Spring Break

Wow!  Where does the time go?!?  We are in-between sports right now so there should be time somewhere but I’ve seemed to have lost it!  It seems like March was just beginning.  I was so excited for spring to start and here it is already April and Easter right around the corner.  What happened to the Passion Week plans I was making for my family?  Here it is… Passion Week half over and we haven’t done a thing!  I need to spend some time with God showing me how to be a better time manager because obviously I’m way off!

Spring break came and went so quickly, we barely had time to enjoy it.  It was the middle of March.  My original plans were for a major de-cluttering, organizing, and cleaning in each of the three kids’ bedrooms.  I briefly mentioned to my mom back in the winter that maybe we could take a trip to Illinois to visit family over spring break.  I hadn’t been up there in awhile.  Well, as you can guess… mom’s plans over-ride my own.  So with three kids in tow, I head to Missouri Saturday for a big family get-together.  My parents just got back from their winter stay in Mexico.  Every year, they host a big pizza party so they can see everyone again.  As always, I had a delightful time catching up with everyone because I hadn’t seen them since Christmas.  I love this picture of Robbie with his little cousin Abbie.  She was born with a cleft lip.  Poor little thing has been through more surgeries in her four years of life than most adults will ever go through in their life time.  She is a sweet, beautiful thing and such a fighter too!  There is little evidence now of her cleft lip.

Sunday morning, we head out with Mom for Peoria, IL.  That is where all her family lives.  Along the way, we found this wind turbine farm.  It was awesome for us to see.  I finally realize what those long things are that we see semi’s carrying.  Haha!  We had to go down a few country side roads to get these pictures, but I LOVE country side roads!

While in Princeville, we came across this memorial for veterans of the town.  My Granddad and all my uncles served in the Navy and all were Seabees.  I discovered that my great-uncle, my granddad, and my uncle all served in World War II.  Two of my uncles served in Viet Nam.  My great-grandfather and great-uncle served in the Civil War.  Those that are still alive have never talked about wars so I had no idea.  I felt such pride when I read through the names.  I wish I could hear their stories of courage.

We didn’t do much sight-seeing on this trip.  It was all about visiting family and of course lots of food is always involved when my family gets together.  A little shopping with my aunts was thrown in also.  We all had a great time, even the kids.

We headed back home on Wednesday and stopped in St. Louis to see the arch. 

You don’t realize the massiveness of this unique monument until you stand beside it.

The water was up slightly at the riverfront.  Lol!  This is a Lewis & Clark statue.

It was nice to get out and stretch for awhile and break up the long trip home.

Since this was sort of a last minute trip decision, Rich had to stay home and work.  I was so thankful to have my older two kids to help out with the young one.  Ryan and Robbie have a wonderful relationship and I’m so thankful for it!  You wouldn’t have thought it would turn out this way because Ryan wanted nothing at all to do with Robbie when he was born.  Nothing!  Now, I have to practically tear them apart when they’re wrestling and playing.  So this picture is very dear to me.  Also, the little Mickey Mouse that Robbie is holding Ryan won for him in one of those little machines at a restaurant.  Robbie never laid it down for a second the whole time on the trip.  He kept thanking Ryan for winning it for him.  It was so cute!

We had a wonderful time on our trip.  I know the kids enjoyed this way more than cleaning their rooms.  It was a very long 12 hours from Princeville, IL to Bruner, MO to Catoosa, OK.  That’s when I really missed Rich the most!  My mom doesn’t like to drive so it was me all the way.  My back and bottom were so sore.  Ha!  What surprised me the most was how well behaved the kids were all the way home.  I did more complaining than they did.  I had to have more pee breaks than them.  I’m still bewildered about it!

I'm grateful for time that God allows me to spend with my family and I'm grateful for a family that I desire to spend time with!

A little Valentine fun, a little organizing fun

First, a little Valentine fun.  I always like to bake candies/cookies/foods for the kids' teachers.  They all have way too many "teacher" things so this makes the holidays more fun and shows how much we appreciate them!  This is Amariah (she really dislikes having to stand in the pictures, can you tell?  Lol!) with some goodies for her three teachers that she has this year:  Cinnamon Apple Jelly, Brown Sugar-Oatmeal Mini Loaves, Peanut Butter/Kisses Surprise cookies and Oreo Truffles.  Yum!

Well, since I've been back from Mexico... I have been FREEZING!!  I'm not one to complain but that sunshine on my face and sand between my toes every day ruined me!  I've been trying to stay busy.  My projects have only been ones that can be worked on by the fireplace.  I LOVE my fireplace so much!

I finally put my cabinet together.  Well, I guess I should tell the truth... Rich finally put my cabinet together.  We talked about painting it a different color because I didn't think black would look good in that room.  But here it is finished and it will stay black:

Oh, I think I need to show a before shot.  This is what the room looked like in October when I decided to tackle re-purposing two of my rooms.

Here's a (not so good) close-up shot of what this cabinet's purpose will be.

I finally found an open cabinet that held three sections with interchangeable shelves.  One section for each child.  When they come home from school, they go straight to the laundry room and drop off their bags, books and lunchboxes.  It has been wonderful this week to use this cabinet.  I got so tired of stepping over bags and kicking them out of my way.  This is a lifesaver!  And now for the fun part!  I'm going to show you how we made the boxes on the top shelf that will be used to hold all their papers.

I grabbed these boxes from when I put Christmas candy out on the shelf at Hobby Lobby.  At the time, I had no idea what I would use them for.  They turned out to be the perfect size and shape!

Then each child went through all my scrapbook paper and picked out some paper for the sides, front, and lettering.  We used Elmer's glue because it is safe for the kids to play in.  This was their favorite step of the whole process.  Here are Amariah and Robbie spreading out their glue.  Ryan, at age 14, was too old to get his picture taken and I had to make him sit down and play in the glue.

Once they glued the paper to the front and the sides, I used a xacto knife to cut around the curves in the front of the box.  If you don't have a Cricut, then I highly recommend you get one!  I only have the smaller one but it gets the job done.  I originally bought it for my scrapbooking but have used it on every thing else!  We cut out their names and glued them to the finished box.

Robbie had fun saying his letters as he put them in the machine.  He was so excited to see his name print out.

 

This is what the finished boxes look like...

 

It's a little bit of organizing but on a grand scale for our family!  School stuff has been an eyesore for us as long as I can remember.  Now I have one more small cabinet to buy for this room to hold all their extra school supplies then I can mark it off my list as complete!

I am grateful for fun loving kids that like to get in there and be messy with me as we create and see what we can come up with.  I love to bounce ideas off of them and see how creative they can be.  A simple but messy project, a small amount of time, but wonderful memories made!

Christmas, Part Three... and finally the end!

We finally made it for Christmas with Rich's mom on Rich's birthday... the day after Christmas!  Yes, he grew up with his birthday presents wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper and Christmas cards instead of birthday cards.  Poor little baby... so I try to make his birthday all about "him" even though he is 42.  Well, these were circumstances beyond my control, so he still had a good birthday/Christmas.

I just love this picture of Ryan, his eyes are so beautiful!  Now, the light 'stache that's going on... not so much!!  Anyway, he was playing around with his new hat and $$ he received from Mema.

The next morning, Sunday, we woke up and headed to Missouri.  Finally!  We met my parents in town for lunch, then headed to their house and opened our gifts.  Some family members dropped by to see us.  Even though ALL the family wasn't present, it was a very nice visit for those we were able to spend time with.  We played games and laughed so hard till way past midnight.  That's unusual for us on a week night!

We rang in 2010 pretty quietly.

Well... not too quiet, actually.  Our plan to get together with a group of friends was shattered by my kids' unruly behavior.  It was getting towards the end of Christmas break and they really hadn't been out of the house except for the two Christmas get-togethers.  They were WILD... to say the least!  I don't know what was going on with them.  I let them stay up till they couldn't stay awake any longer and let them sleep most of New Year day.  That day turned out to be a nice and quiet day.  Lol!  I guess they just needed to get it out of their system.  Whew!

