Children's Wee theater

Today we visited the Children's theater Wee Folks. We saw Country Mouse & City Mouse. This was Sarah and Sam's first real visit to the theater. In the past they have been really to young to enjoy it. Well, today was a whole 'nother story! They were so into it. I don't think Sarah ever once moved during the entire show! The characters were so inviting and funny! Sam was really into it too! He kept saying "What's that Mama? Why that mouse do that, Mama?" It was so great! What a blessing to see and experience your children's exposure to new things!
They don't have chairs in this theater, you pull up a space on the stair risers! These are perfect for the wee ones! They can stand if they wish and people can still see around or over them!
Sarah was a little frightened when the actors & actresses came out to greet everyone after the play. I have a pic of her with her arms around Sam's neck. Almost as if she is expecting him to protect her! I love that sweet sibling LOVE!
We had a blessed day!
Pray for our allergies.
Friday night we hope to visit ELMO at he bjcc! Shhhh...S & S don't know yet! We are very excited!

My sweet hubby brought me roses the other day! I had to take a picture to remember their beauty. We have been married 9 years now and every moment is just wonderful. We have a relationship where we WANT to be together every moment. When we went to 6 Flags this month he road a few of the roller coasters just for me. Not one of his favorite things to do. They make him feel.... ya know how coaster do treat you! So this fall, sometime, I have agreed to venture out and do his favorite thing in the whole world: deer hunting! I so dislike cold weather, sitting still, & not TALKING! Of course he is counting down the days till the season starts. He loves the cool crisp air and the crunch of the leaves. Oh wait you can't stomp through the leaves, you must creep through! That must be me that likes the crunch of the leaves! (I'll scare all the deer away!) Oh, and by the way, I'll be manned with a camera to "shoot" God's beautiful nature that I get to experience as the sun rises!

Baby turns 3

Isn't just like a boy to go play in the dirt in his party clothes!
Sunday we celebrated our baby boy turning 3! I just can't believe that he is turning 3 years old. He is our caboose and boy is he a handful! Such a joy to grab up and squeeze and kiss. Lately he's been saying "Yuck Mommy!" and wipes away my kisses! Then just grins at me! Waiting for another round of loving.
For his party, we did "Puppy" themed games: Face painting, chalking, Paw print cupcakes and foam puppy stickers for foam bookmarks. He had a blast! Of course it was only the 6 of us and 2 sets of grandparents. (We have 3 sets, but one was busy. We'll see them on another day.)
Sam was so pumped up about his "bird"thday that he just moved in super fast motion. Most of our pictures were a blur! He was just everywhere and loving all the attention. Along with all the perfect gifts of Bob the builder movies, big trucks and GI Joe "dudes" he had a perfect day. A very special gift was given by MIMI, my mother. She had hand stitched the top of his crib quilt and had it quilted for him! It is so bright and colorful. It is a box of crayons in all these wacky patterns and colors. He has waited for awhile for his very own. In the past he has wagged all the other children's quilts around. They all were glad to see his now they could get theirs back!
Sam is such a blessing to us. Thank you Lord for knowing that we need just one more baby!

Our field trip to the "Day on the River"

Today was a great day! We headed off to up above Locust Fork, my hometown, spent the day with a great organization: Friends of the Locust Fork River. They taught on the animals and plant life in the water shed around and in the river. Several large companies or organizations came out to help teach. We spent nearly all day there! The children were in and out of the river several times learning and exploring. They caught fish with large netting, wittnessed a "teen-age" dragonfly. He doesn't look like a dragonfly at all! They pretended that they were the food chain around the river, and played Tag, being that you could only tag things/animals that you would eat! Great fun. They saw snakes, turtles, & a baby owl. They tested for acid and calcium in the water, & dug for fossils. The favorite part of the day was that each child got to climb into a Real canoe or kiyak and paddle around in the river for nearly 45 minuets! Nathan was really great at it. His first words were "Can I have a Kiyak to take fishing with me?" Chloe steered clear of all the animals! Epecially the snakes. She agreed that the boating was the coolest and well worth the wait! Sam and Sarah had their own "Tadpole" adventures with crafting, storytelling and music, and a scavenger hunt! We left before the day was offically over. It was a great day of family fun and counted as a school day TOO!

Blah day....but still full of God's Beauty.

Today was a blah day for most of us. 4 of the 6 of the Whitfield fam has a stomach bug. So most of the time we laid around and SLOWLY did homework. As a matter of fact, starting school around 1 makes for a long day. Even though we were not pushing. It just seems longer.
God turned our day around and let us have a little pleasure and dreaming. We are really enjoying our history with Sonlight. We are studying the Pacific Islands. Chloe has designed a resort on her very on island, shaped in a "C" of course! Nate is making fact cards on FIGI and loving all the cool places to visit. Now, if we could only get there. Talk about a field trip! Never over 80 degrees. Perfect weather.
Sarah is much better today. She carried LULU's picture around less and mentioned her less. I think I miss LULU more that she does at this point and that is good.




THis summer we went to Smith Lake thanks to some family friends. We had a wonderful time. This family offered us to come for a weekend, just us.The six of us, "just us." So, I took them up on their offer and took Jerome for Father's Day in late July. He didn't care when we went. It almost killed to wait and find out what I had planned for him! He was like a little kid waiting on a Christmas package! "What did you buy me? When's it coming? ?" ON and on he asked. The children kept the secret too! Which is a huge feet for any child, let alone 4 of them!!!! We arrived early Saturday morning and swam in the deep waters and fished in the late afternoon. It was so pleasant to sit and listen to the lapping of the water and the "whirring" of the fishing rods as they flew out across the water. Even Sarah and Sam got to where they could toss a lure way out into the water. An evening I never want to forget.

Loss of a dear family member

This Sunday our dear sweet kitty passed away. Last summer we were blessed with a second generation gray kitten. Sarah got to keep her for her very own and named her "Lucy." Lucy was a perfect cat. Beautiful, loving and forgiving to little hands that carried her roughly. We are not sure what happened to Lucy. Our neighbor Annie spotted her lying under the trampoline Sunday morning sunning and by Sunday night she was "gone." It has been hard on Sarah, 4 1/2, I wasn't sure she would understand what being dead meant. This is the first experience that any of our children have had with death. Chloe was very supportive with her. She printed off a picture of LULU and put it in a frame for Sarah to carry with her so she wouldn't forget LULU. Then she took her to the school room and made a card for LULU. This is what she dictated to Chloe:"Lucy, Sarah's Cat: I love you. Charlie take care of Lucy. I will miss you. Good Bye. P.s. You will get better in Heaven. Love, Sarah.(I had a white cat that passed away when I was her age. I thought it might comfort her to know that I had lost a pet too. Now she ask if Charlie is taking care of Lulu.) Today she is better. She hasn't cried. She still talks about her and carries her picture. We buried LULU in her favorite corner in our back yard. We hope to make a cross for her grave and paint her name on her head stone rock. Now, to keep Sam, 3 at the end of the month, from digging up LULU to pet her!!! Pray for Sarah's feelings of sorrow.

I'm so excited!

I know some of you have seen my school / play room and think that I am set. But, when that room is turned upside down by my 4 children and toys are astray you can't walk across the room. Problem being is that most everything is at my two youngest children's level. I have ample organizational equipment, but they can still reach it! This is the perfect-to-be room where I can send them down to play and be entertained and not be fearful of the mess to come. But for now, I wait. Everyone has said that the room looks "fine" or "great." Through my eyes I see (screech-screech-screech (horror music)) when I can't open the door despite the toys or the pillows or the baby mattress strew across the floor for movie watching I have to do something! My bookshelves are sagging, the cubbies are overflowing and Everything is in EYE site. I can't work with this mess taunting me. Some of you might think I need to clean out. Well, I do that all the time. I love to loan out my stuff so that it doesn't just sit. I sale, I donate and I trash all the time with the stuff that we accumulate. I'm not afraid to let go. "Fly be free! Let someone else enjoy!"(My husbands motto on junk.)
I have to do something. So, being me, "a home for everything" kind of gal, I have been searching for a way to install closets or cabinets or something that would hide the stuff that we have and need. I finally went into the Habitat for Humanity and found a great deal on 2 above the cabinet units and one pantry "closet" thing. The unit will hide "behind closed doors" and I will still have my, no longer stuff but has now become, my home schooling supplies. Pray that I get it today. It will become so peaceful and not so stressful to be in the room. My supplies will be safe from my younger ones' hands and easier to stay even more organized! and at PEACE.
"FOR GOD IS NOT A GOD OF DISORDER BUT OF PEACE." 1 CORINTHIANS 14:33
The calendar will be for the next posting.

Oh, my goodness! We had the best time with the Sharits this summer. They invited us to go to their lake house for the day and treated us to awesome boat rides! Chloe, Nate and Sarah got to ride the "Tube" and loved it! Imagine the beatings their little bottoms took from bouncing over the waves! And their teeth chattering from the vibrations! They came out of the water grinning ear to ear!

Getin' Organized

Well ladies,
It is time to get our homes organized. Remember that our Lord is not the lord of chaos. He wants us to care for the things that He has given us. So, lets start in the hub of the home...the food source, both tummy wise and spiritually... the kitchen. The Lord gave us so many wonderful foods to enjoy! We must keep our kitchens tidy and clean because our little ones, families and friends come to our home to eat and to share their hearts with us. This is our mission field, for those of us to stay at home and nurture. When someone comes into your home you need to remember your five senses! How does is look? Clean, tidy, and welcoming? or a disaster? Now, I am no June Clever, but a tidy sink makes the world of difference. It also makes a difference in the morning when you get up if you don't have to look at last night's dirty dishes! It is always a good idea to put what ever dish you just used in the washer right then. Don't leave it in the sink that just calls the germs to a feast! A clean sink is a welcoming site! Those Clorox wipes are wonderful. 1 quick swipe and don't forget behind the faucet the place is all spiffy!
I'm in the process of teaching my 2 oldest to clean the sink, not just clear the dishes from it. It is a try-try again story. One day when they are out on their own, their sinks will be clean and their doors will be open to who ever the Lord sends to sit at their tables.