This was our first time to see the twins and they were so fun to watch! They love interacting with each other... My beautiful sister...she is a delightful mother to her children...

Aunt Krys taught Drew and Lauren to play "Othello"...

Preston enjoyed being with the babies...they actually looked like triplets, as Preston is just 2 months older (but much smaller, I might add)...

a gorgeous backdrop for fun ...
Jayce, Krys, Becca and Tucker...
And who says this isn't just as much fun as a four-wheeler? Jay and Preston loved riding with Gramps!

Gramps and Nana (who was still recovering from hip surgery) had the utmost patience with these grandchildren...you could not ask for more loving, involved grandparents! With 6 kids in the house, ages three and under, they was much activity, but they handled it all with much grace! Thanks for the wonderful time!

More pictures to come....

Exciting news from Scott and Debbie (French) Degelman

Just wanted to announce that Grandpa's Hook, the novel by Scott Degelman (Debbie's husband), co-created by Ward French, is now available at BarnesandNoble.com's website.

Here's the direct URL to the purchase site.http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Grandpas-Hook/Scott-Degelman/e/9781604779424/?tabname=custreview

May God get the glory!
Scott and Debbie and family

(We are so proud of Scott...he has been working on this prolife novel for a few years. We are praying that it will change lives!)

Baby Steps...

We recently finished 13 weeks of our Financial Peace University Class by Dave Ramsey, held at our church and facilitated by our good friends, Marc and Talisha Taylor. It was many things to us, but the word I can think of that best describes it is that it gave us HOPE. Robb was taught to be a giver, and never really planned for the future. Add to that recipe a very optimistic personality ("next month will be better..."), a risk-taking demeanor (and I realize that some risks are good), almost 6 kids in 10 years and a one-income family, and an economy where work became less profitable, and you can see that we were in need of a financial class!

This class was nothing really profound, just wisdom from God's Word and things your grandma probably did, but such great reminders and lessons for this couple! We have not been able to put everything into practice yet, but are working toward a goal. It is especially exciting to see our kids also practicing these principles and we are excited that they may not have to learn these financial concepts the "hard" way!

Dave Ramsey uses the analogy of taking "Baby Steps" when it comes to financial freedom. With a little one at our house just learning to walk everywhere, I can see how this is a perfect picture of what we are doing with our finances (and really, our walk of faith in general). Some things I have noticed about little Preston's journey are:

• you have to be willing to give up what is comfortable (for him crawling - he was such a FAST crawler) in order to have a better, more secure future


• it is not a fast process...this has taken a couple of weeks of trying to walk a few steps, getting tired, and trying again tomorrow


• there is a lot of falling down


• and there is someone bigger and stronger than you who helps you get back up


• you expand on yesterday's successes...today may be 5 steps; tomorrow may be 10, but progress is being made


• it actually feels good to stretch yourself and learn something new...Preston is never sad when he is walking...just a huge smile on his face


• you need a good support system...In this house there is a lot of cheering from the family every time effort is made!

Every journey begins with a single step. GO PRESTON!!

Your prayers...

Please pray for the Steven Curtis Chapman family today as their little 5 year old girl was killed yesterday after being struck by the vehicle her teenage brother was driving. Maria Sue was adopted from China and I have always admired this family for their giving hearts. I know the brother will especially need prayers to get through this, and I know the Chapman's home must feel incredibly empty today.
http://stevencurtischapman.com/ (if you look on their web page, be sure to watch the video of Steven and little Maria taken 2 months ago.)

I can't get the words of Steven's song out of my head, "God is God and I am not...I can only see a part of the picture He's painting..."

Our big Kindergartener...

Thursday was Kindergarten graduation at our co-op. We have 9 very lively and fun kindergartens who performed a song and some poems for us. Their teacher had interviewed them and shared with us what they said. Jayce said that he loved learning History this year, and that he wanted to be a songwriter when he grew up. I later asked him if he wanted to be a dad, and he said, "I WILL be a dad!". It will be exciting to see what the future holds for these little guys. The moms and graduates!

Our sweet, happy, sensitive little guy
Getting a certificate from his teacher, Mrs. Baillie
The cake table with their "autograph dogs" on it
Here is some wisdom that was shared yesterday: (Sometimes the greatest wisdom is not learned in the castles of our universities, but in the sandboxes in our backyards.)

"Everything I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten"

by Robert Fulghum

• Share everything
• Play fair
• Put things back where you found them
• Clean up your own mess
• Don't take things that aren't yours
• Say you're sorry when you hurt someone
• Wash your hands before you eat
• Flush
• Warm cookies and milk are good for you
• Live a balanced life...learn some and think some and draw some and paint some and sing some and dance some and play and work some every day some
• Take a nap every afternoon
• Be aware of wonder; remember the tiny seed in the Styrofoam cup; the roots go down and the plant goes up and no one really knows why or how
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die and so do we
• When you go out in the worlds, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together
• And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK!