Here are some of Dominic's B-day pix! Enjoy!

 Lady bug cake!


Happy 4th
    

Get em' all at once!

 



Round the dinner table


Yummy cake!


Sweet present!


Everyone having fun w/ his present!


Shane giving b-day boy a ride


Hang on Dominic!
                        So thats it for now!
                                          MJ
      

The weeks and months go by so quickly ~ Sorry for all of you who regularly check my site.....  it's been a while.   Yes, we've been busy with many things here.   The baby is due in just 2 short weeks and we're trying to fit everything in them before this little one is born.     The peaches are hanging full, and persimmons as well.   I'd love to get these done.   I've done some research on recipes for persimmons jelly (a gourmet jelly I've been told) because this is an old fashioned tree I'm not accustomed to.   I need more energy..... sigh.

Aside from all the busyness around here, I've been keeping in my memory some hilarious things the little boys have either said or done recently.   Just yesterday forenoon, Leif came inside all excited that he had found a little bird egg outside on the floor.   In an attempt to "hatch" it, he proceeded to put it in the microwave for a  couple of seconds without notifying anyone. He was not aware that it was "rotten".  Shane was eating his breakfast, and all of a sudden he said "WHAT do I smell?"   It took the rest of us a little while longer to detect this awful, peculiar, rotten odor.   Pretty soon Leif came with the egg in his hand and said, "Mom, this is sooo cool, I cracked the egg in the microwave!"   Needless to say, we all understand now the phrase, "smells like a rotten egg."  Leif did take a bath and the microwave did get a thorough cleaning!!!  It took  a while to get the smell out of the house, but antibacterial Lysol spray did the job fairly well.  LOL

Another day when I wasn't feeling so hot, Dominic was being a real sweetheart.   He was just lovin' all over me, when he looks up at me and says "Mom, you're sooo pretty.   I like you soooo much, are you married???"  This was a real exceptional compliment beings I looked very weary and tired- like (nothing "pretty" at all)  that day!   But coming from my precious 3 year old it made my day!!   It took a while to stop laughing. 

Caleb wakes up real hungry for his cereal one morning.   His taste buds are all set and so he opens  the fridge door to get the milk.   He searches and searches for it to no avail.   Finally he asks me where it is.   I reluctantly tell him "we don't have any", that it is all gone.   So with wistful eyes he looks back into the fridge, spreads his hands slightly apart and says, to no one in particular, " What have I done to deserve this?"  ROTFL  What a hilarious 5 year old.

Most of the time it's a real challenge as a mother to raise 3 little boys this close to one age (all 2 years apart).   But, the benefits and rewards far outweigh the challenges.   I keep thinking what a blessing they will be when they are ages 14, 16, and 18.   There won't be much they won't be able to do.   What we (Kim and I) put into them, is what we will get out of them.   Like a garden, where you plant seeds.   These boys (and all of our children) are soil.  You don't always see the results right away, but when they come to the fruitful stage, we enjoy our hard labor.   As the Bible says "we reap what we sow."   Better make sure these seeds I sow personally, are what I want to see in them in the future!  

Shane, Abigail, Maria and Leif are enrolled at the High Country Enrichment Classes this year at New Life Church. This is a part time private school where 700 other homeschooled children are enrolled..   This week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays they attended for the very first time.  Each of them are taking 2 classes and they really enjoy it!!  These classes will supplement the classes that are harder for us as parents to teach.   We feel very privileged to be involved with this group.  There are over 100 churches represented in HCEC from the Colorado Springs area.   I really enjoyed going this last week and have formed some great relationships with other home school moms already. 

Kim has been working extra hard this week especially.   He's working on erecting a pole barn in Florence, which is about an hour and 15 min.drive from our place.  He's been putting in long hours, sometimes not coming home until 8:00pm.   Him and JD decided to work today (Sat.) as well because the baby isn't here yet, and JD is going on vacation the middle of next week and they need to get done with this job.   They are estimating to be done by next Tuesday.   He has tomorrow and Labor Day to recoup before returning on Tuesday.   It sure is going to be great to have him home the next 2 days!    We'll all be glad when this long distance job is finished.  

Last but not least, I've  been doing fairly well these days.  The last few weeks of pregnancy always seem to go very slow, but I'm trying to let patience have it's perfect work.      One of these days we'll share the news with you all and post some pics.....   Abigail and Maria are better at this than I am.   If there are no pictures on my site, then they will surely have some on theirs!   

Well, I need to make tacos.... everyone is getting hungry, beings it's suppertime.    This is an exeptionally long post, but like I said earlier, it's been a while..... Until later............... Love to All.....

                                       ~Mari Jo~







 

Uh, I'm finally updating.....   Seems like I've been to the moon and back in a very short time!!!   So many things have been going on  inside of me and outside too for that matter.   The children finally came back from their short visit to Ohio and it sure was good to see them again.   Life is different when your three oldest children are gone for one and a half weeks!!!!   What a blessing to have them back again!   I'm not ready for the empty nest syndrome just yet!   Also went to CBC family Bible conference here in the springs...    It was awesome!!!

We went to the annual Greeley Colorado Rodeo on the 4th of July ~ met Dad and Mom Mast there and had a great time with them.  They are on vacation taking a trip out west, or Northwest, so we met them in Greeley.   I guess I forgot to mention that we went to the parade in Greeley first, then had a picnic, then went to the rodeo.   All the children enjoyed the rodeo ~  Leif, Caleb and Dominic had never been to one before and it was hilarious to watch their expressions at times!!   I guess if the after effects of the rodeo is to be raising 3 bucking broncos, so be it.  LOL   It's part of living in the wild west, right???     Caleb is practicing his roping abilities on Lady, our huge Great Pyrenees  dog  and I wouldn't be surprised to see all the boys try some of the crazy stuff we saw, on Blossom, our miniature pony.    Sure glad we don't have a dirt bike after seeing the outrageous antics of two daredevils.   LOL  Fed the wild side..... to be sure.   The one show was especially funny ~  These little kids rode sheep and hung on for dear life while the sheep frantically tried to get them off of their backs.   Some of them did real well and I'm sure they'll make some good cowboys and cowgirls someday!!!  Must be in their blood.

All in all it's been great to be living life ...    LIFE.    I want to live it to it's fullest potential...    Seems like I'm being squeezed beyond my comfort zone lately....    Some real ugly stuff wants to come out, but I bet that's because I've been praying  that God would show me what's on the inside of me.      I guess I'll just be honest and say that He's been showing me that I've been dealing with a "fear of rejection", which has caused me to reject others and put my children into performance.   This "thing" wants me to be in PERFORMANCE (I hate that word) too, rather than to just live and enjoy life..   Performance makes me a hypocrite.  The truth is,  Jesus performed FOR me, I don't need to perform......   He is perfect, I'm not....   but He lives in me, and "with God, ALL things are possible!!!!    I believe if I live IN Him, I will live better by accident than by trying so hard to do it myself!!!    When I just thank him for what he's done, I fulfill the law of love and don't even know it.   I've been mulling and musing about these truths lately...  Jesus said, You shall know the TRUTH, and the truth shall set you FREE!!   I'm praying to be completely FREE!   How can I live life to the fullest if I'm not FREE????

Well, so much for another blog  ~  Hope you enjoyed it..... and may you be free too....   Mari Jo for today