He lives!

What a special day, Easter. The reason for our hope. Praise God, he lives! We had a fun filled day in honor of Him. To start the day the kids got their baskets and they loved them. Then we got the children all gussied up and they looked so precious.

Then off to church where I had a total of 40 three year olds between both services to do the egg hunt. It was a blast!! Here is a pic of me with my 2nd service class. I have been teaching in this class for over two years now and some of these children are like my own. They bless me so so very much!

After church, we headed over to Nana's to take pics in her amazing back yard.

After Nana's we went home, ate lunch and took a short nap. We finished out the day playing outside together. The kids played in the water and I blew about a billion bubbles for Chloe. We had Mallorys fave, chicken and dumplings for dinner (YUM) and then we all played basketball until way after the street light came on. The kids went to bed a little later than usual, but that's okay because we were together. :) Watched the Dove awards and hit the hay. What a day

3 days of crazy... :)

The last three days have been a blur of activity and madness (but so much fun). 

Starting on Thursday...

All 6 kids had dentist appointments in Tyler,which went great. That consumes about two hours of the day. Then it was on to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate clean teeth. We had a blast there. Next we stopped at Toys R Us to finally let Chandler and Mallory use their b-day gift cards from aunt Ashley and Uncle Kevin. Chandler got an imaginext joker house to go with his already huge collection. Mallory got a lite brite, which I have played with twice since Thursday :) Then, on to Braums for yummy ice cream. After that, we headed back home to get ready for the girls T-ball game. They did great and I had a pickle juice snow cone.

Friday was so special and fun. The kids were out of school for Good Friday and we made the most of it. There of course was lots of playing but other than that...... Chandler got a haircut, we dyed Easter eggs and we had a special "last supper" communion together in honor of our savior (which kinda looks like a seance in the pictures but was actually very sweet and spirit filled). Londyn melted my heart as it was coming to a close when she said "Mommy, thank you for praying to God for us". 

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Mine and RJ's anniversary was Thursday so we sent the kids to grandparents, went to Jalapeno Tree for dinner and then to see Soul Surfer with our sweet friends Braden and Jessica.

 Today, we had Easter with RJ's wonderful family here at the house. I just love them so very much.

And of course, I got to see precious Lauren.

Looking forward to tomorrow. A day to praise our risen Lord. Can't wait to post pics of the girls in their gorgeous dresses and the bows I made to match them. Have a happy Easter!!!!

The show went on :)

Wow! It has been a doozy of a 3 days. I have been fast and furious getting ready for Living Alternatives First Annual Fashion Show. We had a few hiccups along the way but I am left with no doubt that God has had a hand in this. I know what we do is so special and this particular event (as with them all) was laid daily at the Fathers feet. On the backside of things, it was beautifully orchestrated and I am honored to have been a part of it. Beautiful clothes. Even more beautiful children.....which is why we do what we do. Three of our girls were in it so I am posting some pics.

A beautiful day for the show. Praise GOD.

The Real Mom

Just thought I would give some insight into why I chose "The Real Mom" as my blog title. Considering I only gave birth to 3 of the 6 children that I am currently raising, this is an expression heard in my home often. "Is my real mom coming to my game?" "Is my real mom coming to get me?" "Can I call my real Mom?" After some time, you start to think you are made out of plastic or spare metal parts, considering it is never you that is coined as the real mom. I have had a great deal of time to ponder the term and what it means to ACTUALLY be their "real mom". Is it birthright? Is it claim to half of their DNA? Is it carrying them for nine months?

Where I have found that these things make you a person who has mothered a child, they do not make you their real mom. I have come up with  short list of criteria that I believe makes me the real mom in the case of all my children.

1. If you are the 24 hour on duty throw up cleaner upper

2. If you have painfully read with your kindergartner more than 100 times

3. If you fill out the hours of paperwork to get them registered to school

4. If you pray with them before bed every night

5. If you are the one comforting them after nightmares and kissing their ouchies when they fall

6. If you drag them all to the dentist every 6 months

7. If you make their favorite desert for their birthday every year

8. If you know their friends and meet with their teachers at school

9. If you wash their clothes and their backsides regularly

10. If you discipline and love them consistently and equally

11. If you lay them at the altar on a regular basis

12. If you buy their school clothes and supplies for the first day of school

13. If you are up at 6 every morning every day to make their breakfast, pick out their clothes, pack their backpacks,do their hair and tie their shoes up

14. If you tell them they are the most amazing and beautiful kids in the world every day

15. If you get the very best of them and the very worst of them

I say these things with a grateful heart. The reality that God chose me for them and them for me is so humbling and they remind me of Gods grace each day. It is the greatest blessing in the world to be their "real mom".

In the words of Ashley, it was Fun Fun Fun :)

What a great weekend. It was packed to the gills but that is how we like it around here. RJ and I have just realized we aren't happy unless things are crazy. If our life starts to calm down, we jump to cram more in. You gotta LIVE people! Wanted to post some of the things that kept it crazy this weekend.......

On Saturday the girls had a ball game. They are the Aliens....not of this world. I love watching them hit and run and interact as a team. They just amaze me.

Then we had Londyns 6th birthday party. It was a great party but I still cannot believe she is 6!!!

Londyn loves fruit so I made this for her. She loved it. Didn't even eat a cupcake. :)

As a matter of fact, I did make these cupcakes :) with lots of RJ's help.

What a party my girl had!.....and I got to see sweet Lauren. She made my day.

RJ and I also got our garden planted this weekend! This is our second year and we love it. We planted potatoes, onion, garlic, cabbage, squash, zucchini, cucumber, 3 different peppers, okra, eggplant, 2 different tomatoes, watermelon and cantaloupe.

Can't wait to eat them!!

As a side note, Coco got new Dora bedding this weekend. She was still using her crib bedding. Now, those of you who know me will know that I really don't like things with characters on them. Clothes, shoes, bedding, etc. But my sweet baby girl loooooves Dora and I knew that she would love Dora bedding. Sometimes it just needs to be about them, so I bit the bullet and bought the Dora bedding just to see her reaction. It was as magical as I thought it would be when she walked in on her Dora bed. It makes me misty eyed just remembering it. She was so so excited she squealed, threw herself down on it and wiggled around on it flopping around for at least 10 whole minutes. I'd buy that bedding 100 times again.