With all the ice and snow we've had, we were waiting for a warmer day to give them their last present.  We knew it wasn't going to happen and they would be going back to school very soon, so we had to do it this day!  Please look past all the clutter (hopefully that will be our Spring project because it didn't happen last Spring!) in the garage, but I wanted to post this picture of them "closing their eyes".  I just love Robbie's expression... he's the little guy in the middle.  He's trying so hard not to peek!

Again, I love Robbie's expression in this picture as the other 2 are extremely excited.  Rob... he's not so sure...

...as this was their last present.

We had to take it for a spin.  So each child got one ride and then the older two got to drive a little bit.  We are going to take them and get their little heads fitted for helmets, but for this one time ONLY; I did allow them to go with bicycle helmets.

Not sure I'm too ready for this!!  Amariah is wwaaaaayy too young to be behind a wheel!

But this scares me more than anything else!!  In one year and three months... this will be a real wheel, a real vehicle, the real deal!!  I'm so glad I have God to sustain me through these years and not Prozac!

Robbie didn't like it.  We had to force him to get on.  He kept saying "Now go real slow Daddy, did you hear me?  Go real slow".  In the end, he loved it.  I don't know who had more fun?  Daddy or Robbie?

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas.  There was no rushing here, rushing there, rushing everywhere, and not getting any sleep like our Christmas' usually seem to be.  This year it wasn't all about the presents like my kids like to think it is.  This year it was all about quality family time-- the way it should be every year!!

I am so very grateful for the love in my life, the family in my life.

Going Home

What a grand weekend I had "going back home".  Although I have been gone from Bruner, MO for almost 14 years-- it will always, always be home to me.

My boys and I arrived Friday evening just in time for dinner with my parents and my brother Daryl at China House.  Love their cashew chicken!  Ryan loves their crab legs that are only out on the buffet on Friday nights.  Needless to say, he was quite happy about the restaurant choice.  We stole Mom away and headed to Branson to see the Silver Dollar City lights.  You would think that living there for 25 years and going back numerous times over the past years that there would be one season in the past 40 years that I would have made it to see the SDC lights.  But no...  This was my first year!  And boy was it magical!

You just gotta love a twinkling parade at night!

The stores were all decked out in beautiful Christmas displays.  Robbie had to have his pixie stick from the candy store with him at all times.

The next morning bright and early I met my dear girlfriends, Donna and Jeanna, for breakfast.  Time spent with those two are truly priceless!  Why does time have to fly by so quickly when you just wish it would stand still?  I guess that's just a daily reminder for us to enjoy what we have when we have it.  There is always so much to talk about and never enough time to get it all in!  I am blessed to have been re-connected with them this year!

From there, I went to my niece's home to watch the small town Christmas parade with lots of heart!  My little great-nephews were in it and they were oh so proud to throw us lots of candy!  After the parade, we all gathered in her home for homemade cinnamon rolls, brownies, hot chocolate and cider.  It was nice to relax and fellowship with my loved ones!

That evening was our family Thanksgiving dinner.  We normally have it the Saturday after Thanksgiving but my parents were going to be out of town then so they moved it back.  I'm glad they did.  It was a very nice and enjoyable weekend for me!  As always, their home was full of family and love... and food!  With 6 kids, 16 grandkids, 15 great-grandkids, and all the spouses... we most definitely have family gatherings full of love!  For Rich growing up with one brother, he gets a little overwhelmed at times.  But I wouldn't have it any other way!  =]

To celebrate one of the two new additions that will be added to our family soon, we celebrated with a baby shower on Sunday.  What a nice way to end the weekend full of family and love!

I am grateful for a large family that truly loves one another, helps one another and gets along so well.  When I only get to go back home once in awhile, I miss them so.  Thank you Lord, for such a sweet and loving family!

Much joy, much frustration

I really am not one to brag.  I have despised braggarts for as long as I can remember.  Even as I child, I never bragged.  It just didn't seem right.  I felt so smug when I would do it.  That's what I love about my little blog.  It is my 'safe sanctuary' away from the world.  I can cry all I want, laugh all I want, be outraged and irritated all I want, or even brag all I want.  So that is what I am going to do!

I am filled with much joy and pride from Amariah's Parent/Teacher conference.  We've always gotten remarkable reports about her ever since her very first year of school.  She is a bright young lady and I am so very proud of her.  We have never pushed for her to be a straight A student.  She has put that pressure on herself.  Sometimes, she puts too much pressure on herself!  We have always taught her to love God first, her family second and her friends next.  We have embedded in her the importance of an education.  She knows that school is to be more important than sports, friends, and yes... even boyfriends!  All the years of experience with P/T conferences had not prepared me for what I was about to hear from her current 5th grade teacher.  When I walked in, he immediately told me how much he has enjoyed having Amariah in his class.  He said she was doing great, no problems.  Yes, I know.. (I can brag here) I hear that every year.  He told me that I wouldn't believe what he was about to say.  He went on to explain to me about the GATES test that is taken every Spring and Fall.  It is reading, comprehension and vocab.  She received a near perfect score!  She tested at above high school level!!  I was shocked and so was he!  He said he couldn't believe it!  So for the rest of the conference my mind was swirling, trying to comprehend how smart my little girl was and trying to pay attention as well.  It was so hard.  I was basking in the gloating I was hearing about my girl.  He then went on to tell me how she is so smart, but she doesn't brag about it.  I emphasized that I have worked hard on instilling humbleness to my kids.  Still in shock over her test scores, he shocked me even more by illustrating how very much my daughter was like his own wife.  His wife is a doctor, who is very smart, beautiful and has a lovable personality.  He proceeded with his envision of Amariah going very far in life and doing great things because she is smart, pretty, outgoing, and has a wonderful personality.  Okay... Wow... I'm speechless... and so very proud!  I can honestly say I've never had anyone brag on my own child so much. 

Thank you Mr. Dillbeck for such kind words about my girl.  She is special and she knows that because I tell her all the time that she is.  She will tell you that she is special because God made her, God loves her and God will always be with her.  I am proud of how well she is doing by the world's standards, but nothing makes me more proud than her knowing Jesus as her Lord and Savior!

Whew!

Now about my frustration... Ryan.  Can we go to the opposite end of the spectrum??  What on earth is going on?!  We go from a child with straight A's to a child with one failing grade and four grades that are within points of being failing grades.  What?!

  Extremely heavy sigh here

What have we done wrong?  Where have we failed him?  We are honestly at a loss of what to do with him and for him.  We have struggled with him from all the way down to first grade.. all the way up to the now current 8th grade.  Every single year, every single teacher, every single word the same.  He's immature, he doesn't care, he's too laid back, and believe it or not, he's very smart.  I know this.  I've heard this many times over.  He can do the work, it just seems to get lost somewhere between the desk (or his homework folder) to the teacher.  This is a sampling of his grades:  100, 100, 0, 97, 0, 0, 88, 100, 0, 0, 0.  There is no motivation unless he finds it on his own.  Will we ever survive his school years?  Will we make it through high school?  Will he graduate??  As much as I hate to say it, I find myself pondering these things over and over again.  What can we do?  What can I do?  We've punished, bragged, grounded, bribed, spanked, paid money.  What is left to do?  I'm exhausted.  Have I given up?  Not at this moment.  Truth be told, in the past I have and I told him so.

As frustrated as I get with him, I will never give up on him.  He is still my boy.  My oldest child.  I've been praying for him before he was even born.  I trust God with all my heart.  How else could I ever get through this?  I know there is a lesson somewhere in all this mess.  I'm thankful God is in control of the situation because if He wasn't it would be utter chaos!  As frustrated as I get about Ryan's carefree (or should I say care less) attitude towards school, I am thankful that he too, knows how very special he is.  He knows God made him special, God loves him and God will always be with him.

I'm thankful for Ryan and Amariah (and Robbie, too!).   More so, I'm grateful for my loving God who gives me the strength, peace and wisdom to face each new situation that arises with each child.  I don't even want to think what my life would be like without Him!

Routine, Organization, Efficiency

It's so nice to be back!  I love routine and organization. I love efficiency in every form of the word!  As mundane as it can be, I feel like I'm not getting anything accomplished if there is not some sense of order around me.  I'm not a control freak at all.  I don't have to be in control of my day or any tidbit of my day, BUT I just can't seem to focus if I'm unorganized or inefficient.  To have Ryan back in school and Rich back to work; I feel, is a huge accomplishment!

  Ah, how I've missed our family devotion time.  It felt so good to get it going again.  I hate to say it, but it went bye-bye for awhile with the onslaught of school starting and hospital ordeals.  I so wish I wouldn't let life get in the way of our family devotions.  What are my kids learning from that?  That when life gets busy or hectic, take a break from God's word?!  That's when we need to be in it as a family every single day!  I so want my kids to be grounded in His word.  I want them to seek it and not friends when they are having a bad day.

It was so nice to have Rich home every single night for those 5 weeks.  After we put the kids to bed, we would sit on the couch together and watch the diy network... every single night until midnight or later.  It was relaxing.  We would dream about our house and our yard.  I will hold out for those flagstone pavers on top of all the concrete in our back yard.  Yes,  I know they are expensive, but I love the old-time feel and look of them.  We discussed projects we wanted to tackle and list their importance.  We would go to bed at the same time.  I would lay there beside him and think about how much I cherish that time with him and how much I loved just having him there beside me even though he was snoring.  It's been a long nine months that he has been on midnights.  Only nine months??  Are you kidding me??  It seems more like nine years!  I'm glad he gets to see the kids after school and spend the whole evening with them.  He gets to be at all the games and even gets to coach now-- since he can make the practices.  But oh, how I miss having him home at bedtime!  I have found myself in a routine that I'm not too fond of!  I seem to stay awake as long as possible every night that he is working so I will just go to bed and crash.  I have such a hard time falling asleep without him beside me.  I tried putting Robbie in bed with me at night, but it's just not the same.  I need my husband beside me, where he should be.  Speaking of... why am I still awake at 12:45 AM when I need to wake up at 6:30 AM?  I am grateful for a husband that I enjoy being with.

Strength

It's amazing how I find strength when I don't think I have anything left!  God is so good to me.  I really don't understand why He gives of Himself so much when I don't even deserve it!

It's funny (in a weird way, not haha! funny) how it's easier to see a husband in a hospital bed than it is to see your own child.  Having experienced both in these past 5 weeks, I didn't realize how helpless I felt until I saw Ryan lying in his bed with his hospital gown on awaiting surgery.  I didn't cry though.  How could I?  He kept cracking joke after joke.  I'm glad he was so calm, it kept me calm.  As I was sitting in the waiting room, I was pondering many things.  Like, why was I there by myself?  Why wasn't Rich there waiting with me?  We have been blessed beyond what we could ever dream to have so many friends and family offering to help in every way throughout our hospital ordeals.  Why had I not thought about getting the kids taken care of that morning so he could have been there with us?  At that very minute that I was thinking on these things-- it's like God was listening to me and sent a friend, Anthony, to sit with me.  Thank you God for those little things that are a big deal to me!  Well, I survived the surgery.  I guess I should say "we" survived.  Ryan was a trooper.  Except for the times he was asking for pain medication, he was still cracking us up.  We made it home and I slept for 4 hours!  Guess I was a little tired.  =]

I'm grateful for my relationship with my loving Father that allows me to get through anything that He places before me!

What a week I have ahead of me

I'm normally not one to complain about a busy week, but starting it out being sick is surely not helping it any!  Today started out early with waking at 6:20 AM.  Ryan to school at 7:15 AM.  Back home to get Amariah and get her to school at 8:00 AM.  Worked 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM.  Pick kids up from school, home at 3:30 PM.  Thank you Lord for no homework today!  Amariah to cheer practice at 6:00 PM.  Tracy Morgan's jewelry party at 6:30 PM.  Back to pick up Amariah from practice at 7:30 PM.  Home!  Dinner, baths, bed.

Wednesday starts out the same.  Ryan 7:15 AM.  Amariah 8:00 AM.  Work 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM.  What is normally my day off, I will be working.  Make that working all week because we have 3 people on vacation and my boss asked if I could work more days this week.  Now I'm wondering why I am so nice. ;)  Get home at 3:30 PM.  Hopefully no homework again.  Avon is in-- sort, sack up and get ready to deliver.  Dinner.  Church.  Yah!  I love the re-charge in the middle of the week.  Home!  Baths, bed.

Thursday starts out the same again.  Ryan 7:15 AM.  Amariah 8:00 AM.  Work 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM.  Get home at 3:30 PM.  Amariah to cheer practice at 6:00 PM.  Ryan football game in Catoosa at 6:00 PM.  Yah!  Thank you Lord for a home game this week!  Home! Dinner, baths, bed.

Friday, here we go again.  Ryan 7:15 AM.  Amariah 8:00 AM.  Work 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM.  Get home at 3:30 PM.  My oldest sister, Pam, from Missouri will be here!  Ahh, I get to relax and enjoy her company!

Saturday.  Pam and I to Black Buggy Days in Chouteau.  We so admire the Amish.  I really want to relax and enjoy that day... but somewhere in there I have to fit Amariah's cheerleading at the football game in Jenks at 4:30 PM and Rich's band playing a show in Tulsa that evening.

Whew!!  I'm already wore out and the week is just beginning.  Can't I just skip it all and let it be Friday afternoon already??  I know... I know... slow down and enjoy these years.  I hear that on a constant basis.  I'm trying!

Oops!! I'm going to be late!  God, help me to keep my focus on You amongst all the activities of this week.  Help me to influence my children to do the same.  I am grateful for my health that I am able to get all this accomplished.  I know I will look back on this week and say "What were you worried about?  That wasn't so bad after all!" =]


Update:  Tuesday, 10:35 PM.  Well, I've already been successful in failing this evening.  I managed to yell at two kids (I didn't scream at them though, does that count?) and the other one went to bed mad at me.  With Amariah's bedtime at 8:30 PM, she finally made it to bed by 9:15 PM, trying to talk to me while I was cooking dinner, doing dishes and trying to keep Robbie quiet.  I wouldn't answer her right away and she got a little perturbed, and marched off to bed with me yelling "I love you" over my shoulder.  Got Ryan sat down for dinner at 9:45 PM, although he has a bedtime of 9:00 PM.  Then it was time to get Robbie settled in his bed.  He was a little wound up so it took a couple of spankings, and yes I'm sorry to say, I did yell at him.  After I regained composure, I took him in my arms and told him how sorry I was, but how important it was for him to obey.  I kissed him goodnight, told him I loved him.  Then it was finally time to tell Ryan how sorry I was for yelling at him.  I had too many things I was trying to take care of myself.  It's a bad excuse, but all I had to offer him.  After accepting his apology, I put him to bed 1 hr. and 5 min. after his bedtime.  Now, here I am.  Sitting here eating my dinner at almost 11:00 PM.  Do you ever have one of these days??  What is wrong with me??  I'm sorry for failing tonight God.  I am so grateful that your tender mercies are new every single day!  The only thing left to do before I go to bed is to go to Amariah's bedside and tell her how I love her and how sorry I am for not having time to listen to her.  No, she won't hear me, but at least I'll be able to sleep.  Then in the morning, I will tell her once again so she will know.

A New Beginning

There is a hint of Fall in the air and inside my home, but today we are enjoying one of the last days of Summer 09. Although it was an uneventful summer for us, it was an enjoyable one! Now it's time to look ahead to what the Fall season will be bringing our way... football and cheerleading. Ryan and Amariah are proud to be a part of a team and squad that both work towards unity within the group. An awesome way for me to teach them how important it is to live a Christian life that works toward unity within the church so that collectively, souls can be won for the Kingdom of God!

The Berry family made time for each other and our Lord this summer. Sometimes it seems like a hassle to get us all connected and in one place but when we do, we share a blessing. We are currently in the book of John with our family devotions. It's a good book to be in. I am grateful for the answers my children have when we ask them questions about what we've read. I usually expect the Sunday School answer "Jesus" but they blow me away with their insight and understanding of His Word! I am grateful for the children God has entrusted to me.