Missy's Moments

Earlier in the week it was one of those cold crisp mornings and our front tree had a lot of leafs falling. Sam looked out the window, saw the falling leaves and very proudly announced "look mama it's fall today "! We got out to rake yesterday, or should I say the boys did. What a beautiful fun day!

"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still ." Is there anything more reassuring?

  "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." Is there anything more reassuring?

  This pictures were part of a online album. For the sake of having everything in one spot I’m moving them here. On October 16, 2005 Kayla, Jordan and I all entered the waters of baptism. This was a decision made by all of us at separate times, although because we only had one Baptism weekend at our church we shared this weekend together. We all wrote out our testimonies and they were video taped before the day. There are screens that are unseen in the pictures that play the taped testimonies before we are submerged. I am going to try to find our testimonies that are written out and add them at a later date. Jordan Kayla Missy

I don't know much about Power Rangers, what I have seen I don't care for. Sam however loves them! He sees the stuff in stores and just gawks over it. I don't get it. Of course for Halloween he wants to be a Power Ranger..... I fought it long enough and then decided to take the advice of a friend, just enjoy the excitement from His point of view. Let me introduce you to one Power Ranger that I do approve of-

After 2 1/2 weeks of kindergarten I'm quite convinced that Eric is going to grow up way to fast. As I type this he is using his magna doodle to write his new found knowledge. As of today the words that he knows and can write unassisted in addition to his first and last name are: I,am, John 3:16, 2006,daddy, mommy, and sam I think that's a good start! The John 3:16 comes from that being his verse this week from Sparks (AWANA), he knows his verse, and the Sparks motto, He also knows the pledge of allegiance and he is working on the song. If he completes those things he will earn his vest and book this week. Jordan has been working with him after school which is a huge help. Learning with big brother is a little more exciting. He's caught his first cold already this fall. I noticed earlier in the week he was clearing his throat a bit and looking a bit tired. Last night I noticed the sniffling and by the time morning came he had a full head cold, watery eyes and snee...

This is how this morning started out..... 1. Kayla~ I heard her alarm this morning and somehow in the race to beat her to the shower forgot about her existence. Jordan came out to get breakfast and asked me if Kayla was already gone... hmmmmm? Well it's 6:48 her bus came by, funny she would have said good-bye and gotten lunch money... I better go check. There under the heap of blankets was a girl resembling my daughter, somewhat panicked looked on her face when I said "KAYLA IT'S TEN TO SEVEN!!!" She got ready and missed the first 20 minutes of study hall. Lucky for her it was just study hall. 2. Jordan~ I think his morning went well. No complaints from him or about him. Yeah Jordan! 3. Eric and Sam~ First words out of Eric's mouth while getting all teary... "I wanted the sun to be out"... oh boy, sorry buddy can't do much about that. Mommy can fix a lot but he was out of luck on that one. Then he decided his legs didn't work and wanted me ...

My first job was at Burger King. When I was 15 I decided it was time to get out and get a job. Now as I think back I'm having conflicting thoughts about if Burger King was really my first job. I also worked at Perkins when I was 15 and I'm pretty sure it was after my Burger King experience. Is that a sign of age when it's hard to place events in order? My Mom had a friend who's son managed the local Burger King. Actually it was one of I think 5 at the time. They didn't make it too easy on me. I filled out an application and had to interview with another manager that worked there. I guess to be fair. I think back and wonder what in the world do they ask you at a interview for a fast food restaurant? Even more thought provoking is what in the world does a 15 girl answer? I know my 15 year old refused to apply anywhere that has a potential for producing more zits on her already puberty stricken skin. Is that what I was thinking? Yes sir I'd love to work here bu...

The other day I had some free time (yes even after all the whining about being so busy), I dropped Sam off at music and Eric was off to kindergarten. I was almost getting ready to come back home and do 2 hours worth of much needed house work and then I decided it would be a good time to go for my walk. I've been trying to walk as much as possible with a minimum of 3 times a week. There is a path right by the preschool and to save some time I thought I'd just go there. I've never been out on that path. I know it goes for miles and miles but I  am unfamiliar with it. I started out at the church/preschool and headed over. It was sunny and cool out, my IPod was packed with all my favorite praise and worship songs. As I went over the first little hill and caught a glimpse of a pond and I thought about how fun it was going to be to see new sights on my walk. I love admiring God's creation when I'm out and about. I continued past the pond and was checking out the scenery...

I can't even begin to tell you how tired I am this week. Good golly we have gone full speed from sun up (actually before) to sun down (much after). Things should settle down a bit and I think I wrote about this before but thinking about life being busy and actually being in the mist of it is two different things. Everyone has a full week back at school now. Sam is really enjoying preschool. He REALLY loves his music class which is one morning a week. I'm so glad because that was the class I wasn't sure about. I signed him up because it's on the morning of our women's bible study. I didn't think it was fair to put him in child care when there was another option available. I do think the childcare has planned activities but it's by no means as structured as the preschool class. He was telling me after the first class last week "mom we held this thing and got a stick and got to bang it and it was loud" What more could a boy want? A loud thing ...

8. I can't spell and would be helpless without spell check. No explanation needed- just keep reading you will see it. 9. My kids make fun of the fact I can't spell. You know my 101 list is really quite boring at times! Eight and nine are not exciting. They are however very true. So true in fact that there are times when I'm so off on the spelling of a particular word that even spell check can't figure out what the heck I'm trying to spell!! I have owned the Random House Basic Speller for as long as I can remember. I don't know why I have this trait. It may be connected to my lack of hearing tones and notes. Can I blame that?? Who cares really I can't spell and I must have spell check and that's all there is to it! Ok I ran my spell check, any guesses at the two words it had to correct?

5. I was born in Rochester, MN at St. Mary's Hospital Feb 1st, 1972 at 11:55pm . Not much to say about that. It is rare with how mobile we are in today's day and age to still live in the same place you were born. One other important fact about my birthday is that I always hated having a winter birthday. I just wanted to have a outside swim/park party but somehow a few feet of snow always managed to get in the way! 6. I moved 19 times before my 18th birthday. With the exception of two, of those moves they were all within Rochester city limits. One move outside Rochester was in 2nd grade, my mom accepted a job in the Minneapolis area and we lived there for 9 months. My mom being directionally challenged never did find her way around, hated it and we moved back. 7. My family was   is.... well shall we say..... dysfunctional .  I decided to include this in this post because I really could go on and on about #7, no need I'll make this short. I've already touched on t...

I Lived In San Jose, CA As mentioned in Day 1, things were really different in my life in my later teen years. At 16 I no longer lived with my mom and was living with my Aunt. In 1989 she moved to California. She was a nurse and nurses were in high demand there. After she left I shared an apartment with a roommate. We both worked to support ourselves and got by. I thought leaving Minnesota and giving myself a fresh start would be the best thing to do. It was one of those situations where I forgot that if I left somewhere I'd take myself with. There is much to the story getting out to California but I think I didn't put it in my list so I don't think I'll put it on here as I've learned that some things are just better left unsaid. So I arrived in California in July of 1990. My Aunt's daughter Kelly was 3 months old and her son Alex was 3 years old. I became a nanny for her and lived with her and took care of the kids and the house. It worked out well for both o...

We Have One Dog That Would Have to Leave if She Became High Maintenance or Annoying! Poor Macy! It's such a conditional love and she really has the bad end of it! When Rick and I first met he had a dog and I had two cats. One of my cats became ill and we put him down, the other was a Persian and was her care was very high maintenance. It just became clear (or maybe I finally got honest with myself) that neither of us liked cats and the dog was getting to the end of her journey. So in 2002 we became petless. The cat went to live with a neighbor and the dog passed away. It was a wonderful few years of nothing furry walking around our home. Jordan attempted a hermit crab and Kayla has had a beta fish for quite awhile but other than that I've been firm and mean and said NO NO NO to other pets. Believe me if Kayla and Jordan had their way we'd have a zoo here. I know because I used to be the same way. I've had guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, birds (big and small), dogs...

My children. Wow I never would have guessed growing up that I'd have four children. I always knew I wanted a child. That was as far as that thought ever went. I was never one that daydreamed about having a large family or being a stay at home mom. I grew up with my mom and was the only child in our home for a little over 9 years. I guess it never occurred to me that other families had brothers and sisters and moms and dads that were around. When I finally did have a brother in our house I liked him for about 3 days and then realized that I made a huge mistake wanting a sibling because He was requiring way more attention and worse yet He was getting  it! I became pregnant with Kayla when I was 18. I was single and young yet so excited. My mom had me young and so many others in my family started parenting at a young age so I really wasn't too scared. I look back and think if I knew then what I know now ..... well I would have been scared to death. Kayla is now 3 years...

