Almost Wordless Wednesday...

(she didn' like when I said it was naptime..)

And Caitlyn's Curiosity.........

All the joys of Christmas! (lots of pics)

So our Christmas has been good. We enjoyed moments with our family that we enjoy every year!
First, we let the kids open one of their gifts on Christmas Eve.
Then Christmas day we woke at 7 minutes to 7:30-thanks to my wonderful child, Jake-who LOVES to wake at the crack of dawn!
Then, we went to Chris' Uncle and Aunts house with his father and Vanessa (lovingly known as Granny) for a wonderful Christmas breakfast. Aunt Helen always makes the best chipped beef gravy, ham, fresh pineapple-the spread is always wonderful!
We then headed home to share Christmas with Chris' dad and Granny! And of course she blessed the kiddos with lots of clothes and some wonderful suprises!
We took a quick nap (and I mean quick!), then it was off to Chris' Grandmothers house where the rest of his family gathers! We stuffed ourselves with the best stuff-homemade cranberry sauce (which I'll share in a post to come!), homemade potatoe salad...the list is almost endless!
But enough of food (I'm makin' myself hungry!!)...we exchanged gifts-but before that Grandmama made sure that the kids really knew what Christmas is about JESUS!!
It was a delightful day full of love and celebration!! All of us....ignore the fact that I look HORRIBLE!! (It was 7:30am-need I say anymore?)
By the way...check out his face...Ya think he's excited??

Here is Granny with Jordan and her new raincoat!

At Grandmama's....here's Gabby, Preston and Jordan..
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Saturday at the spur of the moment, we decided to trapes down to Williamsburg with our good friends, Carmen and Manuel (you'll love her blog and her online mag-Check her out!).

We had a great time, we walked around and totally forgot our cameras(hubby had his phone-but it didn't turn out so well-it was dark)-but we browsed the shops. I got Caitlyn's first ornament with Carmen's help! And a wonderful cup of "Williamsburg White" at our favorite coffee shop down there. The owner is a friend of ours and we actually got to see him too, which was nice.

I'll try to download hubbies pic if it works..

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Last night, we enjoyed time with two of our other FAVS!! Susan and Sydney! Sydney is in town from Dallas and we just had to have our "girl time". They bought a kit for the kids to do and it turned out so cute! (even though the two older boys found it boring after the stacking was down-oh well, the girls had fun!)

Silly Girls!

And the final outcome is..............................................................

I'll post my adventures in Homemade Cranberry Sauce!! So stay tuned!

PS> Please pray for baby Stellan-he's Healed in Jesus' name!!

Merry Christmas!!

Just wanted to take a minute to say to you...
Have a VERY, Merry Christmas!
(this is a wreath I painted a couple weeks ago...I thought it was cute!)

Am I really....the MAID???

I have found that answer to be yes. I am the maid. I am the one who changes the countless diapers and hears the overwhelming whines for juice...so I guess I am....the MAID.

Don't we Mom's ever hate this kind of stuff or is it just me? I mean why do I constantly do dishes and laundry (too many clothes to count with the 7 of us) for them all to be done again on another day? Ugh....I hate it.

Off to be there Maid to Order.......was this the life I signed up for????

Everything's coming up....Teeth?!

Yep! That's right. She's getting all four of the ones on top! And I'm kinda sad. She's getting too big too quick! It took me several times to get just the right pics so you could actually see them. Isn't she just the cutie pie?? I know. I think my children are the cutiest......HANDS DOWN!!! (ya know..that's just my personal opinion and that's the only one's that counts here, right?? LOL!)

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On another note..Today's been crazy ALREADY! The kids Christmas Party/Last Day of school until Jan. 5th is today. So I have to run! I'll post pics soon!

P.s....Happy Anniversary Carmen and Manuel!!!

Change is Coming.....

