MY BFF made me look like a 20 year old!

If she can do that...she can do anything!

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http://hpphotographyblog.blogspot.com/

PHOTOGRAPHERS ROCK!!!!

PEACE

IN A PERFECT WORLD

OK Tish-

So as you can plainly see I have a schedule.

Those little card thingy's you see on the side are chore cards.
One for each kid.
So here it goes:

On a perfect day-
I get up at 5-6 am
check emails, read Bible,ya know that kinda thing.
6am-Stacy gets up and is off to work and 7am the kids and I have breakfast,
8:30 have school, 10amhave snack time,11am have outside play time,12am lunch- I get some laundry done,
12:30-2:30we have quiet time, 2:30-3:30the big kids finish school, play with the kids, more play time, 4:30I start supper , 5:30-6 Daddy comes home, 6:30 we have supper, chill out and 8:30 then it is off to bed.

I mean.... you see it all right there on the MASTER SCHEDULE.

Now let me give you an average day
The roosters start crowing at 5am.
Stacy & I lay in the bed and either laugh at the roosters and talk about our likeness to the GREEN ACRES characters, OR curse the roosters and wish they were dead.
Stacy gets up and gets in the shower and I pretend I am in college and "I am going to skip class today".

I roll out of bed and turn on the computer and go into the kitchen and TRY to heat water for coffee or tea as quietly as I can....not because I do not want to rob the sweet little monkeys of any sleep..because I ain't ready to start foolin' with them yet.

I get half way through the emails and Mary Elizabeth with her BIONIC ears comes in and crawls onto my lap.
She gets bored with me and goes and gets into my and Stacy's bed.
I finish the emails.

Then I hit a blog or two before Rachel comes in.
She crawls in the bed and yells at me because MARY won't share MY pillow and she doesn't want to sleep on Stacy's MAN pillow.

I threaten to send them back to their rooms or make them sleep in the barn..depending on how much coffee I have had and then I look at the clock.

Almost 7:30. I go to the back of the house to be sure Caleb & Hannah are awake to feed the animals.

Hannah is already out the door(most days) & I hear Caleb yell "I'm putting my boots on!"as I walk down the hall.

Stacy kisses me bye, tells the Little girls not to take any wooden nickles, grabs a NAKED Protein Drink and is out the door.

Ben comes rolling down the hall and tells me he wants grits, eggs ,and toast "with a great deal of butter on it" ala MERCY WATSON.
Everyone starts talking about what they want for breakfast, fussing over who is entitled to the last Light & Fluffy Yogurt, and I get to referee and tell them that no one is getting the yogurt because 4 people want it and there is only one, "No one gets yogurt until I can go to the grocery store".
Mary Elizabeth pooches out her lip and Rachel rolls her eyes.

The big kids come in and they set the table for breakfast, we have breakfast, all of the kids clear the table and then we start school.

We do school until lunch .
Hannah and Caleb are responsible for their own lessons, they come to me with problems.
I do what needs to be done with Ben and Rachel and Mary do as much as their attentions spans will allow.
Usually around lunch time we will leave and run errands, get lunch, sometimes take lunch to Stacy and then we come back home for nap time and Quiet time.

This is when I finish things I need/want to do- like read books or what- ever . The kids read or nap as long as I do not hear a sound.

Quiet time is over and the big kids finish work , the littles play and I start dinner.

Dad comes home and we hang out and play around until bath and bed time.
I yell "brush teeth" and everyone takes off, brushes teeth , gets water ,grabs a book and hits the rack.

Stacy & I give them about 30 minutes to read, then we go tuck in , pray with and kiss each little (& big)booger and the lights are out.
Then we go to our side of the house.

Most nights Rachel gets up to tell us about some noise she's heard.
One of the 3 littles will come in and want to sleep with us.
Sometimes I/ we say yes, Sometimes we read bed- time stories and put them back in the bed.
Most of the time they really do not want to sleep with us, they just need to feel special for a few minutes and reading and playing works and then they are fine.

Stacy and I get ready for bed ,grab a couple cups of green tea, grab a book, talk and read for an hour or so.
We are usually asleep by 10:30. Earlier if the kids are exhausted from riding.

Now keep in mind that on Mondays and Tuesdays our days revolve around horses and lessons.
We consider that part of their education, community service, and fellowship time with friends and family.
This will end the 3rd week in June(after the Riding camp) and does not start back until September.

We also have Church and Cambiata Choir on Sundays .

I have tried to keep a strict schedule..ya know..the one on the wall.
I have read books and tried different systems- but I will tell you what I have found.

I(just me & our family) need for life to be able to happen.
When I schedule every second of the day, i worry more about what my
schedule says I need to do and less about what is important.

Not long ago, I was telling a friend of mine that God has a good time with me on my busiest days.
I know He has a sense of humor, and He does His best to show it to me on the days I DO NOT want to see it.

There are days(and mind you this is WITHOUT FAIL. I HAVE WITNESSES!)I will have a list of things that MUST..MUST I TELL YOU..get done.

Every single time God will send me something to completely"ruin" my plans.
These things have ranged from a frantic "meal ministry" coordinator needing a casserole,a raging brush fire at my in-laws, friends needing a shoulder to cry on, or someone needing a sitter urgently!

My MASTER SCHEDULE doesn't leave much time for that.
God doesn't want me to micro-manage my time ..If He did..He would have had someone else make the dad-gum casserole cause I was trying to pack for a Disney Trip!

We also want our kids to have alot of free time to explore the arts. We want them to have time to draw& paint, bang on the piano, play these mandolins , guitars, banjos, violins, bongos, drums and tamborines we have laying all over this house. If I schedule every second of their day...they have no time for these things.
We do not have the kids involved any any organized activities. We have nothing against them, it just gives us ALOT more family time.