1. My husband will hate this list. I said this when I started my 101 list for one simple reason. I thought for sure Rick would roll his eyes at my list. Turns out I think he had as much fun reading it as I had writing it. In fact I think in the original post he even found some time to make some comments to tease me. I know that's his endearing way of letting me know how much he loves me! So it turned out that he didn't hate this list and I really should think up something new for #1. My friend Jana started this 101 list back last spring. along with some other friends we had a great time making the lists and had some good laughs with one another. Jana my dear once again got me interested in going a little further with this. Taking each number I will write a longer explanation about everything I wrote. Hope you have fun reading and getting to know me a little better. Original list HERE . 

  It's over! I lived through the first day of Kindergarten! I will just confess that as soon as I made it back to my car (to go to the school) I balled my eyes out. But besides that I think it went well! LOL Eric is catching the bus from our church (which is where I work). I don't work Thursdays but wanted to get him used to this routine. So we arrived at our waiting spot, which I might add is in the Narthex and it's enclosed. The bus pulls right up to the door. (thank you Jesus) So we waited, I took a few pictures, I introduced Eric to the other teachers kids that are riding from there and up pulled the bus. He was getting ready to walk out and he turned around and gave me the best hug and biggest smile. Oh it melted my heart and I'm still getting all teary writing about it. He got on the bus and off they went. At the school I didn't see him get off the bus. I hit to many red lights (darn it) anyway it was good because when I did find him he was off the b...

Yesterday at 6:57am Jordan got on the bus. Kayla didn't have to be to school until noon so one more day to sleep in a bit, well minus the 1/2 day that it takes to primp and prep hair, clothes and make-up for a teen age girl. Today it was Sam's turn. And mine  😊 Tomorrow it's Eric. Required first day pics as follows:  This is Kayla, I was getting ready to take the picture and her phone rang, her ride was also pulling up. This is pretty much how I see her most of the time anyway so the picture is very fitting! 10th Grade Jordan 8th Grade Sammy Boy Pre-K Sam had his first day of preschool today. It was my first day too so we went together. (Eric hung out with grandma B) I think Sam kind of liked having mommy around. He was great about letting me talk with other kids and helping me play a game in the gym. We have a early drop off option and that was where I was working before our class began. That is also where Sam is before He goes to his class....

I saw this on another blog and hopefully didn't break any copyright laws! Thought it was cute. A-Age: 34 B-Bed size: Queen/Couch (depends on my back) C-Chore you hate: bathroom cleaning D-Dessert you love: Brownies E-Essential start your day item: Coffee F-Favorite actor(s): Reese Witherspoon / Tom Hanks G-Gold or Silver: Gold but am beginning to like silver H-Height: 5'5" I-Instruments you play: None now, played violin for 8 years in school J-Job title: Asst. Preschool Teacher / Domestic Engineer K-Keeping track of your day: Family Organizer (the best) L-Living arrangements:  with Rick, Kayla, Jordan, Eric, Sam, Macy and Larry M-Mom's name: Bobbie N-Not liking right now: Summer Ending O-Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Kidney Infection P-Phobia: flying Q-Quote you like: Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Heb. 11:1 S-Siblings: Chris, Stacy, Brandon, Teri, Britt, Jessica, Dustin T-Time you woke up tod...

Today was special- because of this and that I didn't know my Dad until I was 15, when we met getting to know each other was the priority and up until today I hadn't met much of my extended family. Toughout the years I met family members as circumstances allowed but this day I had a chance to spend time with extended family and learn more about my Dad's side. My Dad is one of eight children although one of his brothers passed away a couple of years ago. So the from near and far they along with as many children as possible gathered yesterday at my Dads. What a wonderful day for my Dad and his siblings. I think they truly had a great day. I know that Dad and Kathy went to tons of work to open their home to A LOT of family. Here is the order for my siblings and their family status: Stacy~ Married to Mike, 4 children. Nick 18, Jeni 16, Jake 11, and Sarah 9 Brandon~ Married to Amber Me~ If your reading this you know the story! :) Teri~ Married to Tod...

 Getting ready to venture into the weekend. Fridge is full, no plans except for Sunday and the last weekend before school. Seems weird. Our whole schedule will change. Eric will be in school everyday and Awana on Wednesdays. Sam has preschool 4 days a week and Awana on Wednesdays. Kayla is working every Wed and every other Tuesday and also has driver's ed 2 days a week for 5 weeks. Not to mention Morph groups start up (bible study) and the 'fun' night for the HS youth group. Jordan will be a L.I.T. on Wednesdays at Awana (leader in training) and has 'fun' night with middle school youth group on Thursdays and CORE on Sunday evenings (bible study). Me~ well every Wednesday when all four of my kiddos are at church I will grocery shop/run errands for 90 minutes. In fact if it doesn't get done on Wednesday it won't get done. The second weekend of the month is my weekend for nursery and every Tuesday I have a MOPS/Teen MOPS thing in the evening. On Thursday mornin...