Where do I begin, I am not sure. Here goes.
The Lord has been speaking to Chris and I about change. Change (to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone) is often thought of something little-maybe with your lifestyle, diet, or other simple things. But I knew from the moment God said it-it wasn't going to be small. It was going to be BIG.
Bigger than me, bigger than my family, just big. I can't really say much about what is coming, because the Lord doesn't want me to do that. I do feel like He wants me to share this:
All of us, whether we choose to believe it or not-have to change our thinking. We are here for GOD's will to come to pass, not our own. Yes, God wants to see us blessed and all the good things that go along with His plan. I think sometimes we go along with our own plans and NEVER involve God in our day to day goings on. I am certainly guilty of this.
I wake up and rush everyone to school, clean the house, talk on the phone, run errands and I may pray (in thought) while doing. But I'm not spending time with Him. Listening for what He might want me to do that day-what I SHOULD be doing. God sees that I have a billion things that are somewhat important to do, but HE is waiting...waiting for me to come to HIM. To sit at His feet and hear what He would have to say. For all the worries to be washed away before they even start.
Where are you? Are you sitting at the computer just waiting for God to answer? Trust me, I do it. I think..oh..maybe so and so will have some real great thing to say. But am I waiting for HIM to talk to me? Yes, I believe that God will use others and their blogs to be a blessing. For me, I am being convicted that in these coming days, my heart is to hear from HIM!
My family and I have big things to do for God and while I want so desperately to elaborate, I cannot.
For my family, this will be life changing for us. Bigger than we could have thought. And it keeps ringing......"Robin, I have something big, don't be afraid, I am right here. It's gonna be a hard road, but in the end...you will see me move in such a big way that this will look little afterward. Are you ready? I am..take my hand...it's coming! Get Ready!".
I don't know all the details of what God is doing. I just know that for the first time in our marriage, we both heard from God-loud and clear-and it was amazing. We both knew something was coming. Change is coming. And I am a little fearful, to be honest, but I have to give that to God too. Along with all the things I worry about daily. Worry (Matt. 6:34, Matt. 6:27, Psalm 39:5-7) is not of Him. So, I am not in Him when I worry.
Right now I am listening to "We cry Out". I believe if you will listen, God will speak to you, right where you are. I humble myself and give all of me to HIM-will you?
This January, our church Faith Landmarks, is fasting for 21 days. I know this is our starting point. I hope you will pray about joining us. It's not only a corporate journey, but a personal one. Fasting always brings about change, not only physically, but personally. You can read more about it Here. I am starting my year out anticipating to hear specific things from God. I will post more, when I am able. In the meantime, allow God to flood your day with HIS presence!
Psalm 39:5-7 Amplified
Behold, You have made my days as [short as] handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in Your sight. Truly every man at his best is merely a breath! Selah [pause, and think calmly of that]!
Surely every man walks to and fro--like a shadow in a pantomime; surely for futility and emptiness he is in turmoil; each one heaps up riches, not knowing who will gather them.
And now, Lord, what do I wait for and expect?
My hope and expectation are in You!
Please stop by this website and listen to Beautiful....oh....this sums it up for me!!!

Almost...Wordless Wednesday

I try everytime not to write anything, but I think it's almost impossible for me! So I'm gonna post twice...so I can talk..


My New Do...

More Christmas Goodness...

Earlier in this post I talked about more Christmas goodness.....well....here it is!!

COOKIE DAY!!!!

Thanks to my sweet friend, Carmen, we had a stressfree day that was filled with wonderful smells and tastes! While all cookies that we tried this year weren't as wonderful as we would have expected (we used a couple from Betty Crocker-maybe not so good of an idea), all in all it was a wonderful day!!

Here is the proof of our labor of love..

*UPDATE* Pics from my Grandmother's Birthday

I thought I would post a quick update about my Grandmother's birthday party, which originated here and here! Thank you to everyone who prayed for me during this stressful time!


The Napkins, my beautiful friend, Susan made... The Cake I made along with one of the flower arrangements....

