THe big 24............

So at the beginning of the month I turned 24, I seriously have never wanted to turn older than 21:(
24 isn't old by any means, and in all reality you are only as old as you feel, and I don't feel old most days anyways!

Sitting here thinking about it the last 6 years have flown by and I have been at the top, hit rock bottom and climbed back out, truly life has been amazing to me in retrospect.Tough sometimes but amazing. Everyone goes through hard times, every one makes mistakes, but then again they are what teach us and show us how to grow.

In my case my mistakes have taught me whats important, whats important to me to my journey through this life. It taught me who is important, who i need and want with me in this life. my husband and kids are a few of the people ( the most important ones) my mom and dad, my brothers and sisters, I know who my real friends are, as high school as that sounds, life is nothing without friends that you can trust, and cry to and tell all your problems too! My dad use to tell me that you can count the number of true friends you have on one hand, and most the time you won't fill up one hand. I never understood that until I was older and he's right, and I am SO blessed to count my 4 siblings as those "true friends" , we fight, we argue, and we ALL have different opinions on EVERYTHING,but we all bring something amazing to the table.

I couldn't imagine living farther than an hr from any of them. Sadly come May my favorite sissy will be following Gods plan for her and her  husband and my sure to be beautiful baby neice or nephew and will be moving to wyoming!!!!!!!!!!!!! yep tears come to my eyes just thinking about it! GReat now Im balling my eyes out..........just a sec..........ok im back!

my littlest brother will be shipped off to boot camp in may too, he enlist last yr and has to wait to walk across the stage for gradutation to head out on his adventure, oh great here we go again, no im fine!!!!!!! my other brother is moving up to my parents property up north, my other brother( sadly yes I grew up with 3 brothers and only one sister) got married dec of 2010 so he's a busy bee:)
my point in this post is that, last year was amazing, and I hope things get better, I know there is still a ton I need to work on like getting my feelings hurt easily, and I don't hold a grudge so much as I hold on to the hurt. I am insecure, I constently worry about hurting peoples feelings or upsetting them, while I always try to NEVEr purposely hurt someones feeling, I need to speak up, and let them know I have an opinion in the nicest way possible. I realize that I can be around people that I don't agree with.
My husband always say I let people walk all over me( he says it in the nicest way possible) and I agree with him I do it goes back to the above I have an opinion and I have a choice, def a need to work on!
 i want to remember to live in the moment at hand, not constently be worried or thinking about the future,about bills and chores, those things have there place in my life for sure, but they don't need to steal my time with my family and my friends. People say it all the time to live in the moment, but its harder than you think! Another big need to work on!

2011 is going to be an amazing year and next yr I hope i can say I have made a huge step in acomplishing all these!

when life becomes over-bearing...

Lately my life, my days have become stressful, and honestly over bearing....The laundry is never done, the kitchen floor rarely stays clean, and my livingroom lets just not go there! I love organization, and cleanliness but my goodness you couldn't tell by the state of my house!
when this happens I forget to be thankful for the imporant things, like my livingroom floors is a mess because it's ussually covered in toys because I have four amazing kids that make my world go round! my kitchen is a mess because we have food to eat and love to cook.
There is laundry because we have plenty of clothes, our floors are still not quite finished because we are healthy and happy and love to be outside, going to the park, cleaning our front yard, going for rides in the jeep, and on our dirtbikes. WE ARE BLESSED..

So when my love seat  looks like this

I need to consider myself BLESSED, not stressed:)


Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved. (Psalm 127:1-2)

daddy daughter dance 2011

Again this year Lee got to attend the father daughter dance with little miss Ariel, they went last year and hailee tagged along. This year she wanted to stay with momma and shop at target!! woohoo no little boys with us, fun suff!
We got to Ariels moms house to pick Ariel up and boom she changes her mind!!!!! Apparently shopping with mom wasn't nearly as much fun as going to a dance with sissy and daddy!
Since when!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well thankfully Nicki had a dress on hand that fit Hailee, and Hailee got to take home( Thanks N) and mom got dropped off at target to shop and look around kid free!
I have to admit at first I was bummed my little mini me ditched me, but seriously I forgot what it was like to shop by myself!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was fun!
Anyways I don't have many pictures maybe two that turned out but I thought I would share!

ahem..Ariel did you really need to look at us, that would have been a super cute picture I could have bugged your mom till I got! jeeze girl !!!!!!!!! Anyways enjoy!

I choose...........

Today was one of those days, ya know the kind that when you wake up and you really an to go back to bed, you realize an hr into the day stay in bed was your best bet!

This afternoon I recieved a text from the hubs about a particular matter, it doesn't really matter what it was about, thats not the point, but I reacted not so great to it, and honestly was ready to smack someone! I know not nice, and not really how I should have reacted!
About an hour went by and I finally stopped worry and left it to the man up above.
See one of my biggest problems is I forget there is someone bigger,and way cooler than me pulling the strings, he knows what he's doing, and it's not my place to "fix" everything. So after a little while spent with him I let it go and let God.
In a moment of realization, I remembered a book my sister had got me for christmas last year, I don't remember the name of the book and pretty sure its packed away because I need a new bookshelf! however I do remember the poem in the front!



                                                                 I Choose




It's quiet. It's early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming.
In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of the solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met.
For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day's demands. It is now that I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I'm free to choose. And so...

I CHOOSE LOVE...
No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I CHOOSE JOY...

I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical...the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I CHOOSE PEACE...


I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I CHOOSE PATIENCE...

I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I'll invite him to do so. Rather than complaining that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I CHOOSE KINDNESS...

I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I CHOOSE GOODNESS...

I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS...

Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.

I CHOOSE GENTLENESS...

Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

I CHOOSE SELF-CONTROL...


I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ.

LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, AND SELF-CONTROL........

To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek God's face. And then when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.



I know that sometimes it's nearly impossible to hand things over, but like Audrey Hepburn said-nothing is impossible, the word itself says I'm possible!
XoXo,
R :)

GiVeAwAy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yep theres a great giveaway going on over at Nest,nesting, nested!
Love that blog! so go look, but DONT enter because I want to win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you ready to give your children up?

It's a scary thought isn't it? The idea that your parental rights could be taken away?
One of the blogs I follow shared this disturbing post , it honestly gave me chills?
How can the goverment take children from a loveing family, I understand some parents don't deserve to have their children, but reading thru some of the stories on http://www.parentalrights.org/, The parents that had to fight for custody of their own children were everyday great parents, and the state decided foster families could raise them better! Seriously I couldn't imagine! Makes me sad that this is the state of our Govermetn at this point. You want change? You want to see that we as parents keep are rights to raise our children? Then take 5 minutes and sign the petition,I did!

Family outing..WARNING picture heavy!

 

Wow the zoo is popular lately:) This trip was actually back in January, I’m a procrastinator and am just now blogging it:( No Buenos, need to work on that…..maybe tomorrow:) ha-ha

Anyways we were on an overload of reno crap, oh wait we hadn’t even started

 

yet! We had just barely bought all the crap:) that was stressful enough!

So we decided to take the kids to the Heritage park Zoo in Prescott, it’s a small zoo but our kids have been to the wild life zoo quite a few times, and this one was kind of fun because my parents took me to this zoo when I was Hailee’s age! We ended up buying the membership so we can go all yr long for free:) plus we get half off a number of other zoo's!

 

Plus we LOVE Prescott, whenever we want to get away that’s were we go! Its absolutely beautiful up there and there is a ton to do outdoors!

       

 

We didn’t even go in this room Hubby took these pictures because the minute you opened the door there were 5 rattle snake rattling at you! very creepy and scary and I couldn’t force myself to go in, yes I am a wimp along with all kids! 

 

Baby Aj got tired of riding in his stroller about half way thru so we switched off carrying his 25 pound behind!

 

There was also a huge play area, the kids played on for a while, ran and climbed off all that energy! baby Aj love’s the swings!

These little monkey things were so cute! I swear they were posing for the camera! I’m pretty sure they aren’t monkey things but for the life of me I can’t remember there names:)

 

 

 

 

These pictures of Char Crack me up, I love how it blurs him out in one and the tiger in the next! We stood there forever, and the minute I started snapping pictures the tiger started growling, apparently he’s shy:)

   

All in all it was fun and relaxing, just what we needed!

Ugly duckling living room before and a sneak peak after

 

This was our livingroom for the 5 yrs:( We bought the house with every intention of tearing out the carpet asap. Sadly it took 5 yrs to finally budget it in and get it done! It took us the hubby a few days to finish the living room dining room, we still have base boards to put on, but first we are finishing off the master and kitchen and hopefully the boys room! The girls I have a totally different Idea for!!!!!!!

It’s not totally finished, and honestly I am pretty surprised and the color choice for the walls I went with, but here’s a sneak peak at the living room, full Renovation pics to come soon I promise!!!

 

Yes one wall still to this day is not painted:( getting that done today I promise ( i hope) but the floors brighten it up a ton, and honestly I adore them, I do end up sweeping a good 4 times a day but hey thats ok with me!

Stay tuned for the rest of the pictures!

Zoo trip!!!

 

Hailee’s class went to the wild life today, and finally there was a field trip

That parents got to go on!!!!

originally Hailee wanted her dad to attend with her, but last minute changed her mind and mom got to go!

It was a blast, definitely a long day, but fun! We had a blast feeding the birds (I did not hails she would have nothing to do with this) and then rushed out of the cages before “ what went in came out” :) HaHA! Then we headed to the petting zoo, it took a while for princess pea to love the idea of animals eating out of her hand, but after a few minutes she got use to it!

 

After the petting zoo we finally ate lunch( umm hello I was starving and the fresh pineapple in our lunch box was calling my name) After lunch we headed to the Giraffes and then a mad dash to the Aquarium!

       

The zoo was a blast, and I loved spending time with princess!

my love, on v-day:)

I love you, you are amazing. I couldn't ever imagine life without you. You are a great husband, and Daddy to our babies! You inspire me, you encourage me, you ground me but yet lmake me feel like I can fly! Thank you for being my valentines the last 7 yrs and a lifetime more to come. I LYTTMAB, always and forever!

I love you!!!!!