  **This is my second attempt. I had this all written out and really had fun with it earlier and my computer decided it need to encounter an error. Arghhh! Last week Kayla and her friend decided to get out some older CD's. I could hear them in her room giggling and saying things like "oh remember that one" and "oh I forgot about this song". They were listening to stuff from her 'younger' days.... Rick has teased me about my younger days. The 80's girl that I am. I love all things good and bad from the 80's. I shouldn't as my teen years weren't exactly the greatest but there is something to the innocence of youth that I just can’t deny. If I knew then what I know now type of thing. I really was a twerp but a naive one In reminiscing about those days I decided to dig up some pictures and I just have to share a few things that I came up with. Now I realize this first picture is not of me but in the early 80's if you were looking...

  Well Kayla is off. She left yesterday for California and should have a great trip. I’m so so thankful they didn’t raise the terror alert until today. In fact I set a flight status notice to email my box when her flight had landed and as soon as they arrived I slept soundly. There is just something uneasy about knowing that your child in thousands of feet in the air that makes  this fear of flying mama a little uneasy. This morning Rick woke me up and he always has a cup of coffee and watches the news. Well this morning when he flipped the TV on that the whole terror plot thing was on and he just turned it off and said to me. "Don’t watch this" Kayla sent me a text message when they landed, she knows her mother well. This morning she sent me another message telling me that she had no luggage. The airline is pretty sure it just didn’t make it aboard. I am still waiting to find out if they have found it. The bag that is lost is the one with her clothes. I didn’t realize that ...

  On Monday Sam and Eric made little mini pizza’s at day camp. Sam was just elated as this is his favorite food. (mine too ) So Sam was telling me about this and said "you know mom I just love’em. No I really do love’em yummy" I wish I could type out the passion in his voice but I’m quite sure those pizza’s made his week. OnTuesday I decided to make a big breakfast. This alone creates excitement in my house but Sam walked by and looked at me and said so sweetly "mmmmmmm mommy I think I love those....and I love you " (sausage and mommy ) On Wednesday it was back to camp and on our way there we saw a Kemps truck and on the side was a cow holding a scoop of ice cream. I said "hey look at that cow holding the ice cream. Do you know how to make ice cream?" Sam says "NOT FROM THAT COW Euwwww and cows only like milk, NOT ice cream. euwwwww" . Hope I haven’t ruined his love of ice cream. That same day after camp we got into the car and Sam opene...

  I have much to write about but don’t know what to write. Make sense? This week has been one of those weeks where I’ve found myself feeling so overwhelmed both good and bad. AKA thinking to much. I’ve found myself really thinking about the different areas of my life, I’m a homemaker, a wife, a mother, now a co-worker, a daughter (as I’m lucky enough to talk to my mom almost daily) I’m even getting pretty good at getting to know Missy, You know for so long not only was I not interested in who I was, always searching for myself in the eyes of others but I must admit I was afraid of what I’d find. I mean there are some down right ugly things that happened in my life either as a matter of choice and sometimes just life circumstance. I blame no one or myself for those things. What’s done is done and Jesus handled that for me. I was driving home the other night and I was thinking about the sermon that I heard in church that morning. Our Pastor started a series on Studying the Bible.Thi...

  So what happens when you take one micro-managing mama, give her some change, a new job, new opportunities for service and way to many thoughts? ( In order to get the true effect of how my brain is working you have to read the next paragraph really fast... ) Well you have ME! I'm a CRAZY woman with worrying about this and worrying about that, thinking about doing that, or typing up this. Calling this person, arranging that meeting, mailing a note to that nice woman I met last week, wanting to sit down and scrapbook (don't even mention selling it). Getting MOPS stuff ready, making a menu for this week, oh the grocery store, that darn grocery store! Crap have you seen the laundry room, and that ironing is STILL not done. Jana where are you??? Husband I think his name is Rick, oh and that dirty look I just got, was that my daughter? Jordan has a rash? Where? Oh my gross gosh..... get out the benedryl. SAM AND ERIC IT'S TIME FOR BED...... GET BACK IN YOUR BEDS...NOW!! ( O...

  Mommy and Sam about 3:00 this afternoon. Kayla came through and snapped the picture. We grocery shopped, picnicked and played at the park. Needless to say this was the perfect way to spend the rest of our Friday afternoon.....