I still keep the schedule up on the wall.
I has been up for 4 years.

Some days we do not have to leave the house, we do not have speech or riding lessons, no one has a doctors/dentist appointment, Dad isn't having a rough day at work and needs his monkeys to bring him donuts and coffee,the kids aren't playing outside, we haven't planned a picnic,Layton & Riley aren't here, a horse or animal doesn't need to go to the vet, we don't need horse feed,a friend doesn't need a sitter, the sun isn't shining, and there are not flowers that need picking, and it isn't raining and we just want to stay in our PJ's and color and read all day....so we get to stay in and see just how much we can get done.

On those days ,I do look at that Master Schedule and see how close to the mark I can get.
Every now and then I get close...VERY VERY close... and I think I am really somethin'
...but those days are few and far between.

So there ya go....I hope you are not disappointed. ;)

I love you,

Andrea

LAZY DAYS

The days are getting longer so we have a little more time
to just BE.
Ben is gets to draw a little more.


Mary has more time to go through the shoe box to find
MORE shoes that are too small.



Caleb is teaching Mary to play checkers.



She gets the biggest kick out of " I jumping he man,Mama!"
Caleb will drop his head, "OH NO!!!".




She just cackles like a little witch!
She loves her brothers.



Then he has to pretend to be a pirate with a "wooden eye".......



........maybe he isn't the BEST influence



This was the gang after lunch, yesterday.



There was a whole hour between lessons and this is what
I found them doing when I returned from the grocery store.



Just sittin' on the front steps
Solving the worlds problems.



Rachel is getting to stay up a little longer "cause the sun is still shining".



Mary found Hannah's D.S.......and Yes! She is really playing.

I have started making all of my to-do lists.
I am not overwhelmed yet....but it is coming.
Have no idea when we can look for a TA.

I'll let ya know when we see it.

PEACE.

Snoopy is doing the HAPPY DANCE......

because Karla talked to Lily (in China)
and our LOA is on it's way!

Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!


Peace.

You just might be a redneck if..............

Your favorite flower is a WEED!


The kids spent half an hour picking dandelions
and making wishes.



They would rather be picking these than anything else


except for maybe strawberries...or something they can eat.



While we were at the zoo....
the guys came and cut the grass.


When we got home
our poor little dandelions were gone.



But we have the pictures............

So I guess that makes it OK.

PEACE.

Will They Remember............

Laughing for no reason,


"PINCH- ees!",


"PUNCH BUGGIES!",


"GIRL FIGHT !",


Wearing boots n shorts and just playing around at the barn
"because you can"?

I really hope so.

PEACE.

I LOVE MY CAMERA !

I had so much fun at the zoo.

Each time I took a picture..I would pretend I was a photographer for National Geographic.

Maybe next time I'll try it when I'm shooting the animals,too.

Peace.

2 things I want to remember

Red Thread Bracelets-
When we adopted Mary
I sent out these bracelets as a reminder to our friends and family to pray for the child that God had chosen for us.

9 months later we were holding her.

We have done the same thing for Xiang Xiang.

100 bracelets so far.

I imagine I will give out about 200- before we get on the plane.

Indescribable feeling of gratitude.



New Shoes-

I was feeling sorry for myself
so I went shopping for baby shoes.

He is so tiny I had to buy size 12-18 months.

............................I hope he likes to be held.

I REALLY just want to sit on a park bench in Guangzhou and hold him.

Maybe he will let me............................

At any rate-
If he decides to run away from me (while screamin' bloody murder)........
at least he'll be sportin' some righteous new kicks!

Peace.

Fruit For The Babies & Pictures Of The Little Man

For the past couple of months
we have sent care packages to Xiang Xiang and his little buddies.


The SWI has graciously allowed pictures to be taken and sent to us.
I love them for it.

Stacy loved this pic-
"Now we know we'll never have to wonder what he is thinkin' "



This one is MY favorite.
Look how sweet.
Just a little cuddle monkey.




I wonder how long it took the little "chubby cheeks"
in the pink to get the Banana?



Of course
the first thing I notice is the runny nose.......
and the fact that his clothes are cleaner than the ones I have on.



Look at the smile on his Ayi's face.
She loves him
and I love her.



Can't wait to get my hands on this little booger.

Pray for me..I'm getting anxious. ;)

Thank you Adele@ BlessedKids.com!
You ROCK!

Phantom of the Opera

The kids decided that they wanted to have a "Phantom of the Opera PJ Party".

They called up a couple of friends and it was on.



Rule #1- PJ's do NOT have to match!



Rule #2- You MUST share your blanket with the kid sittin' next to ya.



Rule #3- No one is allowed to use the words "Personal Space".



Rule #4- everyone MUST acknowledge that REAL MEN love the Phantom of the Opera.



One of the perks of having an Aunt & Uncle with Horses is the"CAN'T RIDE IN ANYTHING BUT BOOTS" rule - "if ya ain't got none..ya gotta get some".

Layton and Riley, whom we now affectionately refer to as WEED FEET, had grown out of their boots .....so guess what?

Off to the Boot Store.



Riley(not to be outdone by the Thaggard children- who jingle when they walk)
also requested a pair of spurs...she said her Daddy lost her others...Hmmmm ....JOE?

So after finding straps and spurs that everyone was happy with.... we were ready for Riding Day!


Just to give you an idea of what boots & spurs go through in this family....
These are only 12 hours old and they already look like they have had them for months.....
and honestly...they already STINK!

Life on the farm is sweet.

Peace.