My Family eating....(*gotta notice the barbie and the stuffed animal...we tried keeping them occupied)

My very lovely 90 year old Grandmother...

I love you, Meme...with all my heart!

It's feeling like Christmas here...finally!

I Love Christmas! It started out Friday with going to the James Center for the lighting...Chris' cousin, Kimberly is the one who pulls it all together, so we always get the "back door tour". We had a good time. The weather was frigid and the crowds were large, but it was a great family time!

Oh..and I made a cake Friday for my friend, Linda's baby shower...here it is...

All from scratch..no less..it was her gift! I think it came out cute, espescially since it took 4 stores to find a train.(AT CHRISTMAS..what is wrong with stores without trains-isn't that a tradition with Christmas??)

Saturday, we cleaned early morning, then went to Home Depot for our REAL tree!! Chris demands we get a real tree every year...it's our family tradition..although, I have tried to talk him out of it! I don't think that's gonna happen though!! Here it is...waiting for lights and ornaments (that's THIS Saturday)

Then we went to the kids Christmas Play Monday-that was cute! Our kids did good and had a great time! Here are those pics...

Here they are with Nichole..she's like my Sister..I love her dearly

And on to Yesterday....ugh...I'll save that for tomorrows post...I'm blogged out for now...Can't wait for you to enjoy more Christmas goodness!!!! Stay tuned!!

I'm a good mom...I'm A GOOD MOM.

That's what I am confessing. No matter what it feels like. My loving husband looked at me the other day and told me the sweetest words. Oh, Thank you-Lord for giving me this WONDERFUL Man! Uh....huh!!

ok...ok...a little mushy there-oh well. If it ain't mushy in marriage-where should it be?

Anywoo...After feeling all dramatic after our parent/principal conference, I am so proud. Proud that I have a husband who is really trying to get involved and show support.

I never had that as a kid from my father, so it is so cool to see God move in my husband.

My hubby stood and talked to me for 10 minutes with tears streaming down my face and told me how wonderful a mother I was. "It doesn't matter what other people say and think-your a good mom! Say it with me, Honey! Your a good mom." My response-"Well, it certainly doesn't feel that way or sometimes look that way. I make mistakes. I yell at them. I fuss at them. I am really trying." His- "Say it with me again-I am a good mom. go ahead." Me-"Ok...Ok...i'm a good mom." Him-"No....I said YOUR A GOOD MOM" Me-"I'M A GOOD MOM...but I don't feel like I am."

This conversation was pursued until He was fully persuaded that I knew it.

He also talked about how we are supposed to provoke our brother's in the Lord-and he was certainly provoking me!

I'm sooo loving this man!!

Feeling like a really bad parent...

Today was rough. We had a parent/principal meeting that went ok-I guess.
Our oldest is not doing so well. He is refusing to do homework, classwork...work in general.
I thought he was starting to do better, but it seems I am wrong. I sat and listened as they were trying to explain that they think that we are not as involved as we should be.
I don't know. I felt like someone ripped part of my heart out. I am trying really hard to be a good parent. No one said it be easy-trust me, I am realizing that. But atleast make me think I am atleast TRYING. So they told me that he needs to be up to a 80 in the next 6 weeks on the 3 classes he is failing or he will be asked to leave.
I keep thinking in my head "I can do this. I can do this. I CAN DO THIS." but what makes me think that I can? I feel like a failure. Like I am standing on a bridge and someone is just waiting to push me off. I mean how do you tell a STAHmom she's a failure anymore than just saying "Your kid is screwing up!"-I dunno!!
I just don't get it. On his SAT scores he reads, writes, and communicates an 8th grader-uh...hello...did u just say 8th grader???? Yes, he's smart-he's just not motivated-YET.
Today I just sat crying talking to my girlfriends and just feeling like a total screw up. And here the headline reads "Mom screws up kid for rest of life-all by the age of 12". Ok. Ok...a little dramatic-but that's what it feels like.
Hopefully tomorrow will be better!