One ringy dingy...

Our two year contract on our cell phones was up and James and I made the trip to the Sprint store to upgrade our phones. There really wasn't anything wrong with them but if you don't get new phones when the contract is up they'll cost $200 instead of $29 when you have to replace them. Jame's phone still looks brand new and probably would have lasted another two years. Not mine. Mine has scratches from where Grace dropped it the day we had lunch with Joanne and then she accidentally kicked it along the sidewalk when she tried to pick it up and dents from the 643 times I dropped it and the charger won't stay in unless you hold the phone really still because some how the hole got reamed out and the antenna is bent from letting Layla play with it and it looks bad.
My new phone does more then ring when someone calls. It can connect to the Internet and download music and movies and track the kids where-abouts via a GPS and it's an MP3 player and camera and camcorder and it even cooks dinner. (I'm lying about the last thing...unfortunatly.)
As soon as I got home I inserted the mini SD card, connected to my computer via the USB plug, synced it with my I Tunes library and downloaded worship music from Kutless. I LOVE technology!!
Call me.......

I Wouldn't Play this Game

Our son Kevin gave my husband a six pack of horrible soda. Horrible because nobody would drink, turkey, or pumpkin pie or herb stuffing flavored soda. Grace dared her father to drink a bottle with her. (Apparently she's been doing a lot of daring lately.) They picked herb stuffing.....the most disgusting sounding of all.













Cheers!









James keeps drinking.





Grace is puking.





The winner puts his empty cup on his head. Wow James. You're the best at drinking nasty stuff. That must be good for something.

Steven and the Stump

After many days of hard labor the stump went down - along with Steven.

"You have a collect call from an inmate ....

There is something you can kill in a child that makes them very dangerous. I can't really put my finger on what that something is but I have seen kids who no longer posses it and to give them a "regular" life is almost impossible. When a baby cries out, mommy runs to them and shows them how loved they are by feeding both their stomachs and their hearts. When you grow up never being any one's baby you figure that all you have is your self. A self reliant person is scary. We have taken in kids who look normal on the outside but have a hole inside that is too big/late/hard- to fill. Nobody and their values matters to them and you can't take things away because they don't care about anything. Other people (parents) are never to be trusted - they will hurt you or let you down. If you can't trust then you must lie and sneak and hurt before they hurt you. These kids break my heart but I can't reach theirs. "Just loving them" is too little too late. We have sons in jail and a daughter in placement because nothing matters to them. I know God grieves over children like these. And you can't give up on them because that's what they expect. But sometimes you sure want to.

Come Play with Grandma Kate

Layla Grace stayed with us this weekend while her mom and dad were out of town. I told Layla that although her mom thought I was doing this to help them out...she was actually here- purely for my enjoyment.

All Dressed Up

Last night was our second annual Homeschool Formal. It was a ton of fun! Only with homeschoolers can you have a teen formal with moms and dads and little sisters and brothers all dressed up and still have a great time. Here's the whole gang and a few candid shots.

Wearing Down the Sin

My husband has a parenting theory - You can always pound the nail in......some wood is just harder then others.
Our oldest son at home has put that theory to the test both figuratively and in reality. He chose to disregard a word of admonishment and chose to ignore a reminder. An easy punitive task was also unheeded.
We're calling this lesson, "Steven and the Stump." We've provided him with an unmovable stump, an axe, plenty of fresh air, a chance to build up some stamina and lots of time to consider the error of his ways.
And Steven, just like all the kids, is happier as the nail